Early Christmas Present [21 Dec 2009|09:36pm] norabombay Today I got an unexpected early, and very awesome Christmas present. We ordered two keys for my car from the local Mazda dealership. Ever since I lost my keys down a storm drain in the fall of 08, I've had exactly one key to the car. One. I'm not comfortable with that. But the keys are these special laser cut things, that you can't get cut. You have to order them from Mazda. Give them the VIN and they will bring them. $186 for two keys. Two. These are not electronic keys, or keys with clickers or anything. Just plain old metal keys. But luckily my parents have ended my debate about finding appropriate money. And I get to pick them up tomorrow. YIPPIE. post comment

Trying something new [21 Dec 2009|09:11pm] gryphons_lair [ mood | artistic ] I'd promised drunixbrat that I'd make her a Cookie Wizard hat, so last Friday I went looking for the appropriate purple wool yarn. Would you believe I couldn't find one wool yarn in royal purple? Plenty of acrylics and blends, but no pure wool. And it has to be wool because I want to felt it. So I bought a skein of Lions Brand Fisherman's Wool , which comes in natural (neither bleached nor dyed) white, and tried my hand at dying with Kool-Aid. I put 4 packages each of Black Cherry and Grape Kool-Aid into my stock pot, added enough water to cover the wool, and set it to heat. While it heated I washed the wool (I'd unwound the skein into a hank at Woodland Studios last weekend) and then immersed it in the dark purply-red water. Thirty minutes later the water was clear and the wool was, well, ( see for yourself ) This is fun! I'll have to try some other stuff once this batch is either the proper shade or I give up on getting it there. If I get to doing it regularly, I'll have to see if I can find a big crockpot at a St Vinnie's or Goodwill sometime. Then I won't have to hover over it to make sure it doesn't boil and felt the yarn. post comment

No show: [21 Dec 2009|08:42pm] jrittenhouse Unfortunately...I'm down with something, as is most everyone else.  Going to bed now, and yeah, I missed the DIY Messiah myself.  I wasn't in any shape to go. post comment

F--- you! [21 Dec 2009|08:40pm] jarodrussell This thread makes me want to choke someone. Remember when Spoiler being dead was a bad thing and people got pissed? Well, that's so 2006. Now she's alive, and she's Batgirl, and really, why do you still want Oracle out of the wheelchair? I mean, no one else does. Congratulations, Girl-Wonder, you have ascended to a place among THE MAJORITY. As a part of THE MAJORITY, it's now your job to remind everyone else that things aren't that bad, because after all, your problem was fixed. And may I say...( GOOD JOB! :D ) post comment

Sherlock Holmes... [21 Dec 2009|09:28pm] fajrdrako It's really the Christmas season now - Yolande came to visit from Montreal and I made corned beef with cabbage for supper and we all watched Sherlock Holmes on DVD. The 1954 version with Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard) and Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Watson. It was... over the top. post comment

Bay Area Peeps: Household stuff, free or cheap [21 Dec 2009|06:21pm] wordweaverlynn 4-drawer lateral filing cabinet big desk, hutch, computer stand wooden rocker several corkboard/whiteboards marble-topped dresser dresser mirror tall bookcases (at least 2) short bookcases (2) little wicker shelf thingie chest bed, queen size barrel vast 5-shelf plastic unit maybe a couple of plastic rollie drawer units smaller plastic drawer units small oak buffet small oak china cabinet (needs to have one door reattached) Household goods Glasses Dishes Pots and pans Bakeware Kitchen gadgets innumerable Tablecloths Blender Microwave Toaster-oven Wall clock Computer stationery: photo paper, cream-color resume paper, various images, business card forms, etc. Books More books Email me at USERNAME at lj dot com, or or private-message me to arrange a time. First come, first served. No returns. Come by and PICK THINGS UP. Please. Make a donation if you have money to spare. Don't worry if you don't. Bring your own bags or boxes. In fact, bring me any spare bags and boxes you have. post comment

