And I had more to say...

Hello there.  I have all but ignored this space for months and months; honestly I don't even think I have even felt the "should be posting" guilt.  I have gone through a series of life changes- huge stuff that I have never had to face before.  Choices I am making that will effect and affect the rest of my life in unimaginable ways; things that I never thought I would deal with and things I honestly thought I would deal with differently in hypothetical situations that are worlds away from my reality.  Maybe soon I will use this space to expand but for now I just need to breathe.  B.r.e.a.t.h.e.

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And on to knitting.  After months of not being inspired to do anything, and a dog that won't let me do anything I have found a new must knit project.  This is a jacket from Lion Brand that I love because it is basically a big rectangle with arms.  It is the perfect sweater style and so versatile.  First I will make it like the instructions but with a much different yarn.  Something textured and soft.  Maybe I will make more with some cables, lace or embroidery.  Versatile. 

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California smells like fire.  The sky had turned a scary dark & orange colour that might be beautiful if it weren't so sad & scary.  All those acres of homes and trees... The air & animals destroyed.  Fire is humbling. 

And I had more to say but it is slipping my mind. 

Cheers all and happy October!

Tagged & Buffalo

Tagged by the lovely Shash.

Rules: 1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged write their own blog post about their eight things and include these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and that they should read your blog.

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#1 I am lazy.  Really lazy.  I love to look for ways to make things as easy and as simple as they need to be.  I will never be the person who "swatches" before knitting or who mixes wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls [I don't want to wash the extra bowl- just make a well in the dry ingredients and mix the wet in there].  Oddly, there is a certain learned art to being lazy and laziness is subjective, one person's laziness is another's extra work.

#2 I like to eat big bowls of mushy foods.  Like oatmeal, [vegan] mac & cheese, any kind of noodle soup, chili, lentils & rice, etc.  I love sitting down to a great movie or TV show with a big ol' bowl of mushy food on my lap.  And a napkin.  #2 1/2  When I eat, I will spill food on me no matter what.  My ex makes terrible fun of me and at each meal just waits to see what will drop down my front making snide comments like, "it was bound to happen" or "why do you even bother wearing nice clothes?". 

#3 I have a terrible fear of microwaving water.  This I can't explain but even thinking about it makes my teeth hurt.  I do not have a microwave in my house, and haven't for 8 years, though I sometimes use the one at work.  Even so, I will always heat my water in the kettle, or at least in the coffee maker.  Stranger still, my brother, for all his sensibilities and extreme laziness, also is disgusted by microwaving water [I found this out accidentally when he was telling a story about leaving the kettle on the stove too long].  We grew up using the microwave for cooking, though I still used the stove whenever possible, and ALWAYS for heating water. 

#4 I have never had PMS, or cramps or anything other symptom related to my "monthlies" except the odd lower back pain.  Until recently, that is.  Now I have been getting nostalgic & sentimental around that time.  I have been warned that PMS symptoms start appearing around 30 and as I near that age I hope that I never know what a cramp feels like. 

#5 I read celebrity gossip daily.  I know, I know, for shame.  An ex coworker got me started and I can't stop.  I check exactly 5 sites and in this order: First, Second, Third, Fourth & Fifth.  I like the sites that tend to be on the snarky side, the 1st and 5th being the snarkiest of all.

#6 I have seven tattoos.  Four of which are friendship tattoos with several of my best friends.  Recently my 3 best friends and I got "BFF" on our lower backs [this started as a joke and I am not sure when it transitioned into a reasonable idea] and another best friend [not in the BFF group] got the Jewish star on our hips the weekend before she moved to Israel. 

#7 I have very curly hair, and my projectionist mother [who has frizzy red hair] used to straighten my hair growing up.  I never wore my hair natural until high school.  I have a lot of sympathy for people who compulsively straighten their hair though I still want to shake them and yelling curly is beautiful!  I used to scour magazines looking for models with natural curls instead of stick straight hair, or stickly straightened hair.  It still angers me when I see movie/TV makeovers that take the crazy or nerdy girl with poofy hair and straighten her into a polished "after".  Curly haired ladies on screen are ALWAYS portrayed as nerdy, slutty, wild, out of control, and generally socially unacceptable.  Even on Sex in the City you can watch SJP's hair change with her social/ relationship status, though always a bit of an outsider.  [Side note: wavy haired ladies are "free spirits" but curls are strictly for the unfit].

