No one likes a tissue that leaves pieces behind

I saw this commercial for Charmin Ultra Strong bathroom tissue today and I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Seriously, folks. Really? Seriously? Seriously. Bits of tissue? Must that really be addressed?

Winter in SoCal

I used to complain that Los Angeles had no more than two seasons and that December was not December without snow. But after this past week and getting reports from friends in other parts of the country and Canada with weather temps from 2 F to -15 F, I am perfectly happy where I am on break here in SoCal. Sure, 55 F is chilly, but nothing to complain about at all!

I went for a short run yesterday down by the beach in Santa Monica and it was a beautiful day! Especially since it has been raining, the skies were mostly perfectly clear and the sun was warm despite the slight wind. It was a most excellent Southern California winter day.

Crafty

For this year's friend gift exchange the theme was: Homemade.

Barf.

I mean, I'm a big fan of gifts from the heart, but knowing what I was up against (girls who sew, paint art, draw pictures and sculpt), I knew that I couldn't just whip up one of my fun magazine cut-out cards and call it good. I liked the idea, but I knew it would be tough. Plus, homemade gifts take time and above all, talent! Who has either these days?!

On top of that, school was such a beast that fitting in "craft time" was the last thing on my mind. I know everyone is busy, but add the fact that the extent of my crafty talent went about as far as hand-print turkeys and 3-dimensional cubes, I knew this would be quite a challenge. I would have to put in some real time and effort, but having neither, I had two choices: pay Dana to make something for me or employ the power of the one true ingredient of all great things made by hand: love.

At first, I wanted to make an apron. Like a really pretty one, with layers and ruffles and cool patterns and colors like pink and brown. But after too much thought, the whole process became overly complicated to me and sewing it all by hand just seemed really annoying.

So then I thought I would make a blanket. In my mind, I envisioned a very easy blanket to make. Totally doable. So I went to the fabric store thinking I could just stick two pieces of fuzzy fabric together then sew satin ribbing around the edges, but as I walked the wall of felt, fleece and fur, I became so overwhelmed with all of the patterns, textures and colors that I started to hate all blankets in general. Fabric stores are very intimidating if not totally confusing. Plus, exact measurements are dumb.

So then I reverted back to an idea my sister gave me. In her mind, she thought as simply as possible, "What could Miriam possibly make?" She gave me the initial idea that lead to what you see below. Originally, it was supposed to be white dishtowels made cute with ribbon sewn on them, but after 20-minutes in the ribbon section, I was once again overwhelmed with the array of choices. Before I knew it, all of the hundreds of spools of ribbon were morphing into my worst personal project nightmare that I soon found myself in the iron-on section of the store. Then from the iron-on section I discovered my choice tool of trade: puff paint.

I must say, my little crafty skills really came to life! I think the dish towels turned out pretty nicely and I was actually proud to show them off. Best of all, Natalie liked them and that's all that mattered!






I made something pretty! Who knew love could be so powerful?

A history lesson

Chelsea Combs teaches the history of "church and state."

Click here: Time Yet for Visions

Playing For Change: Stand by Me

I saw this from a post from a friend on Facebook. Though it's a special cover of the song, "Stand by Me", it is actually just as interesting to watch as it is to hear.

It is from an award-winning independent film I have never heard of, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music" and it seems really interesting. Now that it's on my radar I will be looking for it.

For those of us familiar with the 3rd Street Promenade, we'll recognize some parts of this clip. Check it out:



There are several other songs in the movie as well in which the filmmakers combine the additions of music makers from around the world and edit them into one amazing version. Pretty awesome!

One Love

Banzai Dad

School is out for winter break! Finally, I have some time to relax.

Over Thanksgiving I went home to Seattle for the weekend. As always, it was nice to be home and away from Eugene for a bit. Going home is always a treat, especially when I can come away with some real gems.

One morning I walked into the kitchen to see my dad working very intently on a small plant. Turns out my dad has a little bit of Mr. Miyagi in him! It was so cute, I had to capture the moment. I never knew him to be much of a banzai kind of guy, but he really looked like he knew what he was doing.


Just when I thought that I had run out of blog material, daddy Oh comes to the rescue! Thanks dad, I knew I could count on you.