Amber & Ouchy Headaches

I had a killer headache last night. In addition to flashes of light in my peripheral vision and blinding pain in my eyeballs, the purple ghosts in front of my eyeballs gave it away as an m-word.


Apparently, headaches might not be all bad, but it might mean I am po'. Who knew m-words were such a timely hot news topic?

Amber & Another Historical Apartment

Previously on this blog... Amy itemized the apartments I have rented which she has never seen, and James commented earlier that my apartments get nicer as time (and I) move along. I here present an anomaly for James and further information for Amy.

My second Madisonwiscon apartment was in a building called the Shorecrest, although there was a cliff, a highway, and a bike path in between it and the lake.

The apartment itself was pretty small, weighing in at 492 square feet. I had moved there to save money since the enormous broom closet on South Hancock was pretty costly.

It had some odd features, like a walk in closet that was in the bathroom (not on the floor plan) and a fuse box right in the middle of the wall above the bed which Diana helped me disguise with pretty paper.
Perhaps the most interesting feature was the Jim Morrison throw that was featured in the photos on the apartment listing. Unfortunately, it did not actually come with the apartment.

Amber & Other Apartments of History

My last apartment in NYC was uptown, but not as far uptown as my new one. The old one was on LaSalle Street, which is about 123rd Street off of Broadway. It was also HUGE.

It had a generous, although oddly-shaped, kitchen which was a shame because it was so easy to order in from Pisticci.The living room was really nice, perfect for Programs, and had French doors that lead to the bedroom.


It was billed as a two bedroom because, off of the other bedroom, there was an oversized walk-in closet which the real estate agent told me I could "put my baby in." Instead, I used it as a computer room.

Amber & Apartments I Have Rented

I spent the entire day packing and cleaning my soon-to-be-former D.C. apartment. I'm in pretty good shape. After I do laundry tomorrow night and pack the rest of the clothing, all that will remain is moving the stuff out out of the file cabinets and the last remnants of things that are in current use-- I can't go naked and not eat just to be done packing.

My new NYC apartment is pretty scoopy, I think. However, it's not nearly as big as the apartment I rented on South Hancock Street in Madisonwisconsin. That apartment was unreal in a very Midwestern way. It had a good size bedroom with huge windows and a closet the size of 70 East 7th Street Apartment 5N.

And, it had a really comfy and luxurious living room and incredible kitchen. (Thanks for the couch, Sara and Bob.)

And? It had a surprise back room which, for better and worse, became the cat room. When I rented it, I thought the door lead to a broom closet. Maybe if you consider a Zamboni a broom?

Amber & Not Believing the Hype

Yesterday, the main buzz around DC was the Storm of the Century that was going to hit us at midnight with ice and snow and force the government to shut down today. Although CRD reports snow to the north of us, and his sister has a muff, it's a little rainy and a little slippery out and we have a "winter mix," but the Federal Government is mostly open for business. Hmpf.


Lucky for me that I didn't tempt fate and went to bed at the regular time and didn't count on the snow day to go out partying like some people who called in with "stomach viruses" today.


In a week, I will be experiencing the exact same weather patterns as CRD. I love Every Weather the Same Club. Unless, because Washington Heights is 130 blocks more northerly, maybe it will be colder there?

Amber & Public Displays of Blogging

One of the challenges of blogging, other than doing it when you're in two 12-hour meetings in a 48-hour period, is remembering that people read your blog. I don't mean you (and you know who you are), but Others. And not The Others.


It's like the cautionary tales about girls who post pictures of themselves puking into toilets on their Facebook pages that are then seen by potential employers who are smart enough to know how to Google. Only, in this case, I want to complain about how dumb my leasing agent is, but who knows if she's reading this blog right now? (Hi, Rosie!)

I'm in limbo. I am waiting for the okay to move my stuff into my new apartment so I can plan my move. I have to be out of my current apartment on the 29th, but my new lease doesn't start until the 1st. In this case, the landlord is saying I can definitely move my stuff (but not myself) in "some day" next week but they're not sure when at this moment. So I make daily phone calls. It reminds me of Madisonwisconsin, where you were homeless overnight as the entire rental market moved out on August 14th, had camp-outs and bonfires, and then moved in to new places on the 15th. I don't want to be homeless, not even for one night. It seems like tempting fate which is so not 2008.

