Kitty

Kitty, originally uploaded by karlakp.

I was waiting for a tram and spied this crazy cat, all hanging out in the window, very alertly watching everything happen in the street below. Ears twitching, head swiveling right and left, not missing a thing.
Reminded me of an old Italian housewife, in all the neighbor's bidness, ready for a bit of gossip or a smoke. Funniest thing.

Other people are WAY funnier than me.

If you are on twitter you might have heard of a guy on there who posts as "shit my dad says".
His twitter posts are laugh out loud funny.

And now, I send you away to read a blog post he wrote one time because it's frigging HILARIOUS. (I know my brother is jealous right now, he'd LOVE to fart on celebrities.)

That is all. I can never post again. He's too funny, so just go read him from now on.

Fashion vs death

Now, I am ALL about the fashion. Or maybe I should say I am ALL ABOUT the personal style. Cherry pick the current trends that work for you, hang on to the ones that aren't that current but look good on you, and every so often indulge in that one silly thing that makes you feel fabulous. (For me that's purses or a great pair of sandals.)

Except, shoes like these. Trendy and fashionable, maybe, but AVOID THEM.

These are what I call sittin' shoes. Yeah, you might think you want to go out in them and be fabulous, but I guarantee all you will want to do is sit. Walking? Dangerous.

Like, yesterday. I was waiting for the tram when I saw this gorgeous Norwegian girl, maybe 20 years old, dressed up for a night out sitting on the curb by the tram stop. She was truly lovely, blonde hair pulled up into a chignon, long elegant legs, short black dress....and legs running with blood. Why? She was wearing shoes like these, and she fell off them, and bloodied both her knees, her shins and somehow, I think, one of the stilettos stabbed her in the back of one calf, because there were liberal mounts of blood there too. Her friend was with her, and mopping up the blood the best she could, but there was a surprisingly copious quantity which I think was starting to freak them both out.

The shoe victim tottered onto the tram I got onto and managed to find a seat, and I hope she went home, cleaned up and put on flat shoes. Poor thing. That must've hurt really bad.

That being said, I do have a few pairs of shoes that might not be considered safe. They are maybe 3 inch heels, and I feel very daring and TALL in them. (I end up at 6'1" or 6'2" in heels.) But I love how my feet look in them.

Screw you, Facebook!

I am SO annoyed with Facebook right now.

I joined Facebook because it was a nice way to stay in touch with my friends, in a PRIVATE way, so that I could control who saw my name and info in a way that I felt comfortable with. I could discuss or post things with my friends and have a little group discussion, but keep it within my group.

Over time, they have eroded some of that privacy, but there was always a way to fix it so that I could keep my full name or information out of the public realm, mostly.

But now they have done some changes that have severely eroded my ability to post things about myself I want to share.

Now, in your profile, if you list an interest (say, hiking) Facebook takes that and makes it a link to a public page where anyone can see your information regarding that topic. So, let's say you listed your favorite TV shows on the interests portion of Facebook. Now you are publicly linked to ALL those TV show 'pages' on Facebook, and you cannot unlink yourself. You CANNOT retain your privacy on that. All you can do is DELETE that information from your Facebook profile!!! That sucks ass in so many ways, it's ridiculous. So I had to spend quite a long time today deleting all my interests (books, movies, TV, hobbies, etc) INDIVIDUALLY from my profile....and they kept coming back!

Also, they have spread their 'like' button all over the web. So if you 'like' an article on CNN, say this one about Facebook, (which you should totally read) a link to that article will show up on your facebook page...even if that is not what you want!!!!! AND you still don't have control over some stuff if your friends are not careful with THEIR information!

From Facebook: "Please keep in mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites unless you block the application."

I don't WANT a lot of information in my full name on the web. There is a REASON I did not link my blog to FB or vice versa.

I am seriously considering deleting my FB account. I am very unhappy about this.

RyanAir's new logo

Have you seen RyanAir's new logo? I am sure a bunch of American airlines are mad they didn't get to it first.

Iceland we want your cash not your ash!

Jeez, is this ash thing crazy or what? Right now I've got friends or coworkers stuck in London, Rio, New Orleans, Paris, Houston, and New York. I've got others that are needing to get to Perth, London, the US and so on.

Nobody goin' anywhere. All stuck. Might be getting my boss back from London on a bus. That does NOT sound fun.

And this weekend? Sunny and clear, except for a wierd little bout of snow that happened this afternoon. I was sitting outside on the balcony, where it is warm in the sun. I was wearing shorts. I saw some stuff fall from the sky and thought "ASH!". But it wasn't, it was snow. Bollocks. But it was a sad little snow fall and didn't even bother trying to stick. How strange, though, to sit out side sunning yourself (hey, it was like, 15C in the sun!) and snow falls on you? That does NOT happen in Texas.

But it was warm enough that I went ahead and planted my planter boxes today. I love digging in the dirt and planting pretty flowers! I think I managed to only drizzle a little dirt onto the heads of the people down below at the coffee house. (Heh.)

