Brief and to the point

Not words I would usually apply to my writing, but, ehn.

Christmas was wonderful. I have two projects outstanding, but at least those who are getting them know that they're coming, so that's not so bad. The Kid was simply awesome this year - he opened every gift like it was the greatest ever, and although he did have some clear favorites (A to Z Mysteries, Sonic action figures, the gift card that allowed him to buy His Very Own DS), his responses were so over the moon for even mundane gifts. Six, I think, is the Best Age, but then, I say that every year.

I got to cook Christmas dinner this year, for the first time! We had ham, sweet potatoes (with marshmallow, yum!), green bean casserole, and veggie lasagna. And we also had leftovers.

As for my own best gifts? Having my family around me, spending a first Christmas with a good friend, watching the delight in the Kid's face.... oh yeah, and Metalocalypse season one, Danger Mouse, Brain Age 2, and the yearly gift of a Bag of New Underpants.

Gearing up for a difficult week ahead. However, if the first week of the year is going to be rough, then the rest should be okay, right?

Happy New Year if I don't post before then, all. :)

I'M IN!!!!!

I just got my Ravelry invitation! This is something that I've heard about for some time, but finally got around to signing up for it a little while ago. It's.... well, how can I explain it without comparing it to other sites? It's social networking and project ooohing and aahing for knitters and crocheters. And apparently addictive, according to what I've seen.

I'll go have fun on there and see what happens, ne? ^.^

Cookie and Knitting Progress

Finished so far:

About six dozen each of the peanut butter, coconut drop, and mint candy cane cookies, and two and a half dozen gingerbread men (would've been three dozen, but the Kid got the cute idea of having one tray's worth "hold hands"). Finished a scribble lace scarf, made significant headway into a garter stripe scarf and a snowflake lace scarf (it's a scarf year), still need to make the Thing for my Random Internet Gift Exchange (even though I know what I'm getting, I don't want to spoil the surprise for my opposite number.), bake chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies, and I have to finish assembling and felt one very nice handbag.

As for buying stuff - I need gifts mostly for guys and for Z's family. At least I know what I'm getting the kids. Oh, and one more little kid, too, because she's a sweetie. I can do this on the weekend, since I don't get paid until Friday.

Oh, hai, Zoos.

moar funny pictures

I promised good stuff

And good stuff will happen!

So, while I was at work yesterday, Z went out with his sister and brother-in-law and got himself a car! It's a dark grey Accord, and it's bee-you-tee-full!

Also, today he got to scrape snow off of it for the very first time!

I need to get started on my cookie-baking. Only nine more days!

Post 50!

Is this cause for excitement? Couldn't say.

Z is back home. THAT is cause for excitement. Hooray!

Things are.... tense, between the holidays and everything else going on. Superpowers would help immensely.

Here's hoping things go well for the rest of the year, and the times ahead....

Next post will be fun, I'll try and make sure of that. Tonight I feel like being vague and gloomy. Except for the previously mentioned hooray. That was genuine. It's nice to have a few bright spots in the dark, isn't it? I just wish both of my bright spots could've been home this weekend.... but one out of two isn't bad. Actually, there's some more good stuff - my mother doesn't have cancer. Did I mention that before? I may have. Well, that's another bright spot. I guess overall, there's plenty of good to offset the bad, but why does the bad stick so fiercely with us, and the good seem to flicker past?

Little things....

I have nearly all of my holiday knitting done.... just six projects left, three of which are already on the needles! Yay! I still have shopping to do (mostly for the menfolk and for Z's family) but it's nice to see how much is finished.

I love these two pictures:


The Kid's party is today! We finished making goody bags last night, full of fun little trinkety things. I hope he has a blast! He's so big now; I can't believe my baby is six tomorrow!

Also, my new deodorant makes my armpits smell like Piña Coladas.

It's cold.

Yes. It's cold.

After work, I spent some time tagging some of the pictures in my flickr photostream, knitted a couple of rows of a lace pattern, and got to talk on the phone with the Kid. While my day hasn't improved, hearing his little voice always makes me smile. I even got to sing him "our song" like I usually do before he goes to sleep.

Can't wait for both of my guys to be back home.

Some days are up

And some days are down.

This is a down day.

Tomorrow, my mother is scheduled for a CT scan to find out whether the growth in her abdomen is cancerous, or just another weird fibroid like the ones she's had on and off throughout her life, and I don't know how to deal with it either way. She'll need surgery no matter what, and it's not going to be easy or fun over here for a while. I'm going through some baloney with the Kid's father, and our court date is fast approaching. The little guy's birthday is soon, too, and his party's this weekend, and I still need to pick up some last-minute party goodies, bake a cake, and make goodies to bring to school for the big day itself. And Christmas - don't talk to me about Christmas! If I had another month, I'd be close to being ready on time. I'm wound up emotionally and hormonally from an early period this month. I need to get Z's bed in place, at least, for when he gets home next week. (And he's carrying his own burdens lately!) Laundry must get done. Work needs to be done. I can;t find a stack of very important paperwork, which I may have purged in my recent "Let's Get Rid Of The Extra Paper So That The Desk Isn't A Fire Hazard" binge. And to be honest, what I want to do is just sit down and knit something - anything - to recenter myself.

Yarn as therapy? I hope.

I'm so damn crafty

So, I was going through my son's dresser, cleaning out the too-small shirts to make room for new winter stuff, and I came across a lotta buncha (okay, three) Otakon tee shirts that I bought for him in the years that he was too young to go. They're cute, and he likes them, but he can't wear them and, for instance, breathe at the same time, so I got busy.

I made them into pillows.

