So Much To Do!

Thursday, after finishing up with my Maryland job, I had a bit of leeway ~ I could head home or to the office.  After pondering for about a millisecond, I decide to head home.

I had about an hour, and about four hours worth of Things To Do While Alone.

I want to produce my changing bag ~ exactly what I need to take into a dressing room.  I didn't, but I did inventory the two bags of girlstuff I filled Tuesday.  I now have a file with the contents and some notes on what I need that I haven't organised yet.  I'll go over the list and mark the items that have to go into my changing bag and note the things that belong there.  I'll also mark items for my "undo" stuff ~ makeup remover, boy shoes, etc, ~ for my trip back.

I also wanted to watch the Oprah channel show and the Face Off show.  I saw Face Off only.  It was less interesting that I had hoped, certainly less interesting than He's A Lady (pictured below ~ click for a larger image).

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A Little More A & J

Jimmy Johnson has been producing Arlo and Janis for over 25 years and still has not lost his touch.  Be sure to click to enlarge the images....  He is one of the best artists in the industry, with great facial and body expressions.

It's a great strip.  If I can't be Janis when I grow up, I wanna be Arlo.

I almost neglected to mention....  Arlo and Janis have a son named Gene.  Gene has a girl friend, Mary Lou.  Mary Lou has a daughter named Meg.  See you in the funny papers!

Civilians Don't Get It

Arlo and Janis is a fun strip.  Jimmy Johnson likes to push the envelop when it comes to almost being naughty.  One of the early websites I used to go to daily was Comics I Don't Understand.  Either the site owner or readers would post comics they couldn't make sense out of.  Readers would then give their interpretations. 

On that site, there was a special "Arlo and Janis Page."  Comics that might be a  bit over the naughty line went there.

This one is not really CD, but I think we can understand what Janis is feeling here.

Father Wore Tights

This is not a remake of the 1947 musical "Mother Wore Tights," although I'd probably sit down to watch one.  If I couldn't be in it, that is.

Yesterday I had to make a trip to the College Park client.  Although I hadn't done so for a couple of years, I decided to wear hose under my pants instead of socks.

In the past, I've worn either black or taupe hose under socks.  Yesterday, I opted for tights sans socks.

Could you tell I wasn't wearing "real" socks?  If I took my shoes off, definitely.  The toe portion is much less opaque than socks.  I kept my shoes on, both at work and at home.  If I didn't take my shoes off... you could probably tell also.  The tights are shinier than socks, for one thing.  But I thought about the socks I normally wear and which are roundly ignored by all around me, and went for it.

Tights feel different under slacks.  Outside, my legs felt colder than normal.  I'm not sure why.  It felt good but colder.

I need to take advantage of the remainder of winter and do this more often.  Maybe I'll try different colours next.

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A Productive Morning

My shortened Tuesday morning was well spent.

I learned that my new pumps need a little pad in the heel to help them fit better, and my new open-toed heels are worthless.  The sole is way too rigid and they jump off with every step.  I need to figure out if there's a way to cure this.

I put together three or five outfits that I will take on my trip.  I have a multi-colour print top and a black-and-white print top and two different black skirts, so I can mix and make up to four outfits.  I also have a dress I will bring.  I'm not sure what I'll wear on the trip down.  I also tried on a recently-purchased dress and I think it's more "evening out" material.  And I do want to get out for an evening with the gurls.  The local group is out just about every week, and I haven't joined them once.

I also did a bit of organising for Richmond.  I have a bag with nighties, undies, wig, purse for the trip.  I have another bag with too much makeup and too much jewelry which I need to sort through so I can bring just what I need and have the necessary for my quick change.  I also pulled out some nail polish remover, which I'll need if I get a manicure on the way.  I still need to decide on a pair (or two) of shoes.  Yes, I'll make a list of everything I need.  It's what I do.

So I figure I did about 90 percent of what I hoped to do.  Now I just have to do the other 90 percent. :)

I also have to figure out when to get my hair cut and eyebrows and neck waxed ~ it's my new pre-trip ritual.  And I better get that other extraneous hair taken care of.  (Actually, I look more like the barber than the customer in that cartoon.)

