The inside of my case is...

HP's big, fat, fuck you. 

I don't think it was designed to ever have the power supply removed.  Not by me anyway.

The HP upgrade manual explains how to remove the disk drive, the hard drive, and memory, but the PSU, oh no.  But despite a lack of information, and experience, we (M and I) managed to remove it all the same.  We removed the motherboard and ripped one the wires that powers the fan.  M feels confident that with the aid of some electric tape acquired from a Japanese 99 cents store she can reconnect the wire.  

Anyway- we got it out and now I fear that I may not be able find a supply narrow enough to fit in the case. Whatever, we're getting a Mac anyway.  This project went from high priority, better be super-duper careful to let's crack this thing open and see what makes it tick.  

I was disappointed to find out that it was not powered by a hamster on wheel.

Wonderful world of mini washers

As an apartment dweller for the past 6 years of my life I've dreamed of the opportunity of having my washing machine and dryer. Some (very few) apartments come equipped with these luxury necessities, those that do have been well out of my price range, but now I've discover the miniwasher and am eager to damage my new dwelling. They're ittle-bittle, which defines them as cute, and I would never need to let laundry pile up around the home, I could just toss in the wash. Oh, I feel giddy.

I think the dryer/washer combo above is likely out my price range, and probably uses an ungodly amount of energy. And, of course the washer could always leak and cause enough damage to get me evicted.
So I think I'll try my luck with this, the Eco Egg lingerie washer!

Which is even smaller, therefore cuter.

Moving part 3

Two full nights we've spent in the new place.  And both times we could hear out neighbors fucking.  And I don't mean the occasional grunt or moan, and squeak of the bed, but the our neighbor lady screaming "Fuck me, aw yeah, oh harder!" And so forth.  We're wondering if are walls are really that thin or if they're really that loud.
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this, other than eventually running into them in the hall and trying not to giggle, is that they do this during the wee hours of the morn.  Like 3 or 4AM.  Either they stay up all night or get up at an obscene hour (tee-hee, double entendre).

staple gun + thumb = bad times

I didn't staple my thumb, but I do have a huge bruise under my thumbnail.  I was tidying up some upholstery that came lose on the sofa and managed to my thumb in between the handle and the lever.  I thought I had broken my thumb, that now I had this pulverized sack of flesh hanging from my left hand.  Anyway, I now have a horrible bruise under the nail and I can't really grip anything too well because when I try it feels like the nail is being peeled away from the flesh.

Stolen goods

or stolen good idea, whichever.
I was browsing through the Real Simple tip section and one the suggestions was to use old tissue boxes for storing plastic bags.  Which, despite being a good idea and looking cute in the picture, will look like shit in real life.

But I remembered some thing I saw on Trend de la Creme that I though was very cute, but would never use, tissue holders!

I love the one that looks like a sex doll.  I would be proud to display such an item on my kitchen counter.  

The mystery rash is back!

I'm so itchy.  I can now say that I truly empathize with my mother's dog.  So, my rash is a stress related occurrence, and thanks to some breakthroughs in therapy, which include acknowledging the various walls continue run into like a lunatic in an asylum ( yes my mental walls are padded), the rash is back.  Actually this coincides with breakthroughs in M's therapy, the stress level has been through the roof.  Both of us are happy, then sad, then angry, then content, then happy, etc.  Every repressed emotion is being dredged up, and we are always together, so we both get to bear the brunt of each other's... therapeutic breakdowns.  We get to be there for the  rebuilding, too.  It's very strange, not in a bad way, to watch someone's reality change.   Not in the sociopath kind of way, but that a lot of bad things lose their power over in another's life.  You can almost see it slip away...
But, in the grand scheme of things, is good mental health really worth a having an itchy rash for a few days?  

Adult decisions

M and I debating whether or not to hire a maid.  I never thought that it was something I would seriously consider, but here I am.  Or should I say, here we are.  We don't have the time to really clean.  I don't mean say the place is dirty, for the most part the it's neat, but it needs deep cleaning every few weeks.  The walls in the bathroom and kitchen need to be washed down, cupboards need to be dusted and organized, refrigerator shelves must be scrubbed down, tiles need to be clean with a toothbrush, etc.  I know that we live in a studio so cleanliness shouldn't be such a problem, but we are running out of time, and space, for our ridiculously high standards of home care.  

