The Weeklies: #5 Zombie Days

This Halloween I was a zombie, a new mom zombie to be exact. The costume wasn't too hard, I already had bags under my eyes, frazzled hair, drool stained clothes, and a glassy stare. I was up half of All Hallows Eve in my "costume" watching recorded episodes of Storm Chasers whlie baby slept on me (the only place she will sleep lately) and wishing baby and I would be swept away Dorothy-style into a lovely tornado of peaceful sleep. Nevertheless, baby's sleep strike has continued into this last week, which meant we aren't sleeping much either...for nearly three weeks now. This also means my blog is suffering, and I miss it.

Handmade Object
I am in big time love with these Cotton Monsters from Jennifer Strunge. The teeth!


Image
I've also missed the last few Illustration Fridays. So sad! A few weeks ago the topic was "grow". I couldn't help but think of my rather rapid growth in junior high. Here is a drawing of me and my date for my 9th grade dance, Yep, that is the actual background in the photo..yay Photoshop! In 9th grade most the boys were at least a head shorter than me, and drew their fashion inspiration from Maimi Vice. But that didn't stop me from struttin my stuff in a cobalt blue Jessica McClintock dress and size 10 Dyeables to match.


Best food I ate
I did a lot of dining out in the past week. Food always tastes better in the company of your friends! Pizza and Gelato with K, a delicious almond croissant with A, an amazing brownie dessert called Peppermint Twist shared with AM, Black forest cake with B ..cherries and chocolate in a cake? Oh yes!

Thing I made
After the week long smorgasbord, lack of sleep and general zombie-ness, my tummy finally gave out last weekend at the beginning of a much anticipated trip to a women's spa with my pal J. Sadly all I saw of the lovely spa was their ladies room. So for dinner we made waffles, pretty much the only food that ever sounds good to me when my tummy is not so happy.



Best thing I saw on the web
Here is a cool website for any of you with little kids on your Christmas list. It is a list of "safer" toy options (no plastic, no batteries, etc). Safety aside I thought this was a great compilation of some really cool stuff, and led me to some websites I'd never seen before. I'd like to cuddle up with this adorable Organic Dutch Anteater.

Can't live without
Tums and my all time favorite cure for The Green Apple Quickstep, carob powder and applesauce.

Music
Each time I was in the car this week (prime radio listening time) sweet baby would have a meltdown, and the only song that would calm her down was me singing Twnkle Twinkle Little Star...over and over and over again. Believe me I tried other songs but they didn't have nearly the same effect. Luckily when I made a stop to buy a sandwhich from my favorite deli they were playing some cool music with ghoulish themes.

So first, I give to you two nifty ghost songs. Next, two songs to make me feel a little better about our lame Halloween in the trick or treat department. Something was up in my town on Halloween night, there were no trick or treaters this year. I think we had about 7 kids all together. As the night wore on I tried to pawn off our candy kaboodle on the few kids we had. To this they replied with polite "no thank you"s and "just one piece please"..who the heck are these kids? Maybe if hubby, baby and I would have busted out a synthesizer and performed "Sugar" on our front porch we could have attracted more of a crowd. Instead we sat inside eating mini Twix bars and singing ala The White Stripes "I'm thinkin' about my doorbell / when ya gonna ring it? / when ya gonna ring it?"

(The player has been moved to the most recent Weeklies installment)

Feeling happy about
Crisp fall days, and my bed when I get to sleep in it.

Making me laugh
So...I'm going to admit to somethng wacky. Once per week I record The Lawerence Welk Show. As kids my cousin and I would be "forced" to watch this program whenever we visited my grandparents. I would be so moved by the music and dancing that on commercial breaks my cuz and I would raid our grandparents closet for Welk-inspired attire and waltz though the living room (always blocking the tv) doing our best Bobby and Sissy impersonation and usually collapsing in a heap of laughter. Most nights we'd be dismissed to go play in another room while the grown-ups finished watching the show. It was a brilliant exit strategy that I still believe made our parents a little envious.

As an adult there is something so cheesy-good about that show that I need a fix every once in a while. It is something about the technicolor costumes, clashing sets, the huge "Geritol" sign, and the ever-chipper band that keeps me coming back. I also love it when they show the audience dancing. I love to see what people wore, and it always cracks me up how they are all packed together in what seems to be the tiniest dance space known to man, resulting in an awesome polyester mosh pit.

This past week I caught an episode where two worlds collided. Lawerence Welk doing The Beatles "Hey Jude". It is so wrong that there is something kind of intriguing about it. So I offer you the Welk version, and to cleanse your palate the Beatles version (which includes a wonderfully amusing crowd scene all its own).