In Which the Blogger Returns

Yeah, it's been awhile. Whatev.

Random Thursday: I got a message today that John Doe* has requested me as a friend on my Facebook page. I had an idea who it was when I clicked the link and damned if I wasn't right. It was this kid (and by kid I just mean person...dude's my age) who friended me on MySpace, like, two years ago. We chatted and such, strictly online friendship, and eventually it got to where we didn't have a whole lot to say. Add to the mix the fact that I was doing more with my free time and online less and the chatting waned even more. So, dude started getting pissy with me because I had a life that wasn't online and told me that if I wanted to stay friends with him, I had to chat more and comment on his page and all this other shit or he'd delete me from his list. Of course, I was just devastated**, but for some reason I didn't take his threats seriously. Thus, I was booted from the list and never heard from him again. Until today*** when I got the message that he requested me on Facebook. Now what I'm wondering is: Why the hell would you friend someone you de-friended two years ago for lack of interest? What's the point? What makes you think that, after being rude and overly demanding of an online friendship two years ago, I would have any interest whatsoever in being friends again? Seriously, are you daft, man?****

*Name changed for spelling reasons, as in I can't spell his name. Oh, and for privacy because I'm just that nice.
**Not really, that was sarcasm.
***Technically it was yesterday, as this was before the clock struck midnight.
****I'm not kidding, I really wanna know.

The Perils of Baby Talk and Other Public Service Announcements

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed some things in my normal, everyday dealings that have left me either annoyed as all hell or scratching my head in bewilderment. Here are just a few examples of the nonsense I see on a daily basis:

1) Parents, please for the love of the god I don't believe in, STOP SPEAKING TO YOUR KIDS IN BABY TALK AFTER AGE 6 MONTHS!!!!!! If you don't, you'll end up having a kid with a completely avoidable speech impediment because you thought it was just so cutesy-wootsey to talky-walky like thissy-wissy. Here's a thought: If your kid is 8 years old, he shouldn't sound like he's 3.

2) There is no such thing as a size 24W skinny-fit jean, no matter what the tag might say. Embrace your curves, big girls, wear clothing that fits properly and dress to IMPRESS!!!

3) On a similar note: There is a very specific body type that looks good in a very high-waisted pant and that body type typically isn't over a size 4.

4) Ladies, please stop hovering over the toilet in public restrooms, especially if you have absolutely no intention of cleaning up the mess you will inevitably leave because women simply weren't built to pee while standing. The seat liners are there for a reason...USE THEM!

5) Seasonal business owners, if your business is not open until July 21, please either remove the sign displaying your business hours (implying the business is indeed open) or add a sign indicating when those business hours take effect. With gas prices as high as they are, help people save themselves the extra trip.

6) Another one to parents: If you want little Johnny to end up getting scraped off the grill of some gas-guzzling SUV, by all means, continue to let him play on his bike in the middle of the street. On the other hand, if you'd like him to see his 10th birthday and eventually reach adulthood, tell him that rush hour traffic is NOT the place for him to pretend he's a BMX star.

And finally:

7) If you're not friends with someone on a personal, non-business level, DO NOT ASK HIM OR HER PERSONAL QUESTIONS YOU HAVE NO RIGHT OR BUSINESS ASKING. Crossing boundaries is NOT cool.

This concludes today's PSA presentation. Thanks so much for reading.

Thought of the Day

OK, today I received the new issue of Glamour (which I never read and didn't subscribe to, yet somehow get issues every month) and I have to say I hate the cover. I mean seriously, Christina Aguilera's hair looks like the product of a six-year-old's foray into the glamorous and exciting world of Play Doh barber shop hair styling. Neither the color, nor the texture of her hair on that cover occur anywhere in the natural world. I just don't understand...her face looks beautiful, her clothes are casual but classy, yet her hair appears to know the intimate details of all the bleaches available at the local Sally Beauty Supply. I'd like to tell her stylist to back off the peroxide or else I'll cite him/her for follicular homicide. That's all.

Cutness

The world's cutest nephews, Anthony and Noah, looking intently at whatever was on the television. I miss them so much and wish that I could see them every day. They are growing up way too fast and I would love it if they would stay this little for just a bit longer. Too bad they don't seem to want to oblige their dear Aunt Manda and instead they just keep growing and getting bigger. I suppose, though, no matter how big they get, they'll always be my little noodles.

The Guardian

I love my dogs. I think more highly of my dogs than I do most people. This is Josie, the smaller of my two dogs. To the casual observer, she appears to be sleeping, but I'm certain she was guarding the ridiculously expensive throw I was knitting. Either way, she's just so sweet all snuggled up against my handiwork. This was the same day she came to my rescue after a movie with a horrible, horrible ending made me cry. She's a good dog and hopped up on the recliner with me to love me and make me feel better. Josie is the best little dog in the world and I love her.

Yes, I know I labeled a post about a dog with "People Who Rock." I happen to think of my dogs as people and they certainly do rock, so I figure it's appropriate.

Tulip

Since it's been so long between posts, I thought I'd put up something pretty to hopefully break back into more regular posting. This is a tulip from my mother's flower bed. I'm not sure exactly what kind of tulip it is, but it's one of the prettiest flowers in the flower bed. Several years ago, I gave my mother a very early Christmas present consisting of a variety of flower bulbs. I had to give them to her early so she'd have time to plant them before the ground froze that winter. Every year since then, these beautiful tulips bloom in the spring and make me happy to see their lovely colors. This is a rather good photo, too, if I do say so myself.

Prettyful

I love spring. It's my third favorite season, after winter and fall. I despise summer, but that's neither here nor there because this is not about summer. It's about my favorite part of spring...flowering trees. I love, Love, LOVE flowering trees. They're just so pretty with their tiny petals covering the branches, all white and pale pink. My second favorite part of spring is when the the petals start falling off in a rain of loverly confetti, floating delicately to the earth. I only wish this part of spring could last just a little bit longer than it does because it really is the prettiest part of the season.

Note To Self

Self, do laundry more often. That way, you can avoid the 10.5 hours of agony the last clean pair of underwear inflicts on your poor body. There's a reason they're always the last pair.

Almost Done

I've been a diligent and industrious little knitter the past few days. The Breast Cancer Socks that I started last summer are nearly done. I've finished the first and the second is over 50% finished. I'm in the home stretch and then I can finally give them to my aunt to raffle at the Relay for Life event next month. I've been planning to give them to her ever since I saw the pattern, and I started them with gusto. Then procrastination set in as I realized how much time I had before they needed to be finished. That, and I wanted to do other projects. But with only a foot left on the second, I'm getting excited to be done with the project and free to embark on other knitting endeavors. I can't wait!!!

Not Even the Birds Are Awake

It is officially the butt-crack of dawn. I am up exceptionally early today (by my standards, anyway) in order to be at work exceptionally early so I can go with 7 other people on a road trip to help out another store. Thankfully I'm not driving so I can take my Dramamine and fall asleep for the couple of hours it takes to get there. Yay for sleep!

In Cognito-Girl

Yeah, I've been laying low for the past few days. The weekend seemed to start early and was very busy. However, I did get to catch up with some friends whom I hadn't seen for quite some time, which was much fun and I can't wait to see them again. I also managed to squeeze in meeting a politician, so it's been a full few days.

My pet died on Sunday, which made me sad. She was a cow and her name was Bunt. Yes, I had a pet cow. She was good for such tasks as mooing and being pretty. She was very old for a cow (roughly 16-17 years old). I loved the cow and I miss her.

That's pretty much it for the time being. It's hard to write about things when I've nothing noteworthy going on. Oh well...I'm sure more interesting things will happen as Spring progresses.

Triste

I learned today that one of my pets is going to have to be put down. She's really old and losing hair and she's just declining, as I was told. I'm sadder than I expected to be about it, but that's life, I guess. Or death...whatever way you want to look at it.

Four Horses

So many of my stories involve my drive home, and for that I apologize. Not really. Anyway, I was a mere half mile from home when I saw them; four beautiful chestnut-colored horses, statuesquely standing side by side in their pasture, looking in the direction I was driving. (It was yet another moment where having my camera handy would've been nice, but it's never in my purse when I need it.) As I drove past them, I realized why they were looking in that direction. The pasture is right next to the farmer's lawn, which still has some green grass in various patches. I think they were looking at the tender, tasty niblets that were just out of their reach. It was such a pretty sight that made this gray and drizzly day more lovely.

A Letter...

Dear Idiot Drivers Who Pissed Me Off Today,

I know that rush hour traffic can be tiresome and a total bother.* I know that we all just want to get to our respective homes, eat dinner and relax. However, that doesn't excuse your total lack of respect for other drivers. In particular, Ms. Ford Explorer, you needn't have tailgated me from Horseheads all the way to the Elmira exit when I was already going nearly 80 MPH. Seriously, do you really need to go any faster than that on the highway? It's not as if I was lane-clogging, and you could have gotten around me with great ease had you applied yourself. But no, you waited for me to shift lanes and then buzzed on by. Why you couldn't use your signal and press your foot more firmly on the accelerator is beyond me, but perhaps you could keep that in mind for next time.

This brings us to Mr. Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer edition).** I was totally prepared to chastise you for your lack of awareness of the green arrow lighting up. Then I realized that the light had turned red and you legitimately thought you had to wait, not knowing that the Traffic Gods would smile upon the intersection and give us left-turning people a wonderful green arrow. So I'll forgive you for making the line of traffic wait a few extra seconds while you were doing whatever it was you were doing while thinking you had to wait. I will, however, yell at the jackass who waited all of 3 seconds before he decided to lay on his horn to alert everyone that we were waiting. Dude, you were, like, 5 cars behind me...you wouldn't have had the arrow even if Mr. Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer edition) had hit the gas the second the arrow lit up. Relax man, relax.

But seriously, kids, have some freakin' patience. It's only driving.

Thanks,
Minxy

*In all honesty, the "rush hour traffic" of which I speak is not very heavy at all. I mean, it's Rt 17...it only gets really bad at Christmas and even that's nothing compared to your basic, everyday traffic in a big city.

**Yeah, total coincidence that both vehicles of note were Explorers...must've been a Ford kind of day.

Always in March...

I'm sick. Stuffy nose, sore throat, the general malaise that often precedes a wicked cold. I'm not thrilled about this. It always seems to happen in March, too. It's as if my body decides to herald in the new spring season with discomfort and postnasal drip. :(

Rain+Cold

Sure this is a couple of days after the fact, but here is a picture of the hill across from my house the day after all the rain I previously mentioned. It was tricky getting a decent picture, but those trees are covered with ice from the freezing rain we got on Saturday. The sun was shining on them in such a way that everything looked tinsel-covered and sparkly. I haven't seen such beautiful ice in many, many years. I wish the picture came out better...sadly it came out a bit overexposed, even with my hand shadowing the camera a bit. This was the best of all the pictures I took.

Here's another of the same view, only to the left and zoomed out a tad bit (and not quite so shiny). This one has a bit more color and better detail. Still, not quite as magnificent as seeing the sight with my own eyes, but pretty nonetheless. I'm one of those not-so-common people who really, REALLY love winter and all that comes with it. Sights like this only serve to make my love of winter grow.

