Friday, February 26, 2010

Creaky Yellow Armadillow Unicycles

*First of all, let me say that I'd never thought I'd be trying the first sushi restaurant in DeKalb, much less the second. Even more unlikely was the notion that there would be one sushi place open singly, much less having two sushi places that were open at the same time. But now there are, and I have tried them both. Haru of Japan is a bit fancier than Fushi Yami, and the prices are a bit steeper. I sorta hate to say it, but it's a really nice looking place on the inside. The presentation of the sushi was lovely (taking into account my limited exposure to such things), and the variety was somewhat daunting to my inexperienced eyes. We had the Chef's choice, which consisted of 8 different sushis and some spicy tuna rolls. I had thought the spicy tuna was going to be actual tuna, but I think it may have been tuna roe. I'm not sure. The first one I had had a bit too strong of a 'fishy' taste and aroma for what I tend to like. But, I figured I'd try another one before making up my mind. I hit that one up with a touch of wasabi, and it was all right. the texture was OK, and I had no problem with the seaweed, but there was still a bit of that fishiness lurking there. I usually do well with rolls, but I think I may avoid this particular one in the future. Now, as far as the sushi went, the only problem we had was that we weren't quite sure what it was that made up our sushi sampler. There was one that the Boss tried and didn't really care for. She thought it was eel, I thought it was octopus. Either way, she didn't care for the texture. The rest of the pieces were quite tasty, even though we had no idea what they were. It may have been better that way. Anyway, Haru is a nice place, but a little outside of what we want to pay unless we're going out for some special reason. Most likely, if one or both of us has an interest in sushi, we'll probably head over to Fushi Yami.

*I can only think that my brain is still trying to relearn all it's connections without all the additional artificial chemicals. The ability to finish a crossword puzzle is eluding me at the moment. Organizational puzzles seem to be flying over my head as well. I haven't even tried anything of a highly deductive nature out of fear that I may actually start a fire inside my skull. I'm betting that would sting something fierce.

*The song stuck in my head right now? 'Drink Whiskey and Shut Up' by Brian Setzer.

*He brought in a psychic?? Really? Never saw that coming. Guess that's why I'm not a psychic...

*Dropped off the auction items at TAILS Thursday. Of course, the person I had been in touch with wasn't there. Plus, with all the construction going on at the new building, the place looked like a war zone. Still managed to get in and get things dropped off, and also brought along some other dog-related items that we don't use anymore. Also managed to leave without adding another member to the pack. The only thing I have left to iron out is how they intend to put the items up at the actual auction. Last year, the economy was crap and it's only gotten worse. That was the reason I donated 4 items this year, two of which were on the small side. That way, hopefully, those who can't afford to bid on the larger, more expensive items could still be able to bid on something neat. At least that was my intent. I'm still waiting to hear back from my contact person as to how they intend on handling the items.

*I've been carrying the chess game with me every day to work. I've analyzed at least a dozen moves trying to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each play. And, after all that work, I still have no idea what to do.

*After a particularly exhilarating peanut butter sandwich, I have come to the conclusion that I may just be psychic after all. Right now.....I'm sensing .....that one of you out there.....is a man....no....a woman....no....I'm sensing that there is either a man or a woman out there right now.....now I'm getting.....a word...no a letter...I'm sensing that someone out there who is either a man or a woman has had an encounter with...someone or something...that involves...the letter 'e'....this is a very strong vision....coming to me quite clearly....definitely the letter 'e'....it was something that was spoken to them...maybe read by them....but definitely the letter 'e'....and wait....there's a color now.....a peaceful, tranquil color....blue...no...white....yes...the spirits say a man or a woman and the letter 'e'....can't tell from across the void if it's a long 'e' or a short 'e', but the energy is definitely that of a vowel...and something white....or whitish.....wait.....I can almost feel the spirit energy around me now....I am sensing that there is someone out there who has known someone who is alive....no....not alive...that's it....the energy is coming to me....so loving....so peaceful...reaching out to you...so beautiful....I can sense such positive feelings.......no....wait....don't leave us....I can sense....I can sense.....they're gone...the spirit energy is gone....

