Hannah just went "night night". I am opposed to the phrase "put down" or "put to sleep". That just doesn't sound nice.

I figured once she got up from her nap I wouldn't be blogging again 'til she was back in bed. We were go, go, go. We tried out the easel and dollhouse. Collected acorns and outlined her feet on the driveway. Demolished a BBQ chicken pizza, and watched Mary Poppins. Hannah LOVES Mary Poppins. "Maaary, Maaaary, Maaary" the whole way through the credits 'til Julie Andrews made her appearance. She's a pumpk'n. Hannah that is, not Julie Andrews. (BAAAHHHHH! Guh! The cat again. I think he likes sneaking up on me.)

Adventures in Babysitting

Today I am blogging from Joel and Lara's house. I am the sitter in charge of Miss Hannah. She actually doesn't know I am here yet because she is sleeping. I always feel kinda bad when she wakes up from her nap, her parents are gone and there I am. Surprise! I think if something like that ever happened to me I would be mighty upset.

She usually forgives me when we start playing. That is always good fun. I am rather excited at the prospect of her new (ARGGGHHH! wazzat?! oh... oh it's the kitty. He just jumped off the desk behind me. I didn't know he was there. Whew!) Ummmm where was I? Oh yeah, Hannah's got a new easel and doll house to play with. The doll house even has a tiny little vacuum and a tiny little picnic table. I can't wait!

We have fun at work. Today was the September Birthdays celebration. We ate cake and ice cream and created sculpture out of candy. Pictured is a bug I made out of circus peanuts, licorice, and mini mm's. I also "accidentally" stepped on someones little marshmallow guy. Mwah-hah-hah-hah!!!

Doughboy is a capitalist.

So we were all set to order our Doughboy goodies. I began to fill out the order form for our baker's dozen batch of Doughboys, when I discovered that the shipping and handling fee applied to individual items. At two dollars a Doughboy, that will add up to $26 to get our boys shipped to us. Joel spent the afternoon on the phone with the Doughboy representatives trying to wheedle us a deal. But they wouldn't budge. Sure they are sending him a doughy surprise in the mail, but I still think the Doughboy is being a money monger.

Would you like blue, blue, blue or blue?

Speaking of VW bugs... I must say I was rather disappointed in the new bug color, Vortex Blue. Not that it isn't a great color... but there are already THREE blues. I was also disappointed when they released the Reflex Yellow (acid reflux yellow) and the Vapor Blue. Again, nice colors, but I expected something different. We already had the lemon yellow, bright blue and dark blue. Why didn't they make a nice violet or pumpkin orange? (Even though some people have something against the color pumpkin)

Actually, maybe its better they don't make a really super color, 'cause then maybe I would regret my color choice. The official name of my cars color is Cyber Green. Joel thinks that is stupid but I think it sounds cool. If I was trapped in the Matrix with Neo, Trinity and Switch, I would want my name to be Cyber Green.

I received some excellent names for the bug. Juney, Pod, Lvw (little vw), Gnat, Booger, Kermy, Lady Bug, Bug Jar, Big Bug Bug, Sweet Pea, Green Thun-da and *snicker* Olivia Newton Bug. The name I chose, I think plays well on the bug reference and the qualities of the car. I knew it was the right name the moment I heard it. The name will be announced when the certificate gets here.

A note on the use of flannel sheets once you have purchased them. Do not wear flannel pyjamas to bed with the flannel sheets or you will be velcroed into your bed, try to get up in the morning, fall over with the sheets stuck to your legs and nearly crank your head on your dresser. Uhhhh or so I have been told.

Since shopping is a specialty of mine, I feel compelled to share some of my wisdom.

Shopping sighting #1: Now that it is getting chilly out, what could be nicer than some snuggly soft flannel sheets? Target has some really toasty ones at a good price. I had been contemplating a set from the Company Store or Garnet catalog for awhile, but the Target ones are just as cute. They have clouds, snowflakes, sliding polar bears and sleepy sheep. They also had yellow ones with cats and dogs wearing galoshes and holding umbrellas in the rain (which I got) at the store, but I didn't see them online. I think I need the sleepy sheep ones too. It's supposed to be a cold winter.

