Dear Anonymous,
Sorry it took me so long to reply to this- it's Christmas and I have a lot of holiday hours. But I have been meaning to reply since the day I saw your comment.
I don't want you to think I'm a heartless bastard. I'm not. But I also lived through the whole McDonald's Coffee In My Lap thing and it was one of those moments I knew the world had gone crazy. Someone put coffee in their lap and spilled it on their junk and sued McDonalds for a gazillion dollars. As if they didn't know coffee is hot. Seriously?
And there's this "who can I sue?" billboard on 75 Southbound.
And you're right, I don't have kids. I probably won't ever. But I do have dogs. I have had dogs for going on a quarter of a century and I've also worked in retail for over ten years. I'm not saying dogs and customers are the same as having kids, but they're the best I can go with, really.
And before I get any farther, I feel really bad for the parents that they lost their kids. Any death is sad and important and meaningful. I'm not trying to take away from that.
But what I meant in my blog entry is where has personal responsibility gone? Kids drown in swimming pools and you don't see pools getting closed down- they get gates and locks and I've even seen these wrist band things that sound an alarm in water. Kids put things in power outlets and the power company doesn't issue a recall- you buy those little plastic things that go in outlets. Kids eat stuff under the sink- you call poison control and get lock things for drawers or put rubber bands around the knobs.
Now, what I saw on the news for this blind thing was this weird roman blind where it had loops of string at the bottom to draw the blinds up. I have never seen blinds like that in real life. I also saw normal style blinds with strands of cords- they weren't linked at the bottom and weren't long enough to reach the windowsill. In my house we have some sort of cordless roman blind.
My first thought seeing the regular blinds with the hanging strands is, 'can't you just tie the cords in a bow higher up?' because I have been to houses like that. It never occurred to me why, but hey, there you go.
The other thing that bugged me about this case, which you pointed out in that parents can't be everywhere, was where were the parents and where were the kids? Say you left your kid in one of those pen things- there's a loud thump from the other room as the kid climbs out. Then the kid has to toddle across the room a bit until he happens upon the unknotted blinds, and then there's the loud rattling of blinds while the kid plays with them before something bad happens. This is easily ten to fifteen minutes, in my mind.
When I hear a noise upstairs and I don't see my dogs the first thing I do is yell their names- at which point you usually hear them panic and tip over the garbage can. Or I go look to see what they're up to. When I hear a noise I find out what it is, immediatly, because they're dogs. They might be up to anything. I don't wait several minutes to go investigate.
Other story about the dogs- I took Bailey to the petstore and because she was well behaved I bought her this sausage style dog food. And while I was trying to break it into pieces she ate the whole thing in one bite and you could see it get lodged in her throat. And she looked at me like oh my god and started choking and I reached into her mouth and grabbed the sausage and pulled it out. And she promptly tried to eat it again.
They're dogs. They have no idea what they're doing. They'd probably eat laundry soap if it was on the floor. That's why you have to keep an eye on them.
And what I can't fathom with these kids and blinds cases is what the parents were doing. Sleeping? Sure, I guess so. I'm a pretty light sleeper though. In the other room? There are those little walkie talkie things. At my Dad's house when my little brother was kept in a pen, we just dragged the pen to whatever room we were in.
Or when they buy plastic outlet blockers and things to keep drawers shut they could tie the cords up in a bow.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
War of the Worlds
Finished "Days of Grass" this morning- it'd been a long time since I'd been to a used book store and found a Tanith Lee novel I hadn't already read or owned. Found this one over at Book Nook about a week ago and only just picked it up last night. It's pretty much War of the Worlds, if she'd written it first- aliens come down and take over the planet and humanity goes to hide underground and the heroine sneaks up now and then to see what surface life is like. And then she gets captured by the aliens and taken to a city they've made. It's good, but it's not Tales of the Flat Earth.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Logic? Lolwut?
Apparently there is a gigantic recall on blinds today. Because... Get this...
Kids can strangle themselves on the cords.
I WAS UNAWARE THAT CHILD PENS HAD STOPPED BEING MANUFACTURED. OR THAT PARENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON KIDS.
Who knew?
Kids can strangle themselves on the cords.
I WAS UNAWARE THAT CHILD PENS HAD STOPPED BEING MANUFACTURED. OR THAT PARENTS DIDN'T HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON KIDS.
Who knew?
Ennui
Sorry blog, haven't been able to think of anything to write about so it's been a slow month.
I did this big knitting project the other way and misread the directions (which weren't that clear) and two days worth of work is all wrong. Mom made a scene while I unwound the knitting so I could redo it- it was like I was painting over the Mona Lisa.
Haven't done any Christmas shopping, though two knitting projects are done. Two more to do, I think. Or three. I should probably make a list tomorrow.
Made up a character to play in my friend's Blue Rose game. Blue Rose is called Romantic Fantasy- I'm not fond of that name, but whatever- it's the difference between most Dungeons and Dragons games and most fantasy novels written in the last twenty years. More abandoned moonlit temples and court intrigue than undead vikings coming over the mountain to kidnap the mayor's daughter. Drew my character on the back of my sheet- it's amazing how well I can draw for someone who can't actually draw.
Saw Ninja Assassin and The Princess and the Frog. I don't know if my childhood memories of Disney are just rosy colored from that age- I don't watch Disney anymore- but when I heard that Princess and the Frog was the best since Lion King I was a little excited about seeing it. Went and saw it with Amie and Joel and I don't know what reviewer made that comparison or what they were on at the time, but they're not even in the same league. I can think of songs from Lion King (The Circle of Life, Can you feel the love tonight, Hakuna Matata) or Aladdin (A Whole New World) or The Little Mermaid (Part of Your World)- I can't recall any songs from Princess and the Frog besides "Almost There" and I've got nothing other than the title. I guess it was ok. I don't know. It was pretty. It wasn't Miyazaki.
(On that note, Ponyo rocked my face off. And now I really want to go watch Spirited Away again.)
However, Ninja Assassin was everything it promised- fifteen gallons of blood in the human body and it's all under high pressure and the ninjas have lots of sharp pointy things. It had a neat story too- though I think I thought it'd be a bit more since I saw JMS in the credits. There was a lot of back flipping, too. And the ninja hero guy spends a lot of time working out in his apartment in sleep pants.
I had a weird thought at the used book store the other day. I was over at Book Nook since some friends live near there, and I wanted to see if they had something I couldn't find at Book Exchange and I realized there's some things you just can't find. Oddly enough, there's about eighty something Outlanders books by James Axler and at least that many Deathlands books- you're lucky if there's more than five in a used book store. Where do they go? I have no idea. I never see them anywhere. However, there's usually at least one Zecheria Sitchin book and so far I've managed to collect nearly the whole series from Book Exchange alone. And I realized no matter what used book store I go to I pretty much always find something really interesting sounding that is book three in a five book series- and you are never ever going to see the other four books. It's like they don't exist. There's something called the Silver Thorn or Silver Throne series written by someone with a last name that starts with "Mc" and I see it every used book store I go to, and it's never the first one.
I did this big knitting project the other way and misread the directions (which weren't that clear) and two days worth of work is all wrong. Mom made a scene while I unwound the knitting so I could redo it- it was like I was painting over the Mona Lisa.
Haven't done any Christmas shopping, though two knitting projects are done. Two more to do, I think. Or three. I should probably make a list tomorrow.
Made up a character to play in my friend's Blue Rose game. Blue Rose is called Romantic Fantasy- I'm not fond of that name, but whatever- it's the difference between most Dungeons and Dragons games and most fantasy novels written in the last twenty years. More abandoned moonlit temples and court intrigue than undead vikings coming over the mountain to kidnap the mayor's daughter. Drew my character on the back of my sheet- it's amazing how well I can draw for someone who can't actually draw.
Saw Ninja Assassin and The Princess and the Frog. I don't know if my childhood memories of Disney are just rosy colored from that age- I don't watch Disney anymore- but when I heard that Princess and the Frog was the best since Lion King I was a little excited about seeing it. Went and saw it with Amie and Joel and I don't know what reviewer made that comparison or what they were on at the time, but they're not even in the same league. I can think of songs from Lion King (The Circle of Life, Can you feel the love tonight, Hakuna Matata) or Aladdin (A Whole New World) or The Little Mermaid (Part of Your World)- I can't recall any songs from Princess and the Frog besides "Almost There" and I've got nothing other than the title. I guess it was ok. I don't know. It was pretty. It wasn't Miyazaki.
(On that note, Ponyo rocked my face off. And now I really want to go watch Spirited Away again.)
However, Ninja Assassin was everything it promised- fifteen gallons of blood in the human body and it's all under high pressure and the ninjas have lots of sharp pointy things. It had a neat story too- though I think I thought it'd be a bit more since I saw JMS in the credits. There was a lot of back flipping, too. And the ninja hero guy spends a lot of time working out in his apartment in sleep pants.
I had a weird thought at the used book store the other day. I was over at Book Nook since some friends live near there, and I wanted to see if they had something I couldn't find at Book Exchange and I realized there's some things you just can't find. Oddly enough, there's about eighty something Outlanders books by James Axler and at least that many Deathlands books- you're lucky if there's more than five in a used book store. Where do they go? I have no idea. I never see them anywhere. However, there's usually at least one Zecheria Sitchin book and so far I've managed to collect nearly the whole series from Book Exchange alone. And I realized no matter what used book store I go to I pretty much always find something really interesting sounding that is book three in a five book series- and you are never ever going to see the other four books. It's like they don't exist. There's something called the Silver Thorn or Silver Throne series written by someone with a last name that starts with "Mc" and I see it every used book store I go to, and it's never the first one.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
COYOTE!!1!
SAW ONE OF THESE LAST NIGHT! BUT IT WAS NOT ON AN AIRPORT TRANSPORT TRAIN THING! IT WAS IN THE ROAD! ALSO, I DID NOT HIT IT WITH MY CAR!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
"Find My Family"
Despite the hokey tree on a hill this show made me cry miserably.
This episode they're trying to reunite a family in Wisconsin- the parents gave up their baby because they were teenagers and now it's 29 years later and they've tried everything they could to find their baby, but nothing has paid off. ABC manages to find the girl and sets the family to meet on a random lush hilltop with a huge oak tree at the top.
It's tearjerker enough, but I haven't been able to find my biological family either, so it doubly got to me. The last time I tried really hard was a few years ago- it's not that I don't love my family, but I'm curious.
This episode they're trying to reunite a family in Wisconsin- the parents gave up their baby because they were teenagers and now it's 29 years later and they've tried everything they could to find their baby, but nothing has paid off. ABC manages to find the girl and sets the family to meet on a random lush hilltop with a huge oak tree at the top.
It's tearjerker enough, but I haven't been able to find my biological family either, so it doubly got to me. The last time I tried really hard was a few years ago- it's not that I don't love my family, but I'm curious.
Monday, November 16, 2009
New Waterhouse
I thought I knew Waterhouse's paintings pretty well, but apparently there's always at least one more of anything.
