I'm Lost!

The writers of Lost chose to take the easy way out and not explain or wrap up anything! I don't know why they bothered to call it a finale! The last show didn't live up to the rest of the series in any way, shape, or form. I feel betrayed and cheated! I don't want to throw out any spoilers for anyone who might have missed it, so I won't say any more.

If you have seen it, here's an article about it that's far more unbiased than I am. This article has lots of spoilers, so be warned!

But if you'd like a laugh, my friend, John put this up on his Facebook page.

***************************

We're about half way through the last week of this round of TV sweeps, so as with Lost, we're seeing lots of season finales. It ends on the 26th (Wednesday), so after that, you can expect the pitts from such stations as SyFy, who has decided that nobody watches them on holidays, so why not show only junk then? Actually, I tend to think they're wrong because I'll be watching TV all Memorial Day weekend, only a lot of it will on BBC in America, who will be showing lots of science fiction on Sunday (starting at midnight) and Monday! Check your TV guides!

One of the finales is Chuck, and they're promising that it will be good (but then again, so did Lost!). Whatever the quality, we'll certainly be getting more quantity because they will be showing two hours of it! I'm braced for impact!

Since there's nothing remotely good on Tuesday or Wednesday (I really miss Eastwick!), tonight is effectively the end of good TV in the US until July.

If you have a DVR or TiVo, you'll be able to see the finale of The Big Bang Theory, too!

****************************

I've been doing more spinning. It doesn't look like much on the bobbin, so I didn't bother taking a photo, but I think it's going to be exceptional.

In the past, I've mostly been spinning for SCA garb or for lace, so a nice, smooth yarn was what I was going for.

This time, I'm deliberately making slubs, although not to the point of ridiculousness, but there will definitely be more texture in this yarn. I haven't made up my mind if I want to ply the blue/white singles with a solid medium blue singles or with itself. The medium blue is a bit warmer color than the variegated.

Hope you're having a marvelous Monday!

LOST Weekend!

All you Losties probably already know that he grand finale of Lost will be on Sunday night.

Make sure you don't miss out on the rebroadcast of the very first, two-hour pilot, being aired tonight, though. Tomorrow night, they'll hit all the highlights of the story so far, and then show the two-hour series finale!

They said they'd answer our questions. They said that they'd let us find out what's been happening all this time.

I hope they're right! There have been a few clues this year, but no real answers yet.

So, set your DVRs/VHSs to record all this.

You're going to want to watch it again.

You know you will!

********************************

BBC in America is going to be showing the newest Doctor Who episode tonight, too. It's Vampires in Venice, right after the rebroadcast of Flesh and Stone. Where I live, it's on during Lost, but they'll be showing both of them two more times later in the evening and on into early morning, plus Vampires will be on Tuesday evening, so you don't have to miss Lost to catch it!

In case you aren't paying attention, there will be a lot of science fiction on BBC in America this week. Torchwood will be on during a lot of Monday, and they seem to be making Tuesday evening dedicated to science fiction, including another rerun of Vampires in Venice. This Tuesday, however, there will be a lot of Primeval, starting at 11 am. Keep an eye on them all week, though, because they seem to really be caught up in the science fiction thing this week! Check your local listings.

I've heard that The Legend of the Seeker will not be returning after this season, and that means the series finale will be coming up soon, so don't miss it on the CW, Sunday night (if that's when it comes on where you live). I'm really disappointed that it's been cancelled.

I'm going to go and do a little spinning, run some errands, and enjoy all the fun stuff on TV this weekend!

I hope you have a weekend that's as much fun as mine is going to be!

A Dozen Days Until the Sheep and Wool Festival!

I'm all excited about the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which will be the first full weekend in May (always), and is the largest thing of it's kind in the United States! This year it will be on May 1 and 2, and we'll be going on the first.

This year, the big draw for me is that the Majacraft people will be unveiling their new wheel, called Serenity (another Firefly fan was responsible for this), which was designed specifically for spinning "art yarns." I can't wait to see it, and see how it works, and what makes it special! Here is a photo of some of the yarns that have already been spun on a Serenity:

This photo is from the Majacraft blog, which you can find and read at the above links. I'm showing the photo because I want you to go look at it on their blog. It's an incentive.

This year, I may have some money coming to me, but if it doesn't arrive by the end of the month, I'll be going without any money. There will be a lot of things I can later buy over the internet, but there will be a lot of things I'll have to miss out on if I have to go with no money.

Here's a couple of photos of their Rose wheel, which is the one I have:

Holly went to a knitting retreat this past weekend, and she was telling me about one of the women who was there and spun on what she thought was a Rose wheel all weekend. She said she wasn't sure and would tell me the next time she saw my wheel, so I thought I'd put photos of the wheel up so she could see them.

Money or not, I'm still getting excited about the Sheep and Wool Festival!

**********************

I have actually been doing some knitting, but what I've been knitting is gifts for others, so you won't be seeing photos of them here for a while. Sorry!

***********************

There's a rerun on Chuck and The Big Bang Theory tonight, but a brand, spanking, new episode of Castle. No Ghost Whisperer on SyFy, though because they're doing their "miniseries" month. It'll be back on Monday nights eventually, at least once in a while.

Tomorrow night, as usual, there will be a new Lost and V!

Wednesday is an evening to spend watching what you recorded on your TiVo, DVR or VHS.

I hope you're having a terrific start to your week!

********************

Addition:

The apartment place I live in promised that the people would be coming out today to turn on the air conditioning. They say it takes a whole 8 hours for them to do this, but it's now 6:30, and it usually goes on around 4 or 5 when they actually do it, and it's 80 degrees in here, so it's obvious they haven't done it.

It's cool outside, so that's not a problem. The problem is that the windows are open and there's a fan blowing in not only cool air, but all the pollen, too! My health can't stand this!

