hip hip crochet

sorry-email hacked

2011-08-16T22:04:00.001-04:00

Sorry all, my email account was hacked but it's recovered now. Brian and I got it fixed quickly. Sorry for the spam!

Pam

Re:8

2011-08-16T21:35:00.001-04:00

Don't shame of your impotence!. http://exatech.com.ar/premium.php?izaaolid=75e1

Last books of 2008

2008-12-30T17:51:00.003-05:00

62. Thunderstruck - Erik Larson. The story of The Crippen murder/chase and the discovery of wireless communication, all intertwined like Larson did with the Chicago World Fair and HH Holmes in The Devil in the White City. Larson is always interesting and I love this period of history, the early 1900's.

63. Key of Light - Nora Roberts

64. Key of Knowledge - Nora Roberts

65. Key of Valor - Nora Roberts. Another trilogy by Roberts. I think I liked the Three Sisters trilogy better, but these were pretty good.

66. A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson. A re-read for the hospital book club.

67. Drowning Ruth - Christina Schwartz. Arizona book club. Interesting but rather predictable.

68. Twilight - Stephanie Meyers. An unscheduled re-read to prepare for reading...

69. New Moon - Stephanie Meyers. Edward, still creepy and kind of an asshole. And Bella is annoying. I'm definitely on Team Jacob, at least for this book.

70. They Psychology of Joss Whedon: an unauthorized exploration of Buffy, Angel and Firefly - Joy Davidson, Editor. Pretty in-depth for a pop psychology book. If you have a deep interest in either psychology or Whedon, you might like it. Casual fans of either should probably skip it.

71. Stolen Innocence: my story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride and breaking free of Warren Jeffs - Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer. Depressing, thought-provoking, sad and hopeful. I'm slightly fascinated by the Fundamentalist Mormons and this book gave a good behind-the-scenes picture of them.

72. The Colorado Kid - Stephen King. Not good. At least it was short.

73. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series). OK, but True Blood is almost directly pulled from this so it didn't have much new in it. I'm starting the next in the series soon and then I'm make a judgment if I like the stories or not.

74. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyers. And now Jacob pisses me off. I give up. The only decent person in the books is Charlie and even he's a bit off.

75. Breaking Dawn - Stephanie Meyers. Really? Half-vampire babies? "True love" imprinting on infants? Dental c-sections? The name Renesmee? Really?!? Oy.

76. The Dewey Decimal System of Love - Josephine Carr. Got it just for the title, which turned out to be the best thing about the book. Had potential but it just got weird.

77. Midnight Sun - Stephanie Meyers. I had to do it, just for completion sake. At least Edward realized he was being a creepy stalker, so that's something...

78. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America - Bill Bryson. Technically I haven't finished this one yet, but I only have 20 pages to go so I'll finish it tonight unless something unforeseen happens (premature New Year's Eve revelry, for example).

So, 78 books for the year. Not bad considering I was working full time AND had satellite tv for the first time in 9 years. Maybe next year I'll give up sleep and finally get to 100.

Happy New Year to all. Lucy and I hope 2009 treats you kindly.

A Trio of Goats

2008-11-13T19:00:00.003-05:00

Part of the AZ trip was a visit to the Tucson Wool Festival at The Withers' Ranch. Llamas, Jacob goats, one alpaca, angora bunnies and an inordinate amount of mohair goats. Many pictures were taken.

I liked this guy because it looked like he had a piece of salt water taffy stuck to his head. Licorice, I assumed.

This big fellow was the mohair ram. Gigantic horns and - as an extra, added bonus - he was in rut. Which consists of him peeing and then rubbing his face in it. Apparently, that's all it takes to get the female goats all revved up. Also apparent? I am not a female goat...man, did this guy stink. Cool horns though.

[whisper]"Don't look now, but I think Mabel's gone and gotten herself posessed. Head's about to twist clean off. I'd leave right quick, before the pea soup starts flying."

Books

2008-11-10T18:58:00.003-05:00

I know I've been away a long time. The new wheel is only one (poor) excuse. I'm not making any promises since, apparently, I can't honor them but here's some of what I've been doing, at least.

38. The Wind Done Gone - Alice Randall. Gone with the Wind parody. Interesting.
39. The Last Full Measure - Jeff Shaara. More Civil War obsession. I don't like Jeff as much as Michael Shaara (son and father) but I still like the topic. And it still had my imaginary Civil War boyfriend, Lawrence Chamberlain.
40. Fasting Feasting - Anita Desai. AZ book club. Didn't care for it, don't really remember it.
41. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz. Awesome!!! Read this now!
42. Manassas: The Civil Ward Battle Series Book 1; A Novel - James Reasoner. Hoped this would be good. Really not.
43. Twilight - Stephanie Meyers. Hospital book club. Not as good as the rest of the world thinks and Edward is a creepy stalker but I can understand why it's popular.
44. A Gift of Dragons - Anne McCaffrey. 4 Pern short stories, only one new. Still good.
45. The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia and Laser Hair Removal - Laurie Notaro. Very funny but contained the saddest story I've ever read about the death of a pet. The lovely Mel got it signed for me at Changing Hands so my collection remains complete.
46. An Abundance of Katherines - John Green. Young Adult but great. Nerds and math and love...how could it go wrong.
47. The Friday Night Knitting Club: A Novel - Kate Jacobs. OK. Reminded me of the Blossom Street books.
48. Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? True Adventures in Cult Fandom - Allyson Beatrice. The story of a Buffy message board moderator. Pretty funny but I was hoping for more.
49. Dragon Harper - Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Pern again. Still good.
50. Dragon's Fire - Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Pern again again. Still still good.
51. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips. The Greek gods in a squat in present day London. AZ book club. I loved it, others hated it. Aphrodite is in it, so of course there's going to be some smut. Very funny.
52. Looking for Alaska - John Green. I like this one too, almost as much as An Abundance of Katherines. Nice coming of age story.
53. Serenity: The Official Visual Companion - Joss Whedon. The shooting script and behind the scenes of the Firefly movie. I think this completes my Firefly obsession collection.
54. 21: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions - Ben Mezrich - The book before the movie. Since I know little of blackjack and have less interest in Vegas behind the scenes drama, this didn't do much for me. In fact, I'm not sure why I read it in the first place.
55. The Running Man - Stephen King. A re-read when I didn't want to think too much.
56. Dance Upon the Air - Nora Roberts
57. Heaven and Earth - Nora Roberts
58. Face the Fire - Nora Roberts. These three are the Three Sisters Island trilogy. They were highly recommended to me by a friend so I read them. I assumed they would be, at the very most, tolerable but I ended up really enjoying them and finishing them all in one weekend. Next up, the Key trilogy.
59. A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore. My trip to AZ book. A re-read but Moore is completely awesome and worth rereading numerous times.
60. Triptych - Karin Slaughter. Another recommendation, from whom I can't remember. I can't say I enjoyed it, a typical murder mystery except it was a lot grosser than others I've read. All that being said, I read the whole thing in one day.
61. Fat Tuesday - Sandra Brown. Another murder mystery. Eh.

So, to sum up: Still obsessed with Joss Whedon, the Civil War and Pern. New minor obsession with Nora Roberts. Not too many re-reads. Overall positive ratings. Need to find new descriptive words.

And one last thing: Edward is a creepy stalker. Really. If he's breaking into your house, it's not love - it's a felony.

Can't Blog. Spinning.

2008-08-20T19:22:00.004-04:00

My Google-Fu is THAT Good

2008-07-31T19:06:00.003-04:00

Today was one of those days I know I made the correct career choice. Bizarre research questions and finding the exact (free, full text) journals I needed. Tracking down a recent newsweekly for an ADVERTISEMENT (i.e. something that wasn't indexed anywhere because it wasn't, you know, science.) Instantaneous article retrieval. Almost proving a negative. And so on.

OK, maybe having a Grand Rounds with lots of slides of purulent eye discharge wasn't a great aesthetic choice for a lunch conference but that was the presenters choice, not mine. It was still educational even if half the audience wouldn't look at the screen. Or that may have just been me. Eye juice, ick.

In dog news, Lucy has found her new favorite place in the backyard.

It's nice and cozy wedged between the ac unit and the gas meter.

And there's lots to eat.

Symbolism 101

2008-07-29T19:22:00.006-04:00

(The view from my backyard last week, 4 o'clock on a balmy summer afternoon. Plus a tornado watch.)
Things are getting brighter but it's been mighty cloudy for a while now.

Not torrential downpour cloudy, but more like take-a-blog-hiatus cloudy. I was on the edge of a bad spell and needed to spend some time addressing it. I've being getting acupuncture for the past few months and just recently started on some Chinese herbal medicine to "restore my middle qi" and fix my weak spleen. There's some detoxification action happening as well. I'm not sure if I understand it all, but I'm definitely feeling it, in a good way. One of these days, I may actually feel like a real live girl and then the next step is to stay that way. Right now, it's a goal I think I can obtain. Fingers crossed (and needles at the ready.)

There are a lot of things I want to share with you all, but we're going to start with some baby steps. I like blogging but I need it to not seem insurmountable so we'll be spreading out the fiber, travel, Lucy, bookly and deep-thoughts wealth. First up (because they're the closest to the computer) is all of the books since April.

22. Life was a Cabaret: A Tale of Two Fools, A Boat, and a Big-A** Ocean - Becky Coffield. Arizona book club. Not good. If you're going to sell your home and sail around on a boat forever, at least invest in some safety equipment. Also, a 360 degree turn leaves you facing the same way you started. If you want to run away, try a 180. Jeez louise.

23. Julia's Chocolate - Cathy Lamb. Hospital book club. This one I'd recommend with a few me-specific caveats. a) The cover managed to piss me off by the second page; the narrator is fat and her abandoned wedding dress, as pictured, is a size 2, if that. And b) without a speculum and a mirror, you can't see your own vagina. Vulva yes, but vaginas are internal. Intelligent women should know this. Other that those points, it was very good.

24. The Complete Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi. A graphic novel that's recently become a movie. Very interesting look at Iran from a non-conforming female perspective.

25. The Blue and the Gray - John Leekley. There was a CBS mini-series done from this book in the 80's. I vaguely remember that but I read this book approximately 7 billion times. It has to have been 10 years since the last time I picked it up, but I still had large sections memorized. Actually a pretty good overview of the Civil War.

26. The Twelfth Card - Jeffery Deaver. Typical Deaver twinkie book.

27. A Darker Place - Laurie R. King. Not as good as the Mary Russell/Holmes books but okay. The ending was a little rushed.

28. Donnybrook: The Battle of Bull Run, 1861 - David Detzer. Local history (for me at least). I liked this but it needed more maps, I spent way too much time trying to figure out where people were supposed to be. I was forced to supplement with a Manassas Battlefield Park map and even that didn't help too much because all the landmarks apparently have at least 2 names. It took me a long time to finish, but it was worth it. I also learned that there was a Confederate officer named Bartley B. Boone and that, in and of itself, almost made up for the lack of maps.

29. Savannah Blues - Mary Kay Andrews. Hospital book club. Mystery set in Savannah (duh). Cute book.

30. Whatever You Do, Don't Run; True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide - Peter Allison. Arizona book club. The title says it all and it was funny. Recommended.

31. World Without End - Ken Follett. Sequel to Pillars of the Earth, set a few hundred years later in the same town. A Fortunate Find at the library with means you get two weeks to read it. At 1024 pages, that was a challenge but worth it.

32. Grave Talent - Laurie R. King. Not Mary Russell again. Okay.

33. The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara. Re-read to prepare for a trip to Gettysburg National Battlefield Park. Love this book and still have a major literary/historical crush on Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. If you haven't read this already, please do. Even if you don't like "war" books, it's so much more than that. But stay away from Chamberlain, he's my imaginary civil war boyfriend.

34. Another Thing to Fall - Laura Lippman. Tess Monaghan book. Very similar to the others.

35. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World - Eric Weiner. Arizona book club. Pretty good.

36. Breach of Duty - JA Jance. Hospital book club. Okay, nothing special. May have been better if I didn't start in the middle of the series.

37. The Cold Moon - Jeffery Deaver. Again, pretty typical Deaver but I think he outdid himself with the twists. I lost count after the third time "nothing was as it seems". At least he redeemed himself with an actual reason for repeating plot points and motivations from The Bone Collector.
I think that's all of them. I'm not on track to hit 100 this year but I'll give it a shot.

More later. Probably.

In which I am covered in salad dressing and despair

2008-04-17T20:07:00.002-04:00

As Anonymous so aptly noted in the comments of my last post, I've been gone for a while now. I've been in a bit of a rough patch, I'm hanging on by a seemingly invisible thread at work and it's just sapping my energy to do much else that requires higher brain function.

Since we last spoke I:

did get an iPod, it's cute and green
almost finished a very large, oddly colored afghan
made a Clapotis for my Mom's birthday
went to Florida to visit my parents and see the new house they bought there
helped with one day-long conference with a speaker that was determined not to exist (kids and drugs and no one want to speak about it? Seriously?)
was a major player in a day-long conference that no one wanted to sponsor (hospitals saying they're sorry for f'ing up apparently strikes fear in the heart of drug companies and lawyers)
ate $40 crab cakes (on someone else's dime)
inhaled a metric crapload of mohair fiber
watched a lot of dvr'd tv
committed myself to spend a weekend sticking mailing labels on 8,000 brochures for yet another day-long conference for which I am almost solely responsible
took approximately 3 billion pictures of manatees
did some serious research into non-pharmaceutical treatments for depression and came to no firm conclusion on validity and safety
invited Mel to come visit and go to Maryland Sheep and Wool with me (p.s. She accepted!)
had my right eye swell shut for 24-hours due to a medication reaction (and, yes, it was a workday and, yes, I did go to work. For I am a goofus)
spent too much time feeling sorry for myself about workload, lack of energy and assorted life obstacles
went to the Homespun Yarn Party with Eva and bought pretty yarn
avoided turning on my home computer with a zeal matched only by my desire to eat my weight in Tastykakes

and, most notably:

managed to cover myself from bangs to belt in Italian dressing, thanks to an exploding squeeze bottle at the weekly Grand Rounds I run. In front of my boss. And others.

So, that's what I've been up to. That and reading.

12. The End of the Alphabet - CS Richardson. Arizona book club.
13. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctor and the Collision of Two Cultures - Anne Fadiman. Hospital book club.
14. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen. Still an excellent book.
15. Serenity Found: more unauthorized essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe - edited by Jane Espenson. Such a good TV show I'm forced to read about it.
16. The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield. Hospital book club.
17. The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower VII - Stephen King.
18. Off Ramp: Adventures and Heartache in the American Elsewhere - Hank Stuever. Highly recommended, especially for suburb dwellers like me.
19. Back on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber.
20. Deja Dead - Kathy Reichs. Arizona book club. Didn't really care for it. Neither did the book club.
21. Death du jour - Kathy Reichs. But that didn't stop me from reading her second book. However the second book has stopped me from reading her third.

Pictures when my brain starts up again.

Hi

2008-02-19T19:29:00.003-05:00

I'm back and with not a whole lot to show for it. Many things in progress, not a lot done.

I did finish Mel's belated birthday present.

Pre-felting, with clogs and dog.

Post-felting

And the bottoms.

Pattern: Fiber Trends Felt Clogs
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Strawberry Smoothie, held doubled and some "rayon chenille" in red and black
Needle: Knit on size 13, 24 inch, plastic. Rayon sewn on in loops with tapestry needle.
Bottoms: Fiber Trends' Suede 2-piece Slipper Bottoms

I got all the yarn at the Mannings while I was living with my parents. That is seriously one of the coolest places ever. (Lolly thinks so too.) Wheels and looms and yarn and fiber everywhere. Also, many cats. I'm guessing the chenille was a 'home-grown' yarn because the label was plain white with "rayon chenille" and the yardage typed on it. That's is.

I used 4 skeins of the Lamb's Pride but ended up with two half skeins because I was holding it doubled. I then used the leftovers to make a garter-stitch birthday scarf for a co-worker. There are pictures but they're trapped in the camera.

Here's a partially completed blanket made with the Jo-Ann Sensations Rainbow Boucle in the aptly named "Green Print." I was making a log-cabin but I tired of binding on and casting off so I just went a little wacky with the random squares. It's finished now and there are pictures but, again, camera hostages.

Library Plug!

Pamie's doing her book drive again and I encourage you all to go a donate a few books to some needy libraries. Do it 'cause Dewey's so darn cute!

Only one book to report. I'm acting atypically for me and have actually started two books recently and put them down unfinished. Nothing really wrong with them and I'd gotten about halfway through each but they just weren't what I was looking for. I did finish this one.

11. Island of the Sequined Love Nun - Christopher Moore. Less woo-woo then Coyote Blue, which is good in my opinion. Very funny, touching on organ trafficking, cargo cults and talking fruit bats with sunglasses. For me, the best part came in the Afterword: "My approach to research has always been 'Is this correct or should I be more vague?'" I'm always a fan of a good research joke.

In other news, I just got DirecTV and a DVR so I'm planning on never leaving the house again. Except to go to the gym because I'm going to buy an actually iPod soon so I won't go insane while exercising. I have to say, having a positive income is much better than the negative one I've been dealing with the last few years.

Sorry about that

2008-02-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

I managed to warp the space-time continuum and schedule Grand Rounds 4 years ago instead of last week. So, if you suddenly felt discombobulated for an hour or so last Thursday please accept my sincere apologies. And beware because I managed to do the same thing for the last week in February; that Thursday will also be taking place 4 years previously so load up your iPod with some "Hey Ya", ready your best wardrobe malfunction jokes and prepare to party like it's 2004.

Note to self: Proof-read entire date prior to hospital-wide flyer distribution. Dumbass.

In other hospital-adjacent news, I've joined the Fitness Center. The clientele is generally older and there are a lot of health-related hoops to jump through but it's about a 3 minute walk from my office so I'll be more inclined to go. And, as I was told during my introductory tour, if I collapse during a workout the ER is Right There across the parking lot so...bonus.

Besides being a doofus and planning my grand re-entry into the world of active people, I've been reading.

6. Lance Armstrong's War - Daniel Coyle. The hospital book club. I know very little about Armstrong or bike racing and this book didn't really help. The author tried but you really needed to have more background than I have to get the full effect. Also, professional bike racers are insane.

7. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the World of Harry Potter - Tere Stouffer. Impulse selection at the library. This would be helpful if you didn't know much about Britain or had trouble keeping all the spells and monsters apart and it did a nice job of explaining the origin of the names Rowling chose. But it needed a much better copy-editor (ironic coming from the girl who caused a rip in time, I know.)

8, 9 and 10. The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers and Wings - Terry Pratchett. Very cute books. Nomes (not gnomes) who live in a department store and need to leave when the store is going to be demolished. They are very literal and wonder why the humans don't follow the signs saying "Dogs and Strollers must be carried on Escalator." Most of the humans carry neither dogs, nor strollers. The nome's deity, Arnold Bros (est. 1904) doesn't seem to care though.

