Geek+Nerd

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-08-28T20:38:00.002-04:00

Hello all!

Well, I had planned on a more interesting post today, but in light of yesterday's epic post and today's long *LONG* day at work (I had to stay an hour and twenty minutes late, on my freakin' birthday!) I am off to enjoy dinner that I don't have to cook. And a rental movie. And a serious calf massage.

Today I'm grateful for a sweet husband that doesn't mind rubbing my stinky feet. I'm grateful for challah, because I think it's my new favorite bread ever. And even though it stinks that I had to stay extra at work today, I am grateful for that extra hour and twenty minutes that will make my much needed first pay check just a little bit bigger. I'm also grateful for the many kind comments left on yesterday's post - old and new friends! Sending hugs! What are you grateful for today?

I AM Worthy

2008-08-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

:: WARNING THIS POST IS EPIC::

This is going to be a *LONG* post (but there's video entertainment!) so you might want to settle in with a good cup of tea or coffee, and maybe get your tissues out. I'm about to get a wee bit philosophical in a way that is a little different than my usual crafty, knitting, recipe sharing blog posts, so bear with me people!

Firstly, as a birthday present to myself, I bought two tickets to go see Trey McIntyre Project, a dance company. The performance marked the group's premiere as a full time, year round touring dance company, and it took place at Jacob's Pillow. Now, for the non-dancer folk reading out there, let me enlighten you about something. Jacob's Pillow is like MECCA for dance. If there was a heaven on earth, for me, it would be Jacob's Pillow. Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival is the oldest continually running summer dance festival in America. The property itself is situated on an old farmstead in the middle of the stunningly beautiful Berkshires in western Massachusetts. There are two indoor theatres, one outdoor stage, a summer dance institute, library, free performances, etc, etc. Thousands of people flock there every year to see and experience high quality dance.

Here is an excerpt of one of pieces that I saw "The Reassuring Effects of Form and Poetry", Choreography by Trey McIntyre:

This was the last piece in the show and that short clip does not even begin to do it justice. Trey McIntyre is a genius in my eyes. He is using classical ballet technique, something that can be misunderstood as antiquated and stodgy, in a way that that is current and accessible. He moves dancers about the stage like a great artist moves his brush across the canvas.

I felt so blessed to be at that show, to have the opportunity to see great dance. For the first time in a long time, I cried during the end of the performance. I was so moved by what I saw on stage that I just lost it. When I was younger, this used to happen to me every time that I went to go see a professional dance performance. I was so excited and flabbergasted by great dancers' technique and control, I'd just sob my little heart out with joy. Now that I'm older, and I've seen so much wonderful dance and world class dancers, that it takes more than just stellar technique to bowl me over. This bowled me over.

Trey stepped onstage to take a bow with his dancers when the show was through, and I cried tears of joy for him. I felt so proud for what he had accomplished, and I also felt jealous.

What he is doing is exactly what I've always wanted to do with my life.

I get e-mails from Janice Taylor, who wrote Our Lady of Weight Loss, and the latest one contained an interview with someone that had survived through Hurricane Katrina. Like many of the survivors, this woman had turned to eating out and junk food as a coping mechanism, and subsequently had gained quite a few pounds post-Katrina. One of the quotes that really resonated with me was this:

"I am a musician, so you can well understand that music is very important to me; part of my every day life. I didn't think of myself as depressed, yet for an entire year I had no desire to sing or play my instruments. I was too tired to even listen to music. And I wasn't taking good care of myself. The feeling was 'what's the use?"

This is how I've felt about dancing for the past few years. In November it will be three years since Matt and I lost our baby boy, Liam. We both certainly had some dark times, as anybody would after such a tragedy, but I don't think that I would ever refer to what I've gone through as depression. I'm a generally happy, positive person, and life had to go on and did go on. But my life is very different now than it was before. I spend more time wishing that I was dancing and choreographing, and not actually dancing and choreographing.

Why?

Shame. I have felt ashamed of my physical appearance. Most of my best friends are dancers and have abs that you could bounce quarters off of. I accepted that pregnancy would change my body and I have abs that look like cottage cheese! I gained sixty pounds, I have lost only ten. I have no child to show for it, and a ruined instrument as far as dance is concerned. I've felt ashamed, because I've failed big time. I don't blame myself for what happened, I'm way beyond that stage of things, but I do blame myself for not doing anything about it.

