The Westering Hills

This blog has met the Choir Invisible!

2006-06-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

For all you non-Monty Python fans, that means this blog is dead. As a doornail. I've switched over to my new Schnozz-hosted domain here! See you there from now on and oh, please update your bookmark/link to me with my new URL!!

The blues, they have abated somewhat

2006-06-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Mainly because I have some temp work that starts t'mrow and goes until next Friday! Yaaaay! There is also the gleaming possibility of a longer-term temp job that pays extrodinarily well that they are considering me for (I mean, "for which they are considering me"!), as a writer/editor. It would be 2-4 months long, only parttime, but I still want it. It would be some actual professional writing/editing experience under my belt. Me wants (I mean, "I would enjoy that very much, thank you!")!

The temp stafffing service wanted me to send them some writing samples for this particular job and I realized that the only writing samples I have are a.) held hostage on the computer at my old job and b.) this blog. I told them I would try and secure some of my old work letters from a coworker, as there is no way in hell I'm letting them see this blog! It's not an example of "good" writing anyway, as I tend to be very lazy here (see above). Plus, they may think I am Crazy Cat Lady and not want anything more to do with me. I mean, I am Crazy Cat Lady but still employable! I promise I won't bring any of my kitty minions with me!

Hilarity in things nostalgic and sarcastic

2006-06-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

Excerpt of letter from Anne to Shannon, summer 1983:

"Hello! I'm in the car on the way to HIRAM [Hiram, Ohio, where Anne's relatives lived]--YAAAAY! (whistle, clap, cheer). It's dark outside and there're some lights on in here. I'm fed up with my brother; my whole family, to tell you the truth. I won't say why; it's too ridiculous. I hope we're almost there--I'm tired and I'm not allowed to sleep 'cos they (my parents) say I won't get to bed once we get there. Right. The only reason I stay up at home is to watch Mtv. God, in Hiram, the most exciting event all day is when someone sneezes. I HATE small towns. Sigh. I feel so fat. Not only do I feel fat, I look fat, and I am fat [note: she was probably all of 110 lbs]. Hold on, I'm gonner re-read this letter.

Ok--Anne is back. Everything is making me very mad. Brian [her younger brother] in particular. His voice is driving me crazy and his big, fat, lumpy body is BUGGING, BUGGING, BUGGING THE HELL OUT OF ME!!!! AAAHHHH!! SCREEEECH! Why does my brother have such an INCREDIBLY STUPID sense of humor??? Of all the different personalities in the entire world, I HAD to get a comedian. Ha. And WHAT a comedian he IS. Ohhh, lovely. Now we're gonna look for a radio station. I just LOVE hearing the radio flip from station to station, passing (wouldn't you know it) 50 million songs I love (U2, Duran, Culture Club, etc.). Oooo, what do we finally end up with afer 15 minutes of static and 2 second blips of eligible music??? Why, my VERY FAVORITE Kenny Rogers song!!" [end page]

The mean blues

2006-06-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

It seems to be my permanent affliction these days, mainly due to being so goddamn unemployed. I had a job interview last Friday but got the very distinct feeling they've already chosen their candidate (long story, not a bad story but don't feel like going into it). Suffice to say, I am not expecting a call back from them. I also have no temp job lined up and with the U. W. in empty summer mode, the jobs are going to be fewer and far between with them. I haven't had a single job with the other temp agency either.

This sucks. I'm scared, to be honest. I can't believe I'm still without a job after all this time. Am I really that unhireable? No, no I'm not, which just makes it even worse.

Please know, I'm not looking for sympathy and, although I know y'all mean well, I'm not looking for "hang in there, something will come along" comments either just now. I just wanted to share my mood. You know, I originally intended this blog to be an online journal like the kind of personal journal I used to keep. Nowadays, I find myself being lazy and just posting cat photos. I want to try and return to more of the journaling aspect, with a Colin or Trixie photo thrown in every once in awhile. It's just that it's difficult to write about one's life when there is nothing going on in one's life. The Big Nothing; hence, the Mean Blues.

Mystery solved!

2006-06-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've spent many a year living here in the Pacific Northwest wondering what the name of this flower (pictured at left) was. It grows EVERYWHERE around here; it's practically a weed. You see it popping up in lawns, flourishing in sidewalk-to-street grass strips, and growing in the cracks of those Jersey barriers on the freeways. I adore them but nobody I've asked has known its name. And I couldn't find out myself because, well, how do you look up the name of "a purple flower on a long stalk?" It's akin to trying to find the correct spelling of a word you can't spell in the dictionary! In today's paper, a local garden was featured and this beautiful flower, the Rose Campion, was named. Big sigh of relief! (and yes, Anne, I realize that you could've told me the name of this flower but again, there was no way to show you a photo without knowing the name!)

Here's my other favorite Seattle "weed,"the California Poppy. Same rules of growing just about anywhere apply. I discovered early on that if you pick these and put them in water, they wilt immediately, so I now just enjoy them wherever I spot them. I've always envisioned having a big bed of nothing but California Poppies and Rose Campions. Maybe I will someday! Goodness knows I'd be hardpressed to kill them, as I do with most other plants.

To anyone reading this, what "weeds" are your favorites where you live?

WCB #53

2006-06-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna be lazy this weekend for WCB since I am just that sort of person. After realizing how simple dimple it is to post videos to YouTube, I decided to do it again for this weekend. I recalled that we had taken movies of Colin the first week we got him, knowing he would never be that little again and we would regret not doing it. I finally dug up two videos taken just a few days after we got him from the shelter as a 3 month old:

1. Here is Colin playing with a toy mouse. He used to perform these adorable hard-play somersalts that I'm glad I captured! He was so little and fuzzy!

2. Here is Colin deciding to spend some time with me in mid-play. He was too tiny to make it onto the bed in one leap--awwww! The purring is delicious. One irritating aspect of YouTube comes into play here: the sound is not synchronized on this, so my comment of "kitty belly" should correspond to me actually patting his tummy, but does not.

Go see all the others at Clare's!

Best Meme Ever

2006-06-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, the meme that I've had simmering in my brain for quite awhile now has finally come to fruition: the Ugly Photo Meme! I'd wanted to try and start this for months now but figured that nobody would play along because a.) most people immediately trash or hide away in the dark corners of boxes in the attics their worst photos of themselves and b.) they wouldn't have the courage to post them and, since misery loves company, I would have felt odd doing this meme all by myself. In short, I am an abject coward. So I never broached it publicly.

But then darling Schnozzalina took up the banner and waved it high! I'm so proud, sniff! How can I not play along? I can't not play along, I simply can't!

1. Share the worst photo of yourself you have, preferrably a reasonably current one.

This was a photo taken of me "sneezing" a year ago, so it is relatively recent. I say "sneezing" because it was a fake sneeze; I was with Anne and snapped a photo of her truly sneezing (or maybe it was coughing, I can't recall). I then felt so badly for doing it, I offered to have her snap me in return. Fake or not, the result is quite hideous. It really makes my accursed weak chin stand out and my embiggened nostrils quite ginormous--the two parts of my face besides my nose (always large so no big whoop) that I loathe. Oh, and let's not forget the temporary Double Chin Syndrome! Ta da!:

How hideous. On to the next part of the meme!

2. Share a current photo of yourself when you've just woken up. Walk into the bathroom and just take it, under the harsh bathroom lights.

This is me this morning. Again, note the weak chin, pronounced by the fact that I wore my mouth guard all night (which no, I did not keep in for the photo, SHUT UP, IT IS NOT CHEATING TO REMOVE IT!). I often will delete pictures based on my weak chin. Sigh. It ain't getting any stronger so I may as well resign myself to the fact that I have one but that won't stop me from bemoaning its existence! To all of you with normal to strong chins, rejoice in your gift!

Ack! How on earth Barrett can wake up next to that every morning is beyond me. And like Schnozz pointed out, the puffiness! Okay, let's move on, shall we?

3. Share the nicest photo of yourself that you have, again preferrably a current one.

We have about 20 gazillion photos on our two computers and I simply do not have the energy to go through them all. What comes to mind is a photo in a series of photos taken last September at a pub. We were with a group of friends and Barrett was taking photos by laying the camera on the table amidst all the beer glasses and just shooting. I really love the series taken of me--the amber color, the angle, and the fact that I almost don't look like myself in any of them. Oddly, I look like a cross between my mother and my mother's mother at my age. Here's my favorite:
Oh, if only one could be cast in a soft candlelight glow at all times! Sigh.

4. Special category--whatever you'd like! I will choose two photos that I do not like of myself, if for no other reason then to exorcise the Ugly Photo demon from my camera (I hope). Maybe if I offer these up as sacrifices, the camera will be nicer to me from hereafter.

This photo wins in the category of Cutest Kitten/Stupidest-Looking Human. I suppose I was attempting to show how adorable I felt this kitten was but instead ended up with the most simpering moue on my face. I just wanna bitchslap myself:

Lastly, I present Most Bucktoothed Eleven-Year Old in the Seventies Wearing A Really Bad Terrycloth Shirt, and I mean Really Really Bad. Feel free to click on it to really get a sense of the bucktoothedness in its full glory:
It's difficult, however, for me to hate this photo of myself, simply because we had so much fun with these two neighbor boys for many years of my childhood. Here's a bit of a celebrity trivia regarding this photo: the boy on the left, Derek, my first "boyfriend" (by which I mean we announced we were "going out" but that was about it), went on to become a neurosurgeon in Las Vegas--he was the surgeon that operated on and saved Roy Horn's brain a few years ago. You remember, Seigfried & Roy, Roy was mauled by a tiger, blah blah blah? Yep, my first boyfriend had his 15 minutes of fame! Here he is at a press conference around that time:
I miss those guys! Haven't seen them since I was a teenager. Good times in bad clothing indeed!

So now I wanna know: WHO'S NEXT? I tag everyone.

P. S. - If you do play along, please visit the aforementioned Schnozz's blog so she can add you to the master list of players!

Finally!

2006-06-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to log into my blog since Tuesday. Everyone was having some Blogger problems at some point but I seemed to be the hold out. Now I don't have time to post (I'm in the middle of making this for dinner) (not that anything much is going on in my life right now). Just wanted to check in!

Oh, and I can't wait to participate in the Ugly Photo Meme that I helped to create with Anne and Schnozz! Anyone else brave enough to participate? C'mon, we're all gonna do it!

Presenting The Amazing Colin!

2006-06-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

"No box is too small for me!"

"However, I need to make some minor adjustments. . . ennh!"
"Ennh!"
"Ahhh, purrfect!"
"THANK YOU, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I'll be here all week! Don't forget to tip your servers!"

Visitor

2006-06-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

This little girl came to visit us this morning while we were eating breakfast. We see feral cats skulking around our backyard and on/under our back deck all the time, so I assumed this was a new feral I'd never seen before. To my surprise, she was very friendly, all meowy and purring. She was not at all fazed by Trixie and Colin, and was interested in checking out the inside of our house. She's pretty thin, too. Wondering if she's lost, of course. I'll keep a lookout for signs around the neighborhood.

She hung around for quite awhile, looking at the cats while they stared back at her. Every once in a while, Trixie felt compelled to remind her who was The Boss, growling, tail puffed. But it was mostly a peaceful scene.

We had roasted potato chunks with fresh rosemary & paprika, and bowls of yogurt/blueberries for breakfast. It was yummy.

One year birthday of Weekend Cat Blogging!

2006-06-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Per Clare and Kiri's request, here is a photo of, I'd say, roughly half of the cats' toys hidden around the house. I'm sure there are more squooshed under couches and various other furniture:
I also wanted to try and get Colin and Trixie to meow for y'all but I don't have any other way to record them except via video. So I created a You Tube account and uploaded a video I took of them yesterday afternoon. Enjoy and HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY, WCB!!! Go join the fun with the rest of the par-tay kitties over at Clare's!

[Note: I really don't have a lisp--it's just the crappy little microphone on the camera. Also, Trixie does meow, once and very briefly. See if you can hear it!]

Gawker Stalker

2006-06-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

I am totally addicted to Gawker Stalker. I don't know why, I'm really not THAT much of a celebrity freak. But this site, it rules. Regular folk like us write up when/where they saw a celeb and how they were behaving, what they were wearing, and sometimes what they were talking about, all within the confines of teeny Manhattan. On some days, you can actually follow a particular celeb's route throughout the day, as he/she is spotted in various locations. Love it, love it, love it! If this makes me a sick person, sick I be, and proud of it!

Schnozz vs. Purl

2006-06-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

So I read, and commented on, this entry by The Almighty Schnozz. Then today, I read my Capricorn horoscope by the delightfully delicious Crazy Aunt Purl.

Two beloved blogs referring to the same subject--a subject very close to my heart--in the same week?! It's astounding to me because I've been revisiting this aspect of myself yet again. I find myself continuing to play The Moderator in my family, even though a decade ago, I made the announcement (on Christmas morning, no less) to my family/stepfamily that I was DONE PLAYING THE MODERATOR FOREVER. I continue to give advice, be it wanted or unwanted, because I love my friends and family too much to see negative patterns continue unabated. I also then continue to tell myself that I will keep my mouth shut from here on out, as people are going to do what they want to/feel they can, and no amount of advice/moderation is going to change their behavior until they are ready to admit they need change, that all of my words are wasted, floating into the ether. I tell myself that maybe I'm coming off as too egotistical or presumptuous--my life is going just fine, so what right do I have to give advice to someone whose life is not just fine? None whatsoever, what the hell do I know? Absolutely nothing, that's what.

There is no answer. I will more than likely continue to do what I have been doing until the day I push up the daisies. And why? Because I love. I love intensely. And I don't want anyone who has asked me for advice to read this and think that I don't want to hear anything from them again because I do, lordy, I do! I'm just thinking aloud here, is all.

Besides which, Crazy Aunt Purl has forecast lots of hanky panky for me in the coming week--woohoo!

Hi, hello, howdy, etc.!

2006-06-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick check-in at 6am with that first delicious and important cup o' joe. Haven't had much to write about. The temp job is fine and should end t'mrow, although it might end today. I don't see how much more they can utilize me, as their company retreat starts today and I don't think I'm going with them to that! I helped them pack up the offices so they could move to a different floor in the building (and might I add that they are now on the 15th floor of a downtown building with the most amazing views of skyline, waters, mountains, and especially Mt. Rainier in all its glory!) and I helped them create retreat documents, including copyediting and fixing said edits for 3 hours on a spreadsheet yesterday afternoon. Zzzzzz.

But what the heck, it's $$$, right?

Ciao.

"Peas! Peas!" and other delights

2006-05-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

So Barrett and I spent Sunday and today banishing spring malaise and finally planted starts: 4 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of basil, 2 kinds of peppers, and thyme. We also bought radish, kale, and sugar snap pea seeds but only had the time/soil to plant the kale. Everything is in containers since we are still too malaise-ish to dig up any of our enormous back and side yards this year to create actual garden beds.

I also succumbed to a strong longing to buy a rugosa rose plant so I did, and planted that near the back deck, hoping to smell the roses when sitting outside later this summer. Our other roses are already being attacked by aphids; we're keeping our fingers crossed that the rugosa will survive!

The banishment of malaise led also to transplating the ugly boxwoods and other shrubs (planted in the backyard border garden to "look nice" when the house was being sold) to different places around the yard, thus making room for the vegetable seeds. This is something we agreed we should have done a couple of years ago. We dislike these shrubs but would not feel right in just pulling them out, so I hope they find a happy existence next to the garage.

After we were done with the planting, Barrett wondered aloud if we should plant the pea seeds and decided against it, as time was running short. I began to put away all the gardening stuff in the garage while Barrett wandered to the little-visited back part of the backyard to add to the compost pile we started two summers ago but have never yet used. I suddenly heard him shout, "Peas! Peas!" and sprint merrily across the grass. I was puzzled as to why he was so excited about planting the peas right now and with such enthusiasm! Turns out, it was not a merry sprint towards the future pea patch--BEES had made a nest in our compost pile and he was being attacked! I'm still giggling over that (my mishearing, not his attack!).

So that is done. The long weekend is over. And I, dear readers, start a four day temp job t'mrow! It feels strange to being going back to work after 7 months of being a stay-at-home kitten mom. But I'm glad; the income, it is sorely needed.

Decision made.

2006-05-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Honeymoon = Japan.

Yay.

YAAAAAAYYYY!!!! I cannot wait to go!

WCB #51

2006-05-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

Nature abhors a vacuum. So do my cats.

I place all of the chairs on top of the table to vacuum underneath more easily. Trixie has discovered the best method to escape the vacuum cleaner is to climb up onto one of them:
Colin, however, has taken the "watchful waiting" approach, keeping close--but not too close!--tabs on the roaring beast by timidly following me around the house. It's really hilarious:
He finally decided to get the hell away altogether and join Trixie in the safety of the Chair Forest. Please note, this is the only time you will ever see them in such close proximity to each other sans squabbling, in a the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend sort of way:

Go and see other cats whom I'm betting also abhor vacuums at Clare's!

Okay, I have to point this out.

2006-05-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

I read a lot of food blogs. I love food blogs, I love reading new recipes, I love cooking. What I do not love, however, is when said bloggers erroneously shorten the word "refrigerator" to "frig." I know they are attempting to spell out the word "fridge" phonetically and usually I would not care about such a minor misspelling.

But the word "frig" is, well, a sexual slang term that has been around for centuries. In fact, it has many different naughty meanings, none of which have to do with the thingy in your kitchen that keeps food cold. [insert juvenile snickering here]

I'm just sayin'!

I've been tagged!

2006-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

And thank god, as I was wondering what to pound out next. So many others' blogs this week have been writing of the profound and I've just been posting photos with dumb captions, which is just Lazy masquerading as Actual Blogging. So thanks, Cath, for tagging me!

5 items in my fridge

1. one sad wilted leek
2. black bean and corn salad
3. a box of PBR (for the pbrchicken, of course!)
4. leftover falafel patties from last night's dinner
5. a hunk of Gruyere

5 items in my closet

1. Colin (he's in there napping!)
2. three pairs of shoes I can't wear anymore
3. a packet of old letters and stories written by Anne and I in 9th/10th grade
4. a winter comforter
5. a stash of purses

5 items in my car

1. nail clippers
2. a mechanical pencil (I have no idea how that got in there as I don't use pencils)
3. some Mardi Gras beads from New Orleans
4. an empty mint tin
5. an extra umbrella

5 items in my purse

1. wallet
2. about three pens (a girl can't have enough pens on her!)
3. sunglasses
4. packet of tissues with sushi on it from Archie McPhees
5. cute pad of paper in the form of a giant book of matches from the 1930s

5 people who are thusly tagged

1. Ingloriously Human
2. Binulatti
3. Interrupted Wanderlust
4. Schnozz
5. What Did You Eat?

Weekend at Lake Ozette

2006-05-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Barrett and I decided rather spontaneously to get out of town for the weekend and do an easy-ish hike. Washington state is a great place to do this! We chose the 9 mile hike at Lake Ozette, which is a triangular hike that starts at Ozette, meanders along a 3 mile plank boardwalk through the forest to Cape Alava, runs 3 or so miles along the beach to Sand Point, & then the last 3 miles on forest boardwalk again to the starting point--see this map in the upper left corner for the hike.

We left on Saturday and arrived in Forks, WA close to 4pm. The weather at that time was beautiful and the scenery just loverly:
Since it was later in the day, we put off the Lake Ozette hike for Sunday and went to the Hoh Rainforest at that time. We walked about 3 miles on various trails in the Hoh, enjoying the ginormous moss-covered trees and abundance of giant slugs:
This is possibly my favorite photo of me of all time. For now:
You've heard the saying, "Don't mess with Mother Nature?" Take that, Ma!
Dude, here's some hawt tree-on-tree action! Yowza!

Then we had pizza at a redneckified pizza parlor in Forks and went to bed. On Sunday, the Lake Ozette hike. The weather started out gorgeous:
But by the time we got to the beach portion of the hike, it started turning cloudy:
One of the fun aspects of the beach are the petroglyphs that still remain made by the Makah Indian tribe many centuries ago. They're just there, for anyone to look at and touch. We only saw a few but later found out there are about 30, if you have the time and patience to seek them out. Here was the first one we saw, two figures with elaborate headdresses (click on photos for better detail):
According to a website, this one is probably a whaling canoe; it's hard to see it clearly:
The same website says that this is possibly a weeping priest but Barrett & I were wondering if it was a fake, as it didn't have the same deeply-carved lines as the rest:
An orca carved on a long, flat rock:
By the time we spotted the final (and most famous) petroglyphs of orcas and faces, we were so bored with the whole thing. 300 year old carvings, YAWN!
I kid, of course! This photo was taken about 10 minutes before it started raining. We still had a mile to go on this portion of the hike and then the last 3 miles in the forest again. Yep, we hiked 4 miles in the rain. It wasn't so bad, really, and the forest cover helped considerably. Still, we were pretty soaked by the time we reached the car. Oh, one really cool thing--about halfway on the beach leg, around where my head is in the photo above, we saw a black bear eating a fish on the beach! Since our heads were down due to the rain, we only saw it when it was running away back into the forest. The funny thing is, Barrett had earlier said that in all the hikes he's done in the past 20 years, he's never seen a bear before, and voila! Other animals spotted this weekend: river otter, grouse, winter wren, evening grosbeak, rabbit, deer, and rednecks. We need to do this more often. And yes, my legs were sore the next day!

I'm still here!

2006-05-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

I will post about my weekend soon, just not this minute. Barrett and I went away for the weekend on a long hike and there are pictures to post. I'm just too tired right now to sort through them. So, later.

Happiness is. . . (the final installment of schmaltz!)

2006-05-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

Having a good friend from my hometown come to visit and thereby commencing with the drinks, snacks, and grilling of wonderful food out on the back deck on a warm, sunny evening:
The happiness is thus furthered enhanced by making new friends around a bonfire in the copper fire pit after the sun has set and realizing that said new friends live only a 15 minute walk from here! Hi Maery and Brian!

Happiness is. . .

2006-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Watching a sparrow eating fluff off of a dandelion on the path below the front window, leaving this teeny banquet mess after it had its fill:
How cute is that?!

Happiness is. . . (a continuation of my schmaltzy theme!)

2006-05-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

- The first warm night in which I can leave the bedroom window open all night long. I love waking to the sounds of sparrows, robins, and chickadees! Here is a panoramic view of the backyard from my bedroom window at 7am that I "stitched" together (sky really is bright blue but I suck at the photo-taking):
It makes having to crawl out of bed early that much easier for me, which leads me to the second happiness item . . .

- Finally getting in to the U. W. as part of their temporary staffing department! I got the phone call from them on Monday morning, after a month of submitting my resume to them online. I have an appt. to interview, take typing test, etc. this morning at 10am, then I can start temping for the U. W., which in turn means that I'm *this much closer* to getting a permanent job with them, since they tend to hire temporary staff over external folks! Yay!

Happiness is. . .

2006-05-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Weeding in the backyard for an hour in the hot sun, then sipping on a frosty gin & tonic at noon as a reward.

(Please don't hate me!)

Happiness is. . .

2006-05-15T17:54:00.000-07:00

Finally getting off of one's butt and going shopping for all the seasonal veggies:

And making a delicious corn chowder for dinner (the corn is in there I swear)!

What did all of you have for dinner on Monday evening?

WCB #49

2006-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

We're finally back after a slump of no WCB and just heard the good news over at Clare's, our benevolent WCB host! Colin was so surprised, he became very "verklempt":

But happiness overtook him and he then performed a little Dance of Joy!
Trixie, however, wishes Clare well with the quiet (and blurry) dignity that becomes her as the Elder Cat:
Congrats and Meows, Clare!

Um . . . YUM!

2006-05-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Seriously, how good does this dish look? I think the answer is Pretty Damn Good, Frankly.

Gah.

2006-05-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am quite blue today, feeling dragged down and colorless. Out of sorts. No gumption. (Apparently, I'm not the only one feeling this way!)

I had a really good time last night. I was invited to hang out with a fun group of folks via my friend Duane. They meet up once a month or so at a dive tavern in the U. District, drink beer, and laugh about anything and everything. Being with that group reminded me of the times years ago that I spent at the dive bar near my old apartment with my friends: the constant laughter, the refills of pint glasses from magically-full pitchers, the conversations that never get finished because whoosh! onto the next topic at full speed. The only thing missing was cigarette smoke and my youthful ability to go on all night and not care about the hangover I was sure to have the next morning.

As I said, I had a great time but it left me in a depressed state of mind today. I feel like I don't really belong anywhere or in anyone's group. Restless but unable to even get out of my pajamas. I dunno, can't put it into words. And I'm not looking for sympathy, really, I'm not. I'm just relating how I'm feeling at the moment, is all. But I seem to be feeling like this more often than not lately.

Carry on.

Little life updates

2006-05-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

1. I emailed that hiring manager (that didn't hire me) and politely asked her if she'd been able to talk with other managers yet, as I am still interested in working at the U.W. She replied promptly and said that she had a meeting next week with all of the managers and administrators at the School of Public Health and would ask then. I thanked her and said that it was very nice of her to do this for me. So we'll see if anything happens on that front!

2. I applied at a temp agency on Monday and they were impressed with my resume and experience. I got the impression from the woman that interviewed me that they tend to get a lot of eager but think-they-know-it-all younger people who don't qualify for half of the jobs they accept. The employees and founder of this temp agency are very nice, laid back folks and I had a good time chatting with all of them. They actually will place people in permanent positions immediately, if that is what one desires. I told them that I might be interested in that but that I was still wanting to give the U. W. a little while longer, as that is my main interest. Anyway, I'm to call the agency every day to see if there are any jobs available; I think it's a first-come-first-serve deal so you better believe I'm on that phone at 10am every morning! Nothing yet, however. Oh, and apparently I can type 66 words a minute. I have no idea if that is "fast" or not.

3. The volunteer coordinator at the National Archives branch has been out of town but just this morning, she called my references and welcomed me by email officially as a volunteer! I'm to get in touch with her to work out a volunteer schedule. So yay on that.

4. Despite all of this positive-feeling stuff mentioned above, I'm still besieged with money worries and self-doubt. Ack. I know something will turn up soon, blah blah blah, but I am a worrier by nature. SIGH.

Evolution of Dance video

2006-05-11T10:34:00.000-07:00

This is just too fun to not share! Apparently both my sister Heather and I cracked up when he started his Brady Bunch dance. Enjoy!

Selah.

2006-05-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

When, in the middle of the night, you leave the bedroom to use the bathroom and step on something soft & wet in the hallway in your bare feet, curse the darkness and then the cats for having strategically placed yet another pile of cat puke for you to sink into, turn on the hall light, bend down, and discover that it is not cat puke but an old tea bag that one of them has fished out of the garbage as a toy, your joy will be great therein.

No WCB again for me!

2006-05-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have failed a second weekend in a row to post photos of either of the cats because last weekend, I was too dang busy and this weekend, too damn lazy (plus we were having internet issues that were finally resolved yesterday afternoon). I've decided I'm not even going to apologize for it, it's just how it is! I will say that this fine, cloudy, windy, rainy Sunday morning, I am completely exhausted from having had a huge cryfest while watching the entire last season of "Six Feet Under" last night. Oh. My. God. I don't know if I've ever become as invested in a television show before this. I warn you, if you are a fan and you haven't seen the final season yet, my advice is to keep a box of tissues near you at all times! And if you haven't seen any "Six Feet Under," you are missing out on one of the best tv shows out there, bar none. Go rent it now.

[I said "having had" in an earlier sentence and now I'm unsure if that's the correct tense. Repeating it just confuses me more. Is that correct? I hate when this happens. . .]

Yum.

2006-05-03T16:01:00.000-07:00

My cat Trixie just jumped up on this desk, walked over to me, sniffed my right eyelid intensely, then licked it. I wonder what that was about?

Six Weird Things About Me meme

2006-05-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Like Anne, I wasn't tagged but thought I'd follow her lead and do it because I have no imagination whatsoever. Anne's always been the "ideas" person in our Best Friend Duo Machine.

1. I have a human hair phobia. But it's very specific! Hair in the sink, on soap, in the bathtub, on my clothes, and in my food makes me avert my eyes in horror. Big clumps of hair just sitting around also freak me out. Going to the hair salon and seeing all of my hair falling around me or seeing piles of hair on the floor--no problem. Hair on heads or in hairbrushes--that's okay! Essentially, anytime there is hair where it shouldn't be is the kicker. I've had this phobia since I can remember and from the time I was about four years old, I still cannot step out of the shower with wet feet because GOD FORBID I STEP ON HAIR AND IT STICK TO MY WET FEET. You might as well kill me right now if that happens. I lay my towel out on the ground and step on that. This one day, years ago, I was walking down the street with my friend and we saw laying in the melting snow, a huge clump of cut-off dreadlocks. I just about threw up right then and there. He still brings it up to this day to gross me out.

2. I cannot smoke marijuana because I am allergic to something in it. It makes me have small seizures at times, it makes me so incredibly paranoid (more than the usual pot paranoia), but worst of all, I start having frightening auditory hallucinations. In short, pot is not the relaxing drug for me that it is for most others. I was happy to read that one of the Ramones is also allergic to pot and has similar symptoms, which means I'm not entirely alone in this.

3. I bite or pick at my cuticles insessantly. They look awful all the time, with the hangnails and the bleeding and the divots in my thumbnails. Again, I've been doing this since the dawn of time and I have found no solution to it. It drives me crazy. I've trained certain people in my life to point it out to me when I'm doing it in public because I don't even realize I'm doing it. "Don't pick!" is a phrase often heard when I'm with my friend Gregg. If anyone has any bright ideas on how to stop, let me know!

4. My right pupil is bigger than my left pupil by just a bit. It's a condition called Adie's Tonic Pupil and it cropped up about 3 years ago. Almost nobody notices it; okay, nobody has noticed until I point it out to them! It's very slight but it stands out to me when I look in the mirror and therefore I think I look like a freak sometimes. I can lump in another weird thing about me here because it's connected to this condition: as a result of this, I have pretty much lost my left-sided deep tendon reflexes. You can hammer on that knee all day and it ain't gonna budge. It's kinda cool!

5. I cannot swim except to dog paddle. And don't tell me that you'll be more than happy to teach me because not only will you not do it (everyone's offered but nobody follows through) but at this late stage in the Game of Life, I really don't care anymore. Stick some water wings on me and call it done.

6. I collect teenage fiction from the 1930's - 1960's. In the business, they're called "malt shop" books. I'm obsessed and I don't know why; I suppose they're my form of vapid escape. I scour the children's section in used bookstores to try and satisfy my craving. I have a pretty big collection and I just keep adding to it. It's getting harder and harder for me to find these paperbacks, as most of them were made as ephemera, on cheap paper with cheap binding glue. The good news is, since nobody else wants them, they're usually about a buck a pop. I'm also very particular about them, though; only certain ones pass muster with me. At this point, I can tell immediately if it meets my stringent requirements. I can't explain it why I have this hobby and I try to hide it because I'm afraid that my friends will laugh at me. But now everybody who reads this knows! The collection is in the guest bedroom if you're ever over. Ahem.

Peeking into houses

2006-05-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

Three years ago around this time, Barrett and I were ready to start looking to buy a house here in the Seattle area. For a few years up to that point, I'd been saving money like crazy for a downpayment and keeping a sharp eye on house prices in the various Seattle neighborhoods. I knew that we were going to have to act quickly in order to find a fairly decent house within our price range before the prices jumped any higher.

I was excited to embark on house hunting for a couple of reasons: I've always wanted to own my own house but even more, I loooooove peeking into other people's houses! When I was younger, I would walk by houses in the neighborhoods I lived in and wonder what the layout of each house was, what sort of stairs they had, what their kitchens and bathrooms looked like. I would take note of outside house features I liked and didn't like, changing windows and landscapes in my head. Even though I have my own house now, I still do this on walks; Barrett is familiar with me pointing out houses and narrating my likes and dislikes. So anyway, house hunting was the perfect opportunity for me to satisfy my nosiness!

And boy, did we see inside houses. Probably about 50 or so, I am not joking. I was warned that house hunting was draining and it was, but there was always that rush of curiosity every time we opened the front door to that next home. And on advice of Barrett's mother, who was also our real estate agent, we took copious photos of each house, so we wouldn't forget details later on in discussing them.

I was thinking recently about all those photos and all that dreary house hunting, and thought it would be fun to post some of the more interesting photos. So here goes! [click on photos if you want 'em bigger]

KITCHENS: as I said, I loved looking at kitchens. Here are a few of the kitchens I saw on our quest.

All 1970s, in pure groovy avocado hue!

This was a brand new kitchen with all updated appliances, gorgeous and large--this was only half of it. We almost bid on this house until our inspector showed us the wood rot lurking beneath. Sigh.

Another gorgeous, brand new kitchen. I think I drooled a bit when I first saw it. We also almost put a bid on this beautiful house but decided against it because it was on a busy street and for all its gorgeousness, they forgot to add storage space beyond a couple of closets. Puzzling.

One of the decidedly weirder kitchens. It had a vague nautical theme to it, which I guess is why they decided that "swimming pool blue" was an appropriate color. It hurt the eyes, it did!

BATHROOMS:

The things real estate folks do to pretty up a house are funny. Here's one--ivy plants on top of the shower stall! How inviting!

*cough!*

In case you couldn't tell, the theme here is "shells," as in "cheap beachfront motel decor."

Yep. Yep yep yep. Sigh. You'll notice there is no shower curtain even though there was a showerhead (not pictured but I remember). There was no shower curtain rod at all. Huh?

HOUSE FEATURES I SORTA LIKED: Please don't judge me too harshly but these were various things I saw in houses that I kinda dug. I realize I have no taste at times.

World's saddest doghouse! Looking back, this was practically all we could afford, hardy har har.

Many houses we saw had free standing woodstoves like this. I had no idea they were so popular. I loved each one I saw. Here's another one:
This was in the corner of a large empty room, just waiting for a comfy couch to be placed in front of it. Sigh. And another one!:
So cozy! Me wants.

Remember the house with no storage space? This small loft was in that house and I believe supposed to be used for storage--that was it, though. Not good enough for our mounds of crap. But having a loft in the house overlooking the livingroom for an extra hangout or tv room would be awesome!

Yet another little room in the house with no storage. Such nice little touches, WHY DID YOU FORGET TO ADD CLOSETS AND A GARAGE?

Built in cabinets with world's tiniest bar area and built in wine rack! What's not to love! I look totally stoned off to the side there.

Airplane wallpaper with wood paneling! I loved this room to pieces. Can't you just see the Brady Bunch boys hangin' out here?

Lots of houses have attic rooms converted into bedrooms. These built-in dresser drawers were hilarious to me, I don't know why.

The all-brick bedroom! Pretend you live in the garage! Okay, I didn't like this so much as thought it was amusing. You really gotta wonder what people are thinking??

This funky staircase was the only way to get to the bedrooms upstairs. Can you imagine trying to carry furniture up this?!! You can see the puzzlement and fear on my face as I tread up the rickety, narrow steps. Love that light fixture however!

Here is a photo of the official Real Estate Vacuum Pattern. We saw this same elaborate pattern vacuumed in most of the empty houses. I was intrigued, to say the least! How does one accomplish this? Is there a special vacuum cleaner that does this? Why only in houses for sale? If anyone has the answer, please let me know!

GROSS STUFF: the downside of househunting that makes you just want to quit.

I kid you not, this was awaiting us on the front porch of the very first house we looked at. This is emblematic of the current Seattle housing market--you don't even have to clean up or make things look nice because someone is going to snap up that house no matter how shitty it looks, and they will snap it up tomorrow.

This house was all wood paneling. It was everywhere except the floor. Don't believe me? Here's the stairs leading to the wood-paneled upstairs rooms:
Aaaand, the living/family room:
Yeah, that's linoleum on the floor. Linoleum in the livingroom--happy thought! Moving right along. . .

