Two fabulous crafty finds today: How to Knit a Princess Leia Wig, and How to Build a Tiki Bar. Sweeeeet.

“Notre Dame Steamrolls Penn State.” Now that’s that kind of headline you like to see in the morning! I’d actually received an invitation to watch the game live from Sebastian, an Aussie guy who went to grad school at ND. A bunch of us went to his place in North Sydney for the home opener last week (among them Kriegel and J.R.), which we watched via some complicated Internet connection he had set up with his friends in the States. The quality was crappy but the novelty of watching the Irish play from Australia (something I haven’t managed in five years) was great. Of course, that was a night game and this one wasn’t… and I couldn’t muster the energy to drag myself out of bed at 4 in the morning in the middle of a freezing downpour. They seem to have done all right without me though!

Project Pipeline

1. Cabled Noro Silk Garden jacket for me. It’s nearly there. I think I may turn the collar into a hood though. The weather has turned horrible as if to taunt me, saying: “Knit faster and you may be able to wear your jacket yet… (but in all truth, it’s going to be blazing hot as soon as you finish).”
2. Elizabeth Zimmerman Surprise Cardigan for Tia’s forthcoming baby.
3. Mitred Square Blanket (MAGIC SQUARES!) for my sister’s forthcoming baby.
4. Feathers balaclava. It’s just as hideous as it sounds. It was a bit of a joke but I’m determined to see it through. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever knit.
5. Eleven pairs of socks. No, really. I bought the damn wool; I’m going to knit them.
6. Fairisle cardigan in 4ply alpaca for me. I’ve had the yarn for ages; it’s time to get down to business.

Concept courtesy of Mary-Helen, who will be knitting socks right along with me…

In case of rain, it looks like the Goth knitters have nominated Buzzbar Cafe (next to the pet store on King Street) as the alternate stitch and bitch venue.

Brad Pitt says he and Angelina won’t get married until everybody can. And that frickin’ rules. The democratization of marriage is one of the big reasons I hesitated for as long as I did. Too bad my little blog isn’t high profile enough for my political stances to make the AP wire!

Oh my god. Coolest. Keychains. EVER!

Lipstick as Political Statement
Yesterday as I was eating my lunch I stumbled across this AskMetaFilter thread about finding the perfect lipstick. A whole bunch of people said that Clinique’s “Black Honey” is the Best. Lipstick. Ever. (Other websites concur.) Of course, yours truly doesn’t normally wear any makeup. When I left work for the day though, I noticed that the cosmetics area at Myer was still lit up like a casino. I was drawn inside. After I fought my way to the Clinique counter, I asked a beautifully made-up girl (in a white lab coat, no less!) for help finding it. “I’m really clueless about makeup,” I said, “but I, uh, was reading about it on the Internet today and a bunch of people said this was the best lipstick ever.” (Thinking to myself: “I am the biggest dork ever.”) She didn’t bat an eye at my dorkitude though. “Is it expensive?” I asked nervously. “Oh, not at all,” she said. “It’s just thirty-four dollars.” THIRTY-FOUR DOLLARS. I have purchased maybe half a dozen lipsticks in my life, all from grocery stores, drug stores, or Wal-Marts. I’ve never paid in double digits for makeup before. I figured I might as well try it on though, since I was standing right there. She handed me the tester and I twisted it up… and it was black! Total plum-black, like something Naomi Campbell would wear. “There’s no way this is going to look good on me,” I said. I started dabbing it on with a Q-tip, only to have her quickly sense my ineptitude and take over. And you know what? The damn thirty-four dollar lipstick looked gooood. It didn’t go on black at all, but rather a nice purply-red stain that wasn’t fakey looking. I thought it would wash me out, but it actually warmed up my cheeks and brought out my freckles. I felt really sophisticated and more “adult” than I usually do. I was in awe, and so I frickin’ caved. I bought the damn lipstick. And then I booked in for a makeover next week.

And then, of course, once I got home I felt incredibly guilty and superficial. I have all these weird feminist issues with wearing makeup, mostly because I knew girls in college who’d never leave the dorm without it. The Snook doesn’t help matters, since he prefers me as au naturel as possible. (He doesn’t even like me to pluck my eyebrows. He thinks I’m “mutilating” myself.) But then again, I’ve been known to periodically sport a bright pink hairdo. What’s the difference, really? Nothing. Nothing! So I’ve been proudly wearing my new lippy all day and singing Ani Difranco in my head.

People talk about my image like I come in two dimensions / Like lipstick is a sign of my declining mind…

Mobile Cinema Times – a handy little text-based website that lets you look up Australian movie times from your mobile phone. Much simpler than paying through the nose for premium sites…

Got an hour to kill? Have a go at this Movie Soundtrack Quiz (Excel file) that the Snook sent me. It gives you a song from a movie and you have to name who sang it and what movie it’s from. (The instructions are slightly misleading; they make it sound like the song is performed in the movie itself. That’s not necessarily the case. For instance, there’s at least one Disney movie on there where the correct answer is the pop star who sang the song for the soundtrack, not the voice actress who sang it in the film.) How many can you get without resorting to Google? I’m stuck on 201 points so far, and there are a few that I’m achingly close on.

My secret Goth girlfriend Bex – Shh! Don’t tell her real girlfriend! Or my husband, for that matter… – has helped organise an outdoor stitch and bitch picnic tomorrow as part of Newtown’s Under the Blue Moon Festival. The Sydney Goth SnB Group will be at Sydney Water Land, north end of Station St (off Enmore Rd next to @Newtown) from 2pm. Newbies and learners are welcome, as are those of us who are only wannabe goths.