I stole this from here. I know. Shameful.

Two names you go by:
Kate
Katia

Two parts of your heritage:
German
Irish

Two things that scare you:
Bees
Heights

Two everyday essentials:
Email
Cheese

Two things you are wearing right now:
Turquoise ring
Comfy stretch jeans

Two of your favorite current bands/artists:
Goo Goo Dolls
Nickelback

Two things you want in a relationship (other than love):
Trust
Humor

Two truths:
Life is what you make of it.
Magic is.

Two favorite hobbies:
Knitting
Sewing

Two things you have to do this week:
Make a kitty cat grooming appointment.
Give mom her credit card back.

Two stores you shop at:
Amazon
Walmart (I know, I know, they be evil, but dammit, they be cheap!)

Two shows you like to watch:
If I have to choose (since I don’t actually watch tv…)
CSI Miami (I’ve watched it a few times, liked it)
NYPD Blue (used to watch it at work when it came on at like, 2am)

Two things you’d buy if money were no object:
A nice house for myself.
A ragdoll kitty.

Two wishes for 2007:
May it be better than 2006.
That I leave it richer than I began.

I’ve been reading. Read 9 books this year already. They’ve all been good, except this last worthless pile of paper called The Two Minute Rule. I cannot believe the author, Robert Crais, has a dozen or so books published, because this was one lameass book. Did he ever get the “show, don’t tell” lecture? Because he needs to.

He also needs to get the “contrived endings don’t make for good endings” lecture, because this one made me gag. It made no sense at all. None. Nada.

I consider myself a writer. I write, after all. Lots. Never published a bloody thing, probably never will [frankly, I’m a chronic unfinisher], but obviously, I /could/. I mean, I could write this shit. Is that all it takes to get published? Words on paper, even if they’re deader-than-a-doornail words with no emotion, no feeling, no life?

Oigh.

So here’s my TT for the week - 13 Ways To Write Badly. This book didn’t violate all of them (though a good lot of them, I’ll say), and I could go on for a lot more than 13, but this’ll do.

Thirteen Ways to Write Badly!

1. Tell. Don’t show them anything - your readers don’t want to experience the story, they just want to hear it like news on the radio.
2. Introduce characters in the first chapter by first and last name, give them a point of view to tell their side of the story, make like they’re an important character, and then never look at them again. Ever. This gives your story an aura of mystery, even once the readers finish! Excellent!
3. Give everyone stupid nicknames and throw them around every now and then just for the heck of it. Readers love that shit.
4. Talk brand names. Who needs honest description when a brand name will do?
5. Contrive an ending. Your character was a bank robber? Make him rob a bank at the end to save the day, even if it’s unnecessary and more, outrageous. Excess drama makes for a bestseller!
6. Pitable characters are good characters. How can readers possibly like your character if they don’t pity them? Make sure your character is depressed, unhappy, and miserable, and then make sure he’s a complete failure, and then make sure he knows it and thinks it… often. That’s right.
7. And don’t forget to tell them so. None of that showing business. Your readers don’t wanna think! This is important here!
8. Flat, one dimensional characters are the way to go. Don’t put any more time into the characters than your readers will - a few thoughts on the matter is good enough. I mean, giving anyone but the main characters personality is a total waste of time.
9. Characters shouldn’t change. Not in the book, anyway. If you make the characters grow or change, people will just think you’re a crappy author because you couldn’t make up your mind.
10. If you must make them change, make it big changes. Instantaneous ones. No pressure needed. Just do it, and get it over with fast. Don’t make them dwell on it, or your readers will, too, and then you’ll be that crappy author who can’t stick with anything.
11. If you’re not writing about a miserable, pitiable character, make sure you’re writing about Superman. Everyone loves superheroes, because they can do no wrong and know everything.
12. If you don’t have a plot, put lots of drama into things - sex and emotion and turmoil and things that go round and round and round so nobody ever realizes your mistake. You’ll be fine. I swear.
13. If you DO have a plot, don’t make the above mistake. Plot should strictly be plot. No emotion. Don’t let those characters have feelings, or it’ll sideline you. Well, not many feelings. And for god’s sake, don’t show it if they do. A quick: “He was surprised.” will do the trick. Point A to Point B. Nothing more.

