Coming Soon to Loudoun on Lost in DC

I heart Sandy and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.  If only they were both coming to DC.

I was just saying on LostGirls how my friends rock.  Well, today, my friend Sandy sent me a link to this good news: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is coming to Loudoun County.  Our little taste of food and film madness will be in Ashburn (super close to me, thank you very much).  According to their Facebook page, they're hoping to be open for business here in early 2012.  [read more...]

ZooFari on Lost in DC

Why have I been procrastinating on this post?  Well, let me be honest here.  This is the first time I've gone to an event and promised myself (or anyone else) that I would write about it and I was so not prepared.  I was mocked by the friend who went with me for not being able to eat, take pictures and figure out what I wanted to be taking pictures of at the same time.  I learned that wanting to take pictures of every single thing is unrealistic and incredibly frustrating, so just don't do it (unless you're a pro at this).  [read more...]

A Question of Taste

I woke up today feeling mopey and fearing my ZooFari post (because that's what happens when you procrastinate).  I didn't want to look at my Twitter feed or edit photos or be responsible, I really just wanted to get back into bed with this guy:  


Instead I got online and found that my long lost friend Revaz had posted a link to the work of Jeannie L. Paske, an artist out of Portland, OR.  And then everything got better.  


This reminded me of when he posted a mix he'd put together (this was a few years ago) that included Sun Kil Moon, Bon Iver and a host of other musicians I'd never heard before.  I spent the following week visiting friends in Portland and writing up a storm, on a bench in their beautiful garden, while listening to that music and thanking my lucky stars that I know someone who wants to share what they love with other people.


You know, there are those people who jealously guard the beauty they discover, only unveiling that they found someone or something before you did, to prove just how cool they are.  It seems like such a shame.  What good does hoarding your beautiful discoveries away do?  Those people miss out on the absolute joy and giddiness that occurs when you share.


Every time our Meg calls me from the other coast to share something she's stumbled upon or that someone else has shared with her, I consider it a gift.  I love my friends.  I am constantly reminded of their generosity and what excellent taste they have, even if sometimes they mock me for not liking something they're into (I'm talking about you, Matt!).


In that spirit, here are a couple of things that were shared with me this week:


ohDaughter







The Hunting Accident

Return to Sender, Address Unknown

I should be writing about ZooFari for Lost in DC right now (went last night, at The National Zoo), but instead I'm distracted by this little piece of sadness.

I believe a handwritten letter is a gift.  So I was quite sad when this particular gift didn't make it to its intended recipient.  USPS, why must you sadden our souls?  People like us want you to exist.  As much as we love your side-striped pants and can understand that occasionally a letter gets chewed up in a machine (adds character, right?) - not deliverable to an address that was clearly written, checked twice and is the same one I've already sent half a dozen letters to?  Why oh why?

Herbal Update - Week 9 on The Black Thumb

Oh look, I might actually make a habit out of this.  Maybe.  But I'm going to keep calling it Herbal Update, even though it's not just about herbs.  Just so you know.  Here are my beautiful, sometimes bendy, herbs at Week 9.  They look happy, healthy and so green.  I blame it entirely on the rain and Miracle Gro.  And my pixie neighbor.  I'm just saying it's possible.  [read more...]

A quick trip to the dollar section of Target could score you this hippo watering can.  Don't you think you need one?

Music Diary 2012

The Music Diary 2012 project ran last week and NPR Music tweeted about it, so of course I took interest.  This is one of those interesting ideas that I would never have noticed if it weren't for Twitter (evil evil evil, but so good sometimes).  A brief explanation from the site I was referred to for this project lies below:  

"Music Diary 2012 is an attempt to document, over the course of one week, how we listen to music: when we listen, where we listen, who we're with when we listen, and how we choose what we listen to.  Anyone is welcome to join in, as long as you would ordinarily be listening to music in that week or any other week; from music journalists to musicians to serious music geeks and casual music fans.

It's simple.  

