Being Human, Repo the Gentic Yarn, and many other things

So my previous post was a little well... for lack of a better word... emo.
But hey, I'm a writer... it tends to be what we do at times.

After writing my blog, I went and scrubbed 2/3rds of my bathroom. This makes me happy.
I had a dust bunny, that honestly I thought he was the Prince of the Dust Bunnies, and was going to start plotting war against me.



For those who don't know, this wood burning is from Catharsis Comic, which for the most part is on permanent hiatus, but it is still fun to go back and read through.

I kid you not about the dust bunnies in my bathroom. Colorado Springs is a dust bowl, and to be honest the dust drives me absolutely bonkers. By tomorrow my counter will once again have a coating of dust on it, but at the very least it will be a while before the grandeur of the Dust Bunny Prince decides to show his bunny self again.

So, I've been catching up on a lot of telly... but I'm not going to go into most of the things, cause I can't remember most of them right now. This proves once again I need to take the time to blog more often to do my reviews.

But here is one that I am sooo ready to pimp out cause it's like AWESOME.

Once again, a BBC production.

Being Human.

Blogger hides most of my photos no matter what I do to it in the upload, so to see Annie the Ghost, just click on the image and it will get larger. I'm annoyed at blogger for this. -.-



A Ghost, a Vampire and a Werewolf trying to live a "normal" life in Bristol.

What can I say, other than Freaking Awesome. The writing was witty, and refreshing, and well... human!
There were nice twists at appropriate places, and the episode 5 and 6 (meaning, second to last and last) had me literally going "Ohmigawd!" and squeeing and being quite creeped out at times.

I like their take on the Vampires, which it is amusing as it mimics a few of the "rules" my own vampires in "A Hard Day's Bite" had. Ranging from sunlight to religion and the symbols of power. I liked it!

I'm never fond of the "Wolfman" style of werewolves, but I think that they pulled it off very well.

The Ghost, also had some great rules.

Mostly I liked how the stories intertwined, flowed and how you actually connected with each character. I actually cared about the characters which recently I haven't been doing so much in regards to telly.

Oh, and it was great seeing in the first 2 episodes not 1, but 3 Doctor Who people.

Annie, played by Lenora Crichlow was in Season 3 of Doctor Who in "Gridlock"

George, played by Russell Tovey was in Season 4 Christmas Special: Voyage of the Damned (and actually it looks like he'll be reprising his role of Midshipman Alonso Frame for at least 2 more episodes of Who, so.. WOOT!)

A character who's name I cannot recall, was played by the actor who played Shakespeare in season 3 episode "Shakespeare Code"


I very much am looking forward to Series 2 of Being Human, I hope that it lasts for a good long while as it is a very good show. If you haven't gone out and seen it yet.. Go do it now!

I'm actually getting inspired for some colorways from this show.
Sigh, I wish I had time and money enough to dye up all the yarn I want to dye right now!

Speaking of yarn...

I am currently knitting up a pair of socks called "Legal Assassin" which is a pattern completely designed by me! Don't have photos at the moment since I'm still in the "working out the kinks" phase.

This sock pattern is to match the yarn "Nathan Wallace / Repo Man"


I'm quite proud of this yarn, it was my first time working with wool.
And it will be for sale. I've got only 1 skein left for sale at this time.

Which reminds me, I've been officially made into a Yarnie on Ravelry. Woot. I'm official.


What am I currently reading?

Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs

I can already say that I'm going to be pretty opinionated when I finish this book. Not necessarily about the story, but more about the over all books in general. I will be spoiling a bit for those who have not read, so when I do post that post.. don't read if you don't want a bit of a spoiler. Don't worry, I'll give warning.

I guess I'm done yammering for now.

Beth Turner, the morning after..

Heh. Sounds a bit kinky.. Morning after what?

Well.. It's pretty mundane.

She's dry. She's cozy..

And here she is.. I'll post the photo of the "One of a Kind" Cake soon. I thought I wasn't going to like it. But it actually turned out neat.



Right now it is raining. I just finished watching disc one of Burn Notice season 2.. And now I'm watching Equilibrium. A Christian Bale/Sean Bean futuristic movie. Too early to tell if it'll be any good.. but so far they just burned the original Mona Lisa... (oh, and apparently the guy who played Robert the Bruce from Braveheart is in the movie as well)

Today was brutally hot, and muggy in the morning. I'm loving the downpour right now.
I went over to Jes's house and hung out with "The Girls" for a little while. Mostly just to prove that I am still alive.

I realized I should not take the pride and joy of my new work (Beth Turner) with me to show off to people whom.. well.. they don't knit, and thus do not care.
As there was a 2 year old running around, I was not able to work on my stitch markers like I had planned.. I had forgotten that Kasha is growing and growing quickly. So I did some knitting, which I now have to go count a few rows to make sure I'm where I'm supposed to be, as I didn't have a pen to mark my place, and if I don't I'll forget what row I'm on. Luckily, I know at least one spot I've done, so it's just a matter of counting from there.

After that I stopped of at EvilMart to get some groceries as I was passing right bye it. Got myself a real pair of gloves for dyeing. I discovered I didn't like using latex disposable ones, as of course your hands get sweaty and gross on the inside, and also my hands smell of powder for hours afterwards.. no matter how many times I wash them. And also, if you get dye on them, they don't wash very well, and can transfer. So.. real gloves it is, and will also give me a bit more protection from the heat that the disposable ones didn't. Some day I'll upgrade to a pair of Bluettes (like.. THE gloves) And a new bucket for when I'm doing the yarn prepping and rinses.

I really need to buy myself a digital scale so that I can start knowing the shipping cost of something without having to actually go to the post office and have them weigh it for me. Ugh. Evilmart has one for 16.99$ online that I'll prolly get. If I remember correctly it does grams as well, so I should be fine using it for the UK.

Now, I am going to go. Have some stitch markers to make. I will get to the Denver adventures to Jacqueline Carey soon, I promise!

I think I'm going to make some pizza for dinner.. mmmmm Yummy.


Bugs and Hisses!

Oh and on a random note: My Lucien from Fresh from the Cauldron arrived yesterday. Woohoo. More of the yummy werewolf. And a pattern I was hoping to get called Vindication.

100th post, and huge news!

How very lucky am I that I have huge news, and it also happens to be my 100th post on this particular blog. (Meaning, since I jumped over from Myspace... I don't miss it. I haven't even logged into Myspace in most likely, 2 months)

Yesterday started something major for me.
You've seen it coming.

The Asylum for Wayward Yarn is now up and running. It's a little bare at the moment. I'm working on logos and such like that.

I posted my first set of stitch markers.
A set of 4 Doctor Who "Pinstripe 10" themed gems. I already knew there was interest in them prior to posting them for sale. And guess what, they sold immediately. (didn't get the confirmation until after I came into work, simply because I had to go to bed at my normal time, and I don't have time to check my email before I come into work)
I had already had the package ready to go, it just needed the address, the postage, and the envelope to be sealed.
Mother of Mine has kindly added those last few pieces so that it will go out in the post today instead of tomorrow.

I am excited.

Here are the envelopes ready to go:


I had stopped off at Hobby Lobby on the way home and picked up some more fixings, also so as to pick up some envelope blanks, so that I could decorate them and of course get things shipped out.

Here are the fronts of the notecards:



New set of markers I made last night: and you can also see the inside of the notecards




Beth Turner, and some more Pinstripe 10


Tonight I must work on more of the skeins. If I get time, I will make more stitch markers, but first comes the skeins.
I still haven't gotten my dye pot. I hope it arrives today.
The knitting is going slowly, as the past few nights I've been focusing on *ahem* other things.

The next set of stitch markers, shall be Mick St. John. I look forward to him.
I also plan on having in my shop a "Mix and Match" option, so that, say if people want some of Beth and some of Mick, they can have it.

Alright. Time for me to get cracking at work.

I'm just very excited.

Oh. Quicky book review:
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Finished last night. I can see why some people are starting to feel that CH is kind of loosing the steam when it comes to the Sookie verse.
I don't quite know how to explain it. But whenever something major was happening, it reminded me of my first notes. It didn't actually show much of the violence (thinking of a big scene towards the end). It was written in the "I didn't think they would cut me. They did." type style. That style was how I would do my quick shorthand notes. Not the finished product. I don't know. I really don't know how to describe it. I don't know if I'm happy about what happened to a certain Vamp. Actually wait.. that really bugged me. This certain person had silver capped teeth. This person bit a vampire. That vampire was supposedly then poisoned. WTF? how would being bitten by silver be any different than having a silver chain cut into their flesh? Why then did they not get silver poisoning then? Totally a cop-out methinks. And also, CH forgot her own rules. Bill entered a house without permission (or no permission that we were aware of).

Alright I'm done for now as I really must get back to work.

Bugs and Hisses people.

Best laid plans..

Alright, so Mother of Mine and I had a plan. Friday was supposed to be a double header of our local AAA baseball team. Saturday was supposed to be opening day of Faire.

