Maybe Friendship Really Is Magic

Back in January, I wrote a post about My Little Pony spurred on by my daughter getting one of the happy meal toys based on the new version of that cartoon from my childhood. I was pretty disappointed with the new look of the updated ponies and had concluded that we would be sticking with the old school version of the cartoons when and if I let my daughter watch any MLP down the road. At the time, I saw that there had been a few straight-to-DVD movies released aroundabouts 2006 and they looked thoroughly meh, so I really didn't think they were worth my time and attention. What I had neglected to notice was that the toy that spurred my thoughts on the topic (and my daughter's toothpaste design) was actually brought in by a new new MLP show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, created by a completely different team (as far as I can tell) than the 2006 movies. Had I noticed this at the time I probably still wouldn't have cared, I'll admit. My mind was pretty made up.

But then I was talking to my husband sometime in the last few months and we somehow got onto the topic of MLP (I have no idea how), and he asked if I had been watching the new version. I told him no, of course not. He said he had actually heard really good things about it, and that it was the people behind Powerpuff Girls who had made this new version. Now, I love PPG, and my husband knows it. I kind of feel like that is exactly the kind of cartoon I want my little girl to grow up watching, because while yeah, there's an element of the girly to it, it also has a huge element of kick-butt and independent thinking involved. As well as just being completely entertaining. My husband implored me to give the new MLP a try. That's right, my husband asked me to watch My Little Pony. I told him sure, I'd check it out at some point, and the matter didn't really come up again.

A little time goes by...and all of a sudden, I can't get away from the new ponies. Apparently there's this whole concept of "bronies" that has sprung up around Friendship is Magic. A combination of "bro" and "ponies" it refers to the fact that a ton of teenage and up guys (and gals) have totally gotten hooked on the show. Artist Lar DeSouza (who draws for two of my favorites, Looking for Group and Least I Could Do) is among their ranks, and in June finally gave in and started sketching his own ponies in homage. He drew himself as a pony, and then the Looking For Group character Richard as one as well (Richard's battle cry is "For Pony!" so this seemed especially appropriate). He spread his pony love by drawing fellow comic artist Joel Watson, of Hijinks Ensue, as a pony also. The last straw came about two weeks ago when Katie Cook, the genius behind Gronk, mentioned that she, too, has become totally enamored of Friendship is Magic and drew a Gronk pony, which was just the cutest thing ever. There's even a site on the CHEEZburger network called My Little Brony. It is LOLcats with ponies, y'all. These are two of my favorites that I've seen:

I finally caved and started watching the show. I set it to record in my DVR and my daughter and I have been catching up on the first season ever since. It is actually kind of spectacular. Suddenly the extra stylized look and big eyes of the new ponies are forgivable, because they make sense in the context of the show, which is drawn in a very anime-inspired style. The pony Pinkie Pie, with the balloons on her butt? Yeah, she's kind of one of my favorites now. Lauren Faust, who served as a writer and director for Powerpuff Girls, created Friendship is Magic, serving as a writer and producer on the first season, and set to continue as a writer for the upcoming second season. The PPG influence is definitely there for those who are looking for it, but I feel like it also manages to capture a lot of the spirit and charm of the original series, which was an extremely pleasant surprise for me. There's even a dragon, yay!

The basic premise of the show, from what I can gather, is that Twilight Sparkle, a student of pony royalty Princess Celestia, has been kind of isolated and had her nose stuck in her books for most of her life. So Princess Celestia decides to expand her pupil's education by sending Twilight Sparkle and her assistant Spike (the dragon) down to Ponyville to continue her studies but also to get out and meet other ponies and make friends. Each episode Twilight Sparkle learns some lesson of how friendship works and she sends a report back to Princess Celestia with what she's learned (the moral of the story, so to speak). It's a cutesy concept, sure, but it works to show that people ponies are not perfect and give and take is part of the normal course of things. Other than the bit at the end, the show doesn't try to cram the "lesson" down the viewer's throat, and the writers do a good job of just making it become apparent throughout the episode.

I like that there are different kinds of ponies as well--pegasus ponies, regular ponies, and unicorns (who have magic). It's fun to watch how the ponies manipulate their environment given that their hooves don't give them the best grasp of things and they lack opposable thumbs. That is a neat level of detail, and the fact that the show runners are paying attention to that kind of thing impresses me, I'll admit. Also, instead of saying "everyone" and "nobody" and the like, they all say "everypony" or "nopony." I have decided to find this cute rather than be annoyed by it.

In one of those weird convergences, we started watching the show right before my daughter's birthday, and even though I hadn't mentioned it to anyone, she got two different MLP toys for her birthday. I was very pleased to see that the actual toys are not so skinny as the happy meal toys were (even though the happy meal toys do seem to be more on par with how the ponies on the show look).

Sweetie Belle doll, Baby Girl loves giving her her bottle.

Twilight Sparkle balloon playset. 

A better look at Twilight Sparkle, not an anorexic pony, yay!

Spike the dragon.

Compare the happy meal version with the toy.

Happy Meal Twilight Sparkle.

Granted, I am not giving all updates of shows from my childhood a reprieve (I still refuse to budge on the Strawberry Shortcake nonsense), and I still would really rather people just came up with their own new thing. But I have to say, after giving the new My Little Pony a chance, I am definitely on board. It is fun to be able to watch it with my daughter and know that we are both enjoying it, even it if is on completely different levels. And I'll admit it, the thought of my daughter having her own set of ponies to play with as she grows up makes me a little warm and fuzzy inside. I've already hunted down the basic pony toys of the main six characters. I will likely be getting her at least a few of those for Christmas.

Still, I did go ahead and order the original movie. It doesn't hurt to make sure she knows where this is coming from, right? We watched it last night, and I can admit that, as much as I love the old-school version, as much as I will always love it, the new one is actually probably better. I think the storytelling on the modern version is a lot tighter and the production values, as you might expect with over twenty-five years of advancement, are much better. It is a kids show, sure, but it doesn't feel quite as slapped together as the fare from my day. I thought that Spike the baby dragon was a holdover from the original, and was glad to see I was right. In fact, he is the only character with the same name and appearance (if updated) from back in the day. Clearly Lauren Faust digs dragons. I can get behind that. I did enjoy picking out which old-school ponies had inspired the newer characters too.

