aknitwit

Stating the obvious.

2009-01-19T03:52:28Z

I bought a new curling iron. Like a good girl, I read the little pamphlet that came with it. Under Safety Instructions was the following caution: Do not use while sleeping. Well, duh.

Grammar Rant II

2008-11-18T22:36:10Z

This might not be the time for another grammar rant, with fires raging, kitties sick, and friends facing layoff--still, maybe an intellectual diversion is in order.

Looking at the Comments, it seems your pet peeves fall into several general categories: Homonyms, word confusion, then/than, your/you're.

The homonyms (hoard/horde, rein/reign, tow/toe) and word confusions (don/dawn, tenet/tenant, tack/tact) are misused in context and are, to some degree, due to ignorance of spelling or definition. There are no rules covering usage of these words, except LOOK IT UP! Spell-checker will not catch it.
The case with then/than is a little different. Not only do these words look and sound similar, their definitions are close enough to be confusing. In general, however, 'then' is temporal and 'than' is comparative. When I was a kid, one was encouraged to say 'different from' instead of 'different than', but that prejudice is slowly disappearing. In Ireland they say 'different to', which makes a lot of sense to me.
Now for your/you're and its/it's, the confusion over the possessive and the contraction. This irritates the hell out of me. "Your welcome." Grrrr. 'His' and 'hers' don't have apostrophes, so neither do 'yours' and 'its.' This should be simple to remember.

One of my pet peeves is 'he and I' v. 'him and me'. Some people, including news anchors, think it sounds ignorant to say "him and me." But in this case it is correct:  It went badly for him and me.  A simple test for the correct choice is to drop one of the pronouns and see how it sounds. It went badly for him. You wouldn't say, "It went badly for he." By the same token you would say, "He and I went to the mall," not "Him and I went to the mall." Use the same test. He went to the mall.

Can I just say one more thing? 'None' is singular, so make sure the verb agrees. "None was left standing." The test for this is to mentally substitute 'not one' for 'none' and make the verb agree.

It should be obvious from this rant that I am not a Punctuation Nazi, and I have probably made many mistakes regarding the ' and the ". Whatever. I can only be perfect in a limited number of areas.

Grammar Rant

2008-11-13T00:42:23Z

There was a box on my MSN home page today explaining the difference between lie and lay. The improper use of these words has always made me crazed. In essence, if you recline you lie, and if you place something you lay. You lay things on the table. A hen lays an egg. You lie down for a nap. You lie in the sun. So, it should be Lie Lady Lie, Mr. Dylan. I am probably preaching to the choir here, as you all are educated, but some people near and dear to me are educated too, but a little casual grammatically. Which leads me to "irregardless".

The "ir" in irrelevant, irregular, etc., means 'not' or 'un'. Therefore, irregardless means "not regardless", which is opposite of the intent. There is no such word. Use of this word in my presence makes my teeth hurt. I think I have passed this prejudice on to my daughter. My own mother used to correct my grammar relentlessly, until there was no need to do so anymore. I have been guilty (blush) of correcting others, even those not related, but I getting better, more mellow, I think. I am almost OK with the current, improper, use of the word "hopefully", since it is in such common usage that it almost becomes proper.

Thus ends The Grammar Hour. Next we will rant on your/you're and its/it's. Then maybe we'll do were/was.

PS Here is the link to the Encarta article, for those of you interested.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Columns/Default.aspx?article=LayLie&gt1=27001

Cat plays piano

2008-11-10T17:41:16Z

Here is a clip sent to us by a piano-playing friend, it is sooooooo adorable! All cat lovers must see this--

http://tinyurl.com/6paro7

Truth in Cartooning

2008-10-06T21:40:43Z

I saw a cartoon last week, Pearls Before Swine, in which the Rat character talks about an 'earworm'--a song you hear once and can't get out of your head for the rest of the day. Now I have On the Wings of Love stuck in my head....Yikes.

Attention Knitters!

2008-10-02T18:03:15Z

I have found an invaluable website for knitting techniques, etc., it is Knittinghelp.com. There are videos showing those troublesome stitches and techniques like the dreaded Kitchener that are clear and simple. The website is easy to navigate, and has stuff on it I have never heard of. Look at the Russian join! Voila!

