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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Things We Love and Things We Don't
Vanity Fair Magazine. I was first a subscriber when I was in Middle School (during the Tina Brown years). It's true. It wasn't my parent's subscription it was mine (I was a geek, what can I say-- I also subscribed to House & Garden during this same time period (and as proof, each HG was saved and thanks to my parents fostering my magpie-ism, now reside, decoratively, in baskets and on shelves, in my foyer and living room). When I was in art class in middle school we did a batiking project. Most people did neat batik patterns, I batiked a charicature of Prince Charles (copied from the pages of VF). Again, geek, I know. Anyhoo, not too long ago I resubscribed to VF after a long absence. What can I say? I love it. Sometimes the month's issue isn't that great, but everyonce in a while you'll get a sears-cataloge-thick tome full of good stuff to read. Take the latest issue (with Marilyn Monroe on the cover). I've gotten two full nights of reading out of this so far and I still have more pages to turn! I read the Marilyn cover story, the story on Brooke Astor (which wasn't bad, but wasn't as informative and detailed as NY Mag's article on the same topic from earlier this year or thereabouts...), an excerpt from Annie Liebovitz' new book and the article on Rafaello Follieri. AND, not to mention that I loved finding out that Raffaello's lawyer is a particular NY firm bigwig. In another life I was a summer associate at the firm which was then Mr. Bigwig's firm. Ah, what a small world the NY legal community can be. Say, Mr. Big, can you get Anne Hathaway to autograph my Devil Wears Prada CD??
Anyway, on to things we don't love as much: Spain, On the Road Again with Gwyneth and Mario. Ugh. We had such high hopes. I love Gwyneth and I love Mario's lasagna recipe unfortunately that's not enough for a winning tv series on PBS. Gwynnie (as she's affectionately referred to) and Mario should have taken a page from the Long Way Down/Long Way Round guys. They engaged with the viewers-- watching that series you actually feel a part of the journey. With On the Road Again you kind of feel like you're sitting a table near by trying to listen in. This is amplified by the fact that throughout the *entire* show muzak versions of "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson are piped in over the dialogue. I was watching one episode where Gwyneth, Mario, Mark Bittman and Claudia (who's last name I never caught) were eating breakfast at a bed and breakfast inn at two separate tables and they're kind of talking amongst themselves and never once did any of them look at the camera. In an article about Bataliin NY Mag Mario said that "My worry is, how many times can you watch me eating something and saying, "Boy, that's good," before you say, 'Fuck you! I'm not tasing the shit!'" Well, Mario, I'll tell you-- if you actually looked at the audience while saying "Boy, that's good" I would be able to last a bit longer! Some of the downfall here may lay with Mario (after all, he's been on tv doing this before-- and for that matter so has Mark Bittman) but I think it's mostly the production/direction where the show fell flat. Watching the gang tool around Spain in two Mercedes convertibles while checking out sights and eating interesting looking food is great-- but you don't want to feel like you're some sort of interloper, you'd like to feel like you're a part of the crowd too.
Other things we don't like? Rain.
Anyway, on to things we don't love as much: Spain, On the Road Again with Gwyneth and Mario. Ugh. We had such high hopes. I love Gwyneth and I love Mario's lasagna recipe unfortunately that's not enough for a winning tv series on PBS. Gwynnie (as she's affectionately referred to) and Mario should have taken a page from the Long Way Down/Long Way Round guys. They engaged with the viewers-- watching that series you actually feel a part of the journey. With On the Road Again you kind of feel like you're sitting a table near by trying to listen in. This is amplified by the fact that throughout the *entire* show muzak versions of "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson are piped in over the dialogue. I was watching one episode where Gwyneth, Mario, Mark Bittman and Claudia (who's last name I never caught) were eating breakfast at a bed and breakfast inn at two separate tables and they're kind of talking amongst themselves and never once did any of them look at the camera. In an article about Bataliin NY Mag Mario said that "My worry is, how many times can you watch me eating something and saying, "Boy, that's good," before you say, 'Fuck you! I'm not tasing the shit!'" Well, Mario, I'll tell you-- if you actually looked at the audience while saying "Boy, that's good" I would be able to last a bit longer! Some of the downfall here may lay with Mario (after all, he's been on tv doing this before-- and for that matter so has Mark Bittman) but I think it's mostly the production/direction where the show fell flat. Watching the gang tool around Spain in two Mercedes convertibles while checking out sights and eating interesting looking food is great-- but you don't want to feel like you're some sort of interloper, you'd like to feel like you're a part of the crowd too.
Other things we don't like? Rain.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Windows Vista
Apparently, mathmeticians at UCLA using "underused computing power" (more specifically "a network of 75 computers running Windows XP") discovered the world's largest Prime Number. That's great. What I want to know is why am I using Windows Vista and how do I get one of those "underused" 75 computers running XP!?!
Friday, September 26, 2008
People with Way Too Much Time On Their Hands...
Some guy in Ohio created a
Sarah Palin corn maze.
And to think I felt bad that I've watched "There Will Be Blood", "The Way We Were", "Casablanca", the Code, portions of "Bus Stop" and "Animal House" over the past two days...
Sarah Palin corn maze.
And to think I felt bad that I've watched "There Will Be Blood", "The Way We Were", "Casablanca", the Code, portions of "Bus Stop" and "Animal House" over the past two days...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Things.
Today was definitely a first taste of fall. It was gray, a bit cold and a bit windy.
Now I'm watching Casablanca (most of the day was spent watching television.... including renting "There Will be Blood...") I appreciated the line:
Captain Renault: Come to my office tomorrow morning. We'll do everything businesslike.
Jan Brandel: We'll be there at six!
Captain Renault: I'll be there at ten.
This reminds me of our cabinet installer, Tony. Tony offered to be at the house at seven. I said, not earlier than 8! And, as an update for the kitchen progress, more cabinets were delivered today so Tony will be back tomorrow to finish up installation... of course our new double oven set up won't be in until next week so he can't finish everything but at least we'll be one step closer.
Now I'm watching Casablanca (most of the day was spent watching television.... including renting "There Will be Blood...") I appreciated the line:
Captain Renault: Come to my office tomorrow morning. We'll do everything businesslike.
Jan Brandel: We'll be there at six!
Captain Renault: I'll be there at ten.
This reminds me of our cabinet installer, Tony. Tony offered to be at the house at seven. I said, not earlier than 8! And, as an update for the kitchen progress, more cabinets were delivered today so Tony will be back tomorrow to finish up installation... of course our new double oven set up won't be in until next week so he can't finish everything but at least we'll be one step closer.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Martha and Alexis...
NY Mag has a great article this week about Alexis Stewart. I don't have Sirius Satellite Radio but I will be tuning in to "Whatever, Martha!" and I have to have respect for the fact that she ended her Bridgehampton Motel enterprise because she couldn't deal with the guests!
Dancing with the Stars...
Kim Kardashian mamboing to Sir Mix-A-Lot.
Rocco. (That's all we need to say, really)
and of course, Susan Lucci. It was this or HSN.
Otherwise, the night was spent watching more strange French television.
Specifically, a film called "Les Seins de Glace" from 1974. It was wacky and had an amazing amount of product placement by Lacoste. Months and months ago the Husband and I watched a variety show that had Mireille Darc on it talking about a book she had written about her father. The show went into a bit of history about Mireille and I spent the entire time watching the movie trying to figure out if the lead actress was her. It was. I wouldn't have needed to watch it for as long as I did if our internet connection was working in the Family Room. Thanks, Verizon.
Rocco. (That's all we need to say, really)
and of course, Susan Lucci. It was this or HSN.
Otherwise, the night was spent watching more strange French television.
Specifically, a film called "Les Seins de Glace" from 1974. It was wacky and had an amazing amount of product placement by Lacoste. Months and months ago the Husband and I watched a variety show that had Mireille Darc on it talking about a book she had written about her father. The show went into a bit of history about Mireille and I spent the entire time watching the movie trying to figure out if the lead actress was her. It was. I wouldn't have needed to watch it for as long as I did if our internet connection was working in the Family Room. Thanks, Verizon.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Just One of Those Things.
It would seem that when you have a child, especially a small child, you're often making up songs to sing in conjunction with everyday activities. For instance: Our bathime song is "Bathtime for Sophie" sung to the tune of "Springtime for Hitler" from The Producers. It goes something like: "It's bathtime for Sophie and Germany. Winter for Poland and France!" Not terribly creative, I know, but at least we're getting some geography in there.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Check it out!
I'm going to add another frog closure at the neck and I have to sew on snaps in the inside... but not bad without a real pattern, huh?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Hot Pockets!
Aol's news headline today claims that a man's brother stabbed him over a disputed Hot Pocket sandwich and I thought we were desparate for some good food.
