lost and found

About a month ago, I lost one of my favorite earrings. I’d just got my hair cut, and went to Hammersly’s for Tak’s birthday dinner. Carelessly, I’d thrown my earrings in my handbag, and when I went to get my sweater, one of them fell out. Just in case, I left my name, number, and a description of the errant hoop with the very nice hostess. While I was willing to let it go, I was really sad; I’d bought the pair at a cute shop in Brooklyn with my girlfriend, and they represented a time and place that was special, both in meaning and where I was in my life. Plus, I wear them all the time!

Luckily, the earring turned up (Tak had a feeling it would), and we were happily reunited. But it makes me think of my possessions in an interesting way. In Christopher Moore’s book A Dirty Job, people’s souls reside in their objects; when the person dies, a soul collector or Death Merchant takes the item and sells it, making sure it goes to someone new who will love it. For some of the characters in the book, the item is an entire clothing collection, breast implants, or a cigarette case. Sometimes I wonder in what thing of mine would be the lucky object/s that’s holding my soul.

inbetween series

I've caught up with all of the Jim Butcher Codex Alera books, and waiting to borrow the latest Dresden book that just came out, Turn Coat. The next Sookie Stackhouse installment won't be released until late May, so inbetween I just started The Time Traveler's Wife on several recommendations. I like it so far, and (for now) it'll be a good commuting read--something I can put down.

With the lack of obsessive-compulsive reading, I'm trying to organize and de-stash the yarns, playing around with stitch patterns, and swatching. It's nice to get back into the knitting, after falling asleep on the couch for the last few months. For some reason, socks have recently intrigued me. (Like I need another thing to do?) Whilst blog-hopping, I found a link to the Twilight-inspired Vampire Baseball sock yarn at Sunshine Yarns by way of the Blue Blog. It's so cute, although I have to say I like Alice (she's my favorite Twilight character). Knitting will be a great way to hang with the fam all day tomorrow. Happy spring!

art imitating life

Sometimes I forget how much Tak puts into Secret Asian Man that is, for the most part, straight out of our real lives. In a recent story line, we goes into our break-in from a couple years ago. (No, I don't actually have a vintage Woodface T-shirt, but it would be cool if I did.)

What else is funny--this is what our place looks like--the colors, the layout, the furniture. Only cleaner!

childhood comforts

We've been playing a lot of board games in the last couple weeks as a TV alternative. It's been fun to get back into Trouble, and Sorry! I found a new travel-sized version of Mastermind at a game & tobacco shop in Brookline, and rescued our travel-sized Othello dating back to the 70's from my parents' house. Owen loves Othello, and I've even downloaded it to my iPod touch (called Morocco).

Another blast from the past has been a recent run of dinners like "beef" stroganoff and American chop suey. We usually use ground turkey and whole wheat noodles. For snacks, we've been having cream cheese or peanut butter on celery, which I hadn't had for years until last Thanksgiving. Anyone have a good tuna casserole recipe?

series to series

I have been tearing through a couple of fun series lately: the Sookie Stackhouse books (the basis of HBO's True Blood), starting with Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris. Soap opera-y but with vampires, I've seen the show, but love love love the books. One of them I finished on a train ride to NYC, it was so engaging. With a break to read Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (a must-read for every comic book geek), a co-worker lent me Storm Front by Jim Butcher, the first book in the Dresden Files series. It's a great mix of noir and magic; at least two of the books I finished in a day, they are such fun and engrossing reads. Sure, they might get a little predictable, but I still need to know what happens; which is probably also why I've stuck with TV shows Battlestar Galactica and Heroes. Now that Medium is on after Heroes, my Monday nights are couch-bound.

Want a taste? Try Many Bloody Returns, a good collection of short stories edited by Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, and Toni L.P. Kelner. Also included is a short story by Kelley Armstrong, author of Bitten and the "paranormal romances" Women of the Otherworld." Yes, she wrote the short story "Twilight" and no, it has nothing to do with Edward and Bella.

The soundtrack of our lives

There's a fun Facebook meme about the 15 albums that changed your life. It was really hard. For me, music is so intertwined with memory. For the most part, I have very clear picture where I was when I heard something, who I was with, what I was doing. Being of an age where "albums" denotes an entire disc, turning the record or tape over, and listening to it--I did a lot of that, in the car, in my room or someone else's. To narrow it down to 15, though--I could do 20 and maybe be happy. Tak was running down a bunch of artists, and I wasn't able to include them. Either it was song-specific, or I couldn't pick just one album by one artist, whether it was the first one I heard by them or what I think to be the best one (e.g, the Police, Suzanne Vega, or Crowded House). Some are so part of my formative years that I had to exclude recent albums I've loved--or it's just too many from one time period. The most life-changing ones I heard in high school (and those are many).

Or--none of the great discs I've heard in the last few years from top to bottom rocked my world in a fundamental way. Which is not to mean I don't appreciate and love some of my recent faves--Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights, Death Cab, Bravery, Keane, the Matrix and Garden State soundtracks, or Amy Winehouse. Well, there were many mornings that I was able to get through the day fueled on Keane's Under the Iron Sea, but it wasn't life-changing. Then there are the potentially hazardous records associated with various romantic attachments from 20ish (eek!) years ago. Am I going to advertise that on FB, or here, even? Nope, sorry.

The other scenario is there are times we'd listen to a bunch of stuff, and all that music meshed together indicates a time & place, but to choose one artist/album would be unfair. For example, I heard Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking" about the same time as "Pretty Hate Machine" by Nine Inch Nails. Neither one made my list because even though they are life-changing albums back to front, they are both very spring/summer/fall 1990. Same with Depeche Mode/ Pet Shop Boys/ OMD/ the Smiths/ New Order/ O Positive/ U2/ REM/ 10,000 Maniacs. They are all high school for me, flowing from freshman to senior year. I did single out the Cure's Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, but cited the Singles, Head on the Door, and Disintegration; also War by U2. College? Some of these bands carried over. I have one mix tape (and I made a ton of mix tapes) with Bob Marley, CSNY, Sting, NIN, Jane's Addiction, RHCP, Dead Can Dance, REM, Kate Bush, and Bongwater. Or when Tak & I started dating, I had my crazy mix of stuff, he brought the hardcore (Tree, Sam Black Church, Minor Threat), ska (English Beat, Madness, Specials, Bim) and the inbetween (Bosstones, Op Ivy).

So, what would have been some of the others?
Stay Awake (various artists): This is an awesome disc from 88-89 of Disney classic songs being covered. Gems include the Replacements doing "Cruella DeVille," "Castle in Spain" by Buster Poindexter, Bonnie Raitt's "Baby Mine," and Suzanne Vega doing the title song. We still listen to it since I have the tape deck set up in the kitchen.

Best of Blondie (Blondie): I loved Blondie in 5th grade, but didn't get an appreciation until college & after. Classic.

Seven Worlds Collide (Neil Finn & various artists): I couldn't single out one Crowded House record, but we listened to this a lot the summer before I got pregnant. When I was pregnant with Owen, for my dad's birthday we saw Neil Finn at Avalon. It was an incredible show, and one of the best I've ever seen.

Which is another meme in itself: Most life-changing live shows.

From Thomas to Wall-E to Star Wars

It happened relatively fast: I got Owen the the Wall-E DVD when it came out in November, and suddenly, everything was all about Wall-E, and robots. He occasionally made a track, but by Christmas, that was all he wanted. It was pretty amazing, and it seemed like he was ready to move on to something different. Considering how much he was upset and sobbed when we took him to see it in the theater, he wanted to watch it every day. We were starting to get a little tired of it. He drew Wall-E, Eve, and the Axiom on the back of his papers or at after-school. Since he was fascinated with robots and ships, we decided to try a different tact.

