these days of leiderhosen

Good Lord. They've gone and hung Saddam. Rotten murderous bastard. Rather speedily attended to. I reckon things will get worse in Iraq, as insurgents express themselves further. I am going to hope that things will be brighter in 2007. I have been lucky enough to have been off work December 23 - January 1 and let me tell you it's begining to feel like a mighty long time. Puttanesca for dinner, which was rather yummy. I thre in some Italian tuna which was really fabulous. Next to try: Sticky Toffee Pudding . Oh, I could just scream it sounds so good!

Okay, the spinning wheel is up and running but the three (yes, three) handspindles are in high use. And I have to say the Grafton spindle is a thing of utter beauty. Today I figured out plying. The results: (the first and second attempt) (the third attempt) So all in all not bad. Although the photos are quite crap. And I roasted a chicken for dinner and there are few things to make one feel more absolutely efficient than roasting a chicken. Yah. So there.

Jen Corace's work was introduced to me by Miss Q. last time I was Seattle. Perfectly marvelous, quietly disturbing and beautifully colored. Strangely, the subject is mostly small girls in distressing circumstances. Last night was my mother's 65th birthday and our usual group met together around my parents dinner table. Strangely, it was the first time I had sat next my fantastic second cousin Nancy and her long-lime and terribly enigmatic partner Rick. Nancy is the artist in the family and I thought had always distained me a bit, although I have always admired her (it seems that she was forced to babysit the infant Madame L. at age sixteen just as the Sixties were getting into the full swing. I don't think she ever missed out on much, but the last place I'd want to spent the sixteenth year of life is trapped in monied suburbia with a whining infant). She was very entertaining and wry and reminds me a great deal of her mother (the beloved great-aunt Barbara). We talked ...

Alaska Airlines just sent me an e-mail asking for my great travel stories involving their Airlines. Instantly recalling the recent horror of air travel, I dropped what I was doing and have submitted the following. "In the last decade I have witnessed the decline of quality of service and customer support of Alaska Airlines, many times causing extreme personal distress and hefty unexpected expense during travel. I have found many employees of AA who ought to be providing service unwilling to assist, despite their capacity to do so. Flights are late more often than not and are miserably uncomfortable for all involved. This email asking for the gushing positive stories comes as quite a surprise, as my acquaintances and I seem to agree that flight travel has joined the same circle of hell as root canals and tax audits. Why doesn’t AK Air show even some slight effort to improve before begging to be patted on the head publicly?" I fully expect to be upgraded to an overhead bin on m...

Happy Birthday, Cervantes ! In today's Writer's Almanac Garrison devoted all of his ready today's history to him, like he does every year. And every year it sounds new and amazing. What a life. The lovely Garrison threw in a nice poem as well. Gray's First Sober Year" by William Notter. Listen to it, if you get the chance.

The S atorialist blog achieves style.com notice, finally. Love, love love him. And want his gig. And I don't have enough yarn, apparently so The Loopy Ewe might come in handy, eh? Must remember for later: the hand- spun, hand-dyed Art Yarn webring . I mean, really. How good is that? WTFMFWTFAYT SONG!

Ooooo. Want. Want. Want. Screw all feminist objections! Bella Pamela Aprons . AND if I get a niece in February (or a nephew, although it might cause Dah to have a stroke) they make child sizes. Hurrah! Crap. I've been pegged for Jury Duty in September. Ah well, I need more knitting time (can it be only three months till christmas? Impossible.) Am attempting toe up socks as it is beginning to get quite cold here at night. Opal sock yarn is perfectly hideous in the ball, but the stuff wears and launders like iron. Cheers & Kisses to you.