Today's writing prompt (and one for yesterday):
1) An impending cataclysm is approaching, causing all of the doomsday people to go completely around the bend. However, no one in the science community has noticed anything approaching. What is the cataclysm and how does your hero deal with it as it approaches?
2) You just bought a house in a new neighborhood after a bad breakup. The professional painter you hired for the exterior painting turns out to be the now hunky younger brother of your best friend growing up. What kind of relationship develops between the two people?
I've been stupid tired for the past couple of days. I certainly cannot blame it on any work projects, so instead I'm blaming it on yard work. Sunday I lay on the couch, snoozing off and on during football. Last night, I went to bed shortly after 9 pm only to wake up at 2:30 am. So, I got up and started painting the trim in the guest room. I'm about a fifth of the way done (if I am generous), but I will have more time on Wednesday to do it after work. There is just enough moulding detail on the door frames that I cannot really use a roller, even a tiny one, on most of the surfaces, so I did my work this morning with a 1-inch brush. Probably way smaller than I should be using, but I can change it up tomorrow and see if I make more progress.
This week's 10 for Tuesday is about our favorite places to shop. It is that time of year, I suppose, when people do a lot of extra shopping. Mine still manage to be mostly yarn shops for those times when I am knitting as many gifts as I am buying. So, here goes nothing!
1. Thinkgeek. Everything from tshirts to wacky comestibles (not that I will eat any of the random bacon things) can be found here. I've had my eye on things like the molecular gastronomy kit for a while, though I probably wouldn't get as much use out of it as I would like. I just want to say I've tried it.
2. Delight.com. I have bought a couple of things from there in the past couple of years, including minispeakers for the various iPods in the house. Great if you can have your music on in the office without disturbing anybody. They also have a gent-focused store with interesting cuff links and fun memorabilia and stuff.
3. Threadless. Now, I will admit that I haven't shopped here yet, but I keep picking out shirts for my friends (and then not getting around to buying them). There are enough interesting tshirts to match any of my tshirt-wearing friends interests. This one would be especially cute for a couple of my friend's kids!
4. The Loopy Ewe. Well, it is one of my favorite places to shop for yarn. They also have a solid line that is new this year that would be excellent for small knitted toys, because it really is pretty much every color under the sun.
5. Au Chocolat. Ignore the web site. This is the chocolate shop I work at each Valentine's Day, and I love his selection. Right now he has these gingerbread candies that have a crunch like a malt ball, but don't taste like a malt ball. They are really tasty! He also has candy cane caramels and other seasonal sweets.
6. Tealuxe. I was there on Black Friday and had one of the herbal (read: naturally decaffeinated) dailies: the Unity Blend. It was a wonderful reminder that I do not need to have coffee all of the time!
7. Adagio. I've bought a number of teas from there and more importantly the Ingenuitea, which is now available in grocery stores. I love that you can make up your own blends if you have a little time and that there are people who have already done the same. Maybe someone you know needs Dr. Horrible's Tea of Evil for the holidays?
8. Papyrus. It is a great place for a fancy wedding card (actually it is the only place I go for wedding cards) and super fancy wrapping paper. While I try not to buy wrapping paper, I definitely succumb every year or two. The last time I got a gorgeous velvet flocked paper. A little hard to tape, but so pretty I forgave it instantly! I could definitely see using one of these papers as a fancy matte for a simple framed piece.
9. The grocery store. While the Milton Fruit Center is the nice fancy grocery store in the area, this is more about buying ingredients for a delicious dinner or tasty cookies for gift packages. I'm also lumping Michael's in there for tins and other things to safely mail your tasty treats. I also owe a couple of friends some chocolate peanut-butter treats!
10. Windsor Button. Hey, they had safety eyes for the toys I'm knitting for my friend's kids! Buttons for finished items, yarn and felt for interesting projects, embroidery floss for when I forget that I'm out of a color, hoops (umm, yeah, I forgot where I had stashed my hoops for a while), and other crafts that I have a bit less interest in.