However, like the musician, I don't think I've been able to do anything about it. I really don't. It is not a matter of diet, because I eat very healthfully, but it's a matter of exercise and mental determination. Moving the extra weight around has made it physically challenging and even painful for me to dance, or do much of anything for that matter. The weight has aggravated old dance injuries and created new ones. I'm so sick of it! I've used those things as excuses for far too long. Pain certainly never deterred me back in the day when I was training. I remember that my mum came to visit me at dance camp, one summer, and my toes were so blistered, my muscles so fatigued, that I had to hold on to the wall or a railing every where that we went. And what did I do? I got up the next day and danced for eight hours. And the next day and the next. Because I loved it!

Self Acceptance, originally uploaded by kittykill.

The embroidery above was featured on Feeling Stitchy and I thought that it was very appropriate for how I'm feeling. I've had a personal epiphany. I shouldn't give a damn about what I look like. My husband doesn't. My family doesn't. My friends certainly don't. The only person that's kept me from doing what I want to do in this life is ME. I'm tired of getting in my own damn way.

One of the things that precipitated this post/epiphany was the following video from Suzi Blu over at YouTube. She's a mixed media artist, but her inspirational videos carry a message for every one. You don't have to be an artist to appreciate the things that she says.

Watch this:

So what if I wear sweatpants. XL at that, *GASP*! I live in suburbia. I'm a dancer, I'm an artist, I'm NOT a sham anymore and I'm freaking worthy!!!

Now...I know these things. Let's see if I can apply it.

My goodness, that was even longer than I expected. If you read all of this, you're a trooper, and if we knew each other in the real world, I would hug you!

Today I'm grateful for taking small steps, towards big dreams. I am grateful for Suzi Blu, for inspiring me over and over and over again.

Sock Silliness

2008-08-26T09:20:00.001-04:00

I finished up these socks in lieu of my Juliet because I cannot figuring out the f@#$%ing lace rows. I needed to finish something and feel like I'm a semi-competent knitter before I pick the cardigan up again.

The pattern is Candide "Ragg" Boot Socks, which is the same pattern that my mom has been using to make wool socks for ages. She photocopied it for me, and this is the first such pair that I've made. It feels nice to inherit things like that. The wool is locally produced from Riverslea Farm, one of my favorite places to support. The yarn is a beautiful blue/brown twist, and I have another colorway to knit up as well (pink/brown).

I had to share this picture of Cassie. She was watching me from the safety of her little curtain tent with this look of curiousity that seemed to say: "What the hell are you doing rolling all over the bed with your feet in the air taking pictures?"

Ah, the craziness that ensues with blogging...

P.S. My birthday is on Thursday. How am I possibly going to be 26???

P.P.S. Off to do more baking today, and then Stitch n' Bitch. Cardigan?...Hmm...I think I'll start a dishcloth instead!

Today I am grateful for a full night's sleep, after a full day of work yesterday. I'm also grateful for major kitty cuddles from Cass. I'm grateful for happy plans to Stitch n' Bitch tonight - it's one of my favorite nights of the week! What are you grateful for today?

SO much to say :: First up ROCKY!

2008-08-25T20:24:00.004-04:00

Wow, I effectively go away for a few days and suddenly I'm bubbling over with blog topics. Speaking of things that are bubbling over, I'll begin today talking about my boobs. Not just my boobs, but my boobs and the rest of me in my Rocky Horror Show costume.

Now I'm not usually one to get my tatas all out on the ole' bloggy blog, so prude-ish readers avert thine eyes!

I have been a Rocky Horror fan since college. I. love. Rocky Horror. I want to BE in the live stage show. And when my stomach is flat and I feel cool enough to prance around half naked I will...but until then I satisfy myself with being an audience member. Friday night marked the first time that I went in three years - and I was pretty stoked with my spur of the moment costume.

You can't quite tell in the picture, but I put red lip-liner on as eye-liner on my lower lashes and it looked sweet! I was told by numerous cast members that my outfit was "perfect." Yay me!

