I found this old commercial for Count Chocula and Fraken Berry cereals:

When I was a kid, my dad would never let me get these cereals, so every year when they become available, I buy a box.

Of course, my tastes have changed and I can’t stomach Count Chocula anymore. I usually have one bowl for dessert one evening and the rest is eaten by Kristen when she visits. The last third of the box is usually thrown away some time in April when I realize that it’s too stale to eat.

Here’s to buying another box of Count Chocula again this year!

Threadbanger has a detailed tutorial about how to make steampunk clothes.

Indy Mogul has a cool steampunk goggles tutorial here:

More ideas for my steampunk costume.

• How to make a Steampunk Outfit, Threadbanger | ThreadBanger

Today, the third installment of The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles has posted on Steampunk Stories.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: Beyond Gretna Green (Part 1 of 5) – Steampunk Stories: In which Miss Isabella Davenforth travels to Moncur Castle and remembers the chiding of the current Lord Moncur about her situation.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: Berenice and Mystery (Part 2 of 5) – Steampunk Stories: In which our heroine, Isabella Davenforth, is introduced to the Dowager Moncur and is asked to pass a test of fortitude.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: A Hard Day in America (Part 3 of 5) – Steampunk Stories: In which the Dowager Moncur reveals her true madness to Miss Isabella Davenforth.

This story will continue to post every Wednesday until right before the Halloween Party.

When I’m putting the finishing touches on my costume this year, I have to remember this:

• Steampunk’d Star Wars Characters – Geekologie

The idea of steam punking Princess Leia is truly awesome. I don’t think I’ll make a costume like this, but it’s definitely something that I can use for ideas.

Update 11-28-09: Here are a couple of pictures of Steampunk’d Star Wars costumes from Outland Armour on Flickr:

You can see all the photos here:

This craft project is truly awesome on so many levels that I am blushing at its greatness!

• Behind Barbie of the Undead | Paranaiv by Are Sundnes

If you want to make your own Barbie of the Undead, you’ll have to fine tune your Sculptey Skillz, but it’s totally worth it!

Via: Craft Time!: Make Your Own Zombie Barbie – Geekologie

I love these Halloween decorations made out of Lego minifigs. The Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories have a tutorial for you here:

• Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories – How to hack LEDs into Lego minifigures for Halloween

In what seems like a miraculous coincidence, a standard LED fits exactly into the head of a Lego minifigure. It’s that easy: grab an LED and a head, slip it in, and it fits perfectly.

I love those Halloween dioramas that they sell at Michaels Arts and Crafts, but a diorama made entirely of ghostly Lego minifigs is FAR more cool!

Via: In Time For Halloween: LED LEGO Minifigs – Geekologie

Check out this video of one guy doing Thriller all by himself.

Last year, I was complaining that Halloween was stuck in the Victorian era, but I totally forgot about Thriller and the 1950’s horror movie genre. Kind of myopic of me…

Via: Thriller: One Guy, 64 Different Voices – Geekologie

For the last two years, I’ve made Halloween cupcakes for the party. I’ve gotten lots of votes for them, but I don’t end up winning. This book, Hello, Cupcake! has lots of ideas for cool cupcakes to bring to the party, but I don’t think I’m going that route this year.

Tofu and Cupcakes tried the werewolf recipe from this book last year:

• Tofu and Cupcakes » Blog Archive » Werewolf Cupcake from Hello, Cupcake!

The werewolf got rave reviews…but I can tell you that the ones from the book look 100% better than mine! I should have gone with a stiffer icing (like Swiss meringue buttercream), I used Hershey’s “Perfectly Dark” chocolate buttercream. The book detailed a method of the “fur technique” using a regular ziplock bag as a pastry bag. They even used two-toned frosting on theirs.

Her cupcakes look pretty good:

Considering how steep the competition is every year for the potluck award, maybe I should put a little more effort into my costume instead.

Via: Craftzine.com blog: Werewolf Cupcakes

Every year, I lose the judging for Best Potluck at the Halloween party to Stacey and Dan. So all year long, I’ve been collecting cool ideas for the food at the Halloween party this year. Starting with this:

• Halloween Martini – “Vampire Style” | Hostess with the Mostess®

The “blood rim” is made from the same kind of mixture as you’d use to make hard candy. It’s actually pretty easy, but you will need a candy thermometer (which you can find at most grocery stores).

Ingredients: 1 c. Sugar 1/2 c. Karo Syrup 1/2 c. Water Red Food Coloring Cinnamon (optional)

Directions: Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage – which is 300 degrees F. Add food coloring. (Optional: Cinnamon may be added for flavor.)

