catheroominations

October is breast cancer awareness month, so this week, Kristine had us pay homage to the girls.

1. Your Pot Holders (Oven Mits)
2. Your Pumpkins (or Melons)
3. Something Pink

My oven mitts. Safety first in the kitchen. That’s what I always say. These celestial-themed mitts are from the early 90s when I had my first apartment in Lexington, KY. I was so happy to have my own kitchen, so I had to be sure it was cool. And it was. So cool. These mitts have seen a lot of heat, as is evident from the worn thumb. I should replace them, but oven mitts are not high on my list of things I want to buy myself. Perhaps a bridal registry item?

My pumpkins (or melons). Well, I have neither pumpkins nor melons, whether speaking metaphorically or literally. But, how do you like them apples?

Something pink. My pink lid from my Yoplait raspberry yogurt, which is also pink. And yummy. I love me some yogurt. Do you remember when they first came out with these pink lids and they said “Let’s lick breast cancer” or something to that effect? I thought it was kind of perverted. Then again, my mind dwells in the vicinity of the gutter, so maybe it’s just me.

Did you play this week? It’s pretty easy, and you still have time!

Finally, I’m back in the SPF groove. I think I’ve been on low brain power for the last couple of months and just couldn’t get the creative juices flowing. And then I was in lala land and giddy after our engagement. But this week’s was easy, a perfect segue into my favorite photo assignment. Speaking of segue (segway), did I tell y’all I got to ride one? At Epcot. Matte and I got a 10-minute “lesson” and then had about 30 seconds each on a Segway. It was super fun, but too short a ride.

But I digress. (What else is new?)

This week’s assignment from Kristine was:
1. The kitchen sink
2. Something you need to fix.
3. Something you’re going to throw away right after you take the picture of it.

Kitchen sink. I have one of those! And it’s something concrete that I don’t have to think about with my tired little brain. Here it is:

Something I need to fix is this desk. Actually it’s a table. Which is why it’s such a mess. There are no drawers in which to file hide my papers and things. I completely blame the furniture, and am powerless to it’s lack of functionality.

Something I’m going to throw away right after I take the picture of it. OK, actually, threw it away before I took the picture, then immediately remembered SPF, grabbed it out of the trash, and captured it. I can’t believe I have Philly nearly one month past it’s expiration in my fridge. In my defense, it was in the back, hidden behind several bottles of beer. I had to drink the beer before the cream cheese entered my sight. And that took a month.

It’s good to be back playing SPF. Did you play?

Kristine made us get extra creative this week. Our assignment?

Song title
Book title
Movie title

Matte was instrumental in this week’s assignment. He gave me the idea for the book, and helped with the song shot. I’m not going to divulge what the titles are…you can try and figure them out for yourselves. I want to see how smart y’all are.

Song title

Book title

Movie title

Did you play?

UPDATE: OK, I’ll give you the answers because I think I went a little too subtle with it. The song is Too Much Time on My Hands, and Army of Mom guessed it correctly. What does she win? How about a broken Disney watch? I think I have some to spare. Other excellent guesses were Time After Time and Clocks. The book is The Color Purple, and the movie? Well, Domino is a great guess and so is 21, if that’s a movie. But those 2 dominoes are supposed to convey 2001. I know, it’s a stretch. Perhaps I should have gone with my other idea, a domino with 6 dots on one side, 1 on the other for Se7en.

I came home today freshly pedicured, manicured, and waxed, ready to relax. Then I remembered SPF. So much for relaxing…but at least I had perfectly arched brows and pretty toes and fingers while I did this week’s assignment!

For this week’s spicy edition, Kristine asked to see:

1. Your Spices
2. Salt and Pepper
3. Add a little spice to your picture.

Well, my spices are lonely. And dusty. The ones Matte uses on his Tombstone pizzas are usually the only ones that see any action. So I converted this shot to black and white to convey the drab taste of these spices and herbs that are far beyond their “Best by xxx date.” Tarragon is my favorite, but if I’m going to make something with it, I use the fresh stuff. Much tastier!

My salt and pepper is fancy, isn’t it? Yes, each evening while I dine, I grind each peppercorn by hand, then sprinkle it over my food. Or not. But this composition is so much more exciting than my boring salt & pepper shakers that don’t even show the salt or the pepper inside the ceramic Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio.

I created this work of art awhile back. Krissy had sent me this photo of herself, taken on an airplane. She looks utterly breathtaking here, doesn’t she? So, I created one of those motivational posters (make your own here) to describe what I felt upon seeing the photo for the first time. In this shot she looks like Jay London from Season 2 of Last Comic Standing.

