madam0wl

Irritable Owl Is Amused

2012-02-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's missed mail / "article requiring payment" turned out to be a birthday card from one of my oldest friends. Oldest as in back-in-the-day, like First Grade maybe?

The mail dude at the counter did show me the envelope and was all "you sure you want it?" But who can refuse a pink envelope so full of uneven shaped sass it couldn't make it through the sorting machines? So I paid my $1.05 and am now the proud owner of a wee little owl ring that shall now be baby to a momma owl ring that I got from a different grade-school friend, a couple years ago.

And other things recently received via the mail that made me smile...

Spot-on card from BFF and an Irritable Owl Syndrome one from my Mom.

Now I'm going to make a homemade pizza and watch more Spartacus episodes with my fellow sickly spouse. Nothing wrong with a second shut-in weekend in a row...

Not like I'm Keeping Score

2012-02-09T18:28:00.000-05:00

Fail: BFF beat me in WWF.
Win: But I scored 109 points on one word, a personal best. Zyme on a TL/TW spot. Yes, I looked it up first. *hangs head*

Fail: Forgot Tooth Fairy duties.
Win: Meltdown avoided, get a second chance tonight.

Fail: Lost my sunglasses.
Win: Remembered where I lost them (yesterday's lollipop stop [gas station]). Called to confirm.

Fail: Lost track of time before meeting at school.
Win: Showered/dressed in record time. Meeting went well.

Fail: While there, missed a call from worried mother.
Win: Called her back to assure my eardrum has not burst. Arrived at gas station, retrieved sunglasses.

Fail: Meeting / retrieval didn't last as long as I'd thought = time to kill, but with a light wallet.
Win: Thrifted a plaid wool skirt for $1.50. Happy Belated Birthday to me.

Fail: Oh shit, did I just spend my only Tooth Fairy money?
Win: No, still have $2 and change. A forgotten tooth doubles in value, does it not?

Fail: Pissed 4 year old off in car outside school. God forbid I not contort my body for a 3rd time in a row in order pick up the toy he purposefully dropped.
Win: Resigned, he fell asleep and willingly stayed napping until after 5 pm.

Fail: Apparently missed the postal carrier who had an "article requiring payment," $1.05 postage due.
Win: Intrigue! Will combine that drive with morning route. Might have that much change left after tooth scandal. Will they make me pay before I see who it is from? Maybe I'll refuse.

Fail: Three loads of laundry to sort.
Win: 9 year old helped with dishes.

Fail: Husband's chat service is not showing him logged in until I call him to see if he is alive. He was 101F this morning.
Win: He is alive, and is okay with leftover soup for dinner.

Fail: Not a clue what to feed kids for dinner tonight.

Win: Ramen noodles are always a hit.

3:21 PM Haikus

2012-02-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

Wish my ear would pop,

painted nails driving a stick,

words & music soothe.

Tinnitus / reverb,

just turn up the volume high,

wait my turn in line.

Wiggle in neutral,
until time to move ahead,
gas / clutch / brake / blow / pop?

Relief is fleeting,
echoes descending again,
plus kids to drive home.

DayQuil DollParts DayDream

2012-02-07T15:05:00.001-05:00

This post brought to you by:

OMG-my-head-is-going-to-explode-toxic-spray phase

Which lead to downing two DayQuil with a bottle of water

Which lead to coffee in front of facecrack

Which lead to clicking on some obscure friend's video link to a Dresden Dolls song

Which lead to previously unknown murky depths of 'dark cabaret'

Which lead to OMG-I-need-to-get-off-the-internet

Which lead to hey-the-fog-is-clearing

Which lead to reading Wifey in a hot bath followed by a hot shower

Which lead to getting dressed in something clean = brown cords

Which lead to dude-these-remind-me-of-90s

Which lead to vintage button up shirt of that era

Which lead to sweater vest

Which lead to Vans or Docs?

Which lead to OMG-now-I'm-totally-90s

Which connected to earlier tortured-soul-doll thoughts

Which lead to loading Hole tunes on my iPod

Which lead to Doll Parts and Violet and Miss World

Which lead to back home with child

Which lead to letting the dogs out

Which lead to child taking phone pictures

Which lead to thinking they'd look better as Polaroids

Which lead to Polaroin

Which lead to that's fun but yuck now I'm feeling crappy again

Which lead to hey-has-it-been-4-hours-since-last-dose?

Which lead to that cheesy smile does not fit how my head feels

Which led to an urge to collage

Printed Polaroin'd cell phone pic, which was then scribbled on,
"sneezed" on, muddy shoe stepped on, dandelion seed blown on;
dandelion smudged on; sticker defaced on; then scanned in
& found image (doll parts & mad-germ balls) / object (Halls and DayQuil) photoshopped on.

Which lead to this post

Lost Dog, Mad Dash, Still Sick

2012-02-06T16:54:00.003-05:00

Mac and Cheese are old dogs. They're like 12 or 13. Mac is basically blind, they both seem to be deaf. Pretty much they eat, sleep, shed and fart. We let them out several times a day. Usually they stay close to the house, within the boundaries of the yard, coming back to bark at the front door approximately 30 seconds after letting them out the back door. Sometimes they venture out of the yard, but usually just down a dirt road, mingling with the in-laws' dog and then heading back a short time later.

So it wasn't too much of a surprise when it was only one dog barking at the door today. It was Cheese. I let him in and waited for his brother to show up. But then, maybe an hour later, when Milo was in the bath and I was walking around picking up dirty clothes to start a load, it occurred to me there was only one dog in my way. Hadn't I let them both in? I still feel like crap, my brain isn't working too well. Head is in a fog, as if I took cold medicine, but I didn't. At least I don't think I did?

