breaking radio silence

It hasn't been intentional, but I've been a slacker (lots of stuff to blog, too, it's not because of lack of blog fodder).

So for right now I'll leave you with this:

Do you see what I find particularly exciting here? It's not the lovely Ms Roberts, though I do like her. It's that she's using reusable bags. Quite rare for a star, though it shouldn't be (don't most of them have someone who is paid to remember and schlep stuff for them?). I can't tell you how many pics I have seen of stars carrying plastic bags out of Whole Foods or some other trendy store (though Whole Foods no longer offers plastic bags, yay!). If I can somehow remember to carry my bags to the store, these people can too. Kudos to La Roberts.

Picture lifted from here. They didn't even mention the bags, it's all about priorities, I guess.

apparently Nigel is quite the party animal

Or maybe he just had the flu. Whatever the cause, apparently when Larry went in to get Nina this morning Nigel was throwing up on the toilet in the dollhouse. Larry said it was quite obvious what was going on, though he didn't take pictures (why??? doesn't he know I have blog to feed?).

You be the judge of the cause of his illness; this is what the house looks like now. He's going to have some serious 'splaining to do when his parents get home. As it is Nina said she had to call 911 (well, she said "the 9911").

I don't think the flu story is going to hold, he's passed out NAKED with his arm around some chick . It kinda looks like Raggedy Anne wants to get in on the action too. Sadly she just doesn't fit in the house.

can you see the difference

Between this:

and this:*

And which would you rather have on your counter?

*It took about 30 seconds to make the top one into the bottom one.

three films

I used to go to the movies all the time, I love me some movies. But not so much any more. For one thing, I used to go with Larry and he isn't so into going to the movies these days. And it's expensive now. Anyway, I thought I'd tell you about three movies I've seen recently, all of which I enjoyed.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
It got not so great reviews, but honestly, if it's Indy, I'm probably going to see it. I wasn't expecting much (it's Indiana Jones, not Jim Jarmusch, after all). And because I wasn't expecting much, I got more than I had hoped.* Except for the ridiculous, kitschy (obviously George Lucas inserted) cgi or animatronic prairie dog in the opening sequence. Why, George, why? I wasn't sure the introduction of a "son of Indy" would work but it did, Shia LaBeouf was good and it was fun to see the reprise of Karen Allen as Marion. And of course Cate Blanchett is so amazing she probably didn't even need makeup (she's probably a metamorphmagus or something). Indy did seem old and tired in the movie, I am hoping he isn't retiring the hat and whip to Mutt but it kinda seems like they might be setting it up. Nothing lasts forever.

Sex and the City
Well, what can I say? I can quote episodes and give competent synopses thereof. I organized a group of ladies to go together; we had cocktails and some nibbles at someone's house first and then headed over. It was Sex and the City, ergo fabulous. The clothes were over the top (so much so that there were places in the movie that were not appropriate to laugh and I did anyway, at the clothes, not the plot). In my opinion there wasn't enough Stanford Blatch, but you can't have it all, can you? And I thought Big (can't bring myself to call him by his name) should have bought the apartment for her, it would have solved a lot of problems. But overall, LOVED IT.

Wanted
Larrry and I had our 6th wedding anniversary a week and a half ago but were so broke we decided to just do the "movie" part of "dinner and a movie." We chose Wanted mostly because it was starting when we got to the theater. We both tend to like good action flicks, particularly if there is a supernatural aspect. This one was pretty good, though it seemed clear that it was a setup for a franchise, and it was super violent. It was fun, though, and very funny. I kept feeling uncomfortable every time La Jolie was on screen, though, because she was so super rail thin. And I have heard that the camera puts on a few pounds. I had been reading in the gossip blogs that she was too thin before she got pregnant but weird camera angles and photoshop can make things look other than they are. I felt bad for her in this movie, honestly, instead of envious. She looked that thin to me. I just kept thinking she would look back at this movie and feel so sad about how unhealthy she looked. I can only hope for the sake of her children.

