My Terms

I did something the other day that was done kind of out of an angry place, but has really made me happy in the long run. A week ago I turned off the auto-email check on my phone, and I don't miss it at all. Now I check in on my email when I feel like it, instead of being alerted at random moments of my day to emails that I largely do not care about.

I won't ever take the email app off of my phone, because there are days that I don't sit down at a computer and some of these emails do need a response. I don't think that I'll ever go back to pushed email notifications though. Even just the way that it's worded bugs me now. I don't want the phone to push my email to me, it can fetch it for me when I am ready to see it.

That's pretty much the approach I have with all the various apps and things now. I don't even like it to give me little number badges over an icon to pester me into looking at it. If I feel like checking on it I will, until then it should just sit there and be quiet.

The exception I make is for actual phone calls. It is a phone after all. So my phone is allowed to let me know when people call, but that is all.

Dreaming

I can tend toward the high-strung. You really don't want to see me in the 30 minutes before we are "scheduled" to be getting in the car to go out of town. I'm a complete wreck, and kind of horrible to be around, although we have found a secret weapon. It turns out that if I drink a beer during the last hour or so of packing and getting ready it can help me stay calm. It's as good excuse as any to keep some beer around.

But stress is a funny thing, because you can't always see it. With the exception of Max's teething meltdown yesterday, and his sleep being all buggered up (day and night) things are pretty good around here. I'm actually getting things straightened up, and that always makes me feel better. I'm really proud of the improvements to our upstairs space lately, even if there is still a lot to be done. I don't really feel stressed out right now. I feel pretty chill actually.

Last night I had several dreams full of stressful situations.

• I was entering a darkened room to look for something or someone but kept the door propped open with my foot. I was afraid that if I went all the way into the room the door would shut and I would be stuck inside.
• I was working at a company, but something really bad had happened and we were all going to lose our jobs.
• Someone was going to get beat up, but I couldn't find them to warn them.
• I wandered around the grocery store, but couldn't find anything to buy. I also did not have a grocery cart, and although I kept waiting the guy making coffee never finished, so I couldn't even get a free sample of coffee.

There seems to be a common thread here. In every dream there was something I couldn't find, except possibly the one about losing a job. I don't remember that one clearly though, so maybe the horrible thing that happened was that we couldn't find something. I slept pretty bad, and I can't believe that I'm in a pretty good mood with how tired I feel.

Dear Brain,
Stop being weird.
Love,
Me

Sometimes

Sometimes I feel like a bad blog reader.

Most of my blog reading is done on the fly on my iPhone, while trying to make sure that Max doesn't electrocute himself or manage to eat broken glass. This means that I rarely ever comment on a single blog that I follow.

I might really adore a story, be moved by the honesty of a moment that was shared, lust after the eye candy of a picture happy post, but at most I tend to hit the "like" button or share the item on my reader. Clicking through to the original post so that i can post a lame ass "you're groovy" sort of comment falls well below the rest of my day in priority.

Maybe I don't think I'm a bad blog reader, so much as a greedy one. Sometimes it seems like all I do is take. I want you to post about your lives and dreams, be eloquent and irreverent in the same breath; here I am now, entertain me. I will read it all, the good,the bad, the wow so much more mundane than my boring day, and I will treasure it, because I am a Reader, but I will not thank you.

I have a blog. I know how hard it is to find the time to write in a blog, especially if you have anything at all else to do. (If you had nothing else to do what on earth could you have to write that would interest me?) How can I let myself get away with this? Meh, I'd make a terrible task master, also I'm pretty terrible at any written correspondence at all.

Still, I want you to know that I care. Especially you guys that read this, that know I read you, and maybe wish you got more comments... Even more than that, those of you that I drink beer with, I want you to know: I read what you wrote, I have opinions about it, and maybe most importantly to me, you make my heart swell with pride that I know the person behind that post no matter how small or mundane it may seem to you.

Sitting here at 2 am in the dark as the rest of the house snores it is easy to say that I will try to be more engaged. I will try to at least acknowledge that I did a hit and run on your blog. Many of you have kids though, and might even be laughing at my post midnight delusions of free time, so forgive me if nothing changes. Most importantly forgive me if you find that I left a comment only to say:

:)

Winning is Fun

I like to enter contests, and I like it even more when I win. I like to say that I never win anything, but that's very much not true. Earlier this year I won a copy of Tea & Crumpets from Chronicle Books. I haven't made any of the recipes in it yet, but I do like looking it over. I day dream of the crumpets, scones, and tea sandwiches it describes.

Just recently I won a giveaway through The Cradle Crush from MD Moms. My shipment arrived today. They sent an assortment of Baby Silk products: a bottle of their Hair and Body Wash, Daily Skin Protection, and Sunscreen Towelettes (both a 15 pack as well as 3 single wrap towels).
I have fairly sensitive skin, so I'm testing the lotion on myself first. If I don't have a reaction to it after a couple of days of use then we'll see how Max does with it. We haven't needed to use any lotion on him, so this is more for fun than for any dermatological reason.

