an update on Skillet at The Stranger

Where to go in the Northwest for a wonderful anniversary? at Ask Metafilter

I Ate This: Pizza At Lola’s South City Bakery yay! Lola’s gets a good review! at Voracious

Reciprocity at a cause for the Seattle Freeze, at Metroblogging Seattle. I can only speak for myself here, we don’t reciprocate yet because we still only have two dining room chairs. Promise I’ll have all of you over the moment we buy more.

CFL disposal: It’s not easy being green, at the Seattle PI. Don’t forget, Ikea has a recycling bin for CFLs in their lighting department. It’s not exacly convenient, but if you’re headed there…

Seattle’s chocolate is golden these days, at the Seattle PI.

Seattle-area bookcase company? at Ask Metafilter.

Seattlest Beer of the Week: Rock Bottom Hop Bomb IPA, I had some of this last year and recommend giving it a try.

reading:
Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Busness
I have a proof of this book (so exciting!), but it will be available to order April 28th and you can pre-order at Amazon. This is written by Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon, the two women behind Raised Eyebrow Web Studio, and whose old site, Soapbox Girls, I used to read while working at my first job where I had a computer ane internet access, this is before I had my own computer and internet access at home. Also check out their site Boss Lady.

sipping:
coffee made in a Clover
The Clover is a hi-tech coffee maker that allows the barista to adjust grind size, dose, water temperature and contact time for each cup of coffee. This means good coffee. You can find a coffee shop that has a Clover. Happily, there are a bunch here in Seattle, I had coffee made it on at Trabant Coffee in the U-District last weekend.

making:
tissue paper flowers
I bought a kit from Martha Stewart Crafts because I still regret not buying the Crepe Paper Flowers kits from years ago. Also to see: crepe paper rose bouquet and double-sided crepe paper in spring flower colors, autumn flower colors, and red rose colors.

watching:
Juno
Great little movie, with characters you want to hang out with and story with a happy ending. Hooray.

listening:
World War Z
This audiobook contains “unabridged selections” so it’s not the full book, but the readers, including Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, and Mark Hamill, are stellar. This is the story of the zombie war as told by the survivors and it’s surprisingly rich and engaging, while still being creepy. I’m also going to read the book as I find myself eager to read the parts that didn’t make it into the audiobook.

I’ll be heading to caucus tomorrow, it’ll be my first time and I’m equal parts excited to do something new and terrified of being trapped somewhere with a bunch of very serious people for hours.

Last week I was sort of interested in caucusing, but since Super Tuesday has left Obama and Clinton still duking it out, I find myself thinking that caucusing here has quickly become very important.

If you are living in WA and are a Democrat here are the basics for getting involved in nominating the candidate you want:

• Your vote in the Primary Ballot you were sent won’t matter, the Democratic delegates are being apportioned based on the results of the caucuses tomorrow and the results of the vote are being ignored. However, NPR reports “Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed is a big proponent of the primary because more people participate. He says that even though it’s nonbinding, the national media will pay attention.” So be sure to vote as well, it just might sway someone else.
• Caucuses are tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 9th at 1 p.m., you can find the location of your caucus here at Washington State Democrats Caucus Finder. At this point the caucus areas are divided up so small that your caucus location will be nearby, mine is only a few blocks from my house.
• If you are new to caucusing read Caucusing Is Easy, by The Stranger. Not so scary.
• If you want to know just what is going on around here see Back to Basics by The Stranger’s Eli Sanders who points us towards information on caucuses, superdelegates, rallies and the political lay of the land.
• One last thing, The Stranger wants to hear your caucus story, so if you have something to tell after you get home, or want to read about others experiences, you know where to look.
• added: More details from The Stranger — you can register to vote or update your address at your caucus site (though it’s a good idea to bring a print out of the voter registration PDF), you can leave early if you need and have your vote counted (though you should inform the person on the way in).

I’m going to support Obama. I have many reasons but one important one is that I’m excited about the effect he’s having on lots of other people.

Here is something I found discouraging, I heard this last night on NPR during an interview with a volunteer during an Obama caucus training session:

“Obama’s supporters skew so young that the trainer worries some of the teens and 20-somethings might wander into the caucus meetings too late and get shut out because they overslept.”

This is an insulting assumption, and one that makes me far less likely to support a process that thinks so little of me. So, the only real thing to do here is to show up early and prove them wrong.

