Wednesday, May 28, 2008

And don't forget that spot!


I had dinner with Frichelle Frertischek last night. I haven't seen her since summer! Which is weird since I feel like I see her all the time.

Well, regardless, it was a very good time. One of the things she mentioned was about our friend Fryn who just came back from the Friddle Freast. She asked some of her coworkers what characteristics they looked for in women. Their answers?

Clean ears and clean fingernails.

I guess that is what you should expect from men stuck in the desert for 12 months.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Yet more proof that I am 80 years old

I admit it. I collect plates. Yep. Plates. And my coworker Freter Frixon said, you are a grandmother.

However, I really like this new plate:

New plate

Thursday, May 22, 2008

My Big Dig Saga continues...

I attacked the dresser and the wardrobe this weekend. Here are some before photos.

One messy drawer
messy

I organize by tossing things in piles...
things to plow through

...and then sorting through them.
piles

Here's a drawer in transition:

getting there

And here is the drawer, finished.
Neat!

And another, clean.

Neat!

And here is a drawer where my clothes are lonely.

The clothes are now lonely

And here's my wardrobe.

NEAT!

It's really unfortunate that I don't have a before photo of this. This wardrobe always looked like it was exploding its clothing guts out onto the floor. There was always a dangling scarf or lose arm of a sweater reaching for freedom.

And one strange thing I found out from the part of the dig is that I own three neck collars. I must be expecting a travesty of gigantic proportions.

why do I have three of these?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

My Big Dig continues...

I have had my cable box sitting precariously on top of my tv for at least two years now. Before I switched over to digital, i had a smaller, pretty cable box that fit well on top of my tv. Or at least it wasn't so large that it was tottering on top of the tv. This cable box though has been sitting on top of my tv, not quite falling off, but definitely not fitting.
Frarthas and the Cable Box

And like everything else in my apartment, I didn't bother with moving the cable box. It wasn't hurting anyone. I didn't care that it would wobble on top of my tv. However, the Frarthas decided it was time to move it into the tv cabinet so that it would make friends with my DVD player and my VCR.

Frarthas and the Cable Box

So after a few minutes wrangling with cords and cutting open a larger hole in the back of the tv cabinet, here is the tv without its cable box hat on!

Cable box joined its electronic friends

THANKS, FRARTHAS!

what I need

I need a timer that tells me how long I have been at work today. I can't remember what time I got to work so now I can't tell if it is too early to leave or not. Not that anyone is counting or keeping track. I just want to know for my own personal satisfication. I know, that sounds weird. But I cannot remember what time I got to work this morning. It was after 9, but how much after 9? Sigh.

I don't want to punch in for work each day; but sometimes I think it would be helpful. Demoralizing, but helpful.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

The tale of two chairs

Here's beloved Lazygirl. I loved this chair.
Ah, my lazygirl

It's a pretty ugly chair that I spent a lot of money for, but it was worth every penny. However, this chair has gotten so big (ok, it's always been big) that I feel like it has taken over the entire apartment.

So I decided, since the IRS is giving us our money back, I decided to get a new chair. Of course, it took two months to get here; I have to get it re-upholstered; and I have to put it together. But here it is:

New chair

And yes, the clean corner is now filled with a chair.

Which came with an ottoman!

New ottoman

UPDATE:
I put it together. And thanks, Frannie and Frabney, it's Archie Bunker's chair.
Chair complete

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Just so that there is no confusion...

My friend Freapy D lives in Japan and his tyke joined a day care. I guess the signs are to ensure you got the right kid. Hilarious!










A Legend

From The New York Times:
Breaking News 10:35 AM ET:
Robert Rauschenberg, Titan of American Art, Is Dead at 82

This makes me incredibly sad. He was a brilliant artist and one of my heroes.

Storm troopers in their natural habitat

God, I love a good storm trooper photo!

http://flickr.com/photos/doctorbeef/2196838252/in/set-72157603716342376/

Thanks, Freven!

