Paint Floats

Now that I have all my ducks in a row

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Just kidding. I still have two closets to reorganize. And bread to bake and a resume to update and appointments to make and thank-you notes to write.

But, at least the holiday part is over. I hate to be all bah-humbug about it, but it gets so stressful.

Do you make new year's resolutions? I do. But I don't tell anybody about them. That way, if I actually do them it's a surprise. I loves me a good surprise. Of course, I always vow to get more organized and exercise more. The organization part is coming along (just look at my ducks!). But the exercise part always gets away from me. It's just not my thing. In my spare time, I would much rather be horizontal with my face in a book. But who knows...maybe this year will be different.

Happy New Year!

I got nuthin'

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:43:00 +0000

Brain hurts. Here's some ze frank. Enjoy.

I solemnly swear ...

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:36:00 +0000

... not to start any new "fun" books until this semester is over. Really. I'm not going to start any more. Because they call to me in that suggestive way and I cannot resist them. And then, I don't get any school work done.

Oh, and here's something fun. I keep a list of words that I come across where I have NO IDEA of their meaning. And someday, I'm going to look them all up. But for right now, here's my list (you should post if you know the meanings of any of these):
morass
Zeugma
antediluvian
Chicaneries
Pedantic
aplomb
doppelganger
apropos
floatsam and jetsam

I used to have hubris in there, but I took that out. I've learned more than enough about hubris in the past two months.

Posting a funny clip and then complaining (but not about the clip)

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Oh, my my my my my my. I guess the title should be "Complaining about stuff and THEN posting a funny clip". I need to get outside and plant my 100 bulbs so that springtime will be full of tulips and daffodils instead of just mud and wind. Instead, I'm stuck in that mopey mood where I sigh a lot and fuss about the large amount of unfriendly housework and difficult schoolwork and frustrating parenting that needs to be done. And, surprisingly enough, fussing about it doesn't make it get done. That's the bad part.

I did a presentation in my editing class about relationships between editors and writers and I found this little gem. Funny funny funny.

And now it's time for me to return to the moping part of my day.

Fun at Queen Street library

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:02:00 +0000

Look! It's my library room!

Now that I'm in school, I spend the same two hours in the library on Queen Street every day, and I’m starting to recognize people who work here or who come here often.

I spend all my time in the special collections room. It’s a nice room. It has a glass wall in front so I can see the main desk and the front door, but the glass keeps the noise out.

Here are descriptions of some of my friends:

There’s the guy who comes in about a half hour after me. He’s maybe 50+ years old. Wears a baseball cap. Moustache. Glasses. I would guess that he’s a writer. He whooshes in here like someone is chasing him and plunks his computer down on a table. I can’t sit next to him because he’s so loud. If he sits next to me, I move. I don’t want to be unfriendly, but I am a very super extremely distractable person and I can’t take that kind of action. He types loudly and he does not have the sound turned down on his laptop, so there is a lot of beeping and an occasional “ta dahhhhhhh!” going on near him. He stays longer than I. He drinks a lot of coffee.

There’s a librarian guy who I can’t figure out. He’s maybe in his 30’s. What do you suppose a library job pays? Maybe he’s a writer on the side and he just works at the library putting books away to keep the lights on in his efficiency apartment over the corner store. I bet he’s secretly writing a slasher novel. Or one of those period sci-fi fantasy novels with knights and fairies that I love to read lately. Or else he’s a student. Getting his doctorate degree in zoology.

There’s a short, pompous heavy-set librarian guy who actually seems to be very sweet despite the pompous demeanor. That’s just a coping skill anyway. He loves to talk with people who come in looking for information about the area. He will just talk and talk and talk and talk. It is mostly older ladies who come in looking for this type of info about Alexandria for their Rotary Club or church. They love him.

And then there’s the olive-skinned dark-haired short guy who is very serious. He’s here most days, but sometimes he takes a day off. He’s not here today. He works with a laptop, but he’s not typing away at it all the time like me or the writer-guy are always doing. He carries a day planner. But no school books or other books.

