12-23-04
I'm off to Atlanta for Christmas, then Ft. Myers, Florida for New Years. Sean, unfortunately, is staying here to hold the fort this year.
I love all of you - each and every one.
Happy Holidays.
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12-21-04
Meme From Ms. Styro & Snowy

Three names you go by:

•
 "Mah!" (from the cats - I've been trying to get Hobbes to say "Mama" for 13 years because he gets SO CLOSE - sometimes it's "Mem!" and I jump up and down and clap and yell "YESSSS!!! MA-MA! MA-MA! and he stops immediately)
•
 Stac"y" (legally changing my name to "Stace" when I was 14 was pointless)
•
 "Can you help me?" or "Do you have a second?" or "Are you busy?" (work) or just start talking because I'm already right here (home).

Three screennames you have:
•
 Dayment (leaving blog comments/my last name)
•
 Daymented (people referring to me/my site)
•
 (I don't have IM - which keeps me from growing into my chair)

Three things you like about yourself:
•
 My hair lately, just a few inches longer and I'll be happy.
•
 20/20 vision from Lasik (still, knock on wood)
•
 I'm outgoing. WHO WANTS TO CHALLENGE THAT ONE?  

Three things you hate/dislike about yourself:
•
 My sugar addiction.
•
 The broken blood vessel on the tip of my nose (the blood pools so I have a constant red dot on my nose that you don't see because I spackle it with makeup AND Photoshop it out of images but it's THERE and grows each year until I get it lasered for like $200 but who wants to spend $200 to have someone burn your nose for two seconds? I could have an entire wardrobe from Old Navy and Target for $200.)
•
 My memory. To say I remember everything is not enough to justify JUST EVERYTHING. It goes WAAAAYYYY back, too. What people were wearing, certain songs, what was on TV at the time, who said what and the EXACT VERBIAGE. It's trippy. I just don't believe that a human was meant to retain SO MUCH without holding even an INKLING of math or driving directions or SOMETHING USEFUL. Friends' phone numbers? Remember them since GRADE SCHOOL. The songs "Private Dancer" by Tina Turner? "The
Girl is Mine" by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson? STILL THERE. Julie's ex-boyfriend sitting in the kitchen, Nancy fighting with Grandma, those teeny strawberry earrings I got for Christmas in 1980 in San Diego - WHY? None of these things are necessary unless you include Sean and I getting in a fight and I can pull out one of his quotes from 1991 and he gets this frightened look on his face like "WHY? Why does
she remember that?!?"

Three parts of your heritage:
•
 White
•
 Aryan
•
 Caucasian
(I should really look into this one)

Three things that scare you:
•
 Fire, particularly arson (once is all it takes for it to screw you up for life - trust me on this one)
•
 Having no plans and nothing to do
•
 Flying

Three of your everyday essentials:
•
 Spackling the red dot on my nose!
•
 Washing my hair (it's SO TOTALLY OBVIOUS when I don't wash my hair even one day)
•
 Every day.... every day.... um.... sleep. Shaving. Body Shop Mango Body Butter.

Three things you are wearing right now:
•
 Black turtleneck from Kolja and Alexandra that I wear A LOT.
•
 Grey Old Navy slacks that aren't tight anymore! And the new Old Navy hipster briefs! I love them!
•
 Hair wax on my bangs (this is a new thing) for The New Swoop.

Three of your favorite bands/artists (at the moment):
•
 Meh. Not much going on here with that. Lately I'm listening to Classic Rock and having a "phase" although I'm enjoying the few Gerry Rafferty songs that we downloaded (Sean! Open that CD!). I am one of the few
people that isn't going CRAZY for Arcade Fire. In concert? Great. On CD? "Neighborhood # 3" only.
•
 Also:
Dear World - I have heard "Vertigo" by U2 enough times to last me a lifetime, and I really mean that. Thank you. ("Hello Helloooooo.... Hola!" duh!)

Three things you want to try in the next 12 months:
•
 Canada
•
 Getting knocked up (you heard it here first)
•
 Opening my own cafe/shop

Three things you want in a relationship (love is a given):
•
 Laughter
•
 Trust
•
 Fun

Two truths and a lie (random order):
•
 I hate mushrooms
•
 I was born with jet black hair
•
 Sean's middle name is "Sean" 

Three physical things about the opposite (or same) sex that appeals to you:
•
 lips
•
 (deleted - too personal)
•
 everything

Three things you just can't do:
•
 Enjoy reggae music (I've TRIED, OH how I've tried)
•
 Smoke pot (I've TRIED, OH how I've tried)
•
 Be patient, although I think that's getting better as I get older. (Yet I'm STILL not patient with Reggae music. Or pot. Or pot smokers. I'm scarred for life.)

Three of your favorite hobbies:
•
 socializing/talking with people/dinner nights
•
 knitting
•
 baking

Three things you want to do really badly right now:
•
 Take a boiling hot bath (MAN I'm cold today)
•
 Go to So Much Yarn and use the credit from Mom to get knitting stuff for my trip.
•
 Lay in bed with Sean with my head in his lap while he pets my hair. I miss that. Our schedules don't coincide very well this past month (his holiday schedule) and there's no hockey so less time just laying in bed (our TV is in our bedroom). NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE HELP ME OUT HERE.

Three careers you're considering:
•
 My own yarn shop/cafe including some other co-ideas that Sean & I have for it
•
 Selling cute/sexy knitty/crafty things and calling the store "Tight Knit"
•
 Being a Mom and housewife (I already have my little white ruffley apron and garter-belt outfit in my head - because that IS what you housewives and Mom's wear, right?!)  

Three places you want to go on vacation:
•
 Anywhere else my family is
•
 Anywhere my friends are
•
 Anywhere the bloggers meet

Three kids names:
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 Culver
•
 Calvin
•
 Crimson
(NO WAY am I telling you my girl's names because you will make enough fun of these names)

Three things you want to do before you die:
•
 Just have a goddamn baby.
•
 Then maybe another one?
•
 Is there time for one more?

Three people who have to take this quiz, or not.
hmm.
Cyndiblock
Travis at Ham & Eggs
Bored But Busy

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Today

12-21-04
Can someone tell me how someone who works in graphics, printing, marketing, and/or media can't figure out how to transfer graphics via e-mail? We've had people tell us that the jpg's are too big - so can we try e-mailing them as tiffs instead? Or, how about you put them all into one multi-page pdf? How is it that someone IN MEDIA can't receive my 343 KB image via e-mail because their mailbox is full? And they e-mail me and say "my mailbox is empty!" And I have to inform them that any opened files in their mailbox COUNT AS FILES? How did these people get their jobs? And don't tell me that they have a degree, because I HAVE ONE TOO and I'm still making the equivalent of a supervisor at Subway. I am tired of holding the hands of the major players while they call me and say "I need those files!" and I say "I know! Delete the old attachments in your inbox!" and they have NO IDEA what I'm talking about. If you want to do something really smart, like receive a file via e-mail, take the time to learn about the big machine in front of you instead of bitching at your secretary because you don't have any skills beyond AOL.
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12-19-04
OMG BABY
This is Jacob - son of Joseph and Kathryn. Joseph is a contractor via JA and Kathryn makes ridiculously good cookies.
The second Jacob and I laid eyes on each other, I had a hormonal spike and released an egg right there on the spot.
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12-17-04
Office Depot: Fun With Packaging
Whenever we order Office Depot supplies online, it's a pleasure to see how they've packed things up. I can't imagine what the Pack & Ship Department is smoking. We once got an empty plastic garbage can which fit perfectly into the cardboard box which they packed it into and taped up. Same for a completely empty recycling crate - boxed up and taped. Sometimes it'll be a really big box full of packing peanuts and like two ink cartridges.
So I took pictures today to document what fun I have opening Office Depot deliveries:

Tons o' packaging - one wrapped something

It's just dish soap - in that whole box

Fragile paper towels also get their own box

All of this packaging for a few things
Three big boxes, multitudes of packing supplies and tape for: envelopes, ink cartridges, post-its, dish soap, sponges, and paper towels. It's like Christmas! But just the unwrapping part.
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12-16-04

Me & Pat
 So like I said, Henry Hanks. See? See why I took a nap for this? Plus it was a Juno reunion of sorts with all but Arlie in attendance (Henry Hanks is Pat and Chris from Automaton and Jason and Greg from Juno). Gabe (also of Juno) and his wife Jen were there to cheer them on, and James of Automaton also performed with his new band. The place was swarming with talent.
While parking in front of the Rendezvous, I noticed a little blonde chick trying to get out of her parallel parking space, and saw two men outside of her Jeep Cherokee directing her. It made me giggle.
As soon as I got there and sat down with Pat to watch James' new band, someone comes into the theater and tells Pat that someone hit his car, which was parked directly across the street from the club.
And then comedy ensued.
It was that girl - she backed into Pat's Jetta. Twice. With two people directing her.
We walk across the street and suddenly this DUDE. Oh MAN this DUDE. He starts yelling craziness.

Hit twice
Something about this being Pat's fault because he parked too close behind her Jeep (he didn't). And also that he's on some sort of killing spree due to all the meth he's taken (okay, he didn't say that part outloud). So while DUDE is going off on Pat in his face, Pat's using his calmest psychotherapist voice saying "It's cool, man, we just need to exchange some information" and then! THEN! The blonde chick jumps out of her Jeep and yells "Maybe YOU hit ME! Yeah! YOU HIT ME!" And I'm looking around for the hidden cameras.
So, long story short, DUDE is actually known on the street as "Boffa" or "Buffa" or something. He grabbed Pat's neck, someone else's neck, and hit some guy who walked up
to try to talk him down (not so much luck there). The club has already called 911 so all we can do is wait for this dude to punch some more people and I'm taking pictures. Yeah, that's right, I was taking pictures. Of her license plate, Pat's car, and Buffa, who said "You're taking pictures? Take a picture of THIS!" and flipped me off. To which I snapped my camera (unfortunately it didn't turn out - I was harried). Then he went back to threatening Pat telling him "Just GET OUT OF HERE. GET OUT OF HERE" and finally Pat's like well, whatever, I'll park around the corner so this guy doesn't implode in the middle of the street. So he goes to move his car for absolutely no reason, and SOME OTHER CHICK decides that this is FUN and jumps in front of Pat's car and puts her hands on her knees and sticks out her rear end, right in front of Pat's car, so he can't move. (Later, when talking to the cops, we mentioned this, and how she knew all involved, and suddenly she knew nothing about anyone, nor their names, and claimed that she was "just trying to talk to the blonde chick to tell her to calm down" and I said "By sticking your ass out?" and she said "I was just talking" which made no sense.)
Two cop cars and three or four police officers later, blonde driver is getting a DUI, Boffa has disappeared into the night, other chick claims to know nothing, and Pat's show is set to begin.

Pat & Chris

Window seats

Henry Hanks

Gabe & Jen
The show was fabulous. People were yelling "encore" and Pat said "That's all the songs we have!" It was so great to see those guys performing again.
Stay tuned for Office Depot: Fun With Packaging, OMG BABY, and The Bonfire of the Bundts. Coming soon to Daymented.com. When I have a spare thirteen minutes.
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12-15-04
I have LISTS of stuff to put on my site, but no time to do any of it. I will try tonight in the middle of baking phase two (local).
In the meantime, I have this page from yesterday of our Johnston Architects Christmas lunch.
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12-13-04
I KNOW!
I know I know I know! I'm working on it right now.
But then I'm leaving because, well.... what would be the world's most perfect band for you?
My answer would be a mix of Juno and Automaton combined.
Tonight at the Rendezvous. I'm vibrating.
(They're called "Henry Hanks")
20 minutes later UPDATE!
Who rocks the party that rocks the party party party?
I finished the White Elephant Party pages! WHEW!
If any stuff looks out of order, that's because it IS.
And I'm okay with that.
So I now present to you:
Our Second White Elephant Party
Oooooh Henry Hanks! Gotta go!
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12-09-04
Freaky Thursday
Dude in Ohio runs onstage, kills Dime from Pantera, I freak out and e-mail Lee, and go to bed before eleven for the first time in almost two weeks. ("I will not hit snooze for an hour. I will not hit snooze for an hour....")
Then around 3 a.m. I wake up to the horrific sound of cars crashing in the intersection in front of our house (this happens quite often actually) but then I hear Sean run out the door (he had just gotten home since he was stuck working late) because he sees that it was a COP CAR that was hit by the SUSPECT they were chasing.
A CAR CHASE. IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE. So the other cop car goes shredding after the suspect (he just took off of course) and Sean checks on the cop to make sure he's okay. Sean also thought to go back inside and get my camera, because he is the Spouse of a Blogger, but then realized that he would feel like a total knob taking pictures of the cops and the wrecked cop car, so he decides to leave the flash off, and we end up with genius shots such as the one below left. Can you see? The scene just burns in your mind now, doesn't it?!

