And Now For Your Listening Pleasure

Amazing inventor Athanasius Kircher designed this cat piano in in the 17th century. Kitties with differently-pitched voices were placed in the pens and then "triggered" to meow with a sharp poke in the ass. From Kircher's Musurgia Universalis (1650):
In order to raise the spirits of an Italian prince burdened by the cares of his position, a musician created for him a cat piano. The musician selected cats whose natural voices were at different pitches and arranged them in cages side by side, so that when a key on the piano was depressed, a mechanism drove a sharp spike into the appropriate cat’s tail. The result was a melody of meows that became more vigorous as the cats became more desperate. Who could not help but laugh at such music? Thus was the prince raised from his melancholy.

Meeeeoooouch! My cats don't know how good they have it, little poop machines.

That's some Calamari!

Yikes! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4756514.stm Just another entry in the new things to see list for the upcoming visit to London.

Climb Every Mountain

I am happy that the rain was not dumping on the weekend so I got in some hiking time with Mai on Sunday. We went up somewhere around 26th Street in Santa Monica which turned into the street Capri where the hike began and we ended up in the Topanga Canyon, not the part you drive through but somewhere in the canyon. We had a good view of a very large home that I have been up to with TFS to do an event. (owned by Mr. Tito, the guy that paid millions to go up in the space shuttle with the Russians) Great property but so so house, you know, if I were in the market. (one can dream) So, I did manage to get in some knitting time this weekend and I am almost halfway finished with the back of my Michael Kors sweater. Who would've thunk that I, miss simple scarf, hat, poncho knitter could grasp such a intricate pattern. I must thank Lori again for making me! haha Actually, I will forever use her neat-o charting to simplify the patterns I am yet to take on. It's all down hill from here....right?!

Moonshadows Moonshadows

Friday night was a lovely evening in Malibu for a Birthday party at Moonshadows. There was a good DJ and we ate appetizers and had cocktails. Mai’s friend Julie was the birthday girl and she set free what appeared to be a mini hot air balloon that had a candle burning inside it to lift it into the night sky but the wind blew it under the wood pilings that the restaurant was built on….which I can only presume was not the intention. The balloon caught up under the restaurant and everyone was just watching and clapping, hello people, FIRE!! One smart lad finally jumped over and set it free into the night sky and we watched it go up until it disappeared. (hopefully it didn’t land on any of those Malibu homes) Moonshadow’s food was tasty and it’s a fun place to hangout..sans fire!

Awwwwwwwww

I hope eveyone gets in some relaxation this weekend OR you can come over and clean my apartment, do my laundry, mop my floors and then go over to M&M's to help pack for their move and when you are done with all that Cinderella, you can finish my knitting and pick me up at the beach, after you go skating for me(real fast so I get a good workout)... so that's that what it feels like to be a celebrity... or Paris Hilton!

How wild is this mural? I pass it on the way to Michele and Mark's soon to be ex-apartment. That is some great work. I remember painting a mural in 5th grade. Our school was behind a shopping center and we got to paint the back side that faced the school's field. The artwork was in no way as colorful or ornate as this one but it was fun to paint with my friends anyway. I remember being so excited as I painted my name in the corner with all who helped paint and thinking that my name would appear on the building forever.....forever lasted about 5 years and then they tore down the place to rebuild a bigger better mall. Now the poor mall is barely making it in an age of megamalls and I bet they tear it down one day and rebuild some awful Walmart or worse...is there worse? That's progress my friends.

Just Can't Fake It

Vote for 3 Day Weekends!

My sister Danette came into town, arriving just as I was finished with work Friday and
we began the weekend festivities. We went to the Grove Friday night after dinner and it was not so packed since the rain had just let up. Saturday we went to my favorite place for French pastry, Boule on La Cienega (amazing macarons, éclairs, amazing chocolates and gelato! Yes they are evil) and then we headed out to Redondo Beach for another go at the pearl picking parlor! We picked 6 and I left with a set of black pearl earrings and ring in a great setting and my sister left with a pair of white pearl dangle earrings and a ring for my niece. It is the most fun you can have for $8.98 for each oyster chosen and it’s so cool to see what treasure each one holds when they crack open the shell. We then walked around the pier watching the fishermen and saw a few different (pods, schools, packs?..whateve) of dolphins! They were just cruising around eating and jumping. It is hard to get pictures but you can see them if you click on picture. We also saw a couple that were either seals or sea lions and tons of crabs and even a few pink and orange starfish under the boardwalk. It was a beautiful day. Of coarse we had to head over to Santa Monica for our fish and chips from Kings Head and then more shopping on the promenade.

