Wrapping Up

It's the last day of NaBloPoMo! I didn't do so well this year, but I did try. It looks like I'm coming in with 29 posts for the month of November.

Here are some pictures of what we've been up to the past few days, including the ornaments I promised last time. Becca and I created a tree worthy of Martha Stewart, complete with painted and glittered acorns, gilded oak leaves, and tiny string balls (far easier to make than the big lamp one!).

We also got to see the Swinjarnyars, and the ever-delightful Peanut, yesterday in Walla Walla. Good times!

Check out the album here:

Bowling

Tonight, I bowled. I was first on the list, and threw a strike, causing the group to mock me for having told them I was terrible. I was vindicated in my prior assessment, however, throughout the next two games, in which I bowled an 87 and 75, respectively. I did throw three more strikes, though. Isn't that weird?

Also today, Becca and I made awesome Christmas ornaments, which hopefully I'll post about soon.

Hrrrrrmiston

I didn't succeed at Buying Nothing today. Actually, that Wikipedia article, which I just read for the first time, is kind of amazing. Who knew about Zombie Walks?!

We didn't check any luggage yesterday, so I had to pick up some mousse today. I've never seen cans of mousse in a TSA-acceptable size. It's a situation I'd like to see remedied.

Thanksgiving

David and I are at MSP, awaiting boarding for our flight to PDX. David is much better at arriving early than I am; there was absolutely no running-to-the-gate drama (for which I am thankful).

Other things for which I am thankful:

• David's presence and patience
• A loving family and lots of food waiting for us in Portland
• My fellowship. Holy cow, my fellowship (including the fact that I'm thus not accompanied today by a pile of grading to do)
• The resources and ability to travel
• A fantastic year for running (two marathons, two halves, and counting!)
• A ridiculously warm November in Mpls
• My Lappy
• As always, my wonderful friends and family!

...And we're boarding, so I have to cut it short.

Thanksgiving Eve

I've mentioned before how much I like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Almost everyone has the next day off, so it's like a weekend in the middle of the week, without either the banality of the weekend or the weighty expectations of a serious holiday eve, like Christmas or New Year's.

David and I celebrated by getting Mexican food at Pepito's and then watching The Big Lebowski at the adjoining Parkway Theater, where they have comfy leather loveseats from which to watch your $5 movies ($4 with the restaurant discount!).

In the morning, we catch a plane to Portland for festivities there.

It's a cliche, of course, but I really can hardly believe it's Thanksgiving already.

Here is something I discovered today that made me very happy indeed. I hope you enjoy it too, and that you all have wonderful days of thanks with your favorite people!

Mildly Obsessive

I realized today, upon seeing this picture, that the reason I keep cutting my hair short is that I keep hoping it will make me look like Halle Berry. It doesn't.

Recently I've been sort of growing it out, and the result is a lot of ringlets (on drizzly days like today, somewhat fuzzy ones). I couldn't find a recent picture, so I took one just now on the lappy. This is me frowning because I'm tired of all the fuzzy ringlets:

The more I think about it, the more irritated I get. A google for the precise wording of this great Dylan quote on hair led to an image search, and I'm further irked by the realization that my current hair resembles Dylan's a lot more than it does Halle's. His quote is very small consolation:

Actually, I think [Lincoln's long hair] was for medical reasons, which are none of my business. But I guess if you figure it out, you realize that all of one's hair surrounds and lays on the brain inside your head. Mathematically speaking, the more of it you can get out of your head, the better. People who want free minds sometimes overlook the fact that you have to have an uncluttered brain. Obviously, if you get your hair on the outside of your head, your brain will be a little more freer. [source]

My hair is the longest it has been since about May. I like it okay in this picture:

I am not at all crazy about it in this picture (taken the next day!):

This is the problem with my hair. Here is a picture I took maybe two years ago. It's the one I take in with me when I want to get my hair cut like Halle Berry's (it's not that far of a stretch, right?):

But getting it to look like this in real life requires a bit of assistance from a curling iron, which I'm generally way too low-maintenance to mess with. If, for example, I roll out of bed and go for a walk on the beach, I end up with this less attractive result (though I do think this cut is shorter than the one pictured above):

The thing is, the pictures of me with bad short hair are some of my least favorite ever. But none of the pictures of me with long hair inspires me remotely. Here's one I found from this summer:

It's a perfectly nice picture, and I like it actually quite a lot. But it doesn't inspire me to grow my hair out. Actually, all these pictures are just reminding me of how much hair I currently have on my head are making me twitchy to cut it all off.

