Word of the Day: Yen (As in, a Desire or Craving)

In my 2010 Despair, Inc calendar, March's theme is bitterness. The accompanying quote is, "Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world, because there's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams." The photo is of a sand castle crumbling as the tide comes in. I love my Despair, Inc calendar because it is very me, i.e., ha ha ha, that would be so sad if it were serious, but it's only a joke...mostly. Remember that Chappelle's Show line, "Oh, this racism is killing me inside"? It's like that. You grit your teeth and you laugh and both gestures are genuine.

As March begins, companies still refuse to hire me, magazines still refuse to accept my stories, I have to grudgingly admit that both BioShock 2 and Mass Effect 2 were ultimately disappointments (more on this some other time, perhaps some other place), and I think there's a mouse living underneath my stove. I think the thing about the mouse not based upon any first-hand sightings, but rather on my cats' behavior. They spend an inordinate amount of time these days staring at the stove. For example:

.

And it's not just Leon. Ada does it, too:

So I can't just discount it as Leon being a dummy.

On the up side, I just finished a new story, which always makes me feel good. And the knitting is going well. I got really, really bored with the leg warmers I was supposed to be knitting next (22 inches of plain black stockinette stitch—what was I thinking? I'm beginning to understand why people end up knitting neon striped sweaters covered in polka dots, reindeer, and ribbons. If I ever sink that low, though, please, someone slap me.), so I started a sweater. And then finished it.

It's thick and warm and looks just about exactly the way it's supposed to, despite my wariness about the circular needle that was required to create the turtleneck. It was weird, like a snake eating its own tail every round, but not difficult. The sweater is rather bulky, though, and obviously handmade, so I doubt I'll ever wear it outside the house, but it's comfortable for indoors, so I consider the endeavor a success.

Meanwhile, there's still 3/4 of one leg warmer technically in progress. In reality, I am now working on a pair of socks, the Blueberry Waffle Socks of semi internet knitting fame. I've been kind of dying to try the waffle stitch since I glimpsed the Waffle Stitch Thermal on Knitty, but I'm nowhere near skilled or patient (a whole sweater on 3 millimeter needles in fingering weight yarn? I can't even begin to fathom how long that would take. Imagine building a log cabin out of dental floss and sticks of pencil lead or something equally ridiculous.) enough for that yet, so socks it is for now.

In other (fictional obsession) realms, Uchiha Sasuke continues to majorly, majorly, majorly depress me; while I enjoyed Darker than Black, I felt just as wtf about its universe at the end of the show as I did at the beginning, so I suppose I'll have to watch the sequel (possibly that was the point all along); Chuck has been invaded by characters from various Superman universes; and I miss Supernatural something awful. Episodes of season five are airing every week, but I missed the first ten, so now I can't watch any until reruns start or the season comes out on DVD. I am in serious withdrawal. I miss Dean.

And Castiel!

And that Sam guy, too. I guess.

Doh well. For now I shall just listen to "Ready for Love" by Bad Company about a billion times and imagine Dean's naked back. I mean...I would never do that. Cus that would be weird. On many levels. Um. Yeah. Bye now.