On Wednesday I got THAT phone call. One I wasn't expecting to get for at least a few more years. The one that starts out with the person on the other line saying, "So, your dad is fine..."

In this case it was my step-mom telling me my Dad was in the hospital, and he was fine. But I left work half an hour later, choked back a few tears on the drive over the hill, and went to see my Dad in the hospital. He had a "cardiac event". Not a heart attack or a stroke, just an event. And if he hadn't gone to the doctor when he did, things could have been worse (so, Dad, if you're reading this, thanks for going when you did). After 3 nights in the hospital he's finally back home and not allowed to eat any more bacon (we agreed that maybe I should take back the "Bacon is a Vegetable" shirt I gave him for Chirstmas one year). I may have to take up the bacon slack.

So that was Wednesday.

It's just been a weird week all around. The pen for my Wacom tablet came apart, changes going on at work and an after-work gathering that I probably shouldn't have gone to. The social ineptness I feel after those kinds of things almost makes the free food and drinks not worth it. And that all I'm gonna say about that.

I'm always glad when it's Friday. But this week I'm extra glad.

So go out and enjoy your weekend, and don't forget the corn dogs.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately. In a good way. I've taken on some freelance projects and between those, trying to practice the ukulele (last week's class was PAINFUL because I didn't practice as much as I wanted), and just life in general...I've got a lot of stuff going on!

But! The bag I mentioned last time? It arrived. And so did the camera wrap. The bag is perfect, and figured I would be happy with it because I was so happy with the first Lug bag I bought. The wrap totally fits around my camera with a short lens (50mm), and it even fits in the new bag with all the regular stuff I carry around. However, it was on the bulky side. Which isn't bad, but I hate the look of a bulky bag. I also think it has a tendency to scream, "I have stuff in here! Please steal me!"

So when we spent some time over in Santa Cruz on Saturday, I tried just shoving the camera in the bag, sans protection, and it pretty much worked! There was one point where I wished I had my wide angle lens with me, but I got over it. I was just glad that I had my camera at all.

It is on the heavy side, so I don't know that I'll drag my camera around with me every day, but I'm thrilled that I found a solution that works for me and cost less than $100. In the past, I've dug out other bags, taken everything out of my regular bag and transferred it to the bag I'm going to use that day and then grabbed the camera (and an extra battery) and shoved it all in there. It wasn't a horrible way to go about things but I tended to just leave the camera behind instead of going through the effort. Since I'm using the new Lug bag on a daily basis, now all I do is grab the camera and shove it in my bag! No digging another bag out of my closet and transferring stuff back and forth.

This new set-up isn't going to replace my camera bag completely, but it totally works to just grab my camera if I think I might want to take a few photos of something and I don't want to lug around a purse and a camera bag. Hopefully this means I'll be taking a lot more photos...or at least building up strength in my left shoulder from carrying around a heavier bag!

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

Today, I got mail! Catalogs, packages, and bills...oh my! So even if I did upset my mail carrier (hopefully not, though), I'm still getting my mail. Yay! (Except for the bills. I wouldn't mind if he kept those.)

I also did an impromptu photo shoot with the cat today. The boy-fiance distracted him with a mouse, and I snapped away. The light was great, and the cat didn't catch on that I was taking photos (most of the time he wanders away) and some of the shots turned out pretty well. Then I went outside and took a few naturey crap photos before the sun went down and it reminded me that I really need to figure out an everyday bag solution for having my camera with me more often.

Since the last time I was looking for a camera bag/purse solution more options have become available. Epiphanie, *emera, and Jo Totes all are lovely, but none of them are really "me". I'm just not a purse person. I'm all about the over the shoulder satchel style bag (this is what I currently cart around). So I thought the new SLR Sloop over at Photojojo would be a good option, but I don't know that I want to shell out $149 for something I'm not totally sure about. I also don't necessarily want to carry around the entire contents of my camera bag. Probably just the camera with a lens and maybe an extra lens. At this point, the important part is just having the camera with me (and not damaging it in the process).

But! I think I may have figured out a solution...I've got a bag (from Lug!) and a domke camera wrap thing on order and hopefully the two together will make a good purse/camera bag combo. Once everything gets here, I'll report back with my findings!

