Last night I went to the uvScene potluck meeting. Robyn is a vegan so Ken asked people to maybe bring a vegan dish. Turns out EVERYONE brought a vegan dish and supper was fantastic. Homemade pickles, vegetables, rice, couscous and tempeh. I thought vegan food would have to be boring or bland or difficult but it was all very good.
I kind of feel like I was insulting Robyn left and right, though. If you're reading this: I'm not a bitch! I swear. I got to talking about the Cartoon School and how expensive it is and she said, "For an art school, it really isn't expensive." I'm sorry, did you say an "art school"? I thought we were talking about a place where everyone is making cartoons.
Don't get me wrong, I love cartoons and comics and I have a whole bookshelf devoted to graphic novels but... I never really considered it art. Like Monet or Dali or whatever. I think learning about early comics and the infulence politics had on them (comics as propaganda) would be interesting. The history of manga (and things like Buddha/Phoenix vs. more mass market stories like Sailor Moon). Right now I'm dealing with wordless comics (Owly, Sshhh!) and how they tell stories through pictures alone. I think it's all valid and studyable but it's, like... Fun. I don't know, I guess I'm not explaining this right.
By thinking this way, I'm insulting all the author/artists out there: Chris Ware, Marjane, Tezuka, etc etc. "Oh, you're not a real artist because you draw cartoons." Nevermind these people show and tell complicated things like familial dysfuntion, the Iranian revolution and God/Evolution. It's just that it's in the form of a cartoon and that makes it... A joke? Less serious?
Am I a hypocrite? Maybe. But I love comics. The best, most satisfying story I've ever read is The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman (10 volumes of comics).
Whatever, I could go on about this for ages. Maus won the Pulitzer so I should shut up and accept cartooning as a valid art form. Gah! I can't even say that without cringing!
After the food, I left a early to go to Adam's and work on a new hour for uvMix. I got there at 8:00 pm and still didn't get home until 11:45 pm. But it's done. A new hour I mixed all by myself. Ahhhh.
UPDATE
I posed this question over at ILC and promptly got spanked. Ouch.
Friday
Thursday
[knitting] Semi-sock, not socks, socks.
Here is one of the socks I'm knitting for Dollar. They are moving along insanely quickly:
The picture makes it look a quite teal but they are really a manly color of hunter green. All that you see there is probably 5-6 hours of work. Really. I'm never knitting socks on #2 needles again.
Uh... I mean, after I make these:
Railroad socks for ma-mah. I'm too scared to even cast on.
And my completed Creeping Vines socks:
These are the ones I finished a while ago but never posted a picture of. I'm happy with them, but they're delicate so I don't wear them. They're too nice to wear. I don't want to destroy them so they just sit around collecting dust. Siiiiigh.
And because he's the best boyfriend in the world, I have to show these flowers:
He said he picked them all out himself! Awww. Let's see what these flowers mean: White lilies (purity), white roses (I am worthy of you), pink roses (please believe me), and some irises (your friendship means so much to me). Hmm.. this bouquet suddenly got more complicated. I was having a crap-tastic day so he surprised me by taking the day off work. I came home to him waiting with the flowers, a stuffed animal, a new corn-o he picked up at the post office, cookies and drinks for me. Then he took me out to dinner at a place called Tai Shan in Quechee. We'd never been there before but saw it during the drive home on Easter. The food was great. I wasn't so hot on the idea of Asian after my recent food poisoning incident but these food here was easily the best in the Upper Valley. And the bill came to $26 so we've decided to become regulars.
The picture makes it look a quite teal but they are really a manly color of hunter green. All that you see there is probably 5-6 hours of work. Really. I'm never knitting socks on #2 needles again.
Uh... I mean, after I make these:
Railroad socks for ma-mah. I'm too scared to even cast on.
And my completed Creeping Vines socks:
These are the ones I finished a while ago but never posted a picture of. I'm happy with them, but they're delicate so I don't wear them. They're too nice to wear. I don't want to destroy them so they just sit around collecting dust. Siiiiigh.
And because he's the best boyfriend in the world, I have to show these flowers:
He said he picked them all out himself! Awww. Let's see what these flowers mean: White lilies (purity), white roses (I am worthy of you), pink roses (please believe me), and some irises (your friendship means so much to me). Hmm.. this bouquet suddenly got more complicated. I was having a crap-tastic day so he surprised me by taking the day off work. I came home to him waiting with the flowers, a stuffed animal, a new corn-o he picked up at the post office, cookies and drinks for me. Then he took me out to dinner at a place called Tai Shan in Quechee. We'd never been there before but saw it during the drive home on Easter. The food was great. I wasn't so hot on the idea of Asian after my recent food poisoning incident but these food here was easily the best in the Upper Valley. And the bill came to $26 so we've decided to become regulars.
Wednesday
[knitting] Socks
I'm working on a pair of worsted weight socks for Dollar. I'm using Lionbrand Wool Ease because it's machine washable and dryable. I want him to be able to wear and take care of them himself (so I don't have to ask after them, wash them by hand, block them, etc etc etc). The project is moving along fast- I started the heel of the first sock last night.
I'm also going to try to knit a pair of socks for Mother's Day. I have really nice Regia wool/silk in a cranberry color (my mom's favorite). I just hope I can finish them in time (for all y'all that don't know, it's May 14) considering the fact that it took me roughly 7 months to make mine. She may end up getting a bouquet for Mother's Day and the socks for Christmas.
I actually crocheted a blanket for her for Mother's Day a few years ago- using all Manos. Does she ever use it? No. It's "too nice", which could either mean "too nice" or "too ugly". I kind of want to ask for it back so I can rip it and maybe knit a sweater or something. Just thinking about all the Manos lying around makes me sad.
