Takin' up my free time listening to b-sides

Consolidation

2009-09-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

Please redirect your bookmarks here:

Embrita Blogging

This just might lead to more regular updates....right?

Some fears...about boys.

2009-09-13T13:03:00.012-05:00

I'm just going to vocalize this one a lot, because the more I talk about it the better I'll feel, right?

I was all set to have a girl. It's no secret. I understand girls. I know what to do with girls. Granted, a lot of my friends are boys. Always have been. I was a tomboy. So it's not like I won't know what to do at the park with my son.

But puberty. The teenage years...when you truly start to become who you're going to be. That's when things start to go all wonky.

There are things I'll be able to cope with, even if they're not my first choice:

Being a slacker stoner kid.
(Really, would I be the pot or the kettle there? Not that I was a stoner, but I certainly held tight to "slacker." I also own that hat.)

Football. I guess you really just want them to be happy, right? (This is Tony Romo, btw.)

Alex P. Keaton. If Steve has any say, you know he'll have the wardrobe at least.

There are things I'm going to try and (wink)indoctrinate:

Chris Sharma. We climb. It just the lifestyle. This is actually what makes me think Slacker Stoner Kid is likely...have you hung out with climbers lately?

J.J. Reddick. Duke Basketball is just a way of life here. College ball, really. So if he decides to go rogue and picks UConn or something I'll still love him. Promise. I'll even go to games.

Tony Hawk. Drool.

Andy Roddick. We suck at tennis so it isn't so much a way of life, but I really like it and if he shows interest I'll encourage it.

There are things Steve will try and (wink) indoctrinate:

Lance Armstrong.
If there were a chance for a Yellow Jersey, Steve might actually weep with joy. At the very least, at the rate he streams Time Trials and and races and shops for bikes...there's no avoiding exposure.

This is both of us. Steve will just be the role model of the man in the kitchen. We are foodies.

The Dandy Warhols...specifically Courtney Taylor-Taylor. I would be the indoctrinator...but Guitar Hero doesn't count as being musical. Even if I have unlocked Shirley Manson.

(I should add that I am in no way saying that the only way I'll love my son is if he's a pro...any of these things. Avid hobbyists enjoy life just as much...and I'd be willing to argue that sometimes they enjoy the sport/whatever more because there's less pressure. If he grows up to be an investment banker because he loves numbers then more power to him.)

And then there's this...

At which point we will tie him to a chair and give him an intervention.

Why? You ask? Because he's protesting?

No. Go First Amendment!

Because he's speaking his mind?

No. Again - first amendment. And really - any child of mine is going to be opinionated and will let you know.

It's because he needs a history lesson. And a civics lesson. And a lesson in...reality... (I'll give you a hint: all of those adjectives are mutually exclusive. So being all of those things would be a neat trick. And confusing.)

Willful ignorance will be met with an iron fist in our house. There can be dissent but you better do your research before you have t-shirts and signs made.

Of course...I'm doing all of this premature freaking out and the reality is that our son will turn out just like this:

Shameless

2009-09-09T13:08:00.002-05:00

It's shameless, really. The motivation for today's post.

I'm entering AN ONLINE CONTEST. A BLOG contest. I *NEVER* do that.

Ok, I do, but I can count on one hand the other times that I have. Once. The Pioneer Woman was giving away the camera body I'm lusting after and saving up for...I couldn't resist.

And now - my favorite Daddy Blog (Pacing The Panic Room: source of the awesome Maternity Series) - the one I make Husband read and pass along to people who want a man's perspective on things - is giving away a whole stash of Fuzzibunz. That's right. I'm entering a contest to win cloth diapers.

Why? Because in January, when Sebastian arrives, we're going to need to cover his ass. And I've already registered for them - but winning an entire stash would allow me to remove them from my registry and my list of Things To Make Sure We Have Enough Of and relax because Bunny's ass will be covered.

It will also make me feel better for being almost 22 weeks along and still having All-Day Morning sickness.

So there we have it. A post purely for the hope of winning diapers.

And now back to our regularly scheduled narcissism.

Strawberry Lemonade

2009-09-02T14:47:00.006-05:00

Apparently, along with cravings, nausea, fatigue, odd swelling, and forgetfulness - pregnancy also causes ADD.

I was Nesty before I got knocked up (shocking, I know. See the Embrita Blog for proof) and I keep waiting for some kind of over-drive nesting to kick in. I think what's happening instead is that I just can't focus long enough to finish a single project. I hope that goes away soon.

So halfway through my Hang-Shelves and Baby Proof to Office project (it will appear on the Embrita Blog if I get my act together and post it) I decided that Bunny needs strawberry lemonade. I hit the trusty Smitten Kitchen site and altered her Watermelon Lemonade Recipe.

It's really tasty. And Easy.

Lemons, juiced
(I only used 6 of these)

+

Strawberries, pulverized (in handy chopper)

+
Simple Syrup. I didn't take a picture of it because it looks like dirty water in a measuring cup. (Lazy girls simple syrup: put 1/2 c sugar in pyrex. Add 1/2c boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Let cool. Add to pitcher.)

+

Water to taste

=

Strawberry Lemonade.

Enjoy!

V-day.

2009-08-31T12:45:00.004-05:00

Also known as: the halfway point. It was Saturday. I spent the day (me and my low blood pressure) on the couch.

Friday, this happened:

If you turn your head to the side and squint, you can see a face in the right blob. What you can't see (because I'm certain that Bunny would kill me in future for posting the goods on the interweb where nothing really ever gets deleted) is that Bunny is a BOY.

So I spent most of the weekend saying things to Husband like "your son is using my bladder as a punching bag." It makes it more real.

I said the other day to Husband that I wasn't getting a lot of unsolicited advice. I was half-wrong. It's still not obvious to strangers that I'm knocked up, so they don't really say anything. But the people who DO know us? Totally different story.

I feel like making a list of the "oh that'll change when the baby gets here" shit that I'm hearing from people who should know better than to say things like that to me.

* Our car. It's "too small" and of course we're going to need another one so that Husband can go to work and I can go to Dr. appointments. This is Husband's preferred (most days) way to travel:

This is our car:

Yes, it's compact, but we don't need more space than that. We're only having TWO KIDS. And I DON'T WORK.

Will circumstances change that we eventually need a new car? Maybe. But we'd prefer not to have two car payments. (None of this stops Husband from browsing the new cars online, though. He is still male.)

* Elimination Communication. Why do people assume that this means I'm going to let Bunny crawl around without a diaper on and I'll just be following with a mop? Seriously. Think about that for a second. Would ANYONE do that? No. Because it's disgusting and unsanitary and unrealistic. What actually happens is closer to the system for house-training a dog. Except the "dog" in this situation can't walk yet and wears DIAPERS.

Oh - and Cloth Diapers. Forget that they're totally cute Fuzzibunz and BumGenius that we'll be giving a go..."They don't rinse themselves" I heard this morning. You're right, they don't. They also don't blow out as much, have almost no instance of giving diaper rash, don't collect in landfulls (I misspelled that on purpose), and don't wind up costing $3k over the diaper-wearing life of the child. So I have to rinse the poop into the toilet? Bummer. And an extra load of laundry? NOT THAT. Seriously, people. We only have one planet. And Bunny's heiny is one I want to take care of. I could go on and on. But we have a compost pile in the back yard - so clearly I'm not the person for whom the argument "I don't care about the landfills, I'd rather tie it up in a plastic bag and toss it than wash it" WON'T WORK. Clue in, please.

* Pumping and bottle feeding. Will my boobs be a buffet? Yes. But every now and again, Bunny is going to have to get food "to go" and let Daddy feed him. With a boob-shaped bottle. (If he takes it.) I get it from self-labeled "Breast-feeding Nazi's" and the people who think that Breast Milk is for peasants and advocate formula-only feeding. My boobs. My decision. The only other person who will have a say is still cooking, so BACK OFF.

* Montessori/Reggio Emilia. The things I hear. I could flood your inbox with information advocating both of these approaches. You have already raised children, you have already chosen your method, you have don't not a bit of research regarding my plans. You know not of what you speak. My children will not be undisciplined heathens. (Ok, technically they might be heathens, but our education approach has NOTHING to do with that.) They will not die some horrible not-sleeping-in-a-crib-related death. The lack of molded plastic eyesores in our home will not scar them for life. My decision to limit television and the tv-inspired crap that tends to invade the homes of children reared on Disney Princesses will NOT make them social outcasts. And even if it did...is that really the social group we're going to feel like we need to fit in with anyway? No. It's not our lifestyle, it's not going to be Bunny's lifestyle.

* Polly and Kipper. They are part of our family. I am not allergic. Husband is, but not to the extent that he used to be. I will not "prepare myself" to have to get rid of the cats because you're paranoid.

* Circumcision. Is this your penis? Is this your son's penis? Did we ask you for your advice? If the answer to any of these questions is, yes, then I will gladly listen to what you have to say. Otherwise...please stay out of my doctor's office. Thank you.

* Vaccinations. Please see above. Only substitute the word "body" for the word "penis."

Apparently, V-day isn't just the midway point, it also stands for Venty Blog Day. Clearly there were some things I needed to get off my chest.

I'll leave you with a cute:

Polly so very much loves her new bed.

Baby. Daddy.

2009-08-13T16:23:00.002-05:00

So I went to Chili's To Go for lunch today because I drove by it on my way home from Michaels (relatively unsuccessful trip) and thought "that grilled Caribbean salad sound mighty tasty right about now..." so I pull a vaguely illegal uturn and backtrack only to find out that not only is it not on the menu, but they can't even pretend it is and rig one together for me. Oh...honey lime dressing, how I'll miss you...

So I order chicken crispers (meh) and spinach artichoke dip (for later) and as I'm sitting waiting for them to make fresh chicken strips and old fries the little girl behind the register and I start chatting.

By little girl, of course, I mean she was probably around my age.

her: "So...how's your day been?"

me: "About like this, but I'm out of the house so it's good!"

her: "Yeah, my car was in the shop last week and I was stuck at home and it just got to be too much."

me: "I hear ya. You have to get out. I think I've watched every dvd we own." (I have. Twice. And all of the special extras because I like the 2-disc versions. Thankfully there's netflix and streaming interwebs)

her: "Do you not have cable?"

me: "No...." and I think, what kind of weird shut-in does she think I am? So then I add "I'm pregnant, and so I'm really tired, so I've spent the past couple of months holding down the couch." No one wants to hear that by "holding down the couch" you mean "not being able to hold down lunch." Certainly not when you've just ordered the greasiest lunch you've had in months. I go on to say, so brilliantly: "Plus, if you're watching something you've seen a million times it doesn't matter if you sleep through half of it."

Yes. I am that lame.

So then she says: "Wow, how far along are you?"

Me: "about 4 and a half months, not that you can tell."

Her: "My best friend is about 6 months pregnant and she's still got a tiny little bump, but she spends a lot of time laying on the couch and we just bring her food." I nod knowingly.

Then she says, very hesitantly: "So do you live with your father - I mean, the daddy...of...your...baby...?"

Me: "My husband. Yes." And then it's like this huge flood of relief (and I realize I had my hands behind my back because I'd been pulling up my still-too-big maternity jeans and she couldn't see the rings.)

She is now effusive: "That's so great! And so exciting! Wonderful!" Tripping over herself.

My question - if you're worried that the answer to the question you want to ask a total stranger is going to make any interaction after that uncomfortable...maybe you shouldn't ask it in the first place.

Just Sayin'.

Then they brought out my food, she wished me luck, I told her to have a nice day, and I came home and watched the commentary for Bewitched.

Vaccinations. Some research.

2009-08-09T11:48:00.006-05:00

That's my uterus. Well, it was....10 weeks ago. Meet Bunny, my fetus. Yes folks...we got into the adoption process and I got knocked up. No one wants details so let's just say that I dropped the test on Husband's desk and said "the fuck is that?" I had taken it because I was waiting for my cycle to restart so I could schedule an HSG. Word.

Bunny at 12 weeks. Sex ID will happen at the end of August. You know I'll tell you all about it. (BTW - the 1st tri is like something out of a sci-fi movie. At least Bunny is healthy.)

So. Vaccinations. Lots and Lots of research.

There are extremes, of course, a lot of people in the medical community are throwing down the VACCINATE OR DIE hammer and the other extreme is throwing down a very emotional VACCINES ARE KILLING OUR KIDS hammer.

And since I've been called a "House Patient," it makes sense to think that Bunny will inherit that.

So, here is a preliminary list of my questions:

* kids these days are getting 4 times MORE vaccines than we got. Including Hep B at the ripe age of 4 hours old...if I'm negative and Steve is negative, does my newborn really need to be vaccinated against an STD?
good links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hepatitis-b/DS00398/DSECTION=risk-factors
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5251a3.htm

* And Chicken Pox?

* And does such a tiny baby need to be barraged with so MANY toxins (some of these vaccines have... formaldehyde in them and who knows what else) so close together?

* And tetanus. Why is my 4 day old child getting a tetanus vaccine? My crawler? sure. But a child who is going to be swaddled and in a sling and drinking mommy's breast milk is not going to step on a rusty nail. And that's one that not communicable. Unless the infect person turns into a psycho and starts shooting unvaccinated people with a nail gun. ... using rusty nails. AND - why is that vaccine bundled with Whooping Cough? I get that Whooping Cough is deadly in infants and the elderly, but both my GP and an Infectious Disease doc (when I had the brain swell) told me that they've never conclusively seen it and when they think they had they prescribe an inhaler and everyone goes about their lives.

Some links that may or may not be helpful.

FDA warning re: what prevented passage of the vax the 1st time around http://baby.families.com/blog/fda-issues-warning-for-rotavirus-vaccine

I have particular issue with this one. Remember the Lyrica? That wasn't passed the first couple of times and then - without being improved - it was - and I had all of the wrong side-effects. I hate to take that chance with my infant.

cdc schedule: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/2009/09_0-6yrs_chart_only.jpg

alternative schedule: http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller15.html

1974 schedule: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=371005

regarding what I like to call the Merck-CDC circle Jerk: http://parenting.families.com/blog/your-childs-been-invited-to-a-pox-party (ok - it's not listed in this article, but Merck is the only company that makes the chicken pox vaccine. They donate hundred of thousands to he CDC research fund. The CDC says kids NEED this vaccine to go to public school. Merck makes a ton of money...you see where I'm going with this. It's shady.)

a "what if": http://health.families.com/blog/what-if-we-stopped-immunizations

FAQ: http://health.families.com/blog/eight-questions-answered-about-immunizations

The anti-homeopathy rhetoric: http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/661-hiding-homeopathy-behind-real-science.html

Since we plan on living overseas, yes there will ultimately be vaccinations. Because even though Polio is basically eradicated here...it's not everywhere - for example. But I just need more information. I'll keep you updated.

Never A Dull Moment

2009-05-13T17:06:00.004-05:00

The neighbors have a Macaw. It's name is Baby.

Over the weekend, husband said "I think they've also got chickens." I hadn't seen or heard such chickens, but then today I'm in the office with the windows open and I hear this odd strangled sound so I look out the window to make sure my fearless hunters hadn't caught anything they regarded as food/a present, and what did I see? Chickens. A white one and a red one.

This is Fred:

Apparently the eggs are really tasty.

Anyway - this is what my fearless hunters did:

This is Polly. Kipper buried himself in weeds (which will have left burrs all over his coat) and then rushed inside as soon as the danger had passed. I had to coax Polly out from hiding.

Sidenote, I've been using the word "poulet" lately to describe people (or cats) who are being big chickens...because it's French for Chicken and is rather satisfying to say. The irony of calling my cats Big Poulet's regarding their response to actual chickens isn't lost on me.

Back to work, now. (I'm 34,000 words in and in order to be considered for anything aside from the recycling bin I need roughly 50-60 THOUSAND more words.)

We must now own a sailboat

2009-05-08T17:56:00.007-05:00

Seriously. Instead of retirement property (which is what we think we'll buy instead of a house...we like renting and I want to live all over the globe before I die at the age of 101 on Halloween - seriously. Deathclock.com told me so.)

Anyway - instead of retirement property, we'll buy a really awesome sailboat....or a starter sailboat and upgrade as the time/income/skills provide...and then it won't matter if the oceans rise up and swallow all of the dry land because we'll be living on our own floating island. Like in Waterworld. But with better hygiene.

So you're wondering what inspired this? Aside from the fact that it's brilliant and I love the water?

We went sailing on Wednesday night.

Fisherman Steve:

Steve Hoists the Mail Sail:

Emily Drives:

Steve Drives:

Pretty racing boats:

And now you want one, too.

Happy Sailing!

Sunday in the City

2009-05-04T16:35:00.011-05:00

I tagged along with Husband into San Francisco to meet up with some of his friends from his Intern days. It was fun. Those girls are crazy. Also, knowing Husband like I do and knowing them (though not very well) -- I have no idea how he didn't get intensely crazy when he went with them to Italy. He's a planner and they're not. He's generally not prone to wildness, and they're the girls who yell out of the car at the guys they met in bars the night before (and then we all laughed for the better part of an hour over it.) It was a good afternoon.

