File under: Things You Don't Hear Every Day.

Shortly after dinner chez Quimby, the following exchange took place, as Mr. Q was online checking the bus schedule:

Me: "Where are you going? I thought you said you were going to do the dishes."

He: "I'll do them when I get back. I won't be long, I'm just running out to buy a sword."

Me: "Oh. OK then. Have fun, see you when you get home."

I love Halloween. I have to dress up for work, and I'm trying to decide between a ban-sidhe (more work, creepier, very thematically-appropriate for the Celtic New Year) or a black cat (less work, less creepy, also appropriate for the day. Though I'd prolly resemble a fat lazy housecat, more than a witch's familiar)

If I'd thought of it in time, I'd have collected a bunch of paper bags, made a dress, and gone as The Paper Bag Princess. Somewhere I'm going to have to start keeping track of all these great Halloween ideas. Harumph.

I'm stalling on marking. Progress Reports (glorified report cards) due this week, and I'm ready to be done with the marking thing. Also, with Mondays. Somebody put it perfectly yesterday: There are far too many Mondays in a week. (Though actually mine was OK!)

Waiting outside a Starbucks yesterday for a friend who was stuck in traffic (the only coffee shop around, for the record, it's not like I go there on purpose) I was knitting away, and a tourist marched up to me, obvious purpose in her stride. It was a little disconcerting, but I had pointy sticks in hand, so I figured I was safe.

"You're knitting!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, yes I am."

"What are you making?"

"A hat."

"What are you using?"

"Malabrigo....?" (I was unsure if she'd have any idea what I was talking about.)

"I'm a yarn store owner from New York. Here's my card."

(ummmmm.....cashmere and silk....I did NOT need to look at her website! Fortunately she doesn't do mail order!) She was looking for the nearest LYS, saw me knitting, and figured I could point her in the right direction. We had a lovely little chat before I sent her up Main Street.

I heart Knitters.

(Her husband was awfully nice, too.)

Procrastinating

I am totally stalling. I have an old friend from high school in town. We're meeting at a pub downtown in a couple of hours - prolly haven't seen each other in 5 years, and I'm really looking forward to catching up. Except that I don't want to leave the house, or even my PJs. Mr.Q has kindly gone to get groceries himself, giving me a little more time before I have to be functional. And instead of having a shower, or folding laundry, or working on my Italian homework - all of which need doing - I am downloading photos from the last week. Want to see?

First flaming Sambuca ever, on my birthday - I'd wanted something else, with mango liqueur and rum, but the waiter wouldn't let me. He said it was a bad idea with all the masala spices in my meal, and I should have this instead, it would clear my palate. "But I don't like Sambuca!" I said. He and Mr.Q both just gave me a look. I caved. I was glad. It was really good! I'm going to have to start lighting all my drinks on fire.


Out and about yesterday afternoon...I love the colours here this time of year:



And this just made me want to kick up the leaves and make them crunch:


Laying low last night with some DVDs, the cats were even cuter than usual:





A note about the green towel - gawd, I'm just looking at those pictures again, and thinking I shouldn't post them, given the hideously mish-mashed colour scheme in that corner! The green towel is the biggest we have, it's a lot easier to wash the cat hair off of that on a regular basis, than the futon cover. Obviously, our "colour scheme" is less along the lines of carefully-chosen complementary tones, and more like "what's on hand just now without having to do more laundry that isn't already covered in a furry layer of cat hair."

And speaking of laundry (how's that for a graceful segue to an exit?) I have to go switch another load over, and then really start getting organized.

Is it already Monday again tomorrow? Wah!

People are fracked.

So I was going to post about the flaming drink I had on my birthday, and new yarn, and the fall colours, and the new baby I got to smell today...but on my way to Blogger, I stopped by Frank's blog. And. Oh. My. Fucking. Gawd. I can't believe what some people get up to in their free time.

(Or, maybe not so free. Whaddya wanna bet these guys get paid for this shite? And it's interesting that the signatories are all guys.)

Now, I know I'm not American...so y'all might be asking what this has to do with me...but I can tell you, I am as aware as anybody that what happens below the 49th usually has an impact up here, too. Plus there's that tiny little issue of human rights. (Also, we saw the trailer for Milk on the weekend, which I'm stoked to go see, and that's prolly got me in the mood for a little soapbox action, too.)

The ridiculousity of these threats, made so brazenly, just sickens me.

Though they surprise me not in the least.

There are days that, faced with the suck-wattage of some human beans, I swear I only want to get out of my bed long enough to hide under it, a pile of blankets over my head. I'm sure Singe would bring me something to eat once in awhile.

