these days of leiderhosen

For Slathering David Tennant Fans

2011-07-28T07:20:00.001-07:00

He makes a good excuse for pale Scottish comedians in eyeliner and nail polish. The set dressing looks like it was fun to put together. Not that that's a very particular fetish.

60 pictures of couples married in NYC

Thursday Thought Dump/

2011-07-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Random thoughts:

A word I often think in Berkeley, but would never/ever say: Hag!
The Magnum Double Caramel Bar is waaaaaay too sweet.
Too sweet to the point of being inedible: McDonalds' Sweet Tea. Before my first mouthful I had never spat out anything in the street, in public. Oh, awful.
I love my new bed. Love, love, love.

Links to look into later.

The Steven rented Source Code last week. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jeffrey Wright, the lovely Vera Farmiga. I did not even remember it hitting the theaters or hearing anything about it.

We ditched the cable outside of basic about eight months ago when money started getting tight and have been Netflixing/Amazon Download/Hulu-ing our media lately. Other than my one click of Jon Stewart Fix, I'm not missing it much. (Call me when The Kardashians/Hiltons and Housewives fall out of programming.)

I'd actually add this to the growing list of Zen movies. For those who have their suspicions about self, time and being

Groundhog Day
Being There
Fight Club

Some say the first two Matrix movies, but I fail to see it. I actually rather eat glass than watch Keaneau Reeves "act".

At no time does Jake flash his amazing six-pack abs. Which is fine. I was busy oggling Vera.

My beautiful landlords have adopted two small black kittens. Both gents are frequent Facebookers so I reckon we'll have kitten TV soon as well.

Speaking of Kittens:
Finoula is massive now, completely at odds with our expectations. Otis is a sleek wire of electricity. He begs.

Lipstick: MAC - 'Till Tomorrow (This is the workday default.) I have been wearing another MAC red I like.
Perfume: CB I Hate Perfume Russian Caravan Tea
Polish: None. Still got some weekend garden gunge worked into cracks in my palms. This does not convey sophistication.

Damn, Allan Rickman is sexy.

2011-07-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Nom!

2011-07-08T14:56:00.001-07:00

Oh, plums!
Not one but TWO co-workers presented me with plums from their garden. One set was huge and round and black and tasty. The other were red and fragrant and with tart skin.
Nom!

It's been a while.

2011-07-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

Ma's just turned 70 and has -surprise!- just come down with Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Oh, lucky, lucky us. I think everyone has been told. We are now taking a moment to adjust to our new reality.

Work is not going well. "Histrionic" has been used to describe one of my new management and any moment now, the movers will be here to ship my stuff (2 file boxes) and all the project stuff I work on (30+ boxes) out to a remote location where 30 minutes will be added to my commute everyday.

I will be out of contact with some very civilized people I've become very fond of in this building. The new place will have very few places to escape to and a whole lot more fluorescent lighting which can be downright soul-sucking.

So what do I do?
- Stay with this position, (becoming poorer by the month) because it may allow me enough flexibility to help Ma out when she needs it?
- Go find some other gig that will pay better, but may object to my other commitments?

Notes for me to read later: MDS .

Fitzbo Appreciation Society

2011-03-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

I'm putting this here so I can watch it again and again.

Wicked, wicked silly.

Another Beautiful Animation Not to be Missed.

2011-02-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

Jim Carrey is The Black Swan

2011-01-09T10:22:00.001-08:00

Horsemeat

2011-01-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

There, apparently, is a huge debate going on the use of horsemeat in the human food chain. I’ve eaten horse meat and it’s rather tasty.

I always loved Jeffrey Steingartens’ response a few years ago to some angry flack he received from Vogue readers when he mentioned the use of horse fat in cooking France. I’m going to quote it directly as I found it an astonishing response.:

From Jeffrey Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything.
‘When this article appeared, an avid horsewoman organized a campaign against Vogue for verbal cruelty to horses. Vogue mollified her by publishing, unedited, a letter abusing the author.

I replied “ The United States is the largest horse-meat exporter in the world (as many as 400,000 animals a year are sent to slaughter) because it has the largest recreational horse population. These animals become ‘surplus’ when horse lovers unnecessarily breed their pets, owners sell their racehorse after only a few years, and recreational riders trade up. Slaughter and export become inevitable when this surplus drives down the resale prices below about $600 an animal. The object of Ms. __’s rage should be the inhumane practices of a good part of the horse-slaughtering industry. And the unwillingness of most horse owners to care for their discarded pets until they die a natural death.”’

Damn Good Voice

2011-01-05T08:57:00.001-08:00

Felicia Day is totally the Pajamas

2010-12-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

...as I wave my little Whedon geek flag.

Read Aloud to Me...

2010-12-16T19:29:00.000-08:00

...and enslave me forever. There is nothing nicer.

A short bounce from the luminous and delicious Heather Ordover's wonderful podcast CraftLit I found a selection of Glen Hallstom's Librivox recordings on Librivox.org.

His Dickens' Christmas Carol (v. 2.) is not to be missed. It is amazing and one of the best reading I've heard yet. A deep, expressive British voice.

And Librivox.org?" Free recorded public domain books. Free. Is the Internet a lovely place?

They even have the Memoirs of Giacomo Casanova, which I did not know they had translated yet! Amazing.

Friday.

2010-12-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

Today, both triumphant and fed up, I finished up 60% of my work for the month. I believe I have stuffed as many numbers in to boxes that I can.

Later on this evening I found that last month's check was short 25% and this month 35%. This is being investigated.

On to discuss nicer things:

I love my new office mate Gayle. She's all mine for another 2 weeks until I am shipped out to the Boondocks of University Land.
WNYC's Radiolab has been in hot rotation on the ipod. If you haven't heard it, it is fabulous. The show "Ooops!" might be my favorite so far.
It's Friday, damn it. Soba noodles and spicy tuna rolls for dinner.

And now for your viewing pleasure: Footage from a High Speed Moving Train.

I think it's awesome.

Go, Patti.

2010-11-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

I've hooted previously about Patti Smith's biography Just Kids. She won the non-fiction National Book Award and read aloud at the Award ceremony. You can find some of the audio here: Patti loses her change in an Automat and faces off with Allen Ginsberg, my favorite part of the book.

