...And Just One More Thing...

I just heard that Peter Falk died.  I have seen a few Columbo episodes, and he certainly was wonderful in them, but I do believe I'll always remember him as the grandfather in Princess Bride.  I'd always wanted to meet him, but I knew he was pretty old.  In his 80s, it turns out.

I wonder if Princess Bride would have been so popular now.  For instance, the set-up!  The kid's at home sick, and of course playing a video game.  Sure, an old 8-bit, but a video game nonetheless.  So at least that part would be shared by today's kids.  But what I was talking about was the reading aloud.  I adore being read to, even now.  Audio books are nice, but there's something so cozy when it's someone you love, right there beside you reading.  I read to Michael sometimes.  It had been a long time since he could see and hold a book well enough to return the favor.  But I'm so glad we shared that love of books!

It was really a blessing that my family all car-pooled together while I was growing up.  Both parents were teachers, so we all packed in to head to school.  I remember freezing mornings in old Mr. B, the '66 Pontiac LeMans.  Later on, there'd be a procession of trucks, big things that had to do farm duty after the school run.  Dad picked super-cabs so that us kids had a seat in the back rather than all cramming on a front seat.

And each morning, Mom would read to us while Dad drove..  Not just kiddie books, either!  We covered Dickens, James Herriott, Agatha Christie, all sorts of books!  It served to get more classics into our heads, expanded vocabulary, interesting discussions when a book finally concluded, all sorts of benefits of 15 minutes a day of reading aloud.  When my fifth-grade teacher read "A Wrinkle in Time," it was all I could do not to get it from the library and read ahead!  The whole class was enchanted, or at least stayed quiet enough not to bother the ones who were.

Would kids today get that?  Or would they just ask why not put an audiobook on an iPod or read it on a Kindle and why bother Grandpa to read it aloud to them?  I hope they would understand why.  It's a gift, an expression of love, to carefully choose a book and read it aloud.  And it doesn't matter what age you are, you can enjoy it.  Even just the funnies from Reader's Digest, if that's all the time you have.

I'd best get back to reading "Much Ado About Nothing."  Now there's a good read-aloud, even if it is just to the puppies.  The bard knew what he was doing with the language!

My Peeps!

Time to show off the new glasses!

I am really loving the brainy-specs.  It didn't even take long for coworkers to notice them on Saturday!  Oh, last working Saturday for a few weeks, another reason to be happy!  My new sunglasses haven't arrived yet, but they should soon enough.

The house is looking better than ever.  I'm boxing up loads of stuff so it'll be easy for the guys to put in my new flooring.  Wood floors in kitchen, living room, and hall.  It should look very unified by the time it's done.  And hopefully be easier to remove Saffron's hair!  I'll get an area rug to keep my tootsies warm near my chair, but other than that I should have an easily-sweepable surface.

I still have to pick a travel project for my next journey.  Something for the movie swap?  Something for me?  The shrug still isn't done, and the to-be-felted bag needs finishing but involves four big balls of yarn... maybe Mystery Projects 2 and 3 need to get started... just a bit of a hint, they're a hand item and a neck item.

Then there's the Whoops! project.  That requires some explanation, I suppose.  I should have gone to work at noon last Saturday.  I arrived at 9 am.  Whoops!  So, I went over to the yarn shop to shoot the breeze while I waited.  Of course, Bex convinced me to join the Mobius scarf class, even though I'd already made one mobius!  It's not hard for her to convince me, really.  I bought some lovely merino and yet more needles and got to work.  It'll be a present for one of my aunts, since I'm not wild about pinks and fuschia, and have loads of scarves already.  We'll see how basket-weave translates to mobius knitting!

Home and hearth... okay, so calling my knitting my "hearth" is a little bit of a stretch, but it is quite a cozy thing, don't you think?  And both are things I'm gaining more pride in.  A beautiful house and creative endeavors, there's the dream.  Well, the part of the dream that involves things, anyway.

Marathon Knitting And Work

Yikes, I've really been at it lately!  I put in a full weekend at work, plus I've been knitting pretty much every second I've been at home.  Minus some exercise time.  My back is telling me about it.  Could be all the time I spent on my stomach on the bed, looking through pattern books.  That, or too much time trying to get 5 stars on the Kylie Minogue song in Dance Central.  Still a fun game.  One more Saturday, and I'm free for a while!  More time to knit, then!

I was talking to my mom about playlists on my iPod.  One of them is based on all the songs with "one" or "only" in the title.  There were a lot!  I mentioned leaving out the ones that came up with "alone" or "lonely" and she pretty much said I should avoid those because they might make me sad.  Really, I don't find it bad to be sad sometimes.  All the time would be really bad, yes!  But if I never acknowledge feeling down, or sad, or mad, or downright miserable, then it'll be worse because I bottle it up and my blood pressure goes sky-high.  It's really very good for me to let it out sometimes.  Plus, I've got some very good songs with those words.  Currently, the "random" list seems to be pulling them out all in a row.  If it gets to be too much, I switch to my Summer Sunshine playlist.  Once again, lots of songs with those words!  Kinda heavy on Beach Boys and British Invasion songs.

I found my nail polish for the trip.  The stuff on my fingers keeps chipping horribly, but I might try painting my toes.  After all, the sandals are cute.  Might as well make my feet as cute as possible to go in them!  My liquids pouch is still rather empty.  I wonder what vital thing I'm forgetting...

This trip... oh, I need it so much.  Getting out of town will be a welcome change.  As best I can tell, it'll be quite a bit cooler, so I'm taking a few layers.  More weight in the ol' backpack, but not too different from Toronto.

Heck, anywhere these cicadas aren't is an improvement.  Missouri seems to be very buggy right now.  I pulled the first tick of the season off me.  Really, I guess that's not such a bad record; usually the ticks have made their presence known long before now.  Especially with the dogs, it's hard to never get a tick.  I just grab them before they bite and introduce them to Mr. Flushy.  And yes, wash my hands after the procedure.

HAHA!  Tom Lehrer just came over the speakers.  It reminds me of one of the funniest moments on Graham Norton.  Daniel Radcliffe turns out to be a Tom Lehrer fan, and sings "The Elements"!  To be honest, he's not that great a singer, but getting through all the elements is a pretty awesome feat.  Did I mention seeing this already?  Oops, if so.  Graham is responsible for me laughing my way awake each morning.  And discovering that I can't quite fit a shower into a commercial break.

Once again, I've used Monday quite well to recharge enough to face the week.  Bring it on, Tuesday!  I can take ya!

Cicada Kinda Day

Work is insane.  Should I be surprised?  The start of Summer Reading, hot hot weather, cicadas droning on everywhere... it gets people's nerves on edge.  In the last hour of work, I had two people ask me to do a "bug check", not on their computers but on their backs, because the cicadas were grouping near the doors.  I counted four on the floor, not counting the two that Kathy took outside.  Ugh.

But earlier in the day, my coworkers at least had the sense of humor to pretend like the cicadas were our fantasy ball teams.  We all had at least two teams, that way.  High injury rates, especially for players who got near car windshields!  My dogs, who eat quite a few cicadas even though I try to prevent it, are overzealous security officers.  The mole they dug up was an overenthusiastic fan!  The cicada droning is the team song.

Luckily, the next draft isn't for 13 years.  And yes, I'll still be most relieved when this season's regularly scheduled games are over!  Heheheee...

