Cheers

Bottoms up, America. Here's to the next four years.


These tears in my eyes, they're because the drink is Very Strong. Really.

Lally Campaign Promise

Harry is patiently waiting. He is the only one.

It was my sister Gabriel that came up with the idea. She'd drink her very first Long Island Iced tea if Obama won the election. If McCain won, she'd drink two. One to celebrate and two to drown the sorrows.

On the east coast, my parents are ready.

contents of my "campaign promise" care package

I'm ready too.

whoever invented this beverage was just trying to get in someone's pants

I think I'll wait a little longer to mix my drink, but here's looking to only having to drink one!

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Eggs laid this year: 294

Leaves: The Agony and the Ecstasy

The agony:
For the entire month of November, whenever it is not raining (or only raining a little) I will be outside raking leaves. The broadleaf maples that surround our house are leafy canopies of shade in the summer but when thousands of leaves, each spanning at least a foot, fall even a trickle can build up quickly. Then there are the cottonwoods, the rhododendrons, the lacy japanese maples that line the driveway, even the blueberry bushes add their gifts to the pile.

clear, for now

The ever-falling rain makes the leaves heavy. I can use a leaf blower to clean up bits left behind, but the majority of the work is me raking piles, pushing the piles onto a tarp, and dragging the tarp over to a hill on one side of the house and heaving them. Today's day of raking netted me a four foot deep pile of leaves as long as a school bus that still need to be pushed the rest of the way over the hill. I just didn't have it in me.

the deep pile that needs to go over the lip of the hill

The exercise is good though!

The ecstasy:
An hour into raking I am beginning to labor. I've still got some sort of creeping crud and it's making me cough and wheeze. Even taking my time it's still tiring. Then, gloriously, my rake scrapes away leaves to reveal a concealed rosemary bush. The world is suddenly perfumed and the smell of it follows me around for a good long time.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 3
Eggs laid in the coop Sunday: 3
Eggs laid in the coop Saturday: 2
Eggs laid in the coop this year: 293

zombies and fake leaves

The very first L4D tv commercial went live recently. There were some awfully talented people putting in long hours to make this thing, and now that I know what kind of development goes into such a short spot I am more impressed than ever.



And it doesn't hurt that they picked some kick ass music to go along with it. Listening to the whole song is definitely a treat.
Embedding directly from YouTube is disabled, but here is the link.

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I got the itch to do a random fall craft the other day, and was inspired by a paper leaf covered wreath I saw at a shop. Instead of a wreath I made a garland for the fireplace. All it took was a package of fall colored cardstock, some brown floral tape, glue, and a spool of wire. Oh, and let's not forget what really made this possible: the die-cutting station at my local Ben Franklin's store. If I had cut out every single one of those leaves (and each finished leaf is two pieces of paper with the wire sandwiched in between) my hands would have been bloody stumps.



It came out exactly as I had hoped.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Eggs laid in the coop Thursday: 3
Eggs laid in the coop Wednesday: 4
Eggs laid this year: 285

Dirt Digging Party

Aubrey, 20 seconds before spitting out her pacifier to gnaw on a leaf

Oh, the scramble of the last few days of fall Before The Rains. I keep thinking that we are on the cusp of ceaseless drizzle, but there are a few days that sneak in where the sun is out and the air is crisp.

Julian, Wheelbarrow Technician

Isaac, Rake Enthusiast

I was hoping today would be a day like that, since I invited friends to a Dirt Digging Party. There are a couple of toddler boys in my life who love dirt, and also a few little girls who are too tiny to hold a shovel but will happily chew on leaves. I got up early and started digging, and took many lovely breaks to brew tea, draw with chalk in the driveway, watch Kristie's awesome dog Danger chase a ball, eat soup, drink hot chocolate, kick a ball around, and just chat. In between all of that I managed to get six wheelbarrows full of dirt down to a tarp next to the un-built beds. Several friends were brave enough to take up the pickaxe and shovel and help fill the wheelbarrow. We dug several shallow graves out in the woods behind the shed.

Need anyone buried?

I'll still need plenty more dirt, but at least there was a start. Then once everyone left I picked up my drill and got one frame put together. It is too heavy to carry on my own, so I'll need to get Charlie to help me move it down to its new home. I think we excavated enough dirt today to fill one bed and it will be nice to see how it looks when full.

One bed done. The board in the middle is just a temporary prop. Behold my hardware cloth, ravenous moles, and despair!

Charlie and I went to dinner last night, and I told him about the dirt party. His response? Let's go home and we'll cook soup to feed people. I made Avgolemono (a greek lemon chicken soup) and Charlie made his now-famous tomato squash with Harissa soup. We were cooking till midnight, and it was so much fun.

chop chop chop

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 3
Eggs laid in the coop Monday: 4
Eggs laid in the coop Sunday 5
Eggs laid this year: 276

Zombies As Big As Your Head!

Charlie has worked on an awful lot of games. And over the years we have smiled to see the occasional ad in PC Gamer and other trade magazines.

But baby, there's not much out there that beats Times Square:




Here's a picture of a local billboard:


I can't wait till this game comes out. Not just because it means that Charlie will get to come home for dinner, but also because let me tell you this game is So. Damn. Fun. Co-op games are fun at the content level, and the single player game has some very helpful bots, but when you're playing with your friends it's a gaming experience that satisfies like no other. Now that some of the exhaustion of nonstop playtesting stints has worn off, I am ready to start playing all over again.

Orange

My favorite fall color is orange.

It is the color of tasty neutrality, neither a complete failure or a total success:


The resulting pumpkin butter was more like pie filling. It just didn't seem right to spread on toast. It's in a big mason jar in the fridge and I may make a tartlet pie next week or something. Its still pumpkin season, so I'm going to do a little more research and find a different recipe and try again.


It is the color of nature's finish line:


The japanese maple in the back is happy. I keep digging it out from underneath the rampant prehistoric ferns that dominate the woods. They commonly grow to six feet or taller.

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Eggs laid in the coop today: 2
Eggs laid in the coop Friday: 4
Eggs laid in the coop Thursday: 5
Egg laid this year: 264