Finally, all is going well with my wife.  No complications, although they did change a couple of spark plugs and put up new wallpaper while they were in there.  They used some medical terms, but I think that's what they did. With luck, she'll be home by the weekend.

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From The Daily Mail...

(that's a UK newspaper, for you Americans)

...I bring you this little article.

It's been a crazy day; I'll write more tomorrow including the updates that never materialised.

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Update I

Schools are opening two hours late, for a dusting of snow.  See Dani's comment from yesterday.  She is correct.

Since I'll be visiting the hospital as soon as I get a call, my morning freetime will be pretty short.

Such is life.

Update Later

I'm writing late Monday, since I have to be out of the house around 5am, early even for me.  I'll update on whether I'm at home alone for a bit today or school is closed.  Or you can check the Fairfax County public school closings and see for yourself. :)

I did a bit of checking and the almost 100 mile road to Richmond is littered with malls.

* Tyson's Corner is right at the start of my trip.  There are two malls, each with family restrooms, each within spitting distance of my office.  I think I'll head a bit further south before stopping though.  I don't want to get caught by the lunch crowd.

* Springfield Mall is about 15 miles from my starting point.  I have to check on restroom facilities (as I will for any further malls).  It's a mostly dead mall, and may be a good choice for changing.  Not so much for shopping.

* Potomac Mills Mall is enormous and about 28 miles from my start.  I think it can be seen from the moon.  It's a major Virginia tourist attraction.  It's over 1.6 MILLION square feet and has over 200 shops.  I'm sure it has family restrooms, but it also has huge crowds.  I'd be reluctant to spend the necessary hour in a restroom, blocking out crowds that might need it.  But shopping there would be fun.

* at about the 40 mile mark is the Stafford Marketplace.  I know nothing about this shopping centre; I may check it out though.

* still within an hour of starting is the Spotsylvania Mall and the adjacent Central Park shopping centre.  I know nothing about these.  I will before I travel.

* further south, at about the 60 mile mark, is the Southpoint shopping centre.  Also unknown to me.

And that's about it.  I'll do a bit of research and report further.  If anyone knows anything about these shopping centres please let me know!

I'm looking for available family restrooms.  I may look for a place that will do my makeup, although I'm not sure.  I really need to cover up; they prefer a lighter touch.  And I want a manicure ~ that shouldn't be a problem.  There are more nail places than Starbucks.

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Grrrr....

Remember my short term plan from last week?  It's all contingent on having a few hours home alone so I can plan for my next trip whilst waiting to hear from the doctors.

"A few hours alone," I said.

The current forecast is for snow and sleet overnight, possibly up to five inches on the ground.  I'm not worried about the short, early morning drive to hospital, but around here if a dandruff flake has six sides, they declare schools closed on account of snow.

I still have a lot of non-Meg things to do while home for a day.  It's just that the Meg things need doing!

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For Your Viewing Pleasure

There's a new show on the syfy channel called Face Off.  In it, makeup artists take a challenge to do their best work.  One week, the goal was to create aliens.

I haven't watched the show yet, but I've watched the promos, wondering if they were going to get to something I'd enjoy.

Wednesday is it.  The next episode is called "Switched and Hitched."  10 pm Eastern; my vcr (yes, I still use a vcr) is already set up.

Last week, a new show started on the Oprah channel.  It is called Our America.  I happened to see an article about it and I'm not even sure why I read it but the reviewer mentioned that the hostess, Lisa Ling, was going to meet with five transgendered people.  I taped it, but haven't watched it yet.  I just checked the website and it says that the premiere episode was on faith healers and the upcoming episode is the transgender one.  I'll have to try to tape the show again this Tuesday (10 pm Eastern) if last week's wasn't the one I wanted.

I'm probably living in a cave, but I didn't even know Oprah had her own channel.

Finally, Stana, in her wonderful Femulate blog mentioned a movie called "The Extra Man."  She mentioned some trans content, but she hadn't watched the full movie yet.  I commented that it's available for download on Netflix but my kids can see the queue so I wasn't sure I'd take that route.

