weekend update

I had a lovely weekend; hope you all did too :) A friend took me to a fancy schmancy restaurant Saturday night because I was simply dying to wear a bright pink skirt.
I think days of solid rain will do that to a girl.

Oh! And an award from LilliGirl. Thank you! Seven things about myself...

1. I love exposed brick. And olive oil. And puppy breath. And avocados.

2. I eat foods even if they hurt my tongue. Salt & vinegar chips, Super-Sour Blow Pops, and Sour Patch Kids are prime offenders. Speaking of sour, if anyone comes across Super-Sour freeze pops, let me know. They were in the Fla*Vor*Ice line by Jel-Sert.

3. There is a part of me that would totally up and join one of those right-wing Libertarian militia groups...but not really. See "fancy schmancy restaurant" and "bright pink skirt," above.

4. I joined eHarmony, but the result was kinda like this so I canceled.

Picture credit.

5. I used to be terrified of dogs.

6. I love to shop...for other people. Several friends give me a budget, credit card, measurements, and let me fill their closets. Shopping for myself is too frustrating; when I do find something I like, gratification is delayed a week due to the inevitable tailoring.

7. I'm very clumsy and accident-prone. I could be in an empty padded room and still find a way to hurt myself. I tried a yoga class for grace, but tripping into my classmates weeks into the semester did nothing for my self-esteem.

Nominations: I nominate you! You are all lovely and wonderful. Can I link to a few random articles/websites you might find interesting or amusing?

100 photographs that changed the world. For good reason, some photos are disturbing. Human suffering is never G-rated.

Incredible photo essay on poverty and young mothers in Troy, NY. PG-13.

Snopes.com. Use their handy search bar before forwarding anything. Wide variety of content; G to Mature.

For cat lovers :) G.

Yet another reason to read food labels. G.

The Lone Beacon

I took the Austen Heroines quiz and...I am Elizabeth Bennet:

Take the Quiz here!

You are intelligent (check), witty (check), and tremendously attractive (triple check there).

You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. (I think "lone beacon of reason" has found its way into my vocabulary, yes.)

You take great pleasure in many things. (Yes! Too many things pique my interest; I sometimes overwhelm myself -ohlooksomethingshiny!)

You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. (Way to rain on my "tremendously attractive" parade here, sayeth the Lone Beacon.)

Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed. (What's with this "seem" language? I thought Lone Beacons made well-reasoned, thoroughly thought out decisions?)

***

Usefulness of the day: Keeping your car clean! If you have dogs (or messy children?) get in the habit of keeping an old towel or two in the car to wipe down muddy paws. Stash a few plastic bags in a console, too - they're great for holding dirty shoes after a hike. Get a little waste bag that goes over the seat if you generate a lot of trash in the car. If you fill up your car in a state that considers you too stupid to allow you to pump yor own gas, use that time to clean out or organize your car. (I'm in Philly, but NJ - which won't allow you to pump your own - is so much cheaper! I used to feel guilty, but I've moved on.)

mosaic game

This fun, illustrated game came from Only Visiting This Planet.

Rules: Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.b. Using only the first page, pick an image.c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name? Allison.

2. What is your favorite food? Avocado sushi.

3. What high school did you go to? A small boarding school in New England.

4. What is your favorite color? Shades of red. To wear, black. In a bedroom, pale blue. In a kitchen, shades of yellow.

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Vin Diesel. From xXx.

6. Favorite drink? Water, plain, room temperature. And German white wines.

7. Dream vacation? Athens or Cairo.

8. Favorite dessert? Plain fruit. I don't like sweets, baked goods, or chocolate.

9. What you want to be when you grow up? Sucessful.

10. What do you love most in life? Awe.

11. One word to describe you. Curious.

12. Your flickr name/some screen name you have. For AIM, I use the name given to a one of a few, rare perfect syllogism in the Aristotelian logic system. I took a ton of philosophy classes in college. I'll be impressed if you guess it. I now only use gmail's messenger system.

Want to play?

***

Tip/trick/lesson of the day: For moms :). Also, free packet of moist wipes, coupon for a free probiotic bar, and free 2-week supply of vitamins.

4/4 Photo Game

Amy tagged me for this game.

Here are the rules:

1. Go to the 4th folder where you keep your pictures on your computer.
   
2. Post the 4th picture in the folder.
   
3. Explain the photo.
   
4. Tag 4 fellow bloggers to join the fun. (If you're reading, I tag you. Just let us know that you are auto-tagging in the comments.)
   

This is my current home when it was almost done being gutted and rehabbed. It was a formerly grand rowhome that had been hacked into (illegal) apartments with no regard for the house's bones. I turned it into a duplex. This particular floor used to have a crack pit near the windows. A crack pit is basically an indoor campfire, but it is not used for s'mores :) I tore down every single non-supporting wall - I love, love, love big open spaces. This is the main living floor of the top unit. Beautiful wide planks of hardwood were hidden beneath awful black and white linoleum and a few layers of biohazardous carpet. I kept the exposed brick walls and venting - I love the industrial look of it!

Here is a close-up of the brick on the living floor - there is more upstairs, too. If you look closely, you will see that one side is darker than the other. The darker half was in the same apartment as the crackheads, and the crack fumes stained the brick. The other half was in another apartment's bedroom.

I tore off the back of the rowhome and added an addition to each of the 4 stories. The photo was taken just after an old bathroom was ripped out - you can still see the plumbing fixtures for the toilet. The prior owner just plonked a bathroom on a little built-out ledge - massively dangerous and illegal.

Previously, the house ended where you see that big piece of plywood behind the stairs. I pushed the whole building way out.

These are the new and improved stairs. An open design, in keeping with the airy, modern theme, and cherry-red iron support beams for fun.

This was an extremely fun toy.
***
Tip/trick/lesson of the day: For those of you who thought law was dull and boring, let me summarize what appeared in my daily briefing for the state of New Jersey. In Gorzelany v. Simon & Schuster, Inc., Law Div., Bergen Co. (Toskos, J.S.C.) (9 pp.), "[p]laintiffs complain that the use of their photographs in the book "Hot Chicks With Douchebags" was defamatory. The court concluded that there is no actionable defamation. The photographs in which the plaintiffs appear and the accompanying text are used for humorous social commentary...Failing as an assertion of fact, the book must be treated as protected expression of opinion."

So I guess the take-away lesson is that you're out of luck if you find yourself in this piece of literature - I use the term loosely here, no, I have not seen the book. (Ok, I really dislike that d-word when used outside the hygiene context, but I loved the absurd humor of it! I choked on my tea when I read today's briefings. Too good to not share.)

Brought to you by the letter N

Kimber assigned me the letter N for this game.

1. Nuts. I love nuts, but I'm particular about them. I do not like nuts in baked goods, or adulterated with anything beyond a dusting of wasabi powder, a good roasting, or a light sprinkling of salt. The tamari-roasted almonds at Trader Joe's are a favorite, as are plain jumbo cashews and pistachios. As with pomegranates, pistachios lose points for all the effort.

2. Nachos. A guilty indulgence. The key to a good plate of nachos is to layer each ingredient, and to ensure that every chip gets some flavor. Merely melting cheese over a pile of chips will simply not do! A simple nacho recipe is mashed avocado, salsa, a little shredded cheddar, and tortilla chips. Sliced black olives and chopped cilantro bring it up a notch. I omit the sour cream, beans, and meat - it just dilutes the avocados!

3. Naughty dogs. I have two. There will be a third coming soon. Jack failed puppy kindergarten, spent all of obedience school cozying up to the ladies, and was written off by no less than 12 private trainers as "hyperactive," "bad," "should be medicated," and/or "should be put down." I've met dogs who are simply pleasant, calm little things, and I've decided I'll take loads of (an occasionally mischievous) personality over a well-behaved but dull dog. The vet suggested I drug Jack with an anti-histamine before meeting my parents (who are cat people) for the first time. All it did was make him drool while stealing their napkins and sneaking into my mother's purse.

4. Nuisances, attractive. It's a legal term that refers to dangerous situations that could attract the attention of certain classes of people to their detriment. A common example is a swimming pool - it attracts young children and poses a drowning risk. I'm an "attractive nuisance" for Halloween every year :) See also #9.
5. Nostalgic Win. Reader-submitted bits of nostalgia. Occasional posts by babies who don't quite understand the temporal requirement of being nostalgic.

6. News. I'm an addict. The first thing I do in the morning is ascertain what I missed while I was sleeping. I get my more reliable news from the Wall St. Journal and New York Times and review what Boston is doing without me. Fark.com keeps me amused. However, I truly cannot deal with televised news. It drives me crazy. Captain Hyperbole, indeed.

7. Nice weather. I used to pride myself on being a hardy New Englander, but I somehow lost my edge when I moved south. Please, spring, come early.

8. Nonstop activities. I really can't just sit and do nothing. I started getting into arts & crafts only because I needed something to do while watching television. I fail at yoga for this reason, too. Evidently sneaking your Blackberry into class so you can do work while controlling your breathing is a no.

9. Nerds. I am one. It's ok. I've accepted it. I read the back of packages for fun. I subscribe to a whole stack of academic journals. My colleagues call me Google. (I enjoy the candy, too.)

10. Night, but only in the summer. I love lazy summer nights. The city empties out on the summer weekends and summer weekend nights in the city are the best. You really can't beat coming home from work and having dinner on your deck, either.

(What, were you expecting "narcotics-fueled nymphomania on a nude beach"? Only on the weekends, sorry.)

Picture credit, picture credit.

***
Tip/trick/lesson of the day: Check the ingredients and their strengths before buying the "clinical" or "prescription strength" deodorant. Often, the priciest brand has the weakest concentration. Don't be afraid to go for a deodorant marked for men, either. Many of the men's deodorants are exactly the same as the ladies version, but a few dollars less. And plenty of men's deodorants come in an unscented version, too, if you don't care for manly scents. Also, free vitamins.