wordy manicure, revisited

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A month ago I tried and failed at giving myself a wordy manicure...but last weekend I did it! (and you guys thought I never finished anything...) I used Essie Merino Cool polish this time around (a little dark maybe, but makes the print more subtle) and proper newsprint. I got some nice compliments on it at work.  Then climbing and dish washing took their toll. I'll keep this in mind for special occasions, but for now I'm just glad I did it successfully so I can cross it off my list!

book report [Packing for Mars]

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Packing for Mars, the 2011 San Francisco Public Library One City One Book choice.

It was funny and interesting and quick to read.  It discussed all the details to consider if you send humans into space...not so much the technical details, but the little details related to psychology, physiology, gravity, food, waste, and hygiene. Mary Roach interviews people & takes experiences from NASA and other space programs around the world.  Mars seems to be the next far off destination. If people do go to Mars, then we'll have to take what we've learned in the past 50 years of the 'Space Race' and multiply it b a thousand.  The logistics of life in space are mind-boggling and not always great for publicity.  This book is great for anyone who's casually wondered about being in outer space...for people like my husband who have all the Gemini and Apollo Space missions memorized, this book kind of takes the 'right' out of The Right Stuff.  The biggest lesson here? Having no gravity is kind of a big deal (duh!). Gravity helps your bones stay strong, makes fuses work properly, and helps a certain bodily function more than you realize.  Fun read! Go check it out...

[FYI, I link to Green Apple Books in San Francisco and/or Powell's in Portland because they are my favorite bookstores...local, independent, and awesome. They have no idea who I am, nor do they  give me anything for linking to them. Where you buy your books is your business. I also advocate the public library [and the library didn't waive any fines or give me anything to say that]

book report [Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet]

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My Mama's book club read this awhile back and she passed it along to me.  I finally picked it up off the bedside table and it was pretty good.  It is the story of Henry, a Chinese American boy growing up in Seattle in the midst of World War II.  Henry makes friends with Keiko, a Japanese American girl, because they are the only non-white kids at their school.  Keiko and her family are taken away to one of the Japanese internment camps.  The story flips back and forth between the 1940's and 1986, when a big stash of items belonging to Seattle's Japanese families is found in the basement of the old Panama Hotel.  Families being 'evacuated' could only bring a limited amount of stuff, so the rest of their belongings might have been burned, looted, or stashed.  The book's themes are found & lost love, tradition, prejudice, family, and sacrifice. Even though parts of this book are sad and, frankly, embarassing, I couldn't put the book down and really enjoyed it. 

Similar to The Help, this is a story with a basis in a political/social issue...you could stick with the story and/or you could think about the issue.  With this book I was thinking more about the issue.  I didn't really know that much about the internment of Japanese Americans until I moved to San Francisco. There was an internment camp in Utah (Topaz), but I never went to see it and no one ever talked about it much.  Turns out one of my favorite artists, Chiura Obata, spent a year there. On our roadtrip a few weeks ago we passed by Tule Lake, where 'high risk' people were sent. It's just amazing how different (?) things are now...what prejudice driven act will we look back on in 70 years with disbelief? building a wall on the border of Mexico? banning same-sex marriage?

[FYI, I link to Green Apple Books in San Francisco and/or Powell's in Portland because they are my favorite bookstores...local, independent, and awesome. They have no idea who I am, nor do they  give me anything for linking to them. Where you buy your books is your business. I also advocate the public library [and the library didn't waive any fines or give me anything to say that]

photo an hour

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A couple months ago I decided to take a photo an hour during my day.  Want to see? I recommend doing this...it makes you take a moment to notice what's around you...AND it makes you notice what you're doing.  I'm going to share with you my 9AM to 5PM (let's just say things went downhill after 5PM).  Yes, this was in August...but it's still a pretty typical weekday snapshot.  Enjoy...and try it yourself!

museum love [computer history museum]

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MUSEUM:Computer History Museum
WHERE:Mountain View, California
EXHIBITS:The main exhibit hall is called Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.  The artifacts and information are more or less laid out chronologically, starting with the abacus and slide rule.
ALSO SAW:Steve Wozniak's Apple I and a WWII Enigma Machine. We also played Pong.
CAFE:yes (but we got a sandwich nearby before we went in)
SHOP:t-shirts, books, gadgety things, baskets made of telephone wire
NOTES:Holy shmoly...a lot of information to process, but so fascinating...I admit I felt a little really mentally overwhelmed, but maybe it was a mistake to try to cram it all into one afternoon. I really, really liked all the things I saw and tried to learn. There's a lot of cool stuff from a design standpoint, too. See more HERE.

