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February 29, 2004

Weekend Recap
I caught part of the "Great American Celebrity Spelling Bee" finals. Nice little ego boost there. Sure, you may be famous and/or rich, but humble little me can whoop your ass in a spelldown any day.

Otherwise, slept a lot. Finished Tam Lin - yawwwwwnnn. Killer sinuses again and nothing but Tylenol to turn to for comfort (yes, my dear, sweet ibuprofen is way up there on the Bad For Tadpole list, as I'm sure is D's generously-offered Vicodin). It's keeping my fever in check, not so much the pain. I've resorted to coating the end of my nose with VapoRub, which isn't going to win me any beauty contests, but it does seem to be helping open things up a little.

The thought of the Oscars does nothing for my health, so disinterested am I in any of the categories. And Billy Crystal. But maybe that's just because I'm feeling cranky.
02/29/04 04:35 PM |  Comments


February 27, 2004

Suggested Reading for the Sanguine Liberal
Today Beth discusses how easy it is for net-bound liberals to see impending victory for gay marriage through very rose-colored monitors.

Especially in California. Though my formative years in the northern Bible Belt have tempered my own optimism.
02/27/04 10:33 AM |  Comments


February 26, 2004

Kitschy Koo
Ever since we saw "The Full Monty," I've had an abnormal desire for a garden gnome (oh, and the kidnapping/roadtripping my sister and I performed on my mom's gnome a couple years back didn't help, either). Normal being my general distaste for all things statuary and borderline creepy outside my door. But now we have a yard, and it just looks like it needs some, oh, personality. The space isn't trashy enough for flamingos, classy enough for cherubs, rural enough for deer, or elderly enough for gazing balls. And let's not even go there. But an unassuming little gnome, now, that's the ticket. And a tiny door for our tree, hee!

Added fun: they're all controversial. And stuff.
02/26/04 07:03 PM |  Comments


February 25, 2004

Witchy Wind and Water
As a rule, we don't get weather here in the valley. But today the lights are flickering like mad, chunks of branch are being flung about, my little weather.com tray icon is blinking red (flood warning?!?), and the house is making funny/disturbing noises up top.

All this, of course, on the one day a month I *have* to venture downtown for my wait/weight/blood pressure/pee/condescending
& cursory q&a session/done! appointment. I'm leaving an hour early and taking the streets, because heck if I'm risking life and limb in my little Breeze on a highway with folks in Expeditions who don't know how to drive in the rain.
02/25/04 09:33 AM |  Comments


February 24, 2004

"Fried-and-True"
It's Fat Tuesday, and I want paczki. No, Sacramento doesn't have a Polish bakery. Detroit proper may be a hellish crumbling ruin, but, damn, the area churns out some mighty fine European/ Mediterranean food.

Low-carbers can just keep their hands off!
02/24/04 09:54 AM |  Comments


February 23, 2004

Tween
I can't flop on my stomach anymore. There's now so obviously something in there, something which patently doesn't like to be squished. Not that I can much blame it.

My gut, however, is still far from pictureworthy. Believe me, I tried, because I've heard that that's What People Do when they have blogs and get knocked up. But it really just looks poochy, like I ate too much Sbarro's [hum-dee-dum].

I can't wear my normal jeans without serious intervention, and full-blown maternity pants just look plain stupid (especially when most of them seem to assume my legs will also be growing into giant tree trunks). I'm waiting on a pair of these for the weird interim between normal belly chunk and volleyball concealment.
02/23/04 11:57 AM |  Comments


February 22, 2004

Bugknits
When I barely have enough patience for a full-sized infant piece, along comes nano-knits. My eyes are going buggy just thinking about it. Via MetaFilter.
02/22/04 03:48 PM |  Comments


Sort Your Gimmes
I just now realized you can prioritize your Amazon Wish List items by five levels, from "Must Have" right down to "Don't Buy This for Me." Rather a boon for me, because there are items I keep on my list that I'm [shhh] really just waiting for at the public library (and too lazy to put it in a comment).

