So no restrooms for customers..

.. Just the general public?

Yet another lighthouse

I'm a sucker for the nautical stitchings, apparently. This was fairly easy and a heck of a lot less work than the more detailed 'gold' Dimensions lighthouse with a similar look.

It's no Surly Coffee Bender..

.. But lots of fun anyway. It just didn't have same amount of that coffee taste. And you don't want to know how much it costs per bottle.

The quest continues.

My Worst Nightmare

"Hey dad, come look in the garage" is what the note said. When I opened the door and saw this.. vehicle.. I was surprised but guardedly so. I knew Jill wouldn't just buy a car without me but WTF?

Turned out ok as it's a rental from the dealer while they sort out a troubled seat belt in our car.

Whew!

DMC Ship and flags

Another pattern from the DMC brochure I got with set of floss. It had been a while since I found a pattern I really wanted to do for myself, and this was a fairly simple and quick one. I chose a cream 18 count aida in order to highlight the detail as well as give it a weathered look.

Adriano's fun commute

Nohohon At Night

So I got this toy a year or two ago.  It's a little nodding happy face guy -- called "Nohohon Zoku."  It's solar powered and just nods back and forth.  I've always envisioned it after all the humans die just nodding away.  The post apocalyptic happy face.

But there was some office discussion about whether or not it would keep going -- and it occurred to us that we didn't know if it kept going after dark on the ambient light we get downtown.  So I set a webcam on it and this is the result:

Taylor's Falls

Another beautiful fall afternoon picnicing in the autumn colors.

Your kids are pattern designers

Eli designed this himself. He wanted me to do a cross stitch for him, but he didn't want any of the patterns I had found. So he took matters into his own hand.

All it takes it a kid, a sheet of graph paper, and some crayons and you've got an awesome cross stitch pattern that's one of a kind, personal, and usually quite beautiful! And if you use the right (read: selective) set of crayons, picking the colors out from your thread stash should be a no brainer.

Graph paper isn't that big when you get down to interpreting it via Aida, and the crayons or markers they use are basic colors which you can then match with those random leftover skeins of floss you have in that drawer.  So these are usually pretty easy and quick to stitch.

It's also really fun for kids to see their work reinterpreted in something as elegant and substantial as a cross stitch.  

If you're feeling really adventurous, these are nice small stitches to experiment on if you're trying to get into framing your own work.  You could even attach a magnet to the back and put it on the fridge, just to come full circle.

Guys who Cross Stitch

If you're interested in my cross stitching, either click on the "cross stitch" label on the right, or on this link.

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary

11 years with my honey!

Tintin

I started this just in the last week while we were visiting relatives up north. It's from a pattern I got on the Internet, but it appears to have had a slight aspect ratio issue. Seems a little thin but I still think it looks okay. It was free and you get what you pay for.

Tintin is one of my favorite series', and I've been looking for a pattern for some time. I have a few other characters but I may have to either adjust the aspect or just go ahead and make some of my own.

I miss Dark Lilac. :(

Grand Rapids, Grand Forest

On a walk near the Forest History Center, which unfortunately was closed.

XML

When asked if my sticker was reflective I responded with "No, XML does not have reflection" and three people actually laughed because they knew what I meant.

We're so tough.

Why? Finally, Why?

Because we sat in that car and you told me I hadn't changed at all. Even having been through all of that stuff, you couldn't see that I had changed, even a little. Yeah, I was still pretty young and naive and ignorant and cocky. But in looking back, so much of what I went through and learned during that time shaped who I am today. And so much so that I feel like I'm a completely different person before those years and after.

I'm sorry. I wish I could have done that differently. I wish you could see my wife, children, career, hobbies, life. I miss having you there.

[If you don't understand this, it's probably not something aimed at you. :)]

Minnesota Renaissance Festival

We went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday - the last day of the festival and a great day.  One highlight was Eli on the climbing tower:

 

Twins Saturday

We're in the second to the last row, spent a ton on food and the kids are still trying to figure out where the quaffle and bludgers are as they think it looks like a Quiddich stadium. It's awesome!

