I'm totally looking forward to two exciting visits this weekend, from two of my favorite people in the world: Steph & Rodrigo. Should be lots of fun, between the two of them. No specific plans as of yet, but we always find plenty of fun for ourselves, hehe. They don't know each other yet (Steph's an old school friend; Rodrigo is from Austin), but I do think they'll hit it off....
Only question is, when will I manage to get the remaining 550 pages of The Brothers Karamazov done in time for Sunday evening's book club meeting?? Hah...I probably won't end up attending, after all. I'll have to wait for the next book, I guess. I was looking forward to discussing the TBK, but I was just at a book club meeting last week for another book I didn't quite finish in time, and believe me, some big plot points were ruined for me. Well, not so much ruined, because I'll still finish the book, but they certainly won't be the surprise they were to everyone else! Ah, it's entirely my own fault - I tried to squeeze two book club books in at the same time. Three, actually, but I managed to finish Middlesex in time for that meeting. That definitely made the discussion more enjoyable. Next month, though, I'll either just have to be more selective about which groups I attend, or really buckle down & get to reading my ass off! Haha.
Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful weekend!
xo
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
oh SNAP
So the movie last night was fine; nothing to really comment on. It was pretty, the story was good, I enjoyed it. However, I have something even more interesting to report on: the passes scandal.
See, Code Pink Boston got invited by the movie's publicist to go see the film; our organizer posted the provided free pass in the file's section of our group's site. All we had to do in order to attend the movie was to print out the pass and bring it with us to the theater. Having had trouble getting into free screenings before (hey, it's understandable, when tickets are over $10 a pop now), I knew I had to get there early. I arrived at the theater shortly after 6 for the 7 o'clock show; there were already maybe 60 people in line ahead of me. I staked out my place and pulled out my knitting to kill some time.
Around 6:30, they started letting people into the theater. I showed the ticket collector my pass, and had no problems getting in. Luckily, Jeanette also had no problem convincing the guy downstairs that I was holding her ticket & seat; she joined me shortly thereafter. The theater was already packed, but I was no longer worried: we had our seats! What could go wrong now?
Well. It wasn't quite as smooth sailing as I had hoped for. We noticed rather quickly that some girl was standing in the aisle next to us, yelling into her cell phone, waving a pass identical to mine around, and - most significantly - making this poor girl, the holder of the pass, stand & wait next to her. Phone Girl was exclaiming that there were all of these "fake, photocopied passes" going around and that they weren't supposed to be letting people in with them - there was no movie title even listed on the pass, just the date and time and place! Oh, was she upset. She sounded like heads were going to roll at the office tomorrow morning. I assumed her office was somewhere in the theater, despite how I couldn't totally take her seriously, as she was wearing an outfit fit for a thirteen year old. But, I just kept quiet and watched the action play itself out, because I didn't want her to know I was also sitting on one of these "questionable" passes! We were safely in, weren't we? What could they do now, kick us out?
Shortly before the movie began, this girl stormed to a row several aisles in front of us and demanded that about half a dozen people move - saying that those were seats being specifically reserved for "VIPs". (Yes, that was the word she used.) Jeanette & I were intrigued and making wild guesses as to who those VIPs could possibly be (movie stars? the mayor?) while we watched the poor displaced souls (people who had been sitting in those seats since the theater doors first opened; by this point, there were only random empty seats scattered throughout the theater) gather up their things in bewilderment and shuffle out of the aisle in search of somewhere else to sit.
We kept an eye out for these VIPs, but I guess they showed up just as the movie started, because we never got to see who they were.
No matter, though - really. Because, see, you wanna know the thing? Phone Girl didn't even work for the theater!!! I'm totally serious. I told Code Pink's organizer about the whole debacle this morning, and she contacted the publicist who had originally offered the passes. I don't know the whole story, but I guess the publicist told her there was a "rogue staffer" who was scamming around at the preview. Un-fricking-believable. Seriously. Who does that?!?
Especially because it just occurred to me that she probably was worried her friends wouldn't get in okay - seeing as so many people had these "fake passes" - that she decided to up and claim some seats, Christopher Columbus style, from the innocent people who were already sitting there! So not cool.