Result of Rain

So I was chatting with my friend Bonnie last night, having an decent discussion that somehow led to Dante's "Inferno" (which was OK because it was in the context of old memories...I'm too lazy to elaborate). While trying to remember the passage that we liked so much, the ice, wind and snow caused the power to go out around 9:45. It was totally spooky because I was all alone out in the sticks and I had nothing at all to give me a point of reference...there was no moon shining to help me find my way around the kitchen. I had to do it all in pitch blackness. Luckily, I have a knack for visual-spatial relations (a.k.a. semi-photographic memory), a mostly useless skill that enabled me to make my way to where I needed to be in order to get some light without so much as stubbing my toe. I was rather proud of that, if I do say so myself. I lit a bunch of candles and realized that I had absolutely nothing to do, so I tried reading by candlelight. After about 20 minutes all I could think was "How the hell did pioneers do this all the time?" It was exhausting, and I felt really old holding the book so damn close to my face. Rather than continue, I blew out all the candles and went to bed. Oddly enough, I took the flashlight with me and read in bed. Why I didn't use the flashlight to read before I went to bed is beyond me...clearly, I wasn't thinking. Then I slept, had extremely weird dreams and woke up a few times because it got really cold in here without the heater running. The power finally came back on around 7:00 this morning. Now I can see enough to cook myself some delicious food. YAY!!!!

Rain

Rain freezing
Freezing rain
Soft then sad and weeping
Thrashing here
Drizzle there
Color gray it's keeping



There should be more...but I suck at writing.

Master of Boredom

It's been a quiet few days. Not much is happening other than work, sleep and knitting. Occasionally I'll have a bite or two to eat. Apparently, mine is not the life of thrills, chills and excitement; Scrabble, Playstation and pizza are more my speed as of late. The most notable thing I've done in recent days was delete a bunch of games on my GameShark only to learn that the thing decided not to work and I'll have to reset it to the factory default in order to be able to use it again, thus negating all my hard work.

Promise Kept

Although I procrastinated, I did knit some on my socks both Monday and Tuesday. I knit a round or two today as well. I'm rather amused by the fact that the endless rounds of stockinette that make the foot (which usually seem to take forever) are taking almost no time at all. The interesting cabled part felt like it took years to finish...it was so slow to knit, I almost scrapped the whole project. Perhaps the second sock will go a bit faster. I am, however, planning to put the second sock on hiatus in order to finish the lace scarf I mentioned in a post awhile back (yeah, I'm too lazy to link to it). I was going to make it for myself, but I've decided to make it a birthday present for my sister. It's a color she'll like, I know she appreciates hand knits and I think she'll really like the simple lace pattern. So that's the plan for now...if I get the scarf knit up soon, I won't have to lose too much time on the socks AND it'll feel like I've procrastinated more, fulfilling that need. Yes, I need to feel like I've sufficiently procrastinated on some things...I'm a sick, sick individual.

Wanting to Stray

Recently, I've been noticing that I want very much to abandon all projects I have going right now and make something completely different. I have three projects that I've started, two lace things and a pair of socks, and a few others that are pretty much in the frog pond...I just have to get off my lazy ass and rip them all apart. The problem is that I really must get them all done. I know if I would just buckle down and get at least the socks (which I'm beginning to loathe their obligation-like aura, but that's beside the point) done, I'd feel much better about beginning a sweater for myself. [A short aside here: I have the strangest timing when it comes to projects...I want to knit lightweight stuff in the dead of winter and warm sweaters for myself going into spring...I'm bass-fucking-ackwards if you ask me.] Bah! Stupid socks...I really don't want to work on them at all, but I must as I made a promise to myself. In true procrastinator form, I'll work on them tomorrow.

Filed Under: What the Hell?

After getting home from work today, I found in the mail a letter from some organization called Biltmore Who's Who. Upon reading the letter, I learned it pertained to placing me on some registry list for a Who's Who Among Executives and Professional Women and 2008 Honors Edition. Apparently the "Publishing Committee" (and yes, that ridiculously vague term was used) thinks that I have potential to be on their registry list based on my "current standing as well as criteria from executive and professional rosters." Hmm...I wonder what the hell gave them the idea that I was a professional or executive. I mean, hell, I work in retail...you can't get much less executive than that.

The Excitement of Sleep

Yeah, I know...random title. I'm sure this will have absolutely nothing to do with sleep, as I'm currently wide awake and in no way, shape or form contemplating the sweet, sweet bliss of dreamland. I did, however, sleep fairly well last night, so I suppose with that teeny little bit, I did mention sleep much more than I had planned. On to other topics.

Yesterday, I finally dug out the breast cancer socks I started knitting months and months ago. I decided to make them last June for a charity raffle that won't actually take place until this coming May. Had I known a few months before the fact, I may have made them for last year's event, but I didn't know the pattern existed until the owner of my LYS happened upon the pattern while we were discussing various charity knitting projects. Yeah, so I started this sock in June (or possibly July, I can't remember), got a little more than half of the leg knit and proceeded on another project (or five). So, the poor partial sock has languished in a knitting bag since then, only to be picked back up yesterday when I realized that I needed to finish the damn things so they'll be done in time for the event (I'm nothing if not a procrastinator). I managed to knit a whole TWO rounds on it yesterday during my work breaks. I know I can crank out a pair of socks in, like, a week and a half, so I should have had these finished by now. Sadly, though, I have a tendency to take a million times longer making things if I feel an obligation to finish them. I don't always have that feeling, but I do now and it sucks. Oh well. I should probably go knit something.

Inside Joke

The eagle flies at midnight....hehehehehe...

Curses, I Say, Curses!!!

On the way home this evening, I witnessed a fantastic orange and pink and purple sunset. The one fucking day I don't have my camera in my purse to take pretty pictures and I have a perfect sunset. Curses!

Skiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was fantastic. I went to Greek Peak with my favorite person and we learned how to ski. I was very nervous and very terrified, but I said "Fuck you, fear!" and did it anyway. We had wonderful instructors and ended up having a massively good time. I did, at one point, almost totally lose it because I was very afraid of how fast I was going, but I was saved by one of the awesome instructors. We stopped skiing after about two hours because my toes were cold to the point of pain. After we left, we stopped at a very cool organic foods store in Ithaca and proceeded home to watch South Park and a little bit of SNL. Then we attempted to sleep and ended up talking all night, which to me was the perfect ending to a perfect day. I'm very content right now and bordering on happy (made evident by the fact that I can't stop smiling). I can't wait to do it all again.

Mood Indigo

Without talking too much about my job, I have to give a bit of background about work for this entry, even though I'm loath to do so (I don't like discussing work too much here because I really don't want it to come back and bite me on the ass). My duties at work leave me alone much of the time, which can be a gift and a curse; a gift because I don't have to deal with as many people, and a curse because I have to deal with the never-ending string of thoughts and ideas that go through my head. Luckily, I'm often distracted by the constant (usually bad) music that fills the background, and the stuff that skips into my head skips right back out, leaving nothing deep and meaningful behind.

That did not happen today.

While speaking to a coworker (a very nice, sweet gentleman), I had one of my thoughts. Was this conversation full of deep philosophical ideas? No, it was more along the line of run-of-the-mill work chit-chat. Now, I often say that I really hate people...individuals can be awesome, but people generally suck and I really held firmly to that (misanthropic Minxy). My brief conversation with this coworker had me re-thinking that position. I found myself thinking that I really hope this kind individual has happiness in his life. This is not to say that I believe he isn't happy, but that I want happiness for him. The thought expanded to the realization that all I want is for everyone to be happy, even people I don't know. I want to see the good in people (note that "I want to see" does not mean "I see only," as I'm not so naive as to think there aren't people with badness in them, or that there aren't people who are just plain bad). I wish for the contentment and comfort of others as much as my own. I've learned today that, deep down, I really love my fellow human beings almost as much as I love my dogs. I don't hate humanity; I hate stupidity, which is solely a human affliction, therefore, I mistook that hatred for human hatred. I know this isn't an original thought by any means, but it's kind of new for me.

I'm not sure how to feel about this discovery in the mind of the Minx. One moment, I'll feel deep awesomeness at my newfound love for people, and the next moment I'll feel deep sorrow that so many of my fellow humans have to suffer so much (I suppose that qualifies as mild ambivalence). I haven't felt this much compassion in a very, very long time...so long that I nearly forgot how incredibly compassionate I am (if one could have a degree in compassion, I'd have a fucking doctorate, like, three times over). I'm sure the reviving of my tender heart is very much related to the newly discovered aspect of myself. This makes me scared, for I do not want my heart to hurt and it's very possible that I've inadvertantly made myself vulnerable to heartache. I'm not an idiot, but I can be a bit gullible at times and I'm afraid a person of less than savory character would try to take advantage of that. There's so much more to say about this, but the words have left me. Perhaps I'll have more another time.

Living the Title-Free Life

I can't think tonight. I believe my inability to form a decent thought is from watching a documentary on crossword puzzles...I used all my brain power to try and figure out clues. Prior to that, we (my friend and I) watched a movie about Jeffrey Dahmer that was a bit interesting, even though it had a rather idiotic ending. At least the guy playing Dahmer looked pretty good with his shirt off. Aside from all that, not much is going on in the life of the Minx. I did manage to give someone a little bit of perspective today, and that's always a good thing in my book. I'm looking forward to the weekend, as I'll be falling all over the place in what will probably be an ill-advised attempt at learning how to snowboard. A little excitement never hurt anyone.

Nothing to Say

Zip, zero, nada...yeah, I got nothin' at all to say. My brain is so dry right now, I pondered extolling the virtues of Eclipse gum (it's tasty, refreshing, makes my breath all tingly and cold, and clears my sinuses). I briefly contemplated writing about how my lace scarf is coming along, but really it's just longer than it was before, so there's nothing of interest there. I thought I might mention something about work (as a complete last resort), but alas, nothing interesting happened today. It's impractical to go out and do anything to later write about because it's entirely too cold to go out tonight (and it's Monday...what can possibly be interesting on a freakin' Monday). The things I can easily write about are either non-existent or I can't make mention of them, therefore rendering them as good as non-existent. Grrr...I hate having nothing to write about.

Bowling for MinxyLand

I'm a terrible bowler. This was made evident last night with my glorious scores of 67 and 88, and by the wonderful dropping of the ball behind me before my last throw of the last frame we played last night. However, I am impressed by the fact that I made it that far before dropping the twelve-pound ball, as I usually do that way early in the game. Nonetheless, I had a ton of fun with some very goofy people. I'd totally do it again.

Psycho-Hose-Beast

I've come to realize that I probably have more rants about driving than anything else. This is no exception to the road-related ranting (hooray for alliteration). Driving along the parkway on my way to work a day or two ago, I was in the left lane, easing my way past a few cars in the right lane when I was nearly side-swiped by this big-ish white car that appeared to be either trying to get into the left lane or trying to take up both lanes. I finally made it past the car and peeked over when I was level with the driver. I saw her hunched forward, close the steering wheel, forearms doing most of the maneuvering while her hands were firmly on her cell phone, mid-text. What the fuck?!?!?!? If a message isn't important enough to merit an actual call, it's not important enough to merit a response when you're driving along during what constitutes Elmira's rush-hour traffic. I know people text and drive and I DO NOT condone this in any way at all, but if you really must, memorize the damn key pad so you can at least look more at the road than the phone. Or, think of the safety of others and don't text at all, you fuckin' jackasses.

