Monster Burnout

I'm having trouble creating lately. I've been working but I'm not satisfied with how the monsters look. Here's an example.

I guess he's cute enough to give away to someone but not cute enough to sell. Actually, I think I'll give this one away tonight to my friend Julie who works as an usher where I'm working tonight.

Here's an example of one that I like but I'm not happy with the finishing. My technique is off. You can see lose threads behind his eyes. I may or may not put him up for sale. But he's cute though, right? I used mostly smooth socks to make him but fuzzy socks for his lips.

Here's a bigger version of one I made a month or so ago. I'm very satisfied with this one in terms of looking finished but didn't realize until after he was done that he was modeled after one I'd already made.

Camera Acting Funny

My really cool camera is acting funny. The lens goes in and out three times and then the camera gives me a message to turn the camera off and on again. I contacted Sony and they suggested I send the camera in to their repair center.

The repair could cost up to $111.00. I don't think the camera cost much more than that.

Anyway.

Does anyone else have a Cybershot DSCW80 with this weird problem? How did you solve it?

A New Day

It's bright and sunny out. And in about an hour or so, I'm heading into the city to spend the day indoors - working at The Country Girl. I didn't watch the show last night. Instead, I worked on a monster named Chester. You'll meet him next week.

I bought some new materials yesterday. I'm tired of pink fluffy socks so I'm moving on to cotton and polycotton blends. Chester came out pretty good but I'm interested to see where else my imagination will lead me.

The people upstairs are sawing wood - literally. It's noisy.

Michael Clayton

We finished watchng Michael Clayton last night. I thought it was a really good movie.

There is a death scene that is the most startling I've ever scene - very upsetting. All the performances were rock solid and the story was pretty easy to follow.

Good movie.

Monsters and Ovens

My oven is finally hooked up. Wahoo!!! I cooked rice and beans yesterday. Yum-o! Today, I'm making soup. The weather has certainly been cold and wet enough for that. And yes I have resumed monster making. I've already made three this week and will probably list them on my Etsy site once I have six ready to go.

Indiana Jones and The Carbon Monoxide Alarm

Last night, Jon and I had a bit of a scare. We were watching Michael Clayton and around midnight the Carbon Monoxide alarm started going off. We assumed that the battery was dying. So, we removed the alarm from the wall and proceeded to remove the battery. But when we read the instructions, turns out that our alarm was not alerting us to a dead battery but to a possible carbon monoxide problem. We opened the windows and called 311. 311 connected us to 911 who connected us to the fire department who showed up 5 minutes later to tell us that there was no carbon monoxide in our apartment and that our battery was dying. Our fireman commended us for opening our windows (apparently other people sit in their sealed apartments while waiting for the fire department) and advised us to get a new battery for our alarm. Crisis passed, we watched a little bit more of the movie and called it quits around 1 am. We still have a little bit more to watch.

We woke up bright and early so we could go see the 10 am showing of the new Indiana Jones movie at the Ziegfeld. I'm not giving anything away. No spoilers here. The movie was a lot of fun. Indiana Jones and his sidekicks went on a grand adventure. Spielberg did a nice job tying a neat little bow on his "Quadrology"? What else could you call it?

Go see it. It's a lot more satisfying than The Country Girl. That's for sure.

Starvation Diet

What's eerie about this fake Onion news video is that people really do this.


Diet Book Author Advocates New 'No Food Diet'

Waiting and Biking and Working

An oven was delivered on Monday but it still hasn't been installed. We were expecting someone yesterday, but that someone was called away on a rain emergency in another building - stupid rain. So, now my installation is scheduled for tomorrow. Knock on wood. From my lips to G-d's ears.

Knowing when someone is coming to do work instead of waiting for someone that is not coming is very freeing. I felt free for the first time in weeks to go bike riding. It's been a while since I've gone out. The bike ride reminded that it doesn't take much time to get out of shape. I only went 7.5 miles. Jon is still out there. He is in much better shape than me.

I'm working The Country Girl this week. What a treat. The show stars Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher in a show by Clifford Odets. With all that star power, you'd think the show would be a home run. It's not bad. But it's not great. There's something now quite there but I'm not sure what. I can't yet tell if it's the performances or the play. I'll let you know when I figure it out. Or I may completely contradict myself and find after a week of viewing that this is the best play ever.

