Derby and String

Sleeveless in Seattle

I still have no sleevez.

I knit my poor broken hands into oblivion until we actually pulled up at the fairgrounds in Canby, Oregon for OFFF.  Alas and alack, I made it up to the cap shaping and lost all hope of finishing.

True to my word, I wore the blessed thing without sleeves until it got too hot...and dang, did I get a lot of compliments.  I had a couple of people stop me as we were walking around, a couple of the salespeople were very admiring....

A full recount of the whole weekend (OFFF and back Saturday, Puyallup Fair yesterday) will come later.

Right now, I need to sleep...I stayed up wayyyy too late Friday to try and finish the sleeves for OFFF, and then Saturday because I was so tired I was wide awake.  THAT sucks.

Happy Monday everyone! :)

ETA: It is truly Monday...my zipper is down again.  Also, would I go to jail if I beat the circuits out of our copy machine?

Today in the Life of Derby and String

4:42AM - Wake up to sounds of neighbors screaming at each other before they go to work.  Realize they are not screaming at me, stop caring. Try to go back to sleep.

5:44(ish) - fall back asleep

6:01 - alarm goes off (i have an alarm on my cell phone)

6:01:03 - hit "snooze"

6:44 - realize I hit "dismiss" instead of "snooze" and right now I'm supposed to be in a car 10 miles away

6:46 - am in car, chain-smoking and trying to hold my eyelids open

7:07 - finally turn my computer on, after locking myself out of the office somehow, and tripping in the parking lot and ripping my new jeans

8:00 - realize the reason my mouse isn't working is because it's not my mouse, it's a pad of post-it notes I am trying to use to control my cursor

8:45 - send out a note to everyone asking if they need office supplies.  Tell them I need their requests by noon.

9:15 - on a trip to the restroom, do not notice the glass door to the "fishbowl" conference room is open, and while talking to our CEO, walk smack into it.  Do not fall down.

9:16 - develop a massive headache.  Takes a few minutes to recall why.

9:25 - after being sidetracked on the way to the restroom, wash hands and start to leave restroom, when I notice in the mirror my pants in the "lady parts" area looks suspiciously not denim-coloured.  Realize my zipper is down.  And has been for 2 1/2 hours.  Hooray.

9:48 - after smoking out in my car so no one will talk to me, lock my keys in the car.

10:45 - 3 of the guys (while I am working on the office supply order THAT HAS TO BE FINISHED BY NOON) from the shop build some thing using scrap metal and a welding torch to slip through my slightly cracked window to unlock my car.

11:15 - they finally get my keys out.  I still am working on the office supply order, because nobody responded to the email I sent out that morning.  Go desk-to-desk to ask if anyone needs anything.  Everyone says no.

11:59 - latest time I can submit order without having to wait until Tuesday to get it.  Hit "Submit"

12:00 - leave for lunch

1:00 - return from lunch to 13 emails from people asking for specific items for office supply order.  Earliest one sent is at 12:40.

I am now sitting at my desk wondering how I could make a deal with someone to grow an extra pair of arms.  Would I get paid more for the additional appendages?  I bet I could knit a sweater with 4 arms...although 2 sleeves are giving me enough trouble as it is.

Thank GOD it's Friday.  And no, I haven't finished the sweater.  Yes, I will still wear it if it doesn't have sleeves.  But I WILL be weaving in the ends.

I am not that bad.

SHHHHH!!

I can't talk right now. 

I am knitting sleeves for Rogue, and god only knows if I'll finish them in time to leave at the crack of dawn on Saturday for OFFFFFFFFF.

So if you're going to OFFFFFFFFFFFF, look for the girl in the dark green Rogue with no sleeves. And yes, I actually will wear it that way if I don't finish it.  I promise.

And I'll make sure someone takes pictures.  Marie?  Remind me, K? :)

ETA: I missed International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  At least I know how to dress like one... ;)

MHP: A pictorial

ETA: I have NO IDEA what the hell is wrong with my blog format...but I hate that it cascades the pictures like that.

Oh well...enjoy!

Due to the mention on Ryan's blog, there might be some people coming over here that don't normally visit, so I thought I would entice all of you newcomers and thank all of you who have been suffering through post after post of nothingness and swap-related memes because I don't want to talk about what's going on in my life, and therefore I have little-to-nothing to blog about.

