Abe's my etsy fiend.

So Abe is posting needles on Etsy for me because I can't be bothered. I am so busy doing other things that I don't have the 30 to 45 minutes or so it takes to do the photo shoot and all the data entry. Buh. Today he posted these funny spades needles.

We got our second comment on the comic, but it seems to have been spam. :'( After next week, I am not sure if I will continue to post comic updates on my Facebook page because I don't think anyone cares. We'll see. Maybe I can annoy them all into looking. It is weird to send the notice out to people who I haven't seen since high school, but whatever. I hear about their nights out drinking or their days out running.

I started posting The Jerks comics to DeviantArt. Though I will just post the previous week's comics there on Tuesday instead of the same day.

The porkchop dinner didn't turn out as well the second night light it does with the Cream of Mushroom soup. Oh well. It was still good. Surprise surprise, the french cook book food doesn't lend itself well to the microwave.

This weekend, I watched Delgo. I liked it more than Abe. It was a nice-to-look-at movie, for sure. Not the best, but interesting enough. It was just a plain classic story, but it was also a Family PG movie, so I didn't expect much. Actually, the concept art they showed throughout the credits was far more amazing than the art in the movie. I wish the movie had been done in the style of the concept art, which was gorgeous. From the concept art, it looks like there could have been more interesting detail in the movie, too, but for a Family movie, they have to keep it short. Weird voice cast, though. Freddie Prince Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eric Idol, Val Kilmer, Malcolm McDowell, many other weird ones.

I got an email from Amazon today about a book that comes out June 29, Knitting MochiMochi by Anna Hrachovec. Wow. I must admit I am excited for that book. Cute Cute stuff. On Ravelry, she has a bunch of cute patterns, like bats whose wings close shut with a button so you can hang them from the ceiling, baby alligators, pigeons that can actually perch on things, a resistor and a capacitor, "dust bunnies," a bath tub with bubbles, a toilet paper roll, and so much more. She also did woodins ("a tiny apparition that lives in fallen trees and is characterized by its asymmetrical ears and leaf tail"), which is a cute pattern from Knitty.

The Jerks is a live web comic!

Woot. So the comic is up: the-jerks.com. Every Tuesday, Thursday, barring Abe forgetting. We have about a month of backlog. I haven't really worked on much else, drawing wise. I do have these sketches I did during breaks at work.

Abe has been looking over the views on the-jerks.com and they are coming from all over the world. But mostly between 9 and 5 on the server time. Weird, right?

We did go see Iron Man 2 last weekend. That was actually a really fun movie and I have no idea why it got such bad reviews. I thought it was really fun and completely in the same vein as the first one. It was so loud though. Almost too loud for me to hear, but not quite, if you know what I mean. I am so glad we saw it in theaters. Maybe the bad reviews were from "traditionalist" Iron Man fans, but I know nothing about Iron Man except these movies. Abe and I were talking about it and we can't think of any good way to follow all the "canon" from the comics. They are going to draw in people with no knowledge of background so everything is new. If they just tried to take an existing comic and make that into a movie, it wouldn't translate well because the comics tend to assume a basic amount of knowledge (usually it seems to me). I like the approach they have taken where they make a story based on existing pieces of story. It is a new story based on old story. That way it is new to the newbies and the old fans. Old fans get to see live action pieces of the story they love but in new context. I could just be talking out my butt, but I like how they are doing them.

I have been watching Ten Ton Studios sketch challenge and their challenge this week is what a superhero of supervillain of your choice would look like from a different era. There are already some really good ones. I might do the drawing, but I don't know if I will enter. Can you say lazy? Scanning sucks. I dream of one day owning a scanner large enough to scan in one shot a 9x12 piece of paper. Ooh. That is about an inch or half an inch larger in width and length than my current one. Annoying, right? I have no idea what superhero I would draw or what era to move them too. Abe had a good idea that I will try though. If I can get it done in time, maybe I will post it. I only have to give it away if the winner likes mine enough and that is a bit of an honor.

I know I had an epiphany about the Water Lady story, but I haven't been able to bring myself to draw any character sketches yet. I really need to get on that. In my defense, I have been working on The Jerks and trying to focus on that. Though I guess sometimes I get distracted by drawing a picture for the circus story, which doesn't even have a story line yet.

This past Friday, I got my May Rockin' Sock Club kit in the mail. I am doing the Ada Lovelace sock. It came with a nice green Spirits yarn, which means it is barely colored at all, but I think it is lovely. The pattern is sort of steam-punk according to the description from the designer. It has a mix of lace and cables, which I just love. In fact, that is used on my spats. I think I should make some of those spats and sell them on Etsy. And some of my gloves. Today, I will get Abe to start posting items on Etsy. I have a fair number of items ready to post, but they need pictures and stuff and Abe can post them. Anyways, back to the new sock kit, I started Friday night and am currently working on the heel flap of the first sock. So I am about a quarter done. This cuff looks kind of short, but complicated, so it is hard to gauge. I am working on this instead of my mom's sweater. Bad Angela. But my plan is to work complete the first sock, complete the second sleeve of mom's cardigan, complete the second sock, and then complete the right front of mom's cardigan. Then I will basically be done with both. But not really, because then on the sweater, I have to block it, sew it, and knit the button band stuff. Which shouldn't take too long. And I can't finish that until mom gets me the buttons so I know how big, where, and how many button holes to make.

Dino-Vamp - now in color

Fun weekend. We went to this month's Cartoonists Northwest meeting. They are very nice. The lead lady even recognized us from last month. This month, we listened to Michael Foster, who does a comic called "Larry's Cafe." It is fun and inspiring to hear about other people who are doing art.

I have been watching Arrested Development on the weekends, since I finished Law and Order: Criminal Intent. That show is really funny. I have been having a hard time drawing the last week, but I did draw The Creeper this weekend, which was last week's challenge on Ten Ton Studios. I think he turned out OK. Could be better, but that will just happen with practice. What I have been trying to get the energy to do for the last week is start the thumbnails of the Gardner story. We have most of a script. And I basically know how the ending goes. There are a few frames I know almost exactly what I hope they will look like. I need to do character sketches (a lot) of the two main characters.

Finally, here is a color version of the Dino-Vamp cartoon. This is my first real color job in Photoshop, so please forgive.

So this weekend, I also watched Superman Doomsday. I thought it was weird how much he tore up the city when it was completely unnecessary and in a real situation, some of his fighting tactics, like throwing a bad guy through a building so the whole thing collapses (at the end of a work day) would have killed a heck of a lot of people. At one point, he even has the option to move the fight to outside the city and brings it right back to the center. One thing though, I loved was how they animated Superman taking off for flight. I think that is exactly what it would look like and it was so graceful. Make me want to be able to fly. :)

I also watched The Devil's Own. That was pretty good. Not much to say about it though. The description on Netflix is terrible. Has hardly anything to do with the actual story.

And I watched The Sasquatch Gang, which was pretty funny. It has a very similar feel to Napoleon Dynamite, which makes sense, since it is the same director.

And finally, (this is actually in reverse order) I watched School Ties with a young Brendan Frasier and Matt Damon. Matt Damon was not famous at the time and had a main role, but not the biggest role. I liked it, actually. I really like Brendan Frasier. He is usually really funny. This was not funny, but I think he did the part really well. I think he probably could have been a more serious actor if he wanted to, but he really seems to like making dumb comedies, which is not a bad thing in my opinion.

