Rage-o-hol

jjaynes @ 2009-12-20T15:59:00

2009-12-20T20:59:15Z

Are you snowed in? Are you doing some baking? Perhaps you're starting to get a little stir crazy?. Or perhaps you got out to play in the snow:

jjaynes @ 2009-12-20T00:08:00

2009-12-20T05:08:46Z

Tonight was Fezziwig's Ball, a vintage dance in Salem. Of course, since Snowpocalypse '09 is coming, Salem declared a snow emergency starting at 10pm, so the ball ended a full hour earlier than scheduled so we were not all towed. Then the onramp to 128 south was closed by a cop parked across it. My GPS insisted it was the only onramp in existence; even after I went north one exit it tried to send me back to the closed ramp via surface roads. I was dying of nerves as my GPS is low on battery and I cannot find the power cord, AND my car had 60 miles to go until empty. But everyone made it home, I pumped gas in a ballgown, and the nail I found in my tire this afternoon was fixed free by the dealership. I had a good time at the ball, and now I want a small-gauge curling iron to make pretty civil-war era hairstyles. Not to mention a dress, but I already wanted that. The little sweets handed out at the door leaving the ball were an awesome touch, because it meant I had pretty vintage snacks to eat out of a cute lacy nosegay cup when I was too worried about gas/gps/closed onramps. There was even a masque during the refreshment break! St. George killed a Turkish champion, a prince of Egypt, and Hector in single combat, and in verse. It was silly and fun and (I think) terribly period (that being 19th c, not SCA period). Now, to make a corset (being a requirement for an 1860s gown). I should've bought boning before getting allegedly snowed in (still no flakes here).

Issues Exist

2009-12-12T03:23:53Z

I have a lot of stuff. Clothes. Books. Craft supplies. SCA whatnots. And the worst category, Things which I don't currently need but which I keep because I don't want to have to buy them if I need them later (a bajillion pieces of luggage, an extra sewing box, 3 million Corningwares, extra glassware, whatever the hell is on all those basement shelves). This creates storage issues, as my storage space is 1 hall closet, 1 damp basement, and 1 spare room we'd like to use for music or even crafting. I'm going a little insane right now, because I have left things all over the house for lack of a place to store them. Two large boxes of craft books are on the dining room table and have been for weeks. The spare room is and has been a near-unmitigated disaster. I just realized that I have no idea what all the stuff on the basement shelves even is.

It all makes me want to launch into a giant ill-considered tidy Right Now. But if I just pull out everything and then start putting it back in order, I *know* I will not finish. But the problems are large enough that I really cannot find a good small to medium project to at least start- the whole system needs an overhaul. Gah. Maybe I should just find a damn place for those damn craft books, and clean my kitchen. That should help.

jjaynes @ 2009-12-09T12:27:00

2009-12-09T17:27:25Z

I have wondered for a while if ferrets actually know what they are and are not allowed to do. For example, when we approach, they usually leave off scratching the door, which could mean they know we don't like it, or could mean, "oh, finally, you're here to play with me!" But today as I held a sleepy Will, I heard the clanking sound of Jack climbing my grocery cart to get to the top of the front hall cabinet. He is, of course, not supposed to do that. I walked over, and Jack had climbed high enough to see the cabinet top and just needed to cross the cart to get on it. Then he saw me, relaxed his little claws' grip, and casually slid down the cart onto the floor. I could almost hear him saying, "La la la, just gettin' a little exercise, wasn't goin' to climb on the cabinet, nope nope!" Ha!

jjaynes @ 2009-12-08T23:04:00

2009-12-09T04:04:15Z

Racialicious pointed me to two sites about vintage clothing run by people of color.

b. vikki vintage focuses on vintage ads, movies, and other pop culture products for the African-American market; things like the Pepsi ads run in Jet in the '60s, or '40s movies. I can't imagine how much work and research goes into each post. For example, on the Marvelettes (original singers of "Mr. Postman") she had record jackets, half a dozen youtubes of them singing, promotional photos, the works.

I haven't yet explored Fashion for Writers as much, but it seems to be more of an outfit journal, musings on wearing vintage, etc by two Asian-American women. The photography looks adorable.

Yay for a more inclusive vintage scene! Maybe I'll get motivated to sew that green wool day dress I desperately need. I know that I WILL have this hat. The one on the woman, not the cake the little girl is wearing. And I wouldn't mind the woman's suit, either.

jjaynes @ 2009-12-04T18:14:00

2009-12-04T23:14:46Z

Okay, I am in no way a crazy ferret lady in comparison to other crazy ferret owners! custom ferret wall cages with wall-mounted tubes, ferret exercise wheel, and ferret slide with tubes.

