a smaller life

in which there are 38 days and one picture of a stranger

I spent today in the badging office, waiting to get my new ID. Six hours or so later- maybe more, time started to feel funny after a while there- I walked out with the piece of plastic that assures me free food at the chow hall, the return of my laundry, and all the PX privileges a girl could ask for. Raah, indeed.

I caught this image of a soldier who'd been there nearly as long as I had; somehow, he managed to sleep through the VH1 that was playing at top volume all afternoon. We were all miserable, and no one seemed to be enjoying it, but every time someone turned the volume down a woman would come out of of one of the side offices and turn it back it up to 11. Really, if she wanted to listen to Jason Mraz that badly, I think any of us would have bought her a CD and some headphones.

Weirdly enough, sitting in dangerously uncomfortable chairs all day is exhausting. Who knew? I am wiped the hell out. I'm still hoping for a run in about 30 minutes, but I might not make it after all. The thought of finishing off my mini- Toblerone stash while watching old episodes of Mad Men in  bed is pretty damned appealing.

Recent amusements include this absolutely astounding Wolf Shirt, found via LSG. Really, it's all about the comments, which include such gems as, "Excellent roaming shirt out in the dessert. Gets you great reception for your cell phone as well," and one of my personal favorites,  "I stood up, pointed to my shirt, and said with great glee, 'Dude. Look.' He cowered back into his booth where he sat amazed at the awesomeness he had just witnessed."

I've also been playing with The Evil Plan Generator, which totally makes me think of Teresa. C'mon, T. This is the push you've been waiting for! Finally, you can kick that World Domination plan into high gear.

On that note, I'm going to get my sneakers on and see if I can't knock a couple of miles out. Maybe, after that, the mini- Toblerones?

in which there are 70 days left, as well as the promise of snow and soul- crushing exhaustion

Well, the title about says it all. Not too much out of me today; I just don't have the energy.

I'm dead tired for no good reason; spent the day flitting between actually working and indulging in detailed fantasies about coming home/ my little house. I'm going to sit in my bunk, read Chris Ware, watch the second season of Mad Men, and knit for the rest of the night.

To make up for it, my three favorite webcomics. I read these pretty much every day. Go forth and enjoy.

Questionable Content (Trust me, the art gets a LOT better over time, and the writing is fantastic.)
Anders Loves Maria
Something Positive (I promise, they're not all as upsetting as the first one!)

All the links are to the very first comics, so you can obsessively work your way forward.

in which you can score wollmeise, sundara, a schrodinger bag, and more

Jacqueline at serendipity has put together an impressively huge giveaway raffle as an incentive for people to donate to the Victorian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal in Australia. Click on the link and scroll down to get an idea of what I'm talking about- it's massive. There's a little bit of everything in there-  a ton of Wollmeise (sock and lace), Sundara, patterns from the Family Trunk project (sigh, I'm a huge fan of her work), Schrodinger Knits, Blue Moon, everyone seems to hav donated something. It's amazing.

AUD$10 buys you an entry into the raffle, which closes out 1 March 2009. It's easy--- go to the Australian Red Cross website and donate AUD$10; forward your receipt to Jacqueline at knittershelpingvictorians at gmail dot com.

Hell, if you're not a knitter, you should still consider donating. Over 170 people have died so far, with thousands homeless. Here's a way to help out that so many of us will hardly even feel.

in which I continue with the hopefulness

Today opened beautifully- a perfect day for a new start, clear and gorgeous.

Jess writes beautifully about the inauguration. Highly recommended.

Chion Wolf's photos are just as eloquent. (That first shot just destroys me.)

in which I give you the best of the web, sarah- style

Dooce's entry on dog nipples  made me laugh- out- loud happy today.

Mochimochi makes me happy, especially her Plush You and Giant Things Attacking Cities posts.

Mama Blue's Squid and Ink kit on Three Little Purls makes me happy, and I only barely restrained myself from buying one.

James Joyce's incredibly filthy loveletters to his Nora make me happy; how odd to think of him that way- he's always seemed sort of lofty, up- there, to me. Not too good for it, really, but you know, I never really thought about that before. To think- he was required reading in high school. (And then I remember Molly Bloom's soliloquy and maybe I am not so surprised? Pure sensual writing, that last bit perfect- another thing that makes me so happy.) There's a link for the letters, but I think if you want it you should ask; I'd hate anyone to click that accidentally. Scandalous stuff.

