Pink Leader's Pontifications

Linky love

2008-05-08T22:37:17Z

So yesterday, I got an email from a lady in the Netherlands all excited to find another sprang-fan. She included the link to her website which totally awesome. She has both Dutch and English versions of her site, for the most part.
Den Blauwen Swaen: http://www.denblauwenswaen.nl/engels.htm

Under the menu item for Techniques, she has great pictures for her sprang, nalbinding, and wool dying. (FYI: The pictures are the links to more information.) She does 800-1000 Frisian reenactment, as well as working for the Drents Museum in Assen, and takes some neat photos too. She seems like someone who would be fun to hang out with, but I'll just have to oooh and ahhh at her works from afar. Some of the patterns in sprang that Blue has done are amazing, and now I am really really inspired to try a pair of sprang mittens.

I've also added another sprang page to my site with information on the Sheep and Wool Festival: http://genvieve.net/sca/sprang3.html
It's nothing new from what I posted here on Sunday, but up on my site, which I need to remember not to neglect. It serves as a single location for compiling my works, to remind me of where I've come and what I've done, and also to remind me that I still have so much farther to go.

new to us vehicle

2008-05-06T02:13:22Z

Thank you to all who made suggestions on cars, but apparently we fear change.

We went to the same dealership that we bought my Belle from, and the same salesman, and even the same paperwork lady to get almost the same car, just upgraded and darkened. We are now the proud owners of a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria in Dark Toreador Red. She's a nice smooth ride, updated suspension from the 1999, familiar but updated controls and dashboard, and on the whole sits very well with us.

Since Alan is the primary driver, he considered other options, but sometimes, when you know what you like, what's the point in wasting time.

Currently we're thinking of her as Dark Serenity, but part of me thinks that lacks imagination. Must ponder her name further. Then again, this one could be a guy...

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

2008-05-05T03:52:57Z

Had a great time at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend. I gave out all 75 handouts I'd made over the course of the two days, and introduced lots of folks to sprang who had never heard of it before.

I got to meet a lovely lady from Michigan who works at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (must inspect collection) and talked to her about their sprang fabrics. She said they had images of their collection online. I finished one small Coptic twine patterned bag each day, which made me feel productive and gleeful.

I did get too much time in the sun, and have some interesting burn patches from a lack of sunscreen coverage and wearing my Roman chiton tunica on Saturday. I'm also dog tired from two days of talking, spranging, and working with the public. When I got in the truck this evening to head home the song playing was "A Hard Day's Night", and man am I feeling it, even after a nice nap.

But, I took a bunch of pictures of our set-up and the textile arts being displayed on both days for posterity:

And here are my two completed bags from the weekend:

That pink of the pink and black striped bag is a naturally dyed wool that I found on Saturday and had to buy and use! Isn't it awesome?

And big thanks goes out to Tom and Heather for bringing me lunch on the very busy Saturday, to Alyce and Lisette for being fun shopping partners on Saturday and for providing addictive kettle-corn, Isobel as a fun shopping partner on Sunday and to Ynes for sprang camaraderie on Saturday.

Sprang Webliography

2008-05-03T01:52:35Z

Sprang - The history, origins, construction and use of thread twisting: http://www.regia.org/sprang.html
-Regia Anglorum’s introduction to the history of sprang, with some details on construction.

Phiala’s Sprang page: http://www.stringpage.com/sprang/sprang.html
-Pictures of her works, a handout on making sprang bags, another handout on patterned sprang, and the basics of creating a circular warp for sprang.

Oddny’s Basic Sprang Instructions: http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/donisfuff/sprang1.html
-a basic webpage from the creator of Sprang: A Twisted Little Art
: http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/donisfuff/coptic.html
-with pictures and instructions on creating Coptic patterned (twined) sprang

Sprang: http://housebarra.com/EP/ep07/11sprang.html
-Introduction to Sprang based on Peter Collingwood’s book, focusing on getting started with the technique.

