cleolinda | Entries tagged with knitting

So. Stuff.

We all went out to New York Pizza for Valkyrie's birthday yesterday (I am slightly obsessed with their Fire Island Fajita pizza. IT COMES WITH SALSA!), and then we went to see The Lovely Emily's new house, which is awesome, although I think the first words out of my mouth were, "God, it's huge! --You got yourself a lotta pokeweed there." But it really is awesome (it has an entire Rock Band room).

Finally going to try to learn to knit. Knittinghelp.com is going to be my first stop. My first project is going to be a practice scarf with a bit of leftover yarn on which I can try out random techniques. More of a "scarf," really. I'd really like to knit Lyra a little knee-length pink cardigan, but... that's probably years away, in terms of knitting experience.

I think I have a cavity between two molars. Maybe it's just gum inflammation, but my hopes are not high. I have a dental cleaning appointment at the end of the month anyway, so... whatever.

Dying of cramps. You needed to know this, I'm sure. But at least when I say "I'm feeling really bad today," you'll know I don't mean it emotionally.

A few key linkspam items:

Ryan Reynolds Lands 'Green Lantern'! I'm going to be really interested to see how this does or does not affect his Deadpool movie. (However: congratulations, Green Lantern movie! You now get a tag.)

New Moon and Cameron!Avatar panels rescheduled to avoid riots; The Horrors of Comic-Con 2009: Saturday; GIRLS AT COMIC-CON! GET IN THE CAR.

First Look: Wes Anderson's Version of 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.'

'True Blood' gets truly great with new episode tonight.

"I am not a hero for turning you on, and neither is John Barrowman."

Fin.

Current Mood: nrrrrgh
Current Music: Angelfish (Shirley Manson) - Kimberly

Nnnngh. Still tired, mostly from running around all day doing errands. I mean, it's a good tired, but it's on top of the sneezing and the chills, so that's not so good. I did go try to spend my Sephora gift card, though. See, the value of actually going to a Sephora, instead of just ordering online, is that all the color swatches look great on the website, but then you go to the store and everything looks totally different. Not even bad-different, just... in the store, you get a better idea of what you'll actually be putting on. (And of course, there's all kinds of highlighters and luminizers and concealers and liners and it's like, look, what does this actually do? And you try it on ~~the back of your hand because ew public sample germs~~ and you're like... oh. That. Yeah. Well. I'm not spending $30 on that today, thanks.)

( And now we're all standing over my hand )

A little linkspam to keep us from getting behind:

OSCARS CRISIS! Hollywood Frustrations And Fears Over Sunday's Awards; Stars And Advertisers Give Show Cold Shoulder:

For weeks now, they've been begging myself and the other journalists who cover the Oscars not to trash the planning and performances for this year's telecast like we have in years past. Because their frustration and fear is that, if Sunday's top-to-bottom reworked show can't bring back viewers after 2008's sunk to its lowest ratings ever, then nothing will. And the worst part is that not even Hollywood wants to participate in the Oscars anymore.

And then, among discussion of the desperate measures taken to spice up the show, there's this:

One new idea thought up by the producers that will be seen Sunday? Trophy boys. The result is that very handsome young men will now join very beautiful young women on stage carrying out the Oscar statuettes. If that's not an acknowledgement that the viewership for the Academy Awards these days is limited to only females and gays, I don't know what is.

( Oscarspam, Eclipse release date, Imaginarium poster, Coraline's sweater )

Current Mood: sick

Aw, Coraline was so fun and scary and gorgeous. (You know the monster in The Nightmare Before Christmas? What's his name, Boogie something? Yeah. On that level, but with more screentime. AHHHH.) And we even ended up seeing it in 3D, which I really recommend--if nothing else, the landscapes have this spectacular depth to them. Of course, even if you don't get to see it in 3D, the movie's gorgeous anyway. I just recommend it.

(By the way: if you knit, you will LOVE this movie. Someone actually knitted all the tiny gloves and sweaters. And then, of course, there's the Other Mother's world itself.)

Also, fun: Coraline Twitter reviews as a word cloud.

Also-also, I am totally in love with the cat.

Current Music: Heather Nova - gloomy sunday

Okay. I was really traumatized by this link and didn't want to post it, but clearly I'm going to have to: somebody arts-and-crafted Bella's womb. ("It's a GEODE of NO.") (Original link, locked.)

People are weird and they scare me.

Today's Snack Deathmatch: Gummi bears vs. Swedish fish.

Re: Stephen King: For those of you non-fans who now feel the warm fuzzies towards him for the Stephenie Meyer thing (please note that he also complimented her a paragraph later) and want to pick up some of his books, I would personally recommend his short stories. ( Recs )

The other book I was going to mention was Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History, which I think I subconsciously put off talking about because of my involvement in discussing the Lexicon trial. ( Read more... )

ANYWAY. The reason I even brought this up in the first place is because Melissa's going to be doing a signing at Comic-Con. I often chuck material for future entries at the bottom of the current draft, and I forgot to remove it last night before I hit post, so if you saw something about a signing before I was able to get it off, that's what it was in reference to. I had pulled the info from her blog: "I'm doing a signing at New York Comic Con on February 7, at 11 a.m., at 'Table 2'." Which is on the Autographing Stage at the back of the Exhibition Hall, to be more specific. So, you know, if you're in the neighborhood, drop by, tell her Cleo sent you, etc.

