A Thanksgiving Card from My Son and his Squad

My son is center front, standing. His sergeant is the one crouching. Hope you and yours had a Happy Thanksgiving.

My Soldier

If you say a grace at Thanksgiving, and you're inclined to remember the ones over in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places far from home when you do, I'm one of the moms who thanks you for keeping them in mind.

I've Become a Bead Fanatic

You may remember a post I did awhile back, where I talked about my "beading frenzy". And you may not, but I'll talk about the subject anyway. I've continued beading and I've been putting my stuff up on a Flickr page. There are pieces I haven't photographed and put up, but a major portion of it is online. I don't have a piece of styrofoam large enough anymore to hang all my stuff upon. I bought 6 necklace racks with 8 arms each and those have at least one necklace per arm and many have two or three (I've sorted the necklaces on them by colors, so the ones with the colors I have the most of are nearly full).

If you're curious about the names of the pieces, they're all cities. If you're not curious, I hope you skipped this entire paragraph. In some cases the name of the city has some relation to the stone used - even if it's really a stretch. In other cases, it's just a city that popped into my head as I looked at the finished work.

I have a specific way of finishing all my new stuff so I can use most pieces as badge lanyards or eyeglass chains or necklaces, depending on what I need for the day. If you don't know what a badge lanyard is, you'll have to go to the Flickr site and see what I mean.

If you do happen to visit the site and have any comments or maybe suggestions about designs I could do, let me know - you can leave comments here or there. This is a heck of a lot of fun *and* it's the kind of mindless busy-work (at least after I figure out the design I want to make) that helps distract me from any anxious thoughts I have about, oh, say my daughter driving 400+ miles in the middle of the night to come home for Thanksgiving, or my son being over in Iraq. When the noise in my head gets too loud, I just start stringing beads.

I also created a very simple webpage about my stuff that links to the Flickr site. I'm seriously considering putting together a storefront site. I've written the county for my DBA, I have the paperwork for a business license and I'm trying to figure out how to get a tax ID so I can buy my supplies wholesale. Buying beads at the quantity I've been is pretty pricy at retail. I've found several web sites (some were referrals from other beaders I happened to get replies from on Making Light) and some I just stumbled across via Google. I get better prices online, but I don't know if I could get even better ones if I could buy wholesale. Will have to wait and see. Or, if you know, tell me!

It's Highly Embellished Christmas Sweater Time Again!

Yep, soon it will be December, and I'll be bringing my Christmas sweaters out. I just got a new one from eBay (new to me, in good shape though). I've looked around online and there's a real dearth of Christmas sweaters out there that live up to my standards. To wit:

1. Lots of detail, eye-watering detail, medieval tapestry detail
2. Gold or silver thread - the thing needs to glow with metallic thread-y goodness
3. Beads and sequins are good things
4. Colors should be rich and bright, not necessarily complementary, either
5. Textures are important, I'm not crazy about anything printed, it should be appliquéd or embroidered on to the sweater
6. Buttons, I want a cardigan style, not pullover, and the buttons should be part of the composition of the overall design
7. Sleeves. I'm seeing some nice vests, but I don't want a vest, I want a sweater.

One of our local stations started broadcasting all Christmas music Friday afternoon at 3 Pacific. Pretty soon they'll be starting in August. 'Tis the season, indeed. Now if the temperature would just fall a bit so I don't end up feeling like I'm in a sauna when I wear my sweaters...

LOL Cubicle?

These didn’t really happen. They’re a complete work of fiction inspired by the LOLCat phenomenon…mostly…maybe…

• I’m in your cube reprogramming your speed-dial/removing your call-forward/stealing your headset/breaking the “kick-stand” in back so you have to either wall-mount or replace your phone
• I’m in your cube “borrowing”/changing the height settings/spilling some unidentifiable and smelly liquid on your chair
• I’m in your cube taking your trash-can and putting my broken one in its place
• I’m in your cube “borrowing” your cute pens and multi colored (the company only provides yellow ones) post-it’s
• I’m in your cube after hours calling my boyfriend in [some foreign country] and talking with him for several hours
• I’m in your cube sneezing on your monitor and smearing the saliva around with my hand
• I’m in your cube using your printer and forgetting the last page of the printout of my second mortgage application paperwork with a lot of personal information on it
  
• I’m in your cube doodling on the work surface with your black Sharpie pen
  
• I’m in your cube “borrowing” the markers and eraser from your dry-erase board, since you have colors I can't find in the supply cabinet
  

Anyone else have a contribution?

