leukothea

Weekend report

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:55:28 GMT

Fun, full, fabulous Fourth of July weekend.

On Friday all four of us packed ourselves into ramonarjona's minivan and schlepped on down to Tacoma for the Tall Ships Festival. Our girls were faaaaaairly well-behaved, but their stamina cannot compare to that of Ramon's daughter, who is five, so we all left a bit earlier than they might have liked if left to themselves. But on the bright side, there were pictures of the two older girls standing inside a cedar canoe.

That evening, while I put the girls to bed, Andrew joined Tom & Mandy and aawhitewood for dinner at Ivar's (the fancy one on the water, not the fish'n'chips in a paper boat one), and then fireworks at Gasworks Park, as well as intelligent adult conversation. He had a blast and only got home at 1:30 AM, blissfully happy and with leftover cedar planked salmon. I look forward to taking the girls out to see fireworks in a few years.

Saturday was a "day of recovery" from all the fun of the Fourth, but we did manage to get out grocery shopping with tatterdamelion. (Grocery shopping with a 1 year old and a 3 year old can be a full contact sport.) I even managed to do an hour or so of MUCH-needed yardwork (!).

Then that evening he ran his "Valeland" game downstairs with 3countylaugh, brighids_own, aawhitewood again, limbsmith, and me. It was a character-intensive evening with backstory and emoting galore. I opened my liquor cabinet and many tasty experiments were created, only to be consumed by their demented makers, mwa ha ha ha ha.

This morning at 10, the same crowd as last night, plus juniperjournal and Tom & Mandy, showed up at our house for the "Whiteheart" Mutants & Masterminds game. I served a broccoli - bread cube - cheese casserole / quiche thing (it's not really a quiche because it has no crust, so I'm not sure what to call it!), fruit salad, doughnuts, orange juice, and copious amounts of coffee; someone else brought bagels and cream cheese. Mmmm.

I took a long walk with the hypermuffin during the game without worrying about anything, because I knew juniperjournal was in charge of our shared multiple personality character. As usual, aawhitewood cleaned up the kitchen during the game. (I need to get that man a medal or something.)

And as though all that weren't enough, ramonarjona brought his daughter over this afternoon to play with my girls. They spent the afternoon running through the sprinkler, coloring on the sidewalk with chalk, playing "Smurps" and hide-and-seek with each other, helping me take care of the baby, and snacking on large quantities of fresh strawberries. I even got to escape the mayhem for a bit and head to Greenlake Jewelry to check in on the pendant that we're having made for me. (It looks great so far!)

Both girls went to bed easily. Right now I'm watching the crescent moon, the color of parchment in candlelight, and the dark blue mountain range underneath the sky's fading color, and snacking on leftover goodies.

Awesome.

New groceries this week

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 01:17:54 GMT

One new grocery item today about which I am very excited, and one that was a waste of 69 cents.

The Sundip "Chicken Jalfarazee Paste" fills me with joy, because I am looking forward to making yummy, spicy, fragrant chicken jalfarazee this week to serve over rice.

The bag of Salted Turnip (甜菜脯, tian cai pu -- literally, sweet-vegetable dried) was an impulse purchase. A bad impulse.

I kind of figured that it would be the type of preserved vegetable I remember from China -- you know, the kind I hated.

And sure enough, what we have here is a fibrous yet spongy texture and a strange salty taste. It takes lots of effort to slice a little hunk off with my front teeth, and then chewing it is just not a pleasant experience for me.

Sorry, Man Chong Loong Preserved Food Co., Ltd. -- you will have to sell your salted turnips to someone else in the future.

"United States of Anxiety"

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 05:27:49 GMT

Interesting article in The Stranger a couple of days ago: "United States of Anxiety." Although it contains a few words of strong language and a larger quota of rambling personal anecdotes than I tend to like, some parts made me stop and reflect. Namely:

"We have reached the end of what author Philip Cushman in a 1990 article in American Psychologist called the "post World War II empty self" era. Cushman writes about the change in America from the Victorian era of saving money and restricting impulses (sexual and otherwise) to the consumer self who is "soothed, organized, and made cohesive" by being filled up with food, objects, and celebrities.