1. jenny 2. Julie Doe

3. bonnie 4. You're next!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thirteen Tidbits About Me

1. I was always a control freak. As a kid, I used to get “rather upset” if I could not be “the most powerful/fastest/kickass” pony [yes, we played My Little Ponies] on the playground. I have not changed all that much. *laugh*
2. My first memory of my best friend isn’t of her at all. Rather, it’s of her little sister begging me on the playground not to ‘be mean’ to her big sister, A. I was baffled, since, while I was a control freak, I was not near mean, powerful, fast, or kickass enough to /actually/ kick other kids off the swings, even if I was in third grade.
3. I used to believe that I wanted to live in this little town forever, since I loved it so. Then, as a teenager, I hated it like my grandmother hates snakes, and wanted nothing more to leave. This lasted, actually, well into my early twenties. Then I moved back anyway, and found that while I still want to leave, it’s not so bad as all that.
4. I am a freak of nature. Read: virgin at nearly 25. This not really bother me [too much], but I’m starting to feel like an old biddy. Certain friends (A…) think I /am/ an old biddy. Not just because of the virginal chasteness, but because I actually act like one, too. Knitting, baking bread, buying appliances…
5. Actually, the words she used was “has no life”. This, she tells to my coworkers! As if they couldn’t tell. You don’t work the night shift and have a life anyway.
6. I have found the coolest song ever. It’s called Baba Yetu, and it’s this sweet tribal African Swahili music or something. Incredibly catchy. The fascinating thing is that the lyrics are actually a songful rendition of the Our Father prayer, and it is a great piece of music.
7. Speaking of Christian music, I still have a large collection from my teenage “listen to only pure, chaste, Christian stuff” phase, and surprsingly, I still like a lot of it. Spiritual music is spiritual music, and even if the names and faces and words don’t match my current ideology, there’s something incredibly reverent about some of it. And other songs are just plain fun.
8. On the other side of the coin, there are some really catchy raunchy rap songs that I can’t help but love to sing dirty with. Their ideologies aren’t mine, either (trashing women? Puh-leez, go back to your caves, you jackasses!) But what can I say, I’m a dual-faced tiger, and sometimes those beats are just sexy.
9. I do not shave my legs in the winter, except on occasion, like at Christmastime, when I might be doing something in some sort of outfit that requires it. I think I got this habit from the hippies at Evergreen State College.
10. I will probably be moving this fall to go back to college, though it’s not set in stone. I’ve been wanting this for two years, and yet… a part of me hopes it’ll all fall through and I’ll be “stuck” here for another year. I hate school. I hate apartment life. I don’t want to move again, for god’s sakes, I just moved last September! I want to have a garden, and I can’t if I’m gonna leave before I could get around to harvesting it. [Well, I could, and I will, but it won’t have most of the things I want to grow in it.]
11. I am secretly desperately afraid I’ll fail if I do go back to college, even though I know I am friggin smart and completely ABLE to do the work, it’s just that I am also friggin self sabotage master.
12. I have been wondering lately: what is WITH all the new ten trillion flavors of doritos? They’re all, like, the same. Spicy, Spicy, and More Spicy.
13. I have started a knitting project that has not gone belly up! It’s the Misty Garden scarf, from Scarf Style, though I got it out of Interweave’s Holiday Knitting magazine, not the book. And I’m not doing it in the same yarn, or even anything remotely close, but instead, I’m doing it in Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Tweed, in a pretty pretty sage green. Very soft and cottony and silky and lovely. Maybe it’ll be a present for someone!

This week, I decided to do something difficult. Really difficult. But I’m trying to be appreciative of what I have, rather than constantly lusting after what I cannot. So… without any further introduction, here is 13 Things I Love About Montana. Okay, maybe ‘love’ is a bit harsh for all of these. Hopefully, I’ll actually make it through to number 13.

