Just some stuff...

Proper rice and beans

2012-01-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the recipe for my grandma's rice and beans!

Puerto Rican Arroz con Gandules

The only type of beans and olives I use are Goya. For tomato sauce, I use Hunt's; my preferred brand of rice is Carolina. Just in case you were wondering.

Lightphoria happy light

2012-01-07T09:50:00.001-05:00

Day four of the light treatment and I am pleasantly surprised. Not only have my eyes stopped becoming irritated during the final moments of application, I am falling asleep at a normal time (11PM-ish) and am able wake up faster and at a good time. Today is Saturday and I actually GOT UP at 8:30, whereas ordinarily I can sleep until 1PM. It's especially easy when one doesn't get to sleep until 2 or 3 AM. Anyway, I set the alarm for 8AM but treated myself to half hour extra snoozie. And I actually had the will to get up! I just can't believe it.

At the office I set the timer to 2 or 3 sets of 15 minutes at the high setting, and switch the unit to both sides of the desk. The most challenging part of the treatment at this point is listening to the jokes made by my coworkers. "Why the interrogation lamp? Trying to find out something you did?" And "Mr. DeMille! She's ready for her close-up!" But who cares about them. My productivity is increasing and so is my sleep. I am chipper! Jokes leave my lips faster and I feel less like sitting and more like doing things (which is a mini-miracle, if you ask me.) I also stream white noise from an app on my EVO 3D (Sleepy Time, Lite version... free) and that helps too.

Quick cute story -- the first time I turned on the app I was alone in my bed and about to try the sounds. With the speaker set at 100% I naturally chose purring first. Out of nowhere comes Butchie, galloping as if he had just found his real mommy. He leapt onto the bed and rubbed his face so hard again the phone I dropped it. What a little pea brain. I felt like I was tricking him, so I changed the sound. But how cute is that??!!

Anyway, back to the Lightphoria Sphere. Technically it's described as a SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) light, but that name brings me down so I just call it my happy light instead. The best thing about it is that it gives off so much brightness without heat due to the LED bulbs, which is fantastic when it's too warm in the office. It's a bright white light. It comes with a cute carrying case too, so you can use it on vacation or at the office like I do. Choose low (5,000 lux), medium (8,000 lux), or high (10,000 lux). Use it no more than two feet away from your eyes, but don't look directly into the light. Read the directions and don't use close to bedtime. I am so glad I asked for this for Chanukah! And especially glad my parents did their research.

Also, it's hardly scientific, but my complexion (and dark circles) seem to have improved. Whether that's due to the light itself or proper sleep I don't know, but I am certainly not complaining! Mo' beauty, mo' better!

Wii off!

2012-01-04T19:07:00.001-05:00

Also known as Dance Off, Tennis Arms, Soccer Head, or Hula Off. I'm actually leaning toward Hula Off. One thing I will never call it is exercise!!! If you're curious, do read on.

Oh, you're still here? Cool. *smile* Ok. So I came up with the bright idea of putting together a little contest for me and Niecey. I have just got to get moving, and if I have a little girl urging me along, I figured it would be more fun. We'll each do something either daily or several times a week, and tally it up, and then when I visit we can do some in person. Maybe even make each other prizes! The activities can be anything, but I figured we could start with indoor Wii stuff first.

For example, DDR/ITG or Just Dance; how high a score can we get with the tennis game, soccer head thingy, or hulahooping; boxing; or even (un-Wii) skipping around with that thing that fits around your ankle and you have to keep running around to get it swinging! (I forget the name.) Anyway, I started tonight.

I'm putting together a matrix and will share more soon. Hooray! Wii to the rescue! (And it's good thing too, because my fancy schmancy metal dance pad was covered in dust. Poor Cobalt Flux! Don't worry. Me love you long time!)

CC's list of therapies

2012-01-04T18:20:00.000-05:00

Liquid therapy 1, 6:45 AM. Check! Light therapy, 8 AM. Check! Chocolate therapy, 2:30 PM. Check! Dance therapy, 5:30 PM. Check! Creative writing therapy, 6:15 PM. Check! Game therapy, 6:30 - 7:30 PM. About to be done. Liquid therapy 2, 9 PM? I patiently await you, liquid therapy 2...

I also worked a full day, will bake cookies, and do a laundry. This year will be full of fun things and I will take good care of myself. Anyone who treats me poorly will get dumped. Fair warning!

Glossary
Liquid therapy 1 = Hot shower
Light therapy = My new Lightphoria LED light to reset my Circadian rhythm
Chocolate therapy = Candy
Dance therapy = Dance Dance Revolution
Creative writing therapy = Blogging
Games therapy = Games! Any kind will do.
Liquid therapy 2 = Wine or something mixed

Dream a little dream of Chief?

2011-12-16T13:24:00.001-05:00

I had some very strange dreams this past week. But first, here’s background, some of which you no doubt already know:

I suffer from depression and mild social anxiety, for which I take meds. Yay meds!
I had three holiday parties to go to last weekend, which is a pretty big deal for someone with social anxiety, even if they are on meds.
Vitamin N’s lovely big eight-year-old border collie Chief died this week, from some type of aggressive doggie cancer. He was feeling ill on Saturday and they took him to the vet on Sunday, and surgery was scheduled for Monday (for his spleen which had burst) but he never made it to Monday morning. I loved that dog too, and he loved me. Boo doggie cancer!
Her eldest son (whose dog it really was) decided to have Chief cremated. Yuck cremation!
The crematorium does their service by the pound. Chief was 93 pounds. Wow bigdog!
I am of the soft and cuddly body type, myself. Some would call me thick, some would call me fat, but I just call me pretty cute. Sexy, sometimes even! *winkwink*

Okay. Now for the dreams.

After the parties this past weekend, I had to attend three more parties. Then, three more parties. Three MORE parties after that. The parties were blending into each other. Were they different parties, or one gigantic never-ending, anxiety-inducing “party”? Suddenly, I was a veterinarian in an operating room. I couldn’t see my hands but they knew what they were doing. But it was super duper hot in my white scrubs and I could see worried people peering in the little window in the door. Then I turned into the pet! I was big, not like a cat, but maybe a cat. Or maybe a dog. Maybe a big, furry collie. I had long hair like Chief. I was in a metal cage and my thoughts were all muddled. I was really hot and breathing slowly, but not in any pain or anything. Then suddenly I was human and THREE MORE PARTIES!!! THEN THREE MORE PARTIES. THREE MORE THREE MORE THREE MORE… etc. etc. until I awoke. At 8:15. I’m supposed to be in the office at 8:00. That was Monday morning and quite a shitty day.

Monday night I dreamt I was going to be cremated and I was ashamed and felt guilty because I was going to cost so much. I may have been a pet or human. I just felt really big and I seemed to take up a lot of room. If I reached out my arms and legs a little I could touch the sides, but I didn’t want to for some reason. I was sooooo hot suddenly! I was in the oven!!! I woke up sweating unbelievably with Butch and Twinkie totally snuggled up around my top half, purring contentedly.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights, nothing. Alevai! (sp?)

Thursday night. Some worry dreams about money and the heat getting turned off. But I still had electricity so that was ok. I reasoned that I could just plug in the electric heater and make tea from the electric kettle.

Anyway, sheesh, right? All hot and cold and anxious and pets and money. You know what I miss? Sex dreams. Damn meds...

I love ornaments

2011-12-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

I mean, really love them! Especially the glittery, colorful, festive ones. So jingly and jangly, sparkly and spangly, like gigantic exotic earrings from the Far East. And I'm not the only person in my family who likes them. My mom does, too. I really like the ones that look like ice. Some of the loveliest ornaments I have ever seen were fancy, long, hand-twisted, delicate, clear glass icicles that we bought for my grandparents’ tree one year as part of a house present. I loved those icicles. I wonder whatever happened to them.

Anyway, each year I try to put up at least a few ornaments on someone’s Christmas tree, or help them decorate. This year I was quite pleased to have two separate opportunities - at both houses, indoor AND outdoor! (Although I am totally uninterested in decorating the tree at work. I am utterly unentranced with that tree.) This is why I loved decorating the sukkah so much. The wackier the better! *smile* I just plain love ornaments.

But since I'm Jewish, it feels, well, wrong to hang ornaments in my home. Don’t get me wrong - I decorate for Chanukah... with chanukiot, with dreidels, with kachol v’lavan (blue and white, for my readers unfamiliar with transliterated Hebrew), with boxes, with signs and with wonders (heh).

So. What’s your take on the Chanukah bush? Or maybe I should get a side job decorating trees for people who actually pay money to have someone else set theirs up.

I have lots of ideas for decorating. Picture this: all green lights in a green tree with glittery golden balls of differing sizes. Or all white lights in a green tree with shiny red and purple ornaments. What about a white tree with colored lights and matching ornaments in tiers, rainbow-like? Or a tree with all one color ornaments, but different shades of color? Changing from either the top down, or interspersed. Or, no lights at all! Instead, vertical stripes of color! Or all paper ornaments! Or all clear glass! Or! Or! Or...

Fashion strata

2011-12-05T21:42:00.001-05:00

Tonight I cleaned my bedroom. Well, actually, I cleared -- changed my sheets and remade the bed with an actual duvet and cover; cleared off the nightstand; returned items to the closet; and especially cleared off my dresser from its months of accumulated and laundered-but-not-put-away clothing. The pile was was about four feet high. Why? I've been dressing out of the dryer.

I'm not ashamed of this, and I'm certainly not Foul Bachelorette Frog (though messy, my apartment is rarely truly dirty, and my body is always clean.) But I do seem to have become a much less snappy dresser than when I first moved to Massachusetts. What the heck happened? But never mind that for now.

You know, dear Reader, It's fascinating to see what was stylish several seasons ago. It's like geology. Picking away at the earth's core. Garment gravity. Fashion sediment. I realized it this morning when shifting occurred and re-orientation of the clothing strata took place due to tectonic forces as I joyfully attempted to free a certain pair of underwear from deep within the pile. The original horizontality let go, and... AVALANCHE!!! Butchie was nearly buried alive.

So I took action. And I have been trying to get to it for weeks... ok, months. But there's always something much more fun to do! Can you blame me for putting this job off? I can't.

There's still more to be done, but seeing the top of the dresser is a good start. More cleaning tomorrow. Ta!

Mighty Morphing Power Starbursts

2011-10-26T12:28:00.004-04:00

New candy taste sensation!

Starbursts has come out with “morphing” candies – cherry morphs into cherry-lime and orange morphs into orange-strawberry. Worth a try, yes?

Unwrap a candy… it looks like a regular Starburst except for tiny little flavor-changing beads studded through. Chew enough and eventually you find one of the flavor bbs and bite down on it. It will pop and out comes a teensy bit of flavor.

I like the idea, but in half of the pack there were nowhere near enough bbs. Also, throw another flavor in there. 2 flavors in a whole pack is just not sufficient. How about lemon to lemon-cherry?

In a nutshell: these are interesting, but I prefer California fruits. And even better than California fruits are GummiBursts. Sorry, Starburst! I won’t be buying these again.

Tashlich cancelled

2011-09-30T12:25:00.000-04:00

On account of rain!