Next up? Hancock, I hope!

*Including the extra thrill of having the movie completely stop about 10 minutes from the end, pretty much at the most suspenseful bit of the movie. Everyone sat stunned for a good 3 minutes, then some people left, and someone must have told the employees because it started again in the same spot about 10 minutes later.

the ultimate geek out

I learned from my computer crash and am now backing stuff up more often. But in order to do that I had to get more storage space. So, without further ado, here is our new external hard drive. I got it for under 200$ at costco.com. 1 terabyte seems like a lot now, but I imagine in a few years I will laugh at how little memory that seems.

Nice packaging, no styrofoam.

And it's so small, note the bottle of lotion and staple remover for comparison.

It came with automatic backup software too, but I think I may uninstall it, I think it uses up a lot of memory on the computer running in the background.

I also invested in flickr pro. Just to be safe.

because medical bills suck

My friend's husband was really, really ill recently; you can read about it here. They are super nice, good people but getting the care you need in this country can bankrupt a family or put them in debt forever. If you would like to donate to their medical relief fund, you can click here.

And you can go to the benefit at The Casbah tonight, it sounds like it will be fun!

just a little pill

A little blue one. And starting today I am going to take one every day. The last time I did, I felt a lot better. I'm looking forward to that again.

And I'm really really ok with it. Happy, even.

grapes from my mom's garden

Not only are they gorgeous, but delicious too!

we picked it!

gerbera daisies

Taken with the digital Rebel.

this one's for you, Sherry

I decided to take your advice and plant some morning glories in the wisteria pot in addition to the ones in the front. They came up almost immediately.

And of course once I planted the morning glories the wisteria decided to grow by leaps and bounds. I think I was giving it too much water. The morning glories will want water though...

first squash! and other garden delights

Looky there, a crookneck squash, one of my favorite summer treats!

And another one coming along, I see.

And a cantaloupe baby and flowers (Oh my goodness, it would be so exciting to get melons from the garden) and if blogger was co-operating you would see pics of my watermelon plant too. No babies on it yet but I'm hopeful.

Lavender flowers...mmmm.

wheat free tabouleh

Or tabouli or tabbouleh...or however you want to spell it, it's usually a salad made from sprouted bulghur wheat and seasoned with parsley, mint, and olive oil. I substituted some quinoa and it's pretty grand! And I plan to add some feta cheese too...

Yes, those are tomatoes. I'm not scared, they're from my CSA (as are the cucumbers).

when socialized health care works

There was a very interesting piece on Morning Edition today about socialized health care in Germany. You can listen here.

Morning Edition, July 3, 2008 · Mention European health care to an American, and it probably conjures up a negative stereotype — high taxes, long waiting lines, rationed care.

It's not that way in Germany. Very little tax money goes into the system. The lion's share comes, as in America, from premiums paid by workers and employers to insurance companies.

Read the rest here.

the joys of baby wearing

Nina just came running into the room (with Shelf Beep on her hip) to tell me that Shelf Beep was insisting on being carried and it was interfering with the work Nina was trying to do. I suggested that Nina put Shelf Beep in her sling. Nina reports that she can now get lots accomplished. Thank goodness for slings!

Boy, did that turn out to be a great gift, thanks Rena!

And Lindsey, Nina's hair is just coming out of the braids you put in this weekend. You should be a hairdresser or something.

blog hiatus timeline

Just for kicks...

• Last Thursday I had a monumental computer crash. As in, it didn't work any more and I couldn't retrieve anything from it. A friend was able to get my data back but the computer may be on its way to the graveyard.
• Friday we went camping and didn't come back until Sunday. The campground has wifi but even I'm not that hardcore.
• Sunday, through Wednesday I had a flu or something. I didn't do much.
• Today I'm doing laundry and cleaning the house. Someday I'll blog again.