So I have ignored pretty much everything this month, and pretty much been completely off the radar. But! But!

I'M DONE!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!

7 Years of Nano, 2 Losses, 5 Wins! (Goes to fall over in a heap now)

I have seen this with music, but not with books...until now! You know I had to do it.

What To Do: Using only books you have read this year (2009), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.

Describe yourself: The Greatest Show on Earth
How do you feel: Cunning
Describe where you currently live: At Knit's End
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?: The Rise and Fall of Alexandria
Your favorite form of transportation: Your Inner Fish
Your best friend is: A Lady of Quality
You and your friends are: 13 Things that Don't Make Sense
What’s the weather like: Outliers
You fear: The Surgeon of Crawthorne
What is the best advice you have to give: Playing With Fire
Thought for the day: The Omnivore's Dilemna
How I would like to die: The Drunkards Walk
My soul’s present condition: Silver Diamond

Have i mentioned that I listen to Audiobooks a LOT? They're great when I'm driving long distances, or on a plane, or eating lunch at work...or just knitting. So I joined Audible.com, so I get a book a month under their deal. I finished reading Richard Dawkin's new book The Greatest Show on Earth (OMG, can't recommend it highly enough), and have been casting about for a new book.

And what with the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street I was thinking of picking up Street Gang : The complete history of Sesame Street, and even better the narration was done by Caroll Spinney! So I clicked on the sample preview and......it was all about Jim Henson's death! Way to pick a preview Audible. Just for that I'm getting 'Mysteries of the Middle Ages' instead. So there.

Why hello! Yes, I haven't been around much...gotta love Nano. I'm only one day behind now, and I'm really hoping to get caught up this weekend. But after over two months of having the same music on my ipod I decided that it was time to get some new stuff. So I went and bought the latest MC Frontalot album. Yee! Nerdcore FTW!

Anyway, twigcollins, this one is for you...

(lyrics)

And this one I'm keeping for myself...

(lyrics)

This week has been long, and dull in a way that was almost physically painful. And I am behind in my Nanoing. BUT! This is not the time for that. This is the time for...

( Bitchwidget Random Dancing )

Stolen from velithya, without even reformatting it.

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you.

So uh, I'm still reading 'The Rise and Fall of Alexandria' and ran across this quote from Plutarch....how could I not share?

"Oftimes Archimedes' servants got him against his will to the baths, to wash and anoint him, and yet being there, he would ever be drawing out of the geometrical figures, even in the very embers of the chimney. And while they were anointing him with oils and sweet savours, with his fingers he drew lines upon his naked body, so far was he taken from himself, and brought into ecstasy or trance, with the delight he had in the study of geometry."

Aaaahhhh. A good weekend, over far too soon.

I took Friday off and drove out to visit thehouseofmews and to meet velithya. The drive in was a bit scary at the end there because I have crap night vision and it was rainy and unfamiliar. My Garmin cheerfully I was "Arriving at Mews House, on Right," but I couldn't figure out which driveway was theirs, so I had to call and ask mewsrissicat to come stand out in the rain so I could tell. Bless her.

The Mews were all wonderful as always, a pleasure just to be around. And Vel is made of adorable and awesome, I wish I could have taken more time off and gotten more time with her. I have been commanded to come to Wincon (Winncon? Win-con?) next year for the fun, so I should probably get around to watching Supernatural one of these days.

elfowls_nest's house is even more adorable than her pictures would lead you to believe. Well...the floor is actually nastier than it looks in the pictures, and definitely needs to be replaced. But the rest is Super Cute and outweighs all other considerations. There was even deer in her yard one morning!

Hmm...what else? There were a series of small disasters across the weekend, starting with my panicked inability to find the driveway, and including such things as me pulling down Rissi & Gryphoncat's curtain rod, and Rissi's car needing a jump. (thank you Dad for insisting I have cables!) But even with all of that the weekend was extremely mellow, full of watching movies & youtube clips of happy things. (Ok, a few Ranty things too, but Jon Stewart makes me happy, so it all works out)

I was sad that I had to leave, and hope I can go back soon.

