Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Like I need another hole in my head


Look! My first ballet flat purchase since elementary school! I'm not much of a flat shoe person, unless it's flip flops or sneakers (do those even count as shoes?), but I actually needed these shoes, and not in that half-assed rationalization way. I'm going on a plant tour tomorrow, and they have really strict rules about what you wear, meaning no jewelry or open-toed or high-heeled shoes. That left me with my sneakers and there's no way I'm going to wear sneakers and jeans in the summer, so I needed cute close-toed shoes without a heel that I can wear with a skirt.

I was a woman on a mission after work today: Buy 300 to ogle manly man candy and Hot Fuzz DVDs and then get ballet flats no matter what.

Success! And my new shoes were cheaper than my DVD purchase.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Done!

I'm done reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I'm a bit sad that it's all over, but I can start rereading the entire series like I always do after finishing the newest novel. And then I'll read #7 again.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Do not disturb

The Harry Potter watch is at an end! Now it is time to hunker down and read the last new HP book.

Harry Potter Watch 2007

I ordered my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows from Amazon for Saturday delivery. It is almost 3:30 and I still don't have it in my hot little hands. I'm a little worried and jump up whenever I hear what I think is our front gate (it's the neighbors' front gates). I've already gotten my Saturday mail delivery, so maybe they're going to do another trip with the Harry Potter overflow? The front door wasn't closed all the way, so hopefully my book wasn't stolen? I'm overwrought!!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Spoiling it

With all the brouhaha with the last Harry Potter book, I've been staying away from the news and much of the internet. I thought I was safe, but I opened up my Publisher's Lunch Deluxe weekly e-mail to find a bold blurb that pretty much answers that "Does Harry live" question. I was so angry because you'd think that an industry publication would be a little more sensitive to all of this. Or did they figure that it was a free-for-all now that the book's leaked out and the cat's out of the bag?

And the kicker? 1 1/2 hours later, somebody from Lunch Weekly e-mails everyone and warns against reading the weekly e-mail if you don't want the ending spoiled. It appears they also believe in "better late than never."

Thanks, Lunch Weekly.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Meet Wonky



This is Wonky, aptly named because he is very wonky. He is supposed to be a sausage dog, and when I sewed his body parts together, Josh said that it looked awful. I knitted him using Blue Sky Alpacas sport weight alpaca and this adorable pattern from Mochimochi Land. The pattern forced me out of the safety of my scarf-knitting limits, making me learn how to knit in the round, which uses a scary amount of needles at one time. It took me quite a while to get used to using four needles at once, but once I figured out how to arrange the needles and work, everything sped along. The body parts actually don't take too long to make; I just procrastinated on stuffing him and sewing the pieces together. And then I procrastinated some more about giving Wonky a face, having this weird misshapen pink hot dog hanging out in my knitting bag. A little creepy actually.



I embroidered his face on this evening and when I was done, I put him on the table for the first time, only to find that he tilts to his left and not all four of his feet touch the table at the same time. I also discovered that I embroidered his eyes on the front of his face, rather than the side like in the original pattern. I'm also rather unsure as to how his ears are of different lengths. Maybe I counted my rows wrong? But it's okay! His flaws are charming and I can say that his head tilt gives him a "quizzical brow," to borrow Elizabeth Bennet's expression. Can you tell I was watching Pride and Prejudice while giving Wonky a face?

I'm already working on a second sausage dog so that I can start linking sausages together. I hope to have at least three soon!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Brooklyn Squirrels



A squirrel decided to scramble all over our screen for a few minutes. Maybe he was confused.