Anogete's Journal

A cookie to anyone who can identify the source of my icon. That image has haunted me for well over a month.

After days of deliberating with myself over whether I should change the theme I use on my LJ, I finally changed it. It isn't like it was a huge decision. I was just stuck in a rut. It's all pretty now, though.

I thought I might be coming down with a cold, but it appears as if I'm avoided it. My throat was sore yesterday, and I had some major drainage from my sinuses. I immediately went into my 'I'm-not-going-to-get-sick-dammit' routine. This involves eating vitamin C tablets, drinking Emer'gen C, drinking orange juice, drinking lots of water, drinking lots of herbal tea, sticking my face in a humidifier for the majority of the day, and taking some Mucinex (for the gross mucus). I'm much better today. I'm not nearly as tired, and my throat and chest aren't as congested. Take that, evil cold.

I called patient information at the hospital in WV and asked for my grandfather's room number. His surgery went well, but (as with all colon surgery) the recovery bit has been a slice of hell for him. He sounded like he was in pain and was very groggy. I only talked to him for five minutes before I excused myself. He needs to sleep, not to talk to a million people on the phone. I called my mom afterward, and she said he was getting tired of all the visitors. Like me, he prefers to be alone when he's not feeling well. He demanded that my grandmother go home yesterday. Poor guy. I hope he's feeling better when they release him.

I want to knit everything. Seriously. I desperately want to knit this sweater. Isn't it gorgeous? About halfway down the page, there is a second picture with detail of the Grecian Plait stitch. It's so wonderful, it makes me swoon with delight. After posting the pictures of Ferguson in his knitted sweater on a Chihuahua message board I visit, I received a couple requests for custom sweaters for fellow board members. I'll probably work on one of them this weekend after I get the yarn.

I'm nearly finished with Paul Kemp's Twilight Falling. It's very good. It took me a bit to get into it, but by the fifth chapter, I whizzed through the pages in two days. I'm still waiting on the shipment of the remaining Earthsea novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. I've read the first three, but the fourth in line is the one I'm missing.

And in case anyone missed it the last two times I mentioned it, Kiva.org is a fantastic organization. This is my lender page. Mok from Cambodia and Sarah from Uganda have both received their loans. Mok has already made her first payment. I really hope she is doing well. I want her grocery store to thrive. Sarah's first payment is probably due in a couple days. She's a woman after my own heart since she's a knitter. I knew I had to contribute to her loan when I read that. Anyway, I'm very excited to read future updates on them both.

It was cold today, so I spent my time inside watching bad and semi-bad horror movies on the Sci-Fi Channel. I did venture out to store on the corner to get a pumpkin spice cappuccino, but that was the extent of it. However, I was by no means lazy. I managed to finish knitting the pieces to Ferguson's wool sweater. They are blocking in the living room floor on a towel for the night. I hope to start seaming it together tomorrow.

I also decided that the slippers I made a few days ago--the ones intended for my mother--are just too loud and colorful for her tastes. Plus, they fit my feet snuggly, and my mother's feet are two sizes larger than mine. I found some yarn at the craft store on Friday that seemed to work better than the eyelash I used for the first pair. So, this pair is made with light blue chenille and some sort of fuzzy yarn Paton makes. I don't have the label on hand at the moment. They're also about an inch longer than the first attempt.

( more slippers )

They're a bit large on me--especially at the ankle--so they should fit her perfectly.

I stumbled across this video last night. It is at once hilarious, impressive, and awesome. The description says it's acapella group from a college performing their very own version of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River".

I finished my grandmother's scarf (to go along with her fuzzy-trimmed hat) while we were watching a couple movies last night. One of those movies I definitely don't recommend, but the other (Curse of the Golden Flower) was quite beautiful. I really enjoyed it.

Anyway, here is a close-up of the scarf and a picture of it with the matching hat...

( pics behind cut )

The zig-zag pattern just fell into place when I started knitting with that variegated yarn. Go figure. The edges of the scarf are in seed stitch, then a couple vertical lines of stockinette, then the cables. I still think it looks a bit tacky, but it's not for me. It's for my grandmother who has pink walls and red carpet in her dining room.

I've corrupted Jason. He's spent years nay-saying all the Harry Potter lovers. He humbled himself today and asked if he could borrow my HP books. Ha! After I discussed the last book with him (which was a one-sided conversation since he's only seen the movies), he said he would like to read all the books. Looks like he wasn't joking.