(Fortunately, the new-baby smell today has inoculated me a little against completely losing faith in humanity. For now.)

Whether or not Mr.Q and I have the wherewithal to donate at this moment remains to be seen. But I can tell you it is a conversation we'll be having when he gets home. Knitting (and fundraising knitters) have shown that a lot of little bits add up right quick. At the very least, I can do this to put it out there for the world to see, or the wee bit of it that might stop by for a visit.

So there you have it. Happy Friday.

Happy Burfi-day to my feets!

It's my birthday today. And I am so glad to finally be as old as I've been thinking I am all year. Confused? Yeah, me too. And I have been since early February. Comes with spending a lot of time with Asian students who celebrate the Lunar New Year. Which is a cool festival, and a really big deal in Vancouver, and I totally enjoy all of the cultural exchange kind of stuff. But this year - the Year of the Rat - is "my" year. Which, in February, led to a lot of people counting off on their fingers and coming up with my age. Only my birthday's nowhere near February, so all year I've had to stop and think and count, and got it wrong as often as not, and have generally been more confused than usual on the issue. Thank goodness that's all over for another 12 years! (When I will be 24. Again.)

Keeping it low-key today...Mr.Q's taking me for Indian food after work, and then I have a knitting meet-up. I'm going to take myself out for a fancy-pants coffee before work, maybe. But...but but but! After putting River Rapids Sock #2 on hold to knit hats for an army...I buckled down and finished 'em off, so's they'd be done in time to wear just for today.

They're not quite as bright as they look here - but they are, in fact, a little shiny:




Hooray for toasty shiny toes!

We will sock you

Forget Greg Kinnear, dudes. Look who I got to hold my sock tonight:

Just in case you need another hint:

(Gosh, that bass player behind him is kind of cute, don't you think?)

Warning: the post you are about to read may contain language. Viewer discretion is advised.

Fuck.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

Fuck.

Well, that was about the most fun I ever had, wasting $300,000,000. Thanks, Stevie. You know, if I wasted that kind of money against my employers' wishes, my ass would be so fired.

A couple notes for you, Mr.Harper, just a couple things to keep in mind:

*You do know, I hope, that the whole "Ordinary Canadians don't care about the arts, so I'm just going to slash arts funding" cost you Quebec. And a majority goverment. (To the Quebecois - merci beaucoup!)

*That whole not keeping election promises thing? Newfoundland is probably not the last province that will shut you out, if you keep that up. (Yay Newfies!)

*Umm....38% of the popular vote is not a "clear mandate to govern." It's a clear message that you had damned well better learn to play well with others, coz I doubt your party is going to accept another minority under you. I mean, if your MPs were actually allowed to have opinions or anything like that. Which they obviously aren't, but, you know, if they were. Hypothetically speaking. But it is obvious that the Canadian people have an opinion on that. And they didn't give you a clear mandate for anything but a short leash, pal.

At least, those of us who chose to exercise our right to express that opinion did, anyway.

People. Come on. Fifty-eight percent voter turnout? Jumpin' jeezus on a pogo stick. That is just fucking pathetic. Use it or lose it.

Fuckity fuck fuck.

Off to face a bunch of overprivileged apathetic gits, who think that "the goverment" should be solely responsible for everything - but without using any of their tax dollars, thankyouverymuch. Heads out of the arses, please, people!

Fuck.

Me, cynical? No way! (OK, Way)

Today, I had an important decision to make: walk down to the polling station before work, get it over with, and give up any chance of a seat on the bus downtown; or take the smelly, crazy, poky bus back to the 'hood after work, vote, and walk 20 minutes home on one of the (probably) last pseudo-sunny days of the year.

Kind of a no-brainer, when I put it like that. And it was indeed a nice walk home. Mr.Q had gone to vote about a half-hour before I did, and volunteered to run some errands & meet me at the coffee shop so we could walk home together. So. Civic duty done. For what it's worth. Am trying to find somewhere online that will be streaming the results as they come in. Only rarely do I miss having a TV, but tonight is one of those times. (Then again, do I really need to hear the pundits saying the same thing over and over for hours? Maybe not so much!)

I get frustrated with the political apathy I see around me all the time. Especially during an election. I think it bugs me so much - and I take voting so seriously - because the date of the last provincial election was the same date that women in Kuwait won the right to vote. And my goodness, if that doesn't give a gal some perspective, what will?! Anyway. Not going to dwell on it at the moment. We'll see what we wake up to tomorrow.

Sigh.

('ve also got a rant in me about over-privileged idjits with their entitled heads up their arses, but I'm feeling just a leetle too over-heated there! Maybe I'll cool down a bit before wading into that...)