Category Archives: Contests

Contests, Tales of the Neighborhood

Undecided trees

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Wendy’s giving away a copy of Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs and a copy of Alice Starmore’s Fisherman’s Sweaters. Leave a comment before this afternoon (October 9) if you are interested.

On October 18, Shanti’s participating in the Washington, D.C., Light the Night Walk to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you donate any amount, you will be eligible to win a fibery sort of prize.

Noolie’s having a contest – go vote for Clover in the Great American Photo Contest, and you will be entered in a prize drawing for November 1.

We’ve had a few really lovely fall days interspersed with rain and gloom. Although yesterday was gorgeous, I forgot to take my camera along on my walk, so you get to see neither the pictures of the woman walking around Lake of the Isles with a parrot on each shoulder nor the two blue herons wading and then flying across the lake. Instead, we shall look at trees from Saturday’s walk.

Not all of the trees are fully committed to fall yet.

The willows seem pretty united in not believing it’s fall.

While the maples tend to be the most into the spirit of the season…

…but not always, as illustrated by this line of three maples.

Sometimes even individual trees can’t decide.

“Y’know, Mom, no one really wants to look at trees. I’m sure your readers would much rather look at pictures of tasty parrots.” -Chaos

Alongs, Contests, Randonymity, Reading, See the Sights

In which there are no “happi colord blankits” at all

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Congrats to lucky numbers 15, 19, and 33 (aka Kathy, K, and Cheryl)! Many thanks to everyone who participated in Chaos’ birthday contest. 🙂

Jen’s giving away a skein of Yarn Pirate sock yarn – simply leave her a comment by 11:59 pm on October 13 for your chance to win.

Knit Witch is having a ghost story contest. Send her your ghost story by October 31for your chance to win some Knit Witch yarn.

That Yarn Harlot, she definitely knows how to come up with a very challenging contest…

Does this cartoon resonate with anyone?! *a-hem* The extremely technogeeky and knitterly (*a-hem*trek*a-hem*) might enjoy this cartoon…

Hmm, do you think I should get a “happi colord blankit”?

How true is this spoof cover of The Economist?! (May not be suitable for work if someone’s lurking behind you.)

For fans of Lilith Saintcrow, she has a free Saint City novel up on her website. Please note that this novel (Selene) takes place immediately after Saintcrow’s short story in the collection Hotter than Hell (and was one of the few stories I actually liked in that collection).

If you’re a fan of paranormal romance/fantasy, you might enjoy Blitzen Trapper’s new song “Furr” (link near bottom of blurb), described as an “alt-country werewolf ballad.”

*snicker* True, true, the Lord of the Rings is definitely an exception to this one… except for all the songs in the books.

Reading Update
Nip, Tuck, Dead‘ and Dead on Arrival (Pauline Sokol Mysteries, Book 5-6), “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” from Sugarplums and Scandal, plus another short story called “Dr. Robin Hood” by Lori Avocato. Still very, very evocative of Evanovich, although the “Joe” character seems to be a moving target with each book. The end of Dead on Arrival was really weird – the book ended, and then a nonsensical epilogue was tacked on to it. Did some more research and discovered that this series is between publishers right now.
Bad Blood (Crimson Moon, Book 1) by L.A. Banks. If 24 mated with the X-Files and had a werewolf episode…
Time and Again: Time Was & Time Changes by Nora Roberts. Ok, ok, I didn’t return all of those Nora Roberts books… How could I resist these two related novels about time travel?
A Taste of Darkness (MacKenzie Vampire, Book 3); Wicked Nights, Wicked Pleasure, and Wicked Fantasy(Castle of Dreams Trilogy) by Nina Bangs. Light’n’fluffy’n’racy paranormal romance, complete with decent writing and an ongoing storyline – start with Wicked Nights (before any of the MacKenzie Vampire books even).
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. Very well-written teen urban fantasy – if the passivity of Bella and creepy stalker nature of Edward (Twilight) don’t seem like good teen reading for you, check out this novel. No vampires in this one.
A Date with the Other Side by Erin McCarthy. A bit reminiscent of Jennifer Crusie, with some ghosts tossed in.
The Becoming (The Anna Strong Chronicles, Book 1) by Jeanne C. Stein. Meet Anna Strong, a bounty hunter recently turned into a vampire. Looking forward to the rest of the series after this strong start! Highly recommended.

