That isn't actually today, it was yesterday.
I went to the Aveda Institute to get my hair cut, and got the best haircut of my life. Now, granted, I average about one haircut a year, where I take off the six-eight inches that have grown since my last haircut, so it's not like I've actually had a huge number of haircuts before.
But anyway, my hair's now shoulder-length, and layered, and THINNED (They can thin it? Who knew? And why did no one suggest this before?). Now the trick will be to actually style it the way it's supposed to be occasionally.
1.29.2006
1.22.2006
Ode to my five-year-old Timex
Oh, Timex, I thought this afternoon it was over.
When I turned that corner too tight and knocked my wrist (and you) against the doorframe, and noticed an hour later that you were covered in streaks of white paint, I thought, this is it — I am going to have to put poor old Timex in a forgotten drawer of my jewelry box and go to Target to plunk down $24.99 for a replacement. I think this is how much a replacement you costs at Target. Obviously it has been awhile since I bought a new watch.
I tried to wipe off the streaks with my shirt and then a tissue, but they wouldn't budge. Poor little Timex, I thought you'd be felled in your prime. You're only five (or maybe six, or seven) years old, and only on your third battery!
I've had you so long I can't remember when I got you. I know there was another watch sometime around my freshman or sophomore year of college — I can remember the strap breaking and a futile search in the steps and lawn of Harbourt Hall. Clearly, that watch was not as durable as you.
Because when I tried eyeglass cleaner spray, the streaks came off, and your face was as good as new. How resilient you are!
I have to admit I was relieved. Sure, you're, like, the greatest watch of all time, so Target still carries your model. But it wouldn't be the same. We've got a lot of history, Timex. You let me know when I was strolling into my undergrad classes 15 minutes late. You lit up your little Indiglo face in countless dark clubs and movie theaters. You got me to job interviews on time. We've been swimming in my grungy apartment pool and the beautiful blue Caribbean together (because you're waterproof, not water resistant!).
I know you've seen the new watch I got for Christmas, the pretty beaded one. I know you might be jealous, but you don't need to worry. Sure, it's pretty, and I'll wear it sometimes when I want to dress up, but, really, you need a break occasionally. You don't need to worry about your place in the watch hierarchy — you're still the functional little master of time around this apartment.
About that ramming you into doorframes every once and awhile...you know I don't mean to do it, right? You know I'm just not very careful with my appendages when I turn corners sometimes. After all, it's not always you getting hit. Sometimes it's my elbow, or my thumb, or my knee, or my toe. I'll try to be more careful in the future, though.
Here's to five (or maybe six, or seven) more years together.
When I turned that corner too tight and knocked my wrist (and you) against the doorframe, and noticed an hour later that you were covered in streaks of white paint, I thought, this is it — I am going to have to put poor old Timex in a forgotten drawer of my jewelry box and go to Target to plunk down $24.99 for a replacement. I think this is how much a replacement you costs at Target. Obviously it has been awhile since I bought a new watch.
I tried to wipe off the streaks with my shirt and then a tissue, but they wouldn't budge. Poor little Timex, I thought you'd be felled in your prime. You're only five (or maybe six, or seven) years old, and only on your third battery!
I've had you so long I can't remember when I got you. I know there was another watch sometime around my freshman or sophomore year of college — I can remember the strap breaking and a futile search in the steps and lawn of Harbourt Hall. Clearly, that watch was not as durable as you.
Because when I tried eyeglass cleaner spray, the streaks came off, and your face was as good as new. How resilient you are!
I have to admit I was relieved. Sure, you're, like, the greatest watch of all time, so Target still carries your model. But it wouldn't be the same. We've got a lot of history, Timex. You let me know when I was strolling into my undergrad classes 15 minutes late. You lit up your little Indiglo face in countless dark clubs and movie theaters. You got me to job interviews on time. We've been swimming in my grungy apartment pool and the beautiful blue Caribbean together (because you're waterproof, not water resistant!).
I know you've seen the new watch I got for Christmas, the pretty beaded one. I know you might be jealous, but you don't need to worry. Sure, it's pretty, and I'll wear it sometimes when I want to dress up, but, really, you need a break occasionally. You don't need to worry about your place in the watch hierarchy — you're still the functional little master of time around this apartment.
About that ramming you into doorframes every once and awhile...you know I don't mean to do it, right? You know I'm just not very careful with my appendages when I turn corners sometimes. After all, it's not always you getting hit. Sometimes it's my elbow, or my thumb, or my knee, or my toe. I'll try to be more careful in the future, though.
Here's to five (or maybe six, or seven) more years together.
1.15.2006
lemony...fresh?
For anyone who hasn't been following my Hyundai Lemon Saga, and I'm not sure if there actually IS anyone, as I think I've whined to nearly the whole free world about it...
Tuesday two weeks ago, the car stalled on the interstate again. I pulled over to the side of the road and was able to start after 10-15 minutes, and took it in to Hyundai the next day, where they replaced the crankshaft sensor AGAIN.
I sent a lemon letter in to Hyundai on Monday.
Then this Friday, yep, you guessed it, stalled out again. The plus side of this, if there is a plus side, is I am getting very good at coasting on the interstate. This time I had to cross three lanes of traffic while stalled. I took it in to the dealer and they puttered around with it all day and called Hyundai's central tech people. And did nothing. I also called Hyundai's consumer center to tell them they might want to hurry along that lemon stuff since my car is a DEATH TRAP.
I'll find out more about this lemon stuff early next week, hopefully.
In happier news, my new Sony Psyc over-ear headphones that I got from Target are working out quite nicely. The iPod also is working out nicely. I watched an episode of Prison Break while I was waiting for them to fix the crankshaft sensor and I felt like I was too cool for the Superior Hyundai waiting room. Hee.
I have some issues with iTunes, though. I have always thought that the idea behind syncing a device with your computer is so that all of the settings and files match up. iTunes, though, thinks that syncing means you dump all the new shit on the device, without clearing out anything that's been deleted from iTunes. As a result, my iPod is already starting to get bloated. I know you can delete songs manually, but that would take eons.