Anyway, once I confirmed there was only one dog, I went out in the yard and whistled. I did this several times, in all the different directions, and still no dog. Now I got worried. I got Milo out of his bath and loaded up the car. It was almost time to head over to the school anyway, so I figured I'd cruise around the 'hood a bit, calling out from the rolled down windows.

First down the dirt road; no luck. Next down the paved dead end; no luck. Finally I headed north, really hoping he hadn't wandered that far out of range. Sure enough, maybe 100 yards up the road, I caught sight of a white spot, clear across a field. It was lumbering along the tree line, I could tell it was Mac. I pulled over, parked and put my blinkers on, hopping out and waving my arms (sometimes if you wave your arms and jump around he'll "see" you from the far side of the yard). But this was like five times the length of our yard. I kept whistling and calling his name, to no avail. He paused for a moment, but put his head back down and kept on lumbering. It looked like if he stayed following the tree line he would eventually come back to the road, but I didn't want to risk it. He was heading further away from home and was clearly lost.

With a gulp of parenting guilt (for leaving Milo in a parked car at the side of a narrow road - and for losing track of the dog in the first place), I clambered down and up/out of the ditch, into the field and started making my way across, straight toward Mac. I started whistling and clapping again, which might have been a bad idea, because all of a sudden he picked up speed and looked to be veering closer to the trees, looking for a break to head into. As if since he could hear me now, he thought he was almost to our yard...

Heart pounding I shut the hell up and started running like a crazy woman across the muddy field, catching up with him just as he darted closer to the undergrowth. Probably scared to death of a screaming banshee, hellbent his way. Thank god for those damn pokey vines, which I otherwise despise... if he hadn't had gotten caught up in a snaggle of those it would have been a close call. I grabbed his collar and hauled him out of there, trying to reassure him, but I think the poor guy was oblivious. He was hunkered down and breathing heavy, paws caked with mud. Not sure he even knew who I was. I leaned down to keep hold of his collar as we trudged back across the field.

A truck had pulled up, a man stepping out to see if all was okay. I was still several feet into the field, so I waved and called out, "Lost my dog! Caught him!" and he nodded, pulling off. Then, as I was heaving 90 lb of dog into the back, another truck pulled up. This time a woman, with an old yellow Lab of her own, crowding the front seat next to her. I gave her the short story, gesturing to where we lived, and so on. She explained that her family owns and lives along most of that stretch of road. Her nephew had called her about an hour ago, asking if her Lab was loose, as he'd seen one wandering at the back of his yard. Apparently she'd been keeping her eyes peeled, and had seen me pull over on the road, waving my arms. She'd decided she'd head out to help. Then she was like, "All of a sudden, I saw you cut loose and charge across that field. Girl, you were going fast!"

I laughed so hard, still buzzing from adrenaline. She congratulated me on catching up with him and then gave me her cell phone number, just in case I needed to call in neighborly help next time. She gave me one more look, as if to size me up, shaking her head and chuckling as she drove away. I suppose I looked kind of funny? Zombie slacker mom wearing torn jeans and muddied snow boots, worn merely because they're as comfy as slippers? Anyway, I called Stew to share my victorious story and then picked up the boys from school. Now it's back to the house, chores piled high, head still in a fog, cough and loogies looming large...

The Dragon Warrior Princess emerged briefly, to rescue an old dog, but now I think I might follow his lead and collapse.

Yoga and a Hair Cut, Lotsa Dashes

2012-02-03T13:26:00.000-05:00

It's amazing, the restorative powers of a husband bringing home ice-cream, followed by a NyQuil-induced zonk, followed by an uneventful get-kids-to-school-on-time morning, followed by doing a good deed, followed by mugs and mugs of hot herbal tea, followed by I'm-so-cold-I'm-doing-yoga-in-my-hoodie, followed by an ok-fine-I'll-chop-it-again hair cut, followed by a hot shower, followed by a sunny drive, followed by picking up a yay-he's-still-on-green preschooler.

Now, that's not to say that a corkscrew or wrench or nosedive or big hairy loogies aren't on their way to foil my current zen, but at least it's a good start to the weekend.

Do What Feels Right

2012-02-02T13:43:00.000-05:00

I moved some furniture around the other day and was able to get our books out of the bedroom. I'm still digging the energy of it.

While I was moving books onto shelves (from stacks teetering precariously on top of the dresser), I ran across an old one of the coffee table variety. Space Cleaning. It has nice tips for de-cluttering the various corners of your life, both physically and mentally.

One of my goals this month/year is to get rid of something everyday/weekly. Both physically and mentally.

What I'd really like to get rid of is this massive feeling-both-dried-out-but-also-sniffling head cold. Instead of succumbing, I'm trying to stand my ground and go on the offensive. Fighting germs! Kill the blob! For some reason I always get on a cleaning kick when I'm feeling ill.

My favorite All-Purpose Surface Cleaner is by Method. This is not a sponsored post. I just really like that brand.

Something else I've taken to recently is the Spotify app for internet music streaming. It comes in handy for when you've used your last iTunes penny but are jonesing to hear a song over and over again. That Synthesizers song I posted the other day kind of grew on me.

for once
once in your life
won’t you do what feels right
instead of waiting for the next big compromise
stop running your mouth
get out of the house
get yourself downtown
and shake it all out tonight

Equilibrium for 95 pts

2012-02-01T10:11:00.003-05:00

Trying not to beat myself up about skipping my morning run. I'm not zombie sick, but I woke yet again to a stuffed nose and dry mouth, with the added bonus of an unpleasant off-kilter feeling, probably due to sinus pressure messing with my equilibrium. I'm waiting for my nasal decongestant to kick in so I can go run morning errands without swerving over the center line too much.

In the interest of remaining stationary, and killing time, I've already played a move in the current Words With Friends game I've got going, albeit a weak one, so I thought I'd head over here to scatter some letters about, unrestrained.

