I know it's only fair that we should have to wait for Autumn since we get Spring and Summer weather so much more quickly than anywhere else in the country. But I can't stand it any more! I'm broke! I have no money at all and I want to stay home by the fire with a glass of wine and make soup and read all day until financial conditions improve. Now I don't think that's too much to ask in October for chrissakes, but it seems a bit ridiculous when the weather is 80F out. I even have knitting waiting for me, in a damned basket. I'm sorry, I am a seasonal knitter and I feel silly knitting out of a basket with a blanket in my lap when it is 80 degrees out. This issue is really bringing out my blasphemous side.

p.s. If you would like to pay me $400 per month to live in my house in Roseville, CA I am actually a lovely person and would love to hear from you at msglitter@comcast.net

p.p.s. I will now go to step class and ride my instructor's pony

The Talent Show got a copy of the notes Mr. Bush was writing during the debate. Check em out

thanks for the link Brian!

Awesome things my step instructor says on a regular basis:

1. "Here's pattern two for your beautiful pleasure."

2. "Now ride my pony."

3. "Shift the taillights back."

Ode to Tashia

Oh Tashia, how delightful thy are in the workplace. How I love to bother you with pointless questions regarding the scent of my shampoo or possible VPL. You are always so patient with my awkward ass gyrations and so soothing in your promises that no, you cannot see my pantyline. You are a source of inspiration to bleach and cleaning supply manufacturers everywhere. Thank you one thousand times for loaning me your Dave Chappelle dvd and for never failing to keep it real. Your delight in the Panini is a constant source of delight to all, and your disgust with the hair care practices of white women with mixed children will be a source of contemplation for me in the years to come. Let your shoes always match your outfit and may you never fall false victim to the WMDs again!

Fun Fact

AD&D - 2 meanings

1. Accidental Death & Dismemberment

2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Crazy, huh!

Sarah B. is so funny. Surprisingly, my favorite part of this post is the one about “party like rock stars” which I actually say all the time. Normally though when I say it, I'm talking about doing something like yard work or watching Lifetime, The Network for Women and Dudes Who Like Made for TV movies (Brian). My possible favorite part is when "random" is spelled with three "r's," that's exactly how they say it.

I guess it's a compliment when the anorexic lady at the gym says she thinks you've lost weight?

My Fall gardening goals (and yes, I know no one else cares about this but I have to put it somewhere I won't lose it):

1. Till dead lawn.

2. Slay unwanted shrubberies in the front yard. It is only our shrubberies which separate us from the animals. Try going to North Carolina, you'll see what I mean.

3. Seed green manure.

4. Plant verbena and butterfly bushes in the front of the front yard. This may require beauty bark (wood chips to everyone else, my family is weird) which I hate.

5. Plant everything else that's going in the front bed by the house.

6. Finish the blue garden, whatever that may be.

7. Make sure all of the plants I've bought are in their new spots and not still in the nursery pots.

8. Make strides toward not being the neighborhood blight this time next year! I want to be able to say "it's the house with the partying garden," instead of "it's the house with the dead lawn and two dead trees."

I can't really believe this just happenned. I ordered some plants via mail order from Mountain Valley Growers. I posted about this before, I was really excited. Here's the response I got:

Good morning, and thank you for contacing us.
Your package was returned to us due to an incomplete delivery address.
If you feel this to be in error, you may place a claim with UPS for the amount of your package.
We will be happy to supply you with any information you may need.

Unfortunately, when the plants were returned they had expired.
Our gaurantee does not cover delivery failures due to an incomplete address.

We are sorry there was a problem.
Customer Service Mountain Valley Growers, Inc. The Nation's largest supplier ofcertified organic herb and perennial plants.

What this means is that I am out $50 and all of my faith in local organic businesses offering better service than glossy chains. Actually any service: I paid for something I never received and was never contacted about, but apparently that is my fault. I want to cry.

OK, I just spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out where I can get Joanna Newsom's two self released albums: Yarn and Glue, and Walnut Whales. I finally found somewhere I think has them and now I'm not even sure if I want to order them. For posterity, I believe Aquarius Records may have both. Here's the page that makes me think that.

interest via Largehearted Boy

Autumnal equinox: talk about a liminal moment and boy am I feeling it.

p.s. the in-office gym is looking like a distinct possibility today.

for a certain someone who likes Garden State, here is Zach Braff's blog.

via fig and plum

Many thanks to Keirsten for clueing me into what a great job Doonesbury has been doing with the election. Here is a particularly delightful post about the media coverage, and here's a link to see the comic daily for free. I don't think I've looked at Doonesbury since my Dad read it and they had Quayle as that cute little waffle.

p.s. I totally spell checked Quayle, how embarassing would it be to spell that wrong?

Beside the point of the post, but I love the decorating idea in this picture from Apartment Therapy. Why not have curtains over your inside doors to make your house feel sort of like a Moroccan harem with special mysterious twists and turns. Even if you don't have a harem. Which I don't.

I am very excited for Elvis Costello's new album to come out. Apparently all of the songs are about one story, like a musical. I love the stories you always get from Mr. Costello's songs so this should be fun.

