And then there were two...

I woke up this morning to find two of my guppies survived the night in the big tank (though they probably won't make it the rest of the day).  I'm quite surprised to see even one, much less two of the ten I put in there alive.  As if the giant fish hunting them weren't bad enough, I keep a heater in the small tank so the large tank is much colder.  Sorry fishies...either adapt quickly or become lunch.

Mixed Thoughts

I just put about ten of my midsized guppies in the 55 gallon tank with my 2 monster koi and 3 large goldfish.  It's mostly population control because my 10 gallon tank is way too crowded and I just noticed new small babies.  I feel kinda bad making them chow for my others but I also kinda like giving the big guys something to play with.  The guppies have been in there for almost an hour and the large ones have mostly stuck to the small amount of regular food I put in there shortly after the guppies.  It was actually quite amazing watching my goldfish slurp up the food but not a guppy (which is the same size and shape).  It's like they and the koi don't want to eat the little guppies with the light on.  But I guarantee they'll be gone by morning...midnight snacks to my bigass porkers.  I do feel a little guilty about the guppies but I just don't care about them as much...they are a much more impersonal fish than the others.  And now the babies have a little more room to grow.  At least until the next time I have to trim the numbers in that tiny tank...

Black Friday Game Plan

I had a pretty great holiday today despite having to work for a few hours.  Now that I'm all relaxed and settling into bed for the night I want to make a game plan for tomorrow, Black Friday.  I have no intention of shopping, but I do think I'm more productive when I make a plan.  So here goes...

I keep putting off taking photos of the baby hats I've finished so far.  Tomorrow I WILL photograph the finished ones in the morning.  Z and I can hang out in the basement while I do it.  I just need to get it done.  And put the new ones in my inventory list.  I've just been concentrating constantly on making, crocheting, sewing more, more, more baby hats.  Once I get the pics taken, we're going down to Mom and Dad's.  I don't think Dad's got the day off but Mom sure does.  I'm hoping for some tasty turkey and gravy leftovers for lunch.  Also if I can I'm going to get Jessica's birthday gift to her.  Her birthday was today but she, Matt and baby Ella celebrated with his family.  Plus if she comes by the house when we're there, Z and Ella can play...and that's always totally hilarious and awesome to watch.  Then later evening I work again.  Tomorrow is going to be productive because I'll be busting out hats in every spare minute as well.

Before I start to nod off, be safe you crazy Black Friday holiday shoppers...

Mmmmusic

I found this song a few days ago in my quest for new music but it got overshadowed by that Vampire Weekend song "Horchata" that I found that night.  I've been playing this one a ton though...check it:

More Time by Needtobreathe

Turkeylurkey-do

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!  I did the bulk of my celebrating last Sunday at our Wingert family Thanksgiving gathering.  There was close to 70 people there...tons of tasty food and good company (mostly).  Of course there's always a few folks I'd rather not see, but you can't choose your family right?

Anyways, we did our annual cookie exchange, fifteen people involved (ie I walked away with 15 different plates of cookies or treats).  As per usual, my aunt Ann made peanut brittle, which reminds me I should bring it over to my dad...cuz I hate it with the fiery passion of hell.  It gets all stuck in my teeth and it doesn't even taste good.  Her daughter Michelle (who was one of my closest childhood friends, but now has 2 illegitimate kids and completely ignores me at every family get together) took the seriously LAZY route and made chex-mix.  It was like she just mixed 3 different kinds of chex, cheerios, chees-its and cashews together and called it good.  No seasonings or baking...and a horrible picture of her brats taped to the top of the container.  And my nasty cousin Angela and her teenage trouble-making daughter Dara both contributed as well.  I think one made what we call 'bacon and eggs', which is 2 small stick pretzels, a dollop of white almond bark and a yellow m&m...BORING!!! And not a cookie either...  The other had a plate of mismatched crappy cookies.  Can you tell I don't think much of any of them these days?  Whatever...  Grandma made her famous and most excellent peanut butter balls.  My sister-in-law Marcy made regular chocolate chip cookies, tasty ones though.  Aunt Janet, the cookie lady, made her super cute (but rather boring) decorated sugar cookies.  My sister Jessica made mint chocolate chip cookies (that I ended up eating all six of them on Monday afternoon, lol).  My aunt Sharon and her daughter Nicole made some tasty chocolate chip coconut and peanut butter chip m&m cookies.  Terri made her tasty cookie bars.  I don't know who made the chocolate crinkles but those are definitely a favorite.  There was a handful of different cookies that I couldn't figure out who made.  I know my aunt Sue and my cousin Kate made some but the rest are a big question mark.  I made a new recipe I found.  They were Cinnamon Chocolate Orange Almond Spice Pretzels with drizzled chocolate and powdered sugar on top...more of a biscuit consistency but delicious nonetheless.   All-in-all the cookie exchange was a success as usual.  And the overall meal was fantastic.