And I have to say, I feel totally guilty because I didn't want to question her "authority", even though I should have. And maybe I would have, had I been subject to her outrageous behaviour. But still. I wanna say that I'm impressed by her tactics - so very Frank Abagnale Jr. - but I just think she's a bitch. Plain & simple.
xo
See, Code Pink Boston got invited by the movie's publicist to go see the film; our organizer posted the provided free pass in the file's section of our group's site. All we had to do in order to attend the movie was to print out the pass and bring it with us to the theater. Having had trouble getting into free screenings before (hey, it's understandable, when tickets are over $10 a pop now), I knew I had to get there early. I arrived at the theater shortly after 6 for the 7 o'clock show; there were already maybe 60 people in line ahead of me. I staked out my place and pulled out my knitting to kill some time.
Around 6:30, they started letting people into the theater. I showed the ticket collector my pass, and had no problems getting in. Luckily, Jeanette also had no problem convincing the guy downstairs that I was holding her ticket & seat; she joined me shortly thereafter. The theater was already packed, but I was no longer worried: we had our seats! What could go wrong now?
Well. It wasn't quite as smooth sailing as I had hoped for. We noticed rather quickly that some girl was standing in the aisle next to us, yelling into her cell phone, waving a pass identical to mine around, and - most significantly - making this poor girl, the holder of the pass, stand & wait next to her. Phone Girl was exclaiming that there were all of these "fake, photocopied passes" going around and that they weren't supposed to be letting people in with them - there was no movie title even listed on the pass, just the date and time and place! Oh, was she upset. She sounded like heads were going to roll at the office tomorrow morning. I assumed her office was somewhere in the theater, despite how I couldn't totally take her seriously, as she was wearing an outfit fit for a thirteen year old. But, I just kept quiet and watched the action play itself out, because I didn't want her to know I was also sitting on one of these "questionable" passes! We were safely in, weren't we? What could they do now, kick us out?
Shortly before the movie began, this girl stormed to a row several aisles in front of us and demanded that about half a dozen people move - saying that those were seats being specifically reserved for "VIPs". (Yes, that was the word she used.) Jeanette & I were intrigued and making wild guesses as to who those VIPs could possibly be (movie stars? the mayor?) while we watched the poor displaced souls (people who had been sitting in those seats since the theater doors first opened; by this point, there were only random empty seats scattered throughout the theater) gather up their things in bewilderment and shuffle out of the aisle in search of somewhere else to sit.
We kept an eye out for these VIPs, but I guess they showed up just as the movie started, because we never got to see who they were.
No matter, though - really. Because, see, you wanna know the thing? Phone Girl didn't even work for the theater!!! I'm totally serious. I told Code Pink's organizer about the whole debacle this morning, and she contacted the publicist who had originally offered the passes. I don't know the whole story, but I guess the publicist told her there was a "rogue staffer" who was scamming around at the preview. Un-fricking-believable. Seriously. Who does that?!?
Especially because it just occurred to me that she probably was worried her friends wouldn't get in okay - seeing as so many people had these "fake passes" - that she decided to up and claim some seats, Christopher Columbus style, from the innocent people who were already sitting there! So not cool.
And I have to say, I feel totally guilty because I didn't want to question her "authority", even though I should have. And maybe I would have, had I been subject to her outrageous behaviour. But still. I wanna say that I'm impressed by her tactics - so very Frank Abagnale Jr. - but I just think she's a bitch. Plain & simple.
xo
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
mishmash.
I feel like it's been way too long since I posted, but...what to post about? Nothing much to report, here. I am just doing as usual, and keeping really busy. Almost too busy. I think I need to slow my life down a bit. But I guess it's by choice, how things are. And I certainly do hate to have to stop and think - I get too neurotic that way! :)
I'm currently working lots, knitting lots, and in the midst of 3 book clubs. I haven't watched a DVD or movie in ages, save for a few episodes of Firefly that I squeezed in recently. I have...really no idea why I'm so busy. But don't get me wrong, I'm certainly enjoying it! (Usually. Except for the lack of sleep thing.)
I feel like there's always something more that can get done. I adore multitasking. It's gotten really bad. I wish I could knit at work, for example, while I'm reading all of these IBM documents to learn all the ropes.
