Knit Honey

sorry for the confusion.

I am SO sorry to everyone that I told I was moving to typepad because now I'm leaving.

My free trial runs out in 3 days and I'm not sure what happens to this page after that... Does it just disappear? Does it stay for a little while hoping I will pay?

I'm not planning to pay for now. I just can't tell myself to spend $50 on typepad when I could spend much less on other blog services.

I never managed to get much traffic here anyway and I just can't leave my lovers at xanga.

So... for those who care, please update your links for me to xanga.

photo weekend.

My weekend was rather uneventful. Friday I took a gratuitous self-portrait and got take out from the local Taiwanese place. Saturday I took gratuitous self-portraits, stayed at home and cooked for myself, and dyed yarn. Sunday I went out to knitting group and grocery shopping. And here, I present, in that order, my weekend in photos.

Tomorrow I will send the package off to the winner of my little brainteaser contest. I hope the hat fits her and it's still cold enough for her to use it.

I joined Yelp and posted some photos of food from local restaurants since I happen to take many food photos. I noticed that my food photography has much improved since I started doing it a while ago. Looking through my flickr food photo collection, I can see a change from the beginning. It's nice to know that photography is indeed a skill (like all the websites say) and you can get better at it with practice. My goal with my food photography is to make a dish look appetizing and so I can remember how it was presented. It often helps me with how I prepare my own foods at home.

still debating. I'm still having trouble deciding how to leave xanga. I'm still posting on both typepad and xanga right now. How sick is that? I just cannot pay for both services... so... being my fickle self, I think I will go with xanga for real content and blogger for knitting and copies of the xanga entries. Yeah... How much time do I have on my hands? Too much I think... I am so sorry for anyone that I told about typepad since I'll most likely leave and just stick with blogger and xanga...

answers + photos

Well today is the day! I will reveal all the answers to the brainteasers and the winner!

Monday: There are seven people in the family
Tuesday: Peter drive 36 mph and Alan drives 72 mph (this was a hard one and involved WAY too much math)
Wednesday: The water will never rise on the ship as it's a boat and boats tend to float on water even if the tide comes in. And you know what? I decided to give it to anyone who even tried this one because it was too much of a trick.
Thursday: The sequence is one, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, and Nine, so the answer is "N." And the apples? Give four apples to each kid and give the fifth apple away in the basket.

I put all the names of the people with correct answers in a list and started at the top and counted to 24 (as it is the 24th day of February). If you had more than one answer, your name went in more than once.

And the winner is...... vareshe!

Please email me some sort of address and tell me if you'd like a ladies hat (it's dark, dark blue and a tiny bit pointy at the top with a roll brim), the mystery gift, or a ball of knit honey yarn.

Thank you everyone for playing. If you guys liked this, I might run these contests more often.......

And as promised, here are some photos.

Changing bus in Harvard Sq.

The MIT campus. These two buildings face each other just like this. I think it's amusing they are both roundish. The one on the left is an auditorium (I think) and the one on the right is the new gymnasium.

Harvard Sq.

Looking out the back of the bus on the way home.

Veggie burger dinner last night. I served it slathered with ketchup on a bed of spinach sauteed in white wine, all on a crusty sourdough bread.

I found my new project: a simple lacey scarf.

Final Brainteaser #4

Ok, so I looked at the brainteaser given out today at work and decided it too math oriented since I've gotten complaints (yeah, you). I thought up my own little brainteaser that isn't based on math at all. I got little to no responses for the Tuesday teaser, and so far only one correct answer for yesterday's teaser (seriously, re-read the trick question). I'm so lenient that I will accept corrections to answers. Look, I'm even giving a bonus question to get more entries.

Prizes. I know this is what you guys care about. I decided on the prize yesterday. You have a choice between prizes. You either get a handknit ladies' hat (I made it last night) or your own Knit Honey yarn. There will be a special surprise included with either prize that I hope you will appreciate.

Today's brainteaser:

What is the next letter in the series, and why: O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E, _? If you can make a good case as to why you think the next letter is what you think it is (even if it disagrees with what I think it is), I will give it to you. This reminds me of when I was a teaching assistant and I used to take people's answers if they could give me a good reason.

Bonus entry:

You have 5 apples in a basket. How do you distribute the apples evenly to 5 children so that one stays in the basket?