And, in the interest of fair play, I hear Steve's on tour as well. You want me to post dates, I can do that too.

Current Mood: cold

Sick today. Not badly, just enough to feel dizzy and crummy and not make a lot of sense when I tried to talk to people. And it was only a little congestion at that--possibly I didn't notice it because (sorry, mild TMI) the crud was oozing down my throat, which was then sore, rather than staying in my head.

(Heather C.--thank you so much! The packing slip referred to two packages? The one today had books in it?)

(Also: omg.)

( Minispam about recent and not-so-recent deaths )

( Regular linkspam )

Current Mood: phlegmish, like the people of Phlagnders
Current Music: Kate Bush - Never Be Mine

So Prison Break has been canceled. This is my mother's second favorite TV show (I promise you, if the Jack Bauer Power Hour had been axed, you would have heard the rending of her garments from the other side of the globe). I emailed her the bad news, and I got this in reply:

Oh nooooooooooooooooooooooo……………….. That was really one of the best series, but I was wondering what else they could do. Hopefully, Michael and Sara can be together and Lincoln and Michael will be exonerated and the bitch will get hers!

Bless.

Meanwhile, at

snacky's: When you get into new fandoms, is it because you discover the source material first or because you follow other fans? I say this in Snacky's comments, but--I realized that I follow actors, not fans. I mean, great watershed moments in Cleo Fannishness: "I kinda got bored with Lord of the Rings when I was twelve, but if Her Cateness is doing it, well..." "Alan Rickman at a wizard school? I gotta read this book." "Well, I mean... I know it looks stupid, but it's Hugh Jackman and vampires, so..." "Johnny Depp's in a movie based on a theme park ride?" "Dude, that hobbit guy got a big American TV show?" "Cedric Diggory's a vampire?"

So, you know: go weigh in, and stuff.

( Moar linkspam )

Current Mood: ow

... in which I am schooled by my mother:

She was home at lunch talking about how she'd seen something on the news that morning about Catherine Hardwicke being fired, and she was all proud that she knew what was going on because she'd already heard it from me, and the conversation drifted towards Twilight stuff in general and how Pattinson-as-Edward is "very... magnetic" (she said), and finally she fixes me with this very determined look and says, "Okay, look. Where is Edward at the end of the series? What's happening with him?" ( I KNOW! THAT'S WHY IT'S SO AWFUL! )

Meanwhile, the real reason I'm going ahead and posting Twicrap separately:

SOURCE: 'Twilight' Sequel Offer From Summit Out To Director Chris Weitz? ( WHAT )

I don't know when the regular linkspam will be up, because I'm going Christmas shopping! Yays!

God, my jaw is killing me (left side). Tension, I guess. Anyway, Sister Girl came home from the podiatrist and now she has a "flayed Achilles tendon," so I'm pretty much just waiting for the other shoe to drop and fall on my head (so to speak). Mom's foot's doing reasonably okay, though.

Alabama Mayor Charged With Fraud; Mayor arrested on bribery, other charges; Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford enters not-guilty plea, is released. Given that this is the same mayor who wanted to spend a shitload of money nominating Birmingham FOR THE OLYMPICS (as if we even had enough hotels to deal with that) and moved a downtown dome-building project OUT TO THE DOG TRACK to benefit his cronies, I am pleased by these developments.

( More linkspam )

Current Mood: hungry

This isn't specifically in response to yesterday's LJ Question o' the Day ("As the Northern hemisphere spins toward the shortest day of the year, it's getting dark earlier and earlier. What comforts do you fall back on when the days are short and the nights are long?"), but I notice it kind of answers it anyway:

Media Monkey seems to be working out decently. It loads faster than Yahoo Jukebox ever did, seems to slow down my computer less, and isn't terribly hard to maneuver. I have myself a nice Favorite Paramore Songs playlist now because SHUT UP, OKAY? SHUT UP. It's fun and boppy and that's what I need while I'm trying to work.

Also: I was at the sto' to get some more hot chocolate (among other things), and generally my cocoa of preference is Nestle something or other in packets, but this time I happened to spy canisters of chocolate-and-hazelnut Ghirardelli cocoa. (They were sold out of plain chocolate, which is sort of an endorsement in and of itself.) Well, I wasn't passing that up, so we'll see how that works. Really, what I'm looking for is a nice creamy texture, so that'll be a deciding factor as well as flavor. Hot chocolate is serious business, after all.