Here are some comics I found recently:

• The Intrepid GirlBot - So far, I like it a lot. It is very cute. Along the lines of Abominable Charles Christopher, it seems to me. Just in orange instead of blue and a girl bot instead of an abominable snowman.
• Gunnerkrigg Court - I love this one. I think it is in print too, but I have to save my money, so I can only read it online for now. Though perhaps I will buy a commission or something. I might start doing that. I was thinking of starting a collection of different characters knitting. :)
• Love me nice - Hilarious. What a funny idea for a comic.
• Heropotamus - I haven't read too far in this, just the new posts for a week or two, but it seems pretty funny. Light hearted. So far.

Don't these look like fun?! Too pricey for me right now, but maybe some time in the future.

I'm boring

I just can't think of anything to talk about today. I had the same problem on Monday. I started researching something, got distracted, forgot to post and then forgot what I had been researching. Angela made fun of me when I told her.

Yeah, Alice was pretty average. It looked ok but the story was kinda meh. There were big stretches of "Hey look at how cool our CGI is" that added nothing to the movie at all.

I read a number of financial blogs. I used to read them daily but they started really depressing me so I'm down to a few times a week. Ah! I remembered what I was researching! I found this article on RollingStone. I'm pretty confident that if that doesn't make you angry as hell you're either a banker or so out-of-touch that you don't even understand what you've read.

--Abe

Margarita time

This past Sunday was my mom's birthday and we met in Burlington for a movie and lunch with my Aunt Carol, too. We went to the Cascade mall theater and Alice in Wonderland started 20 minutes late. Annoying. The movie was good, but not as good as I expected. I think part of it was the theater. The film seemed darker than it maybe should have been and the sound was pretty quite. It also should have been way longer. I think they cut a lot out. I think the white Queen needed more explanation because there were hints that she had more story but they never got around to telling it. Bummer.

Then we went to El Cazador for lunch. Abe and I had delicious Taquitos. And for dessert, mom bought us all a plate of Xangos to share, which is cheese cake wrapped in a flour tortilla and then deep fried. Sounded gross, but it tasted really good. It was an appropriate place for lunch because for her birthday, I made mom the Frozen Margarita socks. Those were terrible to make, but she seems to like them, so they were worth it. I got done with the first one and couldn't bring myself to make the second one. Mostly because of the annoying cactus on the ankle. And then to top it all off, when I finally did it. I put the cactus on the same side of both ankles so now she has two left socks. Agh. I put it off so long that Friday night we stayed up until almost 1 so I could try to finish the socks, but I ended up finishing them in the car on the way up to the movie instead.

The top of the sock is supposed to look like the salt rim of the glass. Haha. That was probably the most fun part. So before I gave them to mom, I asked her if she planned on having a Margarita, and she didn't so I was a little disappointed. But she thought the socks were so funny when she opened them that she showed them to the waitress and asked for a matching margarita. And I was too dumb to get a picture of that. :( But she is wearing them today, so I guess she must like them. And that makes three items off my list, though I also added one (Slip Jig socks from Rockin' Sock Club).

This weekend, I also finished the pencils for the bus stop story and started inking. The cover and first page are basically done. I need to add some white gauche to the first page, but that will be quick (I hope I don't completely mess it up).

Also this weekend, I got through all the Criminal Intent available for streaming, which was season 6. I started watching Rescue Me. That show is kind of depressing though (yeah, I know I just finished 6 years of Criminal Intent, a show about the worst or most complicated crimes).

Abe just informed me about a doggly adventure in jerkiness. He came out from wherever he was and found the dogs sitting all happy together on the couch with a pillow between them. On closer inspection there was a hole in that pillow which led to a hole in the actual pillow from which they dogs had been gleefully removing the stuffing. Other than the two holes, the outer one of which had already been there, the thing is fine. It is an old pillow from my grandma when I was in grade school or so. One side is Xmas and the other is little bo peep. Jerks.

In other news, it is so cold in our apartment, that in addition to my traditional PJ work outfit for Work-At-Home-Tuesday, I also have on my 'house sweater,' hat, fingerless mittens, scarf, blanket around my legs, socks, and slippers and I am still cold.

Pseudo-Monday Blues

Well, I have Windows 7 and I find it a bit annoying. I haven't used it much though, so maybe I will get used to it. I think the most annoying part is having lost all my setup/organization in iTunes. I have to uncheck all the songs I don't actually want to listen to (mostly Abe's cds). All my playlists are gone. :( I am big on playlists. Based on mood. And all my ratings are gone. I had lists by rating, too. Bah.

This weekend was pretty fun. Abe didn't have the best Valentine's, but stil a pretty good time. We went down to Fluevog and both got shoes. Pretty nice. I got the Mini Gorgeous to wear with all my hand knit socks, and I am sure I will wear them all the freakin' time. I also put the Mini Dollface on layaway, which is awesome because they only had one pair close to my size and it fit fine. And they weren't sure if they would get any more shipments. I would have been super bummed to have missed this pair, so I am glad I put them on layaway. I should be able to get them by my birthday. :) Abe also got the Angels Supervog. These, I swear, are the most colorful shoes Abe has ever had. At least since I met him. I am so glad I finally got him to try on a pair of their shoes. I am pretty sure he is converted and will save up money to buy their shoes when he needs more in the future. Yay. I had wanted to try on Earl of Warwick Coventry, but they did not have my size. :( Oh well. I would have wanted to put those on layaway too and there are other things I want to buy someday. I tried on the Fellowships Jenna, but I wasn't as big a fan of them on as just to look at. Which was too bad. The leather was crazy soft. Sounds like a good thing I didn't get them though, because the last two reviews of them are about how they wear poorly. Which at over $300 is not acceptable.

We also went to Luisa's which was delish as usual and later we watched WALL-E, which is,no kidding, one of the cutest movies of all time. I love it.

On Friday, the Olympics started and so I started the Knitting Olympics. I am doing pretty good. 4 days in and I have a sleeve done, the left front done, and I am over half done with the right front. That leaves the rest of the right front, the back, and the other sleeve. Then I sew it all together and knit the button bands and the collar. I think that is doable with 2 weekends to go. I think I can finish the right front and the back by the end of next weekend. There is one glitch. I might need to rip back the sleeve caps and knit them a bit longer to match the front and back. The pattern from the handy book of sweater patterns doesn't seem to really do that. Oh well. At least I have only done one sleeve. I was going to take a picture every day, but I totally forgot. Oh well.

On Saturday, my mom and Jim came down. We had a great time. First we went to see Avatar. Wow. I couldn't tell what was CGI and what was real. It was amazing. The plot line was pretty typical, but I barely even noticed because I enjoyed the characters and the visuals so much. We did end up watching it in 3-D. The new 3-D is pretty amazing, but man it gave me such a headache. I had to keep readjusting my eyes throughout the movie. I think I would watch a cartoon in 3-D (like shrek and the new viking movie), but no more realistic. I will definately be buying Avatar on Blue-Ray. I can see why it was the number one movie for so long. By the time I got home that night, I was already ready to watch it again.