And my daughter still totally dug it. That made me happy, oh yes it did.

New TV Scorecard: Outcasts

Okay, okay, I know, technically Outcasts isn't new. It's already completed its first season (and I think entire series) run across the pond. But it just premiered on BBC America this past week, so it's new to me. Avoiding spoilers has been no easy feat, either. At least now I am finally free to read the episode reviews io9 posted back when the show aired in the U.K. You can find the first one (which covers the first two episodes, so maybe wait until next week) here.

So. Outcasts. My initial take is that there seems to be a lot going on here, without many answers provided to the viewers. I am not complaining about this, just making a note. The basic premise of the show is that humanity has for some unspecified reason had to flee Earth. A group of pioneers has settled on a new planet called Carpathia. They've been there ten years and everything is not, of course, copacetic. On the ground we've got two factions gearing up for what is likely to be a very messy conflict. There is also a possible third group outside of the colony, unbeknownst to most of the colonists. I am guessing the folks in this third group are the titular outcasts, since it doesn't seem as if the primary Carpathians are Earth's rejects. In the air, so to speak, we have the incoming transport from Earth. As the story unfolds we quickly learn that it has been five years since the arrival of the last transport, as well as that the current arrival is likely to be the last. A little deft exposition also reveals that many of the transports that have arrived have had problems actually landing due to the ships being ill-equipped to deal with reentry into the planet's atmosphere.

I would be tempted to call this first episode purely set up, except it answers far too few questions to qualify as such. Instead I think it could better be termed an introduction into the world of Outcasts, an intriguing one at that. My only real quibble is the wasted use of Jamie Bamber. Don't get me wrong, he really got to flex his acting muscles here, but come on. Why make him go crazy and die in the very first episode? That's not cool, man. The many questions raised about his character's motivations (and sanity) were rendered moot before we could even begin to explore them. Why, then, raise them in the first place?

Bottom line: Right now I don't really have an attachment to any of the characters. I don't really know where my sympathies do (or should) rest. The episode spent a lot of time spread out between all of the different characters (two of whom died before it was over), and not enough with any one to really let us get to know them. But. That being said, I am very curious to see where it goes from here. So far this is my kind of science fiction. I will definitely keep watching. Bonus, with the knowledge that Jamie Bamber isn't a regular cast member, I can probably just enjoy the very short ride without being too disappointed when it is over.

Here are a few questions I will be hoping are answered before that end does come:

1. Who, exactly, are the outcasts in this scenario? Why are they outcast, exactly?
2. What happened on Earth to make humanity leave in the first place, and why  does the evacuation seem to have gone so poorly?
3. What is Cass' secret?
4. Why does Protection and Security think that they can keep anyone protected and secure without guns when no one appears to be enforcing the weapons ban?
5. Why does it seem like anyone who wants guns can get them, especially in light of said weapons ban?
6. Why the heck didn't the Carpathians let Earth know about the shoddy transport construction before they lost contact with those they left behind?

I may need to figure out how to turn on the close-captioning on my television before the next episode though. I had a hard time following some of the dialects, even with my regular exposure to the Brits. Still, all in all, a solid first entry if you're the sort who is willing to give a story the chance to unfold.

First Impression Rating: 8.75/10 (It loses a quarter of a point for killing Jamie Bamber off so soon. Alpha-Girl over at Pink Raygun knows what I mean.)

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Another Friday has come along, folks. Don't forget to check out Gronk today!

Finished!

Hey, look, I made a towel!

Hoopy Frood by Cori 2011.

Hoopy Frood detail.

Pattern: Nested Squares by Patricia Lillie.
Yarn: Knit Picks' Dishie in Jay (one skein).
Needles: Size 5 Straight Needles

It took me a while to get around to getting this finished, but I am oh so happy with the results. As I got to the last few rows and the amount of yarn left in the ball kept shrinking, I started to fear that I might not have quite enough to finish. I wasn't too worried, since I did have leftovers of the other ball I got in this color (used for my other towel project), but it seemed like it would be a big pain to start a new ball so close to the end. Thankfully, I didn't need to do that! I finished with some to spare, see:

Now, I am off to my daughter's music class and then we embark on our journey to the fabulous land of Iowa. Have a fantastic weekend folks!

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Don't forget to get your Friday Gronk on! Today, Gronk discovers the wonderful procrastination tool that is kitties on the internet.

We're Sorry, But The Brain You Have Called Is Temporarily Unavailable

Hey, it's Friday! Go check out the new Gronk!

I myself am going to kick off the weekend by taking my daughter to her music class and then to the zoo. Because the zoo is awesome, guys.  Gonna see some penguins, wave at my Komodo dragons, maybe let the kiddo chase an otter or two. There are even dinosaurs to check out. Good times.

Here, have some LOLcats to make up for the lack of a substantiative post.

And last, but certainly not least, this one.

Have a stellar weekend, folks! See ya Monday.

Getting A Different Perspective

So I finished up the expansion pack for Dragon Age: Origins this week and have started in on Dragon Age II. I have made it through the introductory bit and have received my first "main" quest offer. Now I am just running around the city of Kirkwall and its surrounding environs trying to raise enough gold to actually go on said quest.  Also, finding and recruiting companions. Varric! Good times.

Already I am noticing what a different experience it is from the first time I played through. For one thing, since this time around I am playing as a mage (rather than a rogue like the last time), that means I start out with a different companion character.

Spoiler alert!

This spoiler brought to you by the Desire Demon.

Your character of Hawke starts out fleeing from the destruction of Lothering (a key event in the first game) with your mother and two younger siblings, twins named Bethany and Carver. Bethany is a mage and Carver is a warrior. As you flee Lothering, one of your siblings is killed by an ogre. Which one depends on the class you choose for your character. As a rogue or warrior, you will need a mage in your party, so it is your brother Carver that bites the big one. That is how I played it last time. But as a mage, you don't need to start out with two, and so it is Bethany that dies. Thus, I am now playing this through with Carver, a character I am not really familiar with at all. So that adds a level of new to things for me.