Remember, email me the answers.

I will reveal all answers tomorrow along with the winner.

Brainteaser #3

Here are the rules. I will post one question a day until Thursday. On Thursday, I will select a random name from the correct answers. The winner will receive something cool. Since there are non-knitters who read my blog, it will not be yarn (sorry knitters). It will be something else. I couldn't find what I wanted to give out initially, so I will have to look for something else. Maybe if a knitter wins, then I will give a ball of Knit Honey yarn! And if it's a non-knitter, then maybe you will get a knitted object or a cute notebook or something. Of course, this means that you will have to give me your address in order for me to mail the price to you, but I'm hoping you will do that.

Note that the brainteaser given out today at work is a Sudoku puzzle, so I can't give that to you. Instead you can have this one.

Today's brainteaser:

A ship anchored in a port has a ladder (beginning and ending with a rung), where the bottom rung touches water. Distance between rung is 20 cm and length of the ladder is 180 cm. Tide is raising water at the speed of 15 cm each hour. When will be the water on the third rung from above?

Remember, email me the answer.

Don't forget, I'll be at the MIT career fair today! Come by and say hi.

Brainteaser #2

Here are the rules. I will post one question a day until Thursday. On Thursday, I will select a random name from the correct answers. The winner will receive something cool. Since there are non-knitters who read my blog, it will not be yarn (sorry knitters). It will be something else. I have something in mind, but I need to find it first in my apartment. If that fails, there will be something cool as a prize. I promise. Of course, this means that you will have to give me your address in order for me to mail the price to you, but I'm hoping you will do that.

Today's brainteaser:

Alan lives in Westerly and works in Easton. Peter lives in Easton and works in Westerly. They usually leave their respective homes at the same time, and pass each other at Mark’s Coffee Shop. Alan drives twice as fast as Peter. On a day when Alan oversleeps and leaves five minutes late, they pass each other at Dan’s Gas Station, two miles from Mark’s Coffee Shop. How fast do they drive?

Remember, email me the answer.

Don't forget, I'll be at the MIT career fair tomorrow! Come by and say hi.

a letter to the masses.

Dear People Whose Workplaces Believe President's Day Is A Holiday:

I would like to express my extreme dissatisfaction at my own workplace not believing that President's Day is a holiday. Even though I truly believe it is just an excuse to give people a day off in February, I would not turn down a President's Day holiday if offered. Of course, my workplace does not believe in any holiday like this. Why should we take off a day to celebrate presidents? Why should a Defense Company give their employees a random day off in February? Why should a Defense Company help fuel the economy by encouraging their employees to spend money shopping during the mad sales?

We, the employees at said Defense Company, were issued a slight consolation. This week is Engineers Week, and we have free coffee, tea, and bottled water every morning. Oh, and a free dessert (I believe it's Fatty McFatty ice cream this year) on Thursday at lunchtime. Oh thank you, patriotic Defense Company. I should also mention that they are doing daily brain teasers. And yes, I am going to do those every day.

I hope you are all enjoying your day off, you cheeky bastards.

Sincerely,
Reese

PS - Oh yeah............... Any of you go to MIT and looking for a job? There is a job fair on Wednesday that I will be attending for my lovely Defense Company. If you're a US citizen, please stop by. Heck, if you want to stop by and meet me, come on down!

Super PS - I'm planning to slowly move my blog over to typepad, so please start reading me there if you'd like.

Super ultra PS - Here's my work's brainteaser for today. We are given one everyday until Thursday. Maybe I'll do some random raffle thing on Thursday of correct answers. What's a good prize though? How about a cool postcard? Eh, give me suggestions. You should EMAIL me the answer, and not just leave a comment where everyone else can see it. EMAIL people. Ok, here's the brainteaser: The family of a man consists of one grandmother, one grandfather, two fathers, two mothers, four children, three grandchildren, one brother, two sisters, two sons, two daughters, one father-in-law, one mother-in-law, and one daughter-in-law. What is the smallest possible number of persons in his family? The answer will include the man.

attention knitting world.

This weekend, I got to experience living in a Finished Project kind of world. I completed not just one, but two projects this weekend. Bask in my glory.

