When I turned the calendar page to November, I performed the ritual count of weeks left until Christmas, looked at the to-do list in my head, and had my festive pre-season panic attack. How did it get so late in the year and why is the finished-project basket so empty? I glared at my spinning wheel. Seductive little tramp. I resolutely turned my back on the singles waiting to be plied and turned toward my knitting needles.

When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
-Paulo Cuelo, The Alchemist.

While strolling through a cemetery on a romantic getaway last weekend, my folks happened upon a tombstone that reminded them of me. (And to those of you out there who may have questioned why I am the way I am, you now have your answer.) Specifically, my dad said, "Think you and Shawn might have gotten along with this couple had your paths crossed in the right time."

At some point in early June, I suddenly knew what I had to be for Halloween this year and I was bouncing with excitement to get going. This is early for me. Perhaps not in the scheming and initial design sense, but certainly for the execution phase. When that little serendipitous inspiration struck me, I was entrenched in sewing ballet costumes for a performance under the direction of another, and while the costume director was doing a great job, the perverse part of me was bristling to color outside the lines.

To those of you who know me in the real world, sorry.  Really, I am.  My generally less-than-stellar communication attempts are currently non-existent.  Seriously, send a message to Gliese 581 G and wait for a response; you'd have better odds.

It's just that there's a lot going on.  I've got to print a murder of crows, knit a fish, and bake a whole bunch of little tiny people this week, and I assure you that if you're me, this sentence makes sense.

So, sorry.  At least I would be sorry, if I had the time.  Full plate.

I have just finished reading Dracula (via the free audiobook version available at LibraVox; all hail the public-domain) and I have thoughts to share.

When I first saw the more-recent Hollywood version of this story I remember many people calling it an appalling piece of crap.  I didn't have strong feelings about it one way or the other.  I thought it was entertaining enough and worth queueing up on Halloween, if nothing else.

Then I read the book.