My dear friend "rose" gave me my birthday present a little late. First off, it was wrapped in some beautiful fabric that I can make something out of, tied with real ribbon that can also be used.

Inside there was:

Knitpick Wool of the Andes Yarn - 3 of the Sapphire Heather, 1 Black Cherry Heather, and 1 Amethyst Heather. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.

There was also:

Sensual Knits by Yahaira Ferreira.

I have to tell you, this made my sucky day so much better, I can't even tell you. I have had so much crappy and when I get these little bolts of happy, I find myself fighting tears - grateful tears.

So now I am giddily considering the prospects of knitting a fab coat from my new book, and this gives me more incentive to go to the yarn fair in September (thanks for the tip, Karen @ Shall We Knit?).

I showed my sister in law the new book and stash (memo to self: take photos to update ravelry stash info) and now she wants to knit more than ever. Rose wants to coordinate some time with me her and my sis in law so we can both teach her how to knit. They both have more than that in common and I believe they'd get along famously, so I'm trying to figure something out that works for all of us (and then there's the equal challenge of finding a day where my health does not prevent me from enjoying my time with them).

Anyway, no need to get in that, I just wanted to crow about my treasures.

Turns out I wasn't scheduled to work today after all. Stumbling about.


Pac-Man sugar cookies!

Some Kitchen Myths debunked

Soy you want to know the "truth" about soy

Meals for 4 under $15

The Accidental Scientist - Science of Cooking

How to cook like your Grandmother

An excellent baking blog - pictures are mouthwatering



I guess that's enough for now.

The Top 100 Classical tunes is actually a pretty neat site, when you consider most kids out there aren't really exposed to classical music in the traditional sense and probably don't realize just how many songs they hear in adverts and cartoons etc are decades and decades old.

It also makes me realize how nerdy I am because I could identify most of these without the help of this site, heheh.

Watching the Jeffersons now, and it reminds me (as does Sanford & Son) just how much the comedies of the past got away with.

Ok time to clean up some before heading to work. Ugh. Work has been a real challenge in some ways, but in others it's a different experience in that I just really don't care when people call to push my buttons because theirs have been pushed and it rolls downhill. I just sort of remain this blank slate that doesn't really give two shits that your client is ramming it down your throat - in the grand scheme of things there are much more important things to worry about. Interestingly, this blank calm seems to work on the caller and they tend to slow down and breathe (especially when I say "Hey. Slow down and breathe. Ok, now tell me what is wrong").

As far as medical insanity is concerned - there's too much to talk about and I am not really in the mood. The synopsis is: I remain a mystery of science, and they just keep feeding me different meds to attempt to calm down the symptoms until they can figure out the root cause.

Now I'm going to go listen to Bizet and get myself pumped for another day.

Ciao.

Reading a CNN article stating that "Men are buying more clothes than women", I found it interesting that they felt the only reason for the disparity between men and women purchasing more/less clothing is that "Women's wear has painted themselves in a corner. By offering too many options and with everything a trend, it is very easy not to buy anything," and did not perhaps consider the fact that:

1) Hello fashion trends of the past? Please for the love of God take your unflattering clothing back. The current trend of potato sack dresses and giant shoulder pads and fantastically ugly colors and everything else is just depressing as it only really flatters a very small minority of people, who I am convinced may be some sort of hybrid alien

and

2) Excuse me, stores that sell clothing to us plebians? There's a reason why you are stuck with six million size 2 dresses that you end up having to sell at 25% the normal price, and your size 12 and up sell almost the minute you put them on the rack. When the rest of us normal people go to shop, there is nothing left for us to buy that would actually fit us.

and of course

3) Men do like to look good, believe it or not. Kudos to the fact that the current trend seems to come to realize this and is apparently appealing - so no wonder men are actually buying things for themselves. One of the reasons I think the whole "metrosexual" thing took off is because the media finally gave men permission to look good without feeling weird about it.

Of course, I also have to remind myself that this article was published by CNN, not exactly the most reliable news source to begin with, but the article just made me sort of snort out a laugh and wonder if perhaps the producers of Mad Men paid CNN to plug them in an inadvertent way. (PS I have not seen last Sunday's episode so please do not say anything about it until later - I am watching it on demand tonight.)

Ok, insipid rant about things I have no expertise on done.

Every once in a while I ask myself why I bother to keep reading Scary Go Round, and then John Allison does something that makes me fall in love with it all over again.

I've loved his comics since Bobbins (which is totally worth reading over again, by the way. Who doesn't love spunky little Shelley?). Scary Go Round is really hit and miss with me, but it's worth sticking to in the long run.

What I really like is that Allison tends to reinvent himself; what I mean by this is, bit by bit he changes up how he produces the comic, so that visually the eye candy just gets sweeter. He isn't afraid to push himself, which I find is the mark of a good artist. The storyline sometimes falls flat, but you can hardly fault him for it - this is something he does in his spare time after all.

Look at Penny Arcade for an excellent example of artistic evolution - the Penny Arcade of yesteryear certainly doesn't look like the current version. However, even as the art changes up, they consistently remain funny, and very tuned in to the current pulse of gaming. I could go on for pages about how truly fantastic they are - Child's Play, anyone? - but it's all been done before, and in a much more eloquent than I could produce, I'm sure.

Jeph Jacques' Questionable Content is another example of reinvention, artistically speaking. The original characters look nothing like the current version. His plotlines have gone from random to a bit more cohesive, and he managed to shake the Tony-Angela (in his case Martin/Faye) sharkjump successfully, by not even going there.

One comic I've really grown to love as well is Wapsi Square by Paul Taylor. Initially, his comics were haphazard and without an actual plot, but over time he has told a pretty intriguing story, and I find I can't wait to see where he takes his characters next.

It is really interesting to me to see these artists emerge and find their groove. I am glad that once they find their mojo they stick to what works - this is a process that thanks to the internet we as an audience are privy to. In the world of print, we wouldn't necessarily see these changes - by the time a comic artist gets into syndication, they have already refined their characters et al.

However, if you look at Diesel Sweeties, you can see what artistic consistency looks like as well. R Stevens is fantastic, hits just the right tone, and has maintained the same aesthetic for his characters since day one. He did actually make it into syndication as well, breaking barriers between online and print comics without self-publication (what I mean by this is, he has been syndicated in actual newspapers, rather than for sale in printed anthologies sold by the artist).

I used to love PVP, and I can still tolerate it to a certain degree if I put my horse-blinders on to Scott Kurtz's insipid commentary and overall sense of self-righteous bullshit. On more than one occasion I have seen him rant about something that most human beings would think was a waste of breath, and then recant after getting called on it, ad nauseum, stating that "oh no I meant it this other way that is more acceptable to the masses". I'd offer up some examples but it would pain me to have to go through his archived news; also I'm pretty sure he's erased evidence of most of those kinds of posts anyway. One example that comes to mind was when he ranted about how horrible it was that dude who does Ctrl-Alt-Del was going to be charging his viewers for the cartoon version of his comic. And then a while later, Kurtz attempts the same damned thing! Now I'm not about to go and defend Tim Buckley tooth and nail, because from anything I've read the guy is a bit of a prat too, but really, Kurtz shouldn't be calling the kettle black here. I realize that he is a human being, like the rest of us, prone to mistakes and change his mind like the rest of us, but he still just sets my teeth on edge. There is nothing he can do to fix that, and I am not about to demand he fix it.

Beware: Here there be a million links!

That being said: I would be remiss if I didn't mention Homestar Runner, even though technically it isn't an online comic, it is still a site I visit that consistently brings on the funny, as well as reinvents itself over time. They actually poke fun at online webcomics in a Strong Bad Email. What I love is that while most people who watch and love it are addicted to Strong Bad & Co, I find the quiet perseverance of Homestar's hilarity is what draws me back time and again.

Strong Bad's emails are arguably the most popular feature of the site, most especially the one featuring Trogdor. (Even Strong Bad reinvents the way he answers email by continually "upgrading" his machines to similar older model computers and laptops and "newer" printers.)

The Burninator aside, I find that the funniest StrongBad Emails are the ones featuring Homestar Runner. I am also tickled by the sbemail spinoff, Teen Girl Squad. The origins of that would be found here.

Ok that's enough for now I think.

Much as I love CSI, I have to admit that the recent news of Billy Peterson leaving the show makes me feel as though anything they do afterward would be a magnificent shark jump. I didn't care much when Jorja Fox decided to jump ship a while back, knowing that eventually they would pull her back in. I admit that I was pretty upset to learn that Gary Dourdan was leaving the show, but not surprised.

But how do you replace such a pivotal character as Gil Grissom? (It pains me to link to wikipedia in any shape or form, but that's a pretty comprehensive description of the character, so I suppose it can stay). Based on this report, it appears as though CBS is trying to court a 'big name' to bring the fans around (Larry Fishburne? Kurt Russell? John Malkovich? I'm glad there was a scheduling conflict to take Malkovich out of the running, because, um, ewwww there's no way), but I think that it will be a tough act to follow. I am pleased that the rest of the original cast is remaining, but Grissom leaving is taking a big chunk out of the heart of the show.

That being said I am still willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt, but I have a feeling this upcoming ninth season may just be their last.

As for recent medical insanity, I'm still not up to talking about it. Sorry.

"and Eric Stoltz"

Oh man.

Just amusing myself while waiting for the time to leave for the MRI. Wish me luck.

You want to shake your head some? Download Type O Negative's cover of "Summer Breeze". (YouTube has a user-created vid here, if you are curious. The vid is just a montage of Peter Steele and the rest of tha band ad nauseum, but the music is the part I'm talking about anyway.)

So um. I went to doctor again today, because couldn't sleep at all last night. Or for the past forever. Pain like you wouldn't believe. He checked my legs for blood clots (just to be safe) of course found nothing. "Take some advil & tylenol if you are finding it to be too much at night, go easy on the narcotic stuff". Right, because I'm huge on pills.

As I am wide awake, I figured it would be a good project to hook up the Wii to our wireless network. Well what do you know, I am a genius and managed to do it, even remembered the WEP code to allow it access. Now I am waiting a zillion years for it to update as the Wii has been out for quite some time now and we have never updated it.

So.

Recently watched "You Kill Me" again, which is a rather dark "romantic comedy" (I use the term very loosely here - this is not your typical romcom) featuring Sir Ben Kingsley & Téa Leoni. I love them both and it was interesting to see how they interacted with each other. S mentioned that Kingsley's voice sounded really odd in this film - I pointed out that he is playing an alcoholic - and doing it rather well at that. The slur is intentional. If you have a macabre bone or two in your body, you will find parts pretty damn funny. I bought the film used for 4 bucks at the video store a few months ago. For less money than a rental, I can now watch it at my leisure.

Let's see... there are still things I need to update on but my mind is in a ramble bramble sort of mood so I can't really articulate it all at present.

I'm going to try napping, we'll see if my legs & arms cooperate & let me sleep - even if only for a little while.

Who wants these awesome glasses?

This girl. That's who.

Happy birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Hammer! Wish I could have afforded to purchase those for you, but tonight I will buy you one of these:

Also, this makes me wish I had a mac. Dammit.

Cheers

My journal has been chock full of medical complaints recently. To try and spiff things up a bit, and keep me cheerful (I'm not going to lie - I have been pretty down in the dumps of late) I'm going to just post random stuff today. Not belittling what is going on but I need to focus on the happy/amusing here or I will go stir crazy.

Things that have amused me today:

Awesome Lunch Bags

Toe Tag Dinner Place cards!

Dr. Who wall panels

NES coffee table/storage bin

Nerdy baby flash cards

Super Mario Wedding cake!!

Indiana Jones amigurumi

Canstruction Vancouver (They make sculptures out of cans!)

R2D2 PC case mod

Spock Apron

Pac Man cupcakes!

Han Solo in Carbonite - the desk!

I gave up coffee for lent. So far, so good. It's been trying because I go to Tim Horton's about every other day to get coffee for my S as it is right around the corner from where we live. Our coffee maker is a piece of gos se and doesn't brew anymore. Because I gave up coffee I'm foregoing purchasing a new one, and S will have to deal with Timmy's in the mornings (which doesn't bother him one iota, he loves their coffee).

K gave up chips & ice cream. This may not seem like much, but when you have 2 sets of doting grandparents that LOVVVE to junk you up with treats, this one is tough. C gave up computer and nintendo games - something I am lifting the ban for this Saturday for one day, for Z's birthday. I told her Jesus would understand - it's not every day your bff turns 10 and we'll go right back on track afterward.

I ran into someone the other day that left me very discombobulated. I hadn't seen him in literally years, and it was so strange because he approached me, and spoke like an old friend, which was nice but a bit surreal because we weren't really friends in school. Acquaintances, yes. He drove me nuts sometimes, but in general he was a good egg, and we got along well enough. Whatever, it was nice but a little... strange. He was shocked to see that I had not only one, but two children, and not even babies - the kind that go to school and can actually converse with him. The encounter was brief, and the kids were a bit confused - why was that man acting like he knew you mum? "Umm, because he does. I went to school with him." How come we've never met him before? "Because life takes you on strange paths, kiddo." What the heck does THAT mean? "You'll understand soon enough."

Ok, time to go do house-y type things before heading to work. Have a fabulous day folks.

P.S.
Here are some procedures for emergency situations.

How old are you on other planets?

