A technicolor loony.

So tired today. I think Shark Week is imminent. Wheeeeeeeeeee. I'll try to be interesting on Monday. :)

The Bibliomat. Best vending machine *EVER*.

~~~

Downton Abbey gingerbread house.

~~~

And, continuing with the theme, we have the Hello Borgy cake.

~~~

Best Catbus costume ever. Also, the theme is over now.

~~~

Portable Tabletop Pretend Stove. What a clever idea!

~~~

Oooh. I was right. It is truly lovely here when it snows. We're going out to hang the popcorn strings and just generally play in the snow. I love living here.

This One Ring Scarf is pretty bleedin' impressive.

~~~

Just discovered this quote. I'm in love.

"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better." - Anne Lamott

~~~

Tree ducks!.

~~~

Seriously cool behind the scenes pictures from LoTR>

~~~

I know.

And, as a companion piece, 46 reasons my three year old might be freaking out.

And now, the "whenever I remember to do it" posting of my favorite holiday story *ever*.

~~~

Charo on the Carol Burnett show.

~~~

This is why you should always double-check things before they go live..

~~~

Via mountain_hiker, I didn't even know that otters squeaked.

*squee* Mo Willems Pigeon in Lego. With building directions.

~~~

Charlie's birthday was lovely. She got some great stuff that made her so happy she'd scream with joy and run in circles. I sometimes wish I could just set up a video camera in the corner to record events like this. But I'm hopeless at getting *pictures* edited and up. I've no hope of doing video in a timely manner.

We had mac & cheese, corn dogs, applesauce and beans for dinner. The mac & cheese was shaped like Phineas & Ferb and she *loved* this idea, even though none of use were able to actually id anyone using the pasta pieces.

And then I got a headache that won't leave me alone. The only way I can explain it is that it makes my skull feel delicate, like one touch and it'll crumble. It's nowhere near as much fun as it sounds.

Thus, I will be making her cake today. Didn't get *everyone* for the top, but got a good majority and a couple stand-ins, including Wreck-It Ralph, who gets to be on top of the cake with no argument. *grin*

~~~

Happy 12/12/12. :)

~~~

George Takei On Teaming Up With Archie's Kevin Keller.

Reading Rainbow, Remixed.

~~~

Fleetwood Mac to launch world tour in April.

~~~

Dear Quiznos,

You are *not* introducing soup to your menu. You are bringing *back* soup. I know, 'cause I was bummed when you stopped making it.

Love,

The chick who knows exactly what she's getting next time we go to Quiznos

~~~

It's Looo-ooog, it's Loooo-oog, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood. It's Looo-ooog, it's Loooo-oog, it's better than bad , it's the hero that released the sun.

~~~

12 New Books Brought to You By Penguin-Random.

A couple actually made me snort.

~~~

I've just found out about the Glasswing Butterfly. *WOW*. So lovely. Amazing as well.

~~~

Netflix & Disney have come to an agreement that gives Netflix access to scads (yes, *scads*) of Disney-owned films and shows...and they've already started adding things . Like Alice in Wonderland, three Tinkerbell movies (Charlie will be pleased), Dumbo and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Which is why I'm watching Nightmare right now and, since it's me, might watch it again later. *Grin*

~~~

Dear sinuses,

I don't care if you get so incredibly full of goo that you *explode*. I have *things* to do and a cake to bake and stuff to wrap and a little girl to take to Chuckie Cheese and I *will do these things*. So stopppppppp it already.

Sincerely,

The chick who would prefer no 'splosions

~~~

Oh yeah. We went to see Rise of the Guardians at the drive-in, along with a second viewing of Paper Man & Wreck-It Ralph.

I didn't expect much of Guardians, but was pleasantly surprised. We all *really* liked it. It was creepy in places, but not too scary for Charlie, it kept Sam's attentin and Jeff and I were very pleased with the story. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

Had a blast with Paper Man and Ralph the second time around. Looking forward to that dvd.

And now, the drive-in is closed for the season. It'll be weird to see one movie at a time with the kids. *grin*

Sam and I will be dipping our toes in by seeing The Hobbit. When she was tiny, I had hope there *would* be a Hobbit movie to take her to...so pleased that worked out.

