I have about a dozen habaneros I grew in a window box on our front porch. What should I do with them?

Help me out here, folks --

Just found out a friend of mine is going to have to have some chemotherapy and I thought I might knit him a chemo cap. He's a great guy with a wonderful sense of fun about the way he dresses and carries himself, so I'm looking for a hat pattern that's really silly. Fraction suggested something with spikes like the Super Mario Brothers turtles. I have no idea what that means, but perhaps you do...?

Or perhaps you just know of a fun hat pattern that might be suitable?

New site by myself, Laurenn McCubbin, Casey Forbes, Lauren Martin, Amy Elz and Courtney Buckalew. Go check it out.

Maggie Estep is riding in support of MS research. Her fundraising page is here, if Laurenn and I didn't tap you out with the triathlon.

I'm doing this, then this.

(If you're not familiar with uberlists, see previous posts here and here - or visit the livejournal community here.)

I'm on a plane, on my way from Florida to Washington D.C. and our in-flight movie is Herbie: Fully Loaded. I looked up once, thought "Hey! Is that Michael Keaton?" spotted a continuity error and then decided I ought to do something more productive with my time. So I'm updating my uberlist. I haven't looked at it in MONTHS AND MONTHS, and I feared the worst, but I'm tickled to see how many I've managed to tick off. My goal is always 1/3. This year that means 35. I'm at 33 now, so that's doable; I just have to pick two easy ones...

uberlist 2005

Done
1. black dog portraits/anniversary book
2. book hotel for san diego con early
3. clean up front porch
4. do something special for courtney and seth and bugbert - I'm hoping the pixie cap counts? I really meant to visit, and might still before the year is over, but I'm giving myself credit for this one anyway.
5. drink more water
6. find a place to swim - Does Monterey Bay count?! If not, my gym certainly does.
7. find bucket hat or make a new one - I found it! Then probably lost it again. But still. Just because I couldn't lay my hands on it right this second doesn't mean it's gone forever.
8. find out what it would cost to have the roof fixed on the shed - $3k.
9. crossroads and/or rpg proposal - I didn't write either of these, but I did write a full proposal and will probably finish another before year is out, so I'm giving myself credit for this one.
10. finish christmas 2004 and write thank yous
11. finish nana's slippers
12. finish reading getting things done
13. get back into size 2s
14. get contacts
15. get lenses replaced in glasses
16. give up caffeine - Gave it up for more than a month. Then started drinking it again. Still, I did give it up.
17. go through japanese magazines for hair ideas
18. have closet remodeled and hang organizer - Done!
19. help mom
20. investigate frederick's charges
21. look into tattoo touch up. see danny. - Yes and no. I did look into it -- with Nikol's boyfriend Ron (whom I just adore) rather than Danny. The thing is, I can't really decide what I want to do, so I'm chickening out at present on doing anything. We had a conversation about it, though, so that counts.
22. look into transferring high interest balances to lower interest cards...? - Met with a financial advisor. Need to follow up on that, but yeah the "look into" part is done.
23. make appt with genius bar and address all lady snowblood issues
24. make better use of delicious
25. microchip animals
26. mk12 project ping pong - Oh, that was awesome.
27. order steve keene paintings? - And how.
28. send belle a check for the balance on the chairs
29. storytelling performance - Done.
30. switch bookmarks to firefox from safari
31. throw out old products in bathroom - I threw all that junk in a box and freecycled it.
32. visit laurenn and viz folks in san francisco - Done!
33. visit nana and pop

Opted Against and/Or No Longer Applicable
34. cheat sheets for doubt, kare first love and sensual phrase - Well, Kare and Doubt!! are done, sooo... I should still do one for Sensual Phrase probably, but it's unlikely that I will.
35. finish thank you notes (the one that haunts me is danyon's mom) - I asked Danyon to apologize to her on the phone for me. I should probably still write the thank you note, but we're coming up on our 3rd anniversary. At this point, would it be weird?
36. help laurenn move - She's not moving anymore. Unless she does. In which case, I will help.
37. normal jean for idw? - This was when I thought Normal Jean was going to be a short story. (I wrote "short shorty," just now.)
38. sample chapter of ss novelization - Long story; no longer applicable, I don't think.
39. start savings account especially for san diego - ha ha ha. Yeah, no. Didn't get to that.
40. story for maggie
41. two week david kirsch program