Monday, May 12, 2008

My Big Dig - Update 2

Following are my "during" photos. I am still getting through the mess which I fondly call home, but I was able to pile my donatables into 6 garbage bags (Hefty! Hefty! Hefty! Wimpy! Wimpy! Wimpy!) and 2 plastic bins. I made a date with The Frarthas to donate the piles to Goodwill on Sunday. And then I tried to back out. First I whined, to which Frartha replied, "Do you want some cheese with your whine?" Then I said, let's go do something fun instead, to which Frartha replied, "This will be fun!"

There was no backing out.

Here is BEFORE:
Bags to donate to Goodwill

Bins to donate to goodwill

And here is the space AFTER:

CLEAN CORNER!

And they even made me get rid of my legendary Talbot's outfit:

Talbots outfit

Goodbye, Friend! Ah, the many laughs I had looking at you!

I have to say, it is a very good feeling to get rid of all that junk. And Goodwill was pleased too.

THANK YOU THE FRARTHAS!

I got rid of 6 bags and 2 bins!

Addendum:

I did take the Frarthas out for a wee drink and nibble as a thank you for really pushing me to get rid of the stuff. Good friends.
Lazy greyhounds
Lazy greyhound
And deformed, giant popovers!
my deformed popover

My View (as of 5/11/08)

So, now the building next door is about 4.5 stories tall. So here is my view now.

Views of my view

My view is of the first floor (ground/lobby I assume) and the second floor (two apartments). By the look of things, the neighbors will have a lot of windows. To see me :)

Views of my view

My view to the right, when leaning out my window:

Views of my view

My view above (and this is at 4.5 stories):

Views of my view

And finally, my view to the left and above:

Views of my view

SIGH.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Happy Belated Birthday, Buddha!


Someday I will go to Korea to see the Lantern Parade on Buddha's Birthday. Until then, I can enjoy pics from this great blog.

I read too fast


grand_theft_auto_logo
Originally uploaded by ilovermont
I am sure you have seen all of the publicity about this video game. well, when I saw the ads, I was convinced it said "Grand Theft Auto TV" which made absolutely no sense to me. I only realized it said "IV" yesterday.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Like a viking...

News headlines that I love...

INFANT DEVELOPMENT A MYSTERY TO SOME PARENTS

Gotta love this headline.

Link to article below:

PAS: Infant Development a Mystery to Some Parents
By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: May 06, 2008
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Monday, May 5, 2008

the glass is half ... no, it's empty.

I have been complaining about my apartment for a while, and my biggest complaint is the lack of sunlight. My apt has always faced the back of the building, which is nice and quiet, but extremely low light. Until they tore down the building behind mine. Then I was getting unparalleled light. It was great! But of course, it had to end. They started construction many months ago and slowly, my sunlight has gone away. I have documented this transition in photos:

The last of my view!

The last of my view!

And then...

My new view

My new view

Last of the sunlight! No more view!

Final photo to come. Until then, see the progress from the street side:

This is the building that is blocking my sunlight

My Big Dig

So, I have been whining about cleaning out my apartment for years, but I have been verrrry slow about doing anything. Until this weekend. It was going to be rainy anyway (note - it wasn't rainy. damn weatherpeople!) so I buckled in and started to rake through my apt. Here are some before photos. Be kind - don't judge me on the mess :)

One part of the chaos:
Oy the mess

My closet vomited all my bags:
My closet vomited up my handbags

Bookshelf hell:
BEFORE

I am going to have to get a backhoe to unearth this stuff:
BEFORE

What's great about this excavation is that I found this outfit from 1995 when I worked at Talbot's one winter (mom wanted a discount). I saved it from the last purge because the outfit makes me laugh really hard. I am ready to part with it however. The Frarthas want a photo of me IN the outfit, but honestly, I think my skin would break out from all that preppy.

Talbots outfit

I will have more photos up once I have dug through the mess. I was able to throw out three giant bags of garbage and compile about 4 bags and two boxes full of clothes and such for donation. Wish me luck!