TGIF!

As you can probably tell from the title, this post was actually posted on Friday, but Blogger messed up!

Let me get you all caught up on what's been happening around here.

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Tuesday, I went back to the dentist for what I thought was the last time. I was almost right about that.

He gave me a shot of Novocaine, removed the temporary front teeth and filled a cavity on a tooth next to the ones he was replacing. The cavity was so small it was almost nonexistent, and now that I know that, I wish he'd skipped the shot.

He then put on the new caps, so I have my permanent caps at last. I can now bite into a sandwich or cookie if I want! I'm planning to get some corn on the cob next time I go to the supermarket.

At this point, the area that the shot affected is not hurting as much, and in a day or two (hopefully) I won't be able to feel the ache anymore.

I have to go back in two weeks just so that they can check out how the new teeth are working with my existing teeth, the alignment, etc. There may be a few minutes of adjustment, but that's all.

Corn on the cob! I've missed it!

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Wednesday was a nightmare of trying to get my computer to work properly again. John was an enormous help, and after reloading the last upgrade to the system, some of the problem seemed to be fixed. My browser still wouldn't open. I tried to use Software Update to update it, but it said I wasn't connected to the internet, and I couldn't do it. Then it asked if I'd like to update my software. I said yes, and it informed me that I had a big problem with my browser and asked me if I'd like to fix it. I clicked yes, and it's fixed. Well, it's still a little slow and glitchy, but at least it works somewhat.

I still have some other programs that I have to repair or replace before I'm back to where I was before it all crashed.

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Thursday I saw the doctor again. She told me that I need to do more walking, and I told her I've been discouraged about doing that because I feel so bad after even a little walking. She looked at me like I was crazy.

So, after thinking about it for a bit, it finally occurred to me that if she thought it was that weird, maybe there is something wrong. She thinks I'm not getting enough vitamin D, and I'll be getting a test for that. I should mention that I'm taking lots of vitamin D supplement, but the gastroenterologist did say that I probably have big problems absorbing certain kinds of nutrition.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and (finally!) got the yarn for Everett's Christmas present!

Yes, I know how late it is.

Getting to the store involves what is a lot of walking for me, and I felt terrible last night, and still feel like someone beat me up yesterday. I had planned to go to the post office today to return the yarn I bought that looks very different in real life than it does in the photo, but in light of how I feel, I think it's going to happen Monday instead.

I feel bad enough that I don't intend to be on the computer for very long today. I just hurt everywhere!

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There's a new post on the Steve Canyon blog! John recorded a new interview for the next and last of the Steve Canyon DVDs! All the information on it is on the blog. It's very exciting!

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January is Thyroid Awareness Month! I see people all around me almost all the time with very obvious hypothyroid symptoms, and their doctors insist that there's nothing wrong with them and won't even test them, so I feel that this is an issue that people need to know more about because I can promise you that your doctor doesn't know much about it. And if that doctor is an endocrinologist, he probably knows even less about it than a GP, but thinks he knows everything (from my personal experience), and therefore won't listen to anything you have to say.

By the way, there was a study done where they sent out questionnaires to patients with hypothyroidism, and they discovered that, out of patients who had hypothyroidism for two years or more, 95% of them knew more about hypothyroidism and it's treatment than the doctors who were treating them!

The problem with this is compounded by the really bad tests available for it, and most doctors' misinformation on the subject of thyroid testing. Not only are the tests bad (as in not giving accurate results, especially the TSH), but what's considered "normal" is skewed so that it misses all but the worst cases. If the drug companies can keep you sick, they can sell you osteoporosis, cholesterol, and other medicines and make more money from it.

Check out the symptoms here, and if you suffer from many of them, see your doctor! If you actually do see your doctor, print out the list, and check off all your symptoms. He probably won't listen to you unless you do that.

Wow! I just read that list and I have 41 of the symptoms! I knew that I wasn't getting enough natural dessicated thyroid because Armor Thyroid (which is what I'm taking) was reformulated about a year ago, and although the stated amount of hormone is in each pill, the filler that they changed makes it difficult or impossible to absorb the medicine, and everyone who's been taking it has had hypothyroid symptoms. I'll be switching to Naturethroid as soon as the drug store gets it in, and that should solve the problem or at least help the situation. But I didn't realize how bad it really was!

If you have many of the symptoms, check the sidebar for more info.

And don't let your doctor prescribe Synthroid! Ask for Naturethroid or West Throid! Or even Armor Thyroid, once it's available again. They're reformulating it again to make it the same as it was before last year. Doctors keep telling me that some people get along fine on Synthroid, but it's really hard for me to believe because I feel so bad when I take it. Taking Synthroid is like being short on sleep every night. When you fist take it, it's an improvement, but over time, you just feel a little worse every day until it's even worse than not taking anything at all. Switching to Armor Thyroid was like waking up from a nightmare for me!

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Sanctuary has been on SyFy all day today, and there will be a two hour season finale on tonight!

The next-to-the-last episode of Dollhouse is still scheduled to be on Fox tonight according the electronic TV guide on Comcast, but somebody on Twitter was tweeting that it will be bumped to put on a program about the earthquake in Hati. So, at this point, I just don't know.

Other new episodes on tonight include: Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

Tomorrow, BBC in America will be showing the Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code, and a new episode of Demons.

Have a fabulous evening, and a wonderful weekend!

Happy Bastille Day!

Yes, today is Bastille Day, and I hope all of you are enjoying it immensely!

I have had the privilege of actually being in France on Bastille Day, and of actually seeing the Bastille (not on Bastille Day, though).

Do click on the link above and find out more about it.

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I've been writing a lot about science fiction and a selection of other things, and promising some knitting info, and finally, here it is.

One thing I'm starting to do (in an effort to raise some money) is knitting Christmas stockings to sell on Etsy. What could be a better Christmas present for someone who you haven't a clue what to get. Most people don't actually have a Christmas stocking, and these will be shiny! Literally shiny! And you don't have to worry if it'll fit! Unless you want to put a really big present in it.

Here's the beginning of the first stocking that I'm making for sale. All of the yarn that will be used is/will be shiny in some way except for the yarn right around the edge at the top. I suspect that part will get more wear, and the non-shiny yarn will be sturdier. The fuzzy yarn is even shiny. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't show it well. I'm going to have to find a good way to photograph this that will show off the glitz.

I got some yarn on sale a few years ago from WalMart that was called Red Heart Holiday Yarn, and I really like it. But there is a very small selection of colors to choose from. Since then, I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

Until about a week ago. JoAnn Fabrics sent me an ad, and not only do they have it, but it's on sale! I was so excited! Until I clicked on the ad, and found out that they have "upgraded" their website, and now all I get are error messages.

I fumed and worried about this for a few days, and even upgraded my browser, which didn't work.

Then, Sunday night, I woke up out of a sound sleep with a great plan for how to make my own holiday yarn! I don't have a spinning wheel for nothing!

So, you've blown it, JoAnn Fabrics! I would've bought a batch of yarn from you, but now I have a better idea, and you've lost the sale. By upgrading your website, you've said to me (very clearly) that you don't need or want my business. I may (or may not) stop in to the store, but you can forget about me as a customer for your website! Good bye!

I have a few projects going at the moment, and one of them is a vest.

Remember the variegated yarn I bought to make a scarf? Well, I came across a copy of The Knitting Experience: Book 3 in the Library, and borrowed it. I love this book!

It's the natural extension of the two previous Knitting Experience books, and it's got so much neat stuff that I've never seen anywhere else. It has instructions for knitting back backward and purling back backward. Yes! You don't have to turn your work if you're doing something with fairly short rows that's simple! And it shows Kitchner stitch for garter stitch! There are so many gems in this book that I really want a copy.

So, anyway, there was a sweater in the book that's done in tweed stitch with two rows of one color alternated with two rows of variegated yarn. If you choose yarns with the right colors and shades to mix, it's beautiful!

Well, I didn't want a sweater, but I really need a vest, so I got just a bit more of the multicolored yarn and combined it with some navy yarn I bought to make a rug (I'll make the rug later), and started this beautiful vest.

The sweater in the photo uses the wrong side of tweed stitch for the right side of the sweater, and I like that. But I also like tweed stitch. So, since I'm making this in once piece, I can wait until I'm almost completely done to decide which side I want out. Actually, I could make this reversible if I was willing to forgo pockets. I'm not willing to do that, though. So here's a photo showing both sides of the fabric.

The right side of tweed stitch is shown on the bottom of the photo, and the right side is at the top.

The color in the multi yarn is pooling, and it's giving almost a tie-dyed effect in the finished fabric. I like it!

Here's a close-up of the right side of tweed stitch. Keep in mind that this photo is a bit washed-out, and the colors are actually stronger, more like the colors shown above.

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Tonight is an all-new episode of Eureka! And we're finally going to get to see the episode of Better Off Ted that they cancelled last week. Unless, of course, they do it again. Better Off Ted was scheduled to be shown up until the last minute, and then they chose to show something else.

There's a lot of other stuff I'd like to talk about today, but I have some things I promised someone I'd do.

