the chill is coming

I killed that spider that has been lurking! Hurray!

Work was mostly catching. Caught the backs on one job. Fronts and backs on another. Broke the press down. Things were done at 5ish. Not a bad start to the week. It was very warm though, but I suspect it'll get cold soon...so I should get some new work pants. I've gained a biiiiit of weight and last seasons work pants don't fit. For now, I should buy some in the next size up and then think about exercise and that stuff.

At home I threw on some PJ's and initiated relaxation mode. Talked with Tara and Justen for a while about this and that.

I ended things with Steve. The distance was getting to be too much to navigate in the long term and whatnot. As it goes.

futon be gone

Friday:

Whoo! Day off! Slept in to the best of my ability, then had my oatmeal and tea and considered what I had to do for the day. I started by going to the DMV to see about changing my address...but the line was atrocious so I skipped that and went to the Post Office and changed my address there, so at least anything that comes to my old house will come here. I also changed my magazines over, so that is good. Then I went to Super Cuts and got a hair cut! They took off a bit more than I was expecting (though I did ask for several inches and forgot how much shorter my hair goes when it is dry, so that is all my fault). But I like it! It's a lot lighter, which is nice. Then I got a burrito from Chipotle and headed home. I took my laundry out of the dryer (oh, I did my laundry!) and folded it and ate my burrito. Not at the same time.

Then I figured out my evening plans and after a bit of relaxing, I headed up to San Francisco to see Steve. We went to see Gravity. He lives within walking distance of a big theater. I live within walking distance of a small theater. Gravity was super intense! It used all of its 90 minutes to the fullest. So awesome.

It was nice to get out of the city.

Saturday:

Steve and Kyle were going to this music festival, but I wasn't feeling up to it so I headed back to Santa Cruz. I posted the futon on Craigslist for free, and the first guy to arrange a meeting time had trouble with my "second story of Target parking garage" meet up instructions. I ended up waiting for 45 MINUTES! Then another person was all "I can be there in 5 minutes" and since I live 2 minutes from Target...I met her and gave her the futon and all was well! No more futon taking up space!

Took a nap. Ate more chili. Drew a bit.

in the woods

Friday:

Another relaxed day at work. And I have a three day weekend! Which is very much needed as I haven't been sleeping well. My nights have just been very restless. Anyhoo. I touched up the gilding, I cut some stuff, I cleaned screens, I put away stuff. I finished The Amber Spyglass and oh what a heart punch of an ending! I tidied up the studio a bit too. Oh! And taped screens for a job. But all in all, it was a short day. Sometimes there are lulls in the printing, and that is not so bad. Well. Not so bad now that I'm making more money!

I planned to see The World's End with Steve in the evening, but he had a ways to come down (from San Francisco) so I had time to clean house, and vacuum, and relax. I will have hard wood floors at my new place, so now I'll have to get felt for my furniture. I've picked up some sliders, which I'll put under the bed, as that will probably have to be moved a bit as I settle my room.

So The World's End was pretty funny! I want to watch it again. Spaced, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead. All the same cast members reoccurring. That humor. The friendship. Very much its particular thing. I'm sure it'll do well on a repeated viewing.

Saturday:

Steve and I drove to Jeffrey's for brunch to try them out. It was standard diner fair, nothing really to write home about. Though I am writing right now and people at home will read about it. From there we got on Highway 1 and then went to the Nisene Marks State Park to do a little loop hike. The road was annoying to drive on. Narrow. Tons of cyclists and pot holes. But the park was very nice. Redwoods and small loops and not a lot of people. The weather was perfect for it too. Hot, but not sweltering. And we had the forethought to bring a water bottle. Always a bonus. The trails were very up and down though. Not a lot of flat paths. Though that was only in the section we were in.

Due to having a man date with Adam and Kyle, Steve departed after that. I forgot to call you back Mom! I'll call you tomorrow! Anyway. I ran an errand. Washed the dishes. Worked on my map. Watched The Bridge, which is an American adaptation of a Danish/Swedish show Bron/Broen, which is a border crossing crime drama. The adaptation is very good.

I'm very happy to have this three day weekend. Just knowing that Monday is open as well. Ah. It's good.

