Alien Spouse

Doc's Rules.

Oh I almost forgot!

On the way home this evening I mentioned to Doc C that I'd seen some really cool wooden blocks with the periodic table on, and that was exactly the kind of subtle indoctrination into geekdom that any potential child of ours should come to expect.

Doc then asked how to actually play with blocks, and I explained that you built towers, then knocked them down again. The Doc was bemused, but then explained that as a child he mostly felt comfortable with toys and games that came with very clear rules and instructions. He had a Lights Alive and would only do the pictures that came with a template, the blank pages never got used. He also would meticulously build the exact model on the Lego box, with no deviation from the plan or improvising.

This has continued, to a certain degree, into adulthood so that I am now married to the only person I know who enjoys filling out forms and following recipes precisely.  This explains why every time I cook Doc C wants to know why it's different to the last time I cooked what ever it is. Probably because I rarely follow a recipe or a pattern exactly as it's written, so I tend to go off the page a bit and add stuff if I think it will work and/or it needs using up.

Poor Doc, between me and the cats he must be constantly trying to keep us on track and we just keep skittering off to play with shiny stuff.

The Cure for Mondays.

There was a palpable Monday-ish to today, not to be totally unexpected on a Monday I suppose. It comes to something though when you are told that the lift you thought was broken is actually working and you think to yourself "Well that's just bloody brilliant isn't? Ugh!"

So I came home and played "Little Big Planet", then I got changed and did a Zumba routine. There is nothing quite like video games followed by crazy dancing around the living room to cheer a girl up.

Game Day.

Today we had arranged to go over to Laura and Randy's house to play "Arkham Asylum".  This time we were very focussed and actually remembered to play the game instead of just chatting which is what happened last time.  It's a really fun board game, and I very much liked that it was a collaborative effort on the part of every one playing to battle the ancient horror and it's minions.  True I did get eaten, or rather my character did, but my companions bravely battled on and were ultimately victorious.

After that, we went for burritos and frozen custard! Yay! It's great being a grown up and having exactly what you want to eat!

It was still fairly early in the evening, so I suggested that we all go back to our house and play video games.  Which was what we did, and Laura now understands my deep love of "Little Big Planet". 

It has been a very fun Saturday.

A Box Full of Murder

Today was the leaving do for Kay, the office manager of Doc C's department. I worked part-time in that office when we first got here, so I went to say goodbye as well.  Whilst we were chatting she mentioned that there was a box of books under her desk that I was welcome to take.  Not just books though, murder mysteries! Kay loves a good thriller even more than I do, which is saying something, so there are bound to be some absolute corkers in here.

I must admit to leaving a few behind though, and that was mainly based on cover design or a really off-putting plot synopsis. I did keep the one that promised me a hijacked airplane (and I quote "...complete with a beautiful English hijackeress." Hijackeress?!?!?), and then a murder with the only witness being a chimp that can communicate with plastic symbols (please, please let these be fridge magnets). Oh yeah, I can already tell that one is going to be amazing.

All That's Missing is the Sea.

This morning I was getting dressed and hadn't yet put on my jeans, so, when Doc C walked into the room, I was wearing white socks; hot-pink, white and black argyle boy shorts; a hot-pink camisole and a turquoise t-shirt. He looked at me for a moment, nodded and said "Nice! You look like you're on the set of a Wham video."

The very fact that my Fugazi loving husband could make that reference was hilarious in itself, and it was a point well made so I changed the turquoise t-shirt for a black one. The colour scheme for this morning wasn't an entirely random desire for over saturated colours, it was in fact because I finished my argyle scarf yesterday and I wanted to wear it today. It's hot-pink and turquoise, which probably looks better against the black t-shirt anyway.

However, this does mean that I've had "Club Tropicana" stuck in my head all day, because what other Wham video has Pepsi and Shirley wandering around the place in their bikini bottoms and cropped t-shirts?

Nyquil Stole My Thursday.

I had a headache and a sore throat yesterday, so at bedtime I took two Nyquil. You know, so I'd be fighting fit for work in the morning! Good plan, wasn't it? On paper perhaps, but in real life I wish I hadn't done that.  I woke up at two, and my whole body felt like it was made out of heavy rubber whilst my mind was just racing through fog. You know that feeling you have after the dentist when part of your face is numb? Well, my entire face felt like that. It was horrible!

