I don’t have much to update about in my life. I seem to have fallen into a rut that includes constant reading and ignoring housework. But at least everything’s going alright- nothing negative to report. Except for the fact the comedic episode yesterday when I bought Jason an iPod, thinking I was surprising him with a fancy schmancy new 5th Gen, 8G do-dad and workout arm-band until he gets his iPhone for Christmas, when his Dad actually gave Jason an old iPod to see him through the end of the year. The girl at the Apple store gave Jason some crap when we returned the iPod and I was grateful. Oh well, there’s $200 back in my wallet to be used for yarn…

But Halloween is coming! I haven’t dressed up for Halloween in two years. My last costume was awesome- at least I thought so! Here I am with my former roommates:

I am both sushi nigiri (the tuna on my head) and and sushi maki (what’s wrapped around my body). I love that costume, but most people couldn’t figure out what I was.

This year I’m attempting my own version of Elphaba from Wicked. Yes, I will actually paint myself green. Jason’s going as Luke Skywalker when he’s training on Dagoba. (I hope I got that right!)

And now for something completely different…

A $15,000 hand-built spaceship on Etsy:

DUDE. Maybe it’s this whole “Balloon Boy” (or “Crawlspace Boy,” as aptly noted by Mo Rocca on Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me) controversy with fake spaceships and what-not, but this thing is INSANITY. It fits 4 adults inside! The seller says it took him 8 months to build and that’s why the price tag is so high. I didn’t know what was missing from my life until I saw this thing. And this guy’s in Georgia- I really could get it! Put some wheels on that baby and you’re cruisin’. This was just too good not to share.

And now I take off for Covington, Georgia to visit my dear friend’s drama class to help with their production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and pretend like I know what I’m doing. It’s 45 minutes from Atlanta, but worth the drive because I get to SING and DANCE and TEACH some high schoolers… for fun, haha. My friend and I were best buds in high school and did theater together for a few years and now she’s a lead drama teacher- very exciting!

Coffee? Check. Sanity? Questionable.

There is plenty of ugly yarn out there. I recently got a bi-weekly newsletter from a yarn shop (that will remain nameless because they’re quite awesome, really) that has some hideous yarns in its bargain section. Like, what would one make out of these anyway? I used to think acrylic was bad, but that was because I was buying cheap acrylic yarn. But these yarns… Anyway, I’m not here to bash on ugly yarn. Someone, somewhere is making a lime green fuzzy scarf for a funky grandma and that grandma is gonna love it.

What I’m really here to discuss is how I made beautiful yarn ugly. I was thinking the other day that I needed some new wool socks. My first handknit pair is poorly made, although simple and therefore decent-looking. My second pair is again, fine, but plain. My third pair was done in a lace pattern from the 2 At a Time Socks book, buuuut I accidentally shrank them in the wash. I know I lost a pair, too. Anyway, I decided to make some fall-colored socks now that my sock-knitting skills have dramatically improved. I bought some Noro sock yarn in fall shades and wanted to do something in the vein of Brooklyn Twead’s striped Noro scarf. I divided my skein into two and started knitting at different parts of the colorway.

It started to look ugly by the time I got to the heel. But I turned the heel and thought, “It’s still Noro, and Noro is awesome so this will all work out….” Yeah except when I stitched up the toes, I realized that the cuff looks kindy pukey and the bottom looks like someone threw a bunch of college mascots in a blender and dyed some yarn.

Behold.

And the stripes have the joggy-thing going up the side and the underside of the foot.

And then halfway through, the kitten got hold of the sock and dragged it around the house. And knitters know the super Velcro powers of 100% wool… So it’s just gross on top of being ugly.

I do this. I get all excited about something and jump in without a plan. These socks will not be worn outside of the bedroom and will serve the sole (pun shamefully intended) purpose of providing warmth to my toes on the hardwood floors. Why I didn’t stop and rip, I don’t know. But now I have this sad little sock that needs a brother and I am obliged.

And I hope I didn’t scare you away with my poorly-lit and sad-faced Photobooth pictures. Does this make up for it?

Last Monday was my 25th birthday. I have such conflicting views about number 25- I feel like I’m at a point where I can’t make childish mistakes and yet I certainly don’t feel 25 compared to everyone else I know. Most of my friends are at least 2 years older than me and I feel close to some of the parents I babysit for who are in their 30s. I’ve always had people tell me they think I’m older than I actually am- when I was General Manager at the radio station, someone thought I was at least 27 when I was really only 22. Birthdays are weird. It’s just numbers.

I went out of town to Savannah, Georgia the weekend before my birthday (October 2-4) and had a lot of fun. I got to visit another great cemetery, Bonaventure, and did a little shopping. We visited the SCAD store and holy crap I wish I had money to burn because it would all be spent there. We also visited the Gryphon Tea Room across the street from the SCAD store and a nice little coffee shop called The Sentient Bean that reminded me of Joe’s here in East Atlanta. We sampled some scrumptious peanut butter chippy ice cream at Leopold’s on Broughton and even did a nice little tour on a trolley bus.

Famous Little Gracie tombstone in Bonaventure Cemetery

One of two twin gorgeous Victorian “Gingerbread” homes.

What would Savannah be without gorgeous oaks with moss dripping from the branches?

Despite Jason’s expression, he was really enjoying that double scoop ice cream cone. It was 70 degrees in Atlanta, and 80+ in Savannah that day!

More Savannah pics are at my Flickr account.

As far as the real world goes, I’m currently compiling a list of the young adult books I’ve read so far into a slide show project for class. I’m using Apple’s Keynote from iWork ‘08 so I’ll be exporting it into a PDF for my teacher. If I figure out how to do it, I’ll post the PDF here if anyone is interested. We’re supposed to read 24 YA books this semester and we’re at the mid-point and turning in our first 12. Anything over 285 pages counts as two and I’ve got 10 slides at the moment. I just started The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and am really intrigued by the narrator’s direct, but detailed manner of explaining a scene.

And because she is just so freaking precious, I need to post this video of Nugget getting some love. (Turn the volume up!)

Nugget Loves to Love from Cassie Smith on Vimeo.