i was kind of surprised he got that

Jocelyn: Hey, what's that Liam Neeson guy's name?
James: Qui-Gon Jinn?
Jocelyn: Yeah!

a worried mind

framed prints for the bathroom. I'm not sure if I should count this, but I'm going to.

re-watching dollhouse

Topher: You know what I like? Brown sauce. What's it made of? Science doesn't know!
Adelle: It's made of brown.
Topher: Brown. Mined from the earth by the hardscrabble brown miners of North Brownderton.
Adelle: Oh, my God. I find lentils completely incomprehensible.

Where are the Daily Things of yesteryear?

I was at IKEA again last night and I was pretty excited to find this PS FEJO plant pot (with an umlaut, which I am too lazy to locate on the character map). I bought one so I could put it together and judge whether I thought it would work; now that I believe it would, I might go back and buy another one. It was $30, which is kind of expensive for a pot (especially from IKEA, where sofas are in the $75-$80 range), but it seems to have a pretty intelligent design and I like that it has integrated wheels. I bought seeds for several pot-friendly varieties of peppers and tomatoes so I have high hopes for this enterprise.

The problem that remains is that it is February, and it is weeks before I can even start the inside plants, still.

The other problem is that I was supposed to be doing thing-a-day, but I got a bit busy and distracted and now it seems almost dumb to try to get back into it for, what, three days? although I have tomorrow and then the weekend off so perhaps it is a possibility.

The last problem is that I started reading City of Bones, which is book one of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments Trilogy, and (although I'm aware of being a bit late to the party here) it's really, really good. So mainly I just want to read that, and ignore everything else, except plant pots of course.

strictly legal plants.

I have been meaning to buy a new plant light for awhile. The week (marked in my calendar with green!) when I can start the earliest of the inside seeds is approaching. So today I finally got it ready. James and I went to Home Depot for the fixture, and then I attached it to a piece of wood I already had hanging around and added hooks to the corners so I can suspend it from pieces of chain (which I haven't gotten yet). This should make it easy to move it up as the seedlings get higher.

I also have a heat mat. I'm hoping that these two together will make up for the dismal cold in my basement (which is the only place where there is enough space for starting seeds). In about five weeks I can start with the peppers.

This has also been quite a productive weekend for chores and other boring things, and I got to see one of my favourite babies (as well as his favourite parents), and I finished a very good book (Robyn Okrant's Living Oprah), so I guess I can't complain. On Friday night James and I went to see A Single Man, which I rather enjoyed, although (spoiler alert!) it totally American Beauty-ed us in the end. Colin Firth was in it, looking handsome, as usual.

I'm going to look for some chocolate chips.

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Now playing: Tegan and Sara - My Number
via FoxyTunes

Somehow it became Day 20. Finished the orange quilt block. I think my sewing machine needs a tune-up, it keeps chewing up my thread.

i'm in love with the tentacles

Hola, Los Internets! Or should I say Interñets? Actually, if you pronounce that, it sounds Russian. Nyets! Nyets!

So I've compensated for my TAD slackerdom with some achievementdom, and tonight James and I are going to see A Single Man. And, actually, I updated my when-to-plant-things spreadsheet. And put my dog in a hoodie! Happy weekend!

I am not happy with this FORMATTING!

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Now playing: Rah Rah - Tentacles
via FoxyTunes

Seventeen, the day. Like Seventeen the magazine, only sassier.

I made brownies! I haven't tried them yet, but they're probably going to be good, since they contain all the items from the Heart Attack Checklist.

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Now playing: Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
via FoxyTunes

My recent favourite from the CBC news comments

From the comments on this story: Pride House: Safe Haven at the Games. CBC Comments: Be All The Gay You Want. (tm)

Seriously, I think this hilarious comment aside, do people just have a button they press that generates their comment for them, something like "blah blah my tax dollars blah blah"? Like Ignorant News Site Commenter Mad Libs? ALSO: Why do these people even READ CBC News? Shouldn't they be reading, I don't know, the Redneck Times? (I was going to write the name of a real newspaper, say a local one known for its redneck readership, but I decided to take the high road and avoid potential lawsuits. So just pretend I wrote... well, you know.)

I'm offended that my tax dollars are constantly spent on junk mail about family values and environmental action plans that involve BURYING POLLUTION UNDERGROUND. I should leave an articulate comment on a news site, that is sure to bring about the change I want to see in the world. That, or write a blog post.

Day Fifteen.

I've had the most unhealthy day. It's family day, aka "the fake statutory holiday in February," and some friends suggested breakfast at MacDonald's... which somehow turned into breakfast at MacDonald's, some Rock Band, three episodes of Angel, two episodes of The Office, and one episode of 30 Rock, plus Dairy Queen. Oh, and then I watched two episodes of Firefly while I made my thing a day: a TRABAJAR bag. At least there was a bit of pseudo-productivity at the end of what was, let's face it, an awesome but sort of depressingly lazy day. The thing that differentiates me from total losers is that I had a husband, a dog and some friends to do these activities with. Still, I feel a bit Ancient-Rome-y (you know, with the decadence?) so I better eat some healthy food and/or get some exercise tomorrow.