This was one of the best productions that I had ever seen. The costume scheme was a sort of dirty underground circus theme, very Carnivale. It completely worked. The narrator was a talking puppet built to look like the fortune teller in Big. Completely awesome. My good friend Joe did the choreography, to great effect, and I had numerous friends dancing/acting in the show. It was too cool for school.

I do not know what it is about Rocky that draws me in year after year. Maybe it's the audience participation that makes every show so wildly different. The crass humor. The bump and grind. I just love it! If anyone out there is a REAL Rocky nerd, like I am, there is an excellent book on the topic called Rocky Horror: From Concept to Cult.

:::

In other news, I started my new job today. I'm a baker! And so far so good, I freakin' love it!!! I'm hurting all over, but I love it. It's definitely hard work, but I get to handle dough all day. I find it very relaxing, minus the achy feet part. Today I made scones, jolly ollies (flattened cinnamon roll disks with fruit and streusel on them), gooey buns (cinnamon buns with granola on top), cinnamon rolls, cookies upon tray of cookies and granola. I think I prepped more cookies today than I've collectively baked in my lifetime. Hundreds. Hurray for being employed.

:::

Lastly, I was reading an interesting article in Body and Soul the other day about thankfulness. It was saying that scientific study has shown that thankful people are happier, healthier and more likely to help and be kind to others. One of the things that they suggest doing is to think of things that you are thankful for before falling asleep at night. I've done this for years. I kind of consider it my version of praying.

So I'm going to try something new here on the blog today and in the future. I'm going to end with something that I'm grateful for.

Today I am thankful for having a new job that is fun. I am thankful for being able to bring home free loaves of bread and cookies that will feed my little household. What are you thankful for today?

this is my favorite children's book

2008-08-24T18:53:00.002-04:00

Secret Garden, originally uploaded by Atomic Citrocity.

To say I was an avid reader when I was little is almost an understatement. I was crazy for reading! I loved getting lost in the world of a book for hours upon end, (I still do)! When I was little, I had a Disney alarm clock, with a glow in the dark star for a snooze button on it. I would hang my upper body off the side of the bed, hanging upside down, reading by that meager little light until all hours of the night.

There are so many books that were favorites of mine, but the first that popped into my mind today was the Secret Garden. I owned two copies when I was small. First a paperback, that was read so many times that it practically disintegrated in my hands, and then a hard cover copy which I still have, though it is worn and much loved.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this week's This Is topic!

Garden Update

2008-08-19T23:39:00.002-04:00

Finally after weeks and weeks and weeks of checking out my clusters of green tomatoes - success! My first ripe tomato from my very own garden. It's a Texas Yellow, and that seems to be the variety that's done the best on my little porch. I'm so pleased with myself I don't know if I can bring myself to eat it yet. I just might take to walking it around the apartment, stroking it and calling it "Precious."

In other plant updates, the Black Prince tomato plant is no longer with us. It shriveled into oblivion a few weeks ago despite my many attempts to save it. The Striped Germans are just beginning to put little green tomatoes forth, and the Brandywine has had one huge green fruit hanging on for weeks.

I cut back the lemon balm hard a few weeks ago, and I think I went too nuts because the remaining leaves went brown and stringy and it's been water logged ever since. It's a perennial, so I'm hoping that it will come back regardless. The lemon basil and spicy globe basil are doing well - I really need to harvest it and make pesto! The thyme, oregano and rosemary are doing quite respectably, but nothing matches my mammoth orange mint.

I have enough mint to make mojitos for the entire free word. It's spilled over its container and fashioned itself into a hanging plant over the porch banister. Who knew? Does anyone out there have recipes that call for mass quantities of mint? I'm open to recommendations!

All the small things

2008-08-18T17:03:00.002-04:00

A few little things are making me happy these days. Buttons=Crafter's Crown Jewels!
This handful of vintage buttons was picked up at an antique store in Lee. They make me so happy, they might as well be rubies!

How cute is this little hankie? She's begging to be appliqued on something. Purse? Apron? Who knows! I love those little buttoned shoes!

