Thursday, October 30, 2008

Oh, Right, I have a Blog

Sometimes I put off updating my blog like I put off cleaning my desk at work. The result of both is a big mess.

So, mish-mash post covering the past couple of weeks! Yay!

I will start with just a couple of hours ago, when I spent ten minutes working on tripod headstand and very nearly achieved it! I was able to stay up with my legs out at an angle for a few seconds (without a wall, mind you). My excitement was so much, I totally fell over during half bound lotus standing forward bend, which made me laugh because my fall was so complete and comical.

Headstand is something I've been working up to for a while. I've been quite discouraged because bound headstand (which seems to be the most popular) is quite uncomfortable for me. I think my neck is proportionally too long, which makes my neck do all the work instead of my shoulders.

So, tripod headstand is the answer. But maybe I'll also work on Forearm Headstand...because it looks neat.

Jumping back to last weekend, my parents visited and we had a grand time. We went to the Fall Harvest Festival at the Tower Grove farmers market (the last outdoor market of the season - boo!), to the Hill for treats, and to Grant's Farm. While there, Porkchop and I did what everyone must do at least once...feed the baby goats!

I also took my parents to two restaurants I hadn't yet visited: Fritanga and Franco (because the Freemans only eat at places that start with Fr). I enjoyed both, but I'll probably go back to Fritanga first because it has sweet plantains (and it's cheaper and a bit more interesting)!

Now...weekend before that! This is such old news now, but Porkchop and I went to the Obama rally with my friend Jean. Old news, yes, but I want to post my photos and tell our story.

At first, we thought this would be as close to the Arch as we would get:


See the Arch? It's to the right of the bridge and to the left of that big pole thing.

Even though we were SO FAR AWAY, everyone's spirits were high and sometimes we would chant O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA. Then we became a bit concerned when we saw police officers with assault rifles who herded us out of the street and up on to a sidewalk. Then we became excited because we realized it must be the motorcade route. It was!! Obama and his pack came through, and Obama was smiling and waving through the SUV window. It was pretty neat. He was a mere five feet from us.

The line continued to move so slowly, but we made headway. Here we are back at the Metrolink station...finally.


And then we FINALLY made it near the Arch, just as Obama started speaking! I can pick out Obama in the crowd, can you?


We were far away, but we could hear everything clearly and even see Obama (sort of).

Speaking of Obama, OHMYGOSH, Election Day is nearly here!! I am so nervous, my stomach hurts. I have the pre-election jitters...I'm always terrified that something will go terribly wrong in the election booth and I'll accidentally vote for the wrong person. Seriously, my hands are already sweating and I want to throw up.

Okay, back to two weekends ago.

The day after the rally, Jean and I went to the Victorian Day of Mourning at the Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion, which is only about 6 or 7 blocks from our house. This means the Lemp Mansion (spooky...3 suicides and 2 deaths occurred in the house...I do not want to ever spend the night in the B&B that it now is) and the old Lemp Brewery are also near us. You can see the brewery from our house:


(This shot is from Cherokee, not our house (that would be crazy). Also maybe crazy is that I wonder if there is an entrance to the old caves under our basement. Seriously! There is an area under our basement floor that must be hollow because it sounds so different from the rest of the floor. Porkchop and I have both noted this. I wish there was a real entrance to the caves somewhere - I want to see them so badly! I mean, the Lemps built an auditorium, a ballroom, and a bathhouse in the caverns under their house. And there were roller rinks and beer gardens in other caves! That is some serious cavernage. This is an interesting story about the caves, although it's rather anecdotal and perhaps not true in some points.)

Okay, so enough rambling, have a great Friday!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Well, That Hurt

I just cut my finger while scoring Xes in chestnuts. Supposedly, there is a special tool that will do this for you.

I recommend purchasing that tool.

Owwww....

Friday, October 17, 2008

I Have Two Options

I recently finished a Foliage hat, and since I didn't try it on while knitting it, it turned out a little big.

I think I have two options with this hat.

One is to wear it like this:


The other is to block it, stretch it out a bit more, and wear it in the slouchy beret style:


Right? If it were looser and slouchier on top, it would be très fashionable.

Speaking of knitting, last night I purchased yarn for the February Lady Cardigan. I can't wait to cast on, but I'll most likely have to wait until Sunday evening. My friend Jean is coming over from Columbia to visit and catch the Obama rally, and some might think it a bit rude to say, I can't talk! Must knit!!

Also last night, I ate at a Chinese place I usually like, but this time I felt poisoned! Not food poisoning; my body just felt sluggish and gross all today. Instead of eating my leftovers, I tried to flush my system with pomegranate juice, salad, and an orange. Ugh, I haven't felt so gross in years. I started feeling better a mere two hours ago.

I look forward to again eating good things like these roasted beets that I made last week:


The solid colored ones were from my shared garden, and the Chioggia ones were from Fair Shares. YUM! This was my first time to try Chioggia beets, and they are DELICIOUS. Sweeter and more peppery than the other beets. Amazing.

