martinimade

Impossible-Quiz.com - The Impossible Quiz

stolen from Anna. Must go lie down.

* The Yarn Harlot and I might live the same life, w/r/t cats.

* Amy in Motown over at Strollerderby posted a link to Rebirth, which is the blog of a Labor and Delivery nurse who is training to be a CNM. I love this woman. Here she is on doulas, dads and on the stuff you really need for a baby. L&D nurses ( most of them, at least) are incredible. I've been lucky to have a bunch of great ones. Yeah, there's the occasional exception but, still, L&D nurses rock. And it's great to read about this particular one's adventures.

* A while back I stuck my hand in a hornet's next with a Bookslut column about the Hugo awards. Some good things have come out of it, however, despite the stings I personally received. Here's some musings ( be sure to read the comments ) on The World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Awards, written by the indomitable Diana Wynne Jones and some thoughts on the Nebula ballot by Niall, whose feelings about Sawyer I could not agree with more.

How to beat the winter blahs, from the local almost-daily.

I should take my own advice today. Man, it's cold. And blah.

"But my children might feel differently. A teenage Ben might one day balk over the fact that tens of thousands of people have chuckled about his pooping in the stairway. I console myself with the idea that, hey, teenagers are going to resent the very way we take air into our lungs, so why not give them something to really resent. (I do picture these kids in college, though, turning their blogged childhoods into a drinking game. 'Everyone whose mom wrote about their diaper leaking ... CHUG!') But the truth is that while I may tell funny stories about the children, the only person I reveal over and over again, the person whose neurotic habits and flaws and struggles lurk in everything I write, is me."

-- Catherine Newman on being a parent blogger in the print edition of Wondertime.

Also -

The seven words of wisdom contest* and Jayne hats**

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* My fave:  "Think independently. Ignore pithy slogans. Starting now."

** I don't want the hat, just the postmarks.

Surviving, if not exactly leaping and cavorting.

Which means I'm doing better than this plastic snake, which Barney spent the better part of the morning gnawing the head off of.

If nothing else, cats are really good about reminding you where exactly you fall on the food chain.

Speaking of -- Michael Pollan talks to Tara Parker-Pope about his "Eat Food" manifesto. If I weren't in his camp before...

Also, mark your calendar: Next Wednesday, Jan. 23, is National Pie Day. Celebrate accordingly -- and give some to me.

Finally, knitting:

I've made one swatch for my Beloved Gray Sweater project:

Elann.com's Peruvian Baby Cashmere on #3 US needles. 17sts=2"; 21 rows=2".

I'll cut to the chase. It's not right. I'm now swatching on #1s to see if I can get closer to the 10-11 sts =1" range. Which means that I'll be knitting this sweater until I die or go blind.

Note that the swatch is lounging upon a "Handy Reeling Machine" aka Japanese swift that the Featureless Saint gave me for Christmas. Ho-rah for the FS!

My Rippling River scarf is nearing its end.

The picture doesn't do the yarn justice. It is sooooo luscious I can't stand it.

Well, I mean, I can, clearly. But it is pretty awesome.

Finally, my Loopy Ewe swap project:

Right now, it looks like a satchel of crap. Once it's finished and blocked, tho, I suspect it will be lovely.

Finally, a gratuitous cat picture.

Secret Agent Barnacle Jones is on call for all of your gnawing needs.

Hi to the folks stopping by from the KnitLit newsletter. Thanks for coming. Usually, there isn't so much talk about my sinuses.*

Not up to speed again yet but marginally OK so still more links while I knit another swatch for the beloved gray sweater project:

Newish mom Lindsey Davenport talks to Gimelstob about making her Grand Slam comeback. Sadly, her run ended last night -- but it's still awesome to see her back.

After the concert, they made soup. From the blogless Stephanie, who really needs to start a damn blog already.

Finally, knitters are weird -- and I say this with affection, given that I'm a weird knitter myself.

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* I will make it to knitting tonight. Yes, yes I will. But I would advise everyone to not get too close.

Not in a coma but might be soon. Felt pretty good until I got out of the shower. It's been downhill from there. My goal is to get done what absolutely needs to get done -- classes start tomorrow (joy) -- then collapse on the couch and make pathetic snuffling noises. Don't you wish you were here?

Still -- a link: 'But you have to admit that “I’m having a midlife crisis” sounds a lot better than “I’m a narcissistic jerk having a meltdown.”'

I appear to have caught some kind of galloping crud that leaves me with a head (and one ear) full of goo and an intermittent sense that I should lie down. Posting will be light until I either a) improve or b) fall into a coma, in which case posting will be even lighter.

Still two links and a picture:

For the other David Foster Wallace fanatics like me -- an Infinite Jest wiki. Made of awesome.

For reasons unknown to me, I've been on a New Yorker kick -- from the most recent issue, Dana Goodyear on the Scientology Celebrity Center.

Eye protection is important when you are 2.5 years old. And a goober.

A certain stitch bitch tagged me.

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written. But there is a catch:
Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be about anything you choose.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better.

Family. You know it had to be about the kids. I'd actually forgotten that Cory ever was a baby.

Friends. A shawl I knitted for one friend's wedding modeled by another friend.

About me. Since the whole blog is all about me (me me!), it's hard to find just one thing. But here's just one thing.

Something you love. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. There are lots 'n' lots 'n' lots more posts about knitting -- but these are a series. It's sorta fun to see how many of these projects didn't pan out.

My choice. Not the most profound post but the dream described still tickles me.

Tags: Adam, Heidi, SnarkaP, Tim and Juno. But only if you want to.

"The enormous care lavished on material that would never be worthy of the effort is more moving than the film; the addition adds pathos to inertia. The will to believe, without which a popular artist has to give up even trying, does not just turn sows' ears into silk purses; more often, it makes silk ears, beautifully surfaced and yet still attached to the same old animal."

-- Adam Gopnik, "The Corrections" in Oct. 22, 2007's , New Yorker. Sadly not online.  

Also - Memo to spouse: I so wish we'd done this dance at our wedding. And no, Katie, you weren't the last one to see it.