misc #33.

So I'm out power walking this morning & who do I see?

Hubert Keller out for a morning run.

omg!

Totally wanted to high-five him.

misc #32.

Ernie Pyle: The God-Damned Infantry.

misc #31

misc #30

Prew did not hear about it until he came out of the Black Hole three days later.  That was the day they were burying Bloom.  It is very hard to communicate with anyone in the Black Hole, which is called Solitary Confinement officially.  "Black Hole" is only a descriptive slang term created by prisoners.  College professors call it an "Americanism," a descriptive slang term created by college professors...

He came out at 1840 hours, right after evening chow, shaky from loss of food and blinded by the dazzling brilliance of the bare 40-watt bulbs...  He was a different man than when he had gone in, and he was very surprised to find the world basically unchanged.

It had not turned out to be nearly as bad as he had thought it would be.  He came out of it feeling he had been tested and not found wanting, he was almost as proud of it as he was of the Taps he had once played at Arlington; but it was not any of it nearly as bad as he had thought it would be.  That was one of the virtues of being a pessimist:  nothing was ever as bad as you thought it would be.

misc #29

Crater maui Aug 1945

At the Volcano House B1 November, 1943

source: vieilles_annonces at Flickr writes:

These slides and photographs are just one set from my "estate sales" collections. They were dusty, darkened, bent, underexposed and were destined to be trash. Through the help of Photoshop, they can be displayed once again.

Please feel free to leave any comments - your thoughts, impressions... It is happily appreciated!

Enjoy!

misc #28

"See that?" she said. "You know what that is? You never noticed that before, did you?

"Well that's a hysterectomy scar," she said. "A hysterectomy is a uterectomy. A uterectomy is an operation in which they excise the uterus. But they call it a hysterectomy. You know what hysterectomy comes from, of course? From hysteria. Hysteria and womb and women are synonymous in the medical profession, you see. You know: stupid women who weep and are very nervous and go to pieces and maybe lose their minds as they approach the change of life, but whose husbands always dutifully sorrowfully protect them and lovingly take care of them at home so that they seldom go to institutions. Look in a medical dictionary some time, -- if you can ever get hold of one that is, they're very hush-hush and try to pretend they are restricted, so you'll probably have to buy one. I had to buy mine. But look up the prefix hystero- and see the words derived from it. A hysteroscope is an instrument for inspecting the uterus, did you know that? A hysterometer is an instrument for measuring the uterus, did you know that? A hysterograph is an apparatus for measuring the strength of the uterine contractions in labor, did you know that? Two, perhaps three, full pages of small type: hystero-this, hystero-that.

"You go in to them and they look you up and down, appraisingly, then they ask how old you are. You say I'm thirty-five. Oh, they say. They nod. They look knowing. Thirty-five, they say. Change of life coming on, you know. They soothe you. Musnt be upset. Be calm. Happens to the best of us. They examine you. They're gynecologists and its all professional of course. Then they wash their hands and nod profoundly. Just as I thought, they say, you need a hysterectomy, that's all, just a little old hysterectomy.

"God knows what the medical profession would do if it didn't have its hysterectomies and their hystero-derivatives. Probably go all broke and vote for socialized medicine after all, I guess.

misc #27

The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within RAF Bomber Command.

The "Lanc", as it was affectionately known, became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties." Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the "Dam Buster" used in the 1943 Operation Chastise raids on Germany's Ruhr Valley dams.

image source: anselm.edu

flak:

anti-aircraft gunfire, derived during World War II from the German Fliegerabwehrkanone, aircraft defence cannon; also cited as Flugzeug abwehr kanone...

The essence of air defence is to detect hostile aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three dimensions, which means the attack has to be in four dimensions to put the munition in the right place at the right time. This means that either projectiles have to be guided to hit the target or aimed ahead of the target by estimating, or predicting, their future position at the time of firing plus time of flight of the projectile.

misc #26

Lands' End canvas backpack $29.50.

Custom monogram $10.00

Yeah baby.

misc #25

dennis the menace is flying here tomorrow night from vegas. on thursday, our friends are driving up from LA & then we're all headed to the coast for some camping & fishing.

i can't wait to get to the beach, but in the meantime there's the prep which is not usually a whole lot of fun what with the lists, the packing & the fear that you will forget the ice, the charcoal, the sunblock or the bug spray. 

or the AAA batteries for the headlamp which reminds me i need to put that on the list. 

 last year i made a breakfast casserole to take along with us.  it was damn good, except for the part where you have to fry up 1 pound of bacon.   have you fried up a whole pound of bacon? because it's a lot.    i started the bacon frying project off right by laying the strips in the pan all nice & neat,  but i must tell you that by the third batch of strips i was just throwing big hunks of bacon into the pan because enough is enough.

obviously i don't have a lot of patience for this sort of thing.

misc #24

Last night's episode of Breaking Bad was filled with so much brilliance it nearly made me cry. It was a shining example of people who are the absolute very best at what they do.

There is a monologue. It's approximately 5 minutes long. It belongs to the gentleman on the right in the photo up above and it's some of the best writing and acting I have ever seen on television, in film or on the stage.

misc #23

I went to a Paris fashion show once.  You get in through a scrum of sharp-elbowed lady fashion experts, and they sit you on these toy-sized gilded chairs.  From behind the velvet curtains we could all hear the screaming of the fashion models.  They were swearing and fighting about mirrors, zips and hairbrushes.  Suddenly the lights were lowered to the level of candlelight.  There was the muted music of violins and someone pumped Chanel into the air.  From the old biddies came only the refined sound made by petite hands in silken gloves."

