So, let’s see what happened ’round here this week:

-made some banana espresso chocolate chip muffins with a recipe from sweet pea’s kitchen. It’s amazing I managed to get this one photo. I really should stop mentioning I baked things if I can’t stop shoveling said treats into my mouth to take a proper picture.

-is it just The Beau & me that think the pumpkin candy corn tastes better than the rest?

-the bushes all around our place have been blooming since it cooled down considerably, and I am so glad I captured them when I did because the next day, all the flowers fell off.

-had an impromptu pumpkin-carve with my mom. We decided to brave a Martha Stewart idea and do a reverse carve. You carve so that the design is like a 3-d relief of an image, and the shell around it is carved down so the light will show through. Well, Martha can explain it better than I can.

-The Beau and I are going to a Halloween party on Saturday and I am so excited! I haven’t been to an honest to goodness Halloween party in AGES, so I wanted to do it right. The above photo is my inspiration. Bwahaha!

-Sunday is the Cupcake Love-In and we are going for the 2nd year in a row. So stoked that I am going to try and abstain from snacks and desserts the next couple days *starts doing jumping jacks*

Not pictured: going to a Louis CK show tonight, very stoked.

Yes, you read that right, my list of lists. If you enjoy making lists as much as I do (which is pretty odd for a right-brainer like me), then making lists of lists is the epitome of fun. All the research! When it all comes together you feel like a Knowledge Queen! Anyway, here are some of the great lists of Halloween costumes I have found.

-Yahoo’s 30 easy diy halloween ideas

-Of course, photojojo‘s ideas are photography related. (I love the grayscale/Pleasantville-style idea)

-not martha has a superb list of lists, too. This link to different drink based costumes is a great read.

-Real Simple and Martha Stewart has some great family-oriented costumes.

-Most of these costume ideas from babble could be used for kids or adults. Those Fantastic Mr. Fox costumes, oh my goodness!

-SplitSider has a list of comedy-related halloween ideas that are pretty great. If I had short hair I would be Stefon for sure.

-I adore this website, take back halloween. Despite what society says, you don’t have to dress as a slutty ladybug, cop or whatever. You can dress clever and cool without a short skirt.

But I wanted to say Happy Birthday, and here’s some other pretty awesome people who share your special day.

clockwise from top right: Bootsy Collins, Cary Elwes, Mahalia Jackson and Seth McFarlane. Yeah, you know, all the best!

pardon my blue language, I am still upset it’s too hot for sweaters.

Let’s see I:

• Made pecan oatmeal cookies and pumpkin Cheerio treat bars (I could have sworn I got pictures of the cookies, but they are long gone, as always)

• Had dinner with the family – always fun to laugh around platefuls of pizza!

• did not know NPR had Science Fridays all the time! How did I not know?! Speaking of science, the Orionid meteor shower is peaking tomorrow…maybe I can talk The Beau into driving out of town to watch the show!

• Made a newspaper snippet on this amazing generator. I foresee my pen pals and The Beau getting a lot of random “articles” I found.
• Went on a fabulous bike ride that include secret underpass artwork, a babbling stream, a roadrunner, rabbit but not a javelina, and the above pictured rest stop that I always see from the freeway. Very serene ride.

• Created then sent out a postcard made from a beer coaster (in honor of Oktoberfest)
• am excited about getting my color packfilm in the mail today – more portrait photos await!

I made some apple pecan cinnamon rolls that were gone entirely too quickly, and on the subject of apples, I stayed in my car to listen to this feature with an apple lover (whose cookbook is now on my library queue!) and it turns out The Beau was listening at the same time!

The editor of AZ Highways was on my local news station talking about their new issue and I can’t wait for it to come out. The amazing pictures they get always inspire me to get out and explore my own state. Which also inspired me to paint a little home state love.

I took a family portrait of my sis, SIL and neice with my new camera. I am totally in love and bought some color film I cannot wait to test out with sunsets and fall picnics.

Also, I was able to finish an obstacle at work that had been bothering me since the beginning of summer, so I feel like I’m Walking on Sunshine for most of the day. And on a Friday, that’s the best feeling I could hope for.

But here’s the real week wrap up:

-I GOT MY CAMERA! I think the eBay seller knew I was checking the tracking info every hour for a week because he sent it at the very last possible moment. Blerg. But I got it, I cleaned it, I loaded film and I have only taken one picture but I. Am. In. LOVE.

The Beau just might murder me for putting his photo up here. Or make me take it down.

-I totally forgot that it was Space Week! Luckily I wrote about it last year, so you can read here.

-I won some coffee straight from New Orleans and it has chicory in it and now I want a garden full of chicory. Plus, it’s such a fun word to say.

Not pictured:

-It dipped way down into the 70s here in the valley, so I got to wear my amazing green pants that I will probably be wearing a little too much this fall! I’m not calling it fall yet, because it’s supposed to get back into the upper 90s next week, but fingers crossed that’s a fluke. Hello pants + tights!

-I found a recipe for apple cinnamon roll cupcakes that might stop my heart, and I am slowly putting together a rad Halloween costume, hehe.

I love podcasts. The more I listen to them, the more I try to think about why I like them so much. Other than the fact that so many people tell me that I was born in the wrong decade – the 40s & 50s were really my time – and during that era radio shows were still popular, I think I love podcasts for their enviable storytelling abilities. They make up in fabulism what I severely lack.

