a short 2008 recap, the end of xmas, mustache guestbook

so how did 2008 turn out for you, corn pops? for me, it was either complete bullshit or pretty darn cool but nothing in between. for every really good thing (the moderate success of s&f (which, i'll be honest was a *hell* of a lot more successful than i thought it would be),



(royal tennenbalms from that site, btw.)

the obama election, hitting 35 and not caring *too* much about it, becoming an aunt, meeting my adopted cousin and some awesome new friends, etc) there was a directionally proportional shit equivalent. (my first (and, hopefully, last) root canal, having to learn to walk again due to having depth perception for the first time ever, damaging my spine and having to learn how to do EVERYTHING again so as not to damage it any further, sarah palin (ok, these are mostly physical pains. sarah palin included...))

so, yes, i will be glad to see the year go for the most part.

you know what else i was glad to see the back of? all of that snow



and *definitely* the holiday season.



although the xmas pizza was lovely as usual.



i won't bore you with the details as to how i spent my (mostly) snow/homebound holiday. it's enough for you to know that most days it took me 30 minutes to walk the two blocks to physical therapy due to ice/snow/slush. and that the rest of the time was spent watching netflix on the xbox.

oh! and leff and i also started a blog called "mustache guestbook".



simple premise: we have a shawnimals son of mustachio mustache and we're going to photograph everyone who visits our apartment wearing it. so, you know, drop by. the mustache is waiting for you.

happy new year, jitterbugs!

p.s.--laser radiohead is incredible.  you should *totally* go.

did you hear that it snowed in seattle? no, really.

before i get to the snow that EV-ERY-ONE in the seattle blogosphere has been tweeting, blogging, vlogging and generally screaming about, i want to say thanks to cakespy jessie for the wonderful tele-graham crackers!





i am indeed feeling better. physical therapy is *fantastic*! i mean, don't get me wrong, it's hard work with a lot homework but i'm *completely* dedicated to the program. (plus, traction and having electrodes hooked up to me twice a week are both really spectacular. i feel like a new person after those things are finished.)

right, i'll now add to the bitching about this snow. see, at first it was kinda' cute.





yeah, maybe a bit more than usual in seattle. still, kinda' on the adorbs side, right?

not anymore.











when is the hurting going to stop?

i'm just glad that i don't drive. i do have to admit to being a bit saddened by the condition of my back precluding any sledding activity on my part but i'll get over it.

that is, if it ever stops freaking snowing. damn it.

spines, spines, everywhere there's spines

i just got back from my neurosurgeon. the great news is that I'M NOT GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY!!!

here's where we (and by "we", i mean "me") stand. i've got physical therapy twice a week for a while. i'm also continuing on my anti inflammatory medication for a month or so.

and, wait for it....I GET TO GO TO D.C. FOR THE INAUGURATION!!

my "walking ban" has been lifted but i'm not allowed to bend over or carry anything over 5-7 pounds. also, my doc said she was surprised that i wasn't screaming in pain because my mri was, and i quote, "impressive".

(it's, apparently, a new injury unrelated to the car accident that i had at 18. in other words, bad genetics will get you every time.)

k, i'm going to do a modified dance now. you know, the kind that doesn't require lifting.

it snowed

did you hear? it snowed in seattle this weekend. leff took some nice pics of it at counterbalance park on saturday night.



(more photos here)

i'm feeling a bit deflated today. this is due, in part, to a fairly serious car accident that occurred to someone i know last night (she and the people in the other car are ok as far as we know at this point. it was a head on collision.) as well as my trip to the neurosurgeon this afternoon.

you can understand why i'm all airless and in need of personal fix-a-flat.

still, leff's office party was fun. he wrote about how we banished a trench coat illusionist with the power of europe on his blog.

and i should mention that breakfast cucumbers are both portable AND anti inflammatory if they are coated with turmeric.

possible medical update later this afternoon.

we have a verdict!

for those of you who care, i got the results from my mri today. two bulging discs in the lumbar region, one of which is putting pressure on my sciatic nerve. hooray!

as mentioned previously, i plan to not go on about this at length. i have an appointment with a neurosurgeon next week to see where we go from here. i might post an update about that, i might not.

