Rest and Relaxation

[thedeadlyhook]

A Belated Very Happy Birthday to germaine_pet!!

Back from a quick weekend getaway to see Toys's parents - his mum had her birthday on Friday, so we all trundled down to the South Bay on Caltrain to have dinner at a fish restaurant that provided nearly endless fun in its name, the Cantankerous Fish. Which I felt sounded too close to 'cankerous,' not really an association I want to make with something I'm about to eat, and why wasn't it alliterative, like Sullen Seafood? Toys had a number of his own suggestions, the ones I remember most clearly being something like Frowning Flounder, or Surly Sturgeon, and... well, that's the level of our discourse sometimes. I can report the calamari as very good, but the Tilapia fillet a bit bland. But a good time was had by all.

The rest of the weekend was mostly resting - laying about in the sun and talking about books, getting a minor sunburn from splashing in their pool. Toys's mum is teaching me how to knit. It finally occurred to me to ask her, since it's something I'd been thinking recently about doing, at least trying a class... but now I don't have to, because she's got me started on a basic stitch. The practice piece I'm working on is only 12 stitches across, so it's either a belt in the future or an incredibly skinny scarf, but plenty big enough to get the idea. So far, I only seem to have really goofed up once - not a dropped stitch, because it didn't unravel; I've done that once or twice - but some weirdness where the links aren't exactly right, leaving a sort of bald patch. Still... I'm learning.

writercon is getting really close now - I have all sort of things to do, like writing my fellow panelists (I'm even a moderator on one of the panels, yikes!), which I haven't gotten to yet, and other work-related things I need to get out of the way before I can really relax about the con.... but whatever, it'll happen. It must be summer, the way I'm suddenly beginning to feel like it'll all work out. Somehow.

For the Fouth, we just went over to MechMan and ActionGirl's place, for TV and BBQ. ActionGirl made a cake decorated with strawberries and blueberries to look like a flag. A circular flag, which we ate. And was awesome. I'm still stuffed. Movie track included Hell Comes to Frogtown and Ninja 3: The Domination, and if you can figure out why those fit a 4th of July theme, I'll give you cookie. (Hint: They don't.) : )

Comments

[kassto.livejournal.com]

Hello, fish girl, I hope you have a nice time at Writercon and I'm sorry I won't get to meet you! I think I've done my dash on Writercons, purely from being so far away. Also I found the last Writercon perhaps not my thing -- I don't do groups very well and I wasn't well physically -- something wrong with my teeth -- I was in pain in my mouth all the time and couldn't eat. I'd also had this fantasy that if I went to Writercon and heard the best minds speak and asked Jane E the right question, then my severe angst over the BUffy series would be cured. Of course that was far from the case -- in fact the opposite was true. Also the LJ friend I went over and stayed with in the US promptly dumped me when I got home. And I missed my kids very badly. So, a bit of a weird time. I'm sure other people handle it better.

[tesla321.livejournal.com]

:Twirls: I'm going to WriterCon and doing NOTHING! Bwahahahahaha! Oh, the joy of divadom!

[lynnenne]

Thank you! *big smiles and hugs*

WriterCon is SO CLOSE. I'm looking forward to meeting you there. :)

[danceswithwords.livejournal.com]

I'm so excited that you're going to WriterCon (for this con, I'm going to have to live vicariously).

Knitting is fun and addictive. You can do it while watching TV! And it's so incredibly soothing, although it can also be quite fussy. I strongly recommend knitting as a reading resource; you can learn a lot from the posts of expert knitters, and from the expert answers to some questions. I think there's also a novice knitter's community, but I'm not sure what it's called.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Cantankerous Fish? What city? The S.O. loves seafood. I hate it, and my demented mother who lives with us also won't eat it, so I refuse to cook it or let the S.O. cook it inside the house. But I will take him to fish restaurants. Someone else stinks up their kitchen and washes the fish-smelling dishes, then fish is all right, I say. And about knitting. You will love it. But my advice is to make something with a purpose right away. Nothing kills the knitting love faster than knitting test swatch after test swatch, even if you put the swatches to use. If you need ideas, www.stitchesfromtheheart.com has some pretty easy baby blanket patterns that you can give to the organization so they can give it to preemie babies. And remember Arachne's lesson, modified for knitting ---- if the knitted end product is so without flaws that it is imperfect, the knitter will offend the gods. This always works for me. You'd be amazed at how many stitch screw-ups you can overlook if you just keep this in mind. ;)