Bitches Get Stitches

it’s halloween,
sometimes known
as gay christmas.

so it feels oh so right
that i should have a happy post.

maybe some life stuff?
and then the rhinebeck post?
ok i’ll keep the life stuff brief.

1 – i gave a guest lecture today. i, apparently, rocked. i presented a scaled-down version of an article i’m working on. prof liked it. two undergrads came to her office hours and told her how much they enjoyed the class.
go me.
2 – i rewrote my entire comps proposal this week. committee members find it much improved. i continue on, encouraged.
go me.
3 – i have discovered the udon sushi bakery in east lansing. it’s asian fusion in the real sense, pulling from taiwan, korea, and japan. i am obsessed. i plan to eat my way through their entire menu. and the taro bubble tea? divine.
go food.

the combination of these three things has turned my frown entirely upside down. maybe the harlot is right about that whole universe balance business she’s always going on about. the thing that’s kept me going is that, while the stress has been nuclear, i can track real results in my progress in the program and improvement in my work. i might actually make it through this thing and become a scholar i want to be. we’ll see.

but now for the official rhinebeck post.
writing a cohesive narrative about rhinebeck is a fools errand.
instead, i’ll give my overall impression
and let the photos guide me.
sound good?

this is where we stayed.
i realize you’re jealous. you should be. it’s an amazing house.

(but don’t any of you fuckers even think about trying to book it for next year’s rhinebeck. we’ve got dibs. and anyone who tries to snatch it will have to answer to our leader, yarny old kim a.k.a. buttermilf painkcakes)

ahem.

this was my room.
getting this room was the only perk ever accorded to me for being an epic snorer.

this is where we gathered
and modeled our knitsand delayed our departure for the required pre-rhinebeck tomfoolery.

this was the line.
(the leaves were far less peepable this year)

this is misa‘s epic fucking scarf
in which she has knit four lines of robert frost’s ‘mending fences’
if memory serves.
misa?

this was the crowd at into the whirled.
i predicted last year that they were the next big thing. i heard a sales figure that validated that prediction.

this was the miss babs mob
with a bonus stephen west kinnering.

(so last year there was this moment when i saw him and was sure he saw me, recognized me, then looked away. i realize this is completely paranoid and kinda arrogant since, most likely, he has no fucking idea who i am. still. my insanity requires i now keep my distance. maybe next year i’ll get over my lunacy and ask him to be a part of nips with steVen)

speaking of kinnearing,
that is clara parks.

this was the rug
and the lady who hooked it
that made me finally get rug hooking. gorgeous.

this is the very loud andean band that plays every year.
your support bought them those ponchos.

this is the crazy magician wizard man
of whom i am terrified and cannot imagine letting a child near.

this is a cat statue.

this lady fucking wove those bath towelsand i bought the shit out of them!

this is morgaine.
(see my allegan post)

this is what andrea thinks of the crowd.

this is me with david.
he comes from a land down under. i have a crush on him.

this is andrea and i inducting two new people, dale a.k.a. njstacie‘s gingerlovahhusband & michelle into our rhinebeck tradition of sampling the ghost chili (a.k.a. chili fantasma) pepper sauce.
i don’t know why we do this. it is not pleasant. next year, there will be a new, even hotter chili pepper sauce for us to sample: the scorpion chili.
i’m afraid of next year.

(p.s. after this moment, michelle chugged a large chai to cool the burn and threw it right back up into the cup. sorry to put you on blast, girl, but i refuse forget that memory)

these are vicuñas. they are really rare.

this is a pretty sheep.

this is what it looks like
to sit in the leaves of a substandard leaf peeping year.
imagine a good year.

these are some of the yarn bombs we left behind.
next year – horn warmers for the water buffalo head in the den.

this is what we do on the internet early in the morning.

best quote of the weekend:

“ow! my twat. my twat!”
“it’s for art!”

see you next year!