good words, flat coats, this and that

 ”Never listen to a phone call that isn’t meant for you. Never read a letter that isn’t meant for you. Never pay attention to a comment that isn’t meant for you. Never violate people’s privacy. You will save yourself a great deal of anguish. You might not understand this now, but you will later on.”

— True Compass, by Ted Kennedy

I've been looking at At Its Best and found that quote, which I like. Truth is, I've learned to do just this. I tend to not violate people's privacy and it has stood me in good stead.

As for flat coats...

I'd like to point out

that it is very difficult

to determine

what this outerwear looks like from this perspective. Not that I am shopping for outerwear at this juncture. Coats are something I peruse from time to time. These are from Toast.

This one, I think, looks like a butterfly that has been hit by a car.

K and I traveled out in our neighborhood today. We went to Orvis where he has a $50 gift card. this proved to be an unsuccessful trip. (May I say, as an aside, that though $50 gift cards are much appreciated, they are a pain in the ass to spend. Nothing is $50. $25 would be better spent. Truly. But thanks.)
Our next stop was the wine store and it was being renovated. This is unremarkable save for the fact that the wine store close to our home is also being renovated and the dust was considerable enough to send us (and our newly purchased wine) packing. Now this alternate store is also dusty and poorly stocked. I suppose it just goes to show that people are eagerly purchasing alcohol. No surprise there.
Finally we went for a browse at Anthropologie. I was hoping to see some of their lighting fixtures as I have a bee in my bonnet to replace the "glowing breast" above our dining room table. K is not keen.
I wanted to see these:

which were not there and which K vetoed in the photo anyway.
Or these:

which I have loved from the beginning of time and which would be nice on either side of the big board. (Perhaps sconces are the way to go? We could keep the breast!)
I am also fond of this:

which is none of the above. And, as my father would say: but where would you keep it?!
I've gone all black and industrial in my decor mood, I'll tell you. And I am wearing one of my very favorite made-from-crappe outfits: black leggings, black flats, a black sheer sarong-thing from JCrew from 10 years ago, a black turtle-neck, a long black cardi and a gray scarf. It feels like nothing else, and my husband is over there with his long wavy hair and a set of tongs in his hand making me Boeuf Bourguignon.
What could be better?

behind me/ahead of me

A quiet week at my office. We are moving toward a couple of big days. One of those days is my Exciting Fall Event for which I will attend a practice session on 11/6. Looking forward.
I worked on a mailing and made a card with the help of my favorite Art Director. Once the rest of the team saw it they wanted it too and now parts of the the company mailing will include this card.
(No, you can't see any of it, for various reasons.)
For various other reasons, I have been forced to purchase a purple top as we all must wear purple one day soon for a photo op. Can you imagine me in something purple? ($12.95 H&M, thankfully.)
I had a lovely lunch with my boss yesterday (two lovely lunches in one week). I'm very lucky and grateful for where I am and what I do. I got misty on the way home.
After a warm week I think fall is finally here. The radiators are clanking and the leaves are turning. Just the way I like it.
I discovered that two skirts I wore every week last year don't fit. I don't think they fit last year either but I tucked big sweaters into them. That won't do this time around so I must make myself figure out some outfits and arrange my closet.
And we must put up The Dead Guy who is our Halloween decoration.
Beyond that, I'm not sure the weekend is going to be especially interesting.
Next week, however, could be very interesting.

new favorite

via Eurolush.

blackbird's two minute movie reviews, for television

Against my better judgement I watched $...! My Dad Says.
I'll admit, I was pretty sure it could never be as funny as the twitter feed it was built on.
How could it be?
140 spontaneous characters. ("Alright, settle down, you didn't cure polio.")
Hard to believe it could translate to funny on television.
But they actually built characters around 140 characters on twitter.
Murder was condoned!
The whole Anniston vs. Jolie thing? Pretty good.
The running hot dog joke? Not bad.
"Dad, it was one article. It's not like I'm going to make a whole career out of things you say."
Great closing line.

