Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America and All Ships at Sea

I am paraphrasing Walter Winchell. You will have to insert the beepty-beepty- beep noise at the end yourself. I have always loved the way he would start his broadcasts, especially the “ships at sea” part. It makes whatever announcement was to come seem so much more important.

So what important announcement do I have? Why I have knitting pictures! What could be more important than that!

I am actually making progress on my Daily Sweater. I have been plugging away on it while I watch TV and I gotten to the part where I have created the split at the bottom. I am almost done with the back ribbing. I do not have a photo of that, but I do have a photo of the body of the sweater.
This photo is a lot closer to the actual color. I have been trying it on as I go (I really like knitting from the top down) and it is fitting really well. I am very proud.

Since I have so many things on my needles, I decided to start another! I started working on the Great Goatsby kit I bought at Shepherd’s Harvest.
I know, socks, I am so terrible at finishing socks. And I have my superbad socks almost done and I have not worked on them in more than a year. Why would I start another pair of socks? Well, because these are so darn cute and they are called Great Goatsby! Who doesn’t what socks with goats on them, especially if they have a clever literary title?
Here is my progress so far…

Okay, I am actually farther along then this, but this is how far I was when I took the picture. I am at the body of the goat

And here is a close up of the pattern…


It is from Blackberry Ridge. I bought the Sheep Tea Cozy kit from them and was very pleased with the yarn and the pattern. I am enjoying this one as well. I love this yarn as well. It is a wool silk blend. If I finish the socks and they fit, I think they will be quite nice to wear. I am concerned about them fitting because I have really big calves. I did the large size, so we will see.

Also, I promised a picture of the Briar Rose yarn I bought.

Isn’t it delicious? I have 3 skeins of it, which works out to 1950 yds. I should be able to make something with that amount.

Movie UPDATE
We went to see Star Trek again this week. I want to make a small correction to my movie review. Spock does mention that Vulcans and Romulans share a common ancestry. Not sure how I missed it the first time, but there you go. I loved it just as much the second time around. I think I might try to see it one more time in the theatres before it is gone. If you have not seen it yet, what are you waiting for, go to your local cinema right now!

Dammit, I Am A Buyer Not A Physicist!
But luckily, my FIL is a physicist and I was able to ask him some questions regarding the Lost finale. I know you are wondering why I am still prattling on about that, but I love Lost so you will have to bear with me.

In regards to the size of the core: my FIL could not give me details as to what the size would actually be (due to it being classified), but he said if you can accept the rip in the time space continuum caused by time travel, you could accept that the core would fit into a backpack. My FIL has a very good sense of humor! However, he said it would be really heavy so carrying it around on your back would be unlikely.

He then explained that by taking the core out of the hydrogen bomb would mean that it would no longer be a hydrogen bomb, rather a standard atomic bomb. Basically, an atomic bomb using fission and a hydrogen bomb uses fusion. Here is a direct quote from my FIL: Fission works by chain reaction. If you put too much plutonium in one place, it will spontaneously fission and melt down. So there's a limit on how much nuclear fuel you can pack into a fission bomb (not to mention the cost of making it). Fusion only works if the hydrogen isotopes are really, really hot, and under a lot of pressure (think the solar interior). The result is that there is no serious limit on how much fusion fuel you can use, and you can achieve tremendous yields, like tens of megatons. The trick is to set it off. You have to use a fission (plutonium) explosion to do it. It's what puts the "thermo" in "thermonuclear." So a hydrogen bomb has two parts: a plutonium primary and a hydrogen-fuel secondary. So what the Losties are carrying around is no longer a hydrogen bomb, rather it is an atomic bomb, which is still pretty bad.

I also asked if you could rig the bomb to explode on impact. He said that bombs built in the USA since the 1940s have been built specifically NOT to explode upon impact because they did not want them to go off in a plane crash. However, if was poorly designed, it is a possibility, but it would not be as big of an explosion.