I noticed some trees changing color on my way to work this morning. Mmmmmm. Almost made driving through four road construction sites bearable. What ARE they doing to the roads in the city? Joel is convinced it's the mafia. Ooooooh maybe I shouldn't write that in a public forum. He might get wacked now.

A rose by any other name...

I have a huge decision to make. I now know how Millie feels. She doesn't know what to name her child. I don't know what to name my car.

Last spring I got a green 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle. Yesterday I read on a FAQ that you can call Volkswagen and get a birth certificate for your baby bug. It lists the vehicle production date, model, color, port of entry, engine number and the best part, weight and length.

So this morning I call the Volkwagen Customer Service, and the nice lady is asking me questions, "What color is it? What is your first name? What is the car's name?" What is the cars name? Uh oh. I am a bad bug owner. How could I have not named my baby?

I panic. "Joel! I need a name!"... "Jinx!" "...Uhhh, Millie? Name?"... "Diego! Ricky Martin!"

"Can I call you back?" I ask the VW lady.

Got a good name? Tell me.

I just read that the guy that ran over Stephen King last year just died. Stephen expressed sorrow over his death. That's pretty nice considering the guy ran over him because he was distracted by his dog. It was like those people you see driving with their poodle in their lap. ("YEAH! What's up with that?!!! - Millie) The circumstances surrounding the deceased sound a little sketchy. I must say I'm not suprised. I mean c'mon. You don't run over Stephen King and expect to get off scot-free. Hasn't anyone read "Carrie"?!

Well we know where the doughnuts came from. Joel brought them in for Millie's Birthday. Yes, today is her birthday... Happy Birthday Millie! The thing that cracks me up, is that she was wondering why the doughnuts might be there. I think a birthday is a perfectly good reason for doughnuts.

Mystery Doughnuts.

There are doughnuts on Millie's desk and we don't know where they came from. A whole box. They look mighty tasty. But we can't eat them because we don't know if they have merely been misplaced. Or tainted with poison.

They are calling my name..."Jennnnnyyyyy, Ohhh Jennnnyyyy. We are taaaaaastyyyyy" Mmmmffffff!

Yo, ho, ho...

I just got back from Tony's backyard pirate themed party. This is the first time I have skittered home in order to blog an event.

I had a good time. I hung out, jumped on the trampoline, ate a hotdog, tried Tina's potato chip garnished hamburger (it's the crunchy vrs. the meatiness that is appealing), posed for many pictures and did poorly in a bubble blowing contest.

In addition, my rice crispy treats were a success. I returned home without any of the extra thick treats I made for the occasion. Luckily I had left a few at home for me. Any good party food bringer knows they cannot be seen devouring the whole of whatever it is she brought.

It started to rain and we all crowded under the tent. With all the overenthusiastic trampoline jumpers in that tent we started to steam up like pork dumplings. That was my cue to leave. But a good party, all in all. Garrrrrrrr!

World Burps and bamboo.

I have become aware of a phenomenon known as a world echo. This is when you have a conversation with someone about an occurrence or subject and then later that day it's on the 6 o'clock news or salon.com. The thing you think YOU stumbled upon is suddenly being discussed by everyone. Some people call it coincidence. I call it a World Burp.

A recent World Burp began when I was eating at the Spring Roll in Toronto. The restaurant had a nice asian decor that I have always admired. Along the counter they displayed bunches of bamboo, bound together and sprouting from shallow dishes of water. Now I have a love/hate relationship with flora. I have grown cherry tomatoes on my balcony, forced bulbs, harvested moss and fretted over dying succulents. Cacti have been my most successful attempts at greenery. These bamboo looked very appealing. Plus bamboo is a good word. Bambooooooo.

I wondered where I could get one. My dad grows bamboo at the end of the driveway back home and I toyed with the idea of calling him and asking him to go whack off a few pieces for me.

The next day as I was strolling through Target (pronounced Tar-shay), what did I spy with my little eye, but pots of bamboo. I was ready to snatch one up with glee, 'til I saw that they were somewhat cemented into the pots with tiny pieces of gravel. They were not the free growing stalks with a few river stones like I had seen before. I left them behind in disgust.

That evening I watched Tampopo with Aaron and then we went to Ming's noodle for dinner because that is what you do after you watch Tampopo. Guess what they had on the counter next to the cash register? Bamboo! I prodded Aaron in the side until he asked the nice lady where they got it. "Chinatown USA" she replied. Oh.

