Short recaps post! :)

1) Punk Rock Flea Market went VERY well! I am almost sold out of armwarmers, and I even sold one pair when it was 10 minutes from being done. I asked the woman to go shop around and I'd have them ready for her before she left. :) So yeah, I need to restock those before I Heart Rummage, methinks!

2) I spent most of Sunday worn out from the previous day's exertions, and trying to get ready for my trip for work. As a result ...

3) I forgot to pack my hairbrush and my reading glasses. I also didn't pack my camera, because I somehow convinced myself that I didn't need it. Hello! We're staying right near the ocean, and I didn't need my camera? No, I don't know what I was thinking. Thus far, though, I am doing okay without of all of these items. I did go retrieve a comb, though, so my hair will be mostly managed. :)

4) Southern California looks much more like California is supposed to. I say supposed to totally based on movies and TV, because I'm a dork. But there really are palm trees everywhere. And surf shops across the road from Christmas tree lots. :)

Whee!

So yeah, I think I'm camping out in the archives for the foreseeable future. I got about 1/3 (maybe) of the way through the first project today. I suppose that means I COULD be done by next Tuesday, but I know my luck, and I know it won't happen. :) Not too worried about it, though, because a) I like the archives, b) it gives me work to do, and c) crocheting on the bus is fun!

However, crocheting in the dark, not so much. And yes, it's still dark at 7 a.m. lately. Or at least dark enough to make crocheting a bit of a challenge.

In other news, I just found out today that Apocalyptica is playing at Showbox Market next Thursday, so we are going. We had to miss them back in April, when my sister was in town and it snowed. But we're going this time, and we also have reservations for one of my favorite downtown restaurants, Cutter's Bay House, because they sent me yet another gift card. w00t! :)

We leave for Illinois in 15 days... whee! :)

Stuff about cats

1) Light colored cats decide you're their best friend, and want to give you lots of love, on the day you wear black pants.
2) I guess I'm just the right height for the cats to headbutt me in the back of the knee when I'm standing at the computer. Now it's not like the cat is headbutting me hard, but that spot right in the back of the knee will make my knee give a little, and before I know it, I'm falling down.
3) This is apparently how said cat asks for food. Silly cat doesn't realize that I have no clue where the cat food is kept, nor how much to give them. (Never mind the fact that they seem to still have food OUT!)

At least these cats have plenty of space to run around in, and thus are not constantly underfoot. I've only seen Hannah twice, but Oscar likes to sleep on my bed when I'm not here. Well, I guess that's better than sleeping in my suitcase. :) Oh, and Frazier, who has never liked me, still doesn't like me, unless I'm wearing black pants. *sigh*

And whee! :)

So here's some brief tidbits.

1) The cave is more like a mine, only not really like either. It's not nearly as cold as people told me it would be.
2) I have now learned the finer points of playing trains and blocks and the tappy tap dance. (My nephew is the cutest kid EVAR!)
3) My brain knows it's on Central time, but my body is like "no, you live in Pacific time now."
4) Because I can't live for 8 days without my crochet, the first thing we did upon my arrival was to go to Jo Ann's. The Jo Ann's here is huge, and I'm going to have to mail myself a box full of yarn on Saturday. :)
5) My sister's new house is beautiful and awesome, but I think they need a slight computer upgrade. This one won't run Explorer, or so she tells me... that's right, I'm on Netscrape... somebody save me... :)

Random on Friday

1) I am in love with Costco. It took a lot of willpower to not buy MORE stuff last night, but I know we can always go back. :) And we seriously only bought stuff we will eat--stuff that I normally buy anyway, just not in that much bulk!

2) Freeze dried strawberries = awesome. Not as good as real ones, of course, but awesome nonetheless. However, if the freeze drying process takes the water out of something, setting it in a little pool of water will not "reconstitute" your freeze dried strawberries. Yes, I tried. :)

3) I finally found non-dairy milk that I don't hate. YAY! :)

4) My trip to Kansas (#1) is officially on. I'm going to stay with my sister while I'm there, which is awesome, because that means lots of playing with my nephew time! :) Waiting for Jerome to get home to see if he will survive me being gone for 7 nights... if so, I'll get to spend the weekend with them also! :)

5) The trips to Kansas after #1 will be to not the part I want to be in in. :(

Hurrah for Friday!

