the saga of a man who taught his cat how to use instant messaging.
I ROFLMAO'd. Honestly and for true.
Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Fathom
My copy of Fathom, Cherie Priest's latest release, shipped two days ago. I envy you folks who get to buy it in the store.
Read about it here: Let the waters beneath heaven be gathered in one place...
Read about it here: Let the waters beneath heaven be gathered in one place...
An ageless water witch schemes to bring old gods back to glory, but awakening the Leviathan is no small feat–and it’s none too compatible with the survival of humanity. Nevertheless, a handful of ambitious villains are open to recruitment and the ranks of darkness fill with surprising speed. Aided by an eighteenth-century Spanish pirate and his deranged young lover, the witch strives to bring about the end of the world.
But between the cracks hide forgotten old things. Ignored–but far from powerless–they claim a hero of their own. The soul they salvage was destined for a watery grave, but the timing is right and the lingering elementals have better ideas.
Now the End of Days is challenged by a strange and powerful new creature, distilled from stone by a servant of the earth who refuses to surrender his green fields and muddy plains. Not yet. Add to his arsenal a hapless insurance inspector and the irate priest of a fire god, and suddenly rural Florida doesn’t seem quite so sleepy anymore.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Vela Supernova Remnant
Amazing, interactive, one billion pixel image, easily navigated.
Wow, that'll make a body feel insignificant.
Wow, that'll make a body feel insignificant.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Faeries & Mushrooms
If you like faery art (Brian Froud, Labyrinth, etc) and amazingly magical handmade books, you must -- right this very instant -- stop what you're doing and go to kelfae.com.
And if you love what you see, and you can afford it, BUY SOMETHING. I can not begin to tell you how magical and wonderful her stuff really is. Seriously, you will be purchasing an amazing piece of art that will be in your collection for a life time. And you'll give an amazingly talented artist a very needed boost right now.
Shush, Kel. I'm pimping you and you'll just have to deal with it.
Oh and she does commissions!
kelfae.com. Make with the clicky already.
And if you love what you see, and you can afford it, BUY SOMETHING. I can not begin to tell you how magical and wonderful her stuff really is. Seriously, you will be purchasing an amazing piece of art that will be in your collection for a life time. And you'll give an amazingly talented artist a very needed boost right now.
Shush, Kel. I'm pimping you and you'll just have to deal with it.
Oh and she does commissions!
kelfae.com. Make with the clicky already.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Exhibit 13
I love this song and it tears my heart out all over again, every time I listen to it.
For all the playful, silly, rocking things the Blueman Group have done, I thank them for Exhibit 13 the most.
For all the playful, silly, rocking things the Blueman Group have done, I thank them for Exhibit 13 the most.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Friday, August 03, 2007
And the wheel goes round...
I spent today with the Handweavers and Spinners Guild doing a Sheep To Shawl event at the Ventura County Fair. Pics here.
Monday, June 18, 2007
A prayer for the journey
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
~Constantine P. Cavafy
via MoonRiver
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
~Constantine P. Cavafy
via MoonRiver
Name Dropper
Musecrack just got a mention in one of my favourite blogs, Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien.
Thank you Florizelle!
Thank you Florizelle!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Storytelling
Ira Glass, host of NPR's This American Life, talks about story telling:
Part 1: A story, at its simplest form, is the retelling of a sequence of events (YouTube)
Part 2: Cull mercilessly. (You Tube)
Part 3: You'll make a lot of crap before you make good work. So make it. It's normal to suck. Don't worry. You'll get better.. Just don't quit. (You Tube)
Part 4: Ira is talking to people who want to be on video, but I really think these two common mistakes apply equally to writing: Be aware of your voice. Also, make sure your personality doesn't get in the way of the story. (You Tube)
Part 1: A story, at its simplest form, is the retelling of a sequence of events (YouTube)
Part 2: Cull mercilessly. (You Tube)
Part 3: You'll make a lot of crap before you make good work. So make it. It's normal to suck. Don't worry. You'll get better.. Just don't quit. (You Tube)
Part 4: Ira is talking to people who want to be on video, but I really think these two common mistakes apply equally to writing: Be aware of your voice. Also, make sure your personality doesn't get in the way of the story. (You Tube)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Not Dead.
Wow... ~blows dust off underwood no5~ Poor neglected journal.
Absolutely nothing remarkable has happened. Work on the new place proceeds apace.
Cat: Went back in for his recheck on his hyperthyroid, which is, after medication, at the high end of normal, but normal. Now there's this glucose thing going on. Cats have the ability to spike their bloodsugar when they're stressed. But his glucose was 100 points above normal... This is cause for concern. And cause for plastic pellets and a little paper tester strip. Yes, I have to get a single drop of cat pee to test his glucose levels... Hilarity ensues.