[ . . . ]

"In all of this, aren't we losing the intrinsic value of just being an awkward human being who wants to eat a half-decent burger and drink a glass of water? It drives me nuts, especially because we're heading into the straits of value-diminishing times. If my whole function is to acquire and consume, and my means to consume and my ability to consume are diminished, then who am I?"

This concept -- of the empty self that needs to be filled from the outside -- explains so much about modern-day America, as I examine it; but it feels fundamentally foreign to me. I have to admit that I was raised with the more Victorian model of self, that of keeping myself in a constant state of denial.

True, my mom had a strong tendency to try to fill up her emotional void with "stuff" from the outside. My mom had many places around the house in which she squirreled away cash, hiding it from my father so that he wouldn't know how much she was spending. Many purchases she would hide in the trunk of the car and smuggle into the house when my dad wasn't around, and then pretend that we'd had it forever.

If my dad did notice something new, and he asked her how much it had cost, she would habitually lie. I learned to lie about it, too; the rule was to cut the real cost in half. Even then, my father would wince and berate Mom and me for our extravagance. (It took me years to realize that I didn't have to lie to Andrew about money.)

Although my mom was sometimes using spending, and the acquisition of Stuff, as a substitute for experiences that would actually make her happy, she also blended her shopping with happy-making experiences, like shopping with me and buying me things. She loved buying me things; it made her happy to bring a smile to my face. That's the part I picked up on from her: the joy of making other people happy.

If left purely to myself, I am not a very good consumer, to put it mildly.

In terms of objects, I have a few important objects which I have invested with emotional meaning: my wedding ring, for one, but I don't tend to go out and buy stuff until it is way, way past time. In many ways over the past few years I have kept myself in a constant, low-level state of self-denial. Why? Partly to save money, I guess, but also partly because I knew at some level that stuff doesn't equal happiness, and it was happiness I was interested in.

In a similar vein, I've often admired the magazine-perfect kitchen of some acquaintances from our PEPS group -- the high-quality monogrammed aprons from Williams-Sonoma hanging on the brushed pewter hooks from Restoration Hardware near the marble countertop and the Viking range, etc. etc. etc. Did I ever, for one second, assume that their family was happier than ours? No. I tended to think that if anything, they'd be less happy.

In terms of food, yes, I enjoy food very much, and I've recently started eating out a bit more. But if you took 2005 through 2007 and added up all the times Andrew and I went out to eat or ordered for delivery, it would probably be less than 20. I know people who eat out 20 times in a month, sometimes twice a day. I tend to enjoy cooking food myself for people I love rather than consuming it at restaurants, even consuming it at restaurants with people I love -- cooking work isn't work to me, it is a joy. This is more like a "giving self" concept instead of an "empty self," I guess.

I don't really consume media on my own, either. I don't search out new artists, new songs, new movies, new TV shows -- none of that. Andrew is in charge of finding cool stuff for me to watch, because on my own I just wouldn't do it. It embarrassed me to admit how many celebrities I have never really heard of. Was I supposed to know who Jessica and Nick were? All of a sudden they popped up and I saw their names in tabloids as I checked out, but I really wasn't sure who they were or what they were famous for.

I do have one or two luxuries that I guard pretty fiercely, but those are related to interpersonal connections that are important to me, not to consuming Stuff, Food, or Celebrities.

I feel lucky in that I never really bought into the culture of consumption. For awhile, before we bought the house, I was buying unnecessary things because I had the spare cash and because it seemed like something my mom would have done. That was before I figured out that I didn't have to spend money to be happy; it hadn't worked for my mom when she tried it, and it wasn't working for me.

Overall, although I spend a fraction of what I did 8 years ago, I have to admit that I'm much, much happier now, and it's because of the people in my life and the love and connections I've found. (You know who you are -- pat yourself on the back!)

* * * * *
I think everyone can agree that from a broader, societal perspective, the recent American culture of consumption can't continue indefinitely. Eventually, people are going to quit buying stuff they don't need and start finding their authentic selves, which (it turns out) don't depend for their worth on cute clothes or SUVs.