Turn off heat. While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim. If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer (instead of turning heat off, just reduce slightly).You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass – whichever you prefer. Flip the glass right side up to cool. The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!

My question is, if I use the plastic martini glasses, will they melt?

Via: Craftzine.com blog: HOW TO – Halloween Vampire Martini

Today, the second installment of The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles has posted on Steampunk Stories.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: Beyond Gretna Green (Part 1 of 5) – Steampunk Stories: In which Miss Isabella Davenforth travels to Moncur Castle and remembers the chiding of the current Lord Moncur about her situation.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: Berenice and Mystery (Part 2 of 5) – Steampunk Stories: In which our heroine, Isabella Davenforth, is introduced to the Dowager Moncur and is asked to pass a test of fortitude.

This story will continue to post every Wednesday until right before the Halloween Party.

The thing that distinguishes a Steampunk costume from a Goth or Vampire costume is the GEAR. Here are the essentials.

Weaponry

In the past that never was, it was a very dangerous place. Or, so you would imagine considering the wide array of weaponry. Here is a How-To to make a Steampunk Gun from a Nerf Gun:

• How To Make A Kick Ass Steampunk Nerf Gun

Here is my How-To to make a Brass Ray Gun:

• Pick Me! » How To: Steampunk Brass Ray Gun

Here are ideas for more steampunk weaponry:

Goggles

For some reason, goggles (or strange eyeglasses) seem to the MOST important feature of a good Steampunk costume. Here is a slideshow from Flickr showing TONS of ideas for goggles:

An Embellished Top Hat

It’s not enough to have a top hat. It has to be embellished in some manner. The easiest way to make your top hat steampunk is to put your goggles on it. Then you don’t have to wear the goggles on your face for the whole party (hot and hides your eyes).

Boots

You don’t necessarily need combat boots, but they seem to be a favorite. Spats also help complete the look.

Gears

Gear embellishments are the best way to distinguish yourself as Steampunk aristocracy. Here are some ideas for jewelry, clothing and other gear embedded jewelry.

Cameo Jewelry

For the ladies, it’s always nice to have some sort of cameo jewelry.

I especially like my mourning pin from my grandma’s collection of “junk” jewelry. It was perfect for my costume.

With just a few additions, you can make a boring Victorian costume into a Steampunk costume. Have fun!

• My Teddy Bear is in a commercial on Plaid Stallions! He was a TV star and I never knew it!! http://bit.ly/DXj85 #

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While looking at the costume sites online, I found this cool Mad Scientist Costume. You can see it in more detail here:

• Mad Scientist Deluxe – Adult Costume

When I saw this costume, I realized that it would be a perfect and easy steampunk costume. It comes with the brown robe, the apron, gloves and goggles. All you would need would be a top hat and some good knee-high boots and you’d be DONE! EASY!

From now on when people don’t know what steampunk is and still want to follow along with the theme for the Halloween party, I’m forwarding them a link to this costume.

Check out the closeup of the goggles. It’s almost worth the forty bucks just for those cool goggles:

For women it’s a little more difficult to find anything really good. I didn’t want to have a costume that was too revealing, so I used a prom dress and the corset and top from this Tavern Wench costume. If you want to go the sexy route, there are a bunch of vampire and pirate costumes that could be repurposed for Steampunk.

This pirate costume would work as a Steampunk outfit if it were coupled with leggings, combat boots and a good brass gun of some sort. Even that hat would work as long as you wear some cool goggles around your neck.

Also, the intersection of vampire costumes and steampunk are strangely similar. This vampire costume is perfect for steampunk, just lose the choker and collar. It comes with the top hat, so all you need to do is add some steampunk gear and you have an easy costume.

I’ve been planning my costume for months, so I’m feeling a little surprised at how easy it can be to throw together a Steampunk costume. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about Steampunk Gear.

• Mary Travers (of Peter Paul and Mary fame) died. Age 72 died from leukemia. :( #

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After sending photos of my Halloween costume to all of my friends, I got a few emails back from them who were totally confused. The link to the Wikipedia page wasn’t enough for them, so I found this video that does a good job of describing what Steampunk is.

Here is a video from the California Steampunk Convention last year:

I’m so excited about the theme for this year’s Halloween party! Yippee!!

After much gathering and sewing and plotting and planning, I’ve finally finished my Halloween costume. This year’s theme is steampunk, so my costume is all Victorian and funky glasses.