For seven days this spring, from Monday the 7th May to Sunday the 13th May, anyone who wants to take part will keep a diary of everything they listen to, and publish it online somewhere.  How detailed that diary is, is up to you.  It might be an annotated list drawn from last.fm scrobbles and chucked onto a Tumblr; it might be a Tweet or a Facebook status every time you play a new song on your iPod; you might keep a detailed spreadsheet and post it on your blog at the end of the week; you could even keep penciled notes in a Moleskine, photograph them, and upload them to Flickr.  It's up to you."

Since moving to the DC area, I've listened to plenty of music, much of it new recommendations from Meg (whom I refer to as our "resident music tastemaker," perhaps much to her embarrassment).  Before I dove headfirst into the LostGirls blogs, I was listening to music all day long, no matter what I was doing.  This project made me realize that I haven't been listening as much in the past few weeks because I always feel so busy (when I'm not actually doing something for the blogs, I'm generally thinking about what I should do next).  I did make an effort to bring music into the LostGirls world, but that's an ongoing project (more on that later in this post).  One of the things that documenting the way I listen to music did was make me realize how much it really is at my fingertips these days and that I have no excuse to not listen.  And why would I want one?

I have my iPod, which can usually be found wherever I am, whether it's plugged into my car, my headphones, my spare computer speakers in my bedroom, or hooked up to my laptop to sync and charge.  Even when I'm not listening to music, it's either in my pocket or on my desk.

Then there's the laptop itself, which once went days without any rest because even when I stepped away to cook dinner or do dishes, I'd usually be listening to a podcast (most notably NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour - a podcast that creates joy in my heart every time it starts).  And, of course, if I want someone else to be in charge of what I listen to, I go to Pandora (but I'm cheap, so I have to listen to ads).  

I can give only a vague mention to Spotify at this point because I just downloaded it a few days ago and haven't even looked at it (and wouldn't have downloaded it, if it weren't for The Darkness, because when one gets a DM from them on Twitter for following them, one does as they say).  Below is part of my list for the week - the part I either remembered to tweet about or just remember having listened to.  At least I started out with good intentions.


Mozart - Symphony No. 25 at 11:44am EST on May 7th, allowed iTunes to pick the first song for me.  Don't knock it, that's one hell of an energetic piece.  And it started my morning (late, but still).


The Shins - Your Algebra at 2:13pm EST on May 7th, while catching up on Bleeding Espresso (joy and goats!).


Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - The Swell Season at 2:20pm on May 7th, while reading Goat Berries.


Bon Iver - Michicant at 2:25pm on May 7th, while wasting time on Pinterest instead of writing a post for LostGirls.


Freelance Whales - Ghosting at 2:43pm on May 7th, while...still pinning.


A few minutes later, retweeted Mike Katzif (of NPR): "Glen Hansard just played a pretty great 35min set at Tiny Desk.  I was all like 'Sheesh, this is cool, but I got spreadsheets to tend to.' "  


PJ Harvey - The Dancer at 3:05pm on May 7th while actually writing a post.


Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline at 3:35pm on May 7th and pausing to think 'My dad does not look like Neil Diamond, Glenn!'  Which is what I think every single time I hear Mr. Diamond's voice.  Dude, my dad looks like the guy from the Ryder truck commercials who used to be on Barney Miller.  Everyone knows that.


And then I became enthralled by The Bloggess, especially her pinboards, and forgot to keep playing music the rest of the night.  No, really.  This is how distracted I am lately.


MGMT - Electric Feel at 9:08am on May 8th while trying to wake up.


Ray LaMontagne - You Can Bring Me Flowers at 9:16am on May 8th while still not really awake, nor wanting to be.


Mogwai - Friend of the Night at 10:04am on May 8th, listening to NPR All Songs 24/7 player while eating breakfast.


Then I found out Maurice Sendak died, was super sad and had to go to a doctor's appointment, so that sucked all the rest of the joy out of my day.  Listened to NPR on the way to the doc's and while running errands.


Not tweeted:  The Beatles - Day in the Life at some point on May 9th and repeated a few times.  Just had to hear that song, for some reason.


Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know at 7:32pm on May 9th because it was up somewhere on Facebook and I paused for a moment in my madness to listen to it and watch that lovely video again.  I never tire of it.


