Alien Spouse

Las Vegas Recap.

As you can see Edith felt very strongly that she should be coming to Las Vegas with us, and attempted to pack herself in to my suitcase on Thursday evening. She would make a fabulous show girl actually, with that plumey tail and gorgeous figure (it's hard to believe she's had kittens).

I didn't really take many photos over the weekend, because all the suff I'd want to have a picture of was either something I was prohibited from photographing (for example Doc C intentally scrutinising our crime scene at the CSI Experience) or something I didn't think would photograph well without some professional level lighting equipment (for example the jellyfish display at the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef Aquarium).

It was obviously imperative to take a photo of our hotel at night, because it was a quite ridiculous fake castle with turrets and other such nonsense.

It was annoying that I couldn't get a shot of both The Excalibur and New York, New York's Faux Liberty without the walkway's guard rail in it, but I think you get the point. Ridiculousness.

Face Off.

I have to go to a dermatologists appointment at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning, so naturally Doc and I are unable to stop watching a TV show we happened to TiVo amarathon of.

"Face Off" is a reality contest for special effects make-up artists. It is impossible to stop watching this marathon! SyFy is evil! Evil genius!

Just Ducky.

For Christmas the Assistant Chair of my department gave me a spa set, which is bubble bath, body cream, an eye mask and DUCKY SLIPPERS - I hadn't previously thought of Ducky Slippers as being a staple of a good spa, but now I shall demand them!

I'll give you two guesses which of the cats is a bit freaked out by these, and is very much on her guard whenevr I'm wearing them.

Toning Down Christmas.

It occured to me this morning that I had not yet decorated the house for Christmas, but at the same time I'm right in the middle of reading "Miss Minimalist" (on my Kindle) and it just feels wrong to glitter the whole house.

So I compromised and hung up the faux vintage ornaments I bought in Boston last year on the twig arrangement from Halloween, then I added in a couple of other ornaments to balance those out and that's that.  

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 I love the faux vintage ornaments almost more then I did when I bought them last year, they are delightfully tacky and rather adorable in their own very plastic way. Doc C is a particular fan of the angels, who are all holding their hands out in front of them in the manner of fisherman describing the one-that-got-away. They also all have black eyes, which gives them quite a creepy alien-being ambience.

Finally, on the dining table, I've put up the sad little Christmas tree beloved by Charlie Brown and all those who get a bit tearful when watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) ...*cough*Doc*cough*...

Vintage Crime Spree.

One of the joys of the Kindle shop(Oh hey, have I mentioned that I have a Kindle?) is that there are vast quantities of Victorian and Edwardian detective novels available for little to no cost and that means I will never be short of something to read.

I downloaded half a dozen of them only yesterday, and I anticipate going back for more once I've skipped through these.  I selected these six with a very definite research purpose in mind; I read Agatha Christie's "Partners in Crime" years ago, which is a cracking collection of Tommy and Tuppence short stores, however each story pays homage to a popular fictional detective that readers of the period would be familiar with. I wasn't, and I know I missed out on some of the references. So I pulled up the "Partners in Crime" Wikipedia page and systematically went through the Kindle bookshop looking for the authors and detectives being pastiched - And I found all of them! Usually for free, but in one or two cases I had to pay a whole 99 cents. 

I'd already downloaded volume one of the "Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection" and I've just finished "The Red Thumb Mark" the first book in the series. These are a delightful mix of very precise scientific analysis of the fictional evidence and a less condescending version of a Holmes and Watson pairing.

The primary function of all fiction is to furnish entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. But the interest of so-called "detective" fiction is, I believe, greatly enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of course, from the actual specimens.

Freeman, R. Austin (2008-09-05). Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries Collection, Volume One (Four Books in One Volume!) (Kindle Locations 3110-3116). ignacio hills press (TM)IgnacioHillsPress.com. Kindle Edition. 

(I also LOVE how easy it is to pull nice chunks of text from the Kindle, with the source reference already attached. Happy sigh.)

And the Kindle edition still has the illustrations! Yay!

 

Happy Martini Haze.

Well personally I like keeping the gin in the freezer, it produces a perfectly chilled martini that definitely softens in flavour as you drink it and I rather liked that. This has a dash of Angostura Bitters in it, and that is just delicious.

Doc C made this for me, because I was covered in sleeping cats and he then brought it to me in the living room. This then presented somewhat of a problem; how to get a decent photo of the drink with out distracting background clutter and with out leaving my station as comfy cat bed. Fortunately one of the pieces of clutter on the coffee table next to me was a sheet of crumpled red tissue paper.  I put the glass on the paper and held that up as a backdrop with my left hand whilst taking the pictures with my right hand.