The dress is a prom dress I found at Thrift Town for fifteen bucks and a corset from a serving wench costume.

The hat is a derby hat I bought at Thrift Town for a couple of dollars with fifteen dollars of flowers, feathers, beaded trim and tulle sewed onto it. I used this hat as an inspiration for it.

The jewelry is from my collection of jewelry from the Eighties and the mourning pin was from my grandmother’s collection of “junk” jewelry.

The spectacles were found in a little shop in Baker, Oregon that time forgot. It was stuck in 1986 and still had all the “cool” stuff from back then. They kept their inventory for so long that cool finally found its way back to it.

You can see more photos of the costume here:

• Flickr: Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles

Honestly, my Halloween costume has birthed a life of its own and I’ve written an entire story about it.

• The Dowager Moncur’s Spectacles: Beyond Gretna Green (Part 1 of 5) – Steampunk Stories

There are five entries to the story and one will post at Steampunk Stories every Wednesday until Halloween. ENJOY!

I am totally stoked to announce that I’ve been chosen to speak at the Utah Open Source Conference this year.

• UTOSC 2009 | (Afford|Scal|Reli)Ability – Home

These are my presentations:

• UTOSC 2009 | Open Source Basics: What are you a bunch of hippies?
• UTOSC 2009 | Intermediate GIMP: Face Swapping
• UTOSC 2009 | Advanced GIMP: The Digital Diet

This is the first time I’ve done a presentation like this since my student teaching so many years ago, so I’m feeling pretty nervous and excited all at the same time. If you are in the Utah area on October 10th, please drop by the Utah Open Source Conference and give me a boost of morale. I’ll probably need it!

This postcard from PostSecret broke my heart.

It reads:

i work at a vet clinic, when euthanizing a pet, we give you the option of staying in the room with them or leaving.
…..always stay… they look for you once you’re gone.

I wasn’t strong enough to stay with Linda when it was all said and done. I had been there to give her all the injections and help her live a full year after her diagnosis with kidney problems, but in the end, I just couldn’t stay with her.

I’m so sorry, Linda.

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.

• In-N-Out Burger at Jordan Landing!! http://post.ly/3R1P (via @ThomAllen) #

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Today, Mike and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary. I was looking through old photographs a few months ago and came across this grocery store receipt in our wedding album. It was from the first time we went to the grocery store together. It made me smile to see it. I remember saving it because I thought it would be fun to see how different prices were, but the cost of things hasn’t changed all that much. Lynn Wilson Burritos are still three for a dollar. A small bottle of Tabasco sauce is still about a buck.

What’s fun for me is to see WHAT we bought. That magazine at the top of the list? It was a Weekly World News. Mike and I used to get them EVERY week just to read about Bat Boy and Ed Anger’s weekly rants. I don’t know when we stopped getting the Weekly World News at the grocery store. It’s not like I consciously thought that I shouldn’t buy it. It’s just that we stopped buying it and reading it together. I heard that they weren’t going to print the Weekly World News anymore. Is that true? Are they still around today? I should really check the magazine racks next time I’m at the grocery store.

It looks like we bought twelve Lynn Wilson Burritos. Mike and I survived on them when we were first married. In fact, our freezer is still stocked with them. I haven’t eaten one in months, but we ALWAYS have them. Mike will eat one or two and then the rest of them get covered with ice crystals. We’ll throw them away and buy twelve more. It’s like our eating habits have changed, but our BUYING habits haven’t.

To go with the burritos, we bought a bottle of ketchup, a bottle of Pace salsa and a tub of sour cream. I had never eaten Lynn Wilson Burritos with ketchup. That was something that Mike introduced me to. I was a salsa girl, even back in 1990 before salsa was filled with cilantro and papayas. I had never eaten burritos with sour cream either, but it was an added bonus that made it feel like a treat.

I remember that it was really important to me that we have a fully stocked spice cabinet. I thought that buying the spices was really expensive, but it was worth it to me. Of course, back then, a fully stocked spice cabinet meant that I needed:

• Onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• Parsley
• Cinnamon
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Nutmeg
• Curry
• Salad Supreme

Now, our spice shelves rival any other food in the house. Not only do we have several shelves right above the stove, we have a cupboard shelf full of them. If I were to make a list, you would think I was joking.

I’m kind of proud to see the Granny Smith apples on the list. I had no idea that my insane preference for those apples over all others happened when I was so young. I thought my apple phase happened much more recently, but it looks like I had that preference even back then.

