OMG

OMG OMG OMG

Being demo-strative

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Mine was nice and quiet, even though there was an overdose of Barbara Streisand movies where she's Wronged By The Man She Loves. (Don's mom was visiting, and is a fan of the genre.) I also got a rocking pair of shoes! I win!

I've been working the demo station at Trader Joe's a lot lately, and it's an interesting contrast to regular work. When you are normally helping a customer, there's an implication that you owe it to be nice to them, because they are buying things so you can earn a living. They're paying the bills. But when your job is to give free food to them, it's a little murkier. They aren't owed that second fucking cheese and cracker, and you can tell them NO, which in the customer service industry, is the equivalent of "fuck off, you motherfucking piece of shit." I mean, they CAN go complain to the manager and get the second cracker and cheese morsel, but most sane people realize the cost to their dignity, and move on with their life, sadder and a little less cheese-and-cracker sated. This is a heady power in a place where your income depends on making cranky old people believe their life is better if they buy some cheap wine and frozen enchiladas. I have to try and use it for good, not evil.
Downsides are having to see people talk with their mouths full of food, having to say the same thing all night long (This is out fully cooked pot roast!!!! Three minutes in the microwave!!!!), and having to talk to lonely people, who take advantage of the fact that you're required to stand in one place and smile a lot. Since I was in a very real danger of becoming like this, I emphasize and try to be polite.
I would be remiss if I didn't include here the most incredible thing that happened to me in the demo trenches. This weekend we were sampling pot roast (see above for details), and it was literally a giant hunk of fatty meat that we sliced pieces off of and put in little cups. There was the option of forks, but most people took it like a shot and moved on. Let me set the scene:

(Rochelle removes the steaming meat hunk from the microwave safe container and lays it on the cutting board. It is the size of a toddler's head. People start congregating around, holiday stress and the smell of meat sends their brains reeling to a fevered pitch.)

Rochelle: Just one minute guys!!!!! I'll be giving out samples!!!!!

(Rochelle slices off a hunk and puts it in a cup, looking down at her work.)

Rochelle: This is our fully cooked pot roast!!! You heat it in the microwave in about 3 minutes!!!!

(Places first sample down, continues to look down and cut second sample.)

Customer 1: Thank you!

Customer 2: UH, EXCUSE ME- DID YOU NOT SEE ME STANDING HERE FIRST!???!!!!

(Rochelle looks up from her work.)

Rochelle: Um, I'm sorry, but everyone is going to get a sample. (Indicates toddler-head-sized meat hunk before her.)

(Customer 2 goggles in disbelief at the rudeness, then THROWS DOWN FORK ON THE TABLE AND WALKS OUT OF STORE.)

END SCENE.

REALLY. SHE THREW DOWN THE FORK SHE HAD BEEN HOLDING IN ANTCIPATION OF EATING SOME DELICIOUS POT ROAST AND WALKED OUT, HER ENTIRE EXPERIENCE RUINED BECAUSE THE LAW OF FIRSTIES HAD BEEN BROKEN. Sorry for the caps explosion, but that is how I felt about it. ALL IN CAPS. I left her fork where she threw it all night, so I could keep reminding myself that this had actually happened. Amazing.

Second best story:

Rochelle: Would you like a sample of fully cooked pot roast?

Customer: Oh, I got one already. (Points to open mouth, where Rochelle can see, yes, they did get a sample.)


I meant to post this when it happened last week, but it snowed! It was incredibly exciting! All the pictures Don took of me I looked pissed off, but it was cold and snow was blowing in my face. It's hard to pull of looking good in those situations.



I also want to point out that Don had just finished his semester finals after a super intense 3 months the day before. Next to that giddiness, I couldn't compete.

We brought Frisky out to show him the new world:



I think this is one of my favorite pictures of all time. I like the way it looks posed like a religious icon, the fact that my hat and the tree in the background match, my colorful outfit against the snowy background. Plus, I feel like you can tell me and Frisky have a very strong bond from this picture. Which is true. Frisky was really shocked by the snow, I think. He was tranced out all night in his cage.

Merry Christmas Eve

www.marriedtothesea.com

Crankin' around

Reason why I am cranky:

- Frisky spent all morning throwing shit around his cage. He has had a bad attitude lately that not even carrots and broccoli can appease.
- That has now been replaced by someone outside cutting through steel for some god awful reason.
- My work server keeps cutting out and makes tedious and repetitive jobs even more tedious and repetitve.
- I worked the demo station last night which subjected me to horrors I can't bear to discuss. I also had to tell two grown women to calm their asses down, everyone was going to get all the chocolate truffles they needed. It would be a Christmas miracle.
- I have tasked myself with knitting a scarf that is due to be wrapped by Monday morning. This was a bad decision, and is causing a minor panic attack.

