Author Archive: meri

The internet is awesome, part in a series.

I was joking with Cindy about needing to knit her a hat to wear during her running expeditions, and she asked if I could knit one of those hats with the attached beards, because they’re awesome. I knew exactly what she was talking about, and went off in search of patterns.

Turns out, there’s an entire web site dedicated to them. Check out Beardhead.com, if that sort of thing interests you. (These are actual finished projects, not patterns, which makes me both happy and sad.)

PSA: More free music.

They Might Be Giants has another free song for you. Download “I’m Your Boyfriend Now” here.

Jenn is the awesome.

In case anyone wasn’t aware (and I’m not sure how that could possibly be the case, but on the off chance…) Jenn is absolutely awesome. She got me an early Christmas / birthday / lots of other things gift: a Tom Binh Brain Bag. (With the problems with my knees, I need to stop carrying so much weight in shoulder bags, and I had somehow managed to give away all of my backpacks. So, Jenn to the rescue.)

This thing is awesome. I’m packing up for a couple of days away, and have crammed a ton of stuff into it:

  • 15″ MacBook Pro in protective case
  • Clipboard with knitting patterns / agendas
  • Ginormous InDesign book
  • Knitting book
  • iPad
  • Kindle
  • 4 knitting projects
  • Colored pencils / sharpener / erasers
  • Cables and batteries
  • Camera
  • Meds

And there’s probably still room for a couple of changes of clothes, though I’ll probably throw that in another bag, since I don’t quite have the organization-fu down with the new bag yet. And it doesn’t feel heavy on my back, and rides perfectly. I am absolutely delighted.

PSA: Free TMBG song.

They Might Be Giants is sharing a free song in honor of the elections taking place in the US today. Download Vote or Don’t now! (Direct link to MP3.) You can also check out the video.

PSA: On voting.

Driving home this morning (having spent last night at Jenn’s), I intentionally drove past my polling place to see how long the lines outside were. To my surprise, there weren’t any. Upon arriving home, I double-checked that my polling place hadn’t moved due to some bizarre storm-related damage or something similar, and it had not. Armed with this knowledge, I grabbed my knitting and headed back out into the world.

I didn’t even get a chance to open the knitting bag. There was no line. I’m hoping that this is because all of my neighbors got their voting in early (and often, of course), and not because of a general lack of voter turnout. However, given the lines I was seeing at the early voting polling place (which is just across the street from my house), I tend to think it’s the former, and not the latter.

So, if you’re eligible to vote, get out there and do it.

A few days ago, I was talking with the son of a friend from high school. Today will be the young man’s first voting experience. He was asking me some questions about what he should do and how he could be prepared. Here’s part of what I came up with, in a more presentable form. (more…)

Ah, daylight saving.

I hope you all are enjoying your extra hour of sleep. For me, instead of taking that extra hour, my brain and body said, “Nope! 4 AM! Time to get up!” This, of course, means that I’ve been up since 3 AM, thanks to the time shift.

Still not king.

New Font: FontAwesome

If anyone out there does layout and design and needs some pretty decent iconic imagery to use, I’m passing on an icon I recently found: FontAwesome. It includes 220 icons and vectors. It even has IE7 support. (And, from the developer’s page: If you need it, you have my condolences.)

I thought some of you might find it worth checking out.

But it pours.

*sigh*

I have somehow managed to go from a state where I have almost nothing to do to a state where I’m feeling a wee bit overwhelmed.

To help matters, we appear to have a hurricane bearing down on us. And I’ve borrowed Turtle and Drama (two of my favoritest dogs on Earth) for a week or so, so I get to figure out walking dogs in a storm.

Oh, and G and I both get migraines induced by shifts in the barometric pressure. Something I’m sure won’t be happening at all over the next few days.

All in all, a great big don’t wanna.

PSA: Important Knitting Rule.

If you are the sort to have an occasional drink, it is a good idea to keep around a knitting project that you can safely work on after having a drink or two. There is, in fact, a whole book dedicated to this idea. (The book rates knitting patterns based upon how many drinks you can have and still safely work on the project.)

Having had a drink, I think I shall put away the Terribly Intricate Project for the evening, and pull out a nearly-fool-proof project.

Returning to my roots.

I’ve spent some time over the last couple of days wrangling with Dreamweaver. I started to write up what Dreamweaver is, and what its alternatives are, and why those pieces of information are pertinent to the story. But then I realized that, if I have to explain these things, you’re not really going to get the story, which is ok. Not everybody has to get every story. Instead, the story shall stand on its own.

(more…)