I ran across this post on Twitter a few weeks ago, finally got around to watching it (it was originally aired just before Memorial Day) and felt I needed to share it. Unfortunately, the embedding won't work, but I'd urge you to go to "Modern-Day Kicks on Route 66", on the NBC site.
I grew up relatively close to old 66, in southern St. Louis County. I even lived a block away from the decommissioned route for a few years, in Marlborough - old 66 is now MO-366, Watson Road. I thought it was really cool that you could drive down Watson and see all these old, tiny motels, right on the shoulder of the widened road, with their rusty neon signs and odd names. Coral Courts was still standing (sadly, demolished in 1994) and Ted Drewes was only a few miles away. I always thought it was so interesting that a big part of national history was only a half a block away. It makes me sad that you cannot see the old gates to Coral Court anymore behind a fence and overgrown trees along Watson.
The Pixar movie Cars really sparked renewed interest in old Route 66, and I think more people drive the historic route because of that movie than ever. I'd love to do the whole thing, and I've already travelled a couple of the Chicago to St. Louis alignments, as well as from St Louis to around Waynesville, through Hooker's Cut and Devil's Elbow. It's not easy sometimes to find the old route, but there are books and maps to help. One of my favorite is Route 66: Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companionby Tom Snyder - I think I have the 2nd or 3rd edition, and this is up to the 4th (2011). Lots of good directions, and alternate alignments listed, plus trivia and 'what to see'.
I have some interesting shots of some of the things along the Mother Road that I've seen along my very short travels, and someday I'll post them up here. There are quite a few routes through St Louis - it can be confusing - but as time goes on, the St Louis County Streets and Highways Department is posting signs along the Alt Routes and the Bi-Ways through and around the city.
I also find it amusing that I moved to north St Louis County, and I'm once again a block and a half away from the old Route - the northern Bi-way around the city that crossed the Mississippi at the old Chain of Rocks bridge is Dunn Road, which is the outer road for I-270 around the city. I think the Bi-way takes a left at Lindbergh Blvd/US 67 and goes south to either Manchester Road/MO-100 or all the way to Watson/MO-366.
Maybe it's time to take another short cruise on the Mother Road.
Someone on one of the message boards I frequent had a topic about what books or fanfic everyone's been reading, and I realized that I hadn't really sat down and read anything longish from beginning to end in a long time, and hadn't marked it on my "Read" list in a *very* long time.
I've updated the "Books/Fics Read" list over on the sidebar now. I'll add stuff to it as they're read. I read a lot of fanfiction!
Got to see Ruth, Denise, Lindsey, Steve and Dean a couple of weeks ago! Want proof?
We had a great time - there were a TON of people there (I warned Steve!) and I think we walked about 6-7 miles just on Saturday. Thankfully it wasn't overly hot. Dean was a charmer as usual *sigh* - and left for home the next day at 4:30 AM to get home for Father's Day. That's 2:30 AM Cali time. Poor guy. The rest of us had dinner on Saturday & brunch on Sunday before going our different ways.
Ruth, Linz, Denise and I went to the Superman Museum on Sunday - OMG, they had some of Clark's ties and Lois's dress from "I've Got A Crush On You". Yes, I was literally jumping up and down! :D It was so cool!
I'm going to be working full-time soon. No details allowed yet - we're still working out the kinks.
I'm working on the "Checkerboard Textures Throw" from Red Heart - one and a half more rounds to go and then the cleanup. The border rounds are 750+ sts around...taking forever! I want to finish this so I can go back to my knitting needles!
Yep. Still out here. Not much going on besides a couple of conventions (loved New Orleans!!) and some other things. Job hunting.
I realized that I've added a few states to my 'places' map - I couldn't find the original one, so here a new one. Added Mississippi and Louisiana!
Again, not much going on. Working on a couple of afghans, finished a present for Mom but need to block it, and am growing some container tomatoes. Note to self: Don't buy any more veggie plants if you need to go back to hardware store. Every time I go, I come back with another plant!!
I'm going to see Ruth, Lindsey, and Denise (oh, and Dean and Steve!) in Metropolis in a couple of weeks for the annual Superman Celebration. Should be fun! This is Dean's first time at this event, so he's probably going to be very very busy. I'm hoping we have dry weather - last year Sunday was basically washed out due to all the severe weather they had. Hear me, Mother Nature? No t-storms, please.
Well, I just wanted to check in. Yankees are playing the Cards right now - go Cards! I can't stand the Yankees.
Hi! Thought I abandoned you? Naw. Just my usual boring life going on, so I haven't posted.
I posted a while ago that I had some bad news to pass on. On September 10, 2009, my dear pooch Pluto had a heart attack and died in my arms. I'm afraid I was depressed for a few months, and that's mainly why I've failed to post. I didn't knit, blog, or chat much online. It didn't help that it was really quiet here at home, with no furry friend to motivate me to get moving.
On January 15th, that changed.
I'd been casually looking at PetFinders, and wondering if I'd want another dog. And what kind. Well, I came across this one sad looking dog that looked like she needed a home, and went to see her. Three days later, I adopted Lily. She is a very small 5 year old beagle, or possibly a beagle/dachshund mix. She's a tri-color, no 'flag' on her tail, and bays loudly! She's only 9 inches tall at the shoulder, and was an emaciated 8.5 lbs when I got her. She had a LOT of things wrong - whipworms, coccydia, dehydration, and (as I later found out) a double ear infection. Since then, we have managed to kick all of that to the curb, and today she was a whopping 12.7 lbs! Yay! Now we're working on housebreaking - almost there - and how she seems to have to sleep in the MIDDLE of the bed.