And there’s old-reader guy. Large glasses. Ponytail. Pants too short. He doesn’t sit in the special collections area, though. He sits in an armchair just outside the room. He’s here when I get here and he’s here when I leave. And he reads and reads and reads. I wonder why he uses the library as his living room. What does his real living room look like? Does he come here because he’s lonely? Is he homeless? He’s not the best dressed guy, but he looks fairly clean, so I don’t think he is homeless. He must be interesting to talk to. What with all the reading. But I’ll never talk to him. Don’t feed the bears and all.

The special collections area is pretty small. Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if I stood up and did something totally inappropriate. Like if I had a question while I’m doing an assignment and I just stood up and said, “Hey! Does anyone know another word for inaccurate?” Or something like that. Or, if I just yelled curse words. It makes me laugh to think about it, but it also makes me blush something awful just to think of it. So I had better not do it.

What the heck am I reading?

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:42:00 +0000

I've been in bed at 8 pm every night with a book. I'm starting to miss TV, but I have a date with myself and an ironing board and non-stop HGTV on Thursday. So, what is keeping me reading in bed every night? Well, I have those textbooks to read, of course. And also:

How do I love this book? Let me count the ways...hmmmmmmmmm. Well...I love it, the YA (young adult) fiction. Also, the story is simply amazing. It is a fantastic tale of friendship and courage and making things happen. It's also about how a journey can be more rewarding than the destination. I liked it so much that I'm reading it to the wee folk.

And, for my next pick (do NOT make fun of me):

Yes, I'm still concerned that I'm going to be stupid in school. And no, the 3.87 GPA that I had the last time I took a swing at graduate school does nothing to help assuage my fears. I feel very not smart. Maybe this will help.

And last (and definitely the juiciest):

This is the second book in the series. I read the first in June. An endlessly entertaining epic adventure.

So, how about you? What are you reading?

You Mean I Can't Just Buy a New Brain on Ebay???

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Darnit. Even though I've spent a lot of time wishing I had a better one, this hunka hunka grey jelly is going to have to do.

It's a shame, really, that this brain mostly thinks about food and cute sweaters. That's all well and good, of course, but I have graduate school to think about and, unfortunately, cute sweaters are not involved (merely incidental...or accidental, as is my usual case).

I guess, instead of envying other, better brains, I think I should try to train the brain I have. It did pretty well for me in college. Can I bring it back up to that level? If not, that leaves me with only very complicated and Frankenstein-like options

I'm very worried that I can't make it happen. The poor brain has atrophied. Major atrophied. It has been subjected to lack of sleep and hormones and the stress of soothing crying babies and the ridiculousness of trying to reason with bothered toddlers. It has been stimulated by caffeine, pickled in wine and sedated with endless episodes of What Not to Wear (psst...the answer is, "everything in my closet").

But yet, I enroll in an MA program. Am I just ASKING for trouble???

So, this week I started a program focused on healing the brain. I got more sleep. I cut down on the caffeine (only 2 pepsi max in the morning plus one cup of coffee). I started taking Omega 3. I finally remembered to buy that book about memory. I bought flax seed oil (and I cooked these delightful treats that my children hated and I loved ("Good!", I said, "More for me!")).

Will it all work?

I have no idea, but here's a current status report...

The Omega-3 chewables gag me and have upset my delicate little system which was quite happy with the status-quo of chocolate and cheese (and coffee and soda, of course). Getting more sleep is great, but not always an option with one frequent-nightmarer and a sleepwalker (who actually will go outside) among us ... not to mention my own wacky sleep habits (yeah, I walk and talk in my sleep too...it's a Peterson thing). Cutting down on the caffeine is workable and I'll try to remember to read the memory book (if I can remember to remind myself, that is).

I guess time will tell. This morning, I was reading Laini Taylor's blog where she writes about working with the brain you have instead of wishing for a better one. Inspiring words, to be sure.

However, I am comforted to know that there is always that Frankenstein option [thunder booms in the background].

Ugh! When Will I Ever Update This Thing????

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:09:00 +0000

I'm brewing something and it's taking all my darn blogging time. I'll give you a hint...Master's Degree. Oops! Did I give it away?

Tax Return Temptation

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:20:00 +0000

I should just buy it, shouldn't I?

That way, it will quit whispering to me in that provocative voice ("pssst....you need me, baby") every time I go into Macy's (which, let's face it, isn't that often. But that type of whispering is potent and it sticks with a girl).

