My Middle Name is Patience

Jericho on Tuesday Night 10pm CBS

Watch it. Or else.

In other news - other than one of my shows actually being uncancelled and airing again - YAY! I am going to live. Live! I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to breathe through my nose, not have my very own snot factory in full production and not be freezing and aching. The flu sucks.

Of course it's been replaced by working 24/7 but that turns out to be a better alternative. Who knew?

Hezekiah fights the evil flu. Or possibly jute covered rattling balls tied together. Her new favorite toy. [Wipes a tear away] My baby is playing with toys! She used to run in fear from them. Now she takes no prisoners.

The lovely prizes I won from Carrie at the Barefoot Cobbler - is that mint box not the cat's meow? And hey. There were

chocolates! (Were being the operative word....)

You Are a Ham Sandwich

You are quiet, understated, and a great comfort to all of your friends. Over time, you have proven yourself as loyal and steadfast. And you are by no means boring. You do well in any situation - from fancy to laid back. Your best friend: The Turkey Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Oddly enough, my mortal enemy is my go-to dinner. I'm not that fond of ham sandwiches either. Where's the peanut butter? Loyal and steadfast. Quit giggling.

In knitting news, I cast on the right front edge of the V Pointed Charmer by Lauren Devecka Sunday night. The back, it is finished! And the sleeves! I'm really in love with this pattern. I did have delusions of knitting both fronts simulataneously until I realized that the V part of the name was the fronts and also I have left/right issues.

Hezekiah says that she is an angel. Also? Keep it down. A cat needs her beauty sleep you know......

Maudlin Monday

TV: Anyone watch Mansfield Park on the Masterpiece Theater Jane Austen series last night? Anyone else have a hard time placing who the sister Maria was played by? The New Bionic Woman. Could not believe it.

I think I caught a glimpse of Adam from MI-5 in the crowd during the wedding scene.

Well. I think they caught the, ah flavor of the book.  I haven't read it and was basically flipping through the book last night double checking the scenes, it seemed to be a somewhat faithful adaption if hideously abridged, not that the nuances of Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram's fondness of Fanny came through. It seemed to be somewhat added to the end. But oh well. Not half bad. How did it stack up to the book if I'd actually read the book beforehand?

And, typically, there's another good show on during the Austen series timeslot, if an entirely different century and culture. Breaking Bad on AMC at 10pm Sunday night is pretty intense. It's an interesting compare and contrast of society of 1808 to 2008 (note: blogging license with the dates) if you watch them back to back. (That link is a clip, so be warned.)

Knitting-wise:

That would be the back of the super secret not-jinxed-yet cable cardigan and another preemie cap for the K3tog Preemie Cap drive. Yes! Another! I have finished multiple caps! As in, more than one, which is normally quite pathetic but I was having one unbelievably difficult time with the first one. 

Here's a better another shot of the back of the cardigan: It's just fiddly enough to keep it interesting but easy enough to memorize. Even the shaping is easily done.

In Bad Parenting Cat news, I managed to squash Hezekiah under the automatic garage door on Saturday coming home from work. I'm fairly certain I only managed to pin her but it freaked me out and I don't think she was all that happy with it either. She immediately ran away from me into the back yard but considering it was dark and rainy, deigned to come into the house about an hour later. She's been hopping in and out of her cat tree and hasn't missed a meal yet, but she's still going to the vet later this afternoon. I keep thinking internal injuries or hairline fractures. And the guilt! The guilt! I feel so horrible.

Mt Diablo as seen from Pine Hollow Rd last week. No snow now, but there was still some over the weekend!

I have recently discovered The World of Podcasts (love my iPhone!). Anyone have any favorites to recommend? I've subscribed to

• Cast On
• Sticks and Strings Knit Science
• Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
• Hot For Words
• Berkeley Groks
• The Math Factor
• Stash & Burn

Hez sez: "How could you?"  And "Check out the 24th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering."

