Manicure SOS (First-World Problem)

Does anyone reading this get manicures and have a place to recommend? I don't know what it's going to take to get me to stop destroying my hands, but that might be a place to start. (Of course, I would feel too embarrassed at the state of my hands right now to go to a manicurist, so I'd have to try to get them fixed up a little beforehand. Kind of like cleaning the house before the cleaning lady gets there.)

*Doesn't that post title look like it could be a song title?

Tuesday Project Roundup: Prints Charming

Groan! Sorry, I only have a pile of spring fabrics this week. The current project has to be turned into a tunic instead of a dress because of length and fit issues, so I wasn't very excited to finish it Saturday.
But as soon as I can finish the now-a-tunic, I can make those pink flowers on top into a pencil skirt. The bottom fabric is for another skirt and the two in the middle will be dresses.

It's Monday

It's going to be a busy week at work, but at least I can listen to Otis Redding knocking it out of the park with his cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."



Otis knows what it's like to be unsatisfied! He knows how it feels to have to write websites when you just want to shop online! Sing it, Otis!

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Life has posted some previously unpublished pictures of Steve McQueen from 1963--"enlarge" will take you to the full gallery, which is well worth it:


2. My office started a March Madness bracket thing, which I don't understand at all. I do understand a contest between cake and pie, though. (Pie for the win!) March Madness: Cake vs. Pie.

3. I don't get a newspaper any more, as you might have guessed from the lack of all political content over the last six months, but yay, a health care bill passed! I really didn't expect it to.There's a good Paul Krugmen op-ed from the NYTimes to read here.

A Poem For Thinking About Stuff

Lately I've been going crazy shopping for spring fabric and thinking about shoes to buy and things to get for the apartment (more than usual, I mean), so today's poem is about things.

Things

Liesel Mueller

What happened is, we grew lonely
living among the things,
so we gave the clock a face,
the chair a back,
the table four stout legs
which will never suffer fatigue.

We fitted our shoes with tongues
as smooth as our own
and hung tongues inside bells
so we could listen
to their emotional language,

and because we loved graceful profiles
the pitcher received a lip,
the bottle a long, slender neck.

Even what was beyond us
was recast in our image;
we gave the country a heart,
the storm an eye,
the cave a mouth
so we could pass into safety.

I Know It's Called "Before," But A Lot Of "After" Was Left Out

I finally watched Coco Before Chanel last night and it was about what I expected: More romance than fashion, with lots of montages. It started out pretty well but ended with Chanel being reflected in endless mirrors while models who were 2010-skinny put on a fashion show. I know there was more to the "after" of her career than that.

I enjoyed that the film's first half presented her as so cynical about love...until "the love of her life" died and the penultimate montage made it seem like she spent the rest of her life mourning him. (What about Stravinsky? Or that German officer she met in WWII? Talk about a pretext for a film.)

But it was enjoyable, if only to see some sewing and fabric on film. My favorite part was near the end, when she unrolled a bolt of powder-pink boucle suiting in that same "my lover is dead and I'm sewing through my grief" montage. I want some of that boucle!

Tuesday Project Roundup: If You Get An Outfit You Can Be A Yogi, Too

When I wrote "Refresh my yoga skills" on my list of 30 Things, I never really did the math on when I actually last did yoga. Well, it turns out that "in college" doesn't mean just a few years ago anymore, and after a decade without yoga I think I need to amend #9 to be "Learn yoga skills all over again."

Fortunately, I have a way to carry my mat to class now, assuming I can make myself start going:

This was a fun, fast project made entirely of fabrics I had around the house. The pockets around the bottom, the strap, and the lining were left over from the pillows I made before Christmas, and the body fabric was a filing cabinet cover I made when I moved here that was recently retired in the Post-breakup Living Room Re-do of '09.

I have to give special thanks to my crafty friend Kara, who inspired me with her bag last month and then suggested this pattern (a free Amy Butler download). Thanks, Kara!

Two Years Of Toby

Today marks two years of Toby in my life! He's the best cat and the best friend and very probably the love of my life.*

Here he is on day 3 (so small!):

And here he is on day 728:
I love this cat so much. Here's to many more days.

*I'm also celebrating two years of being a crazy cat lady; can you tell?

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Today in 2003--seven years ago--W announced the beginning of the Iraq War. Seven years is longer than our involvement in any war except Vietnam, but don't worry: The War in Afghanistan has just tied that (8 years, 5 months).

2. Moving right along, this set of pictures of Paris in the springtime will get you singing "April in Paris" or "I Love Paris [in the springtime]."

3. It will be bike-riding season soon. I see many more devoted riders out already. I'm always intimidated by the thought of riding again but then I get over it.

Because The Internet Is Great

I found a new site devoted to pictures of Mick Jagger (with an awesome URL)--what better thing to share on a Thursday?

Serious Mick.

Good Mick.


Houndstooth Mick!

You're welcome.

Next Time You're Around A Typewriter

I just learned two more pangrams (sentences that contain all the letters of the alphabet) in addition to "The quick brown fox" and thought I'd share:

1. Viewing quizzical abstracts mixed up hefty jocks.
2. Back in my quaint garden jaunty zinnias vie with flaunting phlox.

Now you can impress your friends while trying out different typewriters.

Tuesday Project Roundup: So Much For Finishing Before Spring

I know that we will have a few more snow storms before the weather really starts getting warm, but the equinox is Saturday, and I don't think I will have sleeves and button bands by then.

