Like I need a hole in the head...

Yeah, that's how much I need another hobby. Seriously. But I got all these gift cards to the craft store for Christmas. So I gave in to the hobby that's been teasing and tempting me for about a year. I started making beaded jewelry. I'm not sure I love it, but it's a fun new thing to do for now. I bought a kit to learn the basics and see if I was even interested in going any further with it. I made the pieces in the kit and now I'm kind of hooked.

I was a little...concerned that DH would freak out at the idea of my taking on yet another hobby, but he was surprisingly supportive (good damned thing, considering how supportive I am of his toy-collection obsession). He likes it when I wear jewelry and I like wearing the things I've made, so we both win.

And can I just take a minute to talk about how much I love that a two-loss team won the National Championship? All you BCS idiots who want to talk about how we don't need a playoff can blow it out your ears. We NEED a playoff. Never has this been more clear. I've finally figured out (and once I did, I'm not sure why it took me so long) why the conferences are fighting it so hard - they stand to lose a lot of money. With the exception of the national championship game, all those top (high-dollar) bowls have conference tie-ins. So my suggestion that the top tier bowls become the semi-finals puts a lot of conferences at risk of losing a lot of money. Somehow, I'm sure it all comes down to money in some variation.

My hope for the writers' strike is...

that the glut of reality television that is headed our way will be the nail in the coffin of such trash. Honestly, I feel like I"m the only person in America who cannot stand the embarassing glimpse into the lives of all these poor people who go on these shows. I confess to watching American Idol and I sort of got caught up in Dancing with the Stars this past season, but things like Big Brother and Survivor in particular skeeve me out. Why, oh why do these people feel compelled to share every intimate detail of their lives with the entire world? I'm way too private a person (seriously. If I shared half the real stuff about me here, I'd be freaked out. It would probably be more interesting, but I always think about how I feel about those people on reality shows and get weirded out by people thinking that about me).

So bring it on, networks. Continue to screw over the talent you employ (and let me assure you that I love a well-written show and appreciate it as such) and overload our screens with reality television. Fill every minute with unscripted junk. And may we never have to watch its like again.

Ribbons Baby Blanket

Ribbons Baby Blanket
Originally uploaded by christyc730

So it's been a while. I've finally finished the baby blanket I was knitting for my neighbor. It took two days of college football and a visit to the 1980s (aka my in-laws, who have since leaped into the 21st century - they got DSL). But I haven't been knitting or doing much of anything else lately. Why not? Well, I'm pregnant. With a baby who doesn't like me to sit upright, apparently. I'll be twelve weeks on Friday and I'm finally starting to come out of the fog, so hopefully more knitting and more posting now that the second trimester is almost upon me.