The Flu is not Fun

Yucko, in fact. I thought I was pretty much cured after a weekend of coughing, congestion, stuffiness and snot but since walking upstairs to my office has left me pretty much wanting to curl up and sleep on my desk, maybe not. I hate having a fever that gives you the cold shakes and why on earth is sleeplessness part of the symptoms?  The least a cold should do is confine you to bed, knitting, reading, watching TV or sleeping. Sleeping. Not tossing around alternately freezing and boiling and going through a forest of Kleenex.

Oh well. I am pretty much over it. Just not the self pitying grumpy part, evidently.

There's been knitting but I'm afraid if I show it or name it, all productivity will cease. (Oh, okay. Check this out. ) (Yes, that's productivity.) (It is too.) (I'm working under the assumption that a lot of the irregularity will block out. Which it might, you know.)

At least it wasn't as bad as knitting preemie caps for K3tog. Everything that could go wrong with the first cast on did. Moebius'ed. The cable cast on came apart. (I have never had that happen before. I've moebius stripped a join occasionally, but even that's rare for me, much less having the cast on itself unravel. I'm not even sure that's physically possible, other than it happened.) What else? The join was a mile wide. The number stitches I cast on was really off for the yarn I was using. Good thing they're tiny.

Did anyone catch Persuasion Sunday night? I'm fairly positive (which was confirmed) that no way would Anne go running down the streets after Wentworth. I have got to read the book. I'm on a PBS kick. I watched Island at War last night - part One of Five [gnashes teeth] and despite it being another Nazi flick, I was pleasantly surprised. Well, not pleasantly, the Nazis invaded the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, represented in the movie as St Gregory's Island. The story follows the islanders and how they deal with the occupation.

Tonight is Monarchy with David Starkey at 8pm. I'm on a PBS kick.

Happy Cat! Basking in the sun. Shivering on the cold deck, but basking in the sun. Basking in the sun inside too with the added bonus of having a lovely set of knitting instructions to lay on.

New 2008 Inane Babbling!

Check out the Traveler's IQ Challenge from Lawyers, Guns and Money.  Shockingly - I'm blaming it on the time constraints -  I'm unable to tell the difference between Canada, the US and South America. All those years calling myself an American evidently means I've staked the whole freaking continent.

Walnut Creek's winter outdoor ice skating rink on Broadway, between Park Place and what's about to be the old library.

TV News: Dexter is coming to CBS on Feb 17th. Y'all have to let me know if it's vastly different from the original.

I hear The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on back on the air tonight, but only from the Candian Press? And Medium is back tonight, finally. Of course, Bruno and Carrie Ann of Dancing With The Stars show is on tonight too and yes, I will be watching it, live or taped.

Sunday night, the 13th, PBS kicks off The Complete Jane Austen with Persuasion.

Did anyone else catch Cartographia: Mapping Civilizations by Vincent Virga on BookTV last night? I have this thing for maps and the inside tour of the Library of Congress' Geographic & Maps Division alone was fascinating.

Knitting News: Ah, there is none, other than I have a depressingly small amount of stash that's enough to make a whole sweater. It's not like I have just one or two skeins of things either, but I have just-not-quite-enough for the patterns I was eyeing. This is going to make knitting from my stash harder than anticipated. I really do need to inventory it.

What pattern was I eyeing? Soon to be revealed. Maybe. If the gauge swatch works out. Oh sure, there are some people who probably think I'm going to knit poor Mary Tudor, but Mary Tudor is so last year. (Possibly so-the-year-before-last-year, come to think of it.)

I'll say one thing. Knitting abbreviations have come a long way in a decade.

Resolutions:

Hmmm. I know I had some.

Hezekiah is deeply unhappy with the state of the weather. She would like someone - anyone - to please put the sun back and can you dial down the wind a bit? And quit it with the rain?

