It's been a long day, and let me tell you-- I am TIRED.
First, I went to the doctor. She's going to give me one more round of antibiotics, this time a different one, to see if whatever is going on in my left boob clears up. If not, she's sending me to a specialized breast surgeon. She seems to be leaning away from infection and more toward inflammatory something or other going on in there. With the Crohn's and the inflammatory joint stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if I've developed some weird, auto-immune breast issue. I asked if that was a possibility, and she didn't deny it. But she wasn't aware of any auto-immune diseases that affect the breast. (Neither am I, but since there are about a million auto-immune diseases out there, it's not surprising that there's one I'm unfamiliar with.) The impression I got from her was that she's concerned, if this antibiotic doesn't work, that it might be inflammatory breast cancer. That's pretty aggressive, and not something you want to get. I asked if it was possible for the mammogram to come out clear and still have inflammatory breast cancer. She said it is, if it's just inflammatory, and there's no lump. So kind of waiting it out. If RT weren't next week, I'd probably go ahead and go to the surgeon to get it checked out instead of trying this third round of antibiotics. But at least with RT coming up, I've got something to focus on other than ol' lefty.
In more positive news, I drove today for the first time in over a year. There was no real reason why I haven't driven in the last year. I just don't go anywhere much, and 90% of the time when I leave the house it's to go somewhere with my parents anyway. So I just don't drive. Plus, I don't own a car, so driving means taking Mom or Dad's car. It was really uncomfortable there for a while, although I was perfectly comfortable behind the wheel today. So yay!
After the doctor's office I went to Walmart to fill my prescription and get some last minute stuff for RT. I really wore myself out, but I had a good time! Check out this fabulous bag I got! (The Cherries among us will appreciate it.) And it was super cheap-- 88 cents! The next time this bag sees the light of day, it will be filled with goodies at RT.
And here is a picture of the little gadget cozy I knit this weekend to cover up my mp3 player/wifi/fake smart phone thingie. I'd take a picture of it with the gadget in it, but my gadget is my camera, so....
The cozy won't protect it from any hard knocks, but hopefully it will keep the screen from getting all scratched up in my purse as it gets carted around next week. And I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures, so you get to see all the wonderful readers and writers I meet.
I think that's all the big news for right now. I have some other good stuff to talk about, and I'll try to get to that this week, before I leave for RT.
I finished a new knitting project tonight. Don't adjust your screens, it really is this bright.
OK, maybe the color doesn't come through really well in this picture, but trust me, it's BRIGHT.
The pattern is Sockhead, and the name of the colorway is Frog in a Party Dress, so I've named this Frog in a Party Hat. It's nice and cozy, but not so heavy that I couldn't wear it in spring or fall as a fashion statement. (You know me, I'm all about the fashion statement.) I'm quite satisfied with this hat, and I expect that there will be more Sockheads to come. And I already have plans for the leftover yarn, of which there is a fair bit. A book of sock patterns came in the mail today, and there's a really cute one that calls for just a little bit of a contrasting color. This pink and green yarn should be almost a shock of color against a black yarn. Or maybe it will work against some deep purple I have in my stash. We'll see.
My brother and sister-in-law came for dinner tonight. Jer's birthday is in mid-February, and he very humbly requested another pair of heavy house socks. He asked for a pair for Christmas, and he loves them so much that he hasn't been willing to skip wearing them around the house long enough to get them washed! Clearly, this is a guy who needs at least one more warm pair of handknit socks.
I finally got my act together and assembled the collage for the story I'm doing for Fast Draft! Here's the picture:
I'm sure the text is too small to read, so the top one is a quote from the beginning of The Hobbit. It says:
This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. He may have lost the neighbors' respect, but he gained-- well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.
The other one says:
"Nothing Happens without risk." Anne Packard
It's on a magnetic board, and the round things are all magnets I made for the collage. Some are just pictures, but most of them say something, like "Keep Calm and Rock On" or "Keep Calm and Do It Anyway". A couple are Big Bag quotes, including "I'm clearly too evolved for driving" and "I am not crazy, my mother had me tested".
