Wednesday, September 20, 2006

it is a bi-week of newness!!!

During the past two weeks, I have gotten three very important and fabulous new things. In fact, they are SO important, SO fabulous, and SOOOO exciting, that I'm going to tell you about all three of them, and right now! ^_^

#1: My new car
It's a 2007 Ford Escape. It looks exactly like this, with the dark grey detals, etc. ^_^

#2: My new phone

This is a Sanyo Katana. I adore this phone. It's slim and icey pink (yay!). It looks much pinker in this photo than it really is, btw. It's really quite pale and pretty.

#3: My new bike!
And Electra Betty, also in my darling, delightful ice-pink, and fitted out with the following sweet accessories. IT IS SO HOTT!!
A) Black leather streamers

B) A black, detachable basket

C) Skull & Crossbones valve caps, in Chrome (My FAVORITE detail!)

D) "Electra Love" Bell (My second-favorite detail!)^_^

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

my new hair


my new hair
Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
well... icey pink is, apparently, my new favorite color...

As can be seen with my incredible, new, icey pink phone. And my rad, new, icey pink cruiser bike. Photos to be posted soon.


Also, I have a BRAND NEW CAR!!!!! I got it last week, but I haven't updated this thing in so long it hasn't gotten mentioned yet. It is AMAZING! Again: pictures to be posted soon.

Ooooo, my life is just so full of wonderful new things, I'm such a happy girl ^_^

Monday, September 04, 2006

An ecological great is gone :(

Oh, I am so devastated!

Steve Irwin has been killed! A stingray's spine hit him in the heart! I mean, I guess we all knew it could happen someday, given his propensity to hover too closely to very dangerous animals, but it's still realy sad. And a lot sooner than I thought. I figured that someday when he was old and had lost his coordination he might mess up and get hurt, but he was only 44. When I was in college (oh, so many years ago) I watched Crocodile Hunter marathons whenever I could.

*sigh*

We'll miss you, crazy Steve. You were great.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

bikeeeeeee...

I'm not sure if I mentioned it when it happened, like a month ago, but I got a kid's bike at a yardsale. It was $30. But then I started riding it a lot and my right knee went CRAZY on me. As in c-r-a-z-y. I'd be sitting on the couch and suddenly I felt like someone had hit me in the knee with a hammer. Regardless... this is the bike. It's purple, and has a sticker that says "AWESOME" on it. Eventually I'm going to gussy it up with a "Counter Culture Coffee" sticker, and a few misc. stickers I have laying around (probably including one of the GammaGo Yeti stickers Timoni gave me a while back, and assorted Tare Panda representations :)


So I've been thinking and thinking about what to do, and I *think* I just need a better bike. One that actually fits me, and that all of the gears work on. At the moment I have my eye on the bike Kiki suggested ages ago on this very blog (thanks, Kiki!!) It's the Paul Frank 'Scurvy' chopper. It's pretty cute, and also fits my criteria of a. Pink, and b. a basket. I also want what my legendary 'Pink Lady' had - a light that was powered by your peddling (if you'd turned it on). Two out of Three isn't bad, though... But I'm not sure how functional it actually is, so I'm still looking around.


Plus, I'm going to New York this weekend, and I don't want to spend $300 on a bike before I get a chance to spend that money on millions of clothes from NYC ^_^

hellllo, I am a gpeeeee!!!


hellllo, I am a gpeeeee!!!
Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
GP was a present for Katie C, because she toooootally loves guinea pigs :)

This little one enjoys sitting at coffee shops, nursing the same cup of coffee for 8 hours, just so he can use their free wireless. And also check out/hit on women.

He is a little bit depressed, and a little bit overweight, but also very web-savvy and music-literate, so people don't totally mind him (IOW: he's not altogehter creepy. Just a little odd).

Names under consideration:
+ Horace
+ Nelson
+ Charles
+ Fabbi
+ Antoinne
+ Mercutio
+ Javier
+ Anything Katie C decides she likes!

ps - his backside is a baby blue faux-velvet.