The thing is I'm comparing this to Awake and Sing! also by Odets which ran two years ago at the Belasco Theater. Awake and Sing! is a better play. I just need some time with this one to figure out how I feel.

No Country For Old Men

Jon and I watched No Country for Old Men on loan to us from a friend. We started watching it on Sunday night and finished it yesterday morning. I personally couldn't make it through one sitting.

I really wanted to like this movie. But I didn't. I liked the actors. They did a great job. They may have even elevated the script to a high enough level that I could watch it just for their performances. But the movie - eh. Too much creeping. Too many slow pan shots. Too many pauses. Too much anticlimatic suspense.

Now if you liked this movie, you're going to want to argue with me about the movie's merits. I recognize there were things in this movie that could be considered flashes of brilliance. But I would argue that those flashes of brilliance were contrived. I felt the effort the Cohen brothers put into making this an Oscar winner. They pushed too hard for my taste.

If you didn't like the movie then you know what I mean and you most likely agree.

Let's discuss.

Clean Windows

It's a small thing but we cleaned our windows today. Small things like that are good for cheering up a place. The next time you're feeling like doing something to make your place look better, try something simple like cleaning your windows.

Happy 30th Birthday

You know who you are!!

Progress Apartment

It's hard to fathom it but we're done putting everything away, not to say that it's organized, but the boxes are empty. Three weeks ago, we decided to find a new apartment and now we're in it. It happened so quickly it's hard to believe.

Today or tomorrow, I'm getting a new, new stove because the new one we have isn't good enough. Once I start cooking in here, then Jon and I will truly be home.

Progress Apartment Citizen Kane

We've made some real progress. 85% of our books are up on the shelves. 100% of our clothing is in put away. And the living room is pretty much set give or take some odds and ends that still need homes.

I haven't really tackled the kitchen yet. Although I managed to get a lot of things up on shelves and in closets, those things still have to be organized. But I'm not feeling too motivated to organize the kitchen because I don't really have my stove yet.

On Thursday night, while Jon was at work, I finally watched Citizen Kane all the way through. This was at least the 15th time I tried to watched it. All other 14 times, I just couldn't get through it. Maybe I wasn't ready. I still don't understand why it's considered the best movie ever made on mostly everybody's best movie list, but I get why it's a good movie. It's still overrated though, in my opinion.

I have a friend who stayed up all night once watching the movie over and over. He came out the other end of that experience understanding why the movie is considered the best by many. I'm not there yet.

All Moved In

We're in. We are completely in the new place.

I finatically cleaned the old place to make sure we DEFINITELY get our security deposit back. And that place is EMPTY, like we never lived there. After dragging our enormous old couch out to the curb, we took a moment last night and acknowleged that we were leaving our first apartment together.

For the most part the move was okay. Our very good friend (whose name I won't mention so he doesn't get hit up for requests) helped us move the heaviest objects. He was an absolute god send and hopefully sustained no injuries during the course of the move. Thank you so much for all of your help. We are eternally greatful and readilty available to help you move should the need ever arise.

The most stressful part was receiving our new couch. This was a saga. Our couch was too big for the elevator which I recognized in advance would be the case. I assumed the movers would just use the stairs to bring up the couch. And that's what they set out to do. But there was a problem. The stairwell closest to our apartment had an entrance that was too narrow to maneuver the couch, so the movers had to use the stairwell at the front of the building where the couch could fit.

However, because the front and back halves of our building are not connected, the movers had to carry the couch up 7 flights to the roof, across the roof and then bring it down the stairwell near our apartment.

It took them two hours because the couch was wider than some of the landings and they had to do a lot of work, twisting and turning our new furniture until they were finally able to get the couch in. At one point I checked in on their progress and found them walking across the roof carrying the enormous burden between them with their heads cocked to one side and their tongues hanging out of their mouths from exhaustion.

We tipped them well - actually very well - and you would have also. Believe me.

I still feel a little guilty about ruining the days of the people who were expecting timely furniture deliveries after us but the store we used does guarantee delivery. And that's what we got.