Also, I don't consider myself to be someone who really likes musicals, but I bought the CD of Paul Simon's Capeman and listened to it everyday for a year, so I guess I'm kind of into it.

My friend Allyn is always asking me what the point of blogging is. This article finally has an answer.

In other news, Paris Hilton will be Daisy in the Great Gatsby. I am torn between being appalled and thinking it's perfect. Her voice does sound like money, but not in an attractive way. No one ever seems to talk about Nick though, and he is the whole story to me. I once dated a guy who told me he had been Gatsby for Halloween. I said Gatsby is terrible, why not be Nick. He said I'm pretty much Nick every day.

A theme at Sparklehearts will be hanging lamps. I currently have one hanging lamp. Way to kick off a theme.

Ultimate Donut Party 2000!!! There are three boxes of Krispy Kremes and one GIANT box of regular donuts here!

p.s. how lame will I be when it's 2060 and I still call everything "ultimate party 2000?" Maybe exactly as lame as I am now since it's not 2000 now either?

I really like the moral of James P. Pinkerton's article about blogging:

"But if the bloggers have power, it's because they form a robust intellectual marketplace, in which assertions must prove themselves before a jury of cyber-peers. In the words of James T. Smith, of critical-thinker.blogspot.com, "The blogosphere is the people." To be sure, the marketplace can make mistakes, but on the whole, like democracy itself, the more folks participating, the better the functioning."

Lately I have been considering my responsibility in the upcoming election. I feel pretty strongly about the whole thing but I know I don't like other people dumping their political opinions all over me. (This is also because I usually think they're wrong and I'm right, but that's beside the point) So,I've decided to participate via comments in the side bar and leave the normal content of this site how it is.

I like the idea in this post of having an annual garden party so your friends can admire your hard work and you can recharge on the beauty of what you are creating instead of always finding fault.

This post from Cold Climate Gardening made me wish I loved pears enough to wait 100 years for perfect ones. Of course I'm envious of an established garden this year.

Hey, you know how I hate people affiliated with Iowa? Well there's this girl who I interviewed to be my roommate before I found the best roommate ever. I liked her and I asked her to live here and she decided she wanted to live in white-carpet-land over by the Galleria. Fair enough, but it pissed me off. And she's from Iowa. That was in February and I have seen this girl all over town, including at Starbucks, the grocery store, DMV, and tonight at my step class. And she parked her step right next to mine way closer than necessary. She never remembers me and I never introduce myself but I feel awkward all the same. Ok, I have to say it: this town's not big enough for the both of us!

This is the purse that kicked off my little pursey phase. I wish I would've made the handle holders longer. This purse already looks like crap, apparently I am not the type of person who can carry a white purse without getting it all dirty. I just realized though that I've gotten many more compliments on this purse in the last week or so than I did when it was cleaner. Weird.

Fall Knitty is out and boy is it great! I love clapotis, zigzag, and unbiased, though I doubt I'd actually put in the effort to make zigzag. I know I don't knit anymore lately, but finishing Rogue is my FIRST priority of the fall, right after the front yard. So it's my SECOND priority of the fall!

I got an email this morning from Robot K. Synagog about "best erection treating problems at our site." I don't really have problems with erections (except for there being no men for them to be attached to) but if I did, you can bet I would go see old Robot about the cure! I also think that Robot K. Synagog would be a good name for a geeky boy rock band for me to fall in love with.

Why is it that the end of winter and the end of summer are so unbearable? I find the end of Spring and the end of Autumn quite delightful.

p.s. if you are on ebay and you are trying to outbid me on glass towel bars, you are going DOWN!!! I want all the towel bars for me!!

p.p.s. we all have our priorities

Alright, my newest foray into trying to get dates any way I can is called myspace.com. It was reccommended to me by my hairdresser who gave me dorkbangs. But she is really cute and she does have a boyfriend so who am I to argue. Here's my profile (warning, you have to be a member to look at it, but it's free to join and I'll add you to my friend's list, promise!) Anyway, I was about to bitch about how I put my profile up yesterday morning and still nobody wants to be "friends" with me but now I have one message and one "friend request." So that's more like it.

And on a similar note, here's how Mary Blaire is dealing with the search for a date. She's a bit more goal oriented than I am though.

Here's another ridiculous cutsey word reference that I just found:

"milk, a ripe banana, strawberries, maybe some yoghurt and/or honey, whizz it all up and you have the best summer brekky drink."

Note the use of the word "brekky."

I should admit that use of the term "bisky" is very prevalent in my family when discussing a dog biscuit.

This is the tomato garden a couple of days ago. Tall, huh? They are in a bed that used to be the home of two big shrubs so I filled in the holes with compost and some manure and stuff. I think that is why my tomatoes are taller than I am but not overly productive: too much nitrogen. I'm still hoping for late season development though since I only planted these in May and late May at that.

p.s. I cleaned my kitchen top to bottom last night and it really, really needed it. Now I can't stop daydreaming about going home to be in it. Dirty much?

look how awesome this review of Crayola Crayons is! Spider Man is the reviewer and he is serious. Apparently coloring the shit out of stuff is his hobby, who knew? The review is very well done and thorough.

via ljc

Here's a little nursery who I've heard of often since they are local to this area, but this time I finally ran into their website: Annie's Annuals. And they sell perennials and other stuff too, not just annuals. They will be having a fall planting party in October so I may try to go to that. The website design is really cute but my favorite thing is that they have a "wishlist" feature! I have so many little post-it notes with my favorite plants written down and then I forget what they look like or why I thought they were so special.

