texting blog posts

okay, so i can text blog posts. sweet! so now when i update my facebook & twitter ... i can update the blog, too. it doesn't title the posts (see the one below), but i can come back later & title them if i want. perhaps if i do, i'll just title them with the time or something. otherwise it uses the body of the post for the sidebar. not so bad when it fits on one line, but if it's longer it uses two lines. i don't like that so much.

they do not text comments back to me. that's good. but they do text me a confirmation each time i post. i'm sure i can turn that off though.

so, yeah. intesting. :)

Let's try this out. Sent via text.

two goals, one afternoon

i hosted a Pumpkin Slaughter party this past sunday. we had a great time. now i just need to do something with the bowls of seeds in my fridge before they rot. :)


must. remove. the brains.


jon l. taunting his pumpkin before starting the facial reconstruction.


kathy's sassy cat.


corlin's ghoul has spiky hair!


mikey's alien pumpkin has a probe under his hat.


and poor melanie's pumpkin's got swine flu!


april carved a cute owl.


and dave came! that's the second goal - i got to hang out with dave! i'm so glad he came. and impressed since he didn't know anyone else at the slaughter but me. hopefully the rest of my people didn't scare him too badly. :)


i'm pretty sure mike's attempting jedi mind tricks on beth in this photo.


jon l's pumpkin after the reconstruction.


becca's pumpkin's got a cute li'l smile.


and jes' has the biggest grin of them all.


patti's li'l elfin pumpkin head was simply adorable. although i hear it didn't fair well once she got it home. :(


and i forgot to take a photo of my own. so here it is a couple of days later, lit up on the front porch. see those black spots? yeah, they're ants. it's kind of infested. it's nature helping out the creepy factor. :)

texting to blogger?

if i could text to blogger like i can text to twitter & facebook ... i'd totally reach my blogging goal in no time flat.

proof of adorability

if this photo doesn't prove that everything's cuter in miniature, miniaturability may be a lost cause.

NaBloPoMo DaTo 2009

that's National Blog Post Month Daily topic ... of course. :) our group has gotten bigger! we're 14 bloggers strong now, and i'm so antsy to get started it's a little ridiculous.

participating blogs, sans beth - her link will be up later this afternoon. once we set her up a blog. :)

amanda
april
erin
jen
jody
joe
jonathan
laure
matt
melanie
mikey
patti

upcoming blogging extravaganza

november is national blog posting month. i've committed to blogging every day next month. and to make it better, i'm being joined by nine of my bloggingest buddies in a challenge to post on a specific topic each day. each of us will contribute topics to the hat. each day a topic will be drawn, and we'll each blog on that topic. seeing 10 different takes on a common subject will, undoubtedly, be fabulous. as a little preview, here are links to the participating blogs:

april
erin
jen
jody
jonathan
laure
matt
melanie
mikey
patti

anyone else want to join? i'll need 3 topics from everyone by saturday morning!

driving home

the past two times i've driven out to warsaw, my drive home has been marked with stormy skies.


with the clouds breaking up as i travel west.


giving way to sunny skies.


and gorgeous cloudscapes in the sideview mirrors.

halloween decorations

turns out i might enjoy decorating for halloween. :)

good morning

i'm starting to really dig the concept of getting 8 hours of sleep at night. i'll need to be careful. i could get used to this.

days like today

you know those days when everything just seems off? i can't pinpoint one specific event, but today was just ... wrong somehow. meh.

overload

there are stories to tell and photos to show. look for some updates starting tomorrow. (or tonight, if you count this as an update.)

november is national blog posting month. i think i might take the challenge.

longer sleeves

i added longer sleeves to the tree sweater today. and, in case you're interested, i took some process photos, too.



here's one of the flat pieces, ready to attach to the tree. the long black string is what i'll use to slip stitch the sleeve closed. there's a short green string at the bottom left, as well. that's what i'll use to attach the sleeve to what's already on the tree.



attaching the sleeve to what's already on the tree is tricky to show because the colors match up. but it's a simple slip stitch through the bottom row of the sleeve to the top row of what's already sewn around the tree.