I feel like there's a zillion things I could tell about what I've been doing recently, but I just am so overwhelmed thinking of it. Tonight, J and I are supposed to attend a sneak preview The Other Boelyn Girl; we'll see how that goes, especially since I'm not particularly fond of either of the 2 main actresses. (I don't think they're terrible actresses, I just don't particularly like them.)
My hip's been doing okay recently; not much pain there, which is very good. But I do use my cane anytime I'm out, so that is of course part of it. I've got more PT exercises to do to help strengthen & limber me. And they want me to find a pool, or a gym. I don't want to find either. :( I really loved the excuse of not having to exercise! But the therapist told me that I need to work on my cardiovascular fitness, now that my core strength is better. Sigh. I wish walking everywhere counted towards that. That's the kind of exercise I like.
Sorry this is such a disjointed post. I'm just trying to think of things to update on. Umm life is pretty okay. Just living. Trying to plan a few trips in the near future, or at least for 2008 sometime: visits to friends (Jen, Karen, Sally) and with friends (Tanya, Steph, Sarah) to various locales...if I can ever get those worked out. I've got the vacation time; I just need the money and planning to come together. (Have I said this already before?) I also want to go to Algeria with Dan, haha. Or, somewhere fun & exotic again, anyway. If we can afford it, which we prolly can't right now.
I really do want to post more, but I guess living life is more important, n'est-ce pas? I would do more frequent, smaller posts probably if I felt like I had the time when I got back in every night, but I get in really late what with the commute & all. I try to squeeze a ton in even then, and end up going to bed way too late every night! Oy.
I always have all these little trains of thought that I feel would be good blog fodder, but by the time I get around to thinking of blogging, the ideas are already too stale! Oh, well.
Speaking of food (stale? get it?), I need some better ideas of things to bring in for lunch at work. Anyone have any good recipes I could whip up and port easily? Ideally nothing messy. I have been trying pasta & vegetables; I think next week I'll sautee some vegetables, cook up some rice, and wrap it all in a tortilla. Or maybe I'll just make some egg salad. Someone also suggested that I freeze yogurt; that way it is nice & thawed out by lunchtime even if I just leave it at my desk.
BLAH I've got a zillion thoughts in my head. Sorry to overwhelm y'all! This is the worst post EVAR. I need to stop for now. I'll try to write more (and more concisely) later on. At least more frequently than once a month. Maybe I need to travel to Austin again...heh.
Oh, and one more thing, here's a picture of me & Jen from Sarah's wedding:
I'll get the original (non-watermarked) copy up there as soon as I can, as well as some other cute ones of my family. In the meantime, check out the photographer's other stuff here, though. His work is amazing.
xo
I'm currently working lots, knitting lots, and in the midst of 3 book clubs. I haven't watched a DVD or movie in ages, save for a few episodes of Firefly that I squeezed in recently. I have...really no idea why I'm so busy. But don't get me wrong, I'm certainly enjoying it! (Usually. Except for the lack of sleep thing.)
I feel like there's always something more that can get done. I adore multitasking. It's gotten really bad. I wish I could knit at work, for example, while I'm reading all of these IBM documents to learn all the ropes.
I feel like there's a zillion things I could tell about what I've been doing recently, but I just am so overwhelmed thinking of it. Tonight, J and I are supposed to attend a sneak preview The Other Boelyn Girl; we'll see how that goes, especially since I'm not particularly fond of either of the 2 main actresses. (I don't think they're terrible actresses, I just don't particularly like them.)
My hip's been doing okay recently; not much pain there, which is very good. But I do use my cane anytime I'm out, so that is of course part of it. I've got more PT exercises to do to help strengthen & limber me. And they want me to find a pool, or a gym. I don't want to find either. :( I really loved the excuse of not having to exercise! But the therapist told me that I need to work on my cardiovascular fitness, now that my core strength is better. Sigh. I wish walking everywhere counted towards that. That's the kind of exercise I like.
