I am quite pleased to say time is flying and it shouldn't be too much longer until Bebe Wombat is here. It has gone by surprisingly quickly. Here is a bit about where I am at right now...
You are now in the third trimester, and last, of your pregnancy! Your
baby's crown-to-rump length is about 9.6 inches and your baby's total
length is approximately 15.3 inches! Your baby now weighs about 2
pounds 3 ounces and is going to grow rapidly during this last
trimester! Your uterus is about 2.8 inches above your bellybutton.
If your baby were born now, it would have an 85% chance of
surviving. Even though your baby is still not fully developed, she
would be well within the limits of premature viability.
Yay for making it this far so easily!
One thing that is very trippy to say the least about pregnancy are the psychedelic dreams. Ask any pregnant woman and she will confirm this for you. Mine are so vivid and like watching an Italian film from the 60's sped up and in another language. I wake up and still feel like I am asleep. Just bizarre but an inherent part of pregnancy thanks to the hormones coursing through our body. If you think you have had strange and realistic deep dreams, trust me- you have nothing on a pregnant lady!
One of my favorite obsessions is perfume and perfume oils if not hand-blended by me than by Beth at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. She happens to be pregnant herself right now and due this next month I believe. I always look forward to the full moon oils she puts out and the updates of the new limited editions and have been trying to save money by not partaking right now. I could not help myself yesterday though when I saw she had created a special limited exclusive just for the Black Phoenix forum members that was inspired by her crazy pregnancy dreaming...haha.
I can't wait to receive this one in the mail. from the BPAL site:
This was made exclusively for bpal.org members.This odd little biscuit will be live until Sturgeon Moon comes down.
Please include your forum name in the comments field at checkout.
IRRELEVANT AND DISTURBING SURREAL CRAWDAD DREAM If there was one thing
that I think encapsulates the whole experience of pregnancy for me, it
would be the Irrelevant and Disturbing Surreal Crawdad Dream. Since
conception, my dreamscape has been unusually bizarre, bordering on the
demented. One of my baby books told me that I'd be having nonstop
dreams about puppies, kittens, and baby bunnies. Really? 'Cuz my dreams
are filled with zombie-driven ice trucks that are late for delivery on
my kid's birthday, masquerades where people come as themselves, a quest
to cure possessed individuals (in this dream, you could tell that
people were possessed by how annoying they were) by hitting them on the
head with large rocks, and, of course, millions of malformed crawdads
with human faces filling up numerous 18-wheeler truck beds.
Nary a bunny nor kitten to be found.
Par for the course during pregnancy? For me, it is.
An irrelevant, disturbing, and surreal scent: red currant, green tea,
red musk, Hawaiian ginger, benzoin, vanilla, coriander, squash blossom,
and blueberry.
Hahaa! I completely relate Beth and I can't wait to be slathered in blueberry musk.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is certainly not a blog, but it is most definitely a server-busting web hit.
The big question is what comes next for this musical superhero web series. Now available online in its entirety at drhorrible.com – until the end of today, so go if you haven't seen it – this three-part web series is the brainchild of Joss Whedon and stars Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion as the titular supervillain and his arch-nemesis, Captain Hammer, respectively. Oh, and it's a musical.
The web series debuted last Tuesday and the response was so great the servers started melting as if Superman himself gave them a blast of his heat vision. "It was nuts. We underestimated how many people would be watching," says Joss's brother Zack Whedon, who helped write the series. They've since upgraded their server, and fans have been flocking to the 40-minute tale. In the end it's a love triangle involving a well-meaning Penny (Felicia Day), a nebbish supervillain (Harris) and the pompous hero who keeps foiling/beating him up, Captain Hammer (Fillion).
Make no mistake, this isn't your usual YouTube-quality video.
"Initially when Joss said he wanted to do this thing, we were like, oh great, we've got a buddy with a video camera that's pretty nice. And he was like, `Yeah, I think we might be slightly higher scale than that'," Zack Whedon says.
Fillion, the Albertan who starred in Whedon's Firefly, also didn't need much convincing to join.
"You know, it's always a great thing when a director looks at you and says, `Even cheesier,'" Fillion says of the experience. "It's like I'd say, if I have to give you a 60-per cent cheese factor, what would you like to see? `87 per cent!' No problem, I can do it."
Fillion also says singing didn't frighten him: "I can carry a tune in a bucket. I was a karaoke host back in Edmonton, Alta. It was one of my part-time jobs working my way through university."
