trick or treat

happy halloween! enjoy some jack-o-lanterns!

this about sums up today

table topic #20

here's an arty table topic this week:

20. If you could design a postage stamp what would you create?

hmm...totally random, but for some reason my initial thinking is a peach. a juicy summery peach. in a retro sort of style. maybe with a funky art deco style font. or like old general store signs. even though i have a lot of heart for the pineapple, i'm going to go peach. 

Van Ramblings #58

as transcribed from a facebook chat:

"I have realised we have swings of bravery and swings of safety. [We are] constantly ebbing between the two. [The in-between,] I like to call that...no mans land." 

opp, take 4

this OPP because it reminded me of the french painter jean françois millet - rural life, peasants at work. 

normally, she didn't mind farming. but this micromanagement and constant poking was just too much. 

 

another bizarro swap

first it was VHS tapes, now it looks like there's a swap in my lobby for a faux rose topiary. any takers? 

remember...

speak & spell, from texas instruments? 

hours of scholarly entertainment for my sister & i growing up. you can play around with an online simulator version here.

again, what year is this?

pursuant to the rollerblades & french braids, this morning i saw a grown woman at the bus stop sporting a side ponytail. 

and not, by any means, a chic one. a side pony sprouting out the side of her head. 

last time i checked it was still 2008, right? 

oh, speidi

i'm glad that yahoo highlighted heidi what's her name's very important pic for president in this article. 

overheard (public transport edition)

overheard the bus this past sunday:

"dude, i just woke up this second. i'll be there in 10 minutes." 

just woke up? it was 3pm. 

not yet. please. i beg you.

i have just accepted pumpkins and fall jacket into my being. i am SOOOOO not ready for holiday decorations! 

my new obsession

is my componibili storage table. 

originally designed in 1969, it's timeless modern. 

case in point, i have been staring at it all day. 

when bad things happen to good veggies

my mom sent me this snap from her camera phone - it's a veg she picked up at the farmers' market this weekend. supposedly it is a cross between broccoli & cauliflower. but i think it looks like something out of "little shop of horrors".  i just hope she isn't eaten by audrey III. 

admirable, but coco loco (dessert edition)

not sure about this one. sure there's dessert wine. and then there is a little after dinner sorbet to cleanse the palate. but this "wine cellar sorbet," while an admirable attempt to combine the two, seems a bit coco loco. especially with the "eat wine" call to action. 

who approved this?

it's pets...in wigs! check out the "bobcat blue" and "the celebutante" versions above. 

why, oh why, is this necessary? 

oh, facebook ads

i know everyone is lamenting the loss of the "old facebook". but, i have to say that the ads have significantly improved with the new version. i haven't had any mocking of my age or presumed weight in a while. that said, today's colon cleanse wasn't all that flattering. 

fashion forward?

i don't pretend to have much in the way of fashion sense, but i've been seeing quite a few examples of "toeless tights" as of late. 

even - as in this case - toeless knee highs. 

i get the functionality with peep toe shoes, but this look is just wrong. 

table topic #19

an adapted table topic from the pregnancy edition, this week:

19. What was your favorite board game growing up?

i love board games. unfortunately, my parents did not. so, family game night was few & far between. and they inevitably ended in tears. 

years later, my mom would find an old version of pictionary in our back hallway. in the box would be a list i had written entitled, "games i will never play with my family again". #1 on the list - pictionary. 

but, i digress. growing up i really loved candyland. the gumdrop mountains, queen frostine. it was similar in approach to chutes & ladders, but that felt so methodical. candyland, however, was pure, sugary fun. 

interesting questions

tonight, i used ask.com for a change. my question began with "how often..." check out the most frequent questions asked of ask beginning with that phrase. oh, how i miss jeeves. and no, my question was NOT the 6th on the list. 

incidentally...

incidentally, my question to ask was "how often do runners get picked off bases?"

unfortch, couldn't find any stats, but i'm sure there's a sportscaster out there who does know. 

clutter by the numbers

well, after a very enjoyable staycation, i am happy to report that i am making inroads on the clutter. by the numbers:

- 6 bags of stuff donated to goodwill

- 5 bags of garbage

- 1 bag of shredded paper  

- 2 organized closets (including 1 monica geller-style hall closet)

- net, approximately 60% clutter free! 

on the corner

in the movie version of my life, my grandfather ("pop-pop o'hara") would be played by jerry orbach. 

so, it always puts a smile on my face when i pass "jerry orbach way" on the corner of 53rd & 8th. 

handy

if only i didn't have to set my wine glass down while eating butlered hors d'oeuvres. 

but wait, here's the mobile grape lanyard!  

quote of the day (wine edition)

"It's a very firm red. Aged five years. And you'll notice a with a hint of lead pencil." 

yum. 

more crafternoons!

here's a project i stole from the now defunct Blueprint magazine (RIP). 

inspiration

before

after

quote of the day (UK edition)

i'm embarrassed to say that it's from the amanda bynes movie, "what a girl wants," (yes, jazzy saturday night), but amusing nonetheless:

"We're British. We only show affection to dogs & horses." 

good questions

this week, my mission is to clean out my clutter. 

i've been in my apartment for 10 months now and i just feel like i have stuff everywhere. so, i'm asking myself the two key questions above - and have even posted it on my wall where i can see it. 

opp, take 3

Charles laughed & posed for the camera, as if poor Jimmy wasn't lying there moaning in agony. 

before & after

i am very, very excited at my most recent crafternoon. 

decided to reupholster a bench for my breakfast nook. it was a piano bench that belonged to my great grandmother that i've always loved, but which had unfortunately deteriorated over the years: 

but a bit of jazzy fabric (spring green zebra), hot glue & furniture polish and voila! 

fun at the flea

i love a flea market. went to the one at giant's stadium this past weekend. unfortunately, there was a lot more new crap vs. old crap, which i prefer. but, picked up a few pitchers for my collection. here are a few snaps of other fun stuff at the flea:

box of wigs for 50 cents

meat...on a stick 

t-shirts for Bob, Mike & Poppy

and, of course, liza with a z!

table topic #18

this week, we have a medical edition of table topics:

18. If you were a doctor which specialty would you choose?

easy. i'd go eye doctor. my optometrists have been some of the nicest people i've ever met. and my opthamologists the funniest. i'd be up for carrying on either of those traditions. plus, my eyes are so bad that i could really be sympathetic to my patients and get a pretty good discount on my own glasses to boot. i might even have a bit of fun prescribing someone an eyepatch. 

speaking of eye patches...

loyal TFAAF reader murphdawg20, just ran into this swashbuckler. aarrrrghs!

quote of the day (jersey edition)

overheard, waiting for the bus:

"What happened last night? All I know is is that I woke up in my office passed out on my desk and Lena was on the floor next to me." 

sounds like quite the wild on! 

remind me again

...why the new york/new jersey metro area needs two new baseball stadiums and a new football stadium?

i'm not buying it

as you know, i have eco-fatigue. regardless, i somehow think this headline is highly improbable. 

question...

what year is this? 

this morning i saw two people rollerblading to work & a woman sporting a french braid. 

i was concerned that i woke up in 1983.

danke, yahoo

first blogger thought i was german. now, apparently yahoo does too. that said, the next time i'm in germany or switzerland i'll be sure to shop at C&A. i also kinda like the "hier klicken" call to action. 

live taped

watch out, kids, i feel a van-style ramblings coming on...

i think we've officially established that i'm old. i go to a lot of concerts and what has really had me feeling my age is how crotchety i've become over some things. 

case in point, one of my pet peeves is everyone on their cellphone/bberry through the entire concert, which i found incredibly annoying when i went to see ben folds tonight. 

hi there. you are not paying attention. you are blocking my view and ruining the atmosphere with your ambient light. and it's not even going to be a high quality photo or video!  

reminded me of one of my favorite passages from a british book called, "Is It Just Me or Is Everything Shit?", which as you can imagine is a "modern encyclopedia" of everything that is shit. this is quoted from Volume 2:

Filming gigs on phones [is shit] 

You are at the gig. You don't need to film it. You can DOWNLOAD CLIPS LIVE RIGHT NOW - with your eyes and your ears. It is literally right in front of you. They really should put up some signs. NO PHONE-CAMERA TOSSERS! NO! NO! NO! AND ALWAYS NO!

thanks, but no thanks

dear babies r us, 

when i opted out of your mailing list it wasn't because i don't like a good deal. it's because i don't have a baby. nor would i give anybody a gift of "softgels".

thx, 

bizarro gnome

who knew?

that there is some sort of VHS swap going on in my lobby. while i fully admit to still loving my 13" TV+VHS combo, i was not tempted by the crap titles on offer. 

thirsty?

somehow, i managed to collect 4 bottles of water and an iced tea on my desk by the end of the day today. 

candle in the wind

as elton john would sing, "Goodbye, [insert name here]." 

it is with fondness that TFAAF says goodbye to Dora the cat. so named not for Dora the Explorer, but for the Spanish translation of "power washer" - a.k.a. Super (Hidro) Lavadora. 

she was the queen of queen street. sometimes finicky. often aloof. but she was rescued & loved & had a good life. 

we hope she's in kitty heaven hanging out with midnight rainbow girl, ron & nancy, jim, oreo, boise and all of the family cats over the years.