I know that if I let it keep growing, it will continue to grow out of, and back into, awkward phases. Maybe if I got it trimmed (my last cut was almost exactly five months ago), I'd feel better about it. The thing is, I don't have a distinct goal for my hair (though every once in a while I do see someone with nice long curly hair and feel momentarily inspired). If I leave it alone, it keeps getting longer, which I guess is change, but doesn't feel at all inspiring. Whereas, a cut is an immediate change! It's an adventure! It's proof that I'm not frightened and intimidated!

It's just not always an improvement. Sigh.

Hey, so, remember how back in September I briefly alluded to Epic Roadtrip II, which David and I took on our way back to Mpls from the Northwest? Yeah, I kept meaning to blog more about that, and never did.

I may share more pictures later, but for now, here's a photo for each day of our adventure:

Saturday, 8/22: Surprise birthday party for Hathor

Sunday, 8/23: Leaving Walla Walla

Monday, 8/24: Oregon Caves

Tuesday, 8/25: Driving to Northern California

Wednesday, 8/26: Visiting David's grandparents in Northern California

Thursday, 8/27: Staying with Jon & Lauren before heading south

Friday, 8/28: Dinner party at Becca's

Saturday, 8/29: The high desert--Integratron and J-Tree

Sunday, 8/30: Shockingly, no pictures taken (after several hundred the day before...)

Monday, 8/31: My birthday; my mom made tiramisu and put candles in it!

Tuesday, 9/1: Leaving the desert

Wednesday, 9/2: The Grand Canyon

Thursday, 9/3: White Sands National Monument

Friday, 9/4: Carlsbad Caverns

Saturday, 9/5: Roswell, NM


Wow. That was way more difficult than I expected--and I'll definitely have to post more pictures. The Integratron/Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon, White Sands, and Carlsbad were each particularly difficult to attempt to capture in a single photo. If I weren't so exhausted, I'd also post a map so that you could see just how far our peripatetic wanderings took us.

Saints and Song

Here, at Ellen's request, is a picture of her posing on her bike in my living room when she visited a few summers ago. I like the way the lamp makes a halo behind her head and her pose makes her look like a saint: Ellen, Patron Saint of Indoor Bikers. A few more pictures from the trip are here.

Yesterday, I sang karaoke for the very first time! It surprises even me that it had taken me this long, since those of you who know me at all know how prone I am to song. I was pretty nervous, but did have fun and was assured afterward that it was great. I think I'll try it again!

David, though, stole the show. He was the second-to-last act of the night, and went up not even knowing what his song was, after friends sneaked his name in. He totally rocked "The Joker," and impressed everyone. Awwwww.

Necklace

Today we hit the student art sale at MCAD, and I got this fabulous "cellular pattern" necklace.

The artist has an Etsy shop here. I suggest checking it out!

Logic!

Strovska posted a link to a pretty amazing logic puzzle over at her blog. In my case, the puzzle started out as completely frustrating, but in the end proved extremely satisfying, in a totally nerdy way.

If you've already completed the puzzle, or don't intend to try it, you can click here for a glimpse into the inner workings of my mind (spoiler alert!). I wish my dissertation would come together like this puzzle did at the end, with all the pieces sliding right into place.

I also posted a distinctly creepy and surreal dream fragment over at the dream blog.

Looking Forward

A week from today, David and I will be in the Northwest to celebrate Thanksgiving! I am completely unreasonably excited about this.

Two weeks from today, I'll be in Las Vegas, preparing to run the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon there with my sister and brother-in-law. I'm slightly less excited about this, but probably mostly because Thanksgiving is looming larger and I find it difficult to anticipate too much at once.

