Thursday, October 23, 2008

Virtual Silence

If I don't blog for a bit, it's for good reason.  Now that I'm officially terminated from my job, my occupation has become The Hunt.
On top of that, I've come down with a ghastly bug.  I've had to postpone all my interviews this week save one and take to my bed.
But one good thing about this is having discovered photos on the old laptop that I thought I'd lost.  The slippers above are called Slam Dunk Slippers.  I made them for a ginger-haired boy in Washington who has outgrown them by now and has probably passed them along to his baby brother.
I'll be back with good  news in a jiffy!
Take care!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Question of the Week #5


This is the Question of the Week #5 in the Falling for Ewe Swap on Ravelry.

Do you like football?
What is your favorite team?

What happened to Questions 1 through 4? you might ask.  I think I answered one or two in the blog somewhere but I can't remember where I put it.  But I didn't like the others or they didn't seem to apply to me so I didn't answer them.

This one doesn't apply much either, but it's a good opportunity to tell one of those anecdotes I'm so fond of.

My dad was a practical joker.  One of his proudest accomplishments was making his youngest sister ditzy. He did it by answering innocent questions with false information.

"Brother, what is the roller derby?"
"Well, Sister Dear, you know what the Kentucky Derby is?"

"Yes.  That's when the horses run around the track."

"Right you are, Little Sister.  Well, the Roller Derby is the same thing, except in the Roller Derby, they put roller skates on the horses."

Years later, my aunt's husband would call my dad to laugh about some of the things she fell for.  They would roar with laughter over it.

When Aunt Betty was all growed up, the ditzy making fell to me.

The most frustrating thing about this ditzy making was its sleeper nature.  Since one didn't know she had the wrong answer, one would not hesitate to pipe up and use her knowledge in front of others whose reaction would range from uncomfortable silence to out-and-out guffaws.

Remember the hollow-J goose-necked smoke sifter?  (See Another Yarn Contest: My Black Hills Summer Vacation, archives July 3, 2008).  I was set up to fall for that joke where all basic education starts:  at home.

To this day I cringe to think that someday I might come forth with some perfectly reasonable explanation for something and face blank stares and titters.

So my answer to the Question of the Week is this:

No, I don't like football TYVM!

So, I don't have a favorite team.
But my favorite player is the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Someday I'll tell you a story about that one.  As soon as I quit blushing over it.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Black & White

This thank-you post has been a long time coming. Apologies to Kim.
It all started when DH, who is originally from upstate New York, took me to see where he grew up. There, he introduced me to the most wonderful confection -- (Ambrosia, Food of the Gods, Bliss on the Tongue) -- that I had ever tasted.
The locals call them Moon Pies but somewhere I got the name "Black & Whites." I'm not sure if this was DH's name for them or whether I made it up on the spot. Basically, they are sugar cookies iced half with white icing and half with chocolate icing. I guess they must look like moons to some. Anyway, I had never seen them in my 45 years of U.S. travels (at the time). My relatives Back East know that if they want to make me happy, they must send these to me by FedEx. But it's been a long time since my relatives wanted to make me happy, I guess.
Anyway, when Kim became my partner in the Summer of Yarn Love Swap, early on I asked her if she'd send me one after the swap was over. So, true to her word -- three months later and long after I'd forgotten I'd even asked -- I got a package from Kim with two -- count 'em!!! -- black 'n whites.
This only goes to illustrate why I have a blood sugar problem.
I opened the package in the car outside the post office. When I saw there were two, I was so impressed at Kim's thoughtfulness of including both DH and me.
But then I noticed that they weren't the same. One of them had a sugar cookie base and the other had a chocolate cookie base.
Which one should I eat? Did I really care whether DH got one? I mean, he'd had enough of these in his childhood, right?
Traditionally in these swaps, people take pictures of what they get. Here's mine. Taken before I'd even started the car for home: