2008-08-21T01:27:27Z http://strayfarce.com/atom.aspx Quick Blog tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-19:e286660f-fac6-4962-a249-d1457b585136 Stray Farce 2008-08-19T22:44:42Z 2008-08-19T22:39:00Z Gent:   "No, that's your mom's ass"
Me:      "That's RIGHT.  You know, I get them confused because they're both so big"
Gent:   "And shiny"
Me:      "And white."
Gent:   "And if certain people look at it they turn into a werewolf"
Me:      "You know, I've had many an amorous evening by the light of my mom's ass"
Gent:   *singing* "Well, it's a marvelous night for your mom's ass...." (to the tune of Van Morrison's Moondance)
Me:      "ROTFLMAO!!"
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-18:4e7020ed-8350-4068-8cad-98f06d9f1d60 Stray Farce 2008-08-19T07:51:23Z 2008-08-18T21:28:00Z this nice dinner and even though I'd said I didn't want to play until I got the apartment completely clean (I've been picking at it, little by little) I talked him into a couple of matches. 

And he did it again!  He got ticked off and smacked my other racket, bending it.  (Helloooooo MacEnroooooooe)  I'm glad that this time it didn't backfire and smack him in the face again (I corrected my earlier post regarding this: he actually hit the net when the racket bounced up and hit his face.  He's learned not to hit the net, but he won't stop abusing the equipment.  It's not the racket's fault).   But I told him that I didn't mean to be a  bitch about it, but he owed me another racket and if he keeps effing them up I'm going to make him play with a pink one. lol.  I told him he didn't have to buy one right away.  If he's okay playing with the busted one, that's fine by me.  But I do want another pink one when he does replace it.  He can get his own racket to beat up.   

It was a good game though.  He beat me the first match 6-2 (I know! I won a couple of games!) and the second match 4 to 1 before it got too dark to see.  He complained that he was playing like shit.  I said, "no, you played just fine.  I'm just getting a little better and you were in the wrong spot at the wrong time"  He did admit that my play was improving (thank you) but continued to chide himself.  He's full of crap though.  He's a great player.  And I do enjoy playing with him, even though he kicks my ass every time.

I do feel like I should be wearing some sort of glove with a grip, though.  Every once in a while I'll hit the ball and somehow my grip will be loose enough that the racket will tilt back and that it screws up the delivery. 

The Gent told me that a couple of our friends were interested in playing doubles, so that should be fun.  I've never played doubles before.

I want to play my friend Bill.  We've been acquaintances for a few years and he talks about how he enjoys tennis, blah blah blah.  And I've invited him to come play but I'm always getting excuses.  I think he's skeered.

Yeah, that's right, Bill, I said "skeered."  I'm calling you out, pal!!!!  You and me.  Tennis court of your choice.  (Chances are you'll probably kick my ass, but still.  Won't it be fun?)

]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-17:a21f1d2d-3ad2-45fa-8ac0-76272fb8cc7e Stray Farce 2008-08-17T11:23:35Z 2008-08-17T10:50:00Z
So, I put on my favorite someday-I'll-fit-into-it-properly (because I can fit into it now, just not that I want to wear it in public) hibiscus bikini that I bought in Northampton a few years ago.  And I cried.  I could feel, without having to look in a mirror to verify, how awful my body must look.  And so I had the Gent take a before picture, and I wept the whole time.  And still am.

The Gent reminded me of something I said to him when we first met, before we started dating, "I may be a big girl, but I'm still sexy"  And I replied, "I dunno.  I just lost it." 

And that's not completely true.  There are times I feel sexy.  When I'm wearing my favorite pants that fit properly, when I'm wearing my favorite shirt that shows off my cleavage juuuuust right.  (You know, the happy medium between Whore and Amish).  When I'm having a good hair day.  I feel sexy then.

But I don't like my body anymore.  And sometimes I don't like it so much that it overrules my inner sexiness.  It's not so much a negative body image as it's the self-realization that I let myself go so far that "pleasantly plump" can no longer sugar coat the reality.  I want to get down to a 14 or 12.   That's a reality I can be comfortable showing skin in public.  I've never been a waif.  I'll never be one of those rail thin girls, my bone structure just won't accommodate it.  And I don't want to be that thin because those girls I just want to kidnap and feed until they grow tits, asses and hips, until they're completely healthy and then set them free saying "ZERO IS NOT A SIZE, BITCH!!!  Learn to love curves!! Nobody wants to hug a stick"

I see big women all the time that I think are damned sexy.  So, it's not an anti-big thing with me.  Mo'nique is a big, sexy and beautiful woman.  I just don't carry my weight as well anymore.  And I remember when I did.  And it was 80 pounds ago when I was a size 18.  I want to lose more than that though. 

So I'm going to work this weight off.  I won't share my "Before" picture until I'm ready to show the After. 
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-14:dda66aff-daa3-4871-8b69-ef8c3965d2e3 Stray Farce 2008-08-14T22:49:48Z 2008-08-14T22:45:00Z Moxie Design Studios have launched their Femmeplates! Check 'em out!

I don't quite have the budget yet for them (wah! *tear*), but still.  They're fab.  I totally want "In the Boudoir". 