Also, I have realized that my My Music folder has become bloated itself, with crappy songs, and crappily labeled songs, and duplicates of both crappy songs and crappily labeled songs. I'm not quite sure how that happened. So now I'm trying to go through and clean it out, which sucks on about five different levels. But then once everything is nice and clean, I'll reformat the iPod and start again, with all the crap gone.
Tuesday two weeks ago, the car stalled on the interstate again. I pulled over to the side of the road and was able to start after 10-15 minutes, and took it in to Hyundai the next day, where they replaced the crankshaft sensor AGAIN.
I sent a lemon letter in to Hyundai on Monday.
Then this Friday, yep, you guessed it, stalled out again. The plus side of this, if there is a plus side, is I am getting very good at coasting on the interstate. This time I had to cross three lanes of traffic while stalled. I took it in to the dealer and they puttered around with it all day and called Hyundai's central tech people. And did nothing. I also called Hyundai's consumer center to tell them they might want to hurry along that lemon stuff since my car is a DEATH TRAP.
I'll find out more about this lemon stuff early next week, hopefully.
In happier news, my new Sony Psyc over-ear headphones that I got from Target are working out quite nicely. The iPod also is working out nicely. I watched an episode of Prison Break while I was waiting for them to fix the crankshaft sensor and I felt like I was too cool for the Superior Hyundai waiting room. Hee.
I have some issues with iTunes, though. I have always thought that the idea behind syncing a device with your computer is so that all of the settings and files match up. iTunes, though, thinks that syncing means you dump all the new shit on the device, without clearing out anything that's been deleted from iTunes. As a result, my iPod is already starting to get bloated. I know you can delete songs manually, but that would take eons.
Also, I have realized that my My Music folder has become bloated itself, with crappy songs, and crappily labeled songs, and duplicates of both crappy songs and crappily labeled songs. I'm not quite sure how that happened. So now I'm trying to go through and clean it out, which sucks on about five different levels. But then once everything is nice and clean, I'll reformat the iPod and start again, with all the crap gone.
12.31.2005
I believe in Santa Claus. He's called Amazon.com.
So I bought an iPod. A black video one. While it cost about four times more than my previous MP3 player, it is about three times smaller and holds about 60 times the audio. And it plays video! (a feature I find endlessly cool but may not ever actually use...).
So far, it has come as expected in its tinyness and ability to hold all of my music with room to spare (although I really need to prune the collection...how did some of this crap end up on my computer?). However, I've had some issues in my brief iPod ownership period.
Most notably...all of the accessories for my BLACK iPod are WHITE. The hell? Apple, you can make the expensive main unit black, but you can't be bothered to come up with black earphones? I don't WANT to look like one of your grooving commercial people. If I wanted that I would have bought the white one. And now what I will look like is a dork wearing white after Labor Day.
At least I will the whole three days until I go out and buy new headphones, because these things are uncomfortable and have ZILCH bass.
Also, about the headphones. I know the iPod came in a shockingly small box and that was kind of scary but also cool. But seriously, they could have made the box two microns larger and PUT THE FOAM ON THE EARPLUGS. Did they think I needed something to occupy myself the whole three hours while the iPod charged? Especially since the whole smallness of the box is ruined when Amazon.com puts it in their stock box with a bunch of plastic air bags where there is plenty of room to spare.
My only other issue with the iPod...why make the damn thing so small if it's still scratchable? Like, why not make it the old size (I was kind of shocked by how tiny it was) and cover it with some teflon or something? This morning I put it in a case that nearly doubles its size, where it will live permanently (or until I find a case I like better), and while it's still small, I kind of wonder why have this tiny pretty device just to put it in a big case. I mean, it doesn't even look like an iPod!
Oh wait, I get it. That's what the white headphones are for.
So far, it has come as expected in its tinyness and ability to hold all of my music with room to spare (although I really need to prune the collection...how did some of this crap end up on my computer?). However, I've had some issues in my brief iPod ownership period.
Most notably...all of the accessories for my BLACK iPod are WHITE. The hell? Apple, you can make the expensive main unit black, but you can't be bothered to come up with black earphones? I don't WANT to look like one of your grooving commercial people. If I wanted that I would have bought the white one. And now what I will look like is a dork wearing white after Labor Day.
At least I will the whole three days until I go out and buy new headphones, because these things are uncomfortable and have ZILCH bass.
Also, about the headphones. I know the iPod came in a shockingly small box and that was kind of scary but also cool. But seriously, they could have made the box two microns larger and PUT THE FOAM ON THE EARPLUGS. Did they think I needed something to occupy myself the whole three hours while the iPod charged? Especially since the whole smallness of the box is ruined when Amazon.com puts it in their stock box with a bunch of plastic air bags where there is plenty of room to spare.
My only other issue with the iPod...why make the damn thing so small if it's still scratchable? Like, why not make it the old size (I was kind of shocked by how tiny it was) and cover it with some teflon or something? This morning I put it in a case that nearly doubles its size, where it will live permanently (or until I find a case I like better), and while it's still small, I kind of wonder why have this tiny pretty device just to put it in a big case. I mean, it doesn't even look like an iPod!
Oh wait, I get it. That's what the white headphones are for.
wish i was there
So it has occurred to me that the reason for my many-month absence from blogging here is that I had promised to post more vacation pics. But like the lazy slacker that I am, I had not formatted and cropped the second batch of vacation pics. And somehow, I couldn't return to blogging until the vacation pics were posted.
So finally I did. And here are vacation pics, so I can get to blogging about my shiny new iPod, which is what I really want to do. Plus, when are pictures of sunny locales better than in the middle of dreary Ohio winter? Yeah, that's what I thought.
The pool area of the ship.
One of the decks, and also where we would get on the lifeboats if the ship were to, say, hit an iceberg.
The other pool. This one was under a retractable roof. Some sun got through but I liked it much better than frying on the deck. It was also adults-only, which means no belly-flop contests and other such hijinks.
The observation tower-lounge thingy on the ship.
What would a bunch of pictures from a cruise be without one of FOOD? This was from the Grand Buffet.
