<insert crazy ramblings here>

These are the top 106 [EDIT: I count 105 here] books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read, italicize the ones you own but have not read.

Seen at offensive_mango

( Unread book meme )

I really ought to do a recap on my new years resolutions soon. Get back on target.

The advantage of knitting a hat top down, is that I don't need to know the gauge at all. I was just doing that way so that I could leave the needles in as place holders for where the scarf and tenticals would join.

( Photo, and pattern thus far. )

I saw another interesting technique at Angel Knits last night. I didn't find out if it had a name, so I'm calling it Cuttlefish edging. Cast on twice as many stitches as you need then decrease to the number you need in about 4 or 5 rows. It leaves a random wavey edge that looks something like a cuttlefish wing. I thinkg that'll look good at the back between the tenticles

So far the techniques I want to use on this are.
Knitting in the round (Hat)
Increases (top down hat)
Decreases (Ribbing wouldn't look right, so I need to tighten the bottom of the hat the hard way)
Reverse Cuttlefish (for the back)
Braids (for the start of the scarf)
icords (for the front tentacles)
Fair Isle (using dark green wool to make patterned eyes)

This is turning into quite a complex little project :)

My trusty iRiver H100 has croaked. The joystick broke loose, and the
last ditch attempt to solder it back on fried something, and it won't
turn on now :(

So I thought I'd ask LJ for advice. My entire audio collection is
around 10G at the moment, so I don't need a huge (by today's
standards) player. I'm not fussed about video at all. I do however
listen to a lot of podcasts / audio books, and having the ability to
store several bookmarks is a big plus.As is mounting as a usb drive,
since I intend to download things at worked and the machine here is
tightly locked down, so I can't easily install stuff on it.

Research so far indicates the Sandisk Sansa range might be the way to
go. Anyone had one of these?

I was tempted to just stick the latest podcasts on my phone, but it
doesn't have a standard headophone socket, so I can't use my noise
cancelling headphone on the tube.

Any other recommendations?

p.s. appologies to anyone who had this as an email already.

I finished both of my first projects last week.

( Pictures and write up )

I tried about three or four time to start the Cthulhu hat at the weekend, from the top down. But despite a rather useful video on small diameter circular knitting (Thanks Nikki) I couldn't get the hang of it.

I think I'm going to have to start with a larger tube just to practice. I've got no idea what to make though. I suppose I could just make a little pouch to keep the random foreign currency I've got on my desk in. Hmm.

Today's Bob the Angry Flower is what I'm like when I drink cider.

It's not quite that extreme, and environment is a much stronger factor, but I have found that different alcohol does have a diffenrent effect on me.

Ale tends to make me loquacious and relaxed.

Cocktails tend to make me energetic and bouncy.

Tequila gives me hangovers.

And All alcohol gives me wanderlust. I used to regularly leave my mates at Uni and go and check out the corners, nooks and crannies of the wherever we were. If we were on Campus sometimes I'd just get bored and wander home without telling anyone, which I'd never do sober.

I got told off last week because I'd offered to walk someone to the tube station, left to wait in the cool for them, and just wandered off.

"The Scout Association has been reported to the equality watchdog for allegedly discriminating against atheists by making them swear an oath to God."

Well it seems I was well ahead of times then.

I remember I was having doubts about Christianity when I joined Scouts, and asked if I had to swear an oath to "do my duty" to something I wasn't sure I believed in any more. They pointed out that the God mentioned is not explicitly the Christian God, so I could swear to what ever deity I wanted. When I said it was the whole God thing I had problems with, I was told that basically there is no alternative version, and if I wanted my woggle I'd have to swear the oath. So I did.

I don't think I would/could now.

...seen through the eyes of PhD comics' guide to University Architecture.

The university was founded to late (and too far outside Coventry) to be considered a true Red Brick Wonderland, but passes PhD's definition, due to the libraries frequent "complaining of being underfunded".

No gothic frippery at Warwick. Not being Cambridge or Oxford is one of it's selling points. People have dropped out of Cambridge to come to Warwick.

By era, and style, Warwick is most firmly in the Neo-Penal style. There's a persistent rumour that Cryfield accommodation was based on the blueprint for a Swedish Women's Prison. Apparently the corridors are so narrow to prevent rioting.

The newer buildings aren't quite guilty of Modernism. If you haven't seen it there's a great scene in this comedy, about a day in the life of the relocated maths department, where they open the fixed shutters.

Where they've really made an effort to catch up to Modernism with the art. The outside of campus is littered with pieces of modern sculpture. From the legacy of red warwick to the kissing penguins; from the occasionaly rotating koan to the stone turd, I love them all.

Lastly theat leaves the campus tower. Whose part will have to played by the arts centre, Warwick failing to have a standalone tower. It remains one of the few places you can see the Warwick Coat of Arms, as "should no longer be part of the University’s logo or used alongside the text 'The University of Warwick'." It fell out of favour while I was there in favour of a more modern swooshy one. Bleugh.

{Edit:'s/Crest/Coat of Arms/g' thanks makyo}

For no obvious reason, other than a geekish need to catalogue things, I have 6 custom friend groups for SF. The rules are that Journals go in the first one that matches where I primarily know it from. And no, I'm not posting them, because I've probably got some wrong, and I don't want to offend. I don't lock, read, or do anything based on them.

1. SF Info - things like Orbital 2008


2. Authors - Speaks for itself.


3. Oxford crew- grahamsleight, despotliz, etc.


4. London BSFA - People who regularly attend the London BSFA talks.


5. Eastercon - People I've met at Eastercon. This is the largest list.


6. Misc - Usually people who make interesting comments on a journal from the above list.

From reading the Eastercon reports of the epic trek to the curry house I realise that the Oxford crew actually have a name.

Third Row Fandom.

Look at the list again.

Weird huh.

On training today. Some typical responses from me.

Name the most successful businesses in the world:
Chinese Government.

Something the business wants from it's teams:
Kidneys, Liver and other organs.

Split into teams and try to convince a "Stakeholder" of your point of view:
Combine teams and try to play stakeholders off each other.

The trainer is now coming to me last for the funny item.
Pressure!

Eastercon write up coming tonight, hopefully. Quick preview:

There was a bit of recurring phrase going around:
"It's coming, and we need to be ready for it."

In one of Cory's panels It was ebook readers.
In autopope's case It is your grandchildren discovering everything you've ever written online.
And several people thought It would be the forthcoming Zombie apocalypse.

I was thinking that it would make an interesting panel on what is coming, that will change the world, and that we need to start preparing for...

... when I had a flash of inspiration for what to do with my black and too dark green wool.

Cthulu!

While a Portal Scarf would be neat, it would probably be out of date by the time I finished it. Whereas Cthulu's powers seems to have endured vast trackless eons that the human mind cowers in terror from.

Thinking about doing a pattern on a scarf, I was worried that it would turn on my neck and face the wrong way. This way I can do a tube on my little circular needles, with tentacles running up it. Maybe I could even stuff the end, to make a head. I won't even have to count stitches, because tentacles should waver. Ooh, and I can use the cable cross over thing I've been practising to make them cross over each other.

{edit: s/Cuthulu/Cthulu/g}