DING ding ding ding ding….

June 17, 2005 By

We have a WINNER!

Brown Sheep Cotton Fine (20% WOOL/80% cotton) in Candy Apple RED. (Vicki – where’s my button? ETA: Here it is!)

So far so good – I like the yarn, I like the pattern, I can see the little baskets coming along (although they look like leaves to me.) It’s on Addis size 6. I only had to cast on three (maybe four) times until I was satisfied. I’m happy with it. I think the red will be good – go great with black – it’s a garnet red – leaning way towards the blue purple rather than orange – and I think it will be nice and dramatic for the event.

Summer of Lace here I come!

Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for all the suggestions.
L, C

Filed Under: Flower Basket Shawl

Makin’ It!

June 17, 2005 By

I’m makin’ it
I’ve got the chance
I’m takin’ it
No more, no more
Fakin’ it
This time in life
I’m makin’ it (oh-oh-oh)
Makin’ it

Remember this song?! I heard it this morning, and I remembered ALL the words. No lie. (Well, maybe there were a couple…whatever…ALMOST all the words.) I was dancing around while G was getting ready for work. So much fun. Better yet – who remembers the TV show? No? Maybe because it jumped the shark after the opening theme song? It was about a guy in Joisey who works at an ice cream parlor during the day and dances out all night ala Tony Manero and Saturday Night Fever! The series even had it’s own Travolta!

ETA: Makin’ It starred David Naughton as Patricia said – who also starred in her favorite movie: An American Werewolf in London. Am I right? 😉

I TOTALLY remember this show. It was perfect for me because I was nine in 1979 (the whole freaking year – funny how that works out. 😉 ) and seven in 1977 when Saturday Night Fever came out. I wasn’t allowed to see SNF (R rating and all) and it just about KILLED me! I was DISCO QUEEN with my baby brother shining the flash light all around my room and lip synching with the Tickle Deodorant bottle as a microphone (tell me you did that too!?!). We used to slip the deodorant bottle out of the plastic case and voila! Instant microphone. My sister and I had THE BEST choreographed dance to Hot Stuff. Ah. Those were the 70s.

Speaking of The Fantasticks – it was, um, slightly LESS than fantastic. I’m thinking it was a really weird interpretation of the show. They set up bleachers on the stage – so we were basically on stage with the actors. There was no orchestra (this we REALLY missed – I mean what’s musical theater without an orchestra!?!) only a piano, a harp and something else. The performances were uneven at best (but they did look like they were having fun and trying) and half the time I didn’t get what was going on in the show. What’s with the old actor and the indian? Completely lost on me. Georgie thought they were a version of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – which I agreed with, but not so much. You know you’re in bad shape when reading the playbill you find that NOT ONE of the cast members had appeared on Law & Order (in any incarnation.) I mean, c’mon! How can you call yourself an actor if you haven’t been on L&O?

And of course the show ended about ten minutes too late for the train we wanted to catch so we had to wait another forty minutes for the next one. We didn’t leave Stamford until after 11. And here we were bitching about the show and practically the entire cast was in the next car – about ten rows from us. I felt bad. But really, the whole thing had the feel of high school.

The best part though was that G bought a tub of Swedish Fish while he was waiting with me in the hotel lobby near the theater. When we got to the reception, it was clear he needed to ditch the candy – it really didn’t fit in his briefcase and I didn’t have room in my bag (those socks don’t need a lot of space do they? I took the small bag.) Anyway, he tossed the candy.

Or did he? I found out later that he had dumped half the tub into his suit jacket pocket so we could snack on them during the performance! How SMART is my guy? So all night long I was slipping my hand in his pocket for fishies. YUM!

Another real problem was that I have a lot of trouble sitting so close to G in the dark and keeping my hands to myself. But I had to be on my best behavior last night since it was a work thing. It was tough, but I managed to behave (okay – I was a little bad….)

THANK YOU all so much for your yarn suggestions for FBS. I’ve made up my mind again and am eagerly awaiting the yarn delivery. I had them fedex it because I’m desperate to start and have to go to Philly this weekend for family obligations (there’s that F word again!) I won’t be back until Tuesday and I’m not waiting that long to start this thing. I’ve got a least two train rides that can be put to good use. I’ll be back later on with an update – if all works out as planned.

Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Drumroll please….

June 16, 2005 By

And the winner is…

Jackie!

And Chelsea gets an honorable mention with her follow-up quote – Georgie loved that! Presumed Innocent (who knew it was that easy!) is one of our favorite movies. It’s one of those we watch every time it’s on. (Funny how Harrison Ford is in a lot of those movies. Go figure!) Georgie can be heard exclaiming “What a colossal blunder!” and “It was dem dat fucked up!” all the time. Seriously. It’s right up there with “met-a-mor-PHO-sis” and “Immobiliare” (Extra, EXTRA special prize to anyone who can come up with the first one – you will never get it. The second one you might get – but the first – no way.)

Jackie – send me your snail mail and give me a week or two! Congratulations!

So I basically can identify every Flower Basket Shawl on the Internet – because I’ve seen them all – twice. I’m still unsure as to which yarn I want to use and after the great dress debacle yesterday (to be fair I wasn’t wearing a baseball cap or sweat socks – but I did look like shit. I figured that was enough.)

My problem is I want it to be sturdy – not light and airy. And I want the color to be BRIGHT – not subdued. So I’m leaning towards a cotton – like maybe Cotton Fleece or Cotton Fine – weigh in on this people! Tell me what you know. Teresa used Cotton Fine and said it had – wait let me get the technical term – “loopy thingies” hanging off the twist. Was this an anomaly? Or a feature of the yarn?

[Okay – so I just mentioned cotton to Cassie, and while it was through email, I swear to god her head spun around like a top! Go see her CONTEST. There’s still time to be wool-obsessed. Cassie – I love you!]

I’m also thinking about going naked and wrapping myself in an Alchemy Yarns Bamboo FBS. Since I can’t find a dress and a shawl made from this stuff will cost as much as a dress. But will it block?

And there’s still the Euroflax Linen. Although, honestly, I don’t care how soft you people say it gets, it’s kitchen string to start and I don’t know if I can knit that. I’m a very tactile knitter. If I don’t like the yarn – forget it!

I tried, I really tried to cast on with the Zephyr. In the end, I’m figuring I could probably get it to work for me, but that’s not the end product I want. I’m not a light, airy kind of person.

Besides killing my self with Zephyr yesterday, I knit nothing. I may try to cast on again for the short row front, or I may just stick with sock knitting today.

I’m going to see The Fantasticks tonight. The way I’m feeling these days, it better be FUCKING fantastic. 😉

Filed Under: Contest, Flower Basket Shawl

Serendipity and Disaster!

June 15, 2005 By

So Jen and I went dress shopping today (and why didn’t anyone tell me how gross I’ve become! Seriously – you’d think I was bathing suit shopping or something!) but first we stopped in at an LYS I haven’t been to in a while, The Stitching Bee. Jen had never been there and I was on the look out for a ball of Cathay – just to play with it. Lo and behold, on the table is a Leaf Lace Shawl, which is almost identical to The Flower Basket Shawl!

I tried it on and was able to gauge what size I’d need. I bought the pattern. Most importantly, another customer came in and the woman working at the store was all set up to teach her how to cast on the shawl! So I got to watch the provisional cast on and set up rows up close and personal. I was so happy – because seriously, I don’t think I would’ve gotten it by reading it alone.

Then I get home and the Zephyr is waiting for me! I (almost) immediately try the cast on. Bad. I think the yarn is way too thin for me – I want this shawl to be thick – the one in the store was made from Euroflax Linen. I think it wasn’t soft enough for me – but I loved how it was thick. Do you know what I mean?

I’ve searched through the Summer of Lace database and I just can’t decide. Help me decide. Suggest yarns for me to use. I might try some Koigu I have around the house, but the Euroflax was really nice. They say it softens up – anybody knit with it? I’m dying here people. I want to start this ASAP. All suggestions welcome!

Thank you.

Oh and thank you for all your good wishes. I’m usually pretty okay, but circumstances arise as always. It’ll be a long, long time, unfortunately, until everything is healed.

Filed Under: Flower Basket Shawl

It was DEM dat fucked up!

