Purlene’s Corner

(should have been posted Monday, but I’m having Wordpress issues)

I AM IN SUCH AN INCREDIBLY GOOD HAPPY MOOD TODAY! Here is a Top Ten List of Why:

1. It is BEAUTIFUL outside, and will be perfect all day. I spent yesterday running errands with my friend Tara, which was great fun. Here’s a cute fact - we were actually friends way back in 1994-1995 when we both watched Lois & Clark, then lost track of each other for about twelve years - fast forward to now, and we live about two miles from each other, and life, people. It’s all a big circle. Yes yes yes. My living room remains spotless after the deep spring cleaning of Saturday, Chara came over for dinner and due South (MOUNTIE ON THE BOUNTY) and it was just a great day.
1a. Actually, I live in a nexus of awesome. Me, center. 1/2 mile thataway, Chara. 1/2 mile the other way, celli. 2 mi. thisaway, Tara. And it’s just a hop and a jump to deannie and noel’s, so really, I am perfectly placed in the universe.

2. As I spent yesterday running errands, I go running today. I’m looking forward to it! Today I think I will run by the Chicago River and mow down tourists. Awesome.

3. I look hella cute today, and I cannot deny it. I am wearing my most favorite of all tops, which is flattering and fits me well (also the one that I wore the day I met KATEE FREAKING SACKHOFF, so it has good memories), my hair is curly without being huge, it somehow spontaneously generated highlights (thumbs up, hair!) and seriously, I look GOOD today.

4. At home, I have a big orange cat who has decided that my home is going to be his home, and my Sergei is going to be his playmate and boyfriend, and that the $40 cat tree with attached toy I purchased on a whim Sundayis an awesome place to hang out.

5. A week from Wednesday, I hop on a plane to Charlotte to visit two of my best girls, aya and meg, and other assorted friends. I am beside myself with glee. I get a Wednesday night with aya, a Thursday all alone in her apartment to indulge myself in baths, R&R, and playing with her two bunnies (if they let me), knitting, watching tv, etc. Maybe Kells will meet me for lunch again, which would be awesome. Friday aya has the day off and who KNOWS what we will do? Add in time to spend with Meg and baby girl Hannah, and it’s going to be a fantastic weekend.

6. Weekend after that is Bitcherie Weekend in Ann Arbor with more of my favorite people, including my bi-annual opportunity to slur drunkenly on the phone to halo in new zealand and hope that I’m making some kind of sense, but still secure in the knowledge that even if I sound like a blithering idiot, I WILL BE ENTERTAINING. Also, Bitcherie 5K 2008! (Or, realistically, the Bitcherie 30 minute walk/run, haha.) (background into: some of my best friends live far from me, which is sad.)

7. Jewel Staite has been added to the guest list for Shore Leave, omg omg omg. Also, hey, if anyone is familiar with the Baltimore environs, [info]kiffle and I are looking for good places to a) have sushi, b) drink and dance, c) kidnap Jewel and Kate (rawr) Hewlett, and David if he wants to come, for the above. (I’m mostly kidding about that last part. Mostly.) But seriously, my days of hanging around Charm City are long behind me, so any suggestions would be welcome. I haven’t been dancing since [info]overloved came to visit.

8. I got oodles of sleep last night in clean sheets with two cats who were well-behaved omg. This going to bed early thing is finally kicking in.

9. Callum Keith Renne and Paul Gross. Also, um, I may have purchased the collector’s edition all seasons in one pack la la la of due South for $30 at Best Buy. :X I still want the Canadian version of the final season, though, with Paul Gross commentary. Or, really, just the commentary tracks.
9a. buddy breathing.

10. You know that undefinable ineffable bubble of happiness that just hits you once in a while and makes even crappy office coffee yummy? I’m floating on it. I don’t know why, I don’t care, I’m rolling with it baby.

TODAY WILL BE AWESOME. Just by being today. ♥

Well, it is 4:39 on a Friday, and I think I have officially given up on work for the day. This is kind of bad, because it means I’ll be taking it home with me to do over the weekend, but hey - gotta get those billables in somehow, right?