I also spent some time thinking about how I'm going to layout my new room. It'll be tricky, but I'll make it work somehow.

ice cream, steak, sucky tidings

Friday:

Showed up early again to work, though just so we can get an early start on two big job setups that needed to be done by the end of the day. I cleaned squeegees. The job got set up. We ran the back. Jeff set up the new coffee maker. Boss put some excess gold foil on a tooth to make it look capped like the goober that he is. I cleaned the squeegees again and we did the back. Did we do more after that? Err. I don't think so. I removed the tape from all the screens, so there will be a lot of cleaning of screens to be done next week as we've come up short on them again. So much turn over!

After work I took it easy and cleaned my room. I swung by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing and filled up the growler with their seasonal "Casinos" IPA. The people in the pub looked at my possession of the growler with much admiration and respect. I was there on serious business and they knew it! Steve came down and we picked up steaks and had those with the beer and we watched Happy Gilmore on Netflix.

Saturday:

After breakfast, Steve and I walked downtown and we wandered into Bookshop Santa Cruz where I picked up a "get well" card for a friend. Then we went to the Penny Ice Creamery and got fancy ice cream cones and ate them while wandering around a little street fair of sorts. He took off to meet Adam, Kyle, & co. for dinner and I opted to stay down in Santa Cruz to work on things.

Janet came back from her vacation and there was a letter that was confirmed to be our 60 day notice. So tht was a bummer of big magnitude. Time to find a place to live. Been here just a year. Uhg.

Watched Prisoner of Azkaban.

Sunday:

Had a good solid sleep in. I posted my first advert on Craigslist about looking for a place to live, and called one person and emailed two others. Haven't heard back, but it is still early. Just gotta keep extending myself and hopefully someone will want me to move in.

I sat out on the porch and read and soaked up a bit of sun. That was nice. Had some of my Canada noodles for dinner. They were very interesting. Worked on correspondence. Oh, I should do a "I've moved!" card for when I move. Something to send to everyone.

All in all, a fairly relaxing day. Didn't do my grocery shopping but I suppose I can do that tomorrow.

making it look nice

Saturday:

Had a good little sleep in, and then I set about doing my laundry and cleaning my room. Alana moved more of her stuff out. I really want for us to say "landlord changed his mind, move back in!" Had some tea and an eggy breakfast. Did my makeup early on in the day because when it is the weekend and you are not getting all mussed up at work you can do your brows and eyeliner. It's fun.

Worked on the Odd Owl album art some more! It's really coming along. Should be done tomorrow night. Well the city portion should be done.

In the late afternoon Steve came down. We opted to head to the wharf for fish and chips, instead of working on our 99 bottles cards. It was a nice night for the walk. I put some pennies in the crushers on our way out to Stagnaro Brothers. We found a bench and ate our fish and chips while listening to the seals and seagulls. There was this grandpa trying to hoist his grandkid up to see the seals, and he (the grandpa) had a lit cigarette in his mouth. I was so afraid that he would burn the kid accidentally with it. Dessert was fudge from Marini's. The evenings entertainment was Welcome to Night Vale. Can't get enough of this awesome podcast, and now I've moved onto trying to get everyone else I know to listen to it.

Sunday:

The problem with making breakfast foods is that if you don't have milk you can't really make anything beyond scrambled eggs and toast. So Steve and I went to Buttery and got breakfasty sandwiches. And then breakfasty dessert of pecan bar and a bright pink Snowball made with home made marshmallow. Mmm that snowball was good. We walked down into a park and listened to the screams of the boardwalk. Those screams are really good at navigation throughout the downtown area.

There was a Wharf to Wharf run today, as evidenced by tons of people wearing Wharf to Wharf shirts and numbers. But since we didn't print those event shirts at work, I was unaware of this thing happening. Funny how that goes. Some things I only know about because we print them.

Steve headed back up north and I set to listening to audiobooks and working on the art. I made a good chunk of progress, I'm really stoked for how this is turning out! Should be an awesome album cover.

And now it is very late and another week begins. August is almost upon me. Woah.

take one down, pass it around

Saturday:

The landlord was coming by at 11am to look over the house, so I got up early (for a Saturday). Got the room tidied up. Washed some dishes. The landlord was YET ANOTHER Steve! There are so many of them. It's like a hydra of connections. Meet one Steve then 3 more show up to also be met.

