Drive-By Thinking.

even conservatives can have fun.

Look at what I did over at obamicon.me!

(she does have world domination plans, you know.)

You can make one, too. Crop a headshot tight (they work best), drop out the background, and save it as a .gif or .png with a transparent background. The tools at the site let you balance the colors and scale it a bit. (You do have to register to save it.) They also have a gallery to look through.

Just a little bit of fun….

what the…

It's a pile of wee rectangles.

yes, but… but why?

Hundredth Day of School. According to the little printout thingee in HSH's folder, the assignment is:

1. Brainstorm things you and your family could easily collect in quantities of 100.

2. Choose something from your list and gather 100 of that item -- it may be a collection you already have or a new collection.

3. Design a unique way to display your collection.

4. Be sure you have exactly 100 of your item in your display.

So HSH pointed out that mommy has lots of yarns. But no, Mommy couldn't leave well enough alone, could she? No, Mommy is knitting 100 little swatches, each 10 stitches wide by 10 rows long. 100 little stitches.

I've got 68 done so far.

moonbats ahoy!

Overheard on This Week with George Stephanopoulos: Madame Speaker Pelosi sez,

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. 

How is that stimulus?

PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. 

The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now […]. One of those – one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce 

costs to the states and to the federal government.

So let me get this straight. LollaPelosi thinks that the best way to reduce costs and solve the budget dilemma is to have fewer mouths to feed. Eliminate extraneous people, and you eliminate the need to spend money at all! Why didn't I think of that?

Y'all, I can't make this stuff up. What's more, I don't need to.

Oh, and Gitmo closes. Now, all of you who voted for the Anointed One, raise your hands. 

Good. Now all of you with your hands up each get one of the newly-released detainees for your very own. Make sure they get a clear view of the East, 'k?

What? You don't want them? Too bad. They have to go somewhere, and if you don't want to keep these terrorists in your neighborhoods, then where? Hmm? Send them back to where they came from… hmm… that's an idea… what? They could be killed if they go back home? Gee, that'd be a shame, wouldn't it…. What? Where's my humanity? 

My sense of humanity died on 9/11. Suck it.

In the first test of trans-Atlantic cooperation with the new American administration, a divided European Union said Monday that it wanted to help the United States close the Guantánamo Bay prison camp but made no further promises to take inmates.

[…] "The primary responsibility for closing Guantánamo," said Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, "rests with the U.S."

Agreed, in principle. However, with the EU's bellyaching about Gitmo over the last seven years or so, you'd think they'd be lining up to do their part. They want to help (read: tell us how to run things in our own country) but they don't want to do any of the heavy lifting or dirty work. From now on, if they want a say in U.S. policy, they can pay U.S. taxes. Until then, shaddap.

It's nice to see that some things don't change, eh?

Speaking of things that don't change:

President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration.
"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

Is His Holiness feeling threatened? Or is this the first shot over the bow toward the Fairness Doctrine? Actually, between you, me, and the fencepost, I don't think Himself has anything to worry about. If the Republican leaders in Congress took their marching orders from Rush, a lot of things would be different now. Including, methinks, where His Royal Arse is sitting.

Starting his second week in office, Obama took a major step toward allowing California and other states to target greenhousegases through more stringent auto emission standards, 

and he ordered new federal rules directing automakers to start making more fuel-efficient cars as required by law.

Neato. Now we've allowed for government takeover of the automobile industry. After all, that's what happens when government is allowed to tell an industry what they have to build and how they have to build it, isn't it? It's bad enough that the fuel industry is hamstrung by having to come up with eighty gazillion different regional formulations -- causing artificial shortages which allow prices in various parts of the country to zing out of control while other regions sit and wonder why -- now you're  going to see the same horsepuckey happen with cars. 

Not to mention what this is going to do to prices. You already can't buy a decent vehicle for under $20,000 (my parents didn't pay that much for their house). Now the cost is going to be artificially inflated because of stricter, unwarranted government controls that will force automakers to install features that aren't necessary as a whole and which the average consumer doesn't even want. All because some over-inflated ego in Washington said so. Got to pay back all those greenies who elected you, after all.