Thora’s Old World Sprang through the Early Middle Ages: A Brief Bibliography: http://www.cs.vassar.edu/~capriest/sprangbib.html
-An annotated bibliography on sprang, technique, history, variations of techniques, and extant pieces

Den Blauwen Swaen: http://www.denblauwenswaen.nl/engels.htm
-A reenactor in the Netherlands who has great technique pages on sprang, as well as nalbinding and wool dying. (After following the link to the site in English, click on Techniques from the menu, and the picture next to Sprang for her works and inspirations.) Basic instructions with pictures and video outside of the main site's frames: http://www.denblauwenswaen.nl/public/sites/english/techniques/sprang_how_it_works.htm

Genevieve’s String page: http://genvieve.net/sca/stringarts.html
-Links to two pages of pictures of sprang bags, at the bottom of the page, created based on basic instructions

Collingwood, Peter The Techniques of Sprang: Plaiting on Stretched Threads. Green Editorial; First edition. June 1999. ISBN-13: 978-1558219670. Copies available on Amazon.com and other booksellers.

Hald, Margrethe. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles, translated by Jean Olsen. Publications of the National Museum, Archaeological-Historical Series, Vol. XXI. Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark, 1980.

Eddie!

2008-05-02T14:52:36Z

Sorry for lack of update.

Eddie Izzard was fun last night. Our seats down in the orchestra were awesome, and there was even a walking aisle space between the back of our seats and the next row, so no one breathing down our necks or kicking the back of our chairs. Those seated around us were nice and enjoyed the show as well, instead of talking or something rude. Eddie was naturally brilliant and entertaining, and handled the hecklers well. We all had an awesome outing.

Okay, onto the bad: Take Metro as finding parking was the suck. On the plus side, I got a good long walk from and to the truck. DAR Constitution Hall is more suited to musical shows than comedy. The acoustics sucked, and Eddie, being Eddie, is dynamic with the hand gestures and they really needed a headset mic for him. And finally, there were signs that said no flash photography at the request of the artist. If you respect him enough to buy a ticket, please don't disrupt the performance with your damn flash, and if you insist on taking a really fuzzy bad picture with your camera-phone, do the rest of us a favor and turn off the sound on your phone. sigh. People are such children sometimes.

Wednesday night, Alan and I went to test drive some new to us cars to replace our smashed up Crown Vic. (sorry, I locked the post with the accident details.) He drove a Ford Five Hundred, another Crown Vic in need of some attention, and a Dodge Charger. On the whole, he was unimpressed with the 500, wistful for another Crown Vic, and the favorite was the charger, which was fun but out of our price range. Anyone have any suggestions on comfortable vehicles for Alan's 45 min (sometimes 2 hour) commute to and then from work? He's used to the Crown Vic, so recommendations for a Focus or Yaris will be completely ignored, but suggestions for cars with comfort and power are appreciated.

This weekend is the MD Sheep and Wool Fest. I need to warp up two more frames for practice and display, and determine today if I want to do a display board or what, and if a visit to Staples is necessary...

sprangtastic weekend

2008-04-28T03:16:17Z

This Saturday was the Free Scholar/White Scarf gathering at Kit's place. There were over 30 fighters in attendance, and while I only took some pictures, laughed at some of the bouts, and got to hang out with friends before and after, here are a few photos of the day.

I did stay up until 3am both nights for a little chatty time with 'Nar and Christian, which could have been predicted.

I've spent much of my time spranging in order to practice and have some nice examples to share this weekend at the Sheep and Wool Fest.

This is the red wool sprang pouch I made on Tuesday:

On Thursday night I warped up some natural gray hand-spun wool Kymber gave me a while back, and attempted some different twist patterns in this piece. Unfortunately, the wool was very sticky and while clearing the shed was a bit tough, making sure to only grab what was intended was tougher. So it is neither polished nor pretty, but a learning experience.

After the trial of the gray wool, I then decided to try a small plain cream fisherman's wool bag. Alas, the chunk of wool I reeled off was riddled with worn places, and instead of just trashing it/ using it for stuffing or something else, I tied knots and tried to work with it. So I have another small lumpy piece with uneven patterning. pitiful, but completed on Saturday.

Finally, I warped up a piece of more of the cream fisherman's wool, along with some in a peach color that I had dyed with pokeberries a while ago, in order to try another bag of sprang with Coptic twined patterning. Luckily I paused on Saturday night when I was getting too tired, and finished the rest of the piece on Sunday afternoon. Someone said it looked like a dreamsicle, which I will take as a compliment.

So that was fun, but I would like a successful piece of the twist patterned sprang, like the Danish Bronze Age cap. Must try that this week. I also love the pattern idea in Collingwood's Sprang book on making mittens, so that looks like fun to try as well.

Advice to Consorts

2008-04-24T20:34:03Z

My left side is all achy (jaw, wrist, ankle) and I'm feeling a bit grumpy. (I'm sure it has nothing to do with annual work reviews and the 4th version I'm on...)

