29 January, 2008

random

E: A mama mwaaa na ehhh ma ma
C: Do you think he's hungry?
E: Mama mama mmmmaaaama amama
Me: Yeah, probably
C: He calls for you now, when he's hungry
Me: He calls for me all the damn time
C: All the damn time!
E:*laugh* a haha maaaama na nananananaaa haa ha

navaology

No, I haven't been out of bed yet, but I am planning on pie for breakfast! Or pie soup, as the case may be.

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Balsamic + olive oil
Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. ew; none.
Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. Right now, I Love Sushi
Q. On average how much of a tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. 20%, although sometimes my math skills fail me.
Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
A. Sushi.
Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Pineapple, or anchovy, mushroom, olive, feta, and/or caramelised onions
Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. Cottage cheese, or peanut butter

TECHNOLOGY
Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A. A picture of some greenery by Jeffery Freidl
Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A. 1. I am going to keep it at that number or below with every ounce of my being.
Q. What kind of cell phone do you have?
A. Motorola razr.

BIOLOGY
Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Ambidextrous, although my parents convinced me to only write with the right in grade school, as I was writing backward with the left and the teacher wanted me put into 'special classes' for being dyslexic.
Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. Blood. splinters. a baby.
Q. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A. bins of fabric. Ephraim.
Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. Yes. I ran into a pole in 3rd grade. On foot.

B.S.OLOGY
Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. Perhaps.
Q. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
A. I don't know that I would; I'm used to this one.
Q. what color looks good on you?
A. bright red
Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. I don't think so
Q. Have you ever saved someones life?
A. A few times; I don't keep track of that, for some reason. Maybe I should; it would be a good confidence boost!
Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. Yes. Doctors & nurses. My Mom.

DAREOLOGY
Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. Sure
Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
A. No.
Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. Absolutely. I shouldn't be online so much anyhow.
Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. If it's tasteful. If it's porno, no.
Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. Yes, slowly.
Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. No.

DUMBOLOGY
Q: What is in your left pocket?
A. no pockets
Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A. No.
Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A. carpeting and linoleum. My dream house has all hardwood floors though. Perhaps a little tile.
Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A. How do you sit in the shower? A bath seat? I should get one; then I could take naps in peace.
Q: Could you live with roommates?
A. I do. They also hog my bed.
Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A. None. I should get a pair for summer. Beach trip!
Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops
A. Never
Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?
A. A mom. I win!
Q: Last person who called you?
A. Cameran
Q: Person you hugged?
A. Ephraim

FAVORITOLOGY

Q: Number?
A. 2, 7, 13, 40. I like to diversify.
Q: Season?
A. Autumn.
Q: Holiday?
A. Thanksgiving
Q: Day of the week:
A. Tuesday; Ephraim and I are both Tuesday babies.
Q: Month?
A. November

CURRENTOLOGY
Q: Missing someone?
A. A bit
Q: Mood?
A. Exhausted.
Q: Listening to?
A. Ephraim fussing; eating my bed frustrates him.
Q: Watching?
A. Ephraim kicking me. ouch.
Q: Worrying about?
A: My back. ouch again.

RANDOMOLOGY
Q: First place you went this morning?
A. No place yet.
Q: What can you not wait to do?
A. Go back to sleep!
Q:What's the last movie you saw?
A. Everything is Illuminated
Q: Do you smile often?
A. I think so, although I should do it more.
Q: Are you a friendly person?
A. moderately. I am very shy.

tag! you're it!

28 January, 2008

daring bakers : january

I did it! Finished my lemon meringue pie at 10:30 (cut it close, I know). Up until the last minute I wasn't sure I would be able to do this one, but we finally got a car on Saturday, and were able to go grocery shopping yesterday, and I managed to do the cooking tonight while cam distracted E (mostly). No pictures yet; Cam is playing WoW so the main computer, with memory card slot, is being used.

I am letting the pie set up a little, although I will say I scraped off any filling left in the pan and ate it (YUM!) The meringue, I have to admit, I hated! It tastes really good, but it is the first meringue I have ever tried that simply would NOT set up! I finally got it to the point where it would almost hold a peak and spooned it over, but I was disappointed because I like having a big fluffy cloud of meringue on my pies. Oh well. Pictures and taste test results tomorrow!

I did sub rice flour for the cornstarch, as I realised at the last minute that I do not, and have not ever, had cornstarch, and have constantly subbed other things for it.

After an evening in the fridge the filling did firm up appreciably, and was still rather tasty. As you can see in the picture the filling does still ooze quite a bit (do you like the drips on the meringue?). The meringue was good, and still very light despite being, I felt, somewhat compressed. The crust was very good, I did make it with whole wheat flour, and I think next time I will do my own pastry-crust-lightening technique to make it a little flakier, but all together this was a tasty pie. I agree it was a little too sweet for me, but Cam liked it. He wanted a little thicker filling, so maybe some more corn starch there (or, I dunno, actual cornstarch) next time.