I'm spending my day at UW, running about to various libraries and sections of libraries. Some people might complain, but I love being on campus for a day. And I especially like the pan-Asian place they have in the HUB for lunch. :)

End of the Work Week Wisdom:
Bishop: "Start from the beginning. Tell me everything you know."
The Doctor: "Well, for starters, I know... you can't wrap your hand round your elbow and make your fingers meet."
--from "The Idiot's Lantern" episode of Doctor Who

Like I said, addicted. :) Of course, this means we're going to get through the remainder of the new seasons before the next season comes out... :)

Just a few random things...

1) Lita, of WWE fame, is in a band called The Luchagores. Thanks to Cindy and Thor for that fun news. :)

2) There's a CD called Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden that is currently being distributed with Kerrang magazine. If you have the chance to get your hands on it, I'd say do it. I've only heard a couple of the songs so far, and I honestly am not really an Iron Maiden fan. But what I've heard so far is good. :)

3) I still haven't seen National Treasure, but National Treasure 2 is mostly pretty good. I say mostly because there were a couple of things that had the history geek in me screaming, and also because I got distracted at the point where they're doing the "action" treasure hunter bits, and wandered off.

4) Hoping to go see X-Files either tonight or tomorrow night. I'm hoping for tonight, because I can't believe it's already been out 5 days and I haven't seen it yet. :)

5) At the Archives all week, possibly part of next week, and then definitely the week after that. And then I'm maybe going to Kansas. A lot. Sadly, the "a lot" part would be not Kansas City area. :(

Random stuff about me

Katy tagged me for one of these silly memes, but I haven't done one for a while. So what the hey. Mine will be considerably less exciting than hers, however, because I don't wanna find pictures for all of mine. :)

1) I was 19 before I flew in a plane, and when I finally did fly, I went by myself to visit a good friend at her college.

2) I have incredibly vivid, distinct dreams. I don't remember them every night, but I often wake up in the middle of a dream, and remember fragments.

3) My amazing mutant ability is the ability to identify songs within about 3 seconds of hearing them. If I can't always name the song, I can usually name the band. (Of course, this is only for stuff I've heard before. :) )

4) If you multiply the month of the year (numerically represented) and day of the month I was born, you get the last two digits of the year I was born.

5) When I was in kindergarten, I missed EVERY holiday party that our room mothers threw. I was sick every time, and several times it was fairly serious (scarlet fever, for example).

6) Despite the above, I still own two ceramic pieces that were given out at the holiday parties--a jack o'lantern and a Christmas boot. I think one of our room mothers must have been a ceramic painter--these things are exquisite!

Oh yeah, and I'm not tagging anyone specific. If you read this, consider yourself tagged if you want to do this meme! :)

Random.

1) The day after I put away my rain jacket, it always rains. I thought I was cleaning up the apartment. What I was really doing was summoning the rain clouds. My bad.

2) I had to wait 20 minutes today for a small bus, rather than the normal big, articulated bus. The bus schedules changed on Monday, and so far, the bus is 2 for 2 for sucking. The bus yesterday morning also took forever to arrive, and was jam packed. That one WAS a big bus. Either I need to start making it out the door earlier, or I'm going to start cursing my commute. *sigh*

3) I was going to post lots of movie reviews this week, but it seems that I'm just a movie watching fool right now. So here we go with the quick movie recaps.

Dirty Pretty Things: Not what I was expecting, but I think better than I was actually thinking it might be. Cute little French girl from Amelie (whose last name I can't spell) looks even younger with longer hair, still cute, and doesn't have a totally unintelligible accent. :)

3:10 to Yuma: While I must admit that I really didn't watch this one all that closely, because it seemed fairly slow, and there were other things to do, I did like what I watched of it. What's not to like about a movie with Christian Bale and Alan Tudyk?! (Oh, and Russell Crowe, but I'm sort of "meh" about him.)

