xamonster's hot house of yarn

Neglect.

2009-04-20T12:07:00.007-05:00

Wow. Have I truly not posted at all this month? Well, let's get back on track.

Firstly, I want to share SuperBaby's first handknit sweater, the Offset Wraplan, designed by Fyberduck. It turned out so well, I almost wanted to keep it just so I could admire it. The sweater is a bit on the big side for SuperBaby right now, as you can see.

A touch big for him ...

It was knit in red Rowan Felted Tweed (wool and alpaca), and has little blue fish buttons that I found at Jo-Ann's. I hope he has some time to wear it before it gets to be too small for him, not to mention unbearably hot for Iowa. (We have strange weather here. I swear I heard the weather man say the temperature will climb to 80 by the end of the week!)

Let's see ... what else is new? I've really been enjoying Dollhouse and Castle, and I read the other day that Project Runway will be back on the air this summer; season 6 will finally be aired (on Lifetime, which I'm still not sure about), and they're putting out casting calls for season 7. So glad to hear the show didn't get flushed entirely. I was really beginning to be concerned about my Tim Gunn deficiency.

Also, I discussed starting up a community musical theatre group with a few former classmates. That would be kind of fun, I think.

As for what else I've been up to, let's let some crappy camera phone pics do the talking.

Watching your parents playing tic-tac-toe with straws and fake sugar at Perkins on a Friday night is always a great way to beat boredom while waiting for your nosh. (Note: this is before I got pulled over for speeding. With the parents in the car. At midnight. Talk about awkward. Good thing I only got a warning, or as my mom said, "That was almost a really expensive dinner." But we got pie, and ate it last night and it was delicious.)

I discovered this gem, a store version of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, when I was making grilled cheese for lunch yesterday. It was sitting innocuously in my parents' fridge, and cracked me up. When I commented on it later, my mom got very defensive and there was a five-minute discussion on how often my parents got real butter during their childhoods. I think I might draw a question mark on the packaging, because the phrase is really screaming for one.

And finally, the forsythia is starting to bloom. Spring is really here. (Of course I could have told you spring was really here yesterday; I was woken up by a chorus of every chirping bird in town telling me that the sun was going to come up soon. Ah, the woes of being able to sleep with the windows open at last.)

Superbaby!

2009-03-30T17:02:00.005-05:00

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post, and though I have thought about blogging rather a lot, that probably counts for bupkis.

The most exciting thing over the past two weeks happened last Thursday: I became an aunt.

I got to hold Superbaby!

As you can see by the way my arms envelop the little guy, he's quite tiny (as babies tend to be). As I've heard tell many times already — my mom's very talkative — he came out flying. Bounced off the doctor a little even, hence his nickname, Superbaby. I suspect his tale will be told many a time at that hospital.

Ii don't recall if I said a whole lot about my brother Brox becoming a father. He turned 20 earlier this month; a few times I saw the deer-in-headlights look on his face and I could almost hear him thinking Holy shit, what have I gotten myself into? But I think he will be a good dad.

Being a proper knitting auntie, I have already queued up a number of knits for Superbaby, not limited to something World of Warcraft-related and a peepee teepee (no, really!). Chiefly on the list, though, is a sweater with a detachable cape, fitting his aerial entrance into the world.

To justify the WoW dorkiness, I'll tell you that, in addition to some thicker clothes, Superbaby's leaving-the-hospital outfit included an I (heart) Star Wars beanie and a onesie that read I'm the first in a clone army! (And I'm very impressed with the Etsy seller WeROnesieful who managed to fit that all on a onesie.)

So. Eventful.

Also, on the way back from lunch, I saw this, er, interesting yard art:

Wow.

That's a soldier with a rifle kneeling at a noticeably-smaller-than-the-gun cross. Scary.

That's all she wrote, folks. I've got stuff to do.

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

2009-03-17T11:36:00.002-05:00

I saw the pattern for Lacy Clover last week in the HP House Cup group; someone had made it for Charms class. Well, I snagged some DK cotton and a hook last night, and set to making the pattern. I found it was a lot easier to follow the schematic than the written instructions (once I deciphered all the symbols, that is). I finished it off this morning. Have a gander at my terrible cell phone photo below:

Just in time ...

It's a bit brighter than that, but my photo editing program didn't want to go there. I'm pretty happy with the project; it was fairly simple, yet challenging in some spots. (I re-crocheted the last two rows of the leaves two or three times to get it to look right, and in the end deviated slightly from the pattern.)

I would have stuck it in my hair, but my hair would have none of it today. (Not to mention it's a bit heavy, as it's DK cotton and about the size of my palm.)

Don't drink too much green beer.

Look! Her face could launch a thousand ships ...

2009-03-12T15:10:00.003-05:00

Last night's choir rehearsal was an exercise in Making It Up As I Go Along. The rehearsal began with me coming into the sanctuary with a ton of photocopies (so the choir could at least try to learn the praise band's music for this upcoming service), and ended with a little "choral-ography". I'm not even joking. They decided it would be fun to start the anthem at the back of the sanctuary and process up to the front during the first refrain. It worked surprisingly well, and I was really pleased that rehearsal hadn't been a big explosion of Lame. (That was a valid concern, I feel.)

So, yay.

Some other things on my mind: Joss Whedon's new show on Fox, Dollhouse. I'm really getting into the show. Tomorrow's episode will be the fifth of the season. It seemed a little slow going at first, and I kept thinking there was no way Fox would keep it on the air. (Incidentally, last week's episode was the first I was able to watch in its entirety on tv. The others I've had to catch on Hulu. I'm really glad they're going online, just in cases.) Anyway, the fourth episode has been my favorite so far, though I'd like to go back through and watch them all again, because I keep feeling like I'm missing tons of the clue-like stuff Joss always throws in.

I'm also on iTunes right now, chasing Holst. Specifically, The Planets. By far one of my favorite orchestral works. I started poking around yesterday, and my dad said I should look up Tomita's version, which is his favorite. But I'm also fond of the Berliner Philharmoniker, which is who I went for when I purchased Bizet's L'Arlésienne. To illustrate the difference between the two, I present them via the Tube.

Isao Tomita: Jupiter

Pretty trippy, right? Now let's have another version.

Berliner Philharmoniker: Jupiter

Now you understand why I couldn't resist adding both to my iTunes cart. The only copy of The Planets my family owns is a cassette, and I don't have a cassette player any longer, except in the minivan.

Oh, and I added a little PDQ Bach to my cart as well: Please, Kind Sir and Variation V: Foghorn, Bell, Kazoo, Gargle (for which I couldn't find a video on the Tubes).

Anyhow, that's all I've got for now. I'm working on one shawl now, and a mystery stole pattern. Chart three will be released some time tomorrow; I'm about halfway through chart one. There's a small amount of catching up to be done. Off to the needles!

Spring Knitty: made of win.

2009-03-11T14:14:00.003-05:00

I haven't written, dear friends, and I apologize. To make up for it, let me tell you what I want to knit from the Spring '09 Knitty, which went live this morning.

Shipwreck Shawl: a pi (circular) shawl, with a seaweed-y central motif and a fishnet outer edge. I am in love. (And if you scroll all the way to the bottom and look at the last shawl picture, you can see the sparkling green beads in the netting. LOVE.)
Aeolian Shawl: another beautiful shawl. This one calls for beads, which is fun. There are also 7- and 9-stitch nupps, which scare the hell out of me. (Nupps are notorious for being difficult. I've successfully done 5-stitch nupps, but these really big ones are intimidating.)
Hanne: an interesting vest-like scarf (or is that a scarf-like vest?) that would be a nice addition to a steampunk wardrobe, I think. It would probably look pretty smashing with my new goggles, which I got on Saturday.
Ripple: a faux entrelac scarf with a really ripply edging. Not queued yet, thought I might knit it sometime. It's really pretty to look at.
Absinthe: beautiful cabled socks done by my classics buddy, fyberduck. She has really outdone herself, and she's a fantastic designer. (Seriously, I let out a squeak when I saw the chart for the foot, let alone the whole sock.)
Flit 'n Float scarf: the description of this one made me want to knit it for my mom, because she likes butterflies. She also likes lavender, which is the color of the modeled scarf.
Flock: A mobile, made with knitted branches and birds. I love it. It will be perfect for my impending nephew.

I expect that, if you're a knitter on Ravelry, that you've already padded your queue considerably. If you're not on Ravelry yet, ask me for an invite, or get yourself there and get on the waiting list!

By the way, I also got my Princess Bride swap package last Friday. Grace from Ontario sent me a beautiful package full of awesome presents.

Foam crowns, yarn sleeves, knitted Inigo doll(!), chocolate wafers, a "farm boy, fetch me that pitcher", a lovely yellow scarf, and gorgeous, squishy yarn.

All of that was packed in a bubble mailer, which is pretty amazing. I sent a box to my secret pal (who is also in Canada). Maybe I should have gone the really-big-bubble-envelope route, too, now that I know you can pack way more than you think in one of those bad boys!

Take to the sky

2009-02-25T11:57:00.000-06:00

... or at least have a good look at it.

I just saw a beautiful image on today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. I recommend that you click through to catch the photo in its ~~not stolen~~ full glory, as well as catch a few tidbits offered by the crew at APOD.

The photo is of Comet Lullin, which is quite visible tonight, with a pair of binoculars or a telescope. A little more information can be found here (via @scifri).

I'm quite fond of stargazing. I used to want to be an astronomer, until I learned how much math was involved. (I can do math, but I don't particularly love it. Words and languages are, for the most part, friendlier.)

When I was little, my dad used to take the family out to some dark location, hauling his binoculars, a tripod and a camera with a long-exposure attachment, in case he decided to take a photo. (Once I got in trouble for opening the car door, activating the dome light, while he was taking a photo; I'm pretty sure I not only ruined the exposure but got a little yelled at as well.) We've gone comet watching on a few occasions, and I think this would be a nice opportunity to do so again.

What a girl needs

2009-02-24T17:02:00.003-06:00

So I've been reading Penny Karma's blog for quite a while now. And I've been seeing this meme going around. Penny caught it, and wrote a post: WWPKD?. PK decided to see whether her online persona is different from real-life Penny. I decided to have a look and see how mine compare. (What I enjoy about this meme is that the substance, if you can call it that, is taken completely out of context.)

The litmus test? Google (of course) your first name followed by the word NEEDS, and blog the top ten results you get. So what's the difference between Christa and Xa?

Xa needs replacement red shutter release button.
Xa needs repair!
Xa needs to look like...
Xa needs to be separate.
Xa needs some work on the light seals.
Xa needs no cleaning or painting. (Damn right I don't. Cleaning is for the birds.)
Xa needs to know about custom capabilities.
Xa needs laborers!
Xa needs prayer.
Xa needs the fulfillment of some operations.

Christa needs us.
Christa needs HELP!
Christa needs to be put to death NOW! (Wait. Let's not be hasty.)
Christa needs to realize that despite the disappointing action, she is still deserving of friendship.
Christa needs to be judged on PTO if she is evil or not.
Christa needs a permanent family that will help her maintain her relationships with her birth and foster family.
Christa needs a loving, dedicated, attentive and supportive family who will ensure that her needs are met and help maximize her full potential.
Christa needs a brand description.
Christa needs some rest!
Christa needs someone genuine.

So, what do you need?

I want to be a mad scientist.

2009-02-23T11:12:00.003-06:00

I attended a ten-year-old's birthday party on Saturday. A mad science birthday party. I can't even begin to say how cool it is to have a science party. The mom even had a "mad scientist" come for an hour. (Also, I just checked out their website, and they're hiring. How much fun would that be?) You better believe I wore my Dr. Horrible t-shirt to the party.

My mom and I doing the wave, green "slime",
and an incredibly cute hedgehog.

(That scarf the hedgehog's wearing is my handiwork: just a quick double crochet with fringe.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: work has been driving me crazy. (So much so that I've been moving a number of my more important files to flash drive, which I should have done before.) Maybe I will apply for a mad scientist job.

I'm home!

2009-02-16T10:57:00.003-06:00

I had a really fun weekend in Iowa City. I tried to tweet occasionally via my mobile. Some of them didn't make it through, unfortunately. I'm going to pull the texts from my phone (though if you want the Twitter, it's here).

Road trip! Iowa City, here I come. 1:23 PM Feb 13
Just saw a license plate that read EAT KFC. 2:18 PM Feb 13
Cocktails at I.C. Ugly's. 6:29 PM Feb 13
Playing Bingo at a gay bar before a drag show. 9:28 PM Feb 13
I might turn into a pumpkin in a minute. I rarely stay out so late. 1:04 AM Feb 14
Willis & doodleberries. Bwa ha ha. 10:27 AM Feb 14
The best thing about gelato is the tiny shovel. Well, and the taste. 3:01 PM Feb 14
Sushi fills you up so much. Five pieces and I'm spent. 11:23 PM Feb 14
WTF. Techno line dance? 12:48 AM Feb 15
A song about IKEA is almost as good as going there. 12:53 PM Feb 15

So yes. We had lots and lots of fun. Hopefully those photos will end up on Facebook so's I can steal them away and show you.

Sut mae. Sut dych chi?

2009-02-12T16:03:00.003-06:00

Afternoon, friends. (Or better: prynhawn da.)

I decided to start learning a new language by means of podcast, so I clicked through the language directory on iTunes. I ended up choosing Welsh, via the Learn Welsh Podcast. I've listened to the first episode a couple times now, and the vocab is slowly starting to stick in my head.

What I really like about this podcast is that Jason, the host, puts out a PDF with each episode so that you can have a visual idea of what you're saying (or trying to say). Having come across Welsh only very occasionally (reading and re-reading The Grey King by Susan Cooper, which takes place in Wales), I find the pronunciation to be a bit ... strange. (Of course, I'm used to Spanish, German, ancient Greek and Latin.) I think my main problem thus far is putting the sound together with the spelling. So I'll keep with the practicing.

I'm going to eastern Iowa tomorrow to spend time with some friends I haven't seen for quite a while. Hopefully it won't start snowing (at least not too much) before I leave. That would be sad.

Peace out, yo.

Bread pudding and meditation

2009-02-04T10:45:00.000-06:00

Bread pudding makes a delicious breakfast, by the bye, if a little sweet. It's like shredded French toast, really, with raisins on top. And sugar.

As you can see, I did a little baking on Sunday, to celebrate the arrival of February and that spring is just a little closer. It was so nice that I was able to turn off the heat and prop the front door open for a little fresh air. Of course, then we were back to ice cube air by Sunday night, but spring is tip-toeing closer. And I did a little pre-spring cleaning, besides. Four bags of shredded paper? I think so. And Saturday I pulled out the washer and dryer to dig out everything from behind. I found old mail (not mine) from 2006 back there, as well as enough dust bunnies to join forces and make a dust jackalope.

I've also been doing a bit of knitting, as usual. Here's something to help with meditation a bit: the Baltic Finger Labyrinth.

Except I got a little carried away last night and will have to frog back a couple rows. Something is a little whacky with the center. I'm not exactly exactly following the chart to the letter, so that might be why my center is strange. I tried dropping the offending stitches this morning to attempt to fix it without frogging, but I think I just made it worse. So when I'm finished with choir rehearsal tonight, I'll curl up in my chair, queue up a few podcasts, and work it out.

I'm still quite pleased with how it looks otherwise. I'll have to add some edging to it to keep it from rolling — probably single crochet — as I chose to knit the project in stockinette. The original was knit in garter stitch, which probably would have been a smarter choice, but I decided to go with smooth.

That's all she wrote for today. I can't really think of a whole lot.

Let's go treasure hunting!

2009-01-28T14:36:00.004-06:00

I accomplished the homework for another House Cup class since I last posted, and I'm a big fan of how it turned out (and I didn't bleed due to trying to put it on my cat).

Because this project was so open-ended, it took me a really long time to come up with something. In the end, I decided to make something for my steampunk alias, which I'm still in the process of developing. Her name is Ginevra Lucette Valentine (and kudos to you if you can figure out the two references in there), and she's an adventurer and explorer.

The task was to come up with a project corresponding to the Character, Heart and Social numbers unique to your name. (Numbers discerned with the help of this link.) What's interesting is that my online alias xamonster and my steampunk alias have the very same numbers: 3 Character, 3 Heart, 9 Social. (A link to the further explanation of personality numbers can be found on the link above.)

Here's my description from the project page:

I chose scarlet (S9) and tangerine (C3) for my main colors. I chose to do a travel case (h3) for a map (C3): no true steampunk treasure hunter goes exploring without a map! I opted to crochet my case in order to have a stronger fabric.