and then a simple slip stitch all the way up the length of the sleeve - pulling & stretching when needed to fit over any knots or bulges on the limb.



the sleeve, completely attached.

it's easy. and i've measured the next dozen or so sleeves ... so i think i'll go back to crocheting now. :)

interesting tidbit

i'm cleaning out my e-mail, reading my mental_floss newsletter. and check this out:

The baseball playoffs are in full swing, and fans have all kinds of burning questions: Is the Phillies' bullpen good enough for them to repeat? Can the Yankees finally figure out a way to not blow it against the Angels? And what happens to the losing teams' pre-printed championship T-shirts?

We can't predict what will happen on the field, but our own Matt Soniak looked into the t-shirt question:

World Vision is an international Christian humanitarian aid group that works with Major League Baseball, the NFL, and the NBA to collect misprinted merchandise and distribute it to people living in impoverished nations (MLB used to require the destruction of shirts and hats proclaiming the wrong champions, but two years ago they began donating their postseason apparel).

The merchandise doesn't go to waste, people living in poverty receive new, clean clothes, and the clothing makers recoup some of their losses-they get tax credits for the charitable donations. It seems like a win-win situation, but some people might object. After all, aren't there people living in poverty in the U.S. who could use some new clothes? Yes, but overseas donation is part of the agreement between World Vision and the leagues. The farther away the clothing is, the less likely it is to offend a losing player or heartbroken Buffalo Bills fan.

Here's hoping your team's championship shirts don't end up in the donation pile. Enjoy the playoffs!

where was my memo?

i didn't know october was national pizza month! oh man, i've missed nearly half of the pizza-palooza!

eating pizza

i went to the sanfratello's in glenwood for dinner tonight. that makes eight cities/towns in which i've had pizza this year. as expected, the glenwood sanfratello's pizza was quite similar to the highland sanfratello's pizza. i think glenwood's had a slightly thicker crust, but that was the only noticeable difference.

noticeable is a funny little word, isn't it? with the e and the a smooshed together like that?

i should be going to bed now. but i think i'll crochet instead.

broken lens

side note on taking the tree scarf photos: i think the small lens for my big camera is broken. the shutter (shutter? i don't know all the fancy terms) is locked up - half open. (or half closed, i suppose, depending on your outlook.) so, yeah. it can't autofocus, and it doesn't let in enough light to really see well enough to manually focus. nuts.

happy monday?

today was a long day. it actually started last night ... when the lights dimmed slightly just before i went to bed. having done my best to cultivate my active imagination my entire life - i spent the next two hours barely sleeping as i thought about what i would do if i woke up to an electrical fire. so four hours later, my alarm clock went off. i was at the office by 7:15, at today's event by 8, back at the office by 11:45, back at the event by 5, leaving the event at 10.

bright spots of the day? i did not trip & fall while working on stage at the show. and after it was all over, i got out faster than i expected and was able to go for dinner with my mom & sister! it's the little things, ya know?

i still have a distinct urge to pop open a smirnoff ice, though, before heading to bed.

22. crochet a scarf

hey julie ... remember asking me why i was measuring the dogwood tree out front? :)

when i wrote this goal, i kept it vague on purpose. the tree scarf (sweater?) was my original intention, but i wanted to be able to fall back on a traditional, human-worn scarf if need be. but ... i love my tree scarf! i even have measurements for the next six extensions - so you'll be seeing updated photos as i add to the project.

as i was sewing it on this afternoon, a fellow (in his 60s, probably) was walking by. he stopped and said, "nothing to do but dress a tree, huh?" to which i replied, "hey! it's getting cold out!" he giggled a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me giggle as he continued on his walk.

printer prep

i'm making a purse calendar for julie, using photos of her li'l cuties for the covers. the design is done; the photos are resized. so i replaced 5 of the 6 ink cartridges (why do they always go out in sets?) and ran several maintenance/test prints to align the heads and what-not. and then realized i don't have enough paper to print the calendar. :)

lunchtime frustrations

i went through a drive-thru for lunch today. it's a place between my house & work that has the best fast-food hamburger & fries. and while they're generally very competent, today's interaction went something like this:


drive-thru gal: thanks for choosing (name of restaurant). can i take your order?

me: yes, i'd like a #1 with cheese, no onion - with a rootbeer to drink.

dtg: one moment, please.