After the visit I went on a little journey to find some beer steins for a gift exchange I'm in. Janet recommended the Attila's Antiques as an antique mall with lots of variety, and it did not disappoint. It was an H shaped building, and the lady who helped me, Christine I believe it was, told me to just keep to the right and I'll eventually find my way around through all the stalls (people could rent a space and put their wares in, and everything was labeled with their stall number, so you pay one sum instead of many sums to many people, a really good system I think). I told Christine what I was looking for and she did an awesome job of hunting out steins. There were less than I was expecting, but still a nice variety to pick from. There were some bigger ones, but they were cracked, and some crystal ones with metal lids but the metal was a bit tarnished, and some clear bottomed ones but you could probably just order those so it didn't seem so special. I settled on a glass 1989 Budweiser stein with a horse design, a ceramic one with an illustration of a ye olde dude with a stein of his own on it, and a little ceramic one with a sort of textured design. And all of that for less than a double sawbuck! Excellent! I also dug through some old photos, and found a mug with a Sears Roebuck 1906 catalog design on it. Just what I like! Wandering around the place was a really fun experience. So many little knick knacks.

I couldn't turn left onto Soquel from the store, so I turned right and drove down a ways, and turned left on a random street with the intention of taking a U turn to get me back towards Soquel in the right direction, but it was a nice day so I just continued driving. I saw a farmer's stand with the sign "don't panic it's organic" so I pulled in to see what they had. It was on the honors system of paying, which I think is a great bit of trust, so of course I wanted to get something to support that trust, so I got some green beans and flowers. I paid and headed back. Nibbled on the green beans, which were very tasty, and steamed what was left when I got home. The flowers I put in a vase and put the vase on the dining room table. We like to keep a nice house.

Then I ran a Walgreen's errand. Got some sweets and toilet paper, among other things.

And with the productivity train chugging along, I washed my car! Now it is all shiny and pretty. I am also several chapters into Goblet of Fire.

Steve arrived a bit after I finished washing my car, and we walked over to Pacific Street and went to 99 Bottles for dinner. 99 Bottles has this thing where if you drink 99 different varieties of beer at their place, you get your name on the wall. And the wall has names dating back to the early 90s. It doesn't seem like people get up there more than once a month. I figured that while I am living in Santa Cruz, I might as well try and see how close I can get to getting my name on the wall. You can get a quote on your name plaque as well. Don't panic! would be a good one, as would "slice of lemon wrapped around a large gold brick" or "one bottle of that Ol' Janx Spirit". #98 and #84 got ticked off my card. It begins! To accompany our brewskies, we ordered calimari, sliders, and fish & chips to share betwixt us. It was all pretty good. Afterwards we got some cookies at the cookie place that always smells really good. Then we walked home and tried to watch Upstream Color, but the sound was REALLY QUIET for no damn discernible reason. So we switched to an episode of MST3K.

Sunday:

Steve left a bit after breakfast because he had errands of his own to run. I walked over to the art shop to get some frames and look at their supplies of this and that. It was a good day for walking and listening to Goblet of Fire. I picked up a sandwich on the way home, and because of the hour at which it was consumed it got me through the rest of the day with no need for dinner. I like timing meals like that. Probably why I like brunch so much. Eat a big meal, take a nap, then good to go for the rest of the day. Looking forward to brunch with Brynne and Dan.

I spent a good amount of time relaxing. Also washed my towels. Then I whipped out some paper and started working on the Odd Owl album art. It'll be a lot of little drawing to do, but I just gotta keep chipping away at it.

Totally awesome Podcast that you should listen to: Welcome to Night Vale.

Neil Gaiman is awsome

Friday:

I was so excited to sleep in but it just didn't happen! Took the day off work and toodled around. Had breakfast. Had a bunch of my new tea that arrived today! It ships quick. I love my new tea brewing thingy. It steeps and then you put it on top of a mug and the tea comes out of the bottom and the leaves are separated. Really cool gizmo. Anyway. I put on my loudest top and I packed up my things and headed out at around 3:15. Traffic was horrid on 101! So much slow going and then stop and go once I got into San Francisco. I didn't get into the parking garage till 5:30ish! The line for the theater went down a couple blocks and wrapped around the block. So many people for Neil Gaiman. I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me in line, Anderson. Pretty nice chap. His friend Susan arrived in line too, and she was really nice. Some people on tour buses asked who we were waiting for. "A band?" "A writer!" When Anderson, Susan and I got into the theater, we ended up sitting together on the mezzanine. It was a nice vantage point, and we were right on the edge so we could lean over and spit on the front row (we didn't do that).

Neil Gaiman came onto the stage to massive cheers, and when he made a little “shhhh" motion and everyone went silent in seconds. Amazing. He talked, he read from The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Fortunately, The Milk, and answered questions. All of it was enjoyable and lovely and just all around great.

