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July 5th, 2009
crochetcrochet
[warheart]
 | 09:40 pm - Less than $2 comfort hooks
I read about using tennis tape to make your hook more comfortable for use but I didn't really like how it felt. I decided to try out something that I have been thinking about for a long time: using those things that slide over a pencil to make the hooks more comfortable to use. So anyway here is how they look now, after their $2 makeover:
I posted about it on my blog here:Red Paper Umbrella but its a pretty self explanatory, easy process: wrap masking tape around hook, slide comfort grip thingy over it. I used 2 grips per hook so that the whole handle would be covered but if you had to make one package go a long way you could probably just use 1 per hook.
Current Music: /Filmcast Ep. 55 - The Taking of Pelham 123 (GUEST Alex Albrecht)
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lobsterbox
 | 06:19 pm - Target Women: Chick Flicks
Another link because I can't be arsed to get all introspective and write about my life. Sarah Haskins, my imaginary online BFF, talks about chick flicks.
COLIN FIRTH
COLIN FIRTH
COLIN FIRTH
COLIN FIRTH
COLIN FIRTH
COLIN FIRTH
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crochetcrochet
[zeefer]
 | 04:44 pm - Unusual patterns
I was wondering if anyone has any free patterns for unusual projects. I guess I'm just looking for some out of the ordinary stuff. I've looked for things on ravelry, but most interesting things turn out to be knitting projects. Also, if anyone has any ideas for something to make to decorate a college dorm I would love to hear them.
And some stuff I've made...
( Summer has left me with far too much time on my hands. )
Current Mood: creative
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lobsterbox
| 01:11 pm - Such a deal!
Looking for a free tattoo? Sure, who wouldn't be! Then may I suggest this self-proclaimed "rising artist" in the Spring Hill, FL area, Mr. Meth0d himself? He's been doing art stuff for some time and really hopes to get better! Don't worry, he's done 2 tattoos already, so he is skilled enough to "not hurt or scar you". And you only have to pay for your own needles and drive him to a place where they can tattoo your free 4" x 4" masterpiece! Such a deal! I highly recommend you click on the link he provides to his Deviant Art account. His magnificent colored pencil drawings of fighting dragon sure inspire you with massive confidence in his tatting skills. I'm off to book my appointment!
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rakugo_report
 | 11:39 pm - 4th (and 5th) of July
The 4th is usually a pretty big holiday for my family. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that it's on par with Christmas for us. So this year when it became obvious that I would be spending Independence Day in Japan, I knew I had to do something. After many google searches and pondering the weather forecast, I decided the best course of action would be to go to Tokyo and spend the holiday with other Americans doing what we do best: partying.
I ended up at an American bar in Shibuya called "The Pink Cow," which was filled to the brim with Americans and the foreigners who love us. (Yes, believe it or not they do exist.) A buffet featured beloved American fare such as BBQ chicken, roast beef, potato salad, and peach cobbler, and featured some incredibly good Mexican food as well. Though I was initially seated alone, the table was soon full of ex-pats. We swapped names, hometowns, careers, and opinions on Japan. We were soon discussing Michael Jackson and Sarah Palin and arguing whether "Proud To Be An American" or "Born in the USA" was the worst patriotic song of all time. A band was covering great rock tunes and everyone was in a great mood.
Clearly the best image (that has to do with 9/11, Mount Rushmore, the moon landing,
Iwo Jima, the Statue of Liberty, a bald eagle, and outer space) ever created.
One really annoying thing about Japan is that the trains stop running at night. Though some of the lines in Tokyo run as late as 1 AM, most close before then. I assumed getting back to Shibuya Station by 11:30 would give me plenty of time to get back to Higashi-Totsuka by its closing time of 12:30. I had unfortunately broken the cardinal rule of going out in Tokyo: know thy train schedule. For when I arrived at Shibuya, I found that, much to my horror, the marquee for my train line was completely blank. In disbelief at my own stupidity (and that the line would stop running so early) I ran to the platform and checked the time schedule. There it was, plainly written: the last train had departed at 11:03.
I was stuck until morning.
I quickly decided the best thing to do was to go back to The Cow. A few people chuckled when I reentered the bar but they were all sympathetic and invited me to spend my long wait chilling out with them. Someone with an iPhone checked the schedules and informed me my first train was leaving at 4:49 AM. A few people left over the next few hours but most stayed and chatted and drank. I quickly learned that almost everyone there were regulars, and they were extremely friendly and willing to open up their ex-pat circle to me. Several hours (and drinks) later, I was finally free to go home. I departed with many phone numbers and names and promises for jam sessions. Definitely a good night.
