Category Archives: Randonymity

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Ok, I finally broke down and turned on the heat yesterday

29 Comments

I was trying to see if I could make it to November 1… Maybe next year!

Check out the huge’n’scary’n’black’n’purple spider in Sydney’s neighborhood! Eeek!

Author Kim Harrison is having a Halloween costume contest. You have until November 17 to submit your photo entry for a chance to win assorted goodies, such as a copy of Harrison’s forthcoming Rachel Morgan novel.

Only a few days left to participate in Obsidian Kitten’s contest!

Black kitties. Gotta keep an eye on them is all I’m saying…

Love Natalie Dee’s “Why you should learn how to knit” cartoon. Heh.

Hmm. Definitely a unique take on bookmarks…

Reading Update
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kenner. A pretty amazing cast (Simon R. Green, Donna Andrews, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris, and more) writing stories about werewolves and Christmas.
My Immortal (Seven Deadly Sins, Book 1) by Erin McCarthy. I enjoy McCarthy’s humorous works, such as her tales of the Vegas Vampires, but had a lukewarm reaction to this book about temptation, demons, and lust, set in New Orleans. (It was completely vampire free, however.)
A Curious Affair by Melanie Jackson. Although it’s categorized as paranormal romance, it’s pretty light on the paranormal (the protagonist can talk to cats) and heavy on the mystery and sleuthing. (Also completely vampire free!)
Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I received this as an Early Reviewers copy via LibraryThing, so you get a bit more of a review than usual. 🙂 Free-Range Knitter is a collection of essays, split into seven parts as if it were a knitting project: casting on, knitting two together, yarn overs, left-leaning decreases, making one, continuing to knit even, and casting off. Each part begins with an essay about how a friend or family member knits, which then leads to deeper insights. Pearl-McPhee’s trademark knitting humour is evident throughout the book, and some of the essays will be familiar to regular readers of Pearl-McPhee’s blog, Yarn Harlot, but rest assured that the book includes plenty of extremely readable and thought-provoking new material. I found myself repeatedly setting this book aside, taking short breaks so I could savor it and look forward to the next part. I also kept trying to figure out what blend of essayists I could use to describe the feel of the book – I think Elizabeth Zimmermann meets Aldo Leopold, with a dash of Bill Bryson is probably the best I can do! (Even more vampire free than A Curious Affair!)
Knit Two: A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel by Kate Jacobs. I received this as an advance copy from the publisher – according to Amazon.com, it’ll be available November 25. So yes, you get more of a review for this book, too. This is set five years after The Friday Night Knitting Club. I didn’t enjoy the first several chapters, which seemed chaotic, what with reintroducing the characters and updating us on the intervening five years. I had a related complaint about the beginning of Jacobs’ novel Comfort Food and its similar chaotic flurry at the beginning. But, as with Comfort Food, once I got past the somewhat rough start, the story quickly drew me in and immersed me. At times, the narrative style felt choppy and seemed to interfere with the flow. And I found myself annoyed with various characters off and on. I also thought I had the ending all figured out… and I didn’t. If you enjoyed The Friday Night Knitting Club, you’ll definitely want to read the sequel. (No vampires in this one, either!)

For those of you who were curious about what yesterday’s tissue paper snack might’ve been wrapped around, it was a wrist strap from splityarn for my camera.

“Wasn’t that strap thingy wrapped in more tissue paper? No?! Hmph. Too bad – it was tasty stuff.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

Friday should come more than once a week

34 Comments

No spiders today!

La’s having a celebratory contest – stop by to get the details, caption a photo, and maybe win some of her gorgeous sock yarn. Contest ends 5 pm PST, November 7.

Cheryl was one of the winners in Chaos’ birthday contest. One of the “goodies” she received was a “make your very own black cat” kit. Here’s what she emailed me about opening the kit: “It was amazing! Except for the big pom-poms and ears, almost everything else was in a little tiny package (about 1″ by 2″) that must have been vacuum-compressed – it practically exploded kitty parts when I opened it.” She has more details (and pictures) of what happened after that.

Speaking of contests, I recently won over at Nicole’s and at Tink’s! (Hmm, maybe I also have the Random Number Generator Fairy?) Nicole sent a copy of Moongazer (the Amazon.com review describes it as a combination of The Matrix, Snow Crash, and Blade Runner), black kitty socks (how did she know??), and a bar of dark chocolate with espresso beans. Thank you, Nicole! Tink sent really cool SkullCandy ear buds, which I am eager to start using with my mp3 player. Thanks, Tink! (Now I’ll probably have to fight off Amy, who’s sure to notice that the packaging and ear buds are very Day of the Deadesque and will thus covet them something fierce.)