Cicada facts for those of you who got here hoping for something serious.... only the males are droning.  The females click, the males drone.  If a female rejects a male, he might hang out near her, droning irregularly to interrupt the song of any other male who might try to woo her.  She gets distracted, doesn't respond to the new male, and the stubborn guy gets another chance, eventually.  He hopes, anyway.  So, apparently even cicadas have problems with stalkers!

I gotta look up when the 17-year brood arrives.  Maybe I can arrange to be out of the country for a month or two around that time...

Good is Far From Perfect

Today, I embarked on several new knitting ideas.  Christmas is coming, after all!  (really, knitters think like this.  Maybe other crafty types too.  Good stuff takes time.)

I decide, this bag pattern is nice, but why don't I change this and this and do this a bit fancier?!?  Bex is proud of me doing this, I'm sure.  A plain garter-stitch bag bottom?  Nah, let's do seed stitch!  Why?  Because I haven't done it before.

It looked lovely to start out...

... then I read the instructions again, specifically the part that reads "with two strands held together" !  I had only one ball, the rest of this yarn was stuck in hanks, which you can't knit from.  I have a ball winder, but not the other tool that goes hand-in-hand with turning hanks into balls: a swift.

(there's the ball winder.  And my Adipose toys!  Aren't they cute, for fat?)
And anyone who knows Malabrigo knows that this yarn can be a bit difficult.  Still, I wanted to get this project started, so I set to work turning this...

... into one of these:

For some reason, the ball made at the shop pooches out in the middle, and mine is concave.  That bit of knitting had to be frogged, but I'm quickly making progress on it once again!  Now, do you think the seed-stitch texture will even be visible once it's felted?  Hope so.

Oh, did you notice my thumb in that picture?  Painted!  Woo!

I Feel Pretty and Witty

My house looks flippin' gorgeous right now.  New roof, new siding, and the last piece of the puzzle, new garage doors!  I should take pictures.  And soon, the interior!

Lately, I've been thinking a bit more about my appearance.  I've got loads of pretty necklaces, several nice colors of nail polish, and my hairdresser has often claimed jealousy over my natural hair color.  What do I do with these elements?  The necklaces are stored in pretty boxes, I lose the nail polishes, and I just tie my hair back.  This should change.

So, I'm going to make more of an effort.  I've been wearing a few of the necklaces to work, and as soon as I find the nail color I intend to take with me to London, I'll start painting.  Maybe even my toes.  The hair?  No, I won't cut it.  Well, maybe get it trimmed, but I really like being able to ponytail it!  My new glasses are ordered, as well as prescription sunglasses.  (I could do pretty much an entire blog post about the good service I've gotten from the eye place, and the shoe repair shop a little further on down the street.)

Michael liked it when I dressed up.  He was so happy when I found a neat corset for wearing at conventions.  We both loved to point out that I got my wedding gown at Hot Topic, and it looked awesome as well!  He wanted my hair to be long, but this stuff tangles if you look at it funny.  I would bet that soon after my big trip, I'll lose patience with it and get it cut short.  I'll try not, but gaaaah!  It already frustrates me to try keeping it looking its best already!

The whole "coordinating wardrobe for travel" has paid off in regular clothes as well.  When I actually steel my nerves and go looking for clothes, I consciously seek out ones that go with most of the rest, rather than "ooh, that looks cool (but clashes with everything else I own)!"

 And here's the "witty" part!  I'm rapidly finishing the Shapeshifter Shrug, and it looks brilliant if I do say so myself.  The colors are matching perfectly, even to the buttonholes!  Speaking of which, I just ordered twenty lovely little (okay, not so little) buttons for it.  It'll take forever to attach them.  See the little bundle of yarn?  That's all that's left of the first skein for this half.  As long as I do a decent color-match when I attach the next, this project will be as close to perfect as I could ask.

After that, I'll have to figure out what to do with this...

The Brood Drones On

The cicadas will drive me insane.

Seriously, this is going to go on for a few more weeks?!? Yikes.  In case you don't live where cicadas are, here's a quick rundown.  Every 13 years, a group of insects called Brood 19 emerges from the ground.  They've been waiting to hatch for over a decade, and they waste no time in droning out a mating call for several hours every day.  They congregate on trees and bushes and can really be quite hard on the greenery.  They're big, ugly, flying things, a little like locusts.  One theory is that they come out in such numbers so that birds and other predators literally get tired of their taste and leave them alone after a while.  I can believe it.

At first, I couldn't hear them at my house.  I wondered what the big ugly bugs were doing (dead) on my doorstop, but there weren't that many, so I didn't think much of it.  Then I visited my parents this past weekend... my gosh, I thought I would go deaf!  The drone was incredibly loud, even inside the house.  I quickly turned on a fan for some white noise, but it only partially helped.  After all, I had to take the doggies out for their walks.

When I got back to my home, I realized, yes, they are here, but the tone is different.  Higher-pitched, just a little less disturbing, but still present.  As I drove home with my window down, I discovered they very much prefer certain trees to others.  The volume changed significantly between one grove of trees and the next!  I didn't have time to determine if it was tree species or proximity to people or what that could have influenced their preference.  I just know, it's quite a relief to know they don't seem to care much for my yards.

Wow, just had the thought... the last time they emerged, I hadn't even met Michael!  I was in college... maybe their drone contributed to the burnout I felt that last summer of classes.

Maybe by the time I'm back from London, Brood 19 will have shut up for another 13 years.

A Rainbow After the Storm

So, the weather in Missouri has gotten national (maybe international?) attention.  Gosh, Joplin!  That place won't be the same for years.  School, hospital, countless homes and businesses... and peak tornado season is nowhere near over.

But some days, you see the promise of hope.  I was driving home after a particularly strange day.  We spent part of it in the library basement, hoping that our cars weren't being pounded by hail.  I drove one of my alternate ways, kind of unusual for an end-of-day drive, and saw it as if it was leading me home... a beautiful, clear rainbow, all the colors there to enjoy!  I fumbled as best I could for my camera, but no luck.  Besides, I really had to put more energy into driving safely.  As I got closer to the house, I saw other cars on the street, kids playing basketball or chattering in little groups.  I wondered, did they even see it?  Were they looking at the sky while the rainbow was up there?  I hope so.

Then there were these bits of joy from my yard on Monday:

 These pretty pink blossoms are in the flower bed.  I think I bought a little bucket of them for next to nothing two years ago.  They were pretty at the time, I never figured they'd pop back up each year!

 These were the big surprise two years after Michael and I got the house.  I just figured it was a thorny bush right in front of a bedroom window.  Nice deterrent for thieves and snoops.  Then, two springs later, all these blooms burst forth!  What a cheer-up.

While I was doing all this flower photography, two residents noticed my activity and set up a bit of a racket.  So I had to photograph them too!

Ah, my fierce protectors!  They were a bit perturbed that they couldn't join me in the front yard, but I didn't want to have to run all over the neighborhood fetching them if they'd gotten out of that fence.

One last gorgeous blossom to show.  Maybe later I'll have pictures of my mums, if they survived the roofing and siding guys' abuse!  They are supposed to be hardy, after all.

Who Swaps? I Swap!

I had to choose what to blog today... would it be the awesome swap goodies, or the collection of beautiful outdoor pictures from around my house yesterday?  Graham Norton decided it!  Today's show (rerun, obviously) had Matt Smith!  It was such a funny show.  So, in honor of the Eleventh Doctor on GN, here's the news from the swap!

My package took quite a while to make its way from Scotland to Missouri.  I saw it arrive and booked it out to the mailbox to bring it in!

Already, I was excited because I had Jelly Babies!  Hooray, I get to try the Doctor's favorite candy.  Plus, stickers!  I don't remember mentioning it in all the swap chatter, but I really love stickers.  I just have a hard time deciding what is cool enough to stick these stickers on!  Especially the big hologram-y Dalek one.  And the big lovely Pandorica one!  Ahem.... I needed to know what was behind all those sweet polka-dots.

Seriously!?!  The first package opened was the Doctor himself!  In ultra-cute amigurumi crocheted form. Which is brilliant, really, since I'm not a crocheter.  This is a real gift, something I can't make myself.  Yes, I could learn crochet, but I haven't yet.  So I'm thrilled to have Tiny Doctor near me!

Oh look!  Not only was the TARDIS also along for the ride, but Martha!  She's wearing her awesome red "jacket" and her hair is in that brilliant up-do.  Really nicely done!  Plus, check out that bracelet!  Shirley, aka cherryred on Ravelry, is also a beading wizard!

Not only are the beads beautiful, but four of them are also removable charms that could be stitch markers!  Absolutely smashing idea.  Not only that, but the box it was in looks like a fob watch!  Nice reminder of "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood".  So far, most people who've seen it really like that blue bead third from the left.  I like it, but also the heart charm that isn't in this photo.  It stays on the bracelet, and is really nice!

Oooh, I'd forgotten about the shawl pin!  It's gorgeous too!  I might use it in my Clapotis, it fits with the colors, but eventually... well, I'll come back to that discussion, let's just say.  Check out the cool tin!  A nice pencil-case size, with the shawl pin, four thistle teabags from Edinburgh (one is gone already, I loved it!) and the four badges from the new Doctor and companions!

Here's the real loot!  Two wonderful, handspun-by-my-spoiler, skeins of worsted yarn!  Get this, the orangey colorway is named Pyrovillia!  Awesome, I really love "Fires of Pompeii".  The grey/color-flecked skein (which is really more beautiful in person) has some recycled sari silk and is called "Don't Blink"!  Great name, also a fave episode and the name really fits this yarn.  You never know what you're going to see in it, and you might miss something if you blink.  I love touching both of them!

Here's the whole batch, with a rather bored Saffron in the background.  I've got to come up with some shawlette pattern for that yarn, and use the shawl pin with it!  And not eat all the Jelly Babies at one go.  I've got a plan with them.  I take gummy vitamins each morning, and sometimes I get the urge to eat them like candy.  Bad idea!  So now, when I get a gummy craving, I'll snack on a Jelly Baby or two!

What a swap.  For the wait, I was really treated well.  Can't wait for the next one!

Pictures Aplenty, Locked Away.

I lost my USB memory card reader, which I'd had for years, so I bought a new one.  Now, it's lost too.  I literally had it earlier today, so it can't have gotten far!

As soon as I find it, you will all be treated to lovely pictures of the flowers in my yard and the goodies from my swap box!  Yes, it finally arrived!

Oh, those flowers.  They have a rough life, actually.  I do very little to keep them going.  If it survives in my flowerbed, it has earned the term "hardy" as well as "perennial".  I'll try to at least rake out the bed sometime this summer.

The swap box!  I've already enjoyed some of the thistle tea, all the way from Edinburgh.  It was nice plain, even better with a splash of milk.  Just a good flavor that doesn't need sweetening.  Yes, my grandmother would be shocked by that statement, but really what she always gave us was more milk & sugar than tea.  Good, comforting, but not tea!  Good memories, still, anytime I drink tea.

There was a lot more than just tea, but I'll keep that close to my chest until I can treat you to the pictures.  Believe me, they're worth the wait.  The webcam shots just don't really do all the goodies justice.  Thank you, cherryred from Scotland!

Sick Puppy (And Vacationy Stuff)

Last night, Ty got sick.  I had a wonderful time scrubbing the carpet in that spot.  I couldn't tell what he'd gotten into that had made his tummy upset, but did my usual treatment of one gingersnap cookie as a treat, then a 2/3 portion of kibble this morning.  It's not like he's going to waste away from a slightly reduced ration!  It's so unusual for either of mine to be ill.  They're two of the healthiest pets I've ever known about!  Thank goodness, since I am the only one to nurse them.

My cute knitting/evening bag has a problem.  The handle came away on one side!  Bummer.  But, it seems like I could get after it with a needle and thread, but I'll always worry if it's reliable.  Maybe I'll reinforce the other handle side while I'm at it, because this really is the perfect little bag for my trip.

Another jewel from Toronto... I found this bit of art in a subway station!

Now there's a way to get culture to your population.  Have it where they can see it every day.  And here's one that's a little more frivolous...

On the side of the Rogers Center (a multi-purpose stadium) you find this wonderful sculpture of rambunctious fans.

This is brighter, but not as close-up.  All the crowds were headed to the UFC event that night.  Apparently, it was a good fight, from the bits I caught on the news the next morning.  Not my thing, but more power to the fans.  The girl who stood next to me in the CN Tower line was headed there.  She was from Ottawa, and had several tattoos which I was too shy to stare at long enough to figure out what they said.  But they looked cool.  We had a nice chat while waiting, until we got separated in the elevator!  We were crammed in there like sardines.  But the view was worth it!  (warning, if you get vertigo from looking at up-high pictures, you might want to avoid this bit)

 That's the glass floor.  What a rush, looking straight down!  No, I have no fear of heights, why do you ask?  I didn't lay down on it only because it was quite crowded.  This floor is rated to support the weight of 14 hippos.  I wonder how they convinced the hippos to stand on it... ;)

 This is the Old Roundhouse, where trains turn around.  I didn't know that before I snapped a picture of it, just guessed, but later on looked at my Toronto maps and realized yes, I was right!  I love train stuff.

Here's the City Centre airport!  It seems to be mostly for smaller aircraft.  I saw a Cessna, or some other puddle-jumper, taking off.... so strange, being so much higher than an aircraft!  I bet this island is beautiful now that things are greener.  I got the feeling that the whole city was just anxiously awaiting spring.  Boy, don't I know that feeling!  Sometime, I'll try to go back while it's warm and lovely.  It's a great city to walk in.  And don't I know that too, sheesh.

A Post Keri Can Enjoy Thoroughly!

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Toronto was a stop in the beautiful bountiful source of yarn known as Lettuce Knits!  Although I was seriously tired from three hours' sleep followed by a rather hectic airport run, I still had loads of fun shopping and visiting.

Here's my main haul... two skeins of Koigu, just for me!

It's gorgeous.  Really a bit darker in tone than this picture, but the best thing is how squooshy and lovely-soft it is.  Still undecided what I'll make with it.  I did have two other skeins of Koigu and one nice Berroco Ultra Alpaca, but I gave them away before I got pictures.  Giving is fun!

It was a shock to realize my swap package sped its way from Missouri to Nova Scotia in just five days.  But reading how excited Dawne was to receive it was so awesome!  It made all the work truly worth it.  After it was all taped up, I thought of half a dozen other little things I'd wanted to tuck in, but as it came in .2 ounces below the next weight class, maybe the tape was fate.

I found another treasure locally!  Bex somehow hid some beautiful yarn bowls from me by putting them in the front window.  But they called to me!  And one came home with me and was put to work!

I love that it has a notch and a hole.  That way, a project could be in there temporarily, or for the duration of the skein.  See that lovely cast-on?  It's the second half of my Shapeshifter Shrug!  I was really concerned about the cast-on edges matching, since I might put it in the State Fair.  But not if it isn't up to snuff.  Here's a comparison...

WOW!  A great match!  And it was the first try.  I was prepared to try tons to get it even close to this good.  I still have to tink once or twice in every lace repeat, but that's worth the effort too.  This is a nice pattern, and I'm going to be proud to wear it.

As soon as I find twenty perfect big buttons.... oh, still work to do.

Spoilery Review of "The Doctor's Wife"

So, don't say I didn't warn you.  This is just what it says on the tin.

I've been looking forward to this episode for a long time.  Pretty much immediately after I read Neil Gaiman's book "The Graveyard Book" and later on heard that he was writing a Doctor Who episode.  I mean, if he can write freakishly good stuff like that, who knows what he could do with the good Doctor, right?

Well, I wasn't disappointed.  It was a wonderful episode.  Was it perfect?  Ummm, nope.  But it's not like they could make the changes I'd like.  You'll see what I mean.

First of all, TINY cast!  Wow, seven people and a voice actor?  Well, they had to save money somewhere I suppose.  Special effects shots, everywhere!  House, a rather enigmatic fellow of indeterminate size, had all this green smoke stuff all the time, that must have been loads of fun.  Then there were all the shots of the TARDIS and the shell-TARDIS flying through the rift between universes.  Beautiful, certainly, but that usually does cost a fair bit in production terms.  Bits of regeneration-like energy from Idris, that's beautiful but probably complex.

Aunt and Uncle were rather tricky prosthetic challenges, I'd guess.  Uncle's ear was lopsided, and to make Auntie's mismatched hands look like they functioned normally?  Serious thumbs up to those geniuses.  Then there's Nephew.  I suppose they had the Ood heads around already, but then you have to change the eye color.  Plus, there was aged/dead Rory.  Oh, so sad.  Very effective, thumbs up Arthur Darvill, but... How many times has he died now?  C'mon, Moff, let the Rory-meister live!

And sets!  House was rather messy, wasn't he?  Leaving all that TARDIS junk all over the place... I'm sure "Hoarders" would have something to say about that.  That set, though, really complemented the characters.  Then we get TARDIS corridors.  I bet they can re-use those, and I do love the look.  Yay for hexagons!

The Doctor's interactions with Idris, aka Mrs. TARDIS!  Oh, what a great relationship!  I've often wondered about the Doctor's sanity, but Suranne's performance really made you realize, perhaps the TARDIS itself is just as off-kilter as our favorite Time Lord.  Such a sweet, doomed romance.  I rather wish we'd known more about Idris, before Nephew drained her soul and filled her with the TARDIS, but maybe that would have just confused matters.  Either way, I loved every second they were on screen together.  The Doctor, with his TARDIS.

All of that is quite positive, yes.  Now comes my nitpicks.  Amy didn't have much to do.  She did her patented Glare #1 a couple of times, when the Doctor was talking about reattaching a head, and when she commented "It's just what they're called, it doesn't mean he knows what he's doing."  But other than that, I don't feel we got much of her.  We've already seen the agonized "Rory is dead" thing already.  A few too many times.

The Doctor... really, I do like Matt Smith.  He's done an excellent job of making this role his own.  But when he told Aunt and Uncle to run, I somehow felt it fell flat.  I wanted to hear Ten telling them to run. They'd have been on the exact opposite of that asteroid as fast as their little Frankensteined bodies would allow, if Ten's rage had been focused on them!  I also wanted his reaction to "the little boxes".  Usually, Eleven's quiet, oh-so-old sadness is perfect in such situations, but I wanted more this time.  The raw emotion that David Tennant could give with just the slightest look.

I did a bit of reading in Doctor Who Magazine, and the interview with Mr. Gaiman gave me a bit of hint as to why I might feel that way.  He got the basic idea of the episode before Matt Smith even became the Doctor.  Bingo!  I think Mr. Gaiman was significantly influenced by DT's performance, even if he did claim to write it for a "generic" Doctor.  What a long time to wait before seeing your vision come to life! Well, congrats, Mr. Gaiman, I do think this was an incredible episode.  I'll be happy to re-watch it many times.  The Whoverse has greatly benefitted from "talking" with the TARDIS, if only for half an hour or so.

I Have a Camera?

So, I went to Toronto, Ontario, for a lovely weekend.  Okay, actually, the first day was rather drizzly and chilly, but hey, it was somewhere other than Missouri.  I really needed that.  Even Kansas might have been a refreshing change.  But I'm glad it was Toronto instead!

Why did I pick Toronto?  I wanted to try out my new passport, so domestic flights were out.  Well, I didn't want to go to Mexico.  Warm, yes, beautiful in spots I'm sure, but I have a feeling that my personality might not mesh well with too many macho men.  Yes, it's stereotypical, but I've heard stories.  I might go to Mexico with a group tour, but not on my own.  So, that pretty much leaves me with Canada.  Hmm, still a big country to see... I didn't want to change too many time zones, so that kinda left out Vancouver.  I wanted a place with a good yarn shop population, and one of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee a.k.a. the The Yarn Harlot had mentioned Lettuce Knit a few times, so Toronto already had one big plus going for it.  Also, I'd found out one of their public libraries, the Lillian H. Smith branch, had a special sci-fi collection!  Oh, that almost decided it right there.  Plus, griffins out front, how nice!

Then there's the CN Tower.  I love tall things that I can look down from.  (Michael never did, neither did my mother, so I really haven't had a lot of opportunity to indulge this daredevil tendency.)

Once I got there, I realized there were so many other pluses to choosing Toronto.  Public transportation? Piece of cake!  I loved the subway and street cars.  Great practice.  Restaurants?  Oh My GOSH I had some of the best food in the world.  Thank you, One Love Vegetarian Restaurant!  A nice place to sit and recover from culture shock, and have a beautiful bowl of soup and pumpkin-stuffed roti.  Also, thank you Marsha for showing me around.  I'll never forget that dim sum lunch in Chinatown.

 I never would have picked Rol San out as a good restaurant, if I'd just been looking at the storefront.  But that was so much fun, and so much tasty-goodness.  Even my hotel restaurant made a lovely mahi-mahi with mango salsa.  And good coffee.

This isn't to say it was a perfect trip.  No trip really is.  But my worst problems were really my own fault, like not dropping off my 40-lb pack at my hotel before journeying downtown.  If I were re-doing the whole thing, I also probably would have stayed in the bar and watched the rest of the hockey game.  I sort of made some friends while waiting for my burger, even though I didn't get their names.  Watching the Stanley Cup in a Canadian bar!  I should really have stayed.  And oh, the walking!  I really walked my feet off.  It certainly moved "new pair of Skechers" higher on my priorities.

The worst thing was probably that I forgot I had a camera most of the time. I only got 32 pictures!  Next time I'm post-it-noting "Get the camera out!" on the front of my city notebook.

But certainly, more things went right than wrong.  I got some lovely magazines, a totally cool pen, and five skeins of yarn.  Three of which I have already given away.  Not because I didn't love them, I really did, but because I felt they really belonged with the recipients.  As it turns out, I don't really mind flying at all.  Cramped yes, but somehow still exciting.

Thank you, Toronto, for being a wonderful host to an out-of-town girl.  As cities go, you are amazing and beautiful, with loads of personality.  I do hope we can "date" again in the future.

Hiatus Over!

Okay, sometimes, I just don't want to be online.  Clearly, looking at my post counts for the end of April and beginning of May, I've been in that sort of time.  But it's over!

I got my Mac going again.  It just took looking up some restart key combinations.

I gave the passport its first workout with a weekend in Toronto!  (Mom, Dad, if you're reading this, surprise!  I did a trip on my own.  And everything is fine.)  It was quite valuable, making me know what to expect in the airport, customs, public transportation, stuff like that.  Plus, Toronto was tons of fun!  You'll hear a lot more about that in future posts.

The socks got finished!  The box got mailed!  The spoilee, Justdawne, was happy!  Oh, that's the coolest thing.  It has to be said for a good swap, it's almost as cool as opening up your own goodie box, to hear what your swap partner thinks about what they got.

So now, I'm on a countdown to London, working like crazy on my Shapeshifter Shrug, and feeling like I've come out of a slump.  Sometimes, you're in a slump and you don't realize it until you look back.

Time to look forward, and up, once more.

Mac Vacation

Sorry I can't post much right now!  My sweet little MacBook Air has decided to take a vacation from turning on.  I got some ideas for resetting it, but if that doesn't work I'll take it to the computer doctors at Best Buy.  I paid for a service plan, after all.

mini-blogpost is very mini.

Swap Troubles

I've discovered something about my knitting.  I don't love socks.

I really really don't love socks.

Seriously, they bore me to death, even when I'm learning something about the process.  I like learning, I just don't love socks.

But I promised to make socks for my swap partner!!!! AAAAGHHHHH!  Okay, so it's a secret swap and she doesn't know I've committed to make socks for her, but still...  I dread the time I spend on them, or procrastinate from them.  I'm going to ask someone to finish them for me, but just in case that doesn't work out, I'm writing up a design for another thing that my spoilee seemed excited about.  If it works, I'll give her the pattern for it as well, in case she wants to recreate it in her own yarn or size.

Here's my notes.  Some of you who are Who fans might recognize what I'm recreating?  Anyway, after about three months, I'll probably put the pattern up on Ravelry.

So, so far my spoilee will get one cuddly project, one sorta useful project, (if my mentor can do it) some very cool socks, some snackies, two major souvenirs, and one poster.  Oh, and a notion or two.  And if I can find it, some pretty awesome yarn.  I suppose this yarn would count as a handmade item too, since I dyed it myself!  This is gonna be one seriously stuffed box.

Happy Journey!

So, I took a little trip down to my parents' place.  I was thinking, this is going to be rushed, after a long busy week, I'm just going because they like to see in person that I'm alive.  But if you open your eyes, even a typical journey can surprise you.

On the way down, there was a moment where the sun filtered through the clouds, and the grasses and trees along the roadway were just right.  Everything was golden, like a sepia photo!  Golden grasses, oaks with that polleny stuff on them, the old asphalt road looking more yellow than black, and the late afternoon sun hit it just right!

Then, I'm home eating my Mom's meatloaf.  The best meatloaf around, all the better since I saw the beef when it was on the hoof six months' back.  And lovely smooth mashed potatoes, real potatoes but mashed until all the lumps have given up and smoothed out.  As I'm waiting for the microwave to nuke my plate to an appropriate temperature, I took a look down in the big yard (farther away than the front yard.  Hard to explain unless you've seen the house.  Long driveway.) and wonder "did Mom and Dad get some of those corny deer statues?  And when do statues move, anyway???"  Yep, they were two very real deer!  They didn't bolt when a truck went by, or when Princess the sheltie moved on the porch, or even when I stepped out onto that porch and looked at them!  I think it was a doe and a fawn.  They weren't bothered by much at all, until two trucks went by in fairly short intervals.  Then, they still didn't bolt, but moved further into the trees so that the twilight and shade hid them.  SO BEAUTIFUL!

Sometime next week I should have pics of my lovely new siding!  The house looks great, with white trim and still a lovely blue shade to everything else.  It makes giving directions very easy.  Not too many other deep blue houses around!

I biked again yesterday.  It still hurt, and I still ended up walking the bike up a few hills, but oh so fun!  I did almost scare myself to death when I had to brake on a downhill curve.  I thought for sure I'd go completely over the intersecting road and crash down the hill on the other side.  Or turn the bike on its side and make my leg into pizza.  But I made it!  I think next week I'll try to take shorter rides, but take them every day I don't work late.

Pushing Pedals

Oh, what a day!  I got on my bike for the first time today.  Well, I did pedal around a parking lot for a little while yesterday, but no helmet so I didn't do that for long.  Today, Bill & Betsy came over and whee!  We took a tour of the neighborhood.  I overdid it, bigtime.  But it was so much fun!  Perfect weather, sunny but not too hot, dry roads, low traffic levels.  Lots of people were getting out and about, doing yard work or playing as we pedaled past.  The route I chose was probably less than a mile.  Ugh.  I'm still so out of shape.  Next time I'll do more.  Tonight, I'll try to salve myself with Tylenol and Benadryl.

I was very proud of myself, though, for making it to bookclub.  I really just felt like curling up in a ball of pain and coughing after the ride (and a shower) but I pushed through that and got myself over to Amy's place.  And what a good time I had!  All five of us finally made it at the same time, there was loads of food, I think a couple of us even read the book.  That's a great group of gals, really.  Plus, Amy had finished the zipper on a felted bag I've got.  Thanks, Amy!  Now all it needs is a nice big button and a new strap.

Speaking of knitting projects, I just had to take a bit of a break from the Tardis socks.  So, for the weekend, I let myself work on the Shapechanger Shrug from my Vampire Knits book.  Really, I'm not into vamps and werewolves, but this book has some really nifty projects, so I bought it.  Here's the shrug so far...

 It doesn't work so well to try and show off the ball of yarn, project, book, and knitting basket all at the same time.  At least that second pic shows the stitch pattern nicely!  This yarn is wonderfully soft, but I bet it'll pill like crazy.  I don't think I'll care, as soft and beautiful as this shrug is gonna be!

Oh, and you can blame the slowness of this post on all the wonderful people in the Doctor Who themed swap.  They post only a few hundred things every day, and for some reason I feel the need to read them all before I move on to other internet stuff!  It's so fun to assemble my spoilee's package, though.  Hopefully I can get it through airport security without too much problem in a couple of weeks.

Six Months Already?!?

So, I realized today that I've been a widow for six months.  There's that strange time twist where sometimes it feels like so short a time, sometimes it seems like forever.  Oddly, the other life condition that felt like this was marriage.  Marriage, I felt it in a good way.  Not so much widowhood.

And now my supervisor at work has passed away.  It's going to shake up the whole library, big segments of the community, really, since she started out as a children's librarian.  We knew it was coming, but gosh, when it happens you're always like "How could it happen so fast?!?"  Is there ever enough time in the life of an individual?