********************

Another Addition:

Get your fix of cute little lambs here!

Heat Wave!

Well, we're back to the usual Spring insanity with the place that I live.

Don't get me wrong, this is a really wonderful place to live. There's just one problem. The heat is either on or off. The building seems to hold heat, and I only have to use the control that I have in my apartment to turn it up from "cold" when the temp doesn't go above 10 degrees for a high in the winter. Normally, the windows are open from October to late April because it's so warm in here.

Well, we have had temperatures around 80 degrees for over a week, and THE HEAT IS STILL ON! It's expected to get to around 90 today, and have I mentioned that the heat is STILL ON! I can expect temps in my apartment of 110 degrees or above.

AND, as if that isn't enough, the only way I've been able to survive so far is by opening the windows and blowing in TONS of tree pollen, to which I'm allergic! So, as usual, the apartment place has given me a BIG start on a health problem that will last until Christmas because of all this pollen I'm being exposed to. First, there's tree pollen (now), then grass, then ragweed.

I'm planning on going out for the day where the heat will only be excessive, not lethal.

Maybe I'll move to the mall.

Anyway, until this problem is resolved, you may not hear much of me on this blog, so don't be alarmed.

Lost and V tonight!

Have fun until I'm back!

No Photos!

Blogger has just updated their interface, and so, of course, there is a problem. This particular one seems to mean that there are no photos in my blog. That includes the sidebar. All of them have been removed! I've been to blogger help after I tried unsuccessfully to replace a photo that had gone. Everybody on blogger seems to be having this problem, and can't even replace their photos. So, you won't be seeing any photos here for a while.

Don't we just love progress?

Oh, and by the way, the reason they changed their interface so that it would deal with photos better!

They're not offering any help on the help forum, so let's hope that they're aware of the problem and are doing something about it, although it would be nice to know if that's the case.

*************************

V will premier tomorrow night, so SyFy has gotten on the bandwagon and is showing (probably all of the original) V today, this evening, and tomorrow. I think it might just end in time to switch over and see the premier of the new season!

If you have a DVR (or TiVo) you might want to set it to see the new episode of Lost, though.

As for tonight, there is a new Chuck, a rerun of The Big Bang Theory, and a new Castle, which is the second half of last week's episode. We'll get to find out if Beckett survived the explosion.

*****************************

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, The Drex Files, and found this entry that tickled me now end. It's about someone who is marketing covers to put on your garage doors to make it look like the door is open and there's something in your garage that's different than what's really there.

I've been following the Steve Canyon comics on his blog, and it's really fun.

*************************

It's cold and rainy here. I hope it's better where you are! Have a great beginning of the week and a wonderful Spring break (if that applies to you)! Here's hoping that you will see photos here again sometime soon!

************************

Addition:

So, after writing all that, I publish this and go to look at my sad blog with no photos, and they're back! At least some of them are. I'm seriously confused at this point!

Know-It-All Bag Contest and More

There is a contest on Knitty that has a prize of the electronic components to make the Know-It-All bag! Most of their contests have an automatic entry for everyone who subscribes to their blog, but this is one you have to enter. Check it out! Good luck!

*************************

When President Obama first started talking about Health Care Reform, I was all for it.

Then I found out he's working on Health Insurance Reform. The Health Care Reform is apparently yet to come. And I really hope that enough people have figured out that it really isn't care that's been reformed so that we have some hope of real health care reform!

But I noticed one interesting thing. If you follow Twitter, our president is on there. I followed him. I'm sure he doesn't write the tweets personally, but there was one up where he was rejoicing about the health care reform bill and it's passing. I wrote him a reply pointing out that it's health insurance that's being reformed, and ever since then, the tweets "from" the president have referred to it as health insurance reform!

It's a first step in changing how people think about the bill and the reform. It's more accurate. And it leaves the door open for real health care reform! I'm also amazed and impressed that I was able to communicate that to someone who is in a position to change people's perception!

***********************************

We've been having sun and weather with highs around 70 degrees for about a week, now. As you know if you follow my blog, in the apartment building where I reside, the heat is either on or off. Currently, it's on, so the daily low temperatures in my apartment have hovered around 80 degrees. Today (and yesterday) we've had either rain or just overcast and lower temperatures, so it's a livable temperature here, for a change. I'm so glad I'm not melting today.

***************************

Lost tonight!

First there's the weekly recap of last week's episode (with odd info underneath that makes it worth watching again). Then, the new episode!

And as if all that weren't enough, it will be followed by the premier of the new season of V!

Not another interesting thing on tonight!

I hope this is shaping up to be a good week for you!

Hi! I'm Still Here!

I haven't blogged in a while, and I know I'm going to start getting emails from people wanting to know if I'm OK.

Well, I'm fine. Kind of hyped that I actually got some benefit from the last visit to the doctor, and that I'll be going to two other doctors who the first one said could help me. I'll survive with the problems I have (I've had them for about 35 years and survived), but I think I could feel better, so if these doctors can actually help me, I'll be overjoyed!

Other than that, there's not much that's really happening.

I'm knitting something that's a present for somebody who reads my blog, so I'm not going to talk about it here. I'll post photos later.

************************

Lost is on tonight!

And it's being followed by a catch-up episode of Flash Forward! A brand new episode will be on tomorrow night (for two hours!) and they put together an "here's the story so far" show for those of us who haven't seen it, or those of us who feel it's been so long since a new episode that we've totally forgotten what what happening.

************************

It's warm (for the time of year) and sunny out, and I have some errands to run, so I have to get moving.

Have a fabulous week! And don't be surprised if there isn't a post for a few days.