I used to drink Diet Shasta out of 2 liter bottles because it was cheaper than any other soda. Now, I can’t even imagine buying Shasta soda. Somehow the idea of drinking generic brand soda has been equated with being poor. Shasta doesn’t taste all that different than the brand names, but because I drank it when I was poor, I don’t want to buy it now that I have money. I don’t know why that correlation never happened with Ramen noodles or macaroni and cheese, however.

Speaking of Ramen, I’m surprised that we didn’t buy any that first day of our marriage. At my wedding shower, some people bought us kitchen staples, like baking soda, flour, etc. I think a flat of Ramen was one of our gifts. That’s the only explanation I have for not having any Ramen. I looked through the bridal shower photos and I did find this one of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, but I didn’t see any Ramen. I’m sure there was some, we just didn’t get a photo of it.

On a side note: God, I LOVED that shirt. I wish I still had it today. It was my FAVORITE shirt of the Eighties. Look closely and you can see that I’m wearing my St. Germaine Swatch. It matched that shirt perfectly. It may be why I loved that shirt so much. I know I have photos of Stacey wearing this shirt (borrowing my clothes when she wasn’t supposed to). I think this shirt represents the Eighties to me far more than any other piece of clothing I owned.

Finally, when you look at the date on the receipt it’s dated 08-19-90. It was LITERALLY the day after we got married that we went to the grocery store. I remember it feeling so great to go to the grocery store with Mike. It was like we were a REAL married couple. Writing on the marriage license and having a wedding didn’t nail that idea home as much as going grocery shopping with him.

Happy Anniversary, Mike! If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change it for a minute.

• 100 Sci-Fi stickers to collect and put on your computer! http://tinyurl.com/l6rejc #

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I’m getting ready for Halloween and I finally have my steampunk weaponry ready to go. Here is a video of it in action:

If you would like to see how I made it, a tutorial follows: (Continue Reading…)

• My heart is broken. Les Paul died yesterday. :( http://tinyurl.com/nmovr4 #

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Many thanks to About.com DIY Fashion Gallery for this Steampunk Hat. I found a derby hat at Thrift Town the other day and I had some ideas of how I was going to steampunk it up for Halloween, but this visual not only combines what I was thinking, but also adds a few feathers to the mix that I didn’t even imagine!

Tune in tomorrow to see my totally awesome steampunk brass ray guns Mike and I made! There’s a tutorial if you want to do the same for the Halloween party!

• Family adopts a baby Blue Jay and he comes back every day. CUTE! http://tinyurl.com/n7u5xs #
• Linda was this smart. http://tinyurl.com/muv3dq #

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There was some excitement in the neighborhood yesterday. Hundreds of cars were parked around the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and people were rushing to see the the replacement of the Angel Moroni on the top of the LDS temple.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Mormon temple in Daybreak was hit by lightning back in June:

• MormonTimes – Lightning hits Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Nothing had been done to correct the damage done to the Angel Moroni statue. I kind of expected to see scaffolding and crews around the temple day and night as soon as the open house was over, but instead, they brought in a replacement Moroni and just switched them out.

I didn’t see them take the old statue down, but I was there when they were lifting the new one up. You can see the photos here:

After two months, the charring from the lightning had faded, but there is no denying that the new statue looks much better. It was impressive to watch the process and see the crowds of people, eager to see the local church be repaired.

Update 08-13-09: According to 2News, the new statue has TWO lightning rods in it now, one on the trumpet and one on Moroni’s head. Glad to know that they are planning for the future this time since South Jordan gets a lot of lightning and the Oquirrh Mountain Temple is the tallest thing for miles.

• Beautiful story from a fan of John Hughes. Lovely! http://bit.ly/RKC6p #
• 25 Artists redesign the Wizard of Oz: http://bit.ly/15SUNY #

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• My heart is broken. John Hughes is dead! http://bit.ly/uCBeP #
• I love this Lack Shelving Bench. I don’t need a huge bench, but if I did, I would do this! http://tinyurl.com/ktjrm8 #

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An entry on the Daybreak newsletter disturbed me. It read:

You may have noticed swallows that have nested under the bridges on 11400 S. The Association has looked into these particular birds and they are federally protected species of bird and we are not able to tamper with the nests until after they migrate this fall. Once the birds have migrated we will go through the area and clean up their nests.

