balderdash!

we have a new member of the balderdash team and it seems to have inspired all of us. come and see what we've been doing.

new balderdash!

is up! and it's about time...

new balderdash just in

new balderdash is up for your reading pleasure...

and as usual, a teaser:

unsess - to push yourself beyond what you think you can do, only to find that you can do it and you're invincible.

and through a haze of smoke from her burning hair...

i've been reading a lot of new year's posts in recent days, as you might imagine, it being new year's and all...as we saw in my facetious new year's resolutions post, i'm not really one for making real resolutions, mostly because i never keep them anyway and like christmas cards, it's just something else to feel guilty about. (aside: i don't send christmas cards and every one that i receive is like a little dagger of guilt, tho' luckily not sending any has tapered off the amount i receive over the years so it's not very much guilt these days.)

there are, however, a couple of posts that have me thinking. beth on doors are everywhere has chosen a single word that will be her mantra for the year. last year it was "see" and she became very engaged in photography. this year, her word is "focus." a single word can be powerful. the other thoughts on new year's resolutions are sunmamma's posts on her new year's intentions. i like that notion very much, to have intentions towards the new year. because the new year does seem to be a time to begin anew, the clean calendar pages stretching before you, quivering in all of their delicious potential.

when i think back to 2008, although i didn't have a specific word in mind, i think that healing and creativity were two of the big words for me. inspiration was a factor as well. at the beginning of the year, i was definitely looking to find balance again. but now, what do i want this year to be about?

ARRGH!!! I WANT 2009 TO BE ABOUT NOT SETTING MY HAIR ON FIRE!! can you believe that i just did it AGAIN! much worse this time...like long-term, absolutely ridiculous-looking damage right in the front!! i look forward to not having to heat this room with CANDLES!!! and now i have to let all of the heat out while i air out the horrible BURNED HAIR SMELL!!!  HOW CAN A PERSON WRITE A SERIOUS, THOUGHTFUL BLOG POST UNDER THESE CONDITIONS?!?!

perhaps after all of the traveling of the past couple of years, my word for this year should be home. or perhaps simplicity in light of my desire to live a less materially-obsessed life.  but frankly, what with the stench of burned hair and all, i've kinda lost the thread on this post. if any of you thinks of a word that seems like it should be my mantra for 2009, do let me know...i'm open to any helpful suggestions at this point...maybe i should just pick one of those verification words. how about gredlome or dhoolo or ungistun...hmmm, i might be onto something there...

new balderdash for the new year

teaser...

hydrank - the big gulp of water you take in a dream to quench your real-life thirst.

now trot on over to balderdash and check it out!

new balderdash just in

just posted some new balderdash...here's a teaser:

isess - that white residue left in the liquid at the bottom of a glass that has contained ice cubes.

the stuff i should have written about this morning

i was so busy getting in a last laugh at our nearly past-president and the shoe thing that i didn't really write about or share all of the things i should have, which actually turned out to be good, because i have even more stuff to show you now.

you are all well aware of how much i adore design for mankind, but now i have even more reason to love it! last week, i left a comment on a giveaway posting for this great print from nicole lecht at freshly blended press. and i actually won!! it's so exciting! i said i would give it to my friend who just had twins, since it's a stork picture and now i really get to do that! thank you erin, nicole and design for mankind! there are more giveaways this week, so get on over there!! maybe you can be a winner too!

* * *

the mailman brought me my back-tack today. my lovely partner mo, sent me these beautiful handmade tea towels and oven mitt, plus a bunch of other goodies (including brownie mix from trader joe's (one of the only things i still miss from the US--having a grocery store like trader joe's)). it's just so nice to get a package! (and speaking of packages, those jokers from DHL showed up today as well.)

