another pink world: April 2006 Archives

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

April 30, 2006

From the attic

Lisa, second grade, thoughts on moving from Delaware to NC:

"By Lisa Linn. It was fun up in Delawar But We had to moov to N.C.. I'm probly gonna spend haf my life in a motel. It's not to fun in one but I'm gonna hafta Do It."

A halloween story, no date.

"the pumpkin who saved Holloween. Wons ther was a pumqrin and on holloween Nikte the pepel that owned it forgot to carv it but it was a magic one and it carv it's self."

The "little sweet potato" poem. For some reason, this poem became infamous in the family. Dated 1976.

"There was a little sweet potato
He was a little guy
He had a lot of friends
But he was very shy
His friends were playful
But he was not
So one day he was boiled in a pot"

Posted by lisa at 07:22 PM

Well, I'll be. I'm on LJ.

For those of you who have me on their LJ friends list, but have never seen an entry from me, I imagine my appearance on your friends list is a bit of a surprise. Today I discovered that there's a plug-in for my blog software that will automatically cross-post my blog entries to Livejournal. And what do you know? It actually works. Here I am. Prepared to be bored out of your skull as I post endless tracts on the water in my basement.

Posted by lisa at 01:58 PM

I changed my blog

I hope you all can still read it. I did it fast, and didn't test on any browsers or platforms other than Firefox on the Mac.

I'm sure I'll continue to modify it in the days to come.

Posted by lisa at 11:08 AM

April 29, 2006

drought update

we did catch up this week!

MORE...

Posted by lisa at 09:29 PM

something like hoisin

i made salad rolls tonight, which i have done many times before. usually i use hoisin sauce from a jar, but although it tastes good, i've always thought it probably had a ton of corn syrup in it, and didn't feel very good about using it. so tonight, i decided to make something similar with better quality ingredients. although i'm sure there are recipes for homemade hoisin on the 'net, i didn't bother to look them up, since i was more interested in concocting something to my liking than being true to the flavor of hoisin.

so here's what i used:

natural peanut butter and honey, melted together in the microwave for 30 sec.
brown rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil
a pinch of sea salt (probably could omit, due to the tamarai)
a very small amount of tamari sauce

Posted by lisa at 09:19 PM

April 27, 2006

current obsession: drought

those of you who have known me for some time know that i usually have an obsession of some kind cooking. it might be something i can't fucking stop talking about, or it might be something that i mostly obsess over in private, or i might write loooooong boring blog entries about, oh, say, water in my basement.

but there's always something– and there's often something new.

new obsession: rain, and drought. officially, this area is in a drought. hard to believe what with the water in the basement, but it's true. i've started checking the precipitation measurements on weather underground after rainy days, to see if we've caught up.

tonight i made for myself a little chart:

        YTD	AVG	DIFF
apr 24	 8.12	13.74	 5.62
apr 25   8.56	13.83	 5.27
apr 26   8.72	13.92	 5.20

we have caught up a little bit.

Posted by lisa at 12:04 AM

April 25, 2006

Mangum St. closed May 6th

This just came across the Old North Durham listserv and I thought it might be of interest to other Durham residents...

Saturday May the 6th, for the Home Tour, Mangum Street will be closed from 9:30am until 6:00 that evening.

Also note that no cross traffic will flow at Lynch, Seeman, and Trinity streets. Mangum will be completely closed to all but pedestrian traffic and the trolley. The trolley will be traveling on Mangum and Trinity for the most part. Police officers will be directing traffic at each end of the Mangum street closing at Markham and Geer. One will also be stationed at Mangum and Trinity to let the trolley through and prevent other vehicles, but allow emergency vehicles to get through. Please be mindful of emergency vehicles for the day and help out if they should be needed.

We hope to have some classic cars parked on Mangum for the day and ask that all other cars be moved to side streets for the event. Please park off Mangum even if you do not plan to use your vehicle during the day.