Well turns out there was a snafu with the tickets for baseball (basically someone got the wrong info. Not only was the game on Saturday, not Friday, but the tickets were also completely sold out, but there was the possibility of two tickets for us.)

We had decided that we could miss opening day of Faire.. as frankly.. it's no big deal to me anymore. I don't know about Mother of Mine, but I'm not rushing out to faire.

So Friday, we spent chilling at home waiting to find out if we'd have tickets for the game on Saturday.
Late that evening we found out that there were not any tickets.

No biggie.

Friday (I think... I can't recall.. the weekend has blurred) I spent the day washing and rewinding my tragic Bamboo. Yes, this is that bamboo yarn from months ago that arrived damaged. Figured I should get it washed since I was going to have dye arriving soon.

Oh, Friday I also stopped at Home Depot and picked up the final supplies for my Yardage Meter, and a PVC Niddy Noddy.

Got it washed. Got it skeined into two very large skeins.

Saturday, I decided I was going to deskein it into mini skeins. And when I say mini.. I mean 450 yards as opposed to 2 skeins consisting of 1800 yards.

Well, everything is an experience, and one learns from those experiences.. Lets just say, I have learned a lot.

I made the mistake of thinking I corral the yarn, having it draped on my wooden staff, while I slowly pull the yarn, run it through the meter, and put it onto my swift.

Simple plan right?

BIG mistake.

Thankfully, it was the smaller skein of the two that I had been working with..
But yes, the half entire mess slid off the staff at one point and now is a pool of tangled bamboo yarn.
I spent all of Saturday night, including staying up past midnight working on untangling bits.

I also spent most of Sunday doing the same.

What do I have to show for over 10 hours of untangling? Oh.. about 300yards. Thats about it. And that poor skein has so many joins in it. Thank goodness I wasn't planning on selling it.

Finally after giving up about 3:30 in the afternoon (seriously, after having worked on it since 8 am) I felt like I could fall asleep right then and there. I was so exhausted. I forgot to mention my back, neck and knees throughout this entire process were on fire. After dinner (about 4:30) I finally decided that I couldnt' just give up for the night entirely. I had put away the tangled mess so that we weren't tripping on it, but I took down the much larger skein. The one that I was originally afraid of tangling lol.
I put it on my swift.
I then slowly ran off 450 yards worth through my meter and onto my ball winder.

Took me about 15 minutes. And the reason it took that long, was because the skein was so big on the swift, I couldn't just pull the yarn and make it move. I had to pull a section off slowly, and then run it through and cake it (put it on the winder). Then repeat the process.

I'm just going to cake up the entire amount, and then after that I'll use my niddy noddy to skein it for dyeing.

And then.. then and only then will I go back to working on the other skein of tangled mess.

I have to admit.. Other than my back hurting to the point of tears... I am quite proud of myself when it comes to this fiasco.. I didn't get frustrated, I didn't scream and yell.. I just sat there with a zen like concentration untangling the mess and watching movies.
By the by.. on to movies.

The Unit season 3- very good season.. Sad that it was cut short due to the writers strike. But loved it.

Battlestar Galactica season 3- also a good season. I admit I was very confused by the first episode. But then everything started making sense.

Doom- Yup. Finally watched it. I needed a Karl Urban fix. It was a fun movie. Brought back memories, as I remember playing Doom when I was kid. It was the only video game that was at our friend Grace and David's house.. so guess what I played? yup. I sucked at the game. But the movie was amusing.

Mulberry- a British show from.. well I have no idea when it was done. The music for the opening credits and the closing credits are HORRIBLE. But otherwise the show was amusing. It was about a mysterious man who was sent to deal wtih a horrible cranky old lady. turns out, he's a grim reaper sent by death. The show was cute.

Primeval - I really liked this show. Not much to say about it other than I'd really love to have my own little Rex.

Umm.. I think thats it for now...

I'm flipping exhausted by the by.

Oh and I'm reading Dead and Gone the newest Sookie Stackhouse book. I am once again slightly sad that I do not have HBO as the new season of True Blood is starting. Well.. haven't seen season 1 yet fully so it's not a big deal but everyone loves to chat about it online. Sigh.

Okay, I guess it's back to work for me. I'm less freaked out now by work than I was on Friday.

Bugs and Hisses

The love of Terminator. And cuddly werewolves.

Alright. So, yesterday I was cranky. So very cranky that I couldn't wait to get out of work. I think what started the crankiness (Other than dealing with crappy internet services in the UK.. don't ask) was when the person who is my backup strolls in (late mind you) and immediately tells me how to do my job. I'm sorry, I was on break, I hadn't even logged back into my computer before he asked me to work a certain case. Which by the freaking way, I would have seen as soon as I logged in. But it was the fact that he told me to take care of it, just urked me. And he has done this with others, I frankly wanted to tell him to frak off and do his own job. (Which by the way, there was no reason he couldn't have taken care of the ticket himself. It took a total of 30 seconds to type 2 sentences and send it back to where it came from.)
That was about 9 am, and it put me into a foul mood till I got out of work at 12:30, which was 30 minutes later than my normal Fridays thanks to Monday having been a holiday.
I decided that it was going to be a day where if I stayed in the house, it would be a bad thing. Grabbed Mother of Mine and headed over to the mall to see a movie. Now, we normally do not go to the mall for movies, but I technically had errands on that side of town. (mostly, gas had been cheaper over there for the last few weeks. Of course because I was finally going to that station, it was now the same price as everwhere else.)
Mother of Mine and I puttered around the mall, and got ourselves some pretzels. Dealt with noisy kids, and a pain in my neck from walking around the mall. I was reminded why I don't like to go to that theater. (Granted, I hadn't been to that particular theater in quite possibly.. 10 years, but it hasn't changed)

Then we saw it.
Yes, we saw Terminator Salvation.


Now, those who don't know me, won't know my feelings when it comes to all that is The Terminator.
I love the movies. I grew up watching them. I personally feel that the first one is a romance chick flick. Yes, yes I did just say that.
Why do I think this?
Mostly, I can give you 1 reason.
Kyle Reese.
"I came across time for you Sarah."
Makes me melt every time.

Hmmm between Jareth from The Labyrinth, Kyle Reese from Terminator, James Bond, and James Fraser (Outlander books) it might explain why I have such a high standard for men lol.

Being a youngin' that I was, I remember actively making the decision to watch T1 and T2 on the special Judgment day. Which, for those who don't know, was August 1997.
Skynet came online August 4th, and Judgment day was actually August 29th.

I dislike the 3rd Terminator movie, because.. well it just didn't feel right.
I have grouped it into the batch of movies I pretend don't exist. Though, this one I will actually own, as I will have to have all the T movies.. most likely on Blue Ray someday. (Yes, technically my copies of T1 and T2 are still on VHS, and I'm not going to upgrade till after the move. - Hunny.. hint hint but wait till all 4 come out in whatever spiffy boxed set they're going to do.. as you know they will. )

Now, moving on to Salvation.
Once again, I love Kyle Reese. This time he was not played by Michael Biehn, but instead is played by Anton Yelchin. (You'll know him from many things, but most notably the new Star Trek Enterprise movie) Who I have recently gotten an extreme crush on. He is so adorable.
Marcus, played by Sam Worthington is a hot Aussie, and I kept catching his accent, when I'm sure not too many other people would. But yeah.. He's hot. He did a good job in the role he had. I won't go into details as that will spoil things.
Christian Bale played John Connor all grown up. Though he was limited by the existing lore of the character, and the actors who have played him previously.. I think he did an excellent job.

One thing that annoyed me in the movie, was the tapes that Sarah Connor made for John. I was sitting there in the theater thinking "how could they get someone else to do the tapes? Why didn't they just use the recording of the original tapes from the first movie?? They got the freaking photo of her, why couldn't they get the tapes?"
Well, my annoyance was that it didn't sound like Linda Hamilton.
To my chagrin, it was Linda doing the tapes. She went uncredited in the part, but yes, it was in fact her. In my defense, it really sounds nothing like her. And Mother of Mine also did not think it was her. Linda has a very distinct voice to me, as I grew up listening to her in Terminator, Beauty and the Beast, and everything else she's done. I always know it's her. So I was completely shocked when her voice sounded so different.
Mayhaps I'll just mentally chock it up to the tapes having been distorted in the 30 years since they had been made and thats why it didn't sound like her. - That might be plausible enough lol.

There were many little homages in the movie that made me squee in geekdom. (For those who haven't seen it... keep an eye out for a scene later in the movie involving John, a metal walk way, and a Terminator... it is very.. reminiscent of a very good scene from T2)
Arnie was in the movie, not as an actor, but just his likeness. And I think they did an AMAZING job.

On a different note, there was a scene that amused me. I couldn't help but think of a scene from The Princess Bride, and the entire time I watched this scene I had Vizzini's voice in my head saying "Those are the shrieking eels". Again, for those who have not seen it, you'll know which scene I'm talking about.

The movie made me jump many times. Which is slightly hard for a movie to do to me anymore, so this was quite fun.