Decimal points are important

2008-01-24T17:52:00.000-05:00

Oh goody, my paycheck has been deposited.

Why is it half the amount it should be?

What's the large amount of money deducted for DivInv%?

Is that my 403B retirement account? I thought I decided to put 5% per check in that.

That's not 5%. That's more like...oh crap.

"Hi, I think someone needs to check their math. There's a really big difference between 0.05 and 0.5."

Note: It's all fixed now. Payroll may screw-up but they do fix things quickly.

Phoenix vs. NOVA part 23

2008-01-22T18:52:00.000-05:00

Vultures. I know there were turkey vulutes out in the deserts of Arizona but they didn't wander into the city...ever, as far as I saw.

Here in Northern Virginia (and south central PA) they have black vultures.

Sometimes a dozen of them will hang out on barn roofs on foggy mornings just to give a poor, defenseless girl the wiggens on the way to a job interview (Thanks Gettysburg, I spent the next 20 miles saying "They had to be gargoyles. No, one of them moved. But they looked all lumpy and staring. gahh.*shiver*)

Sometimes they hang out in groups of 5 by the side of the road in front of my complex and wait for a break in traffic to try to eat a freshly squished cat. Creepy little bastards. But Mother Nature showed them! The FSC was frozen solid in short order, thwarting the carrion removal service. And it stayed there for 2 more days...ok, they may be creepy but an hour of creepy would have been better then having to drive by the FSC 6 more times (it was really quite S'ed).

In other news - I have been knitting away but I can't show you any of it. On a related note: Mel - get ready to have a happy belated birthday in a few days, complements of the USPS.

And finally:
5. What the Dead Know - Laura Lippman. Something about this was off and I just couldn't believe any of the characters. The idea was a good one - two girls are kidnapped as teens and a woman claiming to be one of them shows up 30 years later - but the flashbacks didn't work well and hardly anyone was sympathetic. And no Tess Monaghan.

Update

2008-01-21T18:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry to leave you all hanging like that. Well, maybe it was just Mel who was wondering...

The mattress arrived at 3 pm, right in the 1 to 4 window they gave me at 8:30. So I did get a nap from 9 to 11 (again on the couch) and it was much better because Lucy was busy sleeping in a sunbeam in the kitchen and I didn't have to share. The dog has no sense of proportions; I'm three times her size therefore I get three quarters of the couch. She thinks because there are two of us, she should get half. Great for her, not so great for me.

My bed seems to be about 3 feet higher then it was in Phoenix. My nighttime routine now include a little running start so I can hop in. Lucy is using her trunk/step and isn't having any issues. It's possible I shrunk while traveling cross-country.

I like the new mattress but it's a bit stinky with that weird chemical smell. I keep trying to let it air out but it's about a bajillion degrees below freezing here which contraindicates opening the windows for more than 5 minutes. Hopefully the stink will dissipate soon.

After my exciting Saturday day of waiting for a mattress, I actually left the house three times on Sunday (this is odd for me, once is usually enough.) First I had lunch with Eva! And a very good lunch it was. But, more importantly, it was with EVA! Later I walked Lu for about 30 seconds before my boogers froze and I made her go back in. Then I met some co-workers at a Mexican restaurant because the former librarian is back to train me for another week (thank god, I need it.) And I ate entirely too much (for the second time that day) so I came back home, watched the Amazing Race and then went to bed on the stinky mattress.

I believe you're all caught up now. Aren't you relieved? That vague sense of unease has left you and you're no longer carrying all that tension in your shoulders.

Oops, I forgot one thing. Sorry. Try to relax, it won't happen again.

4. Song of Susannah: Dark Tower VI - Stephen King. I don't like this one as much as the others, I think it's because the characters are separated for the majority of it.

Oh my darlin'

2008-01-19T08:11:00.000-05:00

Oh my darlin',
Oh my darlin' new mattress
As I sit here waiting for you
I'm afraid to leave the nest.

I might miss you
And if I miss you
Tonight will be so very long
I deflated the old air mattress
Who know that could be so wrong.

Spent the night here
Spent the night here
Spent the night here on the couch
Lucy doesn't share well
And for this I surely vouch.

So I sit here
And I wait here
For the mattress to arrive
Hopefully you will show up here
Before the store closes at five.

Oh my darlin'
Oh my darlin'
Oh my darlin' new mattress
I can't wait to finally meet you
And tonight I'll get some rest.

One thing that followed

2008-01-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

My perpetual wrong number, Mabel, has followed me from Phoenix. She's still trying to reach Sherri, still incapable of listening to my voicemail introduction and still refusing to tell me what number she is trying to reach.

In previous calls Mabel (who sounds about 107 years old and is hard of hearing) has been arranging airport rides, informing Sherri of her well being and, most importantly, clipping articles about a woman who was bitten by a bat AND LIVED. Sherri was supposed to drop by and pick that one up. Hopefully there wasn't a bat victim out there thinkin' they were about to kick off because Sherri never got the message. I did.

Tonight Mabel called because she is concerned about human cloning. As we all should be, obviously. I think Mabel has the right idea: "Well (long pause), we'll just have to see what happens."

One More

2008-01-17T17:32:00.000-05:00

Another hint that I'm no longer in Phoenix?

The large amount of snow I had to dump out of my high-heeled shoes. And the hood-up, duck-walk, slush-avoiding activities that led to the accumulation of said snow.

Note to self: Bring pair of flats to work. And some socks.

The Little Things

2008-01-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

I'm not saying I don't like Northern Virginia. I like it here just fine. But there are some things that make it abundantly clear that I'm not in Phoenix anymore.

I haven't walked around barefoot since November. Prior to November I was barefoot approximately 16 hours a day. Now, my toes only see sunlight when I'm bathing or asleep. And, now that I think about it, there's no literal sunlight during either of those activities so my toes are probably extremely deficient in Vitamin D.

My car is covered is crap. In Arizona I had a license plate in the back and a Save Roe Now bumper sticker. Now I have a plate in the back AND the front, an inspection sticker in the middle of my windshield, a city sticker next to that, an apartment complex sticker on the back window and a hospital parking sticker on the review mirror. And the bumper sticker which is looking a little ragged and needs to be replaced.

Stairs. Phoenix was a largely horizontal city, Virginia is more vertical. 'Nuff said.

In other news, Stage 4 of New Employment apparently lasts 3 weeks. Maybe week 9 will start Stage 5.

And finally:
3. Wolves of the Calla: The Dark Tower V - Stephen King.

Well, at least I'm thinking about it.

2008-01-13T18:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm aware that it's been 11 days since my last post. Yes, I'm aware that I said I'd be posting more often. Yes, I'm aware that I suck.

In my defense; twice in 9 days is still more frequently then twice in 2 months.

The past week was...well...it was there. It wasn't too bad but it definitely wasn't good and it lasted about 37 days as far as I could tell. I am apparently in the Fourth Stage.

The Five Stages of New Employment

1. Naivete (first two weeks): "I can totally do this job. I will kick some serious ass here."

2. Trepidation (third week): "Why did I ever think I could do this job? It's obviously impossible for me to do well at this."

3. Cautious Optimism (fourth and fifth week): "This job isn't so bad. I'm sure with some time and effort I can succeed."

4. Overwhelming Panic (sixth and seventh week): "Do what? I didn't know that was part of the job. How am I supposed to do that and the other stuff? And what about that other thing? Does that happen often? Did I cause that to happen? Am I going to be fired because that happened? Why did I ever think I could do this job?"

5. Acceptance (eighth week): "I can handle this job.I will do great at this job."
(This is an assumption on my part. A big, honkin', hopeful assumption.)

Anyway - change of subject.

Some time in December I finished my part of a small bag for my Mom.

It's made of black Crochet Nylon, knit on size 7 needle.

The back in done in a checkerboard pattern, done with knits and purls, the front is stockinette and the strap is i-cord. It's about 7 X 9 inches.

My Mom sewed the patch on the front, making it into an extra pocket. The patch was a gift from a Costa Rican bird-watching trip.

And finally, the first few books of the new year:

1. The Final Diagnosis - Arthur Hailey. The same author who wrote Hotel and Airport, this is a behind the scenes look at a small hospital where the staff sleeps with each other, there's an outbreak of typhoid and the pathology department is overworked and run by a doc that should have retired 5 years ago. And, since it was published in 1959, all the staff smoke in the hospital hallways, the student nurses aren't allowed to talk to the doctors and they refer to the black, pregnant patient as a Negress. Aside from all that, hospitals don't seem to have changed too much.

2. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant. The book club selection for my Arizona club (I'm now a bi-coastal bookie). When I first finished the book, I thought I liked it and just needed to understand more about Florence, Italy in the 1500s to really get it. Then, the more I thought about it, I realize I didn't care for it. There are too many coincidences, the action moved too slowly (weeks would pass between plot points) and I figured out all the "surprises" before they were revealed. It's not a horrible book but aside from the setting it wasn't very original.

At the Dog Wash...

2008-01-02T19:15:00.000-05:00

...sing it with me now...working at the dog wash, yeah.

Lucy was invited to Aunt M's place for Christmas dinner (the rest of us were invited too, but Lucy was named specifically.) Since Lucy was to be the first dog EVER to be inside Aunt M's home, we decide a sprucing-up was in order and off we went. To the Dog Wash (yeah).

That's the name of the place, seriously. It's connected to (and the controls look like) a car wash: rinse, shampoo, conditioner and, of course, deskunking. I would have taken more pictures but it took both of us to contain Lu. She's not real big on the bathing...

Then on Christmas morn she got the all important Christmas Bow and off we went.

After all the preparation, it was anticlimactic. Well, except for the death defying tray of salad dressings. And the death defying tray of glass crab imperial holders. And the thrice-steamed broccoli. But that was all more Aunt M than Lucy. Lucy did fine.

Possibly because she was dreaming of her new bed, a present from the grandparents.

Add in a bag of dog treats from Aunt Pat and all was right with the world. Of course, Lucy is lucky Santa decided to show up at all, considering she had spent the previous few days knocking large objects to the floor and chewing through felt every time we left the house. For a dog who gets fed twice a day, she sure is a motivated little treat finder.

And finally:

The first FO of 2008 - a shopping bag for my Mom. Shown holding your typical load of groceries - bananas and a Stephen King doorstop. Ok, maybe it's more MY typical load of groceries.

Yarn - Sugar and Cream Naturals in Earth Ombre.
Hook - H
Pattern - the base is a circle of 4 rows of double crochet, the mesh is chains of 7 and the top and handles are single crochet. Other than that, there's no real pattern.

Once Mom reports on the lugging capacity and the stretch factor I see many more of these in my future.

Squeezin' in a few more

2007-12-31T16:25:00.001-05:00

Three books since last Wednesday. That's not too bad considering I worked and drove to my parents and we had a late Christmas dinner with the cousins yesterday. Of course, I don't think I've picked up a knitting project since Thursday.

91.I Am America (And So Can You!) - Stephen Colbert. A Christmas gift from Mel. Very funny and my sister has already absconded with it.

92. Girls in Pants (The Third Summer of the Sisterhood) - Ann Brashares.
93. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood) - Ann Brashares. I still like these books, #3 made me cry, just like #1 and #2 did but they got a bit cloying towards the end. I like the way Brashares handled some tricky topics but after 4 books the happy surprises just got away from her.

(Now, technically I did re-read the whole Harry Potter series after I read Deathly Hallows the first time. I didn't count them in the total because 4 of them were very rapid re-reads. But that would put me nicely at 100 books for the year... Ethical to count or not? You decide.) (Also, I read lots of blogs, at least a few books worth in the past year. That might count too...)(In retrospect, I read too damn much.)

As far as yarn-related projects. I went through the blog and counted 14 projects. I know there were some little things in there as well; dishcloths, small bags and at least 2 small blankets. I would have thought it was more but reading back I realized I did a lot but I ripped out almost as much. Resolution for next year: less ripping, more FOs.

Happy New Year everyone!

Things I've done

2007-12-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

In between job interviews, moving (X2) and reading the aforementioned wack of books, I did manage a to work on a few projects.

Currently, I'm working on some belated birthday presents. Once they are done, I'll start the belated Christmas presents. At this point, I can't divulge any detail on those but I did do some things I can share.

I crocheted a small, black purse for my Mom to showcase a piece of Costa Rican fabric. The bag is made of nylon cord and currently sitting in pieces in PA waiting for my Mom to sew the fabric in place (but my part is done. Yay me.)

I gave up on the recycled silk Einstein Coat idea when I realized the bottom panel alone weighed as much as, if not more than, your average Christmas ham. That means the entire coat would weigh as much as the whole Christmas dinner and I'd be unable to walk properly while wearing it. So, ripriprip it went and suddenly I had a large amount of recycled silk and a sister who just returned from a trip to Nepal. It seems fortuitous, so I made this for her.

It's modeled on the messenger bag from Stitch and Bitch Nation but the main part of the bag is crochet and the strap is knit.

Currently, the strap is adjustable with the two rings but there is a major stretching issue so it will be sewn in place. And please be sure to notice the husset (aka handle-gusset, TM Jess).

The next project was born of necessity.

Lucy loves to lounge, so much so she was making bald patches on her elbows.

So a little Karaoke, one strip of Velcro and a shoulder-length i-cord later..it's doggie knee-pads. Dad chose the color - opting for subtlety instead of a fashion color like the hot pink I was leaning towards.

Lucy isn't thrilled with the machinations needed to get these in place but once they're on she's surprisingly nonchalant about them.

Also, three quarters of my immediate family celebrated birthdays in October. Note the awesome autumn tree on the cake.

And I did read another book since I last posted:

90. Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story of a Doctor Who Got Away with Murder - James B. Stewart. My new position falls under the supervision of the medical staff office which does all the credentialing for the hospital's doctors. This book is about a medical resident who was able to move from hospital to hospital, killing patients all the while, because there was no national system in place to record disciplinary actions, terminations and legal actions. There's a system in place now and that what the credentialing deals with. This book is almost required reading when joining the department.

A Wack of Books

2007-12-21T19:48:00.000-05:00

77. Dave Barry's Bad Habits - Dave Barry.

78. Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly - Jane Espenson (ed.). Not the Festivus type of Serenity, but rather the spaceship type. Essays on the show, the cancellation, one written by Kaylee and a few about atypical women in space. Highly recommended for fans of the show.

79. Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair - Laurie Perry. I think everyone in the knitblog world read this one already. If not, you really should.

80. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak. Narrated by Death and set in Germany during the Holocaust. Dark and absorbing and surprisingly light.

81. Clara: The Early Years. The Story of the Pug who Ruled my Life - Margo Kaufman. I think Clara may be related to Lucy. At least the princess attitudes are the same.

82. I am the Messenger - Markus Zusak. Book club selection for November. Very different from The Book Thief but just as absorbing.

83. A Sudden Fearful Death - Anne Perry. One of the many Monk mysteries. A bit confusing since I hadn't read the previous ones. I was missing too much back story I think.

84. The Saddlemaker's Wife - Earlene Fowler. Borrowed from my mom. Very Harlequin-esque. What I remember the most is wanting to sing Jolene every time I saw the front cover.

85. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger. Still one of my all-time favorite books.

86. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - Stephen King. The beginning of the Great Series Re-Read.

87. The Drawing of the Three: The Dark Tower II - Stephen King.

88. The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III - Stephen King.

89. Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV - Stephen King.

For Jewel

2007-12-20T21:26:00.001-05:00

Apparently, Curly has been missing his Valentine Lucy. So these are for him:

"Grandpa loves making the soup. And I love begging for the soup. It's a perfect combination."

"If I stare at the door long enough, I'm sure Grandma or Grandpa will walk through it." (and it only took 2 weeks of staring...)

"I have vague recollections of this white stuff. It's like rain, which I hate, but it's not as wet, which I like. The boss threw some of it at me, which I didn't like, but I can make paw prints, which is cool. My reactions are mixed, therefore I shall reserve judgement until more data can be collected."

Well, butter my butt

2007-12-18T19:18:00.000-05:00

...and call me a biscuit, look who's back!

I've relocated to a part of the world where that saying is considered proper etiquette. Aren't you jealous?

In the previous months, unbeknownst to the blogosphere-at-large, I had three interviews with a small hospital in Northern Virginia. I was offered a job as the medical librarian and CME coordinator and after some soul-searching and anxiety-induced dithering, I accepted. That led to a whirlwind of apartment searching, multiple TB test taking, loading up yet another Penske truck with all my belongings and dog transporting. Three weeks of inordinately steep learning curve later and I'm finally finding time to post.

Certain things have proved more difficult then you might think:

My townhouse has wood floors and stairs. My dog has arthritis and weak back legs. I've bought a lot of area rugs and stair treads.
Verizon decided my AZ id was fake since it didn't expire until 2035 and cancelled my phone and internet order without telling me and then they needed 2.5 weeks to flip some random switch somewhere to allow the necessary data steam to flow thru my phone line and then they emailed me to tell me my internet was connected because apparently I read my email with my mind and not a computer with internet access.
I'm having trouble proving to the state that I am both a United States citizen and a legal resident of Virginia. Two trips to the DMV, one emergency birth certificate delivery and much waving of unsatisfactory documents later and still no drivers licence, car title or registration. It's past the point of annoyance and entered the realm of the absurd.
Whoever had my phone number before I did apparently spoke Spanish and was delinquent in paying his home security bill. I'm beginning to doubt that he was a legal Virginia resident.

Good things have happened too:

my parents came to visit and we baked a huge amount of Christmas cookies
I finished a recycled silk bag for my sister
I'm up to 88 books for the year. I might not make last year's total of 94 but I've moved twice and started a new job so I think it all comes out in the wash.
I didn't have to get a record-setting fifth Measles Mumps Rubella shot to start work.
There's supposedly a good LYS nearby which I am anticipating visiting soon.
I survived my first snowfall in 4 years and my first snow-driving experience in 9.

I'm making a slightly premature New Year's resolution: more posting in 2008. I've missed y'all (that's how we talk here in the western part of Northern VA. Cute as a bug's ear, ain't it?)

I Got a Rock

2007-10-31T17:36:00.000-04:00

Not really. What I actually got for Trick or Treat was a functioning wireless router. Happy Halloween, indeed.

Happy Birthday to Me

2007-10-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

Last year for my birthday I got a visit from my sister, a dead car battery and the plague for 8 months.

This year I got a 12 foot Penske truck, two amateur movers and a finished basement. And my sister will be showing up tonight.

I think this year is winning.

The settling in continues apace. My computer is set up and running (I was worried about effect 3000 miles of jiggling might have) but isn't connected to the internet yet. That's going to require a router of some sort, possibly a wireless card and a plethora of crossed fingers. My family is pretty good at working together to fix things but this new-fangled technology is at the edge of our collective knowledge. Luckily there is a 12 year-old boy living next-door who is willing to be our networking consultant. Not the perfect replacement for Mel, but he'll do in a pinch.