That was an amazing brush with the other side. You should feel blessed to be surrounded by such incredible energies. One hundred dollars, please.

*Trying a new material for tiki creating. Not sure what I think of it. Does ok with push carving, to some degree, but doesn't have a lot of structure when it come to doing low angle corners. It's also OK to work with files, but generates a lot of light, fine dust, which I'm sure I shouldn't be breathing. Haven't tried using the Dremel on it, mostly because I haven't wanted to get the air cleaner running. Having just rediscovered a bag of rhinestoney type things left over from my craft fair days, I'm interested in seeing how this stuff takes ink. If it does so to any decent degree, I could be using it to do my homage to Coco Joe's.

*While slurping my way through a second cup of coffee the other morning, I found my ass firmly wedged into the couch and my thumb attached to the channel button on the remote. I ended up stopping to watch a movie that I had seen the previews for, thought was somewhat interesting, had made a mental note to rent when it came out on DVD, and then promptly forgot about. I didn't have much else better to do on a cold Thursday morning, so I sat, slurped, and watched. '30 Days of Night' is a vampire move. Not sparkly, angst riddled, dreamy eyed vampires, but the hissing, growling, chew your neck out kind of vampires. The movie had decent potential from where I sat embedded in the couch. In the end, it was just OK. They had all the ideas in place to do something fresh in the vampire mythos, but they ended up letting it slip away in favor of ridiculous amounts of spraying blood and computer generated snow. The vampires themselves were appropriately creepy, violent, animalistic, and mysterious, but the unique points they had in the plot got underplayed to the point of being forgettable. A bit disappointing overall. Not less than I would expect for cable TV at 10 in the morning, but I'm glad I didn't actually pay money to see it.

*The desk is once again slowly disappearing under a creeping mound of paperwork and filing. I really should do something about that.

*My latest guilty TV pleasure? 'Archer'.

*I have a date with a couple of tubes of Superglue that I keep putting off. It's really no fun being reminded just how close you came to completely destroying something irreplaceable just because you were being lazy.

*Why, oh, why must the powers that be seek to ruin all that is good about being a kid?? There is NO reason whatsoever that Froot Loops should contain any added fiber. Or any actual nutritional value, for that matter. None. As in not one single reason. Froot Loops are meant to be eaten straight out of the box until your head starts swimming from the sugar rush and your parents throw you outside because they're sick of you riding your Big Wheel around the house at top speed while chasing the dog and screaming like a maniac.

*

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wet Cork Turkey Lifting Prongs

*Another snow event came and went without living up to the hype surrounding it. I can think that it was a good thing in this case, since it was really wet, heavy snow. 6+" of that stuff would have been a killer. 2-3" was just a bit annoying.

*The first flea market of the season was not too bad. Getting up at 6AM sucked, but the show wasn't too bad. No HeroScape stuff, though. No Weeble tree house either. Did find a nice picture of Bettie. And after looking through the whole show and finding no tiki items, I went to my fallback option and did find some nice postcards. And I bought a jeweler's loupe. And a couple of matchbooks. Like I said, nothing stellar, but not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning. Except for the people there who had yet to discover the wonders of soap and deodorant.

*The Boss wanted to try duck for a change, so we had duck for lunch on Monday. I wasn't struck by any great or outstanding flavor difference between it and other bird-type-meats, but it was quite juicy (fatty?). All in all, I don't think I'd refuse it should it be offered again.

*Much as I thought would happen, the time available to me to get things done for the TAILS event has all but evaporated. Stumpy just aint gonna make it to the auction block this year. My second choice replacement is a no-go, as is my third choice replacement. I'm hanging my hopes on a fourth round choice that is something I just started today. If that doesn't work, at least I have 3 good and varied pieces for the auction. The Osage orange one I'm not really wanting to give up, but I know that there are a few more pieces of that wood out in the garage that I can use. OK, now the fourth choice replacement has gone by the wayside in favor of a fifth choice replacement. That one is definitely going, and rounds out the quartet of items I'm donating this year. All four have all been cleaned up, signed, and will be delivered Thursday after lunch. The part that's going to annoy me is when I actually hand the stuff over and they ask me what it's worth. I have no idea what to say. There is not a single piece of the stock material that cost me one red cent, so I can't calculate value based on that. You never get paid for the time you spent working on things like that, plus I never keep track of that anyway. That leaves me with market value. Market value. Right. How does one calculate the market value of tiki carvings in central DeKalb county that are done by an amateur on scrap materials? Your guess is as good as mine. I think they're worth whatever the winning bid on each one is. Which is something I really need to remember to write down this year. But, in order to get to write it off on my taxes, I have to declare some arbitrary, but still reasonable, monetary value for them. It's highly likely that I could still be contemplating this on the drive over to TAILS.

*After many, many recommendations by a wide range of people, we finally gave in and rented 'The Hangover'. And, for something that is basically just an updated and expanded version of 'Bachelor Party', it was pretty darn amusing. The part that was the best was watching the Boss have to admit that it was indeed funny after being fairly reluctant to watch it.

*Usually, when I see something that I wouldn't mind having for my collection, but end up not buying, I hardly ever get a second shot at that item. This weekend I got to break that trend. After the flea market, since it was on the way, I wanted to stop at American Science and Surplus to see if I just might be able to find the skeleton that I've been wanting to buy. No luck on the skeleton, but I did find a Moai touch lamp that I had passed on buying at Spencer Gifts ages ago. I grabbed it without thinking twice. I know 'touch lamp' isn't the right name for it, but I can't remember what is. It's one of those lamps that looks like it has lightning in it and when you touch it with your hand, it changes the way the lightning moves around inside-whatever that's called. Anyway, this one is in the shape of a Moai, It's green when it's turned on, but it's blue when it's off, so it looks cool either way. Me likey.

*The first song to get fired through the new stereo was "Breakaway" by Big Pig. The main thing I find myself having to remember is that while the stereo is new, the speakers are not. Therefore excessive volume is still something to be avoided.

*Every now and again I see a movie that is something quite different from what you find in most American movies. Something that was made just to tell a neat story in an interesting way and not just to appeal to the lowest common denominator and make millions and millions of dollars. This time, that movie was 'Absurdistan'. There was something very appealing in how differently the story was told, and with such an economy of dialogue. It was one of the most charming, almost dreamlike foreign films I've seen in a long time. Yes, it's basically a love story. Yes, it has subtitles. Rent it anyway. And if you're having a hard time convincing someone to watch it with you, remind them that it also has gunplay, nudity, and attempted phone sex in it.

*The only thing that I can think of to explain my rather disjointed state of mind lately is the notion that I am coming out from under the influence of the meds. Maybe my brain is going through a period of reprogramming while it adjusts to the different level of chemicals present. Or maybe it's a tumor.

*I rarely encounter someone that makes me feel like a totally inert lump of goo. More rarely do I encounter someone who makes me feel like a totally inert lump of goo and that is hot beyond belief. I does happen though, and has again. So, now there's one more to go up on the Wall of Inspiration.

*I was recently asked by the Boss if I had any ideas what I was going to do as far as the garden goes this year. I hadn't really thought about it until that very moment. I just don't know. If I can keep my artistic momentum going, there won't be a whole lot of leftover time for gardening. If I can at least the get the rest of the perennials in, then things should take care of themselves for the most part. In the back, Gracie and Stella have established a running pattern right along the fence where I usually plant my morning glories, so I'm not sure what to do about that. The main thing that does need to get done in back is to get that area under the one maple tree reestablished with grass. Doesn't matter if I use sod or seed, the beasts will need to be excluded from that area until it takes off. I should also reroute their ramp so it exits under the deck in the gravel instead of into the mud pit in the yard. But for the moment, there is still snow on the ground, so I'm not going to worry about it a whole lot.

*A recumbent bike and a human skeleton. What's so wrong with that? What am I supposed to say I want-gift cards??

