I love Project Runway, and apparently, so do a lot of others! Check out this blog for lots of peanut gallery commentary. Even Tim Gunn and the contestants ring in with her. I don't think it is some sort of "Viral Advertising" either, just an obsessive fan who knows how to put together a nice blog. Am I naive or what?

I am using my time of to get stuff done around the house. Finally! A hand me down carpet from Alicia, some throw pillows from Target, an entire day of re-organizing the bookshelves, pushing around the furniture, and Volia! A whole new living room! The best compliment came from Jeremy Rosenberg, who pronounced the room No Longer About the TV, which is quite a feat. The bedroom has curtains now, too.

Just don't look at the dining room/costume shop/Robyn's office yet, which is where everything else got dumped, in addition to all of the donated clothes from the weekend that need to go to the women's shelter on Tuesday. Baby steps...We really don't have a room that stuff can get dumped into and the door shut. Even the garage is open to the world. I guess we are lucky to have closets with doors. Open floor plan is a blessing and a curse. Changing out that ugly ass chandelier will be so worth the effort.

PROJECT "GO AWAY" UPDATE...
We got a couple of political canvasers the other night. When I asked if they saw the sign, they said they did, but it didn't apply to them because they weren't selling anything, just exercising their first amendment rights to tell people information. When I asked them what words I SHOULD use to keep people like themselves from knocking on the door, they suggested "No Strangers." Of course, the camera had pooped out by that point, but I did learn a valuable lesson in that they will still keep coming and providing me with material. I just have to get the camera working correctly, also people will do anything if they think you might sign their petition, putting me in control of the situation.

I saw the greatest improv show last night. Jenny Purple and I went out to see our Tiny Bandeleros gal pal Maurissa's all-chick group Cherry No Cherry. They were on the late night bill with another all chick group at the ComedySportz Theater, which is in the old HBO Workspace. I haven't been to the venue in years, and that corporate comedy money has really spiffed up the joint. It never looked so good when it was HBO...

Cherry No Cherry were first up, and so great. Smart, funny, witty, every scene was big laughs. I didn't think the second group could live up to it. Called the Playin' Janes, they didn't look like much. Three kinda dumpy, but pretty, chicks dressed in matching men's pajama outfits.

THEN THEY STARTED LAYING OUT THE TARPS.

What followed was the most hilarious thing I've seen in person in a long, long time. They played basic short form games, but the twist is that every game was a competition between the three, usually two in, one out. And the odd man out was doing something very messy with food. The opening bit was One Word Story, and the third was hastily making ice cream sundaes for the ENTIRE AUDIENCE. "Celebrity" involved pop rocks and soda, and plenty of it. My favorite was something called "Honey Head" where the players tried to catch Fruit Loops on their honey covered heads while still playing the scene. The big finish, called Jam On! was a Rap Off (a battle?) (which I usually hate, but not this time!) with the beat box on the mike stomping fruit in a tub. Needless to say, the loser REALLY lost.

I don't usually go out to see shows that start at 10:30pm on weeknights, but perhaps I should more.

The job for Target has finally finished. Our formal wear for kitty cats looked smashing and the start airdate for the commercial is March 15th. We made dozens of items, and they ended up choosing 8 outfits and shooting only 6, because they were way behind schedule. A shame, really.

Let's see if it will link a fitting photo...

I see nothing but a question mark. If you see an image, let me know!

There was a strange sound outside this morning, sort of a scraping on pavement. it was a strangely familiar sound. It sounded like the snowplow going by with the shovel down, scraping the road, but I knew that it was highly unlikely here in LA, being that is sunny and 65 out.

I gave up guessing and opened the front door. Two boys were racing Big Wheels up and down the sidewalk across the street. The sound of plastic wheels skidding across sidewalk cement was unmistakable, and I hadn't heard it since 1979.

I should be sewing cat costumes for the Target spot right now, so you know what that means...time to procrastinate via the internet machine!

My sister Carole, who has her finger on the pulse of Cute, sent me these links. The first has the most adorable little baby animals ever. Tiny bunnies to pop in your mouth with just one bite. The second pits kitten vs. kitten in a cute off and you vote the winner. Check out the page with the most winningest winners. I want to run out RIGHT NOW and get a tiny baby kitten.

I'm inspired by Heather over at Matted Spam to write about those little Avon perfume pins. In a brilliant marketing plan to nab consumers at a very young age, Avon had a bunch of products for little girls. My mother did not buy things from Avon, as she is allergic to everything that doesn't smell like cigarettes, Lysol or Ivory soap, so I would have to receive these items as gifts from far away relatives or well meaning family friends. My absolute favorite were the plastic pins with a little flip up door that hid a tiny tray of perfumed salve. The pins were well made of sturdy plastic, and were always super cute and colorful. I remember having a little raccoon the best (it came with a matching brush and comb set) but I know there were others, something pink and orange perhaps? I have not smelled that smell in 30 years, but I bet if I came across it, I would know it in a flash, like Jean Nate or New Barbie Vinyl.

I loved to accessorize even as a small child. In my nursery school photo, I am proudly wearing my flight pin that came with my Barbie Dream Plane. I don't even think we remembered that day was Picture Day, it's just what I wore to school. Another early favorite was the white vinyl purse with the snap on the front flap with three pieces of fruit you could change out. Apple was my favorite, so it pretty much lived on the purse. The other choices were purple grape bunch and a banana. In retrospect, the banana would have been so totally wicked cool because it would have looked like that Andy Warhol graphic. I still have this little pink, knitted purse that some one's mom made for me in kindergarten. It has my name knitted into the front, and I have started using it as hand crafted knitted items are all the rage. It gets lots of compliments, and gives me much joy.

We have finally caught up with all of the past episodes of LOST. It's crazy good.

I have also been way into this season's Project Runway. I love Santino, even though most fans hate him. I think his stuff is made beautifully, looks awesome and I love what a personality he is. If I ever bump into him around town, I will tell him so. I LOVE that he gave Nicky Hilton his business card and schmoozed her in the last episode. They all should have. I'm glad that Guatlupe is gone. I'm so over deconstruction as high fashion and putting a tube sock on your arm as an accessory. That Marla is going down next, and then the boring menswear guy. So many of the seams sewn on that show are a puckery mess. Doesn't anyone check the thread tension or iron a goddam seam? Change that needle!!!

I'm still working up at The Character Shop in Simi Valley, and today we commemorated a merely drizzly break in the heavy rains with a couple of rounds of Pooh-Sticks. Based on A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh's game, where Pooh and his friends would drop sticks off a bridge, and whoever's got to a certain point in the stream first won. I'm sure Eeyore lost.

In our version, first round was "stock," no mods allowed. We took one tongue depressor, wrote our names on them, and started at one end of the drainage gully that runs through the parking lot. We dropped sticks, and then hustled across the lot to the other end where it ends up in a big puddle. Everyone put in a dollar, and I ended up winning the first round.

Second round was mods with no official wagering. The rule was one tongue depressor, no glues, no add ons. You could modify it however you wanted. I cut it into rocket shape, and sanded the the edges. I had a side bet going with my co-worker Rich, and most everyone else joined in. My rocket stick shot ahead early, and was neck and neck with the other two best designs. Deb's was pointed at both ends, Chris kept his full, but sanded the edges. I still won by a foot, and most of the pack was WAY back. Pay up, boys! Winning the mod round was quite an accomplishment, as most of the guys working there right now have mechanical and engineering backgrounds. Rich commented that he doesn't engineer little wooden sticks, so it's really not the same. Nyah nyah!!!! : P