carrotbat

Taking Stock

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 15:59:46 GMT

So, I woke up this morning with a bloody nose. I'm pretty sure it's because of the heater being on constantly for the past week or so, but I seriously hope it's not a portent of how the month will go. Of course, last month I woke up on the first in Toronto, which is of course unusual in the grand scheme of things, and it heralded my weirdest NaNoWriMo yet. So I'm a little jumpy.

Or is the bloody nose balanced out by the cute penguins on the page-a-day calendar (I think I want to move to Tasmania, now, if they have penguins that cute) and getting to change the normal calendar away from last month's depressing picture of Wallace eating celery?

This being the first day of Holidailies, I think I'm supposed to introduce myself. So, yeah .... Hi. I'm carrotbat, and apparently I'm looking for signs today. Got any?

One Year Ago in Holidailies
"I used to drag myself out of bed every morning except Sunday and Thursday and go make coffee for 50."

Two Years Ago in Holidailies
"I loved the way Phil described the detour: two ways that the natives "deal with fish". As if they're menaced by a flood of them and have to come up with devious ways to use them."

Yup.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:41:28 GMT

To absolutely no one's surprise, this month was the wettest month ever recorded in Seattle.

I think I ought just grow gills ...

Snow .... flake

Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:57:13 GMT

So, it took 3.5 hours to get home yesterday. (On a normal day? Half an hour.)

But I dragged myself into work, because they have not seen fit to give me a laptop.

No-one else is here assigning me anything to do.

More time to write!

Yo, there

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:48:50 GMT

Downtown is totally and completely overrun with Packers fans.

Uh, Alex, call your minions back to your part of the country. Your mother doesn't need to be sending advance men quite this early.

Yay!

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:45:44 GMT

There's a Lush going in at Westlake!

I've only waited, oh, ten years for them to put one somewhere that doesn't take all day to get there and back ...

More Carrot Pictures

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:16:06 GMT

This formerly quiet intersection ....

Was the setting for this, yesterday:

I was sitting in the back seat, passenger side, but I didn't have the stuffed carrotbat with me. So, I offer a (possibly) happier picture.

The carrotbat seems to have made friends with J's parents' dog, Viva.

Here's Viva in a less bite-y mood.

Squeak Squeak Squeak

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 20:58:04 GMT

(That's the sound my teeth make against the paneer that snug into my saag aloo at lunch.)

In other news, we're off for the Great Frozen North this evening.

I wonder ...

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:49:11 GMT

During my merry chase around downtown, I ran into a couple teams from a corporate Amazing Race knock-off. There wasn't a snowball's chance that these were the real thing -- bright yellow vests, the clues didn't look right, and most importantly, there's absolutely nothing at 3rd and Pike of interest.

But that got me thinking. The chances of TAR 11 coming through Seattle are pretty much nil, but rumor has it they start filming SOON, like a day or two from now. And they often leave on Saturdays or Sundays. And TAR hasn't started or ended in Boston yet, have they? And we have a bit of a layover at Logan. We head out earlier than they usually arrive at the airport, but depending on flights ... you never know. I intend to keep my eyes peeled.

Poor J. Between looking for the kinetic sculptures and hunting for TAR 11 racers at the other terminals, he's going to drop dead of exhaustion when we finally get on the plane ...

Real Conversation

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:46:36 GMT

Carrot: Can you hear me now?
J: What?
Carrot: I SAID, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
J: (pause) Apparently not.

Sneeze already, damn it!

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 18:07:31 GMT

All morning, Ive needed to sneeze.

But I can't!

It is very, very frustrating.

Erk.

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:57:21 GMT

Apparently the rule of thumb regarding knitting needles and the TSA is "bamboo gets through". It's unfortunate, then, that bamboo needles drive me bonkers.

I think I need a travel icon.

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:13:23 GMT

Is today the International Sound Of Music day or something? Because it seems half my friends-list is quoting a song from it today, and I'm pretty sure it's people who don't all know each other.

Boy, my life is boring.

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 06:10:01 GMT

More shoe updates. Put the heel cups in and wore them to Frys. So far, so good.

So, yeah.

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 07:22:23 GMT

Went to Walgreen's after dinner and got some gel heel cups. They seem to work okay. Well enough that I probably won't need the new icon, which is fine, since I'm not in love with it anyway. I had in mind an animated one, but I don't have any animation software here.

Way too much draaaaaaaama, y'all.

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 21:24:10 GMT

The saga of the shoes continues. I think what I need is something that raises my foot a little in the heel area -- and, no, I don't just say this to be taller, if I wanted to be taller would I have only ever owned one pair of heels in my life?