Okay, I’m exaggerating a teensy bit. It was only postponed until 5:00 PM tonight. But, but… postponed? I thought it was to be done the first day of Rosh Hashanah, no matter the inclemency of the weather. You know, kind of like the mail. Jews don’t melt in the rain, so it makes no sense anyway to attempt to reschedule.

But no matter! Me and my fam went yesterday, traditional-style with umbrellas just in case. It was NOT raining, and in fact we saw an enormous egret, so still along the banks of Plug Pond that we thought it was a statue. Then it took flight and what a wondrous sight that was. They are HUGE! Like pterodactyls. So beautiful. We were all alone except for an occasional car and it was very nice.

After we finished casting away our sins, we sang a non-traditional song (Row, Row, Row Your Boat) round-style since we couldn’t remember the song the rabbi always makes people sing. We did NOT tell the overdone jokes about what bread to use for certain “sins” (i.e. For the sin of bad jokes, corn bread). Then we returned home to enjoy teatime with apple turnovers and honey cake with friends. A great start to a great new year. L’shanah tova, everyone!

Tuesday Muse Day

2011-09-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

My lovely fog-blue la-dee-dah J. Jill button-down is made of the softest, most narrow-wale corduroy you could ever hope to wrap yourself in. However, it’s cut in a swing-coat style, and I resemble a pregnant blueberry. Adios, button-down!

How long is too long?

2011-09-10T16:12:00.000-04:00

My great-uncle died last Thursday, September 1, 2011 in the Bronx. He was old and sick, so not exactly a surprise death. The wake is being held tomorrow. That's ten days. Ten days of laying on ice, only to have your wake held on the tenth anniversary of the Twin Towers Tragedy. In New York.

What do you think? Here's what I think.

Gross!!! It's tooooo long. It's summer, the ground isn't frozen, and the people who would attend are basically local. If they are coming from P.R., that's just a short flight. Then he has to hang around another day and a half before being carted off to somewhere in Maryland. Logistically, it's really nasty.

Finally, who deliberately schedules a wake in New York on a such a day? Why my uncle planned things this ways I will never know. I'm not complaining about the travel from Massachusetts, but come on! What in absolute fuck was the reasoning behing this? And it's not a safety issue, either. Timeliness of the death process of my great-uncle aside, the people of New York can have their mourning day for the millions. Alone, and in peace.

He was not Jewish, so no big rush about getting him back into the ground, but twelve days without a funeral is way too grisly. The whole thing makes my stomach turn. I'm so not looking forward to this...

Medicinal banana

2011-08-04T11:27:00.000-04:00

I hate bananas. But I love the idea of a naturally creamy nutrient-packed fruit arriving in its own package that also takes care of flip-flop tummies and the result of said tummies. The flavor is what I can’t get past. Yuck! Bananas.

Anyway, I ate it this morning for its restorative powers. And it helped! Which is great. But inspecting the banana led me to ponder. What are those strings inside the peel? And why is there sometimes a “Y” at the end of the fruit?

I can remember my gramma telling me when I was little that the Y meant I would have good luck. But we never talked about the banana strings. So I looked it up. It turns out that the strings are phloem bundles, which carry nutrients and sugars wherever they need to go. Imagine the banana peel like the bark of a tree. Same thing.

So. I have decided that we should engineer a new fruit. It will look and feel like a banana, be nutrient-filled with the ability to grow in all regions and even in the home. Even the shape is fine. But the taste -- the taste will be of chocolate pudding.

Scientists, how about it?

My Review of High Definition Powder

2011-07-05T13:24:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at EyesLipsFace.com

The e.l.f. High Definition Powder is a translucent, versatile loose powder that creates a flawless, soft focus effect to the skin. Masks fine lines and imperfections for a glowing, radiant complexion. This incredibly soft and invisible powder is ideal for everyday wear, either alone or over your ...

Love it!!!

By tccat from Massachusetts on 7/5/2011

Pros: Easy To Apply, Silky Finish, Controls Shine, Lightweight, Blends Well

Best Uses: All Skin Types

Describe Yourself: Budget Buyer

This stuff is fabulous! I was skeptical but I did my research and decided to try it.

It's easy to apply and photographs like a dream. It's really lightweight though, and will pour out of the holes if you are not careful. I only pulled back the tape about 1/5 of the way but the stuff is just so soft and finely milled that it still pours out. Next time I'll poke a couple of holes in the tape.

The packaging is also nice. It's pretty and strong and looks a lot more expensive than it is.

What a great product at a great price! This is definitely a keeper.

(legalese)

New phone!

2011-06-24T21:37:00.002-04:00

Would you care for a free meat package?

2011-05-17T18:39:00.003-04:00

What would you do if a friend offered you some meat, for free? What if they asked you on the phone? And what if they were a total stranger, calling you up at random and asking if you were interested in receiving a free meat package?

Ugh. If you think it’s embarrassing enough to receive that call, imagine being the one doing the calling!

I wish I could remember what “company” it was, but one of us (my mom or me) had found the job in the paper, and I have to drive to… I want to say somewhere near Elmhurst, and I was in college and needed a summer job, and it was freaking hot as a roasting oven outside and just as moist, and I had gotten all dressed up in a skirt and blouse and heels, thinking I should look my best despite the strange job description. This was 1993, not the time of the GPS, and by the time I finally found the place I was ready to just turn around.

The sketchy “office” was in a house-like building, but it was definitely a place of business. Four or five cheap metal desks adorned the room with old-fashioned stenographer chairs tucked under. Discount carpeting abounded. I remember enough windows, but I was getting a weird feeling about the place. There was an adjoining room that I assumed was the boss’ office. I seem to remember a window in the connecting wall, but I could be architecturalizing.

Anyway, the job was this: Cold call people to offer them a free meat package and attempt to enroll them in a monthly meat delivery. No cost to them. They could keep the meat if not interested in the monthly package.

I can’t make this stuff up.

So he interviewed me, and looked me up and down a few times, and tried me out for a few hours. I forget the hourly wage, but it was pretty low… maybe six bucks an hour, plus commission on the meat? I got a couple of people to accept “free meat packages” but wasn’t sure I wanted to continue working there. For one thing, the area was borderline dangerous and although I was young, I wasn’t particularly stupid. I wanted to ask for my twenty bucks but I also wanted to get the hell out of there. So I hung around a few minutes, sorta hoping he would offer it to me (that wasn’t going to happen), and then said to myself , “fuck it” and took off.

Later, my parents asked me what had happened and I explained as best I could. They didn’t understand why I left without claiming my wages, but I am sure I made the right decision. Who came up with the idea of free meat packages, anyway? The whole thing still makes me shudder.

Aaanyway, I have no idea why this popped into my head, it just did. Worst “job” ever! And my family still jokes about it. Oh, free meat package, I am wary of you…

Mousie, redux

2011-05-17T13:28:00.002-04:00

Well, I never!

Something told me to check on the kitties before bed late last night after my relaxing shower. So I did. I saw Butchie drifting in dreamland on the chenille pillow on the leather chair, but where was Twinkie? I checked his favorite hiding spots – the acid green microfiber cube under my desk, the corner of the red sofa, behind the potted ficus, even the basement stairs. Finally I saw him, shadowy in the kitchen, staring silently at the narrow spacelet between the refrigerator and cabinet. He didn’t turn around as I entered and switched on the light, worrying about a water bug or spider with the cat food and water dishes at my slippered tootsies.

But all I saw was a small fluff of cat hair. I stood, motionless and mute. Twinkie sat, motionless and mute. I have never seen him so silent. Nary a meow nor a tail twitch graced his feline form. Then he twitched his whiskers, pulled back his ears, and got low. His head swiveled and he leaned ever so slightly forward, tensing his hind legs for the pounce.*

I still figured it was a small bug, and I was very tired, having watched Dancing with the Stars at my friends’ house, buying gas on the way home, and just taken that shower. It was almost midnight. I was about to say “forget it” and turn around and go to bed when suddenly, a brown MOUSE ran out from under the fridge! I peeped and it saw me and ran back under the refrigerator. I grabbed the garbage can, pulled out the bag, and held it upside down, waiting for the MOUSE to show its ugly self again and trap it.

But I waited in vain. Eventually I went to bed and shivered in my bedsheets, imagining I heard mice in my mattress and tiny creatures in my clothes… but not before frantically texting Vitamin N about the terrifying ordeal I had endured with Twinkie:

oh my god N I just saw a mouse in my kitchen
A brown one. I'm terrified! How will I sleep knowing there is a mouse terrorizing Twinkie? :-(
it went back under the refrigerator
Something told me too check inn the cats and I did and where was Twinkie? I finally found him in the kitchen starting at the space between the fridge and drive. But there was nothing there but a dust kitty
So I stood there Quietly and it came out and saw me and Twinkie and it ran back under
What a bold mouse. I'm calling the exterminator in the morning
I don't get it. My house is totally clean
especially my kitchen

In the morning, she saw me and laughed. And none of my coworkers seemed surprised! Turns out they all had them.

“Oh, it’s just a field mouse.” Well, if it’s in a house, it’s now a house mouse now, amiright? “Peanut butter in a trap will do it.” But then I will have to remove the trap with a dead mouse within. “Wasn’t it cute? ” No, it was certainly not cute. “Just put away the cat food at night, and it will probably move on.” But what if Big B and Little T get hungry? And "probably" isn't enough of a guarantee anyway. “Mice only come out at night anyway.” But how is that any better? And my personal favorite, “Better get a cat!” Oh, rilly? Screw you, coworker!

So tonight I get to go to Target yet again and pick up traps. Add my special Teddie pb to them, and slide them into the space I found Twinkie staring into. I am so not looking forward to this…

*It was shades of Maxie Paxie. If he were alive, Max would have definitely gotten that mouse. I miss him!

The Secret Pisser strikes again

2011-05-04T22:39:00.001-04:00

I think Butch is sick again. But the only proof I have is occasional pissing on the bed (twice in the last 2.5 weeks, but nothing before that), and more bathing than I remember when he was younger. Is he sick, or does he have kitty dementia, or is he just getting old? He's been sweet and not acting strangely in any other ways. I tried palpating his tummy/liver area to see if anything was swollen, but I couldn't feel anything unusual. He just kept purring. Now I'm sad, and I have to lock them out of the bedroom again, so no nighttime kitty heating pads or musical purring tonight. Sigh. Watching pets decline sucks!

UPDATE: He has also been spending a lot of time in the bathtub. Sitting in it, walking in it, and playing peekaboo using the shower curtain. Wtf?

Apps! Apps! Apps!

2011-05-04T19:26:00.007-04:00

I'm a little app hound now. A-rooooo!

Three I have been messing around with (yup, all free):

AudioBooks. I've taken to listening to books during my commute. I'm going the science fiction route. I find it keeps me calmer than just being stuck in traffic, and I don't get all bent out of shape because of idiots on the road. In just 3.5 commuting days, I'm almost finished with chapter 12 of the The Coming Race by Edward George Bulwer Lytton, having never gotten to the print copy. I'm at the point where the linguistics are being explained, and it's a good thing I only hear it in half hour increments, because this part is long and drawn out. Darn his multisyllabic writing style! No one better get on my bad side, or I just might abuse my vril...

