random

how a sewing machine works

why no blog, jog?

My initials are JOG. I'm mostly just glad it's not another vowel in the middle. O's are pretty innocuous. But enough about the initials. You might be wondering why I haven't blogged much lately. Yeah, I don't know either. There's a lot to blog about, actually. I just haven't had the gumption to blog about it. I've started, cursed at, and finished a couple of knitting projects, sewing projects and have finally painted that YACK (yet another chalkboard kitchen) wall. I've also found a couple of places I'm considering having the wedding reception at in LA. Multitudes of wedding ideas and all this other stuff, that if you stick with me, I'll eventually blog about.

So if you want those blog posts, you gotta talk to the powers that be (otherwise known as the editors and reviewers at Nature Neuroscience) to just go ahead and print my journal article so that I can go back to harassing the internet for more hours than my boss should know about.

me gusta

Go check out some of the other china settings. Do you see where the bride' and groom's names are in each of them?

pip pip, cheerio.

cute etsy pouch for everyone's inner nerd

somebody finally used felting needles....

more to come...

soap sweater

Jukki came to visit and we felted some soap sweaters! Fun, quick and easy!

zai jian zao

Just to stick with the Asian food theme, Jukki (who is visiting from LA) and I had lunch at Zao's Noodle at U Village. Though I've lived near a Zao's since college, I've never (I think... maybe once in Vegas...) gone in. And now that I've been, I'll never go again. Food sucked.

So maybe I should change the title of this post since zai jian means 'until I see you again' because I ain't ever going back. So... sayonara Zao.

ooh... need to be home on tuesday...

Marination Mobile

rice cooker

Speaking of Asian food, I just had to rave about having the bestest rice cooker ever. One of many craigslist finds in SF bay area, this sucker cost me a whopping $100. Some may sneer and gag at the thought of spending that much money on a rice cooker, but really, it makes any crappy rice found at 99 Ranch Market edible and yummy. Thank goodness for japanese businessmen who win prizes at golf tournaments and then proceed to sell their winnings on craigslist.

rocking wok

Seattle, for all its Asian population, has terrible Chinese food. Those in the know usually go over to Bellevue for good Chinese food. So it was nice to find that the new owners of Rocking Wok haven't screwed the pooch. I had this craving for 皮蛋瘦肉粥 and while Rocking Wok's wasn't the most spectacular, nor the most authentic, it was decently flavored and not bad for $4.75. It's nice that it's walking distance from home, too.

new seattle sugar

curio confections
the yellow leaf cupcake company
(via daily candy)

kyuto!

Mairuru's handsew-it-all blog!

wedding bands

Though I still love the idea of mokume gane, making our own wedding bands sound kinda cool, too. GE and I learned of this from a woman at Fusion Beads. We were taking a silver fusing class (once my camera gets back from its trip to Vancouver, I'll post pictures of the hammered bracelet I made) and the woman in the know was sitting beside me :)

say it ain't so...

Has it really been that long since I've written here? I blame it all on graduate school. I'll be better soon... really.

To prove I haven't been slacking in the crafts dept, though, here's a sweater and matching booties I made for LN and SN's new baby, May. And may I say, FINALLY, one of my friends has a female baby. Let the pink fluff flow forth from my needles and the flowers be crocheted! Next up: sweater for GL' and JL's similarly aged little girl.

**and I have no idea why blogger's decided to cut off the picture where it does...

if i had time

i'd go geek it out!

tatting

One of the reasons I wanted to learn to crochet is to be able to tat (this is a verb, tatting:knitting) beautiful items like this (butterfly from digital leaf studio). There's a tatting group on Ravelry that has quite a few wonderful finished objects to gawk at.

fiance asked me...

... whether I would want his brother to be a bridesmaid. Though funny, I doubt MG's bro would shave his pits for a strapless bridesmaid dress. So, probably not, MG. Probably not.

tacky weddings
(via weddingbee)

procession songs

1. Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suite in G Major (if only I could get Yoyo Ma...)
2. Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. Here's a drum corps version. There's also a couple of solo piano versions on the internet (here's a sample, yes that is Hitler).
3. Forrest Gump theme for piano. Heck, I know three people off the top of my head that can play this well on the piano.
4. Kissin's Pictures at an Exhibition, for a weightier entrance.
5. (Darkhorse) Gustav Holst's Mars would kinda be fun, too. Though the subtitle "Bringer of War!!!" isn't really conducive to weddings, I guess.
6. That one song in high school that we played but whose name escapes me. I might have to go back to the band classroom to look it up in the library.

So all you instrument-playing friends of mine, get yo arses ready to be put to work. Unless all you can play is Canon in D. Then you're already fired. Because the world doesn't need another wedding with someone playing that song. Speaking of which:

Pretty Songs Nixed Due to Overplay

1. Canon. Though this song always reminds me of My Sassy Girl, it seems everyone and their mother plays this song at their wedding.
2. Appalachian Spring. Lovely, but also gets around like Paris Hilton.
3. Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. I loved playing this song on the oboe, way back when.
4. Ave Maria. Unless someone can write "Ave Fert"
   

want...

... an illusion vase. Or any of illusion products at Uncommon Goods.
... and ice orb.