I'm also going to try to knit a pair of socks for Mother's Day. I have really nice Regia wool/silk in a cranberry color (my mom's favorite). I just hope I can finish them in time (for all y'all that don't know, it's May 14) considering the fact that it took me roughly 7 months to make mine. She may end up getting a bouquet for Mother's Day and the socks for Christmas.
I actually crocheted a blanket for her for Mother's Day a few years ago- using all Manos. Does she ever use it? No. It's "too nice", which could either mean "too nice" or "too ugly". I kind of want to ask for it back so I can rip it and maybe knit a sweater or something. Just thinking about all the Manos lying around makes me sad.
Monday
[amy] Easter Weekend
I had an unexpected three-and-a-half day weekend after I ate bad shrimp for lunch last Thursday and got violently ill. I was all better by Saturday but Friday was hell on earth. I was all, "Body, do you want water?" Body rejected it faster than you can say barf. I was all, "Body, do you want juice?" Nope. Body wanted to try to kill me from the inside out.
I was such a wreck that I slept until 11 am Saturday morning. Which is totally unheard of for me. I'm usually out of bed by 9 am (at the latest) on weekends. But I got up, showered the sickness off, and drove to Enfield, where I played an RPG, The Call of Cthulhu, until 9 pm. I got through it just fine (all I had to do was sit there and pretend to be someone else) but I was a little scared afterward when I was driving home through the woods in the dead of night, after playing a game where I drove home through the woods in the dead of night- and ended up dying. So I'm trying to call Dollar on my cell but there's no reception and I'm scared a demon is going to step out into the road... I think I was still suffering from fevered dementia from the food poisoning.
Easter Sunday we ended up going out to western Vermont to hang with Dollar's family. Then we came back home and watched a couple parts of Long Way Round. I wasn't sure if he was going to like it but hey, it's got motorcycles and mafia (two things every guy loves).
And finally, Dollar and I are going to Bonnaroo. It's going to be awesome. Radiohead. Tom Petty. Cypress Hill. Atmosphere Blackalicious Lyrics Born Beck Damian Marley Ben Folds Cat Power and on and on and on. I want to see them all.
I was such a wreck that I slept until 11 am Saturday morning. Which is totally unheard of for me. I'm usually out of bed by 9 am (at the latest) on weekends. But I got up, showered the sickness off, and drove to Enfield, where I played an RPG, The Call of Cthulhu, until 9 pm. I got through it just fine (all I had to do was sit there and pretend to be someone else) but I was a little scared afterward when I was driving home through the woods in the dead of night, after playing a game where I drove home through the woods in the dead of night- and ended up dying. So I'm trying to call Dollar on my cell but there's no reception and I'm scared a demon is going to step out into the road... I think I was still suffering from fevered dementia from the food poisoning.
Easter Sunday we ended up going out to western Vermont to hang with Dollar's family. Then we came back home and watched a couple parts of Long Way Round. I wasn't sure if he was going to like it but hey, it's got motorcycles and mafia (two things every guy loves).
And finally, Dollar and I are going to Bonnaroo. It's going to be awesome. Radiohead. Tom Petty. Cypress Hill. Atmosphere Blackalicious Lyrics Born Beck Damian Marley Ben Folds Cat Power and on and on and on. I want to see them all.
Wednesday
[games] Losing streak
Last night was game-tastic. I got a GameCube- mostly for this game (which won't be arriving on my doorstep until the end of the week). I ordered the Cube, an extra controller and a memory card from Best Buy online; then went to the store to pick it up.
Best Buy is such a joke. The parking lot was empty but there were about 20 employees inside standing around, shooting the shit. Performing cartwheels. Climbing the wall racks. I think one family and I were the only customers. I went up to the customer service desk to ask a bitchy/bored high school girl for my stuff. She acted like I was TOTALLY putting her out. I'm like, "Are you too BUSY? No? Then wipe that face off your head and get my stuff!"
While I was there, I picked up Mario Party 7 to have something to play with Dollar. I also needed to get a Y-adapter cable for a mono TV. Or something. I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to get, so I ended up pulling aside one of the employees (who wasn't talking on his cell phone about an impending drug deal or playing the Xbox 360 on display or just staring at the door). I said to him (and I quote), "I have this TV and it has mono sound... or something. And I need a cable to turn two of the red white yellow cables into, like, one. I'm sorry, I'm not explaining this very well. Let me start over. The TV is from Japan and it's like... The cables, the red yellow and white ones, there's only two holes to plug them in on the TV... so... I need something to, like, fix it."
The guy politely held back his derisive laughter and guided me to the TV department, where he would pass me off to another guy who could decipher what I was saying. In the TV section ALL the TVs were playing the same thing: Barry Manilo, live in concert. 40 regular TVs, 40 flat panel, huge screens, small screens, all of them, ALL MANILO. I told the salesman, "This is like my worst nightmare, dude. Can we move off somewhere else? I'm getting the shakes."
Anyway, I got my Y-adapter thingie and went home. Setting up the Cube was easy (well duh, kids can set it up). Dollar came home and we played Mario Party. He's never played before but he won 90% of the mini-games. I won none. Bastard. We ended up losing to the computer players.
Speaking of losing, I went to bed after Mario Party while Dollar went downstairs to set up Shadows Over Camelot. He liked the game so much on Sunday that he started jonesing to play again as we were pulling out of my sister's driveway. This urge became so strong by Tuesday night that he decided to set up all 7 characters and play them all himself, confident that he could beat the game. He didn't. He came up to bed at 2:30am. I asked, "Did you win?" He said, "No." So sad. I'm telling you, this is a well constructed game.
