so many choices

All day long I think of a billion different Good Blog Posts, as denoted by the caps, but I never post them.
Maybe that will be a permanent part of my new and elusive online personality:

Dull.



Now for a selection from Webster's Dictionary:

sfumato

One entry found.

sfumato

Main Entry:

sfu·ma·to

Pronunciation:

\sfü-ˈmä-(ˌ)tō\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Italian, from past participle of sfumare to evaporate

Date:

1909

: the definition of form in painting without abrupt outline by the blending of one tone into another



And a selection from the current Des Moines, Iowa phone book:

All Mart
 228 E Army Post Rd
Des Moines, IA 50315

Curleys Furniture
205 Army Post Rd
Des Moines, IA 50315

The Mansion of The Central Iowa
2801 Ingersoll Ave
Des Moines, IA 50312

(Note: isn't it great how it's THE Central Iowa, not just Central Iowa?)

Well there. If you get a hankering for a nice oak rocking chair while meandering across the Midwest, just remember to mention our ad here on luandmoo.blogspot.com to receive 30% off the marked price.
And if you really DO happen to visit one of these establishments, send pictures.

-M.

biblioteca

I think I was born to be a librarian. I love books. Seriously. I have no trouble locating a book (or two, or more) to buy EVERY time I go to a bookstore (especially if it is a used bookstore). This is the girl who can't buy a pair of jeans because that is too much commitment. I buy and return items at an alarming rate--real commitment issues when it comes to purchasing clothes and home decorations (don't ask my husband about the pillows on our couch, it was a traumatic experience that dragged out over several weeks). Not so when it comes to books.

So I like buying books. That's not enough to show that I was predestined to be a librarian. Add this to the list: I know where books are. You want a cookbook--I know the isle. I even know where to find the crockpot cookbooks, the dessert cookbooks, the southwest cookbooks, the general cooking, the budget cooking. I know that kind of stuff about all kinds of books: travel books, craft books, animal books, self help books, history books, how-to-pass-your-AP-test books, and let's not forget kids books. When you get to the children's section, I not only know where books are, I know which ones are worth getting excited about.

I know all of this stuff because I care about where the books are. I CARE. When I walk down the isles, I'm mentally logging away what type of books are on what shelf. It's almost subconscious. And it's pathetic. I can't tell you what the seven wonders of the ancient, let alone modern, world are. But I can show you to the shelf where there's a book on how to take care of your grandfather clock. --Lu

P.S. I'm pretty sure Moo is quite a library aficionado herself. Maybe we can convince her to post about it. Go ahead, inundate her with email now.

at home with my mom

hi mom. (she feeds me LOTS of easter candy so this post is a tribute to her!) And she took me to the best used bookstore. The store is small. There are books piled everywhere. Thankfully they are sort of organized by category. Half the fun is seeing all the crazy books that people have bought and then disposed of. --Lu

why life is good

hoorah for san diego. --Lu

First gold star goes to...

In my roaming around the wilds of the internet yesterday, I found this:

http://www.lets-pez.com/


Yessirree folks. Those little candy rectangles have always made up for their sugar overload with shnazy cartoon character packaging, and this time is no exception. I give them a gold star for creativity. So visit, and print yourself off a nice colorful nameplate under the kids menu.
-Moo

laughs a lot

You know how there's a funny-ha-ha?
Is there a funny-boo-hoo?
Like when you've finally worked out a system for sending large faxes through your Oh-So-Finicky fax machine and then it jams on page 89 of 120 and you have to start all over again? --Lu

But then I'm Taller

Once upon a while ago,
Lu turned 5. And mocked me that she was not only 5 and I wasn't---but that she was taller too. I retorted that one day would I show her. Three years later I could not only see over the kitchen counter tops, but also over her. Maybe our parents pitied me more since I looked scrawny around the edges (see above photo--kid on the right), and gave me more seconds at dinner. In any case, no hand-me-downs!

So this is the first post from Moo.
Words are Lu's super skill, not exactly mine, so pardon if the occasional outline of a hand or large no. 5 in crayon on a paper plate appear as posts. I don't have any paper plates at the moment, so that one will have to wait to be realized.

Happy corned beef and potatoes day!

too good to be troo

In the book Ella Enchanted (a twist on Cinderella) one of the "wicked" stepsisters is a terrible speller. She writes a letter home to the evil stepmother in which she tells that she has been "feeling poarly all week." After reviewing the sloppily written letter, Ella comments, "Poar Olive."

I can't help but think of that spelling when I talk about other people...such as, "Poar Jane, she lost her life savings." It's like a secret--because only you know you are really saying "poar" and not "poor." Or maybe it's just a small way to finally fight the man.

because I'm older...

I was born first. So that is why I get to write the first post for our first blog. (Really, there aren't that many perks to being older than your sister, because inevitably your mom turns to her first and says, "Because you're younger (and presumably have had fewer benefits in life and are tormented incessantly by your Dictator Sister) you get to choose [name your favorite kid treat] first. " Totally unfair, and it really happened. The most vivid memory is when she got to choose between the Rainbow Bright coloring books first.).

This blog is a joint effort because neither of us wanted the sole responsibility for our Own Blog; it's ten times better to have a blogging partner. That way, when your blogging juice is running low, you can delegate (pawn) the responsibility on the other person.

So, we've chosen what our dad would call "flakey" nicknames to mask our identities and create ultra cool blog status. This boils down to our lifelong desire to have alternate identities. (we just thought they'd be a tad more impressive, like Ice Crusher).

With that, we welcome ourselves (and you) to our blog.