He's still not sure about the blogging thing, but he did email me a rant he wrote and gave me permission to post it. If you like reading his very honest feelings, please do leave a comment, so I can use it as more proof he's got something to say and people would like to hear it.
This DOES have swear words in it, so if you have work filters that want to tell you what you can read, or if you don't like rough language, skip it. It's a direct cut and paste, I did not censor for language or edit it all.
( One the way home from work )

This has been a PSA from Mike. If you'd like to see more, you can email him at mikesimbeck at gmail dot com.

( Wanna see the size difference? )
I wrote about them, and posted the pattern here
And yesterday at HT!! They are having one of their fairly regular 1/2 clearance price sales, and they also had clearance jewelry for 1.00 each yesterday and I found these..
( looky! )

I've got a friend who's going through a really hard time right now. I'm really not sure what else to say about that, it's hard to be happy when I'm worried about her.

I want to do some screenprinting.. because I have a brand new screenprinting book full of great ideas. But I'm not going to.

Because I have size 15 delicas! So I'm making up a pair of my skull and crossbone earrings to show the size difference. So far.. I'm loving them. I can't find my black bugles though, so I'm going to use white luster in the fringe, and possibly fire polish crystals instead of the craft size E beads I used in that pair.
We shall see.

Went to the zoo. Walked around for an hour and half instead of going to the gym.

Completely blew all that exercise by going to Tommy's after for burgers. But trust me, if you are going to walk for a while to exercise then want to have a caloric heart attack on bread after.. Tommy's is the place to go. And I have Cajun Delight in the fridge. So I know the people on my flist who've been to Tommy's envy me deeply.

After that, we stopped by Second Chance Surplus, which, if you judge by the website is a very professional scary so of place.. but if you actually go there, it's a tiny building FILLED, ground floor, basement, outside with treasures waiting to be found. They had ammo cans. Now, if you've been reading this for a while, you know I have a real weakness for surplus army green metal boxes, but not a lot of use for surplus army green metal boxes, so I usually resist the urge to buy things like milk can boxes I think would be wonderful to store my yarn in knowing it's got sharp edges and I'll stub my toe on it repeatedly.

Usually anyway. The ammo cans were irresistible. I got 2 of the smaller ones for W to keep his cards/miniatures/whatever in. I told Mike "as soon as I figure out what to use them for, I'm getting myself some." Later I told him "The bigger ones would be good to mail stuff to Mel in, because I'm sure she would love to decorate an army green surplus ammo can." The little ones like I got W were 3.50 each. Well.. just like those.. but cheaper with no shipping.
Mike was in absolute heaven, being all ex-army and a sharp shooter and ex-professional security.. tac vests and stuff like that make him happy. He managed to get out without spending any money, but with lots of ideas of stuff he *wanted*. He wants to go back with a few hundred dollars.
AND they have vintage wool blankets. You know, I can't wear wool, but Mom used to make the neatest capes using old wool blankets, and being all felty and stuff I could easily turn one into a really warm shawl for E and embroider it with crewel flowers. Because.. I have lots of crewel wool. So I guess I have a wishlist too.
E got herself a digital camo cap, so she's happy.

I did tear up for a minute at the zoo, but I'll write about that later.
Really a nice day even if I didn't finish any projects.