The sun was already up when I emerged from the bar, covered in several layers of cigarette smoke. I marveled at the number of restaurants and bars just closing, and the people who were out as late (or early) as I was. I passed a park where early in the night boys on fixies had been doing bike tricks. A blue tarp had since been erected and I could see homeless people sleeping behind it through the cracks in their plastic shield. Two girls chatted nearby, oblivious to the proximity of the sleeping bums. Huge mounds of garbage bags were piled all along the streets and sidewalks. The enormous Japanese crows were swarming them, trying to pick out the best pieces before the garbage trucks, which were within eyeshot, got to them. A 24-hour McDonalds was the breakfast place of choice, as people waited in a line down the street for french fries.
When I got to the station I was surprised by the number of people sitting or sleeping next to the entrances. Guess I wasn't the only n00b who got stranded. Despite the crowds outside, the platforms weren't as busy as I had expected. When the first train arrived almost everyone was able to get seats and doze for a few minutes. Most of the people on the train were obviously just making their way home from their extended evening plans, but I did see a 70-something businessman in highly-glossed shoes reading the morning stock news, and a few others were carrying golf bags or other such paraphernalia. I couldn't decide who was crazier for being up at 4:49: me or them.
I got home tired and still reeking of smoke. After a quick shower it was finally bedtime. It was 6 AM. Though I hadn't seen any fireworks, it was by far the most unique 4th (and 5th) of July I've ever had. I definitely missed my family and friends, but spending the holiday with like-minded Americans was a great experience.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/opiummmm/foxies/sad.gif) tired
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crochetcrochet
[ok5allegra]
 | 10:57 am
I just found a really good video resource for crocheting and I thought I would share.
http://www.youtube.com/user/theknitwitch
She does both knitting and crocheting.
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mordicai
 | 08:23 am - Welcome to Earth!
Yesterday was a fine day, just fine. Went up to a park at 10:30, selected numerous vegetables. Fed my aching body a Chinese food breakfast-- fresh off the wok. Went to the gym & lifted some weights: another hour & a half. Not unproud of that. Then! A text message telling me all previous intelligence was invalid, & that the Jenny Lewis show was...pronto! Hopped in the shower, scrub a dub dub, met up with Peter & zoom! Off to the races. "Hey, do you actually know how to get to Battery Park?" I asked on the train, "because I was just heading to where Carla used to live in Battery Park City; it ought to be near there, right?" Between Peter & I we found it without too much ado, & nice walk along the piers lining the Hudson river, to boot. The set-up in the park was kind of annoying-- there was only one entrance to the show & you had to weave through a labyrinth to get there; but you had to find start of the maze, which was the tricky point. At the mouth, there was a worker-- enter here for the show. Guy, I don't need you at the entrance, I need you elsewhere to tell me where the entrance is! In we went though, & found ourselves a decent enough spot; Jennny Lewis! James (showing up to meet us) elaborated on my old chestnut-- "Pretty sure Jenny Lewis has a soul; pretty sure you don't-- into the new team motto: Jenny Lewis Is Not A P-Zombie. I tried not to get too annoyed at human beings-- seriously, such rude apes; makes me so mad. This is why I don't go to shows! But free is the price that flips that math. She ended with "Born Secular" & for a crazy moment I thought it was going too segue into "Big Guns," which-- anthems for war on heaven are all I ever want from music. Instead they left the music resonating & left the stage. For no encore!? Sad. Conner Oberst next so...we absconded with quickness.
Took the boys to Aperitivo to sing for our supper. Or well to just eat our supper I guess. They were putty in my hands, ordering what I recommended. I like it when that happens. Take my advice, it is always good for you! James had the beet gnocchi & Peter had the pasta with the three different kinds of mushrooms. I had a bresoala salad, which was arugula, goat cheese, truffle oil, & some smoked meat. Yo, the salads at Aperitivo are always worth a damn. Then for my entree I had linguine with chicken liver, sage, & a white wine & cream sauce. I took half of it home, rather than over-eating; the boys said I should text Jenny to let her know how responsible I was being. We also drank some Italian beer. I forget what it was called.
We were going to swing by the sake house on the way back-- says me "You are profiting from all the dates I go on with my wife!"-- but they were closed. What! Well I'd gotten the boys hearts set on sake, so we went to the wine shop & bought a bunch. Or at least, Peter & I did; James got shochu, which no one noticed till we put it in our mouths & did a spit-take. I got "Summer Snow," which was recommended to me by the sommelier-- which was very nice. Peter & Alicia's first time with unfiltered sake; leaving Alicia unconvinced, which is a first for me, since everybody else likes it. James's bottle was, actually-- looking at it now, it isn't shochu, it is sake-- komekome-shu, which is maybe like-- some kind of sake? Anyhow, it is a weird thing. Not bad, but...not any taste I was expecting. Peter's bottle I heated up; heated water & then soaked the bottle in it thus. The label peeled off though, so I don't know what is was called. There was much MarioKart & LifeForce, lo. In the middle of all this, Alicia arrived, wearing Peter's clothing & bearing a gift: a painting she made me!