no, i'm not planning on getting surgery. i'd rather explore other options.

anyway, i've got some catching up to do on suspect and fugitive. and since i've been given the green light to walk for short periods of time, i'll be getting out of my house. now THAT is something i'm excited about!

on hiatus

hey, kids! i have to get an mri! i'm also on pain meds that knock me on my ass and it's possible i might have to start physical therapy! hooray!

what this means for you is that i'll be gone for a while and i can't give you an estimate as to when i'll be back. i don't want to post a zillion things that say "sat on couch and watched turner classic movies after trying to walk through a modified balancing beam contraption" every day.

so, yeah. see you soon, i hope. i'm gonna' go watch turner classic movies on my couch now.

we'll try this tomorrow

my leg is KILLING me so, yeah. i'll try to write tomorrow. sorry.

no more pinched nerve, "animal crossing: city folk", grassroots, more japanese food, pink highlights and i still love "murder, she wrote"

ok, so the back thing? it's pretty much sorted now. turns out that i had a pinched nerve and needed to just do nothing for four days except sit around.

boring but, hey, at least i had a copy of "animal crossing: city folk", right?





it's a good game but, to be honest, it's pretty much just the same as the last two versions. maybe that'll change if i get the chat peripheral installed. maybe not.

i managed to make it to the grassroots business association meeting on thursday at vermillion. (thanks, j for limping along with me.)



i think it's going to be a good group. in fact, if you own a small business and are looking for like minded people (we skew heavily on the arts and crafts side at the moment), drop by the next meeting!

leff continues making yummy japanese food! here's some tsukune which was all charry and delicious!



oh, and i got my hair chopped off and added some pink highlights.



although that picture is more about clouseau.

the last major thing that happened this past week (other than FINALLY getting some rainboots from target) is our getting netflix through our xbox 360. you know what that means, right? fucking "murder, she wrote" ON DEMAND!



(angela lansberry for s&f)

i am *so* fucking happy!

right, have a happy thanksgiving if you live stateside. if not, enjoy the rest of your week!

back pain, ocd cat and japanese food

heya, chittlings! how's your monday?

remember how back in june i did a really wicked number on my back? my fucking annoying back that has been tricky since i was 18 because of some dumbass accident that i was involved in? yeah, well, it's not gotten better. at all. and now i'm having weird pains that make me think i've got nerve damage.

why am i mentioning this? i don't really know except maybe i'm asking for good thoughts from you loyal readers. i'm hoping this doesn't turn out to be what i'm dreading. updates available as soon as i have any.

what else has been crappy? ah, yes. fujiko's ocd has been out of control.



yes, one of my cats is ocd. another one has separation anxiety. we're all fucked up at casa rakkaleff.

anyway, fuji's been obsessively cleaning because the fire on the 5th set her off. so much so that now she's missing patches of fur and looks like she has mange, poor thing.

i've been working on behavioral modification but it's tricky. cleaning is a big part of a cat's normal behavior and i don't want to screw that up. so we're playing a lot and i'm just sort of sitting next to her all reassuring like. here's hoping her fur grows back soon!

but now on to good things! leff and i have been at uwajimaya a lot in the past week!









mainly because of this book.



it should be called "leff's cook(ing) japanese food!" because he's the one who made ebi no chiri so-su



and grilled corn, the japanese name of which i've forgotten.



both were extremely delicious.

what else? i got sucked (wah-wah!) into "true blood". i don't really know why. the horrible southern accents make me cringe and, as i've mentioned before, i'm much more of a werewolf person but, eh, whatcha' gonna' do when you have a bum back and an ocd cat?

k, i gotta' hobble into the kitchen and make something for s&f. see you next monday.

why do i hate the internet?

because the first result in a google search for "i hate the internet" brings up a geocities site.

for real.

i hate the internet.

starting next monday this will be a weekly blog

just like the title said, i'm switching this to a weekly blog. mondays only unless there's some reason that justifies a special post.

why? well, i'm busy and something has to give. esp since i'm winding down with one 365 project and am gearing up for another that will start on feb 1, 2009.

but let's get on with the post. leff and i will be in d.c. during the inauguration!!