Also, at the start of the game, to get into Kirkwall, which is overflowing with refugees from the Blight, you need to agree to spend a year working for someone who will bribe the guards to let you in. The first time around I don't remember there being a choice between two different employers, but apparently there is. You can either work for the smugglers or for the mercenaries. Last time I ended up with the mercenaries, so this time I figured, hey why not be different? So I went with the smugglers. That hasn't had hugely divergent repercussions as of yet, just small deviations. But remembering back to my last time through, I suspect as the game goes on it will lead to some very different encounters down the road. I look forward to finding out what they may be!

Another nifty little detail that I didn't get last time is how my current character is tied to my character from the first game. In my initial playthrough, my Hero of Ferelden (as your character from game one is referred to in game two) was an elf. In game two you can only play a human (it was a story-telling choice the designers made), so if your first character wasn't also human obviously there's no real connection there. It wasn't anything that ever occurred to me to think about the first time around. But since I played a human in my recent replay, and am a human in game two as well, they throw in the detail that Hawke, the soon-to-be Champion of Kirkwall, is actually related to the Hero of Ferelden. Dude! That's pretty nifty. We're second cousins or something. It's a nice little detail that doesn't really affect anything about how you play but still helps tie things together a bit better.

Then there is the bonus content. You may remember that initially, I forgot to actually install the bonus content until I was almost done with the game! That bonus content included an additional companion character, so I never really got to know Sebastian at all last time around. Now, I can actually get the chance to see if I like him or not, yay! Also, I will get to take advantage of the Black Emporium throughout the entire game, which should be pretty spiffing.

Of course, there is the biggest difference at all. On a whim, I decided (for pretty much the first time ever) to play not as a girl, but as a (gasp!) guy.

Perrin Hawke, mage.

I am not quite sure what this is going to mean for my character romantically yet. I was kind of thinking of romancing Merrill. I felt like I neglected her last time, and since then have found out/realized she is voiced by Torchwood's awesome Eve Myles. Also, she seems like she might be the best match for my mage. Part of me thinks romancing Fenris would be a worthwhile challenge, but another part of me thinks that it would be more trouble than it is worth trying to win over the mage-hating elf. I am going to try to hold off on flirting with anyone until I get a better idea of the characters this time around, methinks. Oddly enough, while I had no problem sticking with the "smartass" dialogue options with my lady Hawke (hee hee, Ladyhawke), for some reason I don't think my guy can, or maybe should, go the same route. So I have been sticking with the "nice guy" options instead. That is going to drastically affect my relationships with the other characters, I suspect.

Overall though, I am definitely enjoying this second go-around! Such a freaking fun game! The differences are making it even more interesting, and I am really glad to be getting the chance to experience them. I cannot wait to see how they make things play out.

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Don't forget, Friday means new Gronk! Looks like Harli isn't so much down with the house guest. Swing by and check out the new installment. It will give you a happy, and who doesn't like that?

Towel Day! (Observed)

Oh my goodness, I don't know how my mother does it. She somehow manages to usually have at least two or three knitting projects going at all times. I, on the other hand, can just barely tolerate having one weekend project and one for weekdays. This past week I had four different projects going and it was giving me something of a complex.

Imagine my relief yesterday, then, when I finally managed to finish at least one of my projects. Thank goodness!

Only a day late, I did get one of my two National Towel Day towels finished.  Check it out.

What is 6 x 7? by Cori 2011.

Pattern: Crochet Houndstooth
Yarn: Dishie by Knit Picks in Jay and Azure (1 skein each)
Hook: G

First, let me talk about the yarn really quick. Dishie is Knit Picks' new line of cotton yarn, and when I was treating myself during their sale on sock yarn, I saw it and, knowing that Towel Day was approaching, couldn't help but treat myself to a few skeins. It is so new that the dye lot on my skeins of Dishie, for both colors, was one. First lot, you guys. Normally I don't pay any attention whatsoever to dye lot beyond making sure to match it when buying yarn for projects. But when I saw that this was dye lot number one, I won't lie, I got a little bit excited. It was just a kind of nifty feeling. The yarn itself is a joy to work with. I will be curious to see how it holds up to washings, but I think this may be my go-to cotton yarn going forward.

Now, about the patten. This is actually a blanket pattern. Last summer when my family on my mom's side met up in Iowa for our family reunion (we do one every five years), there were several nearby antique shops. I myself purchased an old crochet pattern book from 1944. I have shared with you a few of the projects I have made from that. My mom also picked up a few pattern pamphlets, and this came from one of those. She brought it to give me on her recent visit down here to Texas.

The pattern was easy enough to adapt for a smaller size to make a towel rather than a blanket. I don't think the finished project looks especially like houndstooth, but I like how it looks nonetheless. I also was thinking of using this pattern for my next wedding blanket, so this was a good test-drive of it. I did indeed learn several things I will keep in mind the next time I use it. I might just see if I can find a good flecked yarn and make it in a solid color to prevent changing colors every row. I haven't decided yet.

As I was making this towel out of a blanket pattern, it occurred to me how interchangeable blanket and towel patterns really are. The basic shape is the same. It just requires an adjustment of yarn weight and type, and a little bit of math to scale the size up or down. Maybe a false start or two if those initial calculations are wrong. One of the recent wedding blankets I have made that has gotten the most rave reviews (seriously, every time my husband runs into the giftee he is told how much the blanket is loved--this makes me incredibly happy) was based off of a towel pattern that I found last summer and particularly liked.

I bet the diagonal box stitch blanket pattern would make for an awesome dish towel, come to think of it.

Anyhoo. So that's one project down out of four. This weekend I am going to try to finish up the blanket I am working on. After that my next deadline isn't until the end of July, so next up I'll finish towel number two (well, technically it was towel number one, but you get the idea). Like I said a few days ago, I was really happy with everything about my first towel attempt except for the rate of progress. Here's what I got so far on that one:

Still in progress. Also, wow, this photo is horribly lit.

