random catch-up since my birthday
as much as i begged, there was unfortunately no palanquin this year, but joe threw me a lovely belated birthday party with christopher, mika, travis, girlgoth & magnus, landon & his girl, & cowgoesmootwice. we went to shiro's for sushi, where i'd never been. (it's right across the street from marrakesh, so we've never noticed it due to marrakesh tunnel vision &/or marrakesh food coma.) joe & i had their omakase "dinner style", featuring items from their dinner menu, including broiled black cod belly & some particularly exceptional nigiri uni. afterward, we went back to our apartment for cake from macrina bakery:
Tuxedo Cake
A bittersweet chocolate cake moistened with brandy syrup with alternating layers of ganache and white chocolate buttercream. It is frosted with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream topped with chocolate curls. (two slices are removed in the pic; someone made off with the first before i could take the photo!)
one of joe's coworkers had this same cake for a birthday early this year, & joe had brought me a hunk - it was SO AMAZING i immediately claimed it for my own birthday & made him send a long string of emails to figure out where it had come from. (& yes, i was surprised it didn't say something horrible on it, haha.) testing4l attended remotely as i cut, & 1" slices were plenty; joe bought the 9" & it served everyone, plus three slices for our freezer, two for the fridge, & several more for folks to take home. (sheeep couldn't come due to babysitter issues, but mika brought an unexpectedly hilarious birthday card jes had made for me, & i made sure she received a nice slice in thanks.)
joe gave me the silk comforter, wrapped in silver & black paper with black duct tape accents & a bloody red bow. (he'd ordered the duvet cover i liked earlier in the day.) we played cards against humanity with decreasing attendance until 2am - i lost the game overall, but my two favorite wins were "the miracle of birth is a slippery slope that leads to a pyramid of severed heads" & "instead of coal, santa now gives the bad children a bleached asshole." a good birthday party indeed.
despite the amazing cake, sic737 was too sick to attend, but a week later he took me out to a wonderful dinner at voilà. i had the peppercorn roasted monkfish with lemon shrimp risotto, & swapped bites with chris to finally taste pork safely served medium rare - it was surprising & delicious & somewhat taboo after 30+ years of being told pork cannot be served pink. we split an order of rather good profiteroles for dessert. chris & i just haven't seen nearly enough of each other in the past year, & we decided to improve upon that with a regular Fancy Dinner Night every six weeks; the trick is to always plan the next one at the end of the current one.
a couple weeks later, joe & i finally rode the giant ferris wheel that i see every day from my office window (i charmed our way into five rotations instead of the usual three), & then went to another omakase meal on the cheap at nijo. eight delicious tiny courses, but the most spellbinding was the nasu dengaku - grilled eggplant with sweet miso sauce. OMG SO good, & very timely as i've been experimenting more with eggplant recipes. mid-week date nights rock!
i've found other photos of our china trip popping up here & there. (& yes, the group is respecting my photo-related wishes.) for those who read my travellogues, i'll note who's who.
Irish Guy in the foreground, NoPork in the pink hat, Cheerleader B pointing her finger over Tina's back towards Apologetic Guy, then joe, PermaSmile's back, joe as a time-travelling cenobyte, me, & an unknown asian.
joe, Harmless, Quietest Wife & Irish Guy
Carlos, Tina (guide), joe
No Pork took this of us on the fucking bund.
White Ponytail, No Pork, joe & me
Carlos, joe's bandanna, the top of my head, the hair of PermaSmile, Super Happy Asian Cutie looking decidedly unhappy in the background, Picky looking picky, & New York's scalp & eye.
Harmless center stage with me & joe - no one else in this photo is ours.
me & joe photographed by Photo Lady, with Carlos's leather-clad back next to the white downy backs of Sniffles & Super Happy Asian Cutie.