I *really* wish we had the space for a ferret play room. Then I could put the slipcover back on my couch without fear of them scratching it up, and they'd stop scratching the nice welcome mat, and today I didn't quite close the front hall cabinet and they got in with my good hats. I did forcibly remove them before they managed to tear any veils, but it's tiring trying to haul ferrets out of everything they're not supposed to get in. Plus, how in hell can I get a christmas tree? I want a nice grown-up house with nice things in it, and somehow I've ended up with a ferret playground instead. Stupid adorable weasel monsters!

jjaynes @ 2009-12-02T13:03:00

2009-12-02T18:03:44Z

When I went downstairs, the washing machine said 1 minute to go on the cycle. So I started folding laundry, and counting to confirm a long held suspicion. When I got to 2 minutes 34 seconds, the washer finished. I think the engineers need a memo about the number of seconds in an actual minute.

jjaynes @ 2009-11-30T23:27:00

2009-12-01T04:27:03Z

T's mom kept tossing things in my box of books. Including many issues of Taste of Home, which often has good stuff, and ToH's "Quick Cooking," which, judging from the issue I just read, is appalling. I'm all for quick weeknight recipes, but I must share with you the recipe I have renamed the "Casserole of Despair." And, it's still online in their recipe database!

Asparagus Crab Casserole
* 2 packages (8 ounces each) imitation crabmeat, flaked
* 2 cups cooked rice
* 1 package (12 ounces) frozen cut asparagus
* 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed broccoli cheese soup, undiluted
* 1 cup milk
* 1/3 cup chopped onion
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1 teaspoon dill weed
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
* 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted, optional

Mix it all together, pour into microwave safe casserole dish, and heat 6-8 minutes or until warmed through. Abandon all hope.

jjaynes @ 2009-11-30T22:54:00

2009-12-01T03:54:38Z

Well, 10.5 hour drive to PA and 9.5 hour drive back (including the minimal stops we took both ways, having packed food). Ferrets were overjoyed on arrival home last night and bounced around for 40 minutes until exhausted, and are still tired out today. Jack actually voluntarily went back into his hammock during running around time. He has *never* done that, even when obviously overtired.

T's grandma brought me up to the room over the garage, which is lined with shelves full of her craft projects, materials, and books. At 95, she's winding down the crafting, and said to take any books I wanted. I came away with about 4 cubic feet of books and magazines, which was not even a sizeable fraction of what she had. If anyone is interested in crafting dollhouse items, working in that plastic mesh that you sew yarn into, counted cross stitch (patterns and kits), hideous '70s knit and crochet, macrame, or obscure crafts of the '70s, tell me and I'll have T pick up those books at Christmas. I got a ton of thread crochet magazines and single patterns, about 8 shelf inches of knit and crochet books, several "how to craft everything" books, rather a lot on crewel embroidery because it looks less awful than counted cross stitch to work, a rug hooking book and several magazines, and some more random stuff like a book on cornhusk dolls and two on paper flowers. If you want a vintage pattern for almost anything, I probably have it now. Now I just need to decide what to make first. And where to put all the books.

Curmudgeon moment

2009-11-23T02:56:49Z

Pharmacies should be pharmacies. I don't hold with these new Walgreens' and CVS's the size of a small grocery store, stocking two aisles of seasonal stuff, three aisles of groceries, and somewhere in there, actual pharmacy stuff like painkillers and cough drops. It's overwhelming to go in and try to find what I want. And once I find it, I can't seem to focus on buying it, because I've been so distracted by all the unnecessary crap they're selling.

Additionally, I do not hold with this notion of having two rows of aisles, so that I have to go to the middle of the store to see the signs for what is where. It is disorienting and annoying, especially since what I want (actual pharmaceuticals) is never in the front. Except when I assume it's in the back, then it's somehow up front and I'll never find it.

Back in my day, pharmacies had first aid, a prescription counter, and a candy rack! That was it! And we liked it!

jjaynes @ 2009-11-21T21:13:00

2009-11-22T02:13:17Z

I'm no longer able to use the slipcover I bought for my couch, because the ferrets have claimed the couch as a battleground.

jjaynes @ 2009-11-18T11:55:00

2009-11-18T16:55:14Z

Somewhere I have a list of the garb I have, the garb that needs mending, and the garb I want to make. Not to mention the fabric I have. They're all paper lists and I have not seen them in months. So, a new list of "garb I want to make":

turban veil, probably 60"x17"
2 wimples
2 pairs linen stockings with wool soles
2 day cottes in linen or very light wool with some embroidery
1 court cotte in medium wool, lined in linen, embroidered and beaded
mantle

Only knitters are likely to understand.

