Blogs

Yes, this post is a week eight days late. Let me distract you with pretty pictures.





Both pictures are from here. This is another of the several new blogs I've found lately. I haven't finished all of the archives yet, and sadly The Other Andrew is no longer writing, but I've still got over a year's worth of entries to keep me happy. And a list of blogs to check out after that.

In case you're interested, I've now read all of the archives of Ted's, Mel's, Kenny's, Chris's, and Paul's blogs. I finished James's, which I mentioned starting last time. Oh, and I've read a blog by another Chris as well, about coming out at age 48. I've enjoyed reading all of the blogs (or I wouldn't have done it), but this Chris writes about parts of my life. There are a jillion differences between us, really obvious ones (I'm not a gay man, for instance.) and more subtle ones (I'd never have had the courage to come out in his situation, no matter how soul-destroying it would be to continue to deny such a large part of myself.) that a lot of people don't necessarily know about me. But some of his posts articulate things in my life that I'd never say, don't even like to think about. Like his post about the holidays. If you read it, don't forget that my birthday is right after the New Year. Four kicks for me.

It's been a hard couple of weeks. Maybe I'll post more about it later, and maybe I won't. It probably wouldn't be much fun for you to read anyway. Some school stuff, some crap with my sister, and some of it's just the ever-decreasing amount of daylight around here. I hate -- HATE -- knowing that things are going to get worse before they get better. H.A.T.E. But at least knowing that means that I won't have to wonder what's happening, what's wrong with me. I guess that's an improvement. Have to believe that it is.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some blog archives to escape into.
(Yes, KD, you were very, very right about that. Even though I hadn't put two and two together yet.)

Question 17

17) What city was I born in? (Kindly ignore the bad grammar.)
a) Clam Lake, WI
b) Addison, IL
c) Melrose Park, IL
d) Elmhurst, IL
e) Hayward, WI

I have a knitting photo! Are you as excited as I am?

This is the front of the Warm Woolies Mystery Knitalong Sweater I. I still have to finish the neck shaping. The back is done up to the armholes, but since it was knitted in the round, you can't see it in this photo.

Nothing much has happened this week. I had a lot of homework last weekend (which I'd had a few weeks to accomplish, but it wasn't due until Monday), and then I had a paper & presentation due in HIT on Wednesday. I haven't had to do a speech for a while, and if I need to do another one, I'm going to have to get permission to be seated during it, because I was really having trouble getting enough air towards the end. I hate looking like I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm sure that I did. However, there's no way to change it now, and I didn't realize that it would be a problem before I began, so whatever. Other than that, I think it went pretty well.

It's been raining a lot here this week. Not huge amounts of water, with all the associated flooding concerns, but just days of slow and steady rain. Luckily it's been on days when I could stay home, so I've been able to enjoy it without worrying about losing my footing. I've also finished reading all of the archives over at QueerJoe's blog. I'm working on James' blog now. He lives in New Zealand, and some of his photos are excellent proof that WETA didn't do too much to the scenery in LOTR.

And that's it for this week. Not much blather, since I've got 2 exams this week. I should probably get back to studying.

Answer to Question 17: Elmhurst, IL. I've lived almost my entire life in Addison, but the nearest hospital is in Elmhurst. Melrose Park is where my mom's family lived, and where I went to high school. Clam Lake is the nearest town to my family's cabin in northern Wisconsin. Hayward is the nearest town with a hospital. I suppose that this question was skewed a bit towards local friends, but I didn't have any local friends on Facebook when I initially wrote the quiz.

Question 16

Yes, I'm late again. I apologise. It completely slipped my mind yesterday that it was Friday. I finally remembered when I was heading to bed at about 1 a.m., so I guess I can honestly say today.

16) How many companies have I worked for since leaving school?
a) Four
b) Six
c) Seven
d) Eight
e) Ten

I have no knitting photo (again) this week. Instead, let me distract you with a picture of Lilac in her cat bed. She is scrupulous in upholding her reputation as our princess cat, so she will not lie in the bed unless it is placed on the couch.


Yes, it has a padded base and a coordinating pillow on top of that. Princess.

I suppose that I should post a photo of Spare, for equal time and all, but I don't really have one. This is because I don't like her much and she returns the favor. The only time I think she looks at all cute is when she's cuddled into her cat tent -- at the far end of the laundry room (which is at the opposite corner of the house from the room I'm usually in).



Oops, that's Lilac again. She's not a fan of flash photography. :)

Nothing exciting has really happened this week. I ended up ditching my HIT class on Wednesday because I couldn't find parking that was within walking distance (for me), even with my parking permit. Anatomy ... continues to try my patience. The good news is that he handed out practice midterms for us, and I got an 87% on it. Even though I haven't read several of the chapters yet, and we haven't even had lecture on 2 of the organ systems that will be on there. (The midterm is on 10/14.)