~~~

"Almost no people have heard of {subject} and don't know what to think abou it".
... Um. Well. If they've never heard of it, I don't think they'd think anything, really.

Yeah, I know what he was getting at, but words *mean things*. Jeeze.

/rantlet

~~~

Gotta get the birdseed this weekend or the cardinal mafia is coming for me. There's one that keeps staring at me through the window. I'd say it looks pissed, but they kind of always look like that.

Female cardinals are so lovely...they're buff and orange and red, but they don't get on the holiday cards, poor things. I would show you pictures of the one who likes ot perch on the tomato stakes, but she knows when I pick up the camera, even if she's looking in a completely different direction. It's like maaaaaaagic. *grin*

~~~

Mexico's Supreme Court has ruled that a law in southern Oaxaca state that bans same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, paving the way for same-sex couples to marry in that state and possibly in the rest of Mexico.

The Axis of Awesome: 4 Chords Official Music Video .

~~~

It is an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun is out, the air is warm (71 degrees warm) and we've got the doors open.

Apparently, May & December exchanged a day. I should remember that when it snows right after Beltane.

~~~

Hey look, another reason not to give money to the Salvation Army. As if we needed more.

~~~

I'm at loose ends. Not sure what to write.

We're ramping up for Charlie's fourth birthday (MONDAY!). I've finally pinned her down as to the cake. She wants

A round cake with two layers, frosted in purple with pink around the sides. On top should be a 4 candle, regular candles and "Cinderella, the fairy godmother, Spongebob, Pooh, Tigger, a little pink car, DJ Lance Rock, Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Brobee & a Care Bear"

She'll be able to have most of that. I cannot find a little DJ Lance to save my life (both he and Brobee are from Yo Gabba Gabba for the uninitiated), but I've told her that and she thinks she'll survive.

We're going to Chuckie Cheese on Sunday, 'cause she's determined to "Eat pizza at Chuckie Cheese an' play da games". Found some coupons too. So, all we have to do is survive. *grin*

As you've probably gathered, Charlie's going through another tantrum phase. From the struggles she's having, I'm thinking she's having a major developmental breakthrough. Which I'm *sure* will be lovely when it's done.

I've been googling to look for new ideas to cope with the screaming and yelling and throwing things (we do have a rule in place that if you throw something, it goes to Goodwill. Well, unless it's isn't yours of course. I don't know if it's much of a deterrent though). And if I see one more person write that anything other than a perfectly calm child should be immediately seen by a doctor, as the kid is obviously abnormal, I may have a tantrum myself.

Please don't get me wrong. Early intervention is key with a lot of problems. But I think the vast majority of kids have tantrums. I did, Sam did (dear ghods, did she ever), etc. It's like the times I googled waking up with a headache and 98% of the responses were basically "You have cancer". That was using US Google. I checked on UK Google and the advice was along the lines of "Have you tried a different pillow?"

I think Charlie's main problem is, she's too much like me. Stubborn as all hell and gets super frustrated if she can't get her point across. I've grown out of my tantrums (mostly). Hopefully she will too. Sam did (mostly) and I survived that with a lot less support.

I'd still like some new ideas, but frankly, I'm not sure there are any.

~~~

In other Charlie news, the alarm worked! She set it off twice and then went back to bed for a while. It's only the first day, but oh, it is *SO* good to come downstairs and see the things in my studio where I left them. The rest of the house too, but she seemed to target my place.

~~~

Frank Oz on the Colbert Report. Excellent.

