kmkat and her kneedles

I have been tagged.

Soxanne posted a list of her likes and dislikes yesterday. I commented that it should be a meme. She tagged me.

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Pet peeves:

• Those who criticize oddball things others have created by saying,"They have too much time on their hands." Those being criticized are generally making or doing the kind of things that make life more fun; those doing the criticizing are often doing the opposite.
   
• Nasal noises. Blow your damn nose, I say.
• The neighbor who shamelessly steals our wireless internet every weekend but reports us (repeatedly) to anyone who will listen about Smokey's somewhat excessive number of cars on our property. Fwiw, he (neighbor) put in an illegal outhouse on his property.
• People who park their behemoth vehicles -- 4WD pickups, Ford Expeditions, Lexus SUV, etc -- weirdly in the parking ramp, thus depriving the rest of us of at least two and maybe three parking spaces.
• Having a job and responsibilities. It seriously cuts into my knitting time.
  
• The way Adobe Acrobat at work likes to crash when I have four or five documents open for markup. Ditto, "Microsoft Outlook has stopped working." "Internet Explorer has stopped working." Can I say, "kmkat has stopped working" and just leave for the day? No. Microsoft, make your programs do the damned job. 
  
• Eighty degree days in October. Seventy degrees, okay; eighty, not. (see below; soxanne mentioned this one, too)
  
• (edited to ad) The new Yahoo, which locks up repeatedly both on my PC at work and on my Mac at home. Grrr.

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Things I like:

• Crisp fall air and fall colors.
   
• The cat snuggling up next to my face in the mornings.
  
  
• Honeycrisp apples.
  
  
• The internetz.
  
  
• One of my boys calling or texting or emailing me.
  
  
• Scent of lilacs, aspen trees, rain, warm grass, wood smoke.
  
  
• Snow that squeaks when I walk on it. 
  
  
• Sound of loons calling.
  
  
• Sleeping in my own bed.
  
  
• Coffee in the morning, wine in the evening, Coke Zero anytime.
   
• My iPod Touch (cracked screen and all).
  
  
• Being alive to enjoy it all (in spite of the pet peeves). 
  

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To make this a true meme, I need to tag someone: Sophanne/becky, beentsy, gayle, bullwinkle, and Jocelyn. You are IT! The only caveat is that the LIKE list must be longer than the PET PEEVES list.

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I trust that you are all sufficiently non-saintly to have an interesting list of pet peeves.

The story of my life. In 100 lines.

Stolen from Helen.

Things I've Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band but only if high school band counts.
4. Visited Hawaii twice. Got pregnant the first time, brought the baby the second time :-)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea No, but I have watched it from an airplane and was in that airplane when it was struck by lightning. Scary, that.
14. Taught myself an art from scratch Knitting and crochet
15. Adopted a child (I was adopted, but that probably doesn't count.)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (No, but I have slept on an overnight ferry.)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (unless you count the two hour dinner cruise kind)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (Never been to Italy, but in one of my art history classes we saw a photo of David's backside. He has a really nice butt.)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight Remember the Hawaii trip?
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason Smokey gets me flowers for no reason all the time. What a guy.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check I was fiscally irresponsible in my younger years.
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades We took a guided hike in the Everglades; it was the dry season.
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone Recently, as you all know, since I insist on telling you all the gory details.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Not I, but my parents used to kill and prep the occasional domestic chicken for dinner, not to mention wild duck and pheasant.)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Does doing a tax return for a locally well-known person count?)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (Yellowjacket, yes; bee, no.)
100. Rode an elephant

The pix go marching six by six.

Vicki Knitorious tagged me for this meme. It sounds like fun!

--Go to your sixth picture folder and pick the sixth picture
--Pray you remember the details

Now, I am gonna have to bend the rules a little (actually, a LOT). My photos are all in one folder, so instead of posting the sixth picture in the sixth folder, I am going to post all the photos whose identifying numbers, as assigned by the camera, are all sixes. Here goes!

