Amber & Breaking (and Sassy) News!

Ever-vigilant Kevin sends this breaking news from CSM about two of my favorite (and most blogged species):


Monkeys...

...and Squirrels.

The headline SLAYS me.

And, I found this conclusion fascinating.

"It is more likely that a simple misunderstanding about the squirrels' nature underpins the melee."

It reminded me of two other animals with a similar antagonism:

Tiggy...

...and Pickles.

Tiggy just misunderstands that Pickles is a baby and just wants to snuggle, or maybe attack her and chew her head, in the most loving way possible.

Amber & There's No Mystery Left

2010 was rather mysterious.  There were a number of mysteries that really absorbed (hogged) alot of my cognitive powers.  For example, it was about seven months from start to finish wondering why my side hurt so much before a new mystery (What on earth did my doctor just say is wrong with me?  Epiglottal appendicidits?) demanded to be answered.

We also solved some year-spanning mysteries, like what exactly we stared at for all those years at the River House?  And we celebrated yearly mysteries on June 8 with Kitty Eyebrow Day.

But our friend 2011 has (finally) brought us a new year's answer for one mystery that plagued me all winter long.  Namely: what on earth is this guy?

This was a deep, dark mystery, compounded by the fact that the image name was "Oink.jpg."  Clearly, that guy is not a pig.  Unlike when we learned all about the dik-dik, I had no general family of animals from which to start my research, never having taken a zoo class in "fuzzy tree creatures."  I had almost given up--although the image was still sitting there on my desktop, taunting me at start up every day.

But, lo!  When I went to do my Monday round-up of all things adorable, there was my mystery buddy along with some of his equally mysterious cousins!

I think that's the same guy, right?  Anyhow, it seems I am behind the cute animal times (makes sense since they are part of pop culture these days).  Cuteoverload solved my mystery in 2009.  Those guys are Japanese Dwarf Flying Squirrels.  That means they can do this!

Surprise!  Cute and flying.

Amber & Some Things New, A New Thing Old

I feel like I am constantly in a struggle with the Entropy of Clutter in my home.  It's hard to carry out myself and the trash and the recycling--especially since the refuse area is down five flights of stairs, around the corner, and in an alley out behind the building frequented by what I like to think of as sleek-tailed squirrels.  And, I seem to accumulate stuff: direct mail samples, Fresh Direct boxes, books of to-do lists, cat fur, etc.  It's crucial to do a weekly Junk Round Up to make room for new, magical space-occupiers.  For example, I'd much rather have this weird sushi wind up robot that Nick gave me than a stack of Con Ed billson my desk.

(Seen here with Big Nose Felted Guy, another keeper from Nick.)

That's two pieces of inari on the left (my fave) and two pieces of tuna on the right.  And I can't show you because I got my phone before they invented video for iPhones (drat to early adapting), but the two sushis sort of bicycle up and down and round and round when you wind it.  Why?  Because it's amazing.

Gifts are not always keepers, but this new Ganesh statue that Diana brought back for me from India sure is.

(Like the mechanical sushi, Ganesh is not as blurry in real life.)

And that reminds me that my blurry-making phone is actually another place to collect wonderful, and muladhara chakra comforting, things.  Like this Ganesh application.

 (See how the bell is all lit up? You can pick it up and ring it. That is mostly what the app does.)

And, Jimmi referred me to this absolutely essential app where you can gong a mokugyo or the metal gong on the left and induce nagomi ("harmony").

(I won't spoil what "With Cat Mode" is.)

And, speaking of cats, this guy came to live with us a few weeks back.

(He's actually laying on a pile of books to return to other people, on the theme of getting rid of old stuff to make room for the new.)

This new buddy is actually an old artifact from the Boxing Day Heritage Booty.   I molded him from greenware, painted his eyes, paw pads and nose, and then glazed the heck out of him in ceramics class.  Proof?

Every great artist signs her work.  In 1981, I was apparently trying something new with my R's.

Amber & Widgets

Look, ma!  I made another meme.

I put my baby face on your cover.

Amber & Birthday Treats

Diana made a delicious ice cream terrine with layers of rhubarb frozen yogurt, Italian plum sorbet and peach sorbet. It is frakking delicious!

Holy crap, Diana. You are amazing.

[Update 11:37 pm: I added these photos to show a) that Kevin was not bored by the terrific terrine, but rather with my photojournalistic intrusion...

...b) what a joyous and lovely laugh Diana has...

...c) it was a birthday celebration, and d) I can fill up my cheeks like a squirrel does but with air instead of nuts.]

[P.S. Don't I look oddly like Woody Allen in that shot? Look at the eyebrows.]

Amber & Pop Ups

So, as you may know, dear reader, I am on a biznus trip to San Francisco. What you may not know is that, on Monday, I had a retreat with my professional colleagues upstate which featured stormy brains, projects made out of concrete, and Marin County nature.

