fur Amanda

I love podcasts almost as much as I love Jeopardy, and downloaded fifty eight yesterday.

Not at the top of my list, but still on my list is Radiolab, and they did a good one about how animals think, and there was a great story about a leopard seal (Thanks Melmar for the tip).
You can listen to it, or download it here, or you can (this is mostly for Ryan who acts like downloading a podcast is the most mysterious and complicated thing you could do) do iTunes, then iTunes store, then podcasts. Then you hit the "get" button next to everything you want, and you get it. Easy.

Here's the leopard seal, eating a penguin. You should see the teeth on these guys.

gold

Slow days. Followed by foods, Olympics.

These are my new antibiotic, and maybe the prettiest pills I've ever taken. Dark blue and pink.

Both plans and non-plans. Upholding sweatpants lifestyle more than I ever thought. Surprise police visits. Finding any and every way to make my room more humid (lately, this:

just setting the glass of water from last night on top of the radiator. It's usually almost gone by night time. This, in addition to a dragon humidifier. I can't wait for Spring). A lot of talk about killing rats. Visits. Deciding about going to Jerry's (our old landlord) dad's funeral.
These could all get a paragraph or something, but I don't feel like it today.

Barnes

This weekend, we got up early and Jady took us to the Barnes Foundation.

I cannot believe it took me 5 (6?) years of living in Philadelphia to get there. If you haven't been: shame on you. If you want to go, you better get on it. Reservations seem to be hard to come by?
$25b of art, in one guy's collection.
Hundreds of Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse.

So much you can barely handle them.
Personal favorites? Jungle Rousseaus I hadn't heard of and the Modigliani portraits.


If you don't know about this place, it's a house/gallery type setting, with objects arranged by how they relate to each other, and was extremely far removed from a Museum Experience. There's no placards, no titles.

Even aside from the whole art end of things, Barnes was also pretty awesome historically. He made his money by inventing a drug, and then chased around the world befriending artists, collecting work (and dogs), and generally was good at being rich.
In his will, he stipulated that the collection wasn't ever to be moved, specifically to Philadelphia, but that's exactly what's happening next year. And I can't wait to see the movie about it - The Art of the Steal.

regal

Today I had a "crown lengthening", which turned out to be one of the grosser ones. Now I've got a mouth full of stitches, and can't brush my teeth for a week. Comments (disguised complaints) the whole time about my tiny mouth and "extremely hyperactive tongue".
I'm not sure I would have posted it anyway, but I tried to take a picture of the back of my mouth, cause it's real gross, and it is REALLY hard to do.

hawks

I've been using my perpetual calendar that everyone (including NICK JAQUITH, who I failed to credit, so: learn about it everyone, and Nick, stop complaining) made. It's really nice/fun. If you're not using yours at work or home, you should. Then you can know what day it is.

Here's yesterday's, from Elizabeth. Pretend I posted it on the actual day. I was going to tell you about my favorites, but that's like half, so forget it.

And, in an effort to defy spring, I really really quit boots today.

Bare foot tops. It's in the forties! (Oh, a hundred colors, dress, jeans, houndstooth AND leopard? Yeah. One of those mornings.)

Tonight? Who knows. It's Making Time.

Reasons I don't want to go to Making Time:

It's cold(ish). That means you have to wear a coat. Then you have to either hide your coat, or check it. Pain.
It's ten dollars.
Drinks are either gross or expensive.
It's at Voyeur, which might seem fine to you, but isn't to me.

Reasons I might get talked into it:

I do like Andy.
Leslie is going, and that's different, and assumes a lot of other people I like are going.
This would really break up my lifestyle of "my house or other people's houses, every night".

So...we'll see. Like I said before, they do have nice posters.

getting there

I'm over winter.

I secretly liked the blizzards as much as the next girl, but I can't wait for warm weather.
I'm tired of boots.
I miss riding my bike.
I want to ride my new Vespa to the thrift store every day.

Icy sidewalks are making the walk to work so irratating I can barely handle it, so I often end up taking Septa, where you just never know when they'll show up, what weird detour they're taking because there's still roads that aren't plowed, and you never know what will be on the seat next to you. Like razor blades.

(It's weird that no one wanted to sit there?)

I'm mostly excited for how nice everyone in Center City dresses, the first day they can. Really good outfits. And, speaking of outfits, has anyone ever done this "plan a week of wardrobe" thing? Where Sunday you'd pick out all your clothes for the week, in an effort to not do that morning-scramble thing, and so you don't end up wearing jeans, and so you use up all those clothes you don't end up wearing because they take too much planning*? I kind of want to do it, but I'm not sure how it would work...
It'd be kind of like menu planning, but for people who don't care about food that much.
Thoughts/tips/experiences?

Here's a picture of MLB, he's all (cat) elbows.



*it's probably the same girls doing their outfit planning that have really boring "This is what I wore today" blogs (that I sometimes get caught up in).

mardi

I was going to write about food. By that I mean: I was going to start a side blog (a "slog"?) about the food I ate. It mostly stemmed from conversations (that I've only had with girls, coincidentally) about which frozen lunches are okay, and which are gross.

