Mother of all Dirtmalls 3

The Mother of All Drit Malls 2

The Mother of all DirtMalls!

New Common Ground

Dear friend R gifted me with a lovely little journal. Does she know me well or what? I'm always looking for ways to get pen to paper. Often it's a disorganized mess. I did well for a while but it was a large sketch pad and it proved burdensome in terms of portabilitiy.

But thank's to R, I have this lovely, convenient little journal. And also thanks to her, she presented it to me with a nonchalance and casualness that allowed me to feel no pressure to fill this little gem with profound thoughts. Gawd, friends are amazing.

I have decided this little book will see good, bad, mundane, and exciting. . .Much like this blog, If we need caraway seeds, if I need to remind myself to floss, it's in the journal.

One of the beautiful things about this portable little number is I can sneak in little quotes, quips, and thoughts. . .Here's the first:

"Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump. You have to disregard the limitations, expectations, and judgments of other people." - John Katz

Whoooo dooooogggggyyy! Is this time my sometime?

For more Katz, check out Bedlamfarm.com - the farm journal

Rainy Trick or Treat

I Thought Cats were Nocturnal?

Maybe they keep watch? In shifts?

Harper's Ferry #220 Socks Trigger a Fashion Flashback

Socks dry on the line. . .

I eschewed socks in about 6th grade. They didn't work with my Speery topsider, kahki short, wish I were on a boat, in a body of water bigger than Raystown Lake "style." My look slowly evolved into something of a West Marine meets Gap business casual. (Tragic, I KNOW!!)

WARNING: I'm about to do a rather lengthy and boring personal style recap. I feel it's only fitting since I'm staying awake until all hours listening to a Top 40 Countdown from 1989!!!

I went back to socks in the high school era when they were essential for keeping my toes warm while trudging around the kitchen at the local Wendy's where I worked, or in a friend's parent's hunting camp or basement, or a truck while doing something mildly stereotypically redneck like spotlightin' or cow tippin' or paintballin'. The rest of my look waivered between basic/classic/simple and thrift store mix/match adventure. I picked a novel suit for Homecoming - something between a kelly and emerald green. I loved that suit. I loved everything about how a well fitted suit feels. It was an ah ha moment.

And then came college and the revival of the plaid kilt and knee socks look. I went full "Scotish/Irish/French/American" with these socks. Cable knit knee socks in navy. Navy Blue and Hunter Green plaid kilt (to the knee complete with big brass skirt pin). Camel hair cape (from the thrift store reminiscent of my paternal Grandma Dot), and a navy blue beret. I earned a couple of approving looks in biology lecture for sure. . .

But after intro biology came all sorts of other environmental science classes. These kids were wearing Doc Marten sandals and Birks with wooly socks, bib-overalls, tie-dies, and other borderline hippy stuff. They washed their hair with bars of soap. No conditioner?! They drank interesting beer and smoked clove cigarettes. I tried it out. The beer and clove cigs gave me the worst hangover EVER and the attire made me look like a Sherman tank. I did mix it up a few times with what I'd call low-rent Bebe. Pinstriped skirts, tights, white shirt, blazer or cardigan, heels, boots. Whatever could be cheaply purchased from the thrift store or local Fashion Bug.

What followed can best be described as poverty professional. I was straddling two worlds: student and working young adult. I tried to keep everything neutral or black.

Things may or may not have gone up from here in terms of my wardrobe depending on your taste. I recall with ridiculous fondness when I purchased my first Ann Taylor suit. It was my first semester of law school. It was a basic black all season three piece suit. It was a petite, sleek, and fit beautifully. C was there for the splurge. I really felt as if "I'd made it."

I stretched every piece of that suit as a wardrobe piece to the max. When it started to get that sheen from over-drycleaning, I was sad to part with it. I held on to it for a long time.

After all, It got me through Civ Pro with Lynch. It got me through Ks with Meyerson. It got me through happy hours. It got me through C's company's holiday party. . .And each time, it looked slightly different. And each time, I was confident in the fact that I looked just like me.

Clearly I have a Sickness

Apparently there is no limit to my insanity. Just when I think it can't get any worse, it does.

We are having a Halloween potluck at work Friday. I've spent a ridiculous amount of time selecting my dishes, deciding how they will travel, how I will reheat them, planning when to make them. . .AND creating recipie/menu cards for the kitsch factor and so the recipie is available in case anyone cares.

I'm pretty smart. Shouldn't I be pursuing more "challenging" things? I used to think that but I keep finding so much happiness, passion, and strange satisfaction in an odd assortment of domestic and creative endeavors.

I apologize for spelling issues. . .sent from the crackberry which surely has a yet discovered spell check function.

Happy Early Halloween Ghouls and Goblins!

Today's WTF? "Butterballs"

Mom: "We were watching the Sunday news and they were featuring this fair in Texas and the entire fair is based on deep-frying."

d: I pretty much hate heavily fried stuff.

Mom: They were frying butter.

d: (Whatchutalkingboutwillis?!) Frying butter? How?!

Mom: They made the buttery-est dough they could make, rolled it around a ball of butter and deep fried it.

d: How is that even good?

Mom: Folks that ate it said you had to eat the ball in one big bite otherwise it was a greasy mess.

d: I can only imagine. How can this be appealing to eat?

Mom: Heaven only knows! I just think it would be like eating a zit.

EATING A ZIT?! Oh how vile. ECK!!!!!!

I'm not sure I'll ever look at even a stick of cold creamy Irish butter again . . .Thanks Mom!

Sunset in the Alley @606 #311

Sunset in the Alley @606 #310

Still have more HF pics to post but this day is dripping off the page and I need to wind down and get some sleep. . .Here are a few "sunset" pics I snapped this evening from the vantage point of my basement door.

Harper's Ferry #203

Harper's Ferry #196

So after hiking a bit farther beyond Jefferson Rock, we come upon a stone wall. When you peek over the wall. . .

you find. . .

a cemetery!!!

C said after all that hiking he was glad it lead to something I enjoy. I was just gald the hiking was over. Well-kept cemeteries are easier to walk than steep, leaf covered paths.

Harper's Ferry #183

Harper's Ferry #172

Photographer's crawl all over Jefferson Rock. This photographer is mildly terrified of falling from a decent height so I was happy to watch their Spidey moves. They are looking towards the confluence of the two rivers. Thomas Jefferson reportedly stood on this rock and declared the vista was "worth crossing the Atlantic to see."

Harper's Ferry #160

Big Air, Big View

Harper's Ferry #142

The ascent begins. . .Definitely wanted to stop by the Catholic Church which is visible from nearly every vista. I would imagine it's iconic. Did I mention I'm so glad I didn't have a heart attack climbing?

Did you notice how beautiful the red tree looks in the bottom right of the frame? That tree was so vibrant, it caught our eye at nearly turn. You literally couldn't ignore it's vibrancy. It was stunning in color and form.

Harper's Ferry #136

C and I had lunch at the Quarterfield Tavern. It has a nice selection of vegetarian dishes. And who doesn't love fresh hummus as an appetizer? Yummmm. . .

Little did we know, it was all "up" from there. We did a LOT of uphill hiking. I'm so proud I didn't go into cardiac arrest! (And I finally had on the right shoes)!

Harper's Ferry #121

The way the buildings hang on precipices is astounding. My words will never do it justice.

Harper's Ferry #103

Maples leaves don't die. They explode in a glorious finale.