We went to Suni's for lunch afterwards. Delish. I had my usual Avacado Bacon Burger with an egg. Everyone loved their food. I asked for no fries and got them anyways. And I just realized I got charged for them and shouldn't have. Oh well. Less than $2.

Saturday we also went to Daniel Smith just south of downtown Seattle. They have a lot of stuff, go figure. So I got some Vellum, a #0 round brush for inking, a kneaded eraser, another pen handle for a different type of nib that I accidently bought the last time I went to Dakota Art, and some gaouche, which I cannot pronounce, for covering my mistakes and maybe even for drawing with. On Monday I went to Dakota because after practicing, I found the #0 was a little too small, so I got a #1 round and a #4 flat. The vellum is totally AWESOME as opposed to regular tracing paper which is so thin. you can see back on Zorro (wikipedia), if you look close, that there are wrinkles in the large black sections. Which is going to be a problem with Gone. I have decided I will just post that here, since there will be the wrinkle problem and that is not professional enough to send out. I really like the brush on the Vellum. I made some sketches. There is the leg of the Rocketeer (wikipedia), Mariella from another story, some sketches from my art class.

As notes on that Rocketeer pic, I was trying for a certain style and failing. I fall back into my own style pretty quickly. I am pretty satisfied with it other than that, though. His left thigh is a little too long and his feet are a little too small, but other than that. I am pleased with his shirt and various wrinkles. Originally, it was supposed to be tilted 90 degrees counter-clockwise so his feet were pointing down but there was something wrong with it and I changed the orientation. So his rocket packs don't quite seem to work with what is going on, but I still like it.

Well, I am getting ready to go to the dentist soon to get a mouth guard. Sexy. Abe gets to go get his teeth cleaned, lucky dog. :) I am actually pretty excited because it should help with the pain I am getting. I clench my jaw when I feel weird. Weird as in stressed or anxious or whatnot. I also grind my teeth a bit. And now that I have had my wisdom teeth removed, they are moving all over the place. The mouth guard should help that. I am also getting a lower retainer type thing to keep the bottom one from moving too. I have switched to Sensodyne because the new gaps where my teeth are moving has gotten really sensative, but it is not helping. And it tastes terrible. So I am switching to Crest ProHealth or something.

Finally, a little shout out to LeVar Burton, who was born in Germany in 1957 today. You know, Geordi La Forge. He created and hosted Reading Rainbow. If you check out his wikipedia page, he is looking a bit aged, but he kind of is. 50 and over is kind of aged. He has won a surprising number of awards for Reading Rainbow, at least surprising to me. Looks like around 15 to me.

I would have spell checked this, but the button refuses to work for my mouse, so screw it.

Movies, my friends

Nisa seems to be feeling better, though she has gone a bit crazy and keeps starting crazy fights with Ernie, who does not seem to want to participate, really.

All that's left of Abe's closet cleaning is to take the remaining stuff to goodwill, but first he has to go to Central Market and get me a chicken, which he will cook for dinner for me tomorrow while he eats spaghetti for dinner. Woo for me. He also has to get me a bunch of brussel sprouts. So I am having chicken and brussel sprouts for the rest of the week, though spaghetti tonight.

I went to the dentist today, which always rattles my brain a bit. Possible explanation if I sound a little weird today. I was going to fix up another image today but maybe I will fix it up for Friday instead.

Did I mention I finished Abe's first sock? That was fun...not. Took forever. And I still have another to do. It's OK, I guess. I really do like knitting with that dang self-patterning yarn. It is a bit short, but not horribly so.

This weekend, with poor little Nisa asleep at my side, I watched a lot of TV.

On Friday, I watched Sherlock Holmes: The Last Vampyre. That was OK. I was pretty tired and almost fell asleep at the end, but it was fun enough. The guy who plays Sherlock is a little less skinny than I always picture the drug-addled Holmes. And Watson looked a little more dim-witted than I usually think. But it was OK.

On Saturday, I went crazy. I started with Dinosaurus! The exclamation point is part of the name. It was a terrible 60s scifi. I could not stop laughing at the dinosaurs. Pretty funny. Maybe a bit sexist, but no more than anything else at the time. The Neanderthal was funny. The actor played that pretty funny. Then I watched Alien Trespass, which I highly do not recommend. I am a little surprised I finished watching it, but I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was some sort of fake news at the beginning and then the movie played and then... that was it. It was supposed to be a spoof of classic 50s sci-fi, so maybe I didn't get the joke. Eric McCormack was in it. Weird. It also had the dad from that horrible 80s show with the kid whose adult voice narrated the whole ting? That was boring, so I watched Mike Birbiglia, a stand up comic. He is pretty funny. I have heard him on the 7:20 Funny that now plays on 96.5 on Jack as the 7:19 funny. It plays right before I get to work. Then I watched an animated Hellboy: Blood and Iron. It was surprisingly good. It even had the actors from the movies doing the voice overs. I would definitely watch more of those. I like that in the animation, they can give Hellboy his appropriate hoofed feet instead of the boots in the movie. Then I started to watch Urchin, but was way not into that. It was just weird and poorly acted. One character just looked like some guy reciting lines and trying to respond to them. :( So I switched to Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I have no idea why it did so poorly. The first one was a pleasure to watch and so was the second one. Pure eye candy. Absolutely beautiful. The cure for a sweet tooth without the candy. I wish I had seen it on the big screen. It was a bit too long, but it was so pretty, I didn't really mind. I would have minded less in the theater because I could have seen it better. This was the end of the night so I was tired and having a hard time focusing my eyes.

Then on Sunday, I watched the first and started watching the second seasons of Grey's Anatomy so I can watch the new season 5 DVDs (as instant play on netflix). I freakin' love this show. I have no idea why I love it so much or why it affects me so much, but it might just be one of my favorite shows ever. I have seen the first season 6 times now and I love it as much now as the first time.

Friday, we are going up to Bellingham for a friend's birthday. Then next weekend we will go to Bellingham again so I can possibly plan a trip with my mom. But I might want to postpone that a year, depending on my tax return because the dentist (and my doctor, actually) says I really need a mouth guard for when I sleep. The reasons are two fold. One, I need to stop my teeth from moving. Since I got my wisdom teeth out, they have moved so that there are 5 places between my molars where I can easily floss with my hair. From my head. Gross, I know, but handy because it hurts when a big chunk of steak gets stuck in there. Why not carry around floss you ask? I am lazy and a scumbag. Come one now. Two, I clench my jaw a lot when I sleep and that is very bad. I keep having a crazy nerve thing in my neck and the doctor said the way to fix it is to get a mouth guard. It is the scary kind of electric hurt, so I do want to stop that from happening. So I got my W2 the other day and will file my taxes and make the plans I need to make. Woo. Taxes. At least I should get my first Rockin' Sock Club kit in the next few weeks. When that comes, all other projects, yes even Abe's first pair of socks, go straight in the hibernating pile until that pair is done. I am a little sad because I think they showed us the yarn on the blog and it looks all pinky. But if it is a dark pink, I guess it will be okay.

