Just an FYI:
The sock club is closed! Thanks everyone, for participating! I'll be dyeing for the club starting this week. So. Excited.
Also, have y'all heard of Foxboro Hot Tubs? It's Green Day's "side project" and I might love them a little bit. You can hear the first song here (youtube) and it looks like you can download the song for free from their site if you click on the album.
This song is totally making my Monday bearable.
p.s. the GRE sucks ass. math makes me cry.
God, where did this week go? I haven't read blogs or knit (ok a little), or even managed to do laundry. Oh yeah, I'm studying for the GRE. And suffering from Pokemon addiction. I can't do math, but I can beat the shit out of some pokemons. Shouldn't that count for something?
I'm scheduling my GRE exam as soon as I get paid for April so that I can just get it over with. But y'all. I'm *worried*. I seriously haven't had any math since high school and when reviewing the "Basic Math" in my GRE study guide my brain shuts off, I become zombiesque (it's a word), and it just doesn't click with me. Solve for A? Fuck A. Somebody get me a drink! Granted, I don't have to do a phenomenal job to meet the program's requirements, but I'd like to not have to take it again.
I'm also working on The List (see the left sidebar) and I'm accomplishing a few things this weekend including:
- Recycling old cell phones
- Replacing the rest of our plain light bulbs with the CFC kind (the ones I can reach anyway)
- Cleaning out our filing cabinet, shredding old stuff and filing stuff that's hanging around
- Running my first 5k in 8 years. DONE!
- Recycling old comforters, etc, by giving to Goodwill
Did I mention that I love lists? And since Nate will be out of town this weekend I'll be able to get soooo much done. He's definitely a laziness enabler. And when he's gone he doesn't have to deal with my "must. clean. everything. right. now." mania and I don't have to feel like a bitch for making him help.
As it turns out though, some work crap yesterday has kept Nate at home (thanks so much Nigerian spammers, he's enjoying the fuck out of his weekend...'preciate it!) and he's just going to have to tolerate my craziness. Right after this nap.
Just to prove I did it, here's a pic from before the race this morning:
Oh hi. It's 7 a.m. and I bet you're all sleeping soundly while I'm about to run my ass off for 3 miles. Bitches. (p.s. it was a mental STRUGGLE to get my ass out of bed this morning. the freaking sun wasn't even up yet.)
And this is after. Awake and exhausted, but feeling really proud of myself. You can't see my running number here, but it was 385. Just for the record. I made the 3.2 miles in 40 minutes, which is not bad at all considering I totally forgot to factor the hilliness of Athens into my training. I ran most of it, but the three biggest hills kicked my ass and I had to walk them.
When I got home, my boy kitties were completely and utterly unphased by my return. Usually I get a greeting at the door, a third degree sniff, and some meows. Instead, they were obsessed with something else.
A squirrel had made its way onto our back porch and found the seeds that the birds drop from our feeder.
He's totally just staring at my kitties and eating a seed, like 'oh hi, stupid kittehs, you can't get me! muahahahha!' Fully aware that there is glass between himself and the big kitties and that he's totally safe. Mocking them. He could not be any closer to these poor tortured kitties. Then he starts to bathe his face and nibble at his fleas, all right in front of my boys. Once he realized that 'oh shit, there's a big human,' he took off and my kitties decided napping was more interesting.
Have a great weekend; I'm off to find a napping spot of my own.
As y'all know, I'm all kinds of nerdy. I have lists. And those lists have lists and there are sublists to those lists. Below is the ultimate of all my lists. I'm using it to keep with with things I have to do anyway (like take the GRE) and help spur me into action on things I really want to do. I'll probably set up a separate blog for this, or I'll add it to my sidebar. I've found that so much can be learned about a person by reading their list: who they are now, what they want from life and from themselves, and ultimately who they hope to be in the next few years. It's a lovely concept.
And so, from Day One:
The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).
Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.
