Kathryn

Two New Baby Games

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:35:14 GMT

"Let's drop the baby on her head!" and "Let's stimulate your vestibular system!" The second one has a song that goes with it. The first was kind of a one-off.

In other baby news, she is using 3 and 4 word sentences, can count to ten (or, at any rate, can repeat the numbers from one to ten in a continuous string), and has gained weight to the 5th percentile. Woo!

Non-spoiler safeties

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:06:06 GMT

I am thinking that what I want is a website that takes scary movies and publishes a list of "don't look" moments. No spoilers -- or anyway not big ones -- just a list saying "LOOK AWAY WHEN: she goes to open the cupboard with the banging inside. ALL CLEAR: when the whistling starts." for those of us who have become ( or maybe always were) giant fraidy cats.

INCOHERENT RAGE

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:53:38 GMT

HULK SMASH VERIZON WITH HATE

Silk Road Summer Salad

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:23:27 GMT

This salad is so basic it is barely even a recipe, but there you have it. The ingredients are very few, so it's pretty important that they be as fabulous as possible. It's a good excuse to go to the farmer's market.

You need:

3 medium tomatoes so amazing you would marry them if it were legal in your state (I used red, orange, and yellow heirlooms)
3 bell peppers as sweet as candy (I used red, orange, and yellow BC hothouse peppers
1 cucumber of blissful perfection
A bunch of cilantro to make 1/3 of a cup when chopped very fine
The same amount of mint, also chopped very fine
Rice wine vinegar
Sesame oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Chop all the vegetables and place them in a large bowl. Toss them with the finely chopped herbs. Make a dressing of 50 mls of sesame oil and twice as much vinegar, and toss the salad with it. Serve. Feeds 4 hungry adults, with leftovers to serve over quinoa for lunch the next day. I served this last night along with rice and a Kazakh lamb and Napa cabbage stir fry, and it was fucking excellent.

It might be just as good, although very different, if you swapped parsely for the cilantro, basil for the mint, balsamic vinegar for the rice wine vinegar, and olive oil for the sesame oil. And then you could serve the leftovers on noodles.

Best spam sender EVAR!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:38:07 GMT

I just got email from Slartibartfast Perkins about availability of cheap copies of Microsoft software! SLARTIBARTFAST PERKINS. OMG.

The music meme

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:31:24 GMT

If you want to participate:

- Go to musicoutfitters.com
- Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search box and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
- Bold the songs you like
- Italicize the songs you liked then, but don't now
- Strike through the ones you hate (I went with "didn't like")
- Underline your favorites.
- Do nothing to the ones you don't remember.