Super Happy Asian Cutie & Cheerleader B in the distance next to joe's dreads & me hiding in the crenels, with Sniffles in front.
blurry people: Picky & New York barely off frame, joe, Photo Lady, PermaSmile, Quietest Wife, Cheerleader B, Irish Guy, random asian, Tina, the back of Kind Face's face, & the hairstyle of Friendly Single Woman.
we're not in the following shots, but i figured i may as well try to provide decent pics of our entire group:
Jakson "doyouknowwhy?becows" Li (guide), Cheerleader B, No Pork, & Apologetic Guy forever in the friend zone.
probably Tina's hair, PermaSmile's forehead, Harmless, Cheerleader B, & Deal Seeker on the right
Dai Fei (guide), a bit of Cheerleader B, Carlos being jabbed in the eye by a rainbow, Friendly Single Woman, & half of PermaSmile.
Sniffles being sniffly, Harmless's ear on the maglev train
Picky with the giant bag, New York with orange sleeves, & Friendly Single Woman staring at their magic hands.
Sniffles, Kind Face, No Pork, PermaSmile with her permasmile, Super Happy Asian Cutie, & Apologetic Guy.
i can't seem to find good shots of New York or Photo Lady, or any shots of Adopted Grandma, but i'll update later if more pics turn up.
so on to our anniversary! first off, yes, i posted this year's anniversary montage:
i mentioned getting this deal, but we ended up unable to use it as joe can't get into canada for a while. fortunately, travis bought it off us (& the subsequent less-fancy hotel night i'd purchased), so i reworked our anniversary to stay at the queen of the valley inn in their africa room. it was... not great. :/ oh well, they can't all be winners.
we drove up to bow for dinner at the chuckanut manor seafood & grill, which was wonderful. our server there was a total sweetheart, & really entertained by us. they gave us some kind of delicious flat cracker-like bread (like matzo & oyster crackers had a baby) & spinach-artichoke dip to snack on while we decided. we split the appetizer of totten inlet mussels (steamed with lobster tomato saffron broth) & were then brought a really nice 7-grain wheat bread. already near full, we tried to split two mains: the seafood sauté (clams, mussels, prawns, scallops, oyster, dungeness crab, fish, bell pepper, onion, tomato saffron broth) & "today's pacific whitefish", a nicely prepared halibut (mushroom broth, herb salad, caramelized onion, cannellini beans, spanish chorizo). we ended up with a ton of leftovers, & so it only made sense to also order dessert - chocolate toffee mousse cake... to go. we each managed a few bites in the hotel room & saved the rest to go with our leftovers.
the next day, we drove up to bellingham, where i dropped off joe to hike the chuckanuts, & i continued alone up to canada to add to the Grammy Memorial Tattoo. i met up with travis at adorned precision - he came along partly for company & partly because he'll be getting his first tattoo soon & is a bit scared. nomi chi, my artist du jour, put him at ease immediately (though granted travis was fairly well transfixed by her beauty & likely to believe anything she said, haha).
as canada is a country that grammy & i had visited together, we added the name in an "intentional" blue - meaning a shade that doesn't look like a crappy old faded black. nomi & i picked a thick sky blue that'll work with similar blues in other countries to come. a few minutes of her careful work later, i learned how canadian tattoos differ from the US - i was bandaged with tegaderm?! sure, why not. apparently it's a new thing they're doing, & it was suggested i remove it 24 hours later in the shower. chinese stencil oil & canadian tegaderm... this memorial is proving to be technically interesting on top of presenting some cool experiences &, of course, being all kinds of heartwarming.
yes, so! on to the photo:
(for those from the future, the above is a permanent image link for all country additions.)
it's below & to the left of China, still making sure France will fit into the space above. i didn't put it next to China, as i'm sensitive to capital letters, & i don't want to notice weird acronyms when i look at it. i can't wait to find out what will be added next!
travis had backpacked through europe last year, & was pleased to join me to shop at euro-food. he found his favorite coffee & favorite european oatmeal cookies, & i acquired plenty of delicious russian candies & cookies for joe & i to split - & some fancy stone ground mustard as a thok present.
we had lunch at the bellaggio restaurant - holy crap the pollo club was great! chicken, prosciutto, mixed greens, tomato, mozzarella & basil aioli on their homemade flatbread baked in the pizza oven... & served in a reasonable portion size. thank you, canada.
