Ha ha ha ha. Ahh hahhahaha. AHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!
"These tales will tell the truth about The Life; the sex, guns and cash; the brutal highs and short lives of the players on the streets," the publisher said in a release over the weekend.
Please, I'm sure you can do better than Juh-juh-juh-G-U-Nit Classics if you want to know what the 'hood is all about. There's Crack Head by Lisa Lennox, Sheisty by T. N. Baker, Grimey by Kashamba Williams or Flip Side of the Game by Tu-Shonda L. Whitaker (where the first sentence of the book is: "Life is a ma'fuckah, and that's the God honest truth.").
I wonder if the books will be marketed more towards women or men? Most of the hood-rich books I found at Amazon appear to be hood-love stories for women. I can only assume all the men folk are too busy slinging crack to have time to read. Think that's a stereotype and I'm being mean? Hey, I understand, a guy's gotta pay the rent. I just think, if someone's from the street, they already know about the street and reading a book about the street isn't going to give them any insight- they'd do better with real stories such as To Kill a Mockingbird, Their Eyes Were Watching God or Native Son.
Thursday
[cat] Ticks and Fleas
Tomorrow is a government holiday and since that means I don't have to work, I'm heading down to NoHo. I have, oh I don't know, about a dozen things I want to knit between now and Christmas and that means I need yarn. "I feel the need, the need for sp- Yarn."
This week has been kind of busy. I was suffering from Rage on Tuesday (a disease which appears to be running rampant across Paris and her suburbs) and left work a little early. I tried napping it off but my sister called and asked if I wanted to go with her to take Gatsu and Griffith to the vet. Sure, I say. When she picks me up, Gatsu is freaking out in his carrier- clawing at the grate. Griffith, who has been to to vet five times more than his brother, is slumped in his own carrier, resigned to his fate.
The plan was to get the cats checked out because ticks have been out in full force (and from what I'm told, it's quite late in the year for them). Griffith ends up getting two somewhere on his body almost every day and it's tough making sure that you pull out the WHOLE tick with tweezers without leaving the head under the skin. So we arrive at River Road and are shown into an exam room. Immediately, the door opens and a technician says, "Do you guys know that you have a flat tire?"
I stare at her. "Who does? You do?"
"Uh... No. You guys do."
Barbara looks at me. "Oh great," she says.
She goes off to take care of it while I stay with the cats. Gatsu is in scaredy cat mode (I cradle him with one arm as he burrows under my scarf) while Griffith sits on the table, looking me like, "Let's get this over with, hmn?" The vet comes in, checks Griffith's tick wounds (and actually scraped out a head from one with a pair of scissors), notices that both cats have fleas (FLEAS!!!) and applies some Frontline. Easy as pie.
Back outside, Barbara is watching a technician (who happens to have a broken finger) change the tire. Within minutes, we're off on the spare. Turns out, there was a nail in the tire.
This week has been kind of busy. I was suffering from Rage on Tuesday (a disease which appears to be running rampant across Paris and her suburbs) and left work a little early. I tried napping it off but my sister called and asked if I wanted to go with her to take Gatsu and Griffith to the vet. Sure, I say. When she picks me up, Gatsu is freaking out in his carrier- clawing at the grate. Griffith, who has been to to vet five times more than his brother, is slumped in his own carrier, resigned to his fate.
The plan was to get the cats checked out because ticks have been out in full force (and from what I'm told, it's quite late in the year for them). Griffith ends up getting two somewhere on his body almost every day and it's tough making sure that you pull out the WHOLE tick with tweezers without leaving the head under the skin. So we arrive at River Road and are shown into an exam room. Immediately, the door opens and a technician says, "Do you guys know that you have a flat tire?"
I stare at her. "Who does? You do?"
"Uh... No. You guys do."
Barbara looks at me. "Oh great," she says.
She goes off to take care of it while I stay with the cats. Gatsu is in scaredy cat mode (I cradle him with one arm as he burrows under my scarf) while Griffith sits on the table, looking me like, "Let's get this over with, hmn?" The vet comes in, checks Griffith's tick wounds (and actually scraped out a head from one with a pair of scissors), notices that both cats have fleas (FLEAS!!!) and applies some Frontline. Easy as pie.
Back outside, Barbara is watching a technician (who happens to have a broken finger) change the tire. Within minutes, we're off on the spare. Turns out, there was a nail in the tire.
Monday
[misc] Passing through
I just had the oddest conversation with someone in my backyard. It's dark out and I see a silhouette come from the convenience store. It's a man and he's carrying a plastic grocery sack in each hand. He's walking across a grass lot towards me. He'll have to navigate through a few trees before he's too close. As he approaches, I say, "Hello?" He keeps on walking. "Hello?" I call again when he emerges from the trees. He stops. "Hello?" he says.
"Who's there?"
"Shawn."
"Hi, Shawn. I'm Amy."
"Hello," he says.
"I just wanted to know who was coming through," I explain.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
I chuckle. "No, I saw you coming."
"I just wanted to take a shortcut."
"That's fine. I just wanted to know who was coming through."
"Okay." He makes a step to keep going.
"All right."
And out of view, into my driveway he went. I spent the next few minutes imagining all the different ways I could have taken him in a fight. He wouldn't have been able to attack me, since his hands are full and even if he tried, I saw him coming from a mile away- I was totally ready to crack my beer bottle over his skull. I totally could have taken him.
"Who's there?"
"Shawn."
"Hi, Shawn. I'm Amy."
"Hello," he says.
"I just wanted to know who was coming through," I explain.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
I chuckle. "No, I saw you coming."
"I just wanted to take a shortcut."
"That's fine. I just wanted to know who was coming through."
"Okay." He makes a step to keep going.
"All right."
And out of view, into my driveway he went. I spent the next few minutes imagining all the different ways I could have taken him in a fight. He wouldn't have been able to attack me, since his hands are full and even if he tried, I saw him coming from a mile away- I was totally ready to crack my beer bottle over his skull. I totally could have taken him.
[knitting] Progress!
I made yesterday my own personal Knit Day. I finished the front of the Valentino knock-off bag and blocked both the front and the back.
I'll be editing and sending off the pattern for a very nice knitter who has been waiting very patiently for me...
Then I closed off the end of my Harry Potter scarf, so now it's all done and ready to be worn to the movie (EEEE!!!). I took a hasty picture inside my place (note the eyes- an effect of me either opening or closing my eyes just as the camera took the shot):
How frightening is that?
I'm making a trip down to Northampton this Friday to WEBS to buy all kinds of yarn. Oh yeah, and to visit with Ram as well.
I'll be editing and sending off the pattern for a very nice knitter who has been waiting very patiently for me...
Then I closed off the end of my Harry Potter scarf, so now it's all done and ready to be worn to the movie (EEEE!!!). I took a hasty picture inside my place (note the eyes- an effect of me either opening or closing my eyes just as the camera took the shot):
How frightening is that?
I'm making a trip down to Northampton this Friday to WEBS to buy all kinds of yarn. Oh yeah, and to visit with Ram as well.
[amy] Happy Monday
Sorry my posting has been infrequent. To quote Kirk from Gilmore Girls, "I'm exceedingly dull" so there isn't much need to post "I worked, I went home, I slept" over and over again.
Friday night I went to see the movie Jarhead. I had heard it described as "A war movie without a war", which pretty much sums up the film. I liked the movie a lot- I thought it was beautiful and interesting and sad.
Saturday morning I borrowed my mom's truck and brought all my recycling to the nice, clean Recycling Center in Hartland, VT. Then I went over to Ken's and brought all the Demo Derby car junk to the stinking, filthy West Lebanon, NH Landfill. Ken and Ram had made the landfill sound like fun when they went: "It's amazing. There's garbage everywhere and you just throw your garbage everywhere." I like to make messes and thought it would be great. So no. As soon as I got out of the truck and the smell hit my nose, I started dry heaving. I couldn't even help Ken unload it all because I was bent over next to the truck, throwing up the nothing in the stomach, spitting, shaking, covered in a cold sweat.
Then we went BACK to his place to get all his rotten, stinking garbage and recycling. Then we went next door and got his neighbor's recycling and garbage. Then Ken mentions the old stove in the garage. I say, "Stick it by the side of the road with a sign that says 'FREE!' and see if anyone takes it away." While I'm preoccupied with the horrific thought of ANOTHER trip to the NH Landfill, all the guys decide to put the stove onto all the garbage/recycling in the back of the truck. They tell me that they’re literally going to lift the full-sized range and set it on top of everything. I laugh, thinking they're joking. When I realize that they're not, I start pacing and muttering, "I don't approve... I don't approve... This isn't a good idea..." I leave to get a drink and when I come back, not only is the stove loaded onto the truck, but a very large gas tank from one of the Demo Derby cars had been thrown in as well. I pretend I don't see anything and get into the truck.
The only good thing I have to say about the Lebanon Recycling Center is that you get to throw your glass bottles and watch them break. In Hartland, you drop them down a chute and listen to the glass shatter below. At Lebanon, you throw your bottles over a concrete ledge and it's all open, so you can see where you're throwing them. I loved it. I took all the bottles I could and pitched them down onto the concrete floor and felt a surge of mad glee spread through my body with every satisfying explosion of glass.
After the trash-tastic day, I went home and took a five-hour shower.
Friday night I went to see the movie Jarhead. I had heard it described as "A war movie without a war", which pretty much sums up the film. I liked the movie a lot- I thought it was beautiful and interesting and sad.
Saturday morning I borrowed my mom's truck and brought all my recycling to the nice, clean Recycling Center in Hartland, VT. Then I went over to Ken's and brought all the Demo Derby car junk to the stinking, filthy West Lebanon, NH Landfill. Ken and Ram had made the landfill sound like fun when they went: "It's amazing. There's garbage everywhere and you just throw your garbage everywhere." I like to make messes and thought it would be great. So no. As soon as I got out of the truck and the smell hit my nose, I started dry heaving. I couldn't even help Ken unload it all because I was bent over next to the truck, throwing up the nothing in the stomach, spitting, shaking, covered in a cold sweat.
Then we went BACK to his place to get all his rotten, stinking garbage and recycling. Then we went next door and got his neighbor's recycling and garbage. Then Ken mentions the old stove in the garage. I say, "Stick it by the side of the road with a sign that says 'FREE!' and see if anyone takes it away." While I'm preoccupied with the horrific thought of ANOTHER trip to the NH Landfill, all the guys decide to put the stove onto all the garbage/recycling in the back of the truck. They tell me that they’re literally going to lift the full-sized range and set it on top of everything. I laugh, thinking they're joking. When I realize that they're not, I start pacing and muttering, "I don't approve... I don't approve... This isn't a good idea..." I leave to get a drink and when I come back, not only is the stove loaded onto the truck, but a very large gas tank from one of the Demo Derby cars had been thrown in as well. I pretend I don't see anything and get into the truck.
The only good thing I have to say about the Lebanon Recycling Center is that you get to throw your glass bottles and watch them break. In Hartland, you drop them down a chute and listen to the glass shatter below. At Lebanon, you throw your bottles over a concrete ledge and it's all open, so you can see where you're throwing them. I loved it. I took all the bottles I could and pitched them down onto the concrete floor and felt a surge of mad glee spread through my body with every satisfying explosion of glass.
After the trash-tastic day, I went home and took a five-hour shower.
[amy] Strenuous weekend
What a busy and tiring weekend. Friday I went up to the Second Vermont Republic conference at the State House in Montpelier. That was pretty cool. There were maybe two hundred people there in the morning and we all got to sit in the House of Representatives chamber. I've lots more to say on the subject of secession, which I plan on putting into a lengthy write-up, but the bottom line I'd like to stress is: WE SHOULD DO IT. LEAVE THE US AND BECOME OUR OWN NATION. YES.
Saturday morning I went to the last Farmer's Market in Norwich of the year. Then shopping- I finally got an ironing board and iron, so maybe I can try my hand at embroidery now. Then I called up Dollar, who I had lent a wheelbarrow to, offering to help stack wood. I like stacking wood (I think it has something to do with my OCD). Well, I asked for it. Dollar loaded the wood from the pile in the driveway into the wheelbarrow, wheeled it to me, dumped it and I got to stacking. Oh, did I ever stack. I stacked all two cords of wood (minus the negligible amount Dollar did, ppssht). He hauled, I stacked and we got it all done in about two hours. ... In case you don't know how much a "cord" is, it's 128 cubic feet. That evening, I went to a house Halloween party and then the FireBall in WRJ.
Here's an interesting bit: I ended up walking home from the WRJ party. I had gotten a lift there (because I'd been drinking) and was confident that I could get a ride home. It's not too far- only a few miles. I was having an okay time at the party and but decided to leave early. I wanted to walk. Let me tell you, passing through a deserted rail yard late at night isn't one of the smartest things I've ever done.
Sunday I went and had brunch at Ken's, where a group of people had gathered to talk about starting a Potluck Action Network. Basically, it's a group of people committed to doing one political thing every month. Fine, yeah yeah, let's do it. Wouldn't you know it but Ken ALSO has a couple cords of wood needing to be stacked. So. At least there were 8 of us. And I didn't do any stacking this time, but carried the wood. Which was even more tiring. Today, I am sore.
And now I've got to think about all the grubby little beggars coming to my door tonight. I learned from last year's mistake and will be showering all the trick-or-treaters with candy.
Saturday morning I went to the last Farmer's Market in Norwich of the year. Then shopping- I finally got an ironing board and iron, so maybe I can try my hand at embroidery now. Then I called up Dollar, who I had lent a wheelbarrow to, offering to help stack wood. I like stacking wood (I think it has something to do with my OCD). Well, I asked for it. Dollar loaded the wood from the pile in the driveway into the wheelbarrow, wheeled it to me, dumped it and I got to stacking. Oh, did I ever stack. I stacked all two cords of wood (minus the negligible amount Dollar did, ppssht). He hauled, I stacked and we got it all done in about two hours. ... In case you don't know how much a "cord" is, it's 128 cubic feet. That evening, I went to a house Halloween party and then the FireBall in WRJ.
Here's an interesting bit: I ended up walking home from the WRJ party. I had gotten a lift there (because I'd been drinking) and was confident that I could get a ride home. It's not too far- only a few miles. I was having an okay time at the party and but decided to leave early. I wanted to walk. Let me tell you, passing through a deserted rail yard late at night isn't one of the smartest things I've ever done.
Sunday I went and had brunch at Ken's, where a group of people had gathered to talk about starting a Potluck Action Network. Basically, it's a group of people committed to doing one political thing every month. Fine, yeah yeah, let's do it. Wouldn't you know it but Ken ALSO has a couple cords of wood needing to be stacked. So. At least there were 8 of us. And I didn't do any stacking this time, but carried the wood. Which was even more tiring. Today, I am sore.
