Weak.

What a strange few days. Not even counting Comic-Con. I mean, that was strange but…well, let’s do that first.

Comic-Con was, as always, by turns, infuriating, fun, exhausting, exhilarating, exhausting and…exhausting. I am working at about 60 percent power right now with 75 percent of my voice. It will take me a week or so to catch up with myself but that’s to be expected. Sales were good, response was great. All was fine. I didn’t sell to a celebrity, which is always my goal, but I did meet an artist I am rather fond of, which was pleasant and I did talk to millions of people. Well, it felt like millions, I don’t know…dozens? I didn’t take a single picture, and I probably only saw about half the floor. I work two jobs at Comic-Con, so it’s not a vacation for me. And the weeks leading up to Comic-Con are equally as exhausting and frustrating what with trying to get prepared to do both jobs. So, you know, it’s this love hate thing. At the moment it’s more…eh…then either love or hate. I guess I am too tired for emotions.

Perhaps more inconvenient than con was the trip back. Ran over something on the 405 and blew a tire. Luckily, AAA showed up without much problem. I got off on the closest exit and lo and behold, there was a tire store. They hooked me up and I was back on the road in less than 40 minutes. It wasn’t a tragedy, it was a minor inconvenience, but it was indeed inconvenient.

And now, today, back at work, achy, tired and getting crankier by the minute and oops, rattle, rattle…earthquake. A long one. 5.2 on the Richter scale. Maybe not the biggest earthquake ever but big enough to scare my whole office. And when the giant glass pendant lamp above your desk starts swinging around…I think fear is the appropriate response. So, you know, it’s gonna be one of THOSE weeks. It already is.

Bye!

Goodness but I am getting twitchy about Comic-Con. It will all be (more or less) fine, I know but…aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgh! I am pretty much ready, except for packing and getting there, but it’s making my head all buzzy and my stomach all fluttery and damn it’s annoying. I should be used to this by now.

Now, I haven’t really been looking at my blog stats lately. I mean, it’s always interesting to see why people show up here and where they are from, but I am not one of those hardcore bloggers that really…cares. But I happened to look at referrals that brought people here recently. Among them was the search phrase “China Mieville is hot” and I’d just like to reiterate that fact. Hi China. You’re a good lookin’ man. And you scare me. But if you are searching for info on China Mieville, I have to be honest with you. He’s hot.

Also, one of the referrals that shows up fairly frequently is “Denny Duchette” because I think I once mentioned him. Now I rather like the actor that played him, Jeffery Dean Morgan. He’s handsome, he’s been in some shows I enjoyed for a time. But sadly, his character always dies. Poor man. Bad news if you are here for him, he’s in a film that I was not at all interested in until I found out he was in it. Yes, I am a bad nerd who is talking trash about Watchmen, but oh hey, Jeffery Dean Morgan is playing the Comedian and now…I am smitten. Like, wallpaper on my cell phone kind of smitten. I am a dork. I know. The only other people who are either not a cat or I am not related to who have graced my cell phone? Professor Snape and Doctor Who. Yep. Dork.


So, ok, if you are going to be at San Diego Comic-Con International, and you want to swing by and say HI to me, or one of the Tired Girl Collective, you can find us in the small press area at table L5. And if you are looking for me at my day job, you can find me…there. You know where that is and I hesitate to cross the streams, as it were. So, travel safely if you are traveling, sit quietly if you are sitting and be happy if you…whatever dude, see you on the flip side!

Nerves.

Well, it’s almost here. That one thing that makes me both shudder in horror and squee with glee. Well, fine, a lot of things do that to me, but this one…you know…Comic-Con is right around the corner. I leave on Wednesday and I am more or less ready. More or less. Some new stuff to show off, some old favorites. It should be good. It should also be exhausting and nerve-wracking. It’s just one of those things.

At the moment I am experiencing the weariness that goes with Comic-Con. Stayed up a little too late last night to get one last thing done, woke up a little too early this morning due to the endless construction on the building across the way. I’ll be better tomorrow I am sure. But it’s not tomorrow that I am worried about.

Right now, aside from regular life worries, I am experie….

Here’s a strange aside. I just answered the phone and Sponge Bob Square Pants was on the other end. Well, voice actor that plays him was on the other end. Weird. He was very nice though.

Anyway, aside from regular life worries, I am a little nervous about presenting new art. You know that it’s hard enough for me to refer to what I do as art, but then showing it to people….ewwwwww. Makes me twitchy. And that’s kind of the point for me doing things like Comic-Con. Or having a blog. It’s a challenge to myself to step outside of my comfort zone. And…well…right now I’m not totally comfortable. But, for me, that’s kind of a part of the whole process. The nerves part.

So, in an attempt to kind of get it started, here is a little sampler of some of my newest art….my first attempt at pin-up girls…nerdy pin-up girls…for nerds. I hope you like them! Um, I am just now realizing that the nerdy part doesn’t always show through with just these little bits. They are all full figures, heads, feet and everything in between. And the titles kind of reveal what makes them nerdy, so clockwise, from top left…


Dead Sexy
Rock Out with your Spock Out
Seduction of the Innocent
Mailer Daemon

That should give you some clues. And maybe, when I get back from con, if they have been well received, I will show you a bit more.


Hmmm….you know…there is a serious shortage of pin-up boys in this world…maybe…nah…not yet.

List-y.

Four things from my youth that I apparently have no nostalgia for (some of which are kind of old news since I started this a while ago and never finished it):

• Journey. Did you hear? They have a new lead singer. He sounds just like Steve Perry. Eh.


• Strawberry Shortcake. Did you know that they redesigned her? I didn't. She now appears to be something modern girls might find appealing. So? (OK, while I have absolutely no problem with the changes made to Strawberry Shortcake, I do not like the changes to Holly Hobbie…but the whole appeal of that character was that she was a “prairie girl.”)


