My Archives: December 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
At my local Safeway the other day, I saw limited edition Lucerne Yogurt marked down to three for a dollar. Good value, especially the Chai Latte flavor which I really liked. Not everyone is so fond of it, though. The Impulsive Buy describes the flavor as a "horribly gross tangy spicy taste."
(tags: Yogurt, Safeway, Lucerne, ChaiLatte)
Posted by Anita @ 04:25 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
At my local Safeway the other day, I saw limited edition Lucerne Yogurt marked down to three for a dollar. Good value, especially the Chai Latte flavor which I really liked. Not everyone is so fond of it, though. The Impulsive Buy describes the flavor as a "horribly gross tangy spicy taste."
(tags: Yogurt, Safeway, Lucerne, ChaiLatte)
Posted by Anita @ 04:23 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Next Tuesday, January 2 at 7 pm, it's the East Side Weblog Meetup! Weblog folks who live and/or work on the East side meet at Crossroads Mall, NE 8 and 156 Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98008. Look for us between the main area by the stage and the giant chessboard -- there will be a sign. Please pass the info along to any East Side webloggers you know!
(tags: WeblogMeetup, SeattleMeetup, BlogMeetup, Meetup, Weblogs, Blogs)
Posted by Anita @ 04:42 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I need one of those services like (now gone, I think) PubSub to track web mentions of people I admire. I completely missed that Kaffe Fassett, the design and knitting guru who inspired me to learn to knit in the first place, was in charge of the big Christmas tree at the Victoria and Albert Museum a year ago. I'm so glad that the web pages are still up! Lots of gorgeous color to warm up the winter days. He did it with paper fans. I especially like the garlands that combine the paper fans, big flowers, and fruit.
(tags: KaffeFassett, Christmas, VictoriaAndAlbert, ChristmasTree, Knitting)
Posted by Anita @ 05:08 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Sunday, December 24, 2006
What was Christmas like in my favorite historical period, the Regency? Christmas was actually not celebrated that much, as far as we can tell! When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol ( in 1843, well after the Regency period), it was part of a revival of old customs that had lapsed. Jo Beverley at Word Wenches describes the actual Regency Christmas, as much as is known about it. "So, what was Christmas like through most of our Regency period? My reading suggests that it was still celebrated in many local, rustic ways, but that among the gentry it was a mostly religious festival marked by a good meal with friends and charity to the poor. In Jane Austen’s Emma, we are told, 'At Christmas every body invites their friends about them, and people think little of even the worst weather.' Many of the traditions we now associate with it had been practiced in the past, but were now considered rustic."
(tags: Christmas, Regency, JoBeverley, WordWenches)
Posted by Anita @ 07:24 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Friday, December 22, 2006
The holiday edition of the Seattle Weblog Meetup was a lot of fun! Traffic made Jack, grandson R, and me arrive a half-hour late, but there were bloggers already sitting at some tables pushed together, chatting away happily. While I was standing at the deli counter I met the owner of Ralph's for the first time, though we've been meeting there for several years. I told him how it's been a good place for us to meet, and he kindly offered to pay for my meal. The cookies I'd baked were popular and only a small portion of the pan of Double Stacks went home with us -- these were brownies topped with chocolate chip cookie dough, then baked. Thanks, Costco and Krusteaz! The chatting went on till late. Those present:
- Clark Humphrey with a copy of his new book, Vanishing Seattle
- Jerry Kindall
- Karen Anderson
- Brooks Lindsay of Debatepedia was visiting from the DC area -- try Debatus if the new name of his site isn't working yet
- Ken Brush
- Paul Andrews -- his report
- Margaret Bartley is thinking about blogging
- Ronald Holden, a food blogger
- Jack William Bell and our grandson R
- and me!
(tags: SeattleMeetup, Blogs, Weblogs, Meetup, WeblogMeetup)
Posted by Anita @ 03:52 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
I've mentioned the Christmas Revels before. It's a mix of classical, folky, and other music that pleases me a lot. In 1992 I said I'd be sure to attend the local group (based in Tacoma) the next year but I did not. They are performing tonight and tomorrow evening so if you live around here you could still go -- I enjoyed them when I saw their shows in the nineties, but the Tacoma location makes it more difficult. Again I say, next year! I'll try to find a place near the theater to have dinner and recruit some friends to go with us.
I treated myself to a new CD from the main Revels group yesterday, Rose and Thistle which is half English and half Scottish music. Very fun and made me feel very Solstice-Christmassy! There are lots of audio clips from the many Revels CDs on their business site so you can hear the variety of what they do.
Posted by Anita @ 04:10 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Saturday, December 16, 2006
As you may have heard, we've had some weather around here lately! I had to drive to SeaTac airport Thursday evening to pick Jack up on his return from a business trip to Austria. Gah! The rain was the heaviest I've seen in many a year. It didn't let up until I was parked in the cell phone parking lot and could unclench my hands from the steering wheel. I drove home (Jack nodding off beside me) after a good dinner with our friends Jim Kling and Ivy Yap -- they were spending the night at a motel near the airport because they had an early flight the next morning.
The gusts were building up by the time we got home, and there were a few power blinks before I went to bed so I turning off everything I could find. We did wake up when the power went off for the duration because Grandson R didn't like being in a pitch black room, and the UPS was beeping insistently downstairs. We all managed to get back to sleep.
In the morning, Jack had some connectivity on his cell phone and learned his office building had power, indeed had never lost it. So he decided to try to get to work (his van was still there anyway in the garage). We failed to taked into account that the 520 bridge was blocked due to the windstorm, so anyone driving to Seattle had to get off that road and take 405 through Bellevue to I-90! So even beyond the traffic lights that had to be negotiated like four way stops (I mean, four-way-stops filled with idiots!) we were in bumper to bumper traffic for over an hour. When we got to his building, about half the employees were there, but there was work for Jack to do so he decided to stay. I drove home in about twenty minutes -- all the traffic was going the other way!
Grandson R and I took a good walk in the Microsoft woods. I lit a bunch of candles before Jack got home. He stopped at our storage unit and got the camp stove, bottled gas, catalytic heater, and his favorite camping accessory: little oil-candles we got at a Restaurant supply place that are better and safer than my scented votives. He had a long drive home because he was looking for a gas station with power to buy gas for the generator! When he got home we heated up some chili out of the freezer, then Jack played guitar. Both R and the grownups had an early night.
Our power came on in the middle of the night! But cable is still out, thus cable internet is out. We ventured to downtown Redmond to look for WiFi, and found it at Panera. These kind folks let us use their internet even thought they are serving no food (baking has to start in the middle of the night before). Yay, Panera!
Posted by Anita @ 11:17 AM PST [Link] [1 Comment]
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, it's the Seattle Weblog Meetup, Holiday Edition! Start time is 7 pm, location is Ralph's Grocery and Deli, 2035 4th Ave (map and directions), in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, diagonally across from the Cinerama. Free WiFi, and food and drink are available (you can buy anything in the store and consume it in the deli area, so that includes wine and beer if you want). Local and visiting webloggers talk about blog topics and lots else. Topic for the evening: Holiday cookies! I hope to see you there!
(tags: SeattleMeetup, Blogs, Weblogs, WeblogMeetup)
Posted by Anita @ 04:22 AM PST [Link] [Add a Comment]
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
David X. Cohen, Futurama co-creator, answers questions about the series returning at Toyfare. I love that show! "Within the new season, we will definitely feature more continuity than in the past. We will also be shedding light on several lingering questions from the original run, including hitherto unknown facts about Nibbler, dark matter and Seymour the dog. By the way, that was my first use of the word 'hitherto' in an interview. I think it went well." Via Danelope.
(tags: Futurama, DavidXCohen)
Posted by Anita @ 04:37 AM PST [Link]
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Alex Ross (music critic for The New Yorker) reports that WGMS, the classical music radio station in the DC area where I grew up, will be switching to a sports-talk format. What a shame! I remember listening to it as a girl. "Anyone who spins this story as an example of classical music's allegedly declining audience -- the 'death of classical music' routine -- will be engaging in pure fiction. WGMS, whatever its failings, has long enjoyed excellent ratings and is a profitable outfit, generating $9.7 million in advertising."
I'm glad that our local station, KING-FM (a Wikipedia article), is relatively safe. It's owned by a non-profit, but must make money to fund donations to local arts groups. They've made some programming changes. Hmmm, I didn't notice; maybe I'm not listening as much as I thought? It's still the number two button on my car radio, right after KUOW.
(tags: WGMS, AlexRoss, KUOW, ClassicalMusic)
Posted by Anita @ 04:43 AM PST [Link]
Monday, December 11, 2006
I confess that I haven't taken this quiz, but when Jeffy posted his results (Loser! I know a lot of INTP programmers, I think) I had to peek at how INFJ is described -- the usual example is Gandhi! "Freak's not such a bad word to describe you actually. You are deep, complex, secretive and extremely difficult to understand. If that doesn't scream 'Freak!' I don't know what does. No-one actually knows the REAL you, do they? You probably have deep interests in creative expression as well as issues of spirituality and human development."
(tags: MyersBriggs, AbusiveMyersBriggs, JeffYoungstrom)
Posted by Anita @ 04:36 AM PST [Link]
Thursday, December 7, 2006
On Jessamyn's new Vox blog, she describes what she had to do to get her Dish TV receiver removed, in the form of an open letter to the Dish people. "However, while I am pleased with your concern and your entreaties to 'use caution when climbing and working at the dish mounting location' I was less pleased with being told I had ten days to accomplish this task or pay you $149. You see, it's wintertime in New England and climbing and working are two things that we New Englanders like to do less of when there's ice on the ground, roof, ladder and Dish."
