Yesterday, I had the honour of attending the wedding of commodorified, raynedaze , random, and fairestcat. It was a slightly odd ceremony, combining pagan and Christian elements.  And oh, yeah, there was the "four people getting married" thing; you don't see that every day.  Not yet, anyway.

It was also an opportunity to spend time with friends, including folks I haven't spent enough time with in too long, such as fajrdrako , auriaephiala, ladymondegreen , and akawil.  There was lots of yummy food, with care taken to accommodate a variety of dietary restrictions (which I very much appreciate).

I had my best hat with me, but it didn't seem to me that it quite matched the flavour of the event, so I left it with my jacket.  I need to get more supplies so I can make myself something more appropriate.

My compliments to the happy... quartet?  (I don't know what the appropriate parallel term is: '2' is to 'couple' as '4' is to ..?)  May their lives together be long and joyful.

Or "three rabbis, four opinions".

From this, it can be proven by induction that zero rabbis will have one opinion.  (And it will probably be pretty difficult to change that opinion.)

Latest craft project: octopus-style toques.



The last pair of tentacles is extra-long and can be used to tie the toque under one's chin.

More pictures...

Manymany years ago, my grandmother knitted an afghan blanket for me.  (Or crocheted it; I'm not sure how to distinguish the results.)  In one direction, there are seven broad stripes in a range of colours from dark rust to brownish-yellow; each stripe has a pattern "texture" like a stack of 'w's, or double-chevrony.  It's attractive and it's warm; I use it as a bedcover layer in cold weather.

The problem is that the blanket is approximately square, and about as wide as my bed.  It's not long enough, by about 30 cm.  I'd like to make it longer, by extending it in one direction or the other.  I could add another stripe on each side, either parallel to the stripes already there, or running across the ends of the current stripes.  The latter would have to have some zigzagging to fit with the stripes' ends.

I'm not sure what the best way of doing this is.  I see several options:

• Quick-and-dirty: Use any warm fabric.  Fleece is cheap this time of year, as stores try to get rid of their stock before bringing in fabrics to be used in warmer weather.  This would be functional and inexpensive but unaesthetic.
• Get someone who knits/chrochets to make the extensions, approximately matching the existing pattern.  Aesthetically, it's probably the best solution, but it would be time-consuming and probably expensive (in terms of Big Favours owed, if not cost).
  • Sub-option: I could re-learn knitting, or learn crocheting, as appropriate, and do it myself.  Cheap, but really time-consuming.
• Find someone with a knitting machine who could do a couple of stripes, not particularly similar to the current stripes, but at least it would be a knitted material and not too visually jarring next to the current stuff.  Probably not too expensive.

Are there other options I'm missing?  Any suggestions?

Last Sunday's Vinyl Cafe show featured a charming little song, "Your Personal Penguin", lyrics by Sandra Boynton, performance by former Monkee Davy Jones.  I did a quick search, and found that the song is on-line, along with a video with bits of the recording session.

The song is catchy, and riffs on Hoagy Carmichael's music for "Heart and Soul".

Last night I was having a bit of insomnia, and "Heart and Soul" kept running through my head.  I tried to derail it by thinking of other relaxing music, and immediately got into Pachelbel's "Canon in D".  Because there are some strong similarities in rhythm and tone pattern between the two.

And then I realized that the two pieces of music can almost certainly be combined.

Aargh.

We're still in the pre-Twelfth-Night period for the Orthodox churches, right?

Because beable  and ambiviolent  asked...


moar funny pictures

I was tentatively planning to go to a New Year's Eve party this evening.  But the folks who'd offered me a lift decided to cancel because the weather looked too bad.  And after I'd been waiting about 20 minutes for a bus, my feet were cold and my back was hurting a bit, so I decided to settle for a quiet warm evening at home.  The weather really doesn't seem to be that bad, but there's enough snow on the roads that the buses seem to be way off their schedules, and right at the moment I'm not feeling up to a lot of slogging.  I've done enough of that already today.

