kmkat and her kneedles

In honor of Cyber Monday & Black Friday.

Cat friend::dog friend.

Linky.

The data crunchers and tech nerds who won the 2012 election.

Two words: shark socks. Read more here.

Skimpy linksies this week. What can I say? I was busy.

Thankful Thursday: the real day edition.

This is a Thanksgiving tradition at our house. Back in the '70s and '80s and '90s we had to rely on KQRS, a Twin Cities radio station, to play it. Which they always did -- it was their tradition, too. This year I have it cued up (queued up?) on my iPod.

Here is another video that, if it isn't already, should become a Thanksgiving tradition:

Smokey and I watched that show every week and saw this in 1978. Yes, we are that old.

Thanks to martinimade for the reminder of these traditions.

Have a great day, y'all! 

A little holiday cooking help: how to roast your turkey (NSFW).

Ten on Tuesday, the thankful edition.

Ten Things I Am Thankful For. 

1. Reasonably good health. After Smokey's surgery and lengthy recovery last summer, I can REALLY appreciate the value of good health. Also: reasonably good mobility.
    
2. My kids' good health, both physical and mental. Also that they seem to like their parents.
    
3. Smokey. He keeps me amused and doesn't let me get too introspectively down. Not to mention that he is a most excellent snuggler.
    
4. Furry pets. Ditto on the snuggling thing, although Lucy and Hannibal and En Esch and even short-haired Misha do shed a lot.
    
5. Friends, like the one who came over on Saturday and stripped all the beds so I could wash the bedding and vacuumed and did the stuff that would take me days because I have to rest my hip/back every five minutes. The house might even be nearly clean when the kids come for Thanksgiving.
    
6. Electricity. Lights, running water, dishwasher, electric bedwarmer in the winter, fans and air conditioner in the summer, washer and dryer, vacuum cleaner, and most of all...
    
7. The Internet. It is my lifeline to the world at large and is particularly important to those of us who live in the sticks. I can shop, be amused, be informed, make friends, keep in touch, and do so much that I could not do without it.
   
   
8. Yarn. It would be so difficult to knit without it.
   
   
9. Lack of hurricanes and earthquakes in my little corner of the world. We may get torrential thunderstorms in the summer and blizzards and subzero temps in the winter, but nothing completely catastrophic ::knocks on wood::
   
   
10. The fact that it was so hard to limit this list to ten things. Life is good, and I have a lot to be thankful for.
    

Mumbling into Munday.

1. 32 :: skidoo!
2. Ignore :: it, it will go away.
3. Wet :: dog.
4. Apartment :: Therapy.
5. Translate :: Spanish
6. YouTube :: videos
7. Stifle :: it!
8. Plus :: sign.
9. Thanks! :: a bunch.
10. Fiction :: fun!

Sometimes my imagination takes off with these mumblings, sometimes not. This is a *not* week, I guess.

* * * * *

Last Thursday and Friday were the annual 2-day knitting retreat tax conference. Imagine my horror when I settled into my seat on Thursday morning, opened my tote bag... and there was no knitting!

Crap.

I left my bag on my seat (after taking out my wallet -- I'm not completely stoopid), walked the block and a half to my car, drove back to house to get my knitting, and returned to the conference before that speaker had finished.

Thus, I now have a finished Windschief hat and half of a matching neck gaiter, to be a Christmas gift to our most excellent renter. Bubbles will model them when the neck gaiter is finished.

 

How the map would have looked if only white males could vote.

Koalas to the max.

I found that website from this one. Because everyone needs another time waster, amirite?

Best tip jar ever.

PETA: please get your sh!t together. Women deserve at least as much respect as animals.

How to stay young: aspire.

Another way to help Sandy victims: donate vacation days.

Henri, le Chat Noir, on politics. Also, an interview with le famous chat.

Source: themetapicture.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Couple things from The Bloggess.

But first, some mutterings.