I'm making some coffee, and hoping that soothes my bruised soul. Or will jump start that minor panic attack into something worth talking about.

As for the polling, thanks for all your judginess. I'll tell you what I've learned about myself later.

new friend

We have a new visitor, and it is small and furry. Two nights ago, Don saw a mouse/rat scurry across our living room and duck into the closet. NOT COOL. We haven't seen him since, but Don heard scrabbling in the walls last night. Here is my artist's rendering of what it might possibly look like:


Of course, this all might be some high-grade hallucination brought on by the stress of semester ending paper writing, but I'm willing to trust him. I'm pretty freaked out, we had a rat problem in my house growing up and I know that those little jerks do not leave without a fight.

Of course, I'm also worried about the Frisky angle. His cage is extremely vulnerable. I'm hoping his instinct will kick in, and he'll pile drive the first intruder who tries to raid the carrot stash. Either that, or we might have to get a cat. Preferably one that's a little self sufficent.



That's what I'm talking about. Feed your own damn self.

Don't forget to participate in the democratic process and tell me what a loser I am! Explanations for polling below.

Judge me

Fun interactive blog time!! I created a couple of polls on the left hand side of the blog in order to get a broader insight on two recent issues that have been troubling my soul. Here's the backstory:

Poll 1: I was riding the subway to work yesterday when a girl got on who had the most amazing hat. One of the fun things for me living in a colder climate is the amount of knitted things I see and getting inspired to make my own versions. In this case, I had never seen a hat like this, and I actually put down the hat I was working on and thought about how I would construct a similar hat. But I hadn't seen it fully, and she was sitting on the opposite end of the car. I needed a more thorough inspection. But what if she got off on a different stop? How far was I willing to take this? I decided that if she did get off before me, I would surreptiously take a camera phone picture and study that. Luckily, we had the same stop, and she even went into Trader Joe's. I followed behind her probably too close for comfort, and then scribbled down some notes before I started work. Weird? A little too knit obsessed? Voice your judgement to the right.

Poll 2: We listen to satellite radio at work, and usually they're playing a not half-bad 90's rock station. This station has Counting Crow's first album in rotation, and I realized I know all the words to all the songs. Unbidden they spring from the dark recesses of my tortured tweens. I now have a twinge of embarrassment when I mouth the words to "Anna Begins" while serving mushroom turnover samples. Should I get over it, or continue doing penance for the sins of my youth?

Vote early and vote often!

Find the Frisky

I'm going to bed now. But good news San Diego! I'm going to be making a visit sometime soon for work! And play! And Ray's black bean burritos! (Oh my god I want to mow down one of those SO BAD right now.)

Hanging out at the old DD

AWESOME THING OVERHEARD AT DUNKIN DONUTS:
"So, what's this all got to do with Jo-jo???" (insert menacing tone.)

DEFLATING FOLLOW-UP:
"Well, how about Chuck E. Cheese? My kids go nuts for that." (Jo-jo is a 5 year old? Damn it.)

SEMI-REDEEMING RETURN TO AWESOME:
"Well, be sure to say hi to your mother for me."

DRAMATIC EXIT AND RETURN TO FORM:
"Yeah, just a minute, I'm gonna smoke this cigar." (Exit Dunkin Donuts with said cigar clenched in teeth.)

Thanksgiving goodness and badness

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Mine was overall excellent, look at what I got to eat!


I had to hurry, otherwise Hooboughwhoo was about to mow down on my butternut squash galette (served on a platter of the purest gold). I beat him to it though.

Here's a life lesson- Trying to peel a butternut squash can be dangerous if you are an idiot. If so, you will find a way to instead peel your finger, and your boyfriend will have to save Thanksgiving by taking over all kitchen duties involving sharp objects, and then take you to emergency room. After eating of course, we have our priorities straight.



Pop quiz: Am I sad because of my bloody finger, or because my giant goblet of wine is currently empty?

Goes to show you

Of course the day after I sing the praises of Brookline Trader Joe customers and their self bagging ways, I get a full day of NON bagging customers with heavy-ass turkeys. It is always true that saying (or blogging) something good will cause the equal and opposite event to happen almost immediately. Just to make you feel like an asshole, I guess.

I've been reading this book called The Historian, and I think I'm going to give up. It's about scholars who become obsessed with Dracula, who's still alive, or something. There are people dying or being bitten left and right, and I am so bored I fall asleep everytime I pick it up. I'm also a little embarrassed about reading a vampire book. Books about wizards? Totally cool. Vampires? No magic powers, just some sort of innate sexiness and good fashion sense. Totally superficial.