1. ~~I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston~~
2. ~~Whoomp! (There It Is), Tag Team~~ The schizophrenic formatting reflects how I feel about this song nicely.
3. Can't Help Falling In Love, UB40
4. That's The Way Love Goes, Janet Jackson
5. Freak, Silk
6. Weak, SWV
7. ~~If I Ever Fall In Love, Shai~~
8. ~~Dreamlover, Mariah Carey~~
9. Rump Shaker, Wreckx-N-Effect
10. Informer, Snow
11. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang, Dr. Dre
12. In The Still Of The Nite, Boyz II Men
13. Don't Walk Away, Jade
14. Knockin' Da Boots, H-Town
15. Lately, Jodeci
16. Dazzey Duks, Duice
17. Show Me Love, Robin S.
18. ~~A Whole New World, Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle~~
19. If, Janet Jackson
20. I'm So Into You, SWV
21. ~~Love Is, Vanessa Willlams and Brian Mcknight~~
22. Runaway Train, Soul Asylum
23. I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me), Expose
24. Ditty, Paperboy
25. ~~Rhythm Is A Dancer, Snap~~
26. The River Of Dreams, Billy Joel
27. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), Proclaimers
28. Two Princes, Spin Doctors Loved it then, loved it now. Don't be a hata.
29. Right Here (Human Nature)-Downtown, SWV
30. ~~I Have Nothing, Whitney Houston~~
31. Mr. Wendal, Arrested Development
32. Have I Told You Lately, Rod Stewart
33. Saving Forever For You, Shanice
34. Ordinary World, Duran Duran
35. If I Had No Loot, Tony! Toni! Tone!
36. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That), Meat Loaf
37. Slam, Onyx
38. Looking Through Patient Eyes, P.M. Dawn
39. ~~I'm Every Woman, Whitney Houston~~
40. Baby I'm Yours, Shai
41. Come Undone, Duran Duran
42. I Don't Wanna Fight, Tina Turner
43. I'd Die Without You, P.M. Dawn
44. Whoot, There It Is, 95 South
45. Hip Hop Hooray, Naughty By Nature
46. Another Sad Love Song, Toni Braxton
47. Will You Be There, Michael Jackson
48. Comforter, Shil
49. Good Enough, Bobby Brown
50. What's Up, 4 Non Blondes
51. All That She Wants, Ace Of Base
52. 7, Prince and The New Power Generation
53. Dre Day, Dr. Dre
54. One Last Cry, Brian McKnight
55. Just Kickin' It, Xscape
56. I Get Around, 2Pac
57. Bed Of Roses, Bon Jovi
58. Real Love, Mary J. Blige
59. Here We Go Again!, Portrait
60. Cryin', Aerosmith
61. Cats In The Cradle, Ugly Kid Joe
62. What About Your Friends, TLC
63. I Got A Man, Positive K
64. Hey Mr. D.J., Zhane
65. Insane In The Brain, Cypress Hill
66. Deeper And Deeper, Madonna
67. Rain, Madonna
68. The Right Kind Of Love, Jeremy Jordan
69. Bad Boys, Inner Circle
70. That's What Love Can Do, Boy Krazy
71. Do You Believe In Us, Jon Secada
72. Angel, Jon Secada
73. ~~Forever In Love, Kenny G~~ The strike is on principle; I don't remember this at all.
74. Again, Janet Jackson
75. Boom! Shake The Room, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince
76. When She Cries, Restless Heart
77. Sweat (A La La La La Long), Inner Circle
78. It Was A Good Day, Ice Cube
79. More And More, Captain Hollywood Project
80. How Do You Talk To An Angel, Heights
81. Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat), Digable Planets
82. ~~What Is Love, Haddaway~~
83. To Love Somebody, Michael Bolton
84. Give It Up, Turn It Loose, En Vogue
85. Alright, Kris Kross
86. Check Yo Self, Ice Cube
87. Fields Of Gold, Sting
88. Ooh Child, Dino 89. Faithful w/ Go West
90. Reason To Believe, Rod Stewart
91. Break It Down Again, Tears For Fears
92. Nothin' My Love Can't Fix, Joey Lawrence
93. Three Little Pigs, Green Jelly
94. Livin' On The Edge, Aerosmith
95. Hey Jealousy, Gin Blossoms
96. If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Sting
97. Anniversary, Tony! Toni! Tone!
98. One Woman, Jade
99. ~~Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Taylor Dayne~~
100. Two Steps Behind, Def Leppard

yummy Dinner Thing

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:06:21 GMT

QFC had ahi tuna on sale for a very reasonable price the other day; the catch was that it was in small pieces. Ordinarily a tuna steak is ~6oz? these were more like 2oz. Still, it was a great deal, so I got some, but then I had to figure out how to cook them. Complicating the situation was the fact that our fridge cacked it a week or so ago, which means that we had to throw out everything in it, so I was left with stuff in cans and cupboards and the herb garden.

what I ended up doing was cooking some penne pasta, searing the tuna in butter, then pouring a can of tomatoes over the tiny steaks. I added some fresh oregano from the herb garden, two tablespoons of capers, salt and pepper, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, then left that to simmer for about ten more minutes. I served 2 ministeaks + a ladlefull of the sauce over the pasta. It was actually really super good, it took next to no time, and I didn't need to go back to the damn store.

Free Buckle-y Boots, maybe worn once sz 11/13

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:11:08 GMT

ETA: Boots are probably gone, picked up by jessicac for her husband. On Friday she'll know if they fit; if they don't, they'll go back on the block.

