Tonight was our long-awaited Geek Girl Dinner Sydney event. I met up with Issy and Tia at the new Googleplex in Pyrmont. (Not the same one I interviewed at in the CBD. Note: My double Goog-rejection was much on my mind.) The new building is gorgeous, and the emcee mentioned a couple of times how “green” it was supposed to be. We checked in and picked up our swag, then were directed out to the “verandah” for drinks. We had champagne and beer while looking out over the gorgeous Sydney skyline. We made some new friends. There was much mockery of Joomla. Then we were all directed down to the meeting room for the “lightning talks.” I got instantly recognized by @misswired, who it took me a few minutes to place. (One of the perils of having a blog; being recognised by strangers. Within ten minutes had worked out that we have, like, 20 of the same friends.) Anyway, the talks. Eight different speakers gave five minute speeches about everything from Twitter to Adobe Flex to helpful command line utilities. (I’d offered to give a speech on the Australian online knitting community, but the bill was full. I think my speech would’ve been better than at least half of them.) Several of the speeches just seemed to be plugs for the chick’s business or employer. Also – there were a lot of guys there! I had no idea that it was kosher to bring partners along. I twittered and knitted throughout the speeches. Afterwards we were herded into a (very small) room for more drinks and nibblies. There was much pounding of free Google booze, and much stalking of super-cool Google coder chicks. (I covet those t-shirts with the Google logo with the female symbol as one of the o’s.) Thankfully Issy was available to drive me and Tia home. Thanks, ladies! It was a super fun night. I’m definitely up for the next one.

Demystifying double crochet for beginners. Great tutorial with super clear photos. Knowing where to put that last stitch is always the problem I have with crochet. This helps a lot.

The Elkhart Project. MSNBC is “focusing long-term coverage on the city of Elkhart, Ind. to provide perspective on the national recession.” Wow. I’ve already learned stuff I never knew about the area I grew up. The most surprising was that the RV industry is/was pretty much all non-union (which I should’ve realized given that I never heard anyone in my family other than Grandma Vee mention a union ever). As my cousin Kim said on Facebook, “Here’s hoping the press coverage ends up doing some good in the end.”

Why do humans enjoy it when cats purr? I love the responses. Both of our cats will purr when they’re feeling contented and cozy. I often think about the purported healing effect, especially when I’m feeling sick or lousy. (I think I first learned about it Oryx and Crake, but I didn’t realize at the time there was some scientific basis for the idea.)

Free Sundress Pattern to sew. That looks great! Very pretty and simple to make. I’m going to download and save it for spring.

Woodgrain Socks. I wonder if you could knit those.

Jumping for a good cause
I got an email over the weekend from my 7-year-old brother Joey telling me about that he’ll be jump roping at school this week to raise money for The American Heart Association. If you’re willing and able, he’s got a fundraising page where you can donate. (Unfortunately the credit card form only accepts payment from American addresses so I’ve just sent my donation to Mom via PayPal. If any other “furriners” want to help, let me know and I can give you her PayPal info.) Good luck, Joey! It’s awesome that you’re doing such a nice thing.

Dork Yearbook. Oh man. The Snook and I have SO MANY possible contributions for that site.