The pictures all represent a character or group of characters or some aspect of the story. The big 3 is to remind me that in stories, things often happen in threes. So if I'm stuck, look for something that needs to repeat.
I guess that's it. If you have any questions about any of the images, or can't tell what they are (the overall picture may be a little small if you don't already know what you're looking at), just ask.
I've already procrastinated the day away, so I'm going to go poke at a blank page and see if I can't at least rack up a few words before bed.
Check this out! I got the coolest card in the mail today.
Does that not just rock? I think this one is going to have to go on my permanent magnet board, once I get the damn thing hung again.
In other news, I don't have much news. I'm reading A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant, which is pretty amazing so far. There's been a lot of buzz about this one, and if the rest stays as good as what I've read so far, it will be totally deserving. I'll let you know how it goes.
I saw on twitter that Candace Havens is getting ready to run another Fast Draft class, and I'm seriously considering signing up. Has anyone taken it? Any advice? Apparently the idea of the class is that you're supposed to write 5,000 words a day, so at the end of the two weeks, you should have a 70,000 word first draft. That's one unusually long m/m romance, or quite possibly two average-ish length ones. I'm not sure if I'm up for that kind of pressure, but it sure would be a kick in the ass to get writing. And the class is only $20, so it's not like it's a huge financial investment. (Although a significant time investment if I'm really going to do it.)
As far as the rest of my resolutions go, the cleaning one isn't going exactly as I planned, but I am making progress. Today was trash day, and I managed to ditch a whole trash bag full of crap.
I have the next knitting project for myself planned out, but I'm trying to wrap up a few ongoing projects before I start it.
The "read less" resolution is in the toilet. I looked at my little red book, and as of the first of the year I only had 295 books to read to reach 1,000 since I started logging them. I think I'd rather hit 1,000 this year, so 295 is my new goal. I have, however, managed to not buy a book for 5 whole days. That's pretty good for me lately.
Let's see. What else? I haven't done any exercise since that little bout on the Wii last week. I haven't bothered with the picture a day thing, either, although I'm still enjoying taking pictures with my Samsung thingie. Mostly of the cat.
I think that's everything new and interesting. Or even not so interesting. I'm not even wearing any lip balm today!
As I mentioned the other day, I'm getting started on my 2012 New Year's resolutions. (Why wait to make positive changes in your life, right?) So, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here-- post some pictures and talk about the cleaning and organizing I need to do.
Here they come, the embarrassing pictures.
This is the giant pile of crap that completely blocks access to my closet. There are a couple of tubs and boxes on the bottom, with clean clothes, yarn, shipping boxes, and God knows what else in the mix. I haven't measured it or anything, but it's probably 5 feet long, 2 feet deep, and waist high at one end. This is probably my most daunting challenge. A lot of this stuff needs to go into the closet, somehow. But I can't *get to* the closet with the pile in the way. And I don't have the energy or the space to move the pile so I can get to the closet and put it all away. It's a conundrum. But I'll figure something out.
This is one end of the pile, and also the little table I use as my nightstand.
This is the other end of the pile, as well as my dresser, which is thoroughly cluttered and covered in about a quarter inch of dust. On the positive side, you can see my Christmas cards hanging on the door!
This is the set of plastic drawers that I use as my other nightstand. See the pink/white/black thing under the tissue box? That's the sack sock I mentioned a couple posts ago. It's coming along nicely!
As you can see, the whole room is piled, packed, choked with stuff. Part of the problem is me. I have a hard time letting go of stuff that I think I might need. Or I set something aside, and then it disappears from my mind. It just doesn't exist for me anymore. It does, however, continue to collect dust for the next 6 months until I finally throw it away.
But a really big part of the problem is I have no organizational tools or system. That blue tub at the bottom of the first picture is filled with CDs. But I have no place to put them. There are two or three boxes of books taking up space on the floor of my closet, but I have no shelves to put them on. That big ol' dresser? Holds a lot less stuff than you might think. (But to be fair, I really need to go through some of it and either pack it up for winter or just let it go all together.)