Thirteen Things I Love About Montana

1. The night sky. I lived in Washington State for several years, and though I loved it there, I never really could see the stars in the sky. Here, I can. And I love it. All I need now is a telescope, or even a pair of binoculars.
2. The sunrises and the sunsets. Goes with the above, but I thought I should split it up. I’ll be lucky to get thirteen things on this list as it is! But god, the sunrises and sunsets are beautiful here.
3. That there’s four seasons here. Sometimes, they get all mixed up, and we get seventy degrees in the middle of what should be Cold Enough To Freeze Atoms, or a snowstorm over Memorial Day, but whatever. It’s Montana. The weather is unpredictable at best.
4. Bread does not mold as fast. On the other hand, it does go dry as a bone real quick.
5. The low crime rate. I have to say, this is a definite plus.
6. Everyone is friendly. (Way too friendly.) Super friendly. (IS this really supposed to be a plus?) And they all know each other, or know someone who does know you or the rest of friends and relatives. The six degrees of separation for people who live in Montana is closer to like, three degrees.
7. Charge accounts. If you don’t shop at a chain store in one of the few “big cities” in Montana, most every store will allow the town/county citizens to “charge it”. They’ll let you pay the bill at the end of the month, interest free. So if you don’t get paid till Friday, but your kids are starving, you can get food without robbing the bank, or your mother.
8. No Sales Tax. This should’ve been #1 on my list. That’s right, there is no sales tax! I love love love love love this, and having grown up here, hate hate hate hate hate sales tax with a passion. It’s cruel and unusual punishment, I swear.
9. Low cost of living. Things tend to be cheaper here. (Because nobody gets paid worth dick, but whatever.) Unless, of course, you shop at a small grocery store like the one in town. Then you’ll pay out your ass for simple things like milk and eggs, but whatever.
10. The scenery. Admittedly, we have a lot of gorgeous spots in Montana. I don’t live in one of them, but I know they’re here, I’ve seen them.
11. Lack of traffic. The highways and intererstates are fairly traffic free, except in the cities. Traffic jams are not so common occurances. You might make a 30 minute commute, but that’s because you actually live thirty miles away, not because you’re inching along at the speed of a snail.
12. The fresh air. While it smells like pig shit, or sewer lagoon (anything but this, please) on occasion, the rest of the time, the air is clean and fresh and healthy and so, so good.
13. It’s unique. Face it, there isn’t too many places like Montana. We’re the 4th largest state in the US, but we have less than a million people in it. We have an average of 6.2 people per square MILE. That’s a lot of space to yourself out here. A LOT of space. Our largest city is only around 90,000 people. We routinely experience 100 degree weather in the summer and -50 degree weather in the winter. We don’t get much rain, but we can get a TON of snow. We have lots of wind, but few tornadoes. We can buy fresh beef and bread (and in fact, most of us are beef ranchers or wheat farmers, and if you’re not, you know several people who are), but it’s hard to find decent fruit, and our idea of ‘fish’ comes in a box in the supermarket labeled “fishsticks”. We love to hunt and fish and hike and do outdoor sports, and we treasure our land, but there’s hardly any tree-huggers in sight. It’s a strange place, this Montana. A very strange place.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

This week, I decided to detail thirteen things I’ve managed to accomplish in 2006!

Thirteen Things I Accomplished in 2006

1. I raised my credit score to 700. A big, big goal.
2. I purchased: a 19″ monitor, a new and updated computer, a new bed quilt (desperately needed), and my camera. All with excess money, never taking any out of savings to do so (except for a temporary: “The sale is today, I’m paid on Friday” type deal.)
3. I have expanded my recipe collection immensely. And more, I cook with them, eating less boxed, instant foods and more home-made goodness.
4. I raised a small herb garden in pots. Some thrived, some flourished, and some died, but I did much, much better than last year. My sage is still alive, though doing poorly, and my oregano is still (amazingly!) doing wonderful!
5. I’ve come to terms with a large part of my spirituality that bothered me - the existence of the gods as we know them.
6. I have learned to bake bread!
7. I have set up a permanent altar, though it changes frequently.
8. I have managed to stop feeling guilty over sleeping later than 5pm even though I didn’t get to bed until 11am.
9. I have read 45 books since March 21st. Over one book per week. I even liked some of them. Check out the booklist to see what I’ve read, and comments on all of them.
10. I have spent less on the little things that provide momentary pleasure, and more on the big things I really want - self control!
11. I have socked away nearly $1000 in savings!
12. I gained 5 pounds through rampant junkfood eating. I confess, this was not a goal, but I accomplished it nonetheless! ;-)
13. I have stressed less than the years before!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Got this from The Naked Truth. :)