For instance:

Usually, when I'm at the supermarket, I buy a few frozen lunches. Because 1) one brand is usually on sale for around $2, which is $5 cheaper than buying lunch out probably and 2) this frozen meal is potentially healthier (and by that I mean less un-healthy?) than eating take out in Center City.
Anyway, there's a lot of brands. Most of them are pretty comparable, and have names with the word "Smart" or "Light" or "Easy" in them.
Then, there's Kashi.
Kashi meals are never on sale. They cost more than a gyro from the corner. They're mostly made of rice.
But they're supposed to be good for you (used loosely, of course), and medium tasty. So, I decided to go for it. I picked out one good looking one, just to try it - because if it was tons better than other crappy frozen lunches, it might be worth it.
Well, here:

All natural Southwest Style Chicken.
Slop.
This is what you've got Kashi? I'd rather have some sort of fakesy panini with imaginary vegetables made on a revolutionary grilling tray.

Know what else wasn't good this week? Trader Joe's Chicken Vindaloo. It was very yellow though. Very yellow.

This side blog that won't exist was going to be called DoggieFood or something. But then I realized I don't even really like reading real food blogs, and one about fake food would be a pretty big waste of internet space.

Here's another fake entry from my fake new blog:

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. Marilyn made potato pancakes and beignets in the style of Gramma Liedke, and it was great. (Imagine pictures of all that here. Potato pancakes that got eaten faster than a smoke monster eats Mr. Echo, sour cream, and fried dough that left piles of powdered sugar all over the table). Bring on lent.

10/10

This starts off about costumes, but ends with the Winter Games.

Yesterday I woke up with very clear ideas of my Halloween 2K10 ideas. Primary: zombie Louise Brookes. Backup: zombie Cleopatra.

I couldn't figure it out (why I was thinking about it as I slept/first thing in the morning), but then I realized I got/read a late night text about the undead playing pingpong at RUBA. There you go.

I've got an itch to make costumes, and soon, so I'm thinking about headdresses and springtime parties. The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (the First Nation-ers get a million points in my book, for all the dancing, and the outfits, and everything) has been pretty inspirational too*.


*the Olympics also put ideas in my head of dressing up as "one of those girls from the Olypics with headbands and the white puffy down comforter skirts". Every night we end up watching the Olympics, and every night there's yelling, like real sports.

testing

On Saturday I took my MAT.
It's 100 questions in an hour. All analogies, all the time.
You'd think that they'd give you a score from 1-100, right? They do not. Your score is in the 200-600 range. So anyway, I got a score, then we figured out what it meant, and the good news is: I placed better than I needed to. Not super duper great, but fine.

Some of the questions were tricky.
Almost every person taking it was a nanny.
It was weird being on Temple's campus. I'd actually never been.

Mordicai

Remember that movie Thirteen, and how terrible it made you feel about Youth, Rebellion, and Teenage Girls specifically? Fish Tank is that times 100. I guess it was good - it sure made me feel something. Saw it on Valentine's day, and can categorically say it is non-romantic.

When we left the theatre, we saw a hawk.

bitg

Well, it snowed last week, and made it the least appropriate time to blog. I was really busy watching Mad Men and movies, and tromping around, and occasionally fake-shoveling.
One day during this impromptu hiatus, I dropped Batman off for a playdate (at an olde city house with a pool, trampoline, rock climbing wall and elevator!?).

Then I went to South Street, where I found $40 on the ground and promptly spent half of that money on a pair of jeans at BareFeet. All this to say, jeans are alright, and go best with sneakers? So my life progressed in the past week from Girl Who Wears Skirts and Tights, to Sweatpants Girl, to Jeans and Sneakers Life. A medium (a balance?) has been reached.
What I started out saying though is that, although I took a quick break from blogging, loosely based on the weather, I plan on coming back today, full force. I'll innudate your internets with updates.


Oh, and LOST tonight. For all of you that don't watch, there's only like fifteen more times you'll ever have to hear that from anyone, so take heart.

V-day

I got two Valentines this year. One was a holographic cat telling me I'm purrfect, and the other was from my dad, and included this picture of him kissing a Kangaroo.

new ride

I got a new Vespa.

Worked out for me really well. Both financially and aesthetically.

(Now I just want a lot of accessory type things. Like a helmet that matches. And a rear-rack with a basket.)

sweater

So... I bought sweatpants today. I thought about it all afternoon, and then, on the way home, Iwent for it.

I don't want to be a Girl That Wears Sweats - but IT IS GREAT. I get it now. It's the softest, best thing. Why doesn't everyone wear sweatpants all the time?

C'mon, snow. I'm ready.

back to doctors

Today it's back to post-op checkups (for that sinus lift) and next week it's back to just-in-case brain MRI's. I'm pretty sure everything is good, I'm just going to get a little poor(er) over it.

Snow day tomorrow, and plans include studying a couple more times for my MAT (Saturday!) and ... cleaning my room. I guess that's what those days are for, right? Like a bonus weekend day.