Amazon has it in their "video on demand" section for $3.99 for a 48 hour rental (direct link here).  Here in the cave, I didn't even know Amazon had a video on demand section!

Now all I need is a couple of quiet hours and some popcorn and I'll be all set.

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Literally

I went through my file of Dave Coveryly's Speed Bump cartoons this morning.  I pulled out the ones that literally made me laugh out loud, found one that's kind of cd related, and put back enough of the really funny ones to have a repeat or two.  Some of my favourites are below.

Yes, he has books, including Just One %$#@ Speed Bump After Another which, amazingly enough, is available from Amazon, where, if you follow the link... y'all know the sales pitch.  I know I shouldn't quit my day job. :)

I don't know how he comes up with these ideas. If I could do that, I'd either be amused all day long or very very afraid.

Enjoy his wonderfully wild mind with your morning java.  Click to enlarge and see his wonderfully detailed art!

Not Quite CD

But still, a subject close to our hearts ~ literally and figuratively.

I used to read Sandra Bell-Lundy's Between Friends regularly. I lost tract of it a number of years ago when she switched to a different on-line site.  I think I need to catch up.

For your amusement, I bring you... bras.

Nothing New

My trip to Maryland will be extended one more day, although there will be a few days back in the home office before I return.  The little utility I wrote for them manipulates Excel spreadsheets, but not the version they have so I have to tweak it.  One of the reports they require is different from how it was originally explained and will require some planning to implement properly.

Bottom line: I left their office around 1.  I was quite hungry, but put that aside for a bit of shopping.  The little shopping center has a Target, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory, Payless, Fashion Bug, and many stores I didn't go into.  My focus was on dresses, with an eye towards blouses and a glance at pant liners.  It was 70+ today so if I had one, I would've left it at home but... I Want One.

I found a few dresses I liked at Marshalls, but none I Like Liked.  Burlington is one of those stores with so many choices my eyes glaze over and I rarely buy.  Just looking is exhausting.  I found many long slips at Targe, and ~ yes! ~ a pant liner!  But it was a thin cotton.  That's just wrong.  I did not buy.  I did learn that Marshalls, at least the ones with the huge shoe department, do have some 11s.  I saw a lot of shoes I liked, some with higher heels and platforms than I've ever worn before, but none of those came in 11.  But I do know that it's worth looking now.

Marshall's now carries a brand called Dollhouse ~ here's a direct link to their pumps.  If I found almost any of these in 11, I would've bought a pair or six.  They don't let you filter by size, so I looked at some different styles and saw NO 11s.  Ah well.  One look at the skirts page and it's easy to see that I'm a teeny bit older than their target market.

I also reaffirmed something I've noticed before: if my feet were one size smaller, my wallet would be a lot emptier.

The next place I had to be was Alexandria at 4.  I had a "possible" in Falls Church, if she was home.  I called.  She wasn't.  My GPS told me the best way to go to my 4 o'clock was to go through Washington.  This is ALWAYS a bad idea, but it was ten miles shorter so I figured I'd give it a shot.  It actually wasn't that bad.  I passed a lot of small clothing shops, but didn't take the time to stop.  I just wanted to get through all of the traffic circles that are epidemic in DC, and the double-parked and left-turners that are in every city.

After I was committed to the DC drive, my Falls Church customer called.  I was thinking about stopping at the mall or TJ Maxx near my Alexandria customer ~ just to while away the extra time, of course.  But as I still had time, I detoured to Falls Church, did what I needed to do, and headed to Alexandria.

My wonderful GPS sent me past the thrift shop where I've done a little computer work.  I dropped in, looked at tops and dresses and shoes, found nothing exciting, and got to my next customer on time.

Driving from the customer towards my home I go right past a huge Salvation Army store but... nah.  The boys are home, I'm still hungry, and I have to make them dinner too.

I still want a new dress or two before I go to Richmond.

I have decided ~ if I can stop at a mall to change on the way (very likely, it seems) I'll stop and get a manicure and pedicure too.  It just finishes the look, even if the nail colour has to come off that evening.  Note to self: Bring Nail Polish Remover!

And if anyone cares, my travel from Maryland to Falls Church to Alexandria to home is here:

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The Universe...