First, we've got a wonderful pair of elfine socks. They have more than a few mistakes, but try not to look too closely at them. The short row heels were a little bit bumpy on the sides on my heels, so I will have to fix it next time.

Next up, I present a baby hat finished in less than an hour. I had made the mistake a month or so ago to attempt baby booties, but I never finished the second one. Instead of finishing the baby booties (which were quite ugly in the first place), I decided to make a hat instead. I think this is a way cuter gift than the booties.

I also have social news. I joined the knitsmiths at their weekly meeting at Booksmith in Brookline. Everyone was an absolute knitting knerd! I may have to rethink my knitting knerd status having been in the presence of incredible knitting knerdiness. One of the girls mentioned that she only likes to read blogs about knitting and don't care much for the personal details! Haha... I think knitting blogs are great and all, but the ones I love are the people who write about their regular non-knitting lives as well. I do have a bunch of knitting blogs on subscription, but sometimes I skip right past them because they lack personality. Uh, I don't mean you, I mean those, uh, other knitting blogs. Don't be offended. It helps if I already know you in-person.

And now for the non-knitting section of my blog, for alas, this is not a knitting blog, just a girl's blog. You can click through for any of the captions on these photos.

First a cute picture of Rita from super close up.

My breakfast this morning (light, fluffy pancakes).

I went to a co-worker's house this weekend to do a kool-aid dyeing party with her daughter and her friends. It was quite a success! I really had a lot of fun. Then, my co-worker took me on a driving tour of some old shaker houses she lives near. It was really quite cool. There are a bunch of old restored shaker houses in her neighborhood. People try to restore the houses to their original condition and live in them. They are all privately owned, so there are no public tours, but my co-worker said that they will open their homes to local schoolchildren annually for tours.

 

And a gratuitous self-portrait.

details on the swift

 

I've gotten a couple questions on how I made the PVC swift. So for those who are curious, I took some close-up photos of the turning mechanism and the arms. I don't remember what hardware we used for the turning mechanism. We drilled holes in the cross-bar and the stand and then put spacers in there. Then a big long bolt went through everything, separated by a series of nuts and washers. Frank was the one who figured out this joint so that the arms don't knock against the stand. This would be much easier if we had decided to make a swift that lay horizontal instead of vertical, but I really wanted a standing one.

On the arms... we tapped the holes using a screw tap and then just use the "screws" to hold the arms in place. The "screws" are flat on the ends so they don't make holes in the arms.

Just so you know, I will not be eating all that chocolate at once! It may take me months to finish that lot! See, I don't usually buy chocolate, but when I do, I seem to want everything! But now that it's all at home, I find myself eating less of it. I guess it's one of those things I want if I don't have it around.

The other night I dyed some yarn using acid dyes. I seriously am liking the deep colours I can achieve with the acid dyes. Just so you can see... Here are some photos.

 

I am definitely liking the dark purples and greens I can get with the acid dyes, even if the lighter colours from kool-aid are so freakin' spring-ish and pretty!

Have a wonderful Friday.

new shop in town.

So........ I was driving back from lunch with some co-workers the other day and I spied a new yarn shop opening up down the street from work. Now this very good and very bad for two reasons.

1. Even if they have completely unreasonable hours and close right at 5, I can still go shop there at lunch. (Good)
2. Even if they have completely unreasonable hours and close right at 5, I can still go shop there at lunch. (Bad)

This might mean I spend more lunches out, but I will probably be spending money on yarn. What if I can take a class there? Now that would be awesome.

The shop is called Knit Purl and it's located right next to BullFinch restaurant on Boston Post Road in Sudbury. The only thing I've found about them online is that their phone number is 978-443-9054. I am tempted to call and ask when they will open because I want to be there the first day. Is that sad? I am a sick sick knitter.

**UPDATE: I found more info on another website. Knit Purl, 730 Boston Post Road, Sudbury, MA  01776, ph. 978-758-8798. Like a psycho, I just called them to ask when they will open. She was totally shocked that I had found their number! Anyway, they will be opening in mid-March. I might send this info to Martha Spizziri too so she can include them on her list of stores.**

For those who care, if you are in the Boston area, I highly recommend going to The Knitting Room in Arlington. I've found them to be my favourite yarn shop in the area. They aren't big, they don't have the best selection, but the lady who works there is pretty helpful, and you don't feel pressured to buy anything or to hurry up and decide on what you want. I'm even tempted to take a class or two there, and I've never taken a knitting class before!