“Since I don’t have a ‘happi colord blankit,‘ I’m hard at work on my next evil plan.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

Scene of a crime?

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Thanks, all – the “my grain” was pretty much gone on Friday. Let us pause to honor good drugs and sleep… Turns out I couldn’t entirely blame that impaired cognitive function on work – it was pre-migraine fun. And of course, discovering Friday that I won two contests (one at Pickled Beef and one at Bookwyrm Knits) certainly contributed to my recovery. 🙂

Speaking of contests, don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest, which closes at 6 pm CDT today!

Valerie and Donna are knitting a blanket for their friend Michele, who is going through radiation treatment. If you’d like to contribute a 9″ square knit from fingering weight sock yarn, they would really appreciate it.

Do you remember my little flamingo houseplant “lawn” ornament (bottom of the linked post)? Hmm. This is mysterious. I wonder where that flamingo’s wandered off to?

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Perhaps a suicide attempt?

Or maybe not…

“Really, nothing to see here, Mom. Move along, move along.” -Mayhem

Contests, Randonymity

Warning: Written while cognitive function impaired by work

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Obsidian Kitten is looking for some “bits and bobs” of leftover sock yarn for a monster (baby) hat project. Everyone who sends at least five yards of sock yarn will be entered to win one of three prizes (first place is a $25 gift certificate to Yarn Lust).

ModernCat is having an ugliest pet bed contest – if your cat or dog (under 15 pounds) has a pathetic bed or very odd sleeping spot, you could win a new SleepyPod pet bed. Contest closes October 31.

Don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest!

Jen’s in training for NaNoWriMo and is looking for others interested in working on (and posting) writing exercises every week in October. Let her know by October 5 if you’d like to participate.

*blink blink* I’m not sure what W*l-M*rt was thinking with this Halloween decoration…

Urban Fantasy Land posted a list of new releases scheduled for October and I was surprised (and pleased) to see a Dresden Files novel!

Sadly, work continues to be crazy busy, leaving me with very little brain power left to use for blogging at the end of the day. Yes, yes, I’m still managing a tiny bit of knitting. I finished knitting my shaped cardi while I was on vacation and just have the ends to weave in… since I can’t read and weave in ends, it could stay in that condition for a while! I’m knitting bibs for a recent and upcoming outbreak of babies. Plus, Jeanne and I are knitting a stealth project together – hopefully I’ll be able to blog about that next week sometime.

*burp* “Mmmmm… sheepy stitchmarker.” -Mayhem

Contests, Reading

Bookity bookity book

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Nicole’s giving away a paranormal romance on October 3 and another on October 10 – stop by and leave a comment for your chance to win.

Don’t forget about Chaos’s birthday contest!

Hey, if you live within an hour of Portland, Maine, and are looking for a job (PHP hacker/JavaScript genius with library-data experience, graphic designer/user interface guru, or brainy & overworked assistant), use me as your referral and I’ll split the $1000 with you! I think working for LibraryThing would be awesome.

Did you know that it’s Banned Books Week? Like the ALA says, “Free people read books freely” and “Closing books shuts out ideas.” Some of the challenged books of 2007 include The Golden Compass, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter books, Of Mice and Men, and Slaughterhouse-Five.

