Friday Unrelated Information

1. Have you all heard about the killer whale killing a trainer at Sea World? Let's see, we make a creature with highly evolved social networks and communication skills and the ability to swim vast distances live in something the size of a bathtub, alone, and we're surprised when this happens? I'd be plotting to kill my captors, too.

2. The latest science news tells us that the world we know may be a giant hologram, so maybe I shouldn't let things like #1 upset me so much. It's also kind of reminiscent of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

3. I saw this image on a t-shirt but now I can't find a link to the shirt, just the image. "So long and thanks for all the fish," indeed.

Nice Things

It has been a week of crazy clients, anxiety, and stupid things happening (Toby's space heater broke, I tried to go to Brewvies Tuesday after work and the film projector broke, etc. etc.), so I had to read some Franny and Zooey last night. Here is a scene of Zooey watching a little girl playing with her dog--and yes, in the book it's all one paragraph:

A fair-sized maple tree stood in front of the girls' private school...and at that moment a child of seven or eight, female, was hiding behind it. She was wearing a navy-blue reefer and a tam that was very nearly the same shade of red as the blanket on the bed in van Gogh's room at Arles. Her tam did, in fact, from Zooey's vantage point, appear not unlike a daub of paint. Some fifteen feet away from the child, her dog--a young dachshund, wearing a green leather collar and leash--was sniffing to find her, scurrying in frantic circles, his leash dragging behind him. The anguish of separation was scarcely bearable for him, and when at last he picked up his mistress's scent, it wasn't a second too soon. The joy of reunion, for both, was immense. The dachshund gave a little yelp, then cringed forward, shimmying with ecstasy, till his mistress, shouting something at him, stepped hurriedly over the wire guard surrounding the tree and picked him up. She said a number of words of praise to him...then put him down and picked up his leash, and the two walked gaily west, toward Fifth Avenue and the Park and out of Zooey's sight..."God damn it," he said, "there are nice things in the world--and I mean nice things. We're all such morons to get so sidetracked."

Does This Apply To Writing Websites, Too?

What is demanding and fulfilling is writing a single word, trying to write le mot juste, as Flaubert said; writing several of them, which become a sentence. When a writer does that, day after day, working alone with little encouragement, often with discouragement flowing in the writer’s own blood, and with an occasional rush of excitement … the treasure is on the desk.

[...]The writer who endures and keeps working will finally know that writing the book was something hard and glorious, for at the desk a writer must try to be free of prejudice, meanness of spirit, pettiness, and hatred; strive to be a better human being than the writer normally is, and to do this through concentration on a single word, and then another, and another. This is splendid work, as worthy and demanding as any, and the will and resilience to do it are good for the writer’s soul.

I don't think Andre Dubus wrote for the web a lot, but it's still something to consider.

Tuesday Project Roundup: This Looks Like Another Vacation

Why yes, I am going on another quick trip in a couple of weeks--this time to the beach in California. (I haven't traveled this much in two years. Poor Toby!) My oldest friend is also turning 30 and has arranged a beach house weekend for eight other people, with menus and itineraries and everything else planned. So the least I could do was make a new dress for the event:
This was one of the new Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity patterns and I have to say I like it a lot. Here's a better idea of the fabric color (and my own lack thereof):

(While we're on the subject...spray tans: Pro or con? I'm thinking con, but I don't want to blind everyone in the group with my special shade of pale, either.)

All This Sheep Hair

(Click the image to make it bigger.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I always wish I had gotten a better grasp of the concepts behind math instead of just memorizing the rules, so this new series from the NY Times is perfect: A math professor is going through math concepts a step at a time in a weekly column. There's more to be learned than just math, too--in the second column, he tells us that "The word 'calculate'...comes from the Latin word 'calculus,' meaning a pebble used for counting." Who knew?

2. I've debated sharing this, because it could mean more people camping out by Target on March 14, but did you know that they're collaborating with my favorite textile designer Liberty of London and releasing a collection of clothes, homewares, and even bicycles? Check out the teaser video here.

