new office all to myself. the new view came with it.

beards

Some natural speculation now about whether Obama will form a cabinet of rivals as Lincoln did. I am not a huge Hillary fan, personally, but I think a diverse team is the best idea nonetheless. All very exciting! Anyway, in poking around and rereading some info about the election of 1860, I came across these letters and they are always a good read.

Oct 15, 1860

Eleven-year-old Grace Bedell wrote this letter to Lincoln just a few weeks before the election:

Hon A B Lincoln...
Dear Sir
My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin's. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have got 4 brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to but I will try to get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chautauqua County New York.
I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye
Grace Bedell

Better still is Lincoln's response!!

Miss Grace Bedell
My dear little Miss
Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received - I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters - I have three sons - one seventeen, one nine, and one seven years of age - They, with their mother, constitute my whole family - As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now?
Your very sincere well wisher
A. Lincoln

Oh, how I love him.

Woot, woot, elections!

making history

i just ate [a possibly record-breaking] 6000 cookies [for Obama!] on this historic evening.


if you are dropping weight from law school overload, this might be the answer for you. these cookies were prepared in 6 stages, corresponding with study breaks during the last few days.



(add sprinkles to the list of happy-life-building-products that eddie's market does not carry.)

shrinky dink ornament night

if christmas came every payday

links links links links

october 6, 2008

telephone wires on old court road

"once you begin watching spiders, you haven't time for much else"

1. I think we should all take a fieldtrip to this exhibit in Philly on Crumb.

It's there till Dec 7! Any takers??

2. if you get the chance you should listen to the Driveway Moments podcast about E.B. White.
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=93263496&m=93278560
It is a short nice little reflection on Charlotte's Web, AND DID YOU KNOW that E.B. White is just about the sweetest man who ever lived?? When he was being recorded reading the book aloud for the making of the audiobook it took him 17 tries to get through Charlotte's death scene. He just couldn't keep it together! He wrote it, read it a million times, and just could not get through reading that passage out loud without crying. You can listen to him read a chapter here.

Sick of Going Green

No. 1 Tip for Saving the Earth: Build your own car.
No. 2 Tip for Saving the Earth: Become a Republican. You will be too busy running other people's lives to care anymore. You might also merely decide there is not a problem and the argument is moot.

cleaning out my closet, moving to new apartment!

more more more san francisco

saw some more sights





and bought a clock!

another day of street wandering

still in san francisco. here's my view.today i ventured out to britex fabrics a few blocks from my hotel. it is 4 floors of everythign you could ever want and i may have to go back again tomorrow. i picked up a few fabrics i had my eye on from internet perusing but they had such great trim and notions that i did not get to look through as carefully as i would like.


here's the one jason and i picked out for our shower curtain that i think will now become our bedroom shams instead..
and this woodgrain turquoise i might make bedroom accent pillows out of, because.. you know.. why not.
then this one i just fell in love with when i saw it online and it was cheap enough that i figured i would get a little even though i have no plan for it. maybe i will use as a liner for little fun things like pencil cases and oven mitts.

sfmoma

French food in Ellicott City

This man is making Crepe Suzette.

a pox on your mirrors

my vote is cast

the week in review

record party at work

leads to record shopping with lori.

ah, to be the lady in red. jealous!

need to decide where to send gretchen on her honeymoon for the raffle. sri lanka, switzerland, spain..?

i still haven't rsvpd because i can't make up my mind.

hair is shorter but i am bad with photos.

Decorator Extraordinaire

In the spirit of cramped Mt. Vernon apartments, here is my wishlist of things I need to make my place look like an adult lives there.

-new floor lamp
-cohesive design theme...most likely vintage...attained by various antiques and tapestry-like pillows and curtains. or very light colored curtains in vintage designs.
-antique desk
-hooked up record player
-cleverly hidden record storage
-dark wood book cases or! those book cases that look like leaning ladders from crate & barrel
-small pictures hanging in large matte frames
-vase
-one prominently displayed floral arrangement
-small, tall bistro table instead of kmart kitchen table
-the couch! what to do about the couch! maybe just throw a revolving series of blankets over it.

i will shove the craft area into the bedroom and not worry about that part yet. oh yes, and of course, i will settle for a headboard, but in my real life, i will take black metal canopy frame. it is not suitable for cramped living adult-impersonating lifestyle.

i would like everyone to know that i now own matching sheets and towels for my master suite.

it seems that i just want furniture from crate&barrel and everything else from anthropologie.

hmph.

talk to us, tinman!

lori and i might have to start writing fan fiction about this abandoned car in our parking garage. it seems to have a story to tell.

i have not talked to anyone for days

on her cottage knitting blog, my friend kellie posted a tidbit about a [west elm] console she had her eye on now that she and her hubby ben are getting into the decorating aspect of first-time home-ownership. it's a lovely console, see?

but that got me cursing my apartment anew. for those of you who have not been there, once inside you feel like you part of something very efficient indeed. an ultra-efficient log-cabin-like space hovering all alone on the roof of an otherwise totally normal and somewhat fancy apartment building. [love me some hyphens!] ashley's apt #3 downstairs (and worlds away) is a nice example of how classy and normal the other apartments are with their high ceilings and shiny wood floors and marble fireplaces. mine is about the size of two twin size beds and wood-paneled all around. delightful! it even has a "junior" refrigerator.

ANYWAY, people, my point is that today is rambling day. on that note, i got a lovely little desk chair for my tiny little apartment and it is so cute I must share it. It ships flat and they let you pretend you are so good at things by making you assemble it yourself and bend some metal! they even give you a link so you can watch a giant squirrel assemble it first if you are nervous. i found this comforting, unnecessary, and somewhat entertaining, so here is the link to that demo. this is what my little guy looks like. he's a gem!

and, fair warning, if i feel like i might ever want to post again about my adventures in home decorating in my laughably small apartment, i will.

in other budget-decor news, jason and i found a nice little pianola on the side of the road a few months back that we have no home for just yet but are counting down the days till we can set it up someplace nice. knowing very little about pianos myself, and seeing as so far i am only really able to play the first noel with any kind of identifiable properties and not a single other tune you might know, i was most excited about this particular little heavyweight because there is a switch on the side that lets you play it as a tack piano, all tinkly and fragile sounding. i am all for extra functions! i have already grown bored with the 700 fun frames my camera phone offers and am ready for more toys! if you need some help getting excited about this tack function, listen to some Fiery Furnaces or The Other Side of Summer or So Like Candy from Elvis Costello.. or or or.. To Find a Friend by Tom Petty. I bet there are more, too, people. Jeesh.

so, the piano looks like this, only more homeless.

it came with a million scrolls for the player piano feature too!! who's lucky!?!! meeeee!