More on the nerd-tacular organizing front, I just about flipped out when I saw this fabric folding tutorial via The Happy Zombie. I folded all of my fabric and organized it by color.

Then I took it a step further, following the path of many other bloggers, and organized my bookcase by color:

I had a job interview today - I'll find out by Thursday or Friday. Cross your fingers and your toes peeps!

this is how i like to spend my weekend

2008-08-17T22:12:00.002-04:00

Eating tasty local food (this cuke sandwich is my non-entered our local summer week #11 meal- how many weeks have flown by since I've done this??? i'm a bad blogger!)

Taking care of business, i.e. cleaning, crafting, cooking, etc. On the agenda this week was giving myself a little hair cut.

Other activities that I like to partake in, and had the fun of partaking in this weekend, are thrift shopping and eating copious amounts of baked goods with my mum, hanging out with my hubby, watching my hubby's band play, discovering new things, like up and coming bands like Hayley Jane and the Primates, seeing old friends, eating indian food, fresh local peaches and enjoying life, every moment.

Happy Day - It's a Boy!

2008-08-16T10:26:00.003-04:00

My brother Thom and his girlfriend Michelle gave birth to a beautiful baby boy yesterday at 8:13PM. His name is Aaron Thomas Wickwire Duclos. He weighs 6lbs and is 19 inches long. And he's too cute for school!

I completely love that he looks like a little matryoshka doll bundled up in that last photo! I can't wait to meet this little guy :)

Complete Dork Alert

2008-08-14T21:16:00.002-04:00

I seem to have be stricken with a nasty summer cold thingy-ma-bob. I was just moaning over the phone, (to my mum), saying that at least when you're sick in the winter, you can hunker down under a thousand blankets and get the sensory pleasure of full body hibernation. It's just downright out of place to be sick in the summer!

Before I took up residence on the couch to blow my nose every half second, I managed to do something so nerdily awesome. It was a very Rob from High Fidelity re-organizing his LPs kinda moment. I re-organized a vital part of my magazine collection.

Anyone who knows me well knows that despite my penchant for sporting Bjork-like hair-do's and hanging around punk-rockers that I love Martha Stewart Living with an undying affection. I'm a walking lifestyle contradiction. What you see above, on the right, is my MS Living back issues re-organized by month instead of by issue. So all of the January, February, March etc. issues are together. That way, say if I need a great September-ish recipe, I can pull out all of the Septembers and flip through them. Right now they are stacked from August onwards, so that theoretically I can put the August stack at the bottom of the pile, when the month is over.

True to my contradictory nature the stack on the left facing the camera is my collection of Bust magazines re-organized in a similar way.

I am so excited about this!

I can almost hear the thunderous noise of cricket chirping as whoever is reading this flees from the computer at the sight of the mundane dullness of this post, hahaha! I don't care! I AM SO HAPPY WITH MYSELF!!!

Miette Benefit Sale - at The Black Apple

2008-08-14T12:11:00.003-04:00

Hello all! For today only one of my favorite bloggers, Emily Martin, of the Black Apple will be having a benefit sale for her adorable little kitty, Miette. Miette was sick recently and had to have some emergency surgery, and I'm sure any one of us out there with pets knows how outrageously expensive vet services can be!

If you click on the banner above it will direct you to Emily's wonderful Etsy shop. Help a fellow blogger out!

More later today, Cheers, S

Silver Bay :: Sailing/Memories

2008-08-13T00:38:00.003-04:00

The last bit of vacation photos that I have from Silver Bay are from a sail that Matt, my father-in-law and I took out to Diver's Rock. The large picture, on the right hand side, is Slim Point, from a distance, which is where Matt and I were married.

Preparation for the infamous 25 foot dive off of Diver's Rock. I love the look of sheer terror on my face!

This is what a chest flop looks like. My sternum was sensitive to the touch for days. Needless to say, my subsequent jumps were all feet first!

Matt jumped off of "Suicide" which is something like 45 feet above the water. There are no pictures, because he made me watch from the water. I didn't go up to see where he jumped, but apparently from where you have to take off, you see nothing but trees sticking out of the rock below you. When you jump, you (hopefully) clear said trees and plunge 45 feet to the water. Watching my hubby do this was like watching an action hero diving out of an exploding building in a movie. I say, no thank you!