Here's a pic from January 31 - she travels VERY well, sleeps 5 minutes after getting on the road - and we were at Fort Kaskaskia Park in southern Illinois:
She's a little dog with a big mouth - will bay at me if I don't make her dinner fast enough, and has a bit of separation anxiety, but she's a good dog otherwise. If she's awake, the tail is wagging! We also need to work on the hogging of the warm air from the space heater - she's a great draft blocker, so I end up staying cold while she gets a nice warm back or tummy! I'm working on more pictures, so stay tuned.
I have picked my knitting up again, and participated in the 2010 Ravelympics! I medaled in several categories:
If you click on the picks (except for the Single Skein), you'll be redirected to pictures of the completed projects. I started but didn't complete a Kureopatora's Snake as well, finished that one a few days ago, and started another one for me. The temps right now don't warrant scarves, though. Oddly, I think this happened last year about this time too - right after I finished Lisa's basketweave scarf. Hmmm.
I'm recovering from a series of illnesses that landed on me all at once the first week of February, and am TIRED of taking pills. Bleh. I'm nearing the end of my third (!!) course of antibiotics, and finally (mostly) have my voice back. Had to have a root canal due to the infection moving into a tooth, as well. I'm feeling much better now.
Lastly, BASEBALL HAS RETURNED! *happydances* Spring Training games started last week (and Yes, I'm glad they don't count. Ouch!) and Opening Day is 4 weeks away. Four weeks!
Okay, I think I'm wound out. Yarn reviews should return soon (I just bought some! w00t!) after I take pictures and type out the list.
Cheers!
Friday, September 4, 2009
Hi all! No, I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Really. I do have a ton of yarn to review and post and some adventures to share, but I just wanted to let you know I'm still kicking.
Had some computer issues (and phone issues) - Alice, the Mamabear lappy, managed to corrupt itself last night, and I had to do a lot of contortions to get Vista re-loaded to the computer. Damn hidden recovery partitions!! Now I have to re-install all my programs. *wails* Open Office, here I come. The G1 ALSO had to be hard reset last night due to an issue with the accellerometer - and wouldn't you know, I forgot my GMail password for the darn phone? I had to create a new stinking e-mail and everything before I could get into the phone itself. Not a happy camper was I for 7 hours last night.
It's Tom and Dan at one of the cricket matches during the Ashes series between the UK and Oz:
Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton join Jonathan Agnew for A View From The Boundary, encountering an angry Geoffrey Boycott as they enter the commentary box.
It's funny. :)
Cards are in first *dances* by 10.5 games, I think. I don't remember if the Cubbies are playing this afternoon or not, but we're getting ready to beat up on....*goes to look*.... Pittsburgh. I don't think we should have any problems with them, as they're 24.5 back *cough* but you never know. I'm going to the Stitch 'N Pitch on Sept 14th at Busch - we're playing the Marlins, who are 70-64 right now. Gonna beat up some Pirates this weekend!!
I have yarn from DBNY, CTH, Dyeabolical, My Sister's Yarn, and HL, I think, to review. My house is a disaster area, I'm planning on having guests in October (yes, the cleaning starts this weekend, as it's driving me to drink), and I am looking at new living room furniture. I'm sure NE!Sue will be happy with that.
More on yarn, Chicago (MSI FTW), rude teenagers, dogs, and college football later.
I even know where this was...when D and I went to NYC last October, we couldn't get into the American wing of the AMNH due to the fact that they were setting up for a banquet. I think I got a shot of the life-sized model of the blue whale that was suspended from the ceiling!
Okay, so this really isn't a blog post...I'm a bit behind on posting, and have been (seemingly) all over the place in the last month. Sorry about that.
Hallows & Horcruxes II/Gathering of Awesome was ...well, awesome! Bought CDs, jumped around like I was 10, sang at the top of my lungs with a roomful of people doing the same thing, hung out with PFW peoples, awesome. Really, I have pictures, and links, and all sorts of other stuff to share about the trip. I've also managed to get at least one Ministry of Magic song totally trapped in my head. Sigh.
I also have a bunch of yarn to photograph, add to stash on Rav, and review here from a bunch of places including Yarn Barn of Lawrence.
A few more promos have been released for HBP, and I managed to see the trailer (#3, I think) for the new Star Trek. Oh Em Gee.
Speaking of rendering me speechless (*g*), I have just in the past hour or so finished Backward With Purpose by the evil Ella, aka deadwoodpecker. Oh my freaking Merlin. If you have a spare...oh, I don't know, few days, go read the fic. It's linked in the Books Read 2009 sidebar. PFW reviewed this fic, and it's sequel The Book of Albus, on upcoming episodes. I haven't started BoA yet, but plan to do so ASAP. This is the same author who wrote Yellow Submarine (which I have apparently forgotten to add to the Books Read list *fixes that*) and has at least three or four other irons in the fire. She's on LJ and on ff.net. Go read her stuff. I'm not kidding.