Posted to xanga:

I went to Whole Foods last night on my way home from work. I decided to buy maybe one or two chocolate bars and a loaf of bread. Instead, I left with about not only four bars of chocolate, but one boxed set as well. Yes. That's the last time I go to the store hungry before dinner looking for chocolates.

The greatest thing was that the boxed V-day chocolates were half off. I got this lovely box of Lake Champlain chocolates with various fillings. You can click through to see what each one is flavoured. I had a couple of these last night and they were very good. Mmm... I sure love chocolates filled with caramels or chocolate cream. Yum! I don't know if they distribute Lake Champlain chocolates outside New England, but you should try them if you see them. Nothing super mind-blowing, but pretty damned good. I like maple syrup in my chocos.

Oh! I dyed some yarn last night. The colours came out deep and dark, which is kinda nice. I can't get those colours with kool-aid! I'll take a photo tonight if they're dry.

Thank you everyone for commenting with your name and location! I knew a lot of you already, but some I really had no clue! I am compiling a list to help me remember and to stalk you all. Just kidding. I'm far too lazy for stalking.

chocolat et curiosité.

Because I did not receive or buy any chocolates on V-day, I am going to go out tonight and buy myself some goddamn chocolates. I have been craving them for about 3 days now and I have decided to satisfy my craving. Now it's just a matter of where to go! I want to go to L.A. Burdick in Harvard Square, but I don't want to deal with the traffic and parking. Maybe I can settle for some chocolate from Whole Foods. The might just hit the spot without too much trouble.

And because I am curious. I read a bunch of you guys, but never know your name (or even what it might start with) and where you live. I think I've got my older subs down, but a lot of the newer subs are total mysteries. It's fun to try and figure it out and I know a lot of people like to remain anonymous, but I am just more curious than anything! So if you feel like it, please leave a comment with your name (or first initial) and what general region of the world you live in. For example, I would say, "Hi, I'm Reesie and I live in northeast America." Or I might be more specific and say, "Hi, I'm Reesie and I live near Boston, MA."

You don't have to do this. I'm just curious.

Yeah, V-day

God, I almost forgot about this blog! I even posted a Xanga-only entry the other day and forgot to double post it. But now that I've realized the error of my ways, here you go.

Happy V-day folks! To all you happy couples, I hope you spend some time appreciating each other today. To all you single people (the non-bitter ones), have a nice day. And to all your bitter, single people, it's just a day where stores tell you that you need to spend money to show that you love someone, so just get the hell over it.

I'm not very romantic, but I love Mr. the Tank. That's a picture taken in the honeymoon room from the Ice Hotel in Norway. Tell me a romantic story about your life.

Because you all care, here's a little meme that I saw on Adrienne's page.

Four jobs I’ve had in my life
1. Software beta tester at Ernst and Young
2. Leather sofa showroom person
3. Cocktail pianist
4. Page turner for a pianist for a choir (Yes, I actually got paid to do this)

Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Fallen Angels
2. Wild at Heart
3. Office Space
4.

Four places I have lived (nothing too exciting here)
1. Los Alamos, NM
2. Paramus, land of the malls, New Jersey
3. Berkeley, CA
4. Belmont, MA (I can't quite claim having lived in Boston)

Four TV shows I love to watch (I actually don't watch much TV)
1. Sopranos on DVD
2. America's Next Top Model
3. Taboo on the National Geographic Channel
4. Hockey games when Frank is around

Four places I have been on vacation
1. Turkey
2. Egypt
3. The majority of western Europe
4. Alaska

Four of my favourite dishes
1. Siopao (not really a dish, just a tasty steamed bun)
2. Palabok
3. Panang curry beef
4. Halo-halo

Four websites I visit daily
1. Xanga
2. Flickr
3. Pandora
4. Google

Four places I would rather be right now
1. San Jose with the Tank
2. Home with Rita if San Jose fell through
3. NYC visiting friends
4. Philippines visiting family

getting in touch.

I am going to try learning eastern style knitting. This style is most often used in Asia and knits the regular western way, but purls using the combined method. Or you could say that the combined method is a combination (hence the name) of western knits and eastern purls. I used to be a combined knitter until I looked at a book and realized I did not comply. I then forced myself to learn how to do western knitting to get those nice clean un-twisted stitches.

