Archives—June 2008

June 3—Back in Austin, Politics, and Film Studios

I'm back in Austin, or rather Cedar Park. I miss Igby; that was a sweet dog. I miss Kirston, too. I haven't really talked to him since moving except a bit about Obama leaving his church.

Oh, yeah, about Obama—hurray for him clinching the nomination! It was obvious that he'd get it anyway, but I couldn't help grinning and running upstairs and talking about it to my dad and then making coffee to stay up and watch his speech. Oh, and while on the topic of politics, I bought the McClellan book, What Happened. I went to Barnes and Noble first and they were sold out already (yep.), so I went to Borders instead and was somewhat surprised to find it. I plan on reading it all the way through in a matter of days, just like I did with the Harry Potter books when they came out. (Imagine the day when our children will be reading them all one after another and not having to wait years and then slogging through the whole goddam thing in one sitting only to find out that she really did fuck up the plot that badly.) Um. Anyway. Yeah. It occurs to me that perhaps I ought to start another new section of the site, one devoted entirely to politics. Left-wing, obviously. I'm not entirely convinced that there's really enough for me to say that hasn't already been said more eloquently by someone more voiced in these matters, but in keeping with my readers' wishes for me to put more of myself on the site, perhaps it might be a good idea. Now, granted, my idea of a section for political pontificating is less "a small series of sound bytes expressing my opinions and tastes" and more "a blatantly plagiarized blurb where I shamelessly use myself as a mouthpiece to parrot everything every left-wing pundit on MSNBC has already said," but it's my website and I can do whatever I damn well please.

Moving on, a friend of someone my dad works with might be getting me work in a local film studio. If that doesn't happen, I try other studios, otherwise it's back to the drawing board and a shitty day job. At least I got the alignment on my car fixed, so I now have transportation until it breaks down again, by which time I hope I will have saved enough to afford a new car.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know (and that's most of you), my birthday is on July 12th. I thought, in honor of the occasion (meaning, a pathetic way to get someone to actually remember my birthday for once), I'd do a big update on the 12th, like several new stories or a whole new section or something. Any suggestions?

June 5—Political Pontificating and Patterns

I've started the politics section of the site, though there's not much there yet, and what's there is probably going to be changed a lot before I post anything. I think I will start a blog within that section to follow the campaign and into Obama's presidency—or, God forbid, McCain's, in which case every page in the entire section will have a black border until he leaves office. I shit you not. Yeah. It's been said—frequently—that if I ever get my fifteen minutes of fame, it will undoubtedly be as the defendant in the most infamous libel lawsuit of the century. I'd best get to work on that. I hope I won't need to, though, because I feel that Obama will be the greatest thing to happen to this country since FDR. Sadly, he won't be able to run four times, but luckily, that particular constitutional amendment is preventing Dubya from actually running again (an aging puppet is the best he could manage), so I expect I can live with that.

Anyway. Now that things are settling down after my move back to Austin, I can start focusing again on website updates and the things those entail, like knitting patterns and story writing. For instance—I finally posted the pattern for the Moebius scarf! It took so goddam long to get the images just right. Anyway, now that that nightmare is over with, I can start work on the Klein bottle hat pattern and, I hope, get that posted in a couple of days. I'm quite proud to have work done on those pages, even if no one will read them.

Speaking of knitting, I've begun work on the Igby blanket—again. The charts from which I was working really blew out the ass, so I'm having to redo every letter at least once as I go along. On the upside, there are only four letters, and the stitches are large, so it doesn't take that long; it'll probably be done in a couple of weeks. Anyway, once I get further along/finished with that, I'm going to use some scrap yarn to make hats for Kirston's friends Greg and Ralph and mail them along with the blanket when it's finished; should be a nice surprise, or at least will be until Kirston reads this.

On a topic unrelated to politics or knitting, I was thinking of starting a small section of the site about my favorite books and music, or stuff I've discovered recently. I was thinking about my long-since deleted top ten lists and thought that maybe more elaboration on books and music might be a nice, if totally un-updated, section. Actually, it's a blatant excuse to promote McClellan's book, if you must know.

I'm still brainstorming about the birthday update. It is to be my twenty-fifth birthday, which has a ring to it, so the update should be something special. (God, I'm narcissistic.) The above proposed updates are nothing much, and though I like the idea of posting a couple of new stories, that's still nothing really out of the ordinary. Thoughts, anyone?

June 11—Politics and Knitting Update

I've started the political blog. Today's entry is here.