SO ! MHP was kind enough to invade everyone's privacy this past friday at the Harlot book signing, so we have some visuals for those needing some form of entertainment.

Here is Ryan's "TMK" (I think it stands for The Mysterious K****? I can't remember.  I just call her by her name, but I'm not sure if that's common knowledge or not...and now I'm blathering.  *AHEM*) and MHP.  (MHP, I KNOW, stands for Mister Handsome Pants.  Self-explanatory, that one.)  I thought this picture was hilarious.

Here is Marie.  And proof that Marie was at the bookstore with us...as this is a typical taken-by-MHP photograph. 

This is my ear at the bookstore.  And some of my hair.

Love it.

Here is Stephanie.  As seen by MHP.  I think at this point, he had taken like 19 photos of her, and she was pretty much done with him, which is when she turned her camera on him and took that really cute picture that's on her blog (post was yesterday, I believe.)

Anyhoo, that's enough for today (and all I could wrestle off the camera at this point), so y'all will have to wait until another "MHP: A Pictorial" installment. :)

Happy Monday!  (And no, I'm not normally this perky.)

ALERT THE MEDIA!

I have lost my mind.  Want proof?

Here:

• When trying really hard not to gush all over the Harlot on Friday, I gave MHP the camera to take pictures (he's actually quite good) and he ended up going all paparazzi on her, and actually made her blog.  (His real name is listed there, but I won't put it here, just in case.) She was a good sport, and I feel really bad because we took up a whole mess of her time.
• Also while visiting with said Harlot, we (meaning Carry & Rachel, Marie, Christina and I) got the giggles over a book called "Dork Whore" about a "pseudo-virgin".  No, I don't know what that means. Then we decided to share it with Stephanie. *faceslap* This was before she molested petted Marie's buffalo.  (And yes, that will probably be an inside joke now.)
• Saturday I decided to clean the windows in my apartment.  The outsides.  Right after I finished, it started raining. There are no eaves on my house.  I will be washing the windows again soon.
• MHP & I are planning to go to OFFFFFFFFF with Marie.  I decided ON SUNDAY I need a "Rhinbeck Sweater" (or the OFFFFFF Sweater) and that I need to hurry up and knit some sleeves for the Rogue, which I started god only knows how long ago (2 years?  Almost?  I think?) and then I need to have alcohol and figure out how to sew the damned things on.  The sweater is not as impressive without sleeves, methinks.  Look for the girl in the Rogue with no sleeves at OFFFFFFF.  That's me.
• I want to knit a Baby Surprise Jacket.  Because, as my opening statement says, I have lost my mind.  I cannot read the directions in the "Knittin Workshops" book I got (I mean I DO know how to read, it's just that EZ's knitterly skills are so much more...SWEATER than mine, and they scare me a little), and I feel like a total moron.  Help.

So, now I must go back to work and try to make enough money to support my fiber habit family.  Expect postings of yarns for sale soon - I have to offload some of my stash and my hand-dyes!!

I apologize #4 (I swear, this will end soon.)

ETA: Dude, I won't apologize for this though...the new Knitty is up! WOOT!  The pictures won't load on my computer right now, but I'm sure there is at least one or two projects I'll want to knit!

Also, go give some love to my "pretend internet friend" Christina (who I actually hang out with IRL); she JUST got the news that her move is going through, and she's headed to Moscow Idaho soon! WOOT!!!

Posting Trivia Answers for my participation in HSKS3.  Do with them what you will :)

1. Who is the Hogwarts teacher that Voldermort performed the Avada Kedavra curse on in Deathly Hallows?

a. Mad Eye Moody

b. Charity Burbage

c. Irma Pince

d. Quirenius Quirrell

2. Who replaces the Muggles studies teacher in Deathly Hallows?

a. Charity Burbage

b. Irma Pince

c. Alecto Carrow

d. Dilys Dirwent

3. When Harry meets Mr. Olivander for the first time, which wand law is introduced?

a. Wands cannot be shared.

b. Spells can be worked with any want.

c. The wand chooses the wizard.

d. Only one wand will work properly for a wizard.

