Just a quick check-in

Ugggh . . . so tired. Up too late pledge producing last night, after two solid days of craziness at work. I am a beaten little prosimian. Perhaps just a few minutes on Pirates tonight before I check out?

On the Needles: I bound the Coronet band together, and am picking up the stitches for the actual hat part. Wheee! The egg roll gets bigger, and I hope to get some serious sweater time in this weekend.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: More Bad Taste, and this week's Entertainment Weekly. Will the sitcom survive? Do I care? Do I even watch TV any more? Well, if it's not Alias, Good Eats, or We Are the 80's, not really. I *heart* my TiVo.
Listening to: Doin' it for the Mantis--quality checking my mix so I can burn some copies for a few friends.

Another update! Whoop Bing!

Well, back again. A pretty standard Monday at work, enlivened by some Puzzle Pirates drama in-between tasks. Two of the largest flags in the game have a long-standing rivalry and near-legendary antipathy between their leaders. They declared a war over the weekend, which lasted all of four hours. The flame war--er, pardon me, discussion--on the forums continues unabated, however. As a former member of one of the warring flags, I've been watching it with a good bit of interest. Though now it's all over but the name-calling.

Not too much progress on the knitting since yesterday's post:

Finished: No news here
On the Needles: Getting wonderfully close to finishing the Coronet band. My 2nd attempt at Kitchener stitch awaits!

In an attempt to gain even more credibility with my non-existent reader base, a few more links to tasty goodness for you:
--I *heart* Neil Gaiman. And being based in the Twin Cities means I get at least my share of local signings, if not more than your average bear. He maintains an excellent blog here.
--It was the ever-crafty and creative Sarah Dyer who inspired me to get off my laurels and start blogging already. She and her husband Evan Dorkin run the House of Fun and create many a cool comic.
--Queen of Wands has been really entertaining me of late. Don't be surprised when a kitty hat shows up on the needles--that's all I'm saying.

Obligatory Cultural References
Reading: I just finished "Meat Snacks" in the Encyclopedia of Bad Taste. mmmm . . . meaty.
Listening to: First 10 iPod Random tracks, no matter how embarrassing:
Manta Ray, Teen Heroes
Feed the Tree, Belly
Frosted Flake Wood, Hooverphonic
Mister Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Elliot Fisher
Running Scared, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
One Step Beyond, Madness
The Audition - I Love to Be Unhappy, Gilda Radner
Moon Sammy, Soul Coughing
Day of the Lords, Joy Division
The Navajo Know, Pixies

Hey, Remember Me? Of course not!

So, I set this up nearly a year ago, and have done nothing with it since. This must change! I can't say for certain how soon I'll be publishing "meaningful" content on a regular basis, but I think I certainly want to start keeping this up regularly.

I think it's going to be a knitting blog. (Gasp!) At least to start. I learned to knit in January 2004, and I'm finding that it really scratches where it itches. I love it. I've been an embroidery-based needleworker (counted thread, needlepoint, a bit of beading as well) for years now, but knitting had always eluded me. Too late now. To set the baseline:

Projects completed:
"Princess Snowball" Cat Bed (from Stitch 'n' Bitch)
A long, red and white striped sleeping cap (adapted from a free pattern at About.com)
A kitty won-ton (a super-easy Knitty pattern)
One-skein mittens from a skein of Museum yarn (Zanzibar colorway. Couldn't resist it)
The Umbilical Cord hat (from Stitch 'n' Bitch)

On the needles:
A kitty eggroll (another super-easy Knitty pattern)
Skully sweater (from Stitch 'n' Bitch)
Coronet cap (from Knitty)

Look for an update of some sort here on a weekly basis--probably Saturday or Sunday.

What else am I digging on right now?
--It's Pledge time at one of my favorite radio stations, KFAI. Check them out on line if you're not in my neck of the woods.
--I like to pretend I'm a pirate and kill HOURS doing puzzley games at the same time. Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is way more fun than it should be.
--If you're in the Twin Cities and looking for a cat, try the shelter where I volunteer. I've been squeezing medicine into sick kitties at Feline Rescue for the past five years.

Obligatory cultural references (I love these in other folks' blogs, too)
Reading: The Sea, The Sea, Iris Murdoch and The Encyclopedia of Bad Taste, Jane and Michael Stern. The encylopedia is way more fun than it should be. I just cracked open the Murdoch last night. It's the first of hers that I've read, and I'm trying really hard not to hate our narrator. I should probably give him more than 15 pages.
Listening to: iTunes on shuffle all. Right this moment it's Johnny Cash.