----------------
Now playing: The Devlins - World Outside
via FoxyTunes

thing-a-day derailed; but here's a photo.

The new Art Gallery of Alberta building. I was there on Friday. Randall Stout is the architect. I wasn't sure how I would feel about it (after watching it being built for months and months and months) but standing inside, I was won over.

It's incomplete in this photo, but it conveys a lot of the art-gallery-ness of it.

Jocelyn is not really dull; she may only need her eyes examined.

I'm sewing for victory. Well, or, at least, for my own amusement. Which is a kind of victory.

Another day of browsing WPA posters online. This flickr stream has a huge stash of them. Also: an online exhibit from the Library of Congress. I just ordered prints of some of the hygiene-related ones ("Keen Clean," "Keep Your Teeth Clean") for my bathroom. (Also "No water No guns!") I keep finding ones I love. I think it's because so many of the aims of the WPA--public art, gardening, libraries, and clean teeth--are also my goals. Synergy!

Even the map of their achievements is beautifully designed. I wish the current administration would build more culverts, and design more attractive posters.


John Is Not Really Dull, He May Only Need His Eyes Examined

day10!

Today: more sewing. I saw this idea somewhere... can't remember where. I read RSS feeds of blogs so it's hard to keep track of where things are.

Day 9.

Today I worked on my quilt-- the red block is almost done, so that's probably about 1/7th of the total sewing. I am happy with the fabrics and so on, so far. But so much fiddly sewing, ironing and pinning! It's not my kind of project, in this sense.

I also made a mix CD for Meghan, as tonight we are going on an expedition to get Indian food and go to IKEA. This is one of my favourite hanging-out combinations, and bless her heart for thinking of it.

Yesterday I made a Titanium Razorplate (although I'm not sure if that counts, although it does knock my gear score over the 2600 mark). And something else! I FORGET!

I haven't been missing as many days as it probably seems I have been missing. In fact I think so far it's only 1. But I can't be bothered to post everyday. Plus, if you check the Thing-A-Day blog you will find an intimidating display of electronics, delicious homemade food, and photography. It makes me feel guilty and inadequate.

Emma and I are having a very good day off. Earlier we went for a walk, and I brought my coffee. Peace out, Internet.

Probably-not-meant-to-be-funny song lyrics I cannot not laugh at

1. the Sean Kingston song that contains the line, "shorty fire burning on the dance floor." (And they say it so many times!) SAFETY!

2. "Her heart's been gone awhile, with the truck-driving man that took it." I never get tired of this Everlast song. Because it is liquid awesome.

3. It's in his kiss: "In his warm embrace? Oh no, that's just his arm." LOL.

4. "She's going to join the roster." They had to say this because it rhymes with "great imposter." It always cracks me up because I imagine some kind of clipboard, with the names of heartbroken women on it.

5. Whatever You Like: It's hard to figure out exactly what he's saying, but it's something like, "your brain's so good could'a swore you went to college." (Actually, I love the Anya Marina cover of this song, like, for real--but it belongs on another list, "Hip Hop songs that sound INSANE and psychotic and hateful of women when sung acoustically," along with the Ben Folds Five version of Bitches Ain't Shit and the Jenny Owens Young version of Hot In Herre.)

6. Honey. The whole song. This is kind of a different case because what I find about the song is how inadvertently patronizing and sort of borderline abusive it is. Like, "She came running in, all excited, slipped and almost hurt herself; and I laughed till I cried..." Hey narrator, are you supposed to come out of this looking like a good guy?

7. Fergie, Fergilicious: "My body stay vicious/I be up in the gym just working on my fitness."

8. Fancy. All of it. Are country songs fair game? The video is actually even better than the song by itself, because it takes the song SO LITERALLY.

9. the part of "Can't Hold Us Down" that goes, "you need to let him know that his game is whack/And Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera got your back." I tell James this all the time, but for some reason I get the feeling he isn't taking me seriously. (The video is good too. Christina's short-shorts scream empowerment! If only more gender inequality issues could be solved with a nice, wholesome dance-off in the hood.)

Honourable mention: Bell XI, in Rocky Took a Lover: "If there was a God, then why is my arse/The perfect height for kicking?" (Only honourary because I think this is actually meant to be kind of funny. However they are my new favourite band so I had to work them in somehow)

I know it seems like I'm making fun of oldies, but you have to understand, I mock only what I love. Someday I'm going to become a DJ on an AM oldies station, and people are going to call me and hum the song they can't figure out. I will be the Classic Rock Reference Librarian.

And then I laughed at my own hilarity for about ten minutes

James: So the Humanities Computing [the field in which James is doing his MA] students are putting on a conference. And guess what it's called.
Jocelyn: Um. Computing in the Humanities: A Wank Fest?

Day 7

Today: Plant Labels. I'm boring, but at least I made something. Something WITH CLIP ART.