Sorry for the crazy hugeness, but it's such a great painting.
Anyway, one of the guy's in this year's Nano, he's a painter. So I poked around online a bit to find things in the style I thought he'd do, found a few good portraits from the era. And right now he's working on a portrait of Ophelia, using the heroine as a model, so I went to look for more art. And I found that, which is pretty astounding. In the book it's Ophelia sitting by the lake, on a bench. As for the real life painting, I really like how Waterhouse did her hair, and expression.
Sorry for the crazy hugeness, but it's such a great painting.
Anyway, one of the guy's in this year's Nano, he's a painter. So I poked around online a bit to find things in the style I thought he'd do, found a few good portraits from the era. And right now he's working on a portrait of Ophelia, using the heroine as a model, so I went to look for more art. And I found that, which is pretty astounding. In the book it's Ophelia sitting by the lake, on a bench. As for the real life painting, I really like how Waterhouse did her hair, and expression.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Crazy Success
Nanowrimo is crazy this year. I'm on Day 7, I'm on Day 17's word count. I haven't been able to write much of anything since I finished Rome, and this is just... Going like crazy. I sit down and move the mouse and there's 1,000 words, I get another Diet Pepsi and there's 1,300 more words.
I wrote something like... 9,000 words today. Er. Yesterday. Friday. Whatever.
My hands hurt a little, but other than that this year's Nanowrimo is like cutting butter with a hot knife.
The only thing I'm worried about is how long it'll be in the end. It does not feel like I'm in the middle of the story (I'm at 28,344 right now, if you're reading this in the future) even though I'm in the middle of the words required.
Meh. Sleepytimes.
I wrote something like... 9,000 words today. Er. Yesterday. Friday. Whatever.
My hands hurt a little, but other than that this year's Nanowrimo is like cutting butter with a hot knife.
The only thing I'm worried about is how long it'll be in the end. It does not feel like I'm in the middle of the story (I'm at 28,344 right now, if you're reading this in the future) even though I'm in the middle of the words required.
Meh. Sleepytimes.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tanith Lee's Night's Master
Seriously, doesn't this look cool? It's the new edition of the first of Tanith Lee's Flat Earth series. I've got it in hardback, in a collected edition but this is so nice looking it makes me want to run out and buy it.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Nanowrimo Starts in... Ten days!
I'm totally psyched! Except about all the school work I need to get done between now and then. *sigh*
Ok, well, I was poking around the Nanowrimo website and I found this thing about sponsorship. If anyone wants to help the organization out, just click on the link. Thanks!
(And the Kennesaw region is at war with the Cornwall region and the war is counted by word count and donations)
In other news I can't seem to get any writing for school done. I have two papers that need fixing before tomorrow and I just keep staring at them and the teacher's assignments wondering what exactly needs fixing. They're kind of horrible. Blah. One of them, the assignment he gave us has about three different topics in one paragraph and I don't think he wants ten pages to cover the entire thing.
And we're having our first Nanowrimo meeting tonight at the Woodstock Coffee House. My excitement over that might explain the lack of huzzah over Grendel's Mother. Or Charlemagne. Or the Secret History.
Ok, well, I was poking around the Nanowrimo website and I found this thing about sponsorship. If anyone wants to help the organization out, just click on the link. Thanks!
(And the Kennesaw region is at war with the Cornwall region and the war is counted by word count and donations)
In other news I can't seem to get any writing for school done. I have two papers that need fixing before tomorrow and I just keep staring at them and the teacher's assignments wondering what exactly needs fixing. They're kind of horrible. Blah. One of them, the assignment he gave us has about three different topics in one paragraph and I don't think he wants ten pages to cover the entire thing.
And we're having our first Nanowrimo meeting tonight at the Woodstock Coffee House. My excitement over that might explain the lack of huzzah over Grendel's Mother. Or Charlemagne. Or the Secret History.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Cobb County Library Book Sale
This is probably going to be the last big booksale of the season... Kevin and I got up really early and went to wait in the cold for the doors to open, then rushed around looking for things from 9am til 1pm. Found a few grocery bags worth of stuff, some records. The records selection was practically all Vivaldi this year, just crates and crates of it, no big band.
Well, having Kevin along was great because he's big enough to fight his way in amongst all the grannies at the craft table (I'm too scared to start pushing) and he came out with a few knitting books for me. The first was like, 80's colorwork for children (SCARY) and the second was... Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting, which is one of my favorite knitting books of all time. I never thought I'd get a copy since it's price is usually somewhere between 200-300 dollars but this was ONE FREAKING DOLLAR!!
Other than that I got a Cole Porter bio, a few really old Horatio Hornblower books, a comlete set of Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars, a couple of good history textbooks, some King Arthur fiction. One of the records is "Monster Concert" which has like, 20 pianos and sixteen players- it has to be cool.
And, not adding in the real value of the Alice Starmore book, I bought $445 worth of books for $26. Best of the season so far.
ALSO DO NOT TAKE KIDS TO WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. IT'S MADE OF AWESOME AND NIGHTMARE FUEL.
Well, having Kevin along was great because he's big enough to fight his way in amongst all the grannies at the craft table (I'm too scared to start pushing) and he came out with a few knitting books for me. The first was like, 80's colorwork for children (SCARY) and the second was... Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting, which is one of my favorite knitting books of all time. I never thought I'd get a copy since it's price is usually somewhere between 200-300 dollars but this was ONE FREAKING DOLLAR!!
Other than that I got a Cole Porter bio, a few really old Horatio Hornblower books, a comlete set of Kate Elliot's Crown of Stars, a couple of good history textbooks, some King Arthur fiction. One of the records is "Monster Concert" which has like, 20 pianos and sixteen players- it has to be cool.
And, not adding in the real value of the Alice Starmore book, I bought $445 worth of books for $26. Best of the season so far.
ALSO DO NOT TAKE KIDS TO WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. IT'S MADE OF AWESOME AND NIGHTMARE FUEL.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Random Holidays
Today was weird. Went to study with Sarah and left with five spider plant babies. And then on the way home I stopped to get a donut- I bought one, the guy gave me ten. How awesome is that?
It's like it was a Holiday just for me.
And to top that off, James Marsters was in Lie to Me. And he looked horrible! Blah hair, blah floppy accent that was English sometimes, blah camera shots, blah suit. Everything was horrible. And then at the end of the episode (SPOILERS) he got shot! Can't help but be a little gleeful about that.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Eager
So, I put up a bunch of Nano fliers around campus Tuesday, and by the time I was heading off campus there were a few of the little tear off bits missing.
I come back Thursday and the one in the Parking Garage has zero tear offs left!
AWESOME!
So I replaced it with a fresh one and checked the others around campus. In a about two days about twenty people took little tear offs. And there's still a month until the contest starts.
I come back Thursday and the one in the Parking Garage has zero tear offs left!
AWESOME!
So I replaced it with a fresh one and checked the others around campus. In a about two days about twenty people took little tear offs. And there's still a month until the contest starts.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Third Book Sale of the Season
There was a booksale this morning at Perimeter Mall- to benefit the American Association of University Women. I've never been to a booksale in a mall before- If the Cobb County sale can use Exhibit Halls in a park, I'm astounded one taking place in Atlanta can't find something similar. Meh. Food was right there, since we were next to the food court, so that was cool.
Now, as for the finds...
There was a writing book I used to check out of the library all the time on characters. I need to figure out what the other one was- same topic but it had all these lists of hobbies and names by region in it.
Several history books: AD 1000, The Waning of the Middle Ages, Life in a Medieval Castle, Courtesans, The Great Mortality, and The Last Madam.
Two Arthur books: The Quest for Arthur's Britain and The Mists of Avalon.
Simple Knits with a Twist which has knitting with wires and plastic bags and the like. Milk, Eggs, Vodka which is a collection of lost and found grocery lists. I did find a textbook about Joseph Campbell's work, but none of the actual Joseph Campbell books. Batman and Philosophy was found over in the Religion section. Something on the origins of words. And a nonfiction book about vampires.
It was a pretty good haul. That first booksale got me $160 worth of books for $14. This one came to $320 for $30.
As for scanners? There was a lady with a suitcase (the giant size, going away for a month style) scanning books with her PDA. She and her bag blocked the classics table so long I didn't get to look at it. Some guy stood with his phone scanning romance paperbacks so long I gave up on looking at them either. I haven't decided if they or the people with the kids who scream, have no interest in what's going on, and block the shelves are worse.
(In case you're wondering about the numbering of booksales- The second one was in Newnan but I didn't go)
Now, as for the finds...
There was a writing book I used to check out of the library all the time on characters. I need to figure out what the other one was- same topic but it had all these lists of hobbies and names by region in it.
Several history books: AD 1000, The Waning of the Middle Ages, Life in a Medieval Castle, Courtesans, The Great Mortality, and The Last Madam.
Two Arthur books: The Quest for Arthur's Britain and The Mists of Avalon.
Simple Knits with a Twist which has knitting with wires and plastic bags and the like. Milk, Eggs, Vodka which is a collection of lost and found grocery lists. I did find a textbook about Joseph Campbell's work, but none of the actual Joseph Campbell books. Batman and Philosophy was found over in the Religion section. Something on the origins of words. And a nonfiction book about vampires.
It was a pretty good haul. That first booksale got me $160 worth of books for $14. This one came to $320 for $30.
As for scanners? There was a lady with a suitcase (the giant size, going away for a month style) scanning books with her PDA. She and her bag blocked the classics table so long I didn't get to look at it. Some guy stood with his phone scanning romance paperbacks so long I gave up on looking at them either. I haven't decided if they or the people with the kids who scream, have no interest in what's going on, and block the shelves are worse.
(In case you're wondering about the numbering of booksales- The second one was in Newnan but I didn't go)
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
GREAT MOMENT OF AWESOME
On the way back from Waffle House I spot a possum in the road. And of course I'm driving right at him. And I think "Don't move don't move don't move" because he's mostly in the middle of the lane, but if he runs for it, he's going to die. And he just sort of hunkers down, and the car passes right over him and I'm like "YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" because I didn't kill the possum and I could see him scurry out of the road in the rear view mirror AND IF QUEEN'S WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS HAD COME ON THE RADIO I COULD NOT HAVE FELT HAPPIER!
DID NOT KILL THE POSSUM! YEAH!
DID NOT KILL THE POSSUM! YEAH!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
First Book Sale of the Season
Northside Branch Library is having a book sale this weekend- just one of those small, in-the-lobby type sales, but the ad said something about 8,000 books so I went to go see. I don't know it if was 8,000 or not but it didn't look it.
Got some good stuff, though.
I thought since there was the fourth Joseph Campbell book there, the others would be too, but if they were I couldn't find them. Mom wanted to know what he was about, so I started to explain the monomyth, but without the actual book I don't think I really got the point across. And the "Art of War in the Middle Ages" looks cool. No diagrams on how to build a trebuchet but perhaps "Backyard Ballistics" can help with that.