Reading Update
Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip. A contemporary fantasy about the power of handcrafters…
Summer Pleasures: Second Nature / One Summer by Nora Roberts. Although there are still an apparently infinite number of Nora Roberts books to read (you should see the stack I took back to the library unread!), I think I have this one under control now. Whew!
Any Given Doomsday (The Phoenix Chronicles, Book 1) by Lori Handeland. I received this book as an advance copy via Library Thing Early Reviewers, so you get more of a review than I usually provide. 🙂 The pros: A strong female protagonist and an intriguing premise suggest that The Phoenix Chronicles might be a worthwhile series to follow. The cons: This reminded me way too much of Anita Blake, post ardeur. Since I think the onset of the arrdeur is what turned that series from a great paranormal fantasy/romance series to a soft porn series, this wasn’t a positive association. To further the Anita Blake similarities, the protagonist, Liz Phoenix, is torn between two men – one with vampiristic characteristics, the other with wereish characteristics.
Hotter than Hell, edited by Kim Harrison. Although there were several decent stories in this collection, it wasn’t anywhere near as strong as the Dates from Hell or Holidays Are Hell collections.
Hell Hole (A John Ceepak Mystery) by Chris Grabenstein. Another intense Jersey Shore mystery – I suspect that fans of Robert B. Parker will particularly like Grabenstein’s style.
One Bite Stand (MacKenzie Vampires, Book 4) by Nina Bangs. Yes, lured by another cheesy title, I found this a surprisingly enjoyable read and will have to read the first three books now.
A Dose of Murder, The Stiff and the Dead, One Dead Under the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Deep Sea Dead (Pauline Sokol Mysteries, Books 1-4) by Lori Avocato. This humorous mystery series is strongly modeled after Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries – simply substitute Pauline for Stephanie, Jagger for Ranger, Nick for Joe, Uncle Walt for Gramma Mazur, Goldie for Lulu, Fabio for Vinny, Adele for Connie, Spanky for Rex, Connecticut for New Jersey, family dinners at the Sokols instead of at the Plums, and being a bumbling medical insurance fraud investigator for being a bumbling bounty hunter. Fortunately, the fourth book was a lot better than the third, which needed at least 100 pages hacked out of it.

“Aw, shucks, you guys. You are too kind! Thank you all.” -Chaos

Contests, Those Cats

Happy birthday, big kitty!

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*sniff* I can’t believe that Chaos turned five yesterday! As Carrie K pointed out to me recently, if he was a human kid instead of a fur kid, he’d be in preschool or possibly even kindergarten now! (She also pointed out that he would need to wear some warning labels, such as “Biter” and “Does not play well with others.”)

“What do you mean, ‘does not play well with others?!’ I’ll bite you if you don’t recant that slanderous statement, Mom!” -Chaos

Additionally, this is my 775th post. How the hell did that happen?! In honor of all this sentimentality, I must, of course, hold a contest. (Like you didn’t know that was coming.) I’ll be giving away yarn and black cat memorabilia and maybe even music or a book. (“Oh, shiny!”) Prizes can be adapted for both knitters and non-knitters.

To participate in the contest, simply leave a comment on this post by 6 pm CDT, Monday, October 6. Your comment should contain an intriguing bit of information – a favorite quote, the best book you ever read, your favorite Chaos moment, an interesting link – you get the idea. I’ll randomly select three winners.

(If you’ve never read the story of Chaos, you can find it here.)

Alongs, Contests, Randonymity, Reading

In which the link thing gets completely and totally out of hand

30 Comments

It’s time for Jane’s Fourth Annual Show Me Your Socks Contest! Check out the details and drool over the gorgeous prizes (sock yarn, of course) donated by Numma Numma. Contest closes at midnight EDT, September 28.

BrainyLady Alison’s giving away a copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines. For your chance to win, leave her a comment (by September 29) about what your favorite knitting book was this year.

Sarah’s having her preemie hat knitting contest – sign up on her blog if you’d like to knit some preemie hats.

Yesterday’s post inspired Michaele to share this link to a short video about the very cool bike racks former Talking Heads’ frontman David Byrne designed for New York City. Thanks, Michaele!

On Saturday, September 27, the Smithsonian is sponsoring Museum Day – you can “enjoy free general admission for you and a guest to hundreds of museums and cultural venues nationwide.” Some of the participating locations in Minnesota include the Minnesota Zoo and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

If I had seen these signs, I probably would’ve been laughing too hard to take pictures…

Can’t you just picture Mayhem in this particular lol? (Although I suspect that a kung fu mouse would make her very happy!) I thought these two lolz went well together.

Last weekend, Lifehacker’s Ungeek to Live column was about how to fit reading into your life.

Ewwwwww! Clever, though.