Currently working on the log cabin blanket, a cord purse for Mom and there are a great number of possible ideas percolating in the old brainspace. Now I just need some downtime to decant them.

We've Arrived

2007-10-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

Lucy and I arrived safe and sound in Millersville, PA on Monday night. The trip was long and I had a cold and cough for the whole thing (because I can't make anything simple, apparently) but nothing too dramatic happened.

Lucy was an excellent traveler, hanging out in the back seat, sharing the hotel bed, begging for french fries at the Sonic lunch stop.

A huge number of pictures were taken but I haven't set up my computer yet to download them. Hopefully by the weekend and then I can properly document the journey for y'all.

Also, my hair likes the humidity a lot more than the rest of me.

On the road...almost

2007-10-17T11:08:00.000-04:00

The great cross-country adventure is about to commence. Well, we're going to pick up the truck.

Internet connection will be gone as of today and probably won't be reestablished until I reach PA since I don't have a laptop or any means of communicating with the Internet telepathically.

I promise to take lots of pictures during the trip, mostly of the dog probably.

And I promise to update more once I'm settled.

And I promise to stop making lap blankets once my brain starts functioning again.

18 days...

2007-10-01T16:39:00.000-04:00

Or is it 17 days? Whatever, I leave on October 18th. Eastward, ho.

At this moment my car is receiving it's 40,000 check-up, albeit 3,000 miles early. I have no idea what the final cost is but I'm not expecting it to be pretty. I mean jeez, fixing the AC cost $1,600 and $600 of that was just for filters. The door lock actuators cost $400 and I'm still a little unclear on what they do (aside from preventing my leaving the headlights on overnight and randomly setting the alarm off when I try to start the engine.) Point being - Hooray! More Debt!

There are other things roiling around in my brain but it's too scary to reach in and pluck out one topic. Which reminds me - I'm supposed to watch a scary movie this week. Having friends who are getting certified as life coaches leads to odd homework.

I need to figure out some simple projects to work on. I can tell my powers of concentration are already iffy and I know their just going to get worse. Another log cabin blanket anyone?

I did manage to finish some books.

75. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Atul Gawande.

76. The Parrot's Lament and Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence and Ingenuity - Eugene Linden.

Both of these were re-reads but they're both good. And animals are sneaky little buggers.

Oh, and I finally got the blog looking like it did prior to the Blogger Beta change-over. Much more complicated then it should have been considering Beta was supposed to make things easier. Stupid widgets and their desire to keep the html secret. Thanks for the help Stephanie.

In which I have come to a revelation

2007-09-29T17:10:00.000-04:00

At this point in time, posting once a week about as "more often" as I can handle. There is much going on and the number of hours in a day is refusing to increase no matter how nicely I ask. Also, I've been really sleepy.

Things that have happened:

I've finished a couple of blankets-for-no-one-in-particular. It's a project that combines stash-busting and mindless knit- or crocheting. Since I currently have an over-abundance of both yarn and mindlessness it seem like a good time to start.

Also, I finally wound the yarn for The Secret of the Stole, which is good since it starts next week. Of course, I'll probably just be gathering the clues for completion later because...well,see above re: number of hours in a day and their obtuseness.

74. Lisey's Story - Stephen King. It did get less confusing but it didn't get any better.

The rounds of Farewell Lunches have begun. This week I was treated to lunch twice by various co-workers and I know of at least four others coming up in the next two weeks. Ok, one is more of a Welcome Lunch for the girl who's replacing me but lunch is lunch.

I finished organizing the library at work, the one thing I promised absolutely I'd complete before I left. The ES Library is now a thing of beauty and a joy forever, sort of like Kiki's...well, she knows what.

Point being, the library went from

something closely resembling this

to this

2100 items and growing. With my handy excel table I can find any report in here within 2 minutes (and that includes travel time from my desk to the library.)

I? Rock.

Dis and Dat

2007-09-23T19:16:00.000-04:00

A compilation of interesting tidbits. Well, interesting to me, at least.

It actually rained a few days ago. A real (not dusty) rain. Somehow precipitated by a tire fire burning to the south. Yes, I apparently live in Springfield.

See? Water does fall from the sky.

Look! Feets!

Lucy spent Labor Day doing this

and then this

and repeat.

Murphy, meanwhile, spend the day surveying his kingdom.

And lastly. Some people get visions of Jesus in a tortilla or Mother Theresa in a cinnamon bun. Me? I get the Venus of Willendorf in a bruise.

Books

2007-09-23T18:54:00.000-04:00

The reading has been surprisingly slow. I did finish the last Potters and then I kind of floundered about trying to decide what to read. In collecting the 100 books for the garage sale/Bookmans/donation action I found a lot of books I wanted to re-read and an astonishing number of books that I hadn't actually read yet. I started a number of them but just wasn't in the mood to commit myself. I am the epitome of too many books, not enough time (and not enough concentration skills, presently).

I did manage to finish a few:

69. Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the Twentieth Century - Betsy Israel. There have been a lot of us spinsters in the last 100 years. We definitely have it better now that back then. But they did have better hats.

70. Cabinet of Curiosities - Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I picked this up somewhere, for free I think. For the first half I was really into it and planning on seeking out more from the pair. By the end I was glad I hadn't paid anything for it. I'm not sure what exactly happened but it ended up in the donation pile.

71. To Ride Pegasus - Anne McCaffery. I really like this author but this one is a bit dated (1970's I think) and the subservient wifey vibe didn't sit too well. The Pern books are still the best.

72. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls. September's book club. I probably wouldn't of read this on my own but it was interesting. It really makes you appreciate your stable parents.

73. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman. I'd heard so much about this book I was expecting great things. It wasn't bad but once again I was reminded of Tom Robbins and, while enjoyable, it didn't rock my world.

I think I need to figure out who influenced Tom Robbins. He's my go-to myth/philosophy sidetrack writer example and I'm sure he didn't originate the idea.

Currently reading: Lisey's Story by Stephen King. If it wasn't King I would have given up long before my current halfway point. I'm very confused and I'm not even sure I'm enjoying it. It's quite possible King may be back on The Drugs.

Yet another hat

2007-09-23T18:34:00.000-04:00

I was a bit stymied about what to get/make Kiki for her birthday. The woman is a prolific, creative and quick knitter and between her, her knitty husband and two knitty kids it's not like they're lacking in knitwear of any type.

So I did an end run around the knitting and crocheted something.

The Soft Brim Casual Hat. From the Woman's Day 1947 Crochet Annual. Directed from the always awesome Crochet Pattern Central.

Yarn - Size 10 cotton thread, doubled. Ecru and Black.
Hook - F

I only made a few modifications. Size 10 thread instead of 5 and an F instead of a 1 hook because I was working from the stash. I even used the same colors as the pattern. I might be getting soft in my old age.

I did spiral the increases so the brim didn't have pointy parts but looking at the picture, I think the designer may have as well. I have a few ideas for embellishments but I ran out of time this go-round. In proper knitterly fashion, this was presented still damp and blocking. Other knitters understand...

I really enjoyed making this. It was relatively quick and because the brim is doubled it's not too floppy. I'll definitely be making more of them, especially since I have about 10 balls of ecru thread, 4 balls of black, one green and one pale blue. It may be an Ecru Hat Christmas all around.

What's the Haps?

2007-09-23T17:59:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know I disappeared for almost a month. Yes, I know I left you dangling on my current readings and knitting progress. Yes, I know I promised to post more (that may have just been an internal promise...)

But all that is immaterial. Really. Trust me. I mean it's not like anything really important happened or anything.

Except for the fact my rent went up $300 because I had to go month-to-month due to the job search.

And the fact that my part-time file clerk/organizing guru income was suddenly less than my monthly out-go.

And the fact that the job search was not blossoming forth in job offers or even interviews.

Add those three things together and what do you get? Me. Moving back to Pennsylvania. To live in my parent's basement.

This wasn't exactly how I was planning my cross-country move. I was kind of thinking there would be a job and a place of independent living on the other end of it. But it's not working out that way and my parents are very generous and are flying out here to help me drive my dog and belongings across this great nation of ours. All the while avoiding East Texas because my dad drove through it once and vowed to never do so again. Luckily, there are alternate routes so we won't have to drive into the Grand Canyon while avoiding the Lone Star state and being chased by Harvey Keitel.

I leave in a little under a month. Right now my house is in shambles and I fear I may need to annex the front yard to find room to fill boxes.

In the last two weeks I've sold or donated over 100 books, over 50 cds and a car-trunk full of clothing. I'm not quite sure how I came to accumulate so much stuff but I'm looking at this as a good way to winnow my critical mass downward.

So things have been happening and the blog once again fell to the bottom of the to-do list. I'm going to play some catch up and then I promise (externally this time) to try and be more vigilant about posting in the future.

The Story of the Hats

2007-08-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

H is a co-worker of mine. I don't know him that well but all of my interactions with him have been pleasant enough. He's about my age, has a wife and two little boys. He organizes and rides in the company bike-a-thon each March.

About two months ago H noticed he was losing weight and feeling tired all the time so he went to the doctor to get checked out.

H was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The company set up a fund for monetary donations and are allowing employees to donate vacation days. I can't do either - since the student loan money has been spent my disposable income level is zero and I only have 4.85 vacation days and you need to retain at least 5 for yourself.

But I can knit.

I decided to make him a hat. He'll be losing his hair soon enough and even in Arizona your head can get chilly if you're used to having hair. So I found some blue cotton and I made a ribbed watch cap.

And then I though about his boys, how confused and scared they must be with their daddy going through all this. And I made them each a hat so they could be just like Dad. And then I thought of his wife and how she's probably just as scared and confused as the boys. So I made her one too.

I know the feeling you get when you're told you have cancer. I know the copper taste of fear in your mouth and the weakness in your legs. I know how everything is suddenly different and how much you need your family to stay the same. I know but I don't know.

I can't compare my experience with H's. My time with cancer was almost over before it began. It wasn't fun, it wasn't easy and I wouldn't want to repeat it, but it's over.

H's fight is just beginning. It's not going to be short and it's not going to be easy but he'll have his family with him. Supporting him. Helping him. Fighting for him. All together. With matching hats.

If you would, please keep H and his family in your thoughts.

Nice to see you. Now go away.

2007-08-22T22:02:00.000-04:00

Not forever or anything. This is just a very linky post. True tales of adventure, suspense, happy endings, crabs and dog cheesecake. And a little bit about my boobs.

1. Lolly and Kris just got safely back from an amazing vacation, complete with a little earth-shaking drama. Check out her beautiful words and pictures about Lima, the Amazon, and Cusco and her firsthand experience with a 8.0 earthquake on the last day of the trip. Scary and heartwarming at the same time.

2. It looks like Allison is finally getting some good (nay, great!) news. After a protracted battle with insurance companies, doctors and an unfeeling universe, her son Evan had his surgery today and it looks like it was successful. Evan has (or maybe it's had now) hypothalamic hamartoma, a brain tumor that was causing him to have dozens of seizures a day. But now that the tumor has been mostly removed and he has a "happy brain" he can just be a typical little boy which is incredible.

In less dramatic news (but still in the "Yay!" category)

3. Lady Linoleum is now selling a new pattern for what is possibly the world's cutest crab. Check it out.

4. My sister had a couple of big things happening right now. She is currently (or thereabouts) on a bus for the Eat Well Guided Tour of America. She's not on for the whole tour, but will be representing her group for a few legs. A road trip and pie...what more can you ask for.

In addition, a few weeks ago FWW rolled out an interactive map that can show you how many factory farms are in your state / town / general vicinity (Hint: less is more in this case.) Patty worked extremely hard on this and it shows, I'm proud of my little sis. In slightly related news, she may be three years younger and have bigger boobs, but at least I'm currently surrounded by a lot less pig poop than she is.

5. I got my Ravelry invite last week. I've done very little so far (I really need to get a Flickr account) but if anyone's interested my user name is hiphipcrochet. [of course I'm having issues logging in right now but hopefully that will resolve soon].

6. I boob-matized someone at work yesterday. A first for me, my boobs don't usually attract much attention but apparently the new shirt is workin' it. It was exciting and creepy at the same time. I feel bad for the gals who are boob-matizing ever day.

7. I spent much of the past weekend reading in bed (I have a bad habit of cluttering all available seating options with stuff, usually books. It was easier to relocate than to clean.) Point being, I had company:

If he wasn't striking a pose, he was doing this:

8. Lucy was getting a bit bored with Murphy's camera-hogging efforts:

And apropos of absolutely nothing...

9. Someone is just asking for their giraffe to be towed*:

*that's a No Parking sign in the background. I could get a clearer shot of the sign or the entirety of the giraffe's head. I knew y'all would be able to get the idea, you're smart.

Just Call Me Hermione

2007-08-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

All I've been doing is reading and making hats. Seriously. Read, read, read. Rib, rib, rib. Just like Hermione, except no S.P.E.W.ing.

The reading has all been Potter-related. I finished 4 and 5, halfway through 6. In about 900 pages I'll be able to read something else.

The hats...there's a story behind them and why they keep multiplying but it will have to wait until I'm done. Three down, 95% of the fourth to go. And yes, in the last post I said it was three total, now it's four. All part of the story.

2x2 rib and size 5 needles. I could use a time-turner my-own-damn-self.

In other news:

Nancy is walking to fight birth defects and is gladly accepting all donations (and there are prizes.

Illanna had left the sunny land of AZ [and all of us :-( ] for the more wool-friendly land of New York.

Mel finished her granny granny square blanket and is delivering it now. It looks great.

Lots of other people are moving, but I'll let them tell you about it.

I'm sitting (under) Murphy and he and Lu are studiously ignoring each other except for the 30 seconds immediately following my exit from bed. Then it's all bouncing and leaping and hiding behind me. Well, one dog is doing the first two and the other is doing the last. Any guess as to which is which? (Hint: Lucy isn't a morning dog.)

WIP Wednesday

2007-08-08T23:06:00.000-04:00

I've completed nothing and yet I've been doing stuff. Weird how that happens.

Works in Progress

Baltic Sea Stole-Take 2

Got to pattern row 11, found a dropped stitch/weird yarn-over/uncorrectable odd thing and ripped back to the lifeline at row 4. Let no one tell you Bamboo is not slippery.

Hats

One down (a little too small), one in process (should be the right size for an adult), one to go (smaller than the first two.) Once you get in the zone, 2x2 ribbing is relaxing. Until you get to that zone, 2x2 ribbing is annoying. And let no one tell you that Wildflower DK is not splitty while knitting. Crochet - no problem. Knitting - an exercise in re-doing stitches.

Black Ripple Shawl

It exists. It's slightly longer than before. 'nuff said.

The Great Harry Potter Re-Read

Finished 1,2 and 3. Halfway through 4. I'll count 1 and 2 in my Book Total since they're new this year.

67. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - JK Rowling
68. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling

The Imaginary Cape for my Aunt

A pattern has been selected. Yarn has not yet been purchased. I'm not getting involved in that process - too many variable with cost, color, texture and so forth. Once she decides, buys the yarn and gets it to me, construction will begin. I'm not holding my breath.

De-Cluttering the House

Oh aren't you so cute for asking. Hey, look over there - a pixie! Or some other attention-diverting device!

Me

I left work tonight in dire need of a hug. Not a friend hug or a mom hug, but one of those guy-you-love-who's-waiting-at-home-for-you-and-maybe-he-even-made-dinner hugs. 90% of the time I'm ok with being single. Today fell into that other 10%.

Scarfity Scarf Scarf

2007-07-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

Some more FOs have been ... F'ed. That doesn't sound right.

Anyway, prepare yourself for a plethora of neck ware.

Mom's Baltic Sea Stole Take 1

A better picture this time, taken on the avacado Danish Modern armchair that's been in the family as long as I have. There's a matching couch on the other side of the room.

Take 2 is starting today. Same pattern, different yarn - SWTC Bamboo in a variegated green/silver/brown kind of shade. It's DK weight and I have enough of it to actually follow the pattern this time.

A scarf for Bernice

No reason except Bernice likes bling (She said so herself. In those words. I love Bernice.) It was done lenghtwise with Paton's Allure in black and some fuzzy silvery SWTC yarn that has apparently been discontinued since I can't find its name on their site.

A shawl for my sister

Once again, no specific reason except my Mom thought Pat needed a shawl and I always listen to my mama.

Done in the Official Patty Stitch, otherwise known as the drop stitch. Her birthday present used the same stitch.

Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in Tundra. This was the yarn I got in PA at the odd lots store for $2 a ball. 3 skeins = $6 shawl. A far cry from Mom's $42 one. And a heck of a lot quicker.

Next Os to get F'ed: Baltic Sea Stole Take 2 and a hat. And the black beaded shawl. And some other's that I'm blanking on right now. There's a lot of them and not all are shawls if you can wrap your mind around that concept.

Bookity Book Book

2007-07-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

59. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil -Deborah Rodriguez and Kristin Ohlson. Book club selection for July. It was an interesting book but I was too distracted by Rodriquez's stupidity to get much enjoyment out of it. The information about how women live in Afghanistan was cool but the way the author went about starting and running the school made me crazy. She's very different from me, that's all I'm gonna say.

60. Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer. I've just started watching the first season of Big Love and this seemed like a good reference text (hee). Actually, it was quite informative with regards to Mormonism (of which I am woefully ignorant considering I live near the biggest concentration outside of Utah) and the fundamental polygamists (of which there is a large number in the north part of AZ).

61. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell. I read this one in about 2 hours. It's about trusting your instincts which Gladwell doesn't think are instincts so much as seeing and comprehending things you don't realize you're seeing...if that makes any sense.

62. Dave Barry's Greatest Hits - Dave Barry. I've been reading him just about forever since he started out with a column in the local paper where I grew up. He makes me snort. This one is sort of dated since it was published in 1988 but, oddly enough, the George Bush jokes are still good.

63. Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch - Haywood Smith. This is almost (but not quite) a chick lit book about a 50 year-old newly divorced woman who has to move back in with her parents because her former husband lost all their money. It's very funny and touching and reminds me of Crazy Aunt Purl (southern and smart-ass will do that). It also seems predictive of my future since I'm starting to get an inkling I'm going to end up living in my parent's basement at some point during this job search. Except I'm under 40, not divorced, my parent's aren't (that) loony and I'll be travelling with a dog instead of with hot flashes. Other than that, it's just like me.

64. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling. Along with 90% of the rest of the US, I've completed the Potter series. I picked it up early afternoon on Saturday and finished it about 24 hours later. There were short breaks to see a friend's art exhibit, teach Mel how to make a granny square and watch The Princess Diaries (I got sucked in..). I'm happy with the way it ended and I'm happy that thousands of kids spent the entire weekend reading. Books rule!

