I Must be Chosen!

My visions of a productive evening ended in mindless blog reading that led to one site, which led to another, and then another, and so on. I just stumbled on Ravelry, an enticing online knitting and crochet community. I tried to make an account on their site, but found that since the site is still in it’s beta version, so my name was added to a long list with others waiting to get in. Adding to my impatience is their “waitlist checker” that lets me see my place in line: Number 13, 278. This is so much worse than when Gmail was invite only, because you can’t buy an invite on Ebay! (I only paid $2, but some before me were paying in the hundreds. If only they put that money in a share of Google’s stock instead…)

My other fabulous web find is a Knitter’s Tea Swap. People are paired up like pen pals and send each other packages with a few rules on how much to send and what items must be present in each package. I used to do this back in the day when music zines were circulating the indie folk. I’m hoping the swap will accept mostly wanna-be-knitters like me.  

Coffee Wisdom

The Starbucks Oracle has been circulating for years, but I thought I would share it’s wisdom again. Type in your usual beverage and the your personality will be evaluated based on your order. I have switched drinks since the last time I used this site, but my “high maintenance” personality has stayed consistent. A testament to the Oracle’s credibility, I’m sure! Check it out here.

A Humble Request

I’m formally pleading with all Americans to become more tech and gadget savvy, so I don’t have to hear of things like TV tuners and web browsers being available for Ninteno DS, but only when you live in Japan.

On the Turntable…

Lately I have been digging into my indie-roots and listening to all my old Shoegaze albums. I’m fairly convinced (but possibly just hopeful) that Shoegaze music is having a comeback. In honor of this prediction, I give you the top 10 Shoegaze songs of all time (brace yourselves):

1. My Bloody Valentine – “To Here Knows When”

2. Slowdive – “When the Sun Hits”

3. Jesus and Mary Chain – “Just Like Honey”

4. Medicine – “One More”

5. Lush – “Monochrome”

6. Curve – “Horror Head”

7. Catherine Wheel – “Black Metallic”

8. The Boo Radleys – “Sparrow”

9. Ride – “Vapour Trail”

10. The Lilys – “Elizabeth Colour Wheel”

Send me a note and I’ll create a compilation of the best Shoegaze songs of all time for your album collection. Now don’t you all come running at once…

Losing “Control”

2007 is the 30th anniversary of the former band Joy Division. Fittingly, a highly reviewed movie titled “Control,” about lead singer Ian Curtis, was released at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Supposedly this movie was scheduled to release in the states on October 19th, but I have not had luck finding a copy. If you’re a Netflix subscriber you can save a future rental to your queue, but they do not give a release date. Even so, that is better luck than we will have with Blockbuster, who doesn’t show the movie as even existing. (So much for all the benefits of switching to Blockbuster online rentals – this is the second time I haven’t been able to locate an indie film on their site!) I think I’m having Netflix withdrawals. Mr. or Ms. Blockbuster is about to get a nasty email about their subpar movie selection. Hmph…

Weddings to Remember

Julian sent me a link to truly inspiring geek wedding photos. These are truly too inspiring to not share with everyone. Check them out here.

Taco Touring the City

Last weekend some friends and I went on a Taco Tour of Colorado Springs. For convenience limited ourselves to non-sit-down stops. We started at Monica’s Tacos, where I tried a Carne Asada taco that was quite tasty, especially with the chile sauces Monica offers. We then attempted to hit up El Taco Rey, where there is constantly a line outside the door at lunch time, but we left greatly disappointed because they are closed on the weekend. The Taco Truck was a must, of course and lived up to all the hype. Our third stop was at Albertacos, and as my friend Rookie put it, “we had to hit a bad one.” I ordered an Adobada taco that I couldn’t eat more than a bite of, and that looked like the consensus around the table. Their saving grace were some quarter, vending machines where we could load up on Homies and plastic saints! We finally ended our trip at La Casita, which is nothing truly authentic, but always fresh and consistent. Plus, they have  sopapillas – a must have finale on any taco tour. Check out all the taco pics here.

In retrospect, I think a taco tour of Pueblo would have been the way to go. Maybe I’ll put that on the future agenda. Anyone know of any hot-taco-spots there or in the Springs?

Things that make you go “Hmm…”

No, I can’t believe I titled a post like this either, but indulge me for a moment…

Those of you who have spent any time at my house while Julian and I are cooking have most likely heard us curse our kitchen. Almost a year ago Half the outlets in our kitchen stopped working, along with a couple neighboring outlets from the dining room. We reset the circuit breaker and when that didn’t fix the outlets we threw up our hands and grumbled about the several hundred dollar electrician bill that would surely be incurred to fix our problem. Certainty of that bill delayed us even looking into the problem for well, almost a year now. Yesterday I was in a GTD kind of mood, so I decided to call an electrician, which led me to SCC Electrical in Colorado Springs. This electrician is getting a gift basket (seriously!) because before charging me for a consult he asked me a few questions over the phone. One of those questions was whether I had tested the GFI outlet in my kitchen. (Doh!) After hearing this, I called Julian at home and in less than a minute I heard a blender roaring in the background.  

I know, I know… You’re saying “Are you kidding me Heather??” If I was keeping score between my house and my home ownership skills, I think I would be 0 in 37 now.

More Craftiness

I still haven’t finished the knitted baby blanket I posted about in July, but I did finish a baby craft project. Last month I ordered four new embroidery patterns from my favorite non-granny-like craft site Sublime Stitching. For $3 you can order a page full of creative and funky embroidery designs. Several years ago I stitched up some pillow cases for my kids. My latest project turned into a Lucha Libre baby onesie for my nephew Logan. He’s going to look so tough – I think he may need a matching mask and some boots! Check out the finished project here.

Looking for that special someone?

Some time ago (before I started blogging) I ran across a link to the cutest personal ad I have ever seen. (Mind you, I was not searching the personal ads). After making Julian read the whole ad he thought I was quite silly and quite a sucker, reminding me that I fell for his whole “one-in-a-million-single-dad” bit. I may be a sucker, but who wouldn’t be with this? 

For more laughs you can check out the Best of Craigslist here. (Viewer discretion is advised).

A Musical History

Tonight I thought to make a mix cd for Julian with a sample song from every band we have seen in concert together. (Aww, ain’t that just sweet!) I ended up with two volumes, although one of the bands minimum song length is around ~20 minutes. Here’s the playlist:

Volume I

“Join Our Lusty Chorus” by Alasdair Roberts

“Nomadic Revery” by Bonnie Prince Billy

“Everybody Daylight” by Brightblack Morning Light

“Texas to Ohio” by Damien Jurado

“Los Angeles, I’m Yours” by Decemberists

“This is the Way” by Devandra Banhart

“Hey may” by Dressy Bessy

“East Hastings” by Godspeed You Black Emperor

“Bridges and Balloons” by Joanna Newsom

Volume II

“Six Times” by Ladybug Transistor

“Dugout” by Ladyhawk

“Daydreamin” by Lupe Fiasco

“Don’t this Look Like the Dark” by Magnolia Electric Co.

“Heart Cooks Brain” by Modest Mouse

“Know That” by Neil Michael Hagerty

“The Fear of Being Found” by Pinetop Seven

“A Friend in Need” by Placebo

“I Was a Stranger” by (Smog)

“Ambulance” by TV on the Radio

I could have added a whole third volume full of bands we have escorted the kids to see this summer, but I thought they might ruin the mood. Also, I only listed one song for each band, even though we have seen Bonnie Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham, aka Palace, aka Palace Music, aka Palace Brothers) four times and Smog three times and the Decemberists twice. Lucky us! This weekend we have tickets to see Loreena McKennit at the Pikes Peak Theater, so I’ll be sure to update. Look for my infomercial of 101 Greatest Indie Concert Hits that  you can’t find in stores!  

Back to Gaming

Over the past several weeks I have traded my remote control in for a stack of books that had been waiting for me. This was until I picked up a copy of the new My Sims game for my Wii. The new Sims is so different than any of the PC Sims games, which I could never really get into. Instead, this game brings everything I loved about Animal Crossing to life with more character and customization and none of the tedious chores or penalties for not playing. (Think no coming back to a town full of weeds because you decided to put the game down for a week).

I also picked up Brain Age 2 for my DS. I was a huge fan of the first Brain Age game that filled me up with puzzles and brain games that kept my mind active, but the voice recognition on one of the activities tested my patience so much that I eventually stopped playing. I believe this irritated many people because it’s not a problem in this sequel. Hopefully when Brain Age 3 comes out Nintendo will finally fix my last beef with the series: that the most prime brain stage you can reach is that of a 20 year old. Come on…there are perks to being 20, but most of them have nothing to do with your intellect.

On a similar note, games ran in the family this weekend. Aidan and I trekked on down to Toys ‘R’ Us this weekend with his DS in hand. Everyone with the Pokemon DS game was able to wirelessly download a rare Pokemon at the store. I’m not a Pokemon player, but I do like to follow a buzz. I thought the game was mostly played by 10 year old boys, like mine. I was really happy to see a significant amount of young, girl gamers. And I was really surprised to see many-many middle-age and older adults with their own gameboys, downloading the new Pokemon for their own.