I’ve been tagged by the good lady of the Fresh Tea blog from 7,125 miles away (that’s 11,466 kilometers for you sensible metric types), a sort of virtual Go-Go-Gadget-Arm situation that amuses me. (And yes, I realize I’m dating myself with the vintage ’80s kiddie culture reference there.) And I haven’t done a meme in a little while, and the most blogable knitting is drying on the floor for another day or two, so why not? Tag yourself if you wanna.

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people (if you feel so inclined).

So here goes:

What is your current obsession?
La casquette. Probably without the cabbage leaf, but I seriously want a small collection of these.

What is your weirdest obsession?
Um, weirder than that?

What are you wearing today?
A T-shirt and short trousers, the left leg rolled just above the knee so it won’t scuff against my admirable scab.

What’s for dinner?
Surely it isn’t time to think about that yet? Here’s what’s not for dinner: 32 oz. of beer. Last Wednesday I went to Knit Night all proud of myself for having remembered a jar so I could nip across the street to the Mash Tun for some Concordia Cream Ale. However, the only jars I could find were a very small jam jar and the aforementioned 32 oz. I figured the nice beer lady would just fill ‘er up part way, turned to talk with another knitter about her handsome February Lady Sweater, and looked back to find the whole jar FULL of the suds. (I drank it over the next three days, at which point it was pretty flat, but still tasty.)

What did you eat for your last meal?
A brie and caramelized onion scone from Bakery Bar, thoughtfully provided by Jen when we carpooled this morning. Yum.

What’s the last thing you bought?
A book for my mother’s birthday present. It’s in the mail. Happy belated birthday, Mom.

What are you listening to right now?
Neko Case’s new album, Middle Cyclone. My favorite track is “Don’t Forget Me,” featuring the best line by a songwriter I’ve encountered in recent times: “Keep your memories, but keep your powder dry, too.”

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Only an hour? That’s not enough time to explore a new place, so I’d just transport myself home to visit my parents and friends. Maybe I could snuggle Brooke’s new baby.

Which language do you want to learn?
Better than I speak it now: French and Italian. From scratch: Welsh. I’m practical like that.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
Our neighbors.

What is your favorite colour?
I don’t have one, and tend to go through phases where I’m drawn to a few different families, but sea colors are perennial winners.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
My Amanda cardigan, and a green dress Mr. G picked out for me when we were dating.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Hmmm, June 1999… I had finished sophomore year of college. I think that was the summer I worked construction, so I was probably up a scaffold snapping chalk lines for the siding of a house we were building on the west side of the island. It would have been just about time for the orcas to make their afternoon pass. Yeah, that job was idyllic.

Describe your personal style?
Definitely Northwest Casual, but I try to bring a little city style now and then. The grandmothers had some good clothes that I like to throw into the mix.

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
That’s $163.89 in US dollars today. It would go toward my bicycle and yarn, the only luxuries I seem to be spending money on these days.

What are you going to do after this?
Look for a more reasonable size of canning jar. There’s got to be one somewhere in the cabinets, or maybe lurking in the back of the ice box.

What are your favourite films?
I can never decide. For comfort viewing, I always come back to the good Austen adaptations (I don’t have to tell you which those are). And Hayao Miyazaki… My Neighbor Totoro is definitely a favorite.

What inspires you?
Other people’s crafts; arresting colors or textures in the environment–the rusty metal roof of a shed, a tanker stacked with painted metal containers destined for a train, layers of seaweed clinging to the rocks; good quality materials close to hand.

Your favourite books?
More impossible to answer than the one about the movies. A smattering: Lolita, I Capture the Castle, Persuasion, Mrs. Dalloway, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Little Women, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, Charlotte’s Web, All Creatures Great and Small, The Odyssey, a particular jacketless first edition of Huntsman, What Quarry?.

Do you collect anything?
Yarn.

What makes you follow a blog?
Great writing, great photos, craftiness or knitting, irresistible babies, evocation of place.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
I got up at 7:30 instead of 6:30. Let’s hear it for summer hours.

What new skill would you like to learn?
How to balance on my road bike with no hands. I want to be casually pedaling down the road at 30kph, zipping up my jersey or munching a snack or, you know, raising my arms in victory across the finish line without falling over. Being able to pick the right line to bomb down a mountain road with minimal braking would also be splendid.

Oh, and spinning with a wheel instead of just a drop spindle.