* No one's e-mailed me about the Owly comics yet; really - if you do want them (either for yourself or for children in your life), let me know, I'll drop them (free to you) in the mail.

* Sometimes I wish I carried a camera with me. I was out running errands today and saw one of those "oversized load" trucks coming over the 69/75 overpass. It had what looked like a giant airplane wing on it - one of the vanes for a wind turbine. (Later on, returning from my errand, I saw either the second or the third of the vanes coming through). It looked very cool (and very weird, down on ground level - they are a lot bigger than you think) but I sure wouldn't want to be the person driving that truck.

* Pushing to finish SOMETHING before I start a new project. I do want to start a pair of the Retro-Rib socks from the Interweave sock book. I've decided the super-bright "Monet colors" Cherry Tree Hill sockyarn (which I talked about here will work for those socks.

* I also got a copy of "Kooky Crochet," which I ordered sort of on a whim from Amazon. I was afraid the book would be kind of useless but there are some amusing things in there - and it gives the instructions for creating a hyperbolic plane-ball using crochet, one of those things I want to do just for the heck of it. There's also a very cute set of amigurumi birds, and a "Japanese tadpole" thing that is promoted as something that's "just nice to hold in your hand" (which is actually kind of an appealing little thing). There's a purse made using the heavy plastic from a 2-liter bottle, which is surprisingly cool-looking and something I just might make (except I haven't drunk pop in over a year). There are some funny hats which would probably be most useful if you were in theater costuming or had kids that had to dress up as, say, Medusa for their English class, but still, it's kind of a fun book - and some of the techniques might be useful for the creation of the more staid sort of things I make.

* And actually I am going to start something new, I think - I have a bunch of journal articles to read tomorrow and I want some just-plain knitting to do (I can't crochet without looking at what I'm doing, and besides - the bursitis-like pain WAS apparently caused by too many hours of crocheting at once). I have some pastel-colored Trekking XXL that will begin its journey to sock-dom tomorrow, I think.

* I went to our little downtown this afternoon, just for fun. It's grown a lot since I first lived here, and there are a couple new businesses getting set to open up. It always makes me happy to see that - not just for the selfish reason that I appreciate having more of the things I want within a few minute's drive (or, for that matter, a fifteen-minute walk), but also because I tend to figure people who start a small business really want to do it - they are chasing a dream (because it takes such an investment of time and money).

We have acquired a couple more nice "upscaley" gift shops (that sell Burt's Bees and suchlike). One of them recently put in a wall of quilt fabrics and also sells books and fat quarters (and I found some fabric I had been thinking of ordering out of a catalog, but had never got around to, there). They also have nice teas and a few gourmet foods.

We also have gotten in the past couple years a VERY nice little Italian restaurant - the prices are reasonable and the food is super-good. (They make all the sauces and stuff on-site, and you can tell - everything has that good "home cooked" taste to it). It's usually pretty busy and I hope they have continued success.

One of the antique shops I occasionally frequent has relocated to a larger space; I went there today. Bought a bag of mostly-feedsack scraps (for future quilts or something) and a copy of Erica Wilson's "Needleplay" ($5, and even though I don't really do crewelwork and such, it's still an inspirational book to look at). And also one of the older Martha Stewart Christmas idea-books. (Say what you will, but I still like the fantasy presented of Martha-world - that everything is clean and quiet and well-made, and nothing ever breaks, and you have the skill and the appropriate supplies and the time to make whatever you want. Oh, and that your friends will exclaim over your cleverness, too).

I also found something that amused me greatly, was something I kind of needed, and was $2: a metal recipe box with Snap, Crackle, and Pop lithographed on the outside. It was actually sort of a trompe l'oeil sort of thing: the box was pretending to be their little HOME, and you can see in the windows, see them baking cookies. (Yeah, yeah, I know that seems a little odd, given that they promote cereal. They're, like, ELVES, okay? I'm supposing they're kind of first-cousins to Ernie and his sort...)

At any rate - the box made me laugh out loud in the middle of the store (I mean - it's just so RANDOM) and anyway, I needed to replace the old plastic file-card box with a broken lid that I had been using.