When I take the picture of the finished object, I'll have to remember to use the flash so you can actually see the pattern, which is pretty neat.

After that, I think I might just go ahead and push on with the Doctor Who scarf. I feel bad for neglecting it whenever I run up against a deadline. I want to try to just go ahead and get it done before I start in on the next project. Juggling makes me too tired.

Have a fantastic (and safe) holiday weekend folks! I'll see you back here when  business resumes as usual.

Don't forget to check out Gronk while you're getting in your daily web surfing! The book is up for preorder now, huzzah!

Avoiding The Extremely Ridiculous

Lately I have been watching the first two seasons of the old 90's teen series California Dreams. It has made me quite thankful for the advent of Netflix, and my subsequent subscription to the service. Without Netflix, I probably would have bought this when it came out on DVD out of pure nostalgia and then ended up a month or two down the line selling the set and wishing I hadn't wasted my money.

Watching this show is a weird experience. It's not entirely bad, mind you, but I would be hard pressed to say that I am completely enjoying watching the show again. If you're not aware of this show, it was part of NBC's late Saturday morning lineup aimed at teens and preteens. It was probably the most successful of those series after Saved By The Bell, with which it had much in common. Instead of focusing on the group of kids' hijinks in school, however, California Dreams was centered around the band formed by the main cast and followed their attempts to get gigs and deal with the "typical" teenage problems all while balancing life with the band. I say "typical" with quotes like that, but actually I have to admit, even though the drama is heightened for television, the actual issues the show dealt with for the most part were things that, as a teenager, were often a big deal to me. It is just that the problems and their solutions are so ridiculously portrayed that I have a hard time taking it seriously now.

But when I was a kid, I adored this show. It was second in my affections only to Saved By The Bell, I have to admit. That's why I wanted to watch the show again, after all. But it doesn't really hold up well to the test of time, I suppose. I don't know how surprising that is, given that even after my complete rewatch of all of SBTB, I ended up giving away those DVDs.

It probably doesn't help that I married a professional musician, so the whole band aspect of the show now just makes me cringe. Also the music, while being mostly inoffensive, is so bland. The band didn't have its own sound, they just played whatever kind of sounded like what was popular at the time. Watching it now, having the experiences with actual musicians that I have, I just feel like these kids are posers. I know, I know, it's silly. It's just a television show. But my life has altered the way I look at that kind of stuff. Plus the producers apparently had no idea what live music was supposed to sound like. I mean, come on. Sigh.

So why I am I still watching? Well, there is the part of me that is enjoying the trip down memory lane. As I said, I did love this show once. It is nice getting to revisit with that Cori of a bygone day and remember her hopes and dreams (and subscription to Big Bopper). Like I said, it is not all bad. The show has its amusing moments. Besides, as I ride out the last of my pain meds from this week's dental escapades, it is the perfect level of mindless distraction.

It's been getting more and more awkward though. True sitcoms are few and far between these days, and of those that are still around, I don't watch very many of them. Those that I do enjoy are, I would like to think, a little bit off the beaten path and have evolved past the old-school format. California Dreams, though, is from a time when that old format was flourishing. As someone who is trying to be a storyteller, the formulaic approach to the show is, at best, tiring to sit through. It makes me very glad to have access to all of the smart, well-written, modern shows I have access to these days.

There is a fine line between funny and ridiculous, and this show wasn't even trying to stay behind it. I have found as I get older that some of the more obvious attempts at humor--the physical, the slapstick, the playing dumb--are much more rarely able to make me laugh than actual wit. What makes this whole experience awkward for me personally is that I have recently been thinking that I want to try my hand at writing something funny.

The people behind National Novel Writing Month recently announced that they want to do a NaNoWriMo Summer Camp this year. The idea is to allow people who really can't devote the kind of time required in November or the people who want to write more than one novel in a month during the year a chance to have the fun in a month other than November. My writing buddy (who is a teacher, and for whom November was very much less than ideal) and I of course want to participate in the summer camp.

I know, I know. But Cori, you haven't even actually started revising your novel from last November! Why would you want to write another one? Yes, yes, you're right. But...let's not talk about last year's book right now. It will get done if it gets done and right now is not that time.

But back to summer camp. So, my friend and I want to try our hands at another novel-in-a-month this summer. After giving it some thought, I told my husband I wanted to just write something fun and silly. Silly. Not ridiculous. Not unintelligent.

Quite some time ago I mentioned that I wish I could capture some of the fun and funny the way that the Harry Potter books do. Every night I read a few pages of those books to my daughter (we're on the last one now), and whenever there's a funny scene, it just makes me itch to create something in the same vein. So when I say I would like to write something fun and silly, I am thinking something like my favorite bits from Harry Potter. Something along the lines of greats like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. But watching California Dreams, I have started getting worried that perhaps that is the best I will be able to do. Hence the awkward.

Not gonna stop me from trying. Hopefully my fears are what will help me avoid that particular path. I mean, I don't even have an actual story in mind yet, it's early days. But oh my goodness do I hope it's more Neville causing a distraction by turning into a canary than Sly and the rest of the guys dressed up as girls getting hit on by the football team. Sigh.

Note to self: All of the writers I listed above to emulate are British. Perhaps it would be a good idea to watch lots of Coupling and drink lots of tea while getting prepared to write. Also, avoid setting it at the beach with surfers in a rock band.

Check.

~*~*~

Oh, and as it is Friday already (when the heck did that happen?), don't forget to swing on over and check out this week's Gronk! I am super excited because preorders for the first Gronk book start next week. Huzzah! Also, now I want to make a Gronk plushy....

Making It Up As I Go

Oh, hey look, I finished another project!

Chocopup by Cori 2011.

Side view.

Ear and bandana details.

Okay, yes, his eyes are a little wonky. But...it adds to the charm right? Right?