My grandparents ended up leaving for Texas on Monday morning.  That's part of the reason we always celebrate early.  They're snowbirds that go south for the winter.  Unfortunately I will miss them more than usual since I've gotten quite used to coffee at their house on Saturday morning with mom.  When they get back in the Spring, we'll start back up again.

So now, I'm fixing to head to Hyvee to get some whipped cream and snickers bars to make a fruit salad for lunch.  Then I'll be going to Jon and Marcy's house for a small Thanksgiving lunch with just them and my folks.  I have to work at 5 tonight so I will celebrate while I can.  Again, Happy Thanksgiving all!  Enjoy yourselves and be safe!

Winterfest

So I've been working my fingers and wrists to the bone since I got the official confirmation that I have a booth at Luverne, MN's craft fair portion of Winterfest 2010.  I've been making baby hats like a crazy person...partially because they're super adorable, partially because everyone who sees them says they'll sell like hotcakes at the craft fair.  The fair is on Saturday December 4th from 9 am to 3 pm.

I've almost doubled my inventory of baby hats in the past few days.  Though I don't have images of the more recent ones.  Here's a few of the first ones, most of them are the first of their kind and I've made more and/or variations of them.  Since I took these pics I've made the following baby hats: 3 apples, 2 watermelons, 1 strawberry, 3 frogs, 2 monsters, 2 mice, 1 hippo, 2 pigs, 2 ducks, and 2 bears.  GO ME!  And of course, more to come...

Frogs

  Monster

  Candy Corn

  Cherry

Tweek and Craig

Tweek and Craig are two bettas that I acquired in Spring 2008.  They were the last in a rather long string of fish I named after Southpark characters (though the only bettas).  I had Tweek for a little over a year and Craig for almost two years.

Tweek was a crowntail betta.  I always enjoyed watching him: though the tips of his crowntail fins were actually more a transparent white color, you could see the royal blue of the curtain behind him and it amplified the intensity of his aggression when he flared at his neighbor bettas.

The necessity to keep male bettas in separate bowls was obvious almost constantly during the time I had Craig (right) and Tweek especially.  I also had two other older bettas I'd had already awhile.  Close together they were always flaring at each other...They were really beautiful and graceful to watch as they were perched on the window sill adjacent to my bed.

Craig was one of my longer-lived bettas.  He barely didn't make it back to South Dakota; he died a week before I moved home last Christmas.

This is AMAZING.

I am just hearing this for the very first time...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkUQ-OBazbc

Um. I. Love. This. Song.

Random Survey

I found this time-wasting survey on Facebook this morning and decided to fill it out here sans the tagging bs...just a few tidbits about me:
1. What time did you get up this morning?
-7am, but I got out of bed about 15 min later
2. How do you like your steak?
-medium to medium rare
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
-Whip It...last year a week before it came out
4. What is your favorite TV show?
-Law and Order: SVU
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
-Florence or Amsterdam
6. What did you have for breakfast?
-a sesame bagel with cream cheese
7. What is your favorite cuisine?
-the all-inclusive and vague: Asian...especially sushi, Mongolian beef, crab rangoon, etc
8. What foods do you dislike?
-raw onions and tomatoes
9. Favorite Place to Eat?
-Zoni Kitchen
10. Favorite dressing?
-balsamic vinaigrette
11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
-a blue 1995 Chevy Corsica...I call it Dimples the Chevy Storm due to the hail damaged hood
12. What are your favorite clothes?
-pajamas
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
-wherever Holly is
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
-full most of the time
15. Where would you want to retire?
-the beach
16. Favorite time of day?
-morning
17. What is your favorite sport to watch?
-I don't like to watch sports, but if I had to choose I'd say basketball
18. Who do you think will not tag you back?
-this is dumb cuz I found this random survey on fb and have no intention of tagging anyone or posting it on there
19. Person you expect to tag you back first???
-see #18
20. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
-seriously?
21. Bird watcher?
-sure, if I see one I like
22. Do you consider yourself attractive?
-most of the time
23. Pets?
-fish: 3 goldfish, 2 koi, 3 bettas, and a whole mob of guppies...oh and I live with 3 cats too
24. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share?
-I just changed 2 poopy diapers within a half an hour...gross.
25. What did you want to be when you were little?
-an astronaut, a veterinarian, and a cake decorator...simultaneously
26. What is your best childhood memory?