...hates plans.

Idiot that I am, I am doomed to go through eternity making plans that will forever fail.  You'll recognise me in my next life ~ I'll be the gal who keeps making plans that never materialise.  Yes, I expect to come back as a female.  My wife thinks I was a woman in my past life and haven't "let go" yet.  I think if that was true, I'd be better at it.  So I think I'm practicing for my next life.

Yesterday, I wrote about maybe going shopping that day.  I underslept, so I got to work early.  I figured I could take about 90 minutes out of my day to run some errands (and shop).  Instead, I had too much to do to get ready for my customer visit today, so I didn't get out.

In the afternoon, I realised that I couldn't complete one key task until I got to the customer and received some additional information.  That meant I could leave a bit early and get my shopping done!

As I was about to leave, I got an e-mail from someone on the other side of the building ~ she was having a problem and asked if I could help.

I helped.

There went my shopping time.

Maybe today in MD, but my schedule looks quite full.  I don't think I'll be able to stop and shop, but... yes, I'm planning.

(by the way, that "Not Sorted Out" post was a misfire.  If you didn't see yesterday's "Short Term Planning" just keep reading).

Short Term Planning

Next Tuesday, my wife goes into the local hospital for abdominal surgery.  When I say local, I mean local: it's less than a mile from my front door.  The surgery is not unusual or difficult, but, as the surgeon said "it's not a haircut, either."

This means I'll have a few hours at home, waiting for the call from the doctors telling me she's waking and I can come down.

Two upcoming blog-pertinent events: a clothing swap (the following Sunday) and my Richmond trip (three weeks later).  I suspect I'll skip the swap; the next is in April, and the clothes will keep.  If recovery is slow, Richmond will be postponed.

But time alone is rarely wasted, so I hope to spend Tuesday morning sorting through what I need for my trip.  I'll put things such as bra and slip and hose and shoes and wig and makeup and nighties and pads in a box, ready to go.  I'll make a list of items such as panties and dresses that I can't pack yet so I'm ready to go.  I'll try out my new shoes.  Dressing time is out ~ I want to be ready to get to hospital quickly.  I will organise everything so I can change on-the-road, if possible.  An anonymous friend left a comment suggesting two possible malls where I can change.  I'll see if I can find out if they have "family" restrooms.

Near my office are a TJ Maxx and a Marshalls and a Payless.  I think I'm good for shoes right now, after last week's purchase.  Similar shops are near my Maryland customer, and I'll be there tomorrow.

My goal is to do a bit of clothes shopping ~ I only buy clothes for special occasions, and if Meg will be traveling, well, that's a special occasion, right?  If I can arrange it, I'll go to the local shops this afternoon or Friday after work.  Or I'll go to the shops in Maryland tomorrow.  That's iffier ~ the most predictable thing about Washington area traffic is "there will be lots."  Google a route in this area and it will say "15 minutes.  With traffic: a week or two."  I don't mind traffic occasionally.  My mantra is "I'm not doing this every day.  The people around me are."  I would, however, prefer to avoid it.

If I find a new outfit, I can at least try it on next Tuesday and know if it's travel ready.

I'll keep assuming all will go as scheduled, and I'll have some new stories and pictures in a month or so!

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Bad Timing ~ They're Gone ~ Sleeves ~ A Sign

I was hoping to organise a place to change before and after the next clothing swap.  As it now stands, the swap will be either on the day my wife gets out of hospital, or while she's still in.  Now my only decision is, do I bring down my clothes (and just drop them off) or wait until next time.

Yesterday, I had about an hour while my wife was out with friends and my kids were out and could not come back at that time.  Now that the oldest one drives, I have to beware of surprises.  I spent the hour ripping up Meg's closet.  I went through boxes, bags, hangers....  I still have no idea what happened to my pants liners!

Monday's post about Armed and Glamorous got a comment from the owners:

Thanks so much for the lovely review! It's early days and I've still got work to do on the UK site - maybe I should be highlighting stores with international shipping... or branch out into US stores? Watch this space!! 