after that, i drove back to the states. the guard at the border crossing was VERY interested in my new tattoo (they ask why you were in canada) & kind of neglected to check my ID - eh, i guess it doesn't matter who comes into the US anymore. i'd arranged a coffeehouse north of the mountain as the pick-up point, with the understanding that joe would text me if he arrives first, or i'd text him when i arrive, then hang out with the wifi & wait for him to report that he's down off the mountain. then i'd collect him on the road (with a nice warm mocha in hand) so he could avoid the boring street stomp back into town. he got there first by a couple hours, so i couldn't mocha surprise him, but i made it only a few minutes after our estimated meet-up time of six. the coffeehouse closed AT six, but the d&d geek shop next door was open, so we met there to compare notes of the day & look ridiculously out of place & adorable. for two very independent people, we missed each other more than is polite to say... but hey, it was our first time being separated by international borders.
we made it home without incident & sleepily played bioshock 2 until i had no more consciousness left.
what else? oh yes, i did this:
it's time for LISH'S COLLECTION POST 2012! - http://stretched.livejournal.com/5649717.html
hi! my lobes have been at 3/4" for over five years. ^_^
the biggest trend/change in my collection since last year is the slimming down of the dichro drawer. my love affair with dichro has come & gone, & i'm left with interest mostly in the more elaborate pieces - spirals, jewels, non-flower honeycombs. the glass drawer is already infringing upon what was once a dichro-specific drawer, & will surely continue to do so.
since the last post, i've sold 9 pairs & gained 11 (5 glass, 3 stone, 3 other), & i upgraded just one. since 89% of my collection is the same, i didn't bother taking a ton of new close-ups; you can refer to the link above for last year's set (or the individual posts linked below) if you so choose. however, it was time for a deep clean of my jewelry box, which gave me the excuse to do this:
(i included my pair of 7/16" abaraka chinese brecciated jasper keystone blade designs in the above image, but they don't fit into my jewelry box & aren't pictured below. i'm still considering selling them.)
on to the in situ pics & full details!
drawer 1 - organics & titanium/steel
DF abaraka blue morpho butterfly plugs in ebony, 4ga DF DIY blue morpho on black acrylic (link)
DF auris pearl morpho butterfly plugs in ebony, 4ga DF DIY pearl morpho on black acrylic (link, video)
DF auris idea idea idea butterfly plugs in ebony, 4ga DF horn DIY painted (link)
DF auris red on black skeleton leaves in ebony, 4ga DF diablo ebony eyelet with DIY red on black skeleton leaf (link)
DF maelstrom studio labs ebony with purple paua shell inlays, 4ga DF abalone in horn DIY colored (link, link)
DF paul's plugs custom ebony eyelets, 4ga DF diablo ebony eyelet (link, link)
DF nine25ag ebony stash plugs, 4ga DF ebony plug (link)
1/2" DF drusy DIY inlaid into 3/4" DF buffalo horn eyelets, 4ga DF drusy (link)
DF relic stoneworks blue-green chiapas amber plugs, 4ga DF relic blue-green chiapas amber (link, video)
DF onetribe green chiapas amber plugs, 4ga DF onetribe green chiapas amber (link, link)
DF industrial strength steel eyelets, old style (shorter wearable area), 4ga DF IS steel eyelet (link)
14ga/12ga goodart titanium navel curl, "octopus" anodized (link)
14ga fractal creations titanium double eyebrow spike, unanodized by me
6ga fractal creations titanium serenity II captive, unanodized by me (link)
11/16" SF jesse jarrell fractal creations titanium triskelion eyelets, 4ga DIY triskelion in steel ( link, link, link, link)
