I wish those states were in blue instead

create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks. Good lord, I'm dull.

The dangers of Japanese punk and cheap beer.

Things I've done recently: 1. Went to see The Spunks and Gito Gito Hustler. My god, I have never danced that much at a show before. I think the wall-standers in the back must have been shaking their heads at that poor blonde girl who was dancing like a loon. Because I was. Both bands were amazing, but I completely fell in love with Gito Gito, and fell back in love with the lead singer of The Spunks -- who held my hand! HE HELD MY HAND! 2. Had a massive hangover the following day as a result of drinking one more PBR tallboy than I should have. You'd think I'd know better, wouldn't you? 3. The academic year has started. I'm taking one class that looks to be 4 hours of mind-numbing mumbling a week (on the professor's part, not mine), and another that seems to be 4 hours of insanely intense reading/classes per week. I'm teaching a section of "Arts Scholars" which means that most of my students are interested in artistic thing one way or another. Their first-day essays weren't as creative as I would have expected (not a-one was a chose-your-own-adventure type story), but they all have a good grasp of writen English, so I'm a happy girl. 4. Discovered that my health insurance has kicked back in. This means that in a few weeks, I should actually be spectacled again! 5. Made pancakes. Off to eat them now.

the end of the hat

I've been making these spacehopper hats for nearly a year, and while it's been fun and rewarding, it must stop. I'm seeing orange yarn in my dreams and I need to free up some time (and needles) to make Christmas presents. So, I'm posting the pattern here (at the suggestion of thursley). You'll need: 1 skein of orange worsted weight yarn 1 set dpn size 5 (american) needles 1.cast on about 104-116 stitches (depending on the size of the intended head) 2.knit in a k2 p2 pattern for 1 1/2 inches 3.break off the ribbing and knit plain for about 4 inches or more (depenging on how tall you want the hat to be) 4.begin to decrease every 10 stitches by k2tog on the 10th stitch and then placing a marker 5.knit one row 6.decrease by knitting the last two stitches before the markers together 7. repeat steps 5 and 6 until you have about 4 stitches left 8. then cut yarn, draw yarn tail through the remaining stitches and drop them off the needles. pull tight and pull yarn end through to the inside of the hat. 9. sew ends in and ta-da! HAT. for the hopper-handles: 1. cast on 9 stitches on three of the same needles 2. knit for about 2 inches (you should have a long orange tube at this point) 3. k2tog around, and then bind off in the same manner as you did for the hat 4. repeat for a second handle/horn and then sew to the hat end result: HATTAGE! post comments with any questions. happy knitting! ALSO: clicky here for more picture of my lovely friends wearing the hats I made.

what a wonderful and awful night

Yesterday was The Boyfriend's and my 3 year anniversary, so we went out to a swanky vegan restaurant, Dragonfly, to celebrate. The food was amazing -- I can't even remember all the names or contents of the things we had, but trust me on this. . The menu is set up for ordering a full three course meal, so we did. The appetizer was both of our favorites, but all I remember about it is that it was made with "roasted sea beans." I'm not sure what we had for the middle course, but for the main course I ate lobster mushrooms, which apparently are only available for a few months of the year (and actually had a seafoody taste). Ryan had some kind of tofu dish with a curry flavor and a very nice, firm texture. We also had pricey drinks (mine was made from a lavender infusion, distilled from plants grown in their own garden) and generally enjoyed the classy atmosphere. If you want an idea of what their food looks like, go to the link above, ignore the music for a few minutes, and click on "catering." Mmmmm, arty. Then we walked to our favorite bar (Betty's), had some drinks and nachos (completely ruining the Classy Food Only theme of the evening) and slouched back home. Here's where things get ironic. After this great evening out, I return to find a very apologetic email from my mother, which tells me that she and my dad had to put my cat down. She was old (I've had her since I was seven years old), senile, and had completely forgotten how to use the litterbox -- but I still wish she could have had a better end than that. Preferably one that didn't involve kidney failure, losing her sweet little feline mind, and which included my being there to say goodbye. I'll miss the grouchy old gal. I'll be pouring a 40 oz on the ground for her tonight.

Well, there you have it.

Your Birthdate: December 27 Your birth on the 27th day of the month (9 energy) adds a tone of selflessness and humanitarianism to your life path. Certainly, you are one who can work very well with people, but at the same time you need a good bit of time to be by yourself to rest and meditate. There is a very humanistic and philanthropic approach in most of things that you do. This birthday helps you be broadminded, tolerant, generous and very cooperative. You are the type of person who uses persuasion rather than force to achieve your ends. You tend to be very sensitive to others' needs and feelings, and you able to give much in the way of friendship without expecting a lot in return. What Does Your Birth Date Mean? now you know when to buy me things.

Update of mild interest

It's been a rather productive past few days. I finally tackled the mildew in the shower with a bleach pen, which was only slightly effective. I think we've got a strain of mould that's been living here since the 1940s and isn't about to give up without a fight. Unfortunately, I'm too damn lazy to have another go at it for a while. I think we can co-exist peacefully. The school year is approaching quickly, and despite my need to get into a decent PhD program I've done little work on my two portfolio papers. I'll be defending them in the spring, so I'll do a lot of work on them between now and March; but I was hoping to have massively improved drafts to show my advisor when the Fall quarter starts. I'll probably spend a day or two right before classes begin frantically typing gathering any relevant research that falls in my path. OLD ENGLISH TORNADO. I've also got to put together a syllabus for my English 110 course. I really should teach a nature/environment themed class, but I keep daydreaming about how great a science fiction theme would be. We could watch movies, talk about robots and aliens, and discuss why it is that these things are so appealing. But I have a sneaking suspicion that no matter what I teach, 75% of the class is going to a) resent it; b) not care; or c) prtend to love it so they'll get an A. Whatever I teach, it will be more fun (for me) than the "analyzing consumer culture" course I taught last year. If I never have to try and get a room of 18 year olds interested in gender and homosexuality in advertising again, I'll be a happy girl. We made chocolate chip cookies today though. It's damn hard to be worried when the smell of baking cookies is everywhere.

It's finally happened.

I've registered for a blog. Let's wait and see if I actually post anything, or do anything worth posting.