happy libby

post post post

2011-09-25T23:37:00.003-05:00

just so I don't feel like a slacker, here is a post.

Someone is playing cello nearby. A couple days ago I heard sex noises. Same apartment?

We moved, our new place is still an old building but way nicer. Our neighbors are not suspected felons or alcoholics (as far as I know).

Work has been going along swimmingly until the last couple weeks where some awkward inter-departmental rivalry has been going on. It continues, and for once I'm not excited to go to work tomorrow. Here's hoping it gets resolved soon, for this is the best job I've ever had and I'd like to stay that way.

My diet has been on the fritz since hot hot summer started and now that it's getting cold I've started dieting and exercising again. Cue disappointing and disheartening results.

My hard drive has stopped responding despite my best repair efforts (turning it off and back on, opening it up, putting it in the freezer, buying a new power cord). Cue heart-breaking amount of money spent on data recovery.

Took my car to get an oil change after a year of neglect. Right after dropping it off Chris and I went to look for a car wash for his car. On the way Chris screamed and stopped the car in traffic because a spider crawled on him. After I got done laughing I looked for and eventually found the largest spider I've ever seen in person. After a fruitless search I got a call from Midas saying my axle was about to bust, my coolant looked fishy, and my engine was so dirty putting in new oil wouldn't do a thing, it needed to get flushed. A depressingly huge bill later, I called my dad only to get a "if I had money I would give it to you, kid" and a $150 check in the mail. Better than nothing. Hey, my car doesn't click when I turn now! I just walked by my car just now to see the window has been halfway rolled down for a full week. Thanks for not robbing me, passerby!

Chris and I don't do drugs, but occasionally we have day-long junk food benders. Today involved japanese gummie candy, some candy we found at a vietnamese grocery store called "Pillows," strange chinese garlic corn nuts, mrs.fields cookies, and a sampler of different spicy chips (Flamas are the best but Chesters Popcorn was in a close second). God I love spicy chips.

weekend project

2011-07-17T20:42:00.005-05:00

This weekend included a long trip to Ikea where we got some good stuff. But then we had to move everything around to fit it all in!

BEFORE:

The only thing to sit on is a futon which is also the bed. It had to have its easily stained white cover removed and folded down every night to become a bed. It was super annoying. Chris has been spending long hours on the couch programming a game and it has proved to be terrible for his posture. Also the cover was getting super dirty since we had nothing else to sit on, it's white, and it needs to get dry cleaned.

We set off to Ikea in search of a more comfortable couch. We found one that was good for posture but it was cheap and tiny and I hated it. Five hours later, after many trips up and down the escalators and through the maze of showrooms, stopping and working through our room's limitations many many times, we finally worked out a good solution. We got it all home and had the couch delivered, only to find our perfect solution sucked. We were supposed to go out for a fun date night Saturday, but instead we stayed in and virtually arranged the furniture. I got on Illustrator and made to-scale rectangles and re-arranged them on the artboard. After an hour or so I came up with something that would work, which Chris modified slightly, and then we went out. (Chris got pasta that was so hot he had to sign a waiver to eat it. I tried some and it was freaking delicious and incredibly hot. Then we saw Bridesmaids and laughed our asses off)

Anyway, today we spent a sweaty hot day assembling and moving stuff.
Shortly after we started, around 8am, it looked like this:

Here's what it looked like around 11 am, when I was whining that I was super hungry:

Then we got the living room done around 3pm and it looked like this! We're going to have the bed folded up during the day so we can use it as an auxiliary couch then fold it down at night, but it's not as annoying as before we have something else to sit on and we got rid of the horrible cover.

AFTER:

Here's a pic with all the names of the Ikea thing:

There's more stuff in the kitchen but I feel really really hot so I think I'm going to go to the beach and/or take a shower.

and again

2011-07-14T13:11:00.000-05:00

video game characters revised

2011-06-05T19:38:00.000-05:00

added contrast and dimension, these are actual size.

video game characters

2011-06-02T19:57:00.003-05:00

Chris is programming an ipad game, a sort of office-based dungeon crawl, and enlisted me to make all the graphics. We're going for an 8-bit look to make it look vintage (and it's also easier for me to make everything consistent that way). I finally got around to making the characters: female, androgynous, male.

illustration of chris

2011-05-01T13:34:00.002-05:00

Chris wanted a portrait of himself for his new blog...

petty amazon reviewers

2011-04-29T10:45:00.002-05:00

wow, so I gave this product a 2-star review: http://www.amazon.com/650mk-Lunch-Bento-Green-Japan/dp/B001IJBMLI/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2 after this thing spilled yogurt on the inside of my bag twice.

and I went back just to see if anyone thought my review was helpful and I saw someone had gone down the list of reviews and voted "not helpful" on everything that gave a less than favorable review. She even commented on most of them giving advice on how to get our food to fit into this bento box.

Her comment to me was awfully long, in which she described that I should cut up sandwiches and pizza slices into small pieces in order to get them to fit in this thing. Based on her own extensive review I think she's a professional reviewer and my paranoia makes me think she works for this company. My less paranoid conclusion is that she is very passionate about bento boxes and educating us Americans about how to use them "properly." Most of her comments pushed other products to help get things to fit into a bento, like special forms for boiling eggs and tiny containers for condiments, it's a whole culture around lunch that is totally alien to most Americans.

To combat her pettiness I went through and voted "helpful" on the reviews she voted down and voted "not helpful" on her review since most of the other people looking for these products did not agree with her and had the same complaints as me. Suburban moms looking for lunch boxes for their kids should not go for a fussy little bento box that requires so much work like this one.

diet food review

2011-04-25T13:01:00.003-05:00

I ate one of these for lunch and it inspired me to do all of these

Top Zoos I've visited

2011-04-23T17:03:00.000-05:00

Oregon Zoo-Portland, OR:
Scores major Sentimentality Points because I've loved this place since age 5 and have been probably over 10 times. I mostly remember the penguins and otters ruling, big fat polar bears, and the fascinatingly agitated big cats.

Lincoln Park Zoo-Chicago, IL:
Scores major points for being free and having lots of happy-looking active animals. Also I saw a man pushing a Real Doll in a wheelchair when I was there. Aaaand there were vultures playing fetch. Best bang for your nonexistent buck.

St Louis Zoo-St Louis, MO:
Also scores major points for being free and is pretty high on this list because, despite it being super cold out and actually some exhibits were off limits because of heavy snowfall, there was still a lot to see and it was all good. We're talking roaring leopards, cuddling lemurs, spooky bugs...even the yaks were fun to look at.

Hogle Zoo-Salt Lake City, UT:
Excellent for viewing elephants, giraffes, more agitated and active big cats. Good for kids as there's lots of animal statues and such to play on. Also lots of good memories here.

Pocatello Zoo-Pocatello, ID:
From what I remember, this place was surprisingly good for a really small zoo. Even though the pen for the grizzly bear was totally not big enough, it was fun for us because we got to get really close! Super awesome!

Brookfield Zoo-Brookfield, IL:
Meh. Pretty good, but had to shell out $9 for parking. Rip off! Was not very memorable except a horrifying video of a giraffe being born. The fact that this is one of 2 pictures I took should tell you something.

Woodland Park Zoo-Seattle, WA:
Downright depressed animals. I did get to see an eagle, which was pretty sweet, but most of the exhibits had the animals so well hidden I felt like I was looking at plants and tourists most of the time.

Prospect Park Zoo-Brooklyn, NY:
Sad animals in small cages. At least admission was cheap and we were right next to the majestic and beautiful Prospect Park, which was full of happy humans in wide open spaces.

Honorable Mentions:

Wildlife Safari-Donald, OR:
Kind of like a zoo but you get to sit down in a car the whole time. Makes it impossible to see animals that are hiding, but hey maybe you'll forget to roll the windows up for the camels and one will reach in and lick your mom's head. If you're lucky.

San Diego Zoo:
This has been at the top of my mental list since right before sitting down and actually writing a list. Because I had such a positive experience there when I was little, it's tweaked my view of it. It has been demoted to Honorable Mention because I honestly don't remember most of my visit. I love the San Diego Zoo like I love The Little Mermaid: for the memories!

America's Next Great Reality Show

2011-04-21T13:06:00.006-05:00

so I had this show, America's Next Great Restaurant, recommended to me and after the pilot I have the following impressions:

SPOILERS!!!

1) aren't there are enough competition/elimination reality shows?

2) aren't there enough fast food places?

3) YOUR RESTAURANT WILL BE OPENING IN THREE MAJOR CITIES: LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, AND... Minneapolis? (I joked to my coworker that Chicago wanted too much money. but seriously guys. we invented hotdogs and everyone here is obsessed with food. c'mon. c'mon.....c'mon.)

(c'mon.)

4) 3 of the proposed restaurant names were obviously referring to male anatomy (Hard & Soft, Saucy Balls, Lil' Wangs)

5) Right off the bat they showed a lot of footage of this guy being REALLY egotistical and douchey. You think "oh he's totally going to make trouble in the later episodes." but then he gets eliminated! It's so gratifying. He also had a name that was referring to penises.

6) I like how within the contestants there's a mix of restauranteurs, entrepreneurs, regular folk, and business people.

7) wow, extreme tokenism. The final 10 were 1 black guy, 1 black girl, 1 indian guy, 1 asian girl, aaaand 5 white people (which includes 1 stereotypical italian guido type, 1 real housewife type, and 1 lesbian)

8) They switched up the regular judge panel makeup of
Mean Person
Nice Person
Person with Accent
Kooky Person
Person of Color
to
Mean Person with an Accent
Mean Person Who Looks Like They Would Be Nice
Mean Boring Person
Kooky Person Of Color with an Accent

9) I cried a little when they lit up all the winner's restaurant's names, so inspiring!

10) okay, here's my main beef (har har) with the show:

As a person who doesn't like to dine alone and who dines with a vegetarian 100% of the time, I find it extremely trying to find a place that has substantial food that is meatless. Sure, every place is going to have salad or fries or bread or a really thick milkshake but that is SO LAME. Meatless entrees are so hard to find and FAST FOOD PLACES are the worst offenders. I mean, that's cool, I'm just avoiding crappy food that is terrible for you but sometimes fast food is the only option and it blows to wander around with an empty stomach peeking at menus to see if Chris can eat anything there.

That being said, this show is propagating this "americans love meat" LIE that makes it super time consuming for Chris and I to have lunch together.