Happy Birthday, Tron!!

2008-09-26T00:29:36Z

Wishing you a most deliriously happy day. (Card and present in the works, pending.)
MIL and FIL

Oh, did I mention...

2008-09-10T17:34:15Z

That I am possibly the world's happiest mom? I live 2 blocks from my daughter, and she wants me to!! The other night, instead of talking on the phone, she walked down to visit. Walked . Down. To visit. Love you, Wend! Love you, Jeff!
OK, definitely the World's Happiest Mom.

Cat Heaven???

2008-09-07T00:10:20Z

It has been a couple of weeks now since Magick got sprung from The Cage, and I think it is safe to say he is back to normal. I bathed him as soon as I got him home to our new house, and spent lots of time stroking and drying him after that. When semi-dry, he was allowed down on the floor to explore, which he did quickly and eagerly, albeit cautiously. He got to sniff the familiar furniture, roam among the piles of boxes, and hide in the closets. At first he spent ALOT of time under the bed, and ran at every strange new noise, and wasn't very talkative, but there was none of that I Am Magick's Evil Twin behavior. Now he is much more normal and talkative, happily paddling and drinking from the bathroom sink, and not freaking out at noises. We had a small smoke-alarm incident yesterday which made him disappear, but oh, well. Giant Whew. Many thanks to you all for the kind and helpful words regarding aberrant cat behavior. I very much appreciate the support!

The Magick is Back!!

2008-08-21T00:11:12Z

So, we emerged from Cat Hell into Cat Heck. Magick's transition to Susan's house was not a successful one, and he was un-adopted. Long story, not worth repeating. The upshot of the whole thing is--we have our white kitty back. Unfortunately, he has been shunted from pillar to post the past week or so, from Sue's to the vet, into a cage for a hellish trip in the car to Sunnyvale, and into another cage at the new vet's. Our furniture will take a few days to get here, and Magi is safer at the vet's, but he is thoroughly miserable. Our normally fastidious cat is languishing in his litter box, stinking and hissing and growling at all who come near his cage. We visit him every day, and he lets us pet him and change his litter, but then he is back in the stuff. Today, finally, he remained outside the box when we returned him to his cage. This has been going on since Saturday, an eternity to me. Can't wait to get him into the new house and bathe him, then snuggle him and show him around, point out his bed, the wide sunny windowsill, and a proper big litter box in the laundry room. Soon, Magi, soon.

Beware the Tofu!

2008-08-05T23:50:22Z

OK, all you would-be dads, listen up. Harvard researchers have found that eating soy-based food could significantly lower a man's sperm count. This was reported in the journal Human Reproduction. It seems that soy contains a plant form of the female sex hormone estrogen. Thought y'all should know...

Cat Hell

2008-07-24T20:20:19Z

I parted with both of my cats this week, one voluntarily, one not.   The 'not' involved my girl-cat, Fiona, who was diagnosed with some sort of intestinal cancer--bad outlook--and whom we had put to sleep on Monday. I held her while the shot was administered, and she was gone in seconds. My big tough husband stood on the vet's porch during this procedure, unable to watch, crying softly.
Fiona is not pictured here. She was not very photogenic, and I have only a couple of good pictures of her; in my favorite, she is curled up in my underwear drawer. She was a small tortoise-shell, sort of bitchy, but always sweet to me. She was mostly quiet, but she had a cute vocabulary. The declarative was 'map', the interrogative was 'mrrr?', and she had a little trill, like 'brrrt', mostly food-related.   I will miss her terribly.

Her step-brother Magick, pictured here, is another story. Because of our impending move, we had decided to have our friend Sue adopt one or both of our cats, though there was always a chance we would, maybe, keep one. We would see how our two got along with Sue's resident cat. I secretly hoped my bitchy Fiona would need to be reclaimed and brought to Sunnyvale, but suddenly that option was lost to me. Then Magick got very mopey without his companion, and I could only hope that he would adjust to a new girl-cat. I took him to Sue's on Tuesday, and she is slowly getting the two cats used to each other, giving me daily updates, and it looks like this transition might work. Sue has had many cats, she has a huge house and many resources, so things are looking up. I'll be cat-sitting for her a couple of times before we move, so I'll see Magi in his new environment. It will be a long goodbye. And I am very hopeful. But it's been a hell of a week.

