Happy birthday to me

The big day is here. How, you may ask, did the secret knitter spend his birthday this year? While you're welcome to imagine 24 hours of unfettered revelry, the truth is much more sedate. To jazz up the account, feel free to append "while wearing a lampshade" to the end of each sentence. Let's give it a shot.

I didn't go to the office, although I took care of some work from home...while wearing a lampshade. See, doesn't that paint the picture of a raucous celebration?

After lunch I went to Starbucks for coffee and knitting. The other day I searched for nearby coffee shops that aren't the Seattle-based chain but turned up none. I did go to a different Starbucks, though. I noticed that there is one a half mile from my apartment. How did I miss it until now? Easy. Today was the first day it was open.

The cashier recognized me, although I'm not from where she initially tried to place me. (She asked if I was a teacher at the local high school. I told her where I work, which happens to be where she attended college.) I had a piece of chocolate cinnamon bread and a tall coffee while I sat in a leather chair in the corner. Late 1950s-60s jazz instrumentals and songs--think Sinatra and company--played while the overeager employees gabbed. I got a little distracted listening, knitted a few stitches incorrectly, and had to undo them.

One customer admired what I was doing. We talked briefly about the needle arts and men knitting. Her husband pointed out that the former football player Rosey Grier knitted, which sounded vaguely familiar. If a big, tough guy like that can knit, who's to question it? My research shows that the member of the Fearsome Foursome was into needlepoint and macramé, not knitting, but the point still stands. He even wrote Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men.

I came home and played Ms. Pac-Man for a while. At Christmas I was given one of those battery-powered retro games. Lately it's become something of a mission to get farther than I ever have. I don't remember how well I did playing it at an actual arcade--not very well, most likely. I've reached the third set of boards with the banana, but I haven't been able to advance beyond that.

Thrilling stuff, eh? More? On Jenn's tip I signed up for International Scarf Exchange 5 and received confirmation that I'm in before the cut-off. I got dinner at City Barbeque, easily one of my favorite places in Columbus.

And that's pretty much it. Oh, there is one other thing. Coincidentally, today marks a blogging milestone. This is the 300th post I've made at Knitting Confidential. Assuming I keep writing on a daily basis, I'll have missed just a handful of days in the site's first year. (The blog's birthday is October 21.) Writing about knitting has been almost as important as the knitting itself. I'm amazed I've found enough to write about. Anyway, happy birthday to me and many thanks to you for visiting.