101 Goals in 1001 Days
Take a photography class
Take the GRE (by April 15th)
Apply to Masters program (by July 1)
Get a Masters degree
Visit England/France (March 09)
Visit Seattle (August 08)
Visit DC (hopefully Obama’s inauguration)
Paint bedrooms and bathrooms (0/4)
Run 5 5ks (0/5)
Limit soda to one per day for a month (0/30)
Cut all soda for one month (0/30)
Lose 15 lbs (0/15)
Meet inches goals by May 23 2008
Decorate my office space
Pay off my car (Aug 08)
Pay off my credit cards (0/4)
Install bamboo floors
Buy new living room furniture
Open an untouchable savings account
Arrange to transfer $100 to that account every month for a year (0/12)
Donate $2000 to my IRA (0/2000)
Organize my pictures on my computer
Put photos in frames and hang them
Fix master bathroom walls
Buy nothing for one week (0/7)
Bring lunch and breakfast to work for one month (0/30)
Audition for a musical
Exercise every day for a month (0/30)
Donate boxes of books
Sand and repaint the dresser
Buy new bedroom furniture
Audition for Knit Girl
Organize family tree info from Dad
Knit a sweater for Nate
Plant 2-3 bushes in my front yard
Make our mailbox area pretty (pavers, dirt, flowers/vine)
Meditate every day for 30 days (0/30)
Create a website from scratch
Knit a sweater I love (or 2)
Buy fresh produce from a local farmers market 5 times (0/5)
Go to Rhinebeck
Write our wills
Set up and fund an emergency account
Bring credit rating back up to the old number
Organize filing cabinets, file and shred irrelevant stuff
Landscape side and back yard
Pay off my student loan
Go to an opera
Practice voice 20 minutes every day for a month (0/30)
Sell sewing/embroidery machine
Find a good doctor who will listen to me
Read 50 books (0/50)
Knit only from stash for 2 months (0/2)
Try something new once a month (1/33)
Try 10 new recipes (2/10)
Plant two trees
Go to a gaming convention (August 08)
Finish rereading Harry Potter series
Make a photo album
Go to the eye doctor
Knit a shawl for my mom
Knit 10 pairs of socks (0/10)
Buy a pair of great comfortable heels
Get back in touch with 3 old friends
Do something nice for my mom just because
Learn to use Dreamweaver well
Learn to use Flash
Learn to use Fireworks
Learn to use Photoshop better
Buy 5 new bras (0/5)
Volunteer at a soup kitchen
Volunteer with the Athens Literacy Council
Do one thing each month from We Are What We Do (0/33)
Follow 10 suggestions from apartmenttherapy.com (0/10)
Follow 10 suggestions from unclutterer.com (0/10)
Do an action/adventure activity with Nate every weekend for 2 months (0/8)
Subscribe to Real Simple magazine
Eat locally for 2 weeks (0/14)
Visit 3 state parks in GA (0/3)
Eat all meals in for a month (0/30)
Switch from coffee to tea for one month (0/30)
Go to 2 visiting speaker lectures (0/2)
Give blood twice (0/2)
Get a passport
Make 10 vegan recipes (0/10)
Nix fast food for a month (0/30)
Get another tattoo
Clean and cover the gutters
Donate 3 knit items to charity (0/3)
Attend an IT/Tech convention (other than PAX)
Use only my reusable shopping bags at the grocery store for a month (0/30)
Organize the attic space
Teach someone to knit
Finish and send Pete’s hat
Go on a weekend spa retreat alone
Host a knitting retreat
Donate to Child's Play charity
Learn to crochet
Ride bikes 20 times for more than 5 miles each trip (0/20)
Dye and ship for the sock club (0/3)
Get pregnant
Celebrate!
(I'm 2 short since I noticed some duplicates, but y'all know me...I'll add them in due time.)
I've already started working on a few of these!
If you read through the list you can gather that Nate and I are going to a gaming convention in August. PAX to be exact. Seattle had better brace itself - the number of folks going to this convention almost doubles every year and I think they're expecting some 100k this year. I actually could care less about the gaming (ok a fraction of that is a lie), but I *really* want to see Seattle. If you have any Seattle travel tips, let me hear them! We'll be staying right next to the Convention Center and will have NO car, so I'd love to get some ideas on great places to eat and fun things we can walk to. Well, that *I* can walk to. I doubt I'll be able to drag Nate away from the gaming.
And to help me get my nerd on, Nate got me an early anniversary present:
The nerdiness knows no bounds.
Hi y'all!!
I hope you guys had a great weekend! Thanks so much to all of you who signed up for the Sock Club! There are still a few spots left, but they're going pretty fast, so if you haven't signed up yet you better get on it!
