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Friday, April 30, 2004
and
I had the mysterious meeting and it wasn't anything to be so nervous about. It was a fact finding thing, and makes me tired just thinking out it. They say, however, they intend very shortly to have actual job descriptions shared with everyone and a layout of the new organization.
.: posted by Zemlet 1:50 PM
Dishes!
I was looking on ebay and missed the ending of a great Paden City Pottery auction that nobody bid on, so I contacted the guy seperately and he agreed to sell me part of the lot. Now we'll have salt and pepper shakers, sugar and creamer set and more teacups to match our dishes- all in dark green. The last time I had a dinner party, I didn't have enough cups for everyone to match- now I can have a full tea party. I think all I need now is a few more saucers, something in the elusive "brown" color and perhaps more serving or other special pieces. Here is the updated collection.
Now, if we only had a better dining room table. I am torn between spending money on the house, myself, or investing it. Investing it sounds like the right answer, but I'm not sure I'm that much of a grown up yet. And it would be nice to have a dining room table to entertain at and play games on.
.: posted by Zemlet 1:25 PM
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
More Crossing
We played Animal Crossing over the weekend. I am only 20,000 bells away from paying off my second house, have collected 20 out of 28 fish available to catch in April, and all but two insects available in April. Since noting the trend of characters moving from Parka to Dilley, I went on an active campaign to get Tad to move to Parka. (Tad is the greatest- everyone thinks so.) I wrote letters, I did favors, I sent expensive presents. I used the word "nice" several times in each letter and also included honeyed phrases containing "friend" and "move". Guess what?
TAD MOVED TO PARKA.
That's right- Tad is MINE. Tad. Tad. Tad.
.: posted by Zemlet 7:19 PM
Monday, April 26, 2004
Nebula Continued
I just finished Greg Bear's "Moving Mars" the 1994 Nebula winner for best novel- oh my god what a good book. A little politics, a little romance and a hefty dose of fictional physics- just the book for me! That makes two books he wrote with a strong female main character- amazing how well he can write them, wonder what Mrs. Bear is like? Jonathan says he wrote one of the Foundation Trilogy, which apparently is somewhere in our library- so I'll probably read that after I finish Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea series. But man oh man I loved Moving Mars- I feel like having a kid just to name her "Casseia". But I hate the name Cassie so much, so I won't. Although I may have a kid, just to name her J'nana (Sanskrit for knowledge). But then what do you call her for short? J' ??? Busy day today... bye for now- will answer email soon!!!
.: posted by Zemlet 11:33 AM
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Entity Entitlement
The Nebula's were annouced, so I can add another book to read to my list (since you all know I've vowed to read every Nebula award winning novel before I die). If you want to actually read Neil Gaiman's acceptance speech he wrote for Harlan Ellison, go to his blog and scroll to the Q&A section underneath the article about swearing (which is totally appropriate for me, given the story related on the 14th. )
In work news, the company I work for ranked 16th in the Engineering News-Record (ENR) 2004 Top 500 Design Firms, rising three slots from last year. We are now 3rd in sewer/waste- oh yeah... go usssssss.
.: posted by Zemlet 7:12 PM
The Saddest Music in the World
The Saddest Music in the World is out from IFC. Written and directed by Guy Maddin, who was also responsible for "Tales from the Gimli Hospital" and "Archangel". Maddin is a master of wacky without being too tacky. Oh, those Canadians! Who wants to go see it with me? I guarantee it will be better than "Julien, Donkey Boy" which still gives me nightmares.
.: posted by Zemlet 6:32 PM
I made a list of my favorite teas and all the mighty leaf teas with my tasting notes. I do not expect anybody but me to be interested in this, so don't waste your time.
I had a good weekend- went home for my little sister's 30th b-day. To celebrate my 30th I got drunk and ended up with a tattoo, she wanted to sit around making bracelets and other artsy things. I learned bead embroidery which takes for-freekin-ever. I've probably spent 8 hours on my bracelet and am only 25% done. You can do a painting in 15 minutes fer chrissakes... not a good one or anything, but you can accomplish something! Beading is not like that at all- no spontenaeity. But this was the first art thing I've done all year, which is amazing. I really need to get my studio set up. So many women would love to have their own office/studio/den they don't have to share or anything and here I have one and I just won't take the time to set it up and hang out in it. For shame! I've been told that if you have an area devoted to art and other projects with the stuff out so you can work on it easily at a moment's notice, you'll do a lot more art.
We also went to Spa Ojai all day Sunday where the mighty leaf tea was FREE. (It is everywhere!) I kept telling folks- this stuff is a buck a cup, so drink up! I probably drank 15 cups all day. Talk about your cleansing ritual. I had a facial and you know the part where the person working on you shines the bright light on your head and pulls out the magnifying lens to tell you what's wrong with your skin. She said, "your pores..." (I braced for the worst) "...are awesome!" That's right- awesome! I guess the spendy Pevonia Botanica stuff I bought at the Salish Lodge in March is workin out pretty good. Who knew I had "sensitive" skin?
