Goodbye, Chicago!

Well, it's official. My move has begun. My parents have texted me "On the way!" and the view outside my bedroom window already looks more nostalgic.

I am not going to allow much sadness over this move. I have been here for five years, enjoying what Chicagoland has to offer, and that makes me lucky. I am heading for a lot of good things: great summer jobs, time with my wonderful family this summer at home, and a new, exciting job come September. I will dearly miss my roomie and friends, and this city, but I will be back. I see no point in getting too sad. This isn't a forever goodbye...Chicago, after all, is only a matter of hours (and no oceans!) away.

Time to wrap up the packing, enjoy some sunshine, vacuum the carpet, and then welcome my parents!

Thanks for the fun, Chicago!

I'll likely post next week, when the crazies settle down...

-Papermoon

the ladylike project

lora and i decided, last weekend, that something had to be done about our level of ladylike behaviour.

it was way, way below the pioneer/victiorian standard.

our main reproachable behaviours? less-than-lovely language, occasional slips in terms of using the Lord's name in vain, and less than grateful expressions about our appearances. added to that, we won't stand for certain things in visitors to our apartment, such as misogynstic comments.

we devised a series of fines (some things are weightier fines than others) and we have been duly paying up, and occasionally forcing others to do the same. it's a bit of a tyrant move, but hey--it's improvement. we are very dedicated, and we hold each other to the honor system when we're not around each other. it's both amusing and highly annoying, since we are neither of us abundantly rich at the moment.


i owe a good deal of money already...but it's already improving my language!

and doesn't lora make the PRETTIEST tissue paper flowers??? such a talented girl.

-papermoon

Myers Brigg

i am an INFJ. i woke up to see lora off to class today and she had me take a myers brigg because she thought hers was very accurate. i laughed the whole time because every question pointed to how introverted and pig-headed i am!

and the result? it sounds pretty accurate.

INFJ

• slightly expressed introvert
  
• moderately expressed intuitive personality
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• very expressed judging personality

this part i excerpted is most interesting to me, because people have often described their confusion about this aspect of my personality to me:

INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates." While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. This apparent paradox is a necessary escape valve for them, providing both time to rebuild their depleted resources and a filter to prevent the emotional overload to which they are so susceptible as inherent "givers." As a pattern of behavior, it is perhaps the most confusing aspect of the enigmatic INFJ character to outsiders, and hence the most often misunderstood -- particularly by those who have little experience with this rare type.

interesting! i was also glad to find out that michael landon was also an INFJ.

it was also nice to hear that my 'type' almost always has problems deciding what to pursue as a career because while we are very human empathy/'inspiration' oriented careers seem like a natural career, we are often such compulsive system builders so darn full of judgement that we wish we could pursue more logic-based jobs... but we almost always find hard logic highly confusing.

very amusing. i recommend everyone take it.

-papermoon

delicious caramels and a really fun game idea.

first of all, my friend norah gave me three neat boxes of japanese candy for christmas, and these morinaga's milk caramels are rocking my world. i may or may not have eaten half of them in two days. (the link is another blogger's very good description of them.) the box looks like a 1920's cigarette box or something, but opens like a matchbox to reveal the delicious little guys. i am going to save it, obviously. the japanese really do milky candy awesomely, which is odd because as a child i really hated the milk there. maybe it's better for candy than straight-up consumption.
second reason for posting: guess who?
yesterday lora had been diligently studying for most of the day, so she was ready for an evening break. we had already decided to make some vodka sauce and have a little dinner together, and we really wanted to play a game. we only have dice/cards/scrabble here, and none of the above were really appealling to our desire for a relaxing game. i trekked out into the snow to walk to borders and see what they had to offer, which wasn't much. i was pretty disappointed and spent an hour searching the internet for creative game-making ideas online while sipping a beer. (delicious thing: black toad dark ale, brewed for trader joe's. a.maz.ing.)

remember these?

i was getting a bit exasperated with the options, and then guess who? came to mind. remember that game, from kindergarten? "does your person have a mustache?" etc? well we realized we could make our own version!!!! i wasn't initially as creative as lora, and i was thinking i could just do a funny image search and get a mix of random people, celebrities, and cartoons...but lora realized that we could use our friends! much more fun! we just used thirty mutual friends, and used their facebook pictures to keep it easy.

if we were planning on making it look good, i would have standardized the size and used photoshop to add nice, clear text, but as it was we were getting hungry, so i just globbed a bunch of photos on a document and got them around the same height, and then printed three sheets: one set for each player, and one set we could draw from to guess who? about. i cut them up into little cards, and we would just flip them over when ruling out possibilities. we used the coffee table as a divider and just layed everything out on the floor.

it was HYSTERICAL. we decided to nix the questions about physical appearances and gender, and the results were very funny. questions ranged from "does your person subscribe to a monotheistic religion?" to "would your person be described as metro?" to "does your person appreciate chill fashion shows?" etc, etc. it was very funny. i very nearly demolished an entire bottle of wine. i hope we play again soon!

you should try and make one... i think it would actually make a very funny gift if it were made with relatives or family friends in mind. or, for your girlfriends, if it featured past love interests. very amusing. book characters would be really adorable... i might do that for my kid someday. the possibilities are pretty endless... babies could have an animal version...