The morning after roasting beets, Porkchop cooked bacon and scrambled eggs (both from Fair Shares), and I added in chevre (from FS) and leftover beets to my eggs. We also had slices of rye bread and apple butter (again, both from FS). I was in breakfast heaven.

Another food highlight was going to Niche with Porkchop on our anniversary last week. Actually, I was turned off by a couple of things. First, their 3-course fixed price deal is now limited to certain (er, the cheapest) selections. Second, our server raved and raved about a dessert - the Poached Pear Financier, but I was not impressed and therefore disappointed. While the licorice ice cream was awesome, the poached pear and the cake in which it was embedded were rather tasteless.

The good parts about Niche were the pepperdelle with braised lamb (so good!) and the Pacific cod. I debated about ordering the cod because...it's cod. How could it possibly be made amazing? Fortunately, it was amazing and served with a few different sauces: pureed squash, creamed spinach, and a red wine reduction. Porkchop ordered the roasted chicken, which was served with a super yummy polenta (among other things). All in all, it was a good night.

Other highlights of last week was Porkchop's brother moving out (yay!), and me going to see Katie and Beth while they were visiting in Columbia. It was Beth's birthday, and it was a very good day of eating at Uprise, having an ice cream cake, and just hanging out.

Currently, I am missing Porkchop while she's working at Six Flags. Stupid Fright Fest. I can't wait for the second weekend of November when Six Flags is over.

An Explanation

In the previous post's comments, Porkchop references a giant roof-sized McCain-Palin sign.

We actually saw a sign like this on Fyler between Watson and Jamieson. It was HUGE. And on the roof. And they had a giant yard sign.

My only thought is, why?

Why do you need a sign that big? We have a tasteful little Obama-Biden yard sign...as do most normal people.

Anyway, if I lived near that house, I would definitely devise a route to avoid it.

On a related note, I hope everyone goes to the Obama rally tomorrow!! The last time I went to a political rally was in 2000. And it was a Bush rally! And Katie and Beth and I were protesting!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

A Dear John Letter

Dear John McCain,

You are a jerkface.

The more you smirk, interrupt people, and continue to spout off ridiculous erroneous statements, the more I'm sure I will be involved in civil unrest if you are elected.

You were a selfish scumbag before the campaign, and you are one still.

You make me throw up whenever I see your blinky-eyed, self-righteous, angry face and hear your petulant little-schoolboy voice.

With no fondness whatsoever,
Carrie

Sunday, October 05, 2008

It's so Hard to Let You Go

Over the past six years, we've accumulated three typewriters, all Smith Coronas.

A Sterling:


A Galaxie II:


And an SL 480 (electric!):


I took these pictures today for posting on Craigslist. Because, my friends, this is the first time I've taken them out of their cases in the time we've owned them. Sad, I know.

We picked up the first - the Galaxie II, I think - outside of Toronto on our Canada trip. I was just 6 months out of school and wanted to get back into making zines. On a typewriter! So original! I wanted to make something like Doris, but that never happened. Porkchop used the typewriter once or twice; it sat in a closet the rest of the time.

While at a church sale in Jonesboro, we found the Sterling for $5. It came home and sat in a closet, too.

Then Porkchop's grandfather gave her the electric one. It, too, has sat in a closet.

I was all ready to post them on Craigslist today, but then I put a piece of paper in each one and typed some garbled lines. The Sterling needs a new ribbon, but the funky sorta sans serif font on the Galaxie is quite clear.

And then there's the SL 480. It. is. awesome.

Not only can you do sub and super script with a touch of one key, you can also do bold type. For emphasis! Bolding on the typewriter means that the metal thingie strikes the paper 5 times. You can also do a variety of accent marks.

The typewriters remind me of my high school keyboarding class. Yeah, we learned on typewriters...electric and manual.

Anyway, I don't know if I can get rid of these machines just yet. Maybe I'll wait another 6 months.

Friday, October 03, 2008

When to Absolutely Buy Organic

A member of the Sustainable Table group on Ravelry linked to this guide to pesticides in produce. When you can't get local, sustainably grown food, take this to the grocery store! It's also quite helpful if you're trying to eat more organic produce but are on a limited income and want to identify the most heavily sprayed items. There is even a handy wallet-sized card. The full data set is quite interesting (or sickening, maybe).

Thursday, October 02, 2008

I Love Nurses

This was the best part of the debate tonight...



Well, that and the cupcakes and playing Palin bingo.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Something that it is Really Irritating Me

I am so tired of being around people who talk about marriage and have no idea they are speaking from a position of privilege.

When they talk about how relationships really change after marriage and the hard work necessary to maintain a marriage and blah blah blah, I just want to say, "thanks for making me feel like my relationship is a crappy hoax."

Apparently, according to these people, Porkchop and I must be stuck in the pre-marriage phase and therefore not really committed or serious about things. And, our relationship must not take any work at all because we're not married.

Marriage, my ass.

Also, next week marks the 8-year milestone for us.

Suck on that, people who make me feel bad.