Also note that many people will be parking in the two church parking lots and also be parking on neighborhood streets as well. Please welcome them and offer help if it is needed. Tickets for the event will be sold at Mangum and Trinity, and Trinity and Elizabeth. Baked items and lunch will be available at street vendors on Mangum. Food can also be bought at the Strawberry Festival in Old North Durham Park.

Detour signs will be marked for the street closing. Please pass the word on that the street will be closed so people in Durham can make choices to use an alternate route that day to avoid the slow travel around our event.

Posted by lisa at 11:07 PM

notes during big rain

the basement is wet. not a-river-runs-through-it wet, but there's more than just a little dampness, and from all the usual places.

i decided to see what happens during a Live Rain Situation.

i've always been able to hear and see water splashing over the sides of the gutters that are right over the outdoor stairwell that goes down into the basement. this has always been a trouble area.

so, the gutters were recently cleaned, and the drain at the bottom of the stairwell is pretty clear, but there's still plenty of water coming in that way. and i checked with a flashlight, and those gutters are still overflowing, which they should not be if they are clean. so WTF?

could be a downspout clog, especially on one of them. when i was working on that downspout a few weeks ago, i could tell i wasn't the first person to mess with it. somewhere along the line, someone ran that downspout into an underground drain, not the kind that originally came with the house, but the black flexible kind you get at lowes, and bury, and hope for the best.

i think the best may no longer be happening. mainly, i'm concerned that the gutter wasn't properly cleaned (or it filled with crap again), or there's a clog in the part of the downspout that is above ground. this gutter is particularly high up and over a stairwell, which is why i hire someone else to clean it in the first place. that should make it fairly interesting to troubleshoot. oh, and i think the power line for the house comes in right under it. good times.

Posted by lisa at 10:31 PM

April 21, 2006

morning good

what i want to do: keep sitting on the sofa, all leisurely, while the cat scoots in and out of the screened porch.

what i must (and will do): put the computer away. take a shower. hurry on to work in time for the 10:15 meeting.

~~:|:~~

last night i did yard work until moseman's various caretakers came over to learn how to pill him.

in the yard, i started scalping the parts that are completely not grass, and occupied by a weed that i consider to be very obnoxious and unpleasant. d. pointed out that weeds are a social convention, and i agree, i really do– but some weeds really bother me. the kind that are covered in that sticky sap? i hate those. and there's one other one that was really starting to take over in the back. i hate that one too. but now it's mostly gone.

the cool thing about scalping with the weed whacker is that it's a self-mulching process. most of the ground is now covered in a finely chopped layer of dead vegetation.

i also started cleaning the crap off the screened porch to make way for the lovely new furniture, some of which is already there, and some of which i have yet to actually obtain, but i will soon. Things are Under Way.

i applied roundup to the raised bed a couple of weeks ago and things are mostly dead back there. a session or two with the weed whacker and it'll be nice and clean. still not sure exactly how i'll proceed with it, and i may have to devote next weekend to the front of the house, in preparation for the Tour, but chances are decent that i'll still do something useful with it.

oh, all right. i'll get up now.

Posted by lisa at 09:18 AM

April 20, 2006

BPAL gone bad!

it's true, the stuff does go bad, and i've had my first experience with it.

according to my blog, my imp of Ultraviolet arrived on June 25, 2005. it was used and who knows how old when I got it. Now it's close to a year later and this morning I took it out for the first time in months.

I don't recall it smelling this way before. Methinks that I should buy a fresh imp from the lab, I do like mint + violet every so often.

It doesn't smell baaaaaad, like OMGgetitoffmegetitoffme! More like, hey, not so great.

Posted by lisa at 11:18 AM

April 15, 2006

damn i'm tired.

click the pic to read details...

Posted by lisa at 05:46 PM

top down on the town

last night i went out, left the house, socialized and did fun things like a normal person on a friday night. it was extremely novel. novelty=fun. it involved the starlite, volkswagens, and a tasty chimay.

time was in this city you couldn't hope to spend an evening that way.

