darkitysnark

I've got some ideas on what the secret word(s) should be. Maybe Mr. Aviator glasses fancies himself a mini-Hunter S.?

Oops. Wrong show. Recall the comic/histrionic tableaux competing families assumed at the beginning of that old gameshow mainstay, The Family Feud. If the DarkityFam were to pose thusly, Snarky believes she and her mother would be in the shouldn't-be-funny-but-really-is Mexican standoff mutual strangle-hold position. Of course Snarky loves DarkityMa. She is cute (her hair grew back with a vengance and is curly of all things!) and cuddly and has a wicked sense of humor. She also can't stay still without cleaning and can hold on to grudges for decades. After some of the stories her parents have told the Snarks this past weekend about DarkityPauPau (DarkityGrandma) Snarky understands where the grudge thing comes from (and is starting to understand her own inability to just. Let. It. Go.) Still, DarkityMa made Snarky cry. Snarky is considerably quick to tears (just watch her during holiday commercials), but these were bitter, angry, angsty, uncontrollable tears that Snarky hasn't cried since probably shortly after the onset of puberty. How does she do it? Tonight is the Snarks' last night with the DarkityFam. Right now DarkityMa and Pa are meeting with the Snarks' realtor to discuss the local housing market, and to decide whether they want to move here sooner or later. On the balance Snarky would love for her parents to move closer. But there is the niggling, teenaged part of her that chafes a little at the idea -- it is all for entirely selfish reasons. Both of them are shockingly older than Snarky remembers them, and she wants to be able to take care of them without spending a day flying down to get to them. Another enlightening revelation from this weekend is the fact that even Snarky's parents feel a sort of disconnect with the Chinese-American communities out there. They all have a healthy appreciation for the food and culture, but don't really care so much for the people... if that makes any sense at all. Snarky has found many of her "racial" contemporaries to be rather materialistic and overly driven to max out the monetary measuring stick. The Darkity'Rents moving to Portland would appease the rest of DarkityMa's clan in the Bay Area enough (hey, they're in the same time zone at least!) and still give them enough cushion from all the daily drama. Not to mention the $$$housing costs$$$. Along with all these eye-opening conversations have been wonderful retellings of family lore. Snarky's mother and father both come from families that were greatly affected by the Japanese occupation as well as the Cultural Revolution. Both families were at some point split up during their exodus to Hong Kong, and the struggles and horrors they faced have left scars that decorate their combined pasts just as prominently as weddings, births, graduations, and other accomplishments. Most days Snarky lives her life in the now without any sense of her history or the larger picture. Perhaps it would be good to have the touchstones of her parents closer by so that she can keep all of those lives and stories in mind. She just needs to get thicker skin first.

Absence really does make the heart grow fonder for the Darkities. DarkityBro also moved out of the house at 15 and never went back. While the 'rents were still in the Southeast he managed to get into school in Illinois (his original plan was to go to Berkeley, can't get much more West than that) and is now stationed smack in downtown Chicago. Snarky got used to being part of the family that triangulates, but she will also adjust if needed to be the daughter-just-down-the-street. But onlin if needed.

Thank you! Valentina's perspective, as always, helps to put a better light on the situation. The DarkityFam is making its way back to Texas for now. They had a good meeting with the realtor and even almost looked at an ideal-sounding house up the hill... but they suddenly realized that if they were to make an offer on a house now they'd also have to figure out how to move all of their stuff right away. That put the kibbosh on impulsive cross-country relocation. The Snarks had a wonderful last dinner with them last night, and a good conversation (no more mah jong, thank goodness) afterwards. The belief now is that perhaps in the next couple-three years, the DarkityFam will make its way to the Pacific Northwest permanently, and that's find by the Snarks. Snarky left home when she was fifteen and never really came back. Sometimes she wonders if her mother's ability to keep old grudges so strong and fresh in her mind is also what sometimes keeps her from seeing Snarky as a full-grown woman. They parted with a better understanding of eachother after their minor blow up. Perhaps both of them are maturing a bit after all.

First off... awwww. Newlyweds! Y'all make me smile. Garter stitch (in the context of a flat knitted piece)=nothing but knitting OR nothing but purling. If you alternate knitting a row, then purling a row, and so on, you get "stockinette stitch", which looks like v's on one side and purl bumps on the other side. Garter stitch looks like ridges of purl bumps to me. This is looser than the "reverse stockinette" since the purl bumps are separated by a row of v's, you just can't see them too well since they don't bump out like the purl bumps do. HOWEVER, in the context of a piece knitted in the round, you have to alternate knitting and purling rounds in order to get the same effect. Kind of confusing, I know. In fact, just ignore this paragraph for now. Until you start knitting socks. Then come back here again. Clear as mud? I'm a much better shower than a teller with my knitting. If I jump on the Carnavale, you totally have dibs on my trading cards. PS Glad you are enjoying the socks! I loved making yours so much I've been trying to figure out how to get The Mister into some homemade socks, and he's got ginormous feet!

Ha! We need to start a contest: how many comments until someone pulls the "cornhole card". That is one mighty handsome cat fella you have there, by the by. He looks like he doesn't suffer fools (which he didn't).

