kmkat and her kneedles

Life is random, why not me?

1. Baked :: Alaska.
2. Excited :: to go.
3. Print :: out of,
4. Obstruct :: -ionist.
5. Bladder :: full.
6. Matrimony :: wedding.
7. Car :: many.
8. Reconstruct :: Civil War.
9. Lenses :: contact.
10. Best for last :: save it.

* * * * *

I got to thinking about John Sandford and his Virgil Flowers novels because I noticed a new one had come out, Mad River. Love John Sandford, love Virgil Flowers. Maybe not quite as much as I love Lucas Davenport of the Prey series, but close. Couldn't remember which of the books I had already read so I requested all of them (five plus the newest one) from the library. Have been reading them one after the other, kinda like 350-page potato chips. Just started #4 AND got the email that the newest one is waiting for me at my local library.

Heaven.

Edited to add: the reason I like Sandford's novels and characters so much is that they are the most intelligent but down-to-earth ones I have read, amen.

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Speaking of books.

I sit on the board of trustees of the regional library system, which is currently embarking on its [latest] long-range planning process. Members of the board were tasked with visiting all the libraries in their respective counties and chatting with the directors about the services they get from the regional system. On Friday the other board member from our county and I visited four municipal libraries and had four wildly varying discussions. Wildly varying in a good way, mind you -- their experience in the library system ranged from 1 to 29 years and their education/library size/community demographic varied almost as much.

It was an interesting and informative and fun way to spend a day. Which is good because next Wednesday we are going to do it again with four different libraries.

* * * * *

I liked the yarn I knitted the fingerless gloves out of so much (it's been sitting in my stash since 2007, why haven't I used it before?) that I decided to make myself a hat from it, the Twisted Toque from 60 Quick Knits. 

Fail.

Sorry, I should have taken a photo to show how terrible it looked. If you scan the projects in Ravelry you may notice that on some, the non-stockinette portion of the hat sort of... sticks out. Mine looked like the one in the link but much, much worse.

Ribbit.

In hindsight, I think the problem was that the pattern was written for Cascade 220, which is a light worsted, and I knitted it from a plump worsted. Perhaps if I had gone up a needle size all would have been well. 

But we shall never know because I am NOT knitting that pattern again.

So there.

Not that I am bitter or anything...

 * * * * *

(something I commented on another blog that seemed so revolutionary and astoundingly awesome that I had to include it here)

The possible long-term effects of global warming have been endlessly reported upon, but the day-to-day effects have been downplayed. I have concluded what the latter means for us in the northern latitudes is that our weather will change more quickly than we are used to. The past few weeks, with fronts blowing through seemingly every other day, are what have convinced me of this. Makes sense meteorologically, too -- globala warming is basically just more energy in the atmosphere = more volatile weather.

Kinda fun, actually. Every morning is a new surprise. Can I go into town minus hat/scarf/boots or will I need long underwear and three pairs of socks? 

* * * * *

Have any of you been watching House of Cards on Netflix? I started last night, got annoyed in the first 30 seconds*, so annoyed in the next three minutes* that I stopped watching. I eventually went back and am now ready to start episode 2.

But it is not nearly as good as the British original with Ian Richardson, imnsho. I blogged about that once twice before. When Kevin Spacey delivered that line -- You might very well think that. I could not possibly comment -- I actually groaned. He is a great actor, don't get me wrong, but this whole thing seems kinda flat compared to the original.

I will continue to suffer through it, though ;-)

* They broke a primary law of good writing/movie-making: show me, don't tell me. When FU kills the dog, that is showing; when he expounds to the camera to give every bit of background information we may need, that's telling.

 

Random thoughts on a Wednesday.

In the interest of full disclosure: I am writing this on Tuesday night.

* * * * *

I may not like the character of Lady Mary Crawley -- she is shallow, arrogant, and self-centered -- but if I were in trouble I would want her on my side. In addition to her less desirable qualities, she is also smart, tought, good in a crisis and exactly the person who could save my ass.

* * * * *

From the latest issue of Time magazine, in the article on guns and gun control:

"I'm not anti-gun. I'm just not pro-dumbass."

- Steve Mostyn, wealthy Houston trial lawyer, gun enthusiast, and friend of Gabriel Gifford.

* * * * *

The thermostat installed with our new ground-water heat pump does everything except wash windows. It reports on the outside temperature, the inside temperature, checks the forecast for imminent weather, and sends us emails if anything goes wrong.

 

Too bad the system doesn't keep the house warm. (Thermostat is set for 67˚, but the indoor temperature is 57˚. This is because it is -8˚ outside, and the system needs more ground water than the well can deliver.)

But at least it is significantly warmer inside than out...

Ten on Tuesday, the childhood TV edition.

Ten Favorite TV Shows From My Childhood.

1. Robin Hood. I am quite sure I am the only one old enough to have this on my list.
   
   
   
   
2. Crusader Rabbit. Ditto.
3. The Howdy Doody Show. Ditto. Buffalo Bob, Clarabelle The Clown, Princess Summerfallwinterspring, the Peanut Gallery. One day my school bus was delayed and the show was over by the time I got home. I cried. (I was only in first grade.)
4. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Two words: Illya Kuryakin. Yes, he is also Ducky on NCIS. 
5. I Spy. This, plus The Tonight Show, were how Bill Cosby got his start.
6. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. High school and college years.
   
   
   
   
7. Sky King. Saturday mornings long before most of you were born.
8. Annie Oakley. Ditto.
9. Rocky & Bullwinkle.  Still on, I think. Great, great show.
   
   
   
   
10. Twilight Zone. One of the greatest shows of all time, as measured by how many of us remember certain episodes: the invalid in the isolated house whose new nurse removes *her* wig to reveal *she* is really the murderer that has been in all the papers; the guy who breaks his glasses when he finally has the opportunity -- after the bombs have fallen -- to read every book in the library.
11. Topper. Also way before your time.
12. Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I almost forgot this one. Definitely one of the greats. 

The Game continues.

Premiering April 1 on a cable network near you.

While Andrew was home for Christmas we watched Season 1 on his laptop. Excellent.

I had clued him in on these books a couple years ago, and he had found somewhere on the web where he could download a pdf of the text. He put them on his iPod Touch and read whenever he had a minute or two to waste -- waiting for an elevator, in the bathroom, wherever.

Last year when A Dance with Dragons, Book 5 of the series, came out I emailed him to let him know. He replied that he already had an autographed copy*, acquired when he went to hear George R.R. Martin speak. Rotten kid, taking advantage of all NYC has to offer.

 * "[He'd] already got one, you know." Name that reference.

I had my 15 minutes seconds of fame.

Some of you have seen this already, either on TV or Facebook or soxanne's blog or Ravelry, but hey, watch it again! Make me feel famous good!

 

 

Ellen and I were interviewed on Wednesday for this piece, which aired on the Thursday 5 o'clock news on WCCO, channel 4 in the Twin Cities. Ellen is an awesome person whom I am proud to have met and even prouder to have helped.

As of yesterday her efforts had secured hats for all 100 heads in the Senate and a large portion of the House -- 42% of Congress in total. I certainly hope those Congresspeople take the sentiment to heart. Thanks to all the knitters who have jumped on this cause!

Sneak peek.

Super Bowl ads.

Bibs and bobs.

 

How well do you know the keyboard in front of you? Take the quiz. (I got 80%).

* * * * *

A few random facts from Mental Floss:

In 2009, U.S. airlines collected $2.7 billion in baggage fees. Another $2.4 billion came from reservation change fees

Cheerios were originally called 'Cheerioats.'

The space between your pointer finger and thumb is called the purlicue. (!!!)

The long-running State Farm jingle ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!") was written by Barry Manilow.

* * * * *

Stormtroopers in the Subway.

* * * * *

My sweetie basking at Many Glacier lodge in eastern Glacier NP.

Coming next year to a television near you.

From today's Wall Street Journal (I don't know if the link will work if you are not a subscriber):

Next year HBO will launch "Game of Thrones," a series based on George R. R. Martin's novels about power struggles in a fictional land inspired by medieval Europe.