I like the fact that the soap and lotion come in pump bottles. We have a gazillion bottles of Aveno baby wash and lotion courtesy of baby showers and Jeff's mom, but they are all squeeze bottles. It's easier to get soap one handed if you have a pump. Of course the big question is, what will Max think? He's enjoyed his baths and shampoos with the Aveno product. Will he notice or care that this soap is different? My money is on him not caring, but we will see.

Because I Should be Knitting

I'm still in the Sock Madness competition, so I should be knitting. There are only 3 spaces left in my division and I've only got 1.25 out of 2 socks. Still, I read Julie's House Numerology post and decided that I had to do it too. I promise to go right back to knitting in a minute. This is based off the numbers on the house that we are moving too, not the rented duplex we are moving from because that would just be silly.

House Number 2
Here is a house that creates peace, harmony and balance in anyone's lives. It is a house suited for relationships, and people who are laid back and friendly. This is a great home for new lovers or people who have lived together for a long time. It will aid in the balancing of any relationship.
However sometimes we are so laid back that one may call it laziness. So don't forget to get off the sofa and DO. Do what needs to be done to fix the creaky floorboards and cracks in the pavement with this house.

Positive Colour Suggestions: Cream, Green and White.

Well thank goodness that we've picked green as one of our house colors. I don't know what would have happened otherwise. Perhaps our sloth inducing couch would raise on it's rear legs and force us into slave labor.

Get your house numerology here.

No Style Here

I was intrigued when I saw a link to this quiz over at Julie's and I decided to give it a shot. Apparently I have no sense of style, or I have no idea what I like. I've taken it twice and come up 100% Zen and 100% Contemporary, at least during a 5 minute window I'm consistent I guess. OF course I already knew that I have no idea what I like. There's a reason why there is not a curtain, wall hanging, piece of art, or painted wall in our current home. Yes I'm lazy and didn't want to decorate if I might be moving at the end of any lease, but I also don't know what to do with the space.

I walk through stores and love certain styles for a little while, then abruptly change my mind. I do plan on decorating when we buy a house, but lord knows whether it will have a coherent style. Maybe I'll hire some interior decorators to give me gratis consultations. (Yeah, I'm talking about my friends who've all got more stylish looking interiors than me with my bare white walls.)

Coraline

I am really looking forward to seeing Coraline. It was a fun book to read, but the art I've seen so far in the snippets is beyond what I had in my imagination. It's so beautiful, and spooky, and cool, and just awesome. If you can't wait until February of 2009 then check out the website, and use these codes to get a peek.

stopmotion : the Biggest Smallest movie ever made. (this is so pretty)
buttoneyes : Meet the cast...
moustachio : Bo Henry, art director of Coraline, shows off his remarkable moustache tricks. (beware men may find themselves needing to grow a large mustache)
armpithair : Every hair in the film was placed there by hand... (boggle!)
puppetlove : Director Henry Selick explains what it must be like for the puppets in the film. (this one was a bit weird)
sweaterxxs : Micro-knitting. (even non-knitters will be a amazed)

After that you need to go check out the Knitty blog. There are said to be 50 boxes sent all over the net containing various movie memorabilia, and Amy did a great job photographing hers to share. Not all of them have been sent to knitters and I found a great post here with links to other boxes that have appeared online.

It's times like this when I wish I were famous, at least internet famous, even if no one locally knew who I was. As much as I appreciate all these folks sharing their presents virtually with the world, I wish I could touch them. I'm sure there will be some cute merch released with the movie and I will just have to support the economy when the time comes and get something of my own.

Sometimes Life is Not Fair

I just found two pairs of Converse that I adore. I would love to be concerned with which pair to put on my Amazon wishlist* but it doesn't matter. Neither of these shoes comes in my size. I mean, it's not even close, not even 4 pairs of socks close. The smallest size that they come in is the equivalent of a US women's 10 1/2. In case you ever want to gift me shoes I wear a US women's 7 1/2. There's no way I can handle a shoe 3 sizes to big. The pair of Converse that I own in a size 8 (whole sized only on that one) are still so big that I barely wear them, lest I trip over my own feet.

Still I shall share my finds with you, in case you are gifted with larger feetsies than myself.

These are both from the Project Red collection. The Converse site says 10% of the net wholesale price of these CONVERSE (PRODUCT) RED™ shoes will be paid to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Geneva, Switzerland). Pretty nifty to get cool new shoes and donate to a good cause I think.

Without further ado I present to you:

1 Hund(red) #30 Jeremyville
and 1 Hund(red) artist #34 Ana Ventura
Don't feel too bad for me though, I did add a lot of Mary Jane style shoes to my list. So I am not completely devoid of the possibility of new shoes.

*You should check out the new ability to add anything from the net to Amazon lists, it's cool. I've been able to finally add many of the other items I've coveted for years, but have never splurged to buy myself.

Unbelievable

I just had to enable the word verification on comment posting, and delete two comments that were Viagra ads. Stupid fraggin spammers.... Anyway, good night it's way past my bedtime.