Wandering Around the Web

Favorite Stumble!s of the Day:

Book sculptures

Looking for a new toaster?

The power of a good story - $142.50 paid for a pack of 44 Pokemon cards on eBay

I'm thinking this should be printed, laminated and stuck on the fridge next to another chart that says when you should throw out that pound of frozen hamburger and that last Eggo in the freezer.

Especially for Rob

Star Wars Auditions

And here's Matt the morning he left for Iraq. Thanks again for the kind words of support.

Thank You

I just got home from my trip to North Carolina. In the pile of bills and junk mail was a card. It advised me that a Mass will be offered on Oct 3rd @ 7:30 am for the safe return of my son. I'm overwhelmed, and so thankful for this - words cannot express how I'm so deeply touched.

I don't know if the person who arranged this would want me sharing their name - but you know who you are and I love you.

Hurry Up and Wait

I spent a lovely few days with my son down in Fayetteville, North Carolina, this past weekend because his unit was going to be deployed to the Middle East on Monday. We shopped, watched movies and ate a lot of food. I put him up at my hotel so he wouldn't have to stay at his stripped down barracks room. I met some of his buddies here and there as we drove around, and one night we had dinner with his sergeant and family. By the way, sergeant is apparently pronounced something like "sar'nt" with a hint of the south in the accent. At least that's what my son's picked up.

His sergeant is smart and has seen two tours in the Middle East already. He seems to really care about his men, which is a relief to me. His parents are very nice as well. It has to be tough on them to do this for a third time; I know it's been quite a challenge for me getting through this one, focusing on making sure my son is center stage and he gets whatever he needs to make his send-off as good as possible.

Yesterday we ran a couple of errands in the morning - he needed to get his rank insignia sewn to a new cap we'd bought the previous day and he wanted to get his hair trimmed up. Then it was off to the base to get checked out of his room. This was around 11. The following are details of the day to the best of my recollection - I might have gotten some of the timing a bit mixed up - but it's pretty close.

They'd told my son to report to formation at 1:00 so we grabbed him some lunch and got back plenty early and hung around with his buddies and their families and wives or girlfriends. One of his buddies is the oldest of 11 kids. The youngest, a 3 week old baby, was there with Mom, Dad and a sister (#3 sibling). Many pictures were taken, I got a few, too. One guys' dad probably filled his 8 meg memory stick. When I get home I'll post some of the ones I took.

At 1:00 they lined up on the field in front of a little wooden platform on the large field that sits in front of his company's HQ buildings. After a while they ran into one of the buildings and soon they were all coming out, staggering under huge packs and hauling overstuffed duffles. I'm guessing my son's gear weighed more than he does, but he ran briskly to his spot with it on his back. Then after some business with their gear, I wandered out to where he was and we stood around some more. A while later they formed up again. Then a large group ran off in another direction to a different building. My son was a good 20 yards ahead of the rest of them - he runs like a gazelle with a cheetah on his tail.

They came straggling back one or two at time to the field with their weapons. We stood around some more. I got to know some of his buddies a bit better - they're a good group of young men. Funny stories were told, lots of teasing happened. By now it's around 3:00. Next formation is at 7.

Now, not knowing whether they'll be leaving or not, each time he had to go form up, we said goodbye. I'd go off to my car to get some A/C and water and eventually he'd call me and say, come on back out. At the 3:00 formation, there's a huge truck for their gear. They load all the gear. I've said goodbye again and am in my car. He calls me again, come back, we aren't leaving yet. I stagger back out. He and I head over to an Arby's just outside one of the nearby gates and had a second lunch. He tried to fill up, since he had no idea when he'd get a chance to eat again.