Oh, well--as my mother said when I complained that this sweater seemed like it was taking forever, "It seems like thin yarn."

Let's Hear It For The First World!

Yesterday morning the Liberty of London for Target merchandise hit stores, and now I understand the mentality that leads to stampedes for discount DVD players. Fortunately, it was a Sunday in Utah so no one was rioting for floral-printed home goods, but I ended up going to four different Targets anyway. My friend Kara and I were on the phone comparing selections between Targets: "I'm at Jordan Landing and they have candles and stationery!" "Centerville has a lot of dresses!"

Yes, driving miles and miles in a car, to get stuff made in China, that I don't really need but was heavily hyped and marketed*...yay, America!


*I am happy with what I bought, though. And I appreciate some good hyping; I work in advertising. Besides, I focused mostly on home stuff like a teapot and dishes. So very practical!

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Sherlock Holmes was watched successfully last and and it was delightful--definitely worth the wait(s). The story was more faithful than I could have hoped, with actual lines of dialogue lifted straight from the books, and even though they made Irene Adler his girlfriend (and dressed her up like a romanticized prostitute from the Wild West*), most of the Holmes adaptations do that. Besides, I have the BBC for more accurate costume dramas--this one combined my literary crush and my actor crush. Enough said.

2. *Irene Adler was a lady marrying nobility in the one story in which she appears. I don't think she would have chosen fuchsia satin.

3. Happy birthday, Jack Kerouac!

Third Time's The Charm

My work friend and I are going to try one last time to see Sherlock Holmes in a theater tonight, so wish us luck.

And since I'm talking about movies, check out the gallery of movie posters "if they were honest." I really love the one for UP:

Wednesday Project Roundup: Travel Knitting

Even though I am still slowly knitting my way through the not-so-elaborate cabled sweater, it was too bulky to take with me on a carry-on to the beach. So I started a new project, also very popular in the knitting world--a short sleeve cardigan from a free pattern here.

I'm using the yarn I got in the fall to make a different sweater that I just got too bored with (it was a spring color anyway). So I unraveled what I had done and started again and got about six inches of the new pattern knit over the weekend.

Ultimately, it will look something like this:

Tuesday Vacation Report

I'm back from the beach and, while it was a little chilly and I was fighting a head cold, it was nice to be by the ocean.

It was especially nice to hear it at night. One of my favorite chapters of The Gastronomical Me describes MFK Fisher's visit to the coast of Mexico, and she has this to say about the ocean:
"I slept like a cat all night, dreaming good dreams in my well-being, but hearing the waves when I wanted to through the dreams."

(I brought some vacation knitting, so I'll put up a Project Roundup tomorrow.)

Two Pretty Things For Monday

Jackie Kennedy and the Taj Mahal:

And closer:

Found via Life again, from her trip to India in 1962. Lots of great pinks in that set.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Monday was Holi, a holiday I knew nothing about. According to Wikipedia, "Holi, or Holli, also called the Festival of Colors, is a spring festival celebrated by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and others." I like spring and colors. Read more here.

2. The slideshow name says it all (and the captions are funny): A History of Obama Feigning Interest in Mundane Things

3. And finally:

Let's Talk About Accessories

Specifically, big sunglasses: I found the archives of Life magazine last Saturday and got sucked into looking at pictures of Jackie Kennedy, whose trademark (after Camelot) was big sunglasses.
Then I saw this stylish lady on The Sartorialist yesterday, who is also making me want to talk about leopard print, as well:

I haven't worn big sunglasses in a few years because I think there's a risk, with short hair, of them looking like this. But now I am reconsidering.

Maybe The Universe Is Telling Me I'd Really Hate This Movie And, Therefore, Doing Me A Favor

I tried to go to the Sherlock Holmes movie at Brewvies again last night (a week after my work friend and I got to see five minutes of it before the film broke) and, as you might guess from the title of this, no deal. When I had checked the schedule online Monday night there was an 8:00 showing, but when we got to the theater it had been pushed back to 9:30 to accommodate a special event for Engineers Without Borders.

Dammit, Brewvies, as much as I want to continue liking you, you're making it really difficult. You should probably consider hiring projectionists who aren't so stoned they put the film in wrong. Perhaps updating your website a little sooner than the day of an event would be a good idea, too. (And universe, I know the film is in no way faithful to the Conan Doyle stories, but I really like Robert Downey, Jr. And now this has become a challenge.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: One More For The Beach

I probably should have spent my time finishing a sweater to wear instead of sewing a spring tunic (the latest reports are predicting rain in California), but I used the trip as an excuse for some more Liberty of London fabric.
I made my favorite Simplicity pattern (for about the sixth time) and it was delightful to work with the Liberty print--so much color and detail.
I bought my fabric before I saw that Target was launching a similar print, so I hope no one asks me if I got it at Target. And I hope I can layer a sweater over the sleeves easily.

Like Christmas Morning

Last week started looking up when I discovered nearly 30 full-length Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes on Google Video*. Thirty of them! That I don't have to wait to arrive via Netflix!

Over the weekend I was finally able to see Space Mutiny, featuring the many nicknames of the hero (seriously, watch it):


And I watched Final Sacrifice, featuring the sidekick...ROWSDOWER:


I love this show so much. Toby is affronted by my laughter in the evenings.