Best Buy is such a joke. The parking lot was empty but there were about 20 employees inside standing around, shooting the shit. Performing cartwheels. Climbing the wall racks. I think one family and I were the only customers. I went up to the customer service desk to ask a bitchy/bored high school girl for my stuff. She acted like I was TOTALLY putting her out. I'm like, "Are you too BUSY? No? Then wipe that face off your head and get my stuff!"
While I was there, I picked up Mario Party 7 to have something to play with Dollar. I also needed to get a Y-adapter cable for a mono TV. Or something. I wasn't exactly sure what I was supposed to get, so I ended up pulling aside one of the employees (who wasn't talking on his cell phone about an impending drug deal or playing the Xbox 360 on display or just staring at the door). I said to him (and I quote), "I have this TV and it has mono sound... or something. And I need a cable to turn two of the red white yellow cables into, like, one. I'm sorry, I'm not explaining this very well. Let me start over. The TV is from Japan and it's like... The cables, the red yellow and white ones, there's only two holes to plug them in on the TV... so... I need something to, like, fix it."
The guy politely held back his derisive laughter and guided me to the TV department, where he would pass me off to another guy who could decipher what I was saying. In the TV section ALL the TVs were playing the same thing: Barry Manilo, live in concert. 40 regular TVs, 40 flat panel, huge screens, small screens, all of them, ALL MANILO. I told the salesman, "This is like my worst nightmare, dude. Can we move off somewhere else? I'm getting the shakes."
Anyway, I got my Y-adapter thingie and went home. Setting up the Cube was easy (well duh, kids can set it up). Dollar came home and we played Mario Party. He's never played before but he won 90% of the mini-games. I won none. Bastard. We ended up losing to the computer players.
Speaking of losing, I went to bed after Mario Party while Dollar went downstairs to set up Shadows Over Camelot. He liked the game so much on Sunday that he started jonesing to play again as we were pulling out of my sister's driveway. This urge became so strong by Tuesday night that he decided to set up all 7 characters and play them all himself, confident that he could beat the game. He didn't. He came up to bed at 2:30am. I asked, "Did you win?" He said, "No." So sad. I'm telling you, this is a well constructed game.
Monday
[amy] Gaming and Gatsu
I haven't posted in week. Last week was really busy. Of course, I work all day long but the nights were exceptionally busy. Monday night I helped Ken clean his place after the party ("Wash the dishes, Cinderellie! Scrub the floors, Cinderellie!). Tuesday night I had some people over for dinner. Wednesday I brought Dollar supper at work. Thursday night I... I'm not sure what I did. I think I just got right into bed after work and watched many episodes of Six Feet Under (Season 5).
This past Friday night I played Shadows Over Camelot. Guess who I played with? Me, myself, I and moi. I played 4 characters by myself. Am I really so pathetic? Not really. I had the uvGamingClub coming over to my place on Saturday and I wanted to understand the mechanics, rules and flow of the game beforehand. I like to be prepared and I hate it when a game is stop and go: "Okay, so I moved to here, so that means I... What am I supposed to do here?" "Uh, let me look it up in the rules... Okay... You roll the die." "Okay. Two. What does that mean?" "Uh, let me look it up in the rules..."
So Friday I set up the boards, placed all the pieces and played. The point of this game is that everyone has to work together to try to beat the game. It's not easy as it sounds. I lost. To the game. Even when I was playing all four players myself (which means I knew what everyone was thinking and what cards they were holding- because they're all ME).
Saturday the group showed up and we played. And lost. Dude, this game is hard. Sunday Dollar and I went over to my sister's and played with her. Twice. We won one and lost the other (Dollar turned out to be a dirty, dirty traitor). So in three days I played this game four times and lost 75% of the time. We're totally playing again in a couple weeks and I want to get a full group of people.
And in sad news, Gatsu is gone from my home. I brought him over to Barbara's on Sunday. While I won't miss his incessent "MEOW! MEOW! ... MEOW!" at the basement door ("Dude, your litterbox isn't even down there- WHY ARE YOU MEOWING AT THIS DOOR?"), I will miss his cuddling and purring and just having him around. Run free at Barbara's, dear Gatsu. You couldn't ever go outside at my place.
This past Friday night I played Shadows Over Camelot. Guess who I played with? Me, myself, I and moi. I played 4 characters by myself. Am I really so pathetic? Not really. I had the uvGamingClub coming over to my place on Saturday and I wanted to understand the mechanics, rules and flow of the game beforehand. I like to be prepared and I hate it when a game is stop and go: "Okay, so I moved to here, so that means I... What am I supposed to do here?" "Uh, let me look it up in the rules... Okay... You roll the die." "Okay. Two. What does that mean?" "Uh, let me look it up in the rules..."
So Friday I set up the boards, placed all the pieces and played. The point of this game is that everyone has to work together to try to beat the game. It's not easy as it sounds. I lost. To the game. Even when I was playing all four players myself (which means I knew what everyone was thinking and what cards they were holding- because they're all ME).
Saturday the group showed up and we played. And lost. Dude, this game is hard. Sunday Dollar and I went over to my sister's and played with her. Twice. We won one and lost the other (Dollar turned out to be a dirty, dirty traitor). So in three days I played this game four times and lost 75% of the time. We're totally playing again in a couple weeks and I want to get a full group of people.
And in sad news, Gatsu is gone from my home. I brought him over to Barbara's on Sunday. While I won't miss his incessent "MEOW! MEOW! ... MEOW!" at the basement door ("Dude, your litterbox isn't even down there- WHY ARE YOU MEOWING AT THIS DOOR?"), I will miss his cuddling and purring and just having him around. Run free at Barbara's, dear Gatsu. You couldn't ever go outside at my place.
