spinning-jennie: archives « December 2007 | Main | February 2008 »

January 31, 2008

Scantastic
I started following Wishbook's photostream for the vintage Christmas catalog scans, but lately I've been having more fun looking at all the terrific old ads.
01/31/08 10:25 PM |  Comments


January 30, 2008

Rewind
We've had a digital camera since 1999, a big, chunky HP Photosmart (which the bub now uses). So that's a long stretch of time before I went Pro on Flickr and put up more than cell phone photos. And I was nuts with the film, too, from about 1988 on.

I've been looking through some of that stuff lately, and thought I might stick a few up randomly in a Flickr set. It's fun to talk about some of it again!
01/30/08 05:53 PM |  Comments


January 29, 2008

Small Idea
Often, it takes a long time consuming a recyclable for any useable idea to strike. We don't offer little cup meals for bub lunches often these days, but I'll admit they do come in handy (Table Time being preferred -- more natural -- if not always available) when we need a quick, easy, mostly nutritious meal option. Or if I'm looking for a way to sneak some veggies into him. Or when we just need to go grocery shopping.

So I was opening one today, and thought about how, with the four vent holes, the lid looked like a button. A really big button. Why would I need a big button? Oooh, a snowman could use a bright plastic button.

I just happened to have some nylon Amy Cord for the "threads;" it only takes a few inches. That should be durable enough for the wet outside.

I'm only assuming that the thin cover edges should insert and stay easily in packed snow. Hopefully someone out there will be willing to test them for me and take pictures -- I'm very curious, and I'll send you my set, since I've no use for them!
01/29/08 08:44 PM |  Comments


January 28, 2008

Run Run Run!!!
Aieeee! The Cloverfield monster is attacking me!
01/28/08 01:31 PM |  Comments


January 26, 2008

Drippy Skippy
Yesterday it rained all day. And I don't mean mild, friendly showers. I mean torrential winter rain, the kind that shuts down major highways and forces evacuation of riverside homes. But you wouldn't have known it today; even the gutters were mostly dry by the time we went out at five, and it was so balmy during my walk just now that I had to push up the sleeves on my hoodie to stay comfortable. Of course it started raining again before I could get back, but nothing newsworthy.

So with that, and the crud, we've been trapped all week, and it was nice to get out. Tonight was Parents Night Out at the preschool, and let me just tell you that this may be the best thing since sliced bread. The bub gets to go to a safe, familiar environment for three hours, and have treats and a movie and games. And we get, well, three hours! For an insanely incredible fifteen dollars! And they do this every month! So we went to see J.J. Abrams' latest, more on that tomorrow; won't be posting here, but over there.
01/26/08 09:52 PM |  Comments


January 25, 2008

Dear Jennie,
Listen, now. I'm not calling you stupid. But sometimes (well, let's be honest, often) your head-in-clouds, scatterbrained (autism spectrum?) forgetfulness makes you appear not exactly the brightest bulb. Not quite... all there. Especially when you're impatient or in a hurry. You know there are certain circumstances under which you can't function without itineraries, routines, or lists, and I implore you not to try.

As a recent example. If you're going to a restaurant with a small person, you know -- yes, you do -- that, not being adult, they're not going to be happy waiting for food without a distraction. Which you seem to have a self-punishing fondness for not remembering to provide. And then the other big person will be irritated with your forgetfulness (again!), and give you that exasperated Look/Tone, and chaos will ensue (as usual), and you'll wonder why it is, exactly, that you repeatedly choose to eat at establishments which don't offer plastic flatware and a playscape. A simple solution would be to just keep things in the purse, and remember to carry it. But then you'd also have to remember to quash the all-too-easily-leading gut feeling of "Ick! Purse!"

Maybe you should be writing this down on paper.

I've spent years doing my best to save you from yourself, but I can only nag so much. I guess I'll see you tomorrow when I prevent that paring knife from slipping out of your hand and into your instep while you daydream about bottlecaps or bread machine recipes (again).

Warm Regards,
The left side of your cerebral cortex
01/25/08 10:28 PM |  Comments


January 24, 2008

¿snoıxouqo sıɥʇ ʇ,usı
˙ǝɹǝɥ ɟlǝsɹnoʎ ǝɯos pɐǝɹds ˙punoɹɐ "ǝʌol" ǝɥʇ ɟo ǝɯos pɐǝɹds ʇɥƃıɯ ı ʇɥƃnoɥʇ ı os 'uıɐɹ ɟo sʇol puɐ pnɹɔ ǝɥʇ ɟo 3 ʎɐp ɥʇıʍ ʇɐɥʍ 'ǝɯoɥ ʇɐ ǝɹǝɥ ʎzɐɹɔ ƃuıoƃ ɯ,ı
01/24/08 12:14 PM |  Comments


January 23, 2008

Bloq Party in My Shower
I don't know if it's supposed to be for guys or girls, but I don't care -- I'm in love with Method Bloq Shave Cream Green Mint. It's the first shave cream or gel that hasn't thrown me into sneezing fits at least once during the whole kung fu slippery blade and balance operation (well, with the exception of Aveeno, but I don't like the feel or anti-smell of that). So bright and happy without being cloying, genius! I love scent, but not "scent" -- I don't need or want it to whack me over the sinuses with an artificial smellhammer.