I also tried to go to the zoo on Thursday. I used to love going to the zoo. I've been a member (myself or on my parents' membership) since 1979. There were some years when I went about twice a month. Now, with the walking & breathing, I haven't been there in years. I went to their website a couple of months ago and discovered that they now have ECVs (Electronic Convenience Vehicles) available to rent, and I got all excited. Unfortunately, even though I'm under the weight limit, I can't fit into/onto the seat. The handlebars and controls are too close. I wish I'd known that before I got there. It was quite the disappointment.

On a brighter note, I've found another knitting blog that I enjoy. QueerJoe's actually been blogging since 2002, but I have spent large periods of time residing under various rocks, so I never got over there until very recently. I'm in the process of reading all of his archives, and am now up to 11/26/07. I am, perhaps, unreasonably excited by the knowledge that I own the same color of Malabrigo Laceweight Merino that he bought back then. (He knits with the most beautiful color combinations.)

Answer to Question 16: Eight. I'm not going to list them by name in case of future Googling. By description, they're as follows: (1) a department store outlet, (2) an answering service, (3) an office temp company, (4) a steel grating manufacturer, (5) another office temp company, (6) a data entry company, (7) the same office temp company as #5, so it doesn't count towards the total, (8) a real estate title insurance company, (9) #5 AGAIN, and (10) a car dealership. Ten jobs, eight companies.


These questions are coming from my 'How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?' quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, 40% among my sister's friends, 41% for my mother, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.

Question 15

15) What is my middle name?
a) Louise
b) Susan
c) Kathleen
d) Lou
e) Lois

I have a knitting picture!



This is the 7th pair of Potato Chip Socks for Warm Woolies, and these are quite a bit larger than the first 6 pairs. You see, there was a 6 for 6 challenge over the summer, which required 6 vests, sweaters, or pairs of socks that would fit a 6 year-old (or older). The socks were required to be at least 6 inches long in both the foot and the leg. This pair is for the 10 for 10 challenge, which--as you might guess--requires that the sweaters or socks (no vests this time) fit a 10 year-old (or older). The socks must be at least 10 inches in both the foot and the leg. I wasn't positive how much length the heel and toe would add, so I estimated a little long. (The leg is 12 inches and the foot 11.)

I'd hoped to have a finished sweater to show you, as well, but I'm still working on the second sleeve. Oh well. Something for next week.

I'm also not going to complain about school this week. Surprised? Me too, a bit. But I ditched HIT on Monday, and A&P was cancelled that evening, so I probably didn't spend enough time in class to justify moaning about it again. Besides, a few readers have already heard about it. lol

Answer to Question 15: Louise. Susan is my sister's middle name, and Lou my mother's. Kathleen (and Katherine) were in the running for my first name before I was born. I tossed Lois into the mix because I already had 2 L names, and also for Lois McMaster Bujold. (Remember her? My favorite author.)

These questions are coming from my 'How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?' quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, 40% among my sister's friends, 41% for my mother, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.

Question 14

14) I am a good liar.
a) True
b) False

I think I'm going to start doing my blog posts on Fridays. I mean officially. I thought that Thursday would still be okay, since I don't have classes. However, my classes on Wednesday go for long enough that I'm usually a bit (or more than a bit) wiped out, and then I spend most of Thursday recovering and not thinking too much. So Friday it is. At least until these next 23 class days are done.

Hmmm? What's that? I wasn't counting down, you say? Well, tough. I am now. I was going to count down by weeks, but because of the way some days off fall, that makes it sound worse (12 weeks, plus finals) than it really is (23 classes, plus finals). Okay, not much worse, but still worse.

This Wednesday, my afternoon class (HIT - Health Info Technology) was as bad as my A&P class, and that's saying something. We were supposed to have a computer-based lab, and getting proper access set up for all 15 students (the prof never did get her own set up) took the first 1.5 hours of the class. Not the prof's fault, since apparently someone on the IT end at the service that hosts the labs didn't get the permissions set up properly. However, it was still really annoying. That's also the class that we had a test in on Monday. When we got to the lab, we were told that we'd have to retake the test this coming Monday because there'd been 2 Question 24s on the test, and someone had (against the prof's instructions) answered them both, throwing off all the rest of their answers, etc. The usual ScanTron problem. I was appalled, but most of the class seemed excited by the prospect of improving their scores. I guess I was one of the few who was satisfied to start with. But then the prof decided to just drop that test from the possible points for the course. I guess that's marginally better than having to retake the test, but I'm still a bit irked. All that studying for nothing. Oh well.

A&P was just its usual frustrating self, complete with Doritos chick fondling her Doritos bag. I promise you, that's the most innocuous word for her actions that I can possibly come up with. She reminds me a bit of Dr. Evil stroking his cat. But louder. And more annoying.

My computer class remains my favorite of this semester. That's probably due in large part to the fact that it's online, so I never have to meet my classmates. I really expected to be frustrated by this class more than by the others, since this is one of those required-for-my-degree classes that covers really boring stuff. In fact, part of one of our assignments was to write an introduction including our reason for taking the class, and every single one of us is taking it because it's required for some degree or another. Not one person mentioned anything about being interested in the subject matter. But it's my favorite class at this point. *rolls eyes*

In non-school whining, I had my 6-month check-up this week, and got a flu shot. Apparently I was also due for a tetanus booster. The appointment was on Tuesday. There's still a lump on my arm, and it's still rating somewhere between sore and outright painful. Stupid tetanus.