Last week was our Spring Break so I got most of the week off, though I was answering emails and doing little things here and there. Mostly Nate and I laid around the house sick with whatever the hell is going around this time. I'm glad to know it's not just me. Nate never gets sick, so to be ill twice this year already says there's something really icky lingering about.
On Saturday I decided I'd had enough. I woke up, declared myself well and set about cleaning my house (well ok, only the main floor - I'm classy like that) for a gaming party. Oh yes. A Gaming Party. Consisting of six mostly sober adults playing Rock Band with much fervor, then Super Smash Bros. with much yelling and superfast button mashing. Great fun was had. There will be more to come. (also, we covered some pretty interesting topics like diva cups, breastfeeding, ravelry, sewn up coochies, saggy boobs, two girls one cup (DO NOT ASK, hell don't even google), and quilting.)
I'm a bad blogger and didn't even take any pictures. Duh.
I also started watching John Adams and I'm in LOVE. It really puts the events of 1775 in perspective and is well told and touching. I just watched "Independence" and they're reading the Declaration on the steps of Independence Hall and I can't stop the tears. For what those men accomplished for us, and for what it's all become. Bittersweet, I guess. If I were a better writer I'd get all mushy on you, but alas.
Anyway, I've made some progress on the mini Clapotis. It's about half done I'd say.
And I spoiled myself last week with a big honkin' bag.
Holy shit is it huge, y'all. It dwarfs me! This is my knitting side...
This is the business side...
And of course, the creamy lipstick center.
Have a great week! I'll be trying not to overload my bag and commit suicide by big ass purse.
Ok, the buttons are on the right!
You can sign up through April 15th, but I can't guarantee there will be spots left by then.
Thanks so much everyone, for making this so much fun for me, and for making it a reality. If you have questions or see a problem with the paypal buttons PLEASE let me know. This is my first time with this so be gentle.
:D
Hi y'all! I just wanted to fill you in on the theme and ideas behind the very first sock club! The Punk Rock Sock Club! I’ll be creating a colorway each month around album art from one band from each decade: the 70s, 80s, and 90s! Clash, Social Distortion, Green Day...I'm looking at you. I'm super excited about dyeing these up because some of the album art is really out there (some of it's very gray/black/white too, but I'm doing the colorful albums only)!
Again, the sign ups will be on the blog, NOT on etsy and you’ll be able to pay through paypal either all at once for the 3 month subscription or be billed monthly. The sidebar reservation buttons will go up Friday morning (the 15th)! ****Ok, this should have read Saturday the 15th, but I'm on the Dayquil and can't read a calendar. Let's split the difference and make it Friday night/Saturday morning at midnight EST. HA! Take that Dayquil!****
Whee! I’m so excited about dyeing for this club! It’s gonna rock.
Feel free to steal the above button, but please save it to your own server!I'm so sorry. I've been reading WAY too much Project RunGay. I'm running around calling everyone "kittens" and "poodles" and "bitches". Told you I missed my gays.
Anyway, it's been one hella bad week. I'm so over being sick every two weeks. It's dumb. Now my allergies are joining in and I can barely keep my head from imploding. Makes me wish someone would create Dayquil you can inject directly into your veins. Bliss.
But I know no one really wants to hear about me feeling like warmed over shit all week. BORING. Excuse me while I go drain.
My highlight was last night's knitting with Courtney, Alison, Sarah, and Cheryl. We discussed knitted swiffer covers (awesome), politics, religion, the origin and assonance of the word 'asshat,' (which was so hilarious I had to leave the room to recover) and there might a been a little talk about Pandora and some boxes in there somewhere. Next time I'm taking a notebook and writing down all the quotable stuff. It was classic.
So, this is what the 'oh, bitches' is about:
The Cecilia Chemise from Stitch Diva. I think I might have to turn to the Dark Side for this top. I was unaware that crochet could be so cute and sexy...rawr.
Also, I finished my Entrelac Scarf in Noro Silk Garden! I think I like it best all wrapped and poofy around my neck.
Entrelac! Just look at all those cute little criss-crosses! Love.
I really adore the aqua color. I think I might sleep with this tonight...
Hi! I hope you're having a great Saturday! Mine has been wonderful, but we'll get to that in a minute.
