"he needs to get over himself"

good things are trader joe's global nut mix, all the new clothes, courtesy of the big sale at ann taylor, getting ready to write crochet patterns soon, yummy mexican food yesterday.

the bad things are waking up at least once an hour last night, hands that never warm up, wanting a cupcake, watching the mail too closely, tepid coffee. and for the sake of both of us, jeanne needs to visit more often. or vice versa.

i've been feeling like myself lately

the seafood paella from little tree is amazing. rice, sauce, oodles of scallops, shrimps, squids and even a massive CRAB CLAW. ha. you probably don't know, but crab is my favorite food. man. i don't mean to promote yuppiedom too much [and i don't necessarily recommend them for their sushi], but seafood paella, so so good.

there hasn't been heat at work in two days. when i walked in today, the thermostat read 46. it's too cold to crochet. just as i typed that, the heat clicked on. yay!

all i want to listen to are dance hits by fujiya and miyagi, junior boys, tom tom club. i notice myself straying further and further from indie pophits, "active listening" music as i have called it. i don't want to sing along anymore, just dance along. it's an age thing i think.

tonight i come out of hiding and actually go out. i've been feeling like myself lately. it's worth nearly a million dollars.

fumbling with your blouse

it took going to yoga [real yoga, not the rec center shit] this morning to realize that what i want to pratice really is ballet. i don't hate yoga, but my shoulder injury does. my wrists do. i'm pretty sure i don't have the determination to get through this post-yoga arm/shoulder/wrist pain until i get stronger and that pain isn't there anymore. i'm scared. i wish i still had insurance so i could go back to the doctor and have him tell me what i can/should do. it kinda sucks because i baby my right arm [i'm right-hand-dominant], so in turn i never build up any strength at all. but trying to build up strength aggravates it so much. guidance! meh.

the crocheted belt from happy hooker is just about done, i just gotta weave the ends in and corset that shit up. i picked up yarn for the fingerless gloves in that book at cityknits the other day too, so that's gonna be in the works too. i'll post pictures of the belt today. or tomorrow. btw, cityknits totally wins the yarn store contest [yes, there was one]. the ladies down in the fisher building [btw, the store moved from downstairs to upstairs recently, a couple storefronts down from pure detroit], they are 1000% more knowledgeable and helpful than anyone up here. all shops included. they have the perfect mix of non-pushy-ness and helpful-ness. also, they have WAY more yarn than any store up here. you should support cityknits. it's worth the drive, the parking, &tc. trust me on this. i've been going to the shops around here for about two years now, and only now have i finally made up my mind.

can i make a new year's resolution that begins now? i'm a little late, i know. this year, i want to become more able to accept criticism and more resiliant. is it possible to be too self-reflective? i'd like to share the wealth.

what's past

everything's changing at light-speeds. or so it seems. there's so much 1997 around me, i'm nearly choking on it. there's onionskin in hand, but it's not moving. all i can think about is making things. starting the happy hooker corset belt today. i gotta. i wish i was eating cookies with jeanne in a hotel room in texas.

bottom

you asked?


the tiny tote, finished
pattern from interwearve crochet magazine
greek butterfly mercerized cotton yarn


bought this yarn yesterday
from have you any wool? in berkley


started shell stitch scarf


it looks like sherbet and spring

birmingham mornings

the top of coffee crumb crummy whateverthefuck cakes is REALLY sugary. here at work we lightly kick around the idea of better choices vs. not better choices of goody-yummies from starbucks. hi, my name is peggy and i work in birmingham and go to starbucks everyday. for a while i just chalked it up to having a non-operative coffeemaker at home. but today, having rose at 5.30 am to type until i had to come here, i had ample time to drink the necessary amount of coffee for a morning peggy, but still -- i had to go to starbucks for a tea. need the morning warmth. ok, i'll chalk it up to that. and the crummy cake [ok it was yummy not crummy], honey o's at 6 am can only hold a peggy over for so long! ok, the point is that i go to starbucks every day i work, at least once. oh yeah, i forgot to add that in there. if i work open to close, it's real hard to just go once. things like this are all about blood sugar and caffeine "highs" [depends on if you're chasing the dragon or not...anyone ever remember the caffeine dragon? {note to self: remember more dragons}], up and down, get high and come down and recover. what is the recover? i don't even know. recovering from up or down? anyway, but there are way worse businesses to support -- did you know that? starbucks, you're bad to me in a unfortunately sweetie good way [the marble loaf is nearly in my personal food pyramid], but you're not THAT bad. it's better than smoking, and i can say that with 100% confidence. starbucks is also a LEAN company, meaning that they have gone through training given by my partner-in-crime's place of employment. starbucks and birmingham, though, is a pretty lethal little combo meal.

it's a wilco morning. i guess. i don't really like wilco that much. i'd rather be listening to beach house. or maritime. hey, if you like pop like AT ALL and haven't listened to maritime, you're doing yourself a disservice. trust me. it's ALMOST to the point of like how if you like mellow music and you haven't listened to iron and wine, you're totally blowing it. it's a few centimeters away from that.

i have some pictures to post, but i'm really lagging on getting some of the nice things done in life right now. i'm catching up on the weekend, promise. i finished the tiny tote crochet bag, and there'll be pictures of that. in the last month i got a new camera, a laptop, a food processor, a crock pot and a fancy coffeemaker -- kind of overwhelming! it's kind of under control almost, actually, believe it or not.

