Election Weirdness

I was in 7-11 last night, picking up NyQuil for my ailing roommate, when I saw the weirdest election thing ever.

They have blue Obama cups. They have red McCain cups. And they have cream-colored Undecided/Independent cups.

I kid you not.

I hope you all registered to vote!

Don't Forget to Register to Vote!

US Citizens! If you aren't registered to vote at your current address, make sure you are! Deadlines for some states have already passed, and others are rapidly approaching. (I need to mail mine in before 10/15. It's been in my bag for over a month, for want of a stamp. Yes, very delinquent of me.)

The most important thing is that everyone votes. I know not everyone reading this will agree with my political opinions, or vote for the same people as me, but you should vote!

Also, make sure to research the candidates running for Senate, House, and lower levels, and to consider any issues that will be on the ballot. I know MA has three questions this year, and I already know how I'm voting on them.

Oops, I almost forgot a title

Two whole months? Geez, I've been negligent.

But also productive! I moved to a beautiful new apartment the weekend of September 1st, so I'm going to give myself a pass on the lack of blog updates. I also have a freshly completed knitting project to show off (because I'm a ham like that).

On the basis that my boss has no idea I have a blog, I present to you:

Saartje's Bootees (as knit by me):







My boss is having his first baby, and the due date is November 1st. So I decided to make these, which I've thought were adorable for ages. They are a quick knit, though I found the strap instructions really confusing.

Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4-Ply in Mosaic (main color) and Dive.
Needles: US 1 Clover Bamboo DPNs (It's knit flat, but I don't have straight or circular 1's, so I made do.

Yarn and buttons both came from A Good Yarn in Brookline. (I'm going to miss living 500 yards away...)

I hope they like the booties, and that they fit. And they don't unravel. I always fear so much when gifting knits.

Squashed

I received a package from my mother on Thursday. She had sent it FedEx overnight.

The box was fairly large, though most of the volume was taken up by green peanuts. (I didn't know they made green peanuts.)

Inside was the vegetable of her summer's labor:



Eight pounds of zucchini. Delicious, garden-fresh zucchini.

The largest one was the size of my calf.



Literally.

And it was delicious--it made enough stuffed zucchini for 4 people, with leftovers.

Have I mentioned I love summer?

The Universe Has A Cruel Sense Of Humor, OR, Crying Over Spilled Milk

So, a couple of months ago I broke my long-standing aversion to capris and wound up with four pairs. I had tried some on faithfully every spring in high school, and they all looked funny on me, so I gave up for a long time. Anyway, I finally found some that I was happy with and have been wearing them like someone who has never worn capris before and needs to make up lost time (that is, all the time.) I even, based on the success of my one white skirt, been brave and bought a white pair of capris.

Shocking, I know! The sheer existence in my wardrobe of white capris was clearly thumbing my nose at Murphy and his laws. So first, he made me spill salad dressing on the khaki pair that I have that are identical to the white pair.

Today, I spilled milk. All over my white pants.

Summertime and the living is easy

I love summer. I love the smell of grass growing, and freshly cut grass (but not too long after it's been cut, then it starts to smell bad), the way skin smells after it's been slowly heating in the sun. I love the smell of grills, and chlorine, and salt air, and suntan lotion. I love that asphalt is too hot to walk on with bare feet, and the feel of that first jump into a cold pool or lake on a really hot day. I love summer ales, and ice cream trucks, and tomato salad. I love that I don't have to bundle up against the cold (except in my office) and the way the sun doesn't set until 8:30.

But I've had a few too many hot, sleepless nights, lately. Boston, can we dump the humidity out to sea and have a few pleasant days in the low 80's with no humidity? I think I might melt otherwise. Or buy an air conditioner.

Dancing Robots and Signs of Aging

Greetings from the currently-not-at-all-sunny Jersey Shore! I'm on vacation with my mom and brother for her birthday/the 4th of July and stealing internet.

I was peering into the mirror today, examining my roots, when I realized that I've started going gray. I suppose it's not too surprising, seeing as how I'm fast approaching 25, and most of my friends have found at least one gray hair by now. I've also always thought I was going to gray early, because my grandmother did. It's hard to assess the extent of the gray, between the dim light of our motel room, the fact that I've only got about an inch or two of growth since the last dye job, and I've been out in the sun a fair bit over the last week, but there is at least one pure white hair, several others which are suspect, and two patches that may have gone completely white. (These two patches are just above my temples on other side. The hair there has always been lighter than the rest of my hair, blond even after the rest of my hair rounded the bend from "dirty blond" to "light brown" and solidly into "brown," so I'm not surprised on that count, either. I'm not particularly fussed about going gray, but still.

Also, Dancing robots!