Belated Oscar Notes

I watched the Oscars on Sunday, and noticed something very interesting. There was a woman nominated for best actress, and she looked so familiar, but I couldn't place her. Neil Gaiman tweeted about her, and things finally clicked. His daughter, Maddy was the one who put it all together. Carey Mulligan is the actress who played Sally Sparrow in the Doctor Who episode, Blink, one of my all-time favorite Doctor Whos!

Below, you can see how she looked in Blink, before she got her head mowed.

I love Sandra Bullock, and I'm glad she got an Oscar, but by the time they announced the winner, I was rooting for Carey.

Being a ground-breaking woman's rights person who campaigned by living a life full of things women supposedly weren't able to do, I was also happy to see that a woman got an Oscar for directing.

Some of the other awards seemed to go to the picture rather than the person, though. Maybe that's just me, and I can't really say that I could judge fairly because I didn't see most of the movies that had people nominated for working on them.

******************************

The Legend of the Seeker will be back for a third season, although where it will be shown is still up in the air. Locally, I can watch it on the CW on Sunday nights, but if you're local, or watch it on the CW, you should know that they frequently list a different episode than they actually show (at least on the Comcast digital TV guide).

In the new show that was on last week (and, due to a mix-up, again this week), Zed has frozen some people and is describing them so that his crew can impersonate them. He describes the man as being "formidable." Richard says "He doesn't look like a fighter." and Zed says he's not, he's got a way with the ladies and describes him as "his reputation is not the only thing that preceeds him into a room!"

Lost is on again tonight! As usual, a recap of last week, and then the new episode. The recaps are excellent, because they add notes about things you might have missed.

The season finale for White Collar is also on tonight! It promises to be the best yet, which is saying something!

**************************

Back near the end of last month, I ordered some great yarn from Herrshners. Everything seemed to go through just fine, and I've been running downstairs to check to see if it's arrived every day lately. Well, it's been a while, and I was starting to wonder what happened to the yarn.

At this point, I still don't know what happened, but it apparently didn't go through, and I'm very disappointed! It seemed to go through, and I got a confirmation email from Herrshners (which has since disappeared), and now that I go back and check for the charge from my checking account, it's not there.

I am very, very disappointed!

The worst part of all this is that I had a ball of it left from another project, and started knitting a project which will be a present for someone who reads this blog, so I can't talk about it here. But I've knit all the yarn I have, and have been waiting for the additional yarn.

This particular yarn has been discontinued, and I love the yarn, so I'm sad about that, but it is possible to find it here and there on line. I ordered some today, but it's not as inexpensive as what I originally ordered.

Back to waiting for it!

************************

I found a fabulous infrared photo of Cassiopeia on line today! You have to check this out!

Please click the link and go to NASAs website to find lots of other neat photos!

**************************

I think today is the warmest day we've had here so far this year. I really need to get off the internet and get outside!

I hope things are going as well for you as they are for me!

*****************************

Addition:

Read about the knitting soldiers! His blog is here.

And the most important news of all: the second chapter of Jim Butcher's book Changes is out today! Changes is the latest book in the Dresden Files series and is due out in April.

Valentine's Day Is Tomorrow!

I'm dragging myself out of a hypothyroid stupor to write this, so I hope you appreciate it!

I'll start with Valentine's Day. Do check the link. There's a lot of history in the Wikipedia listing, and it's very interesting!

Anyway, Crazy Aunt Purl has two blog posts up about Valentine's Day. The first one has a link to a contest, but I'm mentioning this first because the contest ends at midnight tonight, so if you want to enter, do it quickly. I already entered!

The second one is just a wonderful read, written by a woman who has really found herself. She makes me feel happier after reading this than I have in a few days, and is worth the read. Very inspiring!

***********************

If you're entered in the Knitting Olympics, The Yarn Harlot has a post up about it here. If you follow her on Twitter, you'll know that she went nuts last night because NBC didn't broadcast the opening ceremonies in real time, but delayed it for quite a while. She was upset that she didn't know exactly when they lit the big torches in the stadium so she could cast on. If you're reading this right after I write it, I retweeted some of her comments, and you should still be able to read them in my tweets in the sidebar.

I recorded the opening ceremonies on my DVR (such as it is) and watched other stuff last night, mostly from my DVR, because although CBS said earlier in the week that they would show a new (I think) Ghost Whisperer and Medium, they decided at the last minute not to do it, and showed junk instead. I can only assume that they thought everyone would be watching the Opening Ceremonies, so why bother showing anything worth watching? I was disappointed!

So, anyway, I watched stuff on my DVR and kept switching to the opening ceremonies, wondering when the torch in the stadium would be ignited. I did that for several hours before getting distracted by a ghost story, and really shared Steph's exasperation! First of all, they had 1-1/2 hours of not opening ceremonies in their opening ceremonies. I think it's a terrible tragedy that the luge went out of control and that someone died, but I didn't feel it was really essential to watch it several times, even though NBC obviously did.

And then, there were hours of inane programming. I did like that everyone in the audience had flashlights, and that they all had them on and were waving them. Maybe it would have been more impressive if I was watching the whole thing, from beginning to end, but I just tuned in periodically, usually in the middle of something, thinking "What is this?" Sheets pulled up to look like mountains (?) with skiers and snow boarders floating in the air? What's that all about?

Part of my annoyance and disinterest is because I waffled around for a while trying to decide on a project to make for the Knitting Olympics. When I finally made a decision, it was late enough that although it was possible for the post office to get my Knit Picks order to me yesterday, it wasn't very likely, and in fact, didn't happen. I'm not supposed to be able to get packages on the weekend, even if the post office delivers it today, I theoretically can't get it. I'm going to try to at least find out if my package was delivered today, and if it was, I'm going to try to get it.

I may sign up for the Ravelympics with a small project to keep me feeling like I'm doing something until my package arrives.

