• Sign that adulthood may have caught up to me:

couch

Yep. A couch. I got tired of sitting on the floor. I like it – it’s comfy, has storage underneath, unfolds into a bed, and was purchased painlessly. A colleague of mine was nice enough to volunteer her husband and their truck so we could bring it home.

  • Sign that my dad is cooler than I am – excerpt from yesterday’s phone conversation. Chinese in italics:

Dad: HALLO? HALLO? Jen! This is your FATHER!

Me: Hi Dad. No need to yell, I can hear you fine.

Dad: Oh good. Guess where I am calling from?

Me: Where dad?

Dad: From my cellphone! Why don’t you become more modern and get one for yourself too?

Me: Modern? You don’t even know how to use email!

Dad: No, but your uncle E does. He got himself a laptop. He practices using the internet everyday. Do you have a laptop?

Me: No, but I have a desktop.

Dad: No laptop? Be more modern and get yourself a laptop too!

Me: Have more pressing needs than a laptop right now.

Dad: You have all this education – you should be more modern. You don’t want to be a loser!

Me: <blink, blink> Sigh.

  • Sign that the cosmos thinks I am a loser: dropping my keys in the toilet, then getting locked in said toilet stall. I had to inflict harm on the locking thing to get out. Sometimes I think I exist to amuse the gods. Oh, and you guys too.
  • Sign that I am a hopeless fangirl:

absolute sandman

There was squeeing when I saw this at the local bookstore the other day. The words, “My preciousssss…” may or may not have been uttered. I’m a huge fan of Neil Gaiman’s work, so I was excited to see this. The hefty book is actually a compilation of the Sandman comic book series, the first of four volumes. Damn these people for making me want to shell out more money times four! It’s a bit spendy so some penny saving is in order.

  • Sign that I managed to unearth my knitting mojo:

stripey socks

Pattern: your basic toe-up socks with short row heels
Yarn: Regia Crazy Color DK #5400, 2 balls, size 2 DPNS over 52 stitches

These socks were done using the magic cast on, and Amy’s patient tutelage. They fit great, and I really like the colors in the striping. The heels leave a lot to be desired, as they came out holey-er than I’d like. See?

holey heels

The second sock was a bit better, but not great. Somehow, when I wrap and turn for the short rows, my tension goes out the window. Nonetheless, I’ll be using short row heels in the future. I did have to undo the bind off edge three times because my poor brain couldn’t process “bind off loosely.” In desperation, I had to bind off using a size 8 DPN. Hey, it worked.