The Old Soup Can

Lately, (like, say, during the last month or two) my olfactory senses have been in overdrive. More specifically, my olfactory nostalgia trigger? I've been having so many moments where I catch a scent and get SENT (!) back to second grade gym class or something. Recently, I was sent back to the arts and crafts cabinet we had when I was a kid. It smelled of a combination of crayons, play-doh, construction paper, and laundry (it was in our laundry room). What a wonderful smell! On more than one occasion I had the unfortunate experience of reliving the time I made hot chocolate with soy milk. Not a good smell, not a good taste, not a good memory.
Today I found this website, Swap-Bot, a venue for Mail Swaps. I signed up for two. One involves handmade items and the other ATC's of your favorite comics. Mine will be Charlie Brown or something from his Peanuts gang. I think.
Yesterday I invented the word Goatmeal. The definition goes something like this:

Goatmeal (n) Anything relating to anything that a goat would eat, which is anything.

It came up when Jared referred to something (farts) smelling like old soup cans. I initially said that it would be like a goat's dinner, then evolved it into Goatmeal. So. Spread the word. Put it on UrbanDictionary.com and teach it to toddlers. I doubt it will make Word of the Year for '07, but there are more years ahead of us.
The two images I included today were things that I found when looking up "Open/Closed" in google image search. I was trying to find something to illustrate Business Hours in a flyer I was making. I didn't find anything. Just these.

Moving on after T-Giving D-ay

So I've never cared much about Thanksgiving. I still don't. But I had a pretty nice one this year. I guess it was the overall Thanksgiving break that did it for me. This is the first year in a long time that the break has actually been a break from something. In the past, I've always had to work that weekend. This year I didn't even know what to do with myself. So much free time. It was nice. And because I had two days off from work (and I took a few hours off last Wednesday due to a hangover extraordinaire), I'm broke.

For photos of Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving, The Sequel, check out my flickr page.

Because I don't have any money --but I WILL have money in the near future-- I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet. This is, by far, the latest I've waited to start shopping. Last year I believe I started in September so that I could budget a little better.

Jared and I are getting our passports this week. That'll be something to check off the list. We are planning our trip to Greece/Turkey for April/May, so we really need to take care of the passport thing.

I'm eating tuna for lunch and it's making me ill, so finishing this blog entry is no longer a priority.

Until next time..

Tuesday is the new Thursday. This week, anyway.

I have decided to watch all of the movies that have won an Academy Award for Best Picture. I wanted to do it in complete chronology, but the first two (Wings and Sunrise) are not available on DVD and maybe not even VHS. So I will begin with The Broadway Melody. Out of 79 films, I have already seen 17 of them. I don't know that I'll re-watch certain ones, since I just watched On the Waterfront like three weeks ago and I don't feel like I need to see Titanic again. Maybe I will have this project done by next year's academy awards. Maybe not. Who knows.. maybe I'll step up my Netflix account to 3 DVDs at a time for the winter (whoa!).


Part of my daily walk to and from work revolves around walking through Love Park, which was so nice in the summer. The fountain is so tall that the wind blows mist all over the park. So when it was so hot out, I started walking through the park to sort of cool off for a minute. It was also so aesthetically pleasing early in the morning. Well, they've finally turned the the fountain off this week in preparation for the Christmas tree they'll put there. I'm sure that the tree will be lovely, but it's so awful right now. Also, as a side note, in the last four months that I've walked through the park about ten times a week, the water has been red, green, blue, and pink. (It was red as a promotion for Dexter..!)

Cruel, cruel spine!

So the inspiration for this blog entry is all of the posters and ads all over Philadelphia that advertise New York. "Come to New York." "This is New York." They're all over. I really don't think that's fair. It seems like kind of a slap in the face, especially considering that New York really doesn't need any help luring tourists. It's really Philadelphia that should be advertising in New York, even though New Yorkers usually think of Philadelphia as a sort of bastard step brother who occasionally has worthwhile art exhibits and Live 8 concerts. I can't find any images of these ads on the internet, but if I come across one, I'll throw it up here. Or I'll throw up on it.
I am writing an article for The Bulletin, which involves me going to see Temple Theater's production of The Time of Your Life tonight. I was excited about it, and I still kind of am, but I have so much to do tonight. Part of what I have to do is write the article after the play so that the article can make it into Friday's paper. I am also assisting my mother in purchasing a bulk amount of these pint glasses she is ordering for her bike shop. I won't bore you with the details of my labor, but it's something that I need to do on my home computer. I'll post the image from the glasses after I place the order.
My ever-problematic back has been especially problematic this week, which may or may not be connected with the other pains I experience once a month. But I am making an effort to sit up straight and not cross my legs. Usually I have my legs crossed in a very extreme matter that makes me lean to one side or the other, which only makes things worse. So. No leg crossing today.
Right after I wrote that, I drank some water and crossed my legs.
Ugh.
Well, I'm very busy, eating my Junior Mints for breakfast and paying my personal bills. So I'd better tend to those things.
Happy Hump Day.

Week In Review:

Let's recount this lost of goals for the week:

1. Become addicted to Super Mario on Super NES. DONE. I played the shit out of that game right after I blogged. I got really far and then I had to turn it off and I lost everything. So I'm taking a break now. I think I more than completed this goal.
2. Make a more than substantial dent in the baby blanket that I am knitting for Jared's niece or nephew to be (arriving in approximately two weeks). (This goal will be difficult considering goal #1) This goal is being altered, since the baby was born on TUESDAY! Jared now has a niece, Ella. A niece without a blanket from me. Yet. I did figure out the rest of the framework for the blanket and worked on it, but the dent isn't as substantial as I was thinking it would be when I wrote the goal. I also haven't watched any movies this week, which is always my prime knitting time. So now I intend to give the blanket as a Christmas gift.
3. Complete the Student Worker Handbook for work that I have been working on for about a month. Um, not done. It's close, but I have been depending on the contributions of one person, and she was out of the office all week. Ugh.
4. Buy a domain for the jewelry business.
5. Take enough pictures of earrings to be able to create a pack of 100 (individual) business cards with. Then create and purchase the business cards. (For more detail on this venture, visit moo.com)
RE: Goals 4 and 5: I didn't have enough money to do these things this week. And now that it is dark out by the time I get home from work, there hasn't been enough natural light to take photos. That's a project for tomorrow, which is still part of this week, so I'm not a complete failure. Yet.

Six O'clock, and all's well!

This is my first "off-site" entry in quite some time. I'm at home. I just got home, actually. It's six o'clock p.m. and it's pitch black outside, which I kind of like, but I don't think I'll like it for long.
My goals for the week:
1. Become addicted to Super Mario on Super NES
2. Make a more than substantial dent in the baby blanket that I am knitting for Jared's niece or nephew to be (arriving in approximately two weeks). (This goal will be difficult considering goal #1)
3. Complete the Student Worker Handbook for work that I have been working on for about a month.
4. Buy a domain for the jewelry business.
5. Take enough pictures of earrings to be able to create a pack of 100 (individual) business cards with. Then create and purchase the business cards. (For more detail on this venture, visit moo.com)
That's enough goals for one week, I think. They're good, productive goals.