TV and A Two-fer

Shamelessly stolen from Literary Feline:

• Two names you go by:
  1. Carrie (Because it's my name.)
  2. Ma'am. It's a little disconcerting, but at least it's polite.
• Two things you are wearing right now:
  1. My Hugs for Snicker's scarf
  2. Jeans
  
  Two of your favorite things to do:
  1. Reading, of course. You didn't see that one coming, did you? (I didn't even have to change her answer).
  2. Knitting.
  
  Two things you want very badly at the moment:
  1. To be able to knit at the speed of light
• 2. And read at the same time.
  
  Two favorite pets you have had/have:
  1. Sheba. I think I'm going to miss her forever.
• 2. Hezekiah. But I'm so happy Hezekiah insisted on joining the family.
  
  Two things you ate today:
  1. Spinach Souffle
• 2. My mom's home made dinner rolls. YUM.  Clearly a breakfast food.
  
  Two people you last talked to:
  1. My mother.
  2. Marlene
• Two things you're doing tomorrow:
  1. Working.
• 2. Knitting
  
  Two longest car rides:
  1. From California to upper state New York/Canada.
  2.  California to Pennsylvania in a moving van hauling a car trailer with my brother and their puppy-cat Hopi. (Genetically a cat, temperamentally a Lab).
• Two favorite holidays:
  1. My birthday. What? It is too a holiday!
• 2. Y' know, other than that, I'm not a big holiday person. Oh, Columbus Day. Great shows on the History Channel.
  
  Two favorite beverages:
  1. Coffee. Not just a beverage.
• 2. Egg Nog

What's On TV This Week? Other than freaking festive Christmas holiday programs.  I'm already annoyed that my Sunday afternoon Columbo episode got bounced for "One Magic Christmas". I can hardly wait for the December to get here.

Sunday: I think I'm just going to watch Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel until Cold Case comes on at 9pm then:

Brothers & Sisters at 10:01 pm. Stunt Casting! Lyle Lovett, Steven Weber, Chevy Chase all guest star. This is one show that works guest stars in pretty seamlessly, Danny Glover was fabulous and understated as a Republican spinmeister Kitty called in as a favor.

Monday: Sadly for my anti Reality Show cred, I'm hopelessly hooked on Dancing With the Stars this round. All three should in the semi finals but as good of an entertainer and trouper that Marie Osmond is, I want either Helio or Scary Spice to bring home the hideous giant disco ball.

Heroes at 9pm. Second to the last show of the season. The season! I hope the writers strike ends soon. Right when the show starts to finally gets its footing.

Journeyman at 10pm. Part Two and possibly the episode where Jack stops being a complete %^&*_. But don't get your hopes up. The one good thing about the writers strike, shows like this have have a better chance of getting renewed just because they're in place.

Tuesday: Everything is on Tuesday. NCIS. Bones. House. Dancing With the Stars Results show. Mega Disasters.  Anyone else addicted to Mega Disasters on the History Channel? I love that show. It makes me think life's not so bad. Look what could happen! Yowza. And it's just a matter of time........

Wednesday: Project Runway - although is it new this week? It didn't look like it in my TV Guide.  CSI NY.  Modern Marvels: 70's Tech at 8pm on the History Channel then Lost Worlds following it. There was Tech in the 70's?

Big Shots is on ABC Thursdays at 10pm? I've meant to catch that show - great cast - but never have.

Friday Night Lights and Stargate Atlantis Friday.

Movies:

Speaking of life's not so bad, the new movie I'm Not There - a 'reimagined' biopic of Bob Dylan practically made me suicidal. Well, if I'd been in a suicidal bent. Since I'm more contrary than that, it made me want to see the glass half full, look at life through rose colored glasses, dance through fountains clutching a rose in my teeth humming gaily...etc, etc. 

Wow. Talk about a thoroughly depressing mean-spirited movie. The little booklet they handed out prior to the movie called it "hauntingly lovely" - hauntingly lovely? Not a chance. While it seemed that the movie quoted him verbatim at times, the Bob Dylans portrayed were not seeking, exploring, discovering and writing about himself and his times, they were devoid of humanity, compassion, empathy or spirit. Hated it. 