-papermoon

loopy scarf for leigh

a bit of a knitting project, as promised!

i should begin by saying that i am NOT a sophisticated knitter, although i have been at it for years. i knit and i purl...but in no kind of fancy method. my preferred 'cheat' is using multiple skeins at once so that i can get thickness without thick yarn. in general i stick to scarves and variations on the scarf.

i had a few thoughts for my friend leigh this year, but they all fell away when i heard her raving about these cowl necked scarves that are 'the thing' this year. i had been diligently working on a mutli-toned grey scarf since election day, and knew that it was going to someone else (hello, wool allergies!) and her name starting flashing neon in my mind. she looks astounding in grey and it was just the kind of thing she'd pair with her cute coats and sweaters. all i had to do was finish it, and stitch it end to end with a matching thread.
plus, i twisted it once before sewing the ends, so that no matter what, or how she wears it, it has a little interest and movement to it.


looking good! especially paired with these great earrings, made by the sister of her friend--find them here. what a chic homemade chick.

this gift calls to mind a set from last year-- the 'EP216 Roomie Cuff Project'. i decided to gift all of my apartment mates (at the time) with a personalized scarf cuff of sorts. they were all unique, with buttons to match. i did some dorky, fun photoshopping to make it look like each of them were already wearing them, and then made cute cards out of the pictures.






apologies... i didn't have the swellest camera back then. not to say my pictures seem to be any better this year...

in any case, i basically knit a little neck sized scarf and attached buttons. great for high necked coats and for people who get flustered trying to arrange long scarves.

-papermoon

my plan for jan!

january, that is.

you see, while i have been back here at my parents', there has been something on my mind about my apartment back in chicago. (besides my roomie, of course!) you would think it might be something sensible... worries over the bills, or figuring out a way to solve the problem of my cupboards getting so warm when we use the microwave, or something like that.

but no.

i just can't stop thinking of what to do with all the plastic bags we have collected.

it's not even a 'green' issue. i just keep thinking that there are endless possibilities for crafting, and it's hard to decide what to go with...

should i make a rug? a purse? 'yarn'? a kite? endless numbers of little men with parachutes? a sculpture?

but today, i think i have found an answer, via MAKEzine.com:



this video is awesome. even if i don't go the route of making a messenger bag, i will be using this chick's plastic-making trick asap. and look how awesome those black garbage bags look!!! possibilities fill my brain: rain hats...shoe covers... plastic covered notebooks(!)

i am so pumped.

15. my roomie

the fifteenth thing i am thankful for: my roomie
she looks like belle...

-papermoon

sorry about the lax posting habits...

...it's just that this election has driven me to partial insanity. i was having a hard time planning out what to do with myself to ensure that, come november 5th, i would still have friends. i tend to get unpleasant when i get this anxious.

i solved the problem last night, when i discovered i could skype with my family back east and feel like i had really gone home. i ate dinner with my little brother and sister! we sat across from eachother and ate at the same time! it was wonderful. i even told my dog to sit. :)

so, today i am skyping with my mom for most of the day. i voted at the earliest possible time (the crack of dawn), did my american duty, came home with my vote-cancelling roomie who i adore, and did some yoga. i have been spending the rest of the day technologically visiting my mom, knitting, and listening to the lovely melodies of rosie thomas...who has replaced my morning weepies symphony (look her up sb!)

i am going to take a soujorn out of my apartment (amazing, i know) and do some pre-cousin-wedding errands. like get some mascara for my lashes. i know for a fact i will write later. it will be a long day!


next time i post there should be another portion, in another hue of grey!

-papermoon

candy!

my roommate is the best.
she brought me a piece of awesome candy from some brunch place she went to today.
it's by some italian confectioner and it was a pastel pink mildly sticky hard candy in the awesome flavor of PLUM!!!
she inspired me to write this poem...it's very original, if i do say so myself.

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the candy

and which
you were probably
saving
from breakfast.

you're awesome!
they were delicious
so sweet
of you, lora.