would you like to play a game?

it looks like cheyenne mountain is going to be the home to NORAD no longer...

this makes me sad for weird nostalgia resons (what a security and wargames nerd i am), but it sort of makes sense in the current political climate....

hello! what did you do today?

i made some changes.

Before




After

the unending excuse?

how long do i get to tell you that i'll do a proper post soon before you stop believing me?

anyhow, i uploaded a ton of old pictures to flickr a few moments ago. by and large, they're from when i lived in new orleans (1997-99) and georgia (2000-01).

among cool pics of my jake friend in flight being observed by the dog

and beeeeyoutiful pictures of the lovely littlegoat on our kitchen counter

are a ton of pictures of ernie as a pup and a young dog...

i can't remember if i mentioned it, but mr. pants has taken the dog into his home. it's a good home, and i'll still get to see ernie whenever i go see mr. pants (he's also in CA at the moment). so that's a good thing.

if only he'd stop peeing all over the house (ernie, not mr. pants).

watching french movies

this dog used to actually turn on the teevee and watch french movies.

it could have had something to do with the fact that he'd step on the remote and that channel 77 showed foreign films, but i prefer to think he is hoity toity.

whoa...

it's been a week?

yes, it appears to have been a week.

i just got back to california tonight. stories to follow include:

dog as horcrux
melting in needles
why i should be a poor clare
love and gushy stuff like that
not sitting on babies
killing the state of california
finding the end of the rainbow

there may be more, but i have a migraine due to the second point i listed above.

it's bloomin' hot here, people.

imaginary numbers

it's eleventy thousand seven degrees in my apartment.

i just bought 2 new fans 5 days before moving out.

hopefully i'll be able to sleep for the first night in a week.

howdy strangers

i am a stranger to these here parts it seems.

it's mostly due to pre-moving busy stress.

it's partly due to senor pantalones.

but either way, i'll be back in california probably in less than 2 weeks.

so i have to pack my whole life into my car and drive there. again.

see? we DO still knit!

the ribbed corset is finished.

see? i wouldn't lie to you

i waffled between buttons i could afford that jo-ann's had enough in stock to buy RIGHT THEN and ones that were more expensive and not enough in stock. i bought the ones i could afford. however, the main reason i bought the right then buttons was that there were 25 (i needed 22, but they came in sets of 5). the silver filigree ones that i loved came in sets of 3 and there were only 5 sets. alas, i only wound up using 11 buttons, so in theory, i could have gotten the ones i loved...

anyhow, the FO REPORT!!!

pattern: annie modesitt's ribbed corset
needles: addi turbo size 6, 32"
yarn: brown sheep cotton fleece in silver plum
date started: 06/22/06
date finished: 07/08/06
modifications: not many - i knitted it exactly as written. but realized that 22 buttons that were 5/8" in that amount of space were too many, so i removed half the buttons, and sewed it shut to prevent unseemly gapping
notes: LOVE. IT. love it love it love it love it. and i like it, too!

clicking the picture below takes you to the rest of the pictures.

the wind may crown your head with leaves and keep blowing

yesterday would have been my dad's 60th birthday.

i can't stop listening to the honesty room today.

there is very likely a corollary.

be vewy, vewy qwiet...

...the ribbed corset, after a long trip on the addi turbos, is finally cast off and resting.

pictures (once i block, weave in ends, and purchase 22 buttons) to follow soon.

i love harvard professors

because they say things like:

"hooray if it failed"

new favorite

i do it every few years. but it's about to become an obsession:

the batting cages.

i tried to get people to go with me for MONTHS last year. never happened. however, boy and i went twice yesterday. he used to play the baseball back in the day. i'm not stellar, but i can usually hit the ball. yesterday i even hit a few line drives ON PURPOSE.

i tell people i'm slightly lefty. but yesterday it was confirmed. i both pitch and bat lefty.

maybe this is why i've been throwing like such a girl all these years - i should have been doing it the other way all along.

time flies when you're knitting drumsticks

i've been chugging away on the ribbed corset by annie modesitt. in fact, i met up with alpineflower yesterday to work on it a bit.

alpineflower finished knitting her viking chicken hat. woot! just finishing to go and it'll be ready to plop on her baby's head as soon as s/he is born!

she knitted the last drumstick in no time flat.

anyhow, here's the corset as of 12:30 pm on july 2.

i'm really liking knitting this, and finding that even the miles of ribbing isn't too dreadfully boring. it's a really fast knit, and there are cable details (on which i'm not 100% sold, but they keep the boredom at bay with the ribbing) that look better when stretched out. the bust decreases (and i'm sure subsequent hip increases) are lovely. i'm remembering to knit the buttonholes every 6 rows and everything.

here are the thumbnails - as ever, click through for larger sizes and better detail.