Town Talk Friday

Bear Lake Crossing

I made this about two years ago. It sits on the mantle at the cabin, which is of course on Bear Lake. This is my own design and I wish I knew then what i know about stitches, as I could have made the background a bit more smooth. It's taken this long to take a picture of it since I keep forgetting when I'm at the cabin.

Home Fight Club Kit

Our own little fight club at Bear Lake. The kids are working on making soap from a kit.

TNR Lovin'

And yes, it was good.

Men In Stitches

Hard to find much information about men cross stitching online. As a guy who stitches it's always amusing to deal with people who have assumptions about "mens" hobbies vs "womens" hobbies. I've always said cross stitching was the "manliest of the needle arts" and that really if you think about it, it's just pixels. Makes perfect sense that someone into technology would be doing something that so easily translates pixels into stitches. I will admit it's tough to find compelling content for cross stitches, but with some creativity we can all get past the teddy bears and angels.

Last night Lily noticed a framed cross stitch in our hallway that a family friend did for our wedding. When I told her the name of the woman who made it Lily said "Can girls do cross stitch too?" and then followed up by noting that apparently so, as even she herself has done some cross stitching.

Hee hee hee.

Grape Smuggler!

I just invented a new drink. I'm calling it a grape smuggler. It's Grape Crush and Mr Pibb mixed. Takes like grape crush but then it smacks you in the face with the Pibb.

We have free pop at work and sometimes you get to thinking about combinations. So I'm going to focus on that a bit. Now if only I could come up with a "banana hammock"...

3D Puzzle Time Lapse

I lost the files for this animation for YEARS. Just found them and decided it was time to assemble them. So here is my latest video amusement..

Eli in his beepin' boat

He's about a year and a half old in this video? If you look carefully you can see I'm pushing him from behind, but it was so funny because he was so little and it looks like he's just a little old man driving his boat around.

This was a favorite video of many of my co-workers at the time, and we would try and get this into any demo we needed video on..

Why are the tops of...

... Sherriff's trucks white? Caught this awful low quality phone cam pic from Dreez' office. So now we not only have to wonder about the UPS trucks but the cops too?

Cross Stitched Yoda!

This is the one.  It's the cross stitch I'm most proud of at the moment, and it's the one I most hope will be seen by someone out in the world.  Eli loves Star Wars (duh, who doesn't?) and as it was difficult finding good "boy" patterns I decided to try making an original.  I used the generator at Dark Lilac (which is sadly not online these days!) and a snippet from the cover of a Star Wars Adventures graphic novel.  It does appear a little "jaggy" but I'm cool with that.  It measures about 15" tall, so it's a substantial wallhanging.   The framers were pretty jazzed about it, as well.

When I went to my LNS for supplies the ladies there were suprised that the list of floss colors was for me, not my wife.  I get that a lot though.

So I still don't know how to take a picture of something that's been framed.  Anybody have any advice for me?

Chess Pillow

I had previously posted about Lily's rose pattern pillow, but this was the true original pillow.  I got the pattern from the book "Mini Cushions In Cross Stitch" and while I had actually finished it some time ago (just after Maker Faire*) I hadn't gotten it sewed and stuffed until just lately.  Again, I love it so much it's hard to part with it, even if it will still be in the house...

(* I was so thrilled at the Maker Faire because I figured if there was one place in the world a guy could cross stitch in public and not warrant a bunch of funny looks, it was at the Maker Faire.  Or maybe the Pith Helmet distracted folks...)

DMC Leaves

Unframed, un-ironed, and just recently completed.  Got this pattern out of a free pamphlet from DMC with a set of floss.  I just liked the simplicity of it.

Look now to the heavens...

The original phrase was "Look now to Heaven" but I changed it to "the heavens" in a successful effort to heathen it up a bit.  I think it worked out quite well.

One of the frustrations I have with being a guy who cross stitches is not just the overly spiritual nature of a lot of the content out there like in this case, but the cuteness factor.  I'm having to sort through endless collections of teddy bears and cutesey sayings in order to get to anything I find remotely interesting.  This is why I end up doing so many lighthouses.  