So, have a great evening!

Happy Summer and Dad's Day!

We get to celebrate two things today! An excess of riches!

First of all, a Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Also, today is the Summer Solstice! This is the longest day of the year! Get out there and do something in all the sunlight! And I hope you are having lots of sun on the official first day of Summer!

I know that many people consider Memorial Day as the beginning of Summer, but for thousands of years, the summer solstice, Litha, has been the traditional first day of summer.

It seems to me that the perfect celebration for the day would be to go to the beach.

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Holly and I went out yesterday, and managed to hit two craft stores in the same day: Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics!

I got all the yarn I need for two projects I'm making, both scarves. One is from someone else's pattern because It's such a great pattern and I'm too lazy to reinvent the wheel. The other is from an idea I got from a scarf someone else invented. The pattern is published in a book, and I just plain can't afford the book (OK, I'm really to cheap to buy the book), so in this case I am reinventing the wheel. We'll see how it goes, but the yarn is just gorgeous! Photos real soon, now!

At JoAnn, I got some more beads for the purple beaded shawl I'm making so that I don't run out at the end. They also happened to have kilt pins in stock and I got two because they're so good for fastening shawls and other things that I don't want to put buttons and buttonholes on. Photos of that, too, soon.

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Eureka is on the SciFi Channel all day during what would be their daytime rotation if it were during the week. Check it out if you read this soon enough.

And don't forget Merlin tonight!

Have a great beginning of Summer!

Depression

No, this time I'm not talking about a financial depression such as the great depression, although I'm sure that there are a lot of you out there that are feeling bad because of it.

This time I'm talking about being bummed out.

I haven't got a reason in the world to be so down, but I am for no reason at all. And the fact that I know there's nothing wrong and I'm still bummed only makes it worse.

Maybe it's due to the prevalence of rain ever since the middle of April that's got something to do with it.

It started yesterday, and might have had something to do with the fact that I was thinking about going to see a doctor. 

Yes, my sinuses are still doing their absolute best to drown me. 

Yes, my ear is still clogged up, and I suspect that anything that will unclog it will also unclog the other ear, too. 

Yes, my bones and joints hurt all over every time I move. 

And yes, I've gone to see doctors many, many times about all this in the last 35 years, and usually those doctors tell me (in spite of obvious, visible evidence to the contrary) that there's nothing wrong with me. 

Except for one doctor, who seemed to have it in for me, and refused to prescribe anything that wasn't harmful, and the thing he really wanted me to do would have been lethal! And telling him that I'd already tried it and nearly died from it seemed to make him even more excited, and anxious to try it again right away!

I really don't understand doctors in the United States. They seem to have lost all contact with the idea that they're trying to promote the idea that they'll do something good for your health. 

Most of them are obviously not doing anything good for your health, but at least they used to pretend they were.

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I've been meaning to go to JoAnn Fabrics all this week, and it's been raining all this week. Today, I thought I might have a chance, but it's been cloudy, overcast and rainy all day. Now that it's too late to go, the sun has come out, of course.

JoAnn is having some great sales today. If there's one near you, look up some great coupons on the internet, plus a list of sale items (scroll down for yarn, etc), and get on over there on or before Saturday!

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There's a new Burn Notice on tonight! That link will take you to info on tonight's episode, plus games and other neat stuff.

Merlin will be premiering in the US on NBC on Sunday. This is a show that was on in England a while ago, and is finally coming to the US. I don't know what the quality is like, but it's got a lot of potential, so I want to at least check it out. The NBC link is here. It has some fun games, too! Check it out!

And BBC in America has released some more information about Children of Earth, the new season of Torchwood. The whole season consists of one big story which will be shown over five evenings, starting on July 20th! I, for one, am very excited! Check out the Children of Earth link. There's a sweepstakes for a trip to Wales!

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I was distracted by finishing other projects, but I'm back to working on the purple beaded lace shawl. There's a lot of it to work on, too. After all the frogging I did, I'm back to where I was before I went berserk, and just a  little further.

You know, the sun has come out, and I'm starting to feel a bit better. Maybe it's just all the gloom and rain we've been having that's got me down.

I hope you're feeling better than I am!

Happy Memorial Day and Towel Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

I wanted to make that headline red, white and blue, but the white wouldn't have shown up and I had to settle for red and blue.

In honor of the day, I have some clippings from the Maple Shade Progress that I just scanned this morning about me. They fit right in with the Memorial Day theme. If you click on them, you can see them large enough to actually read the text.

The first one was published around the end of October, or the beginning of November in 1962.

The second one was probably published in December of the same year.