[books] We and what's next
The uvBookClub met at my place last Thursday night. We had a stimulating discussion about Zamyatin's We- we compared/contrasted the story against Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. Matt was the moderator and gave a bit of 1920's Russian history to put the book into context. Was the story meant as a piece of revolutionary propaganda? I thought so. I took it as a "Fight the power, stick it to the man" type of fable.
Interesting thing: Anthony and James read a different translation from Matt and myself. Not a big deal, right? Well one of the main characters was called I-330 in my book of E-330 in theirs. Significant? I dunno. And there we some discrepancies about whether or not D-503 actually made love to a wooden chair. If I were going to buy a copy, I would get the Clarence Browne translation, which seemed more lyrical.
Supper: caesar salad, steamed asparagus, pan fried chicken thighs, potatoes gratin.
Next time: 2 books- A uvBookClub sanctioned selection and a book to go with an event at the HOP.
Interesting thing: Anthony and James read a different translation from Matt and myself. Not a big deal, right? Well one of the main characters was called I-330 in my book of E-330 in theirs. Significant? I dunno. And there we some discrepancies about whether or not D-503 actually made love to a wooden chair. If I were going to buy a copy, I would get the Clarence Browne translation, which seemed more lyrical.
Supper: caesar salad, steamed asparagus, pan fried chicken thighs, potatoes gratin.
Next time: 2 books- A uvBookClub sanctioned selection and a book to go with an event at the HOP.
Thursday
[knitting] GIR!
This pattern for a knit Gir is awesome. The only thing that could make it better was if you knit a green dog costume for him.
If you don't know what I'm on about, clearly you haven't seen this cartoon.
If you don't know what I'm on about, clearly you haven't seen this cartoon.
Tuesday
[humor] Are they excited... for real?
I don't know. It seems like they're faking it. When the boy screams "Nintendo sixty FOOOOOOOUR", I'm just not buying it. The little girl dry humping the box wasn't convincing either.
[movies] Not a perv
The corn saga continues. We got a Netflix-like subscription to Empire DVD, which has a whole corn section. They send the movies in unmarked blue envelopes (which are much sturdier than the Netflix ones) so the Post Office people don't know to scribble "PERVERT!" all over it before shoving it into your box.
Is it just me, or when you're talking about corn does everything you say sound dirty?
We've gotten several movies now- Some better than others; none as terrible as the first one I got from Videostop.
# # #
KEN: What are you guys up to tonight?
AMY: We're going to watch a movie.
KEN: Anything good?
AMY: It's actually... corn.
KEN: O RLY?
AMY: Yeah. *ahem* Yeah. We saw Oasis Delirium 4 the other night. It was interesting. There was no sound, just soothing music, with slow motion shots of girls rolling around in sand, played in reverse and such... It was mildly artsy. The bonus is that you can watch it as loud as you want and all your neighbors will think you're just listening to soothing music. But I still like the ones with a story. Like, "But I don't want to marry you, Sir Reginald. You are a rake."
KEN: All I can say is- You rock, Amy, and Dollar's a lucky guy.
[THE NEXT DAY]
DOLLAR: Do you want me to send back any of the DVDs?
AMY: I already sent back the first two we watched, when I sent back Battlestar.
DOLLAR: Oh, I didn't know if we should stagger them.
AMY: Well that's what I'm doing. Pirates is still up there since we didn't get too far into it on Sunday night. I kept it in case we actually want to watch it.
DOLLAR: I don't really care one way or the other.
AMY: [silence]
DOLLAR: What?
AMY: I watched it again last night.
DOLLAR: Everybody! Hey everybody! My girlfriend is a corn freak!
AMY: SHHHH!! Whatever. We didn't miss much. It wasn't a very good movie.
DOLLAR: No kidding.
AMY: It had a bunch of the same people from Oasis Delirium 4 in it. The corn community must be kind of small.
DOLLAR: [silence]
AMY: That one guy, the guy playing the pirate hunter, was trying to act. Or, he at least remembered his lines. The girls were like, "Stop this... Hey, what's my line? Oh. Ahem. Stop this charade. You... You... What's my line? You have... nothing... to fear." And that one girl, one of the ones from the brothel, actually said, "You are soooo key-yute!" to him. I mean, hello? It's supposed to be the 1800's. Why are you talking like a valley girl?
DOLLAR: [silence]
AMY: Is it freaking you out I'm so into these movies now?
DOLLAR: Kind of.
# # #
AMY: Oooo, we finally get to watch a movie with Jenna in it! Is that her?
DOLLAR: Yeah.
AMY: I can't tell. She looks like all the other ones. Blond hair, lots of eye make-up, lipstick... I thought she would be distinctive but it's like I forget what she looks like the second she's off camera. You know what I mean? They ALL look the same.
DOLLAR: Yeah but all those other girls are copying Jenna. She was the first one to have the big blond hair, big chest look.
AMY: No way!
DOLLAR: Before that, in the 70's and 80's, everyone in corn was ugly. When is this movie from?
AMY: Whoa! 1996! That's, like, 10 years ago. We were seniors in high school. ... Jenna must be kinda old. ... I want to study the history of corn. How it has developed and evolved since, say, the 1950's.
DOLLAR: Really?
AMY: Yeah. For example: The Bicycle Thief is to Italian Neorealism as what is to straight corn?
DOLLAR: I have no idea.
AMY: I'm just saying. Time to get some more books from Amazon.
DOLLAR: Get a Kama Sutra book while you're there.
# # #
AMY: [folding socks] Jeesh, when is this movie from? It looks old, right?
DOLLAR: I'm not sure... It says 2005 on the sleeve.
AMY: It looks old.
DOLLAR: Yeah, it does.
AMY: It must be the type of film they used. You know how Dr. Who always looked British?
DOLLAR: Yeah, I see what you mean.
AMY: [putting away laundry] I think the editing is the only thing saving this movie. Without all the jump cuts, it would suck. ... Oop, I just caught a continuity mistake. See, the people are standing on the ground but when it switches to Justine's POV... wait for it... See? Back there, they're still on top of the dumpster. Ha ha ha-
DOLLAR: You know we're perverts for watching this stuff.
AMY: [stops] WHAT? [throw a pair of socks at DOLLAR] No we're not!
DOLLAR: Yes we are.
AMY: Well I'M NOT. I'm taking an academic approach to these movies. I'm just...It's a different form of entertainment. These movies have historical value.
DOLLAR: ?
AMY: Look, do you want me to keep watching these with you or not?
DOLLAR: You're not a pervert.
AMY: Thank you.
Is it just me, or when you're talking about corn does everything you say sound dirty?
We've gotten several movies now- Some better than others; none as terrible as the first one I got from Videostop.
# # #
KEN: What are you guys up to tonight?
AMY: We're going to watch a movie.
KEN: Anything good?
AMY: It's actually... corn.
KEN: O RLY?
AMY: Yeah. *ahem* Yeah. We saw Oasis Delirium 4 the other night. It was interesting. There was no sound, just soothing music, with slow motion shots of girls rolling around in sand, played in reverse and such... It was mildly artsy. The bonus is that you can watch it as loud as you want and all your neighbors will think you're just listening to soothing music. But I still like the ones with a story. Like, "But I don't want to marry you, Sir Reginald. You are a rake."
KEN: All I can say is- You rock, Amy, and Dollar's a lucky guy.
[THE NEXT DAY]
DOLLAR: Do you want me to send back any of the DVDs?
AMY: I already sent back the first two we watched, when I sent back Battlestar.
DOLLAR: Oh, I didn't know if we should stagger them.
AMY: Well that's what I'm doing. Pirates is still up there since we didn't get too far into it on Sunday night. I kept it in case we actually want to watch it.
DOLLAR: I don't really care one way or the other.
AMY: [silence]
DOLLAR: What?
AMY: I watched it again last night.
DOLLAR: Everybody! Hey everybody! My girlfriend is a corn freak!
AMY: SHHHH!! Whatever. We didn't miss much. It wasn't a very good movie.
DOLLAR: No kidding.
AMY: It had a bunch of the same people from Oasis Delirium 4 in it. The corn community must be kind of small.
DOLLAR: [silence]
AMY: That one guy, the guy playing the pirate hunter, was trying to act. Or, he at least remembered his lines. The girls were like, "Stop this... Hey, what's my line? Oh. Ahem. Stop this charade. You... You... What's my line? You have... nothing... to fear." And that one girl, one of the ones from the brothel, actually said, "You are soooo key-yute!" to him. I mean, hello? It's supposed to be the 1800's. Why are you talking like a valley girl?
DOLLAR: [silence]
AMY: Is it freaking you out I'm so into these movies now?
DOLLAR: Kind of.
# # #
AMY: Oooo, we finally get to watch a movie with Jenna in it! Is that her?
DOLLAR: Yeah.
AMY: I can't tell. She looks like all the other ones. Blond hair, lots of eye make-up, lipstick... I thought she would be distinctive but it's like I forget what she looks like the second she's off camera. You know what I mean? They ALL look the same.
DOLLAR: Yeah but all those other girls are copying Jenna. She was the first one to have the big blond hair, big chest look.
AMY: No way!
DOLLAR: Before that, in the 70's and 80's, everyone in corn was ugly. When is this movie from?
AMY: Whoa! 1996! That's, like, 10 years ago. We were seniors in high school. ... Jenna must be kinda old. ... I want to study the history of corn. How it has developed and evolved since, say, the 1950's.
DOLLAR: Really?
AMY: Yeah. For example: The Bicycle Thief is to Italian Neorealism as what is to straight corn?
DOLLAR: I have no idea.
AMY: I'm just saying. Time to get some more books from Amazon.
DOLLAR: Get a Kama Sutra book while you're there.
# # #
AMY: [folding socks] Jeesh, when is this movie from? It looks old, right?
DOLLAR: I'm not sure... It says 2005 on the sleeve.
AMY: It looks old.
DOLLAR: Yeah, it does.
AMY: It must be the type of film they used. You know how Dr. Who always looked British?
DOLLAR: Yeah, I see what you mean.
AMY: [putting away laundry] I think the editing is the only thing saving this movie. Without all the jump cuts, it would suck. ... Oop, I just caught a continuity mistake. See, the people are standing on the ground but when it switches to Justine's POV... wait for it... See? Back there, they're still on top of the dumpster. Ha ha ha-
DOLLAR: You know we're perverts for watching this stuff.
AMY: [stops] WHAT? [throw a pair of socks at DOLLAR] No we're not!
DOLLAR: Yes we are.
AMY: Well I'M NOT. I'm taking an academic approach to these movies. I'm just...It's a different form of entertainment. These movies have historical value.
DOLLAR: ?
AMY: Look, do you want me to keep watching these with you or not?
DOLLAR: You're not a pervert.
AMY: Thank you.
Friday
[cooking] Potato Leek Soup
I made this Potato and Leek soup last night. This recipe was so good, I'm going to re-print it here with my slight mods:
# # #
INGREDIENTS:
* 8 potatoes (misc sized round white small – large), peeled and cubed (to the size of large marbles)
* 4 cups chicken broth (2 cans College Inn chicken broth)
* 0.5 pounds bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces (smoked, NOT maple cured)
* 1 bunch leeks, sliced (5 in my bunch, small – large)
* 1 cup half and half
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large saucepan or stockpot, bring potatoes and chicken broth to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of grease and set aside.
