Hogwarts Friday Share-a-thon

From the Hogwarts SockSwap Blog:

1. SHOW and TELL FRIDAY is to be posted on your blog, not the Hogwarts Sock Swap blog.
2. If you don't have a blog you will not be able to participate. Sorry. I think this only affects one or two of you.
3. 5 House points will be awarded to each participant.
4. SHOW AND TELL FRIDAY will not be every Friday. We will have one more but I have not determined when.
5. On your post you should give us a peek at your Hogwart socks-in-progress and tell us about the pattern you are using, the yarn etc. And, please link to the Hogwarts site to pique some interest for round TWO (sign-ups begin July 14).

In that vein, I will repost my pics plus some new things:

I got a nice skein of Tofutsies sock yarn for my pal and some (gorgeous!) Lantern Moon needles with a little carrying case! LOVE that!

And here's an attempt at a close-up of those freakin' gorgeous needles!

I'm working on the box, then I think I'll be sending the whole kaboodle off to my Hufflepuff buddy.In the meantime, here are my fave Hogwarts Buttons:

YAY!

And some extra fun

I Done Been Tagged--Twice!!!

SpiderKnit (my Aussie buddy) and Knitting2Relax both came through for me.

The rules: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven other people and list their names on your blog. Then you leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

Those I'm Tagging:

• My Husband
• My Sister
• My buddie Kate
• Mrs. Pilkington
• SockBug
• CheekyRedHead
• Rosemary

My Seven Random Facts:
1) I always wanted to be mysertious and tortured. Instead I can be read like unto cheap fiction. And, you know...I'm pretty happy.

2) I knew I wanted to marry Andrew when I met him. I had to grow up a bit before that was possible. And this fall it will be 20 years since we met, 19 since we first dated.

3) I am uncannily good at reading Tarot.

4) I would LOVE to be enough of a free spirit to be able to live on nothing, travel on a shoestring, and just pursue the arts/crafts that I love with my kids and family. If it weren't for those damn bills...

5) I'm a fifth generation Californian living in Tucson, Arizona who's directly related to the Declaration-of-Independence-Livingstons from New York (go figure).

6) I long for the days before tehnology (which is ridiculous, I'm sure, to those who know how much time I spend "wired").

7) I wish I could write (good) fiction.

Allrighty the rest of yous guys, hop to it!
Heather

My new york birthday. proof it happened.
HeatherViaPhone

HeatherViaPhone

My DNA

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Begging (you to stop) the Questions

There are a couple of things that really irk me...usually it's the English teacher in me (though I'm no Grammar Nazi)--things like "irregardless", stuff like that.

But there's a new one that's becoming more and more prevalent and it's really quite upsetting because this one falls into the realm of logic, not grammar and usage.

My feeling: the world is already too freakin' illogical as it is. We don't need to compound the problem with sloppy language.

The problem: "begging the question"; "that begs the question..."

Here's how I just heard this used on NPR (for goodness sake!):

Interviewee: ...and his leaving the World Bank has made a lot of folks happy.
Interviewer: Well, that begs the question, of course...why did it take so long?

Um. No.
See it, "leads to the quesiton," it "raises the question," but it does not BEG the question. That's a term of logic--a material or informal fallacy in fact.

Here's what the (sometimes dubious but in this case correct) Wikipedia has to say on the subject:

In logic, begging the question has traditionally described a type of logical fallacy, petitio principii, in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises ([1] [2] [3] [4] ). Begging the question is related to the fallacy known as circular argument, circulus in probando, vicious circle or circular reasoning. As a concept in logic the first known definition in the West is by the Greek philosopher Aristotle around 350 B.C., in his book Prior Analytics.

The phrase is sometimes used to simply mean "poses the question" [5]. This recasting of the term more directly describes a related fallacy, known as the Fallacy of many questions, that occurs when the evidence given for a proposition is as much in need of proof as the proposition itself

And for those who like Logic (again, from the Wiki site):

The following structure of an argument in which the question is begged is common:

* p implies q
* q implies r
* r implies p
* suppose p
* therefore, q
* therefore, r
* therefore, p.

Which, when simplified, shows itself as obviously flawed:

* p implies p
* suppose p
* therefore, p.

Okay, so the end of that is pretty darn clear, you can't use something to prove itself.

That food is awful because it's disgusting.
He's a jerk--you can tell becuase he's so unpleasant.
You can't trust that politician--I mean, come on! He's a politician.

See the difference between that and the NPR example above?

Normally I'm not such a stickler. But when someone like Aristotle put pen to paper a couple thousand years ago and preserved this idea--an idea which has been used correctly for a couple thousand years--well... I'm just a little uncomfortable having we lazy Americans just...you know...change it. 'Cuz it's easier that way.

I generally distrust "easy."

My two cents.

Hitchens on Falwell

I'm impressed that he's as outspoken as he is, Pharyngula: Hitchens on Falwell, but he'll likely sell more books this way. Either way, I think he's brave. And right.

I also thought this, was a calmer--but still accurate--description.

All in all, my feelings are--good riddance.

Genius

This man, he's a genius.

Thing One, breaking a board in karate. No. REALLY?
HeatherViaPhone

Ravelry - a knit and crochet community

Ravelry - a knit and crochet community
Soon! Very Soon you will be able to enjoy the wonders of the best planned site I've ever seen.

I don't say that lightly.

Soon...

Ridiculous Bureaucracy

Few things burn my butt more than Ridiculous Bureaucracy--and I seem to find the majority of it close to schools. And today was ALL ABOUT Ridiculous Bureaucracy.

We began yesterday, actually, trying to hunt down the correct division of the NYC Bored Board Department of Ed which sent me a WTC registry form. Evidently they want to keep track of those of us who were there on 9/11 and/or worked/lived down near Ground Zero for the year after 9/11/2001. Why? Because we were breathing toxic soup and they're anticipating that we'll die—early.

At least, that's what I think.

BUT.

It isn't enough that they have my records on file which prove that I worked there. No. That would be too simple. So, some stealth office sends out a form. Which I fill out. That I then have to get notarized (see how nice it is to be trusted by your employer! What a gesture of good faith. Boy, it makes me want to work harder for them).

I had the completed letters in the back of the car with the other errands (returning goggles that don't fit, that sort of thing) only to have my DH return from a trip and throw them out in a fit of fatherly cleanliness (not that I'm complaining).

This is only sort of egregious--I leave things around all the time. I know it's annoying. I also know that he recognizes the unique/ugly font on All Things DoE. Did he toss it out of spite? I'll never know...

So. The letter is gone.

I spent close to 3 hours yesterday trying to track down the office that sent it out so I could get a copy and redo it--it's due sometime this month.

NO ONE KNEW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT.

Here's the kicker--The LEGAL COUNSEL for the ENTIRE DISTRICT didn't know...which means...what? They didn't vett the thing? I think that's the scariest part of the story.

So, today I called my faithful friend Josie to see if she had a photocopy of her form (she did) and if she'd fax it (she will) so I can be tracked for when I die young and Andrew and the kids will (at least) get some money out of it.

It's the least I can do.

Then today's fun was with the UofA.

In a rare fit of efficiency, NYU--who I faxed a request to last night--immediately faxed over my immunization records to the UofA health office so I could (finally) enroll for a summer program. I was floored at how fast they moved. But not as floored as I was to find out that my two MMR shots ('68 and '69) don't' count b/c there was a measles outbreak here in 1979 (Was I living here then? NO!) so I need to have ANOTHER shot.

Can they get me the shot?

Well...not until I'm registered.

When will I be registered?

When I have the shot.

See my point?

Add to that the letter I just received from the UofA domicile office. I'm not a resident. I may have to "prove two years of financial independence". I can resubmit paperwork in JULY '07 (the program I'm in is JUNE '07). I gather that uprooting my family from NY and buying a house here for us all to live in doesn't count in the whole Domicile thing. I'm just another semi-legal Alien here in AZ.

