“Whaaaaaaaat?! Going away?? That is not acceptable!” -Chaos
Category Archives: Randonymity
Contests! And links! And books! And sleepy cats!
Cheryl’s celebrating her blogiversary – drop by and leave her a comment before midnight, August 13, and you could win some ShiBui sock yarn (for returning commenters) or a Cabled Sheep mug or tote (for new visitors).
Rae’s having a mileage contest – guess how many miles she logged during her Montana vacation and you could win a mysterious prize. Leave your guesses by August 15 (and check her sidebar for more info on the vacation and the contest).
To celebrate her impending publication, “Anna Leonard” is having an lolcat caption contest. Leave your caption by August 19 and you could win a signed copy of her paranormal romance novel The Night Serpent before it’s available in stores.
Speaking of lolz… you can lolinate your website or find out your lol name. Iz funyz.
You may or may not remember that Chaos has had a longstanding fascination with bicycles, although I guess this is the first time he’s been near a bicycle with actual wheels. So far I’ve only hit my head on the back tire twice! 🙂
Obsidian Kitten has two recent posts about cardboard scratchers and toys that might interest you.
There are Keen biking sandals, so maybe I will get clipless pedals at some point. Thanks to KitKatKnit for that info, as well as for this link to a very cool black cat scooter.
Reading Update
Some Like It Hot-Buttered by Jeffrey Cohen. An extremely witty New Jersey-based mystery about the owner of a comedy movie theater.
Blue Dahlia, Black Rose, Red Lily (In the Garden Trilogy); O’Hurley’s Return (Skin Deep & Without a Trace); The Calhouns: Catherine, Amanda and Lilah; The Calhouns: Suzanna and Megan; and Three Fates by Nora Roberts. Just keep in mind that her older stuff, such as the O’Hurleys and Calhouns, is nowhere near as good as her more recent stuff, such as Three Fates (which I particularly enjoyed). And it was fun to see celiac disease mentioned in passing in Black Rose!
*blink blink* “Hey, I was trying to sleep over here! Stop with the random flashing already.” -Mayhem
“She has a point about the flashing, Mom. A guy never gets a chance to look his best with all the random flashing.” -Chaos
Do not adjust your dye-al*
*with apologies to Deb… More on that if you make it through the linky madness below.
Megan’s having a raffle to raise money to attend a missionary training course in Mexico. For each $10 you donate, you get a chance to win some pretty amazing prizes. Donate by August 13, 12 pm EDT to be included in the raffle.
None of us are free until all of us are free – check out the Free Tibet contest details at PoMo Golightly.
Hmm… T-shirt or sign or mug?! 😉
Oh, Itty Bitty Kitty Committee has a ScratchScroll, too! (If you like looking at great pictures of adorable kittens, you need to be reading IBKC.)
Lisa found this tutorial on making your very own cardboard cat furniture…
And Dotty found the bag version of my water bottle… although we can’t tell if it’s risque or not.
So, as Deb mentioned, she and Jeanne and I got together last Saturday to dye some yarn. Deb picked up some KnitPicks sock blanks (to make self-striping sock yarn) for us to try. Isn’t she just the sweetest?! Group hug for Deb!
Here’s Dr. Deb at work on her very cool watermelon yarn. I think she might be about to add the seeds!
You may be shocked to discover that I dyed this Tequila Sunrise yarn, inspired by the first photo in Jane Brocket’s Twist Collective article.
Jeanne came up with the brilliant idea of using the Yarn Harlot’s Laurie’s Socks #1 and Laurie’s Socks #2 for color inspiration – here she is working on her interpretation of Laurie’s Socks #1.
Can you believe that the purple and black yarn in this picture was not mine?! 🙂 Truth.
Now, KnitPicks claims you can just knit two socks at the same time from your sock blank and not have a thing to worry about, but I’m doubtful. That’s some darned kinky yarn! I plan to soak it, weight it, and hope it hangs straight.
In order below, my Tequila Sunrise, Jeanne’s Laurie’s Socks #1, and my Laurie’s Socks #2.
And, of course, all the kinky self-striping yarn that Jeanne and I dyed – her skeins on the left and mine on the right.
My thoughts? KnitPicks, you need to knit the sock blanks more loosely, so that dye can reach all of the yarn. We all ended up with white spots that were not visible until we unwound the yarn. Also, I can’t imagine trying to knit this straight off the sock blank. I recommend that two people with niddy-noddies wind the yarn from the blank (one of you will will need to stand on the blank – beware if your feet are ticklish) into hanks so you can soak and straighten the yarn.
“Mmmm… doesn’t all that yarn look scrumptious?! I hope Mom is inattentive for a few minutes, so I can add some extra ends to the process.” -Mayhem
Chaos and the snack sheep
Wow – I ordered my water bottle from JamTots in Vancouver, BC, last Friday and it arrived Monday! Kudos to JamTots for that and for their great communication – I pointed them to Bethe’s post about discovering her sheepy water bottle was a bit risque; they were amused and a bit chagrined, as they hadn’t noticed that little detail.