The sun sets and blessed cool finally arrives. It's been sunny and in the upper 80s all day. I'm surprised I don't have a sunburn. They get in formation again, and they all get some stuff on a lanyard they have to wear for the flight out. We stand around some more. While waiting for this formation to end I sat on a wad of gum. The chaplains assistant had been wandering around earlier with a tub of candy and gum and handing out 120 minute phone cards, about which my son said "this is like gold!". I suspect one of the kids spit out the gum, the soldiers are very good about cleaning up after themselves.

There have been buses coming and going all day - each time a different formation of troops has arrived and gotten on those buses with about an hour or two at most between their arrival and departure. My son's group has been standing around sweating in their fatigues since 1:00. It will be a ripe group getting on that plane later.

Finally, around 8 they're told the next buses that show up will be theirs. The buses arrive. I give my son another huge hug and tell him how much I, and all his family, and the huge circle of friends around us, are proud of him, will be praying for him and how much I love him. He heads for the bus, I head for the car. When the last bus drives off, I head for the road - it's about a 2 hour trip from Fayetteville to Raleigh where I am for the week.

He calls me about half an hour later - he's at "Green Ramp" which means he's at the airfield from which his flight will leave. He's not sure when they'll be loading onto the plane, but he is pretty sure he won't have another chance to call tonight. He promises to call me the next chance he gets. I'll be keeping the cell phone charged and near by in anticipation for the next, oh, 15 months or so.

Award Winning Mustaches and Beards

I am a huge fan of the Sheldon comic strip. I even have my own Lucky Duck tee shirt (you have to scroll down about half a page to see it) and signed book editions of the strips - the artist/writer even drew sketches in them which I love to pieces.

In his blog post today he asks, regarding a link he received to the World Beard and Mustache Championships 2007 (who knew?), "...at what point in your life do you go 'You know what? I'm tired of dating or of being attractive in any way. I'm past that. Instead, I'm gonna grow me an Imperial.'"

Good question. However I was more interested in what this guy could possibly have been thinking - and he only got 3rd place.

Yes, I know today is Talk Like a Pirate Day. I am just not clever enough to do an entire post in Pirate Talk. Arrr, me maties, ahoy and avast! That's about the most I can manage.

I did create a special avatar for today...


No grandkitties were harmed in the making of this avatar - it's entirely created in (and I would hope obviously since my skills are poor) Paintbox Pro. Maybe I should go look for a hat to put on it, too...

A Very Special Pigeon, The "Pina Colada Song" In Real Life and Happy Birthday Smilies!

I've seen articles with pictures of momma mammals raising abandoned babies from other species but I've never seen anything like this pigeon and a baby monkey.

In other news, remember the "Pina Colada" song, which my husband reminds me was actually titled "Escape"? Back in the days before Match.com and online chat, this whiny dude sees a personal in the paper (while lying in bed next to his wife), responds to it (probably not right there in bed), and sets up a meeting at an Irish bar (we all know those are the best places to start illicit affairs) with this intriguing woman who may or may not be a wet, out of shape, alcoholic nympho with sand down her shorts. Oh Henry! It turns out to be his wife! They wander off into the sunset all smiles and renewed passion. Right.

Here's how it happens in real life.

My favorite quote of the piece was "To be honest I still find it hard to believe that the person, Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things to me on the internet, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years."

At least there was no blood shed. Yet. I'm looking forward to some interesting comments on this one, folks.

Finally, the smiley face is 25 tomorrow.

Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message...Fahlman posted the emoticon in a message to an online electronic bulletin board at 11:44 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1982, during a discussion about the limits of online humor and how to denote comments meant to be taken lightly.

"I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)," wrote Fahlman. "Read it sideways."

Righi Was Within His Rights

Update on the Michael Righi "Papers Please" story. The Cleaveland Plain Dealer carried an article (I'd link to it but I get a "not found" page when I followed the link from "Writes Like She Talks" Hi, Jill! Like the new site.) on the case and later this article "What Are Your Rights?" appeared. Two excerpts:

A store asks me to open my bag. What are my rights?