Speaking of space I need to go a on a box buying binge this weekend, my clothes are exploding out their current boxes.  At this point the space under the bed is essentially my dresser. 

 How swanky.

Running errands after work

So after a long, long day at work I went to Ralph's to buy the essentials; bread, beans, tomatoes, toilet paper, and wine.  Not being Trader Joe's the cheapest they had was $5 for a little four pack of Sutter Home Merlot.  What made this whole little trip interesting was what the cashier said to me. " I love the little bottles, I can never finish a regular bottle.  And when you try to save it, it taste funny." 
I almost said "Well, that's never been a problem for me."  Instead I said, "And they're so cute, they look like something dolls would drink out of."  That got me a bit of a strange look. 

Hooray for Tuesdays! Even though it's already Wednesday. Hooray!

Because on Tuesdays I have therapy. And without therapy I'm a mess. Well, more of a mess. Emotionally. Which really effects (or is it affects?) everything, doesn't it? After a two week break from it I'm so thrilled to be back on the couch. It's like playing connect the dots with out current behaviors and past experiences so you get a clear image of what exactly is going on.

Moving on, I really, really, really wanted to drink yesterday. Thank goodness we only have things that taste terrible even when mixed. Whisky and Diet Shasta Cola are horrible together. If had something to make martinis with I probably would have downed half a bottle vodka ( Sadly, I do prefer flavored vodka martinis. Oh, the shame of it all!), easy. I did have some wine over the weekend, sparkling wine, because a co-worker gave me a bottle as a gift. But I didn't drink the whole bottle in one night, which is what I would normally do. I didn't even drink the whole thing by my self, M had some, and it took about three days to finish it.

What I did this weekend...

I stared at M's brand new Betsy Johnson ankle boots with gold buttons.  So shinny!  I think I'm okay with not buying clothes and shoes (at least until my current flats dissolve like their predecessors) so as long as M is still getting new clothes.  She very quickly becoming living doll.  Cute hair, cute clothes, cute accessories, cute graduate program.  She's like the best ethnic Barbie ever!

What else, what else...
We went a'brunching on Saturday with X and M.V.  My new favorite food is now the breakfast quesadilla.   X and I took further notes on how not to run a boutique.  Do not buy crap from the the Santee Alleys and sell for three times the price, mix high and low prices, only the most unique items can go for top dollar, and display is so important, and good lighting is everybody's friend.  And I think books and magazine (that are for sell) scattered throughout help create ambiance and remind the customers that they want to be as cool as the mags and books.  And but cool "ethnic" for heaven's sake, Japanese magazines, communist stuff from China town, anything from a botanica.  One day, we will have our dream store.  And then we will promptly go out of business.  I can't wait...

We also, accidentally, went to see the new Art Car exhibit at LACMA.  We were going for our usual evening stroll around the tar pits, and saw them as we cut through the park to get by to our non-art car.

But the highlight of our weekend was winning tickets from KCRW to go see The Bird and the Bee at Bordello, which we've been wanting to go to forever, but now we finally have a really good reason, i.e. we'll get in for free.  Yay!

Free time

So I've got oodles of free time, now that I'm not drinking, so what habit should replace it?  Chain smoking?  Not a recession friendly hobby.  Knitting?  It does keep your hands busy, and it can be done while watching cartoons, but it does involve counting, so that's out.  Maniacally cleaning the studio?  It took me forever to break M's habit of obsessively cleaning our home, which I'm beginning to regret, but I shouldn't start what I convinced another to stop... what's a recession friendly, non sanity-sucking hobby? I know,  I'll become a housewife!  No, not the type that does anything useful, but the type that wears a glamours housecoat and those high heel slippers with the little fuzzy tufts on 'em.  Yes, this is indeed a brilliant idea.  Oh, I'll keep my day job, but the minute I walk through the security door, up the five flights of stairs, and through our front (and only) door I will transform  into my housewife persona.   All I need to complete the outfit is a bottle of valium(check!) and an ice cold martini... damn.

Plans for the weekend

What I will be doing and what it will cost me;

• Fix the sink(free!)
• Fix the cabinet(free!)
• Apply for a second job...(my soul!)
• Revamp blog (free!)
• Try to figure out what it is that is taking up so much space on my computer (my sanity!)
• Staring contest with rabbit (my dignity!)
• BTW I like the definition of "stare"on my Apple dictionary; "look fixedly or vacantly (emphasis added) at someone or something with one's eyes wide open" 
  
• Clean house, dirty house, clean house, dirty house, repeat, repeat, repeat... (free!)