4. According to Mr. Ollivander, what is not necessary to take true possession of another wizard's wand?

a. to kill the owner

b. one cannot take possession of another wizard's wand

c. to force the wand away from it's owner

d. to ask the owner politely

5. If you know anything about Harry Potter, you will know that Harry's Patronus is a stag. But what is his best friend Ron Weasley's Patronus?

a. Otter

b. Owl

c. Weasel

d. Jack Russell Terrier

6. Now for the third member of the trio. What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?

a. Otter

b. Kneazle

c. Tabby Cat

d. Beaver

7. What did Mrs. Wealey make to eat the first night that Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place?

a. Stew

b. Goulash

c. Roast beef

d. Ham and chicken pie

8. In book 5, at the start of term feast, what is Ron eating when trying to talk to Nearly Headless Nick?

a. Treacle tart

b. Pork chop

c. Roast potato

d. Cottage pie

9. A half-giant called Rubeus Hagrid takes you to Diagon Alley for the first time. To get there, you go into the courtyard of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. There, Hagrid taps a certain brick on the courtyard wall three times with his pink umbrella, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley. As he decides which brick to tap, he mutters instructions to himself. What instructions does he mutter?

a. Third brick from the left above the dustbin

b. ‘Three up... two across

c. Three down ... four across

d. Four up ... three across



10. The first place you go in Diagon Alley is Gringotts bank, where you can withdraw money from your vault and Hagrid can withdraw a top-secret package from Vault No. 713 on Dumbledore’s orders. On the second set of doors leading into the bank you notice a poem written. These are the first two lines:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

What is the next line?

a. For you’ll pay dearly in your turn

b. So if you seek beneath our floors

c. Thief, you are being warned, beware

d. ‘For those who take, but do not earn

Picture Scavenger Hunt

(I linked the pictures here)

Rolanda Hooch

Firenze

Argus Filch

Moaning Myrtle

Colin Creevey

And now I must scurry to go find the Snitch!  Please don't think I've turned this into merely a blog about my swaps...I just don't have anything blog-worthy right now.

Trust me, I will be blogging either Friday or Saturday :)

I Apologize #3

I have to win my house some points....so here's yet another questionnaire.  (Forgive me.  I promise I'll have posts of some substance sooner or later.)

What type of pet do you choose as your companion at Hogwarts? I think the idea of a post owl would be really cool.  Functional AND fluffy :)


While shopping in Hogsmeade you stop by Honeydukes for some sweets. What treats do you purchase for yourself? I don't eat sweets :(  But!  I would probably pick up some Drooble's gum.


A potion you are preparing needs an ingredient available only at muggle shops. You don't want to stand out in your wizards robes, so you resort to traditional muggle clothing. Describe your outfit in detail. Plaid golfing knickers (have to show SOME style), those fuzzy boots every Muggle girl in their newspapers wear, an overcoat (so I don't stand out TOO much) and a hat of some sort...possibly with a feather.  Oh, and a shirt.  So I don't offend the Muggles. :)


What is your favorite subject to study at Hogwarts and why? I love potions because Professor Snape is SO DREAMY.


Likewise, what subject is your least favorite and why? I don't particularly care for Arithmancy.  Too much mumbo-jumbo for me.

Back to the potion you were shopping for ingredients for, what type of potion are you making, what color is it, what are the ingredients, and precisely what does the potion do? I am making a potion to make people less cranky on Monday mornings.  I'm adding some powdered dragon's claws, a couple of glugs of pumpkin juice and some other ingredients I haven't quite worked out yet.  It makes the swallower much more perky and a lot less apt to yell at their receptionist for something she didn't do...and it's not just for Mondays :)

Can you tell what kind of day it will be today?

7 Deadly Sins

Work is really slow today.  So I'm posting, even though I said I was taking a break.

We just won't speak of things of substance :)

The 7 Deadly Sins MEME:

Anger

Who did you last get angry with? The lady this morning on the 405 who was talking on her cell phone, putting on mascara, drinking her coffee, and occupying 2 lanes.  I didn't get angry so much as I was frustrated.

What is your weapon of choice? I would have to say my mouth.  I'm much better at verbally berating people than hitting them.  Although, I do serve up a nasty hip check :)

Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? If he gave me good reason, absolutely.  (Good reasons include, but are not limited to, verbally or physically attacking me, touching or hurting MHP, or generally needing to be put in his place.)

