ekroblog

New niece on the way!!

2009-09-20T12:46:00.004-04:00

Last I heard, Mathilda wanted to name her "Toothbrush."

(image from CakeWrecks)

Virgin Mobile FreeFest

2009-09-01T20:15:00.003-04:00

Thanks to my darling Maria (who decided not to make the trip and passed her tickets along to me), Lara and I were lucky enough to attend this Sunday's Virgin Mobile Festival. We hung out with a new gentleman friend of mine and his crew. I got a bit freckled/sunburned and danced like a crazy person (despite a twisted ankle from tripping and falling last week) and generally had a blast. Here's a brief list of the bands we saw:

St. Vincent was just lovely. The sound was a bit off, though, so her voice sounded a kind of wonky. We left her set early in order to catch...

Mates of State on the main stage. I wasn't terribly excited about them, as I've liked them less each time I've seen them live, but Lara wanted to go. They played my old favorites and even closed the set with a cover of Tom Waits' "Long Way Home." Pleasant surprise and I'm glad we checked them out!

The Hold Steady - why do I not own their records??? What fun! I felt very uncool, though, as I think I was the only one in our gang of folks who didn't know all the words to every song. I also didn't dance so much because I was still worried about my bum ankle, although this changed when...

Public Enemy hit the stage next. I was so very sad that Maria wasn't there to see Flavor Flav with me! :( Public Enemy was so super fun and it would have been even more so if Maria had been there, too. Why is Chuck D so articulate and Flav such a screw up? From their banter we learned that Chuck D is against racism and war and that Flavor Flav is in love and wants us to listen to his R&B record and watch his TV show. Also, he went and played the drums for 5 minutes instead of leaving the stage with the rest of the band like he was supposed to.

The National surprised me. I have the record, I like it okay, I listen to it occasionally. I really really loved them live, though. Something clicked for me that didn't click when I heard the recording. And the horn section was super cool.

Weezer. Weezer, Weezer, Weezer. I should have seen Weezer in high school when I was more excited about them. It was kind of anticlimactic to see them at age 29, very far away and therefore very quiet. It was really fun for nostalgia's sake, though. It was a pretty neat experience to sing along with the people I was hanging out with. None of us went to high school together, but we all had these similar flashbacks when we heard the songs. "I feel like I'm 14 again on the cross country bus!" "Oh, I feel like I'm with Will in his mom's Astrovan on the way to the Academic Challenge match!" Or in college at a Kool-Aid party at Chris, Nate, and Brendan's apartment. Sigh. So yeah, singing along was tons of fun. We all had the realization that many Weezer lyrics are kinda dumb, though. And the new stuff is lame. All the younguns were singing along to the recent songs and we stood there scratching our heads. They closed with a cover of "Should I Stay or Should I Go."

Girl Talk. More dancin'. Fun fun fun. Hooray mashups. Except for the "Don't Stop Believin" one. Am I seriously the only one on the planet who doesn't get all excited about Journey? Girl Talk is highly recommended, though, if he ever comes to a town near you.

Franz Ferdinand. I blew a kiss to the boys for Maria as requested. They closed the festival and played til 11, so I was pretty exhausted by this point, but they really put on a good show... although they had a neverending spacey jam session towards the end that I could have skipped in favor of a nap. They did play all the hits as well, though, and I pretty well danced my way through the tiredness. At one point they all played on the same drum kit; that was kind of cool. And I got to use my Scotland experience - they repeatedly sang the word "Maryland" and no one could decipher the Glaswegian accent but me. I was very proud. Gentleman friend thought they were saying "Fahrenheit." Also, they referred to Baltimore as "B-more," so we think they've been watching "The Wire."

All in all I had a wonderful time and am so grateful to Maria and Matt for passing along their tickets. Kisses!!

Road Trip 2009: FOAMHENGE

2009-08-24T21:05:00.005-04:00

(More info at Roadside America.)

Well calculated to keep you in... SUSPENSE!

2009-06-10T19:16:00.003-04:00

My new favorite thing: RelicRadio podcasts!

I love NPR and everything, but I needed something new to listen to at work. I was thinking fiction might be nice for a change, so I did an iTunes store search for old radio shows from the first half of the 20th century. Relic Radio has a TON of them!

My favorites right now are the Sci Fi show (especially the Martian Chronicles adaptations) and the Suspense Replay (a show featuring guest stars like Vincent Price, Rita Hayworth, Hume Cronyn, and more). There are comedy, thriller, horror, and others as well, including one devoted to Orson Welles' radio work. When I get caught up on Suspense I will probably check out the Horror one.

Yay for podcasts!

Since the new hair isn't new anymore...

2009-06-04T15:41:00.003-04:00

Maria is sad because I never blog anymore. I am trying to kill time at work and avoid unblocking the ex-boyfriend from gmail chat. I don't have anything to write about, really, so taking a cue from Mindy Kaling, here's a list of things I've bought this week!

- 2 weeks of yoga for $20 at Quiet Mind
- 3 books: The Universe in a Single Atom, Light on Yoga, and From Caterpillar to Butterfly (last one isn't for me)
- 1 head of lettuce, 1 container of chevre, 2 pints of strawberries, 1 jar of applesauce, and 1 basil plant at the Mt. Pleasant Farmer's Market
- 1 purple yoga mat bag
- 1 black and white sundress
- 1 ticket to UP in 3D
- 5 tickets to Night At The Museum 2 (erg)

Ta-daa! Hopefully I will find more interesting things to write about soon... and if anyone has gmail, feel free to gchat me during work hours! My job is less than engaging.

new hair

2009-01-23T10:10:00.001-05:00

It looks super cute with the hat Maria knit me for Christmas!

It's my birthday!

2008-11-16T14:23:00.004-05:00

To celebrate, we went to see Let The Right One In last night. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Creepy and lovely and chilling and wonderful. Go see it right away!

Punk Rock the Vote

2008-11-05T14:09:00.002-05:00

Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina, and their tiny wee baby boy were like 5 people behind me in line to vote yesterday.

Also: HOORAY! PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA! My cold is worse today due to wandering the drizzly streets of DC with a mob of celebrating strangers last night (we got about 20 blocks before realizing the boyfriend had no coat and neither of us had wallets or bus/cab fare), but it's totally worth it.

Sad Halloween

2008-11-01T17:16:00.001-04:00

RIP Studs Terkel.

Cop-out post

2008-10-25T18:40:00.002-04:00

Though my life is incredibly busy, I'm having difficulty coming up with post ideas (sorry Maria). So here are some random lists.

THINGS I AM INTO RIGHT NOW

1. The Moth podcast. True stories told live without notes. Apparently there is something similar in DC called Speakeasy - lets go!

2. Rock Band 2. Before meeting the Director the last video game I played was probably Oregon Trail, but I kick ass on the drums. For reals.

3. John Hodgman. Read my brother's post about meeting him and listen to one of the stories he told at the Politics and Prose signing this week.

4. Pushing Daisies. OH, THE COLORS!! Please watch this show right now if you haven't seen it! It is pure love, as one dear to me described it. If you read this blog, I guarantee you will love it.

THINGS I MIGHT GO AS FOR HALLOWEEN

1. Wednesday Addams

2. A Newsie

3. A crusty old sailor

THINGS I HAVE SEEN AT WORK IN THE LAST MONTH

1. A room full of space suits

2. Neil Armstrong's space boxers

3. A room full of starfish from Antarctica

4. Cold War era alien invasion arcade games

5. The room where President Lincoln probably hooked up with dudes

back in black

2008-09-28T16:09:00.002-04:00

Maria is sad because I never update this blog anymore. I am not sure what to write, so I will ease back into things by telling you what I did this weekend:

Friday I had a date! We:
- Ate dinner at a Mexican place on my street I'd never bothered to go to. Pretty good!
- Drank scotch and watched the presidential debate.
- Watched an episode of Buffy ("Doppelgangland"), reciting most of the lines along with it.
Pretty much the best date ever, huh?

Saturday was chock full of geekery! I:
- Met Michael at the National Book Festival to see Neil Gaiman speak about his new book. Michael skipped the talk in order to camp out in line for signatures - good thing, too, because it wound up being a 5-hour wait. Due to Michael's foresight, we got out of there in around 40 minutes.
- Drove with Michael to Baltimore to go to my first Comic Con! Mike Mignola was nice and signed all my stuff (which wasn't much - I only own 3 comic books) I was amazed that there were only 3 people in line to talk to him, especially after witnessing the Gaiman nightmare line. Everyone (Tim Sale, John Acudi, Guy Davis) loved my Frankenstein's Monster tank top.
- Came home, threw on a dress, and met the boy from the previous night's date at Palace of Wonders for the Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow, which included burlesque, fire eating, sword swallowing, a bed of nails, and an upside down suspended escape from a straightjacket.

Today has been girl time! I:
- Went to Crafty Bastards with the craft club gals + Danny. I saw some breakdancing. I heard a band. I bought a shirt for my niece, a Lincoln Log keychain, a pretty wooden pendant, a card wallet, and a WWTWD (what would tom waits do) button which I have unforunately already lost. :(
- ... and soon we will be heading to Asylum for Tribal Cafe bellydance night, hooray!

All in all a pretty great weekend. I'm kind of exhausted, though, and cannot take a nap because there is a street festival going on outside my window.

Science movies at the AFI Silver Theatre!

2008-06-22T15:52:00.001-04:00

NIH presents SCIENCE IN THE CINEMA
July 9 - August 13
Select Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

This six-week series offers a different film with a medical- or science-related theme every Wednesday. Audience Q&A with a guest expert follows each screening. Admission is FREE!

July 9: AWAY FROM HER
July 16: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

(others TBA)

Fort Reno

2008-06-22T15:35:00.000-04:00

Schedule's up!

Screen on the Green 2008 schedule!

2008-06-07T15:31:00.002-04:00

Mondays, July 14-August 11, 2008
National Mall between 4th and 7th Streets NW
Films start at sunset

July 14 - Dr. No (1962)
July 21 - The Candidate (1972)
July 28 - Arsenic and Old Lace(1944)
August 4 - The Apartment (1960)
August 11 - Superman (1978)

better than my squirrels

2008-06-07T14:08:00.005-04:00

Go read the post about Sam Sanfillippo's squirrel dioramas at EXTREME CRAFT!

Such a lovely thing

2008-05-18T14:05:00.005-04:00

We went to see DeVotchKa on Friday night. I knew I loved the band, but I had no idea the lead singer was so supa hot.

Damn.

Also? ACROBAT!

Inside the National Museum of Natural History: Collections

2008-04-19T13:56:00.000-04:00

Internship starts today!

2008-04-07T07:15:00.002-04:00

Hooray!

I'm working with ground squirrels now, not mice - scroll down on this page to see me in action! Sort of.

Mo Rocca visits my place of employment

2008-04-06T16:21:00.003-04:00

... and blogs about it!

Guess who came into work yesterday?

2008-03-29T08:10:00.004-04:00

A couple of these folks.

We had an Abe and a Mary. I didn't see Mary, but Abe was wearing a polo shirt or something and taking pictures. It was kind of freaky. He looked just like Lincoln!

They weren't on my tour, but apparently Abe said he's going to come back with the whole gang. Which is unnerving.

I imagine it will be like that scene in Being John Malkovich, but with Lincoln.

2008-03-13T22:14:00.005-04:00

Mount Pleasant fire #4
Originally uploaded by brandonwu

Fire Damages D.C. Church and Apartments, Leaving Some Homeless

I live two doors down and was awakened and evacuated by firemen about 1 am. The fire did not end up spreading to my building, thankfully. I got the okay to go back in my building at about 11 am. My apartment smells like smoke and I need a good night's sleep, but other than that I'm fine.

Many thanks to Lara and Mary for answering their phones at 3 am so I didn't have to go to a shelter!

2008-03-01T11:40:00.003-05:00

When researchers were first doing laboratory experiments about scurvy prevention, they did a lot of studies on rats and pigeons. These went nowhere. Then they did experiments on guinea pigs and got tons of results. This is because guinea pigs, like humans, can't manufacture their own vitamin C. They (and we) have to get all our vitamin C from our diet. Rats and pigeons, on the other hand, can manufacture their own vitamin C and therefore can't get scurvy.

Source: Radio interview with the author of A Guinea Pig's History of Biology, a book on the organisms used for scientific research throughout history. They didn't mention the date of these experiments, so I'll have to read the book and find out. I think the radio show was "Calling All Pets" of all things - that's what comes on my radio alarm when I have to get up to go to work early on Saturdays!

potential new hobby

2008-02-26T12:26:00.001-05:00

Has anyone ever done letterboxing? Or geocaching? They look like fun...

Lincoln lives

2008-02-22T07:42:00.001-05:00

Robinson Sibling DC Family Fun Day: President's Day edition

2008-02-19T21:08:00.002-05:00

My brother and I took a Lincoln Assassination walking tour on Saturday afternoon... and we WON A PRIZE!!

The prize: A book of Lincoln's speeches.

The trivia question: A year or so after Lincoln's assassination, Lincoln's eldest son Robert Todd fell on some train tracks. A stranger reached down and pulled him off the tracks before the train came, saving his life. Who was the stranger?

Michael answered "Booth's brother." When asked for a more specific answer, I knew it was Edwin. Go team!!

Afterwards, someone asked Michael if he was a history professor.

Speaking of presidential history (as usual), here are some links that were shared with me recently:
Uncovered photos of Lincoln's 2nd Inauguration (thanks Kate)
The 5 Most Badass Presidents of All Time (thanks Michael)

My brother thinks I post about Abraham Lincoln too much, so here's a picture of some mittens I made for Keigh

2008-02-10T20:05:00.001-05:00

Lewis Powell...

2008-02-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

... the man who attempted to assassinate Secretary of State Seward, was a member of Mosby's Rangers.

This is interesting to me because my mother named our pet cat after Col. Mosby when I was little. So I guess the best cat ever was named after the Confederate guerrilla who helped train a vicious assassin, which is kind of... disturbing.

Source: Chapter 2 of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

I think it went well. Cross your fingers!

2008-02-07T08:03:00.000-05:00

(nataliedee.com)

abey baby

2008-02-03T19:31:00.001-05:00

I have an interview this week at a historic site associated with Abraham Lincoln.

My brother's advice: "You know how you can get that job? Tell them you'd TOTALLY SLEEP WITH LINCOLN."

He also suggested that I could impress the director by sharing these facts in the interview:

- Lincoln's cottage was not made out of Lincoln Logs. This is a common misconception.

- The house was also not made from Lincoln himself, though he was a large man and could easily have been hollowed out for living space.

- Due to Lincoln's lactose intolerance, the cottage was also not constructed of cottage cheese, though this was a common cottage-building material in the 19th century.

- Lincoln was the first president who was also a professional wrestler. His signature move was "The Lincolning."

- He was also our first black president.

My sister-in-law's comment during this phone call:
"Why do you always set your sister up for failure?"

Edited to add the following:

Michael informs me that the second fact should read "The house was also not made from Lincoln himself, though he was a large man and could easily have been hollowed out for living space in the manner of the Taft Apartments."

Also: Thanks to this Etsy seller, I actually CAN sleep with Lincoln!

So the warm blood flows through the large four-chambered heart, maintaining the very high metabolism rate they have...

2008-01-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

I had an internship meeting with the Mammal Division at a certain large well-known museum this week. Here are some of the things I saw:

- The skull of a lion shot by Teddy Roosevelt
- The partly charred skull of one of Diane Fossey's gorillas
- A house mouse from Uganda
- The skin of a bunny with horns growing out of its face (caused by a viral infection, thought to be the origin of the jackalope myth)
- The difference between ground squirrels and chipmunks (the latter are smaller, for one)
- A cleared and stained puppy
- A jar full of bats.

