lostinfont

Short

2011-01-20T00:08:00.001-08:00

“We have to go now” is the last thing I remember hearing him say. I made my excuses and we giggled our way out to the car congratulating ourselves on escaping the party without fuss. Huddling toward each other in the car while the heater slowly melted away the condensation I stroked the soft skin between his knuckles. It was the softest place on his body and I tended to hover over it so much that occasionally he had to reclaim his hand from my fondling caress. He sighed in relaxation and I leaned in to kiss him. He gave me a loving peck and then buckled his seatbelt and we were off. Gazing up into the starry night, I was in my own world of flittering friends. Half way through our ten minute trip home we were turning left when it happened. What actually happened I don’t know. All I remember was noise. The loudest banging, screeching drawl I have ever heard. I next heard the beeping of the monitor of my heart slowly racing faster as I grew conscious and began to piece together what must have happened.

Dream

2010-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

I had this really weird dream involving my friend Kevin last night. He pops up out of nowhere and I was like, "Hey I haven't seen you in forever," (which is true) and he says, "Yeah, but come here I have to show you this server room..."

And so we're sneaking along the back of a computer room, much like a computer lab from college or something you'd see in a low-budget movie. And we make it through fairly easily and get to the door where the server room is and open the door and it's like the door into giant space.

And then for some reason we are popped back out to the exterior of the lab and have to go back through the back wall area again and there are all of these monitors and cables hanging down that are tangled up and in the way and it's difficult to get through. Especially since we apparently aren't supposed to be back there.

Anyway, finally we get through it and there are these bubbles floating around at the end and going toward the door (like the ones you blow with a wand).

And then the door opens and there's this GIANT hamster. It's cute and not terribly threatening.

And then it reaches out its arms and at the end are lobster claws. But not red or shell-like. They're still hairy and fleshy like hamster, but in the shape of a lobster claw. And then the hamster starts popping the bubbles with clicking noises.

And then I woke up.

Transcript

2010-08-02T19:26:00.000-07:00

I saw The New Pornographers at the Showbox on Saturday night.
It was very loud for some reason and pretty much impossible to be without earplugs.
This made conversation next to impossible, so I am now blessed with a transcript of most of the communication of the night. I'll leave it ambiguous, but if you really want to know I'll explain things if you ask. The hyphen indicates typer 1 and lack of hyphen indicates typer 2. Exciting!

-I like the drummers hair
The lead singer reminds m of Jesus
-Or Russell brand
-Should I get some white pants?
Not unless you take up a career as a baker
-Stranger things have happened
Hurr hurr you said stranger
The flash on the phone is really effing bright!
-Now off
-Was going to turn the brightness down
-I guess they really are love songs
Did you see the guy behind you check out the guy in black there?
Also, this band is zzzzz
It was just really funny. I think I looked back at just the right time.
-And a vibraphone
-Which the earplugs effectively block
I can hear it. I think when it's just them it'll show up more.
-Guitar funeral?
EVERY BAND NEEDS TWO DRUMMERS!!!
-Beverage?
I am thirsty.
The drummer is up front!
-Which kind?
Water
They sell bottles where we come in. Bar might be free
-I want root beer
-Might pay to wait until set starts
Now I want root beer
-Thy will be done
-What is she wearing?
Weird stretchy polyester.
WTF is he wearing?
-Two drummers!
-He scares me a little
Yeah. Wow
I swear raver lady goes to most shows here. I've seen something like that, buy not so impressive.
How much you want to bet Ben Gibbard is here tonight?
-Does that mean his wife is here?
No running off with Zooey.
BG has been at almost every indie rock concert I've been to here. Re-dork-ulous.
-Maybe he has night blindness
Showbox bouncers don't mess around.
-He makes "yeah, dodos!" sound like an epithet
-Also, isn't the plural "dodoes"?
He's old
-OH: "I literally drank my butt off"
Some dude walking by got a free boob shot with his shoulder.
Either drunk or crafty
-Have you heard Corin tucker's band? Appeently they're touring.
No
I liked The Ds
Also this is a bizarre crowd.
-Yes and yes
Long line back into the bar. And the bathroom was running out of to. -2 stalls
-Lots of encroaching going on
I found the Flickr people but did not say hi
-How many?
2
-What's he playing with his mouth?
Vocorder?

Status

2010-07-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

I started using the iChat as my default IM service slightly over a year ago. Since that time I've never cleared out the chat status messages I've used and there's an awfully long list. However, it's a funny little shout out to pop culture, what was going on in my life and/or what suddenly came to mind at random times and I'd like to preserve it before I clear it out. Here it goes:

Available:

They're not love handles if nobody loves you.
I am the ticket master
lalalalala zzzz
I hurt. Please don't ask me to move. Thanks!
Your Gyrobases
All Your Gyrobase Are Belong to Us
words, words, words
Soon I will need more caffeine
http://cleolinda.livejournal.com/774412.html
So muuuuggggy!
I probably missed that
01010011
Savage Love
***
Cougar
YAY!
--headache--
Cake or Death?
REVERSE SKATE
Play Doh!
My toes are numb
Dude is stressed
Shelf loner
☭
Is Michael Jackson dead? I can't tell.
Oooh MJ is dead.
eeeeeeeeeeeeBay
is printscript alphabet
I love you like a fat kid love cake.
Surrogate Rice Baby Parent
Sucking up to artists since 2006
General Foods International Accounting
On the floor brb
HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER HARRY POTTER!!!
More Than Meets The Eye
ALIEN INVADERS TRUMP SERVER FAILURES
sigh
Jelly cottage industry
Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeee!
Heatmo Renée
Where is everybody?!!
I'm so not in the mood
ALL BOOGERS ALL THE TIME
ROFLCOPTOR
I'm hungry.
buzz buzz buzz
I wasn't aware Twitter was down. I suppose that's good.
" "
I want a banana milkshake
HOOOOOOO BLUEBIRD ICE CREAM HAS MARIONBERRY!!!!!!
dude wth is up with chat
*high five*
DEPECCCCHHHEEE
Never again is what you swore the time before
dollar bills y'all
EAT OR DIE (I mean you die, not me)
poop
hmm
Wrock out
WICKED
: \
poopy weather
Time goes sooo slow right now
I am here now
AWESOME 80s hold music!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I was late to work due to filming in the street
\[ºoº]/
http://coffeenow.ytmnd.com
ZZZZZ
My Internet keeps dying
I'M OLD
I'm going to pretend to be in a good mood
There's a wicked party in my brain
CRANKY PANTS
-Construction Zone-
Oww
I'm a big weirdo today, sorry
-.05 attention span
worky work work
o
need coffee, may die
*cough, cough*
ZZZZZZZZZZzzzzz
Pop tart for your soul?
DEATH BY PETARD
I would like this, please: http://www.roadfood.com/photos/7587.jpg
>_+
TOES
BRRRRRRZ
work coma
Manic Depressive girl strikes again!
TODAY is National Cat Day (FYI)
OOPS TOMORROW is National Cat Day (FYI)
Cranky socks
Midnight movie: TONIGHT
WIGGED
would like some sugar
mothership
SO COLD
sad people are better at stating their case through written arguments
No
my cheese is moldy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeX-Anrdv8k
Escaping your unhappiness means finding a creative way to alter your own conditioned response, which is rooted in yesterday.
This oatmeal is GROSS.
ACTUAL PAIN
All eggnog all the time
Resistance is Futile
headache :(
VPN is exciting!
I am still the #1 hit for "Topher Victopher" googling. YES!
BORRRRRRRRED
GHOSTBONERS
" "
http://www.moderncat.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/catvomitsign.jpg
Chuck me
Tokyo Drift
Hi Mom
Epitaph
Toast!
So cold brrrz
Chuck & Castle: 2/9
:) mmmm
Alternative
JINGLE BELLS, BATMAN SMELLS
I don't care
I DON'T CARE
PGP-
drunky pants
steez
Triflers need not apply
The accountants are coming!
SBox
It smells :(
*whistling*
Today's top spam: Best Boner Medicants
Just the facts ma'am
WE CAN'T ALL DO THE BIG ARMS
Today's top SPAM: Cheap Boner Pills
MRAH
undecided
:D
Czechoslovakian
Unsupervised!
I am Batman!
IMPORTANT! A volcano eruption in Iceland has delayed FedEx Express shipments to and from Northern Europe.
Toothless
put down the brown paper bag you have been huffing paint from
zero tolerance
HIIIIIIII
BORED
Delicious strawberry flavored death
mmm nerdilicious
I'm cleaning my space out
Frell
I need to eat
Fringe Bookkeeping
Peanuts?
IM keeps dying. Not my fault.
goth post-punk otters
artgasm
Horse bands
forgetful
Fahrbot
@ work, exciting!
Coffee SOON
The Vapors
Suitcase full of frowns
FOUR
d[o_0]b
Stuff
Literally
"random acts of 'OMG WHEE'"
I will do science to it
Spam of the Day: "Become extra-stiff down there"
Hilarious

Away:
(These are not nearly so entertaining. I mostly just use the generics.)

I'm out for errand/lunch hour.
FANNNNTASTIC!
payrollio
Awayaway Awayooooohah
COFFEEEEEEEEE NOW!
I got a Dr. Pepper because Dr. Dre tole me to
Going on a field trip
Busy
WORKING ON SL STUFF
EAT OR DIE (I mean you die, not me)
Marketing
BRB!
ROFLCOPTOR
I'm going to a meeting or currently in it, or on my way back
Arrrrm narrrm narm
I AM OUT OF THE OFFICE FOR THE REST OF TODAY
I'm going out for an hour
making' copies
FLASH
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
I'm on the floor resting my back. Be back in a few.
need coffee, may die
mothership
Working on the weekend.
Working for the weekend.
SERIAL EXCELCUTIONER
EXCELCUTIONER
GOING TO GET GIANT COOKIE!
QFC
Resistance was Futile
Please e-mail me questions
I'm going to take a nap now
Retrofit art
Office Par-tay
Day Off
Death
It's raining feces
@ work
Rapidly spinning plastic discs yo
I forgot my coffee at HOME :(
taking a break
shiny
OUT
reading
doing something constructive
Out of Office work errands
LAUNDRY
BREAK
sleepytimes
laundry
hiding
Czechoslovakian
black hole sun
HULU
reporting
Nexfliiiix
I need to eat
Stuff
so many errands, so little time
Delicious strawberry flavored death
Hezmana
Doing dishes in the bathroom
Post Options

Process

2010-06-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have a pretty repetitive writing process. It's more or less like writing an outline without the formality.
When I was in college I wrote papers one of two ways. I would either write quotes note cards and then write arguments around these note cards that would become a paper or I would do the exact opposite; have ideas that would spin out and then source material that would back up my ideas.

Usually I preferred the quote to expansive theory method since I would have already done the research and all I had to do them is analyze and argue. And I'm quite often struck by a lovely turn of phrase or pitched quotation that tickles my inner sense of kinship with the writer. From these sentiments I find it easy to spin a world of agreement or disparity.

But it's never a pretty process. I hear words in clips and phrases (Shout out to Eve 6 and their song "Inside Out" that was popular when I was in college. Just look at that subconscious association!) that I pick out of thin air. I rarely know what I'm going to say before I write it and things occur to me in jumbles and generally out of order. The advent of the computer as processor was my favorite thing creatively. Previously I'd had to cross out and copy things ridiculously. I remember cutting out whole sections of paper and taping them back together and then photocopying them so I didn't have to retype a page or pages of a paper I had to turn in. Geez, how old do I sound now? heh. Or I'd have to re-write things multiple times. All of my pens were erasable in high school.

The below text I've included is a sample of how I tend to put things together. I make strings. This group is slightly misleading because it's already in chronological order and that's not how I thought of the events. However, I did type them out this way, I just skipped around. Sometimes entire ideas occur to me, usually they have to do with a specific feeling I'm trying to convey or a large theme to build lego bricks of words around. This text was sitting in my drafts to be fleshed out at a later time, but I'm going to publish this as it is because I think it's a bit poetic in its vagueness. This is a very brief first pass at my Dad's involvement in my life when he was around and me simply trying to list off my memories in order. I did something like this once before, but it was more of a free floating ramble. This was meant to be solid and specific.

Going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. (was he even there)

My first memory of my Father is his Mother's funeral

Riding down the road on the motorcycle
Knocking my front teeth out

Moving to Hadlock
Going out cutting down trees
Security guard at paper mill?
Reading to me

Moving back to Aberdeen
Sprawling well-lit lumber yard.
Driving through town late at night, all the bright lights from the signs down Highway 101 seemed so impressive.
Nachos from 7-11
Nick at Night
Old-Fashioned donuts from the Red Lion Inn
We stayed there 4 days?

Bookkeeping

2010-06-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'm frequently asked what I do for a job and what exactly it means to be a bookkeeper. I don't want to bore people to tears, but I think I often gloss over any actual meaning in my job description. However, when a serious inquiry has arisen I generally point them to this article which has described what I currently do better than other source I have yet to encounter. If you actually read this you're probably pretty bored.

This is a text grab from a Princeton Review article.

Bookkeeper

A Day in the life of a Bookkeeper

Bookkeepers track all cash flows, billing, and lines of credit that affect their companies. They must be detail-oriented and tenacious; they have to track down and rectify any discrepancies, however small, in the company accounts. Most bookkeepers work as internal accountants for small firms that do not have an accountant on staff. They have a large amount of responsibility to the company, and sometimes (particularly at the end of the year and around tax-preparation time) have to work long hours in order to do their job properly. The majority of bookkeepers work for smaller firms. Many become involved in financial tangles mid-stream-they find themselves deciphering records from up to a year before they were hired. Bookkeepers must be flexible and able to adjust to unusual circumstances. Many bookkeepers we talked with mentioned that the most difficult part of their jobs was not maintenance of financial records, which accounted for a good 50 percent of their time, but communication with the other members of the same company. “You have to keep track of everyone’s activities, and nobody thinks it is important to keep the bookkeeper apprised every day of what they’re doing.” This lack of smooth transfer of information has led many companies to buy bookkeeping software so that each employee can keep track of her daily activities and a bookkeeper can then assemble all the information and verify its accuracy. Computer skills are growing in importance in the industry, and even those who are already familiar with the double-entry system of bookkeeping mentioned that knowing how to use this software is considered a strong point by employers. Many small firms aren’t used to being run as businesses and many find keeping track of all interaction difficult at first. Bookkeepers must communicate their needs clearly and follow up with consistent requests for similar information. Those who enter the field with an open mind find that being a good bookkeeper “makes all the difference in the world when the boss looks at what direction he wants to take the company.” The statistics and data bookkeepers compile are “snapshots” of the daily activities of the company that make up its history.

Paying Your Dues

Bookkeepers are financial recordkeepers, much like accountants, but they are not required to be accredited by any organization or institution. As a positive, they have less of a fiduciary obligation than an accountant and therefore less liability; however, they are paid commensurably less. They usually maintain the records of a single company rather than having many companies as clients. No specific educational requirement is required to become a bookkeeper, but prospective employers favor applicants with finance, record-keeping, or business majors. Basic coursework in accounting is very helpful for those entering the field, but on-the-job training is neither unusual nor discouraged. With the increasing simplicity of accounting software in the workplace, less and less formal accounting training is required for these positions. The work requires attention to detail and a good method of keeping track of constantly fluctuating items, which leads most bookkeepers to adopt the double-entry method of accounting. Much of a bookkeeper’s work involves not only the entering of information, but the review of information and the reconciling of accounts. While some people remain career bookkeepers at one company, most rotate between companies or leave the field altogether for supervisory or managerial positions.

Associated Careers

Bookkeepers become accountants and inventory control experts at a higher rate than any other profession. Those who leave the record-keeping industry altogether use their bookkeeping skills to understand various tasks within an industry, then move to positions of managerial control. The people who take this route, however, usually supplement their bookkeeping skills with courses, seminars, or second positions where they can demonstrate their management ability.

Grover: Lost!

2010-06-21T03:10:00.001-07:00

Grover: Lost!
Originally uploaded by neilcrocodile

I'd forgotten all about this. :)

Candy

2010-05-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

Thinking about what candy I like I realized I'm actually really picky. Weird, I wouldn't have thought so. I mean, obviously, I like certain kinds and not others, but I have this strange personal algorithm for what I find tasty that I hadn't really thought about before.

Here's the sitch. (Ok, now that just sounds like Kim Possible. Yes, I am 31 years old and I know who Kim Possible is. And Ron Stoppable and Rufus. I am an adult child. Mostly. ;))

Hard Candy:

I'm not really into sugar candies. I'll eat them when I'm craving sugar and have no other alternatives or when I have a strange hankering for them (which is very rare), but in general I've never been into them. Hard candy has always given me a headache and so I've avoided it since I was young. About once a year I think, "oooh hey, lemon drops sound good" and I buy a bag and then my mouth hates me for about two weeks and I'm totally over it.

Gummy Candy:

Texture! Sometimes gummy, chewy texture is needed. I think it's far less about the flavor than the chewiness. I used to like those gummy orange slices, but the new recipe by Brach's actually burns my mouth. No idea what's going on there. Sometimes I eat the generic ones, but really they're not that much fun and I always feel kind of bleh and sad I wasted my sugar times with them.

Sour patch kids are really good from time to time. I have always enjoyed sour things. I used to eat everyone's lemon slices when I was a kid.

I don't eat green sugar candy, so when I get these the green ones are picked out before bulk purchase, set aside to give away or just plain thrown out. I do not like fake lime flavor. I'm not even that into real lime flavor. Although fake banana and fake watermelon have to be the worst all-time flavors ever. Gross. :(

What I will call Candy:

Yes! If you're going to eat sugar you might as well make it worth your while and go for something with chocolate or caramel or coconut or hazelnuts or any of these sorts of quality ingredients to start from.

Chocolate is good in all its forms. Sometimes I'll get a dark cacao bar and eat that over a long period of time. In those cases I splurge and get the fancy kinds. I never really choose dark chocolate when presented with options though. Semi-sweet is alright. Mostly I go for milk chocolate.

I actually prefer caramel to chocolate when it comes to candy items, although caramel and chocolate work pretty perfectly for me. I love just straight up, well made caramel. The trend of salted caramel is very good too. Now I want some caramel corn! Which is not candy, but sort of. :P

I also really enjoy vanilla things, but I can't think of many strictly vanilla candies.

I like cherry things. Chocolate covered cherries are a holiday tradition. I always bought those for my Father for Christmas and after he left I continued to get them for me because I really like them. They're good if you put them in the fridge too. They get kind of chewy the colder they are kept. There is this local candy company that makes "mountain bars" that come in peanut butter, cherry and vanilla. The cherry ones I get weird cravings for sometimes even though they're not even that good. I think it's a nostalgia thing.

Coconut is really good. I've had a Bounty bar, Mounds, and Almond Joy which are all about the same thing. I think confectioners should think of new candy ideas for coconut. It's so generically used, but yummy.

Mint. I do like junior mints, but not frozen. I like to "pop" them in my mouth and that doesn't happen if they're frozen. Peppermint patties are alright, but kind of boring. I dislike most minty chocolate things. They should be two separate things, not a combined flavor. Those girl scout cookie Thin Mints? Gross!

Peanut Butter. Yes, I love peanut butter and it goes well with chocolate, but I feel like it's been done to death. So as time goes by I get more and more tired of chocolate and peanut butter things. I prefer them apart. And don't even get me started on chocolate, peanut butter and caramel things. SO gross. Reese's put out a pb cup with the combination. It was an abomination. Reese's peanut butter cups are pretty good in the dead of summer if you keep them frozen. But yes, also something that's not as good as it used to be and I'm growing out of.

Nuts are usually a pretty good add in. Peanuts are kind of boring. I prefer almonds or hazelnuts.

Nougat is one of my favorite things ever. Although when I picture the liquid corn syrup it kind of makes me want to barf a little. But I like the end product.

Fruit is kind of touch and go. Obviously I like cherries. But I'm not a fan of chocolate covered fruit items in general. I'll eat those Cadbury fruit and nut bars sometimes. They are lovely, savory things, but I think fruit was always the alternative candy of my childhood so somewhere deep down my brain rejects it as not quite candy. And I also like to look at my food so having chocolate covered fruit disturbs me because I can't inspect my fruit before I eat it.

Marshmallowy things are good. I tend toward the strawberry or maple cream things at the holidays.

Toffee is good, but I'm kinda picky about it and don't eat it all that often.

I hate chocolate covered pretzels. I've tried to like them so many times. Nothing happening.

As to my weird algorithm. It's not really well defined. It's more of a sliding scale of taste. I don't really like candy that has more than four different texture or taste components. So, like chocolate, nougat, caramel and nuts is as busy as I want my candy.

Corners

2010-03-05T17:12:00.000-08:00

I just found this in my ancient Hotmail account. It's very, very old. I believe I wrote it in 1999, but it maybe have been 2000. I haven't read it through on purpose so that I don't alter it or not post it due to embarrassment. I do remember writing it in the library on campus at WSU. I was watching people walk around and making comments on actual activities going on at the time.

I'm Sitting In A Corner

I'm sitting in a corner,
In the middle of the room.
I'm sitting in a corner,
Like a flower without bloom.

I was right here yesterday
And the day before that too.
Waiting for someone to notice;
Is that someone you?

Everyday I'm here to see,
But no one really cares.
I scream and shout, 'Hey Look at me!'
All I get are stares.

The other day I wrote a letter
To a friend of mine.
I asked, 'How are things over there?'
The response, 'Oh things are fine.'

I'm still here in the corner.
Have you found me yet?
I'm tired of waiting around you see.
Like someone's faithful pet.

I saw a girl walk by just now;
Her friends all clustered 'round.
They seemed to care who she was,
Not just what's going down.

While I sit in this corner,
I wonder if it's true...
Do I have a dear, dear friend?
Someone maybe like you?

Someone who sees me as I am.
Alone in this corner
Waiting.......

I'm sitting in a corner,
In the middle of the room.

Rambling about 2009 Food Strikes

2010-02-09T01:03:00.000-08:00

So, it's a well-known fact that I pretty much mock anyone who sends out those year in review letters with their Christmas cards. I do understand the motivation behind them; you have a large family, a lot of things happened...it's informative. It's also amusing to people who know you well enough to not need the summary. Or it's also occasionally hilarious to those who don't know you one teensy bit.

Mostly I find it interesting to pick out the things that people have chosen to represent their year. It alludes to their values, personality or what sort of image they're attempting to convey.

That said, guess what? I'm going to do a year in review blog post. hahahaa oh how the sarcastic have fallen. You can dissect my triumphs and failures at will. I did a lot of weird things in 2009 and it occurred to me that I actually wanted to roll them around in my active consciousness and savor them a bit before I lived a whole new year and it became just last year's news.

I ran two experiments this year with food. Mostly they concerned experiments on my will power.

NO SWEETS:
In March I embarked on a 20 week no sweets fast. The 20 weeks was a fairly arbitrary time frame for me. It had to do with the date I started the experiment and the date of my birthday. I needed a logical and realistic end point and I thought they that would work perfectly.

At first I called it no sugar because that's what I call sweet treats, but then someone called me out for putting sugar in something and so I clarified the rules. I could eat sugar in natural states such as fruits or other naturally occurring substance. I could have sugar if it was something I normally used sugar for, like my coffee. But I was not allowed to use more than usual or consume it more frequently. I was not allowed anything in the following areas: scones, muffins, cookies, brownies, ice cream, candy, anything you'd consider a dessert more or less. No pop (but that wasn't difficult because I don't drink much at all) either.

This was fairly difficult mostly out of habit. It was weird how often I had worked sweets into things without even thinking about them, wanting them, or even particularly enjoying them. I just consumed them.

Did I succeed? Yes and no. I made a conscious decision to eat some caramel corn when my friend sent it to me as a moving away present (she was leaving Chicago) and I wasn't going to get any for pretty much ever from that place. So, I ate it and totally considered it a no no. But, I didn't let that be the end of things. I didn't want that to end things and I kept at it for another month or so until my "fast" was done.
It was a pretty enlightening experiment.