• Star Wars. Sorry. You can take my geek card away now. I have seen it. I liked it well enough, I don’t feel the need to think about it all that often.


• Growing Pains. I don’t think I have ever seen a whole episode of this show. And you know what else? Saved by the Bell. And pretty much everything everyone my age watched after school. I don’t know what I was doing…oh, maybe marching band, drama club, indoor color guard or…something, but I didn’t watch much tv in my youth apparently.

Movies I have never seen but am quite should I would enjoy:

• The Big Lebowski


• The Bourne Identity (series)


• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (I may have seen most of this but I can’t remember.)


• The Godfather (I know! I know! I have tried to watch it but I always fall asleep.)

Pretty much anymovie where things get blown up, people get shot or young lovers sing in French. What? I never claimed to be consistent!

Have you seen Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog? Because I know people are talking about it all over the internets and that, for me, is generally the kiss of death for pretty much anything but I gotta say…utterly charming. And some very entertaining songwriting. And God bless Neil Patrick Harris. He’s a big ol’ mug of AWESOME!

Things I have recently discovered that make me a little too happy:

• Soy pudding. I tried soy pudding years ago. It wasn’t good. I tried to make my own. It was worse. But now that soy milk tastes better (or perhaps I am just used to it), I can finally be a pudding lover again. Thank you.



• The return of Burn Notice and Weeds. Possibly my two favorite shows ever. I can’t watch all those reality type shows that my parents and friends so love. They drive me crazy. I like things blowing up, drug smuggling and Bruce Campbell. Really, what more could a girl ask for? Oh, right. Jeffrey Donovan.

Movies I would very much like to see but can’t just yet:

• Hellboy II-The Golden Army. Oh yes, please! How happy am I about this movie? Very. How sad am I that I haven’t seen it yet? Very. I am shooting for Monday.


• Wall-E-It’s Pixar and I am a fan. Why would I not?


• The Dark Knight- Nevermind that Batman and Hellboy are my two most favorite comic book characters. This honestly looks really damn good.


• Mama Mia!- DON’T JUDGE ME! Look, I saw the musical and I thought it was just OK. But I do love me some ABBA, more importantly, I love me some Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård. So there.


• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor-SHUT UP. The Mummy is probably on my top twenty movies list. Definitely on my top ten movies that I can and will watch over and over again. Good looking men, Rachel Weisz and you know what? It’s just a really fun, classic adventure movie. It reminds me of 1950’s type matinee movies. And I will defend Brendan Fraser with my last breath. He is a fine actor who likes to make fun stuff. And if you aren’t sure about the “fine actor” part, please do see Gods and Monsters, he’s quite good in it. Do not, however, mistake Monkeybone for anything resembling fine. Just don’t.

Things I am successfully not panicking over…yet:
Comic-con. I am zen. For the moment. Due to the Handmade Brigade, I am more or less prepared. So much so, that I am planning on rolling out two new card sets and a set of prints! I am very excited about the prints and really hope that they do well. I’ll post some next week I think but until then, here is an image from the new card set that I “debuted” at Handmade Brigade (“debuted” makes it sound like I had a big fanfare or at at least a sign that said NEW! But I didn’t. I just mean that they had not previously been for sale…because they weren’t finished…but now they are. And they will be available (hopefully) in the shop within the next few weeks).


Now, as I said, the cupcakes are not yet available in the Paperlotus store but many fine items are. Most recently I have added some less quirky, more useful cards, so maybe you’d like to check these out…

Radio.

Today started better than yesterday. The hairdryer didn’t trip the circuit breaker (twice) because someone was making toast. I didn’t have to drive around the block several times trying to get gas because I managed to do that yesterday (after circling 3x’s, finally going to another station and stupidly paying 10 cents more). I didn’t almost get in three accidents on the way to work. I also didn’t spill the jam from my English muffin because I had a Kashi bar instead. I didn’t nearly slap three friends for being morons…so far. In general it’s been a better day and it started with R.E.M., moved to a little Rolling Stones, then some New York Dolls and the real kicker, the shocker that made me think, “Hey, even if it gets bad, it started out good”? Hoodoo Gurus. On the radio. The radio! Thank you radio gods, you have made me happier.

Returned.

So, you don’t really need to know the details of where I went or what I was doing but I will tell you this. I made:

2 large lasagne with sausage
1 large pan brownies
2 pans of chicken stew topped with biscuits
2 pans of chicken and stuffing with gravy
2 pans of pasta with meatsauce and cheese
1 dozen cupcakes
1 dozen biscuits
1 dozen raisin scones
1 large roll of sugar cookie dough
16 deviled eggs
2 dozen deviled clams
2.5 large containers clam/vegetable soup

...and I am thinking there was more, but I don’t honestly remember. It was all a blur. I cooked a lot, I cleaned a bit, I slept amazingly well. And there was no internets. None. It’s a little like visiting the Flintstones. But you know, it’s do-able.

And now it’s back to this reality and there’s a lot of printing and cutting and folding and drawing and…what else? Ironing…bake and shrinking…framing…cleaning. All that stuff. This week there is the Handmade Brigade (if you are there, stop by and say HI! I’ll be the tired one.) In less than two weeks there is the comic-con. And if you are THERE please bring me a coffee (soy milk, little bit of sugar) because I will be the really tired one.

Packed.

I am preparing to take a trip, so , despite the fact that I have been very lax about posting here, I just wanted to make it clear that it is about to get even more lax. Because I suck.

