alternative art meme

Here are some additional, less traditional, art images that I have hanging around in my harddrive. So this is part two, the less snooty sibling of the one I posted the other day. As usual if you click on the image there'll be a full-sized popup.

Zygmunt Frankel

Sas Christian

Erin Susanne Banks

Glen E Friedman

Loretta Lux
(thank you Miss Erin I just couldn't remember)

from a catalog or something but I liked it.

Art Meme

Beverly was visiting Chicago last weekend and got to spend some time at the Art Institute Museum (I am SO JEALOUS that's one of my favorite museums in the entire world). She discovered a wonderful lesser-known Van Gogh painting and has created a new really cool meme about our favorite paintings.

This is the bad part about being an art major: I know a lot about art but I don't know what I like. Because, to me, I can't always just view things as "good" or "bad" I have to analyze the shit out of something then end up having ambiguous feelings about it. This seems to be the dilemma for most Democrats these days - complete overanalysis of a situation instead of towing the knee jerk reactionary party line. May the gods help those who think too much it seems.

So to get this narrowed down a bit I decided to limit myself to my favorite black and white line drawings or etchings. And, not-surprisingly considering my whole obsession with women in art, they're primarily line drawings and etchings of the female form. Not exactly idealized forms, but reflections on how women are seen, by the artist, by society, by themselves. Because that's an issue I've been studying for a very long time.

And I'll try not to write a dissertation on the images, just say what I like about them. So here goes.

from the 1946-47 Femme Maison series, Louise Bourgeois Women and houses. Female form and domesticity. Caregiver, birthgiver, home. Inexorably linked no matter what kind of advances are made in feminism and the roles of women in society. I knew a woman in college that had this tattooed on the lower right side of her back. She modelled for one of my painting classes. If she hadn't already had this tattoed I might have come up with it myself. Unfortunately I'd just be a big copycat now.

Le Violon D'ingres, Man Ray Technically not a line drawing but it's in black and white anyway. A woman as an object, an instrument. An instument with lines that many regard as beautiful. But an object. I know a woman who wanted to have the f-holes of a violin tattooed just like this photograph. Also brilliant and something I wish I'd thought of first. Yes, all of my art history training is filtered through nudes and the memory of tattoos. No not really.

Femme - Picasso. The best example that shows the simplicity derived from years of visual training. Four lines. And you know what it is. The stance and everything. I totally want this tattoed on my...ok just kidding.

Sorrow sketch, Van Gogh One of the saddest drawings I've ever seen. That's what gets me about Vincent - he was the most melancholy frustrated little guy but could see and reflect beauty in nature like no one else. His portraits and self-portraits are always at least a bit sad. But his reflections of nature are always beautiful.

The Mulberry Tree, Van Gogh

This is from one of my other favorite museums in the world, the Norton Simon in Pasadena. Doesn't it look like its on fire?

Study of female form for scupltures, Henry Moore
I've been a fan of Henry Moore for a long time. Luckily I saw a wonderful exhibition of Moore's work at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1992 and got to enjoy a lot of his 2-d work in person. Among them was this great etching. A few years later I managed to find and save up for a licensed lithograph of the same piece at a consignment gallery in Santa Fe.

These are two more of my favorite etchings by Moore.

The sculptor's hands

Sheep
As someone who lived most of his life in the English countryside, this guy drew and sculpted a lot of sheep. I'd never had any contact with them before. After seeing this exhibit and spending some time on sheep farms in Australia I learned more about them. Now that I actually spin and knit with wool it makes me think of his sheep drawings again.

So those are a few of my favorite images anyway.

fours # 4

I think this is the fourth "four-themed" meme I've done. But it was fun and quick to do. I've seen this one all over the place.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Asst Editor, Electronic Media Editor, Woman Santa Fe Magazine
2. Coffee Cart Barrista, Canyon Road, Santa Fe
3. CS for whole, term, variable, and single premium life insurance policies, John Hancock
4. Disc Jockey, On Air Personality, News Asst Producer for 91.1 FM - a jazz station and saturday morning (pre-grunge) alternative programming in Birmingham

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. Topsy Turvy
2. Gosford Park
3. Cold Comfort Farm
4. The Philadelphia Story

Four places I’ve lived:
1. Birmingham, Alabama
2. Manly Beach & downtown Sydney, NSW, Australia
3. Yon Sei University International Student Dorms, Seoul, Korea
4. Santa Fe, New Mexico

Four TV shows I love:
1. Monk
2. Huff
3. Will and Grace
4. My Name is Earl (with irony dammit)

Four places I’ve vacationed:
1. Uluru (Ayer's Rock), Northern Territory, Australia
2. Kyong-ju, Korea
3. Kyoto, Japan
4. Florence, Italy

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Cody's Green Chile Cheeseburger Egg Rolls
2. Fessenjoon - Pomegranate Walnut Chicken Stew
3. Spider Rolls - tempura soft shell crab in a sushi roll
4. Muffaletta sandwiches - various spicy deli meats on slices of Italian bread spread with an olive tapenade. Beautiful.

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Bloglines
2. Flickr
3. Craftster
4. Salon.com

Four places I would rather be right now:
Honestly I can't think of any. I mean, I'd like to visit a quiet beach sometime and stick my feet in the sand. Or visit Italy again. But I'm pretty happy where I am. I would like where I am to be cleaner, more organized, and have a nicer yard but that's a different deal.

Slow connections beware

Lots of photos. Lots.

First we have my third installment of Yarn Stash Appreciation Sunday. This week? Amazing handspun yarn (usually) bought from the artists themselves.

There are closeup photos in the Flickr Set so I'll just briefly tell you about each yarn. Clockwise starting from the top left: Two hanks Raspberry Tea by Maisy Day from Hello Yarn, Three different yarns (Pink thick and thin, blue thin, Santa Fe Rainbow thick and thin) from Sandstone Ranch.
Bottom Row from the right: Three big skeins of yarn (two green, one pink) from the Jitterbug shawl kit from Hello Yarn, in the bottom left corner are three skeins of lovely wool and silk from Greenwood Fiberworks, and above that is the unbelievable light sensitive yarn from Material Whirled.

Aren't they beautiful? I highly recommend each and every one of those spinners. And yes, there seems to be an awful lot of pink there. This wasn't exactly done on poipose but I certainly don't think it hoits.

Next, I finished the little collar project for Winter. I ended up just sewing the fabric inside and not making it a collar cover - just a collar itself. We never use her collar for the leash anyway, we always use a halter for that.

It's soft and it fits her nicely.

Oh, and here's something else I finished last night..

Yep! Finished my Jaywalkers! I even sewed the ends in. Go me!

