Our Europe Trip
Posted by Deirdre Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:35:39 GMT
Posted by Deirdre Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:35:39 GMT
Posted by Deirdre Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:38:00 GMT
Grant Kruger found some fabulous aerial photos of Africa.
You know you want to see them.
Go look.
Now.
Posted by Deirdre Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:29:34 GMT
I'm sort of torn between sites these days, but for those of you who are interested in such subjects, my notes about Pantheacon can be found on my LJ.
Posted by Deirdre Wed, 24 Jan 2007 09:04:00 GMT
What do you do when you've got a sore throat, can't sleep, and silly pictures of cats send you into coughing fits?
Posted by Deirdre Sun, 14 Jan 2007 00:45:00 GMT
My mother and I were driving into downtown Menlo Park today, stopped at a stop sign. A woman with a wheelchair was crossing the street, so I decided to wait. Just then, a bicyclist plows through the stop sign, across the intersection, and nearly hits the woman in the wheelchair.
At the next intersection, he didn't even slow down for the stop sign, just plowed through.
I never thought I'd consider it justifiable homicide if a bicyclist got hit, but this dude changed my mind on that point, because he has such utter disregard for rules and safety.
Posted by Deirdre Sun, 24 Dec 2006 06:44:00 GMT
In 1996, my first husband (Richard Savino) and I went to Newgrange with my father on our wedding trip.
Today, I got a CD with scans of the photos (some of which I'd taken), including some I'd never seen.
One of those photos was of Richard at Newgrange.
I've got to say, it's incredibly weird to see new photos of someone who's been dead ten years. It's even weirder to tweak them in Photoshop.
Here's the photos with Richard in them. And here's all the Ireland photos. At the moment, the two sets are the same, but I have about 80 more pictures to put up.
Posted by Deirdre Thu, 14 Dec 2006 06:16:00 GMT
My mother wanted one thing for her birthday: a palm tree. A very specific palm tree.
She didn't actually get it on her birthday, which fell on a Thursday, but we did get it to her shortly thereafter. A good thing, because mom was told she had cancer on her birthday.
She'd put it out in one area of the front yard, one that people come and steal plums from (because no one's really known who the land belonged to).
Naturally, with cancer surgery and recovery and then the rainy season setting in, it was still in its pot, though put in its appointed place.
She last remembers seeing it this weekend, but noticed today that it had gone. Lacking locomotion of its own, that means someone nipped our palm tree.
Posted by Deirdre Tue, 21 Nov 2006 05:33:00 GMT
My mother recently discovered she had cancer.
It went like this:
October 19, she called the Kaiser advice nurse.
October 20, she had an appointment to see her Ob-Gyn.
October 26 (her birthday, unfortunately), she gets the news she's got endometrial cancer.
Nov 1, she has an appointment with the gynecologic oncologist.
Nov 7, she has surgery.
Later that week, it's confirmed by the pathologist that they got all the cancer.
Nov 20, she returns to work.
There's so many bad stories about cancer out there, I figured someone could use a good one.
Posted by Deirdre Fri, 17 Nov 2006 19:24:00 GMT
A friend asked the other day what to use on wool, knowing my dislike of Woolite.
Simple answer: wool is hair. Use shampoo. Might as well use the same shampoo you use on your own hair: one fewer bottle to have hanging around the house.
I use a sulfate-free shampoo that's designed for dyed hair, as I figure that's about as ideal as one can get, but any shampoo that makes your hair look nice will work fine.
More complicated answer: sometimes wool garments say to dry clean because of sizing or dye. Most dyes these days are colorfast, but it's worth trying a small handwash somewhere inconspicuous before dunking the whole thing in water. Garments lined in acetate are likely dry clean only due to the lining (or interfacings) rather than the wool per se.
Wash wool in warm water (about the same temp you'd shower in) and do not agitate it (because if you do, you'll create felt and it'll shrink).
Lay flat to dry.
Not so hard, really.
Posted by Deirdre Thu, 16 Nov 2006 01:24:00 GMT
Today is the tenth anniversary of my first husband's death. Though I've been remarried more than half that time, there are certain days each year that don't seem to get any easier.
This is one of them.
I woke up early, drank coffee, took vitamins, drank more coffee and soda with lunch, took more vitamins, and I've been yawning all day. The effects aren't emotional so much as physical: the body remembers.