ha!

6th grade, originally uploaded by pinprick.

i found a whole bunch of old photos while i was at home the past few days, and this one cracked me up. this was me in the 6th grade; awkward, weird looking, with the biggest glasses on earth. this is after the summer i had to start wearing them, and the summer where i got my first period. my teeth were still huge and the gap was still there, so i wouldn't smile for any camera ever. it was not my happiest school year, but things got better, including my haircut.

baby was crazy cuddly and sweet yesterday, she was all hugs and smiles and tickles. i love that. we didn't do anything but lounge around the house yesterday watching dinosaur movies and trying to get her to eat some food. it was a totally awesome day. i kind of love doing nothing, i'm not ashamed to admit it.

pretty pretty

iron flower, originally uploaded by pinprick.

i used the "sunny" setting on my camera today, because it's been ages since i used it. i mean, really, it's been a whlie since i was out on such a nice day taking photos. i remember now, of course, that the sunny setting on my camera totally sucks ass and my photos do too!

i think it's time to swap my camera out for a new one, but i won't be able to afford that for a while. for now i'm going to try to take them the old school way, using the viewfinder (gasp!) instead of my scratchy screen, and paying more attention to the settings. i would rather buy something fancy that thinks for me, but that is not to be! dammit.

the other awesome thing about being at my folks house: torchwood. pop was saying one of the episodes i watched was an old one, and that he had some other ones tivo'd, but i reminded him that it's been so long they're all new to me now. he thought that was kind of lucky. i watched a lot of episodes saturday night, needless to say.

crescent fresh

i had sort of a funny weekend. mainly because i got a day off during an actual weekend, although i had to go to work late last night to make up for it. it was awesome, though.

saturday night i went home to my folk's, and when i walked in the door my niece actually said, "it's aunt amanda!" of course, she's two and it sounded a bit more like "is ant amana!" but DAMN. i felt like a rock star. she knows my name! mom says she's been working with her to say it, and even though when she wants my attention she still yells "mama," she said my name a lot yesterday. whoo! i am officially on her radar. i mean, i'm pretty sure i was before, but when a kid says your name for the first time, especially when it's kind of hard for them to, it's ridiculously satisfying. she loved her sock puppet, and we played all night with it. the next day we spent most of the day at the park goofing around, and she amazed me with all the new words she's learning. i say it all the time, but she's a genius. pretty soon i'll be able to have a real conversation with her, just like i do with jude and tiernan, and i can hardly wait. i brought my camera with, and i'm sure i brought my extra battery and charger, but i couldn't find them and my main battery died so i have no good pictures of baby. i realize spending time with her is more important that taking pictures of spending time with her, but she's totally photogenic and it's hard to brag about her awesomeness without being able to show you pretty pictures.

dad's birthday went well, too. i didn't have a present for him, because i suck and am poor, but i brought home the veal shanks we used to make oso bucco. dinner was great, i got to see my aunt and uncle and the photos they brought of my cousin's new house in NY. those made me a wee jealous, but in a good way. we watched the oscars, and maybe it's because i actually saw some of the movies nominated, or the fact that i haven't wacthed in five years, but that was a lot more enjoyable than expected. javier bardem was amazing, and who would have thought a psychopath could clean up so well? and viggo mortenson, with that beard even, was still hot. how'd he do that? helen mirren was also exceptionally hot, and tilda swinton made me laugh out loud. we ate ice cream cake and looked at all the pretty outfits and then i headed off to work to do inventory.

inventory itself was easy, and i love working at the grocery store late at night. there are very few customers, you can get a lot done, and i busted out a ton of work in a short amount of time. i kind of wish that was always my schedule; it's my favorite time to do my grocery shopping, so it seems reasonable that it's also my favorite time to work. bonus: i didn't have to wear my uniform or hat, so i was actually comfortable the whole time i worked. i should apply for a night stocking job. the night hours suit me. it was hard to come home and go to bed, i kind of wanted to stay up all night or go out to the refinery and take pictures, but i knew i had a lot to do today and my camera battery was dead anyhow.