“What the heck is this?! So many swirly lines swirling and swirling… Whoa. I’m getting dizzy.” -Chaos

“I am Mayhem’s Tail, and I approve this message.” -Mayhem’s Tail

Here’s an unobstructed picture:

Happy weekend! Is it next Friday yet?

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Sure to be at least one link that intrigues you

29 Comments

Stephania’s having a contest – leave her a comment about the etsy/Ravelry/elsewhere crafter who particularly inspires you, and you could win a skein of her hand-painted sock yarn. Contest closes midnight, November 7, PDT.

Hee hee – have you seen the “Ye Olde Google Charts” sailing directions for Columbus?

In the future, will your plants be wandering around, competing with your kitties for the sunny spots? (I’m sure Mayhem won’t take any crap from the plants – I can hear the *crunch crunch crunch, nom nom nom* now.)

Hmm… here’s a nice IKEA hack that creates a cat friendly charging station.

If you haven’t switched to Google Reader from Bloglines, maybe this article about Bloglines’ failure to update and further failure to communicate what’s up will inspire you. The article includes information on how to export your blogs from Bloglines and import them into another feed reader – very easy. I ran Google Reader and Bloglines in parallel for a month or so earlier this year, and Google Reader was definitely more reliable. (Interestingly, it appears Bloglines fixed the update issue and communicated about it not long after Lifehacker posted about the problem.)

Megabus is coming to Minneapolis – a ticket to Chicago starting for less than $11? Same amount of time as the train or driving? And free wi-fi? Hmm…

Have paranormal romances killed off the contemporary romance? The folks over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weigh in.

If you’re a fan of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series, Caine’s agent has a Weather Warden short story posted on her blog.

I only found out about Saturday’s Readathon on Friday (from Nicole), so I didn’t participate this time. But there’s another one coming up in April. Cursingmama and I are already in training!

Reading Update
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. This is the tattoo-focused sequel to Wicked Lovely – much of it won’t make sense unless you read that book first. It was good, but it bothered me – not quite the same squinky feeling that, say, reading the Twilight novels gave me – but definite discomfort. And the ending was odd – it felt as if there was a chapter or two missing before the final two chapters.
Hot Spell by Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Shiloh Walker, and Meljean Brook. I picked this up for “Falling for Anthony,” which is the first tale of the Guardians. I also read the stories by Leigh and Walker – the stories were ok, but I’m not inspired to check out anything else they wrote. Speaking of Meljean Brook, she’s having daily contests until November 4, when the seventh Guardian novel, Demon Bound, is released.

Cockatiels at Seven (A Meg Langslow Mystery) by Donna Andrews. Yet another madcap installment in the Meg Langslow series, featuring a borrowed toddler, a boa constrictor, dancing poodles, wayward sheep, and missing Gouldian finches. My only complaint was the book’s abrupt ending – things were definitely left hanging.
Blood Drive and The Watcher (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 2-3) by Jeanne C. Stein. Being the further adventures of newly turned and reluctant vampire, bounty hunter Anna Strong.
A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix. A very dark and suspenseful first novel – I’ll definitely read the next book when it comes out later this year. (Note that I kept reading even though I am not a fan of novels with serial killers in them.) (Sorry, CarrieK, there are vampires in this one, too.)

“Why do you think I’d be a good spokescat for Caribou Coffee’s Obsidian blend, Mom? Are there spiders in it?” -Mayhem

Click the picture to discover the answer to the spokescat question…

Contests, Gluten Free, Randonymity, Reading

Fumbling into Friday

22 Comments

Guess whether Carole will finish her pre-Rhinebeck projects in time and you could win a little something from Rhinebeck. Leave your guesses by 9 pm EDT, October 19.

Kristi’s giving away a couple of books – leave her a comment by October 21.

Pam’s celebrating her second blogiversary. Leave a comment about the most exciting knitting project you have planned and you could win Koigu and a cowl pattern.

Knowing Chaos, if I did this, he’d have it dismantled by the time I got home… and be sitting on the counter to greet me. Remind me to tell you all the story of Chaos vs. the Automatic Cat Feeder sometime…

Deb has a fun interview with Franklin over at her Knitting Scholar blog.

