recent interest: Little House on the Prairie

Who would've thought? Little House on the Prairie is actually good.

I had an unfortunate stomach bug this past weekend. While confined to my bed I sought the perfect TV show to help me recover. Reality shows seemed to jarring, Food Network was out of the question and a movie always takes too much commitment. Usually I would turn to something brainless like Roseanne or PBS, but I decided, for a reason only God knows, to stop on Little House on the Prairie on the Lifetime network.

Let me give you a little background:

• My mother always did a unit with her classes on Little House and she would go to the local butcher and collect pig bladders. She would blow them up with a bicycle tire pump, seal them off with a rubber band and let her kids play with them. They apparently do this in the book. This always confused/intrigued me as a child.
• The overall "brownness" of the show turns me off. I am not referring to any race theme or particular color theorum, but the actual way the show looks on TV. It looks brown. It, along with most shows of the 70s, have a certain sepia tone that I find unappealing. I have a natural aversion to "brown" shows like All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Three's Company, or any other show made in the 70's. I think as a child born in the 80's, "old shows" have a certain look, a certain fuzziness that I find appealing. Shows made in the 70s, for some reason, are all brown. I have a visceral to this color scheme that I am trying to change.
• I have had no previous interest in the prairie.
• I, and most of the viewing public, enjoy period pieces.
• I remember being young and my grandmother crying when Michael Landon died. (She also cried for JFK, Jr., 9/11, and the last episode of Cheers.)

These are all of my conscious thoughts on Little House on the Prairie. 

These being stated, I found myself watching. I also found myself delightfully surprised. What a breath of fresh air! Not only was the show heart-warming and interesting, it was also funny and, relatively speaking, well-made.

I found myself watching 3 hours of this show. I can't wait for more.

I will keep you posted on how this pans out.

recent interest: Andrew Bird

I know everyone has been up this guy's ass for a while now, but I am just now really getting into him.


Take a look.




This is one of the best songs off his newest album. IMHO.

recent interest: little shits

"Little Shits" or "Lilshits" are small, random things that help make your home your home. I love a random little trashy figurine or statue and I wanted to share a few of my favorites from around my house.

Cast iron acrobat statue, $0.95 from Hobby Lobby

My Great Grandfather's tin globe bank

Wooden elephant, $5.00 from World Market

Ceramic 'Hand of Fatima' from some street corner in NY

Metal cock from the lumber yard in Winnie, TX. 

Thanks Mom.

Tin can Lion from that place with the things in DC. Thanks Brooke.

Today I went shit hunting at the local Goodwill and the intense and overwhelming antique mall (definite future post on this coming soon) and instead of finding little shits, I found two medium-sized shits.

Art Deco wooden and rope mirror

Naval Map of Bermuda, 1946

So, if you're tired of your apartment or home looking like an IKEA magazine or Kirkland's discount table, grab yourself a little shit and think about ways to make your home different, and thusly, relevant.

recent interest: Octopodes

How pretentious to use the word "octopode"! I had to Goodle the correct plural form of the word "octopus". I found this:


The plural form of octopus is octopuses (or occasionally octopodes). Although it is often supposed that octopi is the 'correct' plural of octopus, and it has been in use for longer than the usual Anglicized plural octopuses, it in fact originates as an error. Octopus is not a simple Latin word of the second declension, but a Latinized form of the Greek word oktopous, and its 'correct' plural would logically be octopodes.


So. Now that this has been cleared up let's talk.


I never knew I liked these strange creatures until today around 2:00pm. I saw some online and thought, "I like those". So, I have decided to let you know this about me and share a few things I like about them or involving them.


Octopus Fun Facts:


1. Octopodes have arms, not tentacles.
It is a common mistake to refer to an octopus' arms as tentacles. Tentacles are longer than arms. Tentacles usually have suckers only at their tips.


2. There are three plural forms of the word octopus.
They include octopi, optopuses, and octopodes. (Just in case you forgot)


3. An octopus has three hearts.
Two hearts are used to pump blood to each of the octopus' lungs and the third pumps blood throughout the body. This being said, do octopodes have a bigger or smaller problem with heartache? Food for thought.


4. Octopi are highly intelligent.
They are believed to be the smartest of all invertebrates and show great skill at problem solving (instead of relying on instincts). If you are ever stranded on a scuba adventure or get locked out of your submarine, look for an octopus. I would've assumed we should be asking sea turtles for solutions to our problems (they seem so wise), but that is what I get for assuming.


Octopode Inspired Design:

An octopus table.

View from above of a more interesting octopus table.

Side view.

I want to do this to my living room end table. Is that crazy?

Vintage octopus print. I think this would be cool in a nursery or a bathroom.

(Or a house boat. Obvously. I dont think they let you have a house boat without something octopus inspired in it. I'll check though, as to be sure.)

Awesome octopus light.

Vintage print.

Vintage octopus map.

Well, there you have it. Octopods, a recent interest of mine.

Before I sign off, I wanted to include a link to the differences between an Octopus and a Squid. (http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061002045118AADC82E) I think it is important to know the difference. I have nothing against squid, they are just not currently on my radar. That's not saying they won't be soon. They just aren't currently.

recent interest: blogging

Well, here we are again. This is my third blog. The other two were short lived disasters and I see no reason for this blog not to follow suit, but, hopefully, I will find a voice* and get comfortable in this medium.


I tried to pick a non-restraining blog title so that I could just say and do what I want without having to fit into a certain category of blogs. The quickest way to kill a blog is to pigeon hole it, thus, I will use this under-designed blog as an under-publicized forum to talk about anything I find interesting on any particular day.


So, without further delay, I welcome you to recent interests, a blog for the masses.


Interests coming soon.



*inspired by Kristin