Every Sad Story Needs Nuns has moved.

New location:

http://everysadstoryneedsnuns.thecomicseries.com/


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http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80221AD.html?noImages=&utm_source=20100205_Feb05&utm_medium=Emails&utm_campaign=Weeklynewsletter&utm_content=Valentine-AmigurumiPottedPlant


Lion Brand Yarns just sent me an email with a variety of quick knit and crochet Valentine's Day gifts.

My first thought upon seeing this amigurumi potted plant was "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.".

I want to see this crocheted up with a little amigurumi speech bubble planted in it that reads "NOT AGAIN".

::crickets chirp::

::tumbleweed rolls by::

I'm alone on this first impression, aren't I?

1.) My thrift store-fu has returned. My sister in law's birthday party is Saturday. I tend to live in black turtlenecks and jeans. I decided it might be nice if I showed up to a family event in something that didn't make me look like a nihilist.

I went to Target and found a few nice things. Then I went to Goodwill thrift store and hit the mother load. I left with numerous shirts and a pair of linen pants that match a shirt Jonathan owns and this crazy monstrosity.



I selected this shirt for it's random and slightly bizarre fabric print.

The design on this fabric is delicious.





It is brand new. It is made by a company called The Cat's PJs.  I spent $4 and hurried home to learn more about this acquisition.


What I Learned Thanks to the Internet:

Turns out The Cat's PJs is a pajama company.

This is a nightshirt.

They no longer carry this print. 

Not counting shipping, I saved a whopping $64.

Counting shipping, I saved $69.

Nightshirts retail for $68.

Full pajama sets retail for $86.

I really want their sushi pajamas.


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2.) I was lead to a website called Chore Wars. You gain experience points, XP for any number or chores that you have accomplished. You can customize it to fit your life, or goals. Or you can use the preset list they have available.



You can put together a party of adventures, e.g. your roommates or office mates, and whenever someone completes a task, long in, add that task and they get XP. You can check to see if everyone is pulling their weight.

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3.)What if Beauty Ads Told the Truth?

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Title: Suite Francaise
Type: Fiction, Novel
Author: Irene Nemirovsky
Translated by: Sandra Smith
Page: 11

Excerpt I wish I had written:

It was indeed Monsieur Pericand, a short, stocky man with a gentle and slightly awkward manner. His normally well-fed, relaxed and rosy-cheeked face looked, not frightened or worried, but extraordinarily shocked. He wore the expression found on people who have died in an accident, in a manner of seconds, without having had time to be afraid or suffer. They would be reading a book or looking out of a car window, thinking about things, or making their way along a train to the restaurant car when, all of a sudden, there they were in hell

Click on picture above for today's strip, "LB LOSERS".


Permanent link:
http://everysadstoryneedsnuns.blogspot.com/

The Swedish synth-pop duo, The Knife have created an opera, titled, Tomorrow in a Year.


You can listen to samples from the album on their website.

http://www.theknife.net/


I am losing my shit over what I've heard thus far and can not wait to get a hold of this album.

I just found out that J.D. Salinger died.

For those who didn't have the joy of having this man be your bedtime storyteller, he was an author who penned such tales as The Catcher in the Rye, Nine Stories, and my personally favourite, Franny and Zooey.



I feel numb.

1.) I'm living the life of a writer. My days are consumed with words. I have three projects. One, rewriting Frank & Hilde the webcomic, two researching and writing a series of sestina poems, and three, writing a novel. I've become a hermit. I should leave the apartment. I should socialize. Instead, I write.


2.) I noticed recently, the majority of my friends have birthdays in January. So many people conceived right after taxes are due in the United States. It can't be a coincidence.

3.) I know ASL, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Hebrew and Latin. I am currently learning Swedish, French, and Mandarin Chinese. I have learned that the more languages I learn, the worse my grasp of the English language becomes.

Yes, I do see the irony of someone who has never left the States knowing so many languages.

My Hannukah gift to my MIL is to crochet amigurumi food each month of the year 2010 to add to her Grandma toy box. January is carrots and bananas. I have one and a half carrots left to crochet, then I will make the green tops to stitch on. For now, it looks like I am making mutant Cheetos.

I'm not certain whether to make normal size bananas (http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/knit-patterns-banana.html) or baby bananas (http://chezmichelle.vox.com/library/post/baby-banana-amigurumi-pattern.html).

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I finally started on Jonathan's Hannukah present from 2009. Yes, 2009. I am that bad of a wife that it takes me over a year to get started on my husband's present.

I'm knitting him the Antlers Scarf by Micah P. Dammeyer from Son of Stitch 'n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men by Debbie Stoller.

