When I was 16, Akira Kurosawa’s movie Ran came out. Being an artsy girl, I naturally wanted to see it with the artsy boy I was dating. We both loved film. However, we were both also teenagers, so when we actually met at the theater to see it… we wound up going elsewhere and necking (just necking!) in a parked car. I don’t remember if it was his idea or my idea. I really did want to see the movie, but hormones will be hormones.

When I got home that night, my mother was awake but in bed. As I got ready to go to sleep, she called through the wall separating our bedrooms that she had had to leave in the middle when she saw it (that’s reasonable, it runs almost three hours) and she wanted to know if the old man died.

Frozen like a deer in headlights, I said something like, “Uh, I really don’t remember. I think so?”

This was clearly a bogus response. The old man was the central character in the film, and if I’d seen it, there’s no possible way I wouldn’t have remembered. To this day, I don’t know if it was an innocent question or if she was suspicious and asked to see if she could catch me out. (Mom reads my blog, so if she even remembers this, maybe she’ll tell me.) A very unpleasant conversation through the bedroom wall followed, with my mother justifiably angry that I’d lied and me feeling miserable and apologetic. I was a pretty good kid, overall, so parental disapproval was very upsetting. Damn you, hormones!

Anyway. I saw other Kurosawa films, but never did get around to actually seeing Ran before it left theaters. I always wanted to, because I really like Kurosawa and because at some point it seemed ridiculous that I still hadn’t seen it after all that turmoil.

So now I’ve seen it. And I’m glad I did. Two thumbs up. And I get to mark it off of my “things to do before I die” list so it won’t bother me anymore. So today, that’s definitely one in the “win” column!

The nice thing about longer nights in Fall is that we have dark mornings, too. This may not seem like a plus sometimes, but this morning my daughter and I were able to go out the front door and see Orion in the sky. It was a good way to start the day.

Our family went to the Carolina Renaissance Festival this weekend. My husband had won free tickets, although we would have gone anyway. We had a good time. I saw a couple of journals I liked from the booth of The Journal Guy. I’m looking for a good journal for writing down dye combos. Unfortunately, many of the ones he had in person at the fest didn’t seem to be up online (he had a nice green one I was eyeing pretty hard), and I only got a chance to look for about two minutes before my family started wandering off and I had to hotfoot it after them. Ditto with a spinner and fellow ravelry user. I stopped to talk to her for several minutes, and my penance was quick-stepping all the way back to the entrance and then back to the rear of the fest again to figure out where my husband and child had gone. Answer: watching the belly dancing. Em was fascinated with the belly dancers. I have a cousin who belly dances; maybe I can get her to give us a few pointers.

Sadly, I do not have a picture of the belly dancers, so here’s Em on one of the rides. There was a good Browncoat showing among vendors and staff, by the way. Mr. Tvini wore his Captain Hammer shirt and I wore my Serenity shirt. Mr. Tvini got maybe two “hey!” recognitions, and I got about ten (including Journal Guy). I handed out Jayne hat cards liberally (which is the way I do everything – heyo!). Renfest is a good venue for geeks of all stripes.

A giant package of 100 6x6x6 cardboard boxes came in, so I’m ready to stamp up some more and ship out some Jaynes. The wait right now is about seven weeks, so I want to stay on top of things so that the maximum number of people get theirs by Christmas. Everyone in line now will, of course, but I want to be sure there are many, many happy Browncoats this holiday season!

Right now, I’m going to finish watching Ran and knitting, then go for a little run while it’s still cool. Good times.

Pattern: Brooklyn Tweed’s “Turn A Square Hat” (with modifications)
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Needles: 16″ size 6 circs (two circs for crown)
Notes: I might decrease the number of body stitches next time – it’s just a little looser than I’d like, but not unacceptably so. Also, while I know it won’t have sharp corners if the double decreases are separated by a knit stitch between, I still might try that. I’m not sure how I feel about the gap that it creates. It’s not what I’d normally do. I love the colors that Ultra Alpaca comes in. You get a lot of bang for your buck with this yarn. All in all, I’m pleased.

Yesterday was day 100 with the wii fit. I planned this wonderful triumphant post about how I’d lost 10 pounds over 100 days, and how slow and steady won the race, and how I was looking forward to losing another 20 over the next 200 (or so) days. I was at 9+ pounds down when I took that picture. Then I stepped on the scale and I was up one and a half pounds! I was expecting to be down! STUPID HORMONES!!! Day 100 just fell on the wrong day for me. Sigh.

I’m counting it anyway. I’ll be back down in a day or so once my body settles back down.



Currently on the needles: NOT a Jayne hat! That’s right, someone ordered something other than a Jayne hat. Okay, they ordered a Jayne hat for themselves and another item for a friend. Often I’m so glad to be looking at something besides orange that I give a discount. Heh.

This is two strands held together – one of Skacel Posh and one of Crystal Palace Squiggle. Squiggle has a unique texture and is my favorite “novelty” yarn. Posh is much softer than most fuzzy yarns. The weave on this is nice and loose. You can pull it sideways until it’s over a foot wide. I think the client’s friend will like this.

Tiny financial win!

Today is school picture day, a day when the students don’t have to wear a uniform but can wear street clothes. When wearing regular clothes, Em always picks her own out of the drawer, and she has very definite preferences for certain outfits. For a school picture, you really want something rather plain that won’t draw attention away from the face. No busy patterns, no outrageous colors.

Last night, I stuffed her more colorful outfits into the back of her drawers and put the plainer clothes to the front. I was curious to see if she’d pick whatever she touched first, or if she’d actively look for her favorite outfit. I should have known what my fashion plate would do.

The result was this, but with a purple patterned skirt, a purple plastic headband, and a bandaid with a fairy on it on her knee. That’s my girl.

I WANNA ROCK!!

Here’s a Hellmann’s mayonnaise ad from the Sept 1942 Better Homes and Gardens. The buyer compares herself to inventor Ben Franklin because she’s invented a kind of mayo salad that will feed 50 for six bucks. Or, more likely, get her lynched by 50 servicemen angry that they had to eat it. Good thing she’s got her friend, a “Home Ec girl” standing up to support her, or the world might never have known the glory of the Ben Franklin salad!

Some of these illustrations are just fantastic out of context. How would you recaption the picture below? What the heck is really in that jar?

Last night in D&D:

• Our party discovered we’d been systematically pickpocketed by our hired help.
• We rescued some Dwarven miners and then accidentally set them on fire.
• I inadvertently tied myself to an oiled miner. A party member stabbed me trying to cut the rope.
• It took us three hours to open a door behind which another party member languished.
• My Dwarf’s beard was shot off by a fellow party member.

So all in all, a good night for us.

Man, do we suck.

From Sept 1942 Better Homes and Gardens. “A hit with the menfolks.” Features mascot Hot Dan the Mustard Man, who seems to have been the French’s mascot in the 30s and 40s. Sounds like an exclamation you say when something good happens. “You’ve got tickets to the sock hop? Well, Hot Dan the Mustard Man! We’re going to have a swell time!”

If the opportunity arises, I’m working this into conversation at tonight’s Books-A-Million knit night.

So a conservative friend of mine – yes, I do have a few conservative friends, bless their misguided hearts – took an informal poll around her neighborhood in Ohio. Based on the number of signs supporting McCain or Obama, she predicts McCain to take it.

So now, via , here’s a method which is just as scientific and infinitely cuter. I present to you http://yeswecanholdbabies.wordpress.com/ . Ask yourself: which candidate looks better holding a baby? THAT, my friends, is who will win the race.