P.S. Thank you, Wayne's World, for leaving us with such memorable terminology as "psycho-hose-beast." The world is a more descriptive place for it.

Briefly

I've only enough energy for a wee little post tonight. I've been a little sad today. I learned this morning that a friend of my dad's passed away a few days ago and his funeral was today. He used to work with my dad and I was introduced to him years ago. My dad told me to call him "Uncle Jack" even though he's no relation. He was a cool dude and my dad thought highly of him. And, while I really didn't know him well, I'm saddened by his death...mostly because I'm sad for my father losing his friend. I hate the thought of my dad being sad, I hate death, and I hate the fact that I'm crying right now and I don't exactly understand why the tears are falling. Maybe it's stress-plus-death-plus-whatever else is in my head. Or maybe it really is just because it hurts me to know that my daddy lost his friend and is sad. I think I'm too sensitive sometimes.

$10.5 Million and I Turned It Down

Yeah, so this random dude hit on me while I was at work today. He looked fairly average for the Elmira/Horseheads area. First, he asked where he could find some dress pants and flashed his two fifties. As I walked him to the area he needed, we happened upon some Fox Racing shirts...he piped up that he used to race for them. We got to the dress pants and he saw some of our prices and was so impressed that he declared "I'm bringing my $10.5 million here to spend it." Then he thanked me and complimented me on my nice customer service as I walked to my co-worker, who had beckoned me to where she was to taste this bottled tea she had. I thought it was tasty and my wannabe-paramour asked where my co-worker got it and rushed off to go get one for me. I, however, didn't want to encourage the fellow and politely declined the offer. Now, I can't say that I get hit on very often, but I can say that this was the oddest occurrance of a man hitting on me that I've ever experienced. Also, while it was a thinly-veiled attempt to impress me, I have to give the dude credit for maintaining his composure even after his story got really, REALLY ridiculous.

Deeply In Like

I'm a member of a site called Ravelry, which is a community of knitters and crocheters who talk about yarn and needles and techniques and such. I call it MySpace for knitters to the muggles, but it's way cooler than MySpace. I wanted to join a group but couldn't find one to my liking. Then I found an entire group of atheists and agnostics and I read a few posts and joined right up. I'm enjoying it so much...I think I'm becoming an addict. I just love reading from so many people who think much in the same way I do. It's fantastic and wonderful and (some of my agnostic friends may laugh at this) it makes me feel normal and no longer a minority, even though we godless people are a minority. I guess I didn't realize how much I felt like an outsider until I started meeting (both online and in real life) people who have (non)beliefs similar to my own. I don't feel quite so outsider-like now. It's pretty freakin' sweet.

Hell Finally Froze Over...

...because I really got into a football game. I HATE football, and yet the last few minutes of the last quarter of the stupid Super Bowl had me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen. I still can't believe how I ended up getting into it that much, though. Weird.

Wakeful

Between weird dreams involving my dogs running away, coyotes, wolves and wildebeest-like creatures all over my lawn and generally waking up a few times a night the past few nights, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. I really don't enjoy interrupted sleep, and I'm sure most people feel the same way. I hate it, actually, because I don't have a really high energy level as it is, and with the sleep issues, what little energy I gain from sleeping is burned up pretty quickly. Yesterday and today, I think I started off the day with my energy in the negative column...luckily I had to work only one of those days. I'm really hoping tomorrow proves to be a better day because I'm fairly sick of feeling tired and drained. Really, it totally sucks and I'm pretty sure my writing is suffering as a result. And to top it all off, the damn spellcheck function hasn't been working the last two times I've posted, but I think I'd find this less annoying if I weren't so damn tired. Ok, I'm going to try and sleep now.

As if I Needed Something Else

Flight of the Hamsters is my new addiction. It's silly, frivolous fun and I learned of it from another knitter.

In other news, there is no other news. I watched movies and ate pizza last night with Erik. I've decided that having male friends is much easier than having female friends. I think it's just less stressful. I value all of my friendships, male and female, but sometimes I just think it's easier to be friends with a guy. It seems less complicated to me and more free in terms of expressing myself. I'd elaborate on this but I'm not going to because I'm tired, I don't want to sound like I'm perpetuating stereotypes when speaking of my own experiences, and I want to make the hamsters fly some more.

In True Stick-Figure Fashion...

...I present to you my brother. He is tall and clearly upside down. My mother saw this and said he looks like an upside-down stick figure. I agree. I'm also envious of his ability to do a headstand, as I haven't been able to do one since my younger and much lighter days. Hahaha...his feet are just sticking out. It makes me laugh.

Lace Everywhere

I've been knitting on this bit of lace for several years now. This was my first...no, second foray into the charming land of lace knitting. It's round and began in the middle with a few little stitches and grew ever larger as I knit on and on. It has grown to 576 stitches around, grouped into 24 sections of 24 stitches for the eyelet diamond pattern and is only about half finished. It is a labor of love and I continue on with it here and there because I'm at the point that even though it isn't nearly as fun as it used to be, I can't abandon it completely...no matter how much I want to rip it apart and start something else with the yarn. And believe me, there are many other shawl projects I'd like to make and the yarn could be very easily reclaimed for one of those patterns. However, I choose to continue on (and on and on) making my way through two rounds in just about an hour when I knit on it. I work on it when I've gotten tired of other things I've been working on, which is another reason it's taken me nearly six years to get this far.