Anyway, I didn't take many pictures because there was mostly eating and wandering through a couple of neighborhoods...but when we found ourselves outside of City Lights Bookstore (where I worship at the Alter of Ferlinghetti) I couldn't help myself:

Translation:

The Air was soft,
The stars so fine,
The promise of every cobbled alley
so great...
-Jack Kerouac

(more beat poet information HERE)

(yes, there was picture reuse. I had people waiting...and I took 10 pictures of my toes...not all posted)

Unrelated to San Francisco:

I'm re-writing (which is 90% of writing anyway, right?) my novel. It's making my brain hurt. I do think that I"m not suited for 3rd Person narration. This is reinforced by the fact that all of my favorite books (off the top of my head) are written in 1st person. Harry Potter excepted.

I'm also re-reading Generation X (highly recommend, review forthcoming) and I feel it seeping into my life. Coupland is under-credited for his role in Cult Societal norms. In FACT - you can draw a direct line from Generation X to Fight Club and stupid Palahniuk (whom I actually really like) gets credited for ideas that were clearly evident in Generation X - written five years before Fight Club. What I can't be sure of, though, is whether that's true because Palahniuk read Generation X and was inspired, or if that was just the Zeigeist. And since I was in High School at the time and had pretty much checked out from...everything...I may never know...

Happy Friday!

2009-05-01T18:21:00.003-05:00

My poor imitation...inspired by the lovely images at It's Pretty Good.

Happy Weekend!

Sad Day

2009-04-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

RIP, Frankie Manning.

Go Ahead...Make My Day

2009-04-23T15:35:00.003-05:00

Okay!

Go here. Please note the author. Then read the 3rd comment. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Did you go? Did you witness the awesomeness?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?

Ok - if you didn't click then I'll paraphrase: I wrote a kick ass review (if I do say so myself) of a Must Read book. The AUTHOR HERSELF visited my blog and LEFT A COMMENT. And not a "Lady, you totally suck. How could you butcher my work like that?" Comment.

It says this: "Emily, thanks for a thoughtful and well-argued review! LTC"

I want to FRAME IT. Some people frame their first dollar. I'm framing my first positive (albeit one-line) review from a person whose published works I reviewed.

This gives me hope that in the summer when I start churning through my advanced copies. (I have a hook up. It's ok to be jealous.)

So that's my day.

What we've been doing wrong

2009-04-22T14:34:00.001-05:00

who knew?

Hm...

2009-04-21T18:02:00.002-05:00

So I was going through my old blogs so that I could capture images to put on my portfolio on the embritadesign.com site and I realized something. I used to cuss in my blogs. Not a lot, but with about the same frequency that I do in my daily life...and it's worse now that my people interation has shrunk and has no professional basis.

At one point I realized I have relatives reading - the Elders of the Family, if you will. And so, as happens when I'm in their company, I temper my language.

But that - while being me - isn't really accurate. It's out of respect (mostly for my Grandfather) but it still feels unnatural.

And so, with that in mind, I'm going to stop tempering my language. The voice of this blog will return to the days of its youth. Which will be awesome.

And hey, I don't cuss as much as Salinger, and he's an American Classic.

Nursery 1.0

2009-04-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

Can be found Here.

ch-ch-ch-changes

2009-04-17T17:59:00.008-05:00

1st off, we got what might be the Cutest Bunch of Carrots Ever in our farm box today. Seriously:

Do I have freakishly large man-hands? Yes. But they're not that big. The carrots are just tiny.

2nd...I persuaded my lovely family to completely jump the gun with me and I am now the proud owner of a gifted (from my lovely family) second-hand stroller.

It will be perfect for strolling up and down Lincoln while we shop and eat and meander. It will be perfect for going on picnics, but NOT for actual hiking on the local trails. The only thing that will work there is one of these:

(not my husband, baby, or backpack. Image from here. Actual carrier will likely be purchased from craigslist.)

3rd: we encountered a snag with the agency we had been talking to about adopting. A major Red Flag. Backstory: you are allowed to specify race and in some instances gender. Steve and I talked about it and decided that our family and friends are colorful enough that regardless of race there would be a loving, stable adult in our lives to provide a "looks like me" role model. Because - to be frank - the only person who's going to understand the race-specific angst that comes with being a person is someone of that specific race.

However, one of the perks of adopting is that you can choose your gender. I feel strongly enough about wanting a daughter that we decided this is the way to go, since that agency we were talking to allowed it. For an extra $5800. If we had specified a boy it would have been the same price. If we have specified a race on top of gender it would have been an additional $5800.

Like with a car, every option adds to the price tag.

We're not buying a car. We're adopting a child.

In addition to that horrifying business practice, there are a lot of allusions to hidden fees in the contract, which means that what starts out already expensive becomes prohibitive by the time they're finished with you.

So we opted out, giving them the very real reasoning that Steve has to have gum surgery this summer, and I might have to have a procedure or two myself (no need for details unless it happens) and we'd rather wait until those are over and done with before we bring a child into our home.

This weekend we're looking at two other agencies, both of whom are very up front about their pricing, and are highly rated with the BBB. I'm not sure if we'll be able to specify gender, but if not, then that just means that the universe decided we need a boy. I'm ok with that.

Happy Friday!

The First Big Phone Call

2009-04-01T16:57:00.005-05:00

We were on the phone for an hour and a half this morning. There is so much to process. I'm digesting and when I can present it coherently, I will loop you in.

For right now, though, I'm sharing my first ever purchase for our child:

It's a first printing, if you can believe it. I found it at a lovely little used bookstore here. It's fabulous on many levels:

1) It's Eloise, who is timeless and wonderful.
2) She's in Paris, where will plan on living for a little while at some point.
3) We're adopting a GIRL.

Happy Wednesday!

braindead

2009-03-31T23:56:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow morning we have our informational conversation with our adoption counselor. At 9 am PST. We have a long list of questions that are both banal and illuminating.

Am I going to hell because, in case we happen to adopt and African American baby, my ancestors likely owned slaves and neither Steve nor I currently know/socialize with any African Americans and would therefore not be able to provide our adopted child with a role model who looks like her?

Is it bad that we chose "girl" because a) we can since we're adopting and b) I really really want a girl?

Is it wrong that the fact that my Brother In Law will soon become "Uncle Duc" makes me gigglesnort?

Ok, those last two aren't actually on there. We're adopting (and paying through the nose for it) so we should be able to choose our gender.

Luckily, I've been distracted for the past week by a visit from a very dear friend. She came, she slept on the AMAZING air mattress in the guest room (review to come on the embrita blog), we went shopping, hiking, to Monterey Bay, and into San Francisco. There was cooking, baking, giggling, marathon style Weeds watching (if you can cope with the R rating, I HIGHLY recommend it) and now I'm so tired. I might sleep all day after the phone call. If I'm not too wired.

So it's time to head and get some sleep so that I can form sentences for at least the crucial hour or so tomorrow.

I leave you with a photo of the good times:

One Phone Call

2009-03-23T16:40:00.004-05:00

and I'm all veklempt.

I just got off the phone with the scheduler for the lawyers. Our consultation is next Wednesday (April Fool's day) at 9am.

Rundown:

We are getting a package (complete with DVD) in the mail in the next few business days. We review and make up a list of any questions we have. Then we meet with the consultant to go over those questions and find out what the fees will be...let's just say that the next time someone says "it's going to cost your first born child" you can equate that to a new Prius. Or a new Mercedes.

The irony is that our insurance will cover infertility treatments. If I manage to get knocked up, it would cover the maternity care - 100%. We have INSANELY good insurance. But there is no financial help for those of us who chose not to undergo hormone therapy and adopt a child instead.

Anyway...so we go through that. And then we put together our family album for the birth mothers to look at. Because they chose us. Not the other way around. People with stage fright need not apply.

We have decided that a semi-open (we'll determine if you can actually decide this later, but for now it works) adoption is the way we're going to go. Because it won't ever be a secret that our children did not spring from our loins. Or our foreheads. So Christmas, birthdays, other major life events will warrant photos and letters. Maybe not as open as my cousin, but then that is a unique situation.

I had to email them a first photo so that they could stick it in the file. This is harder to do than you would imagine. Think about your photos...do you have one where both you and your spouse/partner are looking at the camera, smiling, not wearing some goofy costume/waving around a drink? And where you don't look like sociopaths? Right. One. Maybe two.

Our winner:

Taken in September of 07. Word.

So that's where we're at. I have that high dive feeling again.

OH. And. Once we are deemed "worthy" and we have the funds (read: have sold vital organs) the average match time is FOUR MONTHS. Four Months. Four. Four.

I need a drink.

Stuffy Stuff Stuff

2009-03-22T16:50:00.003-05:00

I took this with my phone. We're at Planet Granite, which is awesome. I love climbing and I love that Steve is starting to climb with me. I'm also inspired to make this weird part of our backyard into a climbing wall.

This weird part:
First there will be lots and lots of cleaning, obviously. It's neglected back there.

Tuesday my friend Jessica is coming out to visit for a week. We're going to go in the city and bum around for a day and then hike another day and there's talk of going to a winery...should be good times.

On a completely jumping-the-gun note, I've started to plan out our nursery. We haven't even met with the counselor yet, but I've already rearranged the house in my mind to make room for a baby. The things you think about while you're folding laundry...

Oh, and also - there are photos up on the artist rising site for purchase as posters. I add more every few days as I edit and they get approved, so check back from time to time. And pimp me out.

So there's that. And in honor of a lazy Sunday afternoon, I think I'm going to take a nap.

New Tag

2009-03-16T00:14:00.001-05:00

"Thank you for visiting XXXX and for giving us the opportunity to help build your family through the miracle of adoption.

You have just completed the first step of your adoption journey."

You read that right.

Step One. Check.

So from now on, when I blog about our Journey, there will be the adoption tag. For easy reference.

Happy Sunday!

My Yesterday, in which I showered with my cats

2009-03-13T11:42:00.003-05:00

So I'm instant messaging with my sister yesterday:

4:47 PM i just showered with my cats.

There's more chatting about kittens a friend of ours is in possession of and then:

5:14 PM it just occurred to me that you showered with your cats!?!?!?!?!

Yes. And my only regret is that there are no photos. She got the condensed story as to why, so I'll switch over to a chat I had later with another friend, who got the story in detail. I will, of course sanitize my language a bit. (Although why, I'm not really sure. If you want a culprit just know that I'm re-reading Catcher in the Rye and Salinger has a mouth like a sailor.) Oh, and my friend is referred to as "Female" on my chat program. It's a short, boring story for another time.

Oh, and one more thing: Polly weighs in at 12 lbs and Kipper at 17lbs.

9:38 PM Female: sorry, had an emergency "there is bunny poop on my hands" emergency...

me: yikes!

so we've both been made poopy by pets today :-D

Female: lol soap and water

9:39 PM hahaha what the @#$% happened to you and the whole poop thing?!?!?!?

me: you didn't want to shower with your bunny?

Female: yeahhhhhh no.

9:41 PM me: so for the first time in their entire lives the cats did not use their litter boxes. They had crate angst. Kipper peed in the crate on the way to the vet, which was embarrassing (ish) enough - mostly for him. And then I had to leave them because of their paperwork [ed: in case you've missed it, we moved from Dallas to San Jose...apparently the cat's paperwork didn't make the trip, despite requests for it] and then he pooped in his kennel (not uncommon and he was there for hours and hours) and backed into it so it was on his back paws.

Female: oh gross!!!

9:42 PM me: Well he has kennel rage. Like Dr. Jekyll/ Mr @#$hole kind of kennel rage and so when I get there they asked me to get them out of their kennels, which I did no problem. Kipper's claw was bleeding where he'd caught it trying to dig out of the kennel. Polly was in the back hissing at anyone who wasn't me.

it gets better

Female: lol!!

me: so I get Kipper and we sit on the floor and the vet comes over and treats his paw - minor wound, he puts silver nitrate on it and it stops bleeding and we're all good.

he goes in the crate. [ed: Vet assures me that from now on the cats will be anesthetized. I'm all "Duh. Told you." But more respectfully, of course]

Female: and drn?

9:43 PM den?

9:44 PM me: I pull out Polly, who is still angry but lets me pull her. And her little paws are all sweaty and she does NOT want to go into the crate with poopy Kipper. Not that I blame her in the least. But I put them in one crate because they calm each other in the car.

Female: poor polly

me: on the way back I'm halfway home - with the windows open on the highway which I never do but EGADS THE SMELL - and then suddenly there's no crying

and then there's more crying

and then WHAT THE @#$% DID YOU @#$% AGAIN?

Female: holy!

me: and yes.

Female: HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

9:45 PM omg!!!!! Hahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!

me: I didn't realize that I was right until we were in the back bathroom and I was closing the crate so they wouldn't get back into it and track it around - this was not a solid poop and kipper has slid in it while he was freaking out about Polly (I assume) pooping and so it's all over the crate and all over his hind legs.

so I turn on the shower. Grab her by the scruff, pull the door open a bit and toss her in.

9:46 PM Howling like you've never heard. Like the water is acid or something.

Female: ohhh myyyyyy gaaawwwwd

me: grab him by the scruff, slide the door open and push him into her face so she won't get out. But she does.

Female: oh @#$%!

me: push him in, slide door closed (I'm naked this whole time, btw)

Female: WET @#$%!

NICE!

sounds like something i'd do

me: grab her by the scruff, and we body block Kipper from getting out while we get in

9:47 PM I'm sliding around on my @#$ trying to keep them in and get the door closed and not get scalded by the water which has suddenly become very hot.

Female: oh crap!

me: I adjust the water (blocked them with my body until it was decent) and pull off the shower head, which is on one of those hoses.

Female: thank GOD!

9:48 PM me: then I just chased them around with it while they crawled up the door, the walls, my leg (Polly) and every now and again I'd reach down and hold up Kipper's tail and just spray him in the @#$ until he managed to get away from me.

Female: HAHAHAHAHAAA I have so done the @#$ spray

me: when I was satisfied they were clean I gave them one more spray, held the door closed with my heel because Polly has figured out how to open it, and washed my ENTIRE BODY with my Burt's Bees face soap because it has witch hazel in it.

9:49 PM Female: omg

me: then I wrapped them in towels and dried them as much as they'd let me and then I set them free and I sprayed bleach EVERYWHERE.

The crate is still outside.

Female: did you come out unscathed?

me: I did,

Female: WOW!

me: mostly I just wish I'd had my camera.

Female: thats amazing

me: they hate me

Like I said before. I just wish I'd had my camera.

This picture was taken last month. It's the most recent picture I have of them.

Happy Friday!

German Commercials

2009-03-12T15:57:00.002-05:00

They're just better sometimes.

My car, which already has awesome commercials...this one is just better:

PS - 4 images are for sale as posters/prints, more to come as soon as I stop doing other things (which actually includes taking more pictures) and edit/post them.

Link

ps - it says "0 originals for sale" because you can't buy the original piece. It's not a painting, it's a piece of film. If I were selling paintings then you could buy the original or a print of the original. And I might start painting again. That actually sounds relaxing. Just call me Renaissance Girl (just leave out that math/science part...)

Jumping In

2009-03-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Please see inspirational blog here.

A-hiking we will go...

2009-03-05T15:24:00.009-06:00

(source)

So we did.

Saturday morning, we took advantage of the break in the rain, got in the car, followed some not-very-accurate directions, and wound up here. In the middle of the (not giant) redwoods. We picked what we thought would be a moderately easy trail, but somehow ended up with 30 degree incline for most of it. My legs are still tired.

But it was very pretty:

Our house is somewhere in the haze between where I was standing on the far mountain. I have no idea where, though.

And I got Video of a Salamander:

In other news, we joined a climbing gym out here: Planet Granite. It was great. The Sunnyvale location is like the mecca of indoor climbing...and yoga. And as a bonus, we also got our REI dividend in the mail....and I'm going to use that as a segue to talk about how much I don't like hiking shorts. They're just not flattering. I get that they serve a purpose and they're comfortable and yada yada yada...but ever since the foot surgery a million years ago I've been partial to skirts over shorts. I blame the almost 6 months of being in some form of cast. Luckily, the active-wear designers out there heard my opinion and have made...the hiking skort.

(source)

And there are many many styles. So this (along with some yoga tops and maybe some capris) will be what my dividend dollars go to. And as soon as it gets warm (stupid rain keeps every day hovering in the 50s) we'll be out and about every weekend. Yay!

What I did Today

2009-02-27T19:28:00.006-06:00

It started yesterday with me in a tree:

and then continued this morning with a bowl of Oranges

And a bunch of carrots:

And ended with a pitcher of Orange Juice:

And a carrot cake:

(recipe)

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Friday. There was some laundry and other chores, but those aren't nearly as fun to take photos of.

This weekend will be our first hike into the Redwoods. I promise photos.

New Friends

2009-02-19T21:51:00.003-06:00

Well, new friends who run away. I took this one through my kitchen window with no flash because I didn't want to scare them. This kitty had just spent a good five minutes attacking bugs that live in that stump.

Kitty on the ground by the cactus, kitty on the roof of the shed. These two spend the most time in our backyard. Lots of birds and bugs for them to play with.

I'm not really feeling the love from these guys. They have at least four friends - one of whom we think belongs to our landlord. So I've been putting out food to try and lure it back. That'll be a neat trick. Fingers crossed that it works!