2. Sautee the leeks in the frying pan with the reserved bacon grease 8 to 10 minutes. If some of the bacon bits don't come off the bottom of the pan, ladle a little of the chicken stock from the boiling potatoes into the pan to deglaze.
3. When the potatoes are tender, roughly mash them around the pot with the bottom of your ladle. This will make for a thicker, chowder style soup. Stir in the fried leeks, heavy cream and bacon. Stir to blend and remove from heat. Serve hot.
# # #
Usually when I cook something, I think, "It could have been better if I did this. Next time I'll do this. I don't know about this." This soup was awesome. Honestly, you could leave out the bacon, too. For vegetarians, use vegetable stock and sautee the leeks in butter. The chicken stock, though, gives the soup great flavor. No salt and pepper needed. I still can't believe how good this soup was with only 5 stupid ingredients.
# # #
INGREDIENTS:
* 8 potatoes (misc sized round white small – large), peeled and cubed (to the size of large marbles)
* 4 cups chicken broth (2 cans College Inn chicken broth)
* 0.5 pounds bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces (smoked, NOT maple cured)
* 1 bunch leeks, sliced (5 in my bunch, small – large)
* 1 cup half and half
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large saucepan or stockpot, bring potatoes and chicken broth to a boil. Cook until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of grease and set aside.
2. Sautee the leeks in the frying pan with the reserved bacon grease 8 to 10 minutes. If some of the bacon bits don't come off the bottom of the pan, ladle a little of the chicken stock from the boiling potatoes into the pan to deglaze.
3. When the potatoes are tender, roughly mash them around the pot with the bottom of your ladle. This will make for a thicker, chowder style soup. Stir in the fried leeks, heavy cream and bacon. Stir to blend and remove from heat. Serve hot.
# # #
Usually when I cook something, I think, "It could have been better if I did this. Next time I'll do this. I don't know about this." This soup was awesome. Honestly, you could leave out the bacon, too. For vegetarians, use vegetable stock and sautee the leeks in butter. The chicken stock, though, gives the soup great flavor. No salt and pepper needed. I still can't believe how good this soup was with only 5 stupid ingredients.
Thursday
[tv] Undeclared, Gilmore Girls
I finished the one and only season of Undeclared last weekend. It was okay. It brought me back to what college was like. I'd only give it 4 out of 5 stars because the acting was mediocre, the tone was uneven and the story was inconsistent. Had this series been given another year to develop, I feel that it would have been an awesome show. I liked Freaks and Geeks better. If nothing else, you should watch the series for all the cameos- Adam Sandler, Will Farrell, Ben Stiller, Amy Poelher, Kyle Glass, Tom Welling, Sarah Carter (Alicia from Smallville), Geoffrey Arend ("I'm freakin' out, man" guy from Super Troopers), plus loads of actors who were in Freaks and Geeks.
Dollar and I started watching The Shield: Season 1. I've seen Seasons 1-3 and want to get him caught up before I start getting Season 4 from Netflix.
I also started in on Gilmore Girls: Season 5 last night. Rory's turning into an unconscionable slut just like her mom (oh snap!). Who would have thought she'd turn out to be a home-wrecker? Anyway, the best part about the show for me is Sookie. Melissa McCarthy has great comedic timing and does so much more than just reads her lines. In one episode Jackson wins a town election and Sookie is standing next to him, listening. McCarthy does a First Lady smile/nod. She's in the background but still actively acting (if that makes sense).
Six Feet Under: Season 5 comes out March 28. I'm looking forward to that.
Dollar and I started watching The Shield: Season 1. I've seen Seasons 1-3 and want to get him caught up before I start getting Season 4 from Netflix.
I also started in on Gilmore Girls: Season 5 last night. Rory's turning into an unconscionable slut just like her mom (oh snap!). Who would have thought she'd turn out to be a home-wrecker? Anyway, the best part about the show for me is Sookie. Melissa McCarthy has great comedic timing and does so much more than just reads her lines. In one episode Jackson wins a town election and Sookie is standing next to him, listening. McCarthy does a First Lady smile/nod. She's in the background but still actively acting (if that makes sense).
Six Feet Under: Season 5 comes out March 28. I'm looking forward to that.
Wednesday
[humor] Ketchup Effect
In case you haven't seen this yet, WATCH IT! HILARIOUS! AWESOME! I can't stop watching it! ALERT: NOT SAFE FOR WORK
[via DigitalSpark]
[via DigitalSpark]
Monday
[knitting] Cable Scarf
I'd like to make a nice plush cable scarf. The most popular one seems to be the Irish Hiking Scarf- there's a knitalong and everything. The only downside is that it's one sided. The wrong side ain't very pretty, but such is the nature of cables. ... Or is it? Lion Brand just came out with a pattern for a reversible cable scarf. How'd they DO that? I've never seen that before. I want to swatch it up to see how it's done...
Friday
[knitting] I like my kool aid yarn better now
Last night, as soon as I got home from work, as soon as I walked in the door, I grabbed my finally dry yarn and started winding it up. It looks so much better with the colors all mixed together like that (although I still think the blue is too electric). I think using 4 colors was good. If I were to do this over, I'd do it with 2 shades of red and 2 shades of purple. That would be pretty. Although the next time I dye it'll be JUST greens and blues.
Ball and Skein:
Swatch at night:
Swatch in the morning:
Here's the Hobo Camp bag (not that you can tell it looks like anything yet):
And Gatsu, waiting for his breakfast:
Ball and Skein:
Swatch at night:
Swatch in the morning:
Here's the Hobo Camp bag (not that you can tell it looks like anything yet):
And Gatsu, waiting for his breakfast:
Wednesday
[books/movies] Proulx- Robbed at the Oscars? Yes. According to her.
