One of the little reader's/writer's "tricks" I try to instill in my students is the basic truth that the human brain is hard-wired to appreciate certain numbers, and especially three. Seven will work in a pinch (Deadly Sins, notes in the musical scale, mysterious Prince lyrics), but the truly magic number is three. Pigs, stepsisters, goddesses bickering over golden apples, items Jack brings down from the beanstalk, chances before you get turned into a goon, members of the Holy Trinity, roots of Yggdrasil... You get the picture. I have bought into this theory hook, line, and sinker (see???), and it sometimes puts a cramp into my blogging. As in: Can't post the two Jess Hutch creations I've finished. Must finish the third first! Today, however, the stars (the three in Orion's belt, I'm sure) aligned for me, and three lovely things happened.
1. My Meathead was chosen by Larissa and her publisher for the upcoming book! Given the lovely hats made by all those who joined up, I am both humbled and completely elated. Woot!
2. I started to get a migraine today, so I left work to come home and take one of my take-this-at-the-first-sign pills, and therefore had a lovely Mental Health Hour to myself. What did I do during this hour? Why, put the George Michael on and dance my fool heart out to "Fastlove," that's what!
3. I arranged, along with T, C, and E, to bring a Christmas tree to Melissa's parents' home and help them to decorate it, and there were no time conflicts of any kind. These three are some of the most wonderful boys a girl could ever hope to have in her life. The kind who hold your hair back when you're praying to the porcelin Poseidon, the kind who take your recess duty when you've had it up to here with Youngsir Totalsnot, the kind who will stay all night at the hospital reading chapters from Me Talk Pretty One Day quietly into an ear, just hoping the one they're reading to is taking some comfort in the familiar sounds of Sedaris. God. I have three more seamless hybrids to knit, don't I?
* Now, I realize that you first thought to yourself that the three beers were the "lovely things" that "happened" to me today. There are a few hours yet in the day. Anything is possible...
Ah, so YOU'RE the reason students show up in my class thinking they can only have 3 paragraphs in the bodies of their essays!
(Kidding. Anyway, I tell them that they should be shooting for three _sections_, with multiple paragraphs each, so there you go.)
At any rate, your Meathead is eminently deserving of publication, and, more importantly, your three guys sound like absolute gems.
Posted by: Ashley | December 12, 2006 at 04:29 PM
what a great post! and, yes, T, C, and E sound like princes among men. they totally deserve beer cozies. :)
Posted by: laura | December 12, 2006 at 04:59 PM
Wow. good job on the Meathead pattern stuff.
Posted by: Nik | December 12, 2006 at 05:12 PM
Hey, but *seven* buttons on the chosen Meathead, right? Congratulations!
Posted by: Kelly | December 12, 2006 at 05:27 PM
Sounds like it must have been an exciting afternoon at the school of the tired teachers... migranes, pink eye, what's next?
Posted by: BethC | December 12, 2006 at 05:34 PM
Hey, I teach that three stuff to my third graders (there is a unit on fairy tales)and there are a lot of authors who have bought in...my reading book in 4th grade was called 7 is Magic. And Ashley, I might be responsible for the 5 paragraph essay but it is such a great impovement from a mush of one sentence all knds of ideas and no indents or periods.
Posted by: jasmine | December 12, 2006 at 06:21 PM
while you're dancing to "Fastlove" i will be lip synching my heart out to "Freedom 90" while also pretending i'm Christy Turlington... 3 beers sound lovely right now.
congrats on your meathead being chosen! i kinda giggle everytime i say "meathead".
haha. meathead.
Posted by: margaux | December 12, 2006 at 06:32 PM
Congratulations! I told you yours was the best. ;)
I like things in three's too. But I never realized it until now. heh.
Great beer cozies!
Posted by: heather | December 12, 2006 at 06:32 PM
Can I hire you as a summer tutor for my 3 girls? I think we are moving so they can have you as a teacher. You are such a great writer -- I am so jealous of all your students! Congrats on your Meathead. (Hahaha - that does sound funny...)
Posted by: Tamara | December 12, 2006 at 06:50 PM
Hey, congratulations on your Meathead! I really liked your version a lot!
Posted by: Jen | December 12, 2006 at 07:29 PM
congratulations on your meathead. i recognized it right away. i have to admit that i was disappointed to not have made the cut. oh well.
i have an obsession with three too. it's my favorite number. i like multiples of 3 too.
that was nice of you all to do something like that for melissa's parents.
Posted by: maryse | December 12, 2006 at 07:32 PM
Three Cheers for your Meathead! ;)
Posted by: ann | December 13, 2006 at 04:10 AM
You danced to "Fastlove" and not "Three Is a Magic Number" from "Schoolhouse Rock" - for shame! As soon as I read the title of the post, I started humming the song (the Blind Melon version, not the Bob Dorough one). Congrats on the Meathead . . . I'll have to make one for Beaner.
Posted by: Ava | December 13, 2006 at 05:07 AM
I like that T, C, and E's beer sweaters (vests?) also spell etc. Three is, indeed, the best. I think it's the rhythm; it feels like cantering on a horse. Congrats on meathead.
Posted by: emily | December 13, 2006 at 06:59 AM
Congrats on Meathead!
Love the cozies.
Three's are fun :)
Posted by: Kristy | December 13, 2006 at 07:04 AM
meathead, meathead, meaty meaty meathead... (surely you know the FishHeads song?!) Congrats!
Posted by: brenda in toronto | December 13, 2006 at 08:37 AM
Me too! I knew yours would be picked but thought mine was a longshot. What a wonderful surprise!
Better watch yourself though. If certain parents find out that you're teaching their kids "magic" you could be in for a world of trouble! ;-)
Posted by: LaDonna | December 13, 2006 at 10:13 AM
A huge Congratulations on your Meathead!!!!
Posted by: Carol | December 13, 2006 at 10:53 AM
love your beer cozies! congrats on your meathead selection!
Posted by: victoria | December 13, 2006 at 11:25 AM
Congratulations on your chosen Meathead!!!!
Posted by: Passions & Distractions | December 13, 2006 at 11:52 AM
Congrats on having your pattern chosen! Your meathead hat is amazing.
Posted by: diana | December 13, 2006 at 06:47 PM
Your Meathead is the bomb-diggity. You're a knitting-and-blogging supah-stah. There's really no stopping you now...the world is yours for the taking.
AWESOME beer sweaters - I TOTALLY need some of those.
And speaking of 3s...3 more days until I exit the blogosphere for a month and a half to traipse around the desert...sniff! But I'll be back, be certain of that.
Posted by: knittingphilistine | December 14, 2006 at 07:20 AM
Just discovered your blog a few weeks ago and have had a great time reading through the archives. Congrats on the Meathead!
And where can I find the pattern for the beer cozies?
Posted by: Lisa | December 14, 2006 at 08:29 AM
. . .and you can rearrange those bottles to spell out "etc" - perhaps an indication of all of the future kindness the three will bestow.
At about the age of 9 or 10 DD#1 informed her grandmother that things look better in groups of three. Grandma was confused. Having been involved with visual arts most of my life, I knew just what she meant.
Ah, the wisdom of children.
Congratulations on having your Meathead chosen.
Posted by: Kirsten | December 15, 2006 at 08:55 AM
Those beer cozies are so . . . cozy. Love 'em! Cheeeeeers! [clink]
Posted by: Ann in Nashville | December 16, 2006 at 07:28 AM