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)

The world is a very small place

Read
and
this.

It's NOT a Matter of Opinion!

Listen to this. Listen to ALL of it, no matter how painful.

And I'm not good at math. Figuring out decreases is about the hardest math I've done for ages...but I knew enough to know that this is a very, very bad sign.

Have your children listen...for the future of the planet...listen and learn.

I'm A-Murican

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The South
The Inland North
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

O It's Been Too Long...

I'm in the process of finally finding/buying/acquiring a home.

You?

Hahahah

No, really. DH will be here in less than two weeks, the boys are beyond excited. I am too.

But all the work and house work is cutting into my knitting/spinning time. I'm making some progress on my precious Rogue Hoodie, which I may never be able to wear here in Tucson. I've divided and nearly finished the back.

I'm stillhttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif plodding along on my Pomatomus sock in Lorna's Laces (Purple Iris #48) (which I'm getting fonder of. It splits a bit so it wasn't fun for awhile). I'm nearly done with the first. My second sock syndrome may kick in and I'll switch to finishing Andrew's Maple Leaf Socks for Xmas.

I was going to try to make some Socks that Rock for my sister...not sure what's going to happen there.

Mostly, the world is looking a bit brighter...or it will if we can keep some moderation in the Nation's politics. Herm.

I have spent the last two weeks completly gobsmacked by my podcast listeners. I've received not one, but FOUR gifts in the last 2-1/2 weeks. I have the most wonderful people joining me on my little literary journey.

I
Am
Blessed.

I'm still VERY MUCH missing my NY friends and knitters. It's just not the same out here. It's still freakin' 85 degrees outside, so how could it be?!?! It's November 19th! What gives?!

Of course, it's 40 degrees at night, so that 40-degree-variable does give you SOME sense of Fall.

I'm off to take the boys to Grandpa Charlie and Gammy Jan's for dinner.

oooh--and look at the cool thing my sister did!

O Dear Lord

I just signed up for NaNoWriMo.
What have I done.

SOARing's been fun. Look!

SOARing in Tahoe City

Haven't I said before that Fiber Folk were the best people?
Well, now there's definitive proof. I've spend a little over 24 hours in the company of (almost entirely) women and have yet to see/experience any of the catty, icky, high-school stuff that occasionally happens in groups like this.

EVERYone is wonderful. I've not eaten with the same people twice. And it doesn't matter. Everyone seems to know everyone else from previous SOARs and if they don't know you, they make you feel like they WANT to know you.

It's lovely.

Pics to come...

A New Rant

Okay.

Having spent much of my adult live immersed in and teaching American Lit (and, importantly, having cynically disparaged it and a lot of other things during my misspent yute) I feel I can say with some credibility that Young Jefferson felt it was important to criticize a standing president WHEN HE DESERVED IT but Older President Jefferson didn't think so much of the whole mishegas. I think Franklin thought EVERYone was fair game (including himself) and I think that John Adams was so used to being vilified that he SHOULD have been insensitive to it...but wasn't.

That being said, there is nothing more UN-American than censorship. There's a reason that freedom of speech is our FIRST Amendment. There's a lot of debate on the Second. I have my point of view (and it hovers around the words "well-regulated militia") but that's another rant.

The Dixie Chicks, aside from being an AWESOME band, have had their share of the unfortunate end of the stick being unceremoniously...ummm...you know the metaphor, I think. Now, the real horror: read then watch this.

It's bad enough that our president doesn't get it. It's FAR FAR WORSE that NBC doesn't. Remember WE pay for their airwave license. It's appalling that they don't give free air time to politicians (so the little guys might have a shot) but now that they're censoring something critical of CENSORSHIP!?!?! You've gotta be kidding me.

I like the first comment to this post: "Anyone who still talks about “the liberal media” should be sterilized. They are clearly too stupid to breed."

And better yet is the second: “To announce there must be no criticism of the President, and to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, it is morally treasonous to the American public.”
– President Theodore Roosevelt

I love it when past presidents can make my case for me so nicely.

And Off Rant:
I'm homesick.

Post-dye/Post-knit

some update pics

The Faroese dyed:


The Faroese drying:

I think I'm going to overdye it with a very weak black/grey solution to try to mitigate some of the brightness. This IS what I was going for, but it didn't bleed/blend as well as the test strip I made.





The front of Jim's baby sweater:



And the glorious back:

That ugly carpet is courtesy of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport.

I got the pattern here, but had to play with it a bit to get it to fit the baby sweater.

A sign who's time has come

My DH sent me this link. Too good not to share.