Class with glass

With beads, that is. I taught my first class at the local bead store last night - La Bead Oh. The class was on knitting with wire and beads and I had an absolute ball. There were 4 students (one of whom didn't even knit) and each one of them finished a project during the class. And let me tell you, they were gorgeous. I keep telling people, the technique is so easy - the beads and wire make it elegant or fun or flirty or like springtime.

I have about 2 dozen examples of different things I've done with the technique, all the way from rings to bracelets to necklaces and pendants. These creative ladies took those examples and the 2 second lesson and went to town. One was plush and rich and elegant with a crocheted gold chain, one was a bracelet bursting with lavender and purple springtime, one was black and white and glittery with copper bracelet and one was the same sort of mix of beads with gold which made another elegant pendant with a whole different feel.

Sorry I didn't get photos. I meant to. I had my camera. I even had my camera out. But when everyone got close to finishing it went a little wild and, well, um, I didn't get photos. Take my word for it, they were beautiful (and I'm not just saying that!). And let me just reiterate that one of the ladies didn't even knit. She learned to knit and made a gorgeous pendant all in one night - how's that for talent!

Woo-hoo!

I know there are some fun, quirky web sites out there but I want to share my favorite with you.

www.woot.com

Not just a shopping site, they focus on 1 thing a day and 1 thing only (unless that have 2 things or unless you look at the t-shirt of the day or the wine of the day or whatever else they may have added).

They really just have 1 thing a day and it’s out there until it’s sold out or until midnight comes around when there’s another 1 thing for that day. The exception (sort of) is 2 for Tuesdays which is 2 things but it’s 2 of the same thing so I’m not sure that counts. You can join a discussion about the 1 thing for that day, you can get some very cool stuff for a good price (usually) and it’s a lot of fun. Some people actually log on at 12:01 just to see what the item for the day is. I found out about them from a Dallas Morning News article my mother sent me several years ago which talked about how people would set their alarms to check the item as it’s posted. Of course, for some of the really good things, you have to be that quick to get it before it’s sold out.

But my favorite thing about it is the daily description of the item written by some resident (lunatic) staffer who seems to have way too much time on his (or her) hands. They are hysterical. I actually visit their site every morning, not so much to buy something, although sometimes I do, but to read the latest offering.

I have several favorites – here is one of my favorites:

There’s Something Fishy Going On Here

You can tell by the song in your heart and the pungent aroma in your nostrils: National Catfish Month is here! Every August, a nation drops to its knees before the altar of the slimy fish-god. Children stay up late hoping to catch a glimpse of the Phantom Catfish making his rounds, and thousands of the whiskered, scaleless bottom-feeders are ritually slain and eaten in a bloody orgy of bilge and batter. Here’s how the Pinnacle PCTV To Go can make your National Catfish Month celebrations even fishier:

• PCTV To Go lets you watch your fishing shows in HD on any PC anywhere in the world. You haven’t seen noodling until you’ve seen noodling in high definition. Bring your laptop out to the lake with you for total hi-def catfish overload!
• Even better, PCTV To Go’s PVR-style functions let you pause and rewind to savor the “money shots” – those moments of supreme catfish ecstasy when the gasping, thrashing beast is hauled into the boat.
• Not compatible with Macs – which is great, because Mac people hate catfish people. So screw them!
• Easy wireless setup gives you more time for eating, catching, thinking about, and drawing pictures of catfish.
• When somebody scoffs because the PCTV To Go has no HDMI, bet them ten catfish that component cables carry an HD signal just fine. You’ll win – then, hey, free catfish!
• Take your PCTV To Go unit, turn the Wi-Fi antennae so they jut out to the side, and glue on a couple of googly eyes. Presto! You’ve got yourself a whimsical replica catfish head.
• Got a Jewish friend who can’t eat catfish aren’t kosher (Leviticus 11:10)? Give him or her a Pinnacle PCTV To Go so he or she doesn’t feel left out of all the fun.
• Record the 2007 Miss Catfish Pageant for your personal archives. Our money’s on Miss Tennessee again this year.
• If you’re pretty handy with technology stuff, you can offer to help other people with the PCTV To Go’s tricky Windows Media Center setup, in exchange for – you guessed it – sweet, sweet catfish.
• Use the Pinnacle PCTV To Go as bait on your next fishing trip. Catfish cannot resist the convenience of wireless, HD TV on their PCs.
• We dunno, trade it for catfish or something? Sell it and use the money to buy catfish? We’re running out of creative steam here.

You get the idea. National Catfish Month is the time to cook catfish every which way but loose: fry it, broil it, bake it in bread, put in on pizza, whip it into a smoothie. But as delicious as those ideas are, we’ll take our catfish with a side of Pinnacle PCTV To Go.

It’s still funny! I laugh every time I read it. I laugh out loud.

www.woot.com – go up and see ‘em sometime.