What a week with 3 teenagers looks like

2009-02-16T10:29:00.008-06:00

Ok, so Bubble is only 10, but she's a force to be reckoned with all on her own and so I count her. Also she's wise beyond her years. Trust me on this one.

I'm not sure why the sky looks pink here. It was overcast and gray. Very gray. We had bright balloons and a trampoline, though, so nothing was going to keep us from enjoying ourselves. (I was inspired to use balloons when I saw these. If only our day wasn't so cloudy.)

Next morning balloons.

Valentine's day cupcakes. They were red velvet and yummy.

Valentines. From here. We made close to 100.

And now I'm going to sleep for a week.

"Live" Blogging Lily Allen's New Album

2009-02-10T12:32:00.005-06:00

because I can.

It's called "It's not me, It's You" and it's got a Parental Advisory stamp on it...because Lily likes dropping f-bombs. Consider yourself warned. (BTW - I do, too, every now and again. They have a satisfying way of leaving your mouth and making a statement.) Also, in the interest of full disclosure - the whole thing is streaming on her myspace page.

And...go.

Track 1: Everyone's At It. Social Commentary with a poppy soundtrack. Love it. This one I already want to sing along to. Great line:

I'm not trying to say that I'm smelling of roses/
but when will we tire of putting shit up our noses?"

And then the chorus kicks in and she singing about being honest about our various addictions - we're all on mood altering drugs - self-prescribed and otherwise...so we might as well just admit it and go about fixing the problem. And yes, I still want to sing along. As soon as I learn the words, I will. Another good lyric:

So your daughter's depressed/
We'll get her straight on the Prozac/
But little do you know/
She already takes crack

And I still want to sing along.

Track 2: The Fear. I love this song. I've loved it since Stereogum leaked it. And then the video. And I love it. More social commentary - this time about the lifestyles of the young, famous, and poorly guided. Great lyric:

And I don't know what's right and what's real anymore/
And I don't know what I'm meant to feel anymore/
And when do you think it will all become clear/
'Cuz I'm being taken over by the fear/

Ok, that was the chorus. Of course it's great.

Also great:

And I am a weapon of massive consumption/
But it's not my fault/
It's how I'm programmed to function/

And yes, I sing along. I'm so enamoured with it, I've actually practically memorized it. And now I own the cd and it's on my ipod. Watch out, world. :-) Also, it's fun to dance around to.

Track 3: Not Fair..the first of many breakup songs on this album. Lily sure does seem to like these. This one is about how great this guy is OUTSIDE of the bedroom and then once they get..um..intimate...it's all over. It's got a great old-western rhythm section...it's like she conscripted a jug band to service. And then remixed it without losing the jug and the banjo. It's AWESOME.

Great lyric:

Well I lie here in the wet patch/
In the middle of the bed/
I'm felin' pretty damn hard-done-by/
I spent ages giving head/

(I warned you. Parental advisory)

You might be scandalized by her forthrightness, but if you're of a certain age and you've had any kind of a long-term intimacy then you can relate. At least a little bit.

Oh...and it's not a guitar solo, it's a banjo/fiddle solo and it makes me want to slap my knee and dance around like a freak. This is a great cardio album. I also feel that it's a given I want to sing along. As soon as I know the words. For reals.

Track 3: 22. This one has a story...about a girl who's aged past 22 and is still out partying and apparently the world thinks her life is over until her Prince Charming comes along and saves her. Ah...more social commentary. And it's peppy. Oh, and her job makes her cry because she wants a boyfriend but all she gets is one night stands. No completely stand out lyrics, yet...the chorus is catchy, though. This has a piano break. I dig it.

Track 4: I Could Say: Opens with a nice little piano intro...and another breakup song! Opening lyric:

I could say that I'll always be here for you/
But that would be a lie/
And quite a pointless thing to do/

I know that feeling. This one is more "traditional" pop - strings in the back ground and a fairly straightforward melody. I like it. It's about moving on from a bad relationship and liking yourself even though the relationship was total crap. It's more ballady, which isn't always my style, but it's up-tempo enough that I don't see myself hitting skip (also because I can relate to the lyric...I call him The Big Stick I Removed From My Ass when I'm not feeling very generous) and I still want to sing along. And dance, because it's how I do. I see many a teenager singing along to this one. It might make a permanent spot on the break-up cd's I like to handout. Like Smile did.

Track 6: Back to the Start. This is a little techno-poppy ditty...about sisters? Oh yeah - opening lyric:

When we were growing up you always looked like/
You were having such fun/
You always were and you always will be/
The Taller and the prettier one/

But instead of continuing on with the jealous/hate she's apologizing and wanting to start over and have a real relationship. I'm getting a Kylie Minogue vibe off of this, but there might be someone more appropriate to compare her to. Maybe not. Oh yeah, this is about sisters:

But I've found it's so entertaining/
Messing round with your head/

Totally danceable, and sing along-able. It's fun. I love that every song sounds slightly different but it's still distinctly Lily Allen. ooo - she's promising to put the words into action. Cool.

Track 7: Never Going to Happen....sounds Italian? Is this a POLKA? It's a breakup polka song. People are clapping. There are accordians. And awesome lyric:

Believe me when I tell you/
I never want to see you again/

And I love it. Ooooo....she's calling him up for one-night-stands. This is greatness. This is my new favorite album and there's still 5 songs to go. Woot! You can't see it, but I'm dancing in my chair. This feels like a drinking song. When you hear it (because you will) you'll understand.

Track 8: F*** You. Aw...this sounds like something Billy Joel might have done...ok not anymore. She's telling off racists and haters. Awesome. Awesome lyric:

You're just some racist/
Who can't tie my laces/
Your point of view is midieval/

More poppy social commentary. I love it. And the chorus is fun to sing, too:

Fuck you/
Fuck you very very much/
'Cuz we hate what you do/
And we hate your whole crew/
So please don't stay in touch/

oooo....and now they're playing with her voice so she sounds like a smurf. Awesome. Love. This is a good one for those days. You know the ones.

Track 9: Who'd Have Known: hm...ballad...boring conversation...sneaking off to the bedroom...pretending to sleep...and snuggling and chatting...I'm not being pulled in. Hm...she's not clear on their relationship. It's cute and poppy but I'm not feeling it....oh, she no longer feels alone. That's nice. Why is it that when people get all happy and lovey their music starts to lose it's flavor? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you're happy, and I'm not bitter because I'm happy, too, but come on...love doesn't have to be sappy and lame. Love has fireworks, you know. Although there's a market for sap. Their has to be. Look at how well Twilight's doing. I might skip this one if it pops up when I'm driving. Distinctly not a driving song.

Track 10: Chinese: I think she's high. Is that a harpsachord? And a drum kit...on a synthesizer...and it's still slow and melodic...not not digging it...oh good, it's picked up. Still sappy. Hm. The lyrics are nice, she's describing my life...except we don't have a dog. We've had a lot of chinese recently. It's also not grabbing me. They can't all be winners.

Track 11: Him: Again? Really. Hm, she's speculating about God. That would be the titular "Him." Good lyric:

And Come election time/
I wonder who he'd vote for/

Interesting. Social commentary with a religious bent and a synthesized harmony. ooo....

Do you think his favorite type of human is caucasion?

Still ballady, but I'm more interested in the lyrics. Not a good driving song, though. And now there's a little country guitar there...and some weird psychadelic stuff... Interesting....this will need a second listen before I form a concrete opinion.

Track 12: He Wasn't There: ooo - it sounds like an old phonograph is playing. It's one of those songs that makes me want lemonade. Aw, she's singing about lost love. Sad. It's a little more peppy, though, and we know I like that. Or something...she's calling him her hero in disguise...hm...interesting. This is one I would grab Husband and dance with around the kitchen while singing to him. See? Love songs need not be overly sappy and drippy. Ok...I think it's that the relationship isn't perfect but it's working and they love each other and that's wonderful. And the instrumentation is interesting and fun, too. Word.

Overall: worth your money. For reals. I am a little disappointed that her cover of Womanizer didn't make it on there, but what can you do.

And because I do love it - here is the CLEAN version of the Fear video:

Lol-fulness

2009-01-31T17:46:00.002-06:00

I started a dedicated book review blog. Behold.

And in the next hour...day...there will be newness on the embrita blog.

But right now our landlord is using oven cleaner to do something with the exhaust fan in the kitchen (built up grease, I believe) and while it is odorless I'm still getting high.

So there's that...

I'm in Dallas starting next Wednesday. There's greatness planned, weather permitting. Inspiration here.

Goodies on the Doorstep

2009-01-30T12:31:00.005-06:00

So this morning, like the good Suburban Housewife I've become, I shuffled to the front door in my robe and slippers (with my cup of coffee) to kiss Husband goodbye on his way to work. Imagine our sheer delight when we open the door to find this:

It's a box o' farm fresh tasty business from these guys, whom I found here, and who were recommended by an aquaintance in the area.

Even more exciting than the box are the contents. Behold:

There's also a handy list and explanation of what to expect in the winter:

A closeup of our selection:

and two more little notes:

I'm ok with no salad mix. I love salads, but with all the other goodness I can make a red leaf lettuce salad. Also, red leaf lettuce is better on panini's than salad mix.

I don't know what Romanesco is, but I know what broccoli is and we love broccoli.

There's also recipes for some of the items, which is good because I don't know the first thing to do with some of that. I know, from When Harry Met Sally, that you can grill radicchio.

And since I feel that I've waxed poetic about having a local diet enough, I'll just direct you to those previous blogs:

the one that started it all

the one in which I became proactive
(yes, research is proactive)

the one in which I lecture/give tips on how to have a green lifestyle
(being a Locavore is part of that)

the one in which eating locally is Step Five in my 12 steps to save the world

the one in which we drive to the country and reenact scenes from Super Mario Brothers 2

Now...to figure out how to make all that food fit in our fridge...and plan menus!

CPSIA Blog Today

2009-01-28T16:33:00.003-06:00

In case you've missed it, there's legislation in the works that- in the name of protecting our children from lead paint - will kill small craftmen and women.

I'm not doing it Justice, but Designmom did. Read about it here.

Also I've kept the embrita blog up more than this one because my life lately has revolved around my house. And we all know I like to compartmentalize.

So there you go.

And I just posted that because I like that she's pretty and she's biking. And that she used brown shoes to pop. It's very nice :-) It's Ellen Page, btw. Better known to some as Juno.

Go West, Young Man

2009-01-21T16:02:00.007-06:00

image source

Something big happened yesterday. I watched in on cnn.com. (Watching an Inauguration on television is SOOOOOO 2004)

Like everyone, I was moved. I was relieved. I was elated. I was veklempt. And then he said something that gave me pause. In a good way. From the transcript:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."

I have just returned from a place where worldly possessions were sold and packed, and a journey West was undertaken. It put my own journey West into sharp contrast. More photos:

Gingerbread like town

The Church

These people, the Boozers, were farmers in this tiny little Swiss town. They sold everything they owned, packed up the rest, and boarded a boat. They wound up in Saxe Gotha Township in South Carolina. Ulrich - the head of the family, was a Tory. They were farmers for 4 generations and served in two wars (some speculate that one of the women in the family was a spy in the civil war...)

Virgil (a minister), Essie (nee Wyse), and Herman...taken in 1897-98. The fifth generation of Americans. To think that they went from being poor farmers to this in a few generations. This is what America is about.

So I'm thinking - if they could do all of that and become what they became, then Cali is going to bow to my will. Clearly I'm made of strong stuff.

I was going to be all deep and moving and then I lost it. I'll let Obama be deep and meaningful for me.

And I'm thankful for a president who can speak in complete sentences. Who respects science as well as faith (all faiths). And who doesn't look like - as a friend put it - he's contemplating navel lint. And yay! Young children in the White House. What this country needs is a shot of youth.

photo source

The things you find...

2009-01-16T19:04:00.002-06:00

If I'd waited a month to post this, it would have been turned in 20 years ago exactly. Given that I continue to have cats I know the answer is that canned food wins every time. It is second only to chasing something and then only when the mood strikes the animal. Cats are reliable like that.

This was found in one of our file cabinets along with a sheaf of pink notebook paper (I was 10) upon which there were other assignments and several notes about my lack of personal application. Luckily it wasn't very long after that when there was some kind of universal test and it was determined that I was bored. So they put me in some advanced classes...where I continued to fail to apply myself. In fact, that lasted pretty much through college. My opinion was that if I could get solid B's regardless of whether I cracked a book or not, then I was going to fill my time doing interesting things. Exceptions: most of my math classes required me to work VERY hard for B's...economics required hard work for C's. And classes I would have attending even if they hadn't been mandatory often saw me breaking the curve.

Perhaps I should have been Montessori'd/Home Schooled.

Ironically I'm considering a Masters. But if P-Boo could do it in 1926, I can do it 83 years later.

...and we're back...

2009-01-13T16:39:00.008-06:00

In limited release, that is.

111 boxes. I think I've got about 8 or 10 left to go. I know what you're thinking: that's a lot of boxes. And you'd be RIGHT. We don't have that much stuff. It feels like it right now, because it's all exploded onto table and countertops and not very organized, but in truth, we genuinely only hold on to things that we use. So. Where did the need for all the boxes come from?

Poor. Packing. I'm sure it was a LARGE case of CYA on the part of the men sent to pack up our belongings...except for the death of the limited-edition Bowie 45 that I found tossed into the bottom of the cd box...

This is Mr. Potato Head. He's a keychain. I own one (mine is wearing his black bowler hat) and last night while looking for important yet elusive paperwork, we came across him. Wrapped in two-three sheets of paper ALL BY HIMSELF.

Don't get me wrong. I love my Mr. Potato Head keychain. I have him hanging from my bulletin board and when I get stuck or bored I fiddle with him and it's amusing. But Mr. Potato Head is plastic. And he fits inside the slinky, which was also wrapped by itself.

You see where I'm going with this.

Anyway, this is what the guest room looked like after the movers were finished with it:

It's better now, but only slightly. Most of those wardrobe boxes are Steve's. Most of the clothing boxes were Steve's. (Think back to that envious story of the crazy boss, the closet full of expensive Italian clothing, and Steve's new Wardrobe...right.)

That picture is just funny to me. It's boxes of Chicken broth.

Oh, and our Home Depot looks like it was designed by the Jetsons, which I dig. I've been there a lot. You can imagine.

After the last post, there was (obviously) the move, but there was also a trip to Switzerland:

(photo by SIL)

And a wedding:

(Steve on left, looking less Jewish than beloved life-long friend on the right...who is also not Jewish)

All good times. Going to try and keep the house-related blogging over on the design blog...for whatever that's worth now. Trying to keep the post-move melancholy to a minimum as well. Anyone who's ever picked up and moved across the country will understand. For the most part it's great, and then there comes that moment when I think "it'd be really nice to catch up with someone right about now" but then I look at the clock and realize they're sleeping/commuting/etc because they're in a different time zone. Blargh.

Also...melancholy is probably spurred a little today by Sad News. I know that no one likes Sad News, but it is part of life. So I'm going to share, in the hopes that it will make me feel better. Because it's my blog and I can.

Last night my mom called to tell me that the Uncle's Partner (for the better part of 2 decades) has fallen ill. Before Christmas he had a heart attack and has had several since and the prognosis was bad enough that they took him off of the support machines yesterday. She'd just gotten off the phone with her oldest sister. I met him once, years ago. I stayed in their house in San Francisco. I remember him as quiet, pleasant, and very warm. I was shy, he was shy, and we were in the company of close siblings who don't get to see each other enough. But I genuinely like him and enjoyed his company. It was also clear to anyone with eyes that he and my uncle truly truly loved each other. They became the anecdotal argument I used whenever anyone opposing gay marraige said something heartless like "gay men are promiscuous" or "it's an affront to traditional marriage." Their relationship, to me at least, proved that love transcends all of those arguments.

Several of their friends gathered with them. They played cards and were singing songs and generally having as positive an atmosphere as they could. He passed in the night.

My heart breaks for my uncle. I am sad that the world is now missing a soul like Michaels.

We sent flowers, of course. It took me ten minutes to write the card.

I truly hope that at the end of my time with Steve that we are surrounded by friends and family and we can say that we had long, happy years together. I wish that for you, too.

TTFN!

2008-12-21T09:36:00.000-06:00

Today we are packing our suitcases, taking the cats over to my sister's house, and disconnecting the computers. Which means no blog updates until the week of the 5th.

Note the lack of a concrete blog-update-date? Let's just say I'd rather not accidentally lie to you.

The next few weeks will be split between Switzerland, Grapevine, and San Jose.

Merry Christmas!
Happy Hannukah (which I believe starts tonight? Or last night?)

Happy New Year!

Still lazy

2008-12-19T12:52:00.002-06:00

Ok. Busy. We leave on MONDAY. Monday, people. And between now and then we have 3 Christmases.

Anyway, check out embrita. :-)

Bonjour Laziness!

2008-12-15T19:05:00.001-06:00

Oh yeah. Posted a short blog on Embrita.

And added a feed from my RSS aggregator over there on the right. Good stuff.

Happy Monday!

I Had Christmas Down in Africa

2008-12-12T14:15:00.001-06:00

So good, it deserves a stand-alone post: (and it's on my facebook as well. It's that good.)

Hot Chocolate!

