Yes, I'm aware that it's not terribly pretty but it's kind of amazing.... I'd like one please (that I can have redone in blue).

Super Bed

I'm knitting everyone entrelac scarves because I pulled out the one that I had knit myself over the summer and remembered that I absolutely love this pattern. 

There's a picture of the scarf I made my mom as a not-so-surprise X-mas present (I gave it to her in last July for this coming X-mas) in this posting: http://knittingknerd.livejournal.com/45277.html .

My version is the same yarn but in very gorgeous fall shades (slate blue, rust, dark orange, brown, tan, etc.) and I love it. It's a fun pattern and a warm scarf - therefore, everyone is getting an entrelac scarf because that's all I feel like making...

Until I go home and work on my really gorgeous reversible cable wool scarf ... :::grins:::

So this is sort of an update but not really. I've written a few private entries because I've been trying to figure some stuff out. "stuff". Because that right there means... nothing. Anyway, none of the 'stuff' I've been trying to get a handle on has been figured out but I'm done ruminating on it and I figure I'm not going to write about it right now, so this can be a public entry.

So first for the updates:
Update 1) My puppy is coming home in a week or so.
Update 2) Grandhoser and others passed the bar exam. I'm thrilled for them. Words cannot describe. I'm downright proud.
Update 3) Seven bars is too many (was it seven or was it eight?). I'm trying to remember and I feel like seven is the right number, but I keep feeling like I'm forgetting one.
Update 3a) Apparently, I'm getting old. I like drinking. I like going out. But I am feeling beat. I used to be able to do this three or four nights in a row. Now I'm sleepy. This is sad.

And now for the goodness:

blythefishy

Allow me to tell you who I am. I am the one paying $1500 for the tuition to take your class. I think that at the least, you can respond to my e-mails in a timely fashion and clearly communicate what exactly you want from me or us (the students).

Not only has my stats professor taken a week to deign to respond to my e-mail but he won't give useful feedback on the work. All the work also happens to be group work and he says he doesn't want to respond to individual questions about the class (after all, that's why we've been assigned groups). 

He was also rude, condescending, and misquoted me. It's really hard to misquote an e-mail when replying to it since the original text is right there. But this guy has done it. I'd say I'm impressed. But that level of failure is really more disturbing than anything. 

I'm really more amused than pissed off at this point because he has a really nasty attitude and I know that he doesn't know I work for his boss, but I know that I work for his boss. And I have no qualms about going to Provost and tell him that his new director of the M.P.A. program is refusing to talk to students.

In fact, I've done that twice in the past week. Not about academic stuff, but about financial aid and HR. In fact, I rarely  have this kind of problem with the academic side of things, it's usually UB's business side that farks up.

But this guy seems to think he can be a dick and get away with it. I'm simply going to have to correct him.

Ring-side seats go on sale at midnight, the show starts tomorrow at noon.

I love my house. I love my neighborhood. I love my jobs. I love my school.

I love that I can walk three blocks and be in a park, five blocks and be at a coffee shop, seven blocks and be in a bookstore.

If I feel like walking further I'm about fifteen blocks from Hampden and Lovely Yarns.

If I want to go further the #3 and #11 busses run two blocks east of my house.

I walk to school and work because I can't see paying $1.60 for the bus when the weather's pretty.

I love that my neighborhood isn't too white or too black or too anything. If you go over a or two block you're in a bit of an elite enclave. But my side of the street's better (I'm in Remington, not Charles Village). I love that one of my neighbors is working on his Ph.D. at Hopkins and another works for the MTA. The guy up the street is Frito Lay distributor and if you cross over, there's a house of four or five guy living and working together. I know that my other neighbors are students of some sort, but I haven't talked to them as much.

I love that my neighbors have exchanged phone number with me. And that even though some guys have been sitting on my steps (I kept catching them --- I don't really go to work at a consistent time :-D), they haven't been leaving their trash (they usually have drinks and a paper - I think they work at the glass shop diagonally from my house).

I love that I don't even have any more cardboard boxes in my room.

And I really love that I baked Turtle Brownies from a grocery store that's like five minutes from my house in my freshly painted kitchen.

I am in lust. 

There are things I don't like. The crime is the biggest one. I also didn't appreciate seeing the guy peeing in the alley on the way to work (but that's life, wasn't the first time and it probably won't be the last I'm treated to that show). The bus I take is also a major route and that can get hairy (woohoo crazies). But the public transportation is one of the overarching things I don't like about Baltimore.