First off, this huge guy (who is super positive and fun, btw) proposes a meatball-based restaurant and NOBODY sees a problem with this. The first thing he says "Eeeeverybody loves meatballs!" Actually, no. I was waiting for them to say something about veggie meatballs but no one said a word. Veggie meatballs would be super easy to make and not all that different from real meat. I would avoid a meatball restaurant like the plague. It's like a hamburger that's messier to eat.

Another thing that happened was this super cool Indian guy wanted a vegetarian restaurant and ALL the judges had a problem with this. They pretty much bullied him into including meat on his menu.

Judges: Now, would you be serving meats?

Indian Guy: I'm leaning heavily towards being all vegetarian.

J: What percentage of America is vegetarian?

I: I'm think you're looking at 15% maybe

J: It wouldn't work for me to invest in a concept that only appeals to 15% of the population

(another judge gives a thumbs up to that)

I: Absolutely.

J: You would need to offer a bit more variety.

I: Possibly, I mean I have-

J (interrupting): We need to know will there be meat on your menu or not?

(long silence)

I (with a pained and defeated look on his face): yes.

(pause)

I: 10-15%

(laughter)

Really? Are omnivores UNABLE to eat something that doesn't have meat in it? I was shocked by how narrow-minded this view is. An all-meat restaurant is going to exclude MORE people than a meat-less one. Some people's RELIGIOUS beliefs are based on not eating meat. Unbelievable.

The problem with eliminating vegetarians as a possible customer is the following, and these are mostly my opinions but they're a tiny bit factual too.

1) Vegetarians have money.
In America, being able to get enough nutrition without eating meat is a luxury. Tofurky is expensive. Seitan is expensive. For some reason salads are more expensive than Big Macs. I would love to give more money to restaurants who are thoughtful enough to not jam every item on the menu with chicken. This is why we go to Noodles & Company and Chipotle quite a bit.

2) Food without meat is healthier.
I want to say most vegetarians do it because meat is full of cholesterol and fat and calories that do little other than give you vitamins and fill you up. Sure, meat has lots of good points but if you're watching your calories, the veggie delight at Subway is the way to go. If you're watching your calories, you pretty much can't step foot into a McDonalds, because those guys could even ruin OATMEAL.

3) Food without meat is more sustainable and efficient.
Just read this article.

By not having a legit meatless option on your menu you are alienating smart nice rich people!

I think it's because both fast food and reality tv have broad appeal. Joe Schmo sitting on his couch in Akron, OH enjoys both those things. Vegetarianism? Go watch MSNBC you hippie.

this weather report depresses me

2011-04-20T17:29:00.001-05:00

no

2011-04-11T10:12:00.003-05:00

I'm waging a war on the question "Are you okay?"

Here's my problem:

Me: (I trip on the sidewalk and though I don't fall, I make a little yelping noise because I was surprised and I feel pain)
Chris: "Are you okay?"
Me: (well, yeah, but my toe hurts a little. this feels like a grey area between yes and no, except this is a yes or no question. Yes makes it sounds like nothing happened, No means I am seriously hurt, Maybe or Kind Of require more explanation and I haven't given my pain enough thought to express it in words. Maybe I stubbed my toe? My ankle is out of joint? This question is making me think too much and I'm annoyed at my foot hurting so I spit out a sarcastic answer) "No, I died."

To me, the only appropriate times to ask "Are you okay?" are when you need to assess the severity of someone's injury/discomfort or level of consciousness. Ideally, one should never answer "no," because your ability to say that speaks volumes about your okayness. Asking "are you okay?" in itself speaks volumes about how okay you appear to be.

Lately I've been trying to train Chris to say "how are you?" instead but it's making me feel like a jerk. I blame my crankiness on the fell-down-an-elevator-shaft levels of body soreness I am feeling due to a workout on Sunday that worked muscles I have apparently never used.

don't meet me in st louie

2011-04-10T20:38:00.003-05:00

in light of recent allegations by the City of St Louis that I totally blew through a red light (I could have sworn it was green) I am loathe to tell you how much I enjoyed myself.

Chris and I went a couple weekends ago and while he was busy at the Midwest Sociological Society annual conference most of the time, I still got to see A TON of pretty buildings (unfortunately quite a few of them sad and empty) and have A TON OF FUN. We had delicious sichuan food, delicious frozen custard, delicious fake chicago-style deep dish pizza, AND THE COOLEST MUSEUM EVER! It's like a cross between Discovery Zone, Goonies, an abandoned carnival, and Gilbert House Children's Museum only less educational.

CITY MUSEUM!!

Okay, it's barely a museum but, man, words nor pictures cannot express the time, creativity and fun packed into this place. So So much fun. I would go back to St Louis JUST to go to the City Museum again. amazing. Due to the crawly-tunnely-active nature of this place, it would have been impractical to take my camera. So I don't have any pictures that I myself took. Go look for "st louis city museum" on flickr. The St Louis Zoo was pretty amazing as well. Ranks very highly on my "American Zoos Libby Has Visited List."

pretty buildings

Arch!

Best picture I could get of me and the Arch. Gosh my hair is awfully grey.

World's classiest brewery: Anheuser Busch

World's most beautiful basilica that I have seen personally

RING TAILED LEMURS CUDDLING

REALLY BIG CREEPY BUGS

And then today...

Here is Chris, when we went to Jackson Park, the former site of the 1893 World's Fair today, this The First Warm Day Of The Year. There were so many people out and about, I think the heat made us all crazy.

I'm hatching a plan

2011-04-04T17:06:00.004-05:00

Sometime between September 30 and October 23 I hope to do this:

Based on the Book

2011-03-21T19:09:00.008-05:00

Warning: this might only make sense if you've read this book, but don't let that deter you! I love readers!

I've been reading Freedom by Jonathan Franzen and I'm almost done. It's a hefty book (my shoulder is probably permanently disfigured from lugging it everywhere), a sprawling epic of one dysfunctional family and their misadventures in the 90's and early 2000's. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for stories about weird families (Little Miss Sunshine, Arrested Development, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Simpsons, The Squid and the Whale) so obviously I'm enjoying this book quite a bit.

On my way home last night I was trying to think of who would play the different characters in a way-too-short movie/miniseries/tv series. The first one I thought of was the dad, who is arguably the most sympathetic and benevolent character. As I'm reading I see him being played by the dad from Clarissa Explains it All.

Walter, the long-suffering do-gooder husband: Joe O'Connor

Patty, the depressive and erratic wife: Toni Collette

Richard, the hard-living rocker: Thomas Haden Church

Joey, the golden son: Hunter Parrish (Sylas from Weeds)

Jessica, the tightly wound daughter: Anna Kendrick

Connie, the co-dependent neighbor girl: Mae Whitman (who?)

Abigail, Patty's artsy/insane/single sister: Amy Sedaris (this is basically who she is in real life)

Lalitha, Walter's assistant: Freida Pinto

the great Chicago Blizzard of 2011

2011-03-21T18:47:00.003-05:00

I finally uploaded these pictures I took of the huge Groundhog Day snowstorm this year. It doesn't look as snowy as it really was because the wind was blowing it all over the place. There'd be waist-high snow drifts in some spots and hardly a dusting in others. Some cars were completely covered in snow while others (like those on my street) were left largely unharmed.

I can tell this movie is going to be terrible.

2011-03-16T09:56:00.004-05:00

If you want to see a trailer for a unselfconsciously formulaic romantic comedy, watch the trailer for the upcoming Something Borrowed. I think the title is referring to the fact that the writers borrowed all their material from other terrible movies.

Now that you've done that, let's go over the stereotypes.

- "dowdy" main character
- 2 people who were MEANT TO BE but one of them is marrying someone HORRIBLE
- bitchy best friend
- so called friend breaks up her a relationship in the pursuit of TRUE LOVE
- 1 wry Hugh Laurie type who quips funny sarcastic things throughout the film
- girls dancing in their pajamas. I can't wait to see the movie and see if they sing along using hairbrushes as microphones
- semi-inspirational catchy pop song
- earnest attempts at wordless emoting while someone narrates
- drunken foray=waking up in the morning surprised/full of regret
- poster has the ensemble heads-in-boxes design template

Did I miss any?

please indulge me

2011-03-13T17:38:00.003-05:00

It might be a little heavy on the designer jargon but I think it will be full of good things soon:

http://sukideskabeachhouse.tumblr.com/

self initiated project time.

2011-03-13T13:16:00.004-05:00

I've been itching for a project that won't get art directed to death so I decided to make Chris a book guiding him through the social minefield that is THE BEACH HOUSE. I've collected all the photos I've taken over the years and made them look pretty in photoshop, then made a logo. I'll be documenting my progress on a tumblr, and when there's something on it I'll share a link here. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak:

Reading List

2011-03-08T22:27:00.010-05:00

I compiled a reading list last December. Selections were made randomly from lists from Time, Good Magazine, Powells, NPR, Modern Library, and New York Times. I tried to have a mix of modern, classic, both fiction and non-fiction. I tried to have a healthy amount of female authors, and people of color. Also there are a fair amount from Oprah's book list. So far the results have been fair, with only a couple duds (I'm sorry, fans of Catch-22, I got 20 pages in and had no idea what was going on). Needless to say, my library card has been extremely helpful so far.

(Click here if you want to download and print the reading list. Let's read together!)

Right now I'm reading Never Let Me Go and I'm basking in its wonderful literary glow. It's just so lyrical and subtle, with a slight twinge of understated scifi. It might also help that I'm listening to its audiobook which is spoken by a british lady. I just finished Stiff by Mary Roach, and before that was Atonement by Ian McEwan. It's been a glorious streak. I highly recommend these books even though, with the exception of Stiff, they read pretty froofy-period-piece-kiera-knightly-is-in-the-movie-based-on-the-book. Mary Roach's voice is so refreshing and occasionally laugh out loud funny, so it's a pretty easy read for a nonfiction, though it's about corpses so it's a little ooky at times.

My top 2 favorites so far have to be The Devil in White City and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, with the aforementioned three not far behind.

I just noticed that of those 5 books, 4 have been/will be made into movies. In fact, going over my list, about half have been made into a movie, or someone wants to make them into a movie (screenplays for The Devil in White City and Ubik are being tossed around). Fascinated by this, I made a new list for books that have been/will be made into movies:

In other news, I'm giving up Facebook for Lent. Which means I'm going to get waaaay less emails than usual.