Another little purse. This one is based on my sister's purse which has the same basic shape and is also made with vintage fabric. Alright, it's a knockoff. But I used fabric that is much louder than hers. Here's the inside.

p.s. I've been having a lot of trouble with the inline picture feature on blogger lately. They keep leaving?

This is the result, so far, of my experiment with Apartment Therapy's curtain hanging tutorial. I really like how the curtain separates the space. Here's a picture of what it used to look like when I came in the front door. I really like how the curtains hide the view of the crafty crap but still let light into the living room and allow me to watch the living room TV while I'm crafting. Also the living room feels so cozy now that it's the right size. The wire was so easy to hang and all of the hardware and everything only cost me about $10. The only thing I don't like are the curtains themselves. When I was hanging the wire I kept thinking about all the fabric I have, I was sure I would have something that would work. Turns out not.

Seeing this post at Bookslut about Dean Koontz reminded me of the two things I know about Mr. Koontz:

1. My sister used to read his books when I was becoming the book snob I am today. I was not impressed.

2. My horrible ex-boyfriend used to like to end fights with me by telling me that I wrote like Dean Koontz. I would then promptly throw him out of the house and he would not have to deal with me until at least the next day.

For the record, I have never actually read anything by Mr. Koontz.

Here is the coolest thing I bought from Park's little sale: Limelight Hydrangea. I hope it lives up to the hype.

There seems to be a little bug going around that is telling everyone to update something technical about their boring old blog layout. It's gotten to me too and I've decided I want to make special mini blogs for the sidebar to capture what I'm reading, and my current interests. I want an archived record of these things. Preliminary attempts have not yet yielded results, but we will see if I can prevail. I think so far I've been able to do everything I've wanted with my websites but I've always aimed pretty low.

p.s. Will someone please pay my supplemental property taxes?

With my little purse-making phase I've been taking a look online at the crafty girls who's purses I have always liked for inspiration. Here are some of my favorites:

Cut + Paste
Sparkle Craft
Mighty Flirt

Here's another thing I hate. A certain person who's blog I read (even though I don't know her personally or even email with her) recently had a perfectly wonderful time spontaneously getting married in the middle of the night outside of a bar. I happenned to take a look at her comments and it looks like a bunch of her friends, or at least blog lurkers, have decided to dump all over the whole delightful thing by pointing out irrelevancies like marriage licenses. Would you please just stomp the magic into the floor! Party poopers should be officially banned from leaving comments on perfectly fun people's blogs!

p.s. I certainly have become quite the hater! I should go to Dave Chapelle's Player Hater's Ball!

I am getting very excited about the fall plant sales and my fall gardening plans. I am planning on buying a few things at 40% off from Park's recent email flyer and a bunch of stuff at Mountain Valley Growers' mysterious Labor Day sale. I have been haunting Mountain Valley's site for a couple of months now to learn everything they know about herbs, and they are local to my area so I feel like I can trust what they have to say about the plants to be true for my climate. In addition I need at least one fabulous climing rose for the front of the house and I've settled on Reve d'Or. I had wanted to get this from Michael's Premier Roses which is actually in Sacramento, but they don't have that one so I am planning to try The Antique Rose Emporium. I purchased a few plants earlier this year from Park with excellent results but haven't tried any of the others. If anyone in my vast readership has any experience with any of these companies let me know.

When I got up today it was still kind of dark. It felt weird to turn on the light in the bathroom. We also are having a few days of unseasonably cool weather and cloudy days. As usual I am getting tired at the end of summer and have turned domestic. I made curtains and a peach pie this weekend. And I started working on some purses which I will try to sell at a friend's little winter craft fair.

Here are things I hate:

When people call a sandwich a "sammie." I love all other cutsey names for sandwiches including the following: samich, samamich, sandy-wich.

When people say "congrats." Why is it so much extra work to say congratulations. Are you really sincerely congratulating someone if you can't even take the time to say the full word?

I love this tutorial for hanging curtains across a room at Apartment Therapy. I have wanted to separate my dining room (used as a crafty room with all the crap that entails) from the living area for a while now, but I don't really have the cash or the motivation right now to build a new wall and with pass through windows. I had thought about doing curtains for a temporary fix since in the big picture this project will probably not even be started for at least a year. I still thought I would have to spend about a $100 on curtain hardware to make this happen and since I've already replaced all of the curtains in the house i.e. I don't need any more curtain rods, that was not overly palatable. Yay! for cheap and good fixes.

Also wanted to point out this post at Keri Smith's site about creating your own special space. Obviously I am obsessed with this notion to the point of creating a whole house in its image.

p.s. has anyone see Love, Actually? It was so good.