Speaking literally, a word of warning- that game is addictive, and not only can it invoke airplane hostility (what doesn't?), it can also lead to bad dreams and marital strife. Particularly when only one spouse is playing the game, but the other (with mad skills) really wants to be. Stew and I are at the joking-about-it stage of reconciliation, unless writing this sets us back a step (*waves a white flag*). Final closure might come from the two of us duking it out over a board ourselves. But as he has no access to a virtual one, we'd have to go old school, blowing the dust off our shelved board game. Possibly there is a round of Strip Scrabble in our future. Maybe when my head doesn't feel like a balloon.

Until then, the curing powers of the couch have sufficed, in the form of shared video viewing. Instead of schilling out dough for Season 2 of Walking Dead, we marathoned through another NetFlix'd Joss Whedon series, Dollhouse (oddly compelling).

And last night we watched Warrior. Like Moneyball, it was better than I thought it would be and had a song in it begging for download. At the end of the movie, the haunting baritone in "About Today" by The National hooked me. Might have to check out more of their stuff, but for now I downloaded a live version, which was double the length and half the price of the movie version. Like getting 45 pts using only three tiles...

About Today (Live) - The National - Virginia EP (via)

Love You Like A Sister

2012-01-31T10:03:00.001-05:00

Today is my wonderful older sister Cathy's birthday.

She is super awesome.

Here we are being awesome together in the 90s.

I'm totally going to wear that sweater today.

Here we are being awesome together earlier this month.

Where did all those nuts come from?

This morning, after breakfast, the boys happily obliged me when I said,

"Let's record a video for Aunt Cathy."

Happy Birthday Cathy!

There is something coming in the mail, but also, how about for a present,

I'll formally announce my plans to run a 13.1 with you.

So we can be awesome together in the '10s. Teens? 30s... and 40s...

Rest of the Meat Story (NSFV, obvs)

2012-01-30T11:10:00.001-05:00

On Friday I left off with a chilling cliffhanger-

How would my Crock 'o Beef kitchen experiment turn out?

Edge of your seats stuff, I know.

The answer is fairly anti-climatic too. It ended up quite yummy, though not as spicy saucy strong as I'd hoped. Which means next time, dump more stuff in.

For the side entree, I ended up pounding the hell out of something we had on hand, a head of cauliflower. That was both therapeutic AND new, as the goal was to end up with cauliflower rice, a trick I'd bookmarked but had yet to try.

That experiment turned out REALLY good, but maybe not as rice-y as imagined. Which means next time, pound harder (or try the blender- we don't have a food processor... well we do- me).

And the rest of the meat story... after Sunday's family drive into Raleigh, we now have a deep freeze full of fancily vacuum packed joisey beef. Below I've documented Stew using his superhuman, Tetris-like, spatial-visualization packing/stacking skills to configure the 2 lb bricks of ground beef, while Wiley takes inventory of the 6 or so different cuts waiting to be stored.

Now let's all just cross our fingers for no extended power loss in the near future. Of course, typing that, the way our luck goes, I've probably just opened up the gates of hell.

Check back toward the end of May, early June... we might have to be holding a huge Welcome to the Armageddon BBQ.

Oh, and I ran across this in my morning reads.

A cute song, but really it's Mr. McConaughey (reprising his Dazed & Confused role) that interests me.

Talk about Grade A meat...

Whoops, my Matthew hungry sister informed me the earlier embedded video (from vevo.com) wasn't working. Here it is on trusty YouTube:

Kitchen Experiment (NSFV)

2012-01-27T10:19:00.004-05:00

Warning! NSFV = Not Safe for Vegans. Those sensitive to big slabs of meat should avert your eyes.

I believe I've shared before my affinity for cooking. Or lack there of. It's not torture, but it isn't a pastime either. Sometimes it is pleasant, but mostly it is just routine. I should probably try new things more often. Except I'm not all that good with following recipes. Not a big fan of measured amounts. That probably says something about me mentally/emotionally, but let's not dwell on it.

So when I do try something different, it is typically an experiment. Usually it turns out good, but the downfall is trying to recreate it. I suppose that is where recipes come in handy huh?

Anyway, I thought I'd photo document today's experiment at least. We've got our semi-annual shipment of organically raised/fed whatever beef* coming in this weekend, so I thought I'd better make use of an older cut. Of which we have two Prime Rib Roasts.

Ingredients = Prime Rib roast of Iowa origin (? lb),
couple different BBQ sauces, worcestershire sauce,
mustard, chili pepper, Old Bay spice,
cracked pepper, red onions, green peppers
and a couple carrots for color.

There had been three, but I crock-potted one for Christmas Dinner. It was a rebellious thing to do, because I'd googled to pick through the hive brain knowledge on cooking Prime Rib Roasts, and the consensus was that it was practically sacrilege to use a crock pot with that cut of meat.

Whatever. I threw caution to the wind and the roast in the pot, seasoned fairly lightly and with some veggies and spuds. Sort of ended up like a stew. It tasted good but we did use ketchup on it.

So this time I thought I'd experiment with adding more flavor, and after pulling a few condiments out of the fridge, I decided to go with a BBQ/Chili angle.

I've got it set on low and figure it will be ready by like 4 or 5. My hypothesis is that hopefully it will fall apart like the last one did and end up a bit like pulled pork does. Like you could eat it piled up on a bun. Isn't that called loose meat? Not the most attractive descriptor. You know what I mean. Sloppy Joe / Manwich (again with the boorish names), except with roast beef instead of hamburger. At the BBQ restaurant I worked at briefly in college, that type of sandwich was called a Saucy Southerner. Nice, I like that. Saucy!

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Except, as underground members of Weight Watchers, we don't eat a lot of bread. Any suggestions as to other sides to eat BBQ beef on, or with? Maybe roasted spaghetti squash? Steamed cauliflower?