So, I'm gonna pull another old email out for a post. This one becomes relevant as Crown Tourney approaches.

Here's some advice from someone who's been head retainer a few times, and sometimes a consort, never a queen. :)
Updated: Comments with other excellent pieces of advice. Keep 'em coming!

1. Dress nicely, but comfortably. This tourney is not the time to try Elizabethan if you are used to bog dresses. Any period can be fancy and elegant, so stick to beauty, but comfort and familiarity.

2. Keep at least one good friend around with a sense of humor to keep your priorities straight, but your mood light.

3. When you go to the field to watch your champion fight, smile. This is the time that folks think is the best time to take pictures of consorts in anticipation. The problem is that often you want to concentrate on the fight instead of smile. A concentrated look can often be mistaken for angry. You don't want to look mean in the pictures, trust me. :) Smile, always smile, even if benignly.

4. Do make sure you, your champion and the people supporting you have something to eat and drink. Feel free to delegate (good practice), but a nice set-up and spread shows that you can be a hostess. Someone who can be a good hostess can be a good Queen. Note, that this does not need to be opulent and enough to feed everyone, just something so you don't all faint from the heat.

5. Do consider that your champion might win. Think about the what-ifs, but don't drive yourself crazy. Know that you will have time as Prince and Princess to prepare, so having everything figured out from the final blow isn't necessary nor expected.

6. Always be gracious. To anyone who offers you assistance, to other consorts, to other fighters, obviously to the Crown, and most especially to your champion. No matter how they do, Thank them for their confidence in you and for honoring you by fighting in the tourney.

Good luck!

hardly green enough

2008-04-24T03:30:00Z

Okay, enough of being a scolding harridan.

Earth Day came and went.
I still drive an SUV, but I did do some research (and consulting with Alan) on installing some rain barrels in the back yard, thanks to Ealdthryth's post. Need to see if Behnke's has some in stock, or chase down this Arlington Echo place. I figure at the least, it will put a small dent into water bill when we need to top off the pond. Saving water in this house of three fish tanks and the koi pond (and a girl who loves her long showers) is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon one brick at a time, but it is a start. I also continue to use the reusable bags when shopping, and even got a free one today in trade for a pile of plastic grocery bags. I try to use cold water in the washing machine except for towels, sheets, etc. And we don't have any big desktop machines in the house sucking up energy, just some laptops and a mac-mini. I've thought of composting our coffee grounds and used tea bags and the few other plant matter bits, but flat spaces away from the fence are in short supply. hmm... Perhaps I could start a small garden plot in the backyard, but what would I grow? I like tomatoes. I have some herbs I never use (rosemary, oregano, chamomile, lavender and hopefully the mint will come back.) I liked the blackberries two summers ago, but they were a beast to harvest on the hill behind the pond. Perhaps I need waders. Oh, and there is the whole nature-hates-me aspect to trying to grow things. I'd need to convince Alan that HE wants to start a small garden plot...

So baby steps are at least steps. I took my manager's soda bottle from her to recycle before she trashed it. yeah, um, go me.

Last night, inspired by needing a reminder on how to do sprang, I made a little red wool bag. I warped up my faboo Spanish Peacock sprang loom at home while waiting for a load to finish the spin cycle before tossing the clothes in the dryer. Then I took it to fight practice and did most of the body of the pouch, and preparing it for the condensed chain stitch to form the bottom, just before heading out to dinner with folks. (BTW Miguel, Wally admired the workmanship of the loom and beater for quite some time, while we chatted about string stuff and the tools needed for the fiber addiction.) And I finished the bottom of the bag, sewing up the sides and braiding ties for the drawstring portion before crashing in bed. Hooray Sprang! I should take pictures. What to try next...