And then I didn't listen to any music for a whole day.  How sad and empty was my life?


Then, Fun. - We Are Young at 10:38pm on May 11th.  I was writing about music to a friend and had this song stuck in my head, realized I didn't own it, downloaded it and listened to it.  Which made me want to listen to a lot more music, so I put on one of my playlists, gave up on tweeting it because I just wanted to listen in peace (sort of) and was blissfully happy for hours.


May 12th:  Last day and a long drive to Alexandria during which I listened to Gotye, Fun., Kimbra, Florence + the Machine and The Maccabees - on the way there and on the way back.  I may have put on some Patty Griffin at some point and sang till I was hoarse, as well.  At least up until I got lost on the beltway and ended up in Maryland.  Damn you, I-495!  Or 95...or 295...


Remember that thing I said we'd get to later?


If I'm not writing posts or trying to convince other people to write them for me, then I'm generally working on the various site stores (in the hopes they'll be good enough to earn revenue someday) or job hunting (in case they don't).  Of course, I consider all of this very important and there are times (especially when I'm editing my own work = talking to myself) when I can't have any distractions.  However, I do need to make more time in this wacky schedule of mine for music because it is one of those things that helps my creativity, as well as helping me maintain my sanity.  I did want to be a part of this project in some way and, though my tweets for it (I chose to use Twitter since I knew it would be random) were few and far between, it was still a good experience.   And it gives me an excuse to tell those of you who don't already know, about the ways we would like to share the music we listen to with you, our readers.

Did you know I listen to Alternative Rock?  I didn't either.  But that's how Amazon has categorized Florence + the Machine, Fun. and Gotye, so it must be true.  The MP3 Clip player from Amazon that we added to the LostGirls HOME page isn't the most exciting thing on earth, but it does enable you to listen to clips of new music while you're reading the posts on that page.  It's really just a neat little gadget that is more fun and interactive than the ads that used to be in that spot.  We are far more excited about our pinboard on Pinterest called LostGirls Music and our LostGirls Music Mix category in the aStore (which I think of as the uh-store, not the ay-store...).  

The pinboard should be accessible to you, even if you do not have a Pinterest account.  On this page, you can see that we have collected a bunch of YouTube and Vimeo links that you can watch right there by clicking on the pin.  Most of these are fulls songs (some are random clips that we enjoyed and just wanted to share), an advantage over the MP3 clip player that you will find in the aStore.  Meg and I had ourselves a real good time (and a real long time) collecting these together and we will both continue to add music as we come across songs we like.  

We have also updated our aStore (on the STORE tab) setup to include various categories that are accessible to anyone.  If you click on the LostGirls Music Mix category, you will see five pages (at the time of this post) of songs - for the most part these are the same ones that you can find on Pinterest, but here you can purchase them.  To give each one a listen, just click through to the Amazon page and hit play.  If you want instant gratification, you can download the song then and there, or you can go to the Download category and get the whole album.  I removed the CD category because that option (and buying the LP, when available) should come up for you when you click through to the item's Amazon page.


We are always looking to expand this further and appreciate feedback on all of our sites/blogs/gadgets/stores/etc.  Or if you know of a band or musician that we might enjoy, please send it our way.  For now, recommended listening:

Rainy Day Pasta on Uncrafty

If you thought I was lazy by shortening "Crafts for the Uncrafty" to just "Uncrafty," wait till you see what I do to Italian cooking.

When I think of cooking, I normally don't think of it as "crafting."  But it is most certainly a craft.  And it is one of the few that I actually feel adept at.  I am not an experienced chef, by any means.  Having watched both those formally trained in the culinary arts and those folks who seem to simply have it in their blood, I am well aware of my skill level.  And yet I continue to cook because it is something I enjoy.  You know you love something when even the failures are a good experience.  [read more...]