Also-also: I know I keep talking about the sunshine, but it's really, really fantastic. It's got that autumnal golden quality, and the sky is sort of a cornflower blue. Of course, I think I've started to think of sunlight in an entirely different way now that I've come to understand that--why --I get sludgy in January and downright depressed by February. I feel like I ought to get out there and store up as much as I can; I may, in fact, be solar-powered. Or maybe a reverse vampire? (That would be kind of funny. "I am compelled to donate blood all the time! I know I was just here yesterday! Take it! PLEASE TAAAAAAKE IIIIIIIT. Hey, let's go get Italian now.") I don't know. ("Wow, that stake feels really good. A little to the left next time, maybe?") People have recommended various full-spectrum lamps to me, but honestly, the ones I'm seeing are about $100 and I just can't afford that right now.

You know what, (also)³? I should finally learn to knit. I have a starter kit and everything.

I got mistaken for "nineteen or twenty" yesterday. I turn thirty in December. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. You probably want to slap me right now, but--if you're always being mistaken for being a lot younger, it's like you never really feel like you've grown up.

Oh! By the way, if you've told me you're sending something, I haven't received it (unless I came by and told you otherwise). Something weird is going on with our mail, and things either aren't getting to us, or they're taking a really long time. This is disconcerting, to say the least.

(Confidential to the sender of the unexpected t-shirt: I plan on disregarding your instructions and cherishing it forever. : )

Linkspam! ( Cher is not Catwoman, Twilight is shooting new scenes, The Road is depressing )

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: U2, "Until the End of the World"

Attn newcomers sending me private messages on LJ: Please check your privacy settings to make sure you can receive messages, because this is twice now I haven't been able to PM someone back.

Also: WELCOME, KNITTERS OF THE INTERNETS. PLEASE ENJOY THIS BASKET OF COMPLIMENTARY YARNS.

More from the Summer Olympics, which still has no froofy costumes, but I understand had some carnage in the weightlifting competition today AND NO I AM NOT LINKING IT, BECAUSE JUST HEARING ABOUT IT MADE ME WANT TO DIE: from

blinkliz, Olympic opening uses girl's voice, not face; from

iamshadow, One of Britain's divers is kind of a jerk; from the Associated Press, Phelps becomes winningest Olympic athlete ever. This headline is 100% real, y'all. Also: The Spanish basketball team displays epic stupidity.

livelongnmarry, "a charity fandom auction to help keep same-sex marriage legal in California (and help make it legal everywhere), has officially raised over $50k" and received the thanks of a grateful George Takei.

( More linkspam, including slapstick bikinis, prosthetic wangs and A POLL! )

Not much to say on a personal level, except that I think I need to accept that I am, in fact, going through a bout of depression. The annual January-February-possibly-March bout, like clockwork. I know I probably don't seem depressed to y'all, by the tone of most entries, but that's the thing I've noticed: I can perk up for the short term when presented with stimuli. A conversation, a book, a movie, something to snark on: I'm fully capable of reacting. It's the acting that's the hard part--I feel locked in stasis unless something else acts upon me. Sigh.

Cult TV show boosts sales of surreal Irish author: "It was a shot that lasted just a second, but the appearance of Irish novel The Third Policeman on cult television series 'Lost' has thrust one of Ireland's less celebrated authors into the limelight. The surreal comic novel by Flann O'Brien, an early 20th century author heavily influenced by fellow countryman James Joyce, appeared briefly in an episode of 'Lost' screened in Ireland on Monday. It was first aired in the United States in October. After that outing, 10,000 copies of the book -- unpublished during the author's lifetime -- flew off bookshop shelves in just two days."

Defamer: "NBC has posted the pilot episode of the Dick Wolf series Conviction to iTunes Store, where potential viewers can download it for free, then spend the two weeks until the show's premiere telling friends how totally awesome it is, thus making the series a huge hit for the struggling, technology-crazy network." And then, I assume, it will slap iTunes on the wrist for actually making people want to watch their shows.

Tom Cruise may sue magazine over breakup story. Well, I'm surprised, aren't you?

For those of you wondering what the SACRILEGE last night was all about: Torvill and Dean's Bolero.

Roaming motorcyclists stick it to Fred Phelps and his funeral protesters: "Wearing vests covered in military patches, a band of motorcyclists rolls around the country from one soldier's funeral to another, cheering respectfully to overshadow jeers from church protesters. They call themselves the Patriot Guard Riders, and they are more than 5,000 strong, forming to counter anti-gay protests held by the Rev. Fred Phelps at military funerals."

Jon Stewart goes a little nuts on the Today Show.

Gawker: Media Freakout: MySpace Also Eats Baby Puppies.

Mary Higgins Clark a plagiarist?

Office Pirates Preview: Time Inc. Wants You to Kill Yourself. Arrrr?

The Pete Doherty Hoax, Resolved, or "The Hoax Is A Hoax."

Wait, Tom Ford did what to Jake Gyllenhaal?

Leaked Guns N' Roses Tracks Give Fans Hope.

Toeless socks?

Over at

dailydigestnews: two updates, including a link to Legoback Mountain (which is startlingly accurate, by the way).