kmkat and her kneedles

"Remember when..."

"...you had to plug a computer into the wall just to get a blazing fast 56kbps connection? Look what my phone did today. Technology, huh?" (email from Younger son)

He rooted his phone, a Samsung, I think.

Saturday links.

The day's forecast... on your morning toast? (via The Morning News)

The 47% -- including George Romney, his father -- answer Mitt. (via WilWheaton.tumblr.com)

R.T. Rybak, mayor of Minneapolis, answers Mitt. (thanks, soxanne!)

Ugly Renaissance babies. This one has a yarn winder... somewhere.

Meeting your internet stalker. Scary. (via The Morning News)

 

photo credit: MyTudut via photopin cc

My name on the cover of Rolling Stone!

Why, yes, my name IS Yoko Ono.

Garment NA08. With signature pin.

Anyone want to create a knitting pattern? Video found here.

Ten on Tuesday: pizza!

Top Ten Toppings for Pizza.

1. Cheese. Of course, every pizza has cheese, but in my fifty years of eaten frozen pizza I have noticed that those made in Wisconsin are superior -- and I noticed this long before had any connection to The Dairy State. Good cheese is essential to a good pizza.
2. Sausage. I'm a traditionalist in this regard. Good Italian sausage is my favorite topping.
3. Mushrooms. If I'm feeling anything but boring the second topping I request is mushrooms.
4. Fresh tomatoes. Elder Son introduced me to this. They add a nice tomato zing.
5. Pepperoni. Younger Son prefers pep on his pizza so it is often on the pizzas I eat.
6. Green peppers and onions. I kinda like a nice vegie pizza sometimes -- green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes.

Okay, that's it. Those are my favorite toppings. Contrary to many other parts of my personality, in pizza toppings I am narrow-minded and traditional. Others in the family like green olives and black olives and bacon and Canadian bacon on their pizzas, so I tolerate them. But the six above are my tried-and-true.

Things that I find awful on a pizza:

• Chicken. Can't understand this, chicken is great in every other format, but on a pizza? It gags me every time.
• Shrimp. Had a shrimp pizza once. Well, one bite, then gag. Weird, cuz I love shrimp. Just not on a pizza.
• Jalapenos. Once again, I like them in other formats but not on pizza.

Although I went [mostly] non-gluten last May, I still have pizza about once a week. Tried a gf frozen pizza, crust was blech, so we still have the regular ones. 

photo credit: Amarand Agasi via photopin cc

Munday mutterings. On Munday.

1. Familiar :: home
2. Style :: fashion
3. More than :: enough
4. Glistening :: slippery
5. Obstruction :: traffic construction
6. Orifice :: spinning
7. Hugely :: inappropriate
8. Tempest :: teapot
9. Sauce :: spaghetti
10. Herbs :: green

* * * * *

In other news, gravity and I had another disagreement last Thursday. I tripped over something at the recycling center when I was running errands, ironically on my way to an ortho appointment about my hip. 

Result was face>>asphalt; also, knee>>asphalt. 

I didn't bother to get a photo of my knee. Picture a swollen right knee with colorful bruising spread out over a larger area, and you've got it. Also, my left hand/wrist look perfectly fine but is annoyingly sore. 

They x-rayed my knee when I was at the ortho ("As long as we're going to x-ray your hip...") but there was nothing broken, just soft tissue damage. "Just"? I was disappointed; anything that hurt that much deserved more than a "just".

Anyway, I'm mending. Vicodin that night, ibuprofen since.

Gravity really sucks.

Summer knitting.

Note: I found this post in my draft folder, waiting for a picture of the socks. Finally took one.

At the beginning of the summer I came upon a pattern that begged to be made in profusion and sold for benefit of the local humane society, on whose board I sit.

Doggie poo bag dispensers.

Pattern here. Great fun to make and a good use of leftover sock yarn. I made 29, gave one to Matthew and Alex for Ser Percival The Energetic, and we sold...one at the county fair booth. I have hopes for better results at the September dog walk, an annual fund-raiser for the shelter.

Last winter I made myself a Noro hat that I like so well I made a scarf to match. My old Noro scarf was dark, which was fine with my old red coat but too dull with my current dark brown one. This scarf is a bit livelier.

 

The hat and scarf are gone now. A few days ago I got an email asking for something for a silent auction fundraiser for a local candidate whom I support. Not much time to knit right now, so the hat and scarf set went to a good cause. Now I'm wondering if I should recreate them or if I should move on to another scarf and hat for which I have half the yarn I need.

I made a pair of socks.

Please ignore the funny-looking ears on the toes.