This is a photo document of that project with some editorial help from Alison.

One thing you can say about my division is that we are diverse in size and shape and species.

Amber & Friendship

Over at Internals Plural, CRD posted this examination of the nature of interspecies friendship. Amongst the examples was this photo which is, in fact, an allegory of my friendship with Diana, wherein our parts are played by our respective animal obsessions.

Only, Diana and I have different interpretations of the moral. Diana thinks this is an allegory about how she likes to sniff hedgie me. I think it's about how I am sickie (see my little cast?), and Squirrel Diana comes to give me her well wishes in the form of a little woodland kissy.

(Photo of Diana and Peter by Jimmy)

Thanks, Diana, for being my squirrel friend.

Amber & Slow Lorises

The clever folks over at Cuteoverload brought this video to my attenshuns. I watched it at work on Monday and nearly died from, well, cute overload.



Kevin pointed out that maybe slow lorises are really endangered beasts and maybe these people shouldn't have one in their bed. This is, apparently, a real issue. I sure hope folks won't see this slow loris getting tickled on Amber & and try to get one for themselves.

Also, I learned from Wikipedia that they are actually venomous animals who mark their territory with pee all the time. That's a pretty compelling argument for leaving their cuteness in the wild if you ask me.

Amber & Rediscovered Selves

James is an excellent photographer, so it was not surprising that I found so many of his photos squirreled away on the eMac while I was cleaning it out. What was surprising is how many iChat screen clips James has taken-- and I have saved.

There's this one, for example. I have had those jammies (and Tiggy) for at least ten years, so they're not terribly helpful at dating the shot. The glasses look reddish which would mean they were pre-fall 2006 when I got the same shape but in black. James is in the apartment he has now in all these shots-- you can see his reclining chair behind him.


The apartment kind of looks like it might be in Madison, but I'd have to be sitting on the coffee table since I had a computer cart and the background was a fire place like in this shot.

When was my hair that blonde in Madison? I know I bought those cat ears with CRD on a trip to Target. For some reason, I am wearing my old blue rectangle frames there. I never really liked those, but the lady pressured me.

That one is a classic. I am living on Avenue B-- you can see the brick fire place behind me. And the papasan is that green thing just over my shoulder stage right. Over my left is the drying rack, with my purple sheets and the weird star and flower patterned futon cover. My guess is this is early 2004.

There are, of course, many more where I am wearing face masks, or have a towel on my head. I'm never very glamorous in these shots, but they sure are fascinating bits of history. Thank you, James!

Amber & Puffy Tails

Can you believe how puffy this tail is?

I plan to spend my whole week off contemplating how a tiny cat could have such a puffy tail and not be a squirrel.

That and clean my house, finish painting, and relax.

Amber & Temple Grandin

While I was eating my vegetarian chili, I just read this really nice review of the new book Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals and then placed an order for it on Amazon. I love Temple Grandin as much as she loves animals, but maybe not as much as I love animals.


If you haven't heard about her, Temple is austic and has theorized that the experience of being austic is much like experiencing animal perceptions and emotions. I've read everything she has ever written (some things in bound proof form) and I take very seriously her opinions on how to make sure my cohabitating beasties have full, happy lives.

I can't wait to write a book review to share with you all.

Moo!

Amber & Rip Van Tiggy Winkle

I slept alot yesterday. I guess I was recovering from standing outside in the cold from 9 am until after 7 pm on Friday and Saturday and being peppy and friendly as part of my contribution to the Festive Garden Plantbuilding Show. Or, maybe, now that I have an abundance of cats, my furry beast instincts to hibernate started to overtake my human instinct to shop in late November?

Anyhow, I woke up at 10:30 and fed the cats. Then, I went back to sleep until 2:30. At that time, I showered and dressed and had a bagel. Then, I did some housecleaning and spent some time with kitties until my dinner at 5:30 pm. After dinner, I took a brief nap from 7 until 9 at which point I put on pajamas and went back to sleep.

Oddly, I am still tired today.

Now, where did I burry those acorns...?

Amber & Evidence

Remember my theory that the squirrels are advancing a plot to take over the world? Well, Nick managed to capture evidence on film. Or, not on film, but in digital facsimile.


Now, it may be hard to tell what's happening there (other than Nick keeps his Sure cool by the window), but that is a squirrel climbing on his screen! Nick thinks this is the same squirrel that lived in his air conditioner last year. Notice how fast the squirrel is, how advanced his physical training has been. He makes James Bond look wimpy.

This is a shot of the squirrel moments before his stealthy run.

Amber & The Credit Crisis

How 'bout the economy?

Poor Kevin is in the midst of his second bank collapse this year with the death of WaMu. (Note to self: pull money out of any bank Kevin chooses next.) I've given up shoe buying in order to make sure I have enough savings in case things get worse and the city decides to let the garden go to weed. It's ugly out there-- and confusing.