Trying to move away from whining altogether, my mom and sister got home from vacation last Sunday. They brought all kinds of northern Wisconsin goodies with them: bran muffins, cashew turtles and brittle from a wonderful candy shop, cheese, sausage, etc. I asked my sister to bring me some soap from Gitchee Gumee Soap Company in Bayfield, but she hasn't given me any. I hope she's just saving it for Christmas.

No knitting pictures because no knitting has been accomplished. I really need to find a way to study and knit at the same time, since I've got a lot of yarn to knit up for Warm Woolies by the end of November. And, of course, November is NaNoWriMo, so I'd really like to finish the knitting before it starts.

Answer to Question 14: I say True. When my sister took the quiz, she said that she can always tell when I'm lying, but that she thought my answer was true anyway. I think that, if she can always tell, she's remarkably adept at not indicating it, but perhaps that's beside the point. If nothing else, I'm wonderful at lying to myself, so it's true on that score. I do try not to lie to people who matter to me. It's just that some people who don't matter too much (people like co-workers who I used to see once a week, or fellow students in one of my classes whose names I haven't even been told) seem to think that they should matter a lot.

These questions are coming from my 'How well do you know Beccaie Jamieson?' quiz on Facebook. Thus far, the high scores are 35% among my friends, 40% among my sister's friends, 41% for my mother, with my sister scoring 74%. I'm bringing the questions to my blog in the hopes that some more people will get to know me better.

Question 13

13) Why don't I knit more socks for myself?
a) It takes too long.
b) I don't wear socks.
c) Different sized feet & difficulty adapting patterns.
d) a & b
e) b & c


Not a whole lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. I've been enjoying the solitude while my mom & sis are on vacation. They'll be back on Sunday. *sigh* Luckily, they're bringing me some wonderful semi-local to our cabin food, so that will mitigate their reappearance. That, and the fact that the cats will be happy to see them. I'm getting a bit sick of the yowling. (Both cats are lonely and miss my mom. I am clearly an insufficient substitute, not even good enough to pet them.)

Classes have been going okay. The prof for my evening (anatomy & physiology) class has an unusual lecture style, and I could live happily without ever having another class with some of my fellow students, but it's still okay. Less than 16 weeks left now, you know. (I know this because we have 16 week semesters, not because I'm counting down frantically. Yet. That may come.)

I have gotten some knitting done. Specifically, I've finished the first sleeve on 2 of my sweaters-in-progress, and have begun work on both of the second sleeves. I've also cast on for the second Potato Chip Sock, because last night I really needed some mindless knitting.

Then there's the package that arrived yesterday.


That's a 14 x 18 x 10 inch box. Full of yarn. F.U.L.L. Curse Webs and their semi-annual sales! You know, in that Curse-them-but-they'd-better-not-be-late-with-the-next-sale-flyer kind of way. I obviously mis-estimated how much yarn I'd need for a pair of socks, because I thought I'd get about 8 pairs from the yarn. I must have been really, really tired when I was doing that math. But this should keep me happily knitting through most, if not all, of next year. It could be worse.

I could be out of yarn.

Answer to Question 13: E
I don't really care how long a project takes if it's a pattern that interests me. And socks are usually pretty interesting. Even the plain ones have heel and toe shaping, and it's pretty cool to watch a knitted item become a 3-D shape, at least to me. That knocks out answers A and D.

I don't wear socks. This is mostly because they don't seem (to me) to go with Crocs, and I wear my Crocs year round. Also, I think the little bumps on the insoles of my Crocs would probably be pretty hard on socks. I can't imagine knitting socks and then abusing them like that.

It's also true that my feet are different sizes. Not length-wise. It's the widths that are off. This means that the only matching socks that I could really knit that would fit my feet would be plain, solid-color socks. For them to have any chance of fitting inside my shoes, they'd have to be made of sock-weight yarn. Maybe lace-weight, on days when my feet are swollen. Do you have any idea how many stitches that would be, with teeny-tiny solid color yarn, worked round and round (forever!) in stockinette stitch? I'll stick to other projects, thanks.

Outer Alliance Pride Day

I'm squeaking in under the wire with this, since they've chosen September 1 for Outer Alliance Pride Day, and I just found out about it (since I don't really write much of anything, and thus don't get to a lot of writer sites). Here's the text/link they asked for:

"As a member of the Outer Alliance, I advocate for queer speculative fiction and those who create, publish and support it, whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity. I make sure this is reflected in my actions and my work."

They also suggest posting "a short example of queer speculative fiction." And since I don't write much, the only thing I have that qualifies would be a snip from my very, very unedited 2007 Nano, which I don't think I can really get post-ready before midnight. (Especially since I still have homework for tomorrow.) So go read my friend KD's, because it's good, and it has one of my favorite couples in it.