Saturday Linkage

As Ms Bookish and her Other Half are off examining Roman ruins and the HarperCollins Archives, here are some links to tide you over.

• Test Your Colour IQ. The lower your number, the better. I managed a respectable 8 with slightly flaws in the blue spectrum (I don't like that colour, anyway)
• Television Tropes and Idioms. "Trope refers to story components or elements which have become standardized through decades (or more) of use." From Cross Cultural Kerfluffle via Because Destiny Says So to Uncanny Family Resemblance, this Wiki will suck away hours of your life.
• To Die By Your Side is an excellent music blog. A good place to start is when his girlfriend takes him to see James Blunt at Glastonbury
• Out.com's The 100 Greatest, Gayest Albums (of All Time). Interesting, if slightly random (Sgt. Pepper, anyone?!) and notable absentees like Jimmy Somerville (only Bronski Beat are represented) or Tegan & Sara while Queen and Pet Shop Boys are richly represented.
• LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment Webcams. CERN has been kind enough to set up a live streaming webcam to watch the CMS in action. Quite ingenious.

Enjoy.

West End Girl

Not everyone can say that they've had their knitting-in-progress cooed over by a BAFTA winner and OBE recipient but now I can. My mother's quite excited. Yesterday David and I went out for dinner to celebrate my two years in Scotland. On our way to the restaurant we stumbled across 'Polish Taste' - a little Polish deli here in the West End. David suggested we could take a look as we were running a bit early and I am very grateful that he did. I found all the things I hadn't managed to find anywhere during my first two years in Glasgow: affordable buttermilk and live yeast! They also had some very, very delicious sourdough bread. Wooh. I never thought of Danish food as being very 'Baltic cuisine' but, according to manager Joanna Korzeniowski, I was not the first Dane to be ridiculously pleased about buttermilk.

And, finally, Lost in Fiction is opening down the street soon. The shop front is all pretty and mysterious. I'm rather excited about its Ffordian/Nextian name. Ooh!

Anniversary

I've now been in Scotland two years. It seems longer than that. I could lie and say they have been the best two years of my life but they haven't. They've been stressful, hurtful and a lot of work. I think they can best be described in terms of a grieving process. I lost a part of my life when I moved across the North Sea and I needed to work through my grief before I could see what my new life was giving me. That was very hard - especially because I failed to recognise my grief.

But here I am two years later and I have managed to build a new life. This takes time, I was told, but I never believed it.

Here's to many more years in Scotland. May they be so much better than the last two.

And, finally, was it worth it? Yes. Yes, it has been worth it. Yes.

I Have Four DPNs And Know How To Use Them

Yes, I'm a process knitter - not a product knitter. I finished my take on the ubiquitous February Lady Sweater earlier today. I had been weaving in ends as I went along and the buttons were already fastened, so all I had to do was steam-block the cardigan. And so by the middle of the afternoon I was wearing my warm (organic) cardigan to the supermarket. I was chuffed, I was.

Then it dawned on me that I no longer had my project in process and that I could either a) pick up that Lilac Top O'Doom that has been in hibernation longer than I care to remember, b) work on a Christmas gift or c) cast on for a new project. I ruled out the Lilac Top O'Doom (because it pretty much means trying it on, figuring out that, yes, it does not fit and then ripping it out to start all over). The Christmas gift is nearly finished and I'm now trying not to work on it too much since it's so enjoyable I don't want the process to end too soon (see, PROCESS knitter!).

So I tried to cast on for a new project.

Actually I cast on two new projects and ripped them both out within ten rows. They just didn't feel right (plus I couldn't find my 5.00mm DPNs). And now I'm in a really, really foul mood because I'm between projects and I need to find the next process that I'll really enjoy.

PS. This shawl is no more. Hallelujah.

Oh, Anyway, It’s Looking Like A Beautiful Day

One of my favourite pastimes of late has been taunting my local physicist friends: "Oh, I cannot make plans later than Wednesday morning because we are all going to die" or "I'm really looking forward to this event horizon thing". Their facial expressions have been priceless, I tell you. Usually I mostly get affronted linguists or disgusted literary scholars, so annoyed physicists have been very diverting. Ah, mass media and their funny takes on scientific matters. I'm also rather pleased to see Elbow winning the Mercury Prize with "The Seldom Seen Kid". It's a very good album and I'm happy to (maybe) see them gain a bit more success. The first single off the album, "Grounds For Divorce", features a fabulous sentence construction: "There's a hole in my neighbourhood / Down which of late I cannot help but fall".

But because I can, let me spam you with a Mercury Prize nominee, not winner. Heartbreakingly gorgeous stuff.

And finally, fifty minutes after my blog rant, Parcelforce delivered my yarn. That'll teach 'em.

Tuesday Linkage

I may be in the throes of female hormones, so here are some calming links. + Smugopedia: "Smugopedia is a collection of slightly controversial opinions about a variety of subjects. We offer you the chance to buy a fleeting sense of self-satisfaction at the small cost of alienating your friends and loved ones."

+ It’s Not You, It’s Your Books: Literary dealbreakers. I once dated a guy who had a shelf of Oprah-esque self-help books. I'm not saying that's why I broke up with him.. but we only lasted a week after that discovery.

+ Pretty staircases. Note that the URL is NSFW but the content is very, very SFW. This is my personal favourite (first photo).

+ A Field Guide to Ten Most Common Frontmen Styles. My favourite frontman happens to be a cross between no. 6 and no. 10. Hmm.

+ The Lost Tribes of Green Sahara. Beautiful photography.

+ Sarah Palin is Your New.. What? Many people have opinions on just what who Palin is. I quite like "..Hail Mary" and "Faustian Bargain" but my absolute favourite is "Star Wars: Episodes I - III Plus The Clone Wars". Heh.

Addendum: Booker Shortlist.