I would hope for a shift away from the "empty self" / consumerism mentality, but not back to the Victorian model of endless self-denial and repression, because that fosters its own problems (and don't ask me how I know this!).

Maybe, as a culture, we will work towards something new -- something similar to a can-do pioneer community in which the members of the network connect with and help out each other.

I would hope for something that embeds people more firmly into their network of family and friends. This is one thing I love about role-playing games like D&D: It fosters a long-term connection with a small group of like-minded people.

And it's one thing I really like about the internet. For all the talk about the internet as a harbinger of endless alienation, it's really just a tool that can be used either one way or the other. Many miniature communities created online -- like the community of people reading these words -- aren't about consuming any particular good, service, or celebrity gossip; they're about connecting with other people. That's something I think we can all approve of.

Water!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:38:59 GMT

Water is back on in the Warren household, thanks to limbsmith coming over last night and replacing the hot water faucet in our shower so the water to the house could be turned back on. Hooray!

Hot water malfunction

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 00:36:46 GMT

Got a call at work mid-afternoon from Andrew. The hot water faucet had come off in the shower, and hot water was pouring down our drain, unchecked. Our regular plumber is already on his Fourth of July long weekend.

By the time I got home, the water to the entire house had been shut off, and Andrew had painstakingly tightened the naked, handle-less metal stub using pliers. He had hit a wall because the stub simply would not turn any more -- it was stuck. (Still is, as of this writing.)

So for the moment, we have no water in the house, except the bathroom sink, which is mysteriously still functioning. I am not sure how that is possible, but I'm not arguing too hard, because I was able to use this sink to wash a dish or two and to get water so I could make rice.

I have liter after liter of water stored in a cupboard, and I'm using those to moisten the cloth diapers in order to change the girls.

For the next couple of days, we'll turn the water to the house back on and allow more water to hemorrhage down the drain while we get our important jobs done. There won't be any hot water, we're pretty sure, because any hot water the heater manages to generate will go right down the tub drain.

None of this seems all that important right now, because we heard this afternoon that some friends of friends had been in a car accident; one was killed (we had never met him), and one had his hand severed. They apparently managed to reattach the hand, but he lost the use of three fingers.

All in all, a little bit of water loss doesn't seem that bad.

Googlism!

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:13:49 GMT

Thanks to splagxna for showing me Googlism!

Its results for the word "Catherine" are enlightening:

catherine is dancing
catherine is our eigth child
catherine is not evil
catherine is victim of russian stamp hoax
catherine is single and waiting for the right man to come
catherine is here somewhere

catherine is the cause
catherine is delightful
catherine is out of the office
catherine is a parent of cathy
catherine is the highest summit in sinai
catherine is and will continue to be healthy
catherine is the real deal
catherine is dragged to prison
catherine is brought before the emperor again
catherine is not a descendant of mireille
catherine is especially reluctant; at the beginning she does not want to have anything to do with the chess set
catherine is sent on behalf of her convent to the abbey of st
catherine is culdee's helper on the mountain railway
catherine is subtitled "a love story
catherine is invited to the tilney's home
catherine is the owner of social insights
catherine is incompetent as a manager
catherine is not the person for the promotion at this time
catherine is equally determined to break off the engagement
catherine is a specialist in the application of permanent cosmetics
catherine is present in today's st nicolas church in both the stained glass and in the prayers which are said daily
catherine is a member of the ellison high school choir
catherine is surprised by what she does
catherine is a widow who has come to london at her aunts? request
catherine is especially drawn to the traditional music of ireland
catherine is an animal communicator and healer
catherine is no longer with icm
catherine is a member of the historical geography research group
catherine is an attractive 25
catherine is not just a pretty hollywood face
catherine is a native of cork city whose upbringing was steeped in irish traditional music and dance
catherine is now able to use a computer and access the internet
catherine is also dedicated to her studies and is enrolled at the university of toronto in commerce
catherine is rather adorable
catherine is a woman trying to create herself
catherine is the most beautiful girl in the world
catherine is worshipped as the patron saint of maidens
catherine is no exception
catherine is a second generation japanese american
catherine is dreaming of her childhood
catherine is furious because they ask her to do this because of her personal relationship with elliot
catherine is 13 years old and living at the house of her mother
catherine is the trail which goes to the right
catherine is growing up and
catherine is impressed
catherine is a certified professional co
catherine is at the heart of the college's mission to educate women to lead and influence
catherine is a recipient of a 2002 vision grant
catherine is shot in the wrist which you again see in detail
catherine is supposed to have been taken there in the 8th or 9th century; since then it has borne her name
catherine is a woman of mystery even today
catherine is in love with john
catherine is one of 3 broadband planners at bc hydro
catherine is only interested in marrying the restaurateur so that she can inherit his personal fortune ? and she will
catherine is a talented and sassy presenter
catherine is young
catherine is primarily responsible for maintaining the client support services
catherine is still held in great veneration by the orthodox greeks
catherine is an artist who views jazz as the collaborative art form that it is
catherine is youngish
catherine is worried that heathcliff may have heard her and says that she will never forsake heathcliff
catherine is cared for by her parents

Spam haiku

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:40:58 GMT

Here are some pieces of Spam Haiku I just composed from copying and pasting subject lines.

Once you get started, it's almost too easy.

Replica Watches
Can a Christian commit it?
Amaze her in bed

Your application
Important information
Only 6 days left

I saw your profile
completely incapable
Banking manager

Perfectly crafted
This is an automated
New portfolio

are you insecure
Overwhelmed with ideas?
Women will love you

Legal software sales
We sell BRAND & GENERIC
New mail from Olga

Wanna be more man?
CanadianPharmacy
Begin second youth

Tonight, on Q13 News

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:55:52 GMT

I was interviewed by someone from Q 13 Fox news this morning while waiting for the bus at the Northgate Park'n'Ride.

A man came up to me with a camera and long padded microphone, and asked if he could interview me for the news.

My bus wasn't there yet, so I agreed, and was glad I was wearing one of my nice new tops from the clothing exchange. I'll look nice on TV, if they use the footage! But my hair was still kind of wet.

I had to say and spell my name, and I wasn't really sure where to look -- at him (probably not?) or directly into the camera? Or at the window above the camera? Confusing.

He asked me what I felt about the new law that goes into effect today making cell phone use while driving a secondary offense, and whether I was going to buy a "hands-free" headset so I could talk while driving.

I said that I didn't know about the law, which was kinda true -- I think I heard something about it when it passed, but not when it went into effect or whether I could be pulled over just for using a cell phone while driving. (I can't -- I have to be pulled over for something else, and then if I'm using a cell phone or not wearing a seat belt, those are extra dings against me.)

I said that using a cell phone while driving was distracting, but that I had to admit I had used one while driving a couple of times recently.

He kept asking me if I was going to buy a new "hands-free" headset now, and I kept saying No, that I just wouldn't make any cell phone calls while driving.

(Because, as I said at the beginning of the interview, it's distracting. Anyway, haven't studies shown that hands-free headsets are just as distracting to a driver as cradling the phone between your neck and shoulder? Isn't talking to someone else in the car, or having the radio on, also really distracting?)

So I might be on the news tonight. Don't think it's worth watching just for that, though. Because, I mean... FOX. </voice of loathing>

Sample quotation:

Him: "What happens if you need to take a call while driving?"
Me: "If my cell phone rings while I'm driving I'll be -- like -- clutching the steering wheel" (making clutching gestures) "saying -- OH NO!!!"

I almost said "saying -- cccRRRRRrrrrap!!!" with my patented rolled R, but I was pretty sure they can't air someone saying "crap" on TV.

Re: this weather

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:51:27 GMT

Things really hot weather like this is good for:

Corn
Tomatoes

Things really hot weather like this is NOT good for:

All other plants I have (and heck, I don't even have corn, so it's really just the tomatoes in the "pro" column)
Little girls' tempers
My temper
Chances of anyone being able to nap during the day
The overall peace of this household

Fava Beans

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:13:31 GMT

Andrew and I sponsor two children: Sofia in Pakistan (through Plan), and a child in Egypt (through Save the Children). Save the Children does things a bit differently. Instead of telling you about "your" specific child, Save the Children chooses an "ambassador child" to serve as the face of the program for all sponsors with a child in that country.