While all that was going on with the couch, and while Jon and our fantastic friend were moving everything, a handy man was opening up my kitchen wall to add an electrical outlet for the new stove he was installing. To make long story short, he finished the electrical work but didn't install the oven. It's damaged. So I won't have an oven until next week.

Other than that, everything is fine. We have phone, cable and internet and all is right with the world again.

Moving Day

Today is moving day - again. I say that because we've been moving every day this week. The difference today is that once we're done, we'll be done for good.

Even though 80 per cent of our belongings our in the new place; even though I have been actively participating in getting the stuff over there; even though I already set up my kitchen, I still have a hard time believing that we're moving.

I have lived in this apartment building for 12 years. The studio where I used to live was the first place I could call my own. My parents had to co-sign the lease. In that time, I have encouraged several friends to come and live in this building, making this building feel more like a home for Jon and me. Granted we're only going across the street and our friends can visit us anytime they like but still. It's almost like we're breaking some kind of secret allegiance by no longer living in the "sitcom" building.

And now today is our final push. Our last day of truly hard work before we turn in our keys to the management company.

I'm not going to have internet until tomorrow but as soon as I do, I'll let you know how it went. After I check my email and play Scrabulous of course.

New Stuff

We bought some new furniture. It's the first time I've ever bought furniture from a store with the exception of a futon. It felt oddly grownup. Most if not all of the furniture I've ever owned has been given to be someone else. We did ultimately go to Raymour & Flanigan.






They have a great selection and guarantee delivery in three days. We chose a matching couch and chair, a book case and a very basic bed frame. Everything should go smoothly on Thursday. The only concern I have is whether or not the couch will fit in the elevator. If it doesn't the store's moving guys will have to carry the couch up the stairs, which costs $20 a flight, after the third floor.

Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites

I can't believe Parvati won. I'm in shock.

A Good Day

I got a lot done today, mostly cleaning. Jon and I moved a bunch of kitchen over to the new place and some coats. We also started moving the book collection. Technically, moving isn't allowed on weekends, so we're trying to be really incognito by using a shopping cart.

Tomorrow, I'd like to go shopping. Turns out I need to buy curtains for the many windows we now have. Isn't that a trip? There are three windows in the bedroom. I also need to get a new bathroom set. Our toilet seat cover is so stretched out it's always falling off the toilet seat and the rug has seen better days. Oh. And we're getting rid of our old clunky couch. So, we'll probably go to Raymour and Flannigan to get a new one.

I was excited to discover that the room we want to use as an office/guestroom is already cable ready. But I'm not sure how that works.

The way we have it set up now, both the internet and cable come through the same little device that splits the service between our television and our computer. I guess I'll learn when the cable guy hooks us up on Friday.

Do you guys know if we need to set up separate internet service for that room?

The New Apartment

Without further ado, here is the walking tour of our new apartment which is really and truly ours now. Forgive my goofy narration and my shaky camera work.

Still No Lease

We haven't heard back from our broker yet regarding our lease. Granted the repairs on our new apartment weren't completed but still, I'm anxious to get in there and set things up. I've got half our kitchen packed up. Jon started packing up books. he monsters are packed up and so are the materials I use to make them. So, I won't be making any monsters this week.

I might move the closets first. We certainly don't need our coats. Then I want to move my cleaning stuff which I packed into one neat little box earlier.

The only part of the move that gives any cause for concern is tranferring our utilities particularly cable and internet. But even that should be easy enough to arrange.

We'll probably keep the same phone number.

Ramble.

Packing

We're one day away from getting the lease to our new place. I started packing.

We went to the Container Store earlier for boxes and storage cases for our china. The Container Store rocks!!! Totally.

Anyway, I packed up our china and hopefully tomorrow I'll start wheeling our kitchen over to the new place in our shopping cart. Piece by piece.

My Wedding Dress

Jon and I visited my parents yesterday because we didn't want to miss them for Mother's Day. Originally, we'd planned to go upstate to visit my in-laws for Mother's day weekend which meant that we wouldn't be able to see my folks. We didn't know that we'd have to move in to our new place so quickly. So we had to cancel those plans. We'll basically be moving for the next 10 days or so.