2009-11-16T21:49:35Z

This is why I'd only been buying yarn for specific projects... When Woolcott went out of business I picked up three different gorgeous yarns, Classic Elite Fresco and Soft Linen and Louisa Harding Mulberry. That's two DK weight and a sport. I also got two laceweights, but those I shouldn't have a problem using.

I almost wish yarn were sorted by weight, then material in the store. As it is, I end up saying "wow, that color/texture is great!" but the damn label usually has "x stitches per 4 inches," not an accessible label like "DK" or "worsted." I've even memorized the WPI of fingering, sport, worsted and bulky, but that rarely helps. I don't want to have to memorize gauges. Maybe I could make a cheat card for my wallet.

Anyway, back to the problem: I have two to five balls of each of these gorgeous yarns, and no effing idea what to make. I tried Raveling the yarns, no dice on any suggested patterns being stuff I like and can make with the quantity I have. I tried going through my queue and favorites, which are full of fingering and worsted projects. Gah!

Related: I have some homespun which is roughly a sport/DK weight but is very, um, "artsy." That's a good simile for uneven, right? I have no idea what to make. I'm using the worsted to bulky stuff for a cowl in simple stockinette.

jjaynes @ 2009-11-02T16:08:00

2009-11-02T21:10:06Z

So if you've heard me mention "plants vs. Zombies" but haven't bought it yet, it's 50% off today! http://www.popcap.com/games/pvz?cid=fba:pvz:alert_promo

I really enjoyed it, as does T. I have pretty much finished with the play, but I played it obsessively for weeks and definately got my money's worth at full price.

jjaynes @ 2009-10-28T21:54:00

2009-10-29T01:55:44Z

This evening, Jack climbed up and in T's music basket (which is about 2.5 feet tall) and got stuck, and when I fished him out he went right back in. Then he climbed up the side of the crate on the outside. Then he pushed the bottom drawer forward on the dishes dresser and climbed in. Then he tried to jump down off the bay window in the dining room. He's definately learned my angry voice. When I said, "No!" he froze long enough for me to lunge over and grab him. And when I came back into the dining room as he was about to jump from the sofa to the top of the wood dresser, he fell down and started scratching, as if to say, "no jumpers here, just innocent itchy weasels." Oh, and he climbed onto the table, knocked over my water, and was drinking it from the glass and looking through the glass at me like, "what?" So, you know, a standard day with the weasels.

Temporarily Able Bodied

2009-10-22T02:48:41Z

When I first read the term "temporarily able bodied" in place of "able bodied" in an article by a disability rights activist, it seemed gimmicky and silly. Why put an extra word in there, what difference would it make? Then I started thinking seriously about it, and have come to the conclusion that actually thinking in those terms would make a huge difference.

First, the actual meaning of the term: it points out that anyone could acquire a disability at pretty much any time. A car accident, an illness, and suddenly a formerly non-disabled person has a disability that affects their ability to perform daily tasks.

When you think of "temporarily able bodied" instead of "able bodied," it makes you realize that you or anyone you know could someday need those accommodations being requested by those people with disabilities. It would make one think twice before objecting to the cost or aesthetic impact of wheelchair ramps, ATMs with voice assistance for the visually impaired, or other accommodations. After all, there is a pretty decent chance that you or one of your friends is going to need one of those accommodations eventually, even if none do now.

It also drives home that people with disabilities aren't some different, alien species from "normal" people. We're all just people, some currently with fewer handicaps than others, but it could all change at any time.

I only realized in thinking about writing this post that for most of my life I have actually thought of myself as temporarily able bodied. Not that I'm some amazing progressive who invented the idea or anything. More like, in fifth grade my optometrist told me that if my eyesight kept worsening at this rate I'd be blind by the time I was 25, and that summer my kneecaps started dislocating spontaneously. I've spent at least 6 months using a wheelchair over three episodes of knee problems, though luckily none since seventh grade. And, my eyes stopped worsening in early high school, so far I'm not blind. But I'm certainly pretty aware that I'm temporarily able bodied, and I really like the term now that I've thought about it.

jjaynes @ 2009-10-20T19:34:00

2009-10-21T00:27:35Z

I've not been comfortable going to the circus for a while, because I was a bit dubious about the conditions under which the animals are kept and trained. So then I watched Cirque du Soliel, and while it was beautiful, I couldn't quite get myself comfortable with watching people *do* those things to themselves. The tumblers and contortionists... in order to do that, one usually has to start at an age when one is too young to give informed consent, or to really understand what one is signing up for and the long term health risks. PBS's Global Voices has an episode on a Chinese Circus School, and it's pretty much exactly what I feared.

