Yay! Congratulations to my good friend Nat on defending his thesis and earning his PhD as, like, a rocket scientist or astrophysicist or something. (I suppose I should feel guilty for enabling all the beer he drink in London. I probably helped kill of the brain cells that might have gotten us to Mars!) And much love and commiseration to Staci and the girls for surviving this long process…

The Baby stares into my soul…

I’ve started making my training public again, down there on the right. Might keep me more honest.

ARGH. As we were walking yesterday I was admiring out the Snook’s new cotton jumper – yes, I’m a very narcissistic knitter – when I noticed that one stitch on the back was sorta distorted. I started picking at it… and suddenly a centimeter-long end came poking out! At first I thought it was just a wayward woven-in end, but a closer look revealed that it was actually an unraveling stitch! My heart stopped. “FREEZE,” I ordered. How in the world had this happened? I pulled it out enough that it wasn’t going anywhere and we managed to get home and get it off without incident. After an exhaustive study, I can conclude that I made one of the classic knitting blunders (and one which I seem to be particular prone to make): while weaving in my ends, I got a bit overzealous with the scissors and actually cut off an end before weaving it in. (Yes, I know how to knit in the ends as you go; I just forget to do it. I did it on about half of the transitions, just not this one.) So I had to get another strand of cotton and painstakingly graft it back through the fabric, unravelling the cut end as I went until I had an end long enough to weave, and then weave in all three ends. WHEW. I’m happy to report that the patient survived and looks none the worse for the experience. Let my boneheadedness be a lesson for you all!

Trail Note
Holy crap! When did Google Pedometer start working in Australia? THAT RULES. The Snook and I just went for an hour’s jog down through Newtown and Erskineville, and as we got home we wondered how far we’d gone. “Use that Google Pedometer,” he suggested. “It doesn’t work here,” I said. “See?” And then it did! I mapped our whole route from tonight. That was just over 8km in an hour. Not a terribly fast pace, but we were breaking in the new Asics Kayanos we got the Snook yesterday at the Runner’s Shop. I’m excited at being able to track my training distances!

Later: I just mapped out my Pyrmont run and it turns out that Jonathan was right; it’s nearly 6.5km! Snookums just mapped our long walk to North Sydney a few weekends ago; that was 8.6km. Yesterday’s walk home from Clovelly was even longer; we meandered through Centennial Park, checked out the Farmer’s Market at Fox Studios, and wended our way through the crowds at the Surry Hills Festival for a total of 9km. And here’s my route to work and back. That’s nearly 5km total!

Just in case any of you are too lazy to work out today’s Foxtrot comic, I translated the Morse Code.”Some day I will rule you all.”

Friday’s Feast:

What is the last thing you had to have repaired?
Actually I need to have something repaired right now – my winter coat. When I bought it two years ago I had a tailor move the buttons over an inch or so (because it was a bit tight around the middle) but now that I’ve lost the weight it pooches out in front. So I need to have them moved back.

If someone gave you $2,000 with the stipulation that you had to spend half of it on yourself and give the rest to charity, where would you spend the $1,000 and which charity would receive your remaining $1,000?
I’d drop half that grand on a gym membership ASAP and then spend the rest on new clothes. (I told you: SHOPAHOLIC NOW.) As for the charity, I’d probably give it to the Cat Protection Society of New South Wales. I know there are probably more worthwhile groups in terms of immediate human needs, but the CPS has had the most impact on me in the past few years. I volunteered to work a few shifts in their Op Shop before but nowadays I don’t have the heart to do more retail on my days off. It’d be nice to help them out a bit.

What is one of your favorite songs from the 1980s?
“Islands in the Stream” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. I love that song.

You enter a pet store. Which section do you go to first?
Do I need to answer that? Kitties! Although bunnies are cute too.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how athletic are you?
Well, it depends. How low is the 1? Is 1 for the people that never exercise? Then I’d say I’m a 3 or a 4. I’m more fit than I was a year ago, but I still wouldn’t say that I “love” exercise. While I’m doing it, I pretty much actively hate it. And it still hasn’t become a real habit with me; I have to force myself to do it. So not too high.

Five on Friday: Bookworm

What was the last book you read?
Do comic books count? Yesterday I DEVOURED New X-Men Vol 3: New Worlds. I’ve got to start pacing myself though; I’m going through these at an alarming rate.

What book(s) are you reading now?
I’ve got quite a stack on my bedside table. I’m about halfway through both Peter Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang and Jeffery Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything. Next up are The Sandman Vol 4: Season of Mists, a re-read of Little Women, and then Geraldine Brooks’s award-winning March.

Do you have a library card? Do you use it?
Yeah, I got a library card a few years ago, mostly so I could read the Lemony Snicket books without having to pay for them. I haven’t used it in years though. The Newtown library had a woeful selection (and an ill-tempered dwarf) and I doubt the closest one to me in Chinatown is much better. Plus I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books. I like to own them.

How do you choose a new book to read?
I go by other peoples’ recommendations a lot. I picked up March because Mary-Helen raved about it. I started reading comic books because John sent me Joss Whedon’s Fray and got me hooked. Sometimes I read books because the Snook thinks I’ll like them. I don’t have the time to be completely non-discriminating with my book selections these days, so knowing that someone whose opinion I respect has recommended a title saves me a lot of effort.

We all had to read books in school. Which was your favorite? Your least favorite? Do you think you would feel differently about them if you read them now?
I loooved To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in one night. I actually liked Silas Marner too. Somehow I didn’t enjoy Great Expectations very much, though I love certain parts of it now. (Mostly Wemmick and the Aged P.) Beowulf was okay (Hollywood Gossip! My brother-in-law Dan Carbo is working on the forthcoming animated version!) and The Canterbury Tales didn’t suck. You know who does suck? Stephen Crane. I hated The Red Badge of Courage with the fire of a thousand suns. *shudder* I’m still ruined for Civil War literature to this day.

Dammit! I was all excited to watch the Eurovision Final tonight after watching the Semi-Finals earlier this week. And the first thing I do this morning is open My Yahoo… and get spoiled. BLAST. The silver lining, however, is that the act I was rooting for won!GO LORDI! I’d read about the Finnish metal band in some of the pre-show press and thought they sounded the coolest. Their performance in the Semis did not disappoint. I thought that the song was legitimately rockin’ and their outfits were great. They wouldn’t look out of place in an episode of Buffy as some kickass demon musical act. And then the bit when the fireworks shot out the end of their guitars? GENIUS. I’m soooo glad they won! Now I’m just annoyed that the Eurovision soundtrack isn’t available on iTunes Australia. I need a copy of “Hard Rock Hallelujah”!

Oh my gosh. My sister (who lives in LA) needs to go to the Bluth estate sale and pick up some Arrested Development props for us. How awesome would it be to give Snookums a Cornballer for his 30th birthday??

New DeskCam picture… I’ve become a bit of a shopaholic. I go into shops and as soon as I discover that I fit into a Medium, I feel compelled to buy it. Tonight’s acquisition was a teal Esprit turtleneck. I haven’t worn a turtleneck in years because chubby girls in turtlenecks = not teh sexxy. But not this one!