If you buy for me, I make you cookie.  Hell, I'll give you a backrub, regrout your tub, walk your dog and do your laundry too.  lol.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-14:b463d30e-510c-413b-ab9a-298d443b6686 Stray Farce 2008-08-14T22:02:16Z 2008-08-14T21:45:00Z   And I decided I would keep my food blog separate from my daily minutiae.

Hardcore Foodity.  Food so hot and sexy it'll make you yum.

I also wanted to share that today I conversed with the membership coordinator for the Troy Food Co-op.  The Gent and I were walking around after playing trivia yesterday and came across a "coming soon! Troy Food Co-op!" sign.  I was tickled.  When I lived in Albany I was (still am) a big fan of the Honest Weight Food Co-op.  I was glad to see that something similar is in the works here in Troy.   I encourage you to check it out and, if you're in the area, think about membership.  Most of the produce that would be sold in the Co-op, just like the Honest Weight, would be locally grown.  Remember the farmer's markets I was telling you about? Yeah.  Nothing but goodness.   I'll post a more permanent link on the side bar of my page, as well as post more information about the co-op (I was given permission to share the info that was shared with me, but then I neglected to forward the information from my work email to this one.  duuuh). 

So, if you're a Trojan or Troylette, check it out.

And now, Sports!

I've been improving on my tennis game.  I told the Gent I didn't want to play again until I got the apartment finished, but he really wanted to play.  So, after a four-day break we played again today.  He won the first two matches 6-0 but the games of those matches were really fucking close.  In one game I think we deuced four times and kept taking the advantage points away from each other.  I didn't mind losing so much because at least I was keeping up in points instead of the score being 40-Love all the time.  The last game, however, we were tied 2-2 until it got too dark to see the ball.  (damnit! I was in the ZOOOOOONE, man!).  There really needs to be glow in the dark tennis balls.  Or my apartment complex needs to put lights on the court.

I think thick socks made the difference in today's game though.  I was wearing these fuzzy frog socks (cuz they make me Jump! Jump!) that are more for keeping your feet warm in winter than wearing to play tennis, but I thought the extra cushion under my feet would be beneficial.  I was right.  So I can't wait to play in them again.  You know, after I've washed them of course.

And I also need to play wearing a bug cover.  If I inhale one more insect, I'm going to turn into a toad.  Maybe, it was the froggy socks? heh.

Good night!
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-07:4bd44746-210a-45f2-820b-cc35fd0c793c Stray Farce 2008-08-19T07:48:11Z 2008-08-07T21:56:00Z shouldn't be driving it.  I was driving with my arm out the window holding on for dear life.  Which is real fun in a thunderstorm.  Yeah.

The Gent and I have been playing tennis a great deal.  We'd been playing it on the Wii Fit and once I got the gist of the scoring down (which was my excuse for not playing for real, other than hitting the ball back and forth over the net) we started playing for real.  And I love it.  It makes up for me not exercising on the Wii Fit and I get a nice stinky-sweaty workout.  We had our company picnic the other day where we played about 6 games of volleyball, some catch with the baseball gloves and some random kid's tee ball.  And THEN went on to play two matches of tennis afterwards.  Cuz, you know, we hadn't had enough exercise that day.  But I've been fighting the same five pounds for ages.  I really hope that I can kick start my metabolism into saying, "oh yeeeeeah! Weight! Lose it! Right! Gotcha."

I beat him the first ever game we played.  And I haven't been able to beat him since.  I hate it.  I used to chastise him for pitching temper tantrums when I'd catch up or come close to winning.  "Why can't you be happy for me?" I said.  "Because it's important to me to win."  "Well, I don't like your attitude because it makes me sad to win because you're so miserable and it's not healthy."  One day he smacked and bent the fuck out of one of my rackets.  Although, when he did it immediately bounced up and hit him in the face.  (Actually, when he hit his face, he slammed his racket on the net, which caused it to bounce up and hit his face.  Separate incident from smacking it on the ground and bending the frame).  This gave me an odd mix of concern for him and laughter at the instant karma.  But I got a new tennis racket out of it.  Pink one, even.

Of course, I quickly made a hypocrite out of myself today.  I just had it in me today that I wanted to beat him.  And I kept getting more and more pissed over losing.  I'd get SO CLOSE and then some stupid move would cost me.  Hitting the ball too hard out of bounds.  Not hitting it hard enough that it doesn't clear the net.  Catching the edge of my racket and sending it like a pop fly into the air....and out of bounds or on my side.  And the more I missed, the louder I cussed and the harder I swung my racket in anger at the air.  Not on the ground, of course.  You beat a racket on the ground and the racket beats you back. 

I just get frustrated.   He beats me at EVERYTHING.  The only thing that I have on him is my (awesome) ability to cook and my ability to pack things and making the most of usable space instead of just stuffing things in willy-nilly.  One could say that it's a little over the top that he gets upset when I get ahead, particularly since he wins so much anyway.  Seems like maybe he could concede the win and be happy that I bested him.  So I guess I thought I was justified in my anger today over not winning, however stupid it was.  Scores were 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 (that win made my temper go away) and 3-1 (We quit because it got too dark to see the ball.  Are there glow-in-the-dark tennis balls?)

