Julia Hayden :|: vanity, eccentricities, and egomania

Odd Thoughts and Musings

Another year of Fantasy Football League mediocrity. I was beset by the twin black holes of injuries and maladies for all but one of my receiving/rushing folks and by my over-tweaking the lineup as a result. Next year, I will twiddle less.
I do not undestand the value to advertisers in perpetuating the images of men as stupid, uncaring schlubs who are barely competant in the domestic sphere and women as scheming, mean-spirited harridans; how does this make anyone associate your product with the positive attributes that lead to a sale? Also, Santa-hating. Who thought that'd be a good idea for promoting your brand?
I really really really loved the latest installment in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, One of our Thursdays is missing. Clever, entertaining, and full of the small delight-making details. I also recommend Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, the story of two women who go out to Colorado in 1916 to teach in a remote mountain settlement. There's also The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, which I picked up by whim at the library, and which was charming.
I think I'm suddenly in love with Kale. For most of my life I've regarded it as an inadequate substitute for spinach or collards, but I had a kale and basil pesto last week that was spectacular, and it was the kale that elevated it. Now, I want to try it with everything.
I am the world's slowest sock knitter. This normally wouldn't be a problem, but I really want to be working on this awesome quilt and I know that if I put the socks down before I turn the heels, I will never finish them. (It's true. I put them down and I haven't gone back. Too bad, you heels!)

Things I Love

my local library
freshly picked summer corn
TCM's graphic design (as seen on TV)
Shenandoah-style whoopie pies
the Nero Wolfe mysteries
frogs and toads
kit houses
West Virginia glassware
Etruscan art
old Virginia roads
Myrna Loy and William Powell
farm-made goat cheese
goldfish
going barefoot
old time radio
maps
summer thunderstorms
small town independent hardware stores
cornflowers
the cat dynamics of this neighborhood
Columbo
octopodoi

More Lists!

You can never have enough

Personal Heroes and Role Models

Lady Catherine DeBurgh
Arnold Horshack
Zsa-Zsa Gabor
Livia
Bill MacNeil
Ted Baxter
GOB

Best Pie Flavors

Apple Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Key Lime Pie
Pear & Cranberry Almond Pie
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Jane Austen Novels Ranked by Preference

Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Mansfield Park
Emma
Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey

Five Facts About Me

I was once stranded on a desert island.
I need my own Archie Goodwin. Or Sol Panzer. Either'd be good.
My favorite place in Australia is the rock reefs in front of the town center of Colloroy Beach.
I once painted my master bathroom bright bright orange.
My first email address was a bitnet address.

On social media

I have, like many of my contemporaries, mixed feelings about social media, and yet I use the most common varieties regularly. I do sometimes fear I'm going to suddenly start ordering these neighborhood kids off my lawn. Until that happens, here's a quick guide to me and social media.

I use twitter in three ways: to keep in touch with local events ranging from the struggle to get a new library to where the local speedtraps are. I also use it to promote our weekly knit&stitching group (Crozet Mudhouse, 5:30-7:30, every Thursday except holidays! Everyone who wields a needle or a hook is welcome, and a whole bunch more!). I use it also to keep in touch with friends and family for that off-the-cuff check-ins. Finally, I use it to find new and interesting things. Feel free to follow me (julenesque). I only block people who are spammers, jerks, and spamming jerks.

I use Facebook to keep in touch with people I know. If I know you or had some meaningful interaction otherwise, I'd happy to add you. If I don't know you from Adam, however, you are out of luck. You will totally miss my pictures of oversized concrete figures, weird status updates, and nothing particularly juicy or thrilling. If we went to school together or worked together, there's a 99.9949 chance I'd love to hear from you. I'm also on google+,