Posted by lisa at 08:18 AM

April 14, 2006

OMFG bring your fucking dog in or go play with him.

barkbarkbarkbark. barkbarkbark. barkbarkbarkbarkbark. barkbarkbarkbark. barkbark. barkbarkbarkbark. bark. bark. barkbark.

etc.

j. said that the dog feels as if he's being punished, because he's been separated from his pack, and that's why he barks.

Posted by lisa at 05:00 PM

April 13, 2006

happyhappyjoyjoy

happiness is finishing the annual taxes, then simultaneously eating chocolate ice cream, watching The Prisoner, and placing a decadently large BPAL order.

MORE...

Posted by lisa at 10:11 PM

got NEWSPAPER to get rid of?

Got a big (or even small) stack of newspaper you'd like to get rid of? I could use a LOT for a landscaping project this weekend! I'll come pick it up! Just let me know.

Posted by lisa at 04:03 PM

Back yard renovation: photos

Yesterday I photographed my back yard in its "before" state and have created a Flickr set to document my efforts.

Back yard renovation Flickr set.

Posted by lisa at 10:30 AM

April 12, 2006

can we go back to the yelling?

one of my neighbors is outside right now having sporadic coughing fits. actually, it kind of sounds like the pattern and type of coughing some people have when getting high.

i listened to their dog whine pathetically for about an hour today. he was tied up outside and they were inside. i like to leave my back door open when the weather is nice so i can have fresh air, but of course this means that the sounds, and occasionally the odors from next door are all the more potent.

my next house will have more privacy.

Posted by lisa at 11:37 PM

the task that i put off for five years has now been completed.

Six years ago, I moved into my house. There were large beds beautifully mulched with pine straw.

The next year, i knew i needed to mulch. I was lost, though. I didn't know where to start, or where to get mulch, or how much to get, or who to ask.

The beds were never mulched. They grew weedy, and the large L-shaped bed in the back completely disappeared.

This morning, I measured my back yard and the big bed-- which I plan to bring back-- by walking it. I have written these measurements in my beautiful Molskine notebook to keep for all time: 64' x 36' for the back yard, that's 2300 sq. ft. 64' x 18' for the side of the L bed, that's 1150 sq. ft. 36' x 10' for the bottom of the L, that's 360 sq. ft. I have about 1500 sq. ft. to mulch in the back.

The good people at Barnes Supply on 9th St. tell me that one of their bales will mulch 100 sq. ft. to a 2-3" depth, so I have ordered 16 bales to be delivered Friday. Any extra will be put to good use in the front beds and elsewhere.

Now, why did it take me five years to figure out how to order mulch? I guess when it comes to gardening, I'm in the slow group.

update: The Barnes delivery guy, Gary, called me around 1pm in the truck with my mulch, unable to find my house. I hope my co-workers were entertained by our ensuing conversation, in which I lead him from the intersection of Duke and Markham all the way to the little white house with a silver Beetle parked in front. Gary was pretty entertaining to talk to. He felt the need to extoll the virtues of their mulch over that of Lowes during the lulls in conversation. I guess Barnes feels the pinch of the big box stores.

Posted by lisa at 11:25 AM

April 11, 2006

My 'hood in the Old Home Tour!

As many of you already know, my neighborhood, Old North Durham, is being featured in this year's old home tour.

To pre-empt the first question out of everyone's mouth: no, my house is not on the tour.

The tour is Saturday, May 6th. Mark your calendars!

Or better yet-- volunteer to be a docent!

I did this last year when the tour was of downtown Durham, and I had a fantastic time. As my shift went on, I learned more about the building I was station in, because people would tell me what they remembered about it. Docents also get to take the tour for free.

From an e-mail that just went out to my neighborhood e-mail list:

Catch the trolley on a lovely May day on North Mangum Street and take advantage of this chance to visit sixteen Durham showpieces. For the Historic Preservation Society of Durham’s 10th Annual Home Tour, this busy thoroughfare at the center of this year's tour will be closed to traffic, with the trolley running once again and roving actors portraying historic local characters setting the mood for you to: "Step Into History,” Saturday, May 6, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Cool! Trolley! The 1800's version of the monorail! It's like my neighborhood becomes Disney for a day.