65. Firefly: The Official Companion Volume 2 - I finally watched the last 3 episode and hence finally finished the book. Firefly also rules! As does Nathan Fillion!

66. 2nd Chance - James Patterson. I needed something easy after Harry and they don't come much easier than Patterson. It's kind of like a sorbet for your brain to clean it out before reading something with actual flavor.

I'm going to re-read the Potter series (yes, even the ones I just read a month ago) and then I'm planning on re-reading the Dark Tower series and then...who knows. It'll probably be time to start the next book club book. Another memoir, hopefully she's not as stupid as the last one.

Undulations

2007-07-11T18:31:00.001-04:00

For a while, it appeared that this project was doomed. Repeated pattern tweaks, repeated froggings and repeated episodes of cursing (both muttered and clearly audible) eventually gave way to an actual understanding of the pattern and the ability to knit more than 5 rows without having to rip. I finished it up this afternoon with a grand total of 4 inches of yarn left over.

Here it is on the back porch in all it's unblocked glory.

And here it is blocking on my bed. I was hoping to block it longer but my end stitches didn't have much give. I like the look of slipping the first stitch as to purl but it sure doesn't stretch a lot.

After blocking

Some close-ups

I apologize for the pictures. The lighting is determined to be yellowy or shadowy and if it's not that, the yarn is blending into the background. I'll try to get some better ones at a later date. This is my first big lace project and I want to immortalize it properly.

Details
Pattern: Baltic Sea Stole from Fiber Trends. There are supposed to be 5 repeats of the wavy pattern in the middle but I only did one due to the amount of yarn. Also, I did a smaller border. Also, it calls for fingering or lace weight yarn and I used worsted. Other than that, I followed the pattern exactly.
Yarn: 325 yards of handdyed merino/mohair from Labadie Looms in Lancaster, PA.
Needle: 10.5
Recipient: Mom. It will be mailed off as soon as I carry it around and show it off for a few days.

In other news, I gots me new toof. I can chew indiscriminately now, whee! And I don't need to go back to the dentist until November. Guess who won't be pushing back that appointment at all, having learned her very expensive lesson?

Not Much

2007-07-07T16:28:00.000-04:00

Not much has changed since we last spoke. Still working on the black beaded shawl. Still working on Mom's Baltic Sea Stole (thought I did rip it back almost to the beginning due a big honking hole about row 7 that really shouldn't have been there. I believe it was a misplaced yarn over.) Still spinning the merino/tencel. I need a couple of good ideas for upcoming projects but I don't have them yet.

Still reading.

56. Cheap Hotel and a Hot Plate: An Economist's Travelogue - Michael D Yates. This was interesting, the author and his wife retired and traveled around the US. He gives a good description of the various places and focuses on the working class poor in the area. As I said, it was interesting but the guy is so grumpy. Really over-the-top grumpy. Want-to-slip-him-some-uppers grumpy. True, it's a grumpy-inducing subject but it left a very negative taste in my mouth (negative image in my eyes?).

57. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon. I really liked this book when I read it before and I enjoyed it again this time. It's a murder mystery (well, a dog murder) and the protagonist is a teenage boy with autism. For me, the mystery was secondary to how Christopher deals with the world. I don't know what experience the author has had with autistic people but he did an excellent job of portraying it, at least going by what I've read.

58. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore. This is quite possibly the best book I've ever read. Completely irreverent, very funny and incredibly smart. I went to Sunday School for about 12 years, so I'm well-versed in the Bible stories. Also I took The Bible as Literature my senior year of high school and a couple of religion classes in college (it was that or philosophy, of which I have an irrational fear) so I've dissected the New Testament from many angles. Point being, Moore obviously did a ton of research and a great job of tying in all the known aspects of Jesus's life along with an account of the missing 33 years. I'd pretty much recommend this to anyone who has a sense of humor about religion.

In other news, Lucy's been following me around licking the Neosporin off my scratched-open-in-my-sleep mosquito bites which totally defeats the purpose and kind of grosses me out. So now I have band aids in 5 different lower leg locations and I look like a leper. And who knows what Lucy has done to her intestinal flora.

I actually inventoried my yarn. There is a spreadsheet involved with amounts and fiber content and personal history. I'm planning on carrying a copy of it with me at all times to remind myself I never, ever need to buy yarn again. And no, I'm not going to share it, a girl has to have some embarrassing secrets all for herself.

Next, I may do my books.

Hola. Mi nombre es Pepe.

2007-07-03T18:05:00.000-04:00

Hello. My name is Pepe.

I am a turtle. Or maybe I'm a tortoise. I forget the difference.

I do not care for this position. I think it makes my butt look big.

This is my friend, Hearth Cricket. He is supposed to bring luck but I do not believe that.

If Hearth Cricket really did bring luck I would not have gotten stuck in this contraption.

I like to climb trees. Especially trees covered in fake snow.

Look at how high up I am! But I am a very brave turtle (or tortoise) and I was not afraid to be that high up.

I also like to play Hide-n-Seek with my Santa friends. Can you find me?

Look closer. Did you find me yet?.

Here I am! You have found me!

I have another friend. His name is Skiing Santa. He likes to take me skiing all around the house but I do not like to go because he is always singing a silly Christmas carol.

When I was a baby turtle (or tortiose) I lived in Arizona. Then I flew in a plane to Pennsylvania. I got to hide in a bag with tissue paper for 3 days. It was fun to hide.

After the new lady found me, I said "Hola. Mi nombre es Pepe." And the new lady said "That is nice but I do not speak Spanish." So now I talk in English.

I followed the new lady home and now I live in Washington DC. This lady likes plants. There are many plants in my new home. Now I like plants too.

Most of the time, I like to sit at my new lady's desk and help her work. I have made many new friends. Their names are Sumo Guy, Lego King Guy, Smurf with Laptop, Light-Up Piggy and Ms. Rubber Duck. We all like to laugh at the new lady's messy desk.

I like my new home. There are many things to read, lots of plants and many new friends. I think I will live here for a long time.

Now I am going to play Hide-n-Seek. Maybe next time I see you, you can play too. Goodbye!

=====================================
LucyLu Press
Chandler, Arizona

Copyright 2007

This is a work of crochet. All turtles (or tortoises) portrayed in this work are created from yellow and orange handspun wool and lime green recycled sweater wool. Any resemblance to this turtle or this turtle is purely intentional.

Acknowledgements
It is only through the talented pattern design skills of Stephanie that Pepe exists. And also Kiki and the girls and Jess who gave me the drop spindle and fiber. And Melanie, for convincing me to buy that pilly green sweater. Any my parents for letting Pepe roam freely amongst the Christmas decorations. And my sister, for continuing to document Pepe's adventures. So basically, Pepe would like to thank everyone he has ever met, heard of or imagined while hiding in a bag with tissue paper. Thank you.

Progress Report

2007-06-23T16:12:00.000-04:00

Just to prove to y'all that I am actually accomplishing things when I disappear from the online world.

1. Mom's Baltic Sea Stole (Fiber Trends pattern, highly modified) from the $42 ball of yarn and my black beaded shawl (basic ripple) from size 10 cotton thread.

I know the picture's kind of crappy but it's damn hot out there. I went outside barefoot and stayed on the white sidewalk for about 90 seconds and I literally burned the soles of my feet. I just finished soaking them in the tub to cool them down.

2. Spinning. The merino/tencel fiber Mel gave me for my birthday. I'm having a lot of fun with this but I'm not really sure how much I've made. Considering the thinness I'm probably going to have to ply it and I know I want to dye it. The project will depend on the yardage I guess. I have at least a quarter of the ball of fiber left to spin.

3. Books

53. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling. Now I just have to wait until July...

54. There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell - Laurie Notaro. Her first foray into fiction (at least published.) I enjoyed it but the ending had a sheen of WTF? For the locals, Laurie will be at Changing Hands for a reading/signing on Tuesday, June 26. I suggest you go. Just know that Mel and I have "A" tickets so we'll be at the front of the line.

55. Firefly: The Official Companion Volume 1 - I absolutely love Firefly and pretty much anything else Joss Whedon has done. It doesn't hurt that the entire cast is very easy to look at. This is the shooting script for the first half of the series and lots of biographical and behind the scenes info. My sister gave it to me for Christmas, along with the DVDs and I'm trying to watch each episode before reading it. I should be through volume 2 in a week or two.

I've started a few other books but nothing is grabbing me. I've actually stopped reading two of them and have no plans on picking them up again which is odd for me.

4. Action Figures - a coworker RAOKed me the Deluxe Librarian Action Figure in honor of graduation. She's residing at work right now so I don't have a picture. I saw Nancy Pearl (model for the figure) speaking at the Phoenix Public Library a few months ago.

5. Teeth - I have a temporary crown on the the tooth-that-loves-the drama. Because of the chunk that broke off (actual tooth, not filling as the dentist suspected) there's a whole gum line issue that was resolved by some type of electricity which required GROUNDING me prior to sticking the instrument in my mouth where it BURNED AWAY part of the gums so the crown would be set right. The positive points? No stitches and I didn't smell any charred flesh which would have grossed me right the hell out. And I wasn't electrocuted, so the grounding obviously worked. Permanent crown in 2 weeks, hopefully without too much more drama.

See, I've been busy. Now don't you feel bad for doubting my commitment to Sparkle Motion...I'm mean the blog?

All Sara, All the Time (at least today)

2007-06-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

I'm a regular reader of Crochet All Day, at least as regular as you can be with someone who seems to spend every school year on a blogging hiatus [kidding! except she knows it's true! and I'm guilty of it too!]

Point being, school's out and there's been a lot of Sara-related activity lately.

1. She's de-stashing/organizing/coming to grips with her pattern addiction and I'm the proud recipient of the first prize. It's a pattern for a very pretty short sleeve sweater that I can't find the picture for right now. I'll give more details when I get it.

2. Sara's having another contest, easily entered by leaving a comment at her blog. The prize is a felting book and three British knitting magazines. If you mention you heard about it from me, I get entered too though I'm not sure if, ethically, I should be. I guess that's for Sara to decide.

3. Sara has asked how I manage to read so many books and if I read more than one at a time. I'm a quick reader, always have been. And I usually have at least 2 books in process at any given time - one for the bus (picked for portability and font size) and one for the home. In addition, I often start a book and decide partway through that I'm not in the mood for it right then so it goes into the holding pattern pile. I am fickle in my reading desires but am rarely caught out without something to read (I even tend to bring a book to parties, in case they get dull. I'm not proud of this).

Right now, my bus book is the new Laurie Notaro, my home book is the sixth Harry Potter and the on-hold book is Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything (it's good but too big for the bus and too dense to get through more than a few pages before bed, it's going to take a while.)

I'll probably finish the Potter book today and I'm not sure what will come next. I've got a stack of unread books, some loaners I need to get to and the perennial favorites that always seem to creep up the queue.

In short, I like to read and spend a good amount of time doing it. Also, I have no husband or kids to distract me and frequently put off going to sleep to read "just one more chapter." I accidentally read Stephen King's Delores Claiborne in one night because it didn't have any chapter breaks. True story.

4. A week or two ago, Sara tagged me for the 7 Unknown/Weird Things About Me meme. So here you have it

- If I'm reading a scary book I'll place it front cover side down, spine towards the bed, underneath at least one other book before I go to sleep. That way the monsters can't climb out of the book and get me.

- When I eat Frosted Mini Wheats (which happens frequently) the frosting side has to be in the milk and that same side has to be placed on my tongue.

- I'm addicted to Television Without Pity and sometimes watch a tv show just so I can understand the recap.

- Once, while en pointe, I managed to slice open one toe with the adjacent toenail. It hurt.

- In high school, while dating my first boyfriend he became Super Religious which lead to my breaking up with him and to the start of my distaste for organized religion.

- I like it when Lucy licks my feet.

- In 1996 I bought a ring at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. I was at a professional conference, the few people I knew had disappeared and it was my birthday. I picked up a MS magazine, went to a real restaurant and sat there alone, eating shrimp, being a outloud feminist and refusing to feel sorry for myself. I bought the ring as a birthday present for myself and have worn it almost every day since. It reminds me that I can be alone and still be happy, strong and self-sufficient.

booksbooksbooks

2007-06-11T22:08:00.000-04:00

45. The Opposite of Fate - Amy Tan. Essays and stories. Interesting but a weird childhood.

46. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't exceptionally good. I think 4 books in however many years may have run the well a little dry.

47. No Touch Monkey and Other Travel Lessons Learned Too Late - Ayun Halliday. The author of Hip Mama. Her life is about 180 degrees from mine (and yet still flagrantly liberal) but interesting.

48. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling. The beginning of the great Potter re-read in preparation for Book 7. I've read 1 and 2 too many times already so I decided to start with 3.

49. Lost in Rooville - Ray Blackston. I should have realized that any unknown author's work purchased in Lancaster County would be religious but this hid it so well on the back-of-the-book blurb and for the first few chapter. Not the worst thing I've ever read but I definitely will not be looking for this guy's other stuff.

50. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling

51. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling

52. Who Killed My Daughter - Lois Duncan. Duncan is one of my favorite young adult authors. This is the true story of her family's search for the people responsible for her daughter's death in 1989. Very interesting with a touch of the paranormal, kind of like Duncan's fiction books which is spooky in it's own right. Bernice, Mel and I saw her speak at the Arizona Book Festival.

Well, it's halfway thru the year and I've reached my 50 books. I'm on a good pace to finish 100 by December, notwithstanding sudden cases of illiteracy or all encompassing yarn projects.

Once again...

2007-06-10T15:37:00.000-04:00

...playing catch-up.

1. I survived the root canal although I don't remember much of Wednesday. There are holes in my memory from even 12 hours after taking the sedative. If I spoke to you on the phone during that time, there's a good chance I sounded coherent but I probably don't recall the conversation. And I sure as hell don't remember the majority of what I posted that day. Ill-advisedly, I took a pain pill prior to going to bed and spent the next 6 hours wide awake and kind of hallucinating. I'm going to try and avoid both those medications in the future, if possible. Memento-esque and pseudo-schizophrenic is no way to go through life.

2. Thursday was relatively pain-free. Friday I managed to break off a chunk of temporary filling while eating scrambled eggs. My tooth is now pointy and I'm getting a callus on my tongue. I go back in Tuesday to fix that, then again the week after to "rebuild" the tooth (I'm hoping for a bionic one), then two more times for the crown fitting and the crown. At that point, I will have been to the dentist every week for about two months. That's just way too much dentist.

3. I finally started spinning again. I can't remember if I mentioned my shoulder tendinitis and subsequent PT sessions but they happened and it made holding the drop spindle much harder than it should have been. Also, loose fiber and pneumonia didn't seem like a good combination. Anyway - I spun:

Clockwise - Cotswold/Wesley Dale from the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum, Merino/tencel from Tempe Yarn and Fiber by way of Mel, blue wool from TYF and pink wool from the Quilt Museum. Some has been soaked and stretched, none have been plied. The merino/tencel is by far the easiest to spin and I have a large amount of the fiber left.

4. Yay me.

5. The shawls my aunt sent me arrived and I finished one of my own.

Clockwise: another variegated blue shawl made by me (mohair-like acrylic, rectangle with pointed ends), brown semi-circle with ribbon, pink rectangle gathered along one side.

As I said before, the brown and the pink were made by one or both of my great-grandmas on my dad's side of the family. No one is sure if it was Big Grandma or Little Grandma. Both of them were made prior to 1971. (Big Grandma wasn't really that big, it's just that Little Grandma was very, very little.)

Brown cape. This one needs a little repair along the top.

Close-up

Pink cape

Close-up. Doesn't this remind you of the Clapotis?

6. A belated picture of a belated birthday present from Steve. Meet Princess Anastasia and Schmooburt. The Princess also has a wrap for when it gets chilly and replaceable hands for any occasion.

7. The fiber loot I got when I was home in April.

Clockwise: Hand dyed Lancaster County-raised wool fiber (quarter pound), Lion Brand Suede in Moonshadow (2 balls), Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in Rain Forest (6 balls), hand dyed, handspun Lancaster County-raised 50% alpaca, 50% wool in Spring (125 yards), Moonlight Mohair in Tundra (6 balls).

We went to two stores, Labadie Looms which had some gorgeous stuff and Ollie's (sound), a dingy, dirty store like Big Lots or Tuesday Morning which happened to have Suede for $1 and Moonlight Mohair for $2. Two very different shopping experiences but the end results were good.

OK, I think I'm caught up on past happenings. Now I just have to stay current. Ha. I crack myself up sometimes.

B.W.I.

2007-06-06T16:18:00.000-04:00

I'm totally blogging while intoxicated. I can tell because the screen keeps going in and out and in and out of focus.

I survived the appointment. I didn't fall asleep which they didn't expect. I didn't inappropriately hug anyone a la Crazy Aunt Purl. I may have bitten my tongue 37 times in the past half hour. I'm too numb to know.

Part one is done - I am rootless. At least, I am icky, bad, infected rootless. Next I'll get a crown so I can have 3 royal teeth trying to usurp each other while I chew.

Financial responsibility discussion comes tomorrow when I'm back to being my usual logical, eyes-working together-instead-of-independently, non-possible-amnesia-having self.

All together now: THANK YOU MISS BERNICE!

I was planning on reading now, but I don't think that's going to work. Maybe I can crochet a wacky animal. An evil tooth filled with gutta percha. An elephant with a laptop trunk. A porcupine with spiral noodles instead of quills. Dick Cheney as Chupacabra.

I spell better when doped outta my gourd. That's weird. Also weird? The word gourd. And weird. That's pretty weird too.

So maybe I'll just take a nap. Lucy has the right idea.

Ai yi yi

2007-06-04T22:05:00.000-04:00

When we last spoke, I was all kinds of happy to be on antibiotics and thought I saw a pain-free light at the end of a crap-filled, 9-month-long tunnel. What's that saying about a train?

At my 6-month (really more like 10 month) dentist visit the very next day, I shelled out $175 to find out I have a huge-ass cavity (that's the technical term) in my back bottom left tooth. Bad enough that a root canal is probably warranted. Also, a portion of the head/sinus/tooth pain was actually, probably, kinda-sorta, related to my...um...swiss-cheese-like tooth. And once the antibiotics worked on my sinus infection, sure enough the pain localized to that one craptastic tooth.

[Note: I have health insurance thru my part-time job, but no dental insurance. And I've inherited my mom's crap teeth genes. Thanks Mom.]

A week later, I went back in for what I was hoping would be a filling but was resigning myself to a root canal sometime the near future. Turns out they were planning on doing it all that day, if needed. "But wait," I thought "I haven't bought any soup or gelatin products yet!" Oh well, I can deal. I'll just shop on the way home when I'm still numb and probably drooling. Sexy.

Then they gave me the estimate.
One filling for huge-ass cavity - $200.
One root canal for totally fucked-up tooth - $2000
Being able to breath through my nose - priceless.

