Miracles happen!!!!

The Cubs won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Annnnnd we made it through this week!!!  

Sorry Cleveland, but 1908..... the Cubs.... I needed that to happen.  Mind you, my bank account did NOT need that to happen.   Let's just say if Armageddon happens in a couple weeks (allowing for shipping time) Not only will I have plenty of stitching and reading, but I shall be well decked out in Cubs championship gear -- oh, and I'll be well fixed for glasses (3 water glasses, all different, and a wine glass).  

While I love the Cubs, I never considered heading to Chicago or Cleveland to be there in person, but I did get treated to a Cubs-winning night of the National League Championships by my auxiliary family.  The seats could hardly have been better, and the dinner (as you can see) was top notch!

Other games I watched like a normal mere mortal, on the couch.   This happens to be Dewey's Readathon dat where I tried valiantly to take part -- thus there I am, reading A Feast of Ice and Fire (cookbook based on the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin -- and both an interesting-ish read and a good cookbook).  That's Gramma Rose there to the left.  She's been declining, but at 101 you make allowances and she wanted to hang out "with her beautiful girls" (she has very rosey glasses-- lol) while we yelled at the TV.

The Worlds Series also brought with it for me a bit of a return to stitching.  I've been off my needles recently.  This getting up at 5:15 really turns my brain to mush by the time I get home, and Gramma not feeling well means my weekends are generally booked with hanging out with her (no complaints!  I'd rather do that than stitch.)   At some point last week I stumbled across this little Swedish horse ornie who I had left half done -- how embarrassing is that?-- half done on such a tiny thing!  Sheesh.  Well courtesy of at least one World Series game, he has most of a front half now--

And more cross stitching is on the horizon.  My LNS owner went to the Destination Dallas tradeshow and this Heritage Stitchcrafts kit was in her registration bag.  She doesn't xs so lucky me!   My mom loved lily of the valley --- with some fabric switch outs I see some floral decor in my future.  hee heee

I succumb to more Halloween -- what's happened to me????    I figured I "needed" a haunted house in my Halloween decor so, voila.  I've decided, Pratchett fans, that that's Greebo and Granny Weatherwax out looking for what Nanny Ogg has gotten herself up to.

 As to the reading... well its kinda languishing too.  Baseball and Gramma Rose.... what can I say.  Yesterday, despite having 11 books already in progress (one of which is still "really safe" wherever I put it) I started Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles.  One of the auxiliary nieces has it as a reading assignment in English, and my bff (her actual aunt) looked at me and said, "Oh, that one's yours."  lol   I guess I have an SF rep.

Sally forth, dear people, and have a great day and a wonderful weekend.  And, Cubs fans everywhere, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm back in less than a month.....

... it's a miracle!   Maybe I have turned a corner.   No ... Probably not.    Oh, what the heck -- it's Friday.  I'm going to be hopeful dang it!

Now that we are being hopeful, allow me to share a great challenge in my current life.   Halloween needlepoint.   I wasn't raised a Halloween person.  As a kid I had the obligatory costume, we did the jack-o-lantern carving thing, and that was it.  No hay bales, no inflatable witches in the yard, no strings of mummy-shaped lights.  Just the costume and the pumpkin.  Our family decorating centered on 3 holidays -- Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.  So here I am in my alleged adulthood finally coming under the spell of Halloween decor.   It's all really my LNS owner's fault since she's alllllll about Halloween so we have a lot of opportunities to oggle such canvases in the shop.   So, for weeks I have been eyeing these particular beauties:

1.  The shoes -- Really just the pumpkin and the skull -- though I wish the skull weren't a skull because I'm still picky about my Halloween decor and skulls aren't on the list.   That skull makes the list because (I'm embarrassed to admit it).... I like the checkerboard part of that shoe.

2.  This pumpkin with mini crow (his tail will HAVE to get fixed -- no way it's going to droop like that!)

3.  this Dandy Crow who is quite frankly marvelous

4.  This spooky house with gargoyles and crows (the big bird will have to have his beak adjusted -- I refuse to have him looking like a Bedlington terrier)... and possibly the ghosty one under it.

5.  And this extra large, two-sided angel.   I am nuts!

So Saturday while I am at work at the shop it may well happen that one of the above (or *gulp* more) follow me home.  I already know the rationale -- even though I have dozens and dozens of STARTED canvases and cross stitches, I will "need" something new to commemorate Dewey's 24-hour Readathon.  Makes perfect sense to my pea-sized, needlepoint-addled brain.   

Speaking of Dewey's.... I'm wiggling with eager excitement.   I have all these great plans for 24 hours worth of reading joy which officially begins at 5am Saturday in my time zone.   Even though I will be working for a significant chunk of the day and taking part in a birthday celebration I continue to make plans as if I shall be ensconced in peaceful, uninterrupted luxury.  My reading plans are to finish or make headway in these volumes (some audio, some print --- see, so I can combine it with stitching for a completely blissful experience!):

My excessive eagerness shows in fact that I have already planned my wardrobe for the 24-hours

If you like the thought of hanging out with a global family of readaholics, then do join in.  Sign in on the blog -- there's a facebook group (Dewey's 24-hour Readathon is their name funnily enough) and a Goodreads group.  In the Goodreads forum I will be hosting hours 19 and 20 so drop in.  Possibly it sounds odd, but there really is a sense of community about the event -- folks show off their to-be-read piles, trade snack ideas and easy recipes (so they won't impact heavily on reading time), strategies for pacing your reading, etc.  You don't have to read for 24 hours.  It's not like we have a police force.  Come for as little or as much as you want to or can.  It's just literacy-promoting fun.  Many folks read as a family and I love to see the kids' piles of books along side the parent's as they get excited about spending a whole day reading.   Let's face it, that's one of the coolest things ever.

Go forth and have yourself a splendid day!  And, yes, that is an order.

Being perky!

Hello World and Happy Monday.

Actually, now I'm reconsidering my perkiness.  I've been watching the flooding news from the Atlantic sea coast and it's worrying and sad -- as all my Pals buddies are trying to work out if they can head off to the Cross Stitch Pals retreat at a Myrtle Beach resort which apparently is still without power and has lost its pier.   Everyone be safe!

Now, to my continuing belated vacation/convention adventures and me getting in trouble..... again.

While in Kansas City, I ran away from WorldCon for an afternoon (I usually don't do this.  If I'm in for a con, I'm *in for a con,* and it's all I do until the closing ceremonies are over.  But it was poor planning on my part -- I'd planned an extra day of adventuring into my trip, but I planned it on Monday when many of the venues I wanted to visit were closed!   Sigh.).  Anyway, I escaped to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for a few hours and it was a lovely adventure.

I traipsed their grounds (despite the heat) on a mission to find their Roxy Paine metal tree, but I ran across this beauty -- the Glass Labyrinth by  Robert Morris.

And then I found Paine's Ferment (cousin of my favorite "Graft" in DC)

 The N-A is also the home of the "world's largest shuttlecocks" which are installed all over the property  --- sculptures by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.

They also have a lovely collection of American cut glass.

There's a nice Manet you can visit -- Mill at Lemetz

And a van Gogh -- Olive Orchard.

And a quite stunning set of 16th Century Italian armor

And, speaking of art.... and heading back to the Con, here's the reason I committed early on to dragging myself to Kansas City in the middle of summer -- their artist guest of honor, Kinuko Y. Craft --

And it you don't know why you ought to lover her......

sorry for my bad pic--both they and I were having technical difficulties.

And I got to go to a reading by one of my favorite authors, Jack McDevitt--

While at WorldCon I finished a long-term project (she kept getting shunted off to the side, poor dear).  She was off getting finished, but we found out this weekend that the finisher has decided to quit so she will be coming back to me undone.  We will find her someone else to finalize her beauty and move on.

 Since I finished something I felt justified in starting something new.... right?   That's how it works?  It doesn't matter that I have 3-4 dozen other things already started and waiting for attention????

Ok, one last thing before I race off........    sheesh how do I get so far behind???  

I interrupt my WorldCon adventures to bring you the one-day adventure known as Ladies of Intrigue, a small conference  where I had much fun two weeks ago (and got in trouble.

I got to have lunch with one of my very favorite authors, Kate Carlisle (seated here with Rhys Bowen standing behind her).

And, ready to be jealous?  Here are (left to right) Earlene Fowler and Carolyn Hart.

Before setting out to LoI I scoured my shelves for unsigned books to take along and came up with this modest pile.....

And then trouble happened.......

And I came home with two tote bags of this less modest pile.....

And there was a nice swag collection in my bags coming home as well--

Now these convention/Badger-Gets-in-Trouble reports feed in to an upcoming event..... the annual Fall edition of Dewey's 24-hour Readathon.  It's an opportunity to connect globally with fellow readers (there are blog, facebook, and Goodreads events/presences by which to take part) and know that the whole world  reads with you.  It's a lot of fun for 24 hours or 2 whatever you have available on Saturday the 22nd of October.  Come for a little or a lot of it if you can, and I'll "see" you there!

Yes, I am terrible.

I am always apologizing.  Sigh.   I don't believe that badgers in the wild do this.  Then again I'm pretty certain feral badgers don't have friends and don't stitch or read, but who knows what they really get up to in those setts!

Since last we met I've been doing a little galavanting.  Most recently I was in Kansas City for WorldCon -- oh happiness.   If only every day were WorldCon.

In typical MB (Musing Badger) fashion, I started planning "packing" a month out by selecting reading and stitching options.

But what actually made the flight was:

And this PILE of stitching options:

Now I was very proud of how much I trimmed from the original packing stack of stitching, but this was still silly.  I ended up finishing the angel needlepoint that Missy has her right paw on and two and a half xs ornies.  I was definitely prepared in case emergencies dictated I stay in Kansas City for another ... err.... month.  Whhhhy don't I ever learn?  Do you do this to yourself too?    There are items in that pile that I took one look at and said "I don't want to do this!"  Now I had to have known that somewhere in my brain the couple days before when I packed them, right????

I have to share a little hotel humor too which I hope will bring a chuckle to dedicated Coke/Pepsi brand fans everywhere.   This was the vending machine on my floor.  And a quick glance at it lead me to believe that as a Diet Coke fan I was out of luck.

But here are the actually offerings in the machine.  LOL   Poor Pepsi.  They definitely got the short straw on this one.

I have only good things to say about the Kansas City Convention Center.  It is logically (mostly) arranged, fairly easy to navigate, and it welcomed me (and 4,300 of my best friends) well --

And even better -- at the top of the escalator in the dealers/exhibits space we were met by this sign.   This is why my conventions are better than anyone else's!

Giant spacemen also greeted us :)

And giant Christmas ducks, and a river with parks along it (this park sponsored by New Zealand

I'll be back again soon with more news from the road trips.....   I swear (but you've heard that before, I know.)!