IMG0666.jpg, August 28, 2008; seed pods of something (Queen Anne's lace?), taken at our campsite on Lake Superior:

DSCF0666.jpg, May 16, 2008; my iPod, playing Duma Key (unabridged) by Stephen King and plugged into my ($25!) iPod dock; the reason I took a picture of this is lost in the mists of memory:

DSCF0666.jpg, March 20, 2008; taken one evening at work and showing the betting pot; staff and managers are flipping quarters for something or other:

DSCF0006, March 15, 2008; Franklin taking photos for the 1,000 Knitters Project at Yellow Dog Knits in Eau Claire, WI:

DSCF6667.jpg and DSCF6665.jpg, August 31, 2007 because apparently I deleted DSCF6666.jpg; I was taking stash photos for Ravelry:

 

IMG0006.jpg, taken by a friend of Matthew's sometime during his senior year in high school; they went to Minneapolis one Saturday and she took lots of photos of him; he was hoping to use one as his senior photo; this was NOT the best of the bunch:

6.jpg, April 30, 2006; Matthew was fooling around with my scanner one day when I wasn't home:

And there you have it, a tour through my iPhoto folder by the sixes!

Passing this on, I tag:

Deb, who has some of the best pet photos around, rivaled only by...

Chris, whose feline models come up with some very funny captions.

Cathy-Cate, who takes gorgeous photos of flowers, among other things.

Stacey, who has gone all squishy on us.*

Cookie, because she doesn't post a lot of photos so I am gonna give her a hard time ;-)

Joan, who knits faster than the wind.

* I just discovered that Stacey had already done this meme. Instead, I tag...

Suzanne, who always looks better than anybody in the world in her handknits.

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ETA: Another excellent reason NOT to venture into any retail establishment on Black Friday: Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down.

Ten random things.

Got nuthin; must do meme.

Ten Random Things (stolen from Knitiot Savant)

1. Magazines subscribed to:  Um. U.S. News & World Report. I have subscribed to lots of magazines -- New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Bazaar, Time, PC World, Fortune, Herb Companion, Fine Gardening, Green Thumb, Green Prints (The Weeder's Digest), Nation (not all at the same time) -- but I found that it had become a burden to read them. So I let them lapse.

2.  Aside from knitting, my favorite pastimes are - Reading, preferably with a cat on my lap/chest, playing around on the internet, hanging out with my family.

3.  If I were not an accountant (insert your own profession) I would be: Once upon a time my choice would have been dancer. Now, it would be forensic something-or-other or computer guru.

4.  I am irrationally worried about - I don't worry much. My only irrational fear is that the semi in front of me on the freeway won't quite fit under the underpass coming up, and its load will end up on top of my car. This seems especially likely to happen when the semi is a flatbed with a great whack of stuff strapped to it, like Christmas trees or huge bales of hay. How do I know the guy that loaded it actually measured to be sure it would fit under that bridge up ahead?

5.  If I were the opposite sex - I would make a terrible man. Too cowardly. Although I suppose if I were a man the testosterone would take care of that.

6.  The thing I miss most about childhood is - always being The Special One.

7.  I like to collect - I don't like to collect things, although I do seem to have acquired a collection of coffee mugs from places I have visited.

8.  Though I've never been there, I feel inexplicably homesick for - Tahiti.

9.  I've never really liked to eat - peas or beans. Especially lima beans. Or baked beans.

10.  When I have nightmares, they're usually about - being in some public situation and not knowing what to do.

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Here's a random photo, taken at the hotel at Wisconsin Dells. I must have at least one picture in every post.



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More nuthin'; random mutterings.

1. Spit it out :: I don't have all day.
2. Shadow :: dancer
3. Database :: computer
4. Expression :: of distaste
5. Boss :: jerk
6. Baby :: kangaroo
7. Mystic :: River
8. Kate :: McGrew*
9. Boobies :: birds
10. Raid :: bugs

* After a little IMDb research I discovered that I was really thinking of Kate Mulgrew, the actress that played the captain on Star Trek: Voyager. These random muttering things are challenging.

The Album Cover Meme.

From the immortal Dr.Mel...

Go to...

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

The third picture (direction not specified, so this could theoretically be horizontally, vertically or diagonally), no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Caveat: You should be very careful with this last one, as most people retain all or some rights for their photos. I only used photos with Creative Commons requiring attribution and permitting derivations of the original, which did require reloading the page several times but keeps me safe from lawsuits. (Clearly, Dr. Mel has more patience than I. After doing the random image thing for a loooong time and finding exactly one image with a Creative Commons license, I gave up on that method. I searched for "creative commons" in Flickr and chose from the images whose ordinal number, if I were to assign such numbers, would have been divisible by 3. Much faster.)

Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result in you blog because it’s more amusing that way.

So. Ya wanna see what I came up with? I had to use Paint b/c I am using Smokey's laptop in bed; imagine these 1000% better if I were at my desk, using my Mac.

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or maybe this one?

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The last one I did, and my favorite:

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Original photos here, here, here, and here.
 

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Dr. Mel is often in my thoughts these days. He drew my name in his raffle and has promised me something yummy from his stash. Although Lucy is hoping that "something yummy from the stash" implies four legs and fur, I am hoping for some yarn. We really, really do not need another dog.

Meme. As in, me me me me me.

Dale-Harriet* tagged me, and what's not to like about blathering on about oneself?

What's the last book you read that you thought was really super, inspiring, you'd recommend it to most anyone?

How about if I tell you of my favorite book of all time? That would be Winterdance : The Fine Magic of Running the Iditarod by Gary Paulsen. It is non-fiction, written by the author of dozens of young adult novels like Hatchet and a handful of adult novels. (No, not ADULT novels, just novels that you would find in the fiction section at the library.) Paulsen lived in northern MN and decided to get some sled dogs and run the Iditarod, the 1,500-mile Anchorage to Nome dog sled race. The book recounts his adventures and misadventures -- the latter outnumber the former by a considerable margin -- along the way. The book is both spiritual and hilarious; the first time I read it I kept chasing down members of my family: "Sit down and listen. You have to hear this!"

My favorite anecdote from the book is this one. At one point during his first running of the Iditarod, Paulsen and his team were following the track across a wide flat valley when they came upon an empty sled with team just sitting in the track. Thinking that the driver might be in trouble, Paulsen stopped and looked for the driver, eventually spotting him (or it might have been a her, I don't remember) lying on a very slight rise about a quarter mile away. He hiked over to see if s/he was okay, and the other driver motioned him to lie down and be quiet, too.

On the other side of the rise was a small frozen lake, blown clear of snow by the ever-present wind. There were two buffalo at the shore. They would take turns running onto the lake, then stopping, stiff-legged, and sliding across the ice, all the while bellowing at the top of their lungs. They were playing! iirc, it was at that point in his life that Paulsen became a vegetarian.

Tattoos: yes or no? Do you have any? Tell us! Do you think they're gross? TELL US!

No tats on me, thankyouverymuch. I'm not a big fan, although I find the artistic and colorful ones intriguing as body art.

Where have you lived?

On a farm in southern MN until age 14, rural northern MN for the 3 years of high school, Minneapolis -- mostly south Mpls -- for the next 32 years, on a lake in n.w. WI for the past 9. Yah, I'm a Midwesterner, fer sure.

But I have traveled a bit. I have hit 48 of the 50 states -- somehow  missed Delaware and Louisiana (so far) -- and 8 countries on 4 of the 7 continents: Canada, US, Mexico, Japan, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, England/Scotland.

Do you listen to the radio? What are your favorite programs, & on what station?

Radio only in the car and only when I don't have my iPod. Then it is Minnesota Public Radio, either The Current or classical, occasionally the news channel. The only programs that I try to catch are A Prairie Home Companion and Car Talk, although I also like This American Life and Whaddya Know? and especially Science Friday. Very occasionally KQ (KQRS, 92.5, classic rock), The Cities 97 (KTCZ, 97.1), or Cool 108 (KQQL 107.9, oldies). Oh, and in my cube during tax season I generally have on JackFM, a station which for some inexplicable reason feels that we all need to hear Smoking in the Boys' Room at least once a week. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Is there a movie that makes you cry no matter how many times you see it?

Nope, sorry, don't generally cry at movies.

What snacks do you enjoy?

Ah, that is the question I have been waiting for. Let's talk food.

Bleu cheese, whole wheat saltines, and merlot, occasionally supplemented by pecans and/or grapes; that is my favorite bedtime snack ever. White tortilla chips with grated cojack cheese melted over them, topped with lots of Chi-Chi's mild salsa and accompanied by a beer, preferably Dos Equis or Leinie's Creamy Dark. Jarlsberg and pecans and hard cider. Funny how all my favorite snacks involve alcohol of some kind. I guess I only snack in the evening...

* You must follow that link and read her post for today, June 5. Eloquent and wonderful.

The inevitable Christmas meme.

Many knitbloggers have done this meme. As delightful as it is to yammer on endlessly about oneself, others may find it unbearably boring. I mean, really, how much do I care when so-and-so takes down her tree?

Warning: possible humbuggery ahead. Read at your own risk.

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Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. Holiday job during high school was wrapping gifts at small-town department store. Inordinately proud of acquired gift-wrapping skill. Unless gift excessively oddly shaped; then give thanks for gift bags.

Open Christmas Eve or Morning? One Christmas eve, rest Christmas morning; or all whenever spouse isn't working. Double/triple time for Christmas Eve/Day; extortionate tuition payments in prior years.

Real tree or artificial? Artificial. Pre-lit. Untouched by further ornamentation. Lazy.

Clear lights or coloured? Either. Lights best thing about Christmas in Great Frozen Darkness of the North.

Angel or star on the top of the tree? Star. Nothing. Pre-lit tree lights extend to top, relieving responsibility to chose.

 When do you put up the tree? Many years not at all. 2007: December 16, i.e., when offspring coerced into assisting.

When do you take down the tree? Around New Year's, unless later. One infamous year lighting continued until March, take down occurred... June? Don't remember. Tree eventually taken outside and scoured with compressed air to remove dust.

Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees? Homey. Unless theme tasteful and creative. Whatever. Just have the damned tree. With lots of lights.

Do you like eggnog? Yes. Side-by-side taste test of varieties available in local stores revealed El Cheapo Holly Nog to be preferred variety. Others too thick and greasy. No ECHN in fridge yet this year. Trying to eat wisely. Probably doomed to eventual failure, although deserving of praise for effort.

 

 

Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Spritz cookies. Sugar cookies. Only if made from mother's recipe. Almond flavoring in spritz, nutmeg in sugar cookies. Possibly other way around. (Spritz pictured above appear identical to those baked by mother in 1961, recreated on internet in shocking warp of space-time continuum. Note to self: give thanks for internet/google/warp of s-t c.)

Do you like fruitcake? No, except The Fruitcake Hater's Fruitcake. Decided to make it the same year mother died on December 1 and first child born (c-section with inadequate anesthesia) December 2. Whole season overwhelmingly stressful; however, TFHF, containing dried apricots and pecans and thoroughly soaked in brandy, inexplicably tasty. Huh. No idea. Recipe now tragically lost.

Gingerbread or sugar cookies? (See, "favorite thing to eat," above.)

Do you have a nativity scene? No. Never will. Shameless religious sentimentality unencumbered by historical accuracy. So-called Wise Men couldn't have arrived for weeks. Angels, if really exist, generally accepted to be invisible to human eye and unaccountably averse to hovering over feed troughs whilst engaged in trumpet playing.

