A Different Kind of Saturday

Today has been quite productive and it's only 3:47 p.m. I awoke at 6:00 a.m. very disappointed that it was time to get up already and soon realized that it was Saturday and in fact I didn't need to get up (other than to let the dog out). I couldn't go back to sleep though and was nowhere near ready to get out of bed yet (Friday night I had to work late...I didn't leave the office until 10:00 p.m.--it sucks to be a payroll professional at the end of a tax year!) so I watched a videotape that I've had for months and just never got around to watching. It's called "How to Draw a Bunny" and is a documentary about the life of the artist Ray Johnson. Ray lived in New York in the 50's with the likes of Andy Warhol, the Lichensteins, Cristo and others. His life is really a bit sad and tragic (he committed suicide in 1995) but his passion for creating art is absolutely contagious. I was especially fascinated by the fact that he is considered the founder of "mail art" which is an avenue of art that I've dabbled in for years.

After such an inspiring movie I needed to run the errand of going to pick up my new glasses. Motivated by the sun or by the fact that I had sat at my cubicle for 13.5 hours the day before, I chose to ride my bike to get them. This was quite a task as the shop is on 26th & Clinton (probably about 7 miles from my house which to some of you is a drop in the bucket but for somebody like me who has only ridden her bike twice in the last two years it was a major endeavor) but I was determined. The way there was fine, enjoyable even, but once I got on my bike to return home I feared I had made a mistake. I stopped on Hawthorne for a salad and a break to prepare myself for my journey home. Then I got the not so brilliant idea to fill my bike bag with groceries including a container of wheat grass for the cats, an entire bag of organic Pink Lady apples, a jar of juice, a vegan pizza roll and a half dozen freshly baked cookies. Loaded down with all of that I approached my house sometimes thinking I wasn't going to make it, other times thinking I was ready for more. Once I got up the last hill to my neighborhood I thought I was golden until I felt the wind. I live in a particularly windy part of Portland and it was mocking me and my aching thighs at that point. My solution? Stop for a breather and photograph the view and take a self portrait showing off my new glasses. Many of you will say, "But those look just like the glasses you've worn for the last five or so years." To that I would say that you are correct. I tried to venture out, I really did. But last time I bought different glasses I ended up not liking them as much as the old ones so I rarely wear them. And while looking for new ones a few weeks ago I found out that these frames had been discontinued and were no longer going to be available. So I snatched them up. I also ordered a pair of plain black ones but those are on back order so I can't model them for you just yet.

After my bike ride I took a bit of a breather and then the dog and I went for a nearly two hour walk to the post office and back. Needless to say, now I'm tired. Oh so very tired. But it's that wonderful post-exercise kinda tired, not the I drank too much and stayed out too late kinda tired.

So there you have it. A different kind of Saturday than I normally have but a productive one.

22,000 and counting.

Since mid-November I have sold 22,000 Lite Brite pegs on eBay, all salvaged from the waste stream. I have 15,000 more bagged and ready to go. While counting and putting them into my little bubble wrap baggies (left over packaging I get from work) I feel strangely like a drug dealer, packaging my wares. A few friends are outraged that I actually count the pegs rather than weigh them. I guess I enjoy the process of counting them. I find pleasure in the simplest of activities. I feel it is part of my charm. I mean, I do accounting for a living if that is any indication. I like making order from chaos. I also spend much of my free time digging through pounds and pounds of garbage in hopes of finding treasure. I create little tiny pieces of art out of pieces of paper that I carefully cut and tear to the exact specifications I want. I prefer my movies with as little action as possible. I'm a simplistic girl. Above all that though I get immense pleasure from rummaging through what most consider to be garbage and finding a home for it. It's my own form of environmental activism.

I got started selling Lite Brite pegs in mass quite accidentally. An artist befriended me on eBay when he noticed that I was selling them. He offered me $15 per thousand and was willing to buy as many as I could find. For several years my mother and I both supplied him with thousands of pegs. Years ago, after not hearing from him in sometime I did a Google search of his name and found that he had died of AIDS. This is a picture he sent me once of a portrait he did of Buddha attaching 18 Lite Brite machines together. He also did portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and others. After he died I didn't have a big buyer for the pegs and got out of selling on eBay much but I just couldn't stop buying the pegs when I found them at Goodwill. That explains how I ended up with nearly 40,000 of them in my basement. But over half of them are now gone and I'm richer for it (or at least I was until I bought my cell phone, computer, printer/scanner/fax combo and digital camera). How great is it though to be able to look at these new items and know that they were funded by salvaging things from the landfill?

