Here And There

05/19/2006

It's Like Partying Like You Are Single But Not!

Woo-hoo! Man's out of the house doing manly things in mexico. So I'm off to do girly stuff in Sebastapol!

First off pre-party tonight for Herdeljezi Festival performers. Then I'm staying the night at a friend's friend's and in the morning I'll hit Tribal Fest 6 then over to the Herdeljezi Festival to perform. And probably stay there until the after party.

I'm pretty excited. It's an adventure all on my own (although I'll know plenty of people once I get there). I am obviously interested in the Roma Festival, but I'm also really looking forward to Tribal Fest, even though I don't do tribal dance. ATS that is. I'm actually not that into the dance form. To me, it is really repetitive and uncreative (now). And a lot of people do it to wear the costumes and look like Rachel Brice, but can't dance so are just up there bastardizing the whole thing. (harshshshsh) But I like the philosophy a lot, and of course the costume (tribal, not gothic or fusion) kicks ass. I'd take that over a turkish beaded monstrosity any day. And my theory is there has to be a middle ground. There has to be a fusion of dance that is interesting to watch, earthy and beautiful and a costume that is not such a direct copycat of EVERYONE ELSE yet not some horrendous color, covered with tacky stuff like a lot of Egyptian or Turkish costumes. There has to be, and so my search begins.

It will maybe suck to drive an hour each way by myself.. but maybe not, I've got my iPod and when you are rarely alone it can be surprising how pleasurable you find it. I don't know if I'll be able to stop feeling guilty about the gas guzzelage though. And it will be fun to hang with all the Lunatique girls, and I wont be sitting home feeling lonely without C. It's great.

However, packing for such events is not. Packing goes one way in my house:

1. Go to closet, extract bag or suitcase.
2. Set on bag on bed.
3. Turn for one MILLISECOND to get something to pack
4. Turn back and find this:


It never fails. And if you can't tell by the E-VILLE look in her eyes, she is prepared to shred anything that comes within a paws reach of that bag. It's unnerving.



I don't blame her for being pissed I will leave her for a night by herself. She would never do such an awful thing to me.

Anyway, I'm packed (with only a few scratches on my arm to prove it) and am leaving work at noon. Yay!!!

17:39 Posted in Bellydanc'n , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

12/19/2005

Things get finished. Things get put off till later.

This weekend was nicely stormy.

I didn't get everything done that I needed to. So I'm cutting my losses. Which are - the fuzzy feet for christa. I gave her a necklace from the craft fair that she loved and my homemade perfume and will finish the fuzzies while sitting on my a** in Alaska drinking cocoa. Also the necklace I was making for a certain someone. I will give her perfume and then the necklace on her birthday.

I'm also skipping bellydance again this wed. Which really sucks. But has to happen.

I worked Saturday and came home about 2pm. I cleaned the house and carved my lino bookplate for Sally. Made meatloaf and opened presents from my Mom and Dad. They gave us one of those high density foam mattress covers. They are really expensive and really comfortable but we are afraid of the fumes. I'm not sure what to do.

But we got lots of fun nice stuff. My mom is so sweet. She gave the kitties this "Kitty Body Pillow" with catnip that the went crazy over for about 15 minutes.

Also I got a "Knitting Pattern a Day" Calendar. There looks like some pretty good patterns in there.

On sunday I took a bath and watched the rain and really awesome lightning. Some friends came over and I made my ham from my parents. It was soooo good. I'm sold on buying meat from them from now on.

This week is going to be insane. 3 more days till we leave!!!!

23:10 Posted in Blog , Eat'n , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

12/07/2005

Crack open that bottle of Vanilla Ketel One...

I'm proud and histerically giddy to announce:

I think my cat has been cured of the innapropriate peeing.

Last night we let the cats come in the bedroom AND NOTHING!! Just sleepy, warm purr machines trying to suffocate me with their fuzzy belly. No wet spots, no waking up to a multi-colored devil scratching to cover something up by your feet.....

I'm ectatic, you have no idea. (A). because I cannot describe the horror that is cat pee on your bed or couch and (B). I really hate keeping the kitties out of the bedroom at night.

We graduated her from confinement to the bathroom, then confinement to the bathroom/kitchen/hallway, to letting her in the living room with tin foil on all the furniture (no joke), to removal of tinfoil, to now: full access. Also, changed her litter from my beloved Feline Pine (particles too big) to eventually Nature's Miracle Clumping litter, spent the college fund of my unborn child on Feliway and Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaner, got her new, big, open litterboxes AND at the advice of one Crazy Aunt Purl, I ditched the Booda Dome which I loved. (Apparently lots of cats find Booda Domes smelly and clausterphobic - so save your $19.95 and get yourself something big, something ugly and more likely to keep the piss off your Lazy-Boy.) and I SCOOP THEM ALL TWICE A GODDAMNED DAY. Mostly on my own because apparently boys are allergic to cat litter.. who knew.

Of all those solutions, I have no idea which one did the trick but I'm not going to stop doing any one of them - maybe she just finally got used to us and her stress level went down.