He'd been pretty resistant to Star Wars up until late January. Except at Christmas, my mom dug my Millennium Falcon and some action figures out of the cellar, and he loved playing with it. So I got him a mini-graphic novel, with stills from the movie and word bubbles (and by "the movie Star Wars," I mean, of course, A New Hope, Episode IV). The boy was captivated, and we slowly watched it over a weekend. Woo-boy! Meanwhile, the tracks (wood, plastic) and trains are now sitting neglected in a bin.

He still won't watch Empire Strikes Back all the way through, but he seems curious about the Ewoks, and *someone* told him the truth about Darth Vader. We've also seen The Clone Wars, and he really liked that, too. But R2 is his favorite character, and he loves the Falcon. We invested in some flat Legos so he can build the ships (Knex weren't doing the trick), although he's made a serviceable Death Star and a "rebel base" from Duoplos. Maybe we'll give Return of the Jedi a try soon. May the Force be with us.

the Metro

Yelp collaborates with the Boston Metro once a week, a daily paper chock full o' AP stories. Today I was one of the highlights, and got top billing! Check it out: http://www.readmetro.com/show/en/Boston/20090108/1/12/
It's a pretty saturated scan, but I'm OK with it.

Another year

"Every year unfolds like a petal inside all the years that preceded it." –Naomi Shihab Nye

Oh, yeah, I had a birthday! Since we were in NYC, we met friends in Hoboken for lunch, went to the cray-cray Toys R' Us in Times Sq. with the indoor Ferris Wheel. While we were tromping around looking for a Disney store, I saw a pair of Tokidoki rubber rain boots and got an immediate case of the "I wants."* Then some solo shopping to The Point Knitting Cafe, Purl, and Uniqlo. Followed by pizza, cake (strawberry shortcake), and lambic. Owen went to sleep fairly quickly, followed by a drunken evening at Tom & Jerry's.

Remember: beer before liquor, never been sicker. And lambic *is* beer. You'd think I'd be old enough to know this, but older is not always wiser.

Being righteously hung over did not stop me from eating my two-day-old red velvet cupcake from The Point (which I think is really from Magnolia's) that survived intact the train ride home. The cupcake was smartly "packaged" in an upside-down coffee cup & lid. Sure, it looked like a Glade air freshener, but it worked! Oh, and I can thank my mother-in-law's still-warm and homemade omusubi, rice balls wrapped in seaweed.

*I did get the boots as my present to myself, but thought about it for a week first.

Merry christmas!

I'm procrastinating packing & cleaning to post photos. Hope you all have a lovely holiday!

art show!

Tonight is the night of Tak's art show at Space 242, so we'll have both of our art shows wrapped up and will be able to start celebrating the season properly this weekend.

Photos TK of my art show last week; to be honest, they're not very good, but oh well. Tak's compatriots in the Weekly Dig design crew are the other exhibitionists, plus there will also be a series of short films which seems appropriate: Girls Against Boys. Somehow appropriate will be catering by JJ Foley's, which is basically across the street from the Dig office.

stuffed

literally and figuratively...
We had a great, mellow Thanksgiving, with a lot for which to be grateful. My mom had dinner sort-of catered: all pre-cooked, just needed heating up, and everything but the pies were excellent. Tonight I'm using the cranberry-orange relish on pork tenderloins, which should be yummy.

If there's a lot of typos, it's due to stress & lack of sleep. I've been knitting and doing a couple new paintings for an art/fashion show for Yelp Elites: F.A.M.E. at Via Matta tomorrow night. photos TK, but so far I've done 2 new paintings, knitted 1 clutch, a "necklace," and cranking to finish 2 more bags to felt (or not). These are going to go on canvases (1 down, 1 that still needs to be stretched & gesso-ed) to complement the new paintings, but we'll see how it all looks once it's on the wall; could be really odd looking & need another solution.

For work-work, I still have to finish a chapter to report on at a meeting tomorrow, plus two other meetings. And I won't get to finish the second Octavian Nothing book, since it's due back at the library...also tomorrow!

What else? oh yeah, the cat is going to the vet (Thursday); Owen's school winter fest is Saturday & we're going to a housewarming party, and both need baked goods. Whee!

tired of sleeping

Part of the reason why I haven't blogged in awhile is that I keep falling asleep at 9, and am just really tired. Not sure why that is. I have a ton of stuff to do, too. Facebook is probably the other big reason. I love just the quick updates.

Anyway, I've been to Seattle (awesome), seen a few movies in the theater, no less (City of Ember, Nightmare before Christmas in 3-D with the Coraline trailer, Twilight), knitted like mad to get Lorie's scarf/shrug done for her totally gorgeous & fun wedding. We went to the Brandywine Museum which was a pleasant surprise--lots of illustrative paintings that were phenomenal. This is the same trip that we saw red truck balls in NJ.

Hmm...I feel like we've been super-busy with all kinds of stuff, but now (of course) that I'm trying to remember it, it's gone.

Barack the Vote

I've always hesitated doing a lot of political stuff on here, but obviously can't resist a cupcake. Here's a great two-fer, from my Seattle trip (thanks to work, and the cupcake--thanks to my new-old friend Kathleen).

And yes, it's chocolate with vanilla frosting.

SAM on NPR

I know I've had the major fail in paying more attention to work, sleep, the kid, knitting, and Facebook than the blog, so...sorry.

However, there's some good stuff going on. Tak is going to be on NPR tomorrow (and for the next week) as one of the panelists on the Weekend America show. It's on one of the Boston stations at 2pm. The links and info are also listed on Tak's website. Enjoy & happy Friday!

We (heart) Zipcar!

9
Originally uploaded by Zipcar Boston

Owen & I got our photo taken in the Zipcar Mini!

procrastination at its finest

I've been putting off updating the blog for awhile, mostly because I've been busy and haven't had half a brain to do anything more clever than update my status on Facebook. But also at this point the backlog of events is pretty huge: beach days, traveling, 1st day of school, scanning in old photos from college, Lorie's NYC bachelorette extravaganza, Rob & Jude's wedding celebration.

Now my laptop is running on empty & I'm watching Nobody Knows, a Japanese film loosely based on a true story. Hopefully in the next couple days I'll at least do a little something now that I've broken the ice.

book fiend

Now that my commute is solo for at least 30-60 minute stretches, I've been burning up the book list. I was worried that I wouldn't have the resources of a library nearby, but I shouldn't have worried: the Collins branch of the Cambridge Public is right behind my building. It's tiny, but I've been able to find some good reads, and the librarians are super-nice.

Case in point: Devilish by Maureen Johnson. I saw it as a suggestion on the Minuteman Link, and couldn't find it on the shelves. One of the librarians--who'd just read it--heard me, and quickly found it. It's fun: a quirky-smart-punk chick fights a demon who's shown up at her high school in Providence.

Finished the Twilight series (loved Breaking Dawn), and am looking forward to the movie. Working on the second book of the Percy Jackson series--why isn't this the next big thing for Harry Potter fans? And the Martha Speaks show is premiering soon on PBS, which Owen is looking forward to, too. One of my co-workers is also a Neil Gaiman fan, and she lent me an advance copy of The Graveyard Book that a friend of hers found in a used bookshop. It's a really fun read, with echoes of several other books in a very different setting (loved it!).

I've been favoring the Visual Bookshelf on Facebook over Good Reads, just because it's there, it's fairly easy, and I'm starting to get website-d out. I did update Good Reads for now, but should anyone notice the difference, there it is.

let the school year begin

We've had a crazy August: bridal shower in Brooklyn (FUN), Storyland (FUN). Now the real fun begins next Monday: Kindergarten.

Update: We're not going to Catholic School after all. We were waitlisted at our two top Boston Public schools, and found out in late July that we got into one of them. Because we missed the parties and welcome parties, I was worried that we wouldn't get into the after-school program. I didn't need to worry though: there were still spots, and we have Kindergarten orientation this week. Yay!