We hung out in long white robes the entire time- like 15 of us all together (plus 4 or 5 too shy to wear anything but street clothes). We sat by the pool to talk about how great my pores are and even went to the restaurant in robes (nobody else there was dressed like us, but we had a majority with our numbers). We felt like an odd religious cult of some sort. (I'm third accolyte from the left)
.: posted by Zemlet 2:56 PM
Thursday, April 15, 2004
I love riding BART- it makes me feel like I live in Tomorrowland. Today during my commute, I saw a guy in full Jedi regalia- he even had the utility belt. Where do people like that work?
.: posted by Zemlet 2:13 PM
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Tray Bien
In my January 21 post, I lamented the loss of my big round wooden tray- when I was helping my ex-roommates do the final clean of our old flat I found it! I don't like losing things, so I was very happy. The only thing I don't know where is right now is the red jacket that goes with the Hongo suit I got in San Sebastian. But I saw it before I moved, so it is someplace, I'm sure. Since I know this is really scintillating for you, I'll keep you posted.
.: posted by Zemlet 5:38 PM
Winds Light to Variable
That is a Goon Show reference I wonder if anybody gets that. Hot damn I loved the Goon Show, part of my weakness for all things British- perhaps I should drink less tea. Althought I must tell you I am drinking a new tea I love, which you can buy at Whole Foods Market or directly from the manufacturer from their web site or amazon.com gourmet (which I also love). The new tea is Mighty Leaf (my tea leaf- get it?) and I love everything about it (well, except the price tag). The tea bags are sewn together like little sachets- I keep joking with folks I share it with that they can dry them out and put them in their underwear drawer later, especially since there are flower petals and essential oils in some of the flavors. They are so cute (and expensive) they are hard to throw away after steeping. Their logo is a steam djini coming out of a tea pot- so cool! It is like if coffee can have a mermaid, why can't tea have a djini? I highly recommend this top-drawer tea experience. Perhaps I'll build a part of the site someday talking about tea. Anyhow! Oh, that was a long sidetrack!
I wanted to update everyone on the new job. It is going ok... some days good, some days bad. For those who knew me during my Osmo days- there is someone here who is Kay Kettw, Kathy, and Miriam ALL PUT TOGETHER!!!!! Oh yes, it's own particular brand of hell- and a big time gatekeeper she is at that. Hoo boy. She called the Director of HR for our entire region (offices in 6 states) to complain about me. Apparently I said a swear word (details provided upon request) and she felt she had to leap over 3 levels of management to place a complaint. Rumor has it, this is not the first time a cussing complaint has been filed by this person, so apparently I am part of an elite club of sailors, who also work at engineering companies. It is quite a shock to me that I've been "reported" for such a thing. I've never had anything like this happen to me. The whole thing reminds me of an episode when Alex took over as CEO of Able (and was later fired fired fired). This incident is already getting funny, but at the time it was devestating. There, of course, is a lot more to the story, but I've moved on, and it isn't that amusing, so the rest isn't worth rehashing.
I continue my love affair with Peeps as I do every Spring.
AND I'm now playing Animal Crossing on my Nintendo every damn day! It just sucks my time away, but makes me so happy in a goofy sort of way. Jonathan is playing too, we each have separate towns: mine is Parka and his is called Dilley. (He picked the better name- he rules.) Anyway they are on seperate memory cards so you can actually travel between them. So I can go to his town and cruise around and mess with things and pick all his fruit, and he can come over to my town and mess with things and buy out my store. We write each other letters in the game it is SO SILLY. And really so fun. I could go on and on about this game- I highly recommend it, very relaxing- much cuteness. However at lunch today, J and I actually had a conversation about what is going on in Animal Crossing. A lot of people have been moving out of my town and into his- a disturbing trend! Even Camofrog moved- who had been a lifetime resident of Parka. I had helped him plant flowers around his house for crissakes and did tons of other favors for him. It is a conspiracy! Gah! I wonder if Jonathan had been "recruiting" people from my town while he was picking all my cherrries and buying the good saplings from Nook's store. Anyway it really is a lot of fun... this morning I couldn't sleep, so I played from 5-7 AM. I got a very nice letter from Truffle signed "XOXOXO" and an eagle or hawk or something moved in next to Alfonso. Oh! And the lady with all the paintings in her house instead of furniture sent me a bonsai plant and gave me a fridge for helping her get her glasses case back from Caesar. I cannot believe I'm so into this game.
ok... I can.
Jonathan and I bought a few things for the house. I wanted a new trash can and he wanted it to be brighter in the living room, so we bought a new lamp. (And a replacement lamp shade for that old floor lamp- it will be a lot easier to play bridge in there now.) It was nice to do something all couple-y and celebrate it. No arguing, no feeling wierd, just a pleasant satisfied feeling and the agreement that we made it a better place.
.: posted by Zemlet 2:32 PM
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