All in all, GO SEE IT. It is very worth seeing on the big screen. I laughed, I cried, I jumped out of my seat.

Now moving along.

Yesterday I also received my 2nd package from the Vampire Club.
Whoohoo more Lucien yarn.

This month also included a cute little stitch marker.
I love the pattern by Gherkin, that is called Fangtasm. Unfortunately, it is 1) a sock, and 2) a toe up sock. Which until I get over my aversion to socks, this one is going to not get touched. And also I do not yet know how to do toe up socks- which is not nearly as simple as doing a regular sock. I did wish to learn how to do a toe up sock, but then my aversion happened.

Here are photos, and I apologize for the lack of photos previously (I can't recall if I had posted them or not) as I didn't get good photos last time.
Today, the light outside was gorgeous.





And now for an action shot with my lovely new swift. Ignore the chaos behind it, we are rearranging the house-mostly the front room, so it's a mess.

I absolutely LOVE the swift. It took me 10 minutes to cake up a skein of yarn with it instead of the hour it had taken previously, and that was if I was lucky enough to not have it tangle into a horrible mess like Lucien did previously. (Seriously 8 hours minimum spent untangling it)




Oh, and on a completely random note... I just watched a cute movie. "The Student Prince" It was enjoyable. It had Rupert Penry-Jones (Known from Spooks, and Casanova) when he was verra young.

Okay, I guess I'm done rambling.

Bugs and Hisses.

Ramblings of the insane, and a few reviews.

Last night Mother of Mine and I watched Australia.

I must admit, that when I originally saw the trailers for it... I thought "hmmm looks like something I want to see.. but it looks like something I'd need to be in the mood for"

Which is why it hadn't been watched until now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE fan of Baz Luhrman. I do in fact own the Red Curtain Collection, and Strictly Ballroom has been one of my all time favorite movies.
I'm also a huge fan of Hugh Jackman. I mean, heck... I once recorded a PBS showing of Oklahoma! because he was in it. (I managed to somehow not watch it before I accidentally recorded over it, but you still get the point.)

Now, one of the reasons I was meh about watching it, was because I just have to be in a mood to watch one of her movies. I'm not saying she's a bad actress... I'm just saying I tend to have to be in a mood.

But Australia finally came in last night at the library.

Now, the first thing I will say... is if the trailers had actually shown what most of the movie was about... I would have watched it a LONG time ago.

The trailers made it seem that the movie was ONLY about War coming to Australia.
And also, that it was because of the war that Lady Ashely (Nicole Kidman's character) goes to Australia for.

Without giving away the movie.. I'll say, that only about the last half to last quarter of the movie has anything to actually do with the war.

Ironically, I'm glad that I've watched McLeod's Daughters a bit prior to watching Australia, because if I hadn't... I think all the Droving, would have just made me think of City Slickers (you know... Billy Crystal). Which, though there were a few times I snorted thinking about that movie... I was glad my mind was flicking more back and forth between what was on the screen and the droving of McLeod's Daughters. (Mostly, I was just thinking about the "Station House" and how something can in fact have been around for over 100 years, and doing the exact same thing as it was built for originally.)

The movie, very much had Baz's signature flair. OR at least, the very beginning did. There was no doubt in my mind watching the first 30 minutes of the movie that this was in fact a Baz Luhrman film.

The music was very gorgeous, and of course I ended up going to bed having "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in my head. Which, if you see the movie, you'll understand.

The cinematography was absolutely without a doubt breath takingly gorgeous. And they did such a great job with the Green Screen, that you can only tell it was employed in very few scenes. I don't know how many it was actually used in, but there are some where you could tell. Which, there were obvious reasons for it.

Wicked's vote: I'll own this someday. (And thats saying something!)

Moving along...
I quickly read over the weekend, the latest book by Joanne Fluke.
Cream Puff Murder.



I have to admit, though this book was slightly annoying in the aspect that it was mostly centered around Hannah's waistline and the need to loose a few pounds.
The person who died in this one... I, like others am very glad to see dead.
Mike, one of Hannah's two boyfriends... I have decided I do not like. Originally, I used to be more Team Mike rather than Team Norman. I mean.. who wouldn't want the hot police detective as opposed to the slightly normal looking dentist. Dentists have the highest rate of suicidal tendencies per year. Perhaps I'm the only who thinks about that in the grand scheme of things when it comes to choosing a partner.
Yes, Mike has more danger when it comes to his profession, but is less likely to kill himself when it comes down to it.

Right now, I'm definitely more in the Team Norman camp. I'd kill for his house. lol.

Almost through with Sandman Volume 3 by Neil Gaiman.
Started reading Summer Knight again by Jim Butcher. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it this time before it's due back at the library or one of my other "gotta read this now because there is a waiting list a mile long" books comes in.
That means Sookie has been put down for the moment.


Oh, on completely random news. I got something really cool, and I don't recall if I had talked about it yet or not.

Leslie over at Dv'yne Writes, has a contest every month for those who subscribe to her news letter. As I have known Leslie for years thanks to the Colorado Ren Faire... and I've owned at least one of her notebooks, and have lusted over many more of them.. I of course would be a subscriber to her latest news. I mean, I never would have known about her awesome leather covers for say.. Harry Potter, or the other books she has.. I mean amazing work.
Well, I happened to win this months free journal give away.
It arrived quickly, as well.. she lives only about 70 miles away from me. Ironically, the journal via the post office, would have traveled more than that, because though she lives in Littleton, I'm willing to bet it had to go to Denver (north), then back south to me.
I opened up the box, and was BLOWN away. I mean absolutely blown away by what I found.
I was expecting one of the little soft sided refillable notebooks.. (like the one I have) I mean, it's one of the less expensive books she sells (which is why I have it. I mean I bought mine at least 10 years ago, and I could never afford any of the more expensive ones), and one generally figures that for a free give away, it would not be an expensive one.

Well, the journal I got was a 60$ slightly hardsided non refillable journal.


Sad news is that Leslie will not be at CRF anymore. She officially sold her booth, and is moving on to other things. I wish her luck though, and I don't blame her for wanting to move along. CRF was not a money maker for her in the recent years (I know this due to having a friend who worked her booth for a few seasons) I'm sure she also has other reasons for moving along. She will be missed.

Moving along...

Yesterday.. or was it the day before? I got an idea into my head. This is always dangerous. As I should have been writing or knitting. Not painstakingly editing a photo so that I can maybe make it work in a chart, and then attempt to knit it up.

If this works, it will be FREAKING AWESOME.
If it doesn't work... I will be once again reminded why I do not like socks. lol.

I won't really say what I'm working on yet... but I will say this.. "Wuv... True Wuv"

Hmmm I wonder if this can count as part of my Read/Knit Along? I'll have to see.

Alright. I guess I'm done rambling for now. I guess I should try to write.
Oh, and I must say.. .even though I put down Alex and her world of vamps... they are still talking in my head. Constantly.

Which recently has come up a lot it seems. Marissa commented on her blog, how writing is an acceptable form of schizophrenia. I agree with that statement. (Mind you, I was paraphrasing) It reminded me of the introduction in the first volume of "Comedity", where Garth talks about his friend's experience when it came to being a writer.
His friend had a high paying job (he delivered payroll in his own car, through nasty parts of town.. so he was really really well paid due to the danger involved). He quit his job to become a writer and work on his novel. Well, of course when Tax time came around, he went from reporting a lot of income to reporting 0 income for the year. He of course was audited. He went in sweating and freaking out, and having everything he could possibly have ready to explain his expenses for the last year, and when the taxman asked "so... why did you go from reporting _____ much, to reporting nothing"
Friend: "Well sir. I quit my job to write"
Taxman: "Oh." *scribble and rubber stamp* "We're done."
Friend: "What?"
Taxman: "You are crazy. And this crazy is explainable. Have a good day."

Apparently, per the IRS, writers are insane, as we will willingly go from having high paid careers (ha i wish) to having zero income for a year or more.

(Again, paraphrasing.. but the words crazy, and insane were actually used, and the convo was that short. I'm not willing to dig out my copy of Comedity right now as it is upstairs)

So not only are we schizophrenic, but we per the taxman are also insane.
This makes sense to me. As I remember sitting in my 2nd period class my Sophomore year of highschool working on a play I was writing.. my first one "Just an ordinary day... like no other", and my friend Nikki (not the crazy Irish one, but slightly Hispanic one) asked me how I could write what I was writing. I mean, 70 pages of dialogue? She wanted to know where it came from. I couldn't explain it other than "I just hear them talking." And it's true. It's also the reason I only wrote plays for the longest time.. Because I could hear the voices, but I sucked at the "The color of the mountains at dawn reminded me of a glass of sherry held up to the light coming in from the window." That kind of stuff.. I sucked at it back then. I wrote poems and plays. That was me.
I'm partly still sucky at it, I have to force myself to do description, and thats partly why I end up putting down somethings I'm working on. Actually, that is one of the reasons I had to put Alex down, Denver and it's descriptions were kicking my ass lol. I digress..