*

Friday, February 19, 2010

Pebbled Sectional Tea Dividers

*The dog bled quite a bit. The inside of my car, the landing, the upstairs carpet, the couch-all were bedecked with spots of dog blood. Took the three mooks to get their nails trimmed yesterday, and one of the groomers cut one of the nails one of Gracie's back toes waaaaaay to short. So, there was dog blood everywhere. Put direct pressure on it-we got it to stop. Put styptic powder on it-we got it to stop. The minute she went outside and ran around in the snow, it was bye-bye clot, and the whole bloody process started all over again. Even took her to the vet to see if there was anything they could do, and their suggestion was to put a Ziploc bag over her foot before she goes outside. What? A Ziploc bag?? I was thinking maybe some cautery or something like that, but, no, they dove into the big bag of veterinary medicine and came up with a Ziploc bag. I was not amused. Not to mention that all of this caused me to have to deal with a highly cranky Boss. I was so not happy. I was going try wrapping her nail in some Parafilm and see how that worked. The MIL went out and got her some disposable booties, which could also work, if we can get them on her. I had considered some nail polish or Super Glue, but I don't want to poison the dog or seal in some infective agent. In the end, it all became a moot point, as after a full night of sleeping, the nail has sealed itself up. So far. On the flip side, now the yard is all muddy, so we've switched from one dog with a single bleeding toe to three dogs with a total of twelve dirty feet. The Boss has also decided that while the other two are destined to continue to have their nails done elsewhere, she will now be taking care of Gracie's nails herself.

*I am still not sure what possessed me to climb up on an ice and snow covered roof Thursday. In spite of that monstrous display of stupidity, I made it back down without a rapid, unexpected assist from gravity.

*All hail the return of Bluegirl!

*Having a new Fire Mountain catalog means I should probably put the credit card where I can't easily get to it. Even though I have yet to inventory what I have left over from my craft fair days, I've already got quite a list going of components I want to try to integrate into my tiki carvings.

*I don't know if it's a good thing or not that I looked at the desk calendar yesterday. I saw a note there that said it was time for me to switch projects in order to have both reworked in time for the TAILS event next month. I wouldn't have minded so much if I hadn't spent the past few days basically doing nothing on either piece. Now I feel like I'm under the gun, even though the time not spent working on either pieces is completely my fault. I could just leave Stumpy in the state he's in and concentrate all my efforts on the other piece. Not quite sure what I want to do, but whichever way I go, my time is going to run out real soon. And in the meantime, that Osage orange log is getting drier and harder to work with. Even with really sharp chisels push carving is just about impossible, at least without making my hand go numb. So, the material may end up telling me when the piece is done instead of my artistic vision. Anyway, no matter how you slice it, I got 7 days left to pull this off.

*It does have an input for my IPod. It also has a remote control. I have no idea why it needs a remote control, but I was assured by the installer guy that it was a good thing.

*Turns out the SIL will be joining us on Saturday morning. Good thing the Boss and I tend to wander separately while we're at these things. Should help me keep my comments civil. And, even though I shouldn't, I'm already compiling a list of things I want to find at the flea market. Tiki stuff, of course is at the top of the list. It would be mice to find a few more HeroScape sets, but beyond that, I can't think of anything in particular that I'm looking for as far as games go. Pin-up art is something I'm hoping to find. Bettie Page pin-up art would be even better. A Keebler tree house cookie jar would be nice. And if I ever see that coffin lid mirror again, I will definitely be buying that.

*While it may be considered rude to torment someone while they're on the phone, it can also be quite amusing. It should be noted that in this situation that the term 'torment' has a highly variable and interpretive definition.

*Another foot of snow on the way next week?? Damn groundhog...

*Best new slogan of the week: "Sex first, then guacamole."

*

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Glassy Rhombic Speaker Toggles

*I was slightly disturbed yesterday to find that the gutter along the back side of the garage had become a solid block of ice, as had the downspout that feeds it. Last thing I need is for that to back up under the shingles and down into the wall. Unless the weather decides to cooperate with some above freezing temps though, I'm kinda stuck for a workable solution. At least one that doesn't involve tearing the gutter off while screaming profanities and wielding a blowtorch from the top of a ladder.

*Finally got my problems with the Norton software straightened out. And all it took was for me to hand over control of my computer to someone most likely halfway around the world. Luckily, it seems that nothing damaging got by the program, even when it wasn't functioning at 100% efficiency. Or, at least that's what the report said, after it got done scanning over 15,000,000 items on my hard drive. Now all I have left to do is figure out why my copy of Visual C++ hates my copy of Torchlight.

