I called my accountant today so I could drop off my tax stuff.  They told me that although they'd try their mightiest to have it done by the 15th, they might have to file for an extension and get them done later.

I have 2 criteria for filing my taxes:

1.  I do not get arrested.
2.  I do not have to do them. 

(not necessarily in that order.  )

Does that violate my criteria?  No?  Good, I'll drop the things off today.   

I hate taxes.   8)

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You almost made me wet my pants.

I'm so sorry about your Sparkling Heart-I'm glad you could repair it.

I would so love to see some pictures of your hair.  Gotta see the "Wad" someday!!!

Which pair of RoseStix were you after?

How I Met My Cat, Part 4a:  Agatha P.

In the group of cats that brought me Eureka was a skinny, scraggly, timid grey cat.  While the toms wandered away once the weather turned nice, grey cat hung around.  As she got a bit healthier I saw that she was a pastel calico as well—her back and tail were grey and orange, and her belly and feet were white.  Her face was grey with a white splash on her nose and an orange spot right over her mouth.  Depending on how she held her head or the angle of one’s POV, her looks could run the gamut from regal to funny.  She wanted nothing to do with me for 6 months or more; then one day when I was sitting on the porch she hesitantly approached, craned her neck out as far as it would go, and just bumped my big toe.  Then she shot off to the trees at the edge of the yard and I didn’t see her again until the next day.

The next day, of course, she purred and rubbed all over my legs.  I named her Agatha P. Splashnose (later shortened to Agatha P.).  When the weather turned I took her to the vet and was told that she had feline leukemia.  I cried all weekend while Agatha stayed away from the house in a terrible snit because I’d made her go to the vet.

For 2 years Agatha lived outside.  During the second year she developed a small lump on her chest.  Since she was an outside cat with feline leukemia who hated the vet more than I hate the dentist, I simply kept an eye on it.  It seemed to shrink then got larger; it got infected and broke open.  I cleaned it out and it seemed to get better.

On a Sunday afternoon I was (luckily) on the porch with her when the mass started bleeding—a steady, unending stream of blood.  I ran inside and grabbed a tea towel, the phone, and the phonebook.  In the minute I was inside, Agatha wandered from one end of the porch to the other, leaving a blood trail and several small puddles where she stopped to rest for a moment.  The stains are still there.  I picked her up (which she always did hate) and applied pressure to the bleeding and called the emergency vet.  She never did call back.

I managed to get the bleeding stopped after a good 45 minutes.  I put her in the stinky car so she wouldn’t run off during the night.  I put her in there with a litter box, food, and water, but she didn’t use any of them.  There was blood in the car the next morning when I got her out.  She wasn’t as irritable as usual which was a bad sign.

My vet is fantastic.  They had been off the previous week since everyone was at a conference and they were booked and overbooked.  And here I show up with a stinky, bloody, yowling, diseased cat, all but crying, “Please help my baby!”

The vet said she was dehydrated, anemic, and septic.  They had to give her subQ fluids and antibiotics for 24 hours before the surgery so she’d have a hope of making it through.  She started bleeding again while at the vet’s and they had to put a pressure bandage on her.  The vet wasn’t overly optimistic about Agatha P’s odds.  (TBC)

All hail Biker Braid, slayer of the evil Spambot!  

Tuesday I tried too hard not to dry out my hair and it was heavy and vaguely oily afterwards.  I think I got it right yesterday; it's clean enough today but not too dry and tangly.  Sigh.  I hope I adjust soon.

Made this bun using my silver fakkare with the red, pink and clear heart-shaped jewels on it.  It didn't twist around, and pretty much stayed horizontal.  I wrapped my hair around it and all the little straggly ends popped out and I realized--this is just a variation of a Birdsnest bun.    I had to wear my fake hair scrunchie to help it hold together and as usual, I garnered bunches of compliments on my fake hair.  

My roots are dull and drab and my greys seem to be prominent.  I can't wait till allergy season is over.

Gorey started licking his fur off again.  He has allergies.  He may need allergy shots.  I'd a thousand times rather give a cat shots than pills and a zillion times rather give pills than eye medication.  Last time I tried to put ointment in Gorey's eye he struggled so much I scratched his cornea with the tube.    His eye watered something fierce for a couple of days but he healed fine.  Didn't blame me or seek revenge or anything.  Give him time.  

I was looking through my Loteria cards and I found out that "gorrito" is a bonnet.  Gorey is a bonnet!  Gorey is a bonnet!

How I Met My Cat, Part 5a:  Gorey

Little Black Kitty With Eyes Too Close Together showed up shortly after I noticed the lump on Agatha's chest.   I was feeding her canned food by that time and I noticed a truely pitiful looking black cat was pushing her away from her food and eating it all.  In the evening I had time to wait for HRH to (slowly) eat her (thoroughly flattened) food (If it wasn't flattened she'd lick the non-flattened parts but she wouldn't eat them).  In the mornings before work, however, I refused to get up the needed 30 minutes early that it took, so I started giving LBKWETCT half of Agatha's food (she rarely ate all of it).  Eventually I started giving him his own can of food.

LBKWETCT was extremely skittish and I didn't get a really good look at him for a long time.  I did notice that he'd scratched off the fur and most of the skin behind one ear so his head was all bloody; eventually I realized that BOTH ears were wounded.  When it was bad he'd leave blood drops on the porch.  His eyes had nasty yellow goop draining from them and his tail was the most pitiful, stringy thing anyone's ever seen.  This was the classic stray cat that every mother would call nasty and diseased, and every father would hurl boots at to drive away.  He'd probably had plenty of each happen to him.  

