20 Disposable Things... ...to use twice before throwing out. Some of the same-old, but at least a couple new ideas. There'll probably be some good comments, too. Via Lifehacker. 04/30/08 12:29 PM|Comments
April 18, 2008
Die! Die! I don't scrapbook, really, but I love craft diecuts and diecutters. Back when I was still gainfully employed, in a fit of extreme paper rapture, I whipped out the latest "40% off any one regularly priced item" from Michael's and plunked down for a Sizzix. It reminds me of the heavy-duty Ellison dies I used constantly, both at the middle school, and at both the NMU and Oakland libraries, often for displays; once it even cut felt shapes for a DIY feltboard. And it does come in handy from time to time. I've got mostly basic shapes that I use for cardmaking. And now that the bub is getting a little craftier, I imagine we'll have it out even more often.
So today we were wandering aimlessly around Michael's (which can be a dangerous proposition, fiscally, if we're not vigilant), and we stumbled upon a whole clearance aisle that hadn't been there before. And bliss! A couple of Sizzix alphabet sets. Normally retailing for $99, they were marked $9. My 50% off coupon -- a necessary habit -- made it $4.50. I didn't think it was supposed to be applied to clearance/sale items, but, really, who was I to argue? The font isn't one that I'd choose if I had a hundred bucks to throw away, but for what I paid I'm of course more than happy. And I must say that it's growing on me as I look at it. 04/18/08 04:16 PM|Comments
April 17, 2008
My Pupils, They Are Dilated to Funky Freakdom It's been 2.5 hours, and it's making me woozy, and I don't want to write about the consultation (meh).
So here's a fun post about DIY Magic Shell, which I'm sure is a hundred times less unhealthy than the store stuff. For D, because I generally prefer my ice cream sans crust. Via Parent Hacks. 04/17/08 01:32 PM|Comments
April 16, 2008
Zap! Zap! Tomorrow is my LASIK consultation. I feel all multiple personality about it: "Oh noes! What if you aren't a candidate?" and "Won't it be a relief if they can't do it? No knife! Woo!"
I was going to go to a practice that offers blade-free IntraLASIK, but their home page also touts "aesthetics" like injectable wrinkle-eating poisons, laser hair removal... that kind of thing. So, obviously, they understand the fact that vision correction is serious, LIFE-ALTERING SURGERY on your EYEBALLS.
Some Signs the Day Might Be All Right -The artisan garlic bread arrives just as you have at the grocery store, all warm and fragrant. Too bad you have to restrain yourself from eating it with your coffee right away!
-The bub is only contrary for the sake of contrariness once or twice before school. Aaaand, it's gorgeous outside, so you know they'll be running off a lot of steam in the park today (woot!).
-Following this Roy Lichtenstein-y tutorial has been pleasant and fun.
For the Compliant Cat This clamp-on desktop kitty perch is cute and all, but I can't see Elli using it. Unlike Elmo, she's not content to sleep in the kitty beds -- she's happier in a more out-of-bounds spot. So it would probably sit empty, with her claws slashing my shoulders and the back of my neck from her chairtop perch.
Always, now, I'm seeing one flitting on a wall or ceiling, just out of the corner of an eye. I'm not bug-phobic. Much. But hosting relatively large, uninvited, winged guests en masse does get old after a few days. 04/13/08 11:50 PM|Comments
April 11, 2008
The Garage Can't Hold a Candle I miss basements. There are almost none in California, and I know there are reasons -- water table, stringent (read: expensive) building codes, no need because of lack of freeze. But the temps spiked into the high 80's today, and the thought of a cool, dark, maybe damp-ish basement to work and hide in was so appealing. I can almost smell one now -- earth and rock and concrete.
Adding to the subterranean yen: I got a decent workout at the Scandia air hockey table tonight. If we had a basement, a table could live right here. See, a basement would be good for my health. 04/11/08 11:33 PM|Comments
April 09, 2008
150 This year is our fair city's sesquicentennial. We'll be at the Butter and Egg Days parade as usual, of course -- well, in it, actually, if you count the special Children's Parade that precedes it (the bub's preschool has an entry). I'm working out our costumes. Oi.