2008-12-07T20:44:00.011-06:00

Went to a party Friday night for the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition..or the "Nobel Experiment" as some haughty-taughty people called it. It was at the Sister's house and it was a rollicking good time. There are lots of photos, but I'm just going to share this one:

That's right. Brother-in-Law made a speakeasy door. You even had to know a password to get in and pass a breathalizer to get out. They were certainly on top of it.

Then I was roused waaay too early on Saturday by loud people arriving a good 2 hours early for the Christmas parade. So I made myself some hot chocolate and in between scanning and archiving old family photos (note: if you decide to take on this project, have your head examined first. It's too late for me - now that I've started I MUST finish...but you, there's still hope for you) I watched the parade.

There were of course a zillion marching bands all playing Christmas carols, which I shamelessly sang along to. Loud. (Perk of Husband being across the country: I can sing as loud as I like. I do anyway when he's here, but I always feel a little guilty for putting his ears in danger like that.)

And there are photos - through my dirty window from a block away with my "crappy" camera.

I get a definite Stay-Puft vibe off of this guy.

I'm not sure what these guys were doing. They're in Edwardian dress riding those early bicycles...it was cool.

This is the view down Main Street looking West. I have a friend in the first building to the left and Neimans is just beyond that. There's yummy restaurants down there. All of which I will miss.

What's a Christmas Parade without some Storm Trooper action?

This float is the Hot Chocolate float - they're all dressed like the waiters on Polar Express and that song was playing on a loop. It, of course, got stuck in my head.

A My Little Pony. Having a resurgence in popularity. If only I still had mine!

Rudolph, coming in for a landing. In the new pool...maybe he's thirsty?

And the Big Guy himself. I almost missed him because I got distracted by needing to watch Polar Express to get that song out of my head. It didn't work, btw.

An interesting Discovery

2008-12-03T21:52:00.005-06:00

I am Scottish. Well, one-quarter Scottish. It would be one-eighth, but due to genetics and math, it's one-quarter.

And not just ANY Scottish. I, of course, have more information than the average person needs/cares about so I'll keep this short.

My maternal great-grandmother was a Gregory. A particular Gregory who came from the Clan Gregor. Complete with Castle:

And a tartan:

which I own (completely coincidentally)

I plan on doing some DNA research, but not until after we're moved and settled and there's no chance that my spit will be packed up and lost.

I've been giggling every time I think about it since I discovered it yesterday. Because in order for that to be my castle, roughly 4 bajillion people (some of whom I love dearly) would have to die. But Avril's words still ring a little true. And justify my haggy/superior behavior a little more. Well...in my able-to-rationalize-anything mind it does. wink. And no WONDER I have such expensive tastes. For realz. It also explains my affinity for her:

I don't know if it's ironic or not...I think this actually does fall under that definition, but finding out when and where my ancestors came from when they immigrated to America (in some cases before it was America) makes me feel more patriotic than almost anything else I've done.

And now...for the last word on Being Scottish...Ewan McGregor, speaking the words of Irvine Welsh/John Hodge as directed by Danny Boyle (Who REALLY blows my skirt up)

This is NOT safe for work.

Oh yeah...

2008-12-01T13:10:00.003-06:00

Spent last week recharging in Florida.

It was awesome. We do a lot of lying around and reading when we're there. We went for a couple of walks and had lunch on the bay at Crystal River -- where there was crazy manatee activity.

Then I flew home and we had Steve's Going Away Party:

Funny story: some people (one of whom was IN THE MILITARY) thought that my screen saver was counting down until when Steve leaves. It's actually just on Military Time. But when it hit 0:00 we needed to take a photo. Of course.

I put my paltry Christmas decorations up on the embrita blog. (link at right)

Oh, and I made some headway on the genealogy research. If I'm not mistaken, there's a Scottish line that leads from me way way waaay back.

Hint

(hint has some not safe for work language in it..fyi)

Some things...

2008-11-18T21:24:00.003-06:00

I'm going to miss our Butcher. His name is Greg and he's awesome. Seriously. If you're in Dallas and you want some GOOD meat go see him. I feel the need to pimp since I'm leaving and he's losing a LOT of business. Steve does like a good steak when I'm out with the girls...LINK to him.

I'm going to miss being down the street from Neimans. Check out the Christmas trees this year...in an entire post all to itself on the design blog.

I'm going to miss watching college ball with my mom. Perhaps a move will equal cable and I'll get to see some Coach K action from the West Coast.

I'm going to miss Coopers. I've watched those kids grow up. I've watched them learn to talk, learn to walk, (not) learn to share...I have kids who are too old to actually need watching come in just to talk now. They were 5 when I started and in middle school now. I've seen infants because big brothers and sisters...and I've encountered every gross thing a kid can do to you. Trust me on this one. I would post photos of these kids that I love, but they're not mine and I have reservations about it. So I won't. But trust me. Dozens and dozens of beautiful children over the years. Dreadfully inadequate words: I have a richer life because of those children.

But enough of that. Here's some funny. Princess Polly Prissy Pants. Making out with the humidifier. What you can't hear is the trilling and meowing and purring. And if she had actually managed to make it bubble...well, you have no idea the amount of frolicking that happens then. For reals.

Gettin' My Move On

2008-11-10T08:38:00.002-06:00

Posting will be a bit sporadic in the coming weeks. We're moving from the Big D to Sunny Central Cali and it's a rather sudden move. Husband will start work in Dec. and I'm spending the last week of November in Florida (as I do every year) and then the last two weeks-ish of December we'll be in Snowy Switzerland....

There are some logistical nightmares ahead and the distinct possibility that Husband will be living in Cali while I'm here packing. Luckily my last day at work is Thursday so that will free up a lot of time to get packing.

Not looking forward to: 3 days in a car driving across the desert with two surly cats. Even if they will be on Children's Benadryl.

Going to keep on Top of the Embrita blog as much as I can...and the company will move with me. (such as it is at this point.)

A 3rd Anniversary weekend in Napa is looking like a very nice idea right now...I love it and Husband has never been. It's time. I love it when a plan comes together.

13 seconds of Emily

2008-11-05T18:56:00.001-06:00

on Halloween:

btw - that's Jessica laughing maniacally in the background.

American Boy

2008-11-05T15:13:00.006-06:00

Oh yeah. You know it.

(not my photo...can't find the original credit. If it's yours, let me know so I can credit you.)

(photo: JFK Library)

I'm sure that there have been and will be many a comparison between JFK and President Elect Barack Obama (who, as Chris Rock says: Has a name so Black you expect him to be carrying a spear.) But I like this one: youth in the White House. His daughters are in their most pliable stage of life. To be around that power and confidence - from both parents - will serve them, and our country, very well. Here's hoping they don't name the First Dog something dumb.

Now I could fill the rest of this with quotes from one of his many inspirational speeches, but you have Google if you need to catch up.

What I will say is this: this is a man who was born into the Civil Rights Movement. He lived a life of honesty and resilience. This was a very polarizing election, with record turnouts and for the first time in almost a decade: a clear winner. The country has spoken. And in the morning, the flag was still there.

This is interesting.

(PS - my heart breaks for him over the loss of his grandmother. I had a hard time getting out of bed when mine passed away.)

And now...because I'm video happy...I'll leave you with what some people called The Song Of Summer:

Friends...

2008-11-02T16:51:00.008-06:00

I received this in the mail a few weeks ago:

As if there were Friends for Fighting? I'm a hag and even I know that's not right.
Speaking of hags, I've found a new blog that I love. Not that's she's a hag, but she's more interested in being Interesting than Nice, which I can seriously get on board with.
Check her out. Warning: raisins might come out of your nose.

Speaking of friends, went to a Halloween Party Friday night. A night with friends in Fancy dress looks like this:

And this:

It does not look like people in lame costumes sitting on the couch being anti-social. Although there was a bit of that, too. I remember pausing briefly to wonder if they were having as much fun as those of us in danger of spewing champagne out of our noses and then I thought "wait a minute. I am not their mom, nor am I their babysitter or even their BFF...and we are not an exclusive clique. If they want to also laugh until alcoholic beverages come out of their nose, well they can get their Constipated Frigid Bitch Asses off the couch and come join us." They didn't. What they did do is Leave Early and that's just their loss. For serious.

Oh, also - friends having fun looks like this:

No, he's not Dr. Horrible, although he does have the look down. Maybe I'll get Steve to be Dr. Horrible next year for our Mad Scientist party. That would be awesome. And then I'll be Mrs. Lovett. Who isn't a mad scientist but who was most certainly mad and the cook. And we all know that when the B's host a party, it's the Emmie who's cooking. Wonder if I could get my hair to do that...?

Such fun. And I might even have the time/space to make a costume, in which case: game on.

Alright, so today blogging feels like procrastinating. Why? Because there are piles and piles of detritus hanging around our loft just waiting to be dealt with. Of course...I feel like procrastinating more. I think I'll watch Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. (link above.) Hm...maybe I'll vlog next. :-) That would be hilarious.

A little Explanation

2008-10-29T08:13:00.007-05:00

I hear a lot of "geez, Emily, it takes you so long to get ready in the morning...what's the deal?"

Answer: I have two cats, a 12.5lb little girl named Polly who likes to lay in my lap and howl in my face...and a 17.2 lb (mostly muscle, said the vet Monday afternoon) who likes to do this:

Yeah, that's my mousin' arm. And then he gets comfortable:

I took more, but you get the point. It's hard to disturb that. Not that I spoil my kitties or anything...

Holy Giant Beach Ball, Batman!

2008-10-26T14:56:00.003-05:00

No kidding. Today (and yesterday) at the corner of Elm and Akard in downtown Dallas. Apparently, Carnival Cruise Lines got together with Guinness World Records to do some shenanigans with the Worlds Largest Beach Ball.

Of course I got photos:

Two Posts in one day?!?!?!

2008-10-22T11:43:00.011-05:00

That's right, folks. Why? Because today is the Annual Cattle Drive.

Behold, right outside my window!

And a stagecoach outside my door (on Main Street)

And Rodeo Clowns on the street:

Cowgirls in the street: (in front of my FAVORITE building - the one in which Oswald was shot)

Also in the street? Cows! And lots of 'em! (Longhorns, to be precise.)

And Businessmen!

And a Bike Messenger!

And cows being ornery!

And a cowboy!

Happy Trails...to you...until we meet again....Happy Trails...to you...Keep Smilin' until then...!

And all of this leads to G. Love and Jack Johnson: Rodeo Clowns:

Channeling Patrick Bateman

2008-10-22T08:21:00.006-05:00

(in crowded restaurant)
"What are you into?"
"Murders and Executions!"
"What?"
"Mergers and Acquisitions!"

So true. On so many levels, isn't it?

Luckily, that's not that part I'm channeling. (I can't remember the format in which he does this, and I'm not going to be as thorough, either, so forgive me that, please.)

The Old 97's joined together 15 years ago - Rhett Miller, Murray Hammond, Ken Bethea, and Phillip Peeples and a year later put out Hitchhike to Rhome. Fast forward to the summer of 2000, when their full catalogue included 4 albums, the last of which - Fight Songs - had radio play on the alternative stations I listened to.

The night in question, I'm at The Sons Of Herman Hall with Chaz and a couple of his friends. I forget who we were there to see. On our way down the stairs to the bar, a couple of guys crossed our path.

Chaz: "Hi! I'm a huge fan..blah blah blah...."
Cute Guy # 1: "Hi, nice to meet you. Rhett Miller." (Said while he's looking at me - as I said to Chaz later - like I'm on the menu. I remember this because I was 21 and still had that leftover high-school awkward feeling running through my veins and the thought that someone as HOT as Rhett would look at me like that...well it made an impression. Don't get me wrong - Chaz is a very attractive man. But we met through friends and I'm convinced it was my rapier wit that won his friendship.)

The rest of the stairway conversation is a blur. I'm sure I blushed and tried to hide while also trying not to drool over Rhett Miller. When we got down to the bar and had our beers I asked who that was.

"The Old 97's. I burned a few of their cds for you." The rest, they say, is history. Chaz and I saw them at least twice that summer and I've seen them countless times since. Always at small venues and the shows are ALWAYS high energy and so much fun.

So this past Saturday night...Rhett crossed party lines and performed at the homecoming of his High School rival: Jesuit. (Rhett went to St Marks) Because my husband belongs to that particular cult, we attended.

Behold, our view:

The weird thing is that we were closer - we were in the auditorium and, perspective-wise, Rhett seemed much closer than he does on the photo. But I also had the wide-angle setting on so that I could get everyone.

And then, because I was sitting on bleachers that rumbled constantly, my video was shaky and you can hear my singing...which is guaranteed to make your ears bleed....so I'll give you this interview that I found online, and link you to the post in which I posted their Nerdiest Video Ever (LOVE - and it's safe for work)

Also - I think a Guitar Hero: Old 97's would be something that I'd play a LOT.

Final Thought: this is my computer setup. The newest addition is the Union Jack Rubber Duckie on the screen. Little J brought it back to me from London. I <3 it.

Some Random Thoughts

2008-10-15T15:26:00.002-05:00

When one lays on a couch for the better part of a year, the waistline tends to expand. This was brought home in a most unfortunate and unwelcome manner when I went to measure so I could purchase the right size coat. I was inspired to climb to failure today.

Pushing Daisies is hilarious. Also, total eye candy in every sense of the word.

Check out the embrita blog. Today is Blog Action Day so this one has some heart in it. Also I've applied for blogher sponsorship, so please leave comments! (That was so shameless.)

Swiss-German is a dialect which has 2500 unique words. I now know them all. Woot! Moving on to refresh my French. :-)

Lately whenever I'm having questions about the proper way to behave, I ask myself the Age-Old Question: WWDD? What Would Della Do? Who is Della? My late-grandmother (my mother's mother) and the quintessential Southern Lady. And let me tell you, it's making me view everyone else with that same filter and I am positively shocked at some of the things people do thinking that their behavior is perfectly ok.

Monday night's Gossip Girl made me say "Oh S@%t!" Several times. Out loud.

The requisites for entry to Harvard's Graduate English program make me look like the Village Idiot. Of course, so did the requisites for sitting down to dinner with Julius Nicholas, AKA my great-great-great(-great?) Grandfather.

I think that's good for today.

Happy Wednesday!

MGMT

2008-10-13T09:40:00.002-05:00

I picked up the new MGMT (Oracular Spectacular)on an itunes music binge last week. I dig it. It's got a very 70s feel that I can't quite place my finger on. So here are my two favorite songs:

First, Electric Feel...which features stellar lyrics along the lines of "ooo girl, shock me like an electric eel..." Word.

Bummer. I can't embed it. So you'll have to go here. It's their official video....which appears to have been directed by someone who was reading Tolkien at Woodstock.

And if you can figure out what to make of this video - The Youth - which is awesome - let me know. It's got a very Electric Company feel to it. And it makes me wish I could get away with Purple Sequins...(it's also TOTALLY work friendly...as long as your work allows you to sit around and watch videos ;-) )

Oh. Em. Gee.

2008-10-12T11:58:00.009-05:00

There's PARK ACTIVITY. And by park I mean "Currently a Giant Empty and Potentially abandoned Block of Dirt With a Big Hole In It."

For reference: Main Street Gardens, as written about in my fave local news blog, Unfair Park. (In the image at the top of that article, our building is on the right - our bank account is glad that we moved in when it was a parking garage, before they could charge for "Park Views."

So I got home for lunch on Friday to discover ACTIVITY. Actual PEOPLE were in the block, and not cutting through or LOST. They were there with a purpose. Behold:

So there's a ribbon-cutting/speech giving/morale-boosting meeting going on at one end...with the Building In Which Jack Ruby Shot Oswald in the background.

Of course, at the other end is the Bat-Cave, being filled in by some kind of back-ho thing. Wherever will the Wonder Twins meet now that their secret lair is full of dirt?

And just for giggles - here's the progress of the construction we've been witnessing since the Dawn Of Time:

Not Pictured: The Not So Grand Hotel.

Reference blogs. Older. (With an interior shot that makes me cringe.) And Newer, with information that I find galvanizing. The latter link has a picture of the outside. I'm not taking a picture of it because it creeps me out. If there were any place for something Shining-esque to take place, The Grand is it. And I'd have a front-row seat.

So that was exciting. For more excitement, see the Embrita Blog.

A little bit of stuff.

2008-10-09T19:38:00.003-05:00

Item one: Do not let your sweet potatoes/yams sit too long before you use them or they'll end up looking like this:

If we had a backyard, they would have been planted. But we don't so they were de-rooted and cooked. They were yummy, too.

Item two: The Jewish High Holy Days = a day off for Emily. I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. They're yummy. Also - the wine room at Pogo's (the only work we did today) is looking smashing. Seriously. When it's finished it's going to be delish. Trust.

Item three: rescued a fifty-or-so year-old card catalogue from mom's library. It's solid wood and weighs FOUR MILLION POUNDS. It's still in my trunk. Yes, it fit in the Fit. My car is awesome. And even with a 4,000,000lb hunk of solid wood in the back of my car weighing it down, I bet I STILL got well over 30mpg on the highway. Take that, SUVs! As soon as I can get it upstairs it will go in between the fabulous tufted suede chairs. I'll post photos etc on the embrita site. :-)

Item four: all of my dinner alarms are going off. Time to go drool over - I mean watch Josh Lyman. On the West Wing.