Which brings us to what would happen, explosion wise?
Again a direct quote: Since you didn't set it off properly, you would only get a fraction of the design yield. Maybe a few hundred tons of TNT equivalent. But that would still be about a hundred times the power of the biggest (4 ton) conventional bombs dropped from an aircraft. How much effect that would have depends on the setting. Out in the open air, it would be pretty impressive (a kiloton of ordinary chemical explosive makes a nice mushroom cloud), but far underground, it wouldn't do much. (I was part of a chemical kiloton underground test in the early '90s, and there was very little effect at the surface). However, if I were dropping this thing down an open shaft, I would want to stand clear!
I do not think there would be much left of Dharmaville or the Others.

There has been some discussion out there that the bomb going off caused the Incident. Or that the electromagnetic field is holding the blast in the hole. And that the button being pushed is releasing the atomic blast in bits. Okay, my FIL said an atomic blast would destroy any electromagnetic field, (his exact words regarding containment were “Not bloody likely!”), and so Faraday actually did get that right. FIL said that to contain an atomic blast with an electromagnetic field, you would need the pressure you would find in a black hole or the center of a star, not in hole near the surface of the Earth.
He also said: The second reason that the explosion would not be contained is the same reason why we don't yet have a working fusion reactor. Since around 1950 people (myself included) have been trying to confine very dilute thermonuclear reactions with specially designed magnetic fields in the laboratory. This has proved to be extremely difficult, because the hot plasma keeps leaking out. It's rather like trying to pressurize Jell-O by squeezing it with your bare hands. So if the guys in the movie have solved that problem, I wish they would tell the rest of us the answer.
I just love that last line, so I had to include in my synopsis. He has never heard of Lost so he did not realize it was a TV show rather than a movie.
I want to thank my FIL for all of his help. He really is the smartest person I know so I was pleased he was willing to help me out with this nonsense.

Overall, I think this all supports my idea that there was not an explosion, rather it was some other flash (a time flash IMHO) and that is what caused the bright white light.
We will have to see.

I’m a Pisces!

This was my favorite line in the Lost finale. I’m a Pisces too so it just brings me closer to Ben! My 2nd favorite line was when Frank saw what was in the cargo box and he just said “Terrific”. Frank is just such a cool cucumber. As you may have guessed, today I am going to discuss the season finale of Lost. I know that normally I discuss the show a bit closer to the air date, but I want to watch it again, just to make sure I did not miss anything.

Jacob
Who is Jacob? What is he up to? Well, I think that he is the Jacob from the bible, Esau’s brother. I think the other guy on the beach is in fact Esau. Now I have sort thought about Jacob being this guy for a while, although I never said it because, well all I could remember about him was that he tricked his dad into giving him a blessing by dressing up in animal fur because Esau was so hairy. Once the other guy showed up, I decided to look Jacob and Esau up.
Jacob and Esau were twins (Bad Twin?). And they fought inside Rebekkah’s womb and when she asked God what was up, He said that she had two nations inside her.
Esau was born first and therefore entitled to his father’s land and blessing. One day Esau came in from field feeling faint and sold his birthright to Jacob for food. This does not seem like a very good deal to me, but according to the Bible Esau figured he was going to die if he did not get some grub so the birthright would not do him any good.
Now Isaac (dad) liked Esau best because he was a hunter and would bring him venison. But Rebekkah liked Jacob better. Now when Isaac got old and blind he sent Esau out to get him some venison and told him when he got back he would bestow his blessing on him. Rebekkah took this opportunity to dress Jacob up as Esau and trick her husband into giving the blessing to Jacob. By giving Jacob the blessing, it meant that Esau became subservient to Jacob. And Esau vowed to kill Jacob. However, God sent Jacob a dream and then told him he would have a bunch of kids across the lands and blessed him. And in the end Esau did bow down to Jacob. Now Jacob because Israel and Esau became Edom, I am not sure why the name change, but I have to assume it in reference to the 2 nations in the womb thing. This is my summary of the story from Genesis. I skipped a bunch of stuff, so if you want to read it yourself, it starts at Genesis 25:20.
Okay, now let’s look at these guys on the beach. Jacob is obviously more powerful since he can bring people to the island and the Anti-Jacob (this is a term someone on Ravelry used and I am going to use it as well because I do not know he is Esau) can’t stop it. Anti-Jacob wants to kill Jacob, but can’t because well, we don’t know why, but I think it is because he is Esau and therefore has to kowtow to Jacob. So he is looking for a loophole. --- Enter Locke, the mighty hunter. I think that if this guy is Esau, he has been influencing Locke the whole time he was on the island. So he is the reason Locke can go out and find boar and kill it with a knife and track anything. The reason Locke feels special is because he has been being “spoken” to, not by Jacob, but by Esau.
Jacob spins and weaves, which also would fit in with the bible story as it says he likes to “stay in tents”, which I guess is code for he is more fit for cooking and such. Now Anti-Jacob is obviously a man of action. He wants to go to Jacob’s, he wants to go now. He killed a boar and brought it to the Others.