How about the same sex? See previous answer.

Who was the last person who got really angry at you? Um...I can't remember.  Most of the time, I don't provoke anyone's wrath.  I think my mother was upset a couple of months ago for something?

What is your pet peeve? Really stupid people who act like they know everything, or people who just assume that because I am a receptionist/administrative assistant, I'm stupid.

Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? I usually let it go.  I get ulcers otherwise.  BUT!  If it's a serious bad thing, and the other person refuses to apologize, then I sometimes hold a tiny grudge.  Sometimes :)

SLOTH

What is one thing you are supposed to do daily that you have not done today? Make my bed.  Put on socks. (I'm wearing flip flops today) Floss. (I guess that would be 3 things, yes?)

What is the latest you've ever woken up? If you mean after a full night of sleep, about 12noon.  And I was horrified.  If after a nap counts, then about 11pm. (Slept from 5pm to 11pm, got up for 2 hours, and went back to bed.)

Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? Eryn.  Kathy.  Lizanne, my best friend in the whole wide world whom I have not spoken to in 4 weeks, and have not seen in almost a year.  She lives 35 minutes from me. I suck.

What is the last lame excuse you made? See "I suck" above.

Have you ever watched an advert all the way through? A wha...? Oh, a COMMERCIAL.  Yes.  I have.  I often do, now that I have CHANNELS on my TELEVISION!! WOOT!

How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock? This morning, I didn't have one on, but yesterday, I woke up way before my alarm clock and knit for a half hour until it went off :)

GLUTTONY

What is your overpriced beverage of choice? Normally I just buy a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio, but if I'm feeling flush, a nice bottle of Tanqueray will do me fine. :)

Are you a meat eater? Nope, not right now I'm not.  Haven't had meat in...um.....17 days?

What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? Um...about 4 months ago, we went to an after-party for the bout, and they had dollar drinks.  My bar tab, after buying 1 drink apiece for 3 different people and all my alcohol (after 3 hours) was $21.00.  I don't remember much of that night after signing my tab, and have not touched alcohol to excess since then.

Are you comfortable with your eating and drinking habits? Um...yes?  I lost 15 pounds in the past month, so I'm good to go for now.  I need to stop drinking so much Diet Coke though.

Do you enjoy candy and sweets? I'm not much one for sweets or candy. Every once in a while I get a craving for a Take 5 bar, which I can never find anymore.

Which do you prefer: salty, spicy or sweet foods? Salty.  Definitely salty.  And spicy, as well.

GREED

How many credit cards do you own? Zero.  Unless you count my debit card, which I totally don't.

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Pay off bills.  And then buy a house in the middle of Montana with horses and llamas and sheeps.  And move everyone I know there. :)

Would you rather be rich or famous? Rich.  Famous is overrated and I would not want all of those people in my business taking pictures and analyzing whether or not me staying in the house knitting for days at a time means that I've lost my mind.

Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? Depends. Exactly how boring are we talking here?  And is it stressful too?  I don't do stress, no matter how much money.

PRIDE

What's one thing you have done that you are most proud of? MHP.  I love that boy with ever fiber of my being, and I can't tell you how insanely proud of him I am, every single day.

What's one thing you've done that your parents are most proud of? I have no idea.  My parents don't exactly communicate this stuff to me, but I imagine they are both proud of me and thrilled to their very cores that I don't live in their house, and don't really need much help from them.

What thing would you like to accomplish late in your life? I would like to travel.   A lot. 

Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Sometimes - depends on if I didn't try hard enough.  I usually get more pissed at myself for that, than the 2nd place thing. 

Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all other competitors? Yup - that's how I won book money in college.  Blowing out all others in karaoke contests :)

Have you ever cheated to get a better score? Um...yes. 

What did you do today that you're proud of? I was exhausted beyond all belief, and I still got up, took a shower, got dressed and made it in to work instead of staying home and watching daytime television, like I really wanted to.

LUST

How many people have you seen nekkid? (not counting movies, family, strippers, locker rooms, etc) I'm pleading the fifth on this one...NO COMMENT.

Have you ever caught yourself staring at someone's chest/crotch? Hi, can we say "moose knuckles" or "camel toe"?  If someone suffers from this terrible affliction, I usually stare.  And that, my friends, is WTMI.