8ga fractal creations titanium spinal captives with dimpled 5/16" rubber balls, 10ga fractal creations titanium spinal captive with dimpled 1/4" rubber ball, unanodized by me, with 4ga kaos 1/4" black earskin (link, link)
2ga fractal creations titanium interlace captives, 4ga fractal creations titanium interlace captive, unanodized by me, or 4ga SF anato steel machined eyelet, cut to 1/4" wearable length, (link, link)
6ga fractal creations titanium demontail captives, blurple anodized, 8ga fractal creations titanium demontail captive, green anodized (link)
DF DIY bismuth plugs in resin & steel eyelet, 4ga DF DIY bismuth in resin & IS steel eyelet (link, link, link)
DF moodstone plugs, 4ga DF DIY moodstone plug on acrylic (link)
20mm SF wildcat op art eyelets, 4ga DIY op art (link)
20mm DF DIY mercury dime plugs, 4ga DF DIY miniature mercury dime plug on black acrylic (link)
drawer 2 - acrylics/mixed-media & silicone, stone overflow
5/8" SF red mirrorback plugs (DIY'd over silver mirrorbacks) DIY inlaid into 3/4" DF black acrylic eyelets, 4ga DF emblem red flashback (link, video)
5/8" SF blue mirrorback plugs DIY inlaid into 3/4" DF black acrylic eyelets, 4ga SF blue mirrorback (link, link, link)
21mm prizmatic red fanciful dichro cabochons DIY mounted to 20mm DF ikon plugs, 7mm red fanciful dichro cab DIY mounted to 4ga DF black acrylic (link)
20mm DF DIY red heart plugs, 4ga DF DIY red heart plug (link, link)
20mm DF time tunnels, 4ga DF DIY time tunnel on acrylic (link, link)
20mm DF blue/red acid plugs, 4ga SF DIY acid plug (link, video)
20mm DF elektro plugs, 4ga DF DIY elektroplug on acrylic (link, link, related)
DF video eye plugs, 4ga DF DIY video eye on black acrylic (link)
DF DIY portal plugs, 4ga DF DIY anger core on white jade ( link)
DF atrophie acrylic & resin lish baby teeth plugs, 4ga DF black steel & resin baby tooth plug (link)
DF lily hand-painted uv-reactive scorpion plugs, 4ga DF lily scorpion plug (link, link, video)
SF babypietattoo blueberry pie plugs, 4ga SF bpt blueberry pie slice (link)
DF industrial strength red rock candy plugs, 4ga SF DIY red "rock candy" in black steel (link, link)
20mm DF DIY ladybug plugs, 4ga DF DIY ladybug plug (link)
kaos blue opal fill extracted & DIY inlaid into 3/4" DF black acrylic eyelets, 4ga DF DIY kaos blue opal fill in black acrylic (link)
kaos 5/16" silver earskins, 4ga kaos 1/4" silver earskin & 0ga kaos 1/4" silver earskin (link)
DF red leopardskin jasper, 4ga DF glass DIY painted (link)
DF sodalite, 4ga DF sodalite (link, link)
DF sacred organics kambaba jasper, 4ga DF BMA dyed pink/purple howlite DIY painted (link)
DF wildcat picasso marble, 4ga DF plum jasper DIY painted (link)
drawer 3 - stone
DF relic stoneworks green ocean jasper, 4ga DF green adventurine DIY painted (link, link, link)
DF relic stoneworks/oracle dumortierite, 4ga DF denim lapis DIY painted (link)
DF relic stoneworks silver rutilated quartz, 4ga DF relic silver rutilated quartz (link, video)
20mm DF relic stoneworks condor agate, 4ga DF opalite DIY painted (link, video)
DF relic stoneworks rainbow labradorite, 4ga DF labradorite (link, link, link, video)
DF relic stoneworks blue labradorite, 4ga DF oracle labradorite (link, video)
DF relic stoneworks green spectrolite, REVERSES TO purple labradorite, 4ga DF relic green spectrolite & 4ga DF relic purple labradorite (link, video, video)
DF relic stoneworks pietersite, REVERSES TO solid flash, 4ga SF steel DIY painted for each side (link, link)
DF relic stoneworks seraphinite, REVERSES TO straight-grain, 4ga DF DIY seraphinite cab on acrylic (link)
DF middle woodland ear spools black moonstone, 4ga DF MWES black moonstone (link, video)
DF middle woodland ear spools rainbow moonstone, 4ga DF MWES rainbow moonstone (link, video)
DF middle woodland ear spools larvikite, 4ga DF MWES larvikite (link, video, artist's video)
DF middle woodland ear spools glass butte fire obsidian, 4ga MWES GB fire obsidian (link, link, video, video in moonlight)