*A car stereo. That's what the Boss wants to get me and was trying to keep me from knowing about. If nothing else, she was definitely right about it being something I wouldn't get for myself. My car goes in Monday to have it installed, unless I say otherwise. I'm not really sure if I want it. I don't do a lot of driving. The 10 minute trip back and forth to work is about it most of the time. The CD player that's in there now is the original factory install and it works on the odd occasion that it feels like doing so. Like me, it doesn't seem to like doing anything at all when it's cold. But, the radio works fine, and I don't think I've exploded any of the speakers. All of those factors combined make me a bit hesitant to let her spend her tip money on something like that. After the whole watch fiasco, though, I don't want to tell her that I don't want her gift. So, I guess as long as this stereo is one that I can plug my IPod into, that's what I'll be getting come Monday.

*That uncomfortably full/bloated post-meal feeling is starting to happen again. It's that same kind of sensation that led Dr Mike to have someone snake a tube down my nose and into my stomach last year. And that led him, after seeing the results of the snakeage, to tell me that it would probably happen again some time in the future. So, the future must be now. Crap. I hate it when he's right (but we won't be discussing whether or not I'm taking my other meds. I'm also not to fond of the thought of getting scoped again. On the plus side, I may have found the way to rid myself of those extra holiday pounds that I acquired.

*At the moment, I am strongly resisting the urge to leap up and pummel someone...

*One ink is not the same as another, at least as far as the color black goes. The same also goes for reds and blues. This was something I discovered while taking an art class in high school. I drew my own version of King Tut's death mask using nothing but old ball point pens that I had laying around. I thought it was interesting how different brands of pens all had a different shade of the same color ink. I have recently revisited this method, much to my own amusement. In fact, I find myself so amused I may just do some more work in this style on a larger scale.

*This Saturday morning the alarm will be going off around 0630 or so. What would cause me to willingly get up at such a freakishly early hour? The first flea market of the new season! It's off to the DuPage county fairgrounds to check out the first Weaton Flea Market of 2010. I'm hoping for a good show after a pretty slow season last year, but Wheaton is one of those shows that was phenomenal 5 years ago, and has been slowly dwindling ever since. Actually, the decline in the economy over past couple of years has been really hard on most all of the flea markets. The one in Elkhorn seems to be an exception, though. Still, I know there are more treasures out there for me to discover, so, I will venture forth, in comfortable shoes and with a big backpack to see what I can manage to find.

*

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Occupied Mermaid Platform Gear Spindles

*The change in the quality of the sunlight is quite noticeable now. As the sun gets higher in the sky, that blue tone of the light continues to diminish, and it just seems automatically warmer. Plus, when I went to the cafeteria to have dinner last night, there was just the slightest touch of sunset still coloring the sky at 6PM. I was quite happy to see that.

*The winter Olympics have started, apparently despite a raging lack of actual winter. While I am amused by that part, I have no real inclination to actually watch any of the events.

*"The Girl From Monaco" is the latest thing we've rented. It's a French film (sorry, no English soundtrack on this one), about a lawyer who heads to Monaco to take on a particularly tough case and what happens when he gets involved with a bubbly local TV celebrity. The scenery in this film is lovely, especially when compared to the winter IL landscape. The relationships between the main characters are complex and more than once I wished I could know what they were thinking. Of course, that would be besides the thoughts I kept having that one of the male lead characters looked like he could be Eric Idle's brother, and the other looked like an ass kicking version of Barrack Obama. Anyway, for some reason, this film reminded me of Steve Martin's "Shopgirl", probably from it's exploration of May-September romances. I'm still pondering the ending, though. Overall, a very interesting film.

*Sucks when you loose a friend. Sucks more when it's your fault. What sucks even more than that is when you leap straight to the conclusion that the fault lies completely with you.

*I am still wondering where I should be posting all my pictures. I don't care for Picasa, and since they have a limited storage capacity (unless you pay), I don't really want to go with them. I don't do much out of Yahoo, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to go that way. Facebook is just Facebook, and again not really somewhere I do a lot out of. But then again, I don't know why this is even an issue, since I already have a lot of content on Flickr. Hmmmm..... Forget I said anything. Go on about your business.

