Speak Dog. Speak.

When my dog is barking at me through the window when I’m leaving in the morning, I sometimes wonder if rather than saying, “Mommy, don’t leave me!”, what he’s really saying is “God, your butt looks really fat in that outfit!”

Thirteen Seconds In New Mexico, 23rd

Thirteen Things about J. Lynne My Parents’ Backyard: Mogollon, NM: From a Speeding Truck:

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Look At Me, Look At Me

Curse Of The Knitting Heel

Tuesday night I finally finished the cuff on one sock. It came to 4½”, which is the same length as those blue, green, and yellow knitted socks my mother gave me last Christmas. I’m really pleased with how the stripes came out with this yarn. I had expected something more erratic when I picked up the balls.

I started on the heal and, of course, my troubles have started anew. I got 3 rows in and discovered I had lost a stitch. So I backed out a row — is there a knitting term for that? Frogging? The second heal row was also a stitch short and I couldn’t figure out where it had lost the stitch so I pulled out that row too. Back down to the first row of the heal which was supposed to be *s1 k1* across 28 stitches, there were 28 stitches, but upon close investigation, I had skipped some k1’s in there. So, I frogged some more stitches and reworked the row, but when I got to the end, it looked just as bad or worse, and it’s really not a difficult pattern! I tried to fix it one more time without positive result and then put it away and went sulkily to bed.

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Help! Napping Not Allowed!

Oy. For some reason today my body is so sleepy that my eyes keep crossing as I try to keep them open.

I don’t know what the deal is. I slept well last night; heck, I even fell asleep in the middle of Journeyman – thank goodness I tape it! I’m dying to know if he saves the kid and prevents him from growing up to be a bad guy who kidnaps little girls and then comes after him and his family. Yet, I keep yawning and doing that groggy head bob thing and my body would like to curl up anywhere and take a nap right now. I am dangerously close to falling asleep at my desk and causing some sort of keyboard-to-forehead injury to myself. Diet Pepsi and music from the iPod (set to the new holiday mix playlist)– not helping. I may go looking for something crunchy to snack on in a bit.

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Knitting Socks Attempt #5,000,002

Well, it’s taken me a week of try-and-try again, but I think I may have finally figured out knitting in the round. I’m currently working with #3 bamboo circular needles 29″ long. I cast on 56st and I’ve been doing a K2 P2 rib. I’m planning on a 6in leg.

When I was working with my #2 Addi’s, they were a shorter length and kind of hung in the way. So I bought the 29″ circulars thinking they would hang longer and out of my way while I was working the active needles. For some reason, the bamboo needle’s cords are like coils. They twist everywhere and all in my face and in my way and everything. I’ve been laying them flat at night under 12-packs of sodas but this doesn’t appear to help for longer than 30 seconds. I read somewhere to run them under hot water to straighten them out. That too only helped for 30 seconds. If anyone knows how to straighten out the cord of a coiled circular needle, I’m willing to try suggestions.

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Thirteen Things About My Pug, 18th

We always had a family dog while I was growing up, but he was never just my dog, especially when my great grandmother moved in while I was in high school and she literally stole the love of the family dog by bribing him with food and treats. When I moved out on my own, I had cats, because I always felt that cats were better suited to apartment life. Dogs, I feel, need yards to play in.

So that’s how I came to have two beautiful but insane cats. I love them, but it’s clear that their fondness for me revolves around the food and water dishes and the cleanliness of the litter pan. There’s definitely qualifiers and if I fail to meet them, there’s 4 a.m. cat torture techniques.

Last year, before I bought my house, I could wait no more. For my 35th birthday, the cats gave me a little Pug puppy. I don’t think the cats are too happy with their choice of present. Oh, well. There is just something about a puppy who bonds with you with unquestioning love. He’s my baby, my best friend, and I spoil him rotten because he brings me endless hours of amusement and enjoyment.

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Remembering Our Veterans…

Ragged Old Flag
– Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin’ there.
I said, “Your old court house is kinda run down,
He said, “Naw, it’ll do for our little town”.
I said, “Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that’s a ragged old flag you got hangin’ on it”.
He said, “Have a seat”, and I sat down,
“Is this the first time you’ve been to our little town”
I said, “I think it is”
He said “I don’t like to brag, but we’re kinda proud of
That Ragged Old Flag

“You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
writing “Say Can You See”
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo
beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
That Ragged Old Flag

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Happy Halloween!

Thirteen Superstitions, 15th

Well, since this is the Thursday before Halloween, I decided to at least go with the theme. I thought this was going to be an easy one since I knew I had The Encyclopedia of Superstitions sitting on my shelf amongst my writing reference books. I thought I’d just be able to pick and choose a few to write about and I’d be done in one rerun of Friends. I should have known I’d get caught up reading and picking and choosing all sorts of odd tidbits. I should have known that it would take me over two and a half hours and that my two cats (one of which is black, by the way) and my Pug would be frustrated by the neglect which I now need to make up for with salmon-flavored bribes. Anyway, I learned some cool stuff, I hope you do as well.

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