-basking in the dining room patches of sun with my dog Baxter as my pillow and a good book in hand
27. Are you a cat or dog person?
-I'd say dogs, since I'm allergic to cats but I live with cats and most of my friends have cats...HOLY CATS!
28. Are you married?
-no
29. Always wear your seat belt?
-yep (except usually not in taxis)
30. Been in a car accident?
-a few actually...nothing too serious though
31. Any pet peeves?
-annoying customers at work and being nagged about housework
32. Favorite pizza topping?
-Hi, I am Plain Jane.  I like pepperoni and extra cheese.
33. Favorite Flower?
-irises
34. Favorite ice cream?
-anything with heath bites or chocolate covered peanut butter in it
35. Favorite fast food?
-The BK Lounge...but I love me some Culvers cheese curds
36. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
-I passed on the first try
37. From whom did you get your last email?
-Michaels...go figure, though I will be going in on Sunday afternoon with my coupon for 20% off my whole purchase including sale items...
38. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
-either Blick or Utrecht
39. Do anything spontaneous lately?
-I spontaneously went to Jon's last night with Matt and Angela and Jessica (from work)
40. Like your job?
-mostly, just not getting enough money or hours
41. What was your favorite vacation?
-my road trip in May 2009 from LA to Chi with my Holly
42. How about who's your favorite actor/actress?
-Johnny Depp/Angelica Huston
43. Last person you went out to dinner with?
-the whole Wingert clan at HyVee for grandpa's birthday last week
44. What are you listening to right now?
-The Wedding Singer is on FX
45. What is your favorite color?
-yellow
46. How many tattoos do you have?
-5, and I've got the next 2 designs already
47. Coffee drinker?
-an avid one, in fact, I'm having another cup right now
48. How many children do you have?
-none (though I should) but I do have 's child in my care right now...

Fondant and Harry Potter

So the new Harry Potter movie came out like an hour ago...whoopdeedo.   I started reading the books when I was in high school when just 1-4 were out.  And I'll admit, I went to the book release parties at Barnes and Noble for books 5-7.  The books are blow-your-ass-off good.  But I haven't been completely impressed by the movies since the first.  I do want to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.  But not tonight, and probably not in the theaters...I don't really see the point in spending as much money as it costs these days to see a movie.  Especially when there's 2 fairly large tvs here in my home and we have Direct TV.  I'll catch it eventually...  Anyways the only Harry Potter movie I saw in the theaters was 5...and that was with Jerry (bleeeeeeechypoopoopoo) back in the summer of 2007 when I was in Champaign, IL for corporate training for Jimmy John's.  Jeeeeeeeeebus.  I guess the reason I post this is cuz I was just checking my facebook a few minutes ago, killing time while the fishies feed, and I saw at least 10 posts from different people about seeing the new movie...yowsa!  Normally, I'd be sound asleep by now since I gotta get up and watch Z tomorrow.  However, I had to work till 9:30 tonight and got invited over to my pal Jon's place.  He and Angela are making a cake for our friend Sarah's birthday.  Jessica, Matt, and I just watched and drank wine, but they were using something I've been wondering about for ages...fondant.  To be more specific, red fondant from the Duff collection of baking items we carry at work.  It actually tastes pretty good, and it looks relatively easy to work with (even for baking dummies like me).  At any rate, the cake was still in beginning stages when I left to come home to bed...but now I'm wired and can't get to sleep.  I gotta get up in 4 1/2 hours so I'm gonna try to hit it...good night world (wide web)...enjoy the fondant and Harry Potter in life cuz you never know when you'll turn into a pumpkin.