I cut around the graphics on the shirts, resulting in four good-sized pictures (one had front and back images, the others were backs-only.), dragged out the sewing machine, and by the time he was back from his dad's place, he had two new cuddle cushions.

Check 'em out!

Work in Progress

An iPod sock. Oh yeah! Like everyone and their mom hasn't tried to make one of these!

You do it too, so I'm not alone. It'll fit a nano. When I figure out the larger versions, I'll be sure to add them in. ^.^

You need:
small amount of (self striping, naturally) sock yarn.
Three size 1 dpns
one size 2 or 3 dpn
one small button
thread to match/clash with your sock yarn & button
size d crochet hook

Gauge - 8 st/inch. row gauge not really important.

Dimensions: while laid flat, 2 inches wide by about three-and-a-quarter inches or so high.

Cast on 32 stitches on your larger needle, and VERY CAREFULLY slip every other stitch onto two separate dpns. In other words, you're taking the cast-on stitches from the big needle, and you slip the first onto one smaller needle, the second onto another smaller needle, the third onto the first smaller needle, etc., until all stitches have been transferred.

Now, start working in the round! Knit around and around in plain old boring stockinette until the sock is as tall as your nano. Three and a half inches, if you're keeping track. Knit another round or three to make it pull comfortably over the top, then bind off on one needle only.

Work flat on second needle for about an inch, inch and a half, then bind off (You may want to work this in seed stitch or some other non-rolling stitch, or block the hell out of it). With the crochet hook, chain a few stitches to make a loop, and attach to the center of the flap. Sew a button on the sock, just where the loop on the flap would reach to, and make sure the loop fits over the button. I cannot stress this enough, as the button and loop should be working in total effing harmony.

That's all. Go weave in your ends. You're done. You can block if you want to, but you probably don't.

My (not-so-impressive) goals for this weekend

1. Get the invitations ready for the Kiddo's birthday party. It's next weekend, so I hope I can get the friends from school in time. Partially done: need to buy colored ink to print them out for him to bring to school Monday. He helped design them. ^.^DONE!



2. Put together the Christmas list. Pretty much everyone's getting handmade things this year, but how many gifts do I still need to put together? Who am I exchanging with? Do I even know? (and is it OK to hint that I'd LOVE the Aziraphale and Crowley perfumes? And how cool is it that they even EXIST?) Work in progress.....

3. Shave the legs. It's a jungle down there. Sure, no one sees my legs but Z, and he's still in Georgia for another two weeks, but it can't hurt to start some maintenance down there. I'm starting to look a little manly. Done. It's nice to look like a girl again.

4. Make my room no longer look like a yarn shop threw up in a thrift shop. There's some serious straightening that needs to be done. Also, getting the assorted strings organized will help a bit with #2. Not quite done. Spent more time in the Kid's room than mine. Sigh.

5. Work. Yes, that still needs to be done, as well, doesn't it? Alas. To be honest, I did shift a fair amount of my store visits to Friday and Saturday this week so I can spend more time with the kid. But I can still Do It All. A challenge appeared when the Kid needed to go to see the doctor Friday afternoon, but I'm on my way to finish things up as soon as I get my uniform on. Forget that. Done, baby, done!

6. Actually call my brother and have a real conversation with him that doesn't involve either one of us reading out loud from the internet. DONE!!!! He's working overnights now. Weird....

I promise I won't do this too often.

Posting test results is really more of a MySpace or LiveJournal thing, and I try to keep this as different from those experiences as possible. That said, I enjoyed this test.





If I do it again, soundly berate me.

I blame boredom.

Either that, or I have been spending WAY too much time reading and listening to everyone else's stories. Nonetheless. I have actually, for the first time in a long time, actually written a (I think) coherent and amusing story.

I haven't proofread it much; this is basically the second draft, taken from the version I scribbled in my notebook between shopping trips today. It's been renamed twice so far, and I have yet to find a permanent last name for the lead character (The current one is from a spell-check suggestion from her previous name), but.... well, I like it. And I probably won't be too embarrassed to reread it in a month's time. I hope.

Also, there's zombies. You're welcome. And I hope you enjoy.

Thelma Lagerfeld's First Night at Bingo

Thelma Lagerfeld’s 1986 Cadillac pulled into the VFW parking lot fifteen minutes after Bingo night was scheduled to start, as usual. She took her wrap-around driving shades off and tucked them into the sun visor, then checked her helmet of apricot-colored curls in the rearview mirror. She sighed, reached into her oversized tote bag, and pulled out a value-sized can of Aqua Net hair spray. After a few liberal spritzes of the sticky stuff, she stuffed the can back into her bag with her Bingo markers, two packs of Marlboro Reds, her deceased husband’s Zippo, a roll of peppermints, and the other detritus that accumulates in the purses of the geriatric set.

She stepped out of the car and made her way to the side door of the VFW building. She actually hated Bingo. However, her girlfriends Muriel and Sally kept crowing about the men they had met there, and Thelma was not about to miss out on any opportunities. They kept telling her to make an appearance, an unforgettable entrance, and that the gents would be sure to notice. So, gritting her teeth, she went. Muriel and Sally told her to make sure to “dress for the men”, so Thelma was in an ill-advised halter top that strained across her drooping breasts, pale floral Capri pants that accentuated every dimple and ripple in her thighs and rear end, and high-heeled mules that made her teeter when she walked. She felt too exposed and a bit shameless, but the girls did say she needed to lose her shame to get a man, especially at their age. She straightened up as she put her hand on the door.

Judging by the sounds she heard, this was an awfully rousing Bingo night.

