The Zoo over Ambuscade Street

So here I sit, grumpy, cold, hungry, and at work. The 'work' part is self explanatory enough, I suppose, and the cold is because the heating in the building is apparently not working very well, and I am, of course, wearing sandals. Because I wear sandals until it snows at least once, so that's entirely my fault. Boots of Awesomeness will probably arrive in March...just in time for there to be no more snow. C'est la vie.

The grumpy part is entirely due to the hungry part. I trotted out of the house in a rush today, with the intent of stopping by The Double Wa on my way into work to get gas, food, and a hot beverage of the 'chai' variety. For inexplicable reasons, however, there were orange cones stationed in front of each of the pumps, sternly turning away fellow gas-seekers. So be it - I have enough gas to get home and then to a gas station again, so it wasn't a big deal. But...breakfast, chai, and probably something for lunch was. Food and I seem to be having an antagonistic relationship of late, where I either don't care for it, or it doesn't care for me. This has lead to frequent skipping of meals, primarily due to the fact that I just...have no appetite. Except for this morning, when I was fully prepared to start gnawing on my own arm if that's what it took.

Dodging the crowd with expert ease, I grabbed my chai, a muffin, and a bagel for lunch, because that just seemed like a good idea. At the register (where I am, I must note, gesturing wildly with my check-card in hand) I ask wherefore the orange cones outside. The clerk responds patly, "oh, we're not doing gas today. The credit card machines are down." As previously noted, I had my bright red check card in my hand the entire time. And I have, typically, no cash in my wallet. So...not only do I fail miserably at getting gas, but also at getting tea and food, which is certainly cause for grumpyness. Especially since a sign of some sort informing me that credit cards could not be accepted would have been nice before I ruined a perfectly good muffin and bagel.

I think I may attempt a pair of bloomers over this break, if I'm feeling brave enough to venture to the Scary Place where the fabric stores are.

Hey, crafty-types out there!

How many yards of fabric would I need for a) short bloomers, no longer than mid-thigh, or b) regular-length bloomers, to the knee or just below. I found some great fabric on sale, but it ends soon, and I want to know how much I should be getting. Cheers!

This? Neat beyond words. Note that they called coffee "seething bumpers of molten sins." That's my kind of place.

So yea, bloomers. *pokes links in the hope that they'll actually work* The Blue/Ivory Flower Stripe are going to be my short bloomers, probably ruffled. The Purple Violet Stripe is going to become a kickass pair of pirate bloomers. The Tan Small Stripe W/Apples is going to become something, I haven't decided. Long bloomers, short bloomers, a purse, I don't know. So there's my project for December, assuming I can get the sewing machine to cooperate. I'm still petrified of unthreading it, because it took me so long to do it the first time. Still need to get it tuned-up, though, and I need a decent pair of fabric scissors, since all the scissors in my house have vanished. I blame Gracie O'Malley the Pirate Kitten.

Most useless recipe ever: "put in oven and bake until done." Thanks, I couldn't have figured that one out on my own! How about a time and temperature setting?

Dinner tonight is going to be a baked sweet potato, if I can figure out how long to bake it for. Just that, because that and noodles seem to be the only food in my house other than tuna steaks, and I'm all tuna-steaked out.

The food network is telling me 400 degrees and 50 minutes, so we'll try that. What's really odd about this is that I'm not actually hungry, but since lunch was a bottle of Naked juice (Blue Machine, yum) and breakfast was, well...nothing, something solid would probably be advisable.

[EDIT] Baked naked (holes punched, of course) for one hour at 400 degrees, slathered with butter - yum! And I have another one for later this weekend, if we happen to not bring enough leftovers home tomorrow.

Buck didn't believe that I had over fifteen gigs of music on my computer. He was, of course, operating off the assumption that "music on computer" = "downloaded illegally with Kazaa or somesuch." Nope, this is almost entirely ripped from CDs Erik and I own...and I still have at least sixty (mostly show tunes in this binder) to rip. Which doesn't include any of the CDs Erik's purchased (and lost, in some cases), in the past year. I need to track as many of those down as possible to archive, then back up the archives to DVD. The reason I don't have everything ripped is mostly because you need internet connection to get the CD info, and I don't always have one of those. ^_^;;

As of the current rip (Starlight Express - a musical about toy trains with all the actors on roller skates - what's not to love?), I have 3990 songs, 9.8 days, and 15.31 GB of music. How much music do you have? How often do you add to your collection?