PS - Item five: Yes, it is tasty that Jonathan Rhys Meyers spends a LOT of naked time on screen in the Tudors. But I still couldn't get into it enough to dedicate an hour at a time watching it. Too complicated. Too....something. Mostly just not what I'm in the mood for. But the eye candy is nice.

...

2008-10-06T18:48:00.002-05:00

That's called an ellipsis. If you're in the 8th grade in Plano Schools, you haven't learned that. Yet another reason to go to private school. Stupid No Child Left Behind. I was in Plano last week with the girls.

Anyway, all the blogging has been happening over at the design blog the past couple of days. Check it out.

Brought to You by the Color Yellow.

2008-09-26T18:42:00.008-05:00

There's a debate tonight. In a few hours the two Presidential Candidates will take the stage and convince us that one of them is fit to untangle the mess that the current administration has gotten us into.

And I know that it's early for me to be telling you to Vote, but I am.

Does it matter to me who you vote for? Not really. I have my opinions, but for the sake of this post, I'm going to suspend them. Just make sure that you register, you PAY ATTENTION, you research both candidates regarding the issues that matter the most to you, and you show up and vote. It's the first Tuesday in November.

Where can you register, you ask? Here, at Rock The Vote. And here, at the League of Women Voters. (I'm not sure about the former, but the latter is a non-partisan organization dedicated to allowing you (and they're not biased, you can be a man) to make the most informed vote possible. Rock on, Sista Suffragette.)

Where do some research?

Well, there are so many many places, but the most logical place is to start at the candidates sites:

McCain/Palin
Obama/Biden

And then you can go to what I've found to be the best non-partisan resource: Fact Check. This is great. These guys take all of the ads, speeches, etc from all candidates/camps and say "Yes, this is correct" or "no, this is incorrect and here's why..." It's fabulous.

For the funny, I like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. What I like about Jon Stewart is that they're a "day late" news program so they have time to gather up news clips and whatnot from previous years and play them with the current clips. What I like about Stephen Colbert is that he's more conservative than I am and he calls the audience "Nation." Also both shows are streamed free - but not ad free - on the above links. It makes me laugh over breakfast.

If you want to skip their non-political bits, then go straight here: to Indecision 2008 and watch clips. For example (chose this one because it has the distinction of being "most viewed.")

Ah..and why yellow, you ask? Because lately I'm feeling rather like people should be responsible for themselves.

Posters courtesy of Get Out The Vote 08

What to Do With a Pomegranate

2008-09-22T14:16:00.005-05:00

First, buy one:

Scratch that. Buy two. These bad boys are only in season from September through late December, so enjoyment must be optimized.

Every time I say that I've purchased one of these lovelies, someone asks me what to do with it. They seem to be intimidating fruits... which is a shame, really, because they're yummy. But first things first - before you can eat them, you must get the 600 or so seeds out of the rind. You'll need a paring knife, a bowl of water, and a bowl for the rind.

Step one: Score the fruit. I cut the nubby bit off the top and then scored down so I've made 4 sections. Then you can easily break apart each section, thusly:

Step two, in the bowl of water, turn the section inside out and push the seeds away from the flesh.(My first section is floating in the water in the above picture.) The seeds will come easily, but you're definitely going to burst some. The juice stains, but the water will help prevent this. Something about physics.

Repeat for each section and voila! You'll have a bowl full of seeds, and another full of compost.

Now for the good part: the eating. I make a salad with prosciutto and a warm balsamic vinaigrette that always benefits from Pom seeds. A quick foodtv.com and epicurious.com search reveals that compotes, molasses, sauces...all good with pom.

My favorite, though, is this little recipe:

1) Champagne Split
2) Pama/Cosmo mix
3) Pomegranate Seeds

Pour the above into a flute (one split will give you two glasses) to taste and enjoy! This is especially festive when wrapping Christmas presents.

Doing a bit around the house...check out the embrita blog for updates! Also updated my weardrobe account. Link at right.

A little Fashion Distraction

2008-09-20T12:35:00.002-05:00

In my Neiman Marcus book today:

Which is pimping this book.

Of course I answered it.

Happy Saturday!

They Say That Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fungus

2008-09-17T18:07:00.008-05:00

Anyway. Lots been happening. Mostly having to do with both my boss and my husband giving me a rather gnarly cold. I'm all better now, and it was nice to have *just* a cold.

So while I was laid up reading and watching Halloween movies (it's never too early!) I dug into my Yoga Journal..and had some realizations.

1st) A woman who has trouble conceiving talks about her journey. There were a lot of parallels: she knew from an early age that she wanted to be a mom, she has a regular yoga practice (she's actually a teacher), she eagerly babysat, she had a lot of childcare knowledge...and she didn't get pregnant when she wanted. She adjusted her yoga practice, went through frustrating IUI, and finally unloaded on a friend after a night out. The friend, after hearing her out, said: "Have you considered that the timing of your conception isn't only up to you? Perhaps there's the spirit of the baby to consider. Who is to say that he or she doesn't have some say in all of this?"

I realized that this need (it's a need by now) of mine is completely selfish. I want a child. I want to be a mom. I want to teach my children how to cook and climb and practice yoga. I want to share all of the great books and music and movies with them. I want to have the house that all of the kids hang out at...I...I...I.

Of course Steve factors in. He'll be an amazing father. If his caliber as a husband is any kind of yardstick...he'll be an amazing father. We waited until he was ready and we're approaching the whole thing together.

But I never took into account the spirit of the child. Yes, I have answered overly nosy questions with "some things are worth waiting for." And yes, I was more relieved than I ever thought I would be when every single test last fall turned up negative. No one needs drastically high fevers, a swollen brain, AND a fetus. But I always thought of it as my time.

That sentence. "Perhaps there's the spirit of the baby to consider." Perhaps there is. No, scratch that. I'm quite certain that our children are having something to say about their birth. My nephew certainly did (three weeks late and would probably still be in the womb if he could.)

There was another article on meditating on the Sacral Chakra, which is the seat of creativity. What I took from that is that the root chakra is dangerously close to where I'm healing. Still healing. And that maybe some Root-centered meditation wouldn't be harmful. It might even help. So I've done a bit of research.

(image from wiki)

The Root Chakra is that bottom one. There's a lot of info on Chakras out there (follow the above wiki link) and I won't bore you with all of the details. Except to say that there are those who believe that the Chakras line up with certain organs in the endocrine/lymph system...so do with that knowledge what you will.

Anyway. For whatever reason, today the blogger isn't letting me embed video. Sigh.

Follow this link for the SNL funny that you should see if you haven't already. (And yes, it's work appropriate :-) )

Bringing Up Baby

2008-09-11T19:31:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that I'm chomping at the bit to be a mom. (The term is "Baby Fever") I've got the nursery somewhat planned, I've got the pre-school picked out...I've even got *GASP* names. I've employed the Military's tactic here, though: Don't ask. Don't tell. I like them, husband likes them. Your opinion is Moo. Unless you think they're cute, at which point you can gush all you like.

I did the math a little while ago and I've been actively taking care of other people's children (more than one at a time, most often) for the past 18 years. I've got a minor in Early Childcare Development....which makes me a bitch to hang out with when your child is involved. I can't help it. I'm sorry.

Anyway, saw this in the new Psychology Today:

Add this to the fact that anything a child learns by the age of 6 is hardwired into their brains..for LIFE...and I'm even more determined to polish up at least two more languages (Swiss-German and either French or Spanish) before I start popping out kids.

Since it's tiny, I'll give you the bullets.

* Languages learned before the age of 5 are represented differently in the brain than are later languages. For example, they trigger sensory associations more actively. Researchers can detect the native tongues among highly proficient bilinguals simply by monitoring neural activity as subject read.

* Learning a second language can help you out decades down the road. On average, lifelong bilinguals incur dementia four years later than others, adding to the evidence that lifestyle can be more neuroprotective than drugs.

* Don't worry if Johnny (NOT on Emily's name list) loses some English vocab on his trip to France. New research finds that it's not from atrophy of the old tongue; the new one is running interference. To better learn new labels for things, the brain suppresses previously learned terms.

* Infants as young as 4 months can tell when a speaker switches languages just by watching the mouth - a marker of how important visual cues are to language learning. But by 8 months only babies raised in bilingual households have this ability; without continued exposure some perceptual abilities wane.

* Cultural cues such as national flags can trigger different values and even different elements of your personality. Language acts as one cue: researchers find that Spanish-English bilinguals are more assertive and achievement-oriented when using English, which seems in line with American culture.

* Babies in bilingual households are slow to develop the ability to discriminate subtle differences between similar-sounding words such as "bad" and "dad." Instead, they devote attention to the meanings of words in their expanding vocabularies.

This reminds me of a joke that I heard once...one of those Funny Because It's True ones:

A person who speaks two languages is bilingual.
A person who speaks three languages is tri-lingual.
A person who speaks more than 2 or 3 languages is a polyglot.
A person who speaks one language is...American.

Word. Time to go make myself smarter. As if I needed incentive: Mary-Louise Parker's character on the West Wing...ok MOST of the characters on the West Wing make me feel dumb. For reals, yo. So we watch. I am inspired. I do another Swiss-German lesson. And I'm considering taking some cont.ed classes in Furniture design. Because that would be rad.

And now I'm hunger. Have some sexy Swiss-German...Roger Federer:

In The Words Of Margaret Cho: "AAAAUUUGGGHGHHHHH!"

2008-09-10T14:02:00.003-05:00

We'll start with that. Remember this blog, in which I said:

"Surely, there's something to this eating local thing - supporting local farmers when farm subsidies are drying up, etc etc. And you know where your food comes from so you've got a better chance of knowing what 's in it. No High-Fructose Corn Syrup, or, as I like to call it, Devil Spawn. And for those of you who would like to point to my Coke habit, I then point you to the fact that not only is it in a Glass bottle, but it was bottled in Mexico -using SUGAR. The only other time that occurs is at passover because HFCS is not kosher."

I saw the above commercial and...well. I was unprepared. If you watch from 1:45 - 3:45 you'll see what I was feeling as I watched. (And if you stay in that time, it's work appropriate.)

I told Husband that if we started seeing pro-PVC commercials, we're leaving the country. I hear Vancouver's nice...

I"m sure you recognize short-haired chick in the above commercial. Ironically (or not) she's played a demon on Buffy.

I'm going to leave you with another (this time not so work appropriate) clip from Margaret Cho's Revolution Tour. Ironically - both of these are from the same tour, which Steve and I saw when she came through Dallas with it. I should have heeded her warning at the time...also - it's proof that almost everything is funny if enough time has passed. And that sharing is cathartic.

PS - LOVE her outfit.

Random Sunday Stuff

2008-09-07T18:39:00.004-05:00

1st: a warning. Persimmons = the Devil's Fruit. Oh they're tasty. They make good cookies. But, to put it in someone else's words...well, just go here. It's not a pleasant subject.

Moving on. Steve had his 10-year reunion last night. Evidence that I was off my game: no pictures. There were people he didn't remember, people he did remember, some pregnant chicks, and one girl that I'm not entirely unconvinced wasn't hired to pose as the wife of a guy who may, or may not, have had something to prove.

We had houseguests who over-loved the kitties and with whom we had an enjoyable morning.

Oh - after the previous post I had some requests (the comment from SIL and some messages from others) regarding what my camera is.

It is the Awesome. Trust me. Pools, Lakes, sprinklers. I hand it to small children on a regular basis without a worry. When I upgrade, it'll be the same one with a higher resolution. I <3 olympus.

Segueying from cameras to Photoshop...there's a movement afoot to get magazines to stop photoshopping so much. In case you've never seen what photoshop can do, this vid from Dove will open your eyes:

And finally...because I love to leave you with music...one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands set used with scenes from one of my favorite shows by one of my favorite writers.

You Sound Like Louis Burdett, performed by The Whitlams...with Firefly (by Joss Whedon)

Little Updates

2008-09-03T11:38:00.007-05:00

Updated the Embrita Blog with a link to a little quiz and added design site links to the sidebar. Added non-design links to this sidebar.

Had a good long weekend. Behold:

Bubble, blowing bubbles. I love my underwater camera. For Reals.

I got video, too:

Then on Sunday there was a sleepover at Jessica's. Yes, we're 30. It's been a good 20 years since we've had a random sleepover. It was awesome. We stayed up really late and painted our nails and watched movies and ate junk food. It's going to be a regular thing.

America. And Wine.

2008-08-28T14:08:00.003-05:00

Ahhh....America. I'm not the most patriotic person. Blame my father. I don't Love America purely by virtue of having been born here. Well....that's not the right way to put that, because I do, in fact, Love America. I cry during the Star Spangled Banner. Well, I particularly cry at this line:

"Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

You could even narrow it down to still there. I Love what America stands for - resilience, ingenuity, perseverance. We walked away from situations that were simply unacceptable all around the world. We formed a country and kept at bay everyone who would take that away from us. When we were wandering astray, our own citizens brought us back and work every day to make life here better. America has ushered in the modern world. Trust me.

And while I might not agree with everything we do....well, Steve and I fight sometimes, too, and I still love him. So I'll probably give America another shot...after all, if I made it through the last 8 years with Still-President Bush, I can survive anything, right? Although, I hear Vancouver is nice...

So what inspired this particularly insipid blog? Wine. You read that right. Wine. In this month's Domino is an article on wine. The adventuress went to a school to become a wine "expert" in 2 days. I know enough to know that's a load of hooey, but she did come away with enough meaningful information to make ordering wine at dinner not suck. And because I love wine, and I feel that everyone should have at least enough knowledge to say confidently whether they do or don't like it...I'm sharing the table from the article. And encouraging everyone to go buy a bottle of something you've never had before just to see what you think.

On Sunday, Steve and I went to the movies. We saw Bottle Shock, which is based on a True Story. It was LOVELY. It made us both want to have a wine tasting. Maybe we will....after I get the leaves for the dining table built. :-D

Watch this trailer, and not the other. The other gives away Too Much.

A Closet Cop-Out

2008-08-21T11:28:00.003-05:00

If you've read this blog even a little you'll know that I've had the VERY ambitious plan to organize and catalogue my wardrobe for several months now. April's InStyle even had a rather thorough article about how to do it. The fab folks at Team Sugar were nice enough to post the article, which I'm going to c&p here:

By Cynthia Weber Cleary
Step 1: Pick your eight best pieces
First things first: Select your favorites and build from there. For me, special pieces are often ones I've splurged on, but they're not always the newest items in my closet. Whether it's style, cut or fabric, these pieces have an indisputable "it" factor. They should be unique enough that you always feel fabulous in them.

Step 2: Lay your choices out on the floor
You can put them on the bed too! Really, do whatever works for you. The idea is to be able to see everything in front of you. It's easier to analyze and hone a workable color palette this way. Then, start refining and styling for different occasions.

Picking a color palette
Unless your closet is strictly a black, white and neutral affair, your outfits--starting with your best pieces--should reflect seasonal palettes. Two go-to color groupings this spring are: khaki, brown, ivory and gold with yellow and red accents; or black, white, gray and silver with bright pink and turquoise accents. As a rule, two of your best pieces should be neutral for ease of mixing.

Step 3: Pick your basics
The key to finding a good, working basic is to keep in mind its cut and proportion to other pieces. For example, this spring your slim capris may work with a hip-length jacket, but your wide-leg pants won't. Look for colors in the palette you've picked.

Spring Musts:
Wide-leg pants
Knee-length dress
Capri pants
Knee-length skirt
Thin-knit cardigan
Lots of tanks

Step 4: Make a list of what's missing
Now the fun part--it's time to hit the stores! After all this work sorting through your closet to pick your best pieces as well as your basics, it will be clear that you have an affinity for one style, cut or color at the expense of another. Have too many solid pieces? Consider adding textures or prints. Your list will be a work in progress as you continue to edit your wardrobe, so be open to updating as you go along.

Step 5: Create outfits and try them on--shoes and all!
Dainty or chunky, heels or flats, shoes are crucial in determining how well your outfit comes together. As you put everything on to figure out complementary cuts and colors, you'll discover exactly which pairs have the right attitude--and correct proportion--for the overall look.

Step 6: Choose a handbag
Don't play it safe: An all-black outfit with an all-black bag is blah. Now's your chance to add texture and contrast while staying within your palette. Keep in mind you'll need three bags: a structured day bag, an evening bag and a casual bag.

Step 7: Accessorize!
Jewelry is highly personal, so try on bracelets, earrings and necklaces last, and go with what you feel works best.

Step 8: Snap the looks
Photograph your outfits and keep the shots on hand for easy reference. You'll be set for every occasion and then some.

So now you have the basics and you're in need of some inspiration to mix it up. This morning Design Mom pointed me towards two "Daily Wear" blogs - one run by an adult and one by a 15 year old (go figure, my fashion lines up rather nicely with the 15 year old's) and then her readers added many many more to the mix. I've culled them down to a nice little list of links for your inspiration (and mine!)

whatiwore2day
Childhood Flames (this is the 15 year old, Camille)
Style Rookie (Tavi is no more than ten or eleven and dresses much like I did. I see great things in her future.)
Another What I Wore, this one on tumblr
and a flickr group, which of course I joined.