Space shuttle replica at Cape Canaveral.
Back end of large rocket type thing.
From the rocket garden (I think it has a more official name but I can't remember).
Key West, you are so warm and pretty and full of shopping. Do you need any more online people? Do you?
The place is seriously so damn cute.
Doggy!
The famous La Concha hotel.
Sloppy Joe's. We stopped there for drinks after shopping. Along with every other tourist in Key West. Still, it was nice.
A worthy slogan.
The area we went shopping at Grand Bahama Island.
More of the shopping center. What you can't really get from the picture is that we were FRYING HOT at about this point.
From the boat we took to get to the shopping.
A very untropical picture. This was as we were leaving the port of Baltimore. It really looked like the top of the ship was going to hit the bridge. People were all ducking. It was fun and hilarious.
So finally I did. And here are vacation pics, so I can get to blogging about my shiny new iPod, which is what I really want to do. Plus, when are pictures of sunny locales better than in the middle of dreary Ohio winter? Yeah, that's what I thought.
The pool area of the ship.
One of the decks, and also where we would get on the lifeboats if the ship were to, say, hit an iceberg.
The other pool. This one was under a retractable roof. Some sun got through but I liked it much better than frying on the deck. It was also adults-only, which means no belly-flop contests and other such hijinks.
The observation tower-lounge thingy on the ship.
What would a bunch of pictures from a cruise be without one of FOOD? This was from the Grand Buffet.
Space shuttle replica at Cape Canaveral.
Back end of large rocket type thing.
From the rocket garden (I think it has a more official name but I can't remember).
Key West, you are so warm and pretty and full of shopping. Do you need any more online people? Do you?
The place is seriously so damn cute.
Doggy!
The famous La Concha hotel.
Sloppy Joe's. We stopped there for drinks after shopping. Along with every other tourist in Key West. Still, it was nice.
A worthy slogan.
The area we went shopping at Grand Bahama Island.
More of the shopping center. What you can't really get from the picture is that we were FRYING HOT at about this point.
From the boat we took to get to the shopping.
A very untropical picture. This was as we were leaving the port of Baltimore. It really looked like the top of the ship was going to hit the bridge. People were all ducking. It was fun and hilarious.
8.07.2005
whee, vacation
Vacation was lots of fun. We were on a 9-day cruise out of Baltimore to Freeport, on Grand Bahama Island, then CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas (beach day), Key West, Cozumel (we went on to Cancun via bus) and Port Canaveral.
I've been to Key West once before and it was one of my favorite ports then. Still is. The shopping is unique...yeah, there are a lot of t-shirt shops (more, even, than Columbia, Mizzou folks...), but there are also lots of stores with unique stuff, not the same old touristy trinkety stuff you see on many of the other islands. My only regret was that we weren't there very long. That would be a good port for an 11 p.m. or midnight departure, to give you plenty of time to drink up at one of the open-air bars (we went to Sloppy Joe's for a beer at the end of our afternoon, but I think they'd all be more fun at night).
Here are some pics. I'll try to post more as I get them formatted.
CocoCay, in the Bahamas. You can see the ship in the background.
More CocoCay. We were worried about Franklin (I guess it was a tropical storm? It was when we left) being a problem, since it was headed for the Bahamas when we left. But the weather was great almost the entire trip. We did get a little downpour in CocoCay, but it was actually nice because it cooled things off.
One of the places we went shopping in Cancun. It was freaking HOT and most of the stores except the jewelry stores don't have air conditioning. We did a lot of aimless jewelry shopping, although my sister did eventually find a necklace.
More Cancun. It sort of reminded me of a mini Las Vegas, with resort after resort after resort down the main strip.
Main difference? A beach. This one was beside the restaurant we ate at. That was my favorite part of Cancun, mostly beacause although the restaurant was open-air, there was a nice breeze coming in off the water which made it easy to cool down and kick back.
More Cancun beach. I think we all agreed that if we could do it again we would shop less and bring things for the beach.
The beach at Playa del Carmen. We had to take a boat to Playa del Carmen, on the mainland, from the island of Cozumel. From there we boarded the bus to take us to Cancun. You can see some of the hurricane damage in the thatched roofs here. There was a lot of vegetation damage, and some more-rickety buildings had fallen over, but they largely escaped major damage. It was weird...you could see that the leaves on the palm trees had been permenantly blown inland.
Cozumel, near the cruise ship dock. We've been to Cozumel twice but never actually made the downtown area, which would be forward on the left-hand side of this picture.
I've been to Key West once before and it was one of my favorite ports then. Still is. The shopping is unique...yeah, there are a lot of t-shirt shops (more, even, than Columbia, Mizzou folks...), but there are also lots of stores with unique stuff, not the same old touristy trinkety stuff you see on many of the other islands. My only regret was that we weren't there very long. That would be a good port for an 11 p.m. or midnight departure, to give you plenty of time to drink up at one of the open-air bars (we went to Sloppy Joe's for a beer at the end of our afternoon, but I think they'd all be more fun at night).
Here are some pics. I'll try to post more as I get them formatted.
CocoCay, in the Bahamas. You can see the ship in the background.
More CocoCay. We were worried about Franklin (I guess it was a tropical storm? It was when we left) being a problem, since it was headed for the Bahamas when we left. But the weather was great almost the entire trip. We did get a little downpour in CocoCay, but it was actually nice because it cooled things off.
One of the places we went shopping in Cancun. It was freaking HOT and most of the stores except the jewelry stores don't have air conditioning. We did a lot of aimless jewelry shopping, although my sister did eventually find a necklace.
More Cancun. It sort of reminded me of a mini Las Vegas, with resort after resort after resort down the main strip.
Main difference? A beach. This one was beside the restaurant we ate at. That was my favorite part of Cancun, mostly beacause although the restaurant was open-air, there was a nice breeze coming in off the water which made it easy to cool down and kick back.
More Cancun beach. I think we all agreed that if we could do it again we would shop less and bring things for the beach.