[EDIT] Oh my dear god, I forgot how unrelentingly bad the lyrics to Starlight Express are. Ouch. But it's part of the charm, I suppose.

[EDIT2] Here I am, on a Friday Wednesday night, reading a good book, drinking a ginormous goblet of mead, listening to cheesy show tunes and other completely random assorted music (aside: CDDB classifies the Mediaeval Baebes as classical. This amuses me), and ripping CDs. I'm giddy and high off...god knows what, because I only just started drinking said mead, and I have more energy than I've had in weeks. I blame the sweet potato. Life is especially entertaining right now. Other than the fact that I'm a lovely shade of red bloches, which also started before the drinking did. Having no skin pigment sucks sometimes.

Oh, and it was snowing, but I went out and glared balefully at it and it promptly stopped falling and started melting. Which is as it should be.

Have I ever mentioned how powerful mead is, especially sweet mead? Yea. This is good stuff - I highly recommend it. Maybe I'll break into one of the bottles of blackberry wine next. Or my lovely Chamois Rouge from Sharp Rock. For some reason my glass is almost empty - I'm sure this is as shocking to you as it is to me. I blame the Pirate Cat.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Out of the Woodwork (the Virginia Renaissance Faire) has been accepted as a Benevolink Charity.

Benevolink is a new movement in corporate giving that links individuals, corporations and nonprofit organizations to improve communities. The Benevolink program:

* Helps consumers give to their favorite charities, including schools, religious, arts and cultural organizations and other causes our consumer members really care about, through the act of shopping
* Helps businesses increase sales, profits and market share, while forming bonds with consumers
* Helps charities generate additional, unrestricted revenue on a year-round basis while adding value for their supporters

Now, the simple act of shopping -- when coupled with the power of 'pooled giving' and consumer choice -- creates a win-win-win scenario for consumers, businesses and charitable causes. Our vision is to significantly increase the funding capacity over time for more than one million nonprofit organizations making a difference in their communities across the United States.

Benevolink works with hundreds of on-line businesses that consumers shop with everyday. These retailers contribute a percentage of every dollar you spend to the nonprofit organizations of your choice. Just by shopping, you can generate money for your kids' schools, your religious organizations, or other causes you really care about.


The Benevolink program is free for shoppers and nonprofit charitable organizations and is an easy and effective way for retailers to reach into the community with their philanthropic efforts. No need to save receipts, clip proof of purchase symbols or use a special card or code when you shop. Benevolink does it all for you. No hidden costs or strings.

There's a HUGE selection of on line stores and services linked to this program with more joining every day. Some of the stores involved in this project are:
A&E - The history Channel American Eagle Outfitters Best Buy Barnes & Noble
Books a Million The Childrens' Place CompUSA Eddie Bauer
Fanny Mae Candy Flax Art and Design Franklin Covey Gap
Jo-Ann Fabrics King Size Direct Kohls Napster
National Geographic Store Office Max Old Navy Payless Shoes
Sears Stables Starbucks Store Tower Records
Travelocity Wilson Leather Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

WOW! How do I sign up?? Log onto www.benevolink.com or telephone 1-800-556-GIVE.. When you register, you can add the charities to which you want your points to apply. To name the Virginia Renaissance Faire as one of your charities, select 'causes' from the top menu bar and enter :

Out of the Woodwork Productions Woodbridge Virginia 22193

Please sign up now. In this season of gifts and giving, do your holiday shopping on line. You'll save on gas, time and your sanity while taking advantage of the great on-line deals provided by these retailers and services. And you'll be helping Out of the Woodwork and the Virginia Renaissance Faire grow.

(*makes a note to get a proper Faire icon at some point...*)

It's not quite midnight yet (Ok, that's not for another hour and fifteen minutes, but who's counting?), but...

HAPPY CRANBERRY DAY TO ALL!

That is all. And if you ask me tomorrow, I'll deny everything, my kittens.