Oh, but! I am also already looking forward to June, because we're going to see U2 again, this time here in Mpls! Woo-hoo!

"Get schooled" in "style"!

I was sorting through old e-mails today and came across this picture, which I'd had David snap with his phone when we were in Albuquerque this summer:

Here are a few more Blackberry photos he's sent me, which I don't think I've shared here.

May 16: Bozzy, DB, and me with a Portland bear:

May 26: Karen's big dog in Lincoln:

June 13: David and me eating outside at Sweet Basil (I think):

August 1: Bremerton with my Seester:

August 2: Brother Rockstar's birthday cake, made by his housemates:

August 5: A recently-groomed Lucy, riding on David's shoulder:

Sleep

This morning I had that super-heavy, glued-to-the-mattress feeling, even though I'd been sleeping for nine hours (I know! the luxury! It's, like, double what I averaged my first year in Mpls). It took a ridiculous amount of time to get out of bed.

And then tonight, I couldn't even make it through the movie David and I started with dinner (Bubba Ho-Tep, which I first [and last] saw at the awesome Ross theater in Lincoln), and passed out on the couch at maybe 7:30. I had vivid dreams, and now, predictably, am not very sleepy. Sigh.

I didn't run today, and I only ran two miles yesterday. I've also been averaging a lot of sleep recently.

I don't know whether to hope that I'm just lazy or that there's something actually wrong with me.

Granted, I have run a half marathon and a whole marathon in the past six weeks. It is November, and the short days always get me down. I'm stressed about my dissertation and the (complete lack of a) job market. And I am trying to avoid all the flu going around.

So hopefully it's nothing that a bit more sleep can't fix.

Toothiness

This morning I went to the dentist. The graduate student health insurance plan is actually pretty awesome, and includes two cleaning/check-ups per year. I haven't always been great about going; among other things, there's generally a daunting six- to eight-week lag before you can get in for an appointment. I somehow lucked out this time around, however; when I called in response to my postcard reminder, they offered an appointment date the very next week.

The last time I'd been in, in May, the very friendly, if not terribly thorough, hygienist told me I had "the cleanest mouth I've seen all day!" And today, I had the shortest dental exam I've ever had: the dentist did ask me if I'd been having any problems, but then looked in my mouth for all of maybe 30 seconds.

When I remarked on it to the hygienist, she said, "That's because everything looks so good in there!" Well, mostly good. There is some flattening, apparently, that suggests a bit of grinding (stress!), and which may account for some increased sensitivity recently. The hygienist gave me a sample tube of Sensodyne, and also encouraged me to use a fluoride rinse.

I said I didn't realize that fluoride was still beneficial for adults, but that I did remember my mom putting fluoride drops in our breakfast juice during the time we lived in Louisiana when I was a kid. The hygienist was impressed. She said, "You have a good mom!" Because I love telling people this, I added, "She even flossed our teeth for us when we were kids." (It's completely true. I can still remember lying on my back on her big bed while she flossed my baby teeth. When we were old enough to do our own, she used to say, "You only have to floss the teeth you want to keep.")

The hygienist was even more impressed. She said, "You should thank her! She's the reason you have such nice teeth now!" I said, "I do!" although, as she had her fingers in my mouth, it came out more like "Awww roo!"

However, it really can't be said too often: thanks again, Mom!

Oh, and there's one more place where credit is due: my toothbrush, pictured here (thanks to David, who was sure a picture must be taken of me next to the drying string lamp, even though I was in the middle of brushing my teeth). The hygienist asked me if I use an electric toothbrush, but as you can see, I don't. Several years ago, a friend told me about the Oral-B Cross Action toothbrush. She told me that she didn't floss, but that her dentist always thought she did since she'd been using this toothbrush.

With that endorsement, I bought one, and have never looked back. They've become increasingly fancy over the years (gum stimulators! oh my!), and I continue to love them. They're a bit more expensive than their flat-bristled cousins, but absolutely worth it: I can't imagine going back.

Here's to clean mouths!

