It is "Sew" St. Patrick's Day!

Sew.... every once in a while, I get a wild hair and decide that I need to prove to myself that I can do something. Well, this time, something was "to make a pair of pants." I had hemmed several slacks and sleeves, mended holes, constructed costumes, and designed a duvet, but all of these things are either fairly simple or have a good degree of forgiveness. But, Trousers - absolutely no forgiveness!

I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money, in case they didn't turn out, so I used some fabric I already had. I bought it a while ago to cover the dining room chair cushions, but I have since decided on using a different fabric. I did cover the seat of a chair in the kitchen with this "lovely" green and yellow striped chenille (almost corduroy looking) upholstery fabric.



So, what is one to do with a few extra yards of upholstery fabric? Make some super hilarious and equally horrendous St. Patrick's Day Trousers!



I am so pleased with how well they turned out.

Plain-front styling makes these corduroy-like, durable trousers versatile for work or play. A special green and yellow tonal stripe ensures a fashion forward look. Features slant pockets in front and a welt pocket in back.

• Sits at waist
• Easy through thigh
• Straight leg
• Dry Clean only
• Hand made in USA

They fit, they button, they elongate the figure (yeah, right). I am happy. I even sewed in a label:



"Smilin' Doc" was the best I could come up with this afternoon for a Brand Name - at least it's appropriate. The pockets and the seam linings are all done with this lemon/lime op art fabric.



I'm not taking any orders yet (unless you wear my size) because I only have one pattern. I ripped apart an old pair of pants that had a hole in them to create the pattern. Perhaps, you'll see me in some more Smilin' Doc Brand Trousers. Be on the look out this summer - I've already bought some yardage of plaid patchwork madras.

Sorry, the above photo was just supposed to be another angle of my awesomely hideous slacks (not necessarily a crotch shot).

BTW: in response to Gretchen's comment on the 2/20/08 post regarding my pair of green corduroy pants with embroidered St. Bernards. I am no where near skinny enough to wear those, but I hope these Special Order St. Patty's Pant will satisfy your need for a more fashionable Aaron.

Fooey!

So.... yeah, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry, guys and gals; thanks for sticking with me though.

Well, tonight HGTV gave away it's 2008 Dream Home, and once again they didn't give it away to me, so I guess I'm not going to open up a Gourmet People & Dog Bakery/Bed & Breakfast/Christmas Store/Pediatric Office in the Florida Keys (well, not yet anyway).



I've been entering that stupid contest for the last eight or nine years. My mom actually entered every day online this year. Neither one of us won - fooey on HGTV. Actually, I think that HGTV got what it deserves. They awarded the home to some lady who gave absolutely no reaction (on LIVE TV); she actually seemed inconvenienced by them showing up at her house to give her a 2 million dollar prize.

Fooey, on you, winner of the 2008 HGTV Dream Home - at least fake a smile or an "I'm so happy." I'd be screaming and jumping and telling Travis that we're moving to Florida! See, HGTV, you should have let me won - I would have given you some footage you could have used over and over! My winning moment would have made compelling television!

Anyway, good to see you folks. I'll try to post a little more often!

Wardrobe Review

So.... I decided to take a new look at my clothes today. I'm trying to clean out and pare down my wardrobe. I've finally gotten all of my clothes out of the moving boxes. In the last few weeks, I've tried to separate my apparel into categories (probably similar to ones you may have):

1) clothes I currently wear
2) clothes I currently wear (but are out of season)
3) clothes I would wear if I could fit into them
4) clothes I will never wear again (whether they fit or not)
5) clothes I keep for sentimentality - but would totally wear if they came back into style (not very many in this category).

All of this to say that very few of the clothes that I own do I "currently wear." Most of the clothes I have fit into category #3 - it all boils down to fitting into them - you know what they say, "Fit Happens."

