A couple weeks ago, I ordered a whole slew of stuff from hanes.com, and they have sent me stuff in multiple packages as things were back-ordered. But what's really confusing (in addition to the fact that something was marked as sent in my first order that was canceled, apparently in the warehouse, when they realized they don't have any more of the item and I guess they don't plan to make any more) is that they keep sending me emails about shipping my order, and it includes the entire fucking order each time. I just got an email from them with the whole list of items and I have no clue what it's about because two days ago they confirmed that rather than wait for an unknown eternity for the last item to come off backorder that they would cancel the order for that item. So what is this email about my order for? I'm sure it makes sense to them -- that it indicates some kind of updating of the status of each item -- and perhaps it would make sense to me as well if the list were only a couple items long, but given that my order was huge, I don't know what's going on. I think it would be much less confusing if the emails were titled "Order Update" or something instead of blah blah "shipment confirmation" -- especially when the shipment confirmation is that they are not shipping me something.
But overall, I was happy with my experience with this order. The return policy is quite generous and straightforward, and I ended up with many items that I liked (though naturally I have modified the items for better fit, especially in making them a more convenient shorter length rather than the crotch-covering length that seems popular right now).
I've been happy enough with how the shortened shirts have turned out that I'm planning on looking at a previous crop of t-shirts I purchased with an eye toward shortening some of them as well. It's weird how shortening something as little as an inch can make such a difference in how they look and feel.
I asked Robert to buy me another set of the cat quilting fabric set (5 smallish pieces in coordinating prints) that I had purchased a few weeks ago at Wal-Mart, and last night I showed him what it looked like. He came home today with three different sets of cat fabric because he couldn't remember which one I wanted. I loved it. They did not have 3 sets last time I was there, only the one, or I would have bought all three at the time. So be expecting cat fabric awesomeness on this blog in the coming weeks. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Grape Sorbetto
OK, perhaps it's not so much grape sorbetto as the result of a kid messing around with
the slushee machine, blending some blue raspberry into their grape
slushee.
I had been wanting to try my hand at sewing a sleeveless "shell"-type shirt and looked at about a million different patterns. I picked this one because:
It's cute. (I like the center pleat, although it would also be very straightforward to eliminate it; even I do not need instructions to figure out how that works.)
It's easy. It doesn't have buttons or zippers.
It's not sloppy big. When making something out of woven fabric that has to slip over your head, shoulders, etc., an overly loose silhouette can be a problem. This one goes on easily but doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a tent.
It's popular and well-blogged, so I got to read many other sewist's experiences in making, fitting, and wearing the shirt. I also got to see that it looked good on people with a wide variety of sizes/shapes.
It uses bias tape around the arms and neck. I have only recently discovered the bias tape product (I believe in reading the book Improv Sewing) and I was eager to try it out. In looking up information about it on the Internet, I saw a lot of pictures of people making insanely cute kids' shirts with contrasting bias tape to finish the edges, and I was all, Waaaaah, I want to use it on a shirt big enough for me.
And finally, it's a free download.
I got Robert to help me tape together the pattern pieces (fortunately, there were only two of them! but they covered over a dozen pieces of computer paper) and used some fabric I bought a long time ago (to make a skirt that I never made). It was quite easy to put together. I even learned how to make my own bias tape from normal fabric -- very cool. The secret is using this little gadget (only $7) to fold the fabric, and then pressing in the folds with an iron as you pull the fabric through.
The finished product fit well everywhere except for the dreaded gaping armhole problem that regularly plagues the wearers of sleeveless tops, exposing your leopard print bra with the strap held on by a safety pin for the world to see. (Note: I do not own such a bra.) I fixed it by running some thread around each armhole by hand and tightening the thread to pull the armholes back toward the body. This was kind of a pain in the ass, but it worked pretty well. I don't think the scrunching around the arms is particularly noticeable, and to the extent that it's noticeable, I don't think it's problematic.
I just hope my fix sticks -- I feel that it wouldn't be hard to accidentally break the thread that keeps the armhole scrunched in.
I got two books on pattern fitting from Amazon and read the first one -- Fast Fit -- this weekend. Interestingly, the method she recommends for fixing gaping armholes is very similar to mine (though performed on the fabric before the garment is completed): it involves somehow scrunching up the fabric while sewing on the machine. This idea makes me a bit nervous because I could easily screw it up by scrunching too much, too little, or unevenly around the armhole, but I will probably try it next time I make this shirt. (Unless I decide reading the other fit book that there is a method I would rather try first.)
The grape sorbetto had its debut at Sunday's baseball game. The weather was insanely perfect -- 77 degrees and sunny (but our seats were in the shade, which was awesome). It's interesting how a shirt made from lightweight woven cotton can be cooler than a knit tank top. I suppose it's some combination of the lightness of the material and the slight looseness of the shirt itself. In any event, I declare the shirt a successful experiment, and I intend to make more of them.
I had been wanting to try my hand at sewing a sleeveless "shell"-type shirt and looked at about a million different patterns. I picked this one because:
It's cute. (I like the center pleat, although it would also be very straightforward to eliminate it; even I do not need instructions to figure out how that works.)
It's easy. It doesn't have buttons or zippers.
It's not sloppy big. When making something out of woven fabric that has to slip over your head, shoulders, etc., an overly loose silhouette can be a problem. This one goes on easily but doesn't make me feel like I'm wearing a tent.
It's popular and well-blogged, so I got to read many other sewist's experiences in making, fitting, and wearing the shirt. I also got to see that it looked good on people with a wide variety of sizes/shapes.