*Never thought that Eeyore could end up being such a tease.

*The Boss is up to something again, and is once again miffed that she can't pull it off by herself. The Watch Incident has made her a little gun-shy, and apparently she's eyeing something rather expensive for my birthday. But the problem is that it's something of a somewhat technical or specialized nature. She won't say what it is, but she's been talking to people (note: people, not person), and they've been asking her questions that she can't answer. I have no idea what it could be. I mean, I got my other DMT stones in the mail the other day and I'm pretty damn satisfied with that. I can't even think of anything I may have let slip as a 'Oh, I'd like to have ____'. Especially in that price range. Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

*SIL1 should be arriving in DeKalb sometime tomorrow with the niece in tow.

*The lunchbox has been rebuilt! It should be good for another 5-10 years of service now. So, OK, maybe 'rebuilt' is too strong a term. 'Restructured' may be a bit more accurate. 'Reinforced' definitely qualifies. But, if you're gonna go and get all damn picky about it, 'fitted with a Tupperware insert' would hit it right on the nose.

*The second time around, the Germans managed to hold on to Pegasus bridge for the win (4-1).

*

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Collapsible Perforated Dictionary Box Flaps

*I'm not exactly sure just what those things in Lucky Charms cereal are. They say they're marshmallows. I say they're more like sugar croutons.

*Went and looked at a couple of houses that were for sale out in Malta. Not that we're really intent on moving, but it's not a bad idea to keep up on what's available out there. Saw one place that was really sad, and one place that was really nice. In the end, I don't see us moving just as we're getting this place set up the way we want. At the rate they're building the new high school though, we could change our minds at any time.

*Yes, it was an earthquake. Yes, it woke me up. And, yes, this is the second one I've felt right here in IL.

*Was sitting watching the news yesterday, and found out that Great White was going to be playing at the House of Blues that night. Now, I have been a fan of theirs since the 80's when they hit the big time. I had even considered hoping on the Metra in Burlington and heading in to try and catch their show. Then, when their segment came up on the news, they put on this damn near sleepwalking performance that wasn't even close to being half-ass. Now I guess I shouldn't be to harsh, since I've never been in a touring rock band and had to deal with all the stuff that goes along with that lifestyle, but it was just really disappointing. Not that I won't still enjoy their music, but I won't be putting any real effort into going to see them in person, either.

*Back to work today. No big deal. Enjoyed my time off, got some things done, took more than a few naps. What more could you ask for?

*"I Sell the Dead" is a film made by IFC about a pair of grave robbers and their misadventures with the dead and not-quite-so-dead. It's quite funny, and not just because most of the characters have Irish accents, so rent it.

*My deadline for the stuff I want to donate to TAILS is the 26th of this month. I think I'm gonna be cutting it close (no pun intended). I've got two pieces done and am more that 75% done with a third. The last one could go as is, but I'd really like to rework it a bit. After two straight days of carving work, I am once again starting to appreciate the miracle that is Advil. And, minor dings aside, all majorly important hand parts remain intact.

*You go to a pro photographer, you get good pictures. Why is that so hard to understand?

*"Dead Snow" is another IFC film that I got interested in from watching the previews on the "I Sell the Dead" disc. Zombies seem to be making a comeback lately. On top of that, they are coming back in forms far more threatening than your typical slow shambling moaning zombie of old. What could make the notion of that kind of undead even more threatening? If they were Nazis, of course. And that is what "Dead Snow" provides-fast moving, knife wielding, growling, snow tunneling, blood puking, Nazi Zombies (and they damn sure don't sparkle in the sunlight). Bonus, bonus, bonus, bonus! Now, this is a foreign film, so I would advise turning on the English soundtrack and turning off the subtitles, lest you miss a single blood spurting, intestine pulling, head chopping moment of this sub-Arctic gorefest. There. you have been warned. Rent this movie anyway. While it is rather formulaic by horror movie standards, there was something about this movie that I couldn't quite put my finger on that elevated it above your standard slasher film. The Nazis helped of course, but there was more than that. The stark scenery, the interesting reworking of the zombies, and the fact that I actually jumped and covered my eyes at least once made this a standout in the horror genre for me. Rent it, turn the lights off, and have a good scare.

