Friday Unrelated Information

1. Even with the snow over the past two days, I keep thinking of this quote from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: "This is no thaw, this is spring!" (Said by the evil dwarf to the White Witch, which pisses her off.)

2. The Muppet Show has been coming from Netflix this week and I'm remembering things I didn't know I'd forgotten, like DR. TEETH AND THE ELECTRIC MAYHEM:
That is seriously the best band name ever.

3. I found a gallery of images online this week called Silhouette Masterpiece Theater, which is as cool as it sounds. This is my favorite (click to enlarge):

St. Valentine's

As Nigel Slater says, "St. Valentine's is rather like Christmas, in that if you ignore it, you always end up regretting it, feeling mean and cynical. Yes, it is more than a bit cheesy, but I think we have to go with it."

And go with it we shall, Nigel. In years past, I have never been bothered by being single on Valentine's Day nearly as much as I was bothered by being single on New Years Eve, but I obviously didn't do much in the way of celebration. And when I wasn't alone I still didn't really make a fuss about the holiday, due to the nagging fear that the partner of the moment would get scared off. (Which I guess they did anyway. No great loss.)

But now, I have a honey who seems like he will stick around in spite of my many moments, and I couldn't be happier that his idea of celebrating nearly everything is just like mine: seafood. (And champagne, of course; any excuse for that.) Happy St. Valentine's, my seafood-eating, blog-commenting, public-declaration-of-sentiment-inducing, continually-patient, dear.

A Note To Senator Chris Buttars

Dear Chris (on the right),
Jesus said we shouldn't hate people. Just thought you might need a little reminder.

Love,
Karen


(Story here.)
(Bonus story of more inappropriateness here.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Next, I Will Sew A Car Edition

Now I’m sewing furniture. Well, it’s technically a really big pillow (that took 8.5 pounds of fiberfill to stuff!) but it’s being used as an ottoman, so I think it’s furniture. Behold!

Of course, right after I finished this my brother and sister-in-law found a round ottoman at Target for the price I paid for the fabric alone. But mine is certainly more fiberfill-ious.

Cute Goat Picture Monday

Today I was going to play either Ad Police (the Utah anti-meth ads really bother me) or Word Police (seriously, Trolley Square? You really want to post a flier a year after your fatal shootings that says, "Hit the Bricks! Shop til You Drop!" ?) but I don't think righteous indignation is what we need on a Monday.

No, what we need on a Monday are pictures of cute baby goats:

(Pictures taken from search results for "cute baby goat," of course.)

Now we can pretend we work on a goat dairy instead of various business-to-business tech accounts.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The Tribune had an awesome typo this week in Wednesday's coverage of restaurants offering fixed-price, or prix-fixe (pronounced "pree feex") meals: They spelled it "pre-fixe".

2. Quote of the week from my blog readings: Rachel Ray "has tourettes of retarded sayings" (from isuwannee.blogspot.com).

3. Have you