Wish List

I try not to be materialistic, but lately, despite being almost jobless, living in a very full apartment, and completely uncertain of my future I keep thinking how nice it would be to own a few very useful things. I promise not to buy them...

1. An industrial sewing machine. Cause then I could make my own messenger bag instead of buying an expensive one to fit all my cameras in and I could sew leather, plywood even if I felt like it.

2. A car. Nothing fancy but preferably with a sound transmission and miles per gallon galore. (Might have to buy this one sometime soon.)













3. DSLR with video. Not really a priority this one, but I can tell my camera is getting older. It's a bit slower than I'd like and occasionally a very small blue dot appears on some of my pictures. I recently read that flying in daylight can kill pixels (or parts of the sensor). Ah! Apparently there is some sort of radiation or some such nonsense out to get my Nikon. Between that and the x-ray sensors ruining film, air travel is a total enemy of my photography habit.

4. Tartine. The famed bread book. I don't truly need it...not until I experiment with the artisan breads in my Baking With Julia cookbook...yet everywhere I go (mmm...maybe just on food blogs I visit) I see this book mentioned and it's less than half price on Ebay! I wish I had people to cook for...

5. iTouch with camera. a) because there is a light meter app and one of my film cameras has no light meter and the other one has a wonky light meter. This means I have to carry my digital with me on all photo outings. Marrr. Of course when my new messenger bag arrives, they'll all fit in it but I was counting on using my vertebrae for the next 50 years. oh and b) because of mobis. They're everywhere. I want to scan them and find out what they do. I'm pretty sure that I'm missing out, and I'm really worried that you can't pluralize them with an 's'.

6. Food processor. Just a small one. Practically every recipe I've made of late told me I need one and they were all right. Have you tried to make a paste without one? It's messy and ineffective and I'm pretty sure pastes did not exist until their invention.

Now that I've gotten that off my clavicle, on with the job hunt!

American Peculiarities

I always thought China was weird.
It's not alone.
Exhibit A:

Martha Stewart gave this man a TV show.

There are other peculiar things around here. Once I can bear to go outside for more than ten minutes, I'll take some pictures. But here is a cryptic list of strange things I've seen:

1. Man who closes his eyes while he talks–for at least 10 seconds at a time. Where are you supposed to look when you're talked to someone who has their eyes closed?
2. Old pickup truck chained to a pole.
3. 20 pound roosters own downtown Ocean Springs. Ocean Springs is not rural. It's near the beach. The phenomenon has been documented in all the (ahem) major newspapers in the State. One comment on an article said: The roosters were just teaching the black folks how to walk.
4. Twins at the gym. They dress alike (not exactly alike but close). They have the same hairdo, same streaks. 
5. The Asian people are ALL Vietnamese. I guess this isn't weird. They've been on the Gulf Coast for a long time. I just miss seeing Chinese people.

China pictures coming soon. Promise.