a vivid and continuous dream

blue and yellow

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:54:18 GMT

Last night we drove to Home Depot around 9:00 and bought a new washer and dryer. We went with an ocean-blue-colored Energy Star pair from LG. It's our first new, modern, energy-efficient appliance. And our first improvement to our house.

The bonuses: using a coupon we got in the mail two days ago, we got ten percent off. So that covered more than the sales tax. Also, they are running a promo for appliances, so we got a $200 gift card. PLUS we will get $100 back from Puget Power for buying an Energy Star washer.

In total, over $500 in discounts. Word.

This morning, I put on a dress. No tights, it's 70 degrees. I inspected my legs; haven't been shaved since I don't know... February? That's what happens when you never wear skirts. And don't care that much.

So I stepped into the tub and shaved below the knees, still dressed. I am awesome. Much smoother.

Wearing new yellow flats. For a first time on my feet, actually fairly comfortable, and cute. Though I'll probably need to treat my heels with aquaphor a little later.

thor! god of thunder!

Fri, 16 May 2008 06:07:51 GMT

VIKING FEST STARTS TOMORROW

OMG.

I live in a town that has a VIKING FEST.

Also it's gonna be like 82 degrees. *bounce bounce*

please read every word

Thu, 15 May 2008 18:56:33 GMT

"A number of factors lead us to this conclusion. First, the exclusion of same-sex couples from the designation of marriage clearly is not necessary in order to afford full protection to all of the rights and benefits that currently are enjoyed by married opposite-sex couples; permitting same-sex couples access to the designation of marriage will not deprive opposite-sex couples of any rights and will not alter the legal framework of the institution of marriage, because same-sex couples who choose to marry will be subject to the same obligations and duties that currently are imposed on married opposite-sex couples.

"Second, retaining the traditional definition of marriage and affording same-sex couples only a separate and differently named family relationship will, as a realistic matter, impose appreciable harm on same-sex couples and their children, because denying such couples access to the familiar and highly favored designation of marriage is likely to cast doubt on whether the official family relationship of same-sex couples enjoys dignity equal to that of opposite-sex couples.

"Third, because of the widespread disparagement that gay individuals historically have faced, it is all the more probable that excluding same-sex couples from the legal institution of marriage is likely to be viewed as reflecting an official view that their committed relationships are of lesser stature than the comparable relationships of opposite-sex couples.

"Finally, retaining the designation of marriage exclusively for opposite-sex couples and providing only a separate and distinct designation for same-sex couples may well have the effect of perpetuating a more general premise — now emphatically rejected by this state — that gay individuals and same-sex couples are in some respects “second-class citizens” who may, under the law, be treated differently from, and less favorably than, heterosexual individuals or opposite-sex couples. Under these circumstances, we cannot find that retention of the traditional definition of marriage constitutes a compelling state interest. Accordingly, we conclude that to the extent the current California statutory provisions limit marriage to opposite-sex couples, these statutes are unconstitutional."

the thing I miss most

Wed, 14 May 2008 03:21:14 GMT

I don't miss much about San Francisco. I do miss the availability of Peet's coffee, the shopping in Union Square, the Ferry Building Farmers Market, Arizmendi bakery, Golden Gate Park ... and I miss the Giants.

I didn't fully realize it til the season started and I found myself missing listening to the Giants broadcasting crew call the games. Even though the Giants are a fairly subpar team, I know I'm a real fan because I miss them anyway and wish I could still watch all their games.

I didn't cough up for the mlb.tv package, but I paid $15 for a full season of radio streams, so I will still get to hear Kruk and Kuip, Jon Miller, and Dave Flemming. I am convinced this is the best baseball broadcast team in America. The Mariners crew pales in comparison, sorry.

These guys not only have smooth radio voices, but always have something smart, insightful, descriptive, or funny to say. I remember last season listening to Flemming just after a particularly awful performance of the national anthem, dryly commenting that he hoped the song didn't make anyone drive off the road. Heh.

Yes, I am a huge baseball nerd, thanks for asking.

OMG! I'm a Giants fan for life!

coffee break

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:12:32 GMT

Vivace usually has amazing cupcakes in their pastry case, by Cupcake Royale in Ballard. But only rarely do they have the elusive lavender buttercream chocolate cupcake by the time I get there for daily coffee break.

Here is a picture of one posing with my purse last winter, at the West Seattle shop.

It also can be seen in my LJ icon.