Maybe I shouldn't be talking about her so soon.  I haven't worked through my feelings AT ALL on that front.  Why else would I be watching an X-Games documentary right now?  I'm really not interested.  It's noise.  Just chaos and static to fill up my head.

Ty knows something's up.  I can't get him to lie down anywhere but ON my foot.  Well, at least I've already had dinner.  No need to move until.... oh dang, I need some water.  Sorry, pooch.

The "Year" in "A Year Alone" refers to 2011, not the "how many months since...".  It is hard to describe, but I visualize the year as sort of a horseshoe.  One end is January, the other December.  A clear break between one December and the next year, very little connection between the two.  So, I suppose April is climbing up one side of the horseshoe, getting to the high plateau of summer.  Funny visual image, huh?  Who else bothers to think about how they think about a calendar year?

The Poetry of Storms

Last night there came a magnificent storm!  It was windy all weekend, so nice.  Sunday, the breezes really roared through!  I opened the back door, so the pups could go in and out as they wished while the house aired out a bit.  It was just glorious!  And helped me put off turning on the AC.  Which was very good, since today was back in the 40s F.  Shiver.

I'd been sort of melancholy all weekend, so when I heard the storm start to build late in the evening, I just went outside and stood in the night.  The trees swayed, especially the big maple in my neighbor's yard.  My pear tree held on to its blossoms and just whispered, but the grove of trees across the street made the most wonderful racket with the wind racing through!  There's just nothing like a forest in a storm.  Dangerous, yes, scary, perhaps, but wildly beautiful if you're in the right mood.

The moisture in the air bit into my bare arms.  Not even enough to call droplets, just the fierce bits driven ahead, telling you there's going to be a downpour soon.  The sky lit up sporadically, too distant to make out lightning bolts or hear thunder at first, but it came soon enough!  Great rumbles like rocks tumbling around far above the ground.  The occasional crack, like a great tree breaking, followed by the echoing reports.  The lightning stayed high above, not revealing itself in the spiderweb patterns I love, but I will see that sometime this spring or summer, I'm sure.

The only regret I had was seeing a beautiful big tree felled, on my usual driving route to work.  At least it didn't fall on person or property, but I'll still miss the big guy.

I tried to get pictures of the storm, but my camera fussed about the lighting conditions.  It's not really meant for fancy methods.  Or action shots.  Mostly, it's okay for posed pictures and landscapes and close-ups.  At some point I'll think about a new camera.

Oh, congrats to David Tennant and Georgia Moffat, new parents!  They must be so happy!  Here's hoping little Olive is healthy, and they can all get some sleep before long.  Yay, Doctor Who baby!  Really, even her grandfathers have been in Who episodes, either as the Doctor or a small extra part.  I suppose, since she's granddaughter of a Doctor, she should be Susan, but Olive is a beautiful name too.  I'd thought her birthday was April 1, but I think it was late March.  Having an April Fool's birthday could be fun sometimes, annoying in the extreme though.  March is good.  My dad's a March guy.

Break Time's Over!

Whooo!  Spring Break Week is over! The students will be back and once more the town will feel a little bit overcrowded.  Gone will be the days of easy parking and fewer lines.  But it’ll be worth it.   A good number of my coworkers will also return.  Not too many people ask for vacation the week after Spring Break, so we should be able to knock out the weekend backlog fairly easy come Monday.  Did I mention I really appreciate my coworkers?

Good weather seems to finally be here as well.  Yay for warm breezy days!  They make me want to go buy a kite.  (hee hee, spelling mistake, I just invented the word “guy”, not meaning a man but combining “go” and “buy”.  Also a good example of why you can’t rely on spell-check.)

On the knitting front:  I’m plodding along on the socks.  I’ve been mostly monogamous with that project, just so I can get it done, but today I strayed briefly into swatching for a new project.  I got two rows done.  The pattern is about thirty rows.  But now it’s back to the socks.  I so want to get to the heel this week!

This weekend is the anniversary of a lot of sad things.  One of Michael’s major hospitalizations, and two graveside services.  Same cemetery.  It’s also one of my cousins’ birthday, so happy b-day, cuz.  It all affirms what a roller-coaster of emotions life can be, right?

Tomorrow will be a major shopping trip.  I need groceries, I want some general (non-yarn) craft supplies, and maybe I’ll even look for some walking sandals.  That’s a hard find for me.  I’m so picky about shoes!  I’m looking for a pair of sandals that 1. Fit great 2. Are good for walking and 3. Can work for a nice evening outfit.  Tall order!  Shoe Carnival may be my best bet there.  I have really loved my Skechers Shape-ups, but they’re wearing out.  Maybe I can get a replacement pair at the same time as I begin the Sandal Search.

Imagine how picky I’m going to be when I begin the Eye Glasses Search!

The Ottoman Empire Falls

Hooray, my parents visited today.  And Mom mopped my floor.  To be honest, it needed it.  The problem with damp yards and doggies, the floor suffers.

Their visit was happy and utilitarian.  Happy because it was Dad's birthday, utilitarian because I wanted them here for my eye appointment.  I just knew they were going to dilate my eyes at the doc's office, and sure enough they did.  At first I didn't think it affected me all that much, but then I realized how little I could focus and how much my head hurt.  I was very glad they chauffeured me around.

I was a bit surprised to hear from them that they are kidnapping my Ottoman of Extreme Usefulness.  Sure, it didn't open very easily, and looked a bit lopsided, but I still used it all the time!  Dad is going to try to fix it.  In the meantime, I dragged over the desk chair so I can still put my feet up after my Kinect Adventures workout (longer than DC, less intense).

So it's spring break week around town.  You'd think that'd mean it's quieter at the library.  Nope!  While the students are gone, they're not the ones that really drive our Busy Factor.  That would be the parents with kids.  And they're flocking in to entertain those kiddies during the "I'm bored!" week that this will turn out to be.  And what did I decide to do?  Take extra hours!  And forget to buy frozen lunches!  I'm going to have to get creative tomorrow, because I'm not driving tonight.

I miss my ottoman.

Still Home

I often wonder if the house is too much for me.  It's got two extra bedrooms and much more garage than my cute little zippy car needs.  But, it's mine.  I like having a blue house with a nice backyard and a wall that looks like it's bricks but it's not.

Usually, my mind drifts around until I decide, with certainty, I'm glad I've got the house to myself.  I'm not ready for a roommate, or even a long-term visitor.  It's kind of amazing how even low-maintenance visitors put a strain on the hostess.  I think I'm pretty sensitive to that.  I like my space.  Sometimes it amazes me when I look back and realize how comfortable I was with Michael close by.  We did fit quite well.  Maybe someday, there'll be another who can sort of be in that place, but for now, I'm glad it's just me.

Besides, it'd be hard to share the living room while I'm doing my Dance Central exercise times!  I managed 22 minutes the other day.  I plan better now, with two water bottles close by.

Maybe it's that I've risen to the challenge of managing myself.  Still wouldn't say I'm perfect at it, by any means.  Losing my keys, forgetting the water bill wasn't an online auto-payment, there are still lessons to learn.

But I'll learn them best on my own.

