Nom de Plume

Tramp stamp: This is what all the guys on Steve’s construction site call those big tattoos that cover a woman’s lower back. Sadly, this came about because of the “base girl,” a woman whose job is to install base trim, and who is obviously always bending over. The cause is not helped by the […]

I have actually let a whole month go by without blogging. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s longer than a month, but I’ve been focusing on the fact that my February 2008 listing in the archives will be … missing. Oh well, such is life. And life is good. The shack is shacky (more on that […]

Me (modeling a great new pair of sunglasses and flipping my hair around): Do I look like an Italian movie star?
Steve: More like an insect.

Well, not yet. But soon. Steve’s depressed. “You gave me such a great birthday,” he says. “But I have no clue what to get you.”
“Want suggestions?”
“No, because then it’s not a surprise for you. I mean, I wasn’t expecting any of the stuff you got me, you just went and got stuff you knew I’d […]

It’s been a long, long time. I’m chock full of excuses for not updating the blog, but basically it comes down to one thing: Sheer laziness. Here’s a brief recap:
1) Amazingly, the ranch didn’t burn. The fire was only about two miles away, but everyone stayed and were fine. I was pretty useless for a […]

A few years ago, Steve’s mother Pam pulled out this book that Steve wrote when he was in the second grade. It cracked me up, and she gave it to us. I’ve been meaning to post it to the blog for eons. I was looking for stamps the other day and found it. It’s really […]

Mr. Nom de Plume started his new job this week. Much to his dismay–and much to my amusement–they gave him a BlackBerry. This evening, he came home with his new laptop too. “I need to hook my Outlook into my BlackBerry,” he explained.
“You need to sync it?”
“Yeah, I’ve tried everything, but it doesn’t work. […]

I acquired some kefir grains a while ago, and boy, do they expand. So anyone who wants some, let me know and I’ll hook you up.

So this afternoon, I’m heading down Rainier Ave into Renton. Traffic is awful, all backed up because of Seafair, and of course, there’s the idiot who decides that he needs to head down the center turn lane and bypass the traffic. The rest of us mere mortals just inch along.
Finally, I see the erring […]

Well, Bifrost 3 came in second place. Pretty impressive. They sailed through last Saturday night–until about 3:30 in the morning. Steve wandered around the Victoria harbor like a homeless person–finally crashing in the grass–until my ferry came in. Which, of course, was late. Apparently, the race was fraught with excitement; high winds tilted the boat […]

I have become totally addicted to auctions.
There’s a place in Renton that auctions off estates, and I’ve been going quite regularly–coming home laden with stuff I don’t need (and in many cases, I confess, that I don’t really want). It’s easy to get caught up in the heat of it all. The first one […]

Ok, for all you who requested a photo of the dishwasher, here you go. But I warn you that it’s not terribly exciting, unless you’ve been washing dishes in the bathtub for the past three months. (And can I also add that I’ve never had one of those newfangled dishwashers where you don’t have to […]

“You have to watch Rome,” our neighbor Geoff told us. “It’s amazing.” So Steve and I got sucked into the first season of Rome, and we loved it. We had a routine: a couple of nights a week, we’d hot tub, then get in bed with my old laptop (we don’t have a TV) and […]

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?
See, the thing is I’ve been going through a webistential crisis. I just can’t seem to shake the feeling that I’m doing nothing more than contributing to the great cyberlandfill that is push-button publishing. (And on a semi-related note, I wonder if anyone has done a study showing the spike […]

Bad joke overheard at a neighboring restaurant table:
Defense Secretary Gates briefed the President this morning.
He told Bush that three Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone’s amazement, all of the color ran from Bush’s face, then he collapsed onto his desk, head in hands, visibly shaken, almost whimpering.
Finally, he composed himself and asked Gates, […]

1. I hate cleaning. I really hate cleaning under duress, i.e., when my mother outlaw is coming for a visit. On a related note, why is it that when men don’t clean, they’re just being men–and when women don’t clean, they’re slothful pigs?
2. If the house across the street is repossessed, it will be auctioned […]

From the Tabakat-i Nasiri, written by court historian Minhaju-s Siraj:
Sultan Raziya was a great monarch. She was wise, just, and generous, a benefactor to her kingdom, a dispenser of justic, the protector or her subjects, and the leader of her armies. She was endowed with all the qualities befitting a king, but she was not […]

Actually, we didn’t do a thing. I had to run to the store in the afternoon, though, so I called Steve to see if he needed anything. What were we doing for dinner, he asked. I replied that I had thawed some fish. “But it’s Valentine’s Day!”
“Yeah, so?” I replied.
“And you’re my bitch!”
He’s so […]

Well, the title says it all, doesn’t it?
Still, credit must go to nonanon, who is wresting some meaning out of this beknighted day. It’s all about love affairs … with the written word. Sure, books can’t buy you chocolate. But they don’t line the coffers of Hallmark either.

Getting into the Dead Sea water pool right after shaving is a very, very bad idea.