Locke
Poor Locke. He really did spend his whole life being duped. I feel really bad for him, because I think he was a good guy. I also think he is dead. Which I think is a loss for the show. However, he did what was needed of him and I can not see what reason the show would have to keep him on.

Jacob and the Losties
We saw Jacob visiting our Lostie friends in the past. Now all of those he visited (and touched), except Locke and Sun, ended up in 1977. Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so. If fact, I think that if Ben had not killed Locke, he would have ended up back then as well. Sun, I think is in a separate time so she can contemplate how much Jin means to her.
I think Jacob arranged for them to end up in the past so they could come to the future and stop Anti-Jacob when needed, i.e. when he Jacob died. I think that is who Jacob was referring to when he said “They’re coming”. They will join up with Team Statue. The real question is who will The Others follow? Richard or Ben or Anti-Jacob? If I were an Other, I would go with Richard, but one can never tell in Lost.
Does it matter when Jacob spoke to them? Most of them were touched by Jacob pre-flight 815, only Sayid and Hurley were visited since the crash. Are Sayid and Hurley extra special? Sayid did not look in good shape at the end of the episode. Of course, if they stay on the Island, that might not mean much since he wasn’t dead yet. A person seems to be able to survive a lot on the Island. I have always thought Hurley was special so hopefully it will come to pass. Especially when we get to see what is in the guitar case. I think there is probably something very important in the case.

Ben
Poor Ben. I feel bad that his life has been so bad that he feels like he has no other option than to kill Jacob. I do understand blaming him for all the bad stuff that happened to him, but really, I do not think it was Jacob’s fault. And in many ways, Jacob is like God, he gives you freewill and you decided how to live your life. He is not there to baby sit you or make sure everything goes great. It just isn’t his job.
However, I came up with a thought as to why Anti-Jacob chose Ben to kill Jacob. Ben is the Loophole because he was brought back to life, not by Jacob, but by Anti-Jacob. He is tainted. And not because he had a choice, someone else decided to do this to him. He lost his freewill.

Jacob’s Cabin
I do not think Jacob has been in this cabin in a long time. In fact, I think it is the same cabin Rose and Bernard were living in circa 1977. They did not say they built the cabin, only that they had been scavenging for food and avoiding the Dharma gang. I think they broke the ring and Jacob got out. I do not think it was Jacob who was in the cabin when Locke visited; I think it was Anti-Jacob because he wanted to set up his pawns. Locke to feel he was special and Ben to feel he wasn’t. In fact, I do not think Ben had any communication with Jacob during his reign as leader since Ben did not seem to know that Jacob had a 2nd home.

The End
I do not believe the hydrogen bomb went off. As anyone who has read any of my recent Lost posts knows, I have never been really keen on the whole feasibility of blowing up a hydrogen bomb and making the past no longer exist. Even though people might be the variable, what’s done is done. For example, Desmond was able to save Charlie a few times, but Charlie still died. I do not think anything they might do will stop the plane from crashing, because maybe Desmond was not the reason flight 815 crashed. Maybe Jacob made it crash. I actually woke up on Thursday morning with the answer. The white light was not an explosion, it was a time shift. Jacob’s death caused the Island to shift the gang in ’77 back to 2007. Where, they will fight Anti-Jacob for control of the Island.
That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!

You Are Invited To Advanced Ball Screws 201

I know you are thinking “Damn, how to I get invited to such a cool event?” Well, all you need to do is start buying bearings and you get your name on all the hottest event lists!
Seriously, I opened up my work e-mail today and I saw this and thought the firewall had broken and I was getting pornographic material delivered to me. But no, just some engineering class regarding ball screws. Sigh.