The beach at Playa del Carmen. We had to take a boat to Playa del Carmen, on the mainland, from the island of Cozumel. From there we boarded the bus to take us to Cancun. You can see some of the hurricane damage in the thatched roofs here. There was a lot of vegetation damage, and some more-rickety buildings had fallen over, but they largely escaped major damage. It was weird...you could see that the leaves on the palm trees had been permenantly blown inland.
Cozumel, near the cruise ship dock. We've been to Cozumel twice but never actually made the downtown area, which would be forward on the left-hand side of this picture.
quick gripe
Long delayed vacation post shortly. I've finally got some pics scanned and formatted. I have to gripe, first, though.
On my way downtown last night, I passed a disabled car on the off ramp from I-71 to I-71/75, just before the tunnel. The guy had his trunk open, I guess to get his spare. It was a bad place to be, especially in the dark, so I called *DUI, as I have in the past, to report him.
I know it sounds weird to call *DUI for a disabled motorist, but that and the other 1-800 numbers (grab dui and one for the patrol) all go to the State Highway Patrol. I know this because the first time I called was when I passed a mattress in the middle of 71 in Columbus. I couldn't remember the highway patrol number so I called grab dui because, dude, mattress.
So anyway, I called *DUI, and explained the situation, and the woman got all snippy with me. She was all, why did you call this? I'm like, uh, because it all goes to the highway patrol and *DUI is easier to dial on a cell phone.
She's all, well, we're in Columbus, this isn't the right number, blah blah blah. I ran into something along these lines before calling about a disabled motorist...aparently this is Cincinnati's jurisdiction. But in that case, the guy was like, I'll contact Cincinnati Police, thanks.
Instead, she's all asking me why I called this number. Uh, I don't know. Maybe because the guy was broken down on an INTERSTATE HIGHWAY and you are the HIGHWAY PATROL. Yeesh. Am I supposd to program the number of every local police station into my phone just to try to help disabled motorists?
On my way downtown last night, I passed a disabled car on the off ramp from I-71 to I-71/75, just before the tunnel. The guy had his trunk open, I guess to get his spare. It was a bad place to be, especially in the dark, so I called *DUI, as I have in the past, to report him.
I know it sounds weird to call *DUI for a disabled motorist, but that and the other 1-800 numbers (grab dui and one for the patrol) all go to the State Highway Patrol. I know this because the first time I called was when I passed a mattress in the middle of 71 in Columbus. I couldn't remember the highway patrol number so I called grab dui because, dude, mattress.
So anyway, I called *DUI, and explained the situation, and the woman got all snippy with me. She was all, why did you call this? I'm like, uh, because it all goes to the highway patrol and *DUI is easier to dial on a cell phone.
She's all, well, we're in Columbus, this isn't the right number, blah blah blah. I ran into something along these lines before calling about a disabled motorist...aparently this is Cincinnati's jurisdiction. But in that case, the guy was like, I'll contact Cincinnati Police, thanks.
Instead, she's all asking me why I called this number. Uh, I don't know. Maybe because the guy was broken down on an INTERSTATE HIGHWAY and you are the HIGHWAY PATROL. Yeesh. Am I supposd to program the number of every local police station into my phone just to try to help disabled motorists?
7.11.2005
brunette
Whomever designed my nice shower curtain and deemed that hair dye should rinse out easily, after it's set and turned brown, I owe you.
Yes, there was a bit of a dye spray incident. Oops. Heh.
Yes, there was a bit of a dye spray incident. Oops. Heh.
7.09.2005
cruise musings
I am getting ready for vacation way early because it gives me something to look forward to. Also, because I am anal-retentive. So I've been planning what to pack, looking through the Royal Caribbean Web site, etc. Their FAQs are cracking me up, though. Like:
Can I store insulin in my stateroom?
You can store insulin in the mini bar, ice bucket, or kitchen of your stateroom.
Um, I'm not diabetic, but it just seems like a BAD IDEA to me to store insulin that you're relying on to LIVE in an ice bucket.
Do your staterooms have soap, shampoo, and conditioner?
Like a fine hotel, all of our staterooms provide soap, shampoo and conditioner.
I'm so glad, because crappy hotels don't have soap. Maybe they meant fine soap, shampoo and conditioner. I'm expecting L'Occitane now, people. Shea butter, hell yeah.
Can cribs/rollaways be provided in my stateroom?
Royal Caribbean provides Pack and Play's for use onboard. Pack and Play's are similar to a playpen. Cribs are no longer provided.
Suck it up, kid. It's not like you needed a mattress or anything.
Can Passage or a Booking Request Be Refused?
...In addition, a guest may be removed from the vessel where, in the opinion of the ship's captain, a guest is unfit for travel or a risk or danger to himself or herself or a disturbance or danger to others...
Do they make people walk the plank? Because that would be AWESOME.
Do you offer Special Occasion Cakes?
Royal Caribbean offers Birthday, Anniversary and Special Occasion Cakes fleet wide for a nominal fee of $7.95 USD.
This isn't really funny, but I would just like to point out that you should NEVER PAY FOR EXTRA FOOD on a cruise. What you will have is a repeat of my family's SS Norway experience, where my dad got an anniversary cake for my parents, which was sweet, yes. But then every night we would come back from dinner all stuffed, and they would be all, "we should have some cake." But it was that, "we should paint the house this year" tone. And then we'd be all, "arrrrrrghhhhh, bluuuuugh, guuuuurgle, noooooo caaaaaaaake."
Can I store insulin in my stateroom?
You can store insulin in the mini bar, ice bucket, or kitchen of your stateroom.
Um, I'm not diabetic, but it just seems like a BAD IDEA to me to store insulin that you're relying on to LIVE in an ice bucket.
Do your staterooms have soap, shampoo, and conditioner?
Like a fine hotel, all of our staterooms provide soap, shampoo and conditioner.
I'm so glad, because crappy hotels don't have soap. Maybe they meant fine soap, shampoo and conditioner. I'm expecting L'Occitane now, people. Shea butter, hell yeah.
Can cribs/rollaways be provided in my stateroom?