~~~

The Rubiks Cube that Isn't. Which is not a sequel to The Bear That Wasn't.

~~~

Happy birthday, Louisa May Alcott. Love your work. :D

Thank you for the birthday wishes. :) They were much appreciated.

Yesterday was lovely. No big drama (not even from the nearly four-year-old), just relaxed and groovy. Exactly the way I like it.

Jeff had taken the kids to shop for gifts on Saturday (and was worn out when they got home) and they picked some of the niftiest things. Charlie got me a pair of pretty reading glasses and a Wonder Woman race car among other things. Sam got me a My Little Pony, blue glitter nail polish and a Monster High doll (pulling my small collection of creepyish dolls and my small collection of barbie type dolls together nicely).

My parents got me a Tardis cookie jar. It makes the Tardis sound when you close it. Or when you push the button on top. :D And Jeff got me some marvelous books (including Beth Ditto's autobiography), an Oscar the Grouch winter hat, a Jack Skellington ornament and Terry Pratchett's The Compleat Ankh-Morpork. Which is a book, but transcends book. And has a double sided map of Ankh-Morpork. Ny sent me a lovely postcard with a rainbow cake on it!

Do my family know me or what? And if you'd ever wondered if I was a geek or not, wonder no more my dear. *Grin*

I made nachos last night and didn't set anything on fire. I've also come to the conclusion that I will never make restaurant nachos. But I like mine. :) We were stuffed, so we're havin' cake tonight. After dinner. 'Cause if I didn't enforce that, we'd just have cake and be all queasy.

~~~

I'm happy. Not just with birthday stuff. I've been happy for a while now.

I'm somewhat afraid to mention this, but I really don't believe in curses or something awful happening because you mention it, and I'm going to damn well start acting like it. I have no trouble..."remembering" that I don't believe in magical thinking for good things, so why do I still have a bit of a block on the reverse?

Anyway. Happy. Not sure why. Well, lots of reasons why, but not sure why my brain isn't getting down with it's seasonal depression bad self. But I'll take it. :)

Hurricane Damaged Restaurant Sells "Junk Bonds" to pay for rebuilding

Basically, they charge twice the face value of their gift certificates. I think this is a great idea.

~~~~

Who's on the left?.

No, nothing political. It's about finding out which famous couples you can tell apart.

~~~

Okay, people can stop making Leeloo costumes. The best one has been located.

~~~

Trent Reznor's doing an AMA on Reddit, as is Eric Idle.

You need an account to ask a question, but not to read.

~~~

Yesterday was murky most of the day, today is absolutely gorgeous and full of sunshine. When Charlie wakes from her nap, we're going out to play.

New Bad Religion single. NSFW 'cause language. Who's surprised? :D

New album drops in January.

~~~

Cup full of koala, anyone?

~~~

New trailer for Les Miserable.

~~~

Scrambled Eggs Therapy.

~~~

Oooh! Dropkick Murphys also have an album coming out in January.

'Island of the Blue Dolphins' woman's cave believed found.

~~~

Elephant "Speaks" Like a Human—Uses Trunk to Shape Sound.

~~~

We went to see a double feature of Wreck It Ralph & Hotel Transylvania on Saturday. The drive-in is a great place for people who aren't completely over their colds to watch movies guilt-free. :D

The short before Wreck It Ralph, Paper Man, was even better than I'd hoped. I wanted to see it again as soon as it was done.

Wreck It Ralph was *marvelous*. It felt very, very right. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

Hotel Transylvania wasn't horrible. It was nice. Not good, not bad. Just nice. There were a few funny moments, the story was perfectly fine. It wasn't dead boring and it didn't make us talk about how bad and or boring it was on the drive home.

~~~

Okay, tell me about kids tablets. Not like the iPad or Kindle Fire. Like the Leap Pad Explorer. Can't be V-tech, 'cause I got Charlie a V-tech quasi-tablet a few months ago and we went through three before I gave up. They should *NOT* be that fragile, and it wasn't like she was trying to bounce it off the ceiling or anything. She was sitting and relaxing and having a great time. And their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

So *anyway*, I'd love to get her a tablet type thing but I'd like it to not make her sad after a couplethree months. I'm into getting her the Leap Pad if it won't die quickly. Figured I'd get her the explorer, case and adapter for her birthday and several extra games for Yule.

Dude! Found Charlie's bag! In a bag where it never ever should have been and nobody recalls putting it.

Thanks, Great Pumpkin. *grin*

Just Like a Chap

~~~

I've been couch sick since Friday. That's when you *want* to get up and do stuff, but you mostly just sit on the couch, bein' sick and watching tv. I finished stitching the handle to Sam's bag before I went to the couch, and the girls found the purple bag I made for Sam in...2005, I believe. The Bat Charlie bag is still missing and I'm a little bitter. The purple bag has no emblems, and part of me is like "You took and hid or lost the yellow bag, why should I emblem up the replacement?" but the other part of me is "You're three and while I *REALLY REALLY HOPE* you grow out of this taking stuff from my studio phase, I adore you and love you and will sew emblems on your bag". It's like the devil and angel you see in cartoons. Bah.

