web-goddess

Author: Kris

  • Deliberately barren

    I think I need to have a button made that says “DELIBERATELY BARREN”. Any of you other girls want one?

  • Cat.

    Hmm. Looks like we could’ve taken the cat on vacation with us after all!

  • Apology

    Just a quick apology to those who are waiting for e-mail replies from me. I’m still fighting this darn cold and work is kicking my butt this week. I’ll get back on top of things soon, I promise.

  • Rob Sudduth

    Holy crap! My friend Kel reports that Rob Sudduth, a guy I knew in college and who I actually KISSED in a play, had a speaking role in last night’s episode of Veronica Mars. Craziness.

  • Breastfeeding

    My sister is annoyed at having to breastfeed her son in an icky public bathroom. I can’t say I blame her. I’ve had women breastfeed in our shop before, and yeah, while it momentarily made me uncomfortable, I just figure that’s my problem and not theirs. Go public, mothers!

  • Work

    Oh god. It can’t be time to go back to work already! How can my vacation be over? It’s just too gruesome…

  • Knitting Schwag

    Secret Pal SchwagMany, many thanks to my Secret Pal for the lovely package awaiting me this week! I received a Japanese knitting magazine, a pretty postcard, a clutch-type bag/pencil case, and four balls of Rowan cotton. I’m already using the bag to organize my knitting bits and pieces (tape measure, scissors, etc), so that’s really going to come in handy! But what in the world am I going to make with that bright yellow cotton?! I’m leaning towards socks right now, just because I can’t bear the thought of using Rowan for “warshcloths.” Any other ideas?

    Trip SchwagAnd this here’s some of the stuff I picked up for myself on the trip. The three books are all from Amazon, and I conveniently had them sent to my Mom’s house to save postage. There’s also a metallic needle/stitch gauge that I picked up at Yoder’s in Shipshewana. The green sock is knitted out of Austermann Step, which I got at “Ewe-Nique Knits” in Goshen. It’s impregnated with jojoba and aloe vera, which makes it very soft and nice to knit with. The pattern is from the Favorite Socks book. I had planned to give them to my Secret Pal, but now that I’ve checked her size I think they might be a bit big. I may have to keep these for myself! I also got some cute Fimo stitch markers in Goshen, and a couple pairs of never-before-seen 12″ Addi Turbos for sock knitting. (They’re seriously tiny. That’s what the red sock is being knit with.) So yeah, the red. It’s my Koigu. I’m actually knitting the pattern on the cover of the 25 Favorites book, and it’s turning out so pretty. The Koigu is twisted tighter than I realized, and combined with the tiny needles and the lacy stitch, my hands are really aching. I also finished one other project on the trip: the Jo Sharp stockings. I actually did mine out of leftover Superbaby Alpaca, and I think they look super sexy (even without the ruffle to be sewn on the top).

  • Me and Emma and her postcards

    So do you guys remember Emma? She’s the little girl who lives near my Dad who broke her leg two years ago. To help her pass the summer, her parents came up with the idea of collecting postcards. My Dad passed the request on to me, and you guys came through in spades. Well, on Easter I finally got to meet her! She’s obviously all healed now, and her Dad lugged over her scrapbooks so I could see her collection. Folks, she received over 650 postcards from all around the world! I saw mine, Stefanie’s, Max’s, Bridget’s, and many more. It was amazing. I also got a picture with her!

    Me and Emma

    Emma’s the small one, obviously. (Her sister’s name was Hope, if I recall correctly.) Thank you again to everybody who participated! You turned what could’ve been an awful summer into something this little girl will never forget.

  • Biggest Loser

    BAH! So boring old Chris won The Biggest Loser last night. I thought he (and Michael) looked terrible. You could tell they’d basically just starved themselves with very little exercise. Neither of them had much muscle definition at all. Chris looked like one of those anorexic lollipop-headed women! I think he went about 10kg too far. (The official site has much debate over his tactics.) I much preferred my boy Marty, who I predict will have no trouble getting dates now. Sure, he’s a bit goofy, but he’s a nice guy who looks super fit for his age. I was also amazed by Munnalita, not least because she appears to have gotten a really good stylist. Her audition tape made her look like a drag queen, and now she looks ten years younger and a lot sexier. Good on her!

  • Books I read on our trip

    Quick reviews:

    – The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante
    This one was lent to me by my co-worker Bridget right before we left on the trip. It’s a pretty straightforward crime thriller and I plowed through it, finishing just before we landed in America. I found the resolution a little surprising, mostly because I was expecting more of a twist. I also thought that the characters got remarkably dumb at the end; I knew where the villain was waaaay before they figured it out. Still, it was a relatively entertaining page turner.

    – Map of Bones by James Rollins
    My Dad’s wife Cindy lent me this one to read on the flight to Orlando. It’s basically a Da Vinci Code knockoff, with a bunch of secret agents running around Europe trying to defeat an ancient society of alchemists. I couldn’t even name a single character at this point, so they must have all been pretty forgettable. Mostly I was hooked because the initial murder takes place in the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, where I’ve actually been. But I’d only recommend this one if you’re a big Dan Brown fan.

    – Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comic) Issue 2
    Yay! Picked this one up at a comic book store in Evanston, Illinois. Giles! Willow! I’m a big fan.

    – Marvel 1602 (Trade Paperback)
    I actually found this one at Target in Goshen, Indiana. I hadn’t heard of it before, but the idea of Neil Gaiman setting superheroes in Elizabethan England was too cool to pass up. I really liked it! Luckily I’ve been exposed to enough of the Marvel universe now to recognize most of the characters. I especially liked meeting the Fantastic Four, since I haven’t really read any of their stuff yet. (It took me, like, ten minutes to get what had happened when the glass thing in Doom’s bedroom breaks and “someone” calls Natasha a whore. That ruled.) So overall, I’d give this one a big thumbs-up to newbie fans like me who are still wary of jumping into the current comics chronology.

    – Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
    This was awesome. I picked it up on a whim at a bookshop in O’Hare and I just devoured it. I remember at one point actually feeling like a lightbulb had gone off over my head as McCloud perfectly illustrated how and why comics work. It reminded me of a lot of my film studies in college, but it’s written in such a way as to be accessible to everybody. Now I’d just like to find something similar that talks about the history of comics, especially as pertains to the 20th century. Any recommendations?

    – The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs
    I actually haven’t quite finished this one yet. I picked it up at LAX and I’m about 2/3 of the way through. It’s about one guy’s random obsession with reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. I’m enjoying it in much the same way I enjoy Bill Bryson’s work. It indulges in my love of pointless trivia and knowledge while occasionally making me laugh out loud. So far, so good!