At any rate, I think raising my foot even just a quarter inch would help.

Off to Fred Meyer after work, I guess.

(I wonder if I could use a "villainy brown shoes" icon.)

But on the other hand ....

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:52:18 GMT

I don't <heart> my new shoes so much any more. They made my feet bleed. I still think they're cute, but the whole blood thing is Not Acceptable. I doubt they want them back with blood on them, though, so I'll either have to toughen up or pad the shoes.

Such is the excitement of my life.

Mmmmmm

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 02:31:20 GMT

I didn't get off at Pacific Iron, but I got the maple macchiato (sp?) anyway. Yummy!

They have "Peppermint Batty" candies at Bartell's! I just about squeaked!

Toothy News

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 02:31:20 GMT

It amuses me that the song playing at the dentist's when I went to go get the chipped filling fixed was Kelly Clarkson's "Break Away". Actually, when I started writing this, I began writing 'It cracks me up that ...' but changed my mind. The opportunities for bad tooth-related puns are endless, aren't they?

In more meaningful news, they took x-rays, Dr. C looked at the tooth, and apparently there isn't any decay; it was, in my dad's words, "just its time." They ground down the edges, filled in the hole, and it's good as new. The whole appointment took 25 minutes, tops, and most of that was spent waiting for Dr. C to finish with his previous patient. No shots, no painkiller at all, paid the $25 or so not covered by insurance, scheduled the next check-up, and I'm outta there!

It has, however, taken me most of the bus ride to Northgate to write this on my Palm. I hear Starbucks has maple lattes now, so maybe I'll get off at Pacific Iron and try one before I get on the 41

Also, I <heart> my new shoes.

Yuckyness

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 15:15:07 GMT

A sesame-seed-sized chunk of one of my fillings has fallen out.

Off to call the dentist. *sigh*

Update! I go to the dentist tomorrow morning. Fun fun ...

Heehee.

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:22:07 GMT

So, combining Erin and Katie's suggestions regarding my previous post ...

I now give you villainy boxer shorts, the icon!

... yeah, it's not the greatest.

Tee-hee-hee

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:47:44 GMT

I got a spam today with the subject line "villainy boxer shorts". It's deleted now, but I started wondering: what would villain-y boxer shorts look like? Pictures of Boris and Natasha? All-over twirly mustache pattern? Records of dubious financial transactions?

You don't say.

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 22:17:44 GMT

WHY IS EVERYONE ON MY FRIENDS LIST SHOUTING TODAY?

Eh?

Anyone?

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:33:55 GMT

So I go to get coffee, and some guy in the line at Starbucks randomly starts talking to me about World of Warcraft.

Do I just look like a gamer, or is there someone out there that I don't know I know?

Stupid Newspaper Quotes, round ... whatever

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:46:40 GMT

The Times today quotes a person from "Beverage Industry" magazine:

"[Energy Drinks] are going after the savvy, sophisticated 20-something male."

They're doing this, she claims, by naming them after drugs and going for a 'street attitude'.

Is it just me, or would a 'savvy, sophisticated' person (of any gender or age), find this kind of stupid?

On the other hand, it's always nice when products aren't being marketed to me. Now I can continue to not care about energy drinks with their blessing!

"What Do You Say To A Naked Elf" by Cheryl Sterling, a review in pictures. (SFW)

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 07:51:27 GMT

So I started reading What Do You Say To A Naked Elf by Cheryl Sterling, mostly because of the bizarre title.

It's a little silly, and it uses a few plot devices I'm not so fond of, but I've read worse.

However, regarding the hero's looks: I can't do the math.

The hero of the book, the elf referenced in the title, is supposed to look like Legolas, only with wings. (He's half-fairy, y'see. And this gives him Heroic Angst.)

I find Legolas kind of girly, looks-wise, but okay ... there are worse.

However, the elf-hero's name is Charlie. And we all know the Charlie with which I am most familiar.

So, elf + David Krumholtz aka Charlie on Numb3rs = a mental picture of Bernard.

Not quote Legolas.

Now, David Krumholtz is a damn good-looking man. And I have no doubt he could play a pretty sexy elf, if he were doing so in a different setting than a Santa Clause movie.

But I just can't buy Bernard as the hero of a romance novel.

And that was my main problem with this book.

(Okay, I realize it's not fair to pick on someone for not being swoon-worth at age 16 (or however old he was in that last pic), but I couldn't resist using it.