So, since I couldn't cast on during opening ceremonies, I was bummed (over and above being depressed by the hypothyroidism), and didn't really want to watch something on TV when I couldn't participate in it.

Which leads me to my other frustration about the Olympics. I used to love to play sports (except baseball). Watching other people play sports, though, is just boring! The Olympics does have some sports that are interesting and unusual enough that I do enjoy watching them on TV (especially figure skating), but the Opening Ceremonies is not one of them.

I'll feel better and write happier after my thyroid problem is solved.

***********************

My DVR has developed an aversion to next Thursday, just like it did to that Wednesday last month when it wouldn't display any digital TV guide data at all! Trying to watch TV without a clue what's on is very frustrating! I really hope that my TiVo is installed by Thursday so that I don't have to contend with the piece of junk that Comcast fobbed off on me!

I got an email yesterday about the Shorty awards (awards for people who tweet on Twitter), and one of the categories was about the most helpful service tweeters, and they listed someone from Comcast. I've been tweeting to her about my many, many problems with Comcast. We'll see if she's actually helpful. Nobody else at Comcast is actually helpful! They are polite, and say things that make you think they're trying to help, but 99.9% of the time, they don't do anything to help!

If you're looking for TV service, do NOT choose Comcast! They haven't delivered what they promised in any one month of the over three years I've had service with them, but they've charged full price for the pitiful excuse for service, and even managed to find ways to get me to have to pay even more than I agreed to pay for what they're not delivering! As I've said many times, if I could get any other TV service here, I would've switched within the first two days of "service." At the moment, I'm currently hoping that having a TiVo can eliminate them to a greater extent. I do know that it's possible to watch some shows with TiVo via the internet, and I'm going to do everything in my power to eliminate all but the most basic service from Comcast.

To be fair, their internet service seems OK, but overpriced.

***************************

SyFy will be having some good daytime programming on all next week! Monday will bring us V, Tuesday they're showing Joan of Arcadia, Wednesday it's Haunted (with Matthew Fox--check out part of his famous Lost tattoo!), Thursday brings First Wave, and Friday we have Sanctuary.

Most of the shows that have been showing new episodes did their season finales last week. Of course, there's still Lost on Tuesday, which is almost worth not having new episodes of everything else. The Big Bang Theory and Castle might or might not be new. My digital TV Guide says there's no information available (as usual). There's a new Human Target on Wednesday and The Deep End and Past Life on Thursday (they're new shows and don't have anything to rerun). I haven't seen The Deep End at all yet because there were other things I wanted to see more, but I have it marked to record on my cruddy DVR and with any luck, I'll actually record it on my TiVo. Human Target and Past Life are excellent new shows and I heartily recommend them! There's one show that showed part one of their finale last week and will be finishing it this week. Thanks to the brain fog caused by the hypothyroidism, I can't remember which one. Aren't I helpful?

I'll be so glad when the drug stores can get my medicine again! I hate feeling this way!

Have a fabulous weekend, and there will be a new episode of Legend of the Seeker on Sunday night!

Welcome to Stupidity

Armor Thyroid (which is a medicine I take for hypothyroidism) was reformulated just a bit more than a year ago. Then they quit making it altogether.

I have just a little of it left, and if I can't get some soon, I will have to go without the medicine I need.

The reformulation of the medicine included changing the sugar filler for cellulose, and that might sound like a good thing, but it isn't. The tiny amount of sugar allowed many people who took it to put it under their tongue and absorb it sublingually. The new filler makes that impossible, and manages to keep the medicine from being absorbed as well. In addition to that, although I haven't found anybody who has mentioned this on line, there seems to be a very thin film covering the actual tablet. They don't make pills in the strength I need, so I have to resort to cutting pills in half. I used to be able to do that with just the tiniest bit of crumbling, but now when I do that, the two halves stick together and I have to yank them apart because they're still fastened together by the coating on the tablet. That has got to affect the ability to absorb the medicine.

What all this means is that although I'm taking the same amount that I was (according to the amount stated on the bottle), I'm not able to get all the medicine that's in the pill. So, over the past year, I've been getting too little thyroid medicine, and I've been like a clock that's running down.

Today, I hit the point where I just can't think straight anymore. I want to do things, but get distracted, can't make decisions, don't know what to do, have no ambition.

I have an appointment Thursday to see the doctor who took all those tests last month to find out how the tests came out, and what can be done.

The Armor Thyroid people have said that they will be going back to their former formulation, and that it will be available soon. In fact, it should be available now. But at this point, it's not. Neither is another brand (Naturethroid) that is the same as the original Armor formulation and which was shipped on the 28th of December from the manufacturer. I know that it takes a while. The drug goes from the manufacturer to the distributer to the drug store distributer to the individual drug store.

Whatever happens, I am going to try to get a written prescription so that I can call around and find a drug store that actually has the medicine. If worst comes to worst, maybe I can get it from Canada.

And in the meantime, I may not put up as many posts, and you've probably noticed that my posts have been less and less interesting over time.

I'm sorry. Hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon and will do better.

*************************

I competed in the Knitting Olympics four years ago, and it was fun, even though I didn't finish my project on time! The Yarn Harlot is running it again in a very low-key way, and I have put up a comment on her blog saying that I'll compete, but I don't have a clue what I'll knit (see brain fog above).

I also want to enter the Ravelympics, but am having lots of trouble trying to decide what to make for that. The WIP Dancing event (called WIP Wrestling in the last Summer Ravelympics) sounds like a good candidate.

Just thinking about the Knitting Olympics reminds me of four years ago, when I was working on preliminary planning for Fade Out, a science fiction movie that just kind of fell apart, and never happened. I still have the script for it around here somewhere.