Buttons

I finally uploaded the pics of my new buttons....I will be using most of them for my Etsy.com shop: HatsonLamps.Etsy.com

 A lot of these are brightly colored singles which I will use on some of my my brightly colored headwraps and headbands.

Most of the buttons along the top are what I would deem as fancy buttons or decorative rather.  Along the bottom right are more neutral colored singles which will be used most likely on neutral headwraps and bands.

The pairs of buttons are specifically paired to become eyes for my children's animal hats.  My absolute favorite button is the wooden fish-shaped button in the bottom right.

I cleared my embroidery floss out of this case and stowed it in an old cardboard box to make room for this wonderful separation of buttons.

They are organized as follows (and this is for me, not you):
Upper left: big pairs
Lower left: color pairs
Center 1: neutral pairs
Center 2: color singles
Center 3: dark neutral singles
Center 4: light neutral singles
Upper right: wood/bone/fancy-finished singles
Lower right: metal singles

Sometimes it's good to have OCD... :D

Short-lived

When I first got Nathan Explosion, Truly Scrumptious, and Caracticus Potts, I also got two beautiful betta fish.  One was bright yellow and I named him Sunshine.  The other was white with little hints of red and Holly named him Bloodmoon.  I had these two for exactly one week before they both died on the same day.  It was bizarre.  Had I known that would happen, I would have taken pics the day I got them.  They were, however, part of my Life-Long Project (details later).

Here's the only pic I have related to these two fish.


They are two of six bettas that compose my fifth and most recent tattoo, a band located on my left upper arm.  Sunshine and Bloodmoon are on my inner arm.

Nathan Explosion

I got my first koi at the same time as I got the last two goldfish, in January 2009.  He's a standard koi...which are really just fancy domestic carp.  They can grow pretty much as big as their environment allows.  I decided to name my first after the lead band member of Dethklok from the show Metalocalypse.

Nathan Explosion was only about two and a half to three inches long when I got him.














He was the baby of the big tank at the time...

But he grew and grew...The pic above and below are from October 2009

And here he is a few days ago, now at a WHOPPING 13 inches (approx)...

I love you, truly...truly dear

As far as my fish chronicles are concerned, I know I made a post awhile back about my little goldfish Truly Scrumptious and Caracticus Potts...However, they've grown a lot and they no longer live in the little 10 gallon tank I have, but my big 55 gallon tank.  So here's the little buggers.  I got them in January 2009 and named them for the main characters in my favorite childhood movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Truly is a red cap oranda goldfish.  Orandas are known for their wens, the large hood over their face and around their eyes.  The wen gets larger as they get older.

Characticus Potts is a black moor (telescope eye) goldfish.  Black moors are known for their large protruding eyes, which are misleading in that their vision is more limited than other varieties of goldfish.  As they get older, they gradually change color starting with the underbelly.

These two varieties of goldfish are personal favorites of mine.  Truly is my second oranda and Characticus is my third black moor.

Hitchcock

Here is a fairly comprehensive list of Alfred Hitchcock's films (courtesy of Wiki).  The highlighted ones are those I've seen.  It's been sort of a long-term goal of mine for awhile to find and watch as many of them as I can.

1925- The Pleasure Garden
1927- The Lodger
1927- The Ring
1927- Downhill
1928- Champagne
1928- The Farmer's Wife
1929- The Manxman
1929- Blackmail
1930- Juno and the Paycock
1930- Murder!
1930- Elstree Calling
1931- The Skin Game
1931- Mary (German version of Murder!)
1931- Rich and Strange
1932- Number Seventeen
1933- Waltzes from Vienna (aka Strauss' Great Waltz)
1934- The Man Who Knew Too Much
1935- The 39 Steps
1936- Secret Agent
1936- Sabotage

1937- Young and Innocent

1938- The Lady Vanishes

1939- Jamaica Inn
1940- Rebecca
1940- Foreign Correspondent
1941- Mr. and Mrs. Smith

