Severe weather warning. Oh, this is just GREAT. Do you know, we haven’t had rain for over two weeks? (I am acutely aware of this fact thanks to the gang of local birds that had a lilly-pilly party and proceeded to poo purple fruit seeds all over our garden.) And of course it comes NOW, the day before WWKIP Day. We will have shelter from the rain, but I’m not sure how many people will venture out if it’s blustery and cold. That suuuucks.

AWESOME. I applied to be a beta tester for Ravelry some time ago and today I finally got my invite. It’s a “Web 2.0” application (i.e. Flickr) for knitters and crocheters. I’m having a look around now and – wow – I could be spending a LOT of time on this site. If you want to see what it’s all about, they’ve just posted a sneek peak with lots of screenshots.

Edited to Add: I’m really pleased with the site so far. I sent an e-mail to Cassidy this morning asking whether there will be alternatives to using Flickr for your photos, and they wrote back (really quickly!) to confirm that there definitely will be. They also offered to give me “editor access” so I can upload a lot of the Australian wools and patterns missing from the site.

“Is gingerism as bad as racism? I can vouch for the fact that anti-redhead sentiment is much stronger in the UK than anywhere else. (But they do still make ginger jokes in Australia, too.)

Wheels.
Every now and then I miss having a car. The Snook, mostly, does not. This week we compromised by signing up for GoGet CarShare. (Well, I signed up, anyway.) It’s sort of a hippie collective where you pay $15 a month and you can cheaply rent these little cars that are parked near your house. There’s one in our neighborhood. They sent me the key today and everything! The only stressful bit was passing the “CarShare Exam” over the phone. Thankfully, the Hermione Granger-like zeal with which I studied the Online Orientation meant I scored five out of five. (FIST PUMP.) We’re going to try it out this weekend. I’ll be sure to post our experiences for you other carless hippie-types.

What the World Eats. It’s a series of photographs of families from around the world, together with the foods that they would typically eat in a week. Some immediate observations:

• Wow, a lot of people around the world drink a lot more soda than I would have expected.
• I liked the Italian family (except for all their soda). If I could eat nothing but bread and tomatoes all day, I would.
• People in Kuwait really like macaroni and cheese. Who knew?
• Man, the only fresh foods this American family eats are some grapes and tomatoes.
• Who the heck in the Mexican family is drinking TWELVE 2-liter bottles of Coke every week? Jeez Louise!
• Brits eat a LOT of candy. But we knew that.
• I like the way that the Germans have exercised ruthless efficiency in lining up all their items.

My own diet has changed over the past week, as I have (penitently) returned to Weight Watchers. I’ve put on a bit of what I lost last year, and I really want to nip this in the bud. This time I’m trying out the “Core” plan, where you don’t have to count Points or anything but you do have to stick to a list of low-GI foods. Pasta, rice, and fruit are back on the menu, but white bread, butter, and avocados are out. I’ll let you know how I go once I weigh in tomorrow night.

When life hands you lemons…
Me: Hey! So I’m on the Kinokuniya mailing list, and last month they announced a contest they’re running with Lonely Planet. You’re supposed to send in your travel disaster stories. I sent them our story about missing the goddamn flight, and we won Runner-Up! They’re sending us a coffee-table book.
Snook: Cool. We can call it our $1300 coffee-table book.

Huh. So that “Fin” guy from the really annoying iiNet ads? Just an actor. Not really an employee of the company. He’s still annoying.

City 2 Surf… with Charity!
Registration is now open for this year’s City 2 Surf, and I’m officially signed up. The Snook and I will be once again pounding the pavement for 14K all the way from the city to Bondi Beach. For the first time ever, this year racers have the opportunity to raise money for the charity of their choice. The City 2 Surf is already the world’s largest timed fun run; now they want to become one of the biggest fundraising events as well. I’ve decided to run in support of Sydney Children’s Hospital Randwick. I’ve created a fundraising page to track our progress. Please consider donating if you can!

Woohoo! Sydney has finally been added to the Official World Wide Knitting in Public Day site.