2008-01-25T10:01:00.000-05:00

So I ordered a $55 National Park Service CDrom on exhibit conservation methods for my class. They attempted to deliver it UPS to my house last Monday. I called and arranged to have it delivered to my office instead. I got a postcard this weekend at my home address saying they couldn't deliver it. I called on Tuesday and changed my address to my office again - someone had overlooked it the first time. I still hadn't received it yesterday, so I called again and they said I'd receive it today. I had a voicemail on my cell when I got home from class last night. It was from some woman, who didn't give her name, saying she had my package and I should call her if I wanted it. She read off the tracking number and it was correct. I called the 800 number she gave me this morning and guess what? It's a phone sex line.

I guess now I'll have use my student loan money to pay per minute for a sexy lady to read my assignments to me over the phone?

Have you seen the Mercury photos?

2008-01-19T11:29:00.001-05:00

The first photos from the Messenger spacecraft were released this week!

Why this is cool:

- Messenger is the first spacecraft to visit the planet Mercury since the Mariner voyages in 1974-75. That's over 30 years since we've had new photos of Mercury!

- Messenger got within 125 miles of the surface of Mercury. That's closer than any spacecraft has ever come to the planet!

- That picture up there? It's of a previously unseen hemisphere of Mercury. Mariner didn't photograph this half of the planet. Which means you are looking at something no human being had ever seen before this week!

For more photos and interesting info, check out the following:

- These three blog posts at Wired Science

- Yesterday's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday episode about the flyby.

- The "Mercury" episode of Astronomy Cast

- The official website for the Messenger project. It's a joint project of NASA, the Carnegie Institute of Washington, and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

2008-01-15T14:06:00.001-05:00

Walter Freeman developed the transorbital frontal lobotomy at my current school, George Washington University.

Source: "Lobotomist Serves as a Warning," Washington Post, 15 January 2008.

The best of 2007

2008-01-12T10:07:00.001-05:00

Maria tagged me to do a list of the best stuff about 2007. Here goes:

1. Going back to school. Even with the freakouts about financial aid and having to quit my job soon, my life is markedly better since going back to school. I know now what really makes me happy: learning stuff and working towards some sort of goal. I'm smart, dammit, and my brain needs stimulation, and going back to school has really helped me get back on the ball with that.

2. WNYC's Radio Lab. This podcast is the greatest thing that's come into my life in years. It blows my mind straight out my face (to borrow a phrase from dreamy host Jad Abumrad) every time I listen. It's reawakened the keen interest in science I had as a kid. Everyone who listens to it thinks it's amazing, so if you haven't heard it, go right now! I recommend Detective Stories, Memory and Forgetting, and Space just to start with. I don't care if you hate science - listen to it anyway, I promise you'll like it.

3. Podcasting in general. Podcasts have saved my life - there's no way I wouldn't have had some sort of breakdown at my boring ass job by now if it weren't for podcasts. I'm now able to sit all day and punch ISBNs into a computer while learning neat stuff at the same time. In addition to Radio Lab, I go through phases of listening to NPR's Science Friday, On Point With Tom Ashbrook, The Splendid Table, Skepticality, and sometimes I'll dig up interviews with cool people on the Fresh Air site. Nova also has a really cool series of scientists (including Neil Degrasse Tyson) explaining E=MC2 that you can download from iTunes. And of course, there's always the venerable This American Life. There's a podcast for everyone's interest - if you have a boring job or you drive a lot, I recommend sitting down with iTunes one day and searching the store for topics you're into.

4. Discovering the places to rent canoes and kayaks in DC and using them fairly regularly. It's so good to be able to get out on the water! I'll add hiking to this list, too - I only went once, but I hope to do more this year. The city really gets to me sometimes and I'm so happy to have discovered some ways to get out into nature every once in awhile.

5. Meeting Oliver Sacks. I've loved him since high school and it was so cool to hear him read from his new book at Politics & Prose and then talk to him for a second afterwards. He's soooo shy.

6. Ratatouille, No Country for Old Men, and Knocked Up = some movies I enjoyed last year.

7. "30 Rock." I can't believe I didn't watch the first season from the beginning! Damn funny, and I probably relate to Liz Lemon more than any other character I've seen on TV.

8. Bermuda. The cruise itself was meh, but Bermuda was gorgeous and I got in lots of kayaking, sailing, swimming, and zoo-going time. I hadn't had a real vacation in ages and I really needed one.

9. Allergy shots. They haven't changed my life yet, but I have high hopes. At the very least, getting two shots a week has helped me get over my fear of needles.

10. Pie. I made my first pies ever this year. Lemon, chocolate, and pecan. And they were delicious. 2008 will be the year of the pie, I think.

11. Reading A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Along with my beloved podcasts, this book definitely helped fuel the learning-stuff spark provided by my classes.

12. Hellboy. Michael lent me his Hellboy comics this fall. I heart Hellboy! Plus comic books were a great way to have something to read that wasn't schoolwork without being too dense or requiring too much of a commitment.

13. To steal one from Michael, The Shining and Barry Lyndon at the AFI Silver. So very cool to see these on the big screen, especially pretty pretty pretty Barry Lyndon.

14. And last but definitely not least, Carl Sagan. 2007 was the year I discovered "Cosmos" and the writings of Carl Sagan. They have definitely changed my life for the better. I've never been a person of faith, but Sagan allowed me to see that I actually DO have faith in something: the scientific method and the fundamental laws of the universe. There are two things Sagan said that particularly resonate with me: "We are made of star stuff" and "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself." This knowledge makes me feel part of something bigger than myself. It gives me a sense of peace to know that when I and my loved ones are gone, even if our consciousness doesn't continue, our atoms will keep on chugging along, even when the Earth is swallowed by an expanding or exploding sun. I guess this is the sort of thing religions are for, but science is way better. Because it's real. When observations prove that a previously held belief is wrong, science changes to fit the new knowledge. That's something I can truly respect and believe in. Sagan sparked this epiphany for me and I'm thankful to him for it.

I really need to be working on internship applications right now, so I'll have to come back and do the "disappointments of 2007" list later.

2008-01-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

Earth may or may not have been formed with water, but if it did, it was all baked out by the sun when Earth was just a kid. All the water we have now comes from a time when Earth was bombarded with comets, which, as you know, are basically big balls of that gross dirty snow you see in the city a few days after plowing. We're all drinking space water!!

Source: Astronomy Cast, episode 64: Pluto and the Icy Outer Solar System

2008-01-08T21:20:00.000-05:00

There's a kind of spider in North America that can dive into the water and catch fish! It can get as big as your hand and lives on rocks near stream banks.

Source: On Point With Tom Ashbrook podcast from 11/13/07, interview with arachnologist Greta Binford

p.s. Here's a picture of a small one!

Adventures in polymathy

2008-01-03T16:28:00.000-05:00

I like learning neat stuff. I try to learn neat stuff pretty much every day. I'm going to launch an experiment and see if I can't make it a habit to write all this neat stuff down.

First installment:

There's an asteroid called Apophis that's due to skim the earth in 2029. It's named after an Egyptian demon of darkness and chaos. When it gets close - like, closer than our communication satellites close - we'll be able to calculate whether or not it will smack into the Pacific Ocean when it comes back around towards us on Friday the 13th of April, 2036. Right now the chance of impact is only 1 in 45,000, though. And there's also this thing called a Gravitational Tractor that we can probably set up to deflect Apophis if it comes down to that.

Source: A variety of podcasts featuring Neil Degrasse Tyson, all found here!

Funny

2008-01-02T10:21:00.001-05:00

One Thousand Tiny Things I Hate

This one reminds me of my friends with the nicknaming.

My guys

2007-12-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

Watching a movie together.

All three of them.

Missing Carl

2007-12-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

I completely forgot about the second Carl Sagan Blog-A-Thon yesterday, the 11th anniversary of his death. Check out the meta-post here to read what scores of folks have to say about Carl, including his widow Annie Druyan and his son Nick Sagan.

Angry Chicken has gift tags you can print out and use

2007-12-20T09:54:00.000-05:00

They're funny.

A day in the life

2007-12-19T20:12:00.001-05:00

I decided to do an experiment and take photos of the mundane things I do on a typical ho-hum day. We all have photos of special events, but rarely do we document plain old everyday life. So, as someone interested in social/cultural history and the plain old everyday lives of others, I took the photos that became this Flickr set. Enjoy!