I understand these rules are for students who are Kids.
I understand that this is how the Universities make money--out-of-state tuition being a cash cow.
I get it.
I do.

But I'm forty now.
I
Have
Had
It
With
Stupid
Checkboxes
Where
People
Aren't
Allowed
To
Use
Their
Brains
And
THINK
About
Why
The
Checkbox
Is
There.

Am I a resident?
You bet your arse I am! I bought a house! My kids are in school here!

Am I carrying the measles virus?
Um...no!
Wanna do a blood test? Then YOU do the blood test! I held up my end! You have my MMR report (good enough for NY, btw).

So, blah.

I'm ticked.

Whatever.

Spectacular Tutorial!

I'm loving this info session by Abby on how to drum card a tweedy batt. I've been working to figure this out myself for awhile. Rarely have I seen such clear instrucitons and pictures. Just wonderful!

Stale Singles

I think I'll be trying this with some Alpaca before long.

And why, you ask, have I not been blogging so much lately?

Homeschooling has taken a lot out of me, as has work. I think, if I can manage the loss of sleep, I'll be getting up a little earlier to write before heading off into the day.

My DH has come up with a very workable schedule for me to use and it's workign quite well, so far. He well knows my weakness in the area of organization, so this has been nice. But then, he's that kinda guy.

Business Acumen

I know, I know I'm way behind the times on this story, but it just bears repeating. I wonder what the actual numbers (subscribers and cash) actually were that these fools walked away from?! I'm used to stupidity like this in, say, the NYC Bored Board Department of Ed, but for an actual BUSINESS?!

My Happy Birthday

The short version: My husband surprised me with a long weekend in NY to see my friends.

The long version:

Last Thursday, May 3, 2007, we were having a very nice dinner on our back patio--it was warm, we'd all been swiming, Andrew played a CD he made me of birthday music he thought I'd like and he'd just swept me away to dance. When the song was over we started cleaning up and I hear, "Hellooooooo!"

My Mom's head appeared over the fence and the boys went nuts. We had her walk around to the back gate where she was overwhelmed by kid-love from my sons.

I looked at Andrew and half-whispered, "So...weird...I mean it's nice and all but why is she here?"

"We have to go to dinner," and that little twitching smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"But we're going to dinner tomorrow, Friday night."

"Yeah, but we have to get there." Then he handed me a card with my itinerary.

Early Friday: Fly to NYC
Friday night: Dinner at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, drinks and singing at Marie's Crisis.



Satuday morning: Breakfast in Bed via Roomservice
Saturday day: open (we went to the Met and walked through Central Park)




Saturday night: dinner with Jackie, Liisa, and Pam.

Sunday day: laze around Croton and the Black Cow.
Sunday night: home.

So for my fortieth...the real surprise (on my actual birthday) was a surprise party at my friend Pam's house. People I hadn't seen in years showed up. It was one of those "this is your life" moment and...I wept all the way back to the airport.

In my adult life, I've never had to move because I should, only because I was sick of somewhere or really wanted to move. I loved Croton-on-Hudson. I love all my friends there. I love New York (though the humidity is for the birds). And it was very very hard to leave.

We were both sad, actually, and I wept most of the way to JFK--and not just because of the traffic.

The Sock: Complete

Well, my Huffle-buddy's sock is complete. Now I just have to get needles and stitch markers. Think I'll make those.

So I've posted the start of my socks, the plan for my socks, the heel turn for my socks, and now, I can post some pics of my complete project:







All in all, I'm happy with the outcome. I've got about two inches of black ribbing at the top--looks very sharp.

So!
This was my first "pattern" which was really just combining elements of a bunch of different patterns. But it was fun--and I finally understand that heel turn.

Anatomy Lesson

So, I've been using the Sock-U-Lator to calculate toe-up socks with a heel flap (I prefer to short-row heels, plus for my Badger-licious socks I needed to be able to pattern the heel and this was the easy way).

However, I find that I'm baffled by the "anatomy" of what I'm doing.

So.

Here's my play by play of the instructions, complete with photos to clarify for me, God, and Everyone.

So, after using the Super Cool Knitty Cast On and working toe up, eventually you have to add a gusset* if you're going to use a heel flap (on a 68 st sock for a size 7.5 womens foot):

*L1A=lift one after, so when you've made a stitch and need to make a new one, you lift the next loop below the live left-needle stitch (after the gap, get it?).


Then you prep for the heel turn (though her instructions are a little outta whack):


Now, for the complicated part. Once you've gotten everything organized, you have to EXPAND the bottom of the foot so you have enough stitches on each side to seam to the heel flap...that you'll create.
Yeah, I know.

Think of it this way--on the bottom of the foot needle, you already have the gusset stitches. You can't mess with those, though. You've removed them from the active needle. What's left is actually the bottom of the foot. We need to add stitches* to each side of the bottom of the foot in order to have room there to seam the bottom, flap, and gusset (remember that cool straight seam that runs down the sides of the heel flap? We're going there in reverse):

*L1B=lift one before, so when you've made a stitch and need to make a new one, you lift the next loop below the live right-needle stitch (before the gap, get it?).

You can just start to see where the sock heel--which I had to bisect with two straights for ease of knitting--is bulging out around the middle from the added stitches.

So, that's just fine. Now, you need to deal with the seaming.



See the "heel flap seam" appear there to the right?
Cool, no?

Found!

I used to use this doc in my high school class--FUN!

Tenth Circle Added To Rapidly Growing Hell

CITY OF DIS, NETHER HELL-After years of construction, Corpadverticus, the new circle of Hell, finally opened its doors Monday.

I am also nearly done with the little badgers on the heels of my sock-swap pal's socks. Pics to come, soon...

Free sidewinders game for school
HeatherViaPhone

Golden Compass Fun!

More on the Badgerlicious Sock

So you can't see Mister Badger (Señor Hufflepuff) yet, but you can see progress.


















And beyond the progress (I'm going to do these on two circs, so I'm starting both on dpns, then I'll switch) I've finished the designs. I think I'm going to have to increase the guage on these though, as the stitches per inch are more than I thought. But aside from that, here are my plans.


k4, p2 rib across the instep.
When I turn the heel, I'll put the badger on the heel flap.










The leg I'll use the houndstooth pattern for, I think, keeping the k4, p2, putting the houndstooth pattern in the k4.











Then, I MIGHT break the houndstooth and put Hufflepuff on the cuff, starting at the back. It should fit...still not sure. Might be too busy...






Then I'll do more of the k4, p2 ribbing around the cuff. Maybe in black...I'm not sure. More to come on that one.

Right before working on the Badger sock, I finished a pair of the Horcrux Socks for The Six_Sox_Knit_A_Long. It uses a dutch heel, which I think was too narrow on this particular pattern. There are 60 stitches total, the heel used 30 and went down to 8 at the turn.

That's all well and good, but I found myself having a hard time "seeing" the heel structure before I actually did it...which makes planning a heel (as I'm doing with the Hufflepuff sock) a little harder.
http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
So...for my own record-keeping and without further ado, I give you—a Dutch Heel turn.

Here's the start of the heel flap. Normally I don't knit top down. Normally I don't move stitches to waste yarn. Something in me said "do it...it's a new heel...you'll be happier".

I was.

















Inside the heel flap (I didn't do slip stitches).





And outside the heel flap.












Then we start the bitchen' heel turn. My sister was sitting next to me when I did this and I told her how even the Yarn Harlot gets all jazzed about how cool it is to turn a heel.

Here's pics of the beginning.

Again, for newbies, you just do knit and purl rows, adding a K2tog or a p2tog at the end of each row, connecting the middle of the heel (this one is 8 stitches across) with the edges of the heel flap, in effect, wrapping the heel flap around the unsuspecting heel. Enfolding it ina casing of yarn love.

Yeah, yeah...here's what it looks like, in two steps.

First


Then

Psych!

So...here I am at 5:53am. I'm exhausted, Andrew's leaving today, I loathe this...yet...the birds are singing, the trees are lovely, the pool is still as glass...if only it weren't for the dreams.

HAMLET
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.

GUILDENSTERN
Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

HAMLET
A dream itself is but a shadow.

ROSENCRANTZ
Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow.

HAMLET
Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows.

I know nothing of ambition, but I had many many bad dreams last night--and knowing they're shadows doesn't help...in fact, it kinda makes it worse... They're the kind of dreams that make me not want to be alone in the house with the kids when Andrew's gone. Those horrible 'almost us, almost here' alternate reality dreams that relentlessly roll by, changing into something worse and worse, that make you panic in the middle of the night. Maybe I'll ask Mom if she'd mind spending the night tonight...

On the up side, I got sick of working on the hoodie last night and cast on for the Hufflepuff sock. If I can ever figure out how to manipulate the chart I made into a jpg I'll post it here. For now, though, this is the beginning of the pattern (I'll post it all at once and neatly when I'm done, using this incredible site to generate charts for my fun patterns).

Cast on in contrasting toe color using the awesome Knitty Cast-on for toe-up socks. After a number of socks I've found that I like to have at least 7-8 stitches on each needle (14-16 per side of the cast on, 28-32 sts total). Less makes for too pointy a toe, and I'm not sure what my secret pal's feet look like, so I thought I'd rely on the socks to stretch into pointy-ness if necessary. I was rather limited in sock yarn choice, though (bright yellow was easy to find, but a matching weight in black was a little tough this time of year), so my toe is less stretchy than I'd like...at least it is now.

I'll alternate knit-only rounds with
Needle 1: k2, right increase, knit across
Needle 2: knit across until there are two sts left, left increase, k 2
Needles 3-4: repeat 1 and 2

Continue increasing until 60 sts are reached. The sock will be knit in a continuous patterned ribbed stitch, so unless the foot is huge, 60 sts should be fine.

Enough for now. I have to get my son's schoolwork ready.

Oh!
And look. Here he is! Ridiculously early for him. We'll both need naps today.

Tomorrow we demonstrate spinning (and he'll be doing...stuff) at the Pima County Fair! We'll need our beauty sleep tomorrow...maybe I should call mom.

Another Attempt

To lose weight.
Scroll to very bottom of blog page...

Socks and Shirts

I promised pics.
I now have them.
; )

These are my Six Sox KAL Sprintime in Paris Socks.














One of my Horcrux Socks
















And my Craftlit T-Shirt= WWMDfK? (What Would Madame Defarge Knit?)

Pain: Two Kinds

First: Oral Surgery. Ouch.
Drugs—Niiiiiice.

But enough of that.

My mind is with Virginia now, not in some sappy "I feel your pain" way, but more like, "the horror...the horror..."

Having lived through my little corner of 9/11 and the aftermath, I can honestly say how sorry I am that these kids will forever measure their days by this moment. This blip on an otherwise lovely life. This is their own little corner of hell, and many, too many of them are going to wrestle with survivor's guilt and "what if" and "if only" and there's a huge part of me that wishes I could take that away from them.

Then there's Keith Olberman...

Last night Olberman talked about the disconnect between mourning the kids who died at VT and (the lack of mourning for) the kids who died in the last ten days in Iraq and he made me think...

There are too many of us who think, "well, the kids in Iraq knew what they were signing up for. They KNEW they might die...I mean, they're in the Millitary fer chrissake."

But that isn't true. I mean, they know they're WILLING to die for their country. But I cannot believe any of them signed up TO die. Nor did they sign up for this war. Rememeber what we of the hubris said back in the '90s?

The next war will be all buttons.

There won't be another war.

You should join the military! You'll get some discipline and some good training and think of what you can do with all that experience.

I think we're jaded these days in some really ugly ways.

Jaded and mean.

And I'm including myself in there. I've gone there too.

WWMDfK?

Makes me sick...

And So It Goes...

Rest in Peace, Kurt Vonnegut.
I miss you already.