Sherlock

On Saturday, we saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was...good. :) I really enjoy the Sherlock stories (one of my grandma's got me the complete Sherlock Holmes for Xmas one year). This was not those. This was a more action-oriented Sherlock. As long as I reminded myself it was not meant to be a depiction of the books, it was good. He seemed to be on a bit more cocaine or whatever it was and was much more childish in the movie. Makes me want to watch the old British Sherlock movies, which just happen to be available for instant play on Netflix... Watson was even more different between the two than Sherlock. I think. He is cockier and more confident. I haven't read the stories in a long time, so that is just what I remember of Watson in my head. I did really enjoy it though, and I am glad we saw it on the big screen. It is a very pretty movie. And did I mention the sort of steam punk aesthetic? The actors all played their rolls well. I think Robert Downey Jr. could have (at least visually) played Holmes as a more serious, less wild-hair-up-his-butt character, too. He has the appropriate haggard look.

I think this movie was the start of a heap of Rock n' Roll Remakes. Not a new style, there just happens to be a whole bunch coming out at once. Clash of the Titans is another. And the original Clash of the Titans is also available for instant play on Netflix, so there is another one for me to watch. There is another Iron Man, Iron Man II, which is definitely one. The preview intrigued me. He makes Tony Stark look like such a cocky douche, which I find hilarious. I have never read the Iron Man comics so I don't know how appropriate that is. Maybe The Wolfman, but I don't think that one is so rock n' roll.

Wool washing is slow going. I might be a quarter done? Maybe a third? But it is a nice creamy color when it is all washed and carded. I have a grocery bag full of it carded. This batch is Suffolk. Can't remember if I said that in my last post. Mom though it was Shetland, but maybe the other bag of white is Shetland. I am really excited for the dark wool. It is really pretty. During carding I even get most of the vegetable matter (VM) out. There is almost always just a little left in, but nothing gross or huge. I think I am really getting a pattern down for the two stages, washing and carding. Drying sucks. Did I say I burned some of it? I tried drying 4 pans at once in the oven which meant putting some of it on the bottom rack and I totally burnt the bottom rack. But I can pick it off and it should be fine. I will probably bag those two together and use them separately from everything else because the staple length (is that the right term) will be a little off what with the burning. I don't know if I am carding it right, but it is still looking nice.

Anyone a fan of Big Bang Theory? Check out SheldonShirts.com. It has a list of where you can get the shirts and stuff that Sheldon and the other characters on Big Bang Theory wear. Totally awesome. Sheldon has a lot of great shirts. Though you can see from the Leonard lists that even though he wears great shirts they are covered with his coat.

I wonder where our camera is. I have stuff to take pictures of. Lots of stuff: Noro shawl, thick shawl, orange cowl, short green silk scarf thing, Sheldon's sick hat, Tidings of Joy ornaments (candy cane, hat, plum, cherry, and I started the lights, though they are all packed so that might be for next year!), lorna socks, the one finished striped glove, felted tea cozy, Brennan hat (mine and Abe's), and Penny's Xmas hat. And that is just the knitting stuff. I should also get a pic of the crazy mint. And I have a few drawings to scan, though Abe should be able to do that now. I should also get a pic of my ruined Queen of Blues sock (those are not mine, I just don't know where my pic is...)and then FIX it. I have to cut off the whole ankle part, but at least it will be easy to knit. Attaching it will be the tricky part since I am pretty sure it is an ankle-down sock, which means Kitchener stitching it back on or something.

Abe made delicious oatmeal maple bread. We used it for PBJ today. Yum. That bread is just ridiculous. So good. And he cleaned the apartment and wow. It looks great. So nice. I forgot what it was like to live in a clean apartment with vacuumed floors.

And in completely other news, I think I am going to knit hats to sell on etsy. I didn't see anything too similar on etsy. I think they will be about $25 each. And I am trying to come up with a single skeins worth matching fingerless mittens.

Happy New Year -let's see pics

Well Happy New Year. Abe and I got to ring it in sick. He played EQ2 most of the night. I watched Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale, and Step Brothers. Because we have Netflix and you can watch some movies instantly over your PS3! I love it. So very much. Both had me laughing out loud.

We also finished watching season 1 of Sanctuary, a Syfy series (what a dumb name...). It started out with a ton of blue screen action, but as the series went on, perhaps their budget got bigger or their ideas got smaller because there were less and less blue screens. The characters are fun. And the writing gets better as you go through the season.

I wish that instant play was available for Highlander. I really want to watch it but I don't want to have to wait for the DVDs in the mail. Oh well. Maybe someday.

So here are some pictures. I had intended to post this poem before Xmas, but our decorations are still up so I guess it still counts, right? I wrote this poem in 8th or 9th grade. I think 8th. My English class was making a book of xmas poems for the parents. I turned this in. My teacher said it was good but that the other parents probably wouldn't like this in their book of xmas poetry, so two more poems later I came up with something acceptable that I don't remember. I always liked this poem though.

Then we have a picture I drew of Abe's oldest character in EQ2, Denaso. It was fun to draw, though I don't know how accurate it is. I think she is one of Abe's first characters. I should really write more here to get Blogger to show the image lined up well with the text, but I don't really have much to say. It is Crayola colored pencils and technical pens. Fun, but it is hard to put together on the computer.

Next we have an ink of a chicken in electronic pants that are kind of out of control. I thought of this picture as I was going to sleep one night. I really do enjoy the hatch marks. They are fun. I have a book by Edward Gorey on hold at the library (Google images). My mom recommend I look at his work as a good example of hatch marks. I look forward to perusing his art. Mostly children's books, but I like that kind of art, I guess. Anyways, this was also done with a technical pen. My smallest for the whole thing. I probably should have outlined the pants in a thicker pen so they would stand out more.

Here is an ink of Nisa. I drew the pencil version a few years ago and then traced it a few weeks ago with a nib pen. That was an absolute blast. I really like working with the nib pen that you dip in ink. I plan to use that more often. It takes a little more practice because the ink doesn't dry as fast and can drip, which is why there is a big solid black spot on her left ear. I found my old pen and nibs from high school. I didn't know what to do with them then, but I am so glad I kept them. This is why I have a tendency to not throw anything away. I want to try it again many years later and will probably like it better.

Last we have a squirrel ink also using the nib. I realized I needed to practice with this pen and style, so I looked through my old drawing pads for pictures I liked so I could trace them with the ink nib pen. I think I drew this squirrel in pencil in high school.

All of these (except the xmas poem) are already up on deviantart. Someone already favorited Chick in Electronic Pants and someone else commented that the squirrel is cute.

Anyways, we had a good Xmas, even though it didn't snow this year. I was very lucky this year. Top of my list of wants, though I didn't tell anyone, was Umbrella Academy: Volume 2. And Abe got it for me. Totally awesome. He also got me Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, et al. That night we made lamb chops, onion potatoes, and brussel sprouts, so I made the Brussel Sprouts Braised in Butter. They were a little over cooked, but they were still really good. I can't wait to make it again. Very simple. Once you make it, you don't really need a recipe, so I was telling everyone about them. Haha.

Also, my mom and Jim got me 30 lbs of unprocessed wool!! And hand carders. I am in the process of washing about 10 lbs of the wool. It is going OK. I burned some when I was drying it in the oven (it is just too cold to try to dry it in the air). I started by throwing it all in the tub with hot water and a lot of soap, using a method I found on the Joy of Hand Spinning. That was a good start, but some if it is pretty dang dirty, so I have moved on to a smaller, slower, more precise method as described by the Yarn Harlot. I think this method of mass wash and then small wash is working well, but I have been sick so it is slower going than anticipated. Next time I will probably just do the small batches since I don't really have the time or space to wash and dry 10 lbs of wool at once. Anyways, I have 20 lbs of white wool to wash and 10 lbs of dark (black and brown). I very much intend to make a cardigan out of stripes of the natural white and dark. I think it will be very cool. I am not sure if I will use a cool pattern or if I will just do a basic cardigan from the Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. then all I have to do is decide on the number of rows per stripe, the shoulder style, and the neck style. This is very exciting.