If Vivace has one today, I'm getting it.

staring at the sun

Tue, 13 May 2008 03:37:09 GMT

Sometimes the haze is just right and I can look directly into the sun. It followed me on my bus ride home, blinking through passing columns of trees.

Today at work I started on my newest project: redesign of forum pages. Also known as bulletin boards or communities or whatever you want to call it. Basically threads and posts, something I am extremely familiar with. The templates and CSS are rather horrifying and I am hopeful that it's simpler than it seems. Today I made a couple of mockups. Which look awesome.

I didn't get much checked off on my house list this weekend, however we did finish cleaning up my dad's house/yard in time for his impending return. Also had a great time yesterday meeting my old friend Brenna's lovely family. They live in Bremerton, not too far away.

My house list has a bunch of stuff on it like dusting window blinds and vacuuming rugs and chipping away at the clutter in my office. I know I'll have everything organized soon enough, just a matter of making myself get to it, making no excuses. Having a tidy house means having time for leisure activities like reading and writing, which have been sadly neglected since our move.

I'm listening to the Mariners game, things are going poorly, again. Will they walk 13 batters in this game? Yes!

feng shui

Thu, 08 May 2008 19:17:35 GMT

This book sounds great

1. Remove toxic products from your home and garage
2. Clean, declutter, clear and organize your home
3. Buy/use environmentally friendly products
4. Learn how to place objects to manifest change in your life

We are well on our way.

I love this for some reason

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:25:42 GMT

GW Bush, who cured his alcoholism with "prayer", must be so jellllus

story time

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:30:56 GMT

This is much funnier when you imagine the part of me being played by Larry David.

Monday morning, I got off my bus and walked to the ferry terminal to await my boat. I reached the double glass doors and when I stepped inside, saw that the corridor was being blocked by a few people. I wanted to get by them and stand on the other wall, where I wouldn't be blocking the exit. So I said "excuse me" and moved past. One guy I passed kind of jammed his elbow into me as I went, but I thought whatever, it's crowded. I stood by the other wall and waited to walk on.

So, we're all walking on to the boat and going to find seats or whatever. The guy who elbowed me came up next to me, going, "Excuse me, miss" so I looked at him. He was an older guy with a beard and glasses.

"I would appreciate it if you would have said excuse me when you walked by me. You bumped my arm."

"I did say excuse me," I said.

"No, you did not."

"Yes, I did."

At this point I noticed he's wearing A HEARING AID.

"No, you did not," he said again.

"I did," I said. What else could I say? I decided this conversation was now over and went past him to find a seat up front. I was a little shaken -- why was this guy so fucking upset that his arm was nudged by a woman half his size? Are his bones hollow?

Later I thought about it and realized this is the shit Larry David is always putting into his show, except if I were him, I probably would have pointed out to the guy that maybe, just maybe, he did not hear me saying "excuse me." And then I would have hung on to my argument like a pit bull until f-bombs were dropped.

Then later on I would have run into the guy again and he would have exacted his revenge on me or something.

I love that show.

The end.

curbed

Wed, 07 May 2008 05:45:03 GMT

I gotta get to bed but tomorrow I have a story about something that happened to me earlier this week that easily could have happened to Larry David in an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

check out this dude I married

Tue, 06 May 2008 03:39:33 GMT

No photoshop, wires, or trickery were used to create this picture.

oh no, money!

Sun, 04 May 2008 05:18:34 GMT

I read tonight that the first cruise ship of the season arrived in Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday. It was in a small article on the Juneau Empire website. Below the story, there was a place for reader comments -- ALL of them locals griping about how annoying the tourists are and the ships and the seaplanes and the gift shops and how companies come into town for the season and "take" money out of Juneau. Wah wah, I'm stayin away from downtown all summer long! etc.

Of course there were only twelve comments total. I would have to assume that most residents of the capital understand that since they live in an economy that is essentially fueled by tourism, if those dollars went away, so would half the jobs and businesses. Would they rather be Fairbanks? I mean sure, I bitched about the slowly-shuffling looky-loos on Powell Street in SF, but I still understood that the city needed these people.

I love Juneau and can't wait to go give them some more of my money in the near future.

IN OTHER NEWS, we did a bunch of yardworky stuff today. I scattered a bunch of wildflower seeds in a little plot by the deck, planted my rosemary bush in the ground, and pulled a great many weeds. Our lawn is completely invaded by moss and I don't know if we should kill it or leave it. I'm leaning toward leave it, unless it destroys the grass. The grass isn't looking too happy. But then Brian cut it way too short last weekend.