Tournament of Chivalry and the List Table

2008-04-21T22:10:51Z

Brain fart. It is 5:20, and I am obviously not making my 5pm acupuncture appointment. DOH! I hate it when I flake out. But I called and apologized and rescheduled for Thursday. I'm sure there is a fee for forgetting an appointment and I wouldn't blame them. sigh.
~~~~~~~~~~

Remember this: "Oh, and yes, I do look over the sign-in sheets and will call out anyone I see who I noticed did not sign in." from Thursday's post?
Yeah, had to do that a couple of times. It is probably true that not all MOLs will continuously scan the field all day to check and see if they spot someone who didn't sign in, but I do. Heraldry works. Frankly it is not our jobs, but one I can't help but do. Oh, and the proper response to being called out from not signing in the weekend before is "Yes, I know, I'm sorry. I will do my best to not let it happen again." Your answer should not be "yeah, I was running late, and besides, its only fencing..." Really wrong answer buddy and you do not make friends with that sentiment.

Okay, it's not like it is difficult. You bloodly well will sign in at the list table when there is a tourney you want to get your name in. Why does that seem to be the only motivation? Are we not normally happy and smiley and glad to see you when you come to us at the tables? The rules haven't changed in years. If you want to fight at an official SCA event, you have to sign in at the list tables. You don't even have to be a member anymore. All you need is a fighter card and the ability to sign a waiver. How easy do we have to make it? (No, I will not roam around the list field going from shade to shade offering to sign you in.) End of story.

Yes, color me a bit frustrated at having to hunt down and report fighters for not signing in.

Again, I say Thank You to the 95% of fighters who are patient, kind and just who do sign-in every time. You stand as a good example to others, and have my gratitude.
~~~~~~~~~~

Tournament of Chivalry boasted 84 fighters upon the field, 20 of whom were knights. 3 members of the Order of Chivalry took the black and gold staff to marshal all day instead of fight, with several other volunteers, so that those 84 could fight in safety. I think this must have been the first Tournament of Chivalry to have enough marshals, as Alan signed in to marshal if needed, but relaxed in shade instead. Folks did seem to have a fun time both on and off the field. I just made it over to our dayshade to witness Sir Corby taking Girard as a squire of his household, and welcome him to the fold. I was blessed with excellent company at the list table as Gabrell helped me sign in fighters, and random other entertaining folks brought food and stopped by for a visit.

We departed the site fairly early to retire back to our house for cleaning up, starting the grill and eating some of the metric ton of food I made available. I forgot the chips though. We had a lovely full house of friends and "family" and much chatting took place throughout the evening. Eventually, all the tired folks crawled up to bed, I gave Gabrell a ride back home, and read a bit before hitting the sack myself. Sunday dawned nice and rainy, and everyone beat me out of bed to wakefulness but Corby. We made a breakfast of left over sausages and burger meat, scrambled eggs, and waffles. Mmm... waffles. Alan then napped on the couch as I checked email, and as soon as I turned off all the lights and TV, and went to nap on the living-room couch, he awoke, so I got to snuggle into a pre-warmed couch for my nap. We watched some of John Adams, did the dishes and clean up, started the laundry, and did more clean-up for the rest of the evening. I then read a bit, but my brain decided at midnight that the kitchen floors must be cleaned, so I swept and swept, and spot cleaned a few places before finally crashing in bed and calling it a weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~

Since we've decided we're not going to Crown, I contacted Ingvild and offered to come up and help out at the MD Sheep and Wool Festival in the Medieval and Renaissance Textiles Showcase tent. I've been assigned sprang to demo, which should be a ton of fun, and has me inspired to pull out the loom again and play with it some more so I'll have more examples to display. I wonder if I could set-up the banner stand Alan made for whipcording at the Children's Fete last year for a really tall loom to work on a belt or sash or something? The mind reels. Is it safe to assume we are to be in garb for the demo? Who else can I look forward to seeing there?

testing again

2008-04-18T03:57:57Z

Simply because it took me a while to figure it out (pasting directly into HTML view or even using imbed media from HTML view didn't work, but putting the Voki in a table cell and imbedding there seems to make it take. Oh, and I had to choose "other" code, not the livejournal code...) I decided to channel the "Morning Star".

patience and stuff

2008-04-18T03:16:13Z

I love my truck...
I love my truck...
I love my truck...

Hadn't filled up in a while. Gas was 3.38/gallon on the way home from Kynny's birthday dinner, and that was at the cheap place.

sigh.

On the plus side, I was able to donate the two large bags of styrofoam peanuts from our pottery shipment to a shipping and packaging store, so that they will be reused. And the rest of the packaging was recyclable cardboard. yay.

When I got home and brought in the trash bins, I was attacked by the bushes flanking the path to our back gate, so after stowing the bins, I got the loppers and attacked them with vim and vigor (or piss and vinegar) and cut them back so I could walk between them safely. Sadly, I can only cut the boxwood back so far or else it looks ugly (Alan thought trimming it twice a year was enough...), but I felt no problem mutilating the side of our neighbor's thorny shrub that was encroaching in my path, and at least tried to smooth it up and over the top so it doesn't eventually form a little thorny arbor overhead. I did leave the raked pile of clippings for Alan to collect and truck up the hill and over the fence to the brush pile, cause I'm like that.

