November / December 2002
12.30.2002 / Happy, Happy, Happy!
Bless the university soap box: it's everywhere. Friend and
Berkeley resident Mike said last week that the People's Republic of China
provides the obligatory college campus ranter at UCB. The prime
yahoo there is a Chinese guy who loudly argues the PRC's views on several
hot issues, you know, Taiwan is not a country, the evil Falun
Gong, etc. After his speeches, he holds some sort of sign
over his head and yells "Happy, happy, happy!"
12.30.2002 / OCD: Wheeee!
We returned home from the ever-lovely Rockland County, NY today to our
tastefully old, yet dog-eared little place. C. has noted that I
clean compulsively whenever we return home, though we tidied before our
departure. He must admit the kitties had strewn every small piece of
paper across the floor in our absence, but he's still right. Today I
not only cleaned but installed some much-needed shelving and some quaint
and useful hooks, a Christmas gift from The Andersons, for our winter
garb.
Still, our apartment has always been lacking a few things, the absence
of which gets my goat. One: rugs. Our neighbor downstairs, who
is a numbskull, I grant (and has fluorescent lighting!), believes it
"sounds like dropping bricks" when we walk. Get over it.
You live in New York. While I think that man is an ass, I do think a
rug would tie our front room together. Two: a real bed. I
don't know whether I'll ever get the energy to make that meat cart bed, to
which I cannot link because Ready
Made has not made good on its promise to post issue 1 in PDF
yet. Three: a coffee table. It's bad enough for our social
lives that we have no television. Without a coffee table we're
practically hopeless and certainly without a place to display natty coffee
table books!
And so, I have been despairing again over the West
Elm catalog. I love this company, and I can almost afford
their furniture. I just can't determine where, though, in all their
photos, is all the stuff of the people who supposedly live in those
apartments. It's as or more affordable and much cooler than Pottery
Barn. Besides, do you really want to shop in a barn? As if Dress
Barn hadn't already convinced you. (speaking of Dress Barn, do
you want a job there?)
I digress. New furniture is on hold until that wee upcoming expense
called law school is not so pressing. Until then, I will sate my
compulsion armed with a cordless drill and a new can of Scott's
Liquid Gold (more effective than a marine fighting a midget!
more dangerous to breathe than strong adhesive fumes!). Other
diversions? Suggestions welcome.
12.21.2002 / The Art of Doing Nada
I am on vacation from now until January 6! My office
is, mercifully, closed for two weeks in an effort to get all the
workaholics to go home and get lives. This gives me a chance to
catch up on a few things, including this site. You see, I'm in the
process of uploading hundreds of pages of content to a new website for
work, which has drained me of inspiration for my own personal web
endeavors. No more!
But first... vee do nussing for a vile, as my grandpa would have said.
We are going to S. Jersey for a holiday sojourn in the suburbs. In
fact, I'm off to do nothing right now. Meanwhile, check out Karen
Brandon's eulogy to the long-dead Sassy magazine. I
miss you, too, Sassy.
12.17.2002 / Okay, Enough With Holiday Gifts Already
I'm conflicted about focusing on the holidays so much here, but I find
them an excuse to make stuff in mass quantities. Don't worry, I'll
wear my anti-materialist hair shirt as soon as January 2 rolls around.
BUT...there is an incredibly useful discussion on Glitter at the moment
on last-minute
gifts. You can always count on those folks to be creative at
the last moment. Just skip the posts that say "it only took me
an hour to whip up on my Singer!" and you'll find some solid ideas.
<-- one exception: fake
fur lingerie hangers by
Kimberly. Quirky!
12.14.2002 / Scrubs
 For
quite a while, I've been fooling around with body scrubs, so I decided
they ought to go up on the site.
I make sugar-based and salt-based scrubs, with the added exfoliant here
and there. They are absurdly easy to make (sorry to break it to
those who will receive them as gifts). Check them out on my Scrubs
and Balms page.
12.13.2003 / My Personal Hallmark
I don't know what's wrong with me, but I think I have fallen victim
to a stamping bug. Ever since I watched the dude at The
Ink Pad use his
embossing gun I've been dying to have one of my very own. So last
night I ordered this
one from JoAnn
Fabrics. I never knew quite what friend Amanda J. was
talking about when she said she had one of these things - I never imagined
it did such amazing tricks!