Pattern: Amigurumi Puppy (by me)
Yarn: Vanna's Choice Baby in Chocolate Cake and Lamb (1 1/2 skeins and 1 skein respectively). Red Heart Super Saver in Black (1 skein). Lion Wool in Goldenrod (1 skein).
Hook: G

Here's the full pattern if you are interested:

Head/Body

Round 1: With black, 6 sc in adjustable ring. (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc, join with sl st to first sc, fasten off. (12 sc)

Round 3: Join main color, [2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc] around. (18 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc] around. (24 sc)

Round 5: Working in back loops only, sc around. (24 sc)

Rounds 6-8: Sc around. (24 sc)

Round 9: Working in front loops only, 2 sc in each sc around. (48 sc)

Round 10: Sc around. (48 sc)

Round 11: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 7 sc] around. (54 sc)

Round 12: Sc around. (54 sc)

Round 13: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 8 sc] around. (60 sc)

Rounds 14-17: Sc around. (60 sc)

Round 18: [Sc2tog, sc in next 8 sc] around. (54 sc)

Round 19: [Sc2tog, sc in next 7 sc] around. (48 sc)

Round 20: [Sc2tog, sc in next 6 sc] around. (42 sc)

Round 21: [Sc2tog, sc in next 5 sc] around. (36 sc)

Round 22: [Sc2tog, sc in next 4 sc] around. (30 sc)

Rounds 23-25: Sc around. (30 sc)

Round 26: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 5 sc] around. (36 sc)

Rounds 27-40: Sc around. (36 sc)

Round 41: [Sc2tog, sc in next 4 sc] around. (30 sc)

Round 42: [Sc2tog, sc in next 3 sc] around. (24 sc)

Stuff body firmly.

Round 43: [Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sc] around. (18 sc)

Round 44: [Sc2tog, sc] around. (12 sc)

Round 45: Sc2tog around. (6 sc)

Rounds 46-49: Sc around. (6 sc)

Round 50: Sc2tog around. (3 sc)

Join with slip stitch. Cut yarn and fasten off, leaving tail. Weave tail through final row and pull shut. Weave in ends.

Ears (make 2)

With main color, ch 6.

Round 1: Starting with 2nd ch from hook, sc across. (5 sc)

Rounds 2-7: Ch 1, turn, sc across. (5 sc)

Round 8: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, 3 sc, 2 sc in last sc. (7 sc)

Round 9: Ch 1, turn, sc across. (7 sc)

Round 10: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, 5 sc, 2 sc in last sc. (9 sc)

Round 11: Ch 1, turn, sc across. (9 sc)

Round 12: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, 7 sc, 2 sc in last sc. (11 sc)

Rounds 13-16: Ch 1, turn, sc across. (11 sc)

Round 17: Ch 1, turn, sc2tog, 7 sc, sc2tog. (9 sc)

Round 18: Ch 1, turn, sc2tog, 5 sc, sc2tog. (7 sc)

Round 19: Ch 1, turn, sc2tog, 3 sc, sc2tog. (5 sc)

Round 20: Ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog. (3 sc)

Fasten off.

Repeat rounds 1-20 in contrasting color.

Put the two pieces together and sc around edges with main color.

Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing.

With contrasting color facing inside, sew on to body in desired position.

Feet (make 4)

Round 1: With contrasting color, 6 sc in adjustable ring. (6 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around. (12 sc)

Round 3: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc] around. Join with slip stitch, fasten off. (18 sc)

Round 4: Join main color, [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc] around. (24 sc)

Round 5: Working in back loop only, sc around. (24 sc)

Rounds 6-7: Sc around. (24 sc)

Round 8: [Sc2tog, sc in next 2 sc] around. (18 sc)

Round 9: Sc around. (18 sc)

Round 10: [Sc2tog, sc in next sc] around. (12 sc)

Round 11: Sc around. (12 sc)

Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing.

Stuff each foot firmly then sew to body in desired position.

Eyes (make 2)

Round 1: With black, 4 sc in adjustable ring. (4 sc)

Round 2: 2 sc in each sc around. Join with slip stitch, fasten off. (8 sc)

Round 3: Join with white (or contrasting color), [2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc] around. (12 sc)

Round 4: [2 sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc] around. Fasten off, leaving long tail for sewing. (16 sc)

Sew onto head above and to either side of the snout.

Bandana

With main bandana color, ch 3.

Round 1: Starting in second chain from hook, sc in each ch. (2 sc)

Round 2: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in each sc. (4 sc)

Rounds 3-12: Ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first sc, sc in each sc across, 2 sc in last sc. (26 sc at end of round 12)

With border color, ch 15.

Round 4: Join to side of bandana and sc evenly around sides, with 3 sc in the point. Ch 16 at other edge.

Round 5: Starting in second ch from hook, sc across the chain, the top of the bandana, and the starting ch 15.

Round 6: Ch 1, turn, sc back across, continue sc along bottom of chain and sides of bandana, back around to bottom of the other chain and then around the top of the bandana/chains again.

Join with sl st to first sc of round 6. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

Tie bandana around puppy's neck. Can be tacked on to prevent removal if you prefer.

Feel free to use it if you'd like, just please credit me for the pattern! Also, if you do make your own puppy, please send me links to pictures!

His bandana is black and gold since his intended owner is a Saints fan. Hopefully he will be well loved. My daughter certainly enjoyed cuddling up with him...it was difficult getting the body away from her to attach his feet!

Next up is a wedding blanket for my cousin. Got the yarn this week and started on it yesterday. I am just doing a simple pattern in one color with a big hook, so hopefully it will go quickly. So many blankets, so little time...

Also, as it is Friday, don't forget to check out the new installment of Gronk. Apparently she really wants an iPad, and isn't afraid to use bad drawings to get one!  Peace out, enjoy the weekend folks.

I Can't Be The Only One Who Thinks It Should Have Opened On A Thursday

Does anyone else remember the movie Adventures in Babysitting? It was one of my favorites when I was a kid. It is the classic 80's teen movie, though I think it appealed much more to people who were my age when it came out than to people who were actual teenagers at the time. But whatever.

In that film, there is a character who is obsessed with the comic book character of Thor. The movie even features a crazy young Vincent D'Onofrio as a possible Thor. (More power to this movie for making the character obsessed with a superhero a little girl, by the way. Way ahead of their time in acknowledging the geekiness of girls. I approve.)

I have a small confession to make. I have seen that movie oodles of times (I do, in fact, own it on DVD). While as a kid the only comic book characters I was really familiar with were Archie and Superman, I have since college been getting more into comic books. Even if I haven't been reading the standard Marvel titles, I have been getting to know all of the different characters contained within that universe. Yet somehow, by some strange fate, it never occurred to me until yesterday that the Thor from Adventures in Babysitting was actually a real line of comics, or to connect the comics talked about frequently in that movie to the big summer action flick that is opening today. Huh.

I think it is just one of those things. When I was a kid I assumed they had just made up their own line of comic books, as television shows and movies were wont to do. I was quite familiar with Norse mythology (I was that kind of kid--books of myths and fairy tales were my comic books--when I wasn't reading Archie and Jughead of course. I loved Jughead.). I just assumed, if I gave it any thought at all, that someone said "Hey, we need a superhero for this kid to be obsessed with. How does a Norse god sound?"

So, yeah, I have gone through the whole of my life pretty much unaware that Thor has somehow had a long and varied life as a superhero in the Marvel universe until word of the movie came out. I guess I should feel a little bit ashamed about that but...it happens, right? But this leaves me woefully unprepared for the comic-book version of Thor that the movie is based on.

Did I mention I am going to see Thor today? No? Oh, yeah, hey, guess what, I get to go see a movie today! Thor! With one of my best friends who is a huge fan of Norse mythology (and has a little bit of viking blood running through her veins)! I am really excited about this! It seems like the universe is as well, because yesterday I got a couple of crash courses in the Marvel version of Thor sent my way. How nifty is that?

First, there was this article on io9: Everything You Wanted To Know About Thor (But Were Too Afraid To Ask)

It's a pretty groovy primer on the basic background of the comics v. the original mythology so you have a point of comparison for the characters that actually show up in the movie. It's also spoiler-free for the movie, yay!

Even more serendipitous, however, was the bonus item in my stack of comic books that arrived in the mail yesterday. There exists in this world a wonderful event known as Free Comic Book Day, and that day is this Saturday, tomorrow, in fact. Now, I don't have a local comic book store that I shop at (shame on me, I know, I have been considering rectifying this though), so I don't usually get to partake in the festivities. Things From Another World, the online shop from whence my comics come, however, does want to share the Free Comic Book Day love, so in the packages that get mailed out the week of the event, they do include one of the freebie titles.

What was my freebie title this year? The Mighty Thor Saga. I kid you not. Basically, it is a synopsis of the whole run of Thor comics to date. It features images from various comics and tells the tale in a lovely linear fashion. It is wonderful! Hands down the coolest Free Comic Book Day offering I have ever received. Also, the timing could not have been more perfect.

So I am off to get my viking on. Have a fantastic weekend! I certainly plan to.

Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms and moms-to-be out there. I hope you have a lovely time on Sunday.

Oh, oh! I know I have been slacking on linking, but don't forget to check out this week's new Gronk! It is just over a year old, and still as wonderful as ever!

Ciao!

Oh, oh, oh! One more thing! Even though it took me far too long to connect the Thor comics from Adventures in Babysitting to the Thor of the upcoming movie, others were much quicker on the uptake, and now there exists this. Enjoy.

Okay, laters for reals this time, folks. See ya Monday.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!

Family invasion of awesome begins tomorrow, huzzah! My mom and stepfather will be getting in sometime in the early afternoon. I am really excited about their visit! Before that we have to get up crazy early to do the Fort Worth Zoo Run, and then we are having a birthday breakfast with a friend (since family will still be in town on his actual birthday). Tomorrow's gonna be a bit nuts. But it should be the fun kind of nuts. Guess I am going to bed early tonight...

I don't have too much to say today, I'm kind of distracted finishing up getting ready for company and being excited about seeing my mom again. But I do have a few random bits to send you off to your weekend.

For anyone wondering, I did indeed go get my haircut on Wednesday. I am pretty happy with how it came out. Here are the before and after shots:

Long hair...

...short hair.

This is the cycle I have been on pretty much since my sophomore year of high school. I'll grow it out for a while, get fed up with it, and then cut it short. This is the longest I have let it grow out in quite some time, however. I really did want to try to maintain it at a longer length. But summer is coming and my hair is crazy thick, and after a few warmish days I realized that, ponytail or no, that was just too much hair for a Texas summer. I normally get it cut a little shorter, actually, and then spend several months being irked that I cannot put my hair in a ponytail any more. This time I thought it out beforehand and when I went in I asked the stylist to cut it as short as she could while leaving it long enough for a ponytail, and that is exactly what I got. Problem solved. Excellent.

Oddly enough, this is also the first time in years that I have gotten the appropriate haircut for the season. Usually I leave it long during the summer and warm months (so I can pull it in the aforementioned ponytails), and then by winter I am sick of messing with it and go get it cut off. Should be interesting to see how a short-haired summer goes...well, interesting for me, I mean. I know no one else cares.

In Baby Girl news, I have discovered a new and interesting side effect to letting her have the roam of the house. She has determined that some of the toys that previously lived in her bedroom should live in the living room and vice versa. More specifically, she has decided that all of her stuffed dragons (she has many) should live in the same place.

Dragon party! With special guests Duck, T-Rex, and Turtle.
One of these things is not like the others...

She is quite adamant about this new arrangement. Wednesday night when I tried to put some of the dragons back in her bedroom during pre-bedtime cleanup, she threw a holy fit. Freaked the cat right out. He had to come sit in the bathroom on the counter during her bath where he could keep an eye on her the whole time and ensure that I was not, in fact, murdering her. Sigh. Last night went much better. I tried to sneak some of the dragons back into her bedroom, but she found them while we were still picking up and moved them back to the toy chest in the living room. I decided I could live with this new arrangement and let it be. Much happier bath time!

She also likes to carry all of the dragons around and arrange them in various spots in the house now. I was joking the other day that she was "holding court" because she had arranged all of them in a semicircle around her and was just sitting there gabbing at them. Last night, when I was trying to be sneaky about putting them away, I found she had put them all in a line in front of the front door. Dragons are indeed fierce guards, didn't ya know?