Anyone have any good book suggestions? I'm really not that picky, just no more vampires. If I get some good ones, I'll post some of my favorite current reads. That's IF, see? Look at me, getting off on being withholding.

GROSS

I made a crap-ton of tofu and brown rice salad today so I could eat healthy all week at work. However, the tofu looks pink. So it looks like I am eating undercooked chicken chunks and brown rice. And I will be for days.

I've been working at Trader Joe's which is alright. The store is like the 5th busiest store in the chain, and people keep asking me if I'm doing alright, like my mind is going to be blown by Brookline Trader Joe's on a Sunday afternoon. However, the store is huge, unlike my old store, which would get crammed UP with people. I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but things were worse back in my days. Also, almost every customer bags their own groceries, which is so amazing that the first few days I wanted to kiss every single customer full on the mouth. I've dialed back the gratefulness, but it is SO much better than angry La Mesa families with not cute kids. (In fact, almost no kids at all! It's a miracle!) On the whole, people are pretty self sufficent about the shopping, and if we don't have what they came in looking for, their world does not shatter. Still, it's a big time commitment, which I already have in my other job, so I might not be in it for the long run. Also, I am apparently unable to adequately figure out their system of running the store. Every time I think I get it, I'm doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. I'm pretty sure the full timers think I do not have what it takes. They might be right. I just don't want to try that hard for a job where I can't sit in my own home all day. I'm giving myself until January to decide whether or not to stay.

Wow, that's a lot of talk about a boring job and gross looking food. Let's end this with some knitting!

Here's the story behind this classy little neckwarmer. Awhile back, I made a scarf. I pretty much made every bad decision I could, with wrong yarn, wrong needle size, wrong skill level for the pattern style, and wrong amount of patience with trying to learn a new skill. I was trying to kitchener stitch, but I got frustrated and just wanted this scarf out of my life, so instead of invisible seaming, it looked like Frankenstein's neck. It was also too wide and looked funny when I wore it, so I didn't. However, I realized that a good portion of the middle lace section looked pretty good, and it was a shame to waste it when it could be keeping me warm. So I cut out the good part, unraveled and re-knit some edgings, and added a button. Ta-da! It is not so blurry in real life. You will have to trust me on that.


And I need it, because it is cold out here. Last week it's been in the 20s to 30s. I'm usually getting off work at midnight, and it is pretty craptacularly cold. Here's a picture of me getting ready to brave the elements. I dimmed the coloring to heighten the chill factor for you. I may take bad pictures, but I can fuss with them to look slightly less bad!

Doublepost Tuesday!

I like to knit. It can be an pricey habit though. Once you graduate from Micheal's acrylic yarn, you can end up spending lots more than you'd think to make a sweater. One of my personal knitting tragedies is a failed vestish shruggy thing that I spent sixty dollars on. This is what I should look like. It doesn't look like that on me. No matter how hard I try. So it sits in my closet, bumming me out.
Point is, nice yarn is expensive. But some inventive knitters out there figured out that you can buy nice yarn in sweater form in thrift stores, and then unravel them and reuse the yarn. Since I love thrift store shopping, and had ample free time, I decided to give this a shot. I read a couple of online how to's, and turned this:


Into this:


One thing I failed to realized until after I started unraveling: This yarn is tiny. And since it's a silk angora blend, it's very fluffy. I unraveled while I worked/watched hulu, and my computer was covered in fur. Overall result? Lots of lovely soft warm yarn that likely would have cost me over sixty bucks for four bucks, a couple of night of work, and a fine coating of angora fur blanketing my esophagus and stomach lining. Keepin me warm from the inside out.

Since white isn't really a color I wear a lot of, I'm taking this diy-ness to the next level- yarn dyeing. But I'm going to need some help...



OH YEAH!

Did you know you can whip up a batch of kool aid, dunk some yarn in, and the yarn will remain that color permanently? Just like your insides!

More pictures of my attempts at creating beautiful things on the cheap to follow!

Who's excited about Thanksgiving! I am! I love cooking, eating, drinking, and moving as little as possible. Thanksgiving + me = 4eva! I'm going to make this and this and this and this and this!

