After flipping through Art or Porn on Tumblr for a bit it occurs to me that I've never given head while wearing false eyelashes and that I have no idea whether or not this measure would enhance my performance. If my husband mysteriously arrives home this evening with eyelash glue and a few sets to choose from I'll know that his curiosity has been piqued as well, and I'll be sure to launch a full blown (get it?) research project and publish my results in a reputable journal for peer review.

We're behind on cards this year, but we're working on it. Addresses to be solicited soon. If you have a definite preference for the ax card please let me know. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, it's because you either had small children the last time I sent you a card or because I didn't know you well enough to know if you like your holiday cards to be creepy. Some people don't cotton to having their sacred cows tipped, and some people's sacred cows include the trappings of this season. I tend to play it safe when sending cards. For reference, this was the picture from last year's ax card.

Why the fuck aren't peppermint coffee drinks a bigger deal in the summertime? Why is that a winter thing?

Also, a completely unrelated gripe since I seem to be coughing up random gouts of effluvium--if there are two or more servings in a package of something then the fucking package should be resealable. This is equally true of Pop Tarts and, like, large bananas (bananae?), or whatever. Mother Nature often seems no better at promulgating reasonable portion sizes than Kellog. And far worse at printing nutritional information on the label. I'm sure the Consumer's Union has a big fucking file on the bitch.

After eating some lunch, Mom and I looked over the schedule to plan our next few days’ activities. Saturday was much quieter than we expected, and it seemed like one of the bands didn’t show up. We did finally hear music late in the afternoon, so we bundled up against the cold wind and wandered over to the courtyard to listen to the Air Force band. Few things will drag me out of a nicely heated house and into a brisk cold wind as sunset nears. One of those things is an Air Force band. Any kind of Air Force band.

In my younger and more single past, I would have been twittering around them being as adorable as a newborn kitten, seeing them as potential spouses –or at least a few dates. Now in my more matronly and thoroughly married state, they are pure eye candy. A guilty pleasure, I assure you, but I do find it difficult not to twitter around them and experience a bit of … well … lust in my heart.^†

The crowd was sparse due to the cold wind and the building-created wind tunnel they had them set up in. I felt so sorry for them having to play under those conditions, because the wind blowing through the courtyard was bitterly cold. They didn’t play as long as scheduled, but those few of us out there listening to them fully understood their reasons not to. Conditions were less than ideal.

Mom and I made haste back to the warmth of the house and watched heartwarming movies the rest of the night.

Footnotes

1. † I will not apologize for believing Air Force uniforms coupled with band instruments is, in fact, HAWT. And also Air Force uniforms couple with airplanes equals HAWT. Though age is more of a factor in the attractiveness of pilots. A man in an Air Force uniform who can play a musical instrument is HAWT no matter his age. Pilots less so. [↩]

Originally posted at Just Orb.

Just wanted to give a couple thanks...

wanderlustlover - thank you for the lovely card from Korea. It's so pretty.

disclaim__her - thank you for the adorable kitty card and bookmark.

Yay! Cards rock. Thanks to you both.

So far so good for the new computer. Only a couple minor problems:
1) Screen keeps doing a weird thing where it turns off, but not really... since the power is still on. I push the power button and it pops right back. Just odd.

2) I apparently did not back-up the right file for Rosetta Stone so I have to start all over. On the one hand, ick, all that time gone. On the other, I will at least know that first part really well ... I hope.

Today was a snow day, but I was on-call. Not that there were many calls. Nothing I had to (or would) brave the roads for. The winds are now picking up for the second half of the storm. This morning it was the snow (about a foot of it) tonight the winds (up to 50 mph gusts). I am staying inside as much as possible. I work tomorrow (and take Vargr in for a dental prophy) then a three day weekend... one day of which I am not leaving my pajamas!