Even though I made them a good bit taller than the original pattern, I still only used one skein of that Cherry Tree Hill Birches. Less than a yard to spare but just one skein. Which means I can make another pair of socks in this fun color.

Now, there's this backyard meme going around but to be honest. You really don't want to see my backyard. It used to have trees (that had to be cut down due to a fungus or something), and it had a big yard of grass with built-in sprinklers. But we both believe that having a yard is both a pain in the ass and completely an irresponsible thing to do in the desert so now it's mostly dirt with weeds and a lot of dog poop. So I'm going to show the parts of my backyard that I like.

This gargoyle that guards our back door.

Our only remaining full-sized tree

And this.

No, not the arroyo drainage construction that's been going on behind our house since last May. Nor the gross red wooden fence. But my little desert savannah camoflage dog.

Of course she makes the den pretty fun too

If you're curious about what the rest of the house looks like (with a few changes since this was made in early 2002) check out my eerily accurate Sims recreation of our house.

Another movie meme

I originally saw this on And She Knits Too and found my way back to the source.

Yes, another movie meme in which I mark a huge boring list to show off how cool I am. Hey, it's fun to do and it gives me an idea for good movies to add to the netflix queue. And while it's similar to this and this it has more recent and obscure films listed and I found the groupings to be interesting.

According to these guys if you score over 100 (out of 205) you are a true film buff. So here goes.

+ have it on DVD
* have it on VHS

[X] Citizen Kane
[X] Casablanca
[X] The Godfather*+
[X] The Godfather Part 2*+
[X] Gone with the Wind+
[ ] Lawrence of Arabia
[X] The Wizard of Oz
[X] The Graduate
[X] On the Waterfront
[ ] Schindler's List
[X] Singing in the Rain
[X] Ben-Hur

Total:10

[X] Seven Samurai
[ ] Magnificent Seven
[ ] Three Amigos
[ ] Yojimbo
[ ] Fist Full of Dollars
[ ] Last Man Standing
[ ] Hidden Fortress
[X] Star Wars*+
[X] Empire Strikes Back*+
[X] Return of the Jedi*+
[ ] Ran
[ ] Dreams
[X] Rashomon

Total:5

[X] Psycho
[X] Vertigo
[X] North by Northwest
[X] The Birds
[X] Rear Window
[ ] Dial M for Murder

a few missing (my favorite Hitchcock is Rebecca)..

Total:5

the rest has been moved to the extended entry.

[ ] Blood Simple
[X] Raising Arizona
[ ] Millers Crossing
[X] Barton Fink
[X] Hudsucker Proxy*
[X] Fargo*
[X] Big Lebowski
[X] O Brother Where Art Thou?+

Hee the Cohen Brothers really are a category unto themselves

Total:6

[X] Alien*
[X] Blade Runner*
[ ] Legend
[ ] Black Rain
[X] Thelma & Louise
[ ] Black Hawk Down
[ ] Gladiator

Thelma & Louise? Is it me or does that one stick out from that list?

Total:3

[X] Time Bandits
[X] Brazil*
[X] The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
[X] The Fisher King
[X] Twelve Monkeys*+ (as well as the original La Jetee)
[X] Seven+
[X] Fight Club
[ ] Primal Fear
[X] American History X

Nice cluster here.

Total:8

[X] Spartacus
[X] Lolita
[X] Dr. Strangelove+
[X] Point for knowing the full title of Dr. Strangelove
(I know it. I can't tell YOU, though. That would be cheating.)
[X] 2001: A Space Odyssey
[X] Clockwork Orange
[X] The Shining*+
[X] Full Metal Jacket

I think Paths of Glory is missing in this list

Total:7+1=8

[ ] The Pianist
[X] Rosemary's Baby*
[X] China Town*
[X] Easy Rider
[X] One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Total:4

[ ] Unforgiven
[X] The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
[ ] The Searchers
[X] Rio Bravo
[ ] Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
[ ] Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

meh, westerns.

Total:2

[X] Halloween+
[X] Nightmare on Elm Street
[X] Friday the 13th
[X] Chainsaw Massacre (own #2)
[X] The Exorcist*+
[X] Silence of the Lambs

The Haunting (original Robert Wise one), Last House on the Left, The Audition

Total:6

[X] Pee-wee's Big Adventure
[X] Beetle Juice*
[X] Batman
[X] Edward Scissor Hands
[X] Ed Wood
[X] Mars Attacks!

Total:6

[X] Reservoir Dogs*
[X] Pulp Fiction*
[X] Kill Bill: Vol 1
[X] Kill Bill: Vol 2
[ ] Sin City
[X] Four Rooms
[X] From Dusk Till Dawn
[X] Desperado
[ ] El Mariachi

Total:7

[X] Gates of Heaven
[X] Vernon, Florida
[X] The Thin Blue Line
[ ] Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
[X] Mr. Death
[X] The Fog of War

Errol Morris makes interesting documentaries

Total:5

[ ] LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings
[ ] LOTR: The Two Towers
[ ] LOTR: Return of the King
[ ] Forgotten Silver
[X] Heavenly Creatures
[X] Braindead aka Dead Alive+
[X] Meet the Feebles
[X] Bad Taste

Total:4

[ ] King Kong (1933)
[X] King Kong (1976)
[ ] King Kong (2005)

Total:1

[X] The Sixth Sense*
[ ] Unbreakable
[ ] Signs
[X] The Village

Total:2

[ ] Pi
[X] Requiem for a Dream
[ ] Memento
[X] Insomnia
[X] Batman Begins
[ ] Following
[X] The Virgin Suicides
[X] Lost in Translation+
[X] Being John Malkovich*
[X] Adaptation
[X] Eternal Sunshine or the Spotless Mind

Total:8

[X] Better Off Dead
[X] Sixteen Candles
[X] The Breakfast Club
[X] Weird Science
[X] Ferris Beuller's Day Off
[X] Planes, Trains & Automobiles
[X] The Goonies
[X] Stand by Me

Total:8

[X] The Shawshank Redemption
[ ] The Green Mile

Total:1

[X] Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory+
[X] Princess Bride*+
[X] This is Spinal Tap+
[X] The Jerk
[X] Ghost Busters+
[X] Animal House
[X] Blues Brothers
[X] Little Shop of Horrors

Total:8

[ ] Princess Mononoke
[ ] My Neighbor Totoro
[ ] Spirited Away
[ ] Howl's Moving Castle
[X] Akira*+
[ ] Steamboy
[X] Ghost in the Shell+

Total:2

[X] Waiting for Guffman+
[X] Best in Show+
[X] A Mighty Wind+

Total:3

[X] Night of the Living Dead+
[X] Dawn of the Dead (1978)
[X] Day of the Dead
[ ] Land of the Dead
[X] Shawn of the Dead
[ ] 28 days later

Total:4

[ ] Bottle Rocket
[X] Rushmore+
[X] Royal Tenenbaums+
[X] The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou+
[ ] Snatch
[ ] Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
[X] Trainspotting
[X] Shallow Grave

those missing three just happen to be in my netflix queue

Total:5

[X] Delicatessen
[X] Amilie+
[X] City of Lost Children
[X] Run Lola Run
[X] La Femme Nikita
[X] The Professional*+
[X] The Fifth Element*+

Total:7

[X] Mean Streets
[X] Taxi Driver+
[X] Raging Bull
[ ] Last Temptation of Christ
[X] Goodfellas*+
[X] Casino+

no "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore?"