Reading Preferences

2008-06-27T23:44:00Z

At my Doctor's office today, the reading table contained only 2 things: A Holy Bible, and a stack of Avon catalogs. What would you call this weird juxtaposition? The Sublime and the Ridiculous? Body and Soul? C'mon, Bax, I'm counting on you for a zinger...

Oh, no, Terry!

2008-03-15T23:01:58Z

I just found out that Terry Pratchett has Alzheimer's. What kind of stinking irony is that?

Sellout? Career Advancement? You choose...

2007-12-07T04:02:16Z

Remember 'Serenity'? Remember Mal, the Captain? He is now a regular on 'Desperate Housewives'. I kid you not.

A little more help, please?

2007-11-02T20:40:38Z

It seems I am always asking you guys for help. Or at least input. Currrent dilemma concerns knitting needles. I have many many needles already, but I am about to embark on New Adventures in knitting, via Cat Bordhi and her magical method, involving lots of various lengths of circular needles. Also got Barbara Walker's book on knitting from the top down, also involving circular needles. I think the best solution would probably be a set of interchangeable tips with various lengths of cables, but there are lots of different kinds out there, and I don't even know where to start. Wood tips? Metal? Resin? And who makes the best? Heeelllllp!

While I have your attention, a couple more questions:
What is 'teh'? What does it mean and how do you say it? Also 'woot'. Same inquiry.
Is a 'klingon' the same thing as 'a bat in the cave'?

Inquiring minds want to know....

HOME!!

2007-10-26T21:36:03Z

We are home. HOME. Unburned, darling little house home. The town is still pretty deserted, and the crush to get re-entry is backing up at the checkpoint, but we should soon be back to 'normal', whatever that is. I had to stop at said checkpoint, and was told that the wait was about 40 minutes. I buttonholed the nearest Sheriff's deputy, told him my husband was 'with' the Sheriff's in Twin Peaks, and that I had cats in the car. Cats, he says, hmmm. Follow me. And he put me second in line at the permit desk. Cats Rule!!

Kent had preceded me up the hill so he could help with the Sheriff's Citizens Patrol, so he had no trouble getting in. Just flashed his badge.We had boarded our kitties at my step-son's vet, and when I picked them up, they refused payment. Great folks.

Magick wet his pants as we pulled into town, so the car isn't reeking too badly, but he is not a happy guy right now. He was unceremoniously rinsed off in the kitchen sink and rubbed down with a dishtowel. I have had a minute to brew some coffee and dump my catpissy clothes in the washer, so life is good.

We had a nice few days with Kent's son and family, and I managed to get almost all the junk food I was craving. Our town only has Round Table and McD's, so all the finer things, like Rubio's and Quizno's are rare treats.

I am leaving behind, in Redlands, my friend Sue who has a house in the Arrowhead area. She may not get back up for another week or so. She is comfortably nesting with a friend there, so should be OK, but is still anxious.

I must thank you all for your good wishes on our behalf, and for my birthday wishes too. Thanks. Oh, btw, we had to evacuate the day after the aforementioned bridal shower, so I didn't get to tell you all how that went. With your help I decided on a cookbook written by a Food Channel cookie, it looks perfect for a new bride, and then wrapped it with a bunch of little utensils on the front instead of a bow. Cute, and much appreciated. Thanks for the input! Bax, your mention of the embroidered blanket was great--I may do that for them down the road a bit.

Whew. I am going to bring in our stuff from the car and get re-settled. Kent should be home in time for dinner. We never lost power, so our refer food is still good.

Rhylar, hope your folks are OK in Del Mar. San Diego Co was really hard hit. And today is the anniversary of the deaths of the 5 firefighters in the Esperanze fire. Life in So Cal...

Hey, Wendy, you said your folks are "f'ing PC." Does that stand for Politically Correct? Which we are, of course...

Bye for now.

A Little Help Here?