Baby watch 2007: My nephew is being fickle and toying with his mother's head, and he's not even born yet. I haven't even met him and I think I like him. She's due the 16th, but y'know, any minute now! {insert keystone cops impersonation here}
Work: I am actually in a conference call with Austria, Sweden and England this morning... o_0
Patio: Bought a table and chairs for the back patio. Which is interesting, considering we still don't have a proper dining room table. ~shrugs~ It's summer. We'll eat outside, yes? ~pulls on sweater against the fog~ Summer. Definitely. Table needs a coat of tung oil before it can go into service.
Gardening: Laid in roma tomatoes seedlings, green and gold bell peppers seedlings. In the ground, which is so cool. There was much slaying of weeds and augmenting of soil beforehand, and I've still got 5/6ths of the bed to go. Container garden now has Catnip, Spearmint, Lemon Balm, Pineapple Mint, Lemon Thyme, English Thyme, Oregano, Sage, French & English Lavender. The Canna Indica continues to bloom, although it's clearly been neglected. One of the two daisy monsters has been slain. The other wants for heavy equipment*, or perhaps an axe to take it down. Also, the compost bin is proceeding apace. I've yet to buy worms for it, but I need to build a shelter, both for the seedlings and so the compost doesn't roast in the sun. Bought a bunch of seeds (see above reference to shelter), since our growing season is so long.
Herbs: Bought stuff to make our herbal guild's famous bruise juice recipe. When you hang out with fighter types, who like to hit on each other with sticks, invariably bruises occur. This is an olive oil based infusion of herbs supplemented with essential oils and it's the most wonderful stuff. It clears up really ugly bruises in a fraction of the normal healing time. It's also excellent for stiff muscles.
It saved my ass a week ago when I finally realized that neck spasms were actually a pulled muscle. Judicious application of stretches, heat and bruise juice did wonders on the healing front. Thanks to strangestgirl@lj for sending me yoga for necks and shoulders. They help. A lot.
Craftroom: Getting a new bedroom set meant having extra chest of drawers, so one of them is being repurposed for herb storage. It got a stain and a coat of linseed oil on Saturday and Sunday, and a coat of bowling alley paste wax yesterday. (Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?) Next thing I need to find is the fittings. (Pics forthcoming) Assembled bookshelves.
Sun jar: Have all the pieces parts, just need to assemble them. Solar lights @ Harbor Freight - dissected for guts, Fido glass canning jar, need to get the glass frosting yet, but it looks like it's going to work quite nicely. I do so wish I could justify the cost of the cobalt blue glasses because those would be so pretty. I'm not sure the solar panel would charge through the darker glass, so I'm sticking with the clear glass. Ideas to supplement the jar include filling it with sea glass (superbright LED light is REALLY superbright).
Spinning: Plied off two bobbins. Wow did I learn my lesson. Ply as soon as you get done spinning the bobbin. Letting it rest on the bobbin for three months made plying a nightmare. Whoops.
Also in the fiber end of things, my sister "arranged" (trans. Foisted on me) four bags of Suffolk, which is full of shit and second cuts and is going to be a real pain in the ass, but best to practice on free fleece before ordering that merino I was ogling. But going out to see sheep in the fields was fun. The sheep dogs were Great Pyrenees and were the most affectionate, smelly wonderful dogs ever. Hell, even the barn cat thought we were pretty cool.
Also, new processing steps means I need new tools... Anyone have a drum carder they'd like taken off their hands? No? Hmm.
Writing: ~shifty eyes~ Haven't been writing as much as I'd like. Haven't been musecracking as much as I'd like either. ~makes note to remedy both situations~
* SCA/Gardening joke du jour: This is a bec de corbin. This is a bec de Howard.
Darach Bruise Juice (Recipe refined by Eleyn of Darach/Hope Martin)
Step 1: Infuse the base oil*
6 bay leaves
1/2 cup lavender
1/4 cup sage (or wormwood)
1/4 cup calendula
1/4 cup mugwort
1/4 cup rosemary
Olive Oil to cover
Combine herbs and oil in a pot and simmer on the stove for approximately two hours. You could also use an old crock pot or potpourri pot and simmer it overnight. Just remember to stir.
Step 2: make up the essential oil base.
Camphor oil 2 1/2 t
Eucalyptus oil 3/4t
Lavender Oil 1/2t
Peppermint oil 1T + 2t
Ginger Oil 2T
Castor Oil 3 1/2t
Step 3: take 3 1/2 oz of the oil from step 1, and add to it 3 1/2t of the oil from step 2. This will give you Bruise Juice. To make Bruise Balm, add beeswax to the still warm infused oil at the rate of 1.5:1 (base oil to beeswax) or use your preferred ratio.
* I use EVOO, with enough grapeseed oil to get it to my desired viscosity.
Absolutely nothing remarkable has happened. Work on the new place proceeds apace.
Cat: Went back in for his recheck on his hyperthyroid, which is, after medication, at the high end of normal, but normal. Now there's this glucose thing going on. Cats have the ability to spike their bloodsugar when they're stressed. But his glucose was 100 points above normal... This is cause for concern. And cause for plastic pellets and a little paper tester strip. Yes, I have to get a single drop of cat pee to test his glucose levels... Hilarity ensues.
