Vox Noctis

Pleasantly warm and sun-blind after a lengthy stroll through the local Catholic cemetery today. Spent a long time looking at the small small graves in the children's garden and photographing some beautifully mossy and decrepit headstones.

Been out in the yard more than usual at home, since the weather has been so fine. It's sweet to putter about in the dappled sunlight, hearing the occasional zephyr stir our Victorian glass wind chimes (a gift from seathroughghost and company). I found an interesting critter under one of my heavy clay pots. We've also determined that our popular bird feeder often doubles as a squirrel feeder. There's a particularly cheeky fellow who visits quite frequently!

We already have tickets to see 300 on Friday at the Metreon IMAX theatre. *bounce*

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Fridays are usually very busy days for me, but the weather was just so gorgeous that the Grub and I couldn't resist a sunny stroll. We took lots of fun photos for my ongoing Strolling in Menlo Park set.

Friday evening was the fabulous Bent party in the City. The theme was Bent High: Back to School, and fan_boy and I had a delightful time making our costumes. When Principal Tiziano implemented my corporal punishment with my own copy of Smythe's Greek Grammar, however, I wished I'd chosen a less weighty text!

Saturday was a leisurely brunch followed by making ourselves fragrant with wine at a nearby venue (in order to fulfill our Purim obligation of yemei mishteh v'simchah, of course). But it seems that our local Irish pub was unaware of such festivities and had booked a rather raucous band whose presence served to totally harsh our mellow, as it were. So we wandered on and eventually made our contented way homeward.

Sunday was full of crafting, yard sales, and the like with tutordennis. We found an unfinished wooden toychest, and he's showing me how to sand and finish it with Tung Oil. I also picked up some enchanting buttons, one set for an Indian-style wrap I have, and another vintage set to replace the buttons on my brown mid-thigh coat. I finished sewing them on tonight, and I'm quite pleased. Yesterday eve, a group of us dallied and danced at Death Guild. During a lull, a pool of hot candle wax found its way onto my bare skin, and abditus used his pocket knife to very gently lift it off in one whole piece. *fans self* Oh, and spaghettisquash has the most splendid hat!

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Oh, the joys and trials of living in a century-old Victorian! It's been less than warm at home these past couple of days, since our ancient furnace mysteriously ceased functioning on Tuesday. After poking vainly at the rusty, imposing contraption in the basement and attempting to follow the faded and cryptic instructions affixed to the side, we admitted defeat and called PG&E. They're sending a repair person tomorrow. So the Grub and company very sweetly loaned us a space heater or two, we put a heating pad on the bird cage (although Madi insists upon climbing up to sit on it, which is no doubt greatly unsettling to Furn), and we're using the adventure as an excuse for snuggling under lots of blankets.

Wednesday was a Tied House gathering. Quite a few people joined us, although I must admit I was very much distracted by seeing sichling's and 3diff's dear baby William again. I'd never been to the Tied House in Mountain View, and found it a bit noisy (I don't suppose it helped that we were spread across four tables). But I easily consoled myself with the wonderful company and a pint of lovely Ironwood Dark.

Tales from this weekend are forthcoming; meanwhile, a recent photo shoot with the Boy's avian mask (click the mosaic below to view the set):

And happy Purim!

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Saturday was brunch with my peeps (oat bran pancakes with fruit compote) before playing our new Zombies!!! game (second edition). fan_boy recently bought all the extension sets, too. It was as awesome as one might expect, and I prevailed against my foes by killing 25 zombies for the win rather than trying for the usual helipad option. Those poor naïve fools! Then I spent the evening with the Grub while the Boy popped out for a round at the Gaskell Ball, heading home for snuggles and the pitter-patter of raindrops as we fell asleep.

Next day, tutordennis very sweetly took me out to the Body Shop for some pamper-fu, and I got a new pair of oh-so-cute spiderweb Vans. We also went to the closeout sale at CompUSA and picked up a new battery and larger memory card for my camera. I'm looking forward to playing more with photography in future, especially since the Boy just upgraded my Flickr account to a Pro account (and it seems to be a creative endeavor I can pursue without putting undue stress on my wrist).

Monday evening we descended upon Death Guild with xthread, warlord_mit, spaghettisquash and abditus for dancing and the like. I finally tried the ubiquitous Disaronno, both in a sour and on the rocks. I found it not altogether to my tastes, although I did in fact suck on the ice cubes. Afterward we sallied forth for french fries (at the creepiest doughnut joint I've ever entered) and saw a brief but fierce flurry of hail through our reflections in the window!