My knitting malaise is mostly gone, but I’m casting about (ha) for a project that will keep my interest for longer than one or two nights. Socks are usually the way to go, and as we all know, I have a ton of sock yarn that’s begging to be knit up. I’ve got a skein of Tofutsies in my bag now, along with five short little dpns, and a working copy of the Vine Lace pattern from Socks, Socks, Socks. If I get a good seat on the bus today, I can cast on and start that while listening to the Battlestar Galactica podcasts (soooooo interesting, omg). Maybe my mojo will come back to me! I’ll tell you this, though - Tofutsies yarn smells wonderful. Very clean and fresh, like a nice newly made bed. Sans cats.

Yeah. Cats. Allow me to introduce the newest member of the family:

Name: Bocci (see below, it’s not as pretentious as it sounds)
Breed: I don’t know! Domestic short hair. Orange. Sweet.
OMG: I KNOW!

The thing is, Sergei needed a friend. It’s been a a little over a year since Jake died (aka the best dog in the world, for those of you who don’t know), and while Sergei and I were doing fine on our own, I think we were both feeling the lack of another warm furry body. I can’t have another dog, for reasons both practical and sentimental, so a cat it was. I spent some good months scouring craigslist and the various pet shelters looking for a gray cat to match Sergei. Lame, but true - I wanted a set. I wanted a boy cat, not a kitten (or at least a year old) and gray! Then a friend of mine in NYC started fostering kittens for her local shelter, which was the doom of me. So many cute kittens. So many cute pictures. And one adorable orange kitten she named Captain Jack (oh, the Torchwood fans) who completely stole my heart. Well, I couldn’t get him, obviously. NYC to Chicago is ridiculous. But my eyes were drawn to the cute orange fur, the sweet expression, and I thought - hey. Orange!

The craigslist ad said “Big Orange Cat needs home!” Well, yes, of course I clicked. I am a sucker for kitties in need. His owner died (sad), the next door neighbors were keeping him for now, but couldn’t forever, and he needed a place to be. They don’t even know his name! “OK,” I thought. “This one is mine.”

So. Big Orange Cat –> BOC –> Bocci! See? SEE? My friend D. thought it up, and after I stopped laughing hysterically, I decided that while he may LOOK like a Pete, he’s going to BE a Bocci. And so far, we’re doing great. He definitely is 100% cat, which is adding fuel to my secret belief that Sergei is secretly a dog in cat skin. Bocci is in EVERYTHING - dresser drawers, the food bag, under the bed, on top of the table, behind the television, omg. Sergei and I just sit and stare at him in awe. He loves to play with the mouse-on-a-string which is hilarious because he will jump multiple feet straight up to nab it with his little declawed front paws. (He came to me declawed, but honestly, I have absolutely zero opinion on that topic. Sergei has his claws and only uses them to scratch up cardboard and occasionally hook my shirt sleeve so I can pet him.) Anyway, he’s been taking up a lot of time and energy - I have to be SO on top of the litter box thing, you have no idea. Or maybe you do, I don’t know. I just am learning that while one cat can be pretty much odorless, two cats are stinky. I am all OVER that litter box now.

Yay, time to go home. And empty the litter box.

The final product, but sadly, a fairly crappy picture:

I meant to take another one in the morning, but ended up rushing out the door, so we get this lovely close-up where you can see my woven in ends and pre-blocked irregularities. But oh, it was a pretty little shrug. And I got all the oooohs and aaaaahs at the shower, HA.

Oh, wait, I found another picture:

Baby shower on Monday, and I didn’t start this until today, omg. Before I show the mess that is a baby shrug in process, look at how pretty the yarn knits up!

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Solid - Whisper (Mill End)
Needle: Size US8

Isn’t that pretty? Perfect for a sweet little sweater like the Baby Shrug by Debbie Bliss. I’ve never played with Lorna’s worsted weight yarn, and I’m regretting that omission. It’s lovely to knit with, very soft and fluffy. I’ve got two skeins, but I’m only going to use one for this sweater. The other will be stashed until I find something else adorable and cute to knit with it. I am determined to finish the bulk of the sweater tonight so I can do the ribbing tomorrow after brunch. (Oy.) This is where I stand now:

I’ve done the back and one side, so I think I just need to finish the other side and bind off, and I’ll be done for the night. I’ll seam tomorrow, do the ribbing edge, and I should have this finished before bedtime. Yay.