I got to record a PFW! Go me! I'm a guest host on the second Season 3 PFW ep. We reviewed the last half of Harry Potter and the Power of Truth by CreativeQuill. Yes, it's linked on the sidebar. ;) No word yet as to when the release date is....probably May or so. You can hear me on Peoncast starting with the season opener, too! We've been having a great time with the one-shots and short chaptered fics.
Oh! and you can also hear me narrating a story for Spellcast. I think the podcast with the reading will be released in the next week or so.
I'll be driving (on Saturday) into the winter storm that is apparently going to be zooming through Kansas City this weekend...D and NE!Sue are having a mini-meetup, so I'm going for an overnight. It looks like I'm not going to get snowed on until at least Boonesville, and it shouldn't be too bad. I hope.
Last but certainly not least, please keep my OR!Sue (aka Sueatducksfoot) from PFW in your thoughts...her grandfather passed away on Friday, and she's in California this weekend for the funeral. It's been a difficult week for them.
I'm amusing myself today (and yesterday, and the day before that...) by reading way way old back 'issues' of the comic strip 9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney. I've discovered that he's probably a Harry Potter fan: (click on each one to go to the site and see it full size)
I mean, who uses the name "Hermione"?? Besides...well, you know.
The older Amos gets the more I like him:
Oh, and that Gran knits! Which is rather dangerous, as she's really a pistol. Yikes. I'm laughing at the fact that she has no yarn, however...
There was this strip from almost 5 years ago:
...which apparently had it's resolution just a few weeks ago:
Amos and Edda are adorable. Really. They finally got together, thanks in part of the interfering Isabella and all the others. I just spent the free time of the last 3 days reading almost 3000 back strips of this comic...yay Brooke!!
Oh, had to add this one:
More later. I have yarn, trip chat, wizard rock introspectives, and more. I think.
Plu and I will be leaving for Kansas in about 6 hours (!!) to participate in the Gathering of Awesome - oh, and yeah, the Hallows and Horcruxes Ball II, too. ;) I'll be writing from the road!
I'm tired, I'm cranky, and I'm not taking it any more!
Okay, so, I'm just tired. And I have yarn.
1 100g hank Dome Hill Yarns "Supersock" (80% superwash, 20% nylon) in colorway Blueberry (pale to medium sky blue). This is a local hand-dyed yarn out of Warrensburg, Missouri! It's a lovely, smooshy yarn. Check out her shop!
1 4oz hank Dream in Color "Smooshy" (100% superfine merino superwash) in colorway In Vino Veritas (dark red, wine, deep purples). "In wine [there is the] truth." Yum.
2 50g hanks Mirasol Yarn Collection "Hacho" (100% hand dyed wool) in colorway #308 (dark blue, wine, burgundy, forest green, olive, lime, gold, yellow, orange). It's very colorful!!
I didn't get to see Chi on Monday (you are supposed to cook the meatballs all the way through, roommate-of-Teh-Chi), so instead I went to True Blue Fiber Friends in Columbia where I met Bex (*waves!*) and bought the above yarns. Plu was very very good in the car, even with the high winds pushing me all over the road and the windshield wipers going. The yarn shop is easy to get to, and she has local-dyed yarns and artwork for sale there, too.
Not much else going on - Charter is in the news this week (no, they aren't closing, I promise), and my car needs to go BACK to the shop again for electrical something. I managed to blow out 4 fuses in 2 days, and still have no dashboard or running lights. The GPS and the radio are fine! Meh.
Pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training tomorrow *happydances!!!!* and filming for Deathly Hallows starts...next week, I think! Only 153 days to go for HBP. Sigh.
I'm listening to The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig. Audible *finally* got Crimson Rose - only took a year. I already bought the CDs, though, darnit. It's pretty good, but I think the Eloise/Colin storyline is going to kill me for its length. It's like reading a romance novel that has 3 chapters published every year!
Almost almost almost finished with the Ron socks. I'm ribbing. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, last weekend was rather busy. DG and I went to the Blues game vs. the Philadelphia Flyers, and the guys won, 4-0! w00t! Too bad that last goal was close to the end of the game...the chant of "We Want Blizzards" only got a workout for about 5 minutes. Alas! We had a good time, tho.
I hadn't realized that she'd provided the models for the humans in Ice Age, and she has quite a few children's books under her belt, as well. I particularly liked the program covers she did for Aida - I cannot remember what orchestra/philharmonic they were commissioned for (ARGH!), but they were very good.
The main draw for me, though, were the Potter sketches.
It was amazing to see the uncolored images - most were done on tracing paper with lead pencil, and it was just cool to be able to see the light reflect from the layers of lead on the paper making up the image. Yes, I am a geek! It was also interesting to see that the original title for the first book was Harry Potter and the School of Magic! I wasn't able to take shots of the art - tsk, tsk to those who have!! - but it was worth the trip. I'd thought that the exhibit went through the month of February, and discovered that it actually closed on February 1, so that sealed the deal.
Oh!! The museum has a video tour! Check it out:
See how neat that was!!??!!
I did detour on the way north - I drove right past Riverside, Iowa. Those of you who are Star Trek fans may recognize the name of the town - yes, this is the 'future birthplace of James T. Kirk'! I had to stop and get a picture of the USS Riverside - this is the 'float' that is used in the TrekFest parade every year in June. See the snow?? They didn't get snow when we did (last week) but they've had no melt weather for a while and so they have big piles everywhere.
