Back in California

We're back in California now--flew back yesterday afternoon. But here are a couple pictures from our trip:


Here's Thing 1 as she was getting on the bus to camp.

And here's Thing 2 enjoying pirate day at her camp.

This building is where I lived for 3 years during college. It was my first apartment, and it was a quirky one: the tiny bedroom had 2 doors but no windows. But I liked living there. There's a big park right behind the building, and it was within easy walking distance of campus. See the third window from the left in the front of the building, on the first floor? That was my living room.

I promised the other day that I would post a pic of the knitting project I was working on. This is a pretty crappy pic, but here ya go:

Can you guess who this is? The object he's propped against is a hint, actually. I adapted a pattern from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, the same pattern I'd previously used to make Joey Ramone and Sigmund Freud. I'm still planning to make a shirt and coat for this guy. The knitted version is buffer (hint, hint!) than the real guy, and you'll have to click on the pic to be able to see his very light-colored hair, but I'm pretty satisfied with how he turned out.

In other news, I came home to discover two fun surprises in my pile of mail. First, there was a thank you note from the place where I got my tattoo, which I think is very nice. And second, there was a gorgeous skein of Hand Maiden Sea Silk, sent as a surprise from a generous friend. :-) Boy, that yarn is really scrumptious!

And one more thing. Have you noticed that the Bush Countdown on the left of the screen is now under 200 days?