It uses bias tape around the arms and neck. I have only recently discovered the bias tape product (I believe in reading the book Improv Sewing) and I was eager to try it out. In looking up information about it on the Internet, I saw a lot of pictures of people making insanely cute kids' shirts with contrasting bias tape to finish the edges, and I was all, Waaaaah, I want to use it on a shirt big enough for me.
And finally, it's a free download.
I got Robert to help me tape together the pattern pieces (fortunately, there were only two of them! but they covered over a dozen pieces of computer paper) and used some fabric I bought a long time ago (to make a skirt that I never made). It was quite easy to put together. I even learned how to make my own bias tape from normal fabric -- very cool. The secret is using this little gadget (only $7) to fold the fabric, and then pressing in the folds with an iron as you pull the fabric through.
I just hope my fix sticks -- I feel that it wouldn't be hard to accidentally break the thread that keeps the armhole scrunched in.
I got two books on pattern fitting from Amazon and read the first one -- Fast Fit -- this weekend. Interestingly, the method she recommends for fixing gaping armholes is very similar to mine (though performed on the fabric before the garment is completed): it involves somehow scrunching up the fabric while sewing on the machine. This idea makes me a bit nervous because I could easily screw it up by scrunching too much, too little, or unevenly around the armhole, but I will probably try it next time I make this shirt. (Unless I decide reading the other fit book that there is a method I would rather try first.)
The grape sorbetto had its debut at Sunday's baseball game. The weather was insanely perfect -- 77 degrees and sunny (but our seats were in the shade, which was awesome). It's interesting how a shirt made from lightweight woven cotton can be cooler than a knit tank top. I suppose it's some combination of the lightness of the material and the slight looseness of the shirt itself. In any event, I declare the shirt a successful experiment, and I intend to make more of them.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sew What
The table in my office has now been fully switched from schoolwork mode to sewing mode. I have even pressed the African market basket my mom gave me into service as a convenient way to store tools and equipment as well as carry the stuff upstairs to the dining room table, which has the extra space I need for laying out larger pattern pieces when cutting fabric.
To reacquaint myself with my sewing machine, I started by making more of the cocktail napkin insert replacements for my coasters (like the ones I made a few years ago). I wanted to have enough of the coaster inserts that I could put all the current ones in the laundry hamper and put new ones in the coasters; although I had made more of them since the initial 6, I still didn't have enough to have a full replacement set. Now I do.
The fabric I used includes two ancient bandanas with mysterious origins, some quilting fabric I purchased recently at Walmart, and -- the piece de resistance -- a pair of boxer shorts I bought at an aquarium about 20 years ago.
After that, I got slightly more ambitious and made some tissue box covers. I know, it's kind of a grandma type thing to do, but I am sick of the fact that lotion Kleenex come in only two boring designs (and 5 pastel colors). (Living in Snow City -- where in the winter, it is drier indoors than the Sahara Desert -- normal Kleenex are too rough for regular use. My nose gets roughed up enough using the lotion kind.)
I am using this tutorial to make my covers, and I think the ones I've done so far have turned out pretty sweet.
I have also been, well, I guess the word is "tailoring" -- even though that word implies a much higher level of skill and ambition than I have yet -- some T-shirts I purchased online from Hanes. I bought them in a slightly larger size and have been taking them in at the sides and at the hem as needed. (I have nothing against longish T-shirts but I wanted some that were a little bit shorter for summer.)
I have also been working on another project. Stay tuned for updates.
To reacquaint myself with my sewing machine, I started by making more of the cocktail napkin insert replacements for my coasters (like the ones I made a few years ago). I wanted to have enough of the coaster inserts that I could put all the current ones in the laundry hamper and put new ones in the coasters; although I had made more of them since the initial 6, I still didn't have enough to have a full replacement set. Now I do.
The fabric I used includes two ancient bandanas with mysterious origins, some quilting fabric I purchased recently at Walmart, and -- the piece de resistance -- a pair of boxer shorts I bought at an aquarium about 20 years ago.
After that, I got slightly more ambitious and made some tissue box covers. I know, it's kind of a grandma type thing to do, but I am sick of the fact that lotion Kleenex come in only two boring designs (and 5 pastel colors). (Living in Snow City -- where in the winter, it is drier indoors than the Sahara Desert -- normal Kleenex are too rough for regular use. My nose gets roughed up enough using the lotion kind.)
I am using this tutorial to make my covers, and I think the ones I've done so far have turned out pretty sweet.
 |
| Robert's bathroom is all white and dark blue. I like how this cover matches his mouthwash. |
 |
| I originally made this one for my bathroom, but it goes very well with the red furniture in the living room. |
 |
| I made this one from leftover fabric from a pair of pajama pants I made many years ago. It matches Robert's sheets and blankets (and is probably the only "masculine" fabric I have). No more pink water lily Kleenex for Robert! (Well, unless he decides he misses them.) |
 |
| My office needed a dash of color, and I am a sucker for these bright, batik-like prints. |
I have also been, well, I guess the word is "tailoring" -- even though that word implies a much higher level of skill and ambition than I have yet -- some T-shirts I purchased online from Hanes. I bought them in a slightly larger size and have been taking them in at the sides and at the hem as needed. (I have nothing against longish T-shirts but I wanted some that were a little bit shorter for summer.)
I have also been working on another project. Stay tuned for updates.
Monday, April 15, 2013
What Not To Say to Grad Students
Here's something not to do: Don't try to convince the grad student in your life that of course he can get a job [as an assistant professor] at Berkeley because he's really smart!
This happened recently to one of the students in Tam's math PhD program (a fellow third year student) in a conversation with his father. The discussion involved the student yelling at his dad and basically wanting to murder him.
