Vacation, schmacation - Peter Comes Home

Friends, it is good to be home.  Oh, not Manhattan (though that's nice too) -- I mean here with you at Male Pattern Boldness!

Let's face it: my life as a blogging male home sewist is a lot more glamorous than my real life, where -- I can conceal it no longer -- I am actually Gertie's book agent.

By the way, there is a strong possibility that MPB is going to be turned into a Lifetime movie-of-the-week.  OK, would you believe a slight possibility?

A dim possibility?

I'm pushing for a fantastic all-star cast, headed by Jason Batemen in the role of Yours Truly and sister Justine as cousin Cathy.   If they're not available I'll settle for Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Thiessen or just Mario Lopez in a dazzling dual-role star turn -- a shoe-in for an Emmy nomination!

I welcome your suggestions and/or contacts as it really helps to get a commitment from a star first, or so I've heard.

Oh, and do you read In Touch?  Esther Williams is making a comeback (finally!) in a sequel to that 1949 MGM hit, Neptune's Daughter.  Working title: Million Dollar Mer-crone.  (I know, not my best material...)

But enough silliness; let's get back to sewing.

When I got home I was so excited to see that this had arrived at long last and it's very attractive:



Can't wait to get started on the Burda A-line dress.  And then the suit; I haven't forgotten the suit.

My friend Johanna recommended this book to me and I finally read it on my vacation:



It's a collection of essays about one man's discovery of the joys of sewing one's own clothes with vintage sewing machines, interspersed with thoughts about Peak Oil, reducing one's carbon footprint, and the consequences of outsourcing jobs to low-wage countries -- all my favorite topics!  A great read and very thought provoking.  Author is John-Paul Flintoff, btw, a British journalist.

What else?

Readers, it rained for the first four days of our vacation.  And I know this is going to sound perverse, but I think I actually preferred it.  I'm not much of a fun-in-the-sun type, despite rumors to the contrary.  I hate slathering my skin with sunscreen, traipsing out to the beach and baking in the heat, or sipping daiquiris out of cheap plastic cups poolside to the throb of Nineties house music.

 

I much prefer a long run on a cool, overcast morning and then reading, listening to music, and cooking.



I hope that doesn't sound insensitive to those who never got to sip a daiquiri this summer.  It just gives you a headache.

More vacation pics here:



In closing, readers, it's so nice to be surrounded by my sewing machines and sewists once again!

Many of you have written to say that you chose five things from among my eleven recommendations and completed your assignment.  Others seem to have cheated a bit, settling on one or two of the easier ones and calling it a day.

As for the rest of you...I hope you're taking this Pass/Fail is all I can say.

Seriously, what have you been up to all week?  Did it rain where you live for days and days?



What have I missed in the blogosphere, if anything?  Give me all the gossip!

Have a great Sunday, everybody!