NH Sheep and Wool Plans

So who's going on Saturday? Erica and I will be getting there around ten or so, I think. I was considering going back on Sunday, but it turns out that I'll be home waiting for the cable people to come hook up the cable at the new house. Anyway, if you're there on Saturday, say hi! We'll both be wearing bright red patent leather Doc Martens, so we should be fairly easy to spot.

I am going with the following shopping guidelines:

1. I really need some sort of new bumper sticker.
2. I am allowed to buy materials for one knitting project.
3. I am allowed to buy materials for two spinning and/or needle felting projects.
4. I have a $25 budget for miscellaneous other stuff - small tools, goat milk soap, etc.

Sounds reasonable enough, right? And my other big goal is to take pictures and actually post them this year. Really.

Politics Links (5/7)

Here's a nice example of the difference between Obama and Clinton: "The bill for 15 slices . . . came to $26.95. . . . The Democratic presidential candidate handed out plates to patrons and several reporters after paying the bill with cash. He stuffed a $10 bill in the tip cup." He paid in cash, rather than having outstanding bills with small businesses for months! AND he tipped! Really well! Taking notes, Hillary?

My friend Jack tips us off to this nifty interactive electoral college map.

John Kerry wants an investigation of the Pentagon pundit problem.

How to Lose an Election 101

George McGovern switches his support to Obama and calls for Clinton to drop out. The start of a trend?

Huh. Apparently the pick-up basketball game Obama played at UNC broke all sorts of rules. But the NCAA is letting it go. Yay.

A wistful Joe Trippi on what he should have told Edwards back in January.

No previously ocular food.

Slate has an essay up on debunking vegetarian myths. It's pretty great. I should print it out and have some copies on hand when dining out or attending family events...

Ellen Page to be Jane Eyre

Ellen Page (of Juno) is set to star in a new version of Jane Eyre! That's... I have no idea how I feel about that, actually. Huh. I guess it's perplexing. She looks good for the part, but I'm having trouble imagining her being mousy. Or... not snarky. Although I think she's a good enough actress to portray such a different character. I'm more worried about the producer having been involved with The Other Boleyn Girl.

Did anyone hear about a potential Obama/Clinton debt deal?

One of the news stations I was watching last night - either CNN or MSNBC - was talking about rumors of a deal involving Obama paying off Clinton's debt in return for Clinton getting out of the race. Or something. Has anyone read about this? I'm having trouble figuring out how to search for it, because all the terms I'm coming up with are quite common and show up in tons of news stories.

Okay, this is a little ridiculous.

In the past five minutes, I have e-mailed my boss twice and responded to one of his tweets on Twitter. He sits about six feet from me. I could easily (and do often) just turn around in my swively chair and talk to him. (We're usually both wearing headphones, though, so that's a little harder than it sounds.) But that doesn't stop the e-mails and Twittering. Sigh. The twenty-first century workplace...

Politics Links (5/6)

While we're waiting for results...

Tom Hanks endorses Obama

Clinton and the white racist vote

Sullivan contemplates an Obama-Clinton ticket.

Things I Am Learning While Moving, II

I have learned that I apparently sound like the sort of person who has 50 boxes of books. The nice moving company guy I talked to this morning somehow came up with this estimate, which amused me greatly. And yeah, it's probably right on.

I feel ridiculously proud of myself: I scheduled a move with actual movers this morning. This required a few somewhat complicated phone calls, and oh my goodness do I HATE the phone. But I did it! There will be three men and a truck showing up on the morning of the 15th and all my things will then magically move to the new house! Wheee. And my new roommate just called to tell me that the cable will be hooked up on Sunday. Then I have to figure out if I have to do anything special to move Teddy TiVo. Hmm.

But yeah, the moving thing is feeling really really official now. Whee.

Political social networking site

I just discovered My Political World, which is a new politics-based social networking site. I haven't looked around much yet, but I thought I'd mention it in case anyone's interested. My username there is katwithak. You can read about it here.

Things I Am Learning While Moving

People? I have a lot of yarn. I know that won't really be a big shock to anyone, but seriously. A lot. Of yarn. Enough to make me think "Really? Do you have to go to NHS&W this weekend when you already have this much yarn?" But clearly the answer to that is yes, because a) I'm actually going mainly to see people and b) I want to get serious about spinning once the move is done, so I think I need some fiber.

Also? I have a lot of books. Actually, when compared with my books, my yarn seems like nothing. Huh.

Twitter, anyone?

I've had a Twitter account for a while, but I've just recently started using it regularly. (I blame Rachel.) I'm "following" a few of you on there already, but I'm thinking there may be more of you with accounts. Anyone? My username there is katelinnea. Leave yours in the comments!

Where do I go to buy these things?

Does anyone have tips on where to obtain the following:

1) A tea infuser big enough for a whole pitcher of iced tea

2) Those plastic case things that you use to store nice china

Anyone? Thanks!

Baby blanket race progress

Here's my progress so far in the "race" my friend and I are having:

It's folded over width-wise, so there's actually more there than it looks like. :) I'd say it's about 30-35% done. The pattern is Yarn Harlot's Sam's Blanket, and so I took it with me to Stephanie's event at Webs last weekend. She graced it with some guest knitting:

There were also a few pictures of us together, but they didn't come out very well, so I'm going to do both of us a favor and not post them.

Talk about a close margin...

Yesterday, Obama won Guam by SEVEN VOTES. Wow. I love how the Times still refers to them as "Mr. Obama, of Illinois" and "Mrs. Clinton, of New York" in pretty much every story. It's kind of cute.

The end of an era

The singer/pianist at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York - who plays Cole Porter's own piano, no less - is being laid off for "economic reasons." Sad.

Politics Links (5/2)

The Telegraph (UK) publishes a list of the 50 most influential US political pundits.

The Nation has an interesting point about the different sections of the race, both chronologically and the parallel electoral/superdelegate races.

Battling to Be the Next Secretary of State

Time has an interesting profile of Harold Ickes.

Ever wondered what you'd read in space?

Here's a list (warning: PDF) of the books, music, and movies that are available in the library of the International Space Station. There are lots of classics and sci fi, and, I feel, a weirdly large amount of Daniel Boorstein.

Instant queue!

Netflix now has a separate queue for Instant watching! I cannot even tell you how happy this makes me. (We've mentioned how much I love lists of all kinds, right?) And this will let me mark things I want to watch instantly later without filling up my DVD queue.

Why did no one tell me...

...that Chiwetel Ejiofor sings "Whatever Lola Wants" in Kinky Boots? Terry Gross just played a clip of it, and... hee! (I assume this is funnier if you think of Ejiofor as The Operative from Serenity.) Must get that from Netflix soon.