I was gifted with Bazaar Bizarre and a few other books *squeeing excitedly*.. but I want to talk about Bazaar Bizarre.. because.. well.. it's the first book I looked at..
And ♥ LOVE ♥. The book is great, I love a lot of the projects in it, but my favorite is the melt and pour anarchy soap. I know I'm not a big fan of melt and pour glycerin soap but E likes it, and the same technique used for the anarchy symbol would work for peace signs. Which E would love. She thinks it's the neatest thing ever that her grandma was a real hippie. And yesterday, when I skipped the gym and opted to take a walk with E instead, we found Sitka roses, which are actually Rosa Rugosa from Japan that have been adapted to the Alaskan climate (which is possibly more then you needed to know about them) growing in an undeveloped lot, so we can pick the blossoms and use them as an inclusion in peace symbol soaps. Flower Power!!! I showed her a few edible flowers, and she enjoyed eating them and smelling the ones I was fairly sure wouldn't trigger an allergy attack. (Lilacs unfortunately seem to be the worst for her allergies. Shame, because lilacs smell so lovely.)
The book also had a nice felt wallet project which will be excellent sewing practice for E, and a bunch of other very adaptable projects. Such fun!! Another of my favorite projects is the deck of cards. There are cards in it you can photocopy, but I think I plan to design my own. I wish I could find the files for the trumps type game I invented for my son when he was little. That would be fun to make a deck for with rules. Well.. I'm learning to document everything and back stuff up with friends if I'm not ready to put it on the net.
We walked the bit over a mile to Kaladi Brother, which is right next to a yarn shop. I resisted the temptation because I had 14 dollars in my pocket. Which would pay for either 2 balls of yarn or 2 coffees with some change leftover. We ran into a good friend of my brother's there, who apparently lives a couple blocks away from us. We've run into him occasionally on our walks and he offers us rides. But E and I like walking together.
Mike met us there after stopping at the American Legion to get the membership information. One *nice* thing about the Legion is that they have a Sunday brunch and a steak dinner on Fridays, so a couple times a month, we can go there for dinner or brunch if I'm too hurty to cook.
Today I think we may go to the zoo. Not sure yet, but it sounds fun, and sounds like a lot more fun then going to the gym!

But I'm not going to be there until probably 7 PM PST, because I didn't go to the gym yesterday. Or this morning. So E and I are taking a long walk, then after that, I'm going to go lift weights for a bit.
See.. I made myself a promise.. as long as I don't give up on working out and physical therapy, and do make it if I'm strong and pain free enough.. in October, I'm rewarding myself with a Wonder Woman tattoo on my right bicep.
Anyway, chat starts at 6 pm PST here. And I will check in as soon as I get home. Promise. Even with really cool amigurumi books that .... got me and I'm super duper happy about and even sort of bouncy.. I'll not look at them until after I'm done checking the chat room.
If you aren't a beader, but want to come into chat anyway and discuss crochet, etc, that's cool too. They hardly ever stay on topic.

OOOH! and Alaska Bead Company is putting out the size 15 delicas Sunday. So.. my whole week? Other then of course the pain thing.. and the weird dream I had the other night about Mike trying to send me to Russia has been really really wonderful.

You know you're way too into comics when

• You are a DC fan who's in a serious relationship with a Marvel reader and don't worry about religion, you're too busy trying to convert them to your comics.
  
• You told someone once as an insult "You read Harvey Comics"
  
• They understood the insult and took it personally.
  
• You occasionally refer to DC as Dell Comics
  
• You can name all of the Earth Green Lanterns (John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Alan Scott, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner)
  
• You've spent more then 20 hours on a cross hobby project. Such as my Wonder Woman bracelet.
  
• You saw someone else's stack at the comic book store and worried because it was larger then yours.
  
• You asked if it was a week or a month's worth
  
• You fretted when they said it was a week's worth
  
• and felt better when you noticed a couple graphic novels and back issues in the stack. (that you already had from when they first came out)
  
• You chased someone down to prove to them you were the better geek.
  
• You STILL haven't gotten over the Lobo/Wolverine match in the crossover DC/Marvel event.
  
• You want to see Joe Q.'s head on a stick for what he did to MJ and Peter.
  
• People don't want to go to comic book movies with you because you come out screaming about canon and the way the characters were badly written.
  
• Someone told you they spent about 100 dollars a month on comics, and you thought "Oh, how cute!"
  
• You laugh whenever you see Stan Lee in his cameo appearances in Marvel comic films, and can recognize him easily.
  
• You really still aren't over Chaos Comics just ending without finishing a lot of story lines.
  
• The people at the comic book store have a special nickname for you.
  
• Everyone who knows you doesn't ever make plans with you on Wednesday nights. They know you'll be out buying and reading comics.
  
• You can identify ages and storylines of major characters by costume.
  
• You know the names of all the Robins. (Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake) (edit: And you think the way they brought Stephanie back to explain Batman's unwillingness to put up a shrine for her was absolutely cheesy, but you're still happy for Tim's sake)
  
• You know what Power Girl's relationship is to Superman.
  
