Ficts

Did I mean Facts? One would think this book has been properly vetted, but some of these facts seem outrageous. So I am calling them Ficts, which has the same number of letters as Facts but suggests a certain... Fictive quality.

Here is a sampling. (For the record, I believe the ficts about Kingsley Amis, Starbucks, and Thoureau. And Disneyland.)

In Paraguay, dueling is legal if both participants are registered blood donors.
-- The Guardian World Cup 2006 Guide

The poet laureate of the United Kingdom is entitled to "a butt of sack per annum" -- 110 gallons of Spanish sherry, or about 630 bottles, each year.
-- Prospect Research

By the late 1970's, Kingsley Amis was spending 1,000 pounds a month on scotch.
-- Bookforum, February/March 2008

Starbucks bought 37 percent of Costa Rica's entire coffee crop in the 2004-05 season.
-- The Economist, April 1, 2006

Henry David Thoreau once burned down three hundred acres of forest trying to cook a fish he had caught for supper.
-- The Times, April 17, 2003

The length of time from invention to application of the ballpoint pen was fifty-eight years; for the zipper, it was thirty-two years.
-- U.K. Department of Trade and Industry

In the UK, the most effective musical deterrents to loiterers and vandals are anything sung by Pavarotti or written by Mozart.
-- The Economist, January 8, 2005

Until the late 1960s, men with long hair were not allowed to enter Disneyland.
-- Prospect Research

Adorable Snow Monster

Where I live we hardly ever get snow - at most one fall a year that disappears within 24 hours. So it was very exciting when we got proper snow a couple of weeks ago that lasted a whole week! With the children off school what could I do (apart from going sledging) but make a snow creature?

I present: the Adorable Snow Monster. He's related to the Abominable Snowman, but clearly he can't possibly be described as abominable - he's only seven inches tall for a start! Also, he's not a man, he's definitely a monster, though he's more likely to hug you than scare you. He has a fat little tummy, soft white fur and short, stubby legs. He loves the snow - those big, six-fingered hands are perfect for making snowballs, and he's really looking forward to the Winter Olympics.

Not my usual stuff, but I came across a contest for equipment for making wooden signs. Need to make some for the dogs.

Golden Dragonet

I made this last autumn for a 'Dragonriders of Pern' swap on Craftster. The series of books by Anne McCaffrey, which are about dragons and their riders, also feature miniature dragons, or firelizards, which make very intelligent pets. I tried to make my crochet version roughly life-size as they are described in the books, although I think she's quite young. Golden ones are the queens and consider themselves the most important!



It took quite a long time to work out the right dimensions and shape while I was crocheting her, and I remade the wings about four times! I think this will be my next project to write up as a pattern, so I'll have to start making it again soon. I will do a few variations for the details on the head - shape of the eyes, ears or horns, and so on. Hopefully it won't take me too long.

The Week in Review

Here, in no particular order, is a list of good things about the week:

Pesto pizza from Georgio's.

Watching The Brothers Bloom with Thad.

Walking in the Baker Wood Lot with Shanna and Gumbo and Gibson.

Watching Gibson and Gumbo chase each other around a beech tree.

Listening to Tommy play with Legos in the hallway upstairs. Hearing his knees shuffle across the floor, hearing bits of his narration and his various sound effects for helicopters and motercycles, hearing small wheels roll across the floor...

Listening to three boys play with Legos in the hallway upstairs. Listening to them plot, organize, compromise.

Eavesdropping on Tommy's piano lesson.

Watching 4th grade basketball.

Sealing up envelopes stuffed with poetry submissions. Dropping envelopes into the mail box.

Reading to Tommy before bed.

Baking scones for the teachers' luncheon.

Reading Greg Rappleye's poems in the new issue of Shenandoah.

Sunshine.

Snow.

Shoveling.

Dust motes.

Smell of coffee.

Creaks in the floorboards.

Turquoise Smartwool socks.

Winter