I am getting better though.  I seem to have this excellent knack for hitting the ball backwards blindly over my head and keeping it in-bounds.  A couple of times a volley was too long for me to get with a normal return so I turn my back to the net and chase after it, then pulling this hail-mary stunt of whacking it behind me over my head.  It's pretty awesome.   I think I learned that from Nadal at Wimbledon (I think it was he that pulled that manuever).  Not that I'm anywhere near as comparable, but you know what I mean.

In other news, we went to see Pineapple Express.  I'll keep my review short: watch it once for free, if at all.  Franco was excellent in his role.  And as much of an Apatow and Rogen fan as I am, I still feel the movie fell a little short.  Thank you, free passes, for keeping me from feeling like I wasted my money.

Moving on.  I've been trying to cook more lately.  Buy things from the farmer's markets.  Make something other than my usual fare.  The latest issue of Food and Wine gave me some spectacular ideas for chicken that I'll be trying out in the next week or two.  I was going to make Carmelized Black Pepper Chicken substituting "asian fish sauce" for oyster sauce (same thing? not sure).  Usually I would buy these things at the Asian Market but I have no idea where there are any in Troy.  However, we got caught up with tennis and when we got back I was too pooped to fizzle and so ended up prepping the meal for tomorrow night.  Then I'm going to make eggplant parm with some eggplant I got at the farmer's market (Not in the Food and Wine, but I need to make it before the eggplant goes bad).  Next in line in the Food and Wine issue, I'm going to make Sauteed Chicken with Olive and Roasted Lemons and then the Pretzel crusted Chicken.

I'll take pictures of the end products (because I'm a dork like that).  I've found an artistic outlet in cooking up dishes and taking pictures of them.   I took a great picture of grilled zucchini over whole-wheat pasta (I've been buying high fiber whole wheat instead of regular pasta....hello, Weight Watchers!) with Parmesan cheese on top.  Beauty.  I just gotta find my card reader.

So, to conclude, wish me luck that I finally kick The Gent's ass.  I would like to be good enough to at least keep the winning between us on a even scale rather than being completely obliterated each time.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-03:09cd3c9e-7dfb-4a21-8711-6d719d44a27f Stray Farce 2008-08-03T20:02:13Z 2008-08-03T19:56:00Z
I managed to catch the auto shop employees at Wal-Mart (hate Wal-Mart but LOVE these guys) who fixed my car (the metal piece that catches the door was bent inward, had to bend it back out) but by the time that was all done it was too late to head out there.  Am bringing the cookies that I would have also brought to the party to the employees there when we go Tuesday to get the tire fixed, since they fixed my door for free.

This really sucks because I miss my friends, haven't been out to their place yet and now I have to eat an entire tray of broiled zucchini by myself (well, and the Gent too).  And you know what veggies does to a body. 

*sighs*

I'm totally thinking of trading in my vehicle.  Both of them.

I miss my auto-mechanic brother.  I miss him anyway, but I miss him more when my car decides to be a shit.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-08-03:686521ce-d047-4c36-8bbb-0176d1c1c0e9 Stray Farce 2008-08-03T12:58:59Z 2008-08-03T12:54:00Z Gent:  I don't know.
(looks all over kitchen, several exasperated sighs later...)
Me:     Can you help me find it?
Gent:  Sure
Me:     Where the heck could it be? Why would it leave the kitchen?
Gent:  I don't KNOW.
Me:     *sighs*
(looks all over house, passes the linen closet...notices something on the top shelf
Me:     Um, I found it
Gent:  Where was it?
Me:     In the linen closet.  Did you put it in there thinking it was an iron? *laughing*
Gent:  I don't think so
Me:     I think you did
Gent:  Says you...

I swear, the Gent is the smartest person I know but he is "household-dumb"
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-29:1829ef52-cd73-4917-ba4e-85d547dacdd6 Stray Farce 2008-07-29T19:43:31Z 2008-07-29T19:10:00Z this email forward (link is to the snopes site debunking it) with a shout out to me in the subject line "just read it, [Farce!]"

I've told my mother a million times not to send me email forwards.  I had to block her from my personal email account.  I finally figured out how to block her from my work account, after she repeatedly ignored my requests of "unless you're bleeding in a ditch DON'T EMAIL ME AT WORK, ESPECIALLY THIS CRAP!!!!" 

I love my family, but my mother persists in forwarding those emails...the bullshit emails that clog up Snopes FALSE files to infinity.  She doesn't care that it might not be factual, she embraces everything like the gospel truth.  I've told her "Look these things up first before you perpetuate this bullshit, mom, it makes you look like an ignorant ASS" (yes, I called my mother an ignorant ass).   She's one of those fools that thinks "oh, it's on the internet, it must be true!"  I don't know why I have these expectations that she'll actually listen to me, research this crap and maybe, I dunno, think for herself.  This is a woman who spends hundreds of dollars buying "rare" jewelry with lots of "ite" suffixes claiming that she's "making an investment because the mine is almost depleted and they won't have these any more!"  Riiiiiiiight.

I am the perfect example of it being a good thing that I'm the black sheep of my family.  "A Yankee born in the wrong state," as the Gent says.  However you want to call it.