That was the end of our sail, but in addition to the leap that I took above there was another first on this vacation. I went to my first drive-in movie EVER! Double feature, Batman and Hancock. Batman was the better of the two, and I loved it! Heath Ledger is simultaneously terrifying and darkly funny as the Joker. It is such a shame that such a talented guy died so young! On a lighter note, or maybe heavier in caloric terms, I also had my first funnel cake at the drive in. It was seriously the size of a birthday cake, it filled an entire paper plate. I must say, my taste buds approved!

That's all I've got for Silver Bay 2008. Now hopefully New England can buck up and give me a couple more sunny summer days to blog about! It's been rain central here ever since I returned! I've got some fun thrifty finds to blog about soon.

Until then, cheers, S

Silver Bay :: The Kiddos Depart/Dinner at the Golf Course

2008-08-12T11:37:00.005-04:00

It seemed too soon that my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had to pack up all of their respective kiddos and hit the road. Scott's family drove back to Baltimore and Catherine's family headed back to Colorado.

Before everyone left, we managed to squeeze in some quality hang out time. A major bubble blowing session ensued on the porch of Cherry Cottage!

We had to teach Thi how to blow bubbles, let's just say it was too cute for school!

This picture, though not the greatest, has a funny story behind it. That afternoon, we walked down to the ice cream store with Scott's family to get some pizza. While we were eating, Thi, who is two and a half, figured out how to work the water cooler. One at a time he'd walk all the way across the store, reach for a cup, fill it up and carefully walk it back to each of his family members. I don't think he'll have any problems getting a job if he decides that he wants to be a waiter someday. Such a funny little guy!

Before everyone left we crammed onto the porch of Cherry and took a Cost Family photo:

After that we all said our goodbyes, and the cottage was decidedly less full, with only my in-laws, Matt and I remaining.

Later that night we went out to dinner with friends at a local golf course. I wish that I had snapped some pictures of the course itself, because it's really lovely. The mountains create this rolling landscape that could be straight out of the Lord of the Rings movies. It's just lovely.

The funny thing about this evening is that for the first time ever, (in front of me at least), my husband, who has been straight edge in all of our time together, ordered a DRINK! And not just any drink, oh no, his new favorite is WHISKEY ON THE ROCKS?!?!

So what caused this monumental change in lifestyle? Well, a few weeks prior, Matt's band was playing at a wedding, and the slightly tipsy, very appreciative father of the bride brought out a bottle of seventeen year old - oak aged whiskey. They are an Irish band, so gifts of whiskey are quite the normal occurrence at their shows. Matt didn't feel like explaining the whole "I don't drink spiel", and didn't want to be rude to the man's generosity. So he just felt it would be easier to accept the gift, gulp a shot down and be done with it. Well to his surprise, he loved it! Now my hubby, who wouldn't so much as sip a wine cooler for all of his 29 years orders a whiskey on the rocks (*bleck*) every time we're out and about. Too funny.

P.S. I have non-Silver Bay related news. I was excused from jury duty yesterday!!! Tremendously happy!

Silver Bay :: Day Two

2008-08-09T16:34:00.006-04:00

Day two was a rainy one, at the Bay, but that didn't deter us from having fun!

Summer rain lends itself to quieter activities, like rocking the minutes away on the porch, a knitting project in hand, breathing in the misty air. Indoors we amused ourselves with tickle wars and snuggles, my niece Maggie being the primary target! My mother in law cooked up a nice meal that we ate out on the porch, in spite of the rain. Most evenings at Silver Bay finish out with a trip to the ice cream store, where we met up with old friends of my husband's. Laughter abounded until it was time to go to bed...I love that last photo of Thi passed out on the porch. Our little cottage was filled to the brim with 13 people at one point, so the kids slept on cots in the screened in half of the porch. I was a little jealous actually...it looked like the place to be!

Silver Bay :: Day One

2008-08-08T22:24:00.005-04:00

Day one of vacation was all about the beach, absorbing the natural majesty of Lake George, swimming until I could barely stand. Many times on this trip I felt as if I were five years old instead of twenty-five. I wanted to spend as much time in the water as I could. Pruned fingers be damned!

