Blades of Fury

So you know how I hate winter so much, right? Like, really hate it. Blinding, migraine-inducing, have-to-take-an-aspirin-and-lie-down rage over here. So it's probably somewhat ironic that I like ice-skating so much, to the point that I'm considering hitting up all three public skating sessions at my "local" ice rink (Saturday afternoon, Saturday night, Sunday afternoon) and signing up for their adult group lessons, starting next week. But look at this way: I love ice skating as much as I hate winter. And if you have an indoor ice rink, then it's not like you can't use it in a non-winter season. So...eff off, winter, is the main point here (as always. Remember-- burning, unyielding hatred).
You get to twirl around the ice really fast, on thin, metal blades! What's not to love? That I manage to do it without breaking my neck is nothing to sneeze at, either. I may have failed at everything else in grade school, athletically-speaking, but ice skating was the one activity I was actually okay at for some crazy reason. Ice skating movies are my crack-- Cutting Edge, Ice Castles, that god-awful Disney one with Hayden Panetierre, Michelle Trachtenburg, Joan Cusak, and Kim Cattrall...what was that one called? Ice Princess or something? You know, the one that sucked. I don't care. I would watch it if it were on TBS right now, just to see the scene where Catrall sabotages Trachtenburg's routine by convincing her to buy brand new skates moments before getting on the ice because that's the kind of hard-ass bitch she is, and God love Cattrall for it.
(Also, I just noticed that I spelled her last name two different ways in this entry. ....Meh).

Ugh, do we really have to wait until 2014 for the next Winter Olympics? I need my competition ice skating drama and I need it now! I grew up in the Nancy Kerrigan/Tony Harding/Kristi Yamaguchi era, quickly followed by the Harding/Kerrigan/Injured Knee era, and then the Michelle Kwan vs. Tara Lipinski saga. If wanting soap opera-levels of drama in competitive ice skating is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Tumblr, the Swap, and Me

In an effort to combat my crippling shyness, I agreed to participate in the 2012 Rhodia Journal Swap. Basically, a bunch of Rhodia Webnotebooks were sent out to 12 people, we fill in some pages however we want, and then we mail the book onto the next person on the list. Things have been so hectic lately that even though my book arrived last week, I haven't even taken off the cellophane yet. My initial Swap post is here. It's soooooo scintillating, isn't it?
So yeah, that'll be happening occasionally.

Pens: The How and the Why (An Epic Saga)

An innocent bystander made the mistake of asking me a seemingly-simple question recently: 
How did you get interested in pens and ink?
Buckle up, kids. This is going to be a long ride. Everyone got their snacks? Bathroom break out of the way? Excellent. 

Tooting my own horn

I wrote something!
Okay, it's just a little write-up about my "new" old Waterman pen but still:
read on if you wish.