I learned that I definitely use sweets to reward myself be it good or bad. Meaning that if I'm having a crap day I'll have a cookie or something as a don't be so sad/mad/bad. On the other hand say I just finished a large project presentation. Guess who gets a cookie? That's sort of a standard that a lot of people do, but I think I could definitely stand to substitute other things into my reward system. It's bad form to rely on sugar to moderate your moods because sugar sets your moods off more.

Anyhoo, when all was said and done I was pretty excited I'd managed to go the entire time and not give up or give in.

NO MEATS:
The other experiment with food was about a four month experimental period of vegetarianism. I've always wanted to try it out and for whatever reason I decided this was the year to do it. Considering I had the motivation I went with it.

I learned it is very, very difficult to be a healthy vegetarian. Well, at least for me. For one thing, going out to eat, not a lot of places offer a healthy or varied purely vegetarian menu. You end up eating the same sorts of things all the time, which is not good food management. Or you eat fried things. I don't particularly like fried things either.

Eating with other people is difficult because if they are wanting to eat meat you essentially have to constantly plan two meals. Unless you want to eat giant salads all the time, which is not a horrible option. I love salad. But you definitely need to own your own food and food making skills.

I think instead of eating more healthy as a vegetarian I became an extremely unhealthy eater. I am not a big fan of many vegetarian staples. I don't like rice. I mostly dislike pastas. I'm a part-time fan of beans. Some beans I loathe to the ends of the earth. I enjoy some soy products, but must eat it in moderation or it sets off my hormone balance. I'm particular about what cheeses I enjoy. Eggs are not my favorite food and sometimes they make me sick if I eat them too often, so I have to be very modest in their usage. Potatoes get boring very quickly. Yeah. Can you see where I might have some basic issues?

I was very pleased with my moral consumption of food as a vegetarian. I'm a conscious carnivore to begin with. I attempt to always be aware of where the food I'm eating comes from. I purchase free range items, eat naturally nested eggs and so on. But you never can tell what happens. And people are forever pointing out the way people get around the rules or how the rules don't really mean what you think they do. So, it was nice to avoid a many-layered area of contention. (Don't even get started on the eggs and dairy...OH...and the basic problems with soy farming and how that's ruining our world. Holy crap, can't we do anything without guilt these days? I recommend labeling the 00s as the decade of guilt.)

I learned how bad of a cook I am. This is not to say I'm a horrible cook, but I have a very small slice of experience on the world and I am not a vegetable, tofu, alternative meat source master. (I am however, an excellent baker.) I do enjoy blanching fresh vegetables, but that gets boring quickly. I've never prepared tofu or alternative meat sources myself. I decided that it was very necessary for me to take a vegetarian cooking course. I have not taken the course yet, but I will attempt to do so sometime this year. Yes, I could read a cookbook and do it in my own kitchen, but I lack space, experience and most of the necessary cooking implements and ingredients. Besides, when it comes to a handful of learning realms I find real world experience is the best teacher, so a class it must be.

I did learn to expand my palette. I discovered that I actually do like tofu. Previous experiences with it included lackluster presentations and alternative cooking methods and I hadn't liked those. Newer and varied presentations were awesome. In fact, I've taken to replacing chicken with tofu in pretty much anything now. Interestingly before this experiment chicken was my favorite meat source and now I have to say that I don't particularly care for it anymore. I will eat it from time to time, but I rarely actively choose it. I think it's mostly boring or weird now. I'm a little sad about that because it's the healthiest meat alternative out there and now I don't want it.

I also learned to LOVE Quorn products. I actively crave Quorn nuggets all the time. They're made from egg whites and fungi I believe. There are some other things too, but I think that's the main attraction. They're so good. I even cook them up and throw them in the fridge and eat them cold the next day. Excellent product I would recommend anyone try. I fed them to my Mother and she liked them.

I learned to love and then suspect I was allergic to avocados this year. :) :( They're a great source of so many things and an excellent substitute in many meals. But the more I ate them the more I realized they were the common denominator in my feeling ill. It turns out you can have an allergy to them based on pollen. It's all very weird. I can eat a tablespoon or two every once in a great while and be ok, but no more full-time eating.

This experiment had no particular time frame. I did want to do it for as long as possible, maybe even forever if it worked out. But I found myself being very unhealthy and so I gave it up for the time until I could either properly balance things or at least intelligently co-mingle.

Five

2010-02-09T00:56:00.000-08:00

There was a song in my mind
It helped me guard and keep the time
It stopped singing

Holding fast
I was too weak
I didn't grasp
But I didn't shriek

Five days
Five days I was happy
Five days
Five days I pretended otherwise
Five days

brynkcynk is back!

2010-01-28T18:56:00.001-08:00

IMGP3471
Originally uploaded by brynkcynk

Well, she's back to putting up her awesome loveliness anyway. Yay for us and thanks to her for sharing again. :D

I finally put my movies into order

2010-01-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

I generally watch movies based on a mood I'm in or a mood I'm looking to put myself into. This is why I find it difficult to watch movies sometimes. I know that I want to see Movie A. If you had asked me to watch it yesterday I would have raced you to the theatre. But today I'm feeling insecure and I want to watch something that makes me happy or is inspiring. I'm not looking for something that questions the very fabric of our existence. And so on. Anyway, for me specifically this is not much of a problem. It only becomes an issue when I have to jointly decide on a movie.

You may or may not know that I am a customer of Netflix and Blockbuster. I am concurrently running both subscriptions and have been sort of a movie whore of late. Usually I turn one or the other off based on what I want to watch (Netflix has more options) or whether I'm feeling the need for instant gratification (trading in at Blockbuster grants more flexibility). But with all of the holiday time I've had this month I have had them both going for December. This is pretty awesome when I'm watching a tv series too. I can get new discs on a faster turn around.

At some point after college I started buying movies used at the movie store. Often I would go in with a friend and we'd end up with a pretty sweet deal that usually averaged around $5 a movie. I do the same thing now. I almost never purchase a new movie unless it's drastically reduced or is impossible to find elsewhere. Thus I have acquired about 200 movies. I've kept them in alphabetical order for most of that time, with a couple of attempts at genre organizing. Last year when I moved and had enough room to sprawl them wherever I chose I decided I would like to put them in mood order. Mood order is fairly similar to genre order. It follows that a genre tends to fit a mood I'm going for, so I think it makes sense. There are a few sub-categories that are very me specific though.

As it currently stands they are as follows:
-"Costume" or Period dramas
-Foreign movies (It's kind of generic, but I definitely have to been in a frame of mind to want to read my movies. For example, I can't put one in and clean the house.)
-Animated
-Movies based on a graphic novel or comic book
-Action movies with a conspiracy plot
-Movies based on a commercial product (think video game, commercial or theme ride)
-Science Fiction (Technically my largest genre when you add in the sub-categories)
--Harry Potter is given his own section within the SciFi
-Movies wherein people fall in love no matter how realistic or far-fetched the premise
-Movies that include some sort of physical activity that makes me want to get up and do something
-80s movies (So bad they're awesome.)
-Series television that I enjoy having around on demand because it makes me happy
-Generic repository of movies I'm probably going to try to sell

A story poem

2009-12-27T02:55:00.001-08:00

Wherein I attempted to narrate a story via poetry.

Green apples, pink notes, purple skittles they reek

Of the absurd little world we thought to seek

I saw you first, I say with a wink

Yeah, but I stopped to talk to you there by the sink

Secret smiles though suppressed we exchange with glee

For I look at you and you look at me

The small of my back cradles your hand

Gesture of protection, fingers are spanned

Laughter scatters riotously on the old linoleum floor

Joyous discoveries in the one I adore

Murmurs of conversation held face to face

No one to hear us outside our embrace

Melancholy women sing of their troubles

While delight of our discovery widens and doubles

You pack your suit for a trip to the north

You called me one, two...three, even a fourth

I miss you, I say, you miss me too

You’re coming back to town, the weekend is through

Happy reunion we have and trip we do take

A place from your past, new memories we make

Driving home that night, I fear the future

A divide in my heart that will hold no suture

That future arrived at a red stoplight

I held your hand and you squeezed it tight

I held your hand

But you held my heart

In Between

2009-12-27T02:53:00.000-08:00

Hey! Some not depressing poetry. That's pretty much unheard of in my oeuvre. I conjured this up a couple of years ago.

In between my thoughts your smile luxuriates
Glide of lip, tip of teeth, the feeling resonates

Sensual, seductive, charming, happy, sad
The layers wrapped up in your lips are my desire to have

The words that pass caress my thoughts all hours of the day
The voice from which they come, a soundtrack I love to play

In between my hands, your body meets my flesh
Longing to be near you, the ache is always fresh

My palm on your cheek, your fingers in my hair
Our eyes, our lips, they meld they muted air

The feelings swirling 'round me, so strong I hum their sound
Beneath your gaze, your finger's raze, at long last I am found

In between my dreams, I dream still more of you.

Vacation

2009-12-09T00:07:00.000-08:00

So, I'm on a vacation in my apartment right now. I did want to do some writing during this time, but so far I've mostly been consuming creativity. It's been pretty great, although my original impetus for taking time off was to visit my friend and I'm sad that didn't work out.

Mostly what I've been doing is reading and watching movies.

So far, in books:
Neverwhere -Neil Gaiman
Stardust -Neil Gaiman
Northanger Abbey -Jane Austen
Pride & Prejudice -Jane Austen

So far, in movies:
Renaissance
Northanger Abbey
Prince Caspian
Up
Persuasion
and part of the first season of the British version of The Office

Currently reading: Kushiel's Dart -Jacqueline Carey

On deck:
Brick
Juliette, Naked -Nick Hornby

First Day

2009-11-08T00:08:00.000-08:00

As a child, on the eve of a new school year I would become so agitated I would get sick. One part nerves and two parts excited anticipation, I would spend hours in the bathroom worshipping the porcelain god. At the time when sleep was especially important and I needed stability, my world became an upheaval - quite literally. Eventually, I would manage to sleep and my nerves subsided apart from the latent butterflies that persisted.

First grade was the scariest and most exciting year of all. I had never went to kindergarten, so it was my first introduction to formal education. Arriving at school with my parents, I was greeted by a room filled with milling bodies. I didn't recognize anyone, so I busied myself trying to find my desk. The teacher had affixed a rainbow label to each desk with our names printed boldly across them. Once, twice, three times I looked, doubting my abilities to find my desk.

Finally, I gave up and enlisted the help of my parents. They couldn't find it either. I'm not sure whether this made me feel better or worse. The teacher was notified and made me a tag.

This is my only memory of my first day of school. I vaguely recall my parents taking their leave. What stayed with me was the feeling of isolation. I sat down at my desk and watched the other kids laugh and chat. Everyone seemed to know at least one other person. My first day of school fades out, me, sitting at my desk waiting for class to begin so I don't feel so awkward and easily forgotten.

Been & Gone

2009-11-07T23:59:00.000-08:00

Key in the lock, unturned
Groceries slump against the wall
Tears dribble on my shoe tops
I can't go in

Not when you're there
Not when you're gone

Invisible mark (not edited yet)

2009-10-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

(Does it convey meaning? Is it too ADD or just disorienting enough? Does it illicit an emotional response? Should there be more description? Less detail? Does it wallow? Is it interesting?)

Thirteen years old and living in Auburn, Washington doesn't usually lend itself to great storytelling. But you haven't met my step-father either. My Mother had met him a couple years before and they progressed from dating to commitment rather quickly. I acquired an extended family as well, two step-brothers and a step-sister, and a new place to live.

At the commencement of their relationship we were all living in Westport, Washington, a tiny fishing industry town on the coast. My Mother and I had moved there only recently and I didn't know anyone so my days mostly consisted of school, coming home to read and the occasional beach walking peppered in.

