WTF Wednesday - The Party Of ME!

I think this picture sort of speaks for itself, don't you?

No?

Oh, well go Google "Joe Lieberman Is An Enormous Jerk" and you'll see what I mean.

Nothing like holding the nation hostage, Joe! WAY TO GO!

That is all.

Happy Wednesday!

Weekend Catchup: Introspection

It was a very long week last week, one of those stretches of time that doesn't seem to fit its moniker. It felt like a month.

I don't even remember what I had for dinner on Friday, I was that exhausted. I just remember waking up Saturday morning feeling more refreshed than I had in ages!

I don't know about you, but everyone I know has been having really bizarre dreams the past week or so, and I'm no exception. Friday night's dreams must have been doozies (I only remember a curly haired girl), and done their part to work out whatever anxieties I'd been having.

Saturday afternoon we headed to The Kid's grampa's house for one of his future-daughter-in-law's (Megan) birthdays. She is very very silly, and so we get along rather well.

Shocking, I know.

She got some neat stuff, including what is apparently quite the hard-to-find book, the recently-published Red Book of Carl Jung, who apparently went a bit off the deep end for awhile and wrote a lot of strange and disturbing stuff which his family wasn't too keen on anyone seeing. Fast forward nearly 100 years or and the grandkids relented.

It's amazing, if you have a chance to browse through one I recommend it for the art if nothing else!


So, um... tell me about your childhood?

Saturday evening I took Megan, her sister Amber, Amber's daughter and The Child to the Longmont Parade of Lights, which was fun as ever, and blessed with lovely weather. Considering we had been laboring under sub-zero temps the past week, the 38 degree evening was practically tshirt weather!

Sunday was a lazy day. We headed back to The Child's grampa's house so she could work on a Science assignment (he has the interwebs), and I watched the Broncos get their butts handed to them by the Colts.

I spent the afternoon finishing TR's gift, and getting a good chunk done on my mom's gift as well. Yay for being productive!

Finally, last night TR came by and we watched some of his very cool new acquisition, the complete 80-episode set (2000-2009) of Rick Steve's Europe!! I've always loved that show. We watched one of my favorite episodes, the one set in Salzburg, Austria with the alpine slide and schnapps and gorgeous shots of one of the places I want to see before I die, Hallstatt.

Seriously, look at this place...


Someday!

All in all, it was a great weekend! I couldn't possibly ask for more.

I'm going to attempt to get my next Tome Tuesday post up tomorrow; you may have noticed its absence last week, but probably not because you have a life! It's a crazy time of year, and unfortunately reading for more than a few minutes seems to be out of the picture right now. Luckily it's only the beginning of the Cannonball Run yet, so I have plenty of time to make up the gaps.

I'm determined to pull off the 52 books goal!

F-Word Friday: Fa-La-La-La-Lame

Okay, this is going to sound really bitchy, and full of spiteful non-Christmas-spiritness, and will fly in the face of anything resembling a world view containing knowledge of those suffering around me.

I'm warning you in advance.

Are you sufficiently warned?

Here goes.

The Rickets are cursed. Cursed forever to get the absolute shittiest present-swap presents on earth. Though I, and Mama Rickets before me, have always taken careful measures to assure that our swapees get something catered to them, or in the case of a White Elephant, to get something that anyone would be thrilled to have, inevitably...

We get skunked.

Every time.

Today was our office party (I made matzo ball soup, and it was awesome), and as tradition dictates we had our White Elephant. If you've never heard of this practice, it's a little like a grab bag, only you can steal the presents from others (up to 3 times per present), and it can get pretty rowdy and fun.

Depending on the group doing it, there are different schools of thought on the gift-procurement process. For some, it's a $10 limit and should be something at least passably nice. For others it's a chance to offload that horrible tea cup set they got from Aunt Mable last year.

And I *always* get the tea set, so to speak. Every time! Even when I have the coveted last or second to last number and get my choice of all the bounty before me... I still manage to pick the crap.

It's a gambling problem, of sorts...sure there's that fabulous DVD of The Princess Bride over there, and a hot chocolate set that The Kid would just drool over hiding behind that woman's hands on the end (she's hoping I won't notice - she need not worry). There's a set of tea towels, just begging to be embroidered or otherwise craftified, RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

But...

But...

There's one more gift on the table. It's wrapped in sparkling paper, it's got a big red bow. How can I resist?

Skunked.

Every time.

What exactly do I think is going to be in that gift, anyway, a new car?

And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to receive any gift at all, but why do I end up with the Nuns Having Fun calendar?

The dollar-store candle-scaping set that the gifter probably had sitting in the attic for a few years, as evidenced by the candle which is CRACKED UP THE MIDDLE?

The antique chocolates circa the Nixon-era White House, that literally have dust in the crevices of the yellowing cellophane?

Cursed, I tell you.

Well, the good news is, I've got my White Elephant gift all tied up for next time!

Have a wonderful weekend! Me and my candle scape (excuse me, my candle scape and *I*) will be finishing up some gifts and lounging around the house.

Thrilling Thursday: Pretties

Lazy post today... I've had lots on my mind (no worries, kids, I'm working my way through it - good advice and support have been invaluable, even when it's just a pat on the back), so I'm a little tapped out this week.

