Something Quick and Fun

Last week I got the chance to attend a reading and book signing by author Jenny Lawson. I have really enjoyed reading her blog and book and I like that she comes across as very accessible. Part of this is because a lot of what she writes about involves her anxiety disorder and how that affects her life. So, when I realized I was going to get to meet her, I wanted to make her a present. Just a little "thank you" to her for sharing herself with the rest of us and reminding those of us who have trouble adjusting that we are not alone.

Here's what I made her:

Bloggess Towel by Cori 2012.

This gives you a better idea of what it says.

Pattern: Improvised from Baby ABCs Afghan by Coats & Clark
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Violet (2 balls)
Hook: US H

It was so freaking hard to photograph this thing! I know that you are supposed to photograph your projects outside in daylight for the best results, but I never finish them during the day it seems like, and usually I want to get the photos taken and done with as soon as I finish the project. Otherwise I forget to do it and to update it in Ravelry and whatnot. Also, outside is dirty and I don't really have a good surface to put my nice pretty projects on for photographing. Sigh.

But I think you can get the gist of it. Basically, it is straight-ahead single crochet with the letters spelled out in bobble-stitch (I used the templates for the letters from the baby alphabet blanket I recently made, but modified the size of each letter's space to accommodate a towel). It worked up really quickly, only took me two days to whip out (even with several false starts on the border). It says "Don't Panic" (in large and friendly letters, even) in reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This seemed doubly appropriate for Jenny Lawson because of her battles with anxiety as well as her love of geekery.

I am really happy with how it came out and I hope that she enjoys it as well. It dawned on me as I was making it that this would have been perfect for National Towel Day, which is later this month. If I hadn't already bought my yarn for that (which sadly does not lend itself to this pattern), I would be making another one for myself for that event. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Whee!

So. Went to the Bloggess' book signing last night at A Real Bookstore in Dallas. Went all by myself and managed not to have a nervous breakdown, yay!

(Even though there was no reception for my phone and the wi-fi was a really really unfunny joke, thus rendering me completely internet-less for the evening.)

I got there about twenty minutes after they started giving out wrist-bands and so I ended up in the second group for the signing. Then I had an hour and a half to kill until the reading. I had planned to go buy my book, get my wristband, and then leave the store in search of dinner, but people were already camped out for the signing and there were no chairs left that weren't being saved.

So I found a chair off to the side (hey, bookstore), and sat down to knit for a while. After a bit I wandered over to their café to see what they had but nothing really looked appealing to me so I wandered back and found a new seat and knit some more, thinking I would just grab dinner after the signing before heading home. Then they made some announcements and I started having flashbacks to the Brandon Sanderson signing which lasted forever and got worried that by the time I got out of there all of the decent food places would be closed. So I went back to the café and noticed on second glance at the menu that they had hot dogs, so I got one (it came with chips) and a cookie and a can of sweet tea. It was not really the dinner I had imagined taking myself out for, but it wasn't that bad. I led with the cookie.

I ate in the café and by the time I was done it was almost go time, so I found a shelf to lean against behind the seats and waited for things to get started. Before too long, out came Jenny Lawson to greet us and do a quick reading from her (New York Times best selling!) book (Let's Pretend This Never Happened) and take a few questions. Her reaction on walking out and seeing us all gathered there?

"Holy shit. There are a lot of you."

Thus began an evening of laughter. Afterwards we were sorted into our signing groups and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the line actually moved along quite quickly. I was knitting in line and a woman near me commented on the bread bag tab I had my tail wrapped around (something I picked up from my mom), relieved to see someone else doing that. We struck up a conversation and talked the whole way up to the table. It was random, but nice (and now I have ideas about using kool-aid to dye yarn with my daughter when she gets a little older). I was actually kind of proud of myself.