June 15, 2005 By

Happy families are all alike; every
unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

For the most part, my family is excellent (I’m talking the family I grew up with, not George – although G-Love is excellent too.) My siblings and I get along better than siblings should be allowed, especially siblings who fought with bats when they were young; I would rather spend time with my sisters and brother than most people. They make me laugh uncontrollably and THEY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING. It’s been a tumultuous year for my family. I’m not going to go into it here, but it’s been very, very hard. A lot of anger, frustration, tears. But my siblings and I have stuck together through it all and for that I am so grateful. Thank you for taking care of me last night. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Suffice it to say, I’ve got some puffy ass eyes this morning.

And because I had such a shitty night – I’m giving stuff away!

Yes, it’s CONTEST TIME! CONTEST CLOSED! Thanks for playing!

You’ll get sheepy cards and flower cards and some yarn to be determined later. And some beautiful handpainted knitting needles from Peace Fleece.

Here’s what you have to do – in the comments identify the FILM that the following lines are spoken in – they’re all from the same movie. I will pick a random winner from all the correct entries.

“My mommy hurt my head.”

“It’s going to be so good.”

“What a colossal blunder.”

“It was dem dat fucked up.”

Some clues: The movie is fifteen years old. At least one of the leading actors is dead. Two of the actors in the film appear together on TV. The movie was based on a book.

I will close the contest at midnight tonight. Good luck!

I did manage to finish the sleeve to short-rows last night (I will spare you the photo – it’s navy blue and curled up – you can wait for the real deal.) And I cast on for the front, did a couple rows, then ripped it. I’ll cast on again today. Basically I was on the third row when I realized I messed up the moss stitch (by the way, what’s the difference between moss and seed stitch – can anyone tell me? I think they’re the same, but don’t know if I’m right or not.) No biggie – I wasn’t in the mood for knitting last night anyway. Yes, it’s true. It was more like a fetal position, baby blanket under my nose kind of night. You’ve all had those, right? 😉

I’m hoping to go shopping today. THE LA/SLO TRIP IS ON!!!! We’re leaving for Los Angeles on July 11 – eventually we’ll make our way up to San Simeon for the BLACK TIE DINNER AT HEARST CASTLE on Thursday. We may take our time and spend a night or two in Santa Barbara. At least one night. But I will be in LA for a day or two – so where should I go? I’m counting on you Hollyweird knitters to give me the scoop. I’m not sure where we’ll be staying yet. Probably either Beverly Hills or Santa Monica. Details to come.

Anyway – so I need a dress. Preferably black, so I can wear my Iris Flower Basket that I’m going to crank out all weekend. It seems halter is the style this season – but I don’t like to show my back, so we’ll see what I find. Did you know the secret to successful dress shopping is to wear sweat socks and a baseball cap? There’s some kind of inverse rule that the sloppier and shittier you look the more luck you have finding a dress. I swear by this. SWEAR. Bought every prom dress, my bat mitzvah dress, my wedding dress in this fashion. Watch out Jen – you’ve been warned!

Oh and I’ve been taken to task by some blogging pioneers that came before me. Apparently, when they weren’t walking 20 miles in 10 feet of snow on their way to school, they were checking blogs on their own with out the aid of feeds. GASP! And, I’m told, sometimes people didn’t read your posts for days. I’m not sure I believe them, but I’m not going to worry about bloglines anymore. 😉 Thanks for the reality check.

Don’t forget the CONTEST!

Filed Under: Contest, Photographs

Which came first?

June 14, 2005 By

In the chicken or the egg fashion, I ask: Which came first the desire to write, or the need for readers?

In other words, if a blogger blogs but bloglines doesn’t update the feed, does a blogger really blog?

Yesterday I spent a lot of time on my post – it was great fun for me, don’t get me wrong. I linked a lot, I relieved past lives, I longed for long hair. But since bloglines didn’t update me until around 10:30 last night, I was pretty lonely all day. Which got me thinking (yet again) about the whole blogging thing.

I used to be a writer. Used to be, because I haven’t written a story in quite a while – a fact that breaks my heart every day. But since I started the blog, I’ve been writing again. No, not what’s ultimately most important to me (telling stories – fiction) but about myself. And it really doesn’t matter because it’s still writing. I think about my posts almost the way I would write my stories in my head. I craft them, if you will. I’m getting my groove back. It’s coming.