Now I find myself wanting to have those twisted stitches to get a little more texture in the fabric. I have a feeling it might felt a little bit thicker too since you have extra twist in the yarn.

So yes, I will learn eastern style too. I'm one of the only knitters in the Filipino side of my family, so I can't say that I'm going to learn to knit like my grandma or my aunt. I guess I just want to try it and see what happens.

On another topic, Frank is coming tonight! I'm so excited.

litter.

Dear Litterers of America,

Is it that terribly difficult to stop yourself from throwing trash anywhere you'd like? This morning I saw a gentleman dressed in a public service uniform kindly picking up litter outside the recycling facility. This recycling facility is fairly in the middle of nowhere. The only place the trash could have come from is from passing cars or inconsiderate people who don't care to find a trash can. I have seen people throw empty plastic bottles out the windows of buses. I've even seen people unwrap gum/cigarettes/other and just drop the waste where they stand when there is a trash can not more than 10m 30ft away. Do we need more trash cans that are closer together so lazy Americans can make it to the closest bin without breaking a sweat?

Litterers of America, please stop being as damned lazy as the rest of the world thinks we are and dispose of your trash in an appropriate manner.

That is all.

Sincerely,
Reesie

she rants.

Yes, I know I've been guilty of Blogs Without Substance (like Doctors Without Borders, only I don't help anyone), and this blog is no different. This it the blog in which I complain about things I have no control over. And so it begins.

those doting parents.
I pass several bus stops on the most frustrating one-lane road to work. Sometimes I am unlucky and get stuck behind school buses that stop every 500m or so. The thing that really irks me is that I notice a lot of parents will bring chauffer their children to the bus stop and then wait with them because it's too cold for junior to stand outside. I was a bus kid all through school, and I waited outside in the cold/snow/rain/wind with all the other kids at my bus stop. What is with all these over-protective parents wasting their time waiting for the bus with their kids? Why not just drive them to school? I just don't understand this.

minority groups at work.
We have several minority groups at work for women, young people, asians, hispanics, blacks, and gays (I'm sure I just offended people by naming those). We even have one for native americans. Now, these minority groups stay busy by changing their name every 2-3 years. It's annoying. Why do they need to keep changing their name? The group doesn't change. The purpose doesn't change. They just get to update their email list and send out a billion emails telling everyone their name has changed. This worker bee likes nothing more than to get excited that a customer has sent an email reply, only to find out that it's just another piece of junk mail about a minority group. No, thank you. Oh, and we're not supposed to call them minorities anymore. They're Employee Resource Groups instead. Uh, wonderful.

exciting adventures.

Last night, I ventured into the wonderful world of acid dyeing. Not only did I decide to do acid dyeing, but I also decided to try self striping yarns. Of course, not knowing how to use acid dye, I decided to wing it as far as measurements. I found a couple good tutorials online on how to make self-striping yarn, and I was off.

Rita went into her kitty carrier (aka her safehouse) and I went about setting a chair and table as far away from each other as possible. I think they ended up about 15' apart. Ten minutes later, I had a nice long loop of yarn going across two rooms of my apartment. I tied them off 5-6 times (next time I will increase the number of ties as the yarn got a bit belligerent with me) and threw it into the pot for a soak.

In the meantime, I mixed up a few bottles full of dye, writing down the proportions I used. I used yellow, orange (mixture of yellow and red), and red. Then the yarn took a trip into the dye baths and were cooked for a good hour or so. I wasn't sure how long to cook them for, so I figured a good long time would be enough.

Now it's hanging in my bathroom dripping out. The red sort of came out pink, so I will make a note in my book to increase the concentration of the red dye next time. I hope it will be dry by the time I get home tonight so I can wind it up and take a look at it.

random tip.
If you're looking to buy any 1.1 gallon plastic bins for storage, AC Moore has them on sale for 49¢. That's right. 49¢.

even more random.
I've been reading Arabian Nights, the tales Scheherazade tells for 1001 nights. I am entranced by the language used in the stories. Every so often, they will end with, "...and they lived in peace until they were visited by the Destroyer of Delights and the Sunderer of societies." Now is that not a more poetic way of saying, "...and they lived happily ever after!"

oddball.

odd jobs.
I've had some odd jobs. The oddest job I've ever had was a temp position at the Nabisco Factory in New Jersey. I had gotten a call for a temp position in their research facility. I assumed I would be doing data entry like at my other jobs, but this was a surprise. Instead of sitting behind a computer, I got to sit in a room with 4 other people packaging products for test rounds. We packaged experimental foods into little white boxed labeled with a code. The boxes would be stacked on our "out rack" to be sent off to tatse testers everywhere.