Look at this Random Kitten Generator and thank you to Marie for sharing it with me. I do need random kittens in my day.

This delightful recipe for minty lemonade looks like just the thing for me since I've recently planted mint and a little Meyer lemon grove in the backyard. And now that it's August for certain in Sacramento, 103F today, it sounds soo good! I only have a slight problem, which is that my plants and trees keep trying to die on me. It's a daily battle for survival and we have at least two more hot months to go. Last night I turned on the sprinkler in the tomato garden (I need to post pictures, it's growing like gang-busters and hardly trying to die at all), I had a million things to do before bed and I was so tired, but I almost couldn't walk away from the sound and smell of the water hitting the plants and the earth. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I didn't realize that your body can crave rain the way it craves sunshine.

Anyway, for my own future reference or for any fledgling Sacramento gardeners, here is a list of the good plants that are going to town in spite of the heat, and they're only little babies. This may also be a good time to record my theory that no plant* really means "full afternoon sun" in Sacramento.

1. Lamb's ears, seriously, with very little shade

2. Butterfly bush, I plan to fill every space still available with these babies

3. Tomatoes and cucumbers with afternoon shade

4. Rose of Sharon, or hibiscus, or whatever you call it, with afternoon shade. The one out in the open is pathetic

5. Culinary Sage and Oregano, flourishing

6. Peach Trees, these may get a little tiny bit of afternoon shade but I think I planted them in June and they are still lush and green

*Obviously "no plant" does not refer to super plants Lavender and Rosemary. These are partying like rockstars.

On occasion my job requires me to look at how people die. I remember reading my first autopsy and t

On occasion my job requires me to look at how people die. I remember
reading my first autopsy and thinking: "If I die and someone writes
'Buttocks of victim are grossly unremarkable,' I will be so pissed!"

 

This is the layout view of a quilt I just did for my friend Rachel who's pregnant with Naomi (they are really on the ball with names!).  This picture turned out clearer than the ones of the finished quilt, but you can't see how cool the free motion quilting turned out.  And since I knew the baby's name I quilted it on there.  Lately, every time I make a baby quilt I think "boy this one is turning out really lame, this person is getting crap."  And then when it's done I end up loving it and feeling very proud and happy to give it to the person.  Now that I know that's the pattern I just ignore it.  I hope this won't lead to me making worse and worse quilts!

This is the map of how, basically, I want my garden to look.  Of course I did this a few weeks ago and have already departed and enhanced.  For instance, when I created the map I was  planning to nix the purple garden (located under the white crepe myrtle) so it isn't shown.  It is now one of my favorite new spots with Russian Sage, Lamb's Ears, and some other stuff I dont' know the names of,  and I even put a little froggy sculpture that came with the house in it.  I'm not sure that I want to show a lot of pictures yet.  Because, while it looks good to me, I know it looks sort of lame to anyone who doesn't know how much sweat went into it the tiny plantings so far.  Just wait till next Spring, then it'll really take off!

I've been wanting to name my house since I moved in, but it's not much of an estate. It is only now

I've been wanting to name my house since I moved in, but it's not much
of an estate. It is only now becoming anything worth naming through
living in it. (Somehow I am not impressed with the prior owner's skill
in this area and have felt I am the one who needs to breathe life into
the place.) I stumbled upon this entry* which mentioned naming the
garden only. Perhaps I will consider this since I plan for the front
garden to be rather masculine in nature now that the back yard has
turned into such a girly party.

*
http://fortyfour.typepad.com/bookishgardener/2004/01/i_christen_thee.html


p.s. I started the Lolita socks and am now solidly into the arch of the
foot. This could take a while. But the pattern is really easy to
follow (I've never done lace before) and quick.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/apother_story.asp?category=1404&slug=Translucent%20Concrete

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/artandlife/apother_story.asp?category=1404&slug=Translucent%20Concrete

I love this idea. Makes me wonder if you could acheive a similar
effect at home perhaps using glass marbles as the aggregate?

doesn't a daffodil sponge cake with nasturtiums decorating the top sound delightful! So many things

doesn't a daffodil sponge cake with nasturtiums decorating the top sound
delightful! So many things and I have no time. What a wonderful
weekend, I went dancing with the sexy boys at Faces, Second Saturdayed,
planted in the purple garden, made some squares for another baby quilt,
ate quesadillas on my couch.

p.s. Best friends should never be allowed to move far away. Especially
not to anywhere as lame sounding as Watertown. Doesn't every town have
water?

well I'm doing such a good job of staying in the moment that I hardly have any inclination to post. I am counting last holiday weekend as a success because of the following:

1. I wore a bikini two out of three days and managed to drive in it both times. Ever wonder why I live in California? That's why.

2. Went swimming twice and finagled my way into plant watering for a friend with a pool who will be gone in August.

3. Got a bear hug from a homeless man who got high fives from everyone else in the room.

4. Bought peaches from a roadside stand in the middle of orchards.

5. Drank honey wine by candle light.

6. Bought a new belly button ring from a guy who said I looked "breaded." (I think that meant wealthy?)

7. Planted two peach trees and a plumbago.

One thing I can't stop thinking about is these lolita socks from knitty. I know I've said it before and I'll probably say it again: I am definitely making these as soon as fall hits. Or late summer. Usually in late August/early September the frenzied summer starts to wear and I like a good reason to park it on the couch in the air conditioning. I just wonder what shoes I would wear them with? I am too wimpy for any type of heel so it's tricky.

