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I finished the pajamas that match my robe on Friday and have been sleeping in them ever since, which is why they look slept in:
These (and the robe, too) were fun projects--my machine makes putting on piping really slick and I'm happy with how everything turned out.Piping detail and darker photo that is closer to the real color:
I feel very put together in the mornings now, which is always a good thing. I'm already planning a winter version.
It's the birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the dashing French pilot who wrote Night Flight and
Wind, Sand, and Stars--and wrote and illustrated The Little Prince. He was shot down on a reconaissance flight over the Mediterranean in WWII.Here's the most famous quote from The Little Prince:
Translated as, "It is only with the heart that one sees rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."
1. Transformers 2 started out pretty good for a mindless action movie, but by the second hour it became clear that when Michael Bay had to choose between paying the writers to finish the script and adding more explosions, he chose the explosions. 2. Poor Michael Jackson. In the first gossip going around at work yesterday, one of my bosses asked, "What happened? Did one of his monkeys kill him?"3. Here's a J.D. Salinger quote to ponder, from "De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period" in Nine Stories:The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy is a liquid.
We're going to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen tonight, and while I don't have high expectations of it, just yesterday I found a priceless review by Roger Ebert that makes me think it's going to be pretty bad:"If you want to save yourself the ticket price, go into the kitchen, cue up a male choir singing the music of hell, and get a kid to start banging pots and pans together. Then close your eyes and use your imagination.""The music of hell"? Roger Ebert, you are a treasure. I will think of your review tonight in the theater and probably laugh in inappropriate moments.
And speaking of movies: This site is genius. Genius! Why has no one thought of this before?
"Enjoy the sunshine today."
I've been reading about an elderflower liquer in my magazines for a while now, and it's finally available in the liquor stores here! (Well, in the new wine store, at least.) I'd been subsituting the non-alcoholic IKEA elderflower concentrate ("Fladersaft") in the recipes I'd read calling for the liquer, but this
has nothing on this:
Buy it for the bottle alone, and feel like your apartment is really full of French antiques and witty people enjoying a full bar whenever you open the cupboard. The site is nice, too--the St. Germain Cocktail with sparkling wine and soda water is going to be the new fancy drink around here.
1. The summer solstice is this weekend. Perhaps it will actually be WARM this summer. I'm not holding my breath, though.2. I have another work project to share: Provo Craft's microsite for a Cricut promotion. More exclamation points that I've ever used in my life contained herein. (I've also written the blog posts to date.)3. Speaking of blogs, Mr. Isbell has one now: animaaeturnus.blogspot.com. It is geekier than I am really comfortable with--and I just heard him talk about the langugaes used in Star Wars (Galactic Basic and Huttese!)--but it shows off his mad model-painting skills. His blog name is "Lord Captain Valentine;" I call him "Cap'n."
I finished the sweater discussed yesterday and am wearing it today. I'll have to wait to block it before I put it away for the summer, but I got a sweater in a week and a chance to wear it--not too bad.
I blame the rain for this project. I was going absolutely crazy by Tuesday, so started looking for a summer sweater to knit, despite my history of finishing summer sweaters in time for fall. Then I saw an extra-chunky project that could, in theory, be finished over the weekend and worn while it's still cool and rainy.
(This is not me, as I did NOT finish over the weekend. The pattern's from this book.)I'm not sure why anyone needs a turtleneck with no sleeves made out of really thick, really warm wool, but it looked cool, gave me somewhere to put my nervous energy, and the yarn was on sale.I'm so close to being done, but I only have about two more days before the weather is going to turn nice again and I won't be able to wear it until October. I'd better get knitting.
This poem was featured on The Writer's Almanac last Thursday in the middle of the most emotionally difficult week in recent memory, so it was nice to read. I will try to keep it in mind this week:Horses At Midnight Without A Moon
by Jack GilbertOur heart wanders lost in the dark woods. Our dream wrestles in the castle of doubt. But there's music in us. Hope is pushed down but the angel flies up again taking us with her. The summer mornings begin inch by inch while we sleep, and walk with us later as long-legged beauty through the dirty streets. It is no surprise that danger and suffering surround us. What astonishes is the singing. We know the horses are there in the dark meadow because we can smell them, can hear them breathing. Our spirit persists like a man struggling through the frozen valley who suddenly smells flowers and realizes the snow is melting out of sight on top of the mountain, knows that spring has begun.
1. If you like 30 Rock and you liked The Muppet Show, you'll enjoy this blog post that compares the two. The pictures of parallel characters are great.2. The gardening is going well. The tomatoes in the long bed got staked Saturday (the last day we've been able to work in the yard; stupid rain) and we planted cabbages and still more tomatoes.
3. Good times with student writing workshop commentary.
I meant to add this Venn diagram to my work post yesterday--"How to be Happy in Business":
(Click for big. You can buy a poster here.)And, while posting Venn diagrams, I really like this one about social media:
This one you can get on a t-shirt.
A couple of sites I worked on the last two months are finally live:(I've done more than this, of course. Have I mentioned the work that required a trip on a private jet?)
I had to scrap the yellow pin dot dress (the fabric wasn't working with the pattern and it was awfully yellow), and while putting it in the "fail bin" I noticed a chambray dress I'd scrapped two summers ago. I put that one away because I couldn't figure out the placket; but in the last two years I've made plenty of plackets like that so I finished it up over the weekend:
I can't place the pattern exactly--maybe early 70's? Here's the envelope: 
It's not the best dress I've ever made but it will be fine to wear to the farmer's market. I'm liking chambray a lot lately: I've bought trousers and a shirt made out of it (yay disposable income!), and now I have this. The fabric reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath.
We know Toby was born in June, because he was nine months old last March when we adopted him. I arbitrarily picked June third as his birthday because it was the same day of the month as mine, making it easy to remember.Well, June 3 came this year and I was out of town--I missed his birthday! Fortunately, cats don't really keep track. I did bring him presents Sunday: a new scratching post and a crinkle tube that he loves.
It's a pretty dark photo, but I'm sure Toby likes how it makes him look more like a vicious hunter hiding in the jungle (tunnel).
1. I didn't mean to sound as if I was complaining about the ride on a private jet yesterday; the booties just struck me as funny. (To be clear, I was complaining about Unprofessional Dude.) Maybe it was a "the rich aren't different from you and me" moment.2. Another baby at the alpaca ranch:
3. That's all I have. I'm dragging today.
1. If the owner of the conglomerate we were hired by can afford a private jet, can't he afford to have the jet's carpets cleaned? If so, then why would we all have to wear booties over our shoes while in the plane?2. Is it really professional to point out various landmark places of worship in the Salt Lake Valley as we fly over them and talk about doing religious work in each one of them? Was it really only this guys righteousness that was keeping the plane in the air? Because it was starting to feel like it. (This guy wasn't with our company, fortunately; but professionalism FAIL.)Anyway, glad to be back.
...is happening right now, so I'm using Blogger's scheduled posting function to tell you this. Someone didn't want me to leave:
Back this afternoon and posting live tomorrow.
I always thought the concept of nightwear was just odd--clothing you change into especially for sleeping? But as I head into 30, it's starting to sound sane and adult, especially matching nightwear. So I started by making a robe: 
Pajamas to follow. Then some sort of increased maturity.
Upset by the latest news? Feeling blue? I have two words for you: Baby alpaca! The first cria of the year was born at Blue Moon Ranch Saturday:
