Knitting 40 shades of green

What Not to Do: Impressing a Woman

It had been a long day and it is late so the best I can offer is a video from Drew Network (he once filmed a roast of my friend Bill for his 1000 video in which I was featured).  I don't think I shared that.  Off to bed with me, hopefully I will find some time to write before the game tomorrow.

What Not to Do: the stalker series Part 1

What Not to Do:  A look at Dating in your 30's and Beyond*

• Don't hide in the bushes, it can never go well.
  

I had been dating a guy on and off for a number of years when it became long distance for a manner of months.  We agreed that we would see other people and when I came back to town he was dating someone else.  We talked about it and for the time being he was going to see where that relationship was going. One night I needed an extra hand hanging curtains and found him at home (which happened to be across the street from my apartment) and asked for his help.  While he was hanging the curtains, his girlfriend called me (she was working on being my best friend -- why, I am not sure but she was). After a few minutes I mentioned that I needed to get back to the task at hand but failed to mention that her boyfriend was helping me, I figured she hadn't asked and since she seemed to be a little jealous it might be better to omit that fact.  About half an hour later, we finished up and I offered to take him out for pizza as a thank you.  As we walk towards his apartment, she jumps out of the bushes and dashes around the corner running at full speed.  It took us a while to figure out that it was her and that relationship didn't go too far after that display of crazy.

 

*should you see yourself in any of the stories and you aren't the one who told me the story, JUST STOP DOING WHATEVER IT IS.

What Not to Do: making an impression series, part 2

What Not to Do:  A look at Dating in your 30's and Beyond*

(in case you missed it:  part 1)

• Should you get a second chance after forgetting your wallet on the first date, it would probably make sense to check that your credit cards are in working order.

So, we had been on the predate, a skating date which went well enough except that when he asked me to grab a bite to eat afterwards, he didn't have his wallet.  And his story about paying for the skate entry was a bit fishy.  But I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt and head out on that first date we had planned.  He wanted to go to the Who concert (a concert that I could take or leave) and he promised to get us back stage since he was a stage hand and often worked the light crew at Verizon Center. 

Well, the date started out with dinner at a Chinese restaurant and he paid with cash (making a big deal about how he was paying me back for dinner the night before) all the while prepping me about the things I should know about the lighting trade because he hadn't gotten us backstage passes as much as he planned to sneak us in.  In the depths of the Verizon Center it became apparent that he wasn't going to be able to get us into the show and  not back stage.  So, as we were escorted out by security, he said we would just go buy tickets.  I should have headed out right then but didn't.  As we got to the box office he had handed first one, then a second, and ended up with three different credit cards rejected.  All the time mumbling about having been in Canada to work on the lighting for the Olympics and it must be because of the travel that there was some misunderstanding with his credit card company companies. In the end, I pulled out my card and paid for two tickets in a mediocre seating, to a show I was only mildly interested in and definitely wouldn't have paid to see.   

*should you see yourself in any of the stories and you aren't the one who told me the story, JUST STOP DOING WHATEVER IT IS.

What Not to Do: making an impression series, part 1

Sometimes life presents us with difficult decisions.  These decisions can be difficult for many reasons.  Maybe it is because we feel we never have enough information and those people supplying the information want to make sure you can't truly compare like with like and make the best choice.  Sometimes it is the way the options are presented to us, a group of outcomes that are fitted together but for the wrong reasons.  Sometimes it is just a bad choice, and we do what we have to do.  We can rely on instinct and gut feelings or we can ignore them.  I am not sure which is the best answer.  So, in a related and totally unrelated manner and  with socks to be shared on the blog, I return now to a previously abandoned series on dating and socks.

What Not to Do:  A look at Dating in your 30's and Beyond*

• There is only one chance to make a first impression, try not to forget your wallet.  Or if you do, this is probably not the time to suggest continuing the date with dinner.

