down South(ish)

Ah-HAH! You all thought I had disappeared, didn't ya? Yeah, I haven't been blogging much, I know. Not much time to write, mostly. And things are just...going. It's good. Right now I'm down in Virginia with my friend Tanya; we've been visiting friends of hers - big brothers, kind of - who have also adopted me, haha. We arrived Friday afternoon, and then spent 3 nights at shows in a row! More live music than I've seen in a long time. It was really fun. And all were either the guys' bands, or their friends, so it was all really comfy, too. Over the weekend we also got a chance to hit the beach - we saw dolphins! - and the famous Virginia Beach boardwalk, where this Neptune statue resides:



(Sorry the image is so dark; it was taken on my phone.)

Mostly we have been seeing people more than seeing sights, but it is our second visit down here (in 4 months), so that makes sense. I of course made a point to stop at the one local yarn shop I spotted down here, and chatted with the small knitting group there for a little while (before, of course, purchasing several skeins of sock yarn - although, unfortunately, nothing locally produced). Otherwise, I've been working during the day and the past couple of nights have been (self-imposed) quiet ones in, since we were so exhausted from the weekend, haha.

All right, I should get back to work for now, I just wanted to stop in & say hi. Hooray! xo

delocate yourself

Just wanted to share this very cool website: Delocator. It helps you find locally run and owned bookstores, cafes, and movie theaters in your area, so you don't have to give all your money to The Man. Instead, you can keep it invested in your own community. Yay!

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Daughter of Fortune AUTHOR: Isabel Allende
	TITLE: How to Kill a Rock Star AUTHOR: Tiffanie deBartolo

overdue (knitting) update

I suddenly encountered trouble just as I was about to post this over at Sweet Potato Knits, so I figured I'd post it here for now...apologies to those who read both blogs & might end up seeing this twice - if the SPK errors aren't fatal. xo

Hi. So I've been knitting, of course. And posting some things on Ravelry. But unfortunately I haven't been keeping up with SPK, nor have I really taken a ton of photos. I thought I'd quickly share a few here, though, for those of you who don't see me knitting every day:

Here is an in-progress shot of a piece I've had hibernating for quite some time now - the Trellis & Vine that was once found on Magknits:


If I can find a link to it being hosted somewhere else (it's not even currently on Ravelry), I'll be sure to share. For now, you can use any of the links listed at this Wayback Machine page.

Oh, and I'm knitting that in Brown Sheep Co. Cotton Fleece, color CW-900 Perry's Primrose.

Here is a pair of Jaywalkers (another Magknits pattern; this one's on Ravelry, and Grumperina also hosts a page with ways to find it here) that I've knit for one of my best friends; her favorite color is green:



These will be a birthday gift for her. They were knit in KnitPicks Gossamer, a laceweight yarn, but I really like how they turned out! Especially the bottom one; I don't love how the color pooled on the top one, but the striping on the bottom one worked out really neat.

Let's see, what else? Oh, here's an in-progress shot of the alphabet-block baby blanket I'm currently in the middle of:



All of it has now been knit, and about half has been sewn (well, crocheted) together. Right now I'm working on blocking the last few pieces before they go in. I should have a finished product photo soon, and with that, I promise "instructions" of a sort. I'm not too pleased with how this turned out, actually, which is why I'm glad I'm not too worried about what the giftee will think of it, heh. But next time I plan to do it with white in place of the "background" stitches to make for more of an alphabet block look. But, this was a fun & simple project to kind of work on piecemeal.

Otherwise, I'm in the middle of a few other things - another pair of socks (the second to the one I had to rip out because of the super-long foot!), and I just did a gauge swatch for a toddler hoodie I'm knitting out of cotton for my current housemate (who's 2). Oh, and I finished a scarf, but I'm not gonna post it here just yet.

Mostly, I'm trying really hard to knit up my stash and to finish up WIPs and hibernated pieces. I'm excited to feel pretty productive in both those areas (although I have to admit I've made purchases recently that sort of balance out the stash-busting...le sigh).

Hope everyone's well. I'll try to post more often here. Miss you all. xoxo

birthday books

I have been meaning to post a list of all the awesome books I received for my birthday this year; some were on my Amazon wishlist, and some were purchases made with me in mind. All were very appropriate, and they're on my to-read-in-the-near-future list. I hope against hope to get to most of them this summer:

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero)
Given by: Sarah K.
Unaware that it was recently added to my Amazon wishlist, Sarah K. mailed this to me entirely out of the blue! It's, clearly, a vegan cupcake cookbook. I can't wait to try some of the recipes.

The Knitting Circle (Ann Hood)
Given by: Sarah (sister)
Because I love books & knitting!

The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs)
Ditto above. This one I've already read; it was an enjoyable, light, chick-lit-ish read, and would be even for those who don't knit, I think. And luckily it wasn't quite as tepid and fanciful as some knitting novels I've read in the past...but we won't get into that right now.