Proulx pens tirade over 'Crash' Oscar
Jo Blo responds with Shut up, you fucking baby!
Bahh hahahahhaa! I haven't see Brokeback Mountain yet, but I have seen Crash. I liked it. I think Proulx is being immature and ungrateful.
Jo Blo responds with Shut up, you fucking baby!
Bahh hahahahhaa! I haven't see Brokeback Mountain yet, but I have seen Crash. I liked it. I think Proulx is being immature and ungrateful.
[knitting] Knit night pictures
Here is the cute yet lethal Gatsu in the middle of one of his 40 daily resting cycles. He's tired from all the physical and psychological abuse I throw down upon him.
Dare I take a step closer? He may awake at any moment and launch himself at my jugular...
Whew. He didn't wake up. He's just curled up there... so sweet... Makes me want to startle him.
As for knitting, I have a couple skeins of cream to brown wool from the Green Mountain Spinnery that a co-worker gave me. The pictures are kind of blurry, so I'm not linking the full sized ones in a new window. I realized when I wound the yarn into balls that the color graduates from cream into brown (rather then cream and brown stripes). I wound one ball with cream on the inside and one with brown on the inside, thinking that I'd knit a hobo bag with them.
I wanted to start the bag with the cream color, graduate into brown, introduce the 2nd ball (starting with brown) and end with cream. Even though the dye lots were the same, the browns were not. I knit half the bag, introduced the new ball and got a line from the lighter shade of brown. See:
What the F? I repeat: the dye lots were the same. Shiat, F, mother- Whatever. I ripped the bag last night at the inaugural knitting club gathering. I'm starting over with brown to begin with, graduating into cream, introducing the new ball with the cream on the outside (hopefully the creams will match better than the browns), then ending with brown.
The knitting club last night was small (three female Oracle programming knitters- it's uber exclusive) but that was cool. I did end up doing some Kool Aid dying-
That's a sausage o' yarn that I nuked in the microwave. It was fairly easy to do- I got sippy cups from K-Mart to mix and pour with precision. I've seen some people mixing dye in mason jars and using turkey basters to apply the dye. The sippy cup method was great because the handle was also a straw, so I only ended up using one container per color. And the cups were cheaper than turkey basters. Plus, the caps were different colors, so I... Well, that doesn't really matter because the cups themselves were see-through so I could see which one was red or blue or purple or pink. I digress.
Here's what the two skeins ended up looking like, using 1 pack of Tropical Punch (red), Grape (purple), Pink Lemonade (pink) and Berry Blue (bloo) each (so 8 packets total):
Looks like the "Oh yeah!" Kool Aid jug guy barfed up some spaghetti, right? Or crapped some out on my kitchen floor. I would have been much happier if I had left out the blue or had toned it down with some of the Pink Lemonade. It's just so friggin' blue. It's very vibrant (as is the red) but the dye didn't saturate all the yarn on that end, so there are some white-ish strands on the inside.
All in all, I'm not disappointed because this was my first time and it was super easy and not too messy. Now I'm just waiting for the yarn to dry so I can knit something with it. I think once I see how it looks knit up, I'll change my dying method.
So... With this "no buying yarn in 2006" crazy-ass pact I've committed myself to (and am still holding to), it looks like I'm out of things to dye. Unless I overdye something in my stash (which may come to pass). Or unless I force my sister to gift me with dyable yarn.
Dare I take a step closer? He may awake at any moment and launch himself at my jugular...
Whew. He didn't wake up. He's just curled up there... so sweet... Makes me want to startle him.
As for knitting, I have a couple skeins of cream to brown wool from the Green Mountain Spinnery that a co-worker gave me. The pictures are kind of blurry, so I'm not linking the full sized ones in a new window. I realized when I wound the yarn into balls that the color graduates from cream into brown (rather then cream and brown stripes). I wound one ball with cream on the inside and one with brown on the inside, thinking that I'd knit a hobo bag with them.
I wanted to start the bag with the cream color, graduate into brown, introduce the 2nd ball (starting with brown) and end with cream. Even though the dye lots were the same, the browns were not. I knit half the bag, introduced the new ball and got a line from the lighter shade of brown. See:
What the F? I repeat: the dye lots were the same. Shiat, F, mother- Whatever. I ripped the bag last night at the inaugural knitting club gathering. I'm starting over with brown to begin with, graduating into cream, introducing the new ball with the cream on the outside (hopefully the creams will match better than the browns), then ending with brown.
The knitting club last night was small (three female Oracle programming knitters- it's uber exclusive) but that was cool. I did end up doing some Kool Aid dying-
That's a sausage o' yarn that I nuked in the microwave. It was fairly easy to do- I got sippy cups from K-Mart to mix and pour with precision. I've seen some people mixing dye in mason jars and using turkey basters to apply the dye. The sippy cup method was great because the handle was also a straw, so I only ended up using one container per color. And the cups were cheaper than turkey basters. Plus, the caps were different colors, so I... Well, that doesn't really matter because the cups themselves were see-through so I could see which one was red or blue or purple or pink. I digress.
Here's what the two skeins ended up looking like, using 1 pack of Tropical Punch (red), Grape (purple), Pink Lemonade (pink) and Berry Blue (bloo) each (so 8 packets total):
Looks like the "Oh yeah!" Kool Aid jug guy barfed up some spaghetti, right? Or crapped some out on my kitchen floor. I would have been much happier if I had left out the blue or had toned it down with some of the Pink Lemonade. It's just so friggin' blue. It's very vibrant (as is the red) but the dye didn't saturate all the yarn on that end, so there are some white-ish strands on the inside.