As he grew a bit bolder, I could see him peeping over the end of the porch at me when I put out his food.  I'd wormed him by this time and his tail was better and his eyes a little less goopy.  His bloody little head was slowly healing as well.  Occasionally I'd linger on the porch and he'd "MMRRROOOWWW" in a most annoyed way to let me know that I was keeping him from his food.  

I shortened his name to Black Kitty.  Eventually he'd eat his food on the bottom porch step while I was on the porch IF I stood next to the door and didn't move.  I gave up and named him Gory, for his bloody little head, to be upgraded to Gorey, if we ever became friends, which seemed unlikely.  I was very content to remain this way.  I had 3 cats in the house by this time and I was tired of spending hours on the porch, paying attention to the outside cat, which I had been doing pretty much constantly since Rumpole first wandered into my life.  (TBC)

I watched The Leopard Man on Saturday--it's one of the 9 low-budget horror flicks Val (Cat People) Lewton produced for RKO in the '40's.  It has one fantastic scene where a young lady is stalked and ultimated killed by a leopard.  The rest is kind of meh; however, the hair was great.     Sakina mentioned the Flamenco hairstyle which I've worn once or twice, but have never seen in real life--this movie had two very nice specimens:  one on a blonde cigarette girl; two big, perfect buns paired with one of those great '40's curly pompadours.  The other was formed from hair parted in the middle and twisted back on each side.  The twisting was continued for 2 two-stranded braids, then coiled into two buns on the nape of the neck.  Beautiful! 

I love the 1940's pompadours but I could never do one.  I don't have the hairstyling skills or the patience; I don't want to cut my hair short enough to do it; and I don't want to use umpteen bunches of product to make it stay.  They're pretty, though.

Gorrito now has the crusty sores on his back and he's smelling wrong again.  Sigh.  I had to run across Mr. Allergy 2006, didn't I?   

An orange tabby has taken up residence under my patio.  I didn't ask him to live there, I didn't encourage him to live there, I didn't take out ads in the local stray cat weekly looking for cat boarders, I don't put food out anymore.  IT ISN'T MY FAULT HE'S HERE!

I gave him some food Saturday because he's hungry and I can't stand to see anything go hungry.  Shut up.  You'd do the same.

BPAL:  Cobra Lily  (wicked, sharp, and viciously carnivorous)  I had to order a 10ml because the 5ml wasn't in the system for some reason.  Good for the system!  This is one of my top ten.  It smells like a bunch of lilies but it's just a little sweet as well.  The oil is a beautiful red-orange color as well.  And the label is gorgeous.  Whee!  Long live the Cobra Lily!

How do they know?  How do they know a big ol' sucker lives in the house with the red door, as opposed to the house with the nice big barn across the road?   ???  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find a "catslist" site on the internet with my porch listed as a viable cat haven.  

Hairstyles through the week:

Monday--Sushi Head!  I finished my sushi buncover over the weekend and wore it.  It was solid except for the last two rows which I worked in dc mesh so I could put hairsticks through them.  It held up very well and wasn't too polyp-y.  I'm going to wear it to my brother's PhD graduation.  

Wednesday--The Leopard Man Head!  I tried the twisted flaminco bun style as seen in the movie.  I kept my usual asymmetrical part which meant the left bun was smaller than the right.    Idiot me didn't think.  I tried to put a hairstick in the smaller bun but it just looked weirder, so I rummaged through my stuff and found a hair barrette I got at Goodwill--it's one of those made in Thailand silver ones.  It's round with a zig-zag edge and is about 3.5" in diamater.  It's supposed to be a sunflower  and it has a gold center.  I put it between the buns, and let the buns overlap it a bit at the bottom.  It looked very exotic, I think, even though the flamenco style looks rather Germanic on me.  I think it will work better if I: part my hair in the center; do the style on second day hair; and don't use GR conditioner as a leave-in since it makes my hair very, very slippery.

Today--Half Head!  Half up with my Butterfly Sky Original LL sticks.  I know this is because I have day 1 hair, but my half bun is showing definite signs of becoming a Wad.  The sticks are nearly overwhelmed.  

Cats=early death from stress.  Those people who say having cats lowers your blood pressure?  Liars.  Jokers.  People whose closest contact with the felines was Morris the Cat commercials in the mid-70's.  People who only own one heavily medicated, very old cat.  Come supervise the ever-so-fun interactions of my trio of terror and tell me it makes you live longer.   8)

BPAL:  Peony Moon (Peony, plum blossom, water reeds and soft Asian woods) PEONY!  Peony, peony, peony.  This is a very light, sweet, pretty, girly floral.  It's perfect for today 'cause I'm wearing my girly-girl ruffled shirt.  

Wednesday:  Carnivale (Bright, intoxicating, hectic notes masking a twisted, corrupted core: sweet wild berry, spicy carnation and heliotrope layered over deep amber and musk.)  First and second wearing:  a very faint berry scent with an unpleasant scent lurking just below the surface.  It quickly starts to smell a bit spicy and...bad.  I can smell the carnation a bit but it just smells bad for most of the morning and by noon it sweetens and smells nice.  Well, I won it in the raffle, so I guess I can't complain.    It is interesting.  I want to try it again so I can see what it does.  I"m attracted to the ones that morph so strikingly throughout the day.  Keeps me entertained.   8)

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There's no pattern cuz I made it up and I can't post pictures   though one day I will, darn you elusive high speed internet!  One day!!!

I used size 10 crochet thread and a size B hook.  I crochet tightly, so you might need a smaller one.  

