26 February 2009

and the office isn't even new this week

Sometimes my day job is just mind-numbingly frustrating. I will be busy with it for the next week straight. None of it will be that hard, and I'm not dreading it, I just don't want to do it.

And I'm complaining. I know I'm complaining. Things aren't even that bad. I sold that purse that I listed to raise money for Wildlife Victoria. And, okay, probably it sold because some kind-hearted person wanted to donate money, and I won't actually get any money from it, but I am still really kind of psyched that someone paid cash money for something that I made. That's pretty sweet.

So that's a good thing. I made a few regular zippered purses last night, and it went really well. I feel much better about my sewing skills lately. Sewing skillzzzz. I can notice real improvement.

Dammit. Not only is The Office a rerun, Grey's Anatomy (which I certainly never watch ever unless there's nothing else on and maybe also other times) is not just a rerun, it's a rerun with fucking Denny and that fucking annoying English woman. Today is kind of annoying me. I'm going to go sew.

25 February 2009

goats

goats

1. It is hard to take photos of goats. They get real nervous if you get too close.

2. This has been a busy week, and the next two days are going to be kind of... hectic would be the positive word. Shitty would be the negative word, and I am totally not about negativity. Anymore.

22 February 2009

muahaha

Hey, remember this? He is doing awesome and will probably get to go home within the next day or two. Because he is a rock star. I came home Friday night; I would've rather come up earlier, but I missed all the scary days and just got to hang out with my family, watching everyone tease each other. Awesome.

18 February 2009

okay here is the part where i try to distract myself



Alright, in my continuing effort to not go crazy re: that last post, I am participating in this thing called Handmade Help. I read tons of craft blogs, and a bunch of them are written by Australians. I'm not sure why; I pretty much read whatever Google Reader puts in that "recommended blogs" list. Anyway! I have been reading a lot about the bushfires in Victoria, and I would very much like to do something to help, because to be all maudlin for a moment, I thought it was so amazing that so many people outside of the US donated to Katrina relief.

So! I have very little listed in my shop right now, but 50% of sales will go to Wildlife Victoria for at least the rest of the month. I'm planning a real relaunch with way more stuff for sale, so I may adjust that percentage in the future. In the meantime, 50% of gross sales goes to Wildlife Victoria for the rest of February. And! 100% of the sale of this brand spanking new change purse will go to Wildlife Victoria. If you're not into that, you can still give money to Wildlife Victoria or the Australian Red Cross.

Alright, I think that's it. After this, I swear I will go back to... whatever the hell it is I usually do here.

17 February 2009

sometimes it is hard to not get personal

My uncle had a heart attack yesterday, and he is a very, very good person, and it is not clear how this will all turn out, so if you could just think really happy positive thoughts, that would be awesome. Okay. Alright.

15 February 2009

i broke three needles today

broken needles

Maybe four. Apparently I'm an idiot? I don't know what was up.







zipper zipper pouches.
But! I also made two more of those zipper pouches I keep talking about, and I cut out fabric for four or five more. I also tried searching for them on Etsy to get an idea of prices to charge, and I couldn't find any. At all. Does this mean that I'm getting in early, or that I'm going crazy over something that everyone else hates? Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

14 February 2009

totally vital saturday morning blogging

v day breakfast

I went out drinking with awesome people last night, so I was a leeetle hungover this morning. Nathan felt bad for me (he went to a show and did not drink beers and margaritas and thus did not feel like shit) so he offered to make me breakfast. Uh, or possibly he asked if he could get me anything, and I was like "scrambled eggs and some potatoes and also some coffee?" Either way, we got the whole Valentine's day meal thing out of the way.

front loading zipper pouches!

Also this morning, I made that polka dot purse and also the white one. I made the blue one last night. I've been wanting to try making purses like these for awhile, and after I saw a photo of one last night, I decided that I needed to figure it out. I looked at a lot of photos and read a few tutorials, but I ended up just cutting out fabric and experimenting, and it was really fun, especially when my first try ended up being almost exactly what I wanted. The polka dot one turned out okay--I used some pieces I had cut for a top loading zipper purse--but the white one is almost perfect. Of course, I still haven't actually used any of them, so maybe they actually suck and will be annoying to use. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share. If you want one, you should let me know--maybe I could give you one and then you could tell me if it sucks/rocks? If I had more than three readers, this is where I would do a giveaway, but as it is, let me know if you want one, and I'll see what I can do.

Okay. Anyway. I'm going to hang out with Nathan until he leaves for Oshkosh (Dear Astronaut has a show) and also probably make more zippered pouches.

12 February 2009

i have found my limit

And that limit is cupcakes. I had to make them with half & half instead of milk, because we do not have milk. Why would we have milk? Also, apparently you need powdered sugar for normal cupcake icing. I did not have that, so I finally found another recipe with granulated sugar, and fucking hell. I ate one, and I am still just... is it possible for cupcakes to cause heart attacks? I don't know, I may have just given myself diabetes for realsies. I just, it was just too much sugar. I think I'm definitely going to keep focusing on the bread baking.