I did find an unofficial crest marker - I parked across the street from the museum in a parking garage, and this was painted at the base of the stairwell. The museum lost everything that was in storage in the basement as well as some of the items on the first floor. They are the home of the Grant Wood Collection; you may know this artist as the one who painted "American Gothic".
I spent the night in Cedar Rapids - missed the Super Bowl (slept through it!) and Plu had his own bed. Got up the next morning before the crack of dawn (again) and drove to my all-time favorite dairy to buy cheese. I was too close not to go!
It was a picturesque drive through eastern Iowa and southwestern Wisconsin - rendered even more so because the GPS took me on the 'shortest route' which were barely-paved, unmarked country roads in Wisconsin! Remember I said that there were piles of snow? I was driving down roads that had snowdrifts taller than my car piled down their route. Some of the sights I saw were a monastery between Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, lovely rolling hills, a rather dramatic rock cut just east of Dubuque, and the Sinsinawa Mound in southwestern Wisconsin.
I bought all sorts of mild cheeses from Decatur: Havarti, Muenster, lace Swiss (Stettler Swiss), butter kasse, cheese curds (YUM!!!) and some mozzarella. The first time I visited this dairy, the silly dog tried to eat the curds on the way home while I was fuelling up the car! Bad dog! Decatur has awards for their Havarti and Muenster cheeses. If you're ever in south central Wisconsin, I'd recommend visiting them. It'll be worth your drive.
I then drove down through Rockford, IL to a yarn shop called Unique Yarns. The staff was friendly, and they have a nice, open layout. I bought some souvenir yarn, natch. More on that in a bit. I also picked up Mason-Dixon Knitting.
Back on the road, we headed home. I did stop at Dixie Trucker's Home in McLean, IL for scrambled eggs and biscuits and gravy. Yum!
Okay, yarn time! The first four I bought from DBNY, and the last three from Unique Yarns.
I have a couple of links to share first - this is going to be a quickie, because the yarn is at home and I actually did a mini-roadtrip this past weekend to IA and WI.
Link number one is something that I started seeing last week - Alli had a LJ post that had a picture and now the madness has spread. First Warning!Watch Out For Zombies!! PFW had a laugh about it...Hufflepuff!Dan commented that "Well, as far as safety goes, drivers did slow down to read it..." to which Nate replied "...which was cunning plan of the zombies the entire time! Damned genius undead!" LOL! The first link has a sidebar entitled "Your Guide to the Undead" which is utterly funny.
Well, it’s actually Saturday morning – just after 1:30 AM.
It’s been an amazing full day!!
D and I started the day out with my first real NYC bagel! Okay, so it was a plain bagel with cream cheese, but there you go. We got a little bit of a late start – we were going to get up earlier than we did, but oh well. Breakfast was at about 10:30. We walked up and got Metro cards (and they will have paid for themselves by the time we leave) and then took the subway downtown. We actually changed our minds about three times ON the train, and ended up going to the Brooklyn Bridge first. We walked up to the first pylon and then back. Yes, I took lots of pictures - link here. I took pics of stuff I didn't know about until later - like the one of the Woolworth Building (used to be the tallest building in the world until the Chrysler Building o'ertopped it) and the American International Building (tallest building in downtown Manhattan now that the WTC is gone). Did I mention that it was an absolutely perfect day? I’d say 70 degrees and clear as a bell. W00t! Thank you, Ryan, for suggesting we walk across the Bridge. :)
Next stop, (after changing our minds again – we decided against Washington Square Park) we went on to Battery Park – we didn’t get to see much of the park (I wish we’d had more time – I’d have loved to look at the battlement ruins. Alas.) However! We got right on the ferry – an adventure in and of itself due to the 3 foot swells at the pier (check out this vid and this one too) – and went over to Liberty Island. Lots more pics! OKay, so, I went a little overboard (not literally). I got a great one of the Statue with the torch’s flame blocking the sun – I’m looking now to see if it turned out! (It did! I’ll link it here) Next stop of the ferry was Ellis Island. We rented the audio sets and did the tour – if you get a chance to go to NYC, this is the one thing that you should not miss. It was an amazing feeling, standing in the Great Hall of the main building and realizing that millions of immigrants went thru that same place. We even sat on original benches from the early part of the twentieth century. We were there for about an hour (we had to come back uptown to change and get the theatre tickets) so we did the tour quickly. Took pictures of the Manhattan skyline, the NJ shore, the building, everything. At least till the battery died on the camera. (ETA: Make sure to read the captions on the pictures - I detailed what we were looking at on each one.)
We got back to D’s Mom’s about 6ish – great considering it was rush hour, and we had to come some distance. We’d intending on sort of eating our way across the city – turned out that we mostly drank water across the city instead. Strawberry drink from Papaya King is yum and was very nice on the parched tissues.
Changed clothes, grabbed tix, and back out we went. We took the subway to 42nd, (which ended up being 40th, for some reason) and I got my first view of Times Square. People EVERYWHERE. The billboards go STORIES up the sides of the buildings. Wow. We did stop for “real NY pizza” – we’d last eaten at breakfast, remember – and then onto the show. The Broadhurst is a half of a block off of Broadway, and is next to the Shubert, which was showing Joe’s fav play – Spamalot! We got seated about 15-20 minutes before curtain. There WAS no curtain, but you know what I mean.