I've changed things around quite a bit on the knitting page, though that's probably not done yet. I'm thinking of doing a serious overhaul of that section of the site and giving it its own distinctive look. (This trend may spread to other sections of the site; who knows.) What I've mostly done so far is post an "about" section (which is more or less about how I came to be interested in knitting and what it's all about) as well as a "tips" section containing a few tips and tricks I've picked up over the years that I really really wish I had known earlier. Needless to say, the latter at least will continue to be embellished as time goes by. Also on the knitting page, I finally finished and posted the pattern for the Klein bottle hat! Up next—the projective plane hat! (Oh noes!) I'm also working on a pattern for a Fair Isle hat; I'll post that along with the pattern for the Igby blanket when I eventually get that tweaked. Also, much less definitely, I've designed a rough sketch for a pattern of the lyrics of the chorus of the Dead Kennedys' "Pull My Strings." I was thinking of making a shirt with the DK logo on the front and those words on the back, but I may decide that's retarded and not do it after all. Actually, I almost definitely will do the DK logo, but any words remain optional.

I've started reading McClellan's book, What Happened. So far, so awesome. You'd better believe it's going to figure prominently in the politics section.

I was watching Igby Goes Down the other day and decided (naturally) that I wanted to make a scarf just like his. It won't be hard to freeze frame and count stitches to get the pattern, but I already know it will look like a Harry Potter scarf. Oh well; I'll do it anyway. After all, it is Igby Goes Down, the closest thing to a film adaptation of The Catcher in the Rye (the best book in the universe) that we're likely to see. Not that any true fan of Catcher would ever go to see a film of it, but still.

I feel quite guilty about not updating the ARSE section; it's so popular and there's only like two things there. So, when I update next, I hope to have something new up there.

June 12—Political Blog Updated; ARSE Update Underway

The political blog has been updated; today's entry is here.

I'm still working on changing the knitting page, though all I've really done is mostly finish the chart for a hat that I finally started working on. Once I figure out how to chart the decreases properly and create the legend to that chart, I'll post that. I have to finish the charts for the Igby blanket, but those won't be done for sure until the blanket itself done, so it will a couple of weeks before that's up.

I've also begun the long-promised update for the ARSE section. There's hardly anything there yet, but enjoy what little I did manage to get done today.

I haven't heard anything from the film studio that was supposed to be giving me a call, so I'm going to start looking at clerical jobs on the UT campus; I hope something will turn up there so I have a day job to keep while I look at other film/theatre work. It doesn't have to be the UT campus, of course, but it is a nice area and right on the bus route. That plus there's an abundance of cute, smart guys on the campus.

I hope I'll have at least one new story for the ARSE section with my next update, but since my next update will likely only be for the political blog tomorrow night, don't count on it.

June 13—Political Blog Updated

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone. I've always celebrated it as a minor holiday. This one was uneventful except to note the untimely passing of Tim Russert. I made mention of it in the political blog. Watching stuff about Tim Russert and fiddling with a knitted hat (the Fair Isle one for Greg) occupied most of my day, so I didn't do anything with the ARSE section as I'd hoped. Perhaps I will over the weekend, if I can stay away from the news long enough. Anyway, at least I made quite a bit of progress with the hat. Some of it was retrograde, to be sure, but at least it's going well otherwise. I'm not particularly experienced with Fair Isle, but, to my pleasant surprise, it has gone smoothly so far. I may have the pattern posted this weekend.

June 18—Political Blog Updated; ARSE Updated!

Unsurprisingly, I've updated the political blog for the last three days.

I've been meaning to update the ARSE section for the longest damn time and feeling quite guilty about not doing it, especially since I've noticed that it's quite a popular section of the site. So, by popular demand, there are two new stories in that section!—The Smeghead and The Nemesis. These new stories are only from junior high (and there's another yet to come in that section); the best stuff is a ways off yet. But oh, is The Nemesis ever a doozy. Or at least, the beginning of one.

I've begun, completed, and thrown away most of the Fair Isle hat I started; I decided the pattern sucked and needed redoing. I'm working on creating patterns for the Dead Kennedys logo and the Obama logo. I have tentative ones sketched, but they need swatching still.

By the way, I've recently discovered Croatian pianist Maksim Mrvica (pronounced MERvitzah); his cover of The Anvil Chorus is fantastic. It's on YouTube. Watch it. Now.

June 21—Nonfiction Stories Updated! and Knitting Woes

I've updated the friends' quotes page; my friends Rob Heslin and Brian Wilson each have a quote on there now. I also updated the political blog a couple of times.

I'm working on another couple of stories for the ARSE section; one is another for the junior high years, and the other is the high school continuation of The Nemesis.

