kayray.org

I was really worried that I’d be too sick to go to the fair this year, but I started feeling better last week so Dan, Chloe, and I went last Friday, and then Henry and I went again last night! Dan took photos of my Home and Hobby entries, so I’ll have to post those later, but I remembered my camera last night and got a few fun shots. I’ll post some here and then you can see the rest on my flickr.

First thing we did was get fresh Squeezers lemonade, and then we went to the infield to see the Oasis Camel Dairy demo. Very interesting!

And then we looked at the kids’ collections, went through the Music building, got food (Rose’s burritos), and got seats for the Hypnotist show (it’s super-popular so it’s best to get seats about 45 minutes early). The Hypnotist was hilarious, as usual. Then we went through all three commercial buildings, looking at fancy mops and slicer-dicers and all kinds of freaky stuff. Then we walked slowly through the midway, looking at the lights:

And then we went home. We had a great time!

Wow, this updated version of West Side Story is quite clever and very funny! It’s less than 4 minutes long, so give it a try.

“Pandora… I just found a site called Pandora…”

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

17 Sally Lays a Ghost - 00:27:28

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I dreamt about this Sesame Street animation:

Ah, back when Sesame Street was creative and artistic and trippy and The Count was menacing and the grownups thought the Snuffleupagus was imaginary and there weren’t so many squeaky baby-talking muppets…

Back in August of 2008, Shell Crandall and I started a duet recording of a really excellent children’s history book, “The Story of Mankind.” We alternated chapters. The day after we got to Canada, Shell finished up her last few recordings, Anna proofed them, and I did the cataloging, so this fabulous book is ready for you to download!

http://librivox.org/the-story-of-mankind-by-hendrik-van-loon/

I listened to it over and over for about three days straight, while napping upstairs in Montreal. Very soothing. If you like to read along while listening, you can get the plain-jane text at Project Gutenberg, read along with an illustrated e-text at mainlesson.com, or, best of all, buy the lovely thick paperback reprint with original illustrations from Yesterday’s Classics!

I’ll probably put this book up in my podcast feed when “The Adventures of Sally” is finished. I really think everyone will enjoy it.

Hugh and Christine are amazing hosts and always take good care of us. I thought I’d try to remember all the lovely food they made for us so that maybe I can recreate some of it at home. Most nights Hugh grilled the meat and veggies on his gas grill, which we don’t have, but we do have a regular charcoal barbecue (scavenged when some neighbors moved away) and I suppose I could learn to use it.

Let’s see, one night we had pork chops (my favorite), tiny boiled potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Another time it was lovely butcher-shop sausages with homemade crabapple jelly and grilled peppers/eggplant/zucchini and tiny boiled potatoes. I loved those tiny boiled potatoes so much that they fixed them nearly every night.

A couple times we had chicken brochettes - easy ’cause they came from the butcher shop marinated and pre-skewered with veggies. I think our market sells something similar so that would be something to try, perhaps. Dan loved those especially much.

Several times we had grilled asparagus with dinner; I didn’t think Henry would like asparagus but he did! One night we had broccoli rabe, with normal broccoli for the less adventurous. I liked the rabe a lot. I think they fixed it with lemon juice and maybe garlic?

One night Hugh made orzo with chopped tomatoes, green onion, and zucchini. I’d never had orzo before and loved it; it was so good hot for dinner and cold the next day for lunch. Funny how different shapes of pasta taste so different when it’s all just made from the same stuff.

And of course with every meal we had great conversation. Heck, we could have eaten boxed mac-n-cheese every night and if we got to talk with H and C while eating, it would have been just fine. And we always had bread and interesting cheeses after the main course, and then a sweet after that — Christine’s homemade orange cake, peach cake from Cocoa Locale, strawberries… Yum. Christine often took Henry to the cheese shop to help choose after-dinner cheeses for us. He loved that. :)

I’m sure I’m forgetting something delicious. I was feeling so ill most of the time that a lot of the trip is just a blur. Sigh.

Our own Hugh McGuire giving a talk for BooknetCanada on “LibriVox: Time, Love, and Books”

(It’s just audio until about 1:28 in, but after that you get to see Hugh.)

We flew home on Saturday. I was still really sick and constantly coughing so the flight was pretty miserable, but everything went smoothly. The cat was so glad to see us!

Sorry, dear family and friends, that you didn’t get any postcards and presents from Canada this time. I barely ever left the house, and when I did I was too busy coughing to do any shopping.

We all had such a wonderful relaxing time with Hugh and Christine! Here are a few more pictures:

Views from their roof, where they have a container garden and a gazebo. We ate several meals and played lots of games up there:

On Thursday it rained and I felt well enough to take a little walk, so we walked out to get a cake at Cocoa Locale.

Christine, Henry, and Dan:

Cocoa Locale! We bought a little peach cake and some chocolate and lemon cupcakes. YUM.

It’s just a tiny little shop, and the lady bakes right in the front room behind the counter. My flash went off by accident when I took that photo and I nearly died of embarrassment.

One more pretty street:

We played a lot of cards, euchre mostly but also elevator and some Saskatchewan cribbage. We ate and ate and ate, and talked, and knitted, and just relaxed. Christine took the guys bike riding up on Mont Royal — they rented bixis!

We can’t wait to go back someday.

