Over in the album I posted a couple of pictures of Fozzie the cat. We keep saying he's so darn cute that we're going to have to send him back. As I look at him right now, stretched out on his back, sleeping on the futon, that remains true. All this time and you would think he would stop getting cuter...

A cold front is about to blow in and I can't wait. It's 46 degrees "up the road" in Waco right now and 71 here. As far as I'm concerned, 71 is not a normal temperature for the month of January. Speaking of not normal, how about the unusual snow in California the other day. Mena at dollarshort.org has some nice pics and a link to some more nice pics. Unlike a lot of relocated northerners, I miss snow.

Nigella Lawson has been a topic of discussion over at Spinning-Jennie.com. E! and the Style network are now showing the great cooking show Nigella Bites. We stumbled upon this show while we were in Ireland in September. I was excited when E! and Style started carrying it. Though surprised it hadn't been picked up by FoodTV.

Watched a little bit of Pulp Fiction last night and now I want the soundtrack. It's fun and I've got a thing for surf music.

Last week I picked up The Calligrapher's Companion for $9.99, which is what they are selling for on the website. What they aren't really clear about on the website is that this is a hardbound book with 100 alphabets that comes in a nice cardboard bookjacket along with a softbound workbook for practicing your letters. This is a great price for such a nice set. I found it with the cheapo books at the brick and mortar store, buy YMMV. So, I've been practicing, well, I slacked over the weekend, but I am seeing improvement. I'm not doing the dip pen routine, just got some calligraphic felt tips, because I think they're easier to start out with.

A friend referred me to the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health website today after listening to me bitch about the joys of being a woman. I love the idea (from the restaurant owners letter on the news page) of restaurants and bars offering free feminine supplies in the ladies room to increase business!

I fell off the blogging wagon after viewing my site statistics and seeing that nobody was reading this drek. Then today I read this great article You've Got Blog (via The 2002 Bloggies: The Second Annual Weblog Awards) and was inspired to get back on the blogging horse.

Via the Day Late section of Mena's Dollarshort.org I found a link to this:

"The By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 collection consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest. These striking silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia. The posters were made possible by one of the first U.S. Government programs to support the arts and were added to the Library's holdings in the 1940s"

These posters are really great, some of them are even available for download as .jpg and .tif files. These would be fun to use for some kind of handmade book.

In case you were wondering, like I was, what the WPA was, it was part of FDR's Second New Deal. More info can be found at this site about New Deal Cultural Programs. Essentially it was a program from FDR's second term whose aim was to put those unemployed by the Depression to work providing cultural (art, writing, theater) opportunities the public at large would benefit from. I thought that the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was part of this same initiative, but according the CCC alumni website's history section, the CCC, though similar in drive and nature, was an outgrowth of FDR's Emergency Conservation Work Act.

While the current percentage of our population who are unemployed don't come near the numbers of post-depression America, I think it might be nice to have re-implementation of some of these programs. Having enjoyed many public parks that were helped along by the CCC (see a list of work done at Letchworth State Park by the CCC), I may have a much more romantic view of the programs than is entirely practical. But, hey, we should have learned something from the first go 'round to make it easier to do a second time right? Though I think that Clinton's Americorps program has echos of Roosevelt's ideas.

It's back to the grind again on this sunny Monday. The weekend concluded with me frustrated because there was so much more stuff I wanted to do around the homestead that I couldn't fit into my plans. To remedy that I've scheduled a long weekend. To add to having next Monday off for MLK day, I'm taking this Friday off.

I plan to do things like: pull weeds and generally get my little garden in shape to put some fresh spring flowers/plants in soon; remove the rest of the wallpaper in the bathroom and sand the walls, it might be a little too ambitious to plan on getting them coated with primer at this point; stretch my creative wings and produce something new, not sure what, but I've been itching to make a little book, try beaded crochet, make a little fabric doll with lots of embellishments, or something outside my current realm of crocheting (though I'd like to do more of that too) and making a couple of beaded ornaments, though a few more of those wouldn't be bad to crank out; squeeze kitties; probably shop for groceries; and who knows what else. I just need a little time where I can feel like I've accomplished something instead of feeling like I have a list of things I want or need to do that's as long as my arm.

We did go shopping at the outlet center this weekend, and I scored some great bargains. My friends at Eddie Bauer had a really cute dress and little cardigan for $16! It's this one, except it's long and light pastel green. Also some got some shoes and sneakers at Rockport/Reebok. I had been looking for shoes like this since we were in Ireland. They are super comfy, but not so comfy as to look too sloppy, and I paid about $20 less at the outlet center. My sweet companion was able to score some great deals on men's clothing also, so a good shopping experience was had by all.