In other other news, I finally got the film from my Holga developed and the pictures are as crappy and pretty as I thought they would be.

last night

2011-02-18T10:19:00.003-05:00

After enduring Chicago's 3rd worst blizzard and temperatures that range from -2 to 11, I was thrilled to hear Thursday was going to be 57 and .02 inches of rain. It turned out to be a surprisingly windy and cloudy, so the fun got sucked out of my day. However when I was walking to my #2 choice of bus (because my #1 wasn't going to show up for another 15 minutes), a warm breeze came up and I saw the full moon in the sky, right next to the Sears Tower. I felt like I hadn't seen the moon in weeks (months?). I took several pictures like a silly tourist and this is, unfortunately, the best one.

It made me really happy to be in Chicago.

(I'm home sick from work today, and just as I typed that sentence I shrugged Chris's head off my shoulder because I'm feeling gross. Thanks for not taking that personally Chris!)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2011-02-14T17:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a rejected outtake from a valentine I made!

I love/hate Women on Tv: a gripe

2011-02-09T14:00:00.009-05:00

In the late 80's and early 90's there was a rash of family-centered sitcoms (Dom-Coms): Family Matters, Step by Step, Growing Pains, Full House, Cosby Show, etc. This was followed by a trend of workplace shows (Work-Coms): Murphy Brown, Cheers, Night Court, Ally McBeal, News Radio, Just Shoot Me, etc.

Workplace shows have had a really good run, especially with the recent advent of 30 Rock, The Office, Ugly Betty, Community, and Parks & Recreation. Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother are not entirely work-based but they are on this list too for the following reason: What I love about these shows is not only their hilarity and creativity, but also how they portray women.

Women on TV, in broad comedies of yesteryear and today, have been been generally only portrayed as shrewish, uptight, type-A, perfectionist but sentimental, painfully optimistic, secretly slutty, devastatingly beautiful but flighty domestic goddesses/ball & chain or sexy single who might do their husband/boyfriend/roommate's laundry but have a snappy sarcastic comeback that sums up the differences between men and women usually with a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised. If they're in a couple they are almost always the hotter, smarter, more organized, but less funny one. They are a bland, one-dimensional yin to the hilarious male main character's yang. I'm looking at you when I say this King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family, Married with Children, Yes Dear, and unfortunately my beloved Scrubs falls into this trap at times.

The shows I mentioned earlier favorably break out of this mold by portraying women who are imperfect, messy, that occasionally burp, have something in their teeth, or are not fashionable. They are complicated, three dimensional, well-written, occasionally strong-willed, and don't always have it all together and I can relate to their imperfection. Some of them are pretty loathsome or annoying, but they seem like real people you may know, instead of caricatures (or are at least really entertaining caricatures).

Two new shows that I attempted to get into have thrown back to the old standby of hot shrewish ball and chain and it pisses me off.

Perfect Couples: I like Olivia Munn, The Waitress from It's Always Sunny, and the lady cop from Psych, so I thought I might like this. Nope! Every woman in this show has super model good looks and every man is mediocre-looking. Every woman is naggy, manipulative, and strict but a tiger in the bedroom. Every man is pretty bland. It wasn't even funny or original, it mostly depressed me.

Traffic Lights: I like Colin from Love Actually, and whatshisface from The Office, so I thought I might like this. The very beginning of the pilot features an obviously hen-pecked husband hiding in his car to avoid the "second shift" (aka looking after his own son when he comes home from work) talking on the phone with his male buddies. His shrill wife finds him in the car and dumps the baby on him. The guy dodges fatherly duties at every turn throughout the episode, even going so far as to avoid husbandly duties as well (no not those but still not being supportive or even an active participant in his marriage). Every woman in this pilot was either hot and had their men by a short leash or ignoring sexual harassment because the guy had a british accent. This show had to have been written a roomful of former frat guys.

Now that I lay this all out, here, it looks like the women who writers apparently have the most trouble with are wives, mothers, and live-in girlfriends. Single female characters (Maeby, Betty Suarez, Leslie Knope, Liz Lemon, Robin, Lindsay Weir) tend to have more depth and are forced to be defined by who they are and not who they gave birth to or are committed to. That kind of sounds like a cop out, though. It may also be that these shows are more targeted to younger ladies like me, and older folks like the easy-to-watch family comedies. Obviously all the shows I cited as being good are shows that I like personally.

Yay, another social media site to neglect

2011-02-03T11:39:00.002-05:00

I resurrected my twitter account. If you tend to enjoy everything that's ever come out of my mouth, you should enjoy this http://twitter.com/libsqui

I liked that graphic so much I put a ring on it

2011-01-29T18:50:00.000-05:00

Now to push it slightly farther down the page so you can't see the inconsistencies

Just wanted to share this thing I made

2011-01-24T10:42:00.005-05:00

Yeah yeah I know everyone goes on a diet in January to alleviate the guilt of holiday overindulgence but I've literally never even attempted a diet before, so consider me on the bandwagon for the first time ever.

first minute of 2011

2011-01-01T01:01:00.002-05:00

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, paused
pulsating music upstairs
I can hear a can being bounced down the alley by the wind
text Chris
unpause

and also:

2010-12-13T16:28:00.002-05:00

Black Swan was amazing even if it did have gratuitous girl-on-girl.

PROOF THAT I HAVE GOOD NEIGHBORS
Yesterday it looked like Antarctica outside so it was a day to stay in. Pizza was ordered and as I opened the door for the first time that day to go down and let the delivery guy in I saw my keys stuck in the deadbolt on the OUTSIDE of the door. Who does that? And more to the point, who does that twice in one week? In my defense when it's cold as crap outside and nice and toasty inside, hasty removal of wintry layers as soon as you walk in the door is necessary to avoid horrible wintry sweatiness. And in all that undress it can be hard to remember to pull my key out of the door. Thankfully no one walking by the door has stolen my keys (it helps that said door is inside and therefore not available to the common riffraff, only my fellow apartment-dwellers and their guests).

PROOF THAT I HAVE INCONSIDERATE NEIGHBORS
Every single day my upstairs neighbors drop something on the floor. Or slide something across the floor. Or shuffle noisily across the floor with giant, heavy feet. Sometimes it sounds like a person falling bodily to the floor. Keep in mind their floor is my ceiling. On 3 occasions I've heard either a screaming match or a heated discussion, usually only the female side of it (maybe she's on the phone? or the guy talks quietly?). At least once, usually multiple times a day I hear what they are doing but I've held my tongue because it was fully within waking hours. I've never been disturbed by their noises to the point where it was interrupting my sleep.

PROOF THAT I (maybe) HAVE GODAWFUL NEIGHBORS
Last night around 1:00am I woke up to Chris shaking me and the doorknob rattling. He jumped up and went to the door and started looking out the peephole while my heart beat so fast I thought it was going to explode. In my just-waking-up-and-oh-my-god-someone-is-trying-to-get-inside haziness I thought I might have left my keys outside again and someone was using them to advantageously rob us. It felt like it took me a million years to walk to the door and twice that to look at the key rack and identify my keys sitting there. Okay, so that wasn't it. Now the doorknob-rattler (who was not knocking) was muttering angrily but unintelligibly. They sounded drunk. I couldn't hear another voice but I assumed there was an accomplice he was talking to. Every time I asked Chris what he could see out the peephole he shushed me. My mind was racing between all the different possibilities and not one of them sounded nice:
1) someone is trying to get in and murder us
2) someone is trying to get in and rob us
3) homeless person wandered in and is looking for a place to squat

The rattling and muttering stopped and I got a turn at the peephole because Chris was looking for his phone and trying to call the building manager, who wasn't answering. I looked out and saw a man in a white shirt low to the ground, facing the wall between mine and my neighbor's doors. He might have been lying down, crouching, or sitting, but he didn't look inactive. He might have had short hair. I came away from the peephole for a minute or so and when I looked back there was no one there.

After a short discussion the following theories were thus:

mine: a thief who may or may not live in the building is casing other apartments to see how easy it will be to get into them when people have gone away for the holidays. Why he would do this drunk I can't explain.

Chris's: Our upstairs neighbor stepped out without locking his door and came back 1 floor too soon, trying to get in our apartment instead, which explains the lack of knocking. Unnoticed by me, our noisy upstairs neighbors were quiet during the doorknob rattling but not after. Chris reported they were loud all night long but I didn't hear anything.

some thoughts

2010-12-10T14:13:00.004-05:00

yesterday I "witnessed" a 3-car pile-up. And I put that in quotes because actually, as soon as I saw it, I averted my eyes. I've been trying to figure out why I did that and I realized it was the same reaction I have to, say, a dog pooping, or someone getting yelled at, or people kissing. I look away because it's embarrassing. I don't want the victim to feel any worse than they already do. In the case of the accident I was secretly preserving the pride of the guy who ran a yellow light and crashed into the person in front of him. I thought that by fighting the urge to rubberneck, it might make that guy feel better about his lapse in judgment. Unfortunately it made me a useless witness.

In light of some developments in the lives of people I refer to as "facebook friends" (which means outside of facebook I wouldn't call these people my friends. They are old friends who have fallen out of touch, acquaintances, and extended family members only) I am growing increasingly impatient with people who have kids out of wedlock. Every time I log on and see my unmarried "friend" talking about their developing second or third child I want to scream some sense into them (out of earshot of their young children of course). I cannot fathom someone who wouldn't be extremely careful after already having one child with someone who didn't intend to marry them. In fact I'm pretty surprised that anyone has unprotected sex these day in case they DO want a kid.

On the train I saw an ad I've seen 1 million times but only read all the way through today. It was advertising for an HIV vaccine, which sounds like a good idea until I thought "well how do I know it works?" What if I set out to contract it from a known positive and it failed? Sounds scary. Sounds like wearing a bullet proof vest that you won't find out whether it works until you get shot.

go to there

2010-11-13T01:11:00.003-05:00

go check out this website that i designed and my boyfriend wrote. we are an unstoppable web duo!

if you've seen the Matrix trilogy watch this and chuckle at how clever the name of Chris's blog is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eY4qU80lPM (pay close attention to 7:14ish)

ergoconcordantly.org/

the real scoop on chicago

2010-09-28T22:38:00.008-05:00

I had my second day of work today, and man, now I actually have to work.

Some facts:

Upstairs neighbors are stompers. I can hear every step they take, everything they drop on the floor, every couch or piano they push across the floor (it sounds like it happens every night) and one quiet afternoon I heard a female voice saying "Stop it" over and over.

I can't tell how many Korean guys live in the apartment across the hall but everyday 3 or 4 congregate and either watch a sports game or play video games which require cheering every half hour or so.

Someone down the hall smokes.

Someone down the hall has a baby (I hope it isn't the smoker).

