Everybody Loves Saturday Night

Would you believe...

I'm still not 100% well yet.  Actually, I bet a lot of you would still believe that, because this crazy flu variation has been making its rounds very quickly and has attacked more than one blogging knitter in the Northeast.  Wait, wait--this crazy government-sponsored flu variation, I meant to say.  Because surely I wouldn't have gotten sick had I been able to get my flu shot, right?  Right.  What a typical second-termer.  The first term, I got a tax rebate.  This time, a virus.  I leave you to polish that metaphor.

I still managed to have a most excellent Thanksgiving.  Colleen and I went to see Ray (that hype?  Not really hype so much as truth.  Go see this movie, now please), and then went to a charming place called Marion's for a more-than-reasonable prix fixe four-course Thanksgiving dinner that, frankly, couldn't be beat (or if it could, could only be beat by those special Minnesota-flavored Thanksgiving dinners that include generous helpings of wild rice casseroles), and where we were amused by a college-age woman who was genuinely confused by our genuine appreciation of cartoons ("you mean, you don't take drugs before you go see the movies?"), and after we barely managed to squeeze in a few bites of pie, took ourselves to see Spongebob Squarepants (without drugs, thank you, though perhaps hungover a bit on food), where we were two out of four people in the entire theater and still enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.  Everything people are saying about the SBSP movie is true: it's no great shakes, but it's highly enjoyable, especially after a huge meal when you're feeling giddy to begin with.

On Friday, I slept until noon, almost.  Not counting the five minutes it took to feed The Insatiable Fuzzbeast at 7:00 a.m.  I was really knocked out.  Spent the day (actually, most of the weekend) in a Benadryl haze in an attempt to anti-histamine out the, um, hives.  That had sprung up two days earlier.  Hives.  HIVES, people.  Big, red, splotchy, itchy deformations on my upper body that appeared Wednesday afternoon (I was supposed to go in for a three-hour tutoring stint at school, but called in sick.  I had no voice, which sorta hinders the whole tutoring part of tutoring) and freaked my shit out.  I knew they were hives as opposed to something worse, like, I don't know, leprosy, because I got them every now and then as a child.  So I tried to figure out what might have caused this outbreak.  The Theraflu?  The soup broth?  Did I suddenly develop a reaction to MSG?  I called my mom, who asked if I had eaten any strawberries--never mind that the strawberry allergy went away when I was, like, two.  But it reminded me that as a young adult I used to be severely allergic to ginger, and had, in fact, that day consumed a cup--just a cup--of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea.  I've been able to eat ginger for years now, but I guess my immune system low enough to allow a reaction.  Bleh.  They're basically all gone, now, so that's good.  I suppose I could be concerned that they lasted four days, when usually hives go away in a day or less, but I'm going to say that my weakened immune system is responsible for that as well.  I'm still rather angry with tea, though.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I didn't knit as much as I would've liked over the weekend, but I did start on the GAWK (Grammar Avengers Who Knit) Round Robin project.  Cari explained the origins of the project so beautifully that I can't add much to it.  Cari, Rachael, and Alison were the first people I really connected to in the first few months of maintaining my site--in fact, they may have been the very first people to start commenting regularly.  Since then I have gotten to know a handful of other people I would count among my close friends, but these three...I should explain that in the past I have never been very good at developing close relationships with women.  In my teens and twenties, I often felt more comfortable hanging around with men.  There have been several close friendships I've had with women that ended, inexplicably, or painfully.  Or both.  I'm not trying to wax all psychoanalytic or anything, but I do think this is a prime reason why I tend not to get too close to people.  Why I tend not to trust a lot of people.  Never been one of those people who had lots of good, close friends I felt I could really trust (and until I reunited with Colleen, I didn't feel I had ANY).  Until now.  We were worried that going public with this project would make us seem cliquy and exclusive and snobby, but you know...I've always been sensitive to that, I really have, and I don't like making people feel excluded from things.  It's the one thing for which I have almost too much empathy and I know I get a little defensive when I think there's a chance of being accused of it.  But if that's the way you take it, there's nothing I can do about it.  These are my girls.  And I love them.  And the yarn for Alison's Retro Prep sweater arrived on Friday (or Saturday?  It's really all such a blur) and I've started the sleeve.  And there will be a picture, later, after I've taken care of some errands I've put off since last Tuesday.