Is it insanity, when I clearly hear entire conversations of people who do not exist? If I never put my pen to paper, and I only just spoke of the convos... would I have been forced to undergo meeting with psychiatrists? No, I don't think so. Mostly because I come from a family where we tend to embrace our creativity in all it's forms. (or at least we do now)
I was never a child who had "imaginary friends" or at least none that I remember. I don't consider the voices I've always heard my imaginary friends. Though, these voices in my head tend to be best friends. So, I guess in fact they are the epitome of what one would call an imaginary friend.

Well.. I'm rambling.. so I guess I'll leave it here. But yes, I guess I just confirmed what all of you have thought of me for years. I'm absolutely bonkers. ;-)

I think the only thing that really drives me crazy, is not only do I have Alex, Daniel and Kit talking in my head right now, but I've got my people from my new novel chattering as well. It can get confusing at times lol.

Oh and the final note. My gods... homemade chocolate chip cream cheese rolls.. are just still so wonderful.. no matter how many times I make them.

The Things One Sees in the Graveyard....

This morning I woke up with time on my mind.

Specifically the passage of time.

All week long I've been complaining each day how I wanted the week to be over.
Then last night, I realized "tomorrow is Friday? wow."

I was once again reminded how The Day it's self goes slow, but the weeks go by quickly.
I mean, it's already the 15th of May.
I find this time warp situation most interesting. Am I the only one who experiences it?

This has been on my mind because I've been doing a lot of math.
Not my favorite subject.
But I realized I have less than 2400 work hours left in this country.
It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't broken up into 8 hour groups with 48 hours of nothingingness in between.

Man I can't wait to get out of here. but yes, I did the math. 2400 work hours. Less than that, as that was on a 60 week time line. Which, this week is nearly over and it is also including the holidays.

Nope, I'm not counting down at all... *innocent whistle*

But yes this morning when I woke up, this was on my mind. It's been on my mind a lot recently, but I'm sure it was compounded by having watched the season 3 finale of NCIS last night. Where, not to give things away for those who haven't seen it... Gibbs ponders everything that has taken place in the last 15 years of his life. Well, that is a way to sum it up, but not the full and correct way. But to say anything further on it would give things away.

This being fresh in my mind, it really made me look this morning at the last 10 years of my life. Well, not so much all those ten years, but what I was doing 10 years ago.

This time 10 years ago... I was finishing up my very first year at High School. Yup, 9th grade. 1998-1999 was my Freshman year.

We had just moved to Colorado right before the start of school..

Columbine Highschool, as of this day.. would have been only a few weeks ago.
You know whats funny about that day....
I remember it rather clearly. It was "Senior Ditch Day" and I remember this one senior.. who was one of the "smokers", he always wore this black leather trench coat. He was one of the many at my school who did. But this day, he didn't. Infact he was quite... normal looking. He was wearing a white tshirt and a pair of blue jeans. Now, this might be normal to you.. but for him, it was odd. He always wore dark pants, a dark shirt, and his trench. He didn't have his trench. We laughed about how odd it was. I don't remember his reason for not wearing it.
I remember being in the office talking with my friend Amy. I was sitting no more than 10 feet from the principles office. She knew I was there, it was a study period and I often had free license to roam the school. They knew I was responsible, and so I never got in trouble. Lets see, that particular semester... I was actually the assistant to the Swim Coach, and the pool area had been particularly muggy that day which is why I was hanging out in the office.
I remember watching everyone in the office go on alert.
They didn't say what was going on, but I remember Mrs Bailey come out of her office with her walkie talkie and listened to her as she gave the order to 'quietly' lock down the school.
The bell rang, and I went to my 7th period class. Which also was with my Swim Coach, as I was in Life Guard Training.
I was one of the few lower class men to be in the class.
I was sitting next to my other friend Amy, and we got the announcement.
We then of course put on the tv and watched the travesty unfold.
I remember sitting there and when they panned across the parking lot of the school.. I remember seeing a Yellow VW Bug. I remember giving a half hearted laugh and said "Yellow Bug" (as I don't know if you ever played that game, but there was a game involving the Bugs and if you spotted one.. I don't remember the rules)
I remember Amy looking at me and saying something about "how could I say that, with whats going on." Then she paused and realized "oh. you need to laugh" (mind you, I'm paraphrasing right now)
She understood why I needed to laugh about something so silly as seeing a yellow VW Bug.

It did help lighten the mood in the room. (there were only like 7 of us in there)

School was then over. I don't recall how I got home. Whether it was via a ride from my 1)Mom, 2)friend, or 3) the bus.. I honestly can't recall.

Mom had not yet been diagnosed with cancer.
I was still a very good student. Participating in school plays, and the swim team, and a few other things.
I think my best friends were Jen(Diz) and Nix (Jess??) and of course Gabe.

10 years ago, Mom and I were living in a town house in Denver. I most likely had a mountain of laundry (it was a common occurrence that I quite literally wore every single piece of clean clothing I had before doing laundry, simply because we had to pay to use the washer and dryer, and it was always such a hassle.)
I didn't know how to drive. I had absolutely no desire to learn. (Ironically, I wouldn't actually learn for at least 5 years)

I saw my very first Hockey game that year I believe. Watched it on the Telly of course. It might have been the year after. I mean my memory is slightly fuzzy.


Alright.. enough of a trek down memory lane.

Last night, I cast on a new project. A project I had been putting off, as I was missing 2 skeins of yarn (well, I had bought enough for the project, but I got 4 skeins of 1 color, instead of 2 of one and 2 of another.)
I have decided to say screw it, and use the yarn I have.
I will not post pictures yet, as it is for someone.
I've never started a project like this, and it's taking a bit to wrap my head about it. I'm sure I'll do fine, it's just... odd. I'm actually really liking the colors. I might have to make one for myself. I mean, I had saved the pattern for myself as well before I ever decided to make it for someone else.

Review:
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
I did enjoy this one. Though, I have to say I am annoyed that it was a different actress that played Sonja. Yes, I realize the original actress was.. not an actress. She was Miss Turkey '03 if I remember correctly. (The country, not the bird..)
I can understand then why they didn't use her. I mean all she did was writhe while chained up. Not much acting involved.
But I remember Sonja in the #1 (and #2) as being blond. The actress they used for Rise of the Lycans, was very much not blond. And it kind of bugged me.
Michael Sheen of course was fabulous as Lucien.
Bill Nighey of course is brilliant as always. No one could ever play Viktor like him.
It was nice to see everything from the Lycans point of view.
I will of course own it.

Having just watched the trilogy, I have to say I'm very glad I did. I forgot how much I love the movies... and it brought an interesting perspective to my own writing. Mostly the "rules" of the Vamps.
These vamps are not "dead". They are immortal, and need blood to sustain them.
They can bear children, as they are not dead. They can in fact age... (look at Viktor)
I like the reasoning behind why they are what they are. It's a genetic defect, but they didn't go too much into the science. (Well, they did a bit, but not going so far as to claim "it's nano technology, and we are from Atlantis!" (ahem.. looking at you Lynsay Sands) )

If I continue, I'll start rambling.

Yesterday, I was reading the blog of one of my Boys..
Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea. Now you all know I am a huge fan. His most recent blog amused me. It was talking about his experience while filming the new Robin Hood movie.
Yup,Ridley Scott is directing... Russell Crowe is Robin... Cate Blanchette is Marion .. and a little musician from Nova Scotia is playing Allan A'Dayle. We know him better as Alan Doyle from GBS.
I'm very happy that he got a role in it.
But so he was musing on his recent adventures in regards to his horse Arthur. Arthur is a screen veteran, and has been in many many recent horse involved movies.

For those interested in reading the quite amusing musing, here is the link:

Alan From The Road

Today is Friday, and I shall be going to see Angels and Demons today. Woohoo. I can't wait.

In other knitting news... I have discovered the pattern I will use for my Avalanche Hockey sweater.
Oh yes, I had forgotten to mention that.
I cannot stand the team sweaters (jerseys) that are out there. They are made of material that.. I can't stand to have near my skin.
Not to mention, they are never flattering for the female form.
So, I'm going to knit myself one. A little reminder of home as it were.
Now, I'm a huge fan of the 3rd Jersey, when it comes to the Av's.

This one: And ignore the "Your name" part, it's from a website that will do custom jerseys.


I have found the pattern I'm going to use for the base sweater. The only thing I will have to change, will be the neck line, as I do in fact want it to lace up.

There is no good way to link to the pattern I'm gonna use, as most of my readers are not Ravelry peeps.
I will be buying my yarn from KnitPicks, as they have the right colors, and it's cotton. Woohoo for cotton!

I haven't decided if I'm going to put "Wicked" on the back, and my number, or if I'm going to put my last name. Which... with how long this sweater will take me... My last name by then will be Grandison, so I still haven't decided what I shall do. Either way, I'm not going to put a real player on the back, because.. that would be like picking your favorite children. I've just got too many.
I think, in a pinch.. I might pick Roy... but meh... I don't know.
I think I'll put up a vote when it comes time.