Friday Five
1. What was your first job? The summer I was fourteen and too young to get a real job, I took a babysitting job for three little boys, aged four, seven and seven. I was paid $40/week and worked from 8:00-3:00, what a bargain for those two moms! The worst was when the four year old poured an economy sized bottle of shampoo all over the carpeted bathroom.

2. How old were you when you had your first kiss? Eleven on the school bus.

3. What was your first car? What happened to it? A bronze Chevy Citation. It just stopped running and was going to cost too much to fix. This was way back before I had any idea that you had to change the oil, I'm thinking that could have caused some engine trouble.

4. What was your first concert? 10,000 Maniacs at SUNY Geneseo.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? More crocheting, hope to finish the scarf. More cleaning up of my messy room, hopefully. Seeing "In the Bedroom." Shopping at the outlet center.

Made a few changes to the page today. Thought some color was in order. It's still a work in progress, as if that stage will ever be over...

I love my spinning star lamp. More of these can be found and magicspinninglamp.com. They have also have them available with Simpson's and South Park characters. Not really my cup of tea, but funny.

Via Not Martha yesterday I found the site of Erica Mulherin. It's cool and needs to be added to my frequently visited list. If you go, be sure to check out her fabu illustrations.

While at OfficeMax yesterday, I picked up some some Invent It! ink jet printable temporary tattoo sheets. Not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I'm sure something will strike me (I just hope it's not a baseball bat) and they'll be very fun. One of my co-workers who is an active member of a certain political party thought it would be fun to make party tats for an upcoming rally. Neat idea.

I also picked up some Avery Ink Jet Decals for Windows (oddly these don't appear on their website, though the printable shrink plastic sheets - AKA shrinky dinks - that I can't seem to find locally are on the website. Coincidence or conspiracy, you be the judge). These are those cling sheets that you often see holiday decorations done on. I want to make a little sign for my car that says, "My other car's a Vespa." Whee!

I'm off to have sushi with my friends Sonia and Meredith before Sonia heads back to NYC and Columbia U. Sonia has just become and "olympic hopeful" and will be training in Tae Kwon Do for the 2006 Olympic Games. Go Sonia!! I love saying that one of my friends is an "olympic hopeful".

So I did some running around today on my lunch hour. My intention was to visit Target in hopes of finding some super cheap gloves, like I saw while in Philly, and score some other great clearance items. Well, my target was fresh out of gloves. Since it's 64 degrees here at the moment and I do own two nice pairs of gloves, no tragedy. It's just nice to have some extra bargain gloves, just in case.

I did however land a few great clearance purchases. If you're looking for socks, lingerie or toys for cheap, visit your nearest Target ASAP. I didn't actually buy any of those things though...

What I did get:
Queen size inflatable mattress for $10, just in case. It's not one of those super ones with it's own inflation system, but since I bought the little air compressor for $12.50 the day after Christmas I'm set. I thought this might come in handy should we ever actually follow through with our musings to go somewhere (like this for a chili cook-off) and spend the night in the Suburban.
Spinning star lamp for a mere $7.50. I've wanted one of these for a long time, then they got really trendy and I decided against it, but for $7.50, I had to have it. I can't wait to install it in my room tonight. I remember seeing a lamp of this type available at Book People a few years ago that came in a kit so you could make more of the turning cylinders with your own designs. Cool!

Post Target, I made a whirlwind stop at Barnes and Noble to pick up the new issue of Belle Armoire. I haven't looked at it at all as I plan to take it with me to the gym tonight and I need all the incentive I can get to haul my butt to the Y. I also bought Lapidary Journal - there's an in depth article about soldering, though it does look pretty intimidating, flux, torches, pickling, oh my! Somerset Studio - something called "Altered Books" really caught my eye, you take old books and remove most of the pages and put little shrines and such inside - and a special edition of Crochet Fantasy - there's a sweet baby afghan that would make a good Project Linus donation and a nice, beginner level floor mat in yummy blues and greens. The floor mat is one of those projects worked with two strands of yarn that I really want to try. I would think it would work up really quickly.

Per my pre-weekend post, I did in fact crochet and clean my messy room this weekend, though there wasn't much of a dent made in the cleaning bit. What the heck, the mess will still be there next weekend right?

Went to Fry's Electronics this weekend. That place is just a portal to disaster. Picked up the Home for the Holidays DVD with a bonus commentary by the Director, Jodie Foster. This is a great little holiday gem with Holly Hunter, the ill-fated Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft, Claire Danes (albeit briefly), Dylan McDermott and Steve Gutenberg.