Now if only they'd incorporate half the functionality (photos too much to ask?) into the lackluster/annoying baby registry, we'd be all set.
02/22/04 02:18 PM |  Comments


February 21, 2004

Free Hand-Delivery is a Nice Touch, Though
Sure, this historic miniature house replica is awesome. But my grandma sold her real three-bedroom house in Escanaba MI for $40K. Just to put it in perspective.
02/21/04 12:35 PM |  Comments


February 19, 2004

Newspile Junior
I finally found the perfect wallpaper border for the nursery, something with the right colors and froggy fun but not too fluffy. I think that'll go hip-level, with blue above, and green below.

Been getting a few little things here and there. My favorite so far is a onesie with the London "Underground" symbol on the front, and the sign with "Exit" on the butt!

My mom keeps nagging me (with increasing aggressiveness) because she thinks I'm not moving fast enough, and there's no better way to get me to perversely dig my heels in - and avoid her calls! But, jeez, really - I don't have the "good" ultrasound until the end of next month, at which point I'll have the information I need to pick out dresses or not. I mean, the unisex stuff I've been getting is cute and all, but. And as far as the rest goes... I really need to paint the room before I start furnishing it. In any case, I'll still have about four months of empty days to fill. I don't feel rushed in the least. I suppose it wouldn't kill me to pick up a bag of diapers every time I go to the store. Though I haven't decided 100% that I won't be using cloth - especially since I found out they make absorbent, biodegradable, flushable liners. Hmm.
02/19/04 01:26 PM |  Comments


Cute Enough to Melt the Ice Queen?
J.D.... I mean, Dr. Dorian... erm, Zach Braff is going to be doing crafts and playing kids' board games on Martha tomorrow! Hummina hummina!
02/19/04 10:07 AM |  Comments


February 17, 2004

Triple Drat!
The problem with using an email address ending in your own dotcom is that the *&!@#$ spammers have ruined it. I can't reach more and more of my friends and family with my own damned email because their providers are shutting me out one by one. Earthlink, AOL, various and sundry large smallers. I don't know who sucks more - the spammers, or the providers who're blocking reputable (?) domains!
02/17/04 06:08 PM |  Comments


Stupid Pet Tricks
Elli is a cunning little brat. We haven't been latching the double pet gate at the bedroom door, just shutting it, as it closes pretty firmly. But Elli has learned to patiently work the bottom corner until she can juuuust squeeze through. Her reward - a cozy nest in a just-washed stack of clothes on the bed. Grrr.

Of course when you have pets, you inevitably get the occasional impulse to dress one of them. And since Elmo is the most pliable, and often the most right at hand (or knee), he's the one that got the frilly white bib. I should've taken a video clip, he was so dapper and happy with it. A bit scary, really.

McFly continues to do nothing particularly interesting, unless you count keeping my lap warm while I type. He's become very good at that.
02/17/04 02:05 PM |  Comments


Bubble-Brite
It's really too early (late?) to be talking about Christmas, but remember that I didn't get to have one this year. My family hasn't been together for a proper holiday since, oh, 1998, so this one will have to be extra shiny.

My mom used to have a tabletop bubble tree. Every year, she'd set it up on whatever flat surface we had free at the time - TV cabinet, endtable, buffet - surrounded by angel hair snow and a tiny glowing Alpine village, complete with Santa's sleigh and bottle brush trees. The set was regarded with much more reverence and ceremony than the "big tree." Sadly, it disintegrated a couple of years ago, being just brittle old plaster.

So how excited was I to see a reasonable facsimile at Christopher Radko? The joy! I'll be watching eBay like a hawk. How nice to be able to carry on a silly little family tradition. I've already got plans for my own cardstock village (I've tracked down a copy of the December 2000 Living - it has patterns and instructions in lieu of the too-expensive kit at Martha Stewart).
02/17/04 10:10 AM |  Comments


February 16, 2004

For A Good Time Call
You can buy the Jenny number.
02/16/04 05:32 PM |  Comments


Public Pot-Smoking is the Official Sport of Sacramento
Yesterday we went tromping around what we expected would be exciting woods, from the pictures on the 'net. The only evidence of wildlife was some rustling in the thistly thickets, lots of mating frog calls, and four happily stoned teenagers atop a small mountain of granite. We also saw one horse butt sticking out of a barn, about a dozen sewage grates, humongous homes of the disgustingly wealthy across the creek bed, and Miwok acorn-grinding mortars (kind of like these) in a boulder.

Then we came home and I made waffles. The end.
02/16/04 10:01 AM |  Comments


February 14, 2004

Valentine's Potpourri
Amazing statistic: this is our seventh Valentine's Day!


Bestest Gift Ever for your sweetie: Shari's Berries (and they were born right here in Sacramento)


Local romance for the girls: Treasured Teatime, where it's okay to get all Victorian with your bad selves


Something: a V-Day stab at Gordon's TrackBack


Fondest desire upon awakening this morning: Krispy Kreme. Chocolate iced cruller, precisely. With a mocha. Dammit.
02/14/04 11:33 AM |  Comments


February 13, 2004

Gumbo Italiano
My current Crock-Pot caper concerns chicken cacciatore (hee!). Again, from Fix-It/Forget-It...Entertaining. And again, it's as if they never tested their recipe. It turned out okay - tasted good - but far too "runny." So I don't feel bad posting the recipe here, but with modifications (using thicker sauce to begin with and adding flour if necessary) I'd make next time.

Easy Cacciatore with Sausage

1 large green pepper
1 medium onion
2 c sliced fresh mushrooms
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, browned
1 lb sweet italian sausage, browned
2 c pasta sauce of your choice
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano

Slice pepper into one-inch strips and onion 
into rings, layer evenly over bottom of crock. 
Sprinkle with mushrooms. Top with chicken 
and sausage, sprinkle spices on top. Cover 
and cook on low for seven hours. Remove 
lid and cook an additional half hour; if 
mixture still looks "watery," stir in a blend 
of 3 T water and 2 T flour. Cook uncovered 
until thickened. Serve with pasta or rice.
I even had two chicken breasts left to roast up for "safe" lunch meat :-)
02/13/04 04:28 PM |  Comments


February 12, 2004

Fire That Groundhog
I know I do my share of bitching about the unremitting triple-digit temps part and parcel of a Sacramento summer (a condition that's none too likely to improve when I'm toting a bowling ball in my pelvis this August), but there certainly are some nice compensations.
02/12/04 04:48 PM |  Comments


New Skin for Satan
So have you received the new style AOL CD mailer case? Very sharp, I'll give them that. Kind of a pressboard flip-top square that closes flush into a very clean box. Many applications, I'm sure. I'm in the process of peeling off the shiny-shiny laminate dreck now.
02/12/04 08:56 AM |  Comments


February 11, 2004

Fisheye
The exciting view from our peephole.
02/11/04 07:10 AM |  Comments


February 10, 2004

Jennie Sew? Ugh.
Did you see the adorable fleecey kitty scarves! The picture on the site really does them no justice; they were so much cuter on the show. It made me really want to have a girl, until I figured how easy it'd be to make puppies, too - just add floppy ears and a pink tongue, maybe change the head shape a bit.

Assuming I could get my butt off the couch long enough to do anything that constructive. I've become extremely lazy the past few weeks. Which I'm chalking up to this *unbelievable* fatigue, the usual February blahs, the loss of a schedule to keep me in line - and the full realization that, for a good many years down the road, being alone with a cup of (decaf!) coffee and a book will be a thing of the past!
02/10/04 10:39 AM |  Comments


Great-Grandparents of Boohbah?
Sure, you've heard Leonard Nimoy sing. Ever seen a video?
02/10/04 08:35 AM |  Comments


February 09, 2004

Just a Quote for Today
"The continuance and frequent fits of anger produce in the soul a propensity to be angry; which oftentimes ends in choler, bitterness, and moronity, when the mind becomes ulcerated, peevish, and querulous, and is wounded by the least occurrence."

--Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887
02/09/04 09:15 AM |  Comments


February 06, 2004

And Tired and Cranky in the PM = More Ranting
Last night was Stupid Fight Night, after which I didn't sleep and developed the nastiest sinus headache. Co-watching the news is, at least in these times of severe hormonal bombardment, off limits.

As I've mentioned before, the previous residents never bothered to forward their mail. We've informed the Post Office, but some of it still manages to get here. Of course catalogs stay with the "current resident," and I'm finding their array of choices pretty amusing (Marlboro gear, teenybop surfgirl wannabe, and Frederick's).

Not so innocuous: getting their W-2s. If I were much less honest (and much more cavalier about going to jail), wouldn't all those SSNs come in handy for something or other? Idiots.
02/06/04 12:44 PM |  Comments


Upset and Sick in the AM = Out of the Closet
You can call me a crackpot, a vote-waster, a dreamer, irresponsible/childish, or just an idiot. But:



Haven't heard of him? Not surprising, what with all the attention the screaming, chest-beating, obscenity-flinging bipartisans get.

My most compelling reasons:

  • Public schools aren't working. I've spent the last three years watching the decay, with an occasional lame pep talk or head pat from the Agencies That Be. We shouldn't be throwing money after money into a bottomless pit. It's not helping.


  • It's my body, not yours. And that is simply that.


  • Criminalization of drugs wastes obscene gobs of money and lives. Stop it. And, given compelling scientific evidence, the protection of the legal use of medical marijuana should be of the utmost importance. If you've never watched someone riddled with inoperable cancer die in excruciating pain, don't talk to me about revoking their right to use it. It's cruel.


  • Civil liberties, unadulterated.


  • Fundamentalist? Antifundamentalist? A non-issue, as it should be.


  • Trade freely, but hands off. For the most part, defense means defense.


  • Nutshell: fiscal conservative, individual liberal. I'm down with that.


    • Say Hell did manage to freeze over, and Tweedle-Dee and Dum (who are looking more and more homogeneous all the time) were miraculously upset. Would much change? I'd think not. But I'm tired of settling for the lesser evil, people I can't respect or believe in with my head or gut, even marginally. It's the increasing self-loathing and guilt that are unbearable - I've only been convictionless because those who share my convictions are so unpopular? Despicable.
    02/06/04 01:38 AM |  Comments


    February 05, 2004

    Soy Joy
    With great heaviness of heart, I gave up one of my nasty little indulgences - deli meat. I loves me some sliced turkey on wheat bread, but no nitrites for fetus. Just when the thought of hummus and pbj really started getting depressing, I remembered that they have veggie slices! Thank Mother Nature for soybeans. It's still not exactly health food, but it's preservative-free and a hundred times better than the alternative. I've tried the "bologna" so far, and it's honestly quite tasty. Maybe I'll give up the meats forever more.
    02/05/04 11:15 AM |  Comments


    February 04, 2004

    There Goes That
    I'm so disappointed. I found a great deal on a well-used but loved green and silver Schwinn Cruiser Four ($50!) on Craigslist, but it sold before I even got the chance to go see it [stamps foot]. I really want to replace my cranky Target bike (whose string of debilitating ailments has frustrated me into not riding altogether) with a quality beach cruiser, but don't want to shell out hundreds for a new one. If you or someone you know is parting with one for less than $100, I'm interested. Only other stipulations are that it still rides smooth and not be coated in rust - I don't mind fixing or replacing some stuff. And I'm partial to blue, and fat whitewall tires :-)
    02/04/04 01:07 PM |  Comments


    February 03, 2004

    Kitty in the Corner Pocket
    Some people from D's work came over this morning and helped build our latest folly.

    I'm going to become a shark! Whee! But first some poster art for that corner of the room. Or a bar.
    02/03/04 12:07 PM |  Comments


    February 01, 2004

    Been To
    See a map of all the states I've visited (via Tim). Make your own, it's fun. It seems I've (we've, really) cut a long swathe across the middle - mostly due to the trip out here, and a previous one in the opposite direction to Delaware (New York is from a detour to Niagara on the way back, and Oregon, well, you know). They should've included the Provinces, too - I've been to Ontario a few times.

    Hopefully in a couple of months I'll be able to add Arizona to the map - we're trying to take a mini-vacation to Sedona in April.
    02/01/04 09:36 AM |  Comments