And now I've got to think about all the grubby little beggars coming to my door tonight. I learned from last year's mistake and will be showering all the trick-or-treaters with candy.
[halloween] Weekend
Well, Saturday night was Halloween Party night in the Upper Valley. Everyone had super costumes. Garry, his grilfriend and friend came down from Montreal. Here's a picture of him with his girlfriend. I couln't figure out who he reminded me of and then it clicked: Haverchuck as the Bionic Woman. Awesome (although I don't think that's what he meant to be).
More pictures here.
And up around the B-town area, Bill and Emily sported quite original costumes. Emily's got mad craft skillz- I can't believe how great her Prince outfit is.
More pictures here.
And up around the B-town area, Bill and Emily sported quite original costumes. Emily's got mad craft skillz- I can't believe how great her Prince outfit is.
Thursday
[south korea] Chinese kimchi is bad news
Who doesn't like a little poop in their kimchi? Now I want a test done to prove that Mexicans are peeing into the Corona...
Wednesday
[vermont] If it ain't Vermont made, it's shit.
Here's an interesting article discussing "VERMONT" as a brand. This is timely, as I recently sent out a package of Vermont goods to someone. Me, when I see the Vermont Seal of Quality on whatever I happen to be buying, I feel better about it. Seriously, no joke. Last night I picked up a 6-pack of Otter Creek and saw the seal- I immedately felt better about getting wasted on a Tuesday night.
Monday
[vermont] What do we want? Freedom!
When do we want it? NOW! What do we- wait a minute, what's going on? Someone left the following in my comments:
* * * * *
THE VERMONT INDEPENDENCE CONVENTION
An Impossible Dream or a Vision of the Future?
State House
Montpelier, Vermont
October 28, 2005
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, will be the keynote speaker at The Vermont Convention on Independence to be held in the House Chamber of the State House in Montpelier on Friday October 28th. Sponsored by the Second Vermont Republic, the convention, which will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m., is open to the public and free of charge.
This historic event will be the first statewide convention on secession in the United States since North Carolina voted to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861.
Other speakers will include Professor Frank Bryan, UVM; Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale, J. Kevin Graffagnino, Executive Director, Vermont Historical Society; Professor Eric Davis, Middlebury College; Shay Totten, editor, Vermont Guardian; Antoine Robitaille, journalist Le Devoir (Quebec City); G. Roderick Lawrence, CEO, Stevenson Kellogg (Canada); (Rev.) Ben T. Matchstick; and General Ethan Allen (aka Jim Hogue). General Allen is expected to travel by horse to the State House.
The objectives of the convention are twofold. First, to raise the level of awareness of Vermonters of the feasibility of independence as a viable alternative to a nation which has lost its moral authority and is unsustainable. Second, to provide an example and a process for other states and nations which may be seriously considering separatism, secession, independence, and similar devolutionary strategies.
The Second Vermont Republic is a peaceful, democratic, grassroots, libertarian populist movement committed to the return of Vermont to its status as an independent republic as it once was between 1777 and 1791.
* * * * *
Apparently there's some loophole that gives Vermont the ability to become it's own country. SWEET. Well, sounds good, right? But I don't know if it'll be a good thing in the end. I just spoke with someone that thought we should grab the Adirondacks and make a new country with Quebec. I'd be down with that; I wouldn't mind saying "Montpelier" with a French accent. I can learn the metric system.
I'm taking work off on Friday to go up and see what the deal is.
* * * * *
THE VERMONT INDEPENDENCE CONVENTION
An Impossible Dream or a Vision of the Future?
State House
Montpelier, Vermont
October 28, 2005
James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, will be the keynote speaker at The Vermont Convention on Independence to be held in the House Chamber of the State House in Montpelier on Friday October 28th. Sponsored by the Second Vermont Republic, the convention, which will begin at 9:00 a.m. and conclude at 5:00 p.m., is open to the public and free of charge.
This historic event will be the first statewide convention on secession in the United States since North Carolina voted to secede from the Union on May 20, 1861.
Other speakers will include Professor Frank Bryan, UVM; Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale, J. Kevin Graffagnino, Executive Director, Vermont Historical Society; Professor Eric Davis, Middlebury College; Shay Totten, editor, Vermont Guardian; Antoine Robitaille, journalist Le Devoir (Quebec City); G. Roderick Lawrence, CEO, Stevenson Kellogg (Canada); (Rev.) Ben T. Matchstick; and General Ethan Allen (aka Jim Hogue). General Allen is expected to travel by horse to the State House.
The objectives of the convention are twofold. First, to raise the level of awareness of Vermonters of the feasibility of independence as a viable alternative to a nation which has lost its moral authority and is unsustainable. Second, to provide an example and a process for other states and nations which may be seriously considering separatism, secession, independence, and similar devolutionary strategies.
The Second Vermont Republic is a peaceful, democratic, grassroots, libertarian populist movement committed to the return of Vermont to its status as an independent republic as it once was between 1777 and 1791.
* * * * *
Apparently there's some loophole that gives Vermont the ability to become it's own country. SWEET. Well, sounds good, right? But I don't know if it'll be a good thing in the end. I just spoke with someone that thought we should grab the Adirondacks and make a new country with Quebec. I'd be down with that; I wouldn't mind saying "Montpelier" with a French accent. I can learn the metric system.
I'm taking work off on Friday to go up and see what the deal is.
Sunday
[tech] DSL
I’m setting up DSL at home. Soon I’ll be on the internet superhighway. I’ve been living without network or cable tv (forget about TiVo- what’s that?), caller ID and internet for too long. Deciding that I finally need to be connected to digital garbage 24/7, I ordered up a DSL kit.
How easy the set-up is! A mailman throws the box on your lawn and, after opening the crushed box, you learn that you don’t even need to read anything! A piece of cardboard informs you that all you need to do is put in the CD-ROM disk to aquire instructions on what to do.
In goes the CD. I’m told to check the volume. It’s on. I click Next. A young man’s voice appears, welcoming me and telling me that I’m about to enter the world wide obsessiverse. He congenially explains that I’ll be taken through a three step process. That’s it, three steps. The voice is smiling warmly at me and begins to explain what DSL is.
Apparently, I need to apply DSL filters to my phone jacks because there are these red, squiggly snakes that travel along the telephone lines. The filters keep the snakes from crawling into my ear while I’m talking to someone on the phone, but it lets them go up the other cable into my computer, where they presumably run all the machines on the inside.
Gideon, as I like to think of the voice now, explains all this to me in a reassuring manner. I curl up on the couch and click Next. Gideon gives me several simple instructions on what to do with the snake filters. He breaks each step down to the point of painstaking obviousness. His voice is rolling its eyes at me, aware that I’m smarter than this but he needs to say it for all the morons out there. “I love you,” I say at the monitor and click Next..
“Step One complete,” Gideon enthuses. “Good job! I knew you could do it... I love you, too. Click Next to continue.”
Time to check the modem. I plug in all the cables into their respective slots exactly the way Gideon tells me to. Next, I’m told to wait while he tests my connection. It may take several minutes.
Several? More like a billion! I’ve been waiting forever while the Trivial Pursuit pie piece on my screen twirls and twirls around. I go upstairs to take a shower and come back. Nothing. What the fucking fuck is taking so long? Gideon told me in the beginning that the whole DSL installation process wasn’t going to take any more than an hour to complete. It’s been almost two! What a liar. And where did he even go? I haven’t heard anything from him in ages. He’s just one of those love ‘em and leave ‘em types, I guess. Asshole. Seriously, what’s the-
Hang on, the CD just went. Is something going to happen? Wait for it… Wait for it… Wait… for… it… Nothing. Figures. Should I leave it running while I go to bed? Should I turn everything off and on? Should I smoke some crack and say up all night staring at the rotating triangle? All right, time for drastic action…
Um… I turned off the modem and then turned it back on. And now more lights are on than before. This has to be a good thing, right? So why is that stupid pie still swirling? Argh! That’s IT! I’m closing down the installation software and trying again.
Well, that did it. Gideon sounded pissed when I resumed the installation but I was able to get through the account setup and all the rest. I don’t care, really. He meant nothing to me. We were like two ships passing in the- Ugh, I hate the sound of his voice now- All smarmy like he just found out he can crap gold nuggets. I just want to get this over with.
Wonder of wonders, I’m connected and everything worked out in the end. What’s the first thing I did? Went upstairs to read a book.
How easy the set-up is! A mailman throws the box on your lawn and, after opening the crushed box, you learn that you don’t even need to read anything! A piece of cardboard informs you that all you need to do is put in the CD-ROM disk to aquire instructions on what to do.
In goes the CD. I’m told to check the volume. It’s on. I click Next. A young man’s voice appears, welcoming me and telling me that I’m about to enter the world wide obsessiverse. He congenially explains that I’ll be taken through a three step process. That’s it, three steps. The voice is smiling warmly at me and begins to explain what DSL is.
Apparently, I need to apply DSL filters to my phone jacks because there are these red, squiggly snakes that travel along the telephone lines. The filters keep the snakes from crawling into my ear while I’m talking to someone on the phone, but it lets them go up the other cable into my computer, where they presumably run all the machines on the inside.
Gideon, as I like to think of the voice now, explains all this to me in a reassuring manner. I curl up on the couch and click Next. Gideon gives me several simple instructions on what to do with the snake filters. He breaks each step down to the point of painstaking obviousness. His voice is rolling its eyes at me, aware that I’m smarter than this but he needs to say it for all the morons out there. “I love you,” I say at the monitor and click Next..
“Step One complete,” Gideon enthuses. “Good job! I knew you could do it... I love you, too. Click Next to continue.”
Time to check the modem. I plug in all the cables into their respective slots exactly the way Gideon tells me to. Next, I’m told to wait while he tests my connection. It may take several minutes.
Several? More like a billion! I’ve been waiting forever while the Trivial Pursuit pie piece on my screen twirls and twirls around. I go upstairs to take a shower and come back. Nothing. What the fucking fuck is taking so long? Gideon told me in the beginning that the whole DSL installation process wasn’t going to take any more than an hour to complete. It’s been almost two! What a liar. And where did he even go? I haven’t heard anything from him in ages. He’s just one of those love ‘em and leave ‘em types, I guess. Asshole. Seriously, what’s the-
Hang on, the CD just went. Is something going to happen? Wait for it… Wait for it… Wait… for… it… Nothing. Figures. Should I leave it running while I go to bed? Should I turn everything off and on? Should I smoke some crack and say up all night staring at the rotating triangle? All right, time for drastic action…
Um… I turned off the modem and then turned it back on. And now more lights are on than before. This has to be a good thing, right? So why is that stupid pie still swirling? Argh! That’s IT! I’m closing down the installation software and trying again.
Well, that did it. Gideon sounded pissed when I resumed the installation but I was able to get through the account setup and all the rest. I don’t care, really. He meant nothing to me. We were like two ships passing in the- Ugh, I hate the sound of his voice now- All smarmy like he just found out he can crap gold nuggets. I just want to get this over with.
Wonder of wonders, I’m connected and everything worked out in the end. What’s the first thing I did? Went upstairs to read a book.
Thursday
[knitting] Knitty Surprises are up
I like these pumpkins! I wonder if I could fill the small one with autumn/winter spices and have a nice room freshener. As for the, eh, coughtit-bitscoughcough, they're nice. But reading through the story at the top was a little disconcerting... The word "titty" has lost all meaning to me. Yorick is interesting, but it doesn't look "cozy". I like my scarves to be cozy.
Wednesday
[knitting] Knock-off
I spent a good portion of last night trying to write out a pattern for the Valentino bag. I got the graph paper out, several reference books, the little swatch I knit up and tried mapping it all out. Dude, it's hard. I don't know what the symbol is for "put one stitch in the cable needle, move to back, knit two, knit one stitch from cable needle, put two stitches on cable needle, move to front, knit one, knit two from cable needle." I don't even know if what I just wrote makes any sense. It's supposed to be some kind of 'antler' cable, but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm going to see what I can accomplish this week, then send the pattern off to someone who was kind enough to inquire how far along the pattern I had progressed, thereby galvanizing me into action.Look at this picture of the bag. Seems there's going to be a stole to match the Hobo bag. The stole would be simple: just make a long rectangle out of the bag's pattern. Do I smell a knit-a-long? I like this picture with the model. It gives me an idea what size needles/yarn I should be using for the bag- and I can see now that the cable I charted for the middle is wrong... CRAP! [Alert! I like how the word "crap" looks like it's coming out of the model's ass.]
Checking around for more knitted-knock-off inspiration, I found a $930 Fendi "Knit Chef Bag" (whatever that means), which is merely a garter stitch ruffley creation, which looks like it could be knit up quickly with bulky yarn.
Over in the land of more moderately priced goods, check out this ruffled scarf by Free People. I saw it the other day at a local boutique and thought, "I can crochet this. Man, it would be so easy. And this thing is made out of acrylic! Fifty-four bucks?! Come on!" I got the Interweave Knits crochet magazine that has a ruffle scarf pattern. I think I'll use it as the basis for the Free People Kit Ruffle scarf.
Tuesday
[tech] Comments for anyone- Back!
I've been getting lots of spam in the comments ("I like your blog! Want a larger penis?") and changed my settings so that only Blogger Users could leave a comment. I didn't like this solution but I thought it would solve the problem. No such luck, these spambots now have Blogger profiles ("Bloggs are such a wonderful way to plublish ones thoughts. Do you want a larger penis?"). I made another change so that anyone can leave a comment but now you need to type a verification word. Let's see how this goes...
[uvBookClub] November Selection
November's book to (pretend) to read is The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger:
"This clever and inventive tale works on three levels: as an intriguing science fiction concept, a realistic character study and a touching love story. Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with 'Chrono Displacement' disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before. But when he reaches his 40s, already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time travelling to Clare's childhood and meeting her as a six-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's points of view, and so does the narration."
I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'd like to finish it and read The Time Traveler's Wife in time for the discussion on November 16th. I've got too many books to read and they're piling up on every flat surface in my home. My sister got me Pyongyang by Guy Delisle for by birthday, I recently picked up Tricked by Alex Robinson (FYI: Box Office Poison has a new cover that looks nearly identical to the Tricked cover- What's up with that?), I was just lent Brilliance of the Moon by a co-worker (but I wonder if I should go back and re-read books 1 and 2 in the series to get the most out of the 3rd)... There are more, I just can't think of them right now.
"This clever and inventive tale works on three levels: as an intriguing science fiction concept, a realistic character study and a touching love story. Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with 'Chrono Displacement' disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life. This leads to some wonderful paradoxes. From his point of view, he first met his wife, Clare, when he was 28 and she was 20. She ran up to him exclaiming that she'd known him all her life. He, however, had never seen her before. But when he reaches his 40s, already married to Clare, he suddenly finds himself time travelling to Clare's childhood and meeting her as a six-year-old. The book alternates between Henry and Clare's points of view, and so does the narration."