The disc for the base began with 6 stitches (3+3) around, increased to 24. I continued in dc for 9 inches before finishing in sc with 3 tangerine stripes. The disc for the cap began with 9 stitches around, increased to 27 (9x3), dc for a few rounds, then adding sc with 3 tangerine stripes. The strap was dc on a base 3 stitches wide.

To reinforce the case, there is a cardboard tube, which will (at some point in the hopefully not-so-distant future) painted a metallic color with a Mod Podge top coat to protect it.

Check out my sexy coffee table. It's a trunk that used to belong to my great-grandmother.

That is all.

Tweeting around in my head

2009-01-22T14:14:00.002-06:00

Twitter. I do not use it. However, I have recently started subscribing to certain RSS feeds of certain Twitter users, just so's I can follow their tweets.

It started innocently enough, with Felicia Day and Dr Horrible. Then I saw that Unclutterer has one, which I call TwUnclutterer. And then Ravelry and Amy over at Knitty got Twitter. And then Felicia made a list of authors who use Twitter. I learned that Neil Gaiman has Twitter, as do Stephen Fry, John Cleese, John Lithgow, and Wil Wheaton.

As I was skimming tweets Monday morning, I noticed that Wil Wheaton had sent a tweet to Brent Spiner, and then somehow I got to Levar Burton. I have a Trek trifecta! How fantastic is that? (I'm such a dork.)

But I'm still going to stick with the Plurk.

Edited to respond to binerman's comment: I have a clan of knitters on the Plurk. And FYI: xamonster.

Foremost in my mind today, however, are two phrases: "President Barack Obama" and "former President George W. Bush". Tuesday was a good day for the country.

I will taunt you a second time

2009-01-19T10:35:00.003-06:00

How, you may ask, did you manage to get a cat to hold still long enough to place a hat on his head?

In short, I didn't. This photo is some kind of miracle. Most of the brief photo shoot this morning actually went like this:

This is the aptly-named Demetrios is an angry French cat hat, but is known on Ravelry as International Cat Hat: France, Le Mieux. There is a small number of hats for other countries: Germany, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom — even the US (a stunning rendition of the Statue of Liberty's crown and scepter).

That's all I can muster today. Happy MLK Day!

In which my toes are a little cold.

2009-01-15T15:17:00.003-06:00

As I may have mentioned previously, I feel that Neil Gaiman has a way with words. Let me once more demonstrate:

Oww. Windchill. Cold like knives cold.
Twitter from neilhimself

Concise, yet accurate as always.

I also learned last night that I am, in point of fact, a bad person for wanting to de-claw my cat primarily because he keeps making holes in the window plastic. I would make him duck tape mittens, but he would just gnaw his paws off. Ah well. Patchwork Window Project continues. More photos ought to follow.

Also, I have finished my January Charms project, Urchin. Expecto patronum!

Nice, eh? Now back to your regularly scheduled cold air, which is probably causing hell to freeze over again.

Secret boyfriend?

2009-01-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

I have broken a taboo.

I watched Saturday Night Live.

I had an excellent excuse: Neil Patrick Harris. Have I ever told you that I love him? Probably not. His appearance as Dr. Horrible last July made me turn in to a bit of a NPH fan girl. (I bought the Assassins soundtrack on iTunes primarily because he sings on it.) Seriously, he's up there with Johnny Depp. (This is kind of a scary thing, friends.) I'm going to have to find a cardboard cutout of Neil as well.

The reason SNL is such a taboo for me is that in recent years it has come to be the most un-funny-yet-trying-to-be-funny thing on the planet. I think they try too hard. I mean really, is there still a writer's strike or something? Their sketches are awful.

But Neil, oh Neil. He made SNL worth ~~breaking taboo~~ watching. Admittedly, the funniest bit of the show was the "Digital Short". (Was there really anything digital about it? Do they film it ahead of time and just call it "digital"? That's kind of a cop-out if you ask me. Which you didn't.) Doogie Howser theme for the win. And did you see that Neil was playing? I love that he can play the piano. (Let's have a moment of silence for some fan girl squee, shall we?)

Ok, back to business. Something that really irritated me about SNL (aside from the un-funny sketches and scenes that drag on too long [like that dreadful Penelope tripe — what was that?]) was Taylor Swift. I've heard her music on the radio, but when it comes to watching her perform, I'm confused. Why is she holding a guitar? She strums two chords and is done with it. Guitars are not accessories, music industry! Bah.

That's all she wrote, for now. I went through the yarn stash last weekend, and there are photos. Scared yet?

Ra Ra Ravenclaw!

2009-01-08T18:09:00.000-06:00

This post is going to be primarily about knitting and Harry Potter, so if you're not interested in any of that, you probably ought to skip this post.

I finished my Luna scarf, which was my first project for the new term of Harry Potter Knitting / Crochet House Cup. I'm knitting (and crocheting, as you can see below) for Ravenclaw again, which is nice. I was prepared to knit for another house again, but the numbers ended up being fairly balanced and I think everyone got their first choice.

Luna Lovegood scarf. Slightly twisty, slightly itchy, but sweet

The scarf was crocheted from stash wool, which is amazing in and of itself. I ran out of the first color (the lightest) and went stash diving to dig out some more coordinated colors. The Luna scarf was an assignment from this month's Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The task was this:

This month you will be learning the Imperius Curse: Go to our Group Members Page. Close your eyes. Click on a fellow Housecupper. Make something from their projects page. (Because it’s like the other Housecupper controlling you - but there’s a certain amount of agency, because you can choose what project you do…and also because if you hate everything, you could choose another person - we totally wouldn’t know.)

So I thought the assignment was pretty cool. I clicked on a person called MOEgir198, who had already made a Luna scarf, and there you have it.

Here's a quick rundown of the rest of the classes for this month. (And the list of classes available to take has been expanded, which was nice.)

Herbology: cleaning the greenhouse. Clean your Ravelry queue, update stash and needles lists, organize yarn stash (with before and after photos) and make a 12-month plan of at least one project per month to work on.
Care of Magical Creatures: knit or crochet something that will keep the magical creature in your home warm. These items can also be donated if you don't happen to have any pets.
History of Magic: knowledge. The first assignment is a 25-question quiz; the answers are to be found in the seven books of the series, as well as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Charms: the Patronus Charm. Create either a cure for seasonal depression (i.e. something to make YOU happy) or depicts the patronus as a messenger (a messenger bag or book cover).
Arithmancy: the magic in math. Using the site Intro to Arithmancy, obtain your three numbers of interest: Character, Heart and Social. Then craft a project that features these three numbers.

I have a few ideas so far, and I have already started on my project for Charms class. I'm knitting a beret called Urchin which is from the Fall '07 issue of Knitty. The wool I'm using is the giant cake of black wool from Heartland Fiber Co (that new LYS in town that I finally visited*).

A new thing for the winter term is OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels). The assignment is to choose a class to attempt an OWL for, present your written portion, and then commence the project, which is due at the end of the term (end of March). I'm thinking of doing a project for Herbology ("students should be able to easily manipulate oversized organic creations"). My project plan is a cabled blanket, Serenity. I was also thinking about Charms, for which I'd knit a shawl. I'm still up in the air about that.

That's really all I have to say. Kudos to you if you've made it through this whole post!

*This link, coincidentally, is the same one I shared two posts ago when I mentioned the cortisone shot for my shoulder. Weird.

In which I share someone else's content

2009-01-06T10:07:00.003-06:00

You might know that I enjoy reading books that Neil Gaiman has written. I also enjoy reading blog posts he's written. I would like to share bits of a couple recent posts with you.

Firstly, something about the new year, which I enjoy most particularly for the photo (which is completely and thoroughly hijacked from Mr Gaiman's blog post At the turning of the year).

...to mark the passing of Edd Cartier (and the nearly-done-ness of 2008). Of all the pulp magazine artists of the 30s-50s, including such masters as Virgil Finlay and Kelly Freas, Cartier was my favourite, particularly his work in Unknown Worlds. Marvellous stuff. If I had known he was still alive, I suspect I would have written him a fan letter. Instead, I discovered the other day, from Locus, that he (and James Cawthorn, who was, with Mal Dean, the definitive Moorcock illustrator) had just died, and now I know that Mr Cartier was alive, it's too late.

The other post I want to share (Another year) has a couple different fun bits. The first celebrates the knighting of author Terry Pratchett, and the doffing of caps.

Let's see. The biggest and the best news of the day is that Terry Pratchett is now Sir Terrence of Pratchett. Hurrah.

I shall doff my cap the next time I see him. It will be the best-doffed cap in the land.

I shall buy a cap first, specially.

The second bit of the post shares his wishes for the coming year.

...I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

Neil truly makes me smile. Now back to your regularly-scheduled Tuesday.

In which there are haircuts and to-do lists

2009-01-05T16:44:00.002-06:00

Happy 2009! I know a lot of people who had a rather rough time of it over the past 12 months, and I hope that this year goes a lot better for them.

That being said, I have not made any concrete resolutions. I have started using a to-do service (Toodledo) and it helps me to keep track of things that need to be done. Right now I have categories for knitting, cleaning, work and Ravelry. It's pretty cool.

I don't have a whole lot to say today, I suppose, other than the usual hooray for the new year bit. I got my hairs cut recently, and got a fairly cute PhotoBooth shot of it last week.

I'm feeling a little weird today. I have a bit of a headache and feel kind of dizzy. I'm also a bit flushed. (This is a good reason for not showing you a PhotoBooth of today's look, although my hair somehow gave itself sausage bangs.) And I got a bill for the $88 my insurance decided not to cover from the cortisone shot I got last month, which was nice. I suppose I should be happy that they covered some of it, eh?

I need to go now. I started writing this post four hours before actually publishing it.

On French taunting and gifts

2008-12-29T11:27:00.002-06:00

I had a really nice holiday. I got some cool gifts (including Wii Music!) and got to see Spamalot at the Civic Center in Des Moines.

The show first: it was a riot. My mom got the tickets for the family as a Christmas gift. There was a 2-for-1 price for the show on Christmas day, so eight people ended up going (the parents, both of my brothers and their girlfriends, my "third brother" [who is really just one of those random hangers-on, but we love him anyway], and I).

It was a nice way to spend the evening. The cast was extra funny, and there was a lot of ad lib going on. A couple different performers stuck Christmas songs in the middle of their pieces, and the insulting French guard said, "I will taunt you a second time. I throw shoes at your president." We all cracked up at that one. If you get a chance to see Spamalot, I highly recommend it.

Gifts: My mom's a rock star. She got me some nice things for the house that make life just that much nicer. One thing she found is a tension rod shower organizer. The best part is that the baskets and hook are adjustable and can be whatever height you need. The chief reason she got the thing was for the hook. When my bathroom was re-done, the landlord installed a curtain rod that has a 90° turn in it, which is great except for one thing: it sags from the weight of the curtains. The hook on my new organizer eliminates the problem and works a treat. Yay!

Another cool home thing I got was a curtain rod that has a hinged elbow piece, allowing it to hold a curtain at an angle. I have a very heavy lined curtain separating my upstairs bedroom from the rest of the house, which helps keep heating costs down. (For some reason there are no heating vents upstairs, but only a return.) To stay warm at night, I have an electric sheet. I had always had issues with getting the curtain to stay; it was always just too short to fit the gap. Now the curtain turns the corner and fits pretty much perfectly. (In truth I am amazed at just how nice a job the thing is doing. Just 20 minutes after having hung the curtain on the new rod, there was a noticeable difference in temperature between upstairs and down.)

I also received an iTunes gift card, a Target gift card, and a book, as well as a random assortment of chocolates. I used the Target gift card already and bough some new in-ear headphones for my iPod and a copy of Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii. (I have been wanting a new AC for ages, and now I finally have it! I'm so excited. My new town is called Growly; my character is Xa and my brother's, Rawr. We are silly people.)

That is all I have for now. If I don't post again before Thursday, then I'll see you next year! Here comes 2009 ...

On finished knitting and broken scrapers

2008-12-22T12:08:00.003-06:00

I have managed to finish a couple projects since last I posted. Firstly the Whovian Fish Hat, which will hopefully be a good compliment to my dad's Dr. Who scarf. (You know, the really long-ass scarf that he never wears.)

Won't this be sexxy on someone's head?

I also finished a gift for (my brother) Brox's girlfriend. She told me that she's often cold, so I designed a pair of armwarmers for her. They're made of worsted wool, and have cables. I intend to post the pattern to Ravelry. They're called (at the moment) Not Fancy Cabled Armwarmers.

I am testing them at work today for ... quality assurance.

I think there are a couple adjustments I might make (like not as many thumb increases, or using twisted rib instead of regular ribbing), but all in all I'm very happy with them. Hooray!

In other news that's not related to yarn (except for all the knitted things I was wearing at the time), I managed to break the ice scraper while chipping really thick ice away from the van. Oops! That's the second scraper my family has broken in a week — my mom broke her new one chipping through ice last Friday. That's crazy.

Needless to say, I had to walk to work this morning. And I had to deal with Frosty Scarf Syndrome (which is when your exhalations leave a cold, evil residue on your scarf and then it presses against your already frozen face).

I'm done with winter.

Two photos of frosty windows, and lots of words besides

2008-12-18T11:28:00.003-06:00

I'm pretty sure Google has gone crazy, because my computer is displaying it in Spanish. It seems my IP address changed (although I don't know how, as I have had a static IP for a long time).

Anyway, what I really want to show you is proof that I will indeed have patchwork tape windows.

Cat Attacks Window, Leaves No Sign Of Struggle

WTF? My windows are not made of catnip, last I checked. Ah well.

Awesome swap package!

I joined an ornament swap for the Knit / Crochet House Cup on Ravelry. My package arrived yesterday from the UK, sent by the fantastic cmelvin, who is pretty much a rock star. As you can see, she sent some really cool stuff: an angel, a drop spindle ornament, a book plate, and a postcard, as well as a letter from Professor C. Melvin and a Christmas card. I love it all.

I sent my swap package off today, which heads to Florida. I hope the recipient enjoys what I made!

And now, before I'm buried in the ice storm and potentially lose power (seriously, they're projecting that the eastern 2/3 of the city loses power because we have above ground power lines and the rest of the city has buried lines), I'd like to share two more things. First, it's my kitchen window this morning. The frost looked kind of pretty.

And lastly, a local story from the Associated Press, which was shared by elisamatic over on Plurk.

Iowa town's roads well seasoned
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Slush has never smelled so spicy. City crews in the Des Moines suburb of Ankeny are using garlic salt to melt snow and ice on streets from Tuesday's storm. The salt was donated by Tone Brothers Inc., a top spice producer headquartered in Ankeny.

Public Works Administrator Al Olson said the company donated 18,000 pounds of garlic salt to use on its 400 miles of roads.

Olson doesn't have details, but he said the salt would have ended up in the landfill, so the company donated it. A telephone call Wednesday to Tone Brothers wasn't immediately returned.

Olson said the city mixed the garlic salt with regular road salt and it works fine. He said some road workers say it makes them hungry, but Olson doesn't recommend it to spice up lunch or dinner.

Really, Iowa. You just keep getting crazier. Now I want to go to Ankeny and see if it makes me crave Italian food.

Anyway, I'll let you know what happens.

Tell me about yourself

2008-12-16T22:51:00.003-06:00

You have probably seen this game before, but if not the rules are simple: copy my questions and answers, replace my answers with yours, and either post on your blog or in comments.

I totally swiped this from GeekLover on Plurk. Follow the link for her answers.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
My middle name, which is one of the most common middle names ever, was from a great aunt. Also, my mom told me once that my full first name was after the Spanish word for chestnut, which is castaña.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
I think it's been a while. I'm probably due.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Sometimes my writing looks really nice, and other times it's sloppy as hell and I can hardly decipher it. For the most part, though, I think it looks fine and it serves its purpose.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Whatever is on the Spicy Italian at Subway is pretty tasty.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Nope. Just a metric ton of cats.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Depends on what kind of other person I would be. Maybe, although I suspect I'd annoy the shit out of myself.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
No, I have never once in my live used sarcasm. (Bwa ha ha ha ha.)

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
Yes indeed, and one of them has a really funky growth. Always has.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
I totally thought about it in Corinth, over the Corinthian Canal, but they weren't open.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Kix, or Rice Krispies. Or Honeycomb.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Nope. (I take my shoes off at work, too, and walk around in socks for most of the day.)

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Peppermint stick with the candy cane bits. I love this time of year for that. I also love rainbow sherbet.