IF the trick is done.... we'll see after we get back from Alaska for Christmas..... nothing like leaving your cat with a bandmate for 10 days to make her pee on your shit.

This was all very traumatic for me... Olive would eat dog poop before she would pee where she wasn't supposed to... before we fostered my boss's cats for a year we even had her trained to pee in the toilet - so I was not prepared for this. There. is. nothing. worse. than. cat. pee.

Nothing.

And I've just had a horrible feeling that all this celebrating will jinx me and I will get home to a flat that smells like a toxic waste site. Plus I don't know why I'm so excited she can sleep in the bedroom. I still can't even sleep in the bedroom... *achoo!* Oh, well I'll still have that vodka tonic please....

"Feed me sardines or I will pee on your comfy chair..."....

20:15 Posted in Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this

10/20/2005

Gettin' dirty on the back porch.

So I did a little much needed gardening last weekend. I pulled out the tomatoes and peppers that were totally done and the flowers that I'd killed from lack of watering. (It's not my fault! You know, I was out of the country and really busy and stuff and THIS time I won't let that happen)

I planted more flowers and I replaced the tomatoes and peppers with collards and swiss chard. The weather still seems warm enough for them. I know you are supposed to have lettuce in the fall and hopefully I will but really it seems like its not cool enough yet for that. It's all a learning experience (scince I don't know what the goddess I'm doing) so we will see.

This is the west side window box I finally planted. I still need big, strong C to put it up for me.

19:55 Posted in Garden'n , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

10/12/2005

The rare and unusual: finished product.

Yep, I'm posting purely to prove that I don't just talk about making things I actually MAKE things. (More truthfully, sometimes I do, mostly I just talk about it, and think about it, and by supplies for it. But everyonce in a while there is that rare and beautiful creature: a finished craft)

Exibit A.

A skirt I made out of some strange fitting Levi's cords. Actually they were just too big. But a great color etc. so this was the perfect solution. I followed this this tute.

Exibit B. The Knit Bead Bracelet Which also works great as a kitty collar:

04:20 Posted in Mak'n stuff , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this

08/24/2005

Camille 3, Yarn 0. The real kitten wars.

Ahhh. Kittens.

I woke up this morning to this:

This stretches through three rooms. Thats all I really need to say.

I didn't realize how good I had it with Olive knitting-wise. If I were actively knitting sometimes she would bat at my needles and I've posted before about her taste for Lamb's Pride. But other than that she left it alone. Camille on the other hand may not be long for this world if she doesn't BACK OFF MY WOOL! She's unravelled 3 skeins of Kureyon. And when I push her away she jumps back up over and over and over until I boil over and insist that C keep her in the room with him. She's horrible that way so I wasn't surprised to discover this. But annoyed. Very annoyed.

But despite constant interference by the kitty resistance I've been able to make some progress on my knitting. Target has some really cute school supplies (I love school supply season don't you?) and I bought this binder for my knitting patterns and notes and such.






I wish I had before and after pictures of my stash because I bet you think that looks messy don't you? Girlfriend, you don't know messy. This is 100 times better.
Anyway I also started the Hurry up Spring arm warmers for Renee. Knit a little more on the tiny scarf for myself I'm making out of leftover Baby Alpaca Grande. (Oh the softness)But not so much progress on NBJ:

NEWS-FLASH BECAUSE YA'LL DIDN'T KNOW THIS: Knitting sweaters is hard. Even bitty ones for your niece. At least it's hard for me apparently. I either can't count or am just dumb. Because I've got a different number of stitches for both sleeves and front panels. As in like FOUR extra. How does this happen? It looks like I made all the increases. But ONCE AGAIN I am unknitting this stupid sweater. I am also wondering if it will be too big for her. It is so hard when she lives so far away and I was smart enough NOT to measure her while she was visiting me. Sheesh.

Anyway, we all know that when a project gets frustrating and needs to be fixed......
You start a different one. I bought the ever popular One Skein Wonder pattern Because I'll need something to cover my indecent shoulders in China that won't be too hot. So I thought - cotton. And bought this:in Butter
I feel much better now.

***

Oh, and working with C last night was so great. All I did was paint different shades of red stripes on the inside of the frame/box his sculpture was in but it was just so nice to work alongside him. And have him trust me to do it. Also. For another post: we really need to talk about why this was the first time in probably years I've picked up a paintbrush. Serious issues girl.

I forgot how nice it was. How I just lost track of time and watched the red paint flow onto the wood. And thats just f*ing solid stripes. Need to get back to some artwork. But yeah, more on that in a different post.

21:40 Posted in Nitt'n , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

08/17/2005

Meet Camille

Look who we just adopted:

Yes, that little bundle of cuteness is Camille. (and the other is C who could not be any cuter as well with his sqashed down mohawk). She's 3 months old and the sweetest thing ever. I forgot how FRICKING hilarious kittens are. She's really playful but so much more people friendly and snuggly than Olive was when she was little like that. Olive was a cute fuzzy little spawn of the devil with razor sharp claws and teeth she would use at will. I haven't been scratched by Camille yet. She seems to be able to turn off the usual kitten tazmanian devil-like cyclone when dealing with humans unlike Olive.