Woot.com's 14 Spoilers For Watchmen post made me happy today, but that's really only for comic book geeks.

The entire simply breakfast blog makes me both homesick and really, really hungry, but incidentally happy, too.

Strange Maps' entry on West and East made me happy today.

Sweetney's entry on Jenny Holzer made me happy today.

That is all. Enjoy.

in which the economy and the bailout is simplified

I've been avoiding the political commentary; my obsession with the election, the economic crisis, and global unrest causes me enough stress. That said: I've been taking long walks, listening to every bit of podcast and radio broadcast possible trying to get all the information I can on the economy right now. I'm listening to CSPAN recordings of the bailout discussions, NPR, BBC commentary, and masses of podcasts- but of course, it's This American Life that finally begins to explain the basic concepts in a way that is easily understood.

I'm recommending the hell out of this right now- This American Life's "Another Frightening Show About The Economy," which carefully explains what- outside of the subprime mortgage market- happened, what is happening, and what we're looking at happening in the future. It's a free download this week, but I believe after that it costs ninety- nine cents. Despite the title, this is not fearmongering- it's carefully paced and intelligently worded.

Want more? I recommend APM's Marketplace Morning Report, Planet Money, The Bloomberg Votality Report, Slate's Big Money podcast, and This Week In Barron's, for starters. Forget about the links if you're looking for audio- iTunes carries them all, at least, and most of them for free. And if you're not already reading The Motley Fool, why the hell not? Get over there already and start getting smart about your money, or at least, what's happening to everyone's money right now.

Trust me- you don't have to be an investor, a home- owner, the recipient of an ARM- style loan, or a big bank for this to matter to you- it matters. And it doesn't matter JUST because this is an election year- hell, bipartisan decisionmaking helped create the problem, so you can't just point fingers at a party for this one. (Ha ha, as an independent I think this means I could point my fingers at both parties, but that rarely does anyone any good in the end.)

At the least, check out that podcast and read some over at The Motley Fool- they tend to keep it pretty clear and manageable.

in which there is a cupcake

Today can go straight to hell.

However, custard-kisses' image of a cupcake with pig sprinkles totally improved the evening. (Yeah, I googled "pig sprinkles". So what if I can't bake?)

I wonder if there are pig sprinkles in Maryland, or if that's some New Zealand- only bit of awesome.

14 days until I go home, 12 until I'm on a plane out of Afghanistan for midtour, but who's counting?

in which I collapse into fandom, and in which money really can bring happiness

I am utterly, geekily chuffed that my picture is on Sheri's blog at The Loopy Ewe. It's ridiculous, how thrilled I am over that. As Kiddo would say, squeeeee.

Anyways.

What I wanted to write about tonight was pogs. We don't see many coins out here; outside of the USPS, most change here on base is in the form of thin, cardboard pogs created by AAFES (Army/ Air Force Exchange Services). There's a reason for it- it costs more to ship coins over here than the actual value of the coins themselves. The pogs themselves are incredible- usually hilarious, although unintentionally, I think. I have a rough ton of pogs in my change jar; I just keep stashing them away, and every time we go to coffee Jason hands me his, too.

A couple of us collect some of the pogs- Billy collects what he's dubbed the "Love Me Tender" pogs, which all feature Elvis. I grab up all the superhero pogs, but so far there are only two out- Ironman and Captain America (how obvious, right?)- also the sheep pog. I also had a Nixon pog for a while there- the ultimate prize, Tricky Dick!- but I stashed it so well I can't find it any more.

Narrating/ describing the action in each pog has become a regular way to pass time while waiting in line. I keep saying I'll cash them all in to buy something, but somehow I can't see giving them all up.

Here are a few of my favorites.

From the top, we have (left, right, then down): OMG That Dog Is Wearing GOGGLES Pog, Even Soldiers Need Drugs Pog, Ironman Pog, Captain America Pog, Hooray Karakul Sheep Pog, Obvious Camel Pog, Soldier Looks Sadly At MRE Pog (AKA the Please G-d Not The Ham Slice Again Pog), Dog Eats Man Pog.

Yeah, that's really about it. Also, hell yes, 19 days.

in which there is a list of current obsessions

I am still sick, damnit.