It is a great first cable pattern to try, but rather repetitive. It will be rather nice looking once I finish and block it.

http://www.ustream.tv/SFShiba

Live streaming video of mama shiba inu and her five newborn puppies, 24/7.
Yeah...goodbye productivity.

Jonathan and I hit up IKEA this weekend.



(Traditional "Jonathan is Asleep in IKEA" shot taken during every trip to IKEA.)

Where I stumbled upon, and purchased, these adorable cookie cutters.





From bottom to top: Squirrel, Moose, Bear Cub, Fox, Hedgehog, and a whale? snail?


Seriously, what is this suppose to be?




I'm leaning towards snail, since the theme appears to be woodland animals. Although it could be "One of these things is not like the other" themed.

1.) I am so proud of all my fellow GQMF's over at ontd_startrek. Why? Because they raised over $15,000 in a few days for the Haitian Earthquake Relief Aid. Bitches are fierce!


2.)Sixteen days until the final season of LOST premieres. Me excited? Indeed.

3.)Blankets by Craig Thompson, makes me want to be a better artist.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Golden_Girl_Rue_McClanahan_Suffers_a_Stroke_20100114



Dear 2010,



But there is hope, give Rue McClanahan a speedy recovery and I won't refer to you as 2009 Jr: The Year of Shite Two: Electric Boogaloo.


The Girls and I will be in the kitchen enjoying a delicious cheesecake while you think about your actions.



Sincerely,

Moi


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This is the year. The year when I plan out everything I am going to crochet, sew, and knit many, many, months before they are due as presents. See an awesome pattern in July? Too bad, maybe next year, my gift queue is, um, queued up.

I need to do this, no hate intended towards the awesome patterns that will be revealed during 2010. Because what happens is I plan ahead on one or two presents. Next thing I know, I am knitting or crocheting or sewing 34 presents, 32 of which I found patterns for six days before their intended holiday date of gift giving.

It's not pretty and involves a lot of cursing and the development of Popeye forearms on my part.

So this year it is going to be different. I have my list, I have broken down the time it will take to make each one. And I am starting in January. Once the gift is finished, it will be safely kept in one of my giant yarn storage containers until time to wrap and give.

THEORETICAL VICTORY!

During my search to pick out awesome patterns for the awesome people in my life, I stumble across, um, many awesome patterns. (Dammit, where is that thesarus?)


There are way too many things I want to make. This is Part Un of the series to be known as "Too. Many. Things. Want. To. Make. Them. All.".




Crocheted Flower Hotpad
http://www.freecraftunlimited.com/flower-hot-pad.html





Apple Tawashi Dishcloth
http://salihan.com/apple-dishcloth/





LEMMINGS!!!! Er, I mean..."Mop Top Mascots"
http://www.planetjune.com/blog/free-crochet-patterns/mop-top-mascots/





o_O what is this...I don't even....thud.
Incognito
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter09/PATTincognito.php

American Girl Scouts start taking cookie orders tomorrow. IT'S COOKIE TIME!

Find out more about your local Girl Scout troop and when and where they are selling.

http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

What is your favourite GS cookie?

My all time favourite no longer exists. It was a sandiwich cookie with a lemon creme center. On the top sandwich cookie, a hole was cut out and it was filled with a red berry jam, and sugar crystals.

Nowadays, I love Samoas and Tagalongs. Samoas are a coconut and caramel cookie drizzled in fudge. Tagalongs are a shortbread cookie with a dollop of peanut butter and then dipped in chocolate fudge.



(I swear, I am in no way affiliated with the Girl Scouts. I am just a Girl Scout cookie addict. Also, Troop Beverly Hills is an awesome movie, proof that G-d loves us and wants us to be happy.)

It's open gaming night.

Secret Headquarters Presents: January Off-site Open Game Night!
Friday January 8, 2010
6:00 pm - 12:00 am
Location: Element 3

Notes:
Secret Headquarters Presents:
Monthly Off-site Open Gaming Night!

WHAT IS IT?
A place to come play games of any kind: board games, card games (collectible or not!), miniatures games, RPGs, whatever you like. There will be several dozen smaller tables and a couple of bigger tables. Our last several events had over 30 people attend, with every type of game represented!

WHERE IS IT?
At Element 3, a local church that lets me host events.
3540 Mahan Dr
Tallahassee, FL 32308-5624, US

WHEN IS IT?

January 8 6:00 PM to midnight

WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU KNOW?

Free soft drinks (Coke, Diet Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite) and possibly some specialty coffees will be available. Yes, it's FREE with unlimited refills.