Royal Caribbean provides Pack and Play's for use onboard. Pack and Play's are similar to a playpen. Cribs are no longer provided.
Suck it up, kid. It's not like you needed a mattress or anything.
Can Passage or a Booking Request Be Refused?
...In addition, a guest may be removed from the vessel where, in the opinion of the ship's captain, a guest is unfit for travel or a risk or danger to himself or herself or a disturbance or danger to others...
Do they make people walk the plank? Because that would be AWESOME.
Do you offer Special Occasion Cakes?
Royal Caribbean offers Birthday, Anniversary and Special Occasion Cakes fleet wide for a nominal fee of $7.95 USD.
This isn't really funny, but I would just like to point out that you should NEVER PAY FOR EXTRA FOOD on a cruise. What you will have is a repeat of my family's SS Norway experience, where my dad got an anniversary cake for my parents, which was sweet, yes. But then every night we would come back from dinner all stuffed, and they would be all, "we should have some cake." But it was that, "we should paint the house this year" tone. And then we'd be all, "arrrrrrghhhhh, bluuuuugh, guuuuurgle, noooooo caaaaaaaake."
6.28.2005
because Kelly said I had to update
Also, I really needed to update. Don't go getting a complex, Kelly. Hee.
Tops on my list of miscellaneous things to blog about was the suddenly annoying presence of the bed in my spare bedroom/office type room. It really wasn't annoying until I got the file cabinet and realized it wasn't going to fit where I had wanted it to (behind the desk).
There' s just not enough room in this room anymore. And the bed gets used maybe five times a year. That seems like an awful lot of real estate to give to something that isn't used very often. Plus the bed is like a zillion years old. It's sort of swaybacked, actually.
So I've been giving a lot of thought to just ditching it. Like, literally sticking it by the dumpster out back. Because, two words, people: dust mites. I probably should ditch it, just for allergies' sake. Unless there's somewhere I can donate a used old bed. Anyone know of anywhere?
And now the reason I really want to get rid of the bed: The Gatsby chair. Was there ever a better chair for a library ever made? Because dude, if I got rid of the bed, I could totally have a little library in here. A couple more shelves in a box (yes, yes, I know), the chair, maybe the ottoman, and the file cabinet near the desk, where it should go. It would ROCK.
So this is the current debate 'o Carrie. Fortunately, it can wait until the end of summer, as a library is more of a autumn/winter place, especially with a leather chair. It also must wait until my parents would come down with their SUV, unless World Market delivers.
I should research such things.
Tops on my list of miscellaneous things to blog about was the suddenly annoying presence of the bed in my spare bedroom/office type room. It really wasn't annoying until I got the file cabinet and realized it wasn't going to fit where I had wanted it to (behind the desk).
There' s just not enough room in this room anymore. And the bed gets used maybe five times a year. That seems like an awful lot of real estate to give to something that isn't used very often. Plus the bed is like a zillion years old. It's sort of swaybacked, actually.
So I've been giving a lot of thought to just ditching it. Like, literally sticking it by the dumpster out back. Because, two words, people: dust mites. I probably should ditch it, just for allergies' sake. Unless there's somewhere I can donate a used old bed. Anyone know of anywhere?
And now the reason I really want to get rid of the bed: The Gatsby chair. Was there ever a better chair for a library ever made? Because dude, if I got rid of the bed, I could totally have a little library in here. A couple more shelves in a box (yes, yes, I know), the chair, maybe the ottoman, and the file cabinet near the desk, where it should go. It would ROCK.
So this is the current debate 'o Carrie. Fortunately, it can wait until the end of summer, as a library is more of a autumn/winter place, especially with a leather chair. It also must wait until my parents would come down with their SUV, unless World Market delivers.
I should research such things.
6.19.2005
shocker
Latest piece of furniture in a box: mission-style file cabinet, from Target, to replace second piece of old desk and give me something in which to put files and on which to put my lava lamp, currently on the floor.
I pulled it out of the box and the cellophane completely covered the top of the cabinet, so I thought I might, perhaps, be set. Surely I was due some good karma after the three-tops desk.
Clearly not. After I cut all the ties, the whole thing sort of sighed and it became clear that the top was split down the middle.
Ha ha ha.
ETA: Apparently it wasn't just the top. Other bits are split, too. This thing looks like it's been through a war.
I pulled it out of the box and the cellophane completely covered the top of the cabinet, so I thought I might, perhaps, be set. Surely I was due some good karma after the three-tops desk.
Clearly not. After I cut all the ties, the whole thing sort of sighed and it became clear that the top was split down the middle.
Ha ha ha.
ETA: Apparently it wasn't just the top. Other bits are split, too. This thing looks like it's been through a war.
drum roll, please
Bottles of wine completely drank last night at Sideways party: 4.
Approximate total wine consumption: 8.25 bottles.
This discrepancy is due to the fact that there are 6 partially drank bottles still in my apartment. How did we do that? I think it was mostly the taste test and the checker shots.
So....anybody want to come over and drink MORE wine? Hee.
I am actually, amazingly, not really hung over. What I have, I think, is more along the lines of my stomach protesting the Roquefort. "What? You ate that green cheese shit? The hell you doing, girl?"
And now let me tell, for those of you who didn't hear it at the party, my Trader Joe's Burgundy story...
Awhile back I bought a Blason de Bourgogne (a Burgundy pinot noir) at Trader Joe's and put it in my wine rack. It's a slanted one, which is good for keeping corks wet, but in this particular case I went to drink it and some wine had oozed out of the cork (luckily it didn't ooze on down to the carpet).
So I took it back to Trader Joe's yesterday and the guy was all like, do you want another bottle? I asked if they'd had a lot come back with bad corks and he said no, so I said I'd give it a try. Round about this time the French Trader Joe's wine tasting guy comes up and is like, "Zee wine would 'ave been okay! I will take you and ve vill get another bottle and then ve vill open this one up to taste!"
So we did go get another bottle and then he opened the bad-cork bottle up, and it was in fact good ("Ahhhh, zat is good!"). Although, I would like to state for the record that it did taste slightly different than the new one, which we drank last night.
