Year In Review

If I were an organized craft blogger I would link to Flickr and Ravelry with photos and notes of all my finished projects. However, I still have the link to J. Crew up here and all my online tracking is still linked to my old job. So I'm not that organized.

I am proud of all my projects in 2007, disorganized as they may be. I've hinted around but never said it outright: I am deeply in debt and that is the reason I've made most of my clothes this year. So for me, 2007 was a year of being more than crafty; it was a year of learning how to not use credit cards. It's been a struggle--I fell off the wagon a few times for shoes (but I can't make shoes!) and just this week I saw my lovely sister-in-law's new boots and was extremely jealous. But in all, I've made good progress, I am paying down my bills, and I've learned how to live on what I make. I still have my moments--"champagne tastes, beer budget"--but I can resist them now.

The other thing I'm proud of this year is learning how to live alone. (And paying "living alone" rent rates, which is linked to the financial progress, too.) Just last year in this week between Christmas and January I was house- and cat-sitting and announced, "I don't want to live alone." Three months later I had signed a lease on my place, and while it took some talking to the houseplants and the cuckoo clock, I did learn to be by myself, all the time. (Bonus: The prospect of being old and alone now holds a lot less terror.) (Yes, I think of these things. Sometimes quite often.)

So lots of personal growth and financial maturity and stuff in 2007. I feel a lot older than this time last year, although I think this is helping:Nothing like a high-end kitchen appliance from your honey to make you feel adult!

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I'm feeling thwarted, craftily-speaking. When I wondered what I would knit next on Wednesday, I was serious: I have no knitting project in the works because I'm waiting to see if I get some BIRTHDAY YARN (cough!), my sewing machine at home isn't sewing, and the honeycomb print smock I'm sewing on my mother's sewing machine may very well look like a circus tent. A circus tent with wonky armhole facings, which was last night's challenge.

2. So overall, not as much is happening on this break that I wanted to. But what is the cure for "all sadness and indecision"? Champagne!

Champagne Season

I think the best part of Christmas as an adult--even better than getting things like irons, and Le Creuset skillets, and bird feeders--is deciding to celebrate with champagne. (Or sparkling wine, if we don't want to offend the French.) There was a bottle for Christmas Eve and a bottle for Christmas dinner, and there will be bottles for New Year's Eve and for my birthday (in one week!).

All the two main characters seem to do in Across the River and Into the Trees is drink champagne--or rather, Champagne, since they're drinking Roederer Brut 1942. They even bring it on their gondola ride, and say this about it: "It is good for all the ills that all of us have, and for all sadness and indecision."

Indeed.

Christmas Project Roundup

I finished the secret Christmas crafty projects just in time and now I can post pictures!

Mom got a hat and a scarf:

And Mr. Isbell got a hat that I was literally finishing on Christmas Eve:It's supposed to be hat like the ones in The Life Aquatic. (Not pictured: Lounge pants I sewed for him.)

And now I don't know what to knit next!

Do You Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas?

Check out the song!

And if you want an alpaca instead, check out Victoria, smiling at the Photoshop job:

"Something To Look Forward To At The Darkest Time Of the Year"

The Wikipedia article on the Winter Solstice (which happens sometime tomorrow) has a good section about "paralleled traditions" for celebrating the solstice in many cultures. I especially liked the part about solstice celebrations really being a therapeutic device to cope with winter:

"...Being indoors causes negative ion deficiency which decreases serotonin levels resulting in depression and tiredness. Also, getting insufficient light in the short winter days increases the secretion of melatonin in the body, off balancing the circadian rhythm with longer sleep. Exercise, light therapy, and increased negative ion exposure (which can be attained from plants and well ventilated flames burning wood or beeswax) can reinvigorate the body from its seasonal lull and relieve winter blues...Midwinter festivals and celebrations occurring on the longest night of the year, often calling for evergreens, bright illumination, large ongoing fires, feasting, communion with close ones, and evening physical exertion by dancing and singing, are examples of cultural winter therapies that have evolved as traditions since the beginnings of civilization."
Whether your celebration is therapeutic or not, remember that the worst is over. I'm going to light a candle and get some negative ions now.

Thursday Unrelated Information

Woot! I have a day off tomorrow from BOTH jobs, so it feels like my Friday!

1. After realizing one coworker was going to be out the rest of the week, I decided against a marathon knitting session last night for the other coworker. Instead, I did a marathon knitting session on a different gift. How marathon, you ask? Well, we started and finished the miniseries from the new version of Battlestar Galactica. Mr. Isbell is hooked.

2. As you might be able to tell from the late posts this week, it’s been hard to get up in the mornings. It seems even darker than usual. I’m glad the solstice is coming.