And my trip comes at a very awkward time. Right before a craft fair and comic-con. Both of which require me to be prepared. Which I am sort of am. Sort of. I am always sort of prepared. And that’s kind of what is causing me just a little bit more stress at the moment. I gotta pack. I gotta pack for my trip, I gotta pack for a craft fair and I gotta pack for comic con. And I need to make sure I‘ve got everything I need. And I need a lot.

I keep telling myself that I am not going off into the wilderness. There are drugstores and grocery stores and Targets and Walmarts and…everything in all the places I am going. If I forget something, I can just pop out and get it. And my brain does know that, but I can’t help tucking in that sewing kit, just in case. Those extra books, just in case. Two sweaters…for the summer weather on the east coast. Sandals, flip flops, clogs and sneakers. Should I take a pair of dress shoes? You know, in case I have a job interview or a wedding to attend? What about soap? Do I need soap? There is soap at mom’s house. But I like my soap. And I use a different soap on my face than the one I use in the shower…should I consolidate? Mom always said always pack a dress. Do I even own a dress?

It’s not that bad. I get it done and I get it done well, but it’s always a bit of a battle between my brain and my…brain. Knowing what I need and what I might need are two different things. Although, I will say, my overpacking and planning tendencies have come in handy in the past. People mocked me for keeping an ice scraper in my car. The ice scraper I bought 15 years ago in New Jersey that still resides in my trunk in semi-sunny Los Angeles. But I always thought, well, maybe I will need to use that snow brush on ash someday. And frost isn’t UNHEARD of here, it’s just UNLIKELY. But on that cross –country trip two years ago? The one with the blizzard? A lot of people were really happy that one girl from Los Angeles, staying in that little hotel in Arizona, had an ice scraper. One person was prepared for anything. That was me.


This time I am trying to take my cue from my mother. When I was a kid she and my father traveled together a fair amount. It was to business conferences with fancy people but travel is travel, no? My mom would always map out her wardrobe. I remember the lists well. They looked kind of like this:

Monday
Morning (museum trip): Floral skirt, blue blouse, blue espadrilles, silver chunky necklace, silver earrings, woven handbag,
Afternoon (Tea): Pale blue suit, silk camisole, tan pumps, tan envelope bag, gold necklace and earrings
Evening (cocktails and theatre): brown sequined gown, evening bag, brown heels, gold wrap
Also: Swimsuit and sunhat for after tea

OK, fine, that’s not what I need to do, Mine looks more like this

Monday: black pants, grey tee, black flip flops
Tuesday: green pants, brown top, brown flip flops

And on and on.

But oh, there are 4 or 5 novels, 3 graphic novels, two sketchbooks, a computer, a pile of work, last minute designs, a yoga DVD, 3 British TV series (Sensitive Skin and Shoestring) and one documentary on medieval cooking and soap/

But I am getting there. I have a list. Lists are good.

So, as I said, going away. Back…well…eventually. See ya later, suckers!

Chocolate.

Something has just occurred to me that makes me feel pretty darn stupid. Well…stupider than usual anyway.

I have insomnia. I have always had insomnia but from time to time, and especially around this time of year, it gets worse. I don’t sleep much at all. In some ways I am used to it, it’s been going on most of my life but tired is tired and lately, it’s been the even more evil kind of insomnia. No pills, natural or otherwise seem to help. Meditation, relaxation techniques, chamomile tea, my insomnia laughs at these. And this is, and I am speaking from experience here, a psychological issue. There is no real medical reason that is the problem. And while everyone else is complaining about the heat, I have found the nights to be the perfect sleeping temperature…if I could sleep.

So…here’s the tie in that made me realize that I am stupid. Aside from having insomnia on and off most of my life, I have also had migraines. The thing is, when I was a kid, I didn’t have the language to express what I was feeling and I could only really tell my mom or the doctor that I had a bad headache. It was put down to allergies (which are my primary trigger) and I was given meds for them that I did not like and eventually would not take (they made me dizzy and ill, the pain was better than the painkiller). As an adult, I finally had the language to explain what was going on and lo and behold, not crazy, just migraine-y. But now I know and I can combat them, stop them, or ride them out without fear of…well, whatever one fears with a headache.

So, the insomnia, I was just reading a little about magnesium and particular supplements that may help with a lot of things…one of them being difficulty sleeping. Also that magnesium, which aids in the relaxation of nerves and muscles, is depleted when one is under stress.

Um…turns out. I am stressed. Heh. Look, I know that there is stress in my life, but generally I look at it as stuff that has to be taken care of before I can relax. I don’t really think of it as stress because it’s just the stuff that needs to get done. Aaaaaaand another word for “stuff that needs to get done” is…? Oh…stressors.

Stupid. But now that I can look at the stuff that needs to get done and the effects that said stuff is having on me, I think I can finally get my head around it as “stress” and respond to it appropriately. Yes, yes, I knew there was stress, I just didn’t understand how it was actually affecting me. I knew that when the bedroom was redecorated and all the new furniture was out of the living room and the old furniture was out of the house, I would be happier but you know, it’s furniture! What’s there to get stressed about? Oh, those giant boxes blocking every pathway in my living room? That floor that needs vacuuming but the vacuum is in the closet that is blocked by the boxes? The printer that needs to be printing out cards and such for comic con that is trapped between two other giant boxes? That long trip that is going to be hard work…just before your job demands you to be cheerful, flexible and in the public eye? Right. I get it now, that’s not called life…that’s called stress.

More meditation, more magnesium, more printing and cleaning and hopefully sleep will follow, now that I get it. Dur.

Also…more chocolate. Chocolate has magnesium in it. Seriously.

Quickly.