Haha, I made an Ood. Awesome.

A post with pictures! GET OUT! I know, it’s crazy but I have actually taken up the needles again, plugged the (new!) battery into the (old!) camera, and got bizzay.

There are babies all around me. Not literally, but between my college friend’s baby girl, my law school friend’s baby girl, my secretary’s baby boy, and my coworker’s baby girl, I have ample incentive to knit lots of short projects that are quickly and easily completed. So, first up - baby stuff for J’s soon-to-be girl:

Little lion booties, doomed to be lost as they fall off the kid’s feet, but cute as hell anyway. I figure, knit up a couple of pairs of these for the “awwww” factor, then switch to stash-remnant-clearing baby socks that are also practical.

And that’s the only knitting picture I have for you. I’m a little freaked out because I pulled out all my sock yarn and spread it on the dining room table. I wanted to see - well, I wanted to see what I have.

I HAVE A LOT. Now, keep in mind that this little stash has accumulated over the course of years. I’m pretty pleased that I didn’t seem to focus on any one color, though. I’m not drowning in blue or pink (unlike my actual wardrobe, which is disgustingly pink centric), and it’s a nice mix of solid, semi-solid, and multi. BUT - on the lower left, do you see the two skeins of grey yarn? Right above them is an ecru yarn cake. I have LOST the other skein that goes with it, and I am pissed. Where is it? I had plans, man.

Aren’t these pretty? I don’t know what I’m going to do with them, but they were $1.00 each at JoAnne’s this past week, and I couldn’t resist. I’m actually wishing I’d bought more.

Notions and finishing touches, man. You need them. I had none. Now I have some.
***
One day, I will figure out exactly what I want this blog to be. It’s a little choppy now, a little all over the place. Knitting mixed in with life mixed in with posts copied over from the locked-down blog, and not enough of any one thing. I put so much of myself into the other journal, but that’s because there’s a whole community built around it. The people who read that have been in my life for years, and our journals sometimes function as one big conversation. This stand-alone blog thing is entirely different. I used to have one a long time ago, and I struggled with the same questions of definition, limitation, identification. Sometimes I want this to be strictly pictures and text, nothing really personal; then I change my mind and decide it’s going to be my life PLUS knitting. It’s kind of confusing and a little annoying, but such are the growing pains of a blog. Or something. Yeesh.

Yes, it’s another filler post.  I actually have been knitting, and I’ll have pictures soon.  It took baby socks and baby booties to get me back in the flow; quick things I could finish in a night, and that will use up some of the yarn remnants I have lying around.  So, here - have another meme, stolen from James Lipton, who stole it from Bernard Pivot.

ames on The Actor’s Studio (cue orchestra and riotous applause).

1. What is your favorite word?
I don’t think I have one, actually.  I’m not much for favorite this or favorite that.  Also, I’ve noticed a lot of people use really big words for their “favorite word” part, which amuses me but kind of fits, because they’re special words that are brought out on special occasions.  Or the person just wants to be seen as intellectual, ha.  I like words that are soft and sweet - heather, heart, sugar, damask, cotton, fluff, daybreak, acquiesce.  I love words that invoke a certain image or sensation, and if it makes me think of lounging in crisp cotten bedsheets at 9:30 on a sunny Sunday morning, with orange juice, an open window to the sea, a loved one, and a furry pet of some kind, then those are words I love.

2. What is your least favorite word?
Fag - it has an ugly homophobic edge to it that is never not present, no matter who uses it, and it always makes me feel weird and defensive.

3. What turns you on?
Competence; nice hands; softly rounded upper arms; big pretty smiles; Kate Hewlett; people doing what they were always meant to do; joie de vivre that’s expressed but kind of contained (continually excited people freak me out); Brooklyn accents (I do not know why); affection; husky voices, and my mom reads this blog, so I will stop there. Ha.

4. What turns you off?
Arrogance (with a few exceptions, hello, Starbuck); the gloss of “I am SO pretty and SO awesome”; super-skinnyness from not eating; spitting ew ew ew; dipping; smugness; people who are sloppy eaters (in the eat-with-my-mouth-open and stick-my-tongue-waaaay-out-to-get-the-food way); excessive hairiness, overt sexuality.  I’m kind of a prude.

5. What sound or noise do you love?
My cat’s purr; the way my dog Jake used to grumble when I had to wake him up from a deep sleep; the quiet intimacy of club jazz (think Dinah Washington, the kind you hear in dark clubs, sung by whiskey-voiced women and sad trumpets); thunderstorms; my best friend’s dorky creaky laugh; the random bursts of music you hear when an orchestra is playing around and warming up.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?
Screaming misbehaved children in public areas; televisions that are on just for background noise; the crinkle crinkle crinkle of candy wrappers in theaters; the sounds of birthing scenes in tv shows and movies.  I cannot watch those at ALL.

7. What is your favorite curse word?
One of my law school friends was big on “son of a bitch”, which I always liked.  I wish I were more creative in my cussing.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
So many!  Theater musician, you know the ones that provide the music for the plays?  Travel journalist, professional singer (I am so stealing the BFF’s guitar one day, just watch me), actor, professor in a small college (although of what, I have no idea), small business owner (yarn store, natch), and while I don’t really want to do the work of being an astronaut (and am completely math-deficient), I would go out in space in a heartbeat - so when they finally build that off-world colony in the stars, I will do whatever job it takes to get me signed up on the list to go.  I will sweep floors and clean bathrooms, as long as I get a hour in front of a window every day to stare at the beauty.  My knee-jerk response to any of the “if Farscape/Stargate/random science fiction thing were real, would you go” questions is ALWAYS yes.  I cannot imagine turning it down.

9. What profession would you never want?
Physician.  I never ever want to be that responsible for someone else’s health, or the determining factor over whether someone lives or dies.  No no no.  Also, reporter, because there’s a level of invasion that they have to be comfortable with and I’m not.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
You’re right.  People really should have listened to you more and followed directions.  I think “you’re right” are the two most beautiful words in the English language, and if people just freaking DID AS THEY WERE TOLD, so many things would run smoothly that are horrific messes now.  Someone asked me once if I would rather be right or be happy, and I laughed in her face, because to be right IS to be happy.  Silly woman.  As a close friend said, “I’m sure there are more Christian things to enjoy, but the sweet sweet joy of being right pretty much trumps all.”  IT IS SO TRUE.

I have pictures for you! I am feeling so much better, that look what I did:

I started a sock! Socks that Rock Barney Rubble, Size 2.75 needle. Possibly too big of a needle, and the yarn is doing that spiraling thing that STR yarn does (argh) but I’m running with it, baby. I haven’t really knit in a month, and I’ve missed it. So, yay knitting!

So as I’ve said before, I’ve spent the past month on the couch underneath the purplest afghan in the world, and now you get to see it!

I love it! I desperately needed some color in the living room, and I firmly believe that you can not have too many afghans and blankets when you live in Chicago. It’s still pretty chilly here at night, and one of my favorite ways to be is curled up on the couch, wrapped in love-by-blanket/afghan, with my cat on my feet. It’s wonderful.

omg so cute. all happy kitties (and one Dalmatian, haha) and their hand knit kitty beds. MELT. I may have to make one for The Evil Fluffer. Felting is difficult for me, though, as I do my laundry off-site as it were; I don’t know if I’m willing to felt anything at the local laundromat.

I say this like I’m actually going to pick up needles any time soon. I just haven’t been in the mood, you know? I was making a gorgeous sock, and realized a few days ago that it was so small it wouldn’t even fit over my ankle. I’m torn between ripping it out and starting over in a bigger needle size, or finishing it and gifting them to someone they will fit. :\ I really think part of it is that I’ve been sick with this cold forever, and by the time I get home, I’m wiped out. But I don’t want to neglect the blog, so I’ll keep posting random stuff until I get back into it. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do one of those “Things you should know about me” posts? It may be fun, and I can put a link to it in the sidebar where you can all visit and remember What I Was Like on March 27, 2008. It will be beyond awesome, I am sure.