"I don't get you," said Miss Shaw.  She moved again.

"Well, it's mutual,"  I said.  "And no one regrets it more than I do."

"I meant the fashion show."

"It taught me all I ever learned about women."

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure."

misc #22.

I knew Dalby by now, and I could recognize his moods in his voice. He wasn't kidding and he hadn't enjoyed us fooling with him. To make Dalby happy you had to listen to and commiserate with him, just every little thing that marred his day, and then make with the feet to rectify things...A couple of "yessirs" when you know that "not on your life" is the thing to say. A few expressions of doubt about things you've spent your life perfecting. Forgetting to make use of the information that negates his hastily formed, but deliciously convenient theories. It doesn't take much, but it takes about 98.5% more than I've ever considered giving.

misc #21.

I made a firm and immediate decision to curtail Chico's participation as far as our illegal activities were concerned; he was easily the most loquacious and not the most tactful.  The commissioner broke through my reverie.

"That fellow with you, dark chap, good talker."

I went cold.

"Murray?" I said, hoping...

"No! No! No!  Young feller-me-lad, er, now, er..."

I said, in a dull voice, "Phillip Chillicott-Oakes [Chico]."

"Yes, a charming chap, absolute charmer-- that's him."  He smiled for the first time and leaned aross to me in a conspiratorial gesture.  "At school with my youngest!" he said.

The pub across the road had just opened.  I downed a couple of Dubonnet and bitter lemons.  What chance did I stand between the Communists on the one side and the Establishment on the other-- they were both outthinking me at every move.

misc #20

It was queer, he thought, how a man was always being forced to decide these things. You decided one thing right, with much effort, and then you thought you'd coast a while. But tomorrow you had to decide another thing. And as long as you decided the way you knew was right you had to go right on deciding. Every Day a Millenium, he thought. And on the other hand was Red, and those kids over there, who because they decided wrong just once were free from any more deciding. Red placed his bet on Comfort out of Security by Conformity. As usual, Comfort won.

misc #18

do i need a yard of vintage fabric with giant lobsters on it?

no. no i do not.

but i am going to bid for it anyway because it's a brand new year.

it's 2010, people. woo hoo.

misc #17

it's ass cold out there at night, so i knitted a headband to keep things warm up top when i'm powerwalking. i prefer a headband to a beanie, because it regulates the heat a little better.

i chose regal purple (jon!) for the niece's christmas present (felted slippers). someone on ravelry said they knitted a narrow by leaving out 2 stitches on the sole pieces so i followed that advice. i'm working on the finishing details now, including puffy paint for non-slip soles. the paint is taking forever to dry (it is going to dry, right?) but after that it gets some steam from an iron to puff it up.



although i don't have 4-5 hours of uninterrupted time for sewing right now, i've been dedicating 15 minutes here and there to taking the trousers apart with my seam ripper & redrawing the pattern pieces.



Zappos now carries the vintage Martens in oxblood, still made in England, so i finally replaced my old, old pair. here's to another 20 years of wearing these shoes!

when was the last time you had a piece of applesauce snack cake?

it's been awhile?

well, here you go-

misc. #16

save for goodbyes, i haven't cried about anything in years. but today i got the chatty dental hygienist & came this. close.

it really is a hostage situation. endlessly talking & scraping & then stopping to emphasize whatever the hell his point was with the sharp & pointy dental tool.

i lost all will to live.

i need to get out of this city. on wednesday, dennis the menace is flying up from vegas (where it was an astounding 117 deg. today) & we are headed for some camping & fishing on the beach. Wednesday can't come soon enough.

that's not business i'm conducting on my blackberry, it's diner dash & it's threatening to take up every free moment i have on public transportation, riding in elevators or waiting in lines. bring the baby a high chair. margarita's cantina is serving free chips & salsa. espresso for a mood boost.

oy.

misc #15.

in researching various technique possibilities related to the skirt reconstruct, i found many references to this book.

it's an expensive book that i can't afford. it is "for library use only" at SFPL & there was nothing available on ebay, so i moved on.

& then i stumbled on a used copy at an unbelievabable price. so unbelievable that even if i never really look at the book, it would still not be a waste of money. by the way, it was shipped here lightning fast & i've already been pawing through all the pages. it's in perfect condition & i just can't believe it.

this is the exact opposite experience from the ironing board situation.

i've spent nearly a week trying to find a way to get around putting a lining into the skirt.

i'm going to have to put a lining in the skirt.

& vogue 8425 is not dead. it just needs 2 more darts in the waistband at the front-side panels & a major pressing on the new ironing board.

misc. #14.

i used to get excited about actors and acting, but that rarely happens anymore. i'm not sure why. maybe i've just moved on.

Breaking Bad, now in its second season, makes me remember the thrill of great acting and film and television writing.

Tio & the bell were in the last 2 episodes. the sound of the dinging bell went from annoying to horrifying & had a powerful effect on me.

it was during the second episode, when i'd had a week to forget all about the bell, that they brought Tio back.

announcing his arrival with one ding of that terrible bell.

here's the actor's perspective.