Uncategorized – Page 2

June 22, 2011

The Sweetest Thing

A week or so ago, my mom, my sister, and my 2-year-old niece, Allison, came over for a visit. We were sitting in the kitchen chatting, and Allison wandered off into the other room. Of course, when things are quiet for a few minutes, you figure the kid must be up to no good, right? So I went after her to see what was up and this is what I found:

She hoisted herself up on the chair by the stairs and quietly flipped through a little album I made of pictures taken with disposable cameras at our wedding. The whole thing seemed to fascinate her, but she got particularly excited when she recognized people. Isn’t that precious?

September 24, 2010

Why don’t we just blow them to smithereens?

Last night on my way home, I was listening to John Rothman on KGO. His topic was the recent U.N. speech by the President Ahmandinejad of Iran, which prompted 33 delegations to walk out. In case you hadn’t heard, he asserted that the 9/11 attacks were actually orchestrated by the U.S. in order to bolster its economy and ensure the survival of the Zionist state, a.k.a. Israel. Clearly the economic agenda didn’t work, and I’m not really sure how destroying the twin towers could really help Israel out, but this guy thinks the Holocaust didn’t happen, so maybe this really works out in his head.

Anyway, John Rothman’s big thing was, reports indicate that Iran has the ability and materials to produce three nuclear weapons, and this guy is a nut job, so what are we going to do about it. Here’s what we should do about it: nothing. And here’s why.

Admittedly, I have not done serious research on this guy and really just know what I know based on snippets from news radio and occasional online news tidbits and newspaper headlines. It appears to me, though, that this guy has quite an ego on him, and he just wants to play with the big boys. I think he’s being inflammatory to get attention because when it comes down to it, he’s really a big nobody and no one of consequence would pay any attention to him otherwise. When we get all up in arms about his offensive comments, he gets exactly what he wants: news coverage. So let’s just stop. Let’s just say to ourselves, “Selves, this guy is just trying to get a rise out of us, so let’s not fall for it. If he wants to join us back in the real world, maybe we can talk, but until then, he’s not worth our time and effort.” End of story. When people stop paying attention and he’s not in the news, I think he shapes up pretty quick. Kind of a like a toddler having a tantrum over a toy. When he realizes no amount of screaming and crying is going to make mommy buy him the toy, the kid will stop. Yes, I just compared the President of Iran to a screaming toddler.

Rothman would no doubt reject this course of action out of hand because he’s afraid Iran is going to nuke somebody. I’m really not. See, a few decades back, there was this thing called the Cold War. There were two giant superpowers that each had thousands of nuclear weapons pointed at each other, and they were poised to plunge the entire planet into a nuclear winter. But they never did because of this concept called mutual assured destruction; the second one of them fired, the other would retaliate and both countries would be wiped out. Similarly here, the second Iran fires a nuke at Israel, or anybody else for that matter, it’s going to get wiped off the map. The only difference here is, Iran will have so few nuclear weapons that it wouldn’t be mutual assured destruction, it would really just be Iran’s assured destruction.

Now, one might argue that Ahmandinejad and the other people in charge of Iran might be the type of Islamic fundamentalists that would be okay with getting wiped out because they would become martyrs and go to heaven and get their 72 virgins and all that jazz. I don’t think so, particularly with respect to Ahmandinejad. Like I said, the guy’s got an ego, and I think he sees himself as too important here in this life to be moving on just yet. I mean, he had photos of his White House visit doctored so it appeared he was leading President Obama around the premises. (I know that when I have an important guest visit my home or office, I always have them give me the tour.) I just don’t see him giving up this fantasy he’s living for any amount of virgins. Even if he personally survived any retaliatory attack, he would be presiding over a destroyed country, and that’s the best case scenario. I think he’d more likely have to go into hiding, and then he really wouldn’t be making the news.

Finally, I’m sure some people have concern for any innocent lives that might be lost in a nuclear attack and counter attack. Of course, any such loss would be tragic, but like I said, I don’t think it will happen. I think we also have to consider this a situation where the U.S. policy of not negotiating with terrorists has to come into play. It has been a long-standing policy that the U.S. does not negotiate with terrorists, even if innocent lives are at stake. By threatening to develop and use nuclear weapons, Iran is, in essence, holding the world hostage. It’s really a terrorist act. We can’t bend to it because, if Iran is successful, they will likely raise the same threats again and other countries will be encouraged to adopt the same bad behavior. While lives may be at risk if we don’t play Iran’s game, I think even more may be at risk if we do.