The owners have a blog which is also in early days.  I'm not sure we're the type of customers they're expecting, but it is SO frustrating to look at a rack of dresses and skip 90% because they're sleeveless.  And I'm always willing to support a small business.  I definitely will be watching their space!  And if the A&G ladies want to start a dialogue, they should feel free to write me.  The blouse pictured here is from Armed and Glamorous.

And by the way ~ I love that name!  It's brilliant!

Valentine's Day was yesterday.  Between recently replacing a dead car, upcoming surgery, and college looming, we decided to tread lightly.  On Sunday, I visited a new customer.  His wife makes and sells jewelry.  And, in the interest of supporting a small business (see above), I found something nice and bought it.  I didn't see many pieces I'd be interested in, but my wife and I have different tastes.  Besides, her jewelry is way too expensive for Meg.  I'd link to her jewelry, but....  Y'all understand.  No real content here, but I watch for signs and trust them.  Especially the "Buy One Get On Pair Half Price" signs.

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I Love This Site!

But it's in the UK.  I want something like this in the US.  Does anyone know of a similar company to Armed and Glamorous?

They're not a retailer.  You find what you like and they direct you to the site where you can purchase it.  It's hard to find deals such as free shipping.  I tried to filter by retailers I knew had US sites (Amazon, for instance) and got no hits.  I can think of a lot of improvements, but it's a good start for those of us who really can't shave enough to wear the sleeveless styles that seem to be the norm these days.

Here's a sampling of their dresses:

More Frank Cho

I was poking around on the Liberty Meadows site yesterday after posting, and I discovered the Uncensored Liberty Meadows cartoons.  Many were quite good.  The rest were hilarious.  Near the end there was a great sequence on an "automatic hair washing machine."  I'm posting all ten here.  Please enlarge the pictures.  I think his artwork is great.

Eeeeeeeeek!

I enjoyed Frank Cho's Liberty Meadows when it was in the newspaper.  About ten years ago, he decided to pull out of newspapers because his strip was regularly censored.  I suspect yesterday's strip would have only been seen by comics editors.  Most of the censored strips were more subtle.  I'll have a Liberty Meadows series on my tv/comics day soon.

His debut in the DC area was huge, because he was obviously talented, he was young, and he was a local boy.

The strip takes place at the Liberty Meadows animal sanctuary.  The man in today's strip is a Mark Trail animal lover type character who just showed up for this brief series. The, um, costume was just there for the humourous effect.  As I recall, I just about fell off my chair at this one.  Your mileage may vary, but please click to enlarge ~ his artwork is wonderful.  Sometimes, instead of a Sunday gag, he'd just draw Brandy, the woman in today's strip.

(S)he Said What?

A commenter called me out yesterday:

All of this planning, worrying about malls, restrooms, shaving, and your wife is recovering from surgery and then she has to take care of herself and the children?

All to wear girl clothes?

Are you serious?

I think you need to establish a better sense of priorities.

Your wife and children should be much more important to you than an opportunity to wear girl clothes.

I mean, REALLY!!!!! 

All good points.  The main one being ~ I wasn't clear.  If my wife's not ready, I'll postpone my work trip (to the dismay of my boss, I know).  I'm saving vacation days, making sure I have local things-to-do or at-home things-to-do to keep company customers happy, myself productive, and money flowing in, for both me and the company.

Wednesday required a trip to Johns Hopkins (Baltimore) for a consult.  Thursday was an extra-long work day to make up for it.  Monday will be a mid-day local consult.  Afterwards, I'll make up those hours.

My goal is not to neglect my wife, kids, work, or this little blog.

While my wife is in hospital, or recovering, meals will be prepared, clothes will be laundered, newspapers will be read, kids will get to school and other events.

Life won't stop.

And neither will my hobby.

Please don't believe for a minute that I'll neglect a visit to hospital so I can try on outfits for my trip!  But I'll be packing as if the trip will go on, and that means packing everything.  I'll be getting ready for the trip, and that means making sure the database is solid, the analysts are satisfied, and any girl prep is done ~ time permitting.

I only mentioned the surgery because it may impact what you all see here, as well as my next scheduled trip out, which is kind of the purpose of this blog.

