I Did Something Cool Today

Um, no, it's not knitting related.

I'm sure you're just shocked!

When I changed my blog name from "Tongue-Tied Muse" to "Concateknit" I posted a poem of mine. I mentioned that I've been writing poetry for a long time, and when I posted the poem, I thought long and hard about posting one of my poems as a regular feature. But see, this isn't a poetry blog, and I really don't want it to be, so I just posted that one poem and went along my bloggy way.

Well, I've gone and done something cool, and I just want to share it with you.

But first - some shout outs.

To K, for bringing the cool thing to my attention and suggesting I submit to it.
To Mike, for telling me that he thinks I have an impressive body of work (um, no, no double entendre intended)
To The Girls (which also includes Ms. Melanie even though she isn't in this picture), for not laughing at me at dinner this month when I told them my plans, and
To Wendy, for reading my cover letter this morning and being tremendously supportive and helpful.

Okay - here's what I did - I submitted, gulp, a manuscript of my poetry to Grub Street's Poetry Revision Fellowship 2005.

Oh yeah, baby. I'm *totally* freaked out.

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Thank you SO much to everyone who commented and emailed me about my near-smooshing. I have this fantastic image of irate knitters chasing down the stupid smoosher with needles flying. Dude. Sweet.

Hi, I Almost Got Run Over Today

No shit.

Those of you who know me may know that I am a fairly aggressive pedestrian. I DO live in Boston, though, and living in Boston means that should you EVER want to cross a street, ANY street, in fact, EVER, you have to be at least a little aggressive.

But I should back up a bit. I know I've mentioned my commute home before - the last leg of my commute involves either a bus or a trolley. If I manage to catch the bus then I end up crossing just one intersection, and it has a stoplight (and I always wait for Walky Guy), and once I'm across I'm home in no time. If I have to take the trolley, I end up about half a mile from my house and I have to cross one intersection that on a good day is only mildly terrifying. In order to cross that intersection, I have to take advantage of lulls in the traffic and wade out about halfway across the street and wait for the cars coming the other direction to stop and let me cross the rest of the way.

Tonight? Tonight was actually looking pretty good for crossing the intersection, so there I was standing in the middle of the intersection, plainly visible to the car coming from the opposite direction, and you know what he did? He almost hit me. In fact, he came so close to hitting me that a car that had just turned the corner at the intersection I was trying to cross actually stopped because well, I can only guess because he was expecting the guy to hit me, and he wanted to be there just in case. Okay, seriously - when a Boston driver pulls over like that? You know that what just happened was exactly as terrifying as you thought it was. Me - I just screamed "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" as loud as I could, and I'll tell you guys honestly, if that guy had stopped or tried to give me any shit about crossing the street, I would have punched his lights out.

Immediately after the car nearly smooshed me and I yelled my ass off at the Smoosher, I immediately felt like bursting into tears. Luckily I was only about a block from my house, so I was able to get a big hug from Mike before I went and laid on the bed in a fetal position, waiting for the shaking to stop and my heart to slow down.

And you know what else? I keep making these lovely plans for my evenings that seem to be nothing more than pipe dreams. Last night I had every intention of coming home from work, eating a little dinner, chatting with Mike, reading a little from "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell", and maybe, oh I don't know, knitting a little, but you know what happened instead?

I spent 3 hours working on database design for my new job.

I love my new job, but what the fuck is wrong with my head?

In all honesty, I might be making more time for knitting if I wasn't so damn bored with the Ribby Cardi.

La Ribby:

Ho Hum

I did take a mini-break and start working on this:

That's 4 out of 5 petals for the chenile washcloth from Weekend Knitting. Um, yeah, I know you guys are all just freaking out because of my mad knitting output. Pfft.

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Big Fun, Part III

When I last left you, Kim, Mike and I had just left Jordan's and were heading off for Big Fun, Part III.

Um, yeah - we all went out to dinner.

Of course, we went to dinner in the North End, and we went to my favorite little restaurant, Tratoria il Panino (no, NOT the one in Fanueil Hall), and had a really wonderful little meal. Kim forgot to bring Wavy with her that night (the coldest part of her visit, of course), but just so you know that I really did finish Wavy on time, here's a picture:



Hey - did I tell you I almost got run over today???