The signs said “no photography or film" but they DIDN’T say no sketching. Okay granted it is really difficult to sketch in the dark of a theater from a far off point of view, but I gave it my best, though I could never figure out how to draw his hair. At 8:20 he started signing, and the theater put people into line based on seating section, which was awesome! Being up high and clearly far back in the signing time frame, I had the chance to go get something to eat and hang out with Steve a bit (who came downtown). I was so hungry and the pizza really hit the spot.

It also gave me the time to chat with Susan and Anderson about such topics as speculative fiction, Ramachandran, travel, eye brows, and all sorts of things. Really cool people to sit and chat with. Much better than standing in line for hours and hours. And my oh my were the signing staff efficient! They had people getting the names on sticky notes, then the to be signed materials were handed down the line to someone who opened it to the correct page, so that all Neil had to do was sign and interact (not that interacting with several hundred different people in a few hours is an easy task). While sketching the signing line, I found that when I drew someone at the back by the time I finished, their stuff was already signed and they were off the stage! Amazing!

I got into the line at 11:40 and I was through at 11:59. Neil and I had the briefest of interactions. He saw my name and I spluttered out a “my parents are big Hitchhiker’s Guide fans" and he said “Nice to meet you Trillian" and in my book there is a little heart (along with his signature and my name). He looked very tired, but oh so understandably so. He took breaks, sure, but damn he signed for hours! I hope some day I get to meet him again, but I don’t know what exactly I’ll say. It was an amazing night for memories both new and old.

I met up with Steve again after the signing, and I drove us back to his place in Daly City. It was nice to sleep there instead of driving all the way down to Santa Cruz.

Saturday:

Steve and I got brunch at Boulevard Cafe in Daly City. I had the eggs benedict and they hit the spot. Not the best that I've had, but they were pretty good. From there we went to the ocean and walked along the bluffs for a little while. I got sand in my shoes and the back of my arm and my back is a bit pink from the sun exposure. It was a nice mellow day of hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. I was melting yesterday as I drove up to San Francisco. 99 degrees! No good for lil me!

I returned to Santa Cruz at around 5:20ish and set about scanning my sketchbook. I finished my current one off whilst sketching the Neil Gaiman signing. It's so exciting and fulfilling to start a new one. Have to have some more adventures soon!

Tomorrow I shall read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Maybe I'll sit in the sun and read. Get some rays. That'll be nice.

Things are good.

tacos! shower curtains! fun times!

Friday:

The final work day ended up being light, which was nice after four days of long hours. I coated screens, half for water base half for aquasol. I burned and taped screens. Jeff and Stu ran a job. I cleaned stuff. The recirculating tank needs refreshing. The boss offered me Memorial Day off, but I didn't want it off because I didn't really have any pressing need to do stuff on Monday. 

In the evening I drove up to San Jose to see Steve. We went to the massive mall (one of them) to meet Molly and Kyle to see Hangover III. The 9:15 was near sold out, so we went for the 9:55. That gave me time to buy some froyo and put granola and candy on it. And mochi. Is mochi healthy or not? Either way, I froyo is the bomb. Hangover III was better than I expected it to be and it bookended the trilogy nicely. The thing about those movies is that they are all shot really well. Way better than other lewd comedies are shot. They are really nice looking films that play to, well not the lowest common denominator but certainly not the people that would go to any great effort to see Tarsem's The Fall in theater. 

We bid each other adieu and I spent the night in San Jose, because on Saturday we had tickets to the 2nd Annual San Jose Taco Festival!!

Saturday:

Tacos! We skipped breakfast and headed out at around 11ish. There was traffic due to graduation but it wasn't that bad. We found parking about two blocks from the event and went in. Steve and I were there before Jen, Adam, Kyle, and Molly. First up was The Chairman for steamed pork bao and steamed chicken bao. It was delicious. We met up with A,K, J, and M at the beer ticket line and the shrimp tacos were accompanied with Stella. Steve got a grilled cheese kimchee taco that wasn't totally...up to snuff. Jen and Adam had this chicken and porkbelly taco at Miso Hungry. The whole taco festival was a park chuck o' block with food trucks and everything was priced at around 1 for $3 or 2 for $5. A good way to consume a large variety of tacos from lots of cheesy named vendors. With another round of beers and sangria, we hung out in this wagon that was in the historical park and ate more from The Chairman. Then there was lamb tacos from 333 and white truffle butter fish taco from We (roll symbol) Sushi. Yum yums! The day finished with ice cream from Treatbot and cupcakes from Fairycake. Then there was some frisbee. The weather was warm but not cruel. I wore my "42" tee, and someone wished me a happy Towel Day. All in all, very grand and fun. Can't beat tacos and good company.

