I watched this video the first time I made a hat with a pompom. I found these women hilarious and, even better, they taught me how to use my pompom maker, which was sadly lacking in instructions. I watched this video again tonight when I went to make a pompom for a new hat I finished. Perhaps because it wasn’t 2 am and I wasn’t coming off the high of finishing a hat that actually fit my head (as opposed to this monstrosity), I found the video a lot less entertaining this time around. Still, Hatapalooza 2010, or whatever I’m calling this thing, is going pretty well. I may actually finish all the hats I intend to make!
I’ve become much more interested in geolocation/check-in apps since I got my Android phone. The two major platforms, Foursquare and Gowalla, don’t really work if your gadget isn’t running the iOS or Android platforms (Foursquare’s texting protocol is particularly underwhelming). I started using these services when I had a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone, but getting either service to work well and consistently was nearly impossible. It wasn’t worth the headache, and I let my accounts lay dormant until I switched to Android.
Once I’d downloaded Android’s dedicated Foursquare and Gowalla apps, it was fun to check into various places. I still forget to every now and then, or sometimes decide that I don’t want to share my location at a particular time, but on the whole I like how these things work. I use other location services, too, such as Yelp, although not as frequently. The only check-in service that I won’t use is Facebook Places, since I think Zuckerberg’s company already knows enough about me.
I end up using Foursquare more often because I like becoming the mayor of places and reading the tips that people leave. I decided that it wasn’t ethical to be the mayor of my job, so I’ve stopped checking in there, except when I visit for non-work purposes. I don’t find it as necessary to check in to Gowalla every time I visit a place, because there are no mayorships, and I don’t care about the badges that I could receive.
Gowalla has a smaller share of the geolocation market, so they’ve stepped up their game with the most recent release of their iOS client. It integrates with Foursquare, and allows you to check into multiple services at once. You can also see the Facebook Places, Gowalla, and Foursquare check-in statuses of your friends as they happen. There are several third-party clients that do this, but it’s pretty major that Gowalla’s official app now has this capability. It will be interesting to see if Foursquare makes any move to block Gowalla from doing this, since this is not a collaboration, but an independent move on Gowalla’s part. Gowalla is using the Foursquare API, which could conceivably be changed at any time.
The new Gowalla for Android client will be available in early 2011, and if it still had this functionality at that point, I would definitely use it to check into both services.
I understand that every defendant has the right to be represented in court by counsel, but there are some things that should never be thought, much less said aloud. Any defense strategy that hinges on the idea that a person who was shot six times, in front of her two children, could be responsible for provoking the gunman (her estranged boyfriend, against whom she had a restraining order) is probably guaranteed to outrage and disgust everybody who hears it. I really hope it isn’t possible to convince twelve adults that the gunman wouldn’t have fired the gun in his pocket if the victim’s words hadn’t pushed him past the edge of reason. I wonder if this man wouldn’t have been better off pleading guilty or trying to arrange some sort of deal. I hope they put him under the jail.
Do you know what today is? I’m not talking about Black Friday, the mere thought of which fills me with dread. I am referring to the first official day of the holiday shopping season. No matter what those yahoo merchants tried to make you believe up until now, this is the real beginning of good deals and increasingly-ridiculous sales. In deference to this new season, I’ve decided to make it easier for people to buy things for me. I know, I know, I’m so thoughtful.
So, secret admirer/dear friend/deranged stalker/unknown benefactor, here follows my Christmas list, so that you don’t have to resort to reading my email or going through my trash (or, horrors, actually asking me) to find out what I want.
Some knitting workshops so I can spend even more time and money not finishing things. I’m particularly interested in the classes at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio and Purl Soho.
Yarn!! I have so much yarn stashed that I no longer allow myself to buy yarn if it’s not for a specific project. That is responsible, but very boring. Enable me! Please note that yarn made primarily of any natural fiber will do just splendidly. The yarn’s weight doesn’t matter, as I can always find something to knit with whatever I’m given.