DF middle woodland ear spools davis creek velvet obsidian, 4ga MWES DC velvet obsidian (link, video)
DF middle woodland ear spools hypersthene, 4ga DF MWES hypersthene (link, video)
DF middle woodland ear spools greenland nuummite, 4ga DF MWES GL nuummite (link, video, artist's video)
DF middle woodland ear spools green calcite, 4ga MWES green calcite cab set in black canadian serpentine (link, video)
DF southhillstones flashy sodalite, 4ga DF flashy sodalite (link, video)
DF aesthetics cathedral agate, 4ga DF drusy DIY painted (link)
DF sacred organics african bloodstone, 4ga DF white jade DIY painted (link)
drawer 4 - glass
DF gorilla glass red/black power plugs, 4ga DF GWS black colorfront DIY painted (link, link)
DF gorilla glass red/black power plugs [2], 4ga DF black acrylic DIY painted (link)
DF gorilla glass brown/turquoise power plugs, 4ga SF GG agave colorfront DIY painted (link)
DF gorilla glass orange/brown power plugs, 4ga GG clear glass DIY painted (link)
DF gorilla glass bronze/ivory power plugs, 4ga DF GWS white colorfront DIY sharpied (link)
DF gorilla glass serpentina power plugs, 4ga DF clear acrylic DIY painted (link, link)
DF glass distractions silver skull plugs, 4ga DF emblem glass custom fumed plug (link)
DF glasswear studios honeycomb image plugs, 4ga DF custom honeycomb image plug (link, link, video)
DF glasswear studios amber-purple jellyfish plugs on trans sparkle blue, 4ga DF GWS a-p jellyfish on TSB (link, link, video)
DF glasswear studios aquarium plugs on trans sparkle blue, 4ga DF GWS TSB colorfront DIY painted as a seahorse (link)
DF emblem glass custom lizard plugs, 4ga DF emblem custom background plug (link)
DF glasswear studios amber honeycomb texture plugs with DIY bee, 4ga DF GWS amber colorfront with DIY bee (link)
DF glasswear studios mars plugs, 4ga DF GWS custom mars plug (link, link, link)
DF glasswear studios neptune plugs, 4ga DF GWS glass DIY painted (link, link)
DF glasswear studios earth plugs, 4ga DF glass DIY painted (link)
DF glasswear studios nebula plugs, 4ga DF GG clear glass DIY painted (link)
DF glasswear studios andromeda plugs [2], 4ga DF GG clear glass DIY painted (link)
DF glasswear studios andromeda plugs, 4ga DF GWS glass DIY painted (link)
DF glasswear studios DIY "supernova" plugs (amber-purple colorfronts partially painted & worn backwards), 4ga DF GG clear glass DIY painted (link)
DF industrial strength amber-purple jewels, 4ga DF DIY resin jewel on painted glass (link, video)
drawer 5 - glass overflow & dichroic glass, luciferins
DF frozenfire lattacino coils, 4ga DF FF custom lattacino coil (link)
DF glasswear studios silver polychrome chain mail plugs, 4g DF mirror plug DIY'd with chain link (link)
DF hardass glass disappearing spirals, 4ga DF HAG custom disappearing spiral (link, video)
18mm DF industrial strength red spiral dichro (DIY'd over silver spirals), 4ga DF DIY red spiral dichro (DIY'd over IS red regular dichro) (link, link, link, link)
SF industrial strength red crystal dichro, 4ga DF IS red crystal dichro (link, link)
DF industrial strength red transparent dichro, 4ga DF IS red trans dichro (link, link, link)
DF industrial strength rainbow transparent dichro jewels, 4ga DF DIY resin jewel on FF trans rainbow dichro (link, link, link, link, link, video)
DF gorilla glass/relic stoneworks iridescent power plugs, 4ga DF GG/relic iridescent power plug (link, video)
DF frozenfire orange opal dichro, 4ga DF FF orange opal dichro (link, link)
DF frozenfire copper sparkle dichro on light cobalt, 4ga DF FF copper sparkle dichro on light cobalt (link, video)
SF industrial strength emerald crystal dichro, 4ga DF IS emerald regular dichro (link)
DF glasswear studios green/blurple honeycombs, 4ga DF IS aqua dichro DIY sharpied (link)
DF glasswear studios burnt emerald dichro, 4ga DF IS silver regular dichro DIY sharpied (link)