Another bonus to the small book sale, there was only one guy with a scanner there. People with scanners are the bane of book sales. They push. They're not even there to get books for themselves, just for their amazon stores. So you'll be looking at something and the person with the scanner will start leaning into you to get to the books in front of you and then if you don't get the hint they'll start pushing you- and if you say something about them scanning they start yelling at you. Especially if there's "no scanner" signs posted.
There's four more book sales in the next month. The next is in Newnan- I'm not sure if I'll go because it's so far, but they also said it's a swap, which makes it more interesting.
Got some good stuff, though.
I thought since there was the fourth Joseph Campbell book there, the others would be too, but if they were I couldn't find them. Mom wanted to know what he was about, so I started to explain the monomyth, but without the actual book I don't think I really got the point across. And the "Art of War in the Middle Ages" looks cool. No diagrams on how to build a trebuchet but perhaps "Backyard Ballistics" can help with that.
Another bonus to the small book sale, there was only one guy with a scanner there. People with scanners are the bane of book sales. They push. They're not even there to get books for themselves, just for their amazon stores. So you'll be looking at something and the person with the scanner will start leaning into you to get to the books in front of you and then if you don't get the hint they'll start pushing you- and if you say something about them scanning they start yelling at you. Especially if there's "no scanner" signs posted.
There's four more book sales in the next month. The next is in Newnan- I'm not sure if I'll go because it's so far, but they also said it's a swap, which makes it more interesting.
Friday, September 4, 2009
DragonCon and Triops
OK, so I finally went to Dragon Con. It was fun. Mostly.
Got up hella early, took Marta down, waited in line FIVE MILLION HOURS for a badge, and then the fun began. I went to the Torchwood Panel, which had Gareth David Lloyd and James Marsters at it, which was hilarious and great. They told a lot of cute stories and we all laughed al ot and I took a ton of pics of them. And then the panel was over and the guys went to the celeb signing thing so I went there too.
So the first one I get an autograph from was Gareth and he's so nice and genuine and awesome (OMG TRYING NOT TO GET ALL FANGIRLY HERE BUT OMG SERIOUSLY HE CALLED ME SWEETHEART LIKE TEN TIMES!! EEEEEEEEEEE! IN HIS ACCENT!) and he talked to me for several minutes. Like a nice, normal person. Which was great. It kept me from getting all fangirly and screaming incomprehensible things at him. (WELSH ACCENT IN REAL LIFE = 10,000% MORE AWESOME THAN ON TV 4SRS)
Getting James Marsters autograph was significantly less awesome.
Anyway. I donno. I had a good time at the convention. There was lots of neat stuff to look at, and people in costumes, and I ran into seemingly every person I know. I think it would be more fun if I was there longer and had a hotel room, but it was a blast, all things considered.
This is like... Day 10? 11? Those are the two survivors at this point. Sort of a small hatch out of this batch of eggs. The larger one is Tank, and the smaller is Motoko. There was a third, but he was really small and I haven't seen him in a day or so. Tank probably ate him.
Got up hella early, took Marta down, waited in line FIVE MILLION HOURS for a badge, and then the fun began. I went to the Torchwood Panel, which had Gareth David Lloyd and James Marsters at it, which was hilarious and great. They told a lot of cute stories and we all laughed al ot and I took a ton of pics of them. And then the panel was over and the guys went to the celeb signing thing so I went there too.
So the first one I get an autograph from was Gareth and he's so nice and genuine and awesome (OMG TRYING NOT TO GET ALL FANGIRLY HERE BUT OMG SERIOUSLY HE CALLED ME SWEETHEART LIKE TEN TIMES!! EEEEEEEEEEE! IN HIS ACCENT!) and he talked to me for several minutes. Like a nice, normal person. Which was great. It kept me from getting all fangirly and screaming incomprehensible things at him. (WELSH ACCENT IN REAL LIFE = 10,000% MORE AWESOME THAN ON TV 4SRS)
Getting James Marsters autograph was significantly less awesome.
Anyway. I donno. I had a good time at the convention. There was lots of neat stuff to look at, and people in costumes, and I ran into seemingly every person I know. I think it would be more fun if I was there longer and had a hotel room, but it was a blast, all things considered.
This is like... Day 10? 11? Those are the two survivors at this point. Sort of a small hatch out of this batch of eggs. The larger one is Tank, and the smaller is Motoko. There was a third, but he was really small and I haven't seen him in a day or so. Tank probably ate him.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
BAKED APPLE DONUTS
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
TOTALLY AWESOME AND DELICIOUS! And somehow they're even better cold.
Recipe here.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Day 4
They've hatched, an are finally big enough to (sortof) show up in pics. If you look at the main castle gate there's a white spot against one of the black lines.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
wait what
in midieval europe class this morning my professor started explaining about the mystery cults and how the romans were suspicious of them because they didn't quite follow state religion and met in secret where the romans couldn't keep an eye on them.
and he gets to this point about the cult of mithras where he's explaining they met once a week, and had a sacred meal, and the meal was led by a priest, and they drank sacred wine and ate sacred bread, had baptisms, and what does this sound like...?
and you could just feel the sudden hostility in class when he asked that question.
i donno. i thought it was really funny.
and he gets to this point about the cult of mithras where he's explaining they met once a week, and had a sacred meal, and the meal was led by a priest, and they drank sacred wine and ate sacred bread, had baptisms, and what does this sound like...?
and you could just feel the sudden hostility in class when he asked that question.
i donno. i thought it was really funny.
Fall Semester
Oh man, second day of fall semester tomorrow.
The first day was kind of a bust- my cell phone has this battery saving feature that if it's plugged in long enough it shuts off, which is really great when it's your alarm clock. All my favorite coffee mugs were in the wash. Parking was a nightmare, and when I got to class it was so full there were no seats so I had to sit on the floor. Some guy showed up about five minutes after I did and the teacher laughed and told him to "pull up some carpet and start taking notes".
However, the classes themselves were great, whatever snags there were. Medieval Europe, Gender in Media (it's a Gender and Women's Studies class- sort of on interpreting books and tv shows), British Literature until the 1600s, and Latin. I've got the BritLit one with a teacher I had a few semesters ago, so it's good seeing her again.
The other thing that was really great? I'm sure some of you have heard how angry I was about the meal plan business the school started up- it's mandatory even if you live off campus and expensive and I don't really like the campus food. Well, they built us a new dining hall which is named the Culinary Center or something pompous sounding like that. To get in you walk under this roof that looks like Lady Liberty's crown, and swipe your school ID card and you're let loose in this mall sized open space that has all these kiosk restaurants. The only thing I can think to compare it to is a really good Vegas buffet, minus the high end seafood. There's a place that does southern food, a coffee bar, breakfast bar, international food (THERE WAS GOAT ON THE MENU ON TUESDAY CAN YOU BELIEVE IT), a diner type place, Italian, and a salad bar... Oh, and a Chinese place. I'm probably forgetting about half the places in there. And there's a bazillion tables and booths and lots of windows and some sort of space age robot dishwasher where you put your plates on a conveyor belt and they disappear to the future to be cleaned.
Only con: I think I saw TWO power outlets in the place. They designed it to keep you from camping. Which isn't really a con, I guess. I donno. While I was eating in there I wanted to work on a story and couldn't.
ALSO THEY HAVE CHEESECAKE.
CHEESECAKE. OMG.
Anyway, I only get to go there eleven more times this semester... Unless I want to buy more visits or something... So I'm going to try and save mine til November, and remember to bring a powerstrip.
Speaking of November, I already put up two Nano fliers on campus. Yay!
The first day was kind of a bust- my cell phone has this battery saving feature that if it's plugged in long enough it shuts off, which is really great when it's your alarm clock. All my favorite coffee mugs were in the wash. Parking was a nightmare, and when I got to class it was so full there were no seats so I had to sit on the floor. Some guy showed up about five minutes after I did and the teacher laughed and told him to "pull up some carpet and start taking notes".
However, the classes themselves were great, whatever snags there were. Medieval Europe, Gender in Media (it's a Gender and Women's Studies class- sort of on interpreting books and tv shows), British Literature until the 1600s, and Latin. I've got the BritLit one with a teacher I had a few semesters ago, so it's good seeing her again.
The other thing that was really great? I'm sure some of you have heard how angry I was about the meal plan business the school started up- it's mandatory even if you live off campus and expensive and I don't really like the campus food. Well, they built us a new dining hall which is named the Culinary Center or something pompous sounding like that. To get in you walk under this roof that looks like Lady Liberty's crown, and swipe your school ID card and you're let loose in this mall sized open space that has all these kiosk restaurants. The only thing I can think to compare it to is a really good Vegas buffet, minus the high end seafood. There's a place that does southern food, a coffee bar, breakfast bar, international food (THERE WAS GOAT ON THE MENU ON TUESDAY CAN YOU BELIEVE IT), a diner type place, Italian, and a salad bar... Oh, and a Chinese place. I'm probably forgetting about half the places in there. And there's a bazillion tables and booths and lots of windows and some sort of space age robot dishwasher where you put your plates on a conveyor belt and they disappear to the future to be cleaned.
Only con: I think I saw TWO power outlets in the place. They designed it to keep you from camping. Which isn't really a con, I guess. I donno. While I was eating in there I wanted to work on a story and couldn't.
ALSO THEY HAVE CHEESECAKE.
CHEESECAKE. OMG.
Anyway, I only get to go there eleven more times this semester... Unless I want to buy more visits or something... So I'm going to try and save mine til November, and remember to bring a powerstrip.
Speaking of November, I already put up two Nano fliers on campus. Yay!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Nostalga
I miss the good ol' days of the internet when every webpage had gifs of flickering candles and a final fantasy midi playing.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Knitting Terminology
That is a kimono. The huge belt around the middle is an obi.
So, I'm teaching a friend to knit and she's asking me about some yarn she got that came without labels and how to find out what it is, but what she really says is, both skeins "had their obi removed".
I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Choose Your Own Senior Thesis Topic
It's probably the six cups of coffee I've had tonight but I saw this picture and it's one of the funniest thing I've ever seen- to the point that I now want to write a thesis paper on it. With a title like "DEATH FROM ABOVE: SHARKNADOES IN THE SOUTH DURING THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA". I could even make up lots of primary sources- letters from Plantation Owners about the how the Great White Sharks that year had bitten the corners off the house and the high winds had damaged the old oak tree.
Heeeeeee.
(Pic is a shopped 'Choose your own adventure novel' in case you didn't recognize it. Shopped by iconzicons)
Friday, July 3, 2009
So...
I found this really fantastic shawl at the Thrift Store. Like, really, really fantastic. It's purple and soft and knit with boa feathers in some places, and it has tassels.
AND SOMEONE HAND KNIT IT- AND WHOEVER IT WAS HAND KNIT FOR, THEY DROPPED IT OFF AT THE THRIFT STORE.