Sunday

The main thing I accomplished today was submitting a 250-word abstract for a conference I'm applying to in Toronto this summer. Writing abstracts is, on the one hand, much easier than writing even a short paper, in that they are very few words; you can sort of make almost anything up; and if your abstract isn't accepted, you don't have to write the paper and then deliver it. On the other hand, it can be very challenging, because you're trying to describe, as concisely as possible (every word counts when you have a limit of 250) something that you probably haven't actually written; to make it fit the theme of the conference, if there is one; and, of course, to be accepted to the conference.

These days, writing even those two paragraphs feels like pulling teeth. Still, I got it done and submitted, and feel okay about it. Apparently it's one of those great big conferences that accepts a lot of people, so I'd say my chances of getting in are decent.

In happier news, we ate some seriously excellent food today. For brunch I made my sister's famous cherry peach bread pudding. At least, I think it was the same recipe she uses; weirdly enough, I found it online here, at our local paper's site. Then David made me enchiladas for dinner. They're seriously amazing. Instead of a lot of cheese, he fills them with refried beans and vegetables (red and yellow bell pepper, white and green onions, spinach), black olives, and cilantro. We had them with sweet corn tamales from the Global Market, where we headed for a walk when my brain was overheating from the abstract-writing.

Speaking of brain-overheating, I also posted over at the dream blog.

Day 14

I understand that it's technically 15 minutes into Sunday at this point, but in my book it's clearly still Saturday night. I did realize as we were heading to our first engagement of the evening, around 7, that I hadn't blogged, and did give it a go from David's fancy new phone. It didn't work, though.

And, truthfully, I don't have much to say anyway.

But here is a ridiculous DIY project: a padded hanger made from paper towels and old pantyhose!

A few weeks ago, when I was feeling very crafty between the string lamp and the silver bathtub feet, I made this little beauty.

I had a pair of patterned pantyhose that I loved, but which had holes that rendered them completely unwearable. I also needed a padded hanger for a new sweater.

I wrapped a plastic hanger with crumpled paper towel, slipped a leg of the hose over each end, and wrapped the waistband around to secure it, finally poking a hole for the top of the hanger to go through. It's laughably ugly, but it does seem to get the job done. Plus, reusing the nylons, rather than throwing them away, made me unduly happy.

On the Academy

Today I spent eight hours in a rather small room with some of the smartest people I have ever met or heard of at a university symposium on sexual difference.

Parts of it were interesting and enlightening, a fair amount of it was slightly-to-mostly incomprehensible, and then there were a few positively painful passages.

Sometimes, events like these make me feel inspired about my research; curious about literature, philosophy, and the world in general; and both humbled and grateful to be in this fine institution of higher learning and in the presence of such learned scholars. Often, however, they make me want to disavow any connection with these pompous, onanistic pedants; drop out of school; and generally gnaw my elbow.

I'm not sure how to reconcile these competing desires, especially since I frequently oscillate so rapidly between them.

Confessions

Today I rode to school for the first time since September. And that was the first time I'd ridden anywhere since I got back to Minneapolis after the summer! David has biked more than me, since he rides around the lakes while I run around them. It's embarrassing.

I'm embarrassed.

Another confession: my pad thai was definitely less-than-mindblowing on Sunday night. I overcooked the noodles, so they were mushy, and then over-sauced the whole thing, so it was too salty. Go ye therefore and avoid these mistakes.

Another one: today I went to save the document of ramblings wherein I finally put in my first 15 minutes, and discovered I didn't even have a folder entitled "Dissertation." It's my fourth year of the PhD program. This confirms my general feeling of failure.

Again: tonight instead of going to the program at the art museum that I'd had on my calendar for weeks, I wimped out and made potato pizza and fancy salads and we stayed in and watched The Brothers Bloom on Netflix.

Another: I just remembered that I was supposed to do a bunch of preliminary reading for tomorrow's symposium. The presenters are famous and I'm pretty excited about the whole thing... but I probably won't do the reading.

Since I'm on a roll: recently I have a fear that I'm consistently making grammatical and stylistic errors in my writing, as though I've lost the ability to copy-edit my own stuff. It's alarming.