Save the Children just sent us a pretty little brochure with a profile of their newest "ambassador child," a 6-year old girl named Noura. Part of the brochure was a blurb about one of the most popular dishes in Egypt, "foul" (pronounced "fool"), or fava beans.

(EDIT: Wikipedia article on "ful medames," فول مدمس, can be found here!)

After reading about the different ways it's prepared and scanning the sample recipe on the back, I decided to try it myself this week.

So here are my "funky groceries" for the week, as modeled by the hypermuffin. Save the Children's recipe for "foul" is at the end.

Fava Beans, Roasted Eggplant in a can, and a sleeve of Goya "Maria Cookies" (product of Spain).

Fava is my fave!

Egyptian Foul

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. dried fava beans or broad beans, soaked
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 T. lemon juice (optional)
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Put the soaked, drained beans into a baking dish with a cover and pour in enough water to cover them by 2 inches. Add half the cumin, lots of black pepper, and the garlic. Cook slowly in the oven, covered, for 3 - 4 hours, until the beans are very soft but not broken up, and the juice is thick. When the beans are ready, salt them and add the rest of the cumin and 1/4 c. olive oil, and lemon juice if desired. Serve in the baking dish at the table. This is good served with warm pita bread.

(I'm going to serve it with roasted eggplants, black olives, and yogurt-dill sauce. Yummy!)

Animal totems

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:10:33 GMT

A few years ago I participated in a guided meditation during a Soul Collage workshop. We were focusing on the seven chakras. The guide told us to be open to an animal avatar that would appear to us and associate itself with one of our chakras.

I was so frustrated because, much as I tried to relax and get into this exercise, I couldn't shut off my critical brain. I breathed in, I breathed out, I unclenched, I followed the guide's instructions and imagined myself going down a deep well into the earth and whatnot, but no animal totem was appearing to me.

Finally, just as the meditation was drawing to a close -- we had climbed back up out of the well and turned towards the sunlight -- I imagined a golden butterfly that flew towards me and hovered around my neck.

When we went around the room afterwards, one of the women there was struck by the symbolism, because one of her close friends had gone into remission from thyroid cancer in her neck, and part of the process was imagining hundreds of healing butterflies.

At the time, I made a Soul Collage card for this image: "Butterfly Voice."

The throat is associated with communication, obviously, but also with growth. The butterfly is associated with the soul.

Recently I've been wondering what my subconscious mind might come up with as animal associations for the other 6 chakras.

Modeling!

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:39:49 GMT

My good friend, fellow gamer, neighbor, and coworker tatterdamelion is also a novelist. (I know, I know, how talented can one guy be?? Ladies! Pay attention here!)

His novels Greetings from Buena Rosa and Ride Like the Devil are available at Lulu.com, and he has several others that aren't currently posted.

One of his ongoing projects is a series of novels inspired by a Mutants & Masterminds game he used to run for our group of friends.

In that game I played "Worm Queen," a sardonic scientist by day, costumed crime-fighter by night, who has the mysterious ability to summon all kinds of paranormal worms to do her bidding. (dimensional worms, force worms, heat worms, teleporting worms, etc.)

* * * * *

In case you're wondering how on earth I came up with this idea -- or even if you are not wondering -- I will tell you.

It all came out of a conversation I had with Andrew years ago, during which I came up with the idea of "Wyrm Magick" (yes, the misspellings are essential to the idea of the thing).

Filled with enthusiasm for this concept, and inspired by "Vampire: The Masquerade," "Werewolf: The Apocalypse," "Mage: The Ascension," and other flavors of pretentious WOD names, I expanded upon my original idea, "The main rules book could be called "Wyrm Magick: The Casting!"

And then I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed for far, far too long, until everyone in the Applebee's was looking at me funny, including Andrew.

Because "casting!" and "worms!" FUNNY!!!