Then there was this:

Gotta keep an eye on the fridge! Except for that guy on
the end, he's apparently watching the dishwasher.

I have no idea what the duck is doing...

Anyway, you guys have a fantastic weekend! I certainly plan to.

Don't forget to check out the new Gronk! Join Gronk and Kitty for one more fantastic voyage!

Ciao!

Oh She's Lucky She's So Cute...

Man, I know my kid is growing and learning new things each and every day, but sometimes being right there with her makes it hard to see. But we've hit some benchmarks recently that have really made me realize how quickly she is growing up.

First, I finally was able to turn her carseat around so that she is now front-facing. This is a wonderful thing for oh so many reasons. Then this past weekend I made the executive decision to take down the baby gates in the house. Up until now Baby Girl has pretty much been corralled up in our living room when we've been at home during the day. There are still a few areas that are no-go (such as the laundry room and our bedroom, where there are kitty boxes, and the bathroom and office, where there is stuff we'd prefer she not get into). She doesn't seem bothered that she can't go everywhere yet though. Indeed, if I leave a door open to one of the no-go areas (or even to her bedroom, where she is totally allowed), she will happily close it for me. Sometimes she closes the door with herself or both of us in the room. Sometimes, when I am in the office and leave the door open so I can keep an ear on her, she will come and shut the door with just me in the room and then wander off.

Yeah, she knows she is adorable.

So, she has pretty much taken to this new freedom like a duck to water. Basically, her new accessible areas are the front room (which serves as the dining room/sitting room/library area), the hallway, and the kitchen. And her room, but like I said, she usually just closes the door to that room and leaves it alone. Mostly I am okay with this choice. She truly does seem happier being able to explore and play in more of the house. Plus, I really like not needing to step over baby gates on a regular basis any more. My toes and knees are quite thankful for this development. My aging kitty is also appreciative (mostly--one of the kitty boxes is still blocked off by a gate).

However, my darling daughter has managed to find several new ways to drive me absolutely batty with her newly found freedom. Some examples include (but are certainly not limited to):

• Taking every book off of the shelf she can reach, one at a time,  and bringing it into the living room, usually piling it all in my lap.
• Taking her alphabet letters off of the fridge and rinsing or just piling them up in the kitties' water dish. (My husband has suggested this may be because she has some of those foam letters for the bathtub that have to be wet to stick to the wall and maybe she thinks these are the same thing. It makes sense, but this makes it no less frustrating to me or to the kitties.)
• Pulling everything out of the Tupperware cabinet and arranging it in various places in the house (her favorites are the kitchen floor and the living room floor). 
• Taking the basket of kitty toys and pulling out each toy, arranging them in the middle of the floor, and then carrying the basket around and seeing how it looks in different places.
• Opening the dishwasher when it needs to stay closed and alternatively, repeatedly shutting it (often without pushing the basket back in) while I am trying to unload it. Also, playing with the knobs and buttons on said dishwasher.

Isn't parenthood such a joy and wonder? Sigh. She also is quite fond of playing the piano in the kitchen nook, but this actually doesn't annoy me at all. She's better at it than I am, after all.

I like this toy a lot.

I am not really complaining, per se, but it is taking some adjusting to get used to her getting used to what she is now able to do. She realized she could reach my stuffed cardinals that live on the bookshelves, and I keep finding them in various places now. I am not worried for her getting into them, but I am slightly concerned a cat will find one and decide it looks like it could use some killing. Also, that bookshelf is never going to be in the proper order again (I guess it is a good thing that shelf mostly has my husband's books and not mine).

So, it is has kind of been a long and crazy week, and I have to say, I am utterly exhausted. If she is inclined to let me, I will definitely be trying to take it easy this weekend.

In other news, I have gotten my butt a little bit back in gear with working on my second draft, huzzah! I have typed up all of the notes and separated the general story and research notes from the notes that pertain to specific chapters. I have also put each chapter into its own file, to hopefully make it easier for me to get others to read and give feedback when I get going full-steam with the rewrite. I am also halfway through fixing all of the typos and errors I noted in my readthrough. I am sure it is not all of them by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a start.

I think we might head to the Botanic Gardens after lunch today. She can run around and explore and wear herself out well and good for naptime. 

Go swing by and check out this week's Gronk. Journey into the imaginations of monsters and kitties. It's super cute. Also, completely 100% accurate.

Take care and have a fantastic weekend!

Cute Little Bugger, Isn't He?

Not much to say today. The pretty weather seems to be back again, and my fingers are crossed that it is here to stay.

Baseball season has started up again, huzzah! The Cards lost their opening day game, sadly, but it went into two innings of overtime, so that's not too shabby really. The Rangers opener is today and I am rooting for them of course.

I finished this little guy up yesterday:

San Antonio Sam by Cori 2011.

Well, howdy!

Pattern: San Antonio Sam, The Nine-Banded Armadillo by Ann Marie Ivins (Pattern is available for purchase at Knit Picks.)
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Bramble Heather and Mink Heather (1 skein each)
Hook: G

This is a present for an older brother who has a sibling on the way. I didn't make him a baby blanket because he arrived around the same time as Baby Girl and no one who had a kid then got a blanket from me. But since I have decided to make his brother a blanket, I thought I would make him a little something as well. My daughter really seemed to like Sam, she threw a holy fit when I wouldn't let her play with him actually (until I distracted her with a giant plastic crochet hook), so I hope that Sam's new owner will appreciate him.

His ears are a bit wonky, but I like him all the more for it, I think.

Now, off to start the next baby blanket before the weekend. Have a great one folks, and if you've been blessed with this nice weather as well, be sure to get out there and enjoy it!!

Oh, and don't forget to swing by the Gronk page to check out this week's installment! This week Gronk delves into the mysterious behavior of kitties.

Later y'all.

So Far In Dragon Age II...

I am really, really digging this game so far. When I am playing, I rarely want to stop. It has been a bit of a battle with myself to make sure I get a decent amount of sleep, because I have been staying up most nights playing, even though I told myself I wouldn't stay up late playing video games anymore except for a few certain nights a week. Sigh.