I haven't started doing my one song of cleaning a day. I was thinking about doing that today, but I did 11 minutes on the Wii instead (first time in *months*), and between that and MTX day, I am pretty well worn out. But I have started thinking about how I want to arrange things as I get them put away.
Shelves and such are not an option right now. The room desperately needs to be painted (the walls are scuffed up and full of nail holes, and one wall is painted a horrible gray-purple), and I don't want to put anything big and heavy in the room that will have to be moved to get to the walls. And since it's January, it's going to be months before the weather is really appropriate for painting. I'm looking at probably 6 months, minimum, before I can put in shelves. (Also, I want to put in some sort of entertainment system to hold my TV and for storage.)
All this listing of what's wrong, and what I need and can't get right now is starting to feel like a novel. A long, boring, Russian novel. Something by Turgid. (Points to anyone who gets the reference!) I think I'm going to leave this here and come back tomorrow with what I see as my specific requirements for my room, and what I'm going to try to do to meet them in the short run, even if I can't have my dream room right now.
Lip balm of the day: Pick Me Up Peach! (And boy did I need it.)
Delia reminded me that I haven't posted a picture of my birthday dealie boppers yet, so here it is! I apologize for the moon pajamas and my total unwillingness to put on a bra. That's hard work, and I just wasn't up for it tonight.
You can't see it in the picture, but there are flashing lights on the dealie boppers. Also, check out my red hair! I talked to my mom about the green hair thing, and decided not to do it right now. I'm planning to go to Christmas Eve services with them (I never go to church, so it's kind of a big deal to Mom), and I know it would completely humiliate them for me to show up with green hair. I know that's silly, but I'll respect their feelings about it.
Also, I talked to the hairstylist, and apparently maintaining an unusual color is a hell of a lot of work. I'd probably be re-dying my hair every week to two weeks. I am so not up for that right now. So I'll be sticking with the fiery, but longer lasting, red.
And since you can't really see them in that first photo, here are the giant hoop earrings that I talked about a million years ago but never posted a picture of.
Aren't they fantastic? They looked good with the scraggly blond mop that I used to have, but they really work with the red.
Also, taking clear pictures of myself, one handed, with that thing was a serious pain in the butt. Definitely not designed for taking pictures of yourself one handed.
In other news, there are two jars of cherries draining in the refrigerator right now. Tomorrow is chocolate covered cherry day! Messy, but fun. And the results are worth it. Better than any chocolate covered cherry you'll buy in the store. The recipe I use is in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. (Also available online here.) They're a little harder to find, but if you decide to make this recipe, take the time to find cherries with stems. Your results will be much better. (Especially if you're not an experienced candy maker.)
I think that's all the news and pictures for today. I've started my brother's socks, but just barely. I need to get trucking on them if he's going to get something more than an IOU in his stocking. And I haven't finished embellishing my peanut, but maybe I'll have pics of that tomorrow!
Lip balm of the day: a very festive and seasonal White Cranberry. (It's way yummy!)
Just in case you've been living under a rock (or, you know, you don't run in the same writerly circles I do), it's NaNo time again. In honor of this annual event, I've changed my blog theme again. Isn't it nice? Much less shocking than the fall foliage.
So, we're over 24 hours into the grand event. How many words have I written? Nothing, nada, el zippo. Despite spending the last two months in Lani's writing classes, preparing for this moment, there is nothing in my head. (Totally not Lani's fault. The lack of firing synopses in my brain is my problem alone.) It's echoing in there like the inside of an empty 55 gallon drum.
But I did get an idea a few minutes ago. In fact, I shamelessly stole it from Deanna Raybourn and her blog. Every post starts with, "In Which". Examples from the last week are: "In which we were just talking about Nora", "In which this is just BIZARRE", "In which I am out and about", and "In which I'm leaving on the proverbial jet plane".