In the mean time, you'll have to suffer through more photos of my cat.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

You guys, I think I might have accidentally pissed off my mail delivery person. There hasn't been any mail in our box for two days, and I'm concerned. HIGHLY CONCERNED!

Almost 2 weeks ago, I went to go retrieve the mail (which, in my little life brings me great joy) and found that the box was so crammed full of mail-ness, that I couldn't even turn the latch to open the box. I WAS VERY UPSET. Partly because this isn't the first time there's been an issue, but mostly because I WANT MY MAIL.

Our building has one of those mail boxes made up of smaller mail boxes that require a key to open. From what I can tell, the mail person can open a large door on the back and just start putting all the mail in, real easy-like. The thing is, I think there might be more room when mail is put in the boxes from that side. More than once, I've had to slowly extract a slightly larger than normal package that's been crammed in there and damaged it in the process because there's an EDGE on my side of the box and the thing I'm trying to pull out of the box is getting ripped and caught on that edge. NOT COOL. But I've never said anything.

Until now.

In a fit of WHITE HOT RAGE, I marched back to my apartment and fired off a rather angry e-mail to the USPS. Something along the lines of, "I can't get my mail and this is unacceptable!" Which wouldn't help me immediately get my mail box open, but made me feel better. The next morning, I left a note (which was much nicer in tone) on the back of the mail boxes explaining that I couldn't get my mail and could the item blocking the latch please be removed and placed on my doorstep. The mail person arrived later that day (I happened to be home because I was coughing up a lung) and he knocked when he placed the formerly crammed package at my door. When I opened the door he explained that it had been his day off and I wasn't the only one that had an issue. Well, that explains it! I had my mail and I was a happy camper. I forgot about the angry e-mail I had sent.

Until two days ago.

I actually received a reply! They had spoken to my mail carrier and he had been instructed to not do that anymore.

Uh oh.

It's not totally unreasonable that we haven't had any mail for two days, but I am expecting something and it's possible it could have arrived today...I wasn't REALLY expecting it to be there today, but I also wasn't expecting NO MAIL.

I'm crossing my fingers that it's a total fluke. I LOVE getting mail (possibly too much) and it would be tragic if I upset the person who brings that beloved mail to me. We'll see what happens tomorrow mail-wise...in the mean time, I may look in to other options for mail delivery...changing my name? P.O. Box? Moving? I gots to get my mail!

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

Despite knowing I was getting sick on Valentine's Day, I decided to try and ignore it and act like that sore throat was going to go away. It, of course, did not and I spent most of last week on the couch, drinking tea, eating soup, and watching the Food Network.

To say that I watch a lot of Food Network is an understatement. It's my default station. I basically pay $60/month for cable so I can watch people cook whenever I want. What other channels?

I haven't watched that much Food Network since I was laid off a little over 3 years ago, and now I have a new Food Network host pet peeve! These people can't scrape a bowl clean to save their lives and it's driving me bonkers. Okay, I understand that maybe they're in a hurry, but seriously. Rachael Ray is really the only one that gets a by here because she's actually attempting to cook a meal in 30 minutes. All the rest of y'all? NO EXCUSE. I saw Giada leave, I swear, at least 1/4 of a cup of some sort of chocolately thing in a bowl and throw it in the sink. The Neelys did it with something else (probably corn bread muffins or something). But the worst offender? The worst (and I'm not just saying this because she's my least favorite person on that whole network) was one Sandra Lee, who left a piece of shrimp in a bowl and didn't notice. I'm sorry, but shrimp aren't cheap, they're pretty tasty, and she basically just threw one away for no reason? What the hell woman?! It's bad enough that you think espresso is called "expresso" and that you add vanilla to everything to get rid of that store bought taste, but now you're throwing away shrimp? I didn't think it was possible but I dislike her even MORE now.

Okay, so it's a pet peeve with a heavy dose of some Sandra Lee hatin' thrown in.

Also, while spending most of last week on the couch recovering form my cold, I was sad to discover that the Food Network still doesn't start their programming until 9:30am during the week. I think it's pretty much infomecrials from about 2:30am to 9:30am, and I really want to know why they can't just make it 24-hours already? Because I came this close to buying a Cindy Crawford skin care system (she looks so young a pretty!) and I really don't have any more room in the bathroom for expensive skin care products that I never end up using.