No Content

Well since I don't have anything else to post right now, here's a link to a silly Olbermann mash up. It made me laugh, and it's only a minute, so go ahead and check it out.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

Plurking Isn't as Dirty as it Sounds

Work today was one of the most hectic, crappy, stressful days that I've had in a long time. This does not bode well for next week. As a rule of thumb, if the week before the end of the quarter is crazy then the actual week that ends the quarter will kick thy ass. On a positive note there did not appear to be 400 people laid off, which had been a popular rumor for the last few days.

What I wanted to post about earlier today, but couldn't for reasons above, was Plurking. I've fallen into a deep dark well... okay not really dark, but a deep brightly colored well called Plurk. Plurk is kind of like Twitter, but I feel it has a couple of advantages. I find it way more entertaining to say for one, and that's half the battle won right there. I also find it more attractive to look at.

It's still very much the same sort of device. You post little blurbs of 140 characters or less and it creates a timeline of your day. Really the only things I like more about Twitter are that I've found people I know who use it (albeit very little) and you can update through SMS. Now, if I had unlimited texts so that I could follow other peoples twits through SMS I might be more into it, but all I can afford is to send mine then read stuff later online.

Additional reasons I prefer Plurk are more numbered. It groups responses to a plurk under it, like a conversation. You can embed links, photos, and videos in a plurk or response. Even though there is not a text message posting option the web version of Plurk is quite fast even when on ATTs edge network. I figure when we get 3G phones it will be even better. I'm just looking forward to gaining a few more Karma points so that I can change the color of my timeline and also get the dancing nanner emoticon. (I have such high aspirations in life, don't I?)

So if you want to join in and be my friend you can click here. I've only got a few people that I'm following so far, but as I get more fluent with Plurk I know I'll be adding more. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but now I'm having a great time.

I figure if nothing else this explains that little widget over in my sidebar, if you happen to actually view this on the blog itself rather than through a reader. That's the headless Plurk dog that will keep you posted even if you don't want to join in yourself. Now I'm going to go have an icecream and knit before dinner.

Captain Obvious

It's not often that I will post a picture from the "ladies room" but this had to be done. I like to think that they mainly posted the sign so that none of our rocket scientists tried to sit on it sideways.

I will acknowledge that there are far likelier reasons, including that the sign had been baring entrance to the entire bathroom earlier, and they just put it there to hold it until they came back to finish repairs, but my version is funnier.

Free Online Books

Apparently you can sign up and get access to free books online here. I have been too busy with sock knitting and house work to take the time to browse. It sounds interesting, and it's free (although I hear it's only available if you have a US address) so it's worth looking into maybe.

I think I'd rather have the free audio books, because I don't care for the idea of only being able to read a book at my computer, but it could be very handy for books that have pictures you would like to see. Those don't come across so well in the audio format. Of course I haven't checked that out either.

If you use either of these services let me know what you think. I'd really like to get there some day, but for now I've got errands to run.

You Know You Want One

This awesome little number was created by Carissa Knits over there (points to Carissa's blog). The original post was from September 2006, but this is a classic that won't soon go out of style. I mean, who doesn't want an R2D2 hat? She even designed little pokey outey bits instead of only working a flat design. I'm not sure how I feel about her choice of using duplicate stitching (knitting a striped hat and stitching the pattern on top afterward) as opposed to knitting it together that way to begin with. I guess it depends on which way is more flexible. I mean, it's a hat, so wearability is paramount. I think adding the stitching on top would be easier in some ways, but it's also more like needlepoint and less like knitting, and although I love the idea of needlepoint the project that has languished in a plastic sack in my closet since 1992ish tells you that it's just not something I can really get into.

Still, a very cool hat in my opinion. I think someone should make me one.

I've Failed You

We braved the Ikea this weekend, and I saw nipple plates, and I did not take a picture. I thought for sure that I would be able to find it online, but I haven't yet. Next time I see the absurd I promise to take a pic for you. The best that I can do is tell you that it looked just like this, except that the blue was pink, and a graduated pink at that.... That there is some boobage.

Quite Simple Really

If someone happens to get a spot of shit in your day, I have a remedy.

Step 1: Make cocoa (with at least some real dairy in it)
Step 2: Turn on the gas stove
Step 3: Roast marshmallows at the stove whilst sipping the cocoa

Unless you hate chocolate, marshmallows, or happiness, then it's bound to make you feel better.

It's Not a Hamster

A Joke Is What You Make of It

Children trying out a newly discovered thing called humor are kind of
surreal. I'm sitting here while Jeff finishes up some work at a
client's house and overheard this -

Child 1: Are you allowed to eat ice cream whenever you want?
Adult: No
Child 1: Then why do you live in ice cream?
--silence--
Child 2: We don't live in ice cream!?!
Child 1: It's a joke!
Adult: Ohhhhh...

The Canadian House Hippo

I love this video. I wish that I had a house hippo of my own!

So Many LoLs, So Little Time