• You wonder who would win in a fight between Mary Marvel and Carol Danvers, since Mary Marvel went all dark and scary, and Carol was once a Herald.
  

I could go on.. and on.
Maybe I need to quit comic books cold turkey?

Today we are making homemade butter with organic cream and sea salt. Because.. well.. we can. But since neither me or E feel like shaking it for 20 minutes, we are going to drop a couple marbles in the jar we are making it in to agitate it a bit more.

The other day.. I got Drunken Sailor stuck in my head badly.. but part of my brain was singing "What do you do with an angry Klingon?"
Lock him in a room with Wesley Crusher is entirely too obvious.

Poll #1212081
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

The Lone Ranger vs. Jonah Hex

So what do you do with an angry Klingon?

I debated this one.. because I'm honestly not sure if anyone on my flist would know who Jonah Hex was, but my Uncle who snuck me comics as a kid was a huge Dell Comics fan, and did read Jonah Hex, so... so did I. But honestly, the fight is as unfair as Lobo vs. Wolverine (which came down to a popular vote, and even the artists couldn't draw the popular choice, and had to hide the fight scene because in any sane reasonable world that includes alien bounty hunters who destroy their own planet.. everyone knows Lobo would totally kick Wolverine's ass.. and uh.. yeah.. still annoys me.)
Mad Max won last week's at the store, but here? The winner was Tank Girl.(Which wasn't an option at the store, and I think I may start casting random votes to reflect what I actually post here at the store) Maybe I should suggest they do Tank Girl vs Mad Max and see what happens.
Vic. But you've got to really know post apocalyptic movies to remember him.... A Boy and His Dog if you were wondering.

It's a high pain day. Not the sort of pain that just puts me to sleep because it's so exhausting to hurt, but the sort that doesn't like me moving around much.
Obviously, I skipped the gym this morning. And I'm trying very hard not to feel guilty about the days I skip.

And Mike forgot to get a loaf of bread, and E didn't want a sandwich on a whole wheat tortilla. So I said "Want me to make biscuits?" then I hobbled into the kitchen.. and there's a pack of hamburger buns. I held it up for her, and she just gave me that LOOK. So I made biscuits. And all her fussing about wanting a sandwich? When they came out, she buttered one and ate it.
Tricky kid.. she just wanted biscuits.

So we are watching a childhood favorite of mine today. Remember the Shazam/Isis hour? Of course you don't. I'm so old! Anyway, Secrets of Isis is out on video. So I picked it and Voyagers! up yesterday. (oh yeah.. those are Amazon links and tied into my associates account)So we are watching Isis, eating biscuits and I'm crocheting something simple that isn't going to take too much focus.

So.. yeah.. I hurt.. but hey, 70s style super hero goodness with my daughter.. it's fun.

You all remember the Vegan YumYum's knit cupcakes right? Since they were all over the place, and so cool with the marzipan knitting.
Anyway, the other day I got some books from a lady on Craigslist who has a lot of crafty books for sale. I bought all her bead books of course, but I also got some Wilton books including the 1977 Wilton Yearbook (and looking at some of the price differences in pans they still make.. wow!!)
In there, they had a couple cute crafty themed cake designs.
( picture here )
I think the crochet one would be a lot cuter without the rocking chair, but I'm also thinking maybe a piped pineapple doily? And of course.. cupcakes. Because that's what we all like now. Cupcakes.
The embroidered one is done with gum paste, which I'm less then thrilled with. Gum paste IS edible, but nobody recommends eating it, and gum paste decorations can be kept for years to reuse, which also kind of freaks me out a bit.. why would you want to reuse something you can't really wash? But I'll betcha you could bake cookie embroidery hoops and use a rolled icing or marzipan for the cloth instead. Again, I'm thinking cupcakes with cute little crewel lazy daisy flowers on them.
EDIT: Well.. read the comments for another great suggestion.. but Jehanna and I are talking about it and came up with..
( a chat conversation )
And I think marshmallows would work for scrolls too.

I finished it last night while we finished watching Tin Man. I downloaded it a few days ago on itunes, and we watched it as a family over the last few nights.