It's Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday!!!!

Which means I can fix the bathroom sink!  And finish the couch, and fix whatever it is that's wrong with the computer, and do my taxes!  Oh, I can't wait for the work day to end.   I'm not being sarcastic, I really am looking forward to doing these things...
What else can I do with all my free time ( M will be studying)?  Give the rabbit a bath?  Two person job, one to wash the rabbit, the other to laugh at the person washing the rabbit.  Watching cartoons?  Yet another two person activity because I feel the constant need to point the funniest part of an episode and then explain why I find so amusing on so many levels.  Cook something new?   I need my guinea pig, M, to taste test everything.  I am indeed a pitiful creature on my own. 

I want this piggy to be mine...

I will name him Piggles

M starts grad school today

I'm so excited for her, I can't wait to hear first hand wait a Cal State grad program is like from someone who went to UCLA and only took difficult classes from very demanding professors.  I'm hoping that'll be a cakewalk(she'll be working full time well attending, that's the beauty of the Cal State system).  She keeps bemoaning the fact that she didn't try to apply with USC (she felt she wasn't good enough, but feels differently now...) but she can go there for her Ph.D.  Personally I think being a full time grad student and a full time worker bee are a very impressive accomplishment.
The downside is that I won't see her until after 10PM on Thursdays, but I'll just dedicate myself to my passion for napping during that time.  Oh, and I'll clean and make dinner, so she won't freak the fuck out with her new hectic schedule.

Things I will do in 09

I will install more memory on my computer. Myself. Which means I might wind up buying a new computer in the end...

I will organize my desk(the one at work), keep it that way, and acquire more chotchkeys to display.

I will take better care of the house plants and house pets. They'll go from well taken care of to ridiculously pampered. I wonder if I can carry my rabbit and peace lilly in my purse into the Rack, like those tiny dog girls do... and if I do, does it have to be a Juicy Couture bag?


I will discover someway for two people to continue to live a studio, as they have for the past three years, to find more space to store their stuff. And possibly find some room for a second bunny.

I will get a second bunny. They're so tiny, for a while anyway, and the one we have right now is lonesome. I will acquire this creature in 09, do you understand M? I promise to get a real smart one this time, that will fully understand the concept of the litter box.
Why look there's Baby New Year right there!  At the bottom of this post!

All I really want for Xmas...

is for M to help me reupholster the sofa and always mix resin and molding compound for me.  The other things she's given me so far are very nice, but the gift of service is always the most meaningful.  Willingness to dismantle a couch, hold fabric tight while I use a staple gun dangerously close to her tiny hands, and struggling to put the whole thing back together again just says "I love you more than my personal safety and emotional well-being."  The most beautiful eleven and a half words in the English language.

How not to reupholster furniture

We did once, successfully.  We covered an Ikea storage bench with really cute, retro, mint green fabric.  It looks great.  The Ikea sofa I've tried to reupholster, not so great.  The fabric's cute, tan with a retro print(to hide stains), but there are two very different, very big, factors in this job, M didn't help and the shape is much for complicated than a rectangular bench.  I know what I have to do, I have to take the sofa apart ( which is actually easy, it's also from Ikea), staple on the fabric with M's help, make sure that it can still be put back together, and ta-da!  I vow t fix this couch before my X-mas party this weekend.  And I will photograph/film the process, so I can make others feel the tediousness.

My wall of darkness

I've finally done it. I've gone and covered one of the walls in fabric. With wallpaper being so expensive, and being unable to summon the energy to paint, I've tacked black fabric to the walls. It's really the only obvious compromise when you think about.
It does not look goth. It kind of has an interesting haunted Victorian bordello look to it...well maybe it is a bit goth, but the Ikea furniture makes for a dynamic balance between morbid and functional sensibilities.

How I wash dishes and how I do it wrong

I cannot wash dishes to save my life. Every time I do them I think I did a good job, only to have M point out the large pieces of food still stuck to the plates. My only defense is, "Well, at least the food has been thoroughly washed. I'd eat off of them" But my finicky wife disagrees and begins the long process of scraping crusty food off our good Ikea china.