So, things haven't been as bad as my last post may lead you to believe. Sure, I've been tempted to call people unprintable things, but isn't that par for the course in customer service? I've been pretty lucky, actually. The renewals campaign is going very well. I might even be able to spring for a couple of new pairs of clogs to replace the current ones. I was thinking of getting some Crocs (I know, I know, they're ugly), but the shoe salesman took one look at the Danskos on my feet and declared that I would hate the Crocs. Maybe if I hadn't just dropped a ton of cash at the company store, I could have bought some new kicks today. Oh well.

Yesterday, I was waiting at the train station, reading a book, when a lovely older woman with a German accent asked me about how to purchase a ticket. Naturally, all of the windows were closed even though it was obvious that someone was in the ticket office. I buy a ticket once a month and am rarely inconvenienced by this, but it still ticks me off. So, I took her over to the vending machine instead and punched all of the proper buttons. I wondered for a moment why she had approached me out of all of the people in the waiting room (Is it so obvious that I'm a girl scout?) until I realized that the book I was reading had a photograph of the Brandenburg Gate on its cover.

I am really enjoying my current knitting project, when I have time to work on it. It's Wendy (of Knit and Tonic)'s Tomato sweater in Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton. Now, if you have a good memory, which is quite unforgivable in a blog reader, you may recall all of the problems I had the last time that I knit with this yarn. It grew and grew and grew. This time, I am cracking the gauge whip! It is knit tighter than the manufacturer's gauge suggestion and making a very nice fabric. It may redeem itself yet. This is the first thing out of the delightfully overstuffed box of yarn from Webs. I was really charmed by how well they packed my order; not another skein could have been squeezed in there!

I think that I'll knit Rusted Root next, but I haven't quite decided. I've got a few things on the needles at the moment and some birthdays coming up to consider. Imagine the sweater pictured here in a color described as "cotton ball". It's white, but not as white as Donny Osmond's teeth. I'm not usually a big fan of cap sleeves, because I feel like they make me sweat more (an informal survey of coworkers indicates other people experience this), but I like the playfulness of these. They're pretty without being fussy.

Today has also been a good week for music. Both Tori Amos and Feist had new albums drop this week. Fantastique! I was surprised by the sheer length of the Tori Amos, but also really happy to like about 80% of the album. The last one only featured one song that I liked. And if you don't listen to Feist, you should check her out. I like the messiness of the recording. You can hear the room where it was recorded, as well as birds chirping outside. It's charming, kind of like hearing Yo-Yo Ma turn the pages of his score. Yeah, I'm a nerd.