So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to start every section with an "In Which". The first one will be, "In Which Our Two Heroes Meet". I have not the slightest idea who these fellows are or what they're going to do. But I like this "In Which" idea, so I'm going to run with it. Or, more realistically, waddle with it.
Next challenge: come up with enough "In Which" statements to keep me moving for the rest of the month. I have a few more off the top of my head:
In Which a Good Time Is Had By All In Which Our Heroes Encounter a Problem In Which Our Heroes Are In For a Bit of a Surprise
But I need a bunch more than that. If you've got any ideas for "In Which" statements, please share them in the comments. I'm hoping to have one for every day of writing, and that they'll help steer the story along, because right now I don't have a flipping clue.
Here in Indiana we have a take-and-bake pizza place called Papa Murphy's. An Irish pizza joint. This delights me. In the last few days they've been running ads for a special Jack-o-Lantern pizza.
Isn't that the goofiest thing ever? I love it. I'm going to push for a Jack-o-Pizza for dinner on Friday night. I know Halloween isn't Friday, but Friday is Pizza Night. I'm thinking this and one of the Ghostbusters movies that my brother lent us (he has both I and II on DVD, but who in their right mind wants to watch Ghostbusters II?) would make for a very satisfying Halloween celebration. Maybe with the Charlie Brown Halloween special while the pizza is baking. Because what's a holiday without a Charlie Brown special?
I may be about 25 years too old for trick-or-treating, but never let it be said that I don't know how to have a good time.
I'm seriously considering attending a couple of book conventions next year. (Scared as hell about whether I'll be able to manage it physically, and concerned about the cost, but still really thinking about it.) If I'm going to do this, I think that a portable way to tweet/text/email would be smart, to give me an easy way to catch up with people I know online. (You know, "I'm in the lobby, where are you?") Also, something that will take decent pictures. And if I could keep the phone/data charges down, that would be very, very good. Because I can't imagine myself using it much outside of trips like this.
Can anyone recommend a good device?
I was looking at the iPod touch, but I have some reservations. It looks like it operates on wifi and does not require a service contract, which is a major point in its favor. And, it works as an mp3 player, which is another major point in its favor. (My current mp3 player, which I love, is pretty well maxed out. If I'm going to add more music to my collection, I need something with more memory.) But being an Apple product, I also have some deep reservations. First of all, I generally find Apple products to be way over priced. Is there something that will give me more or less the same functions for less money? Am I tied to iTunes on this device, or can I download music from Amazon? Most of my music has been downloaded piecemeal, a song at a time from Amazon. I don't want to have to jump through hoops to put the music I've already purchased on my new mp3 player. Plus, I have never had a positive experience with iTunes, and I don't want to start beating my head against that wall now. Does the iPod touch take decent pictures? Are they easy to transfer to the computer so that I can blog them?
Probably, I have other questions, but those are the ones I can think of right now. Price, ease of use, access. Anyone have any experience with this device or recommendations for other devices that might suit my needs better?
My best friend, her husband, and her son were here this afternoon for a visit. The hubs has family here in Indiana, so they were able to carve out a little bit of time on their grand tour. (That's not even a joke. They've been on the road since Monday, and other than me they've seen/will see another friend, both sets of his grandparents, his father, and his sister. All in different cities, as far as I know.)
It was nice to see Keli and Eric, but the real highlight was London. The last time I saw him, he was about 3 months old. He's 17 months now, and the cuteness factor was overwhelming. We had presents for him, and once he got in the groove he really enjoyed ripping the paper. And then once each package was completely unwrapped he had to be sure each of his parents got a good look. The funniest thing to me was when London opened one of the packages (a book), and Eric got all excited. "Richard Scarry!" Keli was like, huh? Apparently, she never read Richard Scarry as a kid (how is this possible?), so we had to explain to her that he was an author, and that his books always had a million fun things to look at. Once the presents were all unwrapped, Eric grabbed London and immediately started reading it to him. I have a feeling that's going to be the go to book when it's Dad's turn to read to him before bed from now on.