1. Crunch :: Cap'n.
2. Resourceful :: McGyver.
3. Experience :: Useful.
4. One hour :: Not long enough.
5. Happening :: Soon.
6. Mushroom :: Cloud.
7. Humid :: Lousiana.
8. Mini :: Cooper.
9. Earth shattering :: Announcement.
10. Mistake :: Oops.

* * * * *

And now, as promised, coupla pins found via The Bloggess.

 Source: twitter.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Source: themetapicture.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Saturday links.

A famous blogger wants to learn how to knit.

Home improvement: not necessarily improved with feline assistance.

It's not your mother's wheat any more.

Those who are leaving the county because Obama got a second term are going to have a hard time finding a first-world country without universal health care.

A printable measurement cheat sheet, just in time for your holiday baking.

What the Occupy Wall Street movement has been doing: forgiving debt. (via WilWheaton.tumbler.com)

White people mourning Romney.

Why you shouldn't buy your iPad @ WalMart.

A long listen: Michael Perry, WI author, accepts State Superintendent’s Distinguished Public School Alumni award.

 

Meet Larry.

Larry the Prime Mouser, official cat of 10 Downing Street.

Oh, happy day!

Why, yes, I AM smiling today!

photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar via photopin cc
photo credit: ViaMoi via photopin cc
photo credit: Emerging Birder via photopin cc

Ten on Tuesday, the mind[less] edition.

Ten Things On My Mind Right Now.

1. Should I make another donation to benefit the #Sandy victims?
    
2. Can I afford another one?*
    
3. Did Elder Son vote? and, if he did, how? He being a student in Michigan only since July and not having been able to get an absentee ballot from our town clerk for my reelection last April (because said clerk did not respond to his request for one)).
    
4. Being happily surprised that Younger Son had already voted when I emailed him this morning, He has moved twice since 2008 (national) and 2010 (state) elections and is not always the most supremely organized person.
    
5. Wondering how many people will be at my polling place when I go there in half an hour. There have never been more than a couple people ahead of me in the thirteen years I have lived here. Such is life in a tiny town when one votes in midafternoon.
    
6. Wondering how the library-books-to-the-jail program is playing out. The county library was voted out of funding starting 1/1/13, but this program, which they performed, will continue in some form.
    
7. Avoiding thoughts of What if Romney wins somehow? It's way too much work to move to Canada. Voter fraud doesn't happen at the ballot box, it happens when the votes are counted. Glad Florida doesn't have a Bush governor now. 
    
8. Hoping that the new/old van Smokey bought a few weeks ago (to replace one that was so rusty that our mechanic told him it was no longer safe to drive) will get me to the library, the fire hall to vote, and to the government center for a 2 o'clock meeting. And home again.
    
9. Thinking happy thoughts about the pair of socks that need <1" of ribbing on the second sock to be done. And the progress I made last weekend on my long-sleeping Tappan Zee sweater.
    
10. Hoping against hope I will not run out of yarn on said sweater. And hoping that, if I do, I will have the stamina to frog and reknit it with the modifications I have in mind.

 

*  Of course I can afford it.* But maybe a smaller donation this time.

** I have a warm house (2 of them, actually), a car (many of them), plenty of food, heat, water, warm clothes, an IRA, health insurance, and enough yarn to keep me busy for the rest of my natural life. Of course I can afford to help.

Links for the new month.

How to share a Coke.

Chelsea introduced me to ZeFrank videos.

I always fall for color.

Dogshaming... and knitting.

When choosing a candidate, look at what they do, not what they say.

Joss Whedon endorses Romney. And the Greatest Generation tells you what they think (NSFW).

 

More stuff about Sandy.

Guy shares power strip with strangers.

Sorting the real Sandy photos from the fakes.*

The guy was spreading false rumors during Sandy, causing ConEd and the NYSE, among others, to take a break from doing important stuff to quelling the rumors was a Republican consultant.

The Mittster on disaster recovery: it's like cleaning up the debris from the football field.

A little more hurricane politics:

Big storm requires big government.

* Here's a little help.