If this student's Dad's comments don't seem crazy and wrong to you, let's break it down.
The Job Market in General
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the job market in academia sucks. Don't believe me? Google the phrase "academic job market sucks" and you get 6,060 hits. (In contrast, "academic job market is good" and "...is fine" yield no hits.) Start perusing the links you get from that search, and the despair and desperation felt by job candidates is palpable. It sucks marginally less in some fields, and is dire enough to make candidates suicidal in others. The job market in math is... well, there is talk from some hiring committee insiders that this year they are receiving applications from 600 or more credible applicants for tenure-track positions. It's probably safe to say that there are hundreds of reasonable candidates for every job and there are more qualified applicants than there are jobs.
In most fields, when going on the job market, candidates will typically apply to somewhere between "the majority of" and "all" tenure-track job openings. I mean, all job openings in the entire country (plus Canada, for some). Not all job openings in big cities, places with nice weather, places with politics compatible with their own, places with culture/athletics/shopping/birding opportunities/whatever their personal interests are, places close to friends and family, places where a significant other could find a non-academic job, or anything like that. If there is a job opening at the University of Texas-Brownsville or Keystone College in Factoryville, PA, chances are, your grad student will apply for it. This is something I don't think people outside academia understand. No accountant, computer programmer, sales manager, or whatever would consider applying to all relevant jobs no matter where in the country they are located, but this is standard operating procedure in academia.
Of course, in the sciences it is increasingly common that people don't enter the academic job market directly out of the PhD program. First, you apply to post-doc positions that give the opportunity to do research and get publications to beef up your CV before applying for assistant professor positions. A lot of people end up doing more than one 3-year post-doc before getting a tenure-track position (if they ever do). Note that there is a huge amount of competition for post-doc positions, too, and they don't pay all that well, either -- perhaps around $45,000 on average. And many people end up moving from one temporary position to another, hopping across the country multiple times to do so, or cobbling together gigs to teach one class here and one class there. These options pay even worse.
Being Smart
Your grad student is really smart. I'm sure that's true. I'd guess that most people in PhD programs are pretty sharp. So good news: I believe you about your grad student. Bad news: Your grad student is competing against a bunch of other brainiacs for the limited number of jobs available. But maybe your grad student is even smarter than the average grad student - yay, right?
Well, maybe. Your grad student mostly gets credit for his intelligence by channeling his intelligence into activities that matter. Hiring committees in academia aren't making decisions based on a sense of how "smart" candidates are. They are looking at CVs (publications, etc.) and job market talks (presentation of a piece of their current research) and so on to decide which candidates have the research and/or teaching skillz the university wants. I'd argue that "being smart," above and beyond what is reflected in these other aspects of the application, is of less value in the academic job market than the non-academic job market for the following reason: the job of assistant professor is quite precise and the hiring committee can (because of how many more applicants there are than jobs available) require that candidates demonstrate that they already can do the things that constitute the job -- research and teaching. In the (admittedly highly variable) non-academic job market, it's harder to get direct evidence of what an applicant's skills are (if for no other reason than work product is generally proprietary to the company where the applicant was working when they did it, unlike publications in journals that anyone can read) and jobs are more ambiguous and changeable.
Getting a Job at Berkeley
Let's face another tough truth. In addition to your CV and your job talk, another thing really matters on the academic job market: your academic pedigree. It should come as no surprise that academia is snobsville. In general, candidates are viable at universities at or below the level of the university from which they graduated.
In the case of Tam's fellow student, his father is suggesting that after graduating from a program ranked around #100, he will ("of course") be able to get a job at a university with a top 10 program. This is so unlikely to occur that we might as well call the probability 0. (A glance at the website of Tam's program showed me quite a few faculty members who graduated from top 10-30 programs. This seems very typical to me of the pattern in academia generally.)
Getting a Job at X University
But even if the idea of going from Tam's university to Berkeley weren't so obviously a non-starter, it's still just flat not the case that most students can "of course" get a job at any given university. There are a bunch of reasons:
The department might not be hiring in any given year (or several years).
The department might be hiring for a position your grad student doesn't qualify for. Berkeley might be looking for an algebraist, so your grad student with a specialization in combinatorics is shit out of luck. (Note: I don't know how specific hiring is in math, but it's specific to some extent in all fields. I also don't know anything about combinatorics except it was the specialty of Charlie's ex-advisee/girlfriend Amita on the TV show Numb3rs. Of course, she also was hired as an assistant professor by the same university where she got her PhD - an example of academic inbreeding, which is generally frowned upon.)
It seems to me that the specialization issue is less at teaching oriented, rather than research oriented, schools, but there is still an issue of "fit" no matter where you apply. Some aspects of this fit you can sort of predict -- a small, liberal arts college will like it that you have stellar student evaluations of teaching and significant experience overseeing undergraduate research, for example -- but other aspects of this fit are mysterious, unpredictable, and out of your control.
There are just too many applicants for too few jobs. (See "academic job market sucks" for a refresher.) The academic job market is not literally a crap shoot, but ... yeah, it sort of acts like one. So here's the thing, there just is no such thing as "of course" when it comes to getting an academic job, any academic job.
An Analogy
Getting a tenure-track job at a top-ranked university is like getting a job in professional sports. (I tried this analogy on Robert and he did not visibly choke, so I'm going with it.) It wouldn't make sense to tell a basketball player at Division III Bridgewater State University that "of course" he can get a job playing for the L.A. Lakers because he's "really athletic." It doesn't really matter whether he's the best player on the Bridgewater State team either. Things don't work like that in pro sports, and they don't work like that in academia either.