I was going to post earlier this week, but I have not been felling up to it. On Saturday DH and I went out to Shepherd’s Harvest and I actually took photos! I know, I remembered my camera AND I remember to take pictures. So here is a brief look at the day.

We saw a lady spinning directly from an angora rabbit. She is there every year. The rabbit is molting so it is not in any pain.


Here are some of the other rabbits we saw. They are just so cute and fluffy.


Shepherd’s Harvest takes place at the Washington County Fairgrounds, but most of the vendors are indoors, although the doors at both ends of the buildings are usually open. It was quite chilly this year, so even inside it was cool. Here is a shot inside one the buildings. So many vendors, so little time…



Here is a shot outside. Please note the kettle corn vendor on the left side of the picture. They make the kettle corn right there and it is delicious.


There was a yurt on site this year. Someone actually makes them and you could buy one. It was warmer in the yurt than it was in the metal buildings. Even though there is a big hole in the top of it. I sort of wonder how they keep the rain and the snow out of it.



Here is a shot of lunch. Mmmmm lamb brat!


Here are a couple of alpacas that had just been shorn.


And last but not least, here are some pictures of a sheep having her nails clipped and one being sheared and some sheep in a pen waiting to be sheared or just done.


I did buy some stuff on Saturday, but I do not have any photos of it yet. The one thing I will mention though is Briar Rose Fibers. Her yarn is just drop dead gorgeous, of course most of it is merino so it is verboten to me, but I did find some BFL I could buy. I will definitely post a picture of it. She also had knit the Icarus Shawl in a sport / DK weight fiber and bigger needles and it was beautiful. I think I might try doing that as well because even though I like the look of Icarus, it always seemed beyond my capability. I am not sure why. I think it is because the model in Interweave is so skinny, I could not image the shawl actually on my sizable frame.

Excuse Me Ma’am, Your Geekiness Is Showing

I suspect that many of the people who read this blog have come to realize that I have a deep vein of geekiness in my soul. I do try to hide it, but I am not always successful. Yesterday, I was working on planning this weekend and one of the big things we were going to do was go to see “Star Trek”. I had figured we could go today (Friday) and it would kick off the big weekend (Shepherd’s Harvest and Mother’s Day respectively). Well, as I was looking up the times at the movie theater, I discovered that “Star Trek” was playing at Southdale AMC at 7:00 that day (Thursday). Now, I know how the movie releases work well enough to know that a Friday release is not played until Friday, generally with a geeky movie, you can get a show at 12:01, but at 7:00 on Thursday. No way! So I actually went to the official AMC website because I sort of thought maybe Yahoo had a glitch in it. But no, it was truly playing at 7:00. I called the DH and said let’s go tonight. I was willing to miss Supernatural with The Girl so I could be one of the first to see “Star Trek”. Is that not about the geekiest thing you have ever heard? I have actually been really looking forward to the movie for a long time. I love JJ Abrams and I sort of figured he would have to work pretty hard to mess it up.
DH finally agreed and he met me at the theater at 5:00. We bought tickets and looked at the line that was waiting to be let in the theater. There were only 4 people in it at 5:15. DH did not want to stand in the line, he wanted to go eat. Now, I was not very hungry at that point and the truth be told, I did not want to spoil my chance at eating popcorn. I have a great affection for movie popcorn and I am willing to give up actual nutrition in order to partake in its wonderful goodness. So we compromised, we went and bought books and then went and stood in line. We got our place in line about 5:30 and there were about 9 people in the line in front of us. We stood in line for an hour. We chatted with some strange man who was behind us. It was okay, because I took it as an opportunity to practice my small talking skills. Mainly he talked, so it was not too difficult. We got released from the line and headed into the theater. I got us some good seats and DH bought popcorn and diet coke. I know, we were living it up… caffeinated pop on a work night!
There was a LOT of commercials, more than usual, which always irritates me. I know that it is how they keep ticket prices down etc, but you know what, they will play the same stupid commercial a couple of times in like 5 minutes and I do not see the point of it. Anyway, I was very excited when the movie finally started.

