One Word Meme

Okay, I took the bait...

The answers were limited to one word and one word only. No explanations.

I had to think about some of these.

Yourself: alone
Your Lover: nonexistent
Your Hair: colorful
Your Mother: dead
Your Father: distant
Your Favorite Item: ring
Your Dream Last Night: unremarkable
Your Favorite Drink: martini
Your Dream Home: cozy
The Room You Are In: living
Your Pets: allergic
What You Are Now: tired
Who You Want to be in Ten Years: myself
What You Want to be in Ten Years: happy
What You're Not: perky
Your Best Friend: Karen
One of Your Wishlist Items: wetsuit
Your Gender: female
The Last Thing You Did: swim
What You Are Wearing: shorts
Your Favorite Weather: sunny
Your Favorite Book: Palahniuk
The Last Thing You Ate: rice
Your Life: challenging
Your Mood: ambivalent
Favorite article of clothing: tank
Favorite color: black
School: UCSB
Song: Vedder

A bit of Hamlet

"There are more things in heaven & earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Today's Cup of Tea

I just flew in from Chicago

and boy are my arms tired! heeeeeee!!!

Business and pleasure. Visiting with my friend Lorali. Great fuds! Even Pizza Hut pizza was awesome!!! If you travel to Chicagoland, a visit to Oberweis for ice cream is a must!!!

Some highlights...

Baha'i Temple at night, Wilmette, IL

Riding the 'L'.

Downtown Chicago from the Ferris Wheel at the Navy Pier

Chicago Tribune Building

Cloud Gate in Millenium Park (The Mirron Bean)

Sea Dragon at the Shedd Aquarium (Isn't it lovely?!)

Chicago Skyline at twilight from Evanston, IL (Out of battery juice darnit!!!)

Pretty colors at the Fountain Square Art Festival

bad painting (neo-expressionism)

Today while I should have been packing for my trip to Chicago I was procrastinating. I watched the movie Basquiat and was inspired by his life and his art. Basquiat gained fame with his graffiti art, then in neo-expressionism. At one point, he became friends with and collaborated with Andy Warhol. Tragically, he died in 1988 of a heroin overdose at the age of 27.

Street to Studio, The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat is a website for kids, but its cool and interactive, and includes a bio of Basquiat, as well as examples of his art and descriptions of his artistic process.

Butterfly Factoids

Butterflies and moths make up the order Lepidoptera. The name means "scale wing," and lepidopteran wings are covered with microscopic scales, which are iridescent and brightly colored.

Primitive lepidopterans retain functional chewing mouthparts as adults, but more derived ones have partially or completely lost the mandibles and developed a long proboscis for drinking nectar from flowers.

Butterflies have taste sensors that are located in the feet, and by standing on their food, they can taste it!

The top butterfly flight speed is 12 miles per hour.

Monarch butterflies journey from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of about 2,000 miles, and return to the north again in the spring.

Butterflies cannot fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees.

Antarctica is the only continent on which no Lepidoptera have been found.

There are about 24,000 species of butterflies. The moths are even more numerous: about 140,000 species of them were counted all over the world.

People eat insects – called "Entomophagy" (people eating bugs) – it has been practiced for centuries throughout Africa, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, and North, Central and South America. Why? Because many bugs are both protein-rich and good sources of vitamins, minerals and fats.

Butterflies and insects have their skeletons on the outside of their bodies, called the exoskeleton. This protects the insect and keeps water inside their bodies so they don’t dry out.

All butterflies have six legs and feet. In some species such as the monarch, the front pair of legs remains tucked up under the body most of the time, and are difficult to see.

Information from University of California Museum Paleontology and The Butterfly Site

I took this photo at Ridge during the bridal shower. Isn't it nice when nature cooperates?

Underwear Man Update!

Unfortunately for all my fellow bloggers I will not have the opportunity to post a picture of Underwear Man on my blog. Upon coming home from running with the ladies this morning, I saw a U-haul van in the driveway. Parked in front of Underwear Man's apartment. He has moved OUT. Off to torture a new neighbor with his loud phone calls and peek-a-boo underclothing.


Try not to cry from the disappointment. I will toast the Saint of Small Favors with a nice glass of Zin.

Pull Buoys and Other Swimming Accoutrements

So, Thursday during swim class I TOTALLY lucked out!!! We practiced diving again in the dive well and because of that, we had a lifeguard (Marlon, more on that soon!) help those who don't swim very well or are intimidated by deep water get to the side of the pool after diving. During warm-up I had asked him to watch my stroke and afterwards, he said "lets work on it at the end of class."

I got the "learn how to swim the freestyle stroke in 60 seconds or less" lesson! I used the pull buoy (awkward, "controlled drowning?") and practiced slowing down, pointing my nose to the bottom, breathing every 3rd stroke, and leeennnnggggtttthhhhiiiinnnngggg my stroke until I reduced the number of strokes necessary in a 25 yard length from 26 to 22!!!!!!

Yahooo!

Marlon: "You're not breathing as hard as you were."
Phin: "Yeah!"
Marlon: "You're not as tired as you were."
Phin: "Heeeey, yeah!"

Cah-lick!!!

