Where I Am

I have retreated today.  Watched old movies and read and embroidered and knit in quiet.  I cannot watch more than a few seconds of news without sinking into sad hopelessness.  I am scared.  I am really, truly scared. 

Going to My Writing Prompt Book

What are 10 sounds you associate with winter?

The singular quiet of a snowed-in / iced-in day.

A spoon stirring made-from-scratch hot chocolate in a saucepan.

Snow falling.

Football on TV.

The jingle of a Christmas bell on the front door.

Windshield wipers moving across a frosted windshield.

A car idling to get the heat going.

The voice of Boris Karloff.

A wood fire.

Wrapping paper. 

If to the Fourth

If you haven't seen the video of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's trainer visiting her coffin in the Capitol Rotunda, look it up.  It will make you tear up, I promise.

If you haven't tried CBD products (for any number of reasons), let me tell you they have helped me with my headaches.  Hannah uses them to ease her anxieties and had been recommending them to me.  I tried some tincture, and about a week in, realized there had been no headaches.  When the tincture ran out, the headaches returned.  Fairly obvious connection.

If your eyesight is as bad as mine, and you have to take your glasses off to be able to read the writing on packages in the freezer, remember that you put your glasses on top of the refrigerator. It will save you many minutes of wandering around the house looking for them.

If you were guaranteed a totally safe dining out experience right now, what would you want?  I'd choose either all the catfish I can eat or a really very good cheeseburger.

Under the Influence

Of my good Twinster.  She does lovely embroidery with kits from cozy blue handmade, and my visit to the site a while back resulted in the purchase of

Up top, the finished project on a postcard enclosed in the packaging.  On bottom, my work so far.  Stay tuned for the completion.  But be warned, it may be a while.

In Pictures

 Yeah, it's pretty much like this in life around here lately:

You?

Today and Tomorrow

 I sometimes hesitate to post when there are no photos to go along with what I write.  I have never forgotten what someone told me after my second or third post way back when: that my posts would be "so much better" if I put pictures up.  My therapist has told me over and over and over that human beings have a tendency to remember negative comments more than positive ones, and that have photos remark has stayed with me all this time.

If I had taken pictures today, they would have been of rain and puddles.  Puddles which I've had to try and steer Tap around every time we've gone outside.  What is it about puddles that draws dogs and small children?  The rain part, though, created a wonderful mood for knitting, reading, and writing.

I have an appointment to get a flu shot tomorrow afternoon.  That means that later tomorrow afternoon, or early tomorrow evening, I will begin to feel sick.  It never fails.

What Happened Today

Tooth taken care of.  For all the grinding and whirring, the thing that caused me the most discomfort was the blue light they used to set the filling compound.

Stroll through Barnes & Noble accomplished.  (Though that store has reconfigured its shelves to ensure space between customers.  I couldn't find the crafting books for a while --- it was just like being in a maze.) 

Safe distance in-person visit with Briton done.  So weird to have to stand out on your porch to talk to your child.

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Catch-Up

I've been really sleepy lately.  Not tired --- sleepy.  I don't know why;  I'm getting several hours of sleep each night.  I can be just sitting, and start to feel my body feeling heavy, my shoulders start to push down.  It's that weary kind of weight, and I don't know what's causing it.

COVID cases here continue to climb: 800+ new cases three weeks ago, 900+ new cases two weeks ago, 1000+ new cases last week.  My dentist appointment is tomorrow, but I'm not concerned with their safety measures.  What stops me a bit is what happens after the dentist.  I'll be out and dressed --- should I do something while I am out?  There's no real cabin fever, it's that a stroll around Barnes & Noble (the town's independent bookstore isn't open for browsing) sounds nice.  Maybe Jo-Ann.  Masked, of course.

There's been lots of reading going on here.  The last half dozen or so books that I've decided to read have been thin and went quickly.  I've also watched the first season of "The Umbrella Academy" (not great, but good enough for me to finish the season and make a plan to watch the second) and all of "The Haunting of Hill House" (very good --- I wish I'd taken Hannah's long-ago advice to watch it.)  Right this minute, I'm watching "I Confess," a movie I learned about when I read a biography of Montgomery Clift.

