Mr. Man!

I met Mr. Man 7 years ago today and I couldn’t be happier!

He is a pretty fantastic fellow who knows how to make me laugh.

(Being thoroughly astounded by a boat.)

Suffice it to say, I think I’m awfully lucky.

I love you, Mr. Man.

Google twin, where are you?

I keep coming across references to Google twins (or Googlegangers) and haven’t searched my name recently so I thought I would give it a try. [Google twins are other people with the same name as yours, that you find by Googling your name. There is a book and a documentary out, and here is a smart article explaining why we are interested in people with "our" name.]

Now, if I put in my maiden name, which has a less-than-usual spelling, I come up with an elementary school principal in Canada, an OB-GYN in Boston, a school admin in Kentucky, a gospel singer in Conneticut, a world champion deep sea diver in England, and a philanthropic temp service employee in West Virginia.

Then I type in my married name. It isn’t that amazingly unique. In fact, my first name (Tanya) is standard enough that I was often able to find it on those racks of personalized coffee mugs and miniature license plates while growing up. However, this particular name combo cannot be found on Google!

For some reason I find that oddly frustrating — and a tiny bit cool.

(Who are your Google twins?)

Harold

I just have another quick photo post–this time of a friendly little plastic dino that I found in a geocache on a recent hike with some pals.  I’m fond of dinosaurs and the macro setting on my camera.  Who cares if I am still learning how to get a good shot when my house is horribly dark?  This is more dreamy anyway.  And I think his name might be Harold.  Harry to his friends.  Or Hank.  I believe he is now somewhere under the couch since crazy cat likes to push items under the furniture then look up at me like she is the cleverest, most talented creature.

The Men’s Shop – JC Penney

Just popped in to show off one of the ties that is sitting in my collection, waiting to be re-made into a girly, but not too froofy, accessory.  Because I love the visual “conflict” of something being used for something it wasn’t meant to be used for.

Springmas

A lovely, funky stash of Pay it Forward goods that sweet jessie sent my way:

I think she nailed my love of fun vintage prints!  (Sturdy bookbag of vintage fabrics in the background, M&Ms!, turtle-covered tissue holder, teeny cards with envelopes, and a small day planner–just the right size for me.)  And that milk maid on the bottom left is sewn onto the bag.  It makes me smile.

Now go check out her Etsy store, especially if you have a little one.

Psst…my two Pay It Forward people: I may take a while, but I will get your packages out to you too!

$3.20!

The 50 cent highlight of my thrifting excursion yesterday.  It’s a smallish ceramic dish that I am using to hold my grab bag of to-do tasks.  (This way I don’t feel overwhelmed by the list of “should be doing” and can leave my fate in the hands of this holey bowl.)  And the best thing about it is the scratched artist’s imprint on the bottom:  Casie Olson, Period 5.  Casie, wherever you are, you appear to have bright future in charming blue dishes.

The rest of my thrift store haul included a hefty 1979 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning text book, a rust colored wool tie, and a double-handled mug with an old-timey drawing of a syrup maid.  All for $3.20!

Now I am off to consume more blackberry Jell-O and watch bad movies that I wouldn’t otherwise watch only because I have a free preview of Showtime write the next great American novel.

more concrete

Woo hoo!  I am on a “I’m-not-going-to-be-as-lazy-as-usual” roll today!  I have already made french toast and gone on a walk where I took pictures of cement.  Really.  I love to take pictures of crinkly, spotty, messy sidewalks and manholes.  (Like these.)  I may need to start a Flickr group for any other weirdos out there like me.  Here are a few from today:

And after the walk I was dead-set on going across the street to take a picture of the fake rooster that has been sitting in the branches of a neighbor’s tree for months and wouldn’t you know it–IT’S GONE.  Either they read this blog or are damn psychic.  Either way they are out to thwart my fun.

On a completely different topic:  I still have one spot available in the Pay It Forward deal-io (scroll down a few entries for details).

(Image courtesy of sweet jessie.)

Now, I’m off to make a cheesy, cheesy quesadilla and then thrifting so I thought I would leave you with a cheerful shot I took on the way into the house.

This is a flower that my incredibly sweet neighbor Lydia (who doesn’t speak English) planted for us last fall, via much pantomiming.  It was a tiny cutting at the time and the other three died before they could take root, so I am thrilled to see this orangeness shooting up.

Happy weekend!

brought to you by the number 4

A well-educated fuzzy caterpillar from my weekend hike with the girls. Most of my pics turned out horribly so here are some I stole from Sheasy’s Flickr.

I hope she doesn’t sue me. Or break my kneecaps.

There is a rooster in a tree across the street. Really. Not a real rooster, but a large, white, feathery, fake rooster is really in the tree. It has been there for quite some time and I am dying to go take a picture before the leaves cover it up.

Did you know that only one animal other than humans –a type of small monkey I believe –has been known to give food to its neighboring small monkeys when they weren’t related and they wouldn’t get anything in return? They were documented being spontaneously “nice.” Only one other animal! (From my beloved Smithsonian magazine.) Those darn pandas aren’t as sweet as they seem!

My brother went to Japan!!! And he didn’t tell me beforehand!!! And that means I will blackmail him for pictures to share!!!

Tonight we watched half of “Margot at the Wedding” (even though Sheasy may have possibly warned me against it or some other “wedding” movie). We Netflixed it –I just made that a verb—because we liked Squid and the Whale, also by Noah Baumbach, and it stars Jack Black and Nicole Kidman. I know! Weird star combo. However, we only watched half because we were thoroughly skeeved out by the icky and not entirely coherent strangeness peppered throughout. [One side note: a lot of the stuff that Jack Black’s character said totally sounds like Mr. Man.]

And lastly, I am writing this at 11pm because I don’t want to go to bed. I am no longer eight years old, I promise.

Pay It Forward

Thanks to SweetJessie (another sweet-blog–go check it out) I am participating in a crafty version of Pay It Forward.  That means that the first three people who leave a comment requesting to participate will receive some handmade goodies from me….wait for it….completely FREE! The only thing the three commenters must do is promise on their creative souls that they will then offer the same Pay It Forward concept on their own blog.

I love getting stuff in the mail! and I love handmade goodness! and I love finding new creative friends! (And I love exclamation points!)

And for any lurkers out there — and I know there must be one or two because I don’t always check my own blog 30 times in one day– please leave a comment to say hi even if you won’t be participating. I like to keep lists. And maybe someday those lists of sweetpeople who said howdy in the early days of sweetcheese will be pleasantly surprised.

I am not above resorting to bribery.