Anyway, I thought it would be cool to try on my wedding dress. So I did. And it was cool, because I lost weight and now my wedding dress which fit snuggly on the day of my wedding is now way too big. I was swimming in it.

That was fun.

Movin' On Up

We've had some good luck and found a great 2 bedroom apartment across the street from where we currently live. The apartment is amazing. It's clean. It's bright. It's on the fourth floor and in the back of the building, far away from the noisy street which plagues us with its car alarms and chatty smokers who like to chat and smoke under our window. The apartment is in a building with an elevator and a laundry room. There's a window in the bathroom which is really important to me. There are two air conditioners already installed in the bedrooms, that come with the apartment.

The best part is that it's across the street which means we don't have to rent a van or hire movers.

We got really lucky with this one.

Already May?

I can't believe it's May already. How does time creep by while simultaneously passing quickly? I marvel at my paperwork on the job everytime I have to write down the date, April 29, April 30? How do these days sneak up on me at such a snail like pace?

It's Saturday and I'm working at Spring Awakening. Again. Most of the week, I've been able to find a seat and enjoy the show. Today, there were seats available in the mezzanine but I decided to pace myself for the day. Instead, I read a book called The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson. I've read enough Patterson to know that books from his Alex Cross series are the best. The detective is interesting and somehow his formula always works for me. There was one other detective of his, I think the detective from Black Market - retitled Black Friday - that I really liked but he never followed up with him. I think he was wheel chair bound and that was definitely an interesting point view.

The Big Bad Wolf is the first book I've looked at since my vacational reading of Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs. Funny story about this book, it wasn't until Jon read it that i noticed the had on the cover has six fingers. That was quite a while ago.

I have a friend who is reading as many books as possible this year. I wish I were more like her. But what ends up happening with me is that if I read too many books, they all become blurred together and I lose the book in a fog of storylines and character arcs. I like to live with a book after I read it. So I don't forget it. My brain's storage capacity is not as infinite as I would like sometimes.

The next book I'm going to read is one I read about at Books Galore - THE ALMOST MOON by Alice Sebold. It's been a while since I've read The Lovely Bones, also by Sebold, but I remember that book as being really, really great.

Goodbye Catty Monsters

I made another ETSY sale. Tomorrow, I'm hand delivering this pair to their new owner.

Yay me!!

Mlergh

Law & Order: SVU - Robin Williams

I regularly watch Law & Order: SVU. This season, they seem to be doing a lot of stunt casting. The most recent episode featured Robin Williams in a dark but funny role, which is something he does well. This is one of the weaker episodes I've seen - and not because the performances of the actors. The writing was lacking on this one.

Robin Williams's character toward the end of the episode somehow managed to kidnap Olivia, one of the detectives. Although her entire squad knew of her kidnapping, only her partner Eliot showed up at the scene of the crime - alone. Not likely. It's more likely that all of her co-workers, including her captain would have shown up to rescue her.

There were other problems with the episode - again none of them performance related. But the above was the weakest part.

Four New Monsters

Okay. Someone requested to see my new monsters, so here they are.

What a Weekend

Friday and Saturday I worked at In The Heights. This is a fun show. Recommended.

Sunday, Jon and I went to see Passing Strange. We both loved it. Another recommendation.

Yesterday, I made two new monsters. But I'm not going to post their pictures because you're probably getting sick of new monsters.

Today, we're looking at an apartment. I'll probably make another monster and then I'm working at Spring Awakening.

Mish and Mush

I promise that my next post will be something I've written rather than something I made. Seriously.

But until then, enjoy Mish and Mush. On my Etsy site, I described them as cousins with opposite personalities. Actually, I made the one of the left out of the scraps of the ones I used to make the one on the right - so I wouldn't have so much junk lying around.

All in all, the effect is the same.

Another New Monster

I spent yesterday making a stuffed dog which came out terrible. So today, I made something that I know I can make well - a cute, widdle monster.

Clops

This is Clops. He's a one-eyed monster. He loves coffee. In this candid photo, you can see Clops grasping for but not quite reaching the coffee pot. This is no doubt due to his bad depth perception.

Glip Hits the Road

I made my first ETSY sale. Glip was purchased some time between last night and this morning. Very excited, before my first sip of coffee, I ran to the store for mailing supplies and then ran to the post office to mail Glip to her new owner. She will be missed. Hopefully this is the first of many sales to come.