Sagan's successor?

2007-12-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

Great article about Neil DeGrasse Tyson in the Post!

For those of you who knit and crochet...

2007-12-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

I like random stripe patterns, but I also like being able to see what my scarf/blanket/afghan/whatever is going to look like when I'm finished with it. Luckily, I just happened upon this little gadget: the Random Stripe Generator! I have been playing with it all morning instead of sorting my laundry.

Stocking for Mathilda

2007-12-11T07:55:00.001-05:00

for my brother and anyone else who hasn't seen this...

2007-12-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

Test your vocabulary and donate free rice!

(so far my best level is 45)

Flaked

2007-12-04T10:29:00.000-05:00

It was snowing this morning! More on the way tomorrow!

To celebrate, here is a fun time-waster:

Make Your Own Virtual Paper Snowflake

The second 'S' in 'SSRI'

2007-12-02T08:23:00.001-05:00

Isn't this lovely?

It's a molecule of serotonin - the neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of happiness, relaxation, and satisfaction - replicated in sterling silver and made into a necklace. I found it here in this Etsy shop, which has scads of lovely, out-of-my-price-range molecule jewelry.

I'm also loving this oxidation t-shirt, screen printed with an image from a vintage Japanese science textbook. This is the stuff I'm learning about in my preventive conservation class!

I forgot my brother tagged me to do this thing

2007-11-27T14:37:00.001-05:00

4 jobs I've had:
- library assistant
- collections/curatorial assistant
- research assistant
- teaching assistant

4 movies I love to watch over and over:
- Singin in the Rain
- Psycho
- O Brother Where Art Thou
- The Hudsucker Proxy

4 places I have lived:
How about I list the 6 places I've lived since college?
- Knoxville TN
- Hampton VA
- Edinburgh Scotland
- Greenville NC
- Alexandria VA
- Washington DC

4 TV shows I enjoy watching:
Currently?
- 30 Rock
- The Office
- Ugly Betty
- Lost

4 places I have been -
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Munich, Germany
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Paris, France

4 websites I visit daily:
- The Washington Post
- Facebook
- Coconut & Lime
- my craft message board

4 favorite foods:
- butter beans
- pecan pie
- fresh home grown tomatoes
- goat cheese and water crackers

4 places I would rather be:
- Scotland
- in a boat on the sea
- the moon
- my apartment

4 blogs I'm tagging:
- nichts

Happy birthday Bill Nye the Science Guy

2007-11-27T14:20:00.001-05:00

He's 52 today. Science rules!

Trip to the Sodium Ion L'Posa Museu

2007-11-19T07:51:00.000-05:00

2007-11-16T09:24:00.001-05:00

Circa 28 years ago today:

Circa 27 years ago today:

Days 6, 7, 8, 9,10

2007-11-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this!

Day 6: Noodles + Josh Lefkowitz's new play, Now What?, with Mary, Keigh, & Diana!

Days 7, 8, 9: Day off + two sick days from work, during which I got a TON of schoolwork done and baked oatmeal banana bread!

Day 10: I ordered some new boots (see photo). They were on sale, AND I had a 25% off coupon! Hey now!

Best line from this week's "30 Rock":

2007-11-11T14:22:00.000-05:00

Liz Lemon: People are going to show up expecting all this great stuff and they're going to be disappointed and angry!

Tracy Jordan: Just like Colonial Williamsburg.

Days 3, 4, 5!

2007-11-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

Day 3:
- Sushi lunch with Danny! (on my part - Dan had chowder)
- "The Office" with Lara!

Day 4:
- New argyle knee socks!
- 5 Guys grilled cheese & fries + No Country For Old Men with my brother! See his review of the film here.

Day 5 (today):
- Lunch with Michael and Mathilda! (Eventually - they just called to say downtown is blocked to traffic, so I don't know when they'll get here.) (Edit: they came, and we went to Thaiphoon! Mmmm.)
- Dinner with Matt! We had Indian food and then walked around the city for a couple hours.

Day 2!

2007-11-07T23:59:00.000-05:00

Fresh chevre.

New tights.

The Notorious Bettie Page.

The 12 Days of My Birthday: Day 1!

2007-11-06T19:40:00.000-05:00

The 12 days of my birthday kick off today! I love my birthday, so I've decided to stretch it out this year. I'll do something fun or treat myself to something for each of the 10 days leading up to my birthday, the day itself, and the day after.

DAY 1:

- I got hot cocoa on the way to work!
- I had a good-for-me lunch (veggies and sweet potatoes) at Whole Foods with Mary and Keigh!
- I'm taking the evening off from homework! I cooked dinner (something I rarely have time for), vaccuumed my carpet (ditto), and plan to spend the rest of the evening watching Carl Sagan and crocheting Christmas gifts.

Happy birthday to me.

FYI, here's the birthday schedule thus far:

Day 4 (11/9) - New Coen Brothers movie with Michael!
Day 5 (11/10) - Dinner with Matt!
Day 6 (11/11) - The new Josh Lefkowitz play!
Day 11 (11/16) - My actual birthday!
Day 12 (11/17) - Lunch and a visit to the National Postal Museum!

Dunno what I'm doing for days 2-3 and 7-10 yet.

Tagged AGAIN

2007-11-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

By Michael this time! This list is about books.

Total number of books:

I've got somewhere around 250 catalogued on LibraryThing (links on my sidebar), and I'd guess that's about half of the books I own. I'm going to say between 500 and 600.

Last book I read:

I'm currently reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and LOVING it. So much fun science! And it make me feel smart when I understand the fun science. My uncle gave me this book a few years ago for Christmas and I read the first few chapters; I'm just now getting around to digging into it fully.

I'm also in the middle of some museum law and object conservation books. The last book I finished was Hellboy: The Troll Witch and other stories.

Last book I bought:

For myself? Oliver Sacks' Musicophilia at the signing last Friday. For others? Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic and David Chandler's Exploring the Night Sky With Binoculars.

5 Meaningful Books:

1. My favorite book of all time is Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. I first read it in the 4th grade. I think I'd read every other book in the library already and was kind of bored, so I finally went to the school librarian, Mrs. Wallio, for recommendations. She led me to a shelf - I still remember which one, a lower shelf near the door to the hall - and suggested The Phantom Tollbooth. I loved it as soon as I read it. Almost 20 years later I still adore it. As I got older, I got more of the jokes and allegory and grew to appreciate it on increasingly complex levels. I credit the acrobatic language for sparking a lifelong interest in linguistics. I love the overall celebration of the joy of learning and the pleasures of polymathy. Every time I feel listless, I can open this book to almost any chapter and instantly reawaken my sense of wonder and curiosity about the world. The Phantom Tollbooth is kind of my handbook for life. And it makes me utterly, blissfully happy.

2. The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman. When asked to write an college entrance essay on a work of art, music, or literature that most influenced my life, I chose The Best Nest. Yes, it's a picture book. My mother read us dozens, probably hundreds, of books when we were little, but I have some of the clearest memories of this one. We read this one a LOT. I am thankful to my Mom for many many things, but I think one of the greatest things she did for Michael and I was read to us from the day we could hold our heads up as infants. I credit most of my success in school, as well as the simple love of reading and learning that brings so much joy to my life, to all of the hours my Mom and I sat and read together when I was growing up. The Best Nest is a symbol of this for me. It's also a symbol of the close and loving relationship I had with my mother. It's a sweet story on it's own, and highly recommended for all wee ones, but for me its importance lies in the dear memories of Mom that it always sparks.