*sigh* I mean, before I took up knitting I'd never have been able to tell the difference between machine knit and hand knit, and I'd never have thought anything about seeing something hand knit at the thrift store. But now I'm like "do you have any idea how long it took to knit that? how much it cost? do you have any idea how much someone cared about you to make it?". Of course, the person who dropped it off can't hear me- but I wish they could.
Oh well. It's *mine* now. ^_^
I was going through these Alice Starmore knitting books- they're like knitting sudoku in russian with a blindfold- brilliant, beautiful patterns but Alice even admits to how insane they are... There's a quote near this one shawl pattern about how "some of my cable patterns are too big for sweaters" so you need to make something larger than a sweater to hold the whole cable design- and this shawl is the size of a small blanket. I really want to do the shawl but you need a mountain of yarn for it. But look at this thing- it's art.
The Harry Potter scarf I'm working on is coming along pretty well. It's... about half done, I guess, but it doesn't seem like it's as long as it needs to be. Because it's circular it's almost half an inch thick- I'm not going to die of hypothermia this winter. ^_^ I should have some left over yarn from the project, so I might do a pair of gloves to match, or just add more stripes until I think the scarf is the right length.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
It's Been Weird
Sorry for the long break, things have been a bit crazy.
Started my second summer class which is a snore-fest. It's a history class where we spend most of the time discussing where commas go and "coordinate adjectives".
Began working on a Harry Potter scarf. You know, just in time for hellish summer temperatures and the movie. ^_^
Built an epic lego castle- which isn't epic in a huge, or turrets sort of way, but wins in sheer fury and creative use of clear red 1x1s as blood. (KSU did something wrong with my financial aid that day)
There's this study abroad next summer to London out of Valdosta State and I'm seriously planning on going. It's six weeks and there's a class on Shakespeare and another on London as a Setting in Novels (seriously, that's the class name)- think I'll get an extension on the ticket and stay an extra week or two so I can go to Cardiff and do all the stuff I couldn't do in the two days when I was there last fall. I just spent the last two hours reading stuff for class and babbling in IRC to my friend in London (who's asleep) about all the stuff I want to see/do.
(narg. it's still bugging me. i mean, i write stuff, and i never think to myself, "gosh, i'll put the coordinate adjective here." who names these things?)
London. London. London. It's going to be awesome. Did you know I only took about three pics while I was there? Remember when I dislocated my knee in Florence? That was about two or three weeks before London so I was hobbling around by myself on these crutches and it was like a bad comedy putting a crutch aside without dropping it to get in my bag and get the camera out and take a shot. I think there's one of a "do not put your bike here" type sign in the brownstone-y type part of town I was in, the Gloucester Street Station of the Tube, and me at Platform 9 3/4. The hostel I stayed in, the first night I got there, it was about 4AM when I wandered in and when I got up to my room there were like, six bunk beds and the only bed open was on the top of one, and everyone else is asleep and I couldn't even switch the light on while I hauled myself up the ladder with the bum knee. In hindsight it's insanely funny.
Somehow international travel is much funnier than local travel. I can't think of anything particularly funny about this last trip to Florida, back in May. But I think of Italy and there's the night where we were so punch drunk happy to be heading home from Pisa that we danced in the train. Or the demonic killer cherubs painted on the wall of the hotel room in Pompeii. Or my bum knee and climbing up a bunk bed at 4AM. Or this really nice older lady I met on the Tube while I was heading to Kings Cross and she asked me what else I was going to be seeing in England and I said I wanted to go to Wales and see Cardiff and she got so angry with me she started yelling in the train and I thought she was going to punch me. (Wales is like the boonies to people in London) And she wanted to know if London wasn't good enough for me? Couldn't I just go see Oxford instead- Or was I too good for Oxford?!
Heh. Travel. It's awesome.
Started my second summer class which is a snore-fest. It's a history class where we spend most of the time discussing where commas go and "coordinate adjectives".
Began working on a Harry Potter scarf. You know, just in time for hellish summer temperatures and the movie. ^_^
Built an epic lego castle- which isn't epic in a huge, or turrets sort of way, but wins in sheer fury and creative use of clear red 1x1s as blood. (KSU did something wrong with my financial aid that day)
There's this study abroad next summer to London out of Valdosta State and I'm seriously planning on going. It's six weeks and there's a class on Shakespeare and another on London as a Setting in Novels (seriously, that's the class name)- think I'll get an extension on the ticket and stay an extra week or two so I can go to Cardiff and do all the stuff I couldn't do in the two days when I was there last fall. I just spent the last two hours reading stuff for class and babbling in IRC to my friend in London (who's asleep) about all the stuff I want to see/do.
(narg. it's still bugging me. i mean, i write stuff, and i never think to myself, "gosh, i'll put the coordinate adjective here." who names these things?)
London. London. London. It's going to be awesome. Did you know I only took about three pics while I was there? Remember when I dislocated my knee in Florence? That was about two or three weeks before London so I was hobbling around by myself on these crutches and it was like a bad comedy putting a crutch aside without dropping it to get in my bag and get the camera out and take a shot. I think there's one of a "do not put your bike here" type sign in the brownstone-y type part of town I was in, the Gloucester Street Station of the Tube, and me at Platform 9 3/4. The hostel I stayed in, the first night I got there, it was about 4AM when I wandered in and when I got up to my room there were like, six bunk beds and the only bed open was on the top of one, and everyone else is asleep and I couldn't even switch the light on while I hauled myself up the ladder with the bum knee. In hindsight it's insanely funny.
Somehow international travel is much funnier than local travel. I can't think of anything particularly funny about this last trip to Florida, back in May. But I think of Italy and there's the night where we were so punch drunk happy to be heading home from Pisa that we danced in the train. Or the demonic killer cherubs painted on the wall of the hotel room in Pompeii. Or my bum knee and climbing up a bunk bed at 4AM. Or this really nice older lady I met on the Tube while I was heading to Kings Cross and she asked me what else I was going to be seeing in England and I said I wanted to go to Wales and see Cardiff and she got so angry with me she started yelling in the train and I thought she was going to punch me. (Wales is like the boonies to people in London) And she wanted to know if London wasn't good enough for me? Couldn't I just go see Oxford instead- Or was I too good for Oxford?!
Heh. Travel. It's awesome.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
heartless
mom and I were at the bank today and as we're leaving the teller says, "is there anything else i can do for you?"
and mom bitterly laughs and says "can you get me a job?"
the teller sadly laughs and says she cannot, which is when this gigantically tall woman behind us with a big white bouffant and way, way too much eyeshadow calls out, "i have a job you could do!"
my mom turns to her, hope shining in her eyes for a second. "really?" she asks, almost breathless.
"you could go dig ditches!" the woman says and scoots past us to the counter.
first of all, wtf.
secondly, fml.
third, what is wrong with you you crazy evil woman?! my mom nearly broke down in tears in the parking lot! since september my mom has been out of job- because she didn't come in during the gas crisis! what was she, living under a rock? there's million of people out of work and she takes the chance to make a joke of my mother! all my mother does, day in and day out since september is fill out job applications, send off her resume, and ask everyone she knows if they know if anyone is hiring- and she never hears a damn thing back. the absolute worst thing about being in a situation like this is the people that will jerk you around- oh, just one more interview, we're looking over your papers, we really need someone and you're perfect (but two days later you're too nice (to balance the books!)), what hours are you available? to get someone's hopes up and know they're doing it with no intention of following through... utterly inhuman.
and mom bitterly laughs and says "can you get me a job?"
the teller sadly laughs and says she cannot, which is when this gigantically tall woman behind us with a big white bouffant and way, way too much eyeshadow calls out, "i have a job you could do!"
my mom turns to her, hope shining in her eyes for a second. "really?" she asks, almost breathless.
"you could go dig ditches!" the woman says and scoots past us to the counter.
first of all, wtf.
secondly, fml.
third, what is wrong with you you crazy evil woman?! my mom nearly broke down in tears in the parking lot! since september my mom has been out of job- because she didn't come in during the gas crisis! what was she, living under a rock? there's million of people out of work and she takes the chance to make a joke of my mother! all my mother does, day in and day out since september is fill out job applications, send off her resume, and ask everyone she knows if they know if anyone is hiring- and she never hears a damn thing back. the absolute worst thing about being in a situation like this is the people that will jerk you around- oh, just one more interview, we're looking over your papers, we really need someone and you're perfect (but two days later you're too nice (to balance the books!)), what hours are you available? to get someone's hopes up and know they're doing it with no intention of following through... utterly inhuman.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Why do people listen to these guys?
Howard Stern on the Columbine Shooting:
"There were some really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads. Did those kids try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn't even do that? At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex? If I was going to kill some people, I'd take them out with sex."
By 'kids' he's refering to the shooters. He's wanting to know why they didn't rape their classmates while they were at it.
Rush Limbaugh on Feminism:
“Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.”
Yeah, if by mainstream he means the right to vote, which is where Feminism started, and went on to equal rights like getting paid the same and not having to hand the money over to your husband or father and hope he'd give you some of it. And when he says the quote on film everyone laughs and then he starts mooing and calling women cows.
"There were some really good-looking girls running out with their hands over their heads. Did those kids try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls? They didn't even do that? At least if you're going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn't you have some sex? If I was going to kill some people, I'd take them out with sex."
By 'kids' he's refering to the shooters. He's wanting to know why they didn't rape their classmates while they were at it.
Rush Limbaugh on Feminism:
“Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.”
Yeah, if by mainstream he means the right to vote, which is where Feminism started, and went on to equal rights like getting paid the same and not having to hand the money over to your husband or father and hope he'd give you some of it. And when he says the quote on film everyone laughs and then he starts mooing and calling women cows.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
All things not being entirely equal
I'm taking a MayMester class on Gender and Women's Studies. Right now we're still back in the Women's Suffrage movement era learning about the struggle to get the vote, but today we watched a film called "Killing Me Softy 3" which shows a lot of magazine adverts on how women are sexualized to sell things. To go along with the film we had to bring in a magazine so we could analyze adverts ourselves.
With a choice between Torchwood Magazine and Knit.1, I went with Knit.1. (the Torchwood Mag only has ads for Lost Mag, and Supernatural Mag anyway...)
And after the film I had a chance to flip through Knit.1 with an idea of what we were looking for... And was actually really impressed. Especially since Vogue runs it, and after a movie worth of scrawny models half dressed, Knit.1 was really refreshing.
There's young ladies, old ladies, blonds, brunettes, a college girl in pj pants, some guy from SNL, a guy designer in a clothing warehouse/design shop, a guy in a tie, guys in hats; you get the picture. There's everyone.
And that world famous model pose, with the girl in a chair sprawled with her legs spread? That's actually a guy in this magazine. And it's more sensual than sexualized.
So, anyway, long story of analyzing magazines short, there's obviously guys in the knitting magazine. Modeling stuff. But they're also in there as designers or talking about themselves knitting. The guy from SNL knits. Two of the knitting blogs I like to here go to guy's blogs. Then there's this article. I know two guy knitters on IRC, and one of them is teaching me to spin.