The sets are minimalistic, with a polygon-shaped step-up platform with 4 large blocks. You can actually see the setup in the WSJ video review - the footage they show is from the very beginning of the play, and nother spot later. Around the stage are life-sized wire horse heads, hanging on wooden doors. The ‘stage’ seating was almost like balcony seating, except it was facing the audience. We were about 40 feet from the stage.
The play was incredible. The ‘horses’ were very well-built men with chestnut pants and sheer form-fitting shirts, the large wire-form horse heads, and what appeared to be platform shoes – about 8-10 inches high and with horseshoe bases. Richard Griffiths was funny and thought-provoking at intervals, Kate Mulgrew played the Magistrate who brings Alan Strang to Dysart, and Dan, well, Dan was amazing. I had to laugh at one point – Dysart refers to the patients he sees as ‘freaks’ and then sees Alan for an appointment. Sounds like Uncle Vernon! The large blocks were used at times as a desk, chairs, beds, living room furniture, and hay bales. The lighting was very dramatic, the use of fog really created an atmosphere of dreams, and finally the nude scene was very well done, very tastefully done. I really need to sit and detail out how I felt about the play…there were places that there was laughter from the audience that I thought was rather odd, as the implications of the comments were serious. More on that later.
Sardi’s – salmon and swordfish. YUM. More tomorrow AM – the laptop battery is dying!
Well, we’re here in New York! The plane took off about an hour late, but we had clear skies all the way into LaGuardia. We flew in on a different route – we were within sight of the northern shore of Lake Erie for a good distance (it's weird being able to see across the whole lake...) – and then I was lucky enough to be on the correct side of the plane to get an absolutely wonderful view of downtown and midtown Manhattan at night. Everything was lit up. Amazing view. It looked like a wire construct from that height, and I managed to see the Statue of Liberty as well, out in the middle of the harbor.
We took a cab from LGA to D’s mom’s (she lives in the Upper East Side, I think the area is called Yorkville) – after dropping our luggage off, we walked to the Papaya King at 86th and 3rd for real NY hotdogs (according to D) and fruit drinks. YUM! We walked a few blocks up 3rd and then back over to the apartment. I hope the weather holds – it’s NICE outside!!
We’re going to see how much we can squeeze in tomorrow – we are coming back to change before going to the play. Mrs. G saved me a very nice picture and article from the Sept 14th edition of the NYT – I’ll take it into work and see if I can scan the picture in and post it somewhere. Probably on the PFW forum as well as the blog. (ETA: Haven't brought it in yet, but the picture that's on the link is the same one, and it took up most of the top of the front page of the Arts & Leisure section.)
I have purchased several of the Opal HP yarns – three last Saturday and another three Wednesday night. Saturday’s haul was Dumbledore, Ron, and Harry, and Wednesday’s was Draco, Lupin, and Tonks. Nancy still had all the colors, but she was down to 1 ball in a couple colorways. I brought Ron with me, as well as the pattern for the Lombard Street socks. D likes the Comfort Sox yarn, and now wants Twinkles as short-cuffed socks. :) (ETA: I have reviewed the above Opal yarns in a previous post.)
Yes, I'm still alive and kicking. No, I'm not ready to post my 'notes' yet!
I've had a lot go on in the last three weeks - bought yarn, had some time off work, and oh, yeah, went to New York and walked my feet off! I didn't have internet access while I was there, so I did a journal - which is almot 8 Word pages long and is still not completed. I'll post, I promise.
Here's a tidbit:
I liked the blurb about it:
'Equus' Revival Impresses 9/25/2008 WSJ's theater critic Terry Teachout says the new Broadway revival of "Equus" --starring Daniel Radcliffe, of Harry Potter fame -- is an impressive production and a "near ideal" revival of the play. (Sept. 26)
Amazing play. Really really.
Yarn reviews, journal notes, and links to NYC pics (I took almost 300!!) are coming soon. Patience, grasshoppah.
Cheers!
ETA: Have I mentioned I love XKCD? His disclaimer:
Warning: this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors).
2 50g balls Berroco "Crystal FX" (100% nylon) in #4710 Mica (silver and glitter)
2 50g balls Berroco "Crystal FX" (100% nylon) in #4706 Carbon (deep midnight blue and glitter)
1 100g skein Reynolds Yarn "Blizzard" superbulky (65% alpaca, 35% acrylic) in colorway #673 Camel (beige). Was used for the Small Cabled Purse designed by Susan.
1 3.5oz skein Premier Yarns "Angel Self Shading" (100% acrylic) in colorway #63-207 Baby Daisy (white, green, yellow twist)
1 3.5oz skein Premier Yarns "Angel Self Shading" (100% acrylic) in colorway #63-205 Blue River (teal, white, sky blue, aqua twist)
1 3.5oz skein Premier Yarns "Angel Self Shading" (100% acrylic) in colorway #63-202 Pink Dream (pink, white twist)
1 3.5oz skein Premier Yarns "Angel Self Shading" (100% acrylic) in colorway #63-201 Peach Candy (peach, purple, pink, white twist)
1 4oz skein Lion Brand "Baby Soft" (60% acrylic, 40% nylon) in colorway #217 Candy Print (white with pink, green, and yellow flecks)
The Baby Dream is already in use - as BSJ #5. Sigh. I don't know what's wrong with me...these little sweaters are addictive. Looks like Jen may be getting more than 1 baby sweater!