Marianne, making lattes, #1!


Marianne, making lattes, #1!
Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
I've started trying to take photos at work. It's kinda fun. Also, Goodrow is the most photographed Murky person on the face of the planet, so we need pictures of other people representing. Of course this is me. Steaming Milk. Hooray!

For the record, I'm wearing a tie because Friday is Tie day at Murky coffee. Not because I'm a wannabe rock star.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

cleaning, cleaning, cleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaning

I'm busy cleaning today. It will probably go on, late into the night. I'm cleaning out my closet, cleaning out all of my fabrics, etc, and trying to reorganze them. YIKES!

Somehow I envisioned my summer "break" (actually, only 3 weeks off, and still working, so not TOTALLY a break), as me sitting around, making softies, shopping for clothes, etc, etc. But today is my first day actually free after classes ended two weeks ago, and somehow I decided to use it to clean?? What was I thinking.

Now that I'm sitting amonst piles of textiles and clothing (which I guess can also be filed loosley under textiles), I'm wishing I was walking around Georgetown or something. But I can't.

Maybe if I finish enough to take a short break by 7 I'll make a quick trip to H&M or something, to satiate my desire to spend money on shoes, trinkets, and silly outfits. The chances that I'll finish anything by then, however, are slim to none. And tomorrow I'm totally busy, and Thursday I need to sit myself down and sew some new softies... and I work Friday and Saturday. Soooo.... I'll probably go through my 3rd week of wanting to go to Tyson's by... not going to Tyson's.

*sigh*

Saturday, August 05, 2006

You lear nsomething new...

Today I learned:

1. About global warming:
- when 9-11 occured, and planes were grounded for several days, the average daily temperatures rose 2-3 degrees acoss the entire nation. That's when scientists realized that the effects of global warming are much farther along, and worse than previoiusly thought - in an odd twist of fate, one of the things that is protecting us from the more severe effects is the layer of "protective" smog in our atmosphere.

2. About Spiders:
- There is currently an "infestation" of spiders in Australia that is causing mass panic. An article can be found here:
  • Crazy Spiders! AUG!!


  • 3. About Venomous snakes:
    - Bottles of (very expensive) "Habu sake" are sold in almost any alcohol store on the big island of Okinawa prefecture. The venom of 'Okinawa Habu', one of Japan's most poisonous snakes, is present in the sake (along with a dead snake on the bottom)... and it is reputed to increase male virility!

    - The King Cobra is the world’s largest venomous snake. The record length for a King was measured at 18 feet, 4 inches. King cobra bites can kill a full grown elephant in less than 3 hours.

    A FULL GROWN ELEPHANT!!


    4. About me:
    - (I actually already knew this, sort of, but was reminded of it today when looking at snakes, and it's a sort-of interesting story, so here I go) I found a picture of this guy, who I swam with while scuba diving in Indonesia. Sea snakes are very curioius creatures, and like to inspect things. And inspect me, he did! He swam gracefully up to my face, bumped his nose against my goggles, moved backwards, looked at me for a moment, and then swam peacefully on his way.

    Of course, it's only in the last year that I've discovered that this particular sea snake has the most powerful neurotoxin venom in the world, 10x stronger than a rattlesnake's... I don't think I would have been filled with such wonderment, or been so pleased with himbumping his face against mine if I'd known that. Instead it would have been more... well... panic.

    I'll say, though, that it was worth it to see him. I did lots of incredibly (and sometimes stupidly) dangeroius things when I was living in Indonesia, and this was the least of my worries. Because sea snakes are, in addition to being the most poisonoius snake in the world, the most docile snakes in the world. IOW: cases of them biting humans withoiut being provoked are rare, if not non-existant. So I wasn't actually in any danger.

    **of note: I also got to swim with an ADORABLE orange blowfish, shaped like a little square box, and covered in tiny black polkadots. He looked just like this, except more square. And orange.