I almost forgot to say that Abe also got me a cd by Imelda May and it is great. Rockabilly. The songs get stuck in my head and I don't mind. Abe heard an interview with her on NPR and then a song of hers and said she totally sounded like someone I would like. Very nice. Great CD. She's Irish. I don't know if she does concerts here, but I would love to go see her live.

Happy Holidays

This is the image I (and Abe, I guess) sent out as a Xmas card. (Abe still will need to send it to his own friends since I only sent it to people I have email addresses for.) I drew it with a technical pen or two and colored it with watercolor pencils. I don't want to waste those, so I recently went and bought a set of Crayola colored pencils and they are really fun to work with. Plus there are about twice as many colors, including silver and gold, which can be useful.

So Happy Holidays one and all! It is the second day of winter and it is getting colder. It got warmer first, though.

Today is my last day of work for the year. I was going to work tomorrow, but my coworker Lucas and Abe convinced me to take my last day of PTO instead of the payout. So here I am working my last day of the year from home. It was a successful day too because I finally figured out the example of Oregon state tax withholding. Buh. Doesn't my job sound exciting?

Well, I hope it gets colder over the next two days because I want snow on Xmas day again.

Last Saturday, Abe's last day off before Xmas day, we went to my cousin's for a Xmas movie party. We were the first to show up and I think we were early. Good times though. They bought a house this year and it is nice and big. We got to see Tony's dad, who I haven't seen in a while. (Tony, or Anton as he likes to be called now, is my cousin). He brought Frango's over, which is a real treat since I used to get to eat them every year for Xmas, but now we rarely see him, so we don't get them. Yummy. He even brought lasagna, but I didn't get any of that. We watch A Muppet's Christmas Carol, which was awesome. On Monday, I still had the Ghost of Christmas Present's song stuck in my head. Which isn't so bad.

Also, I am knitting (poorly) the hat penny wore on the last Big Bang Theory of the year. I needed to use size 9s. I might make another one tomorrow... I used 7s, so I would use 9s tomorrow. I am pretty excited. Maybe I will post my final pattern here. I am just using some leftover Red Heart acrylic yarn from the first blanket I ever knit (which was for Xmas and looks terrible - dropped stitches, poor finishing, I never even weaved in the ends). Hopefully I can finish it to wear to Abe's mom, who he still hasn't called to make plans for Xmas Eve. Jerkface.

You know who is not a jerkface? My coworker Lucas, who kindly recycled my can of Diet Coke and washed my cups since I thought I was coming in on Wednesday, but since I am not, they would have sat there dirty for almost 2 weeks. I think the dirtiness grosses him out enough that he would have washed it even if he didn't like me. Haha.

Anyways, in other art news, I also recently went through my box of "art" stuff. I found an embroidery project I want to finish but may not be able to. I will give it a shot, I guess. I also found my ink and nibs. So last night I started practicing drawing with that. Well, I did one a few days ago too. So have more pictures to scan and post. It is just so annoying to try scanning. It only works half the time. We have a new set up that we have not tried yet, though, so it might work better now. The other problem is that I draw on paper that is larger than the scanner, so I have to scan each picture in two parts and then put them together in Photoshop. Anyways, I will stop complaining and just try to do it. I have at least 5 pictures to scan and post. I am not behind in any way. What are you talking about?

My thoughts on New Moon and the comic

So I thought New Moon was good enough. It let me see the parts I had a hard time picturing, like the horse-sized wolves. But that was about it. I was disappointed with the whining in the book, but in the movie I was disappointed. It was barely good enough. I was glad that the annoying internal monologue of Bella was gone, but then they also left out the acting. It was a different director and I think that was part of the problem. I liked the direction of the first movie better. In this one it seemed like everyone could care less. They just went through the motions they thought they were supposed to without putting real thought or heart into it. But since the previous one was a bit better in regards to the acting, I would have to put it on the director.

When I read the book, I pictured Jane and her brother as pre-teens, like 9, but I guess she is might have supposed to be mid to late teens, so I guess Dakota Fanning was good. She looked beautiful. She was just older than I had pictured and I can't find any accurate information about Jane's age online. I am seeing 9 to 16 years old. Whatever.

I think in the end, if they don't keep getting worse, we will probably end up buying all four movies because it would be fun to watch them all in a row.

I think my least favorite thing about the whole series (though I haven't read the last book yet) is how pitiful Bella is. She drives me nuts. If my boyfriend all of a sudden changed his mind and told me he didn't want to be with me and I would never see him again, I would be pissed, even if I thought he was too good for me, because no matter how little I thought of myself, no one deserves to be treated like a toy that can be set aside and forgotten without regard. Let this be a note for you, Abe... :) Just joking. Sure, there would be some self doubt, but New Moon is like an exercise in self doubt. And she sure keeps with that theme throughout the everything, Bella thinking she is not good enough. Which can only mean to me that she also has trust issues since Edward tells her all the time that she is everything to him, blah, blah, blah.

Uh, but no kidding, I really enjoy the stories. I know that I have a lot of negative to say about it. I just think the books needed better editing and the movies needed better acting and directing (hand in hand).

Anyways, I just wanted to point out that I totally used a ruler to draw the lines in the last comic, so the crooked lie drives me nuts. Ah well. I did another one using the ruler and I think it looks awesome. At least the lines around the panels do... It is a Xmas one, so it won't be posted for a bit. I have at least three Xmas drawings to post. We don't decorate or anything until after the 11th to respect Abe's birthday, so we won't post the pics until then either.

Also, in the 4th panel, I forgot to draw in Georgie's fingers! And get ready. I think the next comic is pretty darn funny. :)

This was a bit more negative post than I had intended. The Twilight series just really frustrates me because it seems like such a great idea with poor execution. Especially for the books, being a technical writer, they can get hard to read. I just try to remind my self it is a teen book, though I think that is an even better reason to write well.

Oh, I also have a Thanksgiving illustration that we need to post. So get ready! I have been trying to draw and ink and color a lot, so I hope I can keep it up.

My electronic entertainment enjoyment

Things I have enjoyed through electronic entertainment the past week or so:

1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village - Abe got this for me for my DS and I LOVE it. Bunch of brain teasers and puzzles. I have been able to figure out almost all of them (except 2 I think). I have solved over 30 puzzles in the game. It is a little weird because the characters facial expressions never change regardless of the information they are relaying - I found a cat! That man was murdered! Yeah. But still fun. I got it and played it for 2.5 hours straight. Very fun.
2. Monk! I love Monk. Friday was the second to last episode of the series and next Friday is the series finale. Sad. But Sunday I watched a Monk marathon almost all day! Great show. I am bummed it is over, but I am sure they will continue showing all the old episodes. (I don't know if this is sad or not, but when you Google "Monk," the tv show comes up before things on monks.)
   