Weaving Dept had their Back-To-School Sale (ergo, me buying yarn) and I made the Small Cabled Purse out of the skein of Blizzard during the sale.
Finally, in Opal news, Nancy called the distributor to make sure that WB wasn't making them delay the HP yarn. The verdict? Opal is shipping the HP yarns as scheduled. Nancy told me she'd call me as soon as they were in! W00t! Can't wait!
A viral vid off YouTube this week:
Ninja Cat!
Mwhaa!
Pluto and I had an adventure this week. Okay, he had an adventure, and I was a wreck. Sunday night, Plu started acting as if he'd hurt something, not getting up when called, levering himself off the floor and gingerly sitting. First, I figured he was - well, not pottying. Nope. Everything that was going in was coming out as usual. The lethargy lasted all day Monday and into Tuesday. By lunchtime on Tuesday, I was very worried, and so made an appointment to see the vet early the next morning. So. We visit! Decided on x-ray to make sure he didn't break/fracture anything. Guess who had a bad reaction to the anesthetic? Sigh.
I missed the whole day on Wednesday, they didn't find anything, and he's back to normal. Meh.
The Cardinals aren't going to the playoffs, and color me shocked. They were officially eliminated during the 7th inning of tonight's game against the Diamondbacks (gasp, we won). The last 4 weeks have been abysmal, so I'm not the least bit surprised. Ah, well, there's next year.
At least the baseball guys aren't doing as badly as the football guys. i'm not sure the Rams are actually a pro team. We're 0-3 and let's go for 0-16! W00t! Bleh. It's so bad that Bulger has been benched - Green will start this weekend. We'll have to see how it goes.
On the other hand, the Missouri Tigers are ranked #6 in the country (down from #5 last week) and start conference play this weekend. Go Tigers!!! They're 4-0, and the Mizzou-Nebraska game will be on ESPN on Saturday. Football night!
I took some pics of the local damage caused by the 5 inches of rain we got in 3 hours last Sunday (Sept 14th). It was kind of strange, seeing preparations for the storm. I think the biggest thing were the boom cranes - I see 5 of them on the way to work every day (a pair at Edward Jones in Des Peres, another pair at St. John's Mercy at I-270 and I-64, and a single one at the Edward Jones project at Dorsett) and they were all pointed northeast. It was just really weird!! I put all my lawn furniture into the storage shed and made sure all the windows were closed and locked. When I went to bed at 3AM Sunday morning, the leading edge of the rain was about 20 miles away - but there was absolutely no wind here. It was very strange! I went to bed, and slept thru the whole thing. I woke up a little at 7 AM to the rain hitting the windows in my bedroom - which are under 4 foot deep eaves - and promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. Lindbergh flooded, the 24-hour Walgreens had several feet of water inside, the park across the creek was 4 FEET deep in water. Unbelievable. Locally, three people died; one was killed by a falling tree, and two others were swept away while trying to move their cars. The Pirate Fest was closed for the day due to the parking lot swamp. All in all, we fared a heck of a better than Texas, but Ike really walloped people as far north as Cleveland. Amazing. I took pictures of some of the mud left after the park drained, and you can go look at them here.
Lastly for today - but waay not least - D called to make sure that the tickets for Equus were for Friday because....drum roll...her mom is taking us to see Billy Elliott on Saturday! W00t!! Elton John songs! omg! I am SO looking forward to this trip, I can't tell you.
Now I just have to figure out how to cram 4 days worth of clothes into a 21" rolling carry-on. Yikes.
Whoops, been a few days here. Look! it's not 1 AM!
Let's see. I got my Wollmeise (!!), worked a lot, slept a little, and edited audio. Yeah, that about sum up my week!
Let's start with the goodies:
1 150g hank of Wollmeise "Sock" (100% superwash wool) in colorway Wilder Mohn (poppy red and pinks). The photo does not do it justice - the red is a deep, rich, almost lipstick red (think Elmo!) and I can't wait to knit it. Figuring out the pattern will be the tricky part!
That, dear readers, was the only yarn I've purchased lately. I've been good! (and now that I've said that, I'll probably buy more tomorrow.)
I've been working on the the BSJ for Jen - on the buttonhole band now. She's due in February, so I have lots and lots of time. The Giggles Ombre is BRIGHT! Woof. Lots of orange and green. I think I might put duckie buttons on it. Hmmm.
Gave Tam the Shadows shrug I finished about 2 years ago - finally got around to weaving in all the ends and washing it. The weather was cool for the first time in a long time yesterday, and so it was appropriate!
I've been reading fanfic (surprise!) and ran across one called the After the Flaw Sequence. It's by an guy named Kanedax, and the main list is on his LiveJournal here. I like it - it was on the 61 fic nomination list (!!) for PFW, and I hadn't read it, so I checked it out. It's a fill in for Deathly Hallows between the end of Chapter 36 and the Epilogue. Read it!
Speaking of fic noms - I know that there are like, tons of people who want to review the next Dangerverse book, but please. There are a lot of other stories out there that aren't Dangerverse, and we've already DONE the first story. Can we move on? *sigh*
I also discovered (thank you, Wayne and NotACat) that Yellow Submarine was also on ff.net and SIYE as Here Comes The Sun, and has more parts posted in those two locations than on LJ. Another good one, but contains implied sexual violence.