“What’s this on the cat tree?!” -Chaos
“Yum, it’s covered with snack sheep!” -Chaos
“Although… darn it, those aren’t real snack sheep.” -Chaos
“I shall now sit here and be annoyed that there are fake snack sheep on the cat tree.” -Chaos
Kilroy was here
Or… KilRoyMay is here?!
“I know where you live, Mom.” -Mayhem
Linky Friday
Today (August 1), Tink’s Third Annual PB Contest begins at 9 am EDT and continues throughout the day. Winners will receive their choice of “a mixed goody bag” or a personal post.
Margene sent me this great picture of a shoe she saw at Bill’s Footwear in Berkeley. I wonder why she thought of me?! 😉
I couldn’t actually find this shoe at the Bill’s Footwear website, so I tried a little google-fu and found these…. and these. Yowza. Who knew?!
Flamingos on Cute Overload – how timely!
Did you see Sydney’s link to the phone sheep? I wonder how many telephones it took to make that flock…
Check out the pictures of Bethe’s very cute and unexpectedly, um, educational sheepy water bottle… Sorry, I just bought the last one! 🙂 Update: Thanks to KitKatKnit, who discovered another location that has these bottles.
If you’re a mystery fan, you hopefully already know about the wonderful mystery information site Stop, You’re Killing Me. If you’re a fan of the romance, suspense, speculative, or western genres, check out the FictionDB. While a lot of the site content is for paid subscribers, there’s enough free stuff to make it a handy reference.
Reading Update
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman. I’d argue that Anne Fadiman is something other than a common reader, but her essays on reading and books are excellent.
Dyer Consequences: A Knitting Mystery by Maggie Sefton. The latest book about Fort “Connor” knitter and accountant Kelly Flynn isn’t any better than the others, although Kelly does progress from scarves to a hat. I figure she’ll start her first St*rmore around book #2517. What can I say – if it’s a knitting mystery, I apparently persist with the series. Now, if there was a knitting vampire mystery series, would I be doomed or what?! 😉
Rising Tides, Inner Harbor, Chesapeake Blue (Chesapeake Bay Saga, Books 2-4); Daring To Dream, Holding the Dream, and Finding the Dream (The Dream Trilogy); The Villa; Born O’Hurley (The Last Honest Woman and Dance to the Piper) by Nora Roberts. A-hem.
Twilight Fall: A Novel of the Darkyn by Lynn Viehl. These are decently written vampire-based paranormal romances, but they continue to not completely engage me for some reason… possibly because it’s a bit more crudely graphic than I look for in a “romance.”
CindyCindy has been very worried about Chaos not appearing on the blog this week. Never fear, CindyCindy, Chaos isn’t working two jobs or anything!
“Good grief, Mom, can’t I have any peace around here?! What’s a cat gotta do so he can take a private bath?!” -Chaos
Lost in the linkiness again
Kat is going to bike 192 miles over two days in support of a good cause. (You know how I feel about biking!) She’s giving away some relatively amazing prizes (such as a 4 gb Zune), plus everyone who donates $50 or more will get enough yarn to make a pair of socks or other small project. So if you or anyone you know has been impacted by cancer or a cancer scare, head on over to Kat’s and donate by September 15 to be included in the prize drawings.
The kitties do love their fancy pants chaise lounge scratcher – they spend a lot of time lounging on or near it and sometimes even scratching it. Now I’m wondering how this scratcher would go over…
Interested in toning up those arms and getting more fit in six weeks? Willing to post before and after pictures? Then click over to Carrie’s website and let her know – you could win “a prize of woolly goodness” in six weeks! (No, I’m not going to join – no better way for me to stop exercising than to join an along for exercise! Besides, I already do crunches and push-ups five days a week – and believe me, push-ups can do as much for your arms as a fancy gym. Really. Even knee push-ups, my favorite.)
Haven’t discovered Cake Wrecks yet? You are in for a treat! Here’s one of my (somewhat twisted) favorites… I think I even have one to submit – just have to dig it out and scan it.
Thanks to Jeanne for pointing me to Consumerist, which has been an intriguing and informative blog for empowered and empowering consumers. In fact, here’s something from Consumerist: a nice list of seven ways your library can help you during a bad economy. Really, if it wasn’t for the library, I’d be destitute and building myself shelter in a bookstore parking lot from all the books I’d purchased. Speaking of which…
Reading Update
The McKade Brothers: Rafe and Jared; Entranced (The Donovan Legacy); Montana Sky; Angels Fall; Tribute (I really, really liked this one); and Sea Swept (Chesapeake Bay Saga, Book 1) by Nora Roberts. A-hem.
Men in Kilts by Katie MacAlister. I have no idea why I read the entire book. I have to admit that, based on MacAlister’s paranormal romances (Sex, Lies and Single Vampires, etc), I was expecting something in the time-traveling Highlander genre. This wasn’t… in fact, it had me wondering if it was vaguely autobiographical.
Breath of Magic by Teresa Medeiros. Extremely fluffy paranormal romance. Apparently I have no shame. Hopefully y’all like that about me! 😉
“I can’t believe you guys think that I’m dorky. You wound me.” -Chaos
Wrapping up a week that seemed far longer than it actually was
Some random Minneapolis pictures… I love little towers and cupolas.
And rampant greenery.
Well, this is actually a St. Paul picture – do not turn your computers or monitors upside down in confusion. This is how I shot the picture. I’m even in the picture.
That would be Jeanne’s lovely but annoyed cat Puddinhead. Just picture yourself, outside, calling for this cat at the top of your lungs, “Puddinhead! Here, Puddinhead! Puddinhead, come home!” Hee hee.
Reading Update
Blood Lines and Night Season (The Lupi, Book 3 & 4) (plus bonus Night Season short story) by Eileen Wilks. Do not read the short story before you finish Night Season! It would be a sad thing. *sigh* The next book won’t be out until March 2009.
Born in Ice and Born in Shame (Books 2 & 3 of the Born In Trilogy) by Nora Roberts. There’s something comforting about the predictability of a Nora Roberts trilogy…
Dance Upon the Air (Three Sisters Trilogy, Book 1) by Nora Roberts. Like I was just saying…
Charmed and Enchanted (The Donovan Legacy) by Nora Roberts. If triplet wizards married triplet witches, what would the extended family be like?
High Noon by Nora Roberts. This suspenseful romance novel has crochet as a (minor) plot point!
From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampires, Book 8 ) and Dead to the World (Southern Vampires, Book 4) by Charlaine Harris. My goodness, the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel had some twists and turns to it! *blink blink* And after all that, I had to go back and reread Dead to the World, to refresh my memory.
Bitten and Smitten and Fanged and Fabulous (Immortality Bites, Book 1 & 2) by Michelle Rowen. Chick lit vampire romance set in Toronto.
Hunter’s Moon (The Sazi, Book 1) by C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp. Maybe it was the writing style, but part of this had a very noir feeling… You can’t exactly say a book has a film noir feel – so what’s the right phrase?
Speaking of books… Remember that Romancing the Yarn contest I won? My prize turned out to be a lovely skein of Trekking in a colorway I hadn’t seen (bonus!), romance novel Just Desserts by author and knitter Barbara Bretton, magnets for her forthcoming knitting-related book Casting Spells (excellent title, isn’t it?), and a booklight. Thank you, Barbara et al!
“No, May, I think this gizmo is too heavy to steal as you race through. I’d go with the dash and dine on the yarn.” -Chaos
Have a good weekend, all – and make sure you give everyone you love an extra hug, ok?
Please send lucky healthy thoughts
“Hey, this is Mayhem. Will you think lucky healthy thoughts for my mom this afternoon? She’s having some tests done and she says it’s probably nothing, but the big kitty and I, we worry. She feeds us! And plays fetch! And gives good scritches! (Although the big kitty would like me to point out that she’s damned stingy with the tuna.) Much appreciated – I’m sure my mom doesn’t like going to the vet any more than I do.” -Mayhem
Update (7/9/2008, 3:45 pm CDT): Thank you all so much for the well wishes and healthy thoughts! All is well – just lots and lots of tiny cysts leading to something that felt very, very wrong (and very unlike the cysts I’m more used to). Whew!
Random Tuesday… just because
If you know anything about Minnesota, you know it’s the land of 10,000 summer festivals. Amy has a great list of selected July offerings. Curses! Missed the Viola Gopher Count again! 😉
I have now worked for the same company for 12 years, although said company is now on its fourth or fifth name since I started!
Does this lolcats remind you of Mayhem?! And this could definitely be Chaos.
My “legacy” iPod shuffle, Bake Neko, is ok! True, it isn’t as sleek and sexy as the new Shuffles and Nanos, but it is an excellent size for carrying along on walks.
So I walked again last night, with musical accompaniment. Hopefully it will become a habit before I even notice it happened… (Shhh! Don’t clue me in on it!)
Probably I should not bring along my camera for my next 10 or 20 walks, since I took an awful lot of pictures last night. I’ll try not to overwhelm y’all with too many pictures at once.
Aren’t lions more traditional?!
Does Woodrow here (located in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden) remind you of a certain horse that cavorts with flamingos?
Hmm… Embiggen to read the sign on the left!
“No way are you catching me in a compromising picture like you did the big kitty yesterday! I’m going to sit here and do absolutely nothing.” -Mayhem