And, as you already know, I had, accidentally, already screwed up NaBloPoMo by only the SEVENTH DAY of the month.

There it is.

600

For real, guys. This is my real 600th post. Yay!

This morning I was sitting around in my pajamas, drinking coffee and thinking I didn't have anything scheduled for today other than the fellows' luncheon at noon, when I realized that as today was November 11, I had a presentation to give in the freshman seminar I sit in on, directly following the luncheon. A presentation that hadn't even crossed my mind since I'd written some notes and a tentative outline a week ago. A presentation that was supposed to be 30-45 minutes long!

I moaned a couple of oh noes,* dashed for the shower, and there calmed myself with the reassurances that it was really more of a facilitation of discussion than a lecture, that it was over material I knew well, and that I could just grab a couple of slides from PowerPoints I'd already presented.

Anyway, it ended up being fine, and I had a really interesting discussion with the freshmen about what it means to be a human and an individual, about science and our understanding of life, and even about some art. I'm still not sure how intelligible or coherent I was, but, yeah, the students had some great comments, and the two professors and my fellow sitting-in grad student told me it had gone well.

The moral of that story is that I really need to make sure I write everything on my Google calendar. That way, even if I forget about it, David will see it and remind me.

*I always remind myself of this weatherman when I do that (see 0:46', in particular--and don't see it at all if you're particularly profanity-averse!).

Talking Rabbits & Sparkly Vampires

I posted two, long overdue, reviews today over at the book blog, which means I'm almost caught up with the summer's reading.

Because I wrote a bunch over there, and because David and I only just now returned from partaking of Cheap Date Night at Zeno--which included a viewing of the delightfully bizarre The Men Who Stare at Goats at the Lagoon--I'm going to call that good for tonight and go to bed.

This is my 599th post on this blog!

Bullets

• Today I ran in shorts
• It has been a lovely, warm November so far
• Apparently we only had three 60° days in October, and are already at six for November
• After the run, I ate a big dinner and then sort of passed out on the couch
• I'm still feeling a bit sleepy, and thus rather uninspired
• The slumber party was great fun
• We plan to do it again
• I feel very happy and grateful to have made such good friends in Mpls
• I've got to go to bed
  

Squirrels

David (who loves squirrels): Oh look, there's a squirrel! He's so cute!
Me: I don't like squirrels.
David: Oh, he's going to jump! Maybe if I scare him, he'll fall! (Knocks on window. Looks down. Pauses.) ...He may have fallen.

Hats, Pad Thai, Iced Tea

Awww, peeps, I'm a NaBloPoMo failure, already! I missed posting yesterday--'completely spaced it with the slumber party. I guess it takes a bit of pressure off for the rest of the month, although I will still try to get in a daily post (or two; I think it was Mandy who once said that NaBloPoMo is 30 posts in 30 days, and a post a day was really more of a secondary thing).

Anyway, here are those hats that I made. I think I'm going to crochet a flower and stick it onto the front of mine for sort of a flapper thing. My hat has a lot of holes, but the four-ply yarn makes it really heavy, so it's actually pretty warm (although I haven't tried it yet in serious winter weather; we're in the sixties this weekend!).

And as long as I'm uploading photos, let's talk about Friday's adventures in Thai food!

I first discovered that relatively easy and delicious pad thai could be made at home when we threw a surprise birthday party for Hathor this summer, with the theme of Thai Food Extravaganza. Green curry, spring rolls with peanut sauce, and meng khum were also on the menu, but the pad thai was really to be the highlight (I hoped). David had a wok, so we decided to give it a go!

This recipe from Chez Pim was the awesome. It's a little long, but very entertainingly written as well as highly informative. I hadn't actually reread it since we did the party, and reading it again just now I realized the things I'd done wrong or forgotten. Still, I thought it turned out beautifully on Friday, and will probably be different for tonight's mini-party, but hopefully equally delicious.

Here's my take on the recipe (but, seriously, read hers first if you are thinking about making it. You won't be disappointed).