And with that, I will stop talking about Ahmandinejad, because I’ve already afforded him more time, effort, and space on this blog than he really deserves.

June 21, 2010

Hallmark in Cahoots with the USPS?

Like many of you, I addressed, stamped, and mailed some Father’s Day cards last week. One in particular struck me as a bit strange because the envelope was marked “Extra Postage Required” in the stamp area. The card did not seem to me to be particularly heavy, so I broke out our kitchen scale and weighed the whole thing before I sent it. Sure enough, the card and envelope together were less than an ounce, requiring zero extra postage. It just made me wonder, what’s the deal? I am sure a lot of people would have put that extra postage on as instructed without giving it an extra thought. How many cards out there are like that?

Greeting cards are virtually the only thing I send through the U.S. Mail these days (and, much as I hate to admit it, I really don’t send many of those). Bills are paid online, and I send email instead of letters. I know the Postal Service is a real money loser at this point — could they be teamed up with greeting card companies to find a sneaky way to increase revenue? I know it’s a stupid, paranoid conspiracy theory, but it doesn’t seem all that far-fetched when you think about the way greeting card companies essentially manufactured holidays to provide themselves with business.

On a lighter note, happy belated Father’s Day to all you dads out there, especially my dad!

April 20, 2010

Adventures with Foam Core

Here is my latest project for my elements and principles of design class. We recently learned about circulation, so the finished piece had to incorporate a minimum of two path configurations (linear, radial, spiral, grid, and/or network), one of each path-space relationship (path that passes by spaces, path that passes through spaces, and path that terminates in a space), and one of each form of circulation space (enclosed path, path open on one side, and path open on two sides). In addition to demonstrating these elements of circulation, we were required to use at least one of each of the primary elements and forms, principles of repetition and rhythm, positive and negative spaces, additive and subtractive forms, regular and irregular forms, and articulation of form/surface articulation. The piece also had to incorporate a base plane of limited size.

As if all those requirements were enough, the piece actually had to be based on a concept. Imagine that! And the concept was a group effort. We actually got to choose our groups, so I ended up with three additional stellar people, and we chose the four seasons as our concept. I ended up with spring. Here is my design intent statement:

Our group project as a whole represents the four seasons and, more specifically, the changes in light during the different seasons.

In spring, the days grow longer and we experience more and more sunlight as summer approaches. The two 10×10 inch planes on opposite sides of the piece illustrate this phenomenon. Each contains thick lines that prevent light from entering into the center of the piece. At one corner, these lines are very close together, letting in little light. As they travel away from the corner, the negative space between the lines grows, letting more light into the center of the piece. Similarly, the trapezoidal planes that connect the two 10×10 planes contain “windows” of negative space. The windows are small near the enclosed corner, but become larger and more open farther away from the enclosed corner.

The season of spring also evokes thoughts of re-emergence and new life; species come out of hibernation (whether it be literal, as in the case of bears, or figurative, as in the case of humans bundled in bulky winter clothes, blankets, and heated buildings) and plants begin to bud and blossom. This emergence is represented by the forms of the pyramid and cube, which are surrounded by layers of larger forms that appear to be peeling away. The piece as a whole is a larger version of these smaller forms, as it contains three spherical forms in the interior enclosed corner and the four planes are opening up away from the spheres similar to the way the outer pyramid and cubes are opening away from the smaller central forms.

January 14, 2010January 15, 2010

Home for the Holidays

I’ve been delinquent with respect to the blog lately. It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about it; I’ve been taking pictures with the intention of posting them on the blog, but when it comes to uploading and sizing, I’m not too motivated.

Today, I finally got around to taking down our last piece of Christmas decor: our front door wreath. Most of it has been down for a while now, but I guess since we tend to go in and out via the garage, there wasn’t a visible reminder that we needed to do something about it.

To console myself over the fact that we won’t be enjoying Christmas lights for a while now, I’m going to recap how we made our house a little festive last year.

First, the dining room. We spread a silver and gold accented table cloth on the table, with some burgundy and gold napkins in the center. On top of that we filled a decorative glass bowl with cinnamon-scented pine cones and some metallic ornaments. We finished off the table with a grouping of candles on either side of the center piece.

On the buffet, we displayed a nativity set given to us by Steve’s parents.

I used an inverted stemmed hurricane to elevate the heavenly host up above the holy family and its visitors.

Also, you’ll notice a couple of copies of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” next to the visiting wise men.

I was given a copy by a friend when I was in college. I actually hadn’t heard the story before, but I had listened to a record of “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street” over and over and over again when I was a kid. Bert and Ernie’s gift situation was suspiciously like the one in the O. Henry story. Every Christmas since then I’ve searched for copies, since I thought it was a great gift. I was never able to find it, though. Until 2008. A bookstore near my work was closing up shop at the end of the year, and would you know it, they had several different versions on super duper clearance! I snatched one up and gave it to Steve that year. In hindsight, I should have purchase several more copies.

We also scattered some metallic Christmas trees, some of which I had collected and some of which I borrowed from my mother, around the manger scene, with more groupings of candles, of course.

Things were a little bit more casual and bright in our family room. We decked out the fireplace mantle with Christmas stuff.

The stockings were inexpensive, plain felt stockings which I dressed up just a bit with an iron-on initial for each of us.

I also swagged a piece of festive ribbon between the two stocking holders to add a few glass ornaments to the display. We scattered some Christmas items we’d collected over the years in with our usual mantle decor. My favorite is the pair of kissing dogs, which was a gift we received when we got engaged, just before the previous Christmas.

In case you were looking for pictures of our Christmas tree, you can stop. We didn’t have one. We found an artificial tree at Costco that we liked, but waited to long to buy it and they ran out. We then decided we could do without for this year and wait for after-Christmas sales to purchase a tree. That idea was a bust because as far as I could tell, most retailers were clearing out their Christmas stuff about 2 weeks before Christmas to make way for Valentine’s Day merchandise. So next year we will be looking for a tree early.

Now that I think about it, this post is probably a lot more timely than I thought at first, since it’s probably about time for retailers to start putting out Christmas stuff for next year. I mean, it’s almost February, so they better get on it or Christmas will pass them right by.

September 22, 2009September 22, 2009

Family Room Update

A few weeks ago, I posted about our shopping trip to check out curtains for the family room. Since we needed extra long curtains, there was nothing suitable in the store, but we did order some online and we recently installed them.

Before we put up the curtains, we had to fix the valences over the blinds (or whatever the little slat that goes over the top of the blinds to hide the ugly stuff is called). Originally there were little plastic doohickies (technical term of art) which the slats slid into. They are a little fragile, though, and several broke when we removed the blinds to paint the room.

blindvalence

Enter industrial strength velcro. We secured the cover slats to the blinds using self-adhesive velcro pieces. It feels pretty secure, and I actually think it looks more polished than the plastic doohickies.

blindvalence1

blindvalence2

Back to the curtains, we chose some lake mist blue/green panels that pull from some of the colors in the area rug we chose for the room. The rods are allegedly oiled bronze, but they look black to me. Oh well.

familyroomafter1

familyroomafter5

Some tips: Measure accurately. Then check it again. And it’s probably a good idea to check it again. Seriously, I am terrible at measuring. There were some extra holes in the wall that I patched with spackle and repainted before I snapped these pictures. Also, I think the curtains could be a bit longer, maybe even long enough that the rod could be hung a little higher above the windows.

And yes, that is a new (to us) couch. We bought a used PB Basic couch, armchair, and ottoman on Craigslist several months ago. We ordered replacement slipcovers from a company that specializes in slipcovers for this type of name brand furniture. So that’s it, with a couple of Crate & Barrel throw pillows (bought on clearance, with a coupon too!). You probably also noticed there is no armchair in the picture. That is a story for another day.

September 15, 2009

Bathroom Bliss

I know I mentioned previously that we overbought when we purchased paint for the family room and kitchen. I used the paint for the downstairs bathroom as well, but still had significant leftovers. So I moved upstairs.

This is what our upstairs bathroom looked like when we moved in. The colors fit in with the colors throughout the house (i.e. Easter egg). We don’t really use this bathroom, so I took things apart and took my time painting it, with no real need to clean up or put anything away.

This is what it looked like at the end of the painting process. Still pretty blank.

I was at Bed Bath & Beyond purchasing a duvet cover and blanket for a new bed, and I decided to look for some accessories for the bathroom.

I found a cool striped shower curtain on clearance and some rugs that incorporated some of those colors. The plates are melamine, also on sale with the end of summer bar-b-que type stuff. I thought they went nicely with the colors and could add a beachy vacation vibe. Still needs a few more touches to make guests feel really welcome.

finalbath1

One thing I don’t like about this bathroom is how the doors are set up (you’ll notice there are no doors in the after pictures — I guess it’s not quite finished). As you can see, it’s really split into two rooms: the outer bathroom with the two sinks and vanities on opposite walls, and the inner bathroom with the shower and toilet. With the inner bathroom it is not such a big deal, but for the outer bathroom, if the door is open, access to one of the sinks is virtually nonexistent.

I was thinking pocket doors would be perfect here. However, for us amateurs it’s a pretty involved project, and because there are light switches and electrical outlets on both sides of the door frames, it would have been a serious undertaking. I was thinking maybe leave the inner door as-is and hang a curtain over the outer door that can be closed for privacy, but when drawn to the side still allows for space and access to both sinks. Thoughts?

September 7, 2009

Bedtime Stories

Yesterday, Steve and I decided to take advantage of some Labor Day sales and get a much-needed new bed. Since we got married, we have been sleeping on Steve’s old full-size bed, which he got as a hand-me-down. As he is over six feet tall, Steve is full-size all by himself, so for the two of us the bed has always been, well, cozy.

We spent a good two hours in the mattress store, trying out at least 12 beds, and finally settled on a medium firmness California King with a plush top. Learned a few things too. Stomach sleepers, like Steve and myself, should not sleep on a soft mattress because it allows the back to sway, which can cause pain. Also, today’s mattresses are not designed to be flipped periodically (a relief to me, because I hate doing that!). We also had some fun trying out a Sleep Number bed — you can really feel the change in the firmness of the mattress as you adjust it up and down — and a movable bed with some massage action. It was even better than checking out the massage chairs at The Sharper Image.

The only problem with the model we chose is that it is too popular! They had none in stock, which means it won’t be delivered until next weekend, so we are stuck on our tiny old mattress for another week. Boy was it hard to get into that bed last night after laying on all those fancy new mattresses.

September 2, 2009

Seen and Heard: Pony Express

The other night, on my way home from work, I was driving down our street and I saw some people out exercising their pet. Of course I wouldn’t give it much thought if it had been a couple walking their dog. But it wasn’t. These people were walking a pony. Like the kind they make walk around in a circle under a tent to give kids rides. I didn’t realize our area was quite so rural.

September 1, 2009

Home Depot: Can’t Live With it, Can’t Live Without it

Steve and I each spent a good portion of this past weekend working, so we did not get a whole lot done around the house, other than some general cleaning and making the place ready for some dinner guests. We did close out our weekend with a quick trip to Home Depot, though. We ran out of painters tape several weeks ago, so we grabbed a couple of rolls of that. We also needed some lengthy trimmers to neaten up some trees in the front yard we can’t reach.

We also wanted to look at bathroom fixtures, specifically to replace the gold-toned fixtures in the downstairs bathroom we just finished painting. We looked at the displays and picked one out, but there were none left on the shelf indicated by the display. I searched for someone to ask if everything they had was out on the shelf, but I couldn’t find anyone. We went and did some other things, intending to come back later and see if we might have better luck.

While Steve examined some energy efficient light bulbs, I went back to the plumbing section. Still no one there. I went another aisle over and finally found an employee, who was fixing her hair. I asked her if she could help me track down a plumbing fixture that did not appear to be on the shelf, to which she responded “oh, I don’t know nothing about plumbing.” I realize she did state she had knowledge of the plumbing section, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what she meant. I asked if she could help me find someone that did know about plumbing. She said, “oh, I don’t know.” And continued to fix her hair. I looked at her for a second, expecting her to go on and suggest where I should look or who I should talk to, but she didn’t. I turned and walked away and she didn’t say a thing.

My next step was to press the button in the plumbing section that says “press for help.” I hadn’t gone that route to begin with because I did not expect anyone would actually respond to it, and sure enough no one did respond.

Just as I was about to give up, an employee walked by the end of the aisle with a full shopping cart, I assume putting items back on their assigned shelves. She clearly did not want to help me either. I finally said, “look, I just want to know if you have any more of these in stock. I can’t believe there is nobody here that knows how to find out.” She walked over to the computer and 15 seconds later I had my answer: no.

So we left without a new faucet, and determined to buy a new faucet somewhere else. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have had this problem at Home Depot. Despite the safety orange aprons the employees sport, they are hard to find, and when you do find one, they inevitably will know nothing about the product you are looking for. Steve says that’s why he prefers OSH or Ace, because the employees at those stores tend to know what they are talking about. I guess to get the Home Depot savings, you are sacrificing on service. Is it worth it?