3. The 1983 World Book Encyclopedia. This is the encyclopedia set that we had growing up (still have it, on the same shelf in our parents' house). It was a gift from our grandfather. My parents didn't have the money for a whole set at the time, but Grandpa said we needed encyclopedias in the house. I vaguely remember them arriving at our old house on Longwood Drive in cardboard boxes. I remember reading different articles over and over when I was little, particularly from the "D" volume (dog breeds, dolls, and dolphins). I remember that when I asked my mom a question to which she didnt know the answer, she'd say, "why don't you look it up?" and I'd head to the encyclopedia. I still run to the bookshelf when I have a question (or when someone else has a question - just ask the last group of friends I had over!). I suppose mine is the last generation to do this sort of thing - nowadays the impulse is to run to Wikipedia. The 1983 World Book, like The Best Nest, allowed me to grow up comfortable with books as close companions. Because of the encyclopedia, I grew to be just as enamored with nonfiction as fiction. I have a little badge somewhere, a prize from a book fair or something, that says "We never guess - we look it up!" This could be my life's motto. I have the encyclopedia - and the various Time Life science and nature series, the plant and animal field guides, the Zoobooks magazines, and the hundreds of other nonfiction books with which my Mom and Dad stocked our home - to thank for it!

4. Sarah Vowell's The Partly Cloudy Patriot. The first Sarah Vowell book I read. She helped me gain confidence and fully enjoy the happiness that my oddball interests bring me, rather than feel dorky and embarrassed when I get big thrills from nerdy things (see answer #3). Sarah Vowell is my soul sister!

5. Hervey Garrett Smith's The Arts of the Sailor. My Jamestown shipmates gave me this book as a going-away gift when I left for Edinburgh. They all signed the inside front cover. My Jamestown gig was the best job I ever had, so I treasure this book!

Tagged

2007-11-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

My dear Maria tagged me with this "8 Random Things" meme, so here are 8 random things about me!

1. I threw out my back once. I got stuck bent over at a 90 degree angle. I had to do months of physical therapy and wear a TENS unit that sent electronic impulses into my back to relieve pain. Michael gave me a White Stripes CD as a get well present (I think it was "Elephant"). My back still aches whenever I get stressed out. I think of this as something that happens to 50 year old men, but I was 23!

2. Based on Maria's #2 - I love school! Well, maybe not school, but I love taking classes. If I were rich, I'd work part time and take 1 or 2 classes a semester in whatever I happened to be interested in at the time. Right now I'd like to take chemistry and astronomy.

3. I once wrote a 20 page paper on Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.

4. I love dressing up for Halloween, but haven't done so in 4 years - this year I was at Homecoming, last year I was moving, the year before I was working, and the year before that I was miserable in Greenville. The last time I dressed up was in Scotland. The year before that I was sick with a bad cold and at a conference in Atlanta, but my Uncle Steve took me to dinner and my friend Brad took me to Fado for hard cider.

5. Here is a list of kinds of boats I have sailed on: rubber raft, single kayak, double kayak, ocean kayak, canoe, zodiak, rowboat, sunfish, monohull sailboat, catamaran, passenger ferry, 1-car ferry, multi-car ferry, schooner, square-rigger, cruise ship, aircraft carrier

6. If I could invite 3 people to dinner, living or dead, I would choose Abraham Lincoln, Carl Sagan, and my Mom. (I suppose I could still invite them, but I doubt they'd show up.)

7. One of my favorite movies is The Elephant Man, but I've only seen it once. I'm afraid to watch it again because I cried so hard the first time I saw it.

8. This year I have decided to celebrate The 12 Days of My Birthday. I will do something fun each day and blog about it. Stay tuned!

Sad face

2007-11-02T10:23:00.000-04:00

I'm so disappointed. :-(

Adored Mailing List Recipients,

With much regret The Decemberists have cancelled the remainder of "The Long and Short of It" tour.

One of our band members has been ill for a while but we thought all would be well in time for these tour dates. After a couple shows, though, it has become clear that the illness is much worse than we had initially realized. We need to return home so our friend can mend.

It saddens us to disappoint our fans. We hope everybody understands it is only because of an extreme situation that we had to cancel a tour we've all been excited about doing since the idea was originally hatched.

Our deepest apologies but at this time no plans are being made to reschedule the dates. Ticket holders should seek refunds at point of purchase.

Yours,

The Decemberists

www.decemberists.com

dirty snowball

2007-10-31T09:29:00.000-04:00

If you're not in the middle of a big city full of light pollution like I am, go outside tonight (or any night for the next couple weeks, especially while the moon is still waning) and check out Comet 17P/Holmes! I just found out about this yesterday and it's super exciting!

It's visible with the naked eye in the constellation Perseus. You definitely don't need a telescope, but binoculars are always helpful. I really want to see this thing!

Homecoming

2007-10-30T08:32:00.000-04:00

It was great to see everyone! But there's really not a lot to do in Williamsburg. I hated football and acapella in college, so why would I want to subject myself to those things five years later? If I had any money I suppose I could have gone to the outlets. What did I do in college, anyway? I guess I studied a lot?

Oliver Sacks

2007-10-17T20:13:00.001-04:00

He'll be at Politics & Prose on November 2nd, y'all!

New dead guy crush: Carl Sagan

2007-10-14T20:24:00.000-04:00

Also: Makes you a better lover, gives you the ability to fly

2007-10-14T08:39:00.000-04:00

"It has been asserted that people clad in wool are better equipped to withstand stress, are less prone to respiratory diseases, have better body-temperature control, are more confident and self reliant because they are comfortable and at ease, crave cigarettes less, suffer significantly less from rheumatic and arthritic conditions, and need less sugar to keep them warm and comfortable and therefore can slim more easily. These claims are unsubstantiated."

Hatch, K. "Wool fibers." Textile Science. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1993. 149. Cites a 1984 book called Wool: Nature's Wonder Fibre.

The chemistry of laundry

2007-10-10T18:41:00.000-04:00

"The resilience of cotton fiber is low. Cotton fabrics wrinkle during use and laundering and must be ironed, unless they have a durable-press finish. Bending and crushing places considerable stress on the fiber polymer system. Bending is sufficient to cause the original hydrogen bonds to break. New hydrogen bonds form when the fiber is in the bent position and prevent the fiber from recovering after the bending force is removed. When cotton fabric is ironed, the hydrogen bonds within the fibers are broken and reformed, making the fibers straight and placing the fabric in a flat, smooth configuration."*

Have YOU ever thought about the molecular structure of laundry? Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?? This is the sort of thing I'm learning in my Preventive Conservation class and it is totally fascinating. All kinds of things I have literally never thought of before. It's awesome. Next up: Fun facts about glass. For reals!

*Hatch, K. 1993. "Cotton fiber." Pp. 162-171 in Textile Science. West Publishing Company, St. Paul.

Karl Blau

2007-10-02T11:47:00.000-04:00

I just noticed that he's at the Black Cat this Thursday. I'm kicking around the idea of going, but still undecided since he's the first opener... holler if you're interested, though! It's 12 bucks.

"Whatever you are, be a good one."

2007-10-01T19:14:00.000-04:00

My brother says I have a dead guy crush on Abraham Lincoln.

Once upon a time it was Jefferson - he's from Virginia, I'm from Virginia, he likes plants, I like plants, we both went to the same college, we're both fans of religious freedom and stuff - but when I grew up my affections turned to Lincoln. I like his writing. I am drawn in by stories of his humble beginnings (Jefferson was a rich kid), tremendous empathy, crazy wife, and depression. Abraham Lincoln was sad and he was kind and I tend to have a soft spot for sad, kind people.

So while my brother and his friends listened to Terry Pratchett at the National Book Festival this weekend, I sat in the AARP-sponsored (yessss) History & Biography tent and listened to two guys talk about my favorite president. Douglas Wilson spoke about Lincoln as a writer, and James Swanson talked about his book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. Wilson was interesting, but Swanson blew me away. I'm super psyched to read his book now. It's being made into an HBO miniseries as we speak.

A few Lincoln related things I feel it is important for me to share with you despite your indifference:
- Swanson told us this one: it's definitely a myth that Booth survived the barn standoff, but there were between 6 and 10 Booth imposters hanging out in the years after the assassination. One of them died in 1906. He was mummified, sold to a carnival, and toured around the country until the mid-1940s. The mummy is still around somewhere in a private collection.
- Liam Neeson is starring in a Lincoln movie in a couple years. Spielberg's directing and Keigh's imaginary boyfriend TONY KUSHNER is writing!
- There is a Lincoln Assassination walking tour! You will accompany me, yes? Anyone?
- I kind of want to go to The National Museum of Health and Medicine for my birthday this year. Mark your calendars for November 17th! (This is Lincoln related because his skull fragments are there, but that's not the only reason I want to go.)
- This Etsy seller has a Lincoln keychain made of Lincoln logs. Sweet!

The rest of the weekend was fun, too - a great Iron & Wine show at the 930 Club on Saturday night (listen to it here) and Crafty Bastards on Sunday (I picked up a pincushion and some earrings). Those who have been following Operation Hang Out With Straight Guys More Because I Don't Really Know Any In DC will be pleased to know that I hung out with no less than FIVE straight guys this weekend, so that's respectable progress. One of them was my brother, but whatever. Another was Danny's former coworker Justin, who came to the I&W show and who apparently reads my blog. I had no idea. He now knows all my darkest internet secrets, but he himself remains a man of mystery. I promised him a shout-out, though, so... hi Justin! What up!

Made for me!

2007-09-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

Ship Shape Clothing.

I love this. If only it weren't gray! Gray makes me look like a walking corpse. In a bad way.

I like the fouled anchor shirt, too.

That's not a jewel! It's a dirty old piece of crap!

2007-09-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

Mary helped me drag this awesome drop-leaf table out of my building's trash room on Sunday! It's so much better than the lame particle board Ikea desk I used to have in that space. I can't wait to sand it down, give it a new coat of black paint, and do some kind of decoupage action on the top. I'm inspired by these plates and wonder if I can't do something with a few of the stacks of different sized paper doilies sitting in my Mom's and grandmother's buffets... we'll see. Any ideas on where I can do my sanding are welcome - I'm guessing it's either back to the trash room or out onto the city sidewalk.

What else is new with me:

My brother and I watched this and this (from whence the post title comes) on Friday.
I'm currently reading the first three volumes of this.
I'm going to see some of these tonight.
I have plans to go to the National Book Festival, the Iron & Wine show at the 930 Club, and Crafty Bastards next weekend (holler if you want to join).
I'm crocheting lots of dishcloths lately.
I'm learning something useful in school for a change: photography, chemistry, law.

The Decemberists!

2007-09-08T10:09:00.000-04:00

So my dad and brother are getting me tickets to BOTH Decemberists shows at the 930 Club for my birthday this November. Michael's coming to the Long show with me, but I have no one with whom to see the Short show! I could go on my own, but I'd kinda rather not since it's for my birthday. Anyone going? Anyone want to? It's 30 bucks without service charges. Which is spendy, but they put on a reeeeally good show.

Any interest?

2007-08-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

Politics & Prose
Wednesday, August 29, 8 p.m.

DANIEL LEVITIN
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC (Plume, $15)
(In Conversation with Jeffrey Brown, Senior Correspondent, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer)
Levitin fuses his careers in professional music and neuroscience to look at the profound impact of music on the brain, examining the relationship between music production (how music is composed with sensory integration in mind) and perception (how certain songs get stuck in our head).

Scratch #79 from the list

2007-08-20T09:06:00.001-04:00

101 things in 1001 days!

2007-08-13T11:14:00.000-04:00

I was browsing this site and was inspired to make my own list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days (about 2.75 years). I left a few spaces at the end for things I come up with later. I'll continue to revisit the list and italicize things as I complete them. Here goes!

Start date: August 12, 2007
End date: May 9, 2010

Grown-up life things
1. Complete my Certificate in Museum Studies
2. Do an internship in a DC museum
3. Do another internship in a DC museum
4. Go to an AAM annual conference
5. Get a full time job in a museum
6. Pay off my credit card balance every month, starting with September 2007 (4/33)
7. Move into a place with a separate bedroom and/or room for a kitchen table
8. Move no more than once (summers away for internships don’t count)
9. Get a cat
10. Go on more than 2 dates with the same person

Fitness things
11. Take at least 1 tap class
12. Take a sailing lesson
13. Go for a hike in Rock Creek Park
14. Go hiking elsewhere (9-1-07, Great Falls, Difficult Run Trail)
15. Try a zumba class
16. Reach my target weight
17. See if I can fix up my old bike

Organizing and Purging things
18. Buy another nice bookcase
19. Organize books
20. Buy another nice CD tower
21. Organize music
22. Sort through all my Mom’s clothes and shoes and donate/give them away
23. Use or give away all the brand new bath and shower stuff Mom bought
24. Go through my movie posters and sell the ones I don’t want
25. Go through the books in my room at Dad’s and sell the ones I don’t want
26. Help Dad go through garage and give away furniture we no longer need
27. Go through at least 1 box of stuff in my room at Dad’s (Nov 2007)
28. Get rid of old computer
29. Scan Mom and Dad’s wedding photos
30. Scan the photos of Mom we collected for her funeral
31. Transfer recorded interviews with Mom and Grandpa from mini cassette to CD

Crafty things
32. Learn 3 new crochet skills: post stitch (9-18-07), spike stitch, bobbles (Oct 07)
33. Complete 1 crochet afghan
34. Complete 1 plastic crochet bag
35. Teach 1 person to crochet
36. Complete 2 embroidery projects
37. Set up sewing machine
38. Complete at least 2 sewing projects
39. Sew buttons on trousers and coat that are missing said buttons
40. Complete my altered t-shirt
41. Begin my t-shirt quilt
42. Make a Christmas ornament for Mathilda every year (1/3)
43. Dye my boat shoes with tea (8-25-07)
44. Make a running turks head wristlet
45. Make a flat turks head trivet
46. Complete Dad’s ditty bag
47. Practice knots until I can tie 5 knots as well as I can tie a bowline
48. Make something out of the old window from my childhood bedroom

Cooking things
49. Now that I eat seafood again, try to make Uncle Bill’s famous Cajun shrimp
50. Make deviled eggs (8-12-07)
51. Make pimiento cheese
52. Make every cookie recipe in the family cookbook
53. Go to Uncle Bill and Aunt Sonia’s at Christmas and learn to make fried apple pies
54. Cook or bake something with my grandma
55. Perfect my crab cake recipe
56. Make crème brulee with the kit Mom gave me
57. Make fondue and invite people over to share it
58. Try 4 new cupcake recipes (1/5 - cinnamon banana on 8-12-07)
59. Make 4 different kinds of pie (2/4 - pecan 12-16-07, chocolate chess 12-17-07)

Entertainment things
60. Throw myself a birthday party
61. Have people over to play board games at least twice (9-8-07)
62. Go out for steamed crabs
63. Go out for sushi
64. Go to happy hours at 3 new places (Hotel Washington 8-22-07, Ella's 9-4-07)
65. See Josh Lefkowitz’s new play (Nov 07)
66. Watch the whole Planet Earth series on DVD
67. See at least one film at Silverdocs
68. Finish watching The OC with Mary
69. Read all 11 of the Horatio Hornblower novels (2/11)
70. Read all 7 Harry Potter books straight through
71. Read the His Dark Materials series (1/3)
72. Read a book in German
73. Visit the Postal Museum (11-17-07)
74. Visit the American Art Museum (8-25-07)
75. Visit the Renwick Gallery
76. Visit the Hirschhorn
77. Visit the Botanic Gardens
78. Visit the Arboretum

Travel things
79. Visit the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum (8-18-07)
80. Visit the Smoky Mountains for a long weekend
81. Visit Aunt Doris in NC
82. Visit Uncle Steve in GA
83. See April and her baby
84. Visit New York again
85. Visit the Canadian Maritimes
86. Visit Janet’s vacation house in Nags Head
87. Go to Homecoming at W&M (Oct 07)
88. Go to Dinosaur Land with Mary, Keigh, and Dan
89. Go camping
90. Go canoeing in the Dismal Swamp
91. Go kayaking on the Shenandoah
92. Start a trip savings account towards visiting Antarctica and make definite plans for going

Miscellaneous things
93. Coax my African violet into bloom
94. Get new glasses that I really like
95. Try contact lenses
96. Buy 3 nice pairs of work pants that fit well: black, brown (12-17-07), and gray
97. Practice piano until I can play 1 song with confidence in front of people

Add-ons
98. Come up with a way to display Grandma's, Mom's, and my class rings
99. Come up with a way to display my belaying pin from Discovery
100. Visit the National Museum of Health & Medicine
101. Make fruit leather

Happy belated birthday, Mathilda

2007-08-07T20:31:00.000-04:00

She's
two!