Luckily, Beatrix Potter left us this explanation of the credit market which really cleared things up for me when I re-read it.




Thank you, Ginger & Pickles.

Amber & Squirrel Season

Don't worry: my lack of a post yesterday wasn't a sign that I was kidnapped by Diana's friends the squirrels. But, boy, are they abundant these days! I guess they are busy storing nuts for the winter, but it also seems possible that they are plotting to take over America while our economy is so weak. Maybe they're been saving up all these years and plan to buy out the remaining banks with acorns.

A squirrel wandered into my hallway a couple of weeks ago and seemed very confused. But maybe he was really just acting confused and on a reconnassaince mission. Maybe he is planning on buying my building! I bet squirrels would be great landlords. Although, their policies might not be so cat-friendly.

I think we should study up on our new masters and their squirrely ways. Nick found this photo gallery as a start.

Amber & Non-Plussed Men

At the risk of outraging the public, I don't get the fawning over Mad Men. It is true that I have only seen two episodes from the first season, but I have no desire to see more.

Yes, they sure smoked alot in the fifties-- and drank and made inappropriate sexual comments to ladies in the workplace! Weren't those quaint times? We sure are smarter than they were. And the gays were so closeted! And the sweaters were so form fitting! There's a certain disturbing and overly simple nostalgia to the show that I don't enjoy nearly as much as I enjoy this artifact of 1950s advertising.

Yes, the show paints a lovely tableau vivant, but why couldn't I just spend the 45-minutes looking at actual tableau from the same period (although maybe not so vivant)?

Mad Men? Bad Men. No thanks.

Amber & Woodland Creatures

So, it turns out that Etsy.com, which I blogged about a while back, is so yesterday. I read that the founding C.E.O. stepped down and took his coral pink nail polish and skate ramp with him. And then, the New York Times did an article last week about "The Ambassador of Homemade," Faythe Levine who has a new film coming out about the D.I.Y. fad. Crafts may be so yesterday, but I am absolutely still making ONE MILLION crochet flowers and a quilt.

From the article...

"Home stores like Urban Outfitters and, to a lesser extent, West Elm, continue to limn the handmade look — the woodland creatures, the deadpan-delicate drawings of nature scenes, “the whole cuteness factor,” as Ms. Levine put it — in many of their products."

Woodland Creatures sure are adorable.


But, my fellow gardeners, Jolynne and Jen, recently D.I.Y.ed themselves a real, live Woodland Creature! This is Walnut who fell out of a tree and was, as Diana notes is the way with baby squirrels, oddly obsessed with people.



You can see Walnut's original film debut here.

Amber & Birthday Booty, Nick Style

Today is the Saturday of my weekend. Mostly, I have home chores to do, but I also need to buy a frame for my Art which Nick gave me for my birthday.


To commemorate my entrance into the world, Nick gave me this reproduction of an original painting by Susie Ghahremani. (He got it on Etsy.com from the artist's shop there.)

I don't know if you noticed, but my Art is a hedgie playing a piano with his nose. What's going on there? Why is that so cute it makes me squeal? It's a hedgie, and he's playing a song on the piano with his tiny pink nose. See the musical note? That's how we know he is playing a song and not just sniffing the keys. Diana has a t-shirt by the same artist with a squirrel playing a snare drum. Who knew little animals were so musical?

I love Art.

Amber & Oldies but Goodies

Why is it funny?

The foundation of my sense of humor is remembering events that were funny in the Past. If something is funny once, you can be sure I am going to make references to it again (and again and again). There are a bevvy of Jokes of Ye Olde Times that are referenced on an ongoing basis. They are my Modern Classics of Humor.

Some of these are activities, like the Bad Touch game or Boogie Shoulders.

Some are images which have a long history, like this one of CRD riding his bicycle, unclothed style.

There are even phrases which have accumulated so many jolly memories over the years, that they themselves are metonyms for the larger joke. A few of these phrases include "designer shirt" (be careful, that link makes noise), "I'm just resting my eyes," "chaka" (alternately, "bah bah bah"), and "clam fritters!"

Every day, I add new funnies to my Master List. At this rate, by the time I am 60, all I will do is laugh.

Amber & Squirrel Nutkin

This morning when we woke up, Woody and I discovered that Squirrel Nutkin had left an acorn necklace hanging from the door of the dresser!
We knew it was Squirrel Nutkin because he had left necklaces for Diana's class after they gathered acorns and gave them to the squirrels in the park. I'm not sure what I did to deserve my necklace, but I am very grateful that Squirrel Nutkin paid me a visit.


I'm pretty sure it wasn't Squirrel Nutkin who left the clock after Awesome Club. I think that was Squirrel CRD.