I’d still rather pick up the needles than the pen – but honestly – there is nothing harder in the world, mentally at least, than staring at a blank screen and hoping to fill it with your blood and guts and genius. I’m in a rut.

Do you know what writer’s block really is? I teach this to my students all the time, so why not here? A writer has two distinct personalities living in their head (see – we are crazy!). A Generator and an Editor. The generator’s the personality that sits there and cranks out the words – the zone head – filling up pages and pages and pages of pure unadulterated Nobel winning genius.

The Editor’s the personality that takes one look at all that superiority and says CRAP! CRAPTASTIC CRAP! And starts rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically at the hubris of the generator.

Don’t get me wrong. The Editor is an essential partner in the writing process (remember – it’s all about the process) but really needs to be kept in a sound-proof box until about the second or third draft. Second draft. Really. Get two under your belt before you want to rip the thing to shreds. There will be that much more to save.

The Generator needs peace and quiet and unconditional love to work the magic. People – I’m all about the love.

So what happens with writer’s block is that these two warring factions are together a bit too early – like right out of the starting gate.

Here’s an illustration of what happens:

Generator: Okay, so they’re at the mall and they see a fortune teller and the fortune teller gets all freaky when the first girl walks by…

Editor: Snort. In a mall? Puleese. You’re setting it in a mall? Sweet Valley High, here we come!

Generator: Fine. They’re at a fair. Lots of noise in the background. Lots of lights. It’s hot. Sweating lemonades. All the sights and sounds and there’s a fortune teller…

Editor: Don’t forget the freaks! Got to have freaks. C’mon – what’s a modern short story without a two headed midget? The New Yorker’s going to want first rights!

Generator: Gotcha. I’m worthless. Let’s go knit and watch bad TV.

See how fast the Generator folds? Not very strong of character I’m afraid.

Life sucks and then you write.

Anyway, back to my problem. Yesterday I was frustrated. The nice thing about blogging is that I can convince myself that it’s JUST LIKE REAL WRITING (which it is – I’ve just got issues with myself)and I have an instant audience. Well at least I thought I did. It’s like my editor self and bloglines are conspiring against any and all writing progress I’m making.

The generator is a muscle that needs to be exercised. We’re about one step up from atrophy at this point, but getting better all the time!

Just so you know, I generally update my blog every day Monday thru Friday. I blog in the morning usually so my posts should appear mid-morning. Just so you know. In case you’re missing me or something.

I’m not quite sure that this post makes sense in any way. I’m PMS and pissed and tired. My neighbors think it’s fun to sit on their balcony and talk really loud at 6AM in a foreign language that I can’t understand right off my bedroom window and wake me from sweet dreams. That is when they’re not stinking me out of my own bedroom with their homemade delicacies. Seriously. Bloglines better watch out.

Obligatory knitting content: I will finish the short row sleeve tonight and immediately cast on for the front. I don’t care about the ends on the back anymore. I’ll deal with it later. AND in big, BIG, news – we may be attending this (yes, honey, dinner at Hearst Castle) and if we do it’s black tie and I need a new dress and I want to wear FBS. So I have about three weeks to finish it. Think I can do it? Oh Zephyr! God Speed!

I will find out for sure today or tomorrow. You know what that means though – I’m heading out to La La Land. Who’s going to entertain me with knitting delights?

Filed Under: blogging stuff, Photographs

So who needs help more?

June 13, 2005 By

Michael Jackson, who has had enough plastic surgery to be defined as a personality disorder, not to mention thinks it’s okay to have young boys spend the night in his bed, or shroud his children in public while dangling them over balconies?*

Or the fanatic woman who was releasing one dove for every not guilty verdict?

Or me, who spent all morning writing up this amazing post about an important experience in my life that (almost) no one will read because BLOGLINES DECIDED TO STOP UPDATING MY FEEDS AGAIN!!!!! (Although I’m totally blaming Colleen for this one….;-) )

It’s truly a toss-up. Lots of frustration at January One.

*What’s the matter with his family? Are they so dependent they can’t tell him that what he’s doing is dangerous – to himself if nothing else? Or is there something inherently wrong with all of them? A prosecuter who was interviewed by some all day all night news channel said that predators purposefully pick weak victims. To wit, the boy who accused Jackson in this trial was damaged way before Jackson got his hands on him. And he’s a perfect victim – his family was so screwed up they’d never be believed in court.