I'm just as pleased with the photos as I was with the chilled gin. A successful set of experiments all around!

Freezing Gin.

Late last night the wind really picked up and the door to the outside cupboard was banging, and that cupboard is directly behind the fireplace. Edith has been obsessing over the fireplace for the past couple of weeks, we think because of the mice but who knows with cats; anyway all this noise meant she became very excited. This led to much zooming around and that woke us up.

Doc C went downstairs to see what was going on, and then went outside to shut the door, but the damage was already done and Edith was more convinced then ever that there was something of interest in the fireplace. She carried on dashing around crashing into things, so then I went downstairs and cleared the fireplace and surrounding area of anything breakable or loud. At this point it was 3:30 and when I got back to bed I discovered that I couldn't sleep, so I did some important research on my iPod.

Mostly I was trying to work out how to make myself a nice cold martini without having to waste ice and dirty the cocktail shaker, because it seems a bit fiddly for just the one glass. Knowing that vodka could be stored in the freezer, I thought what about gin? It may interest you to know that there are competing views on this subject, because gin is a botanical spirit and so some people think that freezing it will dull the aromas. I can't honestly say that my palate or nose is particularly refined, so I think it's worth the risk of losing some of the aromatic experience in exchange for a cold martini with minimum effort.

This morning, whilst making my breakfast, I was already thinking about having a cocktail after work, so I put the gin and the vodka into the freezer, and the vermouth into the fridge (where it apparently should have been all along). We have a mostly empty freezer, so I also put in the cocktail shaker because that was another tip I found in my internet searching.

I'll make myself a drink at some point later this evening (the hour after we get home from work is cup-of-tea-and-a-snack time) and we shall see what my verdict is, I hope that it will be a blissed out martini haze.

4 Dance.

Students are always losing stuff, usually water bottles, books or coats, and this particular note must have fallen out of someone's bag when they were in my office.

I think it must be a comment card for a dance class, but I'd love to think that there is some random person wandering around in nightclubs (not that we have any night clubs here - that's where this daydream really loses touch with reality) and critiquing their fellow clubbers.

Either way I'm keeping this on my desk in case the student who dropped it comes back for it. If it were me I'd want documented evidence of my excellent lip syncing skills.

New Vintage Make-Up Case.

At lunch time yesterday I had a couple of things that I had to do in town, so I walked over from my office and on my way I decided to briefly stop at the large antique shop on the high street. Well, it says antiques over the door, but really it's a flea market and that's actually fine with me because I usually want something vintage and cheap, not appraised and expensive.

I was looking for something to store my make-up in, because proper make-up cases are ludicrously expensive and I really couldn't leave all of that stuff sitting on the side in the bathroom anymore. It was taking up all the space, and there was always the risk something would get splashed with water and ruined. I'd tried organising my cosmetics collection into a vintage thermos lunch tin, but I wasn't 100% happy with that. Anyway, at the antiques shop I found a number of oddly expensive lunch boxes, but none with a print that really spoke to me; a large vinyl doll case full of battered barbies that smelled strongly of stale tobacco smoke and then I found the Ugly Kitten Box.

It's another doll case, this one is designed like a small steamer trunk in tiffany blue enameled metal with white plastic edging, and metal corners. Gorgeous! The enamel is nicely beaten up, and the corners have a charming rusty patina to them.

I'm sure you'll be wondering why I call it the Ugly Kitten box, and I think that's a fair question. Let me show you:

!!!

It really could have been such a tasteful box, but then someone slapped a cartoon kitten with a bunch of daisies on the lid! I love it!

Plus all of my make-up fits inside neatly, but with room for my collection to grow and it was only $10. Happy sigh.

Decorating for the Holidays.

Sorry! Can't blog - making Halloween!

Kitty Pride.

I read recently (on Wikipedia) that the reason Sanrio don't usually give Hello Kitty a mouth is because "without the mouth, it is easier for the person looking at Hello Kitty to project their feelings onto the character" and that "the person can be happy or sad together with Hello Kitty." I've just never pictured Hello Kitty as being a great solace during times of difficulty myself, but maybe she is to somebody.

I think the addition of the glasses make Hello Kitty look more scholarly, but also as if she will not take any nonsense. A fine role-model for any professional woman I'm sure you'll agree.

Today I am wearing jeans and a t-shirt (that both fit!) topped off by a waistcoat with a Nerd Hello Kitty badge on it. I happened to be wearing almost exactly the same thing when I was in a slightly awkward situation a week or two ago and I must say that I felt equal to the challenge because I had Nerd Hello Kitty in my corner (not to mention I was better dressed - Which I hesitate to note because it sounds a bit self-congratulatory, possibly outright bitchy, but, none the less, that was my honest opinion).