After we moved into my future step-father's place things were busy. I'd only ever had one sibling, an half-sister who was eight years old than me. So, having three fairly rowdy siblings was pretty strange, but exciting too. But it felt like I was visiting at someone else's house for the day. Things weren't where they were supposed to be. There weren't enough beds to go around. You couldn't watch what you wanted on television. The food was not what your Mother made. The rules weren't your rules.

There were cool things though too. The Nintendo 64 was a mystical wonder. And the sand pit fort in the back yard was awesome. That is until the boy I'd been crushing on for the last few months rode by on his bicycle and saw me sitting in the back yard digging up buckets of sand with a toy shovel. And he said hi. Hi with my name attached. I didn't even know he knew my name. In fact, I'd rather he wouldn't have connected me with the embarrassingly juvenile activities I was currently engaged in. But he did. And I crushed even harder after that. (It would be another 12 years before I found out he had enlisted and been sent to Iraq and that made me sad. And sad became an inadequate word in my life once again.)

Anyway, life carried on. I finished the 6th grade with my lime green Keds and my DARE T-shirt given to me at my Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduation. I looked forward in trepidation to the middle school across the parking lot. Only two football fields separated the primary school and the middle school and high school, but they were entirely different worlds. It was nerve-wracking and exciting. I dreamed of walking through the halls actually going to real classes when they took us on a tour. I pictured myself in one, two, and six long years. I was cool. I was known. I was academically moulded. I was moving?

I can't remember why we were moving. I don't even recall when I found out. All I know is that it was a swift decision because by mid-summer we were ensconced in the yellow apartments by the Green River. That summer was the summer I scarred both of my elbows permanently. I rode my bike around and around and around all day long and managed to crash twice, once for each elbow. It was also the summer that Doogie Howser, MD was gonna do it. I heard about that on the television at the video store.

My saving grace in Auburn was the library. I believe this is the first time started the mountainous check out routine. I would get so many books the librarians would insist on giving me bags to carry them in. I could only get to the library if someone drove me, so I would get enough books to keep me busy until I could get someone to take me back again. At that time I was reading one, maybe two and on the rare off moments three books a day. I was blissful. I was bored out of my mind.

I met Mona in the yellow apartments. We used to go to the pool. I would sun bathe or sit in the shallow end. I got my period which complicated pool time and introduced me to the lifetime of inconvenience that it is to be fertile. I also babysat and crushed on the neighbor boy who wasn't allowed to play on Saturdays. I took the trash out one day wearing a sweater and mini skirt. To this day he remains the only person to have seen me wearing a micro mini skirt as I never had the guts to wear one in public again. He didn't seem to notice.

School was fascinating. I attended the largest school district I'd ever been in (or would ever be in) and was lumped in with 7th, 8th and 9th graders. I was in a few mixed grade class, like the newspaper, which was rather intimidating. But it was also really prestigious and rewarding. I was writing articles with the 9th graders. I knew I was smart, but I was used to having to wait for opportunities to arise, or not, as they will.

I made friends. I made a lot of friends. I talked to boys that I liked. I went to a school dance (the first and last) and wore a hot pink turtleneck. A turtleneck that matched three others in shades of blue, black and creme. A turtleneck that was one of four that my Mother had taken me out secret shopping on a trip for just me and her. She didn't want my step-siblings to get jealous. The aforementioned miniskirt and sweater came from a friend that had given away clothes she didn't want anymore. It was not the first nor the last time I would be wearing someone else's hand-me-down clothes.

There were bees in the wall of my bedroom that summer and I remember having a recurring nightmare in which they ate through the wall and swarmed into my bedroom and killed me. I also learned to love the smell of summer nights there. The heat spent baking the grass, earth and city all day and as it cooled at night it was the most delicious smell I'd ever encountered. I was allowed to stay up late and read that year and since I didn't have a job yet I began my 2-3am bedtime habit. I would eat carrot and cheese sticks while doing leg lifts and reading books about history and early America.

My eldest step-brother decided to leave and go back home to his Mother's. He left because he didn't want to follow rules. At his Mother's house he could go run around town with his friends until late. He could skateboard and break his arm if he wanted to. He could leave. He left.

Spinach was served soggy and wet in a pile on my plate. I'd never tasted spinach before and after trying to eat that mass I decided I hated it (it took another 8 years to realize I was wrong). I learned how to cook perfect bacon between the freezer, where my Mom stored our life savings in case the house burned down while we were gone, and the window that looked out over the dappled daylight that came through the tree outside. I listed to the AM GOLD channel and sang along to Johnny Cash and Hank Williams in my bedroom while my Mother sang in the living room.

Mona asked me to go with her to another friend's house instead of going to school one morning. I didn't go. I didn't understand why they wanted to go drink at her parent's house instead of go to school. I watched them turn the wrong way at the park and wave goodbye as I kept going in a perplexed attitude. It was fourth period and saw them again. Mona was escorted into math class by one of the officials. My Mother didn't me to be friends with Mona after that, but she was my best friend and I think we managed to convince my Mother it was a dumb mistake.

I stopped by Mona's house extra early one morning and put on makeup to try and impress a boy. Maybelline pink and green mascara tube, eye shadow and pink gloss. I had never casually worn makeup to school before. I felt electric. I thought everyone was looking at me and had noticed how cute I had become with a simple gloss, powder and paint. I smiled at the boy and blushed.

I walked through chain link fences surrounding the campus and tried not to think about anyone shooting me. The crowd of smokers adjacent to the school grounds was often littered with gang members and fights were commonplace even among friends.

I went to detention for the first and last time. I won the spelling bee. I was finally in 8th grade. I surrendered another step-sibling, this time my sister. She missed her Mother and was probably tired of sharing a room with me. When she departed that left four of us. I played Legos in my step-brother's room. I made tacky birthday cakes with horrible frosting. I had grown five inches in three years. My jeans were too short. I did not wear my glasses that I needed to see. A boy from school died.

Eighth grade was great. I had been around long enough to get to know people. I was perfectly in the middle. I had settled into an academic schedule that while basic and underwhelming was at least comfortable. Science was tough, but the teacher was nice. We watched movies on laserdiscs and were appropriately awed. I sat through my entire study skills class with gum on my nose because of the campus ban. A boy hit me when I made him mad and I ate pickles for lunch every day because condiments were free.

I didn't like my lunch period that year because it was missing half of my friends. I avoided the boy who hit me, but he was always around the doorway. One day we moved desks across campus and one of them hit me in the back of my leg and left a visible mark. I made many new friends. I made a bridge of toothpicks and it collapsed. I learned the frustration of working with a team without leadership. I wished I could continue taking wood shop that year. I learned German.

I went to the mall one day. Southcenter to be exact. Me, my Mother, my step-father and step-brother. It was a treat. I loved the mall and I'd been saving my allowance so that I could maybe get some new earrings, a book and any other trinket that caught my fascination. I was finally old enough that I was allowed to wander by myself and then meet everyone back at the food court. We all went our separate ways. I went to the bookstore. My Mom looked for clothes and my step-father kept and eye on my step-brother as they went off to do some less estrogen driven activities.

I wandered back past the default mall cookie storefront smelling sweetly of sugar cookies and lamented the fact that I didn't have anything for a treat. I sat at a table near the arcade center and watched kids I didn't know herding around being serious and silly. I smelled noodles and clam chowder and Italian spiced ice cream. I looked at my watch. I was early. I wait. My Mother showed up a little while later and we sat and talked about what we had seen and found.

We both wondered where the other two were and finally we went back out into the mall to look for them. We checked the bathrooms, we checked the halls, we checked the nearby stores. We found security and sent a page. We went to the parking lot to check the truck. The truck was not there.

My Mother frantically flagged down another security guard and had him drive around the entire parking lot looking for the truck in case it had been re-parked somewhere else. It wasn't there. The pay phone provided us with prerecorded voices saying we weren't home right now but please leave a message and we'd get right back to you. Messages were left. Time passed.

We went outside and searched for a bus to take us home. I looked in a box at colorful clothing that had been purchases and was confused. Our bus came and we boarded it sitting near the driver since the large group of intimidating youth were taking up the back. We leaned forward willing the bus faster, but not knowing what path it took. There was talking and assuring and crying and not crying. There was freaking out and calmness. I was thirteen.

It started to rain as we approached the 7-11 and it poured as we hustled down 22nd Way NE with our bags soggy and our hair matted. It was cold. I was hungry. We arrived at our apartment to find it locked and as my step-Father had the keys to the apartment on the key ring to the truck we couldn't get in. Running down the paved path by the pool we found the staff had left for their lunch break.

Nothing was to be done so we sat on the curb until they came back an hour later. Keys in hand we rushed to the apartment wanting to see, but not wanting to look. A note hand-written. A savings freezer completely raided. Drawers hastily emptied. An oil stain in the empty parking space.

I sat and she sat and we looked.

Two weeks was what we had left on the rent. Two weeks to go to school and tell everyone I was leaving. Two weeks to pack and find somewhere to go. I passed my binder around in each class. Instead of a yearbook I carried their thoughts with me each day. I said goodbye to Chad and Justin who lamented the upheaval of the brianiacs. We were highly competitive and highly appreciative of what each had to offer. They were the first boys I had been accused of dating or wanting to date even though nothing was going on. But we were close and I would miss that.

I would miss Mona and her confused deviance. I would miss the popular kids who had doused us in shaving cream in the annual tradition. I would miss riding my bike to school. I would miss the city. I would miss everything.

Many phone calls later and hours of tears shed and my Mother informed me that my step-father would be coming back to help us move to my Sister's place. I wasn't sure what that meant. I was mad at him for leaving and taking all of our things. I was mad at him abandoning us. But I had to be polite and nice because he was helping us move our things. Which we weren't able to do without his help. I sat in the truck trying not to cry as we left what had been my life behind and I was being driven away by the man who had set it in action. I was torn because I thought he owed it to us to at least help us, but I was uncomfortable with the fact that he had betrayed us so completely and there he was.

We stopped at a store and I bought a bag of fun size Twix for less than two dollars. We continued onward for ours until we stopped on Terrace and began to unload. It was just getting dark and many people seemed to be out. I was carrying a box up the narrow flight of stairs when someone came up behind me and said, "trick or treat." It was Halloween. I had completely forgotten. Digging around in my unloaded bags I found the Twix I had bought for myself and handed the kid some and filled my pockets with more. As we finished unloading I was continually approached by other children who were really happy when I gave them handfuls of candy instead of just one.

Seagull

2009-10-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

This morning on my way to work I cried.

Two blocks from my apartment and four blocks from work I was tunefully distracted and in a hurry to be inside away from the cold. I rounded the awkward jog of my street and passed an alley I've made a habit of looking down. I'm not entirely sure why because I never see anything I want to see down this alley and today was no exception.

I saw two feet of a seagull splayed out toward the sky while the the tufts of belly feathers ruffled in the breeze. But other than that there was no discernible movement from the bird. "Oh no," I thought" it's been killed." I slowed down as I was passing it and came back though because it seemed a bit odd that the feet were up in that manner.

To my horror as I walked around and looked the bird looked back and me. And blinked. And I was stricken.

Her wing had something wrong with it and she was lying on her back. with her neck turned to the side watching me. I wasn't sure what to do.

I paced back and forth. I tried calling work and got the answering message so I called my friend and coworker on her cell phone and told her I'd be a little late and as I tried to explain I started to cry.

I cried because I knew it was in pain and probably scared and entirely helpless. And I didn't want to kill it even though that was probably the kindest thing to do.

Instead I called animal services and continued to paced back and forth just out of sight. I didn't want to further freak her out.

As I was on the phone a man with a bucket and trash grabber approached from the other end of the block, advanced ten feet, saw I wasn't moving and then turned around and walked away. I'm not sure what that meant but it seemed related. Did he not want to deal with it when I was around? Did he think I was taking care of it? Was it a total fluke? It seems unlikely that the two were not connected.

Then a garbage truck pulled up all loud crashes and noisy beeps and I can only imagine how her little heart raced. Maybe she had a heart attack then, who knows? But as I was on hold the trash man noticed the gull and went over and moved it with his foot.

Finally, I reached the wildlife services branch and told them exactly where to find the seagull and what condition she was in. I felt my duty to the animal was relieved but I was still upset. However, I did feel better for not having walked by thinking someone else would do something.

I took a peek as I passed the gull again and in her new position I couldn't clearly see the state she was in. I could see that her wing had been pretty injured. I guess that either she was hit by a car or that someone intentionally harmed it. There's no explanation for that sort of injury otherwise.

I turned one last time as I neared the end of the block and looked back as the trash truck was attempting to navigate the alley without running into the bird. Which seemed strange. I would have moved the seagull onto the ledge nearby to avoid difficulties. I turned back away not knowing what else to to and continued walking to work, but I wasn't able to not cry and continued to cry all the way to door.

I cried for the bird and her fear and pain. I cried for my weakness in not being able to give it relief. I cried because I've never killed an animal and I still can't do it.

Maybe that man did what I couldn't do and ended the seagull's misery. Maybe he did get out and move it. Maybe the bird succumbed to her injuries. Maybe animal services came out and snapped her neck. Maybe animal services came out and rescued her. Maybe no one paid it any mind and it is still there in the alley. That is the thing I am most afraid of. I don't want to go home and look and see her there still. Despite the seagull's presence or lack thereof, I'm fairly certain I will always, always remember seeing her eye following me around as I paced agitatedly nearby, every time I pass that alley.

As requested by Sheree

2009-10-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

Chubby, chubby Unicorn

Your cheeks so stuffed with candy corn

Your mallow heartbeats sugar sweet

Your whinny laugh brings joy replete

Your shiny horn of a lollipop swirl

You raise your hooves to prance and twirl

Amongst gummy dewdrops in the forest

While singing licorice chirp a chorus

Malted pollen sifts o’er your meadow gates

Whilst peppermint posy slumber awaits

Rest now my noble steed

There is much to do and much we need

Jelly dragonflies will dart and weave

A luscious tapestry of finest greave

Next sparrows pluck the heraldry charge

Now gallop back and mount the barge

Go forth and spread your love so pure

You do not judge, your quest is sure

Raise your head and sound the horn

You chubby, chubby Unicorn

I don't even remember writing this

2009-10-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's dated four years and one month old exactly.

The warmth of my feet is not from a kiss

It's the length of the day,

the time that you missed.

Where did I walk, who did I see

Does it matter to you like it matters to me

I pass everyday the bum on the corner

his eyes unfocused like an unrequited mourner.

Moving my feet along the concrete quilt ground

I slide my gaze up, sideways and back down.

Buildings have risen, obscuring the view

I'm being closed in, but not with you.

For you don't kiss me...

You don't see the bum on the corner

You don't hold my hand

You don't hear the city.

It's brimming over

I'm caught in the crest

Debris sloshed around no longer your best.

I've lost my anchor...

It drove away that Saturday.

Not you the boy or even the man

But my faith in the heart of another.

I wasn't first, making me last.

Quickly I brittle the girl from your past.

The one who walks slowly her feet trailing behind

remembering when their heat was your kiss.

Childhood revisited

2009-10-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

This spot exactly was one of my favorite places to go when I was a kid. We lived right outside Port Townsend and came in often. My Dad worked at the paper factory in the distance there.

I loved going down to the water and just watching. The ferry docks are just off from the center to the left and when I was younger I would spend hours making up stories about people and where they were going to or coming from. I remember watching planes going over and crying because I was so excited about the possibilities. A bit weird, eh? I can still tap into that sometimes and I am not entirely certain if I could put into words what I feel.

Anyway, I suppose I also liked this spot because it was behind the ice cream parlor and candy store. :D

Ms. Hempel Chronicles (A non-spoiler review by S)

2009-08-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

(I wrote this last year in November, but I'm bad about posting things in a timely manner.)

This short novel is a story of sparse, elegant detail that will almost certainly charm those who read it.

It snagged my attention immediately when, “she…clapped her hands rapturously against her thighs, as though her shorts had caught fire.” I’m always a sucker for the neat turn of phrase, particularly one that can include humor and a unique viewpoint. From this first page, I had immediate high hopes. Luckily I was not disappointed nor do I think you will be. I dog-eared my copy no less than 26 times.

The book also shares some resonant life commentary. One such illustration is the premise that, “when you are in school, your talents are without number, and your promise is boundless…and you are everything at once: actor, astronomer, gymnast, star. But at a certain point, you begin to feel your talents dropping away, like feathers from a molting bird.” I hadn’t directly thought about it before I read this book, but I realize it’s an idea that’s lurked in my subconscious for quite some time.

The narrative skips in and out of Ms. Hempel’s life at various significant intervals. We aren't omniscient as readers, but not knowing all of the details of her life leave us knowing her more like we would a friend in real life. It’s an organic relationship that shares its trials and tribulations and skates on awkward and improper secretive thoughts. We are drawn in and pushed out at the same time. Additionally, this upheaval seems a reflection on Ms. Hempel’s thought and emotional processes. It’s genius, really.

There is only one disjointed portion of the book and it’s the first transition in which we realize this is not a thorough or simple linear narrative. Once you’ve realized that and move past you wait for the next puzzle pieces to drop in or mysteriously vanish with anticipation.

I’m fairly confident the majority of you will like or love this book; it’s small, it’s charming and it’s a thought provoking read. The only people I don’t whole-heartedly recommend this book to are those who have to know all the details. Then I say, read it anyway, at worst you’ll have spent two or three hours of your life that you probably wouldn’t have done anything productive with anyway.

'there, there'

2009-05-21T11:11:00.001-07:00

'there, there'
Originally uploaded by thisisrabbit

thisisrabbit is wonderful.
He's sad, he's delirious and he's wickedly funny.
If you haven't seen his things you should check him out!
<3

Want to see the cutest thing ever?

2009-04-22T14:46:00.001-07:00

Alpacapalooza 2009
Originally uploaded by Invisible Hour

I wish I had known about this awesome event before it happened. I only found out about it afterward. This is my favorite one, but "Invisible Hour" took many other beautiful and squishtacularly cute photos. Check them out!

Twitterpated

2009-04-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

I need to post something remotely interesting over here, but I haven't come up with anything. But yeah, I really need to bury the review. :P Move along...
Oh, I have a twitter account that I've been updating fairly regularly, so if you really, really wanna follow me around you can always check that out.
http://twitter.com/lostinfont Difficult to remember, huh? :)

Special thanks to Bambi for the early adoption of the phrase twitterpated (I can't remember when I saw it, but I was pretty young and I've carried that word around with me since then).

Dad

2008-10-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

I like to surreptitiously watch Fathers interacting with their children. I find it all a fascinating mystery. It warms my heart when a Father takes the time to interact with his children in an engaged manner. Or does the offhand things we all do when we know each other, like brush the hair from our faces or carry your bag.

I was on the bus this morning and sat across from a man who I'm assuming was the father of the little girl he held. She was tired and rested against him the whole time while occasionally watching us, the other passengers. For most of the trip up he slightly jogged his leg up and down to comfort her and she fought the urge to doze off. This made me think. Did my Dad ever do that for me?

I only have a handful of memories with my Dad at this point. The span of them can flit through my mind in a few moments. He's not gone, he just left.

I remember him giving me a ride on the front of his motorcycle when I was three.

I remember him cutting wood in the forest and helping to stack it. And I remember going for the ride across the point to distribute firewood sold at various stores in the neighborhood.

I remember washing his car with him, trying to melt open the frozen door lock, blowing away the tiny spider baby balls that would accumulate under the handles.

I remember helping make lunches for his graveyard shifts. My Mom or I would take a bite out of the corner of one as a kiss to say hello.

I remember when he worked at the local Gas Mart and made me a special deli sandwich for my field trip to the Pacific Science Center. It was the best lunch I ever had.

I remember him reading to me before I could read and even occasionally afterward. No one else in my family read out loud and it was my favorite thing.

I remember him giving me backrubs when I was tired.

I remember him breakdancing in the middle of the living room.

I remember playing cards, word games and board games with him.

I remember looking up at him because he was tall and I was little. I remember the one time he put me on his shoulders and I cried because I was so high up.

I remember playing Atari with him when Grandpa came to visit and brought his games. I couldn't really play, I would just run to the end of the basketball court and climb the hoop and stay there until he came and stole the ball away.

I remember the sawdust on his clothes and his plaid and flannel shirts.

I remember his smile, because it's my smile too.

I remember him being gone a lot. Sometimes it was work and sometimes I didn't understand why he was gone for so long. My Mom and Dad had problems since I can remember. I remember fights and yelling.

I remember chocolate covered cherries. I got them for his Christmas and birthday present every year because it was his favorite.

I remember him leaving.

I remember him forgetting.

I remember clips of events and ideas and memories vaccuum sealed with time.

I don't remember who he was.

I don't know him and I don't remember what it was like to have a father anymore.

Robot of the Month Club

2008-09-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is equal parts awesome and hilarious!

http://shop.christinelarsen.com/collections/robot-of-the-month-08

I just found Christine Larsen while trying to google for the installation that was at the Miro tea room in Ballard last month. I am very pleased to have found her, the robots are charming (among other things). :D

Surfers for Obama '08

2008-09-22T18:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most amusing things I've ever seen while out hiking.

I'm comin' to getcha!

2008-09-18T23:49:00.001-07:00

*rawr*

I used to be here.

2008-09-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

I love the human-shaped sticker leftover on this post.
It partly reminds me of the Cafe Ladro graphic. But mostly I adore it's anonominity.
I like that it's leftovers of something that used to be and maybe it's even better than the original. I can't decide if I want to know what it once was or if I prefer the lack of reference.

Anyhoo, I was pondering creating a project around this guy. We shall see.

PS There's a green starheadboy surveying the landscape at the top left.

oVo Fancy!

2008-09-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Outside Petti Rosso

Detail! You really have to see these in person, they are beautiful!!!

I've been excitedly awaiting their arrival since I first previewed them on flickr.

Visitors

2008-09-13T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hmm. I enjoy looking at the map to see where in the world people are who are looking at this blog. I generally wonder how they got here. Especially when I was uber anonymous and didn't link to this anywhere or tell anyone about it. I do get a kick of traffic directly after I update, which is understandable. But yeah, how do they get here? And what do they think? I just make up false narratives in my head about it all right now. Maybe I can make a short story out of this. Hmm.

Baby Monster

2008-09-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Awww!

I'm blessed with a very creative office mate. :)

The yellow bird of sleep-deprivation?

2008-09-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

Aliens have been on the Hill all along!

2008-09-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

I, uh, overlooked these aliens before. I'm pretty sure this has been there for a while and I was grousing about aliens not being all over. Walk quickly for your lives the blobbish aliens are coming. ;)

Aww, Old Narboo

2008-09-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

Who else totally loves the Viking alarm directly behind the pole? I'd like to have that.

Dude gets distracted

2008-09-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

You again? Pleh. (Yes, he emotes well.)

But then he's suddenly distracted by the tv...
The following photos were taken in equal succession during the entire time he watched the tv.

What exactly was so fascinating? The NuvaRing birth control commercial.

This was his expression immediately after it finished.

Heh. Yeah, I'm easily amused - but so is he. :)

What are they up to?

2008-09-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

The sticker of the two sheet-covered people was too high up for me to get a closer picture. But they were interesting, so I snapped this anyway. I've decided they're trick-or-treating. But who knows? If you click, the enlarged image is plenty detailed enough to see them clearly.

Sad & Cute

2008-09-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've seen these before...ever?

GIFT <3 HORSE

2008-09-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Self-aware?

2008-09-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

Although, my coffee tangents just make me think of this now...

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/01/18/1-coffee/

However, I must assert that I never call coffee by any other name. (No, I'm not a guy, but I still dislike that trend and had to defend myself ...unnecessarily of course.) If I'm feeling fancy I might call it café, but I am trying to be multi-lingual in most things, so that doesn't count.

Coffee

2008-09-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Uncensored discussion of coffee in response to an e-mail inquiring what I liked. It was suggested I blog the discussion, so here 'tis. I'm leaving it as is. And just so you know, this is a fairly small discussion. I can ramble on about coffee until the cows come home.