However, four different recipes for fruit crisp? TOTALLY NECESSARY.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

I've had prints of my photos available for sale for a while now, but it's been a little complicated to actually buy one. Hopefully that won't be the case any more!

I just spent the past few hours setting up a little "buy print" link that should now appear at the bottom of photos that are available as prints! Yay! Super easy! A menu should pop up and ask you what size you want, and the rest should be familiar from there. I haven't actually tried it out yet (it's 1am and frankly, my bum hurts from sitting in my desk chair for far too long), but I probably will in the next couple of days to make sure the quality is decent and all that jazz. Also, not everything is available yet...pretty much everything I wanted to make available for 2009 is good to go. I'm working on 2008 and later, and it may take a while. If there's something you really wanted a print of and there's no link, feel free to let me know and I'll set it up!

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

The thing about getting engaged on Valentines Day is that I guess now we have to make a big deal out of February 14th? Well, I say it's totally up to us. And after the boy-fiance went through the trouble of planning last year's totally unexpected proposal, I decided to take the reins this year. So I made dinner reservations...and that's it. Maybe we'll even order dessert! I know...I might fall over from all the excitement.

Do people even make a big deal out of the day they got engaged? Is it one of those days you celebrate? Maybe if you're like us and decide to take your sweet time getting to the actual wedding part, you do a little something to remember the day?

Anyways. We're going out to dinner, and maybe we'll manage to agree on a movie or something. But really, after last year's big day, I'm totally okay with keeping it low-key this year.

So here's to a good weekend, whatever your plans (or lack of) may be.

And on a totally unrelated note...I signed up on formspring.me. If anyone wants to ask a question, go for it. Maybe it'll give me ideas for stuff to write about...

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

My interest in sports is always sort of lurking under the surface, and it's magnitude tends to change depending on the people I spend the most time with. The boy-fiance? Not into sports. At all. So I tend not to keep up with, well, anything. Football play-offs? Had no idea they were happening until Regan said something about the Saints making it to the Superbowl and she was having a party! Hurricanes and King cake for everyone! While I don't have any specific ties to the Saints or the Colts, I still wanted to watch the game and cheer on them New Orleans boys for all my NOLA friends. Oh, and the commercials usually offer some sort of amusement. And did I mention the Hurricanes?

The game itself? It ended up being pretty awesome. The commercials? Mostly on the 'meh' side. If I had to pick a favorite it would have to be the VW Slug Bug commercial (though the Betty White/Snickers one is a close second). Oh, and being able to sit around on a Sunday and drink myself tipsy on liquid fruit salad (have you had a Hurricane? I hadn't until last weekend) and stuff myself with food I wouldn't normally eat was pretty awesome too. But the best part? That was being there with all my NOLA friends and seeing how happy they were when the Saints won the Superbowl. There was cheering! Hugging! Tears! It may not have meant something to me personally, and you might not think a team winning the Superbowl is a huge deal, but it really meant something to everyone in New Orleans, and the fact that I got to celebrate that with my friends made it the best Superbowl Sunday ever.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

I have my first official ukulele lesson tonight. I'm nervous and excited at the same time! So far I've only been learning stuff through a couple of books I bought, and I'm curious to see how much that has taught me (which, in actuality, may be very little). Honestly, I'm really looking forward to having ukulele "homework" as opposed to just playing the same things over and over from the books I've been using. I can't remember the last time I've looked forward to having homework. Yay for learning!

I also just signed up for BlogHer Food 2010. In October. So this is probably the first and last time I'll mention it until it gets closer to October. Actually I may not mention it again. As much as I like going to those events, I'm so incredibly terrible at introducing myself and networking with people that I probably shouldn't even mention I'm going. Maybe, if you're there, just wave hello to the bitter, old blogger sitting in the corner, 'cause there's a good chance it'll probably be me.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

Months ago, I made this Roasted Broccoli and Shrimp recipe and it was super tasty (I highly recommend it). The other night I was in need of a side dish and didn't want to steam broccoli AGAIN. Not that there's anything wrong with steamed broccoli, but it required another spot on the stove and I already had half of it taken up with stuff for dinner. That's when I remembered the broccoli with shrimp and realized I didn't HAVE to include the shrimp...I could just roast the broccoli! Which is exactly what I did, and it was awesome. Then a few night later, there was a bag of cauliflower in need of consumption, and I started to get out all the equipment to steam, and then I remembered the broccoli. I did everything the same (but cut back on the corriander just a tad), and OH MY. Cumin and cauliflower? Made for each other. The boy-fiance declared it the best caulifower EVER. I think it might be my new go to side dish.

