martinimade

"I don't mean to ruin the ending for you, sweet child, but life is one long headwind. To make any kind ofimpact requires self-will bordering on madness. The world will be hostile, it will be suspicious of your intent, it will misinterpret you, it will inject you with doubt, it will flatter you into self-sabotage. My God, I'm making it sound so glamorous and personal! What the world is, more than anything? It's indifferent."

"Say amen to that," Spencer said.

"But you have a vision. You put a frame around it. You sign your name anyway. That's the risk. That's the leap. That's the madness: thinking anyone's going to care."

-- Maria Semple, Today Will Be Different.

Semple, btw, is my new favorite non-genre fiction writer. fwiw. fyi.

• Only in Pittsburgh. And the Vatican, I guess.
• Why are we not more concerned about cars?
• For the Potter-head in your life.
• We will never get to not thread this particular needle in my lifetime. Please prove me wrong.
• Celebrate your common joys. (This relationship has always felt like one between people I knew, even though I don't know them personally.)
• I will trade you space sheep for space wood.
• A Republican woman on "locker room talk."

"Wash: Every planet has its own weird customs. About a year before we met, I spent six weeks on a moon where the principal form of recreation was juggling geese. My hand to God. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled."

-- Firefly,  "Our Mrs. Reynolds."

No good reason for picking this quote today, really. It's just a thing I tend to say and most people look at me like I'm nuts when I say it. And those who don't look at me like I'm nuts, well ....

First up, from Another Mother Runner: I'm ready-ish?

Second, from Mason-Dixon Knitting: an interview with Ann Weaver, who is a knitting designer and Moby Dick fan, among many, many, many other things.

• I've asked this on more than one occasion.
• The most Canadian thing ever.
• Related: the most British thing ever.
• One great person goes to one great place and wants you to come to. If you write, you should. I'm so tempted I can't even begin to tell you.
• Mostly for my Dad.
• Find the kitties!
• While German isn't the most pleasing-to-the-ear language, it is perfect for making really accurate words. Also: you should read this, too.

AVC: Your daughter’s 9 years old now. What have you learned these last nine years that you would tell me as a father of an 8-month-old?

Anthony Bourdain: Never try to get your kid to eat anything she doesn’t already want to eat. Just eat interesting stuff in front of her while completely ignoring her. Never, ever suggest “try it.” Never say those dreaded words “try it, it’s good.” Or worse, “It’s good for you.” That’ll poison the well. Eat interesting foods in front of her. If he or she wants to eat grilled cheese, fine. Let them discover it on their own and it will be their own little triumph rather than something you convinced them to do.

-- from this AV Club interview with Bourdain about his new cookbook.

Also: some shameless promo -- I'm doing some work for the newly revamped Mason Dixon site. The first bit is now live. It's alive, I tell you!

Also also: more shameless promo -- I'm on the Another Mother Runner podcast this week. SBS and I talked to the almighty Heather "Dooce" Armstrong about running, parenting, and depression. 

Also also also: I think I just realized why I've been so tired lately ...

Rhinebeck is this weekend! It's like all of the great holidays rolled up into one big weekend if you're a knitter. Plus there is kettle corn and sheepdogs and apple dumplings and, hopefully, if they make it this year, the best falafel you have ever had. 

And this year, it'll also have me, if only for Saturday. I'll be helping Spirit Trail Jennifer make knitters and spinners happy. Come see me! Or, if not me, all of the other stuff! 

If you need help wrapping your head around the Rhinebeck experience, check out Ann and Kay's advice. Oh -- and they'll be there, too!

So I finished a ... thing?

Thanks to the Knitter's Review Retreat's stash lounge, I wound up with a weird skein that had weird balls already attached. It wanted to be a cowl. Now, it has fulfilled its destiny.

(No, I can't remember the name of the yarn or who made it. It's a mystery.)

• But what if you don't get the pink cancer?
• Halloween costume = found.
• Turning substance into style.
• And, now, a word from James Madison.
• Two from NPR: on the wonders of the real world and on racing in a hijab.

Two things:

1) Today's quote is actually a poem, which I'd never before read but that a friend pointed out and now I can't stop thinking about. The first line:

Do you have adequate oxen for the job?

The rest is here: "The Workforce" by James Tate.

2) This week's AMR podcast features a conversation with yrs trly, SBS, and Alana Russell that is all about eldercare. And about freezers, oddly enough.