State-of-the-art storage shed to keep out that Seattle rain.

This large box, I believe, contained the furnace. As you can see, it was just inside the doorway leading into one of the bedrooms. WTF?! How on earth is anyone supposed to move furniture past that? I love how they tried to pretty it up with a basket of fake flowers sitting on top.

Termites in the roofbeams.

"Beautiful koi pond in backyard!" the ad copy probably read. Eeewwwwww.

Aaaah, who needs working drainspouts here in Seattle? Not this house! Magic fairies must drain all their roof rain away. Or maybe that's what this hose is for! Note: do not look at the rotting wood under the eaves, it's just an illusion!

Ahhhh, good times, good times. Here's the house we ended up with. We knew right away this was our house. Japanese maple in front! Big back deck! Even bigger backyard! Built-in bookshelves!
We love it here and have no plans to move, mainly because house hunting is a total drag.

Baby otters and fawns and stuff!

2006-04-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Please check out Sea Shepherdess's blog for a good/sad otter update and pix of a very cute fawn!

A quiet week

2006-04-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts but after Monday's self-created drama, there hasn't been much going on at Casa de Westering Hills. The weather has been gorgeous--blue sky, sunny, 70 degrees--every day and I've been enjoying our back deck once more in the afternoons with a book and a bowl of popcorn. I've been trying to rouse myself from inertia with regards to house chores but haven't found the interest.

Thus, I am glad to be getting away from the house for a day or so by going on the annual Yakima Valley Winery tour with my friend Gregg's dad et al! We leave this afternoon and return t'mrow evening. With the exception of a few years that I could not join, I've been doing this trip since 1996 and always look forward to it. The Yakima Valley is south and east of Seattle, just over the Cascade Mountain range. The valley is the same latitude/longitude/whatever as the wine-growing regions in France (at least, this is what I recall but am too lazy to fact-check for you) so excellent wine is produced there. For this one weekend in spring, the string of 30 wineries are open to the public and you are able to taste the wines, then buy them. We always start at one end and work our way to the other, skipping the wineries we don't like. It's the only time of the year that it feels "okay" to drink wine before noon--hell, before 10am! This year, it's Gregg's dad, Gregg, Gregg's girlfriend, and a few others I've never met. Sadly, Barrett can't make it as his band is playing a show t'mrow evening. That's the only bummer.

The other exciting (to me, at least) thing that I am looking forward to when I return is my volunteering at the Seattle branch of the National Archives! I feel like a complete dullard for not realizing until two days ago that the National Archives had a branch here in Seattle. After all these years of dreaming about working at NARA, I could've been volunteering (and possibly employed, who knows!) in my own backyard! As Chris Farley would say, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" I've contacted the volunteer coordinator and will be stopping in on Monday, if not today. She said they are very eager for volunteers. Masters degree specializing in research and archiving, here I come!

I'm over it!

2006-04-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it took one day of me being really upset, and then one day of being depressed about finances and feeling low in the self-worth department, and then today, I'm fine! It was just a job interview, there will hopefully be other ones in the future, more hopefully with the U. W. In retrospect, here are some good and bad aspects of that day:

BAD

- I've never not gotten a job I've interviewed for so that was a blow to my ego, which is hilarious because that just means I've been incredibly lucky all these years.

- The hiring manager told me that the person they did hire had "broader skills for the position" than I. That puzzled me at first--broader skills to answer the phone, type info in a database, set up classrooms, order textbooks, etc.? I could do that job so easily, it almost hurts. In pondering that further, I think (and readers, correct me if you think I'm wrong here) that was a very polite way of telling me that she thinks I am overqualified for the position and is afraid I might get bored with it. Some of their questions to me in the interviews were going down that path. So crap, it's just what I feared--I stayed in my last job too long and have effectively hemmed myself into a job type I want nothing to do with, yet I can't go "lower" because I'm "too qualified." What the hell am I supposed to do? I've already dumbed down my resume as much as I can. . .

- I was very disappointed in not getting this job because not only were they very nice people that I wanted to work with but (forgive the horrible sentence structure here) one of the main reasons I (and many others, I know) want to work for the U. W. is the free tuition per quarter benefit that goes with it. By working there, I could essentially get my Masters for almost free. If I don't, it will cost me roughly $30K. This benefit is so important to me that when I heard I wasn't hired, I felt like my future Masters degree flew out of my grasp.

GOOD

- The hiring manager did tell me that she and the staff really really liked me and that it was a close call. All standard things to tell the loser, I suppose.

- But then she went on to say that if another position opened up in that department, she would hire me on the spot. AND THEN, she said that she thinks I would make a great U. W. employee and was going to call around to other managers she knows to see if they had any openings to recommend me for! This is not a standard thing to say to the loser; why would she say those things if she didn't mean it? I believe her and I thanked her profusely for that, letting her know that if she did that for me, I would really appreciate it because I would love to work for the U. W., blah blah blah (hopefully I wasn't too ingratiating, I barely remember what I said because I was trying not to cry).

- I then proceeded to drink a few yummy vodka drinks out in the hot sun on the back porch for the rest of the day, talked to my mommy ("Mommy, the mean people didn't hire me, wahhh!"), and then talked to a very old friend that I haven't said boo to since about 1986. So the day certainly wasn't a total wash! And Barrett came home later that evening and that is always a very good thing.

Finis.

On a more personal note, I would like to tell Sher at What Did You Eat? that I'm sooo glad she is out of the hospital and doing well. Also, I made her Salmon with Chiles dish and we declared it "a keeper!" So delish!

I didn't get the job.

2006-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

So after I found out, I had my cry and my anger and my hurt and my feeling utterly worthless moments, and then decided that I could blog about it in an objective way. But it turns out that I am still feeling angry and hurt and utterly worthless an hour later, so I'll have to be objective about it tonight or t'mrow.

WCB #46

2006-04-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Whenever we bring a box into the house, it is immediately taken over by Colin, whereupon it becomes that day's Best. Toy. Ever. And playing with other toys within it is the Most. Fun. Ever!

Oh, that darn tail! I'll get it yet!

See Kiri rip it up over at Clare's House o' TP!

Time to concentrate on food instead of anxiety

2006-04-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Nope, haven't heard yet. I will be calling her on Monday morning if I don't hear anything by the end of today, just to check on status and let her know I am very interested. I'm not going to sweat it anymore as it is clearly out of my control for now.

I am instead going to get back to the cooking! Here are some healthy recipes that I'm going to make this weekend/coming week:

Salmon with Chiles and Basil
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Creamy Wild Rice Soup
Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms
Spring Onion, Sweet Pea, & Asparagus Risotto
Various salads, sort of a mix and match

I've fallen a bit off of the the strict Weight Watchers wagon and need to climb back on. I only have 5-8 lbs to go! This weekend with Barrett (I'm giving up calling him by his initials) gone is a good opportunity for me to do this. It really can be a bit harder to diet with someone else in the house and by that, I mean I'm eating all of Barrett's tortilla chips, dammit!! So it's nobody's fault but my own.

Off to the lake. Bye!

Big Nothing

2006-04-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Not a peep, not a word, not a call. Someone told me that since the U. of Washington is a gov't operation, they are notoriously slow with processes. So I will wait with kittycat zen patience.

BW leaves very early t'mrow morning for four days, heading off to Providence, RI, as his band is playing at the Terrastock Festival. They are also playing a show in New York City t'mrow evening and he will be seeing our dear friend Howard while there. Here is a photo of me and Howard taken back in, uh, 2002, I think, when I visited him in NYC:
I've always liked this photo because it's so washed out as to render us both just a pair of eyes and lips. There was some reason why we deliberately took our photo in front of this painting at the Pig n Whistle Irish pub and now I can't remember why. Howard, do you?

Nothing, I heard nothing today.

2006-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sigh.

*sips glass of white wine, wonders what tomorrow will bring*

"Why haven't you called Shannon yet?!! She's driving me crazy!!"

Another plug for the critters

2006-04-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

I know, I've already linked to my sister's blog once before but she's updated it WITH BABY OTTER PHOTOS. Need I say more? Go gaze at the cuteness!

I could wear jeans to work, JEANS!

2006-04-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

My "meet the staff" interview went well! Besides the program manager, there were five others, a mix of ages and all women but one. They were all very nice and told me about their individual positions in the program. I noticed that two of them were wearing jeans. Jeans, in the middle of the week, not just a Casual Friday! Man, to be able to wear pretty much whatever I want at a job would be great. . . but I digress. More importantly, the fact that they were wearing jeans just lent credence to what I'd gleaned from the first interview, that this is a open, casual office. I could dig that, after the slow, soul-crushing that was my last job. They all seemed impressed that I'd been at my last employer for 9 years. They asked me questions, I asked them some questions, there was a lot of laughing, and by the end of the 45 minutes, I really felt that I was "in." The hiring manager told me that there was one other strong candidate and would let me know "very soon" her decision.

I feel so sure of my impending hiring that I will be quite crushed if I am not offered this job. You all have been forewarned!

I'm off to my "second interview"

2006-04-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Wish me luck, internet peoples! I'll tell all when I return this evening.

Yep, it's a different template!

2006-04-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

I got tired of the old one so I switched. This one is similar in color but feels cleaner to me, for some reason. I did lose all of my links but that's it. When I was little, I used to change the furniture around in my bedroom all the time because I would get sick of it looking the same, always searching for the perfect set-up. I suppose this is the blogging equivalent of that!

WCB #45

2006-04-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

We're having a garage sale today at the Westering Hills Estate. Gettin' rid of some old stuff, some stuff we don't use anymore, and one item in particular that we really think will fetch a handsome price. If interested, do what the sticker says and make an offer!

See other cats for sale, or at least for rent, at Clare's!

Further proof that I am a Big Dork.

2006-04-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

We're having a garage sale t'mrow and this afternoon, I went out to the garage to get all of the non-sale items scooched to the back so nobody would mistake our precious gardening equipment as "for sale." As I was stacking boxes and whatnot on top of each other, I noticed that there was a shelf high above my head that was relatively empty. Perfect for stacking stuff! I grabbed an empty box and, on tippytoe, shoved it above my head. It got up there but was leaning against the fluorescent light fixture. My practical Capricorn self could not stand for that--it must not be leaning against the light fixture! So I grabbed one of my old crutches to poke it into place.

I'm not sure what happened next, it all happened so quickly. As I poked, the crutch knocked against the light fixture. One of the fluorescent bulbs fell out of the fixture, cracking and dropping glass on me, and in a panic, I leaped out of the way as the long bulb came shattering to the floor. Somewhere in there, the crutch hit my face and I gave myself a fat, bloody lip. All of this took place in about 3 seconds, mind you.

Big. Fat. Dork. This could only happen to me. As my dad would say, "Way to go, Calhoun!"

Hopin' to help the critters!

2006-04-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

Here's what I hope to do once again this year at Wolf Hollow with Heather some Saturday morning:

Feed baby crows. . .

and help give multiple baby harbor seals their daily baths (much hard work paid off by much cuteness)!

News!

2006-04-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

As some of you have guessed via emailing me, this is about a new job! I had an interview last Friday morning for a job at the University of Washington (won't go into details yet to hang onto the last vestiges of superstition/jinxing) (it's just an admin assistant-type job, by the way) and the hiring manager called me on Monday to say that she was calling my references. She just called me and asked me to come into the office next Monday so "the staff could meet me." I take that as a good sign!

As you may know from reading my blog or just knowing me, I quit my job of many many years last November. I quit without another job lined up, too. AND I have a mortgage! Scary, eh? Well, it wasn't. It was exhilarating and the right thing for me to do in terms of my mental health. I had, however, been actively applying for jobs since last January (that's 2005, kids). Can you believe that this job interview I just had at the U. W. was the FIRST ONE in the 15 months I've actively been seeking new employment? Now that's frightening to me. I was on the verge of job-seeking despair, truth be told, and was getting ready to join a temp agency for some temp work when this department called me in for this interview. I am, in short, mighty relieved. I am also quite ready to go back to work after a 6 month "sabbatical." Keep your fingers crossed for me!

No news yet.