So I make the mistake of responding:
"This is a fabrication.  If you check snopes.com, a website dedicated to debunking myths and validating or invalidating ridiculous email forwards like this, it clearly says that this email is false and sites legitimate sources for their information.

If you're going to share information with others, make sure it's factual instead of being gullible to every slimy piece of negative propaganda that comes your way, regardless of the candidate it represents.  Please take a moment to research things before allowing yourself to believe every little bit of information as fact, regardless of whether or not it looks legitimate.

Also, that phone "upside down" picture was also photoshopped.  They did the same thing to Bush and that one was made up as well.  

THINK FOR YOURSELF.  Not what some crackpot sending false internet forwards wants you to believe. "

I hear back from my sister, (because my mother loves to send this to the ENTIRE CLAN and all her friends, former coworkers, and the ladies that live down the road, and I've made the mistake of hitting "reply to ALL") "Regardless, if this is true or false, I WILL NOT VOTE FOR THIS MAN!!!!!!"

I reply, "Perfectly fine! I wasn't telling you who to vote for or not.  I'm just saying don't believe everything you read, regardless of who it's about.  And don't send things to people that perpetuate untruths, regardless of who it's about"

She sends back, "Well, I can't see how any true American can vote for a man who doesn't respect the United States flag or our National Anthem that has been around LONG before he was even thoought of. You can't tell me that one isn't true."
[Note: the fact that my sister even believes this makes me not at all sorry that I tore up her Eagles 8-track when I was three]

Then I finally say, "[Sister], I don't care if you vote for a purple monkey wearing a suit made of flapjacks that likes to play the accordion.  Just so long as you vote. Who you vote for is your business and who I vote for is mine.  I just hate that mom sends me all this bs.  Even if it was about McCain I'd still tell her not to send me untrue crap without researching it first to obtain the facts of the situation.  Just makes her look really bad.  (and that's the nicest way I could think of to say that)

One thing I don't like to get in conversations with, especially with family members, is religion and politics.

That being said, since I'm not discussing it further, how are you?  How's everything with the house acquisition?  Why don't you call me? Miss you.  Talk to you soon."

And I don't hear a peep out of her. 

So The Gent and I email back and forth:
Me:     OMG. Mom is doing it AGAIN!!!! (and I forward him the email)
Gent:   Your family is retarded
Me:     She goes on...and I HATE HER FONT, by the way (and I send him the rest of my sister's responses)
(I can't even describe it.  It's like and old school font that was tied to the bumper of a truck and driven around for a while)
Gent:   Yeah, that's pretty obnoxious
Me:     I want to type back "A flag is just a piece of cloth and the national anthem is just another damn song.  Patriotism is shown by your actions towards others and respect for your fellow man, not reverence towards inanimate objects."  But I'm sure the vein will burst on her head.
Me:      Hmmm...maybe I should send it to her.
Gent:   Heh.  But if it doesn't kill her, it might just make her mad ...
Me:     I think I'll change my name to Montana Wildhack, change my number, move and not tell them where.
Gent:   What is it with you and that character?  Or do you just like the name?
Me:     I just like the name.  
Me:     And I secretly harbor desires for being a pron actress who gets kidnapped by aliens who see four dimensions and becoming a mate for a strange, time-jumping war hero.  
Gent:   I'll see what I can do

Do any of you have ignorant family members like this?  Sometimes I just wish Mexico would take Texas back.  I mean really.  The fact that there are people out there that buy into this crap is beyond me.  The fact that I'm related to them makes me cry.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-27:572eeca0-f34a-4dca-98a4-3d685725a61d Stray Farce 2008-07-28T20:58:59Z 2008-07-27T18:05:00Z
Saturday I bribed the Gent to go down to the mainstage and do the Tarp Run©.  Basically explained, if you want primo seating at this festival you have to get up at 5:30 and get your ass and tarp down to the seating area.  At precisely 7 am the signal is given and all these peace, love and happiness types turn into greedy, mean little scavengers.  I kid, of course, they're really all nice groovy people and it's fun to do this.  It's like the claiming of the Unassigned Lands.  Did ya ever see the end of Far and Away? Yeah.  Like that.  But I've done my time doing the Tarp Run, I figured since this was the Gent's first time at Falcon Ridge, he needed to pop his Tarp Run cherry.

It was blazing hot.  I got burnt (pronounced "bur-RUNT") because in my idiocy I forgot sunscreen.   I joke that the Gent is now known as Brown Man and I am Two-tone Tessie.  I also forgot pillows to sleep on.  I'm usually Patty Prepared but I forgot in my hurry to get packed and get going.  Provisions were made by folding up my big fluffy towels that we brought with us.  It rained intermittently on Saturday but later that evening around 2:30 am (Sunday morning) we were awoken by the end of the tent caving in on us (the wind was crazy, but we propped the poles back up and held them up 'til the worst of it passed) and a fierce lightning and rain storm that had us nearly pissing ourselves with fear.  We managed to get back to sleep.  Sleep throughout the weekend wasn't the best as we kept getting jolted out of our precious REM sleep by campers using the port-o-potty.

