What a funny looking food

The orange I ate today was slightly more deformed than normal.



Also Dan and Mike and I went to see the Pillows and Noodles in NYC on Friday. We had a great time because instead of rushing right to the show we actually had a good amount of time to spend in the village and Toy Tokyo. We ate at a very good Korean restaurant, and Mike paid an extra 4 dollars for his meal to come in a stone bowl, something that he swears was worth the extra money and still is talking about to this day.

I also want to mention something that is not so obvious but impossible to ignore - that the New York City subway is so incredibly fucked. Why is it that Tokyo is so awesome, but NYC's is so horrible? Why is this? Are subways across the earth like this, with Tokyo as the exception? If so, why?

Noodles is my second favorite all girl Asian rock band, but they were not as interesting and pleasant to listen to live than they are recorded. Their songs have a pretty slow pace, and though they sounded tight, I did not get the same kind of satisfaction seeing them live as I thought I would. My opinion of them has not faltered though, I still love them. They were all sold out of L and M concert shirts though, since NYC was their last stop on the tour, which I think totally sucked.

The Pillows basically played the FLCL soundtrack, which I guess was to be expected, but it was honestly a good thing to hear after being such a fan for so long. They sounded great, they had a lot more energy than I thought they would given their ages (their drummer looked like he was late for his blood pressure screening), and the singer was extremely funny to listen to when he talked. He did the kind of things that would sound really silly for me to repeat here, but believe me when I tell you that Dan and Mike and I will be cracking jokes in the singer's fashion for some time to come.

I came home to my house full of people, which was to be expected, but the window was open and the smoke and music was pouring out loudly - at 130am. Some floozy was making out with a boy with his car running and headlights on in front of my house so I could not park.

Needless to say that my brother and I are having some words this week about him not having parties anymore, and relinquishing his house keys when I am not around on a weekend.

Other things that interest me this week:
Bioshock (360), Smash Bros. Brawl, new earrings, my dog knocked over my new shoji screen and broke a panel, Rock of Love 2 written by Steve Revesz (Sara and Steve's house is very awesome by the way), and I'm going camping next weekend with a possible pre-game Saturday.

Kinda gross, hilarious

Sometimes I wipe my boogers on things. Boogers are funny. A few weeks ago, a few days ago, I don't remember when, I wiped a booger on the wall of a bathroom stall. I figured someone would clean it up.



totally still there! Wonder how long it will live there for??

In other news, I've been playing Bioshock. I know I'm pretty late on the train for this one, but fuck is that game awesome. The best part about it? Now I understand all the "little sister" jokes all the video game cartoons had been making.

Grocery Store Novels

Not much that I find interesting enough to blog about has been happening. I threw a party last week that went alright, I've been doing a lot of cleaning and rearranging of the house, taking care of my dog's ear infection, and also doing a lot of sewing and drawing. Its apparent to me from my drawings that I am very out of practice and I haven't done anything that I'm particularly fond of yet, but you can check out my etsy store to see what I've been up to. Right now I'm working on a commissioned piece for an old friend of mine. I've been getting better at sewing, I finished a skirt that I have to alter, I made a bag that could be better, but my skills are slowly improving. I haven't sewn in over a week because I've been constructing a studio area in the front of my house, but that's irrelevant to this blog.

Mike and I went to the grocery store the other day to get a salad. We are both on a health kick. My doctor put me on a weight loss program that involves vitamin b-12 shots and once a day appetite suppressant pills that are basically amphetamine, and Mike had some blood work done that came back in not the best shape, so we're working on the getting healthier thing. The salad bar was closed when we got there.

On the way out we stopped at the novel section of the grocery store to see if we could locate a book that we saw at a Rite Aid once - Habeas Corpses - which from the title I can only assume you understand how awesome this book probably is.

