I think I am getting a cold.  I cannot even remember the last time I had one.  Maybe 5 or 6 years ago?  I would really not like to be sick for my first training session with Nadia on Sunday.  Really.  Sunday afternoon would be fine but before then?  Not thanks. Possibly I'm wrong which would be perfectly ok.    I took too Coricidin tablets a while ago.  Now, those suckers have to be way past their prime but I am so sleepy and thirsty that they are either actually working or their power of suggestion is.

Night.

edit: I just looked on the bubble pack and it says: exp: 2/94.

So what the hell do you do when the iTunes just stops fucking working??? I click on songs and they just sit there... not playing. Videos play, but with no audio. I uninstalled and reinstalled iTunes and still... nothing.

Seriously? Should I just give up on electronics???

Does he not look extremely yummy in this pic?






Oh-- that's not Kevin Costner sitting next to him. It's Gen. Petraeus.

i am going to be inheriting a wooden vanity. i want to re-paint this vanity, after removing the old crappy paint, maybe sanding it down a little depending on how it looks underneath, etc. i will be re-painting it most likely one base color, with detailed designs all over it. floral designs, something like that. then i want to put a coat of something over it to seal in the paint, and protect it.

my two questions are this:

1) if i want to paint intricate designs, i want a paint that won't be raised up at all. i have tons of acrylic paint at home, but when i paint anything with them, they end up being slightly raised when they dry. it isn't puffy paint, it just is cheap acrylic paint, and i want something more "professional" that will lay mostly flat. i don't mind a little texture, just something that will be flat enough to where if i slid something across it, it wouldn't chip or peel off.

2) the top-coat stuff. i need to put something over the base/detail paint that is clear and will seal all the paint and protect it. i don't want a spray-on fixative, unless they make a very high-quality one specifically for the purpose of painting detail on furniture, like something the pros use. :) hehe
i want something that won't discolor. i don't need it to be glossy or anything, just clear and sealy/protecty, that won't go on unevenly like aerosol sprays often do. [that could be due to me being a bit shaky, but hey.]

any tips, or can anybody point me in the right direction? thanks!!!

The sun is out but it is cool in here and that's what counts. Once the sun moved, I opened up the terrace and the hallway doors and I'm getting a nice little breeze.

This morning while I was reading the paper and LJ in bed, I noticed that Travis was not there lying on the keyboard and chewing on the newspaper. He had been there when I woke up and had tried his usual Trip The Human When She Goes To Get Coffee. So I didn't worry, I just enjoyed not having the usual fights.

When I got up to take the noon Tree picture, I discovered that he had managed to get himself trapped on the terrace. He must have run out when before I shut the blinds and closed the door this morning on the way to get that coffee. When I opened the door, he was fairly ambivalent about coming in. Cats.

He's spent most of the rest of the day in his bed by the computer.

----

My work machine - even with the new memory - is not the best performer. I know it needs some burn in time (burn in is my term for getting used to what apps, etc, I use everyday, etc). I've used the same computer for 3 years. I forget that this one doesn't know much yet.

I tweaked the start up stuff and got rid of some of the crap. I was surprised at how little bloatware this sucker came with but it still has some 'features' that I do not need or want. Hopefully, it will get used to what we do here soon!

----

Tim is moving out even as I type. Looks like it's a Rent with Buds move. I don't envy him a U-Haul from here to Tennessee. But, he's young. Probably thinks it's an adventure. Heck, for him, it is!

----

No Mariners today. It's nice to know for sure we are not going to lose a game today.

OH MY GOD

There are like scads of hilarious entries in this blog (not mine, the cake one I linked to last time), but this one takes the... uh. NM.

Anyway:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/05/when-brides-have-no-budget-or-taste.html

OH MY FREAZIKING GOD!

It's a LIFE-SIZE replica of the bride! IN CAKE FORM!

Holy freaking mother of petunias! Look at that. Would you look at that! *points*

That is a stacked cake.

With a name like Cake Wrecks, whaddya spose it's about, eh?