Lots and lots of books, so that I have a semi-intelligent way to procrastinate when I should be knitting. I’ll read just about any type of fiction and most cookbooks and biographies, but if you’re not sure, you can do the safe thing and purchase something from my Amazon wishlist.
No clothes.
Unless they’re fancy fancy dresses. One can never have too many fancy dresses.
Jewelry. I love earrings, and I’ve been wearing yellow gold lately, but I still have a decent amount of white gold, too, so knock yourself out and get whatever you like the best.
Music. I like pretty much anything, and I haven’t bought many albums that came out after 2008, so it’s safe to assume that I do not own anything you’d think of getting me. iTunes/Amazon music gift cards are also appreciated.
Fragrances! I love subtle perfumes. My go-to scent is Chanel’s Chance Eau Fraiche, but I also like other scents, such as Calvin Klein’s Crave (I think it’s unisex, but if it’s not, the one intended for men).
I know that I actually thought I hated gift cards, but having endured a few birthdays and holidays without them has shown me the error of my ways. If you don’t know what to get me, and none of the other options appeal, a gift card is the way to go. I will appreciate it greatly, and won’t read anything into your refusal to make one decision and then stand behind it (promise!).
For everybody else: should my boyfriend/brother/dad/mom ask you what he/she should get me, pick a number that seems appropriate, and run with it.
Note: I reserve the right to amend and/or update this list at any time.
Also, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re spending it with people you love and food you enjoy eating (and booze you enjoy drinking, if you’re from one of those nonbaptist fun families).
If you have an extra $15 lying around (or are willing to skip Starbucks for a couple of days), you could do a great thing for a New York family in need. Please consider donating to the Food Bank for New York, so that a family in need can have a Thanksgiving full of food and familial awkwardness.
I knit (I may have mentioned this before), and I like to watch tv shows when I do. I prefer shows that have been on for several seasons, so I can just plow through the episodes, without having to wait a week for the next installment. Right now I’m watching Eureka, which I’d never heard of before another knitter told me about it last week. It’s a quirky little show whose low budget mostly-Canadian appeal warms my heart. I had been watching Psych while I knit, but it got too stupid for me to enjoy.
Although I do own far too many tv shows on dvd, I primarily watch my knitting-montony-relieving shows through Netflix’s streaming option. I currently have the 2-disc-a-month plan, and I always mean to watch the dvds that I order, but it almost never happens. On Saturday I went to the Netflix web site to see if I could switch to a streaming-only plan. To my surprise, they didn’t have any such thing! It seemed like offering the option just to stream content would be a no-brainer, but maybe the Netflix people had too much in the way of brains, because that wasn’t the case. Anyway, I switched to the 1-disc-a-month plan.
Imagine my surprise then when I saw in the newspaper today that, beginning December, Netflix will offer a streaming-only plan (that article said January, but the email that Netflix sent me said December). Yay! So I switched again. When I do want dvds, I can easily get them from the library, and even if they’re rentals, that cost plus the cost of my streaming Netflix subscription won’t equal what I paid for 2-discs-at-a-time (not that that was terribly expensive, either). Netflix is also raising the cost of all of its disc plans by a dollar. That’s not a ton, but I’m sure it hurts a bit. I know that to have all of this in place, the final decision about this had to have been made long before Saturday, but since I had just looked into this, I feel the tiniest bit responsible.
So, dear internet, I apologize for the increase in cost of your Netflix subscription. Unless, of course, you’ve moved to Streamland like me, in which case I welcome you to my broadband-dependent country.
This New York Times article is about a famous tattooist to the stars (didn’t even know that such a thing existed), and features Tommy Hilfiger’s son, but I find if fascinating primarily for its insistence on repeating the phrase, “Mister Cartoon.” Good times.
This Miata’s unique paint job is actually the result of 22 days and $100 dollars’ worth of Sharpies. That’s pretty amazing. My arm aches just thinking about it.
December 6, 2010 11:13 pm | 
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