Larissa aka Stitch Marker is offering the Meathead pattern for sale (prior to the book release) with proceeds to go to Christopher Donn Memorial Fund. As she put it, the pattern is relatively easy so the real thing that you may be doing is donating to the fund for a family who tragically lost a husband and father when he was struck by a car trying to avoid another car (he was jogging on the sidewalk). The pattern is a bonus for helping out, should you be so moved.
This is the pattern that I used for the knit along, and created these beauties, if that assists in your decision making.
Rants About New (and old) Things
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
No Need for Sizing
Now I am not in a position to personally wear a condom (male condom, as intended) but since I have witnesses a teenager pulling one completely over his head I feel that they contain enough give to really make this sizing thing unnecessary. Of course, people put pantyhose over their heads, and I always have to go up a size from what the chart on the back recommends so perhaps I simply don't understand. But apparently, if bored enough, one could wear over 600 condoms (as intended - NSFW*). However, if sizing makes you or your partner happier (pun not intended), then go for it.
*I haven't checked the link that this link leads you to, since it is NSFW and I haven't logged in a home to peruse it .
*I haven't checked the link that this link leads you to, since it is NSFW and I haven't logged in a home to peruse it .
Buildings, Weather and Interdependencies
One of the many things I love about DC is that while there aer certainly plenty of buildings of the tall sort, there are no real skyscrapers. The reason is that there is a rule in place that nothing can be taller (height-wise, hills and such are not counted in this) than the Washington Monument.
When I was travelling in Europe someone told me that Europe - having done much of their building prior to the skyscraper era - is experiencing space problems, while places where development came later, such as Asia are building up to make better use of space.
I also recently ran across a discussion about DC's height limit and how that may play into the high real estate prices since there is a finite number of dwellings that can be put in.
Well, the spring issue of UU World has an article talking about weather and the seventh principle. The seventh principle for Unitarian Universalists speaks to recognizing the interdependent web of existence, our connection to the world and each other.
Author Laura Lee talks about our effects - intended and unintended - on weather and states:
In urban areas, where greenery is scarce and pavement is not, tall buildings block the path of winds and expand the surface areas that absorb solar heat. The result is an effect known as the “urban heat island.” It is particularly pronounced in Japanese cities like Tokyo, where high humidity multiplies the effect of rising heat. Tokyo today is 3°c hotter than it was a century ago. Palm trees native to subtropical southern China are springing up in the city as flocks of parakeets native to southern India and Sri Lanka fly overhead. NASA scientists observing satellite images of Atlanta, Georgia (nicknamed “Hotlanta” for its nightlife), found that the hottest parts of downtown were as much as 10°f hotter than the surrounding area and that this difference caused air to rise and created thunderstorms. If you live East of the city and a tornado comes your way, you may have Hotlanta to thank.
So, there is a reason, aside from the historical and the aesthetic, to maintain DC's height limit. Because, it is certainly hot enough already. (Or it is in the summer, at least.)
When I was travelling in Europe someone told me that Europe - having done much of their building prior to the skyscraper era - is experiencing space problems, while places where development came later, such as Asia are building up to make better use of space.
I also recently ran across a discussion about DC's height limit and how that may play into the high real estate prices since there is a finite number of dwellings that can be put in.
Well, the spring issue of UU World has an article talking about weather and the seventh principle. The seventh principle for Unitarian Universalists speaks to recognizing the interdependent web of existence, our connection to the world and each other.
Author Laura Lee talks about our effects - intended and unintended - on weather and states:
In urban areas, where greenery is scarce and pavement is not, tall buildings block the path of winds and expand the surface areas that absorb solar heat. The result is an effect known as the “urban heat island.” It is particularly pronounced in Japanese cities like Tokyo, where high humidity multiplies the effect of rising heat. Tokyo today is 3°c hotter than it was a century ago. Palm trees native to subtropical southern China are springing up in the city as flocks of parakeets native to southern India and Sri Lanka fly overhead. NASA scientists observing satellite images of Atlanta, Georgia (nicknamed “Hotlanta” for its nightlife), found that the hottest parts of downtown were as much as 10°f hotter than the surrounding area and that this difference caused air to rise and created thunderstorms. If you live East of the city and a tornado comes your way, you may have Hotlanta to thank.
So, there is a reason, aside from the historical and the aesthetic, to maintain DC's height limit. Because, it is certainly hot enough already. (Or it is in the summer, at least.)