Can
you
believe
it?

"...he meditated once more on the superiority of sea over land."

2007-07-26T19:51:00.000-04:00

Hi!

I'm back.

As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean

2007-07-13T16:56:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Bermuda tomorrow. See you suckers in a couple weeks!

If anyone wants to buy me a welcome-home gift, I'm obsessed with this shirt right now.

Imaginary boyfriend: Mary edition

2007-07-08T17:43:00.000-04:00

Mary's beloved Chuck Klosterman will be at Wonderland this Tuesday.

New imaginary boyfriend:

2007-07-05T20:09:00.000-04:00

Horatio Hornblower, Royal Navy.

I'm currently working my way through both the novels and the BBC/A&E films. Some of the movies co-star Jamie Bamber (Apollo from "Battlestar Gallactica") as Horatio's sidekick/secret love Archie Kennedy. Sweet!

My apartment

2007-06-29T10:14:00.001-04:00

Kenyon Apartments, Mt. Pleasant, 1910
Originally uploaded by rockcreek

back when it was brand new! Click the image and it will take you to a really cool flickr set of old DC photos. I was just thumbing through it and bam, there was my house! Turns out my building dates from about 1910. I love the car in front - lots more parking in Mount Pleasant in those days, I guess.

Antarctica

2007-06-21T14:15:00.001-04:00

I want to go. Maybe for my 30th birthday in a couple years?

Two things

2007-06-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

1. Head over to my brother's blog for this post about a Cadillac ad featuring the Pogues' song "Sunny Side of the Street." Too funny!

2. I thought I'd posted this before, but apparently I haven't, so here: Hop Stop. It's like Mapquest for pedestrians/bicyclists/busriders. They have a handful of cities, including our own. Sweet!

'Tis spring, a time when young women's thoughts turn to boats...

2007-06-19T09:23:00.000-04:00

It's not technically summer for another couple days...

But hey, look over here! $4 kayak/canoe lessons!

track marks

2007-06-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

from my allergy testing today:

Not nearly as impressive as it was earlier, but I didn't have my camera... I had 35 needle sticks! And I didn't even pass out! I just got really dizzy and sweaty and had to lie down for an hour.

The verdict? I am allergic to:
Dogs,
Feathers,
Early trees,
Late trees,
Mixed weeds,
Ragweed,
Grasses,
Brewer's yeast (huh?),
Dust, and
Dust mites.

The remedy? High powered prescription meds and 6 months of weekly shots, plus 3-5 years of monthly shots after that. We'll see.

What I'd like most in all the world right now

2007-06-12T13:22:00.001-04:00

is a sunny eat-in kitchen with a big table where I can roll out biscuit dough and have my friends over for supper sometimes.

Things I Made

2007-06-11T18:19:00.000-04:00

Gratuitous niece photos

2007-06-03T14:57:00.000-04:00

Fort Reno

2007-05-31T11:55:00.001-04:00

Schedule's up, yo.

Top with a buttery Lincoln fetus

2007-05-30T12:26:00.000-04:00

I just recently came across The Gallery of Regrettable Food again, an old favorite that I first discovered back during my undergraduate American Studies days (specifically when I was doing a project on ads in 1950s women's magazines, I think). Definitely worth a thorough perusal. This post's title comes from this photo essay, by the way, entitled "Patty Cake Patty Cake Baker's SHAME."

The guy who runs the site has more fun stuff, too, like amusing money from around the world and diner postcards. And, for my brother, comic book covers - I like this one and this one and this one.

You can find all this stuff and then some indexed here.

Kickin it at the German Embassy

2007-05-26T18:24:00.000-04:00

In recognition and celebration of my spring houseplant re-potting project

2007-05-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

Neat!

Dirty Wow Wow

2007-05-18T09:46:00.000-04:00

I found this quite touching - I'll have to track down a copy of the book.

I don't remember a particular stuffed animal that I carried everywhere. My most-loved stuffie was probably a polar bear mom and baby - baby held in mom's velcro arms - that my grandpa gave me when I was born; I think Mom told me he got it free at the bank.

What I DID have was a snuggle blanket. No special name like blankie or binky or whatever, just snuggle blanket. Sometimes I kept it under my pillow, sometimes in a plush gray rabbit (or maybe it was a kangaroo?) pajama bag that hung from my bedpost. It had a zipper up its back and my snuggle blankets lived inside its abdomen. I actually have three snuggle blankets in various states of disrepair. The first and most beloved was supplemented by a second when I decided it was getting a bit too delicate, and both of these were replaced by a yellow flannel later on. All three currently live in a drawer in my dresser at my parents' house, along with my brother's snuggle blanket (a blue version of my yellow one). My first snuggle blanket is the softest, loveliest bit of rag in the world; nothing else feels as good against my cheek.

I was surprised and comforted to see that so many folks my age and older still hang on to their bunnies and blankies, like Radar and his teddy bear. I've been feeling pretty lonely and motherless lately - I wish dearly for a cat to keep me company, but pets are forbidden in my building - and I wonder digging out the old snuggle blanket might be the ticket to comfort. I'd never ask Dad to mail them - if they got lost I don't know what I'd do - but maybe he can bring them up when he visits in a couple weeks. I'll get him to bring yours too, Michael.

i hate trees

2007-05-02T15:28:00.000-04:00

Anyone know a good allergist? Claritin isn't doing jack for me.

Legos

2007-04-19T12:17:00.001-04:00

Neat.

It's time again

2007-03-26T12:43:00.000-04:00

for Cultural Tourism DC's free walking tours!

Anyone want to do the boat one on Saturday or the geology or German immigrant one on Sunday? Here are the descriptions:

History of Our Waterways Cultural Cruise
Saturday 11:30 am – 2 pm
Meet at the gazebo outside the Gangplank Marina, 600 Water Street, SW
Reservations required: 202-547-1250 or lgossens@NMHF.org
Join the National Maritime Heritage Foundation for a fun and educational cruise on the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Relax aboard our 65-foot schooner as we set sail and enjoy the sights from a new perspective and learn about the DC Waterfront. Led by Carl Cole and presented by the National Maritime Heritage Foundation.

German Immigrants: The Evidence Preserved
Sunday 1 – 2:30 pm
Meet outside the Goethe-Institut, 812 Seventh Street, NW
Visit sites where German immigrants lived, worked, and worshipped. Stores and businesses such as the former Lansburgh’s Department Store and places of worship played an important role in the German community. Also learn about the accomplishments of prominent German-Americans. Led by Carl Saperstein and presented by the Goethe-Institut.

History Before History: The Geologic Story of Washington, DC
Sunday 1 – 4 pm
Meet outside the Harvard Towers apartment building, 1845 Harvard Street, NW, on the corner of Harvard Street and Adams Mill Road
Go back in time 700 million years! Before DC was a city it was the bottom of an ancient ocean, the center of a mountain range, a magma chamber, and a river in which dinosaurs swam. Learn the geological story of the city by visiting rock outcrops in Adams Morgan and Rock Creek Park. Led by Callan Bentley, geology instructor, Northern Virginia Community College.
Special Instructions: This tour will involve walking on unpaved forest trails in addition to city streets. Please wear appropriate footwear. Some of the terrain is hilly. Total distance is about two miles.

My one true love

2007-03-26T09:40:00.000-04:00

"... I had been in a darkened sound booth somewhere, tugging off the trousers of Ira Glass."

I used to think I was the only one. Then I met S, a girl in grad school who had his bar mitzvah photo tiled as her desktop wallpaper. Then there was K, for whom he inspires a love powerful enough to make her consider switching teams. Next came the wife of the guy at Extreme Craft. And now this. Gloves off, ladies!

(By the way, you can watch the first episode of the new TAL tv show for free here. And be sure to check out the parody mentioned in the Extreme Craft post linked above.)