The other people with me were:

• A kid from my high school. I didn't find out that we went to high school together until he told me he recognized me. We were both in college at the time, so I would never see him again.
• A hispanic lady who would talk about her kids a lot.
• Two older black ladies who would say, "Uh huh!" and "Um yeah!" a lot and complained about the state of the world.

It was quite an odd bunch. We would spend a lot of time sitting around making those white boxes until a shipment of food came. I remember folding those boxes over and over and getting cuts on my hands and being extremely bored. The older black ladies wouldn't let any of us seal the boxes with the hot glue because they thought we would screw them up and make them all crooked. Once the food came (and it wasn't always cookies, we got candies and snack chips too), we would portion them into bags to be put into the white boxes. The black ladies would seal up the bags and boxes and we would stack everything up on another cart. Sometimes we would get really bored and wander around the research factory. One time we found the room where they make crisps. I don't remember exactly what they made on that particular machine, but it was one huge long conveyer belt that went through several stages. It did all the preparation and cooking in one. I think it took a total of 20 minutes to complete the cycle.

It was one of the coolest and oddest jobs I've ever had. I actually got my friend a job in the cookie kitchen next door to where I was, but he said that the person running the kitchen was a nazi and wouldn't let them take any breaks. They had to stand up all day, mix cookie dough, and then measure it out perfectly onto scales, and then bake sheets and sheets. He said it was a horror story.

What's your oddest job?

odd self portrait tuesday.
Totally disregarding the theme for SPT, I'm posting whatever I want. What can I say, I'm a rebel.

odd sounds.
I've been a bit obsessed with the "On This Tidal Wave of Young Blood" song by Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah. It's terribly good until you get to that part when he repeats "Child's Toys" over and over again until you feel like shooting yourself in the head.

The Cali recap (super photo heavy)

I got back early this morning (4:35am to be exact). It was too early for the silverline to run, so I ended up splurging on a cab since I didn't want to wait around. I'm feeling a little bit under the weather, so I slept a little bit and then got up to take care of some housework.

I had so much fun in Cali! It was seriously one of the best weekends ever. We didn't actually do much, but it was just so great to see my boy and spend time with him. It's hard to be apart, but it's worth it when we see each other.

The pictures I have are pretty much a non-stop food tour of San Jose and Berkeley. When I arrived Friday night, we went to a little Mexican place called Garcia's where I ordered the enchiladas and Frank got a steak plate. His steak was really very good, having been marinated. I wasn't happy with my dish though. There was something wrong with the sauce, and it had a bitter taste to it. I ended up eating much of it and feeling a little sick later that night.

Saturday morning, Frank wanted to take me to AMD to see the lobby, but they were closed, so we settled for a photo outside.

Then it was off to Gold Ribbon, a Filipino bakery. They also serve food, so we got a couple "-silog" dishes. For some cultural info, the suffice "-silog" on a dish means that it comes with garlic fried rice and fried egg. The prefix will tell you what kind of meat comes with. Frank got tocilog (with bbq pork) and I got longsilog (with homemade sausage).

We also ate a slice of leche flan, but I didn't bother taking a photo. After we had our fill of good homestyle Filipino food, we went up to Berkeley to see our friend Matt. At 1:30pm, we went to Juan's for some quality Mexican food, but they weren't open until 2 so we stopped in at the humane society to look at dogs and kitties. I wanted to bring them all home with me.

I wanted to buy some acid dye at Dharma Trading after finding out that it was located in San Rafael, right near San Quentin. We abducted Matt and all drove up to San Rafael to find dye mecca. I took a couple photos on the way, but none when we actually got there. I bought the dyes I wanted while the boys looked at fabric pens.

