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I would like to start with--

Sorry. I completely fucked that up.

I would like to begin by issuing an apology to enemies and friends alike for the fact that I never, if ever, contribute to this blog. And in case you, my dearest E's and F's, have had the misfortune to incur massive head trauma, a Beckett play, an aneurysm, or the like, and as a result give two shits about what's happening in my life, then you've accidently come to the right place. Because I'm going to tell you all the stuff that I can remember, starting with as long ago as I'm guessing I last posted, which I'm estimating at three weeks, though there's no way I can think of to verify this.

Things I Have Done

1. Gone to the gym. I work out several times a week. Probably I can break you now. I'm, like, hulkishly ripped, and all the muscle makes me volatile and angry. I'm sort of like a drunk lady and Lenny Small.

2. I got a job in the consulting group at a large bank. I wear a suit and tie every day and go to a big office building downtown. It's not nearly as bad as you'd think. And, no, I'm not a banker.

3. I joined the Red Mountain Family Band. It is a lot of fun, and, surprisingly, it drinks less than my other band.

4. The Beaux Animaux have been re-vamped. We are now four pieces, with the one Mr. Burke Miles on bass guitar. We'll be recording an album at the beginning of April. We will probably rock your ass next Thursday at Greencup. We'll bring the rock, you bring your ass!

5. I wrote that last sentence. I'm sorry.

I did a whole lot more stuff than this, but I'm getting really bored with this list. Also, I was going to write a Things I Have Not Done list, too, but I'll have to save that for next time. Blog fail.

Digging

Michelle Ramin's watercolors!

I love Tennekka's wool buttons. I've got some mustard ones, among others and they are way rad. She also makes them into little pins so you can mod your lapel without breaking out the needle and thread.

thebeside makes some great jewelry, my favorite of which is the Rockwell ring. It replaces a traditional solitaire gem with a chunk of metal. Rad, eh? The one above is sold, but she's still got other versions for sale.

Bentobentobentobentobento!

Thriftiness

First off, I advise you not to miss the Cigar Box Home Library rummage sale at Bottletree on Saturday Feb. 28th from noon to 4 pm. Books, cds, clothes, electronics, ephemera, and consultation services for sale. Get ready to get awesome.

I'm so excited to show you what I've done with the living room, but it's not quite done yet, so you'll have to be patient a little longer (I know you're on the edge of your seat). I've been scouring Craigslist and making frequent trips to the Salvation Army to get everything perfect without spending a bunch on furniture that will probably get destroyed anyway. Recent purchases include a rad side table (now repainted), coffee table, two chairs on sale from PB Teen (to be slip covered), and a used futonesque sofa originally from Ikea. I'm still looking for fabric to cover the chairs, and some kind of excellent large piece of art to go above the sofa, but I'm stoked on my progress.

Also in news of me being cheap, it's the end of my first month using a prepaid phone instead of a monthly plan. I'm proud to report that I spent about $35 as opposed to my usual $60 (previously $70). A minor weight has been lifted knowing that I'm not paying for a cell phone I hardly use.

If you're looking for some inexpensive fun, there are a few shows coming up that I'm excited about. Beaux Animeaux is playing this Friday in Tuscaloosa with The Necronomikids, and, I think, The Dirty Lungs. They're also playing next Thursday at Greencup, but I'm not sure who with. Red Mountain Family Band (woo-hoo!) is playing an abbrieviated set followed by Corndawg this Thursday at Greencup. No excuses.

Digging

I mark about a bajillion favorites on Etsy every day, not to mention all of the awesome stuff I find through design blogs and heads-ups from friends. But I rarely share that stuff outside of Google Reader. No more! Starting today with this collection of wikkid stuff that I love, I'm going to start giving more props to the great designs, designers, and crafters out there. I think my hesitation so far has come from a fear of promoting consumerism. But really, that's a little hypocritical of me, considering that's how I'm supposed to be making a living. And anyway, I'm usually drawn to high-quality, useful things and art, so it's not as if I'm going to be promoting solid gold Cadillac™ rocket launchers or anything. So without further ado, here's some stuff I've been digging on:

dutch door press carries cards and totally sweet limited edition prints like this one.