This'll be great for the economy.

If you came here for the knitting, I rebuilt the first chart of the shawl. Stitch count is correct as of now, and if it gets wonky in future, at least I can rip back to this and know it's right.

_____

(Oh, and I know the spacing is wonky. I'm sorry about that.)

normal yet?

I'm feeling pretty damn skippy, myself. It's a breath of fresh air, I tell you.

caution, everyone. she's obviously still sick. or overly medicated.

Hey, being stocked with the nasal equivalent of Quikrete has its good side, yanno. For one, I can't tell if the dog's been flatulent.

i can tell this is going to be a high-class post.

Lost a sense of humor, did we? Well, hang in there. We know that won't be the end of it.

Oops… wait… got some lasagna on the keyboard. There. That's better.

Anywho… as predicted by many of you, I'm sure, I refrained from watching any and all Coronation coverage. The networks were none the less for my presence, and I didn't have to finish off the rest of the Gaviscon to get to sleep that night. Everyone was happy.

We didn't get any snow on Tuesday. (Hizzoner claims there was a dusting at the house, but it was gone by the time I got home, and there wasn't so much as a snow cloud at the office.) It was just a sick joke by the teevee meteorologists, I think, and and craptastic way to drum up ratings for the evening news.

Okay, so the lack of snowfall wasn't some sort of conspiracy theory gone berserk. Even I know that. It sure was cold enough to snow, but the air is so dry around here nowadays that I'm sure it ended up never hitting the ground.

I don't know about y'all, but I do much better in humidity. My hands look like I'm about 80 (how did the old commercials go?) and my lips are so dry that Hizzoner has avoided me studiously for days. ("Dahlink… ver ahr yoo goink? Geeve us a leetle keess!" Yah, I think the stuffy nose and other assorted symptoms are a huge turn on… not.) My hair crackles. It's not fun. Now yeah -- summer heat + sun + humidity means that this Damn Yankee turns into a puddle of … well, a puddle. But at least I can breathe and look my age. (Don't say it.)

nothing to say about tuesday?

I did. What do you want me to do, wax poetic?

well, it was important.

Yes. A well-done job in continuing the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power, as any sensible modern republic ought to practice. More than that, I can't say. I didn't watch it. And I'm not going to say anything more about Dear Leader, because he hasn't done much of anything yet. (Plus I liked this lasagna and I'd like to keep it in my tummy, kthx.) If you do want to read something well done, chug on over to Yorkie's place. She had her say and it's highly readable, well thought out, and offers as slightly different perspective on things.

It's not as if there aren't other important things happening all around, you know. For example, if you want to see how government done poorly really effs up a community, take a stroll to Fault Lines. I found this article on property taxes interesting, especially in comparing where I used to live with where I do live. If I ever needed a reminder on why I would never move back to my hometown, this blog is it. Daddy used to say a lot of what this writer does. No one listened to him, either, sadly.

Or, you could zip on over to Opera Chic and read the OC's dissertation on one of my all-time fave choral works. Bare bones analysis that makes ya wanna whip out the recording and listen to it all over again.

See? Plenty of good stuff out there. One doesn't need to waste time dissecting highly slanted MSM reports that amount to nothing so much as pre-programmed lemming-like veneration. (I was going to call them "myrmidons," but that would imply the actual doing of some sort of work.)

sorry i asked.

As I knew you would be. Now, let's get to the fun stuff, eh? You know you want to see what I'm up to in the yarn department.

always on the cutting edge of craptacular photography…

I have started the wonderful Interlocking Leaves socks from Knitty's fall issue. Actually, I cast on a toe while still at Ted's house, totally not knowing what I was going to do with it. I hadn't touched it what with the shawl drama and the cursed yarn bedevilment. And since I said I was going to explore twisted stitch knitting, I figured this was a good, calm way to start. The yarn's just plain ol' Regia Silk, which is a little splity but veeeeeery soft. I'm enjoying it immensely.