no, we don't have tickets to the event itself (we probably won't get our hands on any either) but it'll be cool just to be in d.c. while obama is sworn in.

i never thought that i would *want* to go back to d.c., but there we are.

we have a new countertop.



it arrived on election day so it was kinda' like obama was solving my kitchen space problem for me. (ed note: no, not really. still, it's nice to be able to cut an onion without hitting my head.)

leff, j and i made it to the john hodgman musical extravaganza last week at town hall.



seattlest has a nice recap about the tragedy that occured during the q&a.

god, i fucking hate q&a.

what else? uuhhh...i went to poulsbo about a week ago. it was fantastically scandinavian. way more so than ballard can claim to be at this point.

leff and i tried both unicorn crepes and the new beard papa's in the id on sunday. i prefer unicorn crepes, in case you're keeping score. i think that beard papa's suffered from my having wanted to try them for so long.

i guess that's it. i know i'm forgetting a lot but i can deal with that. see you next monday!

i swear i'm writing something soon...

...just hang in there.

this is getting old

i swear to fucking god, if i have to deal with another motherfucking apartment complex fire someone is going to get their fucking ass kicked into next week.

what was a trend in tennessee has now occured in our building in seattle.

this time it was because of some asshat's grease fire.

everyone (cats included) is ok. there's no damage to our unit. it doesn't even smell that bad.

but for real. don't be squandering my new found feelings of goodwill, fellow apartment building resident. fires piss me off.

oh, and p.s.-the way to handle a grease fire is to a) cover the fire with a lid b) try baking soda c) use a fucking chemical fire extinguisher, asshole.

i can't believe it's real!

i feel like someone should pinch me. i can't believe that obama is president!! i'm so happy i don't know what to do!

i collapsed from sheer exhaustion at around 11:30. since 1:40 am or so, i've been reading everything i possibly can online. i'm thinking that i should probably try and get some more sleep, however.







thanks to j and d for having us over! and thanks to the blue parts of the u.s.! the 21st century is looking awesome! gobama!

i'll be back once the election is over

now's not a good time for me to write. i'm in 10% liberal freak out mode and 90% depressed holding pattern.

i've also been stress cleaning.

why? because i'm fully expecting this to turn into another bush v gore. i hope i'm proven wrong.

in the mean time, have a bajoaney sandwich.



a reminder if you're in the u.s. and haven't done early voting or mailed in a ballot: DON'T FORGET TO VOTE TOMORROW!!!!!

"mad men" glut

nothing new here today. i guess i could tell you that i finally managed to get everything put away in the apt from when i was gone/sick.

ah, progress.

the only thing i'm doing today is watching "mad men" and drinking pumpkin beer. and possibly deciding on a costume for friday. i'm thinking about being jane winebox but i doubt i'll get around to making the required suit. (you know, a franzia box with a name tag that says "jane winebox". *soooo* original. *eyeroll*)

the weekend

still dealing with leff's cold (and the filthy fucking apartment that results from me being out of commission for almost two weeks) so this will be short as usual.

saturday night, leff and i met up with j and d for the baked book launch at the ace hotel.



it was so much fun! and the baked goods (esp the pumpkin whoopie pie and the brownies) were fantabulous!

sunday, meh. are sundays ever worth a damn?

have some cameraphone photos from halloween stuff around lqa.





i'm gonna' watch fear fest on amc and drink a lot of juice.

sick and still busy

will i ever get things back under control? that remains to be seen especially now that i've caught leff's stupid cold and am moving at a sloth's pace.

again, there're no new photos to see except for this peter pumpkinhead.



for s&f, of course.

i doubt that i'll be carving a pumpkin this year. sad but true.

i'm doing a book launch on saturday and probably sleeping the rest of the weekend. what about you?

slowly returning back to normal

since i was busy yesterday trying to readjust to pacific daylight time and attempting to get back up to speed with everything else that had been put on hold for a week, i don't have a lot to write about.

which is why i'm going to mention that i was pleasantly surprised by how good of an airline continental is. (if you ever find yourself on one of their smaller commuter planes with brian as your flight attendant, consider yourself *very* lucky. he is *wonderful*! also? THEY SERVE FOOD!)

i'll throw this out there as well. THANK YOU, shuttle express for upgrading me to a private car on monday night! after 12 hours of travel it is simply the greatest thing in the WORLD to be able to arrive home from seatac in less than 20 minutes. i would kiss you if it were possible to kiss a shuttle service.