Someday, maybe I'll be more like Stana, and get up and decide "today's a day out."  I suspect most of us are more like me ~ planning and executing a day out like it's a military manoeuvre.

Planning will continue, even if it turns out that the schedule is shot, or nothing happens.  Sometimes, planning is all the fun I get.  I hope that's not the case this time, as I do every time.  And I also hope the predictions on recovery and recovery time are way pessimistic.  That goes without saying, she said, after spending 1000 words saying it. :)

I'm not a bad guy, nor that narcissistic.  Honest.


(ps ~ I like the way Pat thinks :)  I am afraid that me in a nurse's dress will cause my wife to flash back to The Joker in "The Dark Knight")

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Richmond Trip: Part II - Glitch?

One possible glitch: my wife is going in for major surgery later this month.  My trip is contingent on her recovering enough to take care of herself and the boys.  I think all will be well.  I also think Richmond will be quickly followed by El Paso, so my hair and eyebrows and neck should still be good to go. :)

Going to Richmond: Part I - Planning

It looks like my next customer trip will be to Maryland for up to three days.  Unfortunately, it's about 25 miles away in Maryland which means it's a commute customer.  There's a nice bargain mall nearby with Marshall's, Burlington Coat Factory, Payless, and a few specialty clothing shops in it.  If I have time, I'll look around.

But next month, I'm scheduled for three days near Richmond.  This is about a two-hour drive, so I'll travel down on Monday afternoon and return Friday morning.  I will be at my home office Monday morning and possibly Friday afternoon.

This means it will be difficult for me to drive en femme.

But not impossible.

What I need is to schedule it so I can add an hour or two to my trip without being missed.  Assuming I can, I have some options:

driving down: if I can do some prep work beforehand (shaving arms and legs for instance), I can change on the way.  There is the mall right near my office which has family restrooms, but that might be risky.  I can head south and watch for malls.  When I pass one, I can scope it out and if it has access I can change there and enjoy the rest of my drive.  To do this, I also need to leave early enough that I can shave my face before leaving home and still stay smooth whilst putting on my makeup.

driving back:even if I can't change heading down I'll still scope out malls for a place to change.  I can drive partway, change back, and head to the office.  This is more certain: I'll be leaving my hotel room dressed so I shouldn't have a problem with early shaving or prep time.

Monday night will be for scoping out the area.  If I can't prep before going down, it will also be prep night.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night will be going out time (if it seems reasonably safe to do so).  If not, I'll stay in and video chat if anyone cares to.  Maybe I'll finally go to dinner dressed!

But sometimes the project is complicated enough that I have to work late, work back in my room, and not have time for anything else.  I'm trying to do as much as I can beforehand, and I'll document everything so I can recreate it there, but if the customer has a different vision than I do, there will be rework and my plans may fall through.  For this project, I think there's a 20% chance of Too Much Work.

Before I go, I'll definitely schedule some time to get my haircut, and my neck and eyebrows waxed.  And I'll have to figure out some time in the house alone so I can pack for Meg.  I try to pack underwear, shoes, makeup, jewelry, etc early and outfits last minute so they don't get wrinkled.  And I can pack a suitcase just for Meg and not have to worry about lugging it through the airport.  I will pack a minimal male shirt/pants/shoes + makeup remover in Meg's bag so if I do get to check in as Meg, I can just carry in her bag and leave my other stuff in the car until later ~ and I have the option to change first if I need to.

I know, I'm still overthinking things. :)

The good part of this trip is it's far enough that I can stay overnight, close enough that I can drive.

Addendum: As Dani pointed out in a comment yesterday, I could probably find a better picture of my new footwear on the Payless site.  I did.  Here and here.

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Focus on Shoes

When I go to people's homes to fix computers, I meet three types of customers:
* older people who don't understand computers at all
* upscale sorts who can't be bothered
* women who's husband will fix it "if he ever gets around to it."

One of the women in the third category, S, lives a couple of neighborhoods over.  She's maybe 45 but if I could look like her, I'd be very happy.  She also has two college age daughters who look Just Fine.