Started/Could Still Happen
42. alarm system
43. be more diligent about skincare - I am... kinda.
44. clean out junk drawer
45. clean up basement - Technically could still happen, but I doubt it. I did start it, though.
46. continue circle journals
47. continue to improve on work practices
48. finish eleanor proposal
49. finish filing
50. finish getting things done set-up
51. floss
52. follow up with markovitch
53. get janus account info updated
54. get leopard chairs here - I really, really want to get this one taken care of. I paid off those chairs LAST YEAR.
55. go back to keeping a handwritten journal – not a notebook, not a book of lists – a journal
56. go to bed earlier in order to GET MORE SLEEP
57. hang out with jane more
58. make nikol feel welcome and supported - Have I? I hope so. I am going to her knitting weekend next month, though, and want to get Fraction and Xtop out there, too.
59. meet with accountant about estimated taxes - Met with Financial Advisor; got name of accountant.
60. read the everlasting
61. see all of meiko kaji's movies
62. see dentist twice - One down.
63. send old phones to wirelessfoundation.org
64. start showering at night
65. stay focused; review priorities regularly
66. stay in closer touch with amity & patience
67. stay on top of getting things done
68. take more baths
69. take stripper dance class
70. taxes
71. throw a party - Technically, I could count this one as done - we've had a couple of dinner parties. But I really want to have a bigger get-together at some point. I'm now leaning toward a holiday party - Halloween or Xmas.
72. trim the fat – cut out time sucks, be they people or projects
73. write more letters
74. write to michelle & alex

Er…Oops. (Maybe Next Year?)
75. buy short-corset from www.waspcreations.com
76. do something about back "yard"
77. finish "legs" and "don't hang up"
78. finish list book with nikol
79. finish my office
80. frame rough house rosie poster
81. hang out with carrie more - Crap. Carried moved.
82. hang out with kelli more - Crap. Kelli is moving.
83. hang shelves in library
84. learn quicken
85. look into eye surgery
86. look into japanese language classes
87. make curtains for office
88. make cushions for office
89. make or buy a black cover for applejack's crate - I could probably knock most of these sewing projects out in a weekend, if I could just find a free weekend. (Laurenn's curtain, too!)
90. make regular trips to antique mall for portrait gallery paintings
91. make regular trips to thrift store - I really, really would like to make thrifting a habit. I enjoy it so much and I seldom spend more than $20.
92. meet jayanthi - Next time I'm in NYC!
93. organize "laundry room"
94. organize iphoto
95. organize itunes
96. rest - ha ha ha ha ha
97. start collecting poppy art for diningroom
98. take another class with applejack
99. visit dave holmes in la (and wefugees)
100. visit nelson atkins museum
101. visit spencer museum
102. write a fan letter
103. yoga: jump-through

Er…Oh, crap.
104. send amity a wedding gift - I have no idea whether we did this or not. If not, I'm horrified and we must do something immediately. This is what happens when you want to send something so PERFECT you end up putting too much pressure on yourself. As though any gift is going to reflect the entirety of a life-long friendship.
105. send old camera to jamie - Er... Did I?

Soon I will start thinking about Uberlist 2006...

Woo hoo. Making good.

I'm in Florida looking after a friend who's having some surgery. From here to Craig and Kiyoung's wedding; back to KC on Sunday.

Whew.

If you ride your bike in the KC area, please take a minute to let the Mid-America Regional Council know.

Laurenn posted the pictures Fraction took in a Flickr photoset. (That's me over on the far right.)

Tired now. More later.

The triathlon is tomorrow. Here are some pictures from the trip thus far.