Sauce:
1/4 cup tamarind concentrate
1/4 cup Bragg liquid aminos (I used Bragg's for Heather's, and then soy sauce later, and have decided I much prefer Bragg's!)
~1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
~1/3 cup brown sugar (I'd forgotten this the past couple of times I'd made this, and completely hadn't noticed! I'd suggest starting low and working up)

Simmer it all for a while and adjust to taste (Pim has a great discussion on the flavor balance)

Noodles:
I have no idea whether or not this is proper, but I bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, throw my noodles in, give them a stir, and let them soak until they're quite al dente. Then I drain them and return them to the pot, although they did kind of stick together last time.

Prep:
-Tofu (I cut a block into thin, bite-sized pieces and sauteed them in a hot skillet with Pam and little curry powder and seasoned salt. She suggests doing this in the wok, but I liked the ease of having them ready to go)
-Garlic (several cloves, roughly minced. Pim says this is optional; I can't really imagine doing without)
-Carrots (shredded in the food processor, although they'd probably be a little nicer julienned)
-Green onions (sliced diagonally into ~1" pieces)
-Bean sprouts ('totally forgot these last time)
-Red cabbage (optional)
-Lime wedges
-Dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
-Cilantro, roughly chopped

Wok!
Get the wok "smoking hot" and add a splash of oil. I would definitely suggest having an accomplice for the wokking; I generally run the stirring and David throws ingredients in (which is why we lack photos--sorry!). Last time, we did the vegetables first, then the noodles with the sauce, then the garlic, and then two eggs, cracked and scrambled right in the wok (which sounds so much easier than it actually is--sigh). Keep everything moving around as you're cooking, and remember, as I did not last time, to keep the amounts small and well-timed, so that the wok stays smokin'. When hot, fragrant, and delicious-looking, transfer onto a plate and garnish with peanuts, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Guys, this is so delicious. We just had it on Friday, and already I'm salivating in anticipation of eating it again tonight.

Oh, and hey, since I'm on a roll, here is how I do Thai iced tea:
Place ~8 tablespoons of Thai iced tea into French press; add approximately two cups boiling water and let steep for a minute or two before pressing. You could chill the tea at this point, which would be a great idea. In the past, I've just poured it into two glasses filled with ice (ice which quickly melts down to nearly nothing!). Stir in maybe three tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk. I've read that you can use sugar and half and half; I haven't tried that. I have tried thinning the sweetened condensed milk in an attempt to achieve that beautiful layered effect, but haven't been successful. Maybe if I chilled the tea first? Let me know if you have a special trick.

Crafty

Tonight, I made hats! I haven't taken pictures of them, yet, but I think they're pretty cool. One I had already started, and the second went really fast because I was using four-ply yarn and my new giant (size Q) crochet hook.

I also made bang-up pad thai, which is quite a lot easier than you might expect. I did take some pictures of that (though I haven't uploaded them), so you may be treated to a step-by-step later.

Last week I finally (after three years of thinking about it) spray-painted the feet of my clawfoot tub silver. I do have a picture of that, so here it is:

In the process I managed to point the can the wrong direction and spray my finger, of which I also, naturally, have a picture:

The silver spray paint was from another DIY project I never posted, a jewelry holder I made several weeks ago and which is currently hanging in my bathroom. It occurs to me that I should probably post about that.

David also used the silver spray paint to modify his Halloween pitchfork, which started out red and was thus even more ridiculous than it is in the picture. He was disappointed that I didn't post his carefully cropped version of our American Gothic picture, so here it is:

Tomorrow I'm going to a slumber party at a friend's house! I'm really excited about that. I hosted a slumber party at my parents' house a couple of summers ago (did I really not post about that--?), but I haven't been to one at someone else's place in ages. Drew Barrymore, apparently, said, "The older you get, the fewer slumber parties there are, and I hate that. I liked slumber parties. What happened to them?" Well, we're bringing them back.