Going to the Dogs

Sunday we went for a hike up Runyon Canyon with all kinds of people and pooches with the same idea. The view was gorgeous, crystal clear all the way to Long Beach and Catalina and the special added bonus that the rain had washed the canyon so we didn’t have to breathe the dog poo stench that usually permeates the air. (especially when it’s hot out. bleech!) The rest of the day we hit some yarn stores and then El Coyote for a late lunch and a margarita. (FYI, March 13 is El Coyote’s 75th anniversary and they will have a couple combo plates for 75 cents!! More for margaritas! gotta go) Monday we went to Norms (another really old 24 hour diner) for breakfast and Danette headed back to Vegas.
No sooner did Danette drive away when my neighbor called and I went with her back to Boule! (she wanted the macarons, I swear) and then we went to this great Vietnamese restaurant called Absolutely Phobulous a couple steps down the street on La Cienega. I had the green papaya salad with shrimp and it was amazing. (I guess the waffle and eggs at Norms wasn’t enough..hey I hiked Sunday..) Mai had a bowl with rice noodles and pork and it looked de-lish as well and best part, cheap eats! Will go back soon.
We went home and sat in back yard enjoying the warm sun and chatting. My other neighbor came over to bring some truffles that his wife makes and I had to try one. (don’t want to be rude, hehe) Melt in my mouth yummy, I love my neighbors!!

Later that night I went to Raquel & Lisa’s with Michele for what else but more food! Erica, Tim and Brooke met us and we talked and laughed while Raquel whipped up a great Italian dinner and even sent everyone home with a doggy bag! Rocky Rocks!
What more could I possibly ask for from a 3 day weekend of great friends, family and food? Not a thing. Aaah life is good.

Jack Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

I was reading the hysterical celebrity gossip blog Trent.com and came across this http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds29146.html and I will have none of that talk, Kiefer!! Jack Bauer is not allowed to be killed off. Please kill off Audrey and the lame-O prez.... and sorry but daughter Kim hasn't even appeared on this season and I already know she has to go (have you seen her act in old episodes?!) but for the love of god don't take Jack away from all of us, your faithfull "24" fans!!
I can say that if Kiefer shows up in my office, that is the kiss of death. I have seen George Mason who took one for the team and went down with the bomb, Nina Myers, who was the best bad egg (fyi, George & Nina married in real life) and our favorite Michelle Dessler, who they wasted no time killing off the first episode of this season, poor Tony but hey he is still alive and if I have it my way, I will make no appointments for him or Jack. Stay away Jack, for your own sake!!

Milk, but Darcy means dark! Mmmmm dark chocolate..

You are Milk Chocolate

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds.You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life.Also nostelgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

BEST VALENTINE’S DAY EVER!!

Forget the flowers, jewelry and chocolate, (is it possible to forget chocolate?) I got a car for Valentine’s Day! That is right, a car. I awoke and went down to my garage and looked inside and there it was. I turned the ignition key and it started up just like that and the best part of all is that it was so clean and didn’t have a blanket of shmutz! I know that you are saying, “lucky girl” but truth be told, my car has been sitting in my garage waiting for some love from me. I somehow had managed to forget how much I loved driving my fun little car! I opted for taking (for the most part) convenient public transportation to work since parking is a joke and I have been walking home in the evening for the only consistent exercise I get. I am now getting ready to do some job searching and need my wheels and with a stoke of luck last week, I ran into the perfect mechanic. The cute kind that come to your house with all the tools and parts and work all night and you pay them way less than a shop would be and you go to sleep and in the morning they are gone and you cry tears of joy…hmm sounds like a perfect Valentine’s Day! Hehe

Dreamy

I will always remember the one that got away. It was my sophomore year at Las Vegas High (I swear) and a year before they allowed the lowly freshmen to attend the high school. In the midst of my parent’s divorce, I was a painfully shy gal so I was shocked when on that Valentine’s day in biology class I was sent a flower from the cutest guy on the planet! I almost fell off my chair and I must have turned red and it didn’t get better for the whole class as I dreaded the bell ringing and knew I would be face to face with this upper classman and everyone in the hallway would be staring so what was I gonna say and do? Long story short, I froze, spoke a barely audible thank you and all but ran from Dreamy, never to kiss those perfect lips………….sad wasn’t it? Well, not so much as in about a year Dreamy realized that every girl thought he was Dreamy and he did what any red blooded male would do, he dated them all. Just kidding but he did join a punk band and it was all over, his fan club of girls was buying him flowers! So I dodged heartbreak that time but It is a sweet memory and now if another Dreamy comes along I will not freeze and turn red…slightly pink but not red.

Knitalong Madness

This is the first of maybe many actually wearable garments that I will make, yeah I said maybe.
I have seen so many beautiful and some funky sweaters and tops but I just stare blankly and start to drool when I try to decipher the code. What the fug would be my normal response to the mumbo jumbo they call a pattern. Until now!? Lori is so kind to try and explain this insane language of patterns to free form knitter, me and why not dive right in with a doozie! This is a Michael Kors sweater from the last issue of Vogue Knitting and I love it. If I actually finish it and it looks anything like the picture, I will be sporting it with some comfy jeans and certainly not black pants as the oatmeal colored yarn I chose is a bit of a shedder. So fingers crossed and I just might be wearing this one soon unless it stays as warm as it has been the last couple of days but I will surely take this with to London in a few months!

Ready to be spit up on!

Finally finished one of the 2 baby blankies that I have been working on forever! Now all I have to do is put little critters on the second one and mail it off and then I will never knit anything pink again!!!
So if you are planning on being pregnant, please have a boy...thank you.