Aaron and I were discussing the decor of the noodle shop and he mentioned that he had flipped through a Feng Shui book and a lot of the items on the counter were part of Feng Shuei. Wednesday at lunch Andy, Millie, Natalie and I grabbed take out from the Bankok and they had a lot of the same things by their cash register.

Curious, (not that I base my life on where my trashcan is) I did a search on the web. Lo and behold I found that Feng Shuei makes use of bamboo. The little displays I have been seeing are called Lucky Bamboo. They had even been featured in Mademoiselle magazine.

I must have one.

What's the plural of bamboo? Bambi?

Autumn in Rochester.

We were heading down to the Ralph room when Millie commented on how fallish my outfit looked today. I glanced down at my rust colored shirt, tan pants, brown and green flowered socks and dark brown Doc sandals. I suppose it was a subconcious wish for autumn.

I love autumn. Once I get past that sicky "back to school" feeling, I love the changing leaves, cool air and that...that fall smell. I want to run through piles of leaves, carve pumpkins, sip apple cider and wear brown.

Nature hasn't been cooperating though. It rained so much this summer everything is still lush and green. Yesterday, it was hot out. I was uncomfortably warm in my fluffy pink fleece pullover.

I am anxious for that autumn feeling, but it just isn't there. I even went to see "Autumn in New York" but that certainly didn't help. (Who thought Richard and Winona would have any chemistry?) It wasn't at all like "You've Got Mail". Now there is a movie that starts off with an autumn feeling. Tom Hanks emails Meg Ryan "I love autumn in New York. It makes me think of bouquets of pencils and the smell of scotch tape."

*sigh*

Yay.

I finally got a cover sheet to print out with my stuff. Woo-hoo! Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy.

Bloggity, blog, blog.

As you can see to the left, the blog craze is spreading.

Reuse, Recycle and Reduce.

When I was a kid I had a Sesame Street activity book that showed you how to make a bird feeder out of a milk carton and shovel and pail out of a Clorox jug. Good fun. My great Aunt Janet used to make wind mobiles out of plastic liter soda bottles to hang on her RV. Clever.

Helpful Heloise would be pleased.

After lunch Millie was telling us about her friend seeing Tanzaniers with Kodak film canisters in their ear lobes. Was this sad or was it a fascinating anthropological outcome? That started a whole discussion of the use of (nice word) found objects/(not so nice word) commercial waste in the creation of other objects. Is it resourceful? Is it creative? Is it tacky?

Joel told us about these hats he has seen made out of beer cans. Well this I had to see. We did a search on the web and came up with text only. I needed a visual. And then the answer came to us. Where can you find such a prized and useful item? Ebay.

We found four. The more common version consists of cut outs of beer cans with holes punched around the sides and crocheted together with yarn into a hat-like shape. Then we found one that was totally comprised of cans with leather lacing. Millie took a closer look and said "Now that is a quality piece of merchandise" .

Joel can be such a smarty pants.

Fly me to the moon.

Yeah. I got a little summer place upstate. Well ok, way upstate. Well ok, actually it's on the moon. When I was in Toronto for the Film Fest with friends, we spotted a copy of the local paper with the headline that you could buy 1,000 acres on the moon for $10. "Oooooooh" I thought and then quickly forgot about it in our pursuit of John Cusack.

Then today I get an email from Patrik announcing his purchase of lunar property. I must admit I was rather dubious. I went and checked out the website and I was convinced it was a joke. The guy refers to himself as "the Big Cheese". But I read on... the FAQ's outlines how no government can own extraterrestrial property, but individuals can. So this guy, Dennis Hope went to his local government office and made a claim for the entire lunar surface, thus starting a business called the Lunar Embassy.

Both Joel and I pored over the site and it sounds as legit as something of this nature could sound. So I bought 1777.58 acres of Lunar surface for $15.99. Facing the Earth. I considered buying some land for my parents. Would I want them living right next to me on the moon? Then I decided 1777 acres should be enough room for all of us to spread out.

Kristen is already planning out how she is going to get there. She doesn't like to fly. Myself? I plan to ride through a wormhole in a metallic sphere shouting "I'm ok to go! I'm ok to go!"