And then we sat down for some lunch. Mom had made some potato soup, because it's one of those things that is really flexible and forgiving as far as timing goes. It can sit on the stove and simmer for a while with no harm done. (We weren't sure exactly when they were going to get here.) I wasn't sure that London would go for it, but he loved it! There was a smile and a "yum!" after almost every bite. And he got very put out when Keli would sneak a spoonful for herself. That was his soup, damn it! There were also rolls, and London loves rolls. So he was stuffing bites of bread in his mouth between little bits of potato and carrot from the soup. Then his mom had what was apparently the Best. Idea. Ever! She grabbed a little piece of his roll and dipped it in the soup. He immediately made a dive for the soup bowl to try to do it himself.
Mom was practically incandescent with pleasure watching all this. Especially every time he said, "Yum!" It really was unbearably cute.
And then we all went outside so he could run around and play in the backyard. And we could all run around after him. I did very minimal chasing or picking up and swinging. I would have liked to have done more, but frankly, I'm beat to my socks with what I did manage to do. We had rain a couple of days ago, and it knocked a lot of leaves off the trees. So Eric and London played in the leaves for awhile, which was also way adorable. We have an old lobster trap under a tree in our backyard as decoration. London spotted it and tried to crawl in. Again, the cuteness factor was about 1000. Dad managed to get pictures of some of it, although London gets weird in front of cameras and won't smile. If he knew Dad was taking a picture there was no smile. But there were quite a few of him playing and totally unaware of the camera.
And then it was time for them to move on. :( They've got a lot more miles to drive and people to see before they get home at the end of next week. I was so glad to see them. It was with my parents the whole time, and I didn't really get to talk to Keli about anything other than kid stuff and general chatter. It was kind of like a 5 minute visit from an old life. Very odd.
And now I'm all worn out. For a good reason for once. I took my sleeping pill early, and I hope to be crashing soon. Night night!
I'm really, seriously thinking about taking on a new project. There's a book I've read in the last few months, and it's stuck with me a bit. Even better, it has a gorgeous cover.
Delish, don't you agree?
What I'm thinking of doing is knitting a shawl inspired by the book. (No, there is no knitting in this book. Just hot, macho, New York firefighters. But knitting is my medium.)
There's a very popular shawl pattern called Clapotis. (Pronounced clap-o-tee, or so I'm told.) I like the concept of the shawl, but it's a rectangular, and I really prefer triangle shawls. So right now I'm doing a bit of sketching and calculating (well, it's too late for calculating tonight, but definitely sketching) to see if I can convert it. Several other people have done so, but not quite the way I'd like to do it. So this will be a Becky Original, as well as my first attempt at knit design.
I've been looking for yarns to make this in, because I have a very particular idea in my head of what colors I want and how they should be used. No dice, of course. So I have two options as I see it. First, I find an experienced dyer, try to explain my insane vision, and hope that whatever they come up with is in the ballpark. Option two would be to buy some undyed yarn and all the pots and chemicals and try my hand at it myself. While I think it would be great fun to say, "See this? I created the design, dyed the yarn, and knit it, all by myself!" in not sure it's practical. I keep getting hung up on the pots and chemicals (and face masks) and mess and expense of trying to dye it myself. I've never done any dyeing, and I can't guarantee that my results would be any closer to what I see in my head than what an experienced dyer could do. So there's that.
What I see is a shawl with lots of smokey black (they are fire fighters after all, and one of the heroes is Italian with gorgeous black hair) and splashes of red and yellow and orange. Something that screams heat and fire. (And also the orangey red is the hair color of the other hero.) I want to make sure I get that smoke and fire theme across, because it would be very easy for these colors to get Halloweenie. I don't want the yarn colors to mingle too much, or stripe. I want what we in the fiber arts community call pooling or flashing. Pooling is when you get, well, a pool of one color. It can line up funny that way some times. Flashing is like pooling, except that it zig zags across the piece creating a lightning bolt-ish effect.
If all works out as planned, I'll call the pattern Not Clap (because it borrows the theme from the Clapotis, and it's know casually amongst the knitting community as the Clap). And then my particular shawl will be the Hot Clap-- a reference both to the pattern and the book that inspired me to knit it.
What do you think? Too crazy or what?
Oh, and the Lip Balm of the Day is Pink Cake. Too lazy to look up what all is in it right now, but it's yummy!
It's been 24 hours since Penny arrived (at this point, more like 36-40 hours), and things are going well.
Oh, wait a minute. I didn't tell you about this part, did I? I named my new Kindle Penny. She shipped from Pennsylvania (I know this because I checked the tracking every 5 minutes from the time I ordered her until she showed up on my doorstep on Friday), and I thought, "Pennsylvania. Penny. Perfect!" I'm from Pennsylvania originally, too, so we started out with a lot in common. :p
It is different from my original Kindle, and there's been a little bit of an adjustment period. The page turn buttons operate differently. These click out (which is how I expected the K2's buttons to work, so I guess this is more of an un-adjustment), while the K2's buttons click on the inside edge. I think I'm mostly used to the change in the buttons, but it is still weird every once in a while. Also, there is now a page back button on both the left and right hand sides. On the K2 the back button was on the left, and the button in that position on the right was the Home button. I'm still reaching for that right hand back button when I want Home.
I don't miss the keyboard at all. The only time I used it was when I would create a collection, and I'd type in the name. (TBR, freebies, read, etc.) Now there's a keyboard that pops up on the screen, and you use the up, down, left, right key to pick the letters one at a time. Tedious, but creating new collections isn't exactly a daily project.
The funny thing about the change in size and button location is that I sometimes try to navigate as if I'm reading on my Sony Pocket. They have 10 buttons down the right side that allow you to pick which book you want off the list. With the Kindle you still have to use navigation buttons at the bottom center of the device to pick your book. You basically do it the same way you do on the old Kindle, except the button is in a different place-- coincidentally the same spot that it's in on the Pocket, so that probably assists in the brain glitch.
So those are the things that are weird or different or that I just plain have to adjust to.
I'm loving that it is significantly lighter than the old Kindle. The screen looks really good, and even though the overall unit is much smaller the screen is the same size. The advanced e-ink gives a sharper image, and there's greater contrast between the text and the background, which makes it easier on the eyes. There's none of the screen "flash" that so many people hated in earlier versions. And it's much faster. Sometimes, with the old Kindle, I would give it a command-- click the Home button for instance-- and then I'd sit and wait. And wait. And WAIT for it to finally take me there. There's no waiting with the Penny. I hit the Home button, and I'm on the Home screen. No waiting. It's lovely. Even transferring stuff is faster. The K2 was on Whispernet (Sprint, I believe), and signal strength isn't always so great. Penny operates off of my home wifi, and so far it's worked like a dream.
To wrap up, there are some things that are different, and I'm adjusting. There are some other things that work really well-- better than my original-- and I'm thrilled about that. At 24 hours into our relationship (or 36-40 hours, whatever) I'm very happy with my purchase. And at $79 I feel it was an excellent deal.
Oh, and the lip balm of the day is: Gummy Bear. Yum!
I've got a friend who is scheduled to pop sometime in October. She's been on bedrest for a while now, and she had to see the doctor today for possible preeclampsia. (For anyone unfamiliar with pregnancy stuff, that's not good.) I was very happy to hear just a little bit ago that the baby is a-ok. They are talking about inducing her on the 27th, but the doc thinks the baby may come sooner.
Oh, lawsy. I'm going to have to get it in gear if I'm going to get my gift to the baby before she arrives. We call her mama Diva, and it surprises me not at all that her Sweet Pea is looking to make a grand entrance.
I got an email from my sister-in-law late this evening. She's invited me to join a Bible study that starts tomorrow. Oh, lawsy. I want to be social. I appreciate the invitation and that she wants to include me. But a once a week Bible study is pretty much the exact last thing I want to do.
Suggestion on this one would be much appreciated. Do I politely decline the first away-from-the-rest-of-the-family overture from her, or do I say yes and spend 2 hours a week for the next month studying something I'm actively resistant to learning?
Wednesday is my mother's birthday. Got an email from Amazon. Estimated delivery date on her present is Thursday. Oh, lawsy.
This morning I went out for the first time in a month to check out craft supplies for the collage I'm supposed to be making for my writing class. First place I go is Michaels, with 50% off coupons in hand. I can't find a single thing I'm looking for, and every single employee is in a staff meeting at the back of the store, so I can't find anyone to help me. Oh, lawsy.
So I slog next door to Hobby Lobby, where they have exactly what I want, well organized and all in the same section, and multiple staff members in the aisles, ready to help me find stuff. I spent some money, got exactly what I wanted, and got out. But not before becoming completely exhausted and overheated. Oh. lawsy. Too much. Next time I'm skipping Michaels, I don't care how good the coupons are.
OK, as much as I enjoy rubbernecking, it's time to attempt to be A Better Person again. So I decided it was time to do another post about things that are making me happy right now. We haven't had one of those lately, and I have more reason to be happy than I have in a while.
The first thing that's making me happy right now is I Am a Paleontologist by They Might Be Giants. Someone is using it in a commercial right now, and it makes me want to boogie every time I hear it.
Something else that had me whooping and bouncing on the bed recently was Monday night's episode of The Closer. Captain Raydor (Mary McDonnell) was first presented in the show as a nemesis to Brenda. Then she shifted to an unlikely ally. This season she's been revealed to be a pretty valuable supporter, even if Brenda doesn't always know it. (Chief Pope can seriously bite me.)
Anyway, I loved seeing Raydor lead that chase last night. And then when she whips out that shotgun? Whoa, momma. You go girl! Definitely one of the most badass moments of the series so far. And I absolutely loved the look Tao gave her as she was walking away.
If you haven't ever watched The Closer, and you at all enjoy cop shows, I suggest you do what I did a few years ago and rent season one. It's a fantastic series, and well worth watching. (Although I'm bummed that this is the last season.)
Happy Thing #3 is that it's looking like I've got at least a little bit of my knitting mojo back! I hadn't touched the needles in months, until this past weekend. I poked around on Rav until I found a pattern that looked promising (of course I changed my mind and did something different when the needles actually kissed yarn), and then I hauled out all my sock yarn scrap. Y'all, I have a boat load of sock yarn scrap. Three big, overflowing bags of the stuff, and then some.
I sorted out all the scrap, and most of it was sufficiently bright. So then I sat and watched TV and wound a ginormous ball of scrap yarn, tying on a new color when I came to the end of each scrap. This thing was easily half again the size of my fist. When you consider how thin sock yarn is, that's a LOT. And then I cast on my Shawl of Many Colors. (It'll probably change names a few times, but that's what it is for the moment.)
After a couple of days, the SoMC is on row 87 or so, and growing all the time. This pattern isn't super specific. You get to a certain point and then they give you a general recipe to continue, because the size needed on something like this can vary so much, depending on who it's for an how they want to use it. I could probably stop right now and have a respectable head scarf. But I want a full size shawl, which means the wings span is equal to the height of the wearer. I'm 5'7, so I've got a ways to go. Fortunately, I'm pretty sure I've got enough sock yarn scrap to make it happen. But at some point in the not too distant future I'm going to have to start rolling another ball of yarn.
I'd planned to post a picture of this grand masterpiece, but I can't find my camera. Or the batteries that go in it. So that's going to have to wait for a day or two. By then it will be bigger and more colorful and more impressive anyway.
One more thing that I'm really excited about. There's a challenge coming up in my M/M reading group called the Quarterly Gang Bang. (Trust me, not as kinky as it sounds.) Every person who signs up picks a book for each other member, and they all pick books for you. By the time the picking is done you could have 50-60 titles on your list. The idea is to read all those books in the next quarter. The reading part doesn't actually start until October, but sign ups start on Thursday. I've been wanting to do this for MONTHS, but I felt like I needed to clear out some of the mainstream romance I'd managed to accumulate but not read in the last several years. I did get some of it read (89 out of 198 books read so far this year were non-m/m), and I hope to knock out a few more in September. And then the rest of the year will be dedicated to reading as much delicious m/m lovin' as I can handle. I even have a few holiday reads lined up already. I've been looking forward to this for a long time, and I can't wait to dive in.
