Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
La La La La La - Blendells
Back in Flesh - Wall of Voodoo
Come and Get Your Love - Redbone
Trouble - Cat Stevens
Boyz In The Hood - Dynamite Hack
Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran
Message of Love - The Pretenders
Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
Likufanele - Zero 7
When I was Young - Eric Burdon
Fresh Feeling - Eels

Joni Mitchell - My Old Man
Type O Negative - Summer Breeze (hifuckinlarious goth cover)
B-A-B-Y - Carla Thomas (from Beg, Scream, and Shout)
Purple Rain - Stina Nordenstam (*not* from Purple Pain)
If I Didn’t Care - The Ink Spots
Personality Crisis - Donna Matthews w/ Teenage Fanclub (from Velvet Goldmine)
Goodbye to You - Scandal
All My Colors - Echo and the Bunnymen
It’s Wonderful - Ella Fitzgerald
Use Me - Ike and Tina Turner

I’m going to an all-day potluck knit party with the Dropped Stitch Knitter’s guild tomorrow. We’re going to eat and knit and dye yarn with kool-aid. I just happen to have a bunch of sugar-free kool aid, some undyed wool handspun from the estate sale, and a turkey baster. And I thought I had wild weekends when I was a teenager.

Here’s my random ten

Spinal Tap - Stonehenge
Mar-Kays - Last Night
Cropstar - Crazy Poco (Beyonce vs. Poco)
Dead Kennedys - Pull My Strings
Lena Horne with Lou Bring and his Orchestra - Stormy Weather
The Pixies - Down to the Well
Squeeze - Tempted
Lucinda Williams - Sweet Old World
The Youngbloods - Let’s Get Together
The Band - Across the Great Divide

This week’s FO is not very impressive. Well, actually it’s impressivly strange but was not much of a challenge to knit. At all. Like I practically knit this during a two hour nap. But it’s just so damn funny. I love it.

This was knit from that strange novelty yarn I bought from a local spinner lady at the fiber fiesta. It has three strands: A finely spun almost threadlike strand of variegated pinkish orangish alpaca, a weird polyester ladder novelty with random tufts of very-off-white almost orange fluffs or tufts, and a very fine strand of pink sparkly polymid so it’s sparkly! I made it very thin (seven stitches) and super super long, like almost twice my five feet two and a half inches.

What really gives it the personality is the fringe. I had such fun with this fringe because I didn’t worry about making the strands even and balanced. In fact, I wanted it to be as shaggy and wild as possible. We’ve dubbed it the “Craaaaaaaazy” Scarf. And one must flail and shake the fringe about as one says “Craaaaaaazy” in a nutty voice that goes up and down an entire musical scale. Trust me it really adds to the charm.

I totally dig this scarf. Even if it could be considered the simplest silliest piece of knitting in the entire world, ever.

I was very creative with the photos today. Mostly because it was really hot and impossible to get a full shot of such a long scarf with such incredibly short arms. So I got a little slap happy in the heat. But I got some great photos! Including some amusing self-portraits.

A really cool and strange closeup of my tattoo with my reflection below.

And a shot of both our tails.

Winter wanted me to hurry up so we could go back inside. So it must’ve been 115 degrees.

And Melon’s doing a whole lot better! Her Monday blood tests (here was a photo taken for petblogging Monday that never got posted. I’ve been a bit busy this week.)

had some great results. A few are still slightly elevated but that crazy Bilirubin is back to normal. So she’s not on the antibiotics anymore and thankfully I don’t have to do the subcutaneous fluids because as she recovered she fought harder making getting that needle in properly very nervewracking. We’re also weaning her off of the steroids. I’m still watching her food intake very, very carefully. If I don’t see her eat enough during the day I make her swallow a few syringes of food to make sure she gets the minimum calories. She hates this but I’m not having another scare like I did that friday afternoon week before last. I thought I was going to lose her right there. Thankfully it’s very clear she’s feeling a lot better. Let’s hope it holds.

———-

The nephew loved his presents. Especially the knit hedgehog. I’ve heard he sleeps with it every night now. He had a wonderful birthday on Saturday. My mil asked me to bring the real hedgehog down so all the kids could see her. So I brought her little playpen and food and stuff. There were lots of questions about her (like why she kept sticking her head in an empty toilet paper tube and what she eats) and curious little hands. Zola behaved BEAUTIFULLY, as did most of the kids. I’m very proud of my little hedgehog she was extremely well-behaved and not nearly as grumpy as I was worried she would be. I mean, hedgehogs are just plain old grumps anyway but with so many curious little nervous hands I was prepared for the hedgehog tantrum of the century.

Speaking of grumps I watched American Splendor last night and thought it was hilarious. It seems I have a special affinity for grumps and find them highly amusing and adorable. The grumpier they get the more amusing I find them. So of course I thought this movie was charming as all getout. What does this say about me?

I didn’t bring the camera on Saturday so I didn’t get any pictures of the kids playing with her or of the ‘phew and his new hedgehog friend, (who has been named Sam but apparently so has every other stuffed toy) but I’ve been promised they’ll get a photo for me.

———

So if you looked at my FO you’d think I had a lazy week. Bah. Check out the WIP I cast on Sunday and need to finish for the baby shower this Sunday afternoon.

Yeah I decided to go ahead and make something for them. Mostly because this is the first grandchild of the aunt who taught me to knit in February and I wanted to make something nice to thank her and make her proud. She hasn’t knit in years and years and had to read the stitch n bitch book to remember how to do it before showing me. She still crochets a lot though.

That’s the baby kimono from Interweave Knits’ Spring 2005 issue. Although I think with the length it actually is more of a Hapi Coat or a Haori. It’a appropriate I’m using the amyville sushi stitch markers isn’t it?

Naturally I had to mess with the pattern so I’m doing it in a stockinette stitch with garter edges rather than doing the whole thing in a garter stitch. I’m using some amusing Sirdar Baby Yarn and thought stockinette would show the little wormies better. Yeah the little rayon baubles look remarkably like little mealworms but because I have a pet insectivore I’m probably more familiar with them than the average person. I still think it’s a fun and unusual yarn to use for a baby. Yarnsnobbies may wrinkle their noses at the acrylicness but moms always thank me for the easy washability. Yeah, it’s acrylic but feels pretty cottony.

It’s a fairly easy knit. Probably would’ve been easier if I’d done the whole thing in garter but whatever. I finished the right front including the right front sleeve on Wednesday and I’m almost finished with the back and the backs of the sleeves. Then I’ll only have the left front and sleeves, do a three needle bind-off for the shoulders, seam the bottom of the sleeves and make a little button flap for the front. I have a huge wooden button for closure rather than a ribbon. I think it’ll make it more Japanese and a bit more gender-neutral.

They think it’s a boy but I wanted to make it neutral just in case. I also picked up some organic cotton baby clothes and socks. The only gender-specific item I bought for the shower were those peepee teepees suggested by Daysleeper Chickie from the Gaiman boards. Those were BRILLIANT! I can’t wait for the aunts to see those little things! Many many thanks daysleeper!

————

My parents are flying into town Monday afternoon so there’s been much panic-induced cleaning going on. It still looks like I haven’t done a damn thing and the yard..well, the yard’s a lost cause at the moment. But Cody’s off this weekend so we should get some serious work done in the house anyway. I’m finding that a fully-loaded (all supplements) Keva Juice Smoothie with a mocha frappucino affigato chaser gets me good and hyped up for cleaning.

Knit. Clean. Fold Laundry. I am the woman in the dunes of unmatched socks.

—–

Just to make this the most convoluted post ever I thought I’d throw in a random ten.

Guster - Amsterdam
Weird Al - Gump
Velvet Underground - That’s the Story of My Life
Nick Drake - Poor Boy
The Cure - The 13th
P.O.D. - Bullet the Blue Sky
ABC - How to be a Millionaire
Petula Clark - Happy Heart
Guns N Roses - It’s So Easy
Wire - I 2 X U

Here’s my exception to the Saturday Quiz and Meme rule: The Friday Random Ten

Sid Vicious - I Wanna Be Your Dog (my randomizer sure loves the Sex Pistols)
Mazzy Star - Blue Light
Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun
Diana Ross - Upside Down
Billie Holiday - I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
George Benson - This Masquerade (Nightmares on Wax JJP Mix)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch - Origin of Love
Bush - Glycerine
A:Xus - Baghdad Cafe (Callin’ U)
Apoptygma Bezerk - Nothing Else Matters

Based on the myriad feedback I’ve been getting for my previous post I guess I should re-iterate what this site is and isn’t for..

This site is for me to have a place to write semi-coherent opinions, thoughts, feelings, photos of my pets (and now knitting). Mostly because I’ve been quoted back to myself several times (no, in a good way) with no memory of having said it in the first place so I thought maybe I should be saving this stuff somewhere.

My mother, sister, best friend in San Francisco, and good friend in the Netherlands read this site on a daily basis to make sure I’m doing well and that I’m not being buried alive by cat hair, books, and crippling depressive episodes. My father and husband do not read it - in fact, as far as I know none of those women’s spouses read the site and other than thinking how weird it is that it might well be the only thing they all have in common I’m ok with it.. Dad says he “doesn’t want to know,” (I imagine what he doesn’t want to know is all the stuff I’m exhibiting to the world - my parents tend to support a very low profile) and Cody thinks I should be able to write without worrying what he’d think about it - bless him he trusts me to not use this as a forum where I complain about him. And he’s right because, with very few exceptions, I don’t. (Mostly because I honestly don’t have much to complain about. Seriously.)

Aside from what I wrote for Women in History month there’s really no rhyme, reason, or consistency whatsoever to what or how I post. I’ve been trying to limit quiz and meme posts to Saturdays (for some arbitrary reason) but that’s about it.

I’m going to talk about religion and politics. It will lean to the left. Period. No apologies. I don’t claim to be a political scientist or expert. Granted they’re well-written and fairly coherent for a person with a Bachelor’s degree in sculpture and a minor in art history but let’s just use that tired old expression that equates opinions with arseholes and leave it at that.