I'm currently re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'd like to finish it and read The Time Traveler's Wife in time for the discussion on November 16th. I've got too many books to read and they're piling up on every flat surface in my home. My sister got me Pyongyang by Guy Delisle for by birthday, I recently picked up Tricked by Alex Robinson (FYI: Box Office Poison has a new cover that looks nearly identical to the Tricked cover- What's up with that?), I was just lent Brilliance of the Moon by a co-worker (but I wonder if I should go back and re-read books 1 and 2 in the series to get the most out of the 3rd)... There are more, I just can't think of them right now.
Friday
[cats] Teddy Bear
Here's a cutie muffin for you to stare at over the weekend. What a widdle teddy bear...
I've got big plans this weekend to attend Dartmouth's Theater Department's Costume Sale on Saturday morning and a bloodcurdling atrocities tour of WRJ in the afternoon. The Demo Queen is Sunday afternoon. Anything to take my mind off all the rain we've been getting. What has it been- 8 straight days now?
I've got big plans this weekend to attend Dartmouth's Theater Department's Costume Sale on Saturday morning and a bloodcurdling atrocities tour of WRJ in the afternoon. The Demo Queen is Sunday afternoon. Anything to take my mind off all the rain we've been getting. What has it been- 8 straight days now?
[knitting] Best Secret Pal. Ever.
I dare you to try to tell me your secret pal was better than mine. I got a package in the mail from her last Saturday and here's what was inside (image is sans post card and knitting pattern):
Can you dig it? It's a flipping LIGER. As Napoleon Dynamite would say: "It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic." And the bag is hand-made. And the Tsuki yarn there- enough to make a scarf with. Le sigh, I am happy.
Here are a couple more pictures from Big Sister's phtotostream:
I basically haven't leg go of the bag since I got it. The strap is the perfect length to put over my head and have the bag hanging on the left side of my body. The zipper is in the perfect place for a right-handed person like me (because I like my bags on the left). I wish I could find a pattern online for a bag like this (hint hint)...
Can you dig it? It's a flipping LIGER. As Napoleon Dynamite would say: "It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic." And the bag is hand-made. And the Tsuki yarn there- enough to make a scarf with. Le sigh, I am happy.
Here are a couple more pictures from Big Sister's phtotostream:
I basically haven't leg go of the bag since I got it. The strap is the perfect length to put over my head and have the bag hanging on the left side of my body. The zipper is in the perfect place for a right-handed person like me (because I like my bags on the left). I wish I could find a pattern online for a bag like this (hint hint)...
[knitting] Harry Potter Gryffindor Scarf
I've finished knitting it! The only thing left to do is weave in ends, graft and block.
Graft. Yeah, I'm grafting the ends closed because I don't have enough yarn to make the fringe. I didn't even have enough yarn to make the required amount of repeats. Check out the pattern. See where it says 800 yards of main color? Well, I ordered 8 balls of Andean Silk thinking, "There are roughly 96 yards per ball so, worse comes to worse, I'll only be able to do 12 or 13 repeats total instead of 14." Yeah- NO. I was only able to do 10 repeats total! What the flipping frack is up with that? I used size 7 needles, cast on 90 stitches, I don't knit wicked loose or anything... Seriously, what's up with that?
The only advice I can give is: If you're ordering/using Andean silk, order 10-11 balls of the main color. [As for the mustard color, carrying the yarn up the inside presumably saved me much yarn- I hardly used any of the second yellow ball.]
So what to do? Well, I grafted the end closed:
No fringe for me. Which is fine. I used a provisional cast-on for no apparent reason (I re-read the pattern instructions and nowhere does it say to use a provisional cast-on) but it'll work out in the end because I can close it up with a kitchener stitch. All's well in the end. And when I block it, I'll try to pull it into a longer length. Gah. This scarf... I don't know...
Graft. Yeah, I'm grafting the ends closed because I don't have enough yarn to make the fringe. I didn't even have enough yarn to make the required amount of repeats. Check out the pattern. See where it says 800 yards of main color? Well, I ordered 8 balls of Andean Silk thinking, "There are roughly 96 yards per ball so, worse comes to worse, I'll only be able to do 12 or 13 repeats total instead of 14." Yeah- NO. I was only able to do 10 repeats total! What the flipping frack is up with that? I used size 7 needles, cast on 90 stitches, I don't knit wicked loose or anything... Seriously, what's up with that?
The only advice I can give is: If you're ordering/using Andean silk, order 10-11 balls of the main color. [As for the mustard color, carrying the yarn up the inside presumably saved me much yarn- I hardly used any of the second yellow ball.]
So what to do? Well, I grafted the end closed:
No fringe for me. Which is fine. I used a provisional cast-on for no apparent reason (I re-read the pattern instructions and nowhere does it say to use a provisional cast-on) but it'll work out in the end because I can close it up with a kitchener stitch. All's well in the end. And when I block it, I'll try to pull it into a longer length. Gah. This scarf... I don't know...
[misc] Bond, Babies and Camel Toads
Craig is the new Bond. So no. Brosnan was the bestest.
* * *
We've all heard that Katie's got a couch-jumping, Brooks-Shields-hating bun in the oven. To focus the universe's mystical, magical, dianetical energy on it, she has dropped out of a movie. Whatever. The most interesting bit is at the end of the article, where speculation has been made as to how she's going to birth Cruise's spawn:
"...it has been suggested that Holmes will attempt a silent labor in keeping with Scientology tradition. The practice encourages mothers to be to forgo painkillers and to refrain from screaming or even talking as they bring their children into the world. Scientologists believe that the silence reduces trauma during birth and prevents irrational fears later in life."
prevents irrational fears? Too late for that, Kate, you whored your womb out to the highest (and by high, I mean high on Scientology) bidder. Go cry into your bag of money.
* * *
Beware of the new drug: Camel Toads.
* * *
We've all heard that Katie's got a couch-jumping, Brooks-Shields-hating bun in the oven. To focus the universe's mystical, magical, dianetical energy on it, she has dropped out of a movie. Whatever. The most interesting bit is at the end of the article, where speculation has been made as to how she's going to birth Cruise's spawn:
"...it has been suggested that Holmes will attempt a silent labor in keeping with Scientology tradition. The practice encourages mothers to be to forgo painkillers and to refrain from screaming or even talking as they bring their children into the world. Scientologists believe that the silence reduces trauma during birth and prevents irrational fears later in life."
prevents irrational fears? Too late for that, Kate, you whored your womb out to the highest (and by high, I mean high on Scientology) bidder. Go cry into your bag of money.
* * *
Beware of the new drug: Camel Toads.
Thursday
[amy] Rested and Relaxed
I'm back. Poop. I had a nice 5-day weekend. Let me amend that- I had a freaking awesome weekend. No, that's still not good enough. I had a- Imagine yourself floating in a cloud, wrapped in a blanket made out of sunlight and you get to eat rainbows all day long with your pet unicorn. Yeah, it was that good.
Thursday was my actual birthday and I had a nice lunch with friends. Ken asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him and Adam- I said sure. When I get to the restaurant, I see Ken and am greeted with, "Hey! Aren't you... punctual!" I was next door buying some earrings. Is it a problem I'm on time? Ken asks for a booth when we're being seated but the waiter says, "I don't think 10 can fit in that booth." TEN? More and more people showed up, which was a nice surprise. Then I spent the rest of the day hanging out and opening presents.
Friday I took Griffith to the vet to get some of his hair matts shaved off. The technician was a little hesitant and wanted to get another person to help but when I pulled Griffith's curled, quivering body out of his carrier and set him on the table, she saw that he was too scared to try to kill. [Aside: Griffith has become quite a proficient hunter; my sister's front yard is rapidly turning into a mouse graveyard.] Friday afternoon I took a trip but it's kind of secret where I went.
Saturday evening was the Fashion Show. I really didn't stay long. The show was meant to start at 9:30 pm but, of course, it didn't get going until a lot later. While the crowd was waiting, video clips were being projected onto the back wall- mountains, forests, under water scenes. I was seated next to a couple very small children who watched the wall avidly and kept repeating, "Oh my gosh! Look at that! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" When a scene of a panda eating shoots came up, the little girl squealed, "EEE!! Look at the teddy bear!!" It was very cute.
After the show was over, I made a move to go and dug into my bag for my car keys. Dig dig. Dig. Slide my hand along the bottom of the bag. Dig. Look. Shit! Where are my- Shit! I frantically started searching and asking everyone if they've seen any keys. I saw Ken and he said I probably left them in my car. No. Remember locking it. That's what I do- I lock my car. I walk out to my car anyway and as I get closer, I see what look like keys on the ground in the grass. I pick them up, unlock my car and drive away without a backwards glance as though Of course I keep my keys on the ground next to my car- doesn't everyone?
Sunday and Monday I knit (I'm making great Gryffindor progress- more on that tomorrow) and relaxed.
Thursday was my actual birthday and I had a nice lunch with friends. Ken asked if I wanted to go to lunch with him and Adam- I said sure. When I get to the restaurant, I see Ken and am greeted with, "Hey! Aren't you... punctual!" I was next door buying some earrings. Is it a problem I'm on time? Ken asks for a booth when we're being seated but the waiter says, "I don't think 10 can fit in that booth." TEN? More and more people showed up, which was a nice surprise. Then I spent the rest of the day hanging out and opening presents.
Friday I took Griffith to the vet to get some of his hair matts shaved off. The technician was a little hesitant and wanted to get another person to help but when I pulled Griffith's curled, quivering body out of his carrier and set him on the table, she saw that he was too scared to try to kill. [Aside: Griffith has become quite a proficient hunter; my sister's front yard is rapidly turning into a mouse graveyard.] Friday afternoon I took a trip but it's kind of secret where I went.
Saturday evening was the Fashion Show. I really didn't stay long. The show was meant to start at 9:30 pm but, of course, it didn't get going until a lot later. While the crowd was waiting, video clips were being projected onto the back wall- mountains, forests, under water scenes. I was seated next to a couple very small children who watched the wall avidly and kept repeating, "Oh my gosh! Look at that! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" When a scene of a panda eating shoots came up, the little girl squealed, "EEE!! Look at the teddy bear!!" It was very cute.
After the show was over, I made a move to go and dug into my bag for my car keys. Dig dig. Dig. Slide my hand along the bottom of the bag. Dig. Look. Shit! Where are my- Shit! I frantically started searching and asking everyone if they've seen any keys. I saw Ken and he said I probably left them in my car. No. Remember locking it. That's what I do- I lock my car. I walk out to my car anyway and as I get closer, I see what look like keys on the ground in the grass. I pick them up, unlock my car and drive away without a backwards glance as though Of course I keep my keys on the ground next to my car- doesn't everyone?
Sunday and Monday I knit (I'm making great Gryffindor progress- more on that tomorrow) and relaxed.
Wednesday
[amy] I'm outtie
I may post a couple times during my 5-day weekend but for all intents and purposes, I'm out.
[knitting] HP Scarf progress
You can see I've made a bit more progress on the scarf. The color of the scarf in the pictures is DARKER than how it looks in real-life. I'd suggest that if you're going to use Knit Pick's Andean Silk for your Gryffindor scarf, choose "Barn Red" instead of "Hollyberry". I'm using the latter and it's a little too cheerful for me.
As for the "Mustard" stripes, I'm getting a little better at the joins:
You can see the jog where the yellow yarn starts and ends. I'm not too bothered because I'll block the scarf so that the jogs are along the edge. I'm not cutting the yellow yarn for every new double-stripe, but am instead carrying the yarn up the inside of the scarf. I'm doing this for two reasons: (1) Less yarn used (2) Fewer ends to weave in. The only problem with this is getting the joins to be nice and smooth. Whatever, this scarf project is a learning experience.
Monday
[knitting] Yarn Affair
I signed up for a newletter from Yarn Affair a while ago. I heard about the site from Google News (which I've customized to search for any news article containing the word "knitting") and read, "Do you like to knit? Do you like to knit a lot? Want to hear about cool knitting stuff? Sign up for our newsletter, which we'll be sending out Oct. 1." I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah... Okay.
Have I gotten a newsletter yet? No. I went to the site this morning and now the whole thing's starting to sound like Mary Kay- For knitters. Which I don't really like. If you invite one of the consultants to your Stitch 'n Bitch, you'll end up feeling obligated to buy something.
Have I gotten a newsletter yet? No. I went to the site this morning and now the whole thing's starting to sound like Mary Kay- For knitters. Which I don't really like. If you invite one of the consultants to your Stitch 'n Bitch, you'll end up feeling obligated to buy something.
[amy] Weekend Update
Not much happened this weekend. I didn't come into work on Friday because I was feeling crappy but I was able to make it out for the Block Party that night. Okay, by "feeling crappy", I don't mean physically but mentally. I'm having all kinds of internal work issues and it's driving me insane. At any rate, I didn't hang out with the crowds in the streets (because 80% of the crowd were high-schoolers) but rather parked my ass at the India Queen and hung out with people there. It was a fun night- you know the party's not hot until the cops come and shut the place down.
Saturday and Sunday was just a lot of cleaning and knitting around my place. This week is shaping up to be busy. I've got Book Club coming to my place tomorrow night to talk about- Wait a minute. The first rule of book club is you don't talk about book club. I'm still trying to decide on the menu. A member offered to bring "a fruit tart, whiskey", which sounded like such an interesting thing for her to offer that I had to take her up on it. I'm going to force her to drink all the whiskey and see what happens (I predict nudity).
I'm taking Thursday and Friday off from work because it's my birthday on Thursday (hint hint) and I want a 5-day weekend (Monday is a holiday). So that'll be nice to lay around and... Uh... I'm sure I can find something to do.
Saturday and Sunday was just a lot of cleaning and knitting around my place. This week is shaping up to be busy. I've got Book Club coming to my place tomorrow night to talk about- Wait a minute. The first rule of book club is you don't talk about book club. I'm still trying to decide on the menu. A member offered to bring "a fruit tart, whiskey", which sounded like such an interesting thing for her to offer that I had to take her up on it. I'm going to force her to drink all the whiskey and see what happens (I predict nudity).
I'm taking Thursday and Friday off from work because it's my birthday on Thursday (hint hint) and I want a 5-day weekend (Monday is a holiday). So that'll be nice to lay around and... Uh... I'm sure I can find something to do.
Wednesday
[music] Haven't you ever heard of the Emancipation Proclamation?
I don't listen to hip-hop! Actually, I do. And I picked some up a couple nights ago.