Jango. It's a music service similar to Pandora, but better (in my 'umble opinion). It features unlimited skips and only ONE ad a day. Take that, Pandora! And you can customize faster than Pandora. Listen from your computer, too, natch. The one down side is that you are asked to rate new artists' music -- thumbs up, or thumbs down to control their airtime. If I feel it's thumbs down, I'll just close the box since I don't consider myself qualified to grant someone else airtime. But I did find one song I liked from some unknown, and rated it favorably.

And finally, Thinking Space. Mind mapping! This is such as awesome tool and I use it to organize writing thoughts. I am actually thinking of buying this program! It's really slick, pretty, and useful. Your maps are saved on your sd card, but they have a Cloud server that can synch your maps. Use FreeMind on your computer to revise, if you prefer.

Find them in the Android Market. More to come. Stay tuned!

Gloat? That's a negative, you

2011-05-02T17:39:00.002-04:00

To me, it feels like this “Osama is dead” thing dropped out of the clear blue sky. Like a house! By a tornado. “Ding dong! The witch is dead.” Really? Ew. Thanks, memes. How about growing the fuck up and realizing that we still have miles to go before we sleep?

I find it repulsive that Americans celebrated in the streets when the megalomaniac known as Osama bin Laden was killed. Ok, we got him, that's really great… but we’re also not uncivilized. CNN has stated that Washington told our military, “No gloating”. And I really believe that no soldier would disobey an order from Washington (at least, in public).

And if our military, the toughest, proudest, and most compassionate military there is, can manage to contain gloat, then our civilians (despite any differences) should manage to contain theirs too…

White Chocolate Wonderful

2011-04-28T20:53:00.000-04:00

A stimulating and invigorating experience, not unlike true love… or at least, true lust.
Peanut Butter & Co., I have to have it!

Proscribe your cap!
Enrich me, and jump my toast.
I yearn to swirl you and sample you from a knife's edge.
Dulcify me, my leguminous bonne bouche.
Your appeal is universal, but I would dip into you
   my engraved silver spoon and mark you too as mine.
Liquefy you and sip you from a snifter.
To taste you is to taste victory!

Gleaming and velvety, you spread yourself like a blanket.
With passion and care, I would fan you out densely, then
   conquer your sweetness with my mouth until my tongue lay exhausted
   where you would linger, linger, linger…

Still doubt me? Yes, it really is that good!

Fish marshmallows

2011-04-23T11:38:00.002-04:00

I hate onions

2011-04-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

Hate, you say? Hate is such a strong word. CC, what did onions ever do to you?

But I do hate them, and I'll tell you why. It's because they stink! They leave such a stinky skunky smell on my hands I can't stand it anymore. I sliced half an onion on Monday night and my fingers still freaking stink! My stainless steel "soap" didn't seem to help, either.

But thinking about it, now I'm not so sure. At this point I don't know if it's my fingers that take on odors, or my super sniffer. I think it has to be half and half because I have, I don't know exactly, but let's call it... caustic skin. My skin eats directly through gold rings and it takes on smells. But my nose has its own super strength and I can smell things that other people can't.

I guess those must be my superpowers, then...

Haunted bathroom?

2011-04-20T22:12:00.000-04:00

Yas, dis iz path

2011-03-26T17:03:00.000-04:00

Multiverses!

2011-03-06T12:57:00.001-05:00

NPR Sci Fri brought this:

http://hw.libsyn.com/p/8/f/a/8fab16c6d6eb895c/scifri20110304-hr1.mp3?sid=2ae3eb746d64a969a9916ef00945bbfb&l_sid=18801&l_eid&l_mid=2473204

The existence of multiple universes. I've always believed this (albeit abstractly and philosophically), and it turns out that some physicists do, too. Brian Greene, professor of Mathematics and Physics at Columbia University, claims to prove it mathematically. The link is for the podcast (31:18 - 43:15); open your mind first, though... string theory and black holes ain't exactly easy stuff...

Incidentally, it's from my absolute favorite publishing house - Knopf!

Thanks, but no thanks

2011-03-01T12:40:00.000-05:00

I had planned on posting this the night it happened (the Friday before Valentine’s Day), or on Valentine’s Day itself, but never got around to it. But it’s been bothering me, so here goes.

Remember those guys who kept emailing from two different dating sites and four different meetup groups? The twins? Well, one of them wrote me again. What is WITH them? It’s not like I had changed my picture from meetup to meetup. Or my name, duh. I complained to my mom and she said again, that I fit a profile and “can I really blame them? They see a beautiful woman and want to get to know her.”

Ok. I can’t blame them for wanting to get to know someone attractive. *smile* But, yeah, I can blame them for not paying attention to the people they email. If they are emailing so many women that they don’t even remember faces, that grosses me out. I can also blame them for not being alert enough to even write a two-line “hi there” email without a number of grammatical and spelling mistakes. And uncomfortable enough as it was for me to return email the first time with a “no thank you”, it was even worse to do it a second time. (I didn’t want to, but my mom said it would be bad form to not acknowledge his writing me.)

It’s not that I’m fundamentally opposed to twins in general, or the idea of two people born from the same person at approximately the same time, or even the idea of dating ONE of a set of twins. I actually think twins are fascinating and even kind of cool. But icky, careless, argumentative twins? *shudder* That gives me the willies.

Ok. Done. Thanks for listening!

Do plants scream?

2011-02-11T22:58:00.002-05:00

I can't get the sound of cracking bones out of my head. Crack! Crick!! Crii-ickity crackle!!! CRAAACK!!!!

No, that’s not it. It’s almost like a bunch of small zippers of different lengths being opened all at once. Zip. Zipziipziiip!! Zipitzipitzipit!!!

Hmm. Still not exactly accurate. It's actually more of a ripping sound, like fabric being shredded by hand. Rip! Riiip!! Ripripriprip!!! RIIIIP!!!!

Gosh. Close, but not entirely right. Has anyone else heard the roots of a root-bound plant being deliberately torn during transplant to a bigger pot to allow it to grow larger, live better, and be free? Because it’s awful, and it’s haunting me, and I won’t be able to leave it alone until it’s described properly.

And all anxiety this because of two of the plants I received from a thoughtful five-plant sympathy basket from my office from when my Grampa died. I kept it, because the plants were so beautiful. (Not very Jewish of me, but it was my decision, after all.) My brown thumb managed to kill the other three, but the peace lily and a lovely type of delicate, smooth, frond-y fern had been coming along fairly nicely.

Anyway, they both became root-bound and needed to be repotted. I employed the help of Vitamin N and we had a planting party. I used pretty green ceramic pots I bought at Ace and brought them back into the office. Within a week, the fern was entirely happy, but the peace lily was half happy and half sad… the stems bright and perky through half the leaf, and the end half of the leaf droopy, looking weak and arthritic. It made me sad too.

So when our landscape architect colleague stopped by, I questioned him. Why so droopy and limp? I watered it plenty. Well, it turns out I had overwatered it. And placed it far too low within the pot. He showed me how to “free” the plant by disentangling its roots. Then this kind and gentle man proceeded to smilingly riiiiiiiiiip the pale and stringy root ball until it resembled a shallow, upside-down bowl. And he really had to work at it, they were so tightly intertwingled.

I gasped. And shuddered. All I could think of was chicken bones being rolled over by an office chair. Or potato chips crushed by a rolling pin. Maybe eggshells screeching? This was Monday, and I’m still thinking about it. I told him about it and he said, "But now it's free!" I believe him, but it's like the sound is just stuck in my ears. Yuck!

So, if anyone can think of a way to describe this sound so I can put it to bed, please comment. I’ll be forever grateful…

ipadio: Shockers vs. Warheads

2010-10-31T01:31:00.001-04:00

Fall beauty

2010-10-29T16:01:00.002-04:00

Has anyone else been struck by the vibrancy and vividness of leaves this fall? The color changes have been breathtaking. The oranges and deep purplish reds are my favorites, followed closely by bright reds and yellows and then yellowish-greens. Even the sheer number of browns has grabbed my attention.

I also find myself investigating leaf shapes. I find the spade shapes and the long pointy ones the most interesting. And who would have thought tree trunks and branches would be so lyrical, singing and waving their arms as the wind rustles through?

If I wasn't in love with fall before, I certainly am now...

I love candy

2010-10-27T22:23:00.003-04:00

How could something so delicious be evil?

Hmm. I love candy, just as I love makeup and video games. I see nothing wrong with candy, as long as excellent tooth brushing takes place. Readers?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/dining/27candy.html?_r=1&hpw

Berry Chewy Lemonheads and Friends

2010-10-27T15:19:00.004-04:00

Mmm... Lemonheads. Remember the original ones? What could be bad? Bright yellow and tangy, crystals of citric acid stinging your tongue, then the nearly flavorless white candy hidden beneath becoming stuck to your teeth? Remember trying five or six at a time, and making your eyes water, then doing it again? What a (sugar) rush.

Lemonheads' friends joined the party after a while, namely Orangeheads, Grapeheads, Appleheads, and Cherryheads. They tasted just ok, but after they turned chewy, they improved immensely.

Later on, they went Tropical, and that was fun. But this flavor exceeded my expectations. These Berry Chewy Lemonheads and Friends are really, really tasty. As a "red" candy lover, I am hooked! (I like them almost as much as I like Starburst GummiBursts.) Kudos, Ferrara Pan!

So hello there. Hello, Cherry Lemonheads, Strawberryheads, Blue Raspberryheads, Red Raspberryheads, and Wild Berryheads! Welcome to my life. I'm CC. Let me introduce you to my mouth...

Fall out

2010-10-25T18:58:00.001-04:00

Ever since I got divorced, I always feel a little bummed out in the fall, especially in October, specifically on the 25th. If we had stayed married, we would have been together for 12 years. Sheesh. That's a Bat Mitzvah!

And as if I don't already know the answer (yes!) part of me always asks myself if I made the right decision. I don't know why I revisit some of my decisions. There's no reason for me to doubt myself.

But it doesn't help that the first date of my last serious relationship was on October 26th. Or maybe that's because they were both Tauruses? Aquarian ladies, don't fall in love with a male Taurus. It's just plain doomed.

Anyway, that's enough gloom for now. Pleasant posts are on their way!

Half-baked Butchie?

2010-10-19T09:48:00.002-04:00

So I got a big pointy tetanus shot and two antibiotics for The Butchie Bite. Vitamin N said it still looks swollen but the doctor didn’t, and besides, I have a fairly squishy forehead to begin with. So I will probably be ok. I am to call if there’s swelling or pain up there, duh.

Anyway, I think Butchie’s losing it.

I mean, it’s not like I’d smeared tuna juice and cheddar cheese on my forehead. I was minding my own beeswax. And I can’t have a biter around. What if he bites my family or friends? Niecey or Neph? Me, again? On my freakin’ face? That would be terrible. So I read up on Alzheimer’s in cats, and recent history shows Butchie does have several of these symptoms: acting disoriented, changes in social relationships, changes in sleep habits, inappropriate vocalizing, forgetting commands, breaking housetraining, pacing, wandering, sluggishness, food issues, decreased grooming, and confusion. And I thought some of it was because of his cataract!

Did you know that half of all cats over age 15 show signs of senility? These symptoms are for ooold cats (I consider 12.5 to be “getting older”, not “ooold” just yet), and he’s never had great grooming to begin with… Twinkie had been coming around and washing his face and ears for him since they were babies. And it’s Discovery, which I trust, not some random bullshit “cat fact” website with cutesy-poo pictures and no actual research.