Total:5

[ ] M
[X] Metropolis
[X] Nosferatu
[X] Diabolique
[X] Usual Suspects*+
[X] Double Indemnity
[X] The Third Man
[X] Manchurian Candidate (1962) (love this movie love love it)
[X] Cool Hand Luke

Total:8

[X] Raiders of the Lost Ark+
[X] Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom+
[X] Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade+
[X] Jurassic Park
[X] Color Purple
[ ] Saving Private Ryan
[X] E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
[X] Jaws+

Total:7

[X] Die Hard
[ ] Lethal Weapon
[ ] Mad Max
[ ] The Road Warrior
[ ] Braveheart
[ ] Man Without a Face
[ ] Passion of the Christ

can you tell I'm not a big Mel Gibson fan?

Total:1

GRAND TOTAL: 149

Of course, things like this can't be all-inclusive so these are the ones I think are missing

Classic Comedies like Bringing up Baby, His Girl Friday, The Awful Truth

a few more Film noir- Gilda, Sunset Blvd, The Big Sleep

Jim Jarmusch- Trust, Mystery Train, Down by Law, Stranger than Paradise

good "chick" flicks - Bagdhad Cafe, Ruby in Paradise, Mi Vida Loca, Gas, Food, Lodging

Period pieces such as Topsy-Turvy, Valmont, Restoration, Jane Austen adaptations,

Uncategorized - All About Eve, Charade, Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show

Robert Altman is completely missing as well as Mel Brooks and Cameron Crowe. No Fellini, no Bergman, only one Elia Kazan

But I really enjoyed seeing this list. It was fun and there were some surprises. Definitely different from the other two top 100 film lists.

What song from 2005 am I?

Your 2005 Song Is

Beverly Hills by Weezer "My automobile is a piece of crap My fashion sense is a little whack And my friends are just as screwy as me" You breezed through 2005 in your own funky style!

That song's ok but "Say it Ain't So" will always been my favorite of theirs.

totally stolen from Cheeky Prof and seen somewhere else but I can't remember where right now.

To all the knits I've made before

Still in Birmingham and having a good visit with the 'rents. Very mellow. Lots of knitting time. Oh! I managed to finish all the presents in time. I was casting off the Irish Hiking Scarf for dad as we were taxiing into the gate in Atlanta and I had time to sew in the ends before the connection to B'ham. It wasn't blocked (I did that on Tuesday) but I had a finished knit item for everyone! Go me!

They all seem to enjoy their presents. I felted the fuzzyfeet to fit my father-in-law's feet that Festivus night and he clearly loved them - kept looking down and playing with them. That Crystal Palace Labrador felted beautifully - BEAUTIFULLY!! It has these really cool spots which would explain why the color is called "Jaguar" I was kinda wondering that. So hopefully I'll get a photo of them sometime.

Mom loved her mini clapotis, my sister was very happy with her poncho, and my brother-in-law seemed to enjoy his scarf. They all looked much better after being blocked - particularly the clapotis and poncho. And my mother-in-law an Dad enjoyed their presents too! I don't think I'll be knitting presents for Xmas again. Ok I probably will.

I think I have a few photos on my camera of my family enjoying their new knits but I know I didn't get them of my in-laws. Way too many distractions going on. But I'll see if I can get everyone to send me a photo of the giftee wearing their present.

I had a very generous giftmas. I received so many cool, useful, and thoughtful prezzies that I'm almost embarassed to list them all. I will probably get over it when I'm not sneaking in some computer time before I go to sleep. The good news is my parents have a sweet wireless DSL setup for their different PCs so I'm not having to read all my friends' blogs on dialup. Thank you bloglines! My parents were computer geeks when geeky wasn't cool.

I thought I'd be able to fill out this neat meme I found on Carole's site. I'll undoubtedly forget some and have to add them later. But to help myself I'm going to go from head to toe. And I'm using Flickr.

Items I've knit in 2005 (in order of corresponding body part)

Head
SNB's Kitchy Kerchief
Baby Hat (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts)
Baby Bucket Hat
Funky Page Boy Hat
So-called headband
Reversible Autumnal Hat
Jayne Cobb Hat

Neck
very first garter stitch scarf (in February)
Ribbed for her pleasure scarf
2 Tequila Sunrise Summer Scarves
Beaded Lacy Zig Zag Scarf
Fun Fur Boa
Raspberry Mocha Chevron Scarf
Craaaaaaaaaazy Scarf
Knit Grape Kool Aid Neck Tube
Beaded X Scarf
Ziggy Zaggy Scarf
Biased Eyelash Scarf
Sloppy Slubby Scarf
So-called Scarf
Fuzzy Navel Mohair Scarf
Bird's Nest Scarf (TV Eye Scarf)
Color Fiesta Stole
Autumnal Crossover Scarf
2 glamrock Scarves
Irish Hiking Scarf
2 Manly Racing Stripe Scarves
Mini Clapotis
Finished a Noro Iro "Opposing Biases Scarf" last night

Shoulders
Fiesta biased stole
Knit Black Purse
Baby One Skein Wonder
Boucle Nouveau Poncho
La Boheme Nouveau Poncho
Silk Garden Nouveau Poncho

Chest
Baby Kimono
plus sized ballet tee

Hands
Felted Lopi Tote
2 felted bamboo handled mini purses
Kitten Mittens
Felted Fiesta Tote

Feet
Baby Booties
3 pairs of fuzzyfeet

Misc
Ipod Cozy
felted cat bed
knit flower pin
6 pairs of mini mittens and 6 mini stockings
Teddy Bear Scarf
Knit Fun Fur Stuffed Hedgehog
Knit Chenille Stuffed Pumpkin

I'll post about my planned 2006 knits later :) I'm pretty distracted here so if I don't get to post before I get back on Monday have a safe and happy new year's eve!