Approximate total wine consumption: 8.25 bottles.
This discrepancy is due to the fact that there are 6 partially drank bottles still in my apartment. How did we do that? I think it was mostly the taste test and the checker shots.
So....anybody want to come over and drink MORE wine? Hee.
I am actually, amazingly, not really hung over. What I have, I think, is more along the lines of my stomach protesting the Roquefort. "What? You ate that green cheese shit? The hell you doing, girl?"
And now let me tell, for those of you who didn't hear it at the party, my Trader Joe's Burgundy story...
Awhile back I bought a Blason de Bourgogne (a Burgundy pinot noir) at Trader Joe's and put it in my wine rack. It's a slanted one, which is good for keeping corks wet, but in this particular case I went to drink it and some wine had oozed out of the cork (luckily it didn't ooze on down to the carpet).
So I took it back to Trader Joe's yesterday and the guy was all like, do you want another bottle? I asked if they'd had a lot come back with bad corks and he said no, so I said I'd give it a try. Round about this time the French Trader Joe's wine tasting guy comes up and is like, "Zee wine would 'ave been okay! I will take you and ve vill get another bottle and then ve vill open this one up to taste!"
So we did go get another bottle and then he opened the bad-cork bottle up, and it was in fact good ("Ahhhh, zat is good!"). Although, I would like to state for the record that it did taste slightly different than the new one, which we drank last night.
6.15.2005
vnv + bubbles
I am too tired to post much but I wanted to post something on the VNV Nation concert last night, which was awesome.
I've heard live bootlegs of them before and was a little concerned about how they were going to translate live, but the sound in the Madison was great. They played a good, long set. Several encores, including one which featured Bubbles, the oldest clown in town. Which was, yes, bizarre. It was someone's birthday - not sure who, I returned from the bathroom and there was a clown onstage handing out balloon animals - and the group's manager apparently told the Madison to surprise them.
So yes, picture a couple hundred goth kids, VNV after a set of largely apocalyptic music and visuals, then on comes Bubbles throwing balloons into the audience. It was quite surreal.
They played a set that was largely from their new one, Matter + Form, with a lot of old stuff. Only "Epicentre" and "Beloved" (the omission of either of which would have caused SEETHING RAGE by me and probably all of the goth kids, too) from Futureperfect, which was the major disappointment. I haven't been the biggest fan of the new album, and thought Futureperfect was clearly their best effort, but perhaps they got sick of playing it (still, though, no "Genesis"???). The traditional instead of Motion version of "Standing," too - it's always a great song but Motion is so much better for dancing.
I am nitpicking, though. All in all it was a great night and really nice to have a break from work.
I've heard live bootlegs of them before and was a little concerned about how they were going to translate live, but the sound in the Madison was great. They played a good, long set. Several encores, including one which featured Bubbles, the oldest clown in town. Which was, yes, bizarre. It was someone's birthday - not sure who, I returned from the bathroom and there was a clown onstage handing out balloon animals - and the group's manager apparently told the Madison to surprise them.
So yes, picture a couple hundred goth kids, VNV after a set of largely apocalyptic music and visuals, then on comes Bubbles throwing balloons into the audience. It was quite surreal.
They played a set that was largely from their new one, Matter + Form, with a lot of old stuff. Only "Epicentre" and "Beloved" (the omission of either of which would have caused SEETHING RAGE by me and probably all of the goth kids, too) from Futureperfect, which was the major disappointment. I haven't been the biggest fan of the new album, and thought Futureperfect was clearly their best effort, but perhaps they got sick of playing it (still, though, no "Genesis"???). The traditional instead of Motion version of "Standing," too - it's always a great song but Motion is so much better for dancing.
I am nitpicking, though. All in all it was a great night and really nice to have a break from work.
6.11.2005
screwy
I am now in possession of a nice, hopefully nothing-wrong-with-it desktop from Target. The parts people said there were no more tops there (I think they just wanted to be rid of me) so I would need to go to Target and have them pull another one off the shelf and get me that one.
Which is what they did and it seems to have worked out. Watch this new top be from after the "redesign" in which they put all the screw holes and shit in different places.
Most amusing part was when the very helpful Target guy gave me the special-little-organized-thingy of hardware from the soon-to-be-scrap other box. He was all, here, even if you don't need it, your husband will like all the hardware.
Which begs the question...
IF I had a husband and IF said husband was the type to get excited over desk hardware, wouldn't I have made HIM take the desktop back?
Maybe he wanted me to say, "Oh, I don't have a husband! Why don't we go out to dinner and then you can come back to my place and....assemble my desk."
Riiiight.
Which is what they did and it seems to have worked out. Watch this new top be from after the "redesign" in which they put all the screw holes and shit in different places.
Most amusing part was when the very helpful Target guy gave me the special-little-organized-thingy of hardware from the soon-to-be-scrap other box. He was all, here, even if you don't need it, your husband will like all the hardware.
Which begs the question...
IF I had a husband and IF said husband was the type to get excited over desk hardware, wouldn't I have made HIM take the desktop back?
Maybe he wanted me to say, "Oh, I don't have a husband! Why don't we go out to dinner and then you can come back to my place and....assemble my desk."
Riiiight.
6.09.2005
psa
The Ridge Road Golden Corral has catfish all day Tuesdays and Fridays. I thought you all might like to know.
Also, today I told the Target representative that called me back this:
"You guys might want to, like, invest in some cellophane or something."
And I bought tons of wine at World Market. Fun times, people, fun times.
Also, today I told the Target representative that called me back this:
"You guys might want to, like, invest in some cellophane or something."
And I bought tons of wine at World Market. Fun times, people, fun times.
6.08.2005
breaking (furniture) news
New desktop arrived.
New desktop was wrapped with all of one piece of paper.
New desktop damaged worse than old desktop.
What were they thinking? FedEx would gingerly nurse my desktop?
Yeesh.
New desktop was wrapped with all of one piece of paper.
New desktop damaged worse than old desktop.
What were they thinking? FedEx would gingerly nurse my desktop?
Yeesh.
durh?