I’ve made a list of my very favorites, and ones I’m getting ready to jump into because they have been highly recommended by people whose minds I know and trust.

• My Brother, My Brother and Me (MBMBaM for short). Three brothers who give advice to those who ask for it, and ridicule (and possibly give very bad advice) to the people of Yahoo Answers. It sounds pretty straightforward, but these guys are so funny that they were my starting point for podcasts.

• Thrilling Adventure Hour, especially Beyond Belief. I could only hope I can grow into the alcoholic shoes of Sadie Doyle. She is classy, sweet, saucy and terribly, terribly funny. And PFT, well, he’s just like his bio says, “America’s finest…” Start anyplace you’d like, but here is the link to the soundcloud audios.

• How Stuff Works podcasts (especially Stuff You Missed in History Class). I like these on days I feel unproductive. They’re nice and short, and they make me feel like I learned something. So even if I don’t do anything else all day, I learned one thing.

• Ear Wolf shows. You could pretty much close your eyes and pick a show on the Ear Wolf lineup and hit a winner. My favorites are Sklarbro Country, How Did This Get Made, Comedy Bang Bang, Who Charted?

• WTF with Marc Maron. He’s a comedian who invites people on a show he produces from his garage. So awesome on so many levels. Sometimes his guests are people that he has had beef or problems, or didn’t like in the past, and that is a very interesting way to talk through it: invite them to talk about it on a public podcast! But since he’s been a stand-up comic for a while, he has a lot of great stories about being on the road, or to commiserate with other guests on the show. Amy Poehler got an apology from him when she was on his show because he would never help her out when she was first in the Second City circuit.

Here a couple that people have recommended, but I haven’t yet delved into yet for some straaaange reason:

• Mike & Tom Eat Snacks, recommended by both GillianTheGreat and The Beau. “the podcast where your hosts Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh eat, discuss, and rate snacks. ” I don’t think i need to say anything that hasn’t been said already. Sounds fantastic.

• Hardcore History, recommended by Ben Fowlkes. With titles like “Death Throes of the Republic”, “Old School Toughness” and “Suffer the Children” how could I be kept away?
• Pod F. Tompkast.  Recommended by everyone who has discerning ears. I don’t know why i haven’t gotten to this one yet. I listen to Beyond Belief, I listen to Comedy bang bang, those all have the Tompkins element, why don’t I take the leap?

Do you have any more recommendations for me to add to my heaping List o’ Listening?

Filed under: Lists, Mental Happiness, Musical Endeavors ]]> http://pepperedthought.com/2011/09/27/podcast-love/feed/ 0 pepperedthought P1100076.RW2 http://pepperedthought.com/2011/09/23/week-in-review-25/ http://pepperedthought.com/2011/09/23/week-in-review-25/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:47:32 +0000 pepperedthought http://pepperedthought.com/?p=6503 ]]> Vintage Polaroid via HulahoopVintage

Let’s see about this week, shall we?

-As you can see from the photo above, I have been searching for an inexpensive land camera lately. I finished my first roll in my Holga (after a mishap had to re shoot a roll that wasn’t properly secured), and have been thinking about trying several different formats to see which I like best. With all this camera talk I might have to sell some of my older, less used ones to make room for ones I actually like.

-I wandered through labyrinthine antique stores looking for a little bit of everything, for only a couple of pennies. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t find anything in my price range, so went down the street to the Goodwill-style thrift store. Imagine my surprise and delight in finding an entire outfit for $6! I will do an outfit post next week about it, but rest assured, my brain is totally in fall mode with it.

gif via dashedlines

-Parks and Recreation and Community had their season premieres last night and I am just so happy to go back to some quality, hilarious TV time on Thursdays. (I could watch that gif FOREVER.)

-UFC 135 tomorrow! I love when there’s an MMA fight on Saturday nights, because 1) I love MMA and 2) we always get pizza that night. PIZZA!

Wished ‘Tortilla Tuesday’ a happy anniversary,

saw a cloud that looked like a sitting camel, then sang “Prince Ali” while in the car by myself,

The Beau got Limited Edition Confetti Pop tarts. Let me tell you a little something about pop tarts in our house. They are our dessert. Never a breakfast thing, so these confetti ones are right up our dessert alley. And let me tell you, THEY TASTE JUST LIKE FUNFETTI CAKE. It is uncanny!

Went with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law to see The Help. I liked it, very beautiful direction and the clothes were to die for. I’m still not sure about the story, I have heard so many conflicting views. But, I do know that watching it has made me want to read the book, and to find books about Civil Rights by black women in the South.

We watched this Spanish thriller-horror movie called ‘Eskalofrio’ (Shiver) and it was pretty good. We have watched quite a few Spanish language horror movies and they are all so much better than drivel that America seems to think is good.

Lastly, I saw this penpal gift idea on Design Sponge and am thinking that all my penpals will be getting these soon, they look like so much fun!

I also wanted to apologize for my lack of posting. With it being so hot outside, there is little I want to do except write the occasional letter and lie down on the tile next to tortilla and eat my pop tarts in frozen yogurt.

But I have a lot of things I’m working on, mainly in the vein of DIY and crafty things, so stay tuned!