What DID get done this past weekend the weekend before last:

Spent some time with the cat.
Chose and ordered new bedroom furniture.
Cleaned all of the bathroom.
Cleaned some of the bedroom.
Went to Goodwill.
Ate a very nice veggie taco at Hugo’s.
Made spicy chicken vegetable soup and popovers.
Did some other stuff that I can’t remember…

One notable thing this past weekend the weekend before last? We ate dinner in every night. Usually we go out at least one night on the weekend and I had fully intended to go out on Friday night but my hippie home grocery delivery arrived and we had tons of veggies so it seemed that a roasted veggie salad was in order. Then we tried to go out for BBQ on Saturday but it was too long a wait. So there were BLTAs and the most delicious organic “potato puffs.” Then Sunday it was home made spicy chicken soup. Kind of like tortilla soup but w/o tortillas. And it was all really good. But now I don’t want to cook again…but I did last night too! (Chicken sausages in the slowcooker with a nice tomato sauce with lots of spices and red wine, served over polenta and topped with sautéed fennel, spinach salad on the side). I wouldn’t say it’s been “healthy” around here, there’s been a fair amount of meat going on but you know, it’s been better than average.

Um…yeah, things have not been getting done around here as fast as they should be. My living room is filled with bedroom furniture. My “office” is over run with comic-con supplies, my car, until recently, was filled with Goodwill donations. It’s been a wee bit crazy. And instead of doing what I should be doing, I caught up on Doctor Who episodes.

But there is a lot of new, exciting art in the works. PIN UP GIRLS! CUPCAKES! And I’m having…fun. I am really enjoying drawing lately, so, you know, that’s good. Even if I am not getting everything done.

NEED.

Things I would LIKE to do this weekend:

Take a long nap.
Make granola in the slow cooker.
Make some brownies for my dad.
Finish reading that book about yoga.
Go record shopping.
Spend some time with the cat.
Watch the second season of Life on Mars.
Work on my newest “art” which I am kind of in love with.
Purchase new bedroom furniture.

Things I NEED to do this weekend:
Print up cards.
Score cards.
Cut cards.
Pack cards.
Design new cards.
Clean the bathroom.
Clean the bedroom.
Clean the office.
Clean the living room.
Make some stuff for lunches for next week.
Make some stuff for breakfasts next week.
Go to Goodwill.
Make onsies for friend.

Things that WILL get done this weekend.
Bathroom will be cleaned.
(Some) cards will be printed, scored, cut, folded and packed.
Onesies will be made.
(Some) food stuff will be made.
(Some) of bedroom and office will be cleaned.

I make no promises though.

I started a new drawing yesterday that I was so pleased with that I was giddy for the rest of the night. It’s still in the digital sketch stage but I have big plans for it. Today, however, my allergies kicked in big time. My eyes were watering while I was in the shower so I took some meds. I was doing ok until now. They are starting to make me sleepy and I really don’t feel like drawing now. Which makes me sad because last night, that was all I wanted to do! Ah well. I’ll get there. That’s my motto, actually, well, no, my motto is “It will get done, because it has to.” But you know…loose translation and all. Happy weekend!

Fire.

I don’t have a coherent post today. FINE! I don’t have a coherent post ANY day, but I have a lot of things running through my mind so, in brief…possibly. I don’t know how brief…

-I made some chocolate pumpkin muffins to eat for breakfast this week. They are indeed vegan and I adapted them a little but from here. I don’t much care for ginger, so I left that out. I added some vanilla and some flax seeds too. I had one for breakfast this morning. I had it in the car with me and the smell was killing me! I couldn’t eat until I was out of woogy traffic but the intense chocolate scent filled my car and made me a little crazy. When I finally was able to eat I thought “Oh…eh. These are ok, but a little bland.” But then, by the time I got to work I was longing for another and now I am sitting here typing and thinking “Awwww yeah, I am having a chocolate pumpkin muffin for breakfast tomorrow and it’s gonna be…sooo…..goooooood!” So…is that weird? That’s how addiction works, right? You are kind of like, oh I don’t really care and then the next thing you know you are sitting on the kitchen floor surrounded by empty muffin wrappers and you can’t remember the last twenty minutes. Anyway. I think I like these muffins but I also think that if I made them again, I’d leave out the cinnamon, add some chocolate extract and some more cocoa. But oh, they are so velvety…

-The weekend was particularly cruel to my sinuses. Apparently, whatever was in the air is what I am allergic to (well, besides the pot smoke, I mean.) and I found myself sitting at my desk on Saturday, working away, tears streaming down my face. Ugh. Sunday did not get better however. The smell of burning monkey was so overpowering that we ended up closing all the windows and turning on all the air filters. Damn monkey.

-I finally finished watching the second season of Torchwood and came to the realization that I am just watching it out of crossover duty. I will watch the next season to see how they fix what was broken at the end of last season but…really not all that into it. Love Jack, love Gwen, love Capt. John but not thrilling to the stories.

-Watched Tristram Shandy: a Cock and Bull Story, which kind of left me…confused. I confess that I have never read the book but I was intrigued by the film since it had so many actors that I like in it. But I found the story telling to be muddled and self congratulatory…which is how I think I was supposed to feel. So…well done? I don’t know.

-I ordered some local organic fruit and veg through a delivery company. The delivery was free but I did have an added carbon offset charge. Which was still cheaper than the pizza delivery charge at pretty much every place. I don’t mind paying a little extra for cleaner air, that’s fine. Look how earth friendly I am! Actually, I was thinking about this the other day. Around earth day when everyone was all “Rah-rah! Look what you can do to save the environment!” I kept quiet because I was feeling like, wow, I just don’t do enough. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized, I do a fair amount but it doesn’t seem like it because I’ve always done it. Or I’ve been doing it for a long time , anyway. I have my own shopping bags and I have for many years now. I still sometimes get the clerk that tells me that they don’t know the price on these bags because there is no tag. Um…yeah. I brought those. I generally make my own cleaning supplies. Have done for quite a while now. I don’t drive a hybrid but I did pay extra so my car would be a ULEV. So, you know, that’s not too bad. Well…it’s better than nothing. So, if you need to charge me an extra buck or two for my carbon footprint then go ahead, I am trying to fill smaller shoes anyway.