Well, to move more of my wardrobe from #3 to #1, would involve, uggh, losing weight. So, yes, it is still the beginning of the new year and its time for everyone to resolve to be healthier - blah, blah, blah. I actually was planning on losing weight - I actually convinced folks at work to start a "Biggest Loser" contest. Each week, we weigh, and I calculate everyone's percent body weight loss for the week and for the duration. We are half way finished, and I'm in last place! Come on, I'm the only man in there, aren't men supposed to lose weight more quickly/ more easily than women? I'm sure it would be easier if my diet didn't depend so heavily on Funyuns and Raspberry Zingers, or if I were more excited about my Treadmill (which I finally got set up after the move) than my new TV (that's a whole other post).

So, as impetus for living more healthily (and winning the $90 - we all put in ten bucks to join), I went through my clothes that don't fit, and I picked out 12 garments which I hope to slowly but surely fit into once again. I've photographed them and placed a few of them in the front of my closet. My plan is to post a pic of me in each of the twelve garments as I am able to wear them.

This is the first garment - a Lands End casual shirt (it's actually made from bamboo). Truthfully, it almost fits - just a little snug. However, when I can wear it without it feeling tight, I'll know that some progress has been made.



So, let's see how this goes - maybe, eventually, you'll get to see me wear those green corduroy pants with St. Bernards embroidered all over them. I'm serious.

Mardi Gras Mambo

So.... I went to Natchitoches (pronounced Nak-a-tush), Louisiana, this past weekend to visit my folks and to have some Mardi Gras Fun. Their town has a nice little Mardi Gras parade sponsored by The Krewe of Dionysus (a group of hoity-toity's and old money) on the Saturday before Fat Tuesday (0n Sunday my nephew, Tyler, asked, "what's all this Krewe of Dinosaur stuff?).

Everybody lines up along the streets and watches as the parade floats travel through town (I guess that is more of a definition of parades in general, than a description of this particular parade). Anyway, fun was had by all.



My niece Hannah and nephew Tyler were staying with my parents this weekend, so I got to hang out with Tyler at the parade (Hannah was out of town at a softball game).



My Dad backed his pickup onto the street, so we would have a base of operation (just in case we caught so many beads we couldn't carry them all). My mom and dad love parades.



This is my sister Kaitlin and her boyfriend Matt. They really weren't at the parade; I just took a picture of them in front of the laundromat. No, really, they stayed on the truck to catch all the beads that went over our heads.



This is a picture of us at the parade. My mom's coworker Kim and her daughter Abby celebrated Mardi Gras with us. Their boss is a lawyer there in town (and comes from old money) and was on one of the floats. When he saw us, he just started pelting us with beads and throws. It was a little bit dangerous - the people next to us had to pick their kids up and move them away because he was throwing so many beads our way.

Hope you all had a great Mardi Gras - thanks for all the emails and texts wishing me the same.

Warning: Cloverfield May Induce Vomiting

So.... I went to see the movie Cloverfield tonight. It totally made me want to throw up - I mean literally. Not because of the neat concept, not because of the likeable characters, not because of the sweet little love story wrapped up in a monster movie, not because the monster was hideous - No! I was nauseous because of the 84 minutes of HAND-HELD CAMERA WORK. It was supposed to be shaky because it depicted what someone might have done with their camcorder if they were in that type of situation, but, PLEASE, try a tripod every now and then. The best parts were when they set the camera down to move rubble or pick someone up - only because the frame was still. Every time they dropped the camera, I hoped that they would die so that the movie would be over. My friends and I literally had to sit in the car a few minutes to let the nausea subside before driving home.

Here is an example of the camera work that is used throughout the film:




That's just an example; at least the monster in my movie is way cuter and only half as destructive as Cloverfield's monster.

I actually did like the concept, and the way the film cut back to a previously recorded "day at Coney Island" to carry the love story was very neat, but I couldn't get past the cinematography.They did some neat things with the CG animation and effects, and the mixing of those elements into the "video recording" was excellent, but barf city. I spent probably more than 20 minutes with my eyes closed or my hands partially covering the screen.