Colors I used:  pink, light green, yellow, red, ecru, white, black

I started with the center.  I drew a circle on a piece of paper the size I wanted the center to be and drew a rough sketch of the various parts and their colors.

I started with a circle of pink then crocheted a half-circle of green around it.  I made a smallish half circle of ecru in the center, then filled in about 2/3 of the remaining space with yellow, and made a thin crescent of red to fill in the remaining space.

I crocheted around the center with white.  I didn't increase properly, so it pokes out in the middle and kind of looks like a bra cup.  For the rice, I followed this pattern:  spiral purse, except in sc instead of hdc.  It looks very nice.  I worked it in a spiral and didn't join the rounds.  I started out increasing every 5th stitch, then every 6th, every 7th...you get the idea.  Stitch markers are a must for this.  

When it was just about the right size to cover the entire front of my bun (a little smaller, so a border of black would show around the edges), I joined the white and ended off.  I made two rounds of dc in black, no increasing, then 2 rounds of black dc mesh.  I sc'd over the elastic, and done!

To wear, pop the giant sushi over your bun and pin in place with chopsticks.  I used black ones decorated with a maneki neko.  I wore it to work and no-one said a thing.

I've become too predictable.  

it sounds great!  Thanks. Did you use dc throughout the piece?  I'm not too sure how to start it unless ya chain a few and then join it with slst to make your circle.

I FOUND MY STICK!!!!  I found my stick, I found my stick, I found my stick!     It was in the parking lot here at work.  It's been lying on the asphalt since Friday night, but it looks ok.  Woohoo!

Monday hair:  Swirly Head.  I found that if I do a chopstick twist at my crown, then braid the tail and bring it across the front, tucking it in on the other side, it looks dressy and a bit retro.  I need at 7-8" stick to do one properly, and I found that my VK sticks work nicely because I can push the stick all the way down until the glass marble is sitting on top of the twist.  I ordered a few 7" sticks from them yesterday.  I like this.  It's deceptively quick, although I have to use a lot of aloe and hairspray to tame the hairs around my face.

Today:  Rosebud Head.  Ear to ear lace braid with rosebud bun.  I'm wearing my Designs by Sandie sticks, the black lampwork beads with the cherries.  Very cute.

I'm making a pair of slippers and last night I put one together, meaning that I didn't have a lap.  All the cats were quite annoyed and let me know it.   

My scalp is still much oilier than I'd like, though my spritz is helping with the dry canopy problem.  I made a seperate spritz for my roots--black tea and black walnut hull infusion + aloe.  It makes my roots soft and cuts the oil a bit.  Hopefully it'll help control my greys as well.  My hairline is greying quite a bit again so my temple streaks don't stand out as much as I'd like.  Grump.

Crochetville is down.  I understand that there has been some severe unpleasantness (which I tried to stay the #@!! out of) and now the mods say they're exhausted (which I understand) and the return is TBA.  I still have to send thanks for my last Flower Swap present. 

BPAL:  Rose Red.  Sweet, light rose.  There wasn't as much astringent greenness this time.  Several people who were standing outside of my office(!) said they loved the rose smell.  I may have gone a bit overboard with the slathering  but it's so light no-one was offended.   8)

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Oh my gosh!  How amazing...it's been laying there all this time, waiting for you to find it...!!   

BB, I thought about you and your amazing returning hairstick when I found mine.     Your story is still more impressive.   

Yesterday--Spider Head!  I wore my Bronze Jewelers' spiderweb snood.  I love my spiderweb. 

Today--Scarf Head!  Galadriel's scarf bun, though I make mine with an oblong scarf so the ends dangle down my back.

I don't think my scalp is quite as oily as it was at the beginning of spring.  Good.  I wasn't looking forward to daily scalp washes.

Aloe is a wonderous thing.  If I had to choose between aloe and oil I don't think I could do it.  My hair is so soft with my aloe-infused spritz; the new spritz for my hairline (tea and aloe with a few drops of lavender eo--no oil) is making my roots soft as well.  It may be one reason my roots aren't as oily, too.

BPAL:  Peony Moon.  So pretty and floral for most of the day.  Now it smells like a creek bed at the height of summer when it's half dried-up.  Not bad exactly, but wood and dried grass and mucky mud and heat.  It's just a morph along the way so I don't mind it so much, but I wouldn't wear it if it smelled like this all the time.  This is the third wearing.  I have very odd chemistry.   8)

I have embarked on a long, long, long term project.  My brother found a program to convert DVDs to mp4s so I'm converting my library.     I bring my iBook to work and let it run; it takes 2-3 hours per disk, depending on the length.  The quality of the picture suffers in the transfer, but it looks great on the iPod, or if I minimize my QuickTime screen.   8)

Unhappily, it won't work on TV collections that don't have a "play all" option.     So I can't convert Buffy or The Tick.     Brother says he'll find a program to fix that, though.   

Some day I'll have all my DVDs on my computer and travel will be easier.  La la la.   

Rose Head!  Rose bun held with my Bronze Jewelers' tri-color rose pic.  I'm thinking about getting the rose cascade.  I used my GC Wicked conditioner as a leave-in last night and while it makes my hair smell terrific  8) it made it slippery and the tail slipped out of my bun this afternoon. 

I'm going to get their skull bracelet for my brother for his birthday.  He has a skull theme going ever since he got his motorcycle.  His wife hates it.     I love skulls, so I'm enabling him.  I even bought my nephew a shirt with a pirate skull over crossed pistols; however, in my defense, I bought it before I knew she was anti-skull.

I really should have known, though.   8)

How can you be anti-skull?  Skulls are cool.  I'm working on a tapestry crochet skull chart that can be made into a bun cover.  That means charting in a circle.  I'm having a little trouble.   

