Okay, I think I can type now...

This is the short version, because I'm still suffering from PTSD when I try to discuss the whole debacle:

• AC (which now stands for Ass Clowns) finally deliered my bags chez moi.
• This, after they lost them IN DORVAL AT THE GODDAMN AIRPORT for three days!!
• I will attempt to make an appearance in Omaja, beginning Monday.
• Hopefully I will get to knit with my beloved knitting friends soon, because
• MY NERVES CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS SHIT MUCH LONGER.
  

And thank you so much, for voting for Taylor. It is the single bright spot in my PMS-laden, menopausal, mentally disturbed world.

And Now, For A Public Service Announcement:

Air Canada
You Suck.
(a lot!!)
we now return you to your regularly scheduled surfing...

Unfinished Bidness...(ongoing, anyway).

Okay, I'm annoyed to the max that Sympatico has cut my DSL connection for reasons that nobody (here or there) seems to know. This means I am struggling through the long holiday weekend on dial-up of all things! This sucks to the utmost, and I hate it a lot.

You see, another one of my knitting friends needs to have her blog hyped to the max, so I had planned to do this with lots of graphics, some shockwave, and a link to some porn site. Sadly, the entire mess with my ISP has pretty much made that an exercise in futility. Therefore, I present to you, the stripped-down, quick and dirty version of hype, Deawn-style:

Read This Blog!
It's So Fabulous...

Usually, people that accomplished don't cop to knowing me, much less show kindness to a disturbed, shiftless, hypertensive diva such as Yours Truly. But that just goes to show what a beautiful person she is, inside and out.

Guess I'll close for now, but first, allow me to grovel for a favor that could prove bloody inconvenient for all involved. Just my luck, I'll be in Chi-town right at the time that the final episode of American Idol airs! Now, you know I'm not really into that sort of thing, but I am completely into Taylor Hicks, the Ultimate Showman with Geek Style Extraordinaire. So, if anybody out there wants to tape Wednesday evening's show for me, I'd be so grateful, that I would consider compensation in monetary or yarnish form. Please advise.

And don't forget. Vote for Taylor--early and often.

Thank you.

So fibertastic.

Those of you wondering what kind of fiber-filled fun I engage in while trapped in Omaha(ha-ha-ha-ha), need not wait any longer. I present for your perusal, scenes of crochetin', knittin', spinnin', and grinnin'.

Mica models her masterpiece
Chez Mangelsen's

Would you belive Mica's shrug began as a tablecloth? Her exquisite artistic vision morphed it into a shrug. Lily Chin really must step aside--Mica is the world's fastest crocheter!

Minnie socks it to us, baby.

Minnie is examining ways of turning her passion for spinning (and knitting) into a cottage industry. Read all about it (and so much more) at her blog, Muses of a Dragon Mad Knitter.

Carin appears as "The Spinning Nurse"
featuring Jen's Spinning Wheel

Carin has recently discovered the "Joy of Spinning" and relaxes by knitting stuff, furnishing her new home, yet still manages to work tirelessly as the unofficial Florence Nightengale of String of Purl's Sit & Knit on Thursdays. Read about it on her blog, Keeping Me In Stitches.

Although I'm missing a visual, I encourage you to browse by Erin's blog Titanium Rose. She's cool, it's cool, and I'd be ever so remiss if I didn't mention it.

So there you have it. A brief glimpse of some of the knitters I've met during my exile. Think of it as a really long virtual fiber that connects us all through cyberspace.

Can you dig it? ...I knew that you could.

More later, and remember: Vote for Taylor .

I'm all the way in the Soul Patrol, y'all.

You have simply GOT to cheer for this guy, even if you don't bother with that whole American Idol mishegoss. The only reason I got caught up in it is because my mother insisted upon watching it, and well--I love a good train wreck. But the fact is, since the very beginning,when we saw this spastic white guy (with a luscious gray mane), trying to resurrect Brotha Ray, we took notice. I mean, he's got this voice that shouldn't come outta that body, and for a change, we agreed on something, Mummy and I--and that is, this guy is effing out there! I mean, he's straight up spastic. Yet it doesn't matter, because he's having a real good time on stage. But most of all, he's talented, as well. And that really ought to count for something. (Especially since Mandisa and Paris ain't on there no more).

The thing that nailed it for me is that this guy has two pet goldfish named Lamont and Ray. The Pisces in me loves that they have their own blog. The outcast in me appreciates just how weird that is for a grown man to do, but he goes on ahead and does it anyway. That shows he hasn't totally gone big time, and recognizes the beauty in all creatures, great and small, if you get my drift (sorry...I couldn't resist).

Oh sure, Katharine was positively killer with her rendition of "Over The Rainbow." But when you consider how week after week, Mista T always managed to bring it, even when they made him sing a song that wasn't of his own choosing at the last minute ("Just Once"). What a trooper!

Therefore, I expect all of you South o' The Border to do the righteous thing, and make sure Taylor wins the entire shit.

Any questions? (I din't think so...)

Bad place to take a vacation...

...and you wouldn't want to have to spend your winters there, either. As for those of us who do, read more about it, right here:

I took this picture one day while killing time (sorry) before contemplating a visit to the gym. I had just finished this entormous, cholesterol-laden sandwich when it occurred to me that his has got to look strange to people from outside the area. Dig it-- What's more, someone actually had the bright idea to make an entire burial ground for butterflies. What's more, whoever made the sign can't spell for shit, because they inadvertantly added an extra 'i' when hammering out the authentic wrought iron. So I wiped my greasy mouth, and snapped a photo for all the world to see. If you look carefully, you can see the red and white 'KENO' sign in the lower section. What better spot for an insect burial ground than the back yard of a keno parlor! (Who needs city planning anyway?)

See? Omaha really is a 'No Fun Allowed' Zone!

As if that wasn't enough to completely blow your mind, I decided to take this picture, while waiting for something (anything, really) to happen, across the street from La Casa de los Muertos. After 6 in the evening, you can loiter, scratch, fence stolen property, and purchase drugs to your heart's delight. But during normal business hours, don't even think about it! (You've been warned).

But here's the good news--four of my five boxes shipped have arrived, as of this posting. I expect to get the last one today (or tomorrow, since the mail dude only bothers to deliver mail three days out of the week). Something tells me I'm damn lucky to get stuff that often, since he doesn't appear to be the sharpest tool in the shed. More news as it develops...stay tuned.

Ben voyons donç !

(If I actually said that in France,
they'd have yet another reason
to wonder why 'I talk funny...')

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?