Like mother, like daughter

I confess: I'm addicted to my bonnet hairdryer (or "hat," as the Boy calls it). I had it on this morning because I had a headache. It helped nicely. It takes a little while to warm up, so I left it running when I went downstairs to throw in some laundry. And...this is what I found when I came back upstairs:


If you look past the messy desk, you'll note that a certain cat has shoved her whole face and upper body into the bonnet and is basking in the warm blowing air. When I tried to pull it off, she scooted forward and forward to try to stay inside, and ended up almost taking a dive off the edge of the desk. So I let her hang out there on a low setting for awhile until she fell asleep. Dear old thing. Such a lovable weirdo.

Mmmm. Wholesome Whipped Lard.

I love the jaunty way the Mom declares the last line.

"You can't skimp when it comes to your children."

Oh yes, Lady... Oh yes you can.

Happy Thanksgiv......*snore*

Before I fall asleep really hard, Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope everyone had lots and lots of turkey or whatever their favorite is. This year the family broke from tradition to have a delectable cajun turkey instead of baking one of those frozen suckers in the oven for three days or whathaveyou. Very yum, I must say.

Aaaand, that's about all I can say, as my brain is not only still fried (since the last post), but being assailed by tryptophan, which is greatly increasing the chances that I'll fall out of my chair and hit the ground snoring.

It's been one hell of a week with a funeral, a family reunion, a holiday, and unexpected family visits. The good outweighed the bad, fortunately, I think.

Goodnight.

As if we all needed another time waster

In the vast wasteland of to-do lists it is good to take a break now and then. Particularly for something cute. Thus, my submission of a Japanese airhockey game with tiny round chickens. The text is in Japanese, (Andi, can you tell me if it says anything earth shattering?) but that didn't stop me from just clicking whatever I was shown until I was eventually taken to the game. The game itself is a fun little thing. I was surprised how well my (small adorable) opponent reacted to the puck. Though he wasn't a totally awesome player, his responses were as natural as they could be, I suppose. When he is scored upon, he looks up in surprise and says something I can only imagine would be along the lines of, "By the beard of Odin! You have scored upon this humble poultry!"

My only complaint about the game is that occasionally there's a collision detection problem if you move your "puck hitter" (what is that thing called?) too quickly. Then the puck can slide right by. Mostly, I have to give the little game props, though.

Ow. Brain is fried. Goodnight.

The fruits of my labor (or least the berries of it).

Food references aside, I've finally gotten the house vaguely presentable, and though there's more to do, I've gotten enough done to feel okay about putting up a website so people can check it out when I place ads for it. You all can have the ultra-top-secret-awesome-never-before-seen preview of it. It's not fancy, but I'm not going to waste a lot of time making disclaimers about it.

We've got all our fingers and toes crossed for this sale to work out. However, we're not particularly in a rush to sell, convenient and desirable though it may be for the Boy and I both to live in the same state. But we're not freaking out over the speed of things, which I think is a realistic frame of mind. Things are working out when it comes to us spending time together on weeknds, and since the Boy's company is paying for his housing down there, we can't complain.

Even so, if you know anyone who's looking for a house along these lines, send them our way. It can't hurt, eh?

Foot fight

At the same time as this being funny, this is maybe one of the most disturbed dogs I've ever seen. Animals don't pull stuff like this for kicks.

This is actually just like a test they do in shelters to see if a dog is suitable for adoption-- purposely infringe on a treat or food to see if the animal reacts negatively. I'd say this guy prooooobably would not be deemed adoptable. Just a guess.

Still, that sneaky foot creeping slowly up is bizarre and snicker-worthy.

Cin City Visit

The visit to Cincinnati helped me get my bearings on the town a little, and start to form an idea of various places we might like to buy a house. We tooled around Montgomery, in the area where the hospital is. It's a rolling, woodsy area. I think that's where we'll end up renting an apartment temporarily. There's a place pretty much across the street from the hospital that is quite nice. They've got large, interesting floor plans (more power to built in bookshelves!), a 24 hr fitness center and olympic pool, and it's on 56 acres of woods and trails with 2 stocked ponds. Another fun amenity is a library of dvds and video games. And tanning beds. Huh. Not something I'll make a lot of use of. But it's there, if I ever get that "not leathery enough" feeling. The feature I actually care the most about is the washer and dryer innn the uunnnit! (singing happily) I fervently hoped I'd never have to go back to trucking our clothes all over town, and it looks like that wish came true. Whee!

Anywhoo, that was a long diversion about something as boring as apartments. Sorry.

The Boy took me on a little tour of a neat area near where he's staying. It's a quiet and pretty place called Mariemont. Or "The Village of Mariemont," as residents would have you know. If I can't live in Stratford on Avon, this might just be....well, maybe not the next best thing, but somewhere on that list would be Marimont. It's an old town consisting of lots and lots of Tudor buildings and massive old trees. It's one of the few places in the US that still has a town crier, if that gives you any hint about what sort of place it is. Ding! See below for a stellar example of "Oh yeah, I should prolly take a picture" photography.

We also did some driving around the Hyde Park / Observatory / Art Museum area. I was pretty much too busy gaping at the gorgeous old mansions to take pictures. If I ever win the lottery, that is where I'm buying a house. Seriously. I suppose I could live in something like this if I had to (whine whine):


We also spent some time across the river in Newport, where we poked around and went to the aquarium. There's a large German population in that area (as evidenced by the Hoffbrauhaus) and there's some fun architecture and stuff to do. Oh, and the Boy fed a cute parrot and looked at sharks.


We also spent some time poking around the jellyfish and octopus exhibits because they were so graceful and bizarre. The pictures were not all that crisp, but I think some of them are pretty. Actually, I'm just going to dump a bunch of aquarium photos in here, then some more photos of Cincinnati, because I'm too tired to narrate the whole thing. Enjoy!

Other Nonsense

When we were little, our mom kept us from being bored during long summer days by helping us make something called "Idea Cards." We were each given several 3x5 cards onto which we wrote an idea of something to do, illustrated it, and strung them all together on a binder ring. Thus, when we got bored, we could simply take the Idea Cards of their hook and flip through, deciding whether "Bikes!" or "make a zoo" or possibly "Spy on the boys" appealed to us.

As a grownup, I think the concept of Idea Cards is a great one. I don't get bored all that often, but sometimes it's difficult to come up with an day of entertainment off the cuff when the opportunity arises. It's easier to flip through the options and decide on something everyone can agree on.

As I have a moment here and there, I'm making a series of "idea cards" for Cincinnati. It will be helpful later, but it's also helping me learn what things there are to do in the area. It's a little more technologically advanced, this "grownup" version of the cards - it's cross referenced, and one can search by details like restaurants, and types of entertainment, but the concept is the same. I'm enjoying the research and putting it all together. As I recall, some of the entertainment is in the journey---as evidenced by the idea card labeled, "Make more idea cards!"
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I did actually make some cyanotypes while the sun was out a while back. As a first round, I think they were moderately successful, though I do need to find a timer, so I don't have rely on the less accurate "remember to look at the clock and then rush because you've gone a minute over" method. I'm not going to post really specific photos right now, because some of these will be Christmas presents for folk who occasionally stop by here. But here's the gist. It was good fun.

Here is my print developing area, with tubs for a rinse, a quick developer made with hydrogen peroxide, and a tea/coffee toner, which I didn't end up using much. And the uber high-tech printing itself, on the, uh, garbage bin and back porch rail. Heh. It worked fine, though. Most of the pictures required around 12 minutes, but I'm sure on a really bright day they might have needed less. There are myths about cloudy days having as many UV rays as sunny ones, but I'm not sure whether that's true or not. Then there are the cyanotypes hanging up to dry in the basement (Jane, don't look too closely!!), and finally one close up of a building in Brugge, Belguim. I'm not decided on whether I want to clip out the ragged edges of where I painted on the sensitizer or not. Maybe it depends on the image. For this one, I clipped.

I need to make more paper and wait for another sunny day, but next time around I think I'll have a better feel for what kind of exposures they need. Also, I'll be more vigilant about using deionized water for rinsing, since some of the cyanotypes had some mineral streaks show up.

Sketch Furniture

Another video, possibly because I'm lazy. This is the Swedish design Group, Front, using a motion capture to ultimately create a piece of furniture.