Some have complained of the consistency (too thin), but I think it's smooth and lotion-y, the contrast to neon gels and foam. In any case, I've used it a few times and haven't sliced myself open yet. And my legs aren't left with that crispy feeling when I'm all done, nice.
01/23/08 06:15 PM |  Comments


January 22, 2008

Suspended Animation
Bub has the sniffles again, but nothing as bad as before Christmas. Just enough to keep him out of school this morning and without the energy to be too broken up over it.

So it's cold and damp, and we're inside. I've been reading some thick and trashy chick lit (for which I get a strange hankering every year or so), watching fascinating/depressing stuff, and marinating pork. Hopefully the rain will hold off so I can walk later, and then do a bit of studying. Not an exciting day, but I'm not complaining.
01/22/08 04:47 PM |  Comments


January 21, 2008

Eclectic Much?
I got an ITunes card for Christmas, so I grabbed some new songs to walk to. These aren't in any particular order, though at some point I do need to arrange them for warm up/full-out pavement pounding/cool down.

  • Young Folks - Peter Pjorn and John
  • If She Wants Me - Belle & Sebastian. Goodness, where was this one oh, fifteen years ago?
  • Rhythm and Soul - Spoon
  • Molly's Chambers - Kings of Leon. Rock with a capital R -- it'll be great for a future return to running. The live SoHo version is rawer and grittier and just better than on the album, IMHO.
  • Rules and Regulations - Rufus Wainwright
  • Grey in L.A. - Loudon Wainwright
  • Lucky Man - The Verve. Nothing to recommend it lyrics-wise, it's just one of those tunes that caught me out humming it anyhow.
  • Fireworks, Flight of the Order of the Phoenix, and Dumbledore's Army - Nicholas Hopper. All strong and evocative of their respective scenes, and I appreciate them more with subsequent viewings/hearings. Oh, yes, I'm liking Hopper.
  • All My Days - Alexi Murdoch
  • No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses
  • Down in a Hole - Ryan Adams
  • Upside Down - Jack Johnson. Well, this is just plain fun to walk with :-)

    • 01/21/08 08:16 PM |  Comments


    January 20, 2008

    A Couple Ideas...
    ...from my feeds that I like:
  • Mini Yip Yip Martian. We've been watching the Old School Sesame Street DVD's, so this is even more timely.
  • Matryoshka needle case from a Kinder Surprise egg. I'm pretty sure I've got a vending machine bubble or two squirrelled away in a reuse bin somewhere, and my needles are needing a nifty nest.

    • 01/20/08 08:10 PM |  Comments


    January 19, 2008

    Oatmeal Deal
    It's Saturday, it's getting late, I still have to walk, and I'm phoning it in with this Amazon deal on McCann's that D. sent me. Of course you'll want to read the Rifftrax blog entry, too.
    01/19/08 08:23 PM |  Comments


    January 18, 2008

    Rifftastic
    The show was awesome! Packed house, everyone having a good time. I spent part of the time wondering if my mascara would hold out, I was laughing that much. We were only about ten rows back, so we could see the guys pretty well, which was cool.

    Prior to the show, we were treated to themes from Star Trek and other fitting tunes on the house organ. I've been to classic theatres that I knew featured original organs, but never got to hear one, so I feel a little better about my status as an enthusiast now.

    And we didn't even get lost, and found a legal parking spot within five minutes of reaching the theatre (thank you teeny tiny convertible in front of us), woooot! It was the first time I'd been to the Castro district, so that was fun, too. Last year, I see that they also had a show in San Rafael, which is only about twenty-five minutes south of us (as opposed to an hour), so I hope they do that again in the future.

    Didn't bring the camera, but others did. The recorded Riff should be available soon, too. We thought about letting out an obnoxious bark or something, just so we could say "hey, did you hear those idiots there? -- dude, that was totally us!"
    01/18/08 08:20 PM |  Comments


    January 17, 2008

    The Not-Fun Part
    Tonight is the night we head down to the Castro. If you've been around for awhile, you may remember that we do not, as a rule, do well driving in the city. Nooope.

