stuff! things! by which i mean i have stuff and things!
on saturday i went to the peabody essex museum with the parental unit and their neighbor, and when i finally get all the pictures off my phone i can share some of them. there was a rodin exhibit. so much fabulous sculpture. also a lot of random plaster maquettes, and sculptures made from cannibalized parts of other sculptures. apparently rodin reused pieces. i love reading about artists, their process and point of view and what they say about why they chose this medium or that subject or a particular style. it might be that i'm so interested because i'm not an artist, altho i like hearing what writers have to say about their process and point of view and subject matter and everything too. (even when they sound unbearably pretentious.) i don't have anything deep to say about rodin, other than i liked getting to learn how you go from clay model to finished bronze or marble piece.
after that we had lobster rolls for dinner (because new england :D ) and stopped for ice cream on the way home. yum. i inherited the area rug that used to be in my parents' front hall and is now in front of my couch - it kind of matches the couch, but mostly it matches the floor - and went home to watch the series finale of railroad of wretches hell on wheels, and a little after ten i made cupcakes. lots of cupcakes. they were supposed to be marble cupcakes but i don't think they marbled that well. they were an experiment. at least they taste fine.
did anyone else watch hell on wheels? can i hear a resounding "what, really?" for bohannon's final decision?
yesterday morning i went to the grocery store, came home, realized that i TOTALLY FORGOT TO BUY FROSTING, and baked a red velvet cake. and wiped red food coloring off every flat surface. >.< that shit stains. i went out for cupcake frosting while it cooled - i guess it's cheating to buy frosting for homemade cupcakes, but i was tired of cooking and tired of washing dishes and i had an attack of lazy, and at least i made cream cheese frosting for the cake. altho that's easy. i mean, it's a brick of cream cheese, a stick of butter, a lot of powdered sugar, and some vanilla. and then you lick the bowl when you're done frosting. :D
all this caking was in service of a bbq/combined birthday/farewell party that my cousins threw for a. my parents, and b. a bunch of people with significant birthdays this year. someone who looks a lot like my sister put me down for two desserts. >.< i went to my parents' house first, and acquired among other things a blue enamel casserole dish, because one can never have too many casserole dishes. (actually one can but i have room for it.) mom and dad had an estate sale on saturday to get rid of all the stuff they're not moving - this is partly why we went to the museum, because they had to be out of the house - and a lot of stuff didn't sell. the book guy came sunday morning to take the rest of the books, which was fifty-three boxes. holy shit. and that's just what was left after everyone (by which i mean me, my sister, and my cousin) went through and took what they wanted.
the bbq was fun and there was a lot of food, altho there always is, and i made too much dessert. >.< my cousin has four kids, and the two oldest boys are both in bands, and both bands played for us, so we even had music with our burgers. i learned that my cousin's oldest (well, only) daughter is afraid of chickens. she knows it's irrational, but she's still afraid of them. one year her parents got her a book of extraordinary chickens for her birthday, because they have a terrible sense of humor. bawk.
and after that my sister and i went back to the parents' house where i acquired among other things a plush purple throw pillow that does not go with my couch AT ALL, and a set of china (seven (?) plates and a six-sided serving bowl) with a chinese design that belonged to my grandma. i kept looking at it saying "i want it but i have nowhere to put it", and then... i took it. i still don't have a place to put it and i don't think i'll ever use it but i remember my mom making cashew chicken when i was a wee thing and serving it in that bowl, and it belonged to my grandmother and i couldn't let some random person have it. seven plates, tho. what's up with that?
the movers are coming tomorrow (i think) and on friday we're driving down to florida. and in a month people can start asking me (again) how i feel about my parents moving, because by then i might actually have an answer.
work today was boring, altho my computer gave me grief and i had a horrible time getting home: get on the orange line at state street. train goes out of service at haymarket (which is the next stop). get on the green line. train goes out of service at north station (which is also the next stop). get back on the orange line. watch three trains pass before there's enough room to get on one. make the bus, surprisingly. get home before it rains! (it still hasn't rained.)
i missed preacher last night because i didn't get home until 11:30. >.< will catch up eventually.
have some links for suffering through that.
lego women of nasa! it's still in the gathering-support stage, but how cool!
your basic hijabi zorro - ie, ibtihaj muhammad, olympic fencer, who will be the first american athlete to compete in the olympics in a hijab. which is also super cool, and i really hope she wins a medal.
