Monday, November 28, 2011

Saturday, November 26, 2011

A Vintage 50's Christmas: Tablecloths

I pulled the tablecloths out today.
Normally I use this as a curtain in the kitchen.


This is my Christmas Tree Skirt/ under the tree cat bed.


This on is my favorite.
Love the stylized trees and the color combination.


Friday, November 11, 2011

As Advertised

Sometimes things actually work the way they are designed too.
I have dogs.
Large stinky dogs with skin issues that live in my house and even with all the washing and medication and vacuuming the house still smells like dogs live here.
The litter box goes unnoticed.
What does help are those Glade Plug-Ins.
(Yankee Candle ones are good too, but pricey and Air Wicks are just disgusting.)
BUT and this is a big but, my husband and son are picky about the smells I use because said smells irritate their noses and/or give them headaches. I actually would not care a jot if it was not for the incessant whining from the two of them.
Candles are OK, but they don't get the job done and I am always afraid one of the evil cats will knock them over in a bid for freedom to escape their fur less monkey oppressors.
So I am always on the look out for fragrances I like and that my family will keep their pie holes shut about. The problem is I don't like florals much or vanilla or "clean linen" which normally leaves me with apple cinnamon.
Boring.
I like a citrus herb smell or something with peppermint in it.
Normally those are very hard to find at my local Wal-Mart and sell out really fast on-line.
Now because it is almost the holidays I decided to see what was going on in fragrances for Christmas.
Oh peppermint and some kind of tree stuff that will make my worn out fake tree smell "real".
HAHAHAHAHA.
Sold out.
(we have now reached the point of this post.)
EXCEPT on the Home Depot (of all places) website where you can pay via paypal and then go pick up at your local store which avoids shipping charges. I have tried other stores "buy online pick up at store" ventures and they normally are rubbish.
This time it worked.
I walked into Home Depot, went to the service desk gave them a print-out of my email and in 5 mins (it would have been less if not for the annoying humans in front of me)  I was out of the store and on my way home.
Happy.
I even noticed what a lovely day it was. NPR was playing a bit of music from LOTR, the leaves were falling from the trees as I drove underneath and it was almost, dare I say, fucking magical.



(BTW, I also noted that they have a couple of really lovely pre-lighted fake trees from Martha Stewart and very retro wrapping paper and a great collection of aqua ornaments.)

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Stop Seeing Yourself as a List of Problems....

I fucking love Caitlin Moran.
Why?
Just watch this bit from the Edinburgh Book Festival 2011.



I'm a feminist and I'm quite annoyed how the word feminist has been fucked with by the work of conservative twits.
Here's the deal, if you have a habit of making statements like this, "I'm a feminist, but..." then you are really not a feminist you just enjoy the benefits of the things feminists fought for and still fight for to this day like, I don't know, being able to buy birth control as an adult without your husband or parents permission.
The comment is like working against access to abortion, but then being relived that that option is available for yourself or your daughter or your girlfriend.

It is too bad that we can't get her new book here in the US until NEXT YEAR and there are too many great quotes to choose from, but I'll leave you with my favorite:
"If you think that some sexism might be happening the question you have to ask yourself is are the boys doing it? Are the men having to deal with this kid of bullshit?"

Friday, November 04, 2011

Men's Wear

 Hello, Tailor  (one of my new favorite blogs) has an interesting post on the costuming in Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy (opening in the US in December) and how, when done properly, costuming is not just about getting the look of a specific period right, but also the effect proper costume design has on characterization.  I'll not delve into his points, I'll just use this as an excuse to post a few pictures of the lovely Benedict Cumberbatch in his snazzy flare trouser suits.





Jonathan has another informative post up on Kickshaw Productions, this time about the Zoot Suit. I had no idea it became unpatriotic to wear them during WW2.

And for the Hobbit fans out there there is a new production video from Peter Jackson on You Tube. I mention it not just because it made me squee, but there is a short bit with the costume designer discussing how the filming at 46 (?) frames per minute effected the types of fabrics she has chosen to use.