This is a bit of lace I started knitting yesterday. It's soft and blue and heavenly to knit in the simplest of lace patterns, Fishnet Lace. I must say, the picture is lying to you a bit, as the color is much prettier, like a pale sky blue with a bit of shimmer. I'm almost done with the third panel of the lace pattern. Unlike its round counterpart above, this soft little thing has only 46 stitches, and I expect it to take far less time to complete.When it's finished, it will be a lovely, light scarf that looks fragile but will be surprisingly warm.

I didn't really need to start a new project yesterday. I need to be finishing some projects, such as the round shawl or the socks I'm making for the Relay for Life (however in my defense, they're not needed until May). I'm experiencing a bit of boredom with my current projects and feel the urge to start new ones and they all consist of gorgeous lace. I find myself looking at more lace shawls, thinking, "Oh, I have the perfect yarn for that," or "That's what I can use that cone of sportweight for!" Apparently, I'm tucking the knowledge of how time-consuming lace knitting can be into a far corner of my brain because I've noticed a tendency to think I can just whip up a lace poncho or Faroese shawl in no time. Some knitters can knit lace rather quickly. I am not one of those knitters. I ENVY those knitters. I can knit socks in a short amount of time and even made a sweater in the span of two weeks, but lace slows me way down. I wish I could make lace as fast as I make socks. Heck, I'd be happy if it took me twice or even four times as long to make lace as it does to make socks. I guess, as with all things, I just need to keep doing it and practice, practice, practice. But I still wish for fastness.

Mixed

I've been so lazy about writing the past few days. I make no apologies, as I've had little to write about anyway. Last night, however, was quite fun.

My friend, Erik, thought it would be nice to have a small shindig with a few friends. We went to the Olive Garden (the little lasagna rolls with the sausage are very tasty, by the way), where I surprised myself with how much I actually spoke. I'm not really a big talker when I'm with people I don't know, especially people who I find mildly intimidating. Everyone was wonderful, and no one did anything to make me feel that way...I know it was totally in my head because I'm sometimes insecure and easily intimidated by the unknown. Also, it was a little weird being the person with the least amount of education in the group and also being the only person in the group who doesn't have an academic job. I'm used to being the person talking about things for which no one really has a point of reference or understands, not the person without. Despite my lack of knowledge and reference points, though, I had a really nice time, stuffed myself with delicious food and met some really nice people.

After dinner, we moved the party back to Erik's and played an interesting word game called Apples to Apples, which was very fun. The party diminished from seven to three people after the game and we stayed up until 4:00 AM watching South Park and talking about religion, or our general lack thereof. I then drove my ass home and finally went to bed around 5:00 this morning. It was so awesome to have an extended period of fun time like I did last night.

Tired

While I've been feeling better today than I did the last three days, I'm still not 100%. It sucks. Mostly now I'm just tired, hence the lack of writing here. It's OK, though...I'm sure in a few days I'll be just fine and have plenty of things to write about. Until then, I hope I feel back to my usual self by Saturday.

Back to Work...

After taking yesterday off to hopefully make my stomach feel better, I'm off to work today. All I can say is YUCK! I still feel kind of funky in the stomach, but thanks to what I anticipate to be a very busy day for my team, I can't take two sick days in a row. Yeah, it sucks, but I can't leave my team mates to a huge amount of work when I can possibly make it through the day. So, I'll trudge through and be thankful I can take my time if I need to. Still, I'd rather be home.

Not Good

It's time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea.

Good Idea: Taking along a can of Dr. Pepper on your drive to your friend's house.

Bad Idea: Forgetting to take the still-mostly-full can of Dr. Pepper inside overnight during single-digit weather.

Needless to say, the Bad Idea happened to me. I've learned that carbonated beverages expand even more than still beverages, creating a lava-like overflow that filled both cup holders in my car. It was definitely Bounty to the rescue, though I was running late and could only stuff a huge wad of paper towels in the cup holder. Luckily, the sun warmed my car just enough to melt all but a small bit of slush that I easily discarded when I got home. I'll try to never do that again.

Tipsy

Ah...sweet, wonderful beer. Tasty and smooth Irish cream. Other than hanging out with my brother and having a few drinks, nothing else is going on. Today was my typical Saturday, plus one of my Sunday activities. I woke up, ate, showered, went to the yarn shop to knit and chat with the ladies there (I was especially excited to see Angela there...I find her just delightful). Then I went to the pub in Troy with my friend, Bonnie, and had a few drinks and came home. It was nice to do the Sunday pub thing on Saturday. And it freed up my Sunday to hang out with another friend, so it all worked out very well. OK, I'm going to go drink a little more Irish cream now. :)

Apparently, I'm Unhappy

While I was waiting for a manager to unlock a door so I could put my work equipment away, I stood near the door chatting with a co-worker/kinda friend. He commented that as I was rolling my equipment cart to the room, I looked like something was wrong. Really, I was just tired and not enjoying how loud my cart is when in motion. We chitchatted for a few minutes when he said some smart-ass comment that prompted me to jokingly stick my tongue out at him. To that he randomly said, "you need a date." When I asked why, he told me that he thinks I'd be happier if I had someone to date. I told him that I didn't need a man to make me happy and he said "yeah, but having a toy could make you happier." So in a roundabout sort of way, my co-worker/kinda friend told me that I need to get laid. He was mildly shocked when I told him that I didn't want someone just to screw around with, as if I'm supposed to just go out and drop my panties for anyone just so I can get laid and "be happy." Whatever.

Good Day

I'm currently basking in the loveliness of what was a pretty good day. I'd go into great detail about it, but I feel that would only cheapen it for me, so I'm not going to talk about it right now. But the day was good and I can give general details. My morning doctor's appointment went well. Work was slow but didn't suck. I talked to friends when I got home. My shoulder doesn't hurt as much. Good things indeed.