I loved Owen's preschool, and while I was sad to leave the people, Owen's definitely ready for more. It'll be a whole new world.

now I know: Jon & Kate plus 8

People have been asking me if I watch this show for the last couple years, and I had no idea why. The question usually came after saying how cute Owen is. Now I get it: white woman with an Asian guy who have (lots of) cute babies.

late summer thoughts

Today there is just a little chill in the air, enough to need a jacket in the morning. My toes are cold and I wonder if I should have worn closed up shoes. Not yet, not yet! The grass in the cemetery across the street has been freshly mowed, its scent mixing in with the odd salt of the sea, blowing from the east. The bright sky reminds me to hurry, hurry, there are things to do before school starts--which this year, has a whole new meaning.

There are many other things I need to catch up blogging on--the craziness of last week & the weekend, the new Martha Speaks show, the girls whose knitting club got booted out of the library because it wasn't literary--but listening to Neil Finn on my way into work, and the hint of fall that comes in late August, before the humidity & return to summer that happens in September, really struck me, the way it always does at the end of summer.

Austen-ized

It's almost embarrassing to admit that I got my BA in English without taking Brit Lit. In my own defense, I did take a lot of poetry classes and Development of Western Civilization, but I'd never read any Jane Austen. After watching Becoming Jane and part of the latest Pride and Prejudice, in addition to reading Shannon Hale's Austenland, I figured it was time to catch up.

I got 1/3rd of the way through Pride and Prejudice when I cheated and Netflixed the BBC/Colin Firth version. I finally finished the book, and was surprised how much more I enjoyed it for watching the movie. Also having seen Emma, Mansfield Park and Persuasion, but don't feel the same urge to read the books.

Bride and Prejudice, is the most fun (and takes the most liberties) of all the adaptations. (Thanks for the rec, D!)

Soon, I'll be on to Jane Eyre, after seeing the lovely Charlotte Gainsbourg/William Hurt version on cable. Charlotte Bronte was not a fan of Jane Austen. Why am I not surprised?

Kick for Nick in the news

In today's Globe, to be specific: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/31/iraqi_kids_will_get_a_kick_out_of_his_good_deed/

One of my Yelper friends, Allix T., works a lot with Kick for Nick. Her brothers were very good friends of Nick Madras, for whom the foundation is named.

Dark Knight: awesome

Wow. still digesting. Theater: sold out. Running time: long, but it doesn't feel that way. Story, characters, and themes tie well together and don't smash you over your head the whole time. I'm not surprised at all that people are going back to watch it again, it's that good.

Heath steals the show (as well he should). His voice and mannerisms are just wicked. Weird overtones of Brandon Lee/The Crow, but it can't be helped.

What's up with the "I need a lozenge" for Christian Bale's Batman voice? And the awful jawline on the mask? (Christian, if you're reading this, I totally agree: Bobblehead. Nicely put!)

Very different flavor from Iron Man, which was also excellent, but lighter and more entertaining (I mean that in a good way). Friends keep telling us about the quick crossover references, so I'll watch for that when it comes out on video.

We did not get to see the Watchmen trailer (I'll do that in the next couple days). Part of me almost doesn't want to know, the other part is morbidly curious to see how bad Alan Moore's work is going to be mistreated yet again. To be fair, V for Vendetta was good, but the rest were not taken care of very well.

boy stuff (sorta)

Yesterday I was in Target, and while I was looking around the toy department, a mom behind me is looking at the Dark Knight/Batman toys with her daughter. What I overhear is, "You want the crazy guy (Joker)? You're the only girl I know who plays with both Barbies and this stuff." I had to silently laugh, because I was that girl too, only it was Barbies and Star Wars action figures.

Last week Owen came home from my parents' house with a what I think was a MacDonald's toy of Bumblebee; and if it wasn't, then it was a great knock-off. Even though he says he doesn't like Transformers, he likes the toys.

The big yay is that he's finally gotten into the Muppets. He runs around singing "Manamana," "Crocodile Rock" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." (oh, and the pink polyester pants Elton wears on the show? so wrong.) Of course, I think of Anne, who always said the cure for getting a song out of your head was to sing the opening song to the Muppets. It might even be worth it to hook up the VCR and dig out my Muppets' 30th anniversary show that I taped from TV. It's like a "best of."

Saturday was also his first visit to a comic book shop, New England Comics @ Coolidge. He's also into reading Tiny Titans and Superman Adventures, based on the animated series by Mark Millar (thanks Pete!)

We're seeing Dark Knight tomorrow; Tak's already seen it, but I'm really looking forward to it.

totoro forest project

Tak sent me the link to the Totoro Forest Project and I was totally blown away. The aim of the project is to protect and preserve the Sayama Forest near Tokyo, which inspired Hayao Miyazaki to create his most iconic film, My Neighbor Totoro. The project's benefit event is an auction of many artists' work, including Charles Vess, James Jean, Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese), Scott Campbell, Scott Morse, and a number of artists whose names & styles look vaguely familiar to me. Awesome.

Just when I thought Owen wouldn't be able to see a Miyazaki film on the big screen, Tak also sent me the trailer for the new Miyazaki & Studio Ghibili Film Ponyo on the Cliff (Gake no ue no Ponyo). It opens in Japan this weekend, which probably means it'll be another year before it hits the states. Just that he keep making movies is wonderful!

forever young

Even more fun and without the angst of my high school prom, the Yelp prom was loads of fun, even if Whiskey Park didn't have a dance floor. People were dressed in the range of late 80s-early 90s, from casual grunge to over-the-top 80s to a full-on light blue tux. I didn't take enough good photos, but other people (Shannon, Trish, Roni) took better ones.
Here's me & Nate:

But of course, the best photos are from the afterparty in Russ & Shannon's room at the Park Plaza hotel (as good a place as any prom afterparty should be).

internet diet

With the beginning of my new job, my internet use has come to an almost complete halt during the daytime. As a result, I spend my late nights catching up on my 'net surfing, which leaves even less time for blogging. And sleep. Sorry.

We had friends come in for the 4th, which meant a thorough house-cleaning. I had to stash most of the contents of my old cube under the dining table. Owen had a "brilliant" time at the annual birthday barbecue we go to, mostly because of the fireworks we got to see. There were also a bunch of other kids about his age there, and he had a ton of fun playing with them. Especially once they realized the Nerf rocket launcher could also be used as a water gun.

Even though it opened last weekend, we finally got around to checking out WALL-E. I really liked it. Owen, being the sensitive boy, got very upset about where the people were. (Later, I explained the storytelling convention of looking in the background movies about what's already happened in the movie). Then, he sobbed at the end of the movie. He did laugh at the right places, and he really did like the movie, using old cellphones in the places of WALL-E and EVE.

Tip of the day: An old pizza box makes a good surface on which to shuck corn. A bonus: since you're not supposed to recycle pizza boxes anyway, you can then close it and throw the whole thing out; the mess is contained. Presto!

future posts: Avon Calling, 80s clothing-redux rant & Prom, Iron Man, Zeer.com

if the dress fits...

Yes, the formal dress from 1993 does fit... if I totally sandwich myself into it like a corset.

Now the big decision: to go fancy, or casual, with my Esprit baggy button-down shirt, leggings & socks. Also, figuring out hair & makeup.

yard sales will never be the same

For the last few years, my mother has been saying, "When we have our yard sale..." My sister finally called her on it and we made the date. Over weekend we finally all pitched in and had a it at my parents' house. It was a total dud. Not that many people came, ad while we did sell a few things, the most productive part about it was taking several truckloads to Salvation Army. The biggest thing about it is that my mother didn't even protest us donating so much of the junk; she is a major packrat. Maybe it was just bad timing, but now we all know that we can't hold out for another one to be a success.

One of the biggest successes of the day is that I found the dress I wore to my senior formal in 1993--just in time for someone to wear to a big '80s/'90s prom.

NYC highlights

Lately I feel like I couldn't post anything until I'd put up a summary of the trip Memorial day weekend. The weather was perfect! We got to hang out with Tak's family, our NYC pals, and I got to see Karen & meet Zoe (she's so sweet)!