If you notice, the second one has a credit for the photo--the photographer asked me to be in the photo partly because I was the only woman in the Aero Club at the time, and partly because he wanted to meet me. We later got married, so I guess it was a good way to meet me. 

Flying was one of the most fun things I've ever done!

Check out John's Steve Canyon blog, because he said he's going to write a Memorial Day post, and going to put my photos in it! That's a generic link to the blog because he hasn't gotten the post up yet. I can't wait to see it!

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Holly and I went out yesterday and visited Michaels, where I got a really nice, tiny vacuum cleaner made especially to pick up spilled beads and other small craft parts, and JoAnn Fabrics where I got a plastic container to replace the broken pencil case I've been using for holding small knitting stuff.

We also stopped at WalMart for a while and I bought a copy of the book with the story of the new Star Trek movie. I had been thinking about going to the movies to see it again (it's soooo good!), but the book was a little cheaper, and it was written by a friend of mine, Alan Dean Foster. John and I met him at MonCon in West Virginia in late Winter or early Spring right before the very first Star Wars movie came out. 

He and John and I were doing advance publicity for the movie. He, however, had been out to the studio where they were finishing it, and he got to talk to a lot of people that were involved that John and I hadn't gotten to meet. The thing that seemed to tickle him most was that the banthas were actually "elephants in drag." That's the way he expressed it. They told him that the elephants seemed to really enjoy dressing up!

One of the best things about meeting him was meeting his wife, JoAnn. She and I got along well.

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Here's where I had gotten to on my shawl two days ago. I was inspired to take the photo because it's about one quarter done in the photo. Yesterday, I did the 8 pattern rows that put 42 flower designs across in one row. I'm a real Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fan, and couldn't resist noticing that.

Today is also Towel Day, by the way. Fans of Douglas Adams traditionally carry a towel with them all day on the 25th of May, and you may remember that I knitted a towel in the Towel Day KAL last year.


As is usual with lace, it looks like something that was wadded up and left in the trash for a week. The true beauty of lace doesn't emerge until it's blocked, so the photo is mainly to show how big it is at the moment. In the photo above, it was sixteen inches, measured along the front edge, and stretched to approximate the stretching that will happen during blocking. 

As of last night when I measured it, it was over 18 inches, and I've done some more knitting on it today. Considering that it averages six more stitches for each right side row, it goes pretty fast in the beginning, and slows significantly as progress is made.

It's intended to be about thirty six inches long measured along the front edge after blocking, so you would think that eighteen inches would be half way, but the halfway point is really at about twenty four inches as measured by yarn usage. The rule with these things is that a section that has a certain measurement uses enough yarn to knit the next section to half of the previous section's length. 

I'm into the second of four balls of yarn that have about 44o yards in each ball. And I'm more than 1/4 of the way through, so I think I'll have enough yarn, with just a little over to make it comfortable instead of close. I'm not so sure about having enough beads, though. I just used 1/4 of the beads that I bought, but I plan to use a pattern for the border that's more heavily beaded, so I may (or may not) need more beads. We'll just have to see.

After two days of perfect, fabulous weather, I woke up to rain today! And the forecast says that it'll be raining for the rest of the week! I'm glad Holly and I got to go out yesterday instead of today.

 

I hope the weather where you are is better than it is here! Happy Memorial Day! And don't forget your towel!

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Addition:

I just read a tweet by Neil Gaiman, and he said something about a show on Sundance tonight called Dreams with Sharp Teeth, and mentioned Harlan Ellison. Read more about it here.

Middleman

I ran across some news for Middleman fans today. First there is an article about it on TV Shows on DVD. Then there is a picture of the new DVD's cover on the Middleblog. The DVD will be premiering at Comic-Con in San Diego. I really hope John gets a chance to go to this, because I want some first-hand information!

I just can't wait for the DVD to be out!

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Well, Friday, I had so much stuff to say that I felt like I was going to explode. Then, yesterday, there wasn't a thing I wanted to post.

Holly and I went out for the day, and had a lot of fun.

She stopped at my place first, and started a new baby blanket she's making for a friend. The yarn is beautiful. If you click that link, I think it's the color called boys and girls. Hers seems to have more lavender/blue in it, though, so it might be a different color, but the same type of self-patterning yarn. She's making a circular blanket, so the center (where you start) is really tricky for a bit until you get going. She's doing the center using magic loop, rather than DPs, and she's almost up to the point where she can just knit around without the loops on a 24 inch circular needle. It'll be much easier after that. The center, so far, is so beautiful that it's almost making me want to run out and buy some yarn and make one, too.