Goodbye Glip.

Polygamy

The story about the polygamist sect in Texas continues to be interesting. To figure out the custody of the 400 or so children that were removed from the sect's property, they are all going to be DNA tested.

I hope there are many more news hours and TV documentaries dedicated to this story.

But what is the point of the DNA testing? Why don't they just ask the kids who their parents are? Those kids are probably completely without guile.

Wouldn't it be interesting to be the foster family for one of those kids? It would be like having someone from the past in your house because they've lived their lives for the most part without modern distractions like televisions and I-pods. Cool, right? And you could turn these kids on to SO many things while they were staying with you - like Bugs Bunny cartoons or the internet or McDonald's (goodness forbid).

I think when they weren't crying about missing their many, many mothers and siblings (oh, I get the DNA thing now) they would be very pleasant to have around.

Pronk

This is from the Onion's website.

Congress Debates Merits Of New Catchphrase

Third Mother's Day Set

Just so you don't think I've been slacking off in the monster making department, I made yet another Mother's Day set but I'm going to give this theme a rest now until I get an idea of how popular they are, if at all.

Happy Passover

Tonight is the first night of Passover. We're going to my parent's house where a good part of my family will also be visiting - my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, my brother and his wife, their children, Jon and me, and of my parents of course. My nephew turned four this year, so he will most likely be reciting the four questions. Hopefully, he's learned a cute song at school that he can share with us.

When I was working at Cat On A Hot Tin Roof several weeks ago, I remember having a conversation with the bartenders about seders. When one particularly young bartender heard the word seder she confused it with the word Satyr. She'd never before heard of a Jewish seder. I let someone else correct her.

I found this odd because she was REALLY, REALLY into Jesus. I would think that someone who was that into Jesus would have known that the Last Supper was a indeed a seder. But I didn't mention it. That's the kind of nerdy behavior that always winds up making me wildly unpopular.

Tonight, I'm giving my niece and nephew these two dolls which I made using materials from the monster scrap pile. The blue one with the buttons is for the four year old. He came out really good. However the pink one with the embroidered eyes didn't come out as well. I wanted to make my niece something that was visually striking to capture her imagination. We'll see. I'll give it to her and see how she reacts.

Another Mother's Day set

It's a compulsion now. I have to make at least one monster a day if not two. Usually I finish a monster I started the day before, make a complete one and then start a new project. That's pretty good right? And that's with all the other things I do during day which aren't grand, I grant you but still. Dishes, errands, household chores, a few hours of work at night - I'm feeling productive these days.

With that said, here is another set for Mother's Day. The small doll is Poof and the big one if Poof's Mamma. They are availble together and separately at Vexillia, my Etsy shop.

Writing

I haven't been writing much lately. I've been doing a lot of sewing and that satisfies the same itch that writing used to scratch. So, I haven't been too driven to write anything.

Here's an update.
* I'm feeling 100 per cent better since coming home from our vacation.

* I've worked two new shows since I've been back - Passing Strange and In The Heights - both of which I recommend strongly.

* We started looking for a bigger apartment in the neighborhood.

* We'll be celebrating Passover at my parent's house with my family.

* We've started bike riding which has been very nice.

I think that covers everything.

Puff and His Mamma

I'm making a few of these sets for Mother's Day. Hopefully they'll catch on and I'll make a sale. I just need one purchase to break through.

Glip

Don't ask me about Glip. If you're interested in learning more about her visit her at Etsy.

Puff

Puff is cute and sweet and available at my Etsy site.

Cookie

This is Cookie. If you like Cookie and you want a Cookie of your own visit my Etsy site.

Smush Face

If you're interested in Smush Face, visit my Etsy site.

Mortimer

This is Mortimer.

Passing Strange

I am working at the Belasco Theater today where they are showing Passing Strange. I didn't know what to expect going in except that it had loud music. The show is amazing and moving and intelligent and sensitive and relevant and amazing. It's an autobiographical rock opera about the narrator Stew and his life experiences.