In other news, I almost killed the cat earlier this week. We went to the vet for a routine visit, and two shots later we were headed home. Annnd then early the next morning we were headed back because Mr. Miles was having a pretty extreme reaction to his shots. An intense hour later, we were both home, exhausted (we'd been up since 4:30am) and decided to take a sick day. Which felt a little weird since I wasn't sick, but I decided to camp on the couch and watch the Food Network anyways (I also had strict orders to keep an eye on the kitteh in case he didn't start to feel better). This all went down on Wednesday and I'm happy to report that he's 100% back to normal (whew!) and his records at the vet now have a note to not give him two shots at once. Which is good, but to hell with the note. I'm not going to forget about this next time he needs shots. I kind of doubt he'll forget about it either. All the cat treats in the world aren't going to coerce him back into that carrier.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

And that, my friends, is why I don't make resolutions. Though maybe I need to make reverse resolutions. Maybe if I had mentioned that I was definitely not going to be posting as often, then I'd all of a sudden have all sorts of things to post about. Or maybe I just need to shut-up and post when I can.

Last January proved to be pretty awful compared to the rest of the year, and this January is really trying to compete (much to my dismay). If you'll recall, late December I sprained my ankle (which is doing much better, but still a little wonky), which I figured was my annual holiday injury happening early. Oh, how wrong I was. On my way home from Washington, while hauling around a laptop bag and my camera bag, I managed to majorly pull a muscle in my back. It hurt so bad that it didn't seem to matter how I moved, it just hurt. After about a week of hobbling around (plus massive amounts of advil and a heating pad) it finally started to get better, and that's when I got food poisoning. Seriously. It was at one of my favorite pho places, where I've been going for YEARS. It's not the worst bout I've ever had, but I think it ranks as #2. In a 36 hour period, I ate about a dozen saltines and only drank gatorade or tea. Fun!

On the bright side, I did finally replace my iPod and I learned a new way to tie a scarf. I've also been knitting a bit more (as long as the cat isn't paying attention, the yarn is safe!), and I've been practicing my ukulele, which makes me happy. It's such a fun, happy little instrument. I'm thinking I might even pay for some lessons!

So here's to January almost being over! Also, just a reminder, if there's not much going on over here, I do tend to add stuff to my tumblr blog fairly regularly. Because if the past few weeks have been any indication, things around here might be a little stagnant...

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

I am so ready for this year to be over. I'm done.

Though I was kind of done with 2009 last January, but there wasn't much I could do about it then. I know every year has it's ups and downs, but I felt like this year was full of extremes. I got engaged to the boyfriend (no, we have not set a date yet, and yes, I'm okay with that), my grandma passed away, and a friend of ours was diagnosed with cancer (treatable cancer, but still not something you want to happen to anyone). And then there was the minor stuff like losing my brand new iPod (which I still have not replaced - mostly because the fabulous JenB sent me one she wasn't using - but I'm running out of room on that one, so I think I'm due for a replacement soon), and falling down on my Mom's stairs right after the new year.

Since we're on the subject, I continued the holiday injury tradition this year by spraining my ankle a couple of days before Christmas (I was carrying laundry back to the apartment and missed the last step on a flight of stairs). I suppose it could have been worse (it could have been broken); I can put weight on that foot, so hobbling around hasn't been too bad. Also, it gave me an excuse to buy new shoes (I didn't have anything that would work with the ankle brace I've been wearing).

(Apparently I'm all about parentheses today.)

So, yeah. I'm ready for 2010. BRING IT ON.

I'm not going to mention any sort of resolutions because I never keep them. Though I am going to do my darndest to learn to play the ukulele, because I ended up with TWO of them. (Kids, this is what happens when you tell your boy-fiance that you want a ukulele for christmas and then don't remove it from you amazon wishlist so your mom gets you one too.)