Red and Black.

You have got to appreciate working in an office where people bring you flowers.

One of our faculty has a side line in floristry, so these were originally bridesmaid's bouquets from a wedding this weekend. I do think this arrangement is lovely, but I will admit that the minute I saw the red and black colour scheme I knew that I would be using them after they had wilted as part of my Halloween decoration scheme.

Yay for multi-tasking flowers!

Face Paint.

I've recently been updating my make-up collection, in particular I'm adding more colours to my eye-shadows and I have bought actual proper brushes with which to apply the cosmetics once I've got them. Today, as you can see, I've gone with a simple pink wash over the lids with an asphalt grey shadow as an eyeliner and black mascara.

My main problem with every day make-up is that I get raccoon eyes from my mascara, yes even water-proof, but the very nice lady at Sephora in Charlotte (Hi Cindy!) gave me a sample of Urban Decay's All Nighter setting spray and that plus a mascara primer seem to have sorted me out.

I ran out of the sample on Monday, so I ordered a full-size bottle but went with De-Slick in the hopes that will also keep my t-zone in check. When I mentioned that I'd just ordered some more stuff from Sephora, Doc C asked what I'd bought. I hesitated for a moment, then said that I didn't want to tell him because most (straight) men don't understand make-up and he wouldn't get why I needed it. He laughed and admitted that was probably true, and that his question had been prompted by thinking that surely I had enough make-up already.

Ha! Poor fool! Enough Make-Up? There is no such thing as enough!

 

I Wear a T-Shirt Now. T-Shirts are Cool.

I love this Threadless t-shirt design, and I am seriously thinking about buying one, but how much more would I love it as actual wallpaper. I wouldn't do a whole room, that would be a bit much, but an accent wall in Tardis flock (or foiled!) wallpaper? That would be epic!

Maybe I'll get the t-shirt, but, if it doesn't suit me, I could then stretch it over that spare canvas I have knocking around.

 

Mannequin.

This window display in Asheville makes me happy.

That is all.

Eye Shadow Tester

I had another delivery of make-up from Sephora today, I'm experimenting with my day-to-day look. Today was sort of thirties-slash-sixties so it was all about the red lip with my new bob; tomorrow I'm thinking a really bright eyeshadow with a clear lipgloss.

After work I get changed out of my office clothes and take off my make-up before doing some sort of exercise (at least that's what I'm supposed to do, it doesn't always happen. Mostly, but not 100% always.) This evening I kicked gladiator arse for twenty minutes, then I zumba'd for 25 and then I flopped sweatily onto the old yoga mat I keep for just such a purpose. Doc always retreats to the study when I'm exercising, so when it was all quiet he came back out. He came over to congratulate me on my 3 gold stars for beating Giselle, and then he asked "Did you put fresh eye make-up on before you worked out?"

Well yes, actually, I did.

One of the things I ordered was an eye make-up primer, which I was somewhat sceptical about, so I decided to put it through it's paces. I put the primer on my right eye lid, but not on my left, and then I applied stripes of the lime and black eyeshadow on both eyes.
Once I'd finished jumping around like a hyperactive flea, I compared the two eyes and the left eye had practically no lime green left where as the right was still glowing. Clearly the primer works! Hurrah!

Asheville Feeds Me.

I always book my next haircut with Naomi on my way out of the salon (Ananda - Who are lovely by the way), that way we have our next trip to Asheville set up before we've even left town, and when I booked my haircut last month I happened to choose the weekend that the Americana Burlesque and Sideshow Festival was in town. That sounded like our idea of a good time, so the Doc booked a hotel and I threw an evening dress and two bags of make-up into an overnight case. However, we couldn't find out if there would definitely be seating at the main show at The Orange Peel on Saturday night. I know that sounds a bit needy, but really I don't want to be standing for three hours at the best of times and it would really kill Doc C's back. We really did try to find out, we scoured the website for clues, and asked at the box office on the day, but no-body seemed to know and we didn't want to plonk down $25 apiece on the off-chance we'd be able to snag a chair.

So we got dressed up anyway and went for a curry at Mela. There was considerably less nudity on display, but the Malai Kofta (Ground almonds, cashews and paneer cheese formed into balls and cooked in a rich almond spice sauce) with a Mumbai Mojito was so delicious I barely noticed that. I am a girl who liked her food, it makes me very happy to eat a really nice meal.

Speaking of which, we went to Table for brunch this morning. You know when I say it like that it sounds easy, but we weren't at all certain they would be able to fit us in because we didn't have a reservation. To be sure of a tasty breakfast we got there half an hour before they opened and made sure we were the first people through the door. They hadn't even printed off the day's menus, that's how ahead of the game we were this morning!