WHAT SHOULD YOU BRING?
Games! Any games you want to play or let someone else play. Snacks. Some friends! And be prepared to be totally sidetracked by some game you weren't even expecting to play!

I own two skeins of this yarn, Zwerger Garn Opal Harry Potter in Tonks.



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How cute are these lace up opera gloves? No really, how cute are they, I'm a terrible judge.

http://ysolda.com/wordpress/lace-up-opera-gloves/

I think I might knit these up using the Opal yarn and wear them to the Harry Potter premiere, Maybe. I like the yarn and I like the opera glove pattern, but still not certain if I want to combine the two.





http://ysolda.com/store/accessories/veyla/

I am in love with these! I want to purchase the pattern and knit them up right now! Unfortunately, I am on a spending freeze until June. I suppose I could knit these up for someone as a gift, but that feels like a sneaky loophole. The pattern will still be there in June. I can wait. Sigh.

1.) Remind me that February 1st is Hourly Comic Day when it's closer to the date, would you, love?

http://www.hourlycomic.com/hourlycomicday.html


2.) My mother-in-law brought back a gorgeous Italian leather journal for me during one of her "Ha Ha, I'm retired and travel around the world and you don't" adventures in Europe. I've been too nervous to use it. It's bound in really quality leather that is buttery soft. It's bound close with a knotted length of leather strip. Even the paper is this velvety, milky white papyrus of win. I can't just jot down a grocery list or whine about the latest comic book movie adaptation. This journal deserves better.


Finally, I found a purpose for it. It's become my sestina journal as I journey into the madness that is writing sestina poetry. If I am going to lose my sanity, it might as well be documented in a pretty Italian journal*.




Said pretty journal of my doom.


3.) I've reached the Mucinex D stage of bronchial recovery. I am thisclose to running around Lake Ella again, I can feel it. Today, I managed not to get winded while unloading the dishwasher. Victory!




*In university, there was an urban legend passed from Creative Writing major to Creative Writing major about sestina poetry. Aas a Creative Writing major, you must submit a body of your collected undergraduate work for review as part of graduation process. You can choose to focus on a specific aspect of writing or cover the broad spectrum taught during your time in school. (A collection of essays, short stories, poetry or a specific branch of poetry.)

The story told was simple. Anyone who attempted to focus their thesis of senior work on the sestina, went insane. At least, we thought it was an urban legend as first years. by the time you hit third year as a Creative Writing major, you knew someone who lost their shit while working on a portfolio of sestina poetry. I'm not talking about "a friend of a friend of a friend's cousin's stepsister". More like, your roommate or study partner level of kinship.

Granted it could have been general third year stress, but if that was the case, why was it always the sestina poets that lost it and had to drop out?

The sestina form is rather taxing, to put it mildly. In a nutshell, a sestina consists of six sestets and a concluding tercet. There are six words used repeatedely throughout the sestina as end words. They must be repeated in a certain order.

The Order

123456 615243 364125 532614 451362 246531 + envoi (25/43/61)

I fell in love with the sestina. When done correctly, it is a beautiful form. I planned to do my senior thesis portfolio on sestina poetry, but chickened out near the end and switched to LANGUAGE poetry instead. The reason I chickened out is I started to feel the curse of the sestina thesis.

Now that I am older, and no longer have the trials and tribulations of youth to bother me, I feel it is safe to attempt my original collection of sestina poetry again.

But I have my suspicions that this will lead to some level of madness.

Wow, this is a really long footnote. Kudos to you who actually read it all.

1.) I have spent the past two weeks coughing so hard, I lost an inch in my abdomen and my diaphragm constantly aches. That's right, I am doing the coughing equivalent of ab crunches.


2.) Love 8 bit games? Love Left For Dead? Well, you're in luck because there is a Left For Dead 8-bit video game available now for free download.

http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/6549/pixel-force-left-4-dead-a-retro-take-on-the-left-4-dead-series




3.)I've been inside the apartment for the better part of two weeks. I'm going a little stir crazy.

http://everysadstoryneedsnuns.blogspot.com/


So things are changing a little bit over at ESSNN.

Updates will be once a week, on Tuesdays.

This will give me more time to focus on the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday updates for Frank & Hilde.

http://frankandhilde.thecomicseries.com/

Also, in an attempt to kick my ass into the age of digital art, all of my updates, both ESSNN and F&H will be done using Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet.

Which means, the so so quality of ESSNN you have grown used to is now being thrown back even further as I adapt to the tablet.

Seriously, a blind, limbless monkey has better skills with the tablet than I.

With that said, enjoy today's strip!