Oh, and I'm going to try and keep writing here. Even if it's not very often. Because after nine years (official anniversary is tomorrow!), I feel like I can't stop NOW.

So happy (early) new year to you. May it be merry and bright!

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

Hope y'all have had a very merry holiday!

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

You know the phrase "Easy As Pie"? After this weekend, I feel like I can relate to that a little bit more. I made a cake on Sunday, and oh my god did it stress me out. I already know some of you think this is going to sound crazy, but cake is hard to make! Specifically, layer cake is hard to make!

Okay, so getting the batter together wasn't hard (though I did have to grease two cake pans, make wax paper rounds and put those in the pans and grease those too). Then I've got to divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans. I ended up using my kitchen scale to do this, but it took some transferring batter back and forth with a spoon to get everything even. Then they bake, and come out of the over to cool a bit, and then I've got to get them OUT of the pans. So I have to flip them on to a cooling rack. But now they're upside down, so I've got to flip them back over. There is so much potential for one of these to just flop in half in this process (which almost happened). Then they have to cool.

And we're still not done...now we have to frost the darn thing! Which isn't that bad, but crumbs get everywhere, and some of the raspberry filling was mixing in with the frosting, and I felt like I was never able to get the frosting as smooth as I wanted. Eventually I had to wave the white flag and just give in to the fact that the frosting on this cake would never be smooth. Now we've got a lumpy white frosted two layer cake. Sounds spectacular, right?! Not so much. So I've got to get out a piping bag and pipe some of my left over icing on there to make it look pretty. Or I could have gone the super easy route and just bought some fresh raspberries to stick on the top (of course I didn't think of that until it was too late). I know in the end that nobody really cares that much what it looks like, but still.

Compare this to pie? Make crust (which is not always easy, but if you have a good recipe I find it's not that bad). Let it chill, roll out and get into pie plate (no greasing or wax paper necessary!) Make the filling and pour into the pie crust. Top with another crust (depending on the pie) and bake! Remove from the oven, let it cool a tiny bit, and dig in!

EASY AS PIE.

I do realize that in the past few years, I've made WAY more pies than cakes which could contribute to my opinion on the subject. Also, I think layer cakes are particularly tricky because of...the layers. Sheet cakes and bundt cakes, almost as easy as pie.

Also, I'm kind of prejudice. I just like pie more.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.

One year ago (almost exactly, I think), we adopted Miles. I figured adopting a cat that was a year old would mean we wouldn't have to endure the crazy kitten phase. However, I forgot that one year old doesn't necessarily mean we've outgrown the crazy kitten phase.

He had to wear the cone of shame the first week we brought him home, but once that thing was off, it was like we unleashed crack-head kitteh. He wouldn't sleep, he wouldn't let us sleep, he tore around the house, tried to climb up bookshelves, ate plants, and just generally got in to everything. But we endured, and he's calmed down a bunch, but he's still getting in to things, and while it's kind of annoying, it's also endlessly amusing.

Shortly after he arrived home, I noticed he was a carrier of things. We'd throw crumpled up paper for him, and he'd sometimes pick it up with his mouth. Then he was gifted with a little fake mouse, and we discovered the fetching. We didn't teach him how to do it, he just does it, consistently. You throw the mouse, he brings it back. When he gets tired of it, he bats the mice under the fridge. We also discovered he loves feathers. And if left unsupervised, he'll eat most of the feather toy that you just brought home from Target.

He'll also attempt to eat lots of other things. Like loaves of bread. Or entire bags of dried anchovies. He even managed to get into the pantry and puncture a carton of soup. VEGETARIAN SOUP. The theory has been presented that perhaps at one time he had to scavenge for food and the instinct still kicks in when he's bored. Personally, I think he's just trying to compete with Murray.

He's definitely a handful, but I wouldn't trade him for anything. He sits in the window and is visibly excited when we get home. He sleeps on my legs every night, and sometimes, when there's no more mice to fetch and nothing to steal off the counter, he'll come curl up on my lap and take a nap.

So happy one-year anniversary, crazy little cat. Here's hoping that the curling-up-on-the-lap thing becomes more common as you get older.

Thanks for reading the Ugly Green Chair! Photos and words copyright 2001-2010 Whitney Brandt.