I joined in a circular swap over at the BPAL forum.  We're pooling our imps so we can all try EVERY scent in the general cataloge.     *bounce*  I get to:  1.  try all the GC scents, and 2.  send off 19 imps that I don't want.  Win-win!  hee hee.

BPAL:  London (Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness)  I haven't worn this for a while and it has changed a bit as it aged.  It was a bouquet of tea roses, pink and a bit overblown--the petals are soft, not crisp.  In the center of the scent was a small, hard, clear swirl of black.  Now it's still rosy but the blackness has diffused throughout and it smells more evil now.  I like it.

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Amen, sister. That's what I've been screamin' all these years.  8) 

Oh  My  God, i was SO in love with Spike!!!  I've always had a thing for vampires and Spike was so...grrowwlll!   

I'm back.  We went to visit brother and family last weekend for his graduation.  He's graduated, he's a doctor!  FINALLY!  Woohoo!

The nephew is 28 months now, and he is definately 2.  "My daddy!  My mommy!  My dog!  My house!  My A!"  Hee hee.  Mom gave him a bath and afterwards he told her, "Wanna watch a TV-o!" (which is what he calls a video)  and mom told him that he'd have to ask mommy and daddy.  He thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask Pa-Pa and Thirteen."  Bwahaha!  No flies on my nephew, no sirree.   

So mommy has been borrowing TV-o's from the library for nephew to watch and he loves Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story.  Fine, we'll watch that.  You know how you form a set of expectations when you first hear of something, then the more information you get, the bar lowers or raises?  OK, this is a sequel, so the bar's set pretty low to begin with.  However, I can tolerate most cartoons as long as they aren't Dragon Tales, so it's not too low.

Then the details come pouring in.  It's a live action (the bar slips downward--ka-chunk, ka-chunk) Disney (Disney live-action is toxic more often than not, ka-chunk), straight-to-video (ka-chunk, ka-chunk) movie featuring animals (ka-chunk) that communicate in cheesy voice-overs (ka-chunk, ka-chunk); monkeys are prominently featured (KA-CHUNK *snap* KA-CHUNK [the snap was where one of the supports was broken off in the swift, downward motion of the bar) and they sing (KA-CHUNK, THUD--the bar hits the ground) and dance, courtesy of the same low-tech camera trickery that made the cats dance in the cat food commercial back in the 1970's (thhhwuck--the bar buries itself 6 inches underground.)

So my expectations were low to say the least.  However, the movie managed to exceed them in every way possible--this is a profoundly stupid, irritating, insulting, boring, STUPID STUPID STUPID movie and I want Disney to reimburse me for my brain cells that committed suicide rather than expose themselves to the wisecracking, dancing monkeys one second longer.  Even Pa-Pa couldn't stand it, and Pa-Pa can watch nephew sleep and consider it adequate amusement.

Seriously, I watch bad movies on purpose.  I like bad movies.   Not even Joel and the 'bots could save this steaming crap-heap.    I can't wait for nephew to grow up a little and develop some taste.   Mommy and Daddy are taking the movie back to the library and have vowed to never mention its existance ever again. 

DISCLAIMER:  I don't think monkeys are funny.  I don't find rampant hilarity in monkeys wearing clothes, or making faces, or spitting water or any of the stereotypical crap I'm supposed to lose bladder control over simply because a monkey is doing it.  So if you removed the monkeys....nope.  Still sucks.  I'd rather watch Barney  Yeah, I said it, and I'd say it again.  I'd rather watch Barney.  Barney's only a half hour long.    

The interminable previews showed a movie that could possibly suck more than the feature film.  I'll talk about it when I'm feeling better.

On the plus side, they also borrowed The Aristocats and while it isn't classic Disney, it's still pretty good.  We all sang along to "Everybody Wants to be a Cat" and Pa-Pa and Nephew danced.  It was fun.   

Ever since Agatha's been gone I've had trouble making my herbal rinse.  It was simple:  boil water, add herbs to the coffee filter, steep for an hour or so while I love on Agatha, wash hair.  Now I forget to start it, or it doesn't steep long enough, or it's so hot I singe my scalp.  So this weekend I dug out a wide-mouthed Thermos I bought at a yard sale for 50 cents.  I made up a Thermos-full of rinse at once and I'm using it this week.

We'll see how it goes.  I added lavender buds to the mix to hopefully decrease the risk of molding.  It worked very well on Tuesday. 

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I try, Angel Spun, I try.  If it were up to me, it'd be Looney Toons, Pixar, and good Disney cartoons, but he's enamored with the shiny, colorful, insipid crap the all-powerful "they" feed preschoolers nowadays.  My brother and SIL don't even have cable and he still loves it.  Sigh.  I'm sure I had just as rotten taste when I was a kid, but when Pa-Pa tried to show the nephew Bugs Bunny, he fell asleep.  I'm thinking of demanding a DNA test--no nephew of mine disses da Bugs.  I'll give him till the age of 5, then off to the lab we go.   

And when he's old enough, I will tie him down if I have to and read him all of my Daniel Pinkwater books, then force him to watch The Tick and Invader Zim.    8)

And now, the preview--my oh my, the preview.  It looks like your standard Hallmark Hall of Fame wannabe--turn of last century, salt-of-the-earth farm types.  The hero, the earnest son of the farm wants a pony more than anything; his younger sister wears a brace on one leg and needs an operation to walk again.  The crops should bring enough money to accomplish both goals, but horrors!  A terrible storm destroys the crops!  What will our plucky young hero do now? 

We all know that at some point the hero will scrape up the money, be forced to choose between his pony and the operation, choose the operation, and end up with a pony, too, right?  Just checking.  So it's a predictable story, though if done right it's not too offensive.  HOWEVER...that's not all.  This one has a twist.  A shocking twist.  An unexpected twist.  A wacky twist.

Any guesses?

Come on, you can do it.

It has....MONKEYS!  I swear before all that is holy, they dropped 3 monkeys into this story.  "Mom, did I just see monkeys on the screen?"  "Yes you did."  "Dad, did I get plastered at dinner tonight because I thought I only drank a can of diet orange pop."  "No, Thirteen, you're sober."

D@mn.  Monkeys.   

You see, the monkeys escaped and they're worth $15 dollars a head which is a lot of moola to a turn of last century plucky young hero with pony mania and a limping sister and if he can only catch the monkeys without getting in trouble with his parents for the monkeys' hilarious wacky mischief because of course his parents don't believe there are monkeys in their z-grade Lttle House lives...h#!!, I'm still in denial (Monkeys!  Ye gods and little fishes.  Monkeys)...and of course he has to catch the monkeys before the obligatory bad kid does with his nasty sharp traps which will hurt the monkeys which is bad, but if he can catch the monkeys and get he $45  everything will have a happy ending although even in the turn of last century I doubt you could get an operation for 45 big ones.  It cost more than that to get Gorey a steroid shot.  And he's just a cat who doesn't even have a leg brace.

It's called Summer of the Monkeys.  Don't you dare miss it.  It promises to be the suck star in Disney's live action direct to video suck crown.  Truly inspiring.


I opened up my thermos last night to try out my rinse and there was no mold.  But it was sour and it had a thin, sparse white foam on the surface.  I think it was fermenting.  I added some ACV and used it anyway and it was fine, if a bit smelly.  I need to work on my storage.  My 'fridge is downstairs and I shower upstairs.  And I'm forgetful.  And lazy.  The rinse needs to be upstairs and I'm not wild about installing an upstairs refrigerator.  I might try adding some ACV to the rinse this week.  Or I could just let it ferment in case the nephew wants to watch more live action monkeytastic shenanigans.

Modified Gibson today.  It turned out very nicely.  I even got compliements, though of the "You hair looks lovely, now when are you going to dye your grey; you're much too young to be so grey!" kind.  Sigh.  I made the inner bun a rose bun and fastened it with my new plastic purple stick; then I made the rest into a 2-strand braid and wrapped it around the inner bun and under the stick.  The stick kept it from wrapping too tightly, thus minimizing the pile of poop effect I tend to get with this style.  A winner all around, I think.  And completely monkey-free.

lol 13....I'll trade weather with you any day! It usually only stays cool & gray here until about 3:00 pm, then is boiling hot. 

At least rain is on the way...(hopefully)...

Still sounds like perfect weather in your area, 13. To me at least.

Hope you feel better after the nasty egg salad incident. Drink lots of water. Saltines help, too. 

I may never eat egg salad again.  On the one hand, it's a shame, because I LOVE egg salad.  On the other hand, egg salad is only slightly better for your heart than pure lard spread on a slice of ham, topped with cheese and rich creamery butter.   8)

I tried a Regency Updo today.  It wasn't successful.  I don't have the curls to pull it off, but I thought I could make little cinnamon buns.  However, after I do the french twist part (which actually turned out very well--tapered at the bottom and swelling gently in the middle) the remaining length is too layered and stumpy to do anything decent with.  As I fiddled with it, the whole thing started sliding down the back of my neck and I could tell it wouldn't hold.  I finally pulled out the pins in the twist and put in my tortie Ficcare maximus, made the top into a two part bun and filled it full of magic grip hair pins to keep it from keeling over.  It held, but it looks odd.  Sigh.

BPAL:  Red Lantern.  It smells like caramel with an undercurrent of something dark brown (the tobacco most likely)  By now the caramel has receeded but left its sweetness and the tobacco smell is predominant.  Yum.

Amigurumi -  That used to be my Mom's favorite thing to do...... her and her friends made all kind of stuff....
Hadn't heard or thought of it in years.


And now that you mentioned SUSHI, I am getting hungry myself and a taste for it........ 

I used to have a Glade Plug In for large rooms loaded with the Neutralizer scent in the litter box room when I read about the rumor that the things caused fires so I removed it.

Ever since Gorey joined my merry little brood the litter room has been overwhelmingly aromatic, so I plugged the thing back in.  It worked great--for a week, then nothing.  Groan.

Imagine my surprise last night when I was scooping out the litter boxes and I saw something shiny--it was the plug-in insert!  Somebody had pulled both inserts out and buried them in the litterbox!  They were still good!  And the Neutralizer is hard to find.   

I don't know whose teeth did the deed, but I suspect the teeth have large fangs, with the tip broken off of the left one.  Yeah, I"m lookin' at you Gorey.  Fiend.

Gorey's white-black ruff has grown out, so now he has a pure black face surrounded by a greyish white cloud.  The white tips of the ruff surround his face and look like one of those fringe-y, moustache-less Amish type beards.  When he looks at me just right, it's as though he's ready to say, "Well, Jebidiah, we'd best get the wheat in before the storm hits."  I call him Jebidiah Gorey now.  He doesn't care.  It seems that the only thing he really cared about was the Glade Plug-In stink, and he fixed that himself.   8)

Yellow tabby cat showed up for some food Saturday.  He marked the patio doors, too.  Oh, goody.

Still working on the bookmarks.  I'm aiming at a dozen.  I have to block the things.  I can't stand the look of my unblocked thread creations, but that's because I like to use the size B hook so it all ends up being a little too floppy for my taste.