book report [a homemade life]

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A BFF lent this book to me ages ago (you'll get it back soon, I swear...like next week).  Lucky me! She thought I'd like it...and I did. I put it to the side for far too long and sort of forgot about it until same BFF was visiting and asked if I'd read it.  I wanted to read this book when it first came out and a lot of bloggers where raving about it..but I didn't realize the one my friend sent was the same book until I finally cracked it open.

A Homemade Life is something of a memoir entwined with food.  The author Molly Wizenberg has a blog called Orangette (yes, she's one of those magical people who, deservedly, got a book deal via blogging. She also got a husband). The posts on Orangette are lovely and clearly from the heart...just like the book. Molly has a great way of wrapping stories from her life around stories of food.  Her stories of food, family, travel, and decisions are cute and sad and wonderful...all well told, and the food sounds delicious. Have you read it?

I'm flipping through the book again now, looking for recipes to write down before I return it to its rightful owner...remembering the wedding in Bellingham, the monster macaroon birthday cake, the so-very-French boyfriend in Paris...seriously, you should read this book. 

[FYI, I link to Green Apple Books in San Francisco and/or Powell's in Portland because they are my favorite bookstores...local, independent, and awesome. They have no idea who I am, nor do they  give me anything for linking to them. Where you buy your books is your business. I also advocate the public library [and the library didn't waive any fines or give me anything to say that]

book report [the yellow admiral]

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Eighteen down, 3 more to go in the series.  I just bought #19, but I'm going to squeeze in a few other books first, I think. I'm not going to bother with a review or summary because 99.9% of you are uninterested in this series.  But I DO want to show you what I found inside:

An old train ticket from Loughborough to London! Loughborough is here:

Another reason I love buying used books...you can find old bookmarks, receipts, news clippings, inscriptions...Along the same lines, have you seen the blog Forgotten Bookmarks? So interesting!

here's to another year

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Happy Birthday to the love of my life...I hope you had a pleasant day and enjoyed your apple pie and "powerful Welsh cheddar" (note the coal miner on the wrapper...i hope he did not eat coal dust with his cheese. do not note the quality of that photo...I had to take it quickly before you gobbled it up...and I had to edit it before it wasn't your birthday anymore).  I can't wait to see what 34 brings to you...or rather what you bring to 34 ♥

P.S. Good job actually purchasing books on our traditional bookstore date :)

temp

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While no one was watching, this happened:

Tattly

Temporary tattoos are so fun...I had one a few months ago which I got from some French bubblegum my friend bought me at Miette. I got several comments on it (compliments? not sure...people were amused about the bubblegum I think).  I have one real tattoo which I love...but these will be fun to play with...I'll be watching my mailbox next week!

6

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October 1st was our 6th wedding anniversary...yay us! We have two traditions that we have kept since we got married.  One is to have our portrait taken.  Each year's photo goes into the back of one of our wedding albums..this one is a contender for #6, although we've got some cute non-Hipstamatic options too:

The other tradition is that we give each other a gift according to the "Traditional U.S. Anniversary Gifts" listed on Wikipedia. We usually keep it simple, and we like to try to make each others gift.  But Year 6 is Iron.  Seeing as how we have neither a forge, nor the skills of a blacksmith, we came up with a creative solution.

We bought ourselves a waffle iron. Get it...?  Iron...?

Cheers to love and breakfast options! May you all have both in your lives ♥

wordy manicure

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bookliciousblog

I tried doing this wordy manicure today. It's potentially awesome...but it's going to take me a few more tries to get it right. And to not spend all day on it. I've never been that good at using nail polish (that sounds ridiculous) so YOU might do an awesome job and I'd love to see it. The basic idea is that you paint your nails, use alcohol to transfer ink from paper to your nails, and paint a top coat over all.

Round One: FAIL

I used the Crater Lake National Park newsletter (hmm...not printed on actual newsprint, but has fun colors and words). Huge chunks of polish came off when I tried to peel the paper away. 