That's all from this corner. K out.

how i saved the world today.

Yes, I took a hint from Der Führer Dear Leader The Anointed One and bestowed an act of humanity upon my small corner of the world today.

great. what flavor kool-aid were you served?

Oh, you non-believer. How fine I now feel! How much goodness have I done the world! What blessings am I now filled with! He was right! Giving is so fulfilling!

i'll bite. what did you do?

I stayed in bed all day. I called in sick. I am still sick, so I thought it best not to spread my germs and general foulness amongst my brethren and co-workers. Oh, how much better I feel knowing I've done my bit for the collective good!

not to mention a long weekend.

Look, you. If it was a long weekend I wanted, I guaran-damn-tee you I'd have made better plans than nursing a sinus headache that threatened to split my skull and coughing up things that ought not be mentioned in polite company.

whatever.

I didn't even open my eyes until after noon. Since I didn't get more than a couple hours' sleep last night, I figured I was due. Turns out that I should have saved the day off, if this prediction comes true:

Now this means generally a little over an inch of snow around here. I'll pause so that all y'all north of the Manson-Nixon Line can shake your head pitifully.

*whistles a bit*

Look, when you live in an area that doesn't get snow on a regular basis, a couple of inches really effs up the area. VDoT's already salted the roads, but they can't restrain the idiot drivers. The temperatures have been hovering around and just below freezing, and it'll be enough to glaze the overpasses. It's like Daddy always said:

"It's not you I'm worried about. It's all the other assholes."

shawl report… shawl report… shawl report…

Yes, I do have a shawl report. I have frogged it back to the first two rows.

you WHAT?

Yep.

WHY?!

My god -- you're talking in capital letters.

well, all that work… you … you…

When last we left our heroine she was ripping back to a lifeline, figuring that her seven-stitch error was easily done in the gathered stitches of chart two. Except that once the stitches at the lifeline were recounted, we found that the right side was correct -- huzzah -- but the left side was now effed up. The left side, previously counted out as correct. 

After our heroine threw the whole mess into a corner and uttered some profanity, she decided that the only fix was to do it right the first time. Thus, the result we now have.

Come on, y'all. There are things you can fix, things you can fudge, and things that just need to be frogged. If this was going to be done right -- and with such a lovely pattern, it deserved just that -- it had to essentially be started over. More updates as events warrant.

anything else?

Yeah. Something I noticed as I was watching television today. Just flipping channels, mostly. But I did linger on the local news a lot, what with the weather getting dicey.

and?

What a racist lot of people out there.

beg pardon?

I knew this before the election, I'm sure. People voting along racial lines. One doesn't want to think that still happens today, but it does and has. And seeing all this celebration and hype surrounding the Anointed One's inauguration, it's only solidified for me. The interviews with people standing in line for tickets, the interviews with people in line for souvenirs, the interviews with the rich and famous. All only concerned about color. Nothing about the issues. Who gives a crap about the issues? He's black. That's all that matters.

The Rev. King explicitly said that we were to put color aside. So much for that lesson. 

this just in to the DBT newsroom:

The plot thickens.

(Seriously, was that not cool or what?)

because there's not an original idea left in my head.

Kristen gives me good ideas.

 

Mark with bold the things you have knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

