Just popping up to say "hi" -- as you can imagine, things are out of control busy here getting ready for our new assistant to make her appearance. Everything's good, just head-spinning busy. And if things come down to keep me from posting again soon, I just want to say happy holiday(s) of your preference to all!!
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Friday, November 26, 2004
Macy's parade
FYI -- the CBS coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade absolutely blows. Stick with NBC, no matter how annoying it can get. CBS skipped tons of stuff -- they obviously didn't have the rights to show any performances, but they kept promising that (I guess in exchange) they would show "every float and and every balloon" which they most certainly did not. They even skipped one of the paid floats (Mr. Moneybags, a.k.a. Mr Monopoly), don't know how they got away with that! Anyway, our experiment with DVRing a different broadcast of the parade is over, over, over.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
update
As you have probably all guessed, things have gotten pretty hectic at this point, thus the lack of entries. What's new? Well, most of what's new you probably know from Evan's blog. Poor Stripesy. That was a bad couple of days.
Ikeas everywhere are sold out of those cute SP�KA ghosts, phooey. (I'm hoping they got bought up for Halloween and will come back eventually.) I know this because we have been to Ikea twice in the last few weeks and now have a load of unassembled nursery furniture (more for me to do, phew!).
Lots of house stuff getting done, I found what may be the only actual plasterer in the area to fix Evan's collapsed office ceiling (everyone seems to only do sheetrock or commercial work), so that was cool, plus the guy did an amazing job. Got all the tree work taken care of too, so we don't have to worry about anything crashing onto our roof this winter.
Work is in bad bad overdrive right now, too many jobs too far behind, but it is all getting done. And housework/getting ready for baby is drastically behind, but enough will be done in time for us to manage.
And speaking of baby, Baby X is cooking right along, everything is going well and she's scheduled to arrive just under a month from now. Of course that really means anything from 2-6 weeks, so I'm trying not to obsess over the "countdown". It's hard not to though. Come on, baby!! Get here already!! Um...as soon as I've at least finished fixing up the bedroom, that is.
Ikeas everywhere are sold out of those cute SP�KA ghosts, phooey. (I'm hoping they got bought up for Halloween and will come back eventually.) I know this because we have been to Ikea twice in the last few weeks and now have a load of unassembled nursery furniture (more for me to do, phew!).
Lots of house stuff getting done, I found what may be the only actual plasterer in the area to fix Evan's collapsed office ceiling (everyone seems to only do sheetrock or commercial work), so that was cool, plus the guy did an amazing job. Got all the tree work taken care of too, so we don't have to worry about anything crashing onto our roof this winter.
Work is in bad bad overdrive right now, too many jobs too far behind, but it is all getting done. And housework/getting ready for baby is drastically behind, but enough will be done in time for us to manage.
And speaking of baby, Baby X is cooking right along, everything is going well and she's scheduled to arrive just under a month from now. Of course that really means anything from 2-6 weeks, so I'm trying not to obsess over the "countdown". It's hard not to though. Come on, baby!! Get here already!! Um...as soon as I've at least finished fixing up the bedroom, that is.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
speaking of ikea
Checking for a lamp I thought I had seen, I stumbled across these adorable ghost nightlights! If they really are rechargable, I'm so going to have to get some (maybe blue and red...but then I'll feel bad for the green one...). I had my eyes on these Candeloos but I think the ghosts have them beat hands down! (Not to mention, there's a huge difference between $50 and $9.99!)
Thursday, October 14, 2004
I love this guy
As you may have guessed, we've had a lot of discussions about parenting this year. And while of course you want your kids (or nephews or nieces or close family friends of the under-5 variety) to like things you like, and reject things you don't, we've already agreed that you can only take that so far. (There's a reason they came up with that whole "lead a horse to water" saying.) And we also agree that we can't stand parents who express themselves through their children and shove their kids in front of them like props in an obvious, look at how cool we are to have such "cool" kids move. But it's a hard thing to put into words. That is why I love, I mean LOVE this blog entry from the new-to-me Being Daddy site. If you have kids, want kids, think you just might have kids, know someone with kids, take care of kids, etc etc etc, it's an absolute must-read!! Not only could I never have said it better, I don't think anyone could have.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
kiki!
Long-time readers will know that I've been a big fan of Kiki's Delivery Service for (gulp) over a decade now. For years, every time we were at the NJ Kinokuniya (sadly now closed, and the replacement bookstore isn't half as good) I'd look at the original Kiki novels and wish I could read them. Finally, last year, the first installment was translated and published in North American by Annick Press (where you can read a brief excerpt), and then finally, last month I got off my ass and ordered a copy. I'm giving it two thumbs up -- if you're a fan (not necessarily a Miyazaki fan, but a Kiki fan) you'll definitely want to read the original stories. And the translation is very good, at might not be precise but it reads really well and that counts for a lot as far as I'm concerned. The cover art is off-putting (the original book design was so nice!) but they did at least retain the original illustrations for the interior. Now I just have to hope they decide to translate a few more!