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their knitted garments, then their hair.

14. RED OR PINK?
Deep red, but sometimes pink.

15. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I'm very fluffy; there's what seems to be an 18-wheeler's tire stuck there.

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My Luther friends. Why do they all live so far away?

17. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Meh.

18. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
I'm at work, so I'm not wearing shoes at the moment. But I am wearing my Kaylee socks.

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
A gigantic Kit-Kat.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
The hum of fluorescent lights and computer fans, tempered by the occasional hiss of the police scanner.

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Probably turquoise.

22. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Outside after a thunderstorm. Also this funky body spray I have.

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My ride to this evening's Music Club festivities. (They were indeed festive.)

24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
I stole it from a blog — it was sent like manna from the gods ...

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Knitting Olympics count, right?

26. Hair Color?
Medium brown.

27. EYE COLOR?
Hazel, though they change a lot. They're probably tinted toward green at the moment.

28. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope.

29. FAVORITE FOOD?
Toast is the best thing ever to happen to sliced bread.

30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy movies with scary endings?

31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I saw Twilight with my mom Sunday evening.

32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
White undershirt, olive green long-sleeve tee over that, and forest green sweater on top.

33. SUMMER OR WINTER?
I hate the cold, but I also abhor the humidity. Iowa has both, and I don't quite understand why I continue to live here.

34. Hugs or kisses?
Kisses, because I don't like those white swirls in the Hugs. (You were talking about Hershey's chocolate, right?)

35. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate anything.

36. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
I'm not asking for responses, but it would be nice if you'd like to.

37. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND
I'm not asking for responses, so I won't be too disappointed if nobody responds.

38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Um, I suppose I ought to get past the intro in The Carbon Age: How Life's Core Element Has Become Civilization's Greatest Threat by Eric Roston.

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I don't use mouse pads. They make me angry.

40. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Headlines on Leno, and the first bit of Craig Ferguson, who's effing hilarious.

41. FAVORITE SOUND?
Thunder, or wind against the house when I'm snug in bed.

42. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Eh, I don't mind either. "Penny Lane" is a nice song.

43. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Istanbul, Turkey.

44. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I play with yarn, and I like grammar.

45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Des Moines, Iowa

46. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Whoever decides to fill them out.

Baby, it's cold outside

2008-12-15T09:48:00.006-06:00

Hello! First post at the new URL. *happydance* Unfortunately, xamonster.blogspot.com was taken, so I decided to go with piratexa. It's very nice. Also, I didn't realize it but the last post was number 666. See?

Bwa ha ha ha ha. (I also have a PhD in Horribleness.)

Yesterday my mom and I put plastic on the windows, because this week's forecast calls for frigid air. Even my weather widget says it's frigid. Here, let me show you it.

Ice cubes, right? Under the lower left of the yellow box, it says the temperature is a balmy negative 2 degrees ... and the wind chill is 18 below. That's horrible.

Anyway, we decided to do the outside plastic on one window — the one that opens onto the porch — because there weren't enough materials included with the box of inside hair-dryer plastic. We got a cheap-ass kit at the dollar store for the outside. Now when I say cheap-ass, I really mean it: the "mounting strips" are flimsy cardboard. Needless to say, it didn't work. We put the plastic over, and it took forever, and it sucked and didn't even stay there anyway. There was a huge rip in it two hours later and the plastic was flapping in the breeze.

But the inside plastic went up like a charm. There's almost enough to cover the porch window after all; we just need a little more tape. The only thing about having the plastic on the inside is that I have one cat who still has his front claws. This is a bad thing, as evidenced by the popping sound I heard at about 10 last night. I felt the plastic over each window and sure enough, he'd ripped a (thankfully small) hole. So I grabbed the handy dandy white Duck Tape (that's the brand) and slapped some over the tear. I have a sneaking suspicion that my windows will be a patchwork of tape by the end of the winter. I suppose I should get more colors and at least make it festive ...

Conclusions: buy more yarn to insulate the house. Also: knit fast, die warm. See? Everything really does relate to yarn.

My toesies, they are ice cubes

2008-12-10T11:45:00.003-06:00

Now that the cold and snow are here, the value of knitted items has risen exponentially. I was thinking this morning, as the icy air went rushing up my bootcut pant legs, that the time has come for legwarmers. I kind of love Lusty Lady Legwarmers, mostly for the buttons. I'm pretty sure I can devise my own pattern, or do a quick search on the Rav and come up with a bajillion results.

Yesterday I wore a number of warm items: a list of what she wore today: knit hat, sunglasses (to keep out the wind), scarf from Turkey, mismatched knit mittens, knit armwamers, one oversize wool coat, two pairs of socks, two sweaters, two shirts, one cami and a pair of jeans. Yeah, I was ready for the chill.

Also, Winter 08 Knitty was released today, and their server is being dragged into oblivion. Already one of my co-workers has asked for Fish Hat, and the Miittens really crack me up, and I kind of want to make them for my brother.

And I changed colors on the blog and added a Plurk thing. Other than that, that's all she wrote.

In which there are terrifying space monkeys

2008-12-08T18:29:00.007-06:00

Not really space monkeys.

I visited the new LYS here in town recently, and I'll tell you what: it's a closet. Really, it's only a few feet wide and maybe four times as long as it is wide. Ridiculously tiny. That didn't stop me from buying this yarn, though.

Recycled sari silk and a giant cake of wool.

I also entered a raffle, as they were having their open house that weekend. And I won two magazines! I just got them today. They're pretty ... country crafty. So they're going to stay at work for now and be "library" reading material. Ah well. I'm still quite surprised to have won.

I visited the doctor last Friday for help with my shoulder. I had a bit of bursitis in my shoulder, and the doc gave me a pop to quiet the pain. (No, he actually gave me a shot of cortisone to reduce the inflammation.) I am a very happy camper now that I can raise my left arm all the way again. I have a bit of kink in my neck, but it's so much better than it was. I can't even begin to describe it.

I make things with yarn.

I changed the layout again. The Scribe layout was really starting to bum me out, because it would be just a little too narrow for something, and cut pictures off. No more! Now I've got a stretchy layout. I just need to decide on some non-bland colors. This may take a while.

I've been thinking, off and on, about moving the blog to Wordpress. Blogger is so flexible with the design, which I enjoy, but I find it lacking a little. I really ought to take up the Blog More Often mantle before I make a decision like that.

The name Crimson Mittens will be changed soon, though. Maybe this'll become Xamonster's Hot House of Yarn or something. But we'll just have to see.

And now a message from our non-sponsors

2008-12-03T16:02:00.003-06:00

This commercial break is provided in part by Neil Patrick Harris and Jack Black.

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Hairspray composer Marc Shaiman (whose boycott lead to the resignation of Sacramento's California Musical Theatre creative director Scott Eckern following his donation to Prop 8) wrote and conceived this hysterical short piece (presented with a wink and a nod by the 'Sacramento Community College Players'), which was directed and staged by Hairspray director and choreographer Adam Shankman and features plenty of folks you will recognize.

Shaiman plays the piano. Jordan Ballard, Margaret Cho, Barrett Foa, J.B. Ghuman, John Hill, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph, Rashad Naylor, Nicole Parker star as 'California Gays and The People That Love Them'. John C Reilly as a Prop 8 leader, and Alison Janney as his wife. Kathy Najimy as his second wife. Jenifer Lewis as a riffing Prop 8'er. Craig Robinson as a preacher. Rashida Jones, Lake Bell, Sarah Chalke as Scary Catholic School Girls from Hell. Katharine "Kooks" Leonard, Seth Morris, Denise "Esi!" Piane, Lucian Piane, Richard Read, Seth Redford, Quinton Strack, and Tate Taylor as The Frightened Villagers.

Jack Black stars as Jesus Christ, and Neil Patrick Harris is billed as 'A Very Smart Fellow'.

words from Towleroad

Now back to your regularly scheduled blogging. I have only one thing to say at the moment: my shoulder hurts. Boo.

Thankful, even for the snow (I suppose)

2008-11-30T15:18:00.002-06:00

A few inches of snow fell overnight; the world is shrouded in the stuff. The streets are already slushy and brown (one of the chief reasons I dislike snow). The snow is light, but has been falling consistently. LOTR is on in the background, and it's the bit with the Ents. I'm eating the last of my smashed potatoes, left over from the big dinner Thursday. It's a lazy day.

We had fourteen people here for the holiday; even my aunt who had the surgery was able to make the trip. (I do not envy her five-hour drive with such new abdominal incisions healing. There were many times I caused her to laugh while she was here, which caused her a considerable amount of pain. We all joked that, had her doctor known how much laughter comes from this family, he probably would have advised against the roadtrip.)

We also put on the Shroud of Crazy and participated in Black Friday. One of the local malls was hosting "Rockin' Shopping Eve" and they opened at midnight (that almost seems like cheating). Our number dwindled as time passed, which was to be expected. We started with eleven people and were down to five by the time we left the last store. (We took three cars to ensure that those who needed to leave for sleeping purposes were able to get back to town.) It was crazy, but lots of fun. We'll probably stick with 4 or 5 a.m. next year instead of midnight.

All in all, it was a nice holiday. I hope yours was filled with lots of adventures and laughter. I was thankful to have spent the time visiting with family and friends.

Epic fail

2008-11-20T20:19:00.004-06:00

I would say, "Bad blogger, no cookie," but that doesn't even begin to describe the fail that is me not posting since Nov. 5. (Also, that previous sentence had far too many commas, but I just wasn't comfortable with punctuation eradication.)

Some days I think I have something interesting to say, or have taken a picture and think Ah yes. Blog fodder. And then I go off and do something silly, like work. So here is what has happened since my previous post.

At the beginning of the month, my mom started her new job with a globally recognized company. She has since been out of state twice, which is really rather crazy. She will be back tomorrow from her latest excursion, which happens to be in Nebraska. (She is observing an installation of the sort she will be performing here in Iowa, once she has proper training.)

On Monday my aunt (my mom's sister) had surgery. It was suspected that she had ovarian cancer. Instead, the doctors found that she has a very severe case of endometriosis, which has been causing her considerable pain. (And by considerable I mean that she said the pain of surgery, with an incision all the way across her abdomen, was far less than the pain the endo was causing.) The doctors took some girly parts, and in a few months or so she will have the rest removed. There is much relief that it is not cancer; we were all very on edge.

In my show of knitterly support, I am knitting my aunt a womb. A blue one. A Blue Womb. Blue is her favorite color. I think she has enough of a sense of humor that she will laugh and know I mean it with love. I also plan to knit a large, chunky-weight shawl in a similar blue, as soon as I decide on a stitch and yarns.

Also, I am knitting a Project Which Must Not Be Named (on the blog until it is done and given). I'd like to say now that it is very important to read all of the details in the materials section of a pattern. For example, when a project calls for sock yarn and you decide on worsted because it's the right color, don't be surprised when it turns out to be ginormous. (I was surprised, so I had a gander at the pattern. Sure enough, it calls for sock yarn. Ha! That will make this project about 95 times funnier. It was planned to be a desktop item. It may well have to sit on the floor.)

Something else I fail at: NaNoWriMo. I have actually written words. I wrote 530 words of one story, then decided I hated it. I started a new story with a much cooler plot idea, and have completed a grand total of ... 40 words. Talk about epic fail.

Anyhow, I should go. Oboekönigin is coming to visit me this weekend. (And by visit I mean that I offer free lodging when she has teachery things to do in central Iowa.) I need to do a bit more laundry so my house doesn't look quite so dreadful.

I'll be back soon. Maybe there will even be pictures! (And a new blog layout. This one makes me tired. It's all narrow and stuff.)

In which I burble

2008-11-05T10:41:00.002-06:00

Note: If you don't want to read another blog post on politics, then the first part of this post is for you. If you do, I wrote a little blurb for the end of the post.

As I mentioned last Wednesday, I joined NaNoWriMo. As of right now, my word count is 538. That's out of the 50,000 required to "win" NaNoWriMo. My problem is this: I chose a story idea that I came up with many years ago. The writing style is distinctively junior high, as is the setting of the novel. I cannot write in that style, lest I go insane. The voice is all wrong, and it's incredibly cheesy.

Thusly, I have decided to start a completely different novel. Hopefully I'll have a chance to write on it this afternoon. It's going to be a slightly different genre: fan fiction. I know that sounds strange, but apparently a few other NaNos are taking fanfic on as well. I found myself wanting to explore the backgrounds of the crew of Firefly, including that of Serenity itself.

I haven't done a whole lot of knitting yet this month. I have, however, been playing a bit of The Sims with my brother. We made a new family, whose surname is Possible. My character is Im Possible, and his is Un Possible. It's pretty funny. I also have a separate character on Get A Life (the one-player section of the game) whose name is Luna Lovegood. I'm getting pretty far, I think. I hadn't played The Sims in forever, so it's nice to derail like that.

Work is work, I suppose. Nothing new going on as yet. The choir's going pretty well, too. I've actually gotten compliments from the congregation. That's all I've got, unless you want to read about politics. Have a happy day!

Politics

I'm not particularly politically inclined, but I would like to share a few tidbits. I voted for Obama (or against McCain, if you prefer). Obama took Iowa. My county, however, was won by McCain. The most interesting part is the division of precincts. There are 10 precincts in my county, plus one imaginary precinct for absentee ballots (I call it imaginary because you don't go there on voting day; it does exist, in the county auditor's office). Of the 11 precincts, nine went to McCain. However, the precinct in which I would usually vote, W I, went to Obama. And the precinct in which my vote was counted — the imaginary precinct, because I chose to vote last Monday instead of yesterday — also went to Obama. The absentee precinct had Obama in the lead by 81 votes; the W I precinct had Obama in the lead by ten. How crazy is that?

Here ends my brief foray into politics and numbers. Hooray for democracy!

In which I actually blog

2008-10-29T10:58:00.003-05:00

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It's been over two weeks since my last blog-fession. I have been busy: let me show you the ways.

Firstly, I received an excellent Firefly swap package from kodama on Ravelry. You can click on the picture to see the notes on the Flickr. She sent a Jayne soda cosy, beautiful fall colored yarn, a tin-adorned box filled with strawberry sweets, really cool stitch markers, a Fruity Oaty Bar magnet, a Blue Sun sticker and a Browncoat pin. What a rock star!

And then, for the HP Knit / Crochet House Cup, I've been crafting up a storm. Here are a couple examples:

Before the crock pot dye adventure

Colored with blackberries

The dye project was for the October Herbology class. The assignment was to dye something with a natural product. My blackberries weren't exactly fresh picked — I got them from the frozen produce aisle. I love the subtle mauve effect they gave the yarn. It's really shiny, too.

And then there was the Astronomy project this month: a project inspired by the sun and / or the moon. I chose to craft both. I found 5-inch rings at Ben Franklin, crocheted around them, and went from there. If you're on Ravelry, you can check out my project page for details.

You are my sunshine!

What's really cool about the sun is that if you flip the rays up, it looks rather like a crown. puckstopper9 had an excellent thought on that: she said it reminded her of Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem. I have to say I agree, and I might take that idea and run with it. I wonder if there are slightly larger rings available ...

In non-crafty news (not that there's a whole lot), I saw this link on Plurk today. It's really freaky. Soylent Green is people, man!

Also, I signed up for NaNoWriMo on Monday. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel during November, which I intend to write by hand. I don't know whether I'll make it that far, but that's fine with me. I'm starting to get a few ideas, at any rate, and I'll take my best shot. I'm xamonster there, as everywhere.

That's all, dear friends. Tschüs!

CBF 2008, and some knitting content at the end

2008-10-13T12:05:00.009-05:00

I don't know whether I have a whole lot to say today, as I'm rather tired from the Covered Bridge Festival this weekend. I will, however, show you a bunch of photos.

First, I did a little running around on Saturday morning. I got back to my house to find two things: a package on my stoop and, thanks to the festival, a car blocking my driveway. My driveway's not entirely obvious as it's covered in grass, but there is a cut-out in the curb, and it should be fairly obvious, considering the weird gap left between my house and the neighbor's attached garage. So I left a note. (Check out my sexylicious handwriting.)

Passive aggressive? Why yes, I am.

And then I opened my package, and it was the Kauni I ordered from WEBS last week. I did the biggest happydance ever. (You'll just have to take my word for it, as there is no photographic happydance evidence at this time.) I got one skein each of EH (bronze and blue and dark brown) and EQ (rainbow). I cannot wait to work with them. Aren't the colors so pretty you could just eat them? Now to decide on projects ...