Still reading Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. It is quite enjoyable, and I'm zooming through it. Though, I think I understand why some people have problems reading the books. There are times I laugh because the description to me at least seems a bit.. Technical. I don't know if it's just me or not, but there was a scene, the only "romantic" scene in the entire book thus far (and i'm nearly finished the book), and it was very "His hands were here.. then they moved here counter clockwise" I don't know.. it just felt... a little like a text book lol.

But it's still enjoyable. I'm still so early in the series that I quasi try to put faces to characters. Like, I'm thinking that the Booth character in the show is the Detctive Ryan character in the books. So, for me.. I see Detective Ryan as David B. Not bad at all lol, but I don't know if that is supposed to be the closest book character to the tv character.

Does that make sense?


Alright, I guess I've yammered enough. I'll certainly let you know what I think about Angels and Demons.


Oh, and today's blog title, is not as profound as you might have suspected. I was just listening to the Repo Soundtrack before coming into work.

Pondering the Animalia of my life..

For those who have known me, know that I have had this plan for "Apartment Sized Sheep"

Yes, a Mini Sheep about the size of a MinPin. Think about the lawn maintenance you could do with just 1 sheep!

As of recent and my ever growing allergy to wool... I have let go of this genetic dream. Not to mention, I really don't want to deal with the maggots and tar that go along with Sheep herding.

For my indy dyeing business, I will be more than happy to buy my yarn already off the sheep.

Guy and I have discussed the menagerie we might someday have. Bunnies... Kittahs... a tortoise... a Hedgie.... these are all critters I'd like to have. Including mayhaps a dog.

we have now added... a Wallaby.

Yuppers.

It all stemmed from a BBC news article.

Wallabies in the UK

So... when we have a well fenced yard... I foresee a wallaby in our future.

It rather amuses me.

And obviously, I'm in a much better mood today. Work was crazy. Not as crazy as yesterday.. but still crazy.

Tonight I'll get to watch Rise of the Lycans.
I can't wait.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I cant trace time


Come on, you all know you now have that song stuck in your head.

But, yes it rings true. I think I have finally given myself something serious to think about with the direction of my novel. It's something that a lot of authors end up doing. You get a really great story, but somethings not working.. so gotta change. For some, it means putting the idea on the back burner for 10 years (a la Jacqueline Carey, and her new Santa Olivia), for others it can just be as simple as changing the hair color of a character.

For me, it shall be a bit of a drastic change. But one I'm willing to embrace.
I think part of the reason I hadn't been able to write recently, was things were just feeling a bit off. My own fears about reality were creeping into my world too much.
Not to mention, one of the characters, just kept fading too much from my mind.
And yes, I consider the location a character as Denver, is quite the character unto it's self. Well, Denver and I have not been friends for a while. I have not hung out with Denver for about 4 years, other than the occasional drive through, or quick trip to say hello.
And in my novel, the backdrop of Colorado, and Denver specifically was kind of important.
Certainly it will adjust a future novel. (I mean come on... it makes total sense that there would be werewolves in Boulder.. right?)

But I think the change I'm making will be for the better. I was getting too bogged down trying to remember things. I've been meaning to take a trip to Denver, and it just hasn't happened, and all of this will only get worse after I move.

Then, here is the reality that kept trying to creep in.
If I were staying in the US, then as an author trying to pitch a story set in the city of Denver, wouldn't be a big deal. I can sell internationally even though it's a small US city (yes, Denver isn't that small, but compared to NY.. it is.. see my point?). Look at LKH, and KH, and even the tiny towns like SM, and CH proved.

I won't change my main character, she'll still be who she is. But just the backdrop will change, it opens up more possibilities, and actually tackles a few of the little problems I was having. (just little stuff I doubt any of you would have thought about.)

It'll be tough, because I won't be able to experience some things first hand until things in life settle down. But I think I can make it work. I am a woman who knows how to use her resources, and also who knows how to do her research.

For once, the fact that me being too brain dead to write has been a bonus.

So, I'm hoping that this will be a good change. I'm confident that it will be. And it will allow me to feel more stable in the world I'm creating.

The things one hears in a bookstore..

So there I was, in Hooked on Books this morning, and this highly amused me.
I over heard this conversation:

Little Girl 1: "No, you have to go to mom's corner to find her books"
Little Girl 2: "Mom has a corner?"

As the two young girls walk right past me into the very much "Romance" area of the store.
Little Girl 2: "Oh." (in a very knowing way)

Moving along, today mom bought a Spinning Wheel.
Yup, we are once more the owners of a wheel. But this one, is not in need of repair, which means you can actually... spin on it.

After picking up the wheel, I dropped my mom off at her church so that she can work in the garden. Even though it is drizzly outside, they are determined to get the garden going again.

We were early, so we found Poor Richard's. Which is a used bookstore in Downtown Co Springs (it was literally a block away, so that was fun)
Now, here are my thoughts on Poor Richard's.
I'm quite undecided if I like it or not. It is the neatest, cleanest used bookstore I've ever seen.
It doesn't look like a used bookstore at all.
You can find everything right away, and it's attached to a coffee shop, and it's also attached to a toy store, and has a lot of things for sale.
I honestly think it bugged me at how neat and organized it was. And it still didn't feel like a used bookstore due to the high amount of duplicates of the books.

I had taken my copy of Breaking Dawn with me, because the plan had not been to go to Poor Richard's but instead to Hooked on Books.
I had decided not to take my copy into Poor Richard's because 1)I didn't know if I would find anything I wanted to take home, and so I didn't want credit at a store downtown instead of HoB which is closer. and 2)a woman was walking in with a copy of Breaking Dawn. So generally used bookstores don't like multiple copies (this was before I went in and saw the many multiples.)

So when I was done dropping mom off, and we were done with Poor Richard's, thats when I headed towards HoB. Sure, it took me wandering around for an hour to find all the books I wanted.. .but also it was only my second time there. It is organized in the classic Used books manner, which means cluttered and there is the chance of tripping over some books... But it just felt a little nicer.
As I was trying to actually use my Trade Credit, that is the reason it took me so long to actually get out of there. The books I tend to read tend to be the ones that you can't use trade for.

The ones I ended up with was
Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (book 2 of Sookie. So what that means, is I just need to find the first one and then I can send it to Guy without any guilt)
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown - haven't read it yet, so finally decided to pick it up.
Hunter's Moon by Lori Handeland - yes, it's a trashy romance novel, but once I'm done I'll take it back to the store for credit. And heck.. it's werewolves and such. So it's a fun trashy romance.


Books:
Still reading "White Witch, Black Curse" Kim Harrison

Watching:
Just finished Supernatural season 3. Man I enjoy that show a lot. Damn now having to wait for season 4.

Started watching Ghost Whisperer season 1. Meh.. .it's alright... I'm annoyed by the wardrobe choices made for Jennifer Love Hewitt. I'm sorry, but when you work in an antique store and actively moving boxes/gathering new merchandise.... you do not wear long flowy white dresses. So that bugs me. And my gods, it repeats so much dialogue it's not even funny anymore. "I call them earth-bound spirits, those who cannot pass on".

I am whilst having the house to myself, watching Smallville season 7. Oooh Bizzaro!

Health:
I finally figured out why this week I've been so cranky... My body decided that after nearly 6 months of not having a period it was time. (yeah yeah... I had been meaning to force one, but I just kept putting it off so I wouldn't be cranky at work)
That would explain why my tailbone felt out of whack yesterday, and why I've been so very irritable. Also why my entire body is all achy. So today I'll start my round of spacer pills and just go with what the universe and my body apparently wanted.

Work:
My backup is about to make my life a lot more stressful, as he has reached the breaking point with the politics at work. Basically, remember me this time last year, and you'll understand where he is at. Though I moved past it and just have hit the apathetic state, he is in the angry state and is doing everything he can do to get a new job.
I do wish him luck, and I do hope that he finds something (I cannot begrudge anyone for not wanting to stay there... If I didn't have the light at the end of the tunnel.. .I would have quit a long time ago)
But, it he goes.. that will mean I am loosing really the only real worker I have, and the sad fact is there is no one that I can replace him with. Quite literally, no one. Everyone else only works half days, or gets sent over to other desks. I do not have anyone who is trained for backlogs, that is always there. (And those who are not trained... well lets just say, there is no one up to snuff on even being able to do backlogs)

Knitting:
I'm almost done with my first sock. Woohoo. I've turned the heel and everything. I got very frustrated with the instructions for the heel, because it was wanting me to do something that is not physically possible.

There are times, were you just cannot fit 13 stitches, into a space where it only allows for 10. So that made me frustrated to the point where I had to hand it off to my mother.
I understand what the instructions wanted, but there was just no way that I could squeeze those stitches in there.
We'll see how the second sock goes.


Well... I'm officially starving, and I think I'm going to be decadent and make french toast.

Later peoples.

Seaweed goodness, And the chance to win a Wicked handmade

Alright, so I realize I've been a little quite.