A Mo' for the Met on Lost in DC

Just a quick reminder that you should go to New York City and The Met and eat while you're in one but not the other: http://lgindc.blogspot.com/2012/05/mo-for-met.html

Cauliflory on The Black Thumb

Seth talks flowering tree trunks:
http://blackthumbdc.blogspot.com/2012/05/cauliflory.html

Catses

I am going to steal from myself today.  I have this old blog that I completely abandoned when I left California and I went looking for it today and realized...it's not so bad.  There are still usable pieces.  So while I decide (over the next month, because I'm slow like that) what I'm going to do with it, I am going to share some of it with you.  With yous.

I would like to talk to you about cats.  Or "catses" as I like to call them.  Because the only logical thing to follow up a post on being single and being yourself is to announce to the world that you're a crazy cat lady, right?  A couple of years ago I worked with three different people who didn't like cats.  Two of them were actually afraid of cats.  All the people I'd known before who weren't fond of cats were allergic, so it made sense to me that they'd want to stay away.  But afraid of them?  That just defied all logic to me, so I asked them and here is what they then told me and how I felt about it:

 Reason #1: Cats like to attack people. This is the same reasoning I've heard from people who don't like dogs. Or rats. Or, in my case, parrots. I imagine that they've been attacked at some point and that's why they're afraid of them. I may not completely understand, but I'll admit that I flinch whenever I hear the cry of the macaw.  But the only thing that my cats, Ricochet and Frankie, attack is each other and flying insects.  Sometimes the latter are imaginary.

Reason #2: Cats are aloof. Ah, the most common cat stereotype. Yes, I have had cats and met cats that were total snobs and wanted nothing to do with humans...or any other creature, for that matter. But, as with all generalizations, not all cats are like that. Simple fact: Cats have different personalities. This shouldn't be so amazing to people. Years ago, a co-worker of mine met my cats and exclaimed, "Oh my, they have such...personality!" I had never even thought to consider that they wouldn't have personalities.  It just seems so strange to me.  But then, I name all insects Norman, so...yeah.  You may walk into my home thinking cats are aloof, but you'll be coated in cat hair by the time you leave and reeling from the lovemaking session you've just endured from either one, or both, of them.

Reason #3: Cats aren't affectionate.  See above.  Anyone who has met Ricochet knows this is just plain false. Go in search of a Tonkinese and you will discover very quickly just how affectionate cats can be. In fact, my nickname for Ricochet is ManWhore. No one will love you like Ricky, but be careful - he's my friend Matt's boyfriend, not yours.

Reason #4: Cats serve no purpose.  My cats make me happy every day. Sure, they drive me nuts sometimes (like at 1030 every morning, when Frankie has a kitty witching hour and runs in circles around the apartment), but they also crack me up. I would say I have the world's weirdest cats, but I've met my mom's cat, Taser, so I can't win. He and Ricochet have at least one very weird thing in common. They both think they're really sneaky and will try to slither onto your lap when you've knocked them off a couple of times. I mean belly-to-the-ground "I think I'm a snake-I think I'm a snake-I think I'm a snake" sort of slithering. It's really bizarre. And then, once they've made it into your lap, they freeze, as if you won't notice them if they keep very, very still.  Although I find this adorably stupid, Taser has been known to trick my stepfather by wrapping himself around my mom's feet and holding still if my stepdad walks into a room that Taser is not allowed to be in. Evidently he can pass as a pair of big, brown fuzzy slippers. 

Ricochet thinks very little of this anti-cat sentiment, as you can see here:

And Mary's cat, Taser, thinks your computer is for warmth, not for this nonsense.

You might start to think that cats are going to take over the world, the sweet sneaky little things.  But, really, it's already happened.  They just spend so much time napping that it's hard to tell.