2006-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

So nothing much to report from the Shannon household. I'm hoping to hear something today or t'mrow. To keep my mind off of it, I am going to the gym today, and then I'm going to make Orangette's Endive, Feta, Radish, and Cilantro salad and a potato-leek soup. Then, I will be pricing stuff for our garage sale on Saturday.

Since this post is so tedious, I will leave you with a photo I found online:

iPod/mp3 player as Magic 8-Ball meme!

2006-04-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, it's not really a meme but I'm turning it into one. I saw this on Catheroomination's blog and it looked like fun--and face it, easy--so I wanna do it too! I tag anyone reading this who has an iPod type device!

Directions: Shuffle all the songs in your iPod (or in my case, mp3 player), then use the resulting songs to answer the following questions, in the order in which they appeared.

How does the world see you?
Come On! Feel the Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens [okaaaaay. . .]

Will I have a happy life?
William, It Was Really Nothing - The Smiths [hmmm. . .]

What do my friends really think of me?
Weekends in Jail - The Intelligence [ha! if only I were that interesting!]

Do people secretly lust after me?
You've Lost Me There - Cardinal

How can I make myself happy?
Cynical Days - XTC [yep, pretty much]

What should I do with my life?
Failure - Kings of Convenience [oh, great]

Will I ever have children?
Peep-Hole - Guided By Voices [sounds kinky!]

What is some good advice for me?
Mohawk - Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker [HA! I have been irritated with my hair lately. . .]

How will I be remembered?
Gouge Away - Pixies

What is my signature dancing song?
Felicity - The Wedding Present [I adore this song so perfect!]

What do I think my current theme song is?
Lament - Blake Babies [yeesh]

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
No Motion - Dif Juz

What song will play at my funeral?
Petty (Thief) Lout - The Fall [hee!]

What type of ~~women~~ men do you like?
West Coast Love Affair - Unrest

What is my day going to be like?
Another Bridge - Everything But the Girl [this could be very appropriate, considering the potentially exciting news I will reveal later this week!]

Not exactly Cuteoverload.com material

2006-04-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one out there who didn't know about the existence of these Continental Giant Rabbits? There's something terribly wrong when the fluffy-wuffy bunny's head is bigger than your own.

The Schnozz is back!

2006-04-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

She has recovered from her vacation at the lovely Sea-Tac Airport, uh, I mean Seattle and has posted all about it!

Note: I realize that her photos are meant to reflect her and her time in Seattle, but I do feel the need to point out that one of those photos of me (specifically the first one in front of my house) is one that I would've deleted off of my own camera in a heartbeat, due to the fact that my hair looks pretty bad and the crows-feet around the eyes, my god, the crows-feet! Me and natural light = not so hot. Me and candlelight = smokin'. From now on, all photos of myself will be taken in candlelight or Photoshopped into sepia tone. I so decree.

However, I do look pretty great as a comic character! The Great Schnozz-Off comic extravaganza has delighted me to no end. She's a genius, folks, I'm tellin' ya! I'm betting for a small fee or more pretty shoes, she will turn your life into a comic adventure as well; no harm in asking, right?

Weekend Sea Lion Blogging!

2006-04-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

I just have to give the mad props to my sister, Heather, for her new blog, Sea Shepherdess. If you want to read about the weekly happenings at San Juan Island's Wolf Hollow wild animal rehab center, as well as see photo of the wild animals they are rehabbing, this is the blog to check out! I assume she will also be talking about the work she does at her job with the Sea Shepherd, too, which is also cool.

And by me calling attention to her blog, it will force her to blog more often--bwa ha ha! I am so clever, I kill me.

WC-BB #44

2006-04-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

You read that correctly: WC-BB! This is a very special post here at Westering Hills; not only is it Weekend Cat but also Weekend Blogger Blogging, where feline and blogger collide! Dear readers, I present Colin and the infamous Schnozz!
Here you have proof that it is possible for a cat to look both bemused and resigned at the same time. Too hilarious.

See other photos just as beautifully posed at Clare's!

There is a thing as too much pizza.

2006-04-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

I know some of you may disagree but I finally reached that point last night. I like pizza, don't get me wrong, but for me, pizza is a once-in-a-blue-moon food. I don't usually crave it and don't eat it more than once every few months. But this past week, it's been all about the pizza! I suspect it may be diet backlash. In any case, between all the pizza and all the houseguests (and hence, all the eating out), I haven't really been cooking food at home--except for this delightful recipe that I found while flipping through a Cooking Light magazine at the gym. BW and I both pronounced this a keeper. Here it is, I paraphrase quite a bit as I'd hastily scribbled it on the back of scrap paper:

Linguini with Basil-Pea Cream Sauce

1/2 cup chopped leek
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
20 oz. frozen peas
1 cup fresh chopped basil, packed
1 tbsp olive oil
16 oz. mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz. linguini
Salt, pepper to taste
Fresh basil for garnish

- Saute leek in butter for 3 minutes until soft. Get the linguini started; cook until done, drain, and set aside in the meantime.

- Stir in 3/4 cup of the broth and all of the peas. Bring to a boil, then simmer for five minutes.

- Remove about 1 cup or so of the pea/leek mixture and set aside. Add to the remaining pea mixture the rest of the broth, the 1 cup of basil leaves, and the olive oil. Blend in blender or use immersion blender. Add the pea mixture you set aside back in for texture.

- Saute the mushrooms and the garlic in butter or oil until soft. Stir into the pea mixture, add the cooked linguini.

- Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garnish of fresh basil if you wish.

Notes: I used whole wheat penne instead of linguini; I think whole wheat pasta works well with the hearty pea sauce. I would also add more chopped basil to the pureed pea mixture, as it was overwhelmed by the peas (which is fine since the peas themselves are sublime, but then pointless in the first place, yes?) (maybe the basil adds texture to the peas somehow?).

This was me a year ago.

2006-04-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

Kinda sad, eh? I always thought that if I ever broke one of my lower extremities that I would be one of those amazingly capable people that just went on business as usual, I'm just on crutches, no big deal, la la la! Instead, my body betrayed me so much during this time that I couldn't even use a normal crutch for my left arm since I sprained my wrist using the normal crutch. Hence the Dork Crutch. (The keyword there is "dork," by the way, as in "I am a big.") And because of the Dork Crutch and the fact that my doctor kept me in a cast for FIVE WEEKS (which I felt was excessive; there was a woman at my work who had surgery on her broken ankle and she was only in a cast for three!), I just fell apart and lay on the couch every night, whinging about how much it sucked to be immobile, how much it sucked to be me, wah wah wah. I don't know how BW kept his eye-rolling hidden so well from me. I still owe him for those weeks of Whinefest.

This was my foot about an hour after the cast was taken off:

Gross, isn't it? I didn't expect to see that long bruise on the side of my foot at all but I thought that was kinda cool. Also, all that dark yellow skin on my heel and toes? Half an inch of dead skin, my friends. And of course, five weeks of hair growth on my leg, all squished down flat--mmmm, sexy! My new motto for the rest of my life is "Never break another bone again, dumbass!" 'Cuz when you're an adult and you break a bone, it doesn't get you out of PE class like it did when you were a teenager; it just makes you want to throw your Dork Crutch across the livingroom in a fit of frustration one evening, scaring the crap out of the cat. (I didn't do that, no sirree, not me!)

La Schnozz is still here, y'all.

2006-04-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

She did not make it out of the clutches of Seattle. She has just awakened. We are hoping she can catch a flight today so keep your fingers crossed!

Sorry my posts have been short. It's just one of those "short post" phases I'm going through. More later, I promise! (I love how I'm under the impression that anyone actually cares. Heh.)

Dream blog!

2006-04-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is interested, I've created a dream blog. You can view it by going to my profile and clicking on it. I decided to try and keep a journal of my dreams, as they are prone to being very vivid and odd, even hallucinatory at times. Maybe everyone's dreams are like this, I don't know. It seems that most people I talk to don't remember their dreams--how sad for them! Then again, if they have nightmares, it may be for the best. Me? I don't have nightmares. I don't even have bad dreams. I consider myself lucky in this regard! Anyway, read it or don't. The dream blog is really just a blog for my funky subconcious and my subconcious doesn't care if it has an audience!

Dan vs. The Butter Police

2006-04-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

This short restaurant review by Dan Savage made me laugh, especially the last sentence. What on earth would possess a restaurant to make this type of asinine business decision?

WCB #43

2006-04-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is one of the many places that Colin likes to hide so he can jump out at us when we walk by. He enjoys the sneak attack (no claws, bless him!) so much, that we often make a game of it: "Doot doo doo, here I am, walking by the table, not a kitten in sight, doot doo doo," we'll sing-song aloud as we pass by the table, then WHAM! Kitten Sneak Attack, whereupon he runs away, wild-eyed and happy. Best Game Ever. Being a kitten must be loads of fun.

Colin turns 7 months old this week--they grow up so fast! Sniff!

See Kiri the wooly turtle and a host of others at Clare's!

The Almighty Schnozz came to Seattle. . .

2006-04-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

. . . and I forgot to bring my damn camera! So y'all's just gonna have to meander on over to her place to hear the tales of noses, hoodies, and otters! (Noses, hoodies, and otters, oh my! Noses, hoodies, and otters, oh my!)

I'm sad she is gone. I miss having a fun female friend to pal around with and laugh about absolutely nothing with. Boy, that was ungrammatical. I should change that to "with which to" somewhere in there but I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE IT. I'm going to the gym instead.

Bean soup tonight!

2006-03-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

Just saw this Garlic White Bean Soup recipe on Farmgirl's site and fell in love. What is it about the siren song of soup that lures me into its delicious snare? I feel like I could eat nothing but soup for a week and not get tired of it. So that's what's on the menu for tonight. It's cloudy and chilly out so a bean soup is certainly not out of season yet here.

By the way, I only have three more days left in my Defying of the Merrymaking left and I'm actually kinda bummed about it. Which is silly because it's a self-imposed sabbatical, right? I can just extend it if I want to, right? I might do just that and you wanna know the main reason behind it? I've lost six pounds this month! Six! I've been hitting the gym almost every other day, I haven't drank any alcohol (and therefore, no empty calories & no late night munchies), I've been eating soup every day with meals, and most importantly, I've been following Weight Watchers almost to a T. I see no reason to not continue this program.

I'm off to the gym. I leave you all with this picture I found that makes me very happy. Feel free to steal it as it's too cute to not be shared!

The Queen of the Gym

2006-03-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

I went to the gym today and saw the Queen of the Gym. And I was thrilled!

When I joined my gym about four years ago, there was a woman who was there every time I went. She was there so often, I nicknamed her the Queen of the Gym. She spent almost all of her time (at least 90 minutes) on this big elliptical machine in the middle of the gym and chatted up everyone that walked by her with a kind word or conversation about current events. She was short and pretty with long red hair. I was mesmerized by her and not for her beautiful hair, her cardio ability, or her conversational skills: this woman was very anorexic. Very. So much so that I was truly afraid she was going to have a heart attack in the middle of her workouts. I wondered what the people who worked at the gym thought of her and whether it puts a gym in an awkward position to watch someone slowly help kill themselves using their facility. I had to avert my eyes whenever she undressed in the locker room because she was so incredibly fragile-looking, I wanted to cry. A year or so into my workouts, she stopped coming. At least, I didn't see her anymore. I hoped she was okay, that she hadn't died, that maybe she got some help. I forgot about her after a year of her absence.

I saw her today for the first time in over two years. She was on the same machine and everyone that walked by stopped and remarked that they hadn't seen her in a long while, how are you, good to see you again! She has gained about 15-20 lbs! She looks haggard and older, as if she's been through a great trial and survived. She doesn't have that overly-bright-eyed gleam in her eyes anymore. She's alive! Clearly she got some help. I am very happy for her. Welcome back, Queen of the Gym!

WCB #42 addendum

2006-03-26T15:24:00.000-08:00

So I am about to make Farmgirl's Spinach Soup so I get out my bags of fresh spinach from the fridge, leave them on the counter, and then walk away from the kitchen. I normally don't leave food items out on the counter because the cats get very curious about What Could Be Up There And Is It Made of Dairy For Me To Lick? (Even more so now that both cats are on diets due to sudden late-winter-onset pudginess.) So vegetables? Not too concerned.