Big Fun, Part II

Or, To Portsmouth and Back Again
A Short Girl's Tale

Before we begin, I have one picture from Big Fun, Part I, that I'd like to share with you:


Why am I sharing this particular picture with you? Two reasons: Shannon kept saying she wasn't sleeping, and I kept insisting I was sober. Need I say more? I didn't think so.

Saturday morning Kim, Mike and I drove up to Portsmouth and meandered toward the Friendly Toast for lunch. We pretty much ate our way through the weekend, but the fact that we walked about 8,000 miles helps me justify all the great meals we had.

We got ourselves situated at the Friendly Toast and busted out the cameras:



Mike took a picture of his favorite piece of "art":

I wish my feet were half as happy as Happy Foot.

We went our separate ways after lunch, Mike heading for a marathon shopping trip at Bull Moose Music and Kim and I heading up Islington Street to do a little browsing (and some buying) at some of the wonderful Portsmouth shops.

On our way back to the car, I snapped this photo:

I have told you about Kim's wonderful and amazing hair, right? *sigh*

On our way to Big Fun, Part III we made a stop at Jordan's Furniture. See, you have to understand that there is NOTHING like Jordan's in California, and everyone who visits me is likely to get dragged to one should we get outside the city during their visit. This particular Jordan's that we went to has a trapeze school INSIDE of it, a Bose store, and a replica of most major Boston landmarks made entirely out of jelly beans. You tell me how you're supposed to skip seeing something like that. I mean, come on now.

In real time news, there's exciting things and sad things afoot here at Chez Concateknit. Sadly, our friend Aki is leaving to move home to Japan tomorrow. As much as Mike and I know that Aki has a tremendous opportunity to look forward to in Japan, we will really miss his smile, kindness, and enthusiasm. We'll also miss Aki's uncanny ability to get us both REALLY, REALLY drunk (remind me to tell you the story of The First Time We Went to the White House sometime, 'kay?) beyond all reasonableness. Aki has made me promise that Mike and I will visit him in Japan (well, I think he's really more interested in Mike going, but I get to go too, so it's all good) and he's really gunning for Mike and I to get married so he has a good excuse to come back to the USA. The fact that Aki is really serious about us getting married so he can come to the wedding necessarily endears him to me. Remember - it's good to get other people to do things that you can't or won't do yourself. As Aki is already married, we're the next best thing, I guess. I just hope that Aki knows that he's been a terrific friend to me and Mike, and we will always cherish all the memories that we have with him. Good luck, Aki - you don't need it, but you deserve it.

Now, from the bittersweet to the jump up and down and pinch yourself because you're so happy - my dearest Mike has a new job! He'll be working for an organization that my organization is affiliated with, and he'll get to take all the wonderful skills he has to a new position where I'm sure his potential is limitless. I'm so thrilled for him and the opportunities that are coming his way. Go Honey-Pants! I did offer to put The Contingent (all the peeps that we're friends with that work with me) onto a shuttle out to his new workplace to celebrate on his first day of work, but he seemed to think that might be a little, well, dangerous. Granted, The Contingent can drink, but, um, okay, so maybe it isn't the best idea for his first day of work, especially as it's a Monday and all...

Alright lovelies - I'm going to sign off for now, do a little work (le sigh), and then maybe, oh, I don't know, KNIT for a while. I wish you all a lovely evening and good times with your sweetie-pantses. ;)

BTW - if you haven't heard Jackie's latest good news, go say congrats!

Big Fun, Part I

Oh, my. I'm tired. I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

Here's the short (you know I'm lying, right?) version:

I picked Kim up from the airport. I gave her the Wavy scarf (of course, it was like 45 degrees, hardly scarf worthy) and then we headed off for Big Fun at my house with Mr. and Mrs. Bookish, Keiko, and Shannon of the Very Bad Sweater. Keiko brought A TON of amazing food (this is not to lessen the amazing fantasticality of Mr. and Mrs. Bookish or Shannon, but if you were there then you just KNOW how amazed we all were when Keiko showed up with her George Foreman Grill), we (by we, I mean the girls) drank 4 bottles of wine, at some point it was 2am and everyone either went home or to sleep, I spent some time with the porcelain god, and when Kim, Mike and I woke up the next morning, we fortified ourselves with coffee and bagels and headed off for Big Fun, Part II.