Tomorrow we're going to Target to find deck furniture of some sort.

green

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:31:29 GMT

Tuesday night we were having dinner in Belltown and Peter Buck from R.E.M. walked by. Ok, 99% certain it was him.

What was funny is that I think he was... exercising? He was dressed in some kind of stretchy black top and black leggings, listening to an iPod, and looking very purposeful in his stride.

It was bright and sunny and we were sitting by the window, so we got a very good view. He hadn't even passed yet and I was already thinking, is that the guy from R.E.M.? Man, he's lookin' rough.

Ok that was mean, but good for him anyway, getting a good walk in on a cold Tuesday evening. We were all cozy inside, enjoying our fishies and wine.

omg shoes

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:37:27 GMT

So those boots I wore ten days ago, the ones I immediately threw into the trash when we got home because they had killed my left foot?

I think they caused a stress fracture. My left foot still hurts, a lot, all day and night. There's no bruise, no discoloring, in fact just by looking at it, it's a normal foot. I can move all my toes, though when I stand on my tiptoes, there's a tingly sensation along my instep.

My poor stupid feet. They never did take to high heels, and I guess never will, which is all the more unfair due to my short stature. At least I can wear wedges. QUALITY wedges, that is.

A stress fracture is the only diagnosis I can think of. Or some kind of other internal strain/tear. Ugh.

The only cure is to rest as much as I can, and apply ice then heat, and wait like a month.

So much for bike riding, or getting any exercise at all.

Burn in hell, shitty Steve Madden boots!

That's what I get for buying cheap shoes. You get what you pay for.

shortage

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:37:39 GMT

To go with an earlier post about our efforts to live more green, today I'm thinking about how the world food crisis and rising fuel costs impact me directly.

Because we own a hybrid car and only spend about $20-25 per month on gas, the cost of fuel doesn't impact us DIRECTLY, per se. But it does affect us indirectly, as it does everyone else, particularly due to the costs of transporting goods thousands of miles by truck, plane, and ship.

It is more important than ever to seek out local food and other products. So I'm making that my goal this summer. Of course we will be eating the most local tomatoes possible -- ones grown in our yard, virtually for free. I am going to start getting some of our weekly food from the farmer's market in town, though it's pretty small and I might check out the market on the island which I know will be a lot bigger. I would love to have local cheese and eggs, too. When I'm at the supermarket, I am going to pick produce grown in WA instead of Chile.

Many of the items in the typical American home were made in China. There is very little getting around it at this point. Americans are addicted to cheap crap. The cheaper the better, who cares where it came from and how many weeks it spent on a freighter getting here, burning oil the whole way. So I try hard to find non-Chinese goods when I can, specifically American if possible. Yeah, you pay more for this stuff. Because unlike China, we have a minimum wage. Hopefully when we get a new bed at some point this year, it will be one from a furniture maker in Tacoma. It will last forever and only travel 30 miles to get here.

It's very very difficult to find affordable new clothing that was not made in China or other distant lands (Sri Lanka, Thailand, etc). So you either budget to buy a few pricey, American fashions, or you do what I'm going to do, which is buy my clothing used. Which is kinda what I always did before I worked at Gap and got my (boring) clothes for 50% off for nine years.

What are you doing to deal with inflation and gas prices? Are you changing your lifestyle? Do you conserve energy, re-use things, recycle more aggressively? Anything?

sorry

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:24:39 GMT

Look at what's happened to me
I can't believe it myself
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world
Should have been somebody else!

BELIEVE IT OR NOT I'M WALKIN ON AIR
I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD FEEL SO FREE-EEE-EEE
FLYIN AWAY ON A WING AND A PRAYER
WHO COULD IT BE?
BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT'S JUST ME

aaaaahhhhhhh

you wanna see a picture of my bike?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:27:17 GMT

[click to enlarge]

Today was grey and lovely. We did a bit o' housework and then went downtown for coffee. Stopped at the grocery on the way home to get food, tonight I am making tofu veggie stir fry. I am going to make brown rice to go with it and hopefully Brian won't complain too much. I *heart* brown rice.