First, the news you've all been hoping for! I'm opening sign ups for my first sock club on March 15th! You'll be able to sign up through April 15th (or until the club sells out, whichever comes first) and the first package will ship on or around May 15th. You'll get 3 monthly shipments of a skein of yummy sock yarn, a bit of info about the colorway and the inspiration behind it, and a couple of little goodies as well. I'm not doing any major swag in order to keep the price to $30/month (includes shipping).
Reserving your spot will be super easy. On the right hand sidebar you'll soon see two Paypal buttons. One will get you the full 3 months subscription and you'll pay all at once. For those of you on a yarn budget (like me) the second button will also get you all 3 months, but you'll be billed once a month instead of all at once. There will be a limited number of total subscriptions, so first come first served!
I'll release more details as we get closer!
Ok, on to my Saturday. Thanks to Throwdown with Bobby Flay, Nate decided we needed some badass chocolate chip cookies. I usually make my own badass cc cookies, but we decided to try something new and found a recipe online. OMG yum. We did all the mixing by hand with NO mixer (ow, thank the gods for electricity) and the texture was perfect.
Mmm yummy dough.
We made the cookies super large, and they're about 3 inches in diameter. I can only eat one at a time without going into a sugar coma. Not that I usually stuff three at a time into my mouth or anything. Ahem.
Later I met Karen at the MAC counter for my fabulous makeover. Holy shit did I buy a lot of stuff. I'm convinced they put as much "product" on you as possible so you'll feel compelled to Buy It All.
I managed to get out of there with as much colored stuff and fewer primers and enhancers than they would have liked. But hey, there's always next month's paycheck.
Eyeshadow. I got Fig 1, Star Violet, and Gleam. They're so pretty all blended together and they make my eyes really pop. I tire of hearing the word "pop" but it works here perfectly. If my eyes ever actually "pop" we're going to have a serious problem.
The second most awesome thing I got is the powder foundation. It goes on super light and smooth and barely feels like I'm wearing anything. Yet I look amazazing. Love it.
I also got concealer, moisturizer, and another lipstick. And that effectively kills my yarn budget this month. Of course, looking fabulous is far more important than yarn. Holy god, someone stop me.
p.s. There was a super cute little gay guy running around the MAC area working on faces and he totally made me miss having gay guys in my life. I need some adorable guys around me to tell me how fierce and fabulous I am (regardless of how silly that might be, shut up). Oh Christian, come home to mama.
LIPSTICK!
Do y'all do this? I've found like 2 or 3 lipsticks that are great, perfect, wonderful, work-for-every-occasion colors for me, and now that I'm out of them, I can NOT find them again.
I hate going to WalMart or Kroger to look for lipsticks. I can't try them on, so I could buy 5 and it's possible that none of them look good. If I go to the cosmetics counter, I might get the right shade, but I've paid 4x as much and I've probably bought $80 worth of extra stuff. I'm a sucker for some cosmetic junk.
I just threw out 3 of my favorite lipsticks because I'd used them to within a millimeter of their lives. Two of them I bought the last time I was in LA (oh 5 years ago?) when I got to the hotel and realized I left my entire makeup bag at home. Smart. The other one is something I got in a freebie from Lancome. It's now discontinued, since that was probably 5 years ago too. Crap.
Guess I'm going to have to go make friends at the Bobbi Brown counter. I love her makeup. I don't wear foundation (too lazy) but their concealers and eye shadows rule. Maybe I should branch out a bit though. Any suggestions? Our mall is teeny, but we have Bobbi Brown, MAC, Lancome and Clinique counters. I could always drive to Atlanta too...mmmm Sephora.
NEWSFLASH!
Holy crap! My mom said she'd vote for Obama today. I think I left my jaw on the sidewalk when I was on the phone with her. The end times are surely near! My mom has always voted republican. Always. Even when it doesn't benefit her and even when she doesn't believe in it. Bizarre, I know. But the words out of her mouth were, "I will vote for Obama before I will vote for McCain...he's too scary." (Imagine my eyes popping out of their sockets here.) We talked for a good thirty minutes after that, and I believe her. I'm still in shock though.
KNITTING!
Here's the progress on my Aleita Shell. I'm really loving the Silky Wool, and I hope this thing is going to rock when I'm done. I've made some adjustments since my gauge is so different from the pattern. I've done the pattern decreases, but I've added two more sets at 5 inches into the shell for the waist. I'll do the increases for the bust at 8-8.5 inches and then start the bust detail.
See all that work? I have JUST added the second ball of yarn in this picture. Silky Wool goes a long way. The texture is so nice too. I think it will be light enough to wear through May or June with a cute little cami underneath.
A bit of a close up. Some of my stitches are kind of wonky, but it's a combination of me, my tension, and the yarn. It all blocks out though. Ask my swatch.
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Thanks so much for the hair comments. I really love it more every day! I'm a geek, and I'm ok.
I'm watching the Oscars (holy god could Nikki Kidman BE wearing any more diamonds? also I might be doing a bit of random Oscar commenting. this might get long.) and blogging and trying to type through kitty love. See here:
Tristan is sleeping and making 'nom nom nom' noises on his absolute FAVORITE blanket, which is not to be washed ever lest he become extremely put out and have to sully it up again with his belly fur. Below is Molly (aka Somie, aka Bitchy Cat) who has decided I have better things to do than type. She's quite demanding and very selfish with her lap time. You take it graciously when she decides you're worthy.
I hope your weekend has been relaxing and/or productive. My weekend was great for getting goodies!
I got the cute little Piddly bag on the right (with the pink ribbon) from Jenn and Wendy at Piddleloop. Photo courtesy of their etsy store. They update every few weeks and it is a vicious feeding frenzy. I'm lucky I got a bag at all! This one is now holding my Clapotis which is slowly growing longer.
(Holy shit Marion Cotillard is gorgeous. Hate her. Also, damn her for being so cute with her acceptance speech.)
This little set of stitch markers and earrings came from Kate's etsy shop, Knitty K8. She was having a sweet little sale so I got lots of yummies. The turquoise markers are now on my Clapotis and they are PERFECT. Very lightweight and gorgeous to boot. The earrings went immediately in my ears. They are so stunning Nate even commented on them, and that's saying something!
Last but most certainly not least, Cher sent me the perfect pendant. A Buddha on a lotus flower!! Sweet! I had to run out and buy a chain to put it on, but it's not quite right so I'm still looking. I'm thinking maybe a hemp necklace would work better. It's just so perfect for me. Thanks again, Cher!
I've also done a LOT of knitting this weekend, but I need to take some pictures, so I'll update those later. I made some progress on the Clapotis and a ton of progress on the Aleita Shell. My yarn and gauge are different from the pattern, but I did some evil math and holy shit, it's working. The thing fits. It's lovely.
(The little couple who won for Best Song are SO FREAKING CUTE. I can hardly stand it. They brought the girl, Marketa?, back out for her very own acceptance speech. Adorable. Also, I still hate Cameron Diaz. Hideous prom dress.)
OH! I had a great conversation with my voice coach tonight. He said he wished that I went to his church so I could be in his choir. I replied, "uh...you don't really want me in a church choir, I'm a big ole atheist." He sorta chuckled and then said, "yeah you need that 'I got god' street cred up in here." HA!! I laughed so hard! We had a nice little conversation about religion and moved on. I seriously love this man more every week. Especially since he didn't try to kick me and run.
Next week I'll take a picture of the mural on the wall in the church. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. It makes absolutely no sense. On one side there's the men. They have a lion, lamb, and a dove. In the center is a cross, an angel, a gryphon, and a winged bull (oh yes). Then on the other side is the women, some fruit and roses, and then...a unicorn. And a dragon. Do what? There are unicorns and dragons in the bible? I must have missed the sci fi chapters. Blast.
(Oy the tribute to those who have passed always gets me. Love you Ingmar Bergman, Deborah Kerr, Heath Ledger.)
(Holy crap Diablo Cody won Original Screenplay for Juno! Love her Fred Flintstone dress and skull earrings. Bet they're real diamonds.)
(Oh, Helen Mirren. She's so divine and yet severe looking. Makes me think of a feminine Snape, but in a good way. Daniel Day Lewis is not half bad looking when he's not playing an insane person.)
(I know nothing about any of the movies nominated this year, but yay Joel and Ethan Coen. They tend toward awesomeness. Woo Denzel. He's still got it. Well shit, I guess I have to netflix No Country for Old Men now.)
Thus ends my lame ass Oscar yakking.
Have a great week!
HR 536 is TABLED! Woot! This is very good news. Now I can relax a little. And have a few drinks. And do a little 'we win motherfuckers!!' dance.
Ok, moving on.
Be very glad I didn't bombard your eyes with my foulness yesterday. I started a post titled "Shitty Shit Shit" and it all went downhill from there. I had woken up in a terrible mood, felt like my head was full of snot and then had to deal with stupid computer and printer issues ALL DAY LONG. You know how things are when you're in a bad mood. Everything seems to turn to oozy muck colored crap before your very eyes. Luckily things have worked out: the two programs I almost redrum'd with my bare-handed mouse are now speaking to each other and I'm getting a new printer/copier/scanner. Yay technology.
Then there was lovely, fun knit night and an eclipse. And it was good.
So, on to a better day! Which is apparently not going too well either. I brought my camera and laptop today so I could take a few pics and post some awesomeness. Then my camera battery died, thus thwarting me mightily. Alas, pictures will come later.
Fast forward to later.
I've been slowly but surely working on the Lenores (sans lace sections on the foot). I'm knitting these as part of a KAL of sorts and as part of a knitter's project. The deadline loometh and I need to get moving on these.
But I cast on for something new. Yes, another something new. With Silky Wool and I even swatched, washed, blocked and measured. It did not kill me. Then I did math. It also did not kill me (though it was a bit touch and go). I cast on for a size that will make the gauge fit me perfectly. Or there will be hell to pay, friends.
I tried to take better pictures of my hair, but this cut is so fierce it refuses to be properly photographed. This is the best I could get. And that's me about to scream expletives in my work bathroom.
Fierce, yet camera shy.
Weekends are always too short around here. I try to do too many things and then suddenly it's Sunday night and time to start all over. Bah.
One good thing accomplished this weekend was watching The Kingdom. Go rent it or Netflix it now. I learned more in the first two minutes of that movie than I have in watching the news about the war in the last 8 years. Explains a LOT.
I'm still working on all my knitting projects (two pairs of toe up socks and a Clapotis), but this is suddenly captivating me:
That's an Entrelac scarf in Noro Silk Garden. She is pretty and soft and I can't stop working on her. I'm half way through the second ball as of this morning, so what you see here is about a third of what I actually have done. Once I had the directions down, it was surprisingly easy. It's very exciting to watch the scarf grow and change colors. Then again, I'm easily amused.
Hope y'all are having a great weekend! I'll be pretending tomorrow is Tuesday.
From me (and my friends at xkcd) to you!
Now, go get your nerd on. Or whatever it is you do on days like this...
/nerd
Hello, Monday. Bite me.
Ahem, anyway.
According to bloglines I maybe lost a few subscribers due to the 'revealingness' of my last post. Guess ignorance really can be bliss, eh? S'ok, more atheistic free love orgies for me!* Now if someone could find me Nick Hexum and his little private island...(oh! according to wiki, his island is for sale!! anybody got $7 mil?)
Random aside: I've just realized that maybe I should have added an 8th thing to the last post: People who talk on their cell phones in a public bathroom make me militant. I really like my privacy and sometimes I'll seek out an isolated bathroom just to get it. Please do not take your friends/boyfriends/parents into the bathroom with you. Not only do I not like for *you* to hear me pee, I really dislike folks on the other end hearing me pee too. Yick.
Gosh I get sidetracked easily. I'm really here to demonstrate that the knitting is back on!
Last week I casted on two at a time toe-up Lenores in the STR Lenore colorway given to me as a gift (yum! and thanks super secret gifter *wink*):
Two at a time toe-up basic socks (there's no pattern just yet, so they might be plain old socks) in the STR Little Bunny Foo Foo colorway (double yum!):.jpg)
And a mini Clapotis (in my own sparkly Aura yarn, dyed a super dark teal semisolid for myself):.jpg)
If you look closely at the bottom right, you can see I've started dropping stitches. Also, OMG this is going to take FOREVER.
In addition to all this loveliness I am taking a class at my LYS and I'm starting on a secret project that I'll share with you when I'm done. It's a technique I've never tried before and um...one has to pay attention to the damn pattern or one has to frog multiple times. Which is no fun.