So I've noticed in the natural food stores (as opposed to the non-natural food stores) that they sell vegetarian fed cows (read beef) and I've seen television commercials advertising eggs from vegetarian chickens. Well it strikes me as just a bit hypocritical to say that meat raised vegetarian is healthier to eat and then not actually adopt a vegetarian diet yourself. What's up with that? Now it appears that the food we eat impacts fish. Duh, right? I mean it makes sense but I don't exactly sit around thinking about it much. I have made a snide remark more than once in my life that I find it ironic people think fish is such a healthy part of a diet considering all the outflow of fuel and crap from jet skis, boats, tankers, etc. that pollute the very world the fish exist in. As this link points out maybe even the frickin' spices in our cookies impact fish (or at least has the potential to). I suppose they'll use this as an excuse to put fish in laboratories and add certain accruetrements to the water in the tanks to see which additive effects the fish and how. If you ask me people are the ones they should be experimenting on. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061227/ap_on_sc/cinnamon_sound

So Many Books So Little Time

Well, today is one of those great, great days. A few days ago I finished the book that I was reading (it was one of two that I found interesting out of the stack of books I picked up from my friend Darren in jail...he can only have so much stuff on him at a time so occasionally I pick up books and letters that folks have sent to him). So today I get to chose which book to read next. Frankly I've never been an avid reader, it seems there are always way too many other things to do but read. Somehow I have managed to turn that pattern around this past year, thanks in part to switching from driving to riding the bus to work. The choice comes from a stack of seven that I have acquired in the past week:

#1. My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy by Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson). This one was sent to me by my friend Teagen for Christmas and it intrigues me on a multitude of levels.

#2. The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin. For those of you who don't know Willy is the lead singer of the Portland band Richmond Fontaine. He was approached while on a UK tour from a publisher who wanted to put out his stories in a book fashion. Willy is an amazing songwriter (and a hottie to boot) and the book is only available (for the moment) overseas but I ordered it a month ago and it arrived last Saturday.

#3. Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. I just discovered Mr. Coupland this year. Well, of course I knew about him previously as I did work at the library for 2 and a half years and I remember him on your coffee table Greg. In fact I think I owned a copy of Generation X at one time but being that I rarely read I hadn't actually read him until this year. I completed inhaled Girlfriend in a Coma and All Families are Psychotic and was still so hungry for more. However, being that I prefer to just read books I find at the Goodwill as-is I was forced to starve until yesterday when I found this one. Can't wait.

#4. How to be Good by Nick Hornby. I've never read Nick but loved the movie High Fidelity and saw virtue in the movie About a Boy (both written by Mr. Hornby) so I'm encouraged to read this one.

#5. The Book of Liz by Amy Sedaris and David Sedaris. This is just a play that I could probably read in a day, in fact I read the first copy of pages on Saturday. I adore the Sedaris siblings and want to adopt them as my own family.

#6. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I've seen this book referred to in personal ads for years and being that it was a central figure of desire in a John Cusack movie I figured it has to be good.

#7. Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood. I've actually owned a hardback copy of this book for years but haven't read it. This paperback copy I picked up at Goodwill last week and I like the feel of it better. I'm one of the types of people that has to like the look and the feel of a book to really get into it. Is everyone like this? I never got around to reading To Kill a Mockingbird until this year because I finally found a gorgeous copy that I just couldn't deny reading. I adored it by the way. Anyhow Ms. Atwood is in my top five favorite authors of all time and I've never disliked anything I've read by her so I can't go wrong.

Now I'm just left to decide which one. I suppose I'm leaning towards The Motel Life, probably because I had to wait 6 weeks to get it from London. I'm thrilled with the cover and the presentation and the illustrations. It also looks like a quick read so I'll be able to start on another very soon.

Happy, happy day.

Make new friends but keep the old

Generally I agree with the title of this post but not in the case of technology. I spent the greater part of my Christmas day uploading old photos from my archaic and virus ridden desktop to Flickr (to see my photos go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/therummager/ ) so that I could finally retire it and set up my new stuff in a semi-permanent home. I was filled with nostalgia as I browsed through old photographs of animals since passed and early attempts of decorating my house. It was an appropriate way to spend a holiday I think and as I wrapped up the final cords I felt a little sad about tossing aside my old computer, the miserable printer that broke a few years ago, my pathetic little Jam Cam digital camera more suitable for five year olds now than adults, my trusty dusty scanner that despite all the other equipment never gave me any trouble at all. Hours and hours were spent in front of that computer listing auctions on eBay, searching for employment, emailing friends and answering personal ads. Now they are bound for the landfill or to be recycled or whatever home I can find for them. Farewell my old friends, you've completed your mission, your services have been outsourced, the new technology is here.

Sunday

This explains The Cat in the Hat being in my Netflix queue!