I am very curious to see where the story goes. I think that I like the episodic pacing it has going on, though I am reserving final judgment for once I have completed my first play-through.

I definitely feel like this game has more humor than the first one did. Part of this is that, with your character actually having a voice this time, your dialogue options have a tone to them, and one of those tones is "smartass," which is usually the one I opt for unless I really feel like it is inappropriate (like when my character's mother is being all sad and stuff). Even more so are the little throwaway references to pop culture that the designers managed to work into the game. While running around various parts of Kirkwall, I heard one citizen complaining to a friend, "I load sixteen tons and what do I get?" I don't know if the line gets completed, I ran by him so fast that by the time the reference had registered I was already out of hearing range. I also had heard (a couple of times) part of a conversation in which one person says to the other "Can you hear me now?" And of course there was Varric's reference to the one-armed man during my session yesterday.

But what really has me cracking up most of the time? Hands down, it is the interaction between my character and the companion characters, and just between the companion characters themselves. I have been having a really hard time picking a set group of three to accompany me because I have been so enjoying playing with the combinations. Varric and Isabella are arguably the best at ribbing the others, and when you have them both in the party (which I don't do often because, with me being a rogue, that means three rogues in a party of four people) they each give as good as they get. They both enjoy teasing the moody emo elf warrior, and Isabella's more worldly ways are a source of many amusing conversations with the very innocent elf mage. She also likes to give Varric crap about the fact that he named his crossbow (Bianca), and won't tell anyone the story behind that. Quite often I will be headed from point A to point B with a firm purpose in mind and get sidetracked halfway there because I stop to listen to the conversations my companions are having with each other. I think for that reason alone I may have to place DAII above the original in the rankings.

So far my character has romanced/made overtures toward Isabella, Anders, and Fenris (not all of those were intentional, which is another often amusing quirk of the game). It just dawned on me that those three make up a full party (rogue, mage, warrior). I wonder what would happen if I went on a quest with all three of them at the same time.... I suspect a major snark-fest would ensue. Hmm...

One interesting change that has been made to this game from the first is the way the inventory works. As I suspected from the demo, once I got used to it, I enjoy it a lot more. The approval of this new system is not very universal though. Armor can no longer be equipped on companion characters. Instead, any armor you find is for Hawke only, and throughout the game you can find or purchase various upgrades for your companions' armor. Personally, I LOVE this. It makes my life much easier. If I personally can't wear a certain kind of armor (i.e. if it is for a warrior), I no longer have to save it until one of my companions that can has leveled up enough to use it, I can instead just sell it and use the money to buy cooler daggers. I have seen it voiced in a few places that this is one of the places where the game has been "dumbed down" from a traditional RPG to be more accessible to casual gamers and that real hardcore gamers should disdain this system. Whatever. Look, I never claimed to be a hardcore gamer, and I guess this makes it clear that I am not. I don't have a problem with being required to equip my party's armor manually. BUT, do I have a problem with the system being made easier and allowing me to have less clutter in my limited backpack space and more money in my pockets? Heck no.

Another complaint I have seen is that all of the "dungeons" (which in the case of this game are the Deep Roads and various tunnel/cave networks) look the same. While this is true (after your first couple of tunnel runs it is quite clear that they are only using two or three layouts), it doesn't really bother me. There are enough differences in which parts of each tunnel you can access that I still have to look in every nook and cranny in each cave and tunnel just in case there is treasure or a quest item hidden there. The artwork more than makes up for this in my books.

In fact, to be quite honest, my only real complaint about the game is the elimination of the party camp. In the first game, the camp is where you could go to relax and talk to each member of your party (and equip them all or give them gifts) and deepen your character's relationship with them, as well as to get your companion quests (and initiate romances). Furthermore, you could initiate conversations with your companions outside of camp, they would just be less willing to talk about certain things in that case.

Now instead each companion character has their own hangout somewhere in Kirkwall. They are scattered all over the town. You can only initiate a conversation with a companion in his or her hangout, and you can't even do that all of the time. Conversations are only available once certain story lines or quests have been triggered. It makes me feel like I do not have much opportunity to get to know my party, and I don't like that. In the first game, I could spend an entire gaming session in camp talking to each (or sometimes just one) member of my party, finding out everything about them available up to that point. Also, now there is no one central place where I can access all of my party through the inventory at once (companions don't get armor, but you do still have to equip their weapons and accessories), and that drives me bonkers.

I realized the other day that this is very similar to the setup in Mass Effect 1 & 2, which never really bothered me that much. But there were a few key differences that they left out of DAII. In ME everybody has their own haunt, but they are all on the Normandy, your ship. You just have to run around the ship to talk to each member of the crew, not have to go from location to location (often requiring you to gather your party up each time) to talk to more than one person. It was still one contained space, they were just in different rooms. Also, there were "equipment lockers" which allowed you to access your entire party's inventory and get everyone equipped in one convenient place. There's really nothing like that in DAII.

But other than that, as I said, I am having a hard time not playing. When I do sleep, I dream of shimmery loot.

I have been getting slightly better about screenshots (though I will admit that I often get so wrapped up in the game I still forget). Here are a few for you:

Like I said, gorgeous artwork. Just look at that sky.

The Chantry is pretty impressive too.

As are the dwarven Paragons.

The first two companions I got in the game were female, and because my Hawke is also a female, I had a fun little girl power thing going on for a while:

Aveline, Hawke, and Bethany.

The character you play is Hawke. Here's my portrait:

And here are the rest of my companions:

Anders, a human mage.

Fenris, an elven warrior.

Isabella, a human rogue.

Merrill, an elven mage.

Varric, a dwarven rogue.

It is so hard to decide between Varric and Isabella in my party...

So yeah, so far so good. Two big thumbs, way, way up. :o)

And now my friends, I shall bid you adieu. I am meeting up with some friends at the zoo to enjoy this gorgeous weather we've been having.

Go check out today's Gronk (Katie is at a con, so it is a really beautiful piece of fan art this week), and have yourself a fantabulous weekend!