I've yet to land on THE always perfect coffee place, although I think I consistently like the Vita drip as long as it's not from Vita. Which is funny, I know. But every time I've gotten it at Vita it's all powdery and gross. I think perhaps I am just lucky enough to get the dregs every time?
I durno.

UPDATE! So, I've figured it out. Vita is now my favorite place for drip coffee because they use the french press. In the past I've always been unlucky enough to get the last, which of course is powdery and not so great, but since then I've gotten it from the middle or fresh and it's AWESOME. Seriously. The bestest. Although they brew different roasts every day so depending on what your flavour is you might like some more than others.

I'm sort of torn when it comes to the others, because I haven't found a place that can turn out two similar cups of coffee. I definitely have my favorite baristas, but when it's a local chain it's a crapshoot as to who is working when.

Pettirosso is nice, but they burn the coffee a lot or it's not quite to temperature. They've had a couple of good people cycle in and out and I'm always sad to see them go. Right now the best bet I have is Yuki. She is the best of them all anyway. I cringe a little when Robin is going to make my coffee cuz I never know what I'm going to get. And that's not just good/bad coffee, it's the whole drink. I might get flavor, I might not, I might get sugar free, I might get sugar, etc.

The Vita espresso drinks have never appealed to me. I tried them twice and something was always off, so while they might actually be good...I'm not willing to try again. And they're erratically busy, so on the occasional time when I might wander there, it's too packed.

Vivace is fairly good. But the only thing I've ever gotten there is the caramel latte. Real melted caramel!!! Whee! But the line is killer. No way is that a truly viable place to get coffee unless you have a half an hour to kill. Because it might actually take that long. I think they should have real time line cameras for coffee shops and/or an expected wait time like they do for the dmv. :P hee hee. I haven't tried anything else there and I sort of think of this as dessert coffee cuz it's so sweet, so I only go there occasionally.

Victrola was gross. I didn't like their roast. There was something spicy about it and I hate spicy coffee roast. (Which is also why I hate Tullys.)

I haven't been to Uncle Elizabeth's but they roast Café de Arte and there is one of those on my block downtown. It's probably the closest thing to Ladro that I have encountered in terms of taste and preparation.

Ladro is pretty good. I like the strong flavor and just the slightest hint of bitter to it. I'm a huge non-fan of bitter, that's the number one sin in my coffee handbook, but the finish is smooth and so it works. I had a vanilla latte there one day when I was dying for caffeine and it's always held a place in my heart since. ;) I've went back a couple of times and I think the one on the hill is better than the one at 8th and Pike. Or maybe it was just due to the fact that I ordered a different drink. I haven't tried the one that's by the SAM, although it's on my list now.

Arosa café was nice, but nothing super special. I might go here if I was nearby, but I don't think I'd make a pilgrimage.

I have never been to the North Hill bakery!! It sounds promising and uh tempting :P :D

When I am broke I also go to Starbucks in the store OR I buy packs of double shots. The four pack for $6 is a pretty good deal. I also prefer cold coffee most of the time so that helps.

Oh and I tried Republic of Koffee once. Ewww!!! And they roast Intelligentsia coffee, which I loved when I was in Chicago. I was so sad they made one of the worst drinks I've ever had. Not the right size, lukewarm and over flavored. Eww eww. Otherwise it was cheap. I'm tempted to go back and try it again sometime, but I dunno if I am brave enough. I'll just be pissed that I was duped twice. Hah

OH hai and my favorite coffee establishment in all of Seattle so far is Diva Espresso. I so, so wish we had one on the hill.

Ah coffee...

Finally!

2008-09-08T15:13:00.001-07:00

I finally caught them at work on the mural! You'd think I would have seen them by now since I pass the wall numerous times a day.

I was trying to get a shot of the full wall but the sun butted in. It's a fun juxtapositon though!

I <3 Crows!

2008-09-04T22:49:00.001-07:00

Who does this?!! I was so excited I smiled at scary crackheads that passed by. Heh. I was tempted to try and peel it off, but it seemed wrong. And I was afraid I'd ruin it. Must go dig through flickr....

Update! It's starheadboy! See more here ---> http://www.flickr.com/photos/starheadboy/2841795171/?addedcomment=1#comment72157607218076602

Examination along Pike and Madison

2008-09-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

I found kittehs at the end! :D

I don't even know what all is here. I'll have to do some reasearch!

Walk occurred mid-afternoon on August 29, 2008.

Tiny Bunny!!!

2008-09-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't really noticed much quality sticker art in the Admiral junction, but this lil guy makes me pretty happy. He has some serious staying power too since he's been there since I can recall and that's almost two years. I could be off? I durno who does this, but it sort of looks familiar....

I obsessively <3 bunnies by the way.
I blame the Velveteen Rabbit.

Ballard Locks

2008-09-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

Poor tired fishies. They're so determined and beautiful, struggling to go home to die.

August 23, 2008 excursion.

Oh-way-siss

2008-08-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

(Oasis: Noel-far right, Liam-center, mostly lighted, although you can make out his backside ;P )

(The blur is a solo Noel. Some people kept walking by and jostling me. It's arty, I suppose.)

Some dudes in front of us kept saying Oasis (oh-way-siss) with a mock accent off an on throughout the concert. Now it's stuck in my head. :P

Who: Matt Costa, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, OASIS!!!

Where: WAMU Theatre (boo - my least favorite venue in Seattle)

When: August 26 7:00pm

We arrived a little late because the show was so early and we weren't in a huge hurry.

When we came in Matt Costa was singing and playing. (I was unaware he was opening for the openers.) I have a cd of his, but sadly I haven't managed to set aside time to listen to it yet. I can't say that his sound is terribly unique, but he has a beautiful voice and I'm curious what material he has wrapped it around. He was rocking some hybrid hipster/country garb. He played the two songs I witnessed with only one other person on stage. And with a final number involving some good ol' hand-clapping, he took his leave. I'd like to see him in a smaller setting.

There was a short break and then Ryan Adams and the Cardinals came on. The spotlights caressed the band in the first number with a neat trick of skipping two cells at a time. It was a fun effect, but since that was the light show highlight for me, I was a little disappointed. They did trot out the pseudo star background toward the end of their set, which was interesting in concept, but they didn't let the light variations linger long enough for an artful impact.

Anyhoo, onto the performance itself. I like Ryan, but I don't love him. Really, I don't know that much about his music or him in particular. One impression I have of him is that he can make some of the most beautiful melodies.

But my two previous semi-encounters with his music didn't go all that well. I was set to see him a couple years ago, but he cancelled his show at the last minute, supposedly he was too out of it to perform. The second reschedule of a show never worked out for me, but I heard that it was a terrible performance. But I have heard good things recently about his professionality in performance, so I crossed my fingers.

His portion of the show was nice. I actually like him more not merely for his charming banter between songs and his refusal to be baited by the morons shouting "play Summer of '69" at him. Sadly he never played any of the songs of his that I truly enjoy, so I was appreciative, but not really excited by anything.

My favorite song of his is not even his, it's his cover of Wonderwall, which he said would be weird to play since he was opening for the band of origin. I still think he should have played it. His version is different enough.

I actually decided a while back that Wonderwall was my favorite song. Favorite period. I have a horrible time committing to favorites, so that is quite a statement for me. But yes, it is. Although, I truly can't decide between Ryan's version and Oasis's. The original in its gritty, twangy, boisterous state versus the pared down, beautiful, haunting remake that focuses on milking the lyrics of all of their melancholy angst. I refuse to settle the score and choose to play both!

And finally we have Oasis. I wondered what it would be like to see them live and I have to admit I'm pretty impressed. They sound different than the albums obviously, but they maintain the same singing abilities, which is still rare these days. I don't like bands that can't sing live. I don't like bands that can't sing without extreme filtering the proved worthy of my long-standing admiration of them.

I have watched many YouTube clips of them, so I suspected it would be an awesome show. Liam teased the crowd the entire night with a t-shirt he kept mopping his face with. It was amusing, but also totally conceited of him. :) I didn't notice that he ever tossed it into the crowd anyway.

Interestingly for a handful of songs Liam left the stage entirely and Noel sang instead. They alternated their new and old music and I wasn't ever bored. Of course the older songs were the most crowd rousing. Especially the guy next to me who kept proclaiming his desire to have sex with one or both of them. Heh. He got old fast, but finally at one point a middle-aged woman a few rows behind him chimed in "me too" and that was amusing. :P

I might add more to the Oasis portion of the post later, but for now this is it.

I loved my time with them and I hope to see them again sometime.

Lunchtime Stroll

2008-08-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

PGEE & HBF caught my eye outside Caffé Vita. There's even a little Starheadboy action down to the left.

I actually like this picture mostly because of the brickwork behind it. Most of the photos posted on this blog so far I've taken with camera phones of various suckage. So there isn't a lot of skill allowed other than taking a representative photo. This one was a fortunate fluke of a nice composition that I'm very pleased with.

Stuck on You

2008-08-23T00:38:00.001-07:00

This is what I get to see every time I leave my apartment. Whoo!

Ok, so normally I don't have so many clingies from Static Invasion, but I'm been trying to figure out where to put them and have put most of them there until I decide. I got these from their free art show at Bumbershoot last year.

I also have two Daniel Danger pieces. One is his promo postcard that I picked up at last year's Bumbershoot Flatstock, another is the sticker that I got from Flatstock the year before.

There's the most espensive magnet I've ever purchased. I got it at Blue Bottle and it is made by http://www.stumpytown.com/. I really wanted a shirt, but they were pretty much sold out of those. At least I got a piece of the kitteh though.

Then (eee!) there's the crow from http://www.antiuser.org/. I love this. He stamps the crows, but he painted the background and the eye. It's so wonderfully put together. I giddily peeled it off the light post at Pine and Broadway and then came home and e-mailed him from his website and apologized for doing so, but I couldn't help it.

The angry muffin is actually one of the muffins from previous posting! The sticker got less and less sticky and finally one day when I was walking home I noticed it was almost falling off. So I gave it one gentle tug and over-protectively carried it home.

If you look closely you'll see a ninjagrl button from my favorite turtle painting ninja. She was kind enough to include them in an order I placed.

And that brings us to the business card. I also got this at Flatstock last year. I got a print from this guy, but I got such a tickle from his card he insisted I take one. (Not that that isn't what they were there for anyway.) Anyhoo, this is one of my alltime favorite business cards. His name is Dirk Fowler and he's at http://www.f2-design.com/. (And he really looks like the cartoon.)

I change the board frequently and this is only about 1/4 the space anyway. It's fun to randomize.

War Muffins!

2008-08-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

Just outside the War Room. Makes me think of the Capital One commercial with the WAR KITTENS?!! I love that..hah. I still don't know what's up with the muffins. :(

Anyway, another crazy teeth, eyes and finger guy as well. I really need to figure out its name. I see him all over and I stole one from the Oddfellows building wall. It's mine now!!!

>.<

2008-08-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Do you ever close your eyes tightly and concentrate really hard? Focus all of your thoughts on your existence without sight? Close out all sound? Attempt to negate all external senses...and then pretend that's all there is? You are all alone. No one....

I do. And I totally freak myself out.

When people discuss the idea of hell and the many awful ideas associated with it, I think of this.

People can be annoying and hateful and hurtful and stupid, but at least well all know we're in this together.

Being alone, totally alone, is stupefyingly chilling.

Googly eyes!!!

2008-08-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Oooh.... Aaah....

http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/i_always_feel_like_somebodys_watching_me

twitch

2008-08-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

He gets cranky when I petparazzi him.

ninjagrl & turtle

2008-08-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

"priority boarding" by ninjagrl

This was my first ever purchase from ninjagrl and I immediately put it up at work to keep me company. When I bought this ninjagrl still lived in California (she recently moved to Seattle...whoo for us!!!) and this piece was still housed in Chicago.

The "recycled ninja" caught my eye since it's from Chicago and I had recently visted my bff that lives there. It's also unique and has the graffiti style that I'm apparenly into these days. :P :D Turtle is so cute here. Look at his teeth! ~tee hees~ Turtle is ninjagrl's real-life kitteh and her stealth life sidekick.