3. Boondock Saints II - I didn't even hear this was coming out until I think it was already out. Or a week or so before. So I went on Monday night to see it by myself since Abe hates the first movie. Freak. I loved it. I laughed out loud. It was gratuitously violent, wonderfully chummy, and used amazingly colorful language. I wish I could swear like that. I will be buying this on DVD or whatever for sure. I also finished watched the first one right before I left to catch the bus to see the second one. Awesome. The volume was up to loud, but it had basically everything I was hoping for. I laughed. I was sad. I jumped in my seat even when I knew it was coming. :)
   
4. Xmas music Time! I have checked all the xmas music in my iTunes so it plays in rotation with everything else now. Awesome.

Well, that is all. I finished up a five-day weekend of knitting and watching TV. Good times. Lost my keys, too, so I couldn't leave the house, but it turns out they were in a side pocket of my bag. Dork.

Tonight, Abe and I are going to see New Moon. I am really excited, but I am totally expecting to come out completely underwhelmed. I hope it is good though. I like the movie better than the first book because I didn't have to listen to as much of Bella's inane whining. And I hope that is more so the case in the second movie because I almost couldn't finish the second book because of it. I mean, I was physically unable to stop reading that book, which must be made of literary crack; otherwise I might have stopped reading it.

Also, we are almost done with Xmas shopping. A few things left to get for each other and a couple gifts for a couple other people and we are basically done. I am about halfway done with Abe's gifts.

For Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful chicken thigh dinner (which was supposed to be chicken breasts) with my mom the Sunday before because she was coming down to see Where the Wild Things are anyways and we had a yummy dinner. Then on The Day, we went to Abe's aunt and uncle's and that was fun. Played Trivial Pursuit on the Wii. Weird. And then I cooked a nice dinner with a yummy cornish game hen and yummy gravy on Friday while Abe was at work and we had that when he got home. Yummy. For thanks, we are both thankful Nisa is doing so well after being diagnosed with Addison's a year or so ago. (She also got a new harness from Annie's Sweatshop. I ripped it already, but I think I can fix it. It is sure darn cute.) We are also thankful that Ernie has lost so much weight and is a lot healthier now.

-Angela

I have too been knitting!

I have started reading the blog of the guy who did (does?) Mouseguard (David Petersen). I haven't read any, but I am intrigued and intend to read them at somepoint. Anyways, on his blog I got to the NYT (New York Times) Graphic Novel Best Sellers. The Hardback ones are mostly Batman. The paperback Watchmen has been on the top 10 for 28 weeks! That is a list I would like to keep an eye on.

I have an idea for some gloves. First I will write the pattern as best I can. Then I will knit a pair for me and a pair for Abe and then the pattern should be ready. This one will take a little bit of non-knitting research first, but I think it should be pretty cool. I got Abe's yarn coming in the mail. I kind of went nuts on the Knit Picks site. For Abe's gloves we got the Stroll Tweed Sock Yarn in Blue Ox. I also got the yarn for my sweater and the Tidings of Joy kit. And a bit of surprise that is in preparation for Xmas. Yeah, I know.

Anyways, here is the Ogre Lolita sketch. I will get the watercolor pic up perhaps Monday.

I also finally got a picture of the Penguin Tawashi I made for Abe. Took me long enough. Abe says it is too cute to actually use as a washcloth. Gah. What a waste. Just joking. It is pretty cute. I kind of had to fudge the pattern because I didn't quite get it. But I think it turned out okay. He is just sitting on top of a jar for now. He was on top of Abe's coffee maker, but Abe kept picking him up by the head instead of the wing so he head was always partially concaved, which looked really weird. It was a lot of fudging, but still pretty fun to crochet.

And here's is Abe's Trilobite Hat (on my head). Actually, I got a professional cut and dye the other day and now my hair looks great. I like it a lot. A regular bob with straight bangs.

Here is the detail of the trilobite. You can see there is a lot of ribbing and Abe is really tall, so unless he is sitting no one will really see the pattern. Oh well. Abe likes it. Sorry the pattern is blurry. This was the only picture of the detail without dog hair on it.

And here is what it looks like to the normal person who is just looking at the hat on someone else's head and not hovering over them Almost looks just like a ribbed hat. Oh well. The color in the previous picture is truer to color. And that is totally a poster of Perfect Blue in the background.

Next comes some roving I dyed from the huge lot of wool I bought on Craigslist almost a year ago. I fret so much about running out that I rarely use it. But that should be fixed. I am getting over it. There is always more wool somewhere. So this is a second dip batch. The color was black with a little green. The first yarn came out a lovely grey color. And the second batch came out this great gray green color. I like it a lost. I wish I knew how to make it again, but I think I would have to make the gray first, again. The picture isn't that great, but I think the color is pretty accurate.

And the Monkey Farts! That is seriously the color name for this brown and yellow and white roving. You can see I also spun up a bunch (maybe half?) and I think it is fingering weight. There is a penny in the middle one, which I realize after I opened it on the computer that a penny was probably the wrong choice. Any other coin probably would have worked a lot better. :) This is from Spunky Eclectic and I like it a lot. I think this is the BFL (blue-faced Leicester) roving.

Next is the wonderful Blue Moon roving I got during a break during the one class I took at Madrona Fiber Festival earlier this year. Oh man. This is the softest stuff. I think it is a mix of wool and silk or something equally pleasant. But the fibers are a lot shorter than the Monkey Farts so I keep pulling too far and dropping the spindle. Very annoying. But I think it is spinning up quite lovely. Both of these are a Navajo 3-ply. Which is about all I ever do because it is so fun (and I don't really know how to do anything else and this one guarantees that you won't have leftovers, which I dread.)

On Saturday, Abe wanted to go to Barnes and Noble to get the next in the Recluse series, which he is really enjoying. So I looked around. I almost got a few books, but instead I got a keychain version of Boggle! Which I intended to bring up Saturday night to Outback for dinner with my family, but I forgot it. Plus we were way late so we wouldn't have had time anyways. I looked at a bunch of craft books. I checked out Epstein's Knitting on Top of the World. I was not impressed. It appears that most of the patterns are in various pinks and purples and I am not so into that. Not since early grade school anyways. And the patterns were all very strange. Like strange for the sake of being strange. I want to get teh book Dyer's Garden, but they didn't have it last time and I think I will get it from some other place when I do get it. I totally want to get the book Subersive Cross Stitch. I think I should do one of her free patterns first, though, to see if I like cross stitch. Looks very simple.

We also got 2 cds while at BnN. Abe got the new Ingrid Michaelson CD, Be OK, which is pretty good, but so much softer than her last one which was very rock (which is great). And we got Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Murder Ballads. It appears this CD was recorded over a period of years, which explains why his vocals vary so much. Sometimes they are pretty bad (can't hit a note in the first try) but some are pretty good. There are a couple ladies who sing in a couple different songs. Those are really pretty. The lady singers are better than he is, but the sound great together.

Also on Saturday, Village Yarn and Tea was having a huge moving sale (they are moving to an awesome new location, thought it would be had to have a location as bad as the one they have now). I am really excited. They are going to be in the same lot as a great book store, so I think I will go there a lot more because Abe will want to go to the book store. Anyways, I got this great yellow tea pot for only $5. How awesome is that!? It holds about 3 cups (mug versions, not tea cups). I have the same or similar teapot in brown too. That brings me up to 6 tea pots. Abe says I have a problem...