Non-Fancy, Non-Girly, Lost Girl

I am pretty damn fascinated by the concept of gender roles.   I knew a woman who told me many times that gender roles were very important to her, in her marriage.  She wanted her husband to take care of the lawn, the cars, killing bugs in the house and general manly stuff.  She wanted to be the only person in the house who did the cooking, cleaning and decorating.  Her husband was actually a pretty good cook, too, so it seemed a shame to me that he wasn't going to make his fabulous Coq au Vin anymore and that she was going to be responsible for all household chores when they both worked full-time.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a couple who happens to fit into those traditional gender roles.  But with this couple, all I could think was how is she going to get it all done, especially since she doesn't really like to clean?  And won't he miss cooking, since obviously it had interested him before?  I mean, does one bother to learn how to make Coq au Vin if one really doesn't care about the culinary arts?  And why did they have to be so separately defined?  Isn't marriage a partnership?  And shouldn't the people in it be comfortable enough with each other to be exactly who and what they are?  If they are, in fact, a very girly girl and a very manly man, then hey - great.  But not everyone is so easily defined one way or the other.

As an unmarried woman, I generally assume that married people must know more than me about marriage (makes sense, right?).  But I always thought this woman's idea was both crazy and sad - because it was forced.  Why would anyone try to fit into that glass slipper that they know does not belong to them?

I have also been told, especially because I'm "still single," that men would like me better if I were a little more girly and made "more of an effort" (which is an implication that I'm not dressing nice enough, wearing enough makeup, etc.).  I am very lucky in my friends that they all know better than to say this (and most of them wouldn't even think it), but you always run across someone (usually a friend of a friend or a great-aunt) who just can't help but try to give you advice.  Single at 36, oh the horror!  Interesting tidbit for you - When I looked up "gender roles" to provide an embedded link, an ad for engagement rings popped up.

What I grew up thinking of as "girly" is just not my scene.  I also equate it with fancy, which is something I've never been.  I have brief moments of girlyness (like when I walk into a LUSH or find really cute underwear) and had a spell of fanciness in my mid-twenties (which included a Kate Spade bag, Via Spiga heels, and not being able to pay rent that month).  But I prefer a good burger and fries or a homecooked meal (which in my mind, always means Italian) with friends (and lots of wine) to being taken out to a fancy restaurant (regardless of how good the food is).  And it isn't about having money or being too cheap, it's about what I find comfortable.  Special occasions with good friends or my family at a fine dining establishment, I can do.  Fancy dates where I'm expected to wear heels and a skirt - no, sir, I cannot.

Most of the time I'm not really conscious of this, but every so often I find myself giving in to that gender-specific idea and thinking, "Oh yeah, I'm not a real girl."  Not in the way Pinocchio's not a real boy - I'm just better suited to muckabout clothes than anything involving a skirt.  I don't look good in pastels and have never been a fan.  I may care somewhat about how I look, but I don't give a whit about trends when I'm shopping for clothes.  At the same time, I find fashion fascinating.  I just prefer it on other people.  I don't wear a lot of makeup, but I own  plenty of it and I do care about taking care of my skin (which is why The Thinnest Skin exists).  What I find so interesting and so baffling is why I would care so much about fitting into a type that it is so obviously not natural for me in the first place?

No matter your level of girly (whether you're a girl or a guy) or manly (whether you're a guy or a girl), you should, in fact, always just be yourself.  Maybe that means that you're going to rock a little black dress and kitten heels.  Maybe you'll look like one hell of a woman in overalls and galoshes.  Or maybe you'll make people stare at how damn good you look in that tailored suit.  All I know is that no one ever seems to be truly happy when they're trying to be something they're really not.  And I'm certainly not going to find the perfect partner in crime for me if I'm masquerading as someone else.

Herbal Update on The Black Thumb

Week 8 for Mint, Rosemary, Basil and Thornless Blackberry (I know that's not an herb, but didn't want to make it feel left out): http://j.mp/IDDbbB.

The National Zoo's Invert House on Lost in DC

Think of this as the teaser trailer to a future feature post about The National Zoo's Invertebrate Exhibit: http://j.mp/Kk9yhr.

Spring Cleanup

Yesterday I didn't post a damn thing on any of the LostGirls sites.  I was a bad, bad, bad girl.  But I did do a few things I've been meaning to do for several weeks now.  Let me start by saying that (I know it's not a good excuse, but) I had a slightly unpleasant, unhappy weekend prior to doing all this.  It's funny how much a slight change, some tidying up and learning a couple new things can turn a crap day into something you actually want to write about.  Whether or not its interesting for your readers....well, here's hoping.