So, what’s your personal fairy? Jeanne thinks mine is the parking fairy. Can’t argue there – I’m always bemused when I don’t get rockstar parking, because it so often just happens. I could also make a case for the book fairy. Here’s an example – when I embarked on my rereading of all the Dark-Hunter/Dream-Hunter novels project last week, I used the Minneapolis Public Library catalog to figure out how to get all the books via the minimum number of close libraries. Over two days, I stopped at four different libraries (all within four miles of me): Walker, Hosmer, Washburn, and Linden Hills. As I was driving down 50th Street from Washburn to Linden Hills for the last few books, I had the twitchy urge to stop at the Paperback Exchange (not one of my usual haunts). They had a single Dark-Hunter novel, which I purchased even though my list showed it to be at the Linden Hills Library. When I got to Linden Hills, guess which Dark-Hunter novel was not to be found? Yup. I get that little twitchy urge for both used bookstores and thrift stores and it’s usually right on target.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

“Go away! Quit pretending you can see me!!” -Mayhem

Contests, Randonymity, Reading

Back to that crushes on fictional characters thing…

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If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.

– Richard Bach, Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah

Kristi’s knitting a tessellating fish afghan for her twins’ November birthday. In order to complete the afghan in time, she’s looking for some tessellating fish donations. For each tessellating fish received by November 3, the knitter will be entered in a prize drawing. (How many non-knitters are wondering “WTF?” right now?)

Scout’s giving away some KnitPicks Harmony needles if you leave a link to some great “swag” for her by the evening of September 25.

Did you see this wonderful cat modeling knitwear photoshoot over at Domesticrafts last week?

Imbrium has a very thoughtful post about knitblogging and Ravelry.

Oy, I am soooooo behind in Google Reader. The returning to work? Dang. Not an easy transition, especially since it appears I now am simply seven work days behind instead of relaxed from vacation!

Reading Update
Night Play, Seize the Night, Sins of the Night, Unleash the Night, Dark Side of the Moon, Devil May Cry (Dark-Hunter, Books 6-11); The Dream-Hunter, Upon the Midnight Clear, Dream Chaser (Dream-Hunter, Books 1-3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Ok, I finished rereading the Dark-Hunter and Dream-Hunter books, then reread the last bit of Part 1 and all of Part 2 of Acheron as I tried to figure out why the heck Acheron bothered me so much. I think I understand that now.

All of the previous Dark-Hunter and Dream-Hunter novels integrate the flashbacks into the story. In Acheron, Part 1 is the flashback to Ash’s human life 11,000 years ago, while Part 2 is the modern story. At the beginning of the book, Kenyon explains why she did this – she felt that Ash’s backstory was simply too extensive to do as flashbacks. As written, I have to agree. However, I think that writing the backstory was cathartic for Kenyon and it got self-indulgently out of hand and overwhelming for the reader. I think this would have been a much stronger and more satisfying book if she’d integrated then and now as she usually does.

When I reread Acheron, I skipped most of the backstory and just read the last bit of Part 1 (from Ash’s mortal death) and all of Part 2. While I still think that Part 2 would’ve been stronger with more flashbacks, I did enjoy the story much more this time. I was less dubious about Tory and Ash. I still had all the details from the previous 14 books (counting the Dream-Hunter novels) in my head, so things felt less “gappy.”

And really, I had huge expectations for this book, which I doubt it could ever have met… Because, hello, Acheron?! Yum. Speaking of which, we haven’t talked about this for a while – what fictional characters have you had crushes on lately?

I’m still rather fond of Roarke and Ranger (mentioned in that previous post). I’m a bit less fond of Jean-Claude and Doyle (mentioned in the comments to that previous post), since I’m getting a bit bored by the Laurell K. Hamilton books that take 400 pages to cover three hours…

Of course, when I wrote that post, I hadn’t read the Dark-Hunter novels (suggested by several people in the comments then)… so I now have to add Acheron (obviously), Ravyn, and pretty much all of the non-blond Dark-/Dream-/Were-Hunters. Then there’s the delectable Japhrimel from the Dante Valentine novels. Harry Dresden. David from the Weather Warden novels. Clayton Danvers from the Otherworld series. I’m sure you’ll suggest some others that I’ve forgotten or have yet to discover!