Aaaanyway. Jeff's cold is going away. The girls are alternately fine and limp piles of child. Charlie's only had one stomach problem since I last reported and Sam's had a stomach ache, but only one incident and then no problems at all. So, here's hoping we're all on the road to recovery.

~~~

Nyan Cat Blanket.

~~~

Caveman Diet Secret: Less Red Meat, More Plants

Rather than chowing down on bison meat, Stone Age people likely ate a more balanced meal

Makes sense, really. Plants are *far* easier to catch. *grin*

~~~

Two very cool things. Gail Carriger, the author of the Parasol Protectorate series has a new series, and the first book will be released in February of next year. Thing the second is that the Parasol Protectorate series is now being serialized in manga.

~~~

Dear Livejournal,

Yes, I know I'm using the "old version" of my reading page. I took a peek at the new version. And all I can say is: Not just no but *HELL NO*. It's ugly and less readable than my current setup. Will not be switching, and if you try to force the issue, this may be the thing that makes me move elsewhere.

Very, very sincerely,

Me

~~~

It's still raining here, but the storm has passed. Lots of wind, lots of rain, some branches came down (but didn't crush anything) and we're all doing fine. The last tomato stayed on my plant too. I was impressed. Felt like I was in an O.Henry story...without the sad ending.

~~~

Lite Brite Pumpkin. What a truly fabulous idea.

~~~

Gonna go lay down for a while. Stupid cold/flu thing, in general and for messing up my sleep patterns again. And the coughing isn't endearing me to it *either*.

Love these steampumpkins.

~~~

Well, darthgeek will not be getting the backlit Kindle for his birthday (I've already told him, as it was a "gee, wouldn't it be cool if you got this" kind of present). It's backordered till December, so it makes the best sense to wait till Yule. But I was *counting* on this. I feel dumb for not realizing how popular it would be and for not preordering. So, now I'm at loose ends. I do have one thing I think he'll really like and a couple things coming, but they're not as gooooood as the thing I was gonna get. *flop*

This is all me, not him at all. It just *bugs* me.

*Later* Remembered two things he said he'd really like to have...they're on their way to the house now. His actual birthday's on Sunday, but didn't you know that it's customary for thirty-six year olds to celebrate till the Tuesday after their birthdays? *grin*

~~~

Dumbledora.

And my current favorite joke.
What's behind Dumbledore?
( Psst. Back here )

~~~

The cold, she has gotten meeeee! No barfing, which is very nice. But I'm pretty much gonna go sit on the love seat, watch stuff on Netflix and drink tea while coughing. Well, not *while* coughing. Between coughing. :) I have till Tuesday night, really. I hope to make a cake or cupcakes for Jeff somewhere in there, with the girls helping. I'm really, *really*hoping this is a short cold and I don't have to resechedule every bleedin' thing in my entire life.

But, right now, Netflix and tea.

Cat + Cardboard Box = Best Cat Cosplay *Ever*.

~~~

Sesame Street Issues Cease & Desist To Sellers Of Sexy Big Bird Outfits Because That’s Just Wrong.

And they're probably sending letters to the maker/s of sexy Ernie, Bert & Oscar the Grouch too. I support this. 'Cause...ew. Also, 'cause CTW isn't getting any of the money, and ew. *AND* you could make your own, which they wouldn't object to and maybe it wouldn't be quite as ew.

~~~

Starry Night reproduced with doorknobs.

~~~

Via darthgeek, Children’s Hospital Window Washers Dress up as Marvel Superheroes.