Customers have the right to say no, said Lewis Katz, a Case Western Reserve University law professor and author of "Know Your Rights." That's why store employees and security guards usually ask permission. Security guards are allowed to search you without a warrant in three specific instances, said Jennifer Brindisi, a spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. That's at the border, in the airport and before entering private property. Otherwise, unless you're prepared to take a stand, it's easier to comply, ACLU Ohio Director Jeff Gamso said.

and

Can police force you to present your driver's license?

If you are not driving a car, Katz and the ACLU believe that police cannot demand a driver's license.

Looks like Mr. Righi was right.

Cute and Lucky - More Cute Animals, real and otherwise

Ok, no more politics/current events stuff. Back to the tried an true "cute animal" stuff.

Heartkun - not an urban myth! At least so says Snopes - where I go to check out all things suspicious I get via massively forwarded emails...This adorable puppy has a heart shaped patch of fur. Watch the video on the Snopes page if you need a pick me up. Then go buy a lottery ticket. If you win the big one, don't forget Dawno sent you there...

Speaking of cute animals - have you read Frank's recent post about his new Jack Russell terrier? You should.

I'm a fan of the web-comic "Sheldon" which features a pug dog, a duck and a cute ?salamander? maybe a chameleon? any way, a cute lizard-like animal. That and "Two Lumps" which is a great little strip about two cats - one who's smart and snarky and one who's rather goofy and not too bright.

There's your daily dose of cute animal stuff. Your cheeks should be aching from the smiles - just remember, "no pain, no gain"

Circuit City Apparently Is Exempt from Obeying the 4th Amendment

Mr Michael Righi was detained outside of an Ohio Circuit City Store by the manager and "loss prevention" person for refusing to show his receipt. The comments thread on Mr. Righi's blog post is very interesting in that so many people seem to think he's a jerk (well, most used less nice terms) for contesting the illegal search.

He called the police and was arrested and then released on $300 bail.

My husband and I shop at a local electronics super store and they have the same type of loss prevention person at the front of the store. We walk right past him every time. He has been trained NOT to try and force us to show the receipt. Good for them, because I'm not "guilty until proven innocent" in this country, yet. Accuse me of shoplifting, call the cops and then you can see my receipt and bag. Meanwhile, I'll be on the phone to my lawyer, the ACLU and the Mercury News.

Oh, and I liked the advice given in the comments to the above blog, take the merchandise directly to the returns counter and get your money back right then and there. You want to see my receipt? Bring that nice police officer over here and you can all examine the receipt as you refund my money.

ETA: ok, ok, my husband just reminded me that the 4th Amendment protects me from the government illegally searching me. In the back of my mind something tells me that if the government is prohibited then surely private citizens are equally prohibited - but that would be under some other statute - kidnapping maybe? I shot from the hip - but I know there's a grain of truth in there somewhere...

Sumo Sushi Early Birthday Dinner

We've done a few of these birthday dinners for Matt at Sumo Sushi. One year it was closed on the day we chose to go and ended up somewhere else, but this is his favorite place. The owner knows him and gives us fairly special treatment when we come. It's very good food and judging by the constant flow of people, a popular place.

So here's Matt (far left), a couple weeks from being 22, with some of his old friends (a couple of them he's known since elementary school) celebrating.




In less than a month he's off to Iraq - I'm glad I can help him create good memories to hold on to while he's there.

Peek-a-boo Grandkitties

Here's Jello playing peek-a-boo in my office.



Here's Pudding a couple hours later doing much the same


Some days don't you wish you were a cat?



I do.

Baby Orphan Hedgehogs and My Failing Vision. Plus! News Flash!

From the Daily Mail: Orphaned hedgehogs adopt cleaning brush as their mother. You really should click that link and look at the picture - the baby hedgehogs are about an inch long and totally adorable. They're named Mary, Mungo, Midge and Slappy. First the teeny duckies, now these. I'm on cute overload.