All in all, I'm not disappointed because this was my first time and it was super easy and not too messy. Now I'm just waiting for the yarn to dry so I can knit something with it. I think once I see how it looks knit up, I'll change my dying method.
So... With this "no buying yarn in 2006" crazy-ass pact I've committed myself to (and am still holding to), it looks like I'm out of things to dye. Unless I overdye something in my stash (which may come to pass). Or unless I force my sister to gift me with dyable yarn.
Tuesday
[amy] Battlestar, We, Dying Yarn
I finished watching Season 2.0 of Battlestar Galactica over the weekend. I love this show. It's probably my most favorite show right now. This was a rather short season (only 10 episodes, I think) but a lot happened. It starts off right where Season 1 ended- Adama is hurt; Laura is locked up; Starbuck is off on a mission; and several of Galactica’s crew are stranded. Basically by the time these stories are wrapped up, half the season is over. After that, all kinds of new shiat goes down. New planes, new people, new problems… If you’re not watching this series, you should be. It’s awesome.
I’ve got Undeclared coming next. I liked Freaks and Geeks and I like Seth Rogan (I’d hit it).
I’m currently reading We by Yevgeny Zamyatin for book club, which is meeting at the end of the month. The new format is having a moderator lead the discussion. People have been asking me who the moderator is but I’m not telling. I think the mystery may draw more people. Anyway, the book is good (I like dystopian novels).
Knitting club is meeting at my place tonight. I may rip out a hobo bag I was working on (it’s coming out looking more like a banana than an orange slice). I’d also like to dye some yarn with Kool Aid. That should be fun. I'll post pictures after...
I’ve got Undeclared coming next. I liked Freaks and Geeks and I like Seth Rogan (I’d hit it).
I’m currently reading We by Yevgeny Zamyatin for book club, which is meeting at the end of the month. The new format is having a moderator lead the discussion. People have been asking me who the moderator is but I’m not telling. I think the mystery may draw more people. Anyway, the book is good (I like dystopian novels).
Knitting club is meeting at my place tonight. I may rip out a hobo bag I was working on (it’s coming out looking more like a banana than an orange slice). I’d also like to dye some yarn with Kool Aid. That should be fun. I'll post pictures after...
Wednesday
[knitting] Finishing unfinished things. Looking for random things.
This whole "no buying yarn in 2006" pledge is starting to take it's toll on me. I'm thinking I might get an umbrella swift and ball winder. I need to buy something yarn related.
I finished the never-ending socks over the weekend. They came out sooooo cute. I'll take a picture soon. This means, though, that there aren't any unfinished projects lying around. Okay, there's one (a bag). Okay, two bags. But I started sketching out Star Wars motifs for Dollar's hat. I felt bad after he noticed me admiring my socks and said, "Those are nice. Really pretty. I wonder... the hat... you said... ages ago..." I'm a jerk. I'm just too scared to cast on for it. What if it comes out crappy? What if it doesn't fit properly? What if it looks stupid?
Sunday night we sat down and talked about what he wants on it. I'm trying to make it more complicated while he's trying to make it more simple. I ask, "Do you want little stars all in the black sky of the hat?" He says, "No." I say, "I'll put some kind of border along the bottom." He says, "Why?" I say, "Do you want the machines shooting at one another?" He says, "They're all on the Empire side, so I don't think they'd be doing that." Really, I don't think it'll be as difficult as I think it'll be. The only tough part will be learning how to knit fair isle with three colors in the same row...
While I figure out how to do that, I may make Lady Spankington's argyle headband to get me back in the swing of fair isle. Or maybe this would be considered intarsia since it's not knit in the round. I dunno.
P.S. Because I decided that my raffia didn't count as a yarn purchase, I've been trolling random stores (iParty, Home Depot, the grocery store) looking for uncommon things I might be able to knit with (rope, ribbon, dental floss). It's... it's getting pretty sad. I imagine I'll start having night sweats and mood swings.
I finished the never-ending socks over the weekend. They came out sooooo cute. I'll take a picture soon. This means, though, that there aren't any unfinished projects lying around. Okay, there's one (a bag). Okay, two bags. But I started sketching out Star Wars motifs for Dollar's hat. I felt bad after he noticed me admiring my socks and said, "Those are nice. Really pretty. I wonder... the hat... you said... ages ago..." I'm a jerk. I'm just too scared to cast on for it. What if it comes out crappy? What if it doesn't fit properly? What if it looks stupid?
Sunday night we sat down and talked about what he wants on it. I'm trying to make it more complicated while he's trying to make it more simple. I ask, "Do you want little stars all in the black sky of the hat?" He says, "No." I say, "I'll put some kind of border along the bottom." He says, "Why?" I say, "Do you want the machines shooting at one another?" He says, "They're all on the Empire side, so I don't think they'd be doing that." Really, I don't think it'll be as difficult as I think it'll be. The only tough part will be learning how to knit fair isle with three colors in the same row...
While I figure out how to do that, I may make Lady Spankington's argyle headband to get me back in the swing of fair isle. Or maybe this would be considered intarsia since it's not knit in the round. I dunno.
P.S. Because I decided that my raffia didn't count as a yarn purchase, I've been trolling random stores (iParty, Home Depot, the grocery store) looking for uncommon things I might be able to knit with (rope, ribbon, dental floss). It's... it's getting pretty sad. I imagine I'll start having night sweats and mood swings.
[knitting] A few things
Here a back shot of the beaded mohair shrug I finally finished:
And the quickie hat:
And the stupid socks that just won't end:
And the quickie hat:
And the stupid socks that just won't end:
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