But I guess this is why I'm so happy. Because I'm already aware that there is some stuff that sucks. Some if it I can work to change (like high crime and insuffiecient public transportation) and some of it there's not much I can do about (like people will always pee in public whether it's a drunken Saturday night or a sunny Tuesday morning and there will always be lots of people on major public transportation routes.) I can't be prissy or pissy about stuff I'm already aware of because getting all pissy about stuff I know about won't do any good.

Can you imagine the fool that moves into Baltimore and then goes-- oh, no! What do you mean there's problems frequently associated with urban areas in Baltimore? Waaaaah.

The love I'm feeling is balanced by the realism that there is some shit. But I'm still so happy. And the bad stuff doesn't feel hopeless. The stuff that sucks can be dealt with.

Yeah, ideally I'd like to feel comfortable skipping around my neighborhood at 2 a.m.. But I'm not a complete dumbass. I don't know anywhere where I could walk around completely relaxed at 2 a.m..

This might just be love. I feel like I belong here. And I feel like I could do something really great here --- I used to feel like I was working hard but not actually accomplishing much. Now I feel happy.

I must be in love with Baltimore.

So ask me again in a month or a year, and we'll see if this is true love or if I'm just enamored with the newness of it all. It's my first time feeling this good about where I live so we'll see if it lasts.  For now, I'm just going to enjoy the sensation of being happy.

What kind of pirate am I? You decide!
You can also view a breakdown of results or <a

I spent much of the weekend in a cavelike state but that's alright. Between Saturday and this morning, I have either completed or developed a plan of attack for almost everything on my to-do list. Therefore, I rewarded myself. 

Last night, I went to the Daedalus book outlet with the Boyfriend and bought four books (for under twenty dollars!). I got two knitting books I'm thrilled with - A Rowan knitting book and  Mindful Knitting, I 'm very pleased however, I'm not allowed to read either of them until I get a few more things done (I'm banning myself from doing fun stuff until I've accomplished more). I'm having one of those I want to knit all the time moments :) Not terrible feasible in my current career path, but it does make the idea of owning a yarn shop infinitely appealing.

Anyway, since I'm already procrastinating I might as well dawdle just a bit more... I can't wait to go see the Simpsons movie this weekend. In honor of it's debut, I'd like to take a trip back to the time when Do The Bart-Man was a hit song. Seriously, if you don't remember that, click and watch it. It's six minutes long, a perfect coffee break length. :::Do it::: The movie itself one of those things were I don't have high expectations. I want it to be at least a good Simpson episode that just happens to be four times as long as usual (or five times, I don't know how long the thing is).

With that, I really should get back to the work so my list can continue to dwindle... Eventually, I'd like to be able to have a to-do list I can just sort of remember. That's the goal.

Before I forget: Good luck to those taking the bar tomorrow. I thought about calling people but I think it's best to let people alone.

Final Comment: 23 days to settlement.

So here in the US, we have a strong nonprofit/ quasi-public sector. Many of our companies have very cool names. I'm in Baltimore so daily, I see names like Casey, Weinberg, and Rosenberg.

However the Brits are still winning. I mean, they have foundations called things like Rowntree and Barchester and Strattford-upon-Avon. Seriously, Stratford-upon-Avon.

I just think the names are cooler therefore todays score (as of 8:20am):

US: 0 UK: 1

I finished two smaller projects today and am feeling quite pleased wth myself so I'm posting them in all their glory :) These are actually two things I made for mom... Isn't she lucky to have me (I'm also feeling very  full of myself).

This is a wrap-around sweater from Mason-Dixon knitting I knit for a teddy bear. It's sized for a new born with skinny arms. I still have to block it and attach ribbons to tie it shut, but I need to go purchase ribbon for it (I think it's a lovely little present.... :-D)



I knit myself a Kuryeon scarf in entrelac a while ago and my mom had major scarf envy so she picked out this color-way  to go with her black jacket: 
 

Yes, I'm aware it's sideways. But I'm still learning about taking and posting pictures that don't suck so bear with me.

Now I'm going to go work on the other two dozen knitting projects I have on my needles :-D

Last night it was amusing to watch the first senator announce he's going into counseling because his number's in the D.C. Madam's phone records. The sheer quantity of 'citizen-journalists' out there downloading and trying to find a big name from her phone records is impressive. But I can't help but wonder if they all just don't have jobs. I mean, this is seriously time consuming. We're talking about the equivalent of a 2250 page pdf file.

Anyway, the other reason I'm posting is because I feel like everyone should enjoy the hilarious description of Dick Cheney, also rumored to be one of the Madam's customers, from Wonkette's blog.

And with that, I do have to get work done.... maybe... or I could always go knit something.

Why do all the major cities in Ohio begin with the letter C?