So, not satisfied with just one dose of cute, I go Google: "tiny cute baby animals" and the first hit is a site called "things that make you go aaahh dot com" DO NOT GO THERE. I didn't read carefully but Google had tagged the site "this site may harm your computer" right on the search page. I clicked the link anyway - having not read the first warning - and Google thoughtfully put up this page:



*Whew* dodged a bullet there!

I'm going in for an eye exam Friday. All those years of "high glycemic index food" are taking quite a toll on my close vision. I now have two pairs of glasses for bead work and my regular reading glasses which I wear constantly - this could be part of the problem because I sometimes try to see things outside the focal range and I'm sure I'm straining my eyes even more before I remember to lower or take off the glasses. I need to get graduated lenses this time around.

Hot off the press - Teresa Nielsen Hayden has announced her appointment (employment?) by BoingBoing to be their "community manager" - She's going to keep the comments, recently re-activated on the BoingBoing site, from turning into a home for spammers, astroturfers and trolls. Yay!! Congrats, Teresa!

Making Light is one of my mostest favorite online places (after AW of course) and it's very much due to the great job Teresa and Patrick do in the comments. It's a light touch and at most a good talking to, until the trolls come out then "wham!" with the disemvoweller!

I Have Bedroom Furniture!

This may seem like a "so?" statement, but I haven't had a nice set of bedroom pieces since I left home for college. You may recall the excitement I expressed in my "I Have a New Bed!" post in March of '06 (the picture of the bed appears to have disappeared - I wonder why?)

As newlyweds my ex and I bought a multi-piece set from Sears that can charitably be called basic. I continued to use the stuff after the divorce, but when I moved up here I didn't bring it along. So there have been those build it yourself closet storage things and baskets and bins, in the bedroom or closets, but no real furniture.

Daughter and I were shopping when she was out here and the pieces I'd been eyeing at Bombay Company for quite some time were on mega sale. I snapped up a chest of drawers, a smaller chest for the bedside and a lingerie chest for a really good price.

The delivery people arrived today, hauled three large boxes up the stairs and left. I had to unpack them. It was challenging, but I did it. The lingerie chest was upside-down, which was also fun to fix all on my own considering the weight and seven drawers to keep from falling out or breaking. Fortunately, I could see it was upside-down while it was still wrapped up in its protective cocoon of saran-wrap and foamy wrap so the drawers didn't turn out to be an issue, just the weight.

The upstairs hallway is full of box remnants that I'll have to deal with pretty soon. The cats love it, but when my son comes home later tonight, if he has to fight his way through them, it wouldn't be pretty - so I'll haul the stuff down the stairs and out to the back porch for final breakdown into pieces our recycling bin can manage.

Of course now the walls look too bare and I'm pondering what goes on top - a small flatscreen TV might go on the chest of drawers, my clock and jewelry box will go on the bedside table but as for the lingerie chest - maybe some dust-catchers - I'll have to give it some thought.

Today I'll Grumble

Apparently whining brings out the comments...but I won't make a habit of it. Instead, I'll grumble.

Today I did some shopping at the local grocery. I used the self-check out kiosk. As I was scanning my twenty bottles of Diet Arizona Green Tea (they were on sale for a dollar a bottle - I cleared the shelf), a lady stopped and told me in no uncertain terms that by using the self-check out kiosk I was depriving people of their jobs.

I didn't pause as I told her that, no, the grocery chain might be depriving people of jobs but, since they didn't ask me if I'd rather they have fewer employees at the store just so I could check my own groceries, I didn't feel responsible. She wanted to argue some about it and made another couple of statements that I mostly ignored and then I asked her if she'd please go bother someone else with her crusade as I wasn't interested.

She made one of those little sniffy sounds and stomped off in her Birkenstocks, net bag in hand to the produce section. Nervy gal.

In fact, since I get charged exactly the same as someone who goes through the line and gets two employees' services - a checker and a bagger - it appears that I'm the one getting ripped off in this equation. As I looked around the store it also appeared that there was a 1:1 ratio of employees and customers at that moment. If they're depriving people of work because I'm using self-check out, they certainly weren't looking too understaffed, considering.