I am going to say this right now. I LOVED this movie. It was funny and smart and jam-packed with action. The actors they got to play all of the characters were spot on. I adored Karl Urban’s portrayal of “Bones” McCoy, I think he was my favorite character, but everyone was very good. I think that anyone would enjoy this movie. A great deal of Star Trek knowledge is not necessary as it really is an introduction to the whole kit and caboodle. Although I will let you know that Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. It is something implied in the movie, but more in passing and it just helps to know that fact. I know that fact because my head is full of geeky goodness.
Not only was the movie incredibly entertaining, there were actual knits in it as well, which made me very happy. Uhura has a very nice red sweater in the bar scene and Scotty is wearing several lovely knits when he is introduced (although, I will say the hat he has on is just bizarre). Also, there is a sweater Spock is wearing in one scene that I am pretty sure I could knit, and as I think on it, I think I have yarn that would work for it. I would also like to point out that even though the Starfleet uniforms are not knitted garments, you could actually knit one as they looked like seed stitch raglan sweaters.
I would say that “Star Trek” is a perfect summer movie: fun and exciting. I have to recommend you run out and see it. I am giving it 4 knitting needles out of 4.

I am actually going to go see it again because it was so good. And just an aside, The Boyfriend would look just like the main Romulan Nero if he shaved his head and slapped some tattoos on it. The Girl denies it, but it is true.

Leader? We Don’t Need No Stinking Leader!

Today’s post is going to be just about Lost. I was very upset with the last episode (Follow the Leader). Mainly because there is a path the show seems to be going down which with I totally disagree. Namely, down the path of The Stand. I think I mentioned this in my last post as well, and it really seems to be even more so after this episode with Jack playing the role of the Trashman. If the writers nuke the island next week, I will be very disappointed.
I guess we will find out next week.
Jack is being a complete idiot. I do not know how he could look Kate in the face and say that the last three years have had more bad than good. Hello, McFly! She was headed to jail on flight 815; her life was a LOT better because of the crash. Actually, looking at the people who crashed, there were quite a few whose life is better because of the crash.
Sun and Jin – were headed for divorce court, instead they realized how much they loved each other and had a baby.
Sawyer – found Juliet and discovered how good life could be once you settled down with someone you love.
Charlie – got off the smack and died a hero’s death.
Locke – got out of the wheelchair and discovered a purpose to his life.
Rose and Bernard – Rose was cured and they are together.
Hurley – reunited with his father.
Jack just can not see past the fact that he became a drunk. Well, I hate to say this, but Jack was not actually all that stable to begin with and I think he was on the road to alcoholism any way.
All I know is that when Kate is the voice of reason the situation is BAD.

Who is Jacob? This has been an ongoing question. My husband came up with a great thought: perhaps Jacob is being held hostage through some dark magic. Perhaps, the reason that Richard never ages is that he did some ritualistic magic in order to stay that way. I really like this theory. Several seasons ago there was that scene where Locke saw a rocking chair in the cabin and hears “Jacob” say Help Me. Could killing Jacob release him? Or was it actually The Island asking for help? All I know is that Locke is determined to kill him. However, Richard and Ben seem to want to share a secret about Jacob before they went to see him. Perhaps, Jacob does not actually exist?

Sawyer and Juliet: I love them together and I think that Kate needs to stay out of the way. Just a thought, Juliet is a trained Other, you don’t think she would put a cap in Kate’s ass? Really, Kate is going to die and Juliet will just be like “I don’t know what happened”. Of course, I would not mind if Kate died since I have never been a big fan and her character has really went down hill this season. Of course, maybe that was the plan all along. Maybe Kate dies in the series finale.

When Eloise (last posting I called her Eleanor sorry about that) told Charles she was going off to get Jughead, he was talking to her and he put his hand on her stomach. Is Eloise pregnant? Could she be pregnant with Daniel? I was thinking that, but then someone on Ravelry pointed out he would have been 18 in 1996 when he was a professor at Oxford. Now they did say he was the youngest person to earn a Ph. D from Oxford during the last episode, but he did not seem that young. So maybe it is not Daniel, but perhaps Penny? Who knows? Maybe Charles just likes to touch woman’s stomachs.

Radzinsky needs to be taken out and shot. What a freaking creep! And Phil needs to go with him. Really when he hit Juliet, that was totally uncalled for. Of course, I actually think Juliet is more dangerous than Sawyer, but the DI doesn’t know that. Really what kind of place are they running?