Funny side note: We had rookie life guards train with us a couple of weeks ago. In my group was "Marina."
Life guard support for diving. That was "Marlon."
My nickname is "Phin."

Is that synchronicity? I am a Pisces too. All signs point to learning how to swim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art with Sis!

Today, my friend Sis and I are hanging out. Its sort of a celebration of her 10th birthday. I picked her up, we went to lunch at Sara's Kitchen (breakfast, yum!) and then to my house to swim and art & craft. I showed her some postings on Illustration Friday where the theme this week is "Jungle." We decided that would be a great stepping off point for our art today.

Above are the results of our interpretations of the theme in watercolor. Sis started right away on her piece. (No inner critic!) I was stuck and she suggested that there was more than one type of jungle, African, Tropical, Chinese jungles, that include bamboo. She's really learning a lot in school!!! I am always amazed at how smart she is.

Can you guess who's painting is whose?

There are some things you just don't want to see!

I just got home from the luncheon, and lo and behold was my neighbor, pacing in the carport area, talking VERY LOUDLY on his cell phone, in his FREAKING UNDERWEAR.

First of all, dude, I don't want to hear your conversation. Second of all, I DO NOT and I repeate DO NOT, want to see your hairy body in your seriously worn out, see-thru, white boxer shorts. Go in the house!!!

I was so tempted to take a picture and post it here since dude obviously has no problem being exposed to the public, but I couldn't do it surreptitiously. In the end, I should have done it, because I doubt he would care anyway.

Clean Kitchen, Calm Mind?

Its already been established that my forté is not domestic engineering. I'm not exactly sure what happened during the evening, but my kitchen is immaculate!

I needed to bake brownies for the luncheon that the running ladies and I are throwing tomorrow at Ridge Vineyards in celebration of Aidymar's upcoming nuptials. The sink, however, was full of dishes, the floor covered in muck, and I couldn't concentrate on baking with the kitchen such a disaster. The clutter and mess were making me really anxious.

I did all the dishes, I bleached the sink and counters, I swiffered, I got on my hands and knees with a rag and scrubbed the floor. (You just cannot do justice to a floor unless you use a lot of elbow grease.) While I was there, I noticed the mess on the floorboards and the walls. They were cleaned too. The stove and the fridge are sparkling! Ragged would be so proud! (I thot of you the entire time! You were inspiration! : .)

Kitchen - clean, brownies - baked, experience - blogged, big ole chocolate covered butt on couch - CHECK!!!

Yes, you can have the recipe...

Barbara's Killer Brownies (From the back of Nestle's Unsweetened Chocolate)

3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ouncese unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted these)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8X8 inch pan.
2. Mix flour and salt in a bowl, set aside.
3. Melt chocolate and butter or margarine in the top of a double boiler or in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Set aside and cool to room temperature.
4. Combine eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
5 . Fold in chocolate and butter or margarine.
6. Gradually stir in flour and salt mixture.
7. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
8. Pour into greased 8X8 inch pan.
8a. Lick the spoon & bowl. (Unless you have a thing about raw eggs.)
9. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes.
10. Cool in pan on rack.
11. Cut into squares and
Enjoy!

Just a Doodle

Rosé inspired, while pondering Illustration Friday's topic, Self-Portrait.

Sometimes I look in the mirror and only see a broken heart. Those moments protected by barbed strands of humor, sarcasm, stanoffishness and indifference.

Breathe

I wish I was always so composed.

Pencil, Caran D'Ache Neocolor II's and a little bit of fingerpainting.

Submitted to Illustration Friday - Theme: Self-Portrait

Gyne-Fetti!!!

Disclaimer: Some material may not be suitable for all readers. I apologize in advance if I offend your tender sensibilities : .)


You're still reading...Okaaaaay, here we go!

MadRetz and I were having an email conversation about a fellow blogger...

M: She’s so cute sometimes, and she throws me off. Like, the self-tanner…I took her as the, it-doesn’t-matter type of gal…maybe because she's older?

I did always wonder how, hypothetically speaking that is, I would be able to shave my legs before giving birth. Cuz who wants prickly legs in their face when they’re elbow deep in your vaginal canal?

P: OMG!!!!!!!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Ohmygosh, rolling on the floor laughing my ass off!!!)

Ummm, I think you'll have so many other things to worry about.

I did have that moment myself b/4 my gynecologist appointment last week, you know, toilet paper flecks?

Call it gyne-fetti!!!

M: Right back at ya babe!!

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

Gyne-fetti!!! LOVE that!

P: Yeah, too bad that's the ONLY celebration going on down there!!! hahahahha!!!

Well, you make your own fun, huh?!

LOL!!!

M: I’m about to pee my pants!

(Wouldn’t ____ be surprised that all of this is going on w/ her name in the subject line?)

This whole conversation should be done in, like, stand up or something!

(P: Or on my blog... : .)

Tell me what you really think!!!

Yesterday, I was thinking about a specific male who shall remain nameless. Someone who hasn't bothered to communicate with me lately. I was feeling neglected, frustrated, mad. I looked down at my printer and saw this...It used to say "CREATE." I lost the "C" and two "E's" flipping a towel across the cover.

Yep, I agree : .)

(By the way - He gave me the skull sticker. There's no irony here, nope.)