DF gorilla glass blue/green/peach trichroic plugs, 4ga GG custom conical blue/green/peach trichro (link, link, video)
SF industrial strength silver-blue opal dichro, 4ga DF IS silver-blue trans dichro painted white (link, link)
DF industrial strength blue spiral dichro, 4ga DF DIY blue spiral dichro (DIY'd over IS blue regular dichro) (link)
DF red on clear luciferins, 4ga DF red on clear luciferin (link, link)
DF red on white luciferins, 4ga DF red on white luciferin (link, link)
DF sky blue on clear luciferins, 4ga DF sky blue on clear luciferin (link)
DF deep blue on cobalt luciferins, 4ga DF deep blue on cobalt luciferin (link, link)
& some statistics for your amusement:
glasswear studios: 14%
gorilla glass: 8%
industrial strength: 10%
fractal creations (pairs): 4%
relic stoneworks: 11%
middle woodland ear spools: 8%
plugs made by friends: 6%
DIY/luciferins: 16%
plugs custom made to my specifications: 31%
enjoy. :)
& here are some random gudu pics, including joe, me, & the return of kitchenbutt!
Tuxedo Cake
A bittersweet chocolate cake moistened with brandy syrup with alternating layers of ganache and white chocolate buttercream. It is frosted with white chocolate cream cheese buttercream topped with chocolate curls. (two slices are removed in the pic; someone made off with the first before i could take the photo!)
one of joe's coworkers had this same cake for a birthday early this year, & joe had brought me a hunk - it was SO AMAZING i immediately claimed it for my own birthday & made him send a long string of emails to figure out where it had come from. (& yes, i was surprised it didn't say something horrible on it, haha.) testing4l attended remotely as i cut, & 1" slices were plenty; joe bought the 9" & it served everyone, plus three slices for our freezer, two for the fridge, & several more for folks to take home. (sheeep couldn't come due to babysitter issues, but mika brought an unexpectedly hilarious birthday card jes had made for me, & i made sure she received a nice slice in thanks.)
joe gave me the silk comforter, wrapped in silver & black paper with black duct tape accents & a bloody red bow. (he'd ordered the duvet cover i liked earlier in the day.) we played cards against humanity with decreasing attendance until 2am - i lost the game overall, but my two favorite wins were "the miracle of birth is a slippery slope that leads to a pyramid of severed heads" & "instead of coal, santa now gives the bad children a bleached asshole." a good birthday party indeed.
despite the amazing cake, sic737 was too sick to attend, but a week later he took me out to a wonderful dinner at voilà. i had the peppercorn roasted monkfish with lemon shrimp risotto, & swapped bites with chris to finally taste pork safely served medium rare - it was surprising & delicious & somewhat taboo after 30+ years of being told pork cannot be served pink. we split an order of rather good profiteroles for dessert. chris & i just haven't seen nearly enough of each other in the past year, & we decided to improve upon that with a regular Fancy Dinner Night every six weeks; the trick is to always plan the next one at the end of the current one.
a couple weeks later, joe & i finally rode the giant ferris wheel that i see every day from my office window (i charmed our way into five rotations instead of the usual three), & then went to another omakase meal on the cheap at nijo. eight delicious tiny courses, but the most spellbinding was the nasu dengaku - grilled eggplant with sweet miso sauce. OMG SO good, & very timely as i've been experimenting more with eggplant recipes. mid-week date nights rock!
i've found other photos of our china trip popping up here & there. (& yes, the group is respecting my photo-related wishes.) for those who read my travellogues, i'll note who's who.