Anyhoo, I did this one for Jill for our (eighth? ninth?) annniversary a couple years ago.  I gave her the cross stitch undone and promised to complete it for her.  And I did complete it, too, just a few weeks shy of the NEXT anniversary.  But she liked it a lot and said she had never had something like this made for her.  It was one of those rare moments when she seemed genuinely excited about one of my many craft adventures.  She's awesome.

(And no, I don't know how to take a good photo of something that's been framed.  Deal.)

Blister Run Complete

Got home last night at about 7, having driven 552.6 miles, very tired! But it was well worth it, lots of fun!

Hinckley

Yay, Tobies!

rutledge

Stopping to remap due to a detour, Stacie decides to make a hands free call.

Hell's Kitchen

Woah, what do you mean we're EARLY for our reservation?!? Maybe Lora can fil the time with the story of Boris and Natasha's fight in the motel parking lot last night...

Sup town!

6:35: With just a smattering of rain and no incidents we pull into Superior WI to our not so shabby hotel across from the Hammond.

Port Wing, WI

5:26: Halfway to Superior. Yays. Getting colder though.

Leaving the island

3:30: Off to Superior after a lovely day on the island. It's a sort of "low rent" Mackinac island, and a lot of fun! Got some great souvenirs, too!

Lunch on the island

After a nice - though cold - ride around the island, we're having lunch on the deck. Erik took a spill on a corner - gravel sucks. Other than some scrapes and scratches he's ok, thankfully. Oh and I got to take pictures of a lesbian wedding party on the beach. Except they left before giving me the beer they promised to me... A sprinkle or two here and there but no real rain yet...

Riding the ferry!

After a long wait for breakfast we're finally boarding the ferry for Madeleine Island! Not only did we get the "moped discount" but the captain herself checked our tickets! But then, can you blame her?

Mornin'

(yawn)

BAYFIELD!!!!

5:29: Bayfield,yay! And no rain!

hayward

... 2:52pm..

Cumberland, WI

12:20: Made it to Cumberland with no troubles! Lots of wonderful Wisconsin lettered roads, cows, and not too much roadkill.

Blister Run 2008

9:15: We're off to a great start.. Well.. Tom R is off to get gas and Erik is bodging his spark plug...

Gadget Guy - Episode 1

Eli and I made a movie. We've actually worked on a few now, but this is the first one we've actually made, edited, done post production on together, and completed. Hopefully it'll be the first of many. He's such a creative and imaginative thinker, and a wonderful production assistant. And I think he finally has the attention span to do some crazy good!

We're ignoring the fact that his idea and storyboarding for the sequel was the original idea but rehashed with unrealistic expectations for production ability which would then be pared down into a shoddy half-done copy of the original. Which actually, for a sequel, is about right, isn't it?

Blueberries for Lil

Picking blueberries in the wilds of northern Minnesota..

Eli is the coolest

I guess you'd have to know him, but this captures so many of the elements that make Eli the wonderful boy he is:

• His devotion to Frank and Big Red. 
• The lightsaber collection. 
• Messy hair. 
• Dinosaur shirt. 

And the fact that he's thrilled to be posing for this picture with all of his favorite things...  He just rules.

Scooting to work.

Adriano took the concept of scooter commuting to a whole new level. When he got in the elevator with the scoot (which was luckily not running) the other occupants assumed he was going to the fourth floor. Which is the floor which we think houses the mob, based on the sketchy characters who go to that floor.

Hama Mod

Lily was doing some Hama and the rally was going on so... I got creative and made the ultimate scootering logo!

Tink

When I saw this kit I knew I had to get it for Lily. It uses a fair bit of the shiny floss, which was not easy to work with at first but turned out really nicely.

Funny Shows

I think it was at the Rally that I found another Little Britain fan. I love so many British comedies and variety comedies, but it's so rare to have someone even know what you're talking about. And I mentioned some other shows that were just as funny. Sometimes.

"Oh and that's a bad miss.."

I really like Mitchell and Webb lately, even more so than Peep Show. Peep Show was their show previously but it was a bit like Seinfeld.. populated only by multiple Newmans. But the perspective gimmick is fun. It's currently on BBCA. Mitchell and Webb on the other hand has some really wonderful recurring sketches. They seem to have their timing and chemistry down. I don't think there are any I want to skip through. Which is quite a feat on these shows. (Even Little Britain has "Bubbles")

"I want that one!"

Little Britain. It's just lovely funny. Too many ways these guys are awesome.

"This is a LOCAL shop for Locals only!"

League of Gentlemen is one of the most disturbing shows I've ever seen. It's that crusty familiar smell in an old relatives home. You can't stand it, and it horrifies you. But since you're likely to inherit that smell you cherish it for what it is. That's how I feel about the show. If that makes sense. Which it shouldn't. There are whole sections of the show in which you don't laugh because it's either poigniant or sad or disgusting. Which is why it's so completely awesome. I think of all of the shows I identify with this one the most.

"... which was nice"

The Fast Show, or as it's known here - "Brilliant!" is a typical sketch comedy much like Little Britain, but a little more tame. That said, their recurring sketches are truly inspired. I could watch the Scorchio show for hours, even if it's in a fake language! The guy who plays Harry Potter's dad is in this, which has tainted the Harry Potter

"Boosh, Boosh / Stronger than a moose / Don't lock your door or we'll come through your rooftop / Stop, look around, take your mind off the flow / Cause the Boosh is loose / And we're a little bit raaaaw! /Ice flow, nowhere to go / Ice flow, nowhere to go / Lost in the blinding whiteness of the tundraaaa!"

The Mighty Boosh tries to follow a strange storyline, but usually digresses into something that makes no sense, and all the sense in the world. It is a conundrum, but so so very much fun getting there. Howard is the straight man and Vince is the joker. Oh and did I mention Vince is king of the Mods? Well, he is.

Just regular shows?

We all know about the British version of The Office. But there's also the Alan Partridge shows -- two of them -- one where he's a bad variety show host, and another where he's a washed up bad variety show host with a morning radio show. Oh and it stars Steve Coogan. And then there's Black Books with Dylan Moran, who's always drunk. Don't forget Green Wing, which has the most surreal film speeds and inappropriate behavior in a hospital.

And one from over here..

The Whitest Kids You Know is a great sketch comedy. At first I thought it was on a kids channel, so I was expecting it to be a goofy kids version of these British shows, but then it all went horribly wrong. By the time I got to Abe Lincoln taunting the audience at Ford's theater with "Ohhhhh, now you ****** up!" I knew this would be a great show.

Dreez on a stick

We were waiting for Aaron and these people stopped by and offered us rides. After seeing Dree wobble about a bit we were tempted but wise enough not to be seen in public on a segway...

Curses!

My first subversive kit. It taught me that even though you have the floss and needles, sometimes it's just really nice to have it all in one place. One of my favorites.

Rattle Them Bones!

Yay scooter rallys!

(this was posted from my phone on the halfway stop of the big ride during the rally)

My First Cross Stitch

We really can't remember why I started cross stitching. As wife says "how do *any* of these things you do start?" but this was the start of it all. Not too bad for a first effort..

A Rose Pillow

This pattern was from a DMC floss and pattern book combo. I had previously stitched up a chess pattern from a book of mini-pillow paterns for Eli (It's actually for one of his "guys" / read: dolls) and I owed Lily one as well. So rather than do the pattern she picked, we decided on this one for the time being. It was a nice, quick, fun little pattern and came out nicely. Although it was hard to pull off the "Cross stitching is the manliest of the needle arts" line when stitching a pink rose...

Change is Good

Do not be alarmed! I've simply redirected you from the "old" fnirt.com to this blog. I'm trying to update my content more, and since most of the stuff on the old page doesn't work, I've moved it over here. It's on the right hand side as a nice list of links. The photo albums? Yes, they're there.

Oh, you can also subscribe to this (since it's a blog) and get notifications when it's updated, etc. I'll even try and post when I finish captioning photo albums! Won't that be nice?

Enjoy!

Great. You've got corn

This is a custom creation of a phrase we use at work. I thought of cleaning up and presenting it nicely, but this cluttered shot seems more appropriate.

I based it on a pattern in Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson. Love the book, it's been a great source of inspiration.

Smile!

I'm experimenting with photo blogging and documenting my crafts.. This one came from a kit at Michael's some time ago. It's half stitches on plastic and I thought it would be easy. It was, but it was also more complicated than it looks. Lots of subtle color changes. It's one of the few crafts at my desk at work.

I'm back

Yes, another multi year lapse. Kids are growed up, I'm still at Nasca (spelled with a z) and stuff.

What's up with the huge space on the posts?

Sweet. Almost a year between posts. And Coachella is this weekend and I'm not going.

Hey another page I can blogify and get rid of on my site at home:

Coachella:

Who I saw: Autolux, Block Party, Bright Eyes, Buck 65, Chemical Brothers, Coldplay, Diplo, DJ Marky, Eisley, Four Tet, Gang of Four, Jem, Josh Wink, Kasabian, Keane, M.I.A., M83, Miss Kittin, New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Radio 4, Raveonettes, Roni Size, Secret Machines, The Bravery, Tiga, Wilco
Blisters: 2
Celebrities Sighted: 0 (What, was I blind?!)
Miles on Rental Car: 1000
Bottles of water consumed: 30 (close approximation)
Final cost: ~$1200 (Airplane, Rental Car, Hotel, Concert Tickets, Spending Money)

Worth every penny, drop of sweat, and square inch of blister!

Travelogue forthcoming.


Pictures here

This is Erik's Blog.

I like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

And Erik has a blog.

More lapses. Nice.

Last day at the dentist. One tiny little filling and now we're all done. Four years, $10k at least, and no more Marine Corps fillings!

I felt a great disturbance in my resume, as if my skillsets suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Went to dentist today after a year or so of avoidance. Not bad at all tho! No periodontal illness, no (new) cavities. Got lots of fun toys for being a good patient (a toothbrush with a pointy thing on it just like Grandma had!) and a referral for a root canal. Sweet!

I'm celebrating by eating chocolate and drinking iced tea.

It's years later and I think I'm going to update this more. I'd be surprised, but what the hey.

Latest fun:

Got an xbox. Playing Ghost Recon too much.

Lily's latest fun thing: She ends every statement with "Daddy" -- "I did it Daddy" "Zip up Lily jacket Daddy" etc.

Eli's latest fun thing: He's really smart. We were reading last night, and in an attempt to force him to learn to read too soon, I have him picking out a word on the page and identifying it. Dumb old me would read the pages and he'd pick a word. The first word. But he did it so slyly it didn't even look like he was cheating.

He had an assessment for public schools kindergarten and they had him do some logic tests, etc. One scenario: He is sitting at a table, opposite the tester. They put a box in the middle of the table and tell him to place a small block behind it. He places it in front of himself and they say "are you sure that's where you want to put it?" "Yes." "Ok... Is that behind the box?" and he replies "It is to you." Smart AND a smartass! That's my boy!

Dots

Everyone needs to go to this site, do some dots, lessen some stress, and pass the link on to their friends.

the static quo appears to have a new entry.

Just not keeping up with this enough. I really should do something about that. And once I start working again I probably will..

Need to start updating this more.

Things to remember about Eli:

I love it when I'm reading his book to him just before bed and he gets so close his little cheek is right up against mine.

You're not going to regret this.. You'll regret the bigger picture of "listening to Robert" but this one thing? Nah. Once it's in the box in the basement you'll never think of it again, just the lingering feeling of dissatsifaction and remorse.

A quote from the net:

The president of the University sent an email to all of the learners about something. Unfortunately his spelling checker didn't catch "univeristy" in the URL he embedded. And apparently he didn't click the only link in his document to see if it worked. Oh yeah, they emailed a word doc to everyone instead of text in an email for some reason. It makes me proud to be part of an organization of such.. caliber.

From PopBitch:

>> The Black Chin! <<
George, has it come to this?

Boy George appeared as David Bowie on a
recent celebrity Stars in Their Eyes.