First, I finally got around to coloring my hair (which was dyed a pale strawberry blonde, which faded into dirty blonde and had lots of gray roots showing).  I used this...  (same item, different models and those hair colors do not look the same!).

And got this...

Which dried to look like this...

Suddenly those mismatched models up there make sense.


The second thing I did was a disk cleanup on my laptop.  A friend of mine once deleted a bunch of seemingly unnecessary files from her family's desktop computer.  After she restarted it, she found out that erasing those files had rendered the computer utterly useless.  I like to learn from other people's mistakes once in a while (but not too often).


So when I want to do something technical and have no clue how to not destroy whatever I'm trying to work on, I start with simply going to the item in question's manual, or in this case my computer's Help and Support menu.  I don't do a general online search, because that's just going to confuse my techtarded brain and I will undoubtedly do something that looks complex but should've been simple and have to go buy a new computer.


My computer was running a bit slow and I had already moved a bunch of stuff off to an external hard drive, so I just said, "Hey,Computer...'sup?" And asked it how to make it run faster.  Obviously, if you have an IT person/team or someone you know who can get you up to speed, you should use them instead.  But some of us are not so lucky and I'm all about being independent, as long as it's in a smart way (a dumb way would be insisting I don't need help moving the couch to another room and scratching the hell out of the hardwood floors while putting out my back, not that I'd know about that or anything).  The cleanup was easy, didn't take very long and I read the instructions very carefully.  Understand, that last part is a rarity for me.

But the best thing I did with my day (though it won't sound like it in a moment) was to sit down and research applications that will make using Twitter easier for me.  Since I don't have an assistant to time my tweets, as it were, and organize the folks I follow, I decided that I need some tools.  There are a very many apps/tools/whatnot out there that can help you get a bit more organized with Twitter, Facebook and your blog (it's all saving your time up...so you can spend more time on Pinterest).  Now, were I not a blogger, I would not care about any of this (my mother mocked me today about just that).  But once you're doing something business-y with social media, you have to recognize that you will lose your mind if you do not use whatever tools are at your disposal.  This part of the post is mostly for my blogging buddies, but even if you aren't using social media for a blog or business, these are excellent tools if you're devoting a lot of time to Twitter.

Twitter Feed:  I use this app to have every new post (separate feeds for each site) sent to the LostGirls Facebook page.  I already have the Facebook page setup to link automatically to Twitter (creating a tweet for anything that I share as LostGirls), but Twitter Feed can also auto-post to Facebook for you (your user wall or your page).  This tool means that I won't have to worry about going to all these different programs the moment I finish a post - everything updates automatically for me.

Tweet Deck:  The first program like this that I saw was Postano, but I quickly realized it wasn't the one I wanted, especially since its free service is so limited.  Tweet Deck's freeness is fantastic and they have a mobile app to match (though I haven't had a chance to explore it).  I use this app to look at the lists I made on Twitter (you can add people to lists that you create, see our Blogs We Love list - @LostGirlsDC) in a more organized fashion.  So instead of looking at one list at a time, I can look at 3 to 5 columns of tweets (each column contains a list that I made).  The number of columns you see depends on the size of your monitor, so I probably wouldn't use this on an iPad or Netbook, but on a big ol' external monitor, it's the bees knees.  I now log in to this app instead of Twitter.  I use the Chrome extension of Tweet Deck, but you can download  it here, as well.

Buffer:  I put this last, but it was actually the first app that I signed up for.  Buffer is my lazy tweet system.  This app is actually an incredibly efficient tool for Twitter.  You can record up to 10 items to tweet with the free version and create a timeline so that they will be released into the world at the times of your choosing.  The point with this is to keep up a regular stream of tweets (4 times a day is a nice option, that way you're still out there and you can retweet anything you like on your own schedule) so that you're staying in touch with your followers, without being a slave to Twitter.  This is also great if you want to retweet something you sent out before (seems to be a regular practice on Twitter, to make sure you don't miss anyone based on time of day).  Tweet tweet tweet.

If I write tweet one more time, I'm going to slap myself.