Miss Elle has given up the blogging ghost. Why, Elle, Why? I’m sad. Sniff.

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi has a show on Oxygen.

D god it is the most annoying, effete, snobbish, effeminate, name dropping, little show on tv. Annoying to the tens thousands.

He’s just the most annoying gay guy on tv and I thought Christopher Lowell was. Take Christopher and add ego so big it could choke a horse, and MAYBE you’ll approach the level of Isaac.

As I turned by initially they were tasting the appetizers for a single’s 3 minute test date night, and he eats one and squeals, “Oh these are too good for the breeders!” I kid you not. This episode is about a girl in a coffee shop who he’s getting made over so he can sport her around town and try to get her discovered as a model.

It’s all about the NY jet-setting lifestyle – superficial and full of themselves. I can’t believe the level of vanity. It’s not even amusing as they crack little vain jokes. How did this end up on tv? Are all the execs at Oxygen elitist fag hags, or drag queens?

I don’t normally use my powers for good often, but I felt they needed dusting off to cheer you up. So, here you go.
The dorkiest thing I have ever done for laughs – just for you..

My ear hurts more than yesterday, if that’s possible. I can’t even swallow. I’m seeing my Doctor at noon if I can build up the strentgh to drive to Blue Ash. This is the most intense shit I’ve felt since waking up after my nose surgery last May. And that was a new level of pain.

I’ve been laid up sick the last few days so you’ve gotten a lot of posts. Hope those hold you over a while, owwwww. I think the next few are going to be sparse.

So, comment already and amuse me and yourselves!

UPDATE: went to regular Doctor – ER was all wrong, I’ts not just an infection, it’s an abcess. Started who knows how . Now, the entire left side of my face is swollen, and swallowing/chewing/closing my jaw is hard because it’s pressing on it. I have to go to the Doctor everyday for about a week all while taking horse pills and using drops. Yay.

And to top it all off, Doc Berg said I could still wake up with blood pouring out of my canal, or suffer hearing damage. Joy.

This is my desk (at least when I’m not lounging in style and comfort in my livingroom with the TiBook). This is where I do my heavy design work. It’s a lot messier than usual, but it’s been a dumping zone the last few days since I’ve been sick in the livingroom.

I think a person’s desk says alot about them. Good or bad, it says something.

Mine says I have way too much free income for toys and probably something snide about being a scifi . I am, and proud of it. (I even go to… gasp.. scifi conventions and have a killer time – I’m bummed I have to miss the one on Memorial Day weekend in Columbus for an SCA thing I swore I’d be at. One of my Farscape favorites is going to be there! Wah!)

I dont trust people who don’t have toys on thier desks, can ya tell?

Look who’s tied for Number 30 How I have no idea, but it makes me giggle.

(update: #22!)

My was hurting me yesterday a bit. This morning I wake up at 5am in PAIN. I wait moaning in the living room for Mr Man to wake. He finally does and I call the Doctor’s answering service. They call back and they tell me I should go to the ER since they are closed today and tommorrow is booked solid too. You dont wait with infections.

Took three hours! I got seen by 4 people, and everytime I ask to go fetch Mr Man (wsho has been sitting alone in the waitig area god knows where) they tell me no, and to hold on they just need a signature on the Rx.

As I get up to leave, Rx in hand (Amoxocilllian and for pain, baby!)… I bang my head on the small swing arm TV in the room! Square on the same side of my head that hurts. Right onto a metal corner.

I cryout a muffled gurgle and fall over onto the bed/exam table holding my now screaming head. Good thing they just gave me a vidodin already. It didn’t help right then though.

They saw me standing there slumped over the table and asked if I was ok and if I wanted a Doctor to look me over. I said no, I’d spent threehours for a ache, I didn’t want to be there into tommorrow. I stuff the Rx in my pocket wincing, and stagger out to hallway to see Mr Man approaching.

He has asked finally to be taken to me; three hours with no word since. He was worried it’s something like brain cancer because it’s been so long. I had asked the staff several times to call the desk and tell him to come back. Nope, never did. Nor would they let me go get him and come back or wait with him while I was “just waiting for the Doctor’s signature on the Rx”.

Then we head to CVS for the drugs. I hate CVS. We stopped using them a year or so ago because of bad Customer service and NOT being able to get our Rx the same day.

I stand at the counter and wait. No one even notices I am there. I call out asking them if right place becasue there’s a sign and cryptic arrow. No one even looks up. I walk to the other counter. No one even looks up. I ask again, they act like they dont see me. I ask once more “Is this where I turn this in , or do I have to go to Walgreen’s acreoss the street” I turn around and signal to Mr. Man that we are out of there. Screw them.

We went to Walgreens. ANOTHER 15 minute wait to hand in the Rx while my , and bump, pounds. I can’t have it that hour, I have to pick it up later. WTF? This is why I go to Target. I have never had it take over 15 minutes TOTAL to get my Rx and walk out. I love Target, but thier Rx counter is closed Sundays though. Remind myself never to get sick on a weekend again.

Tell me how can a pharmacy, that has a dedicated staff and do nothing BUT perscriptions 24/7NOT be able to get your your perscription faster? Not even in a HOUR? How is this possible?

Come home and crash, the they gave me kicked in.

Have to go out and pick up my drugs now.
So, how as YOUR Sunday?

Well mabye not a cubicle really but it’s still damn cool!

Who is Manick Sorcar? To say would be too limiting. To describe a flower, only insults it’s petals… No Manick Sorcar is beyond any mortal classification.

Man, the myth, the mystery… of Manick Sorcar.

Just when you thought we were done! Ha! Not even close!

Steve Condrey Writes:
“This is Mistral…a typical trendy font used primarily in Southern California to indicate that one is artsy-fartsy or ‘trendy’…also the font used on California’s newest license plates. Annoying, isn’t it?And now you know why I hate Mistral…”

The Friday Five

1. What are your hobbies?
Medieval renactment, beadwork, retro stuff, and my beloved computers.

2. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Snowdomes, seed, seahorses (half-horse/half-fish only, so I don’t have so many, I do try to find more though!)

3. Is there a hobby you’re interested in, but just don’t have the time/money to do?
Making , pottery.. I know folks who do both and I think I’d love it. Relning how to draw and paint again is another. I used to be pretty good. But then I’m not much into being an “artist”. I’d have to stop eating meat, get insulted by every damn thing, and wear alot of black and junk for anyone to take me seriously – hehe.

4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity?
I make some money on beadwork and beading classes occasionally. Not much. I get alot of gig inquires regarding my PixelDecor Site.

5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to?
SCA, thats about it. But it’s what I like doing, lning about and the folks I’ve had as friends for over ten years. Good people, smart as hell. I’m glad I found it. (oh yeah, if you have something against reenactors, bite me, bigot.)

I know alot of bloggers talk about the show, and i swore not to, but here goes. I freely admit it’s a guilty pleasure.

I love cussing out the designers. Because, with the exception of a few, they never design FOR the people, they design what they want because it’s a showcase of thier talents. A designer designs to fit the project, to fit your customer. You take what has to be there (a fireplace) and make it work.

Now, the ones I hate:

Hilda always has dark colors and stripes, can’t ever seem to leave a damned floor alone, and doesn’t seem to undertsand that if you are going to be on ladders you probably shouldn’t be wing 3″ mules. (and can anyone actually KEEP thier own couch, Hilda? Maybe, just maybe, they dont want a crappy homebuilt one…

Douglas is a Whiny Prissy Princess. He doesn’t care what the client wants as long as he gets his way, his vision. Today’s episode just made me hate him more. Those poor people now have to undo all that his crap he pouted till he won on. They hated all of it, the woman had to leave the room and you can hear you crying inthe other room – that’s a sad statement for a designer.

Laurie, she’s not the worst of the lot. But she’s one that usually puts little thought into what the client wants, asks for, and speicfically touches what they told her NOT to. She seems to hate tv’s and ceiling fans.

Gen. Well I’ve not seen much of her stuff but I seem to recall everything she’s done looks like a drunken dorm room.

The good ones:

Vern puts alot of thought into who he designs for. If they have kids, that they need storage, and that they actually LIKE having a TV in their livingroom. His stuff never makes me gag. I’d let him do my house. That’s not faint praise.

Frank also is a good designer, a little “cutesy” at times but his rooms feel lived in and warm when folks move in. I’ve yet to see Anyone NOT like his rooms. He’s especially good designing around kids.

So, this is who I like, who I scream at, who I’d never let into my house. Period.

This Swanky Stuff seems to be popular so I’ll keep doing it awhile.

A few weeks ago I put Spike Jones and New Band’s rendition of “Harlem Nocturne” up here in the Swanky Spot. I was poking around my Hard Drive today and found TWO different versions – two very differnt ones i thought folks might enjoy.

I took a nap today and woke up with a distinct itchy tingle in my right hand. I did what I am careful about not doing, slept with it bent. I am pyscho about having my hands open, wrists straight when I sleep to make sure to not hurt them in anyway. I don’t want to get carpal tunnel, I’m absolutely scared sh**less of putting myself out a job by messing up my hands.

My mom had BAD carpal tunnel, she’s a professional muscian. She wore braces for years until she got surgery last year on BOTH wrists. So seeing her suffer so many years made me cautious. As soon as I began my illustrious career I embraced ergonomics. At a later job I worked with some ergonomic folks, and picked up some more.

I actually get asked to go desk shopping with people and help them pick out the one that won’t make them crippled and gimpy. So today I thought I’d pass on:

Jen’s Ergonomic Tips!

Keyboard pullout trays are evil and do nothing but place you outside the 18-inch optimium monitor to eye distance, sometimes as much as three feet. Evil I say. Raise your chair and use tghe are in front of your monitor. What good is sparing your wrists to go blind?

However, side mousing shelves that slide out are GOOD., as long as they are the right neutral hieght an large enough surface area to rest more than your wrist, or you can team it with your chairs arm rest.

If you don’t have one or can’t install one, place your mouse NEXT to the monitor, but not on the desk edge. This requires you to sit more in the right distance and support your arm anyway.