Tyke Tossing

2010-11-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Last night was Mum's 69th birthday. We had a glorious California evening of bocce ball, wine and food and it was great fun. (Bocce is definitely the sport of codgers: low, slow and close to the ground seems to be what it is all about.)

The Niece is now a glorious two, the only child in a forest of grown ups. I think she is rather swell, even if she needs to be reintroduced to me every time before warming completely and dragging me everywhere.

We have a new game: jumping. T. stands in front facing out into her adoring public, crouches and springs and I throw her the rest of the way up above my head. We allow gravity to help us out on the way down. The years of benchwarming and spectating partnerwork at the Pretentiousville Ballet Academy have finally paid off.

The old Dance Master had spent his youth and performing life with Balanchine and was overly fond of the big ugly squatty pre-jump pliés that make even the most limber and elegant body look like a grenade explosion waiting to happen. (And I may always hate the old hag for not telling me earlier that my legs were just too short for the sport.)

It always struck me that the male dancers had all the fun, completely defying time and gravity, getting all the height and power in soaring feet above the floor. And it must be said that male dancers have lovely behinds, the longest careers and are given only the kindest of criticism. To say nothing of those fucking awful pink shoes.

My aim in life has switched from longing to be a cygnet or stupid princess (or other role that I do not fit and would not make with the happy) to being the most enthusiastic stage-hand, a basic mechanism to throw the sunshine about the room, a lifter and hauler of toddlers. Flying may be beyond me now, but it's not for her and that's just as good.

Life is so sweet when it's not driving me mad.

PS: Awesome hair knot things. Wish I could play with wood like this.

Voices in A Knitter's Head

2010-11-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

You absolutely must go visit Franklin at the Panopticon and see his animation of the intense knitted relationship between the Queen, Albert Einstein. It defies explanation and it delights me thoroughly. Hilarious.
--------
This Exceedingly Tiresome University still screams budget deficit at every opportunity and it seems that the only ones who end up paying are the students (30% increase in tuition, more enrollment leaning to the higher paying Out of State Applicants) and Staff. Faculty, the Regents and the football coaches are still well padded in their compensation and there always seems to b e a certain amount of ...flexibility.

This morning's UC News Flash has declared: "Enrollment for Benefits! You have Choices to Make and Action to Take!" I am still trying my damnedest to be grateful for any benefits coverage at all, but the new negotiated changes are going to cost me another $130 a month that I just cannot afford, plus the loss of the medical group I participate in. In April, 4% of my pay will be heading towards the payment of current retirees health benefits. Try explaining that to Research Sponsors!

I very much don't have a choice, other than planning on eating toast and peanut butter for the rest of my working days here. I know I should not whine and I know people are much worse off than me, but goddamnit all... I just can't face it.

Oh, hell. I'm going back to give the Panopticon another look. Some days I just wonder. Meanwhile:

(My ball! My Ball! Mine!!!)

Now that I can think again.

2010-10-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

Awesome Amazon List:The Urban Zombie Survival List (I've always wanted my own grappling hook!)

Current Fiber Obsession: Lime Green Jelly of St. Leonard's On the Sea (South Coast of England). No matter how delicious her colors look, I can vouch for them being even prettier in person. The baby camel/silk combination is to die for.

Listening to: Johnny Depp read Keith Richards new autobiography "Life". Awesome.

What the WHAT?!

2010-10-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

8,000 handknit free scarves needed for SuperBowl Volunteers.

Horrors.
I've just sent an unnecessary post card to these people.
" You must be kidding. I'll put this in my knitting queue... right behind every premature infant, the low income families in need, the homeless (domestic and international), the chemo patients and... every child for the next twenty years in the Oakland and San Francisco Childrens' Hospitals.
In a word: No. "

The Indianapolis and NFL wants my labor and yarn? Gah...

Alec Baldwin's a comic genius.

2010-10-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

If you missed the last National Public Radio pledge drive, you missed Alec Balwin's genius pledge drive promos.

Waiting for the rap versions? I know you are.

Not Advisable, but Mighty Cute.

2010-10-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

2010-09-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

2010-09-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

Strange? Disturbing? SUDDENLY REVISED

2010-08-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

Cancel, cancel, explain, call, close, please hold, reopen, cancel, hold!, revive, reopen, repeat.

This feels like it shall never, ever end. I don't think I am going to be able to replace that phone. Damn. It was pretty. Fuck. Being robbed feels like it never ends.

This afternoon the Fourth Inner Ring of Hell (otherwise know as the California DMV) had a wait time of 3 hours, 45 minutes when I finally gave up on getting a driver's license copy and handed my number (g256) over to the beautiful old gentleman next to me and dashed for the exit. There were 400 people in that room and none of them happy. None of this tableau is an exaggeration.

The presses have been stopped.

--What formerly appeared in this space was a bit on my personal experience with violence and what I actually got out of it. Writing one's personal thoughts on the rare experience of being one's own defender is apparently inflammatory and still not thought appropriate in this society.

I have removed this content ONLY because right at this very moment I am not feeling patient or "dolphin-free-tuna-woman" together enough to defend my own drivel which people are reading of their own volition. Those who don't feel that victims can take something useful from bad experience and then act in their own defense should go read Family Circus. (You know where it is: the circle in the left hand corner of the comic page, just waiting to suck.)

This is my soapbox. You want to flame me this week about the content? This isn't the week.--

On the other hand, the mere mention of physical aggression can be enough to send unprepared people into their own dark thoughts and memories and it just all goes downhill from there.
For that, I am truly sorry.

Serious Knitting Addicts Only

2010-08-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

As much as I hate to do this, I'm putting my nearly new copy of Alice and Jade Starmore's Tudor Roses up on Ebay. I'll happily ship free within the USA and defray a bit to other places. This one of those out-of-print delicious books that knitters seem to go a little insane for. And I'd like to forward on the insanity, for a price.

Spread the word: I have transit passes and cell phone to replace. As great as this book is, it doesn't make phone calls.
Thank you.

Alice Starmore's Tudor Roses Book on Ebay

For all you other non-knitters, I'm not yet ready to put the various Steinbeck and Capote first editions up yet. Thanks for putting up with me. I hate commercials too.

Thanks to everyone who called, emailed, and facebooked me. I love you all.

Well, Fuck.

2010-08-26T23:46:00.000-07:00

I got mugged in a nicer part of town than my own after knitting group. I am not hurt (other than re-twisting an ankle trying to chase the bum down. Do not ever ever run in clogs. Should not have been carrying a 50 pound knitting bag either. Or I should have handed that one over instead.) but am cashless cardless keyless bus/BARTpassless librarycardless phoneless id-less and really really pissed off.

Yelling really loudly helped at the time. I had a dozen nice people around me and calling the very nice cops and getting water and handing me dogs to cuddle. They'll never catch the bastard and I'm aware of that. It's just the way it is.

Like most everybody else I live paycheck to paycheck and at the end of the month when I am really paying attention to the last trickle I have to use, I get tense. Now some asshat has relieved me of that trickle and the last photo id that doesn't make me look like a complete aging old hag. And my cute new phone, just when I got the layout right. Tense just got a new definition. Sweet mother of fuck.

Now I want to yell again and I don't know what for.
I am not looking forward to tomorrow.

Naughty Otis with Funky Carolina Roving in sunshine.

2010-08-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

Kitty Picture: Finn

2010-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

It's Friday. You Need a Puppy

2010-08-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

On the way to work

2010-08-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Good Thing, Too.

2010-08-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

Somewhere between therapy and the liquor store yesterday, I lost my knitting bag.

It wouldn’t be so bad, except that:

the beta urchin hat I’d restarted three times was four rows away from finished
The handspun I was using I was rather proud of (and I can’t identify it to get a replacement
All of this was on my slick Options #8
I have three meetings today and without something to knit it was going to be bloodbath.

So I rush back to retrace my steps like a good second grader and there, hanging from a tree and tied in a bow is my unmolested bag set right out for me to find.

I get really get fed up with this particular self-involved state and have said many bad things about it. And yesterday some anonymous someone does something so perfectly decent that I have to eat my words slowly and painfully.

As Lazy/Stupid/Godless as I proudly am, I am glad someone else is not.

If you’ve got some thanks stuck in your craw that needs to be spit out, now’s the opportunity. We’ll get around to the random curses later.

Break Up

2010-08-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

I think it could be time. You can yammer all ya want about how 10% of Americans are out of work and how lucky/funded I should feel, but I am not feeling self-congratulatory and I sure ain't happy.

How I stumbled face-first into a career of stuffing little numbers into boxes is still a mystery, but it started with being someone's Admin with a crap manager screaming into my face for no good reason in a locked stairwell. I wanted out of the trapped place and away from someone whose idea of work was to make other people feel small and to the next office I stalked and demanded that whoever it was in charge give me a shot at whatever it was they were doing. If it was bricklaying, I wanted in.

The Steven's right: I'm not here for the work, I'm here to use the spoils of work to practice creativity and make stuff. By "here" I mean HERE: occupying this space in this body at this time.

I have found a lot of reasons not be HERE (aside from a loving Ma and antidepressants) but making stuff and joyous messes has proven to be my purpose. I am not overly engaged in life and playing this scenario out in the typical fashion, but there's always something that needs to be messed with, spun, fixed, cleaned.

"Work" I like. Mum and Da raised me with a significant ethic that has suited me well. If there were chillun to be raised and a house to be paid for, I might feel differently but this is the unaffordable California and the awareness of what a lousy parent I'd be has pulled up reproduction short.

I think it's time for me to break up with the University. It's entirely failed to provide on it's promises and still feels entitled to kick some dedicated staff on the way out the door. If this was a bloke, I'd have burnt his clothes and told him to shove off with someone else. Maybe it's time.

Mlle. Joan of Arc occasionally appears under the desk, in the monitor dust, in a lace pattern. (Who doesn't weakness for a chick in armor.) The vision freely clocks one across the skull with are her supposed words prior to the battle of Siege d'Orleans: "I am not afraid. I am meant to do this." What does it mean? Dunno, but I may be looking around for something that makes sense or something to throw.

Just saying.

Lighter Notes:.

Amazing sugarcraft found this morning on Etsy. As far as materials go, anything sugar is damned trick. These entries are very expensive, but they seemed to have mastered their craft.

Thank you, Mr. Olbermann.

2010-08-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Really. Thanks.
Mme.

More lists.

2010-08-03T08:43:00.000-07:00

Reading: Trying to finish Patti Smith's memoir. Love it, but I've been distracted by the shiny and wooly.

Listening to: Marie Irshad on her brilliant podcast Knitcast.

Toes: dark red again. Boring! Ma and I went for a cheap super-deluxe pedicure on our bi-weekly date. The aggressively thorough massage chair got at least third base with me as two very nice sisters rubbed our legs for the best part of an hour. It was the best part of an hour.

Despite Ma's intention to have any polish other than orange, the polish she picked ("bronze") did turn out rather sparkly disco orange. I ordered up a pair of painted yellow flowers on her big toes. Her toenails could not be further than her modest personality. I am sure she sits in Mass this morning, slightly disturbed by the flashiness of what's in her shoes.

Since payday has come and gone: my indulgences this month

A new cologne called Contemplation by Tokyomilk. It smell more of cedarwood, thyme and sparkle than anything else. The Steven hates most fragrance, so this smell has been banished to my ankles. Why is the most indulged part of myself below my knees?
A pair of earrings from Sous La Mansarde. Very wacky and still french. Colorful.Isn't the word "bijoux" delicious?
A backup pair of barely-used Frye harness boots off ebay for $25.00. Men's size seven. I now need to search for a replacement pair of black cowboy boots. The only heels I can navigate in are boots, usually men's. Stomp, stomp, stomp.
A new pair of prescription sunglasses. The UC may suck in so many ways, but I will say the eye care part of the benefits is mighty generous. The style is the classic black Wayfarer frame. The Steven says I look like Huey Lewis.
And that'll be it for luxuries for this month and a good long while.

Losing my mind.

2010-08-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

Honestly, I have no idea how much more of the new Flaming Liberal Campus Financial System I can take.

To make a long story short, For the All Holy Day of Fiscal Year End, I happily put my project house in order. All the numbers were wrapped in pink pre-warmed tissue, snug in their little boxes. This was June 30.

On July 1 8 AM, the house was not only on fire but swatted by a tsunami and shivered to the ground by a massive seismic event. The some of numbers were found shivering and soggy in the gutters, others have run off, a few decided to become cowboys and the other 50 million are MIA. No amount of tissue can repair this catastrophic fuckup.

Beloved Sarah Sets Off on Her Journey

2010-07-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Roots: A Journey of Sarah.

For all of us stuck behind a desk, wincing under a terminal case of wanderlust; my beloved and beautiful Sister (in-law) Sarah now sets off to discover the parts of Eastern Europe her family cottons from. She is a fearless and excellent writer.

She has promised this is one of her tasks before she moves her tuckus to settle in this corner of the US. It's a very good thing.

Austen Meets Fight Club

2010-07-25T14:11:00.001-07:00

Oh God, Yes. Just one more

2010-07-23T17:37:00.001-07:00

Lay Off.

2010-07-23T08:32:00.001-07:00

Today, in my selfish little work world, at least one person will be laid off from my work group.

It's no a surprise but unfortunately will be done in an alarmist way I do not approve off. Although no one I know from work reads this blog, I'm checking myself into the Blogger confessional now with an act of State of California Act of Contrition and proceeding:

What I know:

The person will have worked at the group longer than I have and will be more committed to the project than I am.
This person, although currently unknown to me, will be of my gender but most likely a different race. These sickening biases are pretty blatant even here at Flaming Liberal Central and at this day in age.
This will be someone that I like and have respected for some time.
Although I have done everything I can to prevent this, I will still feel horrible and responsible for this act. The fact that this is occurring is proof that no one of authority values or reviews the information I provide. It was preventable but the hubris and the blindfolds of faculty entitlement have come to this damaging conclusion.
My job will be all the more difficult without this person. I will be less happy to be here.
Although they will find a better position with better people, they will be heartbroken and stunned.
In a small way, I still hope it'll be me.

I reckon I won't be worth much after this big all staff meeting, so this afternoon I'll wander back to the office by way of the pub and have a quiet pint and fries and wallow a bit more in this puddle of guilt. (God knows, nothing's staying down now.) Should you feel the need yourself for a beer this afternoon and can spend five minutes telling me old stupid jokes in the Land the Work Forgot, I'd be mighty pleased to see you.

Because I can't resist Ze Frank

2010-07-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

Flarfing along.

2010-07-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

I managed to crush in a cheap manicure between a marathon of meetings and therapy. It’s my favorite kind, which I am renaming the Lizbeth Salandar: short, square, black. And already a bit dinged. That’d be the great thing about black polish: the more dinged up it gets the more one can embrace the ruined aspect. Like good heavy, black boots.

Unaccountably down these last few days. I expect it has been because I seem to be not nearly having as much fun as Michael M. No matter: in two months I’ll be at the ocean in my favorite tub with a big stack of books.

The tomatoes have started producing, although none large enough to fry. If I was Miss Olive, I’d be pickling them with huge bouquets of dill and my descendants would want to write epic poems about them. Or at least dirty limericks.

We had sautéed peaches for dessert, unctuous and rosy and moan-ably good. Tomorrow? Clafoutis!

If my therapist can’t get her Ipod Touch up and going, we are going to meet up at her house and I am setting her up. A girl needs her gear, damn it.

Alex, Esme and I have our first double date arranged: Alisha June is coming over this weekend for an afternoon of beers and a big heap of merino. If there’s no bad and weird yarn spun by the end of it, I will have utterly failed.

The kittens are growing although Otis is very heavy and now twice the size of Finn. Otis is infatuated with his long piece of polarfleece on a stick while Finn will happily drag sticks of butter all over the house. Otis is bouncing off the keyboard as I write this.

Yesterday's visual at Alc. and College: Young black man with dreads and a lovely fro wearing the following:

wire rimmed glasses
blue ironed and opened oxford shirt w/tee shirt
white lace-up shoes and walking shorts with belt

and

a silk rep stripe tie, worn around his head Jimi Hendrix style
matching socks.

It was impressive.

Work has been a complete crap-fest, but vacation is scheduled and I can't say I'm not comfortable when I'm home (a vacation in itself).

Mark Salling sings about working on Glee

2010-07-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Now, wasn't that sweet? Christ in Board Shorts, I am having a hard time waiting for Glee to come back on the air. If I were to write a song about my work, it would sound like nails down the chalkboard and the language would be none too clean. I'm glad someone is delighted with their job.

You know all those doilies that hung over everything in Gran's house? Here's the source:

Coming soon: The new Iphone (better photos)
This weekend's accomplishments all fueled by Arnold Palmers: Midnight mopping, 3/4 of a sock with a new style heel, two loaves whole wheat bread, Alex is up and running surprisingly smoothly, dealt with first Otis escape.

The ticking of an unquiet mind

2010-07-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

I think I might have maxxed out my time, patience and projects. Why is it when the sky is bluest do the voices in my skull start singing their favorite discordant songs? Why can none of them carry a tune or sweep up after themselves?

Breakfast was a slice truly magnificent Sour cherry pie from Crixa. The crust was so perfect it took the distraction of a man with a dyed green mustache carting a tuba down the street to prevent me from offering myself up as a kitchen slave out of pure gratitude. The owner's finesse with complicated pastry is done in full view of my favorite table.

Date Night: hamachi and soba at Geta and then the 7 PM show of The The Girl Who Played With Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) which I recommend with the now available (Netflix streaming) The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo. What a kick ass hero Lizbeth is. In a moment of onscreen triumph the corners of her mouth twitched up and the audience applauded her moment of success and freedom. If they remake these movies into some bullshit American version with Richard Gere, some big questions will need to be answered. Thankfully no one has yet remade Run Lola Run, so there may be home.