I've got cake and ice cream to eat, candles to burn, videos to watch, and books to read.  Human company would be nice, but I'll get by.

Happy New Year, everyone.

My best-guess recollection of what went into the chick pea stew I served last night:

3 cups dried chick peas (garbanzo beans)
1 cup dried white beans (navy beans)
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1 tbsp whole mustard seed
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp crushed chilis
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1½ cup diced carrots
¼ cup chick pea flour

Soak the beans in water overnight, drain, then cook in 8 cups water in slow cooker — on high to bring to a boil, then 4 hours on high, then simmer on low.  Once water comes to a boil, skim off foam, and add peanut butter, oil, and spices.  After reducing heat to low, add lemon juice, salt, soy sauce, and carrots.  After another couple of hours, if the liquid is too thin, thicken with chick pea flour mixed with a bit of water.

Loblaws and its affiliated stores have been selling "no name" products for quite some time now.  They're generally cheaper than their brand-name equivalents, and the quality is variable — sometimes it's pretty much the same product as the brand-name stuff but in plainer packaging.  Sometimes, not so much.

Lately, it's seemed to me that many of the "no name" products I've bought have been of much lower quality than they used to be.  For some things I'm fussy about quality — for durable items, I will almost invariably buy something that will last and work trouble-free, and I'm willing to pay extra for something that won't have to be repaired or replaced for a long time.  Other things, not so much.  I don't have much taste for really cheap crappy chocolate any more, but I don't have the palate to appreciate the finest-quality chocolate: I like it, but I'm happy with cheaper decent-quality chocolate.  But a lot of the "no name" items don't meet even fairly low standards.

( More grumbling lies beneath... )

I've been comparison shopping for a heating pad. Almost every local store I've checked sells essentially the same items made by Sunbeam, in some cases house brands labelled as "made by Sunbeam". There are a few other models around. Canadian Tire's website seems to show that they've switched to units made by a different company but haven't properly updated the site to reflect the changes.

Every model I've seen has instructions which specify that one should not sit on or against the heating pad, and that one should place the pad on and not under the "affected body part".

This is bizarre. It seems to be very close to "any plausible use of this device will void its warranty", since most of the pads are definitely not designed to be wrapped around the body nor conveniently attached to it. I've got back pain -- am I supposed to lie on my stomach and try to keep the pad positioned on my back? I've been to physiotherapy sessions and massage sessions in which I was lying on a heating pad -- were those "professional" units?

Hydro guy at door: they're about to cut off electricity for an hour, to replace a transformer.

Not the best weather for it, from several points of view. But I'm glad they gave me a bit of warning.

Over the last couple of days, I've had a strange combination of depression and housebound twitchiness, enough to push me to go through the list of recruiters and job-search sites provided by my former employer. Given my "eclectic" set of skills, I knew that the effort was likely to be frustrating.

(That's not counting the IT recruiter sites with seriously broken systems, of which there are far too many.)

Some sites have drop-down lists allowing me to identify skills which I have and which are in demand. It's disheartening that out of a list of some dozens of desired qualifications, I'm good at one, mediocre at two more, know nothing about any of the rest, have never even heard of at least half.

And now the automated recommendation messages are starting to come in. "Based on the information you provided us, we think that the following positions are good matches for you!" Let's see, I have no experience at all in any of the must-have skills, and the location is 50 km from here. Why exactly is that being recommended? Unsubscribe...

I've got an interview Thursday with another recruiting agency. I'm not holding my breath, but at least it sounds like they'll be filtering their possible positions to match what I might plausibly be able to do.

The Geminid meteor shower should be at its peak right about now. Unfortunately, we've got about 50% cloud cover, reflecting city light and moving quickly -- that motion masks what would otherwise be a tendency for the eye to catch the movement of the meteors.

It's also somewhat cold. And there's a lot of noise out there from snowploughs and other things rumbling and thumping and banging and clattering. Or maybe it's just snowploughs with incompetent operators, smashing into things.

Bedtime. With earplugs.