Fillion, the rest of the cast and the creators are heading to the San Diego Comic-Con next week, and while there's no release date for the DVD yet, the plan is to create an elaborate set of extras, including a musical commentary track. Monetizing web video is something that many people have been trying to crack – many without much luck. But Dr. Horrible could be different because of the big names involved. Of course, according to Zack Whedon, whatever happens next is gravy.
"This wasn't ever really about money, it was about doing something with complete creative freedom," he says.
Darcy and I went up yesterday to Monrovia to hike into the Canyon Falls. It was gorgeous up there, saw a heap of deer (including an 8 point buck!) so despite the heat and mugginess, it was well worth it. It was nearly 3/4 of a mile from the car to the trailhead then another 1 3/4 mile to the waterfall so was all in all, a 5 mile venture! Not bad for me in my 7th month carrying Wombat. *whew*
me above after dunking my face into icy water...thought I was gonna have a heatstroke here.
Ahhh---the end of a long holiday weekend. Color me exhausted. We had a great time though. FRIDAY Started with a jaunt out to Malibu mid afternoon with Matt and Carrie who we scooped on the way out to Zuma Beach. We spread out blankets and ate a supper, relaxed; Matt swam while I did yoga- I will not be sharing any photo ops of that hahaa- and Carrie read.
Its funny how cautionary people are re. going to Malibu beach on the 4th- I have always been told you will have to sit in horrible traffic and its overcrowded. Not the case at all.
We breezed right up the 101 to Kanan Dune and found a free spot just beyond where we laid our blankets. No traffic coming or going. Only traffic jams were in my own neighborhood when we got back and close to the park.
The barges you see off in the distance are the ships that the fireworks are launched from for the Malibu display.
SATURDAY Since the ocean water was sorta chilly to swim in and the next day was a cooker in the 90's, we decided to drive up the 5 to Ventura County and hit up a lake for some swim time.
As we left the building, we saw this bizarre "art" display of stuffed animals nailed- yes nailed- to a palm tree. Sorta annoying to see that a wooden telephone pole was only a few feet away but whoever did this, thought nothing of plopping a bunch o long nails into a tree. Go figure...
Here is the newly redone front of the building next door to us- apartments have all been vacant for about a year when they booted the people out who were probably paying around $300-$400 a pop- while they have completely changed its facade and waited the minimum legal time to be able to rerent all of the rent control 20's apartments at "market value" aka an arm and a leg for sure (probably $1300 minimum).
I can't wait to see who will be moving in. At least, they spared no detail- the doors are lovely- and when replacing the original 20's windows and frames, they replaced them with nice wooden framed ones rather than cheaping out with aluminum/tin sliding ones and the coral color is a nice step up from its former dullish lavender grey...
But I digress...back to the lake folks!
Check out the views as we drove down into the lake area...
Here is my belly at nearly 25 weeks- yes Wombat can hear and respond to outside noises now & he is around 2 pounds...oh yes, it was windy ("hold on to yer hat" windy) up at the lake but it felt good in the heat...
Finally, we hit the beach and spread out...ah!
Did I mention it was windy? haha
It did feel amazing and the water so refreshing. No in-lake photo ops of swimming due to the lake bottom being slippery in spots and the waves too choppy to handle a camera but it felt GREAT.
If you are ever in the area, Los Padre National Forest- Lake Piru-ish and need to rent an animal for a movie or somethin', Phil is the guy to see...
We spied these lonely mules on our way home...
We headed back to Echo Park and straight to El Compadre's for a fix of their amazing salsa, guac and salty fresh chips combo along with carne asada and chicken fried burritos and a margie for Matt. Mmmm...didn't matter nor did we care that we were still in our swimsuits and everyone else in the booths around us were on 1st dates (looked like it) and wearing their hipster best as it was around 9 pm by then on a Saturday night. hahaa- made me remember how awkward dating can be- going to dinner with someone you didn't really know and wondering if it would be too much if you ate the whole basket of chips? Luckily, we don't have that problem anymore. Wow- I just remembered something kinda cool! El Compadre's is where Matt and I met for our first ever official date...I think I remember I was guarded in my chip intake just to be sure. It was February 16, 2007. My how time flies! And for the record, I know we finished our chip basket and then got a 2nd one with more salsa this time. Wheee!
We went home and watched a German movie that has been recommended to me more than a few times but I hesitated as I knew it was about a serial killer. I am glad I finally saw it b/c the style of it is very fable-like and metaphorical. The reason people thought of me? Well the title should say it all... PERFUME: story of a murdurer.