Doc had a breaded pork loin with a fried egg and avocado, which was delicious; at least that's what he tells me, personally I was too focussed on my bagel with lox, goat's cheese and a hard-boiled egg to really pay any attention to anything else. So delicious. I'd already eaten half of the bagel, all of my salad and a good number of smashed-then-fried potatoes before I thought to take a photo.

So delicious.

happy sigh.

Terribly Comfortable.

Today was super exciting because I had been waiting all weekend for the post office to open and release the delivery of make-up that I'd ordered from Sephora. Doc C went to get the post mid-morning and brought it to my office, where I tore open the box in a frenzy and many exclamations of glee.  It is no exaggeration to say I immediately ran to the ladies' loos to put on my new red lipstick.

This might not have been the best of moves, after all I have worn neutral or rosy pink lip-stick for several years now, so it has been quite sometime since I put on a really red lippy. Plus I'd ordered this particular lipstick on-line, without seeing the colour in the real world before hand. Plus it is actually more of a lip stain, that promises to stay put for a long time, and I was going to be at work for another 6 hours, and I don't care how understanding your boss is, having a lipstick emergency is never going to be a good enough reason to leave work early.  Even if you do look like an unfortunate clown lady. These things can happen.

So, all things considered, it was very fortunate that this particular lipstick turned out to be exactly the shade of red that I wanted. I took a photo and posted it as my Facebook profile picture, where it garnered several encouraging and complimentary comments from kind friends and family.

What was really funny was that no-body mentioned the tiara that I was also wearing, because, OF COURSE, I'm wearing a tiara around the office on a Tuesday morning. What is more normal than that?

(Oh, they also didn't mention the black bar because that wasn't there. My super secret blogging identity must be maintained, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill.

An added bonus to the black bar is being able to quote "The Princess Bride" in my post title:

Fezzik: Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?

Man in Black: Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.)

Cold Snap Saps.

It's been cold and rainy all day, and that sudden change in weather has made me really tired. I mean it's only just gone 9 and I've already brushed my teeth and got into bed.

Admittedly I have commandeered Doc's iPad (he was given it by his department, but only after I convinced him to actually accept the thing) to watch "RuPaul's Drag U".

Still tomorrow will be warmer, apparently, and then maybe I'll find some energy.

A Really Great Sunday.

Today has been very exciting, which considering I spent most of yesterday either asleep or washing my clothes, would have been exciting had we only gone out for lunch (Oh, and we also went to see "Thor" in 3D, which looked great, was very well cast and yet was somehow clearly not that memorable. Huh.) However first we went to look at the Radio Flyer I had noticed was sitting outside one of the local antique shops. It was in pretty good condition but it was still a bit rusty; so we thought we may as well explore and started getting excited about the dining tabls they had. I particularly liked the vintage enamel tables, but none really spoke to us.

Then we went to walk dogs at the Humane Society, and, as is becoming somewhat of a habit, I fell deeply in love with the most adorable little puggle (Pug and Beagle mix) called Roxie. She is just so sweet, she loves humans and her ears are the softest things in the whole world. sigh. Doc managed to drag me away somehow, and we went to get lunch. I had heuvos rancheros with a pint of guinness, and it was delicious.

Since we were already in town we went to check the other antique shops, especially a particularly great swivel chair I had seen in a shop window. Which was still there, still great and now I knew it was way out of my price range. We moved on to the next antique shop, and went straight to the basement where they display all the furniture. Doc was examining something or other when I turned a corner and saw the most ridiculously fifties dining set I had ever seen. It was magnificent and had a bakelite tabletop in marbled white with red detailing, plus it came with two leaves and a matching set of six vinyl upholstered chairs in the same colour scheme.  It was just fabulous, and cost $250 for the whole set. After some examination of the table and chairs, we decided it was too much of a bargain and we HAD to buy it. There was no chance of us getting a dining room set in the Mini, so we'll have to borrow a van sometime this week to get it home.

And this means we will be able to have people over for dinner! And board games! And tea parties! And poker! And we can eat breakfast at a table! SO exciting!

Of course now none of our furniture even remotely matches, so I think we still need to go to Ikea and find a sofa that will look good next to a vintage dining set. I'm thinking something in white leather with red cushions and a grey cat or two.

Power of the Pumps Walk.

On Sunday we got up reasonably early to finish cleaning the house, and then went for brunch with Randy and Laura before heading to a local park for the Power of the Pumps walk. This was a fund-raising walk for a local charity specifically focused on helping women, so all of the men were supposed to walk the mile long course in women's shoes.

Doc was on a team with three other professors from his department and one guset walker; hence the name - Team Philosophy and Religion. I was particularly impressed to note that theirs was the only team to fulfill the shoe requirement according to the spirit of the thing, and they all actually wore women's shoes; they didn't wimp out by stringing a pair of heels on a ribbon and wearing them around their necks or by spray-painting a pair of old trainers hot pink. Doc C had the advantage of being married to a woman with the same size feet as him, so I was able to lend him my lovely blue-and-white striped wedges (I love this photo, but the grass means you can't really appreciate the height of the wedges. They're about 2 inches high). And I painted his toenails red to add just a touch more glamour.

The other team's all covered the course much faster, but it wasn't supposed to be a race, so I was very glad when the event organisers gave Team Philosophy and Religion an honourable mention. To top that Team P&R won the bronze for fund raising, and had both the winner of the highest heel (Jack) and prettiest shoes (Kern). Doc came in a close second on both of those categories, and also got a bronze for individual fund-raising. Doc was beaten on the technicality of his wearing a wedge, whereas Jack was wearing an actual heel, so Doc's were higher but were deemed easier to walk in; as for the prettiest shoes, well, I think that was because Kern had done his own nail varnish and so his salmon pink open-toe shoes had camoflaged toenails peeping out. The nail-varnish on both of them went down particularly well with some of the smaller spectators who ran ahead of them yelling "All Hail!" for the nail-varnish men! 

The whole event was in the afternoon, and so Doc was probably wearing and walking in the wedges for two hours at the most. His legs were still aching when we went to bed, and when we got up this morning he was asking what he could do the make his Achilles tendon feel better. This did cause me to laugh and laugh and laugh, but I haven't teased him too much, because, to be fair, I barely ever wear heels myself.

I'd been careful to lend him the shoes least likely to also give him blisters or take all the skin off his heels, but I agree with him that heels do indeed suck to walk in, make your calves burn and throw you off your natural centre of balance. That's why I am so very proud of him (and his team mates) for actually doing the thing properly.

A mile in HER shoes indeed. 

Middleton-Windsor.

When I got up this morning Nancy was meowing and meowing and meowing, so I turned on the television for her so she could watch the Royal Wedding. Nancy loves the Windsors. I watched it with her whilst I had my breakfast, and I saw Kate arrive at Westminster Abbey before getting ready for work.

At work the Royal Wedding was a very popular topic of conversation, so I ended up looking up all sorts of stuff on-line to properly perform my duties as resident British person. I found photos of everything - the dress (gorgeous!), the earrings, the bridesmaids, the cake, the cake from a different angle, the guests, the guests' hats, and the crowds. It was all quite lovely I thought; not necessarily the best use of several million pounds, but quite an impressive bit of pomp and pageant.

My opinion is that Kate seems like a very nice girl, and I also think William has done rather well. Also I think this whole think this makes me feel old, because I remember going to London for the day with my parents to see Charles and Diana's wedding. And that was 30 years ago.

Pearly White.

Pearls make everything more fabulous, and, in my opinion, it's particularly fun to pile on loads of the finest plastic pearls. These are two strings of faux pearls that I bought from H&M for about $5.

Ironic Bunnies.

Mum gave me these diamond bunnies magnets for my birthday about five years ago, and I think they go particularly well with the "Irony is Not Dead" magnet on our fridge door.

A Day Out in Aldburgh.

We got a whole bunch of things ticked off my "To-Do whilst in England" list today! This included some of the more important items, such as a visit to a Norfolk beach, have fish and chips on said beach, go for a walk and then have a cream tea in a proper tea-room.

The picturesque seaside town of Aldeburgh provided all this and more, and it was a lovely place to go for a stroll with my parents. The tea-room was even having a tea-cosy beauty contest, but fortunately they were a bit too busy to press us for our votes because it would have been a very difficult decision.

I also managed to track down a Vivian Westwood t-shirt printed with a picture of Blackadder's "absolutely divine and regal, and yet and at the same time very pretty and rather accessible" Queenie, and a Liberty print silk scarf; both of these delightful items are on sale to raise money for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day next week. I'll definitely wear the scarf, but the Queenie t-shirt is going to be stretched on a canvas frame and hung on the wall when I get home.

Speaking of Elizabethan beauty, here is Aldeburgh's cinema and gallery which happens to be housed in a gorgeous Tudor house. I've always liked the incongruity of that.

 

 

A Toaster's Wake Up Call.

This alarm clock is £14 in the Habitat sale, and it is quite clearly a Cylon alarm clock.

I have thus far restrained myself from buying it, because I don't really need it myself, but should Doc C want it he need only say.

Shopping.

I bought two really great sixties style dresses from Next today, I got them in navy blue - So when we have that "Mad Men" party just be sure to get the red or the camel; that way we'll co-ordinate but not match. Perfect! It'll be like that restaurant scene in "Down With Love" (2003) when Barbara and Vikki swan in looking fabulous together.

I also bought pewter ballet pumps, a red patent shoulder bag and a navy duffle coat. My wardrobe for 2011 is shaping up to be navy blue with beige and red.

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.

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.

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.    

And Rings On Her Toes.

Doc C's conference is in a pair of hotels which seems to bookend a rabbit-warren of a mall, which has some swanky shops in it including a Tiffany's.

The last time I saw a Tiffany's window display they were promoting their diamond key pendants, which was beautiful timing on their part because I'd just got my key tattoo.  This time they had a window displaying a fairytale village made out of tiffany blue books.  You have got to hand it to them, they know how to tempt a girl.

Yes that is a diamond snowflake hanging from the trail of stars, and there's also a ring in the beak of the bluebird; but for me it was the book village that was particularly enchanting.  Can I live there please?

This is a nice atmospheric shot with no flash, but I wanted to get the detail of all of the text on the stars and house gables, so I got a more harshly lit photo as well.

Isn't that lovely?  I'm not sure what the story is that the pages are taken from, but there was some text on the window with a story about a handsome prince who is turned into a bluebird whilst his lady love is imprisoned in a tower.  Does anyone know that story?  It's sounds like a mash-up of Rapunzel, the Happy Prince and that one about the swans.

Of course I stayed outside Tiffany's and just admired the window, but I still purchased some sparkle today.

Lovely shiny rings!  These were total bargains as they were reduced from $20 each, to a dollar each in the Papyrus sale.  Fabulous.  It's a pity these were the last two in stock, or you know I'd be wearing one on every available digit.

Decorative Pre-Planning.

This is the best time to buy Christmas decorations because they are usually all discounted by a ridiculous amount to get them off the shelves.  I love it!  Shiny things on sale?  For ME!

Of course the only problem then is that you have to wait a whole year before you actually get to use your new treasures. I'll have to make sure I put these fabulously cheesy baubles with the rest of the decorations when I get home, so I don't squirrel them away "somewhere safe" and then forget I bought them for the bargain price of $7.

Are they not deliciously awful?  I feel a childish delight in their glitter encrusted charms I have to say.  These are part of a anniversary release apparently, and are based on vintage designs from when the company first started.

I also bought a box of Halloween decorations by the same company for $6, so I only have to wait ten months to hang these treasures up.

I think my favourite of these is the happy ghost with a pearl sheen, but the cat has really good fangs and the details on all of them are quite charming.  I'm obviously going to have to hang the crossed bones beneath the skull, and I think they will all look great on my mini black tree.  I cannot wait for Halloween!  As ever!

Countdown to Halloween: Sixteen Days

Somehow I completely failed to go to the Coraline website until this week.  How did I allow this to happen?

As you can see I have given the Green Queen black button eyes, and I think she looks really quite sinister.  The Beldam must have an alien cousin, don't you think?

I've yet to make the buttons to go on my Coraline amigurumi, so what I might do is take a photo and then upload them to the Coraline website to try different buttons out before I get out the polymer clay.

Countdown to Halloween: Seventeen Days

I love spooky house silhouettes!

Actually I've been trying to find a less exaggerated version, that I could adapt to look more like an English country house, so that I could finally get round to making that "A Gift from MANDERLAY" t-shirt I want.

 

Dragon Con Saturday

One of the websites that Doc sent me a link to in advance of our coming to Dragon Con gave the very sensible advice that you do have to very consciously remember to eat, drink and sleep.  That sounds redundant until you get here, and find that there is something interesting going on from 8:30 in the morning until 1 in the morning, and that's just the official program.

Today we got up at about 9, had breakfast at our hotel then walked over to one of the other hotels hosting the conference for our first session.  This was part of the Skeptrack schedule, and it was a fascinating and extremely inspiring discussion about the need for secular lobbying groups in American politics.  Hell yeah!  Obviously with us and others like us in the audience the man was preaching to the choir, *snort*, but it was still very refreshing to hear.

We left during the Q&A because I wanted to find the loo before we went to the talk by James Randi.  We found the mens toilets fairly easily, and correctly guessed that the ladies would be opposite, I walked around the corner and there were Dean Stockwell and Scott Bakula signing autographs!  (Post script: That makes it sound as though they were actually in a cubicle in the ladies' loo, I can assure that they were not; they were just right outside.  It was perhaps not the best of locations.) It was most surreal, but I was in too much of a rush to get anything signed - Besides, I had absolutely nothing appropriate with me, so it would have just been a receipt or something stupid like that.

The queue for the Randi talk was epic, and we were not 100% sure we would get in, but we did and even managed to get good seats on the center aisle.  James Randi himself was a very interesting speaker and engaged with the audience in an intelligent and charming manner, although really we were all clearly fans so there was no debate or dissension.  Still he's like a cross between Yoda and Darwin and he can do conjuring tricks, which makes him a pocket-sized version of the ideal grandfather.  Utterly adorable.

Then we had lunch, and then we headed back for another talk - This time on the solar system.  It was 5pm by this point, and when I realised that the sound was going to be terrible and the room slightly too warm I told Doc C I was going back to the hotel and left him there.  I bolted back to our room and had a bath in our ridiculously fabulous whirlpool bath and read some Sherlock Holmes.  Then I had a nice cup of tea and a nap until Doc C woke me up for our next event at 7.  We decided we probably wouldn't get into the Battlestar Galactica panel, so we went to the academic discussion of "The Watchmen".  This had some good observations, and an almost complete set of Watchmen in the audience; although I was even more pleased to see a group dressed as characters from the 80's BBC TV version of The Hitchhiker's Guide.

At this point we headed back to our own hotel, because we wanted to go to the seafood restaurant there and then visit the special after-hours Dragon Con opening of the Georgia Aquarium.

And now we sleep.

Sunday Trading.

Today we went shopping to pick up some necessities we'd forgotten or not found the day before.  I bought new Saucony trainers so I can go for a morning run around the ponds, and a set of plastic drawers to keep my yarn stash in.  I failed to buy a dressing gown.

We also bought doorstops, because Edith very quickly discovered the bathroom door upstairs doesn't lock or even latch.  She hates being shut out of any room, so this makes her very happy.  It makes whoever is in the bathroom less happy, as I'm sure you can imagine.  Let's hope an old fashioned wedge baffles her.

The big purchase of the day was relatively unplanned, although we had been discussing it.  It's a Playstation 3.  I spent an hour or so rolling up Katamari Damacy Forever stars after lunch, and Doc C is currently RPGing as an Elf called Kallian, as she slices her way through an army of bad guys.

Oh, which reminds me!  Doc C submitted a paper to Dragon Con, which he heard today has been accepted.  So we are going to be geeking out in Atlanta in September!

I loved this photo from last year's con, which featured an after hours visit to the Georgia Aquarium, but I never considered that I might go myself.

What to wear, what to wear...

"Girls Rule" T-shirt.

This faux-retro super heroines t-shirt was purchased last week from Old Navy.

It has glitter print on the lettering and hearts, and features (from left to right) Supergirl, Wonderwoman and Batgirl.

Plus, look I'm wearing shorts that stop above my knees!

SLOW - Pedestrian Crossing.

This rather fabulous pedestrian crossing was across the road from our hotel in Washington.  

I just adore the retro styling on Mother in the middle there (I call her Mother because this is quite clearly a nuclear family crossing the road in this image), what with the flipped hair do and pencil skirt, I can practically see a set of pearls.

Vintage Radio and Faux-Vintage Posters.

In my quest to find some fun podcasts to listen to I found Strange Tales on Relic Radio, which I really liked.  It's vintage sci-fi American radio dramas from the 40s and 50s, and when I went to the Relic Radio website I found they have ten other programs to subscribe to.  I'm probably going to get hooked on the suspense, thrillers and horror shows, but I am particularly intrigued by the whole archive of Orson Welles' radio performances.

 Also, Meg at Quiddity linked to a rather fabulous vintage-style DC character posters:

After I'd saved Batman to my iPod to use as a wallpaper, I followed a link from that page to the twitter feed of the artist, Michael B. Myers, and from there I went to his website. I really like his series of illustrations of Lost characters as well, but I think I'd probably be more likely to put the DC posters up on my wall at home.

Post Script:  Late breaking squee of joy for this terrific Dexter poster. WANT!

  

Have A Doris Day!

As I have no gorgeous technicolour confections of my own to share with you, here is Miss Day with a pack of rainbow tinted poodles.

Many thanks to the fabulous Whorange for posting this first!

Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Manderley Again.

We went for a drive this afternoon to a town even smaller than the one we already live in, because we've heard that housing is very cheap there and we fancied a nosy around.

The town itself proved to be absolutely tiny; but still manages to have better shops than we do and a gorgeous 50's looking cinema that screens things in 3D.  We wondered into a really nicely stocked boutique which just had beautiful clothes and accessories, along with lovely bath things and other nice stuff.  It was intoxicating, I could have spent an absolute fortune without batting an eye.  Luckily for Doc C, I remained calm and merely stroked all the pretty things I could get my hands on.

 Even better across the road was... a second-hand bookshop!  I was thrilled. 