Muffled shouts came from behind the door, with a rising note of hysteria. Thelma decided that they must have caught someone cheating, and shame on anyone who would try to cross the Shady Pines ladies on their evening out! They’d get a lecturing they’d not soon forget. However, a particularly bloodcurdling shriek made Thelma’s already-teased hair stand on end. She stood frozen with her hand on the knob for a minute, then smiled. Shameless, right? Time to live up to that. She swung the door open and stepped inside.

Not what she expected.

She was half-anticipating a robbery, or a hostage situation, or even gang violence. Barring that, a catfight over one of the few remaining available men wouldn’t have been shocking. What Thelma saw, though, was her friends and some of the neighbors from the senior village cowering behind the caller’s table, flinging Bingo cards and golf pencils at a group of slow-moving, groaning, slavering zombies. Thelma saw Muriel and Sally holding onto each other and crying, a mass of orthopedic shoes, leopard-print stretch pants, and running mascara. Thelma’s mouth hardened. Muriel and Sally may have talked her into wearing hussy clothes, and they may have unwittingly lead her into an attack by the undead, but that didn’t matter. These zombies were going to get it. No. One. Messes. With. My. Girls.

Thelma flew into action. She whipped out her extra-large can of Aqua Net. She took her lighter in her hand, kissed it for good luck, and sparked it into flame under a spritz of hair spray. A fireball whooshed into life and ignited the nearest zombie. The undead slowly turned and began to lurch her way. She dispatched another four of the stumbling animated corpses with her makeshift flamethrower before she ran out of hair spray. Frustrated, she pocketed her lighter and threw the can to the ground. She glanced over to the table, where the other seniors were standing in awe, their mouths open. However, her girlfriends seemed to be getting it together. Good.

She grunted a signal to them as she grabbed the flag that stood near the door. She stripped the material from the stout metal pole and began to swing it at the zombies, making sure to aim for their heads. A burst of light and heat from one side made her flinch, then grin. Muriel, another Aqua Net devotee, had taken her cue, and was incinerating the unlucky bodies that Thelma knocked down. Thelma risked a glance to her left, and saw Sally swinging at some other zombies with her own artificial leg. The trio worked their magic until the final creature was down.

Thelma breathed a sigh of relief, and patted her hair back into place. She smiled at the frightened but amazed group, still immobilized behind the caller’s table. She had no idea whether this was an isolated incident, or if there was going to be more carnage to follow. But she did know one thing.

If THAT didn’t impress the menfolk, she was absolutely going to have to join the senior choir instead.

Gratitude

So today is Thanksgiving, and before we all munch our way into a tryptophan-induced coma, take a moment to reflect upon the good stuff that keeps us going. Our families, whether we're together or not, and the love they have given and continue to give to us. Our friends, for everything they do for us. For our homes, and for work, which we can be considered lucky to have. Just remember - Life Is Good.

And now, a message from the kid.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, he was done faster than I expected.

To you and yours, a safe, fun, holiday. Now go fall asleep watching football.

Another thought for today

When considering unwinding a skein of sock yarn at both ends to find the center point and divide into two center-pull balls: Don't.

I may get untangled someday.

Living up to the page title

I see it's been some time since I posted in here, hasn't it? While much has gone on in real life (Z finally came home for a great weekend! Getting lots of Christmas crap knitted! Saucy text messaging! Introducing the Kid to palindromes! Paying off the car!), there hasn't been much activity here in blogland for me.

So today, you get a bunch of links for other sites that I enjoy. Why? Beats making a sidebar. And you never know when a linkback may occur. Although I do doubt it for some of 'em at least.

Let me get the first two out of the way, because you already know about them, and if you don't then you may well have missed the point of having the internet in the first place, funny pet photos. For cute fuzziness to the nth degree, get your tush over to Cute Overload and prepare to go "awwwwww!" until you drool. For the poorly-spelled caption variety, your source should very well be I Can Has Cheezburger?, home of the so-called LOLcats. Prefer cats saying silly things, but as a cartoon? Also, have a hankering for hoboes? Visit Adam Koford's HOBOTOPIA for his Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comics and other niftiness.

Like laughing at photos of unfortunately dressed celebrities? Sure, we all do. Get your "They wore WHAT?" fix at Go Fug Yourself, and resolve to never wear formal shorts. You're doing us all a favor, believe me. For good photos of the largely non-famous, Bill Wadman's mission to deliver 365 Portraits this year is a visual treat. Like them new-fangled moving pictures? Get a quick fix with Joel (or Mike) and the 'bots with this collection of MST3K Shorts!

Want to knit with a wacky, drunken Southern girl? Why the heck not? At Crazy Aunt Purl's site, you get all that PLUS obsessing over her cats. Sweet. I also get a kick out of the goings-on of soon-to-be-famous writer Max (and other strangeness), who has a penchant for zombies and such. More frightening, but shorter, are the products of the Daily Scares writers, who I am convinced I know from school, and if so, they haven't changed a bit. EDIT: I do know them, and they're talented. Go listen to the stuff. You will love it.

So go click around. I've got nothing here today. I'll come up with something next time. More superheroes or something.

Martian Child

Oh, I want to see this.

My bestest best guy, ever (okay, third after the kiddo and Z), John Cusack, has a new movie starting this weekend. It looks like a cutesy-poo thing about accepting a weird kid for his faults BLAH BLAH BLAH but despite that, I want to see this. Hell, I'd pay money to see this man read out loud from a stack of corporate memos.

I could bring up the "Well, Z looks just like him during the 'Better Off Dead'/'Say Anything' era" discussion that this usually goes into, but let's just say that although there is a similarity, (okay, a HUGE similarity. Even the same height, come to think of it. It's just the hair texture and noses that differ) they're different brands of good-lookin'.

