Biodomia

I have wanted a Biodome Seed Starter (tm) for a really long time. Ordered one in November and it was back-ordered for two months. It took me until today to get my seeds in. Here's what I planted:

1) Nigella (Love in a Mist) -- for mrguy
2) Cherry Belle radishes -- seeds that are decades old but have a beautiful package
3) Red shiso
4) Green shiso
5) Zinnias -- my mom told me to
6) Iceland poppy -- a seed packet mysteriously found at my house
7) Beets -- not enough beets in my life. Ever
8) Dusty miller -- not that exciting, but the sweet birdies like to make nests out of the soft leaves
9) Cardamom -- I rummaged in the spice drawer. We'll see if this works
10) Irish buttercups -- seeds that I harvested when I was 11, and Monty Python was still first-run

Now my biodome mission is partially complete. The waiting begins.

Today's Happiness

Today's joy is the Oatmeal Raisin cookie baked by the good people of The Food Mill.

They are chewy, hand crafted, and simple. Completely satisfying and delicious.

They've filled the gap in my culinary world where once stood the baked goods of the venerable, idiosyncratic and much talked-about Your Black Muslim Bakery. Mrguy especially misses their prune cups. I used to enjoy eating their fish sandwich at the Coliseum (although I once had the misfortune of having my fish leap off my lap and plop onto the ball field when I rose for the national anthem). EmBARASSING!

I wish they'd stuck to baking. I wonder what happened to their recipes.

Long live the Food Mill.

Ukulele Festival

Pau. That's the Hawaiian word for "done".

The ukulele festival today ended my run of three gigs in ten days. I'm sure I've never played that much in ten days, and certainly not with three different combos. This was a great happiness...

The uke festival was fun, and it came with its share of obstacles.

The show ran a half hour ahead of time. As a result, we went on *cold* and people who came to see us missed us and a bandmate even missed us. We played with great enthusiasm and had a good time.

Oh the power of the sprout. Siren-like, it lured a man to come tell me how much he enjoyed our performance. Claimed he couldn't take his eyes off me and the sprout. Kind fellow.

I like people who like me and the sprout.

And I like being in the boosum of the 'ohana.

The Weekend

2K and I met up at the disaster drill, held at the town next door. It turns out that firefighters only fight fires, so I did a lot of standing around and watching 2K be a hero (helping the wounded, prying heavy cement off a dummy, who was then pulled to safety).

I couldn't wait around for the bbq and critique of our work. I had to jet.

Two hours later I was in a party dress and pearls, doing sound check with the Hammerslag Singers at the theater. Then I ate two boxes of Jujyfruits and enjoyed the debut of the new forklifts.

I took the cue from a friend who goes to Disneyland when it opens and goes to the back of the park: we went to the food station that was farthest away from the entrance and ate some of the most beautiful sushi cones ever, until the rest of humanity copped a clue.

Later, the ladies of Three Letters met in the lobby for pictures (of body parts, of groups of us) and mrguy got to see us in action. He knows why I dote on them so.

After the long day I had to get home.

I was in my tiny bed by midnight.

In Other Words

A Sunny Day

With the first of the three gigs of April out of the way, some relaxation commenced.

We got up very early to go to a record sale. On the way we saw this sign but didn't see the seniors who were going to pump our gas:

I bought a Pearl Bailey record.

Then to an estate sale where no fewer than 5 record dealers were seen. The line was hideous.


I came out with another copy of this, and a Toru Takemitsu record.

All that standing in line with strangers and making new friends and shopping made us very hungry, so we dug into a yummy lunch here:


More shopping ahead, and we listened to the Birds finally finish off the A's in the 12th on our drive.

We went across the pond to another estate sale with lots of pottery. Our good-natured argument about whether or not putting pot shards over the hole in a clay pot does any good was enjoyed by other shoppers.

The day ended with an impromptu Tibetan dinner with miss wartz.

I can get used to Saturdays like this.

Three Letters Debut

Last night, we ladies of Three Letters had our first gig.

We played for the home town forklift factory crowd, and played. There was *wild* applause. Hooting. Beer glasses and babies were lifted in the air.

Many ladies (in a company that skews boy-heavy) came to represent.

And massively rockin' time was had by all.

Doing

A clean bed is a happy bed. After working on the back last weekend and today, I joined mrguy in focusing energy on the whatyougot patch in the front.

Mrguy went into Jupiter's Beard eradication mode, and I worked on the weeds. It'll take two weekends, but it'll be worth it.

Then a nap and a funny call from a friend, who meant to call his sister and not me, and had to lay some bad news on me in the process. Life is like that sometimes.

Call your friends, people.

And your sisters, too.

Season's Greetings

It's spring, which means it's time to work in the garden, eat sweet gherkins and think about baseball logos.

For this reason I caught up with the pre-season Uniwatch column, where Paul Lukas alerted readers to the change in the Orioles' bird design. If you'll notice, the bird is no longer at rest. His breast is trimmer, He's leaning forward, his tail is lifted and he's ready for flight. The simple peaceful bird that I've grown attached to (despite being a Blue Jays fan) is taking off.

This is a slippery slope, Baltimore fans. Complain now!

Before you know it, your sweet bird:
could suffer identity issues:
grow a human arm:

and eventually look like he's going to break into your house and feast on your eyes while you're asleep:
I miss my old bird and yours, too.