I need more medicine. I'm rambling. On to another topic!

**************************

All last week, the news people were going crazy over the weather situation here. Local channels preempted regular programming and had people standing around, talking about snow for hours! There was some mention of a few snow flurries that they (then) expected today and tomorrow.

Well, now that today is here, it has suddenly changed from "a few snow flurries" to "a Winter Weather Advisory!" They've been predicting something like another 20 inches!

All this was supposed to start around noon today.

Nobody told Mother Nature.

Right around noon, the sun came almost completely out from behind the clouds, and it was sunny enough that I wore my sunglasses, and could see shadows. It's about 5 pm now, and so far, not a flake has fallen.

That's not a complaint. There's about 20 inches of snow already on the ground, and it's piled up way over my head in the places it's been plowed. Here's hoping that the weather people are totally wrong about this snow!

I did take photos of the last snowfall, and as soon as I get the energy to get the photos out of my camera and into my computer, I'll put them up here. See info on brain fog above.

***********************

Lost is on tonight! ABC will be showing the second half to the two hours they showed last week, and following it with a new one hour episode!

There's also a brand new show on called Past Life on Fox. I don't know much about it, but I feel sorry for it that it's on Fox, a network that likes to spend money putting shows on so that it can kill the shows as soon as they develop a fan base.

And, of course, a new episode of White Collar.

I'm going to collapse for a while and try to drum up enough energy to at least be able to think a little. Maybe even have dinner.

Hope you're feeling much better than I am!

Hi! Oh, and Bye!

I had planned to put up a nice long post today. I'm not sure what I would have said in it, but I'm saved from the trouble of finding out because the sun is shining and it's about 60 degrees out, and I really need to pull myself together and get out there and not miss it!

I have one last dental visit tomorrow. All the work is done, he's just going to check things to see how they're working out. From what the dentist said, it should only take a few minutes. Then I have an errand to run. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that's about an hour and a half of actual riding time on the bus, plus about a minimum of an hour waiting-for-a-bus time, probably more like three or four hours total.

***********************

For all you knitters out there, Ann Budd has started a blog today! She's already got 10 comments, and I'm jealous! I've probably had ten comments in almost two years! I guess I'll just have to get famous, too.

**********************

Lost is back on TV tomorrow night!

Don't get too excited! The premier of the new season will be on the second of February. I suspect that this is just the last two episodes of the last season so we can all catch up and be on the same page when it starts.

But Lost is back on TV tomorrow night!

I'm so excited!

I can't stand to stay inside anymore today! Have a great day!

Oh, they're predicting snow and sleet for tomorrow morning!

*********************

Addition:

It's Monday, isn't it? I'm sorry, Lost will be on TOMORROW night!

Lost Fan Alert!

For any of you Lost fen out there, I hope that you were watching Flash Forward on Thursday or Friday! The pilot for it contains clues for what's happening in Lost! Check it out here! The article has all the information in it, which is a good thing, because I certainly didn't catch that billboard in the background of that shot!

I think that it's pretty sneaky to put clues to one show into another show in the form of a billboard!

********************************

What, you may ask, am I doing blogging when I had planned to be at the Renfair today? Well, it's been raining all afternoon. They said that they expected to have a couple of inches of rain today. I did go out for a little while, and it was more than enough. I came home after walking to the grocery store (a very short walk) soggy and wishing I hadn't been out at all.

They're saying that it will rain tomorrow morning, but that it will clear out during the afternoon, and there might even be just a little sun. Holly said that she and Everett, et al, want to go tomorrow. Even if it does stop raining, it's going to be muddy and unpleasant. I'm charging some batteries so they'll be fresh to power the camera tomorrow, and I'm charging the battery in my little camera, but I'm really questioning whether it's really worthwhile to go tomorrow. Holly and I agreed to talk about it sometime today.

****************************

Have a great weekend! Wherever you are, I hope the weather is better than it is here.

*****************************

Addition:

Yesterday, Nathan Fillion said on Twitter that he was going to be on TV last night. He neglected to mention what he was going to wear while he was there.

As you can see, he wore a kilt, and not just an ordinary fabric kilt, but a leather one. Most of the conversation centers on the topic of kilts, and it gets mildly risque, so be forewarned.

For instance, when asked the inevitable question about what he's wearing under it, Nathan says something about the proper answer to that question is "Your mother's lipstick!"

Lost Finale and Steve Canyon!

The finale of Lost was on tonight, and it scored (to my knowledge) a new first in television.

At the beginning of the episode, they show someone spinning. And for the first time ever on TV, the person is actually spinning! Then, he gets up and goes over to a warp-weighted loom, and presumably starts weaving. I didn't see any actual weaving take place, but the warp-weighted loom was dressed correctly, and ready to weave.

There's lots to see in this episode, and if you've been watching Lost, I hope you recorded it, because you're going to want to watch it several times (at least).

********************

Thanks to the Knitty blog, I found a lot more information about string bags for my current interest. They have links to several sets of instructions for market bags, and there's also a contest for market bags (you have to send them a photo of yourself and your favorite bring-it-home bag. Check it out.

They also remind us of WWKIP Day (World Wide Knit in Public Day), which is next month.

***********************

The Steve Canyon Volume 2 DVDs have arrived from the factory, and are now being sent out as quickly as John can slap labels on them and get them to the post office. Read more about it here.

************************

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I'm gradually feeling better and recovering from all the walking at the Sheep and Wool Festival, but the chair I have in front of the computer really hurst if I sit in it for more than a few minutes. I mean it starts hurting while I sit in it, and then continues for quite a while afterwards. So, I've avoided sitting there, so it's hard to post and avoid the chair.

***********************

I went on a shopping trip to WalMart today, and I am wiped out, so this will be a very short post.

