NaBloPoMo Day 7

Talking about a round-up post yesterday made me think I should do a recent one. Here we go!

Reading: Sadly not much. I started Jesse Ball's The Way Through Doors and absolutely love it but I haven't gotten around to finishing it. I didn't think I would be able to get into it because he has a strange writing style. I usually don't do well with non-traditional styles but his story-telling just sucked me in. For a quick read, I recommend Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry (Lauren, I think you would really like this). It's such a fascinating way to write a story and it's a book you can go back to and pick up at any point and read for a while.

Listening: I've been doing a lot of driving lately so I'm always looking for new podcasts. I love the Stuff You Should Know show and always pick up interesting tidbits of information. The Sound Opinions podcast can be really good if they have a good main topic. I have to credit the Sound Opinions guys for introducing me to my latest music obsession - An Horse. They were on the SXSW show back in the fall and their song "Horizons" was featured. Love it. I bought the whole album and have been listening to it in the car ever since.

Eating - the Whole Foods salad bar. Since I haven't been able to cook I've been picking up dinner on my way home after school. I love, love their salad bar but fear it will cause me to run up past my credit limit. It's called Whole Paycheck for a reason.

NaBloPoMo Day 6

Recommended link for today:
ljc fyi
I may have mentioned ljc before but I just love her blog so much. She has fantastic crafty projects, has great pets who are regularly featured, and does canning. What else can you ask? I based my Round-Up posts on her left side-bar but she obviously does it much better.

My Inmate Penpal - NaBloPoMo Day 5

I found this email in my draft folder - I can't remember if I've told this story here or not.

I got an email a while ago from my mom that reminded me of a story I had meant to tell here but had completely forgotten about. For slightly paranoid reasons that should become obvious, I didn't want to mention anything at the time, but moving has put some space there.

Last April (2007?) I got a large light blue envelope in the mail covered in one cent stamps with a return address of a federal prison. I tried to find it (the letter, not the prison) so I could show a picture but I think it got lost in the move. Inside was a copy of Games Magazine* with my address label and a two page letter. Turns out my copy got stuck to the inmate's copy and he had mailed it back to me. In the letter he wrote that I shouldn't worry because he hadn't kept my address (I think he added in a "haha" and smiley face for good measure) but that he hoped I would be nice enough to write him back. He told me all about his future job plans and went into some specifics about how I could find him after he was released. He was even so kind as to include his age/height/weight/ethnicity/hair color etc. He should be out on parole now, so if there are any ladies out there looking for love and adventure he's probably available.

(So the title of the post isn't entirely accurate - it just sounds better than "That One Time I Got a Letter from a Prisoner")

*I have been getting this magazine without paying a subscription for a good fifteen years. It has followed me from Indiana to Carrboro to Durham without any notification action on my part. I just hope that by writing about it I don't jinx it - it's nice to get but not worth the ridiculous subscription cost. (Update - it followed me to Durham but has since stopped. Booo.)

NaBloPoMo Day 4

(Yes - it's technically day 2, but let's pretend I posted the first two days)

Link for today
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
Ree lives on a ranch in the middle of nowhere but manages to pull off dishes that aren't typical Kansas or Oklahoma fare. She takes absolutely beautiful pictures of the whole cooking process and is a realistic chef - she doesn't expect you to have super-fancy ingredients on hand or to spend hours on a single dish. The only downside is that she feeds a family of six plus various ranch hands (it's a real farm!) and it doesn't always work for me to make cinnamon rolls for 24.

Starting late

So I completely forgot that November is NaBloPoMo - National Blog Posting Month, where the goal is to post every day of the month. I tried it a few years ago (I could go through my archives and link to it but you all are smart people) in a rather pathetic attempt. I figure this is a good way to get into the habit of posting more often - we'll see how this goes.

I'm so excited for October to be over. I've basically lived in my bedroom for the last half of the month due to the flooding. The cats are getting extremely bored trapped in a single room and I can't say I blame them. I haven't been grocery shopping in at least two weeks and the closest I've come to cooking is making coffee. My house has always been a refuge for me and the place where I can chill out and get away from all of the stress of work and school. This is why I haven't had a roommate since college and why I don't do well away from home for too long. My house is now even more stressful than the world outside and that's really taking a toll on me. I cannot wait to have everything back to normal and cook some meals and catch up on the DVR.

Whew - enough whining. Since you really don't want to hear me go on and on about the house all month I'm going to use these posts to recommend links. This also saves me the trouble of updating my links section on the left. Everyone wins!

Today's recommendation:
Young House Love
John and Sherry bought an older house in Richmond and document all of their adventures related to renovating their home and making it their own. They have a fantastic sense of design and I love seeing the little and big changes they make all over their house. I am always impressed by their ability to tackle big projects and to make you feel like you can do it too. Check out their backyard wedding - it's amazing that they pulled off such a fantastic celebration on a small budget.

Quiz

Q: What do you do when your house is a wreck, your air conditioner is
broken, and you have a ridiculous amount of work due this week?

A: Buy a cute new (and very reasonably priced!) coat. Obviously.

Falling Apart

This has been a really tough semester and I've been pretty consistently overwhelmed with school and work (paid and unpaid) related responsibilities. So it is natural that my house would have a major plumbing problem in the brief time between midterms and gearing up for the end of the semester. And now my air conditioner has frozen. The restoration people are coming back today to completely rip out the kitchen floor. I have put in numerous requests for the house elves to come fix everything but that hasn't worked so far. I keep telling myself that it could be worse. Everything is replaceable and insurance should cover it all. And I don't have shingles.