“Even though I’m not fictional, maybe I’ll make some of those crush lists, since I’m so dark and handsome and suave and all.” -Chaos

Contests, Randonymity

A very special request after the contest info…

54 Comments

Brenda’s giving away some lovely sock yarn in belated celebration of her blogiversary. To participate, simply leave her a comment – and if you would include condolences for Rip, her family’s kitty who just turned 20 and is nearing his end, it would be much appreciated.

My next-door neighbor Carol is just a bit older than I am. She’s the one who takes care of the kitties when I travel to the cabin or take longer journeys. Last week, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Considering that they at first thought she had aggressive lung cancer, this is relatively good news. Anyway, Carol had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday and will probably start chemo in the next few days. I’m helping her out as much as I can (picking her up from appointments and such), but what I’d like to ask all of you for is your good thoughts and/or prayers for Carol as she prepares to start her treatment. I completely believe that all of the positive energy you sent my way last fall helped me get better after my surgery. I will pass along comments to Carol. Please, no scary stories, ok? This is all about positive, healing energy.

Many thanks to all of you.

“Even though I growl and hiss at you when you come over to take care of me when Mom’s gone, I think you’re pretty ok for someone who isn’t Mom, Carol, and I hope you get better quickly!” -Chaos

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

If I offer you a nectarine, you might want to wash it again…

33 Comments

Yesterday was another crazed day at work, but I am now officially on vacation until the 23rd! Although there’s a good chance that I’ll get called at least once due to some work crisis, I’m going to put even the possibility of that out of my mind. Besides, I’ll probably head up to the cabin next weekend, and there’s no phone service (not even cell) at the cabin. Unless I drive down to mile marker 193. Which I won’t. 😉

Disturbing discovery of the week: Walking into the kitchen and discovering Chaos on the counter, licking the nectarines that were ripening. Ewwwwww!

After its nearly yearlong nap, I’ve pulled out my KP&S Neckdown Shaped Cardigan #241. (Probably only Marina remembers that I was knitting a sweater.) I tucked it away when I got really sick of knitting stockinette back and forth. The funny part? I only had an inch or two of said stockinette left, plus an inch or two of seed stitch for the bottom edge. Now I’m ready to pick up and knit the sleeves (in the round! Yay!) and do the seed stitch neck edging.

Don’t forget about my wee contest! If you enjoy urban fantasy/paranormal romance and haven’t read Night Shift, the first Jill Kismet book by Lilith Saintcrow, send an email to my contest line by Sunday, September 14, 9 pm CDT. A winner will be randomly selected from among the entrants. Be warned that, while this is an extremely well-written series, it is also graphically violent at times.

Reading Update
Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) by Simon R. Green. Obviously inspired by the Dresden Files, but a bit darker and more British.
Sacred Sins; Love By Design (Loving Jack & Best Laid Plans); Taming Natasha & Luring a Lady (Stanislaski Books ! & 2); Falling for Rachel / Convincing Alex (Stanislaski Books 3 & 4); Waiting for Nick / Considering Kate (Stanislaski Books 5 &6) by Nora Roberts. She hasn’t written quite an infinite number of books, Kat, but close!
Underground (Greywalker, Book 3) by Kat Richardson. This continues to be an extremely well-written and intense urban fantasy series. Highly recommended.
If Wishing Made It So by Lucy Finn. Very light’n’fluffy paranormal romance. Perfect beach reading… although I guess beach season is mostly done for the year.
The Night Serpent by Anna Leonard. Ignore the cover, as its relevance to the story is extremely low! There’s a bit of violence against kitties that I found traumatizing (albeit less so knowing the author is a kitty owner and found writing it a challenge), but this was a compelling paranormal romance with an unusual premise.
Hunter’s Prayer (Jill Kismet, Book 2) by Lilith Saintcrow. This continues to be an excellent urban fantasy series – but be warned that it is very, very violent.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

“Mmmm… sleeping in… what a nice change…” -Mayhem