Welcome to Unseasonable Farm

Motto: "Why not plant potatoes in October?"

Pictured but not visible: Recently sprouted parsnips.

The favas are doing okay, but the peas are going to need some better support after the storm.

Tiiimberrrr-peeaaas

Probably the last pepper harvest, though, unless we get a run of warm weather.

Not that I'm being smug or anything. Okay, maybe a little smug.

And, unfortunately, the pickling cucumbers aren't going to be ready in time for New Years.

I wasn't kidding about the unseasonable thing.

Stay tuned for further adventures in planting things with no regard to the printed instructions.

Thanks Be To Cat

As we prepare for this holiday season, let us not forget what it is truly about: Sending your cat to board at a place where they take vaguely seasonal pictures of him, and apparently give him a collar.

What do you want from me?

A Brief Tour of My New Office

Since it will never be this clean again.

Needs more bookshelves.

1. Poster to cover oversized mirror on the wall.
2. Oversized mirror.
3. Hat.
4. My grandmother's roll-top desk.
5. Chair the cat is supposed to sit on.
6. Chair the cat actually sits on.
7. Reading couch.
8. Seedling starts for the garden. (Mostly cabbage.)

Spring Shoes

Enough of this. Let's look at some shoes.

Ooh!

Manolo Blahnik

Ah!

Alberto Moretti-Arfango

Whee!

Loeffler Randall

Hey!

Kate Spade

Wha?

Sigh.

Balenciaga

Ha!

Maison Martin Margiela

Whoa.

Sergio Rossi

Ow!

Christian Louboutin

Service Has Been Called

Well, I'm glad they're doing the necessary repairs:

But what exactly do they think we do in the office bathroom stalls?

Look! Up In the Sky!

A little excitement at work this morning, as it turned out our building was directly on the path the Endeavor flyby.

Naturally, everyone in the office park came out to watch:

(Not pictured: A whole bunch more people, including a group on the roof.)

We waited, and looked at the sky, and waited some more, and our site head threatened to make us go inside and do work and we waited a little more. Planes flew by on their way to SFO, causing brief, confused excitement, until a fuzzy dot appeared over the trees.

"That's it!" said the people with binoculars.
"Really?" said the people without binoculars.
"We're on the wrong side of the building," said the people with spacial sense.

A brief sprint later, we were able to get a slightly better view:

And then an even better one:

And then I stopped taking pictures for a little while, because some things are better actually seen than watched on a tiny screen while trying to focus.

And then it was gone:

Bye, shuttle.

Kickstarter of the Week*: Dogs in Cars

It's a photo book of dogs in cars. I don't totally get it, but I think I kind of love it.

*Or, rather, of however many weeks it takes before I do another one.

Why Did The Snake Cross The Path?

To escape the paparazzi.

Guess I can strike "wildlife photographer" off my alternate careers list.

The Honking

Can you imagine if they remade The Birds with geese?

Decriminalize foie gras!

Scary.

Did You Hear That?

I'm not saying it's one of those kind of days when strange things come wandering out of the mist.

Then again, I'm not saying it isn't.

Egrets, I've Had a Few

Some things look a lot more impressive before you take a picture of them.

I'm Not On a Boat

Unless you're reading this at some point in the future* when I am. But for the moment I remain landlocked.

The cruise was a lot of fun, if a little on the cold and wet side, and I will get into that presently** but it's almost Christmas and it doesn't seem like the time. So for now I'll just leave you with the knowledge that the trip has been completed, and that spiced rum combines quite nicely with Coke.

*Or, less probably, the past.
**Also, the rather significant issues I have with Princess's approach to customer service, but that's a Whinesday all its own.

Merry and Bright

I don't know about you. but where I am it is cold and gray and rainy, and someone is out of Trader Joe's frozen lunches, so she has to walk all the way across the parking lot* to go to the cafeteria. So let's look at some lovely things to cheer ourselves up, shall we?

Pretty!

Shiny!

Sparkly!

Feathery!

Spiky!

Insanity!



*It's a big parking lot.

New Camera!

Rumpole, Pensive

That's right, I'm using the fact that my poor, elderly Canon Powershot s410 finally gave up the ghost as my excuse for why there has been no Shoesday/Thurscheese/etc in the last week, and totally denying that it has anything to do with me being completely lazy. But now I have a new camera, an SD1300, which is a whole 890 plus a D better, so at the very least you can expect a 1000% increase of cat photos.

Although sometimes he moves:

He's coming for you

And his ideas of posing are not necessarily traditional:

Hey, if you could scratch your neck with your foot, wouldn't you?

And, like any good model, he doesn't get out of bed without a sufficient payday:

Kill. Kill. KILL!

(You think this is bad? Just wait until I figure out how to upload from my video camera.)

Good To Know

(via)

I Have No Words

Locked On Target. Firing in 3, 2, 1. . .

Taking a break from the tomatoes (still growing, still flowering, still confused*) and bring you, the people of the internet, the one thing you can't find anywhere else on this great series of tubes: cat pictures.

This is Rumpole:

He finds the plastic thing at the end of his string toy much more interesting than Mariah Carey.


He is also interested in naps:

I've never known a cat to like lying on its side as much as he does:

Other fun facts about Rumpole: chases invisible insects, attacks Cameron's arm with great enthusiasm, wants to be picked up and petted for a few minutes as soon as you get home.

Oh, and he's a cyber-zombie with lazer eyes:

*Applies only to Confused Tomato.

Kitten: 3D!

THRILL as the claws come right at you! GASP at the whiskers protruding from your screen! DUCK as he attacks your head!

No, seriously, duck. He got me full on the nose once while I was sleeping.

These USB Chairs Are Such a Pain

Plus, you know in about six months they're going to come out with a wireless version.

From the Vault: Tragedy in Clothing Form

Every once in a while, when I feel like maybe I am getting a little too judgemental about other people's clothing choices, I like post a little reminder of my own shameful history in fashion. I would defend myself by saying it was the eighties, and people did things like this, but the fact that Mom is right there looking effortlessly chic would tend to weaken that argument*. The only good thing I can think of to say about that shirt is that I remember wearing it once as a volunteer at the Lawrence Hall of Science "biolab," where there were a variety of animals for the visitors to handle, and a boa constrictor (Ms. Boa, I believe) that I was showing to some visitors climbed in one sleeve, around my back and out the other, so that the head and tail were hanging out of opposite sleeves. So, there's that.


Also, in my defense I would like to point out that it only looks like I have a mullet-- it was really just bad layering and a half-ponytail.



*I should note that she should not get the blame here; then, as now, I was somewhat difficult to argue out of an idea.