The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara)
Given by: Mom & Dad
On my Amazon wishlist because Dave recommended it a few years ago (I forget why). It's a historical novel, about the "four most bloody and courageous days" of the Civil War. My one issue with it right now that it's the mass market paperback version. Ugh. I wish they'd never invented that format. Those don't ever feel like real books.

Sin and Syntax (Constance Hale)
Given by: Mom & Dad
On my Amazon wishlist because I think I saw it on someone else's...? It's subtitled "How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose." I don't know much about it; I'm looking forward to cracking it to see what it's got to say.

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
Given by: Mom & Dad
On my Amazon wishlist because of a review in Bust magazine. It's an autobiographical "graphic novel" (how do you describe this format without calling it a novel? - it isn't one) about a girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

The New Penguin History of the World (J.M. Roberts)
Given by: Mom & Dad
On my Amazon wishlist because my friend & coworker Karen highly recommended it after we had long discussions about history (and how we wanted a comprehensive, over-arching understanding of it) over microwaved lunches in the atrium. I plan to read this in small, digestible bites over a long period of time, somewhat like Zinn's A People's History.

Accomodating Brocolli in the Cemetary (Vivian Cook)
Given by: Bethany
This title was difficult to type. Bethany knows of my love of proper grammar & orthography. The book looks to contain photographic examples of many common mistakes in everyday writing (mostly images of signs) as well as thorough notes on history, historic mistakes (some by very famous authors), other problematic spellings, etc. Also: I thought it was written by a woman, but Vivian is in fact a man.

Thanks, everyone, for such thoughtful and such appropriate gifts! You know you generally can't go wrong giving me a book (my to-read pile continues to grow out of control...), but these were just so spot-on. I'm excited for each & every one of them.

xo

NB: These books were listed by order of receipt, not by order of preference or order I intend to read them.

i'm a peach

I have never in my life lived on Limmer Lane in Cairo, GA. In fact, I've never lived anywhere near Georgia! So why in the world is my credit card apparently now being billed there? I'm very nervous about this. I don't know if it's fraudulence, or if it's a mistake made by my credit card company. I called immediately when I noticed the problem, but I'm keeping an extra-close eye on my account for the next week or so. It doesn't look like there have been any suspicious purchases yet, but you never know. Sometimes they take a while. I'm so scared to have to go through the hell of sorting out fraudulent purchases once again. Ugh.

I'm thinking that maybe this was actually a credit card company mistake. The only information I can find online for the above address is an outdated real estate listing, which means that maybe someone recently moved in, and applied for a new card. Could they have reissued my number or written over the wrong database record, though?? Is that even possible?

Oy. Wish me luck that this isn't yet another few months of Credit Card Hell. I hate this stuff. There has to be better way of making things secure. Bah.

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Daughter of Fortune AUTHOR: Isabel Allende
	TITLE: Drinking: A Love Story AUTHOR: Caroline Knapp

ah, sunshine

Working outside today, because it is warmer outside than in. What is with this weather? It's been so cold. I don't know why I expect hot temperatures in May, though. Maybe just 'cause we've seen them in recent years. Aside from the cold nights, though, I don't really mind - I prefer daytime weather like this (at least the outside temperatures) rather than extreme heat & humidity. I like t-shirt-and-jeans-and-sweatshirt weather; I've always preferred it. I just hate when I dress for warmer weather during the day and then am not prepared for the almost-freezing temperatures at night - so I walk around huddled in my thin jacket and wishing I'd worn socks.

I am totally digging warming myself in the gorgeous sunshine right now, though. Yay for laptops and wireless Internets. :)

xoxo

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: The Friday Night Knitting Club AUTHOR: Kate Jacobs
	TITLE: Daughter of Fortune AUTHOR: Isabel Allende

treat your mother right

Just thought this was appropriate for yesterday...yay, Mr. T!

Currently Reading:
	TITLE: Special Topics in Calamity Physics AUTHOR: Marisha Pessl

ugh, tests...

Well, I've decided it's high time for me to take the GRE. I keep putting it off, but I figure that's the first step in getting me anywhere on the road to grad school. I've been seriously considering (again) studying NLP, because I do love computers + grammar, but I want to do something that actually makes a difference. That's what I've really been struggling with a lot lately. So I need to do a bit more research into ways research into that field might actually help make the world a better place, someday. I'll keep y'all updated on any further developments in this vein.

For now, I'm looking into GRE books. I was thinking taking classes would be fun (mostly for the social aspect, as I kind of hate the whole marketplace of "here's how to get the edge on standarized testing!"), but they cost a whopping $1200, so that's been counted out. Besides, I know I can do fine on my own; I just need a little brushing up. It'd be fun to find a community of people to study with, though. Give each other flashcard quizzes and whatnot, haha.

It feels nice to have some sort of direction. But, I've said this sort of thing before & it's gone absolutely nowhere because of my lack of motivation. I really need to get my act together. I'll be 27 very soon. I want to actually feel like I'm at least on a path to somewhere good by 30.

Wish me luck? xoxo