Including a pattern, although, it's all single crochets, so it doesn't need a pattern. But if you're an absolute beginner, and trying to figure out a scarf for a big guy, this works for mine.
( the long green scarf )

I've still got most of this cone left. It was a huge cone for 5.00. So I'm working on some other projects with it. It's not the best for hats since it's not really stretchy, but I'm thinking it will felt nicely to make a mock map case for W, or possibly still another dice bag since he's keeping some of his miniatures in the last dice bag I gave him. E wants something out of this wool. I'm thinking maybe a flower encrusted headband because the juxtaposition of that army green wool and pretty flowers appeals to me.Plus headbands that cover ears are nice in the fall/winter here.

But we all knew that.

E has decided she likes raw brussel sprouts, this? Is the kid who won't eat a banana. No way, no how. Bananas are squishy and icky.

When I was a kid.. my parents told me once if I couldn't leave the table until I ate my brussel sprouts. But they had to let me go to school the next morning. That was also the last time they tried to force me to eat something I didn't like.

I posted basic domino instructions today here.
As you might remember, I did those pendants ages ago, but I've been caught up all week on working on Mike's scarf which is very nearly done. See.. Mike's scarves? Not quick. He likes them about 6-8 inches wide, and about 6 feet long, and wool. I'm using the big cone of army green wool/wool blend (just not sure, it was unlabeled, but it chars not melts, and it *itches*), and doing it lengthwise in single crochets so it gets that long vertical stripe texture you get when you do rows of single crochets. I'm going to do one final row all the way around it which will help block the starting chain which turned out just loose enough to slightly ruffle. I know, I could block that out, and probably will, but the final round will also neaten up the ends a bit.
What I've found, working with the weaver's wool instead of regular yarn is that it's not as stretchy because it's tighter spun, so using a size H hook with what's about a worsted weight yarn, I've got a lot of stitch definition. It looks *good*. E wants me to make her something out of it too. Possibly a new poncho. She wore a granny square poncho I made for her when she was about 5 to the solstice fair, I made it big, and it still fits her very nicely, but it's got holes in it from every other use she's used it for the last several years.

And.. um.. I was going to write more.. but I just realized the last time I ate was about 8 hours ago after I got home from the gym. So.. off to find food.

What makes lasagna tricky? I got a recipe in my email for "Fool Proof Lasagna" and I just don't understand why it would have to be made fool proof. Boil noodles. Cook meat/sauce mixture, mix cheeses. Layer, bake. Well.. maybe a touch more complicated then that, but not much. The only problem I ever have is I tend to make my meat/sauce and cheese layers pretty thick so I don't have as much noodles as most people. I don't make it often because it's a lot of standing.. but with tomatoes being so cheap.. I might make some this week.

Ahh well..
I designed a pan in my dreams. I'll have to draw it up and figure out how feasible it is to make a pan.

*grumbles* While Mike was building my new shelves, he threw away a few things, including apparently my brand new bottles of two part resin, mold release and possibly some of my cab molds. Naturally.. he found my purple and black bat shaped confetti. So I have the confetti and no two part resin.

I do have the catalyst kind.. but it smells so awful, and my resin colors. I was planning to set the bats in blue colored resin with a touch of glitter to look like stars.

Ahh well.. I have new shelves in my kitchen. The rest of the stuff is a little pricey, but more shelves in my kitchen.. priceless. :)

Oh.. I'm setting up a filter list for slightly embarrassing off color humor shared between my husband and I.. so if you want to be on that filter, let me know. It may not be safe for work, but it won't have pictures or anything like that, just occasional rough language. (This is specifically for the people who told me they wish they were flies on the wall when Mike and I are talking sometimes).

Every year, for a few years now, our local abused women's shelter puts on a big awareness/fund raising solstice fair, and every year, we go. We buy our lunch from their big tent, and we buy raffle tickets, and we look at the local art and usually I spend entirely too much money on pretty things.