Here's hoping you're enjoying your summer as well!

Since I'm too lame to provide a real post, I would like to tell you what happenned on my boss's rece

Since I'm too lame to provide a real post, I would like to tell you what
happenned on my boss's recent business trip, as explained by her. And
since this trip reminded me of something that would happen on Dave
Chapelle's "When Keepin' It Real Goes Bad" sketch, I will report it as
such.

A man woman and child board a flight to Minneapolis. The family seems
normal enough with the exception of the man wearing his jacket on his
shoulders like a cape. The child is about six years old. After they
are seated, the flight attendant asks them to please leave the plane for
reasons unknown to onlookers. The woman and husband decide they should
be on the flight and that this is a good time to keep it real. "No,
this is our flight, we're not getting off. We're keepin' it real."
The flight attendant explains that she will call security if they do
not deboard immediately. At this time the family could have deboarded
the flight and could possibly have received a free upgrade of some type.
But instead they said: "No, this is our flight, we're not getting off.
We'll stand up if we have to." So the security staff comes, and in turn
the Air Marshalls. The man and woman are asked to leave the plane. At
this point the family probably could have deboarded the flight and been
detained for a short time only. But the man and woman decide to keep it
real. They refuse to leave the plane. The Air Marshalls cuff the man
and woman and the child follows his cuffed parents off of the plane.
Apparently the Air Marshalls were keepin' it realer.

This is a super cool picture taken by Philippe of his wife Soojin taking a picture of me. I don't know why but I love this picture. Together Philippe and Soojin comprise Jade Studio Photography and were such a pleasure to sit for: so nice, and so professional. If you are ever getting married in the Bay Area you should definitely try to get them to shoot your wedding, and they do portraits too. How often can you hang out naked with people you've never met before and feel totally comfortable?

Well, I've been doing a buttload of gardening/swinging a pick ax. The top picture is my inspiration for the leftover cut and broken tiles from the patio, mainly because they were already stacked there. So here's a couple pictures of what I have planted so far: plants & more plants. These plants include but are not limited to honeysuckle, hydrangea, rose of sharon, hibiscus, 3 Meyer lemon trees, mint (well controlled I hope), oregano, delphineum, butterfly bush. More to come. I also pulled a scraggly rose from the side of the house and plopped it in the middle of the herb garden because roses are herbs, right? I also picked up some extra delightful crap from garage sales to turn into garden art. And just in case you've started thinking I'm really as cute as I think I am in my cute pictures, here's one for the "oh, that's why," files.

How could I forget!!?

How could I forget!!?

Happy Summer Solstice everyone in the Northern Hemisphere! Enjoy the longest day of the year and feel free to dance naked around a bon fire or anywhere else you please!

Well now it's June, going on July so of course I find myself seduced by all things Autumny. I tend

Well now it's June, going on July so of course I find myself seduced by all things Autumny. I tend to be like this, a few months a head of myself even in summer, my favorite season. I don't know why it is so hard for me to stay in the moment! Anyway, I guess a lot of people are feeling like they have trouble enjoying because look what I found:

Keri's summer plans

because she in turn found:

Jen's list


So here is what I will do:

1. Tend my garden all summer. Just watch me!

2. Pretend I live in Tuscany. I have already planted 3 lemon trees.

3. I will leave doors and windows open all night and take cool baths.

4. Drink beer and eat olives and spanish sardines.

5. Take time off to be with Julie while I can.

6. Eat peaches.

7. Work on quilts when it's too hot outside in hippy summer dresses.

8. Plant honeysuckle and mint.

9. Stay up late when it's hot.

10. Be with my favorite people at Lake Berryessa.

11. Eat tomatoes with olive oil and basil.

12. Enjoy the patio at night.

13. Drink herbal iced tea out of glasses with ice in them.

14. Swim in everyone's pool who invites me.

15. Learn to make pie crust with my grandma.

16. Skinny dip. I have only done this once and I loved it. I hope I will have the nerve to do it again this summer.

care to check out the Designs on the White House finalists:

care to check out the Designs on the White House finalists.
My favorite is probably the "Don't drink and Vote," just because I like booze based humor. My serious favorite is probably the "If George Bush doesn't scare you..." one. I will definitely be buying one as soon as the finalists are chosen. Can't wait to wear it to my workplace full of conservatives on casual Friday!

this is probably my cue to read it:

this is probably my cue to read it:

http://www.rejoycedublin2004.com/

coincidentally it is written on a piece of paper on my desk to read it
soon

Did you ever wonder what I would look like as a sci-fi diva? Well here you go. I was trying to take another self portrait for my "look how hot I am" series but it turned out more grainy/too much flash. But I think I look pretty cool in molten metal or whatever. And, speaking of how hot we all are, I really liked this article from The Morning News about being confident with your natural assets.