————————————————————————
Afghan  (I'm not that ambitious. I have crocheted one, though.)
I-cord
Garter stitch  (I know it's blasphemous to say this, but garter stitch bores me.)
Knitting with metal wire  (I have enough wrist issues, thanks.)
Shawl  (And I'm gonna do it again.)
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn  (Do I look like I'm made of money?)
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down  (Why not. I did socks backwards -- why not mittens?)
Hats: Top-down
Hats: Cuff-up  (More blasphemy: I hate knitting hats. Hate hate hate hats.)
Knitting with silk  (It sits there in my stash, mocking me.)
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL  (Not too successfully, but I did it.)
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn  (Not unless you count what I've frogged…)
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn  (Bananawhosit yarn? You can do that?)
Domino knitting  (No interest. Sorry.)
Twisted stitch patterns  (Fascinating stuff.)
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting  (Another thing I don't particularly sign up for. I'm selfish. Sue me.)
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles  (There's another way? J/K.)
Baby items
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn  (I'd have to learn to spin first, and that ain't gonna happen.)
Slippers  (I've been tossing this around for quite a while.)
Graffiti knitting  (Wha?)
Continental knitting  (I used to knit continental. I've lost that ability. I want it back.)
Combination knitting
Designing knitted garments  (Oh, yeah. Right.)
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book  (Maybe designing a knitting book is more realistic.)
Participate in an exchange  (Another thing that doesn't interest me. You can tar and feather me later.)
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit  (One down, one to go.)
American/English knitting  (Alas, it's all I know.)
Knitting to make money  (phtppttpptpthhtttpp*coughcoughcough*sputter. In my dreams.)
Buttonholes  (And they weren't half bad.)
Knitting with alpaca  (Mmmm… alpaaaaacaaa…)
Fair Isle knitting  (Kinda. Sorta. I want to do more.)
Norwegian knitting  (Please to define?)
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing spinning fiber
Knitting items for a wedding  (Like what?)
Household items  (Not my cup of tea cozy.)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars  (Preferred.)
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn  (I might, if offered, but they'd probably prefer I not eff it up.)
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting  (I take it this doesn't mean gifts.)
Teaching a male how to knit  (stop laughing. It could happen. I had the fascination of a small boy the other day.)
Bobbles  (Me no likee bobbles.)
Tassels
Knitting for a living  (In yer dreams.)
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking  (You can do that?)
Dying yarn  (Oh, I'm so going to hell… I don't like messes.)
Steeks  (YES! I want to do this!)
Knitting art  (By MY definition or someone else's?)
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously  (I've knit two on ONE, but apparently that doesn't count.)
Fulling/felting  (Meh.)
Knitting with wool  (Duh.)
Textured knitting  (It's all texture, isn't it?)
Kitchener stitch  (I don't mind kitchenering. Really.)
Knitted flowers  (The black thumb extends to knitting.)
Purses/bags  (I don't do bags. Damn -- I'm going to be stoned at dawn, aren't I?)
Knitting with beads  (My patience level doesn't extend that far.)
Swatching  (Not that it does any good.)
Long Tail CO
Entrelac  (More blasphemy… it doesn't interest me.)
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Stuffed toys  (I like toys.)
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn  (And I don't see anything wrong with that.)
Writing a pattern  (See above.)
Gloves  (Next.)
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO  ('cause it's cool.)
Free-form knitting  (*snort* Oh, like I have nothing better to knit.)
Short rows  (Easy AND cool.)
Cuffs/fingerless mits/arm-warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Rug  (See afghan. Though I'd like to braid one.)
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair  (On purpose or accidentally?)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public  (All the time. It's where some of my best work gets done.)

How's that? Am I a total pariah?

please to explain:

How, in the name of all that's good and holy, did I manage to get the correct stitch count on the left half of the shawl, but managed to drop seven stitches on the other -- all without disrupting the pattern up until now? Hmm? Explain? Please? You can't, can you? Huh? Gotcha there, didn't I?

Dang it all….

choices...

So we spent yesterday afternoon at the HRADA Auto Show. A good time was, believe it or not, had by all. Now I'm not immediately in the market for a new car. I probably won't be until this fall (good, since that's when they generally start running sales and promotions), but let's be honest -- the Cruiser has 110,000 miles on her and isn't getting any younger. And since Chrysler seemingly has no intention of extending the life of said model (at least, that's what I've read. Not that I'm overly impressed with how they butchered it a few years back.), I need to look elsewhere for wheels.

We hit just about every car brand on the floor (okay, no Hummer, Cadillac, Infiniti, BMW or Mercedes shopping for us), and tried out just about every model that fit my criteria.

what are you looking for?

Something sedanish, I think. I like the Cruiser's quirky body style and utility -- it's totally me -- but to get that same sort of thing I'd have to go SUV-ish, and that isn't going to help me out that much. I want the best gas mileage I can get -- yeah, prices have come down, but for how long? And I do drive 80 miles round trip every day. Something that holds its value would be nice, but with the miles I put on a car it isn't going to make that much difference.

so what did you look at?

Everything. Seriously. I was most disappointed with Nissan and Toyota. The Nissans felt almost uniformly too small -- when you sit in the driver's seat and immediately get claustrophobic, it doesn't inspire you to want to spend two hours a day sitting in it. The Toyotas that I could afford -- all of two models, I believe -- felt cheap and tiny. I'm not paying $24,000 for a tuna can. I bypassed Honda for the most part, since nothing they had really inspired the "want it" feeling. I even sat in the Audi A4, since it wasn't that much more expensive than anything else I looked at. A German tuna can. Chrysler and Dodge didn't thrill me -- I had already driven a Charger with indifferent results (okay, but I wouldn't buy one), and the Avenger felt like a piece of crap comparatively.

did you like anything?

Yes. Yes, I did. I got some good ideas of what I want to research more deeply, and eventually test-drive.

I liked (in no particular order):

• Chevrolet Malibu
• Saturn VUE
• Saturn Aura
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Volkswagen Jetta
• Mini Cooper Clubman
• Subaru Forester

i thought you were ruling out suvs.

Not completely. I mean, yeah, 'cause they generally aren't much help on gas mileage. And I certainly wouldn't consider anything huge, like a Pilot or a Yukon or something. The VUE, the Tiguan and the Forester still feel relatively compact. None of the three get more than 26 mpg highway, which is what I currently get with the Cruiser. That puts them all at the bottom of the list. The VUE is also at the high end of the budget, which puts it on thin ice.

The Malibu is totally something I wouldn't normally pick, but I've driven it and really enjoyed the experience. It's pricey, but so is everything else…. It still feels vaguely old-ladyish to me, in a land yacht sort of way. I have to get over that. I haven't had great experiences with Chevy but I've read pretty good reviews on this model.

I've owned two Saturns and I wouldn't hesitate to own another one. What will ultimately keep me out of the Aura is the price. Unless I can negotiate a decent deal, I can almost cross these cars off the list.

The Subaru -- well, I know they last (right, Bananie?), and they've got a pretty good history.  This is one I'll have to test-drive before I can really make a judgment call.

I liked. the. Jetta. I liked everything about it. I liked the way it felt around me when I sat in the front seat. I liked the fact that the TDI model got 44 mpg. (Yeah, it's diesel, but so what?) I liked the way the controls were situated. I liked the fact that you could park my Cruiser in the trunk. (Honestly -- it was HUGE.) This could be a contender.

what about the Mini?

It's adorable.

cute doesn't cut it.

I know that. The Mini's one big strike against it is its size. I personally like the compactness, however, this will be our main traveling vehicle. We tested this. Both adults (6'6" Hizzoner and 5'8" Moi) fit very comfortably in the front. HSH easily fits into the back, aided by the little suicide door (too cute) on the passenger side. But there's little room for luggage.

get a roof rack.

Which we could. And destroy the 34 mpg while we're at it. Granted, our trips aren't that frequent, so this isn't a dealbreaker. This is primarily my car -- a commuter car -- so it'll rarely have to carry more than some groceries. The safety features, gas mileage, and overall reviews (one guy spent ten minutes singing the praises of this model to me -- and he didn't even work for the dealership) still put it squarely in the "yes" category.

what now?

Well, I'm going to read reviews. I'm going to test drive them all. I'm going to get quotes from my insurance company as to what costs what to insure. And I'm going to save up some money so that I can put a decent down payment on one of them.

So if you know anything about any of these models, your input is greatly appreciated!

i give up.

it won.

den i can haz needlez?