Passports and Adventures

It arrived!  I now have a passport!  And the picture is pretty hideous, it seems like that's a requirement, huh?  But there it is, the final piece of my adventurous puzzle.  I can now travel.  If I had time.  It seems like the spring is busy busy busy.  Before long, it'll be Easter, then graduation time for several of my coworkers, then Memorial Day... okay, July's gonna be here before I know it!

And I'm busy when I'm at home too!  I've managed twenty-minute workout times on Dance Central, and tonight had a pretty good go at Kinect Adventures.  It's a more playful game than DC, certainly more kid-friendly and a bit more variety in intensity.  I don't know if it's having an effect on my weight or fitness level yet, but fun is fun!

I'm re-watching all of one particular season of Doctor Who, to really get to know it for my swap partner.  It's kind of fun, seeing bits that I didn't really appreciate the first time I've seen some episodes.  Yeah, can't be more specific, not till after the swap is done.  On that note, here's my main project!

 Still a long way to go, huh?  And still not particularly interesting.  I'm really hoping that changes once I'm past the heel and the Tardis pattern starts kicking in.

Aahh, tomorrow's Friday.  Heck, looking at the clock, it's almost here already.  Happy Hour at the knit shop!  Yay!  I hated missing last week, I'm really looking forward to it.  But Saturday I work.  Bleh.  Saturdays have been insane lately.  And the weather is supposed to be crummy.  My mug for tea here will see a lot of use, and hopefully the coffeemaker at work will as well.  Caffeine jitters kick in about 12:30, then I'm all "Where's lunch?!?  Now!"  But warm drinks, with a good dash of creamer... they make a dreary day tolerable.

A Dry Heat

I'm kinda mad.  I have no water.  The bill is paid, no one's messed with my valves in the house that I can tell, but my faucets won't drip a bit.  Thank goodness I had it this morning, or it would have been a rude surprise when I got in the shower!  And my dishes are clean, so I suppose this happened later in the day.  But I called the utility phone at 4:00, and still at 9 pm nothing has been done.  The after-hours line was useless.

Sigh.  I really wanted mac & cheese tonight.

Ooh, there are lights outside.  Maybe they've come!

YES!  My toilet is filling, and the laundry will go in soon.  See the power of blogging?

OMG, Prince Harry is on BBCA right now.  His voice, damn!  I've never really paid much attention to the royals, unlike a lot of Anglophiles.  Wow, they're telling about his army experience in Afghanistan.  It's interesting hearing the narrators talk about the princes' aversion to the media.  Well, golly gee whiz, I wonder why, right?  I can't really imagine not having privacy that way.  Fame isn't very friendly to personal lives.

There's the new promo teaser for Doctor Who.  The Doctor is in... America!  Woohoo, but why'd he pick Utah?  Really, that's a beautiful state, but it would have been so cool if the show had been close enough for me to see them filming!

Hmmm... even as late as it is, I still want my mac & cheese.  To the kitchen!

Mo Nose Weather

It's fabulous weather here!  Eighty degrees, sunny, just perfect... but not according to my nose.  I do believe allergy season is here with a vengeance.  My shoulders are aching, I've sneezed so many times in a row.  It's time to get out the Big Gun of Allergy Meds, my Benadryl.  It really knocks me out, but also knocks out the allergy symptoms.  As long as I remember to get ready for bed early, so the Benadryl has a chance to wear off before I have to get up, I should be okay.  Except I hate to get to bed early.  Pre-midnight.

I got to see my nephew this weekend!  Cutest toddler in the world.  Really gets amused when I blow my nose (yeah, there's where my scatterbrain connected these two paragraphs).  From the time he really started looking at me, rather than the blob-baby vacant stare, I've been pretty hilarious to him.  Doing voices during storytime is reinforcing that.  At least it's fun to be laughed at by a kid like this!

The pups are such good traveldogs.  Saffron just hangs out in her crate in the backseat, you hardly hear a peep out of her.  She also tends to stay close to the house if I let her off leash.  Ty, in contrast, really wants to be in the front seat, riding shotgun like a pro.  After a little while of sniffing the air vents and barking at pedestrians, he settles down to staring forward as if urging the car faster, or lying down for a nap.  Until I hit the rumble strips.  He hates rumble strips, it usually sets him barking.  If it's because I'm drowsy, this is actually a safety feature.

I used to be the champion of packing.  I could get Michael, his wheelchair, an oxygen concentrator, the dog crate, both dogs, battery charger, and luggage into the van.  I was proud of the skill, but I don't really miss having to do that anymore.  Mom and I were reminiscing, and last July Fourth was the last time he traveled down to the ol' hometown.  It was a fun trip, even though we missed the fireworks!  Soon after that, everything went downhill so fast.  But we wouldn't have been able to travel anything like we'd dreamed one day, once he had to be oxygenated so much.  Airlines don't like that, apparently.

It's just so complex, missing the man, but not the situation.

The Mad Search

I lost my car keys today.  I wasn't worried at first, I mean, I'd had them when I got home last night!  Obviously, they had to be somewhere close by, right?  So I looked a little bit.  No luck in the obvious places.  I looked in some more unusual spots, thinking maybe they'd gotten something put on top of them.  Nope.  I went to the laundry, but remembered my slacks from yesterday had no pockets.  The jacket was empty as well.  By this time, I'm late for my planned activities, and getting a little panicky!

I had to get the dogs out of the car, where they'd been waiting for half an hour.  I frantically searched again, coming up with some long-missing little things but nothing key-like.  I was getting really upset, and looking in spots I'd definitely already checked.  What's a girl to do?  So I flopped down in the comfy blue chair, and played Beautiful Katamari for twenty minutes.  When in doubt, it seems to help to roll up the world on a funny bumpy ball.

As it turned out, the keys were trapped at the bottom of the purse.  Where I'd thought I'd looked three times before.  If the police were to have to come into my house before I get back there to clean it up a bit, I'm certain they would say there's evidence of a struggle!

What Not To Say

I am usually good about filtering my words.  I can be sarcastic, deadpan, cutting, all of that, but usually I keep it under some sort of control.  But oh, sometimes I wish I didn't!

My department used to have the switchboard phone for the library.  It always made me laugh when I'd get this sort of call:
Caller:  Hi, I'm looking for a book?"
Me:  "Sorry, we're all out."  (see?  I filter that!  But wouldn't it be fun to say?)

Then there are the people who don't have their ID or library card or whatever but still want to get stuff...
Patron:  Why do I need my ID?  It's just the library!
Me:  Why do I need my driver's license?  It's just driving!


Patron:  What do you mean, I'm blocked?  I had my brother's girlfriend's aunt return that book for me four months and three days ago!
Me:  Really?  You remember the exact day that well?  You trust your brother's girlfriend's aunt that much?  And why did they have to be responsible for your stuff anyway?


Kid:  Why do I gotta have my mom sign for a card?  I just wanna get on the computers!
Me:  Because your mom is probably exactly the kind of person who'd sue us for every last brick of the place if you got some kind of cyberstalker, or got a glimpse of a naughty website, or just about anything else they don't agree with, and we didn't have their signature saying they're the ones responsible and we are not babysitters.
Kid:  What's "responsible" mean?
Me:  *headdesk*

Patron:  But some other staff member let me do it last time!
Me:  Must... control.... Fist of DEATH!!!

Isn't it really good I have a filter?