Day one was also about catching up with relatives that are usually far away, like my irresistibly chubby baby nephew. He celebrated his first birthday as any one-year old baby should; doing some serious beach excavation and getting crazy messy!

The lake is also the perfect place for me to hone my choreographic skills. Serious business, as you can see.

This is my nephew, Thi, my sister-in-law Hoa, and my niece Maggie. My husband's family is spread out across the country, so It pretty amazing to see every one at once, even if it was only for a few brief days!

My mother-in-law, Ellen, enjoying the beach.

Such a beautiful mother and daughter pair! Niece, Maggie and my sister-in-law, Catherine.

Saying Hello :: Taking Leaps :: Brick Walls

2008-08-07T17:12:00.003-04:00

Hello dear people! First off, I'd like to send a big warm hug and a thank you to every one that posted a comment on my last negative nellie post. Thank you all so much for your support, I'm feeling much loved.

Vacation was amazing. I got back on Saturday last week, but it was so amazing, and there are so many things to say that I've been twiddling my thumbs to blog about it. Perhaps I'll post in little increments over the next few days...that seems like a good plan of action.

The following is possibly my favorite picture from all of my trip photos. This is me jumping off of Diver's Rock, akin to Phoebe Buffet running in Central Park, limbs a flapping as I did the most colossal, chest, not belly flop from twenty five feet above the water. I'll tell the whole story, with preparation, running, jumping and recovery pictures soon.

Oh this picture could be a metaphor for so many things in my life right now! It's all good though. Life is just throwing up some brick walls at the moment.

I read today that Randy Pausch passed away on July 25th. This saddened me greatly, but as I watched some online tributes to him via ABC news, I was reminded of something from his now famous Last Lecture. Brick walls only exist to make people who don't really want to achieve their dreams give up. Those that give up because of brick walls don't want to achieve their dreams badly enough. If you haven't watched Randy's lecture, do it. It's an hour and forty-four minutes long, so give yourself some time, but trust me, this is time well spent. He also wrote a book, aptly called the Last Lecture, that expands upon the video. I haven't read it yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

Here's to blind faith, taking leaps and dancing around brick walls!

Argh, on top of ACK!

2008-07-25T07:19:00.003-04:00

Oh my goodness, my posts have been so sporadic. Life has been nothing but a gigantic ball of stress for the past few weeks. I came to the realization yesterday that for the first time in about five years I'm going to have to get a "real" job. I'm still going to try and put together my dance group, but teaching dance some place where I will be happy is looking very dismal. Yesterday I found out that the last studio I was looking into working for does not hire teachers as employees, only independent contractors, which in the dance world is really shady and borders on illegal. I told them so, and I was told in reply that their lawyers had structured the business in a way that it *was* legal. I thought to myself...they have shady lawyers.

So what's the big deal? People work as independents all the time, right? Well let me tell you what I know, and horror stories I've read about... Dance is considered a "dangerous activity." Parents have to sign liability forms for their child to participate in classes. Those forms waive accountability for the studio and its employees. Do you see where I'm going with this? So you're an independent and Suzy Ballerina breaks her leg in *YOUR* class. Richie Mom and Dad can turn around and sue, YOU. You're not an employee, you have no protective rights.

Also, because of jury duty crap-o-la, I was doing a little research. Remember, a few weeks ago, when I lost that week of work? Well it is illegal for a company to threaten your job security simply because you are fulfilling your civic duty, *IF* you are an employee. If I took this job offer, and did, (God forbid), get onto this jury, the studio could turn around and pull all of my classes. All of this is on top of the fact that your taxes are not taken out, you have to take care of that yourself and you can kiss workmen's compensation good bye. You know, because no dance teacher in history has ever hurt themselves on the job... *Rolls eyes*

So I'm feeling ultra-defeated. I worked my last retail job five years ago and said to myself, "Never again. Never will I work a job that is unrelated to dance!" It worked for awhile, and now it's not working. Maybe that was an unrealistic proclamation for me to make. I feel like I've failed to live up to my own standards. I am good at what I do, and all I want is to be able to pay my bills doing it. I don't want fame and fortune, I just want to survive.