This oughta be good

Thanks for all the well wishes, folks.  I do feel better today.  I don't think I had a fever (whatever happened to my thermometer, by the way?  I know I had one in Ohio, and it's nowhere to be found now), but something broke at 4:30 this morning.  And then it took a while to get back to sleep.  Good thing I don't have to be anywhere until 3 this afternoon.

[While I'm often dismayed when students inform me that they're leaving for Thanksgiving Break before the school officially breaks and will therefore miss class, I do think it's unfair to have any classes or meetings the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.]

I have, however, completely lost my voice.  Completely.  I don't even have a sexy rasp anymore; I got nothing.  That oughta make my job that much more fun today.

So my weekend and much of Monday was spent sacked out on the couch, sniffling and hacking and watching TV.  [Yes, most of my weekends are spent this way, minus the sniffling and hacking.  So what?]  I discovered the peril of DVR (digital cable's answer to TiVo): ending a recording before the show is actually over.  So I missed the last ten minutes of Now, Voyager.  Do NOT tell me how it ends.  I'm getting it from Netflix.  Eventually.  First is the campy WB show Popular, which I figured was perfect for a lazy Thanksgiving weekend.  I am addicted to TV shows on DVD.

I also watched the first three episodes of Regency House Party (which I believe is ending tonight?).  This is the latest foray into edutaining reality TV in which people are picked to live in a house of yore, and viewers are invited to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start freaking out over the lack of modern conveniences.  This one is like Jane Austen Reality TV: set during the Regency period, with singletons of varying fortunes looking for a proper match.  This show had so much potential, but it's pretty lame.  And you know why?  Because people are stupid and don't know their history.  And because the show is based on reality in the early 1800s, and not on the fictional early 1800s of Austen's novels.  These men and women are supposed to be getting together with each other, but the social rules of the period greatly restricted the amount of time they could actually interact with each other.  Which is fine, if you were prepared for that and knew about all the ways you could arrange for group outings, etc.  (picnic on Box Hill, anyone?)  But instead, all anyone does is complain.  Bo-ring.

Except for the guy who's been trying really hard to woo two different women.  He's kinda awesome and could leave a daisy chain on my pillow any day.  And except for the taboo relationship between one of the gentlemen and one of the ladies' chaperones.  They totally did the sex last week.

I have also picked my favorite Amazing Race 6 team so far: Kris and Jon, the long-distance dating couple.  First, they don't call each other "baby" all the time.  Second, they don't fight with each other (yet).  Third, she was a geography major and knows how to read a map.  That's all I'll say for now because I don't want to spoil anyone's viewing pleasure.  Except that if I ever do decide to audition for the show and actually make it, I'm going to have to take lessons on driving stick.  That whole part of the show really hit home.

Before I fell ill, I finished the front pieces of Butterfly:

So I seamed the shoulders and started to work on the collar, but that wound up being a bit much to undertake in my weakened condition.  Directions for picking up stitches always confuse me.  One always picks up on the right side, doesn't one?  And "right front" means my right, the piece that will be on the right when I'm wearing the sweater?  So when I start from the right and pick up stitches and then go to purl the one row before I start with the chevron pattern, I'm on the wrong side, which is...wrong, because the collar is supposed to turn out the other way...I'm making no sense.  I'm sorry.  It's the sickness.

Anyway, the other projects I've got going were all slightly too complicated for me to work on over the weekend, and most of the time I was too knocked out to work on anything anyway.  But Monday night my hands were itching for something easy, so I started a new scarf.

Yeah, that's Silk Garden.  Color #50.  I'm working on size 10 needles and using a pattern swiped from the latest Interweave Knits, which is a version of the Rickrack pattern in one of Barbara Walker's Treasury books (I think it's Vol. 2).  I love the vividness of this colorway--so perfect for dreary winter days.  I only picked up three balls of it, which is enough for this scarf, but I'm thinking I want a matching hat, or one of those earwarming headbands.  And matching mittens.  Anyone got 3 extra skeins of this stuff they'd be willing to trade?

I seem to have the plague

Let's see, who to blame for this one?  I haven't come into contact with anyone else who's been sick lately.  Perhaps it's the power of suggestion.

