A DJ wouldn't do that

When I play the music that I've purchased from iTunes in the order that I've purchased it, my iPod transitions from Barenaked Ladies singing a semi-acoustic remixed version of "One Week" to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

:-)

Wonder what's next?

...

James Blunt's "Your Beautiful"

Not quite as startling as the previous transition, probably because of Vincent Price's voice over. ;-)

The point where it goes from Idina Menzel to Kelly Clarkson is a bit odd, too, though I love both songs. It's eclectic.

Fashion Vent

This little rant has been welling up inside all summer.

I think the evolution of women's fashions over the years has been good, in general. The ability of women to wear pants in the outside world and not have to wear multiple layers of undergarments is much more practical, and considering how much trouble we have keeping up with the laundry I'm glad to have less to wash. I also think that the tasteful showing of neck, lower legs and lower arms is perfectly acceptable for almost any occassion. But what really gets on my nerves are women (I'm not even going to go into men in this rant) that show much too much skin ALL the time.

In my opinion, sleeveless tops, shorts, skirts more than 1-2" above the knee, flip flops and any top that shows real cleavage are just NOT work appropriate. I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who would disagree, and clearly there are because I have been seeing plenty of women all over town dressed in the items above. I don't assume that they are all going to and from work, but there is such a high percentage of innappropriately dressed people that some of them have to be.

What really gets me are the women that wear a nice, short-sleeved blouse with a knee-length skirt and a pair of FLIP FLOPS. I just really don't understand. When did it become appropriate to wear flip flops anywhere other than the beach or the pool? Is there another piece of footwear out there that is uglier? And why don't the people wearing them everyday get themselves a pedicure?! You don't need prefectly painted red toes...just clean and neat with a little clear polish would be fine with me. If your toes are exposed, then they become part of your wardrobe, so they need to be as well groomed as your fingernails (or better).

As for the sleeveless tops, maybe this is just me, but I don't think so. There is something about showing off your shoulders that means you should either be (a) at the gym (b) on a hot date (c) in an evening gown or (d) at the beach or pool. I sometimes wear a sleeveless top under a cardigan or jacket to work, and if I get overheated (which rarely happens) and take off the top layer, I always feel underdressed in a sleeveless top. There is just too much skin exposed for the workplace.

I realize that most of the people who agree with me order from the senior menu at Eat'n'Park and those who don't know me in person are probably doubting that I'm only 30, but oh well. This just drives me nuts and it will continue to until it gets cold enough out that people start wearing real shoes and tops with sleeves.

I was recently reminded of the saying (from watching The Office last night), "Don't dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want." Touche.

Determined

Dear blog readers,

It is not your fault that I have done so little posting lately. I like keeping you in the loop in what's been going on in my life and I enjoy writing and getting my thoughts in a place where I can go back and read them again. There have been a few times in my life when I have kept a journal of some description, and I always enjoy going back and rereading my perspectives on the past. There are always little things that I have forgotten and I can say for certain that my 22 year-old self has a different view than my 30 year-old self. Part of this is because I no longer have to wonder so much about the future - I have a job and a husband - not to say that I think the rest of my life will be predictable or easy, but just that at least for the time being some of those "big" questions that used to haunt me are currently answered.

Anyway, the short "excuse" for my absense is that I've been hot and tired. Add that in with two weekends spent away from home and you get relative blog silence. Honestly, we haven't really unpacked from the camping trip or the trip last weekend to Michigan City, Indiana for a friend's wedding. The heat hasn't been as bad as it was a couple of weeks ago, but it still seems to be slowing me down. I just have to get past it and move on.

More soon about the wedding (really lovely) and my knitting (I seem to be pretty monogamous lately and enjoying lace again).

Bloggiversary

(Strange. I sent this yesterday in my usual manner, but it never posted. Trying again. Before I know it, there will probably be 3 identical posts.)

This is post #165. Not bad for my first year of blogging.

I do apologize for how slow things have been around here lately. I've been tired. It's been hot. And quite frankly, as soon as the busy-ness of preparing for the party was over I didn't really feel like doing much of anything in my downtime.

This past weekend we went camping. A description of our weekend and pictures are posted here: http://spargelkohl.livejournal.com/25144.html For those interested in my knitting, I reached the halfway point of the Viennese shrug. Whether I can get it done before the wedding on Saturday may be a stretch. But I also don't know what I'm wearing (I shopped last night and couldn't find anything) and my back-up outfit doesn't involve the shrug. I'm trying to just go with the flow and see how much I can get done. It's a fun project even if I don't wear it this weekend. I had forgotten how much I enjoy lace.

I also took a stab at another iPod cozy. The fit around the openings is good, but I need to rework the top and closer. I also might consider trying it again top down, so that the closer is on the bottom. It doesn't make a big difference, but it would make it a few seconds faster to get it into the charging cradle. :-)

When it got dark, I started a pair of socks, so I would have something I could knit in the dark without totally screwing it up. I may rip back to the end of the toe increases and make them jaywalkers or I might keep going in boring stockinette and do something more interesting on the leg.

Lastly, in cat news, Stewart seems to be making up for the fact that we were gone over the weekend by attempting to wake me up 3-4 times a night for attention instead of the usual 1-2 times. It's also possible that he does it more often, but with bedding protecting my skin at less HOT times he is easier to ignore. It's also clear to me that his claws need to be trimmed this evening...

Jeopardy!

I realize that this is late notice, especially for you morning blog readers, but I didn't think to post this until a few minutes ago.

My best friend and the woman who was the queen bridesmaid in my wedding is going to be on Jeopardy! tonight. Her name is Rebecca. She has red hair. You can't miss her. :-)

I will also take a moment to point out that I need more sleep. This morning in the shower I lathered up my hands with the cream to remove my make-up, and then I promptly spread it all over my hair. I almost did this a few days ago, too, but I managed to realize my mistake in time. My hair seems to have survived unscathed.

Lastly, I want to give advanced warning that Tuesday is my blogiversary. I have no idea what I might do to celebrate. I just happened to think that it was coming and I was happy that I took note of it before it had passed.

Yawn

I know this blog has been exceedingly quiet for the past week, but I can't really promise that it might change before the weekend (maybe).

There just isn't a whole lot that I've felt like writing about. R and I spent much of this dead-blog time watching first season episodes of LOST (I haven't seen them all yet since I worked on Monday) and resting. My motivation to do much else has been limited.

The one exception was Saturday. We went for a lovely trip to Moraine State Park with one of R's coworkers and his wife. We had brunch at Eat'n'Park, we drove around the park, we hiked, we had ice cream treats, we talked, we toured their house and we wrapped it all up with a Mexican dinner. And after an all-to-brief nap, we went to a different couple's house for a game night and celebration of Army Day. (We still don't know what Army Day celebrates, but the host couple is in the process of adopting a boy from Guatemala and Army Day is celebrated there.)

When I get my act together, there are house pictures to post and knitting pictures to take and post. The two blankets I was working on are done. The only projects in the work are the current Trekking socks and that pink pullover from Vogue Knitting that I haven't worked on since Easter. On Tuesday I knit myself a pair of FuzzyFeet (www.knitty.com) and I made two catnip toys.

Yawn.