The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Debbie:

albatross @32 -- my mom has worked at polling sites for a number of years. We were talking about the long lines* on election day. She noted that things would have gone even more slowly if people had actually stopped to consider every item on their ballot. It seemed pretty clear that they were zipping in and out after 'only' voting the Presidential item. Still, I'm encouraged that there was more voter turnout.

Regarding voting the whole ballot, I don't vote for everything/everyone because I vote absentee, and haven't lived in Florida for over 20 years. There are some things I feel I just don't have a stake in anymore, and couldn't realistically make an informed choice.

*interesting reaction from one of my ESL students on the day after the election: He had seen pictures of the long lines on TV, and said it made it appear as if officials were completely unprepared for the number of voters.

Ginger -- how large are the tags? If they're not too large, they could possibly be used to make knitting stitch markers. Larger -- wind chimes? Key chains? (I personally like the chain mail idea.)

abi @28 -- thanks to German TV, they're way "ahead" of the Netherlands here concerning Halloween. Trick* or treating isn't done, but a lot of teens have costume parties.

I find it kind of disappointing. Similar to the Netherlands, they celebrate St. Martin's in just a couple of weeks. It's a lovely holiday, but also a quiet one, and it admittedly appeals to younger children.

(Not that I dislike Halloween! It just doesn't feel right here. I once won a prize for a costume: I concocted a penguin suit out of a Goodwill men's suit jacket, an old sheet, and yellow scrubbing gloves. Didn't speak to anyone at the party, and the friends who'd brought me didn't spill the beans. I won in the category "best disguised person" and the prize was a bottle of wine -- sans label.)

*We woke up with a window egged today :(

Kathryn @47 --

If Finland were voting, it (or at least its high-tech crowd) would go 99% Obama.

JESR -- OK, so it's a taste kick because of the cyanide/bitter almond taste. I didn't realize that cherry stones have cyanide, too. Although now that I think about it, I have a pillow filled with cherry stones. You're supposed to warm it up and use it like a hot water bottle. And when it's warm it has a distinct bitter almond aroma.

JESR @299 and Xopher @301 -- what exactly do you mean by "cyanide kick"? Is that part of the flavor experience, or are psychoactive effects involved? (Hmm. Maybe a fruitcake soaked in absinthe?)

@hedgehog 244 -- *waves from near Düsseldorf*:

Here are a few random ideas if you only have an evening or so of free time. You might want to go to the top of the Fernsehturm (TV tower). Lovely view. The Medienhafen quarter has a lot of interesting architecture. The Altstadt (walking distance from the Hauptbahnhof,) has a nice atmosphere, and there are a lot of pubs serving Düsseldorf's specialty beer, Altbier.

Interestingly, Düsseldorf also has a lot of Japanese restaurants; this is the center of Japanese business in Germany, if not Europe. Most of them are also pretty near the Hauptbahnhof, although I can't give you a specific recommendation.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more specific interests.

Ideas: far too many, including the skills to execute some of them.

After a hiatus, I recently started sewing for myself again. A big source of motivation was a dress form I received for Christmas, and (finally!) decent space to set my sewing machine up. I got my feet wet with a summer dress, featuring both lining and a zipper -- scary, but highly successful.

My VIP WIP* at the moment is a knitted waistcoat which I am designing. It features Fair Isle with a graphic I thought up, and pointed front hem. It will not be what I envisioned (made some mistakes with the colors), but it may turn out to be fine just the same. If that's not a successful adventure, what is?

I really wouldn't want to (have to) make everything in my life, but I simply couldn't imagine living without creating things. And sometimes, adding an extra touch to the mundane (hello, dinner prep) is what makes it bearable.

*Work-in-Progress

From my mom:
Advice on driving -- (1) Always let the idiots get ahead of you; (2) Don't brake on a curve or pass on a hill.

General -- This too shall pass.

Sam Kelly @87 -- (beith-prime) Those that are inexplicably missing a small number of crucial pages right at the end of the book, or at least after you have been thoroughly hooked.

(beith- sub-prime*) Those that are explicably missing a small number of crucial pages. It is reprehensible, but understandable, why someone ripped out THOSE poems in the anthology.



*no, not books about mortgages

(aleph-null) Those which you loved as a child and which you save or buy for your children, among which

(aleph-null+1) some stand the test of time and child, and are loved in the next generation. Fox in Socks and My Side of the Mountain

(aleph-null+2) some don't. Heidi

Marilee @663 -- Zowie!

R.M. Koske -- indeed. *g* Unintentional, but not a bad coincidence. For the record, I'm not radically for or against either disemvowelling or deletion. Both are good tools, depending both on the mods and the community. Bacchus upthread uses deletion very, very usefully, but in discussions here, it would be disastrous (barring barely imaginable, appalling-but-necessary exceptions).

As far as the NYT article -- dear God. What a perfect example of how a subculture can adversely affect fantasies and actions.

Knitters!

http://www.knittinghelp.com has fantastic resources, including many useful videos. This page shows how various increases look, and links to vids on how to do them. (Sadly, not for combined knitting, but you still get to see the essential motions.)

Sllq n Mdrtn

T dlt r nt t dlt: tht s th qstn:
Whthr 'ts nblr n th mnd t sffr
Th slngs nd rrws f trgs pstng,
r t tk rms gnst s f trbls,
nd b dltng nd thm?
T dlt: t frgt;
N mr: nd b dltn t s w nd
Th hrt-ch dn th thsnd ntrl shcks
Tht flsh s hr t -- 'ts cnsmmtn
Dvtl t b wsh'd?

Tacos. Srsly.

Or do you mean finding the German?

I read this post shortly before bedtime last night. And promptly dreamed that I thought I had put a golfball* in my pocket, and when I reached in to take it out, I took out an avulsed eyeball instead. Well, except it wasn't attached to anything, so it technically wasn't avulsed anymore, but I actually saw the word flashing next to the eyeball.

My reaction to information like this is similar to Clifton Royston's @12, and I've fainted at the sight of blood/trauma (my own and others') several times. Makes me so damn mad. My mind starts going into full coping mode, and then my sympathetic (?) nervous system just takes over. Meh.

*Must have been the use of the word "divot"

Lance @275 -- Yum. Sounds like you scored well. Thank you for 'sharing'.

Lance Weber @267 -- it very much depends on which part of Belgium you're talking about, the Flemish north or the French south. The two halves....tend not to like each other, so any sort of French or Flemish slur (sorry, nothing specific here) would be offensive. This site will probably get you further.

I can has artisan cheese?

I note that Mr. Cox responded to a blog comment on another site. In doing so, he quoted a commenter. His quote contained 16 (!!) words. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I will also be fascinated to hear details about the "hundreds of cases" he alleges to have assisted in. No, actually, he said "we." Royal? Inclusive? Imagined?

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