Near Dark: Simultaneously the BEST and WORST vampire movie ever made. The vampires: fabulous, especially the child vampire (and Bill Paxton and Lance... crud, can't spell his last name either). However, one aspect of the plot is purely ridiculous, and that really ruins the movie for me. Still, I can't resist it, and had to get Jerome to watch it last night. It's on our On Demand right now, and I expect I will watch it a lot. I still haven't gotten it on DVD, though I've been meaning to for years. :)

I think tonight will be Immortal Beloved, also on the On Demand, because I can't resist Gary Oldman in pretty much anything. He's just an amazingly good actor. :)

Whee!

Back in the office this week, though only four days of work this week. Gotta love holidays, especially when there hasn't been one since New Years Day. I think that January through May is often the worst part of the year, simply due to lack of days off. Now that we've hit Memorial Day, there's a day off every other month, and then November, December, and January each have a day off. :)

So yesterday, Rosalie mentioned Google Reader to me, and I had to admit I had never heard of it. Shortly after I got home, however, I tracked it down and got mine set up. Brilliant. Amazingly brilliant. I've added maybe half of the blogs on my sidebar to it, and it makes my life SO much easier in terms of seeing when people have posted something new. This is particularly useful for the blogs in my sidebar, as many of them only get updated once in a blue moon. :) So with just a couple of clicks, I can get a list of which ones have new posts, see their new posts, and be done with it. Definite time saver!

I'm sure there are plenty of readers going "well, yeah, that's what it's for." I'm a bit behind the curve on this one. :)

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In other random news, we're still tossing around the idea of going to see The Birthday Massacre and MSI (Mindless Self Indulgence). I'm a little leery of this because a) I only marginally like MSI, and b) I don't like MSI's fans, generally speaking. So we've toyed with just going to see The Birthday Massacre, but that doesn't solve issue B. We will have to think about it some more, I suppose.

Trip recap and random

So that covers the short version of my trip. Power lines and snow. :) The former were all over the place outside of my hotel room, and the latter started on the mountains and ended up coming out of the sky. Weird frickin' weather.

I was in Port Angeles for work for the better part of last week. Lots of work, but lots of fun too, including being upgraded to what amounted to a one bedroom apartment at the hotel. Especially since it was a one bedroom apartment that WASN'T full of my stuff. :) Lots of good food as well. The weather left a bit to be desired, but there were some good moments.

Came home on Friday in a mix of snow, clear, rain, and I think hail or sleet. It was actually sunny when I met up with Jerome and Megan at my office, and we headed out to go home. By the time we were done with dinner, however, it was more sleet, and we went home instead of to Apocalyptica. I was a bit bummed about that, but being in a warm, dry apartment seemed like a better idea than standing in the cold rain waiting for buses.

Saturday, we ended up going to the Sci-Fi Museum and EMP, taking a LONG walk to the Aquarium, and then wandering Pike Place Market before dinner. I wish I would have brought my camera to get pictures of the sea otters, but Megan took plenty. Now I just have to make her send them to me. :)

Sunday started out with decent weather, but by the time I was driving home from taking Jerome to work, there was hail. I think the sun was out later in the day, but am not sure as I stayed inside after that. :)

So random:
1) Me: "The level of insanity increases exponentially depending on how many Vogels are involved."
2) Cupcakes should not be eaten with forks. That's the whole point of a cupcake--the lack of forks needed. (However, if you put said cupcake in the microwave, the bottom gets mushy and cupcakes are a bit top heavy, resulting in cupcake collapse.)

My plans for the week are somewhat ephemeral at the moment. I should be getting another freelancing project soon. In the meantime, however, it's mad production mode for my upcoming craft shows. Oh, and coming up with something to run for Exalted on Saturday. Yeah, I think I triple booked this week.

Random fun fact

It is totally possible to smash a Fruit Roll-Up that's still in the package. Especially in my bag.

Don't ask why I didn't think this was possible. I was mostly just hoping that they were less squishable than, say, a Little Debbie snack. I think I was correct in that assumption. :)

Oh the joys of not entirely as planned. I thought I'd be at the library for two days, yet here I am at work. Though I do get to go back to the library in the morning.

I already know I will have no time for any crafts at all until probably Sunday. I also have very little time for movies and such, though I can apparently get work done if the movie is on behind me. Short version: don't sit on the couch and try to work. :)

Hmm... of randomness...