//sidenote// I was just doing a google search for information on the book to share with you and found out that Habeas Corpses is also episode 8 of season 4 of the television show Angel. Disclaimer: I do not watch/endorse watching the show Angel. //sidenote//

I feel that the cover art of this book speaks for itself:


But here's the Habeas Corpses plot summary just in case that didn't sell you:

Summary:
[From author's web site] Two years ago Christopher Cséjthe survived a blood transfusion with a master vampire only to discover that he was infected with one of the two viruses that transform the living into the undead. Since then he has survived by his wits as men, monsters, and government agencies have hunted him for secrets his mutated blood may hold.

His personal life is almost as troublesome as the assassins that keep turning up in ever increasing numbers: his bodyguard is a sexy vampire, his jealous werewolf lover can't abide his touch after a silver bullet poisons his blood, and the ghost of his dead wife is being siphoned off by some dark and mysterious force that transcends the grave. The "neighbors" from the cemetary next door tend to drop by every night and someone is sending him grotesque messages in the form of dismembered body parts that are still alive!

Being almost undead has already provided a coffin-load of challenges. But this time around an assassin's bullet knocks Csejthe out of his body and into the afterlife as he journeys through the realm of the truly dead before a final showdown with an evil spawned in Nazi Germany. An evil kept alive through genetic manipulation and nanotechnology and waiting only for Csejthe's blood to overcome the last hurdle to immortality!

How could you not want to read this book? And what kind of person does it take to write this stuff? Turns out that William Mark Simmons, author of Habeas Corpses, seems like a normal dude..

From his wikipedia page:

Simmons has worked a journalist, educator, entertainer, and broadcaster, spending over 30 years in the latter category working in classical music formats and NPR affiliates.

So anyway, we're in the Giant, looking for this book, and though we didn't find it, I came across some other gems that I thought I would share.

Now the lone cowboy had more than his honor to uphold—he had a petite, pregnant powerhouse running his senses wild.

Elle James, the author, is not fortunate to have a wiki written about her, but she does have her own web page, located here. It features a flattering black and white portrait of her with a red rose in her hair, a biography where you can learn about her "military brat" and "exotic bird raising" past and present. She describes her books as

written especially for those who like a little mystery and a lot of edge-of-the-seat suspense.

Lastly, be sure to check out her blog: http://ellejames.blogspot.com/ I seriously suggest you head over there, because her most recent blog is about the research she did on cowboys for this novel.

Next we have a set of two from what seems to be a series of baby-romance themed books.



The only thing I am going to say about these books is that one author (from their respective web sites) is from St. Paul, Michigan "with a Bichon-poo who thinks he is human", and the other "knows how to use a credit card as a lethal weapon, and proves it regularly by putting major dents in the household budget. Abby and her family recently moved back to the city after a few years in the country. Watch out, malls, here she comes!" Abby Gaines has also written The Natural
in A NASCAR Holiday 2.

Finally we have

The emperor has outlawed dragons and dragonborn ordering them killed though he has bonded with a dragon. Natiya is the surviving daughter of two dragonborn whom the emperor had murdered. She dreams of avenging the deaths of her parents while hiding the queen dragon egg she is carrying hidden in plain sight as a naval jewel; one day that Unhatched dragon will live in a sacred bond with her.

I implore you to read Jade Lee's biography. It features an entire list of ancient Chinese rumors about her family. My favorite line explores the relationship she has with her current family:

At home, her husband and two daughters try to ignore her stacks of zen sexual texts.

Other books by Jade Lee include:

• The Tao of Sex
  
• Tigress Erotic Romance Series (including Cornered Tigress (#5) and Hungry Tigress (#2)
  
• Miss Woodley's Experiment and
  
• a book that falls under the category of "Futuristic Paranormal Romance" called Oracle

I don't make this stuff up.

Daily Cuteness

Here is a picture of some sleeping mice that I saw at the pet store.

I Went to the Public Library

A lil backstory.