After leaving that nice note and opening the yarn, I went downtown to see what they had this year for the festival. And I found alpacas there, with sock yarn nearby. I purchased the purple on Saturday; my dad gave me the green/gold on Sunday. What's funny about that was I was initially debating between the purple and green yarns, choosing purple in the end. And here my dad goes and buys me the yarn I didn't get. He's too good to me.

And someone sheared sheep occasionally.

And there was a parade on Sunday.

Yesterday was a long, long day. There was probably stuff about covered bridges in there somewhere, but I didn't pay any mind. After all was said and done, I needed a little knitting time. Here's some of what I'm working on right now.

Young Helena hood, with cool feathers.

2x1 Flat Feet sock.

Oh, and I forgot to say that I sent off my package for the Ravelry Firefly Swap on Friday. Kaylee, along with a lot of fun little goodies, was inside:

Musical meme

2008-10-08T16:46:00.004-05:00

Hello October! Sometimes, when I don't have anything in particular to say, I like to share a meme. Here's one I saw over on CBear's blog, Fuzzy Sheep Crafts.

- Choose a singer/band/group
- Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group
- Tag 7 more people. Or not.

I choose: Tori Amos (of course.) And I'm providing links to the lyrics.

1. Are you male or female? Girl.
2. Describe yourself. Bouncing Off Clouds.
3. What do people feel when they’re around you? Riot Poof.
4. How would you describe your previous relationship? Strange.
5. Describe your current relationship. Happy Phantom.
6. Where would you want to be now? Hey Jupiter.
7. How do you feel about love? Murder, He Says.
8. What’s your life like? Pirates.
9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Snow Cherries from France.
10. Say something wise. Take to the Sky.

That is all. Time to go home and think about laundry and choir.

Of Quidditch, weddings and spinning

2008-09-29T09:52:00.002-05:00

I saw a link for Muggle Quidditch the other day and thought it sounded interesting. I popped in my email address and thought, well, it says it starts Oct. 15, so I should expect an email a little before then. But nope — here's what I found in my inbox over the weekend (links intact):

Friend,

Serious trouble is afoot and Muggle Quidditch 2.0 is in danger...

How did the goblins find my trail so quickly? When did the Ministry begin monitoring the Muggle Interwebs? What does this mean for the future of this project? And my future…?

Alas, there is so much to be done, and so very little time. I have reason to suspect that any or all electronic owls I send may fall into the wrong hands, so I've encrypted my instructions and dispersed a series of clues across the globe. Yours is below:

Part Three of my Domain
This riddle's answer does contain:

An ancient brigade, strong and true
In battle we gained our name.
As deadly Arrows around us flew,
Not a single man was slain.

So tread softly, and carry your wand at the ready. We need everyone we can get to join our cause.

Good luck, and Godspeed.

-L

Post Scriptum:
Five of five, together achieve
What one alone could not perceive.
A gambler's word, the safest bet:
Play your part on the Muggle's Net.

So clearly, this is a test of wits. I, not feeling terribly witty on a Monday such as today, copied my bit of the riddle and Googled it. My first result was this bit o' pretty, wherein I found a link to another discussion. Curiouser and curiouser.

Other than all that, the wedding singing went well. The rehearsal on Friday evening was nice. The one song I had a chance to sing then (as it was the bridal party processional) felt a lot lower than usual; I guessed my mom had forgotten to transpose it up a couple steps, which I had decided to do a couple weeks ago. (I didn't want the notes coming out all crap and growly.) So Saturday rolls around, we're getting ready to start the ceremony, and my mom switches on the keyboard and whispers, "Ok, I've got you transposed down two steps." And I looked at her, all panicked, and said,"Down?! I need it up two steps!" So crisis averted, just in time. And all was well with the world.

Finally, I did a little spinning last night. It's not the fanciest, most even spin ever, but I'm fairly pleased with it. Have a look:

Top whorl is the way to go.

Now all I have to do is finish up my crafting for the Firefly swap. I feel woefully behind on it, though I don't think I am, really. I just need to fix up my sewing skills...

Shoes.

2008-09-26T15:46:00.002-05:00

I got new shoes last night, because I wanted my feet to look cute while I sing at the wedding tomorrow. I've got the music down, I think, though I'm going to sing with a cheat-sheet. I'm too chicken not to. Just a lyrics cheat-sheet, though; I can visualize the pages enough that it will be fine. Still a little nervous, though.

Also, I have nothing else, because I have to go deposit a newly-fixed car at my dad. He's having nicotine problems, and I have to bring his cigarettes. *headdesk*

Bordering on arachnophilia

2008-09-24T14:54:00.004-05:00

(Note of hysteria prevention: links in this blog post will contain photos of spiders.)

My house has become a spider house ... but only on the outside.

Seriously. I have two, and now perhaps three, spiders living by my front door. There's a brown crab spider with a lovely huge web going from the east side of the house to the trash can. The only reason this makes me sad is that when I take the crash to the curb tonight, the pretty web will be broken. (Here's a link to a picture of a crab spider, xysticus, though not mine in particular.)

The spider that lives on the east side of the door is a funnel web spider. I know this because there is a web there, shaped like a funnel. Sometimes, if it's not afraid (which is rare), it will come out of the funnel-y bit and wait on the web for some food to wander by. I haven't seen this one, whom I've been calling Remus as I initially thought it was a wolf spider (before I remembered wolf spiders don't spin webs), for a few days.

I did, however, see an actual wolf spider today, near Remus' usual hiding spot. (I know it's not Remus, because Remus was missing one of its legs; the wolf spider has all eight.) Actually, I think this wolf spider is a rabid wolf spider — Rabidosa rabida.

I don't really mind spiders, apart from if they crawl on me. If I happen to spot one in the house, I catch it in a glass and let it outside. (After all, they take care of all the nasty bugs I don't want in the house.) I think probably the only spider I would have problems with would be a huntsman spider, also known as a clock spider, because they're fucking huge and scary.

I probably shouldn't go on too long about spiders, as I'll just scare Oboekönigin away from my house forever.

Look what I can do!

2008-09-17T16:10:00.003-05:00

So there's this funky program called Skitch...

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

And you should check it out. Also, there's a rumor that a yarn shop is coming to Winterset. Huzzah! Yarn a few blocks away!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Internets, already in progress.

Wait, it's mid-September?

2008-09-15T16:03:00.004-05:00

This weekend I happened to notice the date. Did you notice it's mid-way through September, too? Yeah. Remember I said I'll be singing in a wedding at the end of the month? That's next weekend. Um, need to practice much? Yes, I really do.

On another note, let me show you what I've been walking past every day when I go to work ...

I know, right?

You can't really tell, but in the upper left corner it says Nov. 2008 ... and there's a heart around it. Hoo boy. This coming from one of the ugliest houses in town: it's all painted and adorned in a god-awful shade of hunter green. And none of the greens quite match, so it's some powerful ugly. (Also, this house is next door to a house that always has an Explorer pared in front of it. The license plate on the Explorer reads DORA. I'll try to get a picture.)

While I'm showing you signs of patriotism, let me share this button I saw on the Innernets today.

That about sums it up, eh?

How does a knitter direct choir?

2008-09-10T11:50:00.002-05:00

I would blog today, but I feel crappy. Breakfast stayed down all of five minutes, so I'm sucking down ginger ale. I'm going to leave work ASAP so I can have a nap before choir.

Church choir is going well, by the way. There were 10 whole singers Sunday, which is a decent turnout. I know a couple people were sick. Oh, and I directed using a knitting needle as a baton. US 5, bamboo, 10 inches. What? Don't look at me like that. They needed to see me better. It helped.

So on that note (D sharp), I will leave you with this knowledge: Fall Knitty is live!

Hey look, I can blog!

2008-09-03T13:59:00.000-05:00

First things first: I adopted a friend's cat. She has become increasingly allergic, and I've got extra room, as it's just been Demetrios and I.

At first, things were a little rough, and Burgy demonstrated her dominance (although one night Demetrios decided to retaliate and camped in front of the litter box. That was fun). Now they get along. There's the occasional nose-touch and butt-sniff, so I call that a win. See? They're pals.

Now I'll tell you what I've been doing lately: knitting! (Like you couldn't guess that anyway.) Actually, it's really geeky knitting, so beware. I joined a Firefly Swap on Ravelry, and below is a test model for one of the many fun things I have planned. I even found some fun packaging that has a bit of Chinese flair, like so much of Firefly does.

A tiny Jayne hat was a warm-up for a similar keychain, which will be sent to my (secret!) Firefly Swap pal.

I also joined the HP Knitting / Crochet House Cup on Ravelry, which also has a blog. I'm knitting in Ravenclaw. Each month there will be assignments for different classes; we're allowed to do as many or as few as we like. Being the typical Ravenclaw, I signed up for everything except Quidditch.

In Potions, we're meant to knit something using two yarns you wouldn't normally hold together. I decided to use jute twine and fun fur. As you can see below, it's very ... colorful. In Astronomy, the assignment is to make something star-shaped, or with a star on it, while the Herbology task is to knit a dishcloth with hemp or cotton. As for Transfiguration, the assignment is to learn something new, or get better at something we've barely tried. For me, that's definitely spinning. So hopefully by the end of September I'll have a nice, consistently-spun skein of yarn to show.

Potions by the Numbers

Oh, and I almost forgot Charms: we're to create something using either lumos or wingardium leviosa. For wingardium leviosa, we're do to something that flies. For lumos one must have something that holds or gives off light; I'll be knitting a tealight holder out of wire and beads. It might even turn out to be sculptural, if I can find some a light-gauge wire that is still sturdy. Maybe a Whomping Willow candle holder?

So I'm about half done with both my Potions and Herbology homework, and a third or so of the way done with Astronomy. And that's all she wrote.

Blah blah Thursday blah

2008-08-28T15:59:00.003-05:00

I tried something new this week: I joined ~~The Evil League of Evil~~ the land of music education. I am now a church choir director. (Okay, so I'm barely on the fringes of music ed. I didn't even wave my arms at rehearsal. It was low-key.)

There were a grand total of 14 people at last night's rehearsal, which is way more than I expected. (Now that I think of it, there are at least two or three more people who couldn't make it to rehearsal.) And I have loud altos. I was so proud of them.

I think it will work out well, although we'll find out for sure in about a week when I direct the first official choir piece during the service. And in October I'm going to direct them at the Covered Bridge Festival, too; they always like the local church choirs to sing the Sunday morning of the festival.

So that's that. And I haven't done any knitting since Sunday, as I haven't quite decided on what to do. I almost want to do another pair of socks. That afterthought heel turned out so well! (The toe, on the other hand, felt a little loose, but that can be adjusted for the next pair.)

That's all I've got. What about you?

Drive by blogging

2008-08-24T18:06:00.004-05:00

Alas, the drag queen challenge wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. I think maybe Project Runway is losing its zest and zeal, which just makes me sad.

But what I really came to talk about was the knitting, and how I even have pictures. (Hush, Oboekönigin! You have such a dirty mind.) I finished my Ravelympics socks on Friday and a shawl earlier this afternoon. What's interesting about the shawl is that I started it yesterday afternoon. Lemme show you it.

It's the Ruffled Shawl from a new knitting magazine that will be on stands early next month. Here's my Ravelry page on it.

I also mentioned the Kaylee socks, of which I'm quite proud. See?

My feets aren't deformed. It's an odd angle. I swear.

Oboekönigin and Sister Berte might remember this sculpture in a more put-together form. It's currently parked a block from my parents' house.

But I just got a call that the closing ceremonies have started, so I'm going to head back to my parents' house and watch them. And ponder what to knit next. 'Cause I've got yet another knitting event coming up. I'll probably enlighten you tomorrow, or whenever I happen to post next. (You know me and my sporadical posting.) But here's a hint.

I see you!

2008-08-18T16:52:00.004-05:00

Look at all that work I've done on the Kaylee socks! See the dangly pink bits (oh, that sounds disgusting) hanging off my socks? That's where the heel will go. I decided on Saturday to do an afterthought heel, which is a new thing to me. Hopefully it will turn out well. If not, I suppose I'll just have to give these socks to my mom. Again.

Now observe my underhanded attempt to distract you from the fact that I am only actively working on one of my three Ravelympics projects. I never ended up casting on poor Gerda. I started Spring Things over with a different yarn because the Dream In Color wasn't draping the way I wanted to. You can't win 'em all, I suppose.

What a fabulous day

2008-08-14T13:57:00.003-05:00

I was all pumped yesterday to watch the Olympics and my weekly dose of Bravo drama — Project Runway and Shear Genius. I went to my parents' house around 6:30, caught a spot on the couch, pulled out my knitting and settled in. Not twenty minutes later, my brother walked in and said, "Hey. I'm gonna go see Dark Knight again. Wanna go? I mean, I know you'll miss Runway ..." The kid knows me too well. I looked at him for two seconds, then replied, "Really?!" and he said all he'd have to do was call and say he wanted two tickets instead of one.

(Let me stop here and say that my brother works for the theater, and as a bonus they can get up to two tickets to movies that have been out at least a few weeks. He loves that aspect of his job.)

So I finally got to see Dark Knight. It was phenomenal. I think it might be one of my favorite Batman movies already. One of my favorite parts was the semi that was made to say 'Slaughter is the best medicine.' (I know. I'm gruesome like that.) But really, the movie is definitely worth seeing, and I can't wait to see it again. I really enjoyed myself.

I got home around 11:15 or so, hoping to catch the second run of Runway. For some reason, Bravo decided to play Kathy Griffin instead, and then *two* bloody runs of Shear Genius, so I watched some Olympics. They didn't re-run Runway until 2 am, but you better believe I watched. And you know what? I'm so pumped about next week's Runway I can hardly stand it. It took about all I had in me at 3 am as I watched the teaser not to squeal. 'Cause you know what next week's challenge is?

Drag queens.

Holla atcha boy. Oh my dude. Hells yeah. I could not be a happier camper. I mean hello? Chris March is the PR love of my life, right next to Jay McCarroll. I love me some costume-y fashion.

And can I let you in on a little secret? I kinda wanna be a drag queen. (Oboekönigin knows this; I confided this to her in May.) Kinda like Connie and Carla, except without all the hiding from the mob. I just wanna be fabulous. And the guest judge is RuPaul.

Holy Guacamole, Batman!

2008-08-13T13:15:00.004-05:00

Or, how I spent my weekend in eastern Iowa.

The weekend started innocuously enough last Friday. Mistress Saucy Dish and I road-tripped to Small German Town to help celebrate the birth of a fence. Not long after we arrived, we all decided to have dinner. The venue of choice? A delightful Chinese restaurant. What was most delightful, however, was the fact that, when we walked in the door, the woman who greeted us asked if we minded that the television at the back of the room was on. The six of us didn't mind in the least, and she sat us right in back, across from it. And then the greatest surprise awaited us: the Olympic opening ceremonies! Yes, we watched them in a Chinese restaurant. How fabulous is that? Pretty fabulous.

The next day, we decided to go exploring in a nearby pioneer village. Our trip there ended with delectable ice cream and a tour through a shed of antique farm equipment. After our sojourn through historical Iowa, the women went grocery shopping while the men went back to start up the grill. While we were purchasing groceries, Aramad said, "Hey, let's have some guacamole! I'll call my hubby and see what ingredients he needs." And then we bought 12 avocados and a metric ton of tortilla chips.

When we arrived back at the newly-fenced house, we started grilling up birds, pigs and cows, peeling and chopping up the humongous pile of veggies, and making the hugest batch of guacamole ever. (Ah, a huge mixing bowl brimming with deliciously blended green goo. Mmmm.) And then we ate. Dinner involved so much food my stomach is straining at the mere recollection. To aid in digestion, we decided to watch a little Firefly, then drink a lottle (which is the opposite of a little, Mistress Saucy Dish will have you know).

And then we broke out the cards. We played Circle of Death (or as Aramad kept calling it, Kings, which is apparently what Wikipedia calls it, too). Eventually someone made up a rule that if a face card was drawn, everyone had to eat some guacamole. (Honestly, by that time it was very necessary. We managed to deplete the guac vat fairly well, though.) Around 11 or so, we all started feeling like we were going to have guacamole babies, so most of us had to just sit for a while and not move much. The girls ended up watching the Olympics a little, and the guys* went to the bar.

When everyone arose from the dead Sunday morning, we got all clean and presentable and headed for the traditional end-of-party feast: IHOP. Check out our sexy post-dinner photo below.

Oboekönigin and her brother, Me (sporting ginormous hair), HutFrau, Aramad and J-man, and Mistress Saucy Dish of the Excellent Long-Armed Photo Taking Skillz.