~~~

This is truly wonderful. Really do watch the whole thing. Preacher gives interesting gay rights speech.

~~~

Watch Groucho Marx try to stump Ray Bradbury on Your Bet Your Life.

Name of the game isn't true, btw. Nobody was in danger. :D

~~~

Got the final pieces for Sam's costume. Still have to get makeup, as my colors tend to be far less bright than Delerium's. :) I'm also contemplating drawing a mask on Charlie instead of having her wear the mask that came with the costume. *OR* I'll do both. 'Cause I just don't expect that mask to stay on for long. Not that it actually matters, but there was a potential problem and I *fixed* it. Potentially. :D Of course, the fix relies on her staying still long enough for me to apply the makeup...

The second circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which says that the Federal government will not recognize any same-sex marriage regardless of state law, “violates equal protection” and is therefore unconstitutional..

Oh *hell* yes. The fight isn't over, but we're one step closer to full citizenship.

~~~

An Air Canada plane in mid-flight helps find a missing yacht.

~~~

The Maker.

Oooooh.

~~~

Stella Erhart rocks. The Dundee Elementary School third-grader comes to school dressed as a different historical figure or character — Every. Single. Day. And she's done that since the second day of second grade, when this all started..

~~~

The Sadness of Pain au Chocolat.

~~~

Jimmy Nicol, the Beatles Drummer for Ten Days.

~~~

#SignsYoSonIsGay - Something Amazing Is Happening on Twitter.

~~~

My sweet and lovely friend, pagawne has died. Her passing leaves a blank spot in the world that will never be filled. She was a truly wonderful person and I will miss her terribly.

Kim Boekbinder is doing a kickstarter for her new Space album. The video of the first single is on youtube. It's haunting and lovely.

~~~

Jonathan Coulton re-recorded Code Monkey for Slashdot's 15th Birthday.

~~~

Hat full of stars.

~~~

My carefully curated, one of a kind, vintage artisanal rant.

~~~

Gawker/Reddit Followup.

~~~

I either have a cold or the allergies are attacking. At this point, they both work out to the same thing. Sniffle, sneeze, cough. Though, my mood is much improved from yesterday. Still not happy or terribly shiny, but definitely better.

40 Under 40 : Craft Futures - Record Opening

~~~

This is gonna sound silly, but it's really fun to watch this barn swallow call.

~~~

I am in a truly terrible mood. And I really don't know why, which means I don't know how to fix it. Ugh.

I heart David Byrne.

~~~

Mice can learn to sing together in harmony.

~~~

Endeavour in Extreme Detail.

~~~

I am about halfway through the last season of the original Upstairs/Downstairs. It's very interesting because there were five seasons, but it feels so much longer, because they take leaps through time. If the first title card has a year on it, they've jumped forward at least a year and sometimes five or more. If it doesn't, then it might be the next day but is usually a month or more.

I've noticed that they say "Don't think about it anymore" or "Put it out of your mind" a *lot*. Especially when something bad happens. Not like WW1, but still kind of big bad stuff. And every time I feel like yelling "That is *NOT* how it works! If something terrible happens, you can't just go "Lalala, I'm not thinking about it" and have that be the end of it. Brains love to pick things apart, especially horrible things and if you try to tamp them down, they will explode eventually.

They do touch on this a little, but not *really*. I wonder if people in the teens and twenties of the last century in the upper class in England really advised people to ignore bad stuff completely, and if they did it quite a lot. The show seems quite well researched, and they could totally have asked people who were there as well. At least, it seems well researched from here, about a hundred years in the future.

~~~

Busy weekend. We went to Ikea on Saturday, where Sam and I, while trying to take a shortcut while Jeff and Charlie took the cart up and around the store, ended up basically circling both floors. I posited that we were actually dead and this was some sort of purgatory. She asked "Like the Doctor Who ep?" and we had a discussion about whether or not that was actually purgatorial, as the characters weren't dead at the beginning (see how I'm avoiding spoilers for people who aren't caught up on last season? *grin*). We were very good. Neither of us whined much, nor did we collapse for a nap on any of the lovely beds we passed. It wouldn't have been whine or collapse worthy if we this hadn't been our second complete trip around the store. Eventually, we did find Jeff & Charlie (of course I left my phone in my bag which was in the cart. *OF COURSE* I did) and life was happy again.