Maybe this week, I will actually try it on as opposed to simply fondling it as I need to go to the land of retail once more to exchange soccer shorts for the little people.

I'm suddenly feeling a fake sense of "loose with the purse" because we, along with millions of other Americans, are getting a tax incentive check. In fact, we probably already got our check. But ours is a "don't ask, don't tell" household as far as money is concerned. I should just assume we're still on the can't-squeeze-blood-out-of-a-rock budget, but the Mister seemed quite "loose with the purse" this weekend and was mighty quick to agree to visit el Restaurante on Friday...and Saturday...and we ALMOST went today, Sunday. (but I saved the day with pancetta-wrapped chicken with sage, a handmade cheese/garlic bread and tossed greens with balsamic dressing). Whew! Good save, no?

Don't worry, we are not fooled by the tax incentive money. We are good little consumers who do our homework. We know this is merely a loan on our next year's tax refund. In fact. we WERE flexing our anit-establishment muscles which caused us to pinky-swear to use this fake money ONLY to square up some debts caused from putting the little people in a decent, yet ridiculously-priced preschool (don't ask me, it seemed like a good idea at the time). So all that tax-incentive money is going towards bills.

But dang, warm pink clothing is just such a lovely thought.

Why Flourless?

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:51:00 +0000

You need to bake these cookies because the are very tasty. This is adapted from a recipe at Epicurious, in case you're curious.

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350. Stir the brown sugar and the baking soda together until well blended. Add the pb, egg and vanilla and blend on medium with a hand mixer until all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon (this takes a bit of muscle). Drop by teaspoons onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake 10 - 11 minutes. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes before removing to rack. Makes 24.

I was given this recipe by a friend who absolutely raved about these cookies. She went on and on and on about them. I'm not normally one who experiments with baking so I was hesitant to try them because they are flourless. That just seemed weird to me. Flour seems pretty important to cookies, doesn't it? Like chocolate milk without the chocolate. Anyhow, I threw caution to the wind (yes, I am such the risk-taker) and tried them. They are amazing! The texture is wonderful and they have a very intense flavor. So this is pretty much all I bake now.

It's worth it to use a good brand of brown sugar in this recipe because it's one of the main ingredients. And for some reason, this recipe does not double well. I'm not sure why, it's very mysterious. Must be something flour-related.

If you bake these, let me know what you think and if you have any other flourless recipes, do tell!

They are so fast!

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:05:00 +0000

Roadtrip!

Spring fever gave us all that "get outta town" feeling, so we went to Richmond for a couple of days. We spent one of the days at Maymont, a 100 acre park right in the city. Besides beautiful grounds with amazing gardens, there was a nature center showcasing the Potomac River.

This picture shows river otters in action. The swim so fast, they look like a blurry torpedo in all my pictures. There were two windows where you could see into their outdoor habitat and this little guy kept running back and forth between them trying to keep up with the swimming otters. It made me tired just to watch.

Does This Match?

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:58:00 +0000

I'm going through my closet and trying to see it in a different way so that I can recycle the things I have and maybe start wearing those things that did not quite work out the first time around. It is like a thrift shop in there. Nothing goes with its friends. So frustrating.

So...can I wear this spotted shiny top under this vintagey sweater? I know it's not matchy-matchy, but does it go together?

I honestly have no idea.

My sister claims it does (after I emailed the picture to her), but that was on the third hour of a long-distance phone call after two glasses of wine. So she might have been lying. But, in a jolly way.

And husband, dear as he is, has no comment. Kids, lovely though they may be, have no idea. There is no reference point in this house and I don't go to an office every day, so how would I know? I read Lucky magazine for heaven sakes, you would think I could glean some type of matching - knowledge from its glossy pages. But no, I read the magazine and I still have no idea.

I have a new trick where I just wear my wacky clothing combinations and try to see if anyone looks at me in a strange way during the day. But, seeing as I have only visited the gas station where I paid at the pump today (as well as doing other not-seeing-other-people sort of things), this method is not working well.

If you have an opinion, please feel free to post it. Or share your own questionable outfits. We can be a support group for people who can't match clothes.