-Food/Coffee: We introduced Owen to the ritual of eating a New York hot dog from a cart on a rock in Central Park after going to the Natural History Museum; La Columbe Torrefaction in the Toyo's neighborhood won for best coffee (even if the interiors did get the Soho treatment--that's not a bad thing); the big coffee loser was City Girl cafe (too expensive and poorly laid out), and their Red Velvet cupcakes were not great and small to boot. The new Kinokuniya is gorgeous, and the cafe is really small, and sleek and modern (of course).
-Knitting: Visited the new location of Seaport Yarns (cool new straightforward layout, although somehow it seemed smaller than their old shop). Really wanted to get something at The Point Cafe but didn't--nothing really moved me. The owner at Stitch Therapy was very cool (especially about exchanging unused yarn from Christmas without a receipt), and it's a nice small place and I did get a nice skein plus a little camouflage Know Knits bag that I've had a little crush on for awhile. Lorie & Sarah were very patient with me while I futzed around.
-Friends & Family: Explored Hoboken a little bit to meet up with Karen & Zoe. Hoboken's a neat area and so close to Manahttan, plus it's got a bunch of kid-friendly parks along the water (yes, Frank Sinatra drive). We did some good hanging out with Lorie & Pete, Sarah & Dan: seeing Indiana Jones 4 at the Ziegfield, going out for dinner (Spice, yummy) & a Harvard Sailing Club sketch show at the P.I.T.; picnic at Prospect Park. Owen (and Tak & I) got some good hanging out time with Baba & Jiji.

A fine time!

almost 5 years ago to the minute

Owen was born!

Today is not only Owen's birthday, but also his graduation from Preschool (although he'll be attending over the summer since it's also a daycare center.. It's going to be a big change next year!

i heart procrastinating

Instead of packing, I'm blogging. SMART. We leave for a few days in NYC tomorrow and I haven't really begun to get my stuff together. Knitting? Do I bring the sweater for Owen, the baby gifts to finish... ? It might be 80 degrees over the weekend. Oh, and cleaning: must remember to hide things from the parents who are coming to check on the cat. I could color my hair (again; the Manic Panic washed out in less than 2 weeks), except that now it's really time to pack.

I was going to finish this post with some recent cooking exploits, but again, I'll put it off (or see my flickr page). Spike is showing 1000 Ways to Die (it's horrible but I can't resist the Bernie Wrightson-esque comic panels). Very Distracting.

The Apple has Landed

Today the new store opens in the Back Bay, and it's coooool. Thanks to the excellent Digsters, I was able to check it out before the masses sully its pristine glass. But I was cheated out of a first to review (oh well) on Yelp. There will be tons of photos swarming the Internets--it's the biggest store in the states and #2 worldwide. The stairs are the one of the coolest parts. Looking up...
...and looking down.

2nd blog aniversary

So I missed my own blogiversary on May 6. I'd been meaning to update the layout anyway, and needed an excuse. While I'm not exactly a fan of how much room is over on the side, the new & improved functionality of laying out in Blogger was pretty cool. There might be some more tweaking as I go along.

taking the rest of the day off

Friday I took the day off to write, knit, and explore a couple of neighborhoods. Happily, I managed to do everything!
First stop, Adams Village, to Greenhills Bakery--one of the best sources for Irish brown bread in Boston. While I didn't actually have the brown bread, I'll definietly go back. I was totally overwhelmed and hungry, to I went with the cinnamon roll. I walked around, although there's really not a lot to see. We considered living over there, and it's really quaint.
On a whim, I walked down to Lower Mills--both not too bad and no mean feat, either. It's a straight shot down Dorchester Ave. Lunch was served at Common Ground Cafe, which has a reputation for being excellent but the interiors are very woody--like a Hobbit's hole or a 70s holdover (or both). The other reason for its notoriety is that the cafe & market are run by the Twelve Tribes, an obscure Jewish sect (for lack of a better word) that's pretty hippie-ish. I sat and knitted while I had a really leisurely lunch. They were nice enough, and the food was really good. I kept walking, visiting a couple other shops. The high-speed trolley from Mattapan is back up and running, so I took that back to the Red line. Then I went home and Yelped all about it!

I'm finally tackling my first real sweater. Last weekend I went through some of my yarn stash (as the flickr shots will show), and found a fun camouflage self-stripe, so I'm working on that for Owen. Mostly, it's so I can practice increases and actually reading a pattern so I can knit my own sweater. It should be done by the fall; one sleeve is already 2/3rd of the way along.

I've also been doing a fair amount of cooking; more to come.

what a little nightshade can do

Last summer when I dyed my hair pink, I still had leftovers of the 2 almost-rans: violet & Manic Panic's Deadly Nightshade. To get out of my gray-hair funk, I went with the nightshade, since it's slightly more conservative.

I forget how the grays really pick up color and reflect it=no bleaching necessary. I love it. It's a fantastic purple-y plum color. Plus, I still have half a jar!

(Owen & I are playing with Photobooth. He especially loved the twisty effect but I vetoed it.)

delicious

Last week I finally started up with del.icio.us and love it. Thanks to Rob, I found Cooking with Rockstars, and maybe someone will find and enjoy Best Parent Ever, a.k.a. Stuff White Parents Like.

I was in an odd mood last night, and so I made banana bread using my mother's recipe. As I was getting underway, I realized that I ran out of crushed walnuts. Luckily it still tastes good, but walnuts definitely add an extra level of texture and fragrance.

My crazy work project is finally over, and it's so weird not to be going constantly. I can shamelessly laugh out loud to LOL cats.

mucinex-d is my friend

I've finally completely off the Mucinex-D--the one with pseudoephedrine that I had to get ID'd for--which worked like a charm. I figured out the extra strength was 2x the dosage I needed. Duh. That and the antibiotics.

mucinex is not my friend

I have had a nastier-than-usual cough for the last couple weeks (but really it's been about a month). I've been to the doctor's twice and today they finally put me on antibiotics for definitely an ear infection, maybe a sinus infection, and possibly atypical pneumonia. (At least it's not strep.) Until now, I've tried various combinations of sinus & allergy meds, cough & cold meds of the drowsy and non-drowsy varieties, inhalers, homeopathic honey cough syrup, and typical home remedies. The only OTC drug I haven't tried up to this point is Mucinex, and the doc recommended it today.

It's horrible. I still need to cough, my body goes through all the coughing actions, but nothing comes out. It's like there's a hair stuck somewhere in the back of my throat. Since it's a 12-hour dosage, I still have about four hours to go.

Needless to say, I'm working at home tomorrow.

best weekend in ages

Friday night: Took Owen to the Kids' Night at the Flower show after school, which involved riding a Town Trolley to the Expo Center, seeing Hedwig the Bard Owl, petting both a boa constrictor and an alligator. Owen got his face painted with a leopard. It wasn't one of the pre-fab choices (yay!), but inspired by the leopard they had on the table.

Saturday: Visited the South Shore Model Railway Club in Hingham, for their bi-annual Open House. Yes, grown men who rent a space in former WWII storage buildings with bad lighting may not sound exciting, but Owen had a great time. Some of the tracks were still a work-in-progress, which was cool to see. Some of the model freight trains even had graf! The boy really liked the model Green Line Train (the old ones). When, when will the MBTA learn to sell toys like their trains?

Sunday: After much resistance, we made it in the nick of time to catch most of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Southie at my friend's house and hang out with her & her family. She grew up right on the parade route, and we got to watch from the front window. And we enjoyed eating a traditional corned beef & cabbage, plus loads of sugar.
Also: I totally finished the pink boucle hat. I look almost like I did this summer with the pink hair.

