Sunday, October 29, 2006

frayedy cat

Winter is coming. For six years now, winter has meant Jeremy breaks out his extra-long black-and-gold scarf. Back when Dorotha and Henry were working on a comic book about me--I know, whatever happened with that--the scarf figured prominently in the rendering of my character, making me look sort of like a hypercomely Madison version of The Fourth Doctor Who. Anyway, the scarf has become increasingly worn, but I like it's distinctiveness, so I wanted to buy another one. I originally got it at a shop selling Iowa Hawkeyes paraphenalia, but as far as I can tell it's been discontinued at Hawkeyes outlets. I despaired, but then Dorotha found it from a store called Angry, Young, and Poor online:

scarf
(my scarf, exactly, only new)

I was so excited I ordered two. But then I got an e-mail from them saying it was out of stock and that they had it in red-and-gray. I told them that I had an immutable color preference and asked if they could give me the manufacturer's name so I could try to track it down. Being Angry, Young, and Poor, they didn't write me back. I hope they stay poor and age rapidly and ungracefully.

Meanwhile, on the self-motivation front, I downloaded the cover image from The Boy Detective Fails, photoshopped out the "Fails" and the author's name, printed it out, and have tacked it to my bulletin board. I should color in his tie black and gold.

the boy detective does not fail

Meanwhile: I've declared that this boy detective is grounded until he makes real progress on the paper he's working on. I'm incorrigibly bad about being the boss of me, but time is getting tight and this wandery child needs to be brought to heel, or he's stands no chance of cracking The Case of the Embodied Explanans.

20 comments:

dorotha said...

i will never be a superstar, but i will find you a scarf. maybe this will be my only accomplishment in life, but i will be proud of what i have done.

dorotha said...

okay, i changed my tune. i think you may have to hit the pavement. if you send me $100, i will look all over madison for a long, yellow and black striped scarf.

Anonymous said...

http://www.hawkshop.com/

look under "outerwear", there seems to be a yellow-black striped scarf.

Apparently, searching for scarfs for strangers is more fun than a dissertation.

dorotha said...

jeremy has very specific scarf needs. the scarf must be long and the stripes must be narrow. he's kinda high maintenance.

Sean said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Perhaps someone will knit you one — or YOU could do that! A simple solution for fussy people.

dorotha said...

i suggested that jeremy pay someone to knit him a scarf. he said, "i don't think people can knit scarves like that."

Anonymous said...

Bite the bullet and buy a Harvard scarf. Then just as you spend some money, life's little ironies will produce another elongated, bee-patterned wrap from somewhere, somehow.

jeremy said...

Lars: Not just any black and gold scarf will do. Ideally, I'd like a scarf just like the one I have, only new, so that to the casual observer it's like I haven't changed scarves at all.

jeremy said...

Anon 10:06am: I like that idea, actually, because I think it would work. But, I'm not sure I could bring myself to buy the Harvard scarf, even though I have come to be quite enamored of Cambridge.

Ang said...

Like what? With stripes?

jeremy said...

A+: like with the narrow stripes and no tassles. I don't like tassles on scarves.

dorotha said...

A+: he needs a scarf just like the one pictured only minus tassles that you can't see. i think that jeremy will sport the look with pants unlike the mannequin. jeremy, you will wear pants, right?

Henry said...

when was i ever working on a comic book about you? i don't remember it. did it occur? where is the boy detective when you need him?

Gwen said...

I could pretty easily knit that scarf. I need a few specifications--measure how wide the scarf stripes are, and how wide the scarf is.

Or you could send it to me to inspect for a couple of days, to match the colors, and then send back to you ASAP.

I could have this little scarf done in no time.

Anonymous said...

WHy don't you buy that one and have someone who sews cut off the tassels but make the ends still look nice?

Anonymous said...

Make yourlife easy. Buy the scarlet and grey one and become an Ohio State fan.

You know you want to.

Ang said...

Not putting tassels on the scarf is easier, obviously. But for narrow stripes to look good, you need thin yarn. And you'd have to knit it wide, grafting the long ends together to make a tube, so you don't see "the back side." It's not difficult, it just takes more time.

And suddenly, it's like "The Knitting Corner With A+." Sorry 'bout that.

dorotha said...

no, no, no! there is no scarf available for jeremy to purchase with or without tassles. if he could find a tassled one, that would be easy enough, but there are no tassled ones. i think that gwen is his only bet. gwen, just so you know, the scarf is quite long.

Gwen said...

I need some basic dimensions. Otherwise I can't really be expected to knit a reasonably close replacement.