Ick

My shoulder has been very sore lately, rendering me incapable of spending more than short amounts of time at the computer for writing. The level of the desk in conjunction with using the mouse in a relatively chilly part of the house is aggravating the hell out of my right shoulder. Therefore, the blogging will be lighter until the shoulder feels better. I suppose it's for the best, really, since I have little to no useful writing material. I'm fodder-less.

Grumble Grumble

It really drives me nuts when people act superior to me because they have children and I don't. It also drives me nuts when people who have children act like I don't know what hard times are like because I don't have children. I hate it when I make a point about something and someone says "yeah, but you don't have kids" as if my not having kids invalidates my point in any way. I am annoyed to no end when I'm left out of an entire conversation because the other participants feel the need to center the subject around what their kids did the day before. I'm really bothered by the fact that people treat me like I'm completely clueless about life because I didn't get knocked up before I was old enough to drink legally. I went to college instead, not that it counts for anything to all the people my age who have reproduced. And my question to them is: What's so bad about being responsible and waiting until the right time to have children, and why does this deem me inferior to those of you who have different fathers for all of your kids? GRRRR!!!!

Saturday Thing

I'm a creature of habit. Today consisted of knitting while watching Buffy...same as last Saturday. At least I have the sock almost done, and that's a good thing. Then I can start on the second of the pair, finish them and then work on yet another pair of socks. I'm beginning to get all socked out, but the next pair is at least started already and they're a charity obligation. Luckily, I don't need to have them done until May, so if I have to take a break from knitted footwear, I can and not worry too much about not finishing them. They do have a bit of interest, though, what with cables and lace, so it goes by quickly. I just have to remember where I put the pattern...it's in a book somewhere...

Drowsy

After a lovely night of knitting, Seinfeld, The Silence of the Lambs, tasty Chinese food, and TONS of conversation, I'm an exceptionally tired minx. I had much fun tonight, though. Knitting is always a blast, but knitting with a friend is so much better. I'm exceptionally proud of my student!!! He's making so much progress on his scarf, I'm sure he'll be done rather soon. If there's enough of his yarn left, I'm going to help him make mittens to match. It's so exciting!!! My own project of yet another pair of socks is going along quite well. While watching movies and shows, I finished the leg, made the heel and started the foot. I'm in love with short-row heels. They use less yarn and are so effin' fast to knit. Had I chosen to knit a flap heel (which I also love very much), I'd probably not have gotten quite as far, perhaps only to the beginning of the gusset. And now I'm even more tired than I was previously. It's time for sleep--sweet, wonderful sleep.

Dull

The sheer lack of excitement in my life has left me with less-than-interesting occurrences in my daily routine. The highlights of today: I finished a book and knit on a sock. I'm knitting the sock with the new sock yarn that I wrote about on Saturday. It's knitting up rather nicely and the stripes are noticeable, yet subtle at the same time. That's about it. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Ha!

Today I Learned...

...that even though shitty things happen, I can still smile and have fun (well, as much as I can at work anyway).

...that I'm not as terrible at making new friends as I thought.

...that I am witty and delightful.

...how much I really hate it when people touch my hair when not invited to do so (well, I already knew this, so today's incident was really just an affirmation of that previous knowledge).

...that I'm pretty good at finding roundabout ways to say things.

...how much more comfortable my fingertips are with short nails than long nails.

...that even though I often talk a lot, I can be frustrated to the point where words fail me (I hate it when that happens).

...that when in doubt, I should just make a list so I'll have blog fodder.

Chit-Chat

Lacking anything significant to say, I give you a snippet of a conversation I recently had with my brother after he'd trimmed his facial hair:

Mike: Does my facial hair look white trash to you?
Minx: No...it looks kind of douche-y, if that helps.
Mike: Damn, I wanted it to look white trash. What about the side-burns?
Minx: I don't know. But it is a little douche-y looking.
Mike: No, douche-y is bad...white trash isn't.

After learning the finer points of what exactly he did to his facial hair in order to appear white trash, I couldn't stop from asking any longer:

Minx: Why do you want to look like white trash anyway?
Mike: Oh, I just kinda wanted to look a little white trash for awhile. Sounded like a good idea...

He trailed off and said something else, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. And yes, some of this is a little paraphrased, but I can remember that we did say the words "white trash" and "douche-y" that much.

Glad It Ended Before the Pain of Prom

Choosing to abandon my previously mentioned preference for blogging at night, I had to write this morning so I wouldn't lose the rather odd dream I had last night. I was dreaming about school. For some reason I was still in high school, yet taking college courses in this dream, making me a student who is nearly 30 and still in high school. I went to my homeroom twice and was late both times, so my teacher (who was, like, 3 years younger than I am) gave me tardy slips and told me I had to go to the office because I was going to get detention for being late two times in a row and all I wanted to do was finish the math homework I hadn't done the night before. I was trying to bargain with her about the detention thing and was getting somewhere when my alarm clock went off, cutting the strange dream off. I'm rather thankful for the alarm because I was starting to feel the awkwardness of being a high school student, with the added awkwardness of being an adult among children who looked at me as if I were stupid for being in high school at my age. And I just noticed that the look and feel of the word "awkward" is rather fitting, as it is an odd word to both look at and type.

Mini

This going to be painfully short tonight, for I am tired and do not feel too hot right now. I started knitting the sock yarn I showed in yesterday's post. The stripes look rather subtle so far, however I've only knitted an inch, so perhaps the striping effect will be a little more dramatic as I knit more of the sock. I will say that it does look very nice and the yarn is just lovely to work with. I'm excited to see how the socks turn out. Aside from a new knitting project, the day was a usual Sunday...I got up, did little, showered around 2:00 and went to Troy to have a drink with my friend Bonnie. Now I'm home in my jammies and contemplating starting a crossword. Mine is such an exciting life.