today i do all my little errands and since it's bright out (albeit a bit chilly with the wind) i'm going to walk around town. hopefully i can find my battery camera before i go! i bought some sifl and olly on ebay this morning too, and even though i know they're just burned dvds and probably all copyright infringed and shit, they don't actually make a real sifl and olly set. i'm just happy i won't have to watch youtube videos and can enjoy some sock puppetry in my own home. the fisherman will be thrilled, and i'm being totally sarcastic there because really, he doesn't love the sock puppets the way i do. oh well!

whoo!

selling stuff on ebay can be frustrating, what with waiting for payments and stuff, answering stupid questions, trying to figure out how much to charge for shipping and all that jazz, but when stuff sells i feel awesome. i've put about half my stuff up, and made $60! i still have a lot to go. yay!

in other news, i made baby a sock puppet today. when i get paid for my next batch of ebay stuff, i'm totally buying the complete seasons of sifl and olly. i spent the day humming and/or singing the theme song, randomly yelling "rock!" at work. the fisherman does not think sock puppets are half as amusing as i do, but i know baby, and she's going to love it.

spring fever

i should be getting ready for work, you know, taking a shower and packing a lunch and all that stuff, but instead i'm watching sifl and olly on youtube and drinking coffee. and now blogging! because all of those things are totally productive, right?!

it's been beautiful out the past few days. i had tuesday off, and the fisherman and i spent all day walking around town. i wish i'd remembered my camera, but i didn't. we spent a long time down at the marina, looking at all the lovely boats and daydreaming about owning something awesome. i have decided if we live on a boat i really want one with an outdoor cooking area. some boats have small sinks and ovens and stuff on the back end, along with the kitchen on the inside (a galley, to be proper). how awesome would it be to make dinner out on the back deck of your boat while you float along? too awesome. we saw old school boats, some converted tugs, a gorgeous long sailboat with solar panels (whoo!), modern yachts, including one that was entirely cream colored. it looked like floating space-age ice cream. there were other folks out too, mainly retirees with their dogs walking. i love running into dogs on walks, they're all happy and excited and you get to say hi and not have to pick up their poop.

i want to go camping. i want to take a few days off work and just go hiking around town, maybe buy a cheap bike at the thrift store and fill up a basket with sandwiches and take off. i don't want to have to put on my tie and tell people about cheese today. i want to make sock puppets for baby and get more sun. dammit!

a day late

things i am totally loving right now, in honor of valentine's day:

• honey in my coffee. i don't know why i started, i think it was one morning when i realized the fisherman had emptied the sugar bowl into his tea and i was too lazy to fill it back up, but whatever, i am loving it. it adds just a little sweetness, and the taste ends up being kind of caramel-y. it's awesome.
• fisherman freckles.
  
• we are having a sale on brie at work and suddenly i am consumed with trying to find ways to add brie to every meal. brie stuffed in french toast? on a sandwich? wrapped in pastry and baked? melted and shot into my veins via IV? okay!
• six feet under. i have a morbid sense of humor, and this show pretty much caters to my every need. we realized that renting the rest of them would be crazy expensive, but you can buy the seasons pretty inexpensively and used on amazon. the plan is to buy them as we need them, then resell them when we're done. or maybe donate them to the library so that everyone can enjoy them!
• the way my little niece says "i love you." it sounds like "i love vooo," and it's the coolest thing on earth. she's still calling me "mama" too, although she says it in a totally different way than she says it to her actual mom. she's got a different version of mama for both me and grandma, and when i try to correct her she looks at me like i'm dumb and says, "no, mama!" that is also pretty damn cute.
  
• being thisclose to getting my shit out of storage. i just have to make the arrangement and then yay! cutlery! dishes! clothes! books! all my shoes!
  

valentine's day is for suckers!

valentine brie, originally uploaded by pinprick.

