But I don't wanna have to dress like Jane Freaking Marple!

So I thought about it and signed up for email announcements from the San Francisco iteration of tweed riding. Despite the fact it doesn't appear they've done anything in months. And I looked around at their silly silent film signage (which would do well to be punctuated correctly) and some of their photos and thought, "Crikey." And "Bloody f****ng hell." 

( Cut for photos )

Sunday random

It's like ten thousand spoons, when all you need is a knife and all that. I was sitting in court with the Tosenin kosode draped over my head for shade, when a handsome fellow in eboshi, yellow kataginu, olive kosode and brown hakama sat down on the grass directly across the "aisle" from me. Formerly from Aethelmearc, Dafydd joined the Tousando board about a month ago and has been working with Pallidus on getting some Japanese kit together. I had invited them both to have lunch with layla_lilah  and me at Purgatorio. Pallidus apparently stayed home to work on armor, the poopyhead. We had onigiri with umeboshi filling, plus Asian pear from one of my co-worker's trees, dried squid and some mochi that we never got to at A&S and, being packaged with the obsessiveness of Japanese food packagers, was still eminently edible. The toasted sesame mochidango were particularly nice.

He later introduced me to his lovely and very pregnant lady and their toddler son who was being a bit shy. Well, actually, I'm kicking myself that it didn't occur to me to drag him off and take pictures of his first Japanese garb for Samurai Eye, more than anything else, but I won't lie, the view was very nice. He's an attractive guy and he looked good in what he'd put together.

We might attempt to get together along with Pallidus and storm the Ghengis Khan exhibit at the Tech some weekend.

Got to get a little face time in with friends as well as finally meet mamapduck 's daughter and hunrvogt 's new dog. It was a nice event.

EDIT: Spotted in the cheap seats by Miyake Nobuhiro, digital ninja sniper. The rest of the set has some nice event photos.

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It's official: I still prefer hand sewing to working on the machine. With the last 8 inches of the last hakama tie to go, the bobbin ran out. So I refilled it. Then proceeded to break the thread four times, necessitating my putting my reading glasses on for each re-thread. And then, somehow - probably because I was exasperated and hit the gas too hard, I managed to bend the needle. In linen. On a machine that's more or less fresh out of the shop!

I just need to hand sew the ornamental knot thingies and ties on, starch and iron everything, and then I can FINALLY ship JAF's stuff to him.  We never specified a deadline, he has insisted there was no hurry, but since he's been so patient, I'm comping him the shipping charges with a thank-you-for-letting-me-play-hooky note. Which is what I've been doing. It's summer, it's too nice to sit inside listening to the sewing machine. 

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Downloaded a bunch of old British Invasion stuff off iTunes to listen to while I was breaking sewing machine needles, Troggs, Yardbirds, early Rolling Stones and Who, that sort of thing. Can't imagine why....
Good stuff, though.
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Took a break from sewing to go to Hell as their Labor Day sale started this weekend and they had Cateye bike lights at 25% off. The Cateye spoke lights are not nearly as cool as the Monkeylectric Seizure Inducing Spoke Lights of Doom, but are infinitely less expensive even at full price. The place was jammed and clearance areas were being picked over with a vengeance, but they had at least staffed for it. One of the floor minions asked if I needed assistance as I was fumbling with reading glasses and comparing the fine print on a couple of bike pumps. (I ended up with a very compact, lightweight one by Planet Bike.)  Further, the Register Minion I dealt with was conscious, helpful and discovered that I had, in fact, registered with them for a membership wayyyy the hell back when Gaius and I were still living up in Concord, updated my info and whittled down my total expenditure accordingly. I still think they're pricier than they need to be on certain things, but occasionally even Hell has its uses.