Ilan asked for examples of my California-esque speech patterns in a previous blog comment. (By the way, leaving comments on my blog is a sure-fire way to my cherished friends forever list. I stalk my blog for new ones all the time.)
I think a lot of that feeling was a mixture of my own paranoia and being around people I don't know very well. I also use the words "like" and "really" more than I had noticed before. I have met the stereotype and it is me. Now that I've started working at Trader Joe's, I have met tons of people, and my feeling of the bias has faded. I can only think of one clear example now- I was at a knitting group, and a girl was telling a story about watching a hawk kill a mouse by throwing it against a dumpster and then eating it. My reaction was a louder-than-I-expected "Hawks are so horrible!" which caused an embarrassed silence and one woman started to explain the circle of life to me. I then tried to explain that my reaction comes from more of a rabbitcentric, anti-bird of prey world view than a hippy-dippy, all-you-need-is-love-and-tofu, west coast vibe, but I don't think they got it.
Maybe now that I will be up close and personal with the food-buying Boston public, I will have a broader view.



Seriously, though. Look at those eyes. Hawks suck.

NO WAY

Most of you know that I have a robot issue. It is not a phobia, since one day robots are going to attempt a take over and since I will avoid contact when possible and smash those with troubling tendencies, I'll be in better shape than those who find them "neat". This all stems from watching AI and seeing a future I do not like. Also, they are fucking creepy. Check this model out and tell me that you want that taking care of you in your old age. AWFUL. The video where it pushes himself up from the floor and it's arms turn around is going to give me nightmares.

Married to the Sea comic

marriedtothesea.com

Good news for people who love good news that pertains to other people.

Things seem to be lining up for old Hagerty right now. First, I was offered an extension of my current employment at Jack in the Box. I will be doing my thang, wearing my sweatpants, for the next year. To supplement that and in the interest of leaving the house and making actual conversations with people, I also got a job at a Trader Joe's. Right before the big holiday rush, due to my impeccable timing. I hope my tired old body and mind doesn't betray me.

Also, pretty good presidental news, no? After the big depression of the 2004 election, this is a nice feeling. Don and I went to see The Decemberists on Thursday, and they could not get over the election either. They brought out an Obama life size cut-out and it was crowd surfed through the theatre with more respect than a cardboard cut-out is normally afforded. I think it made it through the show intact. They ended with Sons and Daughters, inviting people to come on stage with them and sing. It was lovely. I forgave their exclusion of Mariner's Revenge.
When Obama went to Harvard, he lived a few blocks from where I'm living now. It's hard to imagine without seeing my neighborhood, Winter Hill, but it's not what you would expect of an up and coming Harvard law student. Winter Hill historians are thrilled that this is not the only thing that's historically important around here. Next time I leave the house with the camera, I'll take a picture so you can see the bizarrity(?) of it.

I've been using this natural face cleaning method, and so far it has been pretty nice. I have somewhat oily skin now, thanks to Jack in the Box and their giant vats of fryers I slaved over, and this is helping get that in line, which seemed strange since you basically coat your face in oil. It feels really nice to deep clean your face twice a week or so. It's also much cheaper than store bought face "systems" I've used before. Rochelle's helpful home remedy of the day. Next week, I tell you how to unclog your drains using just vinegar and baking soda!!!!!!!Q!!!

Really though, I can, if anyone's interested.

I know this is a day late, but don't these pumpkins look so happy? This is from a pumpkin festival I went to a couple of weekends ago. There were over 10,000 of these guys covering a city plaza, trying to set pumpkin records. (Photo is by Tracey, a fellow Boston transplant/knitter.)
I'm going to try and have a better week than the cat vomit-y one I had last week. I think the problem is that I'm having some major homesickness. It's not that I want to move back to San Diego, I just want to feel like I'm home. And Boston is not there yet. Everything is different and weird, and it's not so exciting anymore. The intial culture shock is one thing (accents! pizza on every corner! Harvard students on the T!), but the subtle effects are starting to sink in, and I feel like being from the West Coast is seen as a liability by some people (It has also been said to be a liability in one case, but I'm not going to go into that on here). I do and say Californian things all the time, and it's weird to see it contrasted so dramatically with my enviroment. I hear my (unnoticed before) accent, and I cringe. I wish I could just buck up and throw my West Coast weight around with some self confidence. "Here it is. Like, what the hell?". BOOM.

I do want to point out that Boston accents make overheard bus conversations better. Also improved: radio dedications, customer service calls, and WHAT THE HELLs directed at errant drivers/pedestrians. This might eventually get old, but I hope not.

Don and I are going to see The Decemberists next week! Yay!

Big day for Frisk coming up. Our apartment building is being fumigated, and Tracey kindly offered her place as an escape from the fumes for us. Frisky is going to take public transportation for the first time! I'm imagining a trail of molting fur and bunny poos all the way down the Orange Line.

Hey guys

I drive Don to the T every Thursday. Today, as I was getting out of the car by our apartment, a cat jumped over the fence and then dry heaved and vomited something bright yellow right in front of me. After that was all over, it gave me a look of complete satisfaction.