but i totally love you anyway. enjoy a photo of my roasted mushroom and garlic baked brie. after this i made crescent dogs for dinner because nothing goes better with fancy french cheese like hotdogs. word. xoxoxo

ebay, you are killing me

okay, not really. the thing is, i have a ton of these rad old knitting magazines and pamphlets and patterns, inherited by my mother by one of her clients, and i'm trying to unload them on ebay. they are awesome, and some we are keeping, but honestly, no one needs as many knitting magazines as this lady collected. it was boxes and boxes and boxes and BOXES of them, and they are a pain in my ass because i am listing them one at a time. i know, so much work, right? especially for one as lazy as i am, but selling them in a big batch, or even a few small batches just seems wrong. all of them are crazy, ridiculous and awesome in different ways. i don't want someone stuck with a bunch of lame patterns they hate just to get two they scream about. also, having three beers while watching movies tonight sort of sucked out my enthusiasm for this project but i am pressing on. trying very hard to remember to check my spelling (did you know searching for misspelled shit on ebay is a big deal? then you get great stuff that no one else is finding because they can spell!), taking better photos, and organizing things into neat piles. i have a feeling this is all going to make the fisherman crazy, as much of my messes do, but i'm hoping the extra cash we might make will calm him down. i have to split the proceeds with mom, but that's okay. she was the one who got them to start with, she totally deserves it!

see?

the original.
and mine.

wizard

happy bear mug, originally uploaded by pinprick.

so i finally went and saw juno today. oh my. i loved it as much as everyone thought i would, loved it so much i cried a little at the end and right after the movie made the fisherman take me to buy yarn to make a juno scarf. she wears this cute blue and grey striped one and soon i will be wearing one too. it was just very sweet and sort of sad and funny and smart. i liked it. i liked it a lot.

i'm also loving six feet under; the first season of which i found at my local library. i'm actually there now, renting the last two discs and wondering how we're going to get the rest since i think this is all the library has. i'm going to have to pay money to rent them, and while that makes me a little bitter, not so bitter that i won't do it. that show is awesome! although sometimes i'm troubled by how much nate looks like an old college boyfriend to me; he even rolls the sleeves on his shirts the same way and carries the same big leather satchel. it unnerves me a bit.

okay, i should go home! the fisherman is probably all "where the hell did she go to get the movies?"

my immune system sucks!

awesome! day two (or two-and-a-half) of my current ailment has me feverish, coughing up things that are bright green and nasty, and a bit more dopey than normal. can i take the day off work? no. i didn't get enough hours to warrant that. i will go in, but i might not stay all day. the good news is my throat isn't as sore, but the hacking cough is pretty prominent and will make actual human contact with customers dicey. who wants to buy anything at a grocery store from a coughing, disheveled girl? i practically scream "i will infect your food! stay away!"

on the other hand, that might work out okay for me.

half windsor

half windsor, originally uploaded by pinprick.

ew, i'm getting sick. hung out with my sister earlier this week and she spent a lot of time complaining of a sore throat. i didn't pay much attention to her because it's not like we were going to make-out, but now i'm paying the price.

i found being there at the library the other day. i love that movie. peter sellers is wonderful in it, but i love shirley maclaine in it more. i have a huge soft spot for her. the fisherman thought it was kind of slow, but watched the whole thing with me. earlier tonight we were watching one of the three channels we get on our tv, and survivor was on. i admit i don't watch much reality tv (it makes me feel kind of tense and i think it's all staged anyhow). survivor in particular makes me uncomfortable. all that faux-tribal decor; the torches, the "immunity" idol, the glorified tree-houses, it all reeks of stereotyped cultural appropriation. why not brand the members of the tribes, too? pierce their lips and make them wear plates? why don't the men go ahead and wear penis sheaths and the women go topless? it's like some backwards middle-american view of africa, of indigenous peoples, of a more "primitive" and "pure" way of being. plus, it's crazy cheesy. how can anyone take the jeff prost seriously? god, if he weren't selling us pre-packaged tension and schlock he would be hocking blenders on late night television. why is this show still on tv? and better yet, why haven't they sent the fame-hungry-assholes on it to someplace fridgid? dude, send them way up north and see how they do there. i mean, parkas aren't as saucy as bikinis, but watching someone freeze to death might be good rating too.

that captain is suck a dick

i just tried to do my taxes, like i do every year, online with H&R block. usually the procedure is fast and painless, but that fucking captain sent me some mysterious tax paperwork that is just fucking me over. when i add it in, my return goes from $1200 to $300. $900 in taxes for $4000 paid? that seems extreme. i'm going to have to go to the tax ladies at the library and hope they can help. i could really use that money, too. i'm still so far behind from being fucked over this summer that $300 is kind of an insult. dammit.