*A winter Olympics without snow? Neat trick.

*Even with the new diamond stones, I haven't developed the skill/talent to sharpen anything but straight chisels. I can't even really do skews very well. What I did figure out is that if I clamp things with a curved profile in the bench vise, I can work the edges with various grits of sandpaper and achieve a decent edge. Time to go back to the can-o-crap chisels and do some more practicing.

*'Toodles'? C'mon, who really says that??

*Tried the new restaurant in town yesterday. Their focus is what they call Mediterranean cuisine, which, by looking at their menu encompasses everything from Greece to the middle East to northern Africa. Y'know, basically the Mediterranean area. The food is good, the portion sizes are large, and I can see myself going back on a fairly regular basis. I'm thinking I will be avoiding the gyros in the future, though. In my rapidly advancing age they make me quite belchy. And nothing can spoil a good peanut butter cookie like an hours old gyro burp.

*I had forgotten how much I enjoy the music of Little Charlie and the Nightcats.

*The idea has been put forth that we could go to Washington DC during the time off I have around my birthday. I don't really care about the government buildings and all that stuff, but I'm betting I could easily spend an entire week in the Smithsonian and still not see everything. Of course, I am balking at the potential cost of this expedition. Trader Vic's and Blue Man Group would be fine with me, and it's much closer to home. But the Boss has her April schedule open and is ready to start booking clients, so she wants answers. Time for me to do some price research, I guess.

*

Monday, February 8, 2010

Eraser Tossing Siamese Badger Cousins

*I had a beer the other night. It's the first alcoholic beverage I've intentionally consumed in longer than I can remember. It had been in the back of the fridge for quite a while, and the notion of having it had crossed my mind on more than one occasion. So, when I sat down to watch a movie with the Boss, I had that beer. I don't know exactly what it was that I was expecting, but I was not impressed by it on any level that I was aware of. Guess that will be the last alcoholic beverage I will intentionally consume for quite some time.

*'Abbey Road' by the Beatles has been in heavy rotation lately.

*The Boss hates the Wall of Shirts. I like the Wall of Shirts. I am keeping, and most likely expanding the Wall of Shirts. I also need to decide what fake plants to move back downstairs. There's just a couple of odd spaces where some greenery would fill things out nicely. I'm also missing a few wall items that I had intended on hanging up. The search for pin-up art, be it new or old, will also resume shortly. I am thinking that I may need to realign one of my display tables, as it may poke out into the path of traffic just a bit too much. And, having already had one accident that resulted in the loss of vintage tiki, I am not eager for such an event to repeat itself.

*The Pegasus Bridge scenario has been set up for quite a while. Haven't touched it yet, but it's ready to go.

*How is it that such a brief section of a dream can leave you feeling like you've had your heart kicked in for an entire day?

*I found my bar set! I knew it was lurking around somewhere in a box I had recently gone through, but I actually managed to lay my hands on it yesterday. Now it sits in it's rightful place atop the bar and opposite the penguin bowl.

*Did a decent cleaning of the studio yesterday. It had gotten to that point whee it was not only difficult to get to things I needed, I was probably a tad on the dangerous side as well. Actually, it all started on Sunday when I watched a couple episodes of Hoarders on A&E. Whenever I watch that show, it gives me a shot of motivation to get things straightened up. Since I had the Boss right there with me, it kind of got to her too, so the issue of the Purple Room/Dumping Ground came up again. I acknowledged that a good amount of the things currently taking up space in there were mine, so I said I would remove them to my space in order for her to have room to work at getting it straightened around. Now, the original intent for that room was that it be a place for her to work out, sew, and store her collection of hats and purses. While this was fair, I had always harbored the intent of making that room part of the Tiki Lounge Metroplex. Things may have taken another step in my direction, but at the cost of her no longer having any interest in the things she has in there. Not quite the way I wanted it to fall out. But at the moment, I will just continue to put work into the main room downstairs, with the hope of eventually getting the Purple room under my control as well.