I've posted a new story in the nonfiction stories section!—The Plaid Pants Incident. I'm working on more stuff for that section, which has been abandoned far too long. There's so much to go in there—Other than the recent update, all that's there right now is one lousy story about one of my college classes, and I have so many others to relate, not just college stuff, but other tales of random events that don't fit with work stories or rants or klutzy incidents (though I haven't actually started that last section of the site yet).

I've restarted the Fair Isle hat again; I hope I've got the last of the kinks ironed out. Exhaustive swatching and faulty math and near-fruitless trips to every craft store in a ten-mile radius have, I think, finally produced results. I will attempt to finish the ribbing tonight, and then it's on to the pattern proper.

Meanwhile, work continues on the Igby blanket. I'm still not happy with the G, but I redid the damn thing so many times I finally said fuck it. A letter the size of that one is bound to look a little odd anyway; at least it's readable. Besides, it's not like Igby's going to care. I suspect I'm the only one who will notice. Anyway, now I've started the B; I hope it won't be so much trouble.

I've got a few ideas for the big birthday update, but I'm open to suggestions. Seriously. What would you people like to see on the site? Just email me.

June 24—New ARSE and Nonfiction Story; Griping About Employment

I fixed a broken link to The Floccinaucinihilipilisaurus. That's probably my favorite of the KP stories, so, for those of you trying and failing to read it, now you can.

I posted a new ARSE—the continuation of The Nemesis. Now I'm working on other high school stories. Most of them are not that long, which means that soon, I can get to the college stories, which should be fantastic.

I also posted a new nonfiction story, a story involving a broken drive thru timer from my days at Wendy's.

I have also, of course, updated the politcal blog a couple of times as well.

I've continued work on the Fair Isle hat without incident. Starting it was terrible since I somehow managed to work some of the stitches back and forth instead of in the round, and I had to rip all that out and redo it, only to fuck it up AGAIN. I finally fixed it and have successfully worked several rounds of the pattern. I hope I will complete it without further disasters, and then I can begin work on yet another Fair Isle project.

Yesterday I talked to the UT Film Institute about doing some audio work for them this summer. It will not be happening. They already have people doing audio work for them, but they offered me craft services (!) or extra coordination. Extra coordination, possibly, but being offered craft services is just an insult. Not only that, but the $1500 they were supposed to be paying turned out to be a damn lie. It was, they said, a very very small sum of money, more of a volunteer position, which I calculated meant that it probably wouldn't even pay for the gas for all the driving I'd have had to do, and that's provided my car didn't break down, which it probably would. They of course tried to sugar coat it by saying that I'd get experience and build contacts and from there proceed to paying gigs, even though I pointed out that I already have paying gigs. Also, I don't need credibility as doing craft services, and besides, I know perfectly well that the only contacts I'd make would be students or other low/no budget types who need people to work for free. No thanks. I'm interested in a career, not a hobby, and I don't like having my degree and experience insulted by people younger and less experienced than I am trying to convince me how hard the work is. No shit. Anyway, that means it's back to my plan of looking for retail or clerical work. Oh well.

June 25—E-mails and Knitting Patterns

I got the most awesome e-mail ever last night. Someone new to my site told me that he'd spent a great deal of time reading it, and when I asked him what in particular occupied most of his time, he replied with the following, which I have not edited.

I read though a good potion of it. I went to the politics first to see if you are a commie, turns out you pretty much are, which is alright at least commies think about politics, it's better than someone claiming to be a democrat or a republican and stopping there.

I would like to point out that I am not a communist; I am a socialist. There's a marked difference. That said, I probably should not have been flattered or amused by the above, but I laughed and immediately vowed to myself that I would post it on the index page and show it to everyone I knew. I'm surprised that he was surprised at my leftism; I mean, I said on my OK Cupid profile (from which he followed the link to this site) that I am a rabid leftist. I'm glad my rabid leftism is showing. I do so hate to be confused with the right; not that that's happened in . . . um, ever.

Today he sent me two more emails, both quite lengthy. Then he found me on AIM and talked steadily for twenty minutes; I scarcely got a word in edgeways. I blocked him in the end.

It should come as no surprise that the political blog has been updated.

Anyway, I've posted the project page and pattern for the Fair Isle hat, even though I'm not nearly done with the hat yet. It probably won't be too much longer before that's done, and then I'll take a picture and add it to that page. That reminds me, I need to get to work charting the pattern for the next Fair Isle hat I have in mind. I also have a rough idea for some socks knitted with the pattern for the Igby scarf. I got the scarf pattern by pausing Igby Goes Down at the scene where he's taking off his scarf in Rachel's place. I even counted the stitches. Anyway, I've got the right color yarn to make socks with that pattern, which should be fairly awesome.

I've added a bunch of stuff to the about me page since that gets a lot of hits and there wasn't that much actually about me there.