Tonight's dinner was again from Sunny Garden. Fortune cookie? It said: "No time for vacation, finish project first." Yeah. Tell me about it. Today's kitchen update is that the cabinets we were missing are supposed to ship from Allegheny, Maryland (wherever that may be) on Monday. Then, Marilyn the HD designer had to visit the house today to take measurements in order to figure out how to fix our double oven cabinet since as it stands the double oven is eight inches higher than what is standard (and considering that a) the ceiling is twelve inches shorter than average and b) I'm at least six inches shorter than average, making the double oven about 26 inches off. ;) Of course, that means that the stuff Marilyn just ordered will also have to "come in" which will take at least a week. So much for scheduling that whole countertop template thing.
Argh.
On the bright side of things, yesterday I made a cheongsam for Miss B! Pictures to follow!
Tonight's dinner was again from Sunny Garden. Fortune cookie? It said: "No time for vacation, finish project first." Yeah. Tell me about it. Today's kitchen update is that the cabinets we were missing are supposed to ship from Allegheny, Maryland (wherever that may be) on Monday. Then, Marilyn the HD designer had to visit the house today to take measurements in order to figure out how to fix our double oven cabinet since as it stands the double oven is eight inches higher than what is standard (and considering that a) the ceiling is twelve inches shorter than average and b) I'm at least six inches shorter than average, making the double oven about 26 inches off. ;) Of course, that means that the stuff Marilyn just ordered will also have to "come in" which will take at least a week. So much for scheduling that whole countertop template thing.
Argh.
On the bright side of things, yesterday I made a cheongsam for Miss B! Pictures to follow!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Size Does Matter
This evening I had the following exchange at a local drive-thru:
"I'd like a medium number 6 meal."
"Medium or Large?"
"Medium."
Clearly I provided too much information in the first instance.
"I'd like a medium number 6 meal."
"Medium or Large?"
"Medium."
Clearly I provided too much information in the first instance.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
It's Not Broken, It's Italian.
That's what my old landlord in NYC said to us after we told her that we had to replace the kitchen faucet because the on/off lever didn't function.
This is one of my favorite lines, together with the old adage from What Not To Wear: "Just because it's made in Italy doesn't mean its good."
(A nod to bad leather bags.... which reminds me of the exchange from You've Got Mail between Meg Ryan and Greg Kinnear about Spain:
"It happened in Spain. People do really stupid things in foreign countries."
"Absolutely. They buy leather jackets for much more than they're worth.")
But enough random connections. The Italian faucet line keeps coming to mind as we deal with this whole kitchen thing. Today the folks from HD and their subconntractor were out at the house and it looks like theoretically we have a resolution at least as between us and the sub. (We'll see what happens next between us and HD.)
But this leaves open picking out the fun stuff: i) faucet, ii) tv, iii) deciding whether we want a pot-filler faucet over the rangetop, iv) chairs/stools for the island, v) switchplate covers, vi) tile backsplash and vii) island lighting (did I tell you I ordered these neat looking mini-pendant lights by George Kovacs (called "Droplets") which unfortunately are backordered through November 24th!?!.... needless to say we'll be looking for replacements for those babies...) We're currently waiting for some additional cabinets to come in (ones that didn't seem to make it to our house in the first or second deliveries...) we've been told they're shipping from the manufacturer on the 22nd... after they're installed then we can template for our granite.
The latest news, too, just to keep you all filled in, is how the designer from the HD apparently failed to update her CAD program so after the subcontractor realized that the initial estimator mismeasured our kitchen by seven inches, it was never fixed at the HD. Thus, we're seven inches short cabinet wise and then for some reason cabinets didn't arrive so they've rearranged where cabinets are going so the final layout isn't what we had ordered! At this point it's mostly a "whatever" situation, but one thing we weren't going to just pass on was our Double Oven cabinet. They are going to be rebuilding it since right now the double oven is sitting eight inches higher than what is customary. When your ceiling is only 83 inches high, and the chief cook and bottle washer is only 60 inches tall, 8 inches makes a big difference.
Will post more pictures when we have some new developments, in the mean time any faucet/chair/tv suggestions are more than welcome!
This is one of my favorite lines, together with the old adage from What Not To Wear: "Just because it's made in Italy doesn't mean its good."
(A nod to bad leather bags.... which reminds me of the exchange from You've Got Mail between Meg Ryan and Greg Kinnear about Spain:
"It happened in Spain. People do really stupid things in foreign countries."
"Absolutely. They buy leather jackets for much more than they're worth.")
But enough random connections. The Italian faucet line keeps coming to mind as we deal with this whole kitchen thing. Today the folks from HD and their subconntractor were out at the house and it looks like theoretically we have a resolution at least as between us and the sub. (We'll see what happens next between us and HD.)