Today during break I went over to Express to see if they had any more crop pants I liked. As I walked in, the salesguy said something along the lines of, "And what are you looking for today?"
Um, I was in the market for a pet leopard and I thought you guys might have one.
Or, clothes.
Um, I was in the market for a pet leopard and I thought you guys might have one.
Or, clothes.
6.06.2005
fromage a la Hyde Park
I went to the new biggs Hyde Park today. I was eager to see what they'd done to take biggs and make it Hyde Park. Clearly, the cheap-prices-scummy-atmosphere would not be the same as other biggs. But would it be like a cleaner, newer biggs, or truly grab for Hyde Park Kroger's throat and rip out its trachea?
(I would like to note that both biggs Hyde Park and Hyde Park Kroger are in OAKLEY. Oakley in the house!)
So I needed groceries, and they gave me a coupon for free salad (organic salad...at biggs! holy crap!), so I went. First impression...definitely more stylish than a typical biggs. There's a little cute Awakenings coffee shop in the front. The fruits and veggies section was typically biggs-sized (which is to say five times larger than Kroger's and half as big as Giant Eagle's...ah, Giant Eagle, how I miss thee).
Then I got to the first clear difference. Rather than do, like, market research or something, I think the biggs people sat around and said:
"CHEESE! People in Hyde Park like CHEESE! Lots and lots of CHEESE! We will have cheese and people will come from miles around and buy the cheese and eat the cheese and it will be grand!"
Seriously, I think they have more cheese in this store than Jungle Jim's. And that takes some doing.
However, while there was some you-bake-it bread, there wasn't the good kind that made it worth the occasional venture to the Ridge biggs. Someone needs to tell them that bread goes well with CHEESE. And despite a whole freezer aisle of ice cream, I didn't see any Healthy Choice. The cashier assured me that they must be out, but no Healthy Choice could be a deal-breaker if this continues.
The prices are definitely better than Kroger, and the sushi looked good, although I wasn't hungry so I didn't repeat last week's "I should get sushi...but I'm not hungry....but I'm at Kroger, I might as well........uuuuuugh, I should not have gotten sushi" debacle. The wine section is larger than the regular biggs selection (although it's not hard to beat a couple dozen bottles of Sutter Home White Zinfandel and the odd merlot). And clearly, they have robbed the French of their entire supply of cheese.
So biggs definitely merits a return trip. It's still no Trader Joe's, though. Which reminds me, I still must post my ode to Trader Joe's. Some other day.
Edited to add that I attempted to google image search Giant Eagle to see if I could find a picture of the produce section of, say, the Stow Giant Eagle (Grand Poobah of Giant Eagles...it would CRUSH Hyde Park Kroger like a little bug). And I found myself asking myself, "why are all these freaking birds showing up?" Uh.....
(I would like to note that both biggs Hyde Park and Hyde Park Kroger are in OAKLEY. Oakley in the house!)
So I needed groceries, and they gave me a coupon for free salad (organic salad...at biggs! holy crap!), so I went. First impression...definitely more stylish than a typical biggs. There's a little cute Awakenings coffee shop in the front. The fruits and veggies section was typically biggs-sized (which is to say five times larger than Kroger's and half as big as Giant Eagle's...ah, Giant Eagle, how I miss thee).
Then I got to the first clear difference. Rather than do, like, market research or something, I think the biggs people sat around and said:
"CHEESE! People in Hyde Park like CHEESE! Lots and lots of CHEESE! We will have cheese and people will come from miles around and buy the cheese and eat the cheese and it will be grand!"
Seriously, I think they have more cheese in this store than Jungle Jim's. And that takes some doing.
However, while there was some you-bake-it bread, there wasn't the good kind that made it worth the occasional venture to the Ridge biggs. Someone needs to tell them that bread goes well with CHEESE. And despite a whole freezer aisle of ice cream, I didn't see any Healthy Choice. The cashier assured me that they must be out, but no Healthy Choice could be a deal-breaker if this continues.
The prices are definitely better than Kroger, and the sushi looked good, although I wasn't hungry so I didn't repeat last week's "I should get sushi...but I'm not hungry....but I'm at Kroger, I might as well........uuuuuugh, I should not have gotten sushi" debacle. The wine section is larger than the regular biggs selection (although it's not hard to beat a couple dozen bottles of Sutter Home White Zinfandel and the odd merlot). And clearly, they have robbed the French of their entire supply of cheese.
So biggs definitely merits a return trip. It's still no Trader Joe's, though. Which reminds me, I still must post my ode to Trader Joe's. Some other day.
Edited to add that I attempted to google image search Giant Eagle to see if I could find a picture of the produce section of, say, the Stow Giant Eagle (Grand Poobah of Giant Eagles...it would CRUSH Hyde Park Kroger like a little bug). And I found myself asking myself, "why are all these freaking birds showing up?" Uh.....
6.05.2005
should have seen this coming
I believe many folks out there are well familiar with my ongoing saga of furniture in a box. The cliff notes version:
Approximately 86.7 percent of the furniture in a box I buy (and that's a lot, as most of my furniture came from a box) has some damaged part. The best examples have been the shelves (top shelf completely split down the middle) and dining table (giant crack in the tabletop) I bought from World Market. Bed, Bath & Beyond has also put forth its share of damaged bits.
It is to the point where now if I'm planning to buy furniture in a box, I make sure I have enough time to get the furniture, bring it home, figure out the damaged part, and then take it back for a new one. If there's a stack of folding shelves at Bed, Bath & Beyond, I know without a doubt that I will grab the box with the damaged ones (I have four sets of shelves from there...they rock, if you can find a non-nicked set).
So cut to last week, when I asked my parents to help me get the new desk and hutch I'd been eyeing at Target while they were there, thusly saving me much struggling up the stairs with my dolly.
My dad, in total dad awesomeness, carried both things up the stairs and set them up against the wall in my living room, since, minor detail, I had not yet gotten rid of the old desk. I'd had it up on craigslist for a couple weeks and a couple people seemed interested, so I figured it would sell. Come Saturday, the interested people had not gotten back to me, so I posted signs around my apartment complex. I got a call back within 3 hours (Paper 1, Internet 0) and they took the desk out today (not without its own drama...when they pulled the desk out, they also basically pulled it apart, and took it to their apartment in peices to be reassembled).