And that was the weekend. In a nutshell. (A really big nutshell full of lots of guacamole.)

*Note: I should mention that when I'm referring to 'the guys' I actually mean Oboekönigin's brother, J-man and HutFrau. They're pretty much the guys of the group, really.

Prepare for a meltdown

2008-08-04T19:35:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to say today. Firstly, I got the new Stephanie Meyer book, Breaking Dawn, this weekend. I'm almost finished.

Secondly It's effin' hot in Iowa, and it's difficult to think when it's hot. See that number in parentheses? The 105 degrees is how it felt at about 2 p.m. today. Luckily (ha!) it's only 90 degrees now, even though it feels like 96.

Damn right I believe in global warming.

Carpal tunnel, here I come

2008-07-30T14:21:00.004-05:00

I really meant to have updated my blog before now. As you can see, dear reader, I have not.

But what I really came here to talk to you about today is the Ravelympics. More precisely, the fact that I am now signed up on three teams and knitting three different projects. That's three projects to finish in 17 days — the length of the Olympics. Why three? Because I'm a crackhead. Honestly, it started with one team and one project, and grew astronomically from there.

My Ravelympics Projects (linked to my Rav project pages)

Kaylee socks: I entered these in the Sock Put event. I'm knitting them primarily for Team Browncoat, because they're Firefly themed. But I added them to Team Welcome because I felt like it.
Spring Things shawl: For the Shawl Relay. I'll be using the yarn I got in Decorah at the beginning of Dorian: Dream in Color Baby. This is entered in Team Knitted Together and Team Welcome.
Gerda Stole: This lovely project I just added today. I fell in love with the pattern a couple days ago, and I bought some Lacey Lamb at Knitted Together, and ... well the two just coincided. I'm knitting this delight for all three teams: Team Welcome, Team Browncoat, and Team Knitted Together.

Now I think I'll fiddle with my blog a bit so I can get the WIPs section back on the sidebar so's you can keep track of my progress.

The earliest I can cast on for these projects is 7 a.m. on August 8 (which is local time for 8 p.m. Beijing on August 8). And you better believe I'll be up early to cast on. I've got three bloody projects for 17 days, after all!

My Horrible shoulders

2008-07-21T13:12:00.007-05:00

I entered a couple shawls in the county fair, and Laminaria got a blue ribbon! I also got a whopping $1.50 for a prize, which will probably purchase part of lunch.

Also, I have now seen all three acts of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. In fact, I loved it so much I bought it on iTunes, despite the fact there will be a DVD coming out eventually. (A DVD with lots of extras! Hooray! I love DVD extras!) I mean, it was only $3.99 for the season pass. How's that for a bargain? I mean really, if you didn't catch Dr. Horrible while it was online, spend the $4 on iTunes. It's well worth it.

At any rate, I've turned all goofy fangirl over Dr. Horrible. Turns out Neil Patrick Harris is kind of fantastic, and he can sing. It's a far cry from Doogie Howser, that's for sure. I'm kind of smitten. Yay! I want some evil knitting project that goes with Dr. Horrible.

But what I really came to talk to you about today was my shoulders. Let me elaborate.

One of the worst things about summer in Iowa is July. (Another is August.) Last night, as I was walking home after usurping the rents' cable for a few hours, it was so disgustingly muggy outside that, had I wanted a glass of water, I wouldn't need the glass. Just open wide and take a deep, soggy breath. Disgusting!

So yesterday I put on a tank top because, you know, July in Iowa. As I was about to leave, I stopped in the bathroom for one more re-application of deodorant and I saw it: the dreaded farmer's tan. Sometimes when I'm hot and sweaty, I forget all those years of sunburns in t-shirts. Then my luminescent shoulders reflect back at me and say, "Girl, walk out the house now if you wanna be a hick like that."

And I retort, "Shut your face, shoulders. You're not the boss of me. I'm a big girl now — I can make these decisions myself, you know. Besides, wouldn't you like a chance at being the same color as your forearm friends?"

"Whatever, girl. You're the one controlling the hands, not us. And besides, we are the same color as the forearms. The underside.

Bitches. I put on my skull hoodie and walked out the door into the sun. *sigh* At least it's lightweight cotton. Bloody shoulders — Horrible shoulders, really. Maybe I should just invest in a lab coat, gloves and some goggles. Mua ha ha ha ha!

Dr Horrible!

2008-07-16T15:39:00.005-05:00

I just watched the most fantastical thing ever: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Act I is up today! The second act goes up Thursday, the third Saturday. If you like music, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day or any combination of those things, it's definitely the thing for you to see.

Be quick, though. The videos will only stay online until midnight on the 20th.

Also, I had a small fail moment on the veggie-for-a-week thing, but we won't talk about that.

Blah blah Monday blah

2008-07-14T12:19:00.005-05:00

I joined the 2008 Ravelympics today. They're similar to the Harlot's Knitting Olympics in 06. I'll be competing in the Sock Put for Team Browncoat (Firefly / Serenity fans) and Team KTog (my LYS). I can cast on on Friday, August 8, at 7 a.m., which is local time for the opening ceremonies in Beijing. I will knit the Kaylee socks, since they're all Firefly themed and stuff.

I was also going to mention what books I've been reading lately. Thanks to a camper, I started reading Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and am hooked. What can I say? I love young adult fantasy. I'm pretty pumped for the final book to come out at the beginning of August. Right now, I'm reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and the last book in David Eddings' Belgariad series, Enchanter's End Game. I'm really enjoying Middlesex, and I've been ignoring the Eddings since, er, I found out about Twilight. Oops.

...

You know, I was going to post about a couple things today, and I can only think of the one. I was composing my blog post on the way to work this morning. And now here I am, and I can't remember a bloody thing. Damn you, Innernets Of Distraction and Air Conditioner Of Forgetfulness!

ETA: I remember now. I decided I want to be a vegetarian again. You see, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (high school), I decided to give up meat for Lent (back when I did the churchy thing). It stuck for a while, but eventually I got back to my carnivorous self. So I'm going to do a trial, no-meat period of one week, starting today, to see if I can do it again.

Now, what to have for lunch?

My encounter with the skinny jeans.

2008-07-09T10:12:00.003-05:00

My apologies for the silence. I had a very interesting experience last week with skinny jeans (or as skinny as jeans get for my ample figure). Let me share.

So I was wasting time at the mall last week (and don't even get me started; I spent three bloody days in a row wasting time at the mall). I stopped in Torrid — where I got my white trench — because they have funky clothes in my size (and let me tell you, these hips don't lie). And they have a couple clearance racks. I like clearance racks.

My initial goal was to get a long tank top with lace edging on the bottom, which I'd seen on the rack the last time I was in the store. I found it, and it's great for layering, and I'm wearing it today, incidentally. Having caught my quarry so quickly, I moved to the back of the store and the aforementioned clearance racks. I found a double-knit, short-sleeve, cotton hoodie with skulls. (Which I layered on top of the tank top today.) And then I saw jeans on the clearance rack. I grabbed a pair in my size, not really reading the label much; it had cute embroidery on the butt pockets. (What can I say? Sometimes cute embroidery weakens my resolve.)

I went in the fitting room, shucked off the lame-ass clothes I was wearing that day, and put on the new stuff. And then I looked down, because my calves were suddenly constricted and gasping for air. "What is this?" I wondered to myself. "Surely I must be hallucinating." And as I looked curiously at my calves, I also noticed this weird puddle of denim concealing my feet. The sort that would be tattered and dirty after 10 minutes of walking around. I swear, there were at least four inches of extra fabric there. Normally I don't bemoan such things; I am tall enough that pant lengths are barely enough to reach the tops of my shoes.

All in all, the jeans didn't look that bad. I mean, they even made my butt look kinda good. (Must've been the cute embroidery.) But I was far too freaked out by my strangulated calves to consider purchasing them. But as I said, I did get the tank and the sweater.

Also, the liquor store that is on the northern end of town is moving closer to my office. Today. And by closer I mean a half-block away (across the street from my parents' church, too). It's like they know we need them nearby or something.

This is what Dorian looks like.

2008-07-01T16:49:00.003-05:00

Paparazzi shot!

Pink Pirate Day — arrrgh!

Me, Darcy and the womb.

What can I say? It was exhausting, and lots of fun. We took no survivors.

Talk about shear genius.

2008-06-10T16:13:00.004-05:00

I took a picture of myself on my computer yesterday, just because I felt like it. Here it is:

I'm not totally sold on that shirt, by the by.
It almost makes me look like a tomato.

And I took a picture this afternoon, just after I got back from my hair cut.

Gasp! Hair all one color? No one can live at that speed!

I love it. I kind of want to dance because of it. The stylist was even impressed by my fabulous taste. And yes dear friends, you are indeed seeing my natural hair color. It rarely comes out of hiding.

I've finished the Shetland Triangle, having done 11 repeats. I have yet to block it (surprise) or photograph it ('nother surprise), but it will be done. You may not see pics until after Dorian, but they'll be here eventually.

Speaking of Dorian, D minus 3 days until I head north! Woo!

Wup wup wup!

2008-06-02T10:01:00.004-05:00

I decided just now that I want to make a Zoidberg costume. I already have a white coat, after all.

But Morehouse Merino has a pattern for lobster claw mittens. I just blew up a picture of a pair of finished mitts, and I'm 90% sure I can figure it out without purchasing the pattern kit.

After the claws, all I'd really need are red socks, white flip flops, and mint green scrubs. Easy peasey.

Um, that's really all. I have 10 repeats done on the Swallowtail now. Woo!

'Tis June.

2008-06-01T03:31:00.000-05:00

I got a new phone today. It was about time — my old phone pooped out about two weeks after the warranty expired, and I had to switch to my very first phone. Good thing I kept it. My mom decided it should be an early birthday present. Woo! Free phone! (Pause here. Can you believe I'm going to be 25 next Friday? I surely can't.)

We both got new phones, actually. Mine has the most phenomenal ringtone called "Acapella Beatbox." You can listen to the mp3 directly here, after I read a blurb about funky ringtones on a post this guy made. The ringtone is so cool that my mom almost got the same phone (LG UX380, if you want to know).

And my phone has Bluetooth. In fact, I just Bluetoothed some pictures that I took today to my computer.

Here's my mom at Ben Franklin. That's her phone. She was taking a picture of me.

Also, I started the ninth repeat on the Shetland Triangle shawl. Yes, the pattern calls for only eight. I'm doing 13, because I like the number.

Here's a blurry picture of Shetland from the phone. I sharpened it a little with Picnik.

P.S. It's about 3:30 a.m. that I'm posting this. Nothing like Saturday night insomnia, eh?

Knitting quietly, feverishly

2008-05-22T16:30:00.003-05:00

The house is very quiet without Gwiffen. She had all these funny little quirks — most of them quite noisy — and Demetrios just doesn't make enough noise to fill up the Gwiffen-shaped hole that's left. I think he's making an attempt, though; he's a lot more cuddly lately (and not that he wasn't cuddly before), and I even saw him playing with one of Gwiffen's favorite toys the other day, which he never really did before. So we're getting along, but it's still very quiet.

I have been knitting like mad on Laminaria. So mad, in fact, I'm five rows into the final chart. At this point, there are so many stitches that each row takes a good half-hour to complete. So I've been knitting while watching Firefly, or Food Network Challenge, or How It's Made. Or catching up on podcasts, which I rarely listen to right after they come out.

The blossom chart transitions into the first edging chart.

That's all I have. My mom and I are going to see the new Indiana Jones flick tonight, because it's showing here in town (and we both enjoy Indiana Jones).

Just west of Halcyon

2008-05-16T12:10:00.000-05:00

My cat Gwiffen was hit by a car last night. Some dear friends saw her in the street and were kind enough to bring her home. My dad and I buried her in his hosta garden this morning, right next to my favorite hosta, called Halcyon. My dad randomly chose the spot, and I couldn't have come up with a better one.

I can't seem to find any decent photographs; the above was taken at the end of December 06, back when she was a boy and called Slartibartfast. (I don't know why that happened, either.)

But the lilacs are blooming and smell lovely, and the apple trees are flowering, and it's still a beautiful day.

Thresholds, and reaching them

2008-05-14T15:55:00.001-05:00

There’s a point at which one cannot comprehend alliteration. Last night, I discovered the threshold was around approximately 11 p.m. There’s also a point at which sentences stop making sense, even when two other people are telling you they sound just fine. I think that was around 12:15 a.m. (I’m guessing here, as I didn’t look at the clock then.)

And then there’s the bit where you start to hallucinate. It turns out my hallucinatory threshold is 1 a.m., at least when I’m still at work. My coworker said last night, “My god, it’s almost one!” I looked at the computer clock and sure enough, it was 12:58. That was the point at which I realized I didn’t remember much of what had happened after 11. Two hours of my time just went, Ah, you’re copy editing. It will take you far longer than you think. (That’s why I guessed at the time above. I know it was about midway between the Point of No Alliteration and the Point of Hallucination.

Suffice it to say, I am a tired girl indeed. I believe I will spend my evening working on the shawl, now that I've gotten past the strange mistake from last week. Or maybe I'll just drink margaritas to oblivion.

Either way, it will be fun.

The Shawl, The Weekend, The Template

2008-05-13T10:50:00.004-05:00

I made myself a tiny bit late to work this morning because I had to fix my shawl. I worked on a few rows at some point last week, and had started the fifth repeat of my nemesis, the first row of the blossom chart. (In this chart, it tells you to turn two stitches into nine at the ends and centers of the row, and three stitches into nine on the rest of the row. It requires needle acrobatics and sticking out of the tongue. Beautiful results, yes, but still nemesis-worthy.)

Well, by the time I got within the last few stitches of the row, I knew something was off. I should knit three together, turn two stitches into nine, and knit the three edging stitches. But there were only two to knit together, not three. At this point there were two options: knit two together and continue on as if I had knit three together, or tink back and find where I flubbed it, correct the mistake, and knit a half-row more of my nemesis row than called for in the pattern. I knew it would irritate me if the rest of the shawl was shifted one stitch over, so I chose the latter.

I almost lost some stitches and had a small heart attack, but otherwise it's almost back on track. I'll finish the broken bit at lunch.

BAS visited me this weekend. First we visited the Eiffel Tower and made faces.

Then we had to stop by my office (a quick jaunt from France) so's I could make some sweet CDs for her trip back home. We had a thermal scanner installed at work, so we both had to pass through it first.

Curiously enough, we both scanned as cold. Must've been the tasty ice cream we had Friday night. I suppose birthday cake-flavored ice cream tends to do that to you.

Unfortunately, just before she'd gotten in the car to drive west on Friday, BAS found Blanca, the latest winged addition to their ever-expanding menagerie, dead on the floor of the cage. And she got an even sadder call on Saturday: her poor bird Zula had died as well. I had met Zula when I visited BAS' house last fall, and found her to be very sweet, if a bit noisy. The whole situation definitely put a damper on the whole weekend, but I think we had a good time despite it.

I changed the template and got rid of the Works In Progress widget, and the book widget. WIPs will be back once I adjust it to the template. Books probably won't.

Ooh, it's that creepy eye!

2008-05-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

I took a few photographs of the magnolia next to the courthouse. They've been blooming lately, and they look gorgeous.

As I was webbing the paper* this afternoon, I caught a couple of spelling mistakes that I know SpelChek would have caught (despite our layout program's dreadfully inaccurate dictionary). For instance, "improbe." One of the correction choices was "improve," which was the correct choice. The other was "imp robe." I would very much like to read a story that has imp robes in it.

Right.

I was almost returned to being a one-cat household last week. I hadn't seen Gwiffen for almost a week — I'd let her outside because it was so nice last week. She turned up on Tuesday, and is doing quite well.

Oh, and my brother was one of the four characters in the spring play (Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie) last week. Here he is with the girlfriend, who played his mother.

Check out those eyes!

Now I've spent my afternoon listening to the Sweeney Todd and Aida soundtracks, playing a little Snood and a little PackRat, I'm content. I think I'll go home and read about ebola. That's really all. I finished this post precisely two hours after beginning it. Crazy.

*webbing the paper: putting this week's edition online.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2008-04-21T09:09:00.004-05:00

Every time I look in the mirror to brush out my hair, I get a little aggravated. When I stared growing my hair out last year, the initial plan was to make it long enough for dreadlocks. (What? They've always appealed to me. I find them sexily unkempt. Well, maybe not unkempt; they can require a fair bit of maintenance.)