Avert your eyes

Rubbish the next morning
Then I get up for work with a headache - probably because I woke up to the sound of a car crash a few hours earlier, and can you guess it? I'm totally late for work. Arriving at work, I see a car crash and ambulance in front of the cafe that we always walk to in the morning. And I'm late, so I'm looking at the crowd of people to see if it's any of my JA homies (it wasn't). So I walk in and I'm all "Whew! It wasn't us!" Then the fire alarm in our building starts blaring.
 
   
 
 Which was SO EXCITING for Rita. The noise! People running out of the office! An early walk! Firefighters in big uniforms! Going to the cafe! We had to pass the time for the firefighters to verify that there was no fire, so we all headed across the street, had some coffees, and read the paper. I looked for a story about the car crash on my street, but didn't find it. Although I did find this, which tickled me pink. (Once this goes into the archives, you'll have to register, so if you're reading this later - sorry.)
Later I went to Tara's site and read this. I'm telling ya - what a weird 24 hours.
There's some other news too - it's freaky but also bad.
My immigration application was returned to me.
Turns out I didn't swear that I had no kids on page 57 of 94. Or whatever. All the other sections (for my parents, then for my siblings) on that particular page didn't require a signature - but the part about children's information? If you leave it blank then you have to sign at the bottom of it saying "I attest to the best of my knowledge that I have no children. I swear, okay?" or whatever and since I have NO KIDS I just skipped that section. Resulting in my ENTIRE APPLICATION being mailed back from Mississauga on Nov. 24, and my finally receiving it on Dec. 8. Cuz you know they ain't exactly overnighting anything.
So there's some time lost.
And yes. I'm very frustrated.
There is some hope - there were stamps and such throughout the application, and a sticker to affix to it with someone's initials on it, so it looks like some work has been done, and someone has been assigned to my case, and the application is "in progress". We'll just have to see how long it takes starting now (Sean FedExed it back today).
A couple things for you:
While I was waiting for my doctor (had my annual physical today) I read this article in Wired Magazine about Jewish Orthodox Appliance hacking - basically making electrical/computerized accessories hackable so they're kosher for Sabbath. Fascinating.
And also I leave you tonight with a wonderful clip of "Who's Line is it Anyway" with Richard Simmons (bad link? Try this or this) which actually made me laugh outloud. It's so nice that he can finally be *so* out of the closet. (Thanks, Shnewt. Drop it like it's hot. Fo shizzle.)
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12-07-04
OMG PUPPY

Bill Parks & Sadie

The girls go crazy

Rita's not so sure about this

And Sadie doesn't care
Estella? See? Remember when they're cute like this? Before they eat cameras and cordless phones and jump out of tall buildings?
No?
Oh.
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12-06-04