Baby watch 2007: My nephew is being fickle and toying with his mother's head, and he's not even born yet. I haven't even met him and I think I like him. She's due the 16th, but y'know, any minute now! {insert keystone cops impersonation here}
Work: I am actually in a conference call with Austria, Sweden and England this morning... o_0
Patio: Bought a table and chairs for the back patio. Which is interesting, considering we still don't have a proper dining room table. ~shrugs~ It's summer. We'll eat outside, yes? ~pulls on sweater against the fog~ Summer. Definitely. Table needs a coat of tung oil before it can go into service.
Gardening: Laid in roma tomatoes seedlings, green and gold bell peppers seedlings. In the ground, which is so cool. There was much slaying of weeds and augmenting of soil beforehand, and I've still got 5/6ths of the bed to go. Container garden now has Catnip, Spearmint, Lemon Balm, Pineapple Mint, Lemon Thyme, English Thyme, Oregano, Sage, French & English Lavender. The Canna Indica continues to bloom, although it's clearly been neglected. One of the two daisy monsters has been slain. The other wants for heavy equipment*, or perhaps an axe to take it down. Also, the compost bin is proceeding apace. I've yet to buy worms for it, but I need to build a shelter, both for the seedlings and so the compost doesn't roast in the sun. Bought a bunch of seeds (see above reference to shelter), since our growing season is so long.
Herbs: Bought stuff to make our herbal guild's famous bruise juice recipe. When you hang out with fighter types, who like to hit on each other with sticks, invariably bruises occur. This is an olive oil based infusion of herbs supplemented with essential oils and it's the most wonderful stuff. It clears up really ugly bruises in a fraction of the normal healing time. It's also excellent for stiff muscles.
It saved my ass a week ago when I finally realized that neck spasms were actually a pulled muscle. Judicious application of stretches, heat and bruise juice did wonders on the healing front. Thanks to strangestgirl@lj for sending me yoga for necks and shoulders. They help. A lot.
Craftroom: Getting a new bedroom set meant having extra chest of drawers, so one of them is being repurposed for herb storage. It got a stain and a coat of linseed oil on Saturday and Sunday, and a coat of bowling alley paste wax yesterday. (Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?) Next thing I need to find is the fittings. (Pics forthcoming) Assembled bookshelves.
Sun jar: Have all the pieces parts, just need to assemble them. Solar lights @ Harbor Freight - dissected for guts, Fido glass canning jar, need to get the glass frosting yet, but it looks like it's going to work quite nicely. I do so wish I could justify the cost of the cobalt blue glasses because those would be so pretty. I'm not sure the solar panel would charge through the darker glass, so I'm sticking with the clear glass. Ideas to supplement the jar include filling it with sea glass (superbright LED light is REALLY superbright).
Spinning: Plied off two bobbins. Wow did I learn my lesson. Ply as soon as you get done spinning the bobbin. Letting it rest on the bobbin for three months made plying a nightmare. Whoops.
Also in the fiber end of things, my sister "arranged" (trans. Foisted on me) four bags of Suffolk, which is full of shit and second cuts and is going to be a real pain in the ass, but best to practice on free fleece before ordering that merino I was ogling. But going out to see sheep in the fields was fun. The sheep dogs were Great Pyrenees and were the most affectionate, smelly wonderful dogs ever. Hell, even the barn cat thought we were pretty cool.
Also, new processing steps means I need new tools... Anyone have a drum carder they'd like taken off their hands? No? Hmm.
Writing: ~shifty eyes~ Haven't been writing as much as I'd like. Haven't been musecracking as much as I'd like either. ~makes note to remedy both situations~
* SCA/Gardening joke du jour: This is a bec de corbin. This is a bec de Howard.
Step 1: Infuse the base oil*
6 bay leaves
1/2 cup lavender
1/4 cup sage (or wormwood)
1/4 cup calendula
1/4 cup mugwort
1/4 cup rosemary
Olive Oil to cover
Combine herbs and oil in a pot and simmer on the stove for approximately two hours. You could also use an old crock pot or potpourri pot and simmer it overnight. Just remember to stir.
Step 2: make up the essential oil base.
Camphor oil 2 1/2 t
Eucalyptus oil 3/4t
Lavender Oil 1/2t
Peppermint oil 1T + 2t
Ginger Oil 2T
Castor Oil 3 1/2t
Step 3: take 3 1/2 oz of the oil from step 1, and add to it 3 1/2t of the oil from step 2. This will give you Bruise Juice. To make Bruise Balm, add beeswax to the still warm infused oil at the rate of 1.5:1 (base oil to beeswax) or use your preferred ratio.
* I use EVOO, with enough grapeseed oil to get it to my desired viscosity.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Home again.
Home again home again jiggedy jig. Pictures downloading now. Bouchon is a little slice of heaven. Absente (with the sugar and the flame) is well and truly divine. And drinking Charbay Meyer Lemon Vodka whilst wearing sable and mocking Lenin is just damned fun.
Also, the butterflies were transcedent. And I bought shoes (in black, of course).
More later, when I can see straight.
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