Medicated

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

While cleaning out my school bag, I ran across a question I wrote in February, but I don't think I used it. (If I already asked it, well, this is the season of reruns...)

What if you could take a pill to give you confidence?

Leaving the Mistake

I picked up the pillow backing again. If you don't remember, back in April, I finished knitting the two skeins I had bought of a blanket yarn into what was going to be a body pillow cover. (I had bought the skeins for another project that I hated, so I ripped it out and repurposed the yarn.)

But two skeins wasn't quite enough to cover the pillow, so I bought some fabric (because I didn't want to buy more yarn) with the intent to sew a backing. Sort of. 

And then I set this aside and got busy (or not so busy) doing other things. Because blanket stitch.

Blanket stitch is a technique where the yarn is stitched to the outside of the fabric, so I can pick up and crochet or knit around the fabric. It'll make sense once I get it done and post pictures. 

But, I set this all aside in April and have been ignoring it. Until last week.

I made a bit of progress.

Blanket stitch looks like this:

However, when I picked this back up after three months, I wasn't paying close attention to what I had done before, and I reversed the stitch...

By the time I had realized what I had done, it was going to be too much work to redo, so I'm leaving it. Can you see where I goofed? 

No? It's hard in the photo. I'd edit the photo to point it out, but I can't see it here either.

And, once I stitch around this, it probably won't be obvious. The stitches are hand sewn, and that's kind of the look of it anyway. Besides, it's time to get this thing done.

Blanket stitch takes time. It's slow going for me. Hopefully, I'll get this whole thing complete sooner rather than later. 

I'll post updates when I have them.

Playing Tourist

It's full on summer (at least here in the northern hemisphere), and summer is known for turning people into tourists. 

Last week, my roommates decided that we needed to go out to dinner an iconic place, Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. It's a place with a lot of history, and it's definitely something you'd want to do if you were a visitor to my area. 

I had never been before, even though I knew about it. And that leads to today's random question.

What is something that your hometown is known for, but it's something you've never done (or a place you've never visited)? 

My June Watchlist 13

For today's Thursday 13, I'm listing some of the TV shows and movies I watched last month. This is not a complete list as I didn't write it all down (so I've forgotten some) and there are some shows that I'm not going to mention (for various reasons). Let me know if you've seen any of these as well. And, I'm always on the lookout for something new to watch, so recommendations are appreciated.

1. The Food that Built America, the History Channel

Since I've mentioned this roughly 1000 times on the blog already, this should come as no surprise. As of this writing, I'm completely caught up with all of the episodes. But they've been airing new ones each Sunday, so by the time you read this I may be one behind.

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Paramount Plus

Actually, I might have watched this at the end of May. I do know I was working on my dragon while watching it, so I'm including it here. The movie was interesting enough, but I'm glad I waited until I could stream it at home.

3. Manifest, Netflix

I watched this when it was on network TV. I watched the first half of the last season when it aired on Netflix earlier this year. Before we cancelled Netflix, I had to make sure I got to see the finale. I'm ambivalent about that finale. But I'm glad I got to see it.

4. Queen Charlotte, Netflix

I've been watching Bridgerton, so I had to see this prequel show before Netflix went away. I liked it.

5. Superman & Lois, the CW

This didn't have its season finale until June, so I saw the last three episodes of the season as they normally aired. I like this show. I'm glad there'll be a fourth season.

6. The Blacklist, NBC

This is also a show that hadn't finaled before June. I started this way back when it started, and I'm still watching mostly because I know this is the last season. 

7. Flamin' Hot, Hulu

This is the origin story of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. I wanted to see this movie because I had heard the story before. The graphic arts class at one of the high schools did a project kind of based off of the story of the janitor who came up with the idea. (That teacher has since retired.) It's now airing on Disney Plus, I believe, but it also aired on Hulu when it was first released.

8. The Wheel of Time, Amazon Prime Video

I already mentioned this show (last week), so I won't delve too much into it. 

9. Citadel, Amazon Prime Video

It's a spy show on Amazon Prime. I'm not quite done with season one yet. It's about some super secret spy organization and spies with amnesia. 

10. Three Thousand Years of Longing, Amazon Prime Video

I don't know why I started this movie as I hadn't heard or read anything about it before. It's a genie movie that takes place in modern times. It's definitely not for kids.

11. Confess, Fletch, Paramount Plus

I saw the original Fletch. I was interested enough in the character that I tracked down the novels. When this popped up, I was curious. The lead is now played by Jon Hamm. Same character. Same vibe. I enjoyed it.

12. Sometimes When We Touch, Paramount Plus

I talked about this in yesterday's post. This three-part show talks about soft rock from its beginnings in the '70s through its becoming a punchline in the '90s to its resurgence in popularity today. I had not heard of yacht rock before. Now I know what that means.

13. Rock Hudson: All that Heaven Allowed, HBO

I needed something about this speed while I was dealing with a migraine. Interesting profile. 

Sometimes When We Touch

Some days I scroll through the various streaming services I subscribe to, just looking. If something looks even slightly interesting, I'll add it to "my list". 

Other days, I'll open my lists just to see if there's something that catches my eye to watch. Last week, I perused my list on Paramount Plus, and my mood matched Sometimes When We Touch. 

This is a three part show about soft rock. Remember soft rock? (Many of my regular readers are of the right age to remember the '70s.) I certainly do. 

They interview various artists from that era. They show clips from shows like The Captain and Tennille and Donny & Marie, and I remember those shows. I liked those shows. Now, I can't recall if I was the one who insisted on those shows or if I watched what my parents put on the TV, but I know I watched them. (I have no idea if I would watch those shows today without cringing, but child me loved them.) 

The show talks about the music and how the perception of the music has evolved over the last fifty years. Apparently, it's enjoying a resurgence. Did you know that yacht rock is a thing? Apparently, if you want these songs, just look for the yacht rock stations on satellite radio or wherever you stream. 

Here's a trailer: 

What's your favorite soft rock song? I think I have to go with something from Chicago. "You're the Inspiration." (Ask me tomorrow, and I'll probably pick something else.) 

A Different Backyard BBQ

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

It's the 4th of July, a holiday here in the U.S. And it's a day we traditionally barbeque hamburgers and hot dogs. But, during my watching of The Food that Built America on the History Channel, I found out that "traditionally" goes back almost 100 years only. Before then, hamburgers and hot dogs weren't a thing. (It's an interesting episode if you're interested.)

Which brings me to today's question:

What if we didn't eat hamburgers and hot dogs? What if we had no idea what those foods were?

Modeling the Cowl

Today I've got a selfie of me wearing the Möbius scarf/cowl that I made to demonstrate on video...

...to distract you from noticing that I did not knit/crochet anything last week. 

I did some organization. I did some starting stuff. And I had a migraine for half of the week. Hopefully I'll have something new to show off next week.