I've been.. busy, and then yesterday I was avoiding getting on any site I actually care about. Why risk the nastys that are floating around the intarwebs. (considering we've been dealing with a nasty virus at work, and it's not that conficker thing, I just again don't want it on my comp at home.)

Knitting:
I've been working on a "Seaweed Shrug" as I've been calling it..
Not a good photo, but you can at least see why I've been calling it the sea weed shrug.



This photo is from a few days ago, and it's at least 3 feet longer by now. Okay, mayhaps not that much.. but darn near close. I will of course have photos of the finished product.

Also on the knitting front, I am opening up a little give away.
I originally posted it on my facebook, but I've gotten no one to actually follow the rules. I might give them something anyways, if I can't get 5 people to pay it forward on their own.

I'm feeling crafty.....so I think this one will work out fine

The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me. (You do not have to have been tagged.) This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully: HECK I MAY JUST SEND TO ALL THAT POST A COMMENT :)

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it's going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. It may be baked goods.
5.I reserve the right to do something extremely strange, if inspired to do so.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make something for me and the first 5 to respond to your note.
7. Send me your mailing address if you don't live close to me!

IMPORTANT: This offer is at your discretion but I would like to think null and void if I do not see you post your own note to pay this forward

Moving on..
I am rather tired this morning as it started snowing yesterday. What was supposed to be flurries was as ferocious as the blizzard we had.
So this morning something woke me up before my alarm.. might have been my internal alarm that i set last night, and also my cat helped wake me up. That meant I was out of bed when I my first alarm went off at 4:30.
I was dressed and downstairs 10 minutes later brushing off my car. Thankfully the snow stopped, but it was nothing but ice on the streets.
Had to stop and get gas, because I was not going to deal with trecherous driving on a nearly empty tank. Nope.. thats just asking to get stuck somewhere and not being able to run your car every 10 minutes for warmth because you ran out of a gas after the second "gotta keep warm" segment.

I got to work by 5:30, but I took it slow and steady the entire time. Yeah, a few red lights happened while I was still going through the intersection, but any cop would see that there was no way I could have stopped and I was already half way through the intersection before it went red.

Today is going to be a long day no matter what the call volume is like. Just because I'm so very tired.

Yesterday was odd... it was the first time in a long time where I didn't talk to Guy at all (when I wasn't upset with him.)
I wasn't on any real chatting sites or anything that could snag my info, and he was also at a Rugby match (right? I can't recall if it was Football or rugby) in Bath.

Which accordingly to the email I got this morning, Bath is now on one of the lists of "It'd be nice to move here." From what I've seen in photos and such like that, yes I would enjoy Bath a lot. So I'm not opposed to the idea. It's very Roman in the archtecture and just.. beautiful. I can't wait to someday visit.

Had some unpleasentness at work the past few days, but it's been resolved, and in the end I was doing my job as I was told to do it. So.. *shrugs* it's all good and my manager backed me up on it.

I guess I'm done rambling for now..

Books:
Bed book: Mirror, Mirror by Gregory McGuire
Couch book: Unusual Suspects - (Sookie Stackhouse short story is in it)
Purse book: the unchanging - Peshawar Lancers

Boring Tuesday..

I must say...

I am annoyed with Blogger. Le sigh. Mostly i am annoyed with not being able to respond to comments the proper way.

Mayhaps I'll have to slowly change things over to Wordpress as it has that option.

But don't worry my dear readers, I shant do anything crazy yet.

I might just suffer through blogger for the next 15 months, and then when i move to the UK, and Guy and I have made our own server and websites, I'll have my blog just how I want it and won't have to rely on silly little programs such as this one.

yeah mayhaps that is just the way to go for now.

I feel slightly bad, as when i bought my Flying Monkeys and they arrived, I was highly disappointed. Instead of emailing the person to inform them that the description was wrong, and that I had wanted Lobster Clasps. I simply stated in the feedback I left that the description was incorrect for the objects. Now, I did not leave neutral or negative feedback. I clicked that Positive button, because they did arrive quickly, and the transaction was painless. I just commented in my post of "i love them but.. "
Well, she emailed me today apologizing. So now I feel bad. Gee I'm glad I didn't hit that negative button.
But when it comes down to it, she should have checked her descriptions, since ALL her items that are stitch markers say that. Oh well, I still plan on buying more, and I'll just leave a glowing feedback on the next one.



Still plunking through Bride of Casa Dracula.

Here is a prediction: she's about to introduce werewolves.

Lets see if I'm right.



I did not get anything done on my vest last night. I just had no motivation. I'm in that final stretch. Tonight after I shower and feel more awake, I'll put it on. Check the pinning, then stitch it up and be done with it. Woohoo.
I do want to do it again, but out of different yarn, and I've learned a few things while doing this one. I know I need to lengthen the base without adding to the width.


A Hard Day's Bite: Been mulling a few things, but haven't made any decisions. I don't want to lean towards falling into the same lines as Charlaine Harris or Kim Harrison, or LKH for that matter. If you don't know what I'm talking about its the "Oh my god. She wrote about this. She's copying them!" Charlaine recently wrote a blog about that circumstance. Someone made the comment of "Charlaine added motorcycle gangs into her story! She's copying LKH."
Well.... people get over it. It's kind of hard to not incorporate things that are actually quite common in real life. Such as motor cycle groups. I have friends that are part of different motorcycle groups here in Colorado. Am I going to ignore a good plot because *gasp* it might involve a motorcycle?Also, it makes sense in the fact that Vamps and Werewolves tend to be part of the subculture. And what do you find in the sub culture? Gangs, adrenaline, and danger. No. Now, mind you I have nothing penned in that regard, but I'm using it as an example. Same goes for politics. Which is really what the whining was about. Yes, Sookie's world has gotten very Vampire Political, just like Antia's world.
But if your going to whine about that... well... Anne Rice kinda got the ball rolling on that. Remember The Theater of Vamps? Well, that was basically the start of the vampire political structure. Armand was in charge.

I'm rambling. Lets move on.
Umm...
Ummmm....
Cold snap here in Colorado? It's been freaking cold the past two days. Thank goodness I hadn't removed my heating blanket yet. Cause I'd never get to sleep otherwise.

It's a boring Tuesday thus far. Just sayin' .

Flying Monkeys!

Yes, this Wicked girl has Flying Monkeys.

Wooohooo!

They are quite adorable. I ordered them from a shop on etsy.



Though, I have to admit that I am annoyed. As they were not as they were advertised. The description stated that they were "Lobster Clasp" markers. Meaning when you screw up and stitch them into the stitch of your knitting instead of just moving it along your needle, you cannot at all remove it without either cutting IT or ripping out all the knitting you just did (better pray you didn't realize your mistake after a very long row)
And you cannot use it to mark various spots in your knitting like I just did for my Wicked Verdigris vest.
So off to Hobby Lobby went I, to get some Lobster clasps and to get a few beads to make them extra pretty.
And I have remembered that me+hobby lobby+beads=bad idea. Well, bad idea for my wallet that it.
Had to get a few other beads so that I can make my own markers, even though I have beads upstairs. Which, I will go through and use as well... really i will... *shifty eyes* good thing, my bead box is compact and can be shipped to the uk with no issues.
I did pick up some pretty metal type beads that look rather steampunkish. So that'll be fun to work with. Who knows, mayhaps I'll throw them up on Etsy and make a buck or two.

I also bought some yarn that I shouldn't. 2 little skeins (and I say little. About 95 yards each.. ) of some cotton that was in pretty colors.
I bought a pretty Bamboo spun yarn that reminds me of fluffy chenille yarn. So *shrugs* the companies are starting to understand that we dont want just boring yarn.
Also they are starting to learn that yarn is safer for the planet.
Bamboo replenishes it's self in 56 days as opposed to wood that takes 56 years to regrow to the same height.
I also got a Spa yarn that is also bamboo. It is this pretty pearl type color. It is actually called "misty taupe" but it's more pearl than taupe. I'll have fun playing with it. And the good news, is it is DK weight. WOOOHOOO! So, I'll really get to play with it, and mayhaps make myself another Alexandra if I so desire. Who knows. We'll see. But now I gots me some options.

I could not find myself any Hat Boxes, which I need to get at least 2. I guess I'm going to have to go online to find them. I remember a time where you could walk into Hobby Lobby and see an entire aisle of Hat Boxes because people were using them for crafting and gifts etc. Now, no such luck.

I honestly don't care what they look like, I just need them to protect the hat that I bought from Traveler and a few other hats that I do not want to damage in transit. And honestly, they should be in boxes now just to avoid all the dust that is Colorado Springs.

Update on the Wicked Verdigris:
I am almost done. I have the last section pinned on and waiting to be stitched. I need to try it on first and make sure it falls the way I want it to. But then I'll be done. Woohoo. I would have finished last night, but I was just far too tired.
Though putting it together, the project has been very simple. Yes, sometimes putting it together felt like a puzzle, but now that I've done one, I know what to expect and it's not that difficult. I just need to remember to mark my rows next time so that I'm not doing ungodly amounts of row counting when it's all done. (Which is when lobster clasp stitch markers come in handy. That, or saftey pins) Next time I'll just mark every ten rows with a marker and leave 'em alone.