Alright, considering how long it took me to cobble together Part I, I think I'll have to bring you parts II, III, and IV later in the week. I hope you'll stay tuned for the continuing Big Fun Chronicles. Just know that although I'm tired, and although there's been relative blog-silence here at Chez Concateknit, I hope to be back to my regular bloggy self soon. Very, very soon.

Oh - did I mention I had lunch with some fabulous and amazing bloggers today? In my own little caf no less.

Oh yeah, life's pretty good.

*yawn*

K Minus 4*

Or, That Scarf Won't Knit Itself

It's been a busy few weeks here at Chez Concateknit, and although I've been thinking about you all quite a lot, I haven't had the energy to do much more than think. The actual blogging? Not so much.

Last time I blogged, I told you about my knitting schedule, and I must admit, I felt pretty smug about it. Yeah, well, best laid plans, blah, blah, blah. The scarf WILL be done by Friday, but it requires a much more agressive (and much less cocky) knitting schedule. Every minute I spend typing is one less minute I can dedicate to The Scarf.

So today you're getting a post in pictures.

Friday:

This


Plus this


Equals this

That's one happy, blurry girl

Saturday:

To our left


Across the street


To our right


Kim - are you sure you still want to come?

I'm just kidding. If you change your mind, I'll get on a plane, come get you and bring you back. We will have Fun while you're here. We're going to be like the Post Office (but not the scary one): neither rain, not sleet, nor hail, nor a little bitty bit of snow, will keep us from having Fun.

*Kim will be here in 4 days - woo hoo!!!

All Hands on Deck!

Or, Kim will be here next Friday and she doesn't own a scarf.

Obviously, that is a situation that can not stand. I was trying to explain what The Teens feel like, but it's hard to wrap your mind around that kind of cold when you've grown up in Northern California. Believe me, I know.

Naturally, I felt that the best way to prepare for Kim's upcoming visit to the Land of Cold was to knit her a scarf. She requested blue and I got to work:


That's about a third of a Wavy scarf, and right on schedule. Weekend days require completion of one full repeat, but I'm easier on myself during the week, and only have to complete a quarter of a repeat. This scarf will be ready and waiting for my dearest Kim when she arrives.

psst...did you notice the pillow sham in the background of the scarf picture? yeah - well, that sham, plus the matching duvet, a down comforter and a 600 thread count sheet set came to live at my house yesterday. needless to say, it was hard to get out of bed this morning.

Mike and I also bought something Very Grown Up this weekend. We bought a vacuum cleaner:


My grown up response to my grown up purchase? I said to Mike: If I were a household appliance, I'd marry that vacuum cleaner.

So in the midst of all my February madness, y'know, having to think a lot of stuff, I forgot to tell you something pretty cool-

I'm going to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. It's official. I've bought the tickets and reserved my rental car.

It's cool that I'm going to the festival for many reasons, but the coolest reason is that I'm staying with two of the Coolest.Bloggers.Ever. Do you know that the fact that I've never actually met either of these two people doesn't seem strange to me at all? I've always been one to trust my intuition, and this situation is no exception. Both Michelle and Lauren are simply terrific people (you've read their blogs - there's no doubting their terrificality) and I just feel LUCKY to have the opportunity to spend some quality time with each of them. Yay!

Speaking of terrific people who happen to be bloggers, one of them celebrated her birthday last week. And I mean, celebrated it ALL of last week. I was lucky enough to get in on some of the birthday fun, which meant spending another terrific evening with Mr. and Mrs. Bookish, Ms. (soon to be Mrs, tee hee) Project, Mrs. Melanoma, and Mrs. Yarnpants. Fuckin' A. You can imagine how much fun that was. Okay, well you can try to imagine how much fun it was, and then triple it.

You bloggers are just too cool.