Irish Guy in the foreground, NoPork in the pink hat, Cheerleader B pointing her finger over Tina's back towards Apologetic Guy, then joe, PermaSmile's back, joe as a time-travelling cenobyte, me, & an unknown asian.
joe, Harmless, Quietest Wife & Irish Guy
Carlos, Tina (guide), joe
No Pork took this of us on the fucking bund.
White Ponytail, No Pork, joe & me
Carlos, joe's bandanna, the top of my head, the hair of PermaSmile, Super Happy Asian Cutie looking decidedly unhappy in the background, Picky looking picky, & New York's scalp & eye.
Harmless center stage with me & joe - no one else in this photo is ours.
me & joe photographed by Photo Lady, with Carlos's leather-clad back next to the white downy backs of Sniffles & Super Happy Asian Cutie.
Super Happy Asian Cutie & Cheerleader B in the distance next to joe's dreads & me hiding in the crenels, with Sniffles in front.
blurry people: Picky & New York barely off frame, joe, Photo Lady, PermaSmile, Quietest Wife, Cheerleader B, Irish Guy, random asian, Tina, the back of Kind Face's face, & the hairstyle of Friendly Single Woman.
we're not in the following shots, but i figured i may as well try to provide decent pics of our entire group:
Jakson "doyouknowwhy?becows" Li (guide), Cheerleader B, No Pork, & Apologetic Guy forever in the friend zone.
probably Tina's hair, PermaSmile's forehead, Harmless, Cheerleader B, & Deal Seeker on the right
Dai Fei (guide), a bit of Cheerleader B, Carlos being jabbed in the eye by a rainbow, Friendly Single Woman, & half of PermaSmile.
Sniffles being sniffly, Harmless's ear on the maglev train
Picky with the giant bag, New York with orange sleeves, & Friendly Single Woman staring at their magic hands.
Sniffles, Kind Face, No Pork, PermaSmile with her permasmile, Super Happy Asian Cutie, & Apologetic Guy.
i can't seem to find good shots of New York or Photo Lady, or any shots of Adopted Grandma, but i'll update later if more pics turn up.
so on to our anniversary! first off, yes, i posted this year's anniversary montage:
i mentioned getting this deal, but we ended up unable to use it as joe can't get into canada for a while. fortunately, travis bought it off us (& the subsequent less-fancy hotel night i'd purchased), so i reworked our anniversary to stay at the queen of the valley inn in their africa room. it was... not great. :/ oh well, they can't all be winners.
we drove up to bow for dinner at the chuckanut manor seafood & grill, which was wonderful. our server there was a total sweetheart, & really entertained by us. they gave us some kind of delicious flat cracker-like bread (like matzo & oyster crackers had a baby) & spinach-artichoke dip to snack on while we decided. we split the appetizer of totten inlet mussels (steamed with lobster tomato saffron broth) & were then brought a really nice 7-grain wheat bread. already near full, we tried to split two mains: the seafood sauté (clams, mussels, prawns, scallops, oyster, dungeness crab, fish, bell pepper, onion, tomato saffron broth) & "today's pacific whitefish", a nicely prepared halibut (mushroom broth, herb salad, caramelized onion, cannellini beans, spanish chorizo). we ended up with a ton of leftovers, & so it only made sense to also order dessert - chocolate toffee mousse cake... to go. we each managed a few bites in the hotel room & saved the rest to go with our leftovers.
the next day, we drove up to bellingham, where i dropped off joe to hike the chuckanuts, & i continued alone up to canada to add to the Grammy Memorial Tattoo. i met up with travis at adorned precision - he came along partly for company & partly because he'll be getting his first tattoo soon & is a bit scared. nomi chi, my artist du jour, put him at ease immediately (though granted travis was fairly well transfixed by her beauty & likely to believe anything she said, haha).
as canada is a country that grammy & i had visited together, we added the name in an "intentional" blue - meaning a shade that doesn't look like a crappy old faded black. nomi & i picked a thick sky blue that'll work with similar blues in other countries to come. a few minutes of her careful work later, i learned how canadian tattoos differ from the US - i was bandaged with tegaderm?! sure, why not. apparently it's a new thing they're doing, & it was suggested i remove it 24 hours later in the shower. chinese stencil oil & canadian tegaderm... this memorial is proving to be technically interesting on top of presenting some cool experiences &, of course, being all kinds of heartwarming.
yes, so! on to the photo:
(for those from the future, the above is a permanent image link for all country additions.)
it's below & to the left of China, still making sure France will fit into the space above. i didn't put it next to China, as i'm sensitive to capital letters, & i don't want to notice weird acronyms when i look at it. i can't wait to find out what will be added next!
travis had backpacked through europe last year, & was pleased to join me to shop at euro-food. he found his favorite coffee & favorite european oatmeal cookies, & i acquired plenty of delicious russian candies & cookies for joe & i to split - & some fancy stone ground mustard as a thok present.
we had lunch at the bellaggio restaurant - holy crap the pollo club was great! chicken, prosciutto, mixed greens, tomato, mozzarella & basil aioli on their homemade flatbread baked in the pizza oven... & served in a reasonable portion size. thank you, canada.
after that, i drove back to the states. the guard at the border crossing was VERY interested in my new tattoo (they ask why you were in canada) & kind of neglected to check my ID - eh, i guess it doesn't matter who comes into the US anymore. i'd arranged a coffeehouse north of the mountain as the pick-up point, with the understanding that joe would text me if he arrives first, or i'd text him when i arrive, then hang out with the wifi & wait for him to report that he's down off the mountain. then i'd collect him on the road (with a nice warm mocha in hand) so he could avoid the boring street stomp back into town. he got there first by a couple hours, so i couldn't mocha surprise him, but i made it only a few minutes after our estimated meet-up time of six. the coffeehouse closed AT six, but the d&d geek shop next door was open, so we met there to compare notes of the day & look ridiculously out of place & adorable. for two very independent people, we missed each other more than is polite to say... but hey, it was our first time being separated by international borders.
we made it home without incident & sleepily played bioshock 2 until i had no more consciousness left.
what else? oh yes, i did this:
it's time for LISH'S COLLECTION POST 2012! - http://stretched.livejournal.com/5649717.html
hi! my lobes have been at 3/4" for over five years. ^_^
the biggest trend/change in my collection since last year is the slimming down of the dichro drawer. my love affair with dichro has come & gone, & i'm left with interest mostly in the more elaborate pieces - spirals, jewels, non-flower honeycombs. the glass drawer is already infringing upon what was once a dichro-specific drawer, & will surely continue to do so.
since the last post, i've sold 9 pairs & gained 11 (5 glass, 3 stone, 3 other), & i upgraded just one. since 89% of my collection is the same, i didn't bother taking a ton of new close-ups; you can refer to the link above for last year's set (or the individual posts linked below) if you so choose. however, it was time for a deep clean of my jewelry box, which gave me the excuse to do this:
(i included my pair of 7/16" abaraka chinese brecciated jasper keystone blade designs in the above image, but they don't fit into my jewelry box & aren't pictured below. i'm still considering selling them.)
on to the in situ pics & full details!
drawer 1 - organics & titanium/steel
14ga fractal creations titanium double eyebrow spike, unanodized by me
6ga fractal creations titanium serenity II captive, unanodized by me (link)
drawer 2 - acrylics/mixed-media & silicone, stone overflow
drawer 3 - stone
drawer 4 - glass
drawer 5 - glass overflow & dichroic glass, luciferins
& some statistics for your amusement:
glasswear studios: 14%
gorilla glass: 8%
industrial strength: 10%
fractal creations (pairs): 4%
relic stoneworks: 11%
middle woodland ear spools: 8%
plugs made by friends: 6%
DIY/luciferins: 16%
plugs custom made to my specifications: 31%
enjoy. :)
& here are some random gudu pics, including joe, me, & the return of kitchenbutt!