Before

This is a picture of the barren wasteland I call a backyard, and my newest canvas for self expression/backbreaking work. I have been a bit stalled creatively lately since I have several projects bouncing around and only one budget for them all and I just couldn't decide which was the most important. So I put it to a group of friends and they sagely decided that I should garden first so the plants could get to growing while I worked on other things in the future. And they're right: if I put up a wall in my house it will be exactly the same in 2-10 years, but trees and shrubs will awesome by then (I hope). So another post with no point since even when I put everything I have planned in it won't look like much. Mainly we will use today's post as a comparison to posts I will make in the future i.e. year's down the line. Next year I hope to point to this archive with satisfaction!

And for something actually entertaining to likeminded people, well at least the really dorky ones: here is the first installment of what I plan to be another recurring feature: Kitty Porn (worksafe).

If there was ever wallpaper I needed, this is it. See 'Syrie.' Now if only I could get to New York

If there was ever wallpaper I needed, this is it. See 'Syrie.' Now if
only I could get to New York . . .



via
Apartment Therapy

Wishes

Wishes

Can you believe that if I bought everything on my Amazon wish list, it
would only cost me $205.26? Plus shipping and handling of course, but
still. That really makes me think that I should just try to buy all of
it the next time I have some extra cash to spare. I wonder what this
means? Should I wish for more things or should I be happy that I
already have everything I want except for what I could get with an extra
$205.26? Of course if I had real wishes I would probably never use one
for anything on my Amazon wishlist no matter how much I want that book
about jam or Weekend Knitting.

In my attempt to participate in the Amateur Gourmet's Bring Your Gourmet to Work Day. I have failed rather miserably. Since yesterday I happened to be at Trader Joe's right after reading his Pasta Pesto Peas entry I decided to grab a bottle of pesto and a bag of whole wheat penne and sort of go at it. And by "go at it" I mean I boiled the pasta and then dumped the pesto in there. I don't really like peas so I didn't put them in. It turned out pretty boring but I am eating it at work and I'm glad to have brought my lunch since I'm on a restricted budget due to buying a couch with a chaise and a half (1.5 chaises) stuck on the end. I've been living pretty happily on alternating cheese veggie sandwiches and peanut butter banana sandwiches, but this was a nice change of pace. So maybe the failure wasn't miserable, just not exactly "gourmet." Or maybe kind of gourmet, but heavy on the "amateur." Anyway, it keeps reminding me of this salad I used to buy at the CoOp downtown that was basically pesto penne but it also had little bites of chicken and chopped up sundried tomato in it. But with all these fancy ingredients we're sort of getting away from the whole point of eating less expensively. Here's hoping your gourmet experiment is more stunning than mine!

p.s. Last night I unearthed a seriously fuzzy and thick spider (like a baby tarantula with a giant body and stubby little legs) about the size of a ping pong ball hiding halfway down in my pile of steer manure bags. It was something I never would've imagined living in North America and I really wish I hadn't seen it.

This is a picture I happenned to stumble upon of my craft table in ultimate chaos in my old apartment. It made me feel kind of nostalgic and happy and like I need to get to fiber arting a whole lot more than I have been.

life is trippy sometimes:

At a party this weekend I met the nephew of this woman who is a Spy. He in turn is some kind of crazy theoretical scientist and he brought his granddaughter who is a ballerina and totally looks it (I made her eat one of my cupcakes). Here's what he said about me in his thank you note: "Julie, I enjoyed talking with your friend from Sacramento(?)-the one who made the cupcakes. She looks like a Pre Raphaelite painting."

There is actually no point to this post except that I was tickled that this cool old guy with the fascinating stories liked me!

I think I need to make these cookies pretty soon, maybe during the week or definitely this weekend. I have no idea what they may have to do with Neiman Marcus, or even what Neiman Marcus is now that I really think about it, but they look really tasty. I have been on quite the little baking binge lately:

5/31/04 - yogurt cake (I know it's supposed to be French but how long can I really be expected to remember all of those vowels?),

6/4/04 - rather pretty little cupcakes made from boxed yellow cake and topped with preprepared cream cheese frosting and coconut. Perhaps not the most homemade but they were very tasty and I was on a deadline. I guess I should've taken a picture, they were awfully pretty.

p.s. If you are going to take cupcakes to a party instead of strawberry delight, you should first ask the following:

a) will any of the hosts be providing a gigantic wedding cake sized cake with three layers;

b) will a renowned pastry chef be bringing or sending with her husband a cake which everyone will know to be extra delicious.

If the answer to either or these questions is "yes" you may want to reconsider bringing your rather pretty little cupcakes.

Cookie recipe via Chocolate and Zucchini.

Check out this hallway. I visited a house and the kitchen was actually painted this exact color. The girl had lots of cool turquoisey blue and white stuff in there to really set it off, like big colorful maps of South America with lots of pretty water. I vowed then and there that I would use the color as well, probably in the kitchen. (p.s. probably not until next year though. I am planning a minor remodel in the kitchen next Spring and don't want to mess with it much until then.)