Afterwards we took a hearty nap and then I went to Target and got some windshield wiper fluid and fuel injector cleaner. There was just one really near to Steve's place so figured I would take advantage and save me a trip...though I still went to Target in Capitola on Sunday anyway. I can always think of something to get, though it is nice to spruce up the house with things. Make it a little more my place to live and a little less a place I happen to be staying at, ya know? Anyhoo. Got back at 9ish and took it easy and went to bed at a nearly respectable hour. Didn't feel like blogging the whole todo.

Sunday:

Slept in till 3 minutes to noon. This weekend has been great. Had a lot of fun. Had a lot of rest. Had enough social time as well as me time. I had a cheerios & orange juice breakfast and spent half an hour baking in the sun on my back porch. Now is the time to regain some freckles. I like having them. After that I went to Target to get a new shower curtain, because our current one was getting a bit mildewy, and the inside curtain was way mildewy. One can only tolerate so much mildew. I went with a way cute bird floral pattern that I am pretty enthusiastic about (and I consulted Alana about it, so it wasn't just my choice). From there I went to Trader Joe's and did my shopping for the week. It's going to be another burrito week. Tired of the sandwiches. I took down the old curtains, put up the new plastic one and put the new cloth one in the wash because it had that "new product" smell. It's washable, which is a good thing.

May has been a really good month for me. I'm feeling really good about where I am and everything. It's all coming into place.

I added windshield fluid and checked the air in the tires (all good). I put some of that fuel injector cleaner in as well, because I haven't done that in a year. Is there anything else I should check Dad? All the fluid levels are where they ought to be.

Dinner was burritos, so now I'm set for the weeks worth of lunch. No Game of Thrones tonight.

Got tons of shirts to print, got screens to clean, got audiobooks to listen to.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $6,392 with 8 days to go!!

the call

Had some shower inspiration for the new Odd Owl cover art, so I quickly sketched it and sent it their way. And in the evening I refined it some more. Pretty good day of productivity. Sandwiched in the middle was catching, coating, and counting shirts. Nothing went catastrophically wrong.

Almost done with this audiobook. I think I'll need some wholesome young adult after this.

Hannibal is one intense show, holy quacamole!

Tomorrow I go see Star Trek, and probably crash up in San Jose at Steve's. Unfortunately Steve will likely be moving to San Francisco in the next couple months. He'll be just far enough away to be really inconvenient. Boo.

over the border and into sunshine

Friday:

Yay! Friday! And it was a most singular task driven day. I had 11 10"x3" banners to do, and it did take all day to do them. Thankfully they were already cut longways, so it made the job go by pretty seemingly fast. Jeff tidied the rest of the studio. I started listening to Stephen King's Under the Dome. It is looking to be harrowing and brutal. Just the way I like my Stephen King.

Back at home I packed up, and at 7 I departed to meet Steve in San Jose for our weekend in Carson, Nevada.

It was a long drive, but no deer jumped in front of us crossing the pass (same road to get to Kirkwood and Tahoe). And we listened to Under the Dome, which was neat. His parent's bought a place, and some stuff had to be picked up, so we were there to pick it up.

All the grommets I punched at work did my shoulders in though, so I had a very restless night sleep. Not fun.

Saturday:

I slept in, and awoke to find out that Steve had gone to collect the mattresses on his own, so I sat in the small back yard and worked on crossword puzzles and snacked. When he returned, I helped moved the California King up the narrow stairs. Not an easy task. The twin mattresses were much easier. Seems like the house will be fitted for lots of various people to crash at. Steve's Dad's copilot Tim was staying there at the same time, but he was working on this plane thing so obviously he couldn't pick up the mattresses. Anyway. We went and got some Thai food for lunch, drove around a bit. It was a lovely day. Saw many Yellow Cars. Got Steve playing Yellow Car, though he has yet to listen to Cabin Pressure. We visited the airplane hanger where Tim and other machinists were working on plane conversion stuff, and got to check out the planes they were working on. It was pretty cool, seeing the interiors all stripped out and stuff. Made me think of Pa and Grandpa.

We made a Costco trip to see about getting sheets for the small mattresses, but there were none in the right size, so we just got a bake at home pizza and some ice creme. Yay for ice creme! We tried to find an ice cream place earlier in the day, but the GPS took us to an ice cream distribution center but not an actual store. Funny, but a bummer.