    But, as we've no choice (and with a spendy sitting schedule leaving no room to quickly learn and deal with public transportation), maybe you have a nice Castro Theatre parking tip or two to share with a hapless, hopeless Midwestern hick? I would beg with a Yoopish twang, but I hope it won't come to that.
    01/17/08 08:22 AM |  Comments


    January 16, 2008

    With Theocracy and Oppression for All
    Yes. It's really, truly true, and proof is way too easy to find: Huckabee is a nut. A nut with a scrumptious candy coating, but at heart, still a big, nucking, megafundie fut.

    With such blatant declarations floating around, it baffles me that he's even in the running.
    01/16/08 05:45 PM |  Comments


    January 15, 2008

    Candy Box Mirrors
    When I saw this Sunburst Mirror project on the Sunset magazine blog, I'd also just been thinking about Valentine's crafts, and the two ideas got together in my brain and had babies.

    I did prime those little wooden hearts into what I thought was submission, but, even though I also gave them a good five coats of red, the coverage still isn't perfect. And the glue issues, oi! Don't use wood glue. Sobo seems to be keeping the hearts on for now (the mirrors have felt secure from the get-go with an Aleene's Platinum adhesive made for slick surfaces). It's also clear I need to work on my bow-tying; my results are always disgustingly hit-or-miss.
    01/15/08 10:37 AM |  Comments


    January 14, 2008

    Slipping Already?
    Sheesh. Almost called it a day without writing. I'm just so exhausted today, like I haven't been since I was sick. It's not lack of sleep (well, no more than usual); I scored about six hours last night. Come to think, I'm pretty sure that not a drop of coffee passed my lips today...

    Anyhow. I started my new online class today (InDesign I). It's something that I've always been interested in, moreso than web/graphic design, and I'm thinking about doing the whole three-course run, and taking the ACE exam. We'll see if I can stay in one county long enough to pull it off!
    01/14/08 08:28 PM |  Comments


    January 13, 2008

    Muddin'
    Yesterday was gorgeous, sunny and 60's, so we decided to break in the bub's cute little new hiking boots up at Crane Creek. Of course we weren't thinking about what a couple weeks of rain had done to the trails, so we got a little more adventure than we bargained for. Still a nice trip, though. And none of us fell into anything liquid, which is always good.

    Photos here. Or, at least they will be, when Flickr decides to return (again); I was of course halfway through uploading when it went kaput.
    01/13/08 01:04 PM |  Comments


    January 12, 2008

    He Liked it Last Month
    No more! Tuna!
    01/12/08 12:21 PM |  Comments


    January 11, 2008

    I Can Cook
    My mom sent us an old cookbook of mine that she'd managed to keep all these years. Copyright 1980, and the photos are very post-groovy. I scanned the cover and one of the inside plates for your retrotainment.

    A little Googling uncovers that Sophie Kay Petros was a semi-popular television home economist (at least in Chicago and Milwaukee). The book was also illustrated by the now-retired Bill Sanders, nifty.
    01/11/08 09:26 PM |  Comments


    January 10, 2008

    Good Week for the Library
    When I was checking out at the circ desk last night, I noticed a pile of new little cards about downloadable audiobooks. Ooh! I can't be fussed to check them out physically, but if it's something I can easily pop into my mp3 player -- for free -- I'm so there.

    This morning I visited the site, logged in with my library card number and pin, and checked out and downloaded my first book. At first I was confused -- why only one patron per book at a time? But then I realized that the titles are still governed by the copyright rules that cover physical, in-library materials, so it does make sense.

    So now I can listen to books while I walk. Multitasking rocks! I'm starting with the much-praised Twilight by Stephenie Meyer; might as well catch up with my YA fiction a little.

    Now if we could just get a self-checkout station (like the Sacramento branches had), we'd be golden!
    01/10/08 01:51 PM |  Comments


    January 09, 2008

    The Napmaker
    Someone got a late, fantastically exhausting Christmas present. Video here.
    01/09/08 02:08 PM |  Comments


    January 08, 2008

    Literate Elf
    If you're like us, you might have a lot of different library materials checked out, all with different loan periods and due dates. Which makes for inevitable overdues, and those can rack up fast. Library Elf will send you notices before your books are due! So incredibly useful, I can't help but wonder why OPACs themselves don't feature this, at least on a simple level. I've been using it to track holds, too, and I receive Elf notices at least an entire day ahead of the official notice from the library.