And for some reason he ended up marrying me anyway. :-)

* * * * *
In any case! A Worm Queen-centered story arc is the focus of tatterdamelion's most recent novel, and he's thinking of asking dendacien to photograph a real live model for the cover, and he asked me to pose!

Let me tell you, even 10 years ago no one was asking me to pose for the cover of his novel.

Any more of this and a girl could get too full of herself. :-)

Lavender sugar

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:40:39 GMT

I have some lavender sugar from Penzey's Spices. I would like to make
(1) cocktails,
(2) jam

(probably just freezer jam to start with -- I have never done it before, although I am reading about making jam in articles like these and tentatively thinking about trying "the real thing" someday).

What other ingredients would pair well with lavender sugar?

Day 2

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:05:41 GMT

Just a note to say that I survived the second day of inventory, which was far, far more grueling than day 1. There was only a quarter of the original work force, so even though 80% was counted yesterday (they said), the last 20% crawled by slowly and with much anguish.

Also, the stuff that got counted quickly and easily yesterday tended to be stuff that was easily counted (gasp! Who could have predicted this!). So, the parts that were left tended to be in the aisles with 20 million bins each containing 20 million doohickies.

so I didn't get to leave at 11 or noon, or even 1 or 2. I left a little after 3 and got home around 4, after battling much stupid traffic. Luckily, I had no worries about the safety or entertainment of the girls, because they were in the more-than-capable hands of eveofdstruction, who easily wrangled my two, plus her own girl, too.

Outnumbered three to one, and by living ~~opponents~~ charges, yet she carried the day. Sort of like us and inventory, only we were outnumbered by inanimate objects, roughly 400 to 1. Or so.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the office, where I will not be expected to crawl on my belly, stick my arm and head into a grime-encrusted cardboard box, lift slabs of wood wrapped in shredded 4-year old newspapers from Korea, breathe in fumes from naturally tanned Malian leather, count hundreds of tiny, slippery pewter ornaments all tangled up in a box, or any of the other fun things I got to do today.

Tired

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:28:43 GMT

So tired. Stayed up too late and then got up super early for our company's annual inventory count. This year, for the first time, I am "just another warm body," there to count and nothing more -- no responsibility for handing out assignments and collating results and spending 4 months typing figures into a giant Excel spreadsheet. Nope. None of that. And let me tell you -- not being "that person" is awesome, especially since my former functions have been replaced by generous amounts of custom-written technology and bar codes and stuff.

aawhitewood came over to bridge the gap of several hours between Andrew needing to leave for work and me getting home from the counting "fun." Thanks again!

I spent the day teamed with Rosemary Jones, our new PR person and also published author of D&D novels set in the Forgotten Realms world. I wish I could say we spent the day geeking out at each other over gaming, or writing, or something creative, but instead I have to tell the truth: We mostly just counted.

We had a very full aisle, full of tiny little bins each containing anywhere from a handful of things to hundreds of things. We had to count each SKU (ShopKeeping Unit) accurately, so we watched each other like hawks and took turns between counting and writing down numbers on the preprinted tags.

My knees were sore from the concrete, my pinched nerve (yes, I still have it) was making my fingers go to sleep when I bent the wrong way, and my fingers were covered with grime. Yeccch.

Also, trying to count the Ribbons & Hearts Cushy Sandals gave me faceful after faceful of horribly stinky chemical outgassing. I don't usually complain about chemicals very much -- better living through science, and we're all going to die anyway one way or the other -- but the fumes off these things are just noxious when you're sticking your arm and head all the way into the bin in order to reach the few last ones in the back, which you have to do if you have short, stubby arms like me.

I made Rosemary count the Paws & Hearts Cushy Sandals in the next bay over. because I am considerate like that. It can be grist for the mill of her next novel. ;-)

It was the book The Words and Inspiration of Martin Luther King, JR. - DREAM (Hardcover) that finally broke our spirits, around 3 PM. The bin was absolutely jam-packed full of these things, without any room at the top to reach in and feel for how many rows back they went. We excavated a few dozen books from the first row and reached in, excavated a few dozen books from the second row and reached farther back. There was a third row. There was a fourth row. And the tops of the books in the fourth row were not even. So we couldn't even count one stack and multiply.