I'm gonna pause here and mention that if you've ever camped at a folk festival and were anywhere near the port-o-potty's you might know that the sound of a port-o-potty door slamming shut sounds like a fucking gunshot.  Apparently some of the attendees seem to forget not only that sound travels but also that people might be sleeping inside those cute little tents that are pitched everywhere.  At 11:30 at night it's pretty safe to assume that most of the general festival populace is trying to get some shut-eye after a long day of music and shopping.  I mean, come on! Little bit of consideration and common sense, please????  And for the record, we were camped in the so-called "quiet camping area".  A few people seemed to forget this.  But I digress.

Sunday we got up early and tore down the campsite so once the last show was over we could just leave.  Oh by the way, I neglected to mention that sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, the Gent developed a flat tire.  Flat tire on muddy, wet ground.  Yeah.  Fun.  Two stubborn lugnuts cost me $75 dollars for a guy to come out and fix our flat for us (Note to self: Get own fantastic heavy-duty socket wrench).  We were grateful, of course, but that didn't stop me from grumbling about the cost. 

But wait! There's more! We finally get down to the main stage area.  We were sent to find K whom we couldn't find anywhere because her ride, Boopy (not her real name) and her partner D, was leaving early (she was found later, btw) and after leaving messages with all parties to that fact, sat down to watch Tracy Grammer and Jim Henry.  

And it starts to rain.  HARD.  I had seen all who I had wanted to see at the folk festival and was ready to go home.  Our travelling companion was no where to be found so I suggested the Gent and I go to the car and play Travel Scrabble until it was time for her to meet with us rather than trying to find yet another person in a crowd of, oh, about 1,000 or more?  However in the five seconds it took for me to gather my things I start noticing little chunks of ice flying around.  Yeah.  Hail.  Have you ever had a sunburn and someone touched you and it hurts like hell?  Well, imagine being pelted by golf balls.   I kept thinking that this is what it must have been like when Eve and Adam got banished from the garden of Eden (if you believe in that sort of thing.  I don't so much, but for a reconizable reference it works just fine).  Hail-enduced exodus.  That's one way to clear a room.

I had lost the Gent in my mad dash, ended up hiding behind a trailer to escape the hail (except I was on the edge so the occasional piece would hit my sunburned shoulder.  I was upset that I couldn't find the Gent and I was in extreme pain from getting hit on my sensitive sunburn by hail but I was determined to get to the goddamned car.  So I put my hoodie over my head and draped it on top of my poncho like a cape, hoping to at least cushion the blows from the hail, and hauled ass to the car. 

My rubber waders were already full of water from the rain and I tromped through sometimes 8 inches of water and mud.  I finally get to the car and there's no Gent.  He arrives the longest 45 seconds ever later and I completely lose my shit in the car crying.   (I found out later he had sought refuge from the deluge underneath the public eating area tent and was helping to hold up a couple of the rafters that were supporting the tent until they finally said "It's going to go, GET OUT!").  He said, "it's gonna be okay" and I wailed, "No! I've just gotta get this out of my system" and wept for a few more seconds before I snapped back to getting my wits about me.  I was so busy getting my ass to the car through the hail and rainstorm that I hadn't gotten a chance to grieve my pain and I needed a good cry.  (remember, hail+sunburn=NOT FUN!!) We get the car out of the muddy parking lot and onto the paved road because I didn't want to chance getting stuck (like half of the other campers I was observing) and pulled over to the side of the road because we still haven't gotten in contact with our travelling companion.  After giving up on the Travel Scrabble because at this point we just want to get the fuck home,  we waited until the rain subsided (as much as it was going to subside) and we went back to the campsite and found her.  She didn't have her site packed up and had opted to travel back to Albany with a new friend she had met because she wanted to stay for the rest of the festival to see Janis Ian.  I would have liked to have seen her too, but I'm sure I will see my share on YouTube and I can always listen to my vinyl. 

After that was resolved we started to go back to the car but ended up helping about 3 or 4 people (since we had the rubber waders) push their cars out of the stuck mud.  Then we finally made it home. And I took a very warm and painful hot bath.  I don't mind getting dirty, and that's my one weekend to get really filthy, but I am SO GLAD to be clean again. 

Yeah, fun.  I have to admit it's the most exciting time I've had at Falcon Ridge.   It's not something I'd like to see repeated, for sure, but it was still a lot of fun, despite the weather.  And it was great being there.  I cried the first day because I was so happy to be there again since I hadn't been there in two years since the breakup of my previous long-term relationship (hadn't been able to afford it...still hadn't, but it was free this time).  I had gotten used to going every year and not going the past two years I sorely missed it.  This was my first time being at the new site at Dodd's Farm (the last time I went was the last time at the old site at Long Hill Farm).  They had the set up almost the same, though the terrain was not quite as steep as the other place and much easier to navigate.  I kept getting flashbacks of Long Hill Farm and expecting to see the barn and horses nearby.  But I really like the new site.  I can't wait to go back next year.   And despite our awful weather, the Gent has said that he did have a good time and would most likely go back next year, just don't ask him today because he's too shell-shocked. lol.

So that was our weekend.  Now I have to find a nice thank you gift for the woman who provided tickets for us.  (She had won them off the radio and offered them to my friend Boopy who already had free tickets of her own and she offered them to me).