I'm sure my hair has grown long enough now, but I changed my goal some months ago: I want to donate ten inches to Locks of Love. The problem? I seem to be perpetually at 9 1/2 inches. It's almost like a vortex of no-growth. Ugh. I just want to cut it all off! (Well, not all of it. I've done that already, and checked it off the List of Things to Do Before I Die. (Terrible timing, that. I had to go to a family funeral about two weeks afterward. Everyone thought I was ill.)

But I'm not going to fret today. It is gorgeous outside. My computer says its 55 degrees, but I am sure it must be much higher. I'm very glad I walked out of the house without a coat this morning — and to think I just got that lovely new trench, too! Ah well. After months of snow and wind, there's no way I'm going to balk at not being able to wear a jacket because it's too nice out.

(Eee! And my weather widget says there will be a "strong afternoon thunderstorm"! I love those!)

But it's truly gorgeous out; my forsythia (also known as the verylargeshrubbery) is blooming, and the grass is nearly long enough to cut already.

Project monogamy

2008-04-20T20:21:00.002-05:00

I've spent a good portion of the weekend working on Laminaria, which was in the latest issue of Knitty. Below is the most recent picture, taken Friday. I'm considerably further along now.

The only thing that I'm finding difficult about the pattern are the 2-into-9 and 3-into-9 stitches. They're a little tricky (especially the ssk after the 2-into-9), but I've managed to convince the stitches to go the right way. I'm halfway through the second repeat of the blossom chart. There are eight repeats total, followed by two edging charts.

My only goal for completion is by Dorian, and I think I'm quite on track to meet it. I have a few more projects in mind to have done by Dorian as well, but I'm going to try to practice project monogamy for the moment.

Now I think I'm going to catch up on an episode of The Riches via Hulu, which is the greatest site ever. Today.

headdesk

2008-04-16T11:32:00.002-05:00

Today has been one stupid bit of work bureaucracy after another. Thankfully, though, The List of this year's Dorian counselors arrived in my email box, and my day is considerably brighter.

According to Mistress Saucy Dish, there are only 59 more days until Dorian. Frankly, I can't wait. Would that I had a time machine!

Xa's Guide to Style

2008-04-14T14:27:00.004-05:00

I got a hot new trench. I'm pretty sure Tim Gunn and Stacey and Clinton would all be impressed.

The girl in the picture is not me.

I generally shy away from wearing white. I tried the coat on at Torrid and was checking myself out in the mirror. A salesgirl walked by as I was taking off the jacket and asked if I liked it. I said, "I kinda love it." And then I went to the checkout and bought it.

Aside from the trench, I also bought three books and some yarn. I got a hank of Skacel Merino Lace in taupe, all 1375 yards of it, for a shawl. It's Laminaria, and I started it last night. (I cast on using US 2 needles instead of US 4. I didn't realize this until this morning. I plead temporary insanity. Now I need to buy more lace needles ... darn.) I also got five skeins (1200 yards total) of Crystal Palace Kid Merino in black. It will also become a shawl, probably. I find black to be slightly more wearable in my wardrobe ... though I just got that white trench, so maybe white will be the new black.

Bobmas Eve?

2008-04-10T14:38:00.003-05:00

I'm supposed to be hosting a Bobmas Eve party tonight for Iowa members of Ravelry (Bobmas Eve, for the uninitiated, is to celebrate the anniversary of Ravelry, when Jess and Casey thought the whole thing up). But no one seems to want to go. I haven't gotten any replies on my thread for folks to go. I may end up hanging out at the mall food court all by my own self.

But then, I got my tax return applied to my bank account this week, so I might just go with a little retail therapy at the yarn shop that's right by the mall. Ha!

I have to say, it is a little cold and rainy, but of course, it's April. Who should be surprised at that?

Maybe I'll just go home and play Zelda for a while.

I swear I didn't inject collagen in my lips!

2008-04-07T09:21:00.004-05:00

Due to lacking email access at home, I wasn't able to post that I received my sock from the Wee Tiny Sock Swap. But I did! It came on Friday. (So did a wedding invitation ... eek!)

I've already put it on my keyring!

Isn't it adorable? I love quick little swaps like this. Thanks, Brooke! You rock!

Let me tell you that sometimes, when I wake up, my lips are huge. They look like collagen-induced nightmares. Today they're big enough that I can barely put my bottom lip over my top lip. It feels really funny. (I don't know why I shared that, but happy Random Tidbit About Xa Day!)

You know what they say about people with big lips ...

Also, I will say that sometime the gamer dork in me comes out to say hello, and I dive into a video game I haven't played in ages. Most recently it was Super Mario World, but now I've been sucked into Zelda. Lemme 'splain.

On Friday I was suddenly struck by the need to play the (rescued from my brothers) N64 that's been hiding in the bottom of my entertainment center for ages. I dug out the console, the cables, and all the games I have (some of which, like Madden and Star Wars Rogue Squadron, I'll never play). And then I saw it: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. And I dove in with my character named Izzard. (I'm covered in bees! Help!)

I've already beaten two of the dungeons; one without any help whatsoever. I'm pretty proud of having beaten the ice palace without cheating. It only took me two tries — the second without any fairies. The only reason I had to go it again was that I was running out of time. Most Zelda games don't really have time limits, except in mini-games. Majora's Mask is an exception: your character has three days to save Clock Town from the giant moon that's going to crash into the city.

Luckily, your character gets to play a song on his ocarina that allows him to manipulate time — you can jump forward half a day, slow time down so it's double-speed, or save and start again on the first day. (The only problem with that last one is if you don't save your rupees in the bank, they all disappear. So do arrows, bombs, magic beans, and other funky stuff like that. But that's all easy enough to recover.)

That said, I'm ready to tackle the third dungeon, which is on the ocean. And maybe hit a few spider houses once I get the hookshot from the pirate.

Okay, that's plenty of geekery for a Monday.

Wee Tiny Sock Swap

2008-04-02T12:15:00.004-05:00

I haven't blogged lately. Oops!

I joined Yarn Miracle's Wee Tiny Sock Swap a couple of weeks ago. I just sent this little one to live with Mariie, who lives in one of the other states that starts with 'I'.

Like my inside-out Panta? Me too.

The yarn is left over from my Bellatrix socks: Skacel Trampoline. The needles were US 0 (I think. I couldn't find my gauge to measure them, and they were almost the biggest in the packet of aluminum sock needles.) I turned the sock into a keychain and threw on a little charm because I thought it would make it cuter. I think it worked.

When they tell you your pizza is hot ...

2008-03-20T12:45:00.002-05:00

... don't be surprised when you get a blister when the topping falls off the crust onto your chin.

Ouch.

A couple of links for you to follow

2008-03-18T10:10:00.004-05:00

Visit MyMiniCity. It's cute.

VitaminPalooza is going well, except I forgot to take them this morning, and Saturday night. Oops! I do think they're starting to make a difference, so that's a good thing. I committed to another month of VitaminPalooza.

My mom and I went to 10,000 B.C. on Saturday (then out to dinner, which is why I missed my vitamins that night. She did too). It was a pretty good movie. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but what I saw wasn't quite it. For instance, there's a love story. And lots of sand. It was what was in the lots of sand that I really didn't expect. But I won't spoil it, if you'd still like to check it out. I'd give the movie 3 1/2 stars, I think.

Oh, and check out this Peep Show. It's really hot. And safe for work.

And I've been reading a fun web comic called Questionable Content. Check it out.

And yes, Biddy Love, she is. She is cute, has at least one kidlet, and bats for the opposite team.

Edited to add: Sometimes I have difficulties discerning the difference between coffee and tea, olfactorically speaking.

For the leaping greenly spirits of trees

2008-03-17T15:42:00.002-05:00

There are days when certain song lyrics ring true, and today is one of them.

Garbage — Only Happy When It Rains
I'm only happy when it rains
I'm only happy when it's complicated
And though I know you can't appreciate it
I'm only happy when it rains
You know I love it when the news is bad
And why it feels so good to feel so sad
I'm only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me

I don't mean to sound like a sad sack, as after the first line it sounds pretty emo when you're just reading the lyrics out. But it is grey and dreary today and I absolutely love it. More often than not, drizzly days energize me. I know lots of people get dragged down by the weather; I usually feel about snow the way most people feel about drizzle. To me, rainy days seem to have more secrets, and more adventure.

I finished Tudora yesterday before church. (My mom asked me to sing a descant yesterday, so I went.) Tudora's a neckwarmer, and today was a perfect day to wear it. (So was yesterday, for that matter.) And bonus! It's got green. Perfect for everyone's favorite verdant holiday.

Pattern: Tudora by Cheryl Marling, Winter 07 Knitty (Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in dusty olive
Needles: US 6 Boye Balene 16" circs
Cast on: March 8
Cast off: March 16

And for the record, I did wear a lot of green today. Crocs, earrings, squirrel necklace, a shirt, Koolhaas and Tudora. Bam. And I got a green-frosted cupcake from a co-worker. Mmm.

My only problem now? I'm out of Malabrigo.

New girl in town

2008-03-13T16:28:00.002-05:00

We have a couple of new faces at work. At least, I thought they were both new faces. It turns out I went to high school with one of them. The other day she came up to me and said, "I think I might have your senior picture. Did you graduate in 2000 or 2001?" And I said, "Yes, I graduated in 2001." She proceeded to say that she had just moved to town and was the "new girl," which is why I didn't exactly remember.

Interestingly, our office has a few of the yearbooks from the local high school — the one which the new girl and I both attended. I covertly looked her up yesterday afternoon, because I felt bad I didn't remember her at all. Sure enough, there she was: class of 2000. And then I had a sudden flash of being in the auditorium, me doing whatever it was I did junior year, and she rehearsing for her part in "The Taming of the Shrew," which was the play we did that spring.

She's very organized, and is cleaning and rearranging the office. And she showed me how to use the new laminating machine. Whee!

Koolhaas is finished

2008-03-11T16:39:00.003-05:00

I don't know that I mentioned when I posted yesterday that I finished Koolhaas on Friday.

PhotoBooth, how I love thee!

Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood, IK Holiday '07 (Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in dusty olive
Needles: US 6 Boye Balene and US 8 aluminum (both 16" circs); US 8 Clover bamboo
Cast on: February 26
Cast off: March 7

But what's really distracted me on Ravelry today is the thread on Mystical Creation Yarns. I've finally caught up with the train wreck of a thread which, at 2,137 posts, is a marathon to read. (There were nearly 200 posts to catch up on from what I'd read last night.) The thread concerns the poor business practices of the owner of said online yarn shop. This person has now allegedly faked her own death. It's sad, gossip-y, and really hard to look away (hence "train wreck").

Oh, and my new favorite radio station is Capitol 106.3, because when I turned it on this afternoon the song playing was Tori Amos' "A Sorta Fairytale." (And for the record, I turned it on when I got home for lunch at 3:30. Three-freaking-thirty.)

Spring forward? Not me!

2008-03-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Owing mostly to the fact that I left neither my house nor my pajamas yesterday, I also neglected to set all my clocks forward. Luckily for me, my work hours are generally pretty flexible, so it doesn't so much matter. So unlike all you DST-abiding citizens, I got an extra hour of sleep. Mua ha ha.

And now for a Vitaminpalooza update! I was going to post this comment last week, as it was slightly more relevant then, but who am I to be telling stories that are relevant.

On day eight of Vitaminpalooza (last Tuesday), I had some intense nausea about five minutes after I had breakfast. I was so confused; it is a rare day that I actually have breakfast. When I say intense nausea, I mean this close to vomiting: I'm already in the bathroom and ready to pay penance to the Porcelain God.

I read the box. I am 95% sure I saw something somewhere that said "best if taken with food." Here I am, sacrificing my time-honored tradition of ditching breakfast, and what do I have to show for it? Potential loss of vitamins via toilet bowl. What's with that?

Well, being a vitamin virgin — except for those Flintstone ones back in the day, and some really cool ones that looked like suns and moons — I just went for what seemed appropriate: food first. It turns out I've got the order all backwards. You're supposed to eat a bit and then pop the pills. Especially if you're taking something with iron, which can — get this — upset your stomach. I am such a dolt sometimes.

I went to The Spiderwick Chronicles Saturday evening with my mom. Having never read the books, I thought it was pretty cute.

Also, I finished some books yesterday for the Ravelry Book Challenge. (Yes, books plural. It pays to ignore DST ...) Firstly, I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I think that's the third time I've read it. It's still my favorite book of the series, and it still makes me (dork alert) emotional. Despite all the death, destruction and chaos. (Brownie points to whoever knows what movie that's from.)

I also finished Freakonomics yesterday. It was one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. And I don't usually have glowing reviews of non-fiction literature, because I usually fall asleep reading it. It is the most interesting take on economics I've ever seen. (I'm not a huge fan of economics, personally, because it falls into the math category in my brain and me and math ... aren't bosom companions. We've learned to get along, is all.) I'm incredibly glad my cousin recommended the book to me, and I must send him a note saying so.

With that, dear readers, it's time to do a little work.

In which I actually post photos! OMG!

2008-03-03T19:05:00.002-06:00

I thought you might enjoy seeing what my bruised leg looks like today. Thanks to the new iMac, the fantastic program Photo Booth, and my willingness to show a little leg at work ... here's an accurate representation. To be polite to those of a more delicate nature, I'll put the ~~technicolor artwork~~ bruised leg photo at the end of the post. To delay the moment of squeam, I'll distract you with a headshot.

See how long my hair is? See how long my roots are?

Watch as I ponder the red minion, guardian of my desk.

Other than taking pictures of my technicolor leg, I've been working a bit on my Koolhaas hat, although I had to frog almost three repeats of the eight-row chart, due to the fact that I completely omitted the third row all the way through. While it looked cool, it just didn't have the effect I wanted, so now I'm ... one repeat in to the chart.

Aside from that, I've finished The Wee Free Men for the Ravelry Book Challenge. I started both Freakonomics and Talk to the Hand yesterday, the former to the suggestion of my well-read cousin and the latter because I enjoyed the author's first book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

And now, dear readers, I depart, leaving you the ghastly picture of my leg to haunt your dreams. Mua ha ha.

Check me out! I'm wearing pretty excellent pants today, though you can hardly tell from the picture.

29 days hath February

2008-02-29T12:16:00.005-06:00

Happy Leap Day! I'm sure many of you know the Month Poem, which begins "30 days hath September ..." I just found this funny website, where you can read all 69 versions of the Month Poem. I think my favorite might be version one, at the bottom of the page.

30 days hath Septober
April June and no wonder
All the rest eat peanut butter
Except Grandma and
she rides a tricycle

Most of them are pretty ... stupid. Actually, this one is pretty stupid, too. But still vaguely funny. In fact, it's probably only funny because it's so absurd. Most of them follow a pattern similar to version 65:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
February has twenty-eight alone.
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting leap year, that’s the time
When February has twenty-nine.

But version 43 — that's the kicker.

30 days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Except February -
That's the weird one.

Anyway, enough of my blathering. I need to go deposit my resume at the library (again), and I'm coughing all over the place. And here I was going to have a party to celebrate Leap Day (mostly consisting of drinking all the leftover alcohol in the house, because I'm classy like that). I don't think ritualistic dehydration by means of alcoholic beverages is the way to go, somehow.

Tschüs, and have a delightful Leap Day.

Ouch.*

2008-02-28T12:23:00.004-06:00

Due to some unintentional ice acrobatics last night, my right leg now looks as though I've strapped a crooked shinguard just below my knee. (And I'll have you know that I have, in fact, worn shinguards in real life, although I haven't played soccer since about eighth grade.)

Also, my throat feels as though I swallowed a small, thorny succulent and chased it with malt vinegar or something equally dreadful.

Oh, and it's snowing again. Winter is not my favorite season.

*Did I ever tell you that my first word was "ouch"? It was.

Mmmmalabrigo!

2008-02-27T12:47:00.004-06:00

Having cast on for Jared Flood's Koolhaas hat last night, I understand why some folks refer to Malabrigo yarn as "mmmmalabrigo." It is luscious to touch, and marvelous to knit. I did not disdain casting on any of the 104 stitches the pattern calls for, nor did I despise any one of the 105 stitches I knitted on the first row, having cast on one extra (for posterity?) by accident.

And that is all I have to say today. Mmmmalabrigo.

Vitamins and glowing faces

2008-02-26T10:19:00.004-06:00

Indeed, when I got home last night at 10:30, there was a slightly soggy cardboard box on my stoop, full of Melaleuca goodness. Though it has only been 10 days or so since I ordered, I'd actually forgotten what all I put on my order form. Vitamins, tooth polish, and fancy fat-burning protein bars I remembered, but there was also some fresh rain scented room spray (which doesn't actually smell like rain at all), Melaleuca oil (tea tree oil) and some cheesy crackers.