The Future:

A bag full of lush stone fruit on the counter, creeping into ripeness.
Another coat of oil for Alex then we get down to the sanding and hardware issues. Esme needs some attention as well. Treat your machinery and equipment well.
I might just need one of those rare manicure. I light of today's movie, it'll be black.
A laundry rack full of hand-knit socks. The sight of all that handmade generosity and beauty makes me feel wealthy and loved.
A nice long sleep in tomorrow.

The Status of Things

2010-07-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hello, Darlings. It's been a while.

It's been a rough season, for work and craft in particular. Too much of the former and a huge shortage of time for the latter. I really don't want to talk about work; it's just too soul-killing lately.

On the upside:

Strawberries are in season and Da makes sure I get two baskets when I visit him. They taste of the Bakersfield sea air and California sun. These are real McCoy, red from nose to cap and so fragrant they rarely make it past Milpitas in the drive back home.
I've got a few more people knitting and one more spinning, although he's not ready to come out about it yet. Enthusiasm is contagious.
Kittens. Bouncing, floppy, snuggly hilarious little things. Disgusting sentiment, but if one must watch something the fight between felines and the gravity/physics is pretty terrific.
Bill Irwin is going to put on Scapin at ACT in September. I may just take up residence in the first row. Do not miss this. Irwin has left me laughing so hard (Fool Moon) I had to be helped out and so heartbroken I had to leave the audience (Waiting for Godot).
The garden is gorgeous. I end up in the back yard every morning molesting the tomato leaves because that's one of the best smells on this planet. The tiny alpine strawberry plants are looking optimistic so I need not hop the fences at National Parks for a snack. What makes me sad is the unlikeliness that I will spend the rest of my life here in this little slice of paradise. I don't know how I can possibly swing this. CA is the last place I'd ever thought I'd go back to, but the allure of the City Across the Bay is pure magic.
I did the impression/impersonation of my own libido for my therapist on Tuesday. She laughed and laughed. Sometimes I don't need counseling; I need a good audience.
C. is thinking about taking up burlesque. I've put her on the task of watching all the Bob Fosse movies she can find ("Showtime!") and am now locating a decent bowler hat for her.
Speaking up Bobs: Our beloved Dr. Ben has been working with the equally lovely Dr./Mme. Neda. Delightful.
Looking forward to tomato sandwiches on sourdough, Tom Ford's A Single Man, finishing Patti Smith's memoir Just Kids.

Life continues to be surprising, delicious, regrettable and shocking.

Insert Cat Photo Here

2010-07-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's a cat photo, loaded remotely from the bedroom. Sue me.

Mine now.

2010-07-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

And this would be Alexander, a vintage Ashford Traditional. He lived by the seaside for some time as a very nice household ornament with some very lovely people. At the moment Alex is undergoing a thorough oil soak and gluing while I try to work out other details of his cloudy past and current rehabilitation. He is on his way to a glossy red cherry finish and a career as a working machine.

And before you hate me, knitters/spinners: whatever mobile device you have, get an app for craiglist with an alert for "spinning wheel". Should an offer too good to be true appear as you are stuffing a nearly new papasan into your Honda, put the chair down and respond ASAP. That cushion ain't gonna go into that passenger seat easy anyways.

Hear would be the punchline: $70. Thanks, Ma, for doing the legwork in South Bay.

Damn, I am lucky.

Keaton, my first love.

2010-07-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday. My Friday.

2010-07-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

State: Significantly pissed off. I'd much prefer Iowa.

Must Try: Roasted Lemon Peel from Chocolate and Zucchini
Longing for: A new hat and some earrings.

Creating: a Bad-Ass Woman Playlist: Beginning with Madame Norman, Duffy and Melanie Fiona. Must find Peggy Lee mp3s ASAP. The Steven started playing a variety last night and it was divine.

To watch: No Country for Young Women

Amused by: Male Pattern Boldness. I blame him for harem pants.

Have you tried this stuff?! Awesome!: Nutrium Body Wash

Really appreciating: not having painted my own toenails, low humidity a casual work environment.

Glee and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

2010-06-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

I love Glee. I love this song. I love the arrangement. The cast of Glee did really well.

..and the Cast of Glee at the White House Concert. The video is choppy as it was live feed. Enjoy.:

Who You Gonna Call?

2010-05-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Time to Head Home.

2010-04-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

No. Just No.

2010-04-23T08:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, I think this bird has flown: Are Lederhosen the new Leggings? (WSJ) Please do not attempt this without sincere self exploration and a chat with your Rabbi, plumber or anyone else who can check out your backside with some kind of honesty.

At this moment I am picturing every reader here in short leather pants. It's 9:00 AM and I might need a drink.

Knitters: The notorious Black Belt Knitter has a kid in need of $1,650. dental surgery: Being an industrious broad, she's making project bags for a $25 donation. Consider it. Mighty cute.

Best Use of Rap on NPR

2010-04-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

As an NPR addict (I have the tote bag), I never miss"Wait, Wait". This week was especially good with a special guest star. Give it a listen.

Great Reef of Crochet.

2010-04-20T13:19:00.001-07:00

For those who have heard me squalling about the crocheted great coral reef produced by a researcher who found a parallel between the crochet stitch and the cell structure, here it is. I find it fascinating, but do not crochet. The reef is on tour. (oh, and the researcher? Hawt!):

2010-04-05T08:55:00.000-07:00

Best Commercial Ever

2010-03-23T07:28:00.001-07:00

Sexiest Man Alive? Mel Brooks, of course.

2010-03-05T08:48:00.001-08:00

“Look, I really don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive, you got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death. And therefore, as I see it, if you're quiet, you're not living. You've got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy and colorful and lively.”

- Mel Brooks

The very funny and therefore madly sexy guy Ze Frank has a new project up for favorite quotes. It makes for a very good read,

Hair

2010-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

Another Gift Recommended by Ze Frank

2010-03-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Further Awesomeness:

Most Expensive Cat Bed Ever.

2010-03-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

What Shred is getting comfortable in here is 4 ounces of merino silk blend from Hedgehog Fibers. Merino silk is one of my favorite things to spin, but it has a nasty tendency to stick to things: pants, carpet, eyeballs. Shortly after this picture was taken Shred tried a mouthful and gagged until I de-rovinged her and tossed her onto the Steven's bed to supervise his workday.

The last Belly Dance Seminar class wrapped up on Saturday and I woke up Sunday with one side of my pelvis throbbing, right up in there around the top of the femur, completely unreachable to stretch out. This is not to say I have not tried. Yesterday and this morning were spent in various bizarre postures, with and without the Steven sitting on me, trying to talk this ache into taking it someplace else. From the yelling and gasping, Ghawd knows the neighbors must think. Tylenol it is.

Rain

2010-02-26T14:31:00.000-08:00

Friends for lunch

2010-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

It's a nice campus.

2010-02-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

Lately

2010-02-22T13:46:00.000-08:00

I don't feel like writing. It's not like there's nothing to write about.

The Steven has left his zen group (sort of spiritual divorce in action)
One of my projects got some unflattering press in a kind out backward/sideways way that adds some significant validity to the project
Belly Dance class is really spectacular fun and every inch of me aches from trying to perpetually practice. (One of the owners taught class last week and she is a phenomenon.)
Stitches West is this upcoming weekend
Mix comes to play the weekend after that.
All medications are intact, refilled and working to such a degree that not much phases me.

Despite all this good stuff, I've been down.
Unfortunately I can't write about the petty shit that happened to kick me into such a foul mood. It really wrecks the purpose of a blog to be unable to out that disgusting little humiliating sliver that remains stuck between my ribs.

For V Day, The Steven got his back waxed.

2010-02-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Australia has a feral camel problem. Can't you just picture a camel hiding underneath the car, hissing. Mating with raucous abandon whilst one tries to sleep?

Pastuns break it down in Toronto Subway

2010-02-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

Awesome!

You've already seen this.

2010-02-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

Okay GO's This Too Shall Pass. (YouTube won't allow me to embed here, so follow the link, Darling.)

Odd notes.

2010-02-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

I'm not much for handbags myself, but litarbags on Etsy.com has taken the idea to inventive extremes.
The office is overly sunny in the afternoons. Nothing like wearing sunglasses at the desk. A nap would be nice.
A little work kerfuffle has reappeared after two years. I have no idea where the brain data on this issue has gone.

Joe's NYC

2010-02-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

Joe's NYC is a daily delight. I like just about everything about this photographer's work.

In other news: I am back at bellydance classes after a decade and oh lordy how things have changed. The left side of me has remained fluid and flexible while the right seems to be doing The 1986s Robot: angular, jerky, crunchy and unpleasant. Not good at all.

This morning's view of the bridge.

2010-02-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Naughty Yarn!

2010-02-08T19:27:00.001-08:00

A tree at it's frilliest:

2010-02-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

Pinups obscured, NYMag freaks the fuck out.

2010-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well, beat me across the skull and call me George.

Calvin Klein's "X" manties advertising has become an issue yet again with it's admirers with fan's objecting to giant red Xs obscuring physiques. Do we lack eyesight for those transparent letters or some modicum of imagination. Not that anything is left to the...never mind. Wasn't the issue in the 1980s "too much skin"?

Bonus! Mehcad Brooks appears (Eggs to those soaked in True Blood. Go to Julliard, pose for underwear.) as well as Hitoshi Nakata the Japanese soccer star is also in a series. ppprrrrrooooowwww!

Oi, Calvin! A grateful Leiderhosen Nation thanks you.

-*-

Downing: Zumi's White Rose tea (white tea with pink rose buds). I feel so damn girly.
Errands: Two libraries and the post office. (Special birthday gift to deliver.) If I am lucky: the Container Store downtown.
Missing: two hand knit socks, each one from a pair. This sucketh.
Finished: Sunday's meatloaf. I love reheated meatloaf more than I can say. Reheated meat loaf over spinach pasta, with peas and compound butter with herbs and Parmesan? The best.

This is too good not to share.

2010-02-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

You know all the fuss over the California Proposition 8 trial (Perry vs. Schwarzenegger) will NOT be posted on YouTube?
WELL! How about a trial re-enactment using the actual transcripts? Check out marriagetrial.com! Here's the trailer:

A casting call went out for actors to represent the actual participants and I must say they might just be a bit hotter.

I won't replace John Stewart for this, but OH I want to host this cast party!

Golden Gate, 7:34 AM

2010-02-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Pee Wee gets an iPad.

2010-01-31T13:44:00.001-08:00

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

I love this artist Icanoe2 on Etsy.com. It scratches a peculiar letterpress itch. Her recipe boxes are the bomb.

First pink pops on the trees

2010-01-29T21:10:00.001-08:00

Awesome?

2010-01-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

Awesome!

Knitters only may get the intense beauty and fabulousness of this gift/production.
This is the stuff of legend.
Well Done, Sir!

Pawing at the door, wanting to be let out.

2010-01-28T06:49:00.000-08:00

The couture shows in Pari s: yet another reason to be confused about women. Allright: Josephus Thimster couture show looked amazing. (Brought to you by coutorture.com. Isn't that just the best website name ever.)
This may be the toughest work week yet. I'm packing valium.
Last night was Masterpiece's Emma and a bianca verde pizza. Both were very, very good. And Jessica. She's very good too. I am developing a serious crush on Michael Gambon.
I have never liked John Edwards. Stupid hair, stupid grin, stupid strategies. His wife will be better off without him.
Be the first on your block with a rabbit cigarette holder!

Bear Cam!

2010-01-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

Lily the Bear had a cub! See (and hear) her on her very own webcam and then fantasize about hibernation. She snores!

Ripping Out

2010-01-25T20:01:00.001-08:00

This is how I spent the evening: redoing and replanning the edge of a shawl, supervised by Shred. Although elderly and somewhat crabby, she is very good company.

