Dear Conan,

I’ve been a big fan of yours for, well, for as long as I can remember. My late night routine was Letterman and then flipping over to your Late Night show. I remember you going off air while you moved to LA and being SO SAD that I had to wait until June. And how we have to wait again … until September! And who knows where you’ll be!

You’ve gotta find a way to come back to us, Conan. Maybe a free webcast of you just doing zany, goofy stuff? On YouTube or something? They’ll let you do that, right?

I feel like I’ve grown up with you, so it’s very strange to not have you around on TV. I guess I’ll have to try to fill the void by watching old Late Night clips online.

Conan O’Brien Plays Rock Band – Funny videos are here
oh strike beard …

Come back soon. I miss you.

Love,
ek

The lovely Christabel has linked to me in her lovely A Few Honest Scraps list. The idea is:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to that blog post.
2. Tell ten honest things about yourself and make them interesting, even if you have to dig deep!
3. Pass the award on to ten bloggers you feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap, and whose blog you find brilliant in design and/or concept.

Now I’m not very interesting, but I can probably cook up 10 stupid things about myself.

1. I am known around the music department as the resident knitter.
2. I am also known around the music department as the resident super-nerd.
3. I have the sweetest brother ever.

4. I have worked at Hill Country Weavers for six months now. I almost know where everything is now, and how QuickBooks 2009 works. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you’ve ever been to HCW you’d understand what an undertaking it is to know where everything is in that place. Biggest. Yarn shop. Ever.
5. I’m secretly a very vain person. I obsess over having shiny, straight hair, smelling nice, and looking somewhat put-together. Granted my version of put-together is very different from other people, but I do spend a embarrassingly large amount of time putting myself together in the morning.
6. I’m pretty much Liz Lemon, but 10 or so years younger. I’m even starting to dress like her (I realized this today). I’m totally okay with that because I finally, after 25 years, really like myself. *pats self on back*
7. I hate money but I love spending it. I live with two girls that are very simple and easy going, which makes me self-conscious of my love of tech stuff, gadgets, DVDs, and nerdy toys. But hey. I’m me. I work hard to get the stuff I want. “Maybe you can’t understand this, but I’ve finally found what I need to be happy and it’s not friends, it’s things.”
8. Speaking of which, I make it a personal goal to slip in a Futurama quotation into a normal conversation once every day.
9. I have two tattoos with two on the way. One is Chicago related, one is just pretty.
10. As of January 18th, I’ve been vegan for 8 years. I’ve loved every day of it and never regretted it for a second. It’s made me see the world in a new way and I think it’s been a positive thing for myself and the people around me.

So like I said. 10 stupid things about me. May or may not be interesting, though.

Now let’s see if I can think of ten lovely bloggers out there …
andy
christina
amber
eileene
cara
meghan
betsy
tammany
emily
mary-heather

<3
ek

It totally blows me away that people out there, particularly in Europe, still have a vested interest in old DuPage Collective releases. Even the people involved directly with the DC haven’t thought about some of these records in years, so the fact that these posts are peaking interest to people out in the vast reaches of the internet is mind-blowing.

I keep coming up with little things here and there that I think are worth sharing, as long as there still seem to be interested parties out there. These mp3s are from the demo of .five.fingers.half.a.hand., a band featuring members of a bunch of other DuPage bands. .five.fingers.half.a.hand. came about in the summer of 1998 and lasted until 2000.

I’m not sure where I got a copy of the demo, but here it is.¹

1. Similes and metaphoars are as useless as a $3 bill.

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2. Goddamn bugs whacked us Johnny!

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3. The commisar vanishes.

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4. A one-way street to what the fuck is going on.

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5. Don’t do it Allison Bly!

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¹ Also, I’m not sure if the misspellings are intentional or not. I included what the mp3s were titled on my hard drive and I don’t have a hard copy to reference. ↑

Our Peyton, who art in Indy, hallowed be thy arm. Thy Bowl will come, it will be won, in Miami as it was in ‘07. Give us this Sunday, our weekly win, And give us many touchdowns, as our defense prevents scores against us. And lead us not into frustration; But deliver us a Super Bowl, for thine is the Championship of the the NFL, and the glory of Indy forever and ever. Amen!! GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those of you that know me personally know that I have been a HUGE fan of Conan O’Brien for a very long time. I used to stay up and watch Late Night with Conan O’Brien most nights, always being more interested in his monologue and bits than any of the interviews or god-awful musical guests. (Lets face it: even though Last Call with Carson Daly is on so late that people forget it exists, Carson was able to pull out his MTV Frequent Hosting card to get great musical talent to play on his show). Seeing him take over the mantel of the Tonight Show was exciting. And although it took him a while to get comfortable and get the ball rolling, the show was new and fun and very promising. He’s a fantastic writer, and with a good team of people to bounce ideas off of he really comes up with fantastic and fun stories and gags. (If you can’t tell, I’m much more interested in Conan as a writer and comedian more than an interviewer or Late Night personality.)

Some of his best work was during the hayday of The Simpsons, when he was a producer and writer. He spent time with the show from 1991-93, and penned some of the best and most memorable episodes in the show’s history.

I was going to come out and say “Here is his best episode EVAR” but you know what? I’m just going to put all four of them here and let you watch. I’ll tell you which one I think is best (and why) next week.

S4E08: “New Kid on the Block”

The Simpsons 408

S4E12: “Marge vs. the Monorail”

The Simpsons 412

S5E03: “Homer Goes to College”

The Simpsons 503

S5E05: “Treehouse of Horror IV”

The Simpsons 505

Although the thought of Conan going off the air makes me a sad panda, I have to say that I’d love to see him get back to writing again. More Conan-penned Simpsons episodes (maybe a Conan-penned Futurama episode!) would be incredible. And the show could definitely benefit from it, as the last 10 seasons have been slowly sliding down a narrow hill.

I believe this is a 7″ that would be considered ’self-titled,’ though there is something of a subject line underneath the band name on the record sleeve:

Oh and in case you couldn’t tell, this is a music post.

Ahem.

Step Forward Look West was a band out of the glorious DuPage Hardcore days, though towards the end of it. Well, at least the end of my time involved before I ran off to get numerous college degrees in other states (how dare I?!).

I seriously enjoy this record, still. I think it came out in 2002 at some point, and was recorded in November 2001. I know this because of the rockin’ silk-screened poster that came with buying the 7″. It’s seriously amazing, though too large for me to scan and share. Maybe I’ll take a horrible picture of it someday so you can see it in all its glory.

The names of the songs may very well be the best part of the record.

Now, prepare yourself for fast and loud. Explicit lyrics warning. And it’s probably worth saying that these tracks were ripped from a 7″ record using an ion usb turntable. And not ripped all that well, either. Well, that’s not true. They sound alright.

Side A-

1. a name on the board with three checks only means i can fuck up twice without getting in trouble.

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2. you can’t spell “goonies” without the word “go!”

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3. a disfunctional family is any family with two or more members.

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4. one two three not it!

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5. it’s open season on crybabies and you’re fucking next.

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Side B-

1. i never thought i’d say the words “i hate you” and fucking mean it.

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2. jesus, elvis, and the easter bunny walk into a bar.

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3. alice don’t surf.

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4. the tcri strikes again!

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5. it’s like pissing in a shower with a slow drain and standing in a stagnating pool of your own urine.

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Interesting how I believe I completely avoided using any profane words on this blog until this very post. And those profanities coming from just the titles of the songs.

Anyway, listen and enjoy.

Until next time.

Welp. A year has passed and what have I actually accomplished? I learned how to spin, I work at a yarn shop, I made a new pattern, I’ve done test knitting, I’ve unsuccessfully busted my yarn stash, and I’m just as disorganized as ever.

But.

It’s the future now and I feel like I have this magical clean slate to work from. Or maybe all the time I spent cleaning my house today has clouded my judgment.

Basically, my goal for this year is to Think Big and be more independent. I want to knit bigger projects: cardigans, pullovers, lace shawls, etc. I want to make staple foods on my own: breads, jam, canned veggies and fruits, etc. I want to try to make everything on my own at least once. Even if I do so poorly, at least I’ve tried.

I also really want to organize and pare myself down. I have SO many old video game systems and games that I haven’t touched in years. I’m just going to sell it all off. I have tons of old yarn that I have no desire to touch. I’m going to send more stuff to charity organizations. I’m going to get new organizers from the Container Store and I’m going to clean up my room and house more often.

It’s time to grow up and take care of myself. You know?

There are quite a few non-me related things that I am totally stoked about this year:
- NEW FUTURAMA EPISODES GOOD LORD IN HEAVEN YES
- Matt Smith taking over as The Doctor
- The Grand Moff taking over as show runner on Doctor Who
- A new Alkaline Trio album in February
- Alkaline Trio/Cursive tour (seeing them at Emo’s in Austin in late March)
- Going to Gallifrey One in February

Less talk, more rock soon.
- ek

Hello 2010! How are you? You seem to be doing well so far.

I feel like there are a lot of things to talk about, but at the same time nothing to talk about. I guess that’s what vacation is like. I survived the semester, survived Ten regenerating into Eleven, and have so far survived being around my family every day. I’ll spare you the school nonsense, and reserve my Doctor Who discussion for a separate post. For now, how about some knitting?

I’ve actually done quite a bit of knitting over the last few weeks. And I finally got around to uploading a few images.

First up, washcloths. I think I brought up before that I decided to make my aunties washcloths for Xmas. Well, I did. I ordered some nice soaps to give them, but they never showed up. So I didn’t take pictures. I just gave them all the Body Shop soaps I ordered for myself. I guess the fancy stuff will be for me! I did stumble upon a different pattern, though: the Mason Dixon washcloth.

Pattern: Mason Dixon Washcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Tahki Sky
Needles: addiTurbo US8 16″ circular needle; Susan Bates US8 double pointed needles
Thoughts: Love this pattern, love this yarn! This has to be the best cotton to knit with EVER. I want to knit every cotton thing ever with this yarn. Seriously.

Pattern: A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Stonechat
Needles: addiNatura US8 16″ circular needle; Clover bamboo US8 double pointed needles
Modifications/Thoughts: I changed the decrease rounds a bit so that the edges would be smoother. Basically I made every odd round (starting with round 3) a SSK rather than a K2TOG. I also knit 6.5″ before decreasing, which ended up being the perfect size for Nate (the recipient). Also, I LOVE these needles! The smooth joins and cord of addiTurbos with the warmth of bamboo. Totally awesome.

I’ve been putting thought into resolutions for the year—well, more like goals than resolutions—some knitting related, some not. When I decide what they are I may have to say something about it here. In the meantime, happy new year. Enjoy a bowl of ozoni … here’s to good health and good luck in 2010.

ek

I forget what having a life means until I have a Day Off. And then I remember I have this fun blog that people read and that I haven’t posted anything in over a month. Oops. Blame school (again) and move along.

I’ll just share two things.

1) Gallifrey One Traveling Scarf KAL

So the Who Knits? group on Ravelry is doing a traveling scarf KAL (knit a long), in which people from all over the world (literally!) knit a few sections of a Season 12 Doctor Who scarf. When my turn came I took a few pictures of the progress:

We’re shooting for having it finished (or nearly finished) by Gallifrey One in February. Which I’ll be going to. Will you be there? Let me know!

2) Xmas Gift Washcloths

I decided that I’m making all of my aunties washcloths for Xmas. I’m also gifting them nice soaps. I ordered some great stuff from The Body Shop, and a few things from Miss Violet’s Recaffinated Bathworks. Hopefully that stuff will get here in the next week or so (*crosses fingers*). I used this project as a way to teach myself brioche. Easy peasy!

A few other things you may or may not find interesting:
- I’m writing an article right now on The Beatles: Rock Band. As an aside, I’ve gotten really really good at The Beatles: Rock Band.
- I’m flying home on December 22nd and I’m SO EXCITED. I haven’t been home since last Xmas which is kind of killing me on the inside.
- Amazon had The Simpsons season DVDs on sale for $12.59 each a few days ago. Ordered a few (3-8). Can’t wait to delve into some classic Simpsons. May be posting about it here in the near future.
- I’ll be taking my comprehensive exams in September. Queue panic.

Until next time,
ek

I live in a house with a ridiculously huge backyard. The yard is fenced in, and even has a separate, fenced-off area that I’m pretty sure was used to keep animals of some kind. Well, ever since I’ve moved in those of us in the house have talked about planting a garden out back … and my newish housemates actually did it! Check it out!

I had absolutely nothing to do with this garden; it was all the housemates. But they did an amazing job and I can’t wait to have homegrown veggies to cook with!

As long as I’m here I have quite a bit of knitting to report on.

1. I finished my Napoleon vest:

I never got around to taking a picture other than that one, late at night in my room just after I finished putting it together. I’ve worn it a few times and I always get nice compliments. The Hillside Linen ended up being a nice choice; it’s light and breathable, and after a quick tumble in the dryer it softened up wonderfully. It’s a bit on the warm side, but not too much.

2. Soft Linen Shawl:

I really just wanted an excuse to knit this pattern, which I thought was gorgeous due to its simplicity. It knit up super quickly. I used the Classic Elite Soft Linen, which was amazing to knit with. This will be used as a birthday gift for a family member.

3. Grrr:

Knitty’s Grrr, a pattern for a co-worker at the yarn shop that is having a baby at some point in December. We had a baby shower last week with the ladies at the shop. It was nice to get out and spend time with them outside of the store! I used Mission Falls 1824 cotton, which really looks fantastic for this pattern. The texture of the cotton adds a lot of interest to the loops that make the mane.

4–6. Turn a Square:
I decided to make one for my dad for his upcoming birthday, but my gauge is always a bit on the tight side so it ended up too small.

It fits me perfectly but I think it’d be too snug for him. So I decided to keep it and make another one on bigger needles.

I kind of fell in love with this one. The blues and greens are fantastic. Alas, it heads off to Dad later this week. After making two I thought, what the hell, I’ll make another one! These first two are both made with Cascade 220 and the same skein of Noro Silk Garden.

For this last one I used Cascade 220 and some crappy acrylic stuff from JoAnn Fabrics. I actually kind of like it. The color changes are a bit too slow, though. I wish I would have made it back to the red at some point in the striping.

7. Quincy:

This is a hat from Jared Flood’s pattern booklet through Classic Elite. I used some Araucania Azapa, which is a fantastic yarn. The hat stretched out a bit too much while blocking, though … mostly due to my cat Ronnie getting a hold of it and dragging it around the house. SIGH. Stupid cats. I’ll probably make another one of these soon. I really love the twist (which you can’t really see in the picture unfortunately).

8. Zoe:

While I was test-knitting this pattern I made another version, half for the test-knitting and half to do some stash-busting. The yarn is a bit too busy for me, but I like the way the ruffle turned out this time around.

So there you have it. Lots of knitting and a pretty garden. Now if only school was as pleasant …
ek

p.s. Beatles Rockband is AMAZING.
p.p.s. Beatles Remastered Stereo Set is also amazing.
p.p.p.s. Futurama Complete Collection: i haz it. Nothing like a life-sized Bender head in my living room.