It feels like I used up all my weekend much too fast. I need a mulligan.

three photos + attendant text, which will explain what I have been up to

i.
James and I got an alarm system for our house. This may seem alarmist (ha!) and in fact, I have always been a bit dismissive of those people who apparently think their stuff is so precious they need to protect it with sophisticated electronics. (Plus! What if someone STEALS YOUR ALARM SYSTEM?) And yet! Now that I am a homeowner I feel this same paranoia creeping in. Our neighbour's house was broken into a few weeks ago, and this spurred us on. Also, in the less-than-a-year we've been living in this neighbourhood, our car was broken into (just before we totalled it, so... not really a big deal, in the long run, although we did have to replace a window) and we're pretty sure someone broke into our garage and--ignoring our garden tools, appliances, leftover wedding alcohol, and German CAR--stole our bags of pop bottles to be recycled. So it's not like there's no cause for concern. Soon I may start voting Conservative. (ADDITIONALLY! Probably if we really let the Conservatives do their thing, there would be no recycling at all, and therefore less reason for people to break into our garage. So a reduction in crime might occur, unrelated to the death penalty or whatever it is they're always claiming is the Missing Conservative Ingredient for a happy society. I may have to put up some kind of sign on my lawn. Vote Conservative for no more recycling-stealing!)


ii.
The Chapters haul from the past few days. What is it with the piles of cheap books? I cannot resist them. They are my nerdy girl Kryptonite. Unavoidably, they are books that I would never otherwise buy. Well, except I kind of almost would, obviously. Since I do. The only one that was not on sale was Scarlett Fever, which I am already in the midst of reading. The Joyce Carol Oates one I bought because there was a book of hers (Foxfire) that I read as a teenager which I absolutely incorporated into my brain. Like it was religion. Anyway, these bring me up to 612, according to my trusty LibraryThing. Plus the additional 185,000 or so I have access to through work, although at least ten of those are The Secret, so it's probably more like 184,990 that I would actually want to read. [Of the three E. L. Konigsburg books in that collection, I already owned at least two and maybe all three of them, but it just broke my heart to see a stack of her books sitting there alongside books with names like Vampire Crush High or Teen Vampire Sex Party whatever. E. L. Konigsburg books should never be marked down! So really, this purchase was a political protest.]


iii.
so, this is cheezy in that cheezy way I have, but I can't help it; I planted dill, oregano and parsley seeds from the farmer's market WEEKS AGO! and they are finally sprouting. I had actually almost given up on them and then I decided to cover them with saran wrap (the working woman's greenhouse) and give them a little more time. These seedlings were just poking through the soil's surface when I left this morning and when I came home they had grown several centimetres. This suggests that if I had sat on top of the freezer, I would have been able to watch them grow, probably. I'm not saying that would have been terribly exciting, but given how excited I was to see them when I came home, perhaps I'm sad I missed it. I am lucky to live in a world such as this, Internet.


PS. Headache not gone. Mono?

days 3 + 4 (=7)

And inside my hat, is little Day 3! [And 4]. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I am feeling a bit pathetic, at this moment--I just actually DID NOT HAVE TIME to do anything better. But maybe it's the headache that has been gnawing on my brain for about 30 hours.

I am proud to think that I did my part for the Facebook group "Can this onion ring get more fans than Stephen Harper?" which, as of this writing, has 33,580 fans to PM Harper's 29,943. This is some kind of win... for... something. Plus I do love onion rings, like, legitimately.

MY BOSS BOUGHT COOKIES!

DAY 2

Thing a day 2: New pens + winter fatigue = seeds sorted.

Also, LEARN RADIO!

Haha! Unhappy Hipsters [At right: You can come out when you can properly explain the differences between Modern architecture and postmodern ornamentation] is a collection of photos from the pages of Dwell magazine, with the discontented captions they appear to have been waiting their whole lives for. [Link from Ouno Design.]

On my brain's to do list: dream of spring [and specifically, how to eliminate all the grass from my front yard], buy a netbook, change around my interfaces [rendering them temporarily more confusing but, hopefully, permanently more efficient], compile a home emergency kit, find old ads from Popular Science magazine on google books and use them as my desktop wallpaper [at left: LEARN RADIO!], collect those all-consuming frost badges, read the entire blog archives of YA author Maureen Johnson, make something. Toward this end, at lunchtime I went and bought some nice new fine-tip Sharpies. Sometimes all I need to see the world in a new way is some new pens.

Finally, one note from Avatar that did not warrant its own entry.
1. unobtainium? really? You guys know you didn't make that up, right? I felt like they meant to substitute a different word in the script before they actually shot that scene, but then they couldn't think of anything.

DAY ONE

Thing a day 1: Off to a start. I can post these to the posterous blog automatically along with the official Thing-A-Day blog, so I think that is what I will do. Don't be sad, blogger blog. I still love you a medium amount.

Linky Monday, Recently Awesome Edition

Television Tropes & Idioms. I discovered this website after some Wikipedia spelunking and I'm sad that I had never seen it before. Are you looking for information on such familiar tropes and characters as the Asian Babymama, the villain's Cool Chair, or Medieval Statis? Illustrated with MANY examples as well as helpful quotes, many of them from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nothing is better.

I really appreciated the counter-protest signage from this article on asylum.com: Westboro Baptist Church Protests, Gets Protested Outside Twitter.


ALSO! Just so you are aware, it is now February. Update your brain accordingly.