I spent the morning finishing up my grandmother's hat (for Christmas). I used tinsel yarn on the bottom edge and variegated wool yarn for the rest of the hat. It's surprisingly warm. I used the tackiest, loudest, most colorful yarn I could find because she loves that sort of thing.

( a close up of the hat and the top of my head modeling the hat )

I really, really adore the opening theme song to Trinity Blood. It's gorgeous.



If you're interested in the full version of the song and the actual video, you can find it here. He wears makeup, even scandalous red lipstick.

Jason and I watched A Scanner Darkly last weekend. I think it was a load of crap and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I'm sure the original novel by Philip K. Dick has its merits, and I am sure it is far better than the film, though I don't think any ideas brought forth in either were exactly ground-breaking. I'm not a supporter of drug use of any kind, yet even I know the "war on drugs" is a sham. The film version just seemed to be a series of trippy sequences in which the characters giggle and/or freak out due to drug usage. Eh. That's really of no interest to me. I could park my car at any pawn shop downtown and see the same thing. Basically, I thought that any interesting ideas found in the 1977 novel were glossed over in the film to make way for Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson on-camera freak-outs. This is all a real shame because I enjoyed Linklater's Waking Life, and one of my favorite movies ever is Before Sunrise. All in all, A Scanner Darkly = Stylized Crap.

This morning when I came into work, the parking lot was filled with unfamiliar vehicles. Many of the guys who work in the field were at the office for a 401(k) meeting with the financial advisor. They speak Spanish. He speaks English. By the time I got upstairs with my breakfast in hand, Payroll Girl was in frantic-mode. I sat my breakfast aside so I could help guys fill out their 401(k) paperwork since I was one of only a handful of people in the office with enough Spanish to help them. Although, it does do wonders for my self esteem when the guys want me to help them with their papers instead of the foreman who speaks more Spanish than I do. I got winks and smiles galore from the workers this morning. They like my pants, apparently. Pantalones. Ha.

Payroll Girl is on new anti-anxiety medicine. It isn't working, and I think her vibrating annoyance and panic over everything is rubbing off on me. Yesterday I told the accountant that I'm sorry I'm not as anal as he is. I have to notify the bank via their website whenever I write any company checks, otherwise the checks will be denied. He checks two different areas to make sure the files were uploaded correctly. I check one. One is all you need. I snapped at him a bit, and he ran back to his office with his tail tucked. I felt bad afterward and tried to reconcile, but he's still sad at me. I told him that I would double check it if he'd like me to, but he says that what I'm doing now is fine. He's worse than a woman sometimes.

I finished Servant of the Shard day before yesterday. Now I don't have anything to read until DH is released on Friday night. I thought about starting something else, but I don't want to get halfway into another novel and have to put it down when I get DH in my grubby little hands.

One of the stockings I said I was going to knit is finished. However, I think it is too large. I laced it up with a satin cord and tied it about four/five inches above my knee. It keeps falling down to my knee, which isn't going to work for me. Maybe I can get some colored elastic to lace it up instead. Until I solve the problem, I'm putting the second stocking on hold. There were two sizes, and I didn't even consider making the small size because I don't exactly have sticks for legs, but apparently the pattern maker wanted to trick me into thinking I have smaller thighs. How devious.

It's good that I can laugh at myself because sometimes I am such a disaster. The boss's (not the drunk one) birthday is today, and we decided to decorate her office since she'll be fifty. I spent the morning hanging streamers and party decorations. When Party City opened, I hopped over there to pick up some ballons to spice things up. I drive a Hyundai Accent hatchback. It's small, if you didn't know. I walked into Party City and told the girl at the balloon counter that I wanted twenty-five regular balloons and two mylar ones. She gave me the fish eye before filling them up for me. Fifteen minutes later, I was bumbling across the parking lot with twenty-seven ballons bobbing around my head. Five yards from my car I realized that I certainly did buy a load of balloons to fit in such a small vehicle. But screw that. I'll cram them in there anyway. Fifteen of them went into the back seat, effectively blocking my view of traffic behind me. I attempted to shove the other twelve in the hatchback/trunk. I busted one in the process. Three floated away from me when they all started escaping before I could close the trunk. Okay, no big deal. So now I have twenty-three balloons. Two more escaped when I opened my car door to get inside. Okay... twenty-one balloons. Cool. As I made my way back to the office, one of the ones in the hatchback popped for reasons unknown. Twenty balloons. Just as I got on the interstate, one behind my head popped just to scare the shit out of me. After I pulled my car back onto the road, I realized that there were only nineteen balloons left. Nineteen is still a good amount. With the help of the receptionist, I managed to get all nineteen into the office without incident. Unfortunately, another died in the boss's office while we were arranging them. So, eighteen balloons. Next time I'll just get the eighteen instead of wasting my time losing nine. Sheesh.