In order to get a look somewhere near Bowie's
chiselled features, hard-pressed makeup staff
resorted to drawing a black shaded area on
George's pudgy round face.

Viewed from the right angle, the black chin
gave George the appearance of a sculptured
jawline.

George was so taken by this look that he's
been experimenting with the same scary
black-chinned look when he goes out.

Image:
http://www.popbitch.com/images/boy_george.jpg

I was thinking it'd be cool to write an app (console, etc.) that goes through your hard drive and sets the archive bit on every other file, and clears it on the rest.

People should commission me to make these things like they commission artists to make paintings.

I found a 1952-D Washington Quarter, 90% silver. Worth $1.44 -- got me thinking: What's the oldest thing you own?

I love dotnet.

Every dream of floating around in zero-g? Or maybe "frolicking" in a pool of slightly-less-dense-than-water water? Just being able to float around anywhere and everywhere, happy as can be?

That's what it feels like to code in dotnet sometimes.

Make a page that allows you to edit ANY document on your site using a web interface (content editable div, etc.)
Make a page/app that gives you the approximate time. "It's about three o'clock, It's a titch past four, It's somewhere between four thirty and quarter to"
Enter some text or numbers, get a barcode back
Given an image, type text in a bot and click on a section of the image and have the text appear on the image in that section. (A graffitti board)
Page for the National Sledgehammer and Broken Toe Society
Build a typical Internet conspiracy page, but the conspiracy is that the government is not out to get us, but to help us
Build a content management system to include text, graphics, and scripts
Build a headlines/breaking news system
Use the session object to track where people have gone -- lists of urls for sessions. give the session anonymous names like "mr. pink" or "humphrey humphreys" etc.
Email _from_ a friend link on web pages
Subscribe to any page on site (i.e. I give you a URL and a frequency and you email me that page at that frequency)
Enter a url and get a screenshot back.

Wonkavision:

System A has a page on which an image is displayed. The Querystring of the image contains a ?chunk= and the image is server off system B.

System B, upon receipt of a request to the "image" image, records the chunk and redirects to an innocuous image.

Once all of the sections of the image are located on System B...

System B displays an image from system A, passing the chunk back to system A

System A collects the chunks and reassembles the picture.

Just like the real Wonkavision, which chopped things and sent them to another machine, this will do just that. System A is the sending machine, system B is the "air" and system A (or system C if you had enough friends) is the receiving machine.

Come to think of it, this is like the "crazy machine" idea I had at Plural, where everyone built a page or tool which did a specific task, and they all chained together to make this endless loop of action.

I was thinking about cookies and image chunks and email..

Outlook doesn't really do cookies (tested it) but.. I could send out 1000 emails.... It all comes down to spamming a bunch of people with html emails and then reconstituting an image when they read their emails. The image in the mail would be a link like http://fnirt.com/imagename.aspx?chunk=chunkcodehere and voila, picture "in" in the internet until a certain percentage of the people reply.

Another idea was a Slashdot club. A group of nerds who do stuff to get traffic. That's it. Stunts, tricks, ideas, news, whatever. Ideally a "win" would be to get slashdotted, but the blogdex or memepool would probably be worth some points too..

I wrote a proxy server that makes your browsing experience grayscale. (sans images because I'm lazy and don't want to proxy all your images)
(but I could do images..)

Our toontown message board is ORANGE. BRIGHT ORANGE. I wanted to tone it down so I could read it at work.

So if someone directly links one of my images and I deem them "lame" they'll get a picture of a large half naked drunk brit instead of whatever they thought they were going to get.

Mirror.co.uk - SOCCER BOY DIES AT GAME -- just to clarify, it wasn't me!

I want to write an image display program that's really slow. But while you watch it draw the pixels from line to line you can be comforted by the knowledge that the computer is working really hard. On other stuff. Like, just before pixel 422 it read (parsed) the complete works of shakespeare. after Pixel 97677 was drawn it pinged the last twelve IP addresses that came to that server. And just before drawing pixel 77321 it Created a text file just a LITTLE smaller than the available size on the disk, filled it with the word "poop" and then deleted it.