Cats I know
second in an occasional series

This is Cosmo, he technically belongs to Jamie's parents, who take care of him and feed him, but he's not above defecting to the neighbor's house for a bowl of cream. (Yes, she gives him cream)


Cosmo is about 10, weighs 17 pounds, and is one of the brawniest cats I've ever known. He's got extremely large and furry paws (read: snowshoes) with horribly well-honed claws which he loves to dig into you in the middle of the night so that he can pull you closer for more efficient licking.

He's quite the impressive figure, with long, silky fur; he's so fluffy that he's actually got a mane. He loves to sleep on the ottoman in the living room, where he'll always respond to his name with a flick of the tail, even when he's sleeping. Cosmo likes to sleep with the humans and is well-known for demanding attention from everyone, including unconsious strangers, after he comes back inside in the morning.

Despite the fact that he could live an entirely cushy indoor life, Cosmo is really a creature of the outdoors. He is so well-insulated that snow will collect on his back in the winter, allowing him to conduct business in all kinds of weather. He is a successful hunter of small, squeaky creatures; he even taught Gabe (the other family cat) to hunt. His long, luxurious fur can cause him some problems, though. He is occasionally snagged by a burr, needing to find a human to extract it as quickly as possible.

Cosmo's a good cat, fun despite his constant demands. Keep him supplied with stroking and twice-daily treats and he might not feel compelled to claw you just enough to make you acquiesce to his demands. He can be found in a comfy little town in Maine, prowling the woods and fields, keeping vigil on the porch, or curled toastily in front of the wood stove.

The Unemployed Penguin Rides Again

Been busy. I've been spending a lot of time trying to finish my degree. I travelled to Raliegh, NC, took my translation test, re-wrote a paper, and have been trying to finish up my classes. Then I can take my test next week.

We went to Maine for Thanksgiving. It was nice, my brother came.

This is Jamie and me at Pemaquid Light House, near his town in Maine. It was cold and windy, thus the babushka look. I always like going there, just stay away from the ocean, the waves will drag you to death on the none-too-friendly rocks.

Then we went to South Bristol, but this time there were people there!
This is me and my brother in front of the bridge as it's swinging. Note the "don't shoot me, I'm not a deer" hat. Yes, it is snowing. Poor Jon got carsick on the windy roads of the peninsula, but he never barfed.


I haven't been knitting too much. Too much work to do. I'm in the middle of gloves for my dad and socks for my mom, but I'm bored with the first one and waiting on more yarn for the second. I am swatching for my sweater-coat, though. It's done in Nashua yarns' Creative Focus worsted, which is 75% wool, 25% alpaca. I think I'll probably use it, but I'm going to have to save up first. I don't see it anywhere for much less than $7 or 8 a ball. At least I get 200 yards. I'm going to do some more swatching, then I'll have to bite the bullet and calculate.

I've got a job!

At least from January to June, I do. I'll be working at a private school in Easthampton, teaching 4 sections of Latin. It will be difficult, I haven't taught this material before, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I'll be spending a lot of time there, with my study-hall duties two nights a week, but I can use that time to structure my planning. I'll also be able to eat there, and I'm hoping to get back into yoga. I'm a little sad that the position is only until June, but I want to make my best impression in the hopes of parlaying it into a longer-term situation.

Unfortunately, this does not permanently alleviate my employment woes. I'm going to be in a better position for interviews in the fall, but I still feel a struggle ahead. We'll see how it goes.

New Yarn

Yesterday I walked to the post office to pick up my new yarn. It was a little further than I had bothered to notice. It took me about an hour to complete the trip. I got some Wool of the Andes, which is a great bargain, for fingerless gloves for pater fraterque. I just wish it came in larger balls. Some Alpaca for mom's socks, and some merino to (possibly) remake Jon's hat. We'll see whether he can deal with its' current hugeness.

Jamie and I broke out the traditional Halloween costumes (puffin and gentoo penguin) to amuse our friends. Jennie thought we were adorable. Got some candy out of it, too. The Bittens gave me a piece of bacon. That's the strangest Halloween treat I've ever gotten.

I Went into town to get insulin for Cat. Walked all the way back to North Amherst, which is about 2.5 miles. I caught the bus the rest of the way home. I've had a headache all day, even a nap didn't help. I was sleeping peacefully when the power went out, causing the subwoofer to make a loud noise. So much for naps.

Got a call from the Dean of Faculty at Willison this morning. She wants me to come in for a second interview this Friday. This is a good sign, right? I'd really like that job, it seems like such a nice environment.