I also got this Peony Tear Drop tea from their clearance and now I am really sad because I think they will not be carrying it any more and it is amazing. This is the tea I have been looking for. But they have another Peony tea that I will try - White Peony Tea.

While at the sale, I also got the yarn to make some felted slippers from the book Knit 2 Together, which is a great book. I love the pattens in this book. Anyways, the yarn is Manos Del Uruguay in gray and yellow. (The colors I used are not on that site...) I knit the slippers in under 4 hours. (I think I mention this above, too.) Anyways, the are currently sitting on top of the oven, which is on, so they will dry because they are all felted. To felt them, I got them wet and put them in the dryer with a pair of jeans. Works pretty well. Just check them every 15 minutes or so. I think these are going to be nice and warm. I wish they were dry already because my toes are cold and I want to wear them now. I think I may make another similar pair for deeper in the winter that come further up my foot. Perhaps even a few inches up my ankle. These are really just slip ons. Though they will work fine with socks.

I also got this great yarn. Cashmere lace weight. Maybe even cobweb. I have no idea what to make with it. It was so on sale, I had to buy at least one skein. 1500 yards. Not bad. Perhaps a cowl, but that will barely touch the yardage. I was thinking perhaps Ice Queen from Knitty. That is the kind of cowl I want to make, one that slides down around your neck or extends up over your head.

But seriously, this is how good the price was. Only $10.70. Regulary around $20, so 50% off. Who can complain about that. And 100% Cashmere!! And I just love this color.

Finally, I also got (well, Abe bought it really) this Claudia Hand painted fingering weight yarn in Eat Your Veggies for another Abe hat. I know I just made him one, but I suck at making his hats. They all slip off his pointy little head. This time, I am going to make the Ganomy hat. I think this will be great. I might even add little buttons and loops on the ear points so he can flip up the ears so he can hear. I am going to make a similar hat for myself with some handspun I bought at the Bellingham Farmer's Market. Mine will be pointy and Abe's will be fitted. I am really excited to make this very popular Elizabeth Zimmerman hat.

So after all the wonderful shopping, I frantically tried to get the September Phat Fiber kit. At 5:00 (7cst), I crazily clicked through all the purchasing steps and I got it! At 5:01, I was back on the Etsy site and they were all sold out!! There were 37 of the option I chose, so I can't even imagine. That is crazy. Less than 60 seconds to sell out. Anyways, I am super excited. I have three things coming in the mail now. The Knit Picks order, this fiber box, which is a random box of spinning and knitting stuff, and some buttons for the Girl Friday sweater. These buttons are awesome. She may become my main source of buttons (which isn't saying much because I don't often buy buttons.

And Saturday night, after a very quick and nearly cold meal at Outback in Burlington, we went to 9. This was a great movie to watch, but the story was missing something. I wish Tim Burton had directed it or helped write the script because it was a dark, twisted movie that just needed that extra little push from Burton to make it a great movie. It had a lot of potential, but never really got to that great point I was hoping for. Ah well. I am really glad I saw it on the big screen because it is wonderful to look at. Maybe Burton could do a sequel. I think that is possible and it left potential for continuation of the story. But the next one needs a little something extra.

And now Abe and I are both sick. The cold appears to be going around both our work places (perhaps even the flu at his place). Ah well. We'll live. I just have a hard time drawing, especially when I am sick. I need to do something, but I can't think of anything. Last night I came up with an Arthur and Georgie script with a joke I have wanted to do for a really long time, so perhaps I will do that tonight. And I will drink my Gypsy Cold Care tea and feel better.

--Angela

Vacation Rules!

Whoops. Been a while. We've even done a lot of things. But Abe started work this week and I am on vacation. So lazy lazy...

So last weekend, we saw District 9. That was a really good movie. It was a different plot than I anticipated based on the previews, but the movie was very good. Abe said it was the best sci-fi movie in a long time. The CGI was great. The aliens were great.
I really don't want to give anything away, so I will just say when the movie was over we sat there for a while letting it all sink in before we got up. Actually, we went to the new movie theater at Northgate...well, south of Northgate in "Thorton Place" where most of the other locations are empty with signs that say "X coming Summer 2009." Looks like they will miss that mark. And a freakin' matinee is $8.50!! Still $2 cheaper than regular, but what a rip off. The theater in Burlington/Mt. Vernon is $6 for a matinee. Speaking of, in 2 weeks, we are going to see "9" at the Mt. Vernon one. I am so excited for that movie.

We also got a china cabinet from my aunt Carol and it is replacing a nasty old bookshelf we had that the back was coming off of and was missing a shelf. We might sand and paint it. I was thinking yellow with blue highlights and a bit of red. Then Tony, my cousin who brought it over, asked if I was painting it black, and that got me thinking. I eventually want a kitchen those colors, but since I don't have them now, I can really paint this any colors I want. And a black china cabinet could be awesome. (I totally just spelled 'could' as 'cood.' Vacation is over soon, but until then, I am not required to use my brain.)

I also knit Abe a hat. I missed his first day of work, but it was ready for the second. He can't wear it anyways because it is too hot. It is the Trilobite Hat from Knitty. I used Malabrigo in Burgundy. Looks great. Looked better, but I had to cut off the ribbing and rework the rib for 25 rows instead of 10. Turns out that is why I can't make a hat that fits Abe. His head is normal size around but an inch taller than most people. Where I think my head may be bigger around than most. Or I just have WAY too much hair.

I also started and have almost finished a painting of ogre Lolita. It is turning out really well. Water color. It is really fun to paint. I think I am learning a lot. This is a more complicated picture than the Blue Lady.

And I started (and have almost finished) Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs, who the TV show Bones is based on. It is actually pretty good. I like her writing style and the story is pretty engaging. They funny part is how much the writing, in particular the opening, sounds like the character Brennan in Bones. The writing style could not be more opposite from Twilight. The grammar and vocabulary assume a much more educated audience. It is a nice change...I guess I have been reading a lot of young adult books, but that is no excuse!

I have also been doing a lot of cross words, but mostly on my vacation, I have read and painted. And a little knitting, but mostly at night. I am working on a pair of fairly plain knee-high socks right now. I am trying to decide if I need to rip back to the increases to make it fit better, but we'll see if I am too lazy.

And also this weekend I scored some good pieces when shopping. I got two shirts for $10 each at torrid: a nice yellow one with a scoop neck and a bright green wrap style. That last one needs a tank top underneath, but it looks great. I love the color. I also got a pair of shoes for $17 at Fred Meyer's. Cute shoes. I can wear them with socks so when it is colder, I can wear some of my hand knit socks. Yeah!

kind of dirty movies (but not really)

I am nearly half way done spinning the Monkey Farts wool from where ever I said it was from in a previous post. It is a thin yarn, probably fingering weight? I really like it. Soft and the colors are great. I think I might spin weird, but whatever. The yarn looks nice in the end. I should really get some pics of my yarn up, but that would involve taking pictures and getting them on the computer and getting them on the blog and that is a surprisingly long process. Everything just seems to take longer than it should.

So Abe and I have been watching Bones on dvd. Awesome show. A bit gruesome, but Abe says that everything they say is pretty accurate. The characters are hilarious. I am really surprised. I guess I shouldn't be because the odd episodes I have seen seemed good, but now that I am seeing them all in order, I really get to see why I like it. The characters really draw me in.