A funny aside -- in 1992 we were in London for UKCAC, and while walking around one day came across the London office of Yamato Transport. We loved the logo and scored some stickers of it from the nice office ladies (for years I kept seeing t-shirts of it in Japanese magazines, but never got hold of one!). It was years and years before we knew that there was a connection between Yamato and Kiki!
A funny aside -- in 1992 we were in London for UKCAC, and while walking around one day came across the London office of Yamato Transport. We loved the logo and scored some stickers of it from the nice office ladies (for years I kept seeing t-shirts of it in Japanese magazines, but never got hold of one!). It was years and years before we knew that there was a connection between Yamato and Kiki!
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
chivalry is so dead
First, I just have to say -- more belated thanks and hellos to everyone! Doing a two-day convention turned out to be a little beyond the limits of my energy. It's the first time I've really run into the wall of pregnancy-related fatigue and it took me out for days. Whew.
But today's complaint -- I had a regular Dr. appt today, and there was some huge problem that set everyone back by about 2 hours, so there was lots of tired and bored waiting going on. But that's not what was annoying. What was annoying was that most of the time we were waiting, there weren't enough seats. And it was amazing to see able bodied men (and women who weren't patients) studiously looking down at their magazines and newspapers so that they could pretend not to notice hugely pregnant women standing around the edges of the room. At one point there were actually four men sitting, and four pregnant women standing, and not a single one of them offered to give up his seat. (No, Evan wasn't one of them, he stood until there were finally free seats.) At one point an elderly woman stood up and offered her seat to a woman who was practically about to give birth and it still didn't shame any of these people into getting up. It's not just the children of today who aren't learning manners...Grrr!
But today's complaint -- I had a regular Dr. appt today, and there was some huge problem that set everyone back by about 2 hours, so there was lots of tired and bored waiting going on. But that's not what was annoying. What was annoying was that most of the time we were waiting, there weren't enough seats. And it was amazing to see able bodied men (and women who weren't patients) studiously looking down at their magazines and newspapers so that they could pretend not to notice hugely pregnant women standing around the edges of the room. At one point there were actually four men sitting, and four pregnant women standing, and not a single one of them offered to give up his seat. (No, Evan wasn't one of them, he stood until there were finally free seats.) At one point an elderly woman stood up and offered her seat to a woman who was practically about to give birth and it still didn't shame any of these people into getting up. It's not just the children of today who aren't learning manners...Grrr!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
wow!
Thanks to all of you for the well-wishes on the baby news!! You are all just too, too swell.
A couple of answers:
Yes, Josh, I'm really glad I don't live in Florida anymore!
On names -- we're keeping those to ourselves until after she's here. A baby-naming contest? SCARY!!
I certainly hope she does go into outerspace someday!
Don't know about the art thing, she'll probably end up an accountant or something. Then again, that'll mean she can support us in our old age so I shouldn't complain.
And you want to hear about onesies? Check these out. Okay, pretty spendy, but American Apparel makes incredibly great stuff. And they come in black. About as non-foo-foo as you can get! Oh, and now maybe a couple of you figured out why we added a bunch of onesies to our cafepress store...
non-baby comments: just read the manga of Spiral, I was pretty disappointed. It seemed so far off the novel I thought it might actually be an adaption of the movie (that would be the movie Rasen, not the movie Ring 2) instead -- but the big ringworld site says that it really is an adaptation of the novel. On reading the information on the site, I think it seems like a bad adaptation because of the awkwardness of the english-language version. It's really awkward, not what I'd expect from a Dark Horse product. Here's an example of one passage AHEM -- minor spoiler passage ahead!!:
Okay, I don't know which one is more literally correct, but I sure know which one makes sense to me...anyway. If you get the manga, you might want to check out the Ringworld translation alongside it.
And finally, all I can say about Johnny Ramone is WTF? What on earth did that band do to bring down such an evil curse upon themselves? As Evan said, that is just so wrong.
A couple of answers:
Yes, Josh, I'm really glad I don't live in Florida anymore!
On names -- we're keeping those to ourselves until after she's here. A baby-naming contest? SCARY!!
I certainly hope she does go into outerspace someday!
Don't know about the art thing, she'll probably end up an accountant or something. Then again, that'll mean she can support us in our old age so I shouldn't complain.
And you want to hear about onesies? Check these out. Okay, pretty spendy, but American Apparel makes incredibly great stuff. And they come in black. About as non-foo-foo as you can get! Oh, and now maybe a couple of you figured out why we added a bunch of onesies to our cafepress store...
non-baby comments: just read the manga of Spiral, I was pretty disappointed. It seemed so far off the novel I thought it might actually be an adaption of the movie (that would be the movie Rasen, not the movie Ring 2) instead -- but the big ringworld site says that it really is an adaptation of the novel. On reading the information on the site, I think it seems like a bad adaptation because of the awkwardness of the english-language version. It's really awkward, not what I'd expect from a Dark Horse product. Here's an example of one passage AHEM -- minor spoiler passage ahead!!:
Dark Horse: Inside Yamamura Sadako's body that has both male and female sexual organs, the spermatazoa and the ovum get fertilized. Next, such fertilized egg is released, and the regenerative DNA is replaced with the DNA of the fertilized egg.
Ringworld: Sadako... with her female-and-male anatomy, she could produce both sperm and egg and incite fertilization within her own body. Bringing the fertilized egg to fruition, however, would require removing the DNA from within the egg and replacing it with that of some outside source.
Okay, I don't know which one is more literally correct, but I sure know which one makes sense to me...anyway. If you get the manga, you might want to check out the Ringworld translation alongside it.
And finally, all I can say about Johnny Ramone is WTF? What on earth did that band do to bring down such an evil curse upon themselves? As Evan said, that is just so wrong.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
our latest project
As most of you have probably noticed, Evan and I tend to keep quiet about our projects until we feel confident enough to announce them. We've been working on a pretty major collaboration for some time now, and keeping it quiet hasn't been easy, let me tell you. But, we're pretty confident that we'll be making our expected ship date this December so we feel it's high time to let you all in on what we've been working on. So, we're happy to finally announce our latest (and by far greatest) House of Fun project -- our daughter, due right before Christmas this year!
Yes, that's right, we're adding a new little staff member to the House of Fun studio. I'm just about 6 months along now, and she's super-healthy and doing great. I'm doing very well too, at least these days. If any of you remember, I was really ill this spring -- yup, that was because of this baby. I was severely ill with pregnancy sickness (let's not call it morning sickness because it was 24-hours-a-day sickness) for about the first 3-1/2 months, but thank goodness things have gone well ever since that finally ended.
But now you all know why we have been so scattered, stressed and overworked this year. (Not to mention getting rid of things as fast as we can -- this house is small!) I expect this pattern will be continuing for quite some time. Don't worry, I won't be boring everyone to death with the details of my crib comparison shopping or decisions over how many onesies one baby really needs. But since that sort of nonsense does take up quite a bit of my time these days, you can expect a lame posting frequency from me -- sorry about that!
Anyway, so that's what has really been going on around here for most of 2004. Many mysteries are becoming clear, aren't they? ^_^ Thanks to everyone who has been supportive and just generally nice to us this year (and always) -- it all helped us get through the tough days!
Yes, that's right, we're adding a new little staff member to the House of Fun studio. I'm just about 6 months along now, and she's super-healthy and doing great. I'm doing very well too, at least these days. If any of you remember, I was really ill this spring -- yup, that was because of this baby. I was severely ill with pregnancy sickness (let's not call it morning sickness because it was 24-hours-a-day sickness) for about the first 3-1/2 months, but thank goodness things have gone well ever since that finally ended.
But now you all know why we have been so scattered, stressed and overworked this year. (Not to mention getting rid of things as fast as we can -- this house is small!) I expect this pattern will be continuing for quite some time. Don't worry, I won't be boring everyone to death with the details of my crib comparison shopping or decisions over how many onesies one baby really needs. But since that sort of nonsense does take up quite a bit of my time these days, you can expect a lame posting frequency from me -- sorry about that!
Anyway, so that's what has really been going on around here for most of 2004. Many mysteries are becoming clear, aren't they? ^_^ Thanks to everyone who has been supportive and just generally nice to us this year (and always) -- it all helped us get through the tough days!
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
what th--
Please, tell me, is there a special effect involved in this Japanese "how-to-fold-a-t-shirt" clip? Because it is freaking me out.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Whoah, Betty!!
Betty Crocker gives us the cake for reformed alcoholics (or not-so-reformed): the Strawberry Margarita Cake! I'm assuming you could do this with just about any drink mix you like and make a cocktail cake recipe of your own. Mmmm! (although, I think I'd use real whipped cream and maybe call my lime peel "zest")
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
gasp!
Those of you who know me, know I have an obsession with fake food, miniature food, or food that pretends to be something else. Today I have seen the ultimate in food fakery -- Koo-Ki Sushi. Seriously, the stuff is to die for. Every single thing on their site is a thing of beauty. I would love one of the big boxes (although I'm also very into the maneki-nekos!). All I want to know is, why isn't this place in NY? That's just ridiculous. I want my Koo-Ki Sushi! (spotted on not martha)
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