A new Thai restaurant opened in my neighborhood.  This one's within easy walking distance.  The food is remarkably good.  They deliver.  I am happy.

I'm also up to here with phlegm, so please excuse me.

Lost

One of the plane crash survivors is named John Locke.  (He's quite possibly my favorite character, too, mostly because of the way he's played by the wonderful Terry O'Quinn.)  Last night we met a character named Rousseau.  Subtle, J.J.*

The hat I posted a picture of yesterday was totally off the cuff, but I can tell you what I did.  Bolero is a yarn that gets 3 sts/inch (I used 10.5 needles).  I cast on 66 stitches on a 16" circular, joined it up, and worked the following stitch pattern:

Rows 1-4: *K4, P2*

Rows 5-8: K3, *P2, K4*, end P2, K1

Rows 9-12: K2, *P2, K4*, end P2, K2

Rows 13-16: K1, *P2, K4*, end P2, K3

Rows 17-20: *P2, K4*

Rows 21-24: P1, *K4, P2*, K4, P1

Since I worked on this on the subway and at work (Wednesdays I tutor, but no one showed up), I couldn't tell you how long I made it until I started decreasing--I just kept trying it on until I decided it was long enough, ending at the last row of a particular 4-row part of the pattern.

Then I placed markers around every 11 stitches, and worked the next row in pattern until I got to two stitches before each marker, and I decreased by either K2tog or P2tog according to where I was in the pattern.  I worked the next three rows even.  I repeated that style of decreasing twice before doing decreases every other row until I had my final six stitches, then I broke yarn and threaded it through those stitches to secure them.

Had I not been in a hurry to get the hat done, I would've tried harder to make the decreases look prettier.  See what you can do with it.

* J.J. Abrams, co-creator of Lost.

You want more Clapotis?

So I'm on my way home from school yesterday, transferring from the A to the L, glad that I've finally figured out which car I need to be in on the L to be closest to the station exit at my stop.  It's the height of rush hour and the train is filling up quickly, but I still manage to find a seat with enough elbow room to allow for sock knitting.  I arrange my coat and my bag and pull out the sock, look up and realize that there's a woman sitting across from me who is also knitting.

And she's wearing something that looks awfully familiar.

It's Clapotis.

She notices me staring at her and looks back with an expression commonly seen on subway travellers: "Are you looking at me because you recognize me, or are you a crazy person?"  I gesture towards her Clapotis while holding up my own and stutter, "Are we...did you...did we...Knitty?"

That was about the time that everyone else on the train began to slowly inch away...

Fortunately we were spared any further "oh my god I can't believe we're wearing the same thing" embarrassment (can you imagine if this had been the Oscars?  Appalling!) by the fact that our Clapotii were forged from different yarn--she had used a luscious solid purple merino.

Yeah, my first thought was "Dude, I am so blogging this tomorrow."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Let me explain the Barbara Hershey thing.  A few weeks back I mentioned how much I'm enjoying the new TV series Lost, and my firm belief that cast member Naveen Andrews (best known in this country, I think, for his role as Kip in The English Patient) and I would together produce absolutely beautiful children.  A couple days ago, Mariko left this comment:

Oh, and Naveen Andrews lives with BARBARA HERSHEY? For some reason I found that kind of disturbing, and then I immediately had to tell you about it, because, frankly, I think the two of you would make a better couple.

I wholeheartedly agree.  For one thing, Ms. Hershey doesn't have the necessary genes to ensure that their offspring's hair would be naturally curly.  It's an important point, people.

That led to this comment, left by someone claiming to be Barbara herself:

If you give Cari your clapotis, I'll give you my boyfriend.

Phony email address aside, I knew it wasn't really Barbara Hershey because honestly, what's in it for her?  Besides, how could she possibly put a price on that man?  Considering that Cari had already exhorted her readers to convince me to hand over Clapotis, it was only natural that I concluded she was the culprit here, but I was mistaken.  Thanks to Typepad's listing of all comments and the commenter's IP, I was able to figure out the real Hershey impersonator.  I fired off a "j'accuse !" email, and she pled innocence.

And now apparently Ms. Hershey's on a rampage and our Brainylady is in trouble:

I know we can work something out. Call me.