Ah, I forgot to mention that the new season of Eureka will start sometime in July!

Have a great Thursday!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

Vicki Howell has a great post up on her blog today about recycling for Earth Day.

I found a very entertaining post from Franklin on his blog today, too. It's not about Earth Day, but it is about lace, which I'm about to begin.

Here's a photo of the lace yarn that I got yesterday, along with the beads that I plan to use with it.

This is Knit Picks Gloss lace yarn in Pinot, It's actually a little darker and a slightly warmer color than it appears here. As you can see, my first task will be to  wind all of this into balls so it's useable rather than a big tangle. There's a total of 1,760 yards there, so just winding it all will be time consuming. That's nearly a yard, folks!

It's going to be pretty, though. Or it will be frogged and reknit.

Not being the kind that looks ahead too much, I've discovered that I need to get a very small container that will sit steadily on a flat surface, and that I can put a lid on. In other words, I should have bought some of those screw-together containers at the craft store while I was there. Those long tubes of beads are fine until you need to set the open tube somewhere so that the beads will be available to scoop one up when you get to the point in the knitting that needs it.

***************************

It's Wednesday, which means a new episode of Lost will be on tonight! It will be preceded by a brand new Better Off Ted.

Have a great evening, and check out this link that my sister sent me to reminisce about the '60s! It's worth it for the music alone.

Tax Day

Happy Tax Day. 

If that's not an oxymoron.

I went through tax day yesterday. 

Back in January, the IRS sent me a copy of form 1040 with an instruction booklet to help me fill it out. I quickly read through the part that said that I have a small enough income that I don't need to file taxes, and put the envelope aside.

Then the IRS sent me a certified letter. A certified letter from the IRS is something that's enough to make me certifiable. It said that they had discovered that I owe them taxes from 2002, and they've assessed interest and penalties, and therefore doubled the amount I owe. They wanted about a thousand dollars instantly.

Since this is more than my income for a month, I didn't have it.

Since I didn't have it, I am now saddled with an agreement to pay them some money every month and file a return and pay taxes owed every year. So, now, suddenly, at the last minute, I find that I need to file taxes.

I spent the whole day yesterday filling out 1040EZ, finding out I owed $79 (which I don't have), then reading it again and finding out I'm not allowed to fill out that form, tracking down the correct forms and information online (because I didn't keep track of forms I knew I didn't need), doing more arithmetic than a math lesson, and finally finishing up last night with the discovery that I actually don't owe anything, and getting the whole mess in the mail.

I still have more stuff to fix with them, but it doesn't have today for a deadline.

I hope it was a better experience for you than it was for me.

**********************

I ground my teeth, bit the bullet and sent another order to Knit Picks to replace the yarn that I have to return to them. Not that I can afford that, either. I chose the (I hope dark) purple shade of Gloss Lace called Pinot. This would work even if I'd already bought the beads.

I've been repeating to myself over and over all month "I'm saving money for the Sheep and Wool Festival." It hasn't helped me save any money so far, though.

In the meantime, I'm knitting socks from the yarn I bought at AC Moore almost a month ago now, and have almost finished the first pair. There's enough yarn for another pair.

**********************

I got a comment from somebody at ReaperDMV yesterday thanking me for my mention of Reaper and asking me to fight for a third season. If you're a Reaper fan, get on over there and join the fight! Even if you're not a Reaper fan, get over there and click on the link to save a whole list of other shows (including Dollhouse), and there's also a lost cause category for shows that are not just in danger of cancellation, but that have already gotten the ax. The catch is that you can't vote for Chuck, Reaper, Dollhouse and Life. I wanted to vote for all of them, but you can only pick one. It will ask for your email address and password, but you don't have to be a member to vote, just fill in your name and the little box with the word they give you.

Lost is on again tonight! A new one, following Better Off Ted.

Have a great Wednesday! Remember, if it's Wednesday, we're half-way to the weekend!

I'm Sad

There's no reason in the world for me to be sad, but I am. I haven't a clue why.

Yesterday, I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and got some fun stuff, which I thought would cheer me up, and it did, for an hour or two.

I bought a copy of Knit.1 Magazine. It has a lace shawl that I've been thinking about ever since I saw it in February when the new store opened. It's called the Sparkly Shawl, and they did it in light blue, which is always something to get my attention. It has clear glass beads with a silver lining, and the way the beads are done is interesting. Because the beads are strung as you go along (with a crochet hook), and because of the looser nature of lace knitting, I suspect that the beads show equally on either side, making it a bit more reversible.

I really liked the Shipwreck Shawl from Knitty, but the urge to knit lace has been building up for a while, but I think the sparkly shawl will teach me enough to branch out in new directions in lace design. It will certainly give me the chance to practice some new techniques.

So, I ordered the yarn from Knit Picks today, plus a small crochet hook from Etsy to pick up the beads. You'd think that if yesterday didn't cheer me up, that this would. There's more cheerful stuff about yesterday, by the way.

I'm going to do the shawl in black with blue/purple rainbow beads, so it will look very different from the photo in the book. I'm also thinking about doing three panels rather than two, which would give it a better shape. I haven't ordered the beads yet, and I'm thinking of trying to persuade Holly to go to either a new bead shop in Occoquan or to Beadazzled. JoAnn has some beads I like, too, but I'd rather look a bit before I settle for something when there may be something better out there. I've already looked at the Fire Mountain Gems website, and they probably have everything available, so I've probably already seen it all.

Anyway, back to yesterday and my swag.

I bought a tiny latch hook tool which I had hoped would fit through the hole in the size 6 seed beads. No dice. The latch hook is very small, though. A latch hook is always handy for knitters, so it's still a good buy, and has a very nice, ergonomic handle. If you want something like this, look in the section with the sewing tools. It's made by Dritz and has a pink (ugg) handle with rubbery soft fuchsia inserts to make it easy to hold. It would work well with sock or lace weight yarn for picking up stitches. It's a good tool for any lace knitter.