But when I heard suspicious crinkling in the kitchen a few minutes ago and asked BW, standing nearby, to see what is going on, he tells me that Colin is nosing around the spinach bags. A minute later, he informs me that Colin has ripped open one of the bags and is taking off with spinach dangling from his kitty lips! Sure enough:

I've heard of people on diets reluctantly eating more veggies but cats on diets eating veggies on purpose?! Guess it's time for some cat grass!

WCB #42

2006-03-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

This is another in my series of Cats That Don't Actually Live in My House But Have Some Connection to Me.

Back in early- to mid-2000 (I can't quite remember), I was single and bored. My friend Dave was single and bored. We both love cats, so we decided to go to the shelter and adopt a kitten. It would stay at my place for a couple of weeks, then his place, then mine. Even though my apartment building was strictly "no pets allowed" and I'd begged my building manager for cat to no avail, I decided to chance it anyway. So we went to a shelter and found 4-month-old sibling kittens, a male and a female, both beautiful grey/silver tabbies. We adopted them, carted them back to Dave's place, and named the male kitten Elliott (after this singer/songwriter) and the female Squee (after this comic character). They were adorable and I was thrilled to finally have cats in my place, albeit sneakily. They were "my first" cats, really, and I kept them at my place as much as I could.

I don't remember how many months went by before I came home one day and found a stern message from my apartment manager--he'd been out in the back of the building picking up trash and Elliott had stepped through the blind slats and was sunning himself on the windowsill in full view. I was busted, and brokenhearted. I lied to him and said I was just catsitting for a friend who was out of town and would return them in a few days. So back to Dave's they went and stayed for good. Dave soon after met someone, got engaged, then married, and they moved to New Orleans in late 2001, taking Squee and Elliott with them. By that time, I was with BW and not so lonely, and as we were making plans to move in together and get our own cat (as well as get Enrique back), I wasn't too upset. It was the last time I ever saw them in person though.

As you can guess, Squee and Elliott, along with my friends and thousands of others, became New Orleans refugees (or as Dave called them, "refuSquees"). They now reside in Washington DC and I hope to see some important cat lobbying efforts on their part! Dave recently emailed me photos of them. Here is Elliott:

And the Princess Squee (look at that ruff!):

P. S. - When I moved out of my apartment building a few months after the cats left town, it was still in the midst of the Seattle Dot.Com boom, and apartments were plentiful, cheap, and featuring lots of amenities not previously available in order to attract tenants. So starting with my newly-vacant apartment, "ALL PETS WELCOME!" Bastards.

See more fluffy, and possibly not-so-fluffy, kitties at Clare's!

It's cheesy, and fluffy, and creamy, and . . . cheesy!

2006-03-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

Parmesan mousse from Lex Culinaria. One word: YUMMERS.

Polenta with Tomato-Spinach Ragout

2006-03-22T16:28:00.000-08:00

Dear friend Anne sent this recipe to me last year--unsure where she got it or if she made it up herself--and I recall it being quite tasty! So when BW expressed an interest in a polenta dish for dinner, I pulled this recipe out with glee for tonight's rainy-day dinner. Here it is:

SOFT POLENTA WITH TOMATO-SPINACH RAGOUT

1.5 cups cornmeal
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
3/4 cup grated Parm (or similar) cheese
4 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 oz. fresh spinach, stemmed
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar to start, then more to taste (I recall using more)

1. In a medium saucepan, combine cornmeal, 1 tsp salt, and 4.5 cups of water to boil, then reduce to medium-low heat. Whisk every few minutes for about 25 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheese; season with salt and pepper.

2. Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until they are brown around the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer to plate.

3. Add remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and cherry tomatoes to the skillet. Saute for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and half a cup of water. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to collapse. If they are not collapsing, crush them or pierce them with a fork. Add the spinach and cook, stirring until it wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, add balsamic vinegar, and season with salt & pepper.

4. Spoon the hot polenta onto plates, making a depression in each mound. Spoon spinach-tomato ragout into depression, then spoon onions on top (alternatively, mix onions back in with ragout first to reheat & then serve all together). Serve immediately.

Glamor Bitch stole my shuckin' table!

2006-03-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

Now there's a blog title I'm sure no one's ever typed before!

So today I volunteered for the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance's 17th Annual Anthony's Oyster Olympics at Anthony's Homeport restaurant. BW's brother Chris works for PSA and when he sent an email asking me if I could volunteer during the day to help out, I accepted. Heck, it's something interesting to do, it's for a good cause, and the best part: as a volunteer, I could indulge in all the free oysters and food (and wine, were I drinking) without having to pay the $85 ticket donation fee!

I was signed up to be a timer for the oyster shucking contest. This sounds innocuous but it turns out that this contest is practically the Grande Dame of oyster shucking contests in the nation and the participants (all prestigious seafood restaurant cooks) take it very seriously, practicing for months ahead of time. Our coordinator explained how we were to time them, where to stand, etc., then finally asked us to choose one of the 20 tables to time. I stepped up to Table 2, placed my water bottle on it, then stepped back momentarily to let others pass me in the crowded aisle. And that's when Glamor Bitch stole my table--a overly-made up girl dressed in a fancy cocktail dress (the rest of us volunteers were in jeans) stepped in front of me and grabbed the clipboard at my table, careful to not look at me, before I could take the two necessary steps towards it. When I stood looking at her for a few seconds and then reached around her to take back my water bottle with a polite frown on my face, she said very wide-eyed, "Oh, was this your table?" but did not make a move to give it up. That's when I noticed that the rest of the tables were taken. "Oh, well, that's okay," I grinned through gritted teeth and retreated to the back of the room. Bitch.

Yes, it's a very very stupid thing for me to get irritated over but I could see at a glance that she knew exactly what she was doing and that, dear readers, is what incensed me. Women have the ability to be so good at being catty and playing the innocent at the same time, and really for the pettiest of reasons. When do girls learn to do this? (On a side note, why do so many men not pick up on it?) As Jane Austen once commented (and I paraphrase), it's the very reason I am so hard on my own sex.

I was right to be suspicious of her, by the way. I kept my eye on her during the next hour. Timers were told that they had to stay crouched low during the actual shucking heats so they would be out of the way of the photographers. I saw her start to stand up whenever a photographer came towards her table; she was trying to get into the photo. So transparent, that one.

After the shucking contest, I wandered around, sampling all different kinds of oysters and food. I had fun pretending to bid on the pricey silent auction items. I saw Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and local newsanchor Christine Chen, who ended up winning the Celebrity Oyster Slurping contest later. I ate way too many tiny, delicious desserts, including about six mascarpone fruit tartlets. I was anxious to leave, however, as I was alone during much of this. Social events of this kind are no fun alone for wallflowers like myself. As I left, I told the head coordinator that I would be interested in volunteering for the next benefit event, which is to be held at the Seattle Aquarium in October: free food, drink, and otter gazing! How can I pass up such an invitation?

A quick check-in

2006-03-21T12:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, whoever is still reading this. I'm at the tail end of my stupid cold, I hope, but since I've been staying home every day, there's not much to report that is interesting. I haven't even been cooking really. More later, I promise!

No nothin'.

2006-03-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

I still have this cold and it seems to get worse each day. I do believe I have a slight sinus infection even. So, no casino last night, no boyfriend's band tonight, no bending over without intense pain in my sinus cavities, no energy, no gym, no walks, no sense of humor left. In short, I am one cranky little girl.

My only comforts are that I just made a chicken stew and I have three new episodes of "Firefly" to watch tonight. T'ain't much but I'll take it. Later.

Sneeze, sniffle, and sigh

2006-03-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

I have a cold; it's Barrett's cold from last weekend. It hit me all at once at the gym yesterday--I sneezed once, felt that familiar tingling in the back of my nose, then with the immediate sore throat and sniffling. My colds used to sneak up on me but nowadays, they manifest in a single moment. How odd is that? So I came home, lay on the couch, and watched reruns of old tv shows from my youth. Comfort tv!

I should be over this before The Almighty Schnozz blows through town this coming week, however, and that is all that truly counts! Oh, and she needs to bring Carlos the Hamster with her in order to soothe his tortured little soul with a change of scenery. I'm thinking that maybe he's read too many Phillip K. Dick novels and that suddenly EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME BUT NOTHING *IS* THE SAME, CAN'T YOU ALL SEE THAT?! At least that's how I feel after reading Dick. Besides, I have it from a reliable source that the Seattle girl hamsters are totally hott!

See--yowza! Getting some fuzzy action might do him a world of good. And, I imagine that if he wore a stylin' outfit like this:
he'd be the mack daddy of all the West Coast Hamsters! I'm just sayin' . . .

Defying the Merrymaking update

2006-03-14T20:49:00.000-08:00

It's the end of Day 16 of no drinking alcohol and I feel great! I haven't even missed it, truth be told, although I admit I've been avoiding alcohol-themed outings just in case. I think I've drank more herbal tea this month than in my entire life. I now crave tea after dinner--I'm turning into a little old lady right before your eyes!

I've also been hitting the gym every other day, almost without exception, since the beginning of February. Incredible for me, She of Usually No Willpower. Pat me on the back, internets! I feel I deserve it.

This are a couple of my favorite internet thingys ever

2006-03-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

I'd forgotten about The Banterist until today but was reminded of him when I saw a pigeon attempting to eat an awkwardly-shaped piece of bread at the lake: News for Pigeons!

And then there's this one, Cats Do Not Like Change. Brilliant.

Some idle Saturday evening websurfing . . .

2006-03-11T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is so wrong, so very very very times infinity wrong. " “I try to be discreet, but we have had some odd looks. People tend to be disgusted and disbelieving.” They do it in public?!! Aaaaaghh! Let's hope for their sake that these girls are homeschooled.

One can only imagine the pain this poor, well-intentioned man is in by the end of this little video! Although I feel sorry for him, I can't help but sorta root for the cat. Heh. Needs sound; when it starts to play, hit pause to let it fully load before watching.

One of these days, I will get around to buying this shirt.

WCB #40

2006-03-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

Last June, I saw a stray cat poking around our backyard, acting all squirrely and running underneath our deck quite often. One evening, as I was sitting out on the deck reading, I saw this cat make a mad dash for one of our very small bushes in the side garden and with her was this itty bitty hissing kitten!
I knew that I had to catch this mother/daughter team and take them to the no-kill shelter, else they might either starve or one of the male feral cats lurking about might kill the little one. I took the mewling kitten into the garage and lured the mom in; we eventually got them into the house, then into a carrier, and to the shelter. After an examination, the shelter surprised us with the news that this kitten did NOT belong to this stray cat; she'd merely adopted it as her own. Awwww! A coworker of mine told her friend about the kitten and she went to the shelter to adopt it--a happy ending! Apparently this cat is now a gorgeous, strong-willed calico named Tauri who happily rules her household. It was my best good deed of 2005.

More felines at Kiri's, uh, er, Clare's!

Record store rock star moments (warning: long rambling post!)

2006-03-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

Writing that music post got me to thinking about my days working at Cellophane Square Records in the University District, from late 1992 - July 1996. It was all in all an okay job--shitty pay, no medical benefits, a real headache in trying to get hungover people to do their jobs, super dirty and dusty (I am not the only person who came out of that job with an OCD handwashing affliction), but . . . I also met almost all my current friends through there (including three boyfriends, one with whom I'm about to plight my troth), was exposed to and bought tons of great music (BW and I must have about 2500 cd's between us, not including records), learned how to somewhat manage a small business (the answer is: poorly), got a lot of comped tickets to great shows (Guided By Voices in 1995 with free open bar at the Crocodile Cafe, wahoo!), and had a drunken good time almost every evening. You heard me--almost every evening for 3 years. I'm still unsure how I pulled that off but everyone around me was too; there's something magical in one's cellular makeup while in their twenties!