Fours

Been a while since I've done a meme quiz thing. It's been sitting in a text file on the desktop for ages so I don't remember where I got it.

I'm drinking caffeinated tea this morning trying to wake up. I'll be working on a certain hat today. Still need to spin the red yarn but the orange and yellow is ready, waiting, and (not to toot my own horn or anything) fabulous.

Name four books on your bookshelf:
The Artist Outsider
Look Homeward, Angel
O'Reilly's XML in a nutshell
Being and Nothingness

Name four DVDs Movies in your collection:
Muppets from Space
The Royal Tennenbaums
The Criterion Collection version of Slacker
The Women

Name four things on your walls:
poster of Van Gogh's Mulberry Tree painting from the Norton Simon Museum
Art Juxtaposed 2005 calendar
the dog's feeding clock dry erase board
a (certified!) Henry Moore lithograph

Name four things in your wardrobe:
stripey socks
twelve hole doc martens
black t shirts
many many yoga pants

Name four artists in your music collection:
The Pixies
Lou Reed
The Ramones
Willie Nelson

Name four real life stores you shop at regularly:
Smith's Grocery Store
Petsmart
Best Buy
Barnes and Noble

Name four things in your bag:
Burt's Bees lip balm
Philosophy pure grace solid perfume
driver's license and credit cards
a wip garter stitch scarf in striping sock yarn

Name four things in your cupboard that are in cans:
roasted and chopped green chiles
green chile stew
tomato soup
mandarin oranges

5ives

10 years ago
I was probably in LA or in the car somewhere between LA and Santa Fe. Silly young boyfriend there whom I thought I loved. Not one-tenth the man Cody is but to be fair he was just a nineteen year old kid. I wouldn't want to be judged solely on who I was at nineteen either. I think I was about to have a serious bout with kidney stones and be put on medication for major clinical depression for the first time. But maybe that was 1996.

5 years ago
I was in the process of changing jobs from being a third party tech support person for a major online store to managing transactions for variable, whole, and single premium life insurance policies and answering questions about unearned income tax receipts from demutualization. In the end both jobs sucked pretty hard.

1 year ago
I was probably watching Upstairs Downstairs and eating a popsicle after a morning of water aerobics.

Yesterday
I watched entirely too much news and kept hitting redial on the phone trying to reach Will's parents. Then we drove to a family thing in Los Lunas and ate incredible barbeque. Avoided eating any "God Bless America" cake that ironically had a layer of chocolate pudding between two sheets of yellow cake covered by gobs of white buttercream icing. I did my best to not say anything catty but I think I failed.

Today
Drank coffee, talked with my parents on the phone, had a great time at the Saturday knitting group, bought five skeins of noro cash iroha and the two tiered Lantern Moon basket at Village Wools, got a hot dog at Weinerschnitzel. Managed to get through to the phone ringing in Natchez only to get answering machine. Submitted some photos and lists to the craft revolution etsy store.

Tomorrow
Taking more photos for the etsy shop, knitting a scarf with the Noro, taking Winter to the dog park.

5 snacks I enjoy
cheese dip, pretzels, cheetoes, satay peanut won ton snacks, edamame

5 bands/singers I like
The Clash, Billie Holiday, The Ramones, Loretta Lynn, John Lee Hooker

Things I would do with $100,000,000
right now I would send 97,000,000 of it to charity groups for the Gulf of Mexico, give my parents two million, pay off and fix up the house and put the rest in savings.

5 locations I'd like to run away to
Northern Italy, Ireland, ten thousand waves, anywhere slightly cool

5 bad habits I have
money management, thinking negative thoughts, eating unhealthy foods, blurting awkward things, not cleaning up very well

5 things I like doing
knitting, watching movies, shopping, eating, sleeping

5 thing's I'd never wear
tiny spiky-heeled overpriced shoes, giorgio perfume, big fake fingernails, Republican party paraphinalia, a scarlet A

5 TV shows I like
Upstairs Downstairs, Changing Rooms, Monk, Dead Like Me, Designing Women

5 movies I like
Gosford Park, Amelie, The Royal Tennenbaums, French Kiss, Cold Comfort Farm

5 famous people I'd like to meet
(alive) Alexander McCall Smith, Elizabeth Peters, Bill Clinton, Frances McDormand,
(dead) Katherine Hepburn, Henri Matisse, Hildegarde von Bingen, Eudora Welty, William Blake

5 biggest joys of the moment
iced tea, melon being and eating well, cool sheets, citrus sunrise lip balm, wet dog noses

5 favorite toys
my computer, the goko yarn swift, the hedgehog catnip toy I found at petsmart, water cooler/heater, satellite dish receiver

X marks the meme

this meme sort of goes with yesterday's x scarf doesn't it?

[ ] I've run away from home.
[X] I listen to political music.
[X] I collect (Sandman) comic books.
[X] I shut others out when I'm sad.
[ ] I open up to others easily.
[ ] I am keeping a secret from the world.
[ ] I watch the news.
[ ] I own over 5 rap CDs.
[X] I own an (adorable pink mini) I-Pod.
[X] I own something from Hot Topic (and Torrid).
[X] I love (three) Disney movies.
[X] I am a sucker for hair/eyes.
[ ] I don't kill bugs.
[X] I curse regularly.
[X] I paid for that cell phone ringtone.
[ ] I have "x"s in my screen name.
[ ] I've slipped out a "lol" in a real conversation.
[ ] I love Spam.
[ ] I bake well.
[X] I would wear pajamas to school.
[ ] I own something from Abercrombie
[ ] I have a job.
[X] I love like Martha Stewart.
[X] I am in love with someone.
[ ] I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
[X] I am self conscious.
[X] I like to laugh.
[ ] I (don't) smoke a pack a day (anymore).
[X] I loved Go Ask Alice.
[ ] I have cough drops when I'm not sick.
[ ] I can't swallow pills.
[X] I have many scars.
[X] I've been out of this country.
[X] I believe in ghosts.
[X] I can't sleep if there is a spider in the room.
[X] I am really ticklish.
[X] I see/have seen a therapist.
[X] I love chocolate french fries.
[ ] I bite my nails.
[X] I am (usually) comfortable with being me.
[X] I play computer games/video games when i'm bored.
[X] Gotten lost in your city.
[X] Saw a shooting star.
[X] Gone Went out in public in your pajamas bottoms last week.
[ ] I have kissed a stranger.
[X] Hugged a stranger.
[X] Been in a fight with the same sex.
[ ] Been arrested.
[X] Laughed and had milk/soda come out of your nose.
[X] Pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
[ ] Made out in an elevator.
[X] Swore at your parents.
[X] Kicked a guy where it hurts.
[ ] Been skydiving.
[ ] Been bungee jumping.
[X] Broken a bone.
[ ] Played spin the bottle.
[X] Gotten stitches.
[ ] Drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
[ ] Bitten someone.
[X] Been to Niagara Falls.
[X] Gotten the chicken pox.
[ ] Crashed into a friend's car.
[X] Been to Japan.
[X] Ridden in a taxi.
[X] Shoplifted.
[X] Been fired (technically yes but after five minutes of telling the guy how he had no idea how his company worked he was begging me to stay).
[X] Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back.
[X] Stole something from your job. (just my nameplate when I left)
[X] Gone on a blind date (in Japan).
[X] Lied to a friend.
[ ] Had a crush on a teacher/coach.
[ ] Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans. (that's the one time I will refuse to go there)
[X] Been to Europe.
[ ] Slept with a co-worker.
[X] Been married.
[ ] Gotten divorced.
[ ]Saw someone dying.
[X]Driven over 400 miles in one day.
[X] Been to Canada.
[X] Been on a plane.
[X] Seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
[ ] Thrown up in a bar.
[X] Eaten Sushi.
[ ] Been snowboarding.
[ ] Been skiing.
[X] Been ice skating.
[X] Met someone in person from the internet (and married them).
[ ] Been to a motorcross show.
[X] Gone/Going to college.
[X] Done hard drugs
[X] Taken painkillers.
[X] Cheated on someone else
[X] Were so bored you took this survey.
[X] Have a tattoo