First let me talk about Blackalicious. This band is comprised of the Gift of Gab (rhyming) and Chief Xcel (spinning). Nia, their first full-length album, is a modern day classic. Broken Arrow, their sophmore release, is on my all-time Top 10 list. The Gift of Gab's 2004 solo effort, 4th Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up, was rendered completely unlistenable due to it’s experimentalism. The duo's newest release, The Craft is only slightly better. The first song, 'World of Vibrations', is great... until the chorus, where a bunch of women start singing, "we VI-brate AT high-ER fre-QUEN-cies" in a jarring, dance-stopping, confusing up-and-down tone. What the-? What is this New Age crap? The last time I heard about vibrating at higher frequencies, I was watching the O.C. Do I really want to be reminded of a crap show while trying to enjoy listening to a new album by one of my favorite bands? 'Rhythm Sticks'? What the fuck are rhythm sticks? 'Powers' could be a fun, happy song- until the chorus: "She's got... POOOOOOOW-ERS!!" No. Stop. Please. The last song (the title track of the entire album) is a self-congratulatory, masturbatory display of how awesome Gab thinks he is. He does vows to be a "vessel", spreading this gift and whatever but even that comes off as being egocentric. Speaking of egos, the only gem (and slightly redeeming factor) on the album is 'Ego Sonic War Drums'- a drum-y, piano-y rapid-fire rap between the Gift of Gab and Peace.
Amy's rating: **--- 2 out of 5 Rhythm Sticks.
Next up is Miri Ben Ari- The Hip Hop Violinist. Yup, you read that right. The Hip Hop Violinist. This album was pointed out to me at my local music store and I scoffed for a second, but then I thought, "Wait a minute. I like Hip Hop. I like violins. ... This'll be the best album EVER!" Yeah, No. Ben Ari's violin playing swings between being too frantic and too distracting. The rappers featured (Kanye West, Scarface, Doug E. Fresh to name only a few) lose some of their street cred when talking gangsta shit over a poignant violin solo. 'We Gonna Win' is a nice intro to the album. 'Hold Your Head Up High' is a great song- With Lil' Mo singing about the struggles women face- and is a perfect blend a slower hip hop ballad with violin accents. The best song on the album is '4 Flat Tires', featuring Baby, Lil' Wayne and 6 Shot. It's a guilty pleasure- the chorus is: "It's goin' down like fo' flat tahrs but you know we gonna ride like fo' new tahrs." I know, right? You just can't think about it when you're bopping along with the beat. Plus, you know you want to say it now: "Oh no she ditn't! It's goin' down like fo' flat tahrs now, BITCH!"
Amy's rating: *---- 1 out of 5 New Tires
The last of the full-length albums I bought is Same !@#$ Different Day, or as I like to call it, "Same Shit Different Day". I just realized though, that the keyboard numbers associated with the special characters in the title are 1234. So the album could also be called "Same 1234 Different Day." ... You know what? It doesn't have to be "shit" either. It could be "Same Shoe Different Day". Any four letter word would work. But... ah... I digress. This album is a remix of Lyrics Born's first full-length solo album Later That Day..., which is an AWESOME album. If you liked the original, you'll love the remixes. It's really interesting for me to hear a song remixed into a completely new, different, equally awesome sound. The remix of 'Hello' is head bopping funktastic. 'I'm Just Raw', produced by Dan the Automator, is a new song and has a chorus of, "I'm smarter than you, I'm harder than you, I'm better than you, I'm just raw. I'm hotter than you, more popular than you, more clever than you and gosh-darnit people like me." Yes, that sounds just as egotistical as a song I just mentioned, but the mellow-yet-earnest way Lyrics Born sings makes you think that it's tongue-in-cheek (but not really). It's like... It's like smiling at someone while you tell them to go fuck themselves. They're not sure if you're being ironical or if you really hate them. I've perfected this ability, by the way. At any rate, this is the most awesomest of awesome purchases because not only are all the new and remixed songs highly listenable, it ALSO comes with a DVD. Fer real. With music videos and a documentary. Multi-media entertainment rolled up in one easy purchase!
Amy's rating: ***** 5 out of 5 Lyrics Born
I was given a couple promos from Music Matters (because I'm a loyal customer and they love me- mwah!). I have to say that Percy Miracles is a find. He's "The Ladies Champ" and has, according to the back of the CD sleeve, "sold over 10,000,000 records in Bulgaria." Is he an underground European sleeper sensation? No, he's the singing alter-ego of Phonte, one of the three members of the group Little Brother. Maybe. I think. It has gotten to the point where this member is also a member of that group, also known as someone else, featured on so-and-so's new album. I can't really follow it all, suffice it to say that sweet, sweet Percy truly is funny. Which is what I think the intention of this EP is. From the first song (in which a canned beat plays and Percy says, "Turn me up in the headphones... That's what all the rappers say, 'Turn me up in the headphones.'") And he intentionally mispronounces the word 'epitome'. (At least I hope it's intentional.) Percy excels at story-telling and these tracks are begging to be played at a time when people will be listening from start to finish. 'Miss Eda' and 'Back to the Motherland' are particularment bons.
Amy's rating: ***-- 3 out of 5 Dance F-L-O-O-O's
First let me talk about Blackalicious. This band is comprised of the Gift of Gab (rhyming) and Chief Xcel (spinning). Nia, their first full-length album, is a modern day classic. Broken Arrow, their sophmore release, is on my all-time Top 10 list. The Gift of Gab's 2004 solo effort, 4th Dimensional Rocket Ships Going Up, was rendered completely unlistenable due to it’s experimentalism. The duo's newest release, The Craft is only slightly better. The first song, 'World of Vibrations', is great... until the chorus, where a bunch of women start singing, "we VI-brate AT high-ER fre-QUEN-cies" in a jarring, dance-stopping, confusing up-and-down tone. What the-? What is this New Age crap? The last time I heard about vibrating at higher frequencies, I was watching the O.C. Do I really want to be reminded of a crap show while trying to enjoy listening to a new album by one of my favorite bands? 'Rhythm Sticks'? What the fuck are rhythm sticks? 'Powers' could be a fun, happy song- until the chorus: "She's got... POOOOOOOW-ERS!!" No. Stop. Please. The last song (the title track of the entire album) is a self-congratulatory, masturbatory display of how awesome Gab thinks he is. He does vows to be a "vessel", spreading this gift and whatever but even that comes off as being egocentric. Speaking of egos, the only gem (and slightly redeeming factor) on the album is 'Ego Sonic War Drums'- a drum-y, piano-y rapid-fire rap between the Gift of Gab and Peace.Next up is Miri Ben Ari- The Hip Hop Violinist. Yup, you read that right. The Hip Hop Violinist. This album was pointed out to me at my local music store and I scoffed for a second, but then I thought, "Wait a minute. I like Hip Hop. I like violins. ... This'll be the best album EVER!" Yeah, No. Ben Ari's violin playing swings between being too frantic and too distracting. The rappers featured (Kanye West, Scarface, Doug E. Fresh to name only a few) lose some of their street cred when talking gangsta shit over a poignant violin solo. 'We Gonna Win' is a nice intro to the album. 'Hold Your Head Up High' is a great song- With Lil' Mo singing about the struggles women face- and is a perfect blend a slower hip hop ballad with violin accents. The best song on the album is '4 Flat Tires', featuring Baby, Lil' Wayne and 6 Shot. It's a guilty pleasure- the chorus is: "It's goin' down like fo' flat tahrs but you know we gonna ride like fo' new tahrs." I know, right? You just can't think about it when you're bopping along with the beat. Plus, you know you want to say it now: "Oh no she ditn't! It's goin' down like fo' flat tahrs now, BITCH!"The last of the full-length albums I bought is Same !@#$ Different Day, or as I like to call it, "Same Shit Different Day". I just realized though, that the keyboard numbers associated with the special characters in the title are 1234. So the album could also be called "Same 1234 Different Day." ... You know what? It doesn't have to be "shit" either. It could be "Same Shoe Different Day". Any four letter word would work. But... ah... I digress. This album is a remix of Lyrics Born's first full-length solo album Later That Day..., which is an AWESOME album. If you liked the original, you'll love the remixes. It's really interesting for me to hear a song remixed into a completely new, different, equally awesome sound. The remix of 'Hello' is head bopping funktastic. 'I'm Just Raw', produced by Dan the Automator, is a new song and has a chorus of, "I'm smarter than you, I'm harder than you, I'm better than you, I'm just raw. I'm hotter than you, more popular than you, more clever than you and gosh-darnit people like me." Yes, that sounds just as egotistical as a song I just mentioned, but the mellow-yet-earnest way Lyrics Born sings makes you think that it's tongue-in-cheek (but not really). It's like... It's like smiling at someone while you tell them to go fuck themselves. They're not sure if you're being ironical or if you really hate them. I've perfected this ability, by the way. At any rate, this is the most awesomest of awesome purchases because not only are all the new and remixed songs highly listenable, it ALSO comes with a DVD. Fer real. With music videos and a documentary. Multi-media entertainment rolled up in one easy purchase!I was given a couple promos from Music Matters (because I'm a loyal customer and they love me- mwah!). I have to say that Percy Miracles is a find. He's "The Ladies Champ" and has, according to the back of the CD sleeve, "sold over 10,000,000 records in Bulgaria." Is he an underground European sleeper sensation? No, he's the singing alter-ego of Phonte, one of the three members of the group Little Brother. Maybe. I think. It has gotten to the point where this member is also a member of that group, also known as someone else, featured on so-and-so's new album. I can't really follow it all, suffice it to say that sweet, sweet Percy truly is funny. Which is what I think the intention of this EP is. From the first song (in which a canned beat plays and Percy says, "Turn me up in the headphones... That's what all the rappers say, 'Turn me up in the headphones.'") And he intentionally mispronounces the word 'epitome'. (At least I hope it's intentional.) Percy excels at story-telling and these tracks are begging to be played at a time when people will be listening from start to finish. 'Miss Eda' and 'Back to the Motherland' are particularment bons.
Tuesday
[knitting] Gryffindor Scarf
Here's the start of my Gryffindor scarf. I started it this past Saturday morning and was able to knit all that in, like, 7 hours. Maybe 8. I'm a sloooooow kn... it... ter. And with all the typing at work and knitting at home, I'm sure the sharp pain along the outside of my right wrist is nothing.In the end, the finished scarf is meant to look like this or this. Hm... maybe my colors are too bright?
I didn't work on my scarf last night, but opted to try to map out a pattern for the Valentino bag. I cast on 64 stitches and on size 10 needles, let me tell you, that's a HUGE bag. So I switched to size 5 needles and it's a little better. Although, I don't know if I'm doing the cables right. It seems so tight when I knit the reserves sitches from the cable needles. Maybe I need to use size 6 needles and switch to five on a cable row? I don't know. You know what? I just don't know.
Monday
[movies] Gay horror
It may seem odd to spin a story by the famously bigoted H. P. Lovecraft into a horror flick with gay themes, but screenwriter Grant Cogswell and director Dan Gildark hope their new movie Cthulhu - which starts shooting in Seattle and Astoria, Oregon, next week - will do precisely that.
I haven't ever read any Lovecraft (I'm a scaredy cat), but my sister has read everything. I wonder what she'd think of this movie.
(I don't like how, at the end of the article, it's suggested that the movie might do better than it should because it may fill a "gay horror" niche. Whatever.)
I haven't ever read any Lovecraft (I'm a scaredy cat), but my sister has read everything. I wonder what she'd think of this movie.
(I don't like how, at the end of the article, it's suggested that the movie might do better than it should because it may fill a "gay horror" niche. Whatever.)
[knitting] A couple new accessories to work on
I've started another knitting project- a Harry Potter scarf to wear to the premier on November 18. I'm using this pattern and Andean Silk in Hollyberry and Mustard. There are 14 stripe repeats and I managed to do two this weekend. The two colors feel different to me and I'm not sure if the way Knit Pick's creates Andean Silk has changed- The mustard color is in a long skein (this is the older packaging design) and the hollyberry is in a ball (which I assume is the new way they're going offer this type of yarn). The mustard feels silkier and softer than the hollyberry but it seems more fuzzy/halo-y as well. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow of the progress...
In more knitting news, I'm going to try to knock off this Valentino cabled bag. I'll knit up sample swatches from all the random Fall Knit Picks yarn I got a while back and try to copy the bag. If it comes out well, I'd like to submit the pattern to Knitty (for the Winter issue?). I'll check out the craft store for (a) fabric for the lining, (b) leather straps, (c) snap closure (d) some kind of bling to replace the "V".
Over the weekend, I finished the first three disks from Season 4 of Six Feet Under. I'd say it's not as good as last season, but I'll wait to see how the whole thing plays out before casing my final opinion. I've got Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica and Lost coming up in my Netflix queue but it says there's a "Long Wait" for both. I never know what the means, either. Long wait? Very long wait? What's the difference? It all seems so arbitrary to me.
In more knitting news, I'm going to try to knock off this Valentino cabled bag. I'll knit up sample swatches from all the random Fall Knit Picks yarn I got a while back and try to copy the bag. If it comes out well, I'd like to submit the pattern to Knitty (for the Winter issue?). I'll check out the craft store for (a) fabric for the lining, (b) leather straps, (c) snap closure (d) some kind of bling to replace the "V".
Over the weekend, I finished the first three disks from Season 4 of Six Feet Under. I'd say it's not as good as last season, but I'll wait to see how the whole thing plays out before casing my final opinion. I've got Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica and Lost coming up in my Netflix queue but it says there's a "Long Wait" for both. I never know what the means, either. Long wait? Very long wait? What's the difference? It all seems so arbitrary to me.
Saturday
Thursday
[knitting] Amy
Whoa. When I'm not at work, I'm usually just wearing a blue sweater, slippers and diaper- so it's really surreal for me to see this doll pattern.
[knitting] 'Katamari Damacy' Has Fans Knitting Hats And Baking Cakes
This is old news, but MTV must be covering it because the sequel comes out this week.
"In January fan Xiola Azuthra started knitting and selling hats styled after the Katamari (another fan bought one and presented it to Takahashi as a gift). The first hat fetched about $130 on eBay. But with each one taking about six hours to make, Azuthra still has 65 people on her waiting list."
"In January fan Xiola Azuthra started knitting and selling hats styled after the Katamari (another fan bought one and presented it to Takahashi as a gift). The first hat fetched about $130 on eBay. But with each one taking about six hours to make, Azuthra still has 65 people on her waiting list."
Wednesday
[books] Artistic statement or Ego?
'No title needed' on cover of Tom Wolfe's paperback edition of I Am Charlotte Simmons:
"We are using Tom Wolfe's name as a brand, rather than the title of the book. He is an icon himself."
WTF? I think that's so stupid. I wonder if the title is even going to be on the spine or if it's TOM WOLFE in big letters.
"We are using Tom Wolfe's name as a brand, rather than the title of the book. He is an icon himself."
WTF? I think that's so stupid. I wonder if the title is even going to be on the spine or if it's TOM WOLFE in big letters.
[pictures] Montreal
Here are a few I took in Montreal...
Montreal at night: Bright and Squiggley
Pick a peck of peppers at the open market...
Garry and Ken (throwing out the uvGangSign and a smile- how Canadian!)
Montreal at night: Bright and Squiggley
Pick a peck of peppers at the open market...
Garry and Ken (throwing out the uvGangSign and a smile- how Canadian!)
[tech] Subscribe now
Finally got the xml/rss feed to work. Subscribe to this:
http://fluidmotion.blogspot.com/atom.xml
http://fluidmotion.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Monday
[amy] Another busy weekend
This past Saturday night I went to Beerstock. The HDL was shut down (and we don't know if they'll be able to continue at all), so the music/dancing was moved to Beerstock. Which was fun. I didn't get there until it was already dark out, but I saw loads of people. Like, people I went to high school with and hadn't seen since high school. I'm sure I didn't make the best impression since I was apparently "wasted" (although, I thought I was doing okay drinking two cups of water for every cup of beer).
There were a couple thefts, too, which soured the evening. Someone had their bag stolen out of their car and one keg was stolen. The whole keg. No one saw anyone take it, but it must not have been too hard because there were so many people and most of them were wasted.
What else happened at Beerstock? Well, some dude named Resin danced by the fire all night in his Speedos. There was a couple making out by the fire and that was mildly entertaining, until it got to the point where half the crowd was muttering "get a room" and the other half was just standing there, watching, waiting to see if the mauling was going to turn into something more x-rated. Unbelievable. And then there was the peeing. One tree in particular became the unspoken outdoor urinal, which is fine, but it was only about five feet away from party.
Yee haw! Cowgirl Amy at Beetstock
Like I said, I thought I was doing okay but, yes, I was wasted but smart enough to get a ride home from someone. The next day I went back to pick up my car and make my way up to the Tunbridge Fair for the Demolition Derby. Ken and Crew have been working hard on the cars all summer and the derby was totally awesome. I videotaped the whole thing and Ken took pictures.
There were a couple thefts, too, which soured the evening. Someone had their bag stolen out of their car and one keg was stolen. The whole keg. No one saw anyone take it, but it must not have been too hard because there were so many people and most of them were wasted.
What else happened at Beerstock? Well, some dude named Resin danced by the fire all night in his Speedos. There was a couple making out by the fire and that was mildly entertaining, until it got to the point where half the crowd was muttering "get a room" and the other half was just standing there, watching, waiting to see if the mauling was going to turn into something more x-rated. Unbelievable. And then there was the peeing. One tree in particular became the unspoken outdoor urinal, which is fine, but it was only about five feet away from party.
Yee haw! Cowgirl Amy at Beetstock
Like I said, I thought I was doing okay but, yes, I was wasted but smart enough to get a ride home from someone. The next day I went back to pick up my car and make my way up to the Tunbridge Fair for the Demolition Derby. Ken and Crew have been working hard on the cars all summer and the derby was totally awesome. I videotaped the whole thing and Ken took pictures.
Wednesday
[funny] Tennis Player
I saw this picture on a news website a while ago and saved it. I was going through my "My Pictures" folder today and laughed all over again.
[work] Awesome
Some guy made a "Work Blind" Curtain.
"I straightened the photo, undistorted it, and cropped it to the area in the doorway. I took it to Kinko's where they printed it onto vinyl, and grommeted the top with a kit"
I have to do something like this.
"I straightened the photo, undistorted it, and cropped it to the area in the doorway. I took it to Kinko's where they printed it onto vinyl, and grommeted the top with a kit"
I have to do something like this.
[knitting] Crazy Aunt Purl
I found a new knitting blog to subscribe to, called Crazy Aunt Purl. What was the clincher? Her tag line: "The true-life diary of a thirty-something, soon-to-be-divorced, obsessive-compulsive knitter who has four cats. (Because nothing is sexier than a divorced woman with four cats.)" It's like looking into the future.
Also, these horoscopes are the best:
"LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 23)
Ever been so lost you had to call the operator just to get a 911 on your location? Ah, then you'll be well prepared for this fall. You're about to embark on a three month cycle of emotional binge and purge, alternately craving attention and hating everyone in sight. While I'm sure there is an astrological term for this cycle, I think I'll call it PMS-on-acid. I'd give you some tips on how to handle this malady, but by now you're already tired of me and I'm getting on your nerves. Now you feel kinda bad about it. But that annoys you too. See what I mean?"
...three month cycle of emotional binge and purge... Sounds fine to me; Now I can validate all my upcoming freak-outs: "But it's in the stars!"
Also, these horoscopes are the best:
"LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 23)
Ever been so lost you had to call the operator just to get a 911 on your location? Ah, then you'll be well prepared for this fall. You're about to embark on a three month cycle of emotional binge and purge, alternately craving attention and hating everyone in sight. While I'm sure there is an astrological term for this cycle, I think I'll call it PMS-on-acid. I'd give you some tips on how to handle this malady, but by now you're already tired of me and I'm getting on your nerves. Now you feel kinda bad about it. But that annoys you too. See what I mean?"
...three month cycle of emotional binge and purge... Sounds fine to me; Now I can validate all my upcoming freak-outs: "But it's in the stars!"
Tuesday
[crafts] Steak Soap
Ugh, this is so nasty I want to make it. Check this is out: it's soap- steak soap.
[fun] Shoe Lacing Methods
At Ian's Shoelace Site, there are almost two trillion ways to tie your shoelaces. There are color-coded diagrams showing you exactly how to lace, a real life example and ratings.
[via Not Martha]
[via Not Martha]
Monday
[amy] Fun Weekend
Saturday I came into work for the morning. After that I went to the Grand Opening of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Once inside, you get a piece of paper and check off any or all of the following choices: Alien, Dog, Stick Figure, Robot. Then you take your paper to the "Dog" table or "Alien" table and have one of the students draw any old thing that comes into their heads, as long as it's within the category. Then you bring it to the "Finishing" table, where one of the artists does shading and generally pulls everything together. Then you bring the drawing to "Quality Control" when it gets either a stamp of approval or a big fat "REJECTED!!" across the front. I saw one cute drawing of a dog that was rejected for no reason I could see.
It was interesting to see the students drawing. Each one held their pen differently and, really, the only thing I could see was the top of their head. They would finish what they were working on, look up briefly to smile at you, and then take the next paper that was being shoved in their face. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. Wait, what is the idiom I want here? Trial by fire? I mean to say that it's pretty intense to be starting a cartooning school only to be forced to draw your arm off during the Grand Opening. Whatever, idioms suck anyway. No one really knows what they mean. Pot calling the kettle black. The straw that broke the camel's back. Why beat around the bush- just say what you mean.
After that I went to an outdoor games BBQ (where I came in 2nd in croquet but didn't fare so well at horseshoes) and then onto the Hookah Dance Lounge. The video Adam was spinning was great and the music was great, but no one was dancing. Me, included (sorry). The hookah room was filled to capacity, but there were only a handful of people socializing in the main corridor and bar area. There was a photographer/reporter from the Connecticut Valley Spectator taking pictures for the next issue and as the night progressed, he just started hanging out more and reporting less. Which is cool. And as I was outside, a truck pulled up and a guy asked me, "Excuse me, miss, but is there dancing up there?" I said yes and he inquired further, "Is it swing or ballroom?" "Uh... What? It's neither man, it's, like, club dancing. Swing or ball- hahahaha... hahahaha.... BAHHH HAHAHAHAH!!!" I don't know where he got his bad information but I was amazing that an error like that could even happen. The dude ended up leaving but came back almost immediately to check the party out. He even hung out for a bit, so that's cool. See? The HDL can transform anybody.
I spent Sunday sleeping, knitting (I'm almost done with the 2nd ball for the Kiri shawl), eating, finishing Season 2 of The O.C. (so... bad...) and hot tubbing (no nudity this time).
It was interesting to see the students drawing. Each one held their pen differently and, really, the only thing I could see was the top of their head. They would finish what they were working on, look up briefly to smile at you, and then take the next paper that was being shoved in their face. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. Wait, what is the idiom I want here? Trial by fire? I mean to say that it's pretty intense to be starting a cartooning school only to be forced to draw your arm off during the Grand Opening. Whatever, idioms suck anyway. No one really knows what they mean. Pot calling the kettle black. The straw that broke the camel's back. Why beat around the bush- just say what you mean.
After that I went to an outdoor games BBQ (where I came in 2nd in croquet but didn't fare so well at horseshoes) and then onto the Hookah Dance Lounge. The video Adam was spinning was great and the music was great, but no one was dancing. Me, included (sorry). The hookah room was filled to capacity, but there were only a handful of people socializing in the main corridor and bar area. There was a photographer/reporter from the Connecticut Valley Spectator taking pictures for the next issue and as the night progressed, he just started hanging out more and reporting less. Which is cool. And as I was outside, a truck pulled up and a guy asked me, "Excuse me, miss, but is there dancing up there?" I said yes and he inquired further, "Is it swing or ballroom?" "Uh... What? It's neither man, it's, like, club dancing. Swing or ball- hahahaha... hahahaha.... BAHHH HAHAHAHAH!!!" I don't know where he got his bad information but I was amazing that an error like that could even happen. The dude ended up leaving but came back almost immediately to check the party out. He even hung out for a bit, so that's cool. See? The HDL can transform anybody.
I spent Sunday sleeping, knitting (I'm almost done with the 2nd ball for the Kiri shawl), eating, finishing Season 2 of The O.C. (so... bad...) and hot tubbing (no nudity this time).
Friday
[amy] All work and a little play
I've been completely consumed by Katrina stuff at work. When I do get a moment to check non-news websites, I inevitably go through all the knitting blogs I've subscribed to with Bloglines. Then I end up asking myself, "How can these people still be knitting? Or talking about knitting? Or buying yarn? Hel-lo?! There's a disaster- who gives a shit about knitting?" … Having said that, the new Fall Knitty is up and I quite like a lot of the patterns.
I'm just grumpy. All work and no sleep makes Amy a something-something. I stopped up to my sister's yesterday evening and she took one look at me and said, "Jesus, maybe you should go home to bed." I don't really want to because I (a) secretly want to be an insomniac, (b) want to be so tired I hallucinate and (c) uh... Wait, what was I just talking about?
My sentiments exactly.
This might be a little dated now, but Foamy tells it like it is.
RE: The Montreal trip last weekend, it was good. We ate the best food. I really liked Chuchai, which is a vegetarian place but can make you meat dishes using vegetables. How can I explain this... They have beef, shrimp and duck on the menu- and it's all vegetarian. "Non-vegetarians will also be astonished to discover the perfect taste, texture and even appearance of fish, duck, beef or shrimps in purely vegetarian dishes." We have to get a place like that around here...
Here's a movie of the drumming and anachronistic battle in the middle of a Montreal park.
Tomorrow is set to be a busy day with work in the morning, the Grand Opening of the Center for Cartoon Studies ("Get a piece of ORIGINAL ART made by The CCS SKETCH FACTORY" Yesssss!!), a lawn-game bbq (if anyone can make horseshoes terrifyingly competitive, it's me!) and the first Hookah Dance Lounge.
The newest Bookslut is up and has got me asking: WTF is a "gutterslut"?
Netflix-wise, I'm still plodding through Season 2 of The OC. I remember this show being a delicious guilty pleasure, now I'm just ashamed to let people know I watch it. The dialogue and situations are so completely contrived, I feel nothing but contempt for all the characters. I rented Alexander from a video store and haven't quite finished it. It's really... gay. Which is pure speculation, right? But is that not what Oliver Stone prevails at? Reign the Conqueror was so much better.
I'm just grumpy. All work and no sleep makes Amy a something-something. I stopped up to my sister's yesterday evening and she took one look at me and said, "Jesus, maybe you should go home to bed." I don't really want to because I (a) secretly want to be an insomniac, (b) want to be so tired I hallucinate and (c) uh... Wait, what was I just talking about?
My sentiments exactly.
This might be a little dated now, but Foamy tells it like it is.
RE: The Montreal trip last weekend, it was good. We ate the best food. I really liked Chuchai, which is a vegetarian place but can make you meat dishes using vegetables. How can I explain this... They have beef, shrimp and duck on the menu- and it's all vegetarian. "Non-vegetarians will also be astonished to discover the perfect taste, texture and even appearance of fish, duck, beef or shrimps in purely vegetarian dishes." We have to get a place like that around here...
Here's a movie of the drumming and anachronistic battle in the middle of a Montreal park.
Tomorrow is set to be a busy day with work in the morning, the Grand Opening of the Center for Cartoon Studies ("Get a piece of ORIGINAL ART made by The CCS SKETCH FACTORY" Yesssss!!), a lawn-game bbq (if anyone can make horseshoes terrifyingly competitive, it's me!) and the first Hookah Dance Lounge.
The newest Bookslut is up and has got me asking: WTF is a "gutterslut"?
Netflix-wise, I'm still plodding through Season 2 of The OC. I remember this show being a delicious guilty pleasure, now I'm just ashamed to let people know I watch it. The dialogue and situations are so completely contrived, I feel nothing but contempt for all the characters. I rented Alexander from a video store and haven't quite finished it. It's really... gay. Which is pure speculation, right? But is that not what Oliver Stone prevails at? Reign the Conqueror was so much better.
Wednesday
[news] Goodbye, New Orleans
"The City of New Orleans Is Devastated. Those were the words of Mayor C. Ray Nagin and based upon a major breach of a levee system, water is flowing into New Orleans flooding it beyond recognition and could very well destroy New Orleans, Jefferson and the surrounding areas." More...
Google satellite map, with the location of the breached levee highlighted.
Levee system in NOLA.
Photo of levee breach.
Holy Cow.
"Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month."
Google satellite map, with the location of the breached levee highlighted.
Levee system in NOLA.
Photo of levee breach.
Holy Cow.
"Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month."
Tuesday
[knitting] Secret Sleuth
Oh ho ho, Secret Pal. I'm afraid you've given yourself away. Yes. Too many clues. And I've managed to figure out your identity with mere hours to spare.
What was it that gave you away? Oh, the little comments. Hiking. A recent trip to that place where the French-Canadians habitons, as they say. Your address helped, too.
Like any good detective, I sorted through all the clues. The fact that you like to knit and have a blog is given. Your presents were sent to me from California. You left a comment saying that you had recently hiked up Mt. Tamalpais. You also said you'd been to Quebec. Well, ha ha, that's all I needed.
I googled a guess and saw a post from someone named "orangina" on the Knitter's Review Forum. I could find no personal information about "orangina" after I applied for forum membership, so that was a dead end.
... Or was it? Another google search returned a promising blog. This blogger is part of Secret Pal 5, was knitting Orangina and quite recently went on a hike (and the Matt Davis Trail just happens to be in Mt. Tamalpais State Park). I couldn't find anything in the archives about a recent trip to Canada, but like it matters- I know it's you, Big Sister!!!!
Am I right, or am I right? I'm right, right?
What was it that gave you away? Oh, the little comments. Hiking. A recent trip to that place where the French-Canadians habitons, as they say. Your address helped, too.
Like any good detective, I sorted through all the clues. The fact that you like to knit and have a blog is given. Your presents were sent to me from California. You left a comment saying that you had recently hiked up Mt. Tamalpais. You also said you'd been to Quebec. Well, ha ha, that's all I needed.
I googled a guess and saw a post from someone named "orangina" on the Knitter's Review Forum. I could find no personal information about "orangina" after I applied for forum membership, so that was a dead end.
... Or was it? Another google search returned a promising blog. This blogger is part of Secret Pal 5, was knitting Orangina and quite recently went on a hike (and the Matt Davis Trail just happens to be in Mt. Tamalpais State Park). I couldn't find anything in the archives about a recent trip to Canada, but like it matters- I know it's you, Big Sister!!!!
Am I right, or am I right? I'm right, right?
[amy] Voyage de Route
I'm going to take a roadtrip up to Montreal this weekend with Ken and Ram...
I had planned on clubbing my brains out up there (not, like, with an actual club, I mean "going to clubs"), but this past Saturday night I raged a little too hard. From what people tell me, anyway. Imagine me, slurring into a kareoke microphone, "WHY do you build me up (build me up) BUTTERcup, baby, just to let me down (let me down) And MESS me around and then WORST of all (worst of all) You never call, baby, when you say you will (say you-) Because you're a piece of shit (piece of shit?) I hate you (I hate you) More than ANYone, cuz you string me along-"
I haven't been to Montreal since the 8th grade and I'm looking forward to driving too fast on their highways and being rude to everyone. That's what the Quebecoise... Quebecers... Que- That's what the people from Quebec are like in America so, when in Rome, do as the French-Canadians do. C'est vrai?
I had planned on clubbing my brains out up there (not, like, with an actual club, I mean "going to clubs"), but this past Saturday night I raged a little too hard. From what people tell me, anyway. Imagine me, slurring into a kareoke microphone, "WHY do you build me up (build me up) BUTTERcup, baby, just to let me down (let me down) And MESS me around and then WORST of all (worst of all) You never call, baby, when you say you will (say you-) Because you're a piece of shit (piece of shit?) I hate you (I hate you) More than ANYone, cuz you string me along-"
I haven't been to Montreal since the 8th grade and I'm looking forward to driving too fast on their highways and being rude to everyone. That's what the Quebecoise... Quebecers... Que- That's what the people from Quebec are like in America so, when in Rome, do as the French-Canadians do. C'est vrai?
Friday
[uvBookClub] NOT!
uvBookClub is about books. NOT! We read and talk about books. NOT! uvBookClub is a SHAM. Poor, poor Valerie. This was her first time in the faux club des livres and I don't think she knew what to expect- Probably not a bunch of people who are more focused on drinking and fixing a nice meal than talking about the literary relevance of the graphic novel and what Ghost World really means.
READY TO ROCK
Amy: Read the book.
Valerie: Read the book.
Ken: Read a little at my place.
Angela: Read a little at my place.
Charlotte: Didn't read it, didn't really stay for the movie either.
Ram: Isn't even in the book club; just wanted a free meal and movie.
M.I.A.
Tyler: Told me he read the book, yet didn't show up last night. WTF?
E!: Said she might come... didn't.
Clare: Didn't come; was house/cat-sitting last night.
I was about to have an aneurysm thinking about all the food preparation that needed to be done before people arrived (gotta make the pesto, chop all veggies, make the pizza dough, make the salad dressing), but everyone helped and the evening sailed along smoothly. I think the nicest part of having lots of people around are the eclectic conversations…
* * *
AMY: Do you want a beer, Ken?
KEN: I don't know. I guess I'm waiting for a mojito.
AMY: What?
KEN: Today you posted that drink recipe.
AMY: Yeah. That doesn't mean I actually have the makings for a mojito at my place.
KEN: Really?
AMY: Yeah, I'm starting it as a new weekly thing, like the Friday Five. Thirsty Thursday- It'll be a different drink recipe every week.
KEN: ... Oh.
AMY: So I'm sorry you somehow got the impression that I would have mojito stuff here, based on a post I put up, but I don't. Do You Want A Beer?
KEN: Yes.
* * *
AMY: Ram is peeing for a really long time upstairs.
KEN: Well he had a long drive back from Northampton.
AMY: You don't understand, he was peeing when I went up there to get a chair from my bedroom, while I was moving stuff off the chair and while I was bring it back down. I bet he's still peeing right now.
[LATER]
RAM: So Amy, I hear you think I take too long to pee.
AMY: What? No, I never said that.
RAM: I wish I could pee faster for you. Would that make you feel better?
AMY: Dude, you take as long as you need to pee, it's no big deal. You can't help it if it takes you an abnormal amount of time to drain your bladder.
* * *
ANGELA: You remind me of the babe.
AMY: The babe?
ANGELA: The babe with the power.
AMY: The power?
ANGELA: The power of voodoo.
AMY: ... Voodoo?
ANGELA: You do.
AMY: I do?
ANGELA: Remind me of the babe.
AMY: ... The babe?
ANGELA: The babe with the power.
AMY: The power?
[And on into infinity...]
* * *
[Dinner is on the table, everyone sits]
AMY: Oh no.
EVERYONE: What?
AMY: I forgot the red onion. I wanted to put some red onion on the salad and on the pizza. ... Shit! Fuck! That red onion would have totally- Fuck! Supper’s RUINED now!
KEN: That's okay, now everyone can make out after we're done eating.
AMY: ...
VALERIE: Red onions give you gas anyway.
AMY: ...
RAM: See, Amy? It's better that you left them out.
AMY: ...
[LATER]
AMY: Don't you like green peppers, Ram?
RAM: No, Amy, that's why I didn't eat them.
AMY: Jesus, why are you such a picky eater? What have you got against green peppers?
RAM: I don't like the skin.
AMY: Oh really. And if I were to peel the green pepper for you, would you eat it then?
RAM: Yes.
AMY: ... Hmn. Well, I'm not going to peel my green peppers just because you're so freaking finicky.
* * *
I lent Valerie a couple more graphics novels after the movie ended, when everyone was preparing to leave. Angela said she was going to make next month's book selection and let the rest of us know what our next reading assignment is. I'm already thinking about what to serve for supper...
READY TO ROCK
Amy: Read the book.
Valerie: Read the book.
Ken: Read a little at my place.
Angela: Read a little at my place.
Charlotte: Didn't read it, didn't really stay for the movie either.
Ram: Isn't even in the book club; just wanted a free meal and movie.
M.I.A.
Tyler: Told me he read the book, yet didn't show up last night. WTF?
E!: Said she might come... didn't.
Clare: Didn't come; was house/cat-sitting last night.
I was about to have an aneurysm thinking about all the food preparation that needed to be done before people arrived (gotta make the pesto, chop all veggies, make the pizza dough, make the salad dressing), but everyone helped and the evening sailed along smoothly. I think the nicest part of having lots of people around are the eclectic conversations…
* * *
AMY: Do you want a beer, Ken?
KEN: I don't know. I guess I'm waiting for a mojito.
AMY: What?
KEN: Today you posted that drink recipe.
AMY: Yeah. That doesn't mean I actually have the makings for a mojito at my place.
KEN: Really?
AMY: Yeah, I'm starting it as a new weekly thing, like the Friday Five. Thirsty Thursday- It'll be a different drink recipe every week.
KEN: ... Oh.
AMY: So I'm sorry you somehow got the impression that I would have mojito stuff here, based on a post I put up, but I don't. Do You Want A Beer?
KEN: Yes.
* * *
AMY: Ram is peeing for a really long time upstairs.
KEN: Well he had a long drive back from Northampton.
AMY: You don't understand, he was peeing when I went up there to get a chair from my bedroom, while I was moving stuff off the chair and while I was bring it back down. I bet he's still peeing right now.
[LATER]
RAM: So Amy, I hear you think I take too long to pee.
AMY: What? No, I never said that.
RAM: I wish I could pee faster for you. Would that make you feel better?
AMY: Dude, you take as long as you need to pee, it's no big deal. You can't help it if it takes you an abnormal amount of time to drain your bladder.
* * *
ANGELA: You remind me of the babe.
AMY: The babe?
ANGELA: The babe with the power.
AMY: The power?
ANGELA: The power of voodoo.
AMY: ... Voodoo?
ANGELA: You do.
AMY: I do?
ANGELA: Remind me of the babe.
AMY: ... The babe?
ANGELA: The babe with the power.
AMY: The power?
[And on into infinity...]
* * *
[Dinner is on the table, everyone sits]
AMY: Oh no.
EVERYONE: What?
AMY: I forgot the red onion. I wanted to put some red onion on the salad and on the pizza. ... Shit! Fuck! That red onion would have totally- Fuck! Supper’s RUINED now!
KEN: That's okay, now everyone can make out after we're done eating.
AMY: ...
VALERIE: Red onions give you gas anyway.
AMY: ...
RAM: See, Amy? It's better that you left them out.
AMY: ...
[LATER]
AMY: Don't you like green peppers, Ram?
RAM: No, Amy, that's why I didn't eat them.
AMY: Jesus, why are you such a picky eater? What have you got against green peppers?
RAM: I don't like the skin.
AMY: Oh really. And if I were to peel the green pepper for you, would you eat it then?
RAM: Yes.
AMY: ... Hmn. Well, I'm not going to peel my green peppers just because you're so freaking finicky.
* * *
I lent Valerie a couple more graphics novels after the movie ended, when everyone was preparing to leave. Angela said she was going to make next month's book selection and let the rest of us know what our next reading assignment is. I'm already thinking about what to serve for supper...
Thursday
[amy] Birthplace closing down
The Water Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., the place where I was born, is going to be closed down.
Wednesday
[videogame] Nintendogs
I had heard that Nintendogs for Nintendo DS was a surprisingly addictive and fun "game". Jason got it and is now the proud digi-owner of a vitru-pet. He's got some kind of small collie named "Jackie". I don't know where the name came from, but I think it's given by the game so that it can recognize when you say the dog's name. That's right, the dog can hear you and can learn voice commands. So Jason showed me and Jake last night...
JASON: Watch this: Jackie! Jackie come!
AMY: That's so cool!
JASON: Jackie sit! Sit Jackie! Sit Jackie! Sit-
JAKE: Let me try- Jackie! Jackie sit!
AMY: Jackie! Jackie come!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit Jackie!
AMY: Let me pet her.
JASON: Lay down Jackie! Lay down!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
AMY: Let me see the DS.
JASON: Jackie! Wait. Jackie!
JAKE: Jackie!
BARBARA: [shoots herself in head]
JASON: Watch this: Jackie! Jackie come!
AMY: That's so cool!
JASON: Jackie sit! Sit Jackie! Sit Jackie! Sit-
JAKE: Let me try- Jackie! Jackie sit!
AMY: Jackie! Jackie come!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit Jackie!
AMY: Let me pet her.
JASON: Lay down Jackie! Lay down!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
JAKE: Sit!
JASON: Jackie!
AMY: Let me see the DS.
JASON: Jackie! Wait. Jackie!
JAKE: Jackie!
BARBARA: [shoots herself in head]
Tuesday
[books] As heavy as a six-pack of beer
Hunger's Brides: A Novel of the Baroque, by first-time author Paul Anderson, is 1,376 pages long and weighs 4.5 lbs. Does that make me want to read it? Yes and no. Yes, because I occationally like a long, satisfying story. No, because it's so heavy. I don't want to hoist it off the night stand, drop it on my chest ("Oof!") and pretend to read as my ribcage slowly cracks under the pressure. I loved Michal Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White, but I had to read the whole thing (a) sitting at a table or (b) on my stomach on my bed. PLUS, the Amazon discounted price is the same as a regular, non-discounted hardcover. What to do, what to do?!?!
"The plot of Hunger's Brides revolves around Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th-century Mexican poet and nun whose vow of silence at the age of 40 was signed in her own blood. Her life and work have inspired writings by Octavio Paz, Robert Graves and Diane Ackerman.
But the book is more - much, much more - than an extended piece of historical fiction. It is also the story of Beulah Limosneros, a graduate student who immerses herself in the study of Sor Juana, and Donald Gregory, her professor and a serial adulterer. And in addition to narrative fiction, it is told in the form of poetry, dramatic plays, letters and notes in the margins." -- NY Times
"The plot of Hunger's Brides revolves around Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th-century Mexican poet and nun whose vow of silence at the age of 40 was signed in her own blood. Her life and work have inspired writings by Octavio Paz, Robert Graves and Diane Ackerman.
But the book is more - much, much more - than an extended piece of historical fiction. It is also the story of Beulah Limosneros, a graduate student who immerses herself in the study of Sor Juana, and Donald Gregory, her professor and a serial adulterer. And in addition to narrative fiction, it is told in the form of poetry, dramatic plays, letters and notes in the margins." -- NY Times
[videogames] This Spartan Life + Domino
More machinima! I can't get enough!
This Spartan Life: A Talk Show in Game Space. Halo game space to be specific. The conversations could be more exciting but there's an entertaining montage and a music video. And people blowing up (which is always nice).
And this is the most awesome- the most awesome- It's so awesome I can't put it into words.
This Spartan Life: A Talk Show in Game Space. Halo game space to be specific. The conversations could be more exciting but there's an entertaining montage and a music video. And people blowing up (which is always nice).
And this is the most awesome- the most awesome- It's so awesome I can't put it into words.
[books] Memoir spawns lawsuit, movie
Speaking of Northamption...
"In the suit filed last month at Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, various members of the Turcotte family contend that Running With Scissors is largely fictional and intentionally written that way in order to sensationalize Burroughs' past and make his book more marketable. At the same time, the suit says, the book has defamed the Turcottes, causing them harm and humiliation." More...
Uh duh, that's the whole point of the pop-memoir- "You think your adolescence sucked? Mine was, like, so messed up!" I didn't especially like this "memoir". It struck me as trying to be as intelligent, funny and moving as anything David Sedaris has written and failing on all three counts.
I must say, though, that the movie adaptation might not suck. Hopefully.
"In the suit filed last month at Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, various members of the Turcotte family contend that Running With Scissors is largely fictional and intentionally written that way in order to sensationalize Burroughs' past and make his book more marketable. At the same time, the suit says, the book has defamed the Turcottes, causing them harm and humiliation." More...
Uh duh, that's the whole point of the pop-memoir- "You think your adolescence sucked? Mine was, like, so messed up!" I didn't especially like this "memoir". It struck me as trying to be as intelligent, funny and moving as anything David Sedaris has written and failing on all three counts.
I must say, though, that the movie adaptation might not suck. Hopefully.
Monday
[amy] Visit Ram
Ram is moving down to Northampton, MA in a week. Regarding this issue, I had the following conversation with Angela:
AMY: We should go visit Ram after he gets settled down there.
ANGELA: We totally should.
AMY: Well... I only want to go because Northampton has the largest yarn store in New England. Maybe even America.
ANGELA: I only want to go because there's such a large gay community there.
AMY: ...
ANGELA: So...
AMY: So...
* * *
So if anyone else wants to go to Northampton under the pretense of visiting Ram (but not really!), let me know and I can probably give you a lift down.
AMY: We should go visit Ram after he gets settled down there.
ANGELA: We totally should.
AMY: Well... I only want to go because Northampton has the largest yarn store in New England. Maybe even America.
ANGELA: I only want to go because there's such a large gay community there.
AMY: ...
ANGELA: So...
AMY: So...
* * *
So if anyone else wants to go to Northampton under the pretense of visiting Ram (but not really!), let me know and I can probably give you a lift down.
Sunday
[amy] Drunken Debauchery
What day is it? Sunday? Yesterday I stopped by Plasticpalooza for a while. I chose not to slide (i.e. seriously injure myself) and instead focused all my energy on drinking beer and kicking ass at ping pong. Then I went to a bbq at Adam and Dollars'. There, I played a particularly involved drinking game and eventually passed out on the world's smallest couch. I literally had to fold my body into an envelope and periodically rotate throughout the night when various parts of my body lost feeling.
And in the wee hours of the morning, Adam could be seen walking around like this:
Is that a banana sticking out of your pants or are you just... No wait, yeah, it's a banana.
And in the wee hours of the morning, Adam could be seen walking around like this:
Is that a banana sticking out of your pants or are you just... No wait, yeah, it's a banana.
Friday
[amy] Pre-Weekend Roundup
Last night Angela came over to my place for a Knit Night. Since last week, she seems to have perfected the knit stitch and is worked on a garter-stitch scarf. She doesn't feel too comfortable with purling, so maybe we'll tackle that next week. I'm currently working on a gift for someone who will so be leaving the Upper Valley for greener pastures.
I ordered a few movies from Amazon, which arrived in the mail yesterday. I immediately brought Battlestar Galactica up to my sister's, telling her she needed to watch it asap. I opened and played Team America while I tidied my place before Angela came over. I love that movie. It's so hard to pin what my favorite part is... The puking? The dicks/pussies/assholes speech? Durk durka jihad?
I also got Ghost World, which the uvBookClub is going to watch next week. After a democratic vote (in which one person's votes were not counted because she sent them the wrong email address, and whose votes would have totally changed the results but...what are you gonna do?), the August book selection is Daniel Clowes' Ghost World. The plan is for the book club to read a book and then watch the movie adaptation. I've read the book and read through the movie's production notes. It doesn't sounds like the movie is exactly like the book. The characters are there and the themes are there, but it looks like some new material. I'm not to apprehensive about the film, though, because clowes wrote the screenplay and worked closely with Zwigoff during the making of, so I can presume that the movie is Clowes-approved.
I also got another knitting book. Another knitting book. Christmas Stockings. I'd like to make one for Barbara, Jason- They have the ugliest, most ghetto-looking stockings ever. Also, it might be good to learn fair isle knitting on a smallish project like this.
I ordered a few movies from Amazon, which arrived in the mail yesterday. I immediately brought Battlestar Galactica up to my sister's, telling her she needed to watch it asap. I opened and played Team America while I tidied my place before Angela came over. I love that movie. It's so hard to pin what my favorite part is... The puking? The dicks/pussies/assholes speech? Durk durka jihad?
I also got Ghost World, which the uvBookClub is going to watch next week. After a democratic vote (in which one person's votes were not counted because she sent them the wrong email address, and whose votes would have totally changed the results but...what are you gonna do?), the August book selection is Daniel Clowes' Ghost World. The plan is for the book club to read a book and then watch the movie adaptation. I've read the book and read through the movie's production notes. It doesn't sounds like the movie is exactly like the book. The characters are there and the themes are there, but it looks like some new material. I'm not to apprehensive about the film, though, because clowes wrote the screenplay and worked closely with Zwigoff during the making of, so I can presume that the movie is Clowes-approved.
I also got another knitting book. Another knitting book. Christmas Stockings. I'd like to make one for Barbara, Jason- They have the ugliest, most ghetto-looking stockings ever. Also, it might be good to learn fair isle knitting on a smallish project like this.
Wednesday
[uvScene] uvRecruiting in B-Town
Last Friday I went up to Burlington to be a guest on Friday Coffee Blogging. I talked about the uvScene, the uvPartylist and the Hookah Dance Lounge.
Listen to it here.
Listen to it here.
Tuesday
[knitting] Yarn Pr0n
Look what I got in the mail yesterday...
Sack O' Yarn
I ordered some new fall yarns from Knit Picks!
Clockwise from top: Sierra in Bud, Palette in Tan, Petal and Fawn, Suri Dream in Fern, Decadence in Tan, Twirl in Pumpkin, Ambrosia in Lavender, Panache in Cranberry
I haven't messed around with them too much but I had to knit a little bit of Panache. The color is Cranberry but it should really be called Ruby. The blend of alpaca, cashmere, silk and merino work together to make this yarn almost unbearably soft and give it a subtle sheen. It knit up quickly on size 9 needles...
Penny for scale
The only bad thing I have to say about this shipment is with regards to the Palette yarn. I ordered a light brown (tan), a dark brown (fawn) and a light pink (petal) to try my hand at Fair Isle knitting. What I got was tan, diarrhea brown and nuclear pink. Take a look at the "Fawn" I got:
Now take a look at what color they advertise "Fawn" to be on the website:
No shit. I think they sent me "Bark" by mistake but it PLAINLY says "Fawn" on the label. I don't know what I'm going to do with this yarn. The color isn't the end of the world but I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to knit with it because it just screams "Hershey Squirts!" at me.
I went up to my sister's last night and after I showed her all the yarn, one by one, we had the following conversation:
AMY: You can have that Twirl if you want.
BARBARA: Really?
AMY: Yeah, I ordered it for you.
BARBARA: Thanks! I think I'll make a hat.
AMY: There isn't enough for a hat.
BARBARA: Are you sure?
AMY: ... Relatively. ... No, I'm sure.
BARBARA: Well then maybe I'll knit it with another yarn.
AMY: Whatever, I'm going to go back down to my place. [Packs up yarn.]
BARBARA: Don't forget your diarrhea yarn.
AMY: ... [Gets up from couch.]
BARBARA: Hey. I said-
AMY: I'll see you later.
BARBARA: I don't want this one. It's gross.
AMY: I know it's gross! That's why I tried leaving it! ... Oh fine, just give it here.
And then, this morning when I got in my car, guess what I saw on the floor? The diarrhea yarn!!! It must have fallen (jumped?) out of my bag last night! AGH! It's the Tell-Tale Yarn! It'll follow me everywhere I go until I knit a noose out of it and hang myself. ... Hey, that would make a good short story. I call dibs!
And I'm still plodding along on my Kiri shawl. I was able to add a couple more inches this weekend. I'm closing in on the end of the second ball. Only three more (600 yards) to go. I hope I don't hate this shawl by the time I finish it.
* * *
UPDATE
They've traded the "Fawn" and "Bark" images on the website. They're trying to quietly correct their mistake and make me look insane at the same time. Those cunning Knit Pick devils! I swear I would never order a shitty color like that.
UPDATE UPDATE
Holy crap! Any bad Knit Picks feelings I was momentarily having vaporized after I called their Customer Service! They're sending me a ball of Bark. Just like that, poof, they're sending me one. They didn't think I was crazy or anything! I offered to send them back the Fawn, but she said, "No, that's okay. I'll cost more sending it out here and then sending you the right one back." Which means... I'll never get rid of this ball! Noooo! Kaaaaaaahn!!!
Sack O' Yarn
I ordered some new fall yarns from Knit Picks!
Clockwise from top: Sierra in Bud, Palette in Tan, Petal and Fawn, Suri Dream in Fern, Decadence in Tan, Twirl in Pumpkin, Ambrosia in Lavender, Panache in Cranberry
I haven't messed around with them too much but I had to knit a little bit of Panache. The color is Cranberry but it should really be called Ruby. The blend of alpaca, cashmere, silk and merino work together to make this yarn almost unbearably soft and give it a subtle sheen. It knit up quickly on size 9 needles...
Penny for scale
The only bad thing I have to say about this shipment is with regards to the Palette yarn. I ordered a light brown (tan), a dark brown (fawn) and a light pink (petal) to try my hand at Fair Isle knitting. What I got was tan, diarrhea brown and nuclear pink. Take a look at the "Fawn" I got:
Now take a look at what color they advertise "Fawn" to be on the website:
No shit. I think they sent me "Bark" by mistake but it PLAINLY says "Fawn" on the label. I don't know what I'm going to do with this yarn. The color isn't the end of the world but I don't think I'll be able to bring myself to knit with it because it just screams "Hershey Squirts!" at me.
I went up to my sister's last night and after I showed her all the yarn, one by one, we had the following conversation:
AMY: You can have that Twirl if you want.
BARBARA: Really?
AMY: Yeah, I ordered it for you.
BARBARA: Thanks! I think I'll make a hat.
AMY: There isn't enough for a hat.
BARBARA: Are you sure?
AMY: ... Relatively. ... No, I'm sure.
BARBARA: Well then maybe I'll knit it with another yarn.
AMY: Whatever, I'm going to go back down to my place. [Packs up yarn.]
BARBARA: Don't forget your diarrhea yarn.
AMY: ... [Gets up from couch.]
BARBARA: Hey. I said-
AMY: I'll see you later.
BARBARA: I don't want this one. It's gross.
AMY: I know it's gross! That's why I tried leaving it! ... Oh fine, just give it here.
And then, this morning when I got in my car, guess what I saw on the floor? The diarrhea yarn!!! It must have fallen (jumped?) out of my bag last night! AGH! It's the Tell-Tale Yarn! It'll follow me everywhere I go until I knit a noose out of it and hang myself. ... Hey, that would make a good short story. I call dibs!
And I'm still plodding along on my Kiri shawl. I was able to add a couple more inches this weekend. I'm closing in on the end of the second ball. Only three more (600 yards) to go. I hope I don't hate this shawl by the time I finish it.
* * *
UPDATE
They've traded the "Fawn" and "Bark" images on the website. They're trying to quietly correct their mistake and make me look insane at the same time. Those cunning Knit Pick devils! I swear I would never order a shitty color like that.
UPDATE UPDATE
Holy crap! Any bad Knit Picks feelings I was momentarily having vaporized after I called their Customer Service! They're sending me a ball of Bark. Just like that, poof, they're sending me one. They didn't think I was crazy or anything! I offered to send them back the Fawn, but she said, "No, that's okay. I'll cost more sending it out here and then sending you the right one back." Which means... I'll never get rid of this ball! Noooo! Kaaaaaaahn!!!
Monday
[amy] Candleblog weekend
I went up to Burlington on Friday afternoon to be a guest on Friday Coffee Blogging. Read about it (and see my totally stiff picture) here.
I can't remember exactly what I talked out but my mission was mostly to recruit people to come down to the Upper Valley for parties. I remember talking about nudity a lot.
* * *
Candleblog points to a hilarious Hillbilly montage. It's like flipping through my family's photo albums really fast.
* * *
Recently Candleblog made mention of a little sci-fi show called Battlestar Galactica. I like sci-fi but I'm not in like with it- I couldn't make it through Season 2 of Farscape and whenever I see my sister watching Stargate, I say, "What are you watching? Stupid-gate? Is McGuyver gonna stop a bomb with a pair of hockey tickets? Does Tilk want a glass of milk?"
But I trust Bill's taste and get the original one-shot mini-series from Netflix and watch the whole thing last night. It's so good! My love for the show doubled every fifteen minutes! Man creates Cylon, Clylon wants to kill Man, Cylon creates hot ass Cylon that can pass for being a really hot ass human, there's space flying and space fighting, Edward James Olmos beats the holy hell out of another human-looking Cylon with a flashlight (that's when I said "I love this show" out loud in my living room), reference is made to this mythic place called Urth (Earth!)... Season 1 of the show comes out in September and it's at the top of my Netflix queue.
I can't remember exactly what I talked out but my mission was mostly to recruit people to come down to the Upper Valley for parties. I remember talking about nudity a lot.
* * *
Candleblog points to a hilarious Hillbilly montage. It's like flipping through my family's photo albums really fast.
* * *
Recently Candleblog made mention of a little sci-fi show called Battlestar Galactica. I like sci-fi but I'm not in like with it- I couldn't make it through Season 2 of Farscape and whenever I see my sister watching Stargate, I say, "What are you watching? Stupid-gate? Is McGuyver gonna stop a bomb with a pair of hockey tickets? Does Tilk want a glass of milk?"
But I trust Bill's taste and get the original one-shot mini-series from Netflix and watch the whole thing last night. It's so good! My love for the show doubled every fifteen minutes! Man creates Cylon, Clylon wants to kill Man, Cylon creates hot ass Cylon that can pass for being a really hot ass human, there's space flying and space fighting, Edward James Olmos beats the holy hell out of another human-looking Cylon with a flashlight (that's when I said "I love this show" out loud in my living room), reference is made to this mythic place called Urth (Earth!)... Season 1 of the show comes out in September and it's at the top of my Netflix queue.
[amy] Another helping of leaves, please...
I had my Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants class this past weekend. Starting Saturday morning, you hike through the woods to the homestead, eat/learn about plants and help out with homesteading chores. I was going to stay over Saturday night, but as I was doing the dinner dishes (I got stuck with "Dishes" as my chore and let me tell you, doing everyone's plates and all the pots and pans after lunch and again after supper was not the high point of my weekend), all I was thinking was, "I've got to get out of here." I rolled up my sleeping bag, gathered all my belongings and ran out of the woods to try to get back to my car before it got completely dark.