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

16 At the Flower-Garden - 00:43:28

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

We’re on vacation in Montreal! We got here on Saturday but I had a bad sore throat and cough and I’ve been pretty sick ever since so didn’t manage to blog. But I feel a lot better today! We’re staying with Hugh and Christine and having a wonderful time. I’ve been feeling too awful to do much but sleep and lie around but we’ve eaten lots of wonderful food and played cards and talked, and Christine has taken Henry on bike rides and walks for provisions. And we did some knitting yesterday :)

I hope today I will be able to take a little walk in this beautiful city. Here’s the view from the front window:

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

15 Uncle Donald Speaks His Mind - 00:11:58

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I just finished Dan’s second pair of birthday socks!

(Yeah, I ran out of green at the second toe :)

I actually knit two whole pairs in time for his birthday (back in May) but they didn’t fit so I ripped them out and started again. And then I had to finish the little quilt by fair delivery day, so the socks had to wait a bit. But now they’re all done! Here’s the first pair:

(Forgot to knit the ribbing on smaller needles)

Excuse me while I rave about this yarn again — it’s Briggs and Little’s “Tuffy”. It knits up into thick, tough, strong socks that wear like iron. Our Tuffy socks are our absolute favorites. I have two pairs, and Dan now has four! You can buy it from several online stores, but I like to get it from Halcyon. They ship *fast*. They sell it as “Canadian Sock Yarn“. You can squeeze a pair of socks from a single ball of yarn if you make shortish cuffs.

Here are my notes on how I made them:

cast on 40

(Size 1 needles) k2p2 for 8 rounds

(Size 2 needles) 18 rounds stockinet

green stripe pattern (1 green, 1 grey, 3 green, 1 grey, 1 green) then 3 rounds grey

heel flap on 20 for 12 ridges:

Here’s my new favorite heel:

knit across half the stitches from the heel flap. Knit one additional stitch, ssk, knit 1, and turn the work. On the next (wrong side) row, slip 1, purl 3, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn. On the following row, work to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, ssk, knit 1, turn; slip one, purl to within one stitch of the turning point from the previous row, purl 2 together, purl 1, turn.

4 more green stripes, three rounds grey, then toe.

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

14 Mr. Abrahams Re-Engages an Old Employee - 00:45:18

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

This is the opening cinematic for the upcoming Beatles Rock Band game. It starts out cute and charming and lovable, and ends up spectacularly surreal and beautiful. It made me cry.

Go to the official site to see this work of art in HD. Put it on your biggest computer screen and crank it up! Look for all the wonderful little details. You can watch the gameplay trailer there too — they’ve included vocal harmonies!

My god. We’re pre-ordering this for the Wii. How could we not? We can BE THE BEATLES. (BTW, it’s being released on 09-09-09. Number 9, number 9…)

P.S. Can you spot John’s psychedelic Rolls Royce? Henry did! Other things we noticed: the cafe with the sign listing all the Savoy Truffle treats, and a breakfast special “1 & 1 is 2″ (that’s a very obscure rare old song), a yellow submarine, Lucy in the Sky, a mixing board…

Rest in peace, David Carradine; goodbye, Kwai Chang Caine. *sniff*

“…when you can walk its length and leave no trace, you will have learned.”

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

13 Strange Behaviour of a Sparring-Partner - 00:43:15

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I stared a little lap quilt last summer, if you remember. When I was planning my entries for the Fair this year, I thought I might as well finish the quilt and enter it. It’s a sweet little thing. The dates for delivering Home and Hobby entries to the fair were yesterday and today, so the last three or four days I’ve been working non-stop on the little quilt, hoping to get it done in time, and last night I finally finished it! WOOHOO! I pieced it by machine but all the rest was done my hand. My fingers are really sore. I use a thimble on the right middle finger to help shove the needle through the cloth, but the left middle finger gets stabbed a little bit with every single stitch. Yow. My left hand cramped up while I was finishing the edging last night, too.

So in an hour or so I’ll leave for Del Mar to deliver the quilt, the Girasole Blanket, the Alyssum Socks, and the Andean Chullo Hat. Wish me luck :) (Thanks, Mom, for lending me your blanket and your hat. Don’t forget to look for them at the fair! ;-)

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

12 Some Letters for Ginger - 00:18:56

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)

I’ve been having more than my share of freaky dreams lately.

Monday night, I had a Lileks dream. I dreamt I had gone to visit him in Minnesota so we could watch the new Star Trek movie together. He and his little girl showed me around their house, which was a crazy enormous eccentric mansion. There was a room with green flocked wallpaper which matched the green velvet furniture, and a similar yellow room. The kitchen was immense and overlooked the ocean. During the dream, it occurred to me that it might be difficult to get back home to San Diego, but then I realized that if it were a dream, it wouldn’t matter, and if it were real, I could get back home the same way I got to Minnesota. Heh. Never did get to the Star Trek showing — the dream ended after I looked out at the ocean from the kitchen.

Last night I dreamt that Henry was singing in an opera along with his friend Joseph. When I went to the performance, I was asked if I’d like to sing in the chorus. I was taken aback but said, well, ok, if you need another alto. I sat in my seat for a while, then realized that the last thing I wanted was to be in the performance so I went backstage to try to bow out, but the costume lady was already constructing a costume for me, and the vocal coach was ready to run my parts. But I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open, so I lay down on a slanty bit of floor for a rest. And then the alarm went off.

The Adventures of Sally, by P. G. Wodehouse. First published in 1922. Read for you by Kara Shallenberg.

11 Sally Runs Away - 00:17:23

I’ll post another chapter next Monday.

(Impatient? Get the entire audio book for free here: http://librivox.org/the-adventures-of-sally-by-p-g-wodehouse/)