* * *

i've been talking endlessly about my writing house. that was the original idea with it, but the room, which is really a 24 m2 building in the garden has become much more than just a place for me to write. as the fireplace guy who came to have a look at where he will install a woodburning stove in there said, it's more of an atelier. i like that idea. it's a place where, despite the fact that the electrician came only last week and the lights aren't really hooked to the switch yet, we want to spend all of our time. and i did spend a lot of time there this weekend. hanging our family paintings from last weekend and painting a liquor cabinet (then filling it with liquor--of which we have a rather shocking amount thanks to how often i pass through a duty free (cocktails anyone?)) and arranging the camera collection.  check it out...

love, love, love the hamngren print we inherited from husband's father and now we finally have a great place to hang it.

masses of beautiful fabric waiting for the muse to strike and looking mighty pretty in the meantime.

and strike the muse did. yesterday's late afternoon big-ass mug of coffee didn't only result in balderdash and laughing at bush, but also in some painting and a pillow design...

i'm pretty pleased with the pillow. it's for my sister-in-law for christmas, but it may be difficult to part with it. more pix of it tomorrow in better light (not the bright work light that's shining on it here, looking like the sun, which i only vaguely remember anyway, since i haven't seen it in weeks) and when it's finished. which i'm going to do now.

announcing balderdash!

in response to popular demand, yesterday i created a new blog called balderdash. it's going to be exclusively for those hilarious verification word definitions. molly has agreed to help me out. we've invited amanda of WTF? wednesday fame as well, since she actually started the whole thing (but she hasn't accepted the invitation yet--we hope it's because she's traveling). anyway we're going to continue making up definitions for those quasi-words.

we'd like to thank google for making them much more word-like and totally inspiring us. now, get on over there and see what we've got (so far, it's my three previous postings that contained these, plus one brilliant one molly did yesterday and the one i'm about to post right now).

balderdash (is what she writes when she's got nothin' else)

it seems that not only are the verification words more word-like, they're getting more poetic as well. my definitions, however, not so much.

catmodea - small matted furballs left around the house by the cat after she grooms herself.

sliftemi - the taste left in your mouth after licking an envelope or a stamp.

unbrines - the last little sad pickles left in the jar and pushed to the back of the refrigerator, only to eventually be thrown out.

secueds - linguistic term for mild versions of swear words adapted from ones that had a religious origin. e.g. "cheese and rice" instead of "jesus christ" and "oh my goodness" instead of "oh my god."

keddlip - that sad little quivering lip sported by disappointed children. from the danish root "ked af det" (to be sad about something).

complue - low-level administrator who unwittingly helps a shady businessman commit his white collar crimes. not important enough to be an accomplice.

ementar - the weepy, slightly thick moisture that collects in the plastic on cheese that's been in the fridge for too long.

sphectum - an instrument for measuring quantities of phlegm. (not that i know why anyone would want to do that).

matracc - to become entangled in office politics.

pernies - people who take home food from a buffet.

wigimper - one who repairs wigs.

pholoof - an expression of relief to still be alive upon completion of a marathon or triathlon. (as if i'd know.)

dribloa - a pitcher that doesn't quite pour right, but always dribbles on the tablecloth.

crilec - a person with a chronic injury caused by excessive use of a hand-held electronic device. as in: "she used her iPhone constantly and now she's a total crilec."

cheedi - young people gathered on a quiet residential street smoking and setting off firecrackers when they should be in school. i was lucky enough to get a photo of some cheedi yesterday:

just far too many hairballs and stuff lurking in the back of the refrigerator to be poetic this time.

a bit more balderdash

will someone please remind me why i have a job which requires that i fly to get there? oh wait, it's because it's a fantastic opportunity and i get to work on interesting things together with people who are motivated and who i really like to be around (all of which i really mean and am not trying to be sarcastic)...but still, i have to fly to get to it. commercial no less. and getting to the airport involves almost exactly an hour on a train from where i live. but that gave me plenty of time this morning to write a few more definitions for those verification words:

aquallar - that luminous, transparent turquoise blue of the sea off boracay.

subedi - pockets of no cellular service when the metro goes underground.

vemputis - an uncontrollable tendency to wear black or nearly-black nail polish.

terysol - a spray which should be used to freshen the air outside of office buildings where smokers gather now that smoking inside isn't allowed.

epoide - the portion of a t.v. program that's shown between commercials.

pedinges - the small splashes of nail polish that get on the cuticle by mistake and must be removed with a brush wetted with nail polish remover by the nice nail girl.

jibist - one who makes out as if they had no idea what their underlings were doing. example: ken lay was the very epitome of a jibist in the enron scandal.

i think i'm kind of on a roll here, but now i'm running out of words, so i'd better go comment on some blogs at collect some more.

i wish you all a wonderful thanksgiving. i'll be working tomorrow, since people on this side of the planet are curiously oblivious to the best holiday of all. i'm doing a turkey and all the fixins on friday tho', together with our very best friends. and for that, i am thankful.