1941- Suspicion

1942- Saboteur
1943- Shadow of a Doubt

1944- Lifeboat

1944- Aventure Malgache
1944- Bon Voyage

1945- Spellbound

1946- Notorious

1947- The Paradine Case

1948- Rope

1949- Under Capricorn
1950- Stage Fright
1951- Strangers on a Train
1953- I Confess

1954- Dial M for Murder

1954- Rear Window
1955- To Catch a Thief
1955- The Trouble with Harry
1956- The Man Who Knew Too Much
1956- The Wrong Man

1958- Vertigo

1959- North by Northwest

1960- Psycho

1963- The Birds

1964- Marnie
1966- Torn Curtain
1969- Topaz
1972- Frenzy
1976- Family Plot

Old Movies

Last night I watched "Holiday Inn".  It makes me wish I had more old movies around...They're so hard to find online.  Maybe I should try checking them out at the public library.  I'm a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock.  But I also love Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, James Stewart, Bing Crosby, and Danny Kaye.

So I've decided, I'm going to have to make a trip to the library (besides to return the 2 books I have out) to check out some old movies...but for now, I gotta feed the Z-man.

Button-Bandit

That's what you call me.

I went over to my aunt Jen's last night to watch movies and look at her MASSIVE collection of buttons.  She let me take a TON.  And I barely made a dent on the masses.

Pictures to come...

Darkness

I've recently been sucked into this series of books (thanks mom!).
This is my checklist of the ones I've read, which I will update as I read more of them.

Dark Series by Christine Feehan

#1: DARK PRINCE

#2: DARK DESIRE
#3: DARK GOLD
#4: DARK MAGIC
#5: DARK CHALLENGE
#6: DARK FIRE

#7: DARK DREAM

#8: DARK LEGEND
#9: DARK GUARDIAN
#10: DARK SYMPHONY
#11: DARK DESCENT

#12: DARK MELODY

#13: DARK DESTINY
#14: DARK HUNGER
#15: DARK SECRET
#16: DARK DEMON
#17: DARK CELEBRATION
#18: DARK POSSESSION
#19: DARK CURSE
#20: DARK SLAYER
#21: DARK PERIL

Website

I fixed my website today...please enjoy:  http://www.iamaseaman.com/

LAJ

This song came up too...it's one of my favs.  Given the right setting, I just cry.
I always dedicate it to the one who did not come to be.

This is the Future by Owl City

Mmm, Pandora...

...it's rocking my socks off right now.  I heard the best version of this song and I can't seem to get enough of it lately.

Rock my F-ing Socks Off!!!

Art Opening Tonight...

And I'm part of the show!  Yep, I've been meaning to mention it, but I entered some work into a show.

The opening reception is tonight from 5:30-7:30 at the Eastbank Art Gallery at 8th and Railroad here in Sioux Falls.
http://eastbankartgallery.com/

It's a postcard-sized art show.  Apparently there's like a hundred artists in the show, but who cares?  I'm part of an art opening!  Whoop whoop!!!  I submitted 5 4"x6" gouache works on paper.  The colors seem to be a bit off on these scans but I'm going to post them anyways.  I can probably color correct them but that's a long and boring process for me...whatever, here goes:

 

Baby-Filled Friday

I've been watching my beautiful niece Ella and my handsome nephew Zidane all day today.  I've snapped some pretty awesome pics of their shenanigans.  Now, Ella's daddy doesn't want any pictures of her up on facebook but I figure since no one really reads this much anyways, I can sneak a few up on here...

Aren't they awesome?

Color Themed Betta

In the Spring of 2009, I got three Betta fish named Purple Haze (like the song), Red Dawn (like the movie), and Midnight.  I had one older Betta named Craig that I'd had for a year already when I got the new three.

Purple Haze

 Red Dawn

Midnight

 

All four on my desk.  Left to Right: Red Dawn, Craig, Midnight, Purple Haze.

What's missing?

So someone asked me yesterday if I'm glad to be back in Sioux Falls.  That is a really tough question to answer.

First off, if things hadn't gone awry for me financially in the fall of last year, I would not even be here.  But if I'm going to think about what might have been, I might mention that I should have a 2-3 month old baby right now.  Things obviously don't always end up like they're supposed to.


