Finally, I have wheels again!



d23 came to visit, and brought Pancake. So, pretty much every picture I have of the last week is Pickpocket and Pancake being stoopid cute. And also helpful. See how they help drive? They are also great at helping clean, make the bed, get work done, and get up in the morning.





In other news, I've realized I take a lot of pictures of bugs- I suppose it's all the wildlife I can really expect to find in Oakland. I think I'll try out one of those little magnetic macro lenses for my phone. Anyone have any experience with those?

Crap, I haven't checked in since before the holidays! I'm a busy girl of late. So, let's see if I can catch y'all up:



Pickpocket learned all about bugs, and how delicious they are



Guy Fawke's day came and went, with baudot hosting the usual Irish car bomb tasting. I'm sure he remembers who won. The rest of us remember very little.



Pickpocket went to a friend's birthday party, where we all learned a valuable lesson: it's all fun and games until someone easts the candles (still lit, I might add). Way to go, Bijoux.



I made a whole lot of pumpkin cookies, with Earl Gray icing.



There were lots of cuddle with the boy



and the dog



I made Christmas dinner



for d23, AcidGrampa, and their respective ladyfriends.



Flux came to visit, and we hijacked someone else's birthday party and totally got away with it



I painted my toes

(And that about sums up the last couple of months (or the highlights, anyhow).

Holy OGSG House, Batman!

Trillian and I are once again searching for a roomate, and it looks like the amazing Pearl may be moving to the Bay just in the nick of time. Fingers crossed- it's been way too long since I've had time to spend with that one.


Also, still looking for photos of me with Missy. Comic Con, perhaps?

Hey, do any of you guys have any pictures of me with Missy? It would need to be something you were OK with me passing on to SG proper for whatever insidious use Missy has in mind. Turns out that as much time as I've spent with her over the years, I have very few photos of the two of us. This may explain why the media occasionally thinks we are the same person....

Hmmm, I seem to never update my blog these days.

I've been going to the farmer's market and cooking delicious food (artichokes in white wine and miso sauce? Roasted beets with feta and fresh mint? Potato Leek soup? Fresh blackberry cobbler?), cavorting with buddies, playing with Pickpocket, and cuddling my weekends away with the boy.

Nothing to see here, people. Move along.

Life is positively charming at the moment.

So, I have determined to get on the bowl-free bus and make PickPocket a no-bowl dog. That's right, little buddy. Welcome to your California DogMom lifestyle.

Of course, up until now he has been doing fine. He's pretty smart- he picks up commands in just a few sessions, as long as treats are involved. He's been getting some of his food in a Kong for a couple of weeks, so today we stepped it up to the Tug-A-Jug. Man, my dog thinks I'm an asshole. He can't figure it out- he's given up. I keep showing him, but he just eats what falls out and then looks dejected when I stop.

Has anyone else tried this route? Is the Tug-A-Jug too much too fast? It's supposed to entertain him, not depress him!

I'm feeling pretty damn good about life today.

After a pretty intense weekend of staring at my computer (there have been a lot of those lately), for the first time my portfolio website actually looks like a website. And has stuff in it. And goes. It still needs at least one more piece, but that's kinda-sorta built, I just have to decide what it looks like. And one piece crashes Safari for reasons I don't understand, plus there's a few other bugs to iron out. But mostly, it's done. By the end of next weekend, I should be able to start uploading it and fixing all the bugs that turn up there. And then, the job hunt begins.

This has been a really long, tough haul- I've been Ms. Nose-in-a-book for a year now, and it feels really good to see it coming together.

Hell, I may even see my friends again one day!

Also, there's an outside chance I might go to Geneva for six months. Anyone lived there? What should I know? (it's only a slim chance, anyhow).

Haute Macabre just released our new jewelry collaboration with RockLove. The lovely Zoetica models:






Meanwhile, I am being a Very Busy Girl and barley updating these days. I'm SOOOOO close to having my portfolio site finished so that I can actually start job hunting- except that my computer freaked out yesterday and vanished everything in my Documents past the letter D. Including my whole portfolio site. I do have a backup copy, but it's days of work out of date, so now I'm learning how to recover vanished files from a Mac. It's not like they just got put in the trash and deleted. They never went into the trash- they just up and vanished. So I'm quite convinced they're still here somewhere....

So, for Easter I went to the annual Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence party in Dolores Park, because noone does Easter bonnets like drag queens. And also because I love the fact that in their happily sacrilegious way, the Sisters have gone round the other side of reality and ended up right where Easter was supposed to be all along- a big fucking party to celebrate the end of winter, all about sex. Bunnies and eggs, my friends. Bunnies and eggs. And the Hunky Jesus Contest.




I also took Pickpocket with me. He handled the crowd really well (this was his first time in a big crowd), although he kept trying to attack other people's picnic lunches. He made a new friend:

Budget Crisis WTF. I had the following conversation today with an FBI forensics lab. Shortened for simplicity.

FBI: "We need a femur"

Me: "I only have one on hand, but it doesn't match what you are looking for. I can keep my eye out and let you know when one comes in that will work for you"

FBI:"That's fine. We can't get it right now anyhow, there's no money in our budget"

Me: "OK, I'll start looking. When I find something is it easier to contact you by phone or email?"

FBI; "Oh, we don't have email here"



Wait, the FBI forensics lab doesn't have email, or a spare $200? I am SO starting a life of crime.