Survivor

I've had some Korean chicken and some candy corn (read: a vegetable) and sat myself down.
Espada's got Holly.
La Flor has Jane.
Both tribes went to Tribal Council.
Kelly B. (and her prosthetic leg) went home (am I terrible?).
Yve and her disarmingly young looks went home.

On night 15 there are 13 left on the Espada tribe. Should Dan have gone home? Should Alina go next? Who the hell IS Alina? And why not Kayonka?

At La Flor there is some misunderstanding regarding the vote. They tell Marty they know he has the idol and he says he knew he shouldn't play it.

There's a lot of discussion about Jane's vote. Who did she vote for. Who will she vote for next?
Doesn't matter - it's time for a challenge.
I can't describe it. One person stands on a tiny platform in the middle of a pool while an opposing team member attempts to throw a ball into a net behind them.
The reward is a farm breakfast, offsite.
Fabio and Chase are the first defenders.
Naonka scores easily.
Jill scores against Chase.
Benri scores.
They are playing to 5.
Chase blocks a shot.
Fabio saves a shot too.
Kelly scores. The score is tied.
Dan makes a measly effort and doesn't score.
Zack misses.
Alina scores! Espada leads.
Brenda misses.
Fabio takes a break to pee in the pool and Naonka scores.
Jill scores as well.
Benri scores for Espada and wins for the team.

At Espada, Sash tell us how he loves that the old people on his team feed him and work for him. But he only cares about loyalty. He says.
The La Flors are riding horses to their breakfast. That guy in the baseball cap has an emotional time remembering his dad. They are taught how to milk a cow.
Jane catches a fish! Monkeys howl in trees.
She cooks the fish for herself and doesn't take it back to camp.

At the reward breakfast there's cheese and rice and beans. Holly is shaking with delight. It became "very emotional" for the team. Being emotional is all part of Naonka's plan...she's "playing a role."

I see mom out, lug my crappe upstairs and there's a challenge.
It's a marble-rolling-maze-trap-break-a-board challenge and Espada is leading.
They win. Back-to-back wins.

Brenda and Holly look dejected. La Flor has the afternoon to figure out who is going home.
Marty and Sash have a heartfelt chat on the beach about how the vote will go. Marty must, he says, give the idol to someone. He gives it to Sash. Perhaps it will buy him one more cycle and he will survive until the merge. Sash is somewhat smug regarding this small victory and the team head off to Tribal Council.
(Jeff is wearing a special-looking necklace!)

You know, I never have much patience for pre-vote small talk. Jeff provokes certain answers and the teams squirm in their seats. Jill explains how it still seems like young vs. old.
Marty and his idol are discussed and he explains his position and says that he gave the idol to Sash.
Brendan feels this is fine - that *they* all have the idol.
Sash doesn't feel as generous with the idol.
Time to vote.
Jane gets some votes.
Jill gets some votes.
Marty gets some votes.
Jill goes.
Which only shows that the team is pretty split regarding votes. Jeff feels the votes are based on loyalty. We both wonder how long loyalty lasts.

notes from the commute

My commute is never dull.
This week there has already been a derailment! The evening rush was all kinds of disrupted.
I don't think there have been any Riders Of Shame to report of late...tonight, the woman sitting next to me made an especially loud call to arrange a ride home and then read, aloud, to herself from a Danielle Steele novel, but I'm not sure that's worth mentioning. The behavior of my fellow commuters never ceases to amaze me.
This morning's trip to work was slightly anxiety provoking.
Each day we determine who needs to be where when. Three mornings a week Middle rides with me and we drive Youngest near to his school. Middle and I walk from an outlying parking lot to the train and K takes the scooter, gets a cup of coffee, and parks at the station.
Many mornings he texts me if there are parking spots at the station. Most mornings there are no spots available and Middle and I park where we leave Youngest (across from the school).
ARE YOU GETTING ALL THIS?
Today, Middle and I dropped Youngest off and dashed to the station thinking there might be spots. NONE!
We made our way to the outlying lot but there was a detour that took some extra time. When we finally parked we had to make a mad dash to catch our train!
Finefinefine. We tucked into our newspapers and clipped on our iPods and rode to work.
We parted at the station, K headed to the downtown subway, Middle walking uptown and me walking down to my office.
I walked through the station and went up to the street...