One scene in  the movie typified it for me. "Robbie" (Dylan as portrayed by Heath Ledger), his wife and another couple are having a meal at a restaurant overlooking a park. They spar over whether women can be poets. 'Write the nastiest thing you can think of and I'll do the same.' Robbie directs his wife. 'Why?' she asks, understandably confused and repulsed. 'We'll compare. I can bet that yours won't be as nasty as mine' (I should pull this out of quotes because I'm quoting from memory and I've probably got it a bit wrong, but that's the gist I came away with).

What the ---? Nastiness is the true measure of a poet? You have got to be kidding me.

It was nice to see Don Francks as a hobo, riding the train with the Woody persona. And I have to say that the actors portraying the various Bob Dylans were all really amazing, but the whole of the story.....just harshed my mellow.

I can understand the frustration he must have felt being boxed in a corner by his own success. The idiotic questions asked of him during press interviews were suitably stunningly wide of the mark - how on earth would he know how many other protest singers there were? They're assigned numbers? Unreal. But the Dylans in the movie weren't of the man, they were of the myth.

Thankfully for my lifelong Bob Dylan crush, the "rocdoc" "No Direction Home" was playing on VH1 last night.  Give me Martin Scorsese & the real Bob Dylan over Todd Haynes and his versions of Dylan any day. Even if it was an inspired idea he couldn't pull off.

Next post: Hopefully Enchanted and knitting FO's. Except that if I keep casting on or mooning over projects to cast on, I knit so much less on current WIP's. And they don't seem to be finishing themselves off, the lazy things.

Pumpkin Ice Cream and Eggnog Lattes

* edited to add the link for the Hug for Snickers scarf pattern....

Pumpkin ice cream and Eggnog Lattes, it must be the Holiday season. Shockingly to anyone who's ever been around me during the holidays, I'm getting Christmassy. I actually had on the radio station that plays Christmas carols merrily singing along with it last night, without even so much as a mini rant about it not even being Thanksgiving yet for pity's sake. You're still not going to find me shopping Friday. I'd rather be boiled in oil.

Here's the finished * Hug for Snickers scarf, draped on the cat tree, appropriately enough, since Hezekiah refused to pose with it and every picture I took of me wearing it are never going to see the light of day.

Ta da! The finished Endpaper Mitts. Can you tell one is smaller than the other? It's not so much smaller I can't wear them, in fact, the smaller one feels kind of fabulous on my right hand while knitting/mousing.

The Diagonal Rib hat I knit up during Day One of the Knitting Retreat...

The Selbuvotter Mittens that in no way can I knit in public, or with anyone speaking to me, with the TV on, imperfect lighting....I changed the bottom chart because I didn't like how the original looked, not that you can tell which one I'm knitting.

There has got to be a way of putting these in columns. It'd be nice to have the picture match the caption for a change.

As a [television viewer] public service announcement, here's where you can find out how many episodes are left on your shows. Mind you, they're all at least one down.

Think Hezekiah wants to come in the house? That cat stays outside every daylight hour (well, except morning. She does not do mornings.)

Take a good look at that deck. That's why you're not supposed to use indoor paint on an outdoor surface. Men.

One Long Winded Post. Again.

Bellamoden's hand dyed yarn (Eunny's Endpaper Mitts pattern). That's not really a ladder up the middle, it's actually the purled side seam. Weird angle.

Here is weird lighting to offset the other picture. Gah.

Meme stolen from Book Chase, originated w/Kimbooktu.

