Put on the Glasses

When I was little I received a Lego Castle set as a gift.  The picture to the left is a scan of the original 1984 instructions.  I was young and unable to build it myself. According to my mom, my sister, Stacey, spent "hours" painstakingly putting it together for me. Within days I had ripped it asunder. This is the story I heard from my mom for years. I heard it time and again, whenever I wanted a new Lego set. It has caused me to feel guilty for years as the set lay in pieces in my big box of Lego bricks. However, I have now stopped the siege of guilt. A while back, while visiting my parent's house, I meticulously rebuilt the set. I had to search through many Lego bricks and sort out the ones that were part of t he original set.  Then, since I had lost my instructions, I had to search online for scanned photos, like the one pictured. Happily, my rebuilding came close to the original. You can tell that my archway is a different color and I had to use red string in...

I neglected to post much when I returned to Brooklyn. This was due to general laziness on my part. I apologize. As you can see, I am back in full posting mode again. As such, you deserve a picture of our favorite kitty, Oreo. Many were concerned that Oreo would perish in our absence. But she survived! We know that her survival is probably due to the fact that someone else owns her. However, we do not care. She is too cute to ignore and we only feed her every few days so that she doesn't abandon her regular food source for us. In this picture she was too busy eating to look up at the camera, even with my pleading.

Brian and I found this painting when we were wandering around our neighborhood last weekend. I thought it was a good time to use it. I watched the Obama's DNC speech last night. I loved every minute of it. I wanted to share my favorite part: "...One of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism. The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America." The DNC made me very excited about the election. As you can see, I have picked my...

The mouse (I insist on talking about it in the singular) is still around. However, the war has begun. Late last night Brian put up over 10 sticky traps. Most of the sticky traps are surrounding deathly snap-traps that are coated with peanut butter. The mice were eating the peanut butter without dying. This is not acceptable. He also put poison down all over the place. This mouse shall not survive! We know he is still here. Mouse poop is a dead giveaway. Stupid mouse.

Brian told me that I was the only person who would understand the title to my last post. When the number of mice reached 4, I laughed maniacally at the noise-making mouse in the corner, "Bwahahaha, I now have the perfect pop culture reference for my blog post title!" You see, I am obsessed with internet crazes. I love the watching videos of Tay Zonday , the dramatic gopher , the sneezing panda and I especially love the Southpark video mocking internet video phenomenons. Recently, Sesame Street released previews of their new season. One was Feist's 1, 2, 3, 4 song. I have watched it many times. I love it. I sing it randomly around the apartment. Heaven forbid something totals the number 4 because I will make it a part of the song [insert pity for Brian here]. It inspired my blog post title. Now you know. Here is the video: The chickens are my favorite part. Clearly I am Muppet deprived. There needs to be a new Muppet movie.

You heard me. 4. That is a total of 4 mice in one day. Granted 2 were dead on a trap already. But, regardless, the total was 4. Let me start at the beginning. Early this afternoon, I walked into the living room. I sat at my computer to peruse the internet. I was happily clicking away. Then I saw it. Out of the corner of my eye it ran, from near me where I sat on the couch, toward the TV. Like any normal girl, I screamed. I told Brian where it went and and I left the room in a hurry. Brian searched high and low. No mouse in the room. However, while gathering sticky traps from other parts of the apartment Brian discovered two dead mice on a sticky trap in our kitchen. Ewwwww. So, Brian wanted me to believe the problem was solved. He tried to reason with me that I should be happy that two mice were dead already. We were sitting in the bedroom and and I saw a mouse! He poked his grimy little head out from under the closet door. What a bold creature this is! I screamed agai...

In line with my love hot sauce (see below), I thought I would share my favorite wine. Now, I don't pretend to know anything at all about wine. However, I do know what I like to drink. This is my favorite. They sell it at a wine shop in my neighborhood. The owner of the shop always laughs when he sees us coming because he knows we will be buying a bottle of Perlat. It is Spanish and delicious. That is all I know. It reminds me of a Pinot Noir, which is a type of wine that I love. So, if you are looking for a new bottle of red to try, and you see Perlat, give it a shot. [I know this is a bad picture but you have to forgive me. I was clearly drinking at the time.]

You know what, it is the perfect hot sauce. However, one drop does not do it. I usually use a big glob of it, much like ketchup. I just had to make a post about my favorite hot sauce. It is particularly good with eggs, potatoes, or chicken. Mmmmm. If you haven't had it, please do.