What Not To Do
I hope that I have convinced you that your well-intentioned but naive belief that your "really smart" grad student can "of course" get a good academic job is completely out of touch with reality. But if you want to fantasize about your grad student being a superstar at one of the most elite universities in the country, fine -- that's your business. (Go ahead and award them a Nobel Prize while you're at it.) But do not -- DO NOT -- share these fantasies with your grad student, and most especially do not share them in ways that make them seem like expectations you have for their future greatness and achievement.
Grad school is stressful, it's grueling, it breaks you down and makes you want to cry. Just getting by on a day-to-day basis is tough and tests your resources to the limit. The job market is a scary, horrible thing that looms overhead, creating additional anxiety and terror. There is really no point in even bringing up the job market with your grad student. (This is quadruply true if your grad student is still in the early years of the program, worrying about classes and exams and finding research they're interested in.) If you want to be helpful and encouraging, do not make your grad student deal with your fantasies masquerading as support.
This happened recently to one of the students in Tam's math PhD program (a fellow third year student) in a conversation with his father. The discussion involved the student yelling at his dad and basically wanting to murder him.
If this student's Dad's comments don't seem crazy and wrong to you, let's break it down.
The Job Market in General
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the job market in academia sucks. Don't believe me? Google the phrase "academic job market sucks" and you get 6,060 hits. (In contrast, "academic job market is good" and "...is fine" yield no hits.) Start perusing the links you get from that search, and the despair and desperation felt by job candidates is palpable. It sucks marginally less in some fields, and is dire enough to make candidates suicidal in others. The job market in math is... well, there is talk from some hiring committee insiders that this year they are receiving applications from 600 or more credible applicants for tenure-track positions. It's probably safe to say that there are hundreds of reasonable candidates for every job and there are more qualified applicants than there are jobs.
In most fields, when going on the job market, candidates will typically apply to somewhere between "the majority of" and "all" tenure-track job openings. I mean, all job openings in the entire country (plus Canada, for some). Not all job openings in big cities, places with nice weather, places with politics compatible with their own, places with culture/athletics/shopping/birding opportunities/whatever their personal interests are, places close to friends and family, places where a significant other could find a non-academic job, or anything like that. If there is a job opening at the University of Texas-Brownsville or Keystone College in Factoryville, PA, chances are, your grad student will apply for it. This is something I don't think people outside academia understand. No accountant, computer programmer, sales manager, or whatever would consider applying to all relevant jobs no matter where in the country they are located, but this is standard operating procedure in academia.
Of course, in the sciences it is increasingly common that people don't enter the academic job market directly out of the PhD program. First, you apply to post-doc positions that give the opportunity to do research and get publications to beef up your CV before applying for assistant professor positions. A lot of people end up doing more than one 3-year post-doc before getting a tenure-track position (if they ever do). Note that there is a huge amount of competition for post-doc positions, too, and they don't pay all that well, either -- perhaps around $45,000 on average. And many people end up moving from one temporary position to another, hopping across the country multiple times to do so, or cobbling together gigs to teach one class here and one class there. These options pay even worse.
Being Smart
Your grad student is really smart. I'm sure that's true. I'd guess that most people in PhD programs are pretty sharp. So good news: I believe you about your grad student. Bad news: Your grad student is competing against a bunch of other brainiacs for the limited number of jobs available. But maybe your grad student is even smarter than the average grad student - yay, right?
Well, maybe. Your grad student mostly gets credit for his intelligence by channeling his intelligence into activities that matter. Hiring committees in academia aren't making decisions based on a sense of how "smart" candidates are. They are looking at CVs (publications, etc.) and job market talks (presentation of a piece of their current research) and so on to decide which candidates have the research and/or teaching skillz the university wants. I'd argue that "being smart," above and beyond what is reflected in these other aspects of the application, is of less value in the academic job market than the non-academic job market for the following reason: the job of assistant professor is quite precise and the hiring committee can (because of how many more applicants there are than jobs available) require that candidates demonstrate that they already can do the things that constitute the job -- research and teaching. In the (admittedly highly variable) non-academic job market, it's harder to get direct evidence of what an applicant's skills are (if for no other reason than work product is generally proprietary to the company where the applicant was working when they did it, unlike publications in journals that anyone can read) and jobs are more ambiguous and changeable.
Getting a Job at Berkeley
Let's face another tough truth. In addition to your CV and your job talk, another thing really matters on the academic job market: your academic pedigree. It should come as no surprise that academia is snobsville. In general, candidates are viable at universities at or below the level of the university from which they graduated.
In the case of Tam's fellow student, his father is suggesting that after graduating from a program ranked around #100, he will ("of course") be able to get a job at a university with a top 10 program. This is so unlikely to occur that we might as well call the probability 0. (A glance at the website of Tam's program showed me quite a few faculty members who graduated from top 10-30 programs. This seems very typical to me of the pattern in academia generally.)
Getting a Job at X University
But even if the idea of going from Tam's university to Berkeley weren't so obviously a non-starter, it's still just flat not the case that most students can "of course" get a job at any given university. There are a bunch of reasons:
The department might not be hiring in any given year (or several years).
The department might be hiring for a position your grad student doesn't qualify for. Berkeley might be looking for an algebraist, so your grad student with a specialization in combinatorics is shit out of luck. (Note: I don't know how specific hiring is in math, but it's specific to some extent in all fields. I also don't know anything about combinatorics except it was the specialty of Charlie's ex-advisee/girlfriend Amita on the TV show Numb3rs. Of course, she also was hired as an assistant professor by the same university where she got her PhD - an example of academic inbreeding, which is generally frowned upon.)