I've been in kind of a personal rut lately, overcome with boredom, unhappy with my appearance and overall having a time that to sum up could be a lot more fun. Long story short I decided to start sewing my own clothes, initiated by the revelation that this spring I will not be wearing any pants, only skirts. Problem is, I'm usually broke, and its hard to find a good skirt these days that I don't have to pay at least forty dollars for. However, its not hard to turn my jeans into skirts or find five dollar patterns and 40% off fabrics at a chain store (see how that plays into the whole money issue? I'm so awesome).

So Saturday in all of my DIY glory after successfully turning two pairs of pants into two skirts that look exactly the same (two different colors, of course, and one of them sewn much better than the other) I decided that perhaps our trusty Hamilton Township Library might have some good DIY sewing books. Its not every day that I think about utilizing the library, but the day before Mike and I had planned on studying there (which we never did) and I have really fond (for lack of a better word) memories of that place from when I was little. My dad used to take me there all the time to get books, and I still honestly believed that the public library is that magical place where amazing things happen that they told me in elementary school.

For some reason before I went I got a coffee. When I got in my car I realized that I probably couldn't bring food or drinks in with me. When I got to the library I walked up to the door with it and saw the NO FOOD NO DRINKS sign like I thought I would and put the coffee back in the car.

Also on the way up to the door (which for those of you who are unfamiliar is a long walk up a hill) I saw two young girls with library books in their hands leaving with their mother. This brought back some nifty little feeling and further induced the notion that this visit to the library after five or so years was going to somehow change my life and who I was. I was completely convinced that I was going to find this treasure trove of information, and I would never have to go anywhere to get any kind of information on anything again.

Its all in my library. I KNOW it is. I FEEL it. Like the young girl feels the cosmos in Katamari.

I go inside, it all looks the same, theres the front desk where you check out, the children's section to the left (I almost walked into it just to remember what it was like to be there), the adult and etc section to the right, and right at the front door the steps to the downstairs area where they have little township get togethers. I took my cousin to one when we were like 11, I thought it would be cool, but he totally thought the dude was lame, it kinda made me feel bad.

So I go to check out the little electronic card catalog and see that every computer except one is being used. I go over to that computer and its just got its windows screen, and I'm pretty much like, fuck this, I'll just browse the shelves, because if memory serves me correctly the crafts are over here near the gardening and VOILA! After about a 10 minute browse by looking like I know what I'm looking for I find the sewing section.

There were about 35 books there, most of them about sewing techniques and making your own patterns. I grab the ones that are about making clothes from old clothes, using your old clothes, making patterns from old clothes, everything that looked like it remotely might help me out without being a technical guide because lets face it, I don't really care how to do special stitching. I took my books, I found a secluded desk, I dropped all my shit, pulled out my notebook and my ipod, turned on some Deerhoof (thanks Greg!) and got excited to have my mind filled with knowledge and ideas.

The first book I opened pretty much set the pace for the next half hour of "research". I was looking at this book, I have the name written down at home i'll update this later, looking at these horrifyingly outdated outfits that I didn't know to laugh at or cry that these things may have actually gotten made in someone's living room. I'll let my favorite piece in the publication speak for itself:



Awesome. Look at that style. Look at that sleeve. Fuckin planets people.

I kind of chuckled and put the book down after I did a thorough front to back scrutiny of what other amazingly horrifying things I could find. There was some great stuff in there; full body jumpsuits, overalls, pure gold.

I kind of got the idea at that point that the rest of these books were going to be as outdated as that one, if not more. My curiosity and my hope pushed me to continue - even though at this very point I realized I was probably doomed.

Something inside of me propelled me to open the Vogue magazine style guide.

I was treated to about 500 pages of this:


sigh.

I spent about 15 minutes leafing through the rest of the books I had - none of them were anything close to what I was looking for - regardless of how outdated the styles looked on everything they were also really tasteless, I mean 70/80s style is one thing, but these were the kind of clothes that Aunt Maureen from Ohio sends you on Christmas that your mom makes you wear when she comes to visit - you know what I'm talking about - you've seen that movie too.