Still sick- sicker than I was for the last few days, which is the part that pisses me off the most. Those last two days really made me think I was out of the woods. Joyful sidenote- when we went into work this morning, we learned that there is another virus going around- a new one, something with swollen glands and sore throats.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Despite being sick to my stomach, I'm starving; I can't seem to get much into me, and not much seems to be staying- dinner lasted all of about 20 minutes, and by the way, throwing up in a Port- O- Let? Worst. Thing. Ever.

I've been cruising The Amateur Gourmet- who was in Baltimore this week, damn his bad timing!- and fantasizing about cooking when I go on my midtour in - by the way- 21 days, people. TWENTY- ONE DAYS.

(I no longer care if Jason thinks counting days is a bad idea. It's unavoidable.)

Note to self- food to make when I get back to a kitchen:

• stilton leek soup
• asparagus torte
• deviled chicken
• mashed potatoes
• oven- baked garlic red potatoes
• pecan- crusted chicken
• Thai anything
• aloo gobi
• poached chicken breast with balsalmic reduction
• fettucini with wine sauce and artichokes
• that amazing brie sandwich
• chili
• cider- braised chicken
• corn chowder
• 5- minute chocolate cake
• about 1,000,000 salads with real greens
• mac and cheese casserole
• omelettes

Spent my queasy evening online, listening to new music, poring through Gocco tutorials and Etsy shops out of Baltimore; the Goggo because I want to make my own labels and tags, the Etsy out of homesickness. There's some wonderful handmade goodness coming out of Baltimore; here are some of the best I found.

imogeneANDannie's teensy weensie itty bitty whale earrings!  I love these.

SophyTuttle’s Halloween Raven Card, perfect for Baltimore.

RedPrairiePress’s Queen Anne’s Lace Scarf- I am such a sucker for botanical prints.

 

Underhercharm’s Hebrew Cuff; this (ani l' dodi vedodi li)  is one of the most romantic phrases I know in any language.

The Definition of Halloween card, from miscelena.

And then there is this dress, which is absolutely not from Baltimore or anywhere nearby, but is too wonderful for words. I'm not much in for the whole bloomers idea, but a simple underskirt would be perfect.

I'm personally in love with the red version, but liked this photo better. This is the Verity Hope dress, from malphi. She makes me want to take out the sewing machine again.

That's it and that's all for tonight; off to make miso soup, curl into bed with a good book (a McSweeney's collection, and that reminds me, it's time to update the book list again, I'm so behind) and try to get some sleep.

(PS- Oh, and the new music? If you're not listening to Au or Beirut yet, you really should check them out. Au reminds me a bit of Sufjan Stevens; wonderful, chaotic, strange music. Many thanks to Puffpastry for introducing me to Beirut.)

Who wants some silk?

Today, I have two skeins of 100% silk to give away- a heavy worsted weight yarn hand- dyed by Serendipity Fibers (that's me!). The yarn is my Asha Handpainted Silk Singles, in a limited- run colorway or peaches, pale pinks and yellows called Bunny. (It is an Easter thing, I'm told. This is what happens when you let friends name colorways after a few glasses of Madiera wine.) 165 yards of singles Bombyx silk per skein. This stuff is amazing, people- like buttah.

Want a skein? There are two skeins here; each will gain a new home this weekend. Comment below with the funniest, most embarrassing or the most interesting thing to happen to you all week; the Random number generator will pick one winner, and I'll handpick the other based on who made us laugh the longest. The deadline for comments is... (excuse me as I randomly pick a time)... 1200 Eastern time, 15 March 2008. Good luck!

Random bit of other- blog promotion: I've been poring over Mochimochi Land lately, and I'm just crazy about this blog. I have a huge soft spot for amigurumi, but it's usually done in crochet and my crochet- fu is pretty lacking. This site has pictures, info and patterns of knit amigurumi (which I may be mispelling, but which isn't in my spell check) and damn. Damn. Damn! The cute factor is stratospheric.

I mean, really. That's fantastic, and it is so going on my Ravelry queue -which, by the way, is absolutely out of hand as of late. Anyways- go check it out. There are even free patterns!

(Notes to self: next entry- photos of spinning, where is that book website?, photos of smoke ring, photos of poor sad sock.)