Simple Pleasures

I watch a lot of anime. A lot. Seriously. I practically get paid in anime, so I've seen a lot of things. Unfortunately, this means I've seen a lot of One Piece, which, over time, apparently results in brain lesions that simulate mild enjoyment when watching the show. I think my brain is bleeding, but nothing is leaking out yet, so I'll just wait for oblivion to wipe my shame from the earth.

Incidentally, viewing 13 episodes really gives you a fantastic chunk of time where your hands are unoccupied, freeing up that 13MBs of brain-space to open a new window and let you knit while you watch tv! I finished my socks this way, and am now trudging through several more inches of Husband's scarf. Really need to get paid, though, so I can order the SBJ pattern and have that at hand. Imagine! The garter stitch! Oh the simplicity!

Also! I recently picked up a new novel while visiting our local comic store (Comic Interlude . Highly recommended for that authentic geek feel, with towering piles of anime/comic related merchandise stacked so deep that they qualify as sub-par building materials and literally define the store's layout, and aisles so full of comic happiness that you have to walk single file around the the center pile o' swag, as if paying a strange homage to the ink-stained gods of stories past.) and have rediscovered the soul-glowing wonder that is: Reading a book you've never read before.
True to form, the novel I currently am savoring is Hellboy: Fire Wolves, and it's pretty awesome. Of course, Hellboy is usually awesome, and when writers are so taken with Mike Mignola's characters and world that they themselves are deemed worthy of contributing....well, it helps a lot. My only fear is that Poor Mr. Lebbon will find himself succumbing to that ever-present societal undercurrent of underdog vs. world stories, and give Hellboy a romantic interlude with the damsel in distress. I hate that.

(And let me take a moment to eyeball you in an intimidating manner, Del Toro. You have stained the world I love, and will never be forgiven. Also, WTF with Pan's Labyrinth? You need mental help, and I almost hope you never get it, so your twisted visions will drag you into a strange new level of torment from which there is no escape. I mean, yes, Mignola is teh awesum, but you're like the cruel bigger kid that, recognizing within your primitive perception a kind of beauty you can't achieve on your own, gloms onto the artistic child and drags them into your rounds, having them kick the victims after you've pushed them into the mud and stolen their ice-cream money. Then you twist your features into that manic smile, declare "We're so the best of friends!" in that screeching howl you use when you are happy and, using one crooked paw to steer/drag your accomlice with you, you begin plotting your next assault. We all see it, and we hope to whatever powers that be that the artistic one escapes your 'friendship' before their talent turns ugly-by-association.)
Hellboy is undeniably cool, but I find I can't accept the possibility of him having 'flings'. By his very nature and origin, he a lonely and long-haul type of guy (however long or short that 'haul' may be), so I find the possibility of throwing a random damsel into the mix mildly disgusting. Also, Del Toro, Hellboy practically raised Liz, in a definite big-brother fashion. Again, you need to seek psychiatric care.

Withdrawal

I left my knitting at home. It's lunchtime and I have no knitting. That is what lunchime is for, aside from a few quick moments to stuff food into my head.

I am working on the second of these socks, but the one photo will have to suffice. Photos take away from knitting time, as does sleep, and that hateful need for food (and its usual requirement of at least one of my knitting hands. Yes, I do have another pair, har har. I'm keeping the second pair in the box. For resale value.). Also, bathing, usually. I'm excited to finish these socks as I have many other things to do.

Things to do:

Post review for chumps (Hellsing Ultimate 1 - 4)

Knit something for impending niece2 (daughter of niece)

Make two knot bags (nieces)

Find quality kitchen knives or blank dvds (mother of brood)

Find a very casually specific pokemon game (nephew for late birthday)

That last one's a doozy. I carefully explained my "no christmas" method to the family. Nephew, who was born in February, immediately believes he will be skipped for 2009, since his birthday is over. I explain the concept of back-dating a birthday card. All is solved, right? Well, I ask what he'd like. A toy, or something to play with. Right...like I know Bakugan from the latest Power Rangers incarnation? Besides, I'm thinking educational. Something to read or at least something with complicated instructions. Oh! He'd like a game! But what game? Well, any game really. For any of his systems, but especially a pokemon game. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Any game, really. Except not the Mystery Dungeon that takes place in the cave. The other one. Or any game, but mostly the Mystery Dungeon not-in-a-cave for the DS.

Good try, kid. Just skip and go to the begging, okay? You'd save time. Besides, your groveling pleas might amuse me.

Today's customer advice: Don't send an anonymous letter of complaint. You don't care enough to leave your name and contact information, then I don't care enough to read your letter. The postal service probably appreciated your patronage, though.

Wedding Surprise: Revealed!

This is my super secret project, a lacy lovely shawl to become some heritage piece in a branch of my family. Instead of throwing a bouquet at our cookout/very late reception, I intend to bunch this puppy up into a bouquet shape (somehow) and toss it to my sisters regardless of their own marital status and let them take home not a crumpled bunch of dead plant genetalia (which could be lovely, but are unarguably hard to keep nice), but an item they can not only personalize with dye, reblocking, etc, but something that might become an heirloom with time.

That's my fun thought, really: That some future generation, long since separated from Auntie LJ, receiving their only working knowledge of me as a doddering but doting distant relative via birthday cards and the occasional reunion, would have this treasure made by my own hand. It's a nice thought for me regardless of whether or not that future recipient would ever know that the blue-haired (electric blue. I'll be old, so I won't have to pretend any adherence to convention.) old lady made this in her youth while planning her elopement.