Fresno 28th "The Sounds of Mardi Gras"

We arrived thinking this would be their last year ... to find fliers on the registration desk promoting next year's festival! They're working as hard as they can to raise enough money to do it again.

Devil Mountain Jazz Band (minus drummer and pianist - I couldn't see them)

Sorry about the fuzz - they were playing in the lobby, I was on the 4th floor ... this is "Ray Skjelbred's Cubs," a new band with the cream of the crop.

Another from the 4th floor, High Sierra Jazz Band playing for the Parasol Parade.

And the Parasol Parade, probably the largest in the traditional jazz festival circuit. 

These photos show maybe 1/3 of the people involved in the parade. It wasn't possible to get them all in frame. There are some photos of individual musicians, also, that may be posted another time. We got here late and are leaving early, so we weren't able to hear all of the bands. 

George Probert was to be a special guest with one set Thursday night with a band that he put together, and then sitting in with other bands through the weekend. Unfortunately, he was hospitalized last month and his doctors didn't want him to travel this far from home. We'll call him when we get home to see how he's doing. 

As usual, we went to the "Shepherd's Inn" Basque restaurant for dinner last night and found the large center table almost filled with the High Sierra band members and their spouses and friends. They asked us to join them, and we had a wonderful family-style Basque dinner and lots of fun conversation.  

Today we'll drive home, hopefully with a stop in Bakersfield at "Rosemary's Creamery" for some of the best ice cream in the universe. 

Startitis

I have it. I can't stop starting new things today.

I've tried to start about five projects today. They're all surrounding me in the craft room. And I'd swear they're laughing. Obviously, they don't know that I can rip them out as quickly as I started them.

In addition, the new treadmill was delivered today, so it had to be tried out. It has the handle thingies for working your arms and back while you walk. And several pre-programmed workouts each for just walking, and for walking while using the arm thingies. I'll have to work up to that. All of their workouts are beyond my ability right now. I'd fall right off the back if I tried to walk that fast. But it sure is nice! Much quieter than the old one. It also has an incline function so that if just walking doesn't give you a heart attack, you can try climbing hills. Displays show time, distance, calories burned, and, in the event of that heart attack, you can check your heart rate. I'm back in the craft room now, letting my heart rate take care of itself.

I finally got far enough up the leg of one of the slip-stitch design socks to try them on. The foot is great, fits perfectly. The leg is so tight it was almost impossible to get it on. I've decided the yarn is cursed, since this is the second time it's been used unsuccessfully. It will not be used again! I'm trashing it and putting the needles to better use.

The "Favorite Musical" swap in underway with the DramaticKnits group on Ravelry. I'm also doing a knit block for a group making a blanket for a friend who lost a baby last year, socks from a pattern designed by a knitter who is fighting cancer, and spinning a new braid of Merino wool. 

I picked up two quilt jobs yesterday, so I'll have to abandon the startitis and get them done in the next few days. Next week is quilt class on Wednesday, jury duty Thursday, and the Fresno Mardi Gras, Friday through Sunday.

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational

If you're looking for the "Changes" blog, it's right below this one. This was too good not to share:

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.  Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject
financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxicaton: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you
realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright
ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign
of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting
laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who
doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really
bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a
serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming
only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido: All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they
come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've
accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your
bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the
fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly
contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common
words.  And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has
gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a
nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run
over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up
onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish
men.

Changes

I don't know if they sell outside of California, but there is a clothing company called "American Rag." I think they primarily sell through Macy's.

Anyway, they found our web site at www.americanrag.com and wanted the domain name. They proceeded to buy all "The American Rag" domain names and then offered them to us. Since our newspaper is "The American Rag," and they offered to pay for the changes, we agreed. Everything is in the process of being changed over now.

I'm not sure if they were aware of this blog. The url was kate-americanrag.blogspot.com. Actually, I guess it still is. I tried to change it to kate-theamericanrag, but it wasn't available, so I maybe they bought that one, too. But, in the spirit of cooperation, I purchased my own domain and you can find this blog now at www.katejonze.com. Cool, eh? Google didn't actually delete the previous url, just forwards it. For now. When my two readers get used to the change, I'll delete the old one.

That's all the news that's fit to print. Today is quilt class day, so I'll spend the morning getting stuff rounded up for that. I should be getting two quilt jobs today, so I need to go. Right now, I think I'll call Mom and see how she's doing.

What's Up, Doc?

First, I should have explained yesterday's SOPA/PIPA thing. It's not that we approve of internet pirating, just that the current bill under consideration seems to give the government too much power to censor web sites.

Now ... on to fun stuff.

Here's some yarn that I finished a couple of days ago. I've lost the card, but know it came from Dyeabolical Yarns fiber club last summer. I also don't know what kind of sheep it came from. I see that she has a lot of Falkland posted for sale now, but somehow think this may be BFL.

Last night I purchased a pattern for a long, skinny shawl/scarf that has both lace edging and stockinette body. I'm just not sure whether this will work better with lace or solids, so I'll have both and will know next time.

The yarn for Mom's socks is dry and ready to wind. I need to decide if I want to try Cat Bordhi's "Minnesota Moonlight" pattern again (depends on whether there are instructions for a smaller size) or pick a new pattern.

This is the quilt I'm working on in class for a while. It's called "Deer Friends." The kits were all sold by the time I saw it, but I was able to buy the center panel and then pick fabrics for the rest. I get some funny looks since I started it after Christmas, but I need to have something to work on so I can be there to keep in touch with my longarm customers.

In the longarm quilting world, I have two waiting to be done after newspaper deadline, and one large one coming in the first week in February. It's always slow after Christmas when people are starting new projects and catching up on holiday expenses.

I have three projects on the needles right now. Striped 2x2 rib socks and a pair with Spring colors from last year's Tempted yarn club. The third project is a cabled headband. And, of course, the fourth ... because three is never enough ... will be the shawl/scarf from the handspun yarn. The fifth will be Mom's replacement socks. At least they're all small projects and it helps that I have no attention span, so I have no problem jumping from one project to another. Pics tomorrow ... maybe.

Speaking of attention span, I need to get to work on newspaper stuff and stop playing here. See what I mean?