Page 25 of 165

Miniature Bottle Collectors, Prostitots, and Knitters.

May 5, 2009 / PlazaJen

It’s interesting to stay in a large hotel that caters to groups. Long, long ago, when I first started in advertising, I became aware of a whole universe of magazines that cater to what we call “vertical niche markets”. No, not those markets. Magazines like, “Spudman”, or “The Gobbler” – designed to communicate pertinent information to someone growing potatoes, or raising turkeys. There is absolutely something for everyone, and the internet only proves that more and more.

Hobbies have their own idiosyncracies. For instance, the very same weekend 100 devoted knitters descended on St. Charles, so did a group of international miniature bottle collectors. And kiddie pageant-goers. Now, I was intrigued by the little bottles – at first confusing the gathering with an opportunity to buy wee bottles of alcohol, but all their little rows of colored bottles, with unique stoppers and corks – it was a whole subculture devoted to their hobby. The other one? Dubbed “the prostitots” by those who had been there last year, I have to admit, it was disconcerting and a bit sickening, seeing the made-up face and hair of a 20-year-old woman wobbling above the body of a 7-year-old. I just don’t get it. Fortunately, most of those families were in the other hotel, so the cross-pollination was limited. Oh, and there was also a marching band there, and a few wedding/bachelor/bachelorette parties. One of my weekend highlights came on the last day in the hotel, as I urged my fellow knitters to look to my left, so they could see the five-foot-tall inflatable penis passing through the lobby. (Next favorite highlight? My roommate Pat chirping, “I rode down the elevator with it! I’ve never seen one with a smiley face before!”)

I had a fantastic time. I took two sock-design classes, one with Cookie A. and the other with Wendy, of WendyKnits. I made new friends, connected the dots between Plurk and Ravelry friends to their real-live faces and voices, and got to shop at The Loopy Ewe. I drank margaritas made with Herradura, and snagged some Ted Drewes from the snack station. (They really spoiled us with the snacks. Ooof.) And then I returned to reality, and the re-entry into the atmosphere was tough. I’ve been slammed at work (thus no blog) and some of my mojo is missing. It’s like I’ve got a knitting-weekend hangover. A YarnOver, as it were. I’ve still got to organize and put descriptions on my photos, but I’ll give you the few I’ve done thus far….

Me with Wendy. She is a blast, and it was great to meet after all that Plurking:

My roomie Pat. She rocks. She also now goes by Ricia. Ricia rocks, too.

Karen (I love this picture because not only do I adore Karen, it’s like she’s posing for this very beatific book cover, and I’m crowding in, ruining the shot. True to form, of course.)

Kym (her husband joined us for dinners, and I adore him, too. They need to come visit us because JWo and Chuck would hit it off like nobody’s business.)

Lori – I so wish I’d known her when I lived in St. Louis. Like-minded and boy howdy, could the two of us cook up some trouble together.

Helena – what a fascinating life she’s had. After traveling the world with the Foreign Services department, she just wants to retire and settle down in Wisconsin. I also was witness to her first-ever shot of tequila (Patron, of course! Would I steer a gal wrong?)

And then there was a little bit of Loopy Ewe shopping….

Duet sock yarn in Pickled Peck, YoYo CashSport in Hulk Smash, Scarlet Fleece in Poodle Skirt, and the miniature sock blocker peacock. WITH the gifted bag from Keri, 3AM Enchantments!

Keri is such a sweetheart, a couple months ago she emailed me about finding some skull beads. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good online digging detective project (zombies!), and she was so happy with the results, she made me a project bag! Knitters are the awesomest. And I finally met Ms. YoYo (Alyson) and her hubby Travis. Stupidly, we didn’t take a picture together, but I have this one of her hanging out with Cookie:

…and then we were spoiled with some Spring Fling swag….

Namaste Knitube bag, Loopy Ewe mug, Schaeffer Nichole yarn, WendyKnits pattern, Laura Nelkin pattern, temporary tattoos & Loopy Ewe pin.

That’s all I can muster for one post – of course, there are more stories (Trader Joe’s shopping!) (one cah-razay lady who had the hugest chip on her shoulder about Ravelry!) but that’s gonna have to wait! Howdy to all my new pals, and I really understand why you start waiting for next year the day you leave.