Sorting-hat.com says you're in Ravenclaw!

Sorting-hat.com says you're in Ravenclaw! For the Harry Potter Sock Swap!



I'm a Ravenclaw! My first swap ever!

Oooh! And look

Sort Me!

A DIFFERENT sorting hat said Ravenclaw!

A third said I was tied Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff (at least I'm not in Slytherin!)

---

And my questionnaire:

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Lo, unto me has been given the honor of the house of Ravenclaw. (Thank God it's not Slytherin...)

2. Shoe size?

My shoe could kick a Basilisk's butt--it's a 10 women's.

3. Foot Length?

A sprightly 10 inches (that's not always true, is it?--size same as length)

4. Foot Circumference?

REDONE MEASUREMENT: A svelte (for a size 10) 9.25".

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a. I am a sucker for Lantern Moon anything, and I'm a sock knitter, so anything size 2 or smaller.
b. Inox, 8", steel, size 000 (not only killer for fine sock yarn, but killer needles in general!)
c. size 0, 00, 000 any brand circs longer than 20" (I know, they're not DPNs, but I often do two socks at once...)

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I am always up for adventure (as anyone from Ravenclaw should be) and therefore, I'm thrilled with a surprise...or challenge...or...anything. I've been good in DAtheDAs.
; )

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

Blue/Bronze (book) and Blue/Silver (films) are both lovely. No preference at all. Just...you know...no woosie powder blue...I'm in Ravenclaw for goodness sake! What would Rowena say???

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

Heck yeah! Bring it on!

And evidently my HP name is:

Everyone see here,
Heather Anne Hutchinson Ordover done it! Splendid!

You have succesfully transfigurated yourself into
Lavender Caerphilly

According to the Random HP Name Generator!

In Love with a cell cozy

Untitled Page

O how I love thee, Ron Weasley (and Molly too!)

La Disneylandia

While my ambivalence to all things Feature Animation is legendary by now (at least to me) my love of Disneyland is hard to crush. I got to spend the weekend there with my sons and had the lovliest of times. We were there for two days in a row (a first for me) so we were able to take our time, relax, poke around...lovely. My DH was dear enough to let me go back solo at night to go on a fast ride.

I tried to get onto Space Mountain to see what they'd changed. It said there was a 75 minute wait, but all the waits had been much faster than posted that day so I didn't dispair.

Rennovations notwithstanding, Space Mountain lived up to my childhood recollection of it--after 15 minutes in line, it broke.

I left.

But not before proving that I was there:




So...no Space Mountain (I'm just not that devoted to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers) so instead I walked on to the Matterhorn (okay, five minutes)...enough of a line to get this:






Lordy.
Nice manicure though, don'tcha think? They're my Bismarck nails. It's important. Trust me. And the second pic is a little blurry b/c I had to do a night shot, while not blocking riders getting off, while not slowing the line down too much (I didn't really want to hear "crazy knitter" spat at me), yada yada yada. It all equals "blurry picture".

The other piece of the weekend that I found deeply amusing, Ted and Terry have outdone themselves...or given La Disney a reason to outdo its...self? Johnny Depp/Cap'n Jack Sparrow is ALL OVER Pirates of the Carribean. Did I say "all over"--what I really meant is that the film has more or less consumed the entire ride. Not that it's a bad thing...it's not like they inserted him into the jail cell bit, but the pirate on the boat that's bombarding the fort looks and sounds more like Barbosa AND IS ASKING FOR SPARROW. Johnny's likeness him...its...self shows up three times. Very clever (not a bad likeness if you want to know...) and very very good for Ted and Terry. May they make millions more. They deserve it. Great guys. Great writers. They don't need me to tell them that.

What I like about Bismarck

Even in the winter, you can tell how pretty it is.

The people in the Midwest--even when they're mad at you--are wonderful.

There's a firm belief in automatic/motion sensor...everything...soap dispensers, handtowel dispensers...the list grows.

Bismarck Teachers ROCK!

The guys at the Raddison in downtown Bismarck SO make up for the Raddison dopes in Denver that it's almost not worth mentioning...almost.

Key Concepts and Inside Jokes:
"He was a HOT pilot...maybe he's staying here!"

"...They had CANS of whipped CREAM! Seriously! What were they thinking?"

"...And there was a COW!"

Bismarck, ND

First impressions:

WOW! Everyone's really REALLY nice!

WOW! It's not as flat as I thought...um...yes it is...no it's not.

WOW! It's WAY smaller than I thought and WAY more industrial!

WOW! The steak is really really good!

So, I got in on the same flight as my NYC compatriots--though we didn't figure that out until baggage claim--and rode the little Radisson shuttle in (piloted by Mike).

Checking in was like checking into a ghost town. Dunno if it was a Sunday or if the Radisson is in danger of going under, but...

They have all the pilots stay here, so I GUESS they're okay.

The other thing that's amazing is...they have Sleep Number Beds. Go figure! I'm in HEAVEN.

We had a lovely dinner where we were able to go over our presentation for tomorrow over dinner and wine (God Bless the interpretation of their Blue Laws) and shared dessert. It was a great time...and it's been a long time since I've had a work experience like this. A nice visit to the old days. And very, very good to see Rebecca who is our Professional Development Guru. She's (to quote Vera) a Rock Star.

So, unless disaster strikes, tomorrow should be fine. (I won't let myself get more effusive than that.)

Ah! I can hear the train rumbling by...

ND is a different world. Literally, the tundra was outside our plane windows. I had no idea...

I'm nearly finished with my Six Sox KAL sock (Springtime in Paris sock) which is a very nice place to be. Almost done with the gusset! Whoo hooo!

6:30am breakfast with Rebecca so I'm very very in need of sleep.

Until the morrow...

Never too late for a resolution

So, here's my not-so-New Year's Resolution: I'm going to blog more.

Already in Arizona life is as hectic as it ever was in NY. I'm a homeschooling parent now (though luckily with my husband often working from home with me, we're able to share the burden), my kids are each struggling with their own issues, my parents are still overworked, my sister's off finishing the research for her PhD...and it's clear that's never going to end.

So fine.

I'll blog.

I'll carve out the time.

Like now...now I'm in the Minneapolis/St Paul Airport at the Northwest Airlines World Club ($45 for a day-pass...not exactly worth it, but I've been able to get a lot of work done!) and it's a day away from normal responsibilities. It's a nice break.

Last night Mom came over and we barbequed chicken and hot dogs and ate fruit salad and grilled veggies and sat on the back porch and watched the kids play. It was 88° yesterday last I looked.

It's about 30° in Minnesota right now...but it'll be warmer (go figure) in Bismarck, ND. Go figure.

I get to go and introduce curriculum to the English teachers there! Who hoo! And that's not sarcastic; I really am rather excited to do this. It's been a very interesting project. I hope the teachers like it as much as I do.

And soon I get to get on another plane. Head out for the not-so-frozen not-quite-tundra.

More when I get there.
H

Reign Over Me

I have no idea if this will be good or not, but I love these guys. I'd watch Don Cheadle read the phone book...maybe even a VCR manual.

Too much Junk Mail? | How Do I Stop It | Stop Junk Mail Now with greendimes

Too much Junk Mail? | How Do I Stop It | Stop Junk Mail Now with greendimes

Okay, but this helps.

Is the new IPCC report conservative? Optimistic? Misleading? Inquiring minds... | Global warming, Climate change, IPCC report, IPCC report | TerraPass

Is the new IPCC report conservative? Optimistic? Misleading? Inquiring minds... | Global warming, Climate change, IPCC report, IPCC report | TerraPass: Fight global warming, promote alte

I knew it was too good to be true...I was suspicious...

How am I going to knit and spin if it gets even HOTTER!?!

It Is Finished

I have finished my Rogue Hoodie. I will post pics of it when I can get my DH to take a pic. However, let me for a moment demonstrate how close I came to total disaster:




That's how much yarn I had left.