<aside> After one of our massive house dusting/mopping/reorganizing throw downs, The Mister will put his hands on his hips and intone in a falsetto Southern accent: "This house is clea-yah". He's really way too good at it. </aside> Alls I remember about that actress is that her character in "Picket Fences" died by falling in to a chest freezer.

Yeesh! Any one of those contacts any given day would be enough to put a little funk in my trunk (and not in the good way) but all at once like a big ol' Crabbypantsing snowball? Blerg. I also go the clown route, but I'm a really dark and depressing sort of clown. My ridicule is most often reserved for myself in a complicated game of "one-down-man-ship" between me and the rest of the world. "Oh you think you've got it rough? Well let me tell you about my troubles in a hilarious, and yet slightly discomforting, way." Maybe a little dip back in the introverts' cave will help you to recoup psychic balance.

<tangent> There was a woman on my flight from PDX to SFO with hair frosted to within an inch of its life, talking away on her pink Motorola Slvr phone (or whatever it's called) with everyone she knew, wearing gold kitten heeled shoes, proudly displaying obnoxious "helpless female" behavior, and, yeah, wait for it, french manicured feet. BLAH! </tangent> I'm more of a fall/winter girl, but I agree with inkdarkmoon, you've made me actually wistful for a season I'm usually rushing to get through. Because I have strange, grab what you can out of the pile in the basement (because we haven't organized our CDs yet) musical taste, my wistful/introspective soundtrack is currently peppered with the likes of Lyle Lovett, XTC, Tori Amos, and Neko Case. And of course They Might Be Giants. My youth was spent being impressively histrionic in small bursts that left no aftertaste. There are few things I regret other than not having been more "of the moment" at the time of various milestone events. I've always had a niggling sense of potential detachment running through my life like a binding thread. Like I'm really the audience to my life's play. Hm. Well I just talked myself into a really thinky place. PS just wanted to add, because otherwise this comment is just All About Me, that I really admire you for being a well rounded deep thinker/feeler. More than that, you can put those percolating thoughts and emotions to words that communicate it to the rest of us. This post is a perfect example of that.

Don't tell me these things! lalalalala... not hearing you! This opens up a whole new can o' worms! (Dangit. Now I've got to revise my listy lists.)

Much to her (and her checkbook's) chagrin, Snarky has developed a taste for LE's. In keeping with her sporadic - if not downright sparse-to-non-existant - BPAL purchasing/swapping habits, she's probably a couple-three updates behind everyone else in the taste testing. Case and point? Her current go-to scent is Bearded Lady. Her first great love was French Creole. Luckily her day-to-day scent is the comfortably GC Tombstone (albeit combined with a breath of single note sweet clove thanks to minilux). The Mister insists that all of her BPAL at the end of the day smells like band-aids, so this is purely an exercise in selfish hedonism for her. (Though he does respond positively to just-applied Bearded Lady. For a man indifferent to most BPAL, he sure does have rarified taste!) Snarky's new job (which, IEEEE! ) comes with many benefits. She keeps herself awake at night just imagining how it will feel to actually look forward to work - something she hasn't honestly done in years. But the job comes with a substantial pay cut. This is admittedly made up for by the inherent awesomeness of her new company and the possibilities that will be open to her in this new field of work, but at face value less moolah is less moolah. And with less moolah (and the Snarks' joint checking account) Snarky is feeling the pinch on her already fairly anemic impulse buying budget. The emergency flight Back East, her parents' impending arrival (tomorrow night!!) and the upcoming five-day cruise have and will also drain their resources a bit. But Snarky has perspective: they are not hungry. They are not drowning in debt. She has plenty of clothes and yarn and, to be honest, BPAL to last quite a while. She could make a large (for her) order and not break the bank. Still... she wants to celebrate her new direction. So she's going to make a list. It isn't a wishlist so much as a... well, it's just a list. Sometimes Snarky just has to indulge her Cappy tendencies and organize her pipe dreams. slipped through the fingers -Hungry Ghost Moon -Chrysanthemum Moon constant craving -Faustus goin' a-courtin' -Mme. Moriarty -Organ Grinder -Pumpkin Queen -Count Dracula -Wilhelmina Murray, maybe (Snarky is, after some fashion, named after this character, afterall - but currants + Snarky = weird fruitiness) -Dr. John Seward Ugh. Snarky is really not trying to make this some whiny-pantsed post. She is thrilled to pieces that the Lab continues to mesmerize and delight (exponentially it seems lately). So she'll settle for being happy for everyone who is taking part (and maybe she'll sneak in a wee ickle order of her own under The Mister's nose... so to speak.)

I think I like the Halloween LE's more in concept than in actual practice. As much as I like smelling foody scents on other people, on me they come off as... hunger inducing? Kinda distracting. My itchy trigger finger gets... itchier 'round the Yule updates. Having said that, I'm still really tempted by Dr. Seward (ditto on the movie's interpretation of him... his torment far outstripped whatever poor Keanu could muster around his disappearing/reappearing accent). And of course Wilhelmina, because of that whole namesake thing.