Day Five

So, it's Day Five of NaBloPoMo, and I'm already sort of running out of ideas. Yesterday was a halfway-freebie, too, because I had started that post weeks ago and had just never finished it. Anyway, here are a few snippets:

• Tuesday, I voted, mostly because Mpls was using instant run-off voting for the first time, and I wanted to be there for the history-making.
• Speaking of history, I remembered how a year ago, when I'd been there, the line had stretched out of the building and down the length of the block, at 7:20 in the morning. It was crisp and sunny, and the excitement and hope were palpable.
• This year, there was no line at all, and the 15 or so volunteers were delighted to see a voter at all (at about noon, my vote was only the 120th registered there for the day)
• David and I have been watching Dollhouse. We finished the first season and are two episodes into the current one. He thinks it may have gotten a bit too crazy; I'm maintaining hope (especially since it fits so interestingly with my dissertation stuff).
• Today is my Seester's birthday! Happy birthday, Seester.
• Have I mentioned here that I love Groupon? Check it out here, and if you live in, or visit, one of their cities, consider signing up! The Mpls deals have been pretty cool so far. I'm especially excited about The Affair/Chocolate Extravaganza this weekend for less than half the posted price!
• David and I went to a Post Secret event last Friday, the first either of us had ever been to. Frank Warren read some secrets, talked about the project and book, and then opened up the floor to the audience, for them to share secrets and stories. I felt kind of old, surrounded almost entirely by undergrads, but I really enjoyed it.
• Daylight Savings totally sneaked up on me this year. I'm still not sure how I can be instantly apprised of so much useless information on Facebook, and have something like Daylight Savings totally slip by me. I actually only noticed because of the disparity between my cell phone and kitchen clocks, although I'm sure the earlier sunset would have clued me in eventually.
• I added a new search bar to my blog, because the old one didn't work at all. I'm not sure yet how I feel about the new one; thoughts?
  

DIY String Lamp

This lamp at Design Within Reach is beautiful. It is made from fiberglass, and it is $980.

I made mine, albeit somewhat smaller, and of humbler materials, for about a hundredth of that. Here's how, with nods to these helpful tutorials.




Supplies:
1 17" balloon, inflated at store
1 150 yard skein of hemp yarn
1 bottle Elmer's glue
1 cord set (mine was Hemma, from Ikea)
1 metal hanger
White paint (optional)

Step 1:
Prepare working surface. I cut open a plastic bag for a drop cloth, and wore grubby clothes. This gets really messy! Draw a circle around the tied end of the balloon; I used a Sharpie and a margarine lid for mine.

Step 2:
Pour the glue into a small container and water it down a bit, maybe to the consistency of thickish syrup. You want to be able to coat the string easily, but ideally not have it dripping everywhere. David, my amazing assistant, helped untangle and feed me the string.


Step 3:
Apply glue to the string and begin wrapping the balloon. What worked best for me was to get my hand gluey and then pull the string through it as I applied it to the balloon. I think a handful of glue would last me maybe three feet, but this would depend on the consistency of your glue, thickness of your string, and, presumably, the size of your hands. Apply string around the borders of the circle you've drawn, but not through it, and aim for a nice, random, all-over application of the string. After the first 10 or 12 loops, I felt like my string was sliding around, so I let everything dry before continuing. It seemed to make applying the next layers easier, as everything felt more stable.







Step 4:
When you've applied the desired amount of string and let everything dry, deflate the balloon, ideally as slowly as possible. I sort of pulled the neck tight and made a small incision that I could control. In some places the string stuck to the balloon, and I poked it free without trauma. Pull the deflated (and possibly awesome-looking) balloon free and admire your incredible handiwork!




Step 5:
Attach the cord set (which I painted white, for looks) and light bulb (I used the biggest frosted globe I could find) to the shade. I cut a piece of wire hanger to slightly longer than the width of the opening, inserted it into holes formed by the string, bent up the ends for stability, then used a wire twist-tie to secure the cord to the center of the hanger crossbar. Oh! To straighten the kinks out of the cord, I dipped each section briefly in boiling water and then used a towel to very gently pull it straight.

Ta-da! The DWR lamp doesn't include a light bulb, so even though I bought rather expensive hemp yarn, I figure I still saved at least $960. I found some great string at Savers, probably enough to make three or four lamps, for only $3, so I think I'll try another lamp for the living room!

UPDATE: Check out the much smaller versions we made for Christmas ornaments!