(Man, I like that new Cartoon Network toon The Misadventures of Flapjack. It's edgy, it's twisted, it's completely insane, it's dark, it's gross...)


This morning, I got all the way into the office before I realized I had no keys. Oh, I had them at one point... I used them to drive that vehicle in my userpic, for one thing. But then they were gone.

I surmised that I'd left them with the scooter. Well, back to the train station I went. About 40 minutes from stop to stop. I was thinking that either the keys were still there - in which case, yay - or they were not. If not, then perhaps the station manager had them. Perhaps they and the bike would both be gone. I can replace the keys. I can't replace the bike so easily.

They were laying on the grass in front of my scooter, right where I'd put them. See, I'd put them there while I was putting the bike club on the scooter, and then the bike chain as well. And left 'em there. And if I'd instead left them in the trunk lock, they might have been snatched, but they were less obvious in the grass.

And so I trundled on back to the office, another 40 minutes. Yay me. And me without a staff.

I'm having a very very good day.

1) My mom decided to get me a Wii with Wii Fit for my birthday (which isn't even until September)! The Wii came today!!! I have to go wait on line to pick up the Wii Fit, but, Mom's sending me money for it! Yay!

2) I've lost 49.5 pounds!! And, after a little bit of a slap to my head and a rant in my weight-loss journal (09092009 for anybody who wants to check it out), I'm feeling rejuvenated and rededicated and ready to lose the next 50. AND I'm going drinking tomorrow night. :)

3) Looking at my calendar for the next month... 13 plays! (that includes 10 as part of the Fringe Festival, for which I'm a judge!) That doesn't include 2 Madame shows, an Improv show, The Police, All Points West (specifically to see Radiohead), Broadway Loves the 80s or the Daniel Radcliffe interview at Times Talk. I love living in New York! :)

4) heidi8 is on duty for me at Comic-Con.. and has already gotten John Barrowman and Gareth David Lloyd to sign bears! I can't wait to see who else she gets!!

5) I went to see Damn Yankees (which I really enjoyed!) Tuesday night and got Sean Hayes to sign a boxing glove. Now I have until 8/3 to get Megan Mulally to sign the other one!

6) Yeah right.

7) Realized last night that I'd gone to the gym 6 days in a row!

8) Going to dinner and to see Spring Awakening with my brother tonight. Only bad side of that is that it's because he's moving to Florida Saturday. :(

Last week was the IJA festival in Lexington, Kentucky. I drove down on Monday with Dominic in my car. Friday after work, Dan drove down in a rental car. On Saturday, my dad and Sherry and my five brothers and sisters drove up from Tennessee for the afternoon. They hung out with us for a while, saw what a juggling festival was like, and then they left. It was good to see them and much too short.

Anyway, Sunday afternoon we drove back, Dan and Dominic and me in my car, with Dan's mom and another Atlanta juggler following in their car. They stayed with us Sunday - Tuesday nights. Yesterday they went to stay for a couple of days with another friend in Cleveland.

This morning Dan left for Las Vegas on an 8am flight. He's going to his best college buddy's bachelor party. Tomorrow I'm driving with Dominic to the cottage in New Hampshire. We're taking Ding and Pixie with us. Dominic will be going to camp for two weeks at the beginning of August (in New Hampshire). Dan will be coming to NH for a long weekend the second weekend in August. Dominic and I will be driving home again probably around August 21/22 or so.

(embedding disabled)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDaszN9ByxM

So this couple in New Zealand named their little girl [b]Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii[/b]. Shockingly, the little girl hates the name. So, a judge has made her a ward of the state in order to have her name changed.

Incidentally, the article also mentions some names that have been allowed and refused. Names that were allowed include: Violence, Number 16 Bus Shelter, Midnight Chardonnay, and twins named Benson and Hedges. Denied names include: Yeah Detroit, Stallion, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, Sex Fruit, Fat Boy, Cinderella Beauty Blossom, and twins Fish and Chips.