Then it was back to Berkeley to hang out with Matt a little bit. We ended up going to Kirin on Solano for dinner with his roommate Hillary. Kirin specializes in northern Chinese cuisine and fresh, handmade noodles so we got some representative dishes. Click through for more details on each one.

Sunday was my last day there. We woke up and went for Indian buffet at Mayuri, but I failed to take any photos. I had a dessert called carrot halwa, which I much learn how to make. After stuffing ourselves, we went to the Korean market, Han Kook supermarket where we stood in awe of the liquor section.

Then it was back to Boston for me. I stayed home from work today since I was pretty much a wreck after taking the red eye. I cut up a gorgeous papaya and worked some more on my socks. I brought them all the way to Cali with me to kill time on the airplane. I'm completely obsessed with them.

Now I have to catch up on everyone's blog!

password protection.

Ok, so I lied. You can't protect certain entries. I saw it on someone's site, but I think they host their own. In typepad you can protect the whole blog, not specific entries.

Today I leave for Cali. If any of you were planning to come over and catnap Rita Pita, now is your time. I think if you had food and a soft bed, she would willingly come over. In preparation for my flight, I started another knitting project: two at once, top-up elfine socks. I'm actually using some yarn that I dyed this time. I have to say that I like the way the sock is working up! It makes me want to dye all kinds of colours to make socks.

I was in a knitting funk for a while with no projects to keep my interest, but suddenly I'm back with a vengeance. I even had a pair of socks that I was putting off finishing because I didn't want to be project-less. Unlike most of the ADD knitters I knoew, I usually only have one or two projects going at a time. Usually the first project will be mostly done (like 80% or more) before the next one is started. I'm weird like that. Of course, this doesn't mean that things get done faster. It just means I get obsessed with one project at a time and have no room in my life for other ones.

i never said i wasn't fickle.

Posted on Xanga:

So sue me!!

I figured out how to add sidebar content to typepad. You can see all my spankin' new links here. Now this is enough to sway me BACK toward typepad. Typepad allows you to have protected entries too, so that totally helps to make me love them. I'll have to pay, but I figure since this is something that I use everyday, I'd rather spend the money on blogging than on cable (I don't get those fun channels anymore like Discover since Comcast figured out they had been giving it to us for free).

I know it's agonizing for you people to read my though processes on how I'm going to abandon you on Xanga and never come back. Honest, that's not how it is! I have added all of my beloved to my bloglines. It's a free website that pulls all the blogs I read together into one place. However, it can't get the protected entries on LJ and Xanga and I've been very good about coming back just to read those! I also listed some of you on my actual typepad and blogger sites. Don't be mad if you don't see your name. The people listed are the ones I read and comment on the most often. If you feel slighted, send me hate mail. I love any kind of mail.

only child syndrome.

I find it really hard to relate to people who have siblings. I don't mean that I can't understand people who have siblings. It's more that I find it hard to relate to the whole sibling bond. People hate their siblings. People love their siblings. They share a life together that I will never understand or partake in. Does this mean I want my kids to have siblings? I don't know. Being an only child wasn't half bad.

accomplished.

I am in the process of testing out other blog hosting sites in the hopes of leaving Xanga when my premium expires. The alternatives I have right now are Typepad and Blogger.

Last night (with Mari's help) I made a business card. I had made the logo this weekend (three painful hours in photoshop), but hadn't gotten around to actually deciding how to lay it out on the card. Funny what an MIA husband will do for you. Last night, with Rita trying to get in my lap or at least get on the keyboard, I got on the computer to draft this up. Once I decided on the text, Mari helped rearrange everything to look pretty and added the second small bee for some visual interest. I guess it would be cool if I had figured out how to draw a dotted line behind the second bee to show some movement, but my photoshop skills just aren't that great yet. Maybe I'll try that for the next batch of cards. I've got 120 of them (12 sheets of 10 cards) so plenty of time to figure out what I really want. Then when I finalize I might get some professionally printed. Well, maybe that's being really optimistic! I'm hoping that I'll give out at least 100 of them at the craft fair. Hopefully!

Anyway, I present my spankin' new business card along with the newest dyed yarn. It's red, like red, dude.

And for those who are tired of listening about or looking at yarn, here's an old photo I took by the MIT field, a random alley, and a night shot on the Mass Ave bridge.