The reason it was 10:30? I sojourned to my parents house to retrieve my PartyLite order, which also arrived yesterday! Now I have enough candles to burn my house down — smelling good the whole time.

So day one of VitaminPalooza has commenced, and what better day than a Tuesday? A friend of mine used to say continually, "Monday is a new day!" (Or maybe it was "Monday is a new week!" or "I fucking hate Mondays!" I don't so much recall so clearly.) I say, "Monday may be a new day, but Tuesday's right after and is good enough to start a new plan!" (Don't want Tuesday to feel all lonely, after all.)

Oh! I was reading a little more of Haunted last night before bed. As I had been sitting in the living room, I shut off all the lights, leaving the house dark until I got to the bed to turn on the bedside lamp. As I was walking through the darkest part of the house, I glanced down. And a screaming face was staring back up at me, glowing in the dark! I must say, I had quite a start. Seeing the ghostly glow was not my favorite way to prepare for bed.

Image hijacked from Goodreads.com

And I wondered why the cover had such a weird texture ...

A meme in my pants ...

2008-02-25T19:11:00.002-06:00

Look, another post! Ok, so it's just a meme. Still, it made me laugh! I found it reading Bumblefee's blog.

1. Put your music player on "random." Skip songs with not-very interesting titles (such as "Concerto #4 in E minor").
2. List the titles of the first 25 songs to come up.
3. Put "in my pants" after each title.
4. Bold the ones that actually made you laugh.

1. Star People in my pants
2. Kiss You Off in my pants
3. Straight from the Heart in my pants
4. Change the World in my pants
5. I Love You in my pants
6. Agony in my pants
7. Don't Explain in my pants
8. Precious Things in my pants
9. Twice in Every Show in my pants
10. I Should Tell You in my pants
11. Every Story is a Love Story in my pants
12. Over My Head in my pants (Quite prepositional, don't you think?)
13. All I Want in my pants
14. Reason Why in my pants
15. Body to Body, Heart to Heart in my pants
16. Insane Crotch in my pants (This is a clip of Michael Kors commenting on PR)
17. On the Steps of the Palace in my pants (Another überpreposition!)
18. Suddenly I See in my pants
19. Sweet Suicide in my pants
20. Letter Read in my pants
21. No Place Like London in my pants (Made me laugh because it's Johnny!)
22. I'll See It Through in my pants
23. Velvet Revolution in my pants
24. Father's Son in my pants (Um, no!)
25. I Wanna Get Back With You in my pants (Tori Amos and Tom Jones! How could that not make you laugh?!)

Snow, snow, snow, snow

2008-02-25T15:21:00.004-06:00

Another Monday and guess what? It's snowing. This is becoming a very regular thing this winter, and I don't like it. I don't think I've seen my driveway since November. (Of course, this causes less of a problem than you might think, as I don't own a car.)

What else do I know? I signed up for Melaleuca last week. I'm supposed to have gotten my first order today, though I haven't been home yet. UPS says it's been delivered, at any rate. I ordered some vitamins, some nutrition bars, some tooth polish, and a few other cool things. I'm pretty pumped, particularly about the vitamins. I'll try to post a review soon.

I started reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk last week. It's pretty ... whacked out and creepy. Par for his stuff, really. I'm enjoying it so far. I finished The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker last week. I downloaded it from Librivox.org, which is a fantastic site for obtaining audio versions of books in the public domain, or when the copyright has expired.

Snow continues to fall. Rather quickly, too.

Reunion show tonight, and more

2008-02-20T12:49:00.004-06:00

I was going to combine the last post and this one, but then I realized it would have been nine miles long, so I'm instead posting them directly after one another. There are just a few things to say. It won't take long.*

Tonight is the reunion show on Project Runway. I'm very excited, mostly because Heidi is going to (all but) call Victorya a bitch. Secondly, the fan favorite will be announced. This will of course be Chris March, because he's fantastic and I voted for him.

I am still enjoying Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair. You shouldn't be surprised, as I am generally two of those things most of the time. (Well, not that drunk, I suppose, but definitely not divorced, having never been married.)

I ran across these handy little things Monday called PocketMods. They are essentially a mini planner, made from a sheet of letter size paper. With one cut and a little clever folding, you end up with something akin to a paper Palm Pilot. There are many templates for pages, from lines to grids to music staffs to drawing boards, plus templates of conversion formulas, calendars, lists, and even sudoku and the dreaded dot game.

I love mine so far. (I even used one this morning to outline this post and the previous one so's I wouldn't forget anything. And it worked well.) PocketMods use one side of one sheet of paper, which enables the recycling savvy folk to reuse paper that might have been otherwise tossed in the bin. I'm even thinking of sharing them with Dorians this summer. That's how funky they are.

Speaking of savvy, a friend came into the office yesterday to place an ad. He used the word "suave-y," which made me smile. I just can't decide whether he intentionally combined the words "savvy" and "suave," or whether he was pretending to be a redneck, or whether it was simply an accident. Not that it matters but I enjoyed the word, at any rate.

Oh, and speaking of yesterday, the Office Despot was really childish to me yesterday. I had gone into her office to give her a phone message. (I specifically told her not to worry, and to take care of it when she had time.) It was probably a little after 1 p.m.; the front office was empty and she was in her own little office finishing lunch. She had a stormy look on her face and took the note. I asked her what she had for lunch, because I was kind of hungry by that point and it smelled pretty good. Her petulant reply? Sticking her tongue out at me with half-chewed food still in her mouth. I mean really, what are we? Five years old?

I just walked away and muttered, "Right..." while she complained that everyone had gone to lunch just when she had gotten hers. Halfway back to my desk by then, I called, "Yep. It happens." This is not the first food-induced cranky incident with the Office Despot, either. I suppose I shall just have to treat this 50-year-old woman as she acts: like a child.

I only mentioned the incident to one other person in the office, because I think it's pretty tacky to tattle. But I thought you might enjoy it, dear readers.

That is all. Hope your Wednesday is happy!

* Mua ha ha. It did take long, didn't it?

The Birthday Party of Doom, or How I Spent My Saturday Night

2008-02-20T11:18:00.005-06:00

The Birthday Party of Doom! That wasn't the real name for it. I mean, it was a birthday party and all, but there wasn't a whole lot of doom. Just liquor and mostly-naked women and dancing.

Bug-a-boo standing in front of the party bus, our posh mode of transportation.

My cousin Bug-a-boo, which is not her given name but in fact what her parents used and still do call her from time to time, turned 21 on Saturday. It was very handy to have been a Saturday, because Saturdays are very good days to have parties, mostly due to lack of obligations on Sunday, which is commonly known in the 20-something crowd as Recuperation From Drinking So Damn Much Day. (Yes, commonly known as. That's what everyone calls it. No lie.)

Her friend, who I will call Denim because if you know his name it's horribly clever but you probably don't know him so he's just Denim to you, also celebrated his birthday. Denim turned 24.

If you're doing the math, or if you know me, you know that my birthday is in June, and that I will be turning 25 this year. That made me one of the oldest people at the party. (I was not alone in being one of the oldest people at the party. Denim's friend Jeff Jeffty Jeff is 25. We high-fived because of it.) It is no small thing for me to be one of the oldest folks, because I am usually one of the youngest in my circle of friends. Anyhow, back to the drinking.

We started at a bar & grill, because all good things start at bar & grill establishments. (Or not. I don't really know.) There were drinks, and pork fritters, and more drinks. The bus showed up, carrying us and our accompanying alcohol to the first bar — did you know you can take beers and other liquor on party buses? I didn't know that kind of thing was even legal. Ah, the conveniences of modern life.

We went to the strip club,* where there was more drinking and milling around watching half-naked women dance. And then Bug-a-boo's friend talked to the emcee, and suddenly the birthday kids were up on stage being stripped upon by all the half-naked women in the joint. It was very funny, and I took incriminating pictures of it. (Denim, by the way, has a girlfriend who is 20. I can only imagine how she took the news that he was all danced upon.)

We went to the second bar, which was one of those college bars downtown. The bartender there made very strong drinks, and Bug-a-boo continued to drink them.

My cousins, trying to prove that they look alike, which shouldn't be surprising as they're siblings.

The above photo was taken at the second bar. Bug-a-boo and Noraa were showing their friends how much they look alike. Or they were trying to. Doing such is exceedingly difficult after you've imbibed a few beers. Bug-a-boo pulled back her hair and Noraa attempted to cover up his sideburns, which doesn't so much work when you're still holding a beer and facing a different direction.

(By the way, Noraa's nickname comes from the time he dressed up as a woman and went by Noraa. Bug-a-boo simply calls him Airhead. Which he isn't as he's actually quite well-read and knowledgeable about a multitude of random topics that piss off our grandparents, but that's a story for another day.)

We went to the third and final bar, which was a dance club. There was dancing and, as you might suspect, more drinking.

After all that, the party bus took us back to the bar & grill, where the remaining eight or so of us (down from the 21 that boarded the bus initially) milled around in the parking lot, freezing and talking. Three folks begged off, saying that they had to "work tomorrow" or "go home and drink more." (Lame excuses, really.) The rest of us went to IHOP, which was packed, and we ate food and went home and slept.

And in the morning, there were no hangovers. (Well, except for Noraa. He came out of his bedroom much later than Bug-a-boo and I, and he was groaning about a headache. She and I had nary a hurt.)

That was The Birthday Party of Doom.

* By the by, I did not take yesterday's picture of my cousins and I at the strip club. I actually suck at that sort of thing (by which I mean taking photographs of myself and others all in the same shot), while others, by some strange miracle, don't.

I've probably done this one once or twice before ...

2008-02-18T15:22:00.005-06:00

In lieu of telling you how my weekend went, which I will probably do tomorrow or Wednesday, I'm going to do a meme. I caught it catching up on my feeds and saw it from Ugly Green Chair. I've seen various iterations of this meme, by the bye.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open it to page 123.
3. Find the fourth* sentence / phrase.
4. Blog the next five sentences / phrases together with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig your shelves for that very special or intellectual book.
6. Pass it forward to six friends.

Although I'm at work, I happen to have Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair in my bag. I purchased it yesterday after car retrieval. (Again, I'll talk about that later.)

Besides, it was funny. She was glaring at me like I was a drunken sot of a no-cooking, sorry-ass, baby mama. Me! A baby mama! I could not correct her.

Now I'm going to ignore the part about passing it on — you can do it if you like, or not. I'm not picky. (Well yes, I am picky, but not when it comes to such quirky trivialities as memes.)

Okay, just to whet your appetite, here's an actual photo of this weekend. It is of my cousins and I at a strip club remarkably close to where Dustro and I used to live.

Here I am with my cousins Noraa and Bug-a-boo at a strip club. We ought to hold more family reunions here ...

*This bit actually said to find the fifth sentence and blog the next four, but that's a little backwards, so I transposed them.

The Effects of Librotonin and other tales

2008-02-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

I'm currently reading four books for the Ravelry Book Challenge, one of which I can't find. As of yesterday morning, I was only reading two books, one of which I can't find. Let me tell you why that is (not the bit about having one I can't find — that's never abnormal, and you know this if you've seen my house).

I have this brain problem. Every time I get in a certain radius of a book store, a chemical called librotonin is produced. This chemical is not dissimilar to serotonin, except that they're completely different. I have thus far been unable to compute the exact event horizon of librotonin, as once I'm close enough to the book store I'm sucked in and Must Buy More Books.

Needless to say, yesterday I crossed that threshold yet again, finding myself at Court Ave Books, our local used book store. (I generally gravitate toward the fiction section in a book store, to start off, so it was no surprise that I found myself in short order carrying Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion by Neil Gaiman. (I just finished reading the four-book Hitchhiker trilogy, and this was just the sort of thing I wanted to read after.)

I made my way then to the young adult area, because I wanted to see if there were more Madeline L'Engle books that I didn't have. And then Lloyd Alexander caught my eye. Well not Alexander himself — that would be rather extraordinary as he died last May — but his Prydain books. I was trying to decide which were the ones in the trilogy (because for some reason I thought those books were a trilogy and in fact, they're not) and chose the one that begins with the Assistant Pig-Keeper: The Book of Three.

Following my foray into children's literature, I then went to the front of the store where they keep the classics. You know, those books you always mean to read because everyone always talks about them but you suspect that they haven't read them either. I thought to myself, Ah, Jules Verne. He's one you ought to read, being all into steampunk and stuff. And I found his books and picked up 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; then I left the store before I could do more damage to my pocketbook.

Despite this librotonin effect, or perhaps because of it, I've finished seven fiction books and two non-fiction books, which you can see little thumbnails and ratings of in the sidebar yonder.

I was also going to write about the snow that fell last night, which was not heavy snow this time, thankfully. It's instead the sort of snow that looks like piles of big glitter flakes and acts like dust. It's the sort that, if you scoop it up in your hands and blow on it, it all comes back in your face and you get all snowy and damp.

It's the sort that, due to its powdery consistency, one shouldn't have to shovel it. In actuality one could go to an amusement park and purchase one of those dreadful little fans that run on a pair of AA batteries that don't really keep you cool but make you sweat just a little more when you point them at your face.

And that's all I really had to say about the snow.

In memoriam

2008-02-04T19:07:00.000-06:00

When I read on Ravelry last week that sock designer Gigi Silva, known as MommaMonkey on Ravelry, passed away, I was stunned. I'd seen in passing, when looking up some of her beautiful sock patterns, that she was ill, but never in a million years did it occur to me that she was that sick.

Though I never new MommaMonkey personally, I know that she was such a loving, caring person. I decided the only thing to do was to finish my Bellatrix socks, one in a series of Harry Potter-themed patterns she released last July, as a sort of tribute.

This pair's for you, MommaMonkey.

I'm too lazy to think

2008-02-02T22:25:00.000-06:00

Rules of the game:
1. Put your iPod, iTunes, Windows Media Player, CD player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the forward (next) button to get a new song, the title of the song is the answer to the question.
3. You must write the song name down no matter how silly it sounds*

Questions:
If someone says, “Is this okay?” you say, Be Free - Papa Roach
How would you describe yourself? Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters (You know it!)
What do you like in a guy/girl? Re: Your Brains - Jonathan Coulton
How do you feel today? General Joy - Tori Amos
What is your life’s purpose? Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly
What is your motto? Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
What do your friends think of you? Witness - Tori Amos
What do your parents think of you? The Power of Orange Knickers - Tori Amos
What do you think about often? Take Your Mama - Scissor Sisters
What is 2 + 2? You Could Have It So Much Better - Franz Ferdinand
What do you think of your best friend? Untitled - Rachael Yamagata
What do you think of the person you like? Midnight Show - The Killers
What is your life story? Martha's Foolish Ginger - Tori Amos
What do you want to be when you grow up? The Beekeeper - Tori Amos (I wanna keep bees. Don't want 'em to get away!)
What do you think when you see the person you like? Millionaire Girlfriend - Jonathan Coulton
What will you dance to at your wedding? Sweet the Sting - Tori Amos
What will they play at your funeral? I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas - Gayla Peevey
What is your hobby/interest? Tori Amos
What is your biggest fear? Under My Skin - Rachael Yamagata
What is your biggest secret? On Top - The Killers
What do you think of your friends? Paper Doll - Rachael Yamagata

Seen at Terra Nullius ...

*Just so's you know, I'm typing this at my parents' house and using my playlist there ... which is why it's not terribly varied.

Fantastically hot or fucking freezing ...

2008-01-29T22:08:00.000-06:00

Two posts in less than a week? Too bad I don't have anything particularly witty to say. In fact, it's just about the weather.

I have this funky weather widget called Forecastfox on my browser here at work. It can tell me all sorts of numbers and give me fun pictures of radar and useful stuff like that (for instance, in the photos below you can see a severe alert icon, the radar icon, a mouseover of current conditions, and icons for the next few days, which tell you the forecast when you mouseover). It gets data from AccuWeather.com.

I glanced up a while ago, after ~~working on~~ finagling some particularly difficult text, and saw the windchill. That's the number in parentheses below. When I saw it, I nearly started swearing.

If this doesn't qualify as fucking freezing, I don't know what does.