snagged from cheekyprof

Which fucked up genius composer am I?

Hank Williams... you're fucked up on drinks, pills
and a broken heart. You'll die young and wild,
but influence more people than you could ever
imagine. If it wasn't for you, rock n roll
would be nothing more than benign and insipid.


Which fucked-up genius composer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

reason number 865 why we shouldn't have children: I'll publically call them Bocephus.

via mr. tonic

2 variable Intuition test

More Emotional

You have:
62% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and

77% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the represents your place in Intuition 2-Space.
As you can see, you scored well above average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition.Your emotional intuition is stronger than your scientific intuition.

Your Emotional Intuition
score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their
unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates
social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good
at Quake.

Your Scientific Intuition
score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well
you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with
high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the
sciences.

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on OkCupid Free Online Dating

really interesting quiz found at ColaSusan's site.

25 questions meme

You'd think I'd run out of these but I keep running across more. This one was snagged from Lushy, who scored an unbelievable 80 on my test without even knowing me in person or reading this site for all that long. Go Lushy!

1. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what's the first thing you look at?
My eyes then my hair then my nose

2. How much cash do you have on you right now?
A couple of dollars and some change. I am check card woman.

3. What's a word that rhymes with "TEST"?
Vest

4. Favourite plant?
Irises

5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
I'm too lazy to go look.

6. What is your main ring tone on your phone?
Erasure's "A Little Respect"

7. What shirt are you wearing?
A third markdown clearance blue sleeveless stretch yoga shirt from Avenue

8. Do you "label" yourself?
not on purpose

9. Name brand of your shoes currently wearing?
NONE! Hahahahahaha

10. Do you prefer a bright or dark room?
I prefer a room with a medium amount of indirect lighting, although I've been changing over to brighter, more direct lighting since beginning knitting.

11. What did you have for breakfast?
fresh pineapple

12. (does not exist so I'll make one up) If you could be doing anything anywhere right now what and where would it be?
Lying on a beach right after a storm on a big recliner knitting something in cotton watching Cody play with the dog.

13. What were you doing at midnight last night?
probably knitting and watching tv

14. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say?
I think it's from Justin, something about meeting the guy from Napoleon Dynamite.

15. Do you ever click on "Pop Ups" or Banners?
Popups? never ever ever ever I don't like rewarding bad behavior. Banners? rarely but I have been known to.

16. What's an expression that you say a lot?
I'm drawing a blank here

17. Who told you they loved you last?
Mr. Man

18. Last furry thing you touched?
Yarn. I was reorganizing the abundance of noro kureyon I've accumulated lately.

19. How many hours a week do you work?
define work.

20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed?
none that I know of. There might be a disposable camera or two somewhere though

21. Favourite age you have been so far?
twenty-five was pretty good. Still young but old enough to feel like my brain finally started working like an adult.

22. Your worst enemy?
small-minded people who don't want to learn anything new or change

23. What is your current desk top picture?
Winter in the meadow

24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
Told Mr. Man to have a good night on the phone.

25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose?
I'd take the money. When all's said and done I'm a materialistic little bitch. My preferred materials are usually quite different than what you would expect (electronics, punky clothes, pet and knitting stuff rather than jewelry or status-laden bullshit items) but I still love the presents.

What Kind of Yarn Am I?

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

oh, I picked this quiz up at Knitting, Dogs, and More

Now it's your turn

I scored an abysmal 40 on Jim's test but that didn't stop me from making my own.

Think you know me well?

Take the Noelle Quiz!

which johnny depp am I?

You Are Ed Wood From "Ed Wood." You definitely have your name in history, although probably not for the reason you believe. (oh I have no doubt about that) Yet you are very accepting, non-judgemental, and optimistic almost to a fault. (that's SO not true.) You also have a thing for angora sweaters. (not really) How could anyone not like you?(I dunno but lots of people find ways. Probably because I'm not one-sixteenth as adorable as Johnny Depp.)

Take The Johnny Depp Quiz!

found via moonshine highways

Harry Potter Personality Quiz

bahahahaha!

Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

I wouldn't exactly consider myself ambitious.

This is probably a good time to mention that there have been moments when reading the series that I've imagined him to be a tall deeply-smoothly voiced well-dressed sexy kind of villian. Like in a Lestat (the book and Stuart Townsend version not the travesty that was the Tom Cruise sans any kind of French accent version) kind of way. Or really more like the bad guy in The Crow: disturbing, but sexy. I have to also admit that try as they did getting Alan Rickman to be slimy his inherant sexiness still comes through Snape.

Yes I always preferred Gargamel and especially Ariel to the Smurfs too. And I think it's amusing that in some ways Mr. Man has a very similar profile to a serial killer - with the major exception that he possesses an almost superhuman amount of empathy. And I like that my dog kind of scares the shit out of people at first but is actually floppier and goofier than a three month old puppy. But is still quite protective of her mommy.

It's all about layers, ladies and gentlemen.

from two of my favorite quiz sources: SnarkyStacy and PsychoAmy

computer savviness score

a quizmeme on a weekday! I (arbitrarily) rebel against my own (arbitrary) rules!

In other words, just enough to (mostly) know what my husband is talking about. And Mom and Dad too. And my sister. I'm in a family of geeks I fought it as long as I could.

Found at Stacy's

Dan Quayle says Potatoe I (and other correct people) say Potato

Pass the potato.

(via)

P.S. Things are fine. I'm just not in the mood to write anything. Housewifey knitting summer stuff.

Childhood Meme Birthday Edition

Meg tagged me for this last week but I didn't get to post it last Saturday. Now I realize how totally appropriate it is to post today. I'm thirty-three today. I haven't accomplished a lot of what I thought I would. But I have accomplished many things I never thought about either.

Spending my childhood in a snooty suburb in Alabama I never thought I'd end up in a kitchy 70s suburban house in New Mexico. Never dreamed I'd be so happily married to an adorable computer geek with uncontrollable dark curly hair and baby blue eyes. Didn't consider that I'd end up with a houseful of pets. Or a degree in sculpture. Who'd have thought I'd obsessively take up knitting in my early thirties? And no one would've ever guessed I'd have such a head for history, be so good at understanding tax codes, or have an instinctual knack for the stock market.

But all in all if you'd asked, say, the eighteen year-old me what she thought I'd be doing at this age the only thing she'd be surprised about is that I wasn't growing a better garden and hadn't made the back porch into a pottery studio.

My present to you..

Since I gave this song away for my birthday last year I thought I'd upload another birthday-themed song. If one can't violate copyright laws on one's birthday then life just isn't worth livin'.

And here's the Childhood Meme..

Things I miss from my childhood (in no particular order).

Summers at Nana's Farm.
My grandmother had a farm in a tiny town outside Holly Springs, Mississippi called Red Banks. There were chickens and cows and she tended a respectable vegetable garden. I would spend at least one month of my summers there. Nana was a busy lady but always had something fun and interesting for us to do. One summer I rode a horse every single day. I miss Nana's hands (although sometimes I see them in mine), her kindness, and the special non-judgemental love she had for most people, her grandchildren in particular.

Friday nights at Gringo's and Saturday mornings at the ballpark
Before he retired in '99 my dad was a confirmed workaholic. And there was no more stressful time, it seems, than working for the phone company in the late seventies and early eighties. He and all the other programmers and computer security guys seemed to work hard and, to quote a bad deoderant commercial, play hard. Friday nights were usually spent at a Mexican restaurant called El Gringos. It wasn't quite as authentic as what I eat here in NM but for Alabama it was remarkably close. Our waitress was a hilarious diminutive Mexican immigrant lady named Rosa and she served some kick-ass cheese dip.

Saturday mornings were spent at the softball park in Homewood watching Dad play with his team of other Bellsouth (or South Central Bell depending on the year) guys. They were all pudgy and middle-aged and looked ratty with no common uniform but every year they kicked all those younger guys' asses to the championship. We used to call them to the Grateful Dead of softball teams. After the game in the morning well into the afternoon the guys would stand around drinking beer out of red solo cups under the sign that read "No alcoholic beverages in the park" telling their softball version of front porch fishing stories.

Saturday morning cartoons
In the late seventies you were almost guaranteed to be entertained by cartoons from seven to eleven-thirty am when "Land of the Lost" came on and cartoons were effectively over. Sure, there's the cartoon network and Nick toons and Boomerang channels with cartoons 24-7 but it's not quite the same. Rarity makes things valuable.

I can't think of any more for now and I need to go get dressed and I wanted to try the first part of Clapotis again so I'll add more as I think of them.

a Quick n dirty IQ test

Your IQ Is 125

Your Logical Intelligence is Genius Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

snagged from Kelly

what color eyes would our kids have?

According to the eye calculator Cody and I have a 33.3% chance of having a child with blue eyes and a 66.6% chance of having a child with green eyes.

Time's list of the 100 greatest movies

Not surprisignly it includes a lot of the same movies as the National Society of Film Critics Essential 100 but I feel like doing it anyway.

* means I've seen it
- means I own it on video, dvd, or both

Aguirre: the Wrath of God (1972)
The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)
*The Awful Truth (1937)
Baby Face (1933)
Bande à part (1964)
*Barry Lyndon (1975)
Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
-*Blade Runner (1982)
*Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
-*Brazil (1985)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
*Camille (1936)
*Casablanca (1942)
-*Charade (1963)
Children of Paradise (1945)
-*Chinatown (1974)
Chungking Express (1994)
*Citizen Kane (1941)
City Lights (1931)
City of God (2002)
Closely Watched Trains (1966)
The Crime of Monsieur Lange (1936)
The Crowd (1928)
Day for Night (1973)
The Decalogue (1989)
Detour (1945)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Dodsworth (1936)
*Double Indemnity (1944)
-*Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Drunken Master II (1994)
*E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
*8 1/2 (1963)
*The 400 Blows (1959)
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
*Finding Nemo (2003)
*The Fly (1986)
-*The Godfather, Parts I and II (1972, 1974)
*The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
-*Goodfellas (1990)
*A Hard Day's Night (1964)
*His Girl Friday (1940)
Ikiru (1952)
In A Lonely Place (1950)
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
It's A Gift (1934)
*It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Kandahar (2001)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
King Kong (1933)
*The Lady Eve (1941)
The Last Command (1928)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Léolo (1992)
The Lord of the Rings (2001-03)
The Man With a Camera (1929)
*The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
*Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
*Metropolis (1927)
Miller's Crossing (1990)
Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980)
Mouchette (1967)
Nayakan (1987)
Ninotchka (1939)
*Notorious (1946)
Olympia, Parts 1 and 2 (1938)
*On the Waterfront (1954)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Out of the Past (1947)
*Persona (1966)
*Pinocchio (1940)
-*Psycho (1960)
-*Pulp Fiction (1994)
-*The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Pyaasa (1957)
*Raging Bull (1980)
Schindler's List (1993)
*The Searchers (1956)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
*The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
*Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Singing Detective (1986)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
*Some Like It Hot (1959)
-*Star Wars (1977)
*A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Sunrise (1927)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Swing Time (1936)
Talk to Her (2002)
-*Taxi Driver (1976)
Tokyo Story (1953)
A Touch of Zen (1971)
Ugetsu (1953)
Ulysses' Gaze (1995)
Umberto D (1952)
Unforgiven (1992)
White Heat (1949)
Wings of Desire (1987)
Yojimbo (1961)

43%

I think it helps that I went to a college with a working film department and had a semester or two of weekly cross-departmental forums and lectures (My favorites were the lectures where I got to meet George Romero and Robert Wise). Cable with TCM and AMC (when it was good) don't hurt either :)

snagged from Jim in Tonic and Psychobabble.