*This time the beef is from a farmer in New Jersey that Stew got connected to via a workmate who knows somebody. We are splitting a cow with that somebody, who has family in NJ area and therefore a way to get it delivered.

PS - I finished Week 5 of C25K this morning. It was the big leap to running for 20 min continuously. Felt good, but despite a good breeze, it was probably already in the 60s and humid as hell. I had to take my sweatshirt off 1/3 of the way in. It's lucky that the stormy weather held off. Not sure if I would have had the motivation to do it in the rain. Then I came in and did 20 min of yoga, which marks two weeks in a row of routine exercise. Go me.

Hippy Hippy Shakes

2012-01-25T10:28:00.002-05:00

Noticed it had been a week, though I did edit and add postscripts since then. So I thought I'd do a quick (pfft- ended up taking an hour) post-and-run (need to get groceries).

More music first. Still rocking out in my cocoon, but it IS the Year of the Dragon now, and February draws near... I actually wore a maxi-length hippie dress yesterday- however, I quickly added my black hoodie and badass boots. Today I'm back to pants, but at least they are green ones, with coordinating cool tone layers.

I've been a YouTube junkie lately. You can find almost anything on there. Even the Hot Dog Dance from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which I have watched a few times in order to learn the dance steps. I can't quite master Goofy's kicks. It's like a Russian folk step or something. What's up with that dude's nose? (the Russian, not Goofy) This guy is cuter, and wow I don't think I'll be trying that move either.

At any rate, last night I went to bed with Hippy Hippy Shake in my head. I think it was something Stew said. I had blurted out like one line of it, but couldn't string together more, or place where the song was from. I was getting an 80s vibe. He thought Beatles. Turns out he was right, but the original was by Chan Romero. Then came Swinging Blue Jeans. Then the Beatles. Next, Georgia Satellites. The latter being from the Cocktail soundtrack, and probably where my sound memory came from. I so wanted Elizabeth Shue's curly hair in that movie. Damn you straight hair.

But for real hip shaking, I'm still digging Skrillex's dope beats. Yo Skrill, drop it hard! I like all the distorted voices, samples and computery sounds. It's good for house cleaning to, or even for chilling in the pickup line outside school. You know, because your 4 year old refuses to nap during that time now.

And oddly enough, I've been mildly curious about conceptual art Hip Hop, like Die Antwoord and Kreayshawn. Though Kreayshawn probably does not consider herself a conceptual artist, and I think Die Antwoord bristles at that label too. Still, both strike me as slightly unreal, but interesting in a portrayal-of-a-totally-different-world way. And Kreayshawn is pro thrift shopping, so I like her for that. In fact, the line that grabbed me from her Gucci Gucci song was, referring to designer label clothing, (and, what I gather as "trendy" stuff): Basic bitches wear that shit, so I don't even bother

I could go off on a whole different tangent if I were to share what I found when I googled "basic bitches." Oh the things you can learn on the internet...

Now to roll up to the 'Mart, yet another cultural environment always rich with fuel for an odyssey of the mind.

Sound Insulation

2012-01-17T11:39:00.003-05:00

Just a little ditty (actually it's more of an opus, oops) to follow-up from Friday's post, which Stew told me was "depressing." I didn't mean it to come off that way. It was intended more as a tribute to seasonal funks. Recognizing that most people fall into them at one point or another, and that there is nothing wrong with it. Maybe even they are good for you.

Anyway, shortly after writing the last post, I started perking up. Plus I got distracted by troubleshooting why blogger.com's new threaded comments weren't working on my blog. Then felt vindicated when I figured it out. I even posted it to the blogger help forums and someone else replied saying thanks! What can I say? It warms my heart to help people with my geekiness. So I can feel my little januweary boohoo cocoon starting to do it's magic.

I'm still slackering it up style-wise and only have energy for the scratching of surface of chores, but I am in higher spirits. Was nice to hangout this weekend. Stew and I marathoned our way through the first season of The Walking Dead. I had to cower into his shoulder a few times- I really DO NOT LIKE zombies -but the storyline was compelling enough to outweigh the willies. Plus it is kind of fun to be freaked out every once in a while. During/after the first two episodes I could totally feel my stress reactions kicking in, it was crazy.

Talking about stress reactions... this is the penultimate day of the older boys' school-break-take-3, and so far, no bloodshed. Today I'm not taking any chances though, and have organized an impromptu "Picnic with Dad" as a way to eat up 3-4 hours... Going to let them watch a DVD w/ headphones, while I drive to FM transmitted iPod goodness.

Because, along with NetFlix marathons, one prominent feature of the cocoon's internal structure is a thick layer of sound insulation. Not so much keeping sound out- with kids, that is nigh impossible- more so, a buffering of a musical equivalent of shag carpet and trippy wallpaper.

You know how all the best movies are scored with superfab soundtracks, made up of seemingly random songs, but when you sit back and listen, the tone or lyrics fit the situation perfectly? And it makes you wish someone would craft a soundtrack to your life too? Or was I the only child of the 80s who felt that way after watching a John Hughes movie?

Similar to books, I've always been a bit of a follower when it comes to acquiring a taste for music. Maybe it sounds better to say that I prefer books & music to be peer reviewed. Other than movie soundtracks being a big musical influence in my life, suggestions from friends and family and strangers on the internet are basically the only way I pick up on new tunes. I don't do a lot of hunting & gathering on my own. I save that decisive/predictive/"this is cool" energy for thrift shopping / clothing.

But I really like the flirtation stage of new music, when you first hear it and are like all, eh. Then you give it another try, and something tickles your fancy. A hook winks at you or a lyric makes you take a second glance. You play it again to see if you heard it correctly. Head over to google to read the full lyrics. It's like poetry. What's the meaning of the words? Realize it doesn't matter, you are infatuated, either way. Finally it all comes together and it's totally heavy petting as you hit repeat the second it is over so you can hear it again and again. Then you drop it for awhile. Come up for air. And if it still gives you butterflies the next few times you meet, well, then you know. Similarly, I have a tendency to fall out of love with certain songs too. Maybe I play them too much too soon, I don't know. But then it can be fun to rediscover them later on.