You see what I mean? This weather is absolutely ridiculous. I wish I had taken a screenshot yesterday of my beloved Forecastfox. It was an astonishing 50-some degrees here. I actually walked outside yesterday, outermost layer a sweatshirt. Today? Couldn't wear enough layers. Thankfully, I can easily catch a ride home. No way in hell I'm walking six blocks with a windchill this low.

Look at that forecast for Saturday! Much nicer than right now.

Although the temp, as of this second, has adjusted to 3 degrees above and a windchill of 29 below, so we're getting there. Slowly but surely.

Today feels suspiciously like a Sunday, but it's Monday

2008-01-28T20:45:00.000-06:00

*Sigh.*

I just can't get Heath Ledger out of my head. And the image of him that continues to pop to my mind is not one of his more recent roles, but rather his portrayal of Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You. It's very strange.

As you may have noticed by taking a gander at the sidebar, I've cast on for another project: Swamp Witch from The AntiCraft. I have no photos currently, but it's just a really big, lacy shawl on really big needles.

And I finished another block on the Filet Crochet Par-tay. It's squirrels. (Again, no photo. I'm a slacker.)

In which I mumble awkwardly regarding several topics

2008-01-22T19:54:00.000-06:00

I'd like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey ...

No, that's not it.

I will say, however, that my dear BAS has updated over at Double Life of a Pretend Adulthood, which is a treat that happens oh so rarely. Teaching school and attending school can make one quite busy, so I don't blame her in the slightest. Also, the happiest of birthdays to our dear Aramad on Friday. She's the third of the Cribbage Crew to hit the quarter century mark hard.

Also, I saw this strange post over at Terra Nullius just as I was reading BAS' post in my feed reader. Heath Ledger has died. It's truly one of those moments when you say, "What? ... I was watching that." And you're sort of stunned.*

Um. Yes. I've done some knitting. See?

Sweeney Todd mitts, which are really Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda. The yarn is Patons Lacette, the needles US 5 bamboo. The picture is so smashing because it's actually a scan. And the only reason I got these started and finished at all was because I watched all four Bring It On movies on ABC Family on Sunday. (It was one of those days, ok? And anyway, they're not the same size, because I was all distracted and off on my counting. But it doesn't matter when they're on, so I don't care.)

And I've been fiddling with the template. I added a fun Ravelry widget to the sidebar, telling you exactly how much knitting I'm not doing (despite the FO pictured above). Two of those projects listed have had the very same percentage done for a Very Long Time; the other two for Longer Than I'd Like.

I waffle back and forth on whether this template or that looks good. Mostly it looks bland because I can't get it exactly what I want it to do, so I leave it looking as though some strange sea has washed over the sands of code, causing all the interesting CSS driftwood to lodge itself on some other sandy beach far from my own.

*Eddie Izzard reference, because I'm that uncouth to mention death and Eddie Izzard in the same paragraph.

In which I make excuses for not knitting.

2008-01-16T14:34:00.000-06:00

Forgive me, readers, for I have sinned. It has been eight days since my last ~~confession~~ post.

I haven't knitted anything at all. In two weeks. I have, however, crocheted two things, which is a very strange thing for me. Firstly, I saw some Evil Minions on Craftster, and for some reason I *had* to make them that night. So there's a sparkly red bunni (sic) sitting on my computer here at work.

Secondly, I taught myself to filet crochet. I am about two-thirds through my first piece: the fleur-de-lis filet crochet. (That's probably the most French I've ever used in a sentence. And look at all those unpronounced consonants. I shake my head in disdain at you, French language!) It's actually coming on quite nicely. I'm using some random acrylic and a large-ish hook (the only kind, right?), and I'm at the first row on the chart where there's a whole lot more black than white.

What else have I been occupying my time with? The aforementioned Ravelry Book Challenge. Someone who is also in the challenge is organizing the books through goodreads. So I opened an account. My challenge bookshelf can be found here. There are only four books at the moment, but I'm probably going to finish one or two of them today. (I'm quite near the ends of them.) I'll stick a goodreads widget in the sidebar so's you can keep up with my appetite for bound volumes.

Really, that's all I have. Happy Wednesday!

Howie Mandel, all in white

2008-01-08T09:18:00.000-06:00

I had a very interesting dream last night. In fact, I woke up and for a few minutes, I was quite convinced it was real. And I know some of you might not enjoy reading descriptions of others' dreams, but tough luck, I say.

I was at work. All the desks were gone in the front office, and the walls were a bright white (I assumed someone had been painting). Suddenly, the office despot walked into the room, crying. She had gotten fired, and everyone that *she* had fired was hired back.

And then our owner walked in through the back door, his head shaved bald, wearing a white suit and looking oddly like Howie Mandel (who resembles our owner about as much as a pebble resembles a Lamborghini.

So that was fun.

Anyhow, the book challenge is going well. In addition to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I started reading The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. I'm about halfway through, and enjoying it quite a lot. It's been a long while since I've read any Pern books, so it's nice to come back to that.

Really, that's all I have. There hasn't been a lot of knitting lately. I've got half a pair of Mrs. Beetons done, and I'm still working on the Bellatrix socks.

ETA: Bwahahaha! I had to share this with you: The Top 25 Men Who Look Like Lesbians according to Cracked.com.

Book challenge!

2008-01-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

My dad was on national news last night. He was interviewed about the Iowa caucusing by Charlie Gibson for ABC World News. The segment, if slightly hokey, was still pretty cool.

I joined a book challenge on Ravelry yesterday. I set a goal to read at least 52 fiction books and and 12 non-fiction books in 2008. (One fiction a week and one non-fiction a month. Clever, I know. I got the idea from someone else in the group.) My first fiction book is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (it's a good thing re-reads and audiobooks count!) and my first non-fiction will be Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich. I bought and started it last year and, er, stopped, so I'll be starting over soon.

I eat plenty of eggs.

2008-01-02T10:38:00.000-06:00

As background to this fragment of conversation, Circulation Worker 1 and Circulation Worker 2 are married.

Circulation Worker 1: "Eggs are good for your sex life."
Circulation Worker 2: "I eat plenty of eggs."
Circulation Worker 1 laughs: "I know you do."

Also, these two are probably in their early 60s. *shudder*

I convinced a co-worker to start a blog yesterday, in the midst of chatting and sharing favorite 80s songs (and working, of course). Turns out she's a good writer, too! Check out Minor View when you get a chance. She's getting linked in the sidebar, she is.

And hey, new Project Runway tonight. ('Bout time, after leaving for two bloody weeks.) I didn't steal the bitch's dye!

Happy new year!

2008-01-01T17:23:00.000-06:00

Apologies to Ms Kim, for at my New Year's Eve party, there was no knitting, no Harry Potter watching, not even any André. I wasn't drinking due to having to be lucid at work today. But I did find a sparkly flapper headband after the fact and wore it for a good five minutes.

To share a sentiment I saw a few times at the Knitty Coffeeshop yesterday, May your best of 2007 be your worst of 2008. I found it to be more than appropriate, and thought I'd like to share it with my loyal readers. (Thank you, two people!)

Resolutions seem to be the cool thing to do 'round this time of year, but I was never really one of those people. Nevertheless: to be more wholly me and to be more involved with activism are two goals I have for the coming year. I managed to curtail a couple of bad habits over the past few months, though one is trying to sneak back in, and I feel all the better for my accomplishment.

Sweeney Todd: perfect for the holidays!

2007-12-23T13:49:00.000-06:00

I didn't realize that there wouldn't be a new Project Runway until the new year. Boo.

But I did see Sweeney Todd. It's the perfect holiday movie: singing, romance, bloodshed, unconscious cannibalism ... everything one could possibly desire! I find myself needing to obtain the movie soundtrack very very soon so that I can listen to the dulcet tones of Johnny Depp's and Alan Rickman's duet, Pretty Women. Clips of said song can be seen and heard on YouTube. (Really, after watching that first one, how could you not absolutely melt over both those wonderful actors?)

I thought that the movie was very well done — but then, I love Tim Burton's movies all to pieces anyhow. I loved that they used Sondheim's score, too. Mmm. And now, thanks to Helena Bonham Carter, I have a new life-long dream: to be Mrs. Lovett so's I can sing The Worst Pies in London. (And you know, Angela Lansbury was damn good, too. It's not just Helena.)

Right. I've got some knitting to finish and some work to do. You should see the Knithulhu I finished yesterday! (Photos when I find a camera.)

Just another manic Wednesday

2007-12-19T15:43:00.000-06:00

After this last thing, I promise I'll shut up about my family for a while.

Remember how I told you my brother Brox was going to Maine for the holidays to see his girlfriend? The flight turned into a fiasco. He was supposed to take a plane from Des Moines to Detroit, then fly from Detroit to Bangor. Well, his first flight was delayed over an hour for some wacky reason, causing him to miss his flight from Detroit. No problem, right? We'll just schedule a different flight to Portland and even though it's farther away, no harm done.

Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Unfortunately, the person who did the scheduling did not send poor Brox in an easterly fashion. They put him on a plane to Minneapolis; I imagine the next step from there was Portland Oregon. Oops. They caught the error pretty quickly, thankfully. The airport gave Brox a hotel voucher and said, "You're flying to Chicago in the morning at 7 a.m. Then you're going to Bangor."

So it was the six-state tour of the midwest. And his first time flying. I bet he was irritated to no end ...

Otherwise, I've got Project Runway tonight — huzzah! Chris March is back on to take Jack's place! — and Sweeney Todd on Friday. Speaking of ~~sexy Depp~~ Sweeney Todd, you can watch the opening credits here. Oh baby, oh baby.

From the hit band Cheltenham comes the new album "The Situation"

2007-12-17T18:04:00.000-06:00

I hadn't planned on blogging further today, but I saw this interesting meme over at Bumblefee's blog. It reminds me of the "open iTunes, hit shuffle, this is the soundtrack of your life" meme.

Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name. Click random article again; that is your album name. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

Band name: Cheltenham
Album name: The Situation

Tracks:

1) Malaysian Rail-babbler
2) Harms (policy debate)
3) Thomas Gage (clergyman)
4) Liar (Harisu album)
5) Austrebertha
6) Amerigo (cocktail)
7) GCCS
8) Sasha Kajkut
9) List of airports in Clark County, Nevada
10) Sniper (2008)
11) Enfield 8000
12) Red Roses
13) Whitwell
14) Alcidamas
15) Tulpius

Lots of parenthetical remarks, but overall, it is an excellent album. I especially like tracks nine and twelve.

Oui R Still Family

2007-12-17T11:15:00.000-06:00

Every time I think about work, this squamous, betentacled beast wakes up inside me. As I am at work right now, this is difficult to avoid. (Work has suddenly turned into a dictatorship — or perhaps vicktatorship would be more appropriate, given the source — and a number of people have been fired. I really wouldn't be surprised if the whole operation went down in flames (and really, I would be ok with that, despite needing to be able to pay the bills).

But anyway, that's not what I wanted to share today. Last week my grandparents sent out a letter talking about what's happened over the year. I'll quote the first paragraph so that you might get a clear picture of my grandmother. All capitalization, punctuation and grammar are intact from the original.

As we near the end of '07. We are another year closer to the return of the real King. It is great to read of the many foreign lands that are turning to Christ, but I'm sure Our Lord is saddened by the rebellion in our own nation. Keep Praying.

I had to read that paragraph a second time to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, but that was, in fact, what my grandmother wrote. (And that sort of thing provokes another squamous beast within, but I'll let that stew by itself. Bleh.)

So I read the rest of the letter. Really, she just wanted an excuse to talk about her kids and grandkids, which would be fine were it not for the fact that she talked a whole lot more about her kids than my grandpa's. (They married about six months after I was born; I don't remember exactly when my mom's mom died. I know it was between my parents' wedding and my birth.) The best part, though, is that six of the seven grandkids' names were mentioned regarding what they've been up to. I must not be interesting enough; I wasn't mentioned at all.

Oui R Family, and it drives me crazier. But my brother Brox is hopping a plane to Maine to spend time with the girlfriend over the holiday.

Oui R Family

2007-12-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

Ah. It's amazing how much better one will sleep and how much warmer one will be in a well-made bed compared to a poorly-made one.

But what I really wanted to talk about today was family and how different my mom's side is from my dad's side. All this comes to mind because my dad's sister M came up to Iowa from Louisiana on a rescue mission this past weekend. She and her son Z left their house at 5:30 a.m. Friday. They pulled in shortly after 7:30 that evening.

The reason for the rescue mission was that her daughter D, who had baby T last January*, was up visiting her dad and his family. I enjoy getting to see her (because inevitable we do), but I wish she wouldn't try so hard to get their approval of her and baby T. Her grandmother says she's ruining the poor kid's life. (Really, the only thing I see wrong is she watches Spongebob with him. I automatically think anybody who watches that tripe is a nutter for sure.) D is actually doing a pretty good job, as far as I can see.

At any rate, I think she and baby T end up overstaying their welcome, though the overstay this time around was due to the weather — they missed their flight up in the Cities because they couldn't drive up. She finally convinced them to drive her and baby T to my parents' house, where M was going to meet her to pick them up. M and Z were stranded here until Monday, since there was a whole lot of ice and nasty weather in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. But they made it back and all is well.

I guess I love that side of the family so much because there's plenty of drama. And when M and Z come to visit, I get to catch up on the family gossip.

My aunt L, the second of my dad's three sisters (the other, C, lives in northern Iowa and we see her a lot), is full of drama. The last I had heard about L was that she was doing stuff that's a little "kinky." (Coming from M, I'm not sure I want to know any more than that.) The latest is that she moved in with a guy who spends more time in jail for drugs than out. And she's an hour away from her job (one way) and is all stressed out.

As for M, she has a live-in manfriend K, as well as Z, D and baby T all at her house. M, K and Z are all fervid WoW players. M and K went to GenCon this year. They're hardcore gamers, and I love it. (I think our entire family ought to go to GenCon sometime. It would be excellent.) M even got a DIY Monopoly set and created Cthulhuopoly. (Which is why I spent a while last night making my own version of Cthulhuclaus. I'd like to send it to her for Xmas.)

Now, my mom's side of the family is equally fun, but in a different way.

A transformer near her sister A's house was struck by lightning a few months ago, causing 220 volts to run through their house instead of the standard 110. Thankfully, the wiring held up and the house didn't burn down. In fact, they had to get all new appliances, computers, you name it. Their insurance covered it. A's husband R used to be a park ranger. Ranger Ric. (Or Rico Suavé, depending on whom you ask.)

My uncle E, mom's brother, works for UP in Omaha. He's the director of IT, pretty much the top of the food chain in his area. His wife D has worked as for a local meat packing plant, as a lunch lady and at Goodwill. She also sells Mary Kay. Their son A, who is great at arguing with our grandparents, is studying to be a lawyer. Their daughter A, transferred from UNO after a semester to UNI, spent a year there, and is transferring back to UNO for the spring semester. She no longer wants to be a teacher, but an accountant.

Wow. What a lengthy exposition. I was also going to tell you about a clever Xmas gift I'm planning, but I'll save that for another day.

*Funny thing about that post: I talked about having seen Pan's Labyrinth. I ended up watching that with the visiting family Saturday night.

Not dead yet!

2007-12-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

I live by the red dot. White is snow, pink is ice, green is rain.

It really wasn't bad out this morning. But of course, I didn't have to try to keep tires on a road, so my perspective is a little different. I did, however, have wet insoles by the time I got to work; my shoes are clearly not as water repellent as I once believed.

I've been knitting up a storm lately, having had a number of ideas for xmassy sorts of presents. I've done up a hat for the brother that is going to visit his girlfriend in Maine and not be home during the holidays except for two days at the end. It's a Karma Hat, done up with a fun alternate decrease a la Brooklyn Tweed that keeps the cable pattern. (Jared at BT, by the by, has the most gorgeous photographs of knitting. Have a look-see, even if you're not a knitter.)

I swear I was awake. I swear.

I'm also doing up a hat for my other brother using the Cameron's Cap pattern. It's the same grey wool (Lamb's Pride Worsted) with few color accents in turquoise and ruby. I don't have a photo of it yet.

I will be starting my first foray into the world of knitting with beads, as I plan to begin Ice Queen from the Winter Knitty soon. It's going to be out of some purple and lime Crystal Palace Kid Merino, which is left over from a short scarf I knit last year. I even picked out some pretty coordinating beads.

And I want to make some ruby slippers from Berroco's Sacha slippers in a sparkly red yarn. (I forget which it is at the moment.)

As for a giftie for dear old dad, maybe I'll make up a pattern for a towel-shaped bookmark — I'm giving him a volume of Douglas Adams.

Anyway, I really have to get working, or I'll be here forever tonight.