Care to venture a guess? :D
*I don't intend to offend, but if someone fails to see the humor then maybe I'm a crappy writer (always possible) or they need to unbunch the panties and just chill. I hear they make drugs for that.
Thanks for all the commiseration on the whole fraud and money theft thing. It's not fun, but I think we got it all worked out now. The bank refunded Nate his money and is getting him a new card, and I have my car loan folks on the watch for the scammers. Idiots.
I got tagged by both Cami and Dfly for this meme. Do y'all really wanna know weird shit about me? Fine then. It's a shame I'm so freaking normal.
7 Semi-Interesting Things:
1. I hate for my food to touch on my plate, unless it's supposed to (think casseroles). Hate. Grosses me out. Each item is supposed to have its own distinct taste and if they touch, it ruins that. Blech.
2. I grew up Southern Baptist, then Episcopal. I'm pretty much an atheist now. Mostly because I need reason and factual evidence, not faith. I also think that organized religion will be the downfall of us all. (this isn't meant to turn into a debate or a flame issue, i dont expect everyone to agree with me and that's cool)
3. When I was 12 I smoked, drank, got high with friends at concerts, and ran away from home. I also used to cut myself, but I was a bit of a wimp about blood, so I didn't cut very deep and I don't have any scars. Making my parents proud was *such* a priority.
4. I almost failed 7th and 8th grades. See #3 for why. In the 9th grade we moved to another state and I immediately became a different person. Graduated high school with a 4.something in top 5% of my class. I was lucky to have some really great teachers who believed in me.
5. I secretly wanted to be a cheerleader from age 11 to 14 or so. I tried out every year but never made the team. Turns out I'm very uncoordinated under pressure.
6. I love to watch people and see what they do with their energy. (I learned this in acting classes.) I love to try to figure out what's going on in folks' heads just by watching them walk around and interact with others. Sometimes I can see when people are having an especially rough day by what they do or don't do with their physical energy. I wish I could see auras though, that would be pretty cool.
7. I'm so socially and politcally liberal, I should probably live on another planet and head a commune of psycho naked hippies. With Bono. Yeah. That would rock. We could build our houses out of hemp, grow organic gardens with the results of our compost heap, make our own clothes, have group therapy to explore our self awarness around a camp fire, and then the group sex.
What? Did I go too far?
I'm not much of a re-tagger, so if you'd like to play along tag yourself dude.
Aside from the haircut, this has not been a spectacular week.
I have cast on 3 projects though, and that's all that is cheering me up today. More on those later.
Yesterday Nate discovered that someone had swiped his card and stolen his account information along with $700. I really want to know what was SO awesome at Walmart that was worth $700. Seriously. If you're going to steal from someone, go buy something fabulous.
Today I'm getting phone calls from my car loan company saying I haven't paid in 3 months. The 'representative' tells me an amount, which is quite random and not at all equal to 3 months payments, and that I owe December, January, and February. So I go online and pull all the receipts and confirmation numbers that show I've paid and I show NO outstanding balance. Still, she demands this random amount of money from me, by check over the phone. To which I reply, "um...no, fuck off," and hang up.
I'm calling the company to tell them about all this and give them the phone number the lady called from (residential in Tempe, AZ) so they can do whatever it is they do with shit like this.
My bigger concern is that this person has access to my car loan information. While she might not have everything, she has my cell phone number and that really bothers me.
Grrr. I hate people sometimes.
I voted early, which was very cool because there were very few people at the election office so it was super fast. If you voted today, good on you!
Nate and I have an interesting friend. Well, he's beyond interesting, but what I would say about him would be un-PC so I'll just leave it at "interesting." Today he went and voted for Hillary. He's from the other side of the fence. Why then, did he vote for her? Not because he likes her. Not because of her politics.
Because he wants to "see a good game."
My response? "..........."
Sigh.
Moving on to less frustrating subjects, let's discuss my hair.
Before 2 p.m. today it was black and shoulder length with long layers. I dug it, but I'm lazy so I would usually wear it up instead of fixing it all proper like.
After 2 p.m. it's magenta (oh, yes) and about an inch long in the back. Here's the rest:
Left side:
Right Side:.jpg)
Whee! It's a *little* shorter than I wanted it, but in a week or two it will be perfection. I've played and styled it three times already. It looks best straightened and with some pomade type stuff.