A weekend full of refreshing rest will no doubt perk me right back up. You know me... I'm a perky malcontent, remember? You can't keep me low for long.

Before I offer you some thrilling videos today, I want to show you something I made!

I have so many crafts on the pile - a couple of scarves, a hat, etc etc etc - really why do I always end up scrambling 2 weeks before the holiday? I swear every year I will start in August, and sometimes I even do, but I bargain myself down to December 5th every single time.

Naturally, being in a bit of a rush, I felt it necessary to make The Kid and myself some mittens. They paid off though... we've had frigid weather here just lately, so some woolly mitts really paid off!



Click to embigafy if you'd like to see the details, but don't look too closely, I totally screwed up the pair on the right! The ones on the left are mine, made from a thick wool blend, and were the second pair so the pattern worked out the way it was supposed to. The ones on the right are The Child's, an amalgam of two colorways of marino my aunt gave me for my birthday... the skeins weren't *quite* big enough to cover a whole pair, so I improvised! Unusual, and kinda cute, and The Kid loves em', and thinks the flaws just make them cooler.

(FYI, lest you think me a mean mom, I did let her have her pick. I would have worn the wonky ones.)

The nice thing about the deep freeze, combined with the Colorado sunshine, is that all the ground snow is sticking around for once (whereas it's usually gone in a day or two), while the roadways are clearing, so I get to truly enjoy the beauty of winter without worrying about driving around in dangerous conditions. It's been nice, despite the numb extremities!

And now for your thrilling videos...

First, something cool TR found, as he so often does. It's oddly joyful, or maybe just odd, but either way I can't seem to stop watching! It's lovely, to say the least, and plus - Mary Poppins! You just can't go wrong.



Amazing! The guy who did this is fairly young, and did it in hours. Kids these days, I tell ya.

Here's another neat one he did using Alice In Wonderland.



FAR OUT. I mean, Alice In Wonderland is trippy all on its own, but he really takes it way past far out and into the land of "who slipped me a mickey?!".

Last but not least, here's one from one of my favorite versions of The Secret Garden.



Lovely.

Go check out more of his stuff! I should... I don't know if "warn" is the word, but fore-arm you that the kid has named himself a not-terribly-kid-friendly name...

Although you're all adults, and as such are not new to the internets and have learned by now that link-jumping is going to eventually land you in the realm of "oh god my eyes", I also know that some of you, my fine readers, have school-age kids and goodness knows they love to read over our shoulders.

Have a wonderful day... stay warm!

Wonder Why Wednesday - Adjustment

I haven't done a Wonder Why in awhile, but all around me people have been growing and changing and morphing (in not-disturbing ways, I swear - no extra limbs), and I've been seeing again and again all these videos and articles about people who have had life-changing events occur.

And it got me wondering...

How do you deal with change?

For me it depends on the nature of the alteration... was it planned, or was it foisted upon you?

Did you choose the change or was it chosen for you?

The common viewpoint seems to be that when the unexpected occurs, it's acceptable to fall apart, but that if it was something you chose or knew was coming, you should just suck it up and deal with the fallout.

I think that's crap.

Too often I think we shy away from being really open with our emotional responses - I'm guilty of this, for sure.

I've changed jobs many times in my life, and every time, even though I've chosen to leave, it's been emotionally draining to do so. The response to expressing this feeling, though, has often been "but you wanted to leave, aren't you happy?".

And?

I don't believe that just because you choose to do something, it invalidates your right to express sadness or regret, or even just to bitch about it.

Then there's the idea of change thrust upon us, altered states we don't choose but which are chosen for us.

The natural, acceptable response seems to be to lose one's mind over it... and if you *don't* freak out, people wonder if you're holding something back. Bottling it up. Keeping it in.

But what if that shock of change opens your eyes? What if it makes you appreciate your life all that much more completely, and put you in a state of serenity unmatched in your past?

The most completely perfect example of this was shown to me this week via a video of Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor who died in 2008 of pancreatic cancer, giving his "Last Lecture" (it wasn't really, but that was the idea).

If you can find an hour to watch this, I can't recommend it enough... I promise you will be inspired.

Weekend Catchup: Tarantula!

You should go listen to some Bob Schneider.

I know what you're saying... "Who?"

He's a very talented, funny, occassionally deeply raunchy and completely prolific singer/songwriter (are we supposed to use that term anymore?) who's been around for many a year now, and despite a huge and rabid fan base often gets that "who?" look (I was guilty of this myself).

Today, I'm doing my part to change that, because I have seen the light.

So go visit his music site... It contains tons of his songs for your listening pleasure (generous, in my opinion), plus what amounts to really amusingly bad answering machine messages as information about each song (I leave really awful ones myself - I know my own).

Go! (He, like myself, enjoys using swears - fair warning!)

Also, listen to this song, which has been in my head all weekend...



...and this song, for which I now know the dance, which is good because it makes me shake my ass a whole lot and I need something to do with my hands so I don't look like Elaine.

Also, my mother will love it.