A perfect metaphor for my week.

Here's something that make me cry-laugh everytime I watch:

Tuesday? More like Blehday.

I have no motivation to do anything reasonably productive today. The last two nights I have slept the sleep of the incredibly exhausted, and I'm not sure why. My lifestyle of working on a laptop, knitting and watching Dr. Who is overwhelming me? Frisky is infecting me with Extreme Rabbit Sloth?

P.S. If anyone at work is reading this, just kidding! I'm totally working! Haha!

Weird things happening in the household:

1. Our television did not make the journey across the country unscathed. When you turn it on, the picture is only a thin line across the middle of the screen, and you have to repeatedly hit it (sometimes with a hammer, hence the giant hole that it now has), and wait for a half hour for it to start working. It's an awful lot of work for a 13" experience. However, if you talk loudly about how you saw some good tvs down at Target on sale, and maybe all THIS one is good for is sitting out by the curb in the pouring rain, the picture comes on almost immediately. EVERYTIME. Our tv has become sentient. And hates us. Only threat of abandoment to the trash heap will entice it to work.

2. Frisky has picked up an annoying habit of trying to chew through the wire in one part of the bottom of the cage, which he does everyday for hours until I start yelling, and then feed him a piece of banana and send him into a Banana Stupor so he'll stop his Sisphyean task. There is NOTHING under the wire, not even a stray piece of hay. Another bewildering insight into the Rabbit Mind.

We go outside!

Yesterday was a lovely fall day, so Don and I left the house and went exploring. We started at Davis Square where the Honk! Festival was going on, which was amazing. We caught this band, playing "Push it". Awesome.



We then went to MIT, for grad school library things. Now previously, we walked around Harvard, which definitely has that imposing Statues-and-Clock-Towers-and-Ivy-Covered-Buildings-from-the-1700's-Where-Things-Happened-That-You-Cannot-Even-Comprehend feeling down pat. I guess MIT was feeling the architectural heat, and so they came up with this:



The whole thing looks like Toon Town. It's disturbing and weird, and I feel like everyone involved is very embarrassed now, since the future has come, and buildings are still not poking out at odd angles.

The best thing about riding the Red Line subway is that when you cross from Cambridge to the city, you go across the Charles River, which on a nice day looks like this:

It makes you want to get a boat/yacht and sail around aimlessly sipping Chardonnay. And um, indulge in other rich people stereotypes.

(By the way, Don took all these pictures. Which is why they are beautiful, and you don't get a headache from looking at them.)


P.S. I take by the lack of comments that no one has watched the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" clip. I urge you to reconsider. My taste might be somewhat suspect otherwise, but I know funny television.

This Old Shaky Apartment

Here are the apartment pictures! Now feel like you are in our exciting new Boston apartment, perhaps feeling a wee bit tipsy, so everything is slightly blurry!*
Okay, steady now, maybe lay off the Old New England Egg Nog** for a bit. Get a glass of water and enjoy:


Here is the bar, complete with Whoobhoughoouu. We originally had our bikes down in the basement, but apparently this is where you put things you want thrown into the dumpsters, which happened while they were painting the basement. Quite a lot of effort from a landlord who seems to spend all his other time ignoring my phone messages.

Here's the bedroom, which looks really sparse and sad in the first picture. I added in some flair, but it's so dark and grim looking, you can't really tell.




Here is the desk, where I spend all my time, talking to Frisky. This is also where Don and I have Facebook Scrabble showdowns, which are really intense if you are actually facing each other. The sad truth is, I spend most of my facebook time playing scrabble with someone in the same room.


Here is our little living room corner. That couch is a fold-out, hint hint, please come visit me for the love of God, hint hint.

There is is! No kitchen pictures because the light burned out and we're not sure how to replace it, and the landlord has not returned my call. But I LOVE the kitchen. I can throw down pizza dough on the counter without it sticking, there's room to cut vegtables up without balancing precariously on the side of the sink, and the microwave makes perfect popcorn just by pushing the popcorn button. I know most microwaves have this button, but this one is the real deal. My life is taken on such a small scale lately that this is exciting enough to blog about. Be glad you don't live with me, and had to listen to me blurble on about the wonder of Christmas Tree Shops today.

* I'm sorry, I'm just incapable of taking a clear shot on our camera. You have to push down really hard on the shutter, and I don't have the proper coordination to do that and hold the camera straight.

** Don bought a bottle of this, and I am afraid. Two kinds of whiskey, rum, and brandy, all mixed up with HOMOGENIZED milk products. I'll stick with tea-

BREAKING FRISKY UPDATE!

One of the side effects of working from home is that I have become a full-blown expert on the behavior of the common house rabbit. Such "common" behavior as naps, eating kibble, chewing cardboard, and then taking another nap after 30 seconds of strenuous activity are watched with an avid interest for hours at a time.

Today, however, Frisky had bigger things in mind. He's grown out of the cage I've lovingly hand crafted for him, and he's moving into the living room.



As you can see, he's started with all his most precious belongings. His kibble bowl, favorite cardboard box for ripping and throwing, and the litter box. The bear-looking toy has been out there for the past few days, presumably scouting out the location and reporting back on the presence of such terrors as birds of prey, wild foxes, and humans looking to pick you up and love and pet you.



That's all the progress made so far today, but Rome wasn't built in a day. A lot of naps were needed to build up the strength necessary to make this kind of achievement happen. Five naps total, if I'm keeping track correctly..

Check back for new developments in this case.

No apartment pics..

Sorry rabid Rochelle-apartment fans, I've just been in kind of a weird mood this past week or so. Nothing too mad, sad, or bad, just kind of off. It's the kind of mood where you run out of face soap and it doesn't ever occur to you to buy more; except when you're washing your face with shampoo. I'm sure I'll snap out of it, it's October, a good month, and it's becoming all fall-y with changing leaves and cold weather. Cold weather being 50 degress, which requires coats and hats and scarves for Don and I, and sweatshirts for the rest of Boston. At this rate we are going to have duct-tape small furry animals to us by Febuary. At last Frisky will earn his keep.

Other than face-shampooing, I've been watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on hulu.com. Every single episode. It's like Seinfeld, only with extreme alcohol and drug abuse, and Danny DeVito. I've been exhorting some of you individually to watch it, so here's the collective exhortation: Watch it, and laugh. Let me bring laughter to your life!





Last but not least, here's a picture I took while wandering around Cambridge. I finally got it, two hours later while riding the subway home. That might be a bit of a mixed message.

lazy Sunday

We're slowly getting the house in order, slowly because Don is busy and I'm lazy. I will post all kinds of pics once it's done, here's some bits and pieces:



I made this cage for Frisky when we moved in. Despite the fact that's it a bigger, more luxurious living space then he had been acustomed to, he didn't want anything to do with it for the first couple of days. Now, he won't leave. Hardwood floors and rabbit feet don't mix.


That look of love has more to do with the close proximity of kibble than the close proximity of me. I've learned to deal with this daily insult in my life.


Here's our modern kitchen with my kitschy thrift store appliances! I love our high tech stove top, it boils water in 0.5 seconds. This picture was taken pre-stuff, so it's likely I'm making rice salad, a dinner we ate a lot at the time. Next time you cook rice, try adding salad dressing instead of oil, it is really delicious.


I just set this area up yesterday with a nightstand I got from the Salvation Army, and I'm so excited to have my own hair and make-up vanity area. It makes me feel like:





You think a mutt can strut like a showgirl? No girl, ya need A PRO!






Behold, my knitting creations!



I named these "cross-country armwarmers" because it took me moving across the country to finish them, and they look like windy roads in New York state that take FOREVER to drive through. I'm excited about these because this is the first pattern I created that worked in real knitting life.


I made this beret hat awhile ago, for the hard winter ahead. Easy and cute.



Is that skull wearing the same hat as me???

Quit being such a wet slanket

I found this today, and I think I'm in love:


A sleeved blanket? No wonder this is causing such a sensation around people who never leave their home. Look how much more fun everyone is having with a slanket on! Otherwise, dulls-ville with some silly wigs. I liked the red one, but after I read the description, I changed my mind:

"This color is so hard to describe with words. It's a feeling, a vibration, a longing. It's rich and vibrant. It draws you in and drapes you with comfort and color. If passion was a Slanket, it would be this color...maybe passion IS a Slanket. Slide into one and find out."

GROSS. Though the Slanket does seem to inspire passion:

Slanket Proposal
My boyfriend and I have been talking about getting Slankets for weeks, but hadn't yet bought them. I came home on Saturday, and he said he got us early Valentine's Day presents- Slankets! He had his on, and gave me mine. Turns out, he had had his mother sew pockets into mine, and inside the pocket was an engagement ring... He asked, and I said yes! Proposal via Slanket... what could be better?!
Jessica
Boston

What could be better?! Though the fact that the Slanket doesn't come ready-made with pockets worries me. Where do you keep snacks? You'd have to get UP, go GET them, and THEN sit back down. I thought this was the Scrubby Loser's blANKET.

