Sprizee :: A simple girl replete with complications

Light through black lace.

IMG_1291, originally uploaded by Curious_Cynic.

I know. I know. I never update this thing. Truth is I've thought about it shutting it down recently. I don't seem to have time for it anymore. That said, I just got back from a week in New Orleans that was totally magical. Alistair snagged this shot of me outside Cafe du Monde. He's such an incredibly talented photographer. I'm honored.

Is this thing still on? Yep. (Sort of.)

This is too strange not to share.

So I have this awful habit of letting my hair get to a place I like to call Crazytown before I actually decide to schedule an appointment to whip it back into shape. Weeks before are typically proceeded by me pulling my hair into a ponytail in a lame attempt to keep it tame enough to prevent people from crossing to the other side of the street once they see me. Perhaps I'm exaggerating a little bit. But not much. Trust me. Rat's nest comes to mind.

So last weekend after realizing my hair had once again come to the point of unmanageable I decided to call up my guy to schedule an appointment. The guy who cut my hair 2 months ago. The guy who's been cutting my hair for the last 10 years. I dial, and I'm greeted by an automated recording which tells me the phone number has been disconnected. The phone number is no longer in service. Wha?

So I go looking for his email. But then I remember it was in my old work account and I didn't bother to save it. I didn't bother to save it because when I left that job I pretty much delete every email I had ever received. 6 years worth. By pretty much I mean I DELETED EVERY SINGLE ONE and never looked back. So emailing him was out.

So I did what any sane, slightly stalkerish person would do. I googled him. And I found his Facebook page.

So I friended him and I waited for confirmation that he had friended me back. Tuesday night I get an email that he's added me to his account. Cool.

So today I went to his Facebook page to send him a message to see if he's still cutting hair. Except I can't. Because he's unfriended me. WHA? 

Long story short, I still need a hair cut (and I really should stop using the word SO so much). Damn it.

2009 Looking Back

2009 Looking Back, originally uploaded by sprizee.

I built a fire at home and enjoyed the snow. I volunteered at NW Harvest with friends. I put on my boots (my sexy boots) and celebrated the inauguration of Barack Hussien Obama. I reverse skated with the kids from TBTL. Someone gave me a paper Leica. I became obsessed with tulips.

I rode the bus a lot. I baked a lot. TBTL invited me to talk about Twitter on the radio. I dragged Neilson along. I baked some more. Someone put new windows in the house and the outside was resided, eventually. But not until the summer when it turned 103 degrees. I visited New Orleans (on business) for the first time and fell in love.

I walked all over town in flip flops until my feet fell off. I visited Cafe Du Monde at least once a day. I celebrated my 32 birthday. My mom and I visited Portland. We made plans to do it again next year. We got our pictures taken in the photo booth. Twice.

TBTL invited me on the radio again. I was less nervous, mostly. I got laid off. I sulked. Between sulking I volunteered at NW Harvest and lunched with friends. A neighborhood cat tried to move into my house. I saw Joshua Bell. I saw Leonard Cohen. I watched 5 friends compete in the Vancouver marathon. Then we ate our way through the town.

I went to nearly every Seattle Sounders FC match. I read books and ate some more. I went to a wedding. I went sailing. I drove down to Portland just to see Tyler Stenson perform live, at least once in my life. Then a friend and I closed out the bar with him. The next day I roamed around Portland and ate at the Waffle Window. I picked apples in my aunt's backyard.

I visited the Washington State Fair and got nostalgic about my college days of working there. Figure eight races were witnessed. I visited Chicago and fell in love again. I saw U2 at Soldier Field. I got a job. 5 minutes from my house. I flew to Dallas Fort Worth on business. I started lunching at Marination every Wednesday. I flew to San Fransisco on business. I celebrated the 4th year of Farmoween with good friends. I flew back to San Fransisco on business. I met up with old coworkers to catch up.

But mostly I felt thankful for losing the old, which helped me find the new.

The joy of finding things out.

Today I learned to make sure I'm logged into my Twittter account and not the company I work for when posting a new message. The problem is I'm using TweetDeck to manage it all and it's way too easy to forget which account I'm logged into. Next week I'm setting up separate accounts, for sure.  Luckily I ended up posting something about Richard Feynman WHO I AM TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH AT THE MOMENT. Seconds after posting it I felt this sinking feeling as I realized where it had actually been posted. Which I knew was going to happen eventually because YES I AM THAT DUMB. 

This is what I get for not foolproofing it for myself. I know better, honestly.

I deleted the tweet maybe 60 seconds after it went live, but of course, someone had already replied. As it turns out talking about Feynman was easy to make relevant to what my company does, so no big deal. But then a coworker didn't realize that I had already replied and he replied about one hour later. And then some emails went back and forth about who replied so quickly? And thanks! So, of course, I couldn't just accept the thanks. I had to go and out myself. That's how that works.

Anyways, have you watched every single video you can find about Richard Feynman on the Internet? Yeah, me too. Who knew I could be so head over heels in love with a dead guy. Swoon.

And it all started with a gift guide I wrote for the Seattle P-I. Go figure.

Passing notes.

Hi there. Remember when we use to pass notes back and forth to each other in class. Our inside jokes? Trying not to laugh which only made us laugh harder? I miss that. But then Flickr came along. And Twitter. And that other blog. And, well, let's be honest, things changed.

Still, I miss you.

I never did tell you about the business trip to Texas where I ended up staying at a Great Wolf Lodge with bunkbeds in my room. Or hitting the waterpark with a coworker. Or the two other trips to San Francisco. And a million other things. 

Last weekend was spent ignoring my ear ache, reading up on Errol Morris, watching A Brief History of Time (on youtube when I couldn't find a streaming version on Netflick), reading David Sedaris, missing events with friends and sleeping. Lots of sleeping. The new job is. hectic. I like it. But it. is. constant. Last week I got stuck in SFO for longer than expected which got me home around 4 AM. Which, in short, is why we've grown apart. I'll work on that.

In the meantime I have absolutely no presents for anyone I know and Christmas is only 10 days away. How did that happen? Life. It sneaks up so fast.

If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake.

Almond Butter Cake!, originally uploaded by sprizee.

I baked this Almond Bundt Cake for a friend's art studio open house in Georgetown last Saturday night. Then on Sunday I came to the conclusion, for various reasons*, I should try living without sugar and flour in my diet for a while. Let's say a week**

But looking at this photo makes me want to run into the kitchen and swear off my plans to eat healthier. MUST. RESIST. There's still half a cake left. I think I'll bring it to the office tomorrow. Yep, that's the kind of a coworker I am. One that fattens up her fellow office pals to save herself. 

At any rate, figuring out what to eat that doesn't involve flour or sugar has been sort of challenging. This is what I've come up with so far. If you have additional suggestions, I'm all ears. Actually eyes, mostly, and a drooling mouth that dreams about carbs.

• Kale sauteed in oil olive with lemon, salt and pepper
• Pasta sauce (no pasta) 
• Roasted Broccoli (425 for 20 minutes in the oven! So easy!)
• Brussel sprouts roasted with bacon
• Salad with steak
• Salad with tuna
• Salad with chicken
• [The password is salad]
• Cheese
• Chili with avocado
• Fajitas (no rice, no tortillas, no chips)

*Allergies. Itchiness. Did I mention allergies?
**I was going to do it for longer but hello? THANKSGIVING.

What I feel like as winter comes.

Download 30 free songs by singer/songwriter Tyler Stenson (formerly based in Portland, Oregon). Sometimes free things are awesome. 

It looks like a battle field; 
This October sun has lost its appeal
And as it disappeared,
The summer solstice became cigarette light.

Why? Because, obviously, he's rad.