preraphaelitepunk.com

• Microsoft's grinning robots or the Brotherhood of the Mac. Which is worse?
  Windows 7 launch parties? Is Microsoft on crack? (Said as a happy/smug Mac convert, albeit one too poor to afford all the swanky gadgets. Via bobbyllew on Twitter.)
  (tags: humor marketing microsoft windows)

Hi there. I know: it’s been forever since I blogged. Please insert usual apologies and excuses about life and business here.

I’m working on the Coraline sweater, and decided to see how long it’s been taking other people to make their own versions. It’s been almost three weeks since I started, and I’m over halfway done — or I should be, because four skeins should be more than enough yardage, and I’m well into the third skein. If I’m not over halfway done, then I’m in trouble.

I’d be farther along, except that I took one day last weekend to make a fingerless glove. Also, miles of stocking stitch without even shaping to anticipate every few rows tends to make my brain dribble out my ears.

However:

There are people on Ravelry — on the first page of the projects tab — who have finished in two weeks or less. A lot of people seem to be taking four to five weeks, which is about what I’m anticipating, but there was one person who, I swear, finished in eleven days. Eleven days.

Liesl only took me a week, but that was using a slim bulky yarn (i.e., it called itself bulky, but really was dysmorphic and was probably only a heavy worsted) on size 11 needles, and had simple lace to keep things interesting. Also, I had jetlag that week, so I was up for all kinds of crazy hours.

How can a person seriously finish a whole sweater in DK weight on size 4 needles in eleven days, if they have any other interests at all (e.g., eating, work, interacting with other living creatures) and are not currently suffering from insomnia?

• We Want the Morris Movie
  Cool and quirky movie about morris dancers! You can watch the preview at http://morrismovie.com/, and then — if you like — sign the petition urging that the film be distributed to theaters. (The petition is set up assuming you live in the UK, but you can just leave the "region" list blank if you don't live there.)
  (tags: movies film morrismovie uk culture humor)

• This is why you're fat.
  Oh. Good. Lord. Fascinatingly horrible examples of dreadful things apparently intended for consumption, mostly extremely not vegan. Pretty much all should kill you dead at 20 paces.

  Is it really all that wrong that I kind of want to veganize some of them, just for the challenge? C'mon, a vegan pizza cone would sound really comforting after a stressful day. . . .

  (tags: ick notreallyfood)

Seriously: how could you not want to take this guy home? He’s young, outgoing, good-looking, and is a total sweetheart. Oh, and he’s single, and looking for love.

His Petfinder page is here. I met him this afternoon when I picked up Moliere after his haircut.* Most of the time I was scratching his ears and head, he was trying his best to lick my hands without twisting his head out of my reach.

Two dogs is my limit — if nothing else, my HOA agreement specifies no more than two, and limits them to 35 lb or less — but if you or someone you know is in need of a dog and has the space for a dog who’ll maybe be 60 to 70 lb when he hits his full growth, check out Boone. The groomer said he’ll be at the Petsmart on Ponce de Leon on Sunday, if you want to meet him.

He’s a lovely, sweet young dog, and he deserves a good home.

***

*One of the things I like about my groomer, or rather Moliere’s groomer, is that he does stuff like this to help out rescues a lot.

• Dr Who Dalek found in pond - Telegraph
  Okay, now that would've freaked me out no end. (Insert your own invasion joke here.) Via retweet from http://twitter.com/neilhimself.
  (tags: bbc uk doctorwho daleks invasion)

All in all, today was not my favorite day. It could have been much worse, I’ll admit — my car might’ve slid on the ice and smashed into something or someone, or Nigel could’ve had a medical problem — but it was still fairly sucky. The various bad things of today included, but were not limited to, the following:

On the positive side, no one has died; Nigel’s in good spirits and Moliere remains sweet but, well, slow; no damage has been done except to my credit cards; and at least the woman at the car dealership said she liked the sock I’m working on:

It’s a crappy shot, but it’ll have to do for now. I’m off to watch old “Mary Tyler Moore” episodes on Hulu to cheer myself up.

• Leeds Read 2009: Now we've got character
  You can vote for your favorite literary character; the selection is perhaps somewhat idiosyncratic (the Wombles?), but both Neil Gaiman's Shadow and Terry Pratchett's Rincewind and Sam Vimes are represented. (They misspelled Vimes' name, but it's the thought that counts.) Via http://twitter.com/neilhimself.
  (tags: books literature voting poll favoritecharacter worldbookday2009 leedsread)

• I Was a Regency Zombie - NYTimes.com
  It was a natural progression: improving Jane Austen books by adding in zombies. (The article also links to Elton John's current project of combining Jane Austen characters and Predator.)

  Things like this make me happy.