So, today, I worked on Oh, Carolina... you read that right. I actually drew TWO new comics and re-drew one old one. In entering them I realized that one more NEW comic will make 300 and one more OLD redraw will make 50... I still have over 100 re-draws to go, though *sigh*. Maybe, eventually, I will get that project done and then can make a Lulu book or something similar out of them. That would be nice :) I know I would sell two copies! hehe

Only things I have yet to re-install on this machine are IRC (I'll install it when I need it) and PixelMine (Secondhand Lands). The other games I had I probably won't re-install as I really didn't play them much. nice clean start :)

All the potato plants were lost in the last freeze. All of them. Maybe they’ll come out again, but I’m not betting on it. I’m so disappointed. Those were my second generation plants, and those were the only starters I had for them. Now I have to start all over with the potato project in the spring.

I am not enjoying winter gardening at all. NOT AT ALL. Who knows what plants I’ll lose tonight when it really, really freezes. I’m not replanting anything. I’m not even going to be paying much attention to the garden beyond making sure it has water (which I haven’t had to worry about thanks to all the rain). Things either live and grow or they die and get plowed under in the spring. This will be the last winter garden. I’m just going to start with the super-early cool season before spring (that I missed last year, not having beds yet), plant like crazy during spring, and muddle my way through summer. No more gardening when it’s cold. It’s too depressing, and I don’t enjoy being outside in the cold anyway.

Can’t believe all my potatoes died when they were well covered and it barely got down to freezing. Wah!

Originally posted at Just Orb.

Pepperell, at least my neighborhood, got 10 to 11 inches of snow--I measured it. We're getting a little rain now, not much. I went out and shoveled as soon as the snowflakes stopped. The snow itself is wet and heavy, if this had been light fluffy snow we'd probably have about 20 inches. Fortunately I got it all shoveled before too much rain had fallen to make it lots heavier.

I shoveled the top of the driveway, down about thirty feet or so, and cleared off the car. Then I shoveled around to the wood pile, cleared the wood pile, shoveled out the heating oil intake, and shoveled a path all the way down to the compost pile. Then I hauled in firewood to replenish the wood boxes and then some. My neighbor just came and plowed the rest of my 150-foot-long driveway, so I am now all clear to sally forth...but I don't think I'll hit the roads quite yet.

I'm cooking food for my dad's holiday Open House this weekend and I have Christmas shopping to do, and I had been planning to go up to Nashua today, but...maybe this evening. It's still precipitating and the winter weather advisory has now been extended to 4:00 p.m. I guess I'll have to make lists and do some shopping online.

Could be worse, this is almost the anniversary of the "historic" ice storm last year (December 11). I had just finished cutting out fabric for the bathrobe I was making for my niece when the power went off for good at 3:00 a.m.--and it was a week before I could get back to the project! No power problems for me today (yet), although I sure there are outages elsewhere. Oh, and I'd just like to say: these new boots I bought at L.L. Bean this fall are full of win. These are the best boots I have ever owned! I love them! I'm going to write L.L. Bean a fan letter!

Oh-oh, I hear sirens...yeah, maybe I will shop online! Except that I can't buy the food that way. :-(

This same storm has clobbered about half the country. It socked my sister and her family, out in Chicago (you guys okay?), and just about everyone I know! I hope all of you are getting cleared out and staying safe!

I’m still trying to get back into my usual daily life and am still utterly fatigued, so the photo posts and updates about my trip will probably be slow in coming, but I wanted to start with the very last thing that happened just before I left yesterday.

That is a crazy one-car wreck. Mom and I were sitting in the living room with the door open and didn’t hear anything until all the sirens in town went off and started heading in our direction. Naturally, we ran outside, and I grabbed my camera. Someday I will get that award-winning news photo. This one isn’t it, but I had to have some photos, because a) a weird wreck like this at the corner by my mom’s house is unusual and b) a wreck like this is just unusual. How the hell did this person manage to flip their car on that bridge?! And how did they do it so quietly we didn’t hear a thing?

I was a little more timid than I usually am about running into situations snapping photos, because I was afraid someone might be dead, and I didn’t know how the local police are about photographers. The last thing I needed was to get into a situation of my own with the police when I really wanted to be on my way home. Notice a dead or maimed person wouldn’t have stopped me from getting right up on the wreck, because the camera lens is a great shield. I can look at anything through a camera lens and then it’s just a photo. Not to mention, the news business runs thick in my genes, and I’ve seen a lot of things no one else would ever want to look at. Not cold-hearted. Just capable of complete emotional detachment when the need arises.

But … no one died! No one was even seriously injured. The guy driving the car walked away from this wreck with what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder and some cuts on one arm and hand. Talk about lucky. Viva modern safety measures! For that matter, once they’d put the car in its upright position, even it didn’t look all that bad, though I’m sure the insurance company will declare it a total loss.

Anyway, that was how my trip ended. Then I hopped in the truck and headed home, passing two more wrecks in Fredericksburg, one in Dripping Springs, and three on MOPAC as I made my way across Austin. What the hell was up with the wrecks yesterday? It was a pretty, sunny, dry and warm day! Very odd, though this one was the oddest wreck of all I saw on my journey home. I’d really like to know how one flips a car on that bridge without damaging the bridge!

Originally posted at Just Orb.

This is the laptop I'm going to buy, hopefully in a day or two:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+Inspiron+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor+-+Cherry+Red/9567925.p?skuId=9567925&productCategoryId=pcmcat196200050013&id=1218125773875

It comes in a variety of colors, but it was hard only for me to decide between Passion Purple and Cherry Red. I finally decided on the red one. :)

My tweets from yesterday for non-Twitterers:

• 13:04 It's election day! And you know what that means...THE ROBO-CALLS STOP!!! Yayyyyyyyy! Off to vote, for the one candidate who didn't call me! #

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Does a day get any better than this? Lazing in bed in the early afternoon, snuggling my fiancé, watching Captain Jack (Harkness) and getting a text from my girlfriend proposing an evening of live music and ... whatever happens ... for this weekend.

Magic.

=D

Finally home. The drive back was quick, until I got to Austin where everyone seemed to want to have a wreck today during rush hour. Nothing to do but putz along at 5 miles an hour and patiently wait to get home. All the major roads were clogged.

Much to tell and many photos, and it will all have to wait until I decompress, get some rest, and get my household back under control.

Oi. The housework I’ll be doing…

Originally posted at Just Orb.

- the weather forecast on my computer has a little thermometer going up in flames.
- the cat is trying to herd me in the direction of the 'cold room'
- there are birdies outside, I wonder if they'll like/use the new birdbath I set up yesterday

warning: Kiwi humour ahead

free milk

*snicker*
the great Crunchie train robbery

Dentist appointment moved up to 10:45. Eeek!

Originally posted at Just Orb.

More on this later, when I dig up more, but for now--transgendered teen applies at McDonald's, gets discriminated against</i>.

And it only gets worse from there. Keep you updated.

I have 10 Google Wave invites.

Post your email address that you would like the invite to be sent to in a comment (screened of course) and I will send you an invite.

If I go to bed and more people want invites than I have left, I will put you on a waiting list for the next round lol

1.
2.
3.
go.

p.s. One thing to be aware of, invites do not come immediately, it may take a few days to a week to come but they do come.

also, if you have google wave, you can add me to your contact list if you want, my address is dawnam at googlewave.com

We are STILL offering FREE SHIPPING within the US on jewelry purchases! New items and replacement items for pieces that have sold are now live! More bird nest (nestlace) pendants, Tree of Life pendants and even a great holiday charm bracelet - all ready to ship!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com

Make this a holiday to remember.

I have a computer! So far, that is all... though art will come soon... just have to get those pesky drivers installed :)

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

As of yesterday, tree is up and decorated! Condo looks festive. :) We'll see if tonight we can't get some outdoor lights up.

