paper craft

ナムコの人気ゲーム「塊魂」（かたまり　だましい）のプレーヤーキャラクタ「王子」を作ってみました

upcoming december holidays (i wanted to get an early start)

december 2007 (courtesy of holiday insights via (one of my FAVORITES bifurcated rivets)

Month:
Bingo Month
Write a Friend Month
Each Day:
1 World Aids Awareness Day
2 Eat a Red Apple Day
2 National Pie Day
3 National Roof over Your Head Day
3 National Fritters Day
4 Santas' List Day - we hope you are on the "Good" list
4 Wear Brown Shoes Day
5 Bathtub Party Day
5 Repeal Day - The 21st Amendment ends Prohibition. I'll drink to that!
6 St. Nicholas Day
6 Mitten Tree Day
6 Put on your own Shoes Day
7 International Civil Aviation Day
7 Letter Writing Day
7 Pearl Harbor Day
7 National Cotton Candy Day
8 National Brownie Day
8 Take it in the Ear Day
9 Christmas Card Day
9 International Children's Day - Second Sunday in December
9 National Pastry Day
10 Human Rights Day
11 National Noodle Ring Day
12 National Ding-a-Ling Day
12 Poinsettia Day
13 Ice Cream Day
13 Violin Day
14 National Bouillabaisse Day
15 Bill of Rights Day
15 National Lemon Cupcake Day
16 National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
17 National Maple Syrup Day
18 Bake Cookies Day
18 National Roast Suckling Pig Day
19 Look for an Evergreen Day
19 Oatmeal Muffin Day
20 Eid-Ul-Adha - date varies
21 Forefather's Day
20 Go Caroling Day
21 Humbug Day
21 National Flashlight Day
21 Look on the Bright Side Day
22 National Date Nut Bread Day - or September 8!?
23 Roots Day
24 National Egg Nog Day
25 Christmas Day
25 National Pumpkin Pie Day for recipes see Pumpkin Nook 's Cookbook
26 Boxing Day
27 Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
27 National Fruitcake Day
28 Card Playing Day
28 National Chocolate Day
29 Pepper Pot Day
30 National Bicarbonate of Soda Day
31 Make Up Your Mind Day
31 New Year's Eve
31 Unlucky Day

todays video is:

the knitting drummer! (he's pretty cool if you ax me)


The Knitting Drummer - Funny video clips are a click away

website of the day

radical cross stitch

check out fuldesign for some REALLY different patterns (like this one)

it's in swedish (i think) but the patterns TRANSLATE my peeps!

i bought this yesterday

and can't WAIT for it to arrive

it's called purple snowbride and it's from luxe's shop on etsy

i can't WAIT to get it! check out her other hand spun yarns (and she has a few hand knit items up as well).

strange dolls

one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE doll sites. i think beth robinson's work is simply AMAZING

(her ravens are my favorite. she has some KICK ASS spiders out there right now too. please check her out)

strange dolls.net

paper artist of the week

jen stark

pretty cool, n'est pas?

medieval mary knits

knit your bit

for veterans. all scarves DO go to veterans

knit your bit, national world war ii museum

(directions for the scarf at the link. also directions for crochet)

knitting and crocheting - to make YOU feel good

(and to make someone ELSE feel good as well)

warm up america

my dia de los muertos skull-by jean

it's crocheted, felted and embroidered. the pictures don't do it justice (it's stuffed with my fuzzy blue sock in one of the pictures). it is SOOOOOOOOOOOO wicked cool. thanks jean!

from dina taimina

and her husband david henderson

hyperbolic crochet

stamps

the postal service is offering a set of winter stamps featuring KNITTING! way cool, huh

For the 2007 holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service will issue Holiday Knits, four stamps featuring classic Christmas-time imagery designed and machine knitted by nationally known illustrator Nancy Stahl: Thereýs a dignified stag; a snow-dappled evergreen tree; a perky snowman sporting a top hat; and a whimsical teddy bear.

rainbow saturday october 20 2007

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm PASTA (with special sauce)

this was inspired by mark bittman (the minimalist)

Serving Pasta? Forget What You Learned

and his Recipe: Pasta With Winter Squash and Tomatoes

i made a few changes based on MY likes and of course what i had on hand. if you make this in the summer you can use FRESH tomatoes of course

1 large can of tomatoes (whatever. they can be chopped or whole or whatever YOU like)