Back at the house, we put the pizza in and read our respective books while it heated up. It was very thick pizza, but tasty enough. Nice mellow day and night.

Sunday:

It was an early start, but not in a bad way. With no TV and Internet, going to bed at a reasonable hour becomes really feasible. We shared a waffle and had tea and coffee at a nearby coffee place, then returned to the house and packed up, and then headed back to San Jose. It was a scorcher of a day and soon I was melting. The ride went fast for me because I ended up taking a nap for about half of it. I'm a bad road trip companion. We had lunch at Carl's Junior and then back on the road we went. We got in to San Jose at about 3:30 and I got home an hour later. The traffic was pretty backed up, but going in the other direction on 17.

I took my time relaxing and catching up on Doctor Who, and then late in the afternoon I did my weekly grocery shopping. And I called Ma & Pa to chat.

Ooops! I wrote up this post early last night, but forgot to post it with the final inclusion of me watching Game of Thrones and eating salad.

Odd Owl's Kickstarter is at $3,426!!

beaches, brunches, and bunches of company

Friday:

Boss brought in Jeff to run the press. Jeff was super nice. A dude with many years experience. He finished the backs and did all the fronts and meanwhile I did the other stuff. I coated screens. I mixed a new batch of emulsion. I cleaned screens. I reclaimed screens. I cleaned squeegees and floodbars. I broke down the press. Cleaned more floodbars. Coated more screens. A nice full day. This John Corey novel is SUPER long, like holy crap I could have listened to at least a Discworld novel in this time. But it is charming, so I'm sticking with it.

We got our new stove and it is clean looking and white and all that.

Steve came down later in the evening and we went to Hong Kong Charlie and got take out. We consumed the take out with a bottle of Riesling and it was all quite tasty. It was a very good night.

Saturday:

Steve and I were too lazy to make a breakfast, so we went out. Santa Cruz Diner had a line, so I drove back home and we walked to Zachary's, which I heard good things about. The wait was very short. I had tea with eggs benedict and oh wow was it good! I love me some eggs benedict. I ate it with my hands and I got quite messy, but I'd like to think that is part of my charm. That I'm a tactile eater. Either way, Steve didn't seem embarrassed by my sloppy company, so all was well.

Afterwards, we walked down to the boardwalk and beach. We walked through the surf. I bought some Dippin' Dots. We sat on the beach. We absorbed the rays. It was such a warm lovely day. It's so nice to be withing walking distance of brunch and beach. Steve's neck got a bit red, but I was pretty fine.

Back at home we watched the first episode of Broadchurch and the new Doctor Who episode. Then we took a nap. Then we said our goodbyes.

In the evening, Janet, Alana and I drank wine and ate nachos and girl talked. Janet worked on the junk drawer and Alana put things away. I sketched and tried to be helpful. It was nice to get to know the housemates a little better. It's a really nice living arrangement.

Things are just really good, ya know?

blood, sweat, but no tears

Friday:

Had a relatively easy end to the work week. Cut some stickers. Listened to Anathem, which is confusing me royally. Ran a couple shirts. Cleaned some screens. As I was cutting sticker at the end of the day, the Exacto caught on something and flipped out of my hand, cutting my pointer finger. The blood ran freely and I quickly washed it out. Andrew disinfected it, but I didn't even wince, and put a bandaid on it. That was super helpful as it's hard to apply a bandaid with your non dominant hand. I went around and cleaned up my trail of blood, and got a few stories from my Boss of the different times he has cut himself. The bandaid was good and secure, and waterproof so that it kept it properly sealed in. No leakage.

I kept my arm elevated and took it easy. Then I headed up to San Jose later in the evening. I think I milked the injury for a proper amount of sympathy from Steve. We got pizza, and then met up with Jenn and Adam and saw Jurassic Park in 3D at the IMAX. SO BADASS! It looked so nice up on the big screen. So crisp and remastered. Mmm. A good way to end the week.

Saturday:

I spent the night in San Jose. Sometimes I feel like driving at night, sometimes I don't. It wasn't so bad heading back down. The Sunday traffic wasn't bad.

Back at home I got to work getting caught up on telly. Hannibal and Doctor Who mainly. I took a nap. Janet posted on Craigslist the advert for the room. It is looking to be a casual weekend. Gotta go shopping tomorrow. Fruit, veggies, all that stuff.

letterwoman

Another lovely day at work. Stu and I ran three shirt jobs: a two color on underbase, and two white roto'd. I was pulling the shirts at a very good speed. Certain shirts are easier to put on and pull of palettes. I also coated the screens I reclaimed, and burned a screen, and taped some screens. Not the longest of days, but it was a nice one.