Thinking back, if I were to look back through my life, my boohoo cocoons most likely coincide with increases in music acquisitions. I'm not sure what comes first, the cocoon or the music, but at some point they interweave and flow along with each other for a time. Which means, I've been consuming a lot of "new to me" music lately. Also significant, Santa brought me a $50 iTunes gift card. Which now only has, like $12 on it.

Since I like hearing what other people are hearing, I usually try to pass things on as well. Used to be in the form of burned CDs, but is it just me, or are music CDs going the way of 8 tracks? So the other day I started finding YouTube videos for some of the songs I've downloaded recently. Then I wrote a little bit about each song and saved it as draft because it was taking forever. But now I'm just going to post it and move on. I gotta go get ready for the picnic...

See the songs listed below, or you can play through each one via this YouTube Playlist.

What songs/bands/albums have you been grooving to lately?

Mavehaven read my mind and shared some of her Tunes this morning. She has good taste, go visit.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Stereo by IAmDynamite (video)

Passed along by a friend and now I'm anxiously awaiting the March album release. In the meantime, go here to download their song Hi Lo and listen to another track, Carolina (in player across top of window).

- I Know What Boys Want by The Waitresses (video)

Really liked the Christmas Wrapping song by The Waitresses from a mix of Christmas songs Stew had downloaded from iTunes. So I checked out what other music they had and was tickled to see they were an early 80s "new wave" band, who also did the theme song for Square Pegs. Anybody else remember that show?

- The theme to FireFly written by Joss Whedon who also wrote the show (video)

Stew continues to sneak country in on me, he liked this theme song and we found it on iTunes. Also this was from the NetFlix marathon we had just prior to the watching The Walking Dead.

- Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith (video)

I admit, I stumbled across this country one while trawling the Top 100. I've drunk from many a red solo cup. Actually the kegger ones I remember the most were the frosted/translucent ones. This is not one I'd play over and over again, but would be a cheesy song to play at a party.

- Everything at Once by Lenka (video)
This was one that earwormed both Wiley and I as it played during a Disney Studio All Access ad, on the Cars 2 DVD last night. I googled it (forget what search term I used) and downloaded it. Milo wants to know what something that looked like all those animals would look like. A monster, I said.

Also movie/soundtrack related...
- Immigrant Song by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O from TGWTDT soundtrack (video)
(originally Led Zeppelin, which I already had)

- Creep (Radiohead Cover) by Scala & Kolacny (video)
Another cover downloaded recently and kind of 6 degrees of separation, as it is from another David Fincher directed film (it was used in Social Network trailers/intro)...

- All I Want is You by U2 (video / movie clip [Spanish ver. dubbing surprised me at end])
This U2 song recently played in our iTunes shuffle and I told Stew it always reminds me of that part from the end of Reality Bites where Ethan Hawk calls Winona Ryder and hangs up after a long pause.

- The Show is actually a Lenka song (quelle coinkydink!) but we downloaded the version by actress Kerris Dorsey(video)
We heard in it in Moneyball, which I had Redbox'd for Stew and ho-hum watched with him... pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all that horrible. I'm not all that into baseball, but Brad Pitt is still easy on the eyes.

- 99 Problems (Jay-Z cover) by Hugo (video) Here's an interesting sidenote about Jay-Z related to the original song. And the rest of that Hugo album is pretty catchy too. This song is one Stew picked up on when we watched No Strings Attached (It was okay. Ashton is cute in it, Natalie Portman is annoying.)

- Not long ago I downloaded a Steve Miller Band album. Flashback city. I think it was hearing The Joker play on the radio that sent me down that memory lane. Total highschool moment. (video)

Oh and here's a song (video) from a Norwegian black metal band Kevelrtak that I downloaded solely because when I saw it listed as "Breakout Metal Album" on iTunes I remembered a stylish Norwegian flickr friend saying how she'd been listening to it non-stop last spring. At the time I'd googled it to see what she was talking about, and really liked the album's cover art, plus the lyrics were said to all be concerned with Norse mythology / Viking folklore which sounded really cool. Nothing against any of those influencing factors, but pretty much all the songs sound the same to me. Kind of wish I'd have just downloaded one song and not the full album. Oh well. That sometimes happens when you have a gift cert burning a hole in your virtual pocket and click "buy album" on a whim.

ETA: The Kevelrtak album actually grew on me a little bit as I listened to it on the drive home. Maybe it was because the tracks were out of order or playing backwards, but there were a few raging head-banging ones that played this time that I think I missed before. They make Metallica sound like The Monkees. Also I came to the realization, just like making yourself watch spooky zombie movies, sometimes it can be good to freak your ears out with some scary music. Whatever gets that old heart or brain pounding is good for you, I say. Also black metal turned up way high is total sound insulation, unlike sugary Lenka... with Sultans of Satan playing, you REALLY can't hear the kids fighting in the back.

And PS, I just found this on YouTube too. 12 Hours of White Noise.

And and PPS, when left to my own devices, (or have XM radio for 3 months), I've come to find that electro/dance type stuff turns me on pretty quickly. Wiley and the boys seem to like it too. Here's a track of that variety I just previewed and was told to "download that to your iPod mom!"...
Kyoto by Skrillex (video)

And and and PPPS, this:

Januweary

2012-01-13T10:27:00.002-05:00

January is always tough for me. I know it's supposed to be a new start and all yeeha! resolutions! and stuff, but I always find myself a bit weary. Januweary.

It's like coming off of a high and being all bleh. Aimless. Discontent. Cold.

With no snow to be temporarily distracted by. Boring weather is boring.