Finally I get up to put the books back, I've admitted defeat at this point and I've decided that while the library might be the place to come for a slew of other ideas for craft projects, gardening, civil war history etc, its just not the right place for fashion tips. The library will have to induce inspiration in me for another project, on another day.

For some reason while I'm putting these books back though I have the urge to look to see if there are any gems that I missed out on, pretty amused by the books I was looking at previously. I find a book called "Make it in Denim". I get excited, half because there has to be some kind of rad 70's outfit in there that I hadn't seen yet, half because I actually expected something good to be in there. What I found was more than I could even hope for.



I laughed out loud at this one. I put it back after I snapped that picture and went back to the car and finished my coffee.

Between the time I sat down to look at the books and the time I got to my car I made it through 12 1/2 of the 13 songs on the Deerhoof album.

Maybe next time, library. Maybe next time.

Yesterday Was Pet Doctor Day!

Wilma, my dog, had her first visit to the vet as a member of the Schneider family last night. While she was a little frightened she behaved very well. I took her there to get a check up, and to see what was up with her ear scratchin habit. Turns out she did NOT have ear mites like the shelter thought, but she does have very dirty ears and what could be a yeast infection (in her ears!)

Other than that we found out that she is pretty healthy! I also found out that the size of her nipples (they are large) COULD mean that she had puppies, but it could ALSO mean that she is just very well endowed, which sounds like a better explanation to me since big breasts are something that runs in my family, and I am proud to be able say my dog has huge tits too.

Doctor Addler-Bush (or Bush-Addler?) gave me some ear cream which is supposed to help out her ear issue, and taught me how to clean her ears with this liquid cleaner that smells bad and gets everywhere which I need to do once a week. I had the shelter fax over all her information regarding previous tests and treatments, and she goes back to visit in two weeks.

I was very proud of the monster (her nickname)! The only time I think she was very worried was when she initially jumped up onto the puppy elevator (the examining table moves down and up for easy placement of animals) and it started to move. She looked at me with very frightened eyes, but since the tech was hugging her and we were all talking to her nicely I think that she realized that no one was trying to hurt her, and she didn't panic or struggle. She received compliments for that on her check up report card! The vet also complimented my brother and I for adopting an adult dog, something that I am very proud of myself.

The trip was rather expensive, but my brother is helping out with the bill and that means a lot. My brother and I are also looking into perhaps getting puppy insurance.

All in all it turned out well. I will give you an update on her status after we visit in February.

Here's a picture of the healthy girl (and Greg!)

Oh Yeah! Giraffes!

Dan told me today that he saw a video last night of a Giraffe falling down.

I didn't know that they could! I mean its a giraffe! Its so tall and nifty looking, you don't really think about them being able to fall over. They don't exactly look clumsy. Dan cleared up my disbelief by saying that two giraffes were swinging their necks at each other and one fell down. OOOH! Ok, so the jury is still out on if there are clumsy giraffes falling down for no reason (I would probably be that giraffe), but we do know that they can fall while swinging their necks. Totally believable (have you ever seen how long their necks are!?!?)

So then Dan told me that maybe the giraffe died, he didn't know. It was on mute.

Well thanks to Yahoo Answers, we have solved that mystery:

Loren Asks: What happens to a giraffe or an elephant if they fall down?
do they die?
can they get back up?
i just thought of this because i just saw the video of giraffes whacking each other with their heads

Shreyan (who apparently gave the best answer as selected by the questioner) replies: They can get back up. Giraffes fight only for mate, not food. They can stand up more easily, than other animals because they have long legs. Elephants can stand up. They take time, but at any cost, they stand up.

The only animal which cannot get after fallin or getting tilted is the turtle. The struggle for their best to get back to their original position when tilted & sometimes die in starvation in that way.

Poor turtles! But we're not talking about them here, are we.

I went to Youtube to find a video of a giraffe falling down, but I found this instead. The poster describes it as

an elephant and giraffe fall deeply in love in this heart-warming romantic comedy

Enjoy!