& then we started flexing & had a gunshow waterfall.
Alicia was feeling crappy, so she & Peter left (after Peter went to go get a burrito & chips, missing the chance to play veterinarian & check out our sick pythons); James & I grabbed sake & climbed the fire escape to the roof. Talked about being in the wizard's city. I say: most American day! Italian food, Japanese drinks, then Mexican snacks, then fireworks. America. We watch the fireworks, & the superintendent & his family come up to watch them too; meaning we can get down via the actual staircase, instead of the fire escape. Which, we do! Then James & I split a couple mouthfuls of wine, I have him roll me a cigarette, we go outside & then I bid him farewell. Goodbye, I'll see you tomorrow at play practice. & then I'm up another hour being a lovesick sap, then bed. Which puts me at today. I'll leave this entry with the most patriotic thing I know of.
Current Mood: Cobra-la-la-la-la!
Current Music: crown me king feat. jenny lewis & rober heinlein: --all you p-zombies--
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July 4th, 2009
jonsonite
 | 09:36 pm - Independence Day: New Citizens for US!
Jen and I went to Seattle Center and watched the ceremony for the newly naturalized citizens--507 of them! Our friend Eduardo Mendonca (who works with Power Of Hope) was awarded the Spirit of Liberty award for being a badass naturalized citizen who works to share his native culture with his new home. He got to make a speech, along with a whole bunch of elected officials including Sam Reed, who urged the new citizens to vote, because it's important.
The oath that the new citizens had to take was hilariously awesome, elicited from them a few words at a time because of the dense and sometimes antiquated vocabulary:
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
After the oath Mayor Nickels said that this was a day to be remembered for the new citizens because it would be the last time they would have to use the word "abjure" in a sentence.
Nickels read off the countries of origin one by one, with the soon-to-be citizens from each standing briefly to applause. The crowd managed to keep up the applause for all 90-odd countries mentioned from Afghanistan to Vietnam. Most new citizens: The Phillipenes with 43. South Korea, Canada and Mexico, Vietnam and Ethiopia all had a bunch as well. When the Iranians stood, somebody shouted "Freedom" from the back of the crowd.
The entire experience was extremely inspiring. I think I might show up every year!
Happy Independence Day!
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crochetcrochet
[ok5allegra]
| 11:18 pm - new crochet-er
Hi there,
I am just learning to crochet and I have a couple questions.
1. When you start to crochet from the foundation row, where exactly are you supposed to insert the hook? I was doing it so there were two loops on the hook, but someone told me there is supposed to be three (this is before any YO's are done).
2. I am trying to make coasters and the pattern calls for this:
ch 4
rnd 1: 11 dc into fourth ch from hook. join with slip st to top of ch-3 (12 sts)
How do you do 11 double crochets from the one ch?
I am a bit confused.
3. Are there any good online crochet help/tutorials with videos? I searched but have not found a great one?
Thanks
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hydrozoa
 | 05:28 pm - the native americans called it maze
we went to the goodwill outlets yesterday, where they send all the shit that nobody wants to buy and then sell it by the pound. for $5.86, i got:
* three or four t-shirts
* a navy pinstriped suit-vest
* a mod necktie from the '60s
* a pendleton flannel that they are selling copies of at urban outfitters right now for like $50
* a pair of flats from payless (i still call it volume, oops) that i used to have years ago and loved but that disintegrated in like a month because they are from payless
* a red three-ring binder that says NEBRASKA on the cover
* and these glasses. which i actually think i stole because the sign said they were $1.99 and there's no way i paid under four bucks for everything else. get used to them because i am wearing them every day until i die.
we're having a giant blow-out independence extravaganza at the house right now but i'm feeling like a 'mudgeon and have been hiding in my room, drawing a mechanical dragon. i went down there earlier and made a pizza for the wood-fired pizza oven outside, though. and it was awesome. i love the fucking mansion so much.
someone has been trying to pick out "you're a grand old flag" on the piano for the last 20 minutes.
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beatonna
 | 10:09 pm - comics with titles
Sometimes I start comics that are supposed to be a whole page, but are only a half page.
On a related note, I have so many David Bowie drawings now, so many Ziggys.
(store!)
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mordicai
 | 11:36 am - Gangrene really feel me.
