Coloring The Void

Not much happening on this page...

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 09:19:00 +0000

I spend most of my time at Fake Plastic Fish. One of these days, I'll update my running, gardening, or knitting blogs. Until then, feel free to check the place out. But don't get spooked. There aren't any real ghosts in here, just the ones you bring with you.

Random Tidbit: "Cows look calm, but really they are gay nymphomaniacs..."

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:15:00 +0000

From The Sunday Times
February 27, 2005

The Secret Life Of Moody Cows
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor

ONCE they were a byword for mindless docility. But cows have a secret mental life in which they bear grudges, nurture friendships and become excited over intellectual challenges, scientists have found.

Cows are also capable of feeling strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety — they worry about the future. But if farmers provide the right conditions, they can also feel great happiness.

Read the full story, including the naughty bits here.

Today's Obsession: Plastic

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 03:25:00 +0000

Are you tired of looking at pictures of my teeth? Me too. So here's to a new start on this blog. My head is full of so many things each day... things I read, hear, see, dream about... and some of them might actually be worth reporting. Like today's latest obsession: plastic. If you think the photos of my teeth are unpleasant, look at this one:

This is what happens to much of the plastic that we throw away each day. And here is a heartbreaking article, if the picture is not enough to convince you of the problem: Plastic Ocean.

So okay, what can we do? One blogger calling herself EnviroWoman is drawing attention to the problem by vowing to live plastic-free for a year. She chronicles her successes and failures in her blog, appropriately titled, Living Plastic Free in 2007. Now, I'm not ready to make that kind of commitment, but I'm glad for her trail-blazing efforts as she discovers ways that each of us can eliminate some of the plastic from our lives.

For instance, did you know that the company, Lush, sells hair shampoo in solid bars (as well as deodorants, lotions, and other personal care products besides soap?) You can mail order their products (although I always wonder about the trade off between environmentally friendly products and the amount of fuel it takes to deliver them) or if you are fortunate enough to live near a Lush store (there's one on Powell Street in downtown San Francisco) you can get them right from the source.

In addition to avoiding plastic, we can also look for products made from recycled plastic, like the Preserve toothbrush from Recycline. This 100% recycled toothbrush is made from used Stony Field Farms yogurt containers and is also 100% recyclable. When the bristles wear out, you can either toss it in your recycle bin, if you have recycling of #5 plastic where you live, or you can send it back to Recycline in a postage-paid envelope. (They suggest waiting until you have an envelope full of toothbrushes to send back.)

What else can I do? Well, my mail-ordered prescription refills come in a gray plastic bag. If I did a little walking, I could have my prescriptions filled at a Kaiser pharmacy about a mile from my house and go pick them up. I can't do anything about the containers themselves, as I've been told refilling prescription bottles is illegal in this area. But I can at least eliminate the plastic bag.

So far, I've only discussed non-food items. When it comes to food, the task becomes trickier for me. I don't like to cook.

Michael's home. Time to watch another Thin Man movie and eat ice cream. More thoughts on plastic and anything else that obsesses me tomorrow.

Playing with colors...

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:22:00 +0000

Stayed home all day messing with my home page again. I thought, if I made the blog portion look like notebook paper, I might be encouraged to use it as such. Fun... all the pretty colors. Michael thought the notebook paper was come clipart I found. It's not! I made it myself. Here's a copy of the original for comparison:

http://www.coloringthevoid.com/index-old.html

Got a fun package in the mail yesterday. Dr. Warren sent before and after photos of my teeth:

A pretty good job after 2 years!

New Photos Posted

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:02:00 +0000

Photos from January Hawaii trip: http://www.coloringthevoid.com/photos/2006/2007/2007-01-13%20Hawaii%20Trip/index.htm

Also, updated 2006 photos: http://www.coloringthevoid.com/photos/2006/2006 (Red, you'll just love some of these.)

2-Year Anniversary!

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 07:10:00 +0000

Inspired by Ellen's new blog, His, Mine, Everyone's, I'm motivated to report on things besides running again.

Sunday, 12/3/06, was our 2-year anniversary. Michael celebrated by writing his final paper to finish up grad school. Whew! I celebrated by run/walking 18 miles and nearly breaking both legs. Double Whew! We celebrated together this past Saturday at The Mint, where we sang songs, drank drinks, and did deeds. Michael wore the new shirt I got him:

Then we went back to the Inn San Francisco bed and breakfast where we stayed on our wedding night. It was just like starting over. Except that Will's kids weren't there the next day to wake us up. And we didn't have lots of presents to carry home to Taft Avenue. Instead, we went for a run in the city, enjoyed a hot tub at the gym, and returned home to Hermann Street, where (we think) the landlord doesn't want to evict us.