When I go over, there's always girl stuff lying around.  Cosmetics strewn on a counter, or a partying dress hanging on a coat rack, or a short short skirt sitting on a couch, all by itself.

In my younger days, I'd try to take a closer look and hope I don't get caught.  Now, I'm just tempted to take a closer look, and I can usually resist temptation.

But last time I was there, S wandered off to take care of something and I was done and there were these shoes just sitting there.  No, I didn't slip them on (well, I could see they were way too small) but I did pull out my handy droid and take the photo to the left.

Last Friday, I finished my hours for the week plus a couple.  I don't have anything urgent, so I tried to move a late appointment up so I could finish my day a bit earlier.  She couldn't move up the appointment, so I went to a nearby mall.

My main goal was to replace something I know I own but can't find.  A pant liner.  Something like this.  I looked in Macy's Bloomingdales, Gap Body....  No luck.  I haven't been wearing hose or anything else under my regular pants, and I wanted to rectify that.  I did notice that it's even hard to find slips these days.

As long as I was in the mall, I walked over to the Payless shoes and looked at my size.  I saw a few pairs of pumps that I liked, and it was BOGO (buy one get one half-price) time.  So I bought the shoes pictured below.  I apologise for the poor quality.  It's that handy droid once again.  The first have a small platform and higher heels than anything else I own except for these.  When I got home, the boys were home.  My oldest asked if I could take the other to his French lesson so he could go out.  I said sure ~ this meant shoe try-on time!

My next business trip will probably be about two hours from home.  Close enough to drive, far enough to stay away for a few nights.  More soon.  Here are the shoes.

(Cami)sole Searching

I wasn't going to write anything else about camisoles, but I thought of another pun subject, so....

Several years ago, I found out about freecycle from a client.  I joined the local group using my "regular" e-mail.  I got rid of some items I would have tossed, but I joined mainly as a free clothing source.

The first item I found was a bag of slips and camisoles.  There were a few half slips, full slips, and camis, all white or off-white, all silky (but not silk).  The slips, unfortunately, were on the long side but I've worn then with longer skirts around the house.  I don't get out enough to wear long skirts outside!

Often, freecycle items are left on a doorstep for you to pick up and you never meet the donor.  In this case she had to bring them to work and I picked up there, so we met and chatted a bit.  This is way before my no more stories epiphany, so I didn't admit they were for me.

Oh... one more detail.  She knew who I was.

We never met, but my male e-mail addresses are generally in my full, unusual, male name.  She'd seen my name in the newspaper.  There's a regular newspaper contest here ~ I'd seen hers as well.

I was pretty nervous, but I thought she already knew I wanted them (but not, of course, for me) so there's no point in canceling the pickup.  I did joke about "hoping they'd fit" and she looked me over and decided they should, and I promised I'd re-freecycle them if they didn't.

The regulars in this contest have a closed group.  They meet about once a month, and they have big events 2-3 times a year.  There's a fairly active listserv too,

She still doesn't know.  One person in the group of regular contest entrants sort of knows ~ I've told her, but it's a humour contest and she probably thinks it's a joke.  If she asks, I'll make it clear.  But she hasn't asked, yet.

You know me by now.  I'll probably escalate.

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Sunday Funnies

Dave Blazek's Loose Parts is always good for a laugh.  I have no idea where his weird and wonderful cartoons come from, even after taking a look inside his brain.  His newest book is weird things in small boxes but I just ordered one of his older books. The new cartoons are fresh in my mind and I'm hoping to catch some gems I missed the first time around.

Here is a sample. Enjoy!

A Classic

In 1978, the National Lampoon produced a complete Sunday newspaper.  This was an extreme extension of an earlier Harvard Lampoon prank where they replaced the front page of the Sunday New York Times with their own version.  Thousands of unsuspecting subscribers woke to a bit of a shock that day. 

The newspaper, the Dacron Ohio Republican-Democrat had news, entertainment, sports, television listings, and, of course, a colour comics supplement.  The comics were parodies of other comics.  Below is the "Blondie" parody.  Please click to see it full size ~ it is worth it.

And if you want to get your own copy, don't buy a new one from Amazon ($186) unless you follow the link and I get a rupee. :)