-- pause --

different drive-thru gal: hi, i'm sorry. what would you like today?

me: a #1 with cheese, no onion - with a rootbeer, please.

ddtg: with what to drink?

me: a rootbeer, please?

ddtg: okay. and did you want everything on your cheeseburger?

me: no onion, please.

-- longer pause --

ddtg: i'm sorry. would you repeat your order?

me: i'd like a #1 with cheese, no onion - with a rootbeer to drink.

ddtg: okay, that'll be $5.50 at the window. thanks!


i think i should take it as a hint to go grocery shopping & stop eating fast food.

favorite yarn?

i may have found my favorite yarn. it's bernat's softee chunky. when you feel the entire skein, it doesn't feel exceptionally soft (softer than some, but nothing spectacular), but once you work it up? oooo, that's nice.

it's 100% acrylic and claims to be machine washable/dryable. i may work up a good square of it & run it through a wash cycle to see how it fairs. it if does well, i may just challenge myself to make a sweater or something. yikes! :)

late night

i had every intention (honest) of going to bed around midnight.

i got home around 7:45, had dinner (thank you, wendy) and watched a couple of episodes of friends (finishing off season 3). then i jumped into wordpress. with a little bit of online help, i got my built-in apache software serving, installed wordpress and was up and running by about 10. i paused to wash the sinkful of dishes, and then i played around with wordpress for a couple of hours. i ended up downloading a theme that had a pretty sweet built-in theme customizer. and what was more sweet? that i figured parts of the customization out before realizing it came with a built-in customizer. go nerdy me. :)

so i called it quits around midnight. but then i'm thinking i could really go for a little salty snack. so i grab a package of ritz snack mix and pop in season 4 of friends. but, of course, the li'l bag of snack mix is gone well before the episode is over. so i pick up some crocheting. and then when the episode ends, i'm in the middle of a row, so i let the next episode start. i continued like that for about 2 hours.

so at 2:30 i'm crawling into bed, and all i can think is, "i kinda wanna go play with wordpress again ..."

monday in the middle of the week

four-day weekends are superb, except when they end.

professor burkett

i spent today with greg, learning how to use wordpress to create web sites that are more than blogs. it definitely seems like something i can handle. tonight, however, i was too tired to even install the program. so i went to jo-ann's instead and bought yarn for my crochet project. i'm currently about 5" in. another 8" on this piece, and then i'll check it for proper fit.

the wind is crazy out there tonight. here's hoping i fall asleep quickly instead of jumping at every noise it makes outside my windows. :)

t's tds: final tally

mend my brown sweater & my gray sweater.
hem my new skirt.
launder the bedsheets.
test the rearrangement of the kitchen.
finish decorating for halloween (don't forget the rug!)
mow the lawn
trim down the barberry bushes.
measure the dogwood tree.
vacuum!
carve apples.
move the firepit into the garage.
spray for spiders.
work on the party menu.
plan a weekend away, just me.
check the amtrak trip to the grand canyon.
spray paint the table.
weekly menu/grocery shopping.
get the garbage/recycling to the road.
drink a lot of water.

tomorrow i'm heading out to greg's house so he can teach me some web design skills. it's part of my personal development program. and a step in what will hopefully prove to be a good direction.

t's tds: update 4

alright: halloween decorating is as done as it can be for now. the shrunken heads will finish off the decor, and the apples have now been carved & are soaking up the dry heat of the dehydrator as i type this. the lawn has been mowed (although that makes spray painting the table a little tricky without getting grass on it ... so that will probably wait until next weekend.) the fire pit has been moved into the garage (so the wood inside will no longer get rained on the coming weeks before the bonfire). i did a little checking on the grand canyon train trip, got frustrated with the amtrak web site and stopped looking. i have a menu planned for this week, though i don't see myself going out to shop at this point. i've made it this far in the day, there are very few things that would convince me to leave the house now.