LOST tonight.

create

I went to DD today to get those Lattes. 99c! Basically free.
Anyway, inside, there's a sign for CREATE DUNKIN'S NEW DONUT!.

So...I just spent a few minutes making online donuts. It's ridiculous. But great. If you're inclined to build a bike or design your own kicks online, then you'll probably like the donuts too. You have to name them and write a little copy too.

THEN IF YOU'RE A FINALIST, YOU GET TO GO AND MAKE THE DONUTS! Which is one of those prizes that's not a prize, because you have to go someplace and do something you probably wouldn't otherwise want to do*, and even then, you might not really win, but doesn't it seem kind of fun anyway?

This is not an ad for Dunkin Donuts.


*like a birthday party making pretzels at Auntie Anne's.

weather overground

This morning, as I watched the third over-full-no-room-for-you train go by, I thought about the recent snow.
It's really pretty and everything, and there was the walk home from Olga's party Friday night, when it was just dumping snow all around, and it was late at night and pretty. That part is great.
BUT, here's some other Things About The Recent Snow (good things and bad things):
1. Kids here don't even play in it. We live next to a giant lot. There are kids on our street, on every street around us. This would be prime ground for building igloos, snowball fights, whatever. Maybe these kids just don't have snoveralls because they would only need them a couple times a year? Anyway - children of Philadelphia: you're bad at snow.
2. Know what else? Scooter transactions don't happen if it snows. I'm kind of in the "believe it when I see it" phase, but I might be getting a new, old, scooter, and it was supposed to happen this weekend.

Psych.
3. Something I do like though, is when you've got a sidewalk that's pretty clear, and your boots crunch the salt? I mean, it's conflicting, because then all your shoes have salt stains on them, but the actual crunching is nice, because you know you're not going to fall, and it sounds great.
4. Taking the El someplace? Forget it. Figure it out Septa, please.
5. We hit South Philly on Saturday, Walmart was a shoveless zombie world, and the movies weren't even open (til 5)! So, we did go to the movies eventually, and saw Legion, which was so strangely terrible it's not even worth describing. Bad movies on snowdays feels okay though (see also Back to the Future II, and the Good Theif.)

If we have to keep getting snow, maybe it could come on a weekday this time? That would be funner in a different way, right?


p.s. I just saw that DD's is offering their 99c Latte. Everyone should have that, all the time.

snowday

Today I get to leave work as soon as it snows, so bring it on.

This weekend is art and going away parties (sorry, I didn't really even know you were leaving!), and snow, and maybe new scooters, and Sports.

Ready, set, go!

(online) shop girl

Yesterday, I spent the extra part of my tax return (extra = the part not used to PAY OFF MY CREDIT CARD)!

I ordered online, and have never really had good luck buying clothes online, so will probably end up returning them. Which is fine. It's mostly about the thrill of buying anyway, right? (Joking, but only kind of).

Probably most importantly is (another, better) new digital camera. Pink this time, and way on sale for V-day. I almost got orange, because those were the two options, and pink seems cliche, but orange was $2 more, so I went with pink. Almost makes it seem responsible, right?
Under $50, from Overstock.com. That other one I got (last week!) was pretty bad, and is already returned. I'm going to be taking your picture SO SOON.

I also just found my Polaroid and a pack of unused film. It's like Christmas!

subtitles

On Monday, Sarah and I went to the Post (our old "haunt"?) for enchiladas. I thought about how, once I start this "littlest loser" challenge, I'll probably have to cut out good things: like cheese, things that come in tortillas, chips that are made of tortillas, etc.
Bummer. I'll start with baby steps, like less cheese, maybe. And even that, not yet.

The point IS, we saw the new Almodovar - Broken Embraces.


It was a lot less fringe-sexy than most of his stuff that I've seen. One of those movies-about-making movies things, and (not a spoiler) the writer/director character is blind. So, of course, I spent much of the movie wondering what it would be like to be half blind, instead of half deaf.
Also, this guy behind us kept moaning (in the gross, not-in-public-please way) everytime P Cruz's boobs were on screen. We giggled like grossed-out eleven year olds.

pops

Talked to my Dad yesterday.

He's bringing us a little bed for the spare bedroom (goodbye, Craigslist weirdos).
He told me how to fix the dehumidifier.
He told me I should see Blindside. That football movie, with Sandra Bollock? And that I should "bring a hankerchief".

kids NEED candy

Yesterday we went to Hollywood video ("kids need candy" was one of their in store ads) and I had a free rental. The guy told me I earned it by "not coming around".

So, I got to see Interview with a Vampire in which Brad and Tom do a lot of super close vampire talking, for free. Thanks Hollywood Video! Netflix who?

It was better than the other, independent, cold vampire movie I saw yesterday, The Death of Alice Blue.

I'm also trying to catch up on LOST before Tuesday - I imbibed a lot (of media) yesterday. Also like eleven podcasts, about zombies, storage facilities, propaganda, brainwashing, and memory loss. (I did a couple productive things too, don't worry. Like the antheisis of everyone on Craftzine, we're retro-acting our craftroom into a spare bedroom. Painted.)