Pilkipedia

Sometimes the internet turns up sites that are so wonderful and involve such effort that they become totally sublime. The best are those that take a small topic (like lol cats and their language) and turn them into their own encyclopedias. While I should be writing a lecture, I found this:

http://www.pilkipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

It's a Karl Pilkington encyclopedia! If you watch the wondrous Ricky Gervais show, you'll enjoy this (I also believe it has some audio files attached).

Now, will I ever finish the 300 pages of reading I have to complete before my grad class tomorrow afternoon?

Taxes

I just finished my taxes. I get a refund--not that large, but it is an improvement on paying in over $2,000 last year. It was, perhaps, not the ideal way to spend today--a beautiful, sunny and warm (high 60s-low 70s) spring day. But I had my usual Wednesday lunch with my friend Nelson, which is always so much fun. Last week, in the 90 degree day, we played hooky and went to the mall in Long Island. Today, we settled for yummy Thai food and good conversation. I so rarely have lunch with anybody, and it is so nice and civilized to take a break, eat and breathe.

I have to write my lecture for tomorrow tonight, but I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders, even though I have a lot of work to complete before the semester is over, now that I have the taxes filed.

My J. Crew sparkly sequin sweatshirt shipped today. I also have a Rachel Comey cardigan coming in the mail from Kick Pleat in Austin. It's a chunky sale item with cables and interesting holes (the Pyramid cardi). Evan is bound to laugh and tease me mercilessly for getting yet another cardigan--he'll ask me which number it is. I think he finds my cardigan fetish more amusing than my love of dresses, even though I wear all my cardigans to death.

Photos, I promise soon. I have to get back to work now.

Rings

I have pretty large fingers with pretty small nails--not the most elegant features. When I first met Evan, I noticed what beautiful hands he has--perfect oval nails, long, graceful fingers. I've inherited my stocky paws from my mother (my father also has nice hands). Not wanting to draw more attention to them, I generally don't wear any rings (and I can't get many over my large knuckles).

Cindy introduced me to the joys of artisan and costume jewelry (I used to just wear earrings--when I remembered). As my interest grew, I started to rethink the ring dilemma. If I picked more proportional pieces, maybe I could pull it off? So, over the past few weeks, I've started building a very small collection of rings, dipping into the ebay vintage options as well as J. Crew's sale. Here, then, are my three rings, in order of purchase:

This beauty is from J.Crew's sale table--it's even cheaper now (I paid $29.99). I debuted it at the SCMS conference to several compliments. I wanted the earring version but they were just a tad too heavy for my ears.

I found this one on ebay. It's 10K gold and supposedly the pink sapphire is real (although I imagine it is man made). Nonetheless, it is pretty and maybe even a mite too big:

I got this one yesterday in J.Crew. I wanted the larger Duchess stone but it was way too large on. Like Goldilock's porridge, this one was just right. At $19.99, the price was perfect too.

Naughty Girl

While writing a lecture (in an increasingly hot apartment), I turned to see what was on sale at J. Crew. They currently have a 20% off promo on all t-shirts with free shipping. Even in NYC, much of their stock is not in stores (I suspect they distribute regionally). Try as I might, I could not resist the following sweatshirt--I've looked at it for a while and finally snapped. It may be dry clean only but I need some more sequins in my life--in a wearable form. I now hope there will be some decent spell of 60s weather so I can get some wear out of it. It doesn't ship until 4/22 so this heatwave will at least be over by then.

It's 90 degrees

I just got in from school--and a rare extended lunch with a friend and have to shower. It's a beautiful day and the sun is really strong out there--although our preview of summer is but a blimp before we return to the 60s on Friday. I wore Katia to teach (with the ivory SS 06 wedges) but need to find a more summery dress to wear out to meet another friend tonight for coffee. As in the summer, I'm wondering what would be appropriate--it needs to be thin, not silk, drapy and with short sleeves--yes, I'm actually worried about getting burned.

I have to find an organic sunscreen--any tips would be welcomed. I can get away without it for a few more weeks but this weather reminds me that soon it will be a necessity.

My New Shoes

After I received my Surface to Air flats, I really, really wanted to get a pair of their almost iconic wedges. I'm a size 40 (occasionally 41) and most sites had already sold out of larger sizes. The bronze leather pair that would hae been my first choice appears to have been a fall special; the ivory suede wasn't available anywhere in any size above 39 so I opted for the black suede (the black leather, which Lambs Ear had in stock, was another $100+). Tobi.com was the only site to have them in my size so I registered, put them into my shopping cart and decided to sleep on it. As luck/fate would have it, I received a $50 coupon code from them the next day, and promptly took it as a good sign.

Buying shoes online--shoes I've not seen in a store and thus can't try on--is obviously somewhat risky. Tobi has free shipping so the return shipping would have been the only cost to swallow. But everything worked out well--the shoes fit, are nicely padded in the bottom and the arch is pitched perfectly. In sum, they are amazing shoes and will update my summer wardrobe perfectly.

Here they are: my own photos will follow--once I have the time to take some!

Today was hot enough to wear Bianca, a brown Inhabit cashmere cardi and Belda with a pair of tan Devotte flats. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the mid-80s before returning to a seasonable 59 (and rain) by the end of the week, so I have to think about what to wear while I still have a chance to pretend it's summer. It won't help the students concentrate, that's for sure. I have to praise my students for being so good today--they even stayed late as the film (Oldboy) ran over class time. But it is such a great film--and a favorite of so many of my students--that they stayed inside rather than leaving before the end. That's one of many reasons I like them so much.

Crazy, Crazy

So, in addition to all the work I've had recently, as well as the grading and my efforts to finish the book, I have been busy because I agreed to teach my dept. chair's grad theory class today. He's been so good to nme that I couldn't say no. So I've been working, not blogging, of late. But I want that book to be done and mailed within a week--if the grading doesn't intervene and spoil everything. I also have to file my FSA or lose the money and that has to be done this week as well. So much to do.

But I did get a few new fun things--in fact, I've been pretty bad. I got the Surface to Air wedge buckle sandals that have become something of a modern classic. While I haven't worn them out yet, they are comfortable and so pretty. I just don't know if they are up to a full day of teaching yet.

The weather was glorious today--I wore black and white Jemeen, lavender tights, lavender Club Monaco cashmere cardi and the ivory wedges from SS 06 with my Fall 2009 trench. The a/c in the building makes it chilly at times, hence the tights and cardi. Photos to follow--I promise.