I have a sock I'm working on (yet--I got to the toe and ran out of yarn in that ball, so I frogged back to the leg and made it a half inch shorter), plus the moebius hood for the House Cup KAL, the Christmas stockings I need to start, and another project that I might get paid for.

So, I really don't need another project to start.

But the baby blanket is so beautiful! I really should've taken a picture.

We went to Michaels, and discovered that they're still talking about all the wonderful yarns that they'll be getting in for Spring, but don't have in the store yet. There were areas of shelves that were totally empty which they had attempted to cover with big signs telling about the wonderful yarn that would be there someday.

I have news for them! It's Spring already, and the Spring projects that people want to knit should be nearing completion at this point, not waiting in limbo for yarn to start them. At the rate they're going, the Spring yarn will arrive this Summer, just in time to knit projects for the Fall! This is so stupid I cannot believe it!

Then we went to the new JoAnn Fabrics store, which is just bursting with all the yarn that Michaels doesn't have! I'm going to be doing two more Christmas stockings for the family that ordered the first five, so I bought the yarn for them while I was there, plus a really nice pair of scissors, perfect for clipping seams once I get back to sewing. I need a nice table to put my sewing machine on so that I can leave it out all the time. Otherwise, I'll never get any sewing done. I also want a chair that I can use with the table for sewing, and at my computer, too.

While we were there, Holly got a pair of stretchy gloves that are intended to help with hands that do too much and are overstressed. They also have wrist support built in. She plans to wear them not only for knitting, but also for work, so this was a good buy for her. 

Then, we went to the nice WalMart in the area. This is the one I have to take two buses to get to. The one that has a good selection of yarn and other things, not the nearby one that doesn't have 25 percent of what I went to shop at WalMart for on a regular basis.

We finished up with a loooong meal at Ruby Tuesday, and a nice long time to talk and have fun.

I got to a point in the moebius hood last night where I could finish the moebius part. I was able to get it around my shoulders, and it's good enough, so far, that I can see that this is almost certainly going to work if I persevere and finish it. I think it will be nicer if it's a little wider, though, so I'm continuing for another five inches to see if that makes an improvement. I suspect it will. It was workable, but the back of it wanted to slide up the back of my head, so I think just a little longer may solve that fit problem.

I wished I'd had it finished so I could wear it yesterday, along with the matching poncho I plan to knit. I wore the right clothes for being out in the weather yesterday. It's still a bit chilly around here. I think it was supposed to go up to about 50 or 55 yesterday.

But for riding around in a car that had been parked in the sun for a while, it was way too warm.

I hope you've been having a great weekend!

So Much Is Happening!

There's so much going on today that I probably shouldn't take the time to post this, but there's so much to tell.

John is starting to get the photos from his trip to Reel Stuff back. Here's one of them:


There's also a friend of his, Matt Tauber, who put up a post with more photos in it, and you can see it here. The post has some great photos in it and an eyewitness account of his experience. Since I couldn't be there, it's much better than I could do. So, check it out.

From what I understand, there will be more photos here about it soon, but don't forget to check out his blog at Steve Canyon on DVD!

And here's a photo I stole from his blog.

What I should be doing right now is one last round of changes on the inside cover for the Steve Canyon on DVD Volume 2. It's the one page that John hasn't shown anybody, and he has one last option he wants to look at before he makes the final decision. I'm at that stage in the proceedings where I can't wait for it to be finalized and done with. Once that's over, I'll be waiting to get my copy in the mail. After that, it'll be waiting to get the information for the third volume. I'm sure you're getting the drift now. I'm always wanting the next thing.

It's so close to being done that I'm really excited! John is anxious to get it done, too!

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Stephanie Pearl McPhee was interviewed (via phone) on the Graham Norton show. 

Greg Kinnear was on the show and they talked about the word that Steph invented with his name. You can see that section of the show on YouTube. They showed Steph's blog on the show, too. You can catch the announcement of the show on Twitter, too.

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Vicki Howell is having another contest for a copy of her new book over on her blog. There is also a photo up of one of the designs in the book, and I have to say that even though I'm not big on crochet, I really love this one! If you're a crocheter, don't miss this one!

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Well, I entertained myself yesterday (and wore myself out) by going over to the new JoAnn Fabrics here. When Holly and I were at AC Moore last weekend, there was some really pretty yarn that I liked a lot and I've been regretting not buying it ever since. I love the sock yarn that I bought instead, but I wish I had also bought the sparkly, shiny, blue sport yarn, too. The stuff I keep picturing in lace with blue, dark plum and/or white iridescent beads scattered around the bottom.

