So sorry for the radio silence, Dear Readers. I love the blog and all a’ y’all as much as ever but, you know, Life and How It Sucketh. That, and I haven’t been knitting much because:
a) I haven’t been knitting much
b) The sock I was making for my friend in Ottawa—which I had already restarted—got Bennified. He chewed the yarn apart and mangled one of the needles. I still haven’t gotten past the state of rolling my eyes, shaking my head and slumping my shoulders when I look at it, all of which, in combination, are not conducive to knitting.
c) The Good-Enough Gansey is getting to the point where calculations are required, starting with a converting a mess o’ centimeter measurements to inches, and then cobbling together gauge information and body measurements and measurements from two different patterns and trying to understand how my fabric is going to behave once blocked, and whenever I get close to calculations and math and anything that involves solving for “x”—inertia sets in.
d) The carpal tunnel has been a real bear.
Oh, and not to mention that I’ve been as sick as a dawg for the last four days. Hack! Cough! Snort! Gasp! Lovely...
Oh, and not to mention that I’m supposed to leave for the cruise tomorrow at 6 a.m. and majorly important cruise-like things like, oh, buying clothes, are yet to be done (see “sick/dawg” above).
Interesting thing about the cruise. (As an aside, for those of you of the straight persuasion who may not be in the know, Olivia is, in their own words, “the largest promoter of lesbian travel and services in the world, chartering entire ships, resorts and tours ranging from intimate boutique voyages in the Galapagos and France to Caribbean cruises on ships holding 2,000 women.”) When I was thinking about the cruise, because I tend to be unrealistically egalitarian and Pollyanna-ish, I was worrying that it might be uncomfortable for the stewards, cabin people and servers and such, many of whom come from conservative, Third-World countries, to be stuck on a boat with 2,000 lesbians. I thought surely there would be an uptick in staff suicides or, at the very least, food and drink would be served to us from quite far away, using tongs; a phalanx of cleaning staff would follow us wherever we went, wearing face masks and sanitizing things as quickly as we touched them, used them or sat on them; and amulets would appear in strange places in our staterooms. Quite the opposite, apparently. From what I’ve gathered from the Oliva forums, the cruise staffs bid quite heatedly against each other to be on the Olivia cruises, because they say the passengers are more happy, helpful, and generous than most, and the fact that we’re lesbians don’t make them no never mind. I think that’s spectacular. And it makes me feel better to know we’re not weirding out the people around us.
So, it’s Fort Lauderdale tomorrow—which means I can put a 23rd notch on my State Belt; très exciting, perhaps a little more than it would be for a normal person—and the Caribbean on Sunday. Dunno if I’ll be able to post while I’m gone because I hear Internet access on the boat is spendy and spotty, but I will try.
Note to self: Remember to pack Courage heart.
Toodles for now, Dear Readers!
Man...I want to go on a lesbian cruise! (Somehow, I think my husband would object. )
I hope you have an awesome time...so exciting!
Posted by: Imbrium on November 20, 2008 12:02 PMWoo Hoo! Bon voyage! Have fun, let yer hair down, have a good time!
Posted by: Bertalou on November 20, 2008 01:15 PMI want to go on a lesbian cruise too and my husband wouldn't object at all - if he gets to come along too. :)
Have an absolutely FAB time! I hope it's everything you're hoping for.
*hugs*
Posted by: (formerly) no-blog-rachel on November 20, 2008 01:27 PMI've been sick with an evil cold since Tuesday. Coincidence?
Posted by: Becca on November 20, 2008 02:34 PMBecca, I think NOT coincidence but you can blame one of my employees who brought it back with her from North Carolina.
So, so sorry. (Wince.)
Posted by: Ryan on November 20, 2008 02:37 PMAh, good! I was just getting worried about you.
You know, in my pre-monastic days, I might have bid pretty heavily to be on this cruise, too.
And how come you're just making one sock for your Ottawa friend? This a gag gift?
