Tra la la

Okay, I just finished visiting sleepingsiknits and kinda sorta got tagged by her newest post. So, here's mine:

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to."

"Life Again" - Decyfer Down
I had to write down the band name because I couldn't remember.

"Teardrop" - Massive Attack
I've been watching House re-runs and I really like this song. With or without words.

"Approach the Bench" - The Audition
Gets stuck in my head quite easily.

"Lemon Parade" - Tonic
Nice, mellow tune.

"Freshmen" - The Verve Pipe
This song has been with me for many, many moons.

"When Your Heart Stops Beating" - (+44)
Catchy.

"Blister in the Sun" - Violent Femmes
I always smile and sing along when I hear this one.

This is harder than I thought it would be...
Tag yourselves.

Picky Picky Picky

Since I've finished one top (the tunic), I've been looking like mad at all sorts of other tops to make. I want to make a tank top. But almost all of the designs I see are almost-but-not-quite what I want to make. So I bit the bullet and am trying to design one of my own. I know what I want, and I think I can make the yarn do what I want it to. I just have to remember to write down what I'm doing!


The first photo is roughly what the table looks like when I'm trying to figure things out and keep track of them at the same time. The second photo is what I have done so far. And, I must say, so far so good. Hopefully I can keep it up. Except my brain keeps jumping ahead while my hands are working on the current segment. Which is all well and good, if you don't take into account my ability to hodge-podge nearly all attempts at multitasking, lateral thinking, working on more than one problem involving simple math and shaping at the same time.

So, needless to say, I'm scribbling things down on paper, typing them into the computer and mentally sketching what comes next. While trying to figure out my gauge at the same time. I'm too impatient to swatch. And since this project is off-the-cuff, I think I can be fairly certain that frogging and tinking will be involved at one point or another, though hopefully not too much.

This third photo is my attempt at an extreme close up to show how the shaping is showing up, but my camera and I are almost not on speaking terms (again) due to its stubborn refusal to take a semi-decent close up shot.

At least I'm not writing this pattern like I write revised recipes. I think if I did that, I'd have a 50/50 shot at amusing some of the people (assuming that someone else tries to decipher this) and offending the rest. Cross your fingers for me.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm working this in lace weight yarn?

Who Stole My Sheep Counter?

Let me just start by saying I hate insomnia! I've been getting by for close to a week now on 4 hours or less per day. I've tried just about everything short of sleeping pills. I even made myself an eyeshade (see photo). It works really well to block out the light and is comfy. And it doesn't leave weird patterns on my face.

Now if I could just find a pattern for that brain/thought muffler...

WWKIP Day

So, yesterday was World Wide Knit In Public (WWKIP) Day. My original intentions were to kidnap Ames and go up to the State Museum and join the knitters there. However, gas prices (roughly 4.17/gal) and the distinct lack of cash changed those plans for me. So, instead, I went over to her summer job at the fireworks shop and knit in public there with her for a few hours. There were some customers too, so there were witnesses even.

Ames was working on a garter stitch dishcloth. I started another pair of cuffs. Now, I'm thinking she might have rather been working on crocheting something, but it was WWKIP and not WWCIP day, so she just had to suck it up lol.

And while I would have rather worked on my tunic, it is at a stage where portability is limited.

Here's proof that we were actually in the same place at the same time and not just holding the needles to look pretty.

Can I get a towel?

So, it's flooded around here and the county is in a State of Emergency. I believe I've used up all of my worrying at this point. Now, I'm just curious. I want to see some aerial shots. I know it was bad. I feel badly for all the people who were affected by it. But my emotions are just used up at this point!

We all need down time. If'n we is worrying 100% of the time, methinks our heads wood asplode.

SO.

Can you name the movie(s) that these quotes came from?*

*There is no contest at this time. There is no prize for answering all quotes correctly. Deal with it.

1. "This is the really real world."
2. "It's been swell...but the swelling's gone down."
3. "All the great themes have been used up and turned into theme parks."
4. "The sky's blue. Water's wet. Women have secrets."
5. "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

Oooh. Pretty.

Something pretty I thought I'd share:

New Stuff!!!!!

Ha ha. I had to do it.

On with the post...

I am now the proud new owner/user of a new monitor. SPOH took pity on me or something and brought me one of his 'extra' monitors. It's all spiffy and wide screen and flat panel and cool! I know, I know. I'm so spoiled. Neener neener.

(Why yes, I did take a double dose of smart ass pills. Twice. Today. Gottaproblemwithit?)

Ow.

I played badminton yesterday. A lot. Like, 10 games. Have I mentioned that I'm sore as hell? But, I won more than I lost. So ha!

Mother Nature & Lady Luck have GOT to be related.

At least, in my little corner of the universe, they are. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Gather round, my two readers, while I attempt to tell (re-tell) how things have been going here in LishyLand.

Up until a few days ago, I would swear that it has rained for the last month. Seriously. And if it wasn't raining, it was threatening to. So you have many, many days that are just cold (did I mention it rarely got to the 60 mark?) and dreary and you just wanted to sleep. And so, on one of the days when the rain held off for a while (and the first day of my vacation), I went to my Mom's house to do a good deed. I went to transplant a cat. Yes, a cat. He needed a new home as Mom and Pop are moving and I am currently not suited to this particular kitty's needs. Here's a photo of him. His name is Friendly, and he lives up to his name. Gorgeous cat. Horrible breath. I'll get back to that in a minute. Let me tell you about what happened before I got the contortionist cat transplanted.

As I said, Mom and Pop are moving. They've been painting at the new place, and sorting at the old. So when I get there, they're at the new place. I decided to help Mom paint. In the bathroom. In the small-ish bathroom. Given, this was probably my own fault, but oh well. Here's the layout. Walk in, immediately to your left is the sink and counter. Two people could possibly share the mirror here, if they aren't that large, and don't mind elbowing each other in the nose. Just past the sink/counter is the toilet, and along the back wall is the shower/tub. So anyway, I'm chattering away with Mom and my hand just kind of automatically picks up the little paint roller. You know, the one for the edging and hard to reach places. She's going to town with the normal sized roller and I just started helping out of habit. Hey, it kept my hands busy at least. So we're painting and chatting, chatting and painting. I climb up on the edge of the shower (barefoot) to get up by the ceiling. No big deal. Well, I can't leave big gaping sections unpainted. Call it one of my slight OCD quirks, if you will. As I get farther over, I decided to stand on the lid of the toilet. Now, I have to admit, Mom did tell me not to worry about the upper part of the wall, and like any grown child, I deftly ignored her. Fast forward a few minutes. BIG CRASH.

Yep, you guessed it. I fell off the toilet. Sideways. I don't think any normal person is supposed to bend that way. Both of my feet are on the floor between the toilet and the tub. My left arm is holding the other half of my body weight, and my right arm is just kind of wobbling toward the wall in front of me. It probably looked like some weird yoga pose, to be honest. I guess Lady Luck got enough of a laugh out of that and shared some of her good fortune with me, as nothing was broken, apart from the seat and lid of the toilet. However, I have a couple of hellacious bruises. But did I learn my lesson? No-o-o-o-o-o. I still ended up helping them paint one of the bedrooms as well. That time, I kept my butt pretty firmly planted on the floor, though.

So then, (yes we're still on the same day) I go to get Friendly to deliver him to a friend at work. At least one of us was smart enough to use the cat carrier. I've never had a problem with a cat in a car and not in a carrier. Apart from the yowling, that is. But this is my first time transporting one by myself. After he wandered around the car a bit, crying at me, he finally found a spot he felt safe traveling in. Unfortunately, this happened to be UNDER my butt! Under the driver's seat. It's just not right to feel your butt move when you're driving and it's not you moving it. So I get to work, park the car, turn off the engine, and sit there for a minute, thinking Friendly will come out or start meowing again or something. Lady Luck definitely got her money's worth that day. He didn't move a muscle. Didn't make a peep. I start frantically fumbling a hand around under the seat to find his head because by this point I'm thinking Ohmygod, he's had a heart attack or broken his neck and died on the way. I find his head by blind luck (Thank you Lady) and he's still breathing. Next problem. How the HELL am I going to get him out from under there without A) him bolting out of the car and disappearing or B) injuring anything on either cat or car. After several minutes (which probably look like I'm praying on the security cameras), I managed to get him facing the back seat and have to push him out from under. It all went fairly smoothly after that. I got him in a bear hug, basically. Now he decides to meow in my face. Did I mention the horrible cat breath? Yeah, I got an up close and personal whiff of it. We got him over to the other vehicle and I turned over the putting him in the damn carrier to his new owner. All reports so far indicate that he's adjusting fairly well and wasn't traumatized by the events.

Mother Nature has now decided to smile upon us and give us some sunny days and temps in the 60s for the most part.

Is it a bad thing when I need a few days off from my vacation?

Brain Dead, Have Some Quizzes

I am unable to be witty and/or funny at the moment, so here's some quizzes I found over on Blogthings:

Your Slogan Should Be

Lostlishy. Hand-built by Robots.

The Slogan Generator

You Are Disturbingly Profound

You're contemplative, thoughtful, and very intense. Taking time to figure out the meaning of life is a priority for you. Because you're so introspective, you often react in ways that surprise people. No one can really understand how you are on the inside... and that disturbs them.

Are You Disturbingly Profound or Profoundly Disturbing?

There's a Chance You Could Be Violent

Overall, you're a pretty chill person - and you have a good handle on your emotions. Sometimes your anger gets the best of you, and end up regretting how you act. Try to curb your temper more often. It only has to get out of control once to do some damage.

Could You Be Violent?

You're a Confident Chica

You're a total superstar - and you know it Even if no one else does (in which case you'll remind them) You hate to admit that you're wrong... even to yourself Your life is great - and you've thankful for every great thing you have

Are You a Confident Woman?

You Have Many Alpha Tendencies

You're not a total alpha female, but you certainly know how to - and like to - get your way. You're forceful without being intimidating. You're confident without being vain. A perfect mix.

Are You an Alpha Female?

You Are 51% Pure

You're not so innocent... in fact, you're quite unpure. You have seen and experienced a lot. And you're no worse for the wear!

The 100 Question Purity Test