ANYWAY, for lack of any other photos, here's what i made for suspect and fugitive yesterday.



k, time to prepare for something potentially huge that's happening on friday. i should be readjusted to seattle time by then, right?

headed back to the west coast!

hey, lovely readers! i'm time shifting again. by the time you read this, i'll be on the 12 hour journey back to the west coast and beautiful, beautiful seattle! (i'll never take you for granted again, seattle. in fact, i'll probably kiss the tarmac at seatac if they'll let me.)

before i let you go though, i simply MUST tell you about the star museum in abingdon, va! it was a breath of fresh air, kids. for real. i felt like i was home when i was there.

here's robert weisfeld, the owner of the museum, posing in front of part of his massive collection (and his wonderful painting). i really enjoyed the tour and, most of all, meeting such a fantastic person!



i didn't have time to do photo correction on most of the images i ended up with but the ones that i have worked on can be viewed here. also, if you'd like a virtual tour of the museum, click here.

if you're in abingdon, make sure to stop by this great little museum! (the collection is rotated periodically.) admission is $10. absolutely go for the tour!

right, time to kiss western va/eastern tn goodbye! see you next decade, appalachia. maybe. if i have enough antidepressants.

obama bake sale!

remember the spent stencil from monday?



it was for the obama cookies that i made for tonight's obama bake sale!



if you're in seattle, swing by vermillion (1508 11th ave across the street from value village) starting at 7pm! i won't be there, but the cookies will. also, you'll be contributing to a great cause!

a brief depressive moment

i'll be honest with you. being in this part of the country, in this particular small town depresses the hell out of me. so instead of whining and bringing you down, here's a video of the krispy kreme donut machine.



just a reminder. this is what it's like where i am.



thriving nightlife, right?

and this is *so* where i want to be.



i'm so homesick.

i'm probably never going to get around to uploading those photos that i promised. sorry. if you're interested in seeing the technically pretty geography of this region, check out the flickr set.

also, suspect and fugitive is still going on while i'm here.

so i'm in va

hey, chitterlings! i made it to rural va just fine but i'm a bit jet lagged (which makes me crazy. i mean, it's stupid. i'm still in the continental u.s. and it's only a 3 hour difference! grrr!) and *extremely* exhausted since i'm pulling days that start at 4 am pacific time and end at 1 am pacific time (when i normally conk out).

also, there are MANY old ladies who talk to me about...something. i don't know, i've been zoning them out. but they *do* natter on so and invade my personal space at the same time. if i were in seattle, i'd probably punch them. or at least yell "STOP TOUCHING ME!!##!@!#"

ANYway, this is kind of a long way of saying that i'm too tired to really write up a coherent blog post (i'm sure you've noticed). i do have a lot of photos that i'll upload here sometime soon but if you can't wait to see my hillbilly heritage, you can check out the flickr set.

k, it's time for lunch. AT 8:30 IN THE MORNING#@! *weeping*

bonus video

more images, this time of the moving variety, from sunday.

i'm traveling but there's still a post

thanks to the ability to time shift with blogger post dates, i was able to post today even though i'm probably flying over one of the, well, fly over states while you're reading this.

hooray.

so on friday night, leff and i did the plush you opening. it was FANTASTIC as always! (and very crowded despite the photos that i have. how do i manage to never have people in my photos? that's not really the interesting question. why don't i ever have people in photos? now that's something that one of my old shrinks would love to sink his teeth into.)

anyway, non peopled photos of plush. here they are!

























it was a great night all around, weather not excepted.



on sunday, leff and i took a short trip to golden gardens and fisherman's terminal.















i kinda' wish i could stay there instead of heading back east.

also before heading out, i finished up a project that was due on the 17th. here's my spent stencil.



what's it for? well, i'll give you a hint...



but you'll have to check back on friday the 17th for the answer.

*fingers crossed that i'll have an internet connection when i land!*