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We hied ourselves to Oakland last night to meet teawiththecheat, dicedork and tinellaq at the Parkway Speakeasy Theater for some grub, grog, and a flick. I'd never been to a speakeasy theatre before, and we had a capital time. tutordennis and I had a sandwich called The Easy Rider, and fan_boy had (of course) a Zombie Cow, but I think my favorite one was Oliver's Mummy's Tummy. We meant to see the critically-acclaimed and thought-provoking Babel, but due to a small case of deus en machina, we ended up watching the not-quite-as-intellectual Casino Royale.

 

But they had comfy couches right in the theatre! Sipping tasty cider and snuggling with cuddlesome sweeties while James cavorts with Bond girls and crashes exquisite cars...what more could one want?

A giant squid, you say? Quite so!

From baerana:

This lovely long weekend was just groovy. There was bowling, a fine game of Gloom: the Game of Inauspicous Incidents and Grave Consequences, a yummy brunch, a cheesy movie, a great restaurant discovery, zombies, and a new book. Happy Presidents' Day!

 

Tagged by sweet sweet teawiththecheat:
RULES: Each player of this game starts off with 10 weird things/habits/little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 10 weird habits/things/little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you need to choose 10 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.

1. I have idiopathic epilepsy, although I rarely talk about it. My last generalized tonic-clonic seizure was in 2001. Oddly, my kitty Madeleine has the same diagnosis and takes Phenobarbitol twice daily.
2. I graduated high school at sixteen.
3. I am multiethnic (Filipina and German).
4. The sister closest in age to me is ten years younger. My other sister is seventeen years younger. (Here's a photo of us with our mother.)
5. I know all the lyrics to Digital Underground's Humpty Dance.
6. I have never been on a roller coaster. Unless you count the little one that looks like a caterpillar at Fairytale Town.
7. Sometimes, I take showers with my glasses on.
8. I like lima beans. And Brussels sprouts.
9. I know how to make soap and brew beer (but often forget how to operate our TV/DVD/TiVo system at home).
10. I want to eat your brain.

Tag; you're it.

 

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Did you have a fertile Lupercalia? Ah, the fecundity! NB: If in future you plan to celebrate by watching Ginger Snaps Back, I heartily recommend whacking your loved ones with bloody goat hides instead. That movie was almost as bad as the Gryphon debacle (which was a shame as well, as it features wonderful Amber Benson of Willow and Tara fame).

It's been a fine week. My tummy was feeling not very how on Sunday, but was sweetly nursed by abditus and spaghettisquash, who plied me with steamed almond milk, cherry pancakes, and Hoopla. Then tutordennis went out and brought me electrolyte waters and soup and crackers while I snuggled with the kitties, and soon I was feeling much better.

Wednesday was quiet and divine. Dennis made a heavenly dinner for the three of us: Mápó dòufu with his secret stash of pre-ban Szechuan peppercorns, accompanied by Chinese greens and (n)oyster sauce. He gave me Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World, which I've been wanting, and most importantly, a Piglet Pez.

 

Afterwards, fan_boy called me upstairs to show me several new toys for drubbing naughty girls and boys. He just might rue the day. *wicked dance*

Also, by the Herculean efforts of the Bear (which unfortunately required driving between three different counties), the car registration has been renewed. And I finished my taxes last night. Now my happiness is a golden poem!

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One day when we lived in Sacramento, a neighbor boy brought over his bird to show us because he "heard we liked animals." The bird in question was a rather disgruntled cockatiel, crammed into a tiny, broken cage. We counseled the little boy a bit on proper bird care and feeding, set him up with a roomier, well-appointed cage, and gave him a supply of real bird food (not seeds). About a month later, he brought her back. She had significant feather loss under her wings, and was clearly weak. He told me that he'd brought her with him to visit his godmother, but forgot to bring her food. "She was real noisy for a couple of days but now she's real quiet," he added. We were horrified, and set out for our veterinarian (a bird expert) immediately. I brought the little boy with us. The cockatiel was diagnosed with a skin fungus due to improper care and malnutrition, but she had a very strong will to survive. We spoke with the boy's family, and agreed to adopt her. I named her Elli. With care and therapy, she made an excellent recovery, and has been our much-loved companion for years. When our budgie Furn lost her mate Ben, Elli stepped in to provide comfort and a morning singing partner. Elli loved to follow Dennis around, and to be told, "Oh, she's such an eagle!" *preen*

She died this Sunday. I miss her so much.