Also at Fry's, due to the enticing $20 rebate offer, I got a Sidewinder wheel. It's a steering wheel and pedals for gaming. Now, I'm not a huge gamer, but after playing a few driving games in arcades, it's really fun, and much less dangerous than trying some of these stunts in real life! The Sidewinder came with Midtown Madness. You can choose to be a cab driver or a stunt driver and both are a good time. The video and sound are pretty good and it's fun to see how the car shows wear and tear after you've smashed into a few other cars or non-moving objects. You can also pretty much plow right through other vehicles (especially when driving the semi truck) mailboxes, phone booths, and parking meters. Oh and it's not mandatory to drive on the road either.

I've been thinking about getting back to my gardening and found this site today National Gardening. It's a pretty good site, complete with regional writers to tell you about gardening in your area. I am thinking about ordering a grape plant from Park Seed and giving it a shot in the backyard this year. Since our climate is so similar to a mediterranean climate, it should be well suited, though I will have to amend the soil some, add nutrients and sand to loosen it up a little and increase the drainage. The thought of having fresh grapes is exciting, though I know it will probably take a couple of years to get good yield.

The Friday Five
1. You've just won a complete collection of movies starring one actor - what actor would you pick? My quick anser is, Holly Hunter. I really like her and she's been in a good variety of films, due in part to those crazy Coen brothers.

2. What was the last movie you saw in a theater? Lord of the Rings. I wasn't overly impressed, but the scenery was pretty magnificent.

3. What was the last video or DVD that you bought? The last one I bought for myself was Edward Scissorhands. The last one I purchased period was The Godfather Collection for my sweetie. I also received Pillow Talk, Pajama Game and Gigi for Christmas. I've only seen Pillow Talk and look forward to seeing the others soon. Maybe this weekend?

4. What movie could you watch over and over again and not get sick of? Beetlejuice ranks up there pretty highly, mostly because there was a period in my life where it seemed like it was on every time I turned the TV on. Though a recent viewing proved how unsophisticated the special effects were, in a way that made them even more charming. My tolerance for re-watching movies is pretty low, so this might not be the best choice.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Taking down Christmas lights, crocheting, hopefully carving out some time to clean out my super messy room and maybe even going to the Y for the first time in longer than I would like to admit.

I just added a "drop me a line" line over there on the left. In the event that anyone's so intrigued by my ramblings to have the urge to send me an email...

Last night I finished the boa scarf (see yesterday's entry for a link to the intructions). Now I need to get a picture of it up.

Why are size L and M crochet hooks so elusive? Do "they" think people just don't need that size? I've looked around locally and it seems that the available sizes jump from K to P. I did find a size N today at Michael's. I know that L and M exist as I've seen them available on websites. Can't remember which ones at the moment, but they are out there. Why is this so important you might ask? Now I have to admit that I am just anal enough to want to have at least one of each hook size in my posession before I am completely happy with the crochet thing. Yes, I've always had this affliction. When I was a wee tot and was at someone else's house, it was curious to me that other kids didn't keep all of their like toys together, as I did. In other words, all the Barbie stuff was together, all the Fisher Price stuff was together, not all strewn about and mixed up. It used to take me the whole time "setting up" to play by gathering all of the stuff, that by the time I was ready, it was time to go home. You would think this would me make a super organized human being - don't be fooled. I am pretty organized in certain areas, like keeping my beading stuff grouped a certain way, but overall... not so much. I would like to be more organized, but try not to stress too much.

Oh what a slacker am I! Something like eleven days off and not one word could I type in my blog. It's not like I was super busy or anything, just did the standard holiday stuff, presents, eating, sleeping, more eating, more sleeping - you get the idea. Some of the great gifts I got included a butt rocking MP3 player that even has FM radio, this will be great motivation to get back into the gym routine; great new pots and pans, not too romantic, but they are really nice and the old ones were so crummy; super cute flannel kitty PJs; a digital photo frame, I have to sit down and really play with this to get it loaded with cool pix so I can bring it to the office; and a Target gift card. Whee! There was other great stuff too, but these were the real highlights.

We made it to Philly to visit SO's mom. It was pretty cold up there, no snow, but still mighty frigid. We made it to the Rodin museum a small museum with some really nice sculpture; the Reading Terminal Market where we had yummy breakfast cooked by nice Amish people; and to Renninger's Antique & Farmer's Market in Adamstown.

Got to see LOTR the day before Christmas. The scenery and costumes were fabulous, but I could have easily dealt with more story and less fighting. I finished my Project Linus baby blanket, I'll have to get a picture up. I had some difficulty with the tension and it's a little looser and therefore wider and the beginning. I started another one in different yarn, promised SO a scarf, for which I've already found yarn and have almost finished the Lion Brand Yarn chenille thick and quick boa. I'm using a wine colored yarn, and it's coming out a little different than the pattern. I am using a size P crochet hook, because I didn't have a Q and I've made it longer than the pattern calls for. It works up really quickly and I think it's coming out great. I had been wanting one of these scarves, so was really thrilled when I found the directions on the Lion Brand site.