3. Do you know what else happens March 14? Mad Men Season 3 is released on DVD! I can't wait for March 14.

Happy Birthday, Wallace Stegner

He would have been 101 today!

"If there is such a thing as being conditioned by climate and geography, and I think there is, it is the West that has conditioned me. It has the forms and lights and colors that I respond to in nature and in art. If there is a western speech, I speak it; if there is a western character or personality, I am some variant of it; if there is a western culture in the small-c , anthropological sense, I have not escaped it. It has to have shaped me. I may even have contributed to it in minor ways, for culture is a pyramid to which each of us brings a stone."

Thumbs Up

There's a long article about Roger Ebert up on Esquire.com right now, and it's worth a read. If you didn't already admire a man who described watching the first Twilight movie as "driving a tractor in low gear through a sullen sea of Brylcreem," you probably will after reading this.

Tuesday Project Roundup: More Experiments With Knits

After I found that fabulous navy wool jersey at such a great price, I had to order more "wool knit" from the same place. As it turns out, though, that's a crucial difference in terms: You might picture wool jersey (i.e., t-shirt fabric) but if you order wool knit, you end up with something like the world's nicest stretchy terrycloth. So I went with a novelty top.

This silk Anthropologie blouse had a similar shape to the pattern I used for the first Vegas dress, so I thought I'd go for a similar look, sans giraffe.

While I'm not sure how successful my copy is, it didn't cost $228. That might be enough of a success right there.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Happy birthday, Charles Darwin!

2. This week, the Astronomy Picture of the Day site taught me that volcanoes can form lightning when they erupt. Go see the picture (and check out out the "lunar fog bow" [night rainbow!] while you're there, too).

3. Happy Lunar New Year on Sunday. All the newer casinos in Las Vegas were decorated last week--here's a big tiger from the Bellagio:

A Poem For The One You Love

Because it's Valentine's Day this weekend, and because this poem works equally well (or better) recited to your cat (whom you will always look out for), or your family members.

This Year's Valentine

by Philip Appleman

They could
pump frenzy into air ducts
and rage into reservoirs,
dynamite dams
and drown cities,
cry fire in theaters
as the victims are burning,
but
I will find my way through blackened streets
and kneel down at your side.

They could
jump the median, head-on,
and obliterate the future,
fit .45's to the hands of kids
and skate them off to school,
flip live butts into tinderbox forests
and hellfire half the heavens,
but
in the rubble of smoking cottages
I will hold you in my arms.

They could
send kidnappers to kindergartens
and pedophiles to playgrounds,
wrap themselves in Old Glory
and gut the Bill of Rights,
pound the door with holy screed
and put an end to reason,
but
I will cut through their curtains of cunning
and find you somewhere in the moonlight.

Whatever they do with their anthrax or chainsaws,
however they strip-search or brainwash or blackmail,
they cannot prevent me from sending you robins,
all of them singing: I'll be there.

A Craft Thief?

For the first time at this apartment, a package I was expecting has gone missing. What makes me suspect a craft thief? The package had vintage patterns in it. Plus, my JoAnn sales mailer hasn't arrived and I know that they're having a President's Day sale.

Will the patterns turn up? Will I ever get a 40% coupon for JoAnn? Who could be sabotaging my crafty endeavors? It's a mystery. (Also, am I glad this is my only problem? Yes.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Another Positive

Since I'm finding the silver lining of my far-from-successful trip to Las Vegas, here's one more: I got to make another knit dress, this time with some really nice wool jersey.
(Please ignore the cat on a towel on the rug in the reflection.)

I used the pattern in the Sew U: Home Stretch book that taught me how to sew knits and I got the fabric from my favorite online discount place.
As I've mentioned before, I feel as chic in navy as I'm sure the hipsters and artists and designers feel in black. Plus, I don't get bored sewing navy fabric and I always have to think of Coco Chanel. So a win all around, made possible by Las Vegas (ugh).

Where You Folks From?