Margot Marie

Hey everyone, I'm sorry the promised pictures haven't been added yet. I've been with my family in Northern California for the past week. As some of you may know, my grandma has been battling a very bad form of cancer for the past two years, and she passed away last week. We were very close, and I'm grateful I made it out to see her and say goodbye.

Here's a picture of my Grandma and I at my sister's wedding in July, where I look borderline inappropriate in my bridesmaid dress:



Be sure to raise your glasses tonight to a funny, lovely lady.

Stuff n' Thangs

Huzzah! The stuff has arrived! I wondered if I would feel overwhelmed once I got all my belongings back in my possession, and that I would gain a new realization of the transient nature of self and identity based on what you "own". But that's not what happened. I feel more secure and like myself having all my things around. Important but not surprising insight: first boxes I opened where kitchen and knitting related. Surprising thing is that I have no interest in any of the many clothes and shoes I deemed neccessary to bring. But that might have to do with the fact that it's so humid anything you wear is instantly gross, and I can wear the same thing every day with no one, except maybe Frisky, judging me.

Frisky is also a fan of stuff, since now there are more hiding places for him, so he can wander around and chew wires in safety. However, he first threw out a decoy ferret-shaped toy to see if there were any owls or hawks flying through the apartment, looking for a small furry animal meal. Clever boy.

P.S. Tropical storms are AWESOME.

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Our stuff should finally be back in our grubby little hands come Monday. I only hope that doesn't coincide with tropical storm Hanna, which is headed up north. Our first tropical storm! I'm sure that exclamation point only proves what a naive Southern Californian I am. Nothing about tropical storms or hurricanes is ! except HOLY HELL IT'S COMING!!!!!!

i work from the home.

As most of you know, my job in San Diego was lovely enough to keep me on for the next couple of months, so I've been working from home since we arrived in Boston. I'm going to give it to you straight- it is awesome. Don't shower? Who cares! Certainly not you or your chair.

However, there is only so much time you can spend at home alone before you start saying your thoughts out loud to ease the silence, and you realize what a boring, boring person you are:

"Why does my internet keep cutting out???!!! Oh, I fixed it."

"How's it going, Frisky?"

"I'm hungry."

"I wonder if the mail's come yet." (I have become obsessed with the mail since we got here. I check at least 3 times a day.)

"Are those Cheerio or Fig Newton crumbs on my shirt?" (Answer- little of both.)

"What's up, Frisk?" He gets asked that question at least 20 times a day. And it always startles him.

".... staring at the computer screen while mouth breathing"

So working from home is great for letting personal hygiene slide, but be prepared to stare into your deep, deep, boring abyss.

i can haz beret?

Tonight I found a knitting designer who makes hats for cats:

This cat knows how good he looks.

One more from the road.

Here's a picture I forgot to include with the trip photos. We saw this truck on the way into Massachusetts. From far away I thought it was a magician and I was really excited.

Can't you see it? All the magic? What would a magician truck hold? Top hats? Trick rings? The Aztec Tomb?

Reality was that is was for Price Chopper food store, which has shrimp falling down from the ceiling, which makes people really happy:

It's kind of hard to see, but the entire side of the truck is covered with giant people insanely smiling and sticking food in their face. Either Price Chopper is overselling a tad, or "buying food from Price Chopper" is east coast code for methamphetamine.

Sometimes moving across the country sucks.

The last couple of days have been frustrating. To start, our stuff has still not arrived and the due date seems to stretch even father into the distant, tantalizing future each day. This morning Don and I discussed building furniture out of the one overabundant renewable resource we have at hand: bunny poos. Enviromentally friendly material! I guess it's a learning experience. Here's what I've learned that I need with me at all times, not packed away in a storage facility in Arizona.

1. COFFEEMAKER!! We bought instant coffee, so our survival is assured, but the first few days were brutal. Dunkin Donuts is a far walk.

2. Ummm, actually that's it so far. A bed would be nice though. We went yard sale shopping for furniture and other neccessities, and we bought a book, some picture frames, a wine cozy, and a mandolin. We obviously need a better handle on the idea of neccessites. Wine doesn't even require a cozy.

3. I have been irrationally missing are all my knitting supplies. Even though I have stuff to knit with, it doesn't seem to matter, I NEED it ALL. Just in case.

In addition, I had someone steal a printer sent to me from work from the mail area in my building. To try and find this package, I made the mistake of calling the post office. Did you know that FedEx and the post office aren't the same thing? And therefore, nothing FedEx delivers will ever, EVER be at the post office? I thought this had happened before, but according to Wally the postman, I was WRONG! Thanks Wally! Your condescending tone helped me figure it all out!