Why did I have to leave? Well, lots of things. I can't really explain it, but I didn't feel comfortable being so quickly immersed in this kind of sustainable/communist lifestyle. It was too much to take in. Example: you need to eat a lot of roots and leaves to feel full. I wondered why everyone was piling so much onto their plate during lunch but come suppertime, I'm LOADING my plate with all the nuts and berries and leaves I could. Oh yeah, and then there was the naked swim time in the late afternoon. Everyone was asked if they had a problem with nudity and I said that I don’t. I swear that I don’t mind nudity but when we got down there, everyone got naked except for me and one other girl. Now, being surrounded by ten naked guys sounds alright in theory and under the right circumstances, I could have enjoyed the experience but as it was, I felt a smidge uncomfortable. Perhaps because I was outnumbered? I don't know. And the threat of leeches didn’t make matters any better.
So what have I covered: (1) Meals consisting of leaves, roots, flowers, etc (and the imminent possibility that my next bowel movement is going to be a miniature bale of hay). (2) Nudity is okay but too much freaks me out a little. (3) Doing everyone’s dishes seemed like a raw deal to me. I’d rather do mine and have everyone else do their own. What does that make me? Selfish? Lazy? See, this is why I’d make a better hermit than a community member.
I did return Sunday morning and we all went on a walk through the woods, had lunch (Nooo!! More dishes!!), and made salves using infused oils, beeswax and essential oils (mine smells delicious). I did learn a lot and am planning on taking a couple short hikes after work this week to go foraging...
Why did I have to leave? Well, lots of things. I can't really explain it, but I didn't feel comfortable being so quickly immersed in this kind of sustainable/communist lifestyle. It was too much to take in. Example: you need to eat a lot of roots and leaves to feel full. I wondered why everyone was piling so much onto their plate during lunch but come suppertime, I'm LOADING my plate with all the nuts and berries and leaves I could. Oh yeah, and then there was the naked swim time in the late afternoon. Everyone was asked if they had a problem with nudity and I said that I don’t. I swear that I don’t mind nudity but when we got down there, everyone got naked except for me and one other girl. Now, being surrounded by ten naked guys sounds alright in theory and under the right circumstances, I could have enjoyed the experience but as it was, I felt a smidge uncomfortable. Perhaps because I was outnumbered? I don't know. And the threat of leeches didn’t make matters any better.
So what have I covered: (1) Meals consisting of leaves, roots, flowers, etc (and the imminent possibility that my next bowel movement is going to be a miniature bale of hay). (2) Nudity is okay but too much freaks me out a little. (3) Doing everyone’s dishes seemed like a raw deal to me. I’d rather do mine and have everyone else do their own. What does that make me? Selfish? Lazy? See, this is why I’d make a better hermit than a community member.
I did return Sunday morning and we all went on a walk through the woods, had lunch (Nooo!! More dishes!!), and made salves using infused oils, beeswax and essential oils (mine smells delicious). I did learn a lot and am planning on taking a couple short hikes after work this week to go foraging...
Thursday
[funny] Trained monkeys? Are you sure?
Listen to Act I of the following episode from This American Life: A Little Bit of Knowledge:
"Small Thoughts in Big Brains. This American Life producer Alex Blumberg investigates a little-studied phenomenon: Children who get a mistaken idea in their heads about how something works or what something means, and then don't figure out until well into adulthood that they were wrong."
I can't think of any of my own examples concerning this, but it's probably because I haven't been corrected yet. I will say that a couple years ago I was corrected by a co-worker on the pronunciation of the character "&". It's not like you ever need to say it (one would just say the word and in conversation) and you only rarely see it spelled out. So we're at work, tacking letters and characters onto a board and I ask for an "amfursan". Am-fur-san. My co-worker immediately says, "What did you just say?" Uh... am... amfursan. "Do you mean AM-PER-SAND?" Whatever, you know what I'm talking about- Just give me one!
Ampersand. Amfursan. That's how it's always sounded to me.
"Small Thoughts in Big Brains. This American Life producer Alex Blumberg investigates a little-studied phenomenon: Children who get a mistaken idea in their heads about how something works or what something means, and then don't figure out until well into adulthood that they were wrong."
I can't think of any of my own examples concerning this, but it's probably because I haven't been corrected yet. I will say that a couple years ago I was corrected by a co-worker on the pronunciation of the character "&". It's not like you ever need to say it (one would just say the word and in conversation) and you only rarely see it spelled out. So we're at work, tacking letters and characters onto a board and I ask for an "amfursan". Am-fur-san. My co-worker immediately says, "What did you just say?" Uh... am... amfursan. "Do you mean AM-PER-SAND?" Whatever, you know what I'm talking about- Just give me one!
Ampersand. Amfursan. That's how it's always sounded to me.
[amy] Mail Call
What a great mail day yesterday. I got a couple books from Amazon, Season 3 of Red vs. Blue and another present from my Secret Pal. From Amazon, I got: Stitch-It and Sew Fast, Sew Easy. I really like Stitch-It because it's a kit; it comes with a needle, different colored skeins of colored embroider thread, a how-to book, two white tea towels, a packet of iron-on transfers and a hoop. So it's everything I need to get started embroidering. How easy is that?
Stitch-It Kit
Speaking of easy, Sew Fast, Sew Easy is a good intructional book. The only fabric I've ever cut and machine sewed was for a quilt (which subsequently never got finished) and I now realize I was doing it all wrong. This book comes with patterns in the back that you can use to make a pillow, then a tote bag, then a skirt. I want to try making a couple things from this book before tackling an apron for Tie One On.
Speaking of tying one on, the new gallery is up. June's theme was 'Pink Lemonade'. August's theme is 'Mini Me'. Since I don't have/know any kids and don't have any dolls to dress up, I may be forced to make an apron for Griffith. Or, since I keep saying I'm going to participate in this apron thing and never do, I may just not make an apron at all. Who knows?
Speaking of... uh... knitting, my Secret Pal sent me two skeins of dyable wool, packets of Kool-Aid, directions on how to dye with Kool-Aid and Yarn to Dye For.
My Secret Pal RAWKS!
I'm excited to dye, but won't be able to this weekend because I'm going away on that Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants thing. What I'd like to do, though, is dye both at the same time, in a graduated color scheme, then knit a pillow cover out of it.
Speaking of dying, Season 3 of Red vs. Blue is AWESOME! Frikkin' AWESOME! From the brand-new intro (and music) to the story and all the different levels utilized and- and- I don't want to give anything away but the move from the Halo world to the Halo 2 world is pretty funny.
Stitch-It Kit
Speaking of easy, Sew Fast, Sew Easy is a good intructional book. The only fabric I've ever cut and machine sewed was for a quilt (which subsequently never got finished) and I now realize I was doing it all wrong. This book comes with patterns in the back that you can use to make a pillow, then a tote bag, then a skirt. I want to try making a couple things from this book before tackling an apron for Tie One On.
Speaking of tying one on, the new gallery is up. June's theme was 'Pink Lemonade'. August's theme is 'Mini Me'. Since I don't have/know any kids and don't have any dolls to dress up, I may be forced to make an apron for Griffith. Or, since I keep saying I'm going to participate in this apron thing and never do, I may just not make an apron at all. Who knows?
Speaking of... uh... knitting, my Secret Pal sent me two skeins of dyable wool, packets of Kool-Aid, directions on how to dye with Kool-Aid and Yarn to Dye For.
My Secret Pal RAWKS!
I'm excited to dye, but won't be able to this weekend because I'm going away on that Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants thing. What I'd like to do, though, is dye both at the same time, in a graduated color scheme, then knit a pillow cover out of it.
Speaking of dying, Season 3 of Red vs. Blue is AWESOME! Frikkin' AWESOME! From the brand-new intro (and music) to the story and all the different levels utilized and- and- I don't want to give anything away but the move from the Halo world to the Halo 2 world is pretty funny.
Wednesday
Monday
[knitting] That's not a woman. That's a MAN, baby!
Nice. I don't know where in Germany Strickolino is, but I doubt it get's cold enough to justify men wearing emerald green, sparkly, cabled, turtleneck bodysuits. This is beyond "knitting the fugly".And how cold can it possibly get there? It's not Antarctica. It's not even Siberia. Checkout the company's balaclavas: It's basically a ski mask on steroids- with no hole for your eyes. Functional? Sure, if you're blind.
I don't get it...
[amy] The D.O.C. has got nothin' on me.
I finished all the hikes in the Dartmouth Outing Club's guide. Or, I should amend that: I hiked all the Mountains listed in the guide. I haven't hiked ALL the trails up Mt. Cube or Camel's Hump, but I'll get there. This past weekend I went up Mt. Ascutney and Mount Moosilauke.
Ascutney was off to a nightmare beginning on Saturday morning. I parked my car at the Windsor Trail and was going to walk to the Brownsville Trail. Well, after two minutes of walking along Route 44, this psycho dog comes running across his lawn, across his driveway and into the street. The dog's not on a fucking leash!!!! He's barking, ready to pounce and totally has this "I'm going to kill you any second now" vibe.
I. Am. Terrified. I stop walking and pull off my backpack so that I can swing it like a hammer whenever the dog decides to attack. It's early in the morning, but a car comes up the road and slows down- and then keeps on driving. What the fuck? What is it about my situation that makes it look like I've got everything under control? I need some help here! I can't get by this dog! I can't even take one more step. The second I slide my right foot two inches forward, the dog comes two inches closer to me. Another car approaches and stops because the dog is right in the middle of the road. I don't know what the driver sees but it must be: a girl in hiking gear, holding her backpack in front of her like a shield, and a dog ready to kill.
The van passes by slowly. I'm frozen with fear and- I physically couldn't help it- I start to cry. I was so scared. I look back at the van and see it turning around. It pulls up along side me and the elderly couple inside say, "Get inside, hon. Where are you going?"
I try to wipe tears and snot from my face with shaky hands as I answer, "Just, like, right there, to the stop sign. I just need to get by the dog." They end up driving me all the way to the Brownsville trailhead, all the while tsk'ing over the dog (why wasn't it on a leash, why was NO ONE HOME TO STOP THE STUPID DOG FROM SCARING 7 YEARS OFF SOME POOR GIRL'S LIFE, etc etc).
So... that was a shitty way to start out but the hiking gods make up for it- The Brownsville Trail was awesome. There was a nice, steep ascent in the beginning, then a wide open gravelly carriage road, then piles of huge boulders to climb over, and near the top the trail was tighter and covered by the trees (like hiking through a tunnel!). The summit was okay- the Observation Tower was nice but tall electrical towers kind of ruined the view. Then I took the Windsor trail back down, which was steep and tough on my knees. I was even back home before noon!
Ascutney
Ascutney
Saturday afternoon I went kayaking on the Connecticut River between Norwich and Hanover. I hadn't been in a couple years and thought it was be fun. Yeah, not really. Ledyard was crowded (until we got far enough upstream) and I spent all my energy going upstream and barely had enough to get me back down. So, after hiking 4 hours and paddling for 3, I slept like a baby Saturday night.
Sunday morning I was meeting my hiking/kayaking partner, Clayton, for Mount Moosilauke. It's about an hour's drive away, right on the southern border of the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. The hike was okay, just a little cold. I was FREEZING at the top and had to take an hour-long hot shower when I got back home just to warm up. I wouldn't be surprised if it was snowing on top of Mt. Washington yesterday.
The hike yesterday was kind of hard. I didn't have much energy and keeping up with Clayton is hard. His casual stride is unbelievable. He'll step from one rock to another and for me to take that same step, I need to do a flying jump/split in the air. And I'm 5'11". But it's nice to hike with someone else. I enjoy hiking by myself, but only on relatively busy trail.
Now what, now what, now what? Ram went mountain biking in the Northeast Kingdom yesterday and mentioned a hike he'd like to go on. I also want to do Mt. Mansfield. I've got to find some of my VT hiking books...
Ascutney was off to a nightmare beginning on Saturday morning. I parked my car at the Windsor Trail and was going to walk to the Brownsville Trail. Well, after two minutes of walking along Route 44, this psycho dog comes running across his lawn, across his driveway and into the street. The dog's not on a fucking leash!!!! He's barking, ready to pounce and totally has this "I'm going to kill you any second now" vibe.
I. Am. Terrified. I stop walking and pull off my backpack so that I can swing it like a hammer whenever the dog decides to attack. It's early in the morning, but a car comes up the road and slows down- and then keeps on driving. What the fuck? What is it about my situation that makes it look like I've got everything under control? I need some help here! I can't get by this dog! I can't even take one more step. The second I slide my right foot two inches forward, the dog comes two inches closer to me. Another car approaches and stops because the dog is right in the middle of the road. I don't know what the driver sees but it must be: a girl in hiking gear, holding her backpack in front of her like a shield, and a dog ready to kill.
The van passes by slowly. I'm frozen with fear and- I physically couldn't help it- I start to cry. I was so scared. I look back at the van and see it turning around. It pulls up along side me and the elderly couple inside say, "Get inside, hon. Where are you going?"
I try to wipe tears and snot from my face with shaky hands as I answer, "Just, like, right there, to the stop sign. I just need to get by the dog." They end up driving me all the way to the Brownsville trailhead, all the while tsk'ing over the dog (why wasn't it on a leash, why was NO ONE HOME TO STOP THE STUPID DOG FROM SCARING 7 YEARS OFF SOME POOR GIRL'S LIFE, etc etc).
So... that was a shitty way to start out but the hiking gods make up for it- The Brownsville Trail was awesome. There was a nice, steep ascent in the beginning, then a wide open gravelly carriage road, then piles of huge boulders to climb over, and near the top the trail was tighter and covered by the trees (like hiking through a tunnel!). The summit was okay- the Observation Tower was nice but tall electrical towers kind of ruined the view. Then I took the Windsor trail back down, which was steep and tough on my knees. I was even back home before noon!
Ascutney
Ascutney
Saturday afternoon I went kayaking on the Connecticut River between Norwich and Hanover. I hadn't been in a couple years and thought it was be fun. Yeah, not really. Ledyard was crowded (until we got far enough upstream) and I spent all my energy going upstream and barely had enough to get me back down. So, after hiking 4 hours and paddling for 3, I slept like a baby Saturday night.
Sunday morning I was meeting my hiking/kayaking partner, Clayton, for Mount Moosilauke. It's about an hour's drive away, right on the southern border of the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. The hike was okay, just a little cold. I was FREEZING at the top and had to take an hour-long hot shower when I got back home just to warm up. I wouldn't be surprised if it was snowing on top of Mt. Washington yesterday.
The hike yesterday was kind of hard. I didn't have much energy and keeping up with Clayton is hard. His casual stride is unbelievable. He'll step from one rock to another and for me to take that same step, I need to do a flying jump/split in the air. And I'm 5'11". But it's nice to hike with someone else. I enjoy hiking by myself, but only on relatively busy trail.
Now what, now what, now what? Ram went mountain biking in the Northeast Kingdom yesterday and mentioned a hike he'd like to go on. I also want to do Mt. Mansfield. I've got to find some of my VT hiking books...
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