Knitting Update

I've completed several projects over the past couple of months. In descending order of awesomeness:

LaBorgia Gloves:
Love these. Love the color, love the intricate cable pattern, love how warm and comfy they are. Pattern from Allison Green Will Knits.

Urchin Beret:
This is made from a blend of some sparkly clearance yarn I bought over the summer, and a chunky varigated wool to provide needed warmth and thickness. I'm super pleased with how the two blended together. Looks great with my gloves, too. I also made a black sparkly version as a Christmas gift for a friend. Pattern from Knitty.

Pirate Dog Coat:
I made this awesome coat for my brother's dog Pete for Christmas, and I made my brother a hat to match. Sadly, I neglected to take any pictures of Pete wearing it on Christmas Day (this pic is from the pattern). You'll have to take my word for it that it was super, in spite of not quite fitting properly. I also made my brother a matching hat. Pattern from Bernat.

Felted Flowers:
Only two shown below, but I cranked out a bunch of these in various colors for Christmas gifts for several friends and co-workers. Nothing terribly exciting, but cute enough. Devised these on my own.

Calluna Sweater:
This one looks much nicer off me than on. It's knit according to specs, but it doesn't hang quite right, and the buttons wound up in a weird spot. I've decided it's not worth unraveling and re-knitting. It's good enough to wear around the house, run errands, etc. Still, I'd hoped for a better result. Bummer. Pattern from Knit Picks.

Ugly Baby Sweater:
Nice pattern, but I must have been drunk when I picked these colors. I was aiming for a gender-neutral sweater that wasn't pastel, and wound up with this hideous Mexican clown look. Totally unacceptable for Tomato and Train Brain's baby, due in May. This one's going in the Goodwill bag. Pattern from Crystal Palace Yarns.

Currently, I've got a pair of socks on my needles, and I've selected a different pattern and bought new yarn for a 2nd attempt at an acceptable baby sweater. I got a kit as a Christmas gift to make a pretty pair of Nordic mittens and a matching hat, and Santa also left some lovely sock yarn in my stocking. I'll get rolling on those soon.

Steelers Math

Due to the defending Super Bowl champs' mid-season slump, including shameful losses to Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland, the Steelers are a long shot to make the post-season.

They're traveling to Miami on Sunday for the final game of the regular season, which they must win if they are to have any chance to grab a wild card spot. However, just the win isn't enough. They still need help. Here's how it shakes out:

Pittsburgh will secure a playoff spot if:
1) Steelers win + Houston Texans loss or tie (vs. Patriots) + New York Jets loss or tie (vs. Bengals) OR
2) Steelers win + Texans loss or tie + Baltimore Ravens loss or tie (vs. Raiders) OR
3) Steelers win + Jets loss or tie + Ravens loss or tie + Denver Broncos loss or tie (vs. Kansas City Chiefs).

Got all that? I'll be in front of the tv on Sunday with my laptop and and a spreadsheet to keep track of it all. But trust me, those are pretty long odds - most of those games would need to be upsets in order for everything to fall into place. I haven't completely given up hope, but let's say I'm not exactly burdened with an overabundance of confidence.

Go Steelers! (sigh)

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've checked in - I've just been really busy with all the holiday shopping, wrapping, baking, decorating, parties, etc...in addition to my ongoing piano lessons and volunteer commitments. Not to mention holding down a full-time job. No complaints, just not a lot of free time lately.

So what's been up? Several knitting projects completed, about 2 dozen cheesecakes baked, and the Steelers are circling the drain. I've also deployed my new snowblower with some success. Updates on everything that's been going on will be forthcoming now that I've got a bit of time to waste. Until then, Happy Holidays!

Steelers 24, Chiefs 27 (OT)

Another disappointing performance from the Steelers - a loss to Kansas City on the road. I thought there was a chance we'd see backup quarterback Charlie Batch in this game, but I thought it would be because Pittsburgh would completely blow out the Chiefs. Instead, Charlie got in the game when Ben took a knee to the head in overtime. No word yet on how serious it is. And Charlie also injured his wrist and will be out for the rest of the regular season, so things are looking awfully thin at QB right now. And shall we chat about the mind-boggling kickoff return coverage (or lack thereof)? That's 2 weeks in a row now that the Steelers have allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown. Been an awful lot of punts, interceptions and fumbles returned for TDs lately, too.

The team is really struggling right now, and there's going to be a LOT of desperation in the air Sunday against divisional rival Baltimore.

Going to get the Listerine now and try to wash the bitter taste of defeat from my mouth.

Children's Grief Awareness Day

Thursday, November 19 is Children's Grief Awareness Day in Pennsylvania.

Most of you probably know that I've been doing volunteer work at Highmark Caring Place for the past 8 or so years. The Caring Place provides support for children and families who have experienced the death of a loved one. 1 in 20 kids will lose a parent before they graduate from high school. These kids often feel isolated and alone. We provide a safe place for them to share their feelings and give them the tools and resources they need to help them cope. It's really a wonderful program, and is provided free of charge to everyone.

Heaven forbid that you or anyone you know should ever need this type of help - but if you do, don't hesitate to recommend us. There are currently centers in Erie, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Warrendale/ Cranberry, and more on the way.

Cruise on over here or give me a shout if you're interested in learning more about what the Caring Place is all about. We are also always in need of more volunteers. It's a really rewarding experience, believe me.

Steelers 12, Bengals 18

Pffft.

Arrrggghh.

Gah.

4 lousy field goals? That's it? Really?? Where's the team that won the Super Bowl last year? They sure didn't show up today, and pretty much just handed the AFC North to the Bengals. You're welcome, Cincinnati. Looks like the Steelers are going to have to earn themselves a wild card if they want to make the post-season. And to pour a little salt in the wound, Troy Polamalu went out with that same bum knee again. (MRI results pending.) Tough day to be a Steelers fan.

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street

I always loved Sesame Street as a kid. It's marvelous that it's still around today.

Enjoy my favorite character and a classic Sesame Street song:

Steelers 28, Broncos 10

Big win for the Steelers last night in Denver! The game was a bit of a snoozefest at the beginning, but it sure got exciting later on. Tyrone Carter had a spectacular night filling in for the sidelined Ryan Clark - 2 interceptions, one of which was run back for a touchdown. Ben and Hines hooked up for another pair of TDs, and Rashard Mendenhall and rookie Mike Wallace continued to impress on offense. Troy Polamalu looked like his old self with a fabulous interception late in the game. He's just tremendous fun to watch.

So the regular season is now half over (boy, that went fast!) and the Steelers are on a hot streak going into next week's game. It will be a showdown at Heinz Field against the Bengals with first place in the AFC North on the line. Big game. Big, big game. Huge game that I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WATCH ON BROADCAST TV BECAUSE THE STUPID NFL INSISTS WE ARE A BUFFALO BILLS MARKET.

Um, sorry about the shouting there. But yeah, because we are slightly closer to Buffalo than to Pittsburgh or Cleveland, the NFL seems to think we are all Bills fans. Hahaha. Not. My personal, completely unscientific estimate would be that this town is about:

• 60% Steelers fans
• 35% Browns
• 5% All Other

No one around here cares about Buffalo at all. But whenever the Bills have a road game at the same time and on the same network as the Steelers, you have to find a bar or a sympathetic friend with satellite, because it's the Bills that are going to be on the network broadcast. Grrrr. The local affiliates aren't happy about it either, for obvious reasons, and usually put up a crawl during the game along the lines of "WE ARE CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED TO BROADCAST THIS BILLS GAME. PLEASE DON'T HATE US OR MAKE THREATENING PHONE CALLS TO THE STATION. IT'S NOT OUR FAULT. WE'D MUCH RATHER WATCH THE STEELERS, TOO."

Ok, rant over. I will watch the Steelers-Bengals game somewhere on Sunday. Hope you can, too.

Trick or Treat!