Trying to find a place to meet a friend? This is a pretty clever idea. No idea how well it works! (For some reason, I just had a flash to the atlas in my car. It’s a Yahoo Maps atlas… but wait, don’t all those mapping sites have disclaimers about not using the maps for actual navigation? So… for what else would you use an atlas? *boggle*)

Doesn’t this comic just sum up the blogging experience?

I just discovered a new (to me) celiac blog that looks quite intriguing.

You might want to think twice before buying that bottle of water…

If you read paranormal romance/urban fantasy, you’ve maybe noticed a certain similarity in the covers. SciFiGuy has a great video about the whole thing – make sure you read the comments!

Reading Update
Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth (Nightside, Book 6) by Simon R. Green. John Taylor rocks. It’s very dark’n’noirish urban fantasy, highly recommended.
First Blood by Susan Sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie Green, and Meljean Brook. I picked this up to read McCarthy’s Vegas Vampires-related story. I enjoyed Sizemore’s story (from her Laws of Blood novels), but had no interest in reading the series. Couldn’t get into Green’s Vampire Babylon-related story. I liked the story by Brook enough that I put her Guardians series in my library queue, as you’ll probably notice below.
Blood Noir (Anita Blake, Book 16) by Laurell K. Hamilton. I know, I know, I whine about this series a lot, yet have this sick fascination with trying to follow the storyline. Hey, this book covered something like four or five days instead of only four or five hours – progress?
Hands of Flame (The Negotiator, Book 3) by C. E. Murphy. Whew! Very fast-paced and intense conclusion to the Negotiator Trilogy.
Demon Angel (The Guardians, Book 2), “Paradise” (The Guardians, Book 3, in Wild Thing), Demon Moon (The Guardians, Book 4), Demon Night (The Guardians, Book 5), and (as mentioned above) “Thicker than Blood” (The Guardians, Book 6, in First Blood) by Meljean Brook. The covers before Book 5 are pretty cheesy, but this series totally pulled me in. The series definitely has aspects that remind me of the Dark-Hunters (substitute Michael for Acheron, Guardians for Dark-Hunters, demons for daimons, etc).

Have a great weekend, all! It’s definitely needed here. O_o

“Neener neener neener to all of you! It’s always the weekend for me’n’the big kitty.” -Mayhem

Randonymity

Distractions

26 Comments

Ummm, since I’m working on two secret projects right now, I have even less knitting than usual to blog about – the most exciting thing being that I had to move one project onto the 47″ long cable. And setting up my new laptop has absorbed much of my attention since Saturday. Oh, didn’t I mention the new laptop? 😉 It’s the computer on the left below. (Pay no attention to that stubby, crooked black tail on the far left.) Ohmigosh, is it ever fast. Now, if I could just get all the applications I need to play nice with this 64-bit machine… and get my music library cleaned up. What a mess!

“Hey! Whose tail are you callin’ stubby and crooked?!” -Chaos

“That would be your tail, big kitty. Mine is very long and lovely. Hey, could you help me out of this kitty yoga pose? I am so stuck.” -Mayhem

Alongs, Contests, Randonymity, Reading, See the Sights

In which there are no “happi colord blankits” at all

25 Comments

Congrats to lucky numbers 15, 19, and 33 (aka Kathy, K, and Cheryl)! Many thanks to everyone who participated in Chaos’ birthday contest. 🙂

Jen’s giving away a skein of Yarn Pirate sock yarn – simply leave her a comment by 11:59 pm on October 13 for your chance to win.

Knit Witch is having a ghost story contest. Send her your ghost story by October 31for your chance to win some Knit Witch yarn.

That Yarn Harlot, she definitely knows how to come up with a very challenging contest…

Does this cartoon resonate with anyone?! *a-hem* The extremely technogeeky and knitterly (*a-hem*trek*a-hem*) might enjoy this cartoon…

Hmm, do you think I should get a “happi colord blankit”?

How true is this spoof cover of The Economist?! (May not be suitable for work if someone’s lurking behind you.)

For fans of Lilith Saintcrow, she has a free Saint City novel up on her website. Please note that this novel (Selene) takes place immediately after Saintcrow’s short story in the collection Hotter than Hell (and was one of the few stories I actually liked in that collection).

