A family who were bound for a week’s holiday in Lanzarote are back home after a check-in desk mix-up meant they caught a flight to Turkey instead. (..) Mr Coray said they had not realised their mistake because their boarding pass stated only Bodrum airport and not that it was in Turkey.
(source)

On a vaguely similar note, try your American news IQ. The interesting bit is actually at the end where you can see the demographic make-up of results.

The other night the land-line phone rang and a tiny boyish voice said “im goin be big brotha”. Yes, I’m going to be an auntie again. This time it feels even bigger than the first time. One of my best friends is also going to become a mother. This calls for Auntie Bookish to surf the net for things to knit, obviously.

My partner’s sister and my friend may never speak to me again, of course:

(if this is your creation, let me know so I can give you credit for being a genius)

(* WP was messing me about at that point. Possibly the three-hospitals-in-11-days thing didn’t help either. So I bought that book with Auntie M’s usual book voucher. I’m not sure the book did me any good but the hospital visits became less frequent and certainly not as dramatic. Unexpected side-effect.)

See, I am really getting into this weird and wonderful world of fibre arts knitting. I have stories to tell about projects, interactions with other knitters, yarn photos and all that. And I don’t really want to fling it all on 4th Edition because my brain isn’t compartmentalised like that. So I want a knitting blog. Oh yes. Hosted by myself, of course. And you people who are yet to be smitten by my enthusiasm can avoid reading about knitting. And I’ll be writing scores of fascinating entries about lace patterns, knitting podcasts and buying yarn. For people who’ll appreciate it

Deadline for myself: end of August. Baby steps. Any links to WP-on-2nd server baby steps much appreciated.

My life sometimes surprises even me.

It’s interesting to note how the architecture in the third image matches our expectation of ‘modern’ but not the furniture and the art pieces.. I’m also rather enamoured by the sixth image (that ceiling! the colours!).

Me: “Er, I was working for you guys..”

–

A few completely unrelated and random links:

+ Is this cake scary or awesome? I just cannot decide.
+ I had a long conversation about the Theremin the other day.
+ Renewable clothing by Fernando Brízio. Art or not?
+ This page makes me so, so happy. I’m clearly weird.
+ Doctor Who: I Love the World. Heavy spoilers for Season 4, so beware.

And, yes, Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is up and running.

Ace.

a) go through my entire wardrobe
b) reconsider my aversion to blandness neutrals
c) reconsider my decision to avoid bulky knitwear
d) reconsider my decision to avoid shapeless dresses
e) forget about my hypermobility and dig out my high-heeled shoes
f) re-invent myself as a sophisticated fashionista

but I think I’ll continue with my faded cords, wacky colours, fine-gauge knits and slightly disorganised style. In my head I’m sort-of preparing myself for a sewing machine purchase down the line and I’ll have a go at this dress at that point. Not very fashionista, neutral or refined but I think it’s awesome.

I’m currently halfway through Iain Pears’ An Instance of the Fingerpost which reads like a mix between early Julian Barnes and Umberto Eco with a dash of classic whodunnit. David gave up on the book after about 200 pages but I find myself enjoying its slow pace, Pears’ knowledge of 17th century science (unlike, say, Ross King whose Ex Libris was so, so, so inaccurate that it nearly made me cry) and the novel’s multi-narrative structure. My partner bought Pears’ The Immaculate Deception from Oxfam Books yesterday. It looks to be a light read, though. I might keep that for winter. I tend towards light books during the dark months.

Also on the backburner: Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. Back when I was in the process of moving countries, I read her Gilead. It floored me with its precise language, its exploration of ‘home’ and ‘family’ and the slow, deliberate move towards its dénouement. At that point of time, I was living out of a suitcase whilst spending nights on friends’ sofas. I was susceptible to Gilead, in other words. Robinson’s Housekeeping is bleaker and I cannot quite muster the calmness that her novel demands. I still adore her way of using language though.

And then there are the books which have suffered. Maps For Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam and Old Men In Love by my beloved Alasdair Gray (signed 1st Ed - I should scan the dedication). They’re on my bedside table and deserve far more attention.

If everything else fails, of course, there’s always my growing stack of knitting books..

Addendum: it feels weird adding this to a post on a computer game, but Danish author, Jacob Ejersbo has passed away.