There is an eight year old girl training to do a trapeze act, and the trainers discuss having to take off the safety belts to prepare for a competition despite the fact that she's doing very badly and the strong implication that it's dangerous. The girl falls several times in just a terribly dangerous way- you need to fall flat onto a net for it to be safe, and more than once she fell doubled over and could have seriously injured her spine. She takes a fall the morning of the competition into a metal bar, and comes off stage that night crying in pain from another fall. There are no real interviews in the show, so I have no idea if she was checked by a doctor, how serious her injuries were, whether she was pushed to perform that night or felt just fine. Possibly both falls were not bad and she was absolutely fine, and possibly not.

There is a young boy, I'd guess 9, training to do what I guess one would call floor acrobatics. Posed handstands and such. He is constantly trying to get more food, and his trainers are constantly yelling at him for eating too much, putting on 1.5 kilos, and being fat and lazy. For all I know the portions at the school cafeteria are quite generous and he's not starving, but even if that's the case, what in hell makes it okay to talk to a child as they do? Nothing.

All in all, I feel pretty justified in my discomfort with supporting anything that pushes children that young, that hard. I'm not saying that if these kids dream of being in the circus (which is never once addressed- there is certainly no talk from the kids that this is what they want, or that it isn't) they can't practice and work towards it. I am saying that stretching a child until he cries in pain is not okay, that pushing a child to take off a safety belt on a trapeze when she's not ready is not okay, and that I don't want to support that kind of behavior.

jjaynes @ 2009-10-19T19:28:00

2009-10-19T23:31:39Z

I'm thinking of opening a private massage practice, and could use a few seconds of your help. I would need to rent a space a few days a week, and I'm looking to get an idea of what days and times people prefer for massages. Please don't hesitate to vote because you wouldn't be coming to see me for a massage- I won't expect that at all. And don't worry about offending me if you don't want to be on my mailing list. Although, if you never get massage and don't plan to start, I'd ask you not to answer, since you're not even close to my target audience ;). Thank you!

View Poll: Preferred Massage Days

jjaynes @ 2009-10-19T12:48:00

2009-10-19T16:58:37Z

Me: Whatcha doin?
T: Reorganizing the linen closet
Me: (checks to see if they've replaced my regular monkey with Folger's Crystals)
T: and ferretproofing it
Me: Oh? (we'd let the ferrets in to play in the sporting goods on the lowest level of the closet before, but Jack (aka "not the good one") always climbed up the back of the lowest shelf to get into the towels and sheets, and I don't want a ferret in my clean linens) How committed are you to this? If we let them in there again, and for some reason have to lock them out again, Jack will *never* stop scratching the door until it is splinters. (Does dramatic impression of Jack scratching and tearing off splinters.)
T: Why would we have to close it off again? Pleeeeeze? I'll ferretproof it! Pleeeeze? They'll have so much fun!
Me: Okay, fine.
-fast forward to 10am-
Jack, from the back of the linen closet: sritch, scritch, scrabble, scritch, scritch
Me, from under a napping Will: Is that the sound of you trying to shove over the big heavy box, or trying to get up into the towels?
Jack: (suspicious silence)
Me: (pulls out rollerblades and attempts to fish around in back of closet for ferret)
Jack, from on top of my clean towels, peeking out at me as I try to hold Will and fish around on the closet floor: Hi! I fixed it!

jjaynes @ 2009-10-18T23:58:00

2009-10-19T04:00:20Z

Okay, yes, I was also surprised at how persistent the snow was (it snowed from 3:30 to 7:30 in the Harvard Sq/Allston general area), but it's hardly unprecedented. I have distinct memories of walking to work in October 2002 through falling snow already an inch deep on the ground. And, of course, I was barefoot and it was uphill both ways. ;)

jjaynes @ 2009-10-17T20:06:00

2009-10-18T00:10:03Z

I picked a bushel of apples today. After 3 hours of processing, I'd used up 19 of them. That pretty much leaves a bushel. I think next I will make the apple pie filling, which will use 6 quarts. How in hell do I measure apples in quarts? I did figure out that it's 2/5ths of a half-bushel bag, so I have a ballpark. Wait, I bet if I measure *after* coring and slicing, it's easier!

So far, I've made cranberry apple walnut chutney, pear apple cranberry crisp, and wrapped up cored apples with spices for baking off in the toaster oven for quick and easy desserts all winter. Did I mention I also got something like 5lbs of cranberries? They were cheap and locally produced, and whatever I don't use can just go right in the freezer and be exactly as good later this winter.