Christmas is coming, and New Year's. I think I'll come up with some resolutions in the next few days.

What are yours???

So THAT'S what we did wrong!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 05:26:00 +0000

Last Saturday, Michael and I went over to Nancy and David's to watch Myth Busters and find out what went wrong on the 4th of July. Don't let this happen to you:

First of all, we used the WRONG MENTOS! We didn't know there was more than one kind. We bought apple Mentos and cinnamon Mentos, both of which are coated. The Mentos that will explode a bottle of Coke are the uncoated, rough-surfaced version.

Second, the corner store was out of Diet Coke. We tried regular Coke, which was pathetic, and Diet Pepsi, shown in the video. Neither created an impressive fountain.

This weekend, we're going to get it right! Here's our inspiration:

View an interview with these guys here:

New Running Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Thu, 18 May 2006 14:40:00 +0000

Beth Runs! A couple of months ago, I had the crazy idea to train for a marathon. It's been a month and a half now, and I haven't quit. I thought I'd keep track of my progress in a new blog called "Beth Runs!" There's a link to it on the sidebar. Maybe it will be inspirational. Maybe it will be gut-bustingly funny. Who can tell at this point?

2006 Photo Album

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 22:33:00 +0000

New: 2006 Photo Album begun. Click the link on the left. Photos from Hawai'i trip in January. Mom's "Lovely Hula Hands."

Men at Work

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 01:18:00 +0000

Ever feel like this?

or this?

http://www.oco-is-here.com

TransAmerica

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 12:07:00 +0000

Went with Nancy & David and their friend Deana to see TransAmerica. Felicity Huffman certainly did an Oscar-worthy job, I got a great walk out of it to downtown Berkeley, good conversation with Deana, a fellow knitter, and can check one more Oscar movie off my list. Plus there was gelatto. Scharffenberger flavor, no less.

Of course, it's now 4am, and I'm still awake, so the day didn't go completely as planned. I decided I'm going to get exactly 8 hours of sleep every night, but I guess not starting until tomorrow night. Why am I up so late? Making the "Viewer Remarks" feature work in my photo album so people can leave comments. Check out Knitting Projects again and leave me a message!

Being obsessive...

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 07:59:00 +0000

...is something I know intimately. I spent more time working on my knitting page so that it would be more compatible with the general look of this new site. I went back and forth among font sizes and colors and families (yes, fonts have families too) and just oh so many tiny details. So please click the Knitting Projects link to see the updated pages.

Being obsessive is why I am back on Depakote again. (Well, the generic form of valproic acid.) Since yesterday. It's got 3 main uses: convulsions, mania, and migraines. I don't have convulsions or migraines. Before 4am this morning, I was up for 25 hours straight. The thing that finally got me to fall asleep was sitting in front of the TV with a glass of wine watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on DVD.

A few nice things today... Michael and I made turkey burgers for dinner and then went to see Goodnight & Good Luck at the California theater. The Oscar race has begun again, and that means a lot of movie-watching for the obsessed. It was good, but slow. Langorous, even. Michael thought Brokeback Mountain was a better film, and I agree.

Okay, so enough about me. Crappy things in the news this past week:

Samuel Alito was sworn in to replace Sandra Day O'Conner.

Coretta Scott King died. She went to the same college as my mom, Antioch. But my mother didn't know her personally.

A whole ferry full of Egyptians died on their way home from Mecca.

Betty Friedan died today.

I'm going to bed now and hope to fall asleep. Goodnight and good luck.

New Knitting Page

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:50:00 +0000

Update: After much searching and trial and error, I finally found a great free photo album program that is going to allow me to easily create photo albums that are hosted here at Coloring the Void, rather than Yahoo or Ofoto or wherever. It's called JAlbum and the "skin" that I am using and modifying is called Aeneid.

So, after working many hours to figure out the code and make my own modifications, I have my first photo album... BethKnits. It replaces the photos that I have up on Yahoo.

From now on, I shouldn't have to work many hours to add photos or create new albums. But it's fun to figure this stuff out. I'm such a geek!

A brand new web site...

noreply@blogger.com (Fake Plastic Fish) — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:07:00 +0000

Why did I suddenly get the urge to update my web site? Because the hosting for my domain name, "herweirdest.com," was up for renewal, and I just didn't want it anymore. (Anyone interested in purchasing "herweirdest.com"? I own it through September 2009.)

A new domain name called for a new web site look. So here it is. I'm hoping it will be easier to navigate and update. All the old pages from the previous site are linked on the side bar. I'll be giving notice here as I add/update pages.

Or not. We'll see if creating a new home page motivates me to blog again.