| Katie's Thinkin' About Christmas |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|12:01 pm] |
I'm working from home today, while my car gets repaired (or I find out just what's wrong that needs to be repaired). Mostly, she's bored with me, because I don't have the time to play with her.
She loves the Christmas tree, and lies right below it all the time.
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| Extinction vs. obsolescence, and other randomness |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|12:23 am] |
Things that are obsoleteextinct, per New York magazine:
1. answering machines
2. lickable stamps
3. foldable maps
4. cathode ray tube TVs
5. incandescent light bulbs
6. paid porn
7. smoking in bars
8. fax machines
9. Hydrox cookies
10. cassette tapes
11. French francs
12. floppy disks
13. phone books
14. Polaroid photos
15. bank deposit slips
16. subway tokens
17. Rolodexes
Full title: "A Catalogue of Everyday Stuff That Has Become Extinct"
I really don't think most of this stuff is extinct. Obsolete, yes, and on the way to becoming extinct, yes, for most of that stuff, but actually gone, no. I can't speak to French francs or subway tokens, since I don't live any place with francs or subways, and Hydrox cookies are just not something that is on my radar. I have some opinions on several of these things, but actually I think KarenD already said most of them for me, so I will refrain.
( Here's the random part )
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| RIP. |
[Dec. 16th, 2009|12:39 am] |
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I hope my friend realized that me playfully nagging him during the months we worked together to eat better and take better care of himself meant that I cared about him, on a basic human level. Even though it ultimately didn’t make a difference. |
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| Whiny Tale. |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|09:08 pm] |
Let me tell you a sad sad story of me not being responsible and pissed as hell.
I live in Oakland, part of the SF bay area. One day, a few months ago, I went to do my laundry at pops house, and walked over to my truck. To my surprise, it was on the curb and the back end was smashed in! wtf? Some lady walks by and tells me, "ac transit hit yo shit". Fuck!. I was supposed to go see Noam Chomsky in Palo Alto that night, and after doing the police report bs, find it still runs. Sweet. So I drive over to pops house in Fremont, with my bicycle to bike over the dumbarton bridge to this spot in Palo Alto. I had no turn signals, and no lights, so I didn't want to get a fix-it ticket, or be a cop magnet. This is a considerable bike ride from Fremont. Nothing insane, and I had gotten back from a tour of the coast, but it was an hour and a half of trekking.
On the way back, in east palo alto(a lower income separate city), I am stopped at a light and notice a cop behind me. Whatever, I am biking and almost to the bridge! Then after a considerable time at the light, a light pops on from the cop and out the window they tell me to pull over. They pull me over because I had no front light (it got jacked). I am a little iritated because I have been pulled over, bicycling a couple times, all in lower income areas, so I know they just assume I am buying dope. Frustrated, pumped from Noam Chomskys speech, I tell them my feelings, instead of remaining silent like I have previously. "Man you just pulled me over because you think I went to this area to buy drugs!" I've found on a bike, it is really hard to defend yourself against police.
Long story short, I got a fix it ticket, at 10:30 at night, in east palo alto on a bike. I'm sure they couldn't be doing anything better. So in the spirit of civil disobedience, or maybe school, work, and living rather far away with no car, I ignored the ticket. Smash the state. No previous experience with this nonsense, I just got a 170 dollar bail ticket in the mail. Geez!
Has anyone ever dealt with getting pulled over on their bike? Whats your best defense? |
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| Psychologists Call It Projection |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|10:58 pm] |
Attorney General Eric Holder, the person who abdicated his responsibility to do his job and prosecute war crimes, took the pulpit in a church and told everybody why they’re all a bunch of irresponsible louts who lack character, and how their moms might be dirty whores too.
And the funny thing is, they probably ate it up. That’s how church works!
Originally published at Ergotism. You can comment here or there. |
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| zoom |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|10:24 pm] |
This evening after work, David went to a friend's house. I went to the pet store for cat litter, the home improvement store for David's present, the PX for tape and a present for a friend, and the commissary for food. Once home, I seized the opportunity while David was out and wrapped his presents, then put away the food. I was putting the friends' gifts in gift bags when he got home. Whew.
I like to read the Yarn Harlot. She's a dedicated knitter, and quite funny. She has a LOT of readers, in the hundreds and maybe thousands. She recently mentioned a new pattern that she liked, and where to get it. I bought it immediately, and reflected that it was likely that many other readers did, too. That pattern designer probably made her mortgage payment that day. I certainly hope so - if a windfall is going to arrive, December's always a good time for it. Anyway, I've been working on this project, and I'm about 2/3 of the way through the knitting. After that, there's sewing up (boo, hiss) and felting, so I've got some work to do before it's done. I hope to give this as a present, hence the vagueness of the description.
Our wedding anniversary is this Sunday - six years. I'm the luckiest woman in the world. I knew within two months that he was the one for me, and I never had a doubt about marrying him. Best move I ever made. |
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| I will be... |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|06:44 pm] |
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in the NJ/NYC/CT area from 12/23 to 1/3. If you are there, I would love to hear from you and/or make plans. Huzzah! |
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| win |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|07:13 pm] |
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Livejournal has announced the mandatory gender thing was a big mistake and they're not doing it. |
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| HOV Crackdown Tomorrow in VA |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|05:55 pm] |
STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TEAM UP TO TAKE ON H.O.V. VIOLATORS
ARLINGTON, VA
H.O.V. violators beware. Wednesday morning, Dec. 16, 2009, local and state police will be saturating Northern Virginia interstates and the Dulles Toll Road to enforce compliance in the usage of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.
The Virginia State Police Fairfax Division will have 75 percent of its sworn personnel dedicated to HOV enforcement efforts on Interstates 66, 95 and 395, and the Dulles Toll Road during Wednesday morning rush hour.
( Read more... )
source |
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| HOV Crackdown Tomorrow in VA |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|05:54 pm] |
STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TEAM UP TO TAKE ON H.O.V. VIOLATORS
ARLINGTON, VA
H.O.V. violators beware. Wednesday morning, Dec. 16, 2009, local and state police will be saturating Northern Virginia interstates and the Dulles Toll Road to enforce compliance in the usage of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes.
The Virginia State Police Fairfax Division will have 75 percent of its sworn personnel dedicated to HOV enforcement efforts on Interstates 66, 95 and 395, and the Dulles Toll Road during Wednesday morning rush hour.
( Read more... )
source |
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| Talisman Shawl |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|09:53 pm] |
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http://wendyknits.net/2009/12/15/talisman-shawl-2/ http://wendyknits.net/?p=5436 Anyone remember this? 
This is the Talisman Shawl, which I designed and knit in 2008. I would have been highly impressed indeed if anyone had identified this as that pattern: Here’s a close-up on the pattern stitch in the original version: 
And here’s a close-up in my current version: 
The original was knit from a laceweight handspun merino/tencel on a U.S. size 5 needle. I’m currently knitting it in fingering weight on a U.S. size 5 needle. Interesting to see how it looks, eh? (I agree that it does resemble the Fountain Pen Shawl, but I designed and knit the original a good six months before that shawl pattern was published in IK so I wasn’t influenced by it!) I never did anything with the pattern, apart from knitting it up. I came across the pattern a few days ago and thought it would be fun to knit it up in in fingering weight. So there you have it! It may just be me . . . But I think the nutcracker in this office party invitation looks rather shifty-eyed and sinister. He probably is, given who is hosting the party. 
(Click photo to enlarge and make readable . . . and spot the punctuation issue!) To change the subject . . . Check out this perfect little profile: 
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| Dreads and African Dance |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|02:11 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  excited | ] |
Just wanted to share a picture of my best friend and I in our african costumes from our show last night.
( eeeeeaaaaa ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|12:46 pm] |
I posted this in another community the other day and got no responses, so I thought I'd try you guys:
Okay, so I have a sizing dilemma. I'd like to knit a doll's sweater for a doll that's about 11 inches tall. The problem is that the pattern I have is for an 18 inch tall doll, and the circumference needs to be cut down from the 13 inches the pattern would create to about 9 inches, and I have no idea how to alter a pattern that way. =/
The fair isle design on the sweater doesn't even need to the same, as long as I can get the basic sweater shape done properly.
Thank you in advance. =) |
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| Tor.com Starts Podcasting |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|07:16 pm] |
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http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/12/15/tor-com-starts-podcasting/ http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=9387 
Tor.com, that groovy online site dedicated to science fiction, fantasy and other such wacky things, is inaugurating a weekly podcast, in which the folks there will discuss what’s new and notable on the site, and audio fiction will unspool, alternating between new fiction, and fiction already on the site. For the debut podcast, the fiction they’re featuring is mine — an audio version of my story “After the Coup,” set in the Old Man’s War universe and read by me. If you missed it the first time it was up, here’s your chance to check it out, along with the rest of the podcast. Enjoy!
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| Gift Table Opinions, please? |
[Dec. 15th, 2009|02:29 pm] |
A question about gift tables, if you please!
We spread the word that, since we will be moving into a new house two weeks before the wedding (and going from 15 years of condo/apartment living to a house on three acres is definitely going to be a challenge), we would prefer cash and gift cards over actual gifts for our wedding. I suspect some people will probably get us gifts anyway, which is of course awesome, but, in theory, we'll be getting a lot of checks and gift cards and such.
Also, along with our invitations we included a blank recipe card and instructions for folks to fill it out with their favorite family recipe to help us start some kitchen traditions.
So, my question is twofold: Should I have two separate baskets for those things, or just one for both? And do you think an open basket would be fine, or should I have something more like a mailbox-type-thing where they can put the cards in but can't easily take anything out? (I have a little smallish but pretty basket with a lid that closes and latches, that I was thinking about using for the cards. It's actually a picnic basket, so nossomuch with not easily taking things out again, but at least it's a little more "hidden".)
We're having a pretty small wedding (about 70 people, all told), and it's not like we're inviting a bunch criminals or something. :-) But I was wondering what the consensus is about things like that - people can be pretty touchy about gifts, and not wanting everyone else to know what/whether they've given anything.
We're leaning towards just having one pretty basket, and calling it a day.
Thoughts? |
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