Wow, rant much? I didn't mean for that to happen, but you know blog friends, sometimes it just. has. to. What I meant to talk about here was VACATION. As in I'm going on one. TODAY. FOR A WEEK! To Silver Bay! I think that my brain would explode if I stayed here another day, so thank goodness for vacations. I had plans for you all though. I had scheduled posts and crafty tutorials and fun things planned for all of you whilst I was gone, but alas life has really gotten in the way of all of this.

So, I bid you adieu for now. I'll be back roughly around August 2nd. Then it's job hunting for me - vomit. But I'm not going to think about that right now. I'm off to park my ass by a lake for a week solid - woot!

Ack!

2008-07-22T23:52:00.002-04:00

Somehow, I set my Mac settings back to default. I lost all of my settings, iTunes, e-mail, iPhoto, my address book is *gone*, my calendar cleared.

Frazzled would be putting it lightly.

this is...what makes me happy {today}

2008-07-20T21:40:00.003-04:00

1. Good coffee

2. Cat love

3. Cleaning my kitchen (kinda)

4. Ginger lime syrup over blueberries

5. Dinner parties with friends

6. Bedtime

Pigmentary Portraits

2008-07-19T21:17:00.003-04:00

Last night I had the joy of attending Pigmentary Portraits, a new show by Lisa Solomon and Lisa Congdon curated by the ever lovely Susan. Seriously, was that enough links in one sentence? The evening did not disappoint, and if you live within driving distance I highly recommend that you visit Artstream while it's up!

:: the work ::

The artists chose twelve historical pigments as their inspiration for the work, then researched and rendered their ideas separately. There was a little historical blurb beside each piece, which I thought was really cool. I'm kinda dorky in the sense that I loved that there was an educational component to the show! I love learning about new things!

:: some favorites ::

(I could've taken pictures of everything here, but I'll leave some mystery!)

:: indian yellow ::

*the hair!!!*

:: realger ::

:: malachite ::

And really the cherry on top of the sundae that was this awesome show was meeting the artists themselves. I've read Lisa C's blog for longer than I can remember, and am fortunate to own one of her prints (someday, someday I will be able to buy an original!) and she is every bit as cool and awesome in person as one would expect. Lisa S. was so warm and lovely, and it was just a pleasure to chat with them both. If you're reading - so GREAT to meet you ladies!

Yippee!

quick update

2008-07-18T23:53:00.003-04:00

today was such a nice day! more on that tomorrow.

tomorrow marks my seventh year of blogging, geek+nerd is four years old.

too. sleepy. to. post. properly.

more tomorrow :)

P.S. Christephi is the winner of the Lucky Day Give-Away, thanks for the fun stories everybody!

this is...what scrambles my brain when i try to understand it

2008-07-13T15:40:00.003-04:00

Math Gnomes, originally uploaded by Pictures by Ann.

Oh, math. I always joke with people that as a dancer, all the math I need to know is how to count to "8" and how to make change! Math was absolutely torturous for me in school. One of the greatest triumphs of my academic life was the realization that graduating from college meant that I would never have to take math again!

I was one of those students that excelled greatly in things that interested me, and did horribly in things that didn't interest me. Math was definitely one of those things. I saw no practical application for it after eighth grade, therefore, it lost it's usefulness. I was never going to be an architect or physicist, so I was over it. (Note: I did not knit, cook, garden, or build things pre-college years...hmpf, maybe I should've paid more attention.)

Maybe if I had an awesome set of *math gnomes* my interest wouldn't have waned so quickly. How could there be anything more awesome than math gnomes? I practically squealed out loud with the awesomeness when I found these on Pictures by Ann's Flickr Set.

That's what scrambles my brain. To the non-this is meme readers out there, I ask you, what scrambles your brain when you try to understand it?

P.S. This-Izzers: I'm having a blog give-away here, if you're interested!

Luckiest Day EVER!

2008-07-12T20:48:00.004-04:00

Two posts in one day, it's been a long time since I've done that! Today is deserving of it though, because today is seriously one of the luckiest days I've ever had.