So that's all the happy stuff. And I know I said I wasn't going to gossip any more, but I just have to mention that we've had our first official *flounce*! Someone who, by her own admission, left the group for a while and only recently came back, felt the need to declare us all terrible people and announce that she was leaving the group again. So there! It was kind of funny, because a) although she claimed we were all rude, her post was by far the most obnoxious one to date, and b)... oh, hell. I forget what b was. But anyway, you know you haven't had a good internet kerfluffle until someone loudly declares that they're taking their ball and going home. I suspect the whole thing will have petered out to nothing by this time tomorrow.
It was all amazingly civil for an internet dust up. If this had happened on my knitting forum there would have been a pile on, and by the time the mods stepped in the offending parties (not always the original offenders, either) would be ripped to shreds. A half dozen people would dramatically flounce (only to quietly return next week), and whoever is left when the dust settles would be quietly knitting sweaters from the remains of the deceased.
Knitters are Hardcore.
I couldn't imagine it happening in the Betties. I mean, I know it could happen anywhere, and we certainly aren't immune to petty scandals. But accusations? Histrionics? I don't see it.
Anyway, that's what's going on with me for the mo. I'll try to control myself in the future. And I'll let you know about positive developments. I'm not quite ready to say anything about them yet (besides, this post is ridiculously long already), but I'll update you when the shift from "things I intend to do" to "things I'm actively doing". Intention is important, but if you don't follow it up with action you won't get very far.
Tonight I went to my sister-in-law's jewelry party. Now, I'm not much of a jewelry person. I have one pair of earrings and two puzzle rings that I wear all the time, and that's it. So I went to support her (it wasn't just that she was throwing a party, she's actually starting up as a rep) and to buy something for my bff, whose birthday is in early July.
I was really surprised. I found a few things that I really liked! I ordered a pair of earrings for myself and a really pretty necklace for my friend. (We rent a beach house every year, and it's become a really important thing for both of us. The necklace is silver with a cz encrusted starfish pendant. It's just perfect for her.) And there are a couple things that I'd really like, but couldn't swing right now. One was a really pretty silver ring. (And I think there are a couple more rings I'd like to have.) Another is a great big pair of hoop earrings. (I've always wanted a pair of big ol' trashy hoop earrings. Not that these are trashy, but they're headed in that direction!) And then there was a silver necklace with a pendant that says "Believe" on one side and "like there's endless possibilities" on the other. There's an optional second pendant that says "Dream" on one side and "like they will all come true" on the other.
I'd host a party to help my sister-in-law out with her new enterprise, but I don't know anyone in Indianapolis. All my friends are in Texas and online. So I was thinking I might ask her about doing a catalog party instead. Does anyone think they'd be interested in helping out my SIL launch her business by taking a look at a catalog and possibly buying a piece or two of fun, mid-range jewelry? (Nicer than Claire's, less expensive than Kay's. There is a range of prices, but a lot of the pieces I saw were around $30.) Absolutely no hard feelings if you're not interested. I just thought I'd put it out there. If you are interested let me know, and if she is cool with trying a catalog party I'll mail you one. (Prepare yourself. It's a heck of a catalog!)
A small comment on a totally different topic. The New York Assembly has approved same-sex marriage for the state of New York! Yay! I couldn't be more thrilled that very soon everyone in New York, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, will have the right to marry, and all its attendant privileges and responsibilities. Others will have more to say on this issue (and say it in a way that's both more powerful and more entertaining than I ever could), so I'm just going to say Woo Hoo! and leave it there.
Woo Hoo!
And now, to get back into a habit that has fallen by the wayside lately, the Lip Balm of The Day is: Cat Pee (I know, it sounds gross. But it's citrusy and delicious.)