2007-10-11T21:04:04Z

I have been invited to a bridal shower for a young woman I have met only once--she is the fiance of my step-son's stepson--so I know very little about her. I am appealing to members of her generation to give me an idea or two for a shower gift. If there is anything you remember getting, pre-nuptially, which you still value today, and haven't relegated to the back shelf of your pantry, I would like to know the identity of said object. I am feeling hopelessly 'out of it' and also suffer from 'live in Hickville-itis' so your assistance would be more than appreciated.
My line is open...

Graduation Day

2007-06-23T20:14:37Z

On Thursday, my husband Kent and I went to his grand-daughter's graduation from High School. It was a pretty typical graduation ceremony, and maybe the family gathering was pretty typical too, I don't know. Here's a list of the attendees:

Tom, my husband's second son, my step-son, father to Brittany
Brittany, the graduate, my step-grand-daughter
Sally, Brittany's mother, Tom's ex-wife, my ex-step-daughter-in-law
Tyler, Brittany's brother, my step-grand-son
Dottie, my husband's ex-wife, another of Brittany's four grand-mothers, and Tom's mother
Bob, Dottie's current husband, Brittany's step-grand-father
Lindy, Tom's girlfriend
Christian and Paul, the elder of Lindy's four children
Daniel, Brittany's boyfriend
and Duane(?), Sally's boyfriend

Children like Brittany have twice as many relatives as a child in a 'normal' family would have, due to divorce and remarriage. The adults have trouble remembering who belongs to whom, but the children have no problem. They know everybody and where they all fit in. Naturally, since the world revolves around them!

Anyway, it was a fun gathering, we all went out to dinner together, and caught up on each other. There have been rough patches in the past, hurt feelings, estrangements, and general ill will, but all seems smooth now. We've all grown up.

Dragons

2007-05-07T00:55:26Z

I recently saw 'Eregon' on DVD, and although I liked the story and look forward to the sequel(s), I have to take issue with the appearance of the dragon, Safira. Her face is way too flat, and her eyes too small and forward-facing. The presumed descendants of dragons, lizards and birds, have long central ridges from brow to snout (beak), and large protuberant eyes that are more situated to the side. Safira has a brow stop, for crisake! Any comments? Bax?

More on knitting...

2007-03-05T22:07:03Z

I have been going to weekly knitting sessions with my knittingfriend, Susan, and learning alot. We also go to yarn shops here and there, and she has introduced me to Sock Yarn, which is really cool. It is very fine, usually, and sometimes variegated, but most of the time it has a self-striping pattern. I haven't done any socks yet, but there are lots of other applications for sock yarn, and I am all into that. There are several books specializing in scarves, hats, and gloves made with sock yarn, and they are all quite interesting looking. A nearby yarn shop, the Yarn Deli, has as its motto. "Sit. Knit. Be." I love it. It's so Zen.

Happy New Year

2007-01-23T01:00:54Z

Gads, it has been an age since I posted anything! How about a little 2006 wrap-up first?

Our first whole year of retirement, in our little mountain home. Fan-freakin-tastic. Learned a lot about the flora and fauna, adjusted to the weather. Had a few great trips: Death Valley, Washington DC, Alaska. Got to enjoy the local scenery from high atop a fire lookout tower. Had some interesting visitors—notably, Redtail, AKA Baxil, in May. Bax, it was a pleasure to give you shelter for while, and learn more about long-distance hiking. You have the world’s sweetest parents, BTW, did you know they sent us a New England ‘care package’ with yummy local treats? Lobster bisque, maple syrup, a fantastic spice rub…so thoughtful.

I have learned a lot about knitting this year from a talented new friend who has also taught me to appreciate the better yarns. Susan has showed me how to join shoulder seams with a saddle that then goes down the sleeve, and how to apply an i-cord to the edge of a finished piece, easier than Zimmerman’s. I am diggin’ it.

2007 so far…

COLD!! We still have ice on the ground from snow which fell 2 weeks ago. There is a thin skin of ice on Lake Gregory, our nearest body of water. (Some axhole has already fallen through trying to walk on it.) The wind has played havoc with items on the deck, firewood cover, trashcans, and the power source. We lost power off and on over 2 days early this month, but didn’t suffer too badly. We have a good fireplace, plenty of wood, and an old gas wall heater left from when this little house was a mountain cabin, 50 years ago. We have emergency supplies for food, oil lamps and candles for light, Coleman stove and gas barbeque for cooking. We didn’t have as hard a time of it as Lori and David, for sure. Also, I hear you can drown in your own basement in Seattle…

Lori, I have jury duty coming up too. Over in Big Bear, which requires about an hour’s drive over mountain roads, including a stretch called the Arctic Circle, for reasons I would rather not know. Will post this experience…

I have meant to comment on many LJ entries over the past weeks, but read the entries too late to have the comments be relevant, really. Believe me, I have enjoyed keeping up on y’all’s adventures. Kady, how exciting that you are going back to cooking school! Best of luck. Sandy and Lori, I have laughed at the new-kitty stories and would love to meet the babies. To all those we saw at DM’s Solstice night—so good to spend that time with you, love you all. Sandy and Eric, I know you will grow in this rich new environment. Devon, I’m still waiting for pics of your new room…

OK, that was a good start at catchup—I promise to be more timely in future. Happy New Year!

Lemon Chicken, Revisited

2006-12-14T18:34:44Z

To follow up on the lemon chicken saga, I made the recipe suggested by kadyg, from the link below.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19367,00.html

It was reaalllly good! I would maybe cut back on the broth a little, and I would put in some quartered lemon slices to make it closer to Chang's presentation, but otherwise just follow the recipe. The lemon curd is an essential ingredient. And you gotta make the Special Rice to go with it! Yum!!!

Just let me say this about that...

2006-12-13T01:38:26Z

Here it is, Christmas time again--wait, what do you call it? Is Christmas just for Christians? It seems like the whole country celebrates this holiday, or is more or less forced to celebrate this holiday, as Christmas. Sure, the cards say Happy Holidays, or Best Wishes of the Season, but we all know what the real deal is. Don't get me wrong, I love this season and all the stuff that goes with it. I was raised in a Christian household, we went to midnite services on the 24th, sang in the choir, the whole bit. But in the house, in the actual house, we had no nativity scene, no overt Christian symbols. Santa was there. Santa gave us gifts. We sang Santa songs. We celebrated Santa-mas.
I do love this season. I love getting presents for everyone, I love the trees and the lights, the music--well, for the most part. I pretty much hate Oh Holy Night. I love that I get to see most of the family, we really try to make contact and celebrate together. This is also the one time of year that I hear from my cousin Kathy, the one time I write to my old neighbor Jean. There is this spirit thing going around. What about the non-Christians of various ilks? What are we supposed to do? Can we just cherry-pick the good parts, the aspects that make us feel good, or nostalgic, or generous, or connected? Why not? I have a tree. It is a live green tree covered with ornaments and lights. Don't take that away from me. I have holly stuff on the mantle, and candles everywhere. I will probably do this forever. I love it.
Merry Santa-mas!!!

End of Fire Season (?)

2006-12-05T18:45:16Z

December 2 marked the official end of fire season in SB Nat'l Forest, all the fire lookouts closed and shuttered. Ironically, 2 or 3 new fires have broken out, though not in our Forest, due to the high winds and low humidity. If red flag conditions persist, we may have to re-open and re-staff our lookouts until the first good snow. Can you say 'global warming?'
The humidity is around 12-15% some days, and Magick goes around looking like a cartoon cat, fur all zapped out around him. Fiona seems less affected, but still sparks if you touch her without discharging current beforehand. Hubby and I have learned to lay a hand alongside the other's cheek before a kiss to prevent lip-zap. Ow.
Holiday preparations going apace. Cards all done, awaiting stamps. Sis's scarf almost knitted (I am trying a short-row pattern which coils at the ends, it is really cute!), Amazon on the list of things to do today. Harry and David visit scheduled for next week. Hmmm. Oh, yeah, we'll get a tree this weekend. Our living tree from last year is happily growing in the back yard, occupying the only remaining sky-hole, so this year's tree will have to go in the front yard. I love this time of year with the lights everywhere...

Does anybody have a recipe for the kind of Lemon Chicken they serve at P F Chang's?