I tried to just sleep it off, but when my alarm went off I simply could not wake up, and Doc C had to call the office for me because I'm pretty sure I would have drooled down the phone. I slept until lunchtime, and then I felt much less sedated.

Next time I have a sore throat I am sticking to hot lemon and honey, with a healthy dollop of whisky.

Do Not Taunt the Weather Gods (even if you are an atheist).

Naturally the weather read my post yesterday, cackled to itself and decided to show me who exactly is boss around here.

It actually did cackle, which was that single roll of thunder that very dramatically rumbled as I was getting ready for work.  It was raining then, but by the time we left the house it was heavy sleet.  Over the morning it felt like every time I turned to look out of the window behind me the weather had changed again, and the huge snowflakes that turned up mid-morning built up impressively quickly. So first my doctor's appointment was postponed by the surgery until next week and then afternoon classes were cancelled; so we left early, got some lunch and came home.  Where Doc C and I curled up in our comfy cave and slept for the rest of the working day, we literally woke up at the time we usually get back from work.

It's been a very odd day.

Weather Augers.

This week we are getting very mixed signals from the weather prognosticators, who all say different things from one day to the next and seem to be trying to contradict each other as much as possible.  A comparison reading of leads a girl to wonder: Will it snow? Will it be the worst snow storm this winter? Will it rain? Will it rain and snow? Will it be an ice storm? Will it (and I really hate this portmanteau word) snizzle? Will it just be normal for January? What the hell is normal for January anyway?

I am exhausted just reading about it.

Of course there are two main difficulties, first, one's wardrobe must be considered for all of the possible weather permutations and, second, it's just such a palaver if it snows a fair amount, but not enough for a snow day to be declared.  Stupid weather.  Pick one type of precipitation then stick to it, and do so at a sensible time, so that we all know what we are supposed to be doing of a morning.

grumble... grumble... grumble My feet are cold! grumble... grumble... grumble...

Fourth.

Just for fun I wore my big-fake-cocktail-ring-that-cost-me-a-dollar to work because today is mine and Doc C's fourth wedding anniversary! Give that man a medal, he is such a trooper isn't he?  I have no idea how he puts up with me, but he claims to quite like being married to me.  

With pay day a week away we have about a dollar fifty to our name right now (getting married a month after Christmas generally means that your anniversary comes at a financially awkward moment each year), so we are celebrating with the soon-to-be traditional celebratory evening at home playing video games together and eating pasta. Yay!

9:30 Sunday Evening

I'm in bed already. Nancy is very pleased, she would very much like if I stayed in bed all day ( apart from when I'm feeding her obviously)

Tree Buds and Video Games.

We went out for brunch this morning, and then went for a walk to work it off again.

I noticed there were several trees in bud, which is really shortsighted on the part of the trees because we are expecting another bad cold snap next week. I was taking photos of the buds when Doc C pointed out a really tiny nest. We couldn't work out if it was a bird nest or an insect nest, but it's pretty impressive that it's so well built that it has survived the whole winter so far.

Then we came home and I had a lovely nap with Edith in the loft.  Then Doc C napped with both cats whilst I played "Little Big Planet 2", and it is SO cool. There is an whole level made of cake, Batternburg Cake, where you can grab and throw blobs of jam. Plus there is another great soundtrack, which includes the disco classic "A Fifth of Beethoven" which is so damn funky.

It has been a fun Saturday.

Green for Danger (1946)

How great is the cover art for the Criterion Collection's DVD of "Green for Danger" (1946)?  The reason I mention it is that Netflix has just suggested I might like to watch it.I have to say Netflix is completely correct in that speculation, because I happen to be very fond of that film!  

If you've never seen the film it's not life changing, but it's certainly well worth 91 minutes of your time.  It's a hospital soap opera, crossed with quirky detective drama, and a WWII spy thriller.  What is not to like?  AND it stars Alasair Sims, Trevor Howard and the fabulous Megs Jenkins.