Now, I believe there are two pieces of furniture I've ever bought that did not have a damaged part. One was from, oddly, Value City, and the other was my entertainment center from Target. One of those four sets of shelves from Bed, Bath & Beyond might have also been okay...can't remember. So I figured perhaps my broken furniture in a box jinx would be broken. Surely the Great And Powerful Target knows how to package furniture such that it doesn't get busted. Awhile back I had vowed not to buy any more furniture from a box, but I don't like and really can't afford furniture store furniture, and come on, this was Target.
So you can see where this is going. I took the desk box into the room, pulled out all the peices, and the TOP OF THE FREAKING DESK is nicked. It was pretty obvious it was going to be, too, since the protective wrapping had shifted off of it in that spot.
So this is why I am blogging and not assembling a desk. The only good thing is that Target has a replacement parts program thingy, so I emailed that and asked for a new desk top, and with any luck will not have to lug the whole desk back to the store.
But here's my question. Why on earth can't they wrap this shit up better? Like, two layers of cellophane might have done it. One layer, well taped, might have even done it. This isn't like the World Market shelves or table, which had clearly been punted by something large somewhere between Thailand and here. So now, instead, Target is going to have to ship me a new desktop.
At least now I guess I can spend my afternoon by the pool as I originally planned. Heh.
Approximately 86.7 percent of the furniture in a box I buy (and that's a lot, as most of my furniture came from a box) has some damaged part. The best examples have been the shelves (top shelf completely split down the middle) and dining table (giant crack in the tabletop) I bought from World Market. Bed, Bath & Beyond has also put forth its share of damaged bits.
It is to the point where now if I'm planning to buy furniture in a box, I make sure I have enough time to get the furniture, bring it home, figure out the damaged part, and then take it back for a new one. If there's a stack of folding shelves at Bed, Bath & Beyond, I know without a doubt that I will grab the box with the damaged ones (I have four sets of shelves from there...they rock, if you can find a non-nicked set).
So cut to last week, when I asked my parents to help me get the new desk and hutch I'd been eyeing at Target while they were there, thusly saving me much struggling up the stairs with my dolly.
My dad, in total dad awesomeness, carried both things up the stairs and set them up against the wall in my living room, since, minor detail, I had not yet gotten rid of the old desk. I'd had it up on craigslist for a couple weeks and a couple people seemed interested, so I figured it would sell. Come Saturday, the interested people had not gotten back to me, so I posted signs around my apartment complex. I got a call back within 3 hours (Paper 1, Internet 0) and they took the desk out today (not without its own drama...when they pulled the desk out, they also basically pulled it apart, and took it to their apartment in peices to be reassembled).
Now, I believe there are two pieces of furniture I've ever bought that did not have a damaged part. One was from, oddly, Value City, and the other was my entertainment center from Target. One of those four sets of shelves from Bed, Bath & Beyond might have also been okay...can't remember. So I figured perhaps my broken furniture in a box jinx would be broken. Surely the Great And Powerful Target knows how to package furniture such that it doesn't get busted. Awhile back I had vowed not to buy any more furniture from a box, but I don't like and really can't afford furniture store furniture, and come on, this was Target.
So you can see where this is going. I took the desk box into the room, pulled out all the peices, and the TOP OF THE FREAKING DESK is nicked. It was pretty obvious it was going to be, too, since the protective wrapping had shifted off of it in that spot.
So this is why I am blogging and not assembling a desk. The only good thing is that Target has a replacement parts program thingy, so I emailed that and asked for a new desk top, and with any luck will not have to lug the whole desk back to the store.
But here's my question. Why on earth can't they wrap this shit up better? Like, two layers of cellophane might have done it. One layer, well taped, might have even done it. This isn't like the World Market shelves or table, which had clearly been punted by something large somewhere between Thailand and here. So now, instead, Target is going to have to ship me a new desktop.
At least now I guess I can spend my afternoon by the pool as I originally planned. Heh.
6.01.2005
everybody wang chung tonight, or hollaback girl part 2
Okay, so today on 97.7, as I was doing my usual "Cincinnati radio sucks" pass through the dial, they were playing "Kung Fu Fighting."
Yes. On the former future of rock and roll.
That's not even the past of rock and roll. That's bad bad '80s pop. They could have at least played good bad '80s pop and busted out, like "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" or something.
Also, speaking of bad pop, Sarah C. reminded me that I did not even broach the worst part of "Hollaback Girl." This was a horrible oversight. So here it is:
Just when you think the song could not possibly get any worse, and just when you're really totally sick of it, Gwen busts in with a chanted spelling of a word I'm sure everyone was totally waiting to hear.
Bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Whuh? Surely that must be because the room full of monkeys they had write that song was getting hungry. It must be.
Also, I have realized that despite Gwen Stefani's best efforts, I still find the word bananas hard to spell. Clearly, the song is an utter failure.
P.S. - I got Wang Chung in your head, didn't I? Didn't I? Muahahahahaha. My work here is done.
Yes. On the former future of rock and roll.
That's not even the past of rock and roll. That's bad bad '80s pop. They could have at least played good bad '80s pop and busted out, like "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" or something.
Also, speaking of bad pop, Sarah C. reminded me that I did not even broach the worst part of "Hollaback Girl." This was a horrible oversight. So here it is:
Just when you think the song could not possibly get any worse, and just when you're really totally sick of it, Gwen busts in with a chanted spelling of a word I'm sure everyone was totally waiting to hear.
Bananas. B-a-n-a-n-a-s.
Whuh? Surely that must be because the room full of monkeys they had write that song was getting hungry. It must be.
Also, I have realized that despite Gwen Stefani's best efforts, I still find the word bananas hard to spell. Clearly, the song is an utter failure.
P.S. - I got Wang Chung in your head, didn't I? Didn't I? Muahahahahaha. My work here is done.
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