Also this weekend, I went on a bit of a movie bing with the $1 rentals at the QFC across the street. First, and my favorite, was Wild Hogs. I heard it was awful, but I laughed my ass off. I love a bad comedy. I certainly was laughing out loud. Lots of dumb physical humor and making fun of each other. Wonderful. Plus a weird cast, really pulls it all together, haha.

Then I watched the new version of Hairspray. I think Ricki Lake, who was the main girl in the original, was an agent in one scene. No lines or anything, but back there. This movie had a little more going on than I expected, with the story line about integrating TV. Interesting. What a strange world that would be to grow up in. I can't even really imagine what that would be like. Anyways, it took me a little while to get into the strange acting that makes up a musical, but once I get into it, I like musicals. So Christopher Walken played the father and John Travolta (no I did not get the name wrong) played the mother. Man, that was weird. There is one big sort of love scene (where they are spouting their love for each other, not getting jiggy with it) and sometimes I can't tell if Walken is laughing as part of the scene or because it is so weird to see John Travolta in a fat suit prancing around like a lady. I don't know if he knew! Well, that was two movies in a row with John Travolta, oddly enough.

Next, Abe finished playing for the night and came out to watch Superbad, which was quite funny. A big dirty, but pretty dang funny. I wish I could rip on people like they ripped on each other. So funny. I guess I was pretty tired because I don't remember it very well, but it was very funny. If you don't mind naughty bits (and lots of them) go ahead and watch it. If I remember right, most of the naughty bits are drawn, though. It is kind of raunchy humor, but we laughed our heads off.

Then it was too late, so we went to sleep and Sunday night we watched Knocked Up. Very funny. By the same people who did Superbad, but like the girl version. You could tell it was the same people because a lot of the same people were in it. And the tall guy from How I Met Your Mother was in there and hilarious. I guess we accidentally watched the unedited version. I guess you can tell, but she has the baby and man alive I wish we had gotten the edited one. I am haunted by the one scene I saw and then covered my eyes for a good 5 minutes until it was over. That was completely horrifying. Perhaps good for teens to keep them from wanting to have a baby? Ick. But the rest of the movie was totally hilarious. Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd are great. And I love that lady from Grey's Anatomy. By the end of the movie, though, I thought this was the edited version because it seemed like some scenes had been cut. And it was a 3 hour movie or so. We were so tired by the time we went to bed. I think Seth Rogan must have one of the most addictive laughs ever.

I think we are getting a china cabinet from my aunt. It will replace a bookshelf that is holding all our kitchen books and all my tea stuff and will be awesome. I am really excited. It comes apart, hutch and cabinet. I think we will take it down stairs in halves on nice Saturdays and paint it. I can't decide on yellow or blue. Perhaps a yellow base with a robin's egg blue highlight and and tiny bits of red (which are the colors I want our kitchen to be).

Well, Hell's Kitchen is one. Off to watch that!

The Crows! The Crows!

So a while ago we switched the room that was our bedroom from the north side to the south side. Now there are frickin' crows. There is some idiot crow that sits outside our apartment and won't shut up for hours! He is actually out there right now as I am writing this. It is annoying at anytime, but at 6 in the morning on the weekends. Even 5:30 on the weekday mornings. Closing the window and covering my head with a pillow only dulls the screeching noise.

So today is Abe's half birthday. Happy half birthday. We went to the restaurant next door, Luisa's. I, of course, had chicken sopes. He has a chorizo burrito. My favorite thing about him is that I have turned him into a star trek fan. (just kidding, though it is awesome). Yesterday or the day before we watched an episode where the question of Data's humanity was explored and when it finished Abe told me he finally realized why Data was such a favorite character of mine. He had only seen a few of the later episodes where he was such an established character that he wasn't explained and didn't see the appeal. Abe says he is an intriguing (ha!) character and ... Well, maybe he will explain it later.

So this weekend we dyed my hair black. I love it. It looks awesome. My hair is a little dry though. As soon as I can afford it, I will go to a salon to get it done for real. But this is the black so black it shines blue. Which is perfect. Abe says it makes my eyes stand out. It worked really well on the ends but the top that hasn't already been dyed and processed didn't take it so well. So we will try again this weekend. The top on the right is still brown! It felt thoroughly saturated, but whatever.

So I have watched a few movies. There was Popeye and M.A.S.H., which I didn't enjoy. Both were by Robert Altman it appears. Blegh. Mash was weird. It was like it wanted to be a dark comedy but didn't have the courage. And Popeye was crazy. Shelley Duvall was Olive Oyle. She was pretty good. She sang that song "He needs me" so awesome. She did the neck perfectly. And that is all the good stuff about the movie. It was too true to the cartoon. People wore the shoes with the bubble on the toe. And Olive Oyle did that weird twirly, I am falling down thing. Looks dumb in live action. And Robin Williams with the stupid rubber forearms looked like an idiot. The songs were weird. Everyone talked weird and acted weird. Wore weird clothes. Actually, the guy who played Garak's father in DS9 (Paul Dooley) played the guy who says "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" (Wimpy). That was funny.

I also watched The Postman on Instant movies from Netflix. That was fun. LONG but fun. I like those post-apocalyptic movies.

So Abe has a graphic novel from the War Hammer series. I tried reading it, but I just can't get into it. The story is flat and the characters boring. On the other hand, I read Elephantmen, and it was awesome. Abe got it at ComiCon. I liked it a lot more than him. I have also just finished the first in the Fables series. I am so excited to read the next one. It is a fun series. I am really enjoying it.

So I have started working on a story for a graphic novel that is based on super heroes. The story has two layers, one story told within another. Really it is one story just folded up on itself. I think it will be a good one. I like it a lot. I hope I can do it. I am really unsure how far to produce it. Should I just pencil out the whole thing or should I do the inking, color, and speech?
I also drew a picture of a mermaid. I am thinking I will make a coloring book of some ink drawings, but first I have to make some drawings. It won't be one of those cutesy ones with no detail. I will include detail and maybe some shading. Maybe not. Then I can compile 15-30 pictures to make a coloring book. I have a few themes in mind. Good and Evil Mythical Creatures, Robots, Aliens, Weird Creatures (just a bunch of creatures that I make up, like the dude).

So right now, I am working on finishing the Fraggle Squiggle sock from the last Socks that Rock club. This is not my favorite. I enjoyed the first sock, but this second one is dragging. I have already turned the heel, but it seems like the foot is never getting longer no matter how much I knit. I mean Each sock is about 30 repeats of the same 4 rows. Boring.

I have also made some adorable Tawashi. Well, one adorable Tawashi and a normal one. The first one was how I learned the magic crochet cast on. Awesome. I mentioned I was going to the Hilltop yarn store in Queen Anne to learn about Tawashi, the little Japanese scrubbers. They are super fun to crochet. As a reward for dying my hair on Friday, I crocheted him a little elephant scrubber. It is pretty dang cute. I gotta get a picture of it. Totally awesome. So much fun. The instructions are a challenge to read because I just have to make out the chart because the words are all in Japanese. But I really enjoy the challenge. Though it is so cute that if this is a good representation of Japan, I really want to learn Japanese. :)