Facebook's space is not big enough

Okay, so I'm driving home from work and a lot of snow has been melting due both to temperatures being above freezing and direct sun exposure.

On the side of the road, there's a dead raccoon on a snowbank. He's been there for a few days. The sun doesn't hit where he is lying so the snow around him has been melting at a much higher rate than what's under his cold body. Because of this, he is now atop a dead-raccoon-shaped pedestal of snow. It's interesting, no? Okay, maybe not.

Gardening Questions - Help, Please!

Okay, I am not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination. I just this year found out what I should be pulling out of my garden because they're weeds, thanks to Dave, our yard cleanup man.

Also thanks to Dave, we have a big stretch of dirt out back that used to be a bit of a jungle. Some nice things grew there - daisies, black-eyed Susans, raspberries, tiger lilies - but some bad things grew, too, or namely one bad thing. My problem is, now that everything is razed, there's still a lot of the bad root out there. I pull it up and it stretches out and I cut where I can't pull anymore. I don't know what it is, but I know that it's sentient and insidious. Can anyone identify it by these pictures? The one up top is what the plant/vine looks like. Just a pretty green thing, right? This next picture is it trying to strangle a bush. It's evil, I tell ya!



Okay, so here's one of its roots in our new dirt section...
...and here's what happens when you pull the root...
...and then when you pull it more...


It pretty much keeps going and going. There's a lot of it out there. What I want to know, besides its identity, is how can I get rid of it? Do I just keep pulling it up? Should I poison it? I appreciate any help.

Secondly, this is what's growing in my yet-to-be prepped raised bed. It looks tomato-like, but I'm not sure.


If it's not a tomato, out it goes. If it is a tomato, it came from my blighted cherry tomatoes that fell to the ground last year. Should I get rid of them anyways for that reason? Or will they not be infected?

Again, thanks to anyone who can offer their assistance. This stuff is beyond me.

Mascara Critique #'s 1, 2, 3 and 4

I bought a mascara sampler from Sephora and thought I'd tell you all what I think about them. After all, Keri says that companies will send you free product if you do stuff like this. ;o)

I first went through the kit of (what I thought were) 10 mascaras one per day. On the ninth day, I discovered the mascara was actually a pre-mascara lash builder, so I incorporated that into each try-out after that.

Going through the whole kit first, I was able to pull one right away as it flaked really badly on me - the DuWop Lash Venom. I don't know if makeups react the same on everyone, so your mileage may vary, but there was a lot of this mascara on my cheek apples halfway through the day. Gone! F.

The first week, I tried Anastasia Beverly Hills' Lash Lifting Mascara. I wore one coat for three days, then one day with the builder, then two coats on the last day. It's a fine mascara. Went on well, stayed there, big teddy bear brush. Nothing to write home about, but perfectly useable. C+.

The second week, I tried tarte's lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara. That made for some big fat lashes in one coat. I did four days of 1 coat, one day with the builder and one day with two coats (I usually only wear makeup during the workweek, but there was a memorial service to attend, so I squoze in an extra day). This goes on nicely and stays put. Know, too, that one of my criteria for mascara is whether I can easily wipe any extra off my lid after applying (I'm a little messy). These first two had no issues there. I know there are some coming up that are a little difficult to dab, but not those these two starters. A.

This past week, I used Sephora's Atomic Volume mascara. Awesome brush! Spikey all around so you're coating three sides of the lash while separating! No flaking at all. I did four days of one coat and one day with the builder. The single coat days were good - my lashes stood out individually and looked great - and the day with the builder was even better. Good stuff. A.

So far a couple of really good contenders to unseat my previous winner of Benefit Bad Gal Lash. I liked it a lot at first, but paired with some other products (probably my eye moisturizer), it flaked a little. Time to move on.

Sad Squirrel Story

I have had a few episodes in my life that were sad and tragic. This particular one still almost brings me to tears, though.

When I worked at the Springfield Library and Museums Association, my office was in what used to be a doctor's house, the Kilroy House. It was next to the Donahue House and on the corner of the Quadrangle. There were trees and shrubbery and a small amount of wildlife - not a lot as we were in the middle of a city. Anyhoo, a squirrel was killed by a vehicle in the driveway going by the Kilroy House. Sad.

A few days later, baby squirrels began to emerge from a brick pile they'd been living in. Their mother wasn't coming back with food and they had to brave the outside world in search of sustenance. I found the babies wandering around near the house. There were about half a dozen of them. They were very cute. I'd never seen baby squirrels before. It was the end of the day and I didn't think through how totally helpless these creatures were. I arranged them all at the base of a tree so they could climb to safety (stupid) and started for my car. One of them ran after me in his toddley way. I actually screeched and giggled and ran from him.

I've always wished that I had just paused for a moment there, right in that very moment, to think about things, to realize that this baby needed a mommy and it was coming after me for help. I didn't think anything of it. Stupid. Tragically stupid.

I'm bawling right now writing this. I came to work the next morning and went to the tree to see if they'd made their getaway. Of course they hadn't. They were all dead. Their heads and upper torsos had been eaten by whatever got them. I had made such a huge mistake.

I have a few regrets in my life. This is the one that still pains me to this day, that this little toddling baby squirrel chased after me for help and I squealed like a stupid schoolgirl and left him and his siblings to die.

Art

I have an intense need to find a creative outlet. I thought it was photography and, while I enjoy it very much, I don't think that's it. I photograph what I like and I think I take pretty pictures, but I wouldn't call it art. I've tried writing, but I get too explain-y with the visuals and think I'm more clever than I am.

I've always believed that oil painting might be the key. It seems like a very forgiving medium. I can't draw very well and with oil painting you can put color on top of color and it hides what's underneath really well.

This is my first oil. It's a banana on a brown table with a red background. I really love it. It was fun and I was able to do something a little weird: as the teacher was instructing us, she told us that we shouldn't split the background and foreground exactly in half. I had done that, but, instead of doing what she did and bringing the foreground higher to offer the banana stability, I took the background lower. There is an element of fun instability and I think the banana looks a lot like a banana. I'm very happy indeed.

Seriously?

I haven't blogged since February? Okay, I suck. And it's not like I didn't have anything to blog about - I'm plenty pissed at the fucking wingers taking over the conversation on health care and us having only Barney Frank to set shit straight now. And by now, I mean now that the Lion of the Senate has left us. Yeah, I've had stuff to blog about, but I've also been a little distracted by trip preparation and work and stuff. So anyways, I'm just here to say, "Ciao!" We're off to Italy tomorrow. It hasn't hit me yet. A lot of times it doesn't until it's on me. I'm not one to get nervous or especially excited beforehand. When we're descending into Rome and the Colosseum is looming larger in my tiny airplane window, then I'll be excited. Then I'll be in Italy - land of food, wine, art, history, architecture and...what's the Italian phrase for Bon Vivant? I don't know, but we'll be feeling it, I can guarantee! See you all on the backside.

DSW

I am a huge fan of DSW and I found these bad boys for $11.99. I LOVE them! They're perfect for going to see the Pogues in New York City on my birthday. Joe thinks they're outlandish, but who's going to say anything about my crazy shoes in New York? I think no one.