I also believe that this country has literally gone star crazy. Imagine your son in the bed of a grown man – someone not related to you – specifically not the child’s father or father figure. Could you find ANY circumstance where that would be appropriate? Something’s wrong here. But since O.J. we’ve known celebrities won’t be punished in this country.

I told Georgie this. His first question – what about Martha?

I told him, she’s a woman. And it was all about money.

Filed Under: blogging stuff

Lemmings and Lace

June 13, 2005 By

Well, my experience in the city yesterday was decidedly UN-Seinfeldian. (By the way, the Puerto Rican Day parade episode has never been shown on TV after the first airing – it’s not even part of the syndication package. Guess it ruffled a few feathers.) Seriously – the whole day couldn’t have gone better: super cute kids, great party entertainment (the kids were laughing the whole time), nice employers. The traffic was fine – if I had a job in the city on a Tuesday morning I would’ve hit more traffic. Thanks for the good lucks. I think they worked.

Without further ado, I offer you boring progress pictures, just like I promised on Friday:

The short row sleeve is coming along nicely. I finished the increases and am about to start the decreases. I love how they say do the increases and knit until you reach 191/2 inches. Guess what? On my last row of increases I’m going to be about 201/2 inches. I realized my row gauge is about two rows over. No biggie, I’m thinking. I like my sleeves a little long anyway. So onto the decreases. Have I woven in any ends? NO! Damn they’re killing me!

Not much progress on the sock – although I did rip it a few more times before I was satisfied. I’m still a little hesitant about the purls at the joins – I moved some stitches around on the needles because the ktbls were looking REALLY bad at the joins – but I’ve tried it on and I can live with it. I’m not sure how to fix it though since I’m pulling the yarn as hard as I can. I swear my hands are completely cramped after only a few pattern repeats. I’m doing the Retro Rib from IK Winter 2004 in Koigu Color #2151. The yarn is definitely more green – think retro aqua Cuban colors. I’m not loving this like I was loving the Purple Socks, but I’m persevering.

Because I have no mind of my own and you can’t turn from one blog to another without seeing LACE, I conveniently became obsessed with The Flower Basket Shawl pattern from IK Fall 04. I’ve never knit lace before, so I immediately turned to the Great Enabler and lace knitter extraordinaire. She, in turn, sent me over here, and she, then, pawned me off over here! (That’s Cassie, Margene and Teresa – in case you were wondering! Damn you girls are good at the enabling!) Anyway, once I saw Teresa’s Flower Basket Shawl (make sure you look at ALL the pictures!) I was a goner.

Suffice it to say, by Sunday I had ordered two balls of Zephyr Wool Cotton SILK (tussah silk to be specific!) from The Knitter in Iris (and about five different kinds of sock yarn. I went a little crazy with the sock yarn this weekend. I’m a little nuts over the whole striping thing.)

Teresa was so kind – emailing me different yarn amounts and advice. I can only hope my finished project looks half as wonderful as hers.

Oh and I can’t discount the help I’ve received from two other sites! There’s an FBS Redux knitalong going on, and through them I found Becky’s gorgeous FBSes. She’s got three so far, I think. They’re amazing. And she took the time to write up this tutorial for lace-impaired people like me! With all that support, how could I not succeed!?! Thank you ladies! I’m eagerly awaiting my yarn. (I even joined this! Craziness, I know!)

I saw two movies this weekend – both made me cry hysterically (think it’s time to up the meds?) – but were about as different as different can be. First, on Saturday, I watched Hotel Rwanda. I’m finding it really difficult to say I enjoyed this movie, but I really did. It was incredibly well done. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. The story was extremely well played out and Don Cheadle was amazing. Absolutely HEARTBREAKING. But it made me want to learn more about the region and what happened there. It utterly amazes me – the destruction human beings can carry out.

Then, on Sunday, I watched 50 First Dates. I know, I know, it’s like feast or famine (culturally) around here, but I had seen bits and pieces of the movie at my sister’s and couldn’t understand the end, given Lucy’s situation. So it was on cable, I caught it about five minutes in and knit. Man did I cry! How sad is this movie? I guess hopeful too, but I don’t know it seemed so sad to me. In the end it’s a complete rip off of the existential classic Groundhog Day, but I guess you could say I enjoyed it. Maybe I just needed to cry some more. (Hey Jen – have you seen Groundhog Day? Add it to the list!)

