Red-Handed Jill

^ Scotland ^ My tonsils are probably superfluous at this point < Weight is fluctuating. Lost some, then got sick and gained it back and now I'm struggling to lose it again. Damn menopause... V Any country besides your own that you'd consider moving to?

Simplicity 4083 is double-breasted, but shorter. There's also the Jack Sparrowesque pattern, Simplicity 4923. The vest can be modified to be double-breasted fairly easily. One thing it has going for it is that it is shorter in back, which is historically accurate. And Butterick 3072 is pretty decent - again, you'd have to modify it to be double-breasted, but it's mostly a matter of adding width to the front panels and figuring out the buttons. As far as sewing leather, good luck. There are all sorts of materials out there (such as microsuede) that can mimic leather without the price, weight and difficulty to sew. The vest fabric in those pics doesn't look like leather - more like a dark reddish, aged fabric with a pattern.

A good movie that really entertains and engages you will make the time pass quickly. The first time I saw the POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl, I was amazed that so much time had passed so quickly. And some short or medium-length movies drag so much that they seem four hours long. Now if only we can get our bladders on the same wavelength as our perceptions...

I'm with you on the personal responsibility issue, Phil. So many people abdicate the responsibility for their own lives (case in point, the over-abundance of frivolous lawsuits) and believe it is someone else's responsibility to look after them or rescue them or inform them. A quote from Spider Robinson, one of my favorite authors, is, "There are no passengers on Starship Earth." I think that too many people think they are passengers.

Perhaps this will galvanize the government to do something about this, such as pass some sort of gun law. On NPR today, they interviewed one of the professors who had written an editorial about this. The story that struck me the most was about the 72-year-old engineering professor who sacrificed himself so that his students could get to safety. This was a guy who had survived the Holocaust. It just makes no sense. On other stations, they interviewed people from the college and psychology professionals and they all kept saying the same thing over and over and over, that the students had to heal and they kept going on about the students. Not one person - not one - mentioned the teachers and what they went through and what they might need. And it's an unwritten rule (unwritten for teachers of adults, at least) that if anything were to happen, the teacher's job is to protect their students, regardless of the ages or physical abilities of those students. So they are already potentially putting their lives on the line. And in recent years, there have been concerns about students shooting their teacher because they didn't like the grade they got. I would never, ever begrudge anyone the support they needed, but as a former professor, that omission got to me.

^ No strange questions, but once when I entered a Beverages and More dressed as a pirate, everyone nearby facing the door simultaneously pointed to their right and said, "The rum's that way!" < I won one costume contest, but it wasn't a period costume. I came as Death. V Have you scared small children while in garb - and by scared, I mean they ran away shrieking?

POTC1 = 2 hours, 23 minutes POTC2 = 2 hours, 30 minutes So this is thirty extra minutes of piratey goodness!

^ I'm a vegetarian. Only one in four people in the world is a vegetarian, so I'm definitely in the minority. < More sewing to do to get ready for this weekend! V Ever fired a cannon?

^ Yes - more than one. My machete is also a kitchen tool! ^ Nope - have only had dates that came in packages. < Getting ready for a black powder Rendezvous this weekend. V Favorite tropical fruit?

^ I discovered quite young that if I couldn't see the horizon and the seas were rough, I'd get seasick. Hooray for Dramamine! < Did some maintenance/upgrades on my boat this past weekend. It's looking lovely. V Have you ever thrown up at sea?

Three hours of piratey goodness? Yay! (No soda for me...)

^ I like to take the Mexican Bus in San Francisco to the salsa clubs. This bus is a rolling party! < Been too long since I've salsa'd! V Best place for a quick escape from it all?

Heh. SPF 30?

Global warming actually does cause wacky weather like this in the winter. In Northern California, we had abnormally warm and dry weather, then a cold snap that wiped out a lot of the crops and now it's abnormally warm and dry again. Typical spring weather here is cool (40's-50's), foggy and rainy. And for the past several years the temps have been measured and the average temperature has definitely been going up (making me really happy I didn't buy that house on the coast... )

Heh. I upset the family dynamic by not being a ladylike little girl. Had engineers on both sides of the family history, so I couldn't help taking things apart, fixing things and building things. My parents kept giving my dresses as presents, hoping to somehow mold me into what they wanted, but it never worked.

^ I like learning anything new. About every other year I set myself a goal to learn something challenging, alternating between physical and mental. < This year I'm hoping to learn how to throw a tomahawk accurately. V What was your favorite subject in school? And did it influence what you're doing now?

Jack and I already have cannons on our main deck. If we could figure out how to attach the swivel gun in a way that won't destroy part of the car with the recoil... Of course the local constabulary might have a problem with the new accoutrement.

^ Yep. Even took lessons. < I didn't watch TV on Saturday mornings, so my heroes were the Apollo astronauts (child of the 60's and all that). V Did you have a real-life hero when you were growing up?

with a swig of

^When I've had laryngitis I've been told I sound EXACTLY like Joan Rivers. < Jack's back! Captain Kitty has to adjust to having us both back in the house, though (We've been alternating business trips for the last month.) So far, he's miffed at Jack. V Have you ever been told you look JUST like...

Heh. Playing the Grating Game again, Patt?...

^ My Windlass steelcraft cutlass. < Waiting for Jack to get back from Baltimore. V Favorite dessert?

Ye'll be wanting a cutlass... Much better in close quarters than a rapier. (I am SUCH a sword geek.) Of course a swivel gun mounted by the driver-side window would be handy as well.

Damn. The world's a sadder place with him gone.

About time you got back! How've you been lately? I know life threw you some big curves, but I hope you've rebounded.