Here's a photo of the shawl from the magazine and the neat latch hook.

I've gotten hooked on latch hook tools lately. They're really good for fixing knitting problems, rather than having to rip back to fix it.

You can find a larger tool here and a slightly smaller one  here. It looks like the first one would be a good size for worsted and bulky yarns, and the second one for thinner yarns. Even better yet, I bought a few seed stitch tools last year, and I love them. It's a double-ended latch hook that you can use for latching up mistakes in both knit and purl stitches.

You'd think that all this would cheer me up, but it really hasn't.

**************************

The other cheerful stuff I bought was at Borders.

The newest Dresden Files book is out, and it's called Turn Coat, and I bought a copy. The only problem with that is that I have a book out of the Library, and another one to pick up and read, and all of them have to be back soon, so I have to read them first or wait for them to come up in the lists for another go at them.

But I read a bit of the beginning of it on the way home on the bus, and it's dynamite so far!

*******************************

There's a new Lost on ABC tonight, followed by the premier of The Unusuals. Right before that, there's also a new episode of Better off Ted, which is a really quirky new science fiction/office drama/comedy.

Have a great evening!

*************************

Addition:

I found a really neat stitch marker shown here. She has instructions for making a similar device here (scroll down for the row counter). She just makes tags with shrinky dink material with whatever markings are appropriate, and slips the lower ring each time. The tag on the top tells her what she's doing each round.

Holly was doing something similar to this a couple of weeks ago while she was knitting a circular blanket. She put "YO" on one side of an index card and "K" on the other. Each time she finished a row, she'd flip it over to remind her whether she was supposed in increase with a yarn over at each stitch marker or just knit around.

I like both of these ideas.

Saint Paddy's Day is Coming

As you all know, St. Patrick's Day is less than a week away.

To celebrate this wonderful event, Vicki Howell has a wonderful, quick pattern up on her blog for shamrocks, and I thought you should know about it.

It's called Knitted & BeJewelled Shamrocks!

Now I have to say that I cringed when I read the word bejewelled, because people use this word (and embellished) as an excuse to overdo things and create something hideous. But Vicki, in her usually impeccable style, has managed to make something wonderful out of it all.

And, in case it's escaped your attention, you could use individual shamrock leaves from this pattern to make beautiful hearts for Valentine's Day, or for anyone that you care about.

Do check it out!

*********************

John and I spent a busy day yesterday putting the final touch on the covers for Steve Canyon, Volume 2. Not that there was much to do on that. Most of yesterday's time was spent on converting the cover of Volume 1 to a 20x30 poster size. This will be made up as a one-off poster, signed by John and raffled (or auctioned) off at the event he's at this week. He'll be in Dayton, Ohio (he's probably arrived by now) for the "Reel Stuff Film Festival." I'm really excited and happy for him. It should be a wonderful experience.

*********************

There's a Lost rerun on tonight. This is actually worthwhile, because there's usually so much packed into each episode of Lost that I usually don't catch it all on the first go-round, and the second time it's shown, each episode has subtext that explains the allusions, and points out back story. Definitely worth a second go.

Have a great evening!

Earache!

I want to do lots of things today, but I'm being really distracted by my ear.

Yes, the one that is capable of hearing, but is all clogged up so that I can't hear anything out of it at all. It's so clogged today that it hurts. 

Well, actually, it pretty much always hurts (since 1973), but it hurts way more than usual. 

Enough that, although I'm not in unbearable pain, it's annoying and distracting, and is driving me to tears. It's causing strange sensations that seem to be acting on nerves somewhere in the area and making tears reflexively appear. Or maybe it's just pressure in the wrong places.

It's driving me crazy.

Crazy enough that I want to find a plunger, put it over my ear and press it in and out to make my ear unclog. Crazy enough that I'm starting to think about long, thin, sharp objects to put in my ear to puncture the eardrum and make it stop! Yes, I know that doing that would hurt a lot. But maybe it would relieve the pressure inside my ear and make it less annoying. Yes, I know that it would destroy my hearing, but I can't hear anything out of that ear anyway, even though my ear (the inside part) can still hear just fine. Yes, I've seen at least 15 doctors about this, and the last one of them (an ENT specialist) informed me that there's nothing wrong with my ear, and then asked me why I couldn't hear out of it!

All the things I planned to do today are getting shoved aside while I do everything I can think of to make it stop. It's bad enough I can't hear out of it, it's bad enough that I have ringing and other noises in my ears, but why does it have to hurt, too? And worse yet, why do doctors treat me as if I'm an idiot and imagining the problem?

No, I know the answer to that last question. Doctors (with a few exceptions) don't care!  They know you have to pay them anyway, even if they don't bother to do anything for you, and they just plain don't care! They don't care if they cause harm or even kill you, as long as they get paid and you don't sue.

A list of things that doctors have told me or someone I know was their imaginations includes (but is not limited to:

* Sinus Infection

* Really bad allergies

* Cancer (this includes a tumor the size of a watermelon!)

* Adhesions

* Leukemia

* Labor(!)

* And more

I wish you a better day than I'm having, and enjoy Lost tonight!

Dollhouse!

I'm sure you're all getting psyched for tonight's new episode of Lost, but bear with me and look forward to Friday, when Dollhouse premiers.

You probably already know that the dollhouse is stocked with people who've had their minds wiped, and are for hire to fill a number of jobs/positions. When hired, a "doll" has a new set of memories installed so they can do the job.

There's an article about it on io9 here. Here's a photo of Eliza Dushku with Middleman's Matt Keeslar in a scene from Dollhouse.