The site clearly states that even though I do in fact OWN this land, it is more of a novelty. I'm not a sucker...really. I figured it was only fifteen bucks. I'm not planning to build my vacation home there or anything. Anyone who knows me, knows I have an interest in space. I thought the map showing you where your moon property is located and the lunar deed would be cool. At any rate it will look nice hanging next to my certificate and map of the star Aaron had named for me last Christmas.

Snippity, snip, snip!

I got my hair cut this weekend. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it was nearly a foot length of hair. I haven't had my hair this short since high school. But it wasn't real traumatic. It is all one length, to my chin, no bangs... easy to grow back out if I so desire. It looked like a lot of hair on the floor though. Viviene was sorry she didn't think to save it for the Cancer Society.

I also got a little suprise when it was cut. All my life I have had stick straight hair. But this past year, the back of my head has been getting wavy, as though it had been in a braid. I didn't know what was going on. Then as the strands were cut away from my head, and the weight of the hair was lifted away... sproing! I now have curly hair. The front, what would be bangs, is still straight, but the rest is curly. It's like someone snuck in my house and permed it in my sleep. It feels strange. Light and fluffy and what is that? Oh! The back of my neck! I'm going to save money on shampoo and conditioner.

The inspiration for my haircut was Meg Ryan ("How does she breathe through those little nostrils?" -Joel R.). So anyone that saw me downloading and printing pictures of her last week at work can now put their minds to ease.

Go take your aleve!

I didn't blog yesterday because I was at an all day quarterly review/team building experience. Now we are back in the office, our bitter cynicism, fresh and renewed.

Today has been a day of debates. Should Harry Potter be banned? Is it okay to put ketchup on macaroni and cheese? Was it wrong for Palmer (Mathew McCanaughey)to ask Ellie (Jodie Foster) if she believed in God at the interview session in "Contact"? Are the Olympics worse for allowing professional athletes to compete? These may sound like trivial matters, but they have been hot topics today. Forget polititians. Send designers to the UN. Designers have rather strong opinions they aren't scared to voice. "There is NOTHING wrong with that shade of yellow, the 36 pt helvetica DOES TO look fine and Richard SHOULD NOT have gotten the million dollars!"

I love shoes.

Boy do I. I think I probably have about 50 pairs. Now this is counting flip flops and snow boots. Plus you have to take into account that my feet haven't grown since 7th grade, so I haven't "grown" out of a pair for quite some time.

When I left home I left behind 30 pair. They weren't worthy of carrying on with me to the next stage of my life. They were shoes that I bought on a whim . Sometimes just because they were a bargain. They were worn once and then ignored. Or maybe I had nothing to wear with them. Impulse buying combined with my packrat tendencies contributed to my large collection.

More thought goes into the aquisition of shoes now. Each pair is a beaut. Sometimes I sit in meetings and admire them. Or maybe when I am walking. I caught myself staring at them today when I had my feet kicked up on my desk.

I also love the things that go with shoes. Socks. Patterned and stripey ones especially. Today I can see the socks through my most excellent shoes. Today is a good day.

I've got a porcupine in my throat.

My throat hurts. It started as a tickle on Friday and now it feels like a rug burn in my esophagus. I thought it was due to the super sonic wind tunnel air vent above my desk. Maintenance has been playing games with us by turning it on full blast then randomly turning it off. Off...on....off...on. This test of our endurance goes hand in hand with my Matrix-like conspiracy theory. I believe that polluted air from the factory plants is being pumped to our office buildings and put through our air system to be filtered by our lungs. The clean air is then reintroduced into the environment and the company wins conservation awards.

Then I got an email from my sister. She was here for Labor Day weekend with my parents and we went to the Thousand Islands. She wrote, "On Thursday I lost my voice and my throat got really sore and raw. On Friday, I skipped school and went to the doctor's. I have laryngistis." Oh REALLY?!

This does not discredit my theory.

Star gazin' in Toronto.

A lowdown of the weekends events.

Friday: We scooted up to Toronto right after work. There was sluggish traffic outside of the city, which was made worse by me needing to go wee. I was a little suspicious when we pulled up to our hotel and noticed its five star cooshiness. We had a really good rate, so we thought maybe we were at the wrong place, but it turns out it was the AAA discount that made it so affordable. I knew I had that membership for more than the maps.

