Friday Unrelated Information

1. I think adults going all-out for Halloween is silly, but there's a party at work so I made a costume (or a really big necklace):
I'm a "cereal" (serial) comma! No one will get it!

2. Speaking of, Jason posted a real-life example of someone who should have used a serial comma to add clarity. It is important punctuation, people!

3. And, because it's Halloween, here are probably my favorite seven words ever uttered on TV:

(See more of the episode here.)

Teleport!

This is a cool program that lets you see different parts of the world (or, conversely, illustrates the chilling reach of Google): Globe Genie. It basically just randomizes Google Street Views but it manages to suck you in. It also reminds you how much of the world looks the same, landscape-wise: Central France could be Wisconsin, Russia looks like Wyoming, Tuscany like Northern California, etc.

Check it out--the button to randomize really does say "Teleport."

Are You Tired Of This Yet?

By "this," I mean posts in which I tell you that I'm watching a new TV series and it's really good and I have a crush on the main actor. I hope you're not too fed up, because guess what? I watched a new TV series!

The series is the modern-day interpretation of Sherlock Holmes on PBS, Sherlock. Yes, the actors are fun to watch:
Holmes gets to stand in front. Because he's Sherlock Holmes.


Why hello, Sherlock. Are you deducing something?

But if you know me you know that before I was a Dune geek, before I read any Tolkein, I was a Sherlock Holmes fan. Holmes is my geekery of choice. So imagine my delight that the writers of this new series (who write for the new Dr. Who series, oh the colliding worlds of geekdom) did such a good job adapting the Holmes canon to the modern day.

Seriously, if you're a fellow Holmes geek, it's worth a watch to catch the in-jokes (deductions are made from a cell phone instead of a pocket watch; Watson's a veteran of the modern Afghan war; he's similarly confused about where he was shot; no, they're not gay; etc.)

You can watch the first episode--"A Study in Pink"--online, with new ones airing Sunday nights for the next two weeks.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Repeat Of A Sellout

Look, more baby stuff!

This is for a co-worker who adopted a baby boy after waiting a long time. I wanted to do something a little more than a hat or booties to mark the occasion, so another owl sweater it was.

This time I used superwash wool instead of wool-cotton, because the baby is in Park City instead of sunny Asheville, and I didn't impose my love of color on the recipient quite as much. (I did get some contrasting blue eyes in, though.)


Who? who? Baby owls!

Reading Cookbooks

I was going through some Laurie Colwin again last week and found this:

You want comfort; you want security; you want food; you want not to be hungry; and not only do you want those basic things fixed, you want it done in a really nice, gentle way that makes you feel loved. That's a big desire, and cookbooks say to the person who's reading them, "If you read me, you will be able to do this for yourself and for others. You will make everybody feel better."

Let's read some cookbooks!

Friday Unrelated Information

1. As much as I talk about wanting fancy hi-fis and home decor, all I really want is a house. A house that doesn't require a roto-rooter visit every other month because the upstairs neighbor insists on using her defunct disposal for things like celery stalks and Chinese takeout. (Guess how I know what foods she's trying to grind up! And guess what I'm doing this morning!)

2. Speaking of, I looked at my 2oth house this week (in person). I'm still holding out for one that's north of 21st South, west of 13th East, and isn't a fire hazard or a pit of asbestos. Do I ask too much for my price range? Perhaps. But I'm holding out.

3. I'm holding out for a hero, too.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Ray and Charles Eames designed speaker cabinets back in the day? Which were then marketed with kitten pictures? (Click for big)

Hello, gorgeous.


Yes, I'd take an Eames three-way.

When I think of my imaginary house, I think of getting adult electronics like a stereo and a TV with two functioning speakers (imagine!). Except I would want all my equipment to look like this. Then I would listen to Ethiopian jazz and bebop on vinyl, like this:


You can see more vintage hi-fi goodness here.

The Moral Of This Poem

...is the last line. But the build up is worth a read, too.

Filling Station

by Elizabeth Bishop

Oh, but it is dirty!

—this little filling station,

oil-soaked, oil-permeated

to a disturbing, over-all

black translucency.

Be careful with that match!

Father wears a dirty,

oil-soaked monkey suit

that cuts him under the arms,

and several quick and saucy

and greasy sons assist him

(it’s a family filling station),

all quite thoroughly dirty.

Do they live in the station?

It has a cement porch

behind the pumps, and on it

a set of crushed and grease-

impregnated wickerwork;

on the wicker sofa

a dirty dog, quite comfy.

Some comic books provide

the only note of color—

of certain color. They lie

upon a big dim doily

draping a taboret

(part of the set), beside

a big hirsute begonia.

Why the extraneous plant?

Why the taboret?

Why, oh why, the doily?

(Embroidered in daisy stitch

with marguerites, I think,

and heavy with gray crochet.)

Somebody embroidered the doily.

Somebody waters the plant,

or oils it, maybe. Somebody

arranges the rows of cans

so that they softly say:

esso—so—so—so

to high-strung automobiles.

Somebody loves us all.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Pants. Meh.

In the five years that I've really been sewing for myself, I've tried to make real pants (not lounge pants but outerwear) only once or twice, and neither time was a success. So in that respect, this pair of wearable pants is a big deal:

But so are the legs. The bottom opening is really wide. I don't know what part of me thought "26 inches? That's a normal leg opening." Because it's not, unless you're a clown or a sailor.

I used this out-of-print pattern:
but I think if I try pants again, I'll use the more vintage pattern I talked about in May. Although why make "meh" pants when there are dresses in crazy prints to sew?

It's Monday

Sit on it like it's a blanket that just came out of storage.

Bonus shot, so you can see the intensity of the sitting:
Sitting on things requires great focus.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I got tickets for the season opening of Utah Opera tomorrow. It's La Boheme, which is pretty hard to ruin even for them. I'm sure I'll be back to complaining that life isn't like opera on Monday.

2. I blew through season one of the new Dr. Who and fell hard for Christopher Eccleston--so I was prepared to hate his regenerated replacement, David Tennant. Well, it only took about ten minutes of season two for me to decide that I LOVE David Tennant! He wears nerd glasses! He got introduced with a cheesy pop song!

3 .Related: It might be time to stop pretending to be sophisticated and just accept that I'm a sci-fi geek.

This Qualifies Me For Home Ownership, Right?

I may not know how to light my pilot light or mow a lawn, but I can replace the hardware on my sewing cabinet.

The before is on the left; the much less 1988-country-kitchen after is on the right. I got the right size and everything!

Yep, home ownership will be a piece of cake.

Cat-vertising!

This commercial from Purina New Zealand would have been a fun account to work on. Kitties! Yarn! Oh my!

Tuesday Project Roundup: If You Don't Own A Horse...

...you can always wear one. That's right, the hippy dress strikes again!

Here's a better idea of the real fabric color (thanks, camera):

And here's the pattern drawing so you can get a better idea of the shape, such as it is:

The fabric is an Alexander Henry quilting cotton that I got to make a wearable muslin (test garment) for second hippy dress pattern from France. The quilting cotton isn't the best apparel fabric and there are a few tweaks I'll make before I sew it in fancy corduroy, but it's wearable and it has horses on it. Therefore, it's a success.

I Guess Only Men Buy Houses?

I got really close to making an offer on a house last week, but then I didn't--the house still had the original 1939 knob and tube wiring and a fuse box.

In the course of finding out about the wiring, my awesome agent forwarded me the emails she got from the seller's agent, in which I (the buyer) was always referred to "he." For example: "If the buyer wants to call the guy who inspected the wiring, he can reach that guy* at..." and "If the buyer wants a house with updated wiring, he might need to look at new construction." (That one's an actual quote.)**

My realtor is a woman so I haven't had to deal with any of the "Buying a house all by yourself, little lady?" attitude that you get in a conservative state. I just thought it was interesting that the default for the (male) seller's agent was "he."

So the house hunt continues, even though I am not a man.



*That guy was described as an "Army electrician and jack of most trades." Um, shouldn't that job description have been "licensed electrician"?

**For the love of god. I don't need NEW wiring; just wiring that isn't a fire hazard.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Mark your calendars and set your alarm clocks, because the metro area Target is opening on Sunday! I have been combining suburban Target trips with visits to my parents for the last SEVEN YEARS, so I will be there on 10/10/10 with bells on.

2. Happy birthday to Frank Herbert, writer of Dune, enabler of geekiness.

3. This week at work I got a chance to use the Don Draper quote to the beatnik in Season 1 of Mad Men:
Beatnik: You're in advertising? How do you sleep at night?
Don Draper: On a mattress made of money.

Your Coffee May Be Too Strong...

...if your kitty tries to bury it like kitty poop.

Kitteh vs. The Smell of Coffee - watch more funny videos

I broke my French press over the weekend so now I'm using the stovetop espresso maker. Still trying to get the proportions right.

How Come I Didn't Know This?

While watching my new imaginary boyfriend* Christopher Eccleston in an episode of Dr. Who set during the Blitz, there was some Glenn Miller playing. Which led me to Wikipedia to learn that Glenn Miller is officially listed as missing in action (presumed dead) because his plane disappeared over the Channel in 1944 while on tour with his Army Air Force Band.

And I thought I liked Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Dying while on tour to rally the troops in the war effort is another matter entirely.





*I'm sorry, Dimitri, I'm really enjoying your baritone and your t-shirts, but there's such a thing as too much music. I'll call you.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Tiny Little "o rly?"

Finally, I can share the cuteness that is the avian-inspired baby shower gift for a friend:
The owls do have button eyes, but they're small.

When I heard that one of my few and therefore special girlfriends was having a baby, I knew I had to make something just as special. I wanted to knit and sew, and when I found the owl and bird flannel (from here) everything just clicked: I would make a tiny "Owls" sweater from this pattern (like my big one) and then two simple blankets (just squares sewn together with rick-rack on the edge). I was done with this about six weeks before the baby shower last Saturday--which turned out to be owl-themed! That was a crazy coincidence, ya rly.

Monday's Poem

Today's poem is from our buddy Mark Strand, found on the Writer's Almanac a few weeks ago:

Mirror

A white room and a party going on
and I was standing with some friends
under a large gilt-framed mirror
that tilted slightly forward
over the fireplace.
We were drinking whiskey
and some of us, feeling no pain,
were trying to decide
what precise shade of yellow
the setting sun turned our drinks.
I closed my eyes briefly,
then looked up into the mirror:
a woman in a green dress leaned
against the far wall.
She seemed distracted,
the fingers of one hand
fidgeted with her necklace,
and she was staring into the mirror,
not at me, but past me, into a space
that might be filled by someone
yet to arrive, who at that moment
could be starting the journey
which would lead eventually to her.
Then, suddenly, my friends
said it was time to move on.
This was years ago,
and though I have forgotten
where we went and who we all were,
I still recall that moment of looking up
and seeing the woman stare past me
into a place I could only imagine,
and each time it is with a pang,
as if just then I were stepping
from the depths of the mirror
into that white room, breathless and eager,
only to discover too late
that she is not there.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The only gymkhana I'd heard about before seeing this involved ponies. This is much cooler.

I bet my Ford could do that.

2. I think I need one of these mod cat prints for my imaginary house:

3. I wanted to find some new sci-fi to geek out about, so I started watching the 2005 Dr. Who series. Let the geeking out begin!