By the way, the plans for a DVD of The Middleman seem to be pretty solid for a release this summer, and they plan to judge whether to continue the series by how well the DVD does. So, get out there and buy it when it arrives! By the way, there's a Middleman fan club on Facebook, and a group on Ravelry.

If you liked the show, and have Comcast, like me, you'll want to get the DVD just so you can get the dialogue. Comcast broadcast the entire series without closed captioning on their standard resolution TV channel, and, in some cases, with the sound going off and on. Other people have been complaining about this on the internet. If you have Comcast and they do that to you, switch to the HD station. They actually add CC that's useable on a regular TV on their HD stations. The sound went on and off on all channels, though. I can't help you there, except to suggest that DirecTV is great!

There's a new post up on the Steve Canyon blog, and you can read it here. It was just posted and I haven't read it yet, but I do know that John will be headed to Ohio to an event that will honor Milton Caniff (among other things). You can read all about it at the above link.

And for those of you who have been waiting in suspense for the Steve Canyon hats, they're coming back! I have a grey one and love it. The construction is first-rate, and they're beautiful.

In the meantime, I've been working hard on the covers for the second Volume. It's going to be great, but I can't really tell you about what it's going to look like until John gives me the go-ahead. It's going to be wonderful, though!

************************

Here's a photo of the yarn I bought from WalMart on Sunday. It's all Caron's Simply Soft Eco, which is part Ecospun fiber, which is made out of recycled soda bottles. You know those Brita commercials? The ones where they show someone on a treadmill drinking water, and they say something like "20 minutes on a treadmill, eternity in a landfill." Well, that's not really true.

This lead to a really strange conversation between me and two other spinners one time. The conversation went something like this: 

Spinner #1: Here's a sample of another fiber I tried out--Ecospun.

Me: Wow, how did you dye that? What kind of dyes did you have to use? That really feels nice!

Spinner #2: Yeah, it does feel nice. What kind of fiber is that?

Spinner #1: It's Ecospun.

Spinner #2: But what kind of fiber is that? What's it made of?

Spinner #1 and me (in unison): Soda bottles!

Spinner #2: No, really, what's it made of?

You should be getting the general drift at this point, so I won't go through the next 10 minutes of quotes like, "You're kidding me, right? and "Is this a joke?"

The purples and turquoise are to finish a project that I started for someone else, and since it'll wind up a present, I don't want to talk about it too much here.

After finding that pattern for Coraline's starry sweater yesterday, it occurred to me that this might be the perfect thing to knit it in. The colors are a little darker in reality than they look on my  personal computer screen. I'll need more of it, but there's no dyelot, and that's all they had in the store.

I read over the pattern last night, and decided that I'd rather make this up knitted in the round from the top down. So, I'll probably eventually post a revised pattern for it.

Have a great Wednesday, and enjoy Lost this evening!

Tagged Yet Again

I think Facebook is getting out of control. I was tagged again, and here is the result. I'm not tagging anyone!


1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Yes, me.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Just now. Joan of Arcadia went to the funeral of the boy she babysat with.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It used to be nice, but it's degenerating.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Jersey tomatoes! Sliced THICK! Also, turkey, chicken or roast beef. Sliced THIN!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Holly!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yeah.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Of course.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes. Maybe that's what's wrong with me.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
There was a time I might have, but not now.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Cheerios or raisin bran.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
If they have ties.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Lucerne chocolate chip (with a banana) or Breyers peach or black cherry

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
it varies

15. RED OR PINK?
Blue!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Right now, my feet and ankles (which are swelling up), my ear (which hurts and won't hear anything except for the repairmen next door who were pounding with hammers at 8 am) and my sinuses (which are attempting to drown me).

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My mom.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
I want everyone to do as they please.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
No shoes. My feet are swelling. The rest is none of your business.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW
Joan of Arcadia.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Medium blue.

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS?
Lemons, baking bread or cooking food.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
John Ellis.

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
We met on the MST3K forum on Ravelry.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Figure skating

27. HAIR COLOR?
It used to be brown, but now it's grey.

28. EYE COLOR?
Brown.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.

30. the age i was 2 years ago 63

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Both

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Wide Awake.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Black

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Spring.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
yes please

37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP.
I need one, and I have to go buy one.

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)
Ry Cooder, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Maria Muldaur, Chris Smither, Fred Wedlock, etc.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Inkdeath.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Don't have a mouse pad.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Lost!!!

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
Anything I can actually hear.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Both.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Probably Switzerland. Maybe Iceland. I'm not sure which is further.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Art. And knowing things.

46 WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Philadelphia.

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY?
Too many to list.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
None.

49. SUN OR SNOW?
Sun.

50. LAW & ORDER OR CSI?
Doctor Who!

I'm starting to get tired of all this being tagged, and I'm not going to play anymore. 

But at least it gives me something to put into my blog today instead of crying on your shoulder because I feel sick today, and it's bad enough that I just want to cry.

************************

I have bags of stash, but I really don't have a project to work on, so I'm knitting a swatch (which may become a scarf) just to have something to do with my hands while watching TV.

Now I wish I'd gone out with Holly on Saturday.

Not having a specific project probably has to do with not feeling good.

************************

Lost was wonderful last night! If you're a Lost fan, I hope you got to see it.

Tonight, there will be a new: Burn Notice, Eleventh Hour, and Supernatural.

*********************

I have to return some stuff to the Library, and I'm running out of food, so I have to go to the grocery store, and I really don't want to because my feet hurt. I wish there was a place nearby that sells yarn!

I hope you're having a better day than I am.

*******************

PS-- Coraline opens tomorrow on the 6th of February, 2009. Sorry. I have a good grasp of when things are supposed to happen, I just don't have a good grasp of what day it is.