(Go ahead and trace the IP -- I've left Naveen at home, tied Alison to a chair, and highjacked her laptop.)

Honestly, Naveen, are these really the qualities you look for in a mate?  I have reason to fear for your safety.  I can offer you a safe house.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Right, it's Knitting Wednesday.  How'd that happen so fast?

OK, so last Wednesday it was right chilly.  Time for a new hat.  Before I left to go to school, I grabbed the one skein of Bolero I picked up from ArtFibers when I was in San Francisco and started a hat on the subway.  By the end of the day, I had a hat.  I used a diagonal rib pattern over 66 stitches, not that you can tell from this picture.

It doesn't look like much, but it's functional.  And it's an alpaca blend, so it's quite soft and warm.  Just in time for the temperature upswing.

I'm also continuing work on Butterfly.  I'm up to the armhole decreases on the front pieces, but I haven't been able to get a decent picture.

This weekend I'll be putting Boca together, finally.  I've been putting it off and putting it off, mostly because of all those ends I need to take care of, but it's gotta be done, soon.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Amazing Race is back on!  And last night's episode was  AWESOME.  They went to Iceland!  And slept in tents on a glacier!  And Ari sang, "We're New York Jewwwwwws in Iiiiiiceland!"  And Lori's implants almost froze!  And one of the Mormon sisters said something about not liking to "rough it," which prompted me to yell at the TV, "Then don't go on the Raaaaaaaaace!"  I had similar words for Gus, of the lone father-daughter team, who insisted that his daughter let everyone PASS THEM at one point.  And I already have severe hatred for at least three people.  Are they the same three people for you?

My money would be on the pro-wrestlers to win, but that's too easy.  Besides, they're totally gonna self-destruct at some point.  I like Bolo, though.

Barbara Hershey?

For those of you who still have Sunday's paper, and the Best Buy insert that came with it (c'mon, I know some of you do), please fish out the insert and turn to p. 12.  There you will see someone whose DNA I share in a Best Buy salesperson outfit demonstrating the power of speakers.  I would totally buy speakers from him.  Even though he looks like a big dork.  A big dork in a national Best Buy ad.

'k, I thought I had more to say than that.

Incoherent Rambling Monday

(in list form, so as to provide semblance of order.)

1.  Putting off posting until Monday is highly advantageous after a weekend full of meeting new bloggers, because chances are someone else has "beaten me" to the punch and posted about it with all the links to the sites in place, which saves me a lot of legwork.  (Thanks, Cari.)

Actually, it was a week full of meeting folks from out of town.  Carolyn was in town and I got to hang out with her on Tuesday and eat delicious Mongolian food.  I also met the famous Amy and a couple other people whose names I can't remember anymore.  And I used to be so good with names.

Then Saturday arrived, and with it a monster convention of net-savvy knitters who gathered at Knit NY to celebrate Alison's visit (sidenote: you know how there are some people to whom you can only refer by first and last name, because either at first it's fun and then it becomes habit or because the first or last name alone don't quite embody the amount of respect due to that person [see "Jane Austen"]?  Alison is "Blue Blog Alison."  Just typing "Alison" makes it look lonely.  Fortunately, this is something I can confine to text).

Iris and Cheb were there--Iris working on with a fantastic shade of green Manos (the yarn of fate) and Cheb channelling her inner schoolteacher, giving each one of us "checks" (which were a good thing) and then promptly negating them with Xs.

Jenn showed up with her fabulous hair and reminded all of us that we have, indeed, turned into our mothers, because we couldn't help but point out that she wasn't dressed warm enough.  Her Weasley sweater looks perfect.  I must make one with an M on it.  Of course I also want a skull sweater now that I've seen La Brainy's.  So many sweaters.  So little time.

Jackie and her amazing neverending Brooks Farm mohair were both in attendance.  I still can't believe I left Rhinebeck without any Brooks Farm stuff.  Jackie's got great pics--go see!

Cari, of course, was there,  hounding me about Clapotis so much that I think I need to get a safety deposit box for it.   Let this serve as a warning to those of you considering Clapotis, especially if you use the scrumptious Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb yarn the pattern calls for: it may turn your friends into Gollumesque fiends.