I made these skeleton cupcakes for our Halloween lunch at work tomorrow:


They're kind of cute, huh?


Ok, so no one's likely to mistake them for work done by a professional decorator, but I still think they're pretty fun.

Actually, if you haven't already checked out the Cake Wrecks blog (there's a link on the sidebar), take a look. Maybe I could be a professional decorator.

Steelers 27, Vikings 17

I was anticipating a big gunslinging quarterback showdown -Roethlisberger versus Farve - and that wasn't how the game played out at all. It turned into a defensive battle, and when it comes down to the defense, you gotta like the Steelers' chances. LaMarr Woodley returned a Farve fumble 77 yards for a TD, and Keyaron Fox ran back an interception 82 yards for a TD in the final minutes to secure the win. It was definitely the defense that came up big today, and handed the Vikings their first lost of the season. Hooray!

The Steelers have a bye next week, and then travel to Denver for Monday Night Football the following week. I have been pulling for Kyle Orton and the Broncos after all the Jay Cutler drama in the off season, but obviously that will be put on hold for a while!

Troy-O-Lanterns? Ben-O-Lanterns?

Look at my fun jack-o-lanterns:

Aren't they great?! I didn't freehand these or anything, so don't be too impressed. I used stencils to carve them. It was still kind of tricky, but I'm really pleased with how they turned out. And since my Mom wisely suggested using craft pumpkins instead of real ones, I'll be able to use them again in the future. My friend Train Brain, the Redskins fan, has threatened to come by and smash them. I don't think he would, but nevertheless, I think I'll put them in the windows instead of outside on the porch.

Any Steelers fans who admire them during trick-or-treating on Halloween will be getting DOUBLE treats.

Steelers 27, Browns 14

The Steelers were supposed to win this game comfortably, and they did. Big Ben had a tremendous game, throwing for over 400 yards. I guess the Steelers are going to be a passing team now? Ok by me. The third quarter was a bit of a circus -no one wanted to hang onto the ball, it seemed. There were roughly one million turnovers (ok, five..but that's still a lot) in about ten minutes. All ended well, though. And since Cincinnati and Baltimore both lost, the Steelers moved into a tie for first in the AFC North.

The icing on the cake was that I had to go to Cleveland today for work, so I spent an enjoyable lunch rubbing salt in the wounds of some friends/Browns fans.

Next week - Brett Farve and the undefeated Vikings. Should be a barnburner.

Steelers 28, Lions 20

It's a win, but I didn't think it was a particularly impressive win. Once again, the Steelers started out strong but seemed to take their foot off the gas late in the game when they should have been slamming the door shut. The Detroit Lions are not a good football team, and Pittsburgh should have crushed them. They didn't even cover the 12-point spread.

They can probably get away with this again next week against Cleveland, but after that, they've got the Vikings, Broncos and Bengals on the schedule. Their play this week has not exactly got me brimming with confidence. C'mon, Steelers!

Steelers 38, Chargers 28

Hooray! The Steelers returned to Heinz Field last night and finally looked more like the team that won the Super Bowl last year. The running game was much improved - Rashard Mendenhall had a monster night, rushing for 165 yards and 2 TDs. Heath Miller, rapidly moving up on my list of favorite players, had a pair as well. Things got a bit tight in the 4th quarter when San Diego put together a late rally - a recovered onside kick and a fumble recovery in the end zone made things rather tense - but the Steelers put together a 50-yard drive in the closing minutes and Jeff Reed sealed the win with a beautiful 46-yard field goal. Yay!

What made watching this game particularly fun was exchanging text messages throughout with my friend Vivacious, who was at the game in person. Next week - at Detroit. Don't want to jinx anything here, but I'm fairly confident that the Steelers will emerge from that game with a good result. :-)

Finished Projects!

I finally finished the mystery afghan - now officially a wedding gift. The pattern is Bernat's Lace and Cable Afghan. I'm pleased with the finished product, but it took a lot longer than I anticipated and I came to regret starting it in the first place. The last couple of months I was referring to it as the "Wretched Afghan," and had to force myself to work on it. But it's finished, and now I can move on to other projects. I've got a nice long list going!