Money is a bit tight right now. Kat and I are going to (attempt to) cancel our gym membership with LA Fitness. There are a lot of complaints online about this company's cancellation process. Armed with this info, we are sending our cancellation paperwork via certified mail, with signature verification. We'll see how that goes.

Coldest day this week is going to be tomorrow. Just my luck, that is an auction day. I'll be stuck outside for a few hours, shivering my ass off... Must remember to bring a thermos of coffee with me tomorrow.

Anyhow, this is the second and last call for anyone who would like a card from me this year. If you've already let me know in my previous post, then I've got you on my list. If you haven't spoken up yet, please leave a comment (it will be screened for privacy) with your name and address! :)
(Please note, just because I've sent you a card in the past, doesn't guarantee you a card this year. More than likely I have misplaced your address and am much too lazy to go back through my posts to find it.)

We didn't get the forecast 3 to 7 inches, by a long shot, but it's the first "sticky" snow of the season.

And...holiday lights, we haz dem! It's been years since I put lights up outside my house. Ages and ages ago, I put lights on the bushes in front of the house a few times, but I've long since cut those bushes down. In more recent years, I tried putting lights on the insides of the windows a few times, in a kind of "curtain of lights" effect, but I was never really satisfied with the results. In summer, 2008, I cleared the front of the house out even more, but I never got around to putting lights up last year at all, inside or out. This year, rather impulsively (and faciliated by the very good quality, heavy-duty ladder I bought at Lowe's a couple of seasons ago--I didn't have that previously) I decided to put lights up around the windows and door. I did that Thanksgiving weekend, and here's how it looks:

There are blue and white lights around the windows, but the blue lights are not very bright and the white ones completely overwhelm them. I also have blue light bulbs in the kitchen window light and side porch light. The wreath on the door has gold bows. It started out with blue balls, too, but they all fell off and I need to think of a better way to attach them. Blues, silver and gold are my color schemes.

I feel very festive and holiday-spirited! That will last until my next electric bill, *heh*. The lights go on after sunset attunement--and gods, I can hardly believe that I start sunset attunement now before 4:00 p.m.!!--and go off when I go to bed, which these days is around 4:00 a.m. or later.

Christmas Tree 2009
Oh yeah, I completely forgot to mention in my catch-up post the other night that we also got our tree on Monday of last week and decorated it on Tuesday. Tuesday night we watched "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (I have a dvd collection of Rankin-Bass' Christmas specials like Rudolph, Frosty, etc.) and "It's a Wonderful Life" which is mandatory for tree decorating. I watch it every year when I do the tree.

Anyway, here's a quick shot of the tree from last week. You can see the Walt Disney World Monorail around it as well. It's what Love bought with his free birthday gift card at WDW last February, so he's been waiting all year to give the monorail it's premier displaying.



As always, I think the tree is beautiful. And watching the soft glow of the lights and seeing all my favorite ornaments just helps make me smile. Even when things are tough like they are now. A Christmas tree doesn't solve the problems of the world, but it does make them just a little bit easier to deal with.

So many pretty men and women in uniform, and our street is crawling with loads of heavy brass.

Originally posted at Just Orb.

Awakened by ‘America’ on a massive PA. Someone finally brought me coffee, cream and sugar on a tray!

Originally posted at Just Orb.

My tweets from yesterday for non-Twitterers:

• 17:16 Thoughts on Kindle & ebooks from India: is.gd/5e8G6 If ebook mkt takes off in China & India, pubs who are digital will be winners #
• 17:19 "Will 2010 be the breakout year for e-book readers?" is.gd/5elLd Gods, I hope so, because BLUM is ready NOW, in all formats! #
• 01:57 Release date is set for *Krymsin Nocturnes* by Joseph Armstead: April 15, 2010. fb.me/3nDviwQ #

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