While I'm thankful that our little magical trip to Disney (it was fun, captioned pics here) ate up 5 days of my month-long funkfest, the return to reality took the whole deflated feeling up a level. Now the holidaze, extended and otherwise, are truly over.

For me anyway. After today, the kids totally have another 5 day weekend off from school. Some devious maniacal exploit of the 9 weeks system and the lining up of MLK day equals Monday as a holiday followed by two teacher workdays and OMG what the hell am I going to do with the boys that whole time?

Plus Cyrus might have inherited my post-holiday-blues gene, because he woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and I barely got him out to the car this morning. I'll be surprised if I don't get a call from school today. "Cyrus has been standing in a corner, pouting, for the last hour..." What could I do about it? I'm pouting too.

Oh well. Once I make it through next week, well, then Januweary will be almost over.

So bear with me, it might be a pixel-free ghost town over here until I get my mojo back.

In the meantime, I'm setting low daily expectations, thereby upping the chances of being pleasantly surprised. Content myself with meeting everyone's basic needs, and maybe my own too. Let a few things slide. Soak up simple pleasures. Snuggle up with a book or a movie. Practice positive visualization. Chant little mantras No calls from school / No calls from school. Conjure happy vibes, and so forth.

Hopefully next week I'll get back to running & yoga. And maybe five days home with the boys is just what I need. I good kick in my woe-is-me ass.

Everything else, including contemplating/setting grandiose goals, may just have to wait until February. My birth month. When the little wintery boohoo cocoon I wrap myself in gets too confining and I bust out, all colorful and Go Me! I'm Awesome! again.

Minnie was F****** Goofy

2012-01-04T18:26:00.003-05:00

Well these first few days of 2012 have not been all that filled with Dragon Warrior Princess-ness. More like Dazed Post-Holiday Skank-ness. Other than Jan 1st, when I wore PJs all day and got a bunch of shit done around the house, I've basically I've been doing various degrees of the bare minimum, and happily wearing pants the whole time. Pretty much that whole slacker mom look x100.

The preschool owner continues to be fascinated with how young I look, every day telling me I could pass for a child myself. Why is it more flattering coming from her than the gentleman greeter at the 'Mart?

Maybe just being bundled up takes a few years off one's appearance? It's been cold (not Iowa cold, but NC cold), so the so-novel-to-not-be-wearing-a-dress pants fest has been topped with lots of layers consisting of thermal tops, hoodies, vests, and knit caps. It is probably the knit caps accentuating my round face/cheeks that is making me look 15 but whatever, I tend to agree with the old myth that like 50% of body heat can be lost through an uncovered head. Plus I need to cut my hair again but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I did cut the fingertips off a pair of old gloves, a la keyboarding gloves, as even all the pre-trip googling I've been doing wasn't warming up my fingercicles. Can you see how that instantly bumped me up to Rockin' ~~Hobo~~ Hacker Babe, just like that? No? Oh well.

Pre-trip, you say? Why yes, we're headin' out on a New Year(ish) road trip, a trip of many "firsts." Stew and my sister's first 1/2 marathon, run no where else but through the grounds of Disneyland, another first. The kids and I are going along to cheer them on (not from the $90 Platinum bleacher seats mind you), and to experience one of biggest tourist trap-y pieces of Americana there is.

I suspect it's going to be a bit like the Clampetts or the Griswolds, but we're going to have fun, damn it! Italicized because that's my sister's and I's (me and my sister's? Mom, help?) little catch phrase leftover from the Summer '11 road trip / river-tubing bonanza.

To make it even more "fish out of water / country cousin" sitcom-y, we're basically staying at the Disney trailer park, aka Cabins at Fort Wilderness. Six of us squished into a 500 square foot singlewide with a log cabin facade, should provide plenty of laugh track comedy gold, for sure. I'm pretty excited to work the Murphy Bed though. Especially if we can fold the 3 kids back up into it and hightail it to Epcot for an evening as they bang on the mattress yelling "Let us out! Let us out!" Ha ha.

In pure rags-to-riches style, we've been scrimpin' this past week or so, eating the cupboards bare, feeding the children even more Ramen noodles than usual. And last night I was tasked with cashing in our change jar... to the tune of $85 smackers.

Look out Toll Roads and Cracker Barrels and Gas Stations and Sports Expos and finish lines and Monorails and Magic Kingdom... here we come!

Oh and PS, this post's subject is the punch line to one of Stew's favorite Disney related jokes. Otherwise, as a family are we big Disney fans? Not really. Milo's not too keen on people in animal costumes either. See, just more fun memories waiting to happen!

All joshin' aside, I'm stoked. Mostly just to get out of the house. And if there is a coaster ride or two in my future, all the better. Whee!!!! See y'all later.

Year of the Dragon Warrior Princess

2011-12-31T16:08:00.000-05:00

2012 will be the Year of the Dragon, if you didn't know. Of course we won't officially start breathing fire until January 23rd, but that does seem a little bit earlier than usual. Don't you already feel a little bit magical & mythical about the new year?

I know I do. I'm optimistic. 2012 is going to be good. Something is going to happen. I just know it. Even if that something is so small, only I can see it. Or maybe it will be BIG. Life-shaping.

Either way, I'm thankful for Dressember giving me an excuse to send good 'ole 2011 out with a bang. As years go, it wasn't too bad. And for all those who followed along with me, either these past years, or only recently, I'm thankful for you too.

If I were having a party, you'd all be invited. It would be a masquerade. I'm dressing as a Warrior Princess, what are you going as?

Dressember 31st 100% Thrifty: shades, boots and velvet dress w/ DIY vest safety pinned to it

In fact, personally, I think I might coin 2012 as the Year of the Dragon Warrior Princess. That seems like an appropriate theme to take me on an ass-kicking path in the next year.

