Month: February 2009

Uncategorized

Spring Cleaning: Phase 3

Shelly

Today, I put two coats of willow green paint on the dining room chairs. They’re oak, but boring to the point of ugliness, so paint was a huge improvement. I also covered the seats with blue denim. One more coat tomorrow, and they’ll be done.

After painting the chairs, I decided to do some work in the bedroom. I hauled my bed frame out of the closet and put it together. I haven’t used it in years, because it’s old and needs slats. The side rails can be installed two different ways, one of which allows the box spring to sit on top of the rails. This works fine and is nice and sturdy, but there is nothing to keep the box spring from sliding right off the rails. That sounds a little too exciting to me. This afternoon, though, it occurred to me that I could wrap the side rails in non-skid shelf liner, to keep the box spring from sliding. It worked beautifully!

So now, for the first time in years, I’ll be sleeping in a grown-up bed, instead of on the floor, like a poor college student. Miss Brown approves, too. As soon as the mattress was in place, she boinged up on the bed and flopped around like a trout.

The third thing I did was swap out coffee tables. I’ve been using an old desk with the legs removed. It works great, but it’s really big and bulky, and the top is warped. The replacement coffee table is tiny in comparison and will take some getting used to, but I’ll be glad to take the behemoth to the trash tomorrow.

And now to go find a tasty adult beverage.

Crankypantsing

Let’s Not and Say We Did

Shelly

A coworker wants everyone to eat lunch together once a week.

Because of the sucktacular economy and impending state budget cuts, we’ve been asked to brainstorm ways to streamline our workflow. Fine. We’ve also been asked to look at the library as a whole and come up with ideas for tasks that can be discarded and others that might be implemented to make things more efficient. Also fine. What’s not fine? A coworker suggested that we have “power lunches,” where we “talk about stuff.” This is presumably some sort of primate bonding ritual that will help us be more productive worker ‘droids.

But wait! There’s more! He also thinks that part of this weekly “power lunch” should involve all of us going to the gym and working out together. I am not making that up.

Kill me now!

Uncategorized

Cheer-io-ios

Shelly

My mom never bought junk cereal, so we always had stuff like Cheerios and Grape Nuts and Shredded Wheat. If we wanted junk cereal, we had to buy it ourselves.

One of my favorite food commercials from that time period is for Cheerios. I love the little yodeling stick figures.


Cheerios Animated Blackboard Stick Figure Commercial #1 (1978)


Cheerios Animated Blackboard Stick Figure Commercial #2 (1978)

It’s as cute as I remember it. And the packaging hasn’t changed, has it?

I don’t buy cereal very often, and when I do, it’s almost always Cheerios. With milk and a little sugar, it’s a tasty sweet treat. If you want something savory, it works for that, too. When I was a kid, we made buttered Cheerios. You drizzle melted butter over Cheerios, then toast them over medium-low heat until golden brown. We used a sauce pan, but a wok or even a skillet would work. I add a little soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, a little garlic and onion powder, and a pinch of ground celery seed to the butter. It ends up tasting like Chex mix. Mmmm. (I often add the same seasoning medley to my popcorn butter, too.)

Ladybusiness, News & Politics

Nadya Suleman

Shelly

I’m sick to death of hand-wringing, shaming news reports about Nadya Suleman. I’m sick of hearing about how selfish she is for having a lot of children, when having children, period, is selfish. I’m sick of reading about how irresponsible she is for daring to have kids when she’s poor, as if reproduction were a pastime reserved for the wealthy. I’m tired of comments that she must be using her children to fill some emotional void, when I suspect that most–if not all–parents are guilty of similar motives (otherwise, why on earth would anyone have kids?). I’m sick and tired of it.

And now, there’s an article in the LA Times stating that the hospital where Nadya Suleman gave birth may not release her children to her, because they have concerns about her “living arrangement.” Since when were hospitals in the business of deciding which mothers get to take their kids home, and which do not? Assuming that there is a genuine problem, isn’t that the purview of social workers?

And what is actually wrong with Nadya Suleman’s “living arrangement”? If the article is accurate, her situation isn’t ideal, but the same can be said of a zillion other families in the US. Heck, the Duggars were living in a tiny, cramped house with just about the same number of kids, and I’d be willing to bet that the hospital didn’t threaten to not release their babies. No, what they got was a series of television specials celebrating their fecundity.

Do we really want to start taking away people’s kids for living in cramped homes? For being unemployed? Because their homes are threatened with foreclosure? (In the current US economic climate, that last one is going to hit a lot of people hard.)

Why are we worrying and obsessing about whether or not she has the resources to care for her kids, instead of providing those resources for her? Why is she being threatened with having her children taken away, instead of being offered the help she needs? Because she’s poor, brown, and unemployed, and therefore doesn’t deserve help? Actually, she’s not unemployed. She’s got a more than full-time job, but we would rather denigrate her work rather than compensate her for it.

And before anyone starts waving their hands in the air and crying, “Oh noes! My tax precious dollars!” let me say that I don’t care about “your” tax dollars. They don’t belong to you. We all pay taxes. One of the things that money is supposed to do is help people when they need it, whether that need is temporary or life-long. In a just world, no one would fall through the cracks, and we wouldn’t have litmus tests for who is morally deserving of help and who is not. This, like public roads, firefighters, and schools, is one of the benefits of living in large social groups. If you don’t want your tax dollars going to help people in need, then maybe you should become a hermit and live on a deserted island.

Pets

Mr. Pleco

Shelly

I got a plecostomus last summer, because algae was building up in my goldfish tank. He’s been a funny little fish. I noticed a few months ago that he was coming up to the surface and stealing the leftover floating pellets I give the other fish. The pellets end up along the edge of the tank, at the water line. Mr. Pleco hoists himself up, so his head is above the water line, then gets the pellet in his mouth and ever so carefully scoots down the glass. Because his mouth is on the bottom of his body, it can be tricky for him to keep the pellet from escaping and floating back to the surface. When that happens–and it does at least once every time–Mr. Pleco has to swim to the top of the tank and start all over again.

And now, Mr. Pleco has a new trick. Last night, at their bedtime feeding, I noticed that he was scooting around the tank upside down. He was actually lying on his back, hoovering goldfish flakes off the surface of the water. What a clever and resourceful little guy! I really should try to get video of it, because it’s a hoot.

Photography

Spring Cleaning: Phase 1

Shelly

There was a recent thread at Shakesville asking everyone what they do when they’re in a funk. I clean. Not that you’d know it by looking at my apartment on any given day, but that’s what I do. Right now, I’m not so much in a funk as I am anxious for spring to get here. I’m tired of never seeing the sun. Hopefully, by the time Mr. Sun comes back, my apartment will be in good enough shape that I won’t feel guilty about spending time in the “garden.” (Maybe it’ll actually become a real garden, without scare quotes, this year?)

So, Project Pantry is pretty much finished. There is a shelf at the top that isn’t pictured. On it is a stack of mixing bowls and colanders and my food dehydrator. And, as you can tell by the second shelf below, I drink a lot of tea. The sad part is that I found two more containers of coffee (one caf, one decaf) and three more containers of tea, after I’d taken this photo. Alsotoo, please ignore the fact that my cat eats crap-in-a-can and crap-in-a-bag food. I periodically try to coax her to eat something better, but she refuses. She’s 20+ years old, so she’s allowed to be picky, even if it’s not in her best interests.

IMG_3104

I found shelves at Target that are a perfect fit for my pantry. I win! And there were two sets left in chrome, so I win even betterer. Each shelving unit can break down into two separate sections, so I ended up using three of them in the pantry. The leftover section is on top of the fridge, which was just dead space. Now my boxes of food wrap, sandwich baggies, trash bags, etc. are corralled.

