a year of living generously

"…is an online experiment based on a shared hunch that looking after this planet and its people is what we are all here for and that if many of us can make small changes in our everyday choices then over time we can make a big difference for everyone."

oooo, i'm really intrigued by this site. i love the idea of coming together and helping each other on an international scale. i also like that it's not about guilt, it's about inspiration.

meta catch-up

man, i am GRUMPY today. just general grump-malaise running thru my veins. not sure why. maybe it's because i'm at work, alas.

and surrounded by idiots. yesterday, i swear i heard a woman say, "where's ching chong??" when she was wondering why her chinese food hadn't yet arrived. nice, eh?

i couldn't be as confrontational as i would have liked, mostly because there was still that 1% chance i hadn't heard her correctly. but i'm 99% sure that's what she said, because right after she said it, her friend called her over and started talking in suspiciously low tones to her.

november has not been a good blogging month. not much to report, really - just a ton of classwork piling up at the end of the year. i'll be in the library every weekend until the 13th. come by and buy me a latte! ;) triple shot? thanks.

• thanksgiving was spent at anthony's parent's house. lots and lots of delicious food and relaxation.
• i couldn't finish 'the people of paper' no matter how much i wanted to. maybe another day. in the meantime, i now owe the library $2 in fines (for that one book; i am sorry to say i owe $25 in total).
• currently reading gould's book of fish: a novel in twelve fish. i got this book ages ago when it first came out as a promo from borders. the best part (so far) is that the text changes colors. OOOOO! not like mood-changing colors, just different chapters use different yummy colors. i am easily amused and i hope that it's as good reading as it is eye-candy. it's my second time attempting to read it; maybe that's not a good sign.
• we put our christmas tree up! and we are in desperate need of better decorations. at least i made those jellyfish decorations. huzzah! a smack of jellies on our tree!
• i need to perfect a mulled wine recipe before the 10th. i plan on drinking a lot of wine between now and then. for research, of course.
• i've had at least 3 pots of tea every day this week at work.

in a theatre, it happened that a fire started offstage. the clown came out to tell the audience. they thought it was a joke and applauded. he told them again, and they become still more hilarious. this is the way, i suppose, that the world will be destroyed -- amid the universal hilarity of wits and wags who think it is all a joke.
- soren kierkegaaard, 1843

jellies

jellies, originally uploaded by gimchi.

finally, i have caught up with rachel and have made holiday-themed items for friday's craft show.

pink felt jellyfish ornaments! they're scrunchy and really rather joyous in my messy craft room.

accomplished

stolen from madge:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said I love you and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business (I'm assuming selling friendship bracelets at elementary school doesn't count)
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (hello Monopoly!)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart (possibly pretentious)
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (oh man that sounds lovely)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

the divine

Libraries, over the centuries, have been the most important way of keeping our collective wisdom. They were and still are a sort of universal brain where we can retrieve what we have forgotten and what we still do not know. If you will allow me to use such a metaphor, a library is the best possible imitation, by human beings, of a divine mind, where the whole universe is viewed and understood at the same time. A person able to store in his or her mind the information provided by a great library would emulate in some way the mind of God. In other words, we have invented libraries because we know that we do not have divine powers, but we try to do our best to imitate them.

-- Umberto Eco

don't look back

listening to: kronos quartet

it is officially mid-november and the winding down of classes has begun. a week or so ago i was stressing so badly i started having stomach stress pains (i.e. acid overproduction ala 'inner space' pod fighting). thankfully, much of that has subsided with anthony's assignment-tackling help ('stop whining, just do it').

as it nears the end of the year, i am reminded of my resolutions. *big sigh*


:: RESOLUTION UPDATE (2006) ::

learn mandarin - surprise, yet again, not accomplished. ni hao?
keep craft room clean and operational - operational? check. clean? uncheck.
do more art - hmmm... teeny check
do more craft - check
do more photography - check
do more illustration - teeny check
eat healthy - check
work out more - miniscule check
buy more clothes - check
buy more shoes - 1 pair counts, right? check
learn to invest - uhh... did i actually have that as a resolution?
vacuum more - check

10 out of 12 isn't bad at all!

some new items of note:

1. per madge's advice, i got an altphotos account. haven't really put much up there. i'm also highly considering selling my film scanner. i just can't seem to get the photos to look the way i want. ... maybe the real problem is that i haven't read the instruction book. argh! i hate when i work through something and it comes down to my own laziness. that sucks.
2. a server at a restaurant commented about my engagement ring and thought it was beautiful -- the 2nd time an outsider has commented on it. the first was during this year's ob/gyn exam.
3. i realize another reason why i liked chicago was because it gave me hope. i met people who did what they loved. andy works at a recording studio. chris has his own graphic design company. this reassures me. we (jen, rachel and i) hope to use GFSS as our stepping-off point. a way to light the motivational tinder.

ellipsis

truffle shuffle

the bagman's gambit - the decemberists, picaresque
gigantic - pixies, surfer rosa
anniversary - sensefield, onelinedrawing/sensefield
new slang - the shins
what never dies - sensefield, tonight and forever
wave of mutilation - the pixies, bossanova
ferocious love - aloha, that's your fire
july, july! - the decemberists, castaways and cutouts
the immovable motorist - the gloria record, start here
what's wrong is everywhere - the jealous sound, the jealous sound ep
papa was a rodeo - the magnetic fields, 69 love songs vol. 2
hazy shade of winter - simon & garfunkel
you too song - errortype:11, amplified to rock
colossus - red room cinema
no one will ever love you - the magnetic fields, 69 love songs vol. 2
love song - sensefield, tonight and forever
day one - explosions in the sky, travels in constants 21

come into my parlor....

i've decided to show off my messy craft room! exciting, no? anthony is kind enough to give me an entire room all to myself and my crafting, and what do i do with it? vomit forth clothes and papers. thankfully, i've actually started using it.


the view from the stairs... check out that mess on the floor! now, imagine it all over in cute little piles.


here's the lightbox yen taught me how to make! there's a rock inside - one that erika painted for me in high school. i usually use it as a doorstopper. the dress form i got from rachel's sister bekah, who got it at an antique store somewhere. her name is "senorita cosa" (miss thing). and i love love love metal boxes.


when i'm sewing, this is on a shelf to the right of me. i like jellyfish. and color. lots of color. a vomitous rainbow of color.


gfss has business cards! we're all official now. we're also thrifty! (read: cheap) we got them printed in black and white and then painted them w/ gouche and watercolor. HAHAHAHA! they look awesome, though my green is slightly neon.
also, next time, remember to request a full-bleed, or whatever it's called.


here's us at stride for strays last weekend!


jen works for act (animal coalition of tampa), so she was running around helping them out all day. rachel and i got to love on each other by ourselves.


al lopez park. it was so great when all the people came out w/ their dogs!


bekah was there, too, but i don't have any pictures of her! just her legs. alas.

here's some of our stuff!











teehee!

so.

*ahem*



so.


this is bad. only 4 more weeks left to classes.
bad? you ask.
yes, bad.

only because that's 4 weeks in which to finish a multitude of assignments and also craft in a very ocd way. and i can say that, because i am (self-diagnosed) slightly ocd.

when i was younger, a ball would bounce on a wall, and i'd have the need to wipe the ball-residue from the wall. and then wipe some more.

or is that just weird? maybe just weird.

i am drinking wine on an empty stomach. i am tipsy-blogging and heading to the tea lounge for some girlfriend sweatshop action. good times are to be had. good and relaxing times. and i think that there may be a token crafting male? que strano. apparently, he was at the last meeting, which i missed, because i was at the taping of "wait, wait."

... well, i suppose i should get going. they have some incredibly yummy food at kaleisia. i'm sure we will all be crowing about the democratic coup and the negation of the rummy. i was trying to think of a way to have a non-rummy party, which works, because i have no idea how to play rummy. or gin rummy. something about getting cards in threes?

this weekend will be me working on classwork, hopefully drinking some mimosas, crafting and shopping w/ jen for some beautiful fabric and clasps.

ah. friday. you give me goosebumps and make me shiver in happiness.

*ahem*

GO FORTH AND VOTE!


because voting is sexy.


some things that i have been intrigued by as of late:

• schoolhouse electric co in portland - classic fixtures and handblown shades that have been out of production since the depression era
• lorena barrezueta gourmet porcelain dishes - they look like colorful versions of take-out ware!
• little lights that attach to a 9-volt battery - viola, instant light!
• the following are from boingboing.net
• small rubber stamp that takes out "god" from u.s. currency - or possibly replaces it w/ the flying spaghetti monster
• book of library porn - instant orgasm for librarians and bibliophiles
• florida and texas voting machines seem to magically pick GOP ticket "in error."
• report voting problems to 1-866-OUR-VOTE

i'm a posting fool, because i dislike my job

ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

i hate feeling behind. which is how i feel. immensely. stressfully.

schedule:

• do bulletin board discussion for class at work. get out of work.
• go to petsmart and jo-ann for fabric and catnip. staples/office depot for organizational supplies.
• pick up anthony.
• drive by marshall ctr for a free student organizational calendar. (can you sense a theme here?)
• go home. make catnip toys like crazy. anticipate feline orgy at home.
  
• saturday. will want to sleep in, but will instead meet w/ GFSS for stride for strays. sell items and drink coffee or tea. ooh! pack a picnic! mimosas? sneaky.
• organize classwork and maybe even finish some.
• have mulled wine party, possibly with pumpkin defacement and mutilation. i need warm spiced wine.
  
• sunday. SLEEP IN. awake groggy, yet refreshed.
• get classwork done(ish), maybe make 2 bags. yea. 2 bags. that's not so bad.
  

things i learned in chicago:

• i need new shoes
• sometimes, boys are cleaner than girls
• cigarette wrappers can be used for those other than tobacco*
• rats really do live in sewers
• people in the mid-west are really nice. like, really, really, inhumanly nice.
• the majority of my clothing consists of solid colors (hence, i oft appeared as though a rainbow had thrown up on me)
• i lick the top corners of my lips a lot
• i'm addicted to burt's bees beeswax sticks
• chicago is cooler than tampa (temperaturally and fun-wise)
• faith in humanity +60 - because andy had only met us briefly maybe twice and didn't know us that well at all and we got a key to his apt! and dug drove his car in chicago.

* this one is a joke; really, i'm not that naive. really.

and i got to see wait, wait! don't tell me taped live in sarasota! listen on saturday to hear me & ant clapping. yen & mike also took us out to have some thai and afterwards we went to a little gelato shop and had ice cream and pastries. lovely AND delicious!

things i learned in sarasota:

• after the show, they re-record parts that got muddled or weren't clear
• old people sometimes wear a TON of cologne
• sarasota has a lot of old peoplecarson cooper looks *nothing* like i thought he would
• apparently, it's 8 degrees in chicago (w/ wind chill) - wtf?
• one of yen's cats is as big as thomas
• i need to make a lightbox like yen's
• watching is more fun, but listening at home is easier to hear

listening to:

tortoise - standards

part II - chicago? may i have some more?

hm.

so where was i? rats.... andy's amazing breakfasts... super cold...

well, i'll just post some pictures to keep you visually, if not mentally, entertained.


here's the bean on saturday. i didn't take any pictures of myself in or under the bean, because all the distortion made me physically motion sick (pathetic? answer: yes). also, i thought ant & dug & i would see it on sunday, but alas, we did not make it downtown.


klee makes me feel good and fizzy.


a picture of dug! during daylight! and you can actually SEE his face! every single picture i have of dug at a show is of the top of his head with him hunched over his keyboard. every. single. picture.


the leaves were so incredible. such color! i heart the fall.


and the sky became so beautiful on saturday. friday was rainy and cloudy, but it became so beautiful, and even warm, towards the end of the trip.


at the brookfield zoo. doesn't that make you yearn for a picnic?


a lonely snail in the swamp exhibit


sleep goblin and ds, showing off their machismo.


on the long march towards the train station, pre-argyle yuppie party.


seriously? gorgeous. obviously, chicago needs me. and jen and rachel and meaghan and erika. because i need my girlfriend sweatshoppers. onwards, christian and agnostic soldiers!


from the field museum




these are 3-inch golden water lilies. tiny shoes for rich, crippled, yet super sexy chinese women. these were SMALLER THAN MY PALM. i cannot even begin to imagine the pain, nor the stench. the shoes for a baby were larger than these.




rowing away in the dino bone rowboat.


some of the dinos were actually really quite nice.


awww... a kiss!


and some... were not so nice!


the boys in the studio: (from the left) dug, anthony, andy, laurent


we rocked the cb2 and trader joe's. :D


models on the chicago street. damn my cold shaking blur-inducing hands!


waiting for the bus with throbbing feet. we are weak.

shower, anyone?