My First Birthday Gift...!

YOU KNOW YOU WANT FUNFETTI PANCAKES!!!

It's a Musical-singing day: Rocky Horror, Wicked, Rent...poor neighbors. :)

Example: Discontent

Estate sales can be wonderful. A few days ago, Daniel and I dropped by one with a book room. The take? Ender's Game (just finished, loved), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Tuck Everlasting, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Spoon River Anthology.

Not bad, eh? Spoon River Anthology, written by Edgar Lee Masters, is a series of epitaphs-in-verse, each spoken by a citizen of Spoon River who now lies buried in the village cemetery. Here are two, set side-by-side, blatantly exposing the human tendencies to envy and despair.

Albert Schirding
Jonas Keene thought his lot a hard one
Because his children were all failures.
But I know of a fate more trying than that:
It is to be a failure while your children are successes.
For I raised a brood of eagles
Who flew away at last, leaving me
A crow on the abandoned bough.
Then, with the ambition to prefix Honorable to my name,
And thus to win my children's admiration,
I ran for County Superintendent of Schools,
Spending my accumulation to win--and lost.
That fall my daughter received first prize in Paris
For her picture, entitled, "The Old Mill"--
(It was of the water mill before Henry Wilkin put in steam.)
The feeling that I was not worthy of her finished me.

Jonas Keene
Why did Albert Schirding kill himself
Trying to be County Superintendent of Schools,
Blest as he was with the means of life
And wonderful children, bringing him honor
Ere he was sixty?
If even one of my boys could have run a news-stand,
Or one of my girls could have married a decent man,
I should not have walked in the rain
And jumped into bed with clothes all wet,
Refusing medical aid.

On a happier, less-melodramatic note, Daniel just got home with a surprise--he cleaned all the  bike grease off of the back seat of our car! Which means: now would be a good time for us to give you a ride somewhere. It looks Brand New! Yay! (Not that there's anything wrong with bike grease, it's just nice to see it looking all nice and spiffy :)

I Break for Books.

 Here are some of the lovely books I've been reading lately! My sewing machine decided to take a break for a while (hopefully it's rested long enough--I need it!).

 On the other hand, I don't really Want to do anything other than tear through more Flavia de Luce books (pictured below, written by Alan Bradley, absolutely marvelous). Flavia is an 11-year-old chemist/sleuth, and a fascinating mix of genius/child, loving/undemonstrative (no hugs in the de Luce family!), self-assured/easily driven to doubt by her tormenting sisters. Plus, her family lives in an old mansion that they may lose at any moment, being in fact fairly poor. Read Flavia!

Also, Mums visited for a day and we went on a bike ride, watched/participated in a latte art competition, and went to Friday morning coffee cupping at Topeca roastery! Yay! Great visit!

And finally, because periodically I have to make ice cream recommendations, here is today's: Haagen-Dazs' Sea Salt Caramel Gelato. Oh. My. Word. Grab a Flavia de Luce book, a pint of this, and you Will have the best day of your life.

Da-DA! The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...!!!

Or, probably not. But after a brief hiatus, I am back! My airtight excuse for not blogging lately is this: I have become a sewing machine!

Also took a trip to OKC, which included drinking cappuccinos (Elemental and Coffee Slingers), eating donuts, eating the best grilled cheese sandwich ever (at The Mule), swimming, drinking wine, visiting the amazing Full Circle bookstore, watching one of the most depressing films ever (Oranges with Hugh Laurie), shopping, etc. So fun! Oh, running four miles in extreme heat. Less fun :)

Also, I have been reading many good books lately! This is our favorite page from Edward Gorey's Epiplectic Bicycle that I couldn't resist buying for Daniel, who is both an Edward Gorey and a bicycle fan.

Here is a link to a video a grad student made of the Epiplectic Bicycle. (This is the kind of book I'm afraid we will be raising our children on. We are shooting for crazy.):

http://vimeo.com/11171863

That is all for now! Off to the bank and, here's hoping, a haircut?!?

Looking Fierce!

Old helmet, goofy...

New helmet, Ready to Ride!!!

Sometimes you just really need some "out with the old, in with the new"...especially when it comes to protective head gear. Because my primary motivation in getting a new helmet was definitely safety, not style. Mm-hm...

Did everyone have a great 4th of July? Daniel and I met Mums and Jim in Ponca City for a mid-way [between Tulsa and Wichita] day trip. We walked around the grounds at Marland Mansion, picnicked by Lake Ponca, left when Autumn got in trouble for being in the water, went hiking at Kaw Lake...for about 100 ft before we realized the trail was covered in poison ivy and ticks were abundant :) At which point we abandoned the Great Outdoors in favor of ice cream at Braum's. Perfect.  We returned to Tulsa in plenty of time to ride along Riverside before heading to a friend's house  to watch the fireworks--which had shapes this year! The sky was lit with hearts, smiley faces, Rudolph-doves, and other unidentifiable shapes. I don't think smiley face fireworks are about to replace the old classics, because half the time they were upside-down or smashed. Which was amusing, but not particularly beautiful : ) A wonderful day!

If any of you need an awkward-but-lovable British comedy series in your life, may I recommend Miranda? Miranda Hart stars (you may know her a Chummy from Call the Midwife) and, though I initially thought the show would be too awkward to watch in comfort (she is 6'1", clumsy, embarassing with men)--I ended up loving it and have subsequently watched all six episodes of season 1 twice (that's the only season you can get on hulu, so I haven't seen the others). I think the reason the awkwardness doesn't make me cringe is that, even if the other people in Miranda's life give her a hard time, they love and accept her. It's not like they wish she'd go away and never return. Plus, the guy she likes is totally into her, too, although they are "just friends."

Here are some things I like about Miranda:
1) She appreciates words like "cusp" and "Sachet"
2) There is always an uncut cake or other pastry in her kitchen.
3) She glues googly eyes onto household items such as a teapot, eggs, etc.
4) She runs a joke shop and gets a kick out of "the little things"
5) The horrified looks she gives the camera when, for example, asked to exercise
6) She thinks people should commute via gallopping (not on a horse, like you used to when you were young and pretending to be a horse)
7) British accents!

Anyhow, watch Miranda. Here is a clip from the first episode to get you hooked!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxMS8Q6FTl0

[Inhuman] Death in the Family

After sewing the worlds ugliest eyesore of a dress...

...my poor sewing machine needle just couldn't take it any more. : (

Other observations:

1) Don't worry, I was never intending to wear this dress, heavens no! Just seeing if I could figure out a "simple" dress pattern using some cheap-o estate sale fabric.

2) The dress pattern (vintage) is a size 16. For some reason, reading the measurements on the sizing chart, I thought this would fit--and despaired over "flattery size" inflation. But never fear! Our decades be not so disparate. This dress is too large.

3) It's been a weird week, and I'm ready for things to settle down already. Sigh...

The Great American Spider Hunt

Possibly first-ever feltie commission! Somebaby needed a monkey!

Go far, far away, my creepy friends...

This week has been full of ups and downs. Can't say anything about the ups, because they mostly involve potential opportunities that may or may not come to fruition, but have been pleasant to think about either way. Downs involve Daniel's cut finger and possible (hopefully not!!!!) brown recluse bite. So this afternoon, my task is to wash our bed clothes, sweep under the bed and chant anti-spider curses. Blegh.

In other news, here are some of the issues I've been facing today. How would you respond?

1) If I walk 1.5 miles to Quik Trip for a pint of ice cream, how much can I eat before negating the good effects of the walk?

2) What if I've already had dessert today?

3) What if I also already rode my bike to work?

4) Is it better to save money (by baking something at home) or to gain exercise?

Do you know what sounds (almost) better than ice cream? A nap. Too bad the sheets are in the laundry being de-spidered. Ah, well.

Happy Saturday, y'all.