What is your favorite body part of a person of your gender choice? I think I've said this before, but I'm a sucker for a good nose.  I know, I'm odd, but I love noses.  And eyes.

Have you ever had sexual encounters (including kissing/making out) with multiple persons?  At the same time?  No comment.  At different times?  Of course, I'm not a nun.

Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? Yes.  And I am not telling that story.  (HA!)

ENVY

What item of your friends' would you want to have for your own? Marie's Woolee Winder.  Or a carder, or a swift.  And a ball winder.  So basically, Marie's stash.  And Sachi's.  And Christina's, although I think she's hidden most of it.

Who would you want to go on "Trading Spaces" with? Um, noone.  I'm not about to let some people and a camera crew in my house.  I barely let my parents in my house.

If you could be anyone in the whole wide world, who would you be? Me, but with more money.  And a big SUV and a house. And lots of kids.  So basically, Angelina Jolie. (hee!)

Have you ever been cheated on? Yup.  And it sucks.

Have you ever wished for a physical feature different from your own? Yes, and then I look in the mirror and realize I have super awesome hair and I'm okay with that.  (I usually wish for someone's straight or uniformly curly hair.)

What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? I wish I wasn't so id-driven sometimes.  And I wish I could manage money better.

Happy Friday everyone! :)

Down in the Hole

I've erased what was here before, and will replace it with this:

Life goes on.  One must do what one can to make the best of it, and sitting around feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help.

There will be blog silence for a bit while I try to get my stuff in order.  Hope you all don't stop coming by to say hey :)

The "Orangutan Story" and Much Much More!

So since today is Wednesday, and this is my blog, I have decided to raise "WTF Wednesday" from the dead.

Because I can.

SO! Without further ado...the Orangutan Story, my "What I Did This Weekend" essay, and possibly I will tell you about what I bought on Etsy today.

• I went to the zoo when I was younger with some friends.  I've always liked the monkeys, because they're weird, and at our zoo, they have those gibbon monkeys that sound like teenagers making odd noises.  It's awesome.  ANYWAY. We went to the orangutan exhibit, and we're hanging out watching the monkeys, and the big flat faced male comes straight up to the bars, and starts making noises at us.  Weird, dirty-sounding noises.  (AND BEFORE I GO ANY FARTHER! This is not a monkey-self-gratification story.  No bodily fluids were flung.) So, being 17 or 18 or whatever we were at the time, we start giggling....and I turn around to make some snide comment (I was good at that) and the monkey flipped me off.  And my friend got a picture...I'll have to see if I can find it.  So that's my lame orangutan story...and that's why I love them.  That, and I think we have the same colouring. :)
• I moved this weekend!  Christina and Marie came over and helped me get all the crap out of my storage unit and into the apartment...and I'm almost done with unpacking the boxes.  I cannot tell you how great it is to sit in a REAL BED at night, and watch CHANNELS on a TV I don't have to share with my brother and my father.  WOOT!! Plus, it's quiet, and MHP gets his own room, and I now have all my fiber in one place.  *sigh*  It's fabu.
• I bought more fiber!  Don't be too surprised...I went to my favorite LYS on Monday, in the midst of a frenzy of school shopping, and bought the Malabrigo laceweight (it doesn't have any green...not sure what's up with that picture) I mentioned last week, the Leaf Lace shawl pattern (I apparently subconciously LOVE Evelyn Clark. I own a bunch of her patterns.) and some yarn to make socks for my poor Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 partner....and I hate the sock yarn, so I'm starting over.  Again. For the 4th time, with new yarns of course. :)
• Today, on Etsy, I went to the Loop shop, because Lime and Violet made me, and I'm way upset now. (Someone else go buy all the rest of the batts, because I want to find them a good home.)  I bought Mendocino and Fall Feeling...for very good reasons.  Mendocino because my mother and my aunt used to take me there for day trips when we would drive down to visit my aunt in Ukiah, and I remember that place being somewhere I wanted to live.  Fall Feeling because I love fall.  Period. :)

Anyhoo, that's pretty much it for this WTF Wednesday, and I will try and come back this afternoon with pictures from MHP's first day of school (WOOT!) and moving over the weekend.

Happy Hump Day everyone!