Monday: Owen had the day off from school because of Evacuation Day, which just happened to also be St. Pat's day proper. Gotta love those Boston-area holidays! I took a personal day so we could hang out. It was so nice to have a long weekend. So we saw Horton Hears a Who, his first movie in the theater. We'd been reading the story, so he was OK with it, but he was way more excited to actually see a movie on the big screen. Unlike most movies, the volume was set to a normal level, not outrageously loud, which I was really happy about, even though we were prepared with cotton balls. It was a banner eating day: we shared a Shamrock shake and ate movie theater popcorn.

All that fun has made Owen a tired boy! It also makes up for the not-so-great news we got from the Boston Public Schools last week. He (we) got waitlisted for our 2 top schools. (You can pick up to 5, but you only get on the wait list for your first & second choice schools for a year.) BPS doesn't choose alternate schools for K, only for G1 (because it's mandatory the kid be in school by age 6; which is sad to think that for some kids the first time they're in a classroom could be in 1st grade). We could have gone in and frantically tried to find a seat at a school that we may not have seen or didn't feel 100% about. What a huge drag. Most of the charter schools have already just done or their lotteries/applications, and there weren't too many we were interested in. Luckily, we also applied to Catholic school! So unless 82 kids (!) at our #1 school don't go, or 8 other kids from our #2 school--which I don't think is going to happen--the BPS is out for us. Maybe we'll give it another shot next year, but I'm actually looking forward to sending him to the school we chose. What a surprise!

cables ahoy!

Last night I finally taught myself how to cable. A friend tried to teach me last winter, and I just couldn't get it. Lo and behold, thanks in part to Knitty's feature Techniques with Theresa, also to Super Stitches Knitting by Karen Hemingway, and some time alone on the couch, I was finally able to get it. Now I don't have any idea what to do the the 1.5"w x 19"l strip of knitting (steering wheel cover? sweater section?), but I am quite proud of myself.

fear of a boucle hat

My 2nd knitting anniversary has come and gone, and I recently rediscovered the boucle yarn that I bought on my first trip to Woolcott & Co. I had tried to knit it when I was first learning, and just couldn't get the hang of it. Then for Christmas, Lorie gave me a hat & scarf kit--in alpaca boucle.

I started the hat, sans the earflaps called for in the pattern. On #8 wood needles it has taken me at least a month to do (in gray Lang Bolero/ Mohair blend). Then Saturday night while watching 30 Days of Night, I started on a purse that was going to have a pink boucle border--and it grew until I used one whole ball. It's now on its way to being a hat, I think. On #11 metal needles, it flew by.

So now I think I've gotten over my fear of boucle. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

i confess

I have been mostly good and have only had one muffin. Of course that doesn't count the lovely homemade cupcakes from my friend Barbara Ann, the orange chocolate K Bliss bars or the 100 calorie Hostess Carrot Cake cupcakes. At least I can still fit into my skinny jeans, but I haven't lost any weight. Oh well. Still haven't joined WW, but I am working out once a week, usually followed by vermicelli bun, or cutlets & anko donut.

Tak & I got out for a night out to see the English Beat (which is really a Red Bull pounding Dave Wakeling & a new band). He still sounds the same, and the show was almost 2 hours full of skanking goodness.

Just finished the sequel to Peeps called The Last Days. One of my favorite things about it was the chapters are named after bands.

Fat Tuesday

Usually I don't like to talk about weight, because it gets kind of boring really fast. But after months of stress-induced eating & holiday feasts, I've managed to gain back half of the weight I lost while doing Weight Watchers--15 pounds/30 lost total. Part of it I'd like to blame on hormonal eating binges; back in April I had my IUD taken out in a so-far unsuccessful not-quite-whole-hearted attempt for baby #2. (Sorry if that's a little TMI.)

So, tomorrow we diet. To celebrate Fat Tuesday, I had an apple fritter from Starbucks. Damn, those things are eeeevil.

I haven't given anything up for Lent in ages, but to get kick started, I'm giving up coffee-shop pastries: fritters, donuts, muffins, breads, etc., baked by our friends at Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Borders Cafe, et al. I'll keep the home-made goodies to a minimum.

Part of the whole Weight Watchers thing is tracking what you eat, and that really makes a difference. And meetings. Somehow being held responsible to a group of people and paying for someone to weigh you is a motivating incentive.

Heck, maybe I'll even to a yoga class on a regular basis. I may even go to church!

Oh yeah, and I aim to finish knitting a sweater.

Wish me luck.

surfacing

So I'm finally almost coming out of my work insanity. January has flown. We've looked at and registered for public schools. We find out in March. We're starting to look at Catholic schools.

I've also got back to cooking. After two weeks of having lunch brought in (very nice lunch), it was good to have lighter fare & be in the kitchen. I made steak tips with my homemade marinade: salt & TJ's 21 Seasoning Salute rub, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, red wine, sesame oil, lemon juice. With whole wheat orzo to beef up the rice pilaf. Tonight Tak made apple chicken sausage with squash I'd saved from the farmer's market in November (it was still good!).

Owen has discovered "rocking out." One of his train videos features Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which he really likes. On our ride in the car the other day we had our own little Wayne's World moment.

Yay! ROTD!

On Yelp, they have a Review of the Day, and, after thinking I would never get one, I did! It's for Black Ink, which is a review I really like and had fun writing.

psst...if you sign up, you can vote on reviews you think are Useful, Funny, or Cool. That's how they calculate ROTD.

Yes, it is snowing, very hard and wet. We have about 2-5" at 10:15amEST. Owen's school is still open, and I'm at work. Happy Mondy!

a very merry unbirthday

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! And happy new year, too. 

I worked on my birthday. (Work is still crazy.) We had a mellow family dinner, courtesy of Tak & Teriyaki House. My dad was funny, and said it was the best Chinese food he ever had. And cake, of course. Owen was sick (ear infection), but he still managed to jam a huge piece into his mouth. 

One of the Dig cover artists Tak uses/knows, Daniel Lim, aka Fawn Fruits, is doing a project of 1000 drawings. Tak sent him my photos to use, and lo--there's my birthday present, #47 "Sweeter." 

Very cool.

mmm . . . pie

Yes, I know, it's been ages. But I saw this on Devon's blog and couldn't resist. Gee, I wonder why?

You Are Mud Pie

You're the perfect combo of flavor and depth. You are overpowering and dominant - and that's what people like about you. You bring energy and a new direction to most interactions. People crave you in a serious way. You're that important to them. Those who like you give into their impulses. You don't represent reason. You represent pure temptation. People get addicted to you rather easily. You offer people a dark side that is very hard to resist.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

beauty of the season

I did the bulk of this last week, on the day when it started snowing and kept going for almost 24hrs. Now, most of the snow has washed & melted away with the warmish weather and the rain.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

12/20: I'm commuting through the woods on a snowy morning, riding on the famed Greenbush line (the commuter line going to the South Shore that took 20 years to build). It's been hectic the last--however long it's taken me to update--and this is a nice repreieve before I go into the maelstrom that is work.

We've done some fun things too, though. Last weekend we saw Owen's school friends from last year at a birthday party. Then we went off to Edaville railroad, to ride the train, see the lights, plus we got our visit to Santa in! The goodies were numerous, including hand-made mini donuts (didn't try those), and (gasp) deep fried whoopie pies served with a side of ice cream. The deep fried chocolatey goodness I could not resist, and it was so rich and warm and creamy...and made me sick to my stomach that I could barely eat anything else for the rest of the night.

The Weekly Dig holiday party held at Church (formerly the Linwood) last week was like an old reunion, and some people came out that we haven't seen since before Owen was born. Tuesday night was a Yelp Elite event, and we cleaned the downstairs bar of the Good Life out of vodka. Yay!

I still haven't done any great shopping for Christmas, but I am furiously working on knitted gifts when I have the energy. In January, I've been charged with leading my Wed. Night Knitting group from the South Shore on a Boston Yarn crawl. I'm more nervous about where to take them to eat/drink--too cool and people won't know where they went, not cool enough so that when they tell their kids they' won't be, "you went where?" Should be fun though.

The other big thing is that we're coming down to NYC for New Year's weekend, but leaving on New Year's Day. Owen is more excited to ride on the Acela than anything else. (I bought the tickets far enough in advance that they were only $4 more than the regular train.) There's talk in the office of some people--don't know if I'll be one of them--going down to NY to finish our project. It would be funny if, just having been in NY, I'll have to turn around and go back. We'll see!

craptacular vernacular

Combined with mixing words, like ginormous, it seems like a fun but somehow wrong thing to teach a four-year-old. Or not? At least we don't say that the "vominator left a crapalanche on the table" around the boy.

Someone left a copy of this book the other day in the ladies' room for the taking. It seemed too much like an omen, but at the end of the day, it was gone.

back on scarf wagon

owen & scarf
Originally uploaded by tracey2bits

knitted this to match Owen's winter coat. 1 skein each of Sheep Shop (Orange & Navy). CO 147 stitches onto 48" circulars and knit up. I get bored knitting the long way, so I thought this would be over faster by knitting long & wide...and I was right! Still took the most part of Thanksgiving, but it's done. Now, on to the hat...

quote of the day

Owen's holding himself like he has to go to the bathroom.
When asked if he needs to go, Owen replies, "No, my things are sticking together."

we turned out OK

One of the last times I was home, I rescued some of my old books. Among them was this gem that we've been reading a lot. Owen loves it, especially the silly stories. His current favorites are Big Bird's Rhinoceros Rhymes and Pete the Pirate (who's not nasty, but bogus like our good friend Pete always says). It's amazing how progressive it is, with "townspeople" and a woman mayor. How '70s!

Then in the New York Times today is a big article about how the Sesame Street of our day isn't appropriate for today's toddlers. Sure, there's some sarcasm in the article, but there's some seriousness too. Some of it is good, and some of it is people reading too much into things. Heaven forbid anyone smokes a pipe anymore.

It amazes me how much of my job--sanitizing books to a certain degree for children's textbooks--I've absorbed. Those scissors are too pointy! Where's the helmet for that kid riding a bike? Look at the udders on that cow! On the other hand, I read and recommend so many fantasy-based and funky picture books that I know we could never, ever use in the reading program.

So what can we do to make reading fun? Another oh-so-cheery article from the Boston Globe tells us that kids are reading significantly less for fun than ever before. The report points the finger at the media, multitasking, and a disconnect in education between the ages of 9 and 17. The most interesting part from the article for me is was: "The poorest Americans who read did twice as much volunteering and charity work as the richest who did not read," (NEA Chairman Dana) Gioia said. "The habit of regular reading awakens something inside a person that makes him or her take their own life more seriously and at the same time develops the sense that other people's lives are real."

is it any wonder?

Finally, a night when I'm not so brain dead that I can catch up on the blog. (if it's any consolation, my yelp reviews aren't faring much better.) I've had Keane's Under the Iron Sea on repeat for awhile.

Work has been awful. The project is grossly understaffed. No one knows what will happen in January. People are leaving left and right. That's all I can say about that. I've been going to sleep with Owen and going to bed straight after. Zero energy left to do much else.

Halloween was fantastic. Owen was Thomas again, but what a difference from last year! We carved pumpkins, he had a great time at his preschool's parade, and we made it around 2/3rds of our neighborhood. We watched the first two songs of Nightmare before Christmas and he was singing them all night. Totally fun.

On the knitting front (slowly but surely. I've been making a few coasters.), I've discovered that old throw pillowcases in canvas that zip make great bags to felt in.

Also been to two shows: Tori on my sister's birthday which was awesome; the Police last night, which was eh. Glad I went, but still feel taken somehow. Which I had a feeling was going to happen. Oh well.

celebrity sighting: Stephen King

This morning after we dropped off Owen at school, I saw Stephen King walking into the Transportation Building. Pretty cool! He is very tall, and looks just like he does on the book covers, only dressed really casually. Don't know if he's in town for book stuff or a Sox game.

Sorry I've been off the blog. I finally got an invite from Ravelry, so I spent a night playing around on there. Like a dummy, I signed up as traceybits, instead of tracey2bits. I'd think by now it'd be pretty automatic to type in, and then for me to check it. But no, they won't let you change it once you've put it in. Duh. I've also got some new artwork for a Yelp elite event at the Nile Lounge in Allston on Tuesday, 10/16. The work will be up for a few weeks, which is both excellent and sad because now we have a big blank wall in our house.

Finally reading "Love is a Mix Tape" and I love it. Highly recommended.

ghost of a fish

James, Owen's Betta/Siamese Fighting Fish, passed on to the big fishbowl in the sky today. He'd been having a hard time the last few days, and for the last couple weeks we tried medicating the tank and carefully checking the pH, but to no avail. I suspect it was something in the brand-spanking new tank, or Mattapan the Cory Catfish (who was the first fish to die) introduced a disease. Owen took it extremely well. He didn't even cry. Or say anything about the empty tank when we got home. Is that OK? He did think we should not put him in the toilet, but in the sink because it was smaller.

This morning I realized there was a bunch I wanted to say in my "I'm not ready for fall" post that I really should have said a couple of weeks ago. It's going to get updated, so please don't freak out. That's what happens when I blog at 1AM.

On a last note, I want to sing the praises of my new Lexie B. bag in the Baja. Yes, I finally broke down and made the investment. We were sitting on the T and I discovered it had a hidden pocket. Shazam! It is huge, stays on my shoulder like a good bag should, and I can find everything in it. Perfect. (And special thanks to Patrice who watched Owen while the super helpful saleslady at Seed Stitch called to make sure it was 25% off.)

100

Wow, I've reached 100 posts! I've also reached over 100 reviews at Yelp, too.

Saturday I was lucky enough to have Tak watch Owen for a bit, so I got to get to some places I've been wanting to go, and others I haven't been to in awhile. It made me miss how many cool things we used to have near us at Davis/Porter/Union Squares. It also makes me NOT miss having to take a bus everywhere. It seems like so many people are moving or live north of Boston, and that I'm living in one of the least cool places. But I really like my neighborhood, and we're close to a lot of other neat things, so I don't feel like we're missing out too much.

Change is in the air, though. Even though we're having a last taste of summer, the leaves are coming off the trees and there's a chill in the air. I don't think I'm all the way ready. Blueberry beer is still available, but all of the pumpkin ales have been out since Labor Day. The pumpkin donuts are certainly enjoyable at Dunkin Donuts (and if I eat more of them I'm going to head back to Weight Watchers--well, I'll have to do that soon anyway, too many cupcakes and carbs).

Summer flew by, where did it go? I feel like most of it was spent working. We did have some fun trips & visits. We are going to NYC in a couple weeks. (YAY!) Tak's dad is doing really well--enough for us to stay. So I think that will help with the transition into fall.

arnold the ravarian

awesome conan footage. uses sound.

hooked on felting

it's past midnight, UFC is on, my eyes are bleary from finishing Friday Night Knitting Club. i'm typing with my fingertips, not wearing glasses, my brain is fried, and letting run-on sentences rule. instead of talking about all the boring stuff going on, i'll talk about knitting.

i felted my first clutch, and i'm hooked. knitting something in one piece in a day or two with minimal sewing rocks. throw it in the washing machine 3 times (tucked in a pillowcase) and viola! now i have a way to burn through my stash. i used the pattern from one skein by leigh radford, but i'm working on changing it to a top-down instead of bottom up, and playing with measurements for #11 needles for regular worsted; the pattern uses bulky on #15's.

The Knit Picks interchangeable needle set has been intriguing me for awhile, and I've heard a lot of good things about them. Before shelling out a bunch of money for the whole thing, I tried the #11s just to see if I'd like them. They're very sharp and pointy, which I don't like, but they are smooth like addi turbos and the wire doesn't kink. Since I don't really *need* all the smaller size needles, I'm not going to invest in the set, but if I need larger needles they're more economical than the Turbos.

Friday Night Knitting Club was super slow to get into, and to be honest I only skimmed it until the end. The author goes on and on...just tell the story. Probably one of the few books that will be better served by a movie. If you look over in the sidebar, I've added a link to my goodreads page. (thanks, Devon!)

Speaking of books into movies, who knew I'd find something to knit via Neil Gaiman's blog? Someday I'll be worthy of Ysolda's Coraline sweater.

a sorta fairytale

from Storyland to Stardust, it's been quite a week!

We joined our friends Frank, Patrice & Sofia at Storyland, in NH, and I'm so glad we went. It was so fun...like a smaller, less corporate Disneyworld. Owen had a blast! He loved the rides and is still talking about them. He yet again did damage to his cute little face: he ran away from us and tripped into some gravel, cutting his forehead. Not badly, but enough to leave a mark. We had dinner & hung out with F/P/S; the next morning we were in the pool. We played an "evil monster" game that involved "saving;" Frank was the monster (I was the witch/sea hag) holding Sofia, and Owen "rescued" her. Sofia is really into princesses, so of course, they had to get married! It was the running joke all morning. Then somehow, Owen said they needed blood tests--how did he know? We'll see what happens in another 20+ years!

I went to my first Yelp elite event at the Milky Way in JP. Lots of fun...I actually got up to sing karaoke, "Love Shack" w/ Russ S, who is quite an entertainer. Met & matched some people up to their profiles, which was also neat.

Tonight, Owen slept over at my parents & Tak was working, so I took myself to see Stardust, finally! It was really good. If you go in not expecting things to be just like the book, it's very enjoyable. A plus seeing the gorgeous scenery on the big screen, and Charlie Cox is perfect as Tristan. I think I may have been more excited to see the trailer for the Golden Compass, though.

love is a mix tape

I saw this book in a little while ago, and it just conjured up so many memories. I have a few books in line before I can check it out, but it inspired me to dig through my old mix tapes. Luckily many of the songs are on iTunes. Some of the music I'd forgotten how good it was, like Mind Bomb by The the. Some of it I'm not surprised is hard-to-find (Miracle Legion, Mary's Danish, the Peregrins, 17 relics) and some I'm just going to get used (Bongwater, Edie Brickell, Melissa Etheridge). Now I have to figure out how to transfer the analog to digital (something that has been explained to me many times and it just won't stick in my head). Even the mixes themselves kind of hold up after all these years, too (if I may so myself). It's funny listening to songs that have such a strong place and time association.

And last week, I saw my friend Bob, who was in Boston visiting with his family, who I hadn't seen since the end of our freshman year when he moved back to Ohio. So cool. But lately it hasn't been the kind of day that I could bail on work, either, which is huge bummer, 'cause I would have loved to hang out more.

Which reminds me, I have to burn a CD (how times have changed! or not...) for my sister's sister-in-law, who is just starting college. I think it might be stuff she'd like, too.

No. 9

Here's us in 1998 at the Silver Bell Chapel in Vegas, right after we got married. We'd just been to Comic Con for the first time, our friend Rob was with us. One of my best friends from high school, Michelle, who introduced us, flew out from LA with her boyfriend to watch us get married, too. That was it! (We had a reception a few months later.)
They didn't even ask us for ID when we went to get our license. There was an Elvis in the building, but he didn't walk me down the aisle; we did get a photo with him later.
It was pretty surreal. We left the next day for San Fran, where we hung out and partied with friends up there. (I got the dress in London with Ilona.) Looking back, there isn't much I'd really do over.

knitmas in august

Photos of the yarn haul accident I had at Circles are up on flickr. More photos to come, since I think I need some serious stash and needle management in general. I've been on the fence about ravelry.com, between the site getting up and running and my own involvement--even though it looks like a ton of fun. Oh, what the heck--I just signed up anyway. I'm probably pretty far down on the list (which is actually OK with me).

Tak's dad really liked the hat, which was nice. He's going to wait until the fall to start wearing it. (OK, so I did use the bathroom as a backdrop. It has the best lighting at 11 o'clock at night in the house.)

I'm finally knitting a sweater for myself. It's slow going, since I'm pattern & time challenged. All of my #11 wooden needles have chipped at the tips, even my nice Lantern Moon pair. Out of curiosity and novelty (and a sale at AC Moore), I bought a pair of Knit Lites, knitting needles with plastic lights at the tips. Owen immediately began waving it around like a magic wand. I have to admit that I do quite like them, and the tips are quite smooth, although I don't know if I'd actually knit in the dark. They're just a little unwieldy for travel, and they've come on a couple times by accident. I keep eying the Options needle set from Knit Picks, but I really don't need it. I'll keep you posted.

surf & turf

It has been a crazy couple weeks. We spent last weekend in Boothbay/Southport Maine, visiting my sister's in-laws with our whole family. It was a gorgeous spot, perfect weather. Ate in Boothbay, toured around the harbor, relaxed. Except when I fell down the stairs at the house where we were staying (I'm OK. The extra padding helped cushion the fall.) I even got a tan! Owen had a great time, too. He did great in the car both ways, considering it was his first big road trip.

Last week I went to my first Yelp event, an open house in a wonderful coffeeshop in the North End. The North End is one of those places that I just don't get to enough. I've also realized that Yelp is totally addictive for me. I think I wrote 5 or 7 reviews in one sitting last week, and stayed up until 3am. Silly me.

Oh! and went with Katie, Jason & my uncle George & aunt Cyndy to see Crowded House a week ago. Pete Yorn opened, and Juliana Hatfield came out and did a duet. Crowded House were very good--I love the sing a-longs. The best show I've seen Neil Finn was in Feb of 2003, it was Neil Finn with a couple other back-up musicians at Avalon, and my whole family went for my dad & George's birthday. The Harborlights/ Bank of America Pavilion show was great, too. The weather was lovely, and it's a great spot to see a show, under the tent and on the water. We all got a little goofy at the end, too.

My hair color is really fading. After doing the whole thing fuchsia, I decided it was too much and did low-lights (dark brown) myself, leaving pink parts in the front and sides. Now it looks closer to light brown and a washed out, light pink. I'll re-color the whole thing brown for a family wedding this weekend. It was fun while it lasted. Heck, I could always do it again!

optimus prime

The o-man slept over at my parents' house last night, and Tak & I got to go to the movies before his trip to NYC. We saw Transformers and WHOA it was excellent. Non-stop go go go. Sometimes the special effects were too much so that you don't know what's happening on the screen. Also a couple plot holes/wha-wha-what just happened moments. My friend Sofia has been recommending this to me for the last month and I'm so glad we saw it on the big screen.

My big OOPS for the day was I made Tak's train reservations and scheduled him to be on a train *yesterday* morning. Luckily he was able to switch the ticket over and make his train. Whew!

when the editor needs an edior

I'm finding this to be especailly true like in the long random psycho tailspin post from a couple days ago. I've edited a chunk out. Thanks for the support, too!

my new favorite things: July wrap-up

Haven't done one of these in ages!

Thomas's Blueberry Bagels: OMG. I have to split this in half because they're diet wreckers. Soft bagels. Mmmm...with cream cheese.

L'Oreal Colour Rays One Step Brush-on Highlights/ Fuchsia Flash ($12.99 CVS): Because it's made for dark hair, the color is *very* vibrant (the lightener is 30vol for DIY beauty shop junkies). My hair is pretty gray too, and I obviously ignored the warning on the box. 1 application/box is a waste if you're only going to do highlights, unless you have super-long hair, but it's hard to measure the proportions right. One box was enough to color my short hair--and have leftovers to spare. The applicator is like a big mascara wand that really grabs the hair from end to tip; wash it out and save if for another time. The color is staying put (but then, I haven't been washing my hair everyday either. TMI?)

Almay Smart Shade Makeup (SPF 15/light): This is an amazing base for hard-to-match skin tones. Takes the guesswork out of figuring out if your skin has warm tones, rose tones or whatever confusing jargon the makeup companies come up with. Covers evenly and also does ok masking small blemishes.

Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Mist Sunblock SPF 45: It's not greasy, and yes, fresh and cooling too.

Lexie Barnes handbags: I have the Hermosa 8&1/2" x11" bag and it fits whatever knitting I bring around with me. Found it at Webs 'cause the it's imperfect (aren't we all?), sewn upside down, but you'd hardly know it. ($13.99)

Brooklyn Industries' Heritage Lexy Bag: Mine isn't on the website anymore since I got in on clearance ($36). The print is excellent, the pockets all make sense, and it's roomier than you'd think on the inside. The handles don't slip easily off my shoulders--another bonus. Yep, I'm a bag fiend!

boingboing.net and mcsweeneys.net: Better late than never. Read Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs... last year and loved it; the website didn't occur to me until I saw news on gawker.com. Found Cory Doctorow through Neil Gaiman's blog, and loved Overclocked.

Ok, my seat is sinking in on itself (it's one of those storage stools with a foam top but old and cat-clawed) and it's way past my bedtime. Again!

weird, random, stupid things maybe you don't want to know or I shouldn't tell you

It's weird being a cartoon character. It's also pretty cool too. Naming myself was the weirdest part. Having your husband ask is weird too. I keep thinking that I should have put together cooler names to choose from. (Marie is my middle name; Campana is a family name, and the last name of my cousin who was in 4 of the 5 Planet of the Apes movies, and her sister was the model on the 60s version of the Nancy Drew books)

Every once in awhile, I think of changing my name to match the rest of my family. Then I realize that I really like my name, and I get my stubborn pants on. Part of me wants to blend in, and part of me fights that urge tooth and nail. I spent so much of high school wanting to be cool (in the Molly Ringwald Pretty in Pink way), trying not to care that I was pretty far from the mark. Then I went off to college and ended up being kind of cool after all. Being part of the beginning of the edgy alt-news weekly was also incredibly cool and DIY and also gave me a purpose and focus I didn't have before. Part of me misses it fiercely, and then I remember how burnt out I was working basically 2 full time jobs by the time I had Owen. I missed a deadline when I went into labor and that was it.

So it's funny running around on Yelp, seeing 1st reviews for places I wrote up years ago. Part of it is nice & reassuring that those shops are still around, and people are getting that jolt of excitement. And it's a high, a rush, discovering someplace special. Another part of me is jealous and missing my old silly self that used to go around exploring neighborhoods for days--that I don't have the time and energy to really do that anymore. That all the cool points I had pre-momhood have been used up, which gets me down, and now I'm trying to put some of the pieces back but they're fitting in a weird way. Not in a pity party/boo-hoo/woe-is-me kind of way, but just that I get the feeling I'm doing something wrong or bad, and I don't know what it is. And no one wants to tell me, either. OR maybe everyone goes through it and you just have to work it through yourself.

Oops. I wasn't supposed to drop off emotional baggage. Too many nights of writing between 11pm and 2am. I was supposed to post pix of the FOs; talk about how crazy Hogwarts Sq was (and being called Tonks!); that I loved Order of the Phoenix; that I colored over most of the pink hair but left the pink shock in the front (and got complimented by girls on the subway and a hair stylist on it). Well, the hormonal post has been brewing for awhile. Sorry. When you all look at me funny next time I see you at least I'll know maybe why. Or maybe you'll tell me your story.

yelping away

I've been writing a bunch of reviews on yelp.com, which has been fun. Kind of like what I used to do for the Dig except I don't have a theme or a deadline or manage/find, writers. The word count is short so it helps me try to keep the writing tight and still fun. And I just got asked to be on the Elite team, which feels like being one of the cool kids. The downside is that I've let the blog slide, but I'll catch up tomorrow.

I finished knitting the fugly vest, and I'm going to donate it. Owen refuses to even try it on, and I don't blame him! The trim and the colors are all wrong. Maybe next time I'll use a pattern! Circles knitting salon in JP closed its storefront today, and I "helped" them by buying up some of the stash. oops. Allison, the owner, was very sweet and gave Owen one of the trucks from the kids area. There's also a binder sitting on my kitchen table crammed full of circular knitting needles that need to be inventoried now that I have them all in one place.

wotcher!

me at 3am with book 7 & pink hair

the things kids say

Some funny things Owen has said in the last couple weeks:
When being grilled on who his favorite character was, Owen replied, "Mama."

He points to my Harry Potter book and says, "That looks like Mama!"
(I'm supposed to pick up my copy of book #7 at Borders at Downtown Crossing, but haven't decided if I should see the events at either Harvard Sq or Coolidge Corner, where there are going to be all kinds of events. This also means going out after Owen is asleep and taking a cab home.)

Decides he likes changing his clothes in his egg chair from IKEA, and emerges waving his arms, flies around, and says, "I'm a beautiful butterfly." He then makes both Tak & I fly around for the rest of the morning.

if wishes were fishes

We now have fish in the house again. It was kind-of a last minute decision; we'd talked about it in vague terms. So, we went to the pet store to buy cat food and came home with a fish: a blue and red Betta/fighting fish named James. We haven't had fish since Owen was born and we moved. Our managuense ended up at New England Fish and Reptile; our chinese water dragons Bode and Bisley died before or while I was pregnant. Tak and his friends always had fish (M the arowana, a variety of South American and African cichilds). Wiley has been good with the new fish so far. He used to sit on top of the managuense tank and stick his arm in the water to taunt the fish; he even got bit a couple times!

Owen is now a reader: a couple weeks ago he read the whole book of Today I Will Fly. It was awesome to see him recognize words he knew and figure out the ones he didn't. The book is a good one because it has repeated text, words that are slight variations of each other, and lots of picture support. Owen thought it was funny, too.

Secret Asian Man is up daily. Check it out at comics.com.
My work has also been pretty insane too.

Lastly, I finished Ilona's scarf after a year, and a cap for Tak's dad.
If you ever wanted to knit marzipan, here's how.

catch the magic

In gearing up for the Harry Potter onslaught, I'm re-watching movies #3 (my favorite) tonight and #4 tomorrow night, and will hopefully see #5 over the weekend. I re-read books 5 & 6 last month, too.

Neil Gaiman keeps letting people know about Stardust, which should be in theaters later this year.

Over 4th of July, our friend Dan had his annual BBQ. Once again, the numbers are intimate, about 20 people. I think for his 30th (or 29th?) birthday, there must have been 300+ people there, and amenities included a DJ, a band, bar with an ice sculpture shot slide, and port-a-potties. Crazy. One of the best though, was the year ('96? '97?) people got up on the mic, (we think--the memory is vague) Scruffy from the Dropkick Murphys played bagpipes against some drumbeats (amazing), and f-14s flew overhead towards the end of the night. (BTW, if someone reads this who was there, please correct me if I'm wrong on any of these points!) Anyway, again, happy birthday Dan. You rock!

The fireworks in Dorchester lasted at least until midnight, and people were still lighting them off until Sunday night.

Lorie from NYC stayed with us, and I kidnapped her to sleep overnight at my parents' house with Owen. We went blueberry picking (TreeBerry Farm in Scituate), lunch at Haddad's in Brant Rock, and a jaunt to Scituate Harbor. We did a lot of driving around, too. It was awesome to hang out (sans Owen) with Rob & Jude, go out to an excellent dinner at Petit Robert, visit the Dig offices, and cap off the night at JJ Foley's. Lorie left the next morning. Sadly, her guy Pete couldn't come up because he has to save his vacation for San Diego Comic Con, where he & co will be doing their Comic Book Show. Woo-hoo! We missed him, but we know how fantastic ComicCon is, too.

Last bit of news: Tak's comic, Secret Asian Man, should (fingers crossing, wood knocking) start running daily on Monday in the Patriot Ledger and other papers all over the place.