We might go to a sheep shearing at Vallejo's adobe this weekend, see how things were done one hundred and fifty years ago, give or take. We've lived a couple miles away for three years, and haven't visited it yet. As one of the oldest, most intact buildings in Northern California -- and one which is also in the crosshairs -- we probably should. 04/09/08 11:06 PM|Comments
April 08, 2008
I CAN HAZ VIDEO! Flickr! Has video!
Pinch me, tell me I'm not dreaming. Don't get me wrong, I love YouTube for what it's good at -- offering up daily hilarity. But it's a rotten place to host family videos, thanks to the little punk trolls who apparently have a running "who can leave the most mean-spirited, pointless comments imaginable?" contest. And other sites are slow or limiting or just annoying in some other way.
Now I can keep all my media in one reliable spot. Can send guest passes to an event set, and not send folks to two separate sites.
Picking Up the Ball, Dribbling it All Over, Crazy-Like Whoops. Missed a few days there. It seems as if I blink, and, *pwoof!* a week has passed.
Been in a decidedly more domestic mood. Spring? Finally feeling really well? Don't know. Meal planning and hanging out laundry and organizing, at least. Cleaning... well. And my desk is still trashed, but only because I'm never alone with it long enough during a frenetic-energy period to scrape it all up and start over. Looking at it right now, I find I've got a deep urge to burn it.
Say! I cured my own rotten sinus infection. Without antibiotics. Now, don't go all "That's dangerous! Tsk, tsk!" on me. I did the whole antibiotic thing, ten years ago. Again, and again, and again. Until the rest of my body was a mess, and my nose was in a vicious merry-go-round of wellsickwellsickwellsick. So you'll have to pardon my very last resort policy when it comes to the -cillins and their brethren. Of course, as always, your mileage may vary.
Anyhow, yes. The NeilMed Sinus Rinseis a minor miracle. No wonder there's not a negative review to be found. I've been using it for about, what? a month now? starting with three times a day during the very worst of the infection, and now down to just mornings. And I swear, I can't remember the last time my nose was so CLEAR. Breathing, no yellow gunk. They say that the benefits of consistent use accumulate and really peak after a couple of months, and I have no reason not to believe it. Hooray!
I did some other things, too, during the worst of it. Lots and lots of hot green tea and mineral waters, time-release vitamin C, garlic caps three times per day, vaporizer with eucalyptus at night, and long daily steams with a couple drops of tea tree oil added to the water. I'm still taking the C and garlic -- they certainly can't hurt at all.
I used the Get Prints feature on Flickr for the first time today. I'm curious to see if I like it better than Snapfish. I hope so, because Snapfish is a ginormous pain in the tookus.
My goal this month was to pick up all the little crafty projects I've abandoned, and just finish them already. Not going great so far, which you might have noticed. Doesn't bode well for my Etsy opening in fall. Sigh. Maybe this summer, when I don't have a class. 04/07/08 11:07 PM|Comments
April 03, 2008
Roly Poll-y I watch the Flickr feed for the Vintage Fisher-Price Toys group (and, once in a rare, rare while, contribute). It makes me nostalgic. Here, go take this silly poll, while I dry my eyes over misty water-colored meeeeemories of Woodsey squirrels and rock-solid Little People sets.
More Random Observations - The Organic Edition -The sweet gum pods are in full mock, with their tentacles and empty eyes. Whispering, whispering. "Come, step on us. Twist that weak ankle again, you can hardly avoid it, we're everrrrrrrrryyyyywheeeerrrrre."
-At the marsh tonight, there were swans! Lots of them. I've never seen a bird big or brave enough to get aggressive with a Canada goose, but we watched one repeatedly attack what appeared to be a nesting pair. The geese did hold their own. Interesting stuff.
-When I arrived at the preschool this morning for pickup, the class had an uninvited guest zooming around overhead -- a hummingbird. Both outer doors were wide open, so I assume it eventually made it to the outside again. 04/01/08 06:56 PM|Comments
Poll Answers