Science Monkey

1. The Swedish Block washcloth for Emma is done! Hooray! I’m going to have to remember this pattern…I think it’d be pretty awesome in a sweater. Dang Florida, with your warmth…oh well. One day it will be cold again. Plus, I do have friends and family in Northerly climes.

2. I’ve started two new swatches/cloths, one in Arabic Diamond and the other in Basketweave.

3. Work is progressing. I don’t really want to talk about it.

4. I’m having a lot of fun playing WoW, naturally, but there are some concerns that it is stealing my soul. I’ve discovered that I’m such a joiner and am having a hell of a good time with both raiding with my main Horde guild and with exploring the Alliance faction with Big Bear Butt Blogger’s social guild. Good times. Oh, and the antiPUG experiment is going tremendously well. Another week, another thrashed dungeon. Very fun.

5. Umm…there is no five. I had something else to write, but I can’t think of it right now. An online friend just posted some great pictures of herself climbing and it makes me want to get outside more. I hate the little boats available at Lake Wauberg, but bad sailing is better than no sailing, right? Or maybe I should get off of my ass and start building that kayak. Hmm.

That’s right! Time for another Friday Fiver!

1. Last laugh?
Hells, yeah! Although I am fond of the quote, “Whoever laughs last probably didn’t get the joke.”

2. What do you love?
My wife, my friends, my family, my pets. Those are more who than what, aren’t they? I love my job (despite my constant bitching) and where I live.

3. Gold or silver?
Gold.

4. Who do you hold hands with?
My wife. But you, too, if you asked or offered.

5. Friday fill-in:
There’s no time to waste.

Item the first: Go donate to the Maximumfun.org Maximum Fun Drive. Do it! Be like all the cool kids (and me)!

Item the second: I found a new knitting blog to add to my reader, if only because of the title (well, the content looks cool, too): The A.D.D. Knitter. Hurray, knitting! Hurray, AD…wait, what was I talking about?

Item the third: New podcasts to try, from friends’ suggestions and the depths of my memory! Here’s some updates to my previous list (which I promise to fill in with linkage in the next day or so):
- The Savage Love-cast
- Shut Up. We’re Talking.
- Witty Ranter
- You Look Nice Today (recommended personally by his awesomeness, Jesse Thorn)
- Cast On
- Sticks and String
- Y Knit
- Stash and Burn
- It’s a Purl, Man
- News from Lake Woebegone
- Car Talk
- NPR: Hidden Kitchens
- QN (formerly known as Quirky Nomads)
- A Brobdingnagian Minute
- Marc Gunn’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
- And how could I forget retroCRUSH, the Podcast?

That’ll keep you busy for a few days, eh?

N.B.: I haven’t yet listened to many of these, but they’re recommended by people I like and whose taste I generally approve of. Just saying. YMMV.

Hey, gang. I need some advice from y’all. I b0rked my iTunes library the other day and am having to reload everything. Since I’m going through and resubscribing to all of my podcasts, I figured I’d take this chance to see if there are any that you’d recommend that I’m missing. So…what’cha listening to?

So far, here’s my list:
- This American Life
- NPR: Science Friday
- NPR: Sunday Puzzle
- NPR: Wait, wait…
- alt.NPR: What Would Rob Do?
- All the awesome stuff from maximumfun.org (Jordan, Jesse Go!; The Sound of Young America; TSOYA Classics; Coyle & Sharpe; Kasper Hauser; and The College Years)
- The Instance
- Cory Doctorow’s Podcast
- How I WoW
- EFF Linenoise
- Radio Free Burrito
- Radio Lab
- NPR: Hmmmmmm…Krulwich on Science

What am I missing?

Because I have nothing insightful to say today, here’s another meme. It’s the Friday Fiver! Woo!

1. Are you a good worker?

Not usually. I’m pretty good when I’m focused, but as soon as I’m distracted, it’s over.

2. What do you carry?

The weight of the world on my shoulders? No, not really. Usually housekeys, wallet, cell phone, leatherman, and a pen.

3. Do you know your neighbors?

Sort of. I know them enough to say hello and make a little small talk, but not much beyond that.

4. Where do you like to go for a day trip?

The beach.

5. What is at your feet?

My backpack and my current knitting project (in a bag, not just on the floor).

Trying to add a little sex appeal to my blog, I’m going to try to play along with TMI Tuesday. I’m a day late, but here goes:

1. Is there a TV show you HAVE to watch? If so, what is it?

Not anymore. I used to watch a lot of TV but have transferred my time-wasting to computer games.

2. What is you favorite drink if you are going to drink more than one?

Some sort of a tasty beer. A nice nut brown ale, maybe? Yum.

3. How long do you carry guilt around with you?

For-freaking-ever.

4. Where is or would be your number one romantic get away spot?

Hmmm. We had an excellent visit to St. Thomas, so I guess I’ll go with that. Hawaii sounds lovely, but I’ve never been. Same with somewhere really cool, like Bora Bora.

5. Have you ever seen a counselor?

Yup.

Bonus (as in optional): Last summer the Archives of Sexual Behavior the 237 reasons people have sex and the Top 50 Reasons Men and Women Have Sex. What are your top 5 reasons?

Gosh, these seem repetitive. I’m going to have to go with #1, 2, 5, 7, and 40.

I’m tired and cranky. I just thought I’d share.

From Boing Boing comes word of the BBC demanding that a knitter remove Doctor Who-inspired patterns from the web. Patterns that were made available for free, mind you. Sheesh. I had better go grab all of the Scarf patterns now, while they’re still available…

Emma:

Was chatting with my best friend earlier tonight — his 7th anniversary is today, don’t ask me why he was online — and he reminded me that he has been dating his now-wife for 17 years. Which is also the amount of time that I’ve known him. That’s really amazing to me. While his wedding feels like it just happened yesterday, I’m having a hard time believing that I’ve known him for 17 years now. 17 years! I feel a little like Jeremy Piven’s character in Grosse Pointe Blank, but…17 years!

Otherwise, all is quiet on the homefront. I have a Committee Meeting on Wednesday, where they will all hopefully say, “Yep, sounds good. You should be done by _______,” with the blank being either end of summer or mid-fall sometime. I’m getting nervous, as usual, because I never feel like I have enough data to present, but that’s the way it goes. I spent all afternoon playing with radioactivity and will have data on four Southern probes and two LMPCR probes by Wednesday morning. I’m hoping that the radioactivity will bring me a super power or two, but I’m not optimistic.

Today’s picture is the washcloth I’m making for Emma. I’m making it in the Swedish Block pattern, which is something like a basketweave, but not quite. I’m rather pleased with how it is turning out. It even looks like the picture in the book (a little)!