Equus opened last night on Broadway - this was the preview, official opening is on the 25th - and Leaky had a review posted in the comments of the announcement this morning. I thought it was interesting to read that the on-stage seating is actually 11 FEET above the stage, so as to get out of the actors' line of sight. Very cool. I'm still glad I got orchestra seating, though. One of the guys here at work still wants me to take a vid cam. *rolls eyes* As if.
I finally made myself sit down and edit more of AtE - the next 2.3 chapters are posted. I'm going to attempt to edit Ch 25 pt 2 today, but I'm not sure how far I'll get. It's one of those monster parts (54+ minutes raw) and so that should take a couple of hours. Posted length for AtE is 24:43:09!! I passed the 24 hour mark! W00t!
I need to record Ch 10 of Battle of Wills, too. Chapters 1-8 of that are here, and I'm waiting for Scott to finish editing Ch 9, since we're already reviewing it.
Nothing else going on - D and I have our plane tickets, and I'm now starting to figure out things to pack. We're not checking any bags, but I have liquid meds that I need to take with me, so I'll have to figure out how to re-package and label them. I can't take anything more than 3 fluid oz in carry-on luggage, and the bottle is a 16 oz. Maybe I'll call Walgreens and see what they have to say - it's a prescription, after all.
I'm doing another BSJ for an unofficial entry into the Ravelympics! I did finish the knitting on the first one - it's a little bigger than I thought it was going to be, so the Ravelympic one is on smaller needles. Some pics, hosted on Flickr:
(the amoeba)
(front)
(back)
Teh Drunken Sue likes the colorway - I forgot to get buttons yesterday, so that's on the list for tomorrow's errands.
I've been reading a few works-in-progress that are noteworthy - one is twisting my brain into ribbons, and the other is a fairly realistic post-war fanfic:
Phantom Limb by rbackwards2 is at 13 chapters and just over 71K words. It's a very interesting story, but you really have to read it - and I mean every word - without distraction. You will not stay in the story if you are interrupted. Trust me.
The second one is Shut and Be A Bud Again by MinistryMalcontent and is at only 6 chapters, but nearly 90K words. The author's synopsis is "Voldemort is gone, but the aftereffects of the War linger. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione all must deal with the toll, and confront the consequences of their actions. Only one thing is certain: things will never be the way they were before." It's really good.
Alli and I are sort of watching the Olympics together - it is really hard to talk to someone about what I'm seeing when she sees it 3 hours later. Gaaah! The best thing IMHO so far? This. The US Mens Swimming Team won GOLD in the 4x100 free relay on Monday - new world record (broke the old one by 4 seconds!!) and beat France for the medal by .08 seconds. It was amazing. The French team was trash-talking - and they got pwned. Wow. (Edit: Here's the link for the NBC site - they have the relay video up!
The only big thing I did this week was that I went on my tech ridealong - Tim was great, it was 98F, we only went on three calls. First one was a failed telephone install (fixed, talked to the subscriber about home networking, got all their computers online), second one was a flapping modem (residential and business installers apparently messed each other up a bit), and the third was a bad underground drop. It was a very interesting day, I talked to the subscribers about their services and how to keep themselves online. I was wiped by the time we got back, but it was a lot of fun.
Scott, Dan and I are still working on the audio of Battle of Wills. The guys have been busy, so I have had several parts in a row. Lots to go! We're finished with 7 of the 51 parts. 3:46:34 done so far, and that's only 7 parts. Woof. No progress on AtE - I've been slacking off a bit. Time to get back into it!
PK and Ash are back from WI - Ash starts high school tomorrow (ack!). I hadn't seen PK for about 2 weeks so me and the pooch went over and visited. She and I caught up - she still hasn't seen the trailer yet - and while we were talking about the upcoming trip to NY (mainly when she was teasing me about fangrrling), I realized something.
I like Dan Radcliffe, but I don't fangrrl him. I fangrrl Harry.
PK said the same thing about Sarah Michelle Geller and Buffy. I think that's why I am uncomfortable visiting Dan's site, but don't have any qualms at all reading the fanfic sites and the HP sites that WB and Scholastic have up. That actually makes me feel better - I don't feel so much like a perv. LOL!
Well, I think that's all for me. It's really the middle of the night now, and I need sleep!
Took the plunge last night and bought the tickets for Equus!! There was a change in casting - an addition. Kate Mulgrew! w00t! We're going to the Oct 10th show - that's Friday night at 8. I managed to get Right Orchestra, 9 rows from the stage. I'm excited! D has already seen this play (with Leonard Nimoy!) so she's excited for me. ;) Pricey tickets, tho. It's going to take me 4 weeks to have the tickets in hand due to high demand. Wonder why? heee
I stopped at Loopy on the way into work this morning - and now I understand the craziness over Wollmeise. OMG. *fans self* I want this one, and this one and this one. And maybe this one too. She had them THERE, but not for sale. *cries* Maybe someday I'll manage to grab some.
She also had Spirit Trail Fiberworks yarn - oh, yummy colors! Alas, these were also in the 'not for sale' group, but soon!
I did manage to behave and only got a little yarn:
1 4oz hank of Cherry Tree Hill "Summer Sock" (30% merino wool/35% cotton/35% acrylic) in colorway Granite(stone grey) to use with the blue of the same type that I bought from DBNY. The Silver Dollar that I got with the blue is just too dark, and I think this lighter grey will work better.
