Becca's Blog

Michael Kors should cinch up his truss and STFU.

His snotty little swipe on last week's episode of Project Runway— "granny panties, oh that's alluring"— which was delivered with a snigger, was quite the cheap shot. Sure, maybe they were an improvised fix, and maybe Stacey's dress wasn't put together so well, but it was pretty. And Kors and his clients would know from granny panties.

I actually watched the first episode a second time last night. Last week when it premiered, I was half asleep. In this week's episode I think Angela really got the short end of the stick--Vincent was a tempermental asshole and his design was weird and ugly. He shouldn't have gotten a pass. And I thought Malan would be around longer, and what was Keith doing *touching* Miss USA's ribcage? Why didn't she deck him?

So many headlines come to mind.

1. Ack. Pbbbpht.
2. Shut up, Becca. No one's forcing you to knit it.
3. My four-year-old could have designed that.

The object of my spleen? The "Western Point Skirt" on this page. And then go see what Grumperina said after sample-knitting another, similar design, at the bottom of this post.

As a survivor of the '70s, I'm allergic to burnt orange, but even in calming shades of pale periwinkle and mint, these things would be Un.Wear.Able.

That said, many of the other Fall IK patterns look yummy. And the latest Knitty has me wanting to start about six pairs of socks all at once.

Just one thing about the Knitscene preview.

Silvia linked to the preview of the Fall '06 Knitscene preview so I got to take a quick look just now. I won't natter on about how the Frida Kahlo-inspired folkloric schtick is apparently some kind of virus that will afflict us all in the coming months and how anyone over the age of eight wearing embroidered blouses and flowery crowns may as well just wear a t-shirt that screams "I'm artsy, dammit!"

I will just say that I despise newsboy caps from deep down: from below my lungs, from my diaphragm.

Shoe APB

This blog will return to knitting content forthwith, honest. But in the meantime, I need to know the provenance of these:

Never mind the fact that they probably cost more than a car payment. Never mind that my unpedicured feet are Not Worthy. I have conceived a hopeless, desperate love for them, and nothing "pretty close" will do. They are the perfect synthesis of fetish pump and sandal, and it doesn't matter that I don't have a single item of clothing that would go with them--I don't envision wearing them with clothing. If you happen to have seen them in Saks or some boutique, please--tell me where I must go and what I must do. I'm ready to sell a family pet for these.

Poor, poor Ken.

That is one unfortunate makeover.

Jonesin' for a cameraphone.

It's Thursday, I haven't exercised yet, and I have yet another miserable monster deadline snuggled right up on my shoulders. Must be time for a new post.

Aunt Purl just blogged about her new pink Razr cellphone and it's making me a bit jealous. I've been wanting a cameraphone with bluetooth for several months now but avoided buying one, partly for budgetary reasons and partly because T-Mobile has crappy-ass phones for sale. They don't even offer the Treo, if you can believe that.  I would buy an unlocked phone over the Internet but the thought of the inevitable hassles when the purchase goes wrong have held me back there.

And yes, the Razr is sort of cool and has the features I want, but I'm resistant to buying the same thing that every 16-year-old at the mall got six months ago--basically, I'm afraid of looking like I'm pathetically trying to be trendy.

But never mind--the perfect bluetooth cameraphone will reveal itself to me and I'll know it's right. In the meantime, I'm kind of excited because I've been assigned to do some reviews of digital cameras, so I get to borrow a bunch of cool new ones and take them out to play. (That is, I get to go out and play only after I finish the big, ugly, no-fun assignment).

And I have a half-baked idea for a trend story (for whose edification and paid for by whom, I do not know). About people who walk around with their bluetooth headsets in their ears. All the time, and when they're not even talking to someone, like some kind of Star Trek-ian cyborgs.  I noticed this first at Macworld Expo, when there were tons of geeks doing this, and I thought "OK, it's their native habitat and they imagine that they are doing Very Important Things and so have no time to take that thing out of their ear and put it in a pocket. It's their party and they're letting it all hang out." And then I saw the same thing in a food court last week. You mean you don't even take it out to eat? What's up with that?

Maybe I'm exposing my ignorance, having only tried one of these a long while ago.  But I don't really believe you stop being able to hear the phone ring if you take the headset off. Do headset-wearers think they look cool?  But then, I find having electronics clipped to one's belt anathema as well. Eh hem. (Recomposes self, goes back to work.)

A bit late for Halloween, but...

these are still worthy of a wicked cackle (and some genuine admiration). Found via Pharyngula, a science blog that's often way over my head, but I enjoy the snark.

Today's my blogiversary.

Yep, a whole year of blathering about my knitting mistakes, professional anxieties, petulant pets, and domestic contretemps.  My new blog-year's resolution? To get a couple of photo albums posted before next October.

Jesus H Gagmewithaspoon.

Geesh. 

Un peu obsessed, I am.

... with a pair of flipflops. Because they have an ankle strap. I like to walk fast, and open-heeled shoes slow me down. Don't talk to me about clogs--I can't stand 'em. Teva's are great, but a bit style-free. And these flip-flops have nothing of the Berkeley matron about them, which appeals to me.

After extensive Googling, I tracked them down on the Web, and finally found where to order them. They're called the Melissa Ipanema, and Zappos.com has them in just one color and a couple of sizes--neither of them mine. I had to console myself with a similar style, in Brazilian colors:

Zappo's delivered them in *a day,* at no shipping charge. Living right next door to San Francisco, where Zappo's is based, helps. But I'm getting the Ipanemas in pink from the manufacturer's web site. Now I'll be shod stylishly for the remainder of the warm-weather months. For us, that's through October.