Secondly, of course I'm glad to be back.  The worst part about living in Chicago was being away from my family.  We're super tight, my fam and I.  However, there are many things I've come to miss about life in Chicago.
Off the top of my head, five specific things:
1. Living with Holly:  I miss my best friend all the time.  Chicago was great with Holly around but we could live together anywhere and it'd be awesome.  She's my hetero-lifemate, to borrow a phrase.  I dream distant dreams of moving out to California with her and Kelly and us being the 3 Musketeers again.
2. Commuting:  as long as I was on time, I usually liked traveling via the CTA.  I would rock my iPod the whole trek and either read a book or draw.  I can't multitask when in transit here, though I can sing along to the iPod as loudly as I want.
3.  John's Pizzeria:  it was so close to my apartment and so much more delicious than most any other pizza in Chi.  Of course everyone craves different pizza places and I will admit I ordered Dominos more than the average person the last year or so I lived there.  But John's will always be in my top five favorite pizzas of all time.
---Just an aside, I have not watched it as of late but I think it's pretty apparent the affinity I have with John Cusack's character and his 'top 5 lists' in High Fidelity.
4.  The architecture:  Chicago has amazing architecture.   The birthplace of the skyscraper.  I'm proud to say that I've lived in a place so rich with interesting history, despite all the conflicts and trials.  It just shows how resourceful humankind is when faced with extreme obstacles.  I could go on and on...
5.  My artist community:  I miss being surrounded by artists of all sorts at all times.  While I do have a few people here sort of creating a smaller version, it's difficult to force myself into the art world without the people I grew to rely on in Chicago.  I feel like I might have taken a few people for granted in not keeping up with them after I moved back home.  I do think of them often even though I don't communicate it.  I've never been good at keeping up.

I guess what's prompted this nostalgic post is that when I went out this morning for groceries I decided that I rather like what my life has become here in Sioux Falls, despite the constant stress of money.  It made me actually stop and remember that towards the end of my time in Chicago that I had become somewhat of a hermit, never going anywhere.  I feel like that's changed here and that while I am quite ready for someone special to come into my life, it doesn't have to happen right now.
So I guess the answer to the tough question is yes.  yes, but...

Papasan

I want one.  I want one right now.

Something like this one:
http://www.pier1.com/Catalog/Furniture/Furniture/tabid/519/CategoryID/158/List/0/catpageindex/2/Level/a/ProductID/567/ProductName/Papasan-Chair-Stool-Frames--Brown/Default.aspx

More Paint

This is an entirely different palette; one completely calculated and planned before even one stroke hits the page.  I use this method primarily with gouache (and occasionally egg tempera).  I basically create an entire color family and then use various combinations to make a series.

This particular palette is from Fall 2008.  The series was a group of 'paintings' that were gouache on layers of vinyl.  I have yet to decide the best way to document the actual paintings but I thought it necessary to take photos of the palette all laid out.  This is the biggest premixed palette I've made to date at a whopping 120 shades, tints, and tones.

This kinda thing drives normal people nuts but is just one of my many productive compulsions.

Paint

Paint is interesting even when it's not busy composing a painting.

This is one from the archives.  The date on this picture is 2/17/2007.

It is a partially cleaned palette, one from before I began using paper palettes for the convenience and the ease of keeping them for future reference.

Denver

Aside from a layover or two, I've only really been to Denver, CO once.  It was on my roadtrip with Holly from LA to Chicago in May 2009.  We had left Los Angeles around 9 pm and had been driving for about 21 hours straight upon our arrival to Denver.  Holly's friend Dennis lived there and was going to put us up for the night.  Though totally exhausted beyond just sleep deprivation, we ended up going out to a nice little bar downtown for a few drinks after dinner.  We walked down the road to a bridge across the river.  I took these few pictures from the bridge.

We could see the big sign for Union Station. 

I love the lines and geometry of this bridge.


But the really great part of this stop on the trip was the company:

yeeeaaa, yeeeaaa...

Two of a Kind

These dogs belong my sister Jessica and her husband Matt.  Blue is the Australian Shepherd and PeeWee is the Pomeranian.  I only post this because they refuse to let anyone post pictures of their 7 month old daughter, my little niece Ella anywhere on the net.  These two are quite the pair of pooches.  If you could see only in black and white, PeeWee looks like a miniature of Blue.  And as if that weren't enough, they're both pretty old and therefore Blue is mostly blind and PeeWee recently became toothless.  Like I said, quite the pair.