So, we're in class learning about equality and objectification and rights and my female classmate leans over my shoulder to look at my knitting magazine and scoffs. And I'm like 'what' and she's like 'they're knitting'. In the sort of tone where you'd say 'they're eating. WITH THEIR FINGERS!'. And I'm like 'so?' and she says guys shouldn't knit, or guys don't knit, or something equally insane. Clearly they do. And she says she knows, because she saw a guy on campus knitting the other day and she laughed at him.
Part of me is like THERE'S A GUY KNITTER ON CAMPUS?! and the other part is like aren't we in equality class? Aren't we all equal? I forgot how men knitting is a sign of the apocalypse and madness... I know sexism goes both ways, but part of me really really wants to stand up for the rights of guy knitters. Not that John Brinegar really needs me to fight his fights for him, he's kinda big and grrr looking.
With a choice between Torchwood Magazine and Knit.1, I went with Knit.1. (the Torchwood Mag only has ads for Lost Mag, and Supernatural Mag anyway...)
And after the film I had a chance to flip through Knit.1 with an idea of what we were looking for... And was actually really impressed. Especially since Vogue runs it, and after a movie worth of scrawny models half dressed, Knit.1 was really refreshing.
There's young ladies, old ladies, blonds, brunettes, a college girl in pj pants, some guy from SNL, a guy designer in a clothing warehouse/design shop, a guy in a tie, guys in hats; you get the picture. There's everyone.
And that world famous model pose, with the girl in a chair sprawled with her legs spread? That's actually a guy in this magazine. And it's more sensual than sexualized.
So, anyway, long story of analyzing magazines short, there's obviously guys in the knitting magazine. Modeling stuff. But they're also in there as designers or talking about themselves knitting. The guy from SNL knits. Two of the knitting blogs I like to here go to guy's blogs. Then there's this article. I know two guy knitters on IRC, and one of them is teaching me to spin.
So, we're in class learning about equality and objectification and rights and my female classmate leans over my shoulder to look at my knitting magazine and scoffs. And I'm like 'what' and she's like 'they're knitting'. In the sort of tone where you'd say 'they're eating. WITH THEIR FINGERS!'. And I'm like 'so?' and she says guys shouldn't knit, or guys don't knit, or something equally insane. Clearly they do. And she says she knows, because she saw a guy on campus knitting the other day and she laughed at him.
Part of me is like THERE'S A GUY KNITTER ON CAMPUS?! and the other part is like aren't we in equality class? Aren't we all equal? I forgot how men knitting is a sign of the apocalypse and madness... I know sexism goes both ways, but part of me really really wants to stand up for the rights of guy knitters. Not that John Brinegar really needs me to fight his fights for him, he's kinda big and grrr looking.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
My Knitting Birthday
Sometime in April last year was when I started knitting. I can sort of pinpoint the date because the November before I met this super awesome girl and her boyfriend at a Nanowrimo event. Or it might have been the year before's Nano, but we didn't really get to be friends until the 2007 Nano. Her name was Amanda, her boyfriend was Owen. We all sat around at WriteIns talking about our books or his plays, and eventually I was like you guys have to come over and watch Torchwood or Doctor Who or Garth Marenghi's Dark Place- whatever it was, they did and we all started hanging out here and while we'd watch TV Amanda would knit, and I'd ask what she was working on, and she'd offer to teach me, and I'd say, nah, I'm good.
And then they got engaged and he got a job in Chicago and in March she was gone. And as soon as she was gone, I was like, actually, I do want to knit.
That's Amanda and Me at my birthday party, which is why I'm so tarted up.
So, April comes and I... don't actually remember how I learned to knit. I think I looked at some sites on the internet, or checked a book out of the library, and wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into, so I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff and find out I didn't like knitting, so I posted a want ad on FreeCycle for knitting... anything. And someone behind the Marietta Square was like, I have a bag of yarn you could take, and someone near Roswell behind Sandy Plains was like, I have some needles.
I go to the Square, pull up at their house, and I'm looking for the bag, only all I see is this hugenormous yard bag- like for fall leaves, and I'm like, no way is that my bag. Only I peek in the top and it is. It's so much bag-of-yarn that I have to lay it down in the backseat because it won't fit in the trunk. And over in Roswell there's a freezer bag of needles- mismatched dual points, cables, circulars, straight. Enough needles that for a while I had about five matching sets in each size.
So, I start learning to knit from a book or whatever, and it just all constantly goes wrong. Casting on is a nightmare and everything I try knitting just gets wider instead of going straight up like it should...
Which is where I get to my first teacher, my best friend Kevin's Mom, who's from Germany and knits really fast, so at first you're always like "wait, how did you do that?". She showed me how to do a long tail single hand cast on, which is so easy- and what I was doing wrong- the book wasn't clear about what happens at the end of the row, so I kept adding a stitch. So, she sets me straight on what I'm doing and I'm so excited about being able to knit without the thing getting wider that I just start knitting a four or five stitch wide scarf and it's about ten feet long before I realize I don't know how you finish it.
Anyway, around this time Mom has to go to some doctor appointment down at Perimeter so I go with her because there's a knitting store there, and it's really the first place I've ever been to for yarn besides seeing it at JoAnn's or where-ever. We go to Strings and Strands which has so much yarn stacked up you sort of feel as soon as you open the door it's all falling in on you. I find a couple of nice skeins there, and ask what I do to get the scarf off the needles, and she's like it's called a bind off, and this is how you do it. And then I'm able to get the long thin scarf done and move on to something else.
I do a scarf with two colors all at once, a pair of armwarmers in July which I was so proud of I actually wore them right then, and Kevin's Mom shows me how dual point needles work, and I start a pair of gloves.
And you know what pattern I used for those? I didn't. I totally made that up in my head, based off what I learned from Kevin's Mom. I mean, yeah, they're totally shapeless and not formfitting, but I made that up. I didn't know anything about increases and decreases then or cables or anything.
So, I go to Italy which is where really nice wool comes from but no one knits there and I was living in what might have been the only city in all of Italy to have a place that sold yarn and needles. You hiked out of the town, down a hill, turned down a neighborhood street, and next to a Laundromat there was a store that was sometimes open and it sold buttons and pantyhose and beads and they had about twenty skeins of wool there and a few boxes of needles.
I finished those handwarmers the same day I dislocated my knee in Florence. So at least my hands were warm while I huddled miserably in the Florence McDonalds while everyone else went and saw the museums and I had to wait for the bus home so I could lay in our flat's front room and watch Doctor Who on my laptop all weekend.
The only other place to get yarn there was the weekly market- I still have some of it, and boy is it loud. And strange.
I got home and hadn't really gained any new knitting knowledge since I'd learned to use dual points. But while I was in Italy I'd fallen in love with Anticraft's Swamp Witch pattern, and I'd never done a pattern before. I decided not to buy the yarn for it until I had a job, and so it wasn't until late November, mid December that I finally got all the things I needed. Started the project, was super proud of it, took it up to my Uncle's, got done with it and started putting the tassels on. Which is where it all went terribly awry.
I'd screwed up counting the pattern somewhere and one side was about six inches wider and I didn't have enough tassels for it. And Mom was convinced that even though I couldn't finish it and it was lopsided and lacking tassels it was the greatest. thing. ever. Which only made it worse, because... well. I mean, it's broken. I didn't have more tassels. I had to hide it in the garage to get her to stop talking about it.
And it wasn't for... Oh, four or five months before I took it out, used something else for the tassels, and wore it. And everyone was like OMG THIS IS GREAT WHERE DID YOU BUY IT. Which is sort of a riot. One of the guys in my History class was talking to me about it and I admitted the screw up and he was like *rolls eyes* oh, well, I noticed that, I just didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone by pointing it out. And then everyone at our table laughed.
That's sort of an extreme close up of when I started it.
And somewhere around that time I learned to cable, too, which is so much easier than it looks.
The funny thing is how many guys are interested in knitting. I mean, yeah, knitting. I've met guy knitters, but this time I mean like, oh hey what are you doing? that's neat looking, kind of stuff. I was working on this pink and brown shawl in class during a movie and the guys at my table kept reaching over to sort of pet the fabric. At the end of class they were all asking if I was going to put tassels on it, and maybe they should be bright red, and shaped like this...
That's the shawl. No, it doesn't have red tassels. But then again JoAnn's ran out of the yarn and can't get more at the moment so I'm kind of screwed until I get more.
And here's a hat I made.
And in that year of knitting I've had a bunch of teachers. Kevin's Mom. Jean. The nice lady at Strings and Strands. People at The Whole Nine Yards. And I actually taught people how to knit, too, which is the most astounding to me. Kayla, while we were in Italy, Mom when I got back. I've even gotten to the point where I'm planning knitted Christmas presents this year, and some for birthdays, too.
One of the other things that gets me as a history student is the strange and mysterious history of knitting. Egyptians knitted, only it was more like advanced knot tying. No one is entirely certain where knitting came from, other than probably the Mediterranean, since it's found in every place that had a port that shipped to, from, or through there. It's even in the Bible- the part about the soldiers dicing for Jesus' seamless garment. I always kind of thought that was a metaphor- that Mary was so badass she could sew something without seams, but it's actually dual point knitting.
Basically I am super happy to be a knitter.
And then they got engaged and he got a job in Chicago and in March she was gone. And as soon as she was gone, I was like, actually, I do want to knit.
That's Amanda and Me at my birthday party, which is why I'm so tarted up.
So, April comes and I... don't actually remember how I learned to knit. I think I looked at some sites on the internet, or checked a book out of the library, and wasn't entirely sure what I was getting myself into, so I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff and find out I didn't like knitting, so I posted a want ad on FreeCycle for knitting... anything. And someone behind the Marietta Square was like, I have a bag of yarn you could take, and someone near Roswell behind Sandy Plains was like, I have some needles.
I go to the Square, pull up at their house, and I'm looking for the bag, only all I see is this hugenormous yard bag- like for fall leaves, and I'm like, no way is that my bag. Only I peek in the top and it is. It's so much bag-of-yarn that I have to lay it down in the backseat because it won't fit in the trunk. And over in Roswell there's a freezer bag of needles- mismatched dual points, cables, circulars, straight. Enough needles that for a while I had about five matching sets in each size.
So, I start learning to knit from a book or whatever, and it just all constantly goes wrong. Casting on is a nightmare and everything I try knitting just gets wider instead of going straight up like it should...
Which is where I get to my first teacher, my best friend Kevin's Mom, who's from Germany and knits really fast, so at first you're always like "wait, how did you do that?". She showed me how to do a long tail single hand cast on, which is so easy- and what I was doing wrong- the book wasn't clear about what happens at the end of the row, so I kept adding a stitch. So, she sets me straight on what I'm doing and I'm so excited about being able to knit without the thing getting wider that I just start knitting a four or five stitch wide scarf and it's about ten feet long before I realize I don't know how you finish it.
