Amber & Target Demographic

So, I was just in D.C. overnight for biznusses.  And I stayed at the lovely Quincy hotel, mostly because it was cheap and also right around the corner from where the biznusses were conducted.  (And because my old apartment at the Argonne has probably been rented.)  There were several notable things about the Quincy which I will proceed to note hereforth.

1.  The couch in my room was totally the larger L version of my home couch.  Same fabric, same feet shape, same velcro attachments for the pillows.

Same, same, same-- except less cat fur.  And no sheet covering it to protect it from cats or little decorator pillows or Ginger.

2.  There was a very strange music thing happening, both in that they chose to blast all of the songs from my "HS Memories" playlist in the lobby (see sidebar), but also because, very randomly, there was a Billy Squier album cover on the wall on my floor near the elevator.

True, they never played any Billy Squier in the lobby, but there he was, gazing at me while I waited for the elevator.  This prompted Kevin to say, "This must be a hotel for young people."  And that made me laugh uproariously since that album came out before some of my younger friends were born.

3.  There was a giant mirror against the wall.  (Even bigger than yours, CRD.)  It made me realize that I really need a full length mirror if I am going to avoid making outfit mistakes like that one time I wore the balloon top out in public.  Or, maybe just forgetfully not make outfit choices at all.

4.  In this big mirror, I also noticed that my skirt (seen here with the oddly ruffly sweater, both acquired during my total blogging black out at Outlet Mall Weekend Edition of Awesome Club) matched the orange couch pillows.

Is there such a thing as fate?  Are some matches are meant to be?  E.g.,  My skirt + the couch pillows? Me + The Quincy?  This must be a hotel for me.

 Billy Squier doesn't want me to embed his video as my conclusion, but it's here.  But, we also heard this song in the lobby, and it made me touch my heart in nostalgia and emotion.  And a voice inside my head said, "Don't look back-- you can never look back."



Except at the Quincy.

Amber & So Much Has Happened

If you noticed, I have not been blogging lately.  Soooo much has been happening that it has been hard to find time to blog.

For example, I got this new hair...

But then I didn't like that hair and so I got this other new hair that has a tendency to Alfalfa.

I am also, in that photo, wearing a new and very strange ruffle sweater that I got on a special Outlet Mall Weekend Edition of Awesome Club with these boys in a rental vehicle that we could have removed the seats and camped in.

On that trip, I also got this new jacket which matches my tights that I already owned.

Oh!  And there were all these doilies in the office, mysteriously one Monday.  Kevin thought I brought them in.

Oh!  And then there was the week where I bent to get the soap in the shower and stood up and scraped a giant raspberry into my back.  And then, I stubbed my toe in the office.

Although from hair, we can tell that was before.  Probably around the same time I got these great wall flowers in San Francisco.

Oh!  And I painted my nails!

And alot of stuff happened with the cats, but they can't send their Skype BFF photos, so we don't really have the same level of documentation of their activities.

It sure is lucky I am back to blogging so I can do something with these photos daily rather than save them scattered all over my desktop.

Amber & Birthday Poose

Happy Birthday, Zachariah!

Make sure that you check our CRD's tribute to his beastie buddy to learn more about my second favorite Awesome Club regular attendee's Qualities which are numerous and cat-like.

If I wasn't on bed rest, I would squeeze you super hard, Zach.

Amber & The Bloody Truth

Everywhere I go lately, I see those bus ads for True Blood, the HBO series about vampires which are based on the popular series of books but are not that other popular vampire movie/book franchise.

I've never seen the show.  But I did really, really like that other show about vampires.  (Little known fact: Awesome Club originally was Buffy Club.  Hence the Tuesday night schedule.)  So, I asked James if he thought I would like it, and he said yes.

But I was still sort of skeptical, although I couldn't tell you why.  Maybe the ads are just too lush?  Maybe it's the challenge for me of watching any HBO shows?  Maybe it's that I missed the first two seasons and would have to catch up fast?

But then Kirk, hot off his successful recommendation of Frisky Dingo and therefore an expert on what makes good TV, pointed me to this video by Snoop Dogg, a tribute to one of the characters on the show.  It is so over-the-top, I can't even bring myself to embed it.

Suffice it to say that it is more Snoop than Snoop ever was, a real simulacrum of Snoopdom.  I have no idea how to take it.  Does he know she's not a real person?  And?  "Yellow cars ain't fly, So hop in my jet."  For real?

I say no thank you to the whole endeavor.  Until I watch all the new Psychs and there is nothing else to do.

Oh, Snoop.

Amber & Last Week's Brain Fails Are Tomorrow's New Friends

Remember when I learned that I should listen to everything CRD says very very closely because he speaks infinite volumes of wisdom... at least pertaining to DANGER?

Meet Roger.

Roger arrived yesterday in a tube along with a poster about NEW YORK BREASTFEEDING that I had to try to hang on the office wall near the fax machine.  (It's hard to hang stuff on the wall when you are not tall.)  He came with a letter of introduction. It says...