What truly amazes me is how much Stew sounds like the guy who sings "I'm Just a Bill", a cartoon from Schoolhouse Rock. I'll do some more research and see if it's the same guy. I'm pretty sure it's not but Stew's voice is completely familiar and comfortable.

Phil

If you'd like to make Phil a part of your household, visit my etsy site here.

Ralph

I went for a long walk this morning because yesterday, after our bike ride I spent 9 hours making Ralph. He ended up being very labor intensive because I decided he should have bumps on his back, like a dragon but not quite.

On my walk I picked up a ton of supplies from the local cheapie stores. I really like working with plush socks but the 99 cents stores are running out of their supplies - being springtime and all. If I hadn't had to pee so badly, I probably would have purchased more. I'll have to go back on Sunday to this one store that had a substantial inventory of cheap plush socks.

Anyway - this is Ralph. And if you're interested in making Ralph part of your family, visit my etsy site here.

First Spring Bike Ride

Jon and I went our first bike ride of the spring. It was beautiful this morning but a little cool. I started out wearing a sweater and a hat. Jon smartly wore shorts and a t-shirt. I ended up getting so warm, I stripped down to my t-shirt. The ride was tough. There is this hill at 23rd Avenue and 91st street in Queens that gets me every time. I am constantly struggling to ride up that hill. Today I almost threw up when I got to the top of it. It took me about 10 minutes to recover but recover I did and I made it home in one piece. We rode a little over 10 miles today.

Trip Photos

We've been back home long enough that I no longer have it in me to write about our trip. We basically went on a lot of hikes, swam in the Pacific, walked and relaxed on the beach and went on a day trip on a catamaran. So. If you're interested, I've managed to get our pictures up on my Flickr site. You're welcome to look at them here.

Jon and Valerie's Costa Rican adventure

Bright Eyes

If you're interested in purchasing Bright Eyes, visit my etsy site. here.

A New Monster

We went to Costa Rica and every day we were there I thought about making monsters. Don't ask. Anyway. I've made several little creatures since we've been back but I'm particularly fond of this one because he's got a tail. His name is Sam. If you're interested in purchasing Sam, visit my etsy site here.

Costa Rica - The Arenal Volcano

The first real attraction we saw was the Arenal Volcano. When we arrived the volcano was perfectly clear. We had a perfect view from our room.


Most of our activities involved hiking hear or looking at the volcano.

It was as cool as you can imagine.

Feeling Better

Finally, I'm feeling better. I saw the doctor yesterday who diagnosed me with something I don't want to name and prescribed a strong antibiotic. The antibiotic made me feel sicker causing dizziness and nausea.

I went for a 10 minute walk this afternoon that wiped me out if you can believe it. I bought some more polyester fiberfill for monster making.

Tomorrow, I'll start posting pictures.

I hope you like sunsets.

We're Still Here

I'm still here. I've been playing catchup with our lives. I did a major food shopping yesterday and then I had some plumbing problems both literally and figuratively that needed to be resolved.

Our building super helped resolve our literal plumbing problem. And I have to visit the doctor for my figurative plumbing problem - a little leftover from our vacation. I may do laundry today depending on the weather. I still have to sort through over 500 pictures to see what anyone would care to see from our trip. There are some good shots but believe me when I tell you they are not all gems.

I will start with our trip to the Arenal volcano and go from there.

Back in the USA

We're home.

Pout.

Yay!!

Catamaran

We're going on a 5 hour cruise on a catamaran in the Pacific Ocean. That's our last big Costa Rican outing before we head back tomorrow.

I've been eating lots of mahi-mahi. I haven't had any red meat in 9 days - mostly red snapper and mahi-mahi.

My brain moves slower at the beach, otherwise I would write more.

Costa Rica Adventure Continues

We are now in Tamarindo where we'll be for the rest of our trip. We're staying at a beach hotel called Cabines La Palapa.

Before this we stayed at the Hotel Sugar Beach, also in the Guanacaste Province but way, way more isolated than the place we're in now. It was amazing. There were iguanas everywhere. The climate is so dry, cactus grows wild.

Dogs are the wildlife you see roaming freely in Costa Rica. They aren't stray dogs. They are the pets of people who let them run free every day. There are several that I recognize now, almost as mascots of the beach where you can find our hotel. The owners reside nearby. And the owners seem to be Belgians. I dont know if they are ex-patriots or not. I have not yet screwed up the courage to speak with them.