Anyway, Cellophane Square in the early to mid-1990's was considered the coolest used record store in Seattle and therefore most musicophiles (is that a real word? whatever) in town shopped there. After the store moved from its shoebox-sized location to a much bigger store with a built-in stage, we started having bands play there. So between those who came in to shop and those who came in to play, I had a few rock star moments that stand out, for good or bad. Here they are:

Soundgarden: I was working the closing shift at the store one evening before we moved to the big location, so this was probably 1993. I am clueless when it comes to what famous people look like, I'm much better with names. So when three members of Soundgarden came into the store to shop that evening, to me they were just some annoying customers that were possibly going to prevent me from closing on time. One of them walked up to the glass front counter where some of our out-of-print 7" records were on display and asked why two copies of the exact same Soundgarden record in the display were priced differently. Oh brother, it's one of these stupid music collectors who are trying to show me up, I thought. "I have no idea, I didn't price them," I said. "But there's a ten dollar difference. Shouldn't they be the same?" he insisted, with his two friends grinning like idiots behind him. "Yeah, probably. Here, I'll just make them both the lower price," I responded and pulled them both out to make the change. That's when I saw that the photo of the band members on the front of the record looked just like the guys standing in front of me. Oh, god. They all laughed at me, said they didn't care what the price was, they were just giving me a hard time, and left without buying anything. Ha ha ha, thanks, Soundgarden! Asswipes.

Mike McCready of Pearl Jam: Another case of not knowing faces. This was October 1994. I was again working the closing shift; there must've been someone else working with me but this person was absent for this entire exchange (doing books upstairs maybe?) as I recall being alone in the store. The store was empty, slow night, and two guys walk in. One was a shorter guy, only a few inches taller than myself, and he was kind of cute. He was also very nice; he started chatting me up and I found myself flirting with him as he had a great sense of humor. He was definitely flirting with me. We chatted for about 15 minutes while he grabbed cd after cd after cd to purchase. He and his friend finally came up to the counter and laid down about $300 worth of music, a huge purchase for our little store. I recalled a coworker telling me that sometimes the Alaskan fishermen will come off the boats after a long fishing job and spend all of their cash on music at the store, so I said jokingly to him, "What is this, did you just come off the fishing boat or something?" He looked at his friend, laughed, and said, "Yeah, that's what I'll tell people from now on, that I just got off the fishing boat! No, I just got out of drug rehab." "Oh," I replied, not knowing what else to say. Then he said, "Hey, would you like to come see my band play on Saturday evening at the Crocodile?" Oh, geez, he's in a band. Of course he's in a band, everyone in Seattle is in a band, usually a crappy band. But he is cute so I'll take a chance." Sure, what's your band?" He looked at his friend and saw that I really didn't know who he was. "Well, my usual band is Pearl Jam," --Oh god, it's Mike McCready, you moron!--"but this is a new band I just formed with Layne Staley and this guy here, Barrett (Martin)." So I said I'd be there. I went with my coworker Joel, Mike saw me, flirted with me some more, asked me to stick around after the show, I did, I saw that he was busy signing autographs, told him to come see me in the store again if he wanted, AND I NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN. So I missed out on the chance to date a rock star with some killer Seattle waterfront property. Alas alack! These days, he's busy being a celebrity spokesperson for Crohn's disease and doing what he can to educate about it.

Michael Franti of Spearhead: Michael Franti came to play a solo set in our store. Michael Franti is totally hot. He's about a foot taller than me and has a deep, velvety voice, not to mention smile, that could melt butter. When he shook my hand, I wanted to marry him. And when he was playing, I could see that all of the other women in the store felt the exact same way. Again, Michael Franti is hot! That is all.

John Doe of X: We somehow actually snagged X to play an in-store, sometime in 1995, I believe. The band used our shitty upstairs breakroom as their little lounge before going down to play. I had to go up and meet them because, well, c'mon people, it's X for Chrissake! The only one up there was John Doe. He stood up from his chair (he's a good 20 feet taller than me), held out his hand to me, smiled, and said, "Hi, I'm John Doe." I put my wee paw in his and probably said nothing at all, I was so in awe of his presence. I admit that I'm not the hugest X fan and therefore had never given much thought to any of the band members as individuals, but after meeting John Doe, I knew I was in the presence of someone great. And very nice. There's a man you could trust implicitly.

Luscious Jackson: Luscious Jackson didn't play in our store but they come to sign autographs for the fans. I was a huge fan and very excited they were showing up during my shift. We set them up behind our back counter. With the exception of Kate Schellenbach (Kate! sigh!), they were total snobs to the staff. They would barely speak to any of us. I was disillusioned, to say the least, and not surprised when I read reports in magazines afterwards of their bitchy reputations.

Lynda Barry: my first month at the store, during a morning shift, our regional manager Hugh came upstairs where I was and mentioned that Lynda Barry was downstairs. Lynda Barry!! I raced downstairs to take a peep at her and ended up ringing her up at the front counter. She was so sweet and recalled shopping in the store in the 1970s when she was a teenager, getting big crushes on the boys who worked there (my manager Hugh being one of them, he recalled). Even though she is not a rock star, she is my fondest celebrity moment, as I was and still am a huge fan of her work. I believe she and I could be BFF if only she'd let me! I sure wish I'd known about her garage sale . . . dang.

Both Melvins in-stores: I've been thinking long and hard about these two Melvins in-stores and have come to the conclusion that I simply could not do them justice. Dave, I'm leaving it up to you to tell these stories in my comments section. I've heard your descriptions of the absolute utter chaos and destruction of the store, and it's much better than anything I could type up. Pretty please for me? I will add that I did get to spend about an hour ringing up cd's at the back counter with the handsome Mark D. and his big cowboy hat. Yum!

I tag Karrie, BW, Dave (who doesn't have a blog so can use my comments section), Shymko, anyone else reading this who worked at Cellophane, and anyone with a rock star moment! I want to read your stories so hop to it!

Forget having a wedding cake!

2006-03-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

I think it would be much more memorable, not to mention hilarious, to see the look on everyone's faces when BW and I cut into & feed each other pieces of this! Who's with me? Anyone? Anyone? Hello, is this thing on? *tap tap tap*

Today's rant

2006-03-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

Lucky readers, being privy to my little fits of rage!

I read quite a few "mommy blogs" and I see this comment a lot:

"OMG, your baby is so cute, I'm starting to ovulate!" or "So cute, my ovaries are about to explode!"

Please please PLEASE, blog readers everywhere, stop typing this every time you spy a cute baby photo! This is the most overused and seriously stupid comment on the internet. No, I don't have any kids of my own and yes, I am 37 and sometimes get a yearning to have my own child; I am not immune to cute baby photos. But that phrase--yeesh. Find another less dumb way to express your appreciation.

Wedding info

2006-03-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Place: Farm Kitchen in Poulsbo (this website does not do the beauty & tranquility of it justice)

Date: Saturday, September 23rd (autumnal equinox!)

Me: starting to stress about details.

BW: foresees weary months of attempting to calm me down with regard to stressing about details.

Cats: will continue to eat, drink, poop, play, and fight as if they don't give one whit about a wedding. Lucky fuzzy bastards.

People who have influenced me musically over the years

2006-03-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

Marisa, 9th grade, 1983-4: before I started hanging out with Marisa (who was pretty much an outcast in our school--like me--due to her "weird" fashion styles--unlike me, who was just a plain old outcast), all of my music tastes were from the radio and from Mtv, which at the time was really the only place a girl in Dayton, Ohio could be exposed to "alternative music." I was in love with Duran Duran, Adam Ant, INXS, and other more embarrassing bands. I'm not sure when or why Marisa and I started hanging out but we did. She was very wealthy and therefore was given whatever she wanted by her doting mom and grandparents, and what she wanted were expensive import records from England! I spent countless afternoons and sleepovers listening to really cool, unknown-in-Dayton British pop bands, obsessing over them with her, writing stories about them, dressing up like them. These British pop bands were so influencial on me that to this day, I still love Brit Pop. I consider the music of this time period my "true self" music and will always adore it. Bands introduced: Aztec Camera, The Specials/Fun Boy 3/Colourfield (in short, anything with Terry Hall), Bananarama, The Bluebells, Billy Bragg, The Alarm (we doted on them!), The Cure, The Pogues, Lloyd Cole & Commotions, Siouxsie, and most important of all, The Smiths. The Smiths, The Smiths, The Smiths! When all is said and done, it's always gonna be about The Smiths for me. At my wake, I want The Smith's first album put on repeat, along with The Pogues (good Irish wake music!).

Howard, high school, 1983-7: Howard was the one who introduced me to the gothier side of the British music scene. He would make these tapes with elaborately-illustrated song listings; I wish I still had them but they, along with my Marisa tapes, were destroyed in water damage in an old apartment (sniff!). Howard and I lost touch after high school only to be reunited when I Googled his name in the late 1990's. He's still a big ole' goth boy and is still much cooler than I could ever hope to be. Fuck you, Howard! I love you. Bands introduced: Dead Can Dance, Joy Division, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, oh cripes, I'm sure there's more! Basically anything goth-y around that time period.

Jenny, college and post-college, 1988-92: I guess this really only counts as immediate post-college. I knew Jenny at Antioch before we all fled in terror and then three/four of us lived together in Cincinnati in a one-room, crumbling apartment the summer of 1989. I was only there for one month before I caught mono (from a very cute green-haired punk boy, I think) and moved back home. But in that one month, I was introduced to one of my all-time favorite bands. I wasn't working during that August in Cincinnati so had plenty of time to lay around the apartment during the day, reading and trying to keep cool in the sweltering heat. Jenny must've been working the evening shift at the local restaurant because she was often in the apartment with me, also laying around reading. Jenny would put on records and flip them over and over and over, usually the same few records. It dawned on me one day that one of these records had insinuated itself so completely into my subconcious, I couldn't shake it. I was obsessed. It was The Fall's "Hex Enduction Hour." My love affair with The Fall began that day. After I moved out to Seattle six months later, Jenny followed the next year. We hung out a lot and listened to music in her little apartment, music I was unfamiliar with but loved. She was my first introduction to what I consider the core alternative music for our generation. Bands introduced: The Fall, Pixies, Fugazi, Tom Waits, Meat Puppets, Harm Farm, Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom, Throwing Muses, Husker Du, Nick Cave & Bad Seeds.

Dave/Corey/Todd house, 1991-1995: During the last semester of college at U. W., I met my first serious boyfriend, Dave. We both worked at snooty Bellevue Square Mall--he worked at the cool little record store, I at a Cinnabon bakery. Dave lived in a rental house with two friends, Corey and Todd. I ended up spending most of my spare time over there and often felt like I was dating all three of them, we were so close. Dave brought home lots of cool music from the record store at a discount and music was on ALL THE TIME in that house, music I'd never ever ever heard before. That house was my first intro to the burgeoning "lo-fi" scene and also trippy, swirly music that was great to get drunk to and take drugs by, among others. It was good to have that background for my future career move as an underpaid record store clerk in the (at the time) coolest record store in Seattle. Bands introduced: My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Sebadoh, Breeders, Spacemen 3, Pavement, Ween, American Music Club, Wedding Present, Birthday Party, Bongwater, Brian Eno, Robyn Hitchcock.

Gregg, 1995 - present: I started dating my record store coworker Gregg in September 1995. I'd never met anyone like him and that holds true to this day! (People reading this who know him are nodding in agreement.) He is still one of my closest friends. Gregg pretty much hates all pop music, so he says, and therefore hated about 99% of my music collection. (I do give myself kudos for really introducing him to The Fall but that's about all I've done for him musically!) So whenever we hung out, usually at his apartment, we'd listen to whatever he wanted. I was flexible and hell, I was listening to some really new good and/or unusual stuff! The world of garage rock and Japanese hardcore was opened up to me, not to mention jazz & folk recordings from the early 20th century. Gregg's music made me feel, well, cool! For once in my life. Bands introduced: Caroliner Rainbow, Boredoms, other Japanese bands too numerous to mention, The Gories/Blacktop/anything with Mick Collins, A Small Good Thing, Bassholes, Country Teasers, Cows, Chrome Cranks, Nocturnal Emissions, Stilluppsteypa, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, 20 Miles, Neil Hamburger, and all the old old country, folk, and jazz music my little heart could desire. I'm leaving out soooo many bands, too, for space's sake!