Once we got inside we discovered that a good 3/4 of the floor space was devoted to the Mills and Boon type of romance novel, but I gritted my teeth and plunged through until I tracked down the mystery section; where I found two Dorothy L. Sayers and a copy of "Rebecca".  I didn't even really look at the covers until I was at the till paying $8 for the lot of them, but the "Rebecca" is a particularly pleasing find for the artwork alone.

Personally I'd have liked to see Mrs Danvers lurking around somewhere, but that's probably a little bit greedy.

Vintage Accessory - Navy Blue Stripes with Flowers.

Another vintage scarf from the same Etsy seller I bought the polka dots from.  This one is a square of very soft and fine fabric, so it drapes beautifully.

The print is probably the most conservative of my collection, but I find colours in the bouquets are varied enough to co-ordinate with a lot of different outfits.  It's fun to throw this on over the top of something that I thought was slightly too casual for the office, and be able to get away with it.

Vintage Floral Accessory.

This is the vintage silk scarf I bought in Asheville this weekend.  I like how it has a fairly simple print, but with tasteful clusters of insane neon tinted roses. 

I'm not sure if the roses were that colour originally, or if a previous owner got creative with some felt-tip pens. 

Either way, it is pretty rocking.

Packaging.

I'm combing through my jpeg files to delete anything I don't need, and I found a picture I took on our trip home from Boston. 

We picked up some snacks when we stopped to refuel and I could not resist this artwork.  Isn't that great?  Mama Zuma looks like a fifties pin-up Zapatista, which may be anachronistic but is fabulous none the less.

The crisps were deceptively sweet at first, but there was definitely a kick to them.

Snow and Glitter.

We got our snow.  And it doesn't look like it intends to stop in the near future.

I slept late, then cleaned the bathroom and now I'm going to curl up with some knitting and "RuPaul's Drag Race".  We don't have Logo, the channel it's on, as part of our cable package, so I was delighted to find complete episodes on-line at the Logo website.

What with that and the cupcake websites I've found today it's turning into quite a shiny afternoon.

Coraline (2009) - Freaking Finally!

Since Friday I have watched my "Coraline" DVD (Thanks again for that Mum!  Love you!) three times, twice in 2D and once in exciting 3D.  I'm not being sarcastic there, the 3D really rocked.

I actually really want to watch it for a fourth time, with the director's commentary playing, but I don't think Doc would want to do that.  Particularly as I'd want to double check if the commentary is different on the 2D and the 3D versions, and if they are?  I want to watch both.

This may be one of the best film adaptations of a book ever.  And as "Coraline" is one of my favourite books, this makes me very happy.  Also I want all of the merchandising even more than I did before - which was already a lot.  At the very least, when I replace my wellies (which sprung a leak today just as I was splashing in a huge puddle of melted snow - Fabulous timing there wellies) I shall be looking for a bright yellow pair.  Just like Coraline.  OMG! Coraline could be my Halloween '10 costume!  Oooh!

Christmas Snow Day

It started snowing at 8:06 this morning, and it hasn't stopped since; so there's now well over a foot of snow on the ground. Doc and I left work early because we knew the roads were going to get bad  (AND the heat had been turned off in my building, and if turning the heat off during a snowstorm doesn't say the management think you should go home now, well, I don't know what does) but we still had to change our usual route to get to our house because we couldn't get up one particularly hill.  There was a tense moment when we wondered if the other road would actually be any better, but the little car got us home!  Yay!

Then I called my Mum to wish her a happy birthday before settling down to one of the best naps ever, ever, ever.  It was like three hours of comfy dozy goodness.

Now I'm sitting drinking ovaltine with a healthy slug of brandy in it, and eating a slice of fresh stollen from our favourite bakery.

The Christmas holidays are officially here.

Christmas Tree '09

OK, FINE.

I'll decorate the Christmas tree.

This year I'm keeping things very simple - Lights, gold beads and a Union Jack paper-chain.  The paper-chain was a birthday present from my Mum, and it makes me very happy!

 
 
 

Shiny, Shiny, Shiny!

With Christmas trees and decorations everywhere by now, it's hard not to be effected by the Christmas spirit.  Doc and I needed to buy a few cleaning supplies from the hardware store, and whilst we were there I thoroughly enjoyed looking at all of the decorations on offer. 

I found a great set of shatterproof baubles, in great shades of silver, hot pink, petrol blue and lime green; I have no clue how I'm going to be using them yet, but they are too fun not to get.

Shiny!

Get Excited and Make Things.

Making stuff is one of my favourite things, so naturally I love this version of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster.

Even better, the designer Matt Jones is happy for this image to be used for non-commercial purposes under a creative commons licence. He's put several different downloadable formats up on his blog, and also has links to sites that are selling t-shirts and prints to raise money for some great causes.