Someone left their VHS copy of Lawrence of Arabia in the laundry room 2 weeks ago and no one has swiped it yet.

It takes about an hour to get to work via train or half that via car. However when I get home the hunt for a parking spot makes up for the time I saved. Also driving in Chicago is a nightmare. Everyone here is a maniac who honks if you're not mowing down pedestrians or exceeding the speed limit.

I live within walking distance of 2 Dunkin Donuts.

It actually gets really really windy sometimes, though the weather has been mild and mostly pleasant since I got here.

I got a parking ticket after being here only 5 days. I'm contesting it cause I read something on the back about not being valid if I've been in the city less than 30 days.

Whenever Chris gets a smiley face on a paper he puts it on the fridge.

We did the Architecture boat cruise and it was great! except my SLR's battery was dead and I used up all the film in my Holga. So I ended up taking pictures with my phone. It costs me money to send pictures so you won't be seeing those anytime soon. Just imagine really low res images of the Sears (Willis) Tower and Marina City.

I finally had deep dish Chicago style pizza. So much cheese! So deep.

I finally had a Chicago style hot dog! A giant pickle spear was involved! Chris ordered a "veggie sandwich" which literally consisted of a fist-sized chunk of iceberg lettuce, american cheese, pickles, and tomatoes. Then we went to Rock n Roll McDonalds

My new favorite restaurant is Heaven on Seven. I'm obsessed with their sweet potato polenta and every table houses about 10 different bottles of hot sauce, some of which are deliciously fiery. The gumbo is okay but my brother Charles makes it better.

There are lots of monarch butterflies here. Most of the ones I've seen were dead on the beach.

This is my street:

This is the building I live in:

This is where I catch the train:

This is where I work!

I volunteer here!

2 weeks in to the Chicago Adventure...

2010-09-22T15:48:00.002-05:00

...and I already have a job. A real-life adult kinda job! Wooo! Here's my job story...

August 2008! I was getting ready to join Juli in Chicago for our Whirlwind Great Lake Tour. jk, it was a roadtrip from Chicago to Salt Lake via Minneapolis and Mount Rushmore. I had just finished school and I thought I'd email a bunch of studios in Chicago, see if they have any openings and want to interview me when I'm there. Firebelly, Digital Kitchen, Killswitch Engine, YMM, and Otherwise were emailed and I got a cordial rejection from most of them. Oh well.

This time around instead of soliciting studios randomly I combed the graphic designer listings on indeed and craigslist and applied to 6 jobs in one day. 2 old randoms on craigslist, 2 at U of Chicago, 1 at Motorola, and 1 more I don't remember. I didn't have really high hopes, having exhausted every place in Seattle and not getting a single nibble. I immediately got a reply from an email address at Otherwise, one of the studios I bothered 2 years ago. I was so confused, I thought maybe he was emailing me out of the blue or finally replying to my 2 year old email but no, it was one of the random craigslist ads! He said something to the tune of "that position is close to being filled but I'd like to meet with you about a Junior Designer position that just opened up." Heck yes! Between then and the meeting 2 days later I got an email from the other random craigslist hit, they wanted an interview too, but next week.

So I met with Otherwise and it was awesome. The guy was really enthusiastic about my work and I was still in shock about the whole thing. I was interviewing at one of my all time favorite studios! They invited me back to meet the company's other co-founder but it appeared I had it in the bag. I wasn't excited about my other interview anymore, since this seemed like a dream come true.

I went to my other interview, a publisher a short drive away from my place. The position was Associate Art Director in Children's Electronic Books. Not something I'm usually interested in but I do like children AND books so it'd be a good fall back if Otherwise changed their minds. The ladies I met with were hilarious and hardly grilled me at all. The whole "interview" was just them explaining and convincing me how awesome their company was and when I left I was pretty enraptured. They'd left me with a homework assignment and 3 free books. I was thrilled and starting to doubt which job was more appealing.

The day of my second interview with Otherwise I made a poor decision: walk 2 miles in the hot sun. By the time I got there I was a half hour early so I sought out an air conditioned place to freshen up. While waiting for my overpriced appetizer I got a call from Motorola, saying they want an interview that week. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen at Otherwise so I said yeah, see you Thursday.

I had already given it some thought, made some pros and cons lists, consulted my Chris. I decided the children's book place wasn't the best for my portfolio, the stuff they did was pretty broad and cheap-looking, not something to be proud of. I accepted Otherwise's offer this afternoon and sent sad reject emails to the publisher and Motorola.

I start on Monday! Yay!

yard sale

2010-08-15T00:14:00.004-05:00

Today was day 1 of my yard sale and I'm mostly happy about it. I had to set it all up myself at 7 in the morning, and that was lame. I got really sweaty. I had the most visitors/customers from 8am to 11am and even though I sat in the shade 95% of the day I somehow have a sunburn. I came away with about $130, pretty good, right? Unfortunately I feel like I only sold 1/4 of the livingroomfull of stuff I had out there. And most of the stuff that people carried off was the crap from the Free Pile. Oh, one lady bought my vacuum which wasn't for sale, tried to haggle $9 into $5 and then get me to pay her to clean my apartment next week (I might, even though she's a cleaning lady who didn't until very recently, own a vacuum). I had a lovely helper in my coworker James's girlfriend Wendy, who I feel bad for because by the time she got here we had a total of 5 customers in 6 hours. We passed the time with beverages, conversation and had pizza delivered. Feeling incredibly hot after everything was cleaned up, I went for a solo dip in Lake Washington via Madison Park. Lovely!

I'm now sitting in my hot room wearing a wet swimsuit, eating leftover pizza, and watching old episodes of the Rotten Tomatoes Show.

I'm leaving Seattle in less than a week!

September 2010

2010-07-07T00:46:00.003-05:00

Let's see if I can work it out in the midwest.

blog famine

2010-06-14T12:30:00.002-05:00

man I forgot how blogs are the new calling-someone-up-and-seeing-what's-going-on-with-them. I've been out of touch for a while, so here's a quick summary:

Work: sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't. I've been considering going back to school to learn web design.

Home: I finally got a roommate in mid-March, but now he's moving out and I'm on the hunt again. Apparently I won the Landlord Lottery because my rent's been lowered so I can more easily find a replacement or not completely be bankrupt if I don't.

I got 20 responses to my ad yesterday, half of them mentioned things I explicitly addressed in my ad and after the 10th one asking if my unfurnished room was furnished or if 2 months can turn into 3 I wanted to have an auto-reply that says "before you ask any questions go back and read the ad again very carefully."

Love: Chris is waiting to hear back on a couple jobs in Chicago. If he gets one of them he's going to move and go to grad school at Loyola. He is selling all his furniture in anticipation of this. We have been sitting on folded up blankets on the floor to watch tv. I've tentatively decided to join him in the fall after some important stuff gets wrapped up here on the west coast.

On Friday we walked around Seward Park where the following hilarious things happened: 1) Chris walked into a cloud of gnats and made an unexpectedly girlish sound just as a woman rode by on a bike. She laughed. 2) As we walked on the main path we heard loud sexy smooth jazz coming from nowhere. We veered onto a forested path and the music got louder. It was coming from a house in the middle of the park, where I suppose something was happening, or trying desperately to make happen.

On Saturday weather totally didn't suck so we made sushi and ate it in this beautiful park in Queen Anne where there may or may not have been a rap video being filmed.

the unrentable room.

2010-03-02T02:42:00.002-05:00

my current frustration:

I don't want a roommate, but I have to have one. If I don't get one, I have to move out, which I can't afford to do.

My roommate Lynne moved out in December and her room is still empty. At first she had an ad up on craigslist and we had someone who was meant to move in January 1st. They bailed. January flew by, only 4 or so other people came by to look at the place and by February I decided to put an ad up as well. 2 or so people came to look, countless emailed and out of all these I got someone who was moving up from California and wanted me to kind of hold the room until he got up here. I wasn't wild about him but I really needed someone and he seemed enthusiastic about the place. I decided to take a chance. So I blew a couple people off in favor of this person and everything is great until tonight, he bailed.

I'm feeling hopeless. I really want to stay here but I need a roommate to do that. But what if i get ditched again? it's like i've been burned from a past relationship and am hesitant about starting a new one, but trying anyway because I'm afraid to be alone. In this case I'm kind of unable to be alone because if I paid for this whole place on my own it would be like 2/3 of my monthly income.

blegh. I just needed to vent that.

the return of retail stories

2010-02-05T04:27:00.002-05:00

1) a middle-aged man basically called me stupid for binding his music book wrong. "You didn't notice that page 16 is in the front?!" To be fair sir, your book was a total crumpled/taped/crooked mess and there was no indication that all these pages came from the same source except maybe they were all pulled out of the same sewer. And it started with a blank page. I apologized and said I would recopy the whole thing and make it just like new again. He was all "don't bother, just bind it right next time." He couldn't even be nice when I didn't charge him, he just said "You're giving it to me? I was hoping you would."

2) a woman called around rush hour to complain to me that a Fedex truck was blocking traffic for several blocks and she couldn't get on to the freeway to pick up her kids from school. I was giddy with shock at my luck. I listened patiently and whenever I tried to say anything she would talk over me, usually reiterating things she had already said, like how there is only one lane open on 6th avenue because there are cars parked in the other lane and everyone is being held up by this fedex driver making a delivery can't he park somewhere else? It's just a huge inconvenience for everyone, I'm late to pick up my kids from school. I just thought I'd let you know. I gotta get off the phone now and call the school to tell them I'll be late. I told her that our store had nothing whatsoever to do with what the Fedex drivers do and no I don't have that driver's phone number and I can't even begin to figure out who I would send an angry email to about that. I acknowledged that sometimes us ladies just need someone to complain to and I think she left the phone call happy after I said I'd "do my best" to get to the bottom of this matter after asking her to repeat the details so I could write them down. I even did that thing where you quietly murmur something slowly as you're writing it down "truck...block-ing...6th and....Uni-ver-si-ty."

if you want to pet kitties in Seattle

2010-01-27T02:24:00.002-05:00

Chris and I like to pop Claritans and go pet adoptable kitties. After hitting 3 places I can safely give people recommendations:

Seattle Animal Shelter C+

fair amount of kitties but they are in cages and you have to sanitize your hands between touching them, also you have to fill out a form to get one out of a cage. Also an employee stands there the whole time so you can't even make fun of any of them, you have to keep saying how cute and sweet they all are or they will think you're a horrible person. Most of the cats are too lethargic to get out of their beds to greet you.

Seattle Humane Society F-

Good if you are serious about adopting a pet, horrible if you want to just touch them and leave without talking to anyone. It appears you HAVE to talk to someone and fill out a form to even LOOK at any cats. And if you go on a Sunday afternoon it's going to be crowded. Boo!

Petsmart A-

Awesome! These cats look happy and relaxed, wandering around their little area as they please. Cats can be taken out of cages without any form-signing and even cuddled. There is an employee there but her attention isn't always on you so feel free to talk about how that cat looks like it is totally wasted on catnip. My only gripe is that they are only open a few hours a day and the hours are somewhat random. Also there are only like 6 kitties. The Petsmart cat adoption center is operated by another shelter that I plan to visit soon, Purrfect Pals or some such. They have a cool no-kill policy.

picture stories!

2010-01-27T01:45:00.002-05:00

The awesomeness captured by my phone needs to be shared with the world.

I like it when dogs look worried. also his paws look comically small.

From the day I hung out in the Alterations Dept at Macys

From the Museum of Flight. I regret not getting a picture of Carl Sagan's sweater.

On one of my last days at Macys I spent a few hours making a rainbow out of clothes.

I'm trying not to regret not buying this apron.

pretty sure this is one of those "you had to be there" funny things but I'm going to tell you anyway. Some coworkers found this giant piece of cardboard and started making a fort. Enter a huge discarded mounted photo of an old man who had recently passed, I guess this was at his funeral. A window was cut into the fort and the dead man put inside. It was quite jarring in the flesh.

resume

2010-01-13T08:09:00.003-05:00

So I'm leaving Macy's for arguably greener grass at Fedex Kinkos (now Fedex Office). Actually, currently I'm still awake from this horrendous 8pm-3am shift at Macy's, about to go in for my official job offer letter at Fedex at 1pm later today. Can't sleep due to energy drink pounded at midnight. Laying in bed trying to sleep makes me think of things, and I decided to think of all the jobs I've had since I joined the working dead in 2003, here is a list in rough chronological order:

1999-2002
tried to be a babysitter but after 3 months of "i left my checkbook in the car, I'll pay you next week" mom made me quit.
berry-picker, paid by the pound, only made money when I picked boysenberries, which don't taste as good.
also helped my friend Sarah's mom manage a livestock auction, we put stuff (leads, blankets, horsey stuff) into people's bins as they won them and gave the stuff to them when they were done.

fall 03-spring 04
catering wait staff, hours were crummy, never knew when you'd get off work and you had to wear a bowtie.

summer 04
nursing home wait staff, alzheimers ward, sad.
in-home care provider for my neighbor. I pretty much just did housework and cleaned up after her dog.

fall 04-spring 05
customer service associate, fedex kinkos, once I made a lady cry because I wouldn't credit her for copies she messed up on.

summer 05-fall 05
a little bit of everything, fedex kinkos, had to work nights and weekends when no one else was there so I had to learn how to use everything.

winter 05-spring 06
project coordinator, fedex kinkos, most stressed I've ever been at work, why am I doing this again?

spring 06-fall 07
advertising designer at the BYU newspaper, pretty fun actually. Got to play with legos 50% of the time.

summer 07
design intern, Mucca, incredibly fun.
cashier at a boutique, also fun, sold lollipops with crickets inside to tourists.

winter 07-summer 08
letterpress lab assistant, got paid to sift through dirty old metal type and print stuff.

fall 08-spring 09
design intern, awesome. Got to attend a benefit gala, the 2nd fanciest event I've ever been to.

summer 09-winter 10
retail associate, macys, not awesome, but not horrible. Someone peed on a pile of clothes in the fitting room last week.

winter 10
project coordinator, fedex kinkos

I'm proud of my varied experiences. I have all kinds of stories to tell my kids someday. Gaaah still not tired.

obligatory new years post

2010-01-04T14:14:00.002-05:00

So I wanted to sum up 2009 in a few words and here are the first three: Agony and Ecstacy.

Agony from losing a good job and being totally unemployed with no benefits for a month, desperately looking for a new job, and even after getting one, still struggling to pay bills, and not getting to see my family enough. Also general constant agony of not working in my desired field and the feeling that I never will.

Ecstacy from the beginning of the year, having an awesome, fun, challenging job that I was extremely grateful to have, awesome roommates to go out with and enjoy time with, going to Vancouver Memorial Day weekend, and hanging out with Anna when she came to visit me in June. Mostly though, it was having the awesomest boyfriend to ever exist in the history of humans being in relationships. Seriously, that not only took the edge off all the other things that made 2009 horrible, it cancelled them out. I am extremely lucky to have Chris and I try to let him know often.

For this new year I am redoubling my efforts to get a job in graphic design, or at least steady freelance. Failure is not an option. I feel hopeful.

There, I blogged.

October 26: Party On A Mountaintop At Sunset

2009-10-26T14:12:00.006-05:00

There is probably some good Chinese explanation for this but I say, get some friends together and gather on a nice mountain or hill, fan yourselves and hold your hands out. Bring some babies with you. For me, the mountains are too cold and snowy so I think I'll just sit in my bedroom and hold my hand out.

hero of the realm

2009-10-19T14:59:00.003-05:00

I played Lands of Lore obsessively back in the 90's, and though I got to the very end I could never beat the game (for reasons unknown to me). Playing it this time, I found a few websites that offer up advice on this complicated game and this time, I actually conquered it. Over 10 years later, I finally beat Lands of Lore.

oh no

2009-10-04T14:19:00.003-05:00

I found a program that emulates DOS on my mac (DOSBox). I then downloaded Lands of Lore, Commander Keen 4, and Tetris Classic.

I AM NEVER GOING TO GET ANYTHING DONE EVER AGAIN

See: this old post

September 23: Do Absolutely Nothing

2009-09-23T18:07:00.002-05:00

According to my Chinese calendar, today is Sit On A Rock And Stare At The Ground Day, which I have been celebrating enthusiastically in my own way, by sitting in bed and staring at my computer.

2009-09-22T13:26:00.002-05:00

Open letter to the asshat who broke my car window and stole my ipod,

Yeah I bet you thought that was pretty awesome, walking along Melrose between the hours of 7pm and 10pm last Monday and you saw a fancy lil ipod in a crappy looking car. You probably thought it was your lucky day! Some rich idiot left their expensive thing out in the open for you to take! You can finally pay your meth dealer back!

The brick you used to smash my car window is more useful than what you stole out of it.

So the jokes on you, my friend. That ipod is 6 years old and the only thing that keeps it alive is that charger you thoughtfully left in the car. See, no new-fangled charger is going to charge that thing. And good luck trying to connect it to a computer, you need a 6 year old charging dock with FIRE WIRE to do that. Do you even know what fire wire is? Do you even own a computer? Also, good luck trying to sell your ipod. Who wants a thick, heavy, 10gb ipod with a black and white screen and a battery life that is measured in minutes, not hours? I hope its battery malfunctions, explodes, and burns your house down.

So what hurts me the most isn't having to get my window replaced or losing my ipod or cutting my hands cleaning the broken glass, it's that you stole a thing of mine and you won't even use it. Not like it would give me some satisfaction if you did, but here's what's going to happen: you will turn it on and 10 minutes later it will turn off and you will toss it in the trash or in a bush or something. Awesome. What a total waste.

But let me thank you for not taking anything else in the car, or the car itself. You left my stereo, my phone, my maps, even the blanket in the backseat. If you'd opened the trunk there would have been a flashlight, some oil, bungee cords, and even a spare tire that would be yours for the taking as well. So thank you so much for only taking the ipod. Also thank you for not breaking anything else.

In conclusion, even though I was stupid for not hiding my attractive expensive things while parked on the street for 3 hours, you were more stupid for risking jail time to steal something that is obsolete and pretty much broken.

Yours truly,

Former Ipod Owner in the badly-painted Honda Accord

R.I.P. My 4th ipod, whose name was poddy. Thanks Henry.

chinese calendar

2009-09-10T03:13:00.003-05:00

Back in May I was lurking in Viet-Wah a semi-creepy grocery store in the Little Saigon part of town when I found a lovely little chinese everyday tear-off calendar. Since the year was half over it was half off and I was in love. As I started tearing off days I noticed every once in a while there was a fun little picture instead of a big number for the day. I scanned all the ones I've torn off so far and included some here because they are just too awesome to keep to myself. I mean, what holidays are these? Are some of these as political as I think? I love the bottom part with that loud grid of information, especially the little horoscope animals in a box at the bottom, what does that mean? "Goats and Oxen are going to get along today"

please click on them to zoom, the poor quality of the printing is lost in these crisp small images.

The last one was during Chinese New Year. Together with an image of a woman and a baby on May 10 (Mother's Day) those are the only holidays I've identified.

I went to the website at the bottom of everyday and it's kind of great. Who is Mister Hau??

I've decided when I come to a day with a picture I'll scan it and put it up here on that day.

blog famine

2009-09-09T18:51:00.003-05:00

seriously, not a lot has been going on, but I feel bad about not blogging about the nothingness. Today I went through my Itunes and after a little research, added the correct release date to every album. (some of them had no date so I had to wikipedia that, and some had incorrect release dates, like Cat Steven's Mona Bone Jakon is from 2000? mmm I don't think so)

Oldest song: 1954 "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt

Over 75% of my collection is from the 2000's, here's a fun graph to show how it breaks down by decade:

Of the 2000's songs, most (1079 of 4051) are from 2007. The least (72 of 4051) are from the year 2000. Of those, the one that has been played the most (14) is "The Fake Headlines" by The New Pornographers.

Of all the songs from the 60's, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" from The Beach Boys has been played the most (58), despite it reminding me of Michael Moore's Roger and Me.

Yay for Smart Playlists, making all this pointless organizing possible.

Only Photographable thing that has happened in about a month:
Chris and I made pizza. It was delicious AND educational. Turns out Pilsbury refrigerated pre-made pizza dough isn't too bad and you should add like twice as much basil as you think you should, because it tends to shrivel. Also we found this awesome goat cheese that looks like brie but actually tastes like something.

don't worry, happy libby is still happy

2009-08-13T00:51:00.002-05:00

I know my last post was maybe alarming to some of you. I can't say that things have gotten better, but they are definitely bothering me less.

My time has been taken up by:

a physically exhausting job that requires little concentration
an awesome boy who always opens the car door for me
this hilarious/silly game: improbable island
checking stuff out from the library

that is all.

bare cupboard ingenuity

2009-07-20T22:35:00.002-05:00

I haven't gone grocery shopping at all this month so I've been surviving on the random bits of food in the pantry and leftovers from past roommates...Today I reached a new low in combining ingredients for no reason other than that they were there. My recipe today:

2 6-month old sausages found in the back of the freezer
2 remnants of bags of broccoli that used to be Jasons, probably about 6 pieces between the two
remnants of a bag of Trader Joe's frozen Soycutash which is like soybeans and corn
1/3 of a giant can (yes, a can) of macaroni
Knorr parma rosa sauce packet
5 or 6 flakes of minced onion
about a tablespoon of cream cheese (for creaminess)
same amount of garlic powder (for masking the flavor of the other ingredients, that sauce packet turned out to be kinda gross)

I mixed it all together and sampled my creation. Not entirely horrible when warm but then again I was really hungry. Later, not as hungry and not as warm it was disgusting and slimey. Like bland macaroni salad. But then I microwaved some just now and it was pretty okay. Good thing I made enough for like 3 meals. Success! I've staved off starvation for another day! I also made chicken curry with a badly freezerburned piece of chicken, a curry packet I purloined from my dad's house that has to be at least 3 years old, some more flakes of minced onion, and microwaved brown rice. I'm afraid to try it.

Orson Welle's finest work

2009-07-08T00:48:00.002-05:00

Remember The Critic? That show was amazing! It totally skewered modern film and I see where Family Guy got its penchant for jump-cutting to non-sequitor pop culture spoofs. (I also saw Judd Apatow in the credits! Man that guy is everywhere)

Oh and I got a job! I'm glad that Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design has prepared me for my role as Macy's Junior's Department Sales Associate. I'll be making slightly less than what I was raking in when I first moved here. Plus I get an employee discount! Awesome!

celebrating america with a comic by a canadian

2009-07-04T02:26:00.003-05:00

I love Kate Beaton almost as much as I love America.

mein nomf

2009-06-26T14:36:00.003-05:00

Due to the popularity of cuteoverload.com, how come no has banked on cuteoverlord.com? I predict hilarity and pictures of babies and kittens dressed as tyrants.

EDIT: oh wait there already is catsthatlooklikehitler.com

He's out of my life

2009-06-26T14:19:00.004-05:00

I'm going to mourn the death of baby Michael Jackson. so sad.

In the meantime I hope Perez Hilton goes away. He is now at the top of my list of People Who Should Be Banned From The Internet. Read his awful account of the news of Michael going to the hospital

straight out of a horror movie.

2009-06-09T23:57:00.001-05:00

Liem's Aquarium in Chinatown, Maynard Alley and...King Street? Go there.

anna and penguin foreveerrrrr

2009-06-09T23:25:00.002-05:00

some highlights from anna's stay in seattle

anna+penguin=forever

view from the water taxi

I'm not sure but I think Cupcake Royale was Anna's favorite part of Seattle.

Oh didn't you hear? The world ended. View from the 12th st bridge in Beacon Hill.

Arboretum! Marsh! Mud!

Yeah! Troll!

Snowqualmie Falls. I still like Silver Falls better. sorry, Washington.

The actual diner from Twin Peaks! I'm the only one excited about this. and yes, there IS traces of lipstick on that mug.

Anna and Pho foreverrr

gross

2009-06-01T02:51:00.002-05:00

I have a gnarly blister on my foot and I can't stop talking about/looking at it.

I'm famous!

2009-05-29T17:11:00.004-05:00

I googled myself recently and was shocked to find all the different websites linking to my work! I had no idea so many people have been looking at my portfolio and blogging about it.

Searching for "libby egan" brought up about 600 results that were 70% about me. Searching for "YIU Studio" also brought up a lot of links to my fortune teller

Some of the links:

TrendHunter
NotCot
We Love Typography
Balla Dora
vi.sualize.us
The Trendy Girl
(plus a lot of random stumbleupons and personal blogs that link back to me! yay!)

now: to use the crap out of this to get a job

louve the couve

2009-05-26T12:06:00.003-05:00

(you're supposed to pronounce those words like they rhyme)

Oh my. Canada. Is. The. Best. Vancouver blew my mind with extreme pleasantness: racial and cultural diversity, lovely weather, beautiful money with 2 dollar coins! hobolessness, steam clocks, friendly french canadians, the word "cheques," bilingual food packaging, gorgeous parks and beaches, hostels that feed you a real breakfast, and courteous drivers (except the guy who tried to cut in front of me at the border. Not today old man! You get in the duty free lane you better be buying liquor!)

For sure, Vancouver is now at the top of my list for awesome places to live. I loved it so much. Seriously it made Portland look like a boring pile of crap.

Stanley Park was amazing (despite the ambivalent look on my face)! Seeing a city through the trees reminded me of NY's Central Park.

Granville Island, I liked this sign.

Another view of the city with some mountains...

Canada!

Beach!

A footbridge!

OMG PIGEON

Sunset at 1st beach

No captains? No sitting cross legged? I know this means no lifeguard but what lifeguard wears a Captain Crunch hat? This was at this amazing park/beach we found by accident. There were TONS of people sitting on the grass having picnics, playing bocce, playing with their dogs (there were SO MANY DOGS).

Canaduh

2009-05-22T22:53:00.004-05:00

I'm spending Memorial Day weekend in another country! Watch out Vancouver, BC I'm about to rock your world.

2009-05-13T13:46:00.003-05:00

2 more fonts I want:

Eloquent

Amethyst

Shoot to Kill Shoot to Kill Shoot to Kill

2009-05-07T15:18:00.002-05:00

Star Trek! Dr. Demento!

My favorite is at about 1:37
I never noticed this but their bodies are always totally stiff when they shoot, because they need to freeze the film to animate the laser beam. Awesome.

the saddest thing in the world.

2009-05-04T13:31:00.002-05:00

Paul Rudd with a beard

moved

2009-05-02T15:19:00.005-05:00

I moved again. Just lugged all my stuff across town to the Seattle Central District. The new place is about a seven minute drive or half hour walk from International District/Pioneer Square/Downtown/Capitol Hill/all the cool stuff.

Saturday afternoon I saw a Chinese man speedwalking laps around the parking lot behind my work. The second time he passed me we made eye contact and I said "Getting some exercise?" He came toward me, stopped and said "Sorry, I, uh, don't know Engilish." I said "Sorry" but he didn't go away. I didn't know what else to do so I pumped my arms and said "Going for a walk?" He nodded and continued his lap.

Late last night I was working and I heard someone screaming gibberish outside. I went to the window and outside the same apartment building I saw police in body armor drag out a crazy guy there was a woman standing on the sidewalk flailing her arms around and convulsing while shrieking deranged nothings. She looked like she was having a bad trip or had recently escaped from the mental hospital or was possessed or some mix of those three. It was scary and fascinating at the same time. I went back to the window a couple minutes later and she had vanished.

WHO WILL GO TO THE WENATCHEE APPLE BLOSSOM FESTIVAL WITH ME?

2009-04-23T17:33:00.004-05:00

The Wenatchee Annual Apple Blossom Festival was one of the highlights of my childhood. I only have fuzzy memories of it but I recall a lingering feeling of bliss. I randomly googled it just now and it starts TODAY (Ends May 3!!).

If you fly/train/bike or drive up to Seattle sometime in the next week I WILL drive us over to Wenatchee, not even ask for gas money, buy you cotton candy, take pictures of us with my polaroid camera, take you on the Applets and Cotlets factory tour, hang out with my grandma AND IT WILL BE THE MOST FUN EVER. That is a happylibby promise.

Three random Apple Blossom memories:

Mom bought me a little foam alligator on a leash that I LOVED. I played with it until it fell apart. (I can't find a picture of one of these, it's just a piece of spongey foam tied in some knots and painted to look like an alligator on a piece of wire. You would buy it at one of those stands that sells inflatable swords and big silly hats)

Once I went on a kid's rollercoaster when I was too old to enjoy it. It was pretty pathetic, just gentle inclines at a slow pace, but this older kid behind me screamed and yelled the whole time.

When I was 5 or 6 I got to walk in the parade. I wanted to dress up as a mermaid (because I was obsessed with The Little Mermaid) but was disappointed when Mom sewed my costume from old clothes instead of buying me a new one. I was wearing like a flesh-colored t-shirt and a sea foam green towel cut into a little bra over it and maybe some green pants. I was a pretty sad-looking mermaid.

I've been searching my soul tonight

2009-04-23T01:49:00.002-05:00

I found Ally McBeal on the internet. Once I've watched all of season 4 I will have seen like 90% of Robert Downey Jr's sexiest work. Larry Paul and Ally McBeal! TV's greatest love story. Sort of. I'm curious to see if you can tell he is on drugs.

In other news, I'm moving! To a cute lil newly-renovated upstairs apartment in slightly more hip part of town which is a 7-minute bus ride from where I work most days. I could probably even walk! No more dropping 7 or 8 bucks on parking! And I can't imagine my new neighbors being any worse than my current ones (hopefully not famous last words).

libby math

2009-04-20T15:43:00.004-05:00

up late coughing my guts out+been sleeping in til noon for 3 weeks-a job=hitting snooze every 7 minutes for an hour and a half this morning.

Vitamin C+Echinacea+hot liquids-doing any physical activity=get better, dammit.

fitting most of my hair into a ponytail+outfit I think I look cute in+feeling that I didn't need to wear very much makeup today-looking in a mirror=confidence.

freelance+deposit back+last month's rent back+tax rebate=money I need that I don't have yet.

Estilo Script+Jeanne Moderno+Brothers=Cute fonts that I want.

an ipod+tattoos+a new phone+netflix account+health insurance+new front axle on my car+a nice couch=things I wish I had money to buy.

paint my dresser+design my website+paint and reupholster my dining chairs=things I wish I had time and motivation to do.

applied for a business license+sent my first invoice+saving all my receipts=I'm totally legit.

2009-04-17T13:42:00.002-05:00

Been having crazy/scary dreams lately. One was where I was flying to London but it was a last minute thing and I hadn't packed properly. When I got there I visited a couple stores that I have been to in my dreams (but never in real life) before and then met up with my friend Hannah. Since I felt I'd been here before I started leading her somewhere and decided to take a shortcut down this pitch-black alley. I saw other people walking into and out of it so it seemed safe. We started walking and it was totally dark, then all the sudden people started running towards us, pressing against us, trying to get away from something behind them then all the sudden I felt a huge hand close around my neck. And I woke up suddenly.

I had another one that was like a movie, it felt so long and so much stuff happened, basically I was the member of this imperial family in China and I was in love with this guy (played by a retail employee I talked to recently) but then someone important got into a cabinet and got shot and there was a war and blah blah blah.

Had another scary one, this time with Anna, we were at this house visiting someone but it was filthy, floor covered in cockroaches, animals and their business all over the place. Plus it was dark and cold. I really wanted to go but Anna wanted to stay, I got bit by a huge dog trying to leave and some bugs crawled on my face. I kept screaming for Anna but she wouldn't come.

Lately my time has been sucked up by:
1) being almost-sick but not full-blown-sick yet.
2) looking for a new place on craigslist
3) thinking about contacting people for jobs but not doing it because I have a man voice due to being semi-sick.
4) random freelance projects
5) sleeping
6) watching movies about teens and pre-teens (American Teen and Let the Right One In are good ones)

I really need to get a job

2009-04-05T20:02:00.000-05:00

Until about an hour ago, I thought today was Monday.

big trouble in the little international district

2009-04-02T21:12:00.002-05:00

So last monday I rolled in to work and the whole street was blocked off my cop cars and vans. That was around 10 am. As the day progressed the scene got more and more bizarre, SWAT team, hostage negotiators, guys in fatigues with hugeass guns, armored vehicles that looked like little tanks, a fire truck, an ambulance, finally around 3pm or so they pulled this dude out of the apartment building across the street. I watched from the window in our office and took pictures.

Scary! He was screaming "NEVER! NEVER!" or some nonsense and looking wildly around. At one point he seemed to look straight at me which prompted me to run like a ninny into the other room. They put some mesh bags over his head for some reason and put him into the cop car. The End!

I wish I'd gotten pictures of the mini tanks.

You can read the official report here:
http://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2009/03/31/assault-suspect-surrendered/

more news

2009-04-02T21:02:00.002-05:00

i changed my phone number. if you need it and you didn't get a text from me, email me and we'll get that to you asap.

news

2009-03-31T02:32:00.005-05:00

libbyegan.com now redirects to my portfolio! i'm too lazy/inept/indecisive to actually design my website so here it is for job-getting (my internship is up tomorrow so if anyone has any replacement jobs for me, let me know and I'll make you meatloaf or something).

p.s. something exciting happened in chinatown today. expect awesomeness soon.

no time to blerg

2009-03-27T00:48:00.001-05:00

i will blog again someday.

bus blurbs

2009-03-13T01:21:00.002-05:00

That's it. As soon as I get money/get my car fixed I'm ditching this bus thing. I was optimistic at first but now I'm sick of it. I'm sick of looking silly by getting to the stop too early or a little too late and standing in the cold and sitting next to smelly/scary people. These stories are more pleasant/interesting and are not an accurate account of Seattle Bus-Taking. Most of the time it is crazy central.

Once a guy in a long fur coat sat next to me. He smelled nice.

The other day I stood next to a lady wearing a cloak that had a fancy silver dragon closure. She had a guide dog and I wondered why, she obviously was able-bodied (standing on the bus), and not blind or deaf. Hmm.

A few weeks ago the only open seat was next to a guy holding a lengthy conversation with the guy in front of him. It boggles my mind that they were both sipping beer out of paper bags, talking about having cell phones and going to concerts but sleeping in homeless shelters.

Usually the only free seats in the morning are in the back, which is where the loud crazies sit. One morning it wasn't too bad except for a surly guy who insisted on having the windows open. Even though it was like 30 degrees outside. He laboriously got up and opened the window next to me and the guy sitting next to me reached up and slammed it. Window Guy got all up in this guys face and yelled at him that he wasn't the only person on the bus. Yeah, he wasn't. Window Slamming Guy got off at the very next stop and the rest of us shivered until Window Guy got off.

There are 4 normal people I see on the bus almost every single morning at the same time. Attractive Married Backpack Guy, Attractive Hispanic Guy, Ponytail Guy, and Libby 2. Libby 2 is like me but with cuter clothes; she gets on a stop or 2 before me and we get off at the same stop. I've been getting up the nerve to talk to her because I think we could be an unstoppable duo. Can you imagine 2 Libbys who are best friends?? The world might come to an end.

This morning on the way to the bus I heard someone shouting, it sounded like, for their dog. It sounded like "Ziggy." I rounded a corner and became aware the voice was now directed to me. "Can you grab that dog?" A woman shouted from a block away. "What dog?" was my first thought as I didn't see anything running around. I looked down and a pomeranian was chilling on the grass between the sidewalk and the road, just sniffing and walking around totally unaware of the panic attack his owner was having. I picked up the dog and started walking toward the lady, who was now sprinting to us. "Thanks so much! We left the gate open by accident and he got out! THANK YOU!" I said it was no problem and she goes "Oh no did I make you late? Do you need a ride?" I was utterly delighted that she offered but I turned it down, that would be weird, especially since she was in her pajamas and walking a labrador.

say no to drugs!

2009-03-06T13:29:00.001-05:00

The First 100 Days

2009-03-06T04:04:00.009-05:00

I've taken a picture every day at work and tonight I compiled them all into a succinct 33 second video. Enjoy.

Try to spot:
The stuff moving around on the desk behind me
The days when I didn't wash my hair
How many times I wore a freaking hoodie (around 60)
The level on the water cooler behind me
Another person (it happens twice)

EDIT: that is NOT a "i don't want to be here" face. that is a "i'm tired/it's cold outside/it's cold in here/i had to sit next to a lady with TB on the bus/I haven't had my coffee yet" face. From now on I'm smiling creepily everyday. See if you like that better

yesterday

2009-02-25T23:20:00.002-05:00

When i was home for Christmas I grabbed a few things out of my mom's dresser drawers before donating or throwing away the rest. Among a couple slips, some matching socks and her Wenatchee High t-shirt I grabbed this red scarf.

I wore it yesterday and every once in a while I would catch a whiff of Eau de Mommy. It was nice.

So, it turns out...

2009-02-25T23:02:00.003-05:00

...ALL my neighbors are jerks!

I have been riding the bus to work everyday and pretty much only driving my car once a week. There is a rule (which I haven't seen enforced until today) that you can't park your car on the street in the same spot for over 72 hours. My car sits in the same spot for way over that on a weekly basis and has been totally fine. Two Sundays ago I parked my car in a spot 2 houses down from me last week and didn't move it until this most Sunday and when I came back I just parked in the same spot again. Today when I got home I saw a notice telling me that I needed to move my car or it will be "CITED, IMPOUNDED, AND STORED AT THE OWNER'S EXPENSE" because it allegedly had been parked for over 72 hours. Actually, at the time of the notice my car had only been there about 60 hours in a row but to someone who didn't notice it was gone for like 4 hours on Sunday it looked to have been there over a week.

Now, I'm not mad that I got reprimanded for something I'm technically not guilty of doing. But, in the "remarks" section of the notice it said "COMPLAINT."

So I'm not mad I got in trouble for parking my car too long, I'm mad that someone on my block complained about it. SOMEONE saw my car parked outside their house this morning and CALLED THE POLICE. SOMEONE was soooo inconvenienced by my car being in that spot for more than a minute they up and taddled on me. SOMEONE was also watching me through their window as I moved my car tonight. We made eye contact and I tried to look pissed but I'm pretty sure they couldn't tell.

On top of that I'm pretty drained from work and also pissed I'm supposed to get paid for a freelance project but haven't yet and therefore my credit card payment will be late AGAIN. I swear I am barely making headway in paying that thing off.

happy V Day

2009-02-14T20:03:00.001-05:00

2009-02-13T00:15:00.004-05:00

So I went to take my trash out tonight, expecting a totally empty can seeing as that it was picked up yesterday and what do I find?

WHAAA?? This definitely didn't come from my house so the only logical conclusion is my spooky neighbors. How entirely infuriating. Just another item on the List of Real and Alleged Grievances:

1) Ran a hose from our house and pressure washed a car.
2) Probably slashed my roommates' tires on 3 occasions.
3) Probably are dealing drugs and/or harboring criminals.
4) Cause me to feel unsafe in my own neighborhood because everyone i've seen go into or come out of that house is scary/unsavory.
5) Upstairs tenant keeps asking us to hire him to fix stuff on our house (actually this guy is pretty cool. he helped me get out of the snow last christmas eve and is pleasant whenever i see him).
6) Irrational California haters

I'm a cool black guy

2009-02-09T18:35:00.004-05:00

(this one is funny)

(here is the original)

I discovered today

2009-02-09T18:21:00.003-05:00

...that Trader Joe's Low Sodium Minestrone Soup sucks. Who says "low sodium" has to mean "disturbingly sweet"?

also discovered: When I drink a lot of water I'm not as hungry. Heeey I think I'm on to something.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

2009-02-08T17:55:00.009-05:00

I just finished To Be or Not To Be, one of Mel Brooks lesser-known films and the last one in my boxset that I hadn't seen yet. It's not overly awesome, but still surprisingly good. Man Mel liked skewering Nazis. Though Anne Bancroft is more known for being a Miracle Worker and boinging Dustin Hoffman, she was quite good in this and I learned she and Mel Brooks were married! For like 40 years! I love hollywood love stories.

In other news I had a dream my mom planned my wedding for me even though there was no groom. She didn't tell me what was going on until the day of when my grandparents randomly showed up and my mom had me put on this big dress and started doing my hair. When I asked her who I was supposed to be marrying she said "Don't worry, Rachael here is going to read the groom's part." I wanted to invite some of my friends but I couldn't decide whether to actually do it because I thought a) they'd be offended I invited them at the last minute b) they'd be weirded out by my fake wedding. I got a good guy friend of mine to come and he said I looked beautiful even though my hair wasn't done and that made me wish I was marrying him. End of dream. The previous night this same friend appeared in a dream where he was in love with me and even though they are just dreams they are messing with my real life feelings.

UPDATE 2-10-09: 3rd day in a row with this same guy in my dream. I should give him a call soon before my subconscious goes on strike.

UPDATE AGAIN: That is a terrible idea.

CUTE CUTE CUTE

2009-02-07T19:18:00.004-05:00

This actress/musician named Kate Micucci showed up on the latest episode of Scrubs and isn't she adorable? Plus Ted will finally get a girlfriend! yay!

She and this other girl Riki Lindhome have a bunch of videos on youtube singing funny original songs (including the dirty version of the above one) and this:

blurgh

2009-01-28T14:22:00.005-05:00

I'm in constant state of not getting my shit together.

I know what I need to do. I make lists of what I need to do. But then it just doesn't happen and I wake up hours later looking at pictures of LOLcats. This entry has been hiding as a saved draft for a while and I finally feel like posting it:

my lunch bag fell over on the bus the other day. the person i was sitting next to alerted me to this fact and luckily i grabbed everything before it slid out of reach. Unfortunately my water bottle rolled across the aisle and the crazy old guy reading a medieval fantasy comic book across the way got it for me. As he handed it back he told me "Once I spilled a bag of oranges. I started out with 8 but I only got 5 back!" "Someone had a snack" I replied.

I've been reading America's Best Nonrequired Reading on the bus and I realized, reading fiction is good for you. it makes you more observant and allows you to put words in a row that describe what you're seeing. especially fiction that is written in the first person. it makes me narrate everything in my head. Sometimes in a British accent.

Life Update: I'm sticking around as an intern for at least another 2 months. I get to worry constantly about money for a little longer than I thought!

LOST, I'm breaking up with you

2009-01-25T22:27:00.002-05:00

spontaneous time travel? seriously?? I can't do this anymore. You are all pissing me off.

except for sawyer. I still love you, baby

another one rides the bus

2009-01-19T02:12:00.002-05:00

I take the bus to work these days since I was informed I'd have to pay $75 a month for the parking spot I have been using for free for a couple months. Not only is a bus pass only $50, I spend infinitely less on gas. Since I stopped driving to work everyday, the last time I got gas it was in Oregon. Also it cuts down on the stress of driving. Driving in Seattle is so frustrating to me and sitting on the bus is pretty relaxing. Since I am an avid people watcher it is also a rich environment to observe crazy people. Stay tuned for some crazy stories one of these days.

Tonight is the first night of this week that I've gotten home before midnight. The last couple days have been spent furiously finishing a project I have been subconsciously dragging my feet on. I wish I was faster. I feel like a total disappointment when I take several days to produce something my boss could have gotten done in an hour. I'm still used to the somewhat relaxed pace of school. At the time it didn't feel that way but it was pretty cushy compared to the Real World. If I only have one new years resolution it would be to push myself more at work and exhaust all possibilities before giving up. I like the research and concepting part of a project but when it gets to actually putting words and pictures arranged on a page I'm somewhat at a loss at first. Thankfully my boss is incredibly patient and instructive and I'm not just saying that to suck up because I know he reads this blog sometimes. I'm truly thankful to have this job and to be living in a rad house with awesome roommates in a beautiful big city.

And now back to griping:
Libby needs to make some friends. I only know my roommates here and while we have a good time together it would be nice to get out and experience more of Seattle. I currently have want for the following friends:

A friend with a hot tub
A friend who likes to pay for my dinner
A friend who can cut my hair
A friend who lives within the city limits
A friend who is friends with cute boys and/or is a cute boy
A friend with Rock Band

If you or someone you know fits one or more of these criteria, email me.

2009-01-12T00:18:00.004-05:00

whenever I meet a dude I like I am always afraid I'll find out too late that we are distantly related.

FINALLY!

2009-01-08T00:52:00.003-05:00

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE COOLEST THIING YOU WILL EVER SEE

2008-12-29T17:28:00.002-05:00

prepare to have your life changed forever. click here===>http://lassenart.com/

a very kate beaton christmas

2008-12-24T00:57:00.005-05:00

click:

i like kate beaton and you should too Also if you like Canadian history, Top Gun and/or pictures of Napoleon eating a cookie you should check 'er out.

everyone gets IOUs for christmas

2008-12-23T22:14:00.008-05:00

I haven't had neither the time nor the money nor the snow tires to shop this year. Get ready for New Year's presents.

I'm holding out hope that the snow melts a little so I can drive home safely but after hearing reports of MORE SNOW in the next 24 hours I'm terrified of the thought of being stuck in Seattle by myself for Christmas. Tomorrow I will probably buy something I will only use once if at all I heard some of Salem is experiencing a power outage so my dad probably didn't get my message tonight seeing if he is okay. He has a generator, I'm sure he's fine. I'll be a little bummed if there is no power when I show up, I was looking forward to a nice warm house in which to spend my lovely lovely break since my room here is barely insulated and I'm lucky if my space heater maintains about 60 in here.

Reading the Seattlest is making me feel better about being stuck in a city that apparently has never heard of salt. A few good ones:
So what's the word for snow?
'S No Joke. This is a Disaster
We're all Boned.
and here is the other side: In Defense of the City

This NYtimes article paints a slightly sunnier picture of the situation:
Seattle Sees Most Snow in a Decade
Yeah it was fun on Sunday and cool, that's a lot of snow. But it doesn't mention how crippling it is to be stuck inside for a week or even worse needing to venture out to go to work or accompany your roommate as he drives his car to a location where he is less likely to get his tires slashed

GAAAAAAH Seattle refuses to use salt; roads "snow packed" by design

The upside: I have been listening to Electric Light Orchestra on a loop the last few days and man, those guys rock with their little violins and cellos and fros and whatnot.

merry jolly times

2008-12-23T17:27:00.002-05:00

I don't usually like Jason Mraz but I thought this was funny

make it a natkingbingcrosbycharlesdickinsy kind of thing

The Greenwood Slasher

2008-12-21T03:54:00.005-05:00

Saturday night: right now cops are interviewing my roommates about the events that have transpired the past few weeks on our street. It's all very exciting and we've spent the last few hours being detectives.

So Lynne found one of her tires flat in mid October. When she got it replaced the guys at Firestone told her the tire had been slashed. Like with a knife and everything. So we thought that was pretty weird but forgot about it after a while. So this Thursday Lynne went to drive to work and 2 of her tires were flat. She had to get it towed to Firestone again and again they told her they were definitely slashed. One of them had been stabbed 3 times.

We tried to conjecture who could possibly be targeting my dear sweet roommate. She hasn't been here long enough to make any enemies so until this most recent slashing we thought it was random. She checked our other roommate Jason's car and one of his tires was flat too. He also had a flat back in October that we didn't think much of. The only thing their cars have in common is their California plates. So there is some California hater on our block? I can just imagine "WHY DID THE O.C. HAVE TO END??" *SLASH SLASH* "CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN IS TOO EXPENSIIIVE"

Since then Lynne & Jason's California cars have been hidden in secret faraway locations.

So on Saturday I was curled up next to the space heater in my room when Lynne was like "hey lets go outside and take pictures of the snow!" As soon as we stepped outside on to our porch we heard our neighbors on the right talking to our neighbors on the left. "Hey we just saw someone slash that truck's tires. We heard the air go out and then they ran." Left neighbors asked "oh where did they run to?" The fresh snow made it pretty easy to track the perp. Right neighbors said "uh the tracks lead right up your front steps." Left neighbor didn't freak out as much as one would if they were an innocent man being accused of tire slashing, instead he started saying "Oh i think I saw them go this way instead" and blamed it on this random girl as a joke.

I chimed in that we had had tires slashed too but I was pretty much ignored, instead Lynne and I heard a very incriminating conversation between our left neighbors (these are the ones in the creepy house on the block that we call the Crack House. I've seen like 50 or so different people just walk into their house through the front door without knocking. Sketchy looking people.) The Crack House Dwellers were flippantly discussing why people's cars were getting slashed. "Maybe some people around here don't like Californians. Maybe we'd like them to leave. If I were a hardcore Seattle native maybe I wouldn't like no Californians on my street." We had said NOTHING about our California plates theory, that xenophobic tirade was completely unprovoked.

We called the cops right after that but we're not sure there is anything they can do.

So our creepy neighbors are slashing our tires.

There are only 2 guys we can confirm actually live there. One is Yelling Guy, or Mr.Fixit. He used to yell at us from their second floor balcony that different things were broken on our house that he could fix for us. "Oh hey, your roof is pretty tore up, I hope rain isn't getting in" or "The side of your house is really dirty. I could power wash that for ya." The other guy is Smoking Guy, who I have never seen without a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I've only seen him working on his truck or painting their house (that disgusting brown color).

Monday: Jason says the guy whose truck was slashed on Saturday night (Texas plates. what??) tried to drive off and Jason just happened to be outside. Jason told him his tire was slashed, someone saw it happen Saturday. Texas guy was like Do you know who did it? Jason said we had a theory but that he didn't want to spread rumors. Texas guy was like "It was the Crack House wasn't it?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

p.s. My car hasn't been touched (yeah no one hates Oregon! woot woot) but I still moved it around the block where there's a state patrolman who parks his squadcar out on the street. I figured that would be pretty safe.

how do you think i got that macrame owl?

2008-12-19T23:25:00.003-05:00

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

meh.

OMG SNOW

2008-12-19T01:14:00.003-05:00

after living in utah for 5 years the snowfall today was pretty pathetic. But then the city of Seattle freaked out and thus today was a snow day. I spent most of it curled up in blankets watching tv or looking out the window at the snow globey view outside.
I avoided going out all day until about an hour ago. My roommate Lynne (Californian) is obsessed with the snow, hence why she shows up in most of these pictures.

and these were taken last friday (not by me):

i finally found my thermal top. where are my bottoms??

what has been taking up my time

2008-12-14T20:13:00.002-05:00

SO the last few weeks I have been working on the same project pretty much constantly. I researched, doodled, illustrated, wrote copy, helped print and construct holiday gifts for the studio's clients. What started as a simple card has morphed into an origami fortune teller inside a box inside another box inside another box all letterpress printed by amateurs and laboriously scored, cut out, folded and glued by hand. We printed about 100 of each piece and ended up with 80 or so good total packages. I don't even want to think about how long it took.

The first day we printed for about 7 hours, finishing the first piece's prints around 11:30pm. I wanted to cry by the time it was time to go.

They sure turned out pretty though.

Our inappropriately used press. It is meant for intaglio or block printing. It worked okay though.

prints drying on the wall.

My favorite piece.

Finished fortune tellers.

I wrote all the fortunes in about 20 minutes. I'm afraid most of them are kind of mean.

work area

Here is what one looks like, sans the first layer

Packed in red tissue paper to be mailed out. I had to construct about 60 of these shipping boxes, hence the aforementioned box fort.

year end summary

2008-12-13T03:02:00.002-05:00

I refuse to believe that it is December. As an exercise to help me get over my denial I'm going to look back on the year and remind you of all my 2008 adventures.

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

best job ever

2008-12-12T23:11:00.002-05:00

I made a fort out of shipping boxes around my desk today. mostly to distract me from the fact that I spent 2 hours putting together shipping boxes. Explanation of the boxes' existence is to come.

new years resolution #1

2008-12-12T03:35:00.000-05:00

blog more often?