I’ll admit I have pretty extreme opinions about organized religion. And while I’m not a Christian I have a fairly high standard where Christianity is concerned. I went to a Catholic boarding school my freshman year in high school. My art degree is from a Christian Brothers school and I took a lot of required religious academic and non-required religious art classes. I have read manymanymany religious texts (about religions all around the world) and attended a great variety of religious services and ceremonies (also all over the world). While I may be critical of organized religion it’s not like I don’t know what I’m talking about here.

To be honest if you wanted to believe that the earth was created by a giant pink boobah that lives in a shack made of licorice sitting in the middle of the Sea of Tranquility, communicating with you through magic rainbow dixie cups to tell you that that cinnamon graham crackers and apple juice are sacred and should only be eaten while standing on your head on Tuesdays at 4:43 eastern time I’d giggle a bit but be just fine with it. It’s when you start telling me or anyone else to believe in, or vote for the chubby pink guy (or eat graham crackers that way) I start getting my hackles up and will begin growling - or get my quills up and start huffing…whichever animal metaphor you want to use.

I do not pay the bandwidth bills and post on this site to gain your approval. If you find what I have to say interesting (even if you don’t agree with it) that’s great I’m delighted. But if you think I pay dreamhost, registered three domains, licensed a copy of movable type, paid two great designers, taught myself html, css, and php by the seat of my pants, and maintain and write in this thing in order to assuage whatever guilty feelings you might have or reinforce whatever bullshit you want to believe, you are quite mistaken.

I do not consider myself the perfect example of a woman, southern expatriate, New Mexico transplant, artist, wife, pet mom, tea drinker, weblog writer, homeowner, liberal, American, pagan, chubby chick, knitter, or shopper. I do not claim to be better than you, more religious than you, consistent or fair.. odds are good I’m smarter than you but that’s just sheer numbers talking.

So with a great deal of respect and no small amount of humility I’d like to say to anyone who thinks that I’m supposed to consistently represent any stereotype you might derive from the above paragraph: Suck my dick.

For more information you can read this, this, or this.

That said, here’s this week’s friday random ten eleven.

I’m not your stepping stone - The Sex Pistols
Somersault (Danger Mouse remix) - Danger Mouse & Zero 7 feat. Doom
Bored Teenagers - The Adverts
Barefootin’ - Robert Parker
Another World - Poe
When I look to the Sky - Train
The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield
The Reflex (only child mix) - Duran Duran vs FakeID (Cropstar)
The Monkey Time - Major Lance
Do Me, Baby - Prince
I Loves You Porgy - Billie Holiday

Oh, and don’t freak out if things aren’t showing up on the right menu for a while my annual blogrolling bill came due today and I’ve decided that rather than pay for another year I’m going to switch to the MT Blogroll plugin now that there is one. The good news is I backed up all my rolls and there’s a handy import feature so they’re all loaded. Now I just have to figure out how to reference them in the includes. Since the blogrolling account is now effectively closed it shouldn’t affect the load time - in fact, now that it’s not trying to reference a server that seems to go down seemingly every other day it should improve the load time. Not like I can tell since Comcast is still being wonky as all get-out.

Haven’t participated in one of these random mp3 memes for a long time but I’m feeling somewhat posty today.

All this research for the women in history posts has taken a lot of my computer chair time. But I’m sort of on a day schedule at the moment. (And I’ve almost used up my Pirates attention span)

It’s a rainy day and we’ve already been to the grocery store (where we bought nominally healthy food) and on the way home I got a peppermint mocha coffee treat. Phunq has already had an escaping into the garage when we were bringing in groceries adventure, Zola’s sleeping on her belly with her head in a toilet paper tube as usual, and Winter is incredibly gassy…again. Melon and Kurry are pouting because we didn’t bring them anything.

Cody’s working tonight and unfortunately I won’t get to witness the hilarity of the rebellious cousin’s wedding down in Belen. I actually am bummed about missing out watching these small town republicans watch a handfasting with the groom in a kilt - at Belen High School (not in the grassy knoll I was hoping for). I’ve been trying to explain exactly what the SCA is (with mostly a straight face because while I think they’re kinda freaky I’d much rather go to one of their events than a monster truck rally or wrestling event) and that this guy really isn’t all that unusual but they all think I’m a big artsy freak that married their freaky smart-assed cousin (six years ago last Sunday actually, but we had a surprisingly traditional wedding - almost a rebellion in itself it was so unexpected) so my opinion only counts for so much. They were just scandalized that it’s taking place on good friday. DamndamnDAMN I wish I could go. Ah well. It’ll be so much more colorful to hear about it filtered through these nice but simple people’s eyes. I wonder if there’s going to be mead at the reception..

So here’s what I pulled up when I refreshed the itunes party shuffle sourcing my full library.

Right Here, Right Now - Fat Boy Slim
Seaweed - Fruit Bats
Love Me or Leave Me - Ruth Etting
Groove is in the Heart - Deelite
House on Fire - Assemblage 23
What Its Like - Everlast
Shut the Fuck Up - Cake
A Good Run of Bad Luck - Clint Black
Flesh for Fantasy - Billy Idol
Heart of the Sunrise - Yes
If I Loved You - Bernadette Peters