That's when we knew that we had a dream: a dream that one day these things could be counted by radio ID tags, or possibly a company that goes around conducting inventories (such companies exist!) -- or at least by someone who was not us.
-- A dream that someday, tonight, right now, all people -- including me -- can lie down in a soft, comfy bed and fall into the sweet oblivion of slumber.
-- A dream of feeling my eyelids cupping my tortured, scratchy eyeballs with a gentle, healing twin embrace.
-- Yes, I have a dream of not going back to the warehouse tomorrow.
-- Or, since I already said I could be there at 7:15 AM sharp again, I have a dream of being able to leave by noon.

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink. Except now there is!

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:23:40 GMT

I feel really really good about this new Gift That Gives More™ I'm hoping to launch today: Supply Clean Water to a School in Tanzania. It helps provide a water catchment and filtration system for a middle-of-nowhere village in Tanzania or Uganda, one of those places were people die from waterborne diseases, many of them children dying from diarrhea.

As a mom, I can only imagine the anguish of watching a child die of diarrhea -- or anything, for that matter -- but diarrhea from nasties living in the water? That is a preventable death.

It's not practical to build elaborate, expensive, electricity-controlled water treatment plants in places like the outback of Tanzania. That's why it's so exciting for me to read about Save the Rain, which builds simple, burnt brick rainwater catchment systems and Slow Sand Filtration systems appropriate for places in the back of beyond.

If people can use the rain as a clean water source, it would prevent So. Much. Suffering.

This joins our other GTGM dealing with access to clean water:

Supply Clean Water in Bangladesh ($40.00 for a SONO filter that removes the arsenic occurring naturally in Bangladeshi groundwater)
Supply Clean Water to a Village ($28.00 funds one day of clean water for a village in Haiti through Partners in Health, one of my favorite partner charities)
Water Mercy Kit (a generic "clean water" donation through Mercy Corps)

33rd Birthday

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:23:03 GMT

Today I'm 33. Time to die for the sins of the world. Or time to come out of the desert and start my life's work; I forget which. One of those.

I've had a great day, filled with snuggles from my daughters and GIRL TIME at a clothing exchange party at 3countylaugh's -- and yes, there was boozing and dishing and nekkidness! I had some pomegranate liqueur, which I mixed with blueberry juice and put over ice, and it was sweet and anti-oxidant-errific. There was also wine, soy jerky (not my thing), veggies & dip, and "Smart Puffs," yum.

Those of us who had been through labor ended up (of course) talking about our labors. Other women's labors are a source of endless fascination to me. I met some fab new people, some of whom are about to move closer to me, hooray!

Oh, and did I mention I got fabulous new clothes? And did I mention they were free? I got a fitted leather jacket -- I've never owned a leather jacket before! -- some WICKED pointy black leather strappy boots originally from Nordstrom, a dramatic cape from Italy, a whole bunch of skirts and tops, and a dress that looks like I was poured into it. Rrrrrrrr.

Also today, Andrew made me a Chocolate Cheesecake for my birthday. Wellllllll, honesty compels me to admit that him making me the Chocolate Cheesecake was my idea. And I was the one who went to the store for the ingredients. And I ended up making most of it myself. But he totally gets all the credit for it. :-)

Right now one kid is in bed, the other is almost in bed, and later will be the Eating Of The Chocolate Cheesecake with tatterdamelion and son upstairs for the occasion. And then I'll get to put away all my Fabulous New Clothes and *squeeee* again at the awesomeness of getting rid of old clothes and getting new wonderful clothes, free, from fabulous people who could tell me the story behind some of the things I got.

Quail eggs, etc.

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:15:52 GMT

Took the hypermuffin to the HT Market this morning, along with tatterdamelion and his son, who is visiting from Durango. For the first time, I let her walk (run!) along next to me instead of ride in the cart.

She picked out a few extra groceries for me to buy today:

A package of Maxim's Butter Row Bun (牛油排包, niu you pai bao)
A package of quail eggs (what should I do with them? Anyone?)
The Vietnamese pork soup concentrate was me.