Now I, too, can "Emboss
for Fun and Profit."
Next week I'm hoping to make my New Year's cards - burns and papercuts,
here I come!
12.11.2002 / Fat Albert Gets Decked Out
NEW in handcraft projects, directions for a few of Joy's
Holiday Ornaments!
Chris and I started decorating our tree, Fat Albert, last night. I
don't have any finished photos, but you can see Fat
Albert fresh from the tree lot!
Stay tuned for more holiday updates!
12.10.2002 / Winter on Paper and Other Holiday Concerns
What a week! Anyway, I'm back. The craft party - quel
great idea!! Props to Joy for pulling it off. Even my mom had
fun, and as she said, "she's never touched a 'craft' in [her]
life!'" We made awesome little ornaments. Photos and
instructions for wreaths, snowflakes, and ribbon candy ornaments to come
very soon!
Joy also generously gave me an ornament of the famous Eneman!! For
those who don't know, Eneman
is employed by Fleet enemas. Friend Cousin E used to deal with
EneMan regularly in her PR job at Fleet. I'm so glad he's gracing
our tree - thanks Joy!
I'm also in the process of figuring out what to do for holiday cards.
While I recognize the wonder of stamping, I just don't know if I have
time. If only I could afford all these beautiful Crane's
cards! I bet a skilled stamper could approximate some of
them.
And one more thing, folks, as we think about our Christmas lists. What
does Real Simple say you want for Christmas this year? Who
cares? In "Glossy
Magazines and Christmas Lists," Richard Blow finally bitches
about something that annoys us all - it's just that he does it more
intelligently.
12.02.2002 - 12.08.2002 / Abducted By Aliens
I am being abducted by aliens who want me to return to my home state
of INDIANA this week, and may not be updating regularly. But as I am
attending a crafting party with craft maven Joy, I should return with
plenty of ideas!
12.02.2002 / New Project - Simple Ribbed Hat
I graduated from scarves to hats in knitting this weekend. Take
a look at the Simple
Ribbed Hat!
11.29.2002 / Martha Soaps Up
Martha Stewart's website is running a section on handmade
gifts for the holidays. I particularly enjoyed the ice
cube soap project, even though I have no guest bathroom and no room on
my own sink for so many little soaps. There are also basic
instructions for candle making and handcrafted cards.
11.26.2002 / Album Cover CD Box
Those 50 cent albums at the thrift store always tempted me with their
stellar covers, but I never was sure what to do with them. Now I
know! Digs
Magazine has instructions from some time back for making a
CD Storage unit out of old album covers.
11.23.2002 / I Have This Condition
Last night we trucked over to Williamsburg for the premier of Apartmento,
a movie that a friend of mine did sound for. The film spoofs
the ever-deep Memento,
and the star was a dead ringer for Guy Pearce. It was hilarious,
even if you have never looked for an apartment in New York. You will
be able to view the entire film on the web next month.
And now for the crazy activist website of the moment, Cat
Lovers Against the Bomb. I was perusing The
Nation today and saw an ad for their calendar. "The
connection between cat lovers and peace lovers is a phenomenon many have
observed and is accentuated in the unique matching of cat photos and
thought-provoking quotations in the calendar," the website explained.
Who knew?
A question for anyone, anyone at all: we are slaughtering our second
Christmas tree this year, and all we have are [yawn] drug store globe
ornaments. Does
anyone have any ideas about easy, cheap, cool ornaments to make?
Tell me about it and I'll post your ideas on the site!
11.22.2002 / Turkey School
Epicurious has posted this handy turkey
tutorial. It even includes photographic instructions on how to
carve! Unfortunately, it leaves out the part on how to serve John
Madden's six-legged
bird.
So after much hand-wringing on Glitter
, ReadyMade
Magazine has agreed to post its first issue in its entirety on
their website as a .pdf file. They said it should be up in a month.
I can't wait to attempt the meat cart bed! From their most recent
issue, I'm planning to try the For
Sale Sign Lamp. I'll keep you posted.
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