So hopefully it was an isolated incident. But what if I have to put him down? Like I said, I simply can't have a biter around. The thought of it breaks my heart! I’m going to call the vet today and ask if I should be worried. I expect the 400 bucks I spent there a month ago entitles me to ask a follow-up question…

Lunatic pussycat

2010-10-18T09:41:00.002-04:00

Last night, I was doing some work with my dad on speakerphone when the Butch and Twinkie started crying. I know they hate the speaker as much as they hate electronic beeps but I can't hold the phone and mouse and type at the same time, and I don't have an earpiece. So here they are, myeching up a storm, when suddenly Butchie ran over, jumped onto my lap and BIT MY FOREHEAD.

Bit my forehead! I threw the cat off me and left my dad there wondering wtf while I washed it and peroxided it. "He what!?"said my startled dad. "Oh my goodness!" And oh my goodness was right. Two small round punctures and a longer bite, too. Good thing he's a housecat.

How bizarre. Not once has he ever bitten my face, although he does give love licks there very occasionally, and love bites on the hand very often. And he had been so affectionate all day, snuggling into my neck and rubbing his face on mine and generally being a sweet kitty.

Anyway, now it itches and Vitamin N says it looks swollen, but thankfully not infected. She said that cat bites on the face can become infected really fast, and counseled me to call the doctor. So I did, and I'm waiting for a call back.

I still can't believe this. I'll keep you posted.

It gets ickier

2010-10-08T12:48:00.002-04:00

So, remember those guys who were contacting me separately, the brothers? Well, it turns out they're twins. Twins! ew! Ew!! EW!!!

When I told my mom, she said, "Well, honey, you fit a profile. And, you're appealing." And I suppose I am, for the most part. *smile*

But it had been bothering me so much that I googled the name and the word "twins"... and yup. There it was. And of course my paranoia kicked in double-time of what it had been before. I mean, brothers are bad enough, but socially inept twin brothers? I got to thinking that they would be comparing notes on how far they had gotten with me, or switching off just for fun. Maybe they wouldn't, but I'm not taking the chance.

Thank you, God, for giving me instincts and helping me follow them...

AWKWARD!!!

2010-10-05T20:00:00.006-04:00

Wah waaah waaaaaaaaaahhhhh. (Sad trombone.)

I may have mentioned this before, but I keep running into the same people on different sites (Match, JDate, eHarmony) and it freaks me out. And now, it's happened on meetup.com!

Background: in January, I supposedly matched a guy on eHarmony. We emailed for a few days, but I wasn't impressed... in fact, something about the emails skeeved me. So I ended it. And he had an unusual last name, one that I wouldn't forget in a hurry.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I joined a singles group on meetup.com named "Bubbie says it's the best singles group in Boston." Well, my grandmothers were never Bubbies, but what the hell. I thought about it for at least a month before I joined, especially since I could see that most of the members were women. Sigh.

Sooo, two days ago I receive a greeting from a guy who sort of looked familiar, but sort of not. Something about his brow. So we email, and his emails bother me because every single sentence ended in an exclamation point, and the punctuation was poor! I use them a lot too! But my sentences make sense do they not! Does this bother you yet! Even the questions had exclamation points! And he did not click "hide email info" and his email came through as a Lia Sophia email too not an actual personal one! So I thought that was strange right! Sounds like someone I don't need to get to know right!

Sheesh. I was breathless just reading, and not in a good way. But I thought about it. Let me investigate before writing him off, right? Don't judge a book by its cover and all that. Well, I have to trust my gut more.

His profile said, "follow me on LinkedIn" so I looked (without logging in). My LinkedIn profile is professional and comprehensive, so I figured his would be, also. But no. And there was that name again!

I searched my email and lo and behold, they grew up in the same town, same high school, same poor grammar skills, and yes... similar forehead and brow.

My first thought was, "Ok, this is bullshit." My second? "Get me outta here!" So I did. I explained the situation, asked if they were related (I would bet money on it, and I am not a gambler of cash), and wrote that I felt too uncomfortable to continue emailing with him. Do you think I did the right thing? This was, like, 20 minutes ago. I post this because I have to get it out of my system and I am so icked out right now. ew! Ew!! EW!!!

So. If anyone has better ideas for meeting people, please share. I would really appreciate it.

Privacy issues

2010-10-05T13:17:00.004-04:00

Something else funny that happened this weekend.

Sunday morning I totally walked in on some kid (probably in college) urinating! It was at the restaurant where I enjoyed a lovely breakfast of an enormous fluffy pancake stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries. And very good coffee. P had broccoli quiche and J had eggs and bacon. I think they were the kind where the yellow oozes out. It was at Johnson's Farm where I met the animals and Farmer Steve.

Here is the scene:

CC: (Approaches bathroom, asks DRINKSPERSON if anyone is in there)
DRINKSPERSON: Nope!
CC: Thanks. (Knocks on door. No answer. Opens door. Gasps, closes eyes, and stammers apology as she backs out. CC and DRINKSPERSON look at each other in disbelief.)
DRINKSPERSON: There is a lock in there, you know.
COLLEGE KID leaves bathroom, makes eye contact with CC and smiles a little. CC enters bathroom, locks door, checks door, and does her business. She returns to her table where she realizes the kid is from the next table over, a FAMILY, Party-of-Five-style. They look at her and nod a little, smiling sheepishly.
CC: (Shakes head slowly, in a wow-that-was-embarrassing way.) Sorry about that! I would have thought the door would have been locked! (FAMILY drops jaws and looks at COLLEGE KID, who reddens.)
CC: (Sits down with J and P, explains situation.) Whoops. (J and P roll eyes.)
J and P: Don't apologize. His fault, not yours!

Later, P claimed that the family was more surprised that I actually mentioned the situation than they were embarrassed for the kid. What the heck!? It's a really nice unisex bathroom in a decent restaurant. What was he thinking? I guess I could have ignored them, but hey! I'm from NY. We actually acknowledge when funny things happen, you know...?

A Blog Cabin writeup...

2010-10-04T22:55:00.002-04:00

by the Blog Cabin Queen herself! And now I'm famous! Teehee!

http://blogcabinadventure.blogspot.com/2010/10/who-needs-marshmallows.html

Blog Cabin Adventure is over

2010-10-03T21:43:00.005-04:00

I had a freakin' blast! So here are the pros and cons, in no particular order.

Cons:

Forgot my towel, so I improvised and used my wrap instead (really, my fault)
Forgot my B.O.derant (my fault again. Hel-lo, Activeion!)
Smoky-smelling clothes
Blowing my nose and having soot-colored snot
Very little indoor light (60s watts for a cabin does not go so very far)
Occasional mysterious septic smells (popcorn poop, anyone?)
Port-a-Potties at the Garlic Festival (not BC's fault)
Forgetting the flashlight and having to use a spiral staircase in the middle of the night because I forgot to pee before bed. I think it took me ten minutes to feel my way to the bathroom. Haha!

Pros:

The beauty and serenity of a babbling brook, complete with rustling trees and glimmery rocks
Big campfire
Tending the campfire
Toasting marshmallows over the campfire
Enjoying ice cream and making each other laugh over said campfire
Licky doggies (many thanks to Grace and Buddy)
Special homemade oatmeal breakfast and special homemade pizza dinner
Friends
Cell phone usage (through Sprint, the only provider to work in the area)
Good sleeping (just not enough of it!)
Cider doughnut at the Garlic Festival
Not being forced to eat garlic at the Garlic Festival
Learning about sill plates from Their Wayne
Meeting a friendly bull, horse, and donkey... and their owner, Farmer Steve
Maple cotton candy (I don't know why, but I just can't resist cotton candy at a fair or festival)
Appreciating the bones of a building
So many other things. It was all so much fun!

Funniest parts:

Hundreds of hippies and hippie children at the Garlic Festival
J chowing down on garlic, bacon, and chocolate chip cookies at the festival (um, no thanks, I just ate)
P riding in the trunk so we could park as a car pool at the festival and not have to ride the shuttle bus there
18 frogs jumping out of the mud at J and P as they dug around the cabin
Having to return to the cabin to throw away the rest of my ice cream pint

Scariest part:

UFO on Friday night! Then I thought I heard a bear. But do bears grunt? We all spooked each other and went running into the cabin. Later, they shared that it might have been the visiting moose. But in the pitch dark, is that any better?

Worst parts:

Finding out that some leakage had occurred during the rainstorm of the day before. But it's fine, no damage was sustained.
Digging. The wall of the final footing kept caving in. FOUR times.
J tried to shovel P's fingers. That'll leave a mark!

First impressions:

The Blog Cabin is much smaller than it appears on the blog.
Plywood in quantity is actually very pretty.
Construction sites do not scare me.
For a work-in-progress and construction site, it was actually quite clean. And safe.

Fun facts:

The toilet used to be located in the kitchen.
J and P have burned all the original wood from the cabin at their campfires.
Solace the Cat prefers the BC to his regular city home.

All of this and much more, in less than 23 hours... and that includes travel time! Hey J and P, when can I go back???

Tulip Fever

2010-10-01T13:28:00.002-04:00

Lovely, lonely, young Sophia Sandvoort has married older, wealthy Cornelis. His love for her consumes him. Unfortunately, they are unable to conceive. Like a flower, his desire for immortality grows so much that he commissions a painter (Jan van Loos) to capture their likenesses on canvas.

Hmm. Whoever would have thunk a breathtakingly beautiful young woman would be attracted to an talented, tempting young artist? And so the story begins, during the 1630's in Amsterdam... during the time period known as Tulipomania.

Suspense! Intrigue! Love! Deborah Moggach paints this picture cleanly and intricately, with obvious love for her characters. The short chapter introductions from various 17th century household manuals, Jacob Cats, Leo da Vinci, and other players of the day added to the word-by-word pleasure. Also, I like tulips. *smile*

I actually willed myself to set this one aside every once in a while to draw out the reading process as far as I could. Hey! Debbie! More, please!

110%? I think not

2010-09-30T12:54:00.015-04:00

Ahem! I feel I must inform you...

There is no such thing as more than 100%. So anyone who claims they have given it 110%, or 150%, 200%, or some other arbitrary percentage, is presenting you with a crock of shit. In the real world, extra credit doesn’t exist. Extra credit is nothing but two words placed next to each other. If you have truly given it your all, poured yourself into the task or the work or the product or the relationship and done your best, your absolute freaking best, you should be proud as punch to receive 100%.

Think in terms of college grading:

A = 100-90 = Excellent, or “Hot damn! You did an amazing job!”
B = 90-80 = Very good, aka “Well done!”
C = 80-70 = Good. “This has been completed.”
D = 70-60 = Passing. “Almost inadequate.”
F = 60 and below. Failing! “Utter crap. Look ashamed!”

Readers, please try to get As with good deeds, and at work, with your family and friends, and at tasks and chores and generosity and how you treat people and your general daily doings. When grading yourself, be honest. You know whether you have done something excellently or adequately. But tip the effort toward the higher grades, and hey what? The As will extend to other areas of your life as well.