BW, 2001-present: BW and I have always had very similar music tastes so much of our respective collections were either duplicates or albums that each of the other had simply never gotten around to buying but meant to. But once he joined his band a few years ago, he started playing nifty music from the late 1960s/early 1970s that I'd never heard, bands that directly influence his band. He also brings home promos from his band's label, some of which I enjoy and would never have bought otherwise. Some are bands he's toured with. Bands introduced: Can, Faust, Neu!, Acid Mothers Temple, Trad Gras Och Stenar, early King Crimson, early Genesis, early Fleetwood Mac, David Holmes, Bardo Pond, Jennifer Gentle, Oneida, John Vanderslice, High Rise, Mono, among countless others.

It makes me wonder: who's next?

WCB #39

2006-03-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

aka "Basket War 2006."

We had a little basket next to the front door that we used to put our mail and keys in. When Colin discovered it a couple of months ago, he found it much to his liking. Even though he barely fit into it, he would somehow perform amazing kitty yoga and fall asleep like so (note: no kitten was harmed in the making of this photo):

After a few weeks of watching this painful determination to sleep in the basket no matter uncomfortable even though I grow bigger every day!, I went out and hunted around for a new basket. I found the perfect one; big, square, and with a cloth lining. I replaced the old basket with the new and waited to see how he liked it. He didn't--that is, until he saw Trixie climb in! Well! There's been a basket domination struggle ever since. And even though Trixie is almost twice his weight, he seems to able to trounce her in the Basket War. She's found a new, not-so-jazzy sleeping spot:

"Don't mess with me and my basket!" (note: no photographer was harmed in the making of this photo):

See Kiri and all the others at Clare's!

Tarp and tart

2006-03-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

Sign off of Aurora Ave. in Seattle:

I actually have a smidgen of willpower!

2006-03-03T19:07:00.000-08:00

I spent the latter part of the afternoon making the split pea soup, which calls for a half cup of white wine. So I got out the teeny bottles of wine that I keep just for cooking and used half of a bottle for the soup. The other half then sat there, on the counter, sparkling at me, nay, TAUNTING ME to drink it. I'm only a half cup, no biggie, nobody will know, you needn't tell a soul what a sleazy weasel cheater you are with the daring to defy the merrymaking! it whispered seductively. It sat there for about an hour as I kept walking in and out of the kitchen to stir the soup, making kissy noises at me. The tease.

I dumped its ass down the drain!

The soup is delicious and this big pot of pineapple-ginger tea is much more satisfying. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

BW and I are going to the Kitsap State Park in Poulsbo tomorrow morning to check out a potential wedding location that we saw on the Washington State Parks website. We both have visions of an outdoor event and we both love the state parks, hiking, gawking at birds/trees/moss, etc. The Log Hall (scroll halfway down) may be a good choice in this regards, as not only does it have an outdoor pavillion and a catering kitchen (very important!), but has the option of using the hall in case it rains unexpectedly, as it is wont to do here in the autumn. So we shall see if it is to our liking and what dates it would be available. I'm trying not to fixate on the cost--eek!

Sorry, not much to say this week.

2006-03-03T08:04:00.000-08:00

I kind of feel like Jim in "Jim's Journal" these days--anyone remember this great anti-humor comic strip from the 1990's, drawn by Scott Dikkers, who then went on to found "The Onion?" He drew strips about Jim's life in which nothing of import ever happened: Jim gets up, goes to work, and then comes home. Jim takes a walk and it was nice. Jim bakes brownies and they were pretty good.

I sense that this blog is becoming Jim's world. I write about what I made for dinner. I write about the cats. I write about the fact that there's nothing to write about. I guess that's okay for now, as I really don't have much else going on. But the fact that I'm starting to think like "Jim's Journal" is the beginning of restlessness and some frustration. I can't believe I'm saying this but: I'm ready to go back to work!

Anyhoo, that's all for today's tedious musings. I have a list of things to accomplish and by gum, I'm a'gonna do 'em! Ciaou, babies.

p. s.: Tonight's dinner will be Sher's Split Pea Soup with Rosemary Croutons. I think it will be pretty good.

Ladies and gentlemen . . .

2006-03-01T10:55:00.000-08:00

. . . the man I am going to marry.

I tagged myself via Kristi for this meme

2006-02-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

My brain is wandering tonight and I can't seem to concentrate on anything, so here are some short lists about myself, as inspired by Interrupted Wanderlust:

Four jobs I've had in my life

1. Crewperson at Wendy's in glamorous Dayton, Ohio
2. Baker/cashier at Cinnabon's at horrible Bellevue Square Mall in Bellevue, WA
3. Record store clerk, then assistant manager at Cellophane Square Records in Seattle, WA
4. Workers' compensation claims manager at non-profit HMO in Seattle, WA

Four movies I'd watch over and over

1. Roman Holiday
2. The Graduate
3. Straight to Hell
4. A&E's Pride & Prejudice series

Four places I've lived

1. Dayton, Ohio (born-n-bred)
2. Montgomery, AL (in 3rd grade, as Air Force brat)
3. Yellow Springs, OH (college)
4. Seattle, WA (finished college, then never left)

Four TV shows I like to watch

1. The Simpsons
2. The Daily Show
3. Any of those PBS reality shows, like "Frontier House"
4. Antiques Roadshow

Four favorite places I've been on vacation

1. Belize
2. Annual weekend trip to Mt. Rainier, staying at the National Inn
3. Hawai'i
4. Disneyworld, twice, both before I was 12

Four websites I visit daily

1. Monkeyfilter
2. My personal blogroll (dozens of blogs!)
3. Slashfood
4. University of Washington employment page (still looking for work!)

Four of my favorite foods

1. Tomatoes
2. Asparagus
3. Popcorn
4. Let's be honest, anything salty and crunchy!

Four places I'd rather be right now

1. At the National Inn at Mt. Rainier, sitting in front of the lodge's big fireplace
2. Hawai'i
3. Oh, who am I kidding, I'd rather be nowhere else than here on the couch with the cats in my own home!
4. I'm totally serious, see #3!

Reminiscing about the Big Earthquake

2006-02-28T08:38:00.000-08:00

Today is the five year anniversary of the Big Earthquake that hit Seattle, which is really the only way I can remember when BW's and my dating anniversary is, since we started dating two days before. Sitting through the 45 seconds of that earthquake was one of the scariest and most exhilarating experiences of my life. I will never forget crouching under my old, heavy desk at work, feeling the ground rolling in huge waves under my body; it went on and on and I kept wondering when it was going to stop and if the building was going to start collapsing if it didn't stop. After it was done, I jumped onto the computer to email friends about it and then called my mom in Ohio to let her know I was okay--in both instances, news of the quake hadn't hit the rest of the world yet so I was the first bearer of this tale, which was cool! Afterwards, the workday was a complete wash. I walked around downtown with coworkers to see what damage there was; nothing much in my part of downtown (Belltown) except that a few cars were crushed under some masonry that had fallen off of the Icon Grill's rooftop. When I got back to my apartment in Capitol Hill, only one mirror had broken. Anyone else from Seattle reading this want to share their story?

BW and I made the Spicy Lemongrass Shrimp dish last night. It was amazing--Sher, you are right, the flavors were complex and rich, so much so that we didn't miss the intense heat that we normally flood into our stirfrys. It's nice to have that Vietnamese Stir Fry Sauce recipe handy for other dishes, too. Kudos to posting it for the rest of us!

Let Project "No-Alcohol March" commence!

2006-02-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, internets, I've had it with the drinking. I drank a wee bit too much yesterday (wee=a lot) by way of celebrating and am sort of "off" today (off=hangover). I'm *supposed* to be drinking little to none as part of my Grand Plan to Lose Some Weight in Order to Fit Into a Very Nice Dress When I Stand in Front of 80+ Friends/Family and Get Hitched. Drinking too much wine and eating Trader Joe's pizza, not to MENTION the Trader Joe's chocolate-covered pretzels, simply does not fit into this plan.

When I drink, I get the munchies. Ergo, no drinking for one month, starting today. I will hold myself accountable to everyone on this and see how it goes. If anyone has any yummy non-alcoholic alternatives to the gallons of hot herbal tea and water that I drink, please let me know!

p.s. - thanks for all the congratulations! *blush*

We decided it was okay to finally make the announcement . . .

2006-02-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

BW and I are engaged! We are celebrating five years of dating as of today so it's sort of nice to announce it today, of all days.

Nope, we haven't worked out any details of when, where, and what we will actually do. We haven't even told family yet (I will as soon as I post this!) but some friends already know. And now y'all know! I just thought I'd share this with Blogland.

Bye!

WarGames and asparagus soup

2006-02-25T18:03:00.000-08:00

Just a random entry as I hover over the onions, scallions, and garlic that I'm saute-ing for the Asparagus Soup. . . BW and I watched the movie "WarGames" (yes, it is one word!) on the telly this afternoon and I am of the opinion that it is the first movie aimed at the (then-unnamed) "Gen X", soon-to-be-computer-geeks slacker generation. I know I am not the only one who has said that this movie was their first introduction to computers in general, modems, hacking, and a fairly realistic account of what could happen if we let computers run everything, ie. World War Three. Oh, and that cool trick with the soda can tab and the payphone! Anyone else agree or disagree? I'd love to hear other opinions on what they consider the first "Gen X" movie, if not this one.

Golly, Jennifer, I just love my dual 8-inch IMSAI FDC-2 floppy drive, my 17-inch Electrohome monitor, my IMSAI IKB-1 keyboard, and my 1200 baud Cermetek 212A modem!

WCB #38

2006-02-25T10:12:00.000-08:00

We got a new Turkish rug for the house. It is very slippery and therefore, Quite Exciting if you're a spazzmo kitten named Colin!

Trixie cares not for such mundane household objects as rugs--after all, there are neighborhood cats to watch for whilst crouching over the heater on a chilly Saturday morning!
See kitty yoga, love advice, and technicolor cats at Eat Stuff!

Dinner update

2006-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Man, are these posts exciting or what?!!

I made the Leek & Sweet Corn Torte tonight and it was proclaimed veddy good by all, "all" being BW and my sis who is visiting. I was curious to find out if it was going to be more like a quiche or more like a souffle--it was the latter. I added shredded pieces of basil on the top of mine before putting it in the oven. This was so quick and easy, I'll be making it again!

Sad wierd dream

2006-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

I was in a kitchen of a house that I lived in with some other people (family members, I think) and someone noticed that a line of ants was crawling on the counter. I followed the line to the oven and opened the over door. The inside of the oven was FILLED with ants, wasps, and other assorted insects. I grabbed the incesticide and started spraying like a maniac but stopped short when I realized that amongst all of the pests were very tiny kittens, puppies, and horses, all covered in insects. My horror and paralyzing fear of the insects eventually overtook my instinct to save the other animals so I just kept spraying and spraying, sobbing the entire time.

Ick. What a lousy dream.

And the Scallion-Ginger Linguini!

2006-02-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

So I cheated and made the linguini dish, as noted below, tonight instead of waiting for later in the week. Hot damn, it was good! I used large prawns instead of chicken and added a bit more soy sauce, but only because I think I used more linguini than I should've. Such a quick dish to make, too. That's going to become a staple around here and the best part is, it's easy to alter/add to if need be!

With spinach soup and scallion linguini in my belly, I am now going to sit back with a pot of pineapple-ginger tea and finish watching season one of "Veronica Mars." Goo'night!

The spinach soup!

2006-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

It turned out terrific! And despite Susan Farmgirl's apprehension at taking a photo, I am so in love with the green green green color, I took a photo of the whole dang pot of it. Here it is (please ignore wierd flash swirl):

Now if this doesn't convince you to make this soup as soon as humanly possible, I don't know what will! Thanks again for the fab recipe, Susan!

Thanks, Findlayboy!

2006-02-21T15:52:00.000-08:00

With Findlayboy's gracious help, I've done some tinkering with making permanent font and font size changes. The font sizing in these Blogspot templates are funky to me but I've done all I can do. This is what everything will look like from now on.

On that note, it's time to go make Farmgirl Fare's yummy-sounding Spinach Soup. I wondered what I was going to do with all the spinach I just bought!