I was walking along, not very far, when I saw a woman bleeding.



But, before I could become alarmed (one can see ANYTHING in my city), I saw a woman looking sort of dazed...



and that's when I realized that the neighborhood had been overrun by zombies.



I phoned Middle and K as fast as I could but K was already on the train.
Middle ran back a block and met up with me and the undead (is that right? are they undead?).



There was a visible police presence, so we weren't concerned for our safety.



Though SOME of the undead were a little pushy!



And SOME of the undead were a little gruesome at 8:15am.



And, a couple of times, we were all Eff off, zombies!






I left Middle alone with them.
Though I did make a mental note that THIS GUY looked like he could handle himself pretty well...



...or at least take good photos.

I hurried off to a busy day at work.
I read later that the zombies had moved downtown to a bridge.

big huge random Monday

Here we go:

Our weekend dinner guests are shopping for a new boat. We very much enjoyed our time on their previous boat and look forward to evening sailing with them in the future. And we think they should get this one.

I don't know. These? I need a pair of platforms for the fall/winter.

While most of the accessories are of ridiculous scale, this sofa is delicious. K mused that Resto seems to only have three fabrics just now: cashmere, linen and leather. What's wrong with that, say I?

Middle and I had a rollicking good time watching this, he in his bed, me in mine, commenting on IM for the last action-packed hour. I'd heartily reccomend it.

Take note. I'd like a pair of these. (Her blog is lovely too.)

We love wooden clothes pins.

I know this may sound silly but, it's almost time for oatmeal for breakfast. Oatmeal with Golden Syrup.

I am working to convince K that he can make us something like this.

Invictus the poem. Invictus the film!

I think dressing as Margot Tenenbaum for Halloween is a brilliant idea. I'm not the first person to think of this.

This wonderfully random piece of trivia from The Royal Tenenbaums from IMDB: The original hawk used to play Mordecai was kidnapped during shooting and held for ransom - production could not wait for him to be returned which is the reason that the bird that appears later in the movie has "more white feathers" - it's a different bird.


Today, my friends, is my dear K's birthday. And I love him one million.

a beautiful week-end

I realize beautiful is a strong word but the temperature is perfect (I wouldn't mind it a little colder though) and the trees are beginning to turn and the clouds are very nice.
Anyway, yesterday I went out to K's mom's house and worked as hard as I could work, on baskets for the auction. I wanted to put in as much time as I could as I will not be available on the day of the auction as I must attend a rehearsal for The Very Impressive Fall Event. (I haven't figured out exactly how to post regarding The Very Impressive Fall Event with which I am involved, but post I shall!)
Last night, after I got home, we had cheese-steak sandwiches with neighbor-friends and had a lovely time catching up with them.
Today, K and I took the train into town. He had an errand to run at work and we met, afterwards, at the Apple store where we got him a new iPhone for his birthday. That was kind of fun - I played with an iPod, he learned about all the new things his phone can do and then we set off across town.
We window shopped and went in a shoe store to see those boots (which I have now ruled out) and I wore my platform sandals so I could be taller and hang around with him better.
We walked through a couple of my favorite stores and talked about where we buy our lunches (when we buy our lunches) and then went to a wonderful restaurant for lunch. I had a rectangle of brioche french toast with warm apples and brown sugar ice cream for dessert.
Beautiful!
Lovely to be alone together.
A mini vacation.
After lunch we did some more browsing and I took a pile of pictures with his new phone which, sadly, got wiped when he hooked the phone up to his computer to sync all the info he had to put on it.
I will tell you that we looked divine.
I was wearing a short black skirt and he was wearing a jacket!
I fell in love with some sofas at Restoration Hardware and we had a great time sitting on them.
We ambled home on the train and he let me play solitaire on the phone.

A beautiful weekend, I'm telling you.

weddings make me smile

Friday

It's been a busy week!
Right now, of course, I'm watching the last ten minutes of All My Children. It's pretty much the same as the last time I saw it. I love how, in soap opera world, a woman with 25 year-old children can be having a new baby. 
Here in the real world I've:
- ordered/purchased/found all the components for Youngest's Halloween costume.*
- taken Youngest/had Youngest taken to three doctors appointments.
- gotten my hair cut.**
- had a flu shot.
On the horizon? Basket making for the annual raffle that K's sister runs, dinner with friends and a lovely lunch/afternoon with K to celebrate his birthday.


For now? I've got to throw some laundry in, pick up our room and make an apple pie.






*He's being Icarus!




** My hair stylist's opinion on letting my hair go gray: Do you want to look older? No.  You do NOT. This hair color is perfect for you, you do a fabulous job coloring it and it doesn't cost you a fortune. Not that I don't think you could rock the gray - I just don't see any reason to do it. Sorry if it's a pain the ass, you are gorgeous.

Survivor

There are two new teams and it's all mixed up.
I still don't know people's names but I know there's an Espada tribe and a La Fleur tribe. Spelling? We don't care about spelling!
Tyrone went home and 15 are left.

Is Danny done? He's telling people he's done.
Oh, it's La Flor! La Flor where the young ones sleep and the older people work. The older people are wary. Brenda tells us that Jane blends right in but everyone else is young vs. old.

For the first challenge is for individual immunity and both tribes will go to tribal council. One person from each tribe will be sent home. Players must find rope rings with paddles, save them and then do a ring toss.
Holly wins the first round.
Jill wins the second round.
(Note to me: Jill is the lady with the red hair. Jill is the lady with the blond curly hair.)
In the showdown Jill and Holly do a ring toss against each other.
Jill takes it for La Flor!
La Flor will go to Tribal Council first.

I don't know what happens for a full seven minutes as I am embroiled in a cable television discussion with my mother. She has no choice! We've lost several channels. I don't know what the answer is, so don't email me - I do know that I'm not watching television on my laptop.

Marty is trying to bullshit Fabio and sway the vote. Fabio is pretty stupid but he may not be as stupid as Marty thinks he is.

At Espada, Holly has immunity but realizes that her younger teammates have all the influence on the vote. Will they vote for Dan or Yve? Dan tells us he's got a Range Rover and a Ferrari and can quit. This doesn't make Holly happy. Benry (don't even get me started on that name) thinks Yve should go.

The I get a phone call from our friends The Belgians! (Actually, we have two sets of Belgian friends. I'm not sure how to identify these particular Belgians.) It's set! Dinner on Saturday!

Where are we? Why isn't anyone talking about voting that Kaonka woman out?
Mom likes Jane. She's "crinkly and a cool lady."
Three votes for Marty and three votes for Kelly B.?
Will that "flush the idol" from Marty?
We decide that we cannot tolerate Fabio's voice. (I cannot tolerate that they have named him Fabio as I ADORE the Real Fabio, in Positano.)
Marty thinks they should vote for Jane.
Brenda tells us that Marty is the number one threat, but she doesn't want Kelly B. to stay either.
Are you confused yet?
(It does seem simpler once I type it out.)
I think Marty is in trouble and, the way I see it, he has to play the idol no matter what.

I certainly hope you weren't looking forward to my transcribing the conversation at Tribal Council.
Distracted!
(It's nearly time to fire up the furnace at my house!)
(Monday is K's birthday. We are going out to lunch on Sunday and then taking a walk in town. Very excited.)
Marty says he never offered up Jane. He's uncomfortable. He mouths to Jane to VOTE BRENDA.
They vote.
Jane votes for Marty. (Smug.)
Marty votes Brenda. (Stupid.)
Brenda votes Kelly B. (You just can't hope to win with one leg, I guess.)
Marty doesn't play the idol.
It's a tie: Marty vs. Kelly B..
Re-vote.
Kelly B. goes.

La Flor gets chicken and beef kabobs while they listen to the Espada Tribal Council.
We aren't sure why this is significant.
K argues that it is psychological - La Flor will eat while Espada is hungry, and because La Flor will hear about the other tribe's problems.
Dan says that nothing bothers him but Yve confesses that Dan is bothered all the time and may even want to leave. She feels he's not committed.
Dan thinks Yve is arrogant. But does Yve talk about her three houses and six cars?
La Flor burp and leave and it's time for Espada to vote.
Holly keeps her immunity and they vote.
Yve goes.
Through the cemetery no less.

old favorite

10 fabulous finds...

...at the Japanese grocery store.

1. Worried about your child's grades at school? Try KEEPAN A.

KEEPAN A promises to hold your child's spelling and math scores at 90% or better!

2.Step Up.


3. We all could use a little Tact sometime, don't you think? Use Tact cream and never put your foot in your mouth again.


4. Access? Ace-es? Aces? It's toothpaste.


5. Sometimes I NEED lacey, cotton, white armwarmers. Really. Like, uh, when I'm driving my convertible and it's not really warm enough but it's not cold enough for a coat. So, like, 63 degrees.


6. They were with the scrubbers and sponges. I don't know. For scrubbing really hot pans?


7. I really wanted this little bin. It's for keeping all those tiny things in your fridge.

I don't have any tiny things in my fridge.

8. Why are Japanese containers so much nicer than OUR containers?


9. The sweetest miniature laundry basket.


10. I could use this Rub Wash.


We bought rice crackers!

found on flickr

Here are some photos from helping Middle with his shoot. I just realized I had uploaded them but never
posted about them.



Youngest and I mixed the snow in the lobster pot.



It wasn't as cold as real snow but it was pretty clammy.



They aren't kidding about the whole lasts-for-months thing. This stuff is like the spot from The Cat In The Hat in that it's impossible to really CLEAN up. It's biodegrable, though.



We needed a lot of snow...we made about ten feet of three inch deep snow.







Middle got the shot he needed. The snow? It's in bins in our yard if you need any.

why we need/don't need a hippo

We are wealthy in apples.

It's a little embarrassing.

Youngest proposed procuring a hippo. 

Youngest explained that hippos love fruit.

But, where would we keep a hippo? And could a hippo fit in our living room?

Hilarity ensued.

How big is a hippo? Between 11 and 17 feet long.

We compared it to having a dog.

But hippos commonly spend 16 hours in water. This may prove problematic.

We don't need to determine their sex. Thankfully.



Nor are we interested in their social lives.



This is nervous-making.



Sometimes I feel like megafauna.



And I may well be graviportal.



I have always admired Pliny.



The deal-breaker? The secretion of red sweat.
Good luck getting that off the walls, says Middle. And, so, it is decided.

I meant the template

My hair is L'Oreal #6.

there

Now I've "gone grey."

Oldest weighs in

The scene: the kitchen. Oldest returns from, I don't know, being out.

Oldest: When's dinner?


K: Another 15 minutes. 


Oldest: And what's that cake-y looking thing on the stove?


K: That would be an apple coffee cake I made. 


Oldest: !


K: AND I made peanut brittle ice cream.


Oldest: (opening the refrigerator) AND YOU BOUGHT A HAM!

I'm not sure what's going on

I'm sitting admiring Eileen Fisher clothing and considering stripping my hair color and being grey.
Someone talk me down.

in which I successfully made caramel apples

Fine.
You don't have to act surprised, though I was.



What's that red line down the side of my photo? No idea!

Anyway, I boiled up some corn syrup (food of Satan!) and some sugar and some cream and found some sticks and dunked the apples.



Watch that temperature. Don't use THIS thermometer -



use THIS thermometer! And look up the temperatures for "firm ball" or whateverthehell it is.



Do not assume that you need a double boiler. You do not. YOU. DO. NOT.
I've fallen for this line of thought before.



If you don't think too much it all works out well in the end.

Hey, it's 8:1l on Friday night and I've arrived at a metaphor.

I really am going to post

Give me a minute.

Survivor

Reality television.



I had a screen open at work today, watching the rescue.



So much to comprehend.



So many touching moments.





I watched Mario emerge late last night. His joy was contagious.



I got misty so many times today...the president of Chile saying: Welcome back to life, your wife is waiting. 


Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!


That, my friends, is my Survivor report for tonight.
Anything else would seem disingenuous.