By the way, grades of A+ are completely imaginary. And in life, forget about a grading curve. It’s just not gonna happen…

Green ash floors

2010-09-29T21:53:00.006-04:00

His philanthropy aside, I'm not a big fan of Ty Pennington (from his annoyingly indulgent Trading Spaces days, way back when), but I absolutely love his choice of palest, jade-ish green wood: Eleuthera Ash. I'd love to do my living room in it, still with my red sofa and keep my black and light wood color palette intact. Walls? I dunno yet.

Aw, who am I kidding? Ideally, I'd do the entire place from room to room, including my pale pink bedroom. All I'd need is simply $6K for flooring...

Social Intelligence

2010-09-29T12:33:00.005-04:00

http://www.meetup.com/Social-Intelligence/

I recently got an email about this meetup group because one of my interests is listed as "singles". But this one just sounds like educated people acting out and acting uneducated under the guise of social development. I feel bad that they have not been true to themselves until now!

"You may discuss just about everything as long as it's done tastefully. If you feel offended it's a good sign this is not the right group for you." Interesting concept, but ugh. I find this kind of opening statement neither cool nor offensive, but tiresome. So I guess this is not the right group for me!

But the funniest part about it is that "intelligence" is spelled wrong in the first two words of the description. Or did they do that to be cool, hmm? *sigh*

I love books

2010-09-28T17:11:00.008-04:00

And I especially love bargain books. I have even been known to spend gas money to go out of my way for book bargains. What can I say? I get a thrill from it.

And that was my plan for today. Hit the Nevins Library book sale in Methuen on its last day for exciting additions to my reading and crafting libraries. Last time I got two reference binders full of flower and plant pictures for crafting, along with an old, hilarious Better Homes and Gardens Handyman's Book from the 50's, complete with adoring-looking wives in wide skirts and tips on cleaning white-wall tires, for one dollar each. I also got an old Navy seaman's book from the 30's, for fun.

But it's raining cats and dogs out there and by the time I was in my car after work I couldn't bear the thought of driving to the library and to Target for an errand, fighting the rain the whole time. So I went home instead!

I put on pajama pants! I put on a cotton-knit top! I put on fuzzy slippers! Then I sat down to write this. And wow, am I comfortable right now or what!? (I can't remember the last time I put on pajamas after work without the reasoning of not feeling well. But I feel fine! Lazy, but fine. Teehee.)

So here is my plan for tonight:

Have a bite. Maybe make white rice
Give the cats a good brushing and clip their nails
Catch up on yesterday's Dancing with the Stars dances before tonight's elimination
Read something?

And that's basically it. I feel so free right now... hooray!

Idiots' Books

2010-09-28T15:33:00.001-04:00

Very cool. http://idiotsbooks.com/

I snagged a copy of After Everafter at Paqui's Alley today for their amazing price. Who would chuck a fun book like that because of two drops that smudged the title? Their loss, my win.

Also, if anyone wants me to buy me a present, I'd love the Makers Tile Game, currently on sale for the low price of ten measly bucks. http://store.idiotsbooks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=IB026-01

On that note, perhaps I should do what Cory Doctorow has done. Write novels, then let everyone read them for free. Some people will buy copies, and some won't. Something to think about. The difference is that he's not interested in cash donations, whereas I am. A girl needs new accessories occasionally, yes? I don't expect to become rich from it, but a few books a month would be a smile-maker.

Alternatively, I'm ok with letting people read/download/tell their friends about my book for free, but there are other things to think about with that, too:

What if someone wants a hard copy? I still need a publisher. So I'm back at self-publishing through Amazon? The thought of talking to publishers still has me shaking in my boots! (Which may be silly, but still the way I feel.)Also, I still find the Creative Commons licenses confusing for some reason. But now I wrote it, and I want to get it out there, away from me. Out into the world! And I'm tired of whining to myself about it.

Ok. I've decided I am going to make a decision about what to do by the end of October. Keep reading, readers!

My Blog Cabin Adventure

2010-09-28T12:56:00.003-04:00

Garlic Festival, here I come!

My Blog Cabin friends invited me to their cabin somewhere in western MA (I don't even know where it is, actually) for the weekend… to visit the North Quabbin Garlic Festival and help with the final footing! It will be the first time I have seen the cabin in person. Although I can’t dig or pour the footing because of my carpal tunnel symptoms for the last 1.5 weeks (flare-up almost all better, hooray!), and I don’t enjoy garlic so much (I like it, but it doesn’t like me) I just love festivals. But I won't be sitting on my butt just looking pretty. I’ll be acting as waitress for the parched tradeswomen and Their Wayne as they sweat up a storm.

Sooo, guess who will be featured in this weekend’s post of the Blog Cabin blog? That’s right! The Clever Cat herself, in the (soft, but non-furry) flesh! Maybe I can even get a pic with Budrow Wilson (a doggie), the newest addition to their fam. I haven’t seen them in months and this is going to be so much fun… stay tuned for the follow-up!

p.s. I will try to blog from the phone, but they are so far out in the sticks that there isn't even any cell reception! So you might just have to wait. Sorry!

They are with us

2010-09-27T12:34:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, I swear I see Max at my parents' house.

Max, also known as Maxie Paxie, Maxie Paxie Pudding and Pie, El Baroncito Maximiliano (when he was small), El Baronissimo Maximiliano (when he got fat for a while), Max the Manx, and of course The Cat, was the premier pussycat of my family. He was the smartest, fastest, most charming, funniest, boldest cat of them all. Oh, one more thing... he's dead.

But he comes around, visiting. Yes, really.

He's not there all the time, but when he does pop 'round, I usually see him in the kitchen or around the stairs. And Thursday I saw him in the dining room peeking out from around the wall! He was interested in the sukkah on the deck. Before I realized what I was doing, I had closed the door and said, "No, no, hon. You can't come outside." But of course he could have come outside. Anyway, he looked at me with those gorgeous eyes, blinked, and was gone.

My dad was upstairs during all this, and when I told him I saw Max, he was dubious. Very dubious. I explained, and he kissed me on my forehead and told me he loved me very much. Harrumph.

Next time I'll invite him Maxie onto the deck... if he's careful not to fall off, that is...

Escape-goat

2010-09-19T20:45:00.001-04:00

I feel bad for the goat.

Yesterday's Yom Kippur readings got me thinking, and I was really affected by the thought of the Azazel-goat. You know, the scapegoat that was sent away from the Temple in ancient times, laden with the sins of the worshippers. I wonder what that goat was thinking. Maybe something like "Yes! Not sacrificed! Dodged that bullet!" Little did it realize it would be wandering in the desert alone, until it died alone, too.

Or maybe I'm just anthropomorphizing. But there's a part of me that just can't bear the thought of that poor goat, hungry and thirsty and hot...

Activeion wins again! (At least, partly)

2010-09-16T17:15:00.006-04:00

Folks. Why didn't anyone remind me to try the Activeion FIRST to at least get the stain out of Butchie's piss-fest, if not at least part of the smell? What's that? I should have remembered myself? How could I, when I was so worried about my kitten-cakes?

No matter. I tried it tonight, since the stain remained on the mattress despite the three bottles of Febreze, as well as part of the stink. Naturally, the stain is gone. It smells weird now, though. I guess because of the ions? I'll wait until the water dries and see how it fared. Maybe I'll do it again, just in case. Good luck to me!

New lip gloss

2010-09-16T15:17:00.009-04:00

Did you know... that the filling inside strawberry Starburst GummiBursts makes a flattering and tasty (and sticky) lip gloss? I'm going to use it the next time I have a make-out session.

Old lady shoes?

2010-09-16T12:40:00.010-04:00

Do you think these are old lady shoes?

I asked two friends whose clothing style I trust, and one friend does and one friend doesn't. My mom would like them because they are more sensible than shoes I usually wear. My family would call them "school shoes", or "muffin feet." (That's a good thing because it means your feet look sweet). But who can resist leather Easy Spirit shoes at Kittery (regular price $69), for the low, low price of just $15, on clearance? Not me! I snatched them up.

Today is the second time I've worn them, and I am liking them more and more. They are comfy, supportive, and cute, with a charming flowery design on the sole, which would show up in sand or dirt I imagine. But I won't wear them in sand or dirt, so it's my little secret.

By the way, it turns out I am not a 9.5, or a 10. I am a 9W. My college friend finally convinced me, even though my mom has been telling me so for years. Basically, they said the same thing, in different words: "I told you! When you stop buying cheap shoes, you get ones that fit properly." And you know what? They were right!

Injections and infections

2010-09-16T10:08:00.004-04:00

I'm finally able to bring myself to report on my very traumatic day on Monday. It was awful!

I've been feeling uncomfortable for about a week, so I peed on her bed (I guess it was a few times) to try to tell her. And her favorite t-shirt, as it was laying on the next laundry pile. I couldn't help it! It was the only way I could think of to get her attention. So yeah, she noticed. And she blocked us from the bedroom! I didn't think that was going to happen, but harrumph. That's my favorite place to sleep, too, you know. And she was all sniffly and sad-looking and talking about "not that old!", but I don't know what she is so worried about. I have lots of life in me yet!!!

So she shoved me into the rolling screened-in box and took me to that place… you know, the place with all the DOGS. Big clumsy oafs, with their slobbery tongues and bad breath and gigantic paws. Let meowt of there!

But it gets worse. Little T came with me in his picnic basket, and after waiting in that room with people and their DOGS, we entered a small room. But I know those metal tables! And people in white coats never make me happy.

After anal probing (they call it "temperature reading", whatever that is) they shined light in my eyes over and over and the white coat lady said something like, "handsome mumble mumble cataract mumbly star mumblejumble twelve mumbledom mumblestom." I finally had to shake my head to make her stop. Then she did some more poking and said something about a "a little bladder for me?" What torture. And poor T-baby. He had to go through the same thing. I think he clenched up even more than I did!

Finally, I was able to hide in the box again. But just when I thought it was over, White Coat Lady carried me off to the back room and well, I don't know how she did what she did, but after a moment of uncomfortableness I didn't have to pee anymore. She also stuck me with a long thing and out came dark stuff which she collected in a tube-y thing. I was sooo tired after, but glad to finally be on our way home.

Later, I tried to relax, but a big scary storm came, with loud booming and bright lights and flickering and eek! I ran under the sofa so I wouldn't have to see it and Twinkie jumped into the litter box, where he cowered a bit until she went into the bathroom and said something about "Blah blah blah inappropriate." So he sat under her chair quivering with his eyes closed until she picked him up while she sat the computer doing meow-only-knows-what. I was certainly not coming out until after the noise was over… which was for several hours. (Actually, it was quite boring under there. And I got hungry, so I came out for a snack during a quiet section. What can I say? I like to eat.)

Tuesday, she got the "results", which showed that I had some "bacteria" in my "urine", whatever that all means. Apparently, "antibiotics" will "take care of it." So yesterday, she picked them up… and reintroduced me to the "pill-shooter". Not exactly the best experience I've had. And these pills are huge! The ones I took for my leg had at least been quartered. And I have to be subjected to it for two whole weeks, twice a day! I have only one word for that – MEOW! If she thinks it's going to be easy for her, she has another think coming…

Signing off,
Butch

ipadio: TiKL

2010-09-14T22:08:00.001-04:00

Approaching sell-by date?

2010-09-13T14:50:00.001-04:00

Poor Butchie.