Here's wishing you all a superfantasorgasmicespialodociously rad 2012!

AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18 Prepare to reassess, review and redo. A serious look at your past, present and future will help you put your life in perspective and set realistic goals. You will advance quickly once your direction is clear. New beginnings and projects will confirm that you are on the right track. Greater success will unfold as you take advantage of the opportunities that are offered to you. Love: An abundance of opportunities and choices may lead to confusion. Money: Knowledge will lead to greater wealth. Health: Discipline and strength of character will equal good health.

via

Dressember 30th

2011-12-30T16:18:00.001-05:00

Dressember 30th

~ thrifted vintage dress

~ thrifted pleather vest

~ skull cap snagged from Stew

~ thrifted boots

Photo by Wiley

Kicking Out the Jams

2011-12-29T15:36:00.001-05:00

jesse.anne.o blogged a fairly awesome resolution for 2012, that I'm totally stealing.

To kick out the jams.

What does it mean? I've always associated it with just doing something big, something awesome. Rockin' it. Cutting loose. Dropping the baggage. Getting Shit Done. That kind of thing.

Also it reminded me of the cover Bad Brains & Henry Rollins did of a MC5 song of the same name. That song, Kick Out the Jams, is one of my favorite songs from the Pump Up the Volume movie soundtrack. And I totally downloaded it for free today like some criminal.

Then I proceeded to do something the boys dared me to do at the park, danced like a freak, and made a movie video. Oh and you know, the usual stuff like dishes and laundry and care/feeding of six male beings.

I'd say I'm getting a head start on the new year... in yet another frickin' dress no less.

Boho-chic Half-dog Pre-nap

2011-12-28T13:58:00.000-05:00

Dressember 28th

100% Thrifty

- sleeveless dress as a skirt

~ peasant top

~ tapestry belt

~ vest

~ boots

~ shades

Woke to run, even though I'd been tossing and turning all night.

Got the youngest off to school without a fight.

Owner told me "you look like a child yourself" (was still in my running stuff w/ knit skull cap).

No more rain, "abundant" sun, but cooler and breezy.

Dressed in some fave boho-chic separates.

Ran an errand with the older boys that we were in/out of in under 15 min.

Went to the park after preschool pickup, left before meltdown.

So far, Hump Day of the Week InBetween has been good day.

Then I came home and discovered I'd turned into a centaur of the half-girl half-dog variety.

And that despite the sun, I didn't really want to stay outside very long with the boys.

Maybe we'll try again later.

For now, the couch is calling my name.

A Picture Says 15 Words

2011-12-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

Dressember 27th

100% Thrifty:

~ vintage dress from etsy, Cereal Vintage Thrift

~ sneaker print long sleeve tee, "Hybrid Tees" brand from consignment shop

~ boots, thrifted

F* You, You F*ing F***

2011-12-26T21:53:00.001-05:00

100% Thrifty, except tights, yadda yadda.
Featuring a vintage handmade dress,
which combined with tights and shoes,
might have elicited a behind-the-back snide/sarcastic "cute"
from a female as I walked into the movie theater's bathroom this afternoon.

On the outside I'm a shy weird girl/mom that wears quirky clothes, and on the inside I'm a bit of a reclusive snob with a freshly minted desire to DIY a shirt like this. To wear when, who knows. Maybe as a top layer, the next time I wear this dress? Maybe censored? You know, so it looks like I sort of care...

Chaos / Zen

2011-12-26T07:41:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure the holidays are for everyone, my weekend was a mix of chaos and zen...

Chaos

My first attempt at baking / supervising Christmas Cookies.

Filled with fussin' n cussin' and one "I suck" facecrack status update.

Zen

Having the house to myself for a few hours of wrapping and continued cookie setup.

While the cookie baking started out frantic, eventually I found my rhythm.

And, check the snowmen magically lining up at the cut edge of that wrap job! Yeah baby! Skillz!

Chaos/Zen

Dressember 24th was 100% Thrifty, except socks.

Little bit of patternmixing before my mad dash to the 'Mart for last minute stuff like batteries.

Actually made it out of there in record time (almost all the checkouts were open!)

and got an "Is that a dress or skirt? [dress] It's so cute!" compliment from my cashier.

Chaos/Zen

Aftermath mess/cleanup of cookie decoration... but, look- Wiley figured out to mix ~~babypoop~~ brown!

Chaos

Who was it again that told Aunt Cathy to get the boys remote control trucks?

Zen

Dressember 25th was 100% Thrifty (& more patternmixy), except tights (black & purple stripes!). A repeat from last year.

Home from the inlaws', boys entertained in another room, before a "parents only" NetFlix viewing,

I sprawled out on our ~~stolen~~ new-to-us, just-barely-wedged-in,

formerly-worth-$4K-and-now-covered-with-a-sheet couch,

and asked Stew to capture my frazzled beauty a la Jack & Rose. Ha ha.

PS - Happy Holidays

PPS - Mom/Cathy, I'll put a few family pics up on facecrack later, or the long neglected .net

Mom Face

2011-12-23T20:21:00.002-05:00

It was like 6 pm and I'd just nuked a leftovers dinner for the boys, who were sitting at the table eating, behind the tripod, and I think I had just been making some kind of "boy, don't test me" look at Milo, just prior to the self-timer going off.

100% Thrifted, except socks.
~ red zippery vest
~ red belt
~ vintage dress
~ faux chucks
~ red socks that inched their way down during the day

Peppermint Sandy

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

I suppose it is sort of seasonal, but lately I've been pondering the concepts of light and time. Actually I guess time is a concept and light a fact of life. At least until the sun gets blocked by some world altering event. Some say we'll find out in next year.

Yesterday and today I challenged the kids to see how long we could go without turning on the lights. Or using them only sparingly. We're going to play that game again today. I guess if there is one good thing about summers in the South, it is the abundance of light. Or rather, the ability to tie up curtains and crack the windows on the Winter Solstice.