I'm going to go lay down now.  On my comfy couch.  On my comfy pillows.  In my nice, rain and hail-free apartment.

Ta!

Proof of the Storm!  Courtesy of Coriform.
Watch it here
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-23:11d6dd89-493a-40f2-a11f-fbbdcfe717c8 Stray Farce 2008-07-23T21:50:32Z 2008-07-23T21:38:00Z Falcon Ridge, BITCH!

HEh Heh.  Free tickets.  I love you, Carrie.  Thank you!

Seriously, rain be damned.  And I'm almost more excited about the camping because I haven't been camping in ages.

The afternoon The Gent and I were idiots and decided we'd go play tennis in the rain.  That was actually a lot of fun, until the torrential downpour and a random bolt of lightning scared some sense into us.  But ya know, you gotta play in the rain every once in a while.  Let your hair down.  Or in this case, let it frizz to high hell.  LOL...

Have a good weekend folks!  See you Monday.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-20:9eb07418-a0b1-4df5-a0d1-a0eadb8f7748 Stray Farce 2008-07-20T23:47:11Z 2008-07-20T18:28:00Z

• finish kitchen
• reorganize cabinets
• stack tupperware properly (AGAIN...grrr.  Silly Gent! Am going to have to teach him)
  
• laundry
• put clothes away
  
• move desk
• straighten wires behind tv
• slaughter Gent if he doesn't put gaming stuff away when done.
  
• bookshelf to Gent's room?
• organize file stuff, put non-immediate stuff under bed
• bathroom
• store long hair stuff (hair is not long, stupid!)
• scrub floor and tub
• litter box
• organize girl crap (how many bottles of lotion do you need anyway!?@$@#%)
• dust, vacuum, sweep, mop
• hang dart board (dartboard is hung at regulation height, btw.)
• kick Gent for giving me wrong information.
  
• rehang dartboard one inch below current position to achieve ACTUAL WDF regulation height *sigh*
  
• ceramic antique bed pan under chair for cat toys (it's a toyslet! get it? HA!)
• finish hanging pictures and posters
• buy cable clips
• affix ethernet cables along wall
• reorganize tools
• reorganize closets
• front closet
• bedroom closet
• Gent's closet (has my camping gear in it, fyi.  I'm not doing his chores for him, if that's what you're thinking)
• fix television and wires in bedroom
• put away aquarium stuff under bed
  

And here are some things that don't necessarily have to be done before Friday, but I want to get done soon.

• clean out brown metal cabinet, sand, spray paint white (stencil fun on cabinet? eh? maybe? Actually, this will tie in with the art I'm going to hang in the kitchen, so I'm leaning towards a big YES on spray stenciling)
  
• magazine holders
• sort magazines, free up cookbook room
• organize cookbooks
  
• build unit for DVD shelving on top of bookshelves
  
• make curtains for shelves in kitchen
• make slip cover with opening for cabinet in hallway
• find 11x14 with 8.5 x 10 matte black frame
• have print made of Marilyn
• hang on wall to balance out pictures so my anal retentive "EVERYTHING MUST NEEDS BE SYMMETRICAL FORTHWITH!" alter ego will stop making ooga horn noises in my head when I look at the one wall in the living room where the photos are. not. perfectly. balanced. unnng!)
• sell old dishes when new dishes come in
• warn Gent I bought new dishes (tee hee!)
• reassure Gent by telling him at least I didn't bring home an animal
• ENJOY ZEN OF NEW APARTMENT
• Have party.  Have a few, in fact.
  

]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-19:5b0c5f0f-e768-4280-85a9-77a97e769925 Stray Farce 2008-07-19T22:14:49Z 2008-07-19T21:28:00Z
So I didn't get started cleaning the apartment until this morning.  I can now see the carpet in my room.  The living room is clean and the kitchen is mostly clean.  We've managed to contain the disorganized crap into one area: the "dining room."  I put quotes on that because my kitchen table is small enough to fit in our kitchen and so our dining area is being converted into a computer desk/dart board area.   And parking space for my bike when we're not playing darts.  My goal is to have the apartment completely and utterly organized by Friday.  Realistic enough.  Hell, if I bust my ass, I might get it done tomorrow.  But definitely Friday.

Instead of spending most of the day inside today, we decided that we'd go play a few games of tennis being that we've yet to utilize the tennis courts at our apartment complex (one of the reasons we chose this place).  We played 12 games with me winning the match 7 to 5.  I was never much for tennis, couldn't get the gist of scoring, coordination problems, etc.  But I love sports.  And I liked hitting the ball back and forth with either the wall or a friend.  However, since we've acquired a Wii and have been playing tennis on there, I've gotten the hang of scoring. With that understanding we were able to take our tennis skills outside for realz.  And it was wonderful to have won my first official tennis match. 

However, the Gent wasn't happy.  We were sweating our arses off and decided to go back to the apartment to change into swimsuits and go for a dip in the pool (another reason we chose this complex).  Catching the last half of the Yankee game we decided we'd wait, then changed our minds (they went into 12 innings for chrissakes) to go play one more match of tennis after having dinner at a local diner.  The Gent was determined to beat me.