Long story -- my husband's father's wife's employer's son went through an extremely brief Goth/Industrial phase, HAD to have these boots, and barely wore them if ever. They are by Demonia, black pseudoleather, 20-eye, with a zipper up one side and four buckle straps that go over them. Inside the boots it says "COMBAT 308" but I can't find a picture of that anywhere, only a combat 208 which has elastic straps instead of buckles. They look like this:

except without the instep buckle. Edit: and they buckle up the back, not over the side.

They are a men's size 11, women's size 13, they are FREE FREE FREE. Comment here if you want 'em; whoever gets to my house first gets 'em.

the GUT of internet arguments

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:34:59 GMT

I'm involved in about eleven different "discussions" online right now, and it suddenly occurred to me that in every one, my position can be boiled down to "You have the right to freedom of choice, but not the right to freedom from consequences." If you don't enjoy the consequences of your actions, then for Ghu's sake don't do them! Or, at the very least, buckle down and do the work to universally change the consequences of those actions rather than just whining about it.

I take it all back.

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:50:40 GMT

I watched Katy Perry perform her I Kissed a Girl songlive on the So You Think You Can Dance awards show, and it was just awful. Looks like this is another one where the talented member of the band is the producer.

I am so ashamed.

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:48:31 GMT

The day George W. Bush got elected into office, my grandmother took down the American flag that's been flying over her house since the end of WWI. "I won't show any faith to this country as long as that man is running it," she said. This is a woman who has been through some humdingers of presidents, too; she just turned 92 on July 5.

At this moment, I wish I'd ever flown an American flag, so that I could take it down. I am mortified to be a citizen of this country. (To summarize, George Bush signed off from a meeting at the G8 conference in Hokkaido by saying "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter!" and pumping his fist in the air. Yes, really.) This is not the first time W has shown an incredibly tin ear when deploying his sense of "humor" -- anyone remember the short film shown at the White House Press Dinner (I think) where he was looking under the couch cushions for the missing WMDs? -- but to do so on an international stage, on such a serious topic, where our own behavior has contributed so greatly to the problem, is kind of beyond the pale.

It's not that I hate this assclown, it's just that I want to hit him unti he stops being President.

just for the record

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:49:47 GMT

I am seriously motherfuckingly pissed that Obama voted in favor of retroactive immunity on the whole FISA thing. SERIOUSLY. I wonder if a strongly worded letter will do a damn bit of good.

I notice, too, that Clinton voted nay. Good for her. Both my senators voted nay as well.

And lo, they asked for a fridge, and a fridge was delivered to them.

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:35:45 GMT

Our refrigerator died a horrible, painful death last night. I mean, the door wouldn't close any more. And by "wouldn't close" I mean "had a half inch gap at the top and a three inch gap at the bottom." Erik suggested leaving it overnight in the hopes that it would get better, but sadly, our house remained unvisited by the Fridge Elves, and this morning it was warmer inside the fridge than outside it, and everything had gone bad.

Oh, right, and remember the $700 for the cats? that was basically our discretionary income for this month. And it doesn't get cheaper to wait to buy a fridge because you spend so much money eating out. And it's July 4th and everything is closed.

EXCEPT

Discount Appliance Depot is a mom and pop shop. The mom and pop in question had left a message saying that they were out of town, but that in case of emergencies, you could call their cell phone. I sucked it up and called them and said "What I have is not an emergency for you, just for me, but I have no fridge." We talked about it, and it turned out they were still in town but there were two parades between my house and their shop, and they didn't know when they would be able to get down there. But then they called me back, and said "Wait, we have a fridge in the truck for a repair or replace job that turned out to be a repair, last night. And we're right here in Bothell. We can be there in 45 minutes."

And lo, they were. On Fourth of July, they came to my house with a new (albeit small and basic) fridge, and they waited while we moved stuff from the still-functioning old freezer into the new one, and they took the old one away. And they said that if this fridge is too small, they have a bigger one in the shop that they can swap us out for for free on Tuesday. And they charged us a grand total of $250, which is basically half of what I could spend on the same fridge at any other store once you factor in delivery. This fridge is perfect, the bigger one has a scratch on it (like I care), and they can get new even quite nice fridges for remarkably less than you'll pay elsewhere.