Costa Rica is a nice place to visit.

Costa Rican Vacation

We arrived in Costa Rica on Sunday the 23rd and stayed one night at Grano de Oro in San Jose. I couldn´t tell you what San Jose looks like because I stayed in the hotel the whole night. I was tired from traveling. And we had an early pickup for our next hotel the following morning.

On Monday, our bus picked us up for our journey to Volcano Lodge where we are now staying. Every room in the hotel has a view of the Arenal Volcano. Before 1968 it was known as Arenal Peak. Guess what happened that year. That´s right. It erupted. Costa Ricans living in the area believed it to be just another mountain. 87 people in the two nearest villages died.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon we went on a nature hike in a secondary forest near Arenal volcano in a private park called El Silencio. Some of the trees are so tall already you´d think they´d been growing for 200 years, but no. The forest is only 40 years old. The hike was slightly challenging but wow. Pretty amazing. We heard howler monkeys in the distance and saw all types of beautiful birds, most notably a chestnut mandibled toucan and a montezuma oropendola. The second part of our hike involved lava spotting. We travelled by bus to a vantage point where many had gathered to watch the active side of Arenal erupt gently. And sure enough we saw beautiful lava flows from a safe distance. Yesterday's excursion ended with a visit to Tabacon Hot Springs where we also had dinner.

Today we´re scheduled for canopy tours. Jon is going to use the zip lines to make his way out of the canopy. I have a reservation for the funicular in both directions. From the safety of the tram, I´ll be able to see Lake Arenal on one side and the volcano on the other.

Tomorrow, we´re going to the north Pacific coast. Wahoo!!

Blog Lite

Blogging will be light if not scarce the next week or so.

I´ll tell you why next week.

Clothes Shopping

The last couple of days, I've been clothes shopping and I enjoyed myself for the first time since I can't even remember. Why? Because I'm two sizes smaller than I was the last time I went shopping.

I bought clothes at The Gap of all places. I haven't been able to wear their clothes in forever. I didn't even buy my clothes in the largest size available. I was able to buy the second largest size. Hopefully, pretty soon, the word LARGE won't even be part of my clothing vernacular.

It was an exciting day!!

Excellent Commercial

Do you remember this commercial from the Super Bowl? It's still the best one that debuted that evening.

Another New Monster

If I don't make at least one doll a day, I feel incomplete. There is a method to my madness. I recently launched a shop at ETSY.COM to sell my wares. My shop is called Vexillia. And you can get to it by clicking here. Anyway. I'm happy to introduce you to Duckbill Monsterpus who will most likely be a gift for my niece.

American Idol - Not

I'm not watching American Idol this season. I have no idea at all what's happening on the show.

A Clean House

After two weeks of obsessive monster and bunny creating, I had let the housework go a little too long. So yesterday, after I finished my softly horned monster, I decided to clean the bathroom. I focused on the bathroom with the intensity of a thousand suns. And now it's really clean. But I didn't stop there. I was getting such a nice rush from cleaning that I ended up cleaning the whole apartment. It took three intense hours. But it was well worth it. The sad thing is there's still more to do, mostly involving throwing out and filing various items made of paper.

Unfortunately, I worked myself into such a frenzy that I forget about the plans I made to attend my friend trivia's night at Dempsey's. Duh. It wasn't until after I was done cleaning that I remembered I was supposed to that. Sorry friend. I was planning on coming.

I was so tired that I slept through the whole night, which is an accomplishment for me. I suffer from occassional and unpredictable bouts of insomnia. And that's something I've been experiencing the last couple of weeks. Nothing cures insomnia for me like utter and complete exhaustion.

I think I'll make another animal.

My Latest Creations

Year One of the Empire et al

Year One of The Empire
My blog has been a little bit DOLL obsessed since I started making dolls a couple of weeks ago. But I have been doing other things besides obsessively making two dolls a day. For example on Sunday, Jon and I went to see Year One Of The Empire at the Metropolitan Playhouse in the East Village. It's a three act play about America's occupation of the Phillipines at the turn of the 20th Century and it's a very good play. The venue is very intimate. The theater is one room with bleacher seating on three walls. My friend JM is in the show. I wanted to support her. And I felt comfortable doing so because the NY Times gave the show a good review. That doesn't happen often when going to shows to support friends. Oft times, whatever your friend is doing is JUST awful, unless of course you're friends with Harold Pinter or Beyonce for example. But you know what I mean. I recommend this play but hurry up and see it because it ends March 30. I still made a doll in case you were wondering.