But this leaves open picking out the fun stuff: i) faucet, ii) tv, iii) deciding whether we want a pot-filler faucet over the rangetop, iv) chairs/stools for the island, v) switchplate covers, vi) tile backsplash and vii) island lighting (did I tell you I ordered these neat looking mini-pendant lights by George Kovacs (called "Droplets") which unfortunately are backordered through November 24th!?!.... needless to say we'll be looking for replacements for those babies...) We're currently waiting for some additional cabinets to come in (ones that didn't seem to make it to our house in the first or second deliveries...) we've been told they're shipping from the manufacturer on the 22nd... after they're installed then we can template for our granite.
The latest news, too, just to keep you all filled in, is how the designer from the HD apparently failed to update her CAD program so after the subcontractor realized that the initial estimator mismeasured our kitchen by seven inches, it was never fixed at the HD. Thus, we're seven inches short cabinet wise and then for some reason cabinets didn't arrive so they've rearranged where cabinets are going so the final layout isn't what we had ordered! At this point it's mostly a "whatever" situation, but one thing we weren't going to just pass on was our Double Oven cabinet. They are going to be rebuilding it since right now the double oven is sitting eight inches higher than what is customary. When your ceiling is only 83 inches high, and the chief cook and bottle washer is only 60 inches tall, 8 inches makes a big difference.
Will post more pictures when we have some new developments, in the mean time any faucet/chair/tv suggestions are more than welcome!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Why I Love The Internet... and What a Small World It Can Be...
We were in DC and Baltimore this weekend. Today, as we were leaving the hotel I recognized a man crossing the street-- I said to the Husband: "I think I just saw Dan from the Real World Miami!" Indeed,
Dan's website confirms on the September 11th posting that he was planning to be in DC this weekend with his mom (and I did see him crossing the street with a mom-age woman, so it all fits!) This would be at least the third Real World sighting... I once saw Eric from NY down in SoHo and then I saw one of the girls (Maybe Montana??) also in NYC, but that I only vaguely recall... Then, while we were driving around (attempting, in vain to get to the Jefferson Memorial) I saw a man and two women by Lafayette park. The man was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts and had on a race tag (turns out today was the triathalon)... I do believe the man I saw was Shawn Kuntz, former high school classmate. How random is that? As a nod to Thisbe's karma post, I'm not trying to complain-- it's always interesting when you see people you recognize, but come on here, can we do better than Shawn? I'll take Dan from the Real World, but can we try for either a) a classmate from high school/college/law school that I don't just recognize, but was actually friends with, or perhaps someone famous and fun? Now's the time for another Keno Brother sighting, or perhaps George Clooney? The Obama cut-out in front of the Lincoln Memorial just doesn't count.
Dan's website confirms on the September 11th posting that he was planning to be in DC this weekend with his mom (and I did see him crossing the street with a mom-age woman, so it all fits!) This would be at least the third Real World sighting... I once saw Eric from NY down in SoHo and then I saw one of the girls (Maybe Montana??) also in NYC, but that I only vaguely recall... Then, while we were driving around (attempting, in vain to get to the Jefferson Memorial) I saw a man and two women by Lafayette park. The man was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts and had on a race tag (turns out today was the triathalon)... I do believe the man I saw was Shawn Kuntz, former high school classmate. How random is that? As a nod to Thisbe's karma post, I'm not trying to complain-- it's always interesting when you see people you recognize, but come on here, can we do better than Shawn? I'll take Dan from the Real World, but can we try for either a) a classmate from high school/college/law school that I don't just recognize, but was actually friends with, or perhaps someone famous and fun? Now's the time for another Keno Brother sighting, or perhaps George Clooney? The Obama cut-out in front of the Lincoln Memorial just doesn't count.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
English as a Second Language
Today, clear as day Sophie said "Ektorp" right after bathtime. Finally, I figured it out-- she's been speaking "IKEA" all these months!
More Updates...
Here are some updated photos of the kitchen!
The cabinet with the large hole in it is the double oven cabinet, next to it is a utility cabinet (doors need to be installed...) notice the crown moulding!
Here are some of the cabinets on the window wall...
(note the cabinet in the foreground isn't an island cabinet-- it's one that's being returned and is just sitting in the middle of the room now-- because, what better place is there, right??)
Here's the sink!
The cabinet with the large hole in it is the double oven cabinet, next to it is a utility cabinet (doors need to be installed...) notice the crown moulding!
Here are some of the cabinets on the window wall...(note the cabinet in the foreground isn't an island cabinet-- it's one that's being returned and is just sitting in the middle of the room now-- because, what better place is there, right??)
Here's the sink!
Monday, September 08, 2008
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