so what will i continue to accomplish this evening? i'm still aiming to try moving the microwave, though i'm convinced it will not work. and i will vacuum, at least in the living room. and i can get the tree measured before the sun goes down. i could still spray for spiders (hopefully killing the parent centipedes in the basement). and plan a party menu. and get the garbage to the road.

hmmm ... i should take mondays off more often. i even managed to make eggs for breakfast and a tasty calzone for lunch.

t's tds: update 3

seriously, 41 minutes later and i've had time to change clothes, put gas in the mower, move the fire pit into the garage, move the neighbor kids' chairs into their own yard, get the mail and mow the entire lawn.

i'm still thinking on the barberry trimming. i just don't have it in me right now. :)

t's tds: update 2

i'm well aware that the proper order of events would be for me to mow my lawn and THEN shower/dress for shopping. why do i dislike mowing the lawn so much? it only take me about 30 minutes. and it looks so much better when it's done. the hardest part of the whole process is deciding what to do with the neighbor kids' chairs that in my yard - again.

yeah, i should go mow the lawn.

t's tds: update 1

so far the sweaters have both been mended, and the second set of bedsheets is about to go into the washer. the gray sweater mended much nicer than the brown. but the mended seam on the brown sweater will be mostly hidden by my hair, so it's not really an issue. i may need to go buy brown thread before i hem my skirt, though. i was able to use a really dark olive-y green thread for the sweater, but i don't think it will work for the skirt. so i think i smell a trip to jo-ann's this afternoon.

today's to-dos:

mend my brown sweater & my gray sweater.

hem my new skirt.

launder the bedsheets.

test the rearrangement of the kitchen.

finish decorating for halloween (don't forget the rug!)

mow the lawn

trim down the barberry bushes.

measure the dogwood tree.

vacuum!

carve apples.

move the firepit into the garage.

spray for spiders.

work on the party menu.

plan a weekend away, just me.

check the amtrak trip to the grand canyon.

spray paint the table.

weekly menu/grocery shopping.

get the garbage/recycling to the road.

drink a lot of water.

time in louisville

i spent saturday afternoon & sunday morning in louisville with mel & dan. as always, i had a great time. we had lunch at moe's (i still can't believe ours closed down), and then we walked around the st. james court art show. as usual, the artwork was varied, eclectic and generally phenomenal. i found myself most drawn to the glass bead jewelry, and had the hardest time saying no to these fabulously coordinated, but mismatched, earrings. i also was in awe of tracey lewis' work. it was so three-dimensional, yet very calming ...

icing on the cake? i got to share dinner with george! he was in the general area saturday, so he swung by the apartment for dinner. i've now been enlightened on both the ice cream parlor that sells tomato ice cream and the plight of the chumanzee.

the drive home was fairly uneventful, even if a bit frustrating. i had to take a detour on the way down because of an accident that closed all the southbound lanes - and i should have taken that same detour on my way back north. i sat in construction traffic for about a half hour, wondering the entire time what was so hard to understand about "left lane ends, merge right." crazy drivers.

early saturday

this is the earliest i've been awake all week. i'm driving to louisville to spend the weekend with dan & malissa. we'll be meandering through the artsy goodness at the st. james court art show.

my ipod is charging, gearing up for the 4.5 hour drive. that's plenty of time to really wake up, right?

squares?

fiesta came out with square dishes? when did they do that? can i trade in all my circular ones for the new models?

banned books week

i need to pay more attention. Banned Books Week ends on saturday, and i didn't realize it was going on until yesterday.

this web site has a map of books that have been challenged and/or banned across the country for the past two years. the closest one to me? portage high school banned Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower over parental objections to sexual content. i'm not saying the parents are wrong ... but it does make me want to read the book to see what the stink is all about.