Since I am obsessed with scent and think myself to have a first rate sniffer and love to blend oils, this was definitely up my alley. The protagonist is a scent obsessed guy who yearns to be able to make the best perfume imaginable composed of the usual 3 chord/12 components- 3 top notes, 3 middle and 3 end ones. Only problem is he needs the "essence" of the ladies he sniffs randomly on the street to be able to bottle it. He uses the old technique of "enfleuraging" which is allowing blossoms to slowly die in animal fat which releases their oils into the fat which is then emulsified and distilled into a liquid. This movie is far from realistic and is more fantastical and reminded me why I love fragrance so so much.
It was funny b/c his two main victims/obsessions who had the best essence were both red heads and I put Matt on notice that if he stepped out of line, I would be forced to enfleurage his pretty little russet head...yuk yuk yuk.
Based on the bestselling novel by Patrick Süskind, "Perfume" is a story of murder and obsession set in 18th-century France starring Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman directed by "Run Lola Run" director Tom Twyker.
Jean-Baptiste
Grenouille has used his unique talent for discerning the scents and
smells that swirl around him to create the world's finest perfumes, but
his talent masks his burden. An orphan from birth, Grenouille has
always felt alone in the world and different from any other person.
Determined to connect with others, Grenouille tries to capture the
irresistible but elusive aroma of young womanhood, traveling far and
delving deeper into the intricate science of perfume-making. As he
becomes increasingly -- and recklessly -- passionate about his art, his
obsession to create the world's most powerful fragrance takes a deadly
turn.
Here is the original movie trailer...
SUNDAY Finally, yesterday, we made a tasty organic sausage, onion and roasted pepper pie with our yummy handmade dough
Then we packed an early supper and donned our swimsuits again as we headed north east to Monrovia Canyon Falls for a hike n dip in the waterfall.
Saw some adorable deer in the neighborhood as we walked up to the entrance...
But alas...the park was closed off for the duration of the weekend due to fireworks deterrence. *sigh*
We made the best of it, drove down into a local park in Pasadena and had our picnic.
It was nice except I had the eeriest feeling of someone watching my every move. We looked around...A-ha!
Visions of Monty Python and attacking bunnies danced in my head as this little guy didn't let up on us. He was all-seeing.
I love it when you think your guy has no tricks up his sleeve and no surprises. Matt surprised me last week with tickets- 3rd row- to see the World Premiere of a play about my favorite person Tallulah Bankhead on its opening weekend at the awesome Pasadena Playhouse! I hadn't even heard about the play- tsk tsk- so had no idea. He thankfully listens to NPR every morning and they did a piece on it. I was so thrilled and touched that he would remember my geeky love for all things Tallu. As you may know, the name of this blog Tarnished Lady is from the title of a 30's Tallulah flick. We really should be pinching our every last penny right now for Wombat's arrival but this was a must-see for us. And of course Wombat's first theatre excursion would fittingly be a smoky toned Tallulah expletive-filled ranty venture. She did grow up coincidentally in Jasper Alabama which is Wombat's name- the Jasper part not the Alabama- and he did move around and give me some love taps during the show. I think he rather enjoyed himself. Here's me before we left- check out the burgeoning belly- as I am hitting the 6 month mark with our Bebe Wombat.
Here is Tallu sipping from her shoe of course. The name of the play is LOOPED and it is cleverly based on a true incident from the late 60's when Tallulah was needed to come in and loop one line of dialogue from her just finished film "Die Die My Darling!" and in true Tallulah fashion, it took over 8 hours. Valerie Harper of Mary Tyler Moore (Rhoda) fame plays Tallulah and she does it well. I am certainly picky about my special people and how they are portrayed but she got the deep husky bourbon-tinged, ciggie infused voice just right. Even her strange Southern meets British accented way of speaking way pretty dead on. Tallulah was from Alabama of course but spent considerable time in the UK and this coupled with her theatrical affectations made for her special way of talking. They had a photo exhibit next to the theatre with original photos and portraits of Tallulah when she was young. I was in heaven.
If you didn't know, Tallulah is known for her bon mots. Here are some of her classic ones:
Cocaine isn't habit forming. I should know - I've been using it for years.
I read Shakespeare and the Bible, and I can shoot dice. That's what I call a liberal education.
I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right.
I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late start without me.
If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.
If you really want to help the American theater, don't be an actress, dahling. Be an audience.
I've been called many things, but never an intellectual.
Nobody can be exactly like me. Even I have trouble doing it.
It's the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time.
(On seeing a former lover for the first time in years) I thought I told you to wait in the car.
They used to photograph Shirley Temple through gauze. They should photograph me through linoleum.
The less I behave like Whistler's mother the night before, the more I look like her the morning after.
It was a really fun play, snappy dialogue of course, good acting and hey, its about Tallulah! So if you want to catch it here before it likely goes onward to Broadway check it out now...tickets here.
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