YAVAglass makes drinking glasses from used glass bottles. These are my fave, since I love seltzer and Boylan's bottle design.

I'm a sucker for laser cut rings like this one from Remade Studio. Totally impractical, yes, but also so cute.

Decoy Lab's modern take on a cuckoo clock has got me finally seeing the point of wall clocks.

I can't exactly explain why I love this painting from Nancy Prator Studios. Maybe it's that I've seen most of my friends in similar poses. Regardless, it's incredibly endearing.

Ikat!

I really dislike the color of our previous sofa. It was comfortable, cheap, and in good condition. Still, the mossy green chenille is a little too late-90s-Pottery-Barn for my taste. I've been looking for a replacement for a while, but things came to a head after the party on Sunday when the sofa started to do an unpleasant sinking thing on one end. Off to the Salvation Army I went and picked out a sofa that could be either amazing or terrible, and I'm not yet sure which. I might not have looked twice, but I remembered reading a couple of things on design blogs about how ikat was in and seeing some actually decent interiors using it. I think with the right pillows, etc, it might rule. Just give me a few weeks to get it awesome before you start making fun, ok?

While searching for pics of interiors using ikat, I came across something totally unrelated, but kind of wikkid nonetheless: youtube videos showing you how to do a particular hairstyle. Hair has always been a challenge for me, a fact that I rediscovered after growing my hair out from a chelsea a few years ago. I'm not complaining. I'm actually pretty lucky when it comes to hair: naturally black, thick, wavy-to-curly. Some days I do nothing and my hair rocks. The problem is those other days. It's pretty much luck of the draw. If my hair looks stupid, I'm stuck with it. But no more! Youtube to the rescue!! And that is reason 10,108 why I love the internet.

Green Tea Soup

For Christmas Stan and Chiyo sent us a box of foodstuffs from the Japanese market and a Japanese cookbook. I haven't had time to fix many dinners lately, but last night I finally got to try a recipe from siad cookbook that immediately caught my eye. It was awesome and incredibly easy, so you should try it.


Green Tea Soup

In individual bowls place: boiled rice (I used about 1 cooked cup per person)
Top with shredded cooked salmon (one large fillet for two people)
Garnish with white sesame seeds (which we had) and julienned parilla leaves (which we did not). Add hot green tea (or hot broth).
Salt to taste and proceed to get awesome.

Birthday!!!

It had been ages since I spent a birthday in a space large enough to fit more than a handful of misfits, but this year that ended. Jacob and Greg came to town for the occasion and Jason and Evan threw a rad party for Jessica and me. I got tons of love on Facebook, which site honestly makes me feel much more connected to people. Weird?

Anyway, with Rodney, David, and Anthony's help Evan wrote and recorded a song about/for me. Pretty much the best birthday present ever. A HUGE and wikkid Taschen publication called The World of Ornament was runner up (Thanks, Anne and Walter!!). Seriously, this thing is massive. It came in its own box with a handle, because it's that heavy. But I received a lot of thoughtful gifts from friends that were really just as sweet.

Evan's foray into party favor selecting yielded stick-on mustaches , so when we assessed the damage to The Rowe School on Sunday morning we discovered that a lot of things (avocados, telephones, etc.) had grown facial hair. There's not much that's funnier than a butternut squash with a mustache. Except maybe Melissa waking up with a mustache stuck to her butt, as she reportedly did.

For the first time in eleven years, there was a king cake in my house. Edible awesomeness brought to me by Greg. I consumed at least half of it myself. But now our guests have departed and the sugar-consumption has returned to normal levels. I'm back to school and work and gym, slightly older, but feeling pretty spectacular about my life here. Thanks for rocking my birthday, everybody!