The mild weather down here is nice, but sometimes it gets boring. I like to experience extremes once in a while. One time in Iowa we were snowed in without power for like 4 days.

I've kind of been missing my old wintry stomping grounds. No influx of Northern blood this year either, my parents are staying put for the winter. It would have been nice to see them, but I'm not ashamed to say it is kind of nice to be having a relatively quiet holiday. Though, all those far and away are in my thoughts...

Sure, sure, a quiet holiday, other than the boys running around like crazed animals for more days than I want to count that is. Oh, and all the other little things that still need to done before the year can come to a close. But parenting is a constant. I'll be a mother right up until the apocalypse.

Another good thing about snow is that you can send kids out in it. The boys are kind of running out of outdoor activities. Maybe I should have left the pool up. Instead there is just this ring of super green grass that the leaves refuse to settle on. Like some spirit of summer fairy ring. Maybe I'll go turn a few circles in it and see if it will transport me to some equally windblown spot in some snowy fantasy land.

December 2011

Last year, in some weird fluke (OMG, Global Warming!), the NC coastal plains got a nice heavy snow on Christmas or the day after. As if it hitched a ride down here on my mom & dad's camper.

December 2010

Today we are expecting unseasonably warm weather (OMG, Global Warming!), at least that is what the dude that updates the local weather on facecrack says. I haven't checked his qualifications, but I suppose he's an actual meteorologist and not just a weather enthusiast like I am.

If I wasn't a mail lady I'd be a weather girl. Except getting a meteorology degree might require more science prereq's than I could handle. I mean I was a science whiz in high school but I'm not sure I could perform at that level these days. Maybe if I had a hot tutor with an engineering background.

Anyway, in honor of the first day of winter, this morning I enlisted the older boys to help me do a quick solstice cleaning. I should like, burn some sage or something too, or maybe go cast some spells in the fairy circle? Around noon, you know, when the old sun finally rolled up and peeked through the overcast sky, it came time to actually dress for the day. I figured I'd go slightly festive, but knew I wouldn't need any silly cold weather things like sleeves.

Enter, the candy cane dress I thrifted earlier this month. It's a simple 80s (maybe late 70s?) vintage dress by Sears "Fashion Place" which is easy to wear but would be a lot cooler with pockets. Thus the Grandma Wavie holidaze apron I found last night while I was unearthing rolls of wrapping paper.

100% Thrifty, except Grandma's apron.

What is it about this time of year that induces one to over indulge in things like coffee and chocolate? Don't worry, I'm supplementing with vitamins and herbal tea. And cheese. And salsa. All I need are some peppermint schnapps to spike some hot chocolate with and I'll be set. Oh, or rum-n-nog! In lieu of that, these York Pieces are fairly intoxicating.

And just to continue the over indulgence and mint theme, this morning I pampered myself with a facial mask and deep hair conditioning. That was followed by an herbal rinse and a "super minty" energizing exfoliator body scrub.

Now that I feel less like I should be hibernating, it's time to face more non-weather extremes of my life. The out-of-control recycling bin being the most easily taken care of.

Then off to pick up the youngest, who, as another extreme, hopefully falls to sleep on the drive home. I might take the scenic route. Should be getting dark by then anyway, maybe we'll go look at lights.

Happy Solstice to all, and to all a long night.

PS - Wouldn't it be crazy to live in the really south South and have 24 hours of sun? Even seeing pictures from ladeez down under the equator is crazy. Though the idea of Christmas without snow doesn't seem quite as odd to me anymore.

PPS - My eFriend and fellow Dressember participant, Yukon Jenn, is closer to the opposite, she had something like only 5 hours of light the other day and has probably had snow on the ground since like September or something insane.

Rain Blues

2011-12-21T11:53:00.003-05:00

Today would have been a good day to fashion an outfit around a pair of rain boots. I mean I knew rain was in the forecast, and that it had been sprinkling this morning, but when I went out to take a picture I was like Oh! It's raining! Duh. So I stayed on the stoop and caught a few raindrops in the palm of my hand.

100% Thrifty, except tights.

"Chadwick's" brand dress, which is a little more suburban mom than I swing,

but it was 50% off tag color plus I liked the big tropical print

and the little details like linen/cotton fabric, pockets and yokes and plackets and self-belts, oh my!

Oh well, looks like I'll have plenty of time to break out the rain boots as it is. Non snow (sadly) precipitation is predicted every day through the 25th. Just in time for the boys' first week of break. Lovely!

PS - I was able to mail two etsy packages out same day as purchase today! The last one I actually stood out by the road (not raining at the moment) and waited for the mail lady to drive back by from doing her dead end loop, because the label was printing right as she pulled up to our box, moments earlier. She nicely slowed to a stop and took it from me, so I thanked her kindly and wished her a Happy Holidays.

PPS - I've always thought it would be kind of fun to be a mail lady. Crusin' around, deliverin' the goods. Other than the ones that go postal, they always seem so chill.

madam0wl

Irritable Owl Is Amused

Not like I'm Keeping Score

3:21 PM Haikus

DayQuil DollParts DayDream

Lost Dog, Mad Dash, Still Sick

Yoga and a Hair Cut, Lotsa Dashes

Do What Feels Right

Equilibrium for 95 pts

Love You Like A Sister

Rest of the Meat Story (NSFV, obvs)

Kitchen Experiment (NSFV)

Hippy Hippy Shakes

Sound Insulation

Januweary

Minnie was F****** Goofy

Year of the Dragon Warrior Princess

Dressember 30th

Kicking Out the Jams

Boho-chic Half-dog Pre-nap

A Picture Says 15 Words

F*** You, You F***ing F***

Chaos / Zen

Mom Face

Peppermint Sandy

Rain Blues

F* You, You F*ing F***