Whenever I needed a break from the Wretched Afghan, I knit a few rows on this little guy:


Sheldon the Turtle - isn't he cute? I couldn't resist, and it was a surprisingly quick knit. He's now at work, making my office more cheerful.

I've already got a couple new projects going - a beautiful pair of cabled gloves and a pretty wool cardigan, both for me. I also have plans in the works for a beret-style hat with some dark green sparkly yarn I got on sale a while back, a recycled silk bag, and some sort of Steelers scarf of my own design, which is yet to be fully imagined.

I'm so excited to be knitting some fun new projects!

Steelers 20, Bengals 23

Arrgghh. It's all my fault.

I watched this game with a bunch of friends, including my friend Train Brain, who is a Redskins fan. The Steelers were safely in the lead when I made one sassy comment about the ignominy of the Skins being the team that finally lost to the 0-19 Detroit Lions. Shortly thereafter, things went downhill quickly. Karma felt the need to dole out a bit of punishment.

So if you're wondering why the Steelers lost today, it wasn't the pick-six that Ben threw, or the TD pass that Limas Sweed dropped, or the field goal that Jeff Reed missed. It was me and my big mouth, as I was informed by all my friends who were present. I'm sorry, Steeler Nation. I promise to keep my big mouth shut next week against the Chargers.

The Lost Symbol - Initial Thoughts

Don't worry - no spoilers. I wouldn't do that.

I tore through The Lost Symbol as quickly as I did Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code...about 2-3 days. I'm a bit ambivalent about it. Obviously the speed at which I devoured the book is a good indication that I found it pretty enticing...and yet, somehow it left me a little cold. I loved the Washington DC setting and the expected historical tie-ins throughout the plot. However, I found some of the science aspects to be a little too new-agey and esoteric to suit my taste, and I saw the twist at the end coming a mile away, so the ending kind of fizzled out for me personally. Still an enjoyable read overall, and I'm sure anyone who enjoyed Dan Brown's previous novels will find The Lost Symbol to be squarely in the same ballpark. My copy is currently making the rounds of my friends and family. Perhaps when it's back in my possession I'll give it a re-read and see if it sits better the second time around.

Steelers 14, Bears 17

Bummer. Overall, I thought the Steelers seemed okay, not great. Ben and Santonio Holmes looked solid on offense. Tyrone Carter did an okay job filling in at safety, but he's clearly not the defensive force that Troy Polamalu is - the sooner Troy's back, the better. The rushing game was still not up to Steelers standards. Still, they played well enough to win, if the normally rock-solid Jeff Reed hadn't inexplicably missed a pair of field goals. Rats. I hope for better things next week at Cincinnati.

Still, there were a couple of very satisfying wins that I really enjoyed watching during Week 2. The scrappy Jets took down the venerated Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (sorry Dad), and the Giants spoiled the Cowboys' home opener at the gauche theme park that Jerry Jones calls a stadium. So there was still something to smile about on Sunday!

A Toothbrush Is Not A Toy

Sophie, you have approximately one million cat toys scattered around the house. There is no need to jump up on the bathroom sink and play with my toothbrush.

Because this is what will happen:

In Memoriam

The Beretta
1994 - 2009

Yes, it's true. The faithful Beretta is gone. Although I still really wasn't putting much money into it, it had just become too unreliable.

I will miss you, Beretta.

I will miss the manual crank windows that were perpetually frozen shut from December to March.
I will miss the way I never had to look at the speedometer because I knew how fast I was going by how much the car was shaking.
I will miss the ABS warning light that came on at random for no discernible reason.
I will miss the seat belt light that was always on, regardless of whether or not the seat belt was buckled.
I will miss the morning jump starts whenever the overnight temperature dipped into single digits.
I will miss the annual A/C system recharges at the beginning of every summer.
I will miss the dangling gas tank door with the rusty hinge.
Most of all, I will miss the thrilling sense of anticipation every time I turned the ignition key...are you going to start?!?