Their customers are largely property managers, people upgrading rentals, and house flippers. As a result their business is suffering a bit at the moment, so when I asked them what I could do to thank them, they said "Post good reviews online and talk us up to your friends." So, here we are. Discount Appliance Depot, folks. They do refrigerators, washers and dryers, stoves, dishwashers, water heaters. . . basically, if it's in your house and a giant pain in the ass when it breaks, they sell it. The level of service and kindness they showed us was unbelievable, and I can't think they wouldn't do the same for you.

Quick Poll

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:36:53 GMT

The Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs "I Kissed A Girl", Katy Perry.

View Poll: Hot or not?

Elaboration welcome in comments, because I can't tell if I'm a bad person for being turned on by this or not.

Up teethin all night long

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:15:07 GMT

Monday night, Lillian was up teething all night long. She's cutting a lot of quite nasty teeth; this morning she was just about hysterical, trying to wipe the pain out of her mouth, before we caved and gave her some Tylenol. But Monday night I was too shattered to think of giving her any tylenol, with the result that she and I each got about ninety minutes of sleep.

Then we went to the amusement park all day to celebrate emmacrew's eldest's birthday. We had a ton of fun, but I won't lie, I kind of felt like shit. We were both just so, so exhausted.

How exhausted?

This exhausted:

that's a park bench. In an amusement park. Right by the entrance to the water coaster. We were wiped out.

Out of the mouths of babes

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:56:58 GMT

When Lillian sees a chicken, she says "Chicken! Bok bok!"

When Lillian eats chicken, she says "Chicken! Yum yum!"

The other day, we were looking at chickens cuz we were buying eggs, and she said "Chicken! Bok bok!" (pause) "Chicken, yum yum?"

"Yep," I nodded.

"Chicken, bok bok yum yum?"

"'Fraid so, kid."

". . . chicken owie?"

"They call it the Circle of Life."

This was met with some thoughtful contemplation, and then: "CIRCLE! Chicken bok bok yum yum."

Who knows if we were actually having the conversation I thought we were.

An Adventurer Could Be You!

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:35:15 GMT

Now that they've added some genuinely multiplayer content, Emma and I find ourselves in need of maybe one or two other people to join our clan in Kingdom of Loathing. (http://www.kingdomofloathing.com) The game is free,* turn-based, and gives you a limit on how many turns you can play per day (so it won't be a complete time suck). It's also web based; there's nothing to install. The art is. . . XKCD levels of primitive, and much of the content is highly pun-based, but I love this silly, silly game. Log on! Check it out. You can join Clan Burning Hand after you hit level three. Comment here to let us know you're comin.

*It's free, but there's a mechanism by which donations are rewarded in-game. It's completely possible to play the game without taking advantage of that, though; I do.

AAAAA SPIDERS AAAAAA

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:38:51 GMT

The Year of the Ninja Spiders

READ IT. Then click on the image link at the bottom.

Things that Lillian has appropriated as puppets

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:41:30 GMT

The oven mitt
A kleenex box
A dirty sock
A pair of her own pants
a wet washcloth, in the bath

She also has a couple of actual puppets, all of which she adores, but I think I need to get her one sized for a child's hands. The puppet routine is HI-LARIOUS -- "Ohh! Oh, a puppet. Hello, puppet! Hello! Puppet kiss." *gives puppet a kiss* "I have a puppet. Hello puppet!" Lather rinse repeat.

Other things she is into include toy cars, bugs of all varieties, and dinosaurs. She is really turning into her own person, it's amazing. "Hi ant! Hi beetle! Bug bug bug bug bug bug."

Cute x2

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:04:42 GMT

Lillian has one of my socks on her arm and is saying Oh look. Oh look. I have a puppet! la la la puppet.

Now, bear in mind: when I say things that she's saying, they are nowhere near that clear. She's saying them for sure, it's not some sort of "Blah gleep po trup" "Oh look, the baby just invented cold fusion!" thing, but there's a lot of translating you have to do. To hear what she ACTUALLY sounds like, here's a video of her kind of reading a book:

complete with me getting the date wrong at the beginning.