The first time I saw Clift was in "Judgment at Nuremberg," which was after his horrendous car accident.  For the longest time, I had no idea that that wasn't what he looked like.  He was quite glorious-looking   And if you haven't seen his work in "Nuremberg," look it up.  It's amazing.

 

Chip

 So, I have a chipped tooth.  Not a painful, just chipped.  (My right maxillary lateral incisor.  Yes, I totally had to look that up.)

  I have no idea how long it's been chipped, or how it chipped.  See, I don't look at myself in the mirror much at all.  Hardly ever, even, on a daily basis.  If I want to get my hair to look cute, I'll look in the mirror as I dry it.  If it's a mascara day, I look in the mirror to put that on.  ('Cause that's about all the make-up you need during Mask Times.)  But for some reason last week, I looked in the mirror and saw the chip.  And now I get to go have it seen about next week.

Whee?

Honestly, It's Just About All I Do

 When the contests are going on, the bulk of each of my days is spent looking up and matching photos, formatting the polls, and getting them out on the blog.  Granted, there were many fewer nominees in both contests this year, but it still took lots of time each day.

And why so many more votes for the KH Final than for the KC?

It was possible this year to have had a Star Wars match-up between Oscar Isaac and John Boyega.  There could also have been one between Yo-Yo Ma And Yaya Abdul-Mateen II.  How lyrical would that have been?  And on lyrical,  I liked the sort of poetry of RBG and AOC.

There is just the slightest bit of Fall in the breeze here the last couple of days.  Much as I love Winter, there's nothing like the first hints of clear, not humid, crisp days in Fall.  

There They Are. . .

. . .  KH and KC. . .

For 2020

Lin-Manuel Miranda is your Knitters' Hunk

and

Kamala Harris is your Knitters' Chick.

As far as the other winners go,  Kim nominated Kamala and will receive the KC First Prize.  Both Amanda and Kathy nominated Dolly, and will split the Runner-Up Prize.

(The final vote, btw, was 8 - 7.)

.  

KC-wise, since Lin was an automatic entrant, the KH First Prize will go to Melanie, who nominated Yo-Yo.  Jeff Bridges was also an automatic in, so those who nominated Bill Nighy (the other semifinalist) will, again, split the Runner-Up Prize.  That would be Terry (get a blog, girl!) and Twinnie Kim one more time!

(Final vote here 14 - 8.)

Thanks to you all, and congratulations to ALL the winners!

It's All Come to These

 ETA:  I didn't set the KC voting clock correctly, but that should be fixed now.  I'm adding 12 hours to voting time to make up for the mistake.  You have until 11:30 AM (ET) tomorrow to vote.  Sorry for the mix-up.

So, with whom would you like to spend time, while knitting or doing something else?

Well, Well, Well

 We can't move to the Semifinals yet, as there is yet another tie to break.  The two Knitters' Chick finalists are set, as is one Knitters' Hunk, but this is the unfinished business:

See you tomorrow!

Final Four

 I'm abandoning matching photos now, as you all surely know what everyone looks like.  Also, there is no vote count or percentage available to you.  It shall all be a delightful surprise from now on!  

One More Think

I meant to call this post "One More Thing," but typed "Think."  And honesty, we all do have to do one more think.  We need to break this final tie before moving on to the Semifinals.  Already waiting there are

Yo-Yo Ma

Dolly Parton

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Catherine O'Hara

Bill Nighy

Kamala Harris

Jeff Bridges

Let's see who gets the last seat at the table.

Quarters, One-Fourths, Part, Quad, Portion

My finding photos time has sped up significantly now.  First, the latest winners, then, the pictures and pairings for today.

 Helen Mirren

Lin-Manuel Miranda

 Bill Nighy

Catherine O'Hara

Yo-Yo Ma 

Kamala Harris

Sam Elliott

Fiona Hill and Allison Janney wound up tied.  Let's try one time to break that.  If we can't, I'll put them both up against the next person in their bracket.

So, here we go: