Sunday, January 30, 2011

So we meet again...

So, here is (more or less) all that has transpired since last we met, dear reader:

I acquired a new computer (Desktop, HP pavilion, under $500, nice big screen, just waiting on the wireless adapter)

I found my camera

I realized I had lost my camera (in this order, because before finding the poor wretched thing in a heap of grimy snow on the side of the road, I'd assumed it was still in the house somewhere)

I removed the guts (SD card, battery) from my camera, laid it out to warm up, applied a little Pledge Multi-Surface to the LCD and body to remove the mud and grass, reassembled it, and discovered that despite 24+ below-freezing hours in a snow bank, it was in perfect working order. Hurrah for Fuji. Not so for the pockets in my coat, as they are less-than-ideal when it comes to retaining the objects placed in them. I haven't any pictures of my camera in its sad state, as my camera was busy being in a sad state at the time, but here's what it might have looked like if it were an orange:


I found an orange on the side of Welch street.

I discovered that college students are not big on reading forms before they sign them (long story regarding library cards).

I finally got around to watching the 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland. Pros: Literally rated PG "for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar"; not sure whether the Jubjub bird is a harpy eagle, an archaeopteryx or a Wargle, but it's fantastic; the Mad Hatter was pretty clearly Jack Sparrow. Cons: Closing credits song (the mood seems odd for the setting); Hathaway's White Queen was quite creepy, we needed some character development for that woman (and don't you dare say "sequel"); the Mad Hatter was pretty clearly Jack Sparrow.

I finished reading Gaiman's Sandman series; great fun seeing how each artist interpreted Matthew the raven.

I marveled at the obstinance of the robins, who insist on arriving in a snow or ice storm EVERY YEAR. Today they huddled miserably in the crab-apples outside the library while a few inches of snow hurtled around them in 30-mile-per-hour gusts. I was working, so no photos of that. Sorry. Have some kraut juice:


That is all. Good night.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Laptops, puffins, penguins....

Four weeks in and already exhausting my supply of user-offered penguins from Zazzle, looks like. I'll have to start trawling around for others and asking permission and stuff. Heigh-ho!

I haven't been taking many pictures lately, though there's one still on my camera (I'm terrible about leaving pictures on my camera to rot) of some awesome pink Himalayan salt that comes with a tiny little grater and the helpful instruction "Grate rocks to obtain salt."
Have a puffin instead:


Anyhow. Tablet's still working nicely, though it took a bit to get Inkscape working with it. Can't say the same for m'poor netbook. The screen's getting worse - I could peel it open and fix that up, but there are a half-dozen other little things falling apart at the same time. Looks like I'm in the market for a new computer, maybe one with a sensibly-sized screen now that I have a job to pay for it. It's going to take a while to decide which, though - goodness, so many choices!

Had some pizza and cupcakes at the Cupcake Emporium. Tomorrow I'll have to check out the Vinyl Cafe, which sits nearby, down a scary flight of steps near some exquisitely cold-looking chrome chairs.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Winter Wonderland

Well, it's snowing here. Not like it is in blizzard-land, just a nice steady "drizzle" if you will that's piled up here and there. Where they've plowed, the drifts are up past my knees (note to self: don't try to cross the parking lot via the drifts), but otherwise the wind has kept it pretty tame.


Decided to take a nice moonlight stroll down Main and catch up with my old buddy, the Pumpkin Patch. (No, that link doesn't go anywhere, but it'll remind me to keep checking until it does.)

On my way there, I realized there was a store I'd never actually heard of - Ames Cupcake Emporium, who serves - you guessed it - pizza. And cupcakes, obviously, but ... also pizza. Pizza and cupcakes. I wanted to save my money in case I found something I just HAD TO HAVE at the Pumpkin Patch (something under 10 dollars, that is, since I hate my wallet and just grabbed the first bill that wasn't a 1 to bring with me). Set out for the Patch, a whole three yards to the left.

Admired all the pretty pretty things; little tin wind-up things, and plastic dinosaurs, and a wee little room of books, and so very many puppets and stuffed toys with soft soft fur. Played with Rocket Frog, who is technically Frog in a Spaceship, who (anyone at the Ames Public Library will tell you) is the bestest Folkmanis puppet - which is saying something, since Folkmanis puppets are wonderful critters (with a price tag to prove it).

Following so far?

Had to train myself not to look up every time a customer addressed the woman behind the counter, whose name was Emily. Half listened to whatever it was Iowa Public Radio had to say about the Superman comic with Des Moines in it ... something about Supes being too whiny and punching things.

Finally bought a little spinny bit of peppermint left over from the holidays; I don't like peppermint, but I'll give it to someone who does.