*Not the raging snowstorm they were calling for, at least not out here. If I go by what was piled on top of my car, I'm thinking we got 2-3" overnight, with just this near-continuous dusting going on all day long. But now that the sun has gone down, the wind is really starting to move out there.

*In the midst of my cleaning of the studio the other day I happened to run across a project of mine that has been lingering on my 'someday' list for way too long. I had this beat to shit leather coat that I wore almost continuously through at least one year of high school, and I had retained it over the years for any number of reasons. I think it would be safe to say that there would have been people at the reunion who would have recognized that coat, but not have had the slightest idea of who I was. Now, if I remember right, it was originally my grandfather's (on my dad's side), but with the way family history was concealed and distorted, that may or may not have actually been the case. But it was a nice, heavy, old leather coat. The main problem was that the shoulder yoke had basically begun to disintegrate from sheer damn age and whatever abuses could be heaped on it by a teenage boy. I had been my intent (10-15 years after high school), to take that section out and replace it, thus rendering the coat wearable for another ridiculous span of time. I mean, it still fit me, so why not? That was what I was thinking 4-5 years ago. I looked long and hard at that coat after I pulled it out from under my studio workbench. Was I ever going to fix it? What was the point of fixing it? I never really knew my grandfather, so there was no real attachment there. In high school, it was more of a way for me to hide myself than anything else, so why would I want to renew or remember that? But it was personal history. Yeah, personal history that's been at the bottom of a box or storage tub for over two decades with no progress beyond the condition that it's been in since 1985. So, I reluctantly threw it out. But, I know right where it is. All it would take is for me to run out to the curb before the garbage man comes tomorrow, and I could rescue it. I know the smell of it by memory. I know the weight of it on my shoulders. But for all that, I was content to just let it slowly rot away over the years. The only connection to it seems to be some need to have some physical bridge back to that time in my life I would most like to redo. Basically, a bridge back to RegretLand.
The garbage can is a dark shadow at the end of the driveway. The wind is driving wispy snakes of snow down the road under the yellow streetlights. I can see all of this from where I sit at the computer. There's a weight in my heart linked to what's in that can. But I can't help but think that what it makes me remember is just another set of inaccurate memories, much like a lot of the others from that time period. Maybe it's just time for me to slough another layer of skin. To brush away some more ancient dirt and see what lies beneath. Doesn't hurt that it's cold outside, and my eyes are starting to burn from being tired. Makes it easier to not go out there. When I go out to bring the can back up to the garage tomorrow, I'll probably feel a little twinge of regret. But I may just also feel a little lighter, a little freer.

*

Calendar Staple Tab Reflectors

*Here we go again, according to the forecasters. 6-10" is what they're saying we might get here, with the possibility of over a foot in Chicago. Right now as I look out the window, a light dusting is down on the ground. The day started of really sunny, but the sun has disappeared behind flat gray winter clouds.

*At the moment, I have 4 tikis in line for possible donation to this year's Tropical TAILS auction. One is done and ready to go. Another just needs a few more sanding passes before it's done and ready. The other two are gonna take some more chisel work before they're ready to go,but since I'm not going to sand them, that should save me some time. That means that none of them will be stained, but if the buyer wants to do that themselves, more power to them. Now all I need to do is let someone at TAILS know I'm donating them, and to buy my table for the actual event.

*"Cold Souls" Kinda on the order of "Eternal Sunshine", but with souls instead of memories. I quite enjoyed it.

*While it was probably good for me to get out and socialize with other people, it did me no good when I realized that I was most likely the oldest person in attendance at this past Saturday's game day. And it will take quite some time before I am able to purge the 10' hydraulic lemon penis from my memory.

*It was good, not only to see Eve, but to get some good Indian food, too. I'm thinking that she may actually get some use from that tank she calls a snow blower in the next couple of days.

*The tiki lounge has really started to come together over the past week. Looking really good, in my humble opinion.

*Cromag has already canceled his potential visit for this evening over weather concerns. Can't say as I blame him.

*I keep hearing that there was some sort of sporting event this past weekend. Hmmm.

*