And poor me! Butch has been using my lovely new mattress and thick, fancy memory foam topper as a pissoir! How many times he did it I'll never know, but woo-wee! P. U.!!! I used almost three full bottles of Febreze trying to make them new-smelling again. Thankfully, I'm almost there. But I kept the doors to other rooms closed yesterday and didn't allow them in at night in case they were planning on peeing again… on me!

It was sooo hard to sleep without them, and my heart almost broke when I went to bed with Butchie and his handsome, fluffy self dolefully watching me out of his undamaged eye (the kittyract is back, and it's bigger than ever. Btw, the vet who checked out his leg in Maine was very impressed with his thick coat and very good teeth for an old guy; no broken bones, arthritis, or cancer either. And they were also fascinated with his star-shaped cataract. I guess you never know what will interest a vet.) And I felt worse when I got up this morning to find him in the exact same spot.

Anyway, although my babies are now 12, they are so sprightly and lively that it's hard for me to think they could be very close to the end. I have been preparing myself for this since they were kittens, but I hate to see an uncomfortable animal. Hopefully it is just an infection, not renal failure. So I'm taking him to the vet this afternoon to find out. I'll keep you posted.

CC's foible #2734

2010-09-12T13:16:00.007-04:00

Washing my clothes with fabric softener... for months!

To explain. On our way to Maine, my best college bud and I bought some laundry detergent for the cottage, All Small and Mighty, Wild and Fresh (like me, heh). While at the store, I wanted to show her a lovely scent I had found, a lemon verbena one. So I pointed it out. She pointed out right back to me that the bottle was actually fabric softener. Gasp! Had I been doing my laundry with fabric softener for almost 50 washes? I laughed and laughed. "Doubt it."

Then I thought more. "Hmm. Do I smell?" "Nope." I am sure one of my friends would have told me if I smelled funky enough to warrant investigation. In fact, I had been getting compliments on my (cheap!) perfumes recently (Pink from the Gap, and Pink Grapefruit from Bath and Body Works) so I was pretty sure I wasn't offending someone's delicate nose.

I wasn't so sure about recent laundries, though. But we were on our way to vacation, and so I thought nothing of it. She found a bottle of the right stuff anyway at a local store in Maine so it wasn't at the front of my mind. "Yeah, yeah! That's the one!!!"

Two weeks later, when I needed to do laundry again, I grabbed the new bottle (since we had left at my place in our haste to get to Vacationland). And I finally checked the older, nearly empty bottle... and she had been right. I had been doing my washing with softener! Guess I bought the wrong one. No wonder my clothes felt so nice...

A good weekend

2010-09-07T12:41:00.009-04:00

I had a lovely Labor Day weekend. Although I had to miss my blogger meetup on Friday for a non-existent hurricane, I did other fun stuff.

Saturday I went to the beach at Revere (of all places) and enjoyed the warm water and 99% EMPTY beach! Then I stopped at the pool, had another shower (without becoming waterlogged), and went out to Denny's for burgers (mine with cheese and my parents' made of veggies). After, we dropped into Christmas Tree Shops where I picked up a pair of Pampered Toes Spa Therapy gel toe separators by the makers of Ped-Egg. Just three measly dollars. And they feel great! Don't you just love a bargain?

Sunday I went to a friend's and ate seafood and watched Surrogate on her fancy new tv with Bruce Willis. Well, not exactly with Bruce, but he was in the movie. Heh. I really liked it! I wanted to see it in the theatre but that never happened. But this was a very good movie-watching experience. We were all hooked up with a huge 43" flat screen, comfy sofa, popcorn, surround sound, and pillows. The only thing missing was a cat, as far as I'm concerned. Very fun.

Monday I made a bunch of beautiful paper bookmarks (laminated!), then pooled for an hour, then out to pizza, then out for a dessert donut, then raced back to choir practice and was a half hour late because I forgot it was Monday! Whoops.

Now it's Tuesday, and back to work. Busy week, too... the High Holy Days are nearly upon us, not to mention the start of school. Yowza!

Summer star

2010-09-04T22:02:00.001-04:00

I love this. Summer may be almost over, but the Vega star shines at its brightest and highest tonight.

http://mobile.boston.com/news/science/articles/2010/09/04/teapot_of_sagittarius_begins_to_tilt_signaling_summers_end

Throwing errors

2010-09-02T16:29:00.001-04:00

This has to be one of the most annoying phrases ever. Technically, zeros and ones cannot throw anything. Who made up throwing and catching, anyway? There has to be a better set of words to describe exceptions within frameworks and platforms. I believe this phrase should never be used unless discussing actual, real-life actions with actual, real-life balls. In fact, I find this phrase so intolerable that when someone uses it in my office, I feel the need to leave my desk for a short break. Like this morning, bleh!

I looked it up, and the closest I could get (with the OED, natch) was definition #32b: "To put deftly into a particular form or shape; to express in a specified form (in speech or writing); to convert or change into some other form; to turn or translate into another language."

But the most recent usage they posted is from 1893! Soc. Eng. Introd. 30 Cædmon..throws Scripture into metrical paraphrase." And Javascript and other computer languages were not around then. So sheesh, why not something like "disengage" or "commix"? They sound a lot geekier than a sports term...

Vacation plans

2010-08-20T11:47:00.005-04:00

Tonight starts eight days and nine nights of sweet, sweet vacation, and boy! do I need it. I can barely track what people are saying anymore -- I hear the words, but I can't put them into context. Plus, yesterday I took the wrong route to a place I go almost every day... and even on the way back. And this was after I said out loud, with somone in the car, that I would take a better route. Whoops.

Anyway, here are my (open) plans for wonderful Searsport this coming week:

Saturday: Arrive. Breathe Maine air in, deeply. Make pitcher of sangria. Lobster for dinner with Vitamin N, the giant, and Ye Olde College Friende, plus drinks. Reading and relaxing, computer games (Civ 4 Complete, which I bought this year for $10 as an online download; and Spore (which I picked up TWO years ago for $20 and never opened), or maybe some new board games (guess I should remember to pack those). Working on my fake farm. SLEEP!
Sunday: Fake farm. A dip in the Penobscot if the weather is right. Sunshine and a book or laptop. Laugh a lot. More drinks. Fried native shrimp with fried dill pickles for lunch or dinner. Buy cookies at Bell the Cat.
Monday: Fake farm. Get a pedicure. Read a book. More swimming and lounging about in the sun. Maybe take some pictures around town. A sundae for dinner.
Tuesday: Fruit picking, unless there are only blueberries available, which I don't care for much. (Although they are good in pancakes.) Fall asleep in a deck chair. More fake farming. (I don't know why I like the fake farm so much. It's really quite stupid.) More lobster at some point (supermarket-bought, I think. I'm not about to go broke eating it.) Drinks.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Continue along the same vein as the rest of the week. Maybe some shopping, "lite" activities, crafting, writing, reading, lounging, dunking, strolling, perhaps a movie at the adorable theater in Belfast. I may or may not blog. I just haven't decided...

What a busy schedule! I don't know if I'll be able to keep up! Heh.

Aaaand by the way, I'm bringing Butch and Twinkie this time! What a change. I don't think I'd be happy without them for either days, and since they can come along, why not? I'll try it...

Open-faced sandals

2010-08-12T10:05:00.011-04:00

New sandals! Just $10.50 on clearance at Target.

I also got a silver pair with three flashy rhinestones on the thong, but the pictures were even worse than this one.

Hot tickets

2010-08-12T09:25:00.004-04:00

And I learned some fun and surprising things about my family in the 50’s, also. Yippee, escándalos!

My great-aunt posed as a pin-up
My great-uncle won $150 playing cards… and someone’s Colt 45
Another great-uncle had a fling with twins

Turns out there were quite a few colorful people on that side of the fam. Ho ho!

A chuckle or two

2010-08-11T12:50:00.002-04:00

But lest you think that the funeral day had no laughs, here are a few things that made us chuckle together as a family.

Baby blue hearse and limousines
Hearse (and us!) almost one hour late to the funeral
It was so windy that the driver’s yarmulke flew off several times during the military service
Sandstorms at the grave site
Gap between top and bottom of casket. If Grampa had seen that he would have adjusted it!
We were stuck in traffic so long that the limo driver had to stop to get gas
At shivah, someone dared to interrupt my father and press her agenda upon his grieving moment

As you can see, life goes on. But I still miss Grampa…

Grampa, I love you

2010-08-08T20:05:00.004-04:00

My favorite grampa died a week ago.

This was the grampa who could design and build and improve anything: rockets, sailboats, furniture, houses, a pinball machine, front offices, display cases, department stores.

The grampa who drove over from Cambria Heights to Flushing at 10:00 at night to pick me up after I received bothersome phone calls from an ex-boyfriend.

The muscle-bound tough guy who never smiled for photographs until after he started dating my gramma. He would have done anything for his wife and son and grandkids. It turns out he was a romantic, too.

There are so many stories. The only thing better than hearing the stories at all would have been hearing them from him.

Obviously, it's still pretty raw. As I sit here licking my wounds, I'm reminded of these stories (we went through a lot of them this weekend. I learned a lot more about him than I had ever known) and it is clear, even clearer now than before, that the main thing, the absolute most important thing in the world is love.

So here is some advice. You may not be able to pick your family, but when you're lucky enough to be born with a man like my grampa in yours... well... please, please cherish it all.

Life is good

2010-07-22T12:59:00.001-04:00

Some things I'm especially thankful for today:

Electricity
My job
Antidepressants
Colors
Silly cats
Funny dogs
Quiet

Life before Facebook

2010-07-21T22:35:00.001-04:00

Can you imagine life without the Internet? I can, but I wouldn't prefer it. No information at the touch of a finger? Intranets notwithstanding, life outside the network would become so much slower.

Hey, people might actually become more choosy about their friends and who they allow to contact them. Remember life before Facebook? Before cell phones? It was just fine.

Thinking about it, I realize we are all very spoiled, perhaps without meaning to be so. Even the least spoiled of us is still spoiled. What makes us so special that we think we deserve these wonderful devices and instant gratification? Without them, I imagine people with low frustration tolerance and those with Type A personalities would become much more tiresome. (Even if I weren't already one, I'd still choose to be an artistic Type B, thankyouverymuch.) Do you think that once someone has had access to the Internet, they can't go back?

I think most people should slow down anyway. We all run around so much, and why should we? Everyone, please remember those roses...they smell really, really good...

Gmail, schmemail

2010-07-21T22:03:00.002-04:00

In light of my Gmail issues over the past few days (emails not syncing to the Evo/"disconnected" status) I got a smack in the face yesterday when I realized how much I depend on email. It's not necessarily a bad thing; just a surprise.

I ended up using a different email client (figured out myself. Thanks for nothing, Sprint!) after 40 minutes on the phone with a rep on Monday night and another 40 minutes with a technician in a store yesterday. After a little poking around, the rep told me they sure could fix the problem and reinstall the app to fix it... by resetting the phone. Their words, verbatim: "Oh man, that really sucks." Uhhh, you think?

I stared at them blankly for a moment. Whuh huh!? Resetting? You mean, a hard reset? Return it to its beginning state? Completely empty? Devoid of data? But... but... I finally have the phone perfect after six weeks of use. No! No!! Nooooo!!!