A little arbitrary on what's allowed and what's not allowed, it seems. Also, I'd like to be known as Twisty Poi Wilder from now on, please. Or maybe that's what I'll name our next dog.

someone posted a while ago (i cant remember if it was a post or a comment) about this place in canada that sells stuff like sinks that are lightly used or maybe over stocked, for cheap. it had a funny name. i cannot find it and i had saved the link way back but my computer crashed and i lost all my stuff. can anyone help? i am looking for a bathroom vanity in specific.

I did not want to go to the gym today.  No idea why.  I went and now I have no desire to go tomorrow.  This has better pass, I'm just saying...

I did my programs plus 40 crunches to make up for bad attitude.  I think it's time for Nadia.  Sunday.

There was a new sign today replacing the goodbye Rosie sign.  This one bid farewell to Tim who is, apparently, going to Nashville.  Tim is a receptionist like Nathan.  He's very nice.  I told Nathan that I had better not see a Good bye Nathan sign up there any time soon!

time for some "yo' mama" jokes.

Here's how it'll work: you post a subject area (e.g., "yo' mama is so fat/old/stupid/..."), and I'll reply with a freshly created yo' mama joke. I'll do my best not to use one that someone else came up with, although I might inadvertently use one I heard somewhere and then forgot about.

Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith) once asked his record company for a cash advance.

They refused.

He punched a hole in their wall, signed it, and left.


...it's still there.


Source: VH1's "Pop-Up Video" for "Janie's Got a Gun"

From my Twitter.

• 18:43 lovely chrispy orange beef dinner with enough left over for lunch tomorrow. plus a nice walk on a fairly coolish evening. nice.

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I attempted to make stroganoff for dinner tonight.  It was pretty good since I basically made it up as I went along and added a few things from memory that I haven't seen my mom do since I was 12, maybe younger.  I went and looked at some recipes afterward, and it turns out I was pretty close.  Maybe one of these days I'll think to look up the recipes BEFORE I attempt to cook, but at least I did OK tonight. 

I wanted it really mushroomy so I rehydrated a few ounces of dried porcini and crimini mushrooms in a cup of zinfandel and about a cup of water.  Then I sauteed an onion and some ground beef, added the mushrooms and the now very mushroomy wine (after running that through a coffee filter and rinsing the mushrooms again) to the pan and cooked it down.  I minced some fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme from my garden and put that in.  I also added about a tablespoon of dijon mustard.  I let it cook down for about 20 minutes and then stirred in a fairly obscene amount of sour cream.  I served it over egg noodles with a smidge of butter and minced parlsey from the garden.  I think Paul had thirds.

Next time it could use more salt and I think I might do a roux to start.  I like the sauce a little bit thicker, but don't see the need to add any more sour cream. 

Bringing the puppy in to sleep with me and Kissy worked out ok. She whined a little at first and that made Kissy a little nervous. So Kissy got up in bed with me and scraped up some covers for a bed. The puppy settled down after about 15 minutes. Once she quieted down, Kissy moved back down to the floor. I heard the puppy russling around a couple of times during the night, but she didn't fuss or anything.

Took her out when I first got up. She hadn't messed at all in the cage. She'll probably be pretty easy to house break.

It's going to be very lonely in that backyard when they all leave. I'm already feeling it.

I've had spurts of work and now am in between spurts.

The Mariner game is on. The Mariners are losing. Up until this week, we haven't been able to win much but we could always count on Boston to give us some wins. I guess they got tired of doing that. They won the first two and promise to take this one as well. Can't blame 'em. Not much more humiliating these days than to lose to the Mariners.

So I'm futzing around about why LoudTwitter has quit posting to LJ. They have a notice on their website blaming Twitter but with zero changes to my setup, they have ignored my LJ but not others this past week. poop on them.

It is yet another beautifully cool day. It's so nice that I'm toying with the idea of walking up to the International District for dinner tonight. If the sun does not come out, I just might.

Dave Sims is not the most annoying baseball announcer I have ever had to listen to but he's damn close. I'd love to vote him off the island.