If you’re a fan of paranormal romance/fantasy, you might enjoy Blitzen Trapper’s new song “Furr” (link near bottom of blurb), described as an “alt-country werewolf ballad.”

*snicker* True, true, the Lord of the Rings is definitely an exception to this one… except for all the songs in the books.

Reading Update
Nip, Tuck, Dead‘ and Dead on Arrival (Pauline Sokol Mysteries, Book 5-6), “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” from Sugarplums and Scandal, plus another short story called “Dr. Robin Hood” by Lori Avocato. Still very, very evocative of Evanovich, although the “Joe” character seems to be a moving target with each book. The end of Dead on Arrival was really weird – the book ended, and then a nonsensical epilogue was tacked on to it. Did some more research and discovered that this series is between publishers right now.
Bad Blood (Crimson Moon, Book 1) by L.A. Banks. If 24 mated with the X-Files and had a werewolf episode…
Time and Again: Time Was & Time Changes by Nora Roberts. Ok, ok, I didn’t return all of those Nora Roberts books… How could I resist these two related novels about time travel?
A Taste of Darkness (MacKenzie Vampire, Book 3); Wicked Nights, Wicked Pleasure, and Wicked Fantasy(Castle of Dreams Trilogy) by Nina Bangs. Light’n’fluffy’n’racy paranormal romance, complete with decent writing and an ongoing storyline – start with Wicked Nights (before any of the MacKenzie Vampire books even).
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Very well-written teen urban fantasy – if the passivity of Bella and creepy stalker nature of Edward (Twilight) don’t seem like good teen reading for you, check out this novel. No vampires in this one.
A Date with the Other Side by Erin McCarthy. A bit reminiscent of Jennifer Crusie, with some ghosts tossed in.
The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 1) by Jeanne C. Stein. Meet Anna Strong, a bounty hunter recently turned into a vampire. Looking forward to the rest of the series after this strong start! Highly recommended.

“Since I don’t have a ‘happi colord blankit,‘ I’m hard at work on my next evil plan.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

Scene of a crime?

31 Comments

Thanks, all – the “my grain” was pretty much gone on Friday. Let us pause to honor good drugs and sleep… Turns out I couldn’t entirely blame that impaired cognitive function on work – it was pre-migraine fun. And of course, discovering Friday that I won two contests (one at Pickled Beef and one at Bookwyrm Knits) certainly contributed to my recovery. 🙂

Speaking of contests, don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest, which closes at 6 pm CDT today!

Valerie and Donna are knitting a blanket for their friend Michele, who is going through radiation treatment. If you’d like to contribute a 9″ square knit from fingering weight sock yarn, they would really appreciate it.

Do you remember my little flamingo houseplant “lawn” ornament (bottom of the linked post)? Hmm. This is mysterious. I wonder where that flamingo’s wandered off to?

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Perhaps a suicide attempt?

Or maybe not…

“Really, nothing to see here, Mom. Move along, move along.” -Mayhem

Contests, Randonymity

Warning: Written while cognitive function impaired by work

29 Comments

Obsidian Kitten is looking for some “bits and bobs” of leftover sock yarn for a monster (baby) hat project. Everyone who sends at least five yards of sock yarn will be entered to win one of three prizes (first place is a $25 gift certificate to Yarn Lust).

ModernCat is having an ugliest pet bed contest – if your cat or dog (under 15 pounds) has a pathetic bed or very odd sleeping spot, you could win a new SleepyPod pet bed. Contest closes October 31.

Don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest!

Jen’s in training for NaNoWriMo and is looking for others interested in working on (and posting) writing exercises every week in October. Let her know by October 5 if you’d like to participate.

*blink blink* I’m not sure what W*l-M*rt was thinking with this Halloween decoration…

Urban Fantasy Land posted a list of new releases scheduled for October and I was surprised (and pleased) to see a Dresden Files novel!

Sadly, work continues to be crazy busy, leaving me with very little brain power left to use for blogging at the end of the day. Yes, yes, I’m still managing a tiny bit of knitting. I finished knitting my shaped cardi while I was on vacation and just have the ends to weave in… since I can’t read and weave in ends, it could stay in that condition for a while! I’m knitting bibs for a recent and upcoming outbreak of babies. Plus, Jeanne and I are knitting a stealth project together – hopefully I’ll be able to blog about that next week sometime.

*burp* “Mmmmm… sheepy stitchmarker.” -Mayhem