Riding in the car, taking pics of the back of me head

[click to enlarge]

"blogger"

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:41:44 GMT

Today is the tenth anniversary of this blog. I don't even know if that word was yet in wide usage back then. I had just registered my domain name the day before and was trying to figure out what I would do with it. Then I decided to just do an online version of my paper fanzine. It started like this:

Sunday. 26 April.
Welcome to Hex Magazine. I am chilling out here in the Tenderloin,
listening to some Modest Mouse and taking in the soothing sounds of
my man doing the dishes. Tonight we're gonna indulge in pesto and
asparagus and pasta, wine and cheesecake for dessert, Simpsons and
X-files on the stupid box.

Meeeemories! I really gotta get all that old stuff back online though. I only started using Livejournal for this in 2003. Before that I seriously handcoded every entry. So smart. I love you, CSS.

Today is also Sasha's sixth birthday. He's cuter than ever.

Today I am having an extremely good hair day. It doesn't happen that often, so I'm enjoying every minute.

One more: Today Brian and I went to Silverdale and bought bicycles. I am kind of in love with mine. It's a Raleigh women's detour 4.5, which means no crossbar -- for someone with a 28" inseam, that is like gold. It's so pretty, the color is kind of a rosy copper. Swoon! It's actually my first ever new bike. Before this they came off craigslist and cost $50 and were crap.

So. Brian is mowing the lawn, it's a warm day, I'm going to go turn on the baseball game and make dinner. Ta!

bad movies

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:17:03 GMT

I am finally in a financial position to treat myself to a present. Congrats on getting the job three months ago, Jane! I am getting this Cole Haan bag.

But not for a couple of weeks. I'm going to get it during a cardholder's rewards event at Nordstrom and rack up a crapload of points. That's right, a crapload.

It will be a cute spring bag and the messenger strap definitely sold me on it.

I will also be stocking up on socks. And stockings. You're welcome.

Last weekend Brian and I watched a movie called "Gregory's Girl." It came out in 1980 and is supposed to be some kind of British romantic comedy "classic."

I have gone through sincere periods of Anglophilia in my time, and have a true appreciation of British music, film, and television. But this movie sucked. It was soooooo dated and corny and awkward and poorly edited and much of it made no sense at all. God it was bad. Why do people praise this movie so much? It was just average, at best. The music was absolutely awful, the kind of stuff that conjures up memories of the very worst of 1970s background music. The main character has a Jam poster on his wall; they couldn't afford to get a song by them into the film?

So many things in the movie are never explained. Am I supposed to truly believe that at a tryout of ten Scottish boys and one Scottish girl, the boys are so rubbish -- at the most popular sport in Britain, the sport invented by the British -- that the girl is picked for the team? Really? Really. I mean, I believe in girls' athletics, I really do, but wow what a hackneyed device it was. Why did we need the subplot about the desperate friend striking out with every girl in the lunchroom and then... deciding to hitchhike to Venezuela from Scotland? Why does Dorothy flake out on Gregory at the end? The last time we see her she is dancing (?) with the creepy male coach in the locker room. Can't help but wonder what that was all about. But we never know. Why does Gregory like her so much, apart from her sexy appearance? Because she seems very dull and deeply ambivalent, if not hostile, about him. Also (spoiler, like you care), I don't even know if we found out the name of the girl he ends up with at the end, she had about 45 seconds of screen time up until the last scene.

This movie could have been so much better. I can name many others in the teen romance genre that were miles ahead of this thing. But I won't because I'm sick of typing about it.

Tivo kept recording for another 30 minutes, so we were also treated to a rather excruciating one reel short from 1930. It was hosted by Jack Benny in his second-ever screen appearance, dolled up in a lot of masculine eye makeup. It was the style of the time.

The short featured eight song writers of the day, all on stage at once with their own pianos. A few of them spoke in Yiddish. Benny keeps making weird jokes about each one. There are long awkward pauses after each "joke", where I guess the audience in the cinema is supposed to "laugh." A young lady comes out to sing a song about how her man abuses her but she loves him anyway ("Mean to Me"). Then she is abused by Jack Benny. At that point we could take no more and made Tivo delete it.

love

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:46:17 GMT

Three years ago, we got married. It has really flown by, or I have no concept of the passage of time.

For our anniversary, Brian bought me a snazzy hairdo and a couple of fancy hair products. He also surprised me yesterday by letting me know he bought us really good tickets to see the Mariners on Friday. This will be my first ballgame of the season and my first time at Safeco. And it's Ichiro bobblehead giveaway night!