This year was a little different. Instead I ordered a couple pretty things. Fish Lips and Bird Teeth Studio was there of course, and she hasn't been doing magpies lately. Nobody apparently in Anchorage really likes them, in fact some people have said "Oh.. I used to shoot them." They all want the ravens. Which isn't to say ravens are bad. I like ravens, but I like magpies more. Anyway, she had *censored* with ravens I really loved, but I asked if she could do it with magpies instead. I bought two of her magpies a few years ago, one for me, and one for a friend. She said no problem, and we talked ideas for a few minutes, and I left her my number. I asked her to make 2 *censored* since I plan to give one to my 'pie sister, since I think she really like the last magpie I gave her.

There was a rockhound who calls his business Department of Redundant Redundancy who does pretty fractal teeshirts, note cards,posters and spinning tops.I bought 3 basic fractal notecards from him to frame. Because.. I like fractals.

They had a kiddie section that a lot of not kids were getting stuff from, so we made a donation (a lot of people didn't.. it was sort of sad) and the kids each got a beanie baby they wanted. Then we had lunch, bought our raffle tickets, a couple of inexpensive shirts from previous years.. and started heading back to the car. The kids stopped to play for a little while.

It was a lot of fun.

Bead chat tonight at 6 pm PST.
Click here to join in.
Please come. Discuss beads. Last week it wound up a bit off topic. It was sort of scary.

I'm spoiled you know that? Really. :)
The incomparable Gina made me a shiny new alien bead too!!!

Poll #1207886
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

Snake Plesskin vs. Mad Max

Actually I think ?? would be the winner in a cage death match with fast tricked out cars and lots of guns..

because...

Well.. a lot of people didn't vote in the last one, at the store, the result came out 41/24, in favor of Dr. Doom, and that was counting each of my family's votes for Lex. They always let us all vote. The results here were considerably more satisfying. Lex won. YAY LEX!!!

This post is temporarily highjacked for the squeeage. I just got a picture of a bead that Ziggy made me.. Contact her for pricing and ordering information if you're interested.

It has sparkly eyes. Stardust eyes even. It had to be said.
She also made me a grey, and some matching accent beads.
*does the happy alien dance*

Back to your regularly scheduled post..
One of the dolls we got at the thrift store a few weeks ago was a Kelly doll with long black hair and short bangs, so I'm having W bring over his paints tonight so I can re-do the eyes/lips color to start turning it into a little Shala doll. Because I'm amused with a self portrait doll, and if I don't keep it.. I'm pretty sure I can find a home for a mini shala doll.

Wow.. I had lots of ideas for this post.. but.. I'm all alien headed now.
GOSH!!!!! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!

One of those finds at the garage sale Saturday was a HUGE cone, I haven't weighed it. Maybe I should bring it with me to the gym tonight? Of army green wool yarn. Seriously, the stuff reminds me strongly of army blankets. It's wool, but since it's spun for weavers, it's not real stretchy, and it's itchy to me. Mike however has no wool sensitivities, so I'm crocheting him a Mike sized scarf. Mike size scarves are taller then me and a bit wide. He likes a scarf that will wrap twice and cover his ears,nose and neck. It's turning out really nicely because the yarn is so tightly spun, my stitches (size H hook) are very defined. So last night, we re-watched the first few episodes of Jeremiah (there is a shawl somewhere in the first season I want to screencap) and I crocheted.
It's a lot more green wool then I'll use for one scarf, but I think it will felt well which means I can use some of it for a mock map case or something similar. Hey, a 17 yo and a husband who can use wool.. I'll figure out something!
I also have 28 balls of perle cotton, about half tangerine and the other half coral that I got for 3.00, which is a LOT of knitted/crocheted pendant bags, but I couldn't turn it down for the price. Again.. I'll figure out something. Heck.. some of it I'll use on my inkle loom!
His first day at his new job went well. He's still very excited about it all.
We have a huge white board. I'm not sure what we are going to do with it, but it turned up in lost and found and went unclaimed at his last job, and he brought it home a couple days after I got some free dry erase markers in the mail. We had told E she could use the markers on the big mirror in her room.

OOH! I keep forgetting.. check your local Michaels. I got some manga drawing pads at mine clearance priced for 3 and 4 dollars each. Decent quality drawing pads costing what they do.. that's a good deal. They also had "Draw your own" comic book sets which are decent drawing paper stapled into a comic book type book for 3.00 each, I got the kids each a couple.