16 posts tagged “photos”

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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For the holidays last month, we were busier than a bunny with the New York Times. We spent several weekends at Dickens Fair with various folk, which was on the whole quite jolly. The Bear and I helped the Bindle watercolor an angel ornament, and then the Boy and I took her to tea at Cuthbert's Tea Shoppe. Highlights were, of course, Mad Sal's Dockside Ale House (a counterpart to Madame Sally's School for Wayward Girls, whose Ladies' Oratorical and *ahem* Recreational Society puts on a lovely burlesque), the French Postcards, and the fabulous Dark Garden, where I purchased some awfully darling pettipants and oogled their live window mannequins.

We did a few Chanukah gatherings this year, the first with C on the third night and another with R on the eighth night, where I was able to catch up with D, a good friend I hadn't seen in well-nigh a decade. There were candles, my dreidel pillow, ruby port, Dennis's latkes, a terribly sweet baby, and the ocean, not in that order. We also drove up north twice, once to visit with the Taylors (Stan inscribed his presents to me "With love from Dad," making me all teary-eyed) and once to my grandparents' home where we hung out with my sisters, which I don't get to do nearly as often as I'd like. As previously noted, my birthday was amazing; thank you to all who sent greetings via one medium or another. And we've just returned from Los Angeles, where we rang in 2007 playing Wise and Otherwise with friends and family.

Miscellanea nova et curiosa: I adore my new glasses; they're similar to the old, but a bit smaller and wine-colored. My hair is now dark (ruby-black) once again, and longer (kissing my shoulders) than previously. It'll do. I'm using Pandora quite a bit at home these days. It's rather awesome. Also, I received the back panel for my new DG corset in the mail today. The fabric is So Effing Gorgeous, I can hardly believe it.

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So we quite enjoyed the Bent party early this month. The theme was "Caligula," and we created Bacchus and bacchante costumes. I wove ivy crowns with little glass balls and tiny silver bells, and fan_boy and I both had a swath of grapevines (I used mine as a sash, and wound the other around his pinecone-topped thyrsus). The Boy wore a modified toga and sandals, and after we arrived, I revealed my underbust corset and grape leaf pasties. So cute! Old friends were greeted, new friends were made, and we ended the evening with the obligatory pie at It's Tops.

I just finished Book the Thirteenth: The End in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I haven't seen the movie, but I find the books unutterably charming. The final dedication? For Beatrice—I cherished, you perished, the world's been nightmarished.

From marlowe1:

Here are the tags for our holiday project this year. We made three infused sugars and a special cocoa blend:

Had a marvelous time at Prom this year. The theme was Rock and Roll High School, and the Boy brought me the sweetest flowers: blood-black roses with sprigs of black berries. It was the cutest gothy corsage I've ever seen, and it even matched my petticoat and pleather corset perfectly. At the club, our good friends Chey and Stefanos were crowned Prom King and Queen. The election was all in good fun, but seriously, they've done so much to keep this community safe, playful and joyous over the past year (oh! and mazel tov on their bundle of joy, due next summer!).

Then, like the proverbial prom dress of old, we were off! We headed to a late-night cafe for pie with xthread and Sam, where we met up with the indomitable Polly and the Professor and a minyan or so of other folk. The staff were very tolerant, even throughout an impromptu Devious Darlings (tushie warning) dance lesson between tables. I don't think even my real high school prom could compete with such an evening!

I am frightfully behind on posting, but kacha hachayim. Chag sameach and a blessed Yule to all.

And from spillyjane:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Honourable Lady Emily the Essential of Extemporaneous Erudition under Essex Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

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And after 11 months and 30 days, HaShem rested, and Moshe told his people that they shall journey through airport security to gather with their individual tribes; that they shall partake in the holy feast of anything starchy in the orange family; and rejoice in a brew of malt, hops, barley and college football; and say thanks to HaShem for our families, our freedoms, the iPod and all the other blessings of the land...

Thanksgiving was wonderful, really. On the day itself, tutordennis and I joined fan_boy's family for dinner. We were able to meet much of his extended family, including Prince, a dear old muddy white horse, who gave me whiskery snuffles. After dinner, we all drove over to the house of the Boy's grandma, where we played Elvis on the player piano. It was so sweet to rediscover some of the Boy's childhood haunts together, and the day left all of us feeling very warm and welcomed.

After heading home for a few hours of sleep, we set out the next morning for my grandparents' home in Granite Bay. They live in Los Lagos Estates, so we spent some time after dinner wandering around to see some of the amazing homes in their holiday trimmings. Grandma, bless her heart, made a wonderful vegan feast for us: butternut squash soup, Tofurky, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, roasted veggies, my aunt's cranberry relish, and pumpkin pie with (n)ice cream. To work off the sumptuous meal, the Boy taught my cousins some Irish dance steps. And on the way home, the Bear drove us through Sacramento to see the sights, engendering even more nostalgia.

All of this, yet still time for a lazy weekend at home. I do natter on so, however, and have thus decided that perhaps other doings belong to future posts.

I seem to have retired the notion of posting with any frequency. Ah well; I find fragments in general more aesthetically-pleasing. Perhaps the balance will swing the other way in future.

Games have been afoot, however. This weekend, for example, we celebrated the birthday of dear friends N and T at Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. We were treated to a lesson in the art of the Japanese green powder tea ceremony, and then enjoyed taking part in a ritual tea service ourselves, in their serene nine-tatami tearoom.

Afterwards, as we strolled the grounds, I fell more and more in love with each step. It had just rained, and flora were awash with brilliant flames. Every turn of the winding path led to an even more breathtaking view of flowering tea plants, raked stones, mossy-barked trees, or bamboo-encircled waterfalls.

Huge silent koi in the ponds mirrored the autumn colors underwater. Nishikigoi koi have always been one of my mostest favoritest critters. These fish were quite personable, and practically came up out of the water to visit with us. Before we left Hakone, I picked out a wide-mouth carp made of pottery clay from the gift store for our own garden at home.

The ponds were also full of charming red-eared sliders of various sizes, playing King of the Hill on the rocks and blowing lazy bubbles towards the surface. This fellow is particularly handsome, nu?
In short, we had an absolutely smashing time; if you have not yet been there, we highly recommend a visit. Many thanks to Q for organizing such a wonderful outing. On the way home, I was able to show the Boy one of the houses in which I grew up, on a curvy cul-de-sac bordering the creek in Saratoga.

Later that night, we advanced en masse on the Aquarius Theater in Palo Alto for midnight Muppet madness! A nice group of folk turned out, and it was great fun to enjoy one of my favorite childhood memories with such a fabulous crowd. Thanks to dangerpudding and cortneyofeden for drawing the event to our attention, and to sweet joedecker, spaghettisquash and xthread for tolerating my sing-along voice throughout the film.