I will be at the MOL table at TOC this weekend, so again, find me or avoid me there. Alas, you fighters and marshals who wish to take the field will not be able to avoid me. Oh, and yes, I do look over the sign-in sheets and will call out anyone I see who I noticed did not sign in. Yes, I am looking at you, person who forgot to sign in last weekend who I expect to see on Saturday...
And be nice to my MOL in training, since he just autocratted NOTT last weekend.

testing Voki...

2008-04-17T20:39:29Z

Testing Voki again...

LJ seems to be stripping out the script tags, leaving behind just the link...

pottery pictures

2008-04-16T18:57:43Z

Just a quick post to show off some pictures of our Glades Pottery items.

Our Captain is also the artist and each piece is completely unique given the way the crystal glaze is done. I overheard Walter talking to our Susan about what chemical reactions gave what colors, but I honestly missed the details. We really left so many pieces behind that I now wish I hadn't, but c'est la vie. I might just call my folks and see if a few pieces I remember are still there, just in case...

I do love the way that some crystal spots look like lily-pads, and some look like ginko leaves, some look like captured fireworks, and some are simply indescribable.

His work is very amazing, and truly, pictures, even in full sun, can't do justice to their beauty.

NOTT and POTT(ery)

2008-04-15T02:55:15Z

Night on the Town was lots of fun.

While I didn't make it out to site on Friday night, due to the world being seemingly against me which inspired a significant amount of whining from me to those near and dear, we did get our happy party there shortly after 9am. Luckily I arrived at exactly the same time as my fellow MOLs, Agnes and Ceridwen-North, so none of us left the others waiting. We hung out at the tables for 3ish hours in the morning, signing in 49 fighters, 9 marshals and chiurgeons, and worked on 2 new authorizations and 2 renewals. I keep telling myself at the end of each NOTT that we should announce a time for the closing of the list table. We did have 2 folks sign in after 1pm, and ended up keeping someone at the table until 3ish.

But I did get to attend the Baroness's luncheon in honor of Her Majesty, and chat a bit, consult with Deborah Aurifex on fitting bodices of Italian gamurra, and meet a lady from the West Kingdom named Kira and discussed fun stuff about the Plimoth Plantation embroidery project, research, techniques, etc. We eventually abandoned the picked over sideboard and muddy-footed tent for the hall, where I could show her the cool threads, instructions, etc. I also had a fun time chatting with cathgrace about a variety of things and convincing her to come with us up to Boston and another visit to the MFA to see more cool old textiley items. I managed to get rid of some items for cash at Lochmart, which made me happy too.

I must say that I haven't really spent much time in Queen Kari's company before her reign, but she was exceptionally warm, gracious and full of laughter. We were blessed to have her at Night on the Town, and she certainly charmed the populace with her beaming smile. I hope she had a good time, despite the drippy weather.

Court was lovely, with excellent folks being honored for their good works. Especially Elphinstone's Opal for his many years of pre-court calligraphy, Turvon and Brian's Sea Dragons for excellence and service to the rapier community (rar!), Lisette's Coral Branch for her lovely works of art, Gabrell being commended for his excellent service as the autocrat, and finally Vitha's Silver Nautilus for the feast, especially the cheese. And just after court, attack_laurel finished her first sock, and it was a momentously cool occasion. The feast was yummy, and I managed to pack out and take the rest of the homemade cheeses home. I even seized upon the opportunity and trailed Queen Kari out of the hall to visit the not-a-pet baby goat, Riesling, in his amazing cuteness. Okay, for the record, NOTT is held at a pet-free site, and pets of any kind, from dogs and cats to ferrets and goats, are not allowed, so please read the event announcement before you bring any animal to an event. But, the little goat was so precious, and I tried to convince Alan to let me have a goat to keep our lawn manicured, but then heard his bleat of sadness when his "mom" left, and I knew I could never leave the house at that cry, and going to work is a necessary evil.

We ended the evening with good food, good friends, and even a little singing (man, it has been so long, and felt so good) despite the lack of Pykes, and even entertained hopefully more than just ourselves. My happy crew were tired and sore and left just after feast, but I managed to convince the rolanddem to give me a ride back home after singing until almost 10, and taking home the proffered lovely flowers for theodorad (since work called her away mid-event.) We ended up back in the Spacebar chatting and hanging out until after midnight when folks crashed in bed.