Not the best video in the world, and not the whole song, but you get the idea

He was just in Boulder & Denver last week, and I am lame and didn't go but I am so happy to finally be on the Bob Train. Thanks TR! You always have the best music.

Friday night was lovely, and involved the best pizza I've had in ages, plus Star Trek and lots and lots of music and lovely conversation and that redhead I may have mentioned a time or two. Really what more could I ask for after a long week?

(Cannot... resist... grammar... correction... For what more could you ask? Ah, that's better. Like scratching an itch in the middle of your back.)

Saturday and Sunday were sleep-in kinds of days, which is exactly what I did. I hope you had a chance to do the same!

Happy Monday!

F-Word Friday: Funnies

Okay kids I am totally swamped this week... so you get another lazy post.

I will write something totally scintillating next week, about war and peace and the nature of our humanity...

But for today, you get the following video, which made me almost get in trouble for guffawing out loud in my office.

My boss really wanted to know just what was so funny - I had to make something up about how the invoice I was reviewing was just too ridiculous to be believed.

Happy Friday!


Alan! Alan!


TURTLE FIIIIIIGHT! (You'll see.)

The first one up there made me think of the following, so here it is... your double-bonus obscure music of the day. You're welcome!


Ellen! Ellen!

PS... I totally didn't know this was a cover of ABBA song until right this minute.

Thrilling Thursday - I Bowled A 20 Last Time

Well I guess yesterday was kind of thrilling so how can I thrill you today?

That sounds like I'm taking your order, doesn't it?

Your porn order, maybe.

(Sorry, I'm just in that kind of mood today.)

I spent all morning being trained on a new expense system I don't want to use, ever.

I shouldn't complain, this is creating more job security than one could ever really have a right to expect, but still.

Since the expense system ate my brains, all I really have left is my favorite lazy post standard...

Video!

Oh wait, I posted video yesterday. Shit.

Well I know you'll forgive me...

Especially when you see just how cool the video really, truly is...

Enjoy! More laziness tomorrow!


Tell me you didn't totally smile. Thrilling right?!

Time Waster Wednesday - We're All Made Of Stars

TR sent me this, and it gave me chills.



Carl Sagan always thrilled me. I remember first hearing him speak about our place in the universe when I was maybe 11 or 12, and he made me feel alternately small and connected.

And I heart Bill Nye.

Put em' together with some other smart guys (one of whom is just so gleeful about his musings that I can't help but smile every time I see him) and some lovely music and it's Mimi Rickets Bliss.

Your time waster today? (Not so much a waste of time as a distraction for you to curse me about later.)

Exploration.

(Cleeck the peectures!)


The coolest of the cool, especially if you love maps.


Link is for the videos... a little ad-heavy but really interesting stuff!


A virtual tour, how cool!

Happy Wednesday!

Tome Tuesday #5 - Stacked: A 32DDD Reports From The Front

I'll admit, I've been slacking on my reading... with the holiday looming (and the many crafts I'm trying to pull off) I find myself exhausted, hands sore from crocheting like a fiend, and too tired to look at words in print anymore.

Maybe I should switch to books on CD. No no no, that's cheating.

Anyway, enough whining... on to today's book!



Stacked, by Susan Seligson, is all about boobs, in particular hers.

She is blessed (or cursed, depends on the day) with enormous breasts. They stick out, they get in the way, there are stares.

Why all the fuss?

That's the question she set out to answer, more or less.

The book is more a series of short essays about the nature of breasts than it is an autobiography of her personal experiences, and she covers a lot of ground. Amongst other subjects, there are interesting treatises on...

* Various theories on the reasons behind the sexual appeal of what are basically baby-feeding devices.
* A run down of the various nicknames out there and where they come from, my hands-down favorite of all time being sweater puppies - it's just so cute!
* Finding the perfect bra (it's nearly impossible withough some special handling and a lot of bucks).
* How size affects success in the sex industries - apparently the large, fake breasts of women like Maxi Mounds (yes really) are considered offputting and more a gimmick than an alluring feature.
* The history, pros and cons and realities of breast augmentation, from increasing to decreasing (there's an hysterical rundown of a day with Dr. 90210).
* Some thoughts on why so many women feel the need to change their breasts.
* The lengths to which girls will go to grow bigger boobs, and the lies they'll believe.
* Learning to love your boobs as they are.

The last part really struck a cord with me personally. Something you may not know about me is that I have enormous boobs.

Imagine how defeating, even upsetting, it is to see all these magazine pictures of huge breasts that sit somewhere around the armpits. That's not natural and we know it, but when you're shown it enough times you start to think that your rather normal, gravity-challenged breasts are gross and unattractive.

It isn't helped, of course, by the fact that best we big-busted girls can hope for in a sexy AND supportive bra is a little lace, at least if we don't want to shell out 100.00 a pop and go to some hard-to-find specialty store. It ends up being one or the other, supportive and BEIGE or pretty and a constant threat to others... those straps could go any time!

So to read about a woman who has learned to accept her breasts as they are, who even extols the virtues of lettin' em' hang free, is rather empowering for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to go bra-less in public and feel classy, but I have suddenly found myself whipping off the restraints the minute I get in the house.

It's bliss.