It seems to me that the specialization issue is less at teaching oriented, rather than research oriented, schools, but there is still an issue of "fit" no matter where you apply. Some aspects of this fit you can sort of predict -- a small, liberal arts college will like it that you have stellar student evaluations of teaching and significant experience overseeing undergraduate research, for example -- but other aspects of this fit are mysterious, unpredictable, and out of your control.
There are just too many applicants for too few jobs. (See "academic job market sucks" for a refresher.) The academic job market is not literally a crap shoot, but ... yeah, it sort of acts like one. So here's the thing, there just is no such thing as "of course" when it comes to getting an academic job, any academic job.
An Analogy
Getting a tenure-track job at a top-ranked university is like getting a job in professional sports. (I tried this analogy on Robert and he did not visibly choke, so I'm going with it.) It wouldn't make sense to tell a basketball player at Division III Bridgewater State University that "of course" he can get a job playing for the L.A. Lakers because he's "really athletic." It doesn't really matter whether he's the best player on the Bridgewater State team either. Things don't work like that in pro sports, and they don't work like that in academia either.
What Not To Do
I hope that I have convinced you that your well-intentioned but naive belief that your "really smart" grad student can "of course" get a good academic job is completely out of touch with reality. But if you want to fantasize about your grad student being a superstar at one of the most elite universities in the country, fine -- that's your business. (Go ahead and award them a Nobel Prize while you're at it.) But do not -- DO NOT -- share these fantasies with your grad student, and most especially do not share them in ways that make them seem like expectations you have for their future greatness and achievement.
Grad school is stressful, it's grueling, it breaks you down and makes you want to cry. Just getting by on a day-to-day basis is tough and tests your resources to the limit. The job market is a scary, horrible thing that looms overhead, creating additional anxiety and terror. There is really no point in even bringing up the job market with your grad student. (This is quadruply true if your grad student is still in the early years of the program, worrying about classes and exams and finding research they're interested in.) If you want to be helpful and encouraging, do not make your grad student deal with your fantasies masquerading as support.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Weather News
Robert says: "If you feel like this winter has been dragging on forever, you're right. We've only reached the average high temperature 7 times since March 1."
(That's only 16% of the time. Because Robert doesn't know how the mean and median relate to each other, he can't say precisely what we would expect, but let's say roughly 50%.)
"The last two days, we've been 20 degrees below normal for the high temperature."
This year is definitely living up to my jibe about Snow City in response to the frequent claims about our true "four season" climate: Sure we have four seasons, but two of them are winter.
You guys in the same situation? Has the bunny stolen spring from everyone?
(That's only 16% of the time. Because Robert doesn't know how the mean and median relate to each other, he can't say precisely what we would expect, but let's say roughly 50%.)
"The last two days, we've been 20 degrees below normal for the high temperature."
This year is definitely living up to my jibe about Snow City in response to the frequent claims about our true "four season" climate: Sure we have four seasons, but two of them are winter.
You guys in the same situation? Has the bunny stolen spring from everyone?
Friday, April 12, 2013
Hungry Birds
Robert sent me the following message posted on a Pacific Northwest birding listserve:
"It was a nice day today and I decided to take the top off of my Jeep and go out look for Burrowing Owls. I found my FOY [first of year] Franklin County Burrowing Owls North of Pasco. Two of them were standing watch outside their burrow. My girlfriend and I were taking pictures when one of them flew off. I went to the back of my jeep to get my scope out. Then, my girlfriend caught my attention silently and motioned me to look in the front seat of my jeep. The Burrowing Owl had flown into my jeep and had landed on the steering wheel!!!!! The Owl quickly grabbed my half eaten burrito from the taco truck that was on the dashboard and flew back to the burrow!!! We watched an awe with our jaws dropped as the owls went at the burrito finishing every morsel down to the last pinto bean!!!!"
As Robert noted, Burrowing owls love their little burrows.
"It was a nice day today and I decided to take the top off of my Jeep and go out look for Burrowing Owls. I found my FOY [first of year] Franklin County Burrowing Owls North of Pasco. Two of them were standing watch outside their burrow. My girlfriend and I were taking pictures when one of them flew off. I went to the back of my jeep to get my scope out. Then, my girlfriend caught my attention silently and motioned me to look in the front seat of my jeep. The Burrowing Owl had flown into my jeep and had landed on the steering wheel!!!!! The Owl quickly grabbed my half eaten burrito from the taco truck that was on the dashboard and flew back to the burrow!!! We watched an awe with our jaws dropped as the owls went at the burrito finishing every morsel down to the last pinto bean!!!!"
As Robert noted, Burrowing owls love their little burrows.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Amusing Food Site
Tam sent me a link to this food website, which is pretty funny. While I do not endorse many of the specifics of the way of healthy eating encouraged on the site nor do I approve (for myself) a vegan diet at all, still, I certainly agree that Hamburger Helper is disgusting and wrong and think there's wisdom in not trusting a glove with a face.
In short:
In short:
Sunday, April 7, 2013
More Thifty Goodness
I made a trip to Goodwill today and since it's been a while, I thought I'd give you one of my photo posts on my purchases. (Click to expand the photos.)
Working from left to right, starting with the top row:
- Jones New York short sleeved knit shirt. I like the neck detail. My costliest purchase at $7.
- St. John's Bay [JCP] short sleeved knit shirt. I'm a sucker for shirring.
- American Living [JCP] elbow length knit shirt with square neck. Gotta love a sailor stripe!
- Ann Taylor short sleeved knit shirt. Do I dare try pattern mixing with it?
- Ann Taylor LOFT short sleeved knit shirt. A nice design on the fabric, I thought.
- A plain white short sleeved shirt with no tags; slightly gathered front. Great condition for a white shirt. It's pretty short and should work well with fuller skirts (which annoyingly look better with shirts that are significantly shorter than those I like with pants). (I brought one of my previously-thrifted fuller skirts to try on with shirts.) I wonder if someone washed it, it shrank, and they donated it right away.
I got kind of lucky with white/off-white shirts this time!
- Christopher & Banks sleeveless white knit shirt with a high neckline. It looks basically unworn, and I think I know why. The armholes are too big -- easily fixable, though, with a sewing machine.
- St. John's Bay [JCP] v-neck short sleeved knit shirt. My cheapest item at 99 cents. A handy neutral color to wear with some of the colorful skirts I've been purchasing.
- Adidas short sleeved athletic knit shirt. I like getting these with the quick dry/wicking/etc. for walking or hiking outdoors, and I'll be packing them on our upcoming national park tour.
- Croft & Barrow [Kohl's] short sleeved cardigan. I have been wanting to get some summery cardigans that can be worn alone (buttoned up) or over a sleeveless top, esp. with skirts.
- 212 is a brand I'm totally unfamiliar with. This is a very basic short sleeved nylon/spandex shirt that looks fine tucked into a skirt (a rarity, in my experience).
- Sag Harbor [sold at Kohl's, Sears, Bealls, etc.] short sleeved lightweight sweater for wearing with skirts. I have several light colored ones with faint patterns that would look good with a neutral color like this. I like the metal neck detail (a sort of built-in necklace substitute).
- Champion short sleeved athletic knit shirt with a small amount of mesh low on the sides.
- Tommy Hilfiger lightweight long sleeved sweater with waist ties. A shorter, skirt-compatible length and nice neutral color.
- Another item without tags. A long, lightweight long sleeved cardigan with a single button closure. I am the queen of long black cardigans. I will switch this one for another one that doesn't have a front closure and is arguably a bit too small around the bust (that I bought at this same Goodwill last year and more than got my $3-$5 worth of wear out of).
- Chico's traveler short sleeved shirt and cardigan. I really like this thin no-wrinkle fabric. The cardigan is, to my eye, very similar to one my mom owns. (Mine was only $3.50, though.)
- Two One Two New York (the same mystery brand as 212?) elbow length shrug/sweater. I love the look of shrugs but haven't really owned one before for casual wear. Another thing that looks good with skirts or over dresses. (Although the only dresses I own right now are purple and black so... yeah, I don't think so.)
With spring just starting to peek its head (today several of the lakes we passed on the highway had started to melt around the edges, which wasn't the case a week ago), nobody was fighting with me in the sweater aisles but I could not resist these items. The lightweight, button-up cardigans should go well with skirts or pants and can be worn alone or over another shirt. I like that flexibility. And I need more cardigans so I have an excuse to buy some bad-ass cardigan clips. (I'll show you some at the end of this post.)
- St. John's Bay [JCP] long-sleeved open cardigan. I like this style a lot and think the grey should go with a lot of colors underneath.
- Unity World Wear [also JCP?] long-sleeved cardigan. A semi-gaudy design on the front (rhinestones!) but I think it looks fun and helps mitigate the boredom factor of wearing a grey and black sweater.
- Eddie Bauer long-sleeved cardigan with a few buttons and a kind of long mild peplum at the bottom? It's an unusual silhouette.
- Willow Bay [sold at Shopko, a Wisconsin-based retailer I am unfamiliar with but that looks similar to JCP] long-sleeved cardigan with a classic argyle design.
- Lands End long sleeved cardigan. Finally, a pop of color!
These are some warmer sweaters I won't be wearing until next fall, but they were pretty nifty (and cheap), so I got them anyway.
- Luxe 360 by Designer Originals [???] long sleeved cardigan in a convenient short length.
- Talbots long sleeved wool cardigan. And it's not black!
- Jalate [???] long sleeved polyester/spandex short cardigan-style top. Does it work with skirts? Check.
- Eddie Bauer long sleeved wool sweater with a v-neck. Very basic, yes, but it fit so well.
OK, bring on the skirts.
- Larry Levine [Marshall's] knee length denim skirt. New with tags -- $30 originally, $3 to me.
- Ann Taylor LOFT above the knee skirt with a somewhat full silhouette. New with tags -- $60 originally, $5 to me.
- Ann Taylor knee length skirt. An A-line skirt with an interesting fabric, I'm all over it. A bargain at $1.50.
- Old Navy above the knee knit skirt. With big-ass flowers.
- Axcess by Liz Clairborne knee length slinky-knit (you know what I mean?) skirt. Such a basic garment but what can I say. I think I now own two of this type (the other I bought new at Target a couple years ago).
And the piece de resistance -- Talbots knee length silk skirt in a wonderful color that Robert looked at with great linguistic confusion. (Yeah, I don't know what it is either.) Note that it does not actually have weird crinkly fabric; those are just wrinkles. New with tags -- $118 originally, $6 to me. I really don't know where I'd wear this, or what I'd wear with it, but it fit like a dream and at the price, I couldn't resist it. Maybe I'll never wear it anywhere at all, but occasionally will put it on and stroke it, saying, My precious.....
Not pictured are three more items:
- A men's belt, identical to the one we purchased on our last outing but in a larger size. Robert is now covered from 30-38" in oxblood leather belts.
- An ivory scarf (lightweight but voluminous)
- Franco Sarto black, low vamp shoes with an approx. 1" heel, good for wearing with pants when really casual shoes are inappropriate.
Total cost for this crazy haul of stuff: $146.42.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide among 6 pairs of Salomon trail runners/hiking shoes from Zappo's, ranging in price from $100 to $150. I would like to have two pairs to take on our upcoming 2-week adventure in national parks. I'm 85% sure of one pair but there are two others I'm not sure about yet.