I loved Hurley getting interrogated by Dr. Chang. This scene just goes to show how important it is to know your history. There was no Korean war?! Of course the best part was that Hurley had said he was worried that someone would ask him who the president was when he arrived in 1977 and everyone just laughed. I guess he was right to worry. 1977 = Jimmy Carter.

Please note where Jughead was buried: under Dharmaville / New Otherton. Now if you recall from a previous post I theorized that the reason there was infertility in New Otherton was because the bomb was leaking radiation and caused it. I think this episode supports that theory even further. Hooray for me!

One final observation:
My husband and I were discussing Ben one day and we decided he is very much like Richard the third. However, in this episode, he reminded me of Iago from Othello. He was just really toady in this episode. Perhaps he is a combination of Richard III and Iago, charming and deceitful and very dangerous.

Hearts of Darkness

Ave! Old knitter of black wool. Morituri te salutant.
Joseph Conrad, “Heart of Darkness”

Okay, I have not been knitting with any black wool, but I was listening to a pod cast of “Heart of Darkness” and I loved the imagery of the knitter in the recruitment office sending sailors to their doom.
I have quite a bit of knitting news today…
1st – I escaped the clutches of my in-laws long enough to go over to the MN Knitter’s Guild Yarnover on 4/18. There were many fabulous vendors, including Black Water Abbey. I have been lusting over their yarn on line for sometime and not been brave enough to buy any without seeing it in person to make sure I would like it. I have to say. It is awesome and the colors are as beautiful in person as they are on-line. If you have been thinking about buying some, I would not hesitate. I bought a couple of patterns (one for a vest and one for a trio of aran hats), enough yarn to knit the vest for me and a couple of hats.
Everything I bought can be seen here:
I bought some stuff from others as well. I bought a skein of Stella from Alpacas of the Ark. I try to buy something from them whenever I can because the yarn is so lovely and the owner I so nice. I bought a kit to make a sock monkey hat for The Baby. And some other yarn that was just a good deal. Plus, my DH was with and we bought him some roving and mohair locks for him to spin. Here are the results:

Pretty cool, huh?

2nd - Last Saturday, DH and I went out and about looking for trouble. Okay, we were really looking for a locket for The Girl for Mother’s Day, but we ended up at The Yarnery who happened to be having a sale… you know how it goes…
Here is what I bought at The Yarnery.

I purchased no black wool, but I did get navy wool and black alpaca. So, it is close. We also stop down at Zandy’s in the morning and I saw the pattern I am going to make for my mom. I have been looking for cardigan to make for her for Christmas, something stylish, but not too over the top. Zandy’s had a shop sample of Mr. Greenjeans and I just fell in love with it. I think it will be perfect. When I looked it up on Knitty, I realized that I had looked at it, but I did not like it the first time I saw it. I think the yarn sort of obscured the beauty of the pattern. So I am going to go back down there to buy yarn since the gal was so helpful when I asked for information about the pattern.

3rd – UPDATE -- I have been plugging away at my Daily Sweater. No photo, I am making progress. However, it is going really slowly. I have been managing to knit 1 – 2 rounds a day. At this rate I will have it done in 5 years! I just have not had much time to focus on knitting outside of my bus time and I have missed my morning bus several times this week.
I also have cast on the back of my Foxy Vest. I have 8 rows done. I am concerned that I have these two huge projects that I am focusing on and I will never finish either one. This is bad just because I sort of feel like what’s the point if nothing will come of it. I decided this morning that I need to finish some small project so that I know I can accomplish something. I have a hat that I am almost done with; I just need to find my dpns so I can finish it up. I am going to look for them and try to finish that up this weekend so that I feel like I am capable of finishing projects.

Lastly in the knitting new category, I found something I have been searching for. DH and I went to the thrift store the other day and I found some Muench Touch Me there. I bought a few balls and a bunch of old pattern booklets. I was quite pleased with myself. However, the next day at work I kept thinking, I should have bought enough of the Touch Me so I could knit that beret in “Folk Hats”. So when my husband picked me up at the bus stop, I asked if we could stop at the thrift store and I could see if the yarn was still there. He said it was fine and he would wait in the car. SO in I went. The yarn was still there and picked it up and thought, Hey maybe I will glance at the book section and see if there are any knitting books that were dropped off at the same time as this yarn and the knitting booklets I bought yesterday. And look what I found:

Yes, you see that right, not one but TWO Alice Starmore books. I have wanted to get my hands on the Fair Isle knitting book for some time and I nearly jumped up and down right there in the thrift store when I saw it. I also picked up the British Knits book because it had some interesting items in it. How much do you think I paid for these 3 books? $4.37! You read that right, four dollars and 37 cents for all 3 combined! YEAH!! I could hardly contain myself as I paid for my booty. It was the highlight of my week. I know; I do not have a very exciting life. I am the 1st to admit it.