June 26—Minor Updates and Shameless Plugs

I've been doing a bit of job hunting, applying online at various local places. I've tried Craigslist, but all the jobs were either scams, nowhere near my house, or I wasn't qualified for them. I'll do some in person applying over the next couple of days. I'm trying to get work at a bookstore or something similar; I'd certainly take advantage of the employee discount.

I saw on my friend Henry's site that he's working on shirts with mathematical patterns on them. I found them when I was looking at mathematical designs to use as knitting patterns, but those, alas, would not work.

Obviously, the political blog has been updated again.

I'm almost done with the Fair Isle hat. I started the decrease rounds this evening but fucked up and will have to redo some of them. Provided it goes smoothly after that, I will have it finished this weekend and, I hope, get a picture posted.

June 28—Some Minor Updates and News

I finished the Fair Isle hat! I took one lousy picture before my camera batteries died, and I couldn't find any others, so for the moment, this will have to do. Anyway, now I've resumed work on the Igby blanket. I got a lot done on the B tonight; it looks really good so far. It's nice to have one of the letters going smoothly. I'll enjoy it while I can; I know the Y will be extremely problematic just like the G was.

Speaking of knitting, I've restarted the charts for the Dead Kennedys and Obama logos. The ones I'd designed were too big to put on a hat, so I'm making smaller ones. I'll post them in a few days.

The political blog has updated again. In view of the recent Supreme Court ruling, I'm planning on soon posting a page explaining my stance on the second amendment, though I think I explained it pretty well the other day.

I've got an idea for the planned birthday update. It will be a whole new section of the site, not exactly stories like much of the rest of the site is, but not unrelated.

Oh yes—I'm working on new story for the pranks section. It's an old story; I just haven't got around to telling it yet. That reminds me, the story of the fag hat should probably also go in that section. I'll probably post both of those with my next update.

I'm still seeking employment, preferably at a bookstore near the house. I have some experience with books under my belt now, so that will probably help me. It's not that I particularly want to work at a bookstore, but it would beat food service, plus I could really benefit from the employee discount. It might also be nice to keep on top of new releases, at least with books related to current affairs. I'm still reading McClellan's book; I'm most annoyed that I missed seeing him recently at a signing. I think I was in Houston at the time, actually. Ugh, that reminds me—While I was in Houston, Cedar Park elected a new mayor—Republican, of course. Also while I was gone, to make matters worse, my favorite local hardware store went out of business. FUCK.

June 29—Reorganized the Archives Section

I've reorganized the archives of the main page postings so they're in the same calendar format that the politics blog is . . . which, of course, has updated again.

Last night on MSNBC I saw this incredibly creepy documentary called Religion or Mind Control? It was about the FLDS (Mormons) who were all over the news a while back and how it's a cult like thing, brainwashing its members and demonizing those who leave. It was just gross, talking about child abuse and sexual slavery, how teenaged girls are married off to men twice their age. The women are all buttoned up, but that's the only difference between them and what we would recognize as, say, a prostitute or a stripper. They're completely objectified, treated as baby makers and told always to be submissive. They even have a rule called "Keep Sweet," meaning they have to be all smiles all the time, not speaking out against the molestation or violence. Terrifying. Also gross was the overwhelming number of physical deformities or mental retardation caused by all the inbreeding. Yuck.

After that show ended, I caught the last part of Guns, Germs, and Steel on PBS. I had heard about it from my friend Brian but hadn't seen the documentary; I still haven't read the book yet. I suppose it's next on the list after the three or four I'm reading at once now. Anyway, hearing about all the deaths caused by smallpox or religion was disturbing enough, but the last part was especially saddening since it focussed on children in modern day Africa dying of malaria. Jared Diamond (the author of the book) teared up in the hospital, watching children die. I cried a bit myself. It was horrible.

Anyway, the above reminded me of wanting to knit for charity since I've got scrap yarn and spare time. There are a limited number of local charities that need knitted garments here in central Texas (I'd prefer to help close to home, partly just because but also because I can't afford shipping), but I'll do what I can. Not surprisingly, many people have already knitted chemo caps and preemie wear, so I'll instead be making small blankets for the SPCA. I tend to prefer the company of animals to people anyway, so perhaps that's fitting.

Speaking of blankets for animals, the Igby blanket is moving along quickly; I'm nearly done with the B. I'd better hurry up and finish it; Kirston said he'd be in Austin in July. Anyway, I suppose with the Fair Isle hat done, I can move on to another project now, possibly something for myself like a shirt with the Dead Kennedys logo or else one of the two sweaters I've been meaning to make for the longest damn time.