French braid today.  I managed to keep the scrunchie at the end of my braid all day, which is a record.  The last time I wore a French braid, I tied it off with a bunjii and the bunjii slipped off.  Luckily I found it in the car later.

My braid is BSL!  Whee! 

I'm still aiming at 36" but the mop hasn't grown in the last couple of months, plus my braid has a wicked taper.  Sigh.  I hope I"m not nearing terminal.

BPAL:  Dragon Moon (dragon’s blood resin, tea leaf, bamboo reed, sandalwood and cherry blossom), first wearing.  At first, this is juicy, sticky, winey dragon's blood, but it's quickly overtaken by the cherry blossom.  It's a bit floral, a bit winey, and a lot sweet.  I really like it.  The Asian-themed moons this year have been wonderful!     I can't wait to get Lotus Moon in, and on Sunday Hungry Ghost Moon goes live.  Unless there's patchouli in it, I can't resist anything called Hungry Ghost Moon.   

Enraged Bunny Musk--second wearing.  Now I can pick out the cotton blossom which is backed by a strong, pale green scent.  It's a bit like sitting in a freshly mowed meadow in the warm (but not hot) sun--shades of green, slightly sharp, and not sweet at all.  I like this now that it doesn't smell funny anymore.   

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Eleven cats?  Wow.  I thought my life was interesting.     I have a ways to go to catch up with you. 

My brother got free passes to an advance screening of Pixar’s Cars and we went last night.  I love Pixar, but I admit I wasn’t looking forward to this one.  I’m indifferent to cars in general.  All I ask is that they work well enough so I won’t get a ticket, have working A/C, and have a working CD player.  Aside from that, I don’t give a @#$%^&.  As for NASCAR and car racing, I’m indifferent to mildly hostile.  It’s excruciatingly dull and I don’t understand why people travel hundreds of miles to sit in the blazing hot sun to watch cars drive around and around and around and around….

(If you’re a NASCAR fan, more power to you.  I’m sure my hobbies are every bit as incomprehensible to you as yours are to me.  I’ll make a deal with you:  you don’t try to convert me to racing and I won’t try to convert you to, say ,watching the scintillating films of Ed Wood.)

On the other hand, free movie, so what they hey. 

I needn’t have worried:  Pixar’s done it again.  It’s a wonderful movie:  funny, exciting, and touching.  The animation is spectacular.  The opening short, One Man Band, is their funniest to date, I think.  And don’t miss the credits or you’ll miss some of the best gags in the flick.

It did drag a little in the middle and they’re repeating themselves a bit (Lightning McQueen’s “pit crew” at the end was simply a rehash of Jacques the shrimp from Finding Nemo and the hero and heroine reminded me strongly of their counterparts in A Bug’s Life, but I watch way too much Pixar, and I’m a geek, so…)

If Pixar can get me to care about cars you know they’re miracle workers.  I laughed so hard my mascara ran into my eyes and I blundered about blindly until I ran into the napkin dispenser at the snack bar.  Go see it.  You won’t be sorry.

Unfortunately we didn’t get home till 1 am, Aunt Flo started yesterday afternoon, and I’m the only one here today, so I feel like crap.  I have to get up (relatively) early tomorrow cuz I have a package at the PO I need to sign for, and Gorey didn’t react well to my prolonged absence yesterday and is clingier than usual.  I’ll survive, but man was it easier to survive this kind of thing 10 years ago.  I’m so old.  8)

I have to go to Wal-Moo and get a new fuse for the car.  I blew out my cigarette lighter so I can’t plug in my iPod car kit.  On the plus side, they carry a kit that powers the iPod and transmits the signal through the car speakers with a single cord.  If I’d had that before I wouldn’t have used the (broken) multi-plug adapter which blew the fuse in the first place.  Bleah.

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Huge, heavy, hard-to-clean aquariums...mineral deposits...slimy algæ...slimier black fish turds...expensive plants that die in 2 days...equipment malfunctions...angry, territorial fish chasing passive, neurotic fish around the tank...and death. Constant death.

I never want to have fish again. 

Hmmm, I know sugar adds weight to my body (specifically my hips!), so sugar added to your hair rinse adds body/thickness to your hair?? 

Yeah, BB, like anything on me needs to be bigger.     It makes my hair softer, though. 

LOL Angel Spun!  When I was in college my roommate and I went to a movie marathon on campus and I took a bottle of coke spiked with rum.  Roomie took a big drink halfway through the first movie and spit it out all over the first 3 rows.  Hee hee hee. 

I made 8 cups of rinse yesterday and added a couple of tsp of sugar.  My hair is very soft today, so it seems to be working.  I'll keep the rinse refrigerated so it won't mold and I put it in a 1.5 liter water bottle with a big ribbon twisted around the neck.  I'm just waiting for my parents to visit--Dad will certainly drink out of it.  He might like it.   

We're getting a thunderstorm, so when I get home I'll find 2 cats hiding under the couch, and Gorey watching the storm out the patio door.  He's scornful of the other two--"We're inside, you cowards!  We have a roof over our heads instead of haing to perch on a broken cinderblock under a dark, smelly, leaky porch--What's wrong with you!"

X-O today--the tiger's eye one.  It's held pretty well.  My hair is thickening again, I think.  It hasn't increased in length for a month or so, but I have 2 sore spots on my head--one just under my crown and one at the base of my skull from last week's updos.  I wore a french braid all weekend and they're a little better, but I hate these transition periods.