[OK, when's the super-duper Return of the King DVD with all the extras and stuff coming out?]

I think the last couple times I've gone to Knit NY I've run into someone who reads blogs.  Saturday was the best, though.  A woman walked in and smiled at us--we were about four or five strong at that point--and a few minutes later returned to our table and said, "Is it weird to walk into a place and recognize people and feel that you know so much about them even though you've never met?"  Then she went around the table and named all of us, and introduced herself as Jackie.  I was most impressed.  I suppose someone could read this and think, "Yowsers, that's kinda creepy," but I assure you it wasn't.  Jackie is delightful, and her work is beautiful--go take a look at the awesome cashmere scarf she's working on!  And the Kersti sweater!

Also new to me was Valentina, who wins for best name ever.  And for her awesome green boots.  They reminded me of the first pair of boots I ever coveted--and I mean really coveted.  They were purple suede, kinda slouchy, knee-high boots.  Oh, man.  Mid-80s fashion wasn't all bad, people.  I admire Valentina for openly declaring that she likes the new Teen Vogue Knitting, or knit.1.  I looked at a copy, too, and I didn't think it was all bad.

Finally, there's Elisabeth.  Let me tell you that Lis's self-portraits are shockingly accurate.   I knew her right when she walked in, though the curly hair was a dead giveaway.  She also strongly reminded me of someone, but I couldn't put my finger on it until I got home: one of my roommates and closest friends in grad school.  She was wearing that fabulous Bed & Breakfast sweater from an old issue of Interweave Knits (last winter?  fall?  I can't remember) that she was working on when I first started reading her blog.  It looks absolutely fabulous in person.

2.  The turnout makes me think that those of us in the Tri-State area should do this sort of thing more often.  Big blowout knitting convention events.  Perhaps to be coordinated with Lis's hysterical idea to have the Knit Blogger Academy Awards.  (I'm still churning that one.  I think it'd be hilarious and fun.  Polls for voting are easy to set up, right?)

3.  I went to see The Incredibles yesterday with Colleen.  Oh.  My.  God.  Yes, I have a childlike appreciation for cartoons, but I also have a full-on geek appreciation for technique and artistry, and this movie...left me speechless.

4.  Col and I later teamed up on the Sunday NY Times Crossword puzzle, and almost finished it.  Almost.  It's one of those puzzles that scrunches up answers so that more than one letter goes in a square in order to make the answer fit...like the first across clue, "Special team," is "All-Stars," except "star" fits in one box (enjoy that freebie on me).  Even though we didn't finish it, we felt pretty damn good about ourselves for getting as far as we did before our eyes fell out and we started speaking in tongues (right there in the Union Square B&N.  Embarrassing).

4.  In the midst of grading last week's in-class essay, a departmental requirement that many instructors treat as inconsequential--I did last year.  This year, I decided to make it count by merging it with the other departmental requirement to have one paper on the summer reading book(s).  This method, I figured, would drastically cut down on the plagiarism cases.  So far, I am really impressed with the writing.  I'm also figuring out the next paper assignment, which will focus on argument analysis.  But I'm really looking forward to Thursday's class, for which students will have read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal."  I've been waiting eight years to teach that essay, but it never fit into any of my course plans.

5.  It's a good essay to go out on.  This is going to be my last semester teaching.  I made that decision a couple weeks ago, but waited to announce it until I told my family first.  I don't know what the future has in store for me, and I'm not exactly sure what I want the future to have in store, but it's been time to move on for quite a while, and it was just fear of the unknown mixed with a little complacency that held me back.

6.  Props to my brother's fiancee for deciding on basic black dresses.  Actually, I'm not entirely sure whose side I'm going to be on, but I'm just happy I won't be in turquoise taffeta.

Knitting Wednesday

It's been a month since I posted my last knitting picture.  All part of my clever plan to not take pictures for a long time, so that when I actually do, it appears as though I am Super Knitter Extraordinaire.

CRAPPY PICTURE ALERT!