Conversation at the gym today [21 Dec 2009|09:20pm] xiphias IAN: So, tonight's the anniversary of the first real date that Lis and I ever had. BRIAN: Are you going back to the place you went that first time? IAN: No -- Lis doesn't live there any more. BRIAN: Oh -- it was a GOOD date. 1 comment|post comment

Six Words [21 Dec 2009|08:05pm] jarodrussell Much like the Doctor, I too can stop enemies with a mere six words. The six words I would use to defeat Sentry and his new reality-warping powers? Tony Stark has the Reality Gem. 2 comments|post comment

Christmas comes but once a year... [22 Dec 2009|12:31pm] 17catherines [ mood | cheerful ] But in these parts it lasts all month... So, let's see. We had the carol service on Sunday, which was really fun, and I made the most of the descants because the Catholics aren't doing Christmas carols in their midnight mass this year. I am terribly disappointed by this - quite apart from my obsessive carolling disorder, midnight mass just isn't midnight mass without the 'Once in Royal David's City' solo and the Hark The Herald Angels Sing descant, even if I don't get to personally sing either of them. Which, admittedly, I usually do. I hadn't realised how strongly I felt about this until they were taken away. I had my last work carolling today, in which (be still, my beating heart!) we had more men than women and I had to keep trying to get them to sing more quietly. ( More on my work choir, because I am proud of them ) And then I got back to my office and found that the Director had sent me flowers to say thank you for the Christmas Choir stuff and Food for Families stuff that I organise, so that was very nice. Anyway, speaking of things to organise, I'm currently drowning in a sea of NHMRC grants and logins and a new grants management system that is a good idea in theory but hell in practice (it will be good once everyone's CVs are on there, but getting them on there is going to drive me to drink). This being so, I think I'd better post my online Christmas Card right now, before I forget. ( Merry Christmas to all! ) Yes, that is a photo of Mr & Mrs Claus. Doesn't Andrew make a cute Santa? Merry Christmas (or holiday of your choice) to all, unless I blog before then! May you hear precisely as many carols (and descants) as you prefer, eat lots of delicious food, and feel the minimum possible urge to strangle any of your relatives and loved ones. No, really. You are a wonderful group of people, and I hope you all have a fantastic day, however you choose to spend it. Love, Catherine PS - Christmas Newsletter can be posted by request, but a good half of you would have it already and I didn't want to add anything more to anyone's to do list at this point... 2 comments|post comment

Experimenting with image [21 Dec 2009|05:00pm] snippy Friday night was our office's holiday party, and by previous agreement a bunch of us women dressed up. "Cocktail dresses" was the precise description we used. My life is not a cocktail dress kind of life, although when I was a child that is certainly the kind of life I imagined for myself, and I've sometimes grieved over the fact that I hadn't figured out how to make that happen. So I didn't own a cocktail dress. I have some dressy separates (e.g., black velvet pants, a silver long skirt, a teal silk blouse) that I mixed and matched, but wasn't completely happy with: they weren't really adding up to "cocktail dress." Some cow-orkers were going shopping and invited me along, and I went. I tried on 8 dresses. I really liked one, but didn't want to spend the price--although we were at a discount store, it was still about twice what I was willing to spend for a dress that arguably I will only wear once, to this party. I went home without it. Over the next two days I thought about that dress. I found it, or a very similar dress, on a major retailer's website where it was priced at about three times what the discount store was asking. I went back and tried it on again, and bought it. I wore it to the party with my hair up in a fancy style and lots of sparkly jewelry (that I already owned). I wore sheer black stockings and heels. I felt very different--much as actors report that wearing period costume and hairstyles change how you stand and sit and express yourself, I felt shaped by my clothes and image. After one particular person complimented me, I said I was performing cocktail dress, and that it was unfamiliar and a bit uncomfortable, but an enjoyable experiment nonetheless. And it was. I wasn't an entirely different person, but I expressed myself in different ways: I definitely strove for a more sophisticated mode, and I was constantly conscious of my body and clothing, something I actively avoid in most of my daily style. It was rather like experimenting with being a crone. These attributes are already part of me, but they have different frequencies and styles of expression, and I'm changing those frequences and expressions. I think having these chances to experiment and practice is pretty keen. 1 comment|post comment

