I can't wait to see this:

Not only does it look funny and has a great cast, but it features the music of kimya dawson, who I am currently obsessed with. If you haven't heard her, she is the female half of the Moldy Peaches, which may or may not be broken up.

kimya is classified as folk, or anti-folk, or country, depending on who you talk to. Her songs are the definition of raw and personal, almost stream of consciousness in their confessional style. Listening to Remember That I Love You feels like hearing her diary set to music. I also highly recommend Hidden Vagenda. Both albums have songs that are sweet and sad and funny and perfect for every emotion you have ever felt.

Favorite songs include Underground, The Competition, and I Like Giants (Remember That I Love You) Lullaby for the Taken, Parade, You Love Me, and Moving On (Hidden Vagenda). But they're all good. You can find her music on both eMusic and iTunes.

kimya dawson lives with her husband, Ange and daughter, Panda in Olympia, WA. She creates handcrafted items and continues to perform all over the place. Can't wait to see her live.

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I have to start off this entry by apologizing to Deidre Norris and Jennifer Foster, who I promised I would write about way earlier, except that my life got in the way. So here is the blog entry that I should have written a week and a half ago...

Despite having lived in Tacoma for over two years, I had never visited the often talked of, almost mythical Sanford and Son. I'd head tell of the Middle-Floor Merchants, but didn't really understand how the whole thing worked. Turns out you walk into Sanford and Son on Broadway, viewing their amazing collection on antiques, then follow the signs downstairs. At that point you are at the "middle floor" deciding to go left or right, where there are amazing shops tucked away in stalls of varying sizes.

Deidre Norris' one is awesome. Deirdre was so much fun to meet and talk to about her art. She was in the middle of reorganizing her shop, so things were a little chaotic at the moment, but she still gave us the back story on several pieces she had put together ("I'm a dumpster diver!") and how she changed things from tossed trash to amazing art.

Currently Deirdre is "offering one-of-a-kind yard art, birdhouses, chair flair, unique & vintage chairs, pillow talk, custom headboards/wall panels, and many other unusual, vintage and quirky home decor items". She gave me a big hug as I left, encouraging me and my Mom to venture across the street to The Helm gallery, "Look! I just go goosebumps when I mentioned it! You must go!"

I bought this from Deirdre:

I'm thinking of mounting it on the wall.

Another of my favorite of the Middle Floor Merchants is Jennifer Foster who owns Country Girl Gardens where I stocked up on hemp washclothes (4 for $12!) and bought a gorgeous, handmade wool scarf that I've been using everyday for the last week. Jennifer handmakes the soaps she sells and has a great selection of items that make excellent gifts or just items to spoil yourself with. Decadent, environmentally-friendly products, as well as cool clothing that you'll want to buy.

Jennifer also let us into Folie A Deux, a space which sells art and old, (sometimes) refinished furniture, which was closed for a few days while the proprietor was repainting her house. I recognized the furniture - she used to sell it on the side of the street on North 21st. and had told me she would be moving into a Sanford and Son space some time ago when I had stopped to admire her work.

Also of note in the Middle Floor Merchants are Mondo Bizarro, a toy/comics shop that caters to the indy comics collector. My Mom purchased the Maus comics for my brother there (OK - so that's not so indy...) but don't go expecting to find a bunch of X-Men and Batman comics.

Sisters is a Muslim clothing shop that has fantastic scarves at great prices. You can find everything from tunic tops to burquas there if that's what you're looking for. The woman who owns the place runs a Muslim halfway house for women and is extremely friendly.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Re-Fine Clothier is where I met Nannette and, in a vintage pram, her daughter Natalie. Vintage clothing (and an especially fine selection of gorgeous coats!) at bargain prices. Mom bought a beautiful red sweater for only $5.00 and has been cursing the warm weather in San Diego that hasn't allowed her to wear it.

The entire list of Middle Floor Merchants is here, but I truly recommend that you check them out in person at 743 Broadway. Several of the Merchants have odd hours, but Saturday seems to be a good day to catch most of them open at one time.

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I'll be traveling back to San Diego on Thursday to visit my family and take a trip up to Los Angeles to see their ongoing production of Wicked. Since I've been traveling quite often for work and pleasure, I figured with this most recent release of upgraded iPods it was time to move up in the world and get something other than my old-school blue 4GB Mini.

Originally I had purchased the Mini for Frinklin several years ago when it was the cutting edge of cool. It was the first iPod in our family and for a couple of years things were just fine. Then Frinklin's parents bought him an 80GB black video iPod just after they were released. And, lo - there was much rejoicing over the color screen and the video capabilities. The mini became my iPod, and although I coveted Frinklin's color screen and everything else my tiny iPod couldn't do, I got along pretty well. I thought about getting a Nano when they first came out, but didn't want to spend the money just for a color screen.

And then - I saw the NEW Nanos! With VIDEO! And COLOR! And EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED! I was ready to buy! buy! buy!