26 January, 2008

A confession

Since the Pioneer Woman, Ree, and now a few other bloggers, have started confessing their phobias I feel it might help me to do the same. This has been plaguing me since E was born, and it is driving me crazy. I'm hoping that by writing it out I can at least lessen the hold this has over me.

I am terrified of someone hurting my baby. I have flashes, almost waking terrors, of the things people can (and do) inflict on helpless children, and I am so, so VERY scared that could happen to my son. I worry that something may happen to us, and that he will be abused and wonder why we left, why we don't love him. I worry that he will be hurt and wondering why this is happening to him, why no one is stopping the pain. Then I cry and cry and cry because I know that there are children out there suffering this way, and I wish I could stop it from happening, from every having happened, but I can't. I feel so helpless. I don't want fear to paralyse me, I don't want these terrors to take up so much of my time, of my thoughts, and I don't want to spread this melancholy to other people as well. I want to spread joy, I want people to see and experience the joy and love and pure happiness that having him has brought me.

I want to be able to protect him without fearing for him, but I know that will never be the case. I know I will always worry over him, because if I could I would make it so he never feels pain, that he never experiences regret, that he never meets the twisted side of humanity, but I can't. All I can do is make sure he knows he is loved, and try to keep my own fears from infecting him. I want him to be free, and happy, and secure in the knowledge that we will protect him, as long as he lets us.

24 January, 2008

beautiful films week: 7


And finally, A Series of Unfortunate Events!

I have the book series, and I did enjoy the movie. Although it strayed a bit, and I think Carrey as Olaf may have been to the (slight) detriment of the character I think they did a good job, and the film is really very pretty.

Yes, there are some things I still nit-pick them on, but I still like watching! :) I actually have the materials to replicate Violet's dress, I really should get on that! OH, and the closing credits? Fantastic.

23 January, 2008

beautiful films week: 6

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Is it breathtakingly gorgeous? No, I wouldn't say so, but it is a beautiful film. It's striking and memorable; different scenes get stuck in your mind, and all the details in them stay fresh, a testament to how all the elements work together to impact you. It's honest, but in a sort of fantastic way. I love it, with all the flashbacks and piecing together, like living in a surrealist painting. Very fun.

22 January, 2008

beautiful films week: 5


This is in honor of my sister Katrina, whose birthday is today (Happy Birthday! Sorry I couldn’t make it!) This is her favorite film; in fact the first image is the poster in her bedroom.
I love this film, which is especially surprising since I didn’t expect to. Everyone who described it to me portrayed some crazy film about prostitutes and drinking, which I was NOT interested in. But my sisters convinced me, and I LOVE it. It is truly beautiful; my favorite scene is when they are singing and the moon joins in. :)


I love that all the characters are not only flawed, but redeemable (even the villain, to an extent, although you know he isn’t going to take the opportunity to be the good guy). It’s very touching, underneath the barrage of IMAGE, and fun to watch.

21 January, 2008

super productive

I have been on a crafting/cleaning ROLL these past few days. whoot! I made up 4 changing-pad covers (3 still need ties, but that can wait until after my nap ;)) almost finished another set of overalls for E (they just need snaps), repaired his winnie-the-pooh honeypot lamp, and have gotten started on sorting through the 4(!) boxes of papers that had piled up. I'm so excited! As I said though, I need a nap. Plus I'm waiting to hear if Sydney is actually coming up today. Hoping hoping hoping. Oh yeah, and I've been car-shopping on Craigslist. My goal is to have a car by the end of the week. finally. :) Now I'm going to make up a grocery list in hopes of actually getting to the store this week. I need to do my daring baker's challenge, and I've been wanting to do the cupcake challenge too, but I need to finish clearing he kitchen just a bit. Oh, and have ingredients that aren't pasta-related.

20 January, 2008

Operation: Portland

So, Operation: Portland is a go. It has been for a while now, as I slowly (ok, forcefully) insinuate the idea into Cam's subconscious (shove it down his throat). What is it, you ask? Basically it's "Let's move to Portland! Portland is great! Let's live there!" Not actually Portland though, probably Hillsboro, as there is a Pharmacy school there, housing prices are AWESOME (compared to here; although, anyplace has awesome housing prices compared to here) and there are about 30 Walgreens within 30 minutes, so all he would have to do to find a job is transfer. yay! We would be going in the summer of '09, 'if' he doesn't get into UCSF. Or, even if he does get in and still decides to go to Oregon. I am hoping, since I love Oregon, but we will wait and see. Plus, we are going to tour the campus and town when he gets an interview, just to be sure. It would be awful to go up there and find that he hates the school, or I hate the town (doubt it) or something. :) So far the staff seems pretty cool, and very friendly and communicative. Yay! I say Yay a lot. Also Whoooot.
Oh, and congrats to Cara, Mike and Emily on baby Samantha. What a cutie!

Also, I had a very productive day today. Maybe I'll post pics tomorrow, as E is currently fussing and spitting up on me. ew.

beautiful films week: 4



Hero


One of the most beautiful films I have ever seen; I would watch it on mute if it weren't for the fact that the music just makes it even MORE gorgeous. i love how they choose one color for each scene, and then just make it explode. I doubt that made much sense, but that's how it feels, as though you are swimming in that color. That reminds me, I wanted to copy their costumes a while back. That could get pricey.

19 January, 2008

beautiful films week: 3

Equilibrium.


A film about the battle between emotion and control, and what happens when that becomes translated to government vs. resistance. Probably a bit different, this film is not in the same genre as most of the 'beautiful films' out there, but I love it. The sets are beautiful, and the austerity vs. art shown throughout showcases both. The story itself is also beautiful, and it's very hard not to get caught up in it. Absolutely one of my favorite films.

18 January, 2008

beautiful films week : 2


Amelie!
I know, who hasn't seen Amelie? But I can't really list off beautiful films without mentioning it! Although as I write this I have 2 more favorites that just popped into my head. They will have to wait! My favorite scenes? Faking the letters. I just love those so much. Oh, and I love this Japanese movie poster; I found it a nice change from the different versions of the movie/soundtrack cover. Although, this is also from one of those more popular scenes, so oh well on the 'originality' side.

17 January, 2008

Beautiful Films Week

Well, I've decided to jump on the Beautiful Films bandwagon, but since I'm getting started late I'm going to go a week from today, and maybe a couple extra :)


First up: Monsoon Wedding
I LOVE this film. I own the soundtrack and have seen it about 6 times, despite not actually owning it. The whole film is beautiful, and touching. Colorful, honest, and a little envy-inspiring (as in, Why am I not Indian? kind of envy.) It really is such a great film, and sends you on several different character plots that all interweave in a way that isn't distracting, but does establish each character independently while contributing to the overall storyline.

Oh, and the scenes? Beautiful. All of them. Even the shots of 'grimy' places are still pretty. I'm going to go watch it on netflix now. woohoooo!


::Edit:: after reading another's review on it, I did want to mention that it does deal with child sexual abuse. It treats it in a very good, respectful, and (I feel) gentle way, and one that I haven't seen before, but it is still very emotional.

on creativity

I have had people tell me, all my life, “oh! You are so creative!” I suppose there is some merit to that; sometimes I feel creative myself. I enjoy beauty, I enjoy making things and yes, I enjoy impressing people (a little). In comparison to people who do not have the opportunity to create I can see how I would appear as some sort of wunderkind in the realm of artsyness. However, anytime I get wrapped up in my own awesomeness I only have to compare myself to my sisters. We all grew up with the same influences, the same opportunities, but their creativity outstrips mine in a heartbeat. True, they have more opportunity but they have made the choices necessary to give themselves those options. Which makes me believe that anyone can be creative, you just have to take the time, so why be so impressed with me when you can be blown away with something REALLY good or even make it yourself?

15 January, 2008

disappointed

Haven't been blogging much; lack of time + corrupted memory card in my camera means no new posts and a very sad loss of quite a few pictures. Of course, every couple of days I keep trying to save them.

We signed up for Netflix a couple weeks ago, and so far have been on the *eh* side of movie choices. We got the last two Pirates of the Carribean movies because Cam had not seen the 2nd and neither of us had seen the 3rd. The reviews for the 3rd had been so awful that o be honest I was actually pleasantly surprised. I guess there is some merit to the idea of aiming low, so people won't expect too much? So for the 3rd movie choice I ordered up Pan's Labyrinth, which I had wanted to see since it was in production.

Reviews of this movie were great! It was beautifully shot, a whimsical masterpiece, etc. etc. One or two reviews warned about the violence, but hey, I can handle violence, right? The main story is about the girl and her fairytales, right? We have never been so depressed about a movie EVER. Don't get me wrong, it was beautifully shot, and felt very real and was extremely engrossing.

SPOILER ALERT: Whimsy? I did not get any *whimsy* up in here. Violence? Yes. A disturbing portrait of my own personal views on fairies? Yes. A movie that just gets more and more and more depressing and hopeless until everyone DIES and then the last 2 minutes sort of kind of give you a modicum of happy ending that just leaves you scrambling to justify why you are clinging so desperately to that smidgen of happiness? Hell to the Yes. Do not show this to you children. Please. You think the original Grimm's were freaky? Welcome to the creepiest stories I read growing up all strung together! We were so sad when it ended that we just went to bed and cuddled Ephraim for a while. I'm still having visions of some of the scenes and want to cry and hide my baby, and I was one morbid and obsessive kid growing up, so these stories were nothing new to me.

We've ordered Shrek the Third next.