Time to see if the cable's back on.

Cats I Know
first in an occasional series

Meet my cat, Cat. To be precise, his given name is Snuggles, but seeing that he only responds to "Cat," that's what we call him. I wish that I had been clever enough to call him after the Red Dwarf character, but Cat doesn't have that much style anyway.

He's 16, diabetic, arthritic, and an occasional bath-mat-widdler. I'm not really sure why he does that, change of scenery perhaps. He can be found sleeping, as cats are wont, at all hours. He's become even lazier than the rest of cat-kind in his later years, when even swatting at his catnip-filled mousey has become a burden.

Lately, we've been calling him "Dog" because he comes to the door whenever we come home or sits near you and waits intently for you to finish your task. He also used to come when called. Unfortunately, this dog-like nature does not extend to anything so gratifying as fetching the paper, or even basic companionship.

Despite his reputation as "the worst pet ever," I do in fact love Cat very much. He becomes quite enthusiastic when you announce your intention to pet him by lowering yourself to the floor in the later hours of the evening. Sometimes, he gets so excited that he licks you once (only once!) or bites you a little bit on the hand. Occasionally, he remembers that I'll lift him onto the couch if he comes near it, and there he can get long-term petting.

If Cat is not lounging in front of the door (with his back to it, of course), he can be found in his bed next to the bedroom door or on his purple blanket in front of the TV.

Use Me

Got a call at 6:12 this morning: "Can you come in?" Of course, I say. I get there to find that not only was the offending teacher not supposed to leave for another hour, but that he wasn't leaving at all. "I was going to tell you," he mumbled through some rather disturbing lipstick-as-vampire-blood.

But not to worry, I can go home and come back later for half a day. With middle-schoolers. Ack.

Ken's hat is done

Here it is: Reynold's Lopi #s 0422 and 0054, size 10 needles, on 90 stitches. I think it came out pretty nice. Lopi feels pretty scratchy in a ball, but it's nice once you wash it (gently!) Both of these colors have black fibers in them, which ties the whole thing together nicely. Altogether a very manly hat. I'm quite pleased.

Well, It's finally finished!
I'm done with my mom's scarf and hat. It's always the blocking that takes the longest, especially since I wet-block everything. I also made a fabric bag to keep them in, but the pictures of that are a little screwy.

We went up to the Bittens' apartment last night. They usually don't have time to visit, so that was nice. They invitied lots of people over and we all had a nice time.

I spent a lot of time working on my paper yesterday, and I'm about to get back at it today. I spent a lot of time running down something that didn't exist. Yay.

On the project journal, Aimee's shrug is creeping ever closer to completion. The 2nd sleeve is looking much better than the first, but I'm just going to block the recalcitrance out of it. I ordered a bunch of yarn for Christmas presents. A hat for the wench, two pairs of fingerless gloves for my brother and dad, and alpaca socks for my mom. Along with two pairs of needles it was really reasonable. I'm not sure what I'll get started on first. Probably the gloves, since I'm going to make two pairs, that way I won't get sick of them as much.

It's Jamin's birthday, we're making a cake and bringing it to him at work tonight. B's making the cake and I'm making his mom's frosting. That should be nice. He wants to go out instead of family dinner on Thursday, he should get to decide.

Ok, off to work until I can't stand it, then I'll take a walk...

I worked for the first time in two weeks today!

I wish it was that exciting. I use my time for studying; mostly the kids get to work pretty quickly. The blocks are really long, so there's a lot of uninterrupted time for me, but it seems that the kids get antsy. Today I read about the elegiac poets and the birth of Hercules from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

I spent this weekend at my Dad's, my brother Jon was there too. His lab just got published for their Cranberry work and he got the photo credit. We went to see MirrorMask, the new Neil Gaiman movie. I'm not ready to call it a classic, but it's better than any other movie I've seen lately. It was visually interesting and fun to watch.

On to yarn: I've started Ken's hat. It's in green and whitish Lopi; fair-isle. Mom's scarf and hat are finished, but I'm too lazy to take a picture. I've also started Aimee's shrug in purple Cascade 220. I'm going to work a sparkly thread along the lozenge lace pattern on the back. She's going to be so cute! Speaking of which:

Aimee just got featured in an art show about Chinese girls and their American fathers. The show was in Beijing and apparantly she was a hit. She's really the prettiest person I know, and I'm not just saying it. When we were on our walk tonight, Jamie said thoughtfully: "She really is a lot cooler than us, she just doesn't know it yet" He's definately right, poor girl's been subsumed into a family of dorks.