    And also... a sea turtle! Hooray ^_^

    Saturday, July 29, 2006

    quite silly


    quite silly
    Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
    WHAT?

    I saw this in the Metro on Thursday. Just what, exactly, is this poster supposed to be conveying?

    I wanted to wait until a girl in a very silly outfit wlked past, and then take a picture of him looking at her outfit, with that expression. But I didn't.

    Wednesday, July 26, 2006

    hooray!

    I just found out that they're making a CGI Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie! It's coming out in March '07.

    I've been waiting for this since Vanilla Ice's career died!

    Seriously. I used to live for TMNT in the afternoons. I totally hearted Raphael. Such a dreamy, rebellious turtle...

    ...<3<3<3...

    I eventually moved my swooning on to better pastures (ahem, spiderman, ahem) around 8th grade, but I still get all swoony when I think of my turtle with the red bandana.

    ... and yes, for the record, this entry should be taken lightly, because I am talking about cartoon characters. I don't REALLY have a crush on a fictional turtle. Honestly.

    Tuesday, July 11, 2006

    Silly expectations!

    I signed onto AOL, and there was a link promising to give you "quirky summer date ideas!". I followed it, thinking that even if I didn't use these ideas for dates, I'd be interested to hear what they were. I saw Horseback Riding near the top of the list, and since I rode competitively for a little over 10 years, I thought "Hey, maybe it'll have something interesting" and clicked on the link.

    What it turned out to be was a listing of single men across the country who liked horseback riding, on "Love@AOL, by Match.com".

    I WAS TOTALLY DUPED!!!


    And that's when I noticed something about Guy #2, COWBOYYUP. He was 38, but listed himself as only being interested in women who were 22-40. "AS IF," I thought, "He should readjust his thinking to have more of a spread, like 32-45." I, personally, don't think that many 22 year old women should be dating men who are 38. I know it happens sometimes, but if it's his dating *RULE*...

    Guy #1, "HorseRidingHero" (who, by the way, didn't look like a hero...), was realistic though. He was 24, and looking for a woman 18-26. That's a resonable range, right?

    However, my curiosity and desire to find patterns in things was peeked, and I quickly moved on to see what exactly IS the age range these guys were looking for? It turns out that most men over the age of 35 preferred a woman younger than he was, while men in their 20s gave a reasonable age range, from a few years younger to a few years older. Here are some of the older-wanting-younger examples (incidentally, who thought up these names??):

    1. Painthor: 55 years old, looking for a woman 30-50
    2. Kevinjp504: 41 years old, looking for a woman 26-44
    3. Ace107: 54 years old, looking for a woman 32-54
    4. Mebcowboy: 50 years old, looking for a woman 30-47
    5. asweetcharm: 43 years old, looking for a woman 35-40
    6. dawesner: 51 years old, looking for a woman 25-45
    7. JYouseff: 41 years old, looking for a woman 25-43
    8. S4865: 44 years old, looking for a woman 20-44
    9. Sparky478: 54 years old, looking for a woman 30-45
    10. Mitchnew2: 32 years old, looking for a woman 24-32

    One that also caught my eye was 'SlimDandy23', who's ad says "I am a 23 yearold male who has been threw more crap than anyone should ever have too go threw..." First of all, for the love of pete, use spell check or a grammar book! But what really gets me is that he uses his alotted paragraph to assure us all that things have happened to him, by the wee age of 23, that have obviously left him with huge baggage. Why would you do that to your ad, Slim?? *sigh*

    Also, there was "workingaround, who advertised himself as a 43 year old man. Sorry Working. You're totally, like, 60!! If you don't want people knowing how old you are, don't put THAT picture on your 43 year old profile!

    Sunday, July 09, 2006

    Oh, it's been so long!

    I haven't actually written much for the past few months.

    Sorry about that (though I doubt it's that big of a deal. If you ask me, images are more fun anyways).

    I think the most effective way to go about this will be a list!