1 100g hank of The Alpaca Yarn Company "Paca-Peds" (20% alpaca, 65% superwash wool, 15% nylon) in colorway Grapevine (deep green, clay, deep burgundy-purple, black). Yum. One of my co-workers just came by and tried to take off with it so he could pet it all afternoon! The colors on the Loopy site aren't as saturated as they are in hand.
See? I was good. Only 2 pairs...
The End of Term Ball is rolling this weekend, so no other yarn shopping for me. I need to edit more of AtE anyway, and so I'll be doing that.
Spiralling Coriolis Sock #2 is coming along - I'm up to the beginning of the band, and will be working on that while editing, I think. Haven't worked on it except at lunch the past few days.
Hello, I have not gotten lost. As Teh Sue has pointed out to me once a month, I have not posted since the end of March. Been in a bit of a blue funk, and still am, to an extent.
I'm not really going to go into details, but I do want to say I know I've let several people down by not doing what I was supposed to be doing, and that I've rather been hiding from that and from just about everyone in the process. A dearly departed friend of mine would have told me that I'd barricaded myself in my nice little closet, and that it was time to come back out and deal with the real world. Please bear with me over the next little bit while I do so.
I've been visiting the dentist just about every week for the past month or so - I had to have a tooth pulled, and was informed that if I didn't get my gum issue under control, I'd have no teeth in very short order. I just completed the fourth (and final) scaling yesterday, and will be back in about 3 weeks for what is being called a 'periodontal' (no clue) and a polishing. If the gums look better - and right now, they look better than they have in over a year - I'll be taken off the antibiotic and the fillings will begin. Yay. Thank the good lord (and Charter) for great dental insurance.
1 130g ball of Universal Yarns "fibranatura Yummy" (100% superwash wool) in colorway #41359 Seattle Skies (sky blue, ash grey, deep purple). I swear, I had no idea what the name of this color was until just now - and those who know me know I love Seattle!
1 100g ball of South West Trading Company (SWTC) "TOFUtsies" (50% superwash wool, 25% Soysilk, 22.5% cotton, 2.5% Chitin) in colorway #854 Four Leaf TOEver (leaf greens to white). These, I think, may be Nagini socks.
1 100g call of Berroco "Comfort Sox" (50% superfine nylon/50% superfine acrylic) in colorway Stewart Island (muted pine green, rust, orange, burgundy)
1 50g hank of Artyarns "Ultramerino4" (100% handpainted merino) in colorway #136 (very pale yellow, yellow, orange, rust, burgundy, brown, dark lilac). This was an orphan ball, so this will be a pair of anklets. I got it from Chris' Needle Craft in west St. Louis County.
2 100g balls of Plymouth Yarn Co. "Sockotta" (cotton/SW wool/nylon) in colorway #803 (red) for some Cardinals socks.
1 100g ball of Plymouth Yarn Co. "Sockotta" (cotton/SW wool/nylon) in colorway #30 Country Garden (blue, green, yellow, pink, orange).
1 4oz hank of Cherry Tree Hill "Summer Sock" (30% merino wool/35% cotton/35% acrylic) in colorway Silver Dollar (charcoal grey). Will be used with the next hank for striped socks in Ravenclaw colors.
1 4 oz hank of Cherry Tree Hill "Summer Sock" (see above) in colorway Little Boy Blue (royal blue).
Speaking of "Nagini" socks, the widower of the designer of these socks (Monkey Toes) has very graciously allowed upload of the patterns for her socks onto Ravelry.
I've been working on a pair of Monkeys (Cookie A's pattern) with the Gypsy Girls Creations yarn. I really like the yarn - very sturdy. I frogged it three times before I got a sock that I liked and that would fit! I first tried the Nagini pattern with the yarn - couldn't see the scale effect (needs to be a semi-solid or a solid yarn). Then I tried another one, but by the time I got to the end of the ribbing had decided to do Monkeys instead.
Cast on with US3s (pattern calls for US2s), knit down and turned the heel. Tried leg on for size. Sock = narrow leg. Me = fat leg. Rrrip. Cast on with US5s, and now they fit. I'm just to the heel flap on the second sock. I modified the heel to the eye of partridge stitch, which I rather like with this yarn. For some reason I can't seem to insert a pic, so I'll see if I can edit this from home and insert it there. There are shots of the yarn, Sock #1 before frogging, and Sock #1 Redux posted in my projects page on Ravelry.
I did go to the Stitch 'N Pitch here the end of May - sat next to Susan (eeeek! she took pics of me!) who apparently now thinks I know everything about the Cardinals. Useless Info! I'm tellin' ya, I'm full of it. We had a good time - great weather and Yes, we did win the game. I hope we get as lucky next year!
More of After the End has been posted on my site and is available there or by subscription via podcatcher - link on the right sidebar.
I'm working on organizing the trip to NY in October to see Dan Radcliffe in Equus on Broadway. It's looking like it'll be the second or third weekend of October, and we're aiming for the Friday matinee. That will give us all day Saturday to see some of NYC, since I've never been there before. Dan and Richard Griffiths presented the Tony for Best Play on Sunday, and it was amusing! You can see it here, and a short red carpet interview with Dan is here.