1. What time is it? Time, nearly, to go home from work!
2. What is your full name? Sorry. Won’t display that here.
3. What are you most afraid of? Dying before I’ve really lived.
4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater? In a theater? Gosh. Can’t remember. That was like, months ago.
5. Have you ever seen a ghost? No. Thought I did once, but it was just A… incredibly drunk.
6. Where were you born? Same little psycho town I live in now. Strange. I still know the doctor who delivered me.
7. Ever been to Alaska? Yep. As a wee babe. Don’t remember much of it, except going to a daycare center (and being terrified), getting in trouble for boncing on the bed and using my aunt’s lipstick (ok, more like… smearing it), and worrying that Santa would not find us (he did).
8. Ever been toilet papering? No. Can’t say I’ve even had the desire.
9. Loved someone so much it made you cry? Not romantically.
10. Been in a serious car accident? Thankfully no. *knocks on wood*
11. Do you plan to have any more children? I don’t have any, and yes, I definitely do!
12. Favorite day of the week? Mmm… any day these days. Except Sundays. *sigh* Can’t do anything here on Sundays.
13. Favorite Restaurant? Golden Corral lately. Buffet! Hurrah!
14. Favorite Flower? Hard to say. I don’t do ‘favorites’ too much. Hmm… Chinese Lanterns are nifty.
15. Favorite color? This changes hourly. It’s green right now.
16. Favorite sport to watch? I hate watching sports. Figure skating. Does that even count? Seems more like physical art to me.
17. Favorite Drink? Water, baby. Water. And then tea. Maybe tea then water. Oh who cares?
18. Favorite Ice Cream? Schwan’s Autumn Treat. And then Vanilla.
19. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Bell or Taco John’s, I guess. Though I never eat there, practically. We always do McD’s.
20. What color is your bedroom carpet? Beige. Unique, eh?
21. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? None! Hurrah for me. But believe me, I was terrified.
22. What do you do when you are bored? Whine. Heh. Play Spider Solitare. Talk to my kitties. Call Mom. Not all at once, or necessarily in that order.
23. What time is your bedtime? Anywhere from 8:30am to 10:30am. Most often it falls around 9:30. AM, yes. In the morning.
24. Favorite TV shows? I don’t watch any tv these days. None!
25. What are you most grateful for? Life.
26. What are you listening to right now? Cars driving by. And computers buzzing.
27. How many pets do you have? Three. Three kitties.
28. Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Why do people ask this question?
29. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Everything in my head. But will I? Probably not.



1 Word of Wisdom »



Winter Love - TT #14
Filed in Wheel of the Year, Thursday Thirteen, Memes & Meta
on December 6th, 2006 @ 7:58pm



Winter and I have a love-hate relationship in this neck of the woods (where temps routinely plunge to the -30s, not counting wind chill). Still, I have my reasons for loving the season, just as much as I hate the bone-chilling freezes and the constant snow-mud tracked into the house, and the fact that with my night job, I never see daylight. Here’s some of them.