I either have the potential for tons of stuff to get done this weekend, or no plans at all... the annoying thing is not knowing which way it's going to go. :) I wouldn't mind the latter, because it's been a crazy week at work, but at the same time, I'd rather just get started on a lot of the stuff (which will only be postponed if it's not ready for me this weekend).

Holy crap, it's snowing in downtown Seattle again! First it was pouring (relatively speaking), and now it's snowing. *checks calendar* Yeah, this is just plain weirdo weather.

End of the Work Week Wisdom
"When did Motley Crue become classic rock?"
--"1985" by Bowling for Soup

Yeah, it's just one of those random "ooh, shiny" sort of days for me. I blame lack of sleep. :)

Many many things...

1) Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers is on my TV right now. Help! (This is the first of Jerome's 80's cartoons fixation.)

2) Got new jewelry today... *happy dance* (Keep in mind that when I say jewelry, I never mean standard sized/normal jewelry. Today, it was a new titanium ring for my cartilage, and a new nostril screw. :) )

3) I have no clue what was going on downtown tonight, but it was sheer insanity. We waited for a bus on Capitol Hill almost half an hour before giving up and taking another bus, which then took forever to get to our normal bus stop. The side trip to Cold Stone Creamery might have had something to do with the "forever" part, but it was worth it, and well deserved. :)

4) Ack, dilemma! I just opened one of the few Christmas pressies that I had sent to our apartment, and it is WAY too cute to give away. I want to keep it for me!!!! This is why I was much better off sending most things to my mom's house, but this one was one I needed here, rather than there. But yeah... if I keep it, it's too late to order something new for this gift, which means I'll have to go storebought. If I don't keep it, though, I will be sad. This is no fair. :(

My thought for the day

I wish that whoever invented CDs had made them the same width as a standard letter envelope. Cuz then I could put my Netflix envelopes into the mail slot, instead of taking them downstairs.

(Yeah, pity me, I know. I have to go down one whole floor to mail them, and I don't even have to go outside. :) )

In other news, I am exceptionally glad that today is Thursday, even if we have to do some running around after I get home from work. Yesterday was a super long day at work, though today has been going by more quickly.

Tomorrow, we get to go set up for the Punk Rock Flea Market 2, though this does mean that I need to bring Jerome's music stand with me to work in the morning. This should prove vaguely amusing on the bus. At least it collapses into two pieces, which are relatively small. But I'm still gonna get odd looks, I suspect. :)

Random

1) My to-do list keeps growing. To clarify, my current to-do list is only for crafty projects. And every time I put a small dent in it, I seem to be adding 3 or 4 more things to it. But some of it is time sensitive stuff (read: stuff for the Punk Rock Flea Market), so I just have to make myself do that stuff instead of the fun stuff (read: making another stuffed monkey for us to keep).

2) After carrying a box of stuff 6 blocks to Kinkos, then doubling (or more) the weight and carrying it back 6 blocks, coupled with essentially punching myself in the stomach with a 20-ounce bottle of soda this morning, I pretty much hurt all over. It's really a shame that none of my crafts are particularly waterproof, because I don't have time for a bath. :(

3) Three weeks until we fly to St. Louis! *runs around like a chicken with her head cut off* As if I didn't already have enough stuff to fuss over!

Yes, I am strange

In case anyone wasn't sure. :)

Thanks to Kimberly, I have a mannequin waiting to come live at my house. Nordstrom's has apparently been clearing out their mannequins, so she picked up a few extras for those of us who wanted them, but don't often have our cars downtown. (And there is no way I was going to carry a mannequin on the bus. :) )

This acquisition is awesome for me, because it means that I can model hats, scarves, and purses on something sized like a real person, meaning that it will show scale and such. This is also awesome for me, because it's like having a gigantic lifesize doll... which prompted me brainstorming this morning...

Me to Jerome: "Did you know that mannequins wear makeup? Now I gotta decide how I'm gonna do her makeup! Ooh, I wonder how freaky she would look with KISS makeup. Too bad I got rid of my black wig. She would rock if she looked like KISS. Of course, I still need to name her..."

(Yeah, I brainstorm outloud a lot. It contributes to Jerome thinking that I'm crazy. But it's crazy in a good way. He laughs when I brainstorm outloud. :) )

So instead of the End of the Work Week Wisdom, we'll do a totally unofficial set of polls!