There’s something magical about going to the doctor. I think it’s the knowledge that finally something is being done about how crappy I’ve been feeling. I live for validation, you know. I’m only two pills into my antibiotics, and one dose of everything else except the cough medicine (which I take every four hours without fail except when asleep), so I know that I’m not really better - but I FEEL better. I still sound horrible/sexy (I’m going to miss this husk :c) but I got a full night’s sleep last night and didn’t wake up coughing until I almost threw up - so, that’s a total WIN.I promise one day I will stop talking about being sick. Probably two days after I stop feeling sick. :D

Let’s change the topic, hm? Hey, here’s a YouTube video of someone drawing a webcomic that I don’t actually read (yet), but that was linked by one I do read. (And here it gets confusing, because the second link in that sentence is actually to a guest comic drawn by Kate Beaton, who does those historical minute comics that kill me.) My fascination with watching other people draw continues and grows. (Also, my new snacking slogan may become “MAN CUPCAKES ARE UNREAL WHERE CAN I GET ONE” because that’s just hilarious.)

Randomly, this line from a firm-wide email about replacing one of the refrigerators: “The amount of beer and juices will need to be reduced as well and the departments responsible for stocking these items will have to check the inventory a bit more often to maintain an adequate daily supply.”

I would like to know what the adequate daily supply of beer for a law firm is. And where’s my daily ration? :D

Anyway, I promise there will be knitting content here again, and soon. Maybe this weekend. I do have things to show off. And I kind of want to make that kitty bed, and update the WIP list. STAY TUNED.

Just a quick note to say that, while I haven’t blogged in a while, I haven’t abandoned, either.  I got back from my little trip to Charleston and was promptly hit with the head cold to end all head colds.  I spend my evenings wrapped in the purplest afghan in the world, curled up on the couch watching tv-on-dvd (Boston Legal, The West Wing, Farscape) and going through box after box of tissues.  It’s awful.  I have no urge to knit!  Or take pictures, or do anything, honestly.  Today is Thursday, and the office closes early tomorrow (ooo, close at 3:00, wow :\), so I’m hoping that a long evening at home followed by a Saturday at home will help me kick this out of my system.

In the meantime, here’s a little bit of something.  I have another online journal kept in another place, that’s locked down to a specific reading group by default.  I get fairly chatty in there about things going on in my life other than knitting, and I figure, why not share some of that here?   Then I went and actually read what I was talking about there, and it’s all tv shows, and in-jokes, and whatnot, so that’s just pointless.  So here - Seven Random Facts About Ames.

1.  I am left-handed for writing, grabbing things, eating with chopsticks, and drinking.  I am right-handed for scissoring.  I am frequently surprised that not everyone in the world is left-handed; I forget that I’m a minority there.

2.  I’ve been steadily online since 1994 in college, and I’ve always gone by ames or amesville.  My account name may change (Purlene is the blog, but ames is the blogger), but I am ames, no capital letter please.  I’ve recently run into people online who knew me Way Back When, and it was awesome that they remembered me.

3.   I’ve only had two roommates in my whole life.  I even had single rooms in college.  Apparently, I’m not that into sharing my personal space.

4.  I use Windows, and I like it.  I’ve tried the Macs and the Apple desktops blah blah, and they just don’t do it for me.  Part of it is probably the apple fanatics; they scare me.  I don’t like fanatics or cults of any kind.

5.  My favorite season is Fall, and my favorite place in the fall is New England.  There’s no other place quite like it, and as lovely as Chicago is, I really missed Boston this year.

6.  I usually fall asleep easily (except for HEAD COLD TIME argh argh argh), and sleep well.  I rarely remember my dreams, though.

7.  I went to Australia the year I turned 30.  I went for two weeks, I went by myself, and I had a wonderful time.

There you go!  Now you know me a little better.   :)