 
Bryan & Simon! Simon showing his treasured picture of two glass boots filled with cocktails. "Two Boots! At Two Boots!" So they rolled up on this sleepy head & that led to wine down the gullet-- as you can imagine. It never rains but it pours; so much for my lazy tucked in evening! So we were...drunk! Or well Simon & I were-- Bryan was driving, & sober! He spoke to me of-- fatherhood! I have an odd life suddenly. Or well, not so surprisingly, I guess. With time, that passed, & I woke up this morning with an errand in the bank: go pick up Tania's CSA produce. Done! There are beats, & squashes, & cabbage & lettuce, some parsley, some chard, some...some other thing I don't know what it is, some ears of popcorn, & I think something else, but I forget. Anyhow, no one was available for breakfast, sadly, so I grabbed some greasy Chinese food! They'd just opened, everything was piping fresh. & it was what my hangover wanted. Now I'm trying to get my act together, hit the gym, & then James & I will go see Jenny Lewis in the park.
Current Mood: Robots Rise!
Current Music: crown me king- pop fangs! at 20,000 fathoms!
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July 3rd, 2009
mordicai
 | 11:14 pm
So I threw my intentions into the wind. I mean-- I drank too much stimulant juice today to just give up. Heck, once I tried how sherry tasted I knew I was a mess. For the record: I've had that since ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) martak moved, & I'm pretty sure it is for cooking. I dumped it down the drain. From orbit. The only way to be safe, you know? & I started making Alice-- you remember Alice? A mix cd. Oh wait, I skipped the important details: I do that with stories. I think the myelin sheathes on my neurons are just super awesome, is how it goes down. Anyhow, I tossed the sherry (WTF, sherry?) & figured out that the liquor store was still open & grabbed a bottle of wine. Along the way running into David & Maggie on their suspicious date. Cracked the cork & started watching Firefly. Lovely show, that. Like-- that show! Anyhow, Simon called me in the middle to ask if I wanted to hang out; I said call me when he was done! He hasn't, to date. & Now I'm getting rightly anxious of the sleeping. You know, let me call him & see how his events are going. iTunes, pause on that Neutral Milk Hotel / Elliot Smith mix I made! Hold on...live blogging! Uh, no answer. Exciting. I got his voice mail. It told me to buy tickets to my play: why, what a cunning voice prompt!
Current Mood: Fiiiiiist!
Current Music: crown me king- is, "is stabbing everything" already a song? Yes? x2!
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mordicai
 | 08:57 pm - The Champ.
What is the score? Fuck, I don't know the score, I just know to keep punchin'. Did the bell ring? Are the cops here? Thursday was my summer hours half day. How we do. I rolled on back to the pulsating heart of Brooklyn & did my thing. My thing being knocking an hour & a half out at the gym. S'when I started feeling fuzzy. I mean, I felt good, no doubt. I felt like I might take the gentleman's way out of my obligation. Lilly's birthday, is what I mean. & by gentleman's way, I mean-- old folks way. Man, a party that gets started at midnight is too late for these bones! I'm circadian rhythms (hell, my cicada-ian rhythms I'm so cyclical, man) get me up at 6:30, & I spent too many nights prior drinking till late. So I dropped a dime on her let her know I was not going to be due. Stopped by David & Maggie's-- David was rolling on a DnD game, but I said naw. See, can't hang if I'm going to leave my other plans hanging. So I dropped some suds & took off. I should mention: all that took place in some real Hated Noah style. I mean, sky pouring down buckets; a walk to Gowanus is normally short & sweet, but by the time I got there I was soaked on in. Borrowed socks to get home, if you know what I mean. Then on to today; got up, met Tom for some breakfast (green eggs & ham at Perch) & then game prep-- then, you guessed it. Gaming. Ran my game; went well, surprise guest, surprise NPCs, & then out! I was going to meet up with Alicia but her plans were bumped forward, so now I'm back here. Not drinking; sort of want to, sort of not, so trying to err on the side of getting up early & going to pick up vegetables for Adam's uh, what do you call 'em. Hippie commune thing. Then gym, then who knows? Suck it, fourth of July, I don't need a plan for you.
Current Mood: charlie day.
Current Music: crown me king- the safe colour
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beatonna
| 04:46 pm - Damn Teens
I had fun drawing teens for that last comic, and was looking up dangerous teen fashions from the earlier part of the century. I think the Teddy Boys were my favorite.
Too bad I was a teen in the late 90s/early 00's and there was absolutely nothing remarkable about that time! Except regrets and frosted tips (same thing).
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lord_whimsy
 | 10:40 am - CINNABAR POLYPORE
Found this Pyncoporus cinnabarinus in Bill's woodpile. Don't you just want to bite it? It's an inedible species, though. This specimen is quite large.
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lord_whimsy
| 10:35 am - THE MAGIC SEPTIC MOUND
Bill's septic mound is strangely bucolic. Completely covered in moss and mushrooms.
I suppose it's a cinnabar chanterelle, but the color is quite golden.
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lord_whimsy
| 10:34 am - OLD MAN OF THE WOODS
A rather fitting species name for this bolete.
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