• 1. Hardcover or paperback, and why? Both. Hardback to keep, paperback to lug around.
• 2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it... Go Away, I'm Trying to Read. Own a bookshop? Then I'd have to do bookkeeping and ordering and keeping customers happy......although I have always wanted to own a combo bookstore, bar and yarn shop.
• 3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is...tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day. To the last syllable of recorded time.... (looking up and lifting the full quote)
  And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
  The way to dusty death.  Out, out, brief candle!
  Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
  That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
  And then is heard no more; it is a tale
  Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
  Signifying nothing. MacBeth. I love MacBeth. Eminently quotable.
• 4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be...Alice Starmore. No wait. Wrong author. Alison Weir.
• 5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be...the biggest anthology I could find.
• 6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that...would hold my book open, turn the page, keep the right amount of light on it - basically I need a robot slave.
• 7. The smell of an old book reminds me of...Heaven. I mean used bookstores. Same thing.
• 8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be...One book? So limiting. I'm the lead character in ALL of them. I think that's why reading is so addicting.
• 9. The most overestimated book of all times is...The Da Vinci Code? Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Anything overhyped.
• 10. I hate it when a book...is about serial killers targeting woman (a current favorite plotline it seems like) or gets really sappy or preachy.

I'm supposed to tag five other bloggers for this meme but it has really made the rounds, hasn't it? I tag Elspeth anyway, Alum Creek, hand eye crafts, Knitting in the North and On the Needles.

Shockingly, I managed to read 5 books in September, even if it did take me something like 3 weeks to finish Coyote Dreams. I do like CE Murphy's Joanne Walker series but that migraine made it hard to read and I mostly just wanted to shake her most of the book. Also read:

• Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan. Interesting and informative. Oddly enough, data they didn't expect to be able to confirm for decades in 2000 (when the book was written) seems to be cold irrefutable fact nowadays. Not that I doubt the possibility of global warming or another ice age but the certainty it's being presented in.
• Secondhand Smoke by Karin Olson - I liked Annie so much better the second time out. She's prickly but smart, that one. Not to mention a guy who looks like Frank Sinatra? Swoon. (reviewed by Musings of a Bookish Kitty)
• Winter Moon, anthology by Mercedes Lackey, Tanith Lee and CE Murphy (great backstory on Joanne's mother. Book 1.5 of the series)
• The Possiblity of an Island by Michel Houllebecq, a book that had a fascinating premise but I just couldn't take the female bashing under my current pathetic circumstances and the library wanted it back for the next hold, so it's a DNF for now, but one of these days. (reviewed on Dewey's site) Edited: Whoops, Dewey is right. Kookiejar reviewed it. Sorry Kookiejar!)
• Thunderbird Falls and Coyote Dreams by CE Murphy. Books Two & Three of Joanne Walker aka Siobhan Walkingstick. (reviewed by Stumbling Over Chaos).

Equally shockingly, the Non Fiction Five Challenge that Joy hosted ended yesterday and I actually read more than the five the challenge......uh, challenged.

1. A New World: An Epic of Colonial America From the Founding of Jamestown to the Fall of Quebec by Arthur Quinn. - fascinating look at often forgotten historical moments. The Acadians for one.
2. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell - quirky obsession with dead presidents. Great travel guide.
3. The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius by Steven Levy - the 60's had its share of charismatic wingnuts. The story of Ira Einhorn.
4. Richard the Third by Paul Murral Kendall - the version of what I prefer the life of Richard III to have been.
5. The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir - more likely.
6. How to Read a Novel by John Sutherland - the man loves his novels. He made me appreciate them again, I'd been reading non fiction fairly steadily for some time.
7. Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan - (see above review)

• What was the best book you read in this challenge? The best? I enjoyed all of them, although Alison Weir's more up to date scholarship on Richard III dashed my Richard III high from PMK's book.
• What book could you have done without? Which one do I regret reading? None of them. Which one did I need to go on? None of them.
• Did you try out a new author? Yes. If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? All but Alison Weir were new to me and sure, I'd read them again. Steven Levy has an interesting looking book out about hackers on my TBR shelves now.
• If there were books you didn't finish, tell us why. Oh, I didn't even list these. Did you run out of time? Realize those books weren't worth it? Put them in the Some Day stack, most likely.
• Did you come across a book or two on other participants' lists that you're planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones? Always. And no idea.
• What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge?  I can finish! If only that applied to my knitting too.
• What was the best part of the this challenge?

But, most importantly, what you should watch on TV.

Hopefully you caught Brothers & Sisters last night. (ABC Sunday at 10pm)

Monday:

• Chuck at 8pm but mostly for Adam Baldwin, of the late lamented Firefly.
• Heroes and/or Two And a Half Men/Rules of Engagement at 9pm
• Journeyman at 10pm but it might be the last week.

Oh jeez, what's on the rest of the week? I'm still not up on the schedule.

In knitterly pursuits, I'm not quite done with the Endpaper Mitts, I'm ripping along on the Curve of Pursuit blanket - I love this pattern, I'm not sure why I waited a year to cast it on, the Mountain Stream scarf is coming along (although I did have a snafu at the border naturally) and possibly I cast on a pair of Latvian mittens.

Did I finish anything? Don't be absurd.

Oh! Oh! My bad. Susoolu's largesse:

Very cool, no? I've been wanting to read Philip Pullman for awhile now, I keep hearing such good things about his books. And voila! In my library at my fingertips. And apparently it's some kind of reverse birthday gift - Happy Birthday, Susoolu!

Okay, now I know that there is suffering and anguish (too much) and there is no world peace and there are far, far more important things in this world, but everyone just wish "FINISH A FRAKKING KNIT PROJECT" thoughts at me anyway, willya? It's my only hope.

Wednesday? It's What Wednesday? Good Gravy

Wow, talk about losing chunk of your life to a migraine. I lost a whole week! Well, a week to the actual migraine - I'm lucky enough to "enjoy" cluster migraines, even though they're "supposed" to happen to men primarily. Stupid thing didn't go away until Saturday afternoon (after a Feel Better yarn purchase at the Yarn Boutique - I finally bought the yarn to make the Curve of Pursuit Log Cabin blanket pattern I bought in .......wait for it ........August 2006. Slow but steady?) And it's possible I cast on and knit the borders and a repeat of the body of the Mountain Stream Scarf.......

Any. Way. Headache went away. Laid around comatose the rest of the weekend watching Law & Orders.  Did knit up one of my Endpaper Mitts with Bellamoden's gorgeous hand dyed yarn - pix on ......the other computer. Bleargh. Pix later. (Well, they're also on Ravelry. CarrieK.)

Did manage to read most of Coyote Sleeps by CE Murphy, the 3rd installment of her Joanne Walker urban shaman series. Very, very slowly. I can't tell if it was the migraine and then I held the migraine against the book or if my desire to shake Joanne's teeth until they rattle is slowing me down from finishing it.

Now working on mountain of work that has very close deadline. Scarily close deadline.  Must work. Must not catch up on blogs first.......must work. Argh.

Oh! New television shows - Chuck has Adam Baldwin! Watch Chuck. Mondays at 8pm

Heroes was......okay. Not bad, not fabulous. Weirdly anticlimatic. It might have helped if I hadn't been flipping between it and Two and A Half Men though.

Journeyman - jury's still out. It's an intriguing premise and his former fiancee popping up in his Quantum Leap'ing times - at least he gets to go home - is different. The fact that his current wife used to be his brother's wife, or girlfriend, or close enough to be creepy is a little......creepy.

Tuesday is going to hard. Bones and NCIS at the same time? (8pm) House, Eureka (at least for another week - and Michael Shanks of Stargate SG1 is guest starring) and The Reaper all at 9:00pm? Cane and Damages at 10pm? Why do the networks hate me? They'll cancel all the ones I like anyway.

Tonight, The Bionic Woman premieres at 9pm and CSI NY is finally back at 10pm. I really hope Lindsay and Danny hook up and I'm normally NOT a fan of TV relationships but they're so darn cute. I don't feel that way about Mac and what'sherface. I really want to see how Criminal Minds is with Mandy Patinkin gone. I do like Joe Montegna, but he has a whole different energy.

Thursday, Law & Order Criminal Intent on USA at 10pm. (Burn Notice's old spot). Everyone watch, if only to confound NBC. (Okay, that and it's my fave L&O.) I think they put Without A Trace against it on CBS, the dogs.

Friday - Stargate Atlantis is back! At 10pm. TEN FREAKING O'CLOCK? Gah.

Sunday - Cold Case & Brother's and Sisters. The clip show of Brother's and Sister's was great Sunday. I really love that show. I actually missed Cold Case, I forgot! But I didn't need to go on a crying jag anyway, which is generally what that show makes me do. Shhh. Don't tell anyone.

All TV All the Time. Except When it's Knitting or Reading

The History Channel is running a marathon of The Universe today, check it out. Tomorrow night the new episodes of Digging For Truth starts at 9pm.  Naturally at 9pm is the next-to-last episode of The Closer too.

Marathons running on Monday: (Not running marathons, silly! TV marathons) (See all the work I do for you? Actually, confession: I have read the TV Guide cover to cover since I was in High School every. single. week. I might not have watched it - there was a time I barely watched TV or even bothered to hook my cable up - but I knew what was on.)

FX - Damages from 3pm to 8pm. Twisty show, great cast. The website gets on my nerves though. Watching computer images spin around is not my favorite pasttime on a computer.

Hallmark - Murder She Wrote from 8am to 1am Tuesday (so shoot me, I love Murder She Wrote. All those guest stars! Everyone was on her show.)

Tuesday -The Universe  on the History Channel at 8pm, Eureka on Sci Fi Channel at 9pm, Damages on FX at 10pm

Wednesday. Wow, nothing.  Whoops! Feasting on Asphalt is on at 8pm, Food Network. My TV Guide is under the impression that Anchorwoman made it another week though. (Cancelled! After one ep that no, I didn't watch. Was never going to either, a sad truth of about 90% of what's on the networks nowadays.  If it wasn't for cable, I'd switch my TV off forever. Probably.)

Thursday - Tim Gunn's new show! Tim Gunn's Guide to Style 10pm on Bravo. I love him so much on Project Runway, I'm even looking forward to a wardrobe makeover show, just because it's him.

Friday - everyone who has already seen Jericho on CBS at 8pm can watch Dr. Who on the Sci Fi Channel, otherwise you must watch Jericho. (Oooh, I'd forgotten that Esai Morales is joining the Jericho cast. )

I can't get into Flash Gordon but I'm hooked on Painkiller Jane despite the ludicrous plot twists and gaping plot holes. It's fun.

HGTV is revamping their schedule. Simply Quilts & Carol Duvall are back at 8 & 8:30am but Knitty Gritty is only on Fridays at 7am now. Boo. OTOH, Craft Lab is going to be in that time slot on Mondays & Uncommon Threads on Thursdays.

Saturday? Saturday is the Feasting On Asphalt w/Alton Brown marathon, starting at 4pm. I love his Good Eats show, all that science! Well, all that food. Yum. Feasting On Asphalt makes me want to take a road trip. I'll have to settle for a couple of ferries and a jaunt into Oakland to get to the Sausalito Art Festival. The question is - what knitting project do I take with me? I'm thinking the Jaywalkers, or the borders for the Golden Gate top. Oh, duh. Border for Golden Gate. So appropriate. (Not that I'll probably get any knitting in, mind you, but just in case.)

There's been actual knitting progress on Liz - I'm about halfway through the first chart - I hit a snag with that 3 in one increase stitch at the base of the pattern and I'm still not overwhelmingly happy with it, but I ripped it back at least three times and redid it. The borders for Golden Gate are slowly being knit up (my carry around knitting right now, so with any luck, those'll be done by Tuesday.)

Reading: A Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan. Interesting, more historically than climatically. Climate seems to rely heavily on North/West/East/South.......in other words, gibberish.

Oh! speaking of gibberish - why on earth do charts include the even rows of charts when you're knitting the knits and purling the purls? I had to WRITE OUT the first few rows to even figure that out and changing the meaning of a symbol to the opposite  every other row just confuses me no end.

Oh no! Columbo started! And Johnny Cash is the guest star. Have a great weekend!

Bobby Brady?!

How concerned should I be (since it's pretty much my profession) that I can't seem to add a column and get the same number twice today? Does it have anything to do with having to enter those horrid little spam codes eleventy billion times on comment screens? (I understand the need for them, I just hate them. Possibly because I have to enter them eleventy billion times.)

Found at Educating Petunia:

You Are Bobby Brady

Ultra competitive, you will do almost anything to win. From pull ups to pool sharking, you're very talented. And while everyone is aware of your victories, they still (affectionately) consider you to be a little brat!

What Brady Are You?

Okay, that's just weird. For one thing, while I might cop to being competitive, it's not like I'm all that good at anything. I blame it on question #3. First I'm Anne Rice and now I'm Bobby Brady.

I'm beginning to question the wisdom of Blog Quizzes.

The picture is of Hezekiah hanging her arm over the edge of her ex cat tree, lounge-style, which is her favorite way to lounge.   

Even if there hasn't been much talk about TV, there's still massive viewing going on. Current addictions: The Closer (wasn't that proposal from Fritz perfect?), Eureka, Burn Notice, Dr Who & Psych. Well, also the daily addictions: Designed to Sell, Knitty Gritty and Uncommon Threads (Uncommon Threads is fueling my crochet ambitions. Drew Emborsky was on Tuesday? last week? and I'm all squealing like I know him and don't just read his blog) and mindless flipping to random shows. I watched the Contra Costa Library series on our local channel late one night (awesome for an unending purl row) about Obesity and Children. They don't play outside anymore and no one walks to school. Okay that and supersizing and neighborhood schools being miles away and sponsored by Fat Food. I mean, fast food. And electronics. Probably global warming too, they threw it in the lecture, but I wasn't paying enough attention to figure out how it fit in.

I've tried to watch Saving Grace, but I just can't get into it. Last week making out by the dead deer they just shot -  before the opening credits, eww. I'm very unhappy with The Dead Zone for killing off Walt, I don't know if the show is good or not this season, I quit watching it. I really liked that Walt and Johnny had an adult relationship. Oh wow. I completely forgot about The 4440 this season. Any good? I taped The Company last Sunday but haven't watched it yet. It's got a great cast.

I caught Damages last night. Rats, I meant to watch this when it premiered. I liked it, but I couldn't quite follow what was going on. It's another one with a great, great cast. Glenn Close. Ted Danson. Nestor Serrano (ever since Witchblade, I look for him.)

Real Andrews, which is why I started watching in the first place last night. Taggert! From General Hospital! Never mind that my decades addiction ended about....wow, a decade ago. I still consider General Hospital family.

This is a pic of where I keep the short dpn's, highlighters, uh, pencils, my pink pen, scissors....etc....etc.....

And THIS is what Birdsong sent me! For second place in her contest. Awesome. A cute kitty card - a Black Sheep Lantern Moon measuring tape and a very cool project bag! It's made something like a jewelry holder, lots of little pockets but do you see that very cool knitting fabric? And the spools at the end of the draw strings? Thank you, Birdsong!

And this is what I'm working on. I WILL finish, hopefully in the next couple of days, but yowza, there's a lot of stitches. It's eating skeins like.....Dan Ackroyd must be eating doughnuts.

Mary Tudor last night was almost easier in comparison to seventy kabillion purl stitches. (One row, Marina. But one more row than before! And amazingly enough, I found the highlight cross off chart. Which is why I knit the row, it seemed destined. So, three rows this month so far! Cinch to finish her by Sept.

Gratuitious Carmel Beach/Sophie picture.