http://somehedgehog.livejournal.com/245807.html -- I don't think this has hit my friend's circle yet. Forgive duplication if y'all saw it already.

page 56, 5th sentence, post 2-5 sentences. No choices, closest book, don't go dig for something cool. (I'm supposed to cut/paste the text, but you've seen the meme elsewhere, you can cut/paste yourself).

Well, I happened to be *holding* a book at the time that I was catching up on rss feeds, and it happened to be open to page 55, already. So, page 56, well, here goes:

In any case, when 10 stitches have been increased (roughly one-fifth of the total of 56 stitches) work without further shaping until you are at the beginning of the thumb. Perform the Thumb Trick on 10 sts (see p. 145) and work straight up the mitten until you reach the tip of the little finger.

And, because it's someone else's work, I will tell you it's written by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

So, after 30 or so years of knitting on and off, I've just now realized that I knit funny.

See, there's 2 general methods for knitting. One of which my mom does. She knits English, or throw. And I would watch her, but it seemed so horribly inefficient, as you have to take the right hand off the needle, throw the yarn over the right needle, then put your right hand back on the needle and move it around. Your left hand just sorta sat there looking dopey.

So, I took her method and made it more efficient. The right hand needle still does most if not all of the moving. And the left hand does the throw (which, it turns out, is much shorter in terms of movement) of the yarn.

Now, the other generally accepted method for knitting is continental, or picking. And, I've always assumed my variation on mom's style was "continental". But it wasn't really "picking", and that second name made me go "hrm..." So, off to YouTube. Where there are a plethora of videos on "how to knit"

It appears that I have cobbled together what's known as Norwegian knitting style, but my purl is not the way the Norwegian video does it.

At any rate, I've been practicing knitting continental now. And it appears to have tightened up my knitting even further, which I honestly didn't think was possible.

ross_teneyck took this, and it sounded interesting.

I'm apparently 25 or so points into the male side of brain measurements. *sigh*

20/20 on angles. boo-yah. male
64% on spot-the-difference. balanced
hands -> right brain dominant
8/20 empathy. around male avg.
13/20 systematising. around male avg.
7/10 eyes. female
1.05 right, 1.02 left for fingers. genetic freak along with ross.
prefer masculine faces
11/12 on 3D shapes. male, or at least an engineer. *rolls eyes*
8 and 12 words. female
ultimatum. I know that you can usually get away with grabbing more than 50%, but that's still what seems fair to me, so, eh.

I have always hated the lag time between "is the first or the second better. *twist* Now, is the first or the second better. *twist* Now is the first or the second better. *flip* *twist* *clack* Please read the bottom line" and "here are your new glasses".

I'm currently 1 week out from "read the bottom line" and probably 1 week away from "here are your new glasses".

I *hate* the lag time.

So, I got this email from the Seattle Public Library on Wednesday saying "the book you requested is on our hold shelf for a week". I was, um, confused. I didn't remember requesting a book. And when I went to see what book it was, I really didn't remember the book.

Well, I picked it up on Friday. I'm hooked. I'm so glad I knew I wanted to read this some time in the past and I told SPL to remember and tell me about it when they had a copy for me to read.

It's just, um, disconcerting, because I *really* have no memory of this.

The book is _Against The Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob_, by Lee Siegel.

So, I joined the SLA. No, not that one, the Special Library Association. I'm currently attending their national conference (which was nicely located in my hometown so that attending it wasn't a huge investment of time and money). For those of my friends who aren't immersed in the fine gradations of the library world, Special Librarians are the subset that work in "nontraditional" library environments. Like, say, at Boeing, organizing external journal subscriptions for the company and also trying to manage internal information that's getting published between departments. There's lots of variety within Special Libraries. And anyone can be a member, pretty much, if you're so inclined. But it tends to be librarians.

But wait, you say, she's a webdev. I mean, there's that library degree, but it's not like she's the LL librarian or anything. Well, I kinda am. I'm trying to work on the problem of managing internal information. Which, from some angles, looks just like the "traditional" special librarian. I also still do webdev stuff most of the time. But, yes, I'm trying to see if the special library world has stuff I can drag back into LL and help people find the information they need.

So *anyway*, that out of the way, one of the initiatives the SLA is undertaking is to get the membership conversant in all the new forms of social media there are out there. And, on the one hand, I'm probably already fluent in most of the things they're trying to teach. On the other hand, it's important to know about those people who, unlike me, are *not* completely on the cutting edge all the time. I mean, we are hoping to expand our resident base in SL to people who aren't the early adopters who put up with all our crap, right? So, what the heck. I'll run through the program. I'll comment about it here. And I'll try to remember what it was like not to know everything already...

Anyway, consider this "one of the 23 things". I have blogged. I will take it as read that I've managed to get a blog account. And I *certainly* don't need *another* blog. I've already got 2 internal to LL, and I don't feel I have enough to say in a professional capacity that I want a whole nother channel for it. We'll see if I decide to run off and become a leader in my field like all my friends and coworkers. In which case I'll probably need a more formal blog voice, and stuff.

So, this morning Sam and I had a small interaction which made me realize it was time to go purchase It's So Amazing for our bookshelf.

And, at the bookstore by my office, I wandered in, found the kid's section, and started trying to sort out where they would keep it. First I looked in the "Science & Nature" section, but didn't see any obvious topic groupings. Sorta went straight from animals to machines. Then I looked briefly over in picture books, but that was serious Dr. Seuss territory. So, then I just scanned the "subject headings" over the different shelves. When I saw "Issues", I knew I had found my area.