FIRE, Progress, 3 [21 Dec 2009|06:30pm] coalboy IthinkIhopeIpray I dodged a bullet this morning. My next door neighbors with the common wall through my kitchen and dining room came to breakfast Saturday morning, to help me eat a Care package I received as a Christmas gift: Canadian bacon, thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon, Wisconsin maple syrup, and a package of buttermilk pancake mix.( I'm not supposed to eat any of it - either salt or carbs.)  (We also had orange juice, and coffee or tea.) While we were sitting around digesting, the Service Master supervisor to whom I had lent Cordelia's Honor came to talk to all of us about packing their stuff and returning the book. I brought up the fact that, when the woman who sold her apartment to Mom & me moved in herself more than 15 years ago, she did some remodeling and made all the drywall here double thickness, among other changes. I was positive no one testing my walls for wetness was aware of this, and wasn't sure my walls had been tested at all. My neighbors' side of the common wall is wet and is to be removed on December 30. The Service Master rep said the odds were that my walls were wet too, but probes would be necessary to be sure. The drywall testers came back this morning with probes, and my walls seem to be dry,  but they won't know for sure until the neighbors' wall is out. I'm in limbo on all that packing until then, but the throwing out of recycleables has started. And at least the other common wall is dry on the other neighbors' side, so the books don't have to move. Or the garments or bed or bedding. I've just come back from making a reservation at the Seneca for the time I have to be out for the rest of the floor's drywall removal - asbestos, even though my walls seem to be dry. post comment

Gut Reaction [21 Dec 2009|06:43pm] foenix I've covered in the past the growing occasional aggrivation of my parents at each other, and how my mom likes to misremember reality to make it sound like she's done nothing wrong, and is totally the victim. But today topped that. My dad went to the hospital to get a procedure done, trying to find out what's going on with him with some weight loss.  They get home, I'm trying to sleep, but not quite there yet.  Mother tells me, he has an ulcer. Well, that doesn't particularly surprise me, with the way those two go at it, and the stress she causes him over every little thing, and money, and the dog, and...yeah, everything. But holy crap, what she followed that up with. "So, it's gotta be caused from all the yelling and screaming he does at me, since it's stress related.  You think now he'll learn his lesson and be nicer?" Yessss, because he sits there and plots out that he's gonna yell at you like some old serial villain. I swear, if I wasn't SO desperately trying to sleep, I would've shot up in my bed, and demanded she try and actually take some damned responsibility, for pushing his buttons, and being a bit of a bitch this past year.  She starts a LOT of the fights and gets the yelling going. I was just...WOW can not believe she said that. J post comment

King William's Quiz... [21 Dec 2009|06:04pm] fajrdrako The new King Wiliam's College Quiz is on their website. Now I'll have something the play with. There's a bit of an extra treat in it for me this year - I saw King William's College with my very own eyes last summer. Just to have my own copy of the quiz: here it is. ( here's the quiz. ) post comment

Thought... [21 Dec 2009|06:00pm] fajrdrako Think enough and you won't know anything. -- Kenneth Patchen, 1911-1972 3 comments|post comment

Monday... [21 Dec 2009|05:57pm] fajrdrako Ah, Christmas. I have presents to wrap and things to do, and here I am, curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. The book is for a twelve-year-old friend - just reading it because I wanted to. Have to make sure it's up to my standards of quality. It is - it's Diane Wynne Jones' The Pinhoe Egg. 6 comments|post comment

Bwah? [21 Dec 2009|04:12pm] jarodrussell 4 comments|post comment

[21 Dec 2009|03:08pm] shinga I think this is supposed to be a compliment but from what I hear of that movie I'm not really certain. (eta: also, this is making me giggle more than it should. I never claimed to be mature.) 5 comments|post comment