Other than that, it's just general hardships and sad sack stories. Everything in Boston is similar to San Diego, but weird, somewhat rude at times, and closes earlier than you would think. I will adjust, but not sleeping 2 inches from the floor would be helpful.

All Gone to look for America

When I first saw exactly where Boston was on the map, I was a little shocked at how far away it actually was. I had always placed it more Virginia-ish in my mind. But no, it's up there. We couldn't have picked a farther place if we tried. Here's some pictures of our cross country spree with Frisky in tow. Don has lots more on facebook and myspace. If you really want to see our entire trip, just stare at each picture for approximately 3 hours.


First, we took a last dip in the Pacific, at Ocean Beach.


Arizona: Arizona is actually a beautiful state, once you get as far away from Phoenix as possible.

New Mexico: I don't know much about New Mexico- we drove through it at night after a late start through Arizona. Here's all I know- for some irrational reason, there is nothing to eat open at 11 at night. We ended up at some hideous place called Country Fare, which managed to make grilled cheese inedible. I can therefore safely say: New Mexico sucks.

Texas: We drove all through the night and got to Amarillo by morning. (Did you know "Amarillo by Morning" is a song? I do, Don was singing it as we drove, to Amarillo, to get there by morning.) We actually spent the majority of our non driving time in Texas. Amarillo has an awesome roadside attraction off the 40, the Cadillac Ranch:

Cadillacs stuck in the dirt, in front of a field, spraypainted with people's names. Texas. Everyone brough spray paint and painted their names:

Even Paul McCartney!

Don't I look happy here? That's because this is the only time during the trip when I wasn't covered in rabbit fur. Speaking of furballs, how did Frisky like traveling? Not at all. Rabbits don't understand cars and why they're moving and how it's not a giant predator, and they don't listen to reason. Though overall he wasn't too freaked out, we needed to have safety breaks:

Here is Frisky in my lap, covered in a towel and sitting in an aluminum roasting pan (for accident protection for my legs). He loved it. These were his favorite parts of the trip. Otherwise he was in a cage in the back seat, shooting us looks of "you have got to be f-in kidding me" whenever we told him that everything was going to be all right.

Largest cross in the United States on the side of the road, or something like that. Texas.

Oklahoma: After all the cadillacs and crosses and Paul McCartneys of Texas, Oklahoma was boring. Really boring. And we drove through it for a long time. They also have the most confusing toll roads where you have to pay to get off and on, and we ran out of cash and I had to write a 3 dollar check to a toll booth operator. Also, one of the tollbooths freaked Frisky out and he tried to jam himself in the safety zone between the door and the passenger seat. Only one of them though. Maybe the toll booth operator was a hawk in disguise or something. So Lessons From the Road #2- Avoid Oklahoma toll booths, humans and rabbits alike. (Lesson #1- Don't eat at the Country Fare Restaurant in New Mexico.)

Here's some buffalos ignoring us in Oklahoma.

Missouri, St. Louis: Missouri was less boring than OK, but not by much. We stopped in St. Louis for the night, but nothing interesting happened. I drove through ~3/4 of Missouri and through St. Louis, and that is all the driving I did the entire trip. Don is a champ.

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio: These states all look the same. The only exciting part was when we crossed a state line. Then we would cheer and yell "State #7!!! yeah!!" Then lapse into silence again.

Pennsylvannia: Another night time state. It also went by really quickly, and we were in New York! Which is right next to Massachusetts! We were almost there! New York is really pretty, with lots of farm land and trees:

It also is a lot longer of a state than you would think. Seven hours of trees and farms when you want to see cities and apartments is hard to take. (Lesson #3- New York is HUGE. The map is lying to you. ) But then we were in Massachusetts! And then, Boston!
We made it! The ending was pretty rough, because we had to pick up the key to our place, and the broker office was closing in an hour, when we were 30 miles outside the city. So Don had to book it while I gave him directions which I was only half sure about. Don ended up having to navigate his first traffic circle, which is not something to attempt under stressful circumstances. We ended up making it with 1o minutes to spare. Boston drivers are totally nuts. There are no rules, no lane lines, no MERCY.

After we got the the place, we went to a nearby pizza place for dinner. It was straight up Boston. Red Sox game on, delivery drivers talking shit to each other, "Can I help you?" said in a semi-threatening tone. Welcome to our new home.

Toes in the Atlantic Ocean, Carlson Beach. (We told some natives we met that we went to this beach, and their eyes got real wide, and said "You didn't go swimming, did you?" No, no we didn't.)

Next post I'll add pictures of our current living situation. Here's a hint: Sparse.