However, our pottery shipment had arrived, from our expenditures at Glades Pottery the weekend before in Florida, while we were at the event, and I simply could not resist unpacking the treats. So Alan indulged me and we unpacked all the pretties and sorted them into piles, and admired the wonderful colors, and then contentedly headed to bed. I really should try to take some pictures of Walter's work in the sunshine to really show off how lovely his stuff is.

Sunday I had planned to head back to site for clean-up, but accidentally slept in and we didn't leave for site until almost 10am. When I called Gabrell he said that they were almost done and we didn't need to come out if we didn't want to, so we delivered Matt and Susan's pottery to them, and left Lisette's for pick-up as well, and chatted with the Susan a bit, and then headed home to work on cleaning and putting away and other chores, such as a much needed nap.

I've still got a bit of a sore throat (but am on the antibiotics so no worries) and am working my way out of grump and funk to life again.

bleck

2008-04-11T03:34:24Z

The past two days have been seriously meh inducing. I woke up yesterday with a really sore throat, but assumed it must be due to allergies or something, taking ibuprofen to calm the inflammation. Today, I still had a sore throat, and a flashlight illuminated the white chunky stuff on my tonsils. So I now have antibiotics and Cepacol and will struggle to life tomorrow, especially with NOTT this weekend to be ready for. So far I've spent minimal time on the computer, lots of time napping, some reading and watching tv/movies. Find me (or avoid me) at the MOL table on Saturday.

My shoulders are peeling and making me feel quite snake-like. Soft loose fabrics only may touch. My green cable cotton cardi was too rough today. Fleece is best, but a bit warm given the weather. Moisturizer is my friend, and the sinks are littered with my peeled skin (and coughed up phlegm.) Yeah. gross, sorry. not really.

On the plus side, Alan has done well. His charcoal gray suit was wearing out, but instead of tossing/donating it, he took it into the tailor at Men's Wearhouse (when picking up a new suit) and asked the tailor to refurbish it. She did a stellar job of replacing the lining (including moving the tag over from the old lining to the new), recuffing the pants to take away the worn hem, replacing the bottoms of his worn out pockets, etc. It looks good as new, and gives his favorite suit a longer life. (Yes, he wears a suit most days of the week.) That's a nice little green step, the reuse part of reduce, reuse, and recycle. I imagine kass_rants would be a little proud.

Time for bed.

Sailing Pictures

2008-04-08T15:57:41Z

Kynny and Tonwen took pictures with their fancy uber camera, and I took a bunch with my silly little digital clicker. I'll leave the thousand words for later, and just give you the pictures for now...

Kynny's Florida Pictures
Jen's Sailing Pictures

Here are some of my favorites

As you can see, we had a fun/silly/relaxing time of it.

returned

2008-04-07T20:08:02Z

Sailing monkeys haz returned home.
Sailing monkeys are sunburned in spots; some more, some less.
Sailing monkeys had uber fun time sailing.
Sailing monkeys haz lots of funneez picshures of sailing.
Sailing monkeys ate lots of yummilicious foodz.
Sailing monkeys bought lots of pretty pottery at Glades Pottery private opening.
Sailing monkeys had delayed flight home due to weatherz, so not in bed before midnight.

This sailing monkey is sore, burnt and tired.

Sleep sailing monkeys, sleep.

retreat

2008-04-04T02:05:30Z

It is cold and raining outside.
In 20 hours we'll be down in sunny Florida.
We could use some sun and relaxation.

Last night we met with a bathroom remodel estimator and signed a contract to have our master bath finally redone. I got to punch a hole in the wall to determine that it was an empty wall built out to fit the shower pan. So, in its place we'll have a nice soaker tub with a removable shower head to a hand-held sprayer. And the tub should be easier to clean than this icky shower pan and the sliding glass doors. So excited and looking forward to having a clean new bathroom with non-broken floor tile, nicer fixtures, easier to clean, etc. Sadly poor Alan was stuck at work a little late, so I got to hang out with the estimator, showing her around, and picking out choices for our redo. Luckily Alan liked all of my choices, so verified that we're still on the same page aesthetically, and then we got to work on a few final details together.