I sold a bunch of games back to gamestop back in September so I could pick up the new Layton. For once I actually got MORE than expected, so I had credit left over. So yesterday I went back and used my credit to pick up the new version of the Wii Fit game, Wii Fit Plus. It's definitely worth the $20. They let you customize a workout so you don't have to waste time going through menus every few minutes. And there are short pre-made workouts optimized for different goals, like 'slimmer mii' or 'shoulders & back.' They've also added a few more yoga poses and strength exercises...but frankly those are a little 'meh.' However the new aerobic & balance minigames they've added are where they really shine. SO much fun. There's Rhythm Kung Fu, Skateboarding, Leading a Marching Band....

It's still not perfect. Nintendo would do well to step up their internet interactivity. They've added multiplayer...but it would be more fun if I could play against other players in my wii-friends list. I'd also like to see them use the Wii online store to let people download individual exercises. They could be constantly adding new exercises that you could download based on interest, and you wouldn't have to wait for a hard-copy update. Wii Fit Plus incorporates all your previous data, so it's not like it can't be done. They could also make your BMI & exercise progress uploadable to a website or program so that you can keep track of it, add information on non-wii exercises or count calories, etc. They have this for the Flipnote Studio for the DSi, so again, it's not like Nintendo can't do this.

Wii Fit is a good too, Wii Fit Plus is a better tool, but I think there's still a lot of unused potential here.

I knew I started knitting sometime around this time of year last year, and according to my tags, that would be October 1st 2008. And even that's not quite right, because that's when I had my first finished object. It really all started with twigcollins sending me the 1st Yarn Harlot book. It was hilarious, and because all of my peer pressure comes from books (I would ask my HS friends to drop me off at home when they went to pick up the alcohol, but characters in books have made me learn to drink tea and coffee) I had an urge to try it. But, I thought to myself, I don't really want to knit. I just think I want to knit. So I went to Walmart, bought awful needles & awful yarn. I thought a quick attempt would leave me confused, frustrated, and without any urge to actually take it up as a hobby.

Oh how wrong I was.

So let's see how the year has gone for me....
God Knows How Many Dalek & Star Trek Washcloths
7 Scarves
2 Pairs of Socks
2 Shawls
1 Disaster of a Purse
1 disaster of a baby booties
1 Sweat Rag (small towel)
1 fingerless glove (I finished that about 10 min ago, and will start the second tomorrow)

............I'm so addicted.

So I lost my prescription sunglasses somewhere in Kansas City. Yesterday I finally managed to get into the eye doctor to get my prescription checked and get the ball rolling on replacements. I was wheedled into picking out some really funky frames (it didn't take much effort). They are brown plastic, with a lighter yellow-brown plastic behind, and the arms are carved with circles to show off the inner-plastic. There's also a hole behind the hinge with a large-ish rhinestone at the edge. When I took these to the counter so they could write up the paperwork the following conversation took place:

Lady: Oooh, good choice! These will look SO much better than what you're wearing now.
Me: No no no, those are for sunglasses. I'm not getting rid of my glasses frames. I love these frames.
Lady: But....they're so conservative!
Me: They have bling!
Lady: (skeptically) Where?
Me: Here and here!
Lady: Hmph. You'd need pretty good eyesight to see that.

So yeah, that was was pretty funny.

Many happy returns to velithya!!

AND! I have a certain Friday off of work, so I am going to be able to meet you and give you a belated birthday in person!! CELEBRATIONS!

I'd like to go home now pls.

I had my first yoga class last night. I had signed up for a yoga/pilates class, but that one was canceled, so I shifted over to the plain yoga one. That's ok, because I was sure I would enjoy this one too, and I totally did. There were only three other people in the class, two of them little old ladies. But I think even if I had been surrounded by beautiful rubber people I would have done ok for myself. The class was really well run, and just the right difficulty level, I could do a decent job of almost all exercises, but I had to work for it.

I'm already looking forward to the next class. I'll have to go out and get a yoga mat!

QC Mgr: You know why you can't steam the leather seats? It attracts ticks.
Me: Seriously?
Coworker 1: Yeah. Weird.
Me: I've heard of a chick magnet before, but never a tick magnet.
Coworker 1: That's what I am, a chick magnet. So you better chain yourself down.
Me: I think your polarity's been switched.
Coworker1: XD *high five*

Home from Kansas City!
( I had a great time )
I am so very exhausted.