Since this week is jam packed for time I planned a trip after work yesterday to the closest Apple store near my house, the SouthCenter Mall in Tukwila, a good 25 minute drive or so away. I played with the Nanos, which were very cool, but finally decided on a silver 80GB iPod Classic, which holds 100 hours of video compared to only 5 hours of video on the Nano. Big difference for only $100 in price, plus the screen is larger on the Classic.

Of course, the store was sold out.

"Just head up to Bell Square," said the sales clerk, "It's only a 10 minute drive this time of night."

It ended up taking us about an hour once were were all said and done. Up to Bellevue, find parking, find the store, got the Classic, find our way out, back down the freeway (dodge the line of cars on their way to the Daughtry show at the Puyallup Fair). We missed meeting friends for dinner at The Red Hot (Sorry Kevin and Steve - so wanted hot dogs!).

The Classic is very cool. I haven't even had a chance to listen to it. It'll be broken in on the plane ride on Thursday morning. It has been synced up - all the music is loaded and videos will be added tomorrow. Cover Flow is very cool - it's something that I've had in iTunes for some time and having it on the 'Pod is sweet! I'm psyched to use it to start listening to some audio books as well!

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I totally blame Kevin and Sarah.

But now that the blaming is over, we're having a blast. You can read the sumarized version of how we came to own a Wii this weekend. The slightly expanded version is that we played around with Sarah and Kevin's on Saturday night and by Sunday afternoon we were playing around with our own.

The gaming console is tiny and takes up almost no room. It's shockingly simple to set up and even more easy to use. There are no complicated manuals and walkthroughs to play the Wii Sports game that come with the system (yes, you heard that right Playstation and XBox fans - FREE GAME). There is the simple wireless remote ("wiimote") that is super cool and minimalist. And there is the idea that anyone can use this gaming system from the very young to the very old and have a good time doing it.

Frinklin and I are having much fun beating the crap out of each other at various games and sports. We picked up a few other games including the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Wii Play. Wii Play may go back to the store as a trade in, but Zelda has proven to be pretty cool.

In addition to the games, Wii also includes a news channel with the latest in national and international headlines, global weather, and photos. It's like a web browser within in your gaming console. I've found myself using the Wii in the morning instead of the computer to read the latest news and check the weather.

If you're thinking about getting a Wii I highly recommend it. I'm hoping the next positive thing to come from this will be weight loss. I was on my feet for a good three hours today playing tennis, bowling, and boxing and I'm exhausted!

Posted by: Ensie at 07:39 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Joining up with several other bloggers on Wednesday at the brand new Tacoma eatery The Red Hot turned into an excellent evening of great food and good company. Frinklin was, of course, in attendance. Kevin and Sarah were both there. Mr. In-Tacoma himself. And a representative of This Shirt Is Pants. Frequent commenter (start a blog already!) Erik was there, as was Sparkrobot (buy his house!).

Special message to Angela and Steve - get a website...everyone's doing it.

There was definitely a festive feeling in the air upon our arrival at six, and the place was already busy. The bartender recommended the Woodchuck Pear Cider which went down well on such a warm day (not recommended if you're looking for something strong - it's more like a soft drink). I started a tab and ordered a couple of appetizers for the table.

Consensus on the apps is that they were OK - not recommended for large groups, but we hardly paid anything for them, so no great loss. Everyone ordered something different. Michael ordered the Tideflats which has absolutely everything on it. He wins the award for bravery 'cause I know my stomach would have put up a serious fight over that thing.

I had the Chicago dog minus the onions, peppers, and tomato. I KNOW OK! I KNOW. What kind of Chicago dog is that? But I wanted the poppyseed bun. Essentially I had a dog with mustard and relish and it was delish! Whatever neon green relish is used - it's the best I've ever tasted. Absolutely amazing.

Kevin's dog had cream cheese on it which sounds weird, but tasty. I'm branching out in that direction next time. Frinklin said the sour kraut was great, as was the slaw.

After three dogs, the cider, water, a root bear, and the two appetizers our grand total was $20.25. Practically nothing!

This could become a regular thing. Thanks Chris!

Posted by: Ensie at 02:57 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Because Kevin eats, sleeps, and breathes computers, he blogged about this event hours after it actually happened, however, I'm just now getting to it a few days later. I had some important, uh, weekending to catch up on in the meantime.

Last Thursday evening, myself, Frinklin, Jen,and Kevin traveled to the KOMO televison studios to attend a blogger meetup for the Seattle area. After scaring the bejesus out of everyone in the car a couple of times and taking a few wrong turns we managed to arrive safe and sound.

There were a good 75 bloggers present and the mingling was excellent. I met several new folks who I may never have run across in the blogosphere otherwise, and I hope to share a cup of coffee with in real life in the future. We also ran into Derek, and had a lovely time chatting it up Tacoma-style.

