A red striped rug (Saranac) was suggested...

Maybe it's the season influencing me, but red and green just feel like Christmas to me. How about navy?

Frog Indoor/Outdoor

You can also easily see the time from a distance. No shit.

38 inch Metal Wall Clock

This classically designed 38' Metal Wall Clock will complement any room in your home. The large decorative wall clock features a white face and black roman numerals and has a metal frame that is durable and long lasting. It is perfect for hanging over your fireplace or in your entryway hallway. You can also easily see the time from a distance. Requires 1 C battery, not included. No assembly required.

How about a new rug for the kitchen?

I just can't seem to get enough of my kitchen. I'm not sure what will make it feel complete to me.

Dash & Albert Rug Company

Lexi was the cutest kitten! Check out those huge ears!

"Yang Yang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn't expect he would attack."

Panda in China zoo bites student who wanted a hug

By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer

Saturday, November 22, 2008

(11-22) 07:18 PST BEIJING, China (AP) --

A college student in southern China was bitten by a panda after he broke into the bear's enclosure hoping to get a hug, state media and a park employee said Saturday.

The student was visiting Qixing Park with classmates on Friday when he jumped the 6.5-foot (2-meter) -high fence around the panda's habitat, said the park employee, who refused to give his name.

The park in Guilin, a popular tourist town in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, houses a small zoo and a panda exhibit. It was virtually deserted when the student scaled the fence surrounding the panda, named Yang Yang, the employee said.

He said the student was bitten in the arms and legs. Two foreign visitors who saw the attack ran to get help from workers at a nearby refreshment stand, who notified park officials, the employee said.

The student was pale as he was taken away by medics but appeared clear-headed, he said.

'Yang Yang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him. I didn't expect he would attack,' the 20-year-old student, surnamed Liu, said in a local hospital, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Liu underwent surgery Friday evening and was out of danger, but will remain in the hospital for several days, Xinhua said.

Yang Yang, who was flown to Guilin last year from Sichuan province, was behaving normally on Saturday and did not seem to suffer any negative psychological effects, the park employee said.

He said it was not clear whether the facility would add more signs around the enclosure or put more fences up.

"We cannot make it like a prison. We already have signs up warning people not to climb in," he said. "There are no fences along roads but people know not to cross if there are cars. This is basic knowledge."

Pandas, which generally have a public image as cute, gentle creatures, are nonetheless wild animals that can be violent when provoked or startled.

Last year, a panda at the Beijing Zoo attacked a teenager, ripping chunks out of his legs, when he jumped a barrier while the bear was being fed.

The same panda was in the news in 2006 when he bit a drunk tourist who broke into his enclosure and tried to hug him while he was asleep.The tourist retaliated by biting the bear in the back.

Christmas present idea for my blogging family

Your Blog Tee

I'm not sure what to say

John Paul Plauché established Plodes Studio in 2003 as a coalescence of art, product and ar- chitectural design. His Houston-based “design everything” studio is recognized among the next generation of innovative thinkers and shows par- ticular promise in design and entrepreneurship. John’s work communicates a clear, conceptual intent infused with process and meaning, while incorporating everyday observations, behaviors and personal experiences. reDO is a limited edition redefinition of a soon to be extinct icon. The infamous aluminum tube web chairs that society has taken for granted for so long are restored to accentuate their covertly true modern form. A stitched leather silhouette of the once web, new hardwood armrests, and mirror polished frame not only redefines the chair’s physical presence, but also its identity. No longer bound by the outdoors and stereotypes, reDO is elevated to kin chairs with roots in Bauhaus modernism. 24”W x 24”D x 32”H weight: 15 lbs restored tube chair, stitched leather, hardwood arms.

$2,500.00

reDO by plode studio

I really like this clock and had almost talked myself into spending $179 when I realized it's it's 27 inches in diameter. Wow!

THE FURNITURE :: Antique Black-finish 'Longford' Clock with Decorative Carved Accents from the Wall Collection by Bulova. FREE SHIPPING

Obsessing about the kitchen again...

I've been looking for the perfect clock for our kitchen for months. I gave up and ordered a clock off the Internet a couple of weeks ago. It was cute but large. Roman numerals which was good but large. Today I received an email letting me know that the manufacturer is no longer producing the cute but large clock and my order has been canceled. Oh no! After all the searching and then settling for something and now I can't even have that.

I don't know what to do. It's not that big of a deal but I've given it so much importance. We went to an antique store in Potrero Hill to look at vintage clocks but they were really expensive and needed to be plugged in. We tried the Alameda Flea Market and found other cool stuff but no clock. When the search began, I tried to find something right for the time period of our building (1908) but just found lots of mantle clocks and funky things with pendulums. Then I tried thinking about a time when the kitchen had been remodeled in the past. Perhaps when the first "modern" set-up was installed in the kitchen but that didn't really work either. Our stove is a 1951 O'Keefe and Merritt so that adds the possibility of something mid-century but that's so trendy and a look I'm actually trying to avoid. A sunburst clock just isn't going to cut it. Back to the drawing board. Here's a contender:

Atomic Clock & Thermometer - Smith & Hawken

Is this a cool holiday gift for my boss?

I can't tell if it's cool or not. What to give someone with tons of money who buys all the toys they desire...

Living Ecosphere
Free Rush Upgrade*

An entire self-sustaining ecosystem thrives within this attractive hand-blown glass sphere: Plants, live shrimp, algae, and microorganisms. It requires only indirect light and moderate temperatures, and offers hours of fascinating viewing. Each EcoSphere comes with a handbook that explains how it works and how to care for it. NOTE: The ecosphere contains living organisms that require light to live. Please remove from box upon receipt.

3"D x 5.5"H

* Choose standard shipping at checkout and this item will be upgraded to next day delivery at no extra charge. RESTRICTIONS: Cannot be shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Price $89

Decorating for the way we really live

Decorating for the way we really live seems to be a comment expressed by many interior decorators but do they know what that really means? I see lots of Sunbrella fabric used on the couches in the pool house and that just doesn't mean anything in my world. In my case, our new stainless steel chef's table (craigslist find for $80) is perfect for making dinner (PB&J, tortilla chips and a glass of OJ) to eat alone on our new Tolix stool at 9 pm while the husband watches TV in the front room. This is the way WE really live.

Featured kitty: Munchy

Hold your ground, Munchy!

Don't move, Munchy. Hold your ground on that pattern piece! I've got Damon trapped and I'm not going to move until bedtime.

Another awful cold!

Does anyone else get more colds and flu now that they take Rebif? I just had a cold a few months ago and it lasted forever. My current cold is going on 6 days and it just seems to get worse each day, not better. I saw a P.A. in my G.P.'s office this morning and he thinks maybe the Rebif is suppressing my immune system and that's why I keep getting sick and staying sick longer than usual. I'm not sure if that's right or how it works. The first year after I was diagnosed and I took Rebif, I never got sick. It's been the last year and a half or so that I've been sick at least 3 times and have flu like symptoms again from Rebif on Monday nights. I'm starting the list of questions for my next appointment with my neurologist. It's in January but I'm sure his voicemail will be full until then anyway so I'll sit tight.