Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Isnt this a bit presumptuous?

Obama Coins Have Been Minted


The election hasnt even been held yet, and this guy is already assuming that he's going to win? Wow...he's got a huge ego!

I thought the Obama "presidential seal" was egotistical, but minting coins with his picture on it? (at least it's not legal tender here)

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ok, this is weird, and it's making me a bit obsessive.

I seem to have lost my copy of The Harmony Guide to Crocheting: Techniques and Stitches by Debra Mountford (pretty sure my copy was from 1992 or 1993)

It's driving me completely batty. Last time that I can remember seeing this book it was either with all my other crochet/knitting books in our family room, or it was in my bedroom on the shelf below my desktop computer. For awhile, I couldnt find my other books (several books that I got as presents this year) I found those books (thankgoodness!) but my Harmony Guide wasnt with them...and they were in a weird place. (in the cabinet of my dad's big screen tv, shoved in the cabinet...not a place I would have put them)

So, I'm obsessively looking around the house for my book. It's my favorite crochet book of all time. I never loan it out, and I usually keep it in my magazine totes. (already looked there) The reason it was out with my other books, was because I was trying to decide on a new project, and I was going thru my crochet and knitting books looking for inspiration. I'd left those books in our family room, but someone moved them inside that cabinet.

I just cant figure out where the book went.

The only thing I can think of is that either my dad, or the cleaning lady put the book somewhere while decluttering a room. I suspect my dad put it somewhere. Hopefully not in a pile of newspapers or magazines. He throws newspapers and magazines out without looking thru the stacks to see if there's anything he should not be throwing away.

I looked into getting a new copy of the book, but it's expensive to replace. Most copies that I found thru Google were over $100. The book is out-of-print. I hope I find my copy before I get too desperate and decide to take out a loan to get a new copy. If anyone knows of a cheaper copy, send me a message.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Ever wonder why Sioux Falls is called "Sioux Falls"?

I just got back last night from a weekend trip to Sioux Falls, SD.

I have to say it was one of my better vacations. A friend of mine and I decided to go visit it a few weeks back, mostly because we'd driven past it on our way to Rapid City last year, and decided to come back someday to check things out.

This is why Sioux Falls is called "Sioux Falls".

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Yesterday, on our way home (well, not really on the way home, since we had to go the opposite direction to get there) we drove into Minnesota and went to a place called "Pipestone". It's a small town, not too far from the South Dakota/Minnesota state lines. We went there to see the Pipestone National Monument. Which is where a type of stone called "pipestone" is quarried.

Pipestone is a stone that American Indians all over North America have carved their ceremonial pipes out of. The American Indians have quarried it for several hundred years. It's a beautiful red color stone, it's a soft stone. I watched one of the craftsmen carving on one of the pipes he was making. (I didnt take pictures of that...didnt want to disturb or annoy the guy)

He was making some really beautiful stuff with it. He had one pipe that a really intricate carving of a bear on it.

The gift shop at the monument had a good number of pipes for sale, and I think the least expensive one I saw was about $60 or $75, and it was just a plain design, but still very pretty. Some of the other pipes were over $2000! It was all amazing work too.

We walked thru the quarry/park grounds on the trail. The trail was about 3/4 of a mile long, and it was hot and extremely windy. We saw the old quarries that they no longer use (or dont use very often) and all sorts of flowers, prairie grasses, a couple of deer, and a big patch of *achoo!!* Ragweed. *achoo!!!*.

I dont have those pictures uploaded yet, so I'll do another blog post later, and add those pictures.