I knitted both sleeves at the same time, and the pile on the right is the right hand sleeve's yarn, the pile on the left for the left.

Now, I HAVE more yarn, but that yarn was at my AZ home and I was in CA when I was finishing. I had (foolishly?!) packed in such a way so as to need to WEAR the sweater home if I was to fit everything in the suitcase.

So.

There was a little pressure.

The fates were with me, though. I had enough yarn to finish the knitting AND the seaming.




With a little left for fixing holes/tears/snags.

Allelu...

I'm Ursula!

I am: Ursula K. LeGuin Perhaps the most admired writing talent in the science fiction field.

Which science fiction writer are you?

In love with a blog

So I just found a blog I love. I was drawn to it for the title, "Oceania has ALWAYS been at war with East Asia" a phrase I've been using a bit too much lately. But then I start reading her (very random) thoughts and realize: SHE IS A KNITTER!
Go figure. The world is small.

She had two nifty gifs on her site though.

The first is this:


The second is this:


There are some days when static says it all.

I've Been Tagged!

Liana at SewIntriguing just tagged me at my Craftlit page. I moved it here just to keep the shownotes uncluttered...which is odd for me as I revel in clutter.

Here are the Rules:

* Someone Tags you
* You post 5 things about yourself that you haven't already mentioned on your blog
* You tag 5 people about whom you'd like to know more


So...five things about me that I haven't posted...

1) When I met my husband back at UCLA I called my mom to tell her I was dating the man I was going to marry. Her response was something like, "and how's the weather...?"
We broke up (I wrote a vindictive play, had it produced at school--which he came to see--and miraculously we stayed friends). That was 1989. In 1994 one of my students gave me a little stone box made from the same stone as the Temple in Jerusalem. She told me it was a little wish box. I was to write a wish down on a piece of paper, put it in the box and it would come true. That night I wrote, "I want to be happy, laughing, and in love for the rest of my life." I'd never made a wish like that before (usually I would have mentioned someone's name...). Now the legend part:

That night in New York, a breeze blew into Andrew's room overlooking Christopher Street and rustled the pages of his address book. It opened to my name.

He realized I was still in LA and he would be there in a month to watch rehersals of one of his plays. On a whim he called me. Asked if I would like to come see a rehersal.
Understand, I had NEVER gotten over him. At all. I'd dated, but there was never anyone quite as perfect for me as he. So, duh, I made plans to see him in a month. I spent that month deciding what to wear...So...we saw each other, we tried to spend every waking moment with each other, he went back to NY and...six months later we were engaged; seven months later on July 7, 1995 I arrived in NY...
Never looked back.

2) The "legend" block quote above is the only part of the story that isn't literally true.

3) I read Tarot with uncanny accuracy. My mom and great grandmother "know things" though they never give it any creedance.

4) I have never planned my future. Everything in my life that's worked out has been a complete surprise. My husband, my home, my kids...it's all a glorious serendipitous melange. There are certainly things I've worked for (my degrees, my jobs, my writing, my marriage) but I was never the type to sit down and say, plan my wedding when I was fifteen. I guess that's why I'm rarely diappointed. Lots of happy accidents...and some not so happy accidents too.

5) I've lived through many potential disasters. Between 1967 and 1994 I lived through every SoCal earthquake. I left CA for AZ—they stopped. I moved back to UCLA, they started again. I was about four blocks away from the LA riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict (living alone in a ground floor apartment with HUGE picture windows in the front. FUN!). Then 9/11. I look at this as a positive: I'm still here. But some of my friends have noted that being NEAR me might not be so safe.

There it is. Now I have to tag five people, and I choose:

Accordion Girl (my Squidster, though it'll probably take her a bit to answer back)
Mrs. Pilkington (NY Blogging/fiber friend)
NapTimeKnitter (and Kate has the Most Gorgeous baby girl for whom she also has a blog)
Yarn-a-Go-Go (SOAR buddie)
MissyB (SOAR buddie)
And a bonus!
Spinneret (Craftlit listener who's Blog I love)