BPAL--Blood Rose (voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon's blood resin)  It's summer and time for one of my favorite summer scents.  This is one of those roses that smell like red wine on me, resulting in a juicy, fruity-in-a-wine-sort-of-way, long-lasting scent.  Mmmmm

I watched a nasty, mean-spirited little crap movie called Maniac (1934) on Sunday.  It was a crappy B&W movie—I thought it would be fun.  It started out fun, with the wildly overacting mad scientist and the even more wildly overacting assistant, but it went downhill quickly.  It was made by cat haters—one cat was strangled and his eye gouged out by the crazy guy (yes, it was obviously a one-eyed cat with a fake eye, but still…) and then—oh, and then the jerk who raised cats for their fur.  He fed the cats rats, then fed the rats the carcasses of the cats once they’d been skinned.  The cat killer was so enthusiastic when he described his job, and so natural when he did—unlike when he spoke his other lines—it was obvious that this is what he did for a living in real life, and he enjoyed it very, very much.  The rest of the movie was filled with highly unlikeable characters, nudity (!), and 1930’s definitions of various types of mental illness to try to excuse the unpleasant goings-on in their nasty little film.  When it was over I needed a hot shower.  Yuck.

I pulled out the DVD and put in a Boris Karloff picture to cleanse my palate.  When I turned around there were 3 pairs of eyes staring at me reproachfully:

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“Guys, I’m really sorry.  I had no idea.”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“I’ll never watch it again.”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“We’ll pretend it never happened, OK?  Who wants to play with the ping pong ball?”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“Look, I’m sorry.  Just think, though; this was made in 1934.  Everyone involved is probably dead.  Doesn’t that make you feel better?”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“And you’re all safe and snug and you know I’ll never skin you.”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

Sigh.  “How about some tuna water?”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“With some tuna?”

^  ^…..^  ^…..^  ^

“Figures.  Follow me.”

Later I was putting a new DVD in and Gorey tried to climb me, which means he wants to be held.  I knew I’d better take him to the couch if I didn’t want to be stuck crouching in the floor for the next hour, so I picked him up and carried him.  He hates to be carried.  He immediately started wriggling and kicking and pushing, with the whole “AAHHH!  Put me down, hag woman!  I hate you I hate you I hate you HATEHATEHATE….oh.  We’re on the couch.  Ok, then.”

Dingleberry.  “What did you think I was going to do, fuzzy one?  Make your skin into a hat then feed your body to a rat?”

(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)…..(|)..(|)

“…I’ll get the tuna.”

My french braid is finally long enough to make into a bun.  While still wad-like, it’s small enough so I can wear my shorter LL sticks, even though they still look a bit pitiful against it.

I made some body cream following Ursula’s recipe:  1 part coconut oil melted with 1 part shea butter.  Nice and easy.  The mixture is nice and soft, so I don’t have to scratch bits out with my fingernails, and it’s very moisturizing.  It absorbs reasonably well.  I think it will be good for travel since it works nicely for my skin and hair and it works as a leave-in in a pinch. 

BPAL:  Budding Moon—Mmmm….a spring fragrance, but since it’s been so rackafrackin’ cold here all weekend a spring fragrance is appropriate. 

Oh, 13bodies, you made me laugh so hard I snorted!

When my hair looks really big, I think 4 hairsticks helps to balance it out, or 3 like in my avatar.

Be on the lookout for sushi in your mailbox.

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I didn't use fractionated coconut oil--I used the solid, organic, hyper-coconutty smelling stuff from Wild Oats.  The mixture is like an ointment--it'll keep its shape, but it's soft, kind of like Vick's Vapor Rub.  It's softer than the coconut oil, and not gritty or pasty like the unrefined shea.

My only complaint is that the smell is somewhat nauseating--coconut with an undertone of unrefined shea.  Bleach.  I prefer unscented stuff but this needs something.  Vanilla would probably work but I don't like vanilla.  Maybe I can dig out my imp of Black Pearl, or perhaps a good splash of Elegba?   

Ahem.  I have an announcement:

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIII
III CCCCCCCCCCCAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

Sakina sent me a deck of sushi playing cards!!!!  Hee hee hee!  I can once more play solitare sans computer.  How do you shuffle again?   8)

I love them.  Thank you!   

And you should brace yourself, as I am scouring my new amigurumi and nuigurumi books for something...suitable for you.  Heh.   

Hair:  Big ol' flat rose bun with my Vitrail Rapunzelstix.  My hair can't completely circle itself yet, so when I make a nice flat cinnabun, there's a small dark brown knot at the top and it's surrounded by increasingly reddish and poofy hair.  Sigh.  One day....

I haven't been sleeping well lately.  All week I've been  having long, almost linear dreams and it's just exhausting.  There are the standard dream weirdnesses going on, but they plot, such as it is, stays on track.  Last night (or rather this morning) I dreamed I was visiting someone in a city when giant earthworms were discovered.  They didn't do anything bad--no Tremors- or Squirm-type worms here--but they were 15 feet long and they were making tunnels all under the city; the buildings were collapsing, so everyone was evacuated.  So the rest of the dream was me running around, trying to pack, trying to find the family, trying to catch the cats, trying to find somewhere to stay...AAAGGHH!  I don't know WHAT'S wrong! I was late to work today because I was just wiped out. 