    1. Today Garth and I are going to the Apple store. He is buying a Powerbook. I am getting an iPod for 1/2 off because I am a student, and he's buying a Powerbook, and there's a deal on iPods for students buying powerbooks.

    2. As previously posted, my sofites are hanging at Murky Coffee right now, and they're getting a great review, and selling rather nicely.

    3. I'm going to be learning to play Civilization 4 soon. I hope I don't get addicted, but I probably will.

    4. My summer class is "eh". Sometimes the teacher brings her dog to class. I really like that bit. Other bits not so much.

    5. Kim and I are going to New York in August. It will be ultra-fabulous and I AM SO EXCITED!!!

    6. Drea and I will be going to New York in November. I am also SO EXCITED!!!

    7. Garth and I threw a great 4th of July party, where I spent all day cooking, and he spent all day building a desk. And then we played Apples to Apples and had fun. And Paolo had to help us move the desk after it was built because it's as heavy as a small horse (and a little bit bigger than one).

    8. I am, at this moment, enjoying a delicious Iced Caramel Latte, made by Sadaat (who is awesome, btw). And I can feel myself getting fatter, despite trying to be on a diet, because I had an espresso brownie for breakfast (I'm not very good at this game...).

    9. My fish, Sparticus, got Fin Rot this past week, and his beautiful, Beta Fins were melting away into transparent nothingness, until I bought some anti-bacterial tablets for his tank. It's only day 3 of the treatment though, so I have yet to see much improvement. MY POOR FISHY!!!!!

    10. I am officially "trained" on the bar, and could make each an every one of you a delicios latte, or cappuccino, or chai! But whether or not you'd get pretty latte art, like Ryan, Aaron, and jonathan can make, is left up to chance. Sometimes mine looks great. Other times it looks... well, terrible.

    I *think* that's it. It seems like a good update to me! And besides, Garth just showed up, and I have an iPod to buy!!

    Thursday, July 06, 2006




    ... I also have my paintings on display in the back room.
    For more images see my Flickr page (www.flickr.com/photos/mhines1).

    It's ON!!!




    My softies are finally up and for sale at Murky Coffee.

    Hooray!

    Everybody should stop by and peek at them and read their stories. And then, if you like one, you can buy it!

    Carpetti


    Carpetti
    Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
    Carpetti loves to eat!! He is from Italy, and his favorite thing to eat is Fettuccini with Cappucino sauce (but he will devour any dish you put in front of him).

    When he gets wet, his tightly curled coat will spring into an enormous afro, and his eyes will disappear behind his fluffiness!

    Also, please don't leave Carpetti alone with siberian hamsters. He is very afraid of them.

    $35

    Flossy


    Flossy
    Originally uploaded by domo_arigato.
    Flossy is a sweet little softie, who talks like Beaker from the Muppets. In fact, the day she met Beaker at a 'Muppet Show' convention was the happiest day of her life, because he understood what she was saying. After that day she put pictures of Beaker up all over her walls.

    The thing she loves most about herself is her pink, outie belly-button. "I feel like it gives me a certain pizazz," she explains when asked why she loves it so much.

    $27

    Monday, July 03, 2006

    And it floods... again.

    I have to say that I'm not complaining, because I seriously love big storms (although I'll admit to being pretty terrified that day a week or two ago when we had the freak electrical storm. S-C-A-R-Y (but cool)!!

    Anyhow. Today there was more storming! Garth and I got totally soaked coming out of AMC Hoffman after 'Devil Wears Prada', and then there was this blackout that lasted for hours (and was actually still going on, the last time we talked... which was about 45 minutes ago). Anyhow, it was a great evening. We played cards in the dying light of the evening, and actually enjoyed going to McDonald's for dinner at 10pm. It was nice :)

    Anyhow. It has been raining so hard lately!! But, because pictures speak louder than words, here you are:
    1. The Masonic Temple from Garth's sunroom on a bright, sunny day.
    2. The masonic temple from Garth's sunroom in the rain.