Sorry this is such a disjointed post. I'm just trying to think of things to update on. Umm life is pretty okay. Just living. Trying to plan a few trips in the near future, or at least for 2008 sometime: visits to friends (Jen, Karen, Sally) and with friends (Tanya, Steph, Sarah) to various locales...if I can ever get those worked out. I've got the vacation time; I just need the money and planning to come together. (Have I said this already before?) I also want to go to Algeria with Dan, haha. Or, somewhere fun & exotic again, anyway. If we can afford it, which we prolly can't right now.
I really do want to post more, but I guess living life is more important, n'est-ce pas? I would do more frequent, smaller posts probably if I felt like I had the time when I got back in every night, but I get in really late what with the commute & all. I try to squeeze a ton in even then, and end up going to bed way too late every night! Oy.
I always have all these little trains of thought that I feel would be good blog fodder, but by the time I get around to thinking of blogging, the ideas are already too stale! Oh, well.
Speaking of food (stale? get it?), I need some better ideas of things to bring in for lunch at work. Anyone have any good recipes I could whip up and port easily? Ideally nothing messy. I have been trying pasta & vegetables; I think next week I'll sautee some vegetables, cook up some rice, and wrap it all in a tortilla. Or maybe I'll just make some egg salad. Someone also suggested that I freeze yogurt; that way it is nice & thawed out by lunchtime even if I just leave it at my desk.
BLAH I've got a zillion thoughts in my head. Sorry to overwhelm y'all! This is the worst post EVAR. I need to stop for now. I'll try to write more (and more concisely) later on. At least more frequently than once a month. Maybe I need to travel to Austin again...heh.
Oh, and one more thing, here's a picture of me & Jen from Sarah's wedding:
I'll get the original (non-watermarked) copy up there as soon as I can, as well as some other cute ones of my family. In the meantime, check out the photographer's other stuff here, though. His work is amazing.
xo
| Currently Reading: | |
 | TITLE: The Brothers Karamazov AUTHOR: Fyodor Dostoevsky |
 | TITLE: The Whole World Over AUTHOR: Julia Glass |
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
(very late) holiday knits
I thought I'd cross-post this from SPK because I know not all of you read that blog...apologies, though, to those of you who have to come across this twice!!
I didn't have that many holiday pieces this year, but for some reason it took me a long time to collect pictures of them all! That, and write an actual post. I am slow.
To get down to it, I now present to you:
That's it, for now. Again, sorry for the incredible delay on this one!
xo
I didn't have that many holiday pieces this year, but for some reason it took me a long time to collect pictures of them all! That, and write an actual post. I am slow.
To get down to it, I now present to you:
Dad's Apple socks:
pattern: Tech Guy Socks
yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in pewter (& a little bit of black)
He's a big fan of Apple, so I figured these would be perfect for him! The duplicate stitch (to add on the logos) was tricky, but I managed it surprisingly well once I got the hang of it...granted, one of the logos is a bit off-center, but, nonetheless wearable. And the yarn seemed very comfy!- Liam's illusion scarf:
pattern: based on this and this and even some of this
yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash in Deep Ocean & Truffle
Yes, that's supposed to be a tooth (with cute eyes) in the last image...Liam's a dentist. I wanted something that was neat but didn't stand out too much, so I thought illusion knitting would be the perfect choice. Planning the pattern was a bit tough - and I had to rip out the tooth several times, because it kept turning out much too elongated! - but it finally turned out okay. Despite the fact that my original tooth idea looked nothing like that one.... - Kevin's binary scarf:
pattern: Knitty's Binary
yarn: Red Heart Supersaver in Black & Spring Green
Along with Dad's socks, this scarf was knit up way early in 2007...but I had to hold onto the finished products all year before I was able to gift them! Like me, Kevin (my new brother-in-law) is a computer geek, so when I saw this pattern on Knitty, I just couldn't resist knitting it - and I knew the perfect recipient. The binary spells out his name down one side & my sister's down the other. - Mom's chevron scarf:
pattern: a modified Chevron Scarf from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts
yarn: silk yarn created from old kimonos; I don't know the brand
This actually wasn't intended as part of Mom's present, and thus was presented the night before Christmas as a kind of "side gift", because while I had knit it the entire time with her in mind (it really seemed her style), I didn't know if it was something she would want. Also, I had received the yarn for free (!) from a good friend, and since it was such luxurious yarn, and since she had given me several other expensive yarns, I thought maybe I should pay her back with something knit from them. However, she said she already had a scarf very much like it, and she thought it would be a lovely present for my mom. I think part of why I'm always so reluctant to give knitting to my mother is because she is the one who taught me to knit, and was so good at it before she stopped...I feel like my work couldn't possibly measure up, so why make her wear it?! Heh. Anyway, it ended up being something that really suited her, so it all worked out in the end! Yay.
