30 April 2007

Neighborhood Stereotypes

I met the neighborhood pimp-daddy yesterday. I mean, every neighborhood should have a pimp-daddy (in addition to the crazy lady with 90 cats, the guy with rusted cars in the front yard, and the couple who keeps their windows open while having sex). At least, in my mind, they should. Keeps life fun ya know when there are interesting people around. Note that I haven't said dirty people, druggies, stalkers or flashers (because y'all know how I like to jail flashers). Harmless characters, just living their lives.

So...said pimp-daddy parks his car next to my empty car space. I was taking out my trash, and after 3.5 hours of spring cleaning. I had waved to him to be, ya know, neighborly...and he gets out of his Lincoln with Tom Petty "A little love is hard to find" blaring on the radio (no irony intended).
He comes over and gives me a warm handshake and introduces himself. I asked him if he has enough space to get out of his car. He asked me what I do in my spare time. Another warm handshake. We parted company.
Ladies, this gentleman is like Smoove B come to life. It wasn't so much in that he asked what I liked to do, he asked "what does a fine lady such as yourself enjoy in her spare time".

Well...now that you are asking...this lady likes to...
1. spend time with her husband
2. and her 90 cats
3. while he works on his rusted cars in the front yard
4. but before we engage in loud activities, with the windows open

27 April 2007

Pavlov's Piratess

I really am still a pirate under all that awesome anime. I won't be blogging per se for the next few days because I'm under going some serious training.
Read all about my adventures with the DoggerLords and KittyQueen at The Trained Human!

:) LJS

16 April 2007

Still in progress

Like the new template? I'm still working on it. :)

13 April 2007

Artist in residence

Laine is taking a design class, and she comes up with some zinger projects. I really liked her latest design! She asked us for some feedback and so I gave some. If you have some time, stop by her Lair and check out a very creative lady!


{Ahem}
Welcome to another edition of Masterpiece Design. I am your hostess.

I am so very pleased to be discussing this masterpiece with you, indeed! This piece has an immediate appeal, and also invites the viewer to draw deeper into the work. The near-fractal nature of the ring geometry challenges the viewer to witness their own reaction to chaos and confusion. The clever use of shading and gradations of the usually boring "black and white" theme piques the curiousity of the viewer. I allowed myself to be welcomed into the each layer of rings, and delightfully found that each layer revealed truths about human nature previously hidden.
Because the rings nearly touch, and some do not touch at all, it reveals the isolation and sadness that each of us face in a society where we are more connected but feel more lonely. The process of looking at each ring as a separate entity, but then at the piece in its entirety reveals an optimisitic spirituality of the artist. She is, undoubtedly, conveying a message of hope and community to the viewer. This art reviewer was thoroughly delighted with this piece and walked away from viewing the piece only after several hours of thoughtful contemplation.

Piratess no longer! LJS is converting!

I think that I'd like to change up my persona, being a piratess gets kinda boring when your high seas are the Great Lakes.

Great thing about pseudonyms, aliases etc is that they are so changeable. I'll still be your Lady Jane, but instead of an epee, I may wield something with a bit more velocity.

11 April 2007

Impulse

If I never have to say "I can't/won't buy this because I'm a graduate student", it'll be a day too soon. Being creative with finance and making sure my head stays out of Credit Card Land often means not getting a CD or a book (or that trashy gossip mag with Angelina on the cover)that I'd like to read. My impulse purchases are thus rare.

But, when done, it is a celebration worthy of many words. Oh yes.

Yesterday I bought Bright Eyes new album "Cassadaga", inspired by the town Cassadaga, FL.
Apparently, Cassadaga, FL is a hot-spot for psychics and all sorts of crazy wisdom. The album seems to reflect both the mystique and the energy of the town, not that I've been there.
My ears are so very happy. This is a country-twanged album, with lots of complex lyrics and melodies, much like "I'm wide awake, it's morning". But Cassadaga has a sophistication that was lacking in the bare-bones IWAIM. Although Cassadaga is not as much of a "protest album" as IWAIM was, one can easily find the anti-war sentiments that is prevalent in many of Bright Eyes more current works.

So, check out the NPR link I put in yesterday. "Middleman" is my favorite. It's great music.

:) LJS

10 April 2007

A Bright kind of day

Yay! Bright Eyes has a new album out, Cassadega. NPR has three songs available for your listening pleasure.

Another thing, I set my Shuffle to play songs in reverse album order, so the last song of the album is played first. This has been very interesting, because it has kinda put my music cosmos into a strange wonk-and I'm totally enjoying both the music but also how I react to expecting an album to be played in a certain way and it doesn't happen.

These little things to throw off your schedule, your routine, your cosmos is really fun. I highly recommend it! What are some things to try?
playing your music in reverse order, sleep on the OTHER side of the bed, sitting on the floor to watch TV like you did as a kid, move your furniture around, put your coffee cups into a new cabinet, walking around backwards, talk to your local squirrels, etc..

Enjoy! :) LJS

01 April 2007

Alienated

Runners, my friends, have a strange sense of humor. You see, our idea of having fun on April Fools Day is to wake up at a very early hour to run our guts out. Today was the Martian Marathon, where southeast Michigan gets invaded by little plastic aliens and endurance runners (or, in my case, endurance wroggers-a slow running/jogging pace) lined up at 8:30 am to tackle a lovely course through two colleges and a very nice string of rolling hills and metroparks.
I ran with G-man, and we had fun getting into the spirit of the theme. We wore little bobble glow-in-the dark antennea headbands for the first mile. This race was not the size of Detroit's marathon, and it was nice to have a small group of runners. The race was really well supported-there were aid stations every two miles. Although it would have been nice to have a more energetic crowd, the ducks and skunks did their best to liven up the weary runners.
Miles 9-12 went much better here than during both times at Detroit, maybe because of there not being a very strong headwind. The finish was good, and they had pizza (!!) for us afterwards.
It was definitely a 2007 goal to run in a spring half marathon. But I went into this race feeling really unprepared, so I approached it like I would a long run-enjoy it, don't worry about pace or time. But...as it turns out, I did pretty well for slow wrogger such as myself. I guess I was really enjoying it! I set a good time (2:27:49) which is really motivating for this year's Detroit!

Now I'm convalescing and eating dinner. I made Dragon's recipe for Killer Mac-n-Cheese. It is super-delicious! Have you visited her lately? You really should!

:) LJS