Here's hoping I have the inspiration to start shooting some of my own outfits. Maybe I'll plan to do that when I get knocked up. I feel like that would go on the design blog, though. I'm actually toying with moving the fashion musings over there, since it's all related. Hm...thoughts?

Ok - but a little more searching on Tavi's site and I find the link to weardrobe.com, which appears to be an online closet site. THIS might be what I've been looking for all along! Too bad I only have one more day off!

Because it's the middle of the night and I can

2008-08-21T00:08:00.004-05:00

I love this song:

(I picked it because it was posted by pooptimemachine :-D)

and then this is just....well what it is:

which leads to some random hot guy in a rather disturbing outfit pulling a hamburger out of his ass:

It's OK to Nap with a Pretty Piece of Flesh...

2008-08-19T14:27:00.005-05:00

And I would nap. Except that I've got tomatoes bubbling on the stove waiting to be canned. So I can't actually nap. Because then they would burn and that would be bad. So I'm slowly working on the office organize/redecorating...which I'm blogging more about on the Design Blog since it seems to make more sense there.

In other news - my Gossip Girl Season One DVDs arrived in the mail today. So Excited. I'll be watching that while I'm Not Napping. Although I must say that since every time I look at Nate I see HIS DAD my enjoyment of him as nothing more than a pretty piece of flesh is somewhat diminished. Ok. A LOT diminished. I spent the entirety of season 1 not able to figure out why he looks familiar and then I was visiting with his dad and saw a family portrait and it all made sense. Cue: shudder.

Of course now that I've made the connection (been hit in the face with it, really) the next time I see him I'm going to have to control myself so I don't ask all of those embarrassing questions that the 17 year old in me would ask. You get a numbered list so I can purge them. (Or remember them, whichever way you want to look at it)

1) Do you watch the show every week? Do you tivo it so you can discuss it with him later?

2) Is it weird to watch him roll around and be practically r-rated? Do you watch those scenes?

3) Will you get him to autograph my already signed-by-the-author copy of the last Gossip Girl book? The one where they all wrap up high school and move on with their lives. Not the prequel, which was lame.

I might refer to him as Man-Bangs. Just for kicks.

Yeesh.

I'm going to leave you with two clips..the first in which Nate is topless. A Lot

the second: a Pretty Piece of Flesh Video. The song is from the Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack and is by One Inch Punch. No official video, though, so I went with a fan-made one featuring Spike...Here you go:

News That Made My Morning

2008-08-14T08:38:00.007-05:00

I mentioned in this blog that polaroid is discontinuing their instant cameras...I found out this morning that the end of that sentence should be AS WE KNOW THEM. (and I feel fine....)

Why do we change that sentence? Because this morning I read on Apartment Therapy (a daily read for me) that they're simply updating the technology. Says AT:

"The good news is that Polaroid has not closed up shop for good, at least not yet. The R&D-heads at Polaroid are working on a new camera that will feature an integrated Bluetooth printer.

Of the few details that the blogosphere has gotten is that the new camera will be a ‘professional and business’ model with an integrated printer capable of printing photos up to 4" x 3" in size, the same size as the famous polaroid snaps themselves. This will definitely feel like an old friend.

Polaroid is also asking Amateur Photographer readers to help design the camera. A survey on the site allows readers to specify attributes like pixel count, print quality and the battery’s print capacity, with prizes for the best suggestions.

The new cameras are due out in 2009."

(they got the story via ubergizmo)

In the meantime (since we all know I'm getting one the minute they're released) you can feed your nostalgia by going here and perusing all of the polaroid offerings on hand.

And just for the fun of it - here are some Polaroids that I've scanned lately:

My grandfather in 1938

My grandmother and her mother...not sure of the year.

My mom (bottom right as you look at it) with her parents and siblings - 1970.

Me and Kris having a tea party...I'm probably 3 here. (81)

Me and Kris again. I'm probably 4 here. I do know that I had the distinct um...honor...of wearing both of those dresses. My father's mother made them. I'm um...sad...to say that I don't know where they are. So should I have a daughter, she'll just have to look at the photo of us in the ghastly chicken dresses she'll never have to wear.

From there I moved to 110 and then 35mm and now I've added digital (and potentially pinhole if I can nut-up enough to actually do it...and find 110 film...)

So there you go. News that made my morning.

A full weekend

2008-08-04T15:42:00.010-05:00

I took Friday off. It was nice. I meant to sleep in, but as is the way with these things I was up with Steve at 6:15. Word. So, in the words of H's Dad: I cured cancer, baked enough bread to feed a starving village and flew to the moon. Twice. All before breakfast. What I really did was get the house clean and errands run. Productive but not quite such a high-bar.

On saturday afternoon H showed up. We love it when H is in town. He's mucho fun. Had some dinner at the Press Box, where R and his facial hair joined us:

This is Steve's beer. It's funny because when I had foot surgery I told people that I'd been attacked by a landshark. This was before I cooked up the Completely Fictional but Based on an Animal Planet Show Story about the Sandfish in Marrakech. It (the beer) tastes like river water.

So then after that we played some Guitar Hero and waited for J to show up. Hee Hee. Little J. I'm going to call her that from now on. I think there's a resemblance, don't you?

Ok, not really. But that's mostly because my Little J is badass and Jenny Humphrey is a conniving bitch. But we'll see what Season 2 has to say about that. I can see my Little J in that outfit, though.

So then she showed up and we headed to R's place for some partying. It was wicked. There were some stripper hags and their pimps in the elevator. Seriously. They could have been on Temptation Island or something.

And then there was general lounging about:

And fooseball:

And then the next morning we dragged ourselves to the Farmers market for some eggs and other tasties and then R and SP wandered down for brunch and even more Guitar Hero.

Best part of the whole weekend? No Driving. Woot!

A stop-gap perhaps?

2008-07-29T17:38:00.004-05:00

Everyone knows that I will own a Kelly Bag before my time runs out.

Well before I can afford the real thing, I'm going to make do with a paper one. I actually think that I'll hack it a bit and maybe do it with reinforced felt so it'll have a bit more durability.

Real thing:

The incomparable Grace Kelly with the bag Hermes named after her:

And the new Paper Kelly, offered gratis from Hermes: (follow link, click the dot in the center of the squares in the upper right-hand corner, and click on the paper Kelly Bag)

via: Design Freebies

Daily Yoga and Kitty Paws

2008-07-26T19:28:00.006-05:00

I have been an enthusiastic, though not always disciplined, student of Yoga for years and years. It sprung from dance - the stretching and the posture were something I wanted to continue even after my studio days were over and at that point there were no pilates classes readily available (another class I love taking. I always feel 3 inches taller...) So I have a subscription to Yoga Journal, which I love. This month has a cover article about Yoga in the morning to wake up. Anyone who's spent any time with me in the mornings knows that I need a solid 45 minutes to form complete sentences. I'm hoping this handy article will help that.

The other handy bits in the magazine are the pictoral spreads that are meant to be cut out and used as part of your home practice. I have mine on the door to my office and have completed every pose but the headstand. Quite frankly, since the brain-swell I'm a little freaked out to be upside down. I've even cut my Downward Dog time in half.

It's actually quite motivating. And I wrote at the bottom of the Sun Salutations (at the top of the image, under the girl in Downward Dog) that is a common belief among Yogis that daily sun salutations can effectively help mental illness. I'm thinking they're probably leaning towards things like depression, which is a result of off-balanced seratonin and endorphins.

I found Yoga Today, a site which offers up daily hour-long yoga sessions for free. Different every day and you can choose from a selection of back-stocked videos. The instructors are very knowledgable and give rather precise instructions that tell you where every muscle, joint, and limb should be in the midst of any given pose. At least for the beginner classes, they do. I did the Power Of Intention a few days ago and it kicked my ass. In the best possible workouty way. It's fab.

Anyway, that's my pimp for today. On to funnier topics.

Rubber tips for kitty claws, from Softpaws. These are great. They allow the cat to keep its claws, which is the equivalent of allowing you to keep the part of your fingers where your nail is located. Think of how often you use this part of your finger. Not a total loss if it's gone, but it would certainly require some adjustment, particularly if you've gone your entire life having said extremity and then wake up one morning to find it missing. I can't bring myself to do that to my cats. We're not as diligent about capping their claws as we should be, of course, but we make an effort and the cats don't mind. Usually we get pink for Polly and black for Kipper but this last go around it was purple for Polly and Grey for Kipper. I'd post pictures, but I haven't applied them yet and they're usually unhappy enough afterwards that they hide under the bed. Plus the hate the camera. So I scanned in the how-to card that came in the package. Note the expression of pure kitty hate on their model:

and now I'm going to leave you to go watch Josh Lyman, who is certainly on my list....a topic which deserves a blog entirely devoted to it. :-)

Dessert...or Drywall?

2008-07-20T10:18:00.003-05:00

You be the judge.

Steve, bless his heart, was at Jimmy's picking up some yummies and saw this box:

He thought..."That looks like hazelnuts in some kind of chocolate thing. Maybe chocolate covered hazelnuts? Emily would like that!"

Which is a true statement. Chocolate + Hazelnuts = yummy goodness. Just crack open a tub of Nutella if you don't believe me.

This, however, is not what was in the box. It looks like drywall. It tastes vaguely the way drywall tastes (sit on top of a 15 foot ladder and drill into the ceiling directly above your head and you'll know what drywall tastes like. Also, paint.) except I imagine drywall is easier to chew.

Behold:

Right. Drywall. Nutty Drywall.

So when I went to Whole Foods this morning I picked up replacement bars: a hazelnut milk chocolate and a chili's and cherries in dark chocolate bar. Serious yummies.

Also - I'm going to cobble together a couple of different recipes to make Peach pie. Can't wait.

Happy Sunday!

Tonsils, Butt Muscles, and a Mini Reviews

2008-07-17T19:46:00.006-05:00

Kris had her tonsils out. I've spent every day this week taking care of her. Apparently it blows. Which I've witnessed but not experienced. I have a new respect for Steve for taking care of me for a year.

I tried to get some snaps of her dogs because she'd like to have portraits of them, but she's a teacher and they're dogs...so the amateur steps in. Seth, the male, has no problems coming right up and trying to lick the lens. He smiled and almost posed and was basically a camera whore. Amunet, however, climbed to new heights of scaredy-dogness. At point she was asleep on her bed and heard me pulling out the camera. She was in the master bedroom cowering before I even turned around. Then Kris pulled out the food and she hung out a bit...we'll see how the images turn out.

Note: when you have the surgery that I had performed, they cut through some muscle. It's muscle you never think about using. It's muscle that has functioned the way it's supposed to your entire life. But once they cut it, you'll realize that you do use. Every day. For walking, sitting, standing...everything. And as it heals you'll realize that you work it a lot just living. And then you'll decide to wear heels...and the next day a muscle you've never even thought about will be sore. In your butt. Word.

Unrelated: picked up the She&Him Volume One. It's fab. In case you're not addicted to Stereogum like me, I'll fill you in. "She" = the incomparable Zooey Deschanel. "Him" = the equally incomparable M. Ward. And together you get:

They've got an EmmyLou Harris/Marvelettes/Patti Smith/Janis Joplin/Beatles in the Islands sound going on. I'm not going to do a song-by-song because look what I'm listening to:

Do not adjust your screens. That is, in fact, 12 inches of vinyly goodness. That's right the Old 97s put their newest album out on vinyl. And I bought it. And I'm listening to it. Nothing sounds better than vinyl fresh out of the plastic. :-D

Anyway, back to She&Him and the greatness of their debut album, which has been in heavy rotation on my ipod since I ripped it (yes, ipod. I'm not a total luddite. Although if it were available on vinyl you know I would have gone that route.) There's a nice little cover of You've Really Got A Hold on Me (originally by The Miracles for Motown) and another of I Should Have Known Better (Lennon/McCartney) that I actually had to concentrate on to place. It might have been the steel drums that threw me off. Oh yes, I said steel drum. Kettle drum? Popping up on the other gems are steel guitars and enchanting vocals. You can sing along with every song, which I like. The lyrics are compelling and intentional. Trust me. Lucky for us - their first video is also the first song I heard from the new album (thank you, Stereogum) and I love it. The song and the video.

Here you go:

Something Must Be Done

2008-07-03T16:47:00.002-05:00

My alarm went off this morning and it happened to start BLARING Marketplace at me. I love this segment. I like Marketplace Money so much that I subscribe to their podcast. The morning Marketplace report is almost as important as the weather....and this morning, much like when I hear the weather for the month of February, what I heard made me want to crawl under the covers and not come out until Jan 21st.

Yes. I know that Jan 21st will not be a magic bullet. But it is - as the bumper stickers say - the end of an error.

What did I hear this morning? Job losses everywhere. Interest Rate Pressures. Asian markets down. All of the Stock Markets down. Death. Destruction. Abject poverty. Coupled with the rest of the Doom Harbingers out there....under my covers was looking pretty good to me.

But get up I did and went through the day thinking that Something Must Be Done. In our life. Our every day life. To prepare. Just in case. Because I have a job that is one of the first places people stop spending money when they tighten their budget. Seriously. Behold:

"I hate our couch."
"Yes, but I like the roof over our heads."
"Interior Designer: you're FIRED!"

The End. Luckily, and counter-intuitively, Steve's job will probably not go as quickly as mine. And given that he's a boy scout it might not go at all. But I want to be prepared.

Also there's this: Squirrels don't have a lot of nuts because they make a lot of nuts. They have a lot of nuts because they SAVE a lot of nuts.

So. Step one. Get control over our grocery situation. This translates to being a bitch about eating what's in our house. So I googled Meal Planning Templates and after a lot of really boring I-Could-Have-Done-That-Myself...I found this. It's straightforward but darling. It won't skeeve me out by being ugly and hanging on my fridge. It will help organize the food.

Issue: We buy a lot of our produce (exception: lettuce. It doesn't grow in Texas. I might start substituting with other native leafy greens...if there are any. Or perhaps cut it out altogether....) from the local stands at the farmer's market. It's not totally a 100-mile-diet but it's pretty darned close and I refuse to give up beer/wine/chocolate. But it also means that we're at the whim of the seasons and the productive crops. So I can't really plan until after we've gone there.

So my meal planning is always a bit backwards: we buy and THEN plan. Right now it's working...or would be if I remembered to actually plan. Hopefully cute planner will help with that.

So that's step one. I haven't figured out the other steps, yet. But I bet they'll be less fun (because I love food) and not nearly so cute to plan.

Nerdiest Video...possibly EVER

2008-07-02T12:59:00.002-05:00

But I love it. Here's what I love about it, in a numbered list (Huzzah!)

1) It's the Old 97s, and though they get little screen time, when you do see them, Rhett is singing and he's hot.

2) It's NEW Old 97s and sounds great.

3) The long takes. I like that they do continuous takes rather than a lot of cutting. It's requires more talent on everyone's part and it's easier to follow.

4) Tricia Helfer is waaay cuter when she's not being a cylon

So. Enjoy!

I Care Because You Do

2008-06-30T08:56:00.002-05:00

Just thought I'd take a minute and post the link for the videos from the Deep Ellum Town Meeting on Friday. It looks like all might not be lost. Which makes me happy. I could go on and on about how much I love Deep Ellum, but I'll leave it at this: it's the first place Steve and I will look for property when we decide to buy. Assuming our building doesn't go Condo first, that is.

Happy Monday!

I have out-clevered myself

2008-06-27T15:51:00.003-05:00

So it should be known that anytime anyone (real or fictional) makes a comment about having too much stuff or being disorganized or overwhelmed or whatever, I feel the need to pare down, organize, and take control.

In the process I cleverly stashed a stack of photos - cds, prints, mini-album and all - and now I can't find them. Let me paint you a picture. We have roughly 1200 square feet: living area/dining/kitchen, office, bedroom, bathroom, one hall closet, one closet in each "Bedroom."

And it's a designated "loft" so additional storage is anything I've added.

My place is not that big and it's a not-insignificant stack of stuff. I'm going to go insane.

Wait - epiphany....Curses! Going to keep looking.

In the meantime - this is how I'm feeling. A Lot lately. All Hail the Genius Chuck Palahniuk (pared with equal geniuses David Fincher, Ed Norton, and Brad Pitt. Word.)

Less than a month away from 30

2008-06-20T12:16:00.002-05:00

and I got carded buying champagne splits yesterday. Word.

And now I'm making chocolate chip cookies.

My thought for the day (week)

Do Stupid People Know they're Stupid?

People are particularly stupid this week. I blame the full moon.

Late night at the DMA tonight. I anticipate mass amounts of stupidity. I'll take pictures.

hm...polaroid....

2008-06-18T18:31:00.002-05:00

So Polaroid sucked it out and discontinued their greatness. (See here I've blogged about it before.) In the new Maxim, they point us towards this fancy new technology, wherein Polaroid has developed an ink-free printer with fancy magic paper that works using the telepathy already inside all of your cell phones. Clearly I'm still skeptical. But at a cool $99, I might be willing to try it out...I said *might.* The thing about digital pictures is that they're infinitely editable. The great thing about old-school polaroids is that they're not. It would be fun at parties. Funny photo booth and then you can still have the images on your camera to jack around with later.