Amber & Scones

I think scones might be my favorite food. I like all sweet kinds: blueberry and raspberry from Starbucks, cinnamon from Au Bon Pain, those little round plain ones from Trader Joe's, and most of all the ginger scones from Teaism.


They serve them at the shop with apricot jam and butter, but that's almost too much deliciousness to add to their already delicious state. They're just divine with Earl Grey.

Once, James made me scones at my house. They were super yummy and alot of hard work. Just like Snapshot Artifact.

Amber & Hollywood

W.T.F., Hollywood?  Nick and I went to the video store to reward ourselves for so much good packing in such environmentally less-unfriendly boxes.  But, there was nothing but straight to video junk and torture movies.  Does John Cusack make any movies that get released in the theaters these days?

We're just going to watch some Offices free on NBC.com which is nice because now the writers get paid for it.

Amber & Special Extra Post

Kevin's Gray Boy is under the weather today. He had a visit to the vet, never his favorite, and is home now with some homeopathic drops and an antibiotic. Unfortunately, Gray Boy's english isn't so good so Dr. Schaubhut isn't sure exactly what's bothering the boy.

Gray Boy is such a noble fuzzy beasty. I love him like I love gorillas. Everybody think positive thoughts for the buddy, please? It seemed very helpful with Little Miss H.

(Amazing photos capturing the essence of Gray Boy's kittyness by James. Who else?)

Amber & Kitty Business

Sometimes, technology lags behind need. Like with cell phones: tons of people have them but they just don't work as well as you would think they can. We can send a man to the moon but we can't make cell phones retain calls inside yellow brick buildings?

But in other cases, technology far out-paces demand. I present an example.

Be sure to watch the videos.

Amber & Lovey Gorillas

Who knew that Valentine's Day had such a natural affinity with gorillas? The two go together like peanut butter and chocolate or cats and watermelon.


This little buddy is an e-greeting you can send over at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, and while you're over there you can donate to make sure gorillas are here to help us celebrate many more V-Days to come. They do good work with the Mountain Gorillas.

Or, this craft set could be nice which helps promote gorillas' natural rights to fly bi-planes.


Happy Valentine's Day, Gorillas!

Amber & Kitty PJs

Today is a sad day in the world of pants. The kitty pajama bottoms that have been my loyal bedtime companions have gone to the rag bag in the sky. Taya gave them to me many, many years ago at my bowling birthday party. I bundled their receipt. Taya said she was concerned that I might not like my gift, and I said, "As long as it's not something cat-themed!" And lo! Kitty pajama bottoms which turned out to be a wonderful gift.

(photo from yoga on deck at River House by James)

I've loved them. I loved their cottony softness, their ability to mask kitty fur, and the fact that it says meow on the back pocket. But this morning, I went to pull them up and with my brute strength tore the waist band right off the pants. They already had several holes where my restless leg syndrome had worn them thread-bare, so there's no hope of mending.

God bless, kitty pajamas.

Amber & Sickness

Kevin says it's a sickness. But sometimes a little sickness is a good thing. Like: when you have food poisoning and it clears out the bad things in your system. The food is the bad thing, not the sickness. In this case, the cold weather is the bad thing, not the lusting after the Maniitok Parka.

Patagonia, everyone's favorite do-gooder outdoor outfitter, is having a HUGE sale. They aptly summarize the sheer joy of the discounted goods available by calling it Winterfest. Co-worker Laura and I walked all the way to Georgetown in the freezing weather (and she had no hat or gloves) and got $39 messenger bags that we love.


I also got a pair of $49 organic cotton jeans which were located on the cash register line like some kind of giant point-of-purchase candy bar shaped like pants. Yum!

I highly recommend it.

Amber & Well Wishes

Little Miss Hazel is under the weather. She's fighting a fierce battle with a chest cold, and her mommy and daddy are worried about their little sweetness.


If we all think positive thoughts about Hazel Bee's wellness, I'm sure that would be helpful. I sure like Hazel, her mommy and her daddy.

(Photos, when Little Miss Hazel was Baby Hazel, were taken by James.)

