The knitting goes on – I’m on the 2nd red Hedara sock now (but I’ve encountered 3 color-interrupting knots in this ball of Felici!!), and the wedding shawl moves on, and I’ve balled the yarn for Katie’s socks. Not much to show, really. So for now, here are some tabs I’ve had open all week and can’t seem to bring myself to close them:

Do you know Slaughterhouse 90210? The blogger (or is it more properly the tumblr) posts a mash-up of a TV screenshot with a literary quote, like this one that keeps me coming back:

“What passes for hip cynical transcendence of sentiment is really some kind of fear of being really human, since to be really human … is probably to be unavoidably sentimental and naïve and goo-prone and generally pathetic.” — David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

That concept right there is why I love David Foster Wallace. Have you read his commencement speech at Kenyon College? NO?! Then click here to read it, right now.

Thanks to my 2nd daughter, I am a Moby-Dick-aholic. It is a thoroughly amazing work, full of magnificent imagery and excellent psychology. Lyrical passages that will make you cry, and leave you unable to read anything else for a long time. That’s what happened to me. This daughter has been enamored with sperm whales and giant squids for a very long time, and the images find their way into her work. So when she sent me a link to this story about the whale whisperer, I had to read it immediately. And the images – this one reminded us both of one of the most incredible scenes in the book:

they just hang upside down like this for a very long time

and p.s., listen to this episode - animal minds – of the great podcast RadioLab, for a great story about a man’s relationship with a whale. It made me cry.

And finally – from Seattle Sundries, these handmade soaps look aMAzing. I want to buy a bar of this right away:

Made to clean and eliminate unwelcomed cooking odors such as fish and garlic from hands, this soap truly is bitchin’! The borax adds extra cleaning power, while the ground espresso beans lend a slightly abrasive texture and combine with cinnamon leaf essential oil to counteract strong odors. Unfortunately, now you’ll have to quit yer bitchin’ in the kitchen!

Check out all the soaps, they’re cleverly titled and I imagine that they’ll each smell wonderful.

We’re off to Ikea and Home Depot – we’re repainting the apartment, adding some color to the kitchen, and redecorating the bathroom, for starters. Everything is white right now, but we’re adding some nice yellow to the walls in the kitchen. Photos to come!