I got home and was sharing the story with my daughter, and she noted that there are the same number of check out aisles as ever in the store it's not like they closed a bunch of them down to make room for the kiosks. This is true, and I don't remember ever being there when they were all in use. My daughter is pretty smart.

Yes, self-service may cost some jobs. I don't know, I don't have the facts. But stores are in the business of serving the customer. If self-service is something customers want (and those kiosks always have people at them, so I guess it is) then it's a smart business move to put them in. I'd guess that keeping the store competitive so they don't have to go out of business and fire all the employees is a good thing. I hope the employees that lost their jobs found new ones at one of the other new, very large grocery stores that have gone up within 5 miles of here.

Wherein Dawno May Be Thought of as a Whiner

Ever see something somewhere in the blogosphere and initially want to make a comment about it, but then decide "Nobody cares what I have to say, and certainly someone around here is going to say it better, so why bother?"

I have that experience quite often at two particular, very popular, blogs I read daily (and sometimes follow all day long when the conversations get really good).

In fact it just happened, and that's why I'm writing this. I start to compose a comment and then get all self-conscious and delete it. I just can't get over that the regular commenters at those particular places are all so incredibly smart about the topics being discussed, to say nothing about just being incredibly smart people, and I'm not.

I know, it sounds whiny and self-absorbed. Well, "It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to, whine if I want to...."




And I'm not posting this to get scolded or sympathy (feel free to comment that way if you want to). I'm actually interested in knowing if that's anyone else's experience and what you do about it. Do you just tighten up the bootlaces and march on in? I've done that on occasion, but mostly I remain a lurker - I just don't have anything of real substance I can contribute.

Excuses, Excuses, a Shaved Cat, Beading Frenzy, and Ducklings

Back two posts ago, I posted some excuses about my sporadic blogging - just got a great comment from J M McDermott with his excuses that I wanted to share:

1) I'd update my blog, but I'm way too busy reading other people's blogs.

2) I'd update my blog, but every time I try to write something, World of Warcraft somehow, mysteriously, loads without any help from me whatsoever. Promise.

3)I'd update my blog, but I'm just not that interesting. I've run out of interesting things to say. Isn't that interesting?

4) I've been updating my blog... my SUPER-SECRET EASTER EGG BLOG! If you search my blog thoroughly, you may piece together the clues that lead you into the vortex of recent updates! Keep looking. You'll find it.

5) I assigned a guest-blogger, and I guess that person just let me down. I'll never put my cat in charge of that again!

Speaking of cats - one of the grandkitties, Pudding, is a longhair and in the summer it gets pretty miserable for him so he spends too much time lying around under things and trying to stay cool. We had him shaved and he's much perkier now - although he looks very weird and big headed.









I've been on a bit of a beading frenzy this month. It's so relaxing to just string beads.

Most of my work is done with glass, ceramic, semi-precious stone beads, and metal findings/spacers. Some of my favorites up there are the ones with hematite and the ones with smoky quartz. Most of the pieces were designed with specific outfits I like to wear in mind. There's a lot of pink in my wardrobe so I've done a lot of pink sets - (I also like to make earrings and bracelets to match the necklace or badge chains I've done).

I'm going to (eventually) hang each set on a nice display frame - I bought one covered in white and one in black - and take individual pictures then post them on my own website. I need a tripod and a clear place to photograph them - the picture above was taken in my bathroom using the styrofoam pinboard I use to keep my work propped up right next to my beading desk (previous stuff inspires new stuff). I propped the styrofoam up on a pretty shoe box and placed it all on top of the toilet tank in the bathroom next to my office.

There are 57 pieces on that pinboard (counting pairs of earrings as one "piece"). I guess I've been a bit obsessed...

My husband just sent me a link to a story about two rescued ducklings. I defy you to look at the picture of these ducklings swimming in a teacup and not say "awwwwwwwwwww" at the total cuteness. If you can, don't tell me, I'll just never look at you the same way if you do.