First things first

May the Fourth be with you!

This is the Cloisonné Jacket from the fall 2010 issue of Interweave Knits. I’m actually knitting it in the yarn called for in the pattern, Berocco’s Ultra Alpaca, and so far it’s going all right.

I had consulted with a friend about how to convert this knit-flat pattern into one knit in the round and had worked out all the fiddly details. But once I started the two-color section, I didn’t like the bulk created by carrying both colors through the middle part (which would later be cut, folded under, and sewed down). Figuring that the pattern was written flat for a reason, I decided to follow it as written.

This post serves two functions: to let me try out the WordPress iOS app, and to introduce these two little fuzzies.

Procrastinate? Who, me? Never!

This is the best registration form ever. Just take a look at the many possibilities under the “Title” drop-down menu. Wow.

Heh.

That’s pretty much all I can say after reading this account of one man’s actions right after the tsunami that hit Japan last month:

Needless to say, poor Hideaki Akaiwa, concerned for his family, rushed out of his office in time to see his city completely submerged under an obscene ten feet of water that buried everything from houses to businesses. He ran to the high water mark and stared helplessly into the sprawling lake that once used to be his home.

But it gets even worse. Hideaki’s wife of twenty years was still buried inside the lake somewhere. She hadn’t gotten out. She wasn’t answering her phone. The water was still rising, the sun was setting, cars and shit were swooshing past on a river of sea water, and and rescue workers told him there was nothing that could be done – the only thing left was to sit back, wait for the military to arrive, and hope that they can get in there and rescue the survivors before it’s too late. With 10,000 citizens of Ishinomaki still missing and unaccounted for, the odds weren’t great that Hideaki would ever see his wife again.

For most of us regular folks, this is the sort of shit that would make us throw up our hands, swear loudly, and resign ourselves to a lifetime of hopeless misery.

But Hideaki Akaiwa isn’t a regular guy. He’s a fucking insane badass, and he wasn’t going to sit back and just let his wife die alone, freezing to death in a miserable water-filled tomb. He was going after her. No matter what.

How the fuck Hideaki Akaiwa got a hold of a wetsuit and a set of SCUBA gear is one of the great mysteries of the world.

You can read more of this amazing story here.

Yup, it’s 3.14 again!Everyone loves the 3.14 kind of pi. But what’s your favorite pie?

That’s pretty much all I can come up with after hearing this. I cringed as I heard it, especially when I realized that it goes on and on and on.

Can someone remind me again why people still think this guy has any sort of credibility?

Although we spent most of our NYC weekend outside, we did partake of one iconic NYC activity that took place indoors.

It started with this (thanks to our NYC friend, whose professional connections enabled her to get free tickets for both our families)…

…and included this. The show was technically amazing (stunning sets! Bert walking on the ceiling! Mary Poppins flying through the air!), though clearly crafted for people who already knew the movie.*

Free tickets to a great show is pretty amazing…but wait, it gets better! Jan actually knew someone in the cast, a friend from high school with whom he’d reconnected (via Facebook, natch) a year or two ago. She’d mentioned a while back that he should tell her if we were ever going to see a show, because she could show us around afterward. So we took her up on her offer! And here’s the view from THE STAGE of the New Amsterdam theater.

And that stunning set I mentioned? Here’s a glimpse of part of it, along with the wings. The theater doesn’t actually have a lot of backstage space, because NYC real estate is so pricey. Horizontal real estate, that is–there’s plenty of room if you go up. So some of the set pieces were actually in the air, four stories up. Thank goodness for strong ropes!

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*I’ve seen the movie a gazillion times, and I had a bit of trouble following this show’s narrative; I doubt if someone unfamiliar with Mary Poppins could understand the show at all. Still, it was fun to see, and I’d recommend it nonetheless. I like many of the ways in which this show deviated from the movie–e.g., by making Mary Poppins a bit crankier and less “sweeter” (a depiction more in keeping with the character in the books), and by having the kids start out as true brats (thus giving them a story arc rather than having them be mere observers to events).