I tried to resign myself to the thought of redoing all my scenes and redownloading all my apps. But I became panicky and started to sweat. I snatched the phone back, tried to breathe, and told them I would be back on Thursday, after I took pictures of all the screens and plopped my data and pictures onto my laptop.

Once home, I geekily researched a little and added my account the through the Mail client to push my email that way. And it worked. The interface took a little getting used to, but it did the job. But right before that I also enabled WiFi... just for shits and giggles.

Aaanyway, this morning Gmail had healed itself! It updates and refreshes properly and syncs and does everything I need it to. Do you think the WiFi had something to do with it? I have since turned it off and Gmail still works. So wtf was that all about, Google? Please, please don't do that again!

Smart Balance now less smart

2010-07-20T09:18:00.003-04:00

I was so sad this morning when I opened a jar of my beloved richly roasted Smart Balance peanut butter to lick the protective foil and taste... sweetness? Sugar?

That's right, Smart Balance has added evaporated cane juice to their pb. What was wrong with the old recipe? I liked the deep, dark real peanut taste. This concoction tastes more like children's Jif. It's ok, but this is now too sweet to use in my other recipes -- my favorite cold Asian noodles, for one. No longer will I be able to enjoy that lovely lingering peanut taste after my pb toast. The spreadability factor has decreased as well.

Oh, Smart Balance! Why have you forsaken me??? I'm going to have to go back to Skippy...

Foam frisbees and cool pools

2010-07-18T22:13:00.001-04:00

After shrugging off my body image, wiggling into my trusty black maillot, and tying my animal print pareo across my bust (I'm an animal. Grrrr), I joined the fam for pool fun.

I actually went into the pool today! Without a t-shirt! And it was great. For the first time in our lives, we were The Socially Unacceptable Family, shrieking and cavorting and splashing around with a foam frisbee. We had a blast. But after an hour the wind shifted and became slightly cooler, enough for us to grab our sun-warmed towels and get the heck out of there.

Too bad I can't join tomorrow for more. Darn office!

What a great day

2010-07-16T23:23:00.000-04:00

I took the day off from work today to have Niecey, Neph, and my parents over for lunch and fun. And we had a blast!

First, we played almost an hour of Beatles Rock Band. Then I made proper grilled cheese sandwiches, which they ate in their entirety, except for one small piece of crust apiece. Pudding for dessert.

After lunch, we played with building toys and beads, then my dad took the kids to the pool at their place while I helped my mom make a whole chicken in her pressure cooker. Dinner was that, plus brown rice, broccoli, and challah, all of which the kids devoured. Neph actually had three servings of broccoli!

Optile with Niece before bedtime and she kicked our butts. And we were not letting her win. Her new nickname is "Little Miss Strategy." Tomorrow, more fun will be had. Yay!

Mmm. Cake. Good!

2010-07-16T23:04:00.004-04:00

Quote of the day goes to four-year-old Neph, regarding made-from-scratch-by-Grandma-and-his-big-sister carrot banana cake with double the carrots: "It's not that I can't resist cake [in general], it's just that I love it sooo much!!! You know?"

Instead of counting sheep...

2010-07-16T21:43:00.004-04:00

...count Skittles!

After a spooked Niecey came downstairs this thundery and rainy night with a quivering lip explaining that she couldn't sleep for the old Joker's creepy smile invading her thoughts (courtesy of a sort of cartoon history book that used to cause me much lost sleep also, as a kid), me and my parents put our heads together and figured out this great way to get your mind off things.

She didn't bite at my idea of imagining new American Girl stories, or of general happy thoughts. But Skittles are one of Niecey's favorite candies, and since we all had some this afternoon, they were fresh in our minds. So we described creating Skittle mosaics in her head, then sorting them into lines or a rainbow and then creating another picture, then re-sorting, until she fell asleep.

It seemed like a good plan, but I had to go home so wasn't able to hang around until she fell asleep. I'm going to ask her in the morning if it worked for her.

Anyhoo, taking care of kids is not easy and I am rather pooped. So soon I'm going to count some Skittles of my own...

Mojoceratops

2010-07-13T08:09:00.004-04:00

No. No, this does not sound cool. Not at all. Leave it to Yale to come up with "mojoceratops". Those wacky paleontologists!

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/2346/

I freakin' love Maine

2010-07-11T21:11:00.004-04:00

I've said it once and I'll say it againe: I absolutely, positively, freakin' love Maine!

I drove the three hours up to Searsport on Friday night at the spur of the moment, arriving around 11ish (three hours for me. Everyone else takes about four) where I was met by a sleepy Vitamin N and a hairy little hot dog, a giant in a checked shirt and an apple turnover. Already the weekend was off to a great start. We shot the shit for a while, watched a terrible movie, and I went up to enjoy a needle-and-pins shower. I went to bed too far too late, but oh well.

Saturday morning we were going to hold a yard sale to appeal to the passersby to and from the lobster boat races, but that didn't materialize. It had rained after I arrived, the ground was squishy, and we had not completed the pricing. So we went to an art show in the park in Belfast instead. I found a cheap but charming orange brocade little zippy-purse (I think I will carry my phone in it, in my bag) for just five bucks! I was also going to get a really great green silk scarf with green threads woven through, but like a dummy I had forgotten I had no cash. My favorite burly giant charged up the hill to get some cash (without my card, whoopsie) and met me and Vitamin N in the park. After it started to rain... I mean, downpour. Sigh. Then he gallantly went to get the car, but everyone was soaked. To the skin! My poor apricot handbag was dripping -- I had to dry it off with the dog's towel. And I never got to pick up the scarf. Wah.

After we changed, we hit Anglers around 6ish for crispy, delicious seafood and fried dill pickle chips. So yummy! Then I saw a gorgeous white Impreza WRX in the parking lot with beautiful wheels. The car's look was not even marred by someone's lettered lobster logo emblazoned across the windshield and sides. We picked up fabulous cookies at Bell the Cat's in Belfast, and visited Rite Aid for a few things. Did you know you can buy liquor, beer, and wine there? Back home, we sampled the delicious cookies and did relaxing things. I actually turned the light off around 11:30. I slept a lovely, dreamless, cooling sleep.

This morning I went to the dump in my pajamas. Yes, it is true. Well, ok, I exaggerate just a tiny tad. It was only a small transfer station, and I was wearing my purple tie-dyed "10" tank top and a pair of huge gray cotton knit pajama pants. And proper underwear as well as glittery flip-flops. So I didn't really look like I was wearing pjs -- just ill-fitting, non-matching, stretched-out summer clothes. Heh. (Remember that weird day back in March when I wanted to buy the Hanes sleep pants at AJ Wright but was cut off by some chiquita banana? I found them, elsewhere, and they are sooo soft.)

Then we went for a dip in Casco Bay, a 1.5 minute stroll down the block (it is visible from their living room window). I didn't have a swimsuit, but I wanted to get into the salt water. So I went it with a huge t-shirt and a pair of workout pants. And proper underwear. Haha! It was delightful -- cool at first, but the salt water felt great and it was so muggy that it was actually more pleasant to be in the water than out of it. And the timing was perfect too, because just as we got home it began to rain. The whole town had been steamy for the past two days, and I am not sure the rain helped, but I hope it did.

Sadly, the weekend came to an end and I had to head for home around 4:30, but not before recording two very fun phonecasts with the giant! In August I'll be taking off an ENTIRE week for work to go up and chill, chill, chill. I just can't wait for that long vacation! Hooray!

ipadio: Bell the Cat's cookies

2010-07-11T15:51:00.001-04:00

ipadio: When the chips are down

2010-07-11T14:28:00.001-04:00

Hot dog salad

2010-07-08T11:43:00.001-04:00

Possibly the most disgusting salad idea, ever. Hungry Girl, wtf!?

http://www.hungry-girl.com/week/weeklydetails.php?isid=2125

Orange cats and yellow stains

2010-07-07T10:08:00.001-04:00

Can someone please tell me what I did wrong?

As I lay down to sleep last night (early for me, no later than 11:00!) I smelled something funky. One sniff later, I realized it was good ol' cat piss. On my lovely lavender sheets with irises on them. ew! Ew! EW!

There's no telling whether Butch or Twinkie was the culprit, and I really don't care who did it. I just want to know... why? They had a clean litter box, fresh water and food, toys, snuggly sleeping locations, and lots of love. They are such little brats sometimes! And the nerve of them, smiling at me when I came home last night.

They only thing I can think off its that it was so hot yesterday that they were letting off steam (so to speak) using the only method they knew. Anyway, I boosted the air when I came home to keep them cooler. I certainly hope they aren't ill..

ipadio: Honey Lovers

2010-07-06T20:07:00.001-04:00

ipadio: iPadio

2010-07-03T00:09:00.001-04:00

Project Runway!

2010-06-29T10:59:00.001-04:00

Now this is something that will convince me to plop down in front of a nice big tv: 90-minute Project Runway episodes! At long last, a decent design fix...

The marketplace

2010-06-27T19:23:00.001-04:00

Wow! I haven't visited the Android Marketplace for at least three days! I'm going to get right on that. (I posted this, start to finish, while waiting in the drive-through at KFC. Teehee!)

What a mess, #2 (testing, again.)

2010-06-21T18:19:00.002-04:00

Ha ha ha! This is how silly I am: I got wrapped up in another activity and totally forgot all about these awful messy posts! I left them on here yesterday for all the world to see. Oops.

But it just goes to show that the real Blogger app is terrible. Google, please set us up right! When I email a post to automatically blog, it doesn't use my formatting and makes the post look unattractive. This is crazy! The iPhone has it. Why can't the Androids?

UPDATE!
Well, huh. It did use my formatting after all. But it didn't used to! That's a good thing, but all my griping was for naught. Oh well, at least I can trust that emailing posts will work well in future.

Ok, enough about this. I have bigger fish to fry!

What a mess

2010-06-21T18:09:00.003-04:00

Text post test post

2010-06-20T20:52:00.016-04:00

I must not have been looking hard enough two days ago, because I found the Blogger "app." I linked my device... or so I thought. But it doesn't allow you to add t

tles, so why is that any good? Plus, it appears that only a certain number of characters can be added. So that's not going to work for me. At least with Andro

Blogger I could put titles in. I'm testing this again, to see if it will post three texts to the blog correctly. I can't wait to see what happens! Yeah, this l

ast bit was all just filler...

Okay. Obviously blogging via text message sucks. Don't bother!

Blogger, yes. Titles, no.

2010-06-20T20:38:00.002-04:00

This is just a test to see if I can figure out the Blogger texting to post. I dunno if this is right or what!

Hotness

2010-06-18T17:38:00.001-04:00

There are some things I enjoy hot: my soup, my stocks, and my men, to name a few. The rest of the time, I prefer things cool.

The weather, for instance. Anything over 70 degrees, and the air conditioning in my car gets turned on. And Massachusetts was good for a while, weather- wise. Spring was typical New England -- 50, then 86, back to 60 -- and we all know how to deal. If you don't like the weather in New England, just wait five minutes!

But summer is right around the corner, and with it comes sweltering temperatures and lots of sweat. These are not a few off my favorite things.

Today, the high was 91 and I hated it. Hated it! And tomorrow it will be worse... much worse. Oh, why can't it just be fall again?

Blogger?

