After many months of resisting, I've finally upgraded my version of AOL. I didn't want to do it because I fear it taking over my entire computer, like a cat in the middle of your bed. So I trashed the free programs that come packaged with it. Why this sudden conversion? Well, I discovered that AOL was filtering my mail for spam. Seems harmless enough, but I wasn't getting emails from people I knew or my listservs and didn't know it. In the version that I was running before, the spam folder was buried very deep in a set of menus. I am very wary of anyone deciding what I can and cannot read (draw your own parallel with the gov't decision to axe many popular shows from their captioning grant program). I'm also wary of anyone who wants to be my only content provider.

I feel a Luddite like itch. The light bulb in my bedroom burned out several days ago and I've yet to remember to change it while I can still see to do so. Yesterday, I found myself standing next to the useless light switch, shaking my fist in the air, saying "Damn you, Thomas Edison!". On the other hand, would I want to go back to cutting tape with a razor blade instead of digital editing? Hell no! You just have to remember, technology is great as long as it works. Then it doesn't and it really sucks.

My cousin the navy boy is back in town on leave, in is shiny new car. I really enjoy having a cousin who is more or less a contemporary. For many years, when we were growing up, the age difference between us was too large. So now I get to discover this cool adult cousin who drives a Volkswagen, listens to an ipod, and watches SATC. Who knew?!

My mom and I went on a yarn expedition today, with varying results. I wanted to find yarn with which to make a pair of birthday socks for my beloved grandfather. I keep setting the bar higher and higher for myself. If I keep it up, I'll have to make a pair from golden fleece.... I ended up getting beautiful blue and purple variegated CTH sock yarn, a colorway called River Run, and two skeins of Takhi Donegal Tweed fished out of the sale bin. I hope to make a felted hat out of it, along the same lines as my Yoko Ono hat. To that end, I purchased a pattern online, but everything got so fouled up with my email that the seller just refunded my money. Huh. Maybe we can handle the transaction the old-fashioned way. I'll give her a $5 bill, and she can give me a mimeographed sheet of instructions. Relax, that's a joke.

I'm working on my noodled out colorblock sweater again. It turned out that the variation within the dyelot is obvious (sigh), so I have to work alternate rows from two balls. This sounds more complicated that it is, but mainly means that this project doesn't travel. Luckily, I have some socks in the works for that. I'm making myself a pair of fine gauge hand-dyed socks. The yarn is Anne from Schaefer, which I previously used in a pair of socks for my paternal grandmother, in a wildly different colorway. The one I am using now reminds me of a garden in the spring; it has yellows and greens and lavender, in a subtly striped pattern. It is working up at an astonishing eleven stitches to the inch. Had I known it to be so fine before beginning, I doubt that I would have.

I finished all of the books on my list in the sidebar. Whatever will I do with myself now?! Any book recommendations would be appreciated. Maybe I'll re-read Anna Karenina.

Long time, no blog. Who would have guessed that my first blog of the new year would fall in February? Anyone who knows me, I guess. I've been in a bit of a funk lately, so I haven't kept up with this page. Now, I'm feeling a bit better, so I'm putting it in script.
So, hmmm...what's happened lately?
* The red tape in my unemployment claim, which seemed long enough to stretch to the moon, has finally been cut through. It only involved lots of long-distance phone calls in the middle of the afternoon. I got my first check only TWO months after I lost my job. That's our tax dollars at work, folks.
* One of my friends was in a train wreck. I know that I sound oddly ebullient about that. He's fine. It's his current tale of woe. He said to me, "How many people can say they were in a train wreck?". to which I replied, "I was". That took a bit of the wind out of his sails. Mine was a minor train/car challenge somewhere in small town Mississippi. Not terribly exciting, but Amtrack usually isn't. This is only one of many complaints my friend has about the CTA.
* My dad gave me a tablet PC, which was a state of the art PDA back in the late 1990s. I hesitate to call it a handheld, because it requires both hands, or at least an assist from a knee. It has a big bright screen, a mic jack, and a little speaker--AV bliss! Now, I've only to figure out how to get it to sync with my mail.
* My dreaded trip to the dentist went off without a hitch. I've gotten a reprieve from the drill, and a jolly visit from the dentist. The hygenist was another matter.... I bled so much from the cleaning that I felt light-headed while lying down! Just proves that I should go more often, I guess. My grandmother fed me a couple of cups of strong Australian tea afterwards.
* I've finally pulled the plug on my other blog, as the person who was supposed to collaborate on it never did. That was the whole concept of the project, and I tired of waiting. She's busy, I know. Maybe it will be reborn, like the phoenix, in some other form. But don't hold your breath.
* I am asterisk crazy!
* Now is the time that tries techies souls---summer stock hiring season. I'm spreading my resumes around like counterfeit cash, though I only apply to places that I'd actually like to work. Anything else seems like a waste of time for all parties involved. I'd heard that my last stock company wasn't doing much hiring this year, from a very good source, but they have two listings in ArtSearch. I don't know what their deal is, but I doubt that they'll be at it much longer.