7. Night with the windows open.

7. Night with the windows open.

6. The smell and texture of fresh mint.

I must say I am a bit of a Heidi Fleiss eater so I loved this comment:

I must say I am a bit of a Heidi Fleiss eater so I loved this comment:

"Do you really want to limit the enjoyment of your fine dining years so
you can extend the duration of your baby food years? Let's hope not."

Wimpy eaters are a serious pet peeve of mine. It's just food, it's
not going to kill you. Thank you Amateur Gourmet

things I love

Inspired by Nothing to Declare's list of 50 things she loves, I also will post 50 things I adore, but not all at once. Actually it will be more like Keri's list of new things she's learned, numbered and returned to periodically. Here are a few on my mind today:

1. Any opportunity for anyone to sing "Livin on a Prayer" out loud. I
got to last weekend.

2. The first day the tomatoes turn from green to kind of yellow and
orange flames.

3. Singing Air Supply and playing air guitar while driving the Bay
Bridge. (This is actually the only good reason to ever drive into San
Francisco.)

4. Washing my hands in cold water when it's hot.

5. Pedicures.

Can you believe just this morning this was a healthy happy plant? One day in Sacramento's early summer out of the ground but in it's appointed spot. And I just watered it yesterday! Time to get serious.

Check out my friend Charr's new blog. She's a fabypoo photographer and artist extraordinaire.

Here is a section of email correspondence between me and my bestfriend who just got her PhD in Chemistry.

J: Would you like to hear a passage from my thesis?
"The signal reaches a constant level, shown in hot pink... that's right, hot pink!" It's actually magenta but if I have the chance to put "hot pink" in my thesis, I'm not passing that up! I had to add the last part because Janette just challenged our whole lab to put hot pink in their thesis and
I decided it wouldn't be rebellious enough to just put hot pink anymore.

K: You are crazy! Yesterday one of our brokers dropped by unexpectedly to talk to me and I was wearing so much pink, inlcuding my new pink birkenstocks and my hair was in braided pig tails. I sort of wished I had worn something more businessy, but then I thought, "I underwrite in pink all the time, he'll just have to deal with it."

J: I really like this line, I think I'll use it:
"I do science in lipstick all the time, they'll just have to deal with it." Yeah!


And now you know what big dorks we are!

This morning I made the wonderfully simple yogurt cake created by Chocolate and Zucchini and further popularized by Super Eggplant. It was very tasty and seasonal since I picked up the raspberries at the farmer's market yesterday. Of course I didn't do any of the foo foo things the girls did since I was a bit hungover today but it turned out quite nice. In the future I will put in more raspberries (how much is 300 grams?) and keep powdered sugar on hand for Mariko's topping.

Look how big my little baby got! Here's a picture from one year ago. Lori's recent posts of her tabby have made me realize that I don't post about my cats nearly enough. It is my blog after all, why should I have to go elsewhere to see tasty tabby pictures.

Look how cool these projects are!

Look how cool these projects are!

Some are a little crazy (see Raising Catfish in a Barrel) but the Make your own Garden Bench and Build a Pond for under $4 ones are really cool. This is the type of stuff I'm into lately and I think there are probably a lot of people out there like me who want to do different stuff and are way beyond the glue gun stage.

This is my favorite:

Make a Ferro Cement Garden Bench

I took this picture to show off how cool my room looks with my new lamp from Urban Outfitters. But looking at the picture all I can think is how noticeable it is that I don't have a bedskirt. Which is so crazy because when I had that photo shoot last year with the photographer from the Bee, the only problem he mentioned (because he was super nice and understanding) was that I didn't have a bedskirt. Apparently bedskirts are more important than I thought.

This morning I enjoyed what may have been the best donut of my life. It at least deserved top 5 sta

This morning I enjoyed what may have been the best donut of my life. It
at least deserved top 5 status: a plain old fashioned with so much
chocolate icing on top it looked like it had been double-dipped, still
slightly warm inside. What a way to celebrate National Carb Awareness
Day even if it was technically yesterday.

I'm getting ready for a party at my house tomorrow! My best friend is
getting her PhD in Chemistry. Oh, I just realized the theme of the
party should've been "Smarty had a Party!" I've been looking up mojito
recipes and methods for making simple sugar. Yum yum!

Save the Carbs!

Save the Carbs!

He said: "if you have a website, please spread the word."
Today is National Carb Awareness Day!


What should we eat?

Thank You Tomato Man!

Thank You Tomato Man!

There's a guy in my old neighborhood who grows tomatoes, peppers, and
some herbs from seed and sells them from a stand set up on the road in
front of his house. The plants are sold in little red plastic cups and
cost $.50 each. The tomato man is very knowledgeable but I think better
at talking to plants than humans. I have been buying from him for years
now and have yet to get a straight answer from him. If you ask what
heirlooms he would reccomend he will explain the differing degrees of
newness and efficiency of the hybrids. I spent $7 and got 6 tomato
plants, some cucumbers, basil and a French Thyme. Check him out if you
are in Orangevale on Walnut about halfway between Orangevale Avenue and
Elm.

Predictably, my favorite part of Bel Canto is the Gen/Carmen scenario.