You Might Not Be Grown-Up Enough Yet.

April 28, 2009 / PlazaJen

Remember when your parents finally (FINALLY!) let you stay home alone, without them, knowing they wouldn’t return until long after your bedtime, and you relished every moment of that freedom? What you don’t realize is that freedom also requires responsibility, and so I have to tell you, I’m disappointed in you.
I go off for a long weekend of frolicking, and you not only let Bea Arthur die, but you also allow a swine flu pandemic to explode.
You’re totally grounded.
(more on my fun weekend once I get pics uploaded!)

Hello, I Must Be Going!

April 22, 2009 / PlazaJen

Well, I am heading out tomorrow to St. Louis, to attend The Loopy Ewe’s Spring Fling. Knitters (and spinners!) will be flying in from all over to attend, including three amazing teachers – Wendy, Cookie & Anne – and then the dyemaster herself, Claudia, of Wollmeise. I’m also excited to finally meet Sheri herself!

But the excitement doesn’t stop – there are going to be sooo many people there to meet, greet, hang out with, knit with, laugh with, all of it. I’ve made so many ‘internet friends’ between Ravelry and Plurk, I know it’s going to be a bit of an overload to match everyone’s little avatar and personality up with their real-life selves. Plus you have the thin sheen of anxiety that goes along with travel and big groups – did I pack everything? How’m I going to carry all this stuff? What if everyone hates me and I spend the weekend in my car, weeping? You know. The basics. There is also the chance I’ll be breaking bad news to my husband, because George Clooney is shooting a movie in St. Louis, and a group is already planning a sushi dinner on Friday night…at the location where Mr. Clooney has been spotted every Friday. I’m just saying. George probably has had his fill of tall, willowy model-types, and he might just be looking for a rotund, short, brassy sort of knitter to round out his experiences in life.

(Probably not.)

(But when my co-workers asked if I’d knit him socks, the answer was an unequivocal, bellowed, “HELLZ YEAH!”)

Meanwhile, work crazes on, and it’s whack-a-mole times. Partly because of the vacation time I’m taking (all whopping 2.5 days of it, whoa nelly!) and partly because the demands are there – this business has a crazy broken roller-coaster-ness to it, where things are slow and plodding and then suddenly you’re hurtling along at 100 mph and hoping your cart doesn’t go off the rails when you crest the top.

I’ll also be going to Trader Joe’s while I’m in STL – I can only hope that they ask for our zip codes when we checkout, as I know the Kansas City contingency plans to hit their store close to our hotel pretty hard before we drive home on Sunday. Listen up, TJ! Kansas City wants/needs a store (more than one would be awesome!) and we want it NOOOOW! (I’m bringing a cooler. And shopping for co-workers – Three Buck Chuck, of course. Perfect for the aforementioned roller coaster!)

James will be selling more tomato and pepper plants this weekend – a couple varieties have sold out already, but he’s got loads of great plants left. Cherokee Purple seems to be the hot tomato this year (yes, Virginia, there is a cutting-edge even in the gardening world!) and he has oodles of those. It will keep him busy & off the streets while I’m gone, I know that much. EMAIL him at jworley1@ HOTMAIL [dot] com if you have questions or want to place an order! Yes, you have to type out his email, but it’s faster than leaving a comment – my computer access will be very limited.

So I’m off – I’ll be Plurking from my Blackberry, certainly, and then I’ll report back next week with pictures & stories! See you then!

Random Orts. Shake ‘Em Like an iPod Nano.

April 13, 2009 / PlazaJen

1. We now both have iPod Nanos. James exclaimed he never ever thought he’d own anything Apple. I, on the other hand, work amongst the Mac devoted, and as a consumer, have looooved their marketing. So, when the new 8G Nanos went on sale at Target, coinciding with my work anniversary, I decided to engage in a little retail therapy. Since my husband likes to tell me I have to have everything better than him, I decided a couple days later to buy HIM one, too. I even loaded it with a ton of music. So now we’re finally in this millenium, and I enjoyed using mine while doing yard work on Saturday. He was fairly amused by the “shake-to-shuffle” feature, which he proceeded to do for about five minutes (while it was hooked up to a speaker). Mine is turquoise, his is black. I think they’re stupendous.

