spoke too soon

Remember my last post where I said that Isabel had passed us over? Well, it HAD - I swear!

Sometime Thursday night we lost power and didn't get it back until about 15 minutes ago. I think it speaks volumes about my attachment to technology that the first thing that occurred to me was to crank up my computer and check email :P

It really was inconvenient - no electricity to spark the gas-powered stove, so we had to light candles even to cook. Everything in the fridge (and probably freezer) has gone bad, but there was no point in grocery shopping until it came back on. Even taking a shower was problematic, because we didn't want to use up all the hot water!

I did take a couple of walks yesterday. Believe me when I say that it was NOT as bad as portrayed in the news, at least in our neck of the woods. There were a lot of leaves blown around, but no felled trees or damaged property; even the dumpsters managed to hang on so there wasn't garbage strewn everywhere. The last couple of days have actually been very pretty, with cooler temperatures and a nice breeze.

I did do one hell of a lot of reading! For the first time in recent memory I finished every single book I checked out of the library. Given that I've got 2 more being transferred from elsewhere, this is something of a record because I'm very bad about biting off more than I can chew at the checkout desk!

I did also dye my hair - Deep Purple with a drop of Blue Velvet. It's hard to tell I've done anything because it's so dark, but my experience in the past says that it will fade to a bright blue-violet before I refresh it.

So, checking up on a couple days email and suchlike.

attn: bunny_sonatas

I remember you mentioned once that you were looking for 17th century "3 Musketeers" type patterns. Well, here they are! Not in print for another month but that's a short time to wait!

I'm particularly interested in the medieval Scottish/Irish patterns - not as exciting as kilts, but perhaps more interesting for the research involved.

shoooooooz

Usually they devote their airtime to more pressing matters, but Morning Edition did an entire week of fashion stories for NYC Fashion Week, including this feature on high-heeled, high fashion shoes.

Now, I love shoes - LOVE them! I even love heels - I love the height and the slimness that they lend to the leg. My black leather 4" heels make me feel confident, sexy, and dangerous. They also make my spine feel like I've tied it into knots, so I don't wear them often!

Somehow I'm not surprised that there are podiatrists like the one mentioned in this article that offer toe shortening or collagen injections so people can fit into their Jimmy Choos, though I wish it did. Looking at the history of fashion, there is no shortage of stupid shit that people (not just women) will do for beauty. Corrosive chemicals, restrictive undergarments, unhealthy eating/not eating, risky surgeries - nothing new.

But DAMN, I just LUURVE black spike heeled boots!

The rest of their Fashion Week coverage looks far less painful, though I'm sure that some musical purists will have fits over the phenomenon of runway remixers.