2010-06-18T09:17:00.001-04:00

One thing I need for my phone is a better way to blog. The AndroBlogger app I'm forced to use isn't great, and otherwise, how would I be able to blog on the go? For example, on a rare day off, at my local IHOP. What once seemed wait-able just feels totally old-fashioned now.

It just really seems crazy to me that there isn't a proper Google app for this, especially since Google has their fingers all over the Evo. Right? Although I guess if Blogger is Flash-enabled, then Android 2.2 would fix that and they'd have an easier time making an app. Or maybe I should just switch to Wordpress...

Swype

2010-06-17T17:32:00.005-04:00

So I'm still in love with my phone. So what?

I've discovered Swype, an awesome (Android) app that allows typing to take place amazingly fast, even on this small keyboard. And no matter how fast speaking into your phone is, and how sophisticated the word recognition is (and it is damn good, even with my terrible diction), the accuracy could still be better.

Enter Swype. This fabulously well-thought-out app is pretty, functional, and oh-so-convenient. The customizations are a dream. This smooth operator should come standard on Android phones! (It's really, really cool.)

Halfway through this post I switched back to ordinary texting, just to see how it would feel. Even the talk-to-text feature seems like molasses compared to Swype. I guess I've already become spoiled!

Anyway, grab it now. It's in beta and free for a few days. Have fun!

Strawberry lemonade

2010-06-15T20:38:00.002-04:00

With bubbles!

I noticed a new flavor of "sparkling water beverage" today at Target. Market Pantry brand has a new flavor -- strawberry lemonade! It's really nice -- not as cloyingly sweet as, say, their cherry pomegranate flavor (which I actually love) but clean tasting and fresh. Not very lemony. Light-tasting and not as burp-y as real soda! All in all, a winner.

Sky Map

2010-06-13T21:30:00.002-04:00

I just have to say, the Google Sky Map app is freakin' amazing. If you know anyone who can show it to you, convince them to. It's like a work of art.

Where to even begin?

2010-06-12T21:55:00.002-04:00

Dear Readers,

I guess I'll start by apologizing for the delay in posting. I have been spending a lot of quality time (almost every waking minute of the last week) with my new phone. But I'll spare you the gory details, at least for now. Suffice it to say that the EVO is really, really cool. (And it kicks the iPhone's butt. Tee hee.)

Anyway, work has been incredibly busy, and I try to steal away to Maine whenever I can for some R & R. I went two weeks ago and it was great, as usual. Fabulous company and fresh Maine air make for perfect days.

This week I have been craving NUTS like crazy! I even forwent a lovely chicken dish in favor of peanut butter and jelly. It's like I can't get enough nuts! Even stranger, they seem to be slimming me down a bit -- less bloat and I stay fuller, longer. (No idea how that works, but I'll go with it.) So I splurged on a 21-ounce canister of Planters Deluxe Mixed Nuts (smiley cashews, noble almonds, pecans like baby turtle shells, boatlike brazil nuts, and eye-catching macadamias, all plump and dusted with pure sea salt) at Target today for $5.69. Quite a good price, actually. Yum.

I also realized I am a very lucky person. In addition to my little sis spending her time to edit the book, I have friends who did or are doing me the honor of reading the manuscript and providing constructive criticism. But I must say, I have been getting compliments. So that makes me very, very appreciative.

Signing off,
CC

Target ice cream sandwiches

2010-05-28T14:58:00.002-04:00

File this under yay:

Target now sells low fat ice cream sandwiches with stats like The Skinny Cow! 130 calories and 1.5 grams of fat per, and they look great. I bought some today... for $3.24 instead of the $5.79 at Shop & Shop across the street.

Passion

2010-05-28T14:23:00.005-04:00

My newest tea obsession.

Tazo, makers of mouth-watering and unusual tea blends, have a tea named "Passion: A magical blend of hibiscus, lemongrass, rose hips, mango & passion fruit flavors." Brew this and you'll fall in love with it! It's not a new blend and I've been drinking it for years, but it's just what the doctor ordered right now (at least for me). Fresh passionfruit is the most perfect, brightest, slightly sour but mostly sweet flavor I've ever had the pleasure of tasting, and this reminds me that I've got to get more of the frozen pulp to make my best passionfruit smoothies!

But back to tea. When you rip open the sachet, it smells a bit spicy. But brew, and it transforms water into a tangy, intoxicating beverage perfumed by fruit. And the tea is the color of passion, too - fuchsia! I enjoyed it hot yesterday morning, but iced is just a different type of refreshing, especially with a little Splenda thrown in.

Anyway, I recommend it. Yum!

You, me, who?

2010-05-26T13:11:00.002-04:00

Great article (paper?) from Jessica Love, psycholinguistics graduate student. The VT's article is an excerpt, so click further to read the rest.

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/blogexcerpts/2293/

Nougatocity

2010-05-22T15:47:00.003-04:00

"A heightened yet fleeting state of accomplishment that makes you realize how unbelievably unmotivated you normally are."

Screw you, Snickers! Speak for yourself. I'm not buying you anymore.

Hotspots

2010-05-21T23:27:00.002-04:00

So CC is not so clever tonight. So what? Sometimes it just takes a minute.

I just realized... if I pay the $30 hotspot thing, then I don't need Comcast at all! Simplify! Right?

So that's $69 for the Sprint service, plus $30 for the hotspot service, plus the possible $10 4G charge monthly equals $110. Or, $69 for the Sprint service, plus $45 internet from Comcast, plus the possible $10 4G charge monthly equals $125. $110 is less than $125. Therefore, the first way wins. This just gets better and better. YAY!

Say hello to my little friend

2010-05-21T20:53:00.009-04:00

I have to pay for her services, but isn't she gorgeous?

I'm going to make a special bag for this lovely new toy of mine. Buying was pretty painless, too. I can't believe I'm finally getting a great cell phone!

Here's what the HTC EVO has, and can do:

A sexy 4.3" touchscreen
8 megapixel camera on the front, a 1.3 megapixel cam on the back for mobile video chatting, and HD output
4G (useful when I'm in Boston, which, admittedly, is almost never -- unless it reaches to my house, which would be AWESOME!) and can handle voice calls and data transfers at the same time
Built-in turn-by-turn direction helper
Create-your-own-hotspot capability for up to 8 devices (which I won't use since I only have one wireless device anyway)
FM radio and thousands of apps
8GB microSD, upgradable to 32GB (currently sitting in my camera)
Proximity and motion sensors (no idea what these are for, but I guess there must be a reason)
Lots of other geeky gobbledygook about processors and speeds and interfaces and batteries that I find oh so very boring.

Impressive, yes? I think I'll name her Vanessa. Either that, or Vicki. I haven't decided yet...

Where there's a will...

2010-05-21T20:42:00.006-04:00

(Oops! I meant to post this yesterday. My next post won't make any sense if I don't share this background.)

...there's a way. And I have found the way!

In order to pay the bills and get the phone I want and also start to recoup some money (hopefully), I have decided to take the plunge and disconnect my tv. That's right... disconnect it from Comcast, completely. Also, dump my land line. Continue with their cable (duh) for $45 a month (12 mbps) and get the remaining ~$115 per month back into my life (my Comcast service had all the bells and whistles, which was quite silly for me because I only used the whistles occasionally, and I barely even touched the bells). Comcast was very nice to have contacted me directly (that reminds me, I need to write them back), but can't compare price-wise to someone who doesn't care much for tv and wants to dump their home phone. (Although the tv idea is new, I have been thinking about losing the land line for months now.)

After FIOS gets installed at the development, I'll just buy cable and internet through Verizon (to the tune of about $79 monthly).

As for a phone, hello, HTC EVO! You're mine... all mine. I pre-ordered today at Radio Shack with an instant rebate ($200 instead of $300, and it's held with just $50 -- plus, I'll get $20 toward accessories that day!). $69 for 450 minutes on an "Everything Plus Data" plan from Sprint is attractive and that's the one I've chosen.

But that's where it gets sticky -- three days without a home phone. I do have the cell though, and I should probably use up the Tracfone minutes I have now, so I guess I'll be using that in case anyone needs to reach me. Also, what if the FIOS installation takes longer than expected? I may be without a tv for months! (In case that happens, I'll call this whole thing an urban experiment. I mean, suburban. Heh.) I could always watch tv on my laptop. Also, should I keep the home number? Then I have to pay for another month of phone, though, and that's not ideal. Or I could keep the Tracfone number if I wanted. I never knew phone decisions would be so numerous!

This is seriously a big few weeks for me. Two years with Comcast is over at the end of May, the FIOS folks will begin laying the cable the first week of June, and the phone comes out June 4th. I'm shivering and quivering with excitement! (Ok, maybe not exactly quivering, more like bouncing.)

Every little bit helps... and it may just be a little bit (about $30) but that's okay; this way, I receive a better quality of life, plus a new toy. Anyway, I think I've figured it all out... and I'm just stubborn enough to make it work...

The book

2010-05-16T22:45:00.001-04:00

So I've finished the fourth or fifth or even maybe sixth draft of the NaNo novel. Who can remember? The last time I read it was sometime in December.

My sister (thank you muchly, Niblet), put her considerable editing prowess to work and wanted to get a few things across:

This book would be probably be rated X for violence and maybe sex also... but definitely for weirdness.
She enjoyed some of my phrases, which made me feel good.
Part of the books made her sad, parts made her skin crawl, and she found parts of it exciting.

So all in all, these comments were actually pretty good, even though books like this one are not her cup of tea.

As I reread her edits and comments this week and weekend, I was astonished at my storyline. I wrote this? Huh. It's really... quite... well, dark. It's significantly darker than I remember, but written in almost a bubbly way. Some of the prose is decent, too -- I recognize that. It will never become a classic, but I can see it being a bestseller! There are plenty of published books out there that are far worse than this one.

So, now what? What steps do I take toward publishing? Do I walk into a publishing house and announce that I have a book I want them to buy, and that I want to make me a million dollars? Heh. Should I bother? Writing it was the easy part, compared to this...

It's another Pleasant Valley Street Sunday

2010-05-16T21:17:00.003-04:00

Well, sort of. Although we didn't spend time at The Loop today, we were in the general area part of the time. I got lots of errands and other stuff done with Vitamin N:

Returned those two pairs of pants to Fashion Bug in Haverhill
Bought two more bras there
Returned those other two pairs of pants to Lane Bryant at the mall
Practically became trapped inside the mall after it closed without our noticing
Picked up conditioner and other stuff at the Salem, NH Target
Ate a very satisfying $2 dinner at Taco Bell *giggle*
Returned four awfully overdue library books to the Nevins Library in Methuen
Chitchatted about Maine
Debated what to do about a car next year (did you know that right now the Maxda 3i Sport is leasable at $99 a month for 42 months? $99 a month!!! I still love my Impreza, but something to keep in mind. Although the all-wheel drive is totally necessary in the northeast as far as I am concerned. So hmm, I might have just made the decision.)
Debated what to do about cable services. I'm not enchanted by Verizon, but $99 a month for the FIOS cable, internet, and phone seems like a good deal for 2 years instead of the ridiculous amount I am currently paying Comcast.
Attempted to not feel like a defeatist about my "single" situation
Paid as many bills as I could
Did a laundry

Now, I chill. Maybe some tea? (I can't believe it's almost 10 PM.) Where did the weekend go?