It surprised me that they didn’t mention the BEST reason to have cliff swallows inhabiting Daybreak. Each swallow eats close to THREE pounds of mosquitoes every day. Rather than trying to get rid of the birds, we should be encouraging them to stay here because there is a lot of water for mosquitoes to breed on Oquirrh Lake. Cliff swallows might make unsightly nests under the bridge, but I’d much rather deal with that and bird droppings than to have to constantly fight swarms of mosquitoes with every walk around the lake.

Almost a week ago, Mike and I took photos and some video of The Swallows of Daybreak. Here’s what we saw.

Here is some video:

After seeing the swallows face to face and knowing what they can do to make Daybreak a better place, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to remove their nests, no matter how they look. If you would like to learn more about cliff swallows, here are a couple of links:

• Cliff Swallow – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Don’t be a Hoser: The Swallows of California « The blog of Keith Hansen

• Great TED Talk! Art under the microscope: trouble with static electricity. http://tinyurl.com/m6b8r3 #

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• Waiting for the Ibuprofen to kick in so I can move. Maybe I should go downstairs and try some coffee too. I hate that I’m on caffeine again. #

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• Mike spent HOURS with me putting together bookcases for my library. Hooray for loving husbands willing to put out… manual labor. #

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When I was in junior high, Levis 501 shrink-to-fit blue jeans were the coolest thing to wear. I remember skimping on all my other clothes just so I would have enough money to buy a few pairs of 501s.

These commercials are what were playing on MTV all the time:

This one has Stanley Tucci:

This one shows how we used to wear them: a little rolled up with white socks and penny loafers. I think we were all trying to look like Back to the Future.

In the end, Levis 501 NEVER fit me well. They always had a horrible loose bit at the back that would poke out and show the world my undies, no matter how tightly I cinched them with a belt. They might have been shrink-to-fit, but they never fit me.

One of the good things about moving is that all your stuff is unearthed and moved around and old dusty boxes are opened and investigated. Take this for example:

This was stuck on my filing cabinet in the basement with four magnets. Magnets so strong that it actually STAYED on the filing cabinet despite the moving and traveling in the moving truck.

What you are looking at is a relic from almost ten years ago. Mike bought me a Spirograph for my birthday many years ago. Not a brand new Spirograph, mind you. He found an old one on eBay that looked just like the one I had when I was a kid. It felt like Christmas all over again when I opened that present.

When I was a kid, I tried over and over again to recreate the patterns that were shown in the little idea book that came with the Spirograph, but I was never able to do it. Apparently, all I needed was twenty years of refining my fine motor skills, because as an adult, I was easily able to do all three of the patterns that had plagued me as a child.

When I completed all three of those patterns, making them look JUST like the ones in the idea book, I was so proud! I remember putting them on the filing cabinet when we lived in West Jordan. Suddenly, it’s ten years later and I find myself admiring my handiwork again.

Thank you, Michael for such a lovely gift so many years ago. Not only did it bring back all those memories of my childhood, I was finally able to check a “To Do” off my list.

For over four years, this page from Self Magazine has been hanging in my closet.

Our sole closet in the Sugarhouse house was large for a hundred year old house, but it was still tiny compared to modern closets. Mike and I shared it with the dog, who would hide in it when the thunder came. If we didn’t want dog hair on our clothes, then we were stuck with a pretty small place to hang our clothes. We have over THREE times the space to hang our clothing in the master bedroom closet in the new house.

I guess all this moving stress is worth it, but I’m still keeping this flow chart.

I LOVE this story from Joseph Scott about this year’s Fourth of July t-shirts for the whole family:

• Faded Glory 2009 t-shirt || Joseph Scott

Every time I looked at those shirts though it seemed like something wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t until we were out shopping and we saw them again that it finally dawned on me.

Mike and I never wear matching clothes. In fact, when we realize that we’ve inadvertently worn shirts of the same color, half the time, Mike runs back to the bedroom to change. I think I’m a little jealous of families that all dress the same.

I wrote an entry last week about my brush with Schoolyard BS for Plaid Stallions. If you didn’t read it, here’s the link:

• Pick Me! » Best Boss An Angel Ever Had

I really considered it a writing exercise and loved the opportunity to reminisce about grade school. I posted a link to my entry just because I was proud of what I had written about an old memory and really didn’t think anything about it.

Apparently, there was some sort of contest and I was one of the winners!

• Plaid Stallions : Rambling and Reflections on 70’s pop culture: PS Contest: Schoolyard BS winners

Laura’s entry is a tad long, so it’s best read on her blog. Even though she is the spreader of the BS rumour, she uses it to get revenge on a bully, so it’s ok. This story has everything and I’m a sucker for pictures of Jaclyn Smith.