When I first showed the picture of what I wanted to my hair dresser, she took one look a Posh and said "oh no, we are NOT going blonde," but once I made it clear that I only wanted the cut she squee'd out loud. She couldn't get on board with the black color and purple highlights, so we compromised with a dark brown/dark cherry mix. It is awesome.
:D
I was having a great weekend full of crossing things off my lists like laundry, dishes, changing the sheets, getting my toes did, choosing a new haircut for Tuesday's visit to my rockin' hair salon (oh yes, I'm totally doing it), updating the Etsy store, packaging yarn, and accomplishing various other chores. I deserved a gold star even.
And then I picked up my knitting.
I started an innocent hat for a friend thinking, "oh I'll bust out this hat in a weekend, no problem!" I got to the decreases and put it on Nate's head for size comparison. It's too big. Riiiiiiiiiip. That's fine, I didn't really like that pattern anyway.
Then I moved on to my Hourglass Sweater. Nate says, "hmm, you know that looks like it might be too big for you." So I do a little measuring and what do you know? TOO FUCKING BIG.
Off to the deep end of the frog pond with the Pastaza. Do a cannonball in, would you?
I had gauge. I cast on the right number of stitches. Everything was going so well. But you could throw 40 lbs on me and that sweater still wouldn't fit.
Since I'm in the process of ripping things, I went ahead and ripped Nate's Cobblestone (too big...are you shocked?) and the UNeck Vest that's been languishing on the needles. That project actually fit (a bit too long though), but I got irritated by the top. I couldn't bring myself to take pics of the ripping of everything. It's too much to bear.
Clearly knitting and I need a break. Maybe I should stick to scarves. Those are hard to fuck up.
Or I'll cheat on knitting (ha! take that knitting!) with my voice practice, cause apparently that's something I'm good at. I added a lower octave tonight, bringing my total to 3. Sweet. The voice coach says my progress is "freaky fast," and I'll be having that compliment for desert every night this week.
But first, I need a lie down and some chocolate. And someone to hold me.
Hope you guys have had a great weekend. I'm not ready for Monday, but alas, it cometh anyway.
Thanks so very much for your thoughts regarding my last post. It's an issue that has always been important to me and now it's something I can actively fight for if necessary.
If you'd like to get involved, please check out Planned Parenthood. When/if I go protest in Atlanta, ya'll will hear ALL about it, rest assured.
In the meantime, let's get back to the knitting shall we?
I joined a little KAL on Ravelry, hosted by my blog buddies Marie, Mary, and Madge, and as part of this little KAL, I cast on and busted out a Shedir in less than a week.
Voila, just like that, Shedir. I feel all Emeril-esque. BAM!
And so now I have a pink Shedir to go with my pink jacket. Love!
Also capturing my love this evening is my big black kitteh.
Who really wishes you'd look away now.
My favorite part of him, aside from his soft lush belly is this:
His one black toe. All his other toes are pink. So freaking adorable.
p.s. OMG I totally have cool news! And maybe this is only exciting for me, but I just returned from my third voice lesson and I absolutely blew my instructor away. I've gone from virtually zero range to TWO full octaves including the high operatic C that (he says) people generally work really, really hard for. EEEK! Turns out all I needed was a little technique and some confidence! I'm directing myself toward musical theater, though he said if he had a say I'd train for opera. Holy shit, ya'll. Me. In the opera. The world must be tilting on its axis.
There are few things that send me into an absolute rage. Ok that's a lie. There are lots of things cause I'm short tempered, but I get over most of them quickly.
But when legislators talk about restricting my personal rights, shit is gonna get ugly. I can't believe my state is up to this kind of crap. Cristina Page has an excellent article here. Not only are they trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, they want to BAN contraception. Nevermind if you need hormonal regulation, or you have endometriosis or you just plain don't want kids.
Oh really? Ok fine. When I get pregnant, tell me where to drop off the kids I'm not ready for yet.
And if I kept it (really "them", cause I'm way fertile) and it/they got sick and I couldn't afford insurance...well we're just all kinds of fucked now aren't we? It's ok if I can't keep them clothed, fed, and healthy, they're HERE.
And they want to call ME anti-family. Pish. No dahlings, it's called pro-common sense.