Divergent is quite good, I'll probably do some fanart when I'm done listening to it.

At home I had a scramble for dinner and tidied my room. Steve came down for a visit and I showed him my zines. Thesis is so very long ago, and Portland feels quite distant now. It's not the most fun of feelings to have. I hope I get some time off work soon, because I'd like to drive up to Portland and hang with Madeline, Heather, Daniel, BT, Serenity, Dom, Beth, Samala, and all the rest. Some day. Hopefully some day soon.

Yay, Friday is here! It will probably be a light day. I don't think we'll be running any major major jobs. Maybe some smaller ones.

I also worked a bit more on my correspondence  Just writing letters old school like. It feels nice to do. To write and send things. To old friends and new friends. And getting things back is always a bonus too.

viva Mexican food

Saturday:

Agreed to help Nathan move, though I don't know how much help I actually provided. Anyhoo. Arrived in Redwood City at 3ish and helped pack some shirts and move some boxes out and whatnot. There will be several trips, so not everything needed to get Uhauled immediately. From there we (Nate, Helen and myself) went to the u-store place and Nate filled out the paperwork. Then we got Mexican food and went to Helen's (which was only a couple blocks from the storage unit) and had a late lunch and worked on crossword puzzles. We three solved one! Helen is really good at clues. Nathan got a few as well.

From there we went to Nate's new place in Menlo Park. It was... extremely cozy, to put it kindly. Unkindly, it is really small. But it is month to month, so it can give Nate some time to find a better place. I helped move a couple things in and out. Met the couple who owns the main part of the house (Nate is renting a space that is part of a converted garage or something). Met their dogs.

Nate & Helen set off for the Storage Unit and I set off for San Jose & Steve. Steve was watching King of the Hill when I arrived, and I got caught up in watching a few episodes with him. It's a really good show when you think about how Hank is content in his little life really wants to be a good father though he is at odds with Bobby, how Peggy is very dissatisfied and always wants something more, and the overall themes of small town people fighting big changes. We met up with Kyle and Molly and got ice cream. The chocolate/vanilla swirl that I got was BIG, holy cow! I didn't think it would be, but it was. We wandered around the street and then went off in search of Mexican food. There was a little hole in the wall place (much like the one I went to in the afternoon with N&H) and plenty tacos were bought and we four consumed them back at Steve's. They were damn good too. Mmmm.

I like driving home late at night, because I can go my own pace on 17. That is to say a slower and saner pace.

Sunday:

Broke my habit and slept in on a Sunday. I hade a big scramble breakfast, and did laundry, and had an avocado and creme cheese sandwich for dinner. Didn't really get up to much besides farting around the Internet.

Need to come up with a few more art projects. Maybe design a couple new cards. Oh! Scanner. Still haven't bought one. Dang. I need to get my work address though, so I can have UPS deliver there instead.

bulbin'

Saturday:

Just a stay at home and get things done kinda day. I made a Target run and got lightbulbs, soap, face wash, work shirts, and other household stuff. I got the fancy long lasting lightbulbs. Cuz I'm living large.

Annnd that was pretty much it. I didn't run errands till later in the day, and I didn't get out of bed and on with breakfast till afternoon.

Sunday:

I set my alarm because I didn't want to sleep allll the way in. Had a little breakfast. Got in touch with Nathan. At 2ish I swung by Trader Joe's and got some snackums and then I went up to see Nate in Redwood City. We played some Portal 2 co-op, watched some Adventure Time, ate some cupcakes and candies, and watched a bit of Attack the Block, which is a wicked cool British action alien movie. He had a dinner thing, so we parted ways at 7. I called Steve because San Jose is near to Redwood City, and I went over and hung out with Steve, Molly, Kyle, Adam, and Jenn. Had pizza, drank a few beers, chatted, watched stuff. Had a generally good evening.

Rolled into Santa Cruz late in the night, and all was well. Not a half bad weekend. Bring it new week!

Spring is coming

Be sure to check out the March 11th Google Doodle. It is in celebration of Douglas Adams' 61st Birthday. I wouldn't be who I am without him, seriously.