Which pulp fiction character am I? (male and female!)

You're sweet, but not naive -- though you like to be babied like a child at times. You prefer to have a bad boy by your side, but sometimes have problems understanding why he has to run off to take care of business. You want to settle down, yet deep down inside, you are excited by the surprises life throws your way. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz.

Curiosity compelled me to see which male character I'd be too.

You talk fast, you think fast, you act fast. Stop. Calm Down. Drink some decaf and go back to hitting up liquor stores. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz.

I totally snagged this from Ms. Babble.

DVD and Book Memes

This weekend has gone by really quickly. In fact, the whole week has flown by and we didn't get nearly as much cleaning done as we wanted to. But we made a respectable dent. And got a lot of pesky errands done. As well as a fun trip to the NM Fiber Fiesta where I didn't spend too much! Go me! But at least it's a start with the house and I don't feel so totally overwhelmed.

Mel tagged me for the book meme but I thought I'd do both just for fun. I've never been tagged for a meme and noticed it before so that's kind of neat.

DVD Meme

1. Total number of films I own on DVD or video:

I'd say about two hundred fifty to three hundred. Including box sets and bonus disks. Having worked for an online store (not the one with the name starting with an A but a cheaper one I wouldn't really recommend) made a good contribution to the collection. There are a lot I'm hoping to sell on ebay soon.

2. The last film I bought:

I picked up Excess Baggage for six bucks at Best Buy a few weeks ago. Benicio is totally one of my secret boyfriends.

3. The last film I watched:

I watched Waiting for Guffman, Bend it Like Beckham, and Shrek 2 while doing chores and starting my very first sock this afternoon. And didn't have to change the channel, HBO was very cool today.

Until Ghost came on and I had a bad flashback to the time I was nineteen when I was at the doctor's office in Alabama getting my shots for my Australian visa. A very drawly woman with HUGE permed hair was taking my blood and asked what my major was in college.

"Sculpture," I said.

"Oh! Do yew werk with claaaay?"

"Yes."

"Like on a pottery whee-uul?" She says as she changes to the third gallon-sized vial to fill with more of my lifeblood.

"Mmmhmm. Sometimes." I'm getting slightly woozy.

"Do yew evar wish yew had Patrick Swayze huuugin on you when yer werkin on the wheee-uul?"

"Um. No. That would mess my pots up. I would tell him to go away, that I was working."

4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):

Gosford Park
God I love that movie. I can watch it over and over and not get bored. The combination of English manor murder mystery (a young woman solving the case!) with Altman's trademark layered characters, dialogue, and storylines. Every single actor in this movie is "on". Brilliant.

The Philadelphia Story
Smart, funny, quirky characters. A sweet storyline without being too sentimental. Physical humor but not slapstick. A strong female character that remains strong even when she's feeling vulnerable. And Cary fucking Grant.

Velvet Goldmine
Total glam rock fluff with a great soundtrack and half (sometimes fully) naked sexually ambiguous men. Not usually my thing but it sure is in this case!

French Kiss
Take the good parts from Meg Ryan romantic comedy movies. Add Kevin Kline acting like a crusty French criminal. Season with a fun soundtrack. Serve on a crispy bed of beautiful locations. It's ass-twitchingly delicious!

Topsy Turvy
I love this movie for mostly the same reasons I love Gosford Park: lots of complex characters with their own storylines, a great representation of a very specific period of time with painful attention to location and dress, and funny aside lines. This one just happens to be about the process of writing, producing, and performing a famous musical operetta based on a culture with which the authors had only vague experience. Many layers.

5. Tag five people and have them put this in their journal:

Um. I'm not very good at finger-pointing. Or remembering who's already done this meme. Or decision-making in general. How about I tag a few people and they're welcome to put whatever answers they wish to share on their journal or in the comments. Jocelyn (Happy Birthday!!) will probably snag this meme, Aubree, Juus, Rain, and Michelle. No pressure! Just do it if you want to.

Book Meme

1. Total Number of Books I’ve Owned:

Uh. Hmm. Seven hundred fifty? I say a thousand and Cody says five hundred. This is almost impossible to guess because most of the books I read when I was much younger were borrowed from my parents' or sister's shelves. Between used books, art books, junk fiction, and textbooks it started adding up. And when Cody and I got together it was almost like the marriage of two book estates. Actually it was exactly like the marriage of two book estates. My art books and literary fiction books married his biology, writing, and science fiction novels. Still no novellas or poetry chapbooks so please stop asking them about it.

2. Last Book I Bought:

About a month and a half ago I got The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances, and World of Knitted Toys

3. Last Book I Read:

I read The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Village of Reduced Circumstances last night.

4. Five Books That Mean A Lot To Me:

It's hard to describe why I like each of these books without sounding like a pretentious ass or a twelve year old writing a book review at nine pm on a Sunday night so I'm just gonna list em.

A Confederacy of Dunces
A Prayer for Owen Meany with A Widow for One Year as a very close second for favorite John Irving novel
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
I Capture the Castle
American Gods
bonus favorite book: Look Homeward, Angel

5. Tag five people and have them do this on their blog:

Uh. I lost my tags they're somewhere around..oh the dog ate em.

Image is everything meme

I grew up in:

Now I live in:

My name is:

My grandmothers' names are:

and

Favorite food is:

Favorite drink:

Favorite song:

Favorite Smell:

Favorite shoes:

This interesting meme was snagged from moonshine highways.

Visit: images.google.com

Search: the place you grew up, the place you live now, your name, your Grandmother's name, your favorite food, your favorite drink, your favorite song, your favorite smell and your favorite shoes.

Then, post the first (or your favorite) results for each.

Don't be an asshole: be sure to save images and upload them to your own server.

four things meme

Name four books on your bookshelf:
The Artist Outsider
The Spiral Dance
O'Reilly's XML in a nutshell
Being and Nothingness

Name four DVDs Movies in your collection:
Muppets from Space
The Royal Tennenbaums
Le Divorce
The Women

Name four things on your walls:
poster of Van Gogh's Mulberry Tree painting from the Norton Simon Museum
Suicide Girl's calendar
a corkboard
a Henry Moore lithograph

Name four things in your wardrobe:
stripey socks
black twelve hole doc martens
black t shirts
a long jeans skirt

Name four artists in your music collection:
The Pixies
Lou Reed
The Ramones
Willie Nelson (shut up I love him)

Name four real life stores you shop at regularly:
Smith's Grocery Store
Petsmart
Best Buy
Barnes and Noble

Name four things in your bag:
Burt's Bees lip balm
Philosophy pure grace solid perfume
driver's license and credit cards
lopi tote knitting project

Name four things in your cupboard that are in cans:
roasted and chopped green chiles
green chile stew
tomato soup
mandarin oranges

snagged from Snarky Stacy

how goth am I?