There are other things to filter, but they're more subtle.  The Staff Picks Display, out in the lobby... oh, I could mess with that!  Here are some items I resist putting out there:

Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal With Dysfunctional People On the Job
Managing Your Most Difficult Customers
What Color is Your Parachute?
The Four Hour Workweek
I Quit! Quit Your Job and Regain Your Life
How to Really Stink at Work (by Jeff Foxworthy)

There are tons more I could mention.  Stuff about bosses, job "teams", customers (or patrons or clients, whatever you want to call the people who essentially keep you in business), early retirement, job dissatisfaction, so many subjects that you probably don't want other people at work to see you reading.  If I really did assemble this display, I would hope someone would see the irony in it.  Staff Picks?  Get it?

Come to think of it, it'd probably be a pretty popular display!

And really, the vast majority of people I see across the desk are a real joy to deal with.  This is an interesting town, with loads of character: the good, the strange, and the just goshdarn interesting.  I'd really miss it if I were in the back room all the time.

Another Ten Minutes

I decided to get an XBox 360.  The list of games that peaked my interest was growing, and the clincher was "Dance Central" with the Kinect sensor.  No controller necessary!  Just get off your duff and move!  It seemed like the perfect solution to being somewhat bored with walking in place and shadowboxing.

Well, it only took me three days and help from a couple of friends to get it on the screen.  I put in Dance Central, start in on an Easy-rated song... and lasted 19 minutes.  Little was I to know, that's a pretty good chunk of time for this game!  Sure, I was gasping, sweating, and a little bit dizzy at the end of that.

For the last two days, I've managed ten minutes.  That's about three or four repeats of whatever song I obsess on.  And at the end of that ten minutes, I'm panting and my ankle is twinging.  But I'm going to keep at this until I can hit that twenty-minute mark, because it really is making exercise fun!

My other obsession is this Doctor Who themed swap.  I must finish these socks!  (Yes, Karen, you guessed right!)  But they just don't excite me.  I'm pushing on because I imagine my spoilee's excitement at receiving them.  It's kind of fun seeing everyone else's posts about what they're working on, and their inspirations... like this...

...resulting in this quote from Killerlashes:  OMG STOP MAKING ME LICK MY SCREEN.  ITS BAD FOR THE IPAD

Hahahahaaa! Oh, I love it.  Especially since Mr. Tennant's Doctor is rather known for licking or tasting very odd things.  Like on today's episode, Tooth & Claw, he licked a library wall.  Okay, having too much fun talking about licking.

Well, back to my tiny needles and lovely yarn.  My thoughts and prayers with those affected by the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.

Sock It To Me

Friday, knitting day of course!

Before that, though, I decided lunch should be pizza.  And since I really can't devour an entire pizza alone, not without taking a few days and getting sick of it, I ordered while at work and treated my coworkers.  Let me tell you, Papa John's Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza is pretty awesome.

Then I dash home to let the pups run around in the yard for a while.  Oddly, no mail.  Not even junk.  I caught the end of Jumanji while I waited.  So different than the book!  Chris van Allsburg's books are short, lavishly illustrated, and not usually plot-driven.  I love them.  But I do also love the movie version.  It's got some great situational comedy, like the police officer getting excited about kicking the door, only to have it knock him off his feet when that releases all the monsoon water.

On to knitting!  It was a good group, some regulars missing and some irregulars stopping in.  Since the rule is "Use your feet, lose your seat," I found a chair and didn't leave it much!  I thought it would never happen, but I got the toes finished on the sock I'm learning to make.  Now for the (probably boring) foot portion.  Still nothing interesting until I get to the cuff.

Here's the yarn!  Wildfoote is a Brown Sheep yarn, which means it's mothproof.  It feels so soft!  Kind of light for sock yarn weight, which means I am using tiny needles and it's going to take forever, but it should feel lovely on the feet.  The white yarn is Ballad, from Jojoland.  I'll need to find some black yarn as well, for the design, but I might have a bit in stash from the time I bought a grab bag of remnants.  Anybody want to guess what pattern I'm working on?  (Anyone not at Happy Hour tonight, that is...)

See, here's a week of work.  I don't think it comes close to covering my toes, but I'll keep soldiering on.  Thank goodness I'm doing these two-at-a-time, so no Second Sock Syndrome for me!

I think now I'll go make something fast on big needles with nice chunky yarn.  Very little brain-work required.

That's Why We Keep 'Em

Sometimes I wonder why I have dogs.  Their yearly exams and shots get pricey, my schedule revolves around their bladder size, my kitchen floor is currently covered in muddy paw prints, and every single thing I own seems to have at least one white doggie hair stuck on.

But then, I get funny events like this morning!  Their routine with food-time doesn't change much.  I go to the kibble bucket, Ty tucks himself into his old crate (it has his food dish in it, and Saffron doesn't mess with him in it) and Saff sits beside her dish.  Unfortunately, there was one small change recently.  Or, not so small!  I got them a much bigger water dispenser, and apparently placed it a little too close to her normal spot.  Her tail was soaked!  I tried to get her to move so it wouldn't get too wet, but instead she thought it was a fun new game and started wagging!  Water droplets everywhere!  I couldn't help but laugh, which of course made her wag more.  Ah, the hilarity!  All the while, Ty's sitting there like "Hey, my dish is still empty, you fools!"

Now I have to go in search of my allergy tablets.  My nose went crazy today.  Bit early for allergy season!  Hopefully it's a temporary phase.

I Made the Coffee!!!

Ever since the snack/coffee kiosk at the library closed, my coworkers and I have looked elsewhere for our caffeine fix.  The staff room with its soda machine is about as far away from our department as you can get and still be in the building.  Not precisely convenient.  So, somebody dug out the old coffee machine and got it cleaned up and operational once again!

Since then, one particular coworker, M.,  has spoiled me rotten.  Not intentionally, and not inappropriately, really.  He doesn't even consider it spoiling, I'm sure.  But I think it is.  I mean, what would you think if every morning you walk into work and there's a lovely piping hot pot of freshly brewed perfect-strength coffee?  Spoiled!

But today.... he wasn't there.  PANIC!  No, not really.  But, I was desperate enough for coffee that I broke out the bag and filters and scoop and made a go of it.  I was actually worried that I'd make a super-strong or wimpy-weak brew, since it's been a while.  But it turned out just about right!

The next thing I know, another coworker, C., is happily exclaiming, "Wow, there's coffee!  Who made the coffee?"  She wanted some, and of course I tell her to help herself, and she's so thankful.  It was just coffee, in a communal pot, but her joy at it was pretty nice.

So, retroactively, thanks a bunch, M.  Your daily coffee has been so nice a welcome to the work day.  Get better soon.

On the Knitting Super Sekret Project front, I have a picture to show.

This project is going quite quickly, since I switched from a rather awkward Magic Loop technique to double-pointed needles.  Yep, that's backwards than usual.  But somehow, this little thing just needed to be done on DPNs.  I guess it's good practice for me to "juggle the porcupine," as I like to call it.  Oh, and don't you love the cute little yarnball stitch marker?  It's very light.  And it's blue.  Yay for blue.

The yarn is Lanaloft worsted yarn in white.  It's squishy and lovely to work with, but I think for a worn item, I might use bigger needles.  So far, the fabric is very firm, which is great for what this will eventually be.  Clue:  You've seen it already in the blog.