Anyway, around this time Mom has to go to some doctor appointment down at Perimeter so I go with her because there's a knitting store there, and it's really the first place I've ever been to for yarn besides seeing it at JoAnn's or where-ever. We go to Strings and Strands which has so much yarn stacked up you sort of feel as soon as you open the door it's all falling in on you. I find a couple of nice skeins there, and ask what I do to get the scarf off the needles, and she's like it's called a bind off, and this is how you do it. And then I'm able to get the long thin scarf done and move on to something else.
I do a scarf with two colors all at once, a pair of armwarmers in July which I was so proud of I actually wore them right then, and Kevin's Mom shows me how dual point needles work, and I start a pair of gloves.
And you know what pattern I used for those? I didn't. I totally made that up in my head, based off what I learned from Kevin's Mom. I mean, yeah, they're totally shapeless and not formfitting, but I made that up. I didn't know anything about increases and decreases then or cables or anything.
So, I go to Italy which is where really nice wool comes from but no one knits there and I was living in what might have been the only city in all of Italy to have a place that sold yarn and needles. You hiked out of the town, down a hill, turned down a neighborhood street, and next to a Laundromat there was a store that was sometimes open and it sold buttons and pantyhose and beads and they had about twenty skeins of wool there and a few boxes of needles.
I finished those handwarmers the same day I dislocated my knee in Florence. So at least my hands were warm while I huddled miserably in the Florence McDonalds while everyone else went and saw the museums and I had to wait for the bus home so I could lay in our flat's front room and watch Doctor Who on my laptop all weekend.
The only other place to get yarn there was the weekly market- I still have some of it, and boy is it loud. And strange.
I got home and hadn't really gained any new knitting knowledge since I'd learned to use dual points. But while I was in Italy I'd fallen in love with Anticraft's Swamp Witch pattern, and I'd never done a pattern before. I decided not to buy the yarn for it until I had a job, and so it wasn't until late November, mid December that I finally got all the things I needed. Started the project, was super proud of it, took it up to my Uncle's, got done with it and started putting the tassels on. Which is where it all went terribly awry.
I'd screwed up counting the pattern somewhere and one side was about six inches wider and I didn't have enough tassels for it. And Mom was convinced that even though I couldn't finish it and it was lopsided and lacking tassels it was the greatest. thing. ever. Which only made it worse, because... well. I mean, it's broken. I didn't have more tassels. I had to hide it in the garage to get her to stop talking about it.
And it wasn't for... Oh, four or five months before I took it out, used something else for the tassels, and wore it. And everyone was like OMG THIS IS GREAT WHERE DID YOU BUY IT. Which is sort of a riot. One of the guys in my History class was talking to me about it and I admitted the screw up and he was like *rolls eyes* oh, well, I noticed that, I just didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone by pointing it out. And then everyone at our table laughed.
That's sort of an extreme close up of when I started it.
And somewhere around that time I learned to cable, too, which is so much easier than it looks.
The funny thing is how many guys are interested in knitting. I mean, yeah, knitting. I've met guy knitters, but this time I mean like, oh hey what are you doing? that's neat looking, kind of stuff. I was working on this pink and brown shawl in class during a movie and the guys at my table kept reaching over to sort of pet the fabric. At the end of class they were all asking if I was going to put tassels on it, and maybe they should be bright red, and shaped like this...
That's the shawl. No, it doesn't have red tassels. But then again JoAnn's ran out of the yarn and can't get more at the moment so I'm kind of screwed until I get more.
And here's a hat I made.
And in that year of knitting I've had a bunch of teachers. Kevin's Mom. Jean. The nice lady at Strings and Strands. People at The Whole Nine Yards. And I actually taught people how to knit, too, which is the most astounding to me. Kayla, while we were in Italy, Mom when I got back. I've even gotten to the point where I'm planning knitted Christmas presents this year, and some for birthdays, too.
One of the other things that gets me as a history student is the strange and mysterious history of knitting. Egyptians knitted, only it was more like advanced knot tying. No one is entirely certain where knitting came from, other than probably the Mediterranean, since it's found in every place that had a port that shipped to, from, or through there. It's even in the Bible- the part about the soldiers dicing for Jesus' seamless garment. I always kind of thought that was a metaphor- that Mary was so badass she could sew something without seams, but it's actually dual point knitting.
Basically I am super happy to be a knitter.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Immortality can be yours....
For the low, low price of stinging the living daylights out of innocent beach goers.
That's right. There's an immortal species of jellyfish. How unfair is that? They don't even have brains. I mean, they do, but you know what I mean. It's not like they understand Shakespeare.
And they're not immortal like they'll come back if you cut them up, they're more like immortal until something kills them. But that's still really awesome.
That's right. There's an immortal species of jellyfish. How unfair is that? They don't even have brains. I mean, they do, but you know what I mean. It's not like they understand Shakespeare.
And they're not immortal like they'll come back if you cut them up, they're more like immortal until something kills them. But that's still really awesome.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Good Knitting Lunch
Knitting outside on lunch break:
Pros: The weather is nice, there's squirrels, male classmates tanning outside shirtless...
Cons: Bees are wayyy, wayyy too interested in knitting in a i-must-get-a-much-closer-look way.
Pros: The weather is nice, there's squirrels, male classmates tanning outside shirtless...
Cons: Bees are wayyy, wayyy too interested in knitting in a i-must-get-a-much-closer-look way.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
(cursed) Amish (chain letter) Friendship Bread
Saturday afternoon I'm driving Fred back from dropping off his car for some work and he tells me someone at work gave him this secret Amish bread that you only know about if someone gives it to you and only the Amish know what it's made out of, and because all the batches go all the way back to the first Amish person who passed it off on someone who's not Amish they're all really the same loaf.
My response: what?
He tells me you get this letter telling you to do certain things on certain days to the 'starter' that comes with the chain letter (a Ziploc freezer bag of goop) and then on day ten you divide up the goop into other freezer bags and pass them on and bake bread with what remains.
And then he tells me since he's going away for a few days it's my job to deal with day ten.
The bread actually came out really good. It's got a lot of cinnamon in it, and it's soft and sweet, very good hot.
So, I get to the 'pay it forward' part of the process and one neighbor isn't home, another is psyched because she hasn't gotten this in years, and another...
The lady who lives diagonal to me, when she moved in, she tried to interview everyone on out street since her son was going to be living with her and she wants to make sure we're all safe or something. I missed that interview (like five years ago) and she's still a little shifty about me and my mom. So, I see her in her driveway and I'm like O HAI and do you like bread? and tell her the whole thing about this Amish Friendship Bread thing.
And she's like great! sounds good! sounds delicious! ..... do i have to do anything?
And I'm like Well, yes, you have to bake it.
And she says "oh, well, I don't want to do anything. If it was already done I'd take it."
Which makes me think of the Little Red Hen.
Like, what am I supposed to do? Bring her a cooked loaf of bread every ten days?
And then, in other news, semi-stolen from the kind of thing Not Always Right would post, I was at JoAnn's the other day trying to deal with a special order they had to cancel when the lady in front of me started hassling the cashier.
Cashier: *ringing up glue sticks*
Customer: Can't you just bulk ring those up? I'm in a hurry.
Cashier: They're all singles... Ok, they're done.
Customer: Can I use a coupon?
Cashier: If you like.
Customer: Can I use two coupons?
Cashier: If they're not the same, sure.
Customer: *hands over two of the same coupon*
Cashier: Um, these are the same.
Customer: No, they're not. I cut them out of two different newspapers.
Cashier: ...
Customer: Well? Are you going to take them?
Cashier: I can't take them both, they're the same.
And then once the lady is all rung up and paid and everything she just stands there pawing through her shopping bag, counting stuff and checking the receipt and doing math. WHILE BLOCKING THE LINE.
My response: what?
He tells me you get this letter telling you to do certain things on certain days to the 'starter' that comes with the chain letter (a Ziploc freezer bag of goop) and then on day ten you divide up the goop into other freezer bags and pass them on and bake bread with what remains.
And then he tells me since he's going away for a few days it's my job to deal with day ten.
The bread actually came out really good. It's got a lot of cinnamon in it, and it's soft and sweet, very good hot.
So, I get to the 'pay it forward' part of the process and one neighbor isn't home, another is psyched because she hasn't gotten this in years, and another...
The lady who lives diagonal to me, when she moved in, she tried to interview everyone on out street since her son was going to be living with her and she wants to make sure we're all safe or something. I missed that interview (like five years ago) and she's still a little shifty about me and my mom. So, I see her in her driveway and I'm like O HAI and do you like bread? and tell her the whole thing about this Amish Friendship Bread thing.
And she's like great! sounds good! sounds delicious! ..... do i have to do anything?
And I'm like Well, yes, you have to bake it.
And she says "oh, well, I don't want to do anything. If it was already done I'd take it."
Which makes me think of the Little Red Hen.
Like, what am I supposed to do? Bring her a cooked loaf of bread every ten days?
And then, in other news, semi-stolen from the kind of thing Not Always Right would post, I was at JoAnn's the other day trying to deal with a special order they had to cancel when the lady in front of me started hassling the cashier.
Cashier: *ringing up glue sticks*
Customer: Can't you just bulk ring those up? I'm in a hurry.
Cashier: They're all singles... Ok, they're done.
Customer: Can I use a coupon?
Cashier: If you like.
Customer: Can I use two coupons?
Cashier: If they're not the same, sure.
Customer: *hands over two of the same coupon*
Cashier: Um, these are the same.
Customer: No, they're not. I cut them out of two different newspapers.
Cashier: ...
Customer: Well? Are you going to take them?
Cashier: I can't take them both, they're the same.
And then once the lady is all rung up and paid and everything she just stands there pawing through her shopping bag, counting stuff and checking the receipt and doing math. WHILE BLOCKING THE LINE.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Bourbon Street and Headstones
Probably it's the trip to the Marietta Cemetery for class this morning but I suddenly really want to reread Interview with the Vampire.
And maybe The Vampire Lestat. And Queen of the Damned. Man, those are some good books. The first time I read them was in the sixth grade and those three are still my favorites of the series. Good, long summer reading.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Heh.
Your result for The House, MD Personality Test...
Dr. James Wilson
70% Eccentricity, 30% Confidence, 55% Kindness
Congratulations, you're Dr. James Wilson! You've got the tough role of being the conscience and best friend to Dr. Greg House, which proves that you must be secretly (or openly) insane. You're always a good person for providing advice, witty remarks, free lunches, lectures, and (wanted or unwanted) psychoanalysis. You are about as confident as the average person, but you have some big issues with yourself, and may have problems living up to the ideals you have in your head. You do really care about other people, though, even if you sometimes express that caring by trying to get into their pants.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
A Novel Solution
So, I was talking to Kevin at lunch today, telling him where I am in the novel, whats going on with the characters... Right now there's the making of lots of tension and drama amongst three of the main ones that'll play out through the rest of the book. One character doesn't like that his lover is spending time with his ward, because he's jealous, only (at the moment) he doesn't know which one he's jealous of-
And Kevin says "Why don't they all just have a polygamist relationship? Then they won't have to be jealous of each other. I mean, if they're all happy with that."