I feel like that time I won the literary magazine contest in eighth grade. I’m THAT happy!

Gosh, I hope the prizes are some Plaid Stallions Trading Cards! Wouldn’t that be so fitting?!

When I was in junior high, the show that I NEVER missed was Solid Gold. It was on Saturday evening and I made sure that my butt was in front of a television, no matter where I was just so I could watch Solid Gold. Just watching this video of the opening credits brought back all those memories with crystal clarity.

We didn’t have MTV, so I couldn’t watch music videos whenever I wanted, so the next best thing was Solid Gold. I remember seeing Michael Jackson’s video for Billie Jean on Solid Gold and I fell instantly in love. I remember watching Boy George and Culture Club performing Time (Clock of the Heart) on Solid Gold and I couldn’t believe my eyes. He sounded like a man, but he looked like a woman. It was my first experience with any sort of transvestism without it being a joke. Boy George looked exactly like a woman and no one was even phased by it.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that I could see that performance again on YouTube:

I fell in love with the blond guitar player on the left (Roy Hay). I knew lots of girls who had crushes on Boy George, but he never really did anything for me.

I also remembered Marilyn McCoo performing the most popular songs. I thought maybe that this was just a false memory, but no, she really did sing songs karaoke style when they didn’t have a video or live performance to show. Here she is singing Human Nature, by Michael Jackson.

Of course, I loved the Solid Gold Dancers. I wanted to be them so much that I chose dance for my gym credit every year of junior high. Watching the Solid Gold Dancers gave me new ideas and a bunch of wishes for a different body. Here’s a video of the dancers in all of their glory.

It’s funny how much one television show affected me. Looking back, it’s fully of sloppy choreography and lip syncing, but back in 1984, it was the coolest thing EVAR!

There is a woman at Daybreak protesting. She has a sign that says:

Daybreak Dream a Nightmare

Apparently, her complaints are with Kennecott Land and the Daybreak Homeowners Association:

• Resident with signs on Topview and Daybreak Pkwy. – The Daybreak Daily

The resident is a long-time Daybreak resident who lives in Founders. She has been an avid proponent of Daybreak but has many examples of KL and HOA failures to live up to their advertising, promises and obligations. A quick conversation with her was enlightening. She does not seem to be one who just has an axe to grind but someone who sees what needs to be fixed to keep our community great and some suggestions about how to fix them.

After living in Sugarhouse for the last six years, all of these complaints seem superfluous.

• Are you paying $1080 a month for 823 square feet?

• Is your house so old that the drains don’t drain, the power breakers pop if you run the microwave and the toaster at the same time or the colony of mice living in your basement are impossible to exterminate?

• Have you had panhandlers knock on your door asking for money?

• Have you dealt with boarded up windows and waist-high weeds at the two vacant houses on your street?

• Was your supposedly securely locked bicycle been stolen off your front porch in the middle of the night?

• Has a stranger been apprehended and arrested by the police in your backyard?

Daybreak is HEAVEN compared to some of the issues in other neighborhoods, even prestigious ones like Sugarhouse. If the Daybreak Dream is a NIGHTMARE, I think you need to learn the correct definition of nightmare and move downtown for a while. You’ll come back to South Jordan with a whole new perspective.

The Communicatrix has an excellent entry about how to deal with jealousy.

• Ninja trick for dealing with jealousy | communicatrix

Her idea is to look at it like this:

Oh good, that thing is done.

Instead of being jealous that someone has done something so totally cool and you wish you could be that person, you breathe a sigh of relief because you can check that thing off the list.

The first time I experienced this feeling was in 1992. Mike and I had been trying to write a song called “Heart of the City” that never really expressed how I felt about going to downtown Salt Lake City. I felt a connection to the city that I just couldn’t express. I felt COMPLETELY frustrated and impotent to explain myself.

Then The Information Society released “To The City.” In three minutes and thirty seconds, Information Society did what I had been so unable to do. They made a song that conveyed EXACTLY how I felt about driving downtown on the weekends. At first, I felt angry because they beat me to the punch, but within a couple of days, I felt the release of it all. I was GRATEFUL to them for writing the song that I just couldn’t write.

Over the years, my jealousy has abated a lot, but I’m not impervious to it. It’s funny to hear Colleen write about a method of dealing with jealousy that I encountered long ago, but never even thought of sharing it with others. Thanks for reminding me, Communicatrix. I needed that kick in the pants.