This weekend I was watching Witchblade. I gotta say I miss that show so very much. I love it. I will own it. Yuppers.
This means I really will need a region 1 dvd player in the house, because it took 10 years to get Witchblade on dvd (okay, only like 8 or 9 years, but you see where I'm going with this) and I doubt it'll get onto Region 2 any time soon.
And I still want my 2000 Buell. It's soooo pretty. Come on.. it's sexy. You know it's sexy.

Randomly:
I cannot believe that in today's day and age, a "serious" author can get away with using the word Frememy. It makes me cringe.
Wait, I just figured it out. The character of Milagros (sp?) in the books of Casa Dracula is always saying that no one considers writing to be a real career or "work", perhaps this is simply the author translating her own experience. Yup. that has to be it. So she doesn't consider herself doing any real work, and therefore can use words like "Frememy" and just have pretty bad novels. Why does at least one word in every sentence of this book have to be in spanish? And I'm sorry, I lived in California, not everyone intersperses their vocab with spanish, or spanglish even. And dude, I lived in SoCal. Even closer to the border than SanFran. But then, this is Marta's (the author) world, and I guess if in her world she thinks that everyone is of some form of hispanic descent, or if they are not they obviously hate the little mexican girls and obviously think them sluts... Hmmm thats starting to sound rather racist a hypothesis. But it's her world.. not mine. Hmm another interesting point.. not a single person of another race other than White and Mexican are in the books.. how very odd. I remember SanFran, and it's quite a mixed city. but dear lord everyone she meets is hispanic.. or white. Thats it. I would hate to live my life like that to be honest.

Not to mention, SanFran has the BEST chinese food. And I mean seriously, there is a reason for that. Last time I was there we drove through like 40 minutes of traffic just to get some proper dim sum.

I'm starting to rant. Again, I just need to remind myself to finish the book. At least I'm half way done, and I can pretend that I didn't hear that she is writing a 4th book. If I don't know about it, I won't be forced to read it by compulsion.

On another completely random note:
I absolutely cannot believe that it is already March 23rd. This month has flown. Woohoo.
I can't wait for it to be over and another month bites the dust.

Though, unfortunately i'm already being plagued with heat dreams. The weather is warming, the odd dreams begin.

I'm going to have to buy a new bottle of sleeping pills if this doesn't stop. I gave Mother of Mine my last bottle.
Sigh, the dreams are as bad as insomnia. This isn't fair, and it's not conducive towards me not snapping at work. So must take steps to remedy.

Well, I guess I've slacked off enough this morning.

Poll is now closed and other rants.

Weeeeeelll...

As I'm uber paranoid.. and due to circumstances...
I am not going to end up getting any other nifty colors.

I just sent in my color list.

10 Luciens. Just to make sure that I have enough. It'll work out though, because it is a beautiful colorway, and I will just have lots to play with. I'm sure Guy wouldn't mind a scarf or something.

So yeah, 10 Luciens, and 2 Michael Corvin colorways shall soon be mine. Woohoo.

All the other colorways will have to wait till next year.. if I get in the club.. if the club happens again as a matter of fact.

I know, I know.. it seems silly to get nearly 3500 yards of a yarn, but I reaaaaally don't wanna run out, and I don't know how the smaller weight will react in the pattern.

After much frustration, I finished my taxes this afternoon. I'm not getting as much as I was planning, due to not being comfortable filing as HoH and claiming my mother as a dependent. Yes, I am HoH, and Yes all the bills are in my name. But my mother makes too much for me to be fully confident claiming her as a dependent. Sigh.

In fact, it's half the amount I was planning on. Which means, that little glimmer of hope I had at having all my money for the uk move ready to go with plenty of time for emergencies etc.. just went away.

All in all, nothing drastic has happened today, but it's been a no good, bad day. Just not happy. I've been bitchy and cranky and tired and people have been crapping on my parade.

I was almost inspired to write. Or at least I got an idea.. sort of.. but I'm not going to write right now because I'm cranky and tired and bitchy and if one more person tells me that Twilight is a good book, I just might snap.

I need to remember to not talk about my feelings on Twilight in areas where there are Twisheep. Because I have strong feelings on the crappiness of the book. But the Sheep come out in full force with their singleminded love.

I call them Twisheep, as it stems back from the days of a Harry Potter based school that I shant mention here so that the dreaded google doesn't find me and they think I'm still talking about them or any bullshit like that.. . Where there was a protest about censorship. I made a banner,

ah ha.. took me a while.. but i found it..


Okay. I'm tired. I'm bitchy still. I'm going to watch one more episode of BSG, which apparently we just fraked the order and watched disc 3 prior to disc 2. Sigh. So much for me paying attention.

Edit:

Thank you to all who voted.. I'm just sorry I couldn't get any of them And no it was not the plan all along. I quite honestly had 2 spots that I need help choosing on. It was just the yarn fiasco that changed that.

Defying Gravity...

So just to make this even more themed...

Yes, I am going to Wicked in October. Wooohoooo! I can't wait.

now on to my Wicked Verdigris.

I am completely finished with section A and B. (Which are exactly the same)They are currently getting some light blocking done. Meaning they were made damp, and currently are pinned to the carpet to "form" them into the proper shapes.
I'm proud of myself, as my tension was pretty darn good and so they really don't need much blocking at all. Woohoo.

I am skipping ahead though, because your supposed to wait till it's all done to block and then put the pieces together.
But as I am modifying section C, I want to put section A and b together so that i can put it on, and see exactly how long i need and or want to make section C. The difference can be at least 40 rows of stitching, so I'd rather just try it out first then end up having to rip stitches out.

Last night I cast on section C (meaning I started it. for all you non knitting readers), and I got about 20 rows done before bedtime. Mind you, that was less than an hours worth of work on a very boring part. You know the boring parts I mentioned on the other sections? Well this entire section is that boring part 200 to 240 (or something like that) rows of nothing but garter stitch. BORING. gotta put it down every few rows.

On the reading front:
Currently reading The Bride of Casa Dracula. I'm about 50 pages in, and the entire time I've been debating it if I want to actually read it. But it's slightly a compulsion. Sigh. it's just... I don't know. Once again there is the whole "i dress like a slut, but why does think i'm a slut?!" aspect. Honestly. A plastic white mini skirt at least a size too small????
At least it hasn't dived into the "oh everyone hates me because i'm hispanic" aspect of it yet. And I say yet, as it will be inevitable.

I guess I read these books as reminders to myself of what I don't want to write like.

On the writing front:
Nope. nothing new. Sigh. Don't have time right now. but I got ideas percolating, and I'm still running high off the new chapters. woohoo for that.


On a random note:
So some of you have been hearing me whine for a while now (most likely in the previous blog on myspace) about how I want to get back into playing the piano.
Well, there was that bruahaha with a certain individual whom I was going to borrow a piano from.

Weeeeeeel... the person who was kindly storing the piano for the bitch in question has also had not fun times with bitch in question, and has decided to let me use the piano. When bitch in question asks for it back, they'll get it back obviously, but for now it's out of my friends house, and soon I shall actually have it set up and shall be reminding myself how horrible I am at playing piano.

Though, as I just discovered, there are some things one never forgets. My right hand has full muscle memory of the right hand intro for Tarantella. Woohoo. Ironically, it was that piece of music which facilitated my abrupt stop of playing music when I was a kid.

Tarantella was the piece I had to learn to move onto the next level. I informed my teacher I didn't want to compete. She didn't want to teach me anymore. And I was terrified of Tarantella because it was so beyond my skill. So it's the last piece I really "learned" and after at least 15 years, my right hand still knows how to play it. the left hand.. has half the memory, but it was confused the last time I attempted to play it.

On the work front:
Busy busy busy. They are messing with us greatly. Which is making more work for me. Which sucketh. To the point where my eye twitches when i'm at work. Almost non stop. I can't stand it.

The only thing that keeps me going is my constant mantra of "15 months, 15 months"

Speaking of that... Today is once again the monthly anniversary of meself and Guy. By the old counting system.. we have 1.39 years left.
The new counting system.. 15 months and a week and a half.

On the Vampire yarn front:
Poll ends tonight. But there might be some last minute changes. Such as I might only have 1 yarn to pick when it comes down to it.
As I said there is issue with the whole dying thing.
And now there is an issue with the whole Weight of yarn thing.

Jen is sending me one of her leftover balls of yarn, out of her "Silk Sock", which I can't remember the content right now but I think it's like 80% silk, 20% wool.. I think i can't recall. Which I might be able to stand, but she can only get it in whats known as Fingering Weight. Which is a lot lighter than the DK that I need to do the project in. So I have to do the math and figure out how much more I'm going to need so as to be 100% sure I have enough for the Alexandra. So I might need 9 skeins of the Lucien just to be on the safe side. And, that means with the 2 yummy Michael Corvins, that will leave only 1 spot open for a random color.

I will of course let ya'll know how it plays out. But I won't know till later.