Help! I'm drowning!

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:55:00 +0000

Visitors are coming! Visitors are coming! And, just look at the state of my desk! This is actually an older photo, but the rest of the house is in the same type of general disarray. It's the kind of disarray that results when everyone is home from school or work and spends the day enjoying themselves.

I'm drowning in visitor tasks. I have the menus planned and now I need to run to the grocery. Next up, tackle the baking. When we have visitors staying at the house, I usually bake a few batches of pumpkin muffins as well as mini-scones. They are a good morning treat. I use this scone pan from Williams-Sonoma.

'Tis brilliant. Little tiny scones! Because seriously, who can eat an entire scone for breakfast and not crash from the sugar high an hour later? Bad bad bad. We try to have at least some protein in the morning so we don't get wacky later on. Wacky from blood-sugar issues, that is. Any other kind of wackiness unrelated to what one has eaten is actually encouraged in our house. Keeps us all sane, helps us think better and prevents task-drowning issues.

I think I need some cheese.

I love it, the tagging

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:23:00 +0000

Okay, so I've been tagged by PeachTree . Of course, that means the I need to reveal 7 interesting things about myself. I think I've already revealed how uninteresting I am. I'm so uninteresting that I know three synonyms for the word "uninteresting". They are, from our friends at Merriam-Webster , "leaden", "tedious" and "wearisome".

Anyhow, I think I'll just list the last seven things I have read. That's interesting, no? So, here goes:

We're not huge TV watchers in this house, so we will often go to bed early and read. If neither of us have an interesting book to read, it is a race to rifle through the catalogs and magazines and find the latest issue of NG.

If I lose the NG race, I COULD sit in bed and say, "areyadoneyet?, areyadoneyet? areyadoneyet?" but generally, I accept the consolation prize that is Lucky and Domino.

I went on an awesome roadtrip last Thursday with Katie . We had coffee and snacks at FireHook and then we drove out to her secret book-binding supply store called, "Bookmakers" in College Park, MD. I picked up this lovely new friend at the store.

I've been reading a lot of young adult fiction these days and I'm not sure why. I definitely like the (slightly) more innocent themes and the focus on friendship but I have no tolerance for corny dialog or purely plot-driven works. To that end, I try to stick with the Newberry Medal winners or recommendations from authors whose work I admire.

So, this is a Newberry winner, an excellent excellent excellent book where the story assembles itself in a deliberate and supremely satisfying way like a 500 piece puzzle.

And this was recommended by Laini Taylor . I read her blog quite frequently but I have not read any of her books. She will often recommend books or simply share what she is reading. I like her writing style, so I trust her book picks. This one did not disappoint. It was absolutely delightful.

And, isn't it fun to have a friend who is a great cook? Not only do you get some great dinners and amazing recipes, but you also get great foodie book recommendations. This is a memoir written by the wonderful Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine. It was recommended and loaned to me by my friend, Kelly (who does not blog or I would link that girl up). It is a wildly entertaining read and also includes recipes. So, it's like two, two, two books in one.

And finally, what can I say about this book except that it really is magic.

Let's see....who to tag...
Cicada Daydream , her blog is so pretty.
Paper Menagerie , because I just saw her blog and I can't wait to get reading on there
The Little Red Hen because I read her blog often and it's always interesting
Green Chair Press because she knew it was Pi day yesterday
Rhonda from my bookbinding group because I would love to know seven interesting things about her (and she knew it was Pi day yesterday, too).

Okay, that's only five but maybe I'll try to add two more later.

Tag Delay

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:02:00 +0000

Okay, I was tagged by the delightful PeachTree and I will will WILL think of something witty and interesting tomorrow. I will. I will I will I will....because I love it, the tagging.

Right now, I'm stymied with the difficulties of royal icing and that is stalling me and taking up all my faculties.

I was tasked with providing a FESTIVE, yet NON-messy treat for the kindergarteners for their St. Patrick's day party. I thought that would be easy...I would just make some cut-out cookies in the shape of shamrocks and, instead of using my regular sweet butter icing , I would make royal icing ...because that stuff dries hard (or so I have heard) and will be decidedly NON-messy. Easy, right?