Ok, not really. Still. Fun.

Posted by lisa at 11:52 PM

shake body!

i'll admit that i'm not a huge fan of amercian hip-hop these days. african hip-hop is a different story.

Naija Jams blog highlights 'Shake Body' video by ChiiDo.

there's no doubt that this is african music, after the intro. and the dancers are fantastic. i don't watch a lot of videos, so this isn't saying much, but definitely one of the best videos (or bits of film) i've seen in a while.

Posted by lisa at 10:55 PM

last year's obsession

ooh, look! real simple has an article about how to organize your basement.

this year, it's my yard. last year, it was my basement. or was that the year before? or have i been obsessing about my basement off and on for the last six years? yeah, ok, probably. that's one advantage of the drought-- i can switch to a different obsession.

via lifehacker.

Posted by lisa at 12:13 PM

April 10, 2006

the many options

current obsession: lawn. garden. weeds.

many options discovered and researched lightly, like the kind of watering that encourages shallow root systems.

the chem bomb option: weed and feed and seed. see what happens. inspired by a trip to lowes with the man, where we noted bags and bags of tall fescue for sale. tall fescue is the only fescue option that would really work well around here, and is probably the only thing that works here that can be planted with seed.

the fully organic option: might include cardboard, a truckload of compost and topsoil mixture, powdered molassess, and a sense of smugness that i haven't felt since becoming a meat-eater.

it was pointed out to me this weekend that my back yard does not get full sun. maybe seven hours tops during the longest days of the year. so vegetables won't be as happy and productive as they could be.

i really like this article about cardboard vegetable gardening. no, not vegetables that taste like cardboard, but grown on top of or just under it. i happen to have a pretty impressive collection of heavy-duty cardboard that i was saving for just this sort of thing.

an interesting place that came within my purview last week: B&B Topsoil Mine here in Durham. one neighbor gave them a positive recommendation. they deliver mulches and various mixes of compost and topsoil. i forgot to ask if they also deliver straight sand, something that i'll probably need in quantity later this summer.

brain. full.

Posted by lisa at 07:16 PM

April 06, 2006

random links sent my way

in the last few days...

Letter to the Community from (Duke) President Brodhead

Your Backyard Forest - Identify and Manage Hazardous Tree Defects

See a map of all registered sex offenders in your neighborhood (sent by xta )

Teavana.com - a source of good teas (recommended by a co-worker who knows i like tea)

the air car (i haven't had time to read this yet.)

Posted by lisa at 09:03 AM

April 05, 2006

it's my blog and i can rant if i want to.

let's talk about Southern Private University undergrads. shall we?

i made the mistake of reading an opinion piece in the school's paper, a piece that essentially said that durham wouldn't exist without SPU, that durham is boring and violently dangerous, although, of course, the column's author shows that he can "handle himself" by stating that he is bored when he leaves campus, not afraid.

i've had some level of affiliation with the SPU's campus station for the last 15 years. i've gotten to know some undergrads during that time, and the ones who wind up at the station are usually not of the "I come from real city and your city sucks" variety, even if they do come from a "real" city.

periodically, there will be an opinion piece in the school paper saying that the station sucks, doesn't reflect the tastes of the students who fund it, and it should be completely re-stocked with professional sounding undergraduate dj's who play only today's version of dave matthews.

fortunately, we've got good people in the student union who understand our mission (which is, succinctly, to educate and entertain-- not to be a big stereo for the students) and the fact that we're one of the only places on campus where students can interact meaningfully with their peers in the community. the union has got our back, and we haven't been overrun yet.

but when one attends station board meetings regularly, one is frequently reminded that we need to involve the undergrads more.

do we?

here's the rant bit: i don't want them. the cool ones with their heads screwed on straight come find us. why the fuck should we persue the bastards who don't want us? these are people who are not open, and we can't change that.

we are a wonderful opportunity for those that are, and we're not all that difficult to find if they look, just a little.

let the rest of them rot in their self-imposed boxes of boredom and exaggerated self-importance.