Why didn't I leave? Well, I was with friends, and I didn't know if they were loving the film or not, and crazily enough, I kept thinking maybe they'll cut to a normal camera. Well, at the end, I booed the movie - have you ever done that?It's very empowering! My friends said that they were glad I booed because they didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying how sick the film made them.

Again, I liked the concept and the idea of the love story, but to paraphrase Nina Garcia (fashion director of Elle Magazine and judge on Project Runway), "It failed in the execution."

When you're hot, you're hot!

So.... most of you know that about once a month I pack my doctor's bag and load up on the Baptist Bus and set up a mobile clinic in a couple of surrounding, more rural communities (see blog entry 7/3/07). Actually, I hate this - it just is not my thing. Just yesterday, I negotiated my way out of the bus rotation, and by negotiate, I mean:

Aaron: "Hey, colleagues, I absolutely hate the bus - I mean, like, totally hate it."
Colleagues: "Oh, okay, Aaron, we can take you out of the rotation."
Aaron: "OKAY!" (then I said I hated call too, but they wouldn't go for that)

Well, today was my last day on the bus. After the initial "rush" in Gurdon, my nurse Lorie, bus driver Ricky (aka Cornbread), and I were sitting leisurely on the bus, talking about goats (see blog entry 12/22/07) - Cornbread bought Barbie Pearl, Lorie's daughter Haley's showgoat. One of Cornbread's other goats delivered twins last night - all very exciting conversation. Just then, Lorie saw a car drive slowly past the bus, she stood up and looked out of the window to see if they parked (which meant they would want some unnecessary medical attention). Peering out the window Lorie said, "I'm just seeing if they pulled in - something's on fire! We're on fire!" She then pointed to the back of the bus where faint wafts of smoke were drifting in the exam area. We all bolted off the bus (actually, first, I ran to the back and got my coat and bag out of the exam area - I had some magazines in there that I hadn't read yet).



Cornbread called the firetruck; Lorie ran to the Baptist ambulance station, right around the corner, to get their help; I took pictures with my cell phone. The generator or heater or something underneath the back of the bus had overheated or sparked. Flames were visible through the grill of the back compartment (where smoke is escaping in the above picture). Darrin, one of the ambulance drivers (he occasionally drives the bus for us) ran from the station and sprayed the fire extinguisher, dousing the flames. As the situation calmed, I called the office and said I would not be traveling on the Blazing Inferno of a Death Trap that is the Baptist Bus to the next community that afternoon.

After the blaze was mitigated, Lorie and I bravely entered the ruined carcass of the vehicle to retrieve the meds and equipment (all the while taking cell phone pix of each other).





This is a picture taken on the ground looking through the back of the vehicle into the exam area. Darrin is holding the hatch open. Cornbread is telling his wife what kind of baby goat food to purchase. Some fire damage really is (sort of) visible on the left side of the photo in the foreground where a plastic casing melted.



I tried to do what I could to help assess the situation, but I was unable to accurately diagnose the origin of the fire.




I'm glad my partners said I could come out of the bus rotation; otherwise, I 'm sure they would have thought that I set the bus on fire to get out of going. Oh, I treated all of us to Route 44's from Sonic (right across the street) - they gave me a discount because my bus caught on fire.

Happy Twelfth Day of Christmas!

So.... today is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, or Epiphany. Well, move over Epiphany, 'cause the Mardi Gras Season starts tomorrow. Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) will be observed on February 5th, 2008. Have you started your shopping and party planning? Me neither. In the areas of the country and the world that "really" celebrate Mardi Gras, parties, parades, and eating of King Cake commence right about now. So, go ahead, you've got about a month to get your "Pardi" on.



Hope you're having a wonderful new year so far! How many resolutions have you already broken? I've not broken a one (easy to do if one refrains from resolving).