Manicure/Pedicure
I went Athena's Nails yesterday and got a manicure/pedicure from a sweet but sickly woman named Marisol who kept coughing on my toes. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may recall previous rants against Athena's. As much as I hate some of their practices, they still provide the best manicures and pedicures in the neighborhood. My complaints have always involved their poor customer relations and long waiting times. But if you go early enough in the day you can avoid these problems. While my nails were drying, I took a couple of pictures of their nail tip samples. They are both strange and wonderful.


I still managed to make two dolls yesterday. I also made a chicken soup and roasted an delicious chicken.

Crane Collapses Killing Four

Did you hear about this? While I was nestled comfortably in the basement of the Broadhurst theater stitching a new monster, a crane collapsed on the east side of New York destroying a building and killing at least four people.

It happened around 2:30 this afternoon. And from what I read it was a horrifying experience.

NY Times
Crane Topples in Manhattan, Killing at Least Four People

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

This week, I've been working at the Broadhurst Theater where they are showing Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Debbie Allen directed this production which stars Felicia Rashad and James Earl Jones. I still haven't watched it and I don't think I'm going to. I just haven't been in the mood this week to watch a three hour drama.

I've been making dolls to keep myself busy and to pass the incredibly slow moving time that I have to wait between acts.

Two intermissions. Three acts. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Here are some reviews
NY Times
NY Post
Newsday
Talkin' Broadway

Celebrity Rehab wtih Dr. Drew - Reunion Show

Yesterday VH1 aired the reunion show for Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. I'll just sum up quickly how each person is doing.

Joanie Laurer (Chyna Doll)
She still denies she's an addict but she does attend therapy. She still drinks. She brought her counselor with her. She's seriously gotten back into fitness.

Brigitte Neilsen
Still sober. Brought her husband with her. She also quit smoking. She gained 45 pounds. She looked happy.

Seth Binzer
Was doing well until he went on tour without his sobriety sponsor and ended up using but feeling incredibly about it. He looked healthier than he did in the first episode of Celebrity Rehab.

Rico Rodriguez
He went to AA 90 days in a row and he's still sober. He still has to deal with the courts. I'm not sure what's happening with his custody issues.

Mary Carey
She quit porn but still does "featured dancing" to earn money. She is taking care of her mother because her mother couldn't get federal assistance. You might recall he mother is quite mentally ill and needs to be institutionalized. She has wine from time to time, but apparently is doing much better in terms of managing her life. She also seemed happy.

Jamie Foxworth
Apparently she smoked pot for a month after getting out of rehab, but she admits to smoking a lot less than she used to. She still smokes it though. She never seemed as out of control as everybody else. She'll be okay.

Jeff Conaway
He takes lots of oxycotton because of his back. He's had four surgeries and claims that he still needs it to manage his pain. Dr. Drew spoke with his neurologists who apparently agreed that Jeff should stop the junk. He'll soon be going in for a fifth operation.

Jessica Sierra
Poor thing had to leave the Sober Living program for some court appearances in Florida. While there she fell hard off the wagon and was almost sent to prison for 10 years. Fortunately Dr. Drew was able to get her into a solid year of rehab by negotiating with the judge in charge of sentencing. But if she gets into trouble with drugs again after that year, she'll have to go to prison.

Daniel Baldwin
He didn't show up. I'm not sure why. Dr. Drew was nice and offered him continuous support and excused his behavior by explaining how difficult a time he was having with his own sobriety. The other rehabbers applauded but you could tell they still have hostile feelings toward Daniel for his inappropriate behavior with Mary.

That's the bones of what I learned about the contestants when I watched the reunion special.

Another Monster

Please don't hate me because I keep posting pictures of my little dolls, but I feel like I'm starting to get somewhat good at making them and I wanted to share my latest.