Elvis.

Well! How about that? I got to see the future ex Mr. This is so silly! the other night. That’s right, you read me! ELVIS LIVES and rocks! He rocked the Hollywood Bowl anyway…and my heart. While he rocked, my inner sixteen year old girl just about freaked out. Then, when he sang “Allison” and this slender blonde dude took the stage to sing along…my inner sixteen year old girl fainted. Dude, it was Sting! STING! Of course that was because Elvis Costello and the Imposters opened for the Police. Or really, they played before the police because my man, he don’t open for no one, he headlines and then lets other bands play after him, because he is nice that way.

Yeah, so, enough. I saw Elvis Costello and the Imposters and The Police the other night. It was several shades of awesome. I did enjoy it immensely. And when Snarkydork showed up and made fun of me for not dancing, I showed her…by not dancing some more. Still, I get why people would dance at a Police show, even, to some degree, dancing to Elvis Costello, even though I don’t. I just still don’t see Crowded House as dance music, but apparently I am the odd one out.

You know what else I don’t get? The weed. Why people? Why? It hurts me. And that’s just mean when I pay a pile of money to listen to pretty men sing that you have to go and blow smoke in my face and then my throat swells and my head aches and I have a concert hangover the next day. You’re mean. Is it really that hard to make the brownies? Isn’t it more convenient anyway? You can take a brownie into the Bowl easy peasy. Or go big time and do the shrooms. I hear they are pretty good in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just…no more smoke, ok? It hurts.

Recently.

Well , it was another exiciting weekend over here that involved a lot of dozing on the couch. Seriously. But it also involved a preview of the new Simpsons ride in Universal Studios, Hollywood, some dinosaurs, a “rock and roll music” concert, extremely high temperatures and…dozing on the couch. Most notably, we turned the air conditioner on…twice! How exciting is that? Very exciting in our house. But high temps and too much sun gave me a migraine and the only thing that would soothe it was cool air and a couch.



To be fair. The picture above was taken near sunset. When the sun is actually hitting the wall on which the thermometer is positioned. So, one wall of my living room is getting the 114 degree blast while the back of the room isa more reasonable 95 degrees. The room itself stayed cool-ish. But the air conditioning helped get it down below 85.

So the Simpsons ride? Very cool. Very fun. Very fast. As one of the guys I was with pointed out, the most exciting part of it was being on a ride that was not yet sticky from the hands of a thousand tourists. Personally, I am not much a fan of Universal Studios. There’s not a whole lot there and…eh. But I can see it from my back window so when the chance came to ride the ride, I didn’t turn it down.

The Simpsons Ride before it gets all...sticky.

Apparently, the style of the ride is similar to the old Back to the Future ride (which it has replaced) but I don’t remember if I was ever on that ride (my husband claims that I was, but he also claims that my favorite cookies are gingersnaps and he is wrong so…you know…grain of salt and all that). It’s a virtual thing where you kind of start off in a virtual rollercoaster and then the story progresses into a wild chase. All your favorite characters are there and it’s pretty darn exciting. Lots of detail went into the whole set up, from the entrance throughout. I enjoyed it immensely. And I would say if you are a Simpsons fan, it may be worth it to go to Universal just for the ride.

And while I was in the park, I got to ride the Jurassic Park water ride for the first time ever. I am assured by those in the know that it was much more awesome ten years ago. Nonetheless…yay! Dinosaurs! So, you know…cool. I did try to get on this ride one other time, maybe 8 years ago. I made it all the way to the front of the line when they closed it down due to too many baseball caps in the water filtering system. Yeesh. But still..dinosaurs! (Stegosaurus is my favorite.)

What else? Oh the rock and roll musical concert was Crowded House. Very nice. It was the husband’s birthday and he was gifted with a ticket so away we went. Nice venue. Good music and lots of old people rocking out. What more could you want? Ok…old is a relative term. They were all about my age. Which is old. But clearly not too old to rock out because that’s what the audience did. And I personally never thought of Crowded House as a WOOOHOO! YOU ROCK! I GOTTA DANCE! Sort of band, but the rest of the world apparently does. That’s ok, have fun old people. I’ll sit here quietly and watch.

And then there was the dozing. And the cleaning of the bathroom. And the nice sushi dinner. OH! and Doctor Who! With Tim McInnerny. I love him so very much. Thank you Doctor Who writers. You are doing a bang up job of employing my favorite actors. How about a little Alan Rickman now? Or maybe some Stephen Fry? You know you want to…


OH MAN! In searching for a wee picture of Tim McInnerny because you know I can’t resist, I came across a review of him in OTHELLO, my favoritest of favorite Shakespearian things. I had read the glowing reviews of Eamonn Walker’s Othello and somehow glossed right over the fact that one of my favorite actors played my favorite part in my favorite play. Tsk. I should pay closer attention. I know you think I am a little goofy when I get all swoony over him, but dude...talent.

Thots.

Ah, well, it’s been a weird and crazy few weeks and now I am thinking gee whiz, I haven’t blogged in a while and then I think…eh. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just...well, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed lately. But I am getting over that so here’s some of what’s been filling my head lately:

Pie crust. I hate making pie crust, I really do, but I also don’t care for ready made pie crust all that much and when I make pies, they are generally as a gift, so it seems like the cheap way out to fake it, since I know how and I am capable of making it from scratch. So I do. And I hate it. But the crust came out ok. First there was a strawberry and cream pie for a friend’s birthday. Then there were jam tarts made from the leftovers. This week there will be a chocolate satin pie for the husband’s birthday. It’s all good. I just don’t get the same joy from making a pie that I do from making cupcakes. Silly me.