are we supposed to be thinking of spring already? i can't stop thinking about flowers covered by snow.

i think kevin shields is a liar.

it's the month of ex-boyfriends' birthdays. it's really weird, actually, to watch the days pass and note everyone turning an official year older. i recall saying i had generalized luck with capricorns, but in retrospect seeing as a couple of them and i don't speak anymore, perhaps this isn't as true. scott, sean, michael, brian. and i'm missing some someones in there, too.

anyway. i've been working on getting things in order around here. xmas still floods the house, but i'm in no rush. yesterday was the day of opening-the-boxes-of-small-home-appliances. a new, fancy coffeemaker that grinds its own beans. a crockpot. a food processor. i cook now, it's weird, i know. last night i baked a whole chicken, old-school-style, with potatoes and carrots and celery and onions in the roasting pan. terry and i tried to make a chop salad with the food processor, but i don't think it can do that? does anyone know? today is day one of crock potlife, the beef stew. the very first beef stew. today my laptop arrives at my door, finally. i want to make cupcakes everyday, and i might start. i dream of making my home a flowers-and-cupcakes-on-the-table-all-the-time type of home. it's possible, i just have to swallow the cost.

name another word for : foils

rat on station platform
life is overwhelming. i often liken it to the arcade [i'm thinking chuck e. cheese, specifically] game whack-a-mole. you know what i'm talking about? here:


whack-a-mole game
anyway...so life's overwhelming, so life's like whack-a-mole, whatever. this isn't whining, it's rambling! since i didn't drive my car for a few weeks [it's hard when your boyfriend has a brand new one!], my battery died, began to omit juices, was corroded, smoked, &tc. still working on getting that working. the coffeemaker my sister bought me for xmas doesn't work, and i HAVE to make it to hudson's [yeah i said it] this weekend to get one with a bright red working led screen. things that are good are getting WAY into crosswords courtesy of jeanne this week. today we bought crossword books, and i'm already addicted. we're starting out slow and easy, nice. nice, nice. tomorrow's a massive card party over here, crazy. my xmas stuff is still up, but i think it is almost everywhere. what's with that? work has been pretty quiet, but we are having a massive sale. you should come in. you can afford it, i know it! this american life was really, really great today. still working on finishing the tiny tote yeah-i-know-you-hated-the-colors-but-now-you-love-them crochet project. jeanne and i are working on designing laptop sleeves/cases/carrying pouches/things, and it's going to be amazing. i wish i could say that we're gonna make a million dollars off the idea. i guess you never know. tomorrow there are THREE amazing-looking estate sales in sterling heights. seriously! man. what a good day. i want to make potato leek soup, very very soon. i should work on a-soup-a-week goal, but that's not enough soups for a week! food processor, slow cooker, your time is so, so soon. anyone like the beach house album? i do. i'm starting to feel like such as old person, or old-minded or something. loving all these bands [see: beach house, radio dept.] that are big-time throwbacks to my old-timey [timer?] spacey music. blah. how boring!

so many things to make and do. thai soups, for one. slow cooker meatballs. a whole chicken in the slow cooker. more cilantro, more basil.

there was a dearth of pictures from my trip. here's a few:


tom yum soup at tiny thai


panang curry at tiny thai


steamed bun with chicken at momofuku


pork ramen at momofuku


mama's


sleepy? or mad? in brooklyn


we're in there, somewhere; nye, room4dessert

some things about life are that

on the plus side, today i brought to work the cord that connects my ipod to my stereo at home as an aux, and now i can listen to my ipod at work! trite, superfluous, whatEVER! this is seriously like the greatest thing ever. i wanna run around the store and do a little dance. maybe i will.

on the not-so-plus side, my partner-in-crime is visiting, and i've been working a lot. but it's good to just have her around, kinda pretend that we don't live really far away from each other. :)

other things about life include my initiation project [super cute purse] back into crochet, and it's pretty fun. the more i crochet, the more i want to crochet. it's nice when things work like that and can actually be feasible. jeanne and i are both considering forsaking knitting forever. seriously, if you knit and don't crochet, you should try, and you too can join us on the [kitchsy] dark side.

i'm going to eat subway real soon. pretty exciting!

segments

resolutions[/goals]:

→ understand what i am capable of [and do it!]
→ learn how to make soup
→ get rid of having too much stuff
→ read more books
→ more patience
→ get more of what i want/deserve; learn how not to try to please everyone all the time and just please myself
→ listen to more new music than i did in 2007
→ say "dude" less
→ spend less money on food; eat more veggies
→ buy a laptop and finally be happy
→ work more

nyc[+etcs.]+es:
→ central park west apt. close proximity to subway lines
→ north end hospitality
→ boston ass shaking
→ the acela
→ momofuku
→ new friends and new jokes
→ clinton street bakery [SERIOUSLY AMAZING]
→ chinatown jewelry [golden sow with dangling baby piggies sucking on the tits necklace]
→ goodie-yummie desserts [and nothing scary like beer ice cream] and hospitality at room4desssert on nye.

nyc-es:
→ smac being closed for holidays
→ monday's rain
→ brooklyn's sketchiness
→ the fung wah non-stop trip!
→ the insanely long line for the fung wah today
→ chinatown's usual insanity
→ herald square macy's post-holiday insanity
→ didn't eat a hot dog
→ rat count: 2 [one on LES and one on subway platform {i ran after it and took pictures}}