GAH!!

2009-10-13T18:33:35Z

Currently I'm not using my Discover because they hiked the interest rate quite a bit. I closed my mastercard because the rate hike was so egregious. So today I got a change in terms for my Visa, changing the rate from prime + 1.99% to prime + 8.99%. What the hell? And of course my choices are close the account or live with it. I don't want to accept this kind of treatment, but I'm at a loss as to what companies aren't doing this sort of thing. The reason the interest rate is variable is so that they can make a profit even if prime increases; why in hell do they think they can also increase their percentage?

ETA: After a bit of research, I find that a LOT of banks are hiking interest rates on credit cards, possibly so they can sell securities on them like they did on mortgages before that got a bad rap. Seriously, dudes? I think I'm going to just keep my money in my damn mattress. It's the only way not to buy into this ass-backwards system and let people use my money for ends of which I heartily disapprove. I'm at least going to go all retro and re-start writing checks instead of paying with credit cards.

E(again)TA: I had a thought: Islamic or Shariah banking does not charge interest. There are various workarounds which may or may not come down to really charging interest, but there does seem to be a moral principle at the core of not actually taking customers for everything they're worth. I'm doing some research on availability. And coming across absolutely rabidly fearful articles I can't even make sense of proclaiming that the US treasury is going to follow shariah law on something or other as a partial fix for the financial crisis and OMG next we'll all be wearing burquas and be filthy muslims! I find it hard to have compassion for such fearmongers.

Attention Allston Menu Pushers

2009-10-08T19:34:58Z

If I want a menu from your establishment, I will go get one or look it up online. And I decidedly *do not want* a menu from Domino's or the latest crappy Chinese restaurant (you'd think one of the 4 Korean places could be turned into a decent Chinese restaurant, but apparently no dice). Ever notice how it's always "Pizza Wings" and "Ho City Chinese" putting menus on your door, and never, say, Aneka Rasa (I miss you Aneka Rasa!), or YoMa, or Carlo's Cucina Italiana? Also, ever notice how much I love commas?

Lest you think I exaggerate, within walking-to-dinner distance of my house, I am aware of the following Korean Restaurants off the top of my head: Color, Buk Kyung, Korean Garden, and the one that moved in where Subvarmumblemumble Kiri used to be. Three of those are within eyesight of each other, the fourth is less than 1/4 mile away. So, also, attention Allston restauranteurs: get us some decent Chinese, and knock it off with the Korean food! And brink back my Cambodian and Malaysian, while you're at it. And, if you even think about getting rid of the Burmese or the Himalayan, I will get violent.

I always find the "where shall we go for dinner" conversation amusing, because the local choices are Vietnamese, Indian, Burmese, Himalayan, or burgers at the Sunset. I guess southeast Asia is just better at food than everybody else.

jjaynes @ 2009-10-06T19:41:00

2009-10-06T23:41:37Z

Hahahaha! You have to see the seals at 2:03.

A rambling exploration of TV and race through my eyes

2009-10-04T02:54:34Z

So this article-lette on the dearth of African-American sitcoms got me thinking. I remember growing up, I watched the Cosby Show, A Different World, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Matters, Tia and Tamara, and probably other African-American sitcoms that I don't even remember. Since about the mid-90s, I cannot think of any African-American sitcoms I've watched; Bernie Mac and that Wayans brother make me crazy, and Everybody Hates Chris focused on that uncomfortable kind of schadenfreude that I hate watching.

Did something change in the sitcoms themselves that made them less appealing to me? Did I become more white in my TV preferences? Certainly the choices decreased, there were fewer actual shows to watch. In putting real thought into this, I realized that currently I'm not watching *any* sitcoms. And a few years ago when I lived alone and watched a fair amount of TV, I still only watched a couple sitcoms, the only one I'm remembering being Ugly Betty.

I'm pretty sure that in fact it's sitcoms I hate, as they're about as highly stylized as a Japanese Noh play. Think about it: they all reuse the same tired plot devices (e.g. mis-hearing or making a mistake and trying to hide it), they have ridiculous conventions about how people behave that bear no resemblance to reality, and if one had no previous experience watching them and just was dropped into the audience, one would have *no idea* what was going on.

However, I also don't watch any other types of shows with more than a token person of color (typical TV show cast appears to be the smart (white) guy, the dumb (white) guy, the woman, and the POC. Because, of course, the default person is a white guy, so any deviance from white and guy is a special trait, and god forbid we have the smart one be a woman of color, or something! All the stereotypes would get their lines crossed!). Are there good shows out there with casts primarily of people of color? Recommendations appreciated!