Oh and if you were lucky enough to see this in person you would be amazed by the marker work that makes up the background and shadows of this piece. Ninja is awesome. Obviously.

"family portrait" by ninjagrl.

I love the detail and structure of the ink drawings contrasted by the diaphanous watercolor. I love that it's a formal idea that's set on it's ear because of the cartoon nature of the characters. I love the negative space in turtle's square. Like he's stretching to be tall enough to make it in the picture!

There are many, many more cool ninjagrl items on her website and linked as well. She has a flickr and now an etsy store too! Whoohoo...leave some for me though! http://www.ninjagrl.com/

I <3 Robot

2008-08-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have a robot doodle at work that cheerily oversees my daily drugde and always smiles. He makes me happy every time I glance at him. Today I got this little guy at the end of an office e-mail telling us that its creator was leaving. I'll miss my robot friend. But I look forward to what else comes.... (If you want to see more of her awesome work go look! http://michelleauer.blogspot.com/ ). Now if only she had a sticker campaign.

Absurd

2008-08-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

Minorly diverting: large quantities of Honey Buckets being ferried around.

Majorly diveriting: large quantities of Honey Buckets being ferried around while the trailer continues unspooling an increasingly long trail of tp as it goes.

Orange Cat #2

2008-08-08T12:46:00.000-07:00

These days I avoid Value Village as I was buying too much useless crap.

However, there are two things I found there that made and continue to make me super happy.

This is one of them.

I have no idea who Kristin is. The back says, "Orange Cat #2" by Kristin and is signed as Kristin -03 and dated Feb 2003. I wonder what "Orange Cat #1" looks like? I have this on the wall behind my computer at work and it never ceases to make me smile.

The other item is something I'm constantly on the lookout for, although it's a fairly passive endeavor. It is a wooden type tray drawer for letterpress printing. I've spent more than six years working for newspapers and since I can first remember I have always been obesessed with old newspapers. You can buy them on eBay and at various antique stores, but sometimes they smell, sometimes they're damaged and sometimes they're repaired or *horrors* used to house hundreds of tiny knicknacks (usually glued in).

Granted I have a few things in mine, but only a few and mostly for temporary entertainment value. My true appreciation of the drawer is in it's implied history and the architectural frame. I didn't get it to house other items, I got it for its own sake.

Officially it's a Hamilton brand drawer and is fairly small. It currently holds two concert tickets, one photo, four Bertie Bott's beans, a red heart-shaped M&M, a quarter, a teensy art drawing from a button pack and a really, really old cookie that I found hanging out on my doorframe at work.

Zomg, aliens!!!

2008-08-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

I seriously love this. I wanted to peel it off so badly, but it was firmly attached and Rob would have made fun of me. This is off my beaten path, over near R.E.I. so I have no idea how common this is. I want more! Invade the rest of town already.

Cloves...

2008-08-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

I couldn't see the actual photo I was taking, so unfortunately I cut the top off. :\ The colors and content on this were amazing and I had to have it. It washed out and someone had scribbled on it shortly after I took this, so I couldn't retake a full frame shot. This was taken on July 3rd. This sticker remains, but is fairly invisible at this point. This is by FU.

Amalgam

2008-08-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is a fun grouping of some of my favorite sticker artists.

There's a dual chicken wrapped in a rainbow, which is what instigated this photo. The chicken kid was the first sticker/paint/graffiti artist I really paid attention to before anyone else. I mean sure, I noticed others and loved some, hated some and "meh"ed some. But the chicken kid was EV-ERY-WHERE. Or at least everywhere I walked.

Anyway, el pollo's apparently headed out of town soon which is making me a bit nostalgic. He was once kind enough to send me some chicken swag out of the kindness of myspace heart. So, I have a button and some stickers to remember him by as well as something on pretty much every block of my daily commute. Want to see more? Go! http://www.thechickenkid.com/
The slowly bouncing chickens crack me up. I don't know why, but I'm pretty easily amused.

See the stumps with the bird? Starheadboy of course.

Lastly there are the little bug things that I adore. I imagine their feet scurrying in movement. It should be creepy, but they're just so darned cute it can't be creepy. These are also courtesy of starheadboy.

Starheadboy makes so many different creatures you never know what you're going to come across. If you don't already know, go see... http://www.flickr.com/photos/starheadboy/. I'm going to get something from him, but I haven't decided what yet. So many choices. :D

I took this on May 30th, but the sign is still pretty much the same.

Multi-tasking kitteh

2008-08-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Dude likes to file and watch tv like me!

He looks huuuge in this photo and he is.

He's a small dog really.

Ladytron!

2008-05-24T23:59:00.000-07:00

Second time I've seen them at the Showbox. Even more awesome!

Seattle skyline

2008-05-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

Kitty cat in motion

2008-05-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

This one is from a little while back, but it still cracks me up. Can he be any cuter?

garrrrr

2008-04-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

The yellow glows oh so awesomely!

Get It Krumpt!

2008-04-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

At the corner of Pine and 7th. I've been meaning to take a picture for almost a week.

UPDATE: Good thing I took it when I did, the next day someone had torn it off the light post.

(See more Heck here http://www.flickr.com/people/heckzotica/)

Fort Stevens

2008-04-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

Fort Stevens in Oregon.

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_179.php

herrow, Angry Muffins!

2008-03-07T20:13:00.001-08:00

I posted the first photo first because it includes herrow...I LOVE this sticker. This light post was my favorite landmark to pass every night when I came home for months. I was very sad after it was cleared and cleaned off. First herrow, then add an angry muffin then add the weird yet cute kitteh thing and you have the makings of my favorite sign.

Ooh, ooh guess what? I found herrow :D http://www.flickr.com/people/herrowherrow/

Sometimes walking home from work is awesome. It's like a very conveniently located art gallery. And I can take pictures. I do get the weird looks from people. But I see other people doing it too. It always makes me wonder what they're taking pictures of.

I don't know what the story with the angry muffins sticker artist is, but I'm going to try and find out. I managed to track down thers so it can't be too hard. Hooray for angry muffins!!!

*goes around saying herrrrrooowww to her cat all night now, much to his disgust*

Dude

2008-02-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

How can you not love that face? He's trying to distract me away from the computer. :D

Crocodile Eye

2008-02-24T22:58:00.000-08:00

I just took this picture while walking past the Crocodile on Friday. I'm afraid someone will tag the Eye before long. All of the windows and walls around the place are tagged. And it's not even like it's creative or artistic tagging. Lame all around. Someone needs to hurry up and buy the place!

I <3 crows

2008-01-10T01:00:00.001-08:00

Crocodile Tears

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

There have been a ton of rumors flying around that The Crocodile Café is closed. Closed permanently. I first saw it on the Slog yesterday. Then members of the staff have come forward to say it is true, they no longer have jobs.

This seriously sucks. I really liked the Crocodile. Nevermind that it was perhaps the most conveniently located music venue for me. It was a really great low key place to go eat, drink and listen to music. And to check out I <3 Rummage. The shows really were the best part.

My favorite show there was when I saw the Figurines. It was the perfect place to enjoy a band that is best taken listened to in intimate quarters.

boo hoo. :(

I really hope the music co-op idea takes off.

I want so much to open your eyes cuz I need you to look into mine

2007-03-01T22:51:00.000-08:00

Who: Silversun Pickups, OK GO, Snow Patrol

Where: Key Arena, Seattle, WA

When: February 27, 2007

What: A kick ass show!

Rob really wanted to see the Silversun Pickups and I really wanted to see Snow Patrol. So, he asked if I wanted to go and I was there. For whatever reason we thought OK GO would open and didn't hurry dinner, but it turned out Silversun opened. Not quite sure how much we missed, but we still caught three of their songs. I loved them. Very excited to see them again. They are playing a show at Neumos next month and I am listed for that one. Whee!

They sort of reminded me of My Morning Jacket. But it's hard for me to draw parallels because it's been a while since the concert and I didn't really get to hear that much and absorb the sound. But it's very vast and aerial and loud and awesome. I would recommend you check them out if you haven't.

OK GO was fun, but nothing fabulous. The best part of their show was the microphone cameras they had. It reminded me of a Beatles show because it was in black and white and really awkwardly close up and shaky (but in a cool way). I thoroughly enjoyed that because you got to see them and felt much more involved in the concert experience. Which helped since I was sitting off to the side and didn't feel super concerty.

Also, later Snow Patrol came on and announced the the lead singer of OK GO had the flu that night and yet had still rocked socks. Well, okay I paraphrased the socks part. I did enjoy them, they performed well and weren't boring. They just weren't attention grabbing.

Snow Patrol blew my expectations far, far away. In fact, I was somewhat trepidatious that I would be bored by them as their music has a tendency toward redundancy. But they are super energetic, have a fabulously coreographed light show and sing awesomely.

They also have a surprisingly deep catalogue of songs to perform from. The songs are very recognizable, although I would be hard-pressed to name them all.

Better still, the lead singer was a freaking hilarious fellow. He kept cracking jokes, talking to the audience, singling out people to chat with, calling a person to the stage to sing, generally all the things that good performers do, he did and he did them without pretense which is pretty good. Not too self-aware, just chatty and fun.

Imogen Heap

2006-12-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

Imogen Heap was really cute. She was very scattered and disorganized, but enjoyed herself and that made it fun. I was sad that I couldn't really hear any of her dialogue. She was a lot younger than I thought she was.

A really nice touch was her coming out between openers and talking to the audience and thanking them for being there.

I loved her performance, it was as good as and better than her album. She sad it was her last stop before going back to the studio to work on a new album. I'm interested to see what she comes up with next.

I don't remember much about the openers, one was some human beatbox guy that was ok, but the novelty wore off...quickly. The other person I only caught one song, but it seemed alright.

I was pretty tired that day, so I can't say I put up with the crowd well. Or maybe I'm just a cranky old person who doesn't like talking that's louder than the music played. Hmm.

It was lovely. She must come back!

The Figurines

2006-10-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Going to a show on Halloween is going to be fun no matter what. My all time favorite costume of the night was Count Chockula who when asked to verify his identity proceeded to give a history of cereals and their mascots. It was very funny and very educational. Anyway. It was my first time at the Crocodile Cafe. It's a pretty swell place. I'll be back. As for the Figurines they were very worth the wait. They remind me of Band of Horses, even down to the jeans, t-shirt, plaid buttoned shirt look. I would highly recommend you see them if given the opportunity. Beautiful vocals amped on rocking guitars. Whoooo!

Ladytron y CSS

2006-10-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

I was familiar with neither, but now I must check them out more because they both put on completely entertaining performances. My ears are still screeching a bit. A girl could get used to this.

Ladytron. Very mimimalistic. Arm swinging was the zenith of movement you get out of them. Mortician like appearances and moodiness abound. But they seem genuinely pleased when you're appreciative and the lead singer has a lovely voice to match her lovely peek-a-boo smile. Sporadic lighting, occasional trippy/retro black and white backdrops complement their otherwise unadorned performance. Sound takes center stage with awesome drum skills, soaring vocals and reverberating synthesizing. Fun for the whole family. And foreign languages to boot!

CSS, very peppy, poppy and also foreign. The best part of their set was the enthusiasm of the lead vocalist and her unique voice. Also, amusingly entertaining was her hair style changing between and during songs. Starting with a rocker shag that seemed rather anime in appearance, she got tired of that and gave herself a "Pebbles" do for a good portion of their set. It gave the show an interesting, "hey welcome to our garage, watch us perform in our comfortable leisure" feel.

Props to Rob....