    Check these notification delivery options:
  • Email and/or RSS alerts before items are due
  • Email and/or RSS alerts on overdues and holds
  • Consolidated list of yours or your family's library loans and holds
  • Cellphone text message alerts for holds (US and Canada)
  • Real-time checking by browser


    • And you can set your alerts to arrive as many days ahead of the due date as you'd like, on specific days of the week or month, or even every day. Fantastic!

    Lots of library systems like ours are already affiliated. I hope yours is, too.
    01/08/08 09:36 AM |  Comments


    January 07, 2008

    Consumption
    I've started recording my finished books for 2008 (link permanently on sidebar). This year my "resolution" is to stop using reading as escapism only and start absorbing some toothier stuff again, so the list might actually be shorter than in 2007.

    I'm also attempting a movie list, only titles I haven't seen (or not seen in entirety, or not seen Riff'd) before. We'll see how it goes, though; I've tried keeping tally multiple times in the past, unsuccessfully.
    01/07/08 07:29 AM |  Comments


    January 06, 2008

    Almost as Geeky as a Comic Con
    In a couple of weeks, we're going to SF Sketchfest. Specifically, RiffTrax Live at the Castro. Or, MST3K for modern times, if you haven't been paying attention to me blather on intermittently about it for the past two years. Which, let's face it, you probably haven't, otherwise you'd have come to me and been all like "ZOMFG, Jennie!!! Thank you for introducing me to this superfine, revolutionary, beverage-spewing mode of entertainment! How can I ever repay you???"

    Luckily D. is the Fan with a capital F, because I hadn't a clue that Sketchfest even existed. The entire event sounds more fun to me than a film festival (and that's saying something). Maybe next year we should just get passes and camp out.
    01/06/08 09:22 AM |  Comments


    January 05, 2008

    Powerless
    Along with about a million other California homes and businesses, we lost our power yesterday. It looks like the whole east side of town was down with us, from about three p.m. yesterday until 5 a.m. this morning.

    Our whole house still reeks of wood smoke -- we tried to have a nice fire, but now we're certain the chimney hasn't been cleaned in ages. There was some draw, but not enough. I'm just waiting for my sinuses to chime in.

    On the bright side, the night sky was fantastic. I don't think I've seen that many stars in years! After a decade away from Upper Michigan, it's easy to forget just how dark it gets with no moon or light pollution.

    There were a lot of downed branches (small ones), but I haven't seen any real damage yet. It looks like the Bay proper, and areas to the south and east, bore the brunt of the wind; 70 MPH on the Golden Gate, and upwards of 100 on some mountain peaks! Nothing like that here.

    I had bread in the machine when we shut down, with no idea how much time was left. It must've had only minutes to go, because it's a fine loaf (new recipe for me, it's really quite good for a plain bread).

    There was more wind and rain and even thunder this morning, during which the lights flickered ominously. So if the site goes again, you'll know why.
    01/05/08 01:12 PM |  Comments


    January 04, 2008

    Same as it Ever Was
    My Electoral Compass (thanks Tim) holds no surprise. Little hope, but no surprise in that, either.
    01/04/08 07:56 AM |  Comments


    January 03, 2008

    Winter Spice
    Lately, on my nights off, I haven't felt much like going out. Movies are ten bucks a pop, and, since I'm getting more and more patient in my old age, waiting for the Netflix isn't so impossible. I'm so done with shopping, and it's too dark and cold to hike or hang out downtown.

    Instead I've been more about the leisurely cooking of things I can't normally, the things that only I'll eat. Last night it was this chickpea curry. I prepared some paneer, made the curry, took a brisk 1.5 mile walk while the paneer was pressed, came home, and ate both with Trader Joe's Jasmine, Quinoa, and Flaxseed pre-prepped rice (my first time, thumbs up!). It was all as warm and satisfying as it looks, and now I have two big servings for the freezer, too.
    01/03/08 07:49 AM |  Comments


    January 02, 2008

    More Fun with Spray Paint
    Yesterday I made a functional box pretty, too. It was an easy and satisfying little project.
    01/02/08 02:09 PM |  Comments


    January 01, 2008

    Two Tweets in One
    I've been feeling a little crafty, so for today (one down, 364 to go, wooooo!), I've got a pic up on Flickr of a quick reuse tidbit I threw together in about a minute a couple of days ago. It's just a pretty spent gift card, one of those bleeping AmEx snail spam magnets, and craft glue.

    Everyone is on to deer or squirrels or maybe even something else now, and, while of course I love those things, I'll always be a bird fanatic first. Bird + magnet + Target + reuse = happy Jennie. At least until Jennie burns dinner and fills the house with grease smoke, and becomes grumpy and annoyed and needs wine.

    Tomorrow, look for another little reuse project I finished today.
    01/01/08 07:58 PM |  Comments