Happy SPF! And happy just-plain Friday!

Did you play?

I missed last week. I’m sorry about that. But I skipped because my new job is keeping me so freaking busy I forget what day it is sometimes. Plus, I’m on the computer ALL DAY, mostly answering and sending e-mail messages, so the last thing I want to do when I get home is play with my laptop. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s true. I’ve even taken up doing Sudoku in a book with a pencil, rather than playing online IronSudoku.

But this week, I was sure to set aside time for SPF. So, what did Kristine want to see this week?

Stuff Unnoticed
Your Wish
Stuff Under Your Sink

My stuff unnoticed is my/our CD collection. Not that I don’t listen to music. I do. But in the form of mp3s on my iPod. So it’s the physical CDs that go unnoticed…once I import them into iTunes.

Life is too short sometimes, so I wish for more time…more time to spend with my friend Julie. Six years ago, at age 34, she lost her battle with cancer. I am missing her more than usual these days.

The stuff under my sink…well, from the looks of it, it goes unnoticed as well. The garbage is ready to go out, but how exciting would an empty garbage can be? So I messed up the entire under-the-sink area to add more interest to the photo. Usually it’s utterly spotless. Really.

Did you play? Let me know in the comments, and go tell Kristine too!

Kristine is getting married. SATURDAY. And she still had time to assign an SPF. As if she doesn’t have other more pressing issues to worry about!

This week it’s:

1. Your Love (show us some love)
2. Take us on a Honeymoon! (bring us somewhere with your pictures)
3. Something Blue (No sad faces before my wedding!)

First up, my love. I know you’re all expecting to see Matte here. But that’s a given, plus, he’ll appear a bit later. I could also have submitted my cats, but then I’d get all those Crazy Cat Lady comments. And I’m completely sane. The object of my affection is Fresca. Taunt if you will, but pop open a can. A few years ago I brought it to a BBQ and my friends scoffed “Fresca? Is that stuff even still around?” But now, I can’t go to one of their houses without seeing it as a beverage choice. It’s fabulous.

I’ve never been on a honeymoon, my own or anyone else’s, but when I do go on one, I’d like it to be tropical, like this scene. My friend Mary Beth took this photo of me in Destin, FL a couple of years ago. Check out my savage tan. I don’t think I’ve ever been more relaxed than when I was floating around on that raft, without a care in the world, except how I could have a beer brought out to me.

My choice for something blue is Matte’s eye. He has another one just like it. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite capture the blueness of his peepers, but they’re quite blue. And he has naturally long eyelashes that I want to transplant to my lids. I could gaze into his baby blues for days, but I have a job to go to. By the way, he has perfect vision out of those eyeballs. No glasses or contacts necessary.

Did you play? Kristine did, a little, and she’s getting married Saturday. See, there are some things that take precedent over SPF, but not very many.

This week, Kristine‘s fiance Shaun took over assigning our SPF, while his soon-to-be better half spent some time preparing for their wedding. Originally, he requested a photo of the front and back of our charge card with the most available credit. Funny, Shaun. You’re funny.

1. Something with a story behind it.
This is me, taking pole dancing lessons at Rachel’s bachelorette party. If you told me three years ago that I’d be doing this, I would have sent you to narcotics anonymous because clearly you would have been smoking crack. Not that I was a pole-a-phobe, but back then Rachel and I were as far from being friends as two people could be. From tragic and heart-breaking circumstances, we formed a close friendship. And both of us still think it’s weird.

2. A Random and Odd photo.
I took this in New York, on the street where Sex and the City filmed Carrie Bradshaw’s stoop outside her apartment. Yeah, yeah, I went on the Sex and the City tour. Shut up. I’m a TV junkie and pop culture freak, so how could I help myself? I think this photo is odd because obviously it is meant to keep dogs from ruining this little garden, but dogs can’t read, duh. Except maybe Eddie, from Frasier. I’ll bet he could read. RIP, little dude.

3. In keeping with the recurring wedding theme, a photo of something borrowed.
Recently while Luce was on tour in Philadelphia, their van, trailer, instruments and gear were stolen from their hotel parking lot. This forced the band to cancel some of their dates and suffer great financial hardship. Money can buy another guitar, but it’s not going to replace the one your wife gave you. Dylan, the band’s guitarist received a call from a friend who had heard about the robbery. He offered to send Dylan his Telecaster, asking him to take it around the country on tour and play the sh!t out of it. Dylan asked me to take a picture of him with the guitar so he could send it to his friend and during the show, I captured the “something borrowed” in action.

So, did you accept Shaun’s challenge? Didja play? Didja?