I’m going to leave you with two pictures – one of which is explained in the extended entry.

First, a rose:

If you haven’t already, check out the roses Laurie posted today. Gorgeous!

Last, but not least, I was inspired by Lauren‘s post the other day about her amazing adventures in Israel. It’s been five years since she was there. It got me thinking back to my OWN amazing adventures in Israel – and MY GOD! it’s been fifteen years since I was there! How come it feels like just yesterday? I scanned a picture of me from the trip – one of my favorite pictures of me ever. I never looked as good as I did then –


Yes, that’s me in an army uniform with my long flowing hair – if you’d like to learn more about it, read on….

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cuba Libre Socks, Photographs, Short Rows, Socks

Just a Quickie….

June 12, 2005 By

Have you seen this? What an accomplishment! The details are seriously amazing. Go congratulate Anna!

I’m going to be braving this today – I have a birthday party to shoot right off the parade route. I’m leaving two hours early to get there – that should give you an idea of the mayhem. Add to that it’s 95FUCKINGdegrees and I’m probably going to have to walk a while amidst throngs. At least the party will be airconditioned!

STAY COOL! (Or warm or whatever you need to be comfortable. I’d do anything for comfortable….)

Filed Under: Miscellaneous, Photographs

I Love Ewe!

June 10, 2005 By

DAMN that Margene‘s good! Sitemeter says I average around 200 visits a day to the blog. Yesterday, I had a whopping 473 visits! About 80% of them from Margene! Thanks grrl! And she works magic too. My feeds should be good to go now. I emailed Bloglines and they reset the feeds. Apparently that’s all I needed to do. We’ll see how fast this post comes up.

And thanks to all of your comments on the socks. I SO appreciate it! I’ve got the AC cranking so I can keep them on all day. Crazy, no? Who cares. I made SOCKS!

In other boring knitting news, I FINALLY cast on the sleeve for short rows. I know I’ve said this a million times, but god I love Rowan Wool Cotton. It’s so soft and the stitches are so beautiful. Seriously, if I could only knit with this yarn I would be okay. Better than okay. This is my plan: everyday before I knit on the sleeve I will weave in ends on the short row back. So far I’m good all the way up one side. That leaves the other side and the short rows in the middle. This way, when I cast on for the front, the only ends I’ll have are on that said front and I can weave them in while I’m knitting the second sleeve. I have some plans I might implement on the front, too, that should hopefully cut down on ends considerably.

I also cast on for a second pair of socks. Retro Ribs in Koigu. But I don’t like how the pattern’s looking at the joins so I might rip it (AGAIN) and move a few stitches around after a couple rows. We’ll see.

Here’s a super dooper boring picture:

I promise to spare you knitting pictures like that one. At least until Monday. 😉

But, I do have something cute to show you! I’m sure you’ve all had moments like this. You know, you walk around your house every day and manage NOT to notice things that have been there forever, under your nose, calling out to you “Whohoo! You! Yes, you, over here! See me? I’m a really cute thing to blog about!”

When Jen was here the other day I suddenly turned to a spot in my office THAT I LOOK AT EVERY DAMN DAY and noticed this little guy:

You see, I never realized but my husband is prescient. He bought me this a million years ago – no, really, it has to be over ten, possibly even twelve years old. We were living in the old apartment and he bought it for me for Valentine’s Day. It’s actually a pin (why I have it pinned to a lamp shade is beyond me, but that’s where it’s been since the day I got it.) It came attached to a card that said I LOVE EWE! Did he know that one day I would become wool obsessed? When I reminded him of it yesterday, he was thrilled. More super hero powers for him to go along with his superfantastic dish washing. I’m so lucky!

Anyway, it’s a monsoon outside. Dark, thunder, torrential rains and yet it’s still unbearably hot. Imagine that. So I thought I’d leave you all with some beauty for the weekend – whatever your weather!

Have a good one!

Filed Under: Cuba Libre Socks, Photographs, Short Rows, Socks
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