Speaking of Netflix, my current rental is Greg the Bunny. This show aired on network tv once or twice before it was switched to cable. It is hysterical. The show is based around puppets (a.k.a. Fabricated Americans) and stars Seth Green, Eugene Levy and Sarah Silverman. Hilarious. My favorite episode so far is "Sock Like Me" which discusses such controversial issues as puppet racism and anti-puppetism in the work place. I also watched the Pauly Shore film Bio Dome thanks to my amazing Goodwill karma. I have been wanting to rewatch it (I think I actually saw it in the theater initially) to prepare for my upcoming trip to Tucson to visit with my buddy Jeff where I am going to visit Bio Sphere as a regular, camera carrying, shorts wearing, oohhing and aahhing tourist. Well as my luck would have it I just happened to find a copy at as-is yesterday for a buck. And a buck is about all that movie is worth.

I'm using this holiday weekend to catch up on my lounging activities. So far I haven't even gotten dressed today. I've been on and off line several times, played goose the cat with an umbrella from my bar stool, addressed a dozen or so envelopes for my New Year's cards, downloaded some photos from my new camera that I am in love with, balanced my checkbook, talked on the phone, organized some papers, took a nap (my new meds are making me very sleepy) and pondered going to the post office and to buy groceries which would unfortunately require me to get dressed which is why I've only pondered those two activities. If only places that served yummy, nutritious, vegan meals delivered to your door like Domino's!

Mmmm.

As any of you who have ever lived with me know, I'm not exactly a cook. I don't enjoy it nor am I good at it. Despite that I do have a few recipes that I've perfected over the years. One I made this morning and have decided to share with you.

These are super easy to make and loved by vegans and non vegans alike so don't fret. I started with an original recipe given to me by the mother (R.I.P. Karol Ann) of an old boyfriend many years ago. I veganized it and morphed it a bit here and there and so I feel comfortable now passing it along as my own. Enjoy.

Vegan Banana Bread Muffins

Mix 1/3 cup vegan margarine, 1/2 cup sugar and 3 mashed overly ripe bananas together. Add 1 3/4 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda and 1/2 tsp. of salt to the above mixture just enough to mix together the ingredients. Modifications I've tried are adding a 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries or chocolate chips or the combo of chocolate chips, maraschino cherries and walnuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes and share with friends, family, coworkers or the dog (as long as there isn't chocolate in it).

The Office.

My co-workers.

8:30 to 5

This is my cube. Home for most of the day Monday through Friday. While I don't have a window seat per se, just one aisle away on two sides of me are floor to ceiling windows so there is a lot of daylight. If I don't really stop and think about the fact that I spend forty hours a week inside a highrise building shuffling paper and operating a 10-key machine for an insurance company it really doesn't seem that bad. While the way I decorated my house has been profiled in the paper I am not so extravagant with my work space.

Patience

So I've been getting comments about my lack of posts and pictures. There is one problem with blogging...in order to blog you have to have a life and well, when you have a life there can be difficulty finding time to blog. Sigh. I'm busy lately people...eBay packages to mail, my dad had surgery, that nasty 40 hour a week habit I have known as a job, the four legged critters I care for, all my medical appointments, etc. etc. My apologies if I'm keeping you on the edge of your seat. After tomorrow I have a four day weekend though with my only plans being a short visit to my dad's house Saturday morning to pick up an old tv he doesn't want anymore (my curiousity got the better of me so I offered to take it) and a blind date for lunch on Saturday so I'm sure there will be plenty o' posts to read this coming week.

Blogging on 4 hours sleep

I went to the doctor for an EEG today. If nothing else these visits are proving to be fantastic life experience. My instructions were to come sleep deprived, specifically getting only half of what I normally get. For me that means only four hours. I was also instructed to not have any products besides shampoo on my hair. I don't know about you but I'm a sleeper, I've always been a sleeper. My very first night home from the hospital as a baby I slept through the night (I suspect it has something to do with the fact that our family cat slept in the crib with me) and there haven't been many nights since that I haven't slept a full night. Because of this skill of sleeping I have become accustomed to being fully rested during the day which allows me to be the bright and shiny wonderful being that I normally am. I slept from midnight to 4 a.m. last night, was in the office at 6 a.m., had my appointment at 10 a.m., returned to work at 1 p.m., worked until 5:45 p.m., came home and ran errands until just a bit ago and now here I sit...blogging on 4 hours of sleep. It isn't pretty. Neither is this picture.

The EEG was interesting (I don't get the results until Friday). You get this lovely bonnet on your head (which coincidentally looks an awful lot like the beanie I wore when I went sky diving) that is loaded with built-in electrodes. The technician attaches it to you and all the wires to a machine. Then you lay in this bed covered up and nestled between pillows. I was told to close my eyes, open my eyes, close my eyes, open my eyes over and over. Then I had to breathe fast and heavy for three minutes. Then I was allowed to sleep for 20 minutes or so. Then it was back to the open your eyes, close your eyes, open your eyes routine before a strobe light show about four inches above my forehead. And to think I could have just been sitting in my cube doing accounting! I decided the sleep deprivation was just to help get me to agree to going through such a process. And it definetly had something to do with me asking the technician to photograph me. Enjoy.