Monday, February 26, 2007
I Would Like to Thank
I would like to thank God and my parents, because without them I wouldn't be here today. Oh right, well, anyway, the Oscars were last night and they ran long (although not as long as the night my friends and I were betting with candy and we all bet on what time they would and ten minutes past the latest guess, we all had to pick new times). But overall I enjoyed them. Yes, there were too many tributes, but I was happy to see the return of the fashion show prior to best costume and enjoyed the script readings before best screenplays. And the music. I adore Melissa Etheridge and don't in any way mean to take away from the excitement of her song, but when the Oscar voters demonstrated a serious lack of attention to music this year leading to three songs from "Dreamgirls" being nominated, well, it almost assured a "Dreamgirls" loss. Ah well.
There were no choices that made me want to spit, no terribly long speeches (although quite a few really dull ones). And Ellen rocked. If they could alternate Ellen, John Stewart and maybe Whoopi and Chris Rock I think it would be great. Although I don't recall hating any hosts in recent years.
Congratulations to Jennifer Hudson! It is an amazing thing to be in your very first movie and get nominated for an Academy Award and then win! Here's hoping it's just the beginning.
There were no choices that made me want to spit, no terribly long speeches (although quite a few really dull ones). And Ellen rocked. If they could alternate Ellen, John Stewart and maybe Whoopi and Chris Rock I think it would be great. Although I don't recall hating any hosts in recent years.
Congratulations to Jennifer Hudson! It is an amazing thing to be in your very first movie and get nominated for an Academy Award and then win! Here's hoping it's just the beginning.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Three Book Mini-Rants
I am easily irritated by little stuff these days. So, here are some things that have forced me to stop reading - at least long enough to mutter at the book.
*I'm paraphrasing, but I read a book where the character was having an internal monologue about how her family thought it was weird that she was in South America. She thought that her family felt that the no places was worth going unless it was New York, LA, DC, certainly nowhere below the Mason-Dixon line. Except that DC is below the Mason-Dixon line. And there were so many ways to tweak that sentence to eliminate that.
*Again, internal monologue. This book is the first of a series and boy can you tell with all the info dumping about everyone who is going to recur. The character is thinking about a friend and employee who, while living in a small Southern town, dress stylishly and highlights his hair. The character states that he is clearly gay and the only person who doesn't know it is him. Except, he's not gay unless he is attracted to people of his same gender. There is nothing else that makes you gay. Now, certainly this character, could be suppressing an attraction to other men, but the character who is narrating offers no evidence of this. Which means, as far as everyone else knows, he is not gay.
*And one book in the pile contains a character who discovered her husband was cheating on her, thereby prompting STI testing. I applaud the fact that such a necessity was mentioned, however the character - who is supposed to be my age, in a book published in this millennium - refers to it as VD testing. I don't know how old the author is (some quick nosing determined that she graduated college in the late eighties) but really. The only reason I even know what VD is (they used the abbreviation in the book rather than the full words: venereal disease), is because I saw a very special episode of "Good Times" once upon a time. (I may even have asked my mother for clarification on what they were talking about.) Really, welcome to the present, people.
Updated because I remembered one.
*I'm paraphrasing, but I read a book where the character was having an internal monologue about how her family thought it was weird that she was in South America. She thought that her family felt that the no places was worth going unless it was New York, LA, DC, certainly nowhere below the Mason-Dixon line. Except that DC is below the Mason-Dixon line. And there were so many ways to tweak that sentence to eliminate that.
*Again, internal monologue. This book is the first of a series and boy can you tell with all the info dumping about everyone who is going to recur. The character is thinking about a friend and employee who, while living in a small Southern town, dress stylishly and highlights his hair. The character states that he is clearly gay and the only person who doesn't know it is him. Except, he's not gay unless he is attracted to people of his same gender. There is nothing else that makes you gay. Now, certainly this character, could be suppressing an attraction to other men, but the character who is narrating offers no evidence of this. Which means, as far as everyone else knows, he is not gay.
*And one book in the pile contains a character who discovered her husband was cheating on her, thereby prompting STI testing. I applaud the fact that such a necessity was mentioned, however the character - who is supposed to be my age, in a book published in this millennium - refers to it as VD testing. I don't know how old the author is (some quick nosing determined that she graduated college in the late eighties) but really. The only reason I even know what VD is (they used the abbreviation in the book rather than the full words: venereal disease), is because I saw a very special episode of "Good Times" once upon a time. (I may even have asked my mother for clarification on what they were talking about.) Really, welcome to the present, people.
Updated because I remembered one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)