2. So I went to the Apple store on the Plaza, to get an armband thingy. I couldn’t have felt like a bigger Luddite if I’d tried. I determined that one of the qualifications to be an Apple Genius is to have a really interesting haircut.

3. When we were at Em Chamas, there was one waiter who didn’t have much showmanship. He was the one serving flank steak. So now the big joke at home is to flip one’s emo hair while braying “FLANK STEAK”, just to illustrate your attitude and disdain for the situation at hand.

4. I have a dear friend coming to visit this weekend, so I was working on cleaning the guest bedroom. In the process, I discovered that I have a lot of yarn. That job springboarded to my Huge Project, and you can see, I’ve got some good storage upstairs. And a lot of yarn.

I still have a lot of work to do, but this makes me happy.

5. I need sunshine. This doldrums- rain crap, combined with freeze warnings, is making our household very emo. We are ready for spring. Our thoughts on the weather can be accurately captured with two words: FLANK STEAK.

6. My (very conservative) friend Shan accidentally went into a gay bar on one of our trips to NYC. He was reassured by the bartender (female) that it wasn’t, they served all kinds (including the two gay men at the bar). He then told us it was a unique bar, because it had all these roosters all over the place. I responded by asking him if he thought perhaps all the cocks in the room were a CLUE.

7. My friend Laura is finishing her final week of retail hell at Macy’s, before starting a really kick-ass job that will use her education and skills. She had posted about a certain crazy ceramic rooster that had gone on clearance and would make a great white elephant gift.

8. My friend Shan’s desk, as of last Friday:

I love doing stuff like that. Ceramic rooster – $17. Making everyone laugh – worth every penny & then some.

9. I finally got a Blackberry that works, exchanged by the eBay seller. I’ve discovered that you can chat with other Blackberry peeps (I have two!) and you can look up directions to Em Chamas because it’s in the Northland and you can’t remember the road, and you can see your email all the time. It’s pretty cool, I must say – and yes, I’d love an iPhone, but right now I’m stuck with T-Mobile (the aforementioned G-Foible) and this phone will at least get me through the end of our contract. Still have that RAZR if anyone would like to take it off my hands; got a direct connection to Satan, should you need to be phoning him up anytime soon.

That’s it for today! Shake it up!

Wahoo!

April 11, 2009 / PlazaJen

I won a gift certificate from The Pioneer Woman! I have no idea what I’ll buy, and when I told my husband Van Dyke’s Restorers was a Cabela’s company, he immediately wanted to know if the gift certificate could be used there. (No.) (I don’t even want to know if it can.) (I’m not good at sharing, does nobody remember this?)

This would be lovely, though it would require me to kick in some cash to cover the difference. Never mind there’s nowhere to put it. I’d be perfectly happy with it in the living room. Watch my DVR, knit, splash a little, no biggie! Hi, company! Can you all just look out at the garden while I get out of the tub? Thannnnks.

Actually, I just realized why the site was familiar to me – a couple years ago, I was looking for some bun feet to raise our dining room table – I’d bought it from a friend, and it sat a little too low. (The table itself is really cool, it’s a reclaimed barn door, but the construction doesn’t allow you to lengthen the legs at the top.) The bun feet were pricey, and I went with something much cheaper from Lowe’s that worked for height, only to discover they didn’t work as well for stability. So! I expect I’ll be bunnin’ it up! And, the more you read and say “bun foot” the more it sounds really, really weird. Especially when you like Vietnamese food, and, um, bun (noodles).

Look for the next post to be a big ol’ smattering of Orts. There’s been lots happening, but work has been really crazy with, you know, work, and there’s more work and fewer people, so we …work a lot more. But there are still jokes and drama and funny things going on. I’m especially chirpy because one of my dearest friends is coming to visit next weekend, and the weekend after that is my trip to the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling and whenever I think about that road trip and yarn and meeting all the knitting friends I’ve made online, I just get so excited. Like I was today! I swear, you just get in your path and sometimes it feels like a rut, but then you come around a corner, and it’s like everyone threw you a surprise party and you remember all the reasons life gives you to be happy again!

mwah! I am cheerfully annoying. I kiss you and go. Wipe the lipstick off your cheek. I understand.

Not shaken, mostly stirred.

