I do intend to put these back on my list at the library and finish them someday.
Today the chickens graduated from their 17-gallon galvanized washtub into the bottom half of a large dog crate. Now they have much more room in which to stand around all huddled together. They have been very busy growing new body parts, including combs on their heads, and shoulder feathers, and wing feathers, and, well, wings. Tall Chicken (”Necky”) can stretch her head up all the way to the top of the waterer, and they all like to run/hop and flap their new wings. They learned they could jump up on the edges of the bucket when we took off the lid (made of fencing) to clean, and so that is why they are graduated to a new taller house.
This weekend we:
If you have any interest in starts of any of these plants, and it’s a reasonable idea for me to get them to you, shoot me an email at firstname dot lastname at gmail, and I’ll put on some starts for you.
There is more to come, of course; corn, beans, peas, chard, carrots, beets are to be started outdoors, and asparagus comes in live plants. We will also be doing succession planting — that is, planting every few to several weeks, as we eat the existing plants — with the crops that can overwinter here, like kale, broccoli, lettuces, brussels sprouts, leeks, the root veggies, maybe cabbage.
I still owe a post about what I read in February (not much), and what I am up to lately in terms of media
consumption. But don’t sit here and wait for it; go make butter! It is easy and awesome and delicious!
(Song: “Sons and Daughters,” The Decemberists. I love this song.)
1. Go to the Washington caucus, which is at the exact same time as my tiny friend Ciaran’s first birthday.
1a. Finish making Ciaran’s Christmas present.
1b. Decide who I would vote for.
2. Ride my bike in March with all my new bike-nerd co-workers. (ALL of them ride their bikes to work. I feel a little left out, but I get to take a ferry, so there.)
3. Ever get enough sleep, ever.
(I think if I’m really going to blog more, I’m going to have to get over using song quotes for everything; it gets hard to think of things.)
watching: Season 3 of Deadwood, FINALLY
reading: homework for class; Visual Design for the Modern Web; The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language
eating: vat of lentils from last week; queued up is chorizo-and-potato stew
knitting: a sock that I abandoned two years ago; a sock-yarn hat for Garth (slow going)
buying: a bajillion things at Ikea yesterday, most of which are already unpacked and assembled, yay!
anticipating: a package of goodies from Lehman’s; a package of work-related books from Amazon; G’s first Bacon-of-the-month delivery next week; baby chicks in 4-6 weeks!
I have been trying to write this post for weeks now. Busy: getting new computer; computer crashing; computer needing more RAM; computer getting more RAM; Firefox crashing; etc.
So now I am posting post-poker night and mid-bourbon on my new shiny white MacBook, with tired Ruby June and snorey Oscar, all worn out from running around in circles in the poker host’s backyard.
Forgot what I have been planning to say for weeks, so here’s a general update.
Garden is awesome. Have been eating happily growing lettuce. Today someone commented that I have been eating a lot of salad for lunch, and I said “I picked it! This morning! From my garden!” and I was proud.
Ruby June has been good; lately when she gets out of yards, she comes when we call, instead of running the other direction. So that’s an improvement.
Spent the weekend of the Fourth pleasantly with my sister: Neko Case show (amazing set; also hotttt); bought her dress for the bridesmaiding; sat around; cooked some food. Spent the three days of the following work week MISERABLE. I somehow managed to get ~33 hours in those three days. I don’t remember why anymore. I think things needed done, and I needed to do them. But I’m not sure.
Subsequent weeks have been similar. Overtime is lame.
I also ordered my dress, but it was online rather than in a shop and so was less fun but also significantly less annoying, which is worth a lot to me. Bridal shops? They suck.
I am studying things! I am studying graphic design, and programming (C#), and sewing, and also dog training.
Tomorrow we go suit shopping and also shoe & skirt shopping at Gap Inc. for me, just for fun.
Now I must go to bed, because … it’s bedtime.
(Song: “I Love the Unknown,” Clem Snide)
A few weeks ago, several of my favorite bands ever came out with new albums. So, mini reviews!
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
This album reminds me a lot of Blacklisted, which I absolutely adore. I have listened to almost* nothing but Fox Confessor for the past week. My favorites are “Margaret vs. Pauline” (track 1), “Star Witness” (track 2), “A Widow’s Toast” (track 4), “John Saw That Number” (track 7), and “The Needle Has Landed” (track 12).
Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide), Bitter Honey
I’ve listened to this one a few times, and I pretty much wish it were a Clem Snide album instead of a solo album. I love Eef, my long-lost brother, but Eef+guitar isn’t quite as snarky as Eef+whole band, and his lyrics are as snarky as normal, so it doesn’t quite match up.
Rhett Miller, The Believer
This album isn’t very good.
Can you believe I just said that about Rhett?
It’s just not very good. He needs the Old 97s. Especially Murry, the bassist. We saw Rhett live a few weeks ago and his bassist apparently had a crappy amp, or something; I don’t know what it was but he sounded terrible. It was really unpleasant. The songs from the album are better live than they are on the album, which isn’t saying much because they are kind of lifeless and flat on the album. And then he does that hip thing at the live show so everything is better.
*I have also listened to Paul Burch’s album Fool For Love. If Paul Burch and Neko had babies, they would make my head explode with the awesome singingness.
(song: “Star Witness,” Neko Case)
Things Ruby June likes to chew:
+ bones
+ ice cubes
+ rope toys
+ Oscar
+ stuffed animal dog toys
- that squeak
- new grey Converse
- red rubber garden clogs
- duct tape that holds old recliners together
- pens that are full of black ink
- feet (also hands, elbows, etc.)
She has a crate now. And she’s going to obedience school.
(song: “Favorite,” Neko Case)
I don’t usually do this, but: it’s a linky post!
Many thanks to BoingBoing for reminding me of Derek Kirk Kim, who has only gotten better in the several months I neglected to read his site.
Things that make me laugh until I cry:
Goats & Darth Vader (an animated .gif on MetaTalk)
Goat all by himself (.mpeg movie)
And potentially best: Dog in airplane (Google Video).
And do y’all remember this book? I love this book.
—
I think I might take myself to Canada this weekend.
(song: “The Electric Version,” The New Pornographers)
Things with which I am currently totally obsessed:
(song: “Jackson,” June & Johnny)
Oh good, it’s still here!
Several smallish stories piled up over the last … month.
***
Mentally composed on Monday, September 19: I am cranky because last night I organized my life: figured out hours at my new job (which is the same as my old job), blocked out homework time during every day so I can try to keep it out of my free weekend time, made sure to schedule gym time three days a week. I was excited and energetic about my goals and I was going to DO IT, dammit, and today I woke up sick. Now no gym until I can breathe again; no work until I can move without feeling like my head is going to fall off. I get sick so rarely; did it have to interfere with my beginning-of-the-term optimism about getting things done? Now I may never recover.
***
Mentally composed at some point within the last couple of weeks: Yes, it’s definitely fall now and this means it’s time to reread Jane Eyre* and Ahab’s Wife. For some reason — perhaps the fact that they are full of wind and water and darkness — they remind me of fall and fall reminds me of them.
***
Mentally composed at some point within the last several weeks: Seven thousand fifty-eight flying and driving miles, four states, and ten-ish months later, the fourth and final stage of the extensive project that is meeting all the various combinations of divorced and remarried parents is over. We learned that the interaction between my mother and me at Thanksgiving is not a good first introduction to my mother; that Hawai’i is too hot, even in December, that I have become a (or discovered my hidden inner) dog person, and that three days in different states is bizarrely traumatic; that Wisconsin weather is hard on poor Northwesterners, but that Madison would be lovely if it weren’t so sillily flat and if it would just cool down at night (although then there would be no thunderstorms); and that my Reno family is almost too large to be tolerated, but that drinks in Reno are very cheap. It was a fun and adventurous project, the meeting of the parents, but I am happy never have to do it again.
***
Composed today: I did recover from the cold, physically and in terms of optimism as well. I started going to the gym again last week, finally, and though I couldn’t make it last Friday, I went today, and it’s already getting easier. School is well underway and I am actually getting stuff done. I am almost done with my portfolio; pending a few changes, my advisor will pass it and it will be on the randomly-chosen secondary reader. I got to see my sister last weekend, and we drove to Astoria to take her to her orthodontist appointment. That meant we also got to go to the beach and Shannon’s favorite restaurant and a wonderful fishmonger. I saw Serenity again and everyone else should go see it, too, even though J.W. ruined all my hopes and dreams. Today I applied for a really exciting job that I’m actually qualified for, even though I’d have to be in school full-time and working full-time through December. It might be the perfect job, though, so I am willing to sacrifice those six weeks to misery. In about a year an honest woman will be made out of me. I plan to wear a red dress. So maybe not that honest.
(song: “Question,” Old 97s)
* I love Project Gutenberg. Everyone should use it all the time.