Graffito

2010-01-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

Monday night is The Steven's marked off time to go forth onto Second Life and be someone else for a bit, so it seems absolutely appropriate to jump onto the Internets and leave you a little note or scratch my graffiti into the wall.
Tonight's dinner was butterflied roast chicken with root vegetables. I have at least a quarter pound of compound butter left after leaving a thick layer with huge handfuls of herbs under the chicken's skin. Compound butter is money in the flavor bank.
I've cooked on enough crap equipment for so long that I do not exactly trust the Ferrari of a range the Beautiful Landlords have bestowed into our care. A couple oven thermometers are on their way. If that does not answer some questions I am either taking my flour canisters into the lab and getting protein counts for their contents or special ordering flour nation-wide. The pursuit of the perfect biscuit is not an unworthy quest.
It's been downright damp this last week. Every day I go out to the front porch to feed Lola the Cat that Came with the House and she looks both reproachful and hopeful as if to say, "Today MUST be the day you let me in! IT MUST!!"
On the needles two pair of socks (I have not forgotten you, Jeff!), a shawl out of ungrateful and knotted wool, two or three other orphaned projects.
A beret of the most fabulous red yarn (silk and mohair) just the needles and is drying. It just glows.
I look over the Analytics of Blogger and I am amazed as where people are and wonder how in gawds name did they stagger into The Leiderhosen Nation? Look at all these people and all the fabulous places they are from! And why are they so shy? Not that I am begging for comments, but if you'd ping me a little comment saying where you are and what the sky looks like today I'd be so happy. Ever so.
Some days (mostly in winter) is very trying to wait for one's companions to catch up.

Well, that's it for now. Must go do a few chore and draft about a million miles of optim merino because Masterpiece Theater's Emma is going to require some undivided attention.

Much love to you and peaceful winter dreams.
Mme.

Just amazing papercraft...

2010-01-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

Phillip Valdez of Portland Oregon. Check out the blog.

Have you noticed that things get tossed here that I might need to remember. Awkward for you maybe, but handy for me.

It's chilly here tonight, but no rain. How am I gonna get to sleep now?

We came, We Saw, We Hit Each Other with Dessert

2010-01-20T21:09:00.000-08:00

The long awaited Flickr Photo Set: the First Annual Pretentiousville Christmas Pie Fight

Off topic: craving wild strawberries.

Tricoteuses Sans Frontières*

2010-01-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

I was here during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake . Although, it was a 6.9 serious rumble, caused some damage and collapsed the Oakland end of the Bay Bridge, it was a goddamn picnic compared to the last nine days of Haiti (7.0). I mean this literally; I walked across town a few dusty hours later and rode out the aftershocks with some very nice friends over salmon and candle light. How bourgeois. 63 people died. A couple thousand had to find new digs and a few -boo fucking hoo- quabillion dollar beach chalets took a dive off Opal Cliffs. Over all, we were really fucking lucky.

In the theme of disaster, I moved out of state two months later and for years afterwards the sound of a garbage truck would make me leap under chaises and grab complete strangers. We were lucky, mostly because of the devastation of 1906 across the Bay shook us up (killing 3,000 plus) to now be preparing in earnest for "The Big One", which California drags into the headlines whenever news is slow. So far we continue to be very, very lucky. And sort of willfully stupid about it.

(double click on the photo for the panorama image from wikipedia. It is really something.)

Local Californians have called our preparededness kits both "cute" and "paranoid"; both comments makes me want to punch them in the face.

I am a native and I am not stupid. I very serious about this shit. I have two pair of work gloves ready for action, baby.

So there's the thing. Since moving back, one of the Case Del Leiderhosen preferred iphone apps has been ifeltthat. If you look at craigslist, there's a little link to the usgs.gov Shake Map. When I get jolted awake at the pre-dawn hours by a 4.5 and confirm the bookcase has not fallen on me, I pull it up just to prove to the Steven that yes, shit did go down and no, his AV equipment is still safe.

So I am updating the app, noting the phenomenal size of the aftershocks in Haiti, almost as large as the initial quake. And then I look at the historical data.

You won't have to look far to see that there is no USGS quake data prior to 1/12/10, 21:53:10 for Haiti. None. Nobody bothered to track the data, even though the Caribbean and East Coast of the South American Continent has always been highly volatile. Size 7.0, 10,000+ dead and more dying in the Capitol alone. How many seismic researchers in Haiti? One.

I think it's because all the nearby oil deposits have either been depleted or spoken for. Poverty is so unpretty.

The ground you stand on is always in transition. Even there mid-continent (Oklahoma, 2.5) you are pulled either towards San Francisco or the Atlantic. As much as I would love to see you in SF (we've tidied up since 1906), the next time you are at your hardware store buy yourself two pairs of work gloves. A pair will set you back less than a bagel and a double latte. Two pairs in the right place (don't forget the trunk of the car) end up being used for more things imaginable and you will be thought entirely awesome when the need for them arises, even if it is just to change a tire and be somebody's hero for a day.

Our ground and our destiny is never certain. Be well. Kiss your kids and call your Ma just to pester her. Send some hopeful wishes for the survivors and a prayer for those who were unlucky. Anything you can spare to show support might get you some karmic snaps.

I believe in you and that, when needed, you will know where your gloves are.

*Tricoteuses Sans Frontière s supports Médecins Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders, without whom some worthy kids, parents and nanas tonight might be truly and unjustly fucked.

Hallo, Wednesday!

2010-01-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Plotting: Beef and Carrots!

Waiting to Read: The Happiness Project. Please don't revoke my cranky old coot card. (Apologies to Cat Mum: coot cards.)

Weather on the Seventh Floor: Stormy to shiny clear. Amazing theater!

Source for bad ass pound cake, especially the lemon variation: Dorrie Greenspan

Tonday (Tuesday, meet Monday)

2010-01-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

Up here in the Eagle Nest Office It's quite drizzly outside and down below all the people from BART look like a tribe of migrating mushrooms trying to get out of the rain.

A cone of 36 seagulls just soared by the office in a cone formation, riding some kind of circular wind current until it died out over University. It looked like great fun.

I saw Young Victoria with Ma which we liked a great deal. The set dressing and costuming were very good, but the plethora of period plaid pants that bag around the hips and waists and stovepipe at the bottom were distracting.

For John Conroy someone found it necessary to point out what a vile charater he was by adding a distracting CGI housefly to all his scenes. Unnecessary. Honestly, Conroy bullied, badgered, smashed things, kicked the dog so does the audience require an fake insect to drive the point home?