This does mean that house-guests are discouraged during the second half of May as we'll only have the hall bath as our full bath. But we also got a quote for remodeling that, at a later date, which I'm also looking forward to. The one qualification was that I'd remove the special wallpaper myself. Must not start wallpaper removal until after the master bath is done and we have financing in place for more home improvements.

meme n'stuff

2008-04-02T19:24:29Z

Well, I finished up the laundry last night from the exciting week and weekend. I also finished re-reading Beauty and started on re-reading Rose Daughter. I ashamedly ate a whole bag of yummy Trader Joe's Plantain Chips. And I've had a fun chat with the parents about our sailing plans for this weekend. Looks like the plan is to sail out after noon on Saturday, anchor out overnight, and sail back in on Sunday. This is dependent on dry weather since someone will have to sleep above deck under the canopy.

Hooray for an entertaining meme, from spranglady from harleenquinzell:

1. Your rock star name (first pet, current car): DC Explorer

2. Your gangsta name (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cherry Garcia Flats

3. Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal): Pink Horse

4. Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Lee Greensboro

5. Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, the first two letters of your first name): Thi Je

6. Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Blue Rum (and Diet)

7. NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Maynard Paul

8. Stripper name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Lavender Raisinets

10. TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Smith Sarasota

11. Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Halloween Rose

12. Cartoon name: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Pineapple Tank Top

13. Hippie name (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Cheerios Magnolia

Dixie Marie

2008-04-01T16:58:14Z

Oh no.

I just got word from my Dad that my Aunt Mary's Schipperke, Dixie Marie, died this morning. Apparently her cancer came back, and she was suffering, but no longer.

Dixie traveled with my aunt and uncle almost everywhere she could. In the car on trips from New Orleans to Florida or New Orleans to Houston, and sometimes short flights. The back windows in the Jeep and Lexus were almost permanently smudged with Dixie's nose prints from traveling hither and yon. I remember on our cruise to Bermuda, when a hurricane was incoming to New Orleans, my uncle's phone was in use trying to determine if the dog-sitter could take Dixie with her if she evacuated, or if they'd have to get someone else to pick her up. One time with Laura stayed with us at my aunt and uncle's place in New Orleans, Dixie ate the antacids out of her purse. I also distinctly remember Tracie greeting my aunt before our wedding with "You're Dixie Marie's Mom, right?" Strangely some folks don't mind being known as their pets' owners.

She was cute and small and full of energy, mostly well-behaved, and very lovable.

sniff, Good-bye Dixie.

rodent round-up

2008-04-01T16:40:13Z

I think the joke is on me. I could have sworn that I slept fine last night. I even overslept this morning by more than a fair bit. But alas, my body still thinks it needs 8 more hours of sleep given the uncontrollable yawning I've been participating in this morning.
mnyah mnyah... yaaaawwn.

So I completely forgot to mention the wittle mousie party crasher we had on Saturday. And I completely regret that I didn't take a picture of her clutched in attack_laurel's claws before she was set free in the park. Stupid stupid Gen.

So last week I had heard some disturbing chit chit noises from behind my comfy chair, but I wasn't sure what it was and brief investigations turned up nothing. Friday night, as Alan is poking at the den tank, this brazen little hussy of a mouse streaks right out in front of his feet and dashes across the hallway to retreat to the basement. Huh? says I. Oh well, I'll worry about her later. Naturally she is spotted a few times at the party zipping here and there earning nicknames from Speedy Gonzales to Mighty Mouse, given the party theme. Mina Harker eventually traps her in my laundry room and attempts to lure her to capture with pieces of cheese. Sadly, some of us are drunken idiots and keep checking on her, usually just when the mouse is almost within grasping range. Eventually Mina succeeds and brings a cute little dark gray mousie face to me captured firmly in her hands to ask for judgment on the mouse's fate. I cannot condemn her to death merely for crashing our party and following her instincts, and leave her fate in the hands of her captor. (I secretly wanted to cage her and keep her as a pet, but that would have been a bad idea no doubt.) Mina and Jekyll choose to release Speedy in the park across the street and down the road a bit, hoping she will return to life as a field mouse and bring tales of the big scary house that no one wants to visit to her friends. Again, I'm sorry I didn't think to get a picture.

It is probably a good idea to mention, that despite her obviously evil nature, attack_laurel has Disney Princess like powers over animals. All domestic animals love her, and I mean LOVE her! Maxie and Markie clamber to be near her for possible ear scratching. She has the power to lure skittish kittens and lost dogs to safety, and even squirrels, bunnies and other furry wild creatures to nearness for her own amusement. I'm fairly certain that no one could have caught and removed that mouse but the attack_laurel. Perhaps she should start a cute furry pest control business/ wildlife rescue service.