Then we had to go to Target to get a couple things for the girls' costumes as well as weird things like tennis balls for the dryer and slippers that have to stay at my desk, 'cause my dragon slippers are too wide for the stool I rest my feet on. But I didn't whine there either. *grin* And I did get slippers for both Sam and Charlie, which doesn't seem like a big deal unless you saw the slipper section...it looked like it had been ravaged by rabid badgers. Last time we were at Target, it was too warm to think about slippers, so I promised C that, if they were there, I'd get her the princess slippers she wanted. Not that small children have the ability to hear "If {thing} is there", but I had to try. Luckily, there were two pair of princess slippers. One that fit her so well her toes were poking against the fabric at the front and one that was one size bigger than required, but she could still wear. I told her we could totally find her other slippers, but she was into the too big ones, so that's what we came home with.

Yesterday, we did the pumpkin ride at Orr's Farm. It was at least as much fun as last year. I got a great picture of Charlie holding the pumpkin she'd picked out her very own self. Which is now kind of fake, given that she put that one down and got another. Oh well. I won't tell if you don't. *grin* Got some veggies and cider doughnuts at the farm store, along with half a bushel of assorted apples. Oh, and peach cider, which is made from juice, unlike the scary cherry/apple cider I didn't check the label on last month. I'm pretty sure that's made of high fructose corn syrup, melted lollipops and evil. Jeff says that if you add enough ice, it's not *that* evil. They should put that on the label. *Grin*

Today I got up when my alarm when off, rather than sleepily hitting snooze four times and then turning it off and falling back asleep for several hours. I bought a small alarm clock and it lives on the dresser across the room. I have it set for five minutes after my ipod alarm starts playing. If nothing else, it will get me *out* of bed.

Now we go outside to play, then I make furniture (got Charlie an easel with a paper roll as well as a table & chair. We also picked up a coat rack and a coffee table, because one of the legs mysteriously broke off of ours and I'm tired of having a stool and several books holding it up. We looked for one a couple other places, but just couldn't find anything we liked for a decent price), sew the handles on Sam's bag, finish the last fish and hopefully find Charlie's bag. Not only do I really not want to make another (especially since I'm pretty sure she took it and it's under a sofa or something), I don't think I have the right colors of felt. I also need to make a list of things I need to make. And, apparently, some people think they need dinner *Every* night. Jeeze. *grin*

Bloodsport movie to be a remake in name only.
Then...why are they keeping the name? Bit ridiculous, that.

~~~

Website launched for Monsters University. Disney even got an .edu

~~~

What a gorgeous fabric dragon

~~~

Dubsneeze.

~~~

So, the cold didn't manifest. I'm tired and still a bit achy, but not much coughing and the sneezing can attributed to allergies. Yay. :)

Via the marvelous browngirl, Cutting PBS support (0.012% of budget) to help balance the Federal budget is like deleting text files to make room on your 500Gig hard drive. -- Neil DeGrasse Tyson

~~~

"Whole Grain Popcorn"

Is there anything else?

~~~

Let's talk about people who cling to the word "retard".

~~~

Had a lovely weekend and seem to have caught a cold. My head is full and I'm a bit achy, but other than that, it seems mild. Hoping it stays that way.

Vote for the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees.

~~~

Hey cool. Peter Buck's got a new album coming out.

When I heard about REM splitting up (they each took a letter), I was hoping there would be solo albums. :)
~~~

Sixteen kids who are not excited for H'ween.

~~~

I love these. Whimiscal and sweet.

~~~

Unusual Color Wheels.

~~~

I generally dislike having my picture taken, as does my mom, as did my Nan. But, after reading The Mom Stays in the Picture, I am going to commit myself to being in more pictures, in handing the camera away more and that sort of thing. 'Cause one day, I won't be here, and I'd like it if my girls had more than two photos of me to suppliment their memories.

Aw jeeze, I just choked myself up.