Thirteen Reasons I Love Winter
1. Freshly fallen snow, and a crisp, moonlit sky, where the trees sparkle with glittery frost and your breath freezes in the air with every exhale, where chimneys puff up smoke and the night is still and quiet and peaceful.
2. Scarves and hats and mittens - oh my! I /like/ bundling up. It’s cozy and warm and the materials are oh so toasty and soft!
3. Hot Cocoa. I don’t drink hot cocoa in the summer, or in any of the warmer days of spring or fall. So it’s really quite a winter treat. I do it the gourmet cheater’s way - I buy gourmet hot cocoa mix, and instead of adding water like the directions say, I use milk, Rich and creamy. Yum. My favorite is Stephenson’s brand.
4. Snow in general! I love to look at it, love to watch it, love to /eat/ it. I don’t even put any syrups on it - I just scoop up a bowl. of fresh snow into a bowl and eat it like ice cream.
5. Super fuzzy socks. I love love love them. You know, the big thick ones in the really soft material? Love those.
6. Advent calendar countdowns to Christmastime! Have always loved those. I have a cute little Chimney with a Santa figurine. Each day, you pull a ‘brick’ out of the chimney, and he slowly slides down, and on the last day falls to the bottom to spread his joy!
7. Christmas trees. I love my tree so much that I tend to keep up throughout most of January, if not into February. *cough*
8. Cider! Apple cider! Like hot cocoa, I only drink this during the cold days.
9. All the pretty things the big stores have lining their aisles for Christmas shopping! I love how they pack the stores to the brim, and all sorts of new products and holiday sets and odd cute things to buy are scattered about. Some people hate Christmastime for its materialism. Hell, that’s just one more reason I /love/ it.
10. Santa Claus. Face it, I love Santa. I love his reindeer. Santa, to me, is still as real as he was when I was a child. He /is/ the spirit of Christmas in my eyes. When I was a kid, my uncle used to call every December, pretending to be Santa Claus. I never caught on until much later - after all, this uncle lived far away, and I rarely saw him. There was Toyland type music playing on in the background, and he’d do the whole Ho ho ho! thing real well, and talk about Mrs. Claus, and ask us kids what we wanted for Christmas, and whether we’d been good or bad.
11. Cookies! Who doesn’t love cookies? I love to bake them and eat them and give them away. I don’t put in such effort often, though I think I should… Nevertheless, my favorite thing to do with them is put them out with milk for Santa. :)
12. The scents - Christmas scents. Candy cane peppermint, and fresh evergreen (not that I get much of that with my fakie tree), and gingerbread, cinnamon and apple cider, nutmeg and chocolate. Mmmmm.
13. Huddling up by the fire. Actually, I’ve never done this, but someday… someday I will have a fireplace to snuggle up in a cozy blanket by. I swear.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Participate in Thursday Thirteen Here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants @ Technorati




9 Words of Wisdom »



Full Moon O’Rama - TT #13
Filed in Thursday Thirteen, Memes & Meta
on November 30th, 2006 @ 5:26am



There’s a full moon coming up on Monday, December 4th. The moon has always fascinated me, even as a little kid. Have you ever felt a truly pressing desire to just go out and howl at it? I have. As my friends will reluctantly attest to. As a witch, the full moon takes on new meaning - full bodied feminie power. The moon is most often viewed (in Western/European magic, at least) as a symbol of the feminine divine. In modern Wicca and other traditions, the full moon is a time of celebration of the goddess (or goddesses), or of the feminine side of the divine, and it’s said to be a time where magical workings are more potent. Many traditions hold Esbat celebrations on each full moon - which is really just a time of gathering (if one practices with a group), celebration, prayer, magic, and honor. As a solitary practitioner, I tend to use the time to remember my own spirituality, and to work magic when desired - and, of course, howl at the moon.

This week, I’ll be exploring the various names the full moons of the year have - there are probably dozens of variations, but I’ll touch upon a couple - popular Colonial names, and Native American names. This info was taken from The Witches’ Almanac, a handy little book full of interesting tidbits. If anything’s wrong, it’s either a typo, or they’re lying. ;-)