Many little things conspired to make me not have either procedure done that day. Claustrophobia induced by having my head lower than my feet. Stuffy nose from tearing up thinking about the $2000 I don't readily have. General life-type anxiety. The final straw was the rubber dam they fit over the tooth prior to starting that covered my whole mouth.

I freaked. I couldn't breath and suddenly I couldn't stop crying. I knew there was no way I'd be able to get through the appointment without...dying, it felt like. Luckily my dentist and his assistant are very nice people and they were understanding and all that.

So I left, with a numb mouth (I did manage to get the Novocaine shots prior to freaking), an appointment in one week and a prescription for tranquilizers that will render me incapable of operating a moving vehicle.

[Note: Everyone send up a mental "Thank You" to Bernice for being my designated driver.]

So, on Wednesday, I will hopefully be relaxed, numb and on the path to a pain-free head. And I stopped on the way home tonight and bought soup and pudding. I'm prepared. On the edge of being completely broke, but prepared.

But enough about my Judas mouth and panic attacks (which, by the way, is totally the name of my next band). Let's look at some funny dog pictures.

Does this picture, taken last week, look familiar to anyone?

How about now? (scroll down). Apparently the hallway is the designated sleeping place, come summer or fall. And yes, there are assigned seats, so no pushing.

Lucy doesn't so much swim at the dog park as she does...wallow.

Check out the flowing Fabio-like ears.

It's a Murphy burrito. A Murpharito!

[Note: Dogs are silly. And they don't care if you're broke, or swiss-cheese-toothed, or prone to freak-outs. I love dogs. Next life, I think I want to be a dog.]

Owie

2007-05-24T15:14:00.000-04:00

So, I'm back on antibiotics again. Apparently it IS possible to have a sinus infection without copious amounts of funny colored snot. Who knew.

Besides getting limited sleep due to throbbing teeth due to above mentioned, stealth sinus infection, thing have been returning to normal (my version of normal at least).

My aunt is sending me two capes made by one of my great-grandmothers (exactly who is lost to history). I don't know if they are sewn or knit or welded out of chain-mail, but I can't wait to see them.

I'm working on a shawl for my mom. She chose the yarn and the pattern and I'm just trying to make it work. Some of the issues include:
- worsted weight yarn for a fingering weight pattern
- 350 yarns of yarn
- really expensive yarn I'm totally afraid I'll mess up in repeated froggings
- lace. Actual lace and not Kiki's forgiving Random Lace.

I'm trying to internalize the "Let it be a challenge to you" mantra.

Also, crocheting a black, beaded shawl in size 10 thread. It's a simple ripple pattern and if I'd stop ripping back because I don't like the bead placements I'd probably be done already. This is my first prolonged use of thread and I think my first aborted attempt (early in the fiber career) may have been an anomaly. It's not nearly as fidgety as I remember.

Other things: stash-busting acrylic blankets, probably for the local dog shelter. The Einstein Coat which was paused about 4 inches short of having a bottom half. And I somehow have acquired about 5 pounds of fiber and haven't spun anything in months.

But mostly, trying to ignore my aching teeth. Cross your fingers for rapid antibiotical magic. And nose steroids...

Adventures in Baking

2007-05-21T22:02:00.000-04:00

I'm not a kitchen-oriented person. I don't spend much time in there and I certainly don't have all the fancy tools. But it was my month to host book club (the month being January) and I needed to make something.

We had read To Kill A Mockingbird and it's an unofficial rule that the host tries to match the food to the book. Since learning how to southern fry chicken seemed beyond my capabilities, I decided to make a cake. Specifically a Lane cake, which is mentioned in the book as being Miss Maudie's specialty. I did my research like a good little librarian and ended up combining about 4 different recipes.

Three layers of white cake (from a box)
Butter creme frosting (from a can)
(I was curious, not crazy)
Filling contained coconut, pineapple, raisins, dried cherries, pecans, sugar, 8 egg yolks, a large amount of butter and a healthy helping of bourbon.

My presentation wouldn't have made Martha very happy, but I made due with what I had (and what Kiki and Steve lent me (hurray for ice cream cake packaging).

The final results seemed to be well received, as was the junior version I made from the leftovers and took to work.

I was a little concerned about the ethics of taking a liquor soaked cake to work but then I remembered the office Christmas party and figured their alcohol tolerance was high enough to handle it.

The leftover ingredients were put to good use: the pineapple went on a pizza, the raisins went in my belly and Lucy polished off the coconut, cherries and pecans during her kitchen rampaging.

Of course, I still have 3/4 of a bottle of Heritage Bourbon Whiskey (bottled especially for Albertson's) left over. It's not a brand that inspires the desire to tipple. I may be forced to make another cake. Or maybe I could host a night of drunken knitting.

Howdy

2007-05-20T18:45:00.000-04:00

I know I've been MIA for a bit. Things have happened. I graduated. I spent some time in Pennsylvania and bought a lot of yarn. I didn't get the NLM fellowship. I've been preparing myself to look for a job but haven't actually done anything yet. The temperature broke 100. Lucy got a haircut. I read a lot. Too much to comment on all of them.

31. Bee Season - Myla Goldberg.
32. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult. About a school shooting but read before the VA Tech disaster.
33. The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr. I was still stuck in my late 1800's rut.
34. I'm Not the New Me - Wendy McClure.
35. Night Over Water - Ken Follett. About a really big plane. A really, really big plane. And international intrigue.
36. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult.
37. City of Light - Lauren Belfer. I made it to the early 1900's, finally. Takes place in Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls in a major factor in the plot. Ironically, this is the book my mom left outside during a rain storm so it's about twice as thick as it once was.
38. Good in Bed - Jennifer Weiner.
39. Timequake - Kurt Vonnegut.
40. The Organ Grinders - Bill Fitzhugh.
41. Going Back to Bisbee - Richard Shelton. Part memoir, part history lesson. The memoir was better. This month's book club book as well at the OneBookAZ book.
42. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut. "No damn cat, and no damn cradle."
43. Life Among the Savages - Shirley Jackson.
44. Raising Demons - Shirley Jackson.

Vonnegut and Jackson are two authors I admire greatly. And I know I often ape their styles.

I promise I'm going to try and post more. I have lots of little things to talk about and if I can't force my drivel on you all, who can I force it on.

Look!

2007-04-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

I actually finished something!

A ripple baby blanket for a mom-to-be from my book club. The shower is this Saturday so I'm remarkably ahead of schedule.

Pattern: a standard ripple. The side edges are: 3 dc, 2 tc, 3 dc ,sc, sl st sc, repeat
Yarn: TLC Essentials in Oasis. 2.75 skeins. Machine wash- and dry-able.

And, just because, here's a picture of Lucy showing off her hand-mouth coordination.

Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-14T10:53:00.000-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut, one of America's greatest writers and one of my all-time favorites, died on Wednesday. He was 84.

The first of his books I read was Slaughterhouse-Five, like most other American schoolkids. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't until late in my college career that I became an avid fan. I thought he was clever, I thought he was funny, I thought he was smart. I probably didn't analyze his books the way the literary critics did. I wasn't reading them for the symbolism, I was reading them for the language, Vonnegut's unique way of stating the obvious and the unusual.

I went through my bookshelves last night and within minutes had 10 of his books collected. I can't find Slaughterhouse-Five - it's either hiding, I lent it to someone or I sold it in one of my ill-advised purges - but I have Timequake and Galapagos and Deadeye Dick and Cat's Cradle and others. I'm not going to re-read them right now. It's feels like it's too soon. But they'll be sitting there, waiting for me. Waiting to make me laugh and think and dream of being a writer.

Waiting for change

2007-04-10T18:54:00.000-04:00

My academic career is rapidly coming to a close.

The library I'm creating at work has a vi sable end in sight.

Soon, I will be free and able to be something other than a file clerk.

A change, it is a'coming.

I'm not great with change. Specifically, I'm not great with making the decisions that come with and result from change. I wait. I dither. I over think and worry. Sometimes I do this so successfully I change my brain chemistry and end up forgetting to get out of bed or leave the house. At least for this change, I'm pre-medicated.

I haven't heard about the NLM fellowship and I won't for a few more weeks. But, be that a yes or a no, I'm going to have to make some significant changes.

A full time job.
A new workplace.
New co-workers.
New job duties.

I think I can handle all that. Well, the full time job thing might be an issue. It's been two years since I've have to get up at 6 am five days in a row and I do like my sleeping-in time.

No, there is one big, scary change that is probably going to happen in the next 6 months. A change that is freaking me out enough to notice that the dithering and worrying are starting up again. Some day in the not too distant future, I'm going to move back to the East Coast. I don't know where and I don't know when, I just know it's past time for me to do it.

If I get the fellowship it will be easy. Well, easier. If I don't get it, I'll need to start a job search from the other side of the country. Or move without a job and with savings that have been decimated by the past two years of under-employment [Not that working for Sarah wasn't great and not that I'm not extremely grateful to her for it. But it was a part-time thing.]

I hate moving. I'm not good at it. I have too much stuff. I fret about the small things. It's not fun.

But that's not the big problem. The big problem is leaving my friends.

I moved to Arizona in 1999. The only person I knew was my boyfriend and, by default, his friends became my friends. When he left for a 6 month job in Saudi Arabia in 2002, his friends all promised to be there for me and then they all disappeared. I didn't miss them. And I realized I didn't miss him either, so we broke up.

I moved to an apartment in Chandler. I made few sorta-friends but we didn't have too much in common. I wasn't horribly lonely but I wasn't completely happy either.

Then, about 4 years ago I started crocheting. I joined the local SnB shortly thereafter and a few months after that I started making some real friends. It took me while because I'm not the most outgoing person but gradually I realized I was now part of a group of smart, friendly women (and a few guys) and I was actually happy. I had friends I had too much in common with (aka my long-lost sister Mel) and some I probably would have never crossed paths with in any other way.

When I lost my job two years ago, if it hadn't been for my new friends I would have left for PA in a heartbeat. Tail between my legs, living in my parent's basement. But suddenly I had a support system out here and I was able to tough it out. Every link in my sidebar leads to someone who has made an impact on my life in some way. Some were large, some were small, some probably don't even know they did anything. But they all did. And two years later I'm about to start on a new career path. I couldn't have done it without them. They listened to me, made me leave the house, made me laugh, found me jobs, gave me good advice and helped me grow into someone I would never thought I could be.

And someday soon, I'm going to have to say goodbye to them. And it's breaking my heart.

Bouncing Baby Ball*

2007-04-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

I made this a while ago for Avi and delivered it to him (and mom) when he came to visit us in AZ. Avi's a born Florida Gator - hence the color scheme. This also shows you how oblivious I am about small children. I thought this was an appropriate size for an almost-newborn. Turns out, it's bigger than his head. Oh well, he'll grow into it.

Yarn: two acrylics from the stash. The orange is Red Heart and the Blue is Lion Brand.

Pattern: two half circles (made in the fashion of a hat) sewn together and stuffed.

I also heard a rumor that the family dog is quite intrigued with the ball as well.

* It doesn't really bounce that well. It's more for rolling.

Lots of books

2007-04-01T14:00:00.000-04:00

18. Folly - Laurie R King. Not one of the Mary Russell books but pretty good. Woman has nervous breakdown and goes to live on a little island and rebuild the house on it. Be nice to have that much money and a nervous breakdown instead of the usual either/or dichotomy.

19. Coyote Blue - Christopher Moore. One of his first books. It really reminded me of Tom Robbins but, unfortunately, it was the parts of Tom Robbins that I don't care for as much.

20. No Good Deeds - Laura Lippman. As per usual with Lippman, I'm having trouble remembering the plot. Oh yeah, inner-city kid gets in trouble and Tess has to figure it all out.

21. The Art of Detection - Laurie R King. Not Mary Russell but Kate Martinelli, a modern day police detective. But she is investigating a Sherlock Holmes related mystery. I enjoyed this one.

22. A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore. Charlie becomes a Death Merchant. Minty Fresh re-appears. There are Hellhounds and soul vessels. This one was extremely funny.

23. I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away - Bill Bryson. The title says it all; these are collected from a column Bryson wrote for an English paper after he moved back to the States with his British wife and kids. Both America and Bryson had changed a lot in that time.
"I need some of that goopy stuff you fill nail holes in wall with. My wife's people call it Pollyfilla."
"Ah, you mean spackle."
"Very possibly. And I need some of those little plastic things that you use to hold screws in a wall when you put shelves up. I know them as rawl plugs."
"We call them anchors."
"I shall make a mental note of it."

24. The Italian Secretary - Caleb Carr. An authorized Sherlock Holmes story about a haunting/murder at Holyroodhouse, the Queen's palace in Scotland. If you like Holmes you'd probably like it, otherwise, not so much.

25. Special Agent: My Life on the Front Lines as a Woman in the FBI - Candice DeLong. DeLong joined the FBI in 1980 when women were still a rarity (not that they're overly common now). She worked in quite a few departments and on some big cases. A very interesting book and it made me think of a woman I know who joined the FBI a couple of years ago. I can just see her doing all that.

26. The Hidden Life of Dogs - Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. I spend a lot of time think Lucy is half-human but Thomas takes it even further. I don't think I'd ever be able to refer to two dogs as being married. Interesting, nonetheless.

27. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood. Book club selection for March. I first read this in the early 90's and it seemed so unlikely. Now it seems much more possible and parts of it seem almost probable (in a bad way). Our group was pretty unanimous; everyone was glad they read it and it made them think (we had a really good discussion about it) but I don't think anyone is going to read it again any time soon.

28. The Alienist - Caleb Carr. In my opinion, all of Carr's books should be set in New York City in the late 1800's. This is a murder mystery about one of the first serial killers that also shows the creation of the first profilers. Back then, psychologist were called alienist because they dealt with people who were alienated from society because of their mental disorders. I'd recommend this for almost anyone, it's a great book.

29. Brave Dames and Wimpettes: What Women are Really Doing on Page and Screen - Susan Isaacs. A short book from the Library of Contemporary Thought. It was published in 1999 so many of the examples are dated, but it's a good look at how women in popular culture are often portrayed as weak, wimpy people even if they are supposed to be strong, brave women (Ally McBeal being a prime example.) I read this in 1999 and it has helped me evaluate the hidden messages that are in so many popular media.

30. Up From Jericho Tel - E.L. Konigsburg. I bought this for a young friend and forgot to give it to her last time I saw her. So I read it myself first. Same author as From the Mixed-Up File of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler which was one of my favorite books growing up. This one, honestly, kind of confused me. Hopefully Lucy will have better luck with it.

Whoo, April 1st and I'm over halfway to the 50 books for the year! I'm actually almost a third of the way to 100 and the year is only a quarter over. I might actually be able to do it this time.

Yarn related - The Einstein Coat is on hold. I have a baby blanket on the hook for a baby shower in 3 weeks. It's crochet so it should go pretty fast. It's a ripple pattern, which I'd never done before. I like it.

Some Tids

2007-03-29T00:15:00.000-04:00

...and a few bits.

My shoulder is feeling remarkably better. Last night it was more painful then at any previous point and this morning it was almost normal. I'm not sure if it's the change in weather, if the Aleve finally kicked in or if someone finally took the pin out of the voodoo doll, I just know I put a coat on today without flinching.

I'm still going to keep the PT appointment. Just in case. Flinching sucks.

Tip: If you're driving a green Honda Accord, your "SO GOTH" licence plate is going to look a tad out of place.

I've been selected to be a Nielsen Family. Because - as a person without cable or Tivo, who has never seen an episode of Sex and the City - I am an exemplar of the American television-viewing public.

Remember Alice? Yesterday I had lunch at Mel's Diner. It's pretty much exactly as you would expect, except for fewer beehives and more cigar smoke. And no grits on the menu.

So, there's this new book out.

See anything familar? Does this help? Yeah, that's the blanket-who-shall-not-be-named in the lower right. The one that crippled Heather, caused drama on the SnBAZ boards and was the bane of my existance for a few months last year. I haven't seen the actual book yet (and there is no chance I'm buying it) but I'll bet you pesos to pancakes that neither Heather nor my name is anywhere in it.

I don't want to end on that negative note so let me tell you that The Friends of the Phoenix Library has a kick-ass store at Burton Barr and I got a copy of The Princess Bride for $4 today.

"No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley."

Oops

2007-03-26T22:02:00.000-04:00

Now, I've done it. Somehow, I haven't posted in over a month. I have no good excuse, just my usual iffy ones. But at least I've been busy.

I finally finished the heart I promised Ed in ...um...October. Gak. And I finished it while in DC so I didn't take a picture. It looks like a heart, like this only smaller and less flowery.

I read a whole bunch of books.

I did schoolwork and am beginning to feel very knowledgeable in the fields of government documents and medical informatics. Even though I still can't get a good definition of informatics to come out of my mouth on the first attempt. It has to do with computers and medicine and databases and digital pictures and basically everything in medicine now that wasn't possible 100 years ago. Sort of. I can give you some websites if you're interested.

I got another cold. And then another one. Those two events brought my sick time since October to approximately 99% of my existence. That's a lot of mucus, people. I started ingesting 1000 mgs of vitamin C everyday and I may have regained a little bit of an immune system. I managed not to get ill during the trip to DC but I was completely physically wiped out by the end of it and need two days to recuperate. My energy reserves are low.

To which end I bought an exercise ball. I haven't done much besides sitting on it and purposefully wobbling. But there's a reason for that.

I may have developed bilateral bicipital tendonitis. Which basically means I racked up my shoulders somehow. Really, it's kind of a mystery. I haven't fallen or gone "wow, that was a dumb thing to do" or remember hollering in pain in the recent past. They just started hurting. The left one more than the right but they are both icky. They'd been hurting on and off, mostly on, for about a month and I finally realize I couldn't wash my back, hook a bra, put on a coat or sleep without some pain, ranging from "ouchie" to "HEY! QUIT IT!" The phrase "go ahead, twist my arm" developed a much more sinister affect. I saw the doc and get evaluated by a physical therapist this coming Friday. We'll see where it goes from there. Right now I'm controlling it with Aleve but the pain is still there, lurking, waiting for me to do something silly like hold the phone in my left hand for greater than 90 seconds.

Don't worry, I can still knit. I'm being careful to support the project so it's not dragging down my arms and I'm taking lots of breaks. It doesn't hurt while knitting so I don't know if it's related or not. Hopefully not.

There's also a tiny issue with my wrists but we're sort of ignoring that for the time-being.

I'd heard the rumors that getting old sucks...apparently my body wanted to collect some more evidence on the subject.

Current projects:
an Einstein Coat in recycled silk. I'm almost done the bottom section.

Ok, that's really the only big one right now. I've got a hankering to wear the coat to graduation (one month, can you dig it?) so I'm focusing on it which will guarantees I won't finish or there with be a heatwave in Pittsburgh on April 29th. Or the dress I eventually buy will be black and therefore capable of visibly collecting every piece of recycled lint that appears. And trust me, the silk makes a lot of lint/fibers/floaty things.

