*Le sigh…* I’ve just found my dream apartment in our neighborhood. It’s up for auction in two weeks. Too bad we’d never be able to get everything together in time.

Reading Material
The Snook and I ventured down to Gleebooks yesterday to cash in my gift certificate and take advantage of the secret “Harry Potter’s birthday” sale they have going on. (If you show your train ticket, you get 17% off.) I was armed with a long list of your book recommendations. We dove into the stacks and soon realized that they only had about a third of the titles I was looking for.* Here’s what I ended up getting: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon; The Accidental by Ali Smith; Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides; and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson. The Snook also picked up two fantasy books. As we headed home, we noticed that St. Barney’s were having their annual fair day and book sale. I picked up secondhand copies of American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis; Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer; Around the World in 80 Days (illustrated!) by Jules Verne; and a couple others as well. Thanks to everyone who gave me recommendations; I’ll be on the lookout for the other books when I finish these!

* I like Gleebooks a lot, and I want to support local businesses, but man, their shop really isn’t designed for people who know what they want. It’s just such a jumble. If you’re a browser it’s brilliant, but when I have a shopping list I much prefer the Kinokuniya system of being able to look up exactly where a book is located. And Gleebooks doesn’t seem to keep much of a back catalog either… 🙁

R2D2 Beanie. THAT RULES. The Snook says he might even rescind his ban on wearing knitted hats! (Pattern found on Ravelry.)

The United Countries of Baseball is a map showing the geographical boundaries of regional baseball fandom in the US. I found their division of Indiana pretty surprising. I expected the northern part to fall under Cubs jurisdiction, but I didn’t realize that there were some many Cardinals fans in the south. And wow, according to the map there are a LOT more White Sox fans these days than I remember…

More pictures of the cutest baby ever. I can’t get over how big his eyes are! And the leopard print nappy cover made me laugh and laugh…

Ooh, Charisse alerted me to the fact that Rowan Book 42 is now out. I think it’s lovely. There’s a tweedy vest I really like (pic 16), and some seriously cute knee-highs (pic 21). I love the simplicity of the knitted homewares, including the flowerpot covers. (Are those knitted curtains??) I’m loving the muted colours, the chunky cables, and the rugged woolly-ness of it all. And the men’s designs are great! Too bad the Snook refuses to wear A) cardigans and B) any form of turtleneck, mock or otherwise. Those seem to be the big two trends I’m noticing in men’s designs at the moment…

Mugglenet has a great web Q&A with JK Rowling, and she answers a LOT of interesting questions! (For one, she explains what the thing in Kings Cross really is.) My favorite question is the last: “Which muggle song would have been played at Dumbledore’s funeral?” Her answer is perfect.

For the Snook: Beer in space!

So the whole marriage thing was feeling rather rocky, what with the “ash-felt” issue and all, but then the Snook made it all better:

Snook: I think you need this. It’s Dawson’s “crying face” in animated GIF form!
Me: And that’s why I love you.

Any of you Yanks near a GAP factory outlet? I’m looking for pants.