Beauty

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I went with my friend, Erik, to Ithaca and we had so much fun. Walking outside in natural light with cold, fresh air was both mentally and physically refreshing. We ate delicious subs and looked at books and music and yarn. That's my new sock yarn. It's Ja Woll Aktion sock yarn from Lang Yarns. It's a self-striping yarn and I just love the colors. Brown, two blue-gray shades and a lighter tan...it's very unlike the colorways I usually lean toward. The colors are rather understated, very beautiful and more masculine than I typically look for in a yarn. I'm a girly-girl with my yarn and tend toward pinks, purples, reds, and combinations that evoke more of a feminine feel. Something about this one, though, just caught my eye and said to me "Pick me! Pick me!" and who am I to ignore the call of the yarn? It was speaking to me and I had to listen.

I wasn't the only one who made a yarn purchase. Erik's yarn is Malabrigo Kettle-Dyed Merino. The camera didn't want to capture the colors quite the way they actually look. The yarn has olive green, brown and rust tones. The camera decided it wanted to make the colors a little more pink-ish looking instead. Either way, though, it's a lovely one-ply yarn that's working very well for my new knitting student. I'm pleased to say that every single one of those stitches are Erik's and he made very few mistakes (all of which were common for a novice knitter, very minor and easily fixed). His stitches are so lovely and even, I daresay he's a natural.

As I watched my friend carefully making stitch after stitch, I couldn't help but be moved by how beautiful it is to watch someone's hands performing an act of transformation. I've watched my own hands while knitting, and I've watched my other students' hands, but this was really the first time I've watched someone and found the movements so striking and amazing. I think it's due to the fact that he developed a basic competency level so quickly, so I was able to watch him make stitches, rather than watch in wait for mistake-fixing. Surely another factor was the quiet in which we were working. It was a learning experience for Erik and we had very few noise distractions and minimal conversation. My other knitterly friends have all been knitting for a long time and are at a skill level that allows them to chat and laugh while knitting, thereby distracting each other from watching hands make stitches. The quiet and the yarn and the stitching just put me in a bit of a Zen moment of beauty and I fell in love with knitting all over again.

It Ends Far From Where It Began...

So it's twice now this week that I've been forced to write in the morning because of the fact that I live with people and have to share the computer. I find this mildly annoying...not the living and sharing part, but the part about having to wait until the next morning to blog. It messes up the entire flow of it. I'm an evening blogger, not a morning blogger. If I want to keep up on writing my blog, I'd really like to be able to write when I normally prefer to write. Last night, I had so many good ideas for what I should put on here, but now they're all lost in dream land because I had to wait. I always have better ideas in the evening. I really need a laptop and a wireless connection, but I really can't afford one. Curse my wretched poorness!!! I have to look at something cute now...

To the right are my fine puppy-beasts, Josie and Chloe. Josie is the smaller dog and Chloe is the big one dangling her leg over the edge of the couch (she does that all the time). They are the most wonderful dogs in the whole world. They're loving, cuddly, happy dogs and my life is much better with them in it. They are dogs of the highest quality and they are the best people I know.

I just learned that my friend Shar just lost her sweet dog, Lucky. She'd had her dog for many years, I'd say at least 13, based on the fact that her sister, Jade, was just a baby when they got the dog and she's now a teenager. I met Lucky a couple of times and she was a very sweet and lovely dog. She was nice to me and I was nice to her. I feel badly for Shar because it hurts so much to lose a pet. It's one of the most heartbreaking experiences I've ever known and I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone. I think it's because pets love you no matter what. Pets will still love you even if you yell at them to leave you alone. They love you even if you forget to feed them until hours after their normal dinner time. They even love abusive human parents (who should be shot in the knees and castrated in my opinion, but that's another blog entirely). The most important thing pets (especially dogs) know how to do is love and it's also the thing they do best. When a pet dies, all you have is the memory of that unconditional love. Just bittersweet memories...

Resolutions are STUPID

One thing I always hate about the turn of the new year is how everyone always asks what my resolutions are for the year. I personally think New Year's resolutions are a total crock of shit. All good intentions aside, putting off change for a certain time of year usually sets one up for failure and, subsequently, self-loathing. I say if you want to change something about yourself, just do it. Don't wait until a specified day where "everybody else is doing it so I should, too" is the general mentality about it. Nine times out of ten, resolutions consist of taking measures to improve one's health, such as dieting, quitting smoking and/or exercising. Since that is the case with most resolutions, don't wait. You'll be more likely to change your habits if you begin when you make the decision AND it will be better for you in the long run to begin early, rather than wait those few extra weeks or months 'til the calendar turns. OK, I'm done now.

I Skipped It

I so cheated and didn't post last night. I was planning on posting last night...instead I went to my aunt's usual New Year's Eve shindig, which was neither shin-y nor dig-y. It was as it always is: cousins, aunts, uncles, kids and food all wrapped up in a very noisy package. It wasn't a super-big party (we're not the big-partying type of folk). I tried to read, and I managed to read a bit. A friend of the family was there watching some of my cousins playing Guitar Hero (on a side note, I was impressed when I saw "Holiday in Cambodia" listed as a song to play on that game). He wondered aloud "Doesn't anybody read anymore?" to which I held up my book. He had an expression of thankfulness that at least someone still reads. I wanted to tell him that there are a lot of us readers in the world, just not a lot of them in my family. So I continued to read on the couch, read for awhile and fell asleep. I woke up a little before 11:00 and went home to go to bed. I slept through the ridiculous midnight ball-dropping nonsense. It was so nice and quiet sleeping in my cozy bed. I should do that EVERY year!!!