I set about baking some darn delightful cookies (see below...that was in the "happy phase" of this project). I used REAL vanilla bean. I cut out a zillion of those shamrock shapes. They were lovely...light brown around the edges, delicate and tasty (ahem, they LOOKED tasty...I did not actually try any...okay maybe one or five).

And then I went about making them a FESTIVE, yet NON-messy treat with the royal icing...and there was difficulty. Lots of difficulty. And swearing. Lots of swearing. And lots of, "honey, can you help me out here?!".

That royal icing is sticky. That royal icing is like freaking super-glue. That royal icing is better left to professionals.

The cookies are done and I hope all the kindergarten staff appreciates the NON-messy sugar high that is royal icing piled high on cookies...DONE cookies. The best kind of cookies, done cookies. That is the most important thing, they are done.

And now, I will turn my attention to being tagged and how fun and non-stressful (not to mention NON-messy) that is.

Yay, Target!

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:51:00 +0000

Yay for reusable shopping bags with long handles that are sturdy and cute. Is it my imagination or are more people opting for the reusable bags?

RTFM

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:48:00 +0000

Yes, I do love to read manuals. Even farging manuals. And I love to read the destructions before I do something. However...I was raised in a duct-tape and bailing-wire kind of family and we are not apt to do things exactly as they are proposed.

How does this relate to blogs and blogland? Well, I've been tagged by yellowfish and it looks like I'm supposed to reveal 7 random and interesting things about myself. Since I am not at all interesting (although I "am* rather random), I'm going to put my little spin on the tagging and list pictures of 7 things that I want/need/love. It's very retail-therapy-ish. So, here goes...

Earrings from yellowfish. When am I buying them? I don't know. Soon, I hope.

Salad servers from GiveSimple. Impossibly cute. And no kidding, there are plates and bowls to match, too. I so love them.

Beautiful fabric from Repro Depot. I'm going to staple it to canvas stretchers, hot glue a ribbon around the edge to hide the staples and hang it in my dining room. Someday.

A rug made of river rocks from Viva Terra. No explanation needed. Love.

I love patterned shoes no matter how impractical and uni-tasking they may seem. These are from Indigo by Clarks .

Adorable skirt from Boden . I love it with the blue top. That way, it doesn't seem so matchy-matchy.

And some pretty yet funky letterpress stationery from Pressure .

There! Seven fun things. Now comes the tagging part. I'm tagging Katie and Karen Beth and decklededgebindery and callooh callay on the Snicker-Snack blog and Betsy and Cindy

Someone I Love Went To Madagascar

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:05:00 +0000

...and I did NOT get a lousy t-shirt. Instead, I got a lot of this:

Yes indeed. It is true vanilla. The still-in-the-bean kind. I'm so excited. They didn't come from a tourist area, they came from a real live Madagascarian grocery store. So they have to be good, right? They smell kind of like vanilla + campfire. I hope that's okay.

There are all sorts of lovely recipes over at food network. Like vanilla sugar and creme brule. I can't wait to get baking, but my knives are "in da shop". That is, they are being sharpened at Sur La Table. So I won't be slicing open any beans until they come back.

I also got a pink sapphire, but you can't make ice cream out of that.

100th Day of School

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:58:00 +0000

The 100th day of school. I really would not have thought to mark such an event, but apparently it is a big deal to some teachers. One of the little people came home with this assignment on a Friday: create a collection of 100 things and bring it to school on the following Monday.

My idea was for our whole family to chew various colors of gum all weekend long and then arrange the pieces of chewed gum in the shape of a big 100. On an artfully painted canvas, of course. And I would spray it with some sort of glossy stuff to keep all the germs from escaping.

This idea was scoffed at by my sister (who, being a 2nd grade teacher, is somewhat of an authority on the 100th day of school projects. And already-chewed gum). She ran it by her other 2nd grade teacher friends and they all agreed that, if a student of theirs came to school with such a project, they would make fun of the parent behind her back.

I really liked this chewed gum idea. Yes, it was a bit unorthodox, but it's not like it was a collection of 100 Heineken bottle caps. Right? Anyhow, the little critter and I came up with this idea instead. 100 sums of 100. Very nerdy. It simply does not have the street cred that already-chewed gum would have. Or Heineken bottle caps.

Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:38:00 +0000

I know I'm late to the party on this whole ballet-flat/mary-jane combination but I've always been a little slow on the uptake. And sometimes, if you wait a very long time then you can get them on the clearance rack at DSW (that's like the clearance squared...shoes in the clearance section of a clearance store)...for $25.

I love my new shoes. I have not had black flats since I threw away a rather mangy pair last summer. Black flats just opens up a whole new part of my wardrobe. Like pants that I have shrunk and can no longer wear with heels. I brought all my peeps with me to buy my new shoes. They were very helpful. And funny. Like when my 7 yo came up to me and said, "MOM! There are shoes here that cost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!!". I got such a laugh out of that one. I better not bring him near any stores that carry Jimmy Choo or Manolo Blahnik (as if!) or the kid will have a heart attack.

The Things You Can't Grow at My House

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:14:00 +0000

Hello, plastic wheatgrass!

It's fun to imagine that, if you were real, I would have you for breakfast. Yes, I would toss you and your friends into a blender in the morning and drink you, shot-like, for breakfast. Like they do on all those infomercials that are on HGTV way early in the morning.

But alas, i choose to stick with espresso. And not necessarily because I think your grassiness would gag me (it would), but I think I would get a nosebleed harvesting you every day. Given the fact that you are on the second floor of windows and all. All the same, you are pretty and I'm glad I don't have to water you.

My Book Sold!

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Yay! And four from other artists sold also! 100% of the proceeds (minus fees and shipping go H.E.L.P International. For heaven sakes, go see the rest of the books before they all sell! Get yourself a purty book and help the cause of global literacy, too!

The wreckage

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 03:34:00 +0000

This is what happens when I'm working really hard on a project. Especially one where most of my work is done at my desk. Yikes. At any rate, I helped launch the charity event at the BEST books bookbinding team. If you buy one of the delightful handbound books that have been created by the artisans in our group, 100% of the proceeds (minus shipping and fees, of course) will be donated to charity.

So, don't mind my mess...it's for charity!

Crazy Bones

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:29:00 +0000

The little critters have a new low-brow obsession. Crazy Bones. At least, we can probably retire the NASCAR channel for awhile. I keep pushing the Opera, but there are no takers.

If you're like me, and I know I am, you know nothing about Crazy Bones. The little critters came home from school raving about them several times in the past couple of months, but I thought nothing of it. Just another one of those things to look up in the that fantasmical source of (mis)information that is Wikipedia. So, for Valentines Day, one of the little critters came home with two Crazy Bones attached to Valentine cards. So, now that we own two of these odd little things, I decided to find out just what all the hoopla was about.

"The Wiki" (oh, I'm such a lingo-user!) had this to say about Crazy Bones, "Crazy Bones are small, plastic figurines that became a popular fad during the 1990s and 2000s. Crazy Bones were inspired by a game played in Ancient Greece called astragals, where children played with sheep's knucklebones. This ancient pastime is also known as Tabas. Crazy Bones is a modernization of this game that is made of characters moulded from plastic. There were hundreds of individual characters, each character had a unique face and name. The different shapes of the figures caused them to bounce in different patterns, making some crazy bones more advantageous to own. Crazy Bones, like the earlier, were banned in many schools, because of being the start of many playground arguments and being a distraction during class."

Well dang, if they are a distraction during class then we had better buy some, stat. So we did. I think the funniest thing about Crazy Bones is that they don't exactly *look* like anything. They kind of look like a chunk of bright, molded plastic. I know that in some way, they are supposed to be figurines, but I just don't see it.

Here's a picture, you be the judge.

Oh, and the packaging for the Crazy Bones includes this phrase (in all caps), "CRAZY BONES ARE TOYS AND SHOULD NOT BE EATEN". I nearly fell over laughing about that one.

Hold the Pickle, Hold the Lettuce

noreply@blogger.com (~Stella) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:43:00 +0000

It's a special order. And I guess you had to be alive in the '70s to get that reference. At any rate, thank you Cindy from Designs With Attitude (psssst...check out her lovely dichroic glass)!

Additionally, either I'm getting a migraine or this picture is slightly blurry. Oh well, can't retake as tags are on their way to Illinois.