Brining chicken breast. I don’t brine turkey. Two reasons for that. I generally buy a frozen turkey because…I do. And most frozen turkeys are already treated with a “solution” which means salt. Secondly, when you brine a turkey you probably shouldn’t then stuff the turkey or make gravy from the drippings. You COULD and I have. But it’s pretty salty. And while I like turkey, what I really like is stuffing and gravy. So…no brined turkey for me. But recently I was watching a cooking show where the chef brined some chicken breasts. I had some chicken in the fridge that I had defrosted a few days before and I kind of hoped that brining it might kill of anything scary in it. Well, no one got sick, so that part was fine. And the chicken was super-tender and very nice. But a little salty for my tastes. So last night I tried again. I used less salt and sugar in my brine and I started with frozen chicken breasts instead of thawed. I also only let it sit in the brine for about 2 hours, on the countertop while it defrosted. Perfect. Excellent chicken. Super tender, fork tender, and not at all salty. I didn’t use an exact brine recipe. More like one hand full of salt to one half handful of sugar and two limes, squeezed into a gallon or so of water and then the rinds thrown in as well. There are plenty of recipes available online though. If you find plain old chicken breasts dry and boring, this might be your solution…heh…get it? Because you soak them in a solution? Nevermind.

Rare Birds. I don’t know if you read Rare Bird Finds, but I’d like to suggest that you do. It’s a site devoted to cool online shopping. They post new finds everyday and they are very conscious about affordable choices. Well, I say “they” but I really mean “we” because I am now a Rare Birder too. Well, I am starting to contribute their awesome site as the finder of “Cool Guy Things.” See, they had filled all the positions except that one and when the call went out, I thought. “Oh sure, I could apply for that, why not?” and next thing you know…I suspect that I was the only applicant but shhhh…don’t tell me that. Let me feel good about it for a while. Annnnnyway, check out the site for help tracking down those really unique gifts. And if you come across any cool guy stuff, let me know. I’ve got a huge list but it’s gonna run out eventually.

Comic Con. Due to a paperwork error, we initially were not accepted to Comic Con. We were on the waiting list and I guess someone dropped out because BAM! now we have a table. I was totally down with taking the year off because it is exhausting (I work TWO jobs there!) but now we have a table so now we are going. I do love to sell stuff though so it’s good. But, as I say, it’s exhausting, so it’s bad. But hey, there is good and bad…in everyone…we learn to live and we learn to give…(you see where I am going with this so I will stop…). If you will be at the San Diego Comic Con this year, please do stop by and say hi. You may have to wake me up but it will be nice to see you.

Headaches. I’ve been having a fair amount of headaches due to stress and allergies. Nothing new. We pretty much all have them in the spring, no? I am not a fan of the optical migraines but I can deal with those. What really pissed me off the other night was the headache I had in my sleep. Sure, I’ve had the kind of headache where it’s there when you go to bed and it’s there when you wake up but the one that actually makes a guest appearance as a significant element of your dreams? That just seems mean.

Pumpkin pie. I changed my shampoo and now every time I turn my head I get a whiff of pumpkin pie…because my shampoo smells like pumpkin pie. Not because my shampoo is toxic and damaging my brain or anything. It actually does smells like pumpkin pie. Which is nice…I guess.

Hey, look, it’s one of those things where it all leads back to the beginning because I started out with “Pie crust” and I ended with “Pumpkin pie”. I like when that happens. Even if I don’t care that much about pie.


p.s. Captain Blogger, I haven’t gotten very far in Midnight’s Children yet. There are a lot of bodily fluids in the first 50 pages though. I’ll call it “earthy” for now and reserve judgment until I get further in. Also, um…you blogging anywhere these days?

Referred.

For the past several mornings, I have come into work to find a message on my voicemail. It’s the same guy, calling to tell Charlotte that she is either needed or not needed to work today and for her to call in. I feel bad that Charlotte is missing out on possible work. I tried to return his call to let him know he has a wrong number and if he hasn’t heard back from Charlotte, then it’s his own fault. But the return number is wonky. Poor Charlotte.

Years ago I had a similar situation. I kept getting phone calls for some dude. After the fifth or six call I started to worry. What if someone was trying to tell him that his mother was sick? Or that his bank account had been compromised. So I called back to let the caller know, hey, wrong number. Turned out, the dude they were trying to connect owed someone a lot of money. They started asking me things like “When was the last time you saw him?” and “Are you related?” Uh…no. Just trying to do the right thing, man. You had a wrong number and I wanted to let you know. It got a little scary for a minute there but I convinced them that I was in no way involved. So much for being nice.

Possibly the best (read: worst) unsolicited call I have ever received was a resumé check on an ex. Who gives their ex-girlfriend as a reference on a resumé? Well, if I dated you and you did, you’d actually be in luck as I am a nice person. But seriously, it was hard to answer questions without being cruel. And when the interviewer realized what was going on, that I had never “worked” with the guy but that I was more of a “character” reference he started asking questions that were fraught with complications. But to be fair to him, he needed some sort of confirmation on this guy before hiring him. I was a good person though and did not trash my ex. I did fess up to the fact that he was an ex and I was honest but I didn’t answer any questions about our breakup or our relationship only what I knew about his work ethic and skills. At the end of the interview the interviewer thanked me and said that he wouldn’t have been as nice if someone had asked him about his ex.

I hope I earned some extra credit for my karma that day. (Yes, yes, I know, that’s not how karma actually works, don’t lecture me!)

Answers.