Yarn: Online Supersocke Nepal found on eBay.
Pattern: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks.
Needles: Addi US#0 (feet) and US#1 (legs). 

And earlier this month I made baby hats for The Purple Project (or whatever it is called).

1. Valley Yarns Superwash DK in lilac;
2. ditto;
3. ditto with a stripe of Knit Picks Andean Silk; 
4. Lamb's Pride worsted in clematis; 
5. Knit Picks Andean Silk (discontinued) in hyacinth;
6. Knit Picks Swish DK in clematis heather (color discontinued);
7. ditto.

Still have two different socks OTN, frogged the cowl and need to cast on a different (easier) one for Alex. And that is what I have been knitting. (I wrote this on September 3. Alex picked out an easier pattern and it is nearly done. Photos soon.)

Another week, another set of links.

How to achieve perfection in your lentil dishes... if you suffer OCD. (via MartiniMade.com)

I mentally correct every phrase that should be subjunctive. That tense doesn't seem to be taught in English; I learned it from Spanish class. (Hover over the cartoon to get my reference.)

20 school lunches from around the world. The worst one, nutritionally? From the USofA. (via TheMorningNews.com)

I totally want to do this even though our driveway is nearly 1,000 feet long. Maybe just the part by the mailbox... (via WilWheaton.tumblr)

Words to live by. (via Neil-Gaiman.tumblr.com)

Speaking of words: best word ever, the final four. (via blackbird)

Cartoon of the week.

Blurry photos top for your amusement; taken at Bobby & Steve's Auto World @ Washington Avenue and I-35W in Minneapolis when I stopped there to add air to a leaking tire.

Call it what it is.

Observed today at the drugstore:

In case you cannot make out the label, here's a closeup:

Links.

Every man should read this about what it is like to be a woman. (via WilW on Tumblr)

Test your knowledge of kittykats. (Truth: I only got 70%.)

How to have a great library.

See-through frog: creepy or interesting? I vote for interesting, but that's just me.

Yet another things the world does not need: gendered crayons.

From today's email.

Hint: make the video full screen to get the full effect.

Munday mutterings. On Sunday.

1. Middle :: Earth
2. Runner :: beans
3. Umbrella :: Parasol (Protectorate)*
4. She :: novel (by H. Rider Haggard)**
5. Album :: photo
6. Speak :: loudly
7. Completely :: understood
8. Underestimated :: me***
9. Self-esteem :: me***
10. Compartment :: -alized

* Series of four (so far) Victorian, paranormal, romance mystery novels by Gail Carriger. I just finished the audiobook of the fourth. Fun, light, humorous.

** I seem to be fixated on books this morning. 

*** I may also have a rather swelled head.

* * * * *

Photo credit: daniela.magallon via photo pin cc

We hired a teenage boy this summer to be our slave helper. Scotty is the son of a couple local teachers, a great kid, and a great helper. He has cut down trees and uprooted saplings and planted a new perennial bed and charged car batteries and moved things that needed to be moved and used the pressure washer and a myriad of other tasks that neither Smokey nor I were capable of. Yesterday he washed windows for me. They are not perfect (what 17-yo boy really understands how to wash a window?)(but it had been several years since most of them were washed), but the house is about 100% brighter and it makes me happy every time I look out a window.

It's the little things...

A somewhat comforting afterthought.

photo credit: NCinDC via photo pin cc

It occurred to me today as I was thinking about yesterday's accident, that -- as horrible as it was for the bicyclist that got hit -- it was better than if the victim had been a pedestrian. Not to lessen what happened to the woman on the bike, but it could have been worse.

• Assuming she was actually on her bike and not walking it across the street, she would have been slightly above the front of the car, i.e., above the main impact. It probably did a number on her leg(s) but the only damage to her torso, where the vital organs are, would have been from being tossed onto the roof of the car, bouncing down its back, and landing in the street. Severe bruising, perhaps cracked ribs or a broken arm, but no ruptured spleen/heart/intestines. In other words, probably no life-threatening injuries.
   
• She was protected from head injuries because she was wearing a helmet. This would not have been true of a pedestrian.

I felt a lot better after I thought of this. Maybe you will, too.

It happened right in front of me.

I left work about 6pm Friday night. A few blocks from the office (Sixth and Portland, if you are familiar with Minneapolis), I was waiting in the right turn lane at a stop light to make a right turn when a car blew past me on my left. It ran the stop light, nearly being t-boned in the process. Just as my mind was registering, That car just ran a stop light! I saw a body fly into the air, roll over the car's roof, and land in the crosswalk across the street from me.