I doubt it's even that much. I've just never been skinny or pale or even misanthropic enough to truly qualify. And I just hate wearing makeup. I'm such a Conformist.

snagged from lady cheekyprof

What kind of knitter am I? (and more)

Sorry about the lack of actual posts. Been having a sort of blog writer's block. That depression post really upset and worried my Mom and Sister and then I was just outright embarrassed about exposing such a raw nerve. That, getting booted off The Duke City Fix's weblog feed page (I'll admit I was pretty critical of them but what a childish petty thing to do especially with the recent post about the open possibilities and varying voices of the blogosphere), and reading a post on one of their authors' personal sites that had a mean comment making fun of knitters then another author said on her personal site that by wearing the color pink and retro clothing that I'm succumbing to the right-wing conspiracy to control women. So I've been pretty self-conscious about what I can write about that won't have strange consequences, spark panicked phone calls, or be subject to general condescending derision.

Don't you hate feeling like that?

About the right-wing conspiracy to control my body. Well, that may be true. But these guys are plotting no matter what I wear. On the one hand those assholes might be more open to hearing my opinion when I'm wearing pearls and a twin set rather than my Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo shirt. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what I'm wearing and I think it's creepy and manipulative to tell other people what not to wear. Unless your name is Trinny or Susanna - no, not even the tlc channel ripoff people. And mocking women for their chosen hobby, well, that's not a very pro-woman attitude either. Shame on you both.

I consider myself a post-feminist, I can kick your boyfriend's ass at Tekken and Trivial Pursuit, use an oxy-acetalyne torch welder, make one hell of a pot of chili, knit you a scarf, and do phone tech support all while wearing fuzzy pink slippers and a pink angora cardigan over my Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo Shirt. I do not read Cosmo (or any fashion magazine for that matter), watch red carpet fashion commentary shows or reality tv shows that aren't on Bravo, call other women sluts, whores, or the c word (the very occasional bitch sometimes slips in but I've been hanging around the dog circles a lot where it's freely used in a different context). Nor do I sit around in public places analyzing what other people are wearing.

I'm too busy trying to get through the day without a panic attack, depressive episode, inadvertently being rude to anyone, making sure all the living beings in my house have food and water and are relatively filth-free, that the perpetual dry patch of skin on my hairline isn't showing, or that my clothes don't have obvious stains on them to worry about what other women are wearing. In fact, I consider the act of criticizing the way other women have freely chosen to live their lives to not be a very feminist attitude. As long as they know their options and aren't telling me what to do with mine, it's bully with me.

And if you're interested in the major role women's fiber work has played in history I highly recommend a book called Women's Work.

In knitting news (avert your eyes ye knitsnobbies) what started out as a felted purse became a felted kitty bed. I was working with four different color variations of Noro Kureyon (51, 126, 52, and 87 bought in the bargain bin at my lys if you're curious) and found myself manipulating the stripes so all the different shades and colors would be more cohesive - which sort of defeats the purpose of self-striping yarn I guess but it was a fun experiment and I have a lot of little balls left over. But even with the interesting color variation, it sure wasn't looking like a purse I'd want to carry out in public and I didn't think it would be for the person I was originally making it for either. So I made some extra ribbing at the bottom to match the top (which lent a nice bend to the shape it turned out) and decreased into a circle and it became a top-down cat bed instead. I assure you, the aereolish pink rings and slight nipple of extra knitting on the bottom were pure chance. What's really funny is the bed was for my cat cup bed-loving cat who's the only male pet in the house (aside from Cody of course). But he'll like it it's warm and boys love their boobies. Straight boys do anyway. Phunq's neutered though. In any case he'll like it. Now if I can just get him to pose in it for a photo without getting excited and thinking it's time for pets.

But it also makes a fabulous dog hat.

of course there are ten thousand photos in the photo journal

Right now I'm working on the chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in Fiesta Raspberry Mocha Rayon Boucle for my mother-in-law. It's going to be a bit late for Mother's Day but she's assured me she's ok with that. But it's very, very long and will take a while. I've found that the rayon boucle lends itself very well to the pattern when my hands aren't being sweaty. When they are being sweaty I'm working on a black purse in what I *think* is Wool-ease and will have some Lion homespun and fun fur embellishments. Sort of hard to explain what I'm going to do with this purse but here's hoping it'll be fabulous.

In non-knitting news Cody and I went out for sushi with Aubrey and her husband on Thursday. We had a great time and all four of us agree what a shame it is we met right before they have to move to Minnesota. But online friends are always welcome too. Hopefully they'll visit sometimes, and we have plans to hit the Fiber Arts Fiesta together before the move. We did a swap (a cute strawberry needle case I special ordered from the ebay lady that made mine for some crystal palace chenille yarn!) and I love that we both brought extra prezzies. I added some shoyeido body powder and a sun shaped bar of soap since it had been her birthday (not much but it's what I could find) and she brought me a buttonhole bag she'd made! It was such a nice night and they have one of the cuter "how we met" stories I've ever heard. Between Aubrey and Tim and the new friends I've made at knit night (like Meg and Jenny) I'm so glad I've taken up this new hobby. Critics of knitting and trendyknitters be damned.

So what kind of knitter am I?
(made by another fun knitblogger who's also obsessed with her dog)

You appear to be a Knitting Adventurer.
You are through those knitting growing pains and
feeling more adventurous. You can follow a
standard pattern if it's not too complicated
and know where to go to get help. Maybe you've
started to experiment with different fibers and
you might be eyeing a book with a cool
technique you've never tried. Perhaps you
prefer to stick to other people's patterns but
you are trying to challenge yourself more.
Regardless of your preference, you are
continually trying to grow as a knitter, and as
well you should since your non-knitting friends
are probably dropping some serious hints, these
days.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

the quiz was snagged from the decorator crab whose site I found through my new favorite forum.

which flock do I follow?

Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna

snagged from beth

My taste in Music

Your Taste in Music:

90's Alternative: Highest Influence

80's Alternative: High Influence

80's Pop: High Influence

Classic Rock: High Influence

Punk: High Influence

80's R&B: Medium Influence

90's Rock: Medium Influence

90's Pop: Low Influence

90's R&B: Low Influence

Adult Alternative: Low Influence

Alternative Rock: Low Influence

Dance: Low Influence