Short quarantine

Exploration
Mere hours after telling my Mom that we wouldn't get any more fish until after the move to Vancouver (because who wants to have even more fish to drive in a cooler for a few hours?!), Sean looks at the tank and says "We need more fish" and I'm grabbing my coat. There's just such a great feeling when you scoop these baby fishletts from an overcrowded underhappy store tank and set them free into the big world that you created, and they do their little swim-around-and-sniff-each-others-butt-swim, although it's nothing like that but you know what I mean, and you watch all smugly like you are the coolest fish tank owner ever because you gave them this kingdom.
Plus, just like puppies or kittens, they have baby fish bodies with big ole baby fish eyes, so they're just so... I'm cute and stupid! looking.
We got three new pink guys and four new teeny tetras who will hopefully hang out with the three remaining tetras circa 1999.
Saturday morning was a Clothes Swap, and can you say Genius?
Setup: a slew of women meet at someone's house and bring all the clothing, accessories, coats, etc. that they don't want anymore. Each item is distributed to the proper room.
Then, at the same time, we all dive. You would have loved to be the next door neighbor to this house. Twenty women running around in their underwear, going room to room, for about an hour.
Then, with our new bags full of "new" clothes, we fill up our plates o'potluck, sit in a circle, and talk about the clothes we got. GENTLEMEN! ARE YOU WITH ME?
THIS IS GOOD TIMES!
for us

Post Clothes Swap
The girls came over to be girlie Sunday afternoon - we stitched; we bitched. We're ramping up on our projects since we're all in a bit of a mid-December how-many-projects-did-I-start? panic. And you see I started this sweater and I'm on the sleeves, right? And it requires counting, see? And increasing two stitches per every four rows, then after four times then it's every eight rows, and pass the cheese and crackers please.
Uncle Tim & Aunt Julie arrived from Vancouver that afternoon and unfortunately the weather didn't provide an opportunity for them to really check out the city - it was dark and rainy and visibility was minimal. Bummer.
Soon after I had Tim in the house I had him repairing the Kirby vacuum cleaner.
Apparently it was the floovenator not touching the hoosegows. Or something. It works now.
We've been going out when we can (after I'm off work). Tonight was University Village (Julie bought me a skirt at Anthropologie!) and tomorrow is Bick's Broadview Grill and the Seattle Central Library. They leave Wednesday morning, which sucks, but I'll see them again in Florida for New Years.
I can't wait for Christmas vacation!
It's been so COLD lately! I kinda want it to go ahead and snow if it's gonna be this cold, but then I'd go "Ooooh!" for a few minutes and then I'd just be annoyed for the next two days. I know how I am.
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12-02-04
1984 - the super short version
Twenty years ago today, I was pretty screwed up. I made some bad decisions. I was fourteen.
A couple years after Mom divorced Dad, she decided to leave Las Vegas and return to Indiana University and get her PhD in Psychology. And she, of course, decided to take me with her.
And I didn't take it very well.
So I did what every 14-year-old would have done. I made her life a living hell.
I shaved the sides of my head (soon after this picture was taken), hung out with the punk crowd, dressed like trash (I wore trash), pierced my ears all over the place, you know, basic 14-year-old rebellion. But then one Friday night Tim and Tom Welch were having a party (Mike Whybark may have been there), so I went there and didn't tell her. And I didn't come home all weekend.
And by the time I did come home, my room was packed, and Mom said I could call my Dad to tell him I'd be moving back to Vegas.
The next day I was out of there. It went really fast. Mom and I were at the airport waiting for me to board my plane, and she told me to call her if I ever needed anything, and gave me some other motherly advice, and then I got on the plane.
And I put my stuff away and settled into my plane seat and for some reason I looked at my ticket - and saw that it was December 3rd.
My Mom's birthday was THAT DAY. And I didn't know it until then.
She was turning the same age that I am now.
I knitted her a scarf this year.
Happy Birthday Mom. I'm so sorry.
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12-01-04
This is about all I've got for ya.
I've been knitting at night in front of the TV. I went to Heather's tonight and she whipped up a wicked stir-fry and we watched the movie The Rage in Placid Lake (very cute).
Uncle Tim and Aunt Julie stopped by my work on their way to Vancouver BC (they are here for business for Culver Duck). They come back down to Seattle on Sunday - the same afternoon that I'm hosting a raging Stitch & Bitch get-together.
I'm sorry I don't have pictures and stories of parties and gigs, but it'll come soon enough I'm sure.
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