cranky pixels

I’d just like to make something clear: this is a personal blog. Yes, I am perfectly within my rights to snark some things and rave about others. No, you don’t have to agree with me. Or like it. Or read it. Sometimes I will use hyperbole to make my point, as when I recently suggested that a dessert food was “made of poison.” Obviously that was an exaggeration. (It was only filled with poison.) (See? See? Hyperbole, people.)

I’m not trying to discourage lively commentary from my legions of readers (…ha), but try to keep panties smooth and bunchless when I make personal observations about my own life. Kay? Otherwise I might just start posting nothing but entries about my yarn collection.

Tags: yarn, hyperbole, rant

I’ve been on a mad chick lit streak lately, since clearly I need another hobby. The good news: I’ve mostly managed to regain my can-finish-an-entire-novel-in-three-hours mojo. The bad: I’m staying up until roughly 3am* every night since it’s the only solid reading time I can manage. Whee!

For the most part I’m enjoying myself. I read the Jessica Darling books all in a row (I’d only read the first two, and that was years ago so I started at the beginning again so it’d be fresh in my mind) and loved them unreasonably. I enjoyed the last two Shopaholic books, although I do not recommend reading them back-to-back since they are a bit, ehm, formulaic. I thought I’d enjoy the  other things that Sophie Kinsella/Madeleine Wickham wrote, but  – and perhaps this is my fault – I can’t get behind the whole “I need a maaaaaan to make me truly fulfilled” thing. Dude, I know. But the things that bugged me about the Jessica Darling books (“She loves him! How can she be without him if she loves him? Doesn’t she know he is clearly the one?”) pale in comparison to my fury upon finishing Undomestic Goddess. If you’ve read the book, maybe you know what I mean. If you haven’t…well, I don’t recommend it.

I do, however, recommend the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. Can’t wait for the latest one from the library. (But, uh, I think I will. I ran out to Powells yesterday because I couldn’t wait for Fourth Comings to get to the hold counter, and while I am glad I did, I don’t think I need to do that with every book I want to read. Our house = very small.)

*The question is, of course, am I crazy from lack of sleep? Or am I not sleeping because I am crazy? You be the judge.

Tags: chicklit, books, reading, sophie kinsella, madeleine wickham, megan mccafferty, jessica darling, thursday next, jasper fforde, insomnia

In Slightly Less Unhealthy news, I’ve once again decided to go on a fresh food/less sugar kick. The reasons are similar to last time (moodiness exacerbated by sugar, extreme crankiness, general sense of malaise) but with one added bit: low sugar diets can help with migraines.

Studies show that when a migraine person eats refined sugar, their blood sugar level goes up very high, then quickly comes down again. [...] Natural sugars, such as fruit, completely unprocessed sugar cane juice, etc. do not cause this effect.

Natural Migraine Treatment FAQ

Since I am disinclined to argue with such an authority as Teh Interwebs, I figure I ought to try and cut out as much refined sugar as I can. This is somewhat challenging, since I like refined sugar. It’s so…refined. So crystalline and white, like wee little diamonds that you can eat. And such delicious things are made from it, such as chocolate, and things made out of chocolate.

Do I like it enough to have one or two migraines every month? Accompanied by mood swings and bitchiness?

Can I get back to you on that?

So far the diet change has been a piece of cake, and by cake I mean angel food. We had a lovely dessert of angel food cake, fresh berries, and a little bit of unsweetened heavy cream whipped with mascarpone cheese, and – wow. Not completely sugar-free, since there’s sugar in the cake, but certainly not on a par with anything made by Hostess. Which leads me to believe that I can totally do this, as long as we eat just like that for the rest of my life.

Tags: diet, sugar, migraine

I got a bike.

I got a bike.

As someone who hasn’t ridden a bicycle since 1997, I find the fact that I have a brand-new Trek Lime – purchased from an actual bike shop! – highly unlikely, as well as somewhat amusing. But there you go. I have a bike.

I took it for its maiden voyage this afternoon. I’d gamely tried it out right after I purchased it, but the unfamiliar sensation of being so high up and on two wheels caused me to wobble uncontrollably. Taking it out today involved me walking the bike on the sidewalk the entire 9 blocks to the park and then gingerly hopping astride, hoping against hope that I had some sort of muscle memory that would keep me from cracking my head open in the first five minutes. And behold! My head, it is whole!

And man, riding a bike is a blast. I’d forgotten how much fun it is. And fast! Walking seems unbearably slow now.

We’ve got a Wee Ride for the Wee Child, and we’ll see which bike it goes on. If it’s mine, I have a feeling there’s going to be a lot of riding in my near future.

technorati tags:bike, bicycle, trek, trek lime

I was doodling at the last Crafty Mamas Bazaar and came up with a couple of fun designs that I messed with in Illustrator today. I think they might end up on tee shirts, or maybe cards, or maybe something else that I haven’t thought of. Because I think of things. I do.

Illustration is fun.

Tags: illustrations, cranky pals, sketches, illustrator

Few things are more unpleasant to throw up than a combination of mostly-digested hamburger and just-eaten cupcake. I speak as a (semi) expert, seeing as I had ample opportunity to compare the relative merits of regurgitated foods during my excruciating stint of morning sickness when I was gestating Happy Fun Baby. (The winner? Cheerios. They taste pretty much the same coming up as they do going down.)

I definitely would have eschewed the hamburger in favor of Cheerios had I known that my dessert was made of poison. We stopped at Cupcake Jones last night, since I have a love thing for cupcake bakeries. This place just opened up in the Pearl, and it is ever-so-slightly more conveniently located than Saint Cupcake, which makes absolutely divine cupcakes.

Cupcake Jones seemed like a great choice – open late, cute logo, etc. We popped in around 8pm and each ordered a Downtown Cupcake Brown and The Pearl, opting for a Pearl Mini for the baby. They only had one Pearl frosted, so they frosted the other one while we waited. (This might prove to be an important detail.) We brought our haul home (+/- 5 minutes; gotta love living downtown). Not So and I both decided to eat the Pearl first, and the first thing we noticed was that there was WAY too much frosting. The frosting-to-cupcake ratio was almost equal. Also, the frosting was squishy and warm – on both cupcakes (including the one that was more recently frosted). Still, it tasted good, and we ate our cupcakes (which were just okay, not toe-curlingly fantastic like the ones from Saint Cupcake). As we ate we decided not to give the Mini to the baby, since there was so much frosting on it. Instead I gave Happy Fun Baby a couple of bites of mine – bites that had no frosting but did include cake and custard.

Immediately after finishing our treat, Not So and I felt really unwell. We thought it was the sugar giving us a headache and making us feel queasy. An hour later I came in and said “My god, I feel sick.” Not So: “I do too! I wasn’t going to say anything, but I feel seriously bad.” The baby (who, yes, was still awake…bedtimes have not been working for us, again) seemed fine. An hour after that I was experiencing the joys of regurgitated hamburger and cupcake, and we both decided that the frosting must have turned because my god, we were sick.

I’m all about supporting local businesses (especially bakeries!) but food poisoning on our first visit? Not really a good motivator to come back. And, seriously, if you’re a bakery and you can’t figure out the proper temperature for buttercream that doesn’t poison your customers? You should really consider a new outlet for your creativity.

Today Not So has a migraine, and he never gets migraines. Related? Unrelated? Who knows. All I know is I won’t be visiting Cupcake Jones again.

Tags: cupcakejones, portland, cupcake bakery, food poisoning

I am a cool kid. Know how I know? I got an invite to the invite-only beta of Ravelry. Social networking for yarnheads! (And yes, yarnheads is a word of my own devising. I am allowed to make up words, being a cool kid and all.)

Already being cool has upped my productivity, as I was so eager to get projects listed in my profile that I finally finished that hat I’ve been crocheting for my sister since, like, March. Now I just need to finish the matching scarf, and the first part of finishing (as I understand it) is starting. I thought about starting it last night, but I was bored and easily distracted. Tonight I may do some crocheting, but I might also sit in front of the computer and eat chocolate. I guarantee nothing.

(By the way, if you’re wondering why this picture looks so cool, it’s because Matt got a Lensbaby for his birthday – from me, because, as I mentioned, I am hip and cutting-edge – and it is more fun than kittens. There will be much fighting for the camera while we learn how to use it, I think.)

Tags: lensbabies, crochet, ravelry, beta, yarn, hat, cool