Dark Lost Hearts
Okay, I have to discuss this week’s “Lost” episode (The Variable). I could not believe that anyone could send their child off knowing that the child would die. Not just die, but that the parent would be the one to kill the child. I could not do it. I realize that it might mess up the time space continuum or whatever, but I could not do it. Poor Daniel, to be cursed with such a mother. It was nice to get confirmation that Daniel was indeed the product of the Others. There has been some discussion that perhaps Daniel and Penny were twins. I think this is a possibility. The only problem I have it with this is that Ben told Widmore that he had to leave The Island because he had a child with someone from off of The Island. Eleanor was originally an Other; surely she would be okay to have children with even if she was off of The Island.

Can the Losties destroy the Swan and there by prevent them coming to The Island in the first place? I don’t think they will succeed. And even if they did, blowing up a hydrogen bomb would more than likely kill most of the people on The Island. What would happen to the world (okay Desmond) if Penny did not exist? What if Miles and Charlotte did not leave The Island? It would be CHAOS. The other concern I have with the hydrogen bomb is that I heard a rumor that the series might end like “The Stand”. I hope not, because I HATED the ending of that book. In fact, when I finished it, I threw it across the room I was so mad! It was total cop out and I did not spend all these years devoted to Lost to be totally ripped off.

Will Desmond go back to The Island? It seems like there is more that needs to be done with Desmond and Penny, but maybe I am wrong. Maybe this will be the last we see of them. They seem like they are happy enough… which on Lost is a huge warning flag. Happiness? Not allowed!

How Sharper Than a Serpents Tooth It Is
To Have a Thankless Child – King Lear
So on Sunday night, okay really Monday morning at 1:00 am The Girl hollered up the stairs to see if I would come and take care of The Baby for a while. As I came down the stairs I could hear her yelling at The Boyfriend. I took The Baby and sat down with her and I could hear The Boyfriend storming out of the house. Now, it was rainy out and he doesn’t have a car, so I do not know where he was going, but I figure there was something going on that I really did not want to be a part of. The Baby was very fussy and I was working on getting her settled down. She would stop for a few minutes and then start up crying again. Even singing the theme song to Gilligan’s Island did not help. Okay, I do not know very many songs, but I do know all the words to several TV shows, she is going have to take what she gets!
Anyway, finally The Girl came out and said that The Boyfriend had made some crack about how we (my husband and I) never help with The Baby and that if they lived at his mom’s house she would help out all of the time. The Girl told him that she had been up all of Saturday night with The Baby and his mom had woken up and helped with The Baby. In fact, she had not gotten up until 9:30 in the morning. And that had apparently caused him to storm out of the house. Now most mornings, I have been getting up between 4 -5 in the morning to take care of The Baby. I usually take care of her a couple of hours in the evening. DH takes care of her most of the morning. Plus, did I mention, I am paying all of the bills, the mortgage, the grocery, the doctor and hospital bills. Also, his family would not even speak to him because he took up with The Girl until The Baby was born. I personally was furious, but I held my tongue because The Girl had defended us and she was upset. Anyway, The Girl decided The Baby needed to be fed and brought her into her room. At that point, I very calmly explained that most people who have babies do not get any help from anyone. They stay up all night with their baby and then get up and go to a job. The Girl said she had told him that and she knew that. I am still irritated about the whole thing, but I think The Boyfriend might have been told off more later, as he has been very civil all week. It just bugs me because the truth is that I did not have to let him live in my house and feed him and be nice to him. I did it because I am so damn nice! Okay, really I did it because I want to make The Girl happy. It is all I have ever wanted.

Hmmm…. Why does grandma sing me a song about a talking horse?