I got him this

I gave it to him this morning while we were still laying in bed listening to KEXP. The watch. I gave him the watch. Hee.

Tonight we are going to dinner but I'm not sure where.

In other news, I hope the weather is warming up for real because while I adore my North Face jacket, I am getting a little tired of wearing it every single day. My other jackets are getting sad.

new look

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:21:04 GMT

Had a lot of hair chopped off tonight. Before it was extremely long, thick, heavy, and the ends were about three years old. It was dragging me down, man. So I had much of it hacked off and got some sessy layers.

Pics here and here. Taken with a cameraphone, which explains graininess and low light.

After that, Brian and I went out to this Japanese/Hawaiian place called Ohana. I was feelin so foxy. Had a virgin pina colada with an umbrella in it, had mahi mahi tacos, and a supposedly Hawaiian dish with rice, pork, cabbage (?) and macaroni salad (??). It was yummy but of course the portion was big enough for three people. Leftovers! Brian had a bento box.

We are home and I am hoping my hair will look this good tomorrow.

via claire via andrew sullivan

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:26:33 GMT

Hippies are stupid.

From a protest in SF, of course.

triple chocolate

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:26:55 GMT

I love learning cheesy new CSS tricks.

Pretty busy day so far. We took a long walk downtown and had hot sandwiches for lunch (1/2 Reuben here), then coffee at the usual place, then walked home, all without getting rained on.

Brian mowed the lawn and pulled weeds, I went grocery shopping and got a whole bunch of good food for the week. The Farmer's Market yesterday was a disappointment -- nothing is really ripe yet around here, so it was all stuff like cheese and coffee and a few young plants for gardeners, but I didn't feel ready to buy a strawberry plant just yet. So I settled for supermarket produce, plenty of it, including organic carrots with greens still attached, brown mushrooms, small fuji apples, a sweet Texas yellow onion. I also stocked up on things missing from our pantry like peanut satay sauce, coconut milk, and dried tarragon in bulk. Buying dried herbs and spices in bulk is truly the only way to go. The product is fresher, and I can get what amounts to an entire bottle of it for about 30 cents every time.

At the deli/bakery, I got some fresh feta, gherkins, and pitted italian olives, and was lucky to get a huge sample of superdark chocolate cake. It was soooo good. Didn't buy one, but probably will next time we have dinner guests. Which will be soon I hope! No one has even seen our house yet :( Except the cable guy.

John Adams ends tonight, alas. If you haven't been able to see it and are interested in American history, you should try to find a way, or wait to Netflix it. I listened to a commentary on NPR recently about what a shame it is that HBO was the only network to produce this film, because if a major network had wanted it, more people would have gotten a little mini-education. But then again, I can't imagine how some network like CBS couldn't have fucked this up to appease sponsors.

Oh one last thing, I had some weird dreams this morning, as one does when one wakes up at 5:30 and then drifts in and out of sleep for the next three or four hours. Something about navigating my way home through a swarm of bumblebees, and noticing that the dandelions nearby were about ten feet tall. Oh and I went to Starbucks and the person in line behind me was Beyonce Knowles. No one seemed to really notice or care. What the heck was I doing at Starbucks? Hmmmmmm.

pickcha post

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:13:08 GMT

We had some very spotty bananas in the fruit bowl so today I made a loaf of banana bread with pecans. I used the recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook, one of the best cookbooks I own, which I bought after browsing through ludickid's a few years ago (he made us the italian sausage pasta dish).

(click pic for enlargement)

It came out pretty much flawless, if I do say so myself. The last one I made used a different recipe and involved chocolate chips. It was disappointing.

Last Saturday it was 85 degrees in Seattle. Today it's 38 and hailing. It was a brief summer. Anyway, I got to hang out with aforementioned ludickid and it was kool.

He had just finished describing for me in detail everything that he was wearing.

Here is the cool dude I married almost three years ago:

Yes, our anniversary is Wednesday. Cheers!

Later I was watching baseball and noticed this amusing typo:

Well that's it for now. I wonder how many other things I can find to distract myself with in order to avoid cleaning up my office?

arctic blast

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:28:15 GMT

So, it's snowing right now. Not sticking, yet. But yeah, that is definitely white flakes floating toward the earth and landing on the lawn. And the budding trees and flowers and plants.

GOD WILL THIS WINTER NEVER FUCKING END WTF DO WE LIVE IN NARNIA NOW JESUS CHRIST