Thirteen Names of the Full Moons
1. January Full Moon ~ The January moon is often called even in modern day times, the Wolf Moon. Another name for it is the After Yule Moon (imagine that!). Some Native people called it the Snow Moon.
2. February Full Moon ~ The Snow Moon, or the Hunger moon, according to old Colonial records. I’ve heard both used, though Hunger tends to be more popular where I live! Hunger also is the name certain Native people gave it - appropriate, as February tends to be one of the coldest months of the year, and a time where food was often scarce.
3. March Full Moon ~ The Sap Moon, aka, the Worm moon (egh) or the Crow moon. Many names for this moon, as the Natives also had the Crow moon, and the Sore Eye moon. This is my birthday month, and on a personal note, I do prefer the Sap Moon.
4. April Full Moon ~ Ever heard of the Grass Moon? Now you have! other names include the Pink moon, and the Egg moon, or in Native American style, the Green Grass Moon.
5. May Full Moon ~ The May Moon is unsurprisingly called the Flower moon or the Planting moon. An intriguing name, however, by the Natives, is the Shed Moon. Wonder why…
6. June Full Moon ~ June. Ahh, the Strawberry Moon. Reminds me of this song by the Dixie Chicks, I think, called Strawberry Wine. But I’m getting off track. Also called the Rose moon, or the “Make Fat” moon. Rose is shared between Colonial and Native cultures - Make Fat, however, is all Native American. Appropriate, perhaps, for cultures living off the land and agriculture - however, the last thing I need is a moon dedicated to fat. Nosiree. Maybe a Make Fat Go Away Moon…
7. The July Moon ~ July is the Thunder Moon, or the Buck Moon - take your pick. Both seem to be equally appropriate, though I’m partial to Thunder.
8. The August Moon ~ August is the Sturgeon Moon (sturgeon, for those who don’t know, is a sort of really huge and ugly fish), or the Grain Moon. Or, perhaps you like the delightful sounding Cherries Ripen Moon, courtesy of the Native Americans?
9. The September Moon ~ The Harvest Moon. Who hasn’t heard of that? Or perhaps the Fruit Moon, though that certainly doesn’t apply to this part of the country. The Natives called it the Hunting Moon.
10. The October Moon ~ Almost everyone around here knows this one - It’s the Hunter’s Moon, and it tends to be huge and orange and brilliant at this time of year. Alternately, you could call it the Falling Leaf Moon.
11. The November Moon ~ Try the Beaver Moon. Or the Frosty Moon. Or even the Mad Moon (Native). Hehe. The last is amusing, and perhaps appropriate. I’m going mad this month, that’s for sure….
12. The December Moon ~ The Cold Moon, or the Long Night Moon - both seem to be fairly pervasive. The last is both a Native and Colonial name - unsurprising, since December is indeed the month heralding the longest night in the year.
13. The 13th Moon ~ Every once in a while, we have a second full moon in a single calendar month. We call it a Blue Moon, and it happens… well, every once in a blue moon, of course! It’s said that this moon holds extra power when working magic that night. Intriguing, but I can’t say I’ve had the opportunity to test the theory yet.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Participate in Thursday Thirteen Here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants @ Technorati




14 Words of Wisdom »



TT #10 - Yarn Love!
Filed in Thursday Thirteen, Memes & Meta, Knitting
on November 24th, 2006 @ 6:20am



Since this is a late Thursday Thirteen (and Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!), I’ve decided to buck what’s probably this Thursday’s usual line (what I’m thankful for) and do something else, instead. Something that’s been on my mind ever since I started holiday shopping online, hunting for the perfect yarn for a new-knitter friend.

(Okay, so I ended up with 14. Sue me…)