It was the predate -- we had already planned the first date and this was a casual meet up the day before.  We would go skating at the rink near my house.  As a marginal skater, I might have been going out on a limb, he plays goalie for an adult team, he likely knows what he is doing.  He came into the anti room from the rink which meant he had likely used the players entrance, bypassing the front desk.  I didn't think much of it at the time but maybe I should have seen it as the first red flag...  We spent about an hour skating when I was ready to be done.  He mentioned that it might be nice to grab something to eat.  It is known that I am a bit of a restaurant snob but it was early afternoon and I was wearing clothes more appropriate for skating then one of my usual restaurants and so I suggested that we head up the hill to the mecca of chain restaurants that exists above my house.  We decided on TGIFridays, not an expensive restaurant  by any means.  We had a light meal and then it came time to pay -- he starts pulling out his phone and confesses he has forgotten his wallet.  Explaining that he had had cash in his pocket for the entrance fee (really? I am pretty sure you never walked by the front desk).  I happily paid for dinner and he said he would make it up to me on our date the next day.  Fair enough...hear about this ordeal on the next "What Not to Do" post.

• Pattern:  Stained Glass by Laura Andersson
• Yarn:  2 balls of Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Soy Print 
• Needles:  Knit Picks Steel -- if I had to guess I would say 2.75 mm but really I have forgotten
• Started: August 14, 2009
• Finished:  June 31, 2011
• Notes:  These were started just before a trip to Irish Fest which didn't turn out quite the way I had hoped.  Somehow that annoyance was transferred to the socks and after coming home they were carried around for quite a while and never really worked on.  The yarn became tangled and crusty and they sat out of the way with little more than a two inches of toe to finish them.  So, in consideration of this years goal, I pulled them out of the corner in which they were hiding and finished them at this year's NEA RA.  Two years in the making and I am glad to add them to my sock stash.

 

 

 

*should you see yourself in any of the stories  and you aren't the one who told me the story, JUST STOP DOING WHATEVER IT IS. 

What Not To Do: the note series, part 1

What Not to Do:  A look at Dating in your 30's and Beyond*

The idea for this feature came up back in 2006 and was first blogged about here.  You will notice that  one of the dates posted at the bottom of the comments with a made up email address -- the address which isn't available for your viewing was iamabaddate@... and was posted over a year later.  I will start with the friendly advice.

• Don't take out a notebook at the movies to take notes.

He wasn't that bad of a date but here is what transpired.  We were going to a documentary.  We get settled in the theater and he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small notebook and pen.  I ask what he is doing.  He says that he wants to take notes.  I think this is a bit odd and mention that the film also has a companion book and most of the information could be found on the internet if he isn't interested in spending the $15.  He looks at me and asks earnestly, well how can we have a debate later if I don't have the exact information.  After the movies, when he asked if I was going to take him out and buy him a drink so we could discuss the movie further, I politely declined.

RA socks

After finishing the May Basket Socks before the RA started, I had to cast on something mindless for the open town meeting with Arnie Duncan, the US Secretary of Education.  So, I cast on 72 stitches in some Trekking for a basic stockinette stitch sock.   Unfortunately after 6 or so rows of ribbing I ran into a knot in the yarn, so I had to cast on again. The first sock went quite quickly with all the meetings and travel and was almost finished by the time I got home.  With a couple of books on tape and a few days off I got the second one well underway.  It was finished just after my trip to Wales.

• Pattern:  Based on "Basic Sock Pattern in 8 sizes" (2002)
  
• Yarn:  Trekking XXL, color 108
• Needles:  Knitpicks size 1 (2.25 mm)
• Started:  July 2, 2009
  
• Finished: July 26, 2009
• Notes:  These socks were pretty straight forward, chosen for mindless knitting while paying attention to something else.  They were 72 stitches with an inch of 2 x 2 ribbing followed by straight stockinette stitch, a slip stitch heel flap, and standard paired decrease toe (although after 6 rounds of every other row, I changed to every row so the toes wouldn't be too long)

*should you see yourself in any of the stories and you aren't the one who told me the story, JUST STOP DOING WHATEVER IT IS.