OK, I admit it, I am a dork, but you already knew that. I got a comment on an older post that made me all squee because someone who created something cool stopped by to say hi!

Jeremiah Jones is the guy who does the recordings for Lisztonian. He stopped by here and that is most excellent. If you haven’t checked it out, Lisztonian is an excellent collection of free downloadable mp3s of classical piano music . I have my itunes set as a subscription and I listen to them when I need some soothing. Thanks Jeremiah, you done good!

And since I often forget to answer anything in comments, here are a few answers to recent questions: yes, no, maybe and OMG WTF?

Kidding!

Sassy Priscilla: Yes that his Col. Brandon from Sense and Sensibility that will be appearing on Doctor Who at chistmas time. And yes, DO watch Doctor Who because if you think David Morrissey is a cutie, I am betting you will love our darling doctor too (And I know that there are a few fans here who will chime in…)

And Ambitious Hamster: I do agree with you, the Voyage of the Damned episode was a bit “soulless” but I think you will get a kick out of the Doctor’s newest assistant. She’s not the shiny young things that Rose and Martha were, she’s a little bit older and a little bit wiser and a lot more sarcastic. I was surprised at how much I like Donna since I didn’t love her as the bride.

Anonymous (who I know is Donovan’s Mama): Yesh, you did make mushroom soup once, it was…earthy. Also, a “tag” is that little thing at the end of a post that will take you to other posts with the same themes, or mentions. Snarkydork has a tag because…well, she does.

Fond of Snape: "...chocolate filled with strawberry balsamic caramel"

Captain Blogger: I don’t know where you have gone, I hope all is well, but I wanted you to know, Midnight’s Children showed up today and I started reading it over lunch…interesting.

And finally, Cakespy: my impromptu icing consisted of whipped cream, a little sour cream, powdered sugar, cocoa, chocolate and vanilla extracts and a tiny dab of butter, which I had hoped would provide a little extra structure. It was actually very good and a nice, less sweet icing. And I think I will tinker with it and make it a staple!

Any other questions? Because now I am in an answer-y mood!

Trashed.

Did I mention the talking trash can? I didn’t did I?

I had heard about the remote control trashcans at Disney parks before and I saw one in Florida, but it didn’t appear to be talking, just chasing some kids around. But while we were in California Adventure we got a little turned around, so my friend pulled out her map (she is obsessed with Disney maps, by the way, I just feel the need to say that). I saw the trash can out of the corner of my eye, it came charging down a back alley way and started calling to her “Hello! Are you lost? Can I help you find something?” She didn’t notice it at first and I said “Um, I think that trashcan is talking to you.”

It was really cute and really nicely done. The trashcan was friendly and a little sarcastic and told us that it would lead the way to “Soarin’” We had a nice little chat along the way. Kids were absolutely perplexed by it, running up and shoving their hands in the trashcan to see who was inside (no one, just trash). The trash can informed us that his name was PUSH and chatted with us for about ten minutes as he guided us most of the way to our destination. He asked where we were from and upon hearing about our Jersey roots questioned us about Bon Jovi and the Boss.

I gotta say, I was impressed with how smooth the trashcan was, both in his motions and in his patter. I scanned the crowd to find the operator and it took me several minutes to pick him out. Youngish guy, blue jeans, white shirt and a black bag slung across his chest. He kept his hand up to his mouth as if he was thinking or rubbing his chin and as soon as he saw me identify him, he totally disappeared into the crowd.

Later I called my husband to let him know that my friend had been hit on by a talking trashcan. He said “I thought you went to Disney, not to Hollywood.” Ha.

Meanwhile.

Well, my husband was out of town for a week and I still got nothing done.

That’s not entirely true. I had a guest, I went to Disneyland, I saw the renovated Griffith Observatory, I made chickpea cutlets with mushroom garlic gravy, I went shopping, I…I didn’t clean the bedroom. Or put away all those winter clothes. I did wash the dishes. I did pick up the cat’s meds from the vet. I did do a lot of things, but not the things I thought I would do. Ah well.

The chickpea cutlets, by the way, were very nice. I made them on a whim, a whim that kept me from having to go shopping right away and when I first tasted one I thought, “Eh, it’s ok. Whatever.” By the time I finished the first, I wanted more. Now, I will say, I had one without the mushroom/garlic gravy and it wasn’t as exciting. But it was still good. And I have decided that I love gravy and it’s easy to make and it’s easy to make pretty much fat free. So there is a fair amount of gravy around here. Actually, when I cleaned out the fridge the other day I found three containers, one of chicken gravy, one of pork gravy and one of mushroom gravy. I have gotten weird about it I guess but it’s so good.

I’ve been doing a lot of half-assed cooking, I guess but…well, I don’t know that “half-assed” is a fair assessment of what I’ve been doing. I’ve been using up the cans in my cabinets. Chickpeas, obviously, and a can of mushroom broth that I had big plans for and then forgot about. Does it make me a bad person that I don’t make my own mushroom broth? Does ANYONE make their own? (I don’t want to hear about it if you do.)

Then, this past weekend there was some baking. Some chocolate cupcakes and some lemon cupcakes and a super fast made up sour cream/whipped cream frosting because there was no confectioner’s sugar and I am too lazy to bother making my own. Some brownies as gifts, some…no, that’s all. Lots of little bits and bobs and no real directed cooking.

No real directed anything really. I guess I need to find my direction in life because I appear to be wandering all over the place.

Oh, I did make some new cards though, and they will be up in the store shortly. If you’ve got something to say and you don’t know how to say it, try this…

Stuff.

A few things I feel the need to say:

I have, through magic, seen the first two episodes of the newest series of Doctor Who and I am pleased.

Also, I was informed today that David Morrissey will be in the Christmas Episode this year. Thank you TV gods, you have done a good thing.