OK, here are some bad-ass cardi clip options (gathered from a google images search):
Working from left to right, starting with the top row:
- Jones New York short sleeved knit shirt. I like the neck detail. My costliest purchase at $7.
- St. John's Bay [JCP] short sleeved knit shirt. I'm a sucker for shirring.
- American Living [JCP] elbow length knit shirt with square neck. Gotta love a sailor stripe!
- Ann Taylor short sleeved knit shirt. Do I dare try pattern mixing with it?
- Ann Taylor LOFT short sleeved knit shirt. A nice design on the fabric, I thought.
- A plain white short sleeved shirt with no tags; slightly gathered front. Great condition for a white shirt. It's pretty short and should work well with fuller skirts (which annoyingly look better with shirts that are significantly shorter than those I like with pants). (I brought one of my previously-thrifted fuller skirts to try on with shirts.) I wonder if someone washed it, it shrank, and they donated it right away.
I got kind of lucky with white/off-white shirts this time!
- Christopher & Banks sleeveless white knit shirt with a high neckline. It looks basically unworn, and I think I know why. The armholes are too big -- easily fixable, though, with a sewing machine.
- St. John's Bay [JCP] v-neck short sleeved knit shirt. My cheapest item at 99 cents. A handy neutral color to wear with some of the colorful skirts I've been purchasing.
- Adidas short sleeved athletic knit shirt. I like getting these with the quick dry/wicking/etc. for walking or hiking outdoors, and I'll be packing them on our upcoming national park tour.
- Croft & Barrow [Kohl's] short sleeved cardigan. I have been wanting to get some summery cardigans that can be worn alone (buttoned up) or over a sleeveless top, esp. with skirts.
- 212 is a brand I'm totally unfamiliar with. This is a very basic short sleeved nylon/spandex shirt that looks fine tucked into a skirt (a rarity, in my experience).
- Sag Harbor [sold at Kohl's, Sears, Bealls, etc.] short sleeved lightweight sweater for wearing with skirts. I have several light colored ones with faint patterns that would look good with a neutral color like this. I like the metal neck detail (a sort of built-in necklace substitute).
- Champion short sleeved athletic knit shirt with a small amount of mesh low on the sides.
- Tommy Hilfiger lightweight long sleeved sweater with waist ties. A shorter, skirt-compatible length and nice neutral color.
- Another item without tags. A long, lightweight long sleeved cardigan with a single button closure. I am the queen of long black cardigans. I will switch this one for another one that doesn't have a front closure and is arguably a bit too small around the bust (that I bought at this same Goodwill last year and more than got my $3-$5 worth of wear out of).
- Chico's traveler short sleeved shirt and cardigan. I really like this thin no-wrinkle fabric. The cardigan is, to my eye, very similar to one my mom owns. (Mine was only $3.50, though.)
- Two One Two New York (the same mystery brand as 212?) elbow length shrug/sweater. I love the look of shrugs but haven't really owned one before for casual wear. Another thing that looks good with skirts or over dresses. (Although the only dresses I own right now are purple and black so... yeah, I don't think so.)
With spring just starting to peek its head (today several of the lakes we passed on the highway had started to melt around the edges, which wasn't the case a week ago), nobody was fighting with me in the sweater aisles but I could not resist these items. The lightweight, button-up cardigans should go well with skirts or pants and can be worn alone or over another shirt. I like that flexibility. And I need more cardigans so I have an excuse to buy some bad-ass cardigan clips. (I'll show you some at the end of this post.)
- St. John's Bay [JCP] long-sleeved open cardigan. I like this style a lot and think the grey should go with a lot of colors underneath.
- Unity World Wear [also JCP?] long-sleeved cardigan. A semi-gaudy design on the front (rhinestones!) but I think it looks fun and helps mitigate the boredom factor of wearing a grey and black sweater.
- Eddie Bauer long-sleeved cardigan with a few buttons and a kind of long mild peplum at the bottom? It's an unusual silhouette.
- Willow Bay [sold at Shopko, a Wisconsin-based retailer I am unfamiliar with but that looks similar to JCP] long-sleeved cardigan with a classic argyle design.
- Lands End long sleeved cardigan. Finally, a pop of color!
These are some warmer sweaters I won't be wearing until next fall, but they were pretty nifty (and cheap), so I got them anyway.
- Luxe 360 by Designer Originals [???] long sleeved cardigan in a convenient short length.
- Talbots long sleeved wool cardigan. And it's not black!
- Jalate [???] long sleeved polyester/spandex short cardigan-style top. Does it work with skirts? Check.
- Eddie Bauer long sleeved wool sweater with a v-neck. Very basic, yes, but it fit so well.
OK, bring on the skirts.
- Larry Levine [Marshall's] knee length denim skirt. New with tags -- $30 originally, $3 to me.
- Ann Taylor LOFT above the knee skirt with a somewhat full silhouette. New with tags -- $60 originally, $5 to me.
- Ann Taylor knee length skirt. An A-line skirt with an interesting fabric, I'm all over it. A bargain at $1.50.
- Old Navy above the knee knit skirt. With big-ass flowers.
- Axcess by Liz Clairborne knee length slinky-knit (you know what I mean?) skirt. Such a basic garment but what can I say. I think I now own two of this type (the other I bought new at Target a couple years ago).