Wicked Verdigris

So, yesterday was spent just put-putting around the house.

I got up. Took a shower. Watched the second episode of Ashes To Ashes. Which, I shouldn't be watching since I haven't seen season 2 of Life on Mars. But, screw it, if I don't watch A2A now, I won't get to until after I move to the UK. And comcast has A2A on demand for free. Woohoo.

After that I hopped in my car, and drove to Whole Foods. I knew I needed to buy cereal, and I really didn't want to go to Walmart. So, I splurged at Whole Foods.
Got a few things, including a bag of Jade Pearl rice.

It's rice... that is infused with Bamboo. Ooooh Ahhhhhh. And it's also short grain, which I like. I can't wait to try it.

Then, I came home.. changed back in to my jammies, and just chilled watching telly and knitting.
And I have mastered the art of knitting and typing. Okay, not so much mastered, but I'm getting the hang of it.

I was working on a particularly boring section of knitting, so after each row I would type something.

84 rows of 11 stitches of Knit.

Not even Knit/Purl. Just straight Knit on both sides all rows for 84 rows. BORING!!!!!!

But, it was a necessary part of the vest.

I am officially done with section A. woohoo!
Now on to section B, which is... sadly exactly the same as section A.
I spent at least 3 hours untangling my skein of yarn. This cotton yarn I'm using, every time I go to wind it into a ball, it catches on it's self and then tangles in an ungodly way. Thank goodness I'll need only to go through that process on one more skein.

I did cast on Section B last night. I'll most likely finish all of B tomorrow. Who knows, it depends on how much I knit tonight.

I have decided to call the vest "Wicked Verdigris" as it is quite a green color. And that just seemd to fit for now. Don't know if I'll change it or not..

I watched Kung Fu Panda yesterday, which was cute.
I watched a horribly dubbed Jackie Chan movie, which.. sucked because Jackie didn't even do the american dub for himself, so it was really... weird.

Oh, Saturday I watched one of the most horrible Vampire movies. The Vampire Kiss or whatever it's called. The one with Nicolas Cage.
I think I could have liked the movie if it wasn't for Nicolas Cage. He had this weird accent, like he was trying to just be an ass, but it was coming out pompish, feminine and just... creepy. If I had been in the movie iwth him, I wouldn't have been able to get through a scene without laughing at how ridiculous he was speaking. it was pointless, it did not add anything to the character.

Watched most all of BallyKissAngel season 6, and I gotta say.. I could really care less about this season. Most of the people I like are gone, and the people I like that are still left don't have that much of story in this season. Boooo.


I have to admit I'm very glad that on Ravelry I don't participate in any of the "value / belief" oriented groups, as there is a huge bruhahha going on right now to the point where legal action is being taken and people are getting banned in the crossfire.

It's about Knitting people. Everything else is besides the point. Get over it.

And on the writing note..
Got my chapters back from James, which I'm very happy about as there was nothing that was added or needed to be subtracted really. That means I'm on the right track, and that makes me happy. Woohoo!

Okay, well I guess I've slacked off enough. Back to work I go.

An impossible amount of sneezing.. .

So this weekend there was a goal to stay home and knit.

Yeah... that didn't happen

Friday night I wrote... got a good amount. Not a GREAT amount, but I like what I did get.

Then I started getting headachey. Mostly I think it was the end of the week "been doing too much" type headache. Along with staring at a computer screen for too long.
So I stopped early and went to bed.. it was after 8, which wasn't bad considering I normally go to bed at 8.

Saturday I had planned to write more.. But then when I woke up, I had a headache even worse than the night before. On top of that, I was sneezing non stop all morning. It took much application of Benedryl and nasal decongestants to get me in a semi functioning state. But, that unfortunately meant I was in no state to write. Sigh.

Seriously, there was a time there, where I was sneezing non stop for at least 20 minutes, then i spent the next 40 minutes in a state that felt like I was going to sneeze at any second. Highly annoying.

So, I decided to start knitting. Which shockingly I was able to do even doped up.
Woohoo, I have a project on the needles.

I put my previous project down as it will take much more trial and error before it's just right. And frankly, I wanted a completed project right now as opposed to many bits of "trial" laying about.

The current project will be a vest type sweater. And it's my very first "garment" woohoo!



Right now, I'm doing it in a bright green Aryan weight yarn, which is heavier than called for in the pattern, but I'm using my stash as it were. And I made sure that I adjusted my needle size for the correct gauge.

This is the yarn I'm using:


When I'm done with it, I'm going to over dye it with I think a blue. That way it's toned down.

I'm already about 20% done with the project. Woohoo. I am loving it.

Okay.. I'm off to go knit some more since the cat is no longer laying on it.

Final Vamp Colors - VOTE!

Alright.. it's time to vote. You only have till 3/19/09 to vote (gotta turn in my list on the 20th)

Here are the two that are confirmed that I want:
So 8 Lucien


2 Michael Corvin


And here are the ones I haven't decided on. I only get to get 2, doesn't have to be 2 of the same, but just 2 of something. I think I'm in love with Armande and Lestat.. yummy.

Also, there is a bit of a problem arising with the whole dyeing part. So jen and I are working on that to get the bamboo to do what we want it to do when it comes down to it. So, who knows I might end up with something entirely different than any of the ones below.

So here are all the colors I like and that are Vamp club exclusives

From True Blood (Sookie Stackhouse):

Debbie Pelt:





Anne Rice Colorways:

Louis:


Claudia:


Armand:


Lestat:





Underworld Colorways:

Sonja


Viktor


Selene



Twilight Colorways:

The Volturi

Seriously shocking

I am still in shock.

I just had a ... wait for it...

Pleasant experience calling Customer Service!

Brian at Overstock.com... whoever you are, you were a peach.
All it took was me giving my order number. Confirming my phone number and address. Giving him a brief run down of what the heck was going on with my Zen, and voila!
Within 24 hours, I will have my printable mailing label in my email box.
I already have my Zen and all the little bits of hardware that came with it (i'm missing just the silly little bag/pouch that came with it, and one of the software cd's. the tiny lanyard, I'm just gonna not worry about as it works very well attached to my mothers camera, and I doubt they will notice thats not in the box) back into it's box, and snugged inside a box fit for mailing. All I have to do, is tape the box up, slap the label on it and drop it in the mail.

The entire phone call took less than 10 minutes, honestly it took me longer to gather all the bits and pieces and do a half assed search for the software cd.

It sucks that my Zen died, but I'm glad that I had spent the 10$ for the 2 year warranty on it. Of course, that warranty will expire this up coming Nov, but I think I can renew it. I'll have to look into that. I just need my zen to last me 18 months. Yes, I say 18 months, because if it dies in 17 months, and I'm stuck on the plane to the UK (18 hour flight minimum) with no music, or having to deal with the old school of CD's. I'll most likely kill someone. So, in 18 months, after I've had a chance to settle into the UK, it can die. I'll get a new one. Because at that time, I should be able to afford the nice like... oh 40 gig one instead of the puny little 4 gig one I have now.

I don't care if they just fix mine, or replace it or give me credit for a new one. I honestly don't care, either way I'll have a new zen soon. If they just give me credit for a new one, I don't think they even have the 4gig ones on the website anymore, so I'd just spend a bit more and get one of the newer models. With more space on it.

But all in all, within the next 2 weeks, I'll have my music back. Woohoo.

I don't think there was any music on my music player that I can't replace.. I think I was smart and either have it all on cd or I've still got it zipped on my computer. It'll just require me to unzip the files again. I think I've even got my playlist for the "A Hard Day's Bite" Inspiration list.
Though, I don't think the version of the playlist I have on my laptop is up to date. Either way, thats no biggie.

Today I am home from work. Stupid Presidents day. Most likely there won't be any posts from me later this week, simply because I'll be working 10 hour days. Yup. Even friday. (Though, since I never do take lunch, I'll most likely still be able to leave after 8 hours instead of 10 hours on Friday...)

Reading update:
Just finished reading "Wolfsbane and Mistletoe" Which was a collection of werewolf novels, obviously set at Christmas. I only read it for the Charlaine Harris story of "Gift Wrap" (Sookie Stackhouse). None of the other stories grabbed my interest at all to even bother reading them, and I was more interested in getting back to my knitting. So eventually I'll own the book and go back and read all the other stories.

I also finished reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I can't recall if I spoke about at all or not. I loved the book.

I also finished reading A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon. Which I have to say, I enjoyed this one so much more than i've enjoyed any of the others in the series that are set in the "Americas". I am actually looking forward to the next one.

Couch book: How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin (haven't actually started it yet)
Bed book: Tale of Desperaux
Purse book: as always, it is still The Peshawar Lancers

Knitting update:
I am about halfway done with my project of Entrelac. It looks rather pretty.. I love it. Due to the colors, it is becoming a project for Guy, which I'm sure he will use. After all, the UK has been rather cold right now.

And on a completely random note... I just watched Labyrinth for the first time in a long time. Sigh. I love that movie. I giggle at all the goblins.