Tomorrow's going to be an interesting day at work.

who will teach them to read the signs?

First, read this.

My questions are thus:

• Will there be little signs directing the toads to the tunnels?
• Do the toads read Norwegian?
• If not, who will teach them to read?
• Will the toad cops direct the toad tunnel traffic?

Also, who will be the 'toad guide' each spring and fall?

Anyone else curious about this?

Because i am THAT lazy...

I'm going to link you back to what I was doing on or around this date every year since I started this blog back in 2004.

So..

What I was up to on April 12, 2009.

And on April 13, 2008.

And on April 11, 2007.

And on April 11, 2006.

April 13, 2005.

And my first blog post ever, because I started blogging in June 2004.

And as for today? Not much happened. Work. Wore a cute dress I got at Noa Noa that I love...very 1920's. Foot a it messed up, from tendonitis? Anyhow, it hurts and it is a bit swollen.

So not really anything to reflect on a year from now. (Though the sun came out and it was a lovely day.)

Random

Random bullet post.

• Stayed home on a Friday night.
• Husband went to the pub...was rather convincing in his unenthusiastic invitation for me to come along.
• As he said "There's tons of people there...well, no, not Emily, no not Jan, actually, you and Eileen would be the only girls, so, it's mostly just the guys...do you want to come all the way out for the guys?"
• Translate: "No don't come I wanna drink til I slur and hang with the boys without you."
  
• Fine.
• I have plans tomorrow anyhow, so there. ptphptbtbppppbbth
  
• I stayed home and had a glass of rosé.
• And tortilla chips.
• I am trying to lose some weight you see.
  
• Good diet so far eh?
  
• I managed to get out of my 1987 dress.
  
• Yoga seems to be working for me.
• I am a tiny bit more flexible.
  
• I could reach the buttons to undo them.
  
• I'm in my Dia de los Muertos comfy jammy shirt now.
  
• Spent the evening messing around in iTunes.
  
• Discovered I have been a long time fan of Alice in Chains.
  
• I am very bad with band names and songs.
• So I KNOW a song, and I LOVE a song, but I don't know who does it until I happen upon it.
• I happened upon ALL of Alice in Chains.
• Which I now own.
  
• I jammed to it in the 90's, but only bought it now.
  
• Typical.
  
• Also, London?
• Rocks.
• Had a great time.
  
• Bought 7 dresses.
  
• Including a Liberty of London for Target dress.
• Except it was more a Target of USA for Liberty of London dress as I bought it at Liberty of London!
• They had the whole collection there!
• Which is good because do you know how much a damned Liberty of London shirt costs?
• Yikes!
• And the Target stuff was cuter cuts, anyhow. More than just boring button up shirts.
  
• Though Liberty does have some very beautiful designer collections.
  
• And some dumb stuff, like this.
• Seriously, I checked it out.
  
• Dumbest thing ever.
  
• Shit, battery on laptop dying. Bye!
  

1987

Today I wore a dress I have had since 1987.

Oddly enough, or maybe sadly enough, it is dead in fashion again.

Brown silk with little yellow and magenta flowers, above knee length, with a tulip skirt, pockets on the hips and a fitted waist. I think it's Anne Klein though the label is gone, it was an expensive dress for me back then, just beginning college. It was barely warm enough to wear it today, as it is sleeveless, with a yellow shrug sweater over it. (And a coat for going outside!)

And yes, it still fits me, after all these years. I must admit, it is a 'standing dress' as when I sit it rather unfortunately hikes up and yikes, things can get a bit naughty. Also, I am stuck in it until Rich gets home as I can't quite reach the buttons in the back. I had to leave a few open until I got to work until I could waylay a coworker to button it.

Still, I was rather happy to wear it again, though I don't think I can wear it as I used to, bare legged and with sandals. I need tights or leggings under it now, with my fish white legs that just don't do above the knee dresses anymore!

Today feels like spring in Oslo. FINALLY. Glory be.

Amazing Wiltons Music Hall

Amazing Wiltons Music Hall, originally uploaded by karlakp.

We literally happened upon Wilton's Music Hall as we wandered (slightly lost) thru East London. An amazing space staffed by an energetic, kind and motivated group of people. They are working to preserve the space in its original form, but not renovate, so you can see the layers of history in place. An eclectic scene you just want to hang around in and somehow pitch in to help! Loved it!

Big and small

Big and small, originally uploaded by karlakp.

A huge glass of wine (that's a full sized water jug next to it) in a tiny 16th cent Thameside pub.

Trafalgar

Trafalgar, originally uploaded by karlakp.

View from a black cab.

Bridge

Bridge, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Millenium Bridge towards St Paul's

We are a-mewsed

We are a-mewsed, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Mews in Holland Park area of London.

Pillow

Pillow, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Flash mob pillow fight outside St Paul's Cathedral. How much do I love London?

Pub

Pub, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Last part of the equation....a Guiness at the George.

England

England, originally uploaded by karlakp.

Aw hell yeah!