I'm so smart!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6180753.stm

It's all for charity.

So I've been on the other side of eBay lately. I'm selling to the last minute Xmas crafters and shoppers but I'm also bidding. The Mercury (a local rag) is having some benefit auctions to raise money for charity and I keep bidding. At this very minute I am the high bidder on the "vegan delight" (a vegan event cake and 50 vegan cookies delivered by bike) and the "hunky construction worker" (two hours of sweaty labor from the previous editor of The Mercury...Greg? Does Santa need to send a gift for the rental house?). http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/content?oid=84990

One of the reasons eBay is so successful is the whole auction experience. Bidders receive an adrenaline rush when they bid and it is easy to get hooked on that feeling which can cause you to keep bidding over and over again as you get outbid by others also getting high on the excitement. Before you know it you have bid $357 for a handcrafted shrine of Mr. Kotter! Well, I'll try to fight the urge tomorrow when these auctions end but I can't promise anything. At least the money is going to charity, right? So when I pay upwards of $600 to have The Mercury write a 1,200 word feature article about me (I look at it as the ultimate personal ad) or $480 to have my cat on the cover of The Mercury in a military uniform you will understand and not mock me, right? If nothing else I'll be able to feed you cake!

I am so gay.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53327

Soundbites

In my blog I've quoted my friend Amy a few times. She has a very feminine voice and speaks in these funny little blurbs that often strike me as being very blogable (and absolutely hysterical). Well, now Amy has gotten a little attached to seeing her words in print and has started asking me after she says certain things, "Will that make the blog? Are you going to print that?" So I wonder, by mentioning direct quotes will I end up creating media types of my friends?

Some recent funny lines from Amy were:

"I think she saw my sparkle. She's a sparkle sucker."

"Please don’t curse me or make a crafty wonderland voodoo doll of my person."

Take note, with the media frenzied world we live in now, it is adviseable to always speak in soundbites.

Tis the season.

During a presentation yesterday our company CFO referred to this as "the cold season where we decorate with things that make us happy" in a mocking reference to the world of PCness. It was hysterical. Well, that season is indeed here and I have drug out all the 70's style plastic santas and my pathetic dollar tree Charlie Brown inspired Christmas tree in preparation for my party this weekend. I have sent out the invites already so if you haven't received one it is due to me either not having your mailing address (I did it snail mail style) or because I didn't think you were into crafting and therefore assumed you wouldn't want to do a gift exchange of handmade items. If I was wrong, by all means let me know and you will be invited. If you still haven't opened the gift box thinking it was actually a gift (um, not to mention names but uh, Ned) than you also might want to get around to that. I don't ask a lot of you all but throwing me a bone and coming to a party once or twice a year won't kill you. You not coming to the party might not have the same effect. Just so you know. No pressure though really. Really.

I'm going to live!

I don't have a brain tumor. They still haven't figured out exactly what is wrong with me but a brain tumor has officially been ruled out due to the results of my MRI coming back normal. Thank God. I was ready to accept about anything other than the idea of having brain surgery. My friend Eric had a brain tumor operated on and it just seemed hard to believe that we would both have tumors. They aren't THAT prevalent, I don't think. Now I wait until December 20th when I have an EEG to read my brain activity like a scientist studies earthquakes to see if the doctor can continue holding his head high with his diagnosis of me having a seizure disorder. I was previously very disturbed by the idea of having to take anti-seizure medicine but after a month of thinking I might have a tumor, that idea suddenly seems like a non-problem. Apparently the art of negative thinking has it's upsides.

Huh?

In two of the books (Naked, by David Sedaris and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid...both outstanding books by the way) I've read in the last 6 months there has been mention to adding a handful of salty peanuts to a bottle of Coke before drinking it. Have any of you ever tried it? I'm curious, I will admit. I pretty rarely drink the stuff anymore and I have a huge bucket of salted nuts my dad gave me but there aren't any peanuts in it, but maybe I'll splurge today and try it. I need a pick me up. I'll keep you posted.

This is a first.

This is my first blog entry using my new laptop (purchased using eBay proceeds). Like it. Like it a lot. It is so much more convenient to sit here at my kitchen counter than tucked away in my den (which is really just the cat's room and the storage place for my oh so many craft supplies). Plus the cats like being able to sit on the bar stool next to me and watch the cursor move across the screen. I'm getting pretty good at the art of multi tasking (cooking a meal, surfing the web and repeatedly telling a cat to stay off the counter all at the same time).