Also, the coat may weight 37 pounds and be physically impossible to wear for longer than 2 minutes at a pop. This is not a light garment.

I did make a ball for Avi. And I think I even remembered to take a photo. Which I will post at some point.

Ok, this is getting a bit lengthy. One more piece of news and I'll let you guys go. I think I mentioned an associate fellowship position I was applying for at the National Library of Medicine? Well, I got an interview. They flew me to DC and put me up in a hotel and asked me questions for 6 hours in this building. In my opinion, it went pretty well and I only had one major brain freeze (that I noticed). They'll be making their decision by the end of April and we'll just have to wait and see how significantly my life will be changing then.

Well, that's it for now. I promise I'll update more frequently. Or at least plan to update. Or think about planning. Or something.

PS: Lucy ate a box of muffin mix last week. Just so you weren't lulled into thinking she was inactive during this blogless period.

Have you been flossing?

2007-02-21T20:57:00.001-05:00

I just got off the phone with my childhood dentist. Just a quick social call.

It's not as weird as it sounds. Even though I haven't seen him in probably 15 years, my mom still sees him every six months and he always asks about me and Patty. Turns out he was coming to AZ on vacation and he asked for my number so we could chat. It's possible my mom financed the trip since she sees him, his wife (receptionist), daughter (hygienist), his son (dentist partner) and his other son (periodontist) regularly. They're kind of the First Dental Family of Delaware County, PA and we've been going to him since his first office in Chester. He once told me that if I didn't stop sucking my thumb it would fall off. He was wrong.

He and his wife are enjoying the warm weather and the golf and I caught him up on my school situation and that was about it, but it was nice (if a bit odd) to talk to him.

In other, slightly surreal news. The cattywhumpus hat I gave Patty recently met Jerry of Ben & Jerry's at an anti-cloning rally in DC. Jerry did not comment on the hat, but it did keep Pat warm. You can read more about the government's plan to allow cloned animals into the food supply here, here and here (the first link is a little noisy, lots of cows popping into spontaneous existence.)

Look! Yarn!

2007-02-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

See I told you I still knit and/or crochet.

All items WsIP:
Variegated blue square wrap. I had made a triangular one but it was too small for my liking so it went to my sister as a large scarf. Which she needed because it's been a tad bit chilly in DC lately.

Recycled sweater, cotton-acrylic (I think). Being converted into various squares that will eventually be combined into a baby blanket.

Recycled silk. This section is the bottom part of an Einstein Coat (Sally Melville, The Knitting Experience Book 1: The Knit Stitch) with some variations of my own. It will be a heavy coat but hopefully it will look pretty cool.

Also on the hooks: a small heart (I haven't forgotten Eva and Ed) and a large heart. The large heart is for me, because when I took my old one into work (for a small protest against the cloying-ness of VD) a co-worker fell in love with it and took to carrying it around like a small child so I traded it to her for lunch (she's going to buy me lunch, not eat the heart for lunch. That would just be weird). I know it's going to a good home where it will be loved, admired and appreciated in the absurd way it deserves. And I think I can make a better one this time.

Doggie Drawers

2007-02-17T16:41:00.000-05:00

Previously: Lucy figured out how to open kitchen drawers, defeat baby locks, conquer packing tape and demolish most types of food packaging.

This was taken the day after the kitchen reorganization.

Obviously, she's still hoping to find some snacky treasures.

The next day, I found this.

Still looking for snacks but she's also mastered the opening of swinging doors and the sliding of 10 pound containers of dog food. I assumed the fact that the container had landed at an angle incompatible with food extraction was predictive of unsuccessful future attempts.

I was wrong.

The next day, container all the way out of the cabinet and partially opened. Sliding drawer closed. Lucy learned from the past and dined well this evening. She has offically adapted.

The dog food is now in the bathroom, the canned goods are under the counter and anything that has an odor or is openable by teeth is above the counter. Or on top of the fridge. Or in the microwave. I'm never going to find anything ever again.

What's that saying about old dogs and new tricks? And who do I contact to demand a retraction?

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

2006

Smarter than the average toddler

2007-02-13T21:58:00.000-05:00

Lucy: 1, baby lock: 0.

Cookies: -1.

The kitchen has been officially reorganized.

February Books

2007-02-13T21:45:00.000-05:00

(I do still play with yarn, honest.)

11. Bait and Switch - Barbara Ehrenreich. Like Nickled and Dimed, except with white collar job searching. I'm just glad I'm not looking for a job in business or marketing.

12. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir - Bill Bryson. I love Bryson and this was really funny.

13. Bloodsucking Fiends: a Love Story - Christopher Moore. Read in preperation for the next one. Hysterical.

14. You Suck: A Love Story - Christopher Moore. His latest and the reason he was speaking at Changing Hands. Not surprisingly, it was really funny. Picture and details of his talk can be seen here. It was a wonderful evening and I'm glad I got to share it with Melanie, Nancy and Janene. And according to Christopher Moore's signage in my book, I don't suck.

15. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee. February's book club. I hosted but we went to Coffee Rush because my house looks like dingos tried to eat it but just got sick everywhere instead. It's quite messy. The book, however is great. And it has been banned, which is why it was on my selection list.

And You Suck had a blatent Mockingbird reference in it, so my reading was all inter-connected and stuff.

16. Wickett's Remedy - Myla Goldberg. This is the second one from the author of Bee Season, which was really good (spelling bees, not bzzzy bees). The style took some getting used to because she had extraneous characters speaking in the margins, like oddly placed footnotes. The story was interesting, all about the Spanish Influenza in Boston.

17. The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror - Christopher Moore. I've read this one before but it remained just as funny. The IKEA stuff didn't resenate as strongly this time, probalby because the people around here have stopped obsessing about it. And yes, I'm offically on a Christopher Moore jag, so expect many more of his books to show up here.

Also, You Suck features a huge, shaved cat in a sweater. While slighly reminicent of my dream, mostly it's just f-ing funny. Go read it.

No Dummies for Pam

2007-02-12T20:53:00.000-05:00

First, some history you know.

I replaced my car battery at the end of October after it stranded me at the grocery store and Mel had to save my bacon (not really, I just bought cold pills and crackers but it's just not very funny to save cold pills and crackers.)

My neighbor rescued my keys after I left them in the door for two days in a low thyroid hormone induced haze.

Now, some history you don't know (many of you, that is. Some people have has the joy of seeing me in-person and hearing me bitch.)

My car has been acting possessed and locking me in it and setting the alarm off unexpectedly when I try to start it. After a check-up (and a new (thankfully under warrenty) catalytic converter) I was told it was a malfuctioning door lock actuator and would cost $400 to replace. And also my seat-moving springs were broken and did I have an extra $1,600 to replace the seat frames because Volkswagon is incapable of designing a simple part that can be easily and cheaply replaced. And the oil pan and front air dam thingy and the secondary air pump mounts (but not the primary ones) all could use replacing.

Other recent history:
I have been turning on my headlights during the day for some reason (the car has daytime lights so I don't need to).
My super-neighbor let me know my parking lights were lit on Superbowl Sunday.
Apparently my "you left your headlights on, dummy" alarm is no longer functioning.

What does all this lead to? Me with a dead battery, the morning I supposed to go to Good Sam and see the SimEd center.

I was really looking forward to seeing the center. We were going to practice intubating and delivering babies, all on computerized model. But by the time roadside assistence came and Sears replaced the battery, it was too late.

So no dummies for Pam.

I'm in the process of dealing with the dealership to get some or all of these problems fixed at a reduced rate. The car only has 33,000 miles on it and there's no reason for any of it. And if they won't deal I may have to say the magic words "I'm selling this piece of crap and buying a used Honda." We'll see if that has any effect.

This is your cabinet on dog

2007-02-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

This is a drawer filled with snack-type items. As you can see, it has no handle and is flush with the cabinet except for a small finger-notch on the top.

On a few occasions in the past two months, this drawer has mysteriously opened while I'm out of the house, allowing access to all the snack-type items inside. Lucy has taken full advantage of this to the tune of 20 peppermint patties, a sleeve of crackers, a bag of dried cranberries, a few Hershey Kisses, a couple of granola bars and some pecans.

I assumed I had some type of snack- and/or dog-enabling-obsessed poltergeist residing with me. Or possibly a very localized, recurrent, low level earthquake.

So I took measures to prevent the random drawer opening and got out the packing tape.

(please imagine that all tape pieces are intact as it makes for a better narrative.)

Imagine my surprise when I came home from knitting and found this.

Also apparent were an empty, shredded bag of dried cherries, a granola bar wrapper and new, slightly mauled, Brita filter.

My question is this: if it isn't a poltergeist and it isn't an earthquake, how did this drawer get open? There's no handle, it won't bounce open and Lucy has no thumbs. Maybe she's developing telekinetic powers or an odd food-specific magnetism. Because if she opened that drawer with her paws, no snack-type item is safe.

In order to preserve Lucy's girlish figure (and my sanity), a baby lock has been installed.

Silver tinfoil linings

2007-02-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

Wednesday started with vomit and things have just better from there.

And, no. I’m not being sarcastic.

Let me elaborate.

1. Lucy finally threw up the wrappers of the 20-odd peppermint patties she ate last Friday. I wasn't too worried about her, since she has the intestinal fortitude of a dingo or some super-powered goat, but I was relieved to see the wad of wrappers in some form or another. And I find it interesting that, for 5 days, Lucy was composed of approximately 33% tin foil.

2. I've been picked as one of the first four volunteers to receive a Golden Heart award from Good Sam. The other are a man with 4,000 hours, a woman with 2,500 and a woman with 500. I just hit 100. While I'm honored, I have residual guilt because I'm not "volunteering" so much as "completing a school requirement" and I was planning on stopping in about 25 hours. I may be compelled by my conscience to stay a while longer. Next Tuesday I get a small lunch and a head shot taken for posting somewhere on the second floor. I need to buy a new shirt. My sister has informed me that she wishes the Golden Heart to resemble a gold-plated Purple Heart and that I should be required to wear it at all times.

3. Yesterday, I mailed off my application for a fellowship at the National Library of Medicine. Pretty standard stuff but I had a bit of difficulty with the narrative questions. I rocked on the “what could you bring to the program” one; benefits of having such a diverse (some say checkered) background. But I had issues with the “what do you expect to get from us” portion. I mean, it’s hard to stretch “Dude. It’s the NLM. What else do you need.” to 500 words.

4. I finally found some patterns and had a few ideas that will allow me to create something that’s been percolating for at least a year now.

5. My car may not be imploding as quickly as the dealership implied.

6. I finally thought of an idea of food to serve at book club.

7. My breathing is slowly but steadily improving. I'm not getting winded as much but I've lost my voice a few time. I'm not sure if that's related but I'm lumping all esophagus-related oddities together now.

And best of all

8. My parents planned on leaving for The Villages this morning and so they missed the tornadoes that destroyed 300 homes there last night.

One of those days

2007-01-22T20:09:00.000-05:00

Today was one of those days. You know the type. Most of us refer to them as "bad" though "crappy" runs a close second.

It wasn't a bad/bad day, but it was definitely a not good one with strong bad tendencies.

1. My car was covered with ice this morning. I've had worse but remember, this is Phoenix. I have no earthly idea where my ice scraper is, so I got to sit in the cold care waiting for the defrosters to work.

2. Mailing the scarves to Mom cost more then I thought it would. I was also returning some books and I don't believe you should have to pay to ship books so I always block out the fact I'm going to have to.

3. I got an email back from a professor I had asked to write a reference letter for me. She had "to decline this invitation with regret. A person serving as a reference should be able to say they know you and be able to speak of your work/abilities in some detail. I do not feel I can be a good reference for you due to the fact that I don't know you well enough professionally." Maybe because I'm a student! Who isn't working professionally in the field! 3,000 miles away so it's not like I can pop in and chat about the LC Classification system. (to be fair, I did ask if she would do it and gave her an out, but I've never had anyone refused to be a reference before. Especially a prof. I'm a bit dumsquzzeled. And slightly offended. I did have two classes with her, one containing only 8 people.)

4. The turkey I was having for lunch got dumped into the tray of mashed potatoes by the server. This caused a flurry of replacement lunch activity and a too-long wait in line in the hospital cafeteria.

5. I repeatedly dropped a stomach and accidentally disassembled a set of lungs. They were plastic models in library, but still.

6. I stopped at Changing Hands to buy the new Christopher Moore book (he's having a reading/signing there soon) and they were either out or haven't received any copies yet. In either case, I didn't get it.

7. When I finally got home, my phone was all static-y and the Internet wouldn't connect. This happens when it rains sometimes because my phone-lines run along the ground and are apparently made of irrigation system cable. Obviously, the problem has resolved to some extent (since I'm online now), but it will probably happen again soon and the process has, once again, been started to repair the line and, once again, I will try to convince the complex that irrigation cable is a poor substitute for phone cables but I'm expecting the usual response. Nada.

8. The illness I've had since mid-October was diagnosed via blood work today as walking pneumonia (apparently I has spontaneously started getting over it, even though I still couldn't breath). The good news: it wasn't Valley Fever and my immune system hasn't crapped out completely. The bad news: I just finished a week of high-potency, side-effect-inducing antibiotics and I'm still getting short-of-breath which means I'll probably get another round of them.

9. I'm still getting short-of-breath. Saturday and yesterday I was feeling much better. Walked the dog and did laundry with no panting. Today, I'm back to SOB. I'm supposed to rest. Do you think they'll let me nap in my cube?

10. All the phone drama (many phone calls, tears) and the diagnosis/probably treatment drama (more tears) and the hurried cleaning-of-the-apartment-in-case-the-phone-people-need-to-come-inside-tomorrow (what can I say, I've been resting for 3 months, it's gotten messy) have caused me to become SOB and completely removed my desire to do schoolwork tonight. I'm going to go sit on the couch and try not to stab myself in the eye with knitting.

To end on a more positive note: at least I didn't arrive home to this

or this

These are two examples of Lucy's latest month-long rampage: an empty, mangled tin of Altoids and approximately 10 pounds of change that were in close proximity to a Hershey Kiss.

But today, no scattered currency or dogs with intestinal distress. So, yay me

Belated thank you

2007-01-21T21:04:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to have the awesome Miss Lily as my Christmas Secret Pal giver (Steve was my givee. He got a monkey.)

Here's what I got.

Very cool armwarmer and some handspun ultra thick-and-thin yarn, both in very "pam" colors (it's apparently very hard to make thin-and-thin yarn on purpose. Unlike me who does it easily on accident, but not so ultra.) Also the Domiknitrix book which looks great. So many things I want to make...

Close-up of the yarn.

Beautiful, non?

Thank you so much Lily! You rock!

Tangible Proof

2007-01-21T18:40:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to taking some FO pictures.

And so, with no further ado...tangible proof that this is still a knit/crochet blog.

This is the shawl I made for my company Christmas party. It had a bit of a metallic sheen which went well with the shiny gold/champagne skirt.

I had more elaborate plans for this project but ran out of time (literally, it was blocking under the ceiling fan as I was putting on my make-up.) In the above picture you can see some fabric, saved from the dress alteration and some beads of various shapes and colors. I was hoping to incorporate both items and may do so in the future...even though I'm not sure of the next time I'll be wearing that dress.

Pattern: Stacked Diamonds from the Encyclopedia of Crochet, done in a rectangle.

Yarn: Feza Mesmerize in Copper Brown from Tempe Yarn and Fiber. 65% Acetate, 35% Polyamid. 5+ balls with most of a sixth leftover for future edging/beading/what-have-you.

Hook: I? J? Something like that. I forgot to write anything down. Forgive me, I've been sick.

Here's a pile of things for my Mom. The light scarf is her belated Christmas present, the black scarf is because she like a purple one I made my aunt and the dishcloths are because you always need dishcloths.

Off-white scarf: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Sportweight which has been discontinued. Size 7 needle. Pattern is supposed to resemble plaid to match the Burberry-esque lining of her maroon winter coat. I did a few inches of stockinette and then various rows in the opposite stitch. All very random.

Obviously, it still needs to be blocked before mailing tomorrow.

Black scarf: Berroco Cotton Twist in Pitch Black also from Tempe Yarn and fiber. J hook. R1: sc / R2: dc / R3: sc / R4: dc, ch1, skip 1, dc, repeat.

The dishcloths were knit (first knitted dishcloths I've done) on size 7s with some huge skein of kitchen-cotton-like yarn. One is done diagonally, either increasing or decreasing by one stitch at the end of every row. The other is stockinette with a garter stitch border, the center is stockinette done in the opposite direction (is that reverse stockinette?). I like how the center turned out, it looks almost woven in.

There you have it, I haven't forgotten how to manipulate yarn.

And some day soon I'll introduce you to Pepe.

Yet more books

2007-01-21T17:28:00.000-05:00

I promise, I do actually do things other than reading. I just don't have a lot of tangible proof.

6. Hershey - Michael D'Antonio. The (unauthorized, unsponsered) history or Milton S. Hershey, the Hershey Chocolate company, the city of Hershey, PA and the orphanage Hershey founded. It was quite interesting but I'm not sure why it had the big "not authorized by..." sticker on it since it wasn't very muck-rakey. I'd recommend this one.

7. A Girl's Guide to Vampires - Katie MacAlister. Awful. I couldn't figure out if it was supposed to be light and fluffy or humorous or a romance novel or what. I didn't like any of the characters or why they acted like they did.

8. Ya-Yas in Bloom - Rebecca Wells. Cute, from the author of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Alters Everywhere. This gave more history of the people who weren't covered in the first two books.

9. Even Vampires Get the Blues - Katie MacAlister. I almost didn't read this one since the other was so bad, but since I had them both home from the library I thought I'd try it. I loved it. I understood it. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. And the smutty parts were good too.

10. Why Moms are Weird - Pamela Ribon. Why Girls are Weird is one of my favorite books so I was excited to read this one. This wasn't as good, but I'd still recommend it whole-heartedly. Another book that made me cry...in a good way.

The Dogs of Christmas

2007-01-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

My Christmas vacation was very canine-intensive and so, since I can't make this a cat blog, for today I'm turning Hip Hip Crochet into a dog blog.

This is Cusco. He's named after a city in Peru where his owners (friends of my sister) had vacationed. And no matter what I think or say, it's not pronounced "Crisco"

He really likes my sister. Especially to chew on.

He's very inquisitive.

And a bit psychotic.

Christmas day was spent in the company of 5 large dogs. Oh, and my relatives. Almost forgot about them with all the hound dog goodness.

This is Cassie and Ally. I think. There are three blue tick hounds, Cassie, Ally and Abby, and, except for Cassie (the youngest) outweighing the other two by almost 30 pounds, they were hard to tell apart. Especially since they are constantly in motion.

This is Sadie the border collie bonding with my dad. She's the matriarch of the house (the hounds are all granddogs visiting for the day) and prefers to keep herself out of the fray. Unless you pick up her ball. Or look at her ball. Or accidentally say the word "ball". Then she flips into OCD mode and plays fetch for 20 minutes.

There's also a collie named Joy floating around but the only shot I got of her was her butt and collie butts just aren't that attractive (unlike Mr Murphy's fuzzy butt.)(Of which I can't get a good picture because he keeps sitting down.)

New Year's Eve was spent at Melanie's with friends and dogs.

Murphy tried to make a little time with Anna.

And when that didn't work, he moved his affections to Bernice.

(I apologize for the unflattering shot of Bernice but Murphy-love is just too cute not to share. In real life Bernice is much hotter than that.)

We had a fun evening but Lucy (who had eaten an entire tin of Altoids earlier in the day, as well as her NSAIDs and three meals worth of dog food) was a bit intestinally challenged and exited the party after being roundly mocked for stinking up the joint.

So there you have it: The 8 Dogs of Christmas. Next year I'll try to find 4 more.

The first books of the new year

2007-01-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

I'm still not feeling 100% yet. I was doing better and hoped a week away from the Phoenix brown cloud would fix my lungs up, but one night in a slightly smokey club (hooray for Latvian punk rock*) and Christmas day spent in the company of 5 large dogs and 4 moderate-to-heavy smokers turned my lung contents into cement and I'm still feeling it.

Anyway, my oxygen saturation levels are low and there hasn't been a lot of activity that required me getting off the couch. Or that required fiber for some reason. I have projects leftover from Christmas, old stuff to finish and lots of new ideas but all I'm doing is reading.

1. JPod - Douglas Coupland. Much better than some of his others I've read and it made me laugh, but MicroSerfs was better. And it has nothing to do with iPods, which confused me.

2. Dragon's Kin - Anne McCaffrey and Todd McCaffrey. Anne is passing the Pern torch to her son. It's kind of flickering.

3. Dragonsblood - Todd McCaffrey. Make that really flickering. I love Pern but Todd's version is lacking.

+++To answer Lady Linoleum: I started in the middle of the series with Dragonsong, Dragonsinger and Dragondrums and I though they were a good introduction. But here's a list of all the Pern books (there's a lot) and you can decide if you want to go by publication date or chronologically or alphabetically or whathaveyou.+++

4. Cell - Stephen King. I think this was supposed to be The Stand for the next generation (the one's who can't survive without their Blackberry) but it wasn't as good as The Stand. It actually felt short, which is unheard of for King.

5. Microserfs - Douglas Coupland. I had to re-read it after JPod. I think I'm finally out of Coupland books. It's scary how outdated it seems and it's only 11 years old. But still good.

Now, it's back to the couch for me to think deep, cleansing thoughts about my alveoli.

* Really, Latvian punk rock at the Black Cat in DC. I didn't see Dave Grohl (he's a co-owner) but Macitajs on Acid was wearing silver unitards,face paint and wings. And they put the song translations up with an overhead projector. And the open band Sweatheart was also cool. All very indie and underground and my-life-10-years-ago-ish. Fun fun.

Is it wrong?

2007-01-06T17:46:00.000-05:00

Lucy just got back from the groomers and she smells like a cookie. A big, furry, mobile cookie.

Is it wrong for me to want to nibble on her?

Yarnival!

2007-01-04T17:44:00.000-05:00

Nessie made it into the latest Yarnival issue!

I wasn't sure when this issue would be out. Apparently, Dec 17th is the correct answer. Thanks to Heather, whose Prufrock blanket is also in Yarnival. If she hadn't mentioned that, I may have missed Nessie's debut completely!

"Dog treat?"

2007-01-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

"Did someone say Dog Treat?"

"And no, I am NOT part bat"

*mumble* Some people are just SO rude *mumble*

So close

2006-12-31T19:42:00.000-05:00

A big glut of reading to finish the year off.

80. Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett. Much better then I expected, especially since it's a really long book about cathedral building in the Middle Ages. With romance.

81. Toxic - Robin Cook. E. coli drama from the man who brought you Coma. It's nice that Cook obviously did his research beforehand, but I would have appreciated a bit of translation from the textbook to the mouth of the characters. Nobody talks like that, dude. Not even rich, successful surgeons under lots of stress. Also, they use contractions.

82. Freedom's Landing - Anne McCaffrey.
83. Freedom's Choice - Anne McCaffrey.
84. Freedom's Challenge - Anne McCaffrey.
85. Freedom's Ransom - Anne McCaffrey. A series, obviously. I've read all of them before and I thought I really liked all of them. Turns out I loved the first one, hated the second and tolerated the third and fourth. Sort of science fiction, but not too much outer space stuff. Her Pern stories are better.

86. A Death in Belmont - Sebastian Junger. A family's (rather boring) true-life brush with the Boston Strangler (maybe). Well written but not exciting. And Junger's mom really should read The Gift of Fear.

87. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult. The first Picoult book I ever read (this was a reread obviously). Takes place right near where my parents live and does a good job with the Amish. This is one of my favorites of her's.

89. Naked Pictures of Famous People - Jon Stewart. Not what I was expecting, but funny.

90. Stiff - Mary Roach. A funny, non-fiction book about dead people, just the thing for Christmas morning. If you're me.

91. Winner of the National Book Award - Jincy Willett. Loved the first half, hated the second. I'll probably look for her other books.

(The last three books were borrowed from my sister while in PA. She has reasonably good taste in books.)

92. Murder on Clam Pond - Douglas Kiker. Death in Cape Cod. Holy crap was this bad.

93. Days of Deception - Lee Roddy. The first of the Lady Pinkerton Chronicles. Also bad. But a good brainless read for the plane. It's quite possible I ended the book with less brains then I started with.

(The last two books were borrowed from my mom who has a habit of randomly picking books up at garage sales, mostly bad ones. As Mel so eloquently put it "Turns out you can judge a book by it's cover.")

94. A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas - Chuck Klosterman. I'd probably find him incredibly annoying in-person, but his articles are usually funny. Not a bad way to end the year.

Six short of 100. Not too shabby.

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Happy

2006-12-22T13:41:00.000-05:00

Time got away from me and I didn't do/forgot to do a last post before I left Phoenix. I'm posting this from my sister's place in DC. We spent the morning in Takoma Park; Pat at a meeting and me at a coffee shop, knitting away. Also knitting on the plane yesterday and probably in the car to PA tomorrow. Some things are done, most likely everything will be in time. Or I'll be handing out bags of yarn and patterns with gift tags on them, just like last year.

I found out Wednesday I got an A in the management class that supposedly virtually impossible to get an A in (according to the syllabus). I'm still not sure if I dazzled her will brilliance or baffled her with bullshit but either way I'm quite please with myself.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post until the new year so everyone have a happy and a merry what-have-you.

And remember, it's the thought that counts, not the unwoven ends and half-assed blocking.

Can you believe this happy horsesh...

2006-12-18T15:49:00.000-05:00

A bit of self-censorship for the delicate-types in the audience.

Point is, I'm sick again. Again! Sick! Oh, the humanity of it all.

I had to leave my field placement at the hospital early on friday because I kept sneezing and had a runny nose. Drove home, got zinc lozenges and took a nap.

I've been scarfing down the zinc and flushing my head with the neti pot but I still feel crappy.

You know it's bad when you wake up a 1 am because your teeth hurt from sinus pressure.

A side note: using the neti pot makes me glad I live alone. It's effective but kinda gross.

On a non-horse poo topic or two:

I am actually fibering it up a bit - scarf for Mom, scarf for aunt, thingy for Pat from some of my handspun. But nothing's a a photograph-able stage.

I also need to thank Lily for for my totally cool Holiday exchange gifts. Wicked cool green, stripey armwarmers, the new Domiknitrix book and some truely awesome olive green thick and thin handspun. (Some day I'll take pics, really). Thank you so much Lily! I definitely got the iPod.

Maybe I'm Carnak

2006-12-15T20:03:00.000-05:00

Weird, and kinda spooky.

I had a dream last night. In it, I had a cat. What I didn't relize was that I actually had two cats who were never in the room at the same time.

Next thing I know, little things are running around the room. I think it's mice. Nope, kittens. Really small, over-active kittens.

I somehow kept acquiring more cats, including one with weird fur that looked like a nubby carpet and had flecks of red and blue in it. This cat was rather plump and liked to sit next to me.

Later, a cat appeared wearing a fair isle sweater. I named the cat Fair Isle, as you do when a cat shows up in a sweater. It was a very tight sweater and the cat looked very sausage-like and huge. It liked to sit next to me and look constricted.

It took an embarrassingly long time to realize the sweater-wearing cat was the plump cat from two paragraphs ago. Sweaters just aren't slimming on cats.

Later there were more cats, a few dogs, a bulldog that had the coloring of I Love Lucy, possibly a bird and the weird neighbors, all in the rec room.

Then I woke up.

(Take-home dream message: One cat, actually two cats, baby cats.)
(Lesser take-home message: cats don't need sweaters.)

Later today, this headline appears on the Yahoo homepage:

World's first cloned cat has kittens

So, do you think I'm channeling Yahoo news or just historical cat-related events?

heeheeheeheehee

2006-12-07T01:12:00.000-05:00

I just finished, everything's posted. I'm a bit punchy.

12 pages of managment portfolio and 19 pages of grant proposal on a library and women's center that exist, in large part, only in my vivid imagination.

Look for me in the next few weeks as I try and re-enter society. I'll be the one with no responsibilities.

"Dude. I totally knew you could do it"

Prezzies!

2006-12-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

Given

Hat and Scarf for Dad

Yarn: Lion Brand Kool Wool (I think it's discontinued which sucks because it's a really sprongy yarn)
Needles: 10 1/2 for hat, 13 for scarf
Pattern: Hat - Watch Me, with regular stripes.
Scarf: rectangle with random stripes.

For some reason I had a much harder time with the scarf then the hat. Too narrow, to wide, not enough grey, too stripey, not stripey enough, blah, blah, blah.

A table runner and napkin rings for Patty.

Yarn: Cascade Bollicine Taormina in the Picnic colorway (won at Tempe Yarn and Fiber's Holiday De-stresser SnB)
Needles: Wood 12's borrowed from Mel (Thanks!)for runner
Hook: H for rings
Pattern: Runner - rectangle with drop stitches. Some rows got one yarn over, some got two.
Rings: Small rectangles, alternating single and double crochet. Seamed.

A close-up of the drop stitches.

A bag for Patty

Side view

Materials: A wool sweater, felted. Sleeves removed and used for base of bag. Lined. Handle and decoration - belts found in the Closet of Yarn and Accessories by Steve. One side is attached regularly, the other is sewn together so the buckle would go in the right direction.

Those were the projects that were keeping me busy in the beginning of October. Also, I was making minions for the work Halloween party I was too sick to go to.

Received

Then my birthday rolled around and I got stuff. Lots and lots of stuff! Stuff from family, stuff from friends, stuff from Goodwill. Stuff so I'd look like other stuff.

Contained in the picture, in no particular order:
- A pinkish-orangey pashmina from Patty.
- A crocheted scarf from Lucy (her first crocheted FO. Standing O for Lucy!)
- A big ball of merino-tencel fiber from Mel for me to spin and dye.
- A retro flower necklace and green bead bracelet from Patty.
- The book Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body by Armand Marie Leroi from Patty.
- My sock monkey Pricilla and a hat/wig combo from Illanna so I can pretend to be Pricilla's big monkey sister.
- A felted bag that 1) looks like a sea anemone one one side and 2) looks like it's full of Cheetos when it's reversed from Kiki. Yes it's supposed to look like Cheetos. I am the bearer of Cheetos.
- Skull stitch markers from Steve.
- A skein of Jess's first handspun yarn, made from one of Stephanie's batts in Moss. And some handmade stitch markers from Jess.
- Four quilted coaster with roadrunners and cacti on them from my Mom.
- Three belts and one plaid cummerbund from Goodwill to be used in purses (probably).
- One pumpkin hat (previously made).
- One psycho gourd.
- One desk pumpkin with a sneer.
- One happy goofy pumpkin.
- One hypno-pumpkin.
- One doll made by Lily as her first crochet project. Comes complete with iPod, boots and a pumpkin hat. (Standing O for Lily!)

Thank you everyone. I'm continually amazed by your generosity and talent. And it's nice to know I can spread the insidious plague of crochet to unsuspecting youngsters.

Halloween

Any guesses on what my Halloween costume was going to be?

Don't fret, I'll tell you.

I was going to be the Great Pumpkin. And I'd have minions to do my bidding: Gordelina, Sneery, Goofy, Hypno and, last but not least, the (iPod wielding, stompy boot wearing, tiny pumpkin hat donning) Pretty Darn Good Pumpkin as my first lieutenant. Maybe next year we'll be able to take over the world.

Or maybe I'll be a monkey's uncle instead.

No wonder yesterday seemed so odd

2006-12-02T15:45:00.000-05:00

My employer apparently thinks everyone could use an extra shopping day before Christmas and therefore decided to help us out and just squeeze another one in there.

Twinkie books galore

2006-12-02T15:31:00.001-05:00

It was quite the twinkie month what with the limited concentration skills and all.

71. The Red Scream - Mary Willis Walker. A desperate grab from the hospital library Free pile so I would have something to read at lunch. All I really remember is that I'm beginning to dislike overly quirky heroines.

72.The Game - Laurie R. King. Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. I gave up trying to read Kim as a precursor to this one (I made it halfway through and completely lost interest) but I understood it well enough.

73. Locked Rooms - Laurie R. King. Another Mary Russell. I think this is the last one in paperback so I should be off this kick for a while. Now I just want Russell and Holmes to have a little time to themselves. The last 5 or so books have happened back to back and even I'm getting tired.

74. The Seven-Per-Cent-Solution - John H. Watson edited by Nicholas Meyer. Covering Holmes addiction to a 7% solution of cocaine and the trip to Vienna to see Sigmund Freud to get treated for it. I loved this book as a teenager, not so much this time around. But I think it's the last Holmes book in the house.

75. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier - December's book club book. It was the first modern romantic suspense novel and maybe when it first came out it was original but it seemed dated and cliched by this point. It was ok but not worth all the hype I'd heard.

76. Every Secret Thing - Laura Lippman. I may have read this earlier this year. I know I read it before, just not sure where. It was good but a little rushed at the end and I felt like there were plotlines left hanging.

77. To the Power of Three - Laura Lippman. I loved this one right up until the end and then I didn't like it much at all. The ending felt odd, like she had a different one and changed it at the last minute or something.

78. Mary Mary - James Patterson. An Alex Cross mystery. I really like the first few Alex Cross books but too much stuff has happened to him and his family by this point. It was a quick read but required a big suspension of disbelief.

79. In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson. I love Bryson's travel books. They're hysterically funny and this one made me want to move to Australia even though there are more animals there that can kill you in horrible ways than in any other place in the world ( 5 of the 10 most poisonous snakes and 5 of the most lethal of their type of creatures - box jellyfish, funnel web spider, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick and stonefish. And sharks and saltwater crocodiles).

I need to put the book selection list together for January's book club. Any suggestions? We'll read just about anything.

And more importantly, do you think I can break 100 books before December 31? Maybe if I start picking smaller books...

Lucy is Happy

2006-12-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

Lucy is very happy her mom/boss is feeling better. So to celebrate, she ate a bag of cough drops.

Pro:
She shouldn't have to cough until sometime in 2008.

Con:
Even after approximately two dozen honey-lemon eucalyptus drops, she still has dog breath.

I'm Ba-ack

2006-11-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've basically been incommunicado for over a month. How the hell did that happen? Everyone's going to have forgotten where we left off!

Therefore...

Previously, on Pam's Life:

I worked, went to school, occasionally knit or crocheted something and lived happily as Lucy's personal assistant. Then mid-October happened.

Oct 14 Saw the Foo Fighters at State Fair with Mel, Forrest and Anna. Prior to showI felt the first nose tickle of what I presumed to be seasonal allergies (Fall is a season, albeit a weird one for allergies).

Oct 15 Allergy diagnosis was revised to rhinovirus due to feeling of extreme crapitude. Guilt ensued for potential infecting others at State Fair.

Oct 14 and 15 In-depth house cleaning attempted due to impending sibling visit. Lot of dust raised and scattered about, including into sinuses.

Oct 16 The trifecta of time management was accomplished: carpet cleaning sometime between 8 and noon, dog grooming starting at 7:30 and ending approximately 10:30 and phone call from internship in Boston re: status sometime after 8. Surprisingly, all activities were sucessfully completed with only a brief session of outside phone yelling.

Oct 17 through 29 Rhinovirus diagnosis revised back to allergies. Daily ingestion of cold/antihistamine pills, Claritin, benadryl and/or other allergy medication.

***Yarn-Related Activities for October I finished a hat and scarf for Dad and table runner, napkin rings and a bag for Patty. Pictures were taken.

Oct 19 Finally mailed dad’s present and due to bad communication skills (mine or office aide? Not sure but I have my suspicions.) paid more for postage than for yarn.

Oct 24 Work. Called dad re: Happy Birthday

Oct 25 Work. Patty arrived via big shiny airplane at approximately 14 o'clock at night.

Oct 26 Happy Birthday Patty. The day's activities included digital camera comparison shopping, exchanging gifts, dinner with Patty, Mel, Mexican food and strong margaritas. While still taking allergy meds. Smart.

Oct 27 Happy Birthday me. The day's activites included taking Lucy to the dog park with the lake, washing stinky wet dog towels, thrift store shopping, finding a work Christmas party dress for $9, dinner at the vegan resturant Green, hanging out with the LGs and assorted others and getting even more gifts (documented proof of all gifts forthcoming).

Oct 28 Visit to the Phoenix Farmers Market. Group trip to the State Fair with Patty, Mel, Karen and hubby for Figure 8 racing. Got involved in eating, looking at crafts and photographing sheep and missed the whole event.

At various points over the weekend Patty and I watched about 6 hours of Arrested Development and ate about 3 pounds of Halloween candy.

Oct 29 Drive Patty to airport. Realize it's no longer allergies but instead a bad rhinovirus. Desire sleep. Stop for cold medication. Kill car battery. Rescued by Mel. Try to sleep. Walkt to pick up car fitted with new battery. Sleep.

Oct 30 Sleep.

Oct 31 Sleep and cough. Miss Halloween party at work even after making minions (pictures to follow).

Nov 1 Work and cough. Sleep and cough.
Nov 2 Sleep and cough.
Nov 3 Sleep and cough.
Nov 4 Go to Halloween party at Mel’s and cough.
Nov 5 Sleep and cough.

During this time I consumed a bottle of NyQuil, a bottle of cough suppressant and untold numbers of cold pills, decongestants and ibuprofen. And a metric crapload of ice cream.

Nov 6 Doctor visit. Cough, sleep, fill prescrition for cough syrup with codine and antibiotics. Figure out it's no longer a rhinovirus.