Whatever. You can't find me this weekend, I'm likely to be wallowing in Cusack-induced blissfulness.

Guess what?

Z is coming home for a visit!!!!!


Does it show that I'm excited? ^.^

He'll be in town for Veteran's day weekend, so we'll need some fun for Saturday evening. Maybe Bitting's, or something? We'll figure it out.

Halloween awesomeness

So it was a great, great day. Kiddo's costume was so cute, he charmed the peanut butter cups right off of everyone he met. He was *really* into trick-or-treating this year, too, so we had a LOT of fun making the neighborhood rounds after school. He was a bit rambunctious at the class party; I just hope it was because he was overexcited. I dressed up as well, but I always do, so no big shock there. Our Jack-O-Lanterns are still pretty much intact (yay lack of pumpkin rot!) and I need to snap some pics of them before we toss them out. I was hoping we could carve one with the immortal image of a bear holding a shark, but sadly, I was voted down. Instead, we have a grumpy face and a cheery face.

But yes. Fun ensued. And my kid was cuter than anybody, hoorah!

Corn; it's not just for breakfast anymore!

So let me tell you all about this past Sunday.

Ever since Fall officially arrived, the Kiddo and I have had a bug up our collective butts - we wanted to go to a corn maze! I have enjoyed them since I was a kid, and Kiddo was excited about giving his first one a try. So after checking online, reading reviews, and using the time-honored approach of going to great-Grandma and asking her where to go, we wound up lost in corn on a gorgeous sunny Sunday. It is a huge, fabulous maze, filled with dead ends, spirals, paths that cross over on themselves, and trivia about the towns around the farm, and, of course, corn. Each little signpost also includes a "Corn Hotline" that you can call to get help out of the maze if you get hopelessly lost.

We didn't wuss out, nor did we take the easy way (marked, hilariously enough, with easy Buttons from Staples); the Kid and I (and the Grandma Patrol, who came in hopes of a farmers' market) plugged our way through the maze and made it out on our own, in only half an hour. You should go. It was at Etsch Farm, in Monroe Township. There's a haunted version of the maze on Saturday, the 27th, but my butt will be firmly partying by then.

In other news; who else likes zombies? I am both amused and appalled by them, a sort of a sick fascination. I can't watch zombie movies without getting nightmares, but on the other hand, they are a source of unending sick jokes. New internet pal Max has actually written up an online course - complete with tests! - on Zombie Survival Techniques. Also, noodling about on Facebook has led me, though a series of links, to the Living Dead Girlz dance troupe.

Have fun...

Rock candy, baby!

Since last Friday morning, I have been boiling, re-boiling, sitting, waiting, checking, starting anew, and generally wasting sugar and ruining mason jars.

But it's paid off. Ladies and gentleman, I have finally created some mighty fine and tasty rock candy! Yaaaaaaaaaaay!

It's a lot smaller than I thought it'd be. And more delicate. Oh well. There's another batch ongoing in the kitchen, which seems to be making bigger crystals than the last two, but I think I've boiled the syrup down as far as it'll go and may have to toss it once this one's finished hardening.

But I made candy! This is so cool for me! :-D

Now I can justify owning a candy thermometer! Which I didn't use this time! But next time maybe! Also, I need more food coloring.

Music Video!

Stop whatever you're doing, and spend a few moments to enjoy some Mesopotamish action, animated by Chris Timmons, directed by David Cowles.

I still need to order myself the t-shirt. Someday....

Weird coincidence?

So last night, I had an odd dream about an old high school flame. It was extremely bizarre and largely incomprehensible, but it had something to do with my mother buying his family a dvd player? I think? Anyway, it was so weird to see him in the dream, that I decided to Google him today (he has an unusual last name, so I figured, what the heck, should be easy to find).

Guess what, he was on a reality/cooking TV show fairly recently. Awesome! And got eliminated/left fairly early. Boo! I'm going to go see whether they're running the first season of Hell's Kitchen on my cable's On Demand service, and see if he still sounds/acts the same as he did fifteen or sixteen years ago.

So yeah. That's today's weirdness!

Photos out the wazoo

So, it's about time there was more than Just Plain Text all the time.



From New Hope: the first pic is on the bridge through town, the girls were looking at the ducks in the river, and it was just perfect, the way everyone was lined up. So, "Hey, look over here!" *click* The second one was at our dinner at Wildflowers. The very charming maitre'd snapped that photo for us. I was rocking pigtails for the first time in a long time. :)



Ah, spaces in faces..... the loss of the Kiddo's second tooth was widely celebrated. He lost it just before breakfast, and insisted I take his picture right away! I don't know why he wanted his glasses off for the photo, but he does look adorable anyway. The second was just fun with sprite manipulation. Kiddo and I made avatars of ourselves (modified from a Capcom Cards game, I forget which one, but I had the sprites saved in a misc. folder in my pictures) and printed them out.


And Also - the socks I designed for the Kid are finished, he wore them to school (before the current unseasonal heat wave, wtf with that) and told me they were comfy. Yay! I shall post the pattern.... eventually.

Walking with Dinosaurs. If you get a chance to go, GO. It is simply amazing. Even if you can see the little go-cart thingies that make the dinos move about the arena. Don't care. Still magical. Go go go go gogogo. It's informational, it's scary(ish), it's funny, it's sweet (Baby T-Rex gives many AWWWWW moments), it's great. The Kid and I LOVED it. We also spent far too much on t-shirts and toys, but really, everyone does need a T-Rex head with fiber-optic lights coming out of the top.

That should be enough for now, don't you think?