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#8  The pictures are of my new puppy, Buffalo.  He was a stray that some friends rescued and is the sweetest, kindest dog on the planet.  I might be biased, but shoot, he is amazing.  Though still a puppy, unhousebroken, and a bit of a chewer [to put it lightly].  I love this giant baby so much.  He is about 60 pounds currently at about 6 mos.  His breed, Mastiff, can grow on average to 160-200 pounds.  He is a lot of dog for me and my little apartment oh but he is worth it.

Ok, so I am supposed to tag 8 people, but everyone I think I would have tagged has already been so.  If you are one of the few people who read this, and you haven't been tagged, consider yourself as such.

Cheers!

Run Toward the Roar: Side Profiles & Shopping

I purchased these cheap [$6] earrings at Claire's a while back and have been unable to take them out.  Shoot, I have even accidentally slept in them more than once. 

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Today I hit up Etsy looking for another large hoop earring [brown of course] and came upon these incredible walnut earringsThese are the earrings dreams are made of.  Seriously I know that sounds extreme.  But look.  I love wood jewelry.  And if I had the extra cash I would buy this ring.  Instead I bought this one.  Oh wait, I switched last minute and bought this one instead.  Oh and my gosh look at the silver bark ring...

And speaking of shopping [which I have been doing way too much of lately...] I want this PE shirt, and this record which has the GREATEST cover of all time [see below].  Shoot, I love Tammy Faye. 

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Cheers!

F*ck & Cheers

Sometimes I laugh when I think of my mom growing up, because while she was a complete nerd, her parents [my grandparents] were partying swingers.  My mom was so embarrassed by them and that cracks me up because I treasure their boldness and vulgarity. 

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I am sure I have posted this pillow before, but it deserves another go.  I LOVE THIS PILLOW.  My grandma made it for my grandfather about 40 years or so ago.  My mom would hide it in their house so her friends wouldn't see it when they came over.  This wasn't so much a message about fidelity as it was a gift boldly using my grandfather's favourite word, f*ck.  Yep.  But the use of the word wasn't just for textiles...

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These rings are both the same with LOVE on one side and F*CK on the other.  The plainer one [that is showing the word love] is the 14k gold model for the pure gold nugget one [the one showing the f*ck side].  These, believe it or not, were my grandmother's wedding rings, designed by my grandfather. My grandfather's ring was a solid gold naked lady wrapping herself, face up, around his finger [my grandma still has this and can't yet part with it though it is said to be willed to my brother...].  He also had a lifetime subscription to Playboy which my grandmother kept for 13 years after his death in 1982.  I received the f*ck rings over the years as birthday gifts and sometimes can't even believe they exist.  I used to wear them until I developed an allergy to gold [apparently I am now completely metal intolerant- you should see my ears after I dare to even try on a pair of earrings anymore]. 

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And then a few years ago a friend gave me this silver ring from the store she works for, that again uses our family word.  I polished this up yesterday with the bowls and am starting to wear it again [until my finger decides it is allergic to it].

So consider it a compliment when I say:

Cheers and f*ck!

Simple Rags

I mentioned my [shameful] love for Big Lots before but I didn't mention the little towels I bought.  These came in a set of 18 for $4.  I am trying to stop using paper towels as much as possible and these are the perfect useable rags; I don't feel bad about messing them up with really dirty messes, they are rough enough to get up sticky messes, and they look kinda cute.  Right now they are folded over my paper towel rack as I break the addiction [the paper towel roll is hidden under the sink] and I am feeling good about the change. 

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Below is my simplicity test score.  I actually did better than I thought since a lot of the questions made me realize just how simple I am not.

Thank You for completing the survey! Your Simplicity Score is listed below.

Your score is 3.2

You scored in the moderate range of this scale

Also I downloaded this little gadget thing a few days ago and so far I have saved .83 pounds of co2.  From the website:

"CO2 Saver is a lightweight program that manages your computer's power usage when it's idle, saving energy and decreasing the demand on your power utility."

Cheers all!

Card Catalogue

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Make your own here.

Cheers!

Breakfast & Cars

So here is today's little breakfast set up [bad lighting, poor picture quality & all] which includes fresh spelt muffins from The Vegan Lunch Box [so freaking easy and yum!], with Earth Balance and jam, coffee and my one sewing project, the french press cozy. 

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There will be no close up shots of it, for obvious reasons, but it fits & does its job & I am awfully proud of myself.  The outside is linen with dark blue cotton lining, off-white binding & organic cotton batting [the package says organic cotton but I think they mean "organic" as unbleached and not "chemical free".  There are no fabric certifications, are there?].  Is there a Sew Green answer to this?