Thirteen Yarns I Just Love
1. Linus, by Elann ~ Okay, I haven’t touched it (like most of these yarns) but it /sounds/ lovely. Especially for the price.
2. Peruvian Baby Silk, by Elann ~ Another I haven’t touched, but come on - alpaca AND silk? Oh yes, oh yes. Bring it on.
3. Shepherd Sock, by Lorna’s Laces ~ Have 2 skeins of this in a solid color (from the Yarn Aboard! swap!) Love it, though I have not yet knitted anything with it. *lol* But look at the colors! Oh look… River, Purple Iris, Shadow, Mineshaft, Black Purl, Daffodil, Glenwood… I could go on and on forever.
4. Silk Rhapsody, by Artyarns ~ I am in love. But not with the price. Hoobaby, this is expensive! But oh how I want some… RH101, RH 139, RH143, RH144 being my favorites… so far.
5. Kureyon, by Noro ~ It’s yarn. It’s colorful. It’s JAPANESE! Gimme! I especially love 55, 40, 149, 150, 148, 170, 164… *runs out of air*
6. Baby Cashmerino, by Debbie Bliss ~ Who wouldn’t want some of this soft squishy stuff?
7. Haiku, by Alchemy Yarns ~ Silk + Mohair = Luxury! I want some of this. Maybe to go along with some Silk Purse by the same company? Yes!
8. KPM & KPPPM, by Koigu ~ Yay, lovely fingering weight yarn good for all sorts of things! And billions of colors.
9. Rare Comfort Kid Mohair, by Jo Sharp ~ Beautiful. Kid mohair + polyamide + wool. Would make a terrific scarf, as seen in Interweave’s Holiday Gifts 2006! I LOVE the tea/herb names of the yarns! Gimme some Iced Tea, Zinger, Earl Grey, and Darjeeling, please!
10. Silky Tweed, by Elsebeth Lavold ~ Soft and sweet yarn. Felt some up last week at the yarn store, and liked it! This was the yarn my original branching out scarf was supposed to have been made out of.
11. Heaven, by Fiesta ~ Love most of what Fiesta does (I posted a while back on La Boheme, which I still drool over to this day). Heaven is a rather bulky mohair. The skeins look like rabbits!
12. Colonia 140, by Handpaintedyarn.com ~ Love their yarn! Cheap, beautiful, unique. Loro Barranquero bc is an intriguing colorway…
13. Rock Star, by Tilli Thomas ~ 100% Silk, with beads! Pricey, but it’d make an incredible scarf, don’t you think?
14. Karaoke, by South West Trading ~ Soysilk and wool - color changes sort of like Kureyon, though slightly more gradual - and oh so goreous!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Participate in Thursday Thirteen Here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants @ Technorati




2 Words of Wisdom »



Linux is my God - TT #9!
Filed in Geekery, Thursday Thirteen, Brainfood, Memes & Meta
on November 2nd, 2006 @ 3:54am



So I use Linux - Ubuntu (or rather, Kubuntu - the version with KDE as the standard desktop environment) to be exact. It’s been a year and… 3 weeks or so since I switched my main computer over to Linux now. A year of using Kubuntu fulltime, except for a few tasks I still relegate to the windows computer, just to give the thing something to do. Or maybe because I’m too lazy to migrate when it’s already set up and working fine on the other computer. Sure, Linux has its share of problems. But so does Windows - anyone, even a Windows enthusiast, will tell you that. The difference is this - I’m more willing to put up with Linux’s problems than Microsoft’s. Not to mention, Microsoft’s overbearing, threatening, and downright frightening business practices really put me off. And while there’s a place for every Operating system in the market, Linux is the one that belongs on my main terminal. Period. And here’s why.