So I was in Las Vegas most of last week (which you may not have realized due to the magic of scheduled posts) but it just wasn't how I thought it would be: I've been twice in the last ten years and I guess enough time lapses between trips that I think it's a glamorous, exciting place complete with Elvis and Danny Ocean, when in reality it's a glorified miniature golf course.

There wasn't a lot of sunshine, I don't gamble, vast seas of humanity are not my idea of a good time, I missed Toby...I could go on and on (and on. Ask me about the cleanliness of the rooms in the Monte Carlo sometime.). But instead, I will choose to look at it as my oldest friend suggested: I got out of my comfort zone and pushed my limits, so really it was a trip of growth and self-discovery.

And I will remember this discovery when Vegas starts sounding exciting again in about five years.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. This has been making the rounds on all the design blogs already, but it's funny: Unhappy Hipsters, which puts funny captions to pictures published in the mod design magazine Dwell.

2. I've just discovered businessguysonbusinesstrips.com which has comics making fun of advertising life. This one is eerily true to life when the senior people and the clients get going:

3. Palm trees! I'll be seeing palm trees!

Thank You Very Much

So as I mentioned, I'm going to Las Vegas (where it is even more warm and spring-like than it was here on Monday), so of course I had to track down some Elvis videos on YouTube. While this isn't the original version of "A Little Less Conversation", the mix below does a great job of showing him in his bespangled, be-jumpsuited Las Vegas glory. Enjoy.

A Cocktail For The Last Half Of Winter

While I'm not one to get tired of whiskey or scotch or gin (oh my), sometimes it's nice to break out of the seasonal rut--which for me in winter is whiskey or scotch or a Gibson. I'm slowly stocking up my bar for the 30 Things, so when I was thinking of cocktail options I wasn't able to make a Sidecar with brandy, but I discovered the Chelsea Sidecar.

Take 2 ounces of gin, half an ounce of Cointreau, and a teaspoon of lemon juice and shake it up. Enjoy the lemony deliciousness and the frosty cold gin. Just enjoy slowly, because this one is strong.

Besides its delicious taste, this one gets extra points because it's an even lesser-known variation on an old-fashioned cocktail and it has "Chelsea" in the name, which makes you feel all sorts of late 60's mod and hip. Although that could just be the gin.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Viva Las Vegas

I have a trip to Las Vegas coming up with my friend from my stationery days, so of course I had to make some things to wear for it. As I reviewed my progress on the 29 Things at the end of 2009, I realized that I hadn't sewn any knits since that spring. Knits + travel = easy packing and no wrinkles, so I made a couple of knit dresses.

Here's the first, with some ordinary fabric from JoAnn (in case I was out of the habit of sewing knits). I used this pattern from Simplicity and, despite cutting the back a little crooked, it turned out pretty well.

The print reminds me of the old casino signs, so it's perfect for fabulous Las Vegas.

We Made It Through January

Happy February first (or Imbolc, if you're a Druid). Did we all enjoy the mix of snow and sun and high 40's yesterday? It made me think that yes, we can get through this. I always think of a Wallace Stevens poem at this time of year--"at the end of winter when afternoons return."

The Poems of our Climate

I
Clear water in a brilliant bowl,
Pink and white carnations. The light
In the room more like a snowy air,
Reflecting snow. A newly-fallen snow
At the end of winter when afternoons return.
Pink and white carnations - one desires
So much more than that. The day itself
Is simplified: a bowl of white,
Cold, a cold porcelain, low and round,
With nothing more than the carnations there.

II
Say even that this complete simplicity
Stripped one of all one's torments, concealed
The evilly compounded, vital I
And made it fresh in a world of white,
A world of clear water, brilliant-edged,
Still one would want more, one would need more,
More than a world of white and snowy scents.

III
There would still remain the never-resting mind,
So that one would want to escape, come back
To what had been so long composed.
The imperfect is our paradise.
Note that, in this bitterness, delight,
Since the imperfect is so hot in us,
Lies in flawed words and stubborn sounds.