• Cupcake Gentrification

    Cupcake Gentrification. Interesting. My favorite bit:

    Meanwhile, who is to say that cupcake gentrification might not function as cause, as well as effect? Could urban planners “seed” depressed areas with gourmet delis and boutique coffeeshops, in order to lure in a gentrifying vanguard of artists and hipsters? Forget former NYPD chief Bill Bratton’s “Fixing Broken Windows” theory; in this view, what would really turn around certain neighbourhoods is a state-funded injection of artisan bakeries.

    It’s not a joke. Apparently Magic Johnson has a foundation that puts up money to start Starbucks in poor neighbourhoods. I did not know that.

    But yeah, I’m kinda over the whole cupcake thing. Not that I was ever really big into it in the first place, but there you go. Bring on the whoopie pies!


  • Shared today on Twitter

    @titus_atticus Rockets are cool. I’m not a huge fan of FPS though. Also, he only did *slightly* better than me on SATs. I like geniuses.


    Ugh. Dealing with message board trolls who insinuate their detractors are un-Australian. And you thought knitters were all polite.


    On the train to Olympic Park. Have to change at that weird little platform in Lidcombe. *sigh* Driving probably isn’t any better, right?


    @witty_knitter Just random attention seeker who always gets oddly patriotic when she’s being chastised. Fun for the new mods. 🙂


    We’re here! Rav badge in place.


    Highly friggin’ commended, same as last year. And they’ve effing MANGLED it in the hanging. #fb http://twitpic.com/2y7go


    It’s the Stig! Robbed of a ribbon by the Greenhowe clones, of course. http://twitpic.com/2y82b


    Many, many glasses of wine. Lots of Ravelers. Photos were taken. Much merriment. Naked marquetry. It’s all a bit much. #fb


    On the train home. Three sheets to the wind. Snook got a pic of me with his poor fish-lined jumper. #fb http://twitpic.com/2yabz


    @knitness I have a Ravelry button for you. You must remind me. Many wines. Will leave it in my bag for Thursday.


    @knitness Me too. Just posted horrible, ungrateful blog post about the whole schmozzle.


    @lotsofco I totally know that feeling. Actually feeling PROUD of a cat and knowing that you’re anthropomorphizing but still… proud. 🙂


    @venks79 But they do have a fantastic domain name.



  • Shared today on Facebook

    Highly friggin’ commended, same as last year. And they’ve effing MANGLED it in the hanging. http://twitpic.com/2y7go


    Many, many glasses of wine. Lots of Ravelers. Photos were taken. Much merriment. Naked marquetry. It’s all a bit much.



  • Highly Commended… Again

    Na Craga and Me

    So I didn’t get the friggin’ blue ribbon. I told the Snook on the way to the Arts Preview tonight that me knitting Na Craga was pretty much the equivalent of Kate Winslet doing a Holocaust movie. I was pandering, and I knew it. If ever I had a shot, this was the year. We arrived and immediately ran into a couple Ravelers. “We won’t spoil it,” they said. “Go look for yourself.” I dragged Snookums through the throng to the knitting cases. And there was my beautiful jumper, completely bunched up and mangled with fishing line… and with a red “Highly Commended” ribbon on it. Again. I know I am a complete and utter ingrate, but I had to strain to be cheerful. Despite my protestations to the contrary over the past couple of weeks, it appears that I really did have a lot vested into the outcome of the contest. I know it’s silly. Still, I couldn’t help but look upon the blue ribbon winner – a cream cardigan with BOBBLES, for god’s sake – with scorn. Don’t they know how hot Snookums looked in it? Grrr. Anyway, I quickly drowned my sorrows at the open bar. (Hey, if they’re going to charge me $25 plus transport to get out there, I’m going to make it worth my while.) There were loads of Ravelers present, and we even managed to get together for a group picture. Congrats to Donna and Ailsa and Sally and Emma and Gemma, and everyone else who exhibited and who I missed in my irritated drunkenness. HOWEVER, I was extremely pleased to see that Gary Gentle has continued his wonderful tradition of naked lady marquetry. His 2009 entry was exceptionally exquisite!


  • The Locavore’s Dilemma

    The Locavore’s Dilemma. One woman’s struggle to use up the abundance of vegetables in her CSA that she doesn’t particularly like. I’ll be interested to see what sort of stuff we get in the winter. So far there have only been a few things that have been problematic for us: curly endive, silverbeet, celery, and oranges. (Yes, oranges. They really pile up if you don’t eat them regularly, and juicing by hand is a pain.) Some people get really freaked out when I tell them about our veggie box and that we don’t usually get to choose what’s in it. I guess we tend to think of it as a fun challenge, and it’s a good excuse to try out recipes you might not have otherwise. (Link courtesy of Mary-Helen.)


  • Stipey on Ravelry!

    Fun discovery! One of Michael Stipe’s friends is a knitter, and he regularly models her stuff for her Ravelry notebook.


  • Vote for Matt

    My old college roommie Liz (aka Pants) has asked me to help out her friend’s husband. He’s in some online golf contest thingy, and if he gets the most votes, he gets to play golf with Justin Timberlake. (Sweet, I know.) I’ve voted for him a couple times now, but he’s way behind at this point. So if you’d like to help out, just click here and register. (I can report that they haven’t spammed me beyond the original sign-up message.) Then click through the video thumbnails and vote for Matt Rice. You can vote once per day, so give it a go if you’ve got a few minutes. Thanks!

    Edited 07/04/2025: Removed the link since it’s long dead.


  • Easter Show

    Has anybody been to the Easter Show yet? I’m desperate to know whether my stuff’s been displayed. I’ve looked through the relevant Flickr photos but there doesn’t seem to be much knitting in there.


  • Annette Rocks

    I know you’re all on tenterhooks waiting to hear how our new cleaner is working out (after the whole Nurgul debacle). I’m happy to report that Annette ROCKS. Our kitchen, laundry room, and bathrooms have never been more hygienic. Last night I had the happy experience of repeatedly finding secret, non-obvious places that she’s cleaned that I didn’t expect (like under the sink, and around the silverware drawer, and on top of the water heater). I feel like Jerry Seinfeld (except that Annette hasn’t stolen any tchotchkes). The only slight weirdness is that we get the feeling she’s trying to, uh, correct certain things that we do. Like, we normally keep the eggs out on the counter. Yet when Annette first came, she put them in the fridge. Okay, we’ll keep the eggs in the fridge. She moved our rubbish bin in the kitchen; I guess she thought the new place was better for it. (We’re lazy so we left it there.) Yesterday’s discovery was that she’d switched off a bunch of the power outlets in the house. (Australian outlets all have a little switch next to them. I have no idea why; it’s probably some safety thing.) The kettle, the toaster, the microwave, my hair dryer… all switched off. I guess she thinks we’re a fire risk. And lastly, I went to heat up some chili in the microwave last night, and I suddenly realized that the bread was missing. We usually keep our loaves of homemade bread in the microwave as a soft of poor man’s bread box. I searched every cupboard in the kitchen til I found it, carefully wrapped up in clingfilm, sitting in the fridge. She must keep everything in the fridge at her house.

    So overall she’s working out awesome. (She also says that Dr. Amy is a fine cat, and that Nurgul was talking out her ass.) And I can live with the little idiosyncrasies. I like to think that she’s giving us subtle life lessons. Sort us out, Annette! We can use all the help we can get.



ABOUT

My name is Kris. I’ve been blogging since the 90’s. I live in Sydney, Australia, and I spent most of my career in the tech industry.

No AI used in writing this blog, ever. 100% human-generated.


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