As we were leaving for Billings, the sun hit the window just right. The spiderwebs that I had been leaving in hopes of growing for Halloween looked beautiful and I snapped at least twenty pictures of them.
I think I’ll probably have to clean these up before Halloween comes around…
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I really like this crochet beaded bracelet. I didn’t think of using a button as a closure. Maybe I should try that and look for some glamorous buttons.
It seems like people are thinking of cooler things to do with crochet than I have seen for years.
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Merriton usually posts every Wednesday, but I have an extra episode of Merriton posting today. If you have been reading regularly, you can see the extra post here:
If you haven’t been reading my fiction weblog, then it’s a great time to start. There’s just enough story to get you interested. You can start reading here:
It has been a long time since I’ve been able to regularly write fiction and it feels so good to get these stories out of my head. Come on over and enjoy things twelve hours from San Francisco.
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While we were in Billings, we visited the Rimrock Mall. It looks completely different than it did when I was child trapped in the town. Completely different, except for Herberger’s. Imagine my surprise when I find that Montgomery Ward is gone, replaced with an additional Dillards (does the mall really need TWO Dillards?), but Herberger’s is still there.
The sign looked completely unchanged in the last twenty years.
Herberger’s was one of those stores that I always thought was for grownups. It didn’t have any stickers or candy. It didn’t even have any cool clothes for when I became obsessed with my clothes more than stickers. I always thought it was one of those stores I would like when I got older.
I’m older now and it still looks entirely unremarkable. When will I be old enough to make Herberger’s interesting, and will it still be there when I am?
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Sorry to break it to you, but you gonna be singin’ this song all summer. I know you hate it, but it’s gonna be the song you sing.
Dear New York Times,
We’ve known it was either Daniel Lyons or Andy Ihnatko for almost a month now. We decided we didn’t care who the author was. Leave the tech reporting to the insiders, okay?
Laura Moncur
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Mike and I went to The Museum of the Rockies on the drive back from Billings. You can see the review of the exhibits here:
I had the strangest feeling while I was in the dinosaur museum. I was standing next to huge T-Rex skulls and full bodied skeletons of all sorts of dinosaurs and I felt such a feeling of ownership. I felt like they were MY fossils. I had dug them up and donated them to the museum.
Of course, I felt like this because of Animal Crossing:
Seeing a museum like mine in Merriton was better in real life than in the game, even though I had nothing to do with actually digging up those fossils.
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This video is truly the most accurate representation of Animal Crossing that I’ve ever seen.
Announcer: Awesome Crossing!
Hero: Ah… finally moved into town!
Nook: Well, hey there, buddy. Hows about a new house?
Hero: That’d be great!
Nook: Well, it will only put you in debt to me for the next 700 years. Okay, here’s your house, see ya.
Hero: But I don’t have any money.
Elephant: I’ll give you money if you agree to perform 63 tasks that require you to run around in circles for 7 hours.
Hero: But…
Elephant: I hate you! You never visit me!
Hero: What’s going on?! And why do I love it so much?!Announcer: There really is no ending because this game never ends!
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We’re going to Las Vegas to celebrate my sister’s birthday!
The whole time I was miserable in Billings, I kept saying to myself that I was going to go to Vegas for Stacey’s birthday and I could be happy then. Especially when I ate the open faced turkey sandwich with beef gravy (?!) at the casino restaurant that my grandpa likes so much, I promised myself that things will be better when we go to Vegas.
We’re leaving today and we’ll get to see what kind of gas mileage the Prius gets on one of our favorite drives out of town. Since we got over 45.6 mpg on the Billings trip, we’re thinking that it will be a pretty cheap drive.
I’m going to visit Fry’s and look for the Japanese animated movie of Animal Crossing and a Sanyo Xacti E1. I’m going to go to their Apple store and get iLife ’08 since the Apple store in SLC doesn’t seem to have it yet. I’m going to go to the Swatch store and look at the Puzzle Motion Swatches. I’m going to follow Stacey, Dan, my mom and Reed around and see what they’re interested in.
Most importantly, I’m NOT going to be in Montana.
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PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.
I got home from Vegas last night at about 7:30 pm. It felt good to get home, but it felt even better to put my computer back on its desk and do a little work in my normal spot.
I sent out the Starling Fitness DVD orders that came in while we were out of town. If I want to sell DVDs, all I have to do is go out of town. The orders seem to always come in when I’m unable to send them out.
I made a pilgrimage to Fry’s Electronics while we were in Vegas and got so many toys for my Macbook. Why does it make me happy to personalize my computer? I don’t know, but now my Macbook is red, just like everything else.
We also made a pilgrimage to the Apple Store in Vegas for the first time since SLC got its own Apple Store. The Vegas one looks so much smaller compared to ours. That makes me feel a little bit better about how small the SLC store looks compared to the San Francisco one.
I bought iLife ’08 while I was there. I used the new iMovie to make a video of my family visiting Madame Tussauds at the Venetian. It was pretty easy to use. I’m sure it’s just as powerful as the old iMovie, I just need to figure out everything. It’s exciting to learn new things!
Back to work! Yeah!
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I just learned the third rule of blogging.
The first rule is: No matter how many emoticons or j.k.’s you use, someone won’t understand that you’re being sarcastic.
Rule number two is: The Internet is public and ANYONE can read it, even your boss or your mother.
Rule number three is: Everyone assumes you’re writing about them.
Sorry, I wasn’t writing about you, but I’m writing about you now.
:) j.k.
Despite the oppressive heat, I’m taking a walk to the post office and around my neighborhood. I can’t bear to run on the treadmill when I could be doing something useful like running errands. It won’t be as intense of a workout because I can’t keep up a run in over 100 degree weather, but it feels so much more useful.
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This awesome animation was directed by Joeri Holsheimer. It has a beautiful Blue Man Group feel to it.
It was turned into a commercial for Snickers, but this is the original. You can see the Snickers commercial here:
I have to say that I like the original better.
Via: no es bueno.com
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The CAT scan of my grandpa’s lungs showed a huge mass (why didn’t they catch this when he got pneumonia two months ago?!). He’s going in for a biopsy, but the doctor said he was 90% sure it was cancer.
I guess I’m going back to Billings soon. Probably have to leave Mike at home to hold down the fort…
Do not want…
It really helps to have a good book to read if you are trapped in Montana. Mike is looking for one right now. I was unable to find one, so I’m just waiting for Mike to find what he needs.
I don’t know how long I’m going to be in Billings. I guess we’ll just play it by ear. My hope is that we’ll be able to convince him to come back to Salt Lake City with us. Otherwise, I’ll be trapped in Montana for a long time.
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I just passed the Idaho border. Driving alone IS lonely, but not as bad as I expected. Thanks to all my Twitter friends for keeping me company. I can’t respond while driving, but I’m not as isolated when my phone sings Twitter.
One state down, two more to go.
This photo should have posted on Friday August 17, 2007 at 2:12pm, but Flickr and my phone were acting up.
***
I’m getting 47.6 mpg in the Prius on the way to Billings. My entire family is following me. They’re about five hours behind me.
There’s rain in Yellowstone, family. Drive safely on those two-lane roads because no one else is.
I waited too long to eat and I’m shaking as I eat my sandwich from Subway: turkey and cheese. They don’t have seafood. Shucks…
I’m three-quarters of the way to see Grandpa. Rumor says he’s not doing well at all. Gotta see for myself.
There’s construction. We are all stopped and I’m stuck behind a trailer. It professes to be Ultra Lite Weight. I don’t believe it.
At least the scenery is pretty.
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Stacey kicked me out of the house. She and Mom are cleaning Grandpa’s house. He would never let us clean his house when he was alive. I know that there is no afterlife because the ghost of Grandma would have haunted him for neglecting her house so much. Now we’re cleaning for her.
Stacey kicked me out of the house, so my father and I are taking his son to the park to swing. The squeak of the equipment is strangely calming.
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I needed this today. I try to convince myself that it will be easy once I find peace. Maybe so.
Until then, I have a eulogy to write…
PostSecret‘s beneficiary is the National Hopeline Network. It is a 24-hour hotline (1 (800) SUICIDE) for anyone who is thinking about suicide or knows someone who is considering it.
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It had been too long since I last cut my hair. Two years too long, actually. I decided to get my hair cut this morning, which was probably not a good idea since I’m still a mess about my grandpa’s death. Once I got the idea into my head, however, it took me only the time to get to the hairdressers to get it done.
I decided to cut off enough for Locks of Love. They take your hair and make wigs for children with cancer, so that seemed like a good reason to cut off all my hair. Well, that and the fact that showering would take half the time. Once I looked it up online, I was surprised at how easy it was to donate. They have a few restrictions, but my hair has never been color processed and it was two inches longer than they needed.
If you’d like to donate your hair, you can send it here:
Locks of Love
2925 10th Avenue N
Suite 102
Lake Worth, FL 33461-3099
For more information:
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(c) 2003-2007 Laura Moncur