Also my car is officially totaled and I have 5 days to buy a new car [well 5 days of rental car coverage] and I am looking at Subarus, Volkswagens and Jeeps.  Any recommendations?  Warnings?  I am trying to weigh my green options with the miles I drive, about 374.58 a week [that is just from home to work to school & home again- doesn't include any "fun" driving!] which comes to 1,498.32 miles a month.  Seriously, I "mapquested" all my routes and even though I feel it, it still shocks me.  Somewhere I read that the average American drives 15,000 per year, and my average is about 3,000 over that.  This is a lot of car time and I need to seriously think about reliability, gas mileage, and safety [I got hit really hard and had I a smaller, lower car I would have been seriously injured].  There is currently 1 biodesiel station in LA [none in Orange County] and it is way out of my way.  I could still buy diesel, but I need to make sure it is practical for all my driving.  I am worried about hybrids because I hear the battery can run $6,000 if it needs replacement, plus I need a larger car and those are crazy expensive [$25,000- $50,000 as quoted online, but I bet they are more expensive here is CA].

So I have 5 days to figure this out. 

Cheers all!

Sew Excited

In an email Shash mentioned the possibility of giving up the "Sew" puns to which Lisa responded that she hopes the puns never end.  And sew they continue.

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This is me peeking out to say hello.  There is a completely unintentional image of a floating chicken on the wall behind me; things like that happen when you work in an arts space.  I need new glasses sew I made an appointment with a new optometrist next week and actually googled him to see any reviews or warnings and I found some quite charming comments

I love all the press Sew Green has gotten in the few days since it debuted.  I know we will exceed all expectations, but after this review I am feeling a bit of the pressure.  [Thanks Tracy for the link.]

***Forgot to mention that I did not get to meet mr. Ira Glass, but I had a wonderful time seeing This American Life on stage.  Freaking hilarious and they showed clips from the upcoming This American Life TV show [must get Showtime!].  The radio show airs Saturday and you can listen to it free from the site, or download free from iTunes.  The episode is called, "What I Learned from TV".

Cheers!

So Very Green

So I have been working on a little side project which debuts today.  It is a collaborative website between bloggers who want to live & learn more green.  This documents our research and efforts in a way which will be accessible and interesting [we hope].  While I am sure that most the people who read my blog are involved in the project [hi guys!], if this is news to you, head over to SEW GREEN and read all about us.

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In other news I actually sewed.  On my own.  And even made something on my own pattern.  I know, wow.  If I get around to photographing it I will share in an upcoming post. 

Also tonight I am fulfilling one of my life goals [attainable] which is to see This American Life live on stage and I am hoping to fulfill another life goal and meet mr. Ira Glass [unattainable I'm sure, but oh so hopeful]. 

Cheers all!

That being said.

I am not even going to look back and see when I last posted.  Too long.  This has been a relatively tough week [one of my classmates is a Sudanese refugee and after hearing his story I have very little pity for myself].  That being said...

Here is a cute picture of my fish Champion, who is not doing so well.  I finished an antibiotic treatment on him, and it didn't seem to take away his infection.  That means that it may be more serious and I am worried.   I have had him over a year and this is the first illness he has had.  Poor guy.  You can see him peeking out from behind the plant.

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I was also in a bit of a car wreck last week.  My car is still somewhere being evaluated to see if it should be repaired or totaled.  Since this is the second time my car has been in a major accident [the first time my parked car was smashed by a drunk driver, and I was nowhere near the car] and I don't know if I want it repaired or to just buy a new one [sooo stressful!].  I have had my Jeep for 7 years, 110,000 miles and I can't imagine owning another car.  But at least I have a fancy rental car that is completely keyless.  Yes, it even starts with a button.  Weird. 

And last night I finally watched Hotel Rwanda [it has been sitting on my coffee table for several months now but I couldn't bring myself to watch it].  I cried through the entire movie.  Not just watery eyes, but full on sobs.  I remember the conflict well, but I don't think I ever heard that the two conflicting races were invented by the Belgians.  And that brings me right back around to Sudan.  I know people are always reminding others about what is happening NOW in Darfur.  But it is true and happening now.  Be involved.  There is a Jewish saying that no one is free is one person is oppressed.  It made me think of this old poem that I remember hanging on the wall in my high school social studies class:

First they came for the Socialists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left
to speak up for me.


Common American and English poster version

Cheers all to a good week!

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