Wednesday, February 20, 2008

O Solo Nervoso Mio

Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone - last night was.......well, pretty good for a first solo. The dancing was a bloody doddle compared to the stress of maintaining an acceptable facial expression. I kept shrieking at myself (mentally) "Smile! For the love of sheep, SMILE!!" followed in a few moments by "GOOD LORD woman this is what is called a GRIMACE, RELAX YOUR FACE!"

So basically I spent four and a half minutes alternating between a Scantily-Clad Undertaker and Maniac Stepford Harem Girl.

But the dance itself was flawless. I wowed them with my swirling veil and my skilled rhythmic zilling. No photos, I'm afraid - it was all I could do to get the assistant to figure out how to put my CD on, never mind actually work my video camera. But I'll be dancing with my troupe next weekend (on TV this time) so I may record that for your viewing pleasure.


Postes Canada Post came by the other day, and dropped off a V-E-R-Y interesting package. Here it is.


Lest you missed it, let me draw your attention to the return address:


Oh Em Gee!! Oh Em Gee!!

Here's where I say a huge THANK YOU to Mairi Macleod for writing "Value: 25 GBP" on the customs form, instead of "Value: 115 GBP", resulting in my having to pay $7.43 duty instead of $20.

And if you want to know how much $240 gets you at Virtual Yarns, take a gander.


It doesn't look like much, but.......well okay, actually it's not much. But hey - this is some quality wool. And all this wool PLUS a couple of hundred hours of my time EQUALS a pretty wrap! So if I paid a dollar an hour to knit this I am TOTALLY WINNING! Basically it's costing me nothing! Yay!

Dear Mr. Buhler: thank you for all the time you spent teaching me remedial math. I'm sure you're happy with how it all turned out. Affectionately, Shannon

I'll be swatching this baby as soon as I get some WIPs out of the way. I have promised myself to finish off the Log Cabin Blanket and the Marina Piccola socks before I start Rheingold. (I'm not talking to the lace right now, by the way. I have threatened to send her to my riding-crop-owning friend* for a bit of spankin' if she doesn't start behaving soon. So far she has responded to that just as she responded to my tears and cajoling - with stony silence. We'll see how stony she is WHEN SHE'S GOT A FEW RED WELTS ON HER BEHIND, YES YOU HEARD ME BEYOTCH, YOUR TIME IS A'COMIN.)

On that happy note, I'll bid you all a fond adieu. I'll be back tomorrow (or possibly Friday) with another addition to my ongoing meme.

* I'm sure you're all interested to find out which of my friends owns a riding crop (although I'm betting it's more than just one) but I will be coy about identifying her....though she should feel free to identify herself, should she wish it.
Edit: Thanks Annalea - I forgot to link to Rheingold.

16 comments:

Annalea said...

Oh, what gorgeous, Gorgeous yarn! That's definitely a lot more than "not much", imho. ;o)

And I haven't yet heard of Rheingold . . . I'll have to go ask Google to show me.

Annalea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Gorgeous yarn!

One of my co-workers taught us a few basic belly dancing moves the other day, resulting in lots of sore muscles the following day. Was a lot of fun though, and we're actually going to have some belly dancing breaks at work in the not too distant future. Oh, and turns out she's in your troupe, her name is Jennifer.

Anonymous said...

totally want to know if it was the riding crop owner who deleted the comment :) You had me almost in tears laughing at the lace.

And can not WAIT to see the yarny goodness!!!! (Note I don't assume touch. I will understand if you have fencing around it.)

Gwen said...

That yarn looks good even to me.

Jo said...

I was going to say I bet there are more than one ;)

Lovely yarn!

Ames said...

That picture of the yarn is basically fiber porn. Are you allowed to post that?

Anonymous said...

Oh, this may win my Favorite HSB Post Ever award. If I may bastardize Wallace Stevens for a moment (though not as beautifully as this: http://dogsstealyarn.com/archives/000291.html), I do not know which to prefer, "Scantily-Clad Undertaker and Maniac Stepford Harem Girl" or the threatening of the lace with my riding crop (yes, folks, it is I, and I know how to wield it). Oh, and that yarn pron doesn't suck either. Shan, my friend, you are a funny, funny, erudite woman.

Olga said...

I would only be shocked by the riding crop if you spanked all your yarn, yarn abuser!For shame...

Anonymous said...

Ha - I would have laid money on it being Lizbon, that was my guess :-)

Shan said...

Brenda - Yes Jen is in my class! Small world.

Kate - I thought you might think it was my sister.

Lizbon, spare my blushes!! Soon I will get a swollen head and start earning the smackdowns I keep getting from my kid sister.

Anonymous said...

Kate, how did you know? Apparently I am transcontinentally transparent.

Anonymous said...

Lizbon, I don't know really ... perhaps the clever sassiness you comment with (and I don't mean sassy in a cutesy way, but it is the word that comes to mind)? Just somehow you were who came to mind.

Shan, no your sister didn't occur to me actually .... but now you've got me wondering!

Gwen said...

rawr.

Tabatha said...

I am glad it went well. The yarn is beautiful.

And for the lace remember forgiveness, compassion and mercy is always the best way to go. :P

mel said...

Wow. What a great package, that's some really great knitting to look forward to!!

And I really enjoyed your belly dancing post :)