And he did.  First 6-1 and when I insisted best two out of three, he beat me 6-0.  The spirit was willing but my feet were incredibly weak.  So he wins the backrub even though I so desperately need it.

I also decided that I wanted to start counting my Weight Watchers points again and get back into the groove of following the program since I have all the paperwork, just not paying for the meetings.  I earned 24 activity points today between the 25 games of tennis and the housework.  Now, there's talk that you're only allowed to use four of them per day.  There are others who say you can earn as many as you want but they only count that day, you can't bank them for later, so long as you don't hurt yourself.  I'm going to go for the "as many as you want."  I definitely worked off those hot dogs I had for breakfast. lol.

But seriously, I'm still keeping within my alloted range.  I dipped into my flex points yesterday.  I didn't want to do that again today because I'm saving them for the rest of the week (if I use the rest at all, I really don't want to get into the habit of using them).  And I don't necessarily want to count all of my activity points towards my daily total because that would put me at 6 or something.  But I will use enough to put me back to my per diem and if I earn extra, then that's just extra that I know I've earned but am choosing not to use. *shrugs*.  Something like that.

So yeah.  My goal is to lose 150 (at least) in two years.  That's a doable goal.  If I get it done before then, fine.  But two years.  I used to be 150 and I let myself get ridiculously overweight because of an unhealthy relationship with food.  Mother used to keep snacks under lock and key, and we all know what is forbidden is just that much more alluring, so when I got out on my own I ate all the stuff I was never allowed.  All the time.  When I finally caught on I was twice my weight.  And granted, I have lost 35 pounds, but it also took me three and a half years to do so because I was only making a half-assed attempt to lose it.  (so, technically I only need to lose 115 more).

And it's weird.  I never paid attention to it, the gaining weight.  I'm a healthy girl on the inside with a fat exterior.  I have the spirit in me to want to run and jump and do all the things I used to do when I was younger (not to mention maintain the stamina to handle going back to roller derby soon), and then I get reminded that I'm not as spry as I used to be when I'm getting winded and tired easily.  So I decided I wanted to get back to a healthy weight so I can have the stamina to do all the fun stuff I used to do.  Well, not used to, I still do it, but I won't get as exhausted.  And hell, even if I get down to 180 I'll be ecstatic.  One website says my target weight should be 143, another says 182.  Anywhere in between is fine by me.

It was a fun day.  I didn't get as much done around the house as I would have liked, and I'll probably be sore as hell tomorrow, but still.  Good day.
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-15:f61aa801-9923-446a-aca5-5acddb643ab9 Stray Farce 2008-07-15T18:49:33Z 2008-07-15T18:27:00Z geocaching.  During lunch a coworker of mine and I went out to hit some right by my office.  The first one was easy, just your garden variety "virtual" cache.  The second one was a half-mile away so we decided we'd hit it as well. 

I was trying to glean clues from people's logged comments.  There was mention of someone bringing their bike up stairs, another mention of nooks and crannies.  I still didn't find it.   After the third snake I encountered I decided that I'd had enough and would call it a day and come back when I'm more prepared.  It was amusing though:

Coworker: "Oh look, here's the cache, they put a fake snake on the-"
Snake: *flicks tongue*
Coworker: "Holy shit!"
Me: "Yeah, that's not a fake snake, buddy."

One of them was a nice looking ribbon snake and the other two were small green snakes.  I might have liked to have taken one of them home if I didn't already have my heart set on an albino pink corn snake like I had before it "disappeared" (put in quotes because I still doubt the circumstances surrounding its "disappearance", but whatev). 

Still didn't find the cache so I'll have to go back.  I think I'm going to have to get one of those metal reachers.  I don't like digging around into nooks and crannies that certain critters like to hide.  I like snakes, don't get me wrong, but I get ten kinds of wiggety if it's not my own.  And bugs? Fuhgeddaboudit. 


]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-13:3ee6ffb5-f4a2-47c5-998c-c9df7471f948 Stray Farce 2008-07-13T19:31:58Z 2008-07-13T19:00:00Z Kismet Gallery in Troy (visit their ebay store), some pictures of local stencil artists' work and signed, numbered concert linoprints (Dresden Dolls and The Hold Steady) and stuff. 

I was very anal about my picture hanging, measuring, leveling, making everything moderately symmetrical, keeping everything balanced (I need a new 8x10 portrait style print to hang on the wall or I'm going to go batshit insane because the balance is off). 

I'm still working on this apartment.  It's horrible, I've been here two months and I'm still not fully settled in.  I'm trying though.  Working around my natural tendency towards sloth.  I want a party!  Haven't had one in ages.  Want to at least have the place looking decent and have people over while it's still nice out.

It's about time I got off my fat ass.  Just thought I'd check in.

Oh! Almost forgot: We are totally addicted to Trauma Center: Second Opinion.  It was given an overall score of 80 on MetaCritic and I highly recommend it. 

I don't recommend it if you're trying to finish unpacking your apartment and cleaning your bathroom because it's highly distracting. ha haaa.

Ta, dahlings!
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-12:5bc5f32f-b673-4317-9bfd-1951dfeead55 Stray Farce 2008-07-12T11:12:03Z 2008-07-12T11:07:00Z
I anxiously awaited the release of Hellboy II.  I loved the first one, loved Ron Perlman, loved that this demon-man loves chocolate bars and has a soft spot for cats.  The bad guys were eeeeeeevil and meeeeeean and the monsters were just as intimidating.