Hello!

I am your new friend Roger. Roger for "roger that, CRD; this pan is hot!"  Please use me as a cute reminder that your pan handle is hot.  As a baby potholder, I can't stand up to hard core use, but I hope to someday grown into a whale of a hot pad.

Glub, glub,

Roger

I used Roger last night, seen above helping to steam edamame during Awesome Club.  Roger's chances of survival to adult potholderhood were put in jeopardy last night when he met Zach the kitty potholder.

But things came out okay, including the edamame, and I no longer have to pay any attention to CRD.

Thanks, Roger!

Amber & Danger!

When you are cooking a steak for Awesome Club and CRD tells you to watch out because the handle of the cast iron skillet is very hot (since Alton Brown told you to heat it up in the oven first), you should really pay attention.  Or else.

Just like when the horrible studio head tells you that bad things will happen if you don't sign the contract, you'd better sign it.  But then bad things will probably happen anyway.  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS.

Especially if you are a big-mouthed, not very bright aspiring starlet played by Miss Shelley Winters.

I love Robert Aldrich.  He could Kiss Me Deadly any time.  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS.

Also, did you know you aren't supposed to ice burns?

Amber & Friday Fun Club

Last night, CRD and I enjoyed Friday Fun Club, which has nothing whatsoever to do with Awesome Club.  I don't know why you'd ever confuse them.  They are completely different things.   They have, for example, totally different names.

So many fun things happened during Friday Fun Club, including, but certainly not limited to:

1.  Le Disko

Thank you disco, for becoming what you are today by fusing with glam rock and electronica.  And thank you Kylie Minogue-listeners (you know who you are) for making it happen.  Take that, Bee Gees.

2.  Thai food.

3.  A really nice savignon blanc, full of notes of stuff and a finish with flavors and stuff.  (We have to take that wine class, CRD.)

4.  This.

Overheard regarding an Olympic ice dancing pair, and quickly added to the list of items to remember.  Right next to this whole scene from Awesome Club earlier in the week.



Good times.

Amber & Ducks Mate for Life

If nothing else, I am consistent in my adorations.  See for example, pickles.  (Not Pickles.  About him I can be very fickle especially when he puts the fleece wand on my face at 4 am and then sits on my chest and mews.)  This especially true of my crushes, which I hold onto like Eva Marie Saint clinging to Cary Grant and the eyeball on Mt. Everest (thanks to Steve, who knows the difference between Mt. Rushmore and Mt. Everest).

Speaking of Cary Grant, I am incredibly loyal to my actor crushes. Once I love you on-screen, you can do just about anything, take any bad role, grow old, change your hair and guest star on NCIS, and I will continue to love you diegetically, aesthetically, and dreamily.  Only maybe I will blog about you a little less.  Take, for example, Johnny Depp.

Sigh.  If you've known me for any length of time (or ever had tequila with me), it's likely you know the root story of my love for Johnny.  If you haven't been that lucky (or were just Googling "puff coats"):  In 1987, I watched the premiere of 21 Jump Street, and started to sob--not because the show's tackling of trouble youth was especially effecting, but because Johnny was so damn pretty.  And, I knew I could never have him.  Ah, desire. First it's red, and then it's blue. And everytime I see an iceberg, Johnny, it reminds me of you.

I've seen everything Johnny has made, even Sweeney Todd, even though "seen" there really means squinted at out of one corner of my eye while the window on my laptop was only about two inches wide.  (I don't like scary movies.)  You can make that third lousy pirate film, Johnny, and I will go see it--in the theater!  And I will like it because you are pretty in a white flouncy shirt with bad teeth.  So take that.

The latest test of my love is the Alice in Wonderland posters in the subway.

Now, I love Alice in Wonderland.  (It even inspired my first born laptop name.)  And I love fake eyelashes. And I totally am all about dyed red hair, and hats, and tea, and madness.  But that poster just scares me!  And, I don't think it's a coincidence that I dreamt that I had a weird gap between my teeth last night.  I even tried to avoid the poster by taking a different entrance to the A after Awesome Club, but then I had to sit across from one on the train for 161 blocks!

But, Johnny, I will go see your latest endeavor in the theater, even if it proves to be your scariest role yet.  Because, Johnny, I would pay to watch you breathe.  And my love is nothing if not eternal and hopeless.

Amber & Thinking Ahead

My birthday is just eight and a half months around the corner, so here's a helpful hint-- because there's nothing I am if not a helper.

There is a store on CRD's street that normally sells these patterned hens that I love.  They've now added a second item to their wares which I must have.

See them, there, behind the decorative hens?  They seem to be little coffee tables or stools with photographs of animals wearing suits on them.

See?  That's a cow and a cat up front and what I think is an ostrich and maybe an iguana in the second row.  I love it.  I think maybe I even need it to be happy.

Maybe CRD can go investigate and tell us more (like a price, what they are, etc.).  The shop is never open when I am leaving Awesome Club.