To be filed under: Very Bad Ideas

2010-01-18T18:45:00.001-08:00

And this week's favorite quote (brought you by Sur La Lune, a website in support of Fairy Tales and their art,):

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." - Albert Einstein

Thanks, Albert. Well said.

Good Night, All.

Monday and no work.

2010-01-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

- Happy MLK Day. Be grateful for your civil rights; not everybody has them.
- I absolutely hate Wuthering Heights. Rotten people doing lousy things to one another.
- In the Fridge: applesauce.
- Weather. Wet. Really, really, deliciously wet.

Shawn the Sheep Takes a Disco Break

2010-01-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well, Today I have the whole office to myself and the Gay Office Mate Luis is out celebrating something somewhere. The view is still terribly distracting to me and I can hear almost everything going on in the street seven floors below. The fresh air is quite hard to get used to.

Wednesday! Woo!

2009-12-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

I know the blog looks plain and odd; I am trying to find a new template with a left side oriented column. This is more tricky than I planned on.

From Garance Dore: completely rocking photos of kids at a rodeo. If western wear isn't/wasn't influential in fashion, what is?

I spend too much time at Amazon.co.uk finding all kinds of things to read.

My Impossible Three Tasks are almost sewn up! I'm taking two extra days off in addition to the University Furlough Period to get the last xmas push through.

Randomness

2009-12-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry, Darlings. It's been awhile and I have really missed you. There was this icky flu and then work exploded and it took awhile to dig myself out. I am almost out of the wood. Almost. Here's bit of brain detritus.

Tom Ford makes Terry Gross happily uncomfortable on Fresh Air. It's desperately funny. He may be trying to seduce her.
I have no less than four active projects on more than a dozen needles, 2/3 are presents including a massive task of spinning 9 ounces of Malarkey merino for Ms. Jess.
Up in the Air was very good. Vera Farmiga is breathtaking and holds her own against Clooney. Where has she been all my life?
This upcoming year, I will increase my production for newborn hats confining the yarn choices to either Knitpicks Superwash Worsted or Cascade 220 Superwash Worsted.
I've been singing "Here We come a Wassailing" to myself. As it has only four notes and I can safely hit three of them. It's the only Christmasy thing I can sing . Where exactly is one supposed to breathe while singing?
In an attempt to convey some kind of professionalism my hair has been ironed into submission and it is frightening to look in the mirror expecting to see a terrier and being faced a somewhat worse-for-wear Labrador,
I am also wearing my only red sweater, mostly because our office building does not heat my current office. If I've knit you anything red, you know the color. Unswerving devotion.
What has the world got against marzipan?!

Holiday Still Life

2009-12-13T13:48:00.001-08:00

Craving red shoes

2009-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

The ones in the middle are my favorite Franco Sarto's Napoli. Nice platform, a luscious red suede and a graceful, manageable heel. Somehow shoes never look as good in a nine as they do in the sixes they use for display. My Ma has fantastic legs; mine look like they came off a piano. I wonder what she'd look like in red heels.

A Thanksgiving story about government cheese.

Chocolate and Zucchini led me here and now I am dazzled. How will be survive without a terrine press?

Fat Cat merino, unnamed colorway

2009-11-16T12:23:00.001-08:00

Action.

2009-11-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Miss Lola has been trapped (with some heroic effort from the Steven) and will be going in for fixing tomorrow morning. She did not go willingly. Gloves, towels, and zip ties have all come into play.

It's unnerving to sit here knowing a wild animal is sorrowfully howling in the house, in the garage, in a car, in a cage under a sheet. I am a very, very bad person.

This week at work promises to be hellish. This is not the time for my throat to be getting sore and to worried about angry little tigers in residence.

For the first time this season, the heat kicked on in the house; it was a beautiful thing. The chiffon window dressings fluttered, the heat registers (hey! more than one!) purred and we were warm as toast before the first batch of waffles were done.

Cirque du Soleil

2009-11-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

Graceful man on a trampoline (link from gizmodo.com)!

For me, it does not get any better than that.

I cannot wait for Nine to open.

2009-11-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

NINE: Movie Trailer - Watch today’s top amazing videos here

Malarkey, BFL

2009-11-14T10:13:00.001-08:00

Obviously the work of Crap Weasles...

2009-11-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has been canceled. Damn.

Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox is out, animated by the amazing Wes Anderson. This was the first book I remember reading entirely on my own, one morning before kindergarten. I still have a copy and still love it. A. O Scott's review describes Dahl's books as "suspicious of authority and repelled by conformity, full of unruly energy and wanton invention". Oh, amen, Brother!

I am fighting a serious spinning fiber jones. This artist's use of felt is inspiring and sooo not helping the urges.

Wednesday was Veterans' Day...

2009-11-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

...so I had the day off and it was entirely glorious to do nothing. I did get outside to yank a few weeds but mostly it was spent spinning, cuddling the old cat and watching the six part Monty Python documentary (which if you haven't seen it, you must) .

The pan-comedic interviews are the best part.
The group concedes that Graham Chapman, despite his substance problems, was exactly the correct member to play the lead in "Life of Brian" and "Grail".
Tales of directing the movies are very funny.
Cleese's primness just kills me.
I am sure this is where I get my delight for a "Bloke in a Dress". Great word "bloke".
Eric Idle sings "Fuck Christmas" gloriously in pt. 6.

Shred is becoming unable to walk across two rooms without having to have a lie down; mostly Her Highness is picked up and carried. She's seventeen.

The damned 4 ounces of raime I spent three days wrestling with turned out just as bad as expected and it fought me the entire way. It might just end up in the trash just because it's been naughty/knotty.

After a scotch (2:00 PM) and a thorough oiling of the wheel and the front door I took a crack at something better (50 grams of a luminous merino silk in the color of a storybook jungle) and it turned out pretty well.

Another Frazz. How much do I love Holden?:

It's going to be very busy from here on out until Winter Break. I have already made a list of people to ignore which was great fun.

I have been checking Analytic Report of visits to this blog and am delighted to see the maps of where people are! Brierley Hill! Lauterbach! It's marvelous to see where you are.