stupidhippy.com

I caught up on a neglected pile of issues of the New Yorker this week. I kind of like reading them that way, piled up for a few weeks and then reading them all in one sitting. I finished Grave Peril. I like the Harry Dresden books very much (thanks, Cetta!). I have the next one, but I have some books that I can’t renew because there’s a waiting list, so I probably won’t get to it for a few weeks.

I also finished White Like Me by Tim Wise and let me tell you, I loved that book. Wise is a white anti-racist and the book is about white privilege in the US. It was a very enjoyable read, especially given the subject matter, which is hardly “fun.” I learned a lot about racism and how you can fight it as a white person. It especially spoke to me because Wise is the same age as me and grew up in the same post-Civil Rights Movement era. I posted this on facebook, but in a bit about religion, Wise was talking about why is Jesus shown as a white man in art and illustrations, as is Mary, and even God. When Wise asked people in a church why that was, they said oh well, it doesn’t matter the color, only what they did. Why not change them to a different color, if it doesn’t matter, Wise asked. Oh no, that wouldn’t be right! Wise asks, “Why represent Adam and Eve as if they had spent their days in the Garden of Sweden, rather than the Garden of Eden?” That just cracked me up, Garden of Sweden, hehe. Anyway, I highly highly recommend the book to everyone, very good!

When you’re living on unemployment (or are very very underemployed), things like getting your hair cut just sort of… don’t take priority at all. So when Rebecca and I went to get ours cut today, it was the first time in about a year, I can’t even remember the last time. We both had about three or four inches hacked off. I took before and after shots, but we were standing out in the bright sun and I couldn’t see them on my phone screen very well, so I didn’t realize until it was too late that I’d taken shitty photos of both of us. Doh.

But oh oh oh, I love the feeling of having all that hair hacked off! Even though I’ve been LOSING my freakin’ hair, it’s still pretty thick and it was really long and now that the weather is getting warm, it was really starting to piss me off. Not to mention it was just a mess. Now it’s so short and light! Originally Rebecca said she wanted to keep her hair long and just have a trim. But then we saw some old photos of when her hair was short and she remembered how much she liked it, and how easy it is to take care of, especially in summer, so she got her hair short again, it’s just about at her chin, all angled and cute. I do have a photo of her from a few days ago. She got this hat at Ross and has been wearing it constantly. I love that she dresses a bit quirky. Although sometimes it’s hard to keep my mouth shut because she thinks, say, plaid goes with plaid, regardless of the colors. But whatever, she’s got her own style. This hat is perfect.

There are several big rosemary bushes outside our Trader Joe’s and they are covered with these weird spit ball things. I think they’re some kind of bug doing something? Laying eggs in there? Something else? Anyone know?

Why is the weather always crappy when I have errands the needing doing? We had to go to the library, to CVS, and Safeway. The weather sucks. I was at the library when I realized I forgot my cloth shopping bags, which is a huge bummer. As irritating as it is to bring home the backpack full of books and a bunch of groceries, it’s much better when the groceries are in a few nice large-ish cloth bags with wide comfy handles than a bunch of unruly stupid little plastic bags. GRRRR! SOOOOO IRRITATING.

I did, however, have my kid to keep me entertained (when I was acting all short-tempered and snappy to her, ugh, bad mom day). We have so so much fun with the photo app on my phone. First a normal shot, I don’t think I ever posted photos of the poncho I made for her a while back. She requested it after we some girls wearing cabled ponchos one day. Rebecca has a history of not actually wearing the things I knit for her, so I was a little skeptical, but she wears this a lot and I think it turned out pretty well. There’s a matching cable running down the middle of the back.

It’s always great when something funny happens when you’re feeling really pissed off. So I was glad when Rebecca noticed this in the credits of Eyewitness: Dinosaur:

Mar got me hooked on Zentangles. I really enjoyed a few vidoes of people drawing them (Neko likes the music, when the birds start chirping, he goes nuts, it’s cute).

I made a few on some little cardstock cards, which I pasted on a page in my journal, and then I drew one directly into my journal. I didn’t have a plan for the larger one, except that it would be a frame for something. I have a folder full of odds and ends, mostly things I’ve cut out of magazines (mostly the New Yorker), so after I was done doodling, I went looking for something to fit inside and came up with the photo of Neil Gaiman. Then I went to his web site for a random quotation.

Zentangles are fun, although I get a little dizzy sometimes.

We went to my dad’s in-laws today. It was the first time we spent a holiday with Granny’s parents, even though they’ve been married more than twenty years. Good food, good company.

Remember the show “Real People?”

But then I found these clips of Frank and Moon Zappa on Letterman and it’s awesome.

Oh, Archie McPhee’s, how do I love thee? Heh.

Handerpants!
Bacon Squeezins Water Bottle
Angry Mob Play Set!!
Nihilist Mints, they’re flavorless, nihilists don’t believe in flavor.

A friend of Ed’s gave Rebecca a stack of old comic books. Pretty freakin’ old, too. Most of them are from the early 70s, one is from the mid-80s. They’re Disney comics, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, one Flintstones. They’re pretty awesome. I feel sort of bad giving them to a little kid, heh. I flipped through them for the memory blast of the advertising.

I just don’t even know what to say about this. Okay, I had to look it up, I had no idea. Chocks was a brand of vitamins for kids, Charlie Chocks was the mascot, check it out.

Dude! Woodstock! U.S.A. Drinking Team! Budweiser! In a kid’s comic book!

Dude! Jim-Freaking-Neighbors!!!

What’s funnier, the artists listed here, or the fact that they’re selling records and tapes, or the price, 15 records or tapes for less than two bucks?

I posted some more over at flickr.