April 6, 2009 / PlazaJen

April 6.
The day my father called & told me he had cancer.
June 10
The day he died.
January 22
His birthday.

I will have these dates, like beads on a rosary, tied around my heart for the rest of my life. I’m glad today’s anniversary didn’t create paralysis, albeit, a little fluff of down, some sadness, soaking up my residual sadness of last week, when we went through layoffs. I used my father’s death as an excuse at the time, when a co-worker walked in on me at my desk, dabbing my eyes. Mentally, I kind of gave dad a begrudging grin, like, “thanks, man”…. and I also felt guilty. Lying to cover up what was going on, doing it by using the most sacredly painful piece of my life. But I’ve no poker face and I had to say something.

So, tonight, when I walked into Panera to pick up a loaf of bread, I got the sesame semolina. It was his favorite. And I smiled to myself, wistfully. It is in those small moments I hear his voice, just the most ordinary of sentences or comments (“Oh, I love that bread.”). I love that bread, too, I love it more because you loved it, and can we pretend for just half a second that I’ll call and tell you, “Dad, we had the semolina, man that is such good stuff, I’m so glad you told me about it” and then I have to remember that there will never be another phone call, that I just have to be happy James and I love this bread, and I’ll mention it was his favorite, and life will move on. Because that’s what life does.

My melancholy. The sweetness of love mixes with the acrid memories of sadness. Despite grief’s sharp, astringent bite, I am glad to find there is more love in the glass each year.

Snowflakes? Whatever.

April 5, 2009 / PlazaJen

I’m thinking about these:

Want a table-full yourself? It could be yours! This is a huge year for gardening – I read that the interest in putting in a garden has jumped 19% this year. Growing your own food has come back into fashion. We started a couple months ago, as the garden porn catalogs began rolling in….. which brings me to our own plant sale!

Hubs started selling plants yesterday. He’ll be selling them again the weekends after Easter (April 18th and April 25th), so take a look at the list & figure out what you want to grow – he’s put tons of time into researching the varieties (and of course, growing the little buggers), and he’s got one helluva lineup of tomatoes, peppers, basil & eggplant this year. Of the tomatoes, 21 of the 22 varieties are American-grown, certified organic; all of the seedlings have been grown 100% organically with his own homemade potting soil with fish emulsion fertilizer (way better for your plants and soil!) I know the tomatoes, eggplant and peppers are ready to go to good homes, and he needs the room in his greenhouse! (Basil will be ready in two weeks. I can attest to the fantastic-ness of the stuff, especially if you like to cook Thai food!)

If you’d like to pre-build an order, or you have any questions, just shoot him an email at: jworley1 (at!) hotmail (dot!) com – put “plants” in the subject line so he can rescue you from any spam filters. Plants are $1.50/each, or 4 for $5 – the exception are the eggplants, which are $2.50 each. (He’s got 4 Thai eggplant and one Italian variety.) If you want a “garden-full” of plants, he’s always willing to make a deal!

And if you need to come back to visit the plant list page, just look over there on the sidebar, I added a “pages” widget so you can shoot straight to the NuWo Nursery list. When I read the tomato descriptions, I almost forget that it’s going to be 20 degrees tomorrow night. WTH?!

I’m already dreaming about that first BLT…. mmmm….

Drive-thru Entertainment

April 3, 2009 / PlazaJen

Well, we didn’t go to any fish fries this year (hey, with my own fryer, we can have our own quite easily now…) but we did take Momma Linda and ourselves up to the Brazilian steakhouse (Em Chamas) while they were having their seafood-Fridays/$10 off promotion. De-lish, and the service was utterly top-notch. But we didn’t stay for dessert, and after all that meat-onna-spear, my husband persuaded me to pull into a McDonald’s for a cone. (I like a cone.)

So I pulled up to the order box, where I was greeted by a female voice, asking me if I’d be interested in the Double Quarter Pounder Extra Value meal, which, given the meal I’d had, was pretty laughable. I declined, and ordered the cones.

A male voice replied with the total due.

Suddenly, I got squirrely. “Why, MY how your voice has deepened, I must say!”

And the voice chuckled, and lowered even further, “Why yes it did.”