Trade in value of the Beretta? $100.

It is a huge loss. The Beretta was with me for 15 years. But we grieve, and we move on. I now have this sweet little ride:

I've wanted a Beetle FOREVER. I love it!

Steelers 13, Titans 10

Well, it was a bit of a shaky start. The running game was nonexistent, Troy Polamalu went out with a knee injury, and my jaw dropped when Hines Ward fumbled the ball when all he had to do was take a knee and let Jeff Reed make the winning field goal.

But Big Ben put together a winning drive in overtime, and a win's a win. I'll take it!

Next week - at Chicago, where I hope the Steelers defense beats up on that whiny brat Jay Cutler.

Funny Moment from the Djoker

I have not been much of a Novak Djokovic fan since he made some rather toolish comments about Andy Roddick after beating him in the quarterfinals at the US Open last year. I've been hating on him ever since.

But his post match interview after winning his 4th round match the other night went a long way towards redeeming him in my eyes. He's gracious and funny, and talks John McEnroe into coming down on the court from the commentator's booth to hit a few.

Novak does his John McEnroe imitation while he's waiting, and Johnny Mac returns the favor when he gets on court.



My favorite moments:

6:56 Cliff Drysdale: "Oh, I hope he gets one in."
7:33 Darren Cahill: "That racquet looks about 200 years old."

Classic stuff!

Tennis Weekend

I spent last weekend in Cincinnati with my friend Tomato, shopping and watching some great tennis at the Western and Southern Financial Group Masters tournament.


The tournament is part of the US Open Series, which is a series of summer hardcourt tournaments that leads up to the US Open. It's also an ATP 1000 event, just a step below the grand slams in terms of ranking points, which means all the top players in the world attend.

We got to see Novak Djokovic


and Rafael Nadal


and my favorite doubles team, Bob and Mike Bryan.


We also saw John Isner (an up-and-coming US player) in the lobby of our hotel, which was pretty cool. It was a lot of fun. Tomato and I have been going for 3 years now, and we've got the good restaurants, shopping, parking, etc. all scoped out. We seem to keep missing Andy Roddick and Roger Federer, but maybe next year!

Quick Baby Sweater

I spent the past week cranking this out.


It's for my friend Sinkerbeam's new baby, due in about a week. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. The pattern uses mock cables, not traditional cable-needle cables, so it knit up pleasingly quickly.

This also clears up the disposition of the mystery afghan, since this is the baby I was also considering that project as a gift for.

Steeler Football Tonight!

Yes, the countdown clock says there's still 28 days until the season opener. That's correct. Tonight is the first preseason game, against Arizona.

I know it's just an exhibition game. I know most of the starters will only play a series or two at most. I know this is mostly about seeing what the rookies can do and trying out new offensive/defensive schemes. I know it doesn't really matter.

Don't care. Still excited! After all, I'm pretty sure both teams still want to win. Go Steelers!!

Potter Post

I've been lax in sharing my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I saw almost two weeks ago. Loved it! I think my favorite bits were little throwaway things that had nothing to do with the plot...Harry & Ron fighting over the good copy of their Potions textbook, the return of Quidditch to the films, Fred & George's new shop in Diagon Alley, etc.

And now, of course, I can't wait until the final (two-part) film comes out. And it's going to be a long wait. Part I is tentatively scheduled for November 2010 and Part II in July 2011. In the meantime, I'll enjoy re-reading the books from the very beginning and wasting time with stuff like this excellent Harry Potter quiz from Parade magazine. It's pretty challenging - I got 29/50, which is characterized as "Not bad. You've definitely got a little magic up your sleeve!"

Welcome Sophie

Say hi to Sophie!

I decided it was time for a new kitty. I still really miss Gatsby, but I also missed just having a critter around the house. Sophie is a rescue cat from Because You Care. She's still a bit skittish, but seems to be settling in ok.

She has a favorite spot on the couch for napping.

And she LOVES her catnip mouse that my Mom bought for her.