B&J Fabrics at Apartment Therapy

Floating Shoe Rack made from wire shelving bits, at Instructables

Floating Pipe Shoe Shelf at Instructables

Philip’s SpotOn light with motion detector for a fumble-free life at Popgadget

So I’m moving to Finland. It’s dark most of the time during the winter. How do I make fake windows? at Ask Metafilter

Beautiful Backsplash for Bargain Budgets at Shelter

yellow and black: good shape design at Happy Mundane, I really like the dishtowel

Making a paper-recycling tote at Home By Sunset

NYT: The Best Energy-Efficient Lightbulbs at Apartment Therapy

Are “counter depth” fridges deep enough? at Ask Metafilter

hanging weighted leather ball clothes rack, at Swiss Miss

Colourful wall panels at Charles & Marie

Best of: Exposed Media Tables at Unplugged

Green Ideas: LED Ambiance at Unplugged

Yet Another Thing Baking Soda Can Do at Pink of Perfection

Fire Table at Cool Hunting

the sweater: Ribby Cardi
the yarn: Cotton Ease in Stone
the previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

It’s been all shocking deconstruction around here. [Read more →]

skin care for every decade of life from Oprah.com

MORE books I’m looking forward to this year. at Bookshelves of Doom

A Nerd’s Lament: The Folly of Follicular Fulfillment or What The Hell Am I Supposed to Do With This Stuff On My Head? at The Park Bench

I’d like to stop using plastic grocery bags, but I use them as liners in all of my garbage cans. Any ideas on what to use as garbage liners in lieu of the plastic bags? at Ask Metafilter

How do you get over being paranoid about driving? at Ask Metafilter

Mystery Gift Box at Product Dose

How do I get my husband to the dinner table? at Ask Metafilter

Clinique Pore Minimizer Instant Perfector, I’m considering trying this out, anybody use it? Worth the price?

Nighttime note taking tools? at Ask Metafilter. I think I need a way to jot down notes in the shower, many brilliant ideas have been lost by the time I’m drying my hair.

Did ninjas ever actually exist? at Ask Metafilter

Christian Siriano from Bravo’s Project Runway carries a big beige tote, and sometimes he carries one in white. Where can I find one or one like it? at Ask Metafilter

My niece just got her first period — how to celebrate? Or is that a weird thing to do? at Ask Metafilter. My friends threw each other little parties, but it would have been weird if one of the adults was involved.

broken link necklace at Swiss Miss

Rules of Thumb at Cool Tools

I need a seriously gigantic novelty toothbrush. at Ask Metafilter

Tee hee, guess what else you can find at the Vermont Country Store, at Jezebel

Hey, do you live somewhere that has a primary or caucuses today? Please vote, if only because it’ll help me decide which action to take during the caucuses here. OK? Thanks! Bye.

With thanks to Matt for the image.

Harold McGee investigates how germs spread when someone double dips a chip into a bowl after seeing an episode of Sienfeld! Via Kottke.

movie popcorn recipes at Might Foods

Slice trys the pizza in a cone!

tpod at swiss miss

chicken chilaquiles at Shelterrific

How do I get that tea glow? at Ask Metafilter

Bittermens Bitters at The Cocktail Chronicles, I really hope to try the grapefruit.

A List of Regional Pizza Styles at Slice.

candied grapefruit peels at Smitten Kitchen

Rose and Chocolate Marshmallows at Chocolate & Zucchini

edible rings! at Chow. The Candyglam rings are lovely.

An Insider’s Dessert Guide at Chow

Domicile on bread, lovely bread.

I would like to build an outdoor wood fired oven similar to the one Jamie Oliver uses on his cooking shows. Can anyone suggest how/where I could find plans for this sort of structure? at Ask Metafilter

Tasty Veggie Dips at Cook & Eat

How To Make The Perfect Caramel at David Lebovitz

Matzo Ball Soup at Smitten Kitchen

Q Tonic, created by someone who was dismayed to discover tonic water was made with high fructose corn syrup. at Food Chronicles.

stack and fill pancake molds! at Williams-Sonoma

sipping:
Rising Moon Spring Ale
With Kieffer limes leaves and lime peel. I get what they are trying to do here, but I’d skip it unless you’re really into special ales.

playing:
Chain Factor
Back in December I had finally, finally gotten over this game only to get re-hooked when Kottke mentioned it last week. Apparently it has something to do with the TV show Numb3rs, but it doesn’t really influence the game play.

loving:
1-Day Acuvue Moist contacts
These are the only contacts I’ve found so far that aren’t stuck to my eyeballs at the end of the day.

using:
teeny tiny bobby pins
I’m fairly sure these 1.25-inch bobby pins were meant to be decorative, but they are tiny and lightweight and work with my fine hair when I need to pin my bangs out of the way. I’ve been losing them one by one and hope these at Sally Beauty are the same size. Or maybe these rubberized mini bobby pins would work even better?

buying:
titanium drill bits
This weekend the combination of an old house and new Ikea ceiling light fixtures required that we drill a few new holes in the metal back in order to secure it in place. Then we discovered the Ikea low energy bulb did not fit in the fixture we’d bought. Why? Oh why?