Snarky's new job is as an office monkey for the sales department of a manufacturer of art supplies. Eventually she wants to work her way up and in to a new department they are developing that would bring her architectural training in to play. From all accounts, this is a good company to work for, that encourages personal growth in its employees and tends to promote from within. Again, IEEEE! The engineers at the Cracker Factory have been giving Snarky and extremely hard time, though. She tempted to skip out on a few days of her two week notice to spent time with her parents. Even if they revert back to being snippity and guilt-trippy it would be better than the constant ribbing she's been getting. It's like they're going through the five stages of grief!

SCORE! What wonderful finds. Even without the plates (but c'mon... plates!) those are all great finds (and neat places in which to find them). When you figure out how to mount those wee-ickle three inch plates, let me know. We want to line them up above door-and-archways, but I don't want to set up a bunch of tiny plate shelves and the plate hangers I've found don't go that small... super glue?!?

Hm... "Halloweenie", y'say? I'm imagining a Chicago Style hotdog with a halo and beautific expression.

I am twelve.

When I win the lottery, inkdarkmoon and I are gonna pick you up in my private jet and sweep you off to the Amalfi coast to my knitting retreat and we'll sort this all out. You don't need to learn how to purl right away. I know folks who have made it their mission to avoid purling as much as possible... Are you a better "learn from seeing in person" type crafter, or can you teach yourself from books? I started off with books ("Knitting for Dummies" because I lurve my "For Dummies" library) and graduated to bugging more experienced knitters at my local Stitch 'n Bitch for tips/techniques when things got more complicated. Take a deep breath. Once you get over this first hurdle (and it took me three tries to get over the first hurdle) you'll be a knitting fiend!

Ah Pushkin! My favorite passive-aggressive poet! I swooned over him in high school because I thought that was exactly how the perfect love should feel. Painful. I want to (re)learn Cantonese, but the only Chinese classes most places offer is the more practical (and not nearly as colorful) Mandarin. Bah.

I'll be totally honest: tough the thought does count, but if you are sending something to a non-knitter, don't expect them to appreciate the gift quite as much as you'd like. Knitted stuff for babies gets a free pass, though, 'cause baby stuff, even knitted by an absolute novice, is the bees knees. (Seriously, booties can be extremely easy to knit... you don't even have to learn to purl to do some bootie patterns).

And that just made my day. Funny how that works, yeah?

The Mister's maternal grandmother passed away yesterday. She had been slowly leaving this world for the past two years, but this weekend was her final exit. By all accounts she most likely died in her sleep after they unhooked her from life support. The Mister had already said good bye to her long before all this. The Snarks went to see her when they visited Back East last fall, but she was hardly the woman they knew even from just six months before their last visit. They already remember her from a more vibrant time. They are going back not so much to conjure up those memories, but to provide support to the MIL and The Mister's uncle. They are also going to see their third niece for the first time. The Snarks knew this was an inevitability (the MIL has been preparing them for this for the last five years) but still can't help but feel a little taken by surprise. This also completely negates any plans they might have had to visit around Christmastime as they have already booked up the rest of their time off with the DarkityFam in mid-September (the vacation AKA Hurricanes Ahoy! 2006). Snarky will most likely be incommunicado from tomorrow through Sunday when she returns. They will have two days to prepare the house for the week-long visit of her parents starting next Wednesday. And before they go, Snarky has a second interview at one of her Dream Companies tomorrow. Plenty of things to keep them from getting morbid/morose.

The Snarks are back! Thank you, antimony as well as everyone else, for the well wishes. The Mister is currently napping fitfully upstairs and Snarky is catching up on correspondences... one of which was an invitation to start working the new job in a couple of weeks!!! It was good to catch up with family and to say final goodbyes. Snarky is still happy to be back home, though.

Thank you! Yes indeed. Grandmother S is that very same ruthlessly efficient/off her rocker lady who used to start her burn pile with old jugs of used motor oil she kept in one of the many outbuildings on her property. She also made surprisingly intricate Christmas ornaments with bits of ribbon, sequins, and pearl-ended pins (hat pins, maybe)? A woman of many rough and smooth surfaces. Again, thank you for your well wishes (also for the interview which is in *gulp* four and a half hours). They are greatly appreciated. Snarky doubts she can top a Bologna Cake. That is... something else! There is strawberry-pretzel pie, blueberry yum-yum, and persimmon pudding, but none have quite the sublime savory resonance of a potato-chip incrusted tower of fats and proteins. Snarky just hopes she can keep the, er, snark to a minimum while she is Back East. She loves her in-laws but they sure are an eccentric bunch.

Thank you for your sympathies. She was a strong, hard-headed woman. One whom Snarky wishes she could've gotten to know better before her long decline. Snarky will probably post some of her recipies in memoriam later on, though not the sauerkraut pie recipe. That woman had a wicked sense of culinary humor/efficiency. Snarky is overly excited about the interview. She really needs to calm her s*** down before she starts to emit high frequencies. The position is as the assistant to the sales department of a manufacturer of raw materials for almost strictly artistic things. A far, and yet not-so-far departure from The Bakery.

I am, but I haven't mentioned it on the thread yet.