We regret that we are not responsible for damage to vehicles or loss of articles from vehicles in the parking lot.

I mean, we wanted to do it, there's nothing we enjoy better than a good smash-and-grab, but they're watching us too closely. We had to leave the fun for other people.

Tuesday evening, over dinner with Dad at the "So Good" restaurant, I started with a bit of a cough. It slowly got worse over the evening and night; by the wee hours I had a slightly stuffed nose and my throat was a bit sore. I had a bit of a headache.

It's been off-and-on since then. I haven't been sleeping well; my throat has sometimes felt a bit odd, and when I've swallowed, the wrong bits have come together. My legs have felt slightly wibbly-wobbly (though not timey-wimey, thank goodness) but not painful, and not as bad as the last time I was ill. I have no fever, and I'm feeling better than yesterday -- tired and lethargic, but not particularly fogged. My back and left leg are as they have been lately, which I suppose could be worse. (First physio appointment next week, yay.)

If it weren't for the H1N1 pandemic, I'd just be peeved and frustrated; as it is, I'm very slightly concerned -- my symptoms don't match the usual H1N1 ones very well. But I'm staying warm, indoors, and trying to take it easy and get extra sleep. The walkway to my house can stay snow-covered for a day or two. I'm pretty sure I'll be skipping the OSFS party tomorrow evening, for my own sake and out of courtesy to others. I could use some company and it'd be nice to get out of the house, but whatever I've got, I'll be Scrooge-like and keep it to myself. I love my friends, and they love me, but there are limits.

Okay, I'm a nerd. Type: Trekkie.

Magazine cover -- Cosmo or one of its ilk -- "100% HOTTER SEX!"

And my back-brain's instant response was to quote Cyrano Jones from "The Trouble With Tribbles": "Twice nothing is still nothing."

I need to get a life.

(How would you quantify that, anyway? How do you distinguish it from, say, sex that's only 90% hott— Did I mention that I need to get a life?)

I called the fridge-repair guy recommended by kattale . He and his assistant were here less than a day later, and fixed the problem quickly, and the price seemed quite reasonable. (kattale , he asked me to say hello to you.)

On the other hand... While he was moving the fridge out from its niche, he said something about "it must be female." I said "sorry, what was that?" and he replied that it was being cantakerous and not moving. I was slightly appalled, glanced at his (female) assistant, and said, "I don't think I want to go there." He replied that he was just poking his assistant.

After he'd moved the fridge out, I decided that I might as well clean the floor and wall in the niche -- not that they were particularly dirty, but I figured I should take the opportunity. I mentioned that I'd messed up my back a few months ago, wasn't sure how. He replied "Was she good, at least?" Nonplussed, I replied, "I wish."

So, yeah, I can recommend the guy for his work. Not so much for his conversation.

Can anyone recommend a good refrigerator-repair company that serves Nepean? My fridge seems to be having problems.

After slightly less than a day, my Hallowe'en jack o'lantern was converted to a nice rich soup. Ars brevis, arse longa.

Ginger Pumpkin Soup

1 medium pumpkin (will not all be used; or, 12 cups pumpkin pulp)
water
2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp powdered mustard
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp freshly-ground pepper
250 mL table cream (18% milk fat)
4 eggs

Halve pumpkin; remove seeds. Place halves cut-side down in shallow baking dishes or on cookie sheets with rims; bake for 1 hour at 350°F. Rotate pumpkin halves so cut sides are upward; bake for another ½ hour.

Scoop pumpkin flesh from the rind. Run about ²/₃ of it -- this should be about 12 cups, packed -- through a blender or food processor, adding enough water that the result can flow slowly. (The remaining pumpkin is not needed for this recipe.) Put the result in a large slow cooker; mix in spices and bring to a simmer. If necessary, add more water to give a thick soup. Mix in the cream.

Beat 2 of the eggs, and mix in about the same volume of hot soup, then add the mixture back to the crock put with good stirring. Repeat for the other 2 eggs. Bring back to a simmer.

Serve as-is or over chunks of bread.