Hellboy II? Not so much.  The monsters/creatures in this movie were interesting and definitely reeked of Pan's Labyrinthiness (which I thoroughly enjoyed).  However the script was banal!  Incredibly.  Didn't do justice to what Guillermo del Toro brought to the plate in the way of direction and I'm guessing he blew his creativity wad on effects and had no mojo leftover for the actual dialogue.  The most enjoyable part of the script was the acerbic comments made by a shopkeepers "baby": "I'm not a baby, I'm a tumor!".

The bad guys were, well, not as menacing.  Prince Nuada (the white emo guy you see in the trailers) was bad, but not bad enough.  And his sidekick monster  looked like a cast reject from Men In Black II.  And the tooth faeries? Destructive, yes, but they were cute!  You can't have an evil little monster be adorable as hell!  Has this ever worked before in film history? Please share.

The Gent mentioned this and he was spot on, we were both glad to see Doug Jones voicing the character for Abe Sapien.  However, every time he opened his mouth we kept expecting David Hyde Pierce's disembodied dialogue.  Jones did a great job, but DHP brought a little something extra to the character.  They set the bar high in their decision to cast DHP in the first Hellboy which set up Doug Jones to fall just short of the mark. 

But I still enjoyed it.  And it probably won't stop me from buying it when it comes out on DVD.

(x-posted)
]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-11:f6815513-4caf-4e3c-a597-3a0d3953c0f8 Stray Farce 2008-07-11T02:42:02Z 2008-07-11T02:36:00Z (x-posted from myspace)
goddamnitty shit fucking booger garbled asspicking shit fucky BALLSACK RATFARTS!!!!!!!!

I have been wanting to come back to derby.  Now that I quit my second job I was seriously considering it (I want to straighten things up at home first, but soon).  The Derby name that I have been sitting on for MONTHS has been taken.  It wasn't on the fucking roster before.  I checked.  But apparently this girl has been rolling for about two years now SO WHY WASN'T IT ON THE GODDAMN ROSTER!!!! (or why didn't I see it before? GRAH!!!!) *kicking the internet to death with my skates*

GodDAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!  IT WAS PERFECT!!!!  I still might be able to get it, since it's showing up as "low" and "very low" for similar entries but still.  I didn't want to be a variant of a name that someone else had (Mine was spelled differently), I wanted it to be mine.  An original.  It's something that I had come up with and have been keeping a secret since December/January of this year.  But now someone three hours away has it, which makes it worse, it'd be sorta fine if it were California or something. 

This makes me angry. Now I have to start all over.  I didn't want to be Chesty LaBruise anymore and I was going to change it to something more fun, start over.  I supposed I can still try to either get this name or come up with something else, but goddamn it. 

argaigdfpoawiuretpo;aeijhg;iohlkahfgjklahdfkjghadklfjghlksdajfhgliaeuhtilruhgjuhg!!!!!!!

ass monkey codswallop is what this is.  I'm never going to get to sleep now,  I'm so fucking pissed off.  I'm spitting lightning and shooting lasers out of my eyeballs, I'm so fucking ANGRY!!$(U%($UT^P(%IYTUPU *spontaneously combusts*

where's my fucking happy place?  (and my car keys for that matter, those have been MIA for two weeks now....)]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-10:fcde128f-ac06-4412-b071-40a51bd4e96a Stray Farce 2008-07-10T22:28:03Z 2008-07-10T22:21:00Z Here's an excerpt I received from an online promotion for Amtrak that was emailed to me.  Pay particular attention to the highlighted portion.

Drive, sleep, and shop your way to a faster reward.
Make it a Triple Play and earn up to 2,000 bonus points with Amtrak Guest Rewards program partners July 1 through December 31, 2008. Earn 300 bonus points when you Drive with any of our car rental/sharing partners or moving services. (highlight) Earn 500 bonus points when you Sleep with any of our hotel, cruise, luxury rail or home loan partners. And, earn 200 bonus points when you Shop at our online mall or other shopping partners. That's not all… if you transact with at least one in each of the Drive, Sleep and Shop categories, you will receive an additional 1,000 bonus points.

Me: this made me snort/laugh when I read it.
The Gent: Are the bonus points made available on their website, or just left on the
nightstand?

]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-07:672ad254-704f-4515-99d8-b1d7b8431db5 Stray Farce 2008-07-07T23:38:12Z 2008-07-07T23:34:00Z
Clue #1:
refgkfgffgfkgaffaldfagmptyjgptyuyepfrhtrrdgptyupmrqpomy
yjtrryjtrrgobrsmferdydrbrmyuyjtrrfrhtrrdgptyuqpomygobryjtrrdrbrm

Clue #2:
Northing/Y: 1440662.440
Easting/X: 685900.354

I think these are UTM coordinates but I can't make heads or tails of them.  Help?



]]> tag:strayfarce.com,2008-07-03:873e82df-a00e-4bb9-b3a4-878294779929 Stray Farce 2008-07-03T08:12:13Z 2008-07-03T08:11:00Z
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