Hey Look, Another Pagan Holiday

It's Samhain, the holiday that kicked off the "dark" half of the Celtic year and marked the absolute end of both summer and the harvest. Samhain got overlaid with a Christian veneer and made into All Souls Day (check out that holiday's origins: "Hey, I can hear the groans of souls in purgatory coming through the rocks!"), which in turn spawned Halloween, due to the Catholic church's custom of thinking days began in the evening--hence, the night before All Souls Day was when the festival itself started.

Personally, I haven't been excited for Halloween since I was Rainbow Brite 20 years ago but I know there are lots of adults who still enjoy it. And it gets me a free lunch at work and at least an hour away from my desk for the costume contest, so I can't really complain.

Unlike me, alpacas love to dress up:This is Bull, a stud at Blue Moon Ranch, in his bull costume. (Alpacas aren't picky about their horns, I guess.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Marie-Antoinette Called And Wants Her Lumberjack Shirt Back Edition

I really don't need to say much more than the title here, do I?

It did turn out just like the pattern, puffy sleeves and all. I got the plaids to match down the front. And I made covered buttons in the same plaid, which were a lot of fun.I just have to decide if I can wear it, or if it's going to wear me.

Dave, Dave, Dave...

Dave Buhler, I know you're a regular blog reader here, and I know that you're very proud you picked a local agency, Love Communications, to do your campaign ads. But Dave, I was at the I-15 on ramp yesterday and saw one of your many (so very many) billboards--and again I just have to say something.

I'm not going to say anything about the mean-spiritedness creeping into the latest of your innumerable billboards because my pointing out your meanness would lower both of us. No, Dave, I'm going to talk about line breaks and their importance in a visual medium such as a billboard. (You have many, many billboards, you know, so this might be a helpful conversation.)

The billboard in question by the freeway shows your face (nice tie, by the way) and the words:
The Doer not
the Dreamer

I will ignore the fact that someone at Love Communications should have put a comma after "Doer," because people play pretty fast and loose with punctuation these days. But I can't get over feeling that your message would have had been clearer and easier for people streaming by it on the freeway to catch if it had been broken into two lines like this:
The Doer
not the Dreamer

See? You get one concept per line, nice and clear; you don't have your favorite word "Doer" subconsciously associated with a negative; and you can even say that the end of the line negates the need for the comma.

Line breaks matter Dave, just like font choice does, and random capitalization of nouns such as "Police" in another of your abundant billboards...but that's another story for another day. Remember, Dave, I respect your choices, from silly fonts to made-up words. (Blueprintman? Really?) I 'm only trying to help.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The National Geographic blog had a post about "Berserk Llama Syndrome" yesterday, which sounds like what it is. They kind of treat it like a joke, but one must remember alpacas and llamas are herd animals and that keeping one alone (like most llamas you see in peoples' backyards) makes them very unhappy, if not berserk.

2. If you've ever needed to send someone a "Sorry my wedding toast ruined your honeymoon" card, go to someecards.com. The "seasonal" category has gems like this:
3. As I said Wednesday, looking at shelter kitties made me sad. Then I found this program, the Snuggles Project, where you can knit, crochet, or sew a blanket for a shelter animal. Maybe that's a good way to use up my fabric scraps. (Although I can hear my grandmother saying, "I make quilts for people in need! Those cats can take care of themselves.")

4. This Ayn Rand quote has been on my mind this week (from Fransico's speech about money in Atlas Shrugged):

Did you get your money...by pandering to men's vices or men's stupidity? By catering to fools, in the hope of getting more than your ability deserves? By lowering your standards? By doing work you despise for purchasers you scorn? If so, then your money will not give you a moment's or a penny's worth of joy.

Heh. That's nice to think about on a Friday at the ad agency. Good thing there's never much money leftover to not give me joy.

Maybe I Need A Bun Instead Of A Kitty

Because I could knit the bun a sweater and take it for walks!
(Cute Overload again. Good stuff this week.)

Dilemma Plus Kitty 'Tocks

Remember when I wanted a dog this time last year? Right when I was starting a new job and my co-habitation situation was spiraling out of control and I was making up imaginary boyfriends? Yeah, good times.

This year is much better, but I've been playing with the idea of a cat. I don't need one for the company--I have a very nice human for company now--but it would be, firstly, a kitty that would purr and be cute, and, secondly, a sort of "gravy" to a good situation. (Kind of like the [in]famous Crosby Stills Nash and Young song "Our House.") There are lots of adult cats (orange ones, too!) who need the quiet, indoor home I could give them, and I've grown up with cats so I know what they entail.

But. I know that taking on responsibility for something that's alive should have more motivation than song lyrics. And I don't really know how I would choose: I've been looking on Petfinder.com and think I need to see one in person, but I know that going to a shelter would be so paralyzing for me that I wouldn't be able to decide, because I couldn't take them all.

So maybe I need to wait and look at Cute Overload in the meantime, which has a fine 'Tocktober entry today:
Also, do you have "Our House" in your head now? I do.

Tuesday Project Roundup: If Sherlock Holmes Were A Mod, He'd Wear This Jacket Edition

The much-discussed jacket was completed down to its leather buttons and worn home Sunday night. It started as four yards of corduroy in my kitchen and ended up a nice cross between Holmes and French New Wave cinema heroine, I think: I'm really, really pleased with this. I like everything I make (I wouldn't make it otherwise) but the last thing I remember being this excited to finish and this delighted to wear was a summer party dress in May. It's a fantastic jacket. I feel like a spy in it. I feel like I could solve mysteries in London or Technicolor Paris in it.

Here's a good shot of the collar:
And a mysterious, spy-like shot of the red lining: I might have a revolver in the pocket (did I mention it has pockets?) or I might have to sit in a cafe and smoke, talking to my two lovers. This jacket could go either way.

Good Times In The Pit

Readers who aren't my family may not know that I was a musician for a long time--all through school, high school, and even a college degree. (What, sell out for advertising? Okay!) Back in the days of corn mazes and desperate crushes, I played in the pit orchestra for my high school's productions of 1776 and Guys and Dolls. While I have fond memories of the piccolo playing fife tunes in my ear and having a desperate crush on the senator from South Carolina in 1776, my favorite memory is from the Guys and Dolls run, where the Salvation Army chorus sings a number "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." (Literally. That line is the entire chorus.)

My stand partner and the cellist and I were all friends, and we were walking out after the dress rehearsal discussing the performance. The cellist, Brian, said that he thought it was going to be good, and that he really liked the "Sit Down Boat" song.
Stand partner and I look at each other. "What song, B?" we asked.
"You know, the one where they sing 'Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down BOAT!"

And we had to laugh, because that is exactly what it sounded like the chorus was singing. I can only imagine what the pit orchestra sounded like. Good times with diction and high school music.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The stand collar on the jacket I'm making is SO dramatic that it comes up past my ears. (I'd take a picture but being on vacation means not having to really do my hair for a few days. Scary.) I'll be taking it off and cutting it down a little today, and hopefully finishing.

2. Corn mazes: Pro or con? The last time I went to one, I was in high school and had a desperate crush on one of the boys in the group, which made it fun (in a desperate high-school way). Would it be fun again? Or would I just feel old?

3. I have very carefully avoided offending my secret blog pal Dave Buhler since last Friday, but Dave, I'm sorry, I can't keep this to myself any longer--the font Love Communications used on your billboards makes me want to throw up.

4. Grayson, Primo, and Mimi (left to right):I swear they smile. Look at Primo.

These Things Go Through Your Head

I worked on my jacket most of yesterday (minus a trip out for more thread and some soup-making), which meant I had lots of time to just...think. Of course I have to think about sewing while I'm doing it, but pinning a seam at this point doesn't take all my attention, giving me time to come up with thoughts like these:

"Mankind has never really domesticated fish, not like cows or dogs. I wonder if it would work."

"It makes it easier for Jane Eyre to marry Rochester after she's come into her inheritance and has money of her own, so she's not utterly dependent. Pretty forward-thinking for 1847, Charlotte Bronte."

"I wonder if people buy Labradoodle dogs just for the name 'Labradoodle.' "

Some Related Information

It's my first day of vacation from my job and I realized it's my first anniversary there, too. I usually ignore all aspects of advertising in my posts because, well, I get enough of it. More than enough. But I thought I'd share this ad I came across yesterday for Amnesty International. I don't know what agency is responsible, but it's pretty brilliant (click to enlarge):
As I've been saying, how did a Communist country that has tax fraud as a capital offense ever get the Olympics? At least Amnesty International agrees with me. And has a good poster.

(Tomorrow: We'll return to some cat pictures and drop all this Serious Discussion.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Canceled

I didn't mention it here but I was fairly sick over the weekend, which meant that I didn't work on any project. (That's right, too sick to even knit. And "fairly sick" is my brave understatement.) But I'm recovered now and have the rest of the week off, which was originally going to be for a vacation to the Grand Canyon. The vacation didn't work out, though, so now I have three days in which to be crafty.

And because today feels like my Friday, here's an unrelated piece of information I read yesterday, from an AdAge article blaming sales of the video game Halo 3 for poor box office sales:

Within the first day of its launch, "Halo 3" players racked up more than 3.6 million hours of game play, and that number increased to 40 million hours by the end of the first week. For those keeping score, that's more than 4,500 years of continuous game play.

Wow. I mean, we all have hobbies, and I'm going to spend three days doing mine, but 4,500 collective years? Isn't that the length of human civilization? Do these gamers realize how many sweaters they could have knit instead?

I Figured It Out

I realized I had inadvertently hurt my anonymous blog commenter with my seeming endorsement of a political candidate Friday, and then I realized why: The commenter is Dave Buhler.

Sorry, Dave. But even you must admit it wasn't a very good picture.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I bought pants yesterday! This is big news because I spent the summer in skirts and dresses and didn't notice that I was slowly outgrowing all my jeans (hello, potatoes baked in heavy cream!). The Pants Summit will lead to a custom-tailored pair I'll sew, but the second meeting isn't until the end of the month, so I was relieved to find a pair to tide me over.

2.. This is a picture from the Salt Lake Tribune of the two mayoral candidates, Dave Bulher (l) and Ralph Becker (r). The look on Becker's face is priceless: "O rly?"I would vote for Ralph just for that look. Awesome.

3. Two separate people sent me this yesterday. I got the silk for the plaid wedding reception dress yesterday and I did this very same thing:

What 4 Yards Of Fabric Looks Like In My Apartment

Four yards of fabric is twelve feet, of course, and I had my back against the other wall of the living room to take this picture.

As they say in The Blues Brothers, "Lotta space in this mall."

Holidays in October

I read a lot of craft and knitting blogs, but I don't participate in any of the online craft community: I don't refer to myself as a "crafter," I don't participate in secret blog pal yarn swaps, I don't join online knit-alongs (KALS). But I do think this online event is worth mentioning, considering how happy I am with my sock progress: October is the month of Socktoberfest--a "monthlong celebration of socks" by knitters. Of course!

CuteOverload will tell us that October is actually 'Tocktober, a celebration of furry 'tocks like these:
And of course, there's Halloween. I need to come up with a costume soon if I'm going to make one, but, like every year, I'm stuck--unless I can make something like this (links to YouTube, with sound).

Tuesday Project Roundup: I Got My Mojo Workin' Edition

I got my sewing mojo back over the weekend and finished something the pattern called a minidress and I call a tunic (one must be able to actually sit in a dress).It's not represented well in the picture, but it's made out of very soft corduroy, which makes the sleeve ties feel like little goat ears.
Ahem. Moving right along to socks: It's almost one sock, in just a week. I'm making good speed compared with the last pair, which took about a month.

Cute!

Donkey! Moving lambs for a shepherd! Cute!

(From www.CuteOverload.com)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I have the day off! Ha ha ha ha ha!

2. What some commenters will be doing this weekend: Anonymous 1 will be at the PBR bull riding event tonight. Anonymous 2 (I assume) will be at the organ festival. Mr. Isbell will be (and I quote) sleeping.

3. I may be brave enough to try some sewing again this weekend. I've retreated to the sock-knitting all week, but I need some (warm) long-sleeved tops to wear to work. Also, I realized I won't be wearing skirts if the weather insists on getting colder (stupid weather), so I have to re-purpose four yards of skirt fabric.

4. To tie in to #2:

A Cria For Thursday

Look at the little guy born at Blue Moon Ranch yesterday! Awww! His name is Primo.

Words I Learned From The Internet Yesterday

austral: pertaining to the Southern Hemisphere

nervio (this one's Spanish): "a feeling of such intense affection that one trembles or grits his teeth with restraint so as not to harm the object of his affection." (I guess it's equivalent to the "I could eat you up!" feeling.)

(I got "nervio" from here, which is worth visiting because it has a picture of Picasso demonstrating the concept.)

The things you can learn from the interwebs!

Tuesday Project Roundup: Let's Think About Something Other Than Sewing For A While, Shall We?

I had to scrap two sewing projects over the weekend, which was deeply frustrating because it was a perfect weekend to "stove up" (as Mr. Isbell says) inside and be crafty. However, on Saturday a houndstooth skirt failed because I refused to admit the fabric was too loosely woven to be cut on the bias, and on Sunday I finished the blue chambray dress and discovered it looked like something issued to an impoverished Russian woman at a state institution for unwed mothers. (Not a flattering fit and not the best use for a plain [prison] blue fabric, in hindsight.)

However, there's knitting! And sweaters are warmer than dresses, especially when they're this thick: This cardigan is going well, but last night I detoured to the yarn store because all I could think of all day was socks (I think my ankles were cold).

So I bought some sock yarn that is computer-dyed to knit up into patterns, like this: I generally avoid things knitted on tiny needles, but I think the magic color changes will keep me interested--and keep my ankles a lot warmer than a Soviet-issue dress.

I Have No Ideas Today

Really. None.