Thirteen Reasons to Love Linux
1. Free - as in beer! No more shelling out a couple hundred dollars for the latest operating system - or more for a new computer with it already installed. Linux is completely free - download it straight from the internet and burn it to a cd, or, if you like, order one for a minimal cost (from a few dollars for postage and CD costs, up to around $40, if you want a distribution with a manual in it). But honestly? All you need is a broadband connection and a cd, and you’re good to go. No need to spend more - and virtually anything you’d like to know how to do in Linux is online - no need to purchase books, unless you want to!
2. Free - as in speech! Open source software is great. Sure, you may not want to know what goes on under the hood of your car, but they don’t weld it shut, so you can open it up to take a look every now and then - and heck, you can check your oil and add fluids, too. Linux is like that - you may never have the desire to look at the code and make some changes - but if you do, the option is available to you, unlike proprietary systems, which ‘weld it shut’, so to speak.
3. Choice - There’s dozens of distributions of linux available - something for everyone’s taste! Like a lightweight OS that uses minimal resources? Linux can do that. Like something more like Windows - with loads of features and eye candy? We can do that, too. Like simple and easy? Try Ubuntu. Like something you can really dig your hands into and get dirty with? Try Slackware.
4. KDE & Gnome - Two incredible desktop environments with a far broader range of customization options and much better performance than Windows could ever offer. Much prettier, loads of gorgeous themes, and the ability to customize just about everything. Learn more: KDE / GNOME
5. BASH - the command line shell is wondeful. Ever been frustrated by Window’s “command line”? Hate DOS? Try BASH and be delighted. For you windows users, you can experiment with Cygwin, which actually installs the bash shell for windows!
6. Software - Thousands of applications, free and at your fingertips. Many of these programs rival expensive or proprietary Windows counterparts - Gimp, Firefox, OpenOffice, Gaim, gnucash, amarok. While some distributions of linux can indeed make installing software difficult, as you’ve probably heard, Ubuntu and other newbie-friendly distros actually make the process simpler than it is in Windows. You just open up your package manager, select the programs you want to install (and there are thousands in the database - all tested rigorously and compatable with your distribution - and click “install”. And it does all the work for you - downloading the program, installing it where it needs to be, and setting it up to run properly. Uninstallation is just as easy.
7. No Spyware - That’s right, no spyware. So far, there has been absolutely no spyware for linux. While it’s inevitable that some programs may crop up, if you stick with the thousands of tested applications in your repositories, you will NEVER come across spyware again. In open source software, spyware has literally no place to hide, because ANYONE can look at the code - and better, anyone can modify it, too.
8. No Viruses - Same deal. A small handful of prototype viruses have been forged for linux - but none of them went far - when they did anything at all. Linux is a secure OS - and its system of user priviledges tends to limit what a virus would be capable of. For instance, software simply can’t be be installed anywhere outside of a user’s home directory without root (administrator) permissions. Therefore, any virus that a user ran across during normal computing simply wouldn’t be able to do damage to the system as a whole - if it could do much of anything at all. And again, open-source software simply has some built-in protections against viruses, and linux, more so.
9. Stability - Linux is hailed for its stability; crashes are not the daily occurance that they are on some Windows desktops. Many linux boxes are never rebooted, except for important upgrades to the system. Most upgrades to a home user’s system do not require a restart at all. Installing software in Windows almost ALWAYS requires a reboot. Not so in linux - only for major kernal upgrades, and similar services. Also, when programs crash in linux, it does not typically bring down the whole system - just the program that’s failed to respond.
10. Servers - Run your own servers! Yes, you! I run an ssh server that allows me to log into my computer from anywhere in the world and read my files, access other computers on my network, perform system maintenence, check my mail, and more. Free and simple. You can also run a mail server, web server, file server, print server, or anything else you want… without buying expensive software!
11. Installation - Ubuntu, in particular, is a very fast, very easy install. Virtually no technical questions asked, and even when downloading the OS, it’s very quick! Lately, they’ve evolved to a LiveCD dvd install disc - where you boot directly into the OS from the cd, and you can actually surf the web and play games from the CD while it installs!
12. LiveCds - This is great, especially for troubleshooting. LiveCDs are cd boot discs that can boot you straight into a fully graphical operating system - or not, your choice - without installing a thing. Carry a livecd, and pop it into any computer that will boot from a cd (most newish computers in the last several years do this by default, though some may need a bios setting change, first) and instantly be immersed into the environment of your choice. You can even download and “install” software - all without touching the data on the machine’s hard drive!
13. Hardware Support - Better than you’ve heard, especially for fairly standard machines made in the last few years! (Getting cutting-edge hardware is a bit riskier, as it takes time to develop support for them.) My camera, printer, graphics card, sound card, usb key, etc. were all automatically detected and set up for me. The only driver I needed to install was for the graphics card, and it was an incredibly simple process.
14. And a bonus - dual booting. You do not need to throw away windows to use linux! You can run them both from the same machine - easily! :) Learn more at Ubuntu.com - or choose another distribution, such as Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, SuSE, Mepis, or more.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Participate in Thursday Thirteen Here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants @ Technorati




3 Words of Wisdom »


« Previous Page — Next Page »