As we were driving around the corner, my husband informed us that those are recorded greetings (Who knew?! Not me!) so it then made sense – but I’ve always visualized someone starting the process, and then someone else jumping in to handle the rest. Tricky, tricky! All with the recordings now, this modern world continues to shock & awe! We pulled up to the window, and the guy was laughing, we were laughing, he said something about he gets that once in a while, and I said something about just learning it was a recording, and then I might have said something about how interesting it was when I thought he was having a sex change between the time I’d ordered & the time I’d paid. (I do this randomly, get utterly inappropriate & it hasn’t failed me yet. Yet.)

So by the time we get to the delivery window, apparently that guy’d been standing there waiting, cones in hand. He said something about how if we’d been any longer he was gonna eat ’em himself. I demanded to know if he’d licked them already.

It’s been a stressful week. I got drunk on meat. What can I say.

Tired of Nostradamus.

April 1, 2009 / PlazaJen

I just posted this comment on a trade article online; yet another piece on how not only is 2009 going to suck, but 2010? Is going to suck even more. Frankly, I have had it with the fear and panic and crystal-ball bullshit. It’s exhausting.
~~~~~~my comment:
Anyone else getting really tired of self-fulfilling doom & gloom prophecies? The more we feed the fear and terror – the more those fears become reality. The monthly, weekly, daily clutching at one’s heart, on an individual and corporate level, is exhausting. On a larger scale, this economic panic parallels the inflated gas prices of last summer. The market artificially inflated pricing which sustained itself for a decent amount of time, despite having no real basis in reality. (shortage, etc.) How long are we as a nation going to allow this panic to immobilize us, and how much damage to we have to endure in the process?

~end comment~~~~~~
Personally, I’m having a terrible week. Unable to talk or write about it. I tried yesterday, found myself caught in a silent space. I want to give voice to the feelings…..yet I see my own powerlessness and all my thoughts feel futile, despite the well-intentioned wishes, they become simpleton attempts to put attention on myself, look at my pain, my anxiety. Everyone has their own story and many have harder roads than I, so I set my jaw, carry my load, and try not to feel it all at once. I can say that the weariness of being an adult, being responsible, yet being unable to change things to what I want them to be, really really sucks. I’m reminded of how, just three years ago this week, I got the call from my father, telling me he had cancer. I wore down the earth, running at a brick wall. I’m doing it again and guess what? It still fucking hurts. And I can’t change a thing.

So I leave you with the wish I wrote yesterday.

I wish….

that the world would stop

take a deep breath

take back our power

believe things can be better

and begin to climb upwards

curling hands together

finding strength.

Nahhh. We don’t need to worry about the KCPD budget….

March 26, 2009 / PlazaJen

Everything’s FINE!

I was looking at the weekly Crime Reports for my neighborhood (not this one), and having a discussion with a co-worker about the recent rash of break-ins in the Brookside/Waldo area, where he lives. I decided to just scroll further north, and a little east. (Basically State Line Road on the west, 47th St on the South, 31st St to the north, and east of Benton Blvd.) Watching all those colorful little boxes erupt on my screen – 12 days of crime, not even two full weeks – 350+ crimes in just that geography – made me stop and wonder just how bad it’s gotta get before it can get better.
Sorry to add to the negative swirl that’s out there – economy, jobs, health care, money, crime …. I’m tired of being barraged with it. I also feel that as a resident of Kansas City, there is no way in HELL we can afford to make cuts to the police budget right now. (I mean, I’m all in favor of traffic cops moving to a beat, maybe that’s how we work it out….except I’m sure ticket writing has to go UP in order to fund the department.)

Sigh.

PlazaJen: The Blog

Page 25 of 165

Miniature Bottle Collectors, Prostitots, and Knitters.

You Might Not Be Grown-Up Enough Yet.

Hello, I Must Be Going!

Random Orts. Shake ‘Em Like an iPod Nano.

Wahoo!

Not shaken, mostly stirred.

Snowflakes? Whatever.

Drive-thru Entertainment

Tired of Nostradamus.

Nahhh. We don’t need to worry about the KCPD budget….

Recent Posts

Categories

PlazaJen’s Blog

Archives

Networking, Baby

Bloggin' Peeps

Bloggin' Peeps Who Knit

Cooking

Kansas City Bloggers

Kansas City Knitters

Knitters. We Are Everywhere

Sewing, Design, Crafting

Sites That Amuse and Entertain