The first time I met Jessamyn.
Posted by Anita @ 04:46 AM PST [Link]
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
We had a good time at Tuesday's East Side Weblog Meetup, with a few new faces and holiday music as a bonus! Those present:
- Bob Louden has been a member of the meetup but this was the first time he actually joined us. He was looking for blog info because some of the web site owners he works with are interested in adding blogging to their sites, but he doesn't have a weblog of his own yet.
- Kathy Schuler wanted to know about ways that bloggers connect with each other.
- Tommy Williams
- Jim Kling (his pro-writer site) and Ivy Yap were visiting me for the past few nights while Jack is traveling for business, and they were great helping with grandson wrangling.
- and me!
The Bellevue Community Band was playing holiday music when we got started and was still playing when the meetup was over, so I took grandson R over to sit near them and listen. They sounded good for a community band, and R really was interested! I was surprised when the last piece was over and he dashed up to speak to the conductor, Phillip Donley. Unprompted, he said thanks for the music and avowed that he liked "all Christmas music!"
(tags: SeattleMeetup, WeblogMeetup, blogging, BellevueCommunityBand)
Posted by Anita @ 08:46 AM PST [Link]
Monday, December 4, 2006
Word Wenches is a group weblog with some of my favorite romance writers as members. Mary Jo Putney, Jo Beverley, and Edith Layton are all keepers for me! Today an author I haven't read yet, Susan Holloway Scott aka Miranda Jarrett, discusses the cover on her latest book, Duchess: A Novel of Sarah Churchill. "But as a pure symbol of Sarah as Her Grace the Duchess of Marlborough -- ah, this painting can't be beat. To begin with, there's that fantastic red costume, visible clear across any bookshop. It's not a dress; it's a dressing gown, a loose-fitting, wrapped garment worn casually at home. Many aristocrats chose such informal attire for portraits to reinforce their elevated rank. While you, the viewer of the painting, would have had to be fully, formally dressed before you called upon a grand lady like Sarah, she, being your superior in rank and wealth, doesn't have to bother for the inferior likes of you. She's still wearing her undergarments, of course -- even hierarchical undress has its limits -- and her whalebone-stiffened stays mold her body into the fashionable, conical shape visible beneath her loosely wrapped dressing gown. Yet though this is a casual garment, it's still a very costly one -- and one that Sarah, the wealthiest woman in England, wants you to know she can afford with ease."
(tags: WordWenches, SusanHollowayScott, Duchess)
Posted by Anita @ 06:41 AM PST [Link]
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Julie McGalliard of Goth House fame describes the good and bad of ice and snow:
- Love it when big, fuzzy flakes are falling outside the window and a strange hush falls over the world.
- Hate it when it takes six hours to drive home from Thanksgiving, much of it stuck behind cars with drivers who don’t seem acquainted with the laws of physics and do things like slow down when they’re going up hills.
- Love it when I’m the first one to leave footprints in a field of virgin snow and it squeaks under my boots.
- Hate it when it takes twice as long to walk downtown because every sidewalk has been tramped down into a sheet of pure ice, and every step is a potentially painful argument between me and gravity.
Jake of 8Bit Joystick drove right into the ditch!
My tail swung out in front of me Ridge Racer style and I felt time compress like the Matrix as the adrenaline kicked in. I did a complete 270 degree spin and slid off the road and down an embankment backwards. I was lucky that my car bottomed out on the dirt and stopped without crashing down into the brush or into a tree. I also lucked out in that I was able to flag down a driver and hopped a ride to a gas station and lucked out again in I called one of the only tow truck companies right when they finished a job so I was at the front of their list of jobs for the night. It cost me 200 bucks (That is four new games damn it!) in cash to get my car back on the road and I consider it a bargain since I avoided any damage to my car or to myself.The Atomic Lemur says, "As I walked home today a man stepped out of a restaurant and said in a very confused and slow voice, "it's raining?" There’s an old myth that the Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow, apparently in Seattle they don't have one."
(tags: SeattleSnow, GothHouse, JulieMcGalliard, 8bitJoystick, JakeMetcalf, AtomicLemur)
Posted by Anita @ 05:13 AM PST [Link]
Friday, December 1, 2006
Next Tuesday, December 5 at 7 pm, it's the East Side Weblog Meetup! Weblog folks who live and/or work on the East side meet at Crossroads Mall, NE 8 and 156 Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98008. Look for us between the main area by the stage and the giant chessboard -- there will be a sign. Please pass the info along to any East Side webloggers you know!
(tags: Blogs, SeattleMeetup, WeblogMeetup, BlogMeetup)