Amber & Farley

Last night, my standing Tuesday fun, Awesome Club, was cancelled for lack of any Murders She Wrote.  Instead, CRD and I held an impromptu meeting of Farley Granger Club.

I have a feeling there will be a comprehensive post about Farley's really interesting biography, Include Me Out, once Shorty finishes reading it, so I won't spoil any of the fun anecdotes about working with Hitch or how Rope is all about "it."

We watched Rope last night, drank wine, and ate soba noodles.  Farley is fantastic in the film.  His breathing out acts most other actors.  Like in this scene with John Dall.



I plan to get this excited every time I answer the phone in 2010.

I also plan to wear my hair like John Dall's, whose face shape reminds me of Jonathon Young who plays Tesla (Kevin's archnemisis) on the really mediocre Sanctuary.

Actually, my real plan is to look more like my idol and fellow white-passer Carol Channing.

I think that will involve alot of dye and a comb-over.  And smiling with my bottom teeth.

Amber & Novelty T's

I have decided to make this Novelty T Week and feature, on my person, a different novelty t-shirt from my extensive collection. Really, I had started this theme week without thinking about it, but it's working so well for me, I decided to run with it through Friday, especially since crew necks cover up the fact that my odd anti-antibiotic rash has moved down my neck to my chest and upper arms.

I love novelty t-shirts. Back in the Avenue B Days, CRD and I used to come up with different slogans that we thought we should put on shirts. They were super witty and funny. But, I can't remember any now. And, I used to make t-shirts featuring illustrations of Amy drawn with crayons: Amy as an astronaut, Amy wearing a birthday hat, Amy as a chef. Etc. (If any of those still exist, I would love reader-owner photo submissions. I would also be pleased to feature reader submissions of your favorite novelty t-shirts.)

Yesterday, I wore this great shirt from BoyGirlParty that Nick gave me for an occasion.

This shirt does what every great novelty shirt should do: it raises questions. Where are the kitty's legs? What's he doing with that yarn? What's he looking at? Why is he so cutie and round?

Today's shirt was a birthday gift from CRD.


I don't know if you noticed, but that's a raccoon buddy playing the drums! But his drums are garbage cans! And he has a crazy look with pink eyes and some of the sound effect illustrations say "BOOM." ! What's going on there?

Of course, you've already seen some of my collection featured on this blog. My very third post ever featured CRD and I wearing our matching brown smoking bird shirts on a DC edition of Awesome Club.And, I added this timely one to my collection in January 2009.


I had blogged about that one before it was given to me by Nick on a trip to Boston. At the time, I even made a crack about not wearing novelty t-shirts to work. (Those were the old days.) I bet you can't wait for tomorrow's shirt!

Amber & Sewing

I abandoned the old Craft In Progress. It was a crocheted sweater using a really thick, fuzzy yarn. I just couldn't see the difference between the stitches well enough. I never really got enough done (well) to update the project status from "About six inches!"

So, this weekend, I got back in the sewing habit. I did some work on some long overdue craft gifts, but realized that I lost the challenging faces for the project. I need to buy some toner and print them out again (since I can't cut a circle even with a pattern) but then I should be able to wrap them up pretty quickly. Just in time for Christmas!

In the meantime, I started a new garment!


I've shortened the dress in the photo on the pack to be a blouse and am using a Michael Miller fabric called "Pod Vine" in avocado. I had washed and pressed the fabric ages ago. So far, I've cut the pieces and basted them together. Tomorrow I have Awesome Club, so I don't expect to make much progress until Wednesday when I plan to put all the pieces together.

Maybe I can wear it to First CSA Pick Up this week!

Or, maybe it will never get finished and just become a cat environment.

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.

Amber & BLTs

When CRD was visiting for Awesome Club, we bought bacon to go on top of our mac & cheese. We didn't end up using it since our amuse bouche was so amusing, so I've been enjoying bacon bits on my various meals all week. Today, I'm bringing a BLT to the zoo.

I'm not sure why it's sideways there, but it sure looks yummy. That's fresh farm share lettuce and a Whole Food vine ripened tomato. I sure hope Lucy doesn't try to steal it!

Amber & Awesome Club

CRD flew into town yesterday for Awesome Club. I wore my smoking bird shirt in his honor. We went out to brunch at Tonic and had bloody marys with bacon. CRD loves bacon!

CRD drew an alligator on the tabletop. He sure loves alligators!

I drew this abstract art which represented how I felt at the time.



Then, we went to the zoo and saw lions, tigers, orang utans, gorillas and a host of small mammals and reptiles. Then, we watched programs and ate chips and salsa, rocky road ice cream and mac & cheese. CRD topped off his night with an apple cider, but I prefer not to eat so close to bedtime.

This morning, I got up and went to apprentice at the zoo, and, about two hours later, CRD left to fly back to NYC. It was Awesome and a Club. I love Awesome Club.

And now I am going to bed.