Do Not Call.... please....

So, we submitted my cell phone number to the National Do Not Call registry this week. I have never received any unsolicited calls on my phone, but we figured we would take that precaution. It takes 31 days for the service to "take", at which point phone solicitors are not allowed to call.

Today - my phone begins ringing at 8:51 with a number I don't recognize. I research the area code online - Los Angeles. Hm. I know it's not my brother, because he would leave a voice mail, and he wouldn't be up that early in the morning in his timezone. Between that time and noon, I get calls from this number 10 times. Four times the first hour, three an hour afterwards. So, I look up the number online, and apparently it's a VERY aggressive telemarketer, with multiple complaints against it. Finally, I pick up, and they're looking for a Nicole somebody. The noise in the background sounds like a busy call center, too. So, I tell them it's the wrong number (I am not, nor are any of my family members, a Nicole.) and hope it's the last I hear from them.

Which is all well and good. But I just got another unknown number on my phone (area code search this time leads to Staten Island) and if this keeps up I may just turn the phone off.

I should also point out that, aside from a few wrong numbers (there's this one person who repeatedly wrong-numbers me. I could kill, especially that one time he called after midnight. You just don't do that.), I have NEVER, until this point, recieved any calls from telemarketers/phone solicitors/etc on this number. They all started when I signed up for the Do Not Call registry.

Kind of makes you wonder.

Here's the update you've been clamoring for

...or have you?

Atlantic City, while fun, was a drain on the wallet - even though I only spent the money I set aside for spending. Perhaps I was too optimistically hoping for a decent win, or to at least break even? Bad planning on my part, at least.

Rusty, my grandfather's cat, passed away on Monday. His cancer, although it was a treatable variety, was too aggressive, and he was in pain. Poor fuzz. The worst part was that this happened the day after Grandpa was admitted into the hospital himself, so he couldn't even be with him. Now he's really upset, and is in no hurry to get back home.

The kid is, as always, awesome. But that's constant enough, isn't it?

I really, REALLY miss Z. I still haven't figured out when I'll be going to Georgia to visit him, and the particulars behind that. But I desperately want to see him. There's certain things that only one person can take care of, you know? ^.^

Tonight, we're going to go to Walking with Dinosaurs, which we're all very excited about seeing. Kiddo especially.

Day got better....

Ok, so once the water was on, I was able to bathe and get to work - on a perfect day for driving! Windows down, stereo turned up, hair in a clip so it doesn't fly into my mouth.... today was an excellent time to be on the road. And it was a short call today, so I was back home in just a few hours.

Tonight - Atlantic City. Woooo!

*grumbles*

The water isn't working.

Let me expand on this. The township is currently rerouting the water in our town from another area while a sewer-clearing project is going on. This is to prevent sewage from backing up into the water lines in our houses. However, the water that comes in now has an unpleasant taste (from the pipes, I assume) and much lower water pressure than we're used to. Also, because the temporary pipes are above ground, if something happens, like some damn fool breaking a pipe by driving over it with his car, and driving away and not doing anything about it until someone else in another house on the street notices the toilet won't flush, for example, and then it takes a while for someone to get over and fix it, and....

Let's just say that if I'm not showering within the hour, someone will pay. I might make people have to smell me.

I'm updating away from home!

It's just that I never do this anywhere other than sitting on my bed, and it's a novelty.

I'm at my friend's house, waiting for her cousin to get here so we can go to a birthday dinner. Yay, birthdays! But the cousin is stuck in traffic, we think. Boo, stuck! It's hard to tell; we can't get through on the cell. So, we wait and I putz around in the office. Indifference!

I'm really just doing this from here so the blog shows up in the visited history and she'll be able to find it again. Because I'm bad about forwarding my address to people.

Ulterior motives, much?

edit - because it's (forty-five minutes past) midnite! The cousin never showed up, so we had a local do at the Cheesecake Factory instead of going all the way to P.F. Chang's. Still fun. They write "Happy Birthday To You" in flavored syrup around your dessert when you're the birthday person, apparently. Too Cute. J enjoyed her (literary-themed) gifts, too.

Rusty

Let's all give big wishes of hope and health for my grandfather's cat, Rusty, who is currently having trouble breathing due to fluid on his lungs and is in the vet's for observation. Rusty is a great cat, extremely friendly, and actually understands what people say to him. He'll actually come to you when you call him! He was a stray, adopted from the same feral community the gave my family pretty much all of their cats for the past five or so years. (Harry, Maggie, Mollie, Lil' Bit, Clover, and Cinnamon.)

It's odd; I noticed that the males are always super-friendly and smart, and the females are shy, elusive, and reluctant to let humans touch them. Discuss.

From my brother

His idea for a superhero. And I quote -

"CAPTAAAIIINNN BREAKFAAAST!!!

"What’s that kids? You don’t have time for breakfast? No problem!

"And he whips up something old people ate when they were kids, like goatmeal or lardcakes.

Brilliant right?"


I can see the comics now - Captain Breakfast Vs the Toaster Waffles of DOOOOOOM!

Speaking of Mr. Pratchett

The first two chapters of Making Money are very good, indeed. It's another Moist von Lipwig story (roguish man leaves past life of thievery, totally makes over civic services!), which is a nice treat. I'm mainly a fan of the Ankh-Morpork Watch stories, but this guy's growing on me.

Finished things, things in progress, things yet to be done

That's a generic title for ya. Woo!

I finished grafting the toe on the kid's second sock yesterday. They're finally done! I'm going to give them a spin through the wash (and wait for cooler weather) before he wears them anywhere, but they look fantastic. I also finished the first of a pair of Monkeys. I think when I remake these for my mother, I'll substitute a short-row heel, only because I dislike the look of heel flaps. I guess I'm just picky like that. Pictures are when my lazy butt actually decides to take them.... :)

I recently reread all six of my Jasper Fforde books. (The first four Thursdays and the first two NCDs, for the curious.) Out of order. Purposely. I like seeing where things that happen in the earlier books go to in the later ones, and reading them out of sequence makes the setups more visible. I like that. Fforde's a great writer; I hold him to the same high standards that I do Pratchett. He assumes that his reader knows what he's talking about when he makes out-of-the-ordinary references; does that make sense? It's not pandering to the lowest common denominator, which I can't stand. (See also: why I don't read romance novels) His books make you want to enthusiastically tackle the classics.

On the stove, right now, a pot of chicken rice soup is simmering. I made a roast chicken last night, and purposely chose side dishes that would work well in soup. (Except for the apple/raisin/onion stuffing inside the bird; does not translate well to broth-based dishes, lemme tell ya.) So tonight's meal is last night's, with extra water. Yay, I suppose. At least it's fast leftover turnaround, so there's no chance of developing Nasty Fungal Growths while in Refrigerator Limbo.

I finally started assembling my knitted backpack I started last summer. I hope I can actually finish it by winter. It's Mega Man, after all; how much would it rock to actually use it? :)

The shirt that I wanted to get my brother for Christmas is no longer available in his size. Boo! I don't know whether to get a medium and hope he hasn't eaten all month, or just chalk it up as a loss and think of something else.

The best album I forgot I had

I recently blew the dust off of my copy of Common Rotation's "The Big Fear". I first heard this band several years ago when they opened for They Might Be Giants, and then again when they did a show at Vintage Vinyl.

I forgot how good it was. Damn.

If you go to their web site, you can download "Indie Rockin'", the first track. Tell me you don't love it. I'll whup ya.

Also currently rocking my world - the bass line to TMBG's "Withered Hope". Woo!

While I wait for things to print out....

I have a whole lot of paperwork printing at this moment.... ah, the fun of my job, it's so... something something something. Actually, I rather enjoy it, but I'm setting up Holiday displays in my stores (Holiday displays? and summer isn't officially even over yet.... sigh....) and they require several million pages of planogram each, so I sit patiently while good ol' DJ (that's DeskJet for the rest of ya) cranks out page after page in draft mode so I can actually get moving some time this week.

Went to New Hope with the girls this past weekend. It was a blast - I hadn't had a girls' day in such a long time, and it was a relief to just head out and check out ten gazillion shops and things. Yay. There's this one place, I forget the name, they charge twenty cents admission to get into the store - but you do get a lucky pig. I kid you not. It's in my wallet right now. It was well worth it; it was a thrift shop, but the best possible kind. There were action figures and lunchboxes and silly things along with the expected vintage clothing and kick-ass hats and the like. I found what appeared to be an Emerald City Guard uniform on a costume rack, many Hefner-esque men's dressing gowns, and The Greatest Pants Ever - white corduroy with aqua and lime animal print. And what did I buy? A figurine of Arthur from the Tick. For three bucks, only! A fine addition to the toy collection. A shop right next to a "magic supplies" store sells some of the best organic coffee I've ever had. There's a bookstore that had another dimension - I swear I entered L-space at one point. We went to a restaurant called Wildflowers, which serves a combination of Mexican, Italian, Thai, and American food. Since there was four of us.... let's just say we covered the gamut. It was a blast, and the desserts were great.

Looks like I'm getting toward the end of the stack of papers here. Good timing, too - my black ink seems to be running low.

A list of Things

Inspired by Laurie (from Crazy Aunt Purl; read, laugh, obsess, buy a book.), I shall make a bad-mood busting list of Things that I Enjoy.

My son
Obviously. He cheers me up like nobody's business. Even when he's the one whose actions have gotten me cheesed off in the first place, a little hug or cuddle from the kid gets me right back on track.

Secret Platinum deodorant
Because nobody likes a sweaty fat chick. Now, I am simply a chick. Without an unpleasant odor. Bonus!

Rediscovering gaming
I haven't played a tabletop roleplaying game in YEARS. Still liked them, just didn't play any. Now, I'm in one game and pl anning on starting another. Hooray! It's like improv, without the appreciative audience! And with dice. And geeks. But geeks rock. So there you go.

Lion brand Magic Stripes yarn (and any other self-striping sock yarn, actually)
Let me tell you about this stuff! I love knitting things with a lot of different and fun colors. I detest weaving in ends. I have mittens and a hat sitting and waiting for their ends to be taken care of, and they look sad, but I systematically avoid working on them. Intarsia, fair isle, they're great for adding stuff. Don't get me wrong. Once you know how to do them, you can use them judiciously to make things beautiful. But I digress. Hate changing colors in a piece, especially small items. And lo and behold.... self striping sock yarn! In many many colors! And the Lion Magic Stripe was cheap at the craft store, so I got what, five different colorways? I can make socks that look like they took a million billion years, and yet it's TV knitting in the round. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! That's some awesome stuff.

The cats and the laser pointer
Enough Said.

I will add more lists of great stuff as they occur to me.

Also: sorry about the hiatus int he hero stuff. I'll be on that sooner or later, I'm sure. Until then, just remember - mutant super powers do not a well-rounded hero make. Talking like Yoda, on the other hand, interesting makes your sentence structure, hmmmm? Yes, innate telekinesis. I threatened to use it at work last weekend. Still one of my favorite powers.

The World loses its voice.

Arrivederci, Pavarotti.

Kindergarten, no crabbing here!

I don't think I have ever seen a kid so eager to get inside and go to class on the first day. Kiddo was practically storming the place. Some of his classmates were a bit more reserved, but he was enthusiastic and ready to party!

He looked sharp, too, in a striped polo shirt and charcoal slacks, and new shoes (that even the principal noticed!). But then, he's a great-looking kid, even with my natural bias.

He came home just as happy as he was dropped off. What a great kid!

Crabs and Kindergarten

For Labor Day, we had the family over. Not the whole family, just my aunt, grandparents, and, um, those of us who live here. The plan was crab legs, corn on the cob, and salads. No biggie, right?

Why on earth did we decide it was an awesome idea to get ten pounds of crab legs? (five each of king crab and snow crab) Especially when neither my mother nor I have ever prepared crabs before? Well, we set a pot of broth on the stove (crab flavored, swiped from some ramen packages), mixed in some old-bay seasoning, and after fighting with and cleaning the legs (TEN POUNDS!) we set them in a bamboo steamer on top of the pot. We perhaps should have measured first....

The steamer overhang the edges of the pot by about an inch all around. There was a layer of dried broth around the edges of the burner when we were done. It was a disaster, except for one thing.....

they were delicious. Apparently, you can't wreck crab as easily as I had thought. Hooray! Unfortunately, there were leftovers. Pounds and pounds of leftovers. We foisted them off on the relatives, knowing full well how even the yummiest leftovers go ignored in this house. Also, the bamboo steamer still kind of smells like the bad part of the Shore. Ick. I hope time and repeated washings get that out before we try to use that puppy on vegetables....

Quick, other topic! Today is the kiddo's last day before Kindergarten starts!

...

TETSUOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm watching Akira.

Excitement over Super Smash Bros for Wii!

My source (Hi, Rob!) has let me know about one of the levels that will be in this upcoming Wii release: Wario Ware Minigames. Yep, the environment will change every five seconds. That'll be fun to pull off. I am SO hyped up for this game! Is it Decemberween yet?

But enough about my character.

Last night, I played my first round of Werewolf in, what, ten years? It was shockingly easy to get back into. For those who care, I play a geeky, pudgy Glass Walker named Tommy, who we've nicknamed Choji. What? He likes to eat. It's a quirk. I played it up, but then, it didn't help that our story teller began the story in a diner. Just saying.....

It was fun! I enjoyed finding a way to solve problems in-character (he's a thinker, not a fighter, much to the dismay of some of our pack's warrior-types) and act out a couple of gags. (Yes, it is a bad idea to call your pack leader "Big Momma".) There are some disturbing elements of the game, but when you think about it, we are portraying horror-movie monsters, so it's no surprise when the plots and themes are the stuff that nightmares are made of. Mostly, it's the staying long after the game is over, laughing with the other players, that makes it great.

I also amused people by working on a sock in-game. ("Yeah; Tommy's not doing this.") I haven't turned the heel yet, so some of the boys thought it was a dice bag.

Also, I need to go buy crab legs today. Yum!

Diverted text

This was originally going to be posted in the forums at knithappens.com, but I was foiled by a technical difficulty. So, it's here, where I'll cross-link to it later.

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I think I may have something here. You don't see a whole lot of kids' sock patterns out there in the wide world, and a mistake in design may have led me to make some great cabled socks for my son. I had the first one finished ages ago, but then I lost one of my size-0 circulars. Last night, I figured, hell with it, and cast on the second with my dpns. Now, it's been months since I did the first, and I have the attention span of a gnat, so I'm happy I wrote everything down. If the second one looks just like the first when I finish, I'll know it's a good pattern, and I'll share it with you guys in my blog.

So yay! New socks for all!

Mini-post for now

I just feel it is important to let the world at large know that

I'M BAKING COOKIES!!!!

Mesopotamians!

The camping was brief, but a nice exit from reality for a while. Kiddo had so much fun picking blueberries and going to the zoo, and we rode on the little golf cart just for fun, and there were margaritas by the campfire at night... ah! I punked out a bit yesterday, what with being miserable and not having slept much, so after Seeking Out Discount Stores™, I took a nap, and rejoined the world next to the fire pit for supper and s'mores. Oh boy! I got to share a bed with Kiddo in the trailer - a full-size lower bunk, not bad, with a down blanket. (He says, "It's a giant pillow!) Today was the zoo, Local Diner Inspection, and Futzing About before we underwent the long drive home.

Ever notice how random capitalization of phrases makes things seem more exciting?

No superhero theory tonight; just a note that Kiddo thinks my assortment of powers is lame. But then, he thinks Aqua-man is cool, so I'm not taking it personally.

It's Z's first full day at government training, he reports that it has rained, and he was offered a free bicycle. Also, lots of paperwork. *sigh* It's still good to hear from him. I bought him a present. I can't tell what it is (he may end up reading this!) but it's pretty awesome.

I'm making amigurumi veggies to kill time. No patterns; just making it up as I go along. I'll post photos eventually, if I remember.

And what does the title of this post have to do with anything? I have "The Mesopotamians" by TMBG stuck in my head. It's not 700 hobo names (thank goodness), but it's super-catchy and I can't wait to buy the t-shirt.

Packing things

Aside from not using newspaper, it's pretty much impossible to keep your hands from becoming coal-black when you wrap things up for packing. I was as dark as a Mignola comic. Whoo.

The kid is on his way to camping with my mom, and I don't get to join them until tomorrow. However, this is Z's last night here before he's gone for THREE AND A HALF STINKING MONTHS, so I should probably enjoy the short time we have left today and tomorrow.