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on November 20, 2008 05:47 PMBon voyage!
Posted by: ccr in MA on November 20, 2008 06:03 PMUm... some cruise ships don't let anyone one who has been sick in the past three weeks, or something like that. You may want to investigate. Good luck.
Posted by: =Tamar on November 20, 2008 06:29 PMill trade you your cold and cruise for my broken arm and no knitting -- which explains this lousy typing -- and i dont think the hubby would care at all where i was or if it were straight or gay at this point lol he is getting tired of the whole care thing and there are weeks and weeks of it to go
Posted by: rho1640 on November 20, 2008 08:00 PMAn OLIVIA cruise, no less! That's like...the holy grail of lesbian cruises or something!
(You have to understand that, straight married girl though I may be, my mother sang in lesbian coffee houses during my formative years and Cris Williamson and Ferron made up much of my college soundtrack. So, you know, "Olivia' still means something. Glad to hear they're still around.)
Or is that TMI?
;-)
Have a FABULOUS time!
Posted by: Lynn in Tucson on November 20, 2008 09:57 PMBon Voyage and have a great time. I bet you will, new clothes or not.
Posted by: KarenJoSeattle on November 21, 2008 03:40 AMI hope you have a fantastic time and come home rested and refreshed.
Posted by: anna on November 21, 2008 05:50 AMHave a FANTASTIC trip! Write about it when you get home--LIVE it while you are on board.
Posted by: Janine on November 21, 2008 06:42 AMOh my goodness, how did I forget you're going on a cruise??? Hopefully you're feeling up to par and well on your way. I'm vigorously wishing you a very happy, relaxing vacation.
Posted by: ~Lori on November 21, 2008 06:46 AMGlad I'm not the only one who heads into another project when faced with trying to figure out the mathematics of things. I just frogged the entire bottom of a sweater (I decided I couldn't live with the ribbing at the bottom, or rather the way that a too short ribbing was allowing the bottom to curl). I think my obsessiveness may have to do with the fact that I was at the "decision point" for what to do with the yoke. I don't have quite enough of one dye lot to get all the way to the top, but every set of color patterns I've experimented with seem like a pain to fit into the mathematics of it. Of course it's complicated by being a sweater in the round. Somehow figuring out color patterns is easier in flat knitting (SIGH).
Hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: Liz on November 21, 2008 01:39 PMHave a great trip! I wanna be a lesbian just to join in the fun (see the other notes about husbands objecting)!
Posted by: Seanna Lea on November 21, 2008 01:57 PMBon Voyage! I too want to go on a cruise where the passengers are happier and helpful.
I feel your pain over the sock/yarn/needle fiasco. A brand new Lantern Moon circular was destroyed within 4 hours of entering the house. Hubby still does not understand why "sanding down the bitten places and one end will just be smaller" doesn't work...
Posted by: daisy in the shenandoah valley on November 21, 2008 03:44 PMI learned long ago to avoid any knitting that contains the wicked Maths - because long ago I learned NO maths, wicked or otherwise. The hand-held calculator is personal gift from God to ME. Your cruise sounds heavenly - if I ever sell the great American Novel or win the Lottery (about equal chances) I'm SO sending my cherished sister and her partner - and I'll go along because, you know, I wanna. (My husband won't object.) I'll rest content at home, waiting to hear ALL about it - I'm the Queen of Living Vicariously and I *lurves* it. Bon Voyage!
Posted by: dale-harriet in WI on November 22, 2008 09:32 AMI'm a bit late due to my own travel, but I hope you had a fabulous time! Can't wait to hear about it.
Posted by: Kristen on November 23, 2008 07:15 PMHope you are having a GREAT time! I remember when Olivia made records, not cruises...
Posted by: CarolineF on November 24, 2008 05:02 AMHope you're having a fabulous time, wish we were there. :-)
Posted by: Gwyndolyn O'Shaughnessy on November 26, 2008 04:30 PM