I told Kayla about it, and she pretty much asked "...then what's the rest of the novel about?"
And Kevin says "Why don't they all just have a polygamist relationship? Then they won't have to be jealous of each other. I mean, if they're all happy with that."
I told Kayla about it, and she pretty much asked "...then what's the rest of the novel about?"
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Irony
Funny-in-a-horrible-way story:
I had to drive to Athens yesterday for research for one of my classes; since I drove all the way there and back, today I decided I'd take the car in for an oil change. When I was leaving KSU and taking the sharp turns in the parking garage the car made a rrrrr sort of noise when I made the turns, then was silent by the time I was actually on Frey Road. Got home and my tax return was waiting for me, but since I wasn't expecting it until April or later I hadn't actually thought of anything to buy with it (except for sort of wanting a bike). Called Goodyear, told them the whole story, brought it in, got the oil change and then they come out with their funeral faces on and they're like 'You have to see this, it's going to be hard to explain...'
And basically, that rrrrr noise was the sound of my entire tax return being spent.
Good news: I actually have the money to do the repair, because of the tax return.
Bad news: No tax return means I have no money.
Good news: I don't have to pay for the car to be fixed.
Bad news: No bike.
(and because one person already asked, no, do not buy me a bike.)
I had to drive to Athens yesterday for research for one of my classes; since I drove all the way there and back, today I decided I'd take the car in for an oil change. When I was leaving KSU and taking the sharp turns in the parking garage the car made a rrrrr sort of noise when I made the turns, then was silent by the time I was actually on Frey Road. Got home and my tax return was waiting for me, but since I wasn't expecting it until April or later I hadn't actually thought of anything to buy with it (except for sort of wanting a bike). Called Goodyear, told them the whole story, brought it in, got the oil change and then they come out with their funeral faces on and they're like 'You have to see this, it's going to be hard to explain...'
And basically, that rrrrr noise was the sound of my entire tax return being spent.
Good news: I actually have the money to do the repair, because of the tax return.
Bad news: No tax return means I have no money.
Good news: I don't have to pay for the car to be fixed.
Bad news: No bike.
(and because one person already asked, no, do not buy me a bike.)
Monday, March 16, 2009
What I did on my Spring Break
Mostly: nothing.
The booksale was the last day before break, so I had plenty to read. Made some headway into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, read chapters here and there in Sitchin's Cosmic Code, flipped through the Esperanto book and tried to explain to mom why it's a brilliant idea.
Did a lot of knitting. Hobby Lobby isn't what I usually think of when I think 'yarn shop' but they have their own in house brand of yarn and it's mostly insane artsy acrylics which, when that type of yarn's time is over, go on sale for $1.99. Which isn't bad for a skein of yarn; it's even better when it's neat yarn with bright colors, all sorts of unusual styles and types. I bought this lemon-lime yarn that reminded me of those subliminal message Sprite commercials from last year and did a thin summer weight scarf out of it; Mom went nuts seeing it so I gave it to her. Another yarn I bought was this purple furry yarn with bits of sewed stuff in it; it's called ragg yarn and it looks like it's spun out of lumber jack shirts and muppets. Mom started giving it the 'that's mine' look but I told her I'd just knitted her something (and it's not like she doesn't know how to knit). I finished the purple scarf in South Carolina and Aunt Marilyn got the same look.
Monday we watched Castle, which was funnier than I thought it would be.
Thursday we drove down to Hilton Head to visit my Aunt and Uncle at their vacation home, which is in one of those golf course resort neighborhoods. I hadn't seen them in a year or two, and I loved taking pictures of the Spanish moss covered oaks in the area. We couldn't play golf with them because I have no idea what I'm doing, and secondly I brought clothes and then a dress, and the clothes weren't nice enough for golfing and the dress was too nice, and thirdly I don't even have golf shoes. Apparently golf is such a historical sport you have to dress up for it. I just found the whole thing a little silly and weird; I mean, how are you supposed to try it out?
We went to the beach once, so I could see it, and it was freezing and the wind was blowing like a hurricane- It was still stunning, especially since there was enough fog on the ocean to make the horizon invisible. The Savannah River side of Hilton Head was somewhat warmer- I poked around the beach there picking up seashells and looking at a few beached jelly fish; the largest was the size of a colander.
Friday night we ate at a local place called Pepper's Porch where I had fantastic jambalaya. I got to watch Bones on my laptop that afternoon, since we missed it the night before- Booth and Brennan continue to be the highlight of my tv week.
Headed back today and I made the mistake of taking Dramamine on an empty stomach- I slept eight hours last night, the entire ride back up, and a five hour nap this after noon. Went to get the dogs from Fred's house just in time to catch the premier of Kings...
Kings was epic. I like the drama of it, and the politicking, the uniforms, and David. David spent the whole episode being badass without even noticing it; he can't sleep so he rescues his fellow soldiers, he faces his court martial without reservations, hides from the King's party to play the piano... Spends money buying his fellow soldiers beer and video games.
Which reminded me this has been an incredible year for television. Not just since January 1st because a lot of shows have been on midseason break, but this season since last fall. Fringe. Bones. Leverage. Castle. Lie to Me. Kings. Being Human. Dollhouse. (i'm probably forgetting something) Practically everything that's been on has been fantastic. I was eating dinner the other night and turned to Mom and said "I miss Leverage." right out of the blue and she was like "Me too.". At least there will be more of that this summer. Fringe there's still something like 20 days until a new episode. Bones is going to be new until the season is over. I have no idea what Kings' schedule is going to be like, but I'll be glued to my seat when it's on.
Yay for tv!
In other news, I remain jobless. I'm trying to keep my chin up about the whole thing, but it's really depressing and aggravating. I'm the next person to be hired at two places, if anyone leaves. But who's going to leave right now? No one. Mom's got the same thing going on. Since I got home I've filled out at least two or three applications a day, more when I wasn't in class, and I've had one interview. One. I got the job at Aero because of how awesome Kevin is and the fact I'm an epic employee- I was supposed to be seasonal for Thanksgiving, not until January. I just worked like a powerhouse and impressed everyone and they kept me on until they couldn't anymore. It's even more ridiculous when you're on these job finding sites and they're like "Now Hiring!" so you rush to fill out the application only to get a reply back asking if you have a commercial drivers license when they weren't advertising for *drivers*.
Anyway, we got home from South Carolina early so I can make it to my England to 1688 class tomorrow- it the best thing I'm taking this semester.
The booksale was the last day before break, so I had plenty to read. Made some headway into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, read chapters here and there in Sitchin's Cosmic Code, flipped through the Esperanto book and tried to explain to mom why it's a brilliant idea.
Did a lot of knitting. Hobby Lobby isn't what I usually think of when I think 'yarn shop' but they have their own in house brand of yarn and it's mostly insane artsy acrylics which, when that type of yarn's time is over, go on sale for $1.99. Which isn't bad for a skein of yarn; it's even better when it's neat yarn with bright colors, all sorts of unusual styles and types. I bought this lemon-lime yarn that reminded me of those subliminal message Sprite commercials from last year and did a thin summer weight scarf out of it; Mom went nuts seeing it so I gave it to her. Another yarn I bought was this purple furry yarn with bits of sewed stuff in it; it's called ragg yarn and it looks like it's spun out of lumber jack shirts and muppets. Mom started giving it the 'that's mine' look but I told her I'd just knitted her something (and it's not like she doesn't know how to knit). I finished the purple scarf in South Carolina and Aunt Marilyn got the same look.
Monday we watched Castle, which was funnier than I thought it would be.
Thursday we drove down to Hilton Head to visit my Aunt and Uncle at their vacation home, which is in one of those golf course resort neighborhoods. I hadn't seen them in a year or two, and I loved taking pictures of the Spanish moss covered oaks in the area. We couldn't play golf with them because I have no idea what I'm doing, and secondly I brought clothes and then a dress, and the clothes weren't nice enough for golfing and the dress was too nice, and thirdly I don't even have golf shoes. Apparently golf is such a historical sport you have to dress up for it. I just found the whole thing a little silly and weird; I mean, how are you supposed to try it out?
We went to the beach once, so I could see it, and it was freezing and the wind was blowing like a hurricane- It was still stunning, especially since there was enough fog on the ocean to make the horizon invisible. The Savannah River side of Hilton Head was somewhat warmer- I poked around the beach there picking up seashells and looking at a few beached jelly fish; the largest was the size of a colander.
Friday night we ate at a local place called Pepper's Porch where I had fantastic jambalaya. I got to watch Bones on my laptop that afternoon, since we missed it the night before- Booth and Brennan continue to be the highlight of my tv week.
Headed back today and I made the mistake of taking Dramamine on an empty stomach- I slept eight hours last night, the entire ride back up, and a five hour nap this after noon. Went to get the dogs from Fred's house just in time to catch the premier of Kings...
Kings was epic. I like the drama of it, and the politicking, the uniforms, and David. David spent the whole episode being badass without even noticing it; he can't sleep so he rescues his fellow soldiers, he faces his court martial without reservations, hides from the King's party to play the piano... Spends money buying his fellow soldiers beer and video games.
Which reminded me this has been an incredible year for television. Not just since January 1st because a lot of shows have been on midseason break, but this season since last fall. Fringe. Bones. Leverage. Castle. Lie to Me. Kings. Being Human. Dollhouse. (i'm probably forgetting something) Practically everything that's been on has been fantastic. I was eating dinner the other night and turned to Mom and said "I miss Leverage." right out of the blue and she was like "Me too.". At least there will be more of that this summer. Fringe there's still something like 20 days until a new episode. Bones is going to be new until the season is over. I have no idea what Kings' schedule is going to be like, but I'll be glued to my seat when it's on.
Yay for tv!
In other news, I remain jobless. I'm trying to keep my chin up about the whole thing, but it's really depressing and aggravating. I'm the next person to be hired at two places, if anyone leaves. But who's going to leave right now? No one. Mom's got the same thing going on. Since I got home I've filled out at least two or three applications a day, more when I wasn't in class, and I've had one interview. One. I got the job at Aero because of how awesome Kevin is and the fact I'm an epic employee- I was supposed to be seasonal for Thanksgiving, not until January. I just worked like a powerhouse and impressed everyone and they kept me on until they couldn't anymore. It's even more ridiculous when you're on these job finding sites and they're like "Now Hiring!" so you rush to fill out the application only to get a reply back asking if you have a commercial drivers license when they weren't advertising for *drivers*.
Anyway, we got home from South Carolina early so I can make it to my England to 1688 class tomorrow- it the best thing I'm taking this semester.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
This book is seriously awesome.
There's magic, and fair folk, and the Regency Era, and the word 'showed' is spelled 'shewed', and there are *footnotes*. They're fake ones that go to books that aren't really real, but *footnotes* for god's sake in a fiction book. Referencing fictional stuff.