Hardest person to buy for? Husband. Have not done so yet. May follow own suggestion to substitute generous donation to deserving charity in lieu of spousal gift exchange. Husband ignored such suggestion and purchased giftie for wife. Gift rumored to be electronic and found online for $20 rather than former price of $400. (Husband indefatigable bargain hunter.) Rumor continues that same present purchased for #2 son. Rumored clues indicate that rumored gift probably some sort of iPod thingie.

Easiest person to buy for? Sons. (Note: persons in #8 and 9 only humans deemed deserving of purchased gifts.)

When do you start shopping for Christmas? When damned well feel like it. Haven't started yet. May need to do so. Soon.

Favorite gift received as a child? Don't remember. Apparently never had one. Whole thing completely unaccountable as only child spoiled rotten with consumerist objects. WTF?

Weirdest Christmas gift you ever received? Don't remember. Apparent early onset Alzheimer's has thankfully erased memory.

Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not saying. Taking Fifth. (see, "early onset Alzheimer's," above)

Mail or email Christmas Cards? Mail. No cards. Christmas letter, elaborately formatted with color photos and graphics. May indulge in selected email in current year to minimize environmental impact, also to save time. Lazy.

Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Actually. Discovered last year. Plan to make annual tradition. Already in transit to local library.

Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells. (MIL considered song Carol Of The Devil. Endless disbelief by kmkat.) Silver Bells. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. Ave Maria. Little Drummer Boy. Twelve Days of Christmas and all variations thereon.

Travel or stay home at Christmas? Stay home. Traveled to Florida to visit the inlaws every frickin' Christmas during 500-year span between 1984 until 1994. Hated it. Inlaws now gone. Wish could repeat visit with same now.

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Yes. Maybe not. (see, "early onset...," above)

 What’s the corniest family tradition you do or miss doing? Don't have one. Corniness prevails year 'round.

What’s the worst thing you’ve seen related to Christmas? Giant inflatable crappe in yards. Gak.

Most annoying thing about this time of year? Too many expectations placed on female of family. Wish someone else were responsible for Christmas. Gee, can you tell?

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(Apologies for going bah-humbug all over your Christmas. Please resume your normal festive preparations.)

 

The iPod meme.

How it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every section, type the song that’s playing
5. Next section — press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

Okay, here is the sound track for my life as determined by the iTunes God of Shuffle:

Opening credits:

• Eyes on the Prize by Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (Okay, that one's kind of a cool match.)

Waking up:

• Run On by Moby (Oh, well, they can't all be good matches.)

First day at school:

• Viva Las Vegas by ZZ Top (That one gave me a chuckle.)

Falling in love:

• That’s What They Always Say by Chris Rea (Things that make you go, Hmmmm...)

Breaking up:

• Wonder by Natalie Merchant (ditto)

Prom:

• Want To Be With You by the Moody Blues (Okay, that's a good one; I was pretty wildly in love with my prom date.)

Life’s okay:

• Tennessee Stud by Doc Watson (Huh?)

Mental breakdown:

• I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Loved You) by The Commitments (Um, none of my mental breakdowns involved a man -- I can break down all by my own self, thankyouverymuch)

Driving:

• Riki Tiki Tavi by Donovan (Again, huh?)

Flashback:

• Seeker by The Who (Whatever)

Getting back together:

• That’ll Be the Day by Buddy Holly (That's a good one!)

Wedding:

• Nothing Seems to Matter by Bonnie Raitt (Um, no, this one is totally in left field. I guess that's what they mean by random.)

Birth of child:

• Any Colour You Like by Pink Floyd (LOL!)

Final battle:

• Silver Thunderbird by Marc Cohen (Whatever.)

Death scene:

• Carry On, Wayward Son by Kansas (Okay.)

End credits:

• San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers in Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie (WTF?)

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Tag, you're next!

Meme stolen picked up from Carrie.