It was half an hour till closing when I got there, so soon enough I was back out on the sidewalk and hungry for cupcakes.
Went back to the Emporium for something with green frosting (kiwi, it was kiwi - the fruit, I assume), looking a bit lonely on a big plate but fluffy and yummy and generally a cupcake.


I like Main Street. Five dollars isn't much to donate to the place, but every little bit counts, eh?

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Take one tablet before breakfast...

...And try not to wear it out by lunchtime. Stop periodically to eat, stretch legs, etc.

Lo and behold, my touchpad woes are cured. I love my tablet. I have a netbook, no external ... mouse, speakers, anything, and for Christmas I finally got me a proper drawing tablet. It's useful all around, but what I can't get over is the stupid little Corel Sketch Pad program. I ... I can draw with a pencil. ON THE COMPUTER. I know, I know, the train's not going to come off the screen and hit us. But c'mon, you have to admit it's cool that I can scribble for three hours without worrying about wasting my good pencils and paper.

I'm glad I didn't spring for a larger model (got me a little Intuos4 Small) because it's bigger than my netbook as it is. Some have mentioned the pen stand ... it's true, the pen stand is awesome. It's like having a little inkstand. The less using a computer feels like using a computer, the better, if you ask me. It'll take a while for me to determine whether it was worth the 200 bucks, and whether I really need to keep all this free software installed on my poor overburdened computer, but for now I'm having a blast. Even Inkscape is a little easier on this thing (not so much *clicking*), and I made me a raccoon:


Getting tons of replies for my Penguin Project so far - keep 'em coming, you nonexistent blog-viewers, I've still got over 300 to go!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Stalked by penguins...



I'm taking advantage of winter break and bringing home as many pretty books as I can from my wanderings through the library. Nothing non-fiction, nothing informative, just strange books and silly books and fun books and books with nice pictures. I think of it as a service to the library, freeing up some shelf space. This week, that's left me with:

The More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, obviously)
The individual volumes were all checked out, but here they are in one place! Plus it's one of those big hardcovers that stays open on a page.

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (Neil Gaiman)
The Sandman: The Doll's House (same as above)
Love Mirrormask, never read these. Working through the second volume right now, having trouble not thinking "Rose Tyler" every time our young blonde Rose is mentioned.

The Black Book of Colors (Menena Cottin, Rosana Faria)
The picture books are in great big bins, so you just flip through till something catches your eye. The title of this one was curious; you open it up and the pages are all indeed black save a single line of white text on the left. The rest is for another sense; the words are repeated in braille, and the facing page has raised images representing the color (grass for green, strawberries for red, leaves for brown). Very fun.

A Mama for Owen (Marion Dane Bauer, John Butler)
The tortoise and the hippo. I know the story, though I haven't gotten around to the book yet - the cover illustration is just lovely, very soft and understated.

So, that should tide me over till Wednesday. If not, I've got Clash of the Titans to entertain me.

Oh, and my jewelry finally arrived! Little mix-up in the mail, resulting in the delivery of two (non-sonic) screwdrivers I didn't exactly order, but now it's here and so shiny:


Chose Engineering because, obviously, it matches my shirt.
Toodles.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

FIRST



First post!
Of the year, that is.
On this blog, that is.

My New Year's Eve celebration consisted chiefly of eating pretzels and wearing everything leopard-print that I owned.
There's actually quite a lot of it.
Though I just now realized I forgot the pin, the leopard pin. Got the gloves, the shirt, the necklace (yes, the necklace!) but not the pretty stalking leopard with the green gem eyes.
I don't, now I think of it, know where that pin is at all. Dear me. I like that pin.

Moving on. Went somewhere just a little fancy, but stayed indoors and watched the sleet build up on the roads and turned up the heater and read The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and wondered just how many hotel rooms in other states could boast a completely unobstructed view of sleet-coated cornfield stubble from their third-floor windows.

Magical.

Was nearly trampled to death in the morning as the previously-deserted lobby filled with families in pajama pants just in time for breakfast. Was very nearly punched in the crotch by a small child who was violently stretching and yawning without paying attention to his surroundings.



There were corndogs in the cooler along with the skim milk and the fruit and the low-fat yogurt. Wasn't entirely sure what to make of that one except that in Iowa we have corndogs for breakfast, and if you have a problem with that well you can just take your lite yogurt and your fruit cup and shut the heck up. Or something to that effect.

I got the first week of my Penguin Project set up, but aside from that have truly done nothing constructive and don't really plan to. Even this blog represents a surprising amount of effort on my part - as reading it has no doubt been on yours. I'm not going to re-read that sentence to see whether it was grammatically correct, I'm just going to go back and sprinkle some random pictures from last year/week throughout the text to make this all halfway worthwhile.