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| Most of this journal is open and I'll add friends as long as I can tell that they're real people and not someone with whom I've previously had some kind of problem. If you add me and I don't add you back, send me a note to let me know who you are. Please don't friend me and assume I'll immediately have time to read your LJ all the time. I'm horrid at keeping up with flist. I do what I can but I'm very busy. NOTE: As of August 21 2008, this journal only accepts comments from friends. This is because of some jerks going around posting inappropriate stuff. I apologize for not allowing friends outside of LJ to comment any more, but they can always email me directly, or join and add me as a friend and I'll add them back. 2nd Note: Authors and author-wannabes: stop asking me to do fake interviews of you on my blog. I am not here to promote your book and the very idea of a cut-and-paste fake interview is offensive. Go away and stop bothering me! | ||||||
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Blatherings
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November 4th, 2010
December 16th, 2009
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| Cooooolness: http://www.skytopia.com/project/fra | ||||||
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December 15th, 2009
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| In the last 48 hours, my watch band has broken, my beaded lip-balm-holder-keychain fell off my keys, a rock chipped my windshield, my passport photos were rejected, one of the four pack of outdoor bulbs I put into the new fixtures blew as soon as I turned it on, one of the two lights on the new range hood failed to turn on at all, the big toe of my "good" foot has turned into an ingrown-nail ball of pain, and a potential $3800 error regarding my foot surgery has cropped up. Know why? Because I was counting on getting lots done on my show cake this last week of Peo's school, and Corran is out of town until December 28 (family emergency), so as many possible things to cause havoc in my life appear to be piling up. So today I took Peo to school, went and got new passport photos taken (it wasn't the photographer's fault, it was because I was wearing a white shirt, but the photographer offered me free replacements which was nice, but I paid anyway since it wasn't their fault...and I've heard they're the only place in Austin that does Canadian passport photos right), got home, inhaled a quick breakfast just as the range hood installers arrived, listened to them complain and work for about half an hour because it turns out this fancy new hood is "professional class" which is translation for "does not fit into the standard hole cut into the underside of the cabinet", then called the podiatrist's office to discuss the weird billing error stuff that came from the insurance company (they think it's an error too but can't be sure until they see their version come in), then went outside to plant the replacement trees the Arbor Foundation sent since the last ten died (they arrived on Saturday so I really had to get them in the ground today or tomorrow), then weeded the garden since the weeds were killing my plants and I haven't been able to weed since the surgery, then sprayed not-very-eco-friendly RoundUp on the weeds that have taken over the xeriscape and swallowed Peo's sandbox, then cleaned up all that stuff, then removed the good and bad bulbs from their fixtures and put them back in the box to return, then had a shower, then had lunch, then put together the package with the passport photos, then got in a WHOLE 45 MINUTES of sugar work, then went and stood in line at the post office for 45 minutes (which is why I bloody well avoid the place in December and had been oh so sensible in sending out Christmas packages weeks ago), then realized it was too late for me to make it to the podiatrist's office to pay them the remaining deductible they've been waiting for pending the resolution of the previous insurance error (I told them I'd be in today or tomorrow), then picked Peo up from school, then battled insane stupid-people-cutting-me-off traffic for 40 minutes back, then returned the box of light bulbs to Costco, then did Costco shopping and almost forgot to get more bulbs, then got home and put the new bulbs all in (they all work, yay), then put the groceries away, then made dinner with Peo (hot dogs wrapped in store-brand crescent roll dough, but I let her cut out Christmas cookie shapes...only as I opened the dough did I notice that there was some crusty dough on the outside of the can so I went with the theory that it was from something else and cut off a bit from that end of the roll just to be safe and we're all just going to assume it's fine because I was so not up to dealing with her mega-angst if the promised special dinner didn't happen), and now... *wilt* *droop* I still need to make cookie dough tonight, though, because it has to chill for tomorrow night Peo can make cookies for her teacher so we can take them to school on Thursday, which is her last day before the holiday. And my feet hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt....*whine* Did I mention that I got in a whole 45 minutes of sugar work? Yay me. I learned that with certain spherical objects that have an indentation on one side, when you're making the line that goes around the middle, you have to turn the sphere against the knife and not the other way around or else the indentation makes your eye want to slope the line and then it looks all wrong and you have to do it over again. At least Peo is funny...she keeps singing Christmas carols with entirely mangled lyrics. I don't mean Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, either (although I sang that to her and she was amused)...I mean like "a faybe is worn" for "a babe is born" and "you'll go down in this tree" for "you'll go down in history". She only believes my corrections about half the time... And the Lion King is over now so someone is demanding her stories before bed... eta Forgot to mention the wonky iPod...first it got stuck on shuffle driving home from the overlapping Christmas parties I had on Sunday and Peo was in tears because she only likes the songs, "IN THE RIGHT ORDER!" Since then, it has developed a habit of the music player crashing out at the worst times...like the wee hours of the morning when it's on as a white noise machine so I get woken up by the ticking of the fan, or when I was in the middle of doing the gardening today, or when driving on the highway with Peo and she's finally happy that the songs aren't shuffling... | ||||||
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| Not news to me because I've watched food-dressing competitions and I know just how much non-edible content can go into advertising sometimes, but in case you're curious to see what is done to a burger to make it ad ready: | ||||||
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December 12th, 2009
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| Mmmkay, that's the THIRD G-rated Christmas special so far with an ad for the Sherlock Holmes movie. SO. NOT. COOL. When I put on a show for my child that is G rated, I expect the ads to be G rated, and not full of sex and violence. And the networks wonder why we hardly watch anymore...sheesh. eta Actually, all three are on ABC or ABC Family. I guess I know to whom I should complain... | ||||||
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| First I saw this really cool photo on the Consumerist Friday Flickr post (the second one from the bottom): http://consumerist.com/2009/12/consumer Then someone in comments directed me to this video that uses the same sort of technology to make real-size things appear to be miniature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkrtYRxG And watching that led me to the creator of that video's website, where he's got more cool videos: http://keithloutit.com/ And then I noticed the Consumerist commenter had also linked to this guide on how to make these kinds of photos yourself in Photoshop, including lots more cool examples: http://www.visualphotoguide.com/tilt-sh And that's about when I realized, holy crap, I meant to go to bed half an hour ago...so I'm posting it now as a break between cookie-making and Peo-wrangling. Now we can all sing together: She's actual size but she seems much | ||||||
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December 10th, 2009
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| Here's an amusing set of ads as picked by Time Magazine: Top 10 TV Ads And the spoofs of the GM ad are better than the real one. Here are two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts_fZStH http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFV1 | ||||||
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| If you're pregnant, here's something to consider before using insect repellents: Repellents and insecticides linked to birth defects in baby boys They're very clear that there's no clear causation, just a statistical link. But if you're pregnant and not in an area where a bite risks other health problems, you might want to consider skipping the repellent and use other avoidance measures, just to be on the safe side. | ||||||
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December 9th, 2009
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| Meh, Maker has announced their 2010 Faire schedule (came to me in email because I requested to know about Austin): Bay Area May 22nd and 23rd, 2010 San Mateo County Event Center San Mateo, Calif. Detroit July 31st and August 1st, 2010 Henry Ford Museum Dearborn, Mich. New York September 25th and 26th, 2010 New York Hall of Science Flushing Meadow Corona Park Queens, NY So I guess Austin is out for next year too. :( | ||||||
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December 3rd, 2009
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| Very nicely done... Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego | ||||||
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December 1st, 2009
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| I am now a woman with a blow torch. Muahahaha. (I must've looked like hardcore DYI plumbing lady at Home Depot today, buying flanges and PVC bits and a blow torch, and it's all for cake! Well okay one bit was actually for the shower hose...) | ||||||
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November 29th, 2009
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| I stopped knitting long enough to update my knitting gallery, since it's been almost a year and a half since I last did that. Whoops. Heh. Plus there are now so many things in there that I broke up the Quick Find at the top into categories, so it'd be more...um...quick. http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/k I'm not going to list everything out individually but everything from Elephant Girl down is new. Enjoy. | ||||||
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November 28th, 2009
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| GIP. Sticker art by Peo. Corran and I are endlessly amused by this. | ||||||
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| Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson has confirmed the first script for the two films based on JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit has been completed. | ||||
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November 27th, 2009
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| Sick of BPA being in all of your food packaging and washable containers? Sign the petition to the FDA to ban it: http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/fda | ||||||
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| Check out these funky knits...eyeballs and intestines! http://bencuevas.wordpress.com/ | ||||||
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November 26th, 2009
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| Hey Wolverine/Jackman fans, lookie what I found: http://xmenfilms.net/blog1/wp-content/u And more at: http://xmenfilms.net/blog1/?page_id=8 Happy Drooling. I still need a good Wolverine icon. | ||||||
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November 25th, 2009
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| Here's a quick frugal cake decorating tip: If you're making your own fondant and use up the standard 2lb bag of powdered sugar, you can store the fondant in that bag with the top twisted shut and held with a twist-tie. It's got a sugar-dusted lining so it won't stick too much, it's good thick plastic, and the perfect size. Then when you're done with that fondant, you can chuck the bag knowing that you got a second use out of it and didn't need to use virgin plastic. | ||||||
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| A holiday present from Muppet Studios: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7 Good thing it's kid-safe because Peo walked in just as I was starting it. Don't worry, the violent lyrics have been altered in amusing ways... | ||||||
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Blatherings
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