1 box of pomi tomatoes

1 T of balsamic vinegar

onion (I used a vidalia. chopped. however much YOU like)

1 large sweet potato shredded

1 cup of dried mushrooms and a few sun dried tomatoes (whatever. i used black trumpet, oyster, porcini and morels. OR you can use fresh if you have them. i didn't happen to. my sun dried tomatoes do NOT come packed in oil. they are in fact, just dry)

Olive Oil

herbs and spices dried or fresh (i used basil, sea salt, a few flakes of hot red pepper, just a TAD of freshly grated nutmeg, oregano)

a bay leaf or two

1 T of sugar (optional. use it if your tomatoes aren't sweet)

pasta of your choice

rinse off dried mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes. pour boiling water over them and let sit 20 minutes or so. in a bit of olive oil, saute chopped or diced or minced onion for a couple of minutes. toss in the shredded sweet potato and saute (stirring constantly so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot) a couple of minutes more. add the tomatoes and vinegar and stir. then add the bay leaves and herbs and spices. put mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes in with a bit of their liquid. (save the rest of the liquid. as your sauce cooks down, if it's too thick for you add more mushroom liquid). turn heat down and simmer anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, stirring on occasion.

cook pasta and top with sauce! there you have it AND VEGAN TOO

are you a fan of knitting AND dr who?

well then have i got a project for you

daleks / extermikit

hat tip to boing boing

it's cool stuff day here at the reformed pirate

so check out the cool stuff from the sarut group

(jump rope, tweezers, cake server, garden rake, toaster)

beautiful bead of the day

iris (coincidentially named after my favorite flower)

lollipop

urban fairies

build urban fairy doors

knitter (well, ARTISTE) of the day

agano-machiko

or if you prefer

Machiko Agano

happy halloween

googhoul.com

web site of the day

TONS AND TONS o' STUFF. look around

flat rock

Far Away from Home

Welcome!
Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.
- Kurt Vonnegut
This site grew (and grew!) out of an investigation into a disastrous investment in New Zealand forests. It has morphed into a reference site covering a variety of topics.
Sympathy would be appreciated for the difficulty in categorising the hundreds of articles this site contains - at least until I can migrate off FrontPage and start using something flexible enough to allow more real-time operations.
For example, when students visit prisons, take drugs, or have their values tested, where would these stories be filed? Where do I put animals found in Wellington? Information and technology professionals given preferential immigration status? Does an article about patriarchy belong in Politics, Society/Culture or Men?
You get the idea.
Below is a computer rendering of the "shape" of this website followed by a few words on the navigation structure. I add new items almost daily. Usually I stuff them in where they seem to relate best, which may make them difficult to find. (If they're important, I'll put a link to it from the home page "News" column.) Suggestions for a better way to organise things would be gratefully received.........

the boop

image: liketelevision.wordpress.com/2005/03/

cool

a felted candy corn bag. original crochet instructions found at lion brand

converted (for knitting and loom knitting) at purling sprite

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmochi


and more mochi

the mother bear project

the reformed pirate will now and again mention some volunteer activities you can get involved in.

this one is

The Mother Bear Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children, primarily those affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of hand-knit and crocheted bears.

The response has been overwhelming, with people wanting to help from all over the world. Thousands of patterns have been distributed, and wonderful bears have been received from people of all ages, backgrounds and knitting abilities. It has brought people together to do something kind in the face of a horrible problem......

.........To date, 21,330 bears have been sent to South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi, Botswana, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and other countries as we find out more about children in need.........

all of the info needed is on the website. c'mon now, let's start knitting bears (or even crocheting them). you can make a donation too if you want

artists of the day

walter martin and paloma munoz

1994 gt9

is NOW 7307 takei

cool huh!

Group Renames Asteroid for George Takei

By SAMANTHA GROSS
NEW YORK (AP) — George Takei already had a place among the stars in the minds of millions of "Star Trek" fans. Now he's taking up permanent residence as the namesake of the asteroid formerly known as the 1994 GT9.
The asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter, has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, who is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series.
"I am now a heavenly body," Takei said Tuesday, laughing. "I found out about it yesterday. ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky — just like an asteroid."
The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids are already named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.............

cool tree of the day

Strange tree at the Byzantine monastery
picture: bullard.esc.cam.ac.uk/.../Greece_Trip_12_04.htm

if you could do ANYTHING

in the whole wide world, what would it be? i'll bet you're JUST like me AND would immediately enroll in an online yodeling course