Updateness [21 Dec 2009|03:59pm] deathpixie So, it's been a while before posts of any substance about Jo's Life in Toronto, so catch up time! Snow: None. We've had a couple of flurries, but nothing that sticks. I feel gypped. Where's my white Christmas? Work: Lots. I have no idea why, but I've been pretty busy now for a month solid, pretty much since I had the bronchitis earlier. Even the pre-Christmas time is far more active than I'm used to. Bah. However, I do complete my probation period at the end of December, which means paid holiday leave, huzzah! Personal goals: I have officially almost paid off the credit card ($317 left, iirc), and what's left will be gone by the end of January at the latest. I do have a loan to pay out, but that's already coming off my pay at $218 a fortnight, so I'm less worried there. I've also signed up for Beginner's French through work, partly as a way to get Sonia off my back about personal development when we have performance appraisals, but also because my brain needs something new to play with for fear it will be mush. I also have various plans to increase my social circle and to get fitter starting January. Given I'm actually acting on plans these days, I remain confident. Holidays: We had our Christmas tree trimming party at Johnny's last night, which was a lot of fun and involved early presents since various people won't be around for the holiday itself. For Christmas I'll be joining the roomie's family in Hamilton for lunch. :) New Year's will be quietish, with only a few people coming to visit - it's likely we'll wind up at the Griffin rather than staging a party. And in February, once I have my leave secured, I'm planning a long weekend in Quebec City. First trip I've done in a while. :) Kitties: Still the same. :) They're due a bath and a claw trim this week, before we get our guestages, since they're molting again and getting a bit musty smelling. X-Project: Continues. Things are a bit slow and I'm finding it hard to do the Wiki much, but I have a nifty plot in the works for March so hopefully that'll stir my enthusiasm again. Me: Doing pretty well, mostly. I had a bit of a crash last week post-therapy, but overall I'm doing much better than I was a few months ago. Yay me. :) 2 comments|post comment

Happy Solstice [21 Dec 2009|12:49pm] emeraldsedai Dear Friends List, Most of you are in the Northern Hemisphere, so happy Longest Night! And to my one or two Southern Hemisphere friends, happy Longest Day! I hope the snows clear, and in the meantime, I hope you're enjoying some quiet time. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it's doing what it does best: raining and being mild. There are very short days of rain, and very long nights of rain, but it's little, intermittent rain and doesn't prevent a person from going outdoors and doing stuff. It will rain for Christmas and probably rain for New Year's, and that's okay with me and Clyde. I have a confession to make: Feedly, which I've been using--and fawning over greatly--as my reading aggregator, has a flaw. LJ doesn't feed friendslocked posts to it. I knew that. No feed reader gets flocked LJ posts. But Feedly is so pretty that I forgot. So for about ten days now, I haven't seen a single flocked post. I'm sorry! Journals on my flist that are mostly or entirely flocked, I've missed you altogether. I'm playing catchup now. Good Yule to everybody! post comment

[21 Dec 2009|12:09pm] serenity_valley [ mood | hungry ] [ music | Styx -- "Suite Madame Blue" ] Guess it shows that I've pretty much cleaned the fridge bare. And that I was putting this together at the last minute last night, after a very long (but fun!) day. clockwise from bottom: Niman Ranch ham wrapped around havarti dill cheese, with some cut pieces of naan to make itsy little sandwich wrap thingies blanched broccoli and Daisy tangerine wedges Pinova apple slices with a wee satsuma at the center This will be my only bento this week, as str8ontilmornin is now on his winter vacation (YIPPEE!!) and I'll be home the rest of the week, so we'll be able to eat together. Plus, there's not likely to be leftovers with him eating (and cooking :). Influx of goodies coming from New Seasons on Thursday for our annual LOTR Extended Edition Christmas Marathon -- a holy holiday in this household -- so you may see a few odds and ends in next week's from that. So anyway, not as exciting as previous bentos, but still delicious. And even on my worst day, I think it's safe to say my bentos will always be better than this. idek, you guys. 11 comments|post comment

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