We arrived too late to check the ticket office, so we just walked down Yonge Street thinking maybe we would trip over a celebrity. The stars just finished going down the red carpet at the Elgin for "State and Main" so we saw Sarah Jessica Parker posing for photographers just inside the theatre doors. Seeing celebrities makes me hungry so we ate at Mache Movenpick. It's set up like a supermarket with stations where different dishes are being made. The only problem was... I was afraid I would get a dish and then go around the corner and find something better. I wandered about in circles with a dazed look on my face. I ended up getting a little bit of everything. The mango, peach and banana crepe for dessert was the highlight of the evening.

Saturday: Grabbed some brunch and then hotfooted it around town trading our passes in for tickets. On our way to lunch, we saw a movie being filmed down a side street. A man with white hair was choking another guy hanging out a window. I think the chokee may have been John Cusack, but I am not sure as it was hard to get a good look at him since he was being choked. Patrik was lagging behind us looking for a place that sold beef jerky, and he was pretty sure that it was him..

That evening we went to the Stephen Frears tribute at Roy Thompson Hall and saw John Hurt, Jack Black, and Natasha Wagner. Kristen was all melty in the seat next to me because John Cusack attended and we could see him in the front row clutching a Snapple. Frears asked them all onto stage at the end and John was rather tall and kinda frumpy. I think that endeared him to her even more. On our way out Aaron stepped on Tia Carrera.

A quick cuppa at Starbucks and then to the Elgin to see the "You Can Count on Me" with Mathew Broderick and Laura Linney. Mathew didn't make it, but we saw Laura, Rory Culkin and the some other stars of the movie. It was a really nice film, one of the best I have seen in awhile. The character Terry, played by an actor I didn't know, had some really great deadpan lines.

We bolted out of the theatre and took the subway to the Uptown theatre to see a South Korean serial killer/police thriller "Tell Me Something". It was pretty gorey, but a good movie to be watching at midnight. Lots of glinting knives, cold stares, rainy streets and the team of detectives dressed like Miami Vice that always show up minutes after the someone gets wacked. And thanks to my extensive exposure to the Korean language (via Mom)... I could understand the dialogue when they said "hello".

I wore my berry/wine colored outfit (hot fall colors!) and my new black boots in hopes of being mistaken for a star, but all I got for my efforts were gooshy blisters on each of my pinky toes. I slapped some Winnie the Pooh band-aids on 'em and was ready to hit the pavement again.

Sunday: Checked our bags and then scooted back up to the Uptown to see the Mexican film "Amores Perros". It was a pretty heavy film with three intertwined stories of people and their different predicatments with (unknowingly) each other and with their dogs. I was pretty upset at some of the scenes that showed dog fights and dead dogs. I am not sure how they filmed it because it looked so real. Since it was in Spanish I couldn't read any "no animals were harmed...." statements in the credits.

The movie was good, but it was a bummer movie to see last, right before Kristen had to leave to fly back to Boston. You don't exactly skip away laughing and singing after this flick. Aaron and I ate at Spring Rolls...yummm... and then headed back to Rochester through a heavy downpour.

I had no idea how popular the Toronto Film Festival was. All of the big name movies were sold out and then even the smaller name ones filled up. Once all the ticket holders were seated, the volunteers would bring rush line folks in to sit in the odd empty seat here and there. I had ordered a pass book early on but wasn't able to go up to fill out a schedule for the movies I wanted to see. I got the scoop that next year I can fax my list in, since I am from out of town. One of the girls at the box office said she had another person from Rochester send in his list of 150 movies and got them all. Its a strange process, but they say it works. So this was practice for next year.

Where's my popcorn?

The event that I have been researching and planning for is finally here. Today I am heading to Toronto with Aaron to meet folks from work and Kristen flying in from Boston for the Toronto International Film Festival.

There are many different reasons for going. With over 300 films screening, I hope to catch a few star studded red carpet flicks and maybe some artsy fartsy independent ones. I know Tina is hoping to run into celebrities powdering their noses in the rest room. I want to come home discussing movies that won't be out for ages. Oh yeah and there is shhhhhhhopping and eating to be done also.

This has got to my one of my most well planned events. I am an avid list maker... but I think this time I outdid myself. Early on I searched the web for what movies with which Hollywood stars would be there. I know when and where the movies are playing, and where the stars will be eating. I ordered my passes a month ago. I constructed outfits in the fall hot colors of wine and berry. My maps are highlighted and camera loaded. An article I read said that when in the presence of a star you're not to gush, stare, or touch them. Hah! Forget that!

It's time to cash in our Doughboy points.

All of us at the office has some sort of odd attachment to the Pillsbury Doughboy. I think it's our interest in design that causes us to admire these fictitious spokes characters of consumer products. We already have a natural attraction to packaging design. While working on product marks, I spent a lot of time in the cereal aisle staring at the brightly colored graphics that lure the kiddies in. A well designed logo can illicit oohs and ahhhs out of our crowd. So these mascots are a mere extension of product packaging. All that is good and wonderful personified into a doughy little critter. And Pillsbury doesn't want anyone messing with that image either.

It's a designers dream. Creating a being that will represent your product. You can control everything about them. (And they won't get arrested for drug possession and make you look bad like some celebrity spokespeople)

When I discovered that the doughboy had a real name... Poppin' Fresh, I was delighted. The Michelin man is also well liked around here for his colorful history. He too has a name...Bibendum. His name comes from Latin "Nunc est bibendum!" meaning "It is time to drink!". Original posters show Bibendum raising his glass full of broken glass and nails and offering a toast of "To your health! Michelin tires drink obstacles!". Perhaps Firestone needs a spokes character.

Sadly though, not all mascots live on like our beloved Poppin' Fresh. The lucky ones just get makeovers like Uncle Ben, Aunt Jemima and Betty Crocker. Maybe it's better to stick with gooey non human mascots. Their hairstyles never go out of fashion.

The event that really cinched our love for Poppin' Fresh was the day one of the programmers brought in a 3 foot tall stuffed Poppin' Fresh. From then on he was our mascot. He occupied our chairs when we were on vacation, sat in on meetings for us and was always there for a satisfying hug.

An insert in the Sunday paper alerted us to the thrills of collecting Doughboy points. There was no covering up the fact that we all consumed a lot of the doughy sweet goods, so a collection box was made and the points started pouring in. Our first acquisition was a Doughboy cookie jar. The big plus is the nervous giggle that it makes when you open the lid. Shameful crimes were committed when the jar was filled with Oreos and Chips Ahoy rather than the Pillsbury brand.

A lot of the points have been accumulated by myself and my cubicle neighbor, Joel. We checked the Doughboy site weekly to see when the Doughboy Points Store was updated. I even set the big day in my Lotus Notes Calendar. Now there are a whole new line of products to chose from and we have a grand total of 302 points. We were thinking of getting 10 Vinyl Doughboys at 25 points each and a dish set for Joel's daughter, Hannah, at 50 points. Oh happy day!

I had a blog all ready for today, but then I started messing around with my settings and messed everything up, so it will be new tomorrow. Uhh yeah... that's why I had to repost everything. oops.

It's a brand new day.

Am I out of control? I have had the power of the blog for half an hour and have blogged twice. Thrice if you count that bit of eloquence at the begining. (I can see now that I will have to brush up on my grammer and spelling...ugghhh)

What have I been missing? So many things I could have written about this past year! Snowboarding (design conference in disquise) in Utah, three of my closest friends moving to opposite sides of the country, my new Beetle...scratching my new Beetle, Piglet's big holiday in London, things I was into (smoothies, striped socks) and what I thought about popular topics (Harry Potter, Survivor). Stuff I want to share with friends and fam... but probably really only matter to me. *snort* Well here we go.

Ohhhh hah hah hah. Very interesting. I have been familiar with blogger and very interested in it since the begining of summer. Several popular blogs are visited everyday after lunch, during my post digestive lethargic haze. When I was in grad school I kept up my home page religously. I had digital artwork, my resume and some goofy stories. But after I graduated RIT saw fit to ignore my 5 digit financial investment and wiped out my page. Between that and sitting in front of a screen all day in corporate slavery... the thought of going home and maintaining a site did not appeal.

Ok and I was too cheap and lazy to get service and a domain. But today! Oh wonderful day! Pyra has launched this bit of genius so that I can now blather on to my hearts content. So now this may inspire me to start working on my online presence once again. Or at least keep me busy at work. hah

Mmmmmm. Testing testing ahhhh test test.