Brian and I went to the Alligator Lounge tonight. For the first time ever, I am considering never going back. For those of you who don't know the Alligator Lounge, it is a bar that gives you a free pizza with every beer or drink that you purchase. So, I used to go here quite a bit for a cheap, filling $5 dinner. However, after tonight, I may not return. First, they raised their prices to $6 a beer. This is something I can ignore. I know that times are tough but this is merely the least bothersome of problems. Next, I ordered a Hefeweizen. I always get a Widmere Hefeweizen at the Alligator Lounge. Tonight it tasted like metal and water and it looked like a banana milkshake. I had to return it and I opted for a Brooklyn Lager to replace it. They were nice about it. Again, this is something I can ignore. Next, they shrunk their pizzas. As you can see in the picture, the pizza no longer goes to the edge of the pan like it used to. This makes me sad. I know that it is free bu...

Brian and I just got the latest issue of Wholphin in the mail a couple of days ago. We love Wholphin. It is a DVD magazine released by the wonderful people at McSweeney's. You may be asking yourself, "DVD magazine? Well how does that work, Alicia?" Well, I will tell you. Every couple of months, Brian and I get a DVD with a nice little booklet in the mail. This DVD is full of odd, quirky, strange videos. They range from cartoons to documentaries to short films to footage of animals. This month, for instance, the DVD includes footage of great white sharks, lizards, a short film starring Michael Cera, a film about bigfoot and a creepy video about presidential assassination. The booklet that comes with the DVD has funny interviews with the creators and often explains their intentions. It is always interesting to see the level of work and devotion that some directors give to their films. Anyhow, Brian has a subscription so I am not sure where it can be purchased. How...

Last night Brian and I went to the taping of a pilot for Comedy Central. The show is called "Michael and Michael Have Issues" and it is a sketch comedy show starring Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. Brian and I are generally obsessed with Michael Ian Black. His new book, My Custom Van , is hilarious. I also still harbor residual love for any actor who was on the show "The State." Brian and I were able to get free tickets due to my Google Reader addiction; one of the blogs on my Reader is Michael Ian Black's blog and he put up a post about getting tickets to the show. The studio was in Hell's Kitchen and there was already a long line when we arrived. We showed up about 15 minutes prior to the time they said the doors would open. We ended up standing outside for 2 hours due to "lighting issues." While we waited in line they kept yelling at us, "Go to the bathroom now! This is your last chance!" A girl we talked to also told...

Whenever I clean out my closet and discard clothes that no longer fit me (too many cookies!) I take my clothes over to the Walgreens parking lot and put them in a big drop bin for the homeless. I am not sure if I am going to continue this practice. Brian and I have seen, on several occasions, people climbing into the big bin. They pull all of the clothes out, spread them all over the place and rifle through them. The box has a big 4' by 1.5' slot at the top and was clearly designed to try keep people out of it but they can still fit. I know that I am giving the clothes to the homeless anyways, in some form or another. However, it just makes me feel strange knowing that some homeless people are stealing clothes from other homeless people. This makes me about as uncomfortable as my trash. People go through the trash outside the building. Usually people are only looking for cans and bottles to trade in for cash. It really forces you to start keeping or shredding documents. A...

Earlier this summer, Brian and I attended the Renegade Craft Fair. While I was there I bought a necklace from The Weekend Store . I love the necklace (pictured left), which is made from an antique typewriter key. A few weeks after the craft fair I got a card in the mail. It was a handwritten Thank You note from the seller. I couldn't believe it. I don't think I have ever gotten a post-purchase Thank You note in my life that didn't come with a survey. It makes me happy to know that there are still considerate sellers out there. I felt the need to share my surprise.

I have neglected to post about this for a while. I bought a myself a binder for the wedding planning. I thought it would be lame to use a left over binder from law school to hold all of the clippings from wedding magazines of things that I like. I looked at wedding binders at Barnes and Noble and they were all pink with flowers and hearts on them. Plus, all pre-made binders had tabs and lists in them and my sisters already gave me a great set of planning sheets for my new leather daily planner! So, I tried to find an orange binder (you know I love that color) or a cheap leather binder. I could find nothing nice looking under 30 or 40 dollars, which seemed steep for a binder. Then I stumbled across Avery's website . They have custom printed binders for less than $20. I was sold! I chose a pre-fab pattern for the background (I could have uploaded an image) and I picked a font for the text. It was easy and it arrived within the next week. Since I got it I have been filling ...

There is another cat that likes to visit us in the backyard. This cat is not as nice as Oreo (see previous posts) and we are trying to avoid feeding it so that we do not end up feeding all of the neighborhood cats. I have named this cat Gremlin. Doesn't he (or she?) look like that googly eyed Mogwai from Gremlins 2? Brian has no idea what gremlin I am referring to and, unfortunately, I am unable to find a picture of that particular character on the internet. Hopefully I am not the only person who has vivid memories of that film. I still have a soft spot for Gizmo, especially when he is dressed up like Rambo in Gremlins 2. If you don't remember Gizmo, here is a reminder: Isn't he cute?