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.

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

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!

The fenced in area, finally cleaned up!

They marked off the different plants with string, all professional-like.

Potted plants left behind by previous tennants were salvaged and put in the garden area as well.

The lawn furniture fit in perfectly, making it a lovely little place to retreat.

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:

Napoleon

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:

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:

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.

Turn a Square 1

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.

Turn a Square 2

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.

Turn a Square 3

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:

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:

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.

Look who has joined the Planet Express crew (on my video game bookshelf)!

Five Star General Zapp Brannigan

Why it’s Five Star General Zapp S. Brannigan! And naturally he’s eying that seductive cyclops, Turanga Leela.

Thanks, Kristi/kaostling!!! Some yarny goodness will be on its way to you in the near future. <3

I remember hearing about the new line of Kidrobot Futurama toys at some point earlier this summer and naturally freaking out about it. They went on sale on the 13th at 10am and I was All Over It. So All Over It that I ordered them while in a meeting with my research assistantship supervisor. I mean, like, we were chatting about whatever I was giving him and at the same time I was discreetly typing in my credit card number and my shipping info. I am a terrible person.

Anyway, they came in the mail today! Time for a picture parade™!

the blind boxes

turanga leela!

bender bending rodriguez!

philip j. fry, delivery boy!

the planet express crew

closeup of leela

closeup of bender, cigar in hand

fry and his pizza for i. c. weiner

with accessories. gotta love pharaoh bender!

this is a work of art, not a toy

Oh yes. <3

Why yes, I have been knitting. I swear.

These two afghan squares are for a large afghan blanket being assemble for a friend of mine. They may not know of the blanket yet, so I’m withholding the details for the moment.

Braided Lace

Labyrinth

This is my first official “complete” sock! The pattern is currently being test-knit, so I’ll share details once the pattern goes live.

Soybean Sock

Soybean Sock Detail

I keep meaning to take better pictures in better lighting, but I think I left the sock over at HCW when I worked on Saturday. Oops! I’ll be picking it up on Thursday when I go in for First Thursday. Not sure what the sale will be yet, hopefully something good. I have a $50 gift card to spend thanks to my amazing mom! Hooray for moms buying yarny things as birthday presents! Happy birthday me!

ek

Oh. Your. God. I love this pattern and this hat.

Trilobite!

As soon as I saw this pattern I knew I had to make it, and I had to make it for one person in particular. Here’s how the story goes:

As people close to me know, I have a fanatical devotion to all things Futurama. When I’m sitting and knitting I put on Futurama. When I’m reading for school or writing up something for a class I put Futurama on in the background. I always start from the first episode and work my way through the four DVDs, each time through alternating between watching with or without the audio commentary tracks. Not only do I know each episode by heart, but I know each audio commentary by heart. It’s pretty ridiculous.

The crew reverted to younger ages.

On the commentary track for “Teenage Mutant Leela’s Hurdles,” David (X.) Cohen talks about his love of trilobites and his trilobite rival, Nicholas Cage. The discussion was sparked by the character designs for Dr. Zoidberg in said episode; as he regresses through his larval stages one of them is much like a trilobite. Naturally, when I saw the Trilobite hat on the Summer 2009 edition of Knitty I immediately thought of David Cohen. Next thing I knew I cast on the hat and was working feverishly to finish it.

One of the trilobites

It only took two days to knit, maybe 6 or 7 hours. It probably would have gone a lot faster but there is a lot of cabling involved. I knit it up with Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool that I dyed with HEB’s housebrand koolaid. Isn’t that a great brown color? I seriously love this hat. (And don’t worry, I modeled it before I washed and blocked it, so it’ll be squeaky clean and nice before it hits the mail.) I’m going to cast on for another one for myself in the not-to-distant future. By the way, it was 96º outside when I put it on and went outside to take pictures. Sick.

Trilobites!

Inordinately Fond of Invertebrate

Arts and Crafts

I find myself now terribly fascinated by trilobites and other prehistoric invertebrates. Not that I wasn’t before, but I admit that when I knit something I go all out and do research into them. I have had a Nautilus in the works for some time now, but it’s sitting quietly in my WIP basket waiting for inspiration. I think it’s going to be one of my WIPs Wrestlemania projects. So I award this project, and by extension this pattern and further extension myself the Science Scouts badges for “Inordinately Fond of Invertebrates” and “Arts and Crafts.” You have to love scientific geekery through knitting. I know I also get some of it from the two biologists I live with.

So there you have it. As soon as this badboy is dry I’m shipping it off to David X. Cohen, c/o Twentieth Television in Los Angeles. I hope it gets to him, as his birthday is July 13th, and he definitely deserves awesome things. Especially now that new Futurama episodes are in the works and will be airing on Comedy Central in 2010! (The day I heard that news was one of the happiest days of my life. It’s all I could talk about for like three days. Not joking.)

ek

Today is the last day that a feature film will be part of my Ten Days of Trek. I’ll get to why in a moment.

Star Trek Generations

I’ll forgo bullet points so that I can just rant for a minute. The movie started out like the rest of the Star Trek films up until this point, which was awesome, because I like the Star Trek films. But then it turned into a prolonged episode of TNG, which was really boring. And then Kirk ended his Trek tenure in the worst way EVER. I know everyone and their grandmother has complained about it, but that’s not stopping me. I mean, really. The only thing I’ll give them is that they stuck with what he said in Undiscovered Country. That he’d die alone. And he did, considering that McCoy and Spock weren’t there. Also, neither of them were in the film at all, and were only briefly mentioned.

A brief point about my reaction to this film. Did I cry for Kirk? No. Did I cry for the Enterprise? No. Did I cry when Data found Spot? Yes. Like a little baby. So there you have it.

I also decided that I was going to stop re-watching the Trek films at this point. It really was the final send-off for the original cast, even if it was a disappointing send-off. So for the next three days I will highlight my favorite episodes. Tomorrow will be #3, the next day #2, and I’ll end with #1, my favorite and arguably the best episode of the original Star Trek series. Because I know how much you all want to know.

As a heads-up, there is a strong possibility that my judgment will be swayed by episodes parodied by Futurama. Just saying.