The first sock, by the way, is nearly done. I have less than an inch before I start the toe shaping. Photos soon.

Somehow, I thought that there might be a good chance that JoAnn would have it, too. I was sadly mistaken. I did find more of the yarn that I liked so much for the Mobius hood, which I really need to get back to knitting. I bought it, hoping that there will be enough to make a poncho with. Then I can wear the poncho with the hood over it. Of course, I can wear the poncho or hood separately should I wish to, always assuming that the hood actually turns out to be wearable. This is all very experimental.

But the hood has to be done by the end of this month for the Harry Potter House Cup KAL/CAL I'm involved in. Getting stuff done works better for me when I have a deadline.

If it does turn out well, you can expect a hood/poncho pattern for sale soon. And another pair of patterns for the book I haven't been working hard enough on.

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There's a new Supernatural on tonight, and not much more in science fiction (or, in this case, fantasy) TV news.

I caught Galaxy Quest and They Live right before they came on in the last couple of days and recorded them, but haven't watched them yet. They're both movies I've watched multiple times and still love.

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I just finished reading Twilight and enjoyed it immensely. There were a lot of strange reviews of this on Amazon, and some of the reviews are grossly misleading. 

One thing a lot of people went on about was the way it's written. The consensus seems to be that it's badly written, which wasn't what I found at all. Accusations were made that there are misspelling, grammatical errors, and more in this book. I found two typos, and that's all. And I was really looking for this after all the reviews. The writing is very clear and allows the story to move at a brisk, easy pace. It's a quick, easy read, and hard to put down. It portrays a teenagers first love very well, so if you'd like to go along for that rollercoaster ride again, here's your chance. 

One thing most of the reviewers missed is that this told as a first person narrative. That's why it's submerged in self-doubt, and dripping with nauseous detail about how beautiful/wonderful/smart/funny/you get the picture the object of her affection is. That's the perspective of this hormone bombarded teen, not necessarily the truth that someone else would see.

The book exaggerates the whole teen love experience by making the heroine's boyfriend a vampire. Making vampirism a metaphor for lust is something that's been done over and over, so there's nothing new in that, but it's done well here. And yes, it's very mellow dramatic! So is first love. Get over it! If you don't want to read gooey trash, skip this. But I found it fun and definitely worth a read.

I have the next two sequels for this on request at the library, but in the meantime, I'm getting back to The Dresden Files series by rereading my favorite from the series, Blood Rites. It's my favorite because Harry gets involved in making a movie. It's only when he shows up for work that he discovers the movie is porn. This leads to more humor than most of the Dresden books. Well, it may have something to do with the fact that I've worked on some low-budget films (science fiction, not porn) myself. I love all the Dresden books, but this is my favorite so far.

I have to get busy and finish the alternate view of the inside front cover for Steve Canyon, Volume 2. Before John has a meltdown. He's not pushing me or giving me a hard time, but I know he wants to.

Have a great day!

Loot from the New JoAnn Store!

Here's what I bought at the new JoAnn store:

Doesn't look like much, does it?

Well there are some mother-of-pearl star-shaped buttons that aren't in the photo, too. I bought some cross stitch bobbins, which are great for winding the tail when you cast on. How many times have you cast on something, started knitting, and halfway through the first row discovered that you're knitting with the tail from the cast on instead of the working yarn? Well, this stops that.

There are some really nice point protectors, and grips for steel (and larger) crochet hooks, and some interesting sock yarn. I've started the first sock and am just starting the heel flap, so there will be a photo of that soon. I haven't made up my mind if I really like this sock yarn. My liking or not liking seems to be dependent on the color.  I'm still making up my mind.

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We're winding down to the end on the Steve Canyon DVD covers, and it's starting to look good. I can't wait to be finished with this. John and I discussed some really exciting ideas for the DVD labels for the last volume (the one after the one we're working on, which is volume 2). The front cover for this was a lot of work because the copy of the photo used for it was badly scratched, and had lots of dust, dirt and debris on it, so there was a lot to fix even before I could do something about adding color. It looks like it was worth it though. 

I'll have more information as it unfolds.

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I hope everybody out there had a chance to see Dollhouse on Friday. That episode costarred Matt Keeslar from The Middleman, always a delight to the eye, this time as a psychotic killer out to get Echo. Actually, there was a lot of Psychotic killer in evidence during the episode.

By the way, The Middleman will be out this summer (July) on DVD. They're basing the decision on whether to continue the show on how well the DVD sales go, so go out there this summer and enjoy or discover the delights of this wonderful show! I'll let you know when it's possible to advance order it, but if you can't wait until summer, check it out via comic book!