Some people ask how I can stand it. Well, it's not as if I can dictate what he has to do for work, I just have to deal with it. We're going to try to visit each other at least once a month, and will write and e-mail as needed,and we still both have phones, so it's just the actually-seeing-each-other-in-person-and-all-that-entails that'll be missing.

Granted, that is the best part. Also, we'll be apart for our four-year anniversary, which hurts. But we'll be okay.

I just realized something

If I keep posting like this, the title of this blog will be a blatant lie! It's not nice to lie to the people, is it? So, let's just assume it's humorously ironic. Also, sooner or later, I'm going to end up posting knitting stuff in here. Maybe the knitting content will be the infrequent portion of our program.

I've been fussing with the layout a little bit. I still haven't quite figured out how to change some sections, but I'm getting there.

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To Do:
Pack for camping (self and kid)
Help boyfriend get ready to move
Go to work
Finish second sock and second glove
Clean out car

Swiped from a knitblogger.... and more on heroes

First off, every one say hi to qutecowgirl, from whose blog this meme was nabbed.

.... I only say "fart" once? That's not like me one bit. I'm generally a not safe for work little potty-mouth. I mean, I can cuss up a blue streak, especially when I've had a few. Maybe I'm more polite when I type it out? That's my theory; I'm nicer on paper. Yay.

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Back on the superhero front!

Once the powers are chosen/granted/discovered via a surprisingly non-lethal getting run over by twelve tractor-trailers and an angry moose, and one decides to live the life of fighting Eeeeeeevil™, how exactly is the heroic alter ego's name chosen?

There are options; you can base it on the powers themselves, either specifically (like Green Lantern and his.... green lantern. Ok, so it's a ring lately, but you get the idea.) or by allusion. The Flash comes to mind as an example of the latter. Sure, his blinding speed does make him go by in a "Flash" (har har), but his hero name could just as easily be given to a hero with the power to blind the enemy with bright flashes of light (although he'd more likely call himself Captain Paparazzo or something) or one with a distressing tendency to expose himself to unsuspecting citizens.

Sometimes inspiration comes from elsewhere. Batman chose the symbol of the bat because of the fear it strikes into the heart of evil-doers, not because he sleeps upside-down in a cave and finds criminals by means of echolocation. No matter how cool that would be.

Others are a bit more generic. Yes, Superman and Wonder Woman and even Ultraman; their names work, but they're also extremely generic. It's like calling yourself Admiral Awesome. It gets the point across, but no one really knows what you actually *do*.

Now, on to the imaginary hero I'm cooking up here. With my chosen powers of teleportation, animal communication and shapeshifting, powers obtained via aliens and/or magic.... right. I can't think of anything. Alas! The city goes unprotected while I wander around trying to figure out what moniker to slap on my contact cards. It's important to make it sound impressive. No city wants to be saved by Tele-shift DooLittle, after all.

New favorite

Yep.... it's official.

I ♥ Nerima Daikon Brothers. As of this point in time, it's edged Saiyuki and Excel Saga out of their tied-for-first position on my "favorite anime programs" list. I even love the theme song - the original and English dub versions.

I'm either incredibly easily impressed, or this show has a little extra special something to it.

special bonus info I dug up!!!!
Shigeru Matsuzaki, who provides the lead character's voice (Hideki, who apparently there is NO FAN LOVE for, except for me, sigh), also performed vocals on the Katamari Damacy soundtracks. Ah, Katamari Damacy strikes again, who knows where it'll pop up next?

Heroes - not the TV show

It's difficult to decide what kind of superpowers one would choose for oneself, if given the option. I know, most superhero origin stories don't allow for picking and choosing of super-human abilities, but what would an optimal assortment of powers be for a unique hero, without just lifting the entire skillset from an existing hero?

Me, I'd opt for communication with animals, shapeshifting (mass-limited), and teleportation. Not a very human-based set of abilities, and not something that I can see as being granted via earthly science, this would plead a magic- or alien-based origin story. I dig the idea of off-worldly origins, even if Supes has this category made more or less cliche.

I'll come back to this later.

out of nowhere

I have decided that glasses make most guys cuter.

Carry on.

Two in two days? That makes this a daily!

Just to get in the habit of writing more often, a few thoughts:

"Rat Patrol" would make a kick-ass level on Guitar Hero. Even if it resides in bonus-song-Land like Trogdor. I wish there was a way to use your own music, create your own levels for it. There is something like that for DDR fans; Dance Factory gives uneven results, but you can dance to the Katamari Damacy soundtrack if you want. Oh Em Gee, indeed.

Speaking of Trogdor, I wonder if it's too soon to request the Homestar Runner DVDs for Christmas? Hmmmm..... Or even just a hoodie. Whatever. I'll pick up my own when I have money. In 2014.

I'm probably going to buy the car I've been leasing. It's used, but I know the one owner, and she took pretty okay care of it.... at least I know *exactly* what I'm getting into.

I'm depressed and angry at everything and everybody. So, after I drop Z off at the airport on Monday? Camping. With people who will make me margaritas.

Breaking in

Just wanted to start this up, while waiting for my work website to connect. :)

I'm not even sure *why* I set up yet another blog, since I have (currently inactive) accounts on Livejournal and MySpace and even keep a teensy one on OKCupid. (To be fair, I set up that one to play the comparing games with my boyfriend. But he won't play. Not his fault, his computer died. But still!) The social networking aspects of those sites tend to put me under a little pressure, though. This form of blogging allows for less drama.

Especially when you tell no one it exists. (or very very few, for that matter).

I may post about knitting, I may actually write for a change, who knows. Most who find this will do so by accident. But welcome, regardless of how you got here.