3. Speaking of dark and winter, I think this will be appropriate today:

“It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbirds sat

In the cedar-limbs"

(That’s not Japanese, it’s the last section of “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”

I Completely Forgot About The Tuesday Project Roundup

I think I was still waiting to fight more Crazy 88's yesterday morning, because I didn't even mention any projects. I can only mention, not show, because they're gifts for Christmas--Christmas, which is less than a week away, and yes, I am still knitting them. I even added one to the schedule. I had plans change and tonight became free, and in my current frantic ninja-fighting mindset, that's more than enough time to knit something to give to a coworker tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Of course I can do it. Bring it on!

Have You Ever Wondered What Working Retail During The Holiday Season Is Like?

It’s like this. You are the Bride and the customers are the Crazy 88’s and they just keep coming.

We Are Our Own O. Henry Story

Remember “The Gift of the Magi,” about a penniless married couple having mishaps with presents? Here’s my version of it: I was following Mr. Isbell home last night after an evening at his parents’ house when his tire blew out. So we both pulled over and put on the hazards, and Mr. Isbell got the donut spare and the jack out of the trunk—no problem, really. Except my Christmas present was in the trunk, too. I pretended not to notice but he said, “There’s your KitchenAid” and it was a happy Christmas moment at the side of the road.

Once we got on our way again and convoyed to my apartment, Mr. Isbell helped me unload the car. I was putting away laundry when I remembered I had one of his presents in the bags he was unloading, so I dashed out of the bedroom saying “Don’t look in the Harmons bag!” but he was already putting things back in the bag, pretending he hadn’t seen his present. So I said “There’s your Carhartts” and it was a happy Christmas moment in the kitchen.

(We’ve both decided this is turning into the “Christmas of No Surprises, but yes, I am giving Mr. Isbell more than pants.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I have a friend who's all about "asking the universe" for things and then "trusting it to answer." Well, if you ask the universe for a couch, the universe must give you an idea to look at Target.com, where you find this. Thanks, universe!(Next I have to ask the universe to make my brother let me store the chairs I'm using right now in his basement. Come on, universe!)

2. Going back to another childhood memory this week: does anyone remember this animated Sesame Street color-wheel clip? I remember the music made it especially scary because the voices never made discernible words and just repeated the same pitch. Apparently, the music was by well-known Minimalist composer Philip Glass. Still scary.

3. Could the universe be moving these rocks across Death Valley? Or is it the wind? Here's a science article that has a thrilling title: The Sliding Rocks of Racetrack Playa.

Looking For Answers

I’ve started what I’m afraid will be a very long search for a loveseat/small couch that 1.) will fit in my apartment; 2.) looks modern; 3.) doesn’t look or feel too cheap and foam-y (I hate foam; it makes me cringe); but 4.) costs three digits instead of four, preferably the lower half of three digits.

I’ve considered having two jobs through January, just to give me a larger couch fund so I have more options, but I realized there’s a problem: I also want to get a kitty in January (maybe Ponch the kitty!). And should I introduce the kitty to a new couch? Or get a used couch and not mind if kitty takes out its anxiety on it? Where are the answers?

Are they in there, kitty?

Speaking Of...

1. Christmas: The blog of Disney animation backgrounds that I mentioned a few Fridays ago posted a background from "Pluto's Christmas Tree" (1952), a short that I remember watching as a kid. The cartoon was silly but the scenes that showed Chip and Dale inside the decorated tree were just magical for me. Colors! Pine needles! Secret hiding places! I wanted to get into our Christmas tree like that. Seeing it now, it's still fabulous: (If you can stomach Pluto, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube here.)

2. Birthdays (well, we weren't speaking of them, but we are now): My sister-in-law's birthday is today! She is a rocket scientist and a gardener, has started taking piano lessons, and is crafty, too. Also, she married my brother. All of these things make her pretty cool.

Tuesday Project Roundup: The Hap-Happiest Time Of The Year Edition

I've had to ration out the crafty time since I started working so much, so most of that is going to gifts which obviously can't be posted on the internet for all (six of you) to see. Instead, I thought I'd show you how I decorated this year.

There is a garland that got the Peanuts Christmas serenade ("loo loo loo, loo loo loo loo loo") from Mr. Isbell after I plugged it in:

But the garland didn't accommodate all the ornaments, so I decked the ceiling fans:

And the plants:And the cuckoo clock:

Meanwhile, up at Blue Moon Ranch, the alpacas got their own holiday decorations:

A Snow Poem For A Monday

I've been having trouble sleeping this last week, waking up at 4:00 or so and not being able to get back to sleep. Last night my eyes popped open at 2:00; around 4:00 I got tired of turning over and got up to have some tea (mmm, valerian). Just to get my mind on something other than not sleeping, I picked up the big poetry anthology and found some Wallace Stevens, which I read while looking out the window at the snow.

"The Snow Man"

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

Then the valerian made me dizzy and I went back to bed, where I eventually fell asleep on my stomach and woke up with a neck ache. But it's a nice poem, huh?

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Hey, did anyone read about Mitt Romney's speech that was supposed to calm people's fears about voting for a Mormon? It's mind-boggling! Here's a choice excerpt:

"There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders...Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."

Um, Mitt? The definition of freedom is that nothing is required. And you should really take a break from blow-drying your hair and READ some of the nation's founders thoughts on religion. Like Thomas Jefferson, who wrote, "Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law." (Seriously, does anyone else find this speech extraordinarily chilling? Candidates will start preaching "Strength through unity, unity through faith" next.)

2. Okay. Let's retreat back into our happy bubble that is untouched by politics and take a virtual trip to Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital, a 24/7, 365-day animal hospital in Britain that rescues "hedgehogs, badgers, wild birds, foxes, and even reptiles and amphibians." I love that a.) the hospital is named after a Beatrix Potter character and that b.) they'll "even" rescue non-cuddly animals.

3. It's going to snow again Saturday. I got stuck in my driveway the last time it snowed. I am dreading the snow.

4. Deutsche Grammophon, in my opinion the best classical label out there, has launched an iTunes-like online store of its entire catalog, including physically out of print recordings. If I didn't have to work the other job Saturday, I'd stay inside all day and download Corelli and Bach.

Agency Love

It's been a busy week at the agency, with all sorts of deadlines getting shifted, projects redefined, and changes made that affect all the deliverables I've written in the last two weeks that should be in final layout but instead get to be tracked down and reconciled. (And I just used "deliverable" in a sentence. It's getting to me!)

But something always makes me feel better, and that something is angry blogs written by creatives. (And now I just used "creatives". Help me.) My new favorite is Why Advertising Sucks, but click through at your own risk--it's pretty profane and misspelled, which I blame on the force of the writer's anger. There was a fantastic post from a while back titled, "5 Things You Should Never Ask a Creative." I liked #4 a lot:

#4. Are you sure that word is right?
No. I took 4-6 years of college, have worked in advertising for a couple of years and actually passed the ninth grade but I’m not sure if that word is right. If by "right" you want to see if I’ll offer you synonyms for a word that has nothing wrong with it, then I can offer you one option, let me do my job while you [redacted] your [redacted] rather than a thesaurus.

Not that I've ever felt that way or anything.

I'm Pretty Good With A Bo Staff

Last night Mr. Isbel and I were finishing our marathon of all seasons of “The Office” when he paused it and asked me, “Do you hear that?” “That” was a sort of electric grinding noise, like a power tool, and it was coming from the neighbor’s backyard.

Now, the neighbors in the house south of my building are strange. They have a pirate flag on their porch, so I call it Pirate House. After nine months, I still haven’t figured out who lives in the Pirate House and who just visits. Once, Mr. Isbell swore that he saw a couple of dudes walking into Pirate House carrying a battle axe. I didn’t really believe him. I should have.

It turns out that last night’s power tool noise was a grinder in Pirate House’s backyard. A man was using the grinder to sharpen a blade at the end of a 12-foot spear. After it was sharpened, he proceeded to practice his spear moves in the backyard, including whirling it around, striking a post, and thrusting. We watched in disbelief from my bedroom window—until we realized we didn’t want to be discovered spying on a man who was obviously pretty expert with a spear.

As we (regretfully) turned away, I was speechless. But Mr. Isbel said, with awe in his voice, “We should party with that dude.”

Tuesday Project Roundup: NaKniVeMoNo Edition

Remember National Knit A Sweater In the Month of November? Well, I knit a vest, and it's only December 4, so I think I can say I participated. The straps got a little stretched out so I need to re-block it, but I decided to wear it today anyway. It's been a long time since I knit something for myself that I'm happy with, and while this is still a little wonky (notice I'm not showing you the back?)I'm pretty happy with it.

Breakfast In The South Of France (Wish I Had Some/Was There)

I usually make myself eat a piece of toast or yogurt in the mornings, but I haven't made a full breakfast with eggs in a few weeks. I think part of the appeal of this passage from The Garden of Eden lies in the fact that they're in a cafe in the Camargue eating it, but doesn't it sound like a delicious breakfast?

On this morning there was brioche and red raspberry preserve and the eggs were boiled and there was a pat of butter that melted as they stirred them and salted them lightly and ground pepper over them in the cups. They were big eggs and fresh...he was happy with his which he diced up with the spoon and ate with only the flow of the butter to moisten them and the fresh early morning texture and the bite of the coarsely ground pepper graines and the hot coffee and the chicory-fragrant bowl of cafe au lait.

Mmm, breakfast. How long until lunch?