Saturday:

Got a full 12 hours in bed, and I woke up feeling great. This whole weekend has been excellent in terms of decompacting all the knots and stress that have built up over this past week. I ran some shopping errands, namely to get lasagna making supplies. I also scrubbed the bath tub and shower curtain and washed the bath rug and went at the no slip thing with the hose. My bathroom, since it has no fan, is a total mildew trap. Trying to clean that gunk out. I was mildly successful. The no-slip needs more work, but it does have a cleaner vibe as a whole.

It was an absolutely beautiful day.

Steve came down from San Jose for lasagna. He helped prepare it. Well he mixed the cheese mixture up. He may have been a bit generous with the portions as he likes cheese. While it was cooking we drank wine and worked on crossword puzzles. I've never put dry lasagna noodles in the lasagna, as the recipe called for, and I didn't trust it this time around, so I put cooked noodles in. It was a bit...well it became more a lasagna puddle and didn't hold its shape too well when it was cut apart. But it was still tasty. Afterwards we watched Ravenous, a favorite movie of mine.

Sunday:

For brunch, Steve & I went to The Buttery. I had the avocado, egg, tomato croissant sandwich and he had the egg, cheese, and bacon one. Also there were pecan and chocolate treats from the bakery side of things. It was all tasty, as The Buttery has consistently been. It is assuredly a place for me to take visiting relatives.

We walked about Santa Cruz after, because it was yet another beautiful day. Steve had errands in San Jose, so he departed relatively early in the afternoon. I ran my laundry and took it easy for the rest of the day. Watched some telly, folded some shirts, looked into scanners. Since I can get bulk shirts from work, I looked into the brands on the distribution site. Might get some nice solid colored shirts next paycheck. Mmm hmm.

I predict next week will contain a lot of cleaning, reclaiming, and coating, with a few smaller jobs ran.

out and about & in and din

Friday:

Ran the front and backs on a shirt. Broke down the press. Moved on to Moving Pictures, yet another Discworld audiobook. Burnt a couple screens. Sorted and stacked several huge piles of sweatshirts. Lots of printing is going to go down soon. It'll be nice to clock the hours.

After work I got some cupcakes and went up to San Jose and hung out with Steve, Kyle, Molly, Adam, and Jenn. We had pot roast and stew and bread and wine and played Settles of Catan (Steve won). It was a good night all in all. I got back late and promptly went to sleep.

Saturday:

Slept way, way in. Had some funky dreams. Had a massive scramble. Caught up on television. Ate some chocolate covered banana bits. Generally had a relaxing day. Quite nice, really.

I learned a cool trick to multiplying large numbers. It utilizes lines and counting intersections of things.

the land of the north (aka up yonder over 17)

Today's shift was spent doing one thing, and one thing only: weeding vinyl. There were several sheets, and I weeded out 100 stickers from them. I then papered the vinyl and by the end, had it bagged and ready to give to the client. So that was a lot of time spent listening to Tobolowsky Files and Snow Crash.

The time did move fast though, oddly enough. Get in the weeding zone.

I got some groceries. Apples, PB, J, and other staples. Then I went up to San Jose to see Steve. He made dinner! How wonderful. Chicken and ravioli. Num nums. It was a nice night. And a nice day. The weather has been really swell lately, though I eagerly await sunbathing season.

Aaaand my car has officially reaching 5k miles since last oil change. That seemed to go fast, then again I was living in San Francisco during the last change, and that was about 7 months ago, so maybe not that fast.

So that is another thing to do. Probably this weekend. This is going to be an designated errand weekend. I have errands that need tending to.

Wednesday, woah the week is half way over already!!

AHk, keep getting distracted by other parts of the Internet!

Anyway, I spent a chunk of time this morning on the phone with the DMV, and it took 17 minutes for the automated message to inform me I could make an appointment online, and it turns out I can't even get an appointment to take my test till the 21st. All that hurry for nothing!

Work was relatively short. Cleaned up the area a bit. Unboxed some shirts. Did some more tidying. Cut stickers. Listened to Snow Crash.

Tomorrow I'll probably do some mopping. It's another sort of seasonal studio clean, I figure. Also reclaiming.

At home I had a scramble for dinner. I tidied up my room a bit. I ran a shampoo procuring errand. That was about it.

Have some more cleaning to do tomorrow, and food shopping. Making chili on Friday, and Steve is coming down. I like Steve. He's a tall bearded ginger who is well read. Of course I like him. Hee hee. He is also nice and easy to talk to, which is always good. Hm. Don't usually talk about people like this in my blog. Welp. There it is.