stuff and stuff and stuff

[visionshadows]

so i was thinking about coffee this morning as i am inclined to do while waiting for it to brew. i like really good coffee. i am admittedly a coffee snob and i know it. i will drink not so good coffee if that's all that is available, but i don't understand how people can think it's good. i get caffeine for caffeine's sake. i really do. i suffer from that problem myself quite frequently. but there are people who drink bad coffee all the time and don't know the difference. one of the women i work with was complaining (jokingly) that i've spoiled her and she buys good coffee for home now. i think of it as educating my co-workers so they can recognize the good stuff. plus there's nothing like a hot steaming pot of really good coffee in the morning.

[goes back to drinking coffee]

in other news, the arcana layering notes decant circle has already shipped! how awesome is that? i'm not sure when it'll get here, but i'll do my best to get things decanted in a timely fashion. i'm waiting on some vials and cindy at MO pulled one of the bottles of black tea because of leaking issues. she's going to get more and send it out as soon as she can. but otherwise, all is good to go! i can't believe how fast it got here. i was expecting at least 2 weeks because we had so many of the special order ones. yay for arcana!

i can't wait for my bpal order either. i haven't got a cns, but i want those salon imps. *g* mmm...sniffies. plus there's a bottle of shub in that order and that's one of the ones i'm letting myself keep after the liquidation. so far the list is: anubis, antique lace, samhain (all versions i have), 'o', snake oil, snake charmer, jersey devil, hymn to prosperpine, punkie night, the masque, montresor, gennivre, misk u, shub, hungry ghost moon, tko, bitch, coyote, dee, morocco, luperci, black lily, the lion, three brides, haloa, geek, and gypsy queen. i have to spend a little more time with the order of the dragon and yule stuff to know for sure what i'm keeping of those. it's still a long keep list, but it's amazing how long the sell list is. i have a lot of perfume.

the house is slowly coming along. there's still so much to do and we've got very little table space, etc. i really want to get the shelves in the media room up so we can get the books and dvds unpacked. maybe over the christmas break. i'll feel better once that's done and i can see how much space i have in that room for a loom. *g* yes, it's all about me and my loom. i signed up for a weaving course at woolbearers in mt. holly starting the end of february. i needed a refresher course and that looked like the one to go with. plus i need a good yarn shop when i do really start working with the loom. if anyone else is interested in taking a fun class that makes you be creative, the course is either tuesday night, thursday morning, or sunday morning with friday being open for drop in weaving. i'm taking the sunday course personally because i'm not sure i can get there in time on tuesday. it's $170 for 8 sessions which includes supplies and use of the loom. i can't wait!

also, seriously people. talk to me. ask me questions. bother me constantly! i'm so bored!

Comments

[prettypinkkitty.livejournal.com]

I can't drink Starbucks coffee (coffee, mind) because it's so burnt. I have to get an Americano if I want like actual coffee.

Plus BPAL shipping is way fast - they're up to 11/30 now for CnS, and 11/25 or so for received! I'm very excited, my Shub is on the way! You're so good to liquidate what you only feel eh about.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

Erg, yeah. I'm with you on the Starbucks. I'll drink their coffee drinks, but not the coffee straight. I'm a big fan of the Canada chain Tim Hortons though. For fast food coffee, it's really damn good. And I'm so sad they're not around here. dayse sends me some though so I have it for a bit.

I can't wait to get more Shub! I never really wore it when I had it even though I looooved the spicy ginger scent that it gave off. Now I can slather!

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I am also incredibly bored. I only have to be here until about 1:30 today though, and I get all next week off. This has to be construed as a plus.

I went on a big kick of getting rid of things back in November and on December 1 I posted a big sale which I've added to and posted a few times since then. I've pared down a LOT, considering that I had about 150 imps up there it's amazing that I only have a few left. Of course I'm still acquiring things.