Muse and The Like

2006-10-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

whoo, so for one night i got to think i was cool. free tickets to see muse, but not only that they were from the paramount club, so i got to sit in the reserved balcony seating and go to the private club below stage.

it's sort of fun, they have a bartender for you, finger food provided by tom douglas and you can sit and chill for a while. they have a tv to see what's going on upstairs. and i have to say the most impressive part was the cleanliness of the bathrooms. i have never been anywhere public that had a cleaner restroom. seriously.

we pretty much skipped the preshow. the like was down to their last song or two when i went up stairs. the thing of note in their performance was they had some dude flying a remote control spaceship around the stage above them. it had lights so you could see it. odd.

muse was interesting. my favorite thing about them was perhaps that they have been together since they were 13. they were the most serious rock show i have seen. too loud music. my ears rang for two days. rob says he swears they turned it up even louder two thirds of the way through the show. they had a live camera crew there and projected themselves on the stage behind. sometimes as was and other times distorted and acid-riffic.

in comparison guster had 9 light displays and i counted at least 25 for muse. it was the paramount and bigger, but yeah. they are big fans of lighting up the audience as well. something was always shining out, which was sort of fun. you're just waiting to get hit in the spot lights.

the ga crowd below was pretty fun and into it. you couldn't help but want to bounce around. they're very loud and all over the place. perhaps repetitive they may have worn thin at times. but overall a solid performance. i still liked nada surf the best. :P

nada surf, guster, tristan prettyman

2006-10-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

okay, so i had a blog on this already and then it got deleted so now i'm just annoyed.

the gist of it...i learned that nada surf is one of my new favorite bands to watch. they perform well live in singing, playing and entertaining. they aren't super showy, they just enjoy themselves and therefore you do as well.

guster is also fun. the bongo playing is super awesome. he makes your hands hurt just watching him. very funky fun.

tristan prettyman is a girl. i didn't know that before. i didn't even know she was on the bill. she sounded like ani difranco to me and later on i found other people have made that comparison as well as one to jack johnson stylings.

thanks kevin!!!

bumbershoot

2006-10-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

okay, this is never going to happen, so i'm just going to do it. i keep putting off documenting the experience. i will just say...it was fun, but too many people.

one day i was witness to the music and the other day i was witness to the art.

the perks of working the stranger table was passes for two so i traded my second pass with someone else and had a free pass for two days.

i prefunked the bumbershoot spectacular with their benefit concert friday night. they had a random group of famous and semi-famous people there. the guy does the mac and pc commercials...the guy who's the pc? yeah, he was the mc. the guy who writes lemony snicket novels was a large part of the show.

lead singer from the decemberists and ben gibbard from death cab for cutie and the postal service was there. also, dude that fronts rogue wave. all three gave pretty fabulous performances which were probably my favorite thing of the whole weekend. otherwise that whole performance was rather like watching a jerry's kids telethon.

the first day of bumbershoot i caught yellowcard and then afi. i'm sorry but i mostly thought afi was amusing and spent most of the time people watching. fascinating. the reminded me of a clockwork orange in their outfits too. that weirded me out a bit. yellowcard was good, actually better than i thought they might be. i never knew if they were a studio band or not. yeah, so not all that much on the whoo hey look at them band scene.

i didn't have a pass for the other day. then came monday and i worked the flatstock poster festival. this was fun. i got to sit and stare at people for a long time, so i wandered around comfortably afterward.

i met jay ryan who did a stranger cover a while back and is also the guy who's little creature is currently my photo. he's nice. he draws such cute little ugly things.

i also picked up a print by daniel danger. if you know me you will see it as it's hanging in my living room right now. my gothic space invasion from the tattoo expo, also held in the same place a month before resides in the back room, so you have to ask to see that one.

there were tons of vendors of course and i had to resist the urge to buy everything cuz there were a lot of really cool things to choose from. mostly it was fun just to see what people think of and put together. anyway, i got tired of all the people and went home after that. i didn't even stay for any music that night.

the only real diappointment was i didn't witness any of the comedy acts. the lines were too long and had been going on for hours, so yeah that wasn't going to happen.

Chris Forry Live (besides Pacific Place)!

2006-09-03T00:16:00.000-07:00

(Performance on Aug 15th, 8 p.m.)

So, I never did blog my Chris Forry experience. :)

Who is Chris? To me, he is the guy who played in front of Pacific Place that I was a bit hesitant to approach, even though I thought he played and sang amazingly.

For a few consecutive weeks he added a soundtrack to my walk home from work. Finally the third time I heard him I stopped. Then after he finished a song I approached him and asked if he ever performed live. He told me he did indeed and the following Tuesday I witnessed his live show at The O Lounge in Queen Anne. It was a great night.

You get the feeling watching him that he's about to become too famous to ever play such an intimate setting. Even more fun was the random people he called onto the stage to play with him as they were friends and musicians that he knew.

Halfway through his set, Chris took a break and made a lap around the room. He then proceeded to put out a consitently melodious second half. All in all, he played for three hours and you've got to give him some credit for that alone.

Lyrically solid, most of his performance was comprised of original songs. A few he penned to "ask out girls," but there were other soul-searching and dark pieces. Furthermore, he performed the standards "In My Life" and "Unchained Melody" with just enough ownership to make them unique, and skill to celebrate the originals. Everyone there seemed to have a fabulous time and I would recommend him to anyone who has the opportunity to see him.

[I am currently in the midst of the music orgy that is Bumbershoot. I will blog about that later. But I have to say I saw Yellowcard live tonight! :) But even better, way, way, way, way better, (okay, so I sound like a teenager) I saw Ben Gibbard last night!!!]

Why sleep when you can blog? :)

2006-08-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

I dig the blog action.

I think perhaps a very bad (good) beat poem could begin thusly. I see the shadowy bar, a tinkling piano in the distance, a good bass banging a jam, smoke hazes floating by in the entirely black and white frame.

"...I dig the blog action."

Yeah, enough of that. To think that these random things wander through people's minds on an hourly basis. Or at least mine.

SO, the CHPB rocked, of course. I was supposed to be on the super sexy, cool Stranger list, but was I? No. Apparently my e-mail arrived too late. So, I was not on in time. However, the guy at the gate believed me and let me in. I suppose that's good because I didn't have the cash to pay to get in.

I got to enjoy the lovely, yet distorted melodies a la Band of Horses and Pretty Girls Make Graves which I found myself enjoying despite myself. I'm notorious for my preference of male vocals to female. I've never quite figured out why. I guess it's just the pitch. Anyhoo, PGMG actually sounded Minnie Mouse like at times, which was more endearing than annoying. :) Got to spend some quality time with my favoritest coworker and her, very humorously protective of his food, boyfriend. Fun times!

Then on Saturday I partied like it was my birthday, which is partying like it was Thursday and since Thursday's the new Friday it was a good time. I like Jello. Thanks Jackie!!! Ooooooooo, and I got flowers, twice! Or as Nipper said "A Flaming Bag of Shit, come and get it."

Overall it was a pretty fabulous week. And now I just watched a darn good movie, V for Vendetta, so I am in more of a good mood. AND I finally figured out the name of a song I've adored for quite some time. Trouble by Coldplay. Heard it forever, but never knew what it was called so that I could get it. I got it by accident. Happy accidents are the best.

Augustana, The Fray & Brandi Carlile

2006-07-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

Sweet, bring on the concerts!!!

I really enjoyed Augustana, but not as much as I could have if I really knew their stuff. I like their sound though and they perform well live.

As for The Fray, they totally rocked it. In fact, they might even be better live, which I don't think often. Plus they're funny, but not in a cheesey way, just the "hey, we don't take outselves too seriously" sort of way.

And Brandi Carlile came out and sang along on an encore song.

Pretty cool. I didn't get anywhere near the stage like Dashboard...where I sadly had no camera. This time I had it, but the phone doesn't take great shots from that far away.

Ben Lee, say anything, Dashboard Confessional

2006-07-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

I got free tickets to a concert tonight from the S. I think I love my job.

I was sort of ambivalent about the show as it was Dashboard Confessional. I know I really like some of their stuff, but I've never been a raging fan.

But I also found out Ben Lee was opening for them, and I absolutely love one of his songs...although sadly he did not play it. However, I found out he's got a very quirky stage presence and some catchy songs and I will have to do some further investigation.

Anyhoo, he's very amusing and very short. I shook his hand and he drew a heart on my ticket. Ha ha hah.

I've also never been to the Paramount before so that was additionally cool. Furthermore, Paramount tickets are almost impossible to get and for some reason random people just dropped off two of them today.

There was another opening act "say anything" that I thought could have totally rocked the house and sort of did until I listened to some of what they were saying and they're on the too immature side for me. I'm curious to listen to more of their stuff though. The lead singer's freaking weird. :P

So, four hours of not being able to move on and off sort of sucked. Literally not being able to move. At one point toward the end I raised my arm and couldn't put it down for a while. Good thing I am clean and deodorized. Although at that point everyone was glowing with sweat and damp and pretty much draped all over their neighbor. It was interesting. It's amazing that some of the most attractive people actually smell the worst. ;)
But really, I had fun. :)

Now, if only someone would be so nice as to drop off Foo Fighter tickets tomorrow! ;)

...and yes, I did get in some moshing action that was accompanied by hysterical laughter. For some reason I find it all very entertaining.

Dude

2006-06-26T03:07:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to my original Dude, the one who came thousands of miles to be with me and cares about me very much. It is much appreciated and I "hurkin'" love you!

Thank you for taking the time to make sure my head is where is should be and my heart is as good as can be expected. I'll go sit on the steps and think of you after you are gone and miss our chats about everything and nothing. You are one of those people I can sit and talk with for hours without thinking about what I say. I like that we can be silly and serious with equal commitment to either frame of mind.

I sincerely wish there was some way we could be closer in distance because everytime we're together it's familiar and comforting. And then we part and I miss the instant friend gratification. :D You're even better than scratch tickets.

I can't wait to meet your coffee bean when it comes and I look forward to the Holiday Season with far more anticipation than usual. Love you and I miss you already (even though you're currently snoozing in the other room). Yes, I will go to bed now.

Big hug from me...
>---------------('-')---------------<

Music

2006-06-14T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've been perusing the music lately. Not out binge buying like I tend to do sometimes, but truly looking for some valuable additions. I've found some interesting diversions, in part by accident and in part by totally stealing ideas from others.

And as I know at least one of you is always asking me what I think is good and new here are a couple of songs I'd suggest out...keep in mind it's on the slower side of life. I can picture myself sitting on a porchswing drinking a tasty beverage (of your choice) looking at the ocean / beautiful sunset / rainstorm.

Here they are in no particular order: Colors by Amos Lee, Feeling Good by Nina Simone, Teardrop by Massive Attack, Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap, Under the Milky Way by The Church, Waiting on an Angel by Ben Harper, I Go To The Barn Because I Like The by Band of Horses (check out their whole album), Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic) by The Raconteurs (I love the part when the guy loses it and laughs :) )... yep, so there ya go.

The random suggestions a là me.

lostinfont

Short

Dream

Transcript

Status

Process

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeper

A Day in the life of a Bookkeeper

Paying Your Dues

Associated Careers

Grover: Lost!

Candy

Corners

Rambling about 2009 Food Strikes

Five

brynkcynk is back!

I finally put my movies into order

A story poem

In Between

Vacation

First Day

Been & Gone

Invisible mark (not edited yet)

Seagull

As requested by Sheree

I don't even remember writing this

Childhood revisited

Ms. Hempel Chronicles (A non-spoiler review by S)

'there, there'

Want to see the cutest thing ever?

Twitterpated

Dad

Robot of the Month Club

Surfers for Obama '08

I'm comin' to getcha!

I used to be here.

oVo Fancy!

Visitors

Baby Monster

The yellow bird of sleep-deprivation?

Aliens have been on the Hill all along!

Aww, Old Narboo

Dude gets distracted

What are they up to?

Sad & Cute

GIFT <3 HORSE

Self-aware?

Coffee

Finally!

I <3 Crows!

Examination along Pike and Madison

Tiny Bunny!!!

Ballard Locks

Oh-way-siss

Lunchtime Stroll

Stuck on You

War Muffins!

>.<

Googly eyes!!!

*twitch*

ninjagrl & turtle

I <3 Robot

Absurd

Orange Cat #2

Zomg, aliens!!!

Cloves...

Amalgam

Multi-tasking kitteh

Ladytron!

Seattle skyline

Kitty cat in motion

garrrrr

Get It Krumpt!

Fort Stevens

herrow, Angry Muffins!

Dude

Crocodile Eye

I <3 crows

Crocodile Tears

twitch