When I was maybe 9 years old, my friends and I formed a proto-girl group for the Hahn Air Force Base talent show. We called ourselves The Color Girls (You know - like a rainbow... We were immensely proud of our multi-ethnic backgrounds) and we wore matching socks and t-shirts. I think I was blue. Maybe red? Not sure.

Anyway, we sang CELEBRATION and THE ROSE and while I can't be sure, I suspect we were abysmal. I know how well I sing. Or, I know that now, but happily, I had no idea then. Blissfully ignorant, Christine, Mikelle, Bev and I sang and slaughtered my mother's choreography with all the vim and vigor of a country girl on Star Search.

When we were done, Mom greeted us with hugs and kisses and compliments and I think we even went for ice cream or comic books or something.

As the triathlon nears and my bike time is kind of crappy and I'm miraculously not the Angela Bassett-lookalike that I somehow imagined I would be after a mere 3 1/2 months of training, I am reminded of The Color Girls. And I'm glad Mom's coming to Monterey with us.

I saw a pointer to this post on Creature Comforts this morning and I think it's fitting --

Celebrate Every Orange Flag:

"Everyday, ordinary, daily life should be a rambunctious celebration, a focus on the positive, a paean to possibility and glee. Slow down, take time, encourage, celebrate your 30%. Stock up on birthday candles. Use them with wild abandon." (Via 37 Days.)

Not Old Yet! Ten Month Journey from Low Cardio to Half IM: Beginner Triathlete has a little essay by a guy who did his first half-Ironman at 40. This line jumped out at me --

"Strangely... it was no longer about the age thing. It was about seeing if I could rise to the challenge that I had given myself and complete an event that was, at the onset, outside my abilities."

(Via Beginnertriathlete.com - Recent articles.)

Comparing 5 Popular Weight-Loss Plans: "Finding the right weight-loss program can be an exercise in frustration. One plan recommends lowering levels of fat, another says avoid carbs. How can you sort it all out? One place to start is a recent article on www.mayoclinic.com which outlines five popular weight-loss plans."

(Via Nubella (Health News).)

I just watched CNN for 40 minutes at the gym. It's just too, too horrible.

Anybody have an RSS feed for Chris Butcher's site?

Origami datebook

Idea Generation Methods, from Ellis, who knows just how to make a girl's head explode.

Crafters United for Katrina Relief

Oh! Campaign

I'm loving this new bloglines feature that allows people to e-mail me links directly from bloglines. I wish NetNewsWire gave me an easy e-mail option.

Tree Hugger on "green" yarns

I feel sick. I've been denying this for days, but it's becoming a thing. Oh, well.

I'm thinking about doing a couple of 5ks in the months after the triathlon. Active.com allows you to search for events by zip code. I'm thinking about doing the Jared Coones Memorial Pumpkin 5K and the Elmwood Cemetary graveyard run.

Laurenn headed home today. It feels like the end of summer camp. Dude, we should have made friendship bracelets or something.

Sheila Kelley opened an S Factor studio in San Francisco! I'm headed to Oakland on Tuesday, see if I don't drop by and get info on an intensive. See if I don't.

I had abandoned my "deadline math" practice for a while (basically, I assign myself a number of pages I have to get done on each book every month in order to meet my deadlines) and it turns out that was a crappy experiment. So back to deadline math. Now I know.

I'm loving iCal right now.

I filled out a subscription card for Shojo Beat while I was at Nerd Prom, but it's never come. Not sure how to go about following up on that.

The sidebar is woefully out of date. I should update that. Eventually.

256 messages in my inbox. I was down to 70-some. Doesn't seem like that long ago either. Some days, I hate e-mail.

Newly added to my NetNewsWire: All Cupcakes, All the Time, Crafting Japanese, Creature Comforts, little birds, loobylu, Liquid Paper

Peppermint Tea is helping with the sick feeling.

EDITED TO ADD:

Inspire Yoga is offering Yoga for Runners

If I could, I would totally go see ANIME DANCE THEATER. Thanks to Sandra Extreme for the link!