Clapotis est finis:

(antibiotics did the trick)

Here's a close-up.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Lion & Lamb (Motherlode)
Needles: US 8
Pattern adjustments: I was running out of yarn, so I wound up only doing 12 full repeats in the middle section, and kinda fudging the decreases in the last section so that for a few rows I decreased two stitches every row instead of one.  With all that, I was left with about a yard's worth of yarn leftover.  The scarf is still plenty long enough, but if you want to follow the pattern, I'd either buy a fourth skein of the L&L or go with a less expensive yarn.  I do love the Lion & Lamb, though--it's well worth the expense.

And no, I have not taken it off since I finished it.  I even started wearing it without having dropped all the stitches.  The yarn is kinda sticky, so the stitches didn't drop easily, but it was fun to work on that on the subway.

Speaking of Lorna's Laces, here are the wildly mismatched Vera socks:

Strange that this picture came out so dark.  If you can see it, you'll note that while the sock on the right came out near perfectly in its striping pattern, the sock on the left is rather splotchy and uneven.  Same needles, same gauge, what gives?

I experienced a wee bout of startitis with Menja and Lisette before deciding, round about Election Day, to begin Butterfly.  I managed to finish the entire first sleeve on Election Day, which is less a testament to my prowess than it is to the stress and tension which caused me to knit quickly.  I've been working on Butterfly steadily, and thanks to a relatively work-easy weekend and the first season of Sports Night on DVD, I have finished both sleeves and the back.

(click for larger image)

Pattern: (like the knitters don't know this by now) Butterfly, from Jane Ellison's Noro Knits.  You know, the one everyone else is doing.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #84
Needles: US 8
Size: XS (hee HEE!  The finished bust measurement for the smallest size is 38.5", which suits me perfectly.  I don't want a boxy Butterfly)
Pattern adjustments: I shortened the sleeves 2" before cap shaping, so that they come in at 18" (normally my sleeves are around 17", so these will still have some of the over-long design without--hopefully--getting in the way).  I also lopped 5" off the body length so that the sweater would hit me at the hip--and because I only have 10 skeins of the Silk Garden.  I am also following Claudia's lead and substituting seed stitch for the garter stitch border on the two front pieces.

I love this pattern.  I love this yarn.  I had originally imagined Butterfly in a darker Kureyon colorway, but I think this is perfect.  Can we look at the back again, please?

And finally, more proof that reading other people's knitting blogs is dangerous:  I went ahead and ordered a bunch of Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann for Bonne Marie's Ribby Cardi.  Enough for, um, two different cardies.  Here's Cardi #1:

Spiced Wine for the body and Autumn Purple for the sleeves.

Cardi #2:

Tapestry Blue for the body and Tuscany Green for the sleeves. I may make this one a more jersey-like pullover.

I found myself in a bookstore yesterday and picked up Scarf Style.  I'd heard such great things about it, but still remained skeptical because, you know, scarves.  Seriously?  I think it's pretty damn cool.  Annie Modesitt's Backyard Leaves, Mari Lynn Patrick's Turkish Treasure (imagine a turkish carpet as a scarf.  Gorgeous), Kathleen Power Johnson's Entrelac Stole, Ene's Scarf by Nancy Bush, and Pam Allen's capelet with sleeves are among my very favorites, but really, there's a not a dud in the book--just varying degrees of "yeah, I'd make that."  I was originally less than thrilled with the garter-stitch wrap, but the construction of that piece is not what I'd have expected.

You are now up to speed.  Except for all the covert knitting operations going on around here.

On this day

...in 1901, this cartoon appeared in Harper's Weekly.

...in 1953, the Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling that major league baseball did not fall within federal antitrust laws.

...in 1976, the United Nations approved resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa.

...in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.

Notable births:

Benjamin Banneker

Carl Sagan

Spiro Agnew

Anne Sexton

Dorothy Dandridge

Ed Wynn

Lou Ferrigno

Whitey Herzog

and Joe!  Who turns 30 today.  Happy birthday, l'il bro.

Font Issues

Typepad updated its posting site and like a fool, I messed with font size.  That's why you couldn't read the post before and why it's been overfixed to hugeness.

Can you read me now?

I just spent an enjoyable afternoon knitting with Jackie, Iris, and Mindy.  We were joined for a short time by Julie (I hope I got that right), who is in town this weekend for the marathon, who reads a number of blogs and sorta recognized us.  That was cool!  I think we talked her into starting her own blog, too.

I am looking forward to a grading-free weekend.