also, i went to the laundromat today to wash my comforters, and guess what? while i was out hunting down more quarters a drier caught on fire. yes. FIRE. acrid, dangerous black smoke everywhere, fussy firemen, and all my clothes taking on that lovely chemical burn smell. awesome! had to wait outside in the freezing cold for the firemen to tame it, then another half hour for it to be considered safe enough to go in and get my stuff.

today kind of sucked. i could have handled the laundromat becoming dante's inferno if i'd had my camera with me, but no. enduring fire and mayhem isn't as fun when it's your stuff and you can't even take a picture! i bought some ice cream afterward, though. that was nice. we'll talk about cheese tomorrow, okay?

ouch

my head hurts a little today. haven't done anything that productive, besides shower and make a sandwich. the rockford files were on earlier, and i thoroughly enjoyed that. now i'm half-watching magnum p.i. and reading a little. i should be doing laundry and cleaning the house. ugh. remind me to hold off on the boxed wine for a while, okay?

sheee-t

i got drunk! didn't mean too, but damn. you have a long week and tell me how well you do when faced with a bottle of black cherry vodka. it's me and the forbidden zone, begging the fisherman for potato chips, and hoping i don't fall asleep first. dude. I RULE.

friendly friends

card holder, originally uploaded by pinprick.

had another cheese class today. i love my cheese classes, even though by looking you'd just see me sitting there yawning. for one, it's way too early for me. i am a woman who does not get up before 9 in the morning. and i'm feeling uncharacteristically shy; these things shut me right up. i don't want to make small talk, i want to hide in a corner and taste cheese quietly. what the fuck. i am normally a lover of the spotlight (i can admit that, i'm old enough to know it's true), and chit chatting up strangers is my strong suit. do i feel uncomfortable with the subject? no. are the folks seriously intimidating? um, no. i can't tell why i'm so uncomfortable. whatever. by the time i figure it out i'm sure i'll be okay. or not.

tomorrow i promise to have a cheese lesson all ready for you! any questions? i think tomorrow we'll talk about calcification in cheese. seriously. i am a dork!

oh holy hell

normally sunday is my thursday, but this week it's a weird friday. i'm not really sure what to do with myself! i stopped at the local grocery for something (what it was i forgot) and stumbled upon a wine sale. 25% off everything! last day! damn. i was not going to spend money, but 25% off means i can try shit i normally wouldn't. we all know i love pinks, which fancy wine folks call "rose"--accent on that e! so i found two that looked yummy, and brought them home. along with an opener, since i realized right before i came home that the only corkscrew i have is somewhere in a box in renton, stored away.

tomorrow i'm off, tuesday i go to a cheese class, then wednesday i'm off again. everyone at work was apologetic about my having a split weekend, but honest, three days not at my store feels like a vacation. tonight i drank some of my new wine, looked at job openings, made a few mental notes, took a long bath, and now i'm getting ready to make-out with the fisherman. for a random friday, i'm feeling pretty good.

boo-yah

i love my new bun-bun glass. tonight it's full of wine from a box, although even when it's full of juice or water i still love it. i've actively been trying to talk the fisherman into getting a bunny of our own. they're small, cleaner than cats, fuzzy and soft, and eat cute things. plus take a look at this video and tell me you wouldn't want to come home to a face like that? (bun bun and chou's, that is. i love dana but i don't need him in my house, thanks!) plus, i think having a rabbit doesn't actually clash with the no-pet policy of my apartment. if it lives primarily in a cage it's not the same, right?

this fisherman has been sick, which isn't so much fun. work has been very busy, what with the superbowl and all. being totally out of the football loop i had no idea what a big freaking deal it is! dude, the store has been packed for days now. i have walked the entire length of it repeatedly daily, looking for guacamole, parrafin wax, fresh watercress, and fish sauce. don't you love that you live in a land where you can find all that in one place? even when i hate my life, i still love that.

tonight we're watching arrested development and making chicken paprikash. i don't exactly have a recipe, but my sister makes it enough that i think i know what's up. at least, i hope so. after all, how can you go wrong with chicken, onion and paprika? no matter what, i think it will be good.