From the HBO website:

Yee haw! That series is one of my favorite bunch of books EVAH! We don't have cable or satellite, let alone HBO, so I won't be able to watch the series until it comes out in DVD and I can get it from the library ::le sigh::

LMAOSaturday.

* * * * *

Jessalu is giving away a skein of her handspun if you vote for her husband's car club; it is applying to a local bank for a grant. Go! Vote! Win!

Separated at birth? and med school.

 

Inara Serra (actress Morena Baccarin from Firefly) and the cover model from the latest Knitty (Olivia Foppiano).

Discuss.

* * * *

Cathy-Cate asked how Andrew did in his first semester at medical school. I am happy to report that he passed all three subjects:

• biochemistry (barely);
• epidemiology (with a high score; he studied for the final by tutoring others. He liked epi a lot);
• anatomy (painfully).

Happily for him, the first two years of med school are recorded in the transcript as pass-fail, so his struggles with biochem and anatomy are recorded nowhere but in his brain. He says his problem with anatomy was was it was 100% memorization and that the course was essentially self-study. Pure memorization with no logical associations -- like there would have been if anatomy were combined with physiology, the study of the functions of the anatomical parts; some med schools do that but not Mt. Sinai -- he found to be boring. But after having his confidence shaken severely by failing the anatomy midterm*, he worked very, very hard to be sure he passed the final.

* I haven't checked this factoid with him, but I think this is the first time in his life he has ever failed anything academic. He phoned home in the depths of despair after he found out his below-passing grade, sometime in October, I think. I told him that failure was inevitable at some point -- no one wins forever -- and I don't think he wanted to hear that. But dealing with failure is a lesson we all must learn. Better he first learns it now in a school course than with a patient in the field (although that is inevitable, too).

* * * * *

Go read Heather's knitter's Christmas poem -- it is most excellent!

A merry Christmas to all -- may the Christmas faeries watch over y'all and your knitting!

Random Wednesday.

"I tell my sons, 'When you bring a girl home, I don't care about her family background. I don't care what colour she is, or what she wants to be... just don't bring me a girl who peers warily at her plate and says, "What's in this?".' "

  -- from passage des perles.blogspot

* * * * *
One of the duties of being a mother of a kid who lives faraway is the packing/repacking and shipping of stuff.

 

This duty also includes removing any hazmat from the shipment.

* * * * *

My newest wallpaper, featuring a hanging basket from my deck.

* * * * *

"You might very well think that. I could not possibly comment."

  -- from House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut.

Awhile back I included that quote in a blog post and it got me to remembering the source, this BBC miniseries. A quick trip to the library's online catalog and the 3-CD set was on its way to my house. I watched it last week whilst recuperating from that little bout of food poisoning.

It was every bit as good as I remembered. Ian Richardson plays the most deliciously scheming, malevolent, downright evil politician one can imagine in 20th century politics. Hitler could have taken lessons from this guy. I recommend it highly to anyone looking for something to watch this summer while the TV plays reruns and other assorted crappe.

* * * * *

This business of quoting from stuff I have watched or read can have unanticipated consequences. When I said, Winter is coming, I of course had to go check my reference to be sure I had the title right. Lo and behold, I find that book 5 of the series comes out in September! Can I get a w00t?!

I am speaking of the epic The Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. It is a fantasy series, but unlike many books of that genre, these have engaging, fully-developed characters. The series is great. I listened to the audio books of #1 through #4 a couple-three years ago and was completely captivated. After browsing the plotlines again at Amazon I find I need to refresh my memory before I listen/read #5. Whee! My summer listening has just been decided!

* * * * *

After knitting six pairs of woolly socks since the end of tax season, I think I am ready to move on. I still have 1-1/2 socks to finish before I can truthfully say I knit six full pairs, but still. When those little details are cleaned up I am on to other game. Summer has finally arrived here in the Great North, complete with 80° temps, humidity, and swarms of mosquitoes so thick in the evening that it is problematic to open one's mouth to inhale. The onset of those all-too-brief weeks of balmy weather has inspired me to attempt my worsted-weight bamboo version of the Summer Raglan from More Big Girl Knits.

Wish me luck.