Yep, there among all the variants on Everybody Poops, I found the illustrated versions of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

And one book titled Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry, which I picked up (i.e. looked at, but didn't purchase), cuz, well, sometimes I get angry. Turned out to be about having a bipolar mom, which, as it turns out, is not one of my issues, thankfully.

Anyway, yeah. "Issues". *sigh*

Happy anniversary, armchairgamer.

Hey there,

If you live in the Seattle area, and you're not busy tomorrow, come to my house!

My extended family is installing a giant play structure in our yard. And more hands make light work, after all. (I think they're maybe in over their heads, they swear it's easily doable with just the hands we already have lined up.)

We'll provide food, drink, and child care (if you happen to bring some along, the house is kid-friendly, and the resident 3.5 year old and 16 month old will enjoy making new friends).

Ping me in comments with your email if you don't know where we live. I'll send address and directions. I will be screening the comments just so you don't have to spam-protect the emails, etc.

http://www.sutherland-studios.com.au/free/rowcounter.html

If any of my friends who bead happen to have beads and time to make this for me, that'd be fabulous! Otherwise, I'll probably get around to it eventually. Have to find a bead store in Seattle, but I'm sure that'll be easy.

Finn gave me his first open-mouth toddler kiss today. So sweet. I was hugging and kissing him like I do when I get home, and he turned his face so I couldn't kiss his cheek and pushed his o-shaped mouth on mine. Then got up and toddled off -- kissy time is over mom.

Sam is sick -- general cold, no ear infection this time. But mopey and prolly shouldn't go to school. Exhausting for Dan. Usual load for me.

1. Where is your cell phone?

on the couch

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend?

married to me

3. Your hair?:

going grey fast

4. Where is your father?

in Brown Deer

5. Cheesecake?

not my binge

6. Your favorite thing to do?



7. Your dream last night?

didn't have one

8. Your favorite drink?

bourbon straight up

9. Your dream car?

public transit bay-bee

10. The room you're in?

basement tv room

11. George W. Bush?

nearly over please

12. Your fears?

sometimes overwhelm me

13. Nipple rings?

had one, eh.

14. Who did you hang out with last night?

Dan, my man.

15. What you're not good at?

where to start?

16. Your best friends?

Dan and CLV

17. One of your wish list items?

ice cream maker

18. Where did you grow up?

Wauwatosa & Caltech

19. The last thing you did?

just now? dishes.

20. What are you wearing?

15-year-old hand-knit sweater (yes, hyphens make words. bite me)

21. Tattoo on the lower back?

stretches during pregnancy.

22. Ketchup?

makes toddlers eat

23. Your computer?

full of data

24. Your life?

nearing middle point

25. Your mood?

tired of tantrums

26. Missing?

time to myself

27. What are you thinking about right now?

more wine maybe

29. Your work?

really interests me

30. Your summer?

last one blah

31. Your relationship status?

married, thank goodness

32. Your favorite color(s):

any vibrant one

33. Last time you laughed?

earlier today? probably.

34. Last time you cried?

last wednesday, definitely.

35. High school?

horrible social pain

36. This quiz:

interesting thought exercise

http://www.whatisblik.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=B&Product_Code=TH-124

That link is for montyy0 again. But, the wall decals in general are quite cool. I was hoping to find one that was a giant sun for my daughter's ceiling (she and I have decided that would be cool, but I'm a bit daunted by free-hand painting...). No such luck. Perhaps we'll have to spend some time sketching in pencil, then I'll try to do the paint job when she's not home. Cuz, um, that happens a lot that I have time at home when she's not there. *sigh*

Rush is playing Summerfest. June 27. $50/bleacher seat (all ticketmaster convenience included) I'll be in town the following weekend for a family reunion. Can I justify making it a 2 week vacation and trying to work from there so as not to burn as much vacation time? Must discuss with Dan...

Ooh. Or see them in Seattle, on lawn seats, on May 31. Slightly pricier tix than Summerfest, though.

For montyy0

http://jacek.meratalk.com/2008/02/08/new-cj-kissing-squidogram-for-valentines-day/

My brain just remembered that Ron Stowell's dead. Which sucks. (both the dead part and the remembering). I dunno if I have time to process now, but I suspect I need to make some time soon. It seems to be on the to-do list.

Wonder if I can use it for behavior modification...

http://www.fatworld.org/

Downloading it now, we'll see how it plays.

Oh, and I was right, the crazy has passed, for now.

So the last couple of evenings, as I've gotten a bit tired, my mind has started playing with all sorts of "times I messed up socially" -- even dragging up some stuff from college days, when I'm afraid I wasn't *nearly* as socially competent as I am now (which, well, I'm not exactly a social butterfly...). And there's no reason for me to be reliving these moments, yet I find I am. And it sucks. A rerun reel of the uncomfortable times.

And last night, I suddenly got worried that I was *adding* to this reel. With current social interactions. So, I vowed to shut down a lot of my social outputs *before* I did something awful. And I even remembered this morning.

Of course, I also, this morning, feel a lot more even-keeled. But still antsy and worried. *sigh* I'm hoping this blows over in a couple of days. It's familiar, and I *think*, in the light of day, I may have even correctly correlated it to a temporary (but kinda out of my direct control) situation. So, y'know, in a few days I won't feel so crazy, if I'm right.

Just a matter of not screwing everything up right now. I think I can do that. And even continue to do things (instead of sitting quietly in a dark room waiting for the moment to pass).