That's it, for now. Again, sorry for the incredible delay on this one!
xo
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
what's up.
Working from home today. Feeling really sick & yucky. I wish I had more to post these days; I feel like I've been so busy, but don't have much to write about! What's up with that?
Maybe I should never have separated my knitting blog from my regular one! Hah. Speaking of, if I can muster up the energy, I'll be going to my knitting group tonight. I always enjoy that.
Yesterday, I had an appointment with Dr. Millis for my hips. As usual, that meant a long time at the Children's Hospital, but it's worth it to get in to see the doctor and hear how they think my hips are doing. I apparently have *bone spurs* (I hate the sound of that phrase!; it always makes me shudder in disgust) both on the outside of my hip and one growing into the socket, which might be seriously messing up my cartilage. But the doctors think I still have good joint space, which does indicate the presence of enough cartilage, so they're hopeful that I can put off a hip replacement for several years, at least. (Although, I do also have enough to get wicked arthritis, yuck!) And I was also told that the core strengthening physical therapy exercises I've been doing are really helping - I no longer walk with my butt sticking out! Well, most of the time, I don't...sometimes when I am rushing I think my body defaults to that because it's the easiest way to get speed, and I'm not paying attention to positioning my body the right way. Anyway, I have more exercises to continue with which will hopefully help make it even easier as time goes by. And I'll see the good doctor again in 6 months.
Hmm...what else? Well, this coming weekend is Sarah & Liam's wedding! I am very happy for my sister & I very much like Liam; I think they will be good "life partners". It'll be a small ceremony so that'll be nice, as well. That's pretty much the only big thing coming up in my life...otherwise, lots of small plans here & there. And maybe some upcoming road trips or trip trips in the works! I certainly hope so; I can't wait. I've got the time to take off; I just hope I have the money!
Have a good Wednesday, everyone.
xo
Maybe I should never have separated my knitting blog from my regular one! Hah. Speaking of, if I can muster up the energy, I'll be going to my knitting group tonight. I always enjoy that.
Yesterday, I had an appointment with Dr. Millis for my hips. As usual, that meant a long time at the Children's Hospital, but it's worth it to get in to see the doctor and hear how they think my hips are doing. I apparently have *bone spurs* (I hate the sound of that phrase!; it always makes me shudder in disgust) both on the outside of my hip and one growing into the socket, which might be seriously messing up my cartilage. But the doctors think I still have good joint space, which does indicate the presence of enough cartilage, so they're hopeful that I can put off a hip replacement for several years, at least. (Although, I do also have enough to get wicked arthritis, yuck!) And I was also told that the core strengthening physical therapy exercises I've been doing are really helping - I no longer walk with my butt sticking out! Well, most of the time, I don't...sometimes when I am rushing I think my body defaults to that because it's the easiest way to get speed, and I'm not paying attention to positioning my body the right way. Anyway, I have more exercises to continue with which will hopefully help make it even easier as time goes by. And I'll see the good doctor again in 6 months.
Hmm...what else? Well, this coming weekend is Sarah & Liam's wedding! I am very happy for my sister & I very much like Liam; I think they will be good "life partners". It'll be a small ceremony so that'll be nice, as well. That's pretty much the only big thing coming up in my life...otherwise, lots of small plans here & there. And maybe some upcoming road trips or trip trips in the works! I certainly hope so; I can't wait. I've got the time to take off; I just hope I have the money!
Have a good Wednesday, everyone.
xo
| Currently Reading: | |
| TITLE: The Brothers Karamazov AUTHOR: Fyodor Dostoevsky |
| TITLE: The Whole World Over AUTHOR: Julia Glass |
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