Amber & Pickled Herring

For the first time ever this weekend, I am going to try pickled herring.  I am very excited both for the healthfulness of small fishes and for the pickledness.  I love pickled most everything: garlic, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, olives, eggs.  Why wouldn't I love pickled herring?  I can't wait.

I sure hope it's not gross and makes me gag.  That would be rude to the small fishes.

Amber & Transitions

It is official: I have resigned from my current job at Tap Dance Monthly magazine. Word is starting to spread throughout the office and so I am officially blogging it. I came in this morning to find a bunch of appointments on my calendar for various out-transition related meetings. Most of the agendas can be summed up as "What exactly do you do, and what won't get done when you're not here?"

Although my next steps are not ready to be blogged, I feel a little bit like I have put on my leather pants and boots and descended into the Underworld. It will be very hard work over the next week(s): preparing an exit memo, working with my staff on their roles, packing, deciding whether or not it's worth it to move those jeans that still don't quite fit me. But then, at the end, won't I emerge refreshed and spring-like?

Amber & Bears

It's not true that I don't like pandas. I do, actually. Alot. I have lost whole days of my life watching PandaCam. I just think they get the bulk of the zoo-goer and conservationist attention and overshadow the wonders of apes. But, really, what's not to like?


Really, I like all baby animals, especially the wiggly furry ones. And baby bears are star examples of that genre of cuteness. And I like big bears, too. When I went to Alaska, I saw Grizzlies, and I liked them. From a distance. But, Keeper Cathy sure gets to like bears up close.

That is sure not what they taught us to do in Alaska. Best wishes to Kathy who has moved to Denver, too! She is a nice person and it was nice volunteering with her.

Amber & Kiwi Folk

I can't believe I haven't yet blogged about my love for the Flight of the Conchords. I watched an episode recently with CRD, Kevin and Diana, and not as many people laughed out loud as I thought would. I sure find them hysterical.




I make reference to "free-styling" now on a regular basis.

Amber & Alice

In 2004, I got Alice, the iBook G4. I asked the cute Apple Store man to help me find, the cutest, littlest and cheapest iBook and he showed me Alice and it was true love. She was faster than my old eMac, pretty and so small that she could fit into most of my handbags. I didn't store anything on her, but used her like a remote terminal and took her everywhere I traveled.

But then her health began to decline. Woody got caught in her power cord and knocked her off the couch. For some reason known only to the mysteries of evolution, the ganglia in my leg told me to punt her. The result was two weeks in the hospital for her, replaced hinges on her screen and a new hard drive which Nick installed for her.




Since then, she has been a little fickle. Recently, her touchpad stopped working altogether and she refuses to charge a battery. And, her AC cord is extremely touch sensitive, so, without a charged battery, she shuts off every time you wiggle the cord. Last night, I tried wiping her hard drive and reinstalling Cheetah, or whatever the operating system I use is. No change.

She's an aging diva, Alice. I loved her when, but it may be time for our love to end.

Amber & Freaky Animals

Another freaky animal we learned about in primate class is the aye aye. I barely have to say anything to outline the ways in which this little buddy is freaky.

They are nocturnal and have freaky hands. The narrow finger allows them to tap on tree branches to determine if there are larvae inside and then the longer one allows them to scoop out the foody worms.



They are also possibly the most endangered primate in the world, with deforestation being a huge challenge for their habitat.

What a weird, wonderful world we live in. I love animals and plants.

Amber & The Dead

I may think I'm pretty 2006 with my blog, but my friend Art Simon is at least two years ahead of me with his vlog called The Weekly Dead. It's not quite weekly, but worth the wait between episodes.

Online Videos by Veoh.com



Puts my old-fashioned still image bog to shame. Keep it up, Art!

Amber & Bon Voyage, Jimmy!

Jimmy is on his way to China right now as part of a very scoopy photo tour. He made a friend on his last trip of this kind to Mexico, and now is traveling East to photograph General Tsao and his friends.


He had to take a taxi to the airport at three in the morning so he's probably passed out on the plane right now. Or at least looking like this.


Have a good trip, Jimmy! Bring me back something Chinese! Maybe a panda....