Who needs paper when you’re wearing old jeans?
Month: January 2010
Mid-week Dogblogging
Harriet is fed up with kittens this evening. After shoving Polly off the bed, she retired to the couch, where she commenced sighing loudly every time one of the cats got too close to her. The cats are, as always, unimpressed. I think they’d flip her the middle finger, if they could.
Morning Fog
It was pea soupy for awhile this morning. Weirdly, when I took this photo, the smokestacks were completely obscured by fog. The camera was able to see through it, though.
Sunrise
While driving to work at a little before 6:00 this morning, I noticed that that the sky had mostly cleared. That didn’t last for long, though. A thick mat of clouds soon moved in, and by 8:00, the sky was a once again overcast. Except for a thin band near the eastern horizon, that is. It was just enough for the sun to peek through, as it rose. It was absolutely gorgeous, and it only lasted a few minutes.
Rantypants, Ahoy!
First: Because there evidently are not enough shopping holidays (who knew?!), Kmart decided that Martin Luther King Day, a day that is meant to be a day of service and of working for social justice, should be turned into Consumerpalooza. I’m kind of horrified. I don’t know what Kmart was thinking, but they should be ashamed of themselves.
Second: The numlock and capslock lights on my laptop are blinking disconcertingly. I found the manufacturer’s LED error code list, but it doesn’t describe the actual problem I’m having. I’m hoping that it’s just a weird fluke, and that it’ll sort itself out when I reboot. On the other hand, maybe it’s an harbinger of DQQM, and if I try to restart, my computer will explodiate. Aieee!
Third: The lights in the laundry room, in the Blackest Pits of Hell (conveniently located in my building’s basement), are not functioning. Or, at least, the motion sensors seem to be out of whack. This makes two weeks since I called and complained about it. I won’t mention how long ago I called about the dryer vent that’s disconnected. We are now reckoning time in the months, not weeks, if that’s any indication.
Fourth: Asshole neighbors are still letting their vicious MinPin run loose. The little shithead[1] barks and snarls at anyone walking by him, and he insists on peeing all over my patio. Needless to say, this does not favorably impress Miss Brown.
Fifth: Gov. Daniels’ State of the State address is tonight. I swear, seeing him on TV makes me even angrier than seeing GWB. The man is a menace. And apparently Newt Gingrich thinks Daniels would make a dandy GOP candidate in 2012. O gross! The man has all the faults and none of the kooky charm of GWB.
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1. I’m actually pretty favorably inclined toward shitheads of the canine variety. I have one of my own. So I don’t hate the dog, and I don’t blame him for being a horrible little brat. The fault for that lies squarely on his breeder’s and owner’s heads.
Morning Sky
I forgot I took these last Thursday morning.
I Will Survive
I stumbled across this years ago, back in the early heyday of Napster. It’s all kinds of awesome.
I Will Survive by REM
And that’s pretty much all I’ve got today. It’s been a completely useless weekend. I did make trailer park chili (there was salsa and Velveeta involved, heaven help me), but that’s not very interesting. Baked bread yesterday, but that was more out of necessity than any desire to be productive. Tomorrow’s another day, though (and no work!), so I suppose I could still become motivated. We shall see! At the very least, I need to go over to Goodwill, to drop off the carload of stuff that I’ve been carting around since last May. Yes, May. I’d probably be happy letting it sit for another nine months, but I’m supposed to go to my mom’s next weekend, and it would be nice if I had room in my car to pack my things. Like, say, the dog.
Instant Review: Doane Idea Journal
gel pen on 60lb graph paper
6 x 7 inches
While looking at the photo streams of people who had added me as a contact on Flickr, I came across some notebooks made by Doane Paper. Spiral-bound notebooks containing gridded paper, to be precise. Be still my beating heart!
I have this thing about graph paper, you see. My very favorite notebooks in college were those half-sized ones with yellow paper, made by Cambridge, I think. The pages were plain lines on one side and graph paper on the other. I’ve searched and searched and haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. The color of the paper is less important than the grid, so I thought I’d give one of the Doane notebooks a try.
I ordered their 8 x 10 inch Idea Journal on Wednesday and received it today. Not bad. I was happy to see that the packaging was all reused. Recycling is important, but I think all too often, people forget the “reduce” and “reuse” parts of the equation. The notebook itself has rigid, raw chipboard covers on front and back, with a generic sort of design on the front that really appeals to me. The paper itself is 60lb, so it’s heavier than standard notebook paper. This makes it nice for doodling, because ink doesn’t bleed through to next sheet. It’s not so heavy that it feels bulky, though. It’s a good compromise for a notebook that will be used for both writing and doodling.
They also included a free 5 x 8 inch writing pad, with grid paper. Nice touch! I’ll definitely be ordering from them again.
Cleaning
I finally decided to clean the studio today. Yowza! It’s about 90% finished. I probably won’t get around to vacuuming until tomorrow, but at least the majority of the work is done. While I was sorting through drawers and boxes and piles of junk, I came across an old folder from a humanities class I took in high school. It’s hugely embarrassing, but I thought I\’d post a photo of it anyway, for I have no pride. Most of the writing is old school goth (back when it was called death rock) and punk lyrics and song titles. I think it was probably 1985 or 1986.
Write My Mind
These large sheets of paper were posted in the lobby of the main library, so students could share what was on their minds. I am a little appalled at what a few of them wrote (burn the Dalai Lama?!), but the responses overall are pretty wonderful.
red paper boat 