Nov 7 through 13 Blurry. I remember sleeping and coughing. And an annoying phone call from my ex where I happily but groggily told him to never contact me again.

Nov 14 Actually made it to work. Where I coughed and coughed and relapsed to a previous state.

Nov 15 through 19 Sleep. Daily lessening of coughing. Choke on dinner. Retrieve Murphy for a visit. Sleep. Ignore dogs. Feel guilt for ignoring dogs. Wake up every morning with Murphy on the bed where he had stealthily arrived during the night, taking advantage of my drug-induced slumber.

Nov 20 Back to the doctor to be told I'm no longer sick but am having seasonal allergies that are causing me to cough, even though the last 30 years of allergies have never caused me to cough.

Nov 21 Return to work. Return to some semblance of a normal life.

Since then, I've been feeling progressively better by which I mean I am eating food items other than ice cream, I have felt the desire to pick up a needle or hook, I have stayed awake for over 12 hours in a row, I have remembered that I need to actually do the school work instead of staring at it and, most blessedly, I have had more than one day without having to take medication.

Next post: pictures (probably).

dude

2006-11-03T21:47:00.000-05:00

cough medicine is trippy.

let that be both the explanation and the excuse for no blogging.

when i complete a 12 hour period without hacking up a section of lung or feeling the need to holler "whoo! rock 'n roll!" to the dog, documentation of my life will continue.

ps happy birthday to me and dad and pat and bernice and illanna and nancy and many many others.

whoo

rock 'n roll

Shut up, you were just making out with a turkey leg

2006-10-16T17:12:00.000-04:00

I love the State Fair. Relish traps abounded, the music was awesome again, the City of Phoenix decided opening weekend was the best time to start road repairs on all major highways leading downtown and you get to overhear kick-ass non sequiturs like the one above.

Fried Coke is shaped like a banana, is white and foamy inside, and squirts when you bite it. From my (carefully distant) observations, it looks like a really bad fried porno.

I am the proud owner (renter) of a clean, damp carpet and a clean, dry dog with really short hair.

My boobs are no longer hurting (much). Not pregnant, just pre-menstrual. Every month my body pulls a new symptom out of my uterus. This month it was boobs, last month it was starvation and next month will probably be extreme pissy-ness.

I started decorating my cube for Halloween.

Yarn - The same stuff from the pumpkin hat and leftovers from the headscarf prototype from long ago. And some black stuff.
Pattern - no

Books and ...

2006-10-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

Books

68. A Girl Named Zippy; Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana - Haven Kimmel. This is an amusing book, but what amazes me is that she (Haven/Zippy) can remember things from her childhood in such detail. I know I'm not the bestest rememberer ever, but I don't remember last week in as well as she remembers 30 years ago.

69. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards. Book club book for October. A doctor delivers his wife's twins, realizes one has Down Syndrome and decides to tell his wife the baby died. He sends the baby to an institution with his nurse who decides to keep the baby after seeing the condition of the institution. The book then follows everyone (wife, husband, nurse, son, daughter) for the next 30 years. The book did a good job depicting children with Down Syndrome and the social changes that have surrounded them but I didn't like it all that much. I spent 4 years of my life dealing with Down's and stillbirths and while some of my memories of that time are good, many of them are bad. Surprisingly, it's not the genetic disorders and death that was the bad part but rather the rest of my life at the time. But it's all tied up together so the book made me remember too much.

70. Down Came the Rain: My Journey Through Postpartum Depression- Brooke Shields. She describes what the depths of a depression feels like and, believe me, it rings true. And she's honest about the smart and dumb things she did to get out of it which can do nothing but help anyone going through the same thing.

Other

Part way through un-named Dad present - part 2.
Still contemplating un-named Pat present - part 2.
Started another blue shawl because the triangle one was too small and will be gifted to some small person at some point in the future.
In the throughs of a really dumb crush.
Made a pumpkin.
Spending time tomorrow in the Foundations and Grants Collection at the Phoenix Public Library because I'm cool like that.
My boobs hurt.
House needs to be cleaned and organized because the carpets are getting cleaned on Monday and my sister is coming out on the 25th for birthday weekend (yay!)
Just received the OBOS Menopause book in the mail (for website stuff, not for personal use. God, I hope not. I'm only almost 36. Then again...)
Seeing the Foo Fighters at the Fair on Saturday.
Probably going to eat a fried twinkie there too.
Planning on spending Sunday in a sugar coma while simultaneously cleaning the house.
May possible post pictures someday but don't hold your breath.

Watch Me

2006-10-04T23:57:00.000-04:00

The new issue of For the Love of Yarn is up and I have another pattern in it.

The Watch Me Cap

Bulky weight yarn on size 10 1/2 needles and it fits almost everyone.

I like the way the decreases turned out on the top.

Check it out and if you make one, let me know! I'd love to see pictures.

(and yes, the pumpkin hat is a deriviative of this pattern)

It's a very Arizona-centic issue. Sarah has a pretty sock pattern and Paula has a really cool wine cozy. The other patterns are great too, check it out.

Five Little Girls

2006-10-03T23:14:00.000-04:00

I want to post about the Amish school shooting but it's not easy. Every time I read an article about it I start crying. I'm mad, I'm scared, I'm furious and I'm confused.

This one hit me harder than the others have because it's closer to me. My parents live within 10 miles of the schoolhouse. I've probably driven by it, I know I've passed many of them. Some of the wounded girls were taken to the hospital I used to work at in Delaware. I tried for an internship at the Clinic for Special Children which treats Amish with genetic disorders in nearby Strasburg.

For the 6 months I lived with my parents in Strasburg I drove past a one room Amish school every workday. I'd see the little boys and girls getting off the bus with their Coleman lunch coolers and their hats and bonnets. They're always little because the Amish stop school at the eighth grade. The older children are working on the family farm or the family business.

Sometimes on a Saturday night you'll see the Amish teens hanging out at the pizza place in the town square. They act like every other teenager, maybe bit quieter and a little more attentive to the tv in the corner. It's a novelty to them.

The schools aren't usually marked as such. Do you know how you can tell if a building is an Amish school? First, there won't be any electrical wires going from the street to the house. And secondly, away from the building but still inside the white fence, there will be 2 outhouses; one for the girls and one for the boys.

For a graduation present, my parents gave Patty and me a hot air balloon ride. It was on a Sunday and we landed just as worship was letting out and buggies were streaming down the road (they meet all day on Sundays in different people's homes). We landed and were suddenly surrounded by a slew of Amish kids. A few of the dads soon followed. After a balloon ride, the riders are expected to help fold the balloon up for traveling. A dozen little kids didn't wait to be asked but jumped in with both feet. I think they did the majority of the work, giggling the whole time.

One little boy was about 4 years old. He was partially deaf and had hearing aids in both ears. His dad plopped him up on the edge of the basket and proceeded to ask Patty and me about the balloon's gas system. "We're sorry, sir. We don't know if it runs on LP."

My parents soon arrive in the mini-van, they'd been following the balloon and had Lucy with them. When the little boy saw her he asked something. I couldn't understand him; a combination of 4-year old language, the Pennsylvania Dutch accent and the flatness that comes with being deaf. His dad clarified his question with sign language and then asked it that was our dog. When I said it was, the little boy wanted us to know that he had a dog too. Lucy came over then and got a pat from him.

I know this post is a little disjointed. But the story that led to its creation is disjointed. Disjointed and horrible and not understandable.

The Amish aren't perfect people, but I admire them. They have their beliefs and lead their simple life. They deal with the English (everyone who's not Amish) every day and go home to a life most of us couldn't lead.

This isn't the first time violence has touched their community. They do their business deals in cash and have become targets for that. Sometimes they're attacked for "fun". But they continue their Plain lives and forgive.

Yesterday, five little girls were murdered. It's a horrible tragedy for so many reasons, but two facts make it almost unbearable. They were Amish and were targeted because of it. And they were killed not because of their beliefs but because of their gender. Five little girls.

Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7
Marian Fisher, 13
Hannah Mae Stolzfus, 12
Mary Liz Miller, 8
Lina Miller, 7

Linky Linky

2006-10-01T19:54:00.000-04:00

Knitting/Crocheting
Dad's present - done
Pat's present - 50%

This means I've been working but I can't show you any of it.

Books
67. bitchfest; 10 years of cultural criticism from the pages of Bitch magazine - Edited by Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler. I love Bitch and I loved this book.

And I read The Accidental Library Manager by Rachel Singer Gordon for school. Ok, maybe not read but I gave it a really good skimming.

Links
I've been bookmarking interesting things for a month now and it's time to share. It's an interesting mix of fiber, feminism and funny.

Bizarre American Holidays - For instance, did you know that October 25 is Punk for a Day Day and my birthday is Sylvia Plath day? And yes, that does concern me a little and I'm glad I didn't know it when I was going thru my high school Plath stage (it's also her birthday, which I didn't put in the last post.)

LibraryThing - even you can be a cataloging nerd like me!

Banned Books Week just ended, did you read one? May I recommend Our Bodies Ourselves by the Boston Woman's Health Collective or possibly Pamela by Samuel Richardson?

A post about breastfeeding by Twisty of I Blame the Patriarchy. Boobs have a job to do and it's not making men horny. Grow up and let them work in peace (and public). The internet is awash in breastfeeding controversies but I like Twisty's take.

Natural yarn dying. Cooler than Kool-aid.

40 things you'd love to say out loud at work from Noricum's blog.
9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a damn word you're saying.
37. How do I set a laser printer to stun?

I'm not a feminist but... Yes, you are. Just sack up already and read this from Feministe.

Yarn as savior from LadyLinoleum.

Muppet Wiki! Go Grover, it's your birthday.

I think every librarian want to work in a library like one of these. Actually that probably applies to more than just librarian, these libraries are incredible.

Ann Richards PSA about talking during the movie. A fitting tribute to a kick-ass woman. She will be missed.

Ever feel confused by the overly intellectual Marmaduke comic strip? Not to fear, all nuances are explained here.

Top 176 Star Wars Lines Improved By Replacing A Word With "Pants"
"These aren't the pants you're looking for."

If you don't think it's an issue that doctors and pharmacists can use their "beliefs" to refuse Emergency Contraceptive to someone, read this and imagine it was you.

1000 words worth of FO

2006-09-29T01:05:00.000-04:00

A few thousand words because I can't take a picture for crap right now.

Kiki's birthday was the same night as the Stitch 'n Pitch (which was tres cool by the way. You should have gone). We did get to see her later that night and she received a lovely handmade IOU from me. Because, damn, does knitting take longer than crochet. In crochet world I could have finished in a week tops, probably much less. In bizzaro knitting world it took 3 times that. Which, if your calculations were correct, means that she got her present 2 weeks late.

Here is a very bad picture of the Random Lace scarf.

Yarn: Noro Lily (silk/cotton)in burgundy (not that weird purple in the pic). 2 skeins.
Needles-size 9 bamboo
Pattern: Kiki's own Random Lace.

And once Steve takes a better picture of the scarf (hint, hint), I'll link to it.

If you are scared of lace I highly recommend trying the Random Lace concept. It's basically impossible to f-up and also fun so you can't lose.

I also finished spinning and plying the red wool and started some blue. Apparently I'm a patriotic spinner. The red seems destined for wrist cuffs/warmers. Maybe cabled.

Birthday season has started in full force. Jess, Lucy(the human) and Kiki went first but soon we have Illanna, then my dad, (me), my sister, Nancy and Mel in short succession. Let the birthday knitting commence. To be followed rapidly by the Christmas knitting. Oy.

ETA: I forgot a few. Stephanie, Tony, Forrest, my cousin (witht he well-fitting hat), that guy in my senior physics class who's is the day after mine, Simon LeBon, Hillary Clinton and Theodore Roosevelt. And there are probably more.

Right now I have a few ideas, a half finished *deleted by birthday censor* for Dad and part of a heart that has nothing to do with birthdays and everything to do with a certain knitter's fiancee and the CPR class he teaches.

Speaking of teaching, how's school you ask? Let me just say if you ever need an environmental scan or a strategic plan...please don't ask me. I might cry.

This weekend I had some canine company, but Murphy didn't really want to be here. You could tell his back was really up against the wall.

He eventually got over it and he and Lu spent the weekend perfecting their synchronized sleeping routine.

Ack! Books!

2006-09-25T00:36:00.000-04:00

So I'm definitely feeling better but this weird thing happened where life kept going on even though I was asleep for a week. Must. Play. Catch-up. (and the real life stuff comes before blogging, sorry.)

I did manage to read a bit since last we spoke in depth (ha! humor by reverse hyperbole!)

60. A Monstrous Regiment of Women - Laurie King
61. A Letter of Mary - Laurie King
62. The Moor - Laurie King
63. O Jerusalem - Laurie King
64. Justice Hall - Laurie King

Anyone sensing a theme?

I'm almost done with the Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes books, just one more to go. The problem is, it seems to refer to Kipling's Kim a lot (at least in the first chapter) and since that's a book I'm not familiar with I feel like I should read it first. Of course, I thought I should re-read Hound of the Baskervilles before tackling The Moor and I didn't really need to. Turns out I should have been tracking down some Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Oh well, next time. Assuming I ever figure out who the hell he was.

I also managed to find another Holmes related book in my collection, but after that I think I will officially be done with the Holmes kick. Unless I find more; anything is possible given the organizational status of by bookshelves.

I did manage to read a few other things too:
65. Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult. I think I've reached my Picoult limit. I like her books but there's only so many time you can read about people being unjustly accused. Did nothing wrong, went to jail anyway, it sucks. Got it. Moving on.

66. Citizen Girl - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. The same two who wrote The Nanny Diaries which I didn't like that much. I didn't like this one even more. I think I was just impressed the Chandler Library had it.

I was even more impress that the Chandler Library had BitchFest which is what I'm reading now. I went to the library and got Kim and saw it while dashing out the door (work-related shindig to get to on the other side of town. There were ribs. And fireworks.) (and it was about 2 miles from where I first lived when I moved to the valley. Traumatic bad relationship flashbacks aplenty.) (Stupid brain.)

To sum up - feeling better, very behind, have a spare dog for the weekend, drunken co-workers and lots of books.

Oh, and I passed my 6 year anniversary while being lethargic and loggy as a treatment side effect. Stupid cancer. Stay lost.

Update

2006-09-20T21:52:00.000-04:00

I saw my doctor today. She's agreeing with my assessment that the fatigue is related to the lower thyroid dose. So we're raising it up a bit and I got some bloodwork done to confirm.

If it turns out not to be my thyroid dose, the other possibilities are anemia (which can be cause by screwing with thyroid hormone doses), a really weird virus or "something else". Lovely.

Hopefully in a few days I'll be back to normal. Which is good, because I can't conceive of feeling like this for very long.

Did I mention that one of my symptoms is extreme forgetfulness? I probably forgot to (heh). The biggest indication of this issue? The fact I left my keys in my front door for TWO FRICKIN' DAYS. Didn't leave the house, didn't notice the keys weren't around. Luckily, my (apparently) honest neighbor rescued them. I am an idiot.

So Tired

2006-09-16T15:30:00.000-04:00

I've been rather MIA the past weeks haven't I? I don't really have an excuse, except I'm just tired. Really, really, scarily tired.

I expended a lot of mental energy trying to figure out why I'm so tired and I can't fix on any one thing. Unfortunately there are just too many potential reasons.

The biggest possible reason in related to my thyroid hormone dose. It's been 6 years since my diagnosis and surgeries and it's standard practice to lower the dose of levothroxine after 5. So, for the past year, every few months my dose gets pushed down another notch. Right now I'm at 100 micrograms a day with the understanding that it will most likely need to go down further to get my T3, T4 and TSH levels in the "right" range.

I have a request. I've done some research by I'm not having any luck finding this answer. What the standard dose of thyroid hormone given to a female with no thyroid? I have a feeling I'm edging into the dosages of women who actually have a partial functioning thyroid which seems like a bad idea. So my request is this: If you take or know someone who takes thyroid replacement hormone (Synthroid, Levoxyl, levothyroxine), could you let me know what dosage? If you wouldn't mind including approximate age and weight and what condition is being treated, that would all be worthwhile info as well. Leave a comment or send me an email at hiphipcrochet at yahoo dot com. Thank you.

As far as the other reasons go, none of them have changes recently but they're all still viable. Major depressive disorder and medication for that, lack of exercise, eating like crap, allergies and subsequent sinus headaches, stress from school and life in general and so on. Like I said, all potential reasons for exhaustion, but they've been pretty static for a while now.

Ugh, quite the downer post, isn't this? I promise I'll try to write more (and more positively) soon.

The New Great Time Suck

2006-09-03T15:30:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, J-Dub and Kiki and the gang conspired to give me another way to while away the hours.

A drop spindle and fiber.

Lucy (LG Lucy, not dog Lucy) decorated it. The side says "Pam's Spindle" and the top has a monkey!. Yay monkey! (ok, it's a chimpanzee, but monkey is funnier).

This is my first yarn, spun and plied.

The blue stuff in the top picture is my second attempt, using a mishmosh of fiber left over from Stella. It didn't work as well, but it gives great new meaning to the phrase "thick and thin".

The red on the spindle currently is what I'm considering my first "real" attempt and as such, it's going slower and hopefully more evenly.

I've also finished a shawl. It's not high fashion but it's going to be nice and toasty come winter.

Yarn - Joann's Sensations Rainbow Boucle. I have about a quarter of the skein left I think.
Hook - L
Pattern - Double crochet in 3/4ths of a circle. Go until you get bored.

A few books.

58. The Dress Lodger - Sheri Holman. I really enjoyed this one even though I apparently didn't realize the doctor was supposed to be considered a villain. Maybe I should have read the Reader's Guide first...

59. The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R. King. Sherlock Holmes takes a protege, Mary Russell. I love these books but I haven't read all of them yet. That will soon be remedied.

There's a lot more I want to blog about but I'm having trouble getting motivated. Topics include:
the start of fall semester
my ever-lowering thyroid dose
why I'm so tired
are the last two related or is it all in my head
the 0B0S internship
where all the good men are
the many projects I have started in the last few weeks
and how the dog has grown an extra canine's worth of fur in a month and why she feels the need to leave it scattered around the house.

Thanks Jess and Kiki and girls. I'm going to sign off and go spin now.

One more thing!
Becky, if you read this, I'd love to help you with the flowers but I don't have an email address for you. Send me one at hiphipcrochet at yahoo dot com.

And some books

2006-08-25T17:29:00.000-04:00

53. Kick Me - Adventures in Adolescence - Paul Feig. Damn this guy got picked on a lot as a child and teen.

54. His Last Bow - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

55. The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. And I'm done with the Sherlock Holmes books. At least the original ones.

56. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen. August's Book Club book. SO good. Highly recommended.

57. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood - Ann Brashares. The sequel to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Very good, but it made me cry so much last night my eyes were swollen this morning.