BPAL:  Kurukulla (3 roses and 3 lotus)  New, this smelled like winey bubblegum.  It's aged about a year and now it smells musty.  Ick.  I'd already slathered it all over before I realized it, so I had to layer with Two, Five, and Seven.  I'll try it again later; my body chemistry may be a bit out of whack what with the exhaustion and all.   

you poor girl!  WHen I used to get those migraines they made me sick,too.  I think they used to last close to 9 hours and I'd be sick every 15 minutes or so.  Hence the anme I've given them was "The migraine that's so bad you want to throw yourself down the stairs for relief."  THey are no joke and I have total empathy for anyone who suffers with them.  Hope you are feeling so much better   That Nadi Sudi(alternate nostril breathing) is a miracle.  Thank God for Yoga and the Breathing Techniques that go with it!

khrome, be careful what you wish for.  I'm 36 years old and am still struggling with acne.     I've given up hope that I can go one day--one single $@$@# day!--without a slippery, greasy, shiny face.  Sigh.

Curlgirl64, you have migraines, too?  *sympathetic hug*  When mine get bad the only thing that helps are pills that run around $25-$30 each.  I'm not going to complain (too much ) because at least there's something that works.   

The older I get the longer it takes to refurbish myself.  I spent most of yesterday afternoon primping--honey and aspirin mask followed by a Biore strip; aspirin and milk bath (with the remains of the honey mask mixed in) to exfoliate my feet; leg shaving; hair spritzing; and hairwashing.  Sigh.  Mom just chuckles and tells me to wait till I hit 60.  Way to be supportive, Mom.   

And the Rapunzel Stix had to update over the weekend while I don't have internet access?  Grrrr....

Hair:  Ear to Ear lace braid with simple bun covered with light brown bun cover with seashell beads.  I anchored the cover with 4 Magic Grip hairpins, and the top pin has been digging into my scalp all day long.  No polyp-head, though!

I measured my wet hair and it's up to 31.5ish.  I really need to get rid of these damaged ends.  With daily oiling they feel good, but the brassy red color and bushy texture are depressing.  I'll be seeing my brother again, at Christmas if not sooner, and I'll have him get rid of a couple of inches.

I tried the CV Mud and Clay shampoo bar, and the Neem and Tea Tree Oil bar.  They both clean very well even though the TTO bar smells yucky.  It doesn't leave a stink on my hair, though, so that's good.

I spent the weekend watching DVD's and serving as a cat bed.  This had better get me points when the cats take over the world.

BPAL:  Spirits of the Dead.  It's a counterintuitively sunny citrus scent for an hour or so, then it turns ominous.  Fun!  Doesn't last long, though.

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Yeah, I guess it's the whole grass-looks-greener thing. When in actuality, both sides of grass are made up of the same manure. 

Have you tried that Proactiv stuff?  I always see ads of that stuff, especially from celebrities.  I have no idea if they're getting paid to say good things about it or not though.

Well, that just stinks all the way 'round!!      My god, you could have broken something from that fall!!  Idiots...harumpf.

Wah!!  That really sucks..  I hope they reimburse you for your skirt..   

Holy @#$!  That really blows!  I hope your feeling better soon.  (((hugs)))

Hope you're starting to heal up, 13. That totally sux to have a great skirt that you loved be sacrificed to a silly accident. Grrrrrr! I hope you find another one that you like just as much (but hopefully not so expensive).

Lol @ "@$$ over teakettle." Hehe that's great. 

Well, I'm back from vacation.  They had wireless, so it was good.  My vacation schedule:

10:30 am--12:30 am:  Wake up, get ready.

12:30-1:  Lunch

1-5:  Internet

5-6:  Dinner

6-1:30ish am:  Movies and iTunes + crafting and/or reading

1:30ish-10:30: Sleep

It was very nice, but I still hadn't tired of my routine by the end of the vacation.  If I hadn't missed the cats so much I'd have been quite peeved at having to leave.   8)

The cats were very happy to see me because they love me and miss me, but mostly because I stopped by KFC on the way in and picked up a 6 pack of chicken strips.  When they're stuffed full of peeled fried chicken all thoughts of vengence just fly right out of their heads. 

The nephew stayed with my parents this week--Mom was with me on vacation, so Dad had him for 4 days all by his lonesome and I've never heard Dad so pitiful "You're coming home today, right?"  Dad worships the ground Nephew walks on but a 2 1/2 year old extrovert can wear down even the most besotted grandparent.  Or aunt.  He wanted to sleep with Aunt 13 Tuesday night and of course I did.  I have now dubbed him "Noisy Wiggle."  I perched on the edge of the bed all night, while he migrated around the queen-sized bed all night, talking and crying in his sleep the whole while.  When I finally got home on Wednesday I collapsed on the couch in a sad little heap, completely exhausted.

Now I have to unpack.  Oh, joy.

Oh!  We went to Nordstrom's at the Mall of Georgia and on the Clearance table they had a bunch of the Ficcare Glittery Stripe Maximus-es on (whipsers) sale.  The salesgirl said no-one wanted them.     Loonies.  I bought them all and I'll sell them over on the LHC.  I kept the large green one, even though there's only one style I can use the maximus for, because it's so gorgeous.     The pics really do not do them justice.  I have in large:  lavender, pink, blue, and in medium:  pink, black, lavender, and green.  They even come with little replacement crystals which is good since the large pink and medium black are each missing one stone.  I need to glue those on this weekend.

Gorey woke me at 3 am today, mewing and meeEEOOOwing and making a general pest out of himself.  I"m going to lock his fuzzy butt in the basement.  Sigh.  No, I'm not.  Who am I kidding?   

I’m so glad you like it.    I got the body pattern from one book and the head (much scaled down) from another.  I just made up the rest. 

Well, RL has intruded with a savage vengeance on my lovely internet life so I’m going to be gone for a while.  I’m still continuing my search for at-home high-speed access (crosses fingers), and my brother should get some soon.  Hopefully.  I’ll try to come back as often as I can.