What You See is What You Get

fishie, originally uploaded by marthastokes.

At summer camp I learned to crochet from one of the kids. Since then I have been laboring to complete a baby blanket for my sister (which I have had to start over quite a few times) and starting/abandoning a number of smaller projects. On Etsy I found a lady who sells ADORABLE patterns for crocheted toys, and this fishy is my first-ever completed project!

There is not much that annoys me more late then the stupid Wendy’s Baconator commercials bragging about the SIX (6) strips of bacon on the sandwhich.  I love bacon more than most people, but SIX strips of bacon is absolutely, disgustingly excessive.  Combine six strips of bacon with the beef on that burger (we’re not talking extra lean here, I bet) and you’re consuming over 800 calories in the sandwhich ALONE, not to mention almost your ENTIRE DAILY LIMIT of fat and OVER the daily limit of saturated fat.

Those commercials literally make me ill.  What is it about our society that drives us to such excess? Why can’t we be happy with occasionally indulging in 2 strips of bacon?

If you haven’t heard of Animoto yet you need to be aware that it is pretty hot. They take your photos and your sound file and coordinate them into a rather elaborate music video. See here the one I made with our photos from the zoo.

I was able to get a free upgraded account because I am a teacher (education.animoto.com for those of you who qualify) and I am excited about the ways I can use such visually stimulating material in my classroom. Anyone can make 30 second videos for free or pay to make full-length videos. They also offer an upgrade to DVD quality for $5.

This was my first attempt and I didn’t take advantage of things like “spotlighting” the photos I felt were the most important. Still, it was fast and easy and I love the way it came out!

We had a great time today. You can see all our photos on Flickr, but there is one set that deserves to be singled out.  I present, for your enjoyment, my many (and ultimately succesful) attempts to conquer the mighty rhino:

Conquering the mighty rhino.

Trevor and I can’t afford to take a real vacation, so we’re taking a mini-vacation tomorrow to go to the Norfolk Zoo and spend some time together before school starts up again.  I was planning our trip and I found out that they have this really awesome zoo webcam.  You can even take control of it for a few minutes at a time and point it at different animals, or at the path to watch the people (tune in tomorrow, maybe you’ll see us!)

http://www.norfolk.gov/zoo/zoo_cam.asp

My sister Rachel has been blogging for awhile at www.seestur.com but now she is starting a new blog in order to focus more on her pets.  As her tagline says “four dogs, two cats and two people living in 800 square feet.”  Fun times.

http://www.fourleggeds.com

Every since I moved here I have struggled with finding a place to get my haircut.  Its not that there aren’t good places here, its more that when I lived in Raleigh a friend turned me on to the most amazing person who has ever cut my hair, and I have many times considered driving back there to have her cut it.

I did relent and allow someone local to cut my hair this morning (for a reasonable but not low price of $35.)  The place was nice (it is a day spa) and I got to wait for my appointment in a comfortable chair with a cup of coffee.  The lady that cut it seemed to know what she was doing, although she tried to talk me out of my little side bangs.  She asked me what I put in my hair and I told her all I use is a little spray in conditioner, but she still loaded it up with about four different products before I left.  This is how it looks after I came home and rinsed it out:

My hair is a little weird in that it curls a lot when its long but then hardly curls at all when its short.  Isn’t that the opposite of how its supposed to work?

I was browsing the “free” section of craigslist and I saw this ad:

I have a 3 year old cat that I am trying to give to a loving home. I will be moving in a month and it is to much of a hassle to pack up his things. He is up to date on his shots except his rabies. He lives indoors and had never been outside. He is very good with children. I have had him since my almost 3 year old was born so he had been around kids since he was a kitten. If interested I will also give leftover food, cat litter, food despenser, water despenser, and cat litter box. My # is

Seriously, you aren’t taking your cat with you because its “too much of a hassle to pack his things up”??? I’ve heard of some lame reasons to abandon animals but this is just about the lamest.  At LEAST the owner is attempting to find a home and not just going straight to the shelter, but don’t you just know this cat is going to get dumped somewhere if there are no takers.

and, PS, up to date on shots except for rabies? sketchy.

People are so crappy, sometimes I wonder if we even deserve companion animals.

Two days ago my Civic went into the shop. Again.  Those of you who read regularly may remember the times it has been in the shop in the past year for a new starter, a new battery, a new transmission and a new timing belt.  Overall we’ve spent over $3,000 on that car in the past year AND ITS NOT EVEN PAID OFF.

Basically, when the airbags quit working and it began refusing to start (AGAIN) I decided I had had enough.  I put it into the shop and inquired about a trade-in.  It turns out that Civics are selling like hotcakes right now and the local dealership was quite eager to get their hands on my little lemon before it hit 130k miles (they apparently can’t sell them after that and mine is at 128k and change.)

Long story short I told the guy if he could get me out of what I owe on the civic and into something under warrantee for a payment I can live with he had a deal.  And that is the story of how I ended up with this 2006 Accord:

EDIT: I took the picture out because the blog was squishing it horizontally and it looked silly.  You can still see it by following this link:

http://marthathebandgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/img_0545.jpg

It is beautiful and comfortable and I love it, but my favorite thing about it is I have a warrantee for the next 60,000 miles that INCLUDES ROUTINE MAINTENANCE.  Not to mention check out the comparison between the 2006 Accord page on CarComplaints.com and the 2001 Civic page:

Civic (and this page continues to scroll after what is captured)

Accord (aaah, sweet relief)

You’ve already read about how I like to stalk my blog readers with Google Analytics. Yesterday I discovered a tool to make stalking you all easier called FeedJit. Notice it part of the way down on my right sidebar.

I’m watching you.