there's a people restaurant in glasgow that has a doggie menu, so your dog can enjoy dinner with you. arf.
analysis of ancient toilet paper on the silk road - mostly it tells archaeologists where some of the travelers came from, based on the parasites in their preserved poop. kinda gross, but also really interesting.
after that we had lobster rolls for dinner (because new england :D ) and stopped for ice cream on the way home. yum. i inherited the area rug that used to be in my parents' front hall and is now in front of my couch - it kind of matches the couch, but mostly it matches the floor - and went home to watch the series finale of railroad of wretches hell on wheels, and a little after ten i made cupcakes. lots of cupcakes. they were supposed to be marble cupcakes but i don't think they marbled that well. they were an experiment. at least they taste fine.
did anyone else watch hell on wheels? can i hear a resounding "what, really?" for bohannon's final decision?
yesterday morning i went to the grocery store, came home, realized that i TOTALLY FORGOT TO BUY FROSTING, and baked a red velvet cake. and wiped red food coloring off every flat surface. >.< that shit stains. i went out for cupcake frosting while it cooled - i guess it's cheating to buy frosting for homemade cupcakes, but i was tired of cooking and tired of washing dishes and i had an attack of lazy, and at least i made cream cheese frosting for the cake. altho that's easy. i mean, it's a brick of cream cheese, a stick of butter, a lot of powdered sugar, and some vanilla. and then you lick the bowl when you're done frosting. :D
all this caking was in service of a bbq/combined birthday/farewell party that my cousins threw for a. my parents, and b. a bunch of people with significant birthdays this year. someone who looks a lot like my sister put me down for two desserts. >.< i went to my parents' house first, and acquired among other things a blue enamel casserole dish, because one can never have too many casserole dishes. (actually one can but i have room for it.) mom and dad had an estate sale on saturday to get rid of all the stuff they're not moving - this is partly why we went to the museum, because they had to be out of the house - and a lot of stuff didn't sell. the book guy came sunday morning to take the rest of the books, which was fifty-three boxes. holy shit. and that's just what was left after everyone (by which i mean me, my sister, and my cousin) went through and took what they wanted.
the bbq was fun and there was a lot of food, altho there always is, and i made too much dessert. >.< my cousin has four kids, and the two oldest boys are both in bands, and both bands played for us, so we even had music with our burgers. i learned that my cousin's oldest (well, only) daughter is afraid of chickens. she knows it's irrational, but she's still afraid of them. one year her parents got her a book of extraordinary chickens for her birthday, because they have a terrible sense of humor. bawk.
and after that my sister and i went back to the parents' house where i acquired among other things a plush purple throw pillow that does not go with my couch AT ALL, and a set of china (seven (?) plates and a six-sided serving bowl) with a chinese design that belonged to my grandma. i kept looking at it saying "i want it but i have nowhere to put it", and then... i took it. i still don't have a place to put it and i don't think i'll ever use it but i remember my mom making cashew chicken when i was a wee thing and serving it in that bowl, and it belonged to my grandmother and i couldn't let some random person have it. seven plates, tho. what's up with that?
the movers are coming tomorrow (i think) and on friday we're driving down to florida. and in a month people can start asking me (again) how i feel about my parents moving, because by then i might actually have an answer.
work today was boring, altho my computer gave me grief and i had a horrible time getting home: get on the orange line at state street. train goes out of service at haymarket (which is the next stop). get on the green line. train goes out of service at north station (which is also the next stop). get back on the orange line. watch three trains pass before there's enough room to get on one. make the bus, surprisingly. get home before it rains! (it still hasn't rained.)
i missed preacher last night because i didn't get home until 11:30. >.< will catch up eventually.
have some links for suffering through that.
lego women of nasa! it's still in the gathering-support stage, but how cool!
your basic hijabi zorro - ie, ibtihaj muhammad, olympic fencer, who will be the first american athlete to compete in the olympics in a hijab. which is also super cool, and i really hope she wins a medal.
there's a people restaurant in glasgow that has a doggie menu, so your dog can enjoy dinner with you. arf.
analysis of ancient toilet paper on the silk road - mostly it tells archaeologists where some of the travelers came from, based on the parasites in their preserved poop. kinda gross, but also really interesting.