She's a real sweetie. I think we're going to get along just fine.

Coffee Nirvana

I recently acquired a fabulous new toy, a Keurig single-cup coffee maker.

The rack next to the coffee maker is full of pre-measured, single serving portions of coffee in all sorts of fabulous roasts and flavors. They're called K-cups.

You stick a K-cup in the machine, press the button...

And presto! A super yummy cup of coffee appears like magic. You can select the size cup you prefer, the temperature...it even makes cocoa and teas, too. It's really convenient and will be great for entertaining.

I'm sure a large portion of my current delight has to do with the novelty factor, but it really makes good coffee.

Happy Fourth of July

This is almost exactly how we performed The Stars and Stripes Forever in high school marching band:


Come to think of it, Animal does remind me of most of the guys from the drum line.

Muppets rock, huh?

What Is It?

This is one of my current knitting projects - a very pretty lace and shell design afghan. My original intent was that this would be for a wedding gift, and I bought some off-white yarn that I thought would give it a nice heirloom look.


As I started to knit it up, the yarn started to look more pale yellow than off-white to me, and I wasn't getting the effect I wanted. It was starting to look like a baby blanket. No big deal, I figured, I know a couple expecting a baby in a few months and would be quite happy to make this as a gift for them instead.

Now as I'm getting further along, I'm leaning the other way, and I think this might be ok as a wedding gift.

So what is it? A wedding afghan or a baby blanket? At the moment, it's a mystery.

Legal for Less

The Beretta has passed inspection with no nasty surprises - just a new turn signal clicker thing (yes, that's the technical term) which I already knew would be needed. And I just received the new registration sticker, so I'm legal now through July 2010.

Of course, that doesn't mean the Beretta will still be running in July 2010.

Penguins Win the Cup!

Breaking sports news video. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL highlights and more.

The city of Pittsburgh is having a great year! The Steelers won the Super Bowl, and now the Penguins are leaving Detroit with the Stanley Cup.

Somehow, I don't think the Pirates are going to make it 3-for-3, though.

Wipeout: A Guilty Pleasure

Right up front, I'm going to tell you that Wipeout is a show with no redeeming qualities at all. It doesn't challenge me to think about complicated social issues, or teach me anything useful. In fact, I may even lose a couple of IQ points every time I watch it. It's stupid, mindless, lowest-common-denominator viewing. But boy, does it make me laugh out loud, which is definitely something I can use at the moment. Here's a promo:



It you enjoyed the clip, then you'll enjoy the show, because what you see is what you get. An hour of pratfalls, crashes, slips and trips. Lots of water, lots of mud, lots of humiliation. Check it out at 8pm Wednesdays on ABC. It will be our little secret.

Goodbye Gatsby

I had Gatsby put to sleep today.

She went downhill very quickly this week. She was lethargic and withdrawn, had trouble moving around, wouldn't eat. It was clear that she was slipping away, and I didn't want her to suffer. It was pretty peaceful, but still terribly hard.

In the course of all the drama over the past few weeks, I got a glimpse into what her life might have been like before I adopted her. Some x-rays were taken during the trip to the pet emergency clinic, and they showed some old buckshot or BBs in her abdomen. No way to know how they got there, but it can't have been pleasant. I take some comfort in knowing that she was safe and happy and loved with me.

Still miss her, though. I suppose I always will.

Gatsby Update

The past two weeks have been an awful roller coaster with the kitty. Here are the highlights:

May 6 - Take Gatsby in for surgery. Get a call later that day that they can't operate because her pre-op blood work shows an extremely high blood glucose level. Seems she's diabetic. I freak and cry a lot.

May 12 - Go back to the vet for a consult about this whole diabetes thing and find out what kind of prognosis we are looking at. Sounds like things are not as hopeless as I feared, and she'll probably do ok on 2x daily insulin pills. In the interim since we were last at the vet, she hasn't been eating much, so the vet sends us home with medication to stimulate her appetite. Need to get that back to normal before we can start on the insulin.

