Thursday Thoughts

Another fashion commentary.  I can't figure it out.  What is it with men's clothing these days?  Is it fashionable to look as uncoordinated as possible?  To mix and match (or not) patterns and colors?  To look like you got dressed in the dark or else took pot luck on the dry cleaner's rack?  And I'm not talking about young people who want to look grungy or whose finances send them to the Goodwill store to do the best they can (and probably look better than the people I am talking about).  I'm talking about people who have the wherewithal to look well-put-together but who, well, don't.  My favorite example is one of the talking heads from one of the cable news networks.  I was watching one evening when this guy came on the screen wearing a tweedy-looking jacket, a shirt with a dark pink or purplish gingham pattern, and, Heaven help us, a pink paisley print tie.  Seriously.  Or should I say, seriously?  Call me old-fashioned, or square, or narrow-minded, but if he'd had a little straw sticking out of his collar and his sleeves, he could have passed as a scarecrow.

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Gadgets.  I love gadgets.  I love going to kitchen/cooking shops and browsing the gadget wall.  Surely there must be something there that I absolutely have to have!  One of the nice things about being married is having someone to cook for.  I love to cook and DH seems to love to eat what I cook.  At least, he cleans his plate.

 

Favorite gadgets:

 

 

 Tornado whisk.  My niece used to work in a cute little shop that sold kitchen supplies and I saw this when I was there one day.  I had other things I was buying and couldn't quite bring myself to spend the extra money on this.  My sister was with me and my niece was working, and I received this as a gift the following Christmas.  It's the bomb for whisking eggs.  The only caveat is that it has to be used in a medium to large bowl; a small one just doesn't have enough room.  And I love the colors (imagine that!) 

 Scoop thingy.  Thank you, Ree Drummond, for putting me on to this little doodad.  I love to bake cookies, and this is perfect for scooping dough out of the bowl.  Works much more effectively than your run-of-the-mill spoon.  Love it!

 Microplane grater.  Or zester, if you prefer.  Oh my goodness, how did I ever manage without this bad boy!  I used to try to zest lemons and limes on the fine side of the box grater.  Wasn't very efficient.  I had an idea that I wanted to get one of these, and one day, whilst wandering in the rarefied air of a Williams-Sonoma shop, I did.  It's great for zesting lemons and limes, and also for grating Parmesan cheese directly on top of -- well, whatever I want to grate it on top of.  Great for grating -- get it?  Great for grating!  Har de har har!!  (I know...grooaaaannnnn)
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So far, my resolution to stitch up some of the small stuff from the WIP basket is working.  Funny thing, though -- it turns out that I've actually been working on and trying to finish one of the pieces that I expected I would want to consign to the UFO pile, while I'm actually seriously considering un-kitting and UFO-ing the April Showers bunny piece that I had pulled out to finish.  Several evenings last week I thought about sitting down and stitching, but then I found myself thinking, "But if I do, I'll feel like I have to work on that stupid rabbit."  Okay, that kind of gave me a hint that maybe the bunny wasn't calling to me like it should.  So I laid it aside for now and I'll re-think it after I finish a couple of the other small pieces I'm working on.
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What are you reading?  I've got a couple of books in progress.  One is Love & War, by Mary Matalin and James Carville.  It's the story of how they've made their marriage work despite having radically different political views.  Radically different.  Very interesting.  I'm also reading My Venice, by Donna Leon.  If you're not familiar with her, she is an American who lives in Venice and who writes an excellent series of mysteries set in that city.  My Venice is a collection of essays about, ummm, Venice.
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I think that's enough for this particular Thursday.  It's also cold down here and I'm ready to head back upstairs to finish watching Despicable Me 2 (so darn cute!).  I'll try to have some stitch pics for you this weekend.  Happy stitching!