Round Two: 50% BETTER

I still had one hand ready to go, so I tried the back of a Safeway receipt coupon because the paper was thinnish and it had cool fluorescent pink ink.  It still came out kind of chunky with bits of paper, but I'll let it go for the rest of the day (but not care too much about wrecking my nails at the climbing gym later).

Yeah.  Sorry, no pics of my handiwork until I get it right...and I think I can...someday.  I think I needed real newspaper (remind me to pick up a free weekly), or a page out of and old dictionary (you know that thin tissuey paper?).  Maybe also some higher quality, newer nail polish. I suspect I did not let the polish dry long enough before applying the paper, and I can't decide if it was better to let the paper dry completely before taking it off, or re-wet it a little bit to ease it off.

Has anyone else tried this? So much for my Friday afternoon...

P.S. Hi! I've been enjoying visitors, music festivals, working, and watching Breaking Bad.  That's why I disappeared. It'll probably happen again...the disappearing ♥ Feel free to drop me a note and let me know you miss me, ha ha!

museum love [high desert museum]

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MUSEUM: High Desert Museum
WHERE:just outside Bend, Oregon
SPECIAL EXHIBIT: The Art of Exploration
ALSO SEEN: incredibly detailed dioramas, beautiful embroidery, desert tortoises, birds of prey
CAFE: yes (but we just grabbed a juice out of a vending machine)
SHOP: lots of knick-knacks, not enough books
NOTES: a lot of information, artifacts, and creatures are presented, but in a way that is accessible to all different attention spans and interests; the special exhibit was a really lovely surprise

check your focus

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Back at the start of the new year I posted THIS about my word focus that I received as part of fantabulous Diane's word project at The Dew Drop Inn.  Back in July she reviewed and revisited her project HERE

My word FOCUS is relevant to me in many ways.  I am easily distracted and overwhelmed, plus I procrastinate, which can make accomplishing goals difficult. Also, photography is a big part of my life...I live with a pro photog and photography has challenged & rewarded me in my own work.

I have held my word in my brain...encouraging myself to be mindful of the task at hand,  to work on tackling small parts of big projects, to make sure I do the best I can, and most of all (sometimes hardest of all) to stick to what's important to ME. 

Thanks again to Diane for the WORD. I'm already wondering what my word will be next year!

introverted

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Earlier this summer I came to THIS post called 10 Myths About Introverts via kottke.org.  While I pretty much already knew I was an introvert, something about the content and timing of this really made it stick with me.  The list derived from the book The Introvert Advantage.

I often worry about being perceived as rude and anti-social.  I don't necessarily think of myself as shy, but at the same time I can really have a hard time interacting with people. Reading the list of myths became an 'I am not alone' moment, or rather 'I am not crazy'.  I sent a link to Scott and he declared it jaw-dropping...as if I had been interviewed.  Scott is much more of an extrovert, and sometimes it's challenging to balance ourselves out...we consciously compromise and try to understand each others' needs.  He grabbed this book at the library for me.  I knew I would want to blog about it, so after reading it once through I started over to take notes...but found I was writing nearly everything down. I finally just bought my own copy. 

As with most things in life, there is a gradient to the amount of introvert/extrovert in each person...it's not all or nothing. I do have extroverted tendencies, but, as the results of the self assessment in the book said, I'm 'pretty darn introverted'. According to the same quiz, Scott is actually about 60/40 extrovert/introvert. 

I will be posting more about what I find in this book from time to time because I find it fascinating and am learning more about myself and others...about introverts AND extroverts.   

book report [galapagos]

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This is a crazy story where the past, present, and future are all told at the same time...as you find out what is happening now, you know what is going to happen, but you're still learning why and how. There's a little bit of silliness and a little bit of social commentary.  I don't want to write much about the plot, but it involves politics, money, technology, tourism to the Galapagos Islands (which of course brings evolution into the mix), and the end of mankind as we know it. How's that for a teaser? This is a quirky, fantastical book I liked reading.  It takes a little bit of time to get oriented in the story. If you're a Vonnegut fan you'll notice a nod to some of his other work (a connection to another character).

botanizing

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On the last night of our roadtrip we camped at Lava Beds National Monument.  The sunrise over the desert was lovely and Scott and I went for a walk (he did a little photog-ing) and I decided to do an informal survey of the plant life.  Juniper, pine, two kinds of sage, paintbrush, misteltoe...I haven't identified all of them, but I'm fascinated at the diversity casually found in just one little area. The desert is magical.