Oh! I also made peanut butter cookies last night, and we did not have anywhere near enough butter. In case you were wondering, yogurt, oil, extra peanut butter, and a little extra white sugar are all good ways to make up for a lack of butter. If you're like me, you can do a little bit of all four. Just keep adding shit until it looks like cookie dough.

11 February 2009

don't jinx it

I'm kind of into blogging lately. Don't know why; I have been taking more photos, maybe that's it.

And I've been cooking and baking a whole bunch. Sewing, too. I think I'm going to drop one of my classes, for many boring but legitimate reasons, but one nice side benefit is that I'll have time to sew a bunch of things so I can do a few craft fairs this spring. That'd be pretty sweet.

Ooh boy, I am boring today. I've been quite productive; I still have a lot of schoolwork that needs to get done today. It's raining hardcore and I have to go to campus for the SAA meeting. I might end up being the new president, mostly because no one else wants to do it.

sunday brunch

Look, I made cinnamon rolls.

standing up for us

Haha fuckers, I just joined Sen. Russ Feingold's Cornerstone Committee, which "recognizes those supporters who have committed early on to Russ's reelection and to the progressive values that he has always stood for." And guess what, Russ is all about the grassroots thing, so I didn't have to spend thousands of dollars to join. You should give him money too, especially if you have thousands of dollars. Also! Tomorrow is his Milwaukee County steering committee meeting, you should go! Especially if you have a car, as then you could take me. As it stands, I will probably not be there. Paula, the woman who organizes it, got my name from my parents as they are actually involved in their steering committee; I'm pretty sure Paula thinks I don't exist, as I have been meaning to but not actually going to meetings for at least a year and a half. Um, anyway, hurray for Russ Feingold!

10 February 2009

alien bread

alien bread

This is what happens when I don't let the bread rest long enough before baking.

PSA

You can donate to the Australian Red Cross here. They have a specific appeal for the bush fires in Victoria. If you have a debit/credit card from the UW Credit Union, I'm pretty sure they don't charge foreign conversion fees.

06 February 2009

sometimes you get to speak truth to assholes

DSCN6143

Holy shit, today was AMAZING. So, I had school things that I can't talk about (but oh, talk to me in person, I have so much shit to talk), and then I got lunch with awesome people, and then I went ice skating. And then! Then! I went on the Lakefront Brewery tour. Bob was possibly the best tour guide I've ever had on any tour ever. Which, of course, made it so much more annoying that there was this group of assholes that talked the entire time. Oh fuck, I wanted to hit them all. But! But. I did not. Mary and I were standing off to the side, after we got our last free cup of Lakefront, and I actually specifically told her "Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not uber-drunk, I'm definitely not going to go over and tell those assholes that they are assholes."

And, oh, that, that is when the stars aligned. You know how there are those moments when you want to say something but you don't? This was not one of those times. I said that thing to Mary, and then she was doing this exaggerated fake laugh, and one of the assholes walked by. I did not flinch--he started fake laughing in response, and I interrupted him and said "oh, hey, weren't you one of those assholes that was talking through the entire tour?"

Oh, glorious, it was glorious. He kind of fake laughed, and his stupid friend laughed, and then he just stood there. And then, then I told him something like "I can't deal with this," and I shooed him away. Repeatedly! I don't know why, and it was a total dick move, or it would've been if he hadn't been a total asshole the entire time that Bob was trying to give a great Lakefront Brewery tour. I fucking put that dick in his place, and it felt so good.

I got to go ice skating with awesome people and go on a brewery tour at an amazing brewery, and I got a chance to tell an asshole that he was an asshole, and I took it. Today was an awesome fucking day.

03 February 2009

pita pit

I finally dealt with my hard drive space issues [first world problem!] and uploaded beau coup photos to Flickr.

Jamaica photos are here. Despite that I wasn't really in a photo mood all week (and despite the fact that I barely left the Donaldson's Inn vicinity), I took a shit ton of photos. Many different views of the sunset. And by "different," I mean same vantage point, different day. Oh, but we did get to go visit this dude Everett, a friend of Nathan's parents, and while Nathan and his dad and Everett did there whole musician thing, I entertained all the neighborhood kids. We were big news on a Saturday afternoon. All the kids were adorable, and they were so into having their photos taken that I don't feel bad putting them all over the Internet.

DSC_0019

This is one of my favorite photos, as it is the least posed. They were posing pros, it was crazy.

DSCN6126

And this is the post-sunset view from Nathan's parents' porch. Seriously, Donaldson's Inn is the best place to stay in Negril. It's locally owned by awesome people, there are only 12 rooms, and the rooms are under $100 and literally on the beach. If you stay at the few wood huts that are left, it's like $30 a night or something crazy. Totally amazing, and you stay on the beach while avoiding all the shitty all-inclusive resorts. Okay, but more on Jamaica some other time.

More photos tomorrow; I've been doing a lot of baking and a lot of sewing, and lord knows I'd rather write blogs about that than do my schoolwork.