So. A bit of an update. Took K to psychometric testing thinger, with a psychologist who didn't give me the impression that he was a quack, and had been working with kids for 35 years. Turns out K's IQ in academics (reading, writing, arithmetic & comprehension) is 118-120, which is above average (average being 100-110). The kid reads and comprehends at a grade 5 level (he's in grade 2) and math is around grade 4-5. His IQ in perception, logic, & something-or-other-I-forget-now is 134. That is beyond anything the doc anticipated, and he said "oh yeah, there's no doubt, your son is gifted. I see a case like his very rarely". I got to witness the testing, and even I was having trouble with some of the patterning logic etc. and I'm no dummy. Bottom line however, K has issues keeping focus, partly because he's bored with the material being presented to him, partly from external factors. He is a pretty active kid too - always moving, always on the move, however the doctor feels that it's more about him being a boy, than anything else, and he'll probably outgrow it in time. So the doctor is writing up recommendations for the school, for us, and a report for our family doctor as well.

It cost a kajillion dollars for us to find out that something we sort of already knew. Worth every god damned penny, if you ask me. Not just for the being smug that our kid is smart thing, but because we're finally getting K the tools he needs to reach his potential, as well as help him relieve some of the boredom & etc.

C came with us today for the testing, and the psych. asked her some questions, and made some observations on things she was drawing, etc, and said he wouldn't be surprised if she was also above-average intelligence etc.

Um. There's more on that topic, but I'm kind of tired now. I've been having seizures again, for the first time in years (since K was born at least) and they wear me out. I don't know what's going on; I have to go see a neurologist again.

Check out these fantastic aquariums!

This just in: Tom Jones is crazy.

This has got to be one of the neatest sites I've seen in a while. Talk about a wonderful comprehensive way to teach the kids how to navigate the night skies!!!

Too fun.

Too. Funny.

In other news, I have strep throat and have been sick all week. No talk = no work, unfortunately, since like uh, 99% of my job is talking on the phone all day.

My uncle is really sick. Hospital sick. I can't really go into details because 1) I only know vague information at this point and 2) there is no 2, #1 sums it up basically.

My cousin Lola seems to be taking it ok (it's her daddy) but then she's had all week to sort of process it. I am hoping this is an eye opener for my uncle, mostly because I'm selfish and want him to keep living or some nonsense like that.

Ok I'm going back to bed or somesuch.

Ok so the title is appropos because that that Haddaway song was on the radio this morning. And it got me to thinking about this one time I went out with S to Swiss Chalet. This was back when that damn Eiffel 65 song, "Blue" was out. S just LOVED this song. I mean LOVED it. Hummed it all the time and did this weird head-swivelly thing. Anyway, it drove me nuts. And I told him to stop humming or singing it al-damn-ready. And he said ok, he promised. And we were sitting there in the restaurant, and to be a brat and not break his promise at the same time, he started the head-swivel thing and started mouthing the words.

So to be a brat back, I said, "oh yeah? Well -"

And I started doing that head-bob thing the boys in Night at the Roxbury do. And laugh! Oh my God, we were cracking up right in the middle of the restaurant, and getting all kinds of dirty looks from these little old ladies in a booth near us. And that didn't help it just made us laugh more. Oh man. And it probably isn't as funny describing it, but that's just the way we are. We laugh and laugh and laugh sometimes until laughing-tears come out and we can't breathe.

That is love.

I can't tell you how glad I am that the weekend is here. Seriously.

I woke up with a horrible kink in my neck and it's all I can do not to cry when I try to move my head even a little. Our mattresses and pillows suck so bad it isn't even funny. That or I am getting old? Possibly a combination of both.

Time to go see my in-laws' new dog... they got another Chihuahua, which in my books is not a dog at all but some sort of rat-dog hybrid. The kids are beside themselves excited - S and I are feeling blase about the whole thing, and S has already said that when they breed her, under NO circumstances are we taking a puppy off their hands. Hallelujah to that. Our only counter-method to this plot the in-laws have to give us a pup is to maybe get a real dog first. I have been whispering words like "beagle" and "basset hound" but S wants something along the lines of "retriever" or "St. Bernard". Um. NO. No big dogs. Basset is as big as I'm willing to go in this house. If we had a large property I'd think "English Mastiff" but not in our house. No way.

What am I saying? I don't want a dog!!!! See what is happening to me? This crazy family is pushing me over the edge, I tells ya...

I have no words for this...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/070912/oddities/russia_demography_offbeat_2

Patriot babies: Russian province holds 'Conception Day'

ULYANOVSK, Russia (AFP) - Bureaucrats in Russia's Ulyanovsk province urged residents Wednesday to do their patriotic duty and make love, with prizes for anyone producing a child on the country's constitution day in exactly nine months.