The reckless driver had hit a bicyclist that was crossing on the green light.

I called 911 within 5 seconds and gave the report. Put on my 4-way flashers and ran across the street to get the license number of the car, which had stopped in the middle of the next block. At least it wasn't a hit and run. Gave the license number to the 911 dispatcher.

People gathered around the fallen bicyclist, comforting her and making sure she didn't move. She appeared to be about 30 and was, thankfully, wearing a helmet. But how much protection did that offer her body when it was struck broadside at (probably) 30mph?

She was conscious although not able to talk. A paramedic arrived within a couple minutes, then police, a fire truck, and an ambulance. The latter crew carefully slid her onto a body board, loaded her onto a stretcher, and sped to to Hennepin County Medical Center, a mere two blocks away.

A police officer at the scene took my name, phone numbers, and recorded what I had seen. I left, feeling shaky and horrible. As soon as I could pull over I stopped and called Younger Son, the bicyclist, needing to talk to someone and knowing that he was the one. That poor woman. I keep seeing that body roll over the car and land -- thud! -- in the street like a broken doll. There may be nightmares tonight.

Life can change so quickly. Hug your loved ones tonight. Drive defensively. Be safe.

ETA: I checked the Twin Cities news sites tonight and didn't find any stories about the accident. I am hoping this means the woman didn't die. Maybe she was only severely bruised. I hope so.

 

Munday mutterings. On Thursday.

1. Tenure :: forever
2. Baptism :: by fire
3. Holders :: cards
4. Irritation :: always
5. Academics :: never again
6. Mug :: coffee!!!
7. Charge :: account
8. Percent :: off
9. Clears :: the hurdle
10. Selfless :: devotion NOT

Oops, I forgot to post this on Mund--, er, Monday.

* * * * *

I am back at work today, Smokey having recovered enough to be left on his own for hours at a time. He has been handling his own meds for several days, can walk limited distances with his walker and even more limited distances without, and is largely lucid. All of which is a tremendous improvement over the state of affairs that existed for six weeks following the July 16 (first) surgery. Hurrah!

Proud photo.

Matthew was quite proud of the depth of field he got in this photo taken with his phone. Subject is a daggar moth caterpillar, which is not nearly as intriguing in moth form.

Ten on Tuesday, the September edition.

Ten Things I Love About September.

1. The end of one of the hottest summers on record.
2. Cooler weather means not being confined to short and t-shirts. I can pull out some long-sleeved things and I can layer things. That is a much more comfortable look for me.
   
   
    
3. The trees start to turn. Fall is glorious around here when the maples are red and orange and the sumac and oaks are crimson and the birch and aspen are gold, all punctuated by deep green pines. Driving down our road on a sunny day is like driving through a tunnel of golden light.
4. I can knit on the deck again. It was too hot for most of the summer.
5. Sleeping with the windows open.
   
   
    
6. Swapping out the chilled white wine for red. Three Buck Chuck rules!
7. Honeycrisp apples!
8. Thinking about the woolens, although it won't be cold enough for them for a few more weeks.
9. Thinking about knitting sweaters and warm, cozy things without cringing.
   
   
   
   
10. Did I mention the trees turning? 

Sundays are for turkey vultures.

Image from Bird and Moon Comics.

From my SIL, with the above: Love those birds. Any bird. I've been watching birds for a long time, their habits, etc. That's why I'm so awsome, too. The projectile vomiting is my favorite. I used to think it was from the cancer, but now I realize its value.

Sometimes the links overflow.

Le chat ninjas.

Here is the entire festival playlist on YouTube from the first ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival, an outdoor event sponsored last week by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis., and covered by the New York Times. Plenty of old favorites there -- Maru; the pattycake cats; Henri, le chat noir.

And here is an entirely gratuitous video of En Esch on the treadmill.

Weekend links.

We should ban life jackets because they just encourage risky behavior.

Do you read Honest Toddler? Because you should, especially if you have ever shared your life with such an annoying parasite a toddler. (Disclaimer: I love my boys and have always done so, even at those moments when I would have cheerfully traded one or the other for a handful of magic beans. Or even ordinary beans. (And I don't even like beans.))

So true.

Now I wish I had a smartphone so I could do this.

Now THERE's a good reason to vote for Obama. Thanks, Rush!

Bill Nye tells it like it is. Thanks, Chris!

Unicorn humor.

This one is especially for gayle.

What really happened at the RNC on Tuesday night. It was not the racist outburst that was reported elsewhere.

Cat calendar. I am not endorsing this or encouraging contributions, just passing it on.

And now, a palate cleanser from my email this week: