Remember when you were a kid and people took 35 mm slides?
You might be over at someone’s house for an evening, usually a friend of your parents and they would drag out the slide projector to show pictures of their last trip? Your good time changed to agonizing pain as the minutes crawled by. Set after set of slides: places you had never been, people you didn’t know lined up in front of statues, buildings and trees, stiff and unsmiling. All of it blending together, you promise yourself that you will never, ever in your whole life ever do that to any company at your house when you grow up.
Fast forward more decades that you wish had past. You have an acquaintance over for dinner. There is a double reason for the invitation. The first is that you want to be nice and thank her for helping you right after your arrival. The second is that you have absolutely no clue as to how to work the flipping cooker and she just might have an idea. She is English right? This is an English cooker right?
About two nights ago I finally used the stove portion. Having had a gas range in university I was familiar with the concept of turn on the gas and light the match.
Ok, warm food from something other than the rice cooker or the microwave.
But the oven was beyond me with the gas entry way in the back.
Well, guess what? There is this little electric striker thing that you press and it lights things all by itself! That is if the gas is turned on. The broiler works. The oven does not, no gas flow.
I nuked the vegetable pie.
The last thing I would think of as a thank you for helping with the cooking problem would be to force a guest to look at family and travel pictures. She said she really wanted to see them. I thought about re-evaluating my assesment of her sanity.
Look at pictures voluntarily? OoooooK.
Being a modern sort of person, most of my pictures of the kids are on my hard-drive. And she actually enjoyed looking at them, commenting on architectural details of some of the travel pix. We spent almost two hours just going over pictures of China, the kids, the cruise.
Totally stunned here, I could never imagine that. What do I do if I get a return invitation?
Bring knitting, I guess.
Yarn
I don’t have any socks on the needles. I have one pair to go on the 52 pair plunge. Something bright I think – Fire from Fly*dyed (Monarch sock yarn – Angora Valley Fibers).
Now to find a pattern that won’t be completely overwhelmed. It is going to need to be something toe up, since I don’t normally knit those and need the practice.
Knitting
Progress again on the Shawl-Collared Vest. I am a bit happier with the colours this time around. It could be better but the top matches the bottom and next up the yarn moves into the lighter blues.
Books &
McNally’s Alibi on the car CD.
Keepers of the Flame by Robin Owens and All the Right Angles by Stef Ann Holm just finished in paper back.
Charmed (season one) on the DvD. Not sure if I like it or not.
-Holly
Would it be too obvious to suggest the Firestarter pattern for the fiery yarn? It’s toe up and and excellent for not overwhelming the colors.
Wow, you really gave me a flashback to the days of slide shows. My dad loved getting out the projector and the big white sheet for the wall. At least now it’s easier just to send someone your Flickr page.