It's even written like that era. Here's the first sentence so you can see: "Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians."
And it's one of those massive, tome-sized things that they keep coming out with these days. I remember when I was a kid and the Narnia books could keep me busy for hours; now they're maybe an hour and a half's reading (and when I clocked that it was outloud reading). This thing feels good in your hands.
And apparently they're going to make a movie of it.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Book Sale
Had a great time at the Cobb County Library Book Sale this morning- went with Kevin and Anna Short, which was a lot of fun. Hadn't seen Anna in a long time. It was cold, but it wasn't as cold as I thought it might be, waiting outside the exposition centers for an hour. It was kinda funny, there's a moment where there's only about fifteen people in line and then suddenly people start streaming up and the line grows exponentially.
So, we got in the door and you could kinda tell this was a small year for the sale- I guess more people kept their books or didn't buy any at all... (jeeze economy!)
I had more luck in the nonfiction section than fiction... It was sort of funny, I was hoping to find hardcovers of all the Keys to the Kingdom books so I went to the kid's section first and this lady rushed up to me, sort of frantically shouting "IF YOU SEE ANY HARD COVER HARRY POTTERS PLEASE LET ME KNOW!" (it's like when I used to work for Arby's and I'd be at Kroger after work, and someone would ask me what isle something was in). I found three of them while I was looking for my own things (no luck for me though...)
Found one of those Rogue Angel books; it's a little odd they openly admit to being entirely written *not* by the author on the cover but hey, swords and stuff.
The book I was the most astounded to see was KJ Bishop's The Etched City- it's this astoundingly strange book I checked out from the library once, sort of about an assassin and a healer where one of the assassin's swords is named 'Not My Funeral'.
A hardcover of Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait, which I've already got as a paperback, but I love the way Velde doesn't quite nail down the ending of her books; I keep rereading them, wishing for sequels.
The hugenormous hardcover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell...
As for nonfiction: a Field Guide to Prehistoric Life (for those pesky time travel situations), Teach Yourself Esperanto, three Zecharia Sitchin books (omg there was a whole stack!!), a humorous history of England (promising to be short and bloody without "the boring bits"), and a book on the effects of language on evolution (I actually wrote a paper on the same subject in Anthropology class a year ago).
Kevin got about 400 Grisham and Crichton books. Yay!
So, we got in the door and you could kinda tell this was a small year for the sale- I guess more people kept their books or didn't buy any at all... (jeeze economy!)
I had more luck in the nonfiction section than fiction... It was sort of funny, I was hoping to find hardcovers of all the Keys to the Kingdom books so I went to the kid's section first and this lady rushed up to me, sort of frantically shouting "IF YOU SEE ANY HARD COVER HARRY POTTERS PLEASE LET ME KNOW!" (it's like when I used to work for Arby's and I'd be at Kroger after work, and someone would ask me what isle something was in). I found three of them while I was looking for my own things (no luck for me though...)
Found one of those Rogue Angel books; it's a little odd they openly admit to being entirely written *not* by the author on the cover but hey, swords and stuff.
The book I was the most astounded to see was KJ Bishop's The Etched City- it's this astoundingly strange book I checked out from the library once, sort of about an assassin and a healer where one of the assassin's swords is named 'Not My Funeral'.
A hardcover of Vivian Vande Velde's Dragon's Bait, which I've already got as a paperback, but I love the way Velde doesn't quite nail down the ending of her books; I keep rereading them, wishing for sequels.
The hugenormous hardcover of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell...
As for nonfiction: a Field Guide to Prehistoric Life (for those pesky time travel situations), Teach Yourself Esperanto, three Zecharia Sitchin books (omg there was a whole stack!!), a humorous history of England (promising to be short and bloody without "the boring bits"), and a book on the effects of language on evolution (I actually wrote a paper on the same subject in Anthropology class a year ago).
Kevin got about 400 Grisham and Crichton books. Yay!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
4.5 Book Weekend
Drowned Wednesday, Sir Thursday, Lady Friday, and Superior Saturday.
When I sat down with them all in a row like that my level of impressed with the series only grew. I read Garth Nix's Sabriel when I was much younger and found it incredible, the world he'd created, the magic in it, even though at the same time I found it sort of mopey. The Keys to the Kingdom series delivers on the magic, world building, and sheer too-much-fantasy-is-just-enough. Now I've got to wait until June (hopefully) for the last book in the series. Considering all the things left to tie up I'm thinking there might be another book after that... (What the sheer happy fantasy part of it reminds me of is the Abarat series)
(both series are supposed to have sequels this summer. yay!)
Started in on Kirith Kirin which I got by inter library loan. It's really pretty good.
Oh, and the Cobb County Library Book Sale is coming up this next weekend.
When I sat down with them all in a row like that my level of impressed with the series only grew. I read Garth Nix's Sabriel when I was much younger and found it incredible, the world he'd created, the magic in it, even though at the same time I found it sort of mopey. The Keys to the Kingdom series delivers on the magic, world building, and sheer too-much-fantasy-is-just-enough. Now I've got to wait until June (hopefully) for the last book in the series. Considering all the things left to tie up I'm thinking there might be another book after that... (What the sheer happy fantasy part of it reminds me of is the Abarat series)
(both series are supposed to have sequels this summer. yay!)
Started in on Kirith Kirin which I got by inter library loan. It's really pretty good.
Oh, and the Cobb County Library Book Sale is coming up this next weekend.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Drowned Wednesday
Finished Garth Nix's Drowned Wednesday this afternoon. It was fantastic, and Arthur is finally starting to man up about being the Architect's Heir.
I think most of us, being given our own pocket realm and being told we're in charge of the Universe wouldn't spend half as much time whining about how much we want to go back to the regular world and being a normal kid.
Anyway, pirates, gods, whales 126 miles long, submarines run by rats...
Started Sir Thursday which had the best military name ever, the 'Moderately Honorable Artillery Company'.
I think most of us, being given our own pocket realm and being told we're in charge of the Universe wouldn't spend half as much time whining about how much we want to go back to the regular world and being a normal kid.
Anyway, pirates, gods, whales 126 miles long, submarines run by rats...
Started Sir Thursday which had the best military name ever, the 'Moderately Honorable Artillery Company'.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Yarn of Shakespeare
Kevin and I had lunch today and I got my birthday present from him early (since there's a party Friday)- It's this really lovely yarn, all slate blue and gray and black called Shakespeare Yarn. Two skeins! Now I have to agonize what to make out of it since it has to be super awesome.
Went and picked up Lady Friday since I've been on a Keys to the Kingdom kick the last two weeks, and saw this fantastic hardcover Gustave Dore art book in the bargain section. Might go back for it, but Barnes and Noble doesn't take coupons like I wish it would.
Went and picked up Lady Friday since I've been on a Keys to the Kingdom kick the last two weeks, and saw this fantastic hardcover Gustave Dore art book in the bargain section. Might go back for it, but Barnes and Noble doesn't take coupons like I wish it would.
Happy Birthday
I spent my birthday driving to Athens and back for twenty minutes in their rare book room.
Thank god the rest of the day was better than that. Incredible hibachi, then Mentalist and Leverage while bundled up under my birthday present Snuggie (yes, the thing on tv- and it's a million times more warm than it looks) clutching my birthday present copy of Tanith Lee's Princess Hynchatti and Some Other Surprises.
Thanks Fred and Randy!
Thank god the rest of the day was better than that. Incredible hibachi, then Mentalist and Leverage while bundled up under my birthday present Snuggie (yes, the thing on tv- and it's a million times more warm than it looks) clutching my birthday present copy of Tanith Lee's Princess Hynchatti and Some Other Surprises.
Thanks Fred and Randy!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Burned
spent most of saturday morning hiking around the coasts of lake acworth and allatoona where the water has pulled back and all the downed trees covered in fishing lures were exposed. this is probably the earliest in the year i've gotten a sunburn. ouch.
we went and saw Coraline in 3D the night before. it was incredible.
we went and saw Coraline in 3D the night before. it was incredible.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Ephemera
I'm posting scans of a lot of the postcards I've received over the last year or so. Picture of the card, then location it was sent from.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
At a loss...
With the advent of new book shelves (which are not for books) and an account on Library Thing I've spent the last two weeks cataloging, which led to the realization some boxes are missing from the garage. I went through a phase about two years ago with a program that did the same thing as Library Thing only it did it on your computer, and putting books in numbered boxes so I could have more books without having to get rid of others.
Some of those numbered boxes have gone missing. Boxes 4 and 5 were the ones I couldn't seem to locate in the garage, and when I finally did find 5 it only had three books in it (granted, they were all ones I liked and wanted but the boxes generally fit 20-something books). 4 has yet to surface. While I was trying to think what was missing I came up with Thomas the Rhymer, and two Christopher Snow novels (there's obviously more than that, but that's all I could think of not seeing as I've been cataloging).
And what I did find in the garage after pulling all the rubbermade totes off the shelves and sorting through some tapes was two large unnumbered boxes full of the books I was thinking were missing. Except I don't remember putting books in the garage in unnumbered boxes.
And I still can't find box 4.
Is the garage to books what the dryer is to socks?
Some of those numbered boxes have gone missing. Boxes 4 and 5 were the ones I couldn't seem to locate in the garage, and when I finally did find 5 it only had three books in it (granted, they were all ones I liked and wanted but the boxes generally fit 20-something books). 4 has yet to surface. While I was trying to think what was missing I came up with Thomas the Rhymer, and two Christopher Snow novels (there's obviously more than that, but that's all I could think of not seeing as I've been cataloging).
And what I did find in the garage after pulling all the rubbermade totes off the shelves and sorting through some tapes was two large unnumbered boxes full of the books I was thinking were missing. Except I don't remember putting books in the garage in unnumbered boxes.
And I still can't find box 4.
Is the garage to books what the dryer is to socks?
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Blah
Despite the June 1st deadline coming up I can't seem to muster any sort of get-to-it for my novel. I know how it goes but I feel like blah when I think about opening the file. Even after finding Sophie's actress finally...
Started reading Orphans of Chaos finally... But there's a point where there's just too much... It's cool when you've got a private school full of children with mysterious pasts who don't know who they really are and have various reality altering powers... but the story started to feel caked on after you find out the school governors are Grendle and Ares and some Kitsune Japanese Gods...
At least my knitting is coming along well. I learned to cable! Which is that braided stuff on sweaters, not CAT5 cable. Which people keep getting confused about.
Started reading Orphans of Chaos finally... But there's a point where there's just too much... It's cool when you've got a private school full of children with mysterious pasts who don't know who they really are and have various reality altering powers... but the story started to feel caked on after you find out the school governors are Grendle and Ares and some Kitsune Japanese Gods...
At least my knitting is coming along well. I learned to cable! Which is that braided stuff on sweaters, not CAT5 cable. Which people keep getting confused about.
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