I also got the kiddie wardrobe moved into the kitchen and the microwave moved to the top of the wardrobe. Still no knobs on the wardrobe, though. I don’t know if I’m going to paint the ones it came with or get new ones. Cobalt blue glass knobs are cheap and would look really cute with that willowy green, I think.

After the counter was cleared, I put a hunk of marble I got from my mom on it. The marble came from one of the buildings at Ball State, so when she said she was getting rid of it, I asked her to hold onto it for me. I got it from her last summer, and it’s sat inside my front door ever since. (This is what I mean when I say I need to start pretending I live here, instead of treating it like a campsite.)

And lastly, I put a plate glass mirror I got from Ms. Lea behind the sink, to tart up the back splash area. My kitchen is tiny, and this opened it up a lot.

Phase 1 is complete!

Up next:

1. Clean out the living room closet, so that I can put the newly evicted vacuum cleaner away. I’m not even sure what’s in there. I stuffed it full of crap when I moved in, and I haven’t looked at it since.

2. Take the stack of boxes that’s hiding behind the couch to my storage unit.

3. Figure out how I want my office/studio arranged, and where in that room I’m going to put the utility shelves I evicted from the kitchen.

4. Freecycle the table, games, magazines, and assorted crap that’s now in my way.

5. Repaint my dresser.

6. Get rid of the mattress that’s leaning against the wall in my bedroom (campsite!).

7. Generate a big ol’ piece o’ art for the now naked wall in the kitchen, where the tall utility shelves used to be.

8. Find a solution to the ugly floor problem in the kitchen. I hate carpet, and I especially hate it in the kitchen, but a large area rug might be a good solution. The lino that’s in there is just plain horrible, and it needs to be disguised somehow. Too bad that carpet sample squares now have those stupid metal grommets in them, because a little patchwork rug made of carpet squares would be Teh Kyoote.

9. Tidy up cookbook shelf above sink. It needs dusting, and there is crap shoved up there that has no business even being in the kitchen.

10. Paint dining room chairs (more willow green) and recover with denim.

That’s ten, which I think is quite enough for now. Any more than that and I’m going to get depressed.

Photography

Spring Cleaning: Phase 2

Shelly

IMG_3108
Shelves

They are ugly, and they are plastered down one side with fruit stickers, but they are shelves, and they are up. More importantly, The Pile o’ Basquills that has been living in the middle of my studio floor for the past six months now has a home.

That may be it for me tonight. I’m going to watch TV and contemplate area rugs and alternative floor covering options. Joyce left a link to bamboo rugs in comments, which is funny, because I’d been remembering the rice mat carpet that some family friends had when I was a kid. Bamboo looks to be similar (better, actually, because it is more durable and comes in bright colors!). It’s also relatively cheap, so a definite option. I’m also thinking about one of those ubiquitous faux Oriental rugs. They’re kind of tacky, but might be fun and unexpected in a kitchen. If I can find one cheap enough, I won’t be too worried about spilling stuff on it, and any stains I create would be well hidden by the pattern.

Just on a whim, I looked at rag rugs and dhurrie rugs, and was surprised at how expensive they are for larger sizes. Not huge, mind you. My kitchen floor is about 5 x 7 feet. Rugs that size are not cheap!

Crankypantsing

And Another Thing!

Shelly

Why on earth do I still have old installation booklets for Windows 95 and Windows 98? I mean, maybe I originally kept them because the product keys were on printed on the covers, but that doesn’t explain why I didn’t get rid of them in the last couple of moves.

There are bigger pack rats than me out there. I know, because I’ve met them, but still, my ability to hold on to junk is kind of mind-boggling.

Also, not to be whiny, but I broke a nail, and I am not amused. It takes me forever to grow them, even when I’m not chewing my fingers to bloody stumps. Hrmf.