I want the line for keeping perfume for myself to be "something I could immediately remember the smell associated with and think of an event for which I'd like to wear it." Right now the line seems to be "Do I REALLY like this and would I really wear it as a perfume". It's a little overly granular and semantic of a distinction. I still have to think really hard to recall the smell of some of the bottles I have, and often never gravitate toward wearing them. I have multiple bottles of Lump of Coal, but never think about wearing them--I'd rather wear something that was 'chocolately, but also' like Arcana's DDLM or Little Ghoulie (plus their chocolate note works many times better on me than BPAL's). On the other hand, there are a lot of days I wake up and think that I want to smell like Snow White, or Winternights today. And I haven't been through all 4 seasons with a huge cache of perfume yet--just since August. I know what I wanted to smell like in fall was different than what I want to smell like now, so it's hard to anticipate what I may want to smell of once the winter is over. (not that it's really started)

you asked for being bothered. =)

[moon-lemming.livejournal.com]

That is a really good perfume-keeping line! *steals, writes down, ponders*

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I had to make a lot of hard decisions, and I guess there are still more to make. How can I really justify having more than 50 unique scents--if I wore each once before rotating I'd never get round to all of them more than ten times a year, assuming I wear the same thing all day. An imp of something fabulous (I have an imp of Shub I will never sell, of course, I won't wear it either) is a bit different than a whole 5mL (or 10, or 15mL) bottle of something I'm meh over, or even like in the bottle but can't wear for some reason. Shub turns into gross play-dough on my skin, so it doesn't matter how much I adore it, and Sugar cookie, and Gingerbread Poppet--they're unwearable. And maybe someone else can enjoy them where I can't.

My inevitable winners: Snow White, Arcana Winternights, Arcana Little Ghoulie, Thalia, Black Moon..all of those immediately work, continue to work, and make me smell fabulous. There are of course a lot more winners, but I'm trying to be picky.

There's also room for things that smell great in a burner, or smell good in a bath, but BPAL is just about too expensive for either of those things, in my book.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

No, no. That's good! See, I've been through all four seasons now so I know which scents I gravitate towards during certain times of the year. Plus I know which scents are comfort scents now and I want to keep them. Basically my line at this time is, have you touched it in the last two months for a reason other than decanting? And there are so few that meet that line. There are scents I have that I've never worn! And I have a few LE loves, but there are so many GCs that I love that I know I can stick with those and be okay.

I'm not going to stop acquiring BPAL. I love it too much not to. I'm just going to be really careful about what I hold on to. If I don't wear it, I don't need to have it just to have it.

[moon-lemming.livejournal.com]

I don't drink coffee often because I can't have caffeine, so it's pointless to me. so I wouldn't know the difference between good and bad. I'M A HEATHEN.

Also, sad but it gave me a little thrill to see Antique Lace in your list of BPALs to keep. I love it so.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

Well if you have a legit reason for not drinking coffee, it's okay. It's the people who drink it all the time and think stuff like Folgers is yummy.

Antique Lace is one of my FAVS. So good, so perfectly light and sweet. :)

[moon-lemming.livejournal.com]

Hee, I still think I should know the difference, even if I was being all tongue in cheek. It's one of those things I think I should know more about, like wine, that I just haven't gotten the knack for yet.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

My quick coffee test - take a deep sniff of it. It should smell rich and full without smelling burnt. If you smell it and it has a hint of a burnt smell or you really have to sniff it to get a scent, it's not good coffee. You can also tell by color. Rich coffee is usually a darker color with more natural bubbles around the edge of the cup when it's poured. However, if it's a lighter blend, you really have to rely on the sniff test instead of the color test.

[re-reads paragraph]

Wow, I really am a coffee snob.

[bethie-nova.livejournal.com]

Oooo weaving. I'm still looking for a good local yarn shop around here, but I did find something cool yesterday. There's an alpaca farm not too far from here where they sell shanks for spinning your own yarn. I'm keen to try that. Of course, they also have finished yarn as well. And the best thing - you can pick the alpaca you want the fiber from and they'll let you know when shearing time comes. How cool is that?
I've gotten to the point in my BPAL life-cycle where I'm thinking about how much yarn I could get if I didn't buy BPAL. :)

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

Oh that is so cool! I'm contemplating learning how to spin so I could finish the yarn myself. That's a little down the road though. You definitely should take advantage of the alpaca farm. I love alpaca.

[schmarian.livejournal.com]

I'd rather drink Diet Coke to get my caffeine than drink crappy coffee. I hate Starbucks and love the Timmy's, too! over the summer when I was in Canada my boyfriend insisted on stealing Tim's mugs so he could have his coffee at home in them. they're great mugs. we would have bought them but they don't sell them. I'm excited about going to Saskatoon for New Year's because there's a local chain called the Broadway Roastery which has the best coffee I've had in North America. it's seriously better than any place in New York or Montreal I've ever been to.

and hey, I still want to take your Doc Buzzard off your hands. :) if you're willing to sell your Voodoo Queen empty I'll take that, too.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I know! You're getting the Doc, no worries there. I'll dig out the VQ empty as well. I just wanted to double-check how much Doc there was before giving you a price.

God, Timmy's coffee. Seriously so good. Every time I'm in Canada, I stop as much as possible. Down here I pretty much stick to my local roasters, though I have to say that Wegman's coffee is pretty good too.

[schmarian.livejournal.com]

I have your roasters bookmarked, though I'm still sticking with Trader Joe's coffee for the moment. one of these days I'm going to splurge, though.

also, I'll confess to being addicted to Dunkin' coffee. it's a holdover from my college days. :)

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

I drank Dunkin's constantly when I was working 2nd shift. There was one right on the way to the hospital. And I will admit to drinking McDonalds every so often.

[schmarian.livejournal.com]

oh! and I wanted to say that as a knitter, I'm very excited about your return to weaving. that's the one craft I would love to get into, and every time I go to sheep and wool festivals and see the loom displays I'm very, very tempted. but I just can't afford it, nor do I have space. I'd love to get into spinning, too, but ditto.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

I find weaving to be relaxing. Granted, I'm sure there will be posts about how much I hate warping things and all of that, but once you're actually weaving it's so calming. You really have to pay attention to what you're doing, but it's so cool to see something appear out of just yarn.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

I can't have coffee for the time being, but I used to love it. When I was going to school it was the only thing that woke me up each morning. And it was a newfound thing at age 21 since it was "bad" to have coffee where I grew up.

Of course, then I discovered that if I had really good quality coffee, I didn't have to pour an assload of creamer and sugar into it. I started walking around the Pearl District (Portland's art gallery district, which is also very pricey and high-end where stores are concerned) and I discovered some of the most amazing coffees.

On another note, your class sounds like it will be a lot of fun. And I love your BPAL "keep" list. They're all so lovely. :)

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

I still use creamer in my coffee, but I never use sugar. The cream cools it down to drink it. *g* I found some really good coffee places in Seattle when we were there. Very tasty. :)

I can't wait to start my class. Yay new hobby! I'm sure when I go through some of the stuff I haven't tested, more will add onto that, but for the most part, I think that's the final list.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Yes, Seattle and Portland both have some great coffee places. I think it's the whole rain thing. We specialize in coffee and books because of it. :)

I can't remember exactly how many BPALs you have, but isn't your list like 1/8th of the total collection? You are going to have your loom in no time once you post your sale.

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

I think I have something like ... 150 or so including TALs. I probably will have it down to about 20-25 keepers including TALs as well. So yeah, here's to hoping. *g*

I loved Seattle personally. I'd love to spend more time in that area because it was really pretty and low-key out there.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Low-key is right. Seattle is such a nice city, and there's so much to do. :)

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

That was a great vacation. Someday I'll get out there again.

[alicia-stardust.livejournal.com]

Well if you get up there you have to let me know so I can come say hi. Seattle is only 3 hours away from here. :)

[iriedanym.livejournal.com]

My friend Rob teases me that I like "fru fru coffee". I tend to buy flavored coffee (they have a peppermint flavor out that I adore at my fave coffee place). Starbucks is the evil! Their coffee drinks are okay, but I'd rather splurge and buy local. In my town, there is at least one coffee shop on each block downtown.
By the way ::hugs::

[electricmayhem.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, coffee. I had some of the most fantastic coffee in Vienna. And now I'm back and the coffee my mom buys just doesn't compare.

[edenssixthday.livejournal.com]

I'll only get Starbucks if I'm getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte, Egg Nog Latte, Gingerbread Latte or one of their frappuccino blends. Otherwise, it's way too dark and burnt. I've been told that at Starbucks, you need to order the "light roast" if you don't like the burnt taste, but I haven't tried it yet.

I love a good cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the owner of the company where I works also loves a good cup of coffee, and his idea of good and my idea of good are very different. He dictates which coffee company we buy our coffee from, and most of the time, I don't like the coffee he likes. Fortunately, he likes to switch it up, so every 6-12 months or so, we'll start ordering from a new company, and on occasion, I'll like the coffee they bring in for us. But usually, I end up doctoring up my coffee with so much sugar-free vanilla syrup, Splenda and cream, that I wonder why I even bother with the coffee in the first place. I really should just switch to green tea.

[gegenschein.livejournal.com]

I don't know when you'll get anything decanted and shipped, but I just wanted to ask, if you get them done fairly quickly, that you not ship mine until at least January 4th. I'm away on vacation and won't return til the 6th. Thanks. :)

[visionshadows.livejournal.com]

Not a problem! I can definitely hold them for you. :)