Big shoes to fill

2007-03-14T08:07:00.000-04:00

My niece + my chucks

Mixmania update

2007-03-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

One of the points of this state mix cd project was to see how many songs showed up on both my list and my brother's. Five, it turns out. Or seven, depending on how you count these things:

Tom Waits, "Jersey Girl" (NJ)
Hank Williams, "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" (LA)
Jim White, "Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi" (MS)
Loretta Lynn and Jack White, "Portland Oregon" (OR)
Pixies, "Motorway to Roswell" (NM)

Then there were two states for which we picked different versions of the same song:

New York - I used the album version of They Might Be Giants' "New York City"; Michael used a live version.

Texas - We both used "The Texas River Song," but I chose Townes Van Zandt and Michael went with Lyle Lovett (both versions are good).

Mixmania tracklist revealed: OUR 51 UNITED STATES

2007-03-03T11:30:00.000-05:00

As my brother Michael mentioned, he and I started talking last fall about doing set of mix CDs with a song for each state (his idea). When the "choose-your-own-theme" theme came up, it seemed like a great excuse to turn the dream into a reality.

Michael called his mix THIS AMERICAN LIFE, but mine is OUR 51 UNITED STATES. This is due to a recent John Hodgman kick I've been on (I stole the my theme name from one of his chapter titles), and also the fact that I live in the great not-a-state of Washington DC and thus wanted to include it, since we don't have voting rights in Congress and everything. Michael left us out because he is mean.

We didn't really set any strict criteria for song choice, but the basic levels we came up with were 1. state name in the title, 2. city name in the title, 3. state name in the lyrics, 4. city name in the lyrics, 5. landmark in the lyrics, 6. totally stretching something that otherwise doesn't fit. I tried not to have too many songs by a single artist - Tom Waits wins out with 3 (I used a John Hammond cover for what would have been the 4th) and Jim White, Tullycraft, Pixies, and Sufjan Stevens clock in with two each (though I had a 3rd in mind for all four of these).

So the result of all this is 51 songs over 3 discs (I hate doing multi-disc mixes because I like the challenge of cutting things down to fit into 80 minutes, but I made an exception here). And I put them in a particular order - see if you can figure it out as you scroll through!

Have a better choice for your home state? Lemme know in the comments. I'm curious. But for now, let's get to it:

Disc 1
1. Delaware: Dover, Delaware - The Duhks
2. Pennsylvania: Punk Rock Girl - The Dead Milkmen
Zipperhead... Philly Pizza Company...
3. New Jersey: Jersey Girl - Tom Waits
Too obvious?
4. Georgia: Sodom, South Georgia (live on All Songs Considered) - Iron & Wine
Live version not on the album. Plus, here's a link to the show I saw at the 930 Club. Enjoy!
5. Connecticut: CT Catholic - Rainer Maria
6. Massachusetts: Lowell, MA - Death Cab for Cutie
Edged out "U-Mass" because I already had two Pixies songs.
7. Maryland: Clap Hands - Tom Waits
"Shine shine Roosevelt dime / All the way to Baltimore and running out of time..."
8. South Carolina: Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) - The Decemberists
Sea-swelled Carolinas... Hills of Oconee...
9. New Hampshire: New Hampshire - Matt Pond PA
10. Virginia: Old Dominion - The Essex Green
This isn't my favorite of theirs, but I definitely recommend checking out their album Cannibal Sea, particularly the song "Don't Know Why (You Stay)".
11. New York: New York City - They Might Be Giants
I meant to put a live version of this song on here, but I got mixed up. Sorry about that.
12. North Carolina: Carolina - M. Ward
13. Rhode Island: Holiday in Rhode Island - The Softies
14. Vermont: Vermont - Cruiserweight
I don't really like this song very much. But do you any others about Vermont?
15. Kentucky: Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe
16. Tennessee: My Tennessee Mountain Home - Dolly Parton
Have you ever been to Dollywood? I have, and it was awesome, and I am not ashamed.
17. Ohio: Ohio Clouds - Laura Veirs
Pretty pretty pretty Laura Veirs. She lends her voice to that South Carolina song up there, too.

Disc 2
1. Louisiana: Jambalaya (On The Bayou) - Hank Williams
2. Indiana: Bloomington - The Old 97s
3. Mississippi: Handcuffed to a Fence in Mississippi - Jim White
4. Illinois: Come On! Feel the Illinoise! - Sufjan Stevens
5. Alabama: Alabama Chrome - Jim White
Sorry to put two Jim White songs so close together, but I love him.
6. Maine: Maine - John Linnell
He has a whole record of state songs called... well, it's called State Songs. Hope it's not cheating to use
this one. I don't really like most of the others.
7. Missouri: Hold On - Tom Waits
"God bless your crooked little heart / St. Louis got the best of me..."
8. Arkansas: The Lord God Bird - Sufjan Stevens
Do you remember a couple years ago when they found that woodpecker they thought was extinct and NPR talked of NOTHING ELSE for like 3 days straight? And then they made Sufjan write a song about it? This is that song. It's good.
9. Michigan: Tire Swing - Kimya Dawson
"I took a wrong turn and ended up in Michigan..."
10. Florida: Tallahassee - The Mountain Goats
11. Texas: Texas River Song - Townes Van Zandt
12. Iowa: Heartattack and Vine - John Hammond
"Better off in Iowa against your scrambled eggs..."
13. Wisconsin: Madison Area - Tortoise
14. California: California Stars - Wilco
15. Minnesota: Secretly Minnesotan - Tullycraft
Thank god for Tullycraft! They are a twee pop band out of Seattle who happen to have songs about a bunch of the hard-to-find states. I went with them for Minnesota and Kansas.
16. Oregon: Portland, Oregon - Loretta Lynn and Jack White

Disc 3
1. Kansas: Our Days in Kansas - Tullycraft
2. West Virginia: Hills of West Virginia - Phil Ochs
3. Nevada: The Happening - Pixies
Area 51 is in Nevada, right? I think so.
4. Nebraska: Omaha - Visqueen
5. Colorado: Another Colorado - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
I know nothing about this guy - this nice little alt-country number was a serendipitous offering from the KEXP song of the day podcast.
6. North Dakota: West of Town - Tom Brosseau
Dear gentle Tom Brosseau. He's from North Dakota and sings about it a lot - he mentions the Red River flood in this love song to his home town, and he's got a new record out called Grand Forks.
7. South Dakota: Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles
"Somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota..."
8. Montana: Montana - Yma Sumac
9. Washington: Welcome to Seattle - Boom Bap Project
I wish I had a bigger hip hop collection. I think the connection between hip hop and sense of place is really interesting, and I'm sure I could have found a lot of great hip hop tracks for this project. This is a good start, though - I really like these guys.
10. Idaho: Twin Falls - Built to Spill
11. Wyoming: Wyoming - The Lucksmiths
I quite like this band, and this song is adorable. It just makes me grin whenever I hear it. It's an Australian guy singing about how he doesn't really know anything about Wyoming. "The sky was big and the fields were wide / And if people lived there, they all were inside..."
12. Utah: Utah Moon - Washboard Chaz Blues Trio
I saw these guys in a little bar in New Orleans in 2003 and bought their CD. Dig the washboard/bicycle bell rhythm section!
13. Oklahoma: Tampa to Tulsa - The Jayhawks
14. New Mexico: Motorway to Roswell - Pixies
15. Arizona: Phoenix - Daft Punk
I know this isn't really about Arizona, but I felt the need to mix up the genres a bit, so this track edged out Wilco's "Hotel Arizona."
17. Alaska: Fire Island, AK - The Long Winters
Another winner from the KEXP podcast!
18. Hawaii: No Aloha - The Breeders
19. Washington, DC: Mount Pleasant Isn't - The Evens
Home sweet home. The Evens are a DC band, and Mount Pleasant is the neighborhood in DC where I live. No riots since I moved in.

The end! Go team USA.

anniversaries

2007-02-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

"It has been a hard year. It has been an unfair year in which we have been taught to think of the unthinkable, taught that we are not exempt from tragedy, but in fact can be its strange attractors."

John Hodgman, "Slingshot"

(this open letter also available in audio form here)