May 13/14 - Gatsby is very upset and agitated, and seems to be in pain to me. So, we make a late-night visit to the pet emergency clinic in the wee small hours of Wednesday night/Thursday morning. The vet on-duty does a bunch of tests and thinks she has a cancerous mass in her abdomen. More freaking and crying ensues.

May 14 - Follow-up with the regular vet the following day. She tells me not to freak out, she sees no evidence of a mass and thinks the ER vet was looking at part of her kidney. Says the agitation was likely a result of the appetite stimulant. We'll try taking her off it and see how she does. The vet also extracts an infected tooth, which may be the source of the eating issues.

Today - Kitty still isn't eating normally; I'm going to put her back on the medication and hope it works. We have another vet appointment in a few days.

Lots of frustrating ups and downs, and all of it pretty emotionally and mentally exhausting. Here's hoping things even out soon, because I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle.

Mother's Day Socks

These are the socks I made for my Mom for Mother's Day. It's another Knitty pattern, one which I attempted last fall (intending them to be a Christmas gift) without success. I took another run at them this spring and finally cracked the code.


The pattern reminded me of quilt squares, which is why I wanted to make them for Mom - she's a quilter. I'm so pleased with how they turned out. Perhaps I'll make some for myself one day - hopefully it wouldn't take me 7 months to complete a second pair.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Happy Star Wars Day??

I've learned that today is Star Wars Day. Why, you might ask? (I wondered too.) It's because today fans can say "May the Fourth be with you."

(Groan) I am so not a fan of puns.

Anyway, in celebration of this momentous occasion (you'd think I would have had a bank holiday) enjoy this video of a non-fan who has never seen the movies explaining the plot. Hilarious.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Fallingwater

I was in Farmington, PA the past few days for a business conference at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. I had a free morning and took the opportunity to visit Fallingwater, the famous home built over a waterfall - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family.

I was intially disappointed to learn that there are no tours of the house on Wednesdays -the only time I was able to go - but was able to purchase a grounds pass, which is essentially a self-guided tour of the exterior. I figured this was better than nothing.

I was so pleased with the experience. Although I wasn't able to go inside the house, I could still walk around on several of the terraces, and peer in the windows. Since the outdoor spaces of Fallingwater are an integral part of the overall design, I still got a strong sense of the style and feel of it all.

the iconic view of Fallingwater

And the best part? THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE THERE. I am not kidding about this. There was one other car in the parking lot, and whoever it was, I never saw them. 135,000 people visit Fallingwater every year, and I had the grounds completely to myself. No people wandering through my photos. No pressure to hurry along. It was a wonderful silver lining, and I left not minding so much that I hadn't gotten the full tour.

Kitty's Under the Weather

I found a scary lump on my kitty's stomach, and took her to the vet last week to get it checked. Poor little thing has a hernia which will need surgery. :-(

The operation isn't scheduled until May 6. She also has a heart condition - well controlled with medication - but the vet wants her on a super-duper high octane medication for a month before doing the surgery. So I have to keep a VERY close eye on her in the meantime, and hope things do not go awry. If she gets worse, they'll just go ahead and operate and we'll hope for the best.

The good news is that she doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort at all - in fact, I'm not sure she's even aware of the hernia. She's probably just wondering why I'm fussing over her so much.

Keep your fingers crossed, okay?

Where the %!$#@ is Spring?

This is what it looked like outside this morning.


(sigh) I am SO tired of this. I want to plant flowers, and barbeque, and lay in my hammock.

At least I can feel better about procrastinating in getting the snow tires taken off the Beretta.

A Kitchen Innovation

Mom got me this cool new gadget the other day...it's called a BeaterBlade+. It's a replacement mixing blade for my KitchenAid stand mixer. What makes it special is the rubber wings on the blade that scrape the bowl as it's mixing, theoretically eliminating the need to stop the mixer and scrape. Supposedly it will reduce mixing time by up to 50%.

Naturally, I had to try it out immediately. So, I made...a cheesecake. Shocking, huh?

It worked beautifully - I am very impressed. I don't think that it cut my mixing time in half, but it definitely made things faster and easier. This will come in quite handy when December rolls around and I am cranking out several dozen cheesecakes for Christmas gifts.

So, I had a yummy Oreo cheesecake stashed in the fridge when my friend Trig called about an impromtu get-together with friends at his house Friday night. Not much in the way of leftovers!

Thought for the Day

Every morning, all the stupid people you know get together and plan ways to make your life more difficult.

Just thought you should know that.

Things That Annoy Me

While it is a rather lengthy and varied list, this is what I encountered today:

I saw this sign today on the paper towel dispenser in my workplace. Now, I am totally supportive of the concept here. They are difficult to access...I either wind up with a tiny little torn bit about an inch across, or with a handful of paper towels about two inches thick. I applaud the initiative of the person who put up the sign.

However...see those quotation marks?

Is the writer intending to be ironic, and the "Please" is completely insincere? Or is the writer quoting someone who struggled with the paper towel dispenser and simply gave up and said, "Please!!" as if requesting divine intervention?

Misuse of quotation marks drives me nuts. I'm exponentially more annoyed by the sign than by the underlying paper towel situation.

I'm not even going to get into apostrophes - I just don't have the strength, and I doubt you have the time.

169 Days to Go!

It's just been announced that the NFL season opener will be Thursday, September 10....Steelers vs. Titans. Can't wait! I've been experiencing football withdrawal symptoms since the Super Bowl, and I freely confess that I've re-watched the entire game at least twice since.

It's awesome that we'll be playing Tennessee...really looking forward to getting a bit of payback after last season's loss and the infamous Terrible Towel-abuse incident.

So, just to amp up my hysteria a bit, I've added a countdown clock to the sidebar. Mark the date on your calendar - it will be here soon! Go Steelers!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

One of my very favorite Irish things (along with Baileys Irish Cream, Liam Neeson and Aran knitting patterns) is Father Ted. It's a fantastic sitcom that aired on the BBC about 15 years ago, about three misfit priests banished to the far-flung Craggy Island parish. I generally pull out the DVDs and watch a few episodes every year around St. Patrick's Day.

Some typical Father Ted humor:

Tom: Father...I've killed a man.
Father Ted: Er, well, we'll talk about that later, Tom. Right now I'm going to be on the telly!

And...

Father Dougal: God Ted, I've heard about those cults. Everyone dressing in black and saying our Lord's going to come back and judge us all.
Father Ted: No...no Dougal, that's us. That's Catholicism you're talking about there.

The episodes I'm enjoying today: Cigarettes, Alcohol and Rollerblading, in which the three priests attempt to give up their respective vices for Lent, and Are You Right There, Father Ted?, where Father Ted holds a "Celebration of Craggy Island's Ethnic Diversity" to convince the town he's not a racist. If you ever stumble across it on BBC America, it's well worth your time.

For those not fortunate enough to have access to Father Ted, but would still enjoy a St. Patrick's Day-themed laugh, I offer the Top 10 Worst Irish Accents on Film, courtesy of IrishCentral.com. My personal choice is Tom Cruise in "Far and Away." I freely acknowledge that I think Tom Cruise is a jackass and that likely influenced my selection. Who's your pick?

100,000!

Check it out...

Pretty awesome, huh? We celebrated with a latte for me and some new windshield washer fluid for the Beretta.

Harry Potter and the Self-Striping Socks

I love to knit, and I love Harry Potter. So when I learned of the existence of Harry Potter-branded sock yarn? Yeah, had to have some. I am a big sucker that way.

Finally finished up both pairs this weekend, and I'm very pleased with them.

These are the Dumbledore socks. The pattern is Froot Loop from Knitty.com. You kind of lose the pattern in the changing colors, but overall I'm very happy with them.

And these are the Ron Weasley socks. The pattern is Slippery, also from Knitty. This pair was a more successful combination of color and pattern, I think. It's still a bit difficult to see the pattern, but in this case it's mostly due to my feeble photographic skills.