And the piece de resistance -- Talbots knee length silk skirt in a wonderful color that Robert looked at with great linguistic confusion. (Yeah, I don't know what it is either.) Note that it does not actually have weird crinkly fabric; those are just wrinkles. New with tags -- $118 originally, $6 to me. I really don't know where I'd wear this, or what I'd wear with it, but it fit like a dream and at the price, I couldn't resist it. Maybe I'll never wear it anywhere at all, but occasionally will put it on and stroke it, saying, My precious.....
Not pictured are three more items:
- A men's belt, identical to the one we purchased on our last outing but in a larger size. Robert is now covered from 30-38" in oxblood leather belts.
- An ivory scarf (lightweight but voluminous)
- Franco Sarto black, low vamp shoes with an approx. 1" heel, good for wearing with pants when really casual shoes are inappropriate.
Total cost for this crazy haul of stuff: $146.42.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to decide among 6 pairs of Salomon trail runners/hiking shoes from Zappo's, ranging in price from $100 to $150. I would like to have two pairs to take on our upcoming 2-week adventure in national parks. I'm 85% sure of one pair but there are two others I'm not sure about yet.
OK, here are some bad-ass cardi clip options (gathered from a google images search):
 |
| Octopi |
 |
| Classic owls |
 |
| Angry-looking owls |
 |
| Goofy bunnies with chicks on their head |
 |
| Steampunk clocks |
 |
| A sweet birdy |
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Feeling Like a Wimp
Today I did a pretty serious strength training session (about 45 minutes) for the first time in too long, and man, I feel like a wimp. I hate doing core exercises because my core is weak and the exercises are hard, which is all the reason I should be doing them. About 15 minutes after I finished, I had this weird achiness that was like a stomach ache only not; it took me a moment to realize that what I was feeling was sore abdominal muscles. Well, I guess the upside of this is that when you start at a wimpy point, it's easy and quick to start seeing improvement.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Sally's Wolf Salmon
This is the easiest, yummiest salmon recipe I know -- I really like that it requires no prep work and no perishable ingredients (I start with frozen salmon filets and usually put one down into the fridge to defrost as soon as I use the one that's already defrosted). I eat it several times a week. It's based on the salmon recipe from Robb Wolf's paleo book.
Place a small piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet (to make for easy clean up).
Brush a small amount of coconut oil onto the foil, big enough for your salmon filet.
Lay down the salmon filet, skin side down (if it has skin; mine often doesn't).
Sprinkle with sea salt and dried rosemary (I don't measure, but perhaps about 1/2 t. of the herb). (Feel free to substitute any other herb or herb blend you like. I'm crazy for rosemary.)
Sprinkle about 1/2 - 1 T. diced walnuts (or other nuts; Wolf uses pecans).
Cook in 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. (I go 15 minutes but do not preheat my oven; this produces a cooked-through fish in my oven, which runs a bit cold.)
Eat and enjoy!
I often follow this up with a Tours Salad (see link for slight update to the recipe).
I've successfully increased my omega-3 intake over the past couple weeks to good effect. I start the day with 1 T. of flaxseed oil (as recommended by Seth Roberts) and because despite the label professing it to be good in smoothies or salad oil, it tastes nasty, I drink it mixed with some water while wearing a swimmer's nose clip, which completely eliminates the taste. I swish with (and drink) a bunch of lukewarm water afterwards and then I'm good to go. I have also started taking 3 krill/fish oil tablets with breakfast (up from two). And I'm eating salmon more days of the week than not. (Some weeks, like this one, I'll probably eat it every day.) The other morning, I woke up after sleeping for 11 hours (!!!) and was really surprised that the joints in my legs weren't hurting, as they often do after only 7 hours and almost always do after about 9 hours in bed. Then I realized that I hadn't had joint pain for the last week, despite getting a lot of sleep. (It's easier to get a lot of sleep when you don't wake up after 7 hours from pain.) So my regimen seems to be working for me so far. I've been thinking of upping my flaxseed oil to 2 T. per day, adding an extra one at bedtime. We'll see.
Place a small piece of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet (to make for easy clean up).
Brush a small amount of coconut oil onto the foil, big enough for your salmon filet.
Lay down the salmon filet, skin side down (if it has skin; mine often doesn't).
Sprinkle with sea salt and dried rosemary (I don't measure, but perhaps about 1/2 t. of the herb). (Feel free to substitute any other herb or herb blend you like. I'm crazy for rosemary.)
Sprinkle about 1/2 - 1 T. diced walnuts (or other nuts; Wolf uses pecans).
Cook in 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. (I go 15 minutes but do not preheat my oven; this produces a cooked-through fish in my oven, which runs a bit cold.)
Eat and enjoy!
I often follow this up with a Tours Salad (see link for slight update to the recipe).
I've successfully increased my omega-3 intake over the past couple weeks to good effect. I start the day with 1 T. of flaxseed oil (as recommended by Seth Roberts) and because despite the label professing it to be good in smoothies or salad oil, it tastes nasty, I drink it mixed with some water while wearing a swimmer's nose clip, which completely eliminates the taste. I swish with (and drink) a bunch of lukewarm water afterwards and then I'm good to go. I have also started taking 3 krill/fish oil tablets with breakfast (up from two). And I'm eating salmon more days of the week than not. (Some weeks, like this one, I'll probably eat it every day.) The other morning, I woke up after sleeping for 11 hours (!!!) and was really surprised that the joints in my legs weren't hurting, as they often do after only 7 hours and almost always do after about 9 hours in bed. Then I realized that I hadn't had joint pain for the last week, despite getting a lot of sleep. (It's easier to get a lot of sleep when you don't wake up after 7 hours from pain.) So my regimen seems to be working for me so far. I've been thinking of upping my flaxseed oil to 2 T. per day, adding an extra one at bedtime. We'll see.
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