Monitors should be at the right hieght, whats that? The tops edge of the screen, where it meets the the casing should be at EYE LEVEL. If it’s not, prop it up or raise your chair.

And don’t put the monitor at an angle, you want to look dead ahead, otherwsie it puts stresses on neck vertibrae.

Use an angled footrest.

Use a workstation light.

(Jen Product Review – I can’t sw by this one more. As a designer, I tend like it dark and work with the lights but I still need to see, so ALWAYS have this light on, the difference is amazing. It doesn’t blind or interfere, it DOES make my eyes feel better then with the overhead on or no light at all.)

Well anyway that’s my basics. I try to stick to them which is prolly why I can sit at a desk for 16 hours at a stretch when I’m working hard. (Yea, I’m such a loser.)

I got my Crumpler in the mail today. It’s just huge. My god. And so rock solid. I think I chose right. Mr Man was doubting it would be that protective, wait till he sees it! hehe!

After two hours of futzing I have manged to successfully figure out how to fit my:
- PowerBook G4
- External VST Firewire-Powered CDRW
- Sony Digital Handycam (TRV740)
- Olympus Digtal Still Camera

AND all the video, firewire and usb cables, gadets, media readers, mice, rechargers and power supplies for ALL FOUR – I kid you not. And it still fits under the size limit for “carry on” luggage, whoooo! It’s tight, but it does all fit. A digital studio in a bag. (Come on, someone pay me to go somewhere!)

The only thing that doens’t fit is video tapes thats ok, we can put them in the other carry-on, or in the luggage, we don’t plan on carrying all the junk around together all the time, this is just to get them to Vegas, and hopefully Germany next y.

I am sooo ready for the trip now. Any trip, even Vegas.

Guess I should clean my email app more often huh?

My brother and I both are sort of foodies. Family gathering are usually us comparing recipes of some sort to the dismay of our Mom.

I think our gourmet tastes is a result of my Mom not being much of a chef. Her food didn’t suck per se, just sometimes it was just well “ordinary”. 20 years of ordinary drives a girl over the edge towards the opposite. For instance, I don’t think she’s ever used garlic on anything other than garlic bread. I put garlic in the family recipe for macaroni salad and hd no end of greif. And steak? Steak is still a household joke at xmas time. Until I moved out, steak was small squares of of the cheapest cut she could get ahold of, cooked till leathery in a odd brown gravy. Not kidding.

Now, several years on my own, I only eat my steaks rare and buy garlic buy the pound. I am convinced I used to be a little italian grandma named Rosa in a prior life. Italian food just comes naturally to me. I literally can’t cook without garlic, basil and olive oil. I’m just lost. I’m a natural at it too.

And while there are lots of recipes for this sauce on the net, I thought I’d give my readers a bonus. I make it a lot since I love pasta often and Mr Man only likes meat sauce on his “’getti” – so this makes us both happy. I thought I’d be all sharing and crap and pass on one of my favorite recipes that I’ve made my own.

Evolutionism Propaganda And, DO scroll down to “Apple Macintosh”, you gotta see this.

At first glance you might think it’s the ever hiliarious Landover baptist. Nope, this one is completely, and freakishly NOT a joke site. You still can’t help but laughing your butt off.

I love this part – “If you are using a new Macintosh running OS X then you probably have these “daemons” on your computer, hardly something a good Christian would want! This clly illustrates that not only is Macintosh based on Darwinism, but Darwinism is based on Satanism.”

Righhhhht. You need to drink more.

Every few Sundays we get all the clean socks in a hamper and set up on the bed, turn on the Xfiles and pullout the “Bag of Naughty Socks”, which is a king size pillowcase stuffed to the gills like Santa’s bag with unmatched socks. We have a glass of pop and sort through the clean and “naughty” and try to find the orphans a new home.

It’s all in vain, very rarely does the bag return the dresser top any smaller than it started, often getting newcomers.

I know, we’re REAL exciting people. Exciting enough we’ve toyed with starting ANOTHER site for lost socks, a sock orphange is you will. We’re also considering selling the massive bag of naughty socks on ebay for laughs to see how many PAIRS we can buy with the singles.

My god, it’s full of stars…

Sunday is always FOX night. we stay home make munchies set the Dish on fox out of NYC and live there from 7pm till 11pm.

Futurama tonight was AWESOME! Tonight they surpassed a their own excellent standards. The entire living cast of the original Star Trek including William “Fucking” Shatner, and some off the funniest lines ever uttered. If you missed it, look for the reruns soon. Fabulous. Instant Classic.

Xfiles was depressing! THEY KILLED THE LONE GUNMEN!! NO!!! NO!!! GODDAMNIT NOOOOO!!!

I do have to say though, I’m glad they all went together, it seemed the right way, even as fucked up and twisted as it was. I know I certainly couldn’t choose between them. I loved them all. I really did. They rocked. But, sadly, it kind rules out their series (which I loved but flunked out) coming back, eh? Damn, the Lone gunmen were great, I miss them already. I even ted up seeing the coffins. Damn.