I was a little worried how Olive would get along with her and at first there was quite a bit of hissing and posturing. But she seems to be warming up to her. Camille is so fearless and interested in Olive she is all over her. So I think Olive will get used to it. They take turns chasing each other throughout the house.



*Sigh* I think I'm in love.

21:27 Posted in Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

08/12/2005

Goodbye Lily and Midnight!

Its so sad! Miss Lily and Middi have gone back home to their very thankful, world travelling owners and Olive, C, and I are all by ourselves. Yesterday was hard. After they left with the kitties C had to go to band practice and Olive and I didn't know what to do with ourselves. I had a good cry while Olive wandered around the rooms meowing occasionally which made it considerably worse for me. I just really love those cats and it was so great taking care of them for a year. Everywhere I turn I expect to see Midnight or Tigerlily under my feet begging for attention or sleeping on this chair or that bed.

Thankfully I still have my Olive. And we are getting a new kitty. Its just hard to say goodbye.


Olive thought that maybe if she slept in the basket full of Middi and Lily's belongings they couldn't take the girls home with them. Unfortunately that didn't work.

18:25 Posted in Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

08/10/2005

Complaining, Cookies and Cats

Week - crazy
Mom - ariving in three days
Cafe' Bellie - happening in five days
Cats - leaving in two days (as in no more sweet kitties and boss coming over MY HOUSE to get them)
Work - BUSY and STUPID also REALLY PISSING ME OFF
Website - not done
New project - needs to be started
House - still messy

So what DID I accomplish this weekend? Well, I made some AWESOME cookies. No pictures though sorry. It was the Chewy Chocolate Cookies from February/March Eating Well magazine. The recipe is not online so I don't think I can post it here but they are pictured on the left of these cookies which I plan to try next. If you don't have this magazine GET IT. If you do have it (since february or before) make these cookies. They only have one gram of fat and are so good they make me want to cry. Also - use good chocolate, add half a bag of chocolate chips to the batter, and sprinkle with confectioners sugar when they are done to make them pretty.

Also I am almost finished with the most adorable pair of One Hour Baby Booties from Stitch n' Bitch Nation for the next door neighbor's new baby. Pics coming shortly. I'm officially obsessed with knitting booties. I also was reminded of Olive's appetite for Lamb's pride.

When I'm not looking she chews and sucks on a strand until it breaks. It drives me mad. Sometimes I don't notice until I wonder why I'm suddenly knitting with wet yarn AND IT'S SO GROSS.

Anyway please morn with me that in three days there will be no more little bundles of sweetness sleeping in the middle of my floor.

00:25 Posted in Bitch'n , Nitt'n , Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

07/26/2005

Casa del gatto

I've finally uploaded a photo album. Naturally it is of my kitties, who are in the top five of my 100 OBSESSIONS. C is always admonishing me after a social event that I "really have to stop talking about the damn cats, its embarrassing".

Right now I have three cats. But two of the lovelies are actually not mine (Tiger Lilly and Midnight). They are president of my company's family cats. El presidente is on a year long sabatical and C, Olive and I agreed to share our home with their cats while they are gone. Which makes for a total of three in a two bedroom apartment. A bit squished. Like this morning, I woke up and C and I were sharing one half of our queen size bed because the cats had sprawled out over the other half. But we love them and are going to miss them when they have to go home. Which is very soon - August. : ( We'll be getting another kitten after they leave though.

Olive is our cat (the not-so-fluffy black one). We got her from the humane society when she was a kitten. Olive is a pain in the ass is pretty much my favoritest cat ever.

And I'm one of those freak cat owners who make their own raw cat food. I'm going to be a nightmare when I have children. Just warnin' ya.

***

Anyway, I have a few more photo albums planned. One of which is my vast amount (not) of finished knitted objects. I haven't decided on family/personal photos yet. Is posting pictures of your face/your friends faces kosher on the net? Or dumb?

No one I know in the real world knows I have this blog what if they find it and their picture is on it and they are pissed?

Maybe I should tell people. But, I've never had a secret before (even a dumb one like this) and it is kind of fun. And then I might not post what I want to post because I'd be afraid of certain people reading it...

Decisions decisions

***

I just got a call from my mom. Apparently the navy brother has been in the hospital for two weeks with severe mono-like symptoms but his test came back negative for mono. I think it is the heat, he is in Chicago and you've heard what the weather is like there. Either way, I hope he is okay. I knew the navy would get him one way or another.

***

Other brother and my neice are going to be here for a visit on thursday!!! I'm soo excited. We get to do all kinds of fun kid stuff.

But in the meantime I have so much work to do I could vomit. So I better get on that

21:49 Posted in Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

07/05/2005

My Cats are Drug Addicts

This is what I found when I came home on Friday:

Yes, that crap all over them and the floor is catnip from a bag so foolishly left on the counter, now shredded in the hallway.



I'm more than sure Olive also had something to do with this (she's the bad hop-on-the-counter kitty anyway) but she was at least smart enough not to be around when I got home and then continue to roll around in it.

16:25 Posted in Pussycats | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this