Poor Little Blog

I have been a slacker blogger, but I have many good excuses. There was a company picnic or two, extreme heat, Comic-Con (which took up a full 5 days including travel time), hectic times at work and a new employee, crunch time with a big "side" editing project, and (most recently) stomach flu. So, as you can see, I've been super busy. Let me just say that if any of you wherever you are get the stomach flu, I feel your pain. I don't remember being that sick in a really long time. It came on Tuesday night about 10:30, and I was just barely starting to feel human yesterday. I guess I'm used to the sinus/cold kind of sickness now. I'd forgotten just what it feels like to have your insides turned inside out and then having to regain all the lost fluids. Ick! Anyway...

On to some pictures. I wanted to be sure to post before the next Church of Craft meeting, which is today. There will be great pictures from that, I think.

Here is one of two baby hats I knit as part of That Yarn Store's 1st birthday party last month (Happy Belated Birthday, guys!). The yarn was from That Yarn Store, and as pink as it was, I had some reservations. But it was a real joy to knit with, and the flecks of color kept it interesting. This hat is going to Niki's co-worker who just had a baby girl. The hat's identical twin went to Stitches from the Heart. (Side note: Yesterday I was in Santa Monica for KCRW volunteer training, so I decided to stop by the Stitches from the Heart store since I'd never been there. Wouldn't you know it? They were having their summer sale. So, I picked up some Patons Classic Merino Wool in that Old Gold color needed for USC and Harry Potter apparel. Now I just need the red for some scarves. Also, I got some cool Plymoth wool that will hopefully felt into something really groovy for Niki. Just wait! Anyway, the Stitches from the Heart store was very cool and friendly. Next time I'm in Santa Monica, I'll probably go back.)

Here is the pre-felted booty held together in temporary red yarn. Seriously, the diagram for putting this thing together was so complicated that I had no clue what to do. Plus, I'm a bit spacially challenged, so that didn't help. So, on That Yarn Store's birthday, David O. once again helped me out and put all the knitted pieces together in a way that resembled a booty. Woo hoo! Thanks, David! I've got to knit the second one now and then felt them both. I'll keep you posted.
Back in July, David (the one pictured below) and I had a busy Saturday when we had a work picnic at the KidSpace Museum near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We had a good time (yummy Mac-n-Cheese!) despite it being for my work. And if Niki ever brings Tiana to LA to visit us, we'll definitely take her to the museum. I can totally see her getting into all the hands-on activities they had there. It was a very hot day, so luckily we moved away from Pasadena toward the beach to ANOTHER work picnic later in the afternoon. This time, it was a reunion of sorts for all the people who went to Japan in March, and it was at the head professor's house. David even ate beef because it was really, really good beef. I got to try BBQd rice balls. Yum! So, it was hot and we decided to go to the beach after the picnic. Ah, Malibu. At sunset. In July. That's why we're smiling. (And my shirt is wet because we got in the water in our clothes.)
The other big event of July was, of course, Comic-Con in San Diego. We went down with Craig and his friend from 'SC, Corey. My favorite things while we were there were the Lost panel, the Fables panel (with autographed copies of Issue 50 for everyone in the audience--how sweet!), the McCloud family panel, the freebies (of course), the amazing panel with Deepok Chopra and Grant Morrison (if any of you were there, you'll know what I mean), and seeing some great TV and movie projects that are on the horizon. Least favorite things: the heat, the smell (all those people, all that heat), the crowds on Saturday, and waiting in the sun for a long time to see Kevin Smith in Hall H only to find out he was stuck in traffic. (He should have taken the 15!)

I'm sorry to say that these next pictures suck ass. I am planning to get a new camera (with the help of Craig's camera research) as soon as I get paid for one of the editing jobs I've done. These are so dark!

Here is Corey, Craig, me, and David on the last day. Wow--that's a bad picture, especially for Corey who seems to be disappearing ala Back to the Future and David who looks peacefully asleep.

You can skip this picture. It's for Niki. See, Niki? Naruto was everywhere!



And here are some great Shaun of the Dead people. They'd pose like this for anyone who wanted to take a picture. Lots of great costumes this year. Maybe next year I'll have knit or sewn something for myself. But don't hold your breath.

More soon--I promise!