Pretty, pretty.
I have a headache but this chocolate filled with strawberry balsamic caramel seems to be helping. Please send more.

I have written several blog entries lately that remain unposted. I am getting to it.

I was advised last night to view Rules of Engagement, I show I am largely uninterested in despite the presence of Megyn Price and Patrick Warburton. This particular episode however, was written by Savage Steve Holland. It made me laugh out loud. Sometimes you just don’t expect the funny and then there it is

It is apparently impossible for me NOT to buy books. Intrigued by Janet’s mentions of Martin Millar and a cool looking cover, I sought out two of his books. Then Captain Blogger goes and mentions his favorite books and since we have several in common, I demand that he reads The Death of Vishnu and he says only if I read Midnight’s Children, which sounds like a comic book and…now I have three more books to add to the pile. And I had been reading a lot, but then I read that crappy, crappy book my mom sent me and I kind of fell out of the reading habit. Which is weird because all I ever want to do is read! But one bad book will do that to me, I guess. Annnnnyway…new books on their way. Many other books await reading. So much for cleaning! And for the record, I got them all cheap on half.com. I am totally interested in using bookins or the like but they never have the books I am looking for.

There are cupcakes at home, calling my name…can you hear them?


Oh! Oh! Kind of awesome if you are a geek like me!

Ten.

A while ago Snarkydork posted some of her “Top Ten Most Excellent Blogs (as of today)” and lo and behold, there I was. Dude, it’s an honor, since this barely qualifies as a blog. Now, part of being recognized is recognizing in turn. Since many of my favorite blogs have already been recognized, I didn’t name them here, so please don’t be offended if you don’t see yourself listed, it only means that you’ve been listed elsewhere. So, without further ado, ten more excellent blogs and why I love them:

Glass Incarnate
I think Brenda found me first but then I found her and it all worked out somehow. Brenda blogs about glass, something I know nothing about (save what I’ve learned from her) and in fact, it’s something that I never had much interest in, but you know what? She makes it interesting and fun. Go figure. I like the little window into an artist’s life that she provides…and she’s a big ol’ geek who reads and watches the same things that I do, so that’s cool too. Brenda is pretty freakin’ awesome.

Life of Donovan
Donovan posts sporatically but can you blame him? He’s like three years old. But what a three year old! We were best friends when he lived in California so I am glad to be able to keep track of him now that he is so very far away. And I gotta be honest with you, even though I know his mama helps him out with his posts, Donovan is one of the funniest, smartest kids I have ever met. I just wish he could post more often but you know a three year old has a pretty busy life…

Bootleg Sketch
I work with this guy and yet I still visit his blog regularly. That should tell you something. Excellent artist and all around nice guy. Well…more or less.

Fond of Snape
Janet and I have something in common that got me to her blog in the first place…a fondness for Professor Snape. For me, it’s all about the Rickman, but Janet certainly makes good points for being fond of fictional characters. We are going to have to throw down over who gets non-fictional cutie LL Cool J though. He’s totally mine.

FlipFlopFlyin
I have been a fan of Craig’s artwork for a long time so I was thrilled when he started blogging. And then I was sad when he stopped. But then he started again, so all is well in the world. Currently he is wandering the earth and taking lots of pictures. I don’t actually KNOW Craig, but you know, I think we might get along…but then again, I could be wrong. Which would make me sad. But…whatever. Lately he’s been doing some podcasts too and I find his voice quite soothing.

Captain Blogger
I will confess, I discovered Captain Blogger when he was a PopCandy reader of the day. I read Pop Candy and I have for a long time, but it’s one of those things that I love to hate. I couldn’t tell you why I clicked on Tim’s link that day but now I stop by his place daily. I like how honest and open he appears. That’s tougher to do than it sounds. He also likes the Jayhawks and I like pretty much anyone who likes the Jayhawks…unless, you know Kim Jong Il is a fan…I might not like him so much.

Cupcake Show
Miss Cupcake herself! SHE DOES NOT BLOG ENOUGH…but when she does, I find it very entertaining. I am particularly fond of her daylong blogs. Come back, Cupcake, I miss you!

Eric Nixon
Hrrmmm….he’s related to CupcakeShow….and he too does not blog enough for my tastes, but I guess some things are worth waiting for. He's also a very interesting poet. Interesting enough that I bought a book of his poetry. And read it at red lights on my drive home. I like how he notes where he was (figuratively and literally) when he wrote a poem. That's a great way to get inside a poet's head. Also, he and the cupcake have the cutest doxies in the world. I keep asking when those dogs are going to come live with me and they keep ignoring me. I don’t know why.

Cakespy
I’ve only recently started reading Cakespy and I don’t know where I have been all this time. Even if you don’t bake, this is one heck of a site. And Jessie makes good art. I bought some. It had a cupcake on it. And a unicorn. God bless you, Cakespy, you know what I love.

Bread, whine and cheez
I started reading felicia’a blog before that header, but man I love that header. Who wouldn’t love a girl who loves Xanadu and wine…and whine. And she makes cupcakes. I love cupcakes. In short, funny girl, funny blog, go see her.

Those are only TEN of the excellent blogs I read. There are many, many more great things out there. I think blogs are a great way to see the world outside of your own comfort zone. I like to read the blogs of people who do things that I would never, or could never do. Sometimes it's a vegan blog, a style of cooking that fascinates me, but a manner of living that I haven't made my own yet. Sometimes it's about making the kind of art that I could never make, or reading the political opinions from an opposing party. Even reading the adventures of someone way more adventurous than I could ever be. In a way, it's a bit of armchair quarterbacking, or maybe a bit of fantasy, but it's a nice way to see the rest of the world while I eat my lunch.

So, what kind of blogs do you read?