Lovely Earthquake Weather We're Having

The ground has been shaky lately. I felt an earthquake Friday afternoon and another one last night. And there have been other teeny ones I haven't felt. I check the USGS map regularly, and the ground has been particularly active; it's not just my imagination. Or my giant cat jumping around. I'm not paranoid about "the big one" (well, maybe just a little bit. in a healthy, making sure I have batteries and a week's worth of water kind of way. that's healthy, right?). But it's fascinating. The ground just doesn't do this anywhere else I've lived before. In living here less than a year I've already felt more earthquakes than the 6 years I lived in San Diego. It's kind of a fun break in the day. As long as it's a light quake that doesn't do any harm.

Edited to add: I've also been keeping an eye on the 24-hour Earthquake Forecast map. San Jose is much yellower than usual.

It snowed on Mt. Diablo last night. Not here at the base though. I can't find or take any pictures unfortunately. Maybe later today some will be available online. It's still early here.

ka-raz-ee

I caught a few minutes of the judge in the Anna Nicole case ranting this afternoon. He sounds nuts! He is theoretically a highly educated, respected member of the community (for the sake of arguement I'm assuming all judges are). If someone like him goes off on crazy rants, then the bar is set very high. Brittany Spears shaving her head shouldn't even appear on the crazy radar next to this guy.

He made one very good point: "Enough baloney!" If those guys really want to clear up once and for all who the father is they have to submit to DNA testing. Seems pretty logical, like anyone could have figured that out without a court order.

Here's something I haven't thought about in a while. It smells like snow outside. It's predicted that the next storm blowing through could have snow at elevations as low as 2,500 feet. That means our little mountain could be snow-capped!

It would have been a great afternoon to have the camera. Stoney, dark gray clouds in the background. White-blossomed trees right out side the window. When the wind blows the blossoms fly around looking like snow flurries. (Too bad all snow storms can't be flower petals instead.)

Blossoming trees = allergies, unfortunately. And the cats are beginning to shed their winter coats. The air is thick with fur and pollen. It's sneezy city here.

Sunday SWAP Update

This week I made some major progress. I finished the shirt-dress to the left there. It's a stretch sateen that's a little heavier than the pattern recommends. It's from a vintage pattern.

I also sewed a white cotton pique jacket; finished it yesterday. That only took me about 24 hours (and that includes sleeping). I'll get a picture of that up on flickr some time today. I plan on wearing it out today. Suddenly I have a need for nice jeans and nice shoes to wear with my nice jacket.

My last dress is near completion. I put the zipper in earlier this week. It has to be hemmed and it needs a belt. It comes with instructions for making a simple fabric belt, but I can't find a belt buckle small enough (3/4") so I may have to improvise. Also, I'm not in love with the sleeves on this dress so need to think about changing them.

Last but not least, I decided I hate the way my knit top looks, so I ripped it apart. I'm moving it back into the incomplete column. I worked on it a bit yesterday and I think I'm closer to a better fit. I'd like to get it figured out since the other 2 knit tops are cut out and I really wanna salvage that fabric.

My tally:
8 finished (1 coat; 2 skirts; 3 dresses; 1 jacket; 1 knit top)
1 nearly done (1 dress needs hemming and belt)
2 knit tops to do




Edited to change tally: I got the fit right on that knit top!

I've spent the last couple days sewing. I have lots of SWAP updating to do tomorrow. Yay! Tonight I am up to my elbows in sticky chocolate. See here for explanation.

Have I mentioned how much I love California winter? It was in the 70s today. Sorry, rest of the country.

Valentine's Day Goodness

What better time to think about heart healthiness?

Mending Broken Hearts
As heart disease reaches epidemic proportions worldwide, researchers are moving away from the old "clogged-pipes" model to search for triggers lurking in our genes.

and

How does a seemingly healthy man suddenly drop dead at 44? The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in America examines America’s No. 1 killer. Several ACC members, including President Steve Nissen, M.D., F.A.C.C., Paula Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.C., and Peter Libby, M.D., F.A.C.C., appear in the PBS documentary, produced for National Heart Month. Tune in to PBS at 9 p.m. ET on Feb. 14. (Actually, check your local listings... you know how wacky PBS can be. Oh, and ACC is who I work for.)

This issue has been a dull thudding within my skull for weeks now, and in saturating myself with MSNBC's all-day political coverage today it's boiling up.

Am I alone in believing a non-binding resolution is a waste of time? Especially since the president has all-but said he's not paying attention to it anyway? Isn't there anything better for Congress to do right now?

No, I'm not insane, but Tucker Carlson is sorta making sense to me. Maybe I'm just tired.

Guess What Today Is?

It's the day my driver's license expires! And in true California DMV style, my new one hasn't arrived yet. I'd better do some quality driving and alcohol-buying before midnight tonight.

Sunday SWAP Update

My coat has buttons!

I finally put the buttons on. I decided I want to wear it tomorrow, which means I had to sit down and do it. (I put on Reds and spent 3 hours watching Bolshevicks and sewing buttons.)

I also worked on my last two dresses this week. One is done except for the buttons (of course) and the other is done except for the zipper (which I bought today).

My tally:
6 finished (1 coat; 2 skirts; 2 dresses; 1 knit top)
2 nearly done (1 dress needs buttons; 1 dress needs zipper)
3 cut out (1 jacket; 2 knit tops)




I bought the trim for my jacket today and I hope to work on it this week after finishing at least one of the dresses.

Grrr.

My body is rebelling. I've been slacking off on my workouts lately but got back into this week. I can't move now. I'm lurching around like Frankenstein.

I never thought my body would prefer eating broccoli to going out for a run. Not that I like the broccoli mind you. It's just easier than physical exertion, and I am feeling lazy but still trying to be healthy.

Free Stuff!

I picked up this little tidbit from Swagger Design. Free patterns at Burda Style. The site is in beta, and they have a bunch of free pattern downloads available.

It's a Valentine's Day Miracle!

If they had held on to the press release for one more week.

Couple still hugging 5,000 years on
ROME - Call it the eternal embrace.

Archaeologists in Italy have discovered a couple buried 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, hugging each other.

"It's an extraordinary case," said Elena Menotti, who led the team on their dig near the northern city of Mantova.

"There has not been a double burial found in the Neolithic period, much less two people hugging — and they really are hugging."

Menotti said she believed the two, almost certainly a man and a woman although that needs to be confirmed, died young because their teeth were mostly intact and not worn down.

"I must say that when we discovered it, we all became very excited. I've been doing this job for 25 years. I've done digs at Pompeii, all the famous sites," she told Reuters.

"But I've never been so moved because this is the discovery of something special."

I *heart* science.

I just have to say that I love California winters. After, what, 25-odd New England winters and only a handful of California winters, they are still a very welcome novelty. It's February and it's sunny and in the 60s. I'm downright giddy.

Yes, it's supposed to rain later this week, and it may even downpour and mudslide. But at least it won't be freezing.

Drumroll please....

Vicky and I are launching a new wedding planning blog, Flaming Tulle. Plan your wedding without crashing and burning. We are against bridezillas. We think the wedding is nice and fun and all that, but too many women lose their identities while wedding planning and forget that the marriage is the important part. Check it out. We'll be adding new content all the time. Flaming Tulle. We're excited about it!

White Elephant Finds part deux

I've been living with my new fabrics from the White Elephant Preview Sale for a while now and I realized I've forgotten to share them.

Left: A brocade mystery content. I suspect polyester because it seems like silk, cotton, wool, etc. were always labeled, but a lot of stuff was left unlabeled, and I didn't see anything labeled polyester. So, my powers of deduction... This is a large piece, about 3 yards, for $5. I'm thinking this would be nice as the short-sleeved version of the Textile Studios Mandarin Jacket.

Right: A salt-and-pepper wool. I'm hoping there's enough for a pencil skirt. If not... then I don't know yet. I'll think of something. I'd really like it to be a bottom, even if it's just my simple A-line skirt that I can make from one yard.



Left: A silk off-white brocade with teal flowers. This feel so soft and smooth. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. I think it was my most expensive purchase of the day, at $10. I just had to treat myself to a nice piece of silk for no reason.


Right: Zebra print! It has a soft fuzziness to it, sort of like suede. Another unlabeled mystery content. This is a $2 remnant and there's just enough for a purse and a belt I think.

I tried to buy with my black-and-white wardrobe plan in mind...

hair

I never watch Top Chef, but I caught a couple episodes last week before the big finale. I have to say the part I enjoyed the most was watching Marcel's big, villainous hair. Something about judging food doesn't make me feel as involved as an audience member as say, fashion design or interior decorating. I know an ugly or pretty dress when I see one, but I have no idea if the food tastes good or not. I have no choice but to trust the judges.

I'm having typing trouble. Grendel shredded the tip of my left index finger when we were playing "catch" a couple nights ago and whenever I take the band-aid off the scratches pop open and start bleeding again. Gross, isn't it? He didn't mean it. He doesn't know his own strength sometimes. (How I'm going to wash my hair today I have no idea. You know like, when you get a papercut on your finger, then wash your hair, and the strands get caught in the cut? I hate that so much.)

Sunday SWAP Update

I'm puttering along, slowly but surely. I finished one of my knit tops and I've been working on a shirt dress. One of my major motivations now is wanting to get the SWAP finished so I can move on to other fabrics. I washed a bunch of post-SWAP fabrics this week and can't wait to start working on them. My mind is working faster than my sewing machine is right now.

No new pics this week. I couldn't get a good photo of the shirt with the laptop cam.

My tally:
5 finished (2 skirts; 2 dresses; 1 knit top)
1 nearly done (coat needs buttons)
1 in progress (shirt dress)
4 cut out (1 jacket; 1 dress; 2 knit tops)




I bought a new pair of shoes this week to wear with some of my new SWAP (and post-SWAP) clothes.

I've already reserved my copy

In related news, see Harry Potter naked.

C'mon, this is funny. Aqua Teen Hunger Force closed down Boston today. It's weird that the media is calling it a hoax, though. Doesn't that imply that it was intentional that these little things were supposed to be mistaken as bombs? The CNN article is hilarious as all these serious news people are now having to explain Aqua Teen Hunger Force (and CNN has to explain it in the best possible light, because they're all owned by Turner). For those of you who don't get to sit at home with the tv on all day like me, this has been breaking news on CNN all day long, as one by one these little light boards are discovered, inspected, and detonated. I don't even watch ATHF, but I might start now. What a great punchline. (Oh, and these little doo-dads have been up in several cities for two weeks already. Thank goodness they are harmless. Nice job noticing suspicious things.)