A better mood

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:13:48 GMT

The kitty does not have kidney stones! Yay no kitty surgery! Still $700 for both cats, but they let us split it into two payments! Ash has to be on speshul food for the rest of his life, but it's no more expensive than the food we were already feeding him!

Thor is perfectly healthy, modulo a thyroid reading in a grey area and the teeth thing. If he is hyperthyroid, he will likely need an $800 radiotherapy treatment to fix it. He will still need a fair amount of dental work, but that can happen in a few months.

Paying for this was painful, but doable. We are a lucky family indeed.

money money money, hate hate hate

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:28:07 GMT

I was going to get new tires put on the truck today. The back two are new, but the front two are so bald that it's unsafe to drive on them. It was going to be about $200. That would be tight, but doable.

Then I took the cats to the vet for their annual. Thor needs a dental exam and at least one tooth pulled. Ash has blood in his urine and needs stat urinalysis and X-rays to find out if he has kidney stones. They both need just a ton of bloodwork because they are old. Not counting the tooth pulling, it's gonna come to about $750.

Oh well. so much for tires.

Also, Erik's computer quit booting this morning.

ETA: There's no financial disaster, this is like a financial hangnail. A really unpleasant deep bleeding oozing hangnail, but a hangnail. It's just so irritating.

Alexander Nevsky Live and In Concert

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:56:01 GMT

As part of SIFF (the Seattle International Film Festival), we at the Seattle Symphony are doing a showing of the 1938 groundbreaking Eisenstein film Alexander Nevsky, performing the Prokofiev soundtrack live. Both the film and the soundtrack are actually pretty incredible; I can see why it's an enduring classic, despite having been made in era before they invented nuance or subtlety. The film tells the story of Alexander Nevsky, a Russian folk hero who raised a peasant army to defeat the Teutonic Knights of the Crusades in the 13th century. The Teutonic Knights sought to capture Russia at a time when they were weakened from fighting the Mongols to the East. Nevsky managed to raise and arm a fighting force of Novgorod peasants, and then used tactics and strategy to lead the Crusaders onto a battle on a frozen lake. The Crusaders were clad in plate armor and led by a calvary force, while the Russians were wearing, well, rags and the occasional helmet. The Crusaders' enormous military advantage turned into a stark disadvantage as the extra weight caused the ice to crack, swallowing the army whole.

The film may be set in the 13th century, but it is absolutely a piece of WWII Soviet propaganda. Its message is almost laughably blunt to modern eyes, accustomed as we are to much more insidious propaganda than this; when we first meet the Crusaders, referred to throughout the film as "the Germans," they are literally burning babies alive. The costuming choices made for the German army -- well, let's just say that George Lucas looks even less creative now, all with his Stormtroopers and shit. The lovely hymnlike tune the women of the chorus sing at the victory of the battle, and again after the stark, touching scene where a young woman hunts for her lover amongst the dead on the ice, translates not to "Ah, we have prevailed in battle" or "Russia, our lovely motherland, you are so wonderful" but "Never again shall an enemy set foot on Russian soil without the revenge of death." But despite all that, it is an amazingly affecting little flick. I was sitting in the house for the rehearsal last night, having sung my throat to shreds the previous night, and I actually found myself in tears a few times.

A lot of it, honestly, IS the soundtrack: Prokofiev knew what he was doing. The Battle on the Ice is one huge accelerando, featuring nasty, haunting sounds from the strings that would not be out of place in the soundtrack for a contemporary horror movie. The music ennobles the ragtag peasant army and thoroughly demonizes the Crusaders, highlights the love triangle, and softens the occasional slapstick comedy into some nice gentle humor. If you're a fan of 20th-century classical music, groundbreaking film, Russian history, or examples of Soviet propaganda, you should really not miss this. Tickets at http://www.seattlesymphomy.org; there are shows tonight, Friday night, Saturday night, and a Sunday matinee.

Holy Motherfucking Shit.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:55:52 GMT

They're doing it. They're ITMFA. Dennis Kucinich is reading out Articles of Impeachment right now.

A Space Poll

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:38:22 GMT

View Poll: A Space Poll