Baha'i Temple

In the Summer 2005, I was living with some family friends in the southwest suburbs of Chicago (between my 2nd and 3rd semesters at SAIC).  One random day, Jim took Mere and me on a day trip around the Chicago area.  I've long since forgotten where exactly we went for most of the day since I was still a relatively new resident of the Windy City.  We stopped for Italian Ice in Little Italy and at a church and a little shop in the Ukrainian Village (where I purchased a CD of the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy, which I still have and still love).   The one place I'm sure we visited was the Baha'i Temple in Chicago.  Now I won't claim to know much of anything about the Baha'i religion, but I find its peaceful and accepting nature comforting in an extremely judgmental society.  We were able to go inside the temple though the pics didn't turn out.  The exterior ones did though...and here they are:

If anyone (of my hundreds of readers, hah), wants more info about the temple or the religion, check out this site...http://www.bahaichicago.org/

Buttons

I probably should have been posting stuff like this as I acquired it but since I am ever the procrastinator here goes the first of many random posts about stuff.   Haha, I have to laugh about how I just phrased that but that's exactly what it is...random stuff.

I took these pics of Holly's button collection last November when we were still living together.  I forget why I decided I wanted to even see them...I think it was that I was looking for buttons for headwraps for my HatsonLamps Etsy shop (www.hatsonlamps.etsy.com).  She allowed me to look at her buttons and I was able to keep a few of the ones I liked.  I love the way they look on the back of my 'grandma quilt'.

I really love the giant buttons, but of course those were the ones I was allowed to look at but not keep.  I do love a good button collection.  I went out for lunch with (Zidane) Mom, Jess (and Ella), and Jen last Friday and Jen said she's got trillions of buttons.  That's right, Trillions.  Therefore she and I are going to have a sit-down sometime soon where we just goss and look at buttons, maybe watch a movie.  I will have to blog about it when it happens.   :-P

The Chronicalling Continues...

So did anyone else start blogging more after watching the movie Julie and Julia?  Hah, nobody's really reading anyways...but maybe someday if I'm more diligent about it or someone takes an interest...

Well, I watched that today.  I was going to try to start my post during the movie, but it's a Z day today.  My nephew Zidane is a totally awesome little guy but at nearly 7 months he's demanding more of my attention on the days I watch him.  I like that he's not crawling yet, or, bad as it sounds, rolling really.  It's not that he can't roll, it's just that he's not interested.  That makes him immobile yet, which is great.  However, he's finally started sleeping through the night which means his day naps are fewer and farther between.  I'm betting this post will take ages to finish simply because he's been refusing to go down for a nap for hours.  No matter...

In the late Spring 2009 I acquired a few fish for my 55 gallon tank.  Two of them were small bottom feeders called plecostomous.  I guess one of them was a special kind that wasn't as hearty as the other but neither of them lasted long.  At that time I had 4 goldfish and a koi in the tank and was looking for a little help with cleaning but these two suckers randomly disappeared both within a week of me getting them.  I therefore do not have any pictures of either.  I did name them though, both after the same character from Metalocalypse:  Milminiman Lanylin Swimwamley.  And I will be getting tats of them as well.  (Just little ones as part of a larger whole.)

The other two fish I came to own at that time were a pair of butterfly koi.  I named them also after Metalocalypse characters only these were after Dethklok band members Pickles and Skwisgaar Skwigelf.  The pictures I have of these two are from October 2009.  They were only about 3 inches long when I got them, but by the time these were taken they'd grown at least another inch.

Skwisgaar is the yellow koi.

 

Pickles is the orange koi.

The other fish will be formally introduced in a later post but are named as follows:

Scott Tenorman- chocolate oranda goldfish

Kyle- red ryukin goldfish (white in these pics)

Damien- black moor telescope-eye goldfish

Bradley- calico ryukin goldfish (upside-down in the corner)

Nathan Explosion- standard koi (white/black spots)

Here's a few more shots of the crew from that time.

 

Here's some of the old video footage of the scaly buggers swimming along to a tune from one of of my top 5 favorite movies of all time Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain.  It's called "La Valse d'Amélie".  It's funny because all these fish are either named after Metalocalypse and Southpark characters.