Even better Netflix has it available to watch instantly on-line, that is absolutely perfect viewing on a wintery Saturday afternoon with a fire, a cup of tea and some knitting on the go.  Ooh, lovely!  (Yes, I'm an 75 year old woman trapped in a 35 year old body.  What of it?)

The Chief Suspects are Shawn and Gus.

There are several sculptures on campus, and some of them are just begging to be messed with. 

This group of statues is representative of the university's roots as a teacher training college.  Apparently there used to be a fountain in the center, but that proved to be far too tempting for the students so it was removed.  However the teacher still has an open outstretched hand that is just begging for things to be put in it, especially as the students are staring at that hand so very intently. Today was a fairly tame, just a pineapple carved with a happy face.  I rather liked that.

Stick It.

I forgot to show you our new fridge magnets, which are unusually trenchant.

Aren't they great?  I snapped up these Subversive Cross Stitch fridge magnets the moment I saw them in Boston, how could I not?  A fridge magnet that says "Irony is Not Dead" with pink bunnies and yellow duckies?  In framed cross stitch?  Please!

Four of them our on our fridge right now, but I gave the "Kiss My Grits" magnet on the left to my friend Amy at work, because I knew it would make her laugh.  It's on the filing cabinet in her office now.

A Practical Fashion Notion.

Given the option I would rather be too cold than too hot, but I am getting a bit tired of feeling like there is a constant chilly draft down my neck.  My shoulders just feel uncomfortably clammy, like I'm wearing a t-shirt that isn't quite dry on the back.  Ugh.

What do you think my chances are of training on of the cats to let me wear them like a stole?  My cat Morag used to happily be carried around like that and it was very cosy, but I suspect Edith would find it undignified and Nancy will be convinced it's a plot to kill her (Nancy thinks taking out the recycling is a plot to kill her, she's what you might call jumpy).

Maybe I need to knit myself a cape with an interior pocket to put a hot water bottle in.  That would probably give me an oddly shaped hunch, but that's a small price to pay for finally thawing out my scapula.

The Reality of Cats.

I haven't been able to find my phone all weekend, but it turned up today.  No word of a lie, Edith was sitting on it.  Clearly I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on Miss Floofy-Knickers around my shinier belongings in the future, but on the other hand there may be some money to be made here.  I can just see this as the surprise reality TV hit of 2011.

Do you think I should pitch the show to A&E or Oxygen?  I'm thinking that "My Cat is a Klepto" would slot in nicely on either, but would probably do better on A&E between "Hoarders" and "Intervention".

Cat Burglar.

I came home on Friday and found evidence that one of our cats is a jewel thief.  Fortunately she's also not very good at fencing her haul, or even just hiding it.  Under the biscuits might have worked, but just in the egg carton on top of them?  That's just so amateur.

This is a brooch that is one of a pair, I'd taken them off a jacket and left them on the bookshelf in the living room before going to work.  So someone had jumped up there to get it, and Nancy can't jump that high which leaves...

Oh Edith!

Neck Ache and New Games.

My neck is cricked, so I woke up feeling achey and horrible today.  Fortunately I'd already put together breakfast before I want to bed last night, so it just needed to go in the oven for half an hour before Doc and I could enjoy baked french toast.  It was delicious, even though we didn't have any pecans, and I will definitely be making that again.

After that I took some pain killers and went to have a long nap in the loft, which Edith joined me for.  That definitely helped but meant that Doc was super bored by the time I woke up.  I'd suggested a while ago that we take our large stack of PS2 games to Gamestop to trade in and exchange for some PS3 games, so that's what we did.  Different games are worth different amounts when you trade them in, based on how likely they are to be re-sold; this meant we got just over a dollar for the PS2 EyeToy and the four games that went with it, whilst Doc's copy of Dark Alliance fetched $19.  We exchanged them for Zumba and Red Dead Redemption (which Doc C is playing right now!), as well as a second Move Controller.  Having two controllers means we'll be able to play table tennis against each other, or I'll be able to have a shield in one hand and a sword in the other when I'm in the gladiator arena.  Hurrah!

The Reading Room.

There aren't quite enough books on those shelves, the walls should be white with an accent wall in whatever colour I fancy that day, the rug should be a nice fluffy sheepskin and I'd really prefer the hanging chair to be an oversized Eero Aarnio bubble chair; but otherwise this is an uncannily accurate representation of the room I daydream about.

Image via bookshelfporn.com

Winter Sunset.

On the way home some enormous fluffy snowflakes landed on the windscreen and you could see the pattern of the ice crystals really clearly.  I tried to take a photo, but it was really difficult to focus on it so the white spec that I actually captured in the shot turned out to be the moon.

I still had my camera out when we hit the stretch of road that faces the sunset in the evening.  So I snapped some pictures of the gorgeous orangey pink horizon instead.  It's definitely one thing that North Carolina does really very well, and I particularly like the colours against the monotones of the telegraph wires, the mountains and the snow.

Yes, if it wasn't for that bloody Hot Tub sign on the right I'd be really quite chuffed with this photo.

Snow Wednesday.

The University was closed today because of the snow, so I read a lot and Doc did a lot of work; whilst the cats mainly found new and exciting ways to sit on me and sleep.  This morning I woke up with both felines snuggled up to me, and whilst Edith has been following me around all day, Nancy was quite content to make herself a nest out of my pajamas and just stay there for the past 9 hours.

After lunch Doc remembered he had an appointment for a check-up, so we did venture in to town and made a run to the supermarket to buy more staple foods for the larder.  I never want to be in the position where we are even close to being stranded with no tea in the house.

I also took this opportunity to post my Mum's birthday present!  Which means it's only going to be a month or so late!  I am TERRIBLE at getting to the post office when I have a parcel to be sent out.  This one came to Boston with us, had one or two things added to it, and then came all the way back home to sit on our coffee table.  It is a well traveled gift already, and it's still got an ocean to cross.

Stack of Books from Boston.

These are the books I bought in Boston.  All of them came from the Harvard Bookstore, all of them were either second hand or remainders AND Doc C happened to have earned a 20% discount.

Bliss!

They are, from the top:

Detection by Gaslight - A collection of Victorian detective short stories.

The Oxford Book of Victorian Detective Stories - A, um, collection of Victorian detective short stories.

The Haunted Looking Glass - A collection of ghost stories selected and illustrated by Edward Gorey.

The Enchanted April - Because my copy is in England right now.

Young Man in Spats - P.G. Wodehouse short stories.

Hons and Rebels - An biography of the Mitfords, by one of the Mitfords herself.

Balsamic Dreams - A satirical essay about the Baby Boomer generation.

Domiknitrix - A knitting book with some bite to it.

Too Exhausted to Post Properly.

So... Tired... Oh first day of classes, you were quite the challenge. Not to mention the non-stop snow AND the Mondayness of the whole thing. It really takes it out of a girl.

Glazed Lemon Bundt Skull Cakes.

Oh poor skull-shaped baking tray!  Don't cry! We have eggs now, so I can bake something with you!

Instead of cupcakes, which I thought might be a bit too delicate, I whipped up some lemon bundt cakes based on Nigella Lawson's recipe.  They held the shape of the tin really well, and I drizelled them with a lemon syrup glaze rather than smother them in icing.  These would need to be very carefully decorated to really emphasize the skull's features, but with just a glaze it's actually quite subtle.  You know, for a skull.

Skull Cupcake Tray.

After breakfast this morning I washed up the skull-shaped cupcake baking sheet that I bought in Boston, so I could try it out.  I was hoping they would work out well enough to take to Randy and Laura's when we went over to play "Arkham Asylum".

The snow got worse and worse, so first of all our game day had to be postponed until next weekend, and then we started to think we were going to be snowed in for a while.  I thought I'd make the cupcakes anyway, but then Doc C told me we didn't have any eggs, so I couldn't.

Now this was a worry, because we then realised we didn't have a whole bunch of other stuff we might need if we did get stuck in the house; like toothpaste and cat litter.  Yikes.  Fortunately there was a break in the blizzard for about a couple of hours, and we were able to go shopping.  

Tomorrow there will be skull shaped cakes.

Three Faces of Edith.

Snow Bird.

Our house' mascot, the Stick Cockerel, is still outside on the porch and playing in the snow quite happily.  Here we see him making a Snow Angel, or perhaps having a little nap after a busy afternoon of sledging.

It has snowed all day, and started getting heavier at about 3 so we came home early and immediately had a nap ourselves.  The first week back at work after a holiday is just exhausting, isn't it?

Fire and Snow.

It's supposed to start snowing this evening and keep snowing until Saturday; in other words, it will snow all day Friday.

Hello there gas fireplace!

I suspect you will be spending an awful lot of time with me and the cats this weekend.

World History and It's Effects On Knitting.

As you may have gathered from the photo illustration for today, I've been doing some knitting over the holidays.  To be precise, I think I've added 4 diamonds in length to the scarf which I've been working on for... Oh... Three months now... To be fair to both the scarf itself and my own knitting ability, this hasn't been my primary project at any point over those months and it is the first intarsia pattern I've tried and, let's not forget it's double-sided, so really it's twice as long.  Sort of.

Anyway, the most exciting knitting development whilst in Boston was that I bought another knitting book, and was persuaded by it's glowing accounts of the high speeds that were achievable by knitting according to the Continental method. The main difference is you hold the yarn in your left hand instead of your right, so both hands do an equal amount of work and there are fewer steps involved in each stitch.

According to this entry on Wikipedia the Continental style fell out of popularity in the UK and America around World War II because of it's associations with Germany, which I find very odd.  I understand not wanting to look unpatriotic during a war, but why switch to a less efficient method of knitting just when it seems likely you'll have less time to waste when producing very necessary items of warm clothing?  It's most peculiar to think that a change in the way people knit was a lasting effect of the Second World War, but then this could easily be an urban knitting legend don't you think?  How on earth would one go about researching such a thing anyway?  Fascinating!

New Year's Eve 2011 - In Brief.

We started the day with a plan, which was to go to the Science because I have intended to visit it on every trip to Boston and we've just never been able to fit it in.  

This time we went!  And we got all the way into the foyer! Before we saw the giant queue of people who'd had the same idea as us, and so we turned round and left again!  What we hadn't anticipated was that the Science Museum would be linked to Boston's First Night festivities, so that the first 500 people with a First Night badge got in for free!  Damn it!

So then what should we do instead?  Hmmm... We walked through the park to a cinema complex, and watched "Black Swan" because it looked like it would appeal to our taste for both depressing dramas and spectacular costuming.  It was very good, I described it as "The Red Shoes" (1948) for a new generation of girls yearning to be tortured dancers and Doc C agreed but preferred "Black Swan" for it's more visceral approach.  I suppose that is the difference between Aronofsky and Powell/Pressburger, not to mention 62 years of changes to cinematic conventions.  I do hope that Natalie Portman gets the Oscar nomination that the internet has been mumbling about for her performance as Nina Sayers.

After that beautiful downer we walked down Newberry Avenue and browsed the shops on our way to having cocktails and curry for dinner.  Clearly the curry houses of Boston are where all the best people watching and listening can be done, because on this occaision a woman announced in ringing tones to the waiter that "Well, you see, I am European...", which, according to her at any rate, meant that Americans wouldn't know spicy food if it slapped them, so how hot should she request her curry be prepared?  The waiter was understandably flummoxed by this line of questioning, and I have become very fond of saying in a suitably dramatic manner "Well, you see, I am Euro-Pee-Aaaan..." before asking Doc C a question about anything at all.

As has become quite the tradtion in recent years we visited Bob's flat for the midnight celebration of gourmet snacks and television coverage of the fireworks displays.  Being old and sensible we were back at the B&B by 1 at the latest, because we started the long drive back home the next day and 8 hours in a Mini would have been no fun if either of us were hungover and/or sleep-deprived.

A Halloween Tree and A Gladiator Tournament.

We moved the furniture around in the living room, so that we would have more room to move when playing with the PS3 Move.  When we did that it meant the vases of Christmas decorations were in odd places, so I decided just to put them away a bit early.

Before I did though, I decided that I can't wait 9 months to see what my new Halloween decorations looked like on the black vinyl mini-tree.  And they look fabulous.  I cannot wait!

Whilst I was doing that Doc C was playing Bocce on the PS3, and then we swapped over.  I played the gladiator game, for about 45 minutes.  That doesn't sound like much, but I was competing for the bronze trophy and at the end of it I was an exhausted sweaty mess.  It was worth it though, I fought 12 duels and I won ten of them.  Raaaah!  So much fun!

Christmas Day 2011 - In Brief.

I just realised I wrote nothing at all about how we spent Christmas Day itself, which seems odd and shall be corrected immediately.  We had a very relaxed day, we mainly needed to source meals so, after breakfast at the B&B (fresh popovers, porridge, yogurt, juice, fruit and tea - I can highly recommend the Irving House breakfast buffet), we wandered into Harvard Square.  We found lunch at a Japanese cafe where I had a banana, apple and peanut-butter wrap with a tall Bubble Tea and some Pocky.  Bubble Tea is something I've been meaning to try for a while, and it really is most peculiar; essentially it's a flavoured iced tea with milk and then the bubbles are actually small chewy spheres that get sucked up the straw with your tea.  I think I liked it, but it was disconcerting to not be sure exactly what it is at the bottom of your drink until you can look it up on wikipedia and be reassured that it's either tapioca or a type of jelly sweet.

Then I don't remember what we did, but I suspect we both read until it was time for our dinner reservations at a nearby Indian restaurant.  There we ate excellent curry and eavesdropped on the odd couple at the table behind me.  Well I eavesdropped and Doc C observed the body language, then we compared notes afterwards - Our conclusion?  Well, it was very hard to say much beyond somebody was doing something dead dodgy on Christmas Day, but they weren't quite indescreet enough for us to get the sordid details.  Of course we hypothsised wildly on the way home and I must admit that even our most generous theories were still unflattering to the young lady involved who seemed to be the brains of the operation.

After dinner we walked back to our room and I watched "Elf", whilst Doc C pretended to be reading and ignore the film for the first half, but by the end he was watching as well.  It's a good film!

So yes, that was Christma day 2011.  I rather liked it. 

Zebra Print Trimmed Accessories.

The Holyoke Building on Mass. Ave. always has a window display of festive figurines, all about a foot high and most of them are creepy as hell; however I was quite taken with African American Santa and his quite magnificent beard of ringlets.    

A New Toy.

Damn it! As a "back-to-school" present to me (and let's be honest, to himself as well), Doc snuck out this morning and bought the PS3 Move bundle.  It's got a camera, a controller and the Sports Champions game.

We've been playing Bocce fairly competitively for about two hours now, and it turns out I'm just as wildly inaccurate when hurling a virtual frisbee as I am when it's the real thing.  Also the gladiator game is good, really good, but both of us would love it even more if there was a light saber and some Force involved.

I will, of course, be buying the work out game that goes with the system with my next pay check.  Unlike Kinetic, it's not affiliated to Nike; instead of a totally fictional trainer this time I shall be bossed around by an avatar of Mel B.  It's going to be like I'm on "Dance Your Ass Off", but with more leaping around in my own living room and a lot fewer sequins.

 

 

Last Day of The Hols.

I was up and in the shower before the alarm went off this morning, because I want to get home to my cats and all the television shows that were tivo'd whilst we were away.  Why don't any hotels seem to have Bravo in their cable package, damn it I thought it was a basic cable channel?  All I want is "Top Chef: Any Variety" and "The Fashion Show:Wrath of Iman" and I would be like a cat in a cardboard box.

Anyway...

Hopefully we will be home at a nice sensible time.  Tomorrow I'm back in the office at the inhuman hour of 8 o'clock in the morning, and I expect to be in a fugue state for the rest of the week.  Quite frankly I doubt there will be much going on, but that a good opportunity for me to write up all the fun stuff we did in Boston that didn't get a post of their own at the time.  And a photo of the stack of lovely new books I have.

All is Quiet on New Year's Day.

I'm all packed & just waiting for Doc C to brush his teeth before we leave. We're both keen to get home to our own bed and our cats, but it would be so nice if that wasn't a two day drive away. Ah well, we've had a great city break and did almost everything we had planned. Next time Science Museum, next time.