Posted by lisa at 11:24 PM

April 04, 2006

zoysiamania

in the process of researching grasses, i ran across this tidbit of insanity:

Q: Is Zoysiagrass any more or less sensitive to the effects of dog urine?

A: Zoysiagrass is more tolerant of female dog urine (the worst kind) than any other grass. If your dog goes in one particular spot it will probably turn the grass of color and if the lights were'nt on, get out? Yeah. Eventually if left untreated the thatch build up acts like talcum powder and causes the water and nutreints to run sideways. Then if it id going to have clippingsSpread around the grass should recover, however as an added measure leaching out the area with a good quantity of water will help enormously.

zoysia grass is the current front runner, if i really do go ahead with renovating my lawn. it's a warm season grass that is drought tolerant and disease resistant. it takes work, but requires relatively little nitrogen (fertilizer) and water as compared to other warm season grasses. warm season means it'll be green all summer, and i can plant it any time this summer.

i was getting excited about native grasses, like buffalo grass, but it appears that we get too much rainfall for those grasses to do well. kind of ironic given the drought we had last year.

to prepare the lawn, one likely technique would be to rent a sod cutter, cut strips in the yard, and flip them over, then plant the zoysia plugs in the flipped-over strips. wacky, eh?

Posted by lisa at 09:11 PM

April 03, 2006

plantopia

for those not in the greater durham area, we had some fairly massive rain today. which was cool, because my new gutter extensions got a pretty rough field test, and they appear to have done well. kudos to the young man who loaned me his rivet gun-- it was the perfect tool for the gutter job. not to mention that this job would have been impossible without the coping saw he gave me. tools are awesome.

so at lunch i went to the big blue home improvement store and bought more gutter equipment, and then went a little nuts in the garden department.

this year, i'm just going to buy the plants i like, and i'll find places for them. i've always held back on buying plants in the past because i knew i would never get them in the ground. but this year is already different. with no roswell hanging over me, no other projects tugging at my hem, and a hell of a lot more research and knowledge under my belt, it's a pleasure to work in the yard right now. with the time change, it'll be even easier.

so today i got:

eyeball plants! sarah and georg gave me one last year, and i managed to kill it, which has bummed me out ever since. not only was it a very cool plant, but it was a gift, so i both felt like a jerk and sad that i didn't have it anymore.

pterodactyls. ok, the real name of this plant is, as it turns out, setcreasea, which i did not know before today. it has pointy purple leaves that look, to me, like pterodactyl beaks. this is one of my favorite plants, so i'm pretty psyched.

dusty miller. i really like plants with oddly coloured foliage. dusty miller is one of those plants that looks like it was dusted with baby powder.

asparagus ferns. my mom had these on the front porch in hanging baskets when i was growing up, and i've always loved them.

i need to find some pretty hanging containers for the ferns, which i plan to hang from the shepherd's hooks at my front door. i think i'm going to get a pair of the nice vietnamese containers to go at my front door, and the eyeball plants will go in there. and i think i'm going to try and fit the pterodactyls and the dusty miller in the window boxes.

my window boxes look decidedly odd and they don't quite fit with my house. but that's ok. i won't say that i don't care, but i'm not going to worry about it too much.

update: gah, looking at pictures online, i don't think setcreasea is the plant that i was thinking it was. very cool looking plant, but not pterodactyls.

Posted by lisa at 08:03 PM

April 02, 2006

Ghandi quotes

cleaning out my inbox-- i must have run across these and mailed them to myself. this seems like a good place to save them.

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it....always." —Mahatma Gandhi

"I have noticed that life persists in the midst of destruction. Therefore there must be a higher law than that of destruction." —Mahatma Gandhi