I caught a really wonderful science fiction suspense/thriller the other night, called Deja Vu, starring Denzel Washington. It had me on the edge of my seat practically from the beginning. It involves technology that is close to real time travel, which usually makes the best or worst stories. In this case, it's the best. The science fiction is nearly as brilliant and the dialogue.

At one point the agent is asking if a woman (who is currently dead) is actually alive in the past. He asks "Is she dead or alive?" The techs shuffle their feet a bit, and he says "I'll make it simple so you folks with PHds can understand it." Then he picks up a chair and smashes a monitor. "That monitor is broken. It's dead. It hasn't 'temporarily transitioned to a different state of entropy.' It's dead! Now, is she dead or alive?"

It's a delight and a real thrill ride!

I hope you had a great weekend and I wish you a wonderful week!

A New JoAnn Store Is Opening!

There's a JoAnn store near me that's moving to a new location, and today is the first day it's open. The grand opening includes lots of sales and neat specials.

Unfortunately, the old store had a bus stop right in front of it, and the new store is at least half a mile from the closest bus stop, which means lots of walking to get there. The old store has been almost empty since early December, and the new store is sure to be full of everything! I want to go, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get there today. I still have a little work on getting out a preliminary front cover for the second volume of Steve Canyon DVDs. So, I need to get that done first.

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USA is showing Burn Notice during the day today, and apparently every Thursday, presumably because the new episode is out each Thursday evening.

I believe there's a new Eleventh Hour on tonight, and also Supernatural.

Have fun! I've got to get some work done so that I can schedule a trip to the movies to see Coraline!

Busy Week!

This has been such a busy week!

Monday, I went and did my monthly shopping at WalMart. 

Tuesday and Wednesday there was supposed to be freezing rain all day, so I tried to stay in. Thankfully, the temperatures didn't get down to freezing, so it was just a lot of rain.

Wednesday I had a dentist's appointment, so couldn't manage to stay in. I rushed over there, and the dentist's assistant was out sick, and doing fillings is a two-person job, so they made an appointment for me yesterday.

Yesterday, I went back and had two fillings removed and replaced. Then I walked over to the clinic and picked up my medicine. I had a choice of two bus stops to go to (the clinic is at one point of a triangle between two bus stops at the other two points). I chose to go to CVS for something my local CVS doesn't have and caught the bus nearby.

Then I went to the Post Office to mail a pattern to Germany. The Post Office charged me $1.75 instead of the $30 they said it would cost on their website.

By the time I got out of there, the temperature was dropping (along with the sun) and the wind was picking up. Luckily I didn't have long to wait for the bus, but it was long enough to get really chilled. Then I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics, which was having a fabulous sale. Unfortunately, this particular JoAnn will be moving next month, so they haven't been ordering new anything, so although the prices were great, there wasn't much to buy. I bought a couple of balls of Paton's Classic Wool in the blue rag color. Somewhere in my travels (I think it was at the clinic) I lost one of my mitts, and had to keep my hand in my pocket when I was out for the rest of the trip. I'll get more yarn tomorrow and make a couple more. Normally, I make three at a time, but I ran out of yarn at the end of the second one, and was going to get more tomorrow to make the third one.

Today, I need to take some books back to the Library and pick up a DVD I requested and then stop by Safeway. Oh, and taking down the Christmas decorations might be nice, too, if I get the time.

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In between all of this, I managed to almost finish the second Christmas stocking! I'm down to the white part in the toe. I'm hoping to knock out one of these a week if my wrist and hand hold out.

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Right before I left for the dentist yesterday, there was a knock at my door, and the UPS guy delivered my DVD recorder. I didn't have time to do more than open it and marvel at how wonderful it was at the time.

Today, I tried to wade through the instruction manual, and I have to say, that although I was responsible for putting together the instruction manual (and repair manual, wiring diagrams, etc.) for the BMEWS project, this thing is written in gobbledygook! It says that upsampling makes a better picture and you should always use it when playing back DVDs, but it also says that all the outputs from the recorder are disabled if you use upsampling. It also uses lots of words for which it doesn't supply a definition, and is written in the kind of pidgin English that you get from having a native speaker of another language try to translate to English without any knowledge of English grammar.

I also have to read the whole manual and determine what I need to buy to make it work. Some of the cables it says are included don't appear to be there. Plus, I definitely haven't gotten any blank DVDs to record to.

It will be an adventure.

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I've recently discovered something interesting about the current depression. It's been more than a week since the Safeway near me had any Coca Cola in two liter bottles. I asked the manager of the store about it, and she said that they can't get any more than that from the distributer. So, although the store is able to sell two or three times as much Coke as they do, they can't because the distributer won't supply it.