I know you're going to be jealous of this - but we go to take our picture in the Northwest Afternoon studio, and then we go to play a bit at the KOMO Anchor Desk and the green screen for weather. Somewhere there are shots of Jen and I doing the green screen weather thing. I even made it into the shot on the Seattle PI Big Blog (along with 20 other people, but still!). Since I'm anonymous, you'll just have to take my word for it. Although if you look at all of Kevin's pix, you'll eventually work it out. Although you'd have to be a really obsessed fan (or really pissed off supervisor of mine) to care that much.

After the meetup, the Tacoma bloggers sans Derek had a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory downtown. We had a great time getting to know one another and I'm looking forward to spending time with them again!

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So...I got a little got a little invite in my inbox today...

KOMO-TV and its owner, Fisher Communications, has graciously agreed to serve as host for a blogger meet-up at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday August 2nd. The event will be at Fisher Plaza, 140 Fourth Avenue North in downtown Seattle. Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments (alcoholic and otherwise) will be served and everyone who attends is promised a cool piece (or pieces) of KOMO swag. That's right; we're digging deep for this.

This is a social event, so come prepared to meet and make new friends. If you know of a local blogger who's not on the list here, please let me know or feel free to invite them, too. We'd like to meet everybody.

If you don't already know me, I'm Chris Pirillo - coffee addict, Seattlite, and a regular ol' blogger who also has a YouTube channel. If you have any questions about this event, feel free to contact Leanne Dillon from KOMO-TV at (206) 404-6055.

KOMO-TV is interested in getting to know bloggers in the area, and what better way to do that than with a little party? Again, this is a social event; there's no agenda for the station other than helping facilitate this meet-up. Fisher Communications recognizes the significance of the personal media revolution, and they want to listen and pay attention to what you're saying. I think this is a good way to start.

KOMO-TV news anchors will be there, so don't forget to bring your camera! You'll also be able to take pictures of yourself (and your co-anchors) at the anchor desk.

Please use the RSVP function of this Evite to let us know if you're coming. We want to make sure we have enough food for everybody.

We should all use "komomeetup" as the tag for photos, videos, blog posts, etc.

Anyone planning on attending?

Posted by: Ensie at 02:54 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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I'm probably the 500th person to use that title, but WTF - it fits.

Frinklin and I went to the first showing of Transformers today in Tacoma and GOOD HOLY GOD did the movie ROCK!

If you, like me, were a fan of the television show growing up - go!

If you like to see kick ass special effects - go!

If you like to see lots of shit get blown up in a big, big way - go immediately!

I'm not usually a Michael Bay fan, but this movie met every expectation I had in a big way. The nostalgia factor is huge with this movie, and judging from the reaction of the crowd, everyone was happy. There was a lot of clapping and shouting, especially when Optimus Prime made his first appearance. On more than one occasion several people stood up to clap. Shia LaBeouf was great - after seeing him in this action role, I'm definitely looking forward to the fourth Indiana Jones film.

Posted by: Ensie at 10:16 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Oh, Flight of the Conchords, how I love you. And now you have a television show on HBO - awesome!

"That's right baby.
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love. You know how I know, baby? 'Cause it's Wednesday. And Wednesday night is the night that we make love. Tuesday night's the night that we go and visit your mother, but Wednesday night is the night that we make love. 'Cause everything is just right - conditions are perfect. There's nothing good on TV."

If you're smitten, you can also check out Jemaine in Eagle vs. Shark.

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Because I know you're keeping up with what's on my Wist list, you may have noticed that I deleted the bookseller shelves last week. That's because I finally ordered them and they arrived today.

Old side tables (click to enlarge mess):

New sidetables:

Yes I have a lot of shoes. Shut up.

My plan is to get some cute boxes from IKEA to use for the stuff that was hidden away in drawers.

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"He doesn't actually talk on the phone...."

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THIRTEEN THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO AT BEA (in honor of the previous post)

1. Being in New York - I've never been!
2. Alison Bechdel author signing
3. Jennifer Weiner author signing
4. Graphic Novel Buzz
5. Being in New York.
6. Saturday Book and Author breakfast featuring Ken Burns, Stephen Colbert master of ceremonies.
7. The five bazillion free books and galleys I'll come home with.
8. The New Title Showcase
9. The Cookbook Expo. Seriously. I need some new cookbooks.
10. Being in New York (have I mentioned this?)
11. The ginormous exhibit hall
12. Seeing Nancy Pearl speak
13. Oh, and, uh, working (since Bob's Hogs is sending me and all...)

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Marcia

Posted by: Ensie at 08:50 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This is a fun little thing:

Found at so anyway...

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Not looking too hot, as I accidentally crumpled the picture before it was scanned, but trust me -- it totally pulls the room together.

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Stories so descriptive you're standing right next to her, Liz's blog is amazing. I've never wanted to visit the Deep South until now.

Granny Gets a Vibrator

I am in love.

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