1) Should I buy a new black wig and give my mannequin KISS makeup?
- Yes
- No

2) What should I name my mannequin?

For the record, I'm leaning towards giving her some sort of crazy Victorian/Steampunk name, I just don't know what yet. :)

Random Things found on WikiHow

I love looking at WikiHow occasionally so that I can find random things. I think this one wins.

Calculate Pi by Throwing Frozen Hot Dogs

It's probably a good thing that we don't really have any space in our apartment suitable for this experiment. Because I know we have a package of frozen hot dogs in the freezer. :)

Another day of random...

1) I have a new pirate coat, and could not resist doing a silly pose for this picture of it. (I always do silly poses when I wear steampunk clothes.) This coat is amazing. It's leather (and I think they must have used the better part of an entire cow to make it), nice and worn to the point where it is soft and comfortable. I found it a couple of weeks ago, but didn't buy it till last night. As soon as Jerome saw it on me, he told me that I had to buy it. Who am I to argue? ;)

I'm planning to replace all 20 buttons with something a bit more Victorian and/or military inspired, though I do want to keep them in the gold/bronze/brass color scheme. I just need to find buttons for much cheaper than you can buy them at JoAnn's. I do not want to have to spend $20 to get the buttons I need. :(

I'm also plotting on a way to make myself a hat and scarf that will go with this, without detracting too much from the awesome that is this coat. I have had the recommendation to go with a tartan scarf and a red bucket-style hat. I can make the hat, but I can't crochet plaid. :( (Gloves will be black stretch gloves or fleece gloves, because I have approximately five pairs of those two styles of gloves already.)

2) Anandi, who I have not met yet (but might tonight) had already captured my attention with her blog, but this post on riding the bus in Seattle is perfection. I know EXACTLY what she is talking about. :) (She also has an Etsy shop, and makes super neat jewelry with excellent names.)

3) Two new CDs last night: another Dropkick Murphys, and H.I.M. Jerome really tried to dissuade me from buying the H.I.M. CD, but I can't help it! I love Ville Valo's voice! (He suggested Ministry or Korn as possible alternates. I stuck with H.I.M.) Not much to say on either yet, as I haven't finished listening to them, other than to say that they sound about the same as they always sound. In both cases, this is a good thing.

(I have a much longer rant in store about why it is perfectly acceptable for some bands to always sound the same, while I expect other bands to continually morph their style. Cuz yes, this is a bit of a paradox.)

Okay, I suppose that's enough random for today. :)

I've been tagged?

Dancing Mooney has tagged me in some silly thing where I now am supposed to post 6 things about myself, and then tag 6 more people. I think I'll skip the tagging more people part, since I'm not sure that I have 6 regular readers right now, let along 6 regular readers who have their own blogs... :)

Sooooo...

1) I didn't ride in a plane until I was almost 20 years old. During Spring Break in my junior year of college, I flew to Arizona to visit my best friend, who had started college there the previous fall.
2) Until I was 23, I had only lived in one state, Missouri. I moved to Illinois when I was 23, and stayed there until this year, when I moved to Washington. My other siblings all live within a 6 hour drive of where we grew up, but I live a several days drive away from the nearest one of them!
3) Had it not been for German, I would probably have a Ph.D. by now. My Ph.D. program required intermediate level knowledge of two foreign languages. I had French covered from my undergrad days, but needed to learn German for the Ph.D. I just couldn't make myself get through the classes nor teach myself enough German to pass the exam, so I eventually gave up on it.
4) When I was little, I was ambidextrous. When it came time for me to go to kindergarten, the teachers told me that I had to pick a hand, and subtly nudged me towards becoming right handed.
5) Speaking of kindergarten, I started school before I was even 4 1/2. I could read well at 3, and my parents chose to have me tested to see if I could start school early. I passed with flying colors, and they allowed me to start school in September, when I wouldn't turn 5 until late March!
6) I have never had a broken bone. Or chicken pox. (Which is technically two separate things, but whatever. :) )

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In other news, slowly but surely, I plan to go back and tag my old posts. Of course, I have over 1,000 posts in this blog, so it may take a while... I've only got about 60 of them tagged so far. :)