I think all told I was in line for less than an hour. Yet when I got up to her I didn't feel rushed at all. They handed her my copies of the book to be signed and an employee was on hand to take pictures for anyone that wanted one. I chatted with her for a few seconds, telling her about laughing so hard I couldn't breathe (which she agreed was awesome except for the part where I almost died from reading her book--I told her it was okay because she is just that awesome).

Jenny Lawson and me.

I did make her a present (more on that next week) and gave it to her, but I told her she didn't have to open it right then. Mostly this was because I didn't want to hog her and I knew they wanted to keep the line going smoothly. Also a little bit because I was nervous that she won't like it and didn't want her to have to feign appreciation. She promised to look at it later and I hope that she likes it, but it's okay if she doesn't. It was just me trying to say "thanks" to her for her blog and her book, both of which I just find so completely amazing.

After I had my books signed I made another beeline for the restroom before hitting the road for the long drive home. When I got in there, I found this guy hanging out in the stall:

Well hello there, sir. They sure do seem to be making the bathroom attendants smaller these days, don't they?

It was the perfect random way to cap off the evening for me. I pondered taking him home as a souvenir, but decided to go ahead and leave him to cheer up the next visitor instead. I mean, for one thing, his owner could have realized he was missing and wanted to go back to retrieve him. For another, I don't know where he's been. So, yeah. Still, it amused me quite a bit.

After that I headed home and rocked out to Crystal Gale (true story) on the way. I was in such a good mood that I wasn't even bothered by the delays due to construction. This is a major victory for me, you guys. You have no idea.

All in all, a wonderful evening. Despite it's (to me) somewhat inconvenient location, I really like A Real Bookstore. I will definitely consider attending any signings they might hold in the future, and highly recommend them to you as well if you are in the area.

Book Recommendation: Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Jenny Lawson (also known as The Bloggess) wrote a book called Let's Pretend This Never Happened.

It came out this past Tuesday and is a (more or less) true memoir of her life to date. She talks about growing up way less than privileged in a rural West Texas town. She describes a childhood with a father who randomly decided to become a taxidermist (and ended up being really good at it) and who also had a penchant for bringing home random wild animals (like bobcats, or turkeys he insisted were quails) to join the family as pets.

If you are aware of her or her blog, you also know that she suffers from depression and all kinds of anxiety. She discusses that in her book as well, in a frank and amusing manner, because it is part of who she is and she has learned to be fine with who she is. She also wants people to know about this stuff so that they can recognize it in others (and either be supportive and helpful to those others or avoid them at all costs per their discretion). Don't get me wrong, she discusses some painful and unpleasant moments from her life, right along with the good stuff. But she still somehow manages to inject humor into those moments. It's a dark humor, sure, but humor all the same. She got me to laugh at a situation that I have never been able to laugh at (can barely even talk about because something similar also happened to me and usually thinking about it happening to anyone just makes me want to cry). That's worth the price of admission right there.

I'm only about a third of the way through, but I can already tell you that it is fantastic. There is a chapter dealing with her time working in HR and all of the weird crap she had to put up with in that job. You can find an excerpt of that chapter here. But when I got just past the bit I had already read before on her website, I hit a bit that had me laughing so freaking hard I had to get up and walk away from the book because I couldn't even finish reading the sentence anyhow, and also, I was getting close to blacking out from the lack of breathing because of the aforementioned laughing.

She's on tour right now and will be in Dallas next Thursday. I'm going. By myself even, because her discussions of her anxiety makes me feel like maybe I should just suck it up and stop being so damn shy. See, she's good therapy, too. Also, I feel like I should make her a present, because this is woman who needs all the hugs in the world for many, many reasons. I shall have to think on what that present should be though.

I want to give this book to every woman I know, it is so wonderful and wrong and awesome. Mother's Day is coming up too, now that I think of it. If you know a mom who can handle some colorful language, hey, this might make a good gift. So, if you are looking for something interesting to read, hey, look, here's a great suggestion. You're welcome.

No, seriously. You're welcome.

Just make sure that you're not operating any heavy machinery or anything when you pick it up.