My little tomato plants are growing up so big! I bought 25 bags of steer manure for the back bed this week so I am hoping to get the tomatoes and herbs in this week. Next year I won't have to deal with the patio so I'll be a lot more on the ball. What's this Permaculture I keep hearing about? I think it may be for me, I'll have to do a bit of research.

In my ongoing ego-rant about how I'm so cute and why can't I get a date (because I know you want to hear it and I know how attractive men find women who whine about not getting dates), here's me prior to going on my blind date with the 40 year old.

I think I looked damned fine if I do say so myself.

That's right, he was 40! Unfortunately I will be continueing this line of blogging for the forseeable. You've been warned.

perhaps this stanza from May Swenson's poem will go on my coffee table one day:

perhaps this stanza from May Swenson's poem will go on my coffee table
one day:

"Take earth for your own large room
and the floor of earth
carpeted with sunlight
and hung round with silver wind
for your dancing place"

Published today on the Writer's Almanac:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

If I could have just one alternate reality in which I am not a homeowner in Roseville, CA. I would

If I could have just one alternate reality in which I am not a homeowner
in Roseville, CA. I would pick to live in New York City. In this
alternate reality I would be some type of computer designer or
programmer and would listen to an iPod on the subway. I would have to
visit the office weekly for creative meetings but otherwise I would work
from home with a mug of tea next to the computer. I would silk screen
my own indie t-shirts and have a balcony or rooftop garden stuffed with
tons of geraniums.

Apartment Therapy for the homeowner/hippy/farmer

Apartment Therapy for the homeowner/hippy/farmer

I've been reading this blog for a few weeks or maybe a month now.
While it is written to a NYC audience, I am finding that a lot of the
themes speak to me practically directly. I am interested in home as an
extension of self, a place where you can be calmed and thrilled and
rejuvenated. I am not interested in "matching" or doing anything the
subscribed way. The place where I live should be harmonious with the
earth and art should be a focus. Now I am struggling with killing my
lawn (the old fashioned way via hot Sacramento sun and no water). I
feel horrible that the neighbors must think I am a blight on their
neighborhood, but I don't believe in water sucking lawns in this climate
or in maintaining them for show.

alright I'm done with my meandering rant, go look at:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/index.html

the vacant stare:

the vacant stare:

Can you believe Amber won the all-star survivor? She has no
personality! That's love right there.

I don't even know if I can call this a knitting blog anymore. I haven't knitted in ages. But I did

I don't even know if I can call this a knitting blog anymore. I haven't
knitted in ages. But I did get news that my cousin will be going to
graduate school in Scottland. I will be visiting and hopefully buying a
lot of good Scottish wool. Of course I anticipate this trip taking
place next summer (2005), but it's never too early to get excited!

Well here's a picture of the crapass Saltillo tile I've been installing on my screened in patio in back of the house. It actually looks fine, just don't look too close. And if you're not a certified tile professional (seriously, you'd better have a real certificate) do not attempt to install this crap, it will make you sorry you were ever born. Here's a picture of my creative problem solving trick, used after I had to take the tile saw back to Home Depot when I realized the final tile would not fit. Like I said, don't look too close. And never use Saltillo unless you have a death wish.

I think I will have to get these Snacks panties for my sister for her birthday. We both inherited t

I think I will have to get these Snacks panties for my sister for her
birthday. We both inherited the same bootylicious genes so I like to
celebrate.


found via megan not martha

I can't wait to vote in this contest:

You've got democracy on your shirt!

nerds

Don't you love this idea! Nerds providing web applications. We can't figure this stuff out for ourselves you know. I wonder if they have any type of nerd dating outreach program. I'll have to look through the site.

and thank god I finally updated the color scheme

Finally, here's the sort-of-cute (it was supposed to be super-cute but whatever) picture of me with straight hair. Adam Busch of Common Rotation I hope you are reading this. I'm 5'7" and a literary snob who likes to dance on coffee tables at parties. Call me!

The picture doesn't look like much but trust me, I was super hot the day she flat ironed my hair.

I'm just going to keep posting since I haven't been able to for so long.

Here's an in progress shot of the little baby quilt I made for my next little god baby:

look who's back. Apparently my internet works now. Warning to people who live in places that suck (do not look, you'll be even more pissed off than you probably already are).


This is what Spring in Sacramento is all about. They sell these giant flats on the side of the road in my neighborhood. In April.

note to the world:

note to the world:

Never use Saltillo tile for anything. It is horrible and it will suck your life away. That's about 21 hours on my hands and knees talking.

You know it's bad when you go to your married guy friend for advice about dating (since you haven't

You know it's bad when you go to your married guy friend for advice about dating (since you haven't been to any base in over 2 years) and he says "you can start by taking that ring off your left hand ring finger." And this is so painful to you that even two days later you are still rubbing your naked white little finger and missing your ring.

The good news is that I bought a baby punk white patent leather bracelet with silver studs on it that is making me feel so punk rock.

I love this idea:

I love this idea:

SacforArt Barter

It doesn't really look like there are a lot of people bartering though.
I would like to participate, particularly in the coffee for art
exchange. I wonder what I could trade that would be comparable with
coffee?