I finished the back of my HP House Sweater.



It's still a bit rolled around the edges and needs to be blocked, but I'm going to wait until I finish with all the pieces before doing that. I hate blocking for some reason. It's such a pain in the ass. While I was at the radio station last night, I started on the the ribbing for the front of the sweater.

I'm desperately in love with this hat: Chapeau Marnier. I'm going to seek out some fingering weight yarn (which I've never knitted with before) so I can make at attemept at this. Lace scares me, though.

Payroll Girl has a pinched nerve in her neck, so our lunchtime trip to the shooting range has been put on hold until next week.

I'm feeling rather blah today. I have to skip over to Costco for office supplies. I dread it because of the crowds. However, it will allow me to take a long lunch, and I plan on stopping by the bookstore to pick up something.

Jason has been raiding my bookshelf, looking for something to read. The last time I suggested he read something, he told me I liked abstract novels. That's what I get for handing a Gene Wolfe book over to him. He took Issac Asimov this time, though I desperately tried to talk him into reading the R.A. Salvatore books I've finished already. He was reading The Worm Ouroboros by Eddison, but he threw it down in disgust last night, muttering about the high-handed language. I dunno. I've never read it. I suspect he's just burned out from reading a couple heady sci-fi novels written in the 1960's, and he wants something a bit more straight-forward.

It looks like I've been trapped into going to a barbeque in Santa Fe this weekend. Barbeques and I aren't good friends, but I'll deal if I can bring my Boca burgers. As long as no one infects them with particles of meat, that is. Plus, I'm not really a huge fan of Santa Fe. I feel like residents are required to wear floaty skirts and swish about talking of art galleries and crystals. Anne certainly does, and she's the barbeque host. Anne also can't watch "violent" movies because they make her physically ill. My only consolation is that Jason's dad saw Liam Neeson in a bar/coffee house in Santa Fe. This was probably because Seraphim Falls was being filmed there at the time, but I'm going to delude myself into believing that Liam Neeson hangs out in Santa Fe. I would surely make a bumbling fool of myself before falling at his feet if ever in the same room as him. I luff you, Liam. I really do. Let's play a game. You be Qui-Gon, and I'll be the naughty Jedi padawan. Punish me!

Allow me to present Batou, my lovely beta:



Close-ups aren't his thing. The flash scares him.

( flowers )

I bought Alison Hansel's Charmed Knits book yesterday so I can make fun Harry Potter things. A crafting store was next to the bookstore, so I popped over and bought enough yarn to make a house sweater. I promise progress pictures once it looks like more than a gray blob. I kind of want to make Mrs. Weasley's Technicolor Housecoat just to have something terribly tacky in my closet.

I decided to make my mom a knitted handbag for Mother's Day. I never know what to buy her, and I'm unsure as to whether she'd actually wear any garment that I could knit for her. So, I dropped by the yarn store on Monday after work and bought some wool yarn. I loosely used a pattern from the first Stitch 'N Bitch book. I finished the sucker last night and threw it in the wash to felt it.

Oh. My. God. It looks so completely awesome. Now I want to keep it for myself. But I can't. So, I'm going to ship it off to my mother in a couple weeks and make myself another.

( pictures of my beautiful bag )

The bag is about a foot deep and ten inches wide, so there's plenty of space inside for goodies. Right now it is a bit stinky because it's still wet. Wet wool doesn't smell all that hot.

And because I'm posting pictures, I found this picture I took of Ferguson and Bean sitting on Jason's lap in my car. They both look tired because it was the day we took them to the fundraiser for Quixote Humane, and they were exhausted after meeting all the other dogs.

( cute, tired dogs )

I'm a crazy knitting fiend. I finished my cabled newsboy cap this afternoon after starting it around this time last week. It was much easier than I thought it would be. And, because I made it with the expensive silk/wool yarn, it is soooooo soft and slinky.

( pictures of me looking like a total dork in pigtails and the cap )

I finally decided to clear out some of my old books that I don't like anymore (or never liked) and sell them to the used bookstore for a credit account. The in-store credit will allow me to feed my book addiction. So, that's on the agenda for next weekend. We're also attending a fundraiser for the chihuahua rescue that I adopted Ferguson from. I've very excited about that.

So, since we are officially a quarter of the way through the new year, I'm going to post my reading list thus far. The following list of books are ones I've finished since January 1st.

( books read in 2007 )