Alright, I'm sold. It's going on my birthday wish list. Woot!

There was something else I was going to blog about. I was all philosophizing earlier today but it was a long day and people are particularly stupid lately so I've forgotten it.

New season of Weeds started, though. I want to be Mary Louise Parker when I grow up. For now I'll settle for her wardrobe...Time to shop!

My Diet is now Justified

2008-06-12T16:15:00.002-05:00

According to Food Guru Extraordinaire (with support from wikipedia) milkshakes used to be served as "health" drink and malt (as in chocolate malted, or malt balls) was manufactured as a dietary supplement for infants.

I'm watching Feasting On Asphalt (and reading In Defense of Food) in case you're curious.

I love food.

ps - I'm also making blackberry turnovers with blackberries that Steve picked up from the farmers market. I dumped them in a pot with some water, some simple syrup, and some honey and let it reduce. I'm going to strain the juices through cheesecloth to make Popsicles for my sister post-tonsil-removal and use the berries in the turnovers. I love food.

pps - I'm not crazy enough to make my own pastry dough. Pepperidge farm does it for me.

I'd Like to Offer Moral Support but I have Questionable Morals (Again)

2008-06-09T21:00:00.003-05:00

So my site meter allows me to see phrases that are googled to find my site. This one (the title of my blog) comes up more and more frequently lately.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due:

Go HERE for some of the best ecards on the net. Seriously.

Have a nice night :-)

oh PS - I imagine that this is what Bertram Wooster looks like...well maybe Jeeves since Bertie is young and Jeeves is so wise. It's apropos, as well.

Embrita Update

2008-06-09T17:07:00.001-05:00

Link at right.

I did a couple of 'round-the-house projects and thought I'd share them. But since they fall under "design" they go there.

Enjoy!

This is how you celebrate a birthday

2008-06-07T16:12:00.004-05:00

Or at the very least, how you start the celebration.

At The Cure Concert. Word. Images here. Crappy video here, here, and here. Last night. It was greatness. I have no words. Robert Smith looks exactly the same. Sounds fantastic. Can't wait for the new album to drop this fall.

It was a great birthday gift from my husband. Stellar Tipping of the Hat to the Venerated Age of Thirty even taking into consideration the following: 1) It's fully a month before my birthday. (When Robert Smith says "June 6th, Dallas" you say "What time?" and not "Want to wait a month and a day and then it'll be on my birthday?" Ok, maybe if you're his wife/mother/bff/child you can. But not me. We just bought tickets.) and B) I was sober. All night. Other people drank more than enough than their share and mine. Including, but not limited to: crazy topless guy who danced as though he were having some some kind of 60s Golden Gate Park acid trip flashback combined with a need to "Be A Tree" and perhaps an epileptic fit. Also: chick in turquoise who was ushered out by security when she started pole dancing on the safety railing. Not Even Kidding. We were only in the beginning of the second encore, too. I thought there might have been a 3rd "This rocked even though" but no. It would have been cooler if we'd had more friends, but sometimes you gotta date your spouse. And we did. Mexican food at some joint in Victory and then concert. OH - there was a 3rd: I had to be up at 6:30 this morning to get to work at Cooper. And not just that, but to also feed my boss's 13 cats. Wait...15. He's since adopted two more strays. 15 cats. This is what it looks like when I walk on his porch:

only with many more cats.

In other news, I downloaded some pinhole camera templates and I'm going to be figuring that out. I love the look you get from a pinhole image. I'll give it a shot and get back to you. If you'd like to join me - either as fellow photographer or subject, let me know. I love a good guinea pig.

In yet other news: started working out again. Yoga monday tuesday, a sad weight workout wed (I have exercise ADD and weights make me crazy bored) climbed thursday. Danced like crazy (Cardio, anyone) Friday and then Saturday morning Abs With Toddlers. One of these weekends I'll get Morgan to take pictures so that I can show you. It's greatness. Even when not cleared for straight-up working out, a bit of this on a saturday a.m. and my abs are still in vaguely decent shape. Now that I'm greenlighted, however...I have a goal. It ends with washboard. :-D

And that's all the news that fit to print today.

2008-06-02T14:15:00.005-05:00

Good weekend, yo. Watched some BSG Friday night (season three, no spoilers, please!) and then lazed about Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night is when the fun kicks in though: Lloyd's Birthday. There was barbecue, smug military men, beer (want to be a cheap date? Don't drink for nine months. Trust me. Emily had her buzz on halfway through beer one.), a guitar and a drum set. Oh, and ultimate fighting. Not amongst the guests, but on the tube. All in all, a fun little shindig. Steve is actually dressed down - cargo shorts, t-shirt, flip flops...and I'm in a denim mini and a tank top and flip flops. We were really cute. (there's a reason I just told you that...continue reading) At some point in the night the camera started taking Blue pictures. Not sure what was up with that. But check it out:

Yes, I was playing the drums. No I've never had lessons. I think I rocked. Steve says that he wishes he had taken video instead of stills (camera does both) so that I could hear how much rocking I wasn't actually doing. Silly little man. I'm clearly a Rock Goddess...just look at the photographic proof.

Anyway, we leave at eleven and head down Ross towards home and in the car I get the Best Idea Ever: see if my Boss is at Sunset Lounge (which the firm designed and I've never been to at night). So I call and he is and we u-turn and head to the bar. Because Boss is who he is, we skip the valet and skip the waiting line and head right in. As we go in, I hear a Trendy Chick at the front of the line whine that we're getting in "dressed like that." Bouncer shut her down with: "They designed the bar." Word.

Steve, once we get inside, is mortified that he's walking around a room full of moderately well-dressed Trendy People and he's dressed the worst he dresses EVER. You know Steve. You know this is true. By the end of the (otherwise fabulous) night he's vowed to overdress for everything from now until he dies. And then be overdressed for his funeral. (I think this means White Tie because funerals are a dress-up event anyway....) We go home and sleep.

Sunday morning we wake up and start getting ready for brunch (yummy, fun) and Steve comes out all dressed: slacks, loafers, white french-cuff shirt complete with cuff-links. Ok - the French cuff isn't that unusual when you open his closet and see how many of those he owns. But this was brunch. The only reason he wasn't wearing a jacket is because I was in jeans and a tube top.

Brunch was fun. I'm glad it's brunch season again. I <3 it.

We left brunch and went to a ballet recital. Steve suffered through, but at least he was sitting between Craig and I -- officially the snarky end of the row. And the little kids were pretty funny. So it didn't suck as much as it could have. Although, and here's my dance-snob coming out: our kids will be in a studio if they want to dance. The girls, talented and dedicated as they are, have little dance knowledge outside of what their teacher knows...which is true for anything, but since their recitals are always Disney movies when you say things like "Swan Lake" or "The Red Shoes" or "Bob Fosse" to them they have no idea. And I'm all about broad exposure. Culturally, at least.

I did get some good shots. Considering that they're dancing on a high school auditorium stage with high school kids doing their lighting and there were a million parents taking flash photos and I was using my PHD without its flash and sitting in the 4th row (30ft or so away from the stage)....ok. Considering that, I got some gems. Behold: (Bubble on left leading the babies)

And this is my humor today. Not Work Appropriate but damn funny:

Update

2008-05-27T18:01:00.003-05:00

Husband came home and we decided that I should flip the brackets (a thought that occured after I posted previous blog) and cut the two lower boards in half and bracket them up so it's more like steps. Like this: (that link credits the photo)

And I get that those brackets are cleaner, etc etc...but that's $90 just in BRACKETS. I love my cats, but I don't have $90 for brackets. Also, I like the l-bracket, personally. I feel it's got better tension and less a chance of being pulled out of the wall by my fat-ass cat.

I guess since I'm going up to ikea tomorrow anyway, I'll pick up 2 more sets of brackets and then cut the boards at my moms on Saturday afternoon. This weekend it'll all get sorted.

Now it's time for dinner.

Hating Cats and a Freaky Dream (not related)

2008-05-27T16:30:00.005-05:00

First - what my cats hate. I got the idea from Lynn's blog about her cats, and then I hit Ikea Hacker for more ideas and THEN when I was actually in the store I picked the shelf system that works the best for me...and my cats HATE them. Observe:

Hanging shelves (And yes, the cats CAN make that jump. It's farther to jump from the floor to the cabinet and all I have to do is hint at Tuna and they're on the cabinet.)

(yes, they hate the mouse-shaped scratching pad, too. Except they chew on the tail occasionally.)

Polly, moments before I dropped the camera on the couch and rescued her. Kipper was too pathetic to even try to take a picture of.

Behold the embodiment of the term Fraidy-Cat. I know what you're thinking...Why didn't you put them on the lower shelf, first, Emily? Oh, I did. There was a brief recon of their situation and then immediate jumping to the ground. I might add some more shelves so that it's more like a stair-case, but they like to spread out. I have another shelf...maybe if they're more enthusiastic and I become re-motivated. I'm actually thinking I'll cut the third in half and put it in between the two.

On to the other subject of this blog: my weird-ass dream. I woke up at 4 in the morning PANICKED that I had missed Christmas. Not slept through it, but just didn't manage to get cards out/cookies baked/presents bought. Everyone else was all in the spirit and totally on top of things and I let everyone down because, even though apparently Christmas is next week (It was HOT and I was still recovering), I was unprepared. Something is wrong with me. Who dreams about missing Christmas in May? So I lay there for about half an hour listening to the cats play and my husband snore (love you, baby, but you were snoring) and I planned out how not to miss Christmas. It involves July. It requires October birthdays to be handled by August. It requires us to nail down which week we're in Switzerland...

I'm learning Swiss-German. It's like the most bizzare mash-up of German, Italian, and French. It's a dialect, so there's no written language. But I'm loving the program. I'm all over it. We're going to get there and I'm going to be able to not make a fool out of myself...because even though they all say "oh, they speak English, they love to practice it" they're lying. And we're not going to be in Zurich. We're going to be in a little town outside of Zurich. And there's a day-trip to an even littler town. The little towns aren't as English-savvy. I remember this from the honeymoon. Add to that the fact that the signs are in German, Italian and French and...you see where this is going.

Unrelated: I ordered a book today. It's called: If At All Possible, Involve a Cow. It's out of print. Luckily there were copies on Amazon. I also ordered a replacement for Steve's copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, which was missing key portions of several chapters. And I'm filling the gap with PG Wodehouse. He's very amusing. All of this is going to lend itself to the olliexcore story. FYI - next entry will happen soon. I'm solidifying the outline and then there will be dates that I know posts will go up. It's all got to be timed just right.

So there you go. I'm going to make the cats reconsider the lower shelf. It's even deeper than the windowsills, and they hang off of those all the time!

I <3 Hermes.

2008-05-26T09:41:00.002-05:00

I've been saying forever that when I sell my first book, I'm going to buy a Kelly/Birkin Bag. I go back and forth - the Kelly is smaller, which I prefer when shopping/dining, etc. But the Birkin is less formal, and I'm certainly not a formal girl. I know I want a pre-owned one, though, and this one is stunning. I know what you're thinking if you followed that link: $16k for a purse?!?!? Anyone who's spent any time with me has heard the speech before. If not - follow this link for an article that explains it fairly well.

Hermes in general strikes my fancy over and over. It's as though the Design Director knows my tastes and designs to them. They started off making equestrian tools - saddles, bags, etc - which is why so many of their prints have that theme. They're one of the only Luxury firms still family owned (Armani being one of the others) and they've been injected with a thorough shot of whimsy. Emily like.

So, since I've decided that the Publishing houses can bite me, I'm going to take the ad revenue that comes in the from the adsense links I put on the olliexcore site and use that to finance my bag purchasing. I also think I'm going to pick up some pocket squares for Steve for Christmas. I've always been keen on those, and with the Sartorialist's enthusiasm and Steve's wardrobe, it's a must. He's so on his way to becoming a full-on Dandy.

So it's memorial day. And I'm going to IKEA. I think something is broken in my brain. There's really not much else to write. I spent the entire weekend working on this family tree project...ran into a minor mystery that I think might involve the 18th-century version of Witness Protection but other than that I was a complete slug. It was nice. :-D

Happy Memorial Day!

Oooohhhhh....my boss

2008-05-23T15:54:00.002-05:00

A month later, I've found the video:

http://www.wfaa.com/video/youngstreet-index.html?nvid=231627&shu=1

skip ahead to the segment on LIFT after the segment on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. And the guy talking about where he gets to park...yeah that's my boss.

And now you understand so much more than you did before. For reals.

Oh -- and rss the olliexcore site because there will be a plot-related gap in the posts. Roughly a week or so. That's all I'm saying. And since I want it to log in "real time" the gap will actually have to happen.

And now I'm working on the 2007 photo book (I'm hoping it all fits in one book) and realizing that while I take a TON of photos, there just aren't that many of me. Every now and again there will be a string of me holding the camera and taking my own picture, but mostly they just don't exist. I'm good with that :-)

Happy Long Weekend!

a new model

2008-05-21T09:05:00.004-05:00

I decided - after too many rejections for me to feel positive about getting published - that there's got to be a new way to do it. So I took a page from the music industry: self-promotion. Granted, there's a difference between recording your own cd and publishing your own book; the former makes you hip and cool and honest and the latter makes you a hack who couldn't cut it. And there aren't really blogs out there devoted to pimping new/unheard of authors the way the Stereogum and Music For Robots pimp musicians. And the few sites that are out there ultimately require you to pony up cash up front and then you wind up with bound copies that you have to market. Which is just as bad as trying to find an agent.

That being said, I'm putting my next novel online as it's written. It's call olliexcore (see link to the right) and it's told from the perspective of a 15 year old girl. Blog-style. When I'm finished, I can use one of the many many services out there to bind the blog in book form and if I want to pimp it, I can. I can also, after it's finished and bound - take the blog down so if people want to read it they have to pony up the cash to own it. But that's putting the cart before the horse because there's exactly ONE entry. Since it's blog form.

So what I'll do is write as I write and then publish it so that the dates work like "real time." I also adsensed it so that it can monitize.

At this point Steve and I figure that I'm going to write whether I make money or not - much the way I have been since before I could spell. Might as well put it out there and see what happens. And since I've always been a bit gun-shy about my writing I'm going to just say it now: pimp it. I'll do my best to make it something worth reading.

And now...you guessed it. Bathtime.

Emily Saves the World in 12 Easy Steps

2008-05-18T11:46:00.006-05:00

Step one: get appointed to presidential cabinet. I'm not crazy. I know very well that the guy giving the speech at the white house rarely writes what he says nor does he have a whole lot of influence getting things done. There's a lot of gridlock in our government, which is as it should be or there would be a lot of reactionary/impulsive legislating going on. Scary. In a cabinet, however, I can voice my opinion and throw around new ideas and I'd be in a position to get the people who actually make decisions to listen to me. It's that, or wake tomorrow as Bono/Angelina Jolie.

Step two: Get people like GE to listen when I say "Hey - you know what would make that EVEN better? Flanking those very pretty wind turbines with a couple of solar grids - ultimately the added up-front cost is a drop in the bucket when you consider your long-term plan and the profit you can expect to get from it is really the gift that keeps on giving."

Step three: Meet up with execs at companies like Exxon-Mobile and say "So, you've made more money in the past few fiscals years than anyone else in the history of money. Ever. Why don't you take some of those ridiculous profits and instead of continuing to ass-rape your customer base, become the forward thinking people that you are and replace two pumps at every station with hydrogen and/or electric filling stations so that you can call yourselves the innovative American company that you want everyone to think you are. And while you're at it, take a page out of the Bill and Melinda Gates book and allow yourself to be forced to set up a foundation that helps restore the environments that you've so blatantly destroyed. Valdez, anyone?"

Step Four: Make nation-wide recycling mandatory. San Fransisco is considering it. And since we all know that trash never really goes "away" we can all rest easier knowing that our consumer-happy lifestyles are a closed-loop in terms of Using Stuff Up.

Step Five: CSAs/Urban Gardens/Vertical Farms/general removal of chemicals from our lives: after things like asbestos, pvc, bpa, pesticide leeching, Crop Failure, Natural disasters, the use of foodstuffs for energy, and the use of HFCS instead of Salt and sugar as preservative and sweetener, the shorter distance between growth and plate the better. (I didn't link to any of the causes I just listed because really, if you've been paying attention to the news, you can think of an example. If not - news.google.com should set you up well.)

Step Six: Get all of the celebs that people are watching to put their money where their mouths are. Paris Hilton and all her dogs? She built them a beauty parlor now she should set up a rescue foundation (and pay someone else to run it). Some good examples here. Oh, and: Duh. (BTW - she's on record as having said "If you make $10million a movie, you can give $5m away and not miss it.")

Step Seven: Get on my own city. Think Global, act Local. The hardest part is getting started. As soon as I'm finished recovering, I'm going to show up to meetings and be the loud squeaky wheel. As it is now, I'm lucky if I'm awake past nine. I'm lucky if I function past 6. Healing takes a lot of energy. If everyone got involved -- found what they were passionate about and Made Something Happen -- think of the difference that would make. Homeless shelters, Nursing Homes, Literacy Rates, usable skills, animal shelters...the list goes on and on. And for a little global help: THIS is a totally fun organization.

Step Eight: SLOW DOWN. Everyone. Find the joy in your life -- if it's gardening, playing with your kids/pets, cycling. Slow down, look around. Ferris Bueller had it right: "Life comes at your pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you might just miss it."

Step Nine: instead of building new highways, we lay track. The new NAFTA highway needs to be a rail line. And since they haven't even started it, it wouldn't be hard to re-direct. And while they're at it, let's divert some of the funds we're throwing at stagnant industries (hello, Detroit, and American Airlines) to Amtrak or other rail lines. Force these old-school companies to innovate. We're fucking AMERICANS - our country was built on innovation!

Step Ten: Reward innovation. Seriously. Incentivize these companies to look forward with their developments and then reward it.

Step Eleven: One word: Hoverboards. (want but on the same principle as the mag trains rather than gasoline because we all know *that's* a dead end) Ok, three more: Mag. Lev. Trains. (Have I mentioned that general happiness is a way to save the world?)

Step Twelve: History. Culture. All of it - not just yours. Preserve it. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Vive la Difference!

So there you go. I've probably left a lot of things off. But I'm sure that they fall into one of those steps somewhere. After all, this is just the first blurt.

I thought of some things to talk about

2008-05-16T18:57:00.002-05:00

1) I take a LOT of pictures. I come by this honestly, though. In a bid to fill my afternoon, and inspired by a friend who - upon looking through *actual prints* of some of the wedding photos I took at Celeste and Vinny's - said "Wow, I miss real pictures" - I decided to fill a previously un-filled scrapbook with pictures. It's mostly 2007, but I have a feeling that there will be a 2006, a 2008, etc etc. I also know that there will be a high school one in the works. I have boxes and boxes of pictures. And the list of images that need printing because they happened on the digital camera only is 4 post-its long. And that's cutting out some events because I'm not sure if I want to bother with them. In one of these boxes, I have copious copies of a few pictures. That is - there aren't that many different images, but there seem to be at least 4 copies of almost all of them. It's insanity.

2) Steve has gotten me listening to Marketplace Money. I podcast it and listen in the car on the ipod. It's the height of nerdity. I'm quite sure of it. But after I'm all healed and Steve has recovered from being my nurse, we're going to get our act together and make a home-inventory -video of all our crap. For insurance purposes. If you need other stuff, this is the marketplace and this is the home inventory they recommend.

And now dinner is ready. Happy Friday!

Some things never change

2008-05-16T17:21:00.002-05:00

It's 5:22 on a friday and I'm at that weird restless point. Could go out but Steve isn't home yet and I can't drink. 5:oo always does it for me. Too late to start anything productive, too early to start dinner or head out for the night. It's been this way since I was a kid. I actually remember napping at 5 when I was little. Like - elementary school little. Mom would almost be home from work and the homework would be done and tv would promptly start to suck. All of my friends would have to go home - we'd all have to head home if we'd been out in the park (OMG those days when we paraded around right under the noses of people who'd want to snatch us up. Playing at parks outside with No Parents. We were so Pushing The Envelope...) So I'd stretch out on the floor with a book and a snack and more times than not mom would walk in and wake me up.

Ok, mostly that was when I was having a growth spurt, I guess. And probably didn't happen as often as I remember it, but it stands out. So there you go.

I don't really have anything to say. I picked up canning supplies today. Wish me luck with that...

And here, for your kohl-rimmed eyes and moussed -up hair enjoyment: the new Cure single. (that's another that hasn't changed in 20 years: Robert Smith's hair.)

A few random thoughts

2008-05-13T18:25:00.002-05:00

1) I put "In Defense of Food" on hold at the library. I'll read it with a snack.

2) The Greatest Show of Our Time just keeps getting better and better. Here's photo slideshow with a bit of real life gossip...leading to two questions: a) are her boobs *real*? and b) is she a beard? Is he gay?

3) There's a HUGE debate among "treehuggers" about whether or not it's environmentally ethical to have children biologically rather than adopting, given the fact that overpopulation is contributing to the rapid depletion of resources. here, here, ...and this...the VHEMT...you can't make up what the last one is. Trust me. Click it. I'm actually in the middle somewhere on this one. I'm not on board with outright population control, nor am I naive enough to think that people will realize on their own When To Stop.

So here's where we landed (of course Steve and I have talked about it): given the number of people we know who are opting out of the parent-track, our 2 kids will actually account for negative growth within our circle of friends and families. How many people aren't having kids? at least 6 couples off the top of my head. Couples already married, stable, and a few have even taken "measures" against accidental conception. I no longer worry about contributing to overpopulation. Also, I saw Children of Men and Idiocracy....if anything, I should griping at those 12 or so people to reproduce. Because, as has already been established, I'm a total snob. And I'm only friends with smart, funny, attractive people. I'm also only related to smart, funny, attractive people. And 4 of those twelve people are relatives. You heard me.

So in case you need incentive (you smart people out there who will produce the next leaders of our world...and raise them on Guitar Hero and Weeds....) Here's the intro for Idiocracy:

[going] to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches...

2008-05-11T15:49:00.010-05:00

Ok, the lyric really goes "movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches" but we're not moving to the country anytime soon.

We did visit the country yesterday. We'll be visiting the country in two weeks. And then I'll be taking my favorite blondes out to the peach orchard after their school is out. Woot!

So here's the story of our saturday:

We eat some lunch and then we grab our bags and hop in the car and head east. To Terrell. Not far - about 40 miles out on 80. We leave the city, drive past some small towns, through downtown Terrell and then find ourselves in the bona-fide country. Like something that most people only see in movies. Two lane roads, rolling green, pastures with grazing livestock....and because it's spring there was a lot of nursing baby animals and twitterpated adult animals going on. At one point I said to Steve: "you know, that guy in that movie was right -- there's the city and the country and everything in between is a wasteland." "Wasteland" in this case refers to those horrible tract developments that are happening on what used to be farmland. You know what I'm talking about -- the ones where every house looks the same and they have no regard for the nature that used to exist there. I'm inspired to become Beatrix Potter, minus the tragic loss of her fiance, of course. I do plan on being published...if only I were a little bit crazy, too....oh wait.

Anyway, we found Akin Farm and pulled in. About halfway down their little road I noticed that my car was making a high pitched noise that was distinctly not there before. We parked, and I checked it out but found nothing amiss. So we hiked out to the snap pea rows and started picking. Not too labor-intensive and over a pound later we decided we were finished with the peas. One of the owners, Mr Akin, drove out on his solar powered golf-cart with his two dogs. A dark male whose name I have forgotten, and Misty the Grand Pyrenees who instantly became Steve's New Best Friend. She was pretty shameless about the amount of love she expected and Steve didn't let her down. There was much rolling in the dirt and scratching of the belly. It was very funny. Next time I'm taking pictures of *that.*

Next to be picked - masses of spinach, a turnip (yes, only one because we're not sure if we even like turnip), and leaf lettuce. Leafy greens don't grow well in Tx because it gets too hot, but if you plant them early they'll be ready for harvest in late April early May and then you can have yummy salads. I did take pictures of Steve being Super Mario 2:

Turnip in the ground. (Yes, those ladybugs are making more ladybugs.)
And below is Steve pulling it. I should have made him throw it over his head, but that might have hurt:

And here's me with the lettuce (I took my digital camera and it's hard to see the screen in bright sun so Steve was having a rough time getting me in the frame....luckily I have many photo-editing programs...)

And yes, that is just about the dorkiest smile ever on my face. I blame the (ridiculously free of pollution) air.

So then we rounded up our haul and headed out...grinding noise and all. When we got to the "main road" I decided that it was not going to miraculously cure itself and I didn't want my brake pads (the location we decided the noise was coming from) to catch fire. So we pulled over and I jacked up the car and pulled off the tire. It all looked to be in order. Steve called Duc in case he had an genius ideas but no such luck. So I put the tire back on and we try again. The noise is even worse. Think of the worst brakes you've ever heard in your life and then make it happen when the car is moving and the brakes are not applied. So we go ten feet and I pull over again. And take the wheel off. Again. And then, while Steve is on the phone with Honda I slide under the car and see the source of the noise: a tiny-ass fucking pebble has lodged itself in between the brake disk and it's housing, so when the disk rotates with the wheel it was grating across it - fingers-on-chalkboard-style. I threw the pebble very hard into the bushes, replaced the tire (again) and cleaned my hands with the wipes and anti-bacterial gel that Muffin so thoughtfully provided me with when I purchased my new car (Thanks!!!!!) and we got back in the car and moved forward (again) noiselessly (yay!)

I know what you're thinking: "Emily, doesn't changing a tire twice in 15 minutes fall directly under 'strenuous activity'?" Yes. Yes it does. But the fact of the matter is that while I could have - with the right tools that were distinctly NOT in my trunk - repaired the brakes had that been the problem, my sheltered prep-school husband has never changed a tire before. Ever. Hence, Emily's physical activity. My manicure is shot.

Today is Mother's Day. We had brunch at La Cubanita with Mom and Richard and Kris and then we hit whole foods for the things the farmer's market/farm can't provide (cheese cloth, cream cheese, bread flour) and are now lazing around vaguely doing chores.

I've decided I'm going to learn how to make bread from scratch. We're in the midst of "How To Cook Your Life" which is like Zen and the art of Bread Making and I'm all inspired. He (the subject of the documentary) talks about how important it is to bake bread from scratch because of the moving meditation and the connection it gives you to your nourishment and a bunch of other Zen edicts....which makes a lot of sense. When I'm stressed (and not injured) I bake. From scratch. Copiously. So if you just add bread to that and consider that bread dough needs to be punched down from time to time...you can imagine the catharsis a single loaf might provide. ;)

I'm also inspired to get my yoga teacher certificate (once I'm healed, natch) and do something about that. Not only because I could teach a few classes and make some dough on the side -- teach ANYWHERE, even -- but because the deeper knowledge will help me get more in touch with my body so that I can stave off further complications (not that there will be any - I've hit my weird ailment quota for this life and the next).

Also - how cute would it be to conduct yoga classes with 6 year olds?

Now, one of the seminal videos of my high school years...fruit and ninjas :-)

So I'm thinking of buying my Grandfather a wii

2008-05-08T13:05:00.002-05:00

I love ours. Wii sports would be something he'd get into. Tennis. Bowling. Baseball. Golf. He had to give up golfing after a leg injury, but this might be fun for him. And he could invite people over and have tea and gossip and play a round of golf. Even in a hurricane. Probably he wouldn't get into the boxing (although I wouldn't be surprised) and Mortal Kombat and Guitar Hero would be off entirely. But the new mario kart might be fun - especially if we got him the little steering wheel...

check it out:

In other news, I'm healing up nicely. I've been at work all week...so crazy again but there's an upside: SLEEP. I get to sleep again. I've had two nights of a solid 8 hours and it's lovely. Seriously. There are no words for how lovely sleep is.

And completely random (not if you know me, though) this weeks GG surpassed even my expectations. I have some theories but I've promised myself NOT to watch any more spoilers until the end of the season. Next week I'll be up with the Female having beer and pizza and swooning (Chuck gets better every time I see him).

But here's a little season two info: starts shooting late July...and (from a reputable source whose name escapes me) "3 words: Hamp. Tons. Baby."

Word.

Ok. Now a mid-day bath (yippie) and then some more office attacking so I can get some of the shit out of my closet so I can attack that. You know you're jealous of my afternoon. ;-)

The Only Sober Girl in the Room

2008-05-04T10:38:00.002-05:00

That's what I was last night. It was funny. Ok, Steve was sober, too. But still...no one else was. There was dinner at Gloria's in Addison (where people were dressed the way I see people dressed to go out to the higher-end bars/restaurants downtown...and there were a LOT of birthday parties and bachelorette parties...) Of course, we went so that Rick and Elizabeth could have the margaritas, the black bean dip, and quesodillas. (Friday night we were at Sol Irlandes for the margs, the queso, and the fish tacos) Then we headed up to Jim's where there was Mario Kart wii action (which is alright to watch, but probably more fun to play) and GTAIV, and more beer. There was a lot of debauchery and a really loud chick (you know - there are people whose volume does nothing but rise in relation to how much alcohol they've had.)

It was totally funny until said loud chick started waxing poetic about how she needed to get back on her red bull and easy mac diet so she could get "skinny" again (hello - she's in her mid-30s and she's had 3 kids...AND she doesn't work out...what does she expect? She's not fat. She was a respectable - if not enviable- size. She shared, but I won't. Just trust me.) What inspired this rant? Me. In my mini-skirt and black crocheted tights. Apparently, the only way to cure me of being so dang skinny is to get me good and knocked up. I wanted to punch her in the face. Instead, I made some comments about a swollen brain and the recent surgery and the fact that I'm now going to REALLY PUSH IT and do some post-natal yoga as my new workout...but she wouldn't let up until someone pulled her out of the kitchen and the topic changed to other unsavory topics (drunk people are RAUNCHY) and then Rachel saved us all when she - apropos of nothing - said "Emily, did you really wear your little converse with that outfit? That's so cute and eclectic." And because she's Rachel and doesn't have a mean bone in her body, I took it as a compliment.

So then I wake up and there's GOOD NEWS in the world: The Cure (via stereogum) is releasing singles in the months prior to their 13th studio album release: "First single "The Only One" (released May 13th) includes the b-side "NY Trip"; second single "Freakshow" (released June 13th) includes the b-side "All Kinds Of Stuff"; neither b-side will appear on the album. Both tracks were produced by Robert Smith and Keith Uddin. July 13th and August 13th singles will be announced shortly..."

I must own these rare b-sides. I'll have to be on the lookout for their release so I can purchase.

also odd - in this morning's NYTimes there's an article about how saving a species sometimes require's eating it. Check it out. There's even a picture of a fainting goat.

Alright, so I'll leave you with a little funny for your enjoyment. Don't worry, it's totally safe for work...unless you work for Microsoft ;-)

Closet Update

2008-05-01T17:19:00.002-05:00

So I woke up this morning in pain (right) and decided that even though the rest of me is going stir-drazy I should spend at least some time on the couch resting...which led me to throw in Clueless (also I was feeling old and Clueless makes me feel young again....or at least reminds my that I'm really an airhead. And dating myself by using the term "airhead".)

Anyway, I saw her software and (though many people have said "you mean like clueless?" when I've shared my plans) I was inspired to come in here and google it. Amazingly, the words "clueless wardrobe program" brought up a ton of hits -- this one that's totally online based, but judging solely from that fact that the guy in the picture looks like one of the zombies from I Am Legend, I'll be going with this one. That, and I'm on a mac. It looks a lot like polyvore, which I love to play on. The difference being that polyvore scours retailers and the mac program scours my closet.

I'll keep you updated.

License to Ill

2008-05-01T10:27:00.002-05:00

I got the OK to drive yesterday. But sitting the way I need to sit in order to drive hurts like hell. Luckily my boss is more concerned with my health than anything, so as long as I can use the phone/computer, he's good. And I get to do it in pajamas. Ok, today I'm in yoga pants.

I think I'm less snarky now. I finished The Devil in the Junior League. It was good. I spent most of the book telling the main character to take the giant stick out of her ass. It was also weird that she was talking about all of these grown-up things (like being married for 7 years and being president-elect of the Junior League, etc etc) and the Character is 28. I'll be 30 way too soon and Most of the time I felt like she was older than me. Also odd: a coming of age story about a 28 year old. And she's not Forest Gump. But it was enjoyable. Good Beach Reading.

We watched I Am Legend last night. I can see why it didn't do well in the theaters. Because it made me sob. Well, part of it did. I'm not even kidding. Maybe it's because I'm in pain and I tend to be weepy when I hurt, and probably the fact that we watched it on our couch had a lot to do with my lack of reserve, but seriously: SOBBED. And then the end I was like "WTF?" At the risk of spoiling: If you've seen 28 Days Later (also a zombie movie...directed by the illustrious Danny Boyle) and you're a big honkin' nerd who's watched the bonus features then you know that the original ending for movie was changed. I forget how far they got into filming it (for some reasong I'm just seeing storyboards) but they changed it. This sort of movie HAS to end a certain way or you lose the audience. Danny Boyle knew that. The dudes who did I Am Legend must have thought, since they were doing a book, that it was ok to change the rules. Yes, it ends on a hopeful note, but it's Bot Hopeful Enough. Ok - so I just linked the movie title up there to the website and apparently there's a "controversial non-theatrical ending" on the second disc. I want that second disc. I want to see the OTHER ending and maybe I won't have such a crapped-out opinion of the potentially stellar zombie-flick.

In reality, it does have all the components:

1) a feasible apocalypse
2) a recognizeable landscape
3) a sympathetic and noble main character (at one point he looks at his daughter and tells her that "Daddy's going to make the monster's go away") whose only companion is a German Shepard
4) feasible "zombies" who have the Startle down
5) Nice suspenseful build-ups that make you *have* to see what's going to happen
6) A HIGH creep factor
7) a couple of explosions

and then it falls short.

Luckily, Hancock is going to be funny. Can't wait for that. I <3 Will Smith.

One of Steve's best friends is in town this weekend. It'll be nothing but queso, margaritas, and fish tacos as far as the eye can see... :-D

oh - two links for you.

On about sustainable seafood and one about an Amputee Goat who finds a home.

Happy Thursday!