I believe what the manager of the store said because when they are out of Coke, so are all the other supermarkets in the area. And I'll bet that the CEO of Coke is wondering why their sales are half of what they should be.

I've noticed the same pattern with other groceries, too. Stores are out of certain items half the time, and when one is out, they're all out. Which means that those companies could be selling at least twice as much if they made the goods available.

Another point in case is the WalMart near where I live. I suspect that WalMart and Caron made a deal, because the only place that you can buy the new Caron Simply Soft Eco yarn is at WalMart.

Except that you can't buy it at WalMart. The local store put out a limited display of it about three months ago, and promptly sold out almost all of it. End of story. No more has been put out on the shelves. They have an empty section marked for that yarn with only a few balls of yarn left from the original supply.

And the WalMart in Manassas doesn't carry it at all. There aren't even empty shelves for it. If you want to buy it, you have to go to the WalMart in Dumfries. They have a beautiful (usually full) display of beautiful colors available. The display changes, and there is usually a difference in the display that shows that they're stocking the shelves and selling it.

The other WalMarts could be selling it, too, but they don't bother putting it out on the shelves.

What is wrong with American business? I understand that there's a depression on, but these are things they could sell if they bothered to make them available.

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As far as science fiction on television is concerned, brace yourself for a roller coaster ride! All the great series are coming back for their midseason premiers this month, and they're showing reruns leading up to the new shows in the meantime.

Next Wednesday evening, ABC will be showing a Lost marathon! That will be preceded, of course, by the usual Lost marathon on the SciFi Channel on Monday evening. And G4 is also showing episodes of Lost almost every day. They really seem to want to get people excited about the premier in a couple of weeks.

USA is having a Psych marathon during the daytime today, in case you're in time to catch the end of it.

And, of course, SciFi is having a Stargate Atlantis marathon every day during their daytime rotation this week in preparation for the season finale tonight, witch will be followed by a new Sanctuary.

Well, I need to get moving. There's lots to do today.

Have a great weekend!

We Have (some) Yarn!

I spent a lot of today shopping for yarn for the Christmas stockings I'm knitting for a customer.

After examining the sample stocking, I realized that the person who did the originals did it to a larger gauge than specified in the instructions, which say it should be knit at seven stitches per inch on size 3 needles. The sample stocking was knit at eight stitches per inch, and I found that I could do that with Wool Ease on size 4 needles. I pulled some yarn from stash and knit a gauge swatch last night after getting the sample stocking.

This means that I don't have to order a bunch of new needles in size 3, I can use my Options needle set to provide the size 4 I need. I'm going to get a set of double point needles in 4, though, because I like DP needles for the heel part of regular socks when I knit them, and I don't have any size 4 DPs.

So today, I hopped on the bus and went to JoAnn Fabrics and shopped for yarn. I thought the Wool Ease red (Ranch Red) would be too orange and too bright, but it turns out that the sample is even more orange and brighter. Ranch Red is probably as close as I'm going to get to the color. Unfortunately, the store only had one ball. I did get the two balls of dark green, which I think will be enough. I also found a white for the top and the toe that looks like snow. It's a bright white, and has a bit of subtle sparkle, just like snow. I grabbed three balls of that. 

Then, I surprised myself by finding a fuzzy white yarn that looks like it's going to work beautifully for the fur and Santa's beard. This is a softer white than the stuff for the "snow" at the top of the sock.

I didn't find a good color for Santa's face, though. And I still need more of the red. One skein is not going to make five stockings.

But I have enough to make a start on the first one.

Walking around JoAnn was an eye opener. Large sections of the shelves were empty, and I started to get a bad feeling, the more empty shelves I saw. Then I found a sign apologizing for the lack of stock due to the store closing. It turns out, though, that they're just moving to a location that the bus doesn't go to, and I can't get there without a lot of walking.

I'm bummed.

It's better than if they were going away entirely, though.

I should have a photo or two on Friday of the yarn and what little I'll have done by then.

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No post tomorrow due to extensive dental work starting early, and probably making me feel bad for the rest of the day.

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Apparently, Leverage will be premiering on Sunday, not Saturday as I mistakenly thought. Sorry. The trailers look good, though.

The Librarian movies (Quest for the Spear and Return to King Solomon's Mines) will be back this weekend on TNT, and there will be a new one. The first two are excellent (some of my favorite movies), so with any luck the new one will be, too.

I need to get some sleep so I can get up early to go to the dentist tomorrow.

Have a great day!