Blinky Lights and Shiny Objects

If I don't start posting simple, small, things again, this blog may never restart. (I hope you are all using feed readers like Google Reader instead of checking this site manually, I'd feel less guilty for wasting your time.) Anyway, at the mall tonight I learned that I am in a minority for wanting to wear boots all year, and am particularly stupid for trying to buy more of them at the end of April. I found a few pairs on clearance to replace the ones whose heels have worn down past the point of repair, then came home and ordered another pair from the Internet. I also stopped in the Apple store. iPads are slightly smaller than I thought they would be. Maybe all the people in the promotional video are smaller than I thought, so the scale was not coming through correctly?

Yesterday I finished participating in the 2010 Ravelympics as a member of the Crochet Liberation Front's Flaming Hooks team. My chosen challenge was to use Tunisian crochet and make a sweater from the Spice Market Tunic pattern . The rules for the competition involve starting a project no earlier than the Opening Ceremony for the real Olympics started, and finishing no later than midnight PST on the day they ended. That is a lot of crochet in a short amount of time. Especially since I have a job to go to, other commitments to keep up with, and no previous experience doing Tunisian crochet. I worked crocheting sessions into spare moments, during long trips, over lunch, and put in a few marathon sessions when I had large chunks of free time. People would ask what I was doing, I'd explain it, then I'd get a variation on this next question: "So, what happens if you don't finish?" Maybe I read into it the wrong way, but it always sounded like they were wond...

I went to a Pro/E Technology day today in Wheaton, and it ended at 3pm. Since the weather was so nice (sunny, near but still above freezing) I decided to visit the nearby Morton Arboretum for the first time. I went ahead and joined for the year at the individual membership level. (This also gets me in many other gardens that participate in the American Horticultural Society's Reciprocal Admissions Program.) I had my big camera, warm snow boots, and two hours before the park closed. There is a sculpture exhibit that opens in April, Steelroots by Steve Tobin , but the sculptures were already placed among the Conifer section. Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip:

Did you know it is National Engineer's Week ? They celebrate it all week at work. They give us cake, and gifts, and hold competitions with nifty prizes. Today I won a portable hard drive by making the strongest table out of 8 sheets of newspaper. A few years ago I won a laser level by making the strongest tower out of index cards and staples. (I do real engineering, too, where they let me specify aluminum and stainless steel to make parts. But that is all year.) Happy National Engineer's Week!

I was as surprised as you were when I turned the corner at the grocery store and discovered from a display set up in the center of the cereal aisle that they now make INSTANT Irish Oatmeal ! That means I can have Irish oatmeal whenever I want now, not... never. I got my introduction to real Irish oatmeal on a horseback riding trip in the Canadian Rockies that I went on with my family a long time ago. I even bought myself a bag of the stuff from King Arthur's Baker's catalog . But then I think I prepared it a grand total of ONCE. It takes a looooong time to prepare, especially for a breakfast food, so I always passed over it in favor of other choices. Not anymore. I am eating it for dinner right now.

Luxury is making beautiful things because I want to, not because I have to. Top to bottom: The Irish Eyes motif from The Harmony Guides: Crochet Stitch Motifs: 250 Stitches to Crochet . The Clover Hat from Crochet in Color : Techniques and Designs for Playing with Color . Cold Shoulders from Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet : The Happy Hooker . (Luxury is also new pillows, fresh windshield wiper blades, a good song stuck in my head, and a cat on my lap.)

please send her over to Ravelry.com . We could use more crocheters to balance out all the knitters who have taken over a little. Seriously, I didn't bring my laptop on vacation last week, and I got along fine just using my iPod touch for Internet consumption. Ravelry works well on the iPod/iPhone, the only problem at the moment is that it has trouble marking forum posts as "read". That, and the screen was too small - I had to keep zooming in. So, a giant iPod (aka the iPad) would have worked even better. Will I get one? Ask me again when the 2nd Gen comes out. One problem is I wouldn't be able to carry it constantly like the iPod. First, it doesn't fit in my purse. Second I doubt I could legally bring it into work with me like I can with the iPod. (It is a bit too much like a computer and not enough like a phone or an MP3 player.) I'd lean towards the model with the largest hard drive, but no 3G service. I do like the display specs - it would be wo...