Oh, and I had pinned great hopes on Markie's ability to track the mouse, but apparently with a house full of people and a buffet table to stalk, Markie couldn't care less about the mouse in our house.

Perhaps a more fitting name for the party crasher is Die Fleeter Maus.

Hooray, Bob survives another year!

2008-03-31T15:21:29Z

Bob's Super-Party Pictures

We've survived yet another one of Bob's birthdays. Happy Birthday Mr. Quatermain, and may your study of anal-ogy and anal-bum-covers go well. Heroes, Villains and those unclassified others all came together for one heroic night. Dr. Jekyll tended the bar, Mina Harker lay out an impressive buffet of tasty foods, Ursula was the best villain costume in attendance, and Rainbow Brite was determined the best "hero", although my money was on Black Canary. Sadly the karaoke machine didn't get used, but the trash and recycling bins are full so folks seemed to have a good time just the same. I think the total head count was 49; 45 heroes and villains, 2 lame folks not in costume (Matt? Freddy? Do I need to costume you next time myself?), and 2 super dogs.

Sunday morning, the secret hideout hosted yummy brunch to 16 secret identities. We had coffee, OJ, waffles, scrambled eggs, and 4 kinds of sausage; chicken and apple sausage, and 3 different types from Gunther's farm thanks to Drea's trip to the Raleigh Farmer's Market. Then we worked together to set the house back in order so little clues were left to the party the night before. Thanks for your help folks!

Alan and I spent the rest of Sunday napping, curled up by the roaring fireplace, and doing other little cleaning tasks. I love hosting this party every year, as we get a wonderful gathering of friends at our house, and we are also guaranteed to have a clean house at least once a year. :) We ended the night by catching Superman Returns on TV, which seemed very fitting given the weekend.

Goddess Meme

2008-03-28T19:09:26Z

Which Greek Goddess are YOU?! (great pictures)
created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Aphrodite

You are Aphrodite.
Born from the blood of Uranus and the foam of the sea.
You are beautiful, and control love and desire,
though sometimes you can be vain and jealous.

Aphrodite

92%

Hekate

92%

Demeter

84%

Pasiphae

84%

Artimis

84%

Gaia

83%

Athena

75%

Persephone

75%

Hera

67%

Medusa

59%

Leto

50%

Rhea

50%

Hestia

50%

Circe

50%

voice-over

2008-03-28T19:04:12Z

I rarely write about work here, mainly because I can't imagine what would be interesting enough to share to those outside of the distance education verse.

But last Friday I got asked to come assist with some video testing in the morning, without being given a specific job. So, when I walked in, I asked them what they wanted me to do. I help set-up the backdrop, and they ask if I'd mind being on camera to test the set-up, teleprompter, lighting, etc. I agreed, but no, I won't give you a link to the video. It was just reading information off of a teleprompter about network layers, etc. The end product was only 3 minutes, but took two hours of set-up, testing, tweaking the lights, the text in the prompter, the prompter speed, etc. Also, it must be the lights, but the top of my head pre-hair dye looks very gray. yeesh. The end result of the project is that I ended up volunteering with importing and setting up the scripts into the teleprompter for our actual content experts, as well as draw up a document for teleprompter tips. I guess it is not that surprising I got cast as the voice since my accent is fairly generic, and my other project team members are from Brazil, China, and the lady spending all the time behind the camera. eh.

So, cut to today when I got asked if I'd perform a narration for a set of Captivate slides for a project. Luckily this would be over other video, not of me, just my voice. I guess with the two main coworkers on that being from India and Brazil, I could see them wanting my generic voice again.

But then I got asked by different coworker if I'd be willing to do another narration for a project of hers. She'd be using the TV Studio folks for a more professional audio capture. I do hope that is voice only too.

And now we've scheduled a time next Friday to do more video testing since we have hopefully figured out the bugs and can work on some of the other aspects. I should probably bring in or wear a little make-up to help define my eyes and lips at the least.

Apparently, though I'm not a fan of my recorded voice, my coworkers are and now I'm getting tasks left and right that just require my diction. Odd.

pinkleader @ 2008-03-27T17:03:00

2008-03-27T21:07:38Z

I am either in heaven or hell.

Heaven, because, seriously, 5 PAGES of PINK SHOES from Zappos?!?!?!

Hell, because, seriously, I just got 4 new pairs of shoes this week from Piperlime...

Either way, these three are playing the parts of the sirens...