  (tags: humor books zombies)
• That's Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book about Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things. Written & Illustrated by Ruby Roth
  To counteract the bad aura left by Friday's rant on the pro-hunting kids' books: a pro-veg*n book for kids. Hurrah! It can be a touchy topic to discuss with kids, or for kids to explain to other children, but this looks promising. Jane Goodall even provided a blurb for the book's landing page; now that's impressive. (Via http://www.vegalicious.org/2009/02/21/thats-why-we-dont-eat-animals/.)
  (tags: vegan books yay kids)

I realize that I am, statistically, an outlier in many respects. I’m vegan, obviously; I’m rather leftist and living in the not-really-leftist-at-all South; I’m a single person in a world awash with couples; I drive a fuel-efficient diesel subcompact in a world of gasoline-driven SUVs; I am a recycling nazi in what is still a largely throwaway society. I tend to think of myself as normal, but when pressed I have to admit that I am not really representative of the views, positions, or attitudes of most of my species-mates.

Sometimes, though, it’s hard not to gawp at how, um, different some people’s opinions are. (Aren’t you proud of me for not swearing in that sentence? If not, read on.)

Case in point: the books talked about in this article (via the always-engaging Crooked House). Disclaimer: I have not read the actual books in question. This post is based on the article and information on the author’s Web site.

Urgh. Pro-hunting propaganda for children (to counteract the “literally dozens of anti-hunting themed children’s books on the market today”; I’m not really up on kids’ lit, but “literally dozens,” even if accurate, doesn’t sound like a whole bunch o’ books to me in the whole marketplace.) One hopes, though, that the choice of victims (one of the Three Bears? Bambi’s dad?) would make kids think beyond just the words on the page and remember that there’s another side to the story.

According to the article, “Jacobs said people who fear guns — and by extension do not approve of hunting — are missing some information. ” Um, yeah — because that’s why I disapprove of hunting: I’m a big weenie who’s too ignorant to know not to be afraid of guns. It’s not the killing and maiming in the name of fun, or even “hunting with a purpose” (apparently, that would be killing one of the Bears for fur and ursine sausages), that I find disturbing; it’s the fact that guns are scaaaary.

Please excuse me for a moment. I was rolling my eyes, and I think I pulled an eye muscle. Ouch.

The Web site selling the books (link is in the article) is also scary — probably because all the cartoon guns on the book covers are unnerving me; that must be it. “Many liberal school teachers in this country are against hunting and can have a persuasive effect on youth. . . . [The books portray] realistic hunting and fishing adventures in a positive manner. These stories will have a beneficial effect on children, and they are a way to reach kids, that have never been introduced to the hunting sports.” Um, yeah. (My editorial side would like to point out the lovely unnecessary comma there in the last sentence, and the way the text refers to kids “that” rather than kids “who,” as one might say if they were people or something. Sorry. Using “that” in reference to thinking beings of whatever age just gets up my nose.)

What’s just about as alarming is the reading-level estimate of “approximate 2nd-3rd grade reading level. Recommended reading ages start at 3-4 years old (if you are willing to read to your child) to 12-13 years of age.” Okay, firstly if you are willing? As far as I’m concerned, if you have a kid and don’t read to him or her in some form or fashion practically from birth, or at least as soon as you’ve recovered from the birth and have gotten enough sleep to be able to focus on the page (which I do understand can take a considerable time), and you yourself are not illiterate, then we need to have a talk.

I say that, of course, in my august authority as Someone Who Does Not Have Kids Herself, although I am definitely Someone Who Reads to Her Dogs Quite Regularly and Is Blithely Ignored by Both of Them. What I know, in a hands-on sense, of actual parenting would not fill a thimble. However, I do believe that having kids entails the responsibility to read to them as part of the job, the same as feeding them and clothing them. It’s an important job, and worth doing properly. “Willing” shouldn’t enter into it.

Granted, that statement says something more about the books’ intended audience than about the books themselves — the books apparently grew out of the author’s story-telling tradition with his daughter, so at least he read to her — but that phrase just incensed me.

Secondly, a 12- to 13-year-old actually reading something written at a 2nd- to 3rd-grade reading level? Way to aim high, dudes; just don’t try doing a book report on something you got out of the kiddie section of the library, or your “liberal school teacher” will rake your lazy butt over the coals. Is our public educational system really such a mess that kids in — what, that’s junior high school? 7th, or 8th grade? I’m too old to remember these things — would actuallly be entertained by reading stuff written for kids in early to middle elementary school? (Again, that’s addressing the probable intended audience, not the books themselves, and in today’s economy I can’t really blame indie entrepreneurs for trying to maximize their appeal in order to survive. It just seems rather unrealistic, and a sad comment on expectations in our society. Maybe it’s just me, though.)

People are, indeed, very strange. In a Venn diagram of “normality,” my perceptions (i.e., causing pain and death for fun = bad; reading at at least your grade level = good) may not overlap at all with other people’s notions. Probably it’s good to be reminded of that every so often, and to remember those wise and calming words attributed to Voltaire.