She also wanted a large pink plastic bowl to play with outside in the yard.

Proverbs

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:16:58 GMT

Some Chinese proverbs for your Friday night, taken from wisebread...

"An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but it is hard to buy one inch of time with one inch of gold."
一寸光陰一寸金,寸金難買寸光陰.

"Money could make demons turn grind stones."
有錢能使鬼推磨

"Giving your child a skill is better than giving him one thousand pieces of gold."
賜子千金,不如賜子一技

"If you save the green mountain, you will not worry about having no firewood to burn."
留得青山在﹐不怕無柒燒

Old fortune cookie messages

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:41:22 GMT

Found this list of fortune cookie messages I was collecting a few years ago, from the days before we stopped ordering food for delivery. (As of right now, I think the last time we ordered food for delivery was September 2007. wow!)

2004:
You have a secret admirer.
You will soon find a treasure.
Your love life will change for the better.
You will be fortunate in the opportunities presented to you.

2005:
You will have good luck in the summer. [Note: That summer I had the hypermuffin; you be the judge as to whether this one came true!]
You are going to have some new clothes.
Your road will be made smooth for you by good friends.

2006:
You will have good luck in your personal affairs.

"The Happening"

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:12:38 GMT

Hilarious review of the most recent -- and apparently, drecky -- M. Night Shyamalan movie, "The Happening."

Warning: Spoilers abound! But they are funny, funny spoilers. That Christopher Orr has a way with words.

Baby hat!

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:59:14 GMT

Gratuitous icon post!

Flame on

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:50:47 GMT

I'm never using tatterdamelion's grill again.

Yesterday was Father's Day. Andrew and I don't exchange gifts on Mother's and Father's Days, but I thought it would be nice to cook him something a little special. So I asked tatterdamelion's permission to fire up his propane-powered grill, Vera, which has found a new home at the bottom of our front steps. (I love having a downstairs neighbor I can borrow stuff from!)

He fired it up, I slapped on a rack of ribs, and went inside to make pasta.

After awhile, I looked up from chopping scallions and saw smoke billowing past the window. I remember having seen smoke like that before while tatterdamelion was grilling. "Huh," I thought. "Smoke."

I chopped a few more scallions and glanced up again, only to see billowing BLACK smoke. Black as in "we haven't chosen a new Pope yet, and in fact some of the cardinals aren't even talking to certain other cardinals, and I'm not one to gossip, but forget the College of Cardinals, it's like the High School of Cardinals in here and it is vicious!!!"

I grabbed potholders and tongs and bounded down the front stairs, screaming tatterdamelion's name with vigor, still thinking that I could pull the meat off and salvage the situation. But as I neared the grill, I saw flames shooting out of the back and flames underneath in the grease pan.

I ran inside and grabbed the fire extinguisher; meanwhile, Rachel, who was sitting with Andrew a ways away in the yard, ran to her car and got her portable fire extinguisher. I quickly turned the propane all the way OFF, praying that it would not explode in my face; and then, with a bit of jimmying on Rachel's part, both extinguishers fired and the fire (heh) was no more.

tatterdamelion missed the whole thing. Later, he commented, "If I hear you yelling, I just assume you're yelling at the kids." Well... probably a good call, there.

The ribs, sadly, were not salvageable.

After all the mayhem was over, the hypermuffin wandered down the front steps, looked at the white powder everywhere, and exclaimed, "It snowed!"

ramonarjona came by shortly thereafter for a play date between his daughter and the hypermuffin, and, seeing the need, he made a run to the nearby Dick's for some much-needed junk food.

But seriously. I am never touching that grill again. It needs the masterful hand of a man, or something. I'll stick with charcoal briquettes from now on!

Behold, the future

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:16:20 GMT



		I will marry Greg Kinnear.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Vietnam in our fabulous Apartment.
		We will have 22 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Raspberry Mocha Geo Metro.
		I will spend my days as a Church bell polisher, and live happily ever after.

Only a matter of time

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:45:30 GMT

... until they are earning their keep as product models. :-)