First off, when I went to the ATM this morning I had to open the door of my Jeep because I didn't drive close enough for my stumpy little arms to reach. I looked down on the ground and there was a crisp $20 just lying there. There was absolutely no one around, so I picked it up! I couldn't believe it! I don't think I've ever found anything more than a quarter on the ground! I made my transaction and was about to drive away, when about ten feet away I saw a spot on the ground. It looked like a spot of road paint, but as I got closer it was ANOTHER $20!!! I stopped my car, got out and looked around. I felt like I must be on Candid Camera or something, but the bill wasn't on a string, or stuck to the ground, so into my pocket it went!

Then I went to the Farmer's Market, where I was greeted with a freebie maple ice cream from a now dear friend and a deal on some tasty fresh salsa from the nice guys at Appledore Cove.

After that I went to my sister's house and plunked a guitar for a couple of hours. My brother-in-law is in the process of building an amazing sail boat for the two of them. I wish that I had had my camera to show an in progress shot here on the blog, because man, that's about as DIY as you can get! So neat!

As I headed home I was feeling pretty awesome and content at that point. I was almost at my house when something caught my eye at one of my neighbor's houses.

"FREE"

I have been asking the universe for a cute, affordable, vintage looking outdoor furniture set for over a year now.

Oh how the universe was smiling upon me today! Four perfect metal folding chairs, and a round table, in slight disrepair, but nothing that a little TLC can't handle.

So guess what peeps, I'm feeling a little generous today.

***Luckiest Day EVER Give-Away***

To send some love back out into the universe, I'll be sewing up another sewing case just like this one:

Inside will be a few surprises for the winner!

Leave a comment below by Wednesday, July 16th at Midnight EST telling me the story of the best day that you've ever had. I will choose a winner at random by the next day.

Have fun!

One Local Summer :: Week #6

2008-07-12T20:27:00.002-04:00

Whoops! I missed last week due to the holiday. Fear not, Week #5 was full delicious local burgers and buns, Appledore Cove country ketchup and salad. Alas, no pictures, I gobbled it all up too quickly!

This weeks local fare was a Roasted Beet and Chevre Grilled Cheese Sandwich, recipe via CHOW:

Local ingredients:

Goat Cheese
Beets
Bakery Bread
Butter

Non-local ingredients:

Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

This recipe was easy, delicious and utilized simple, local ingredients. I would make it again in a heartbeat!

P.S. I'll also be able to use the leftover greens later to make one of my favorites: Beet Greens Over Polenta

today was a good day

2008-07-10T22:33:00.003-04:00

Oh today was a much needed breath of fresh air. My mum came over to play, and came bearing gifts of coffee and doughnuts. Mornings improve exponentially with coffee and doughnut consumption, it's proven!

We went adventuring and hit some farm stands. I was disappointed that my quest for strawberries was met with bug-ridden, rotting quarts at $7.65!!! I passed and bought some blueberries instead and later down the road some green beans.

The highlight of the day was definitely the long overdue visit to C'est Cheese, a fine cheese and wine shop just down the street from my house. It's one of those places that I've been driving by for ages saying, "I have to stop in there," and never doing it! Well, now it's done! The shop is just a tiny hole in the wall, but they have a nice selection of fancy things, and fancy cheese, one of my favorite things!

I don't know if I've mentioned it in the past, but I am such a cheese snob! I worked behind a cheese counter the summer before I went to college, and I think I packed on the freshman fifteen before I even left for school. I'm a sucker for a well crafted fromage!

We made our purchases and headed back to my apartment for a tasty lunch:

Hard salami, warmed, herbed olives, a crusty baguette and three new cheeses to taste. We had Delice D'Argental, a Burgundy region triple creme that had a slight blue taste to it. Second up was Chevre Noir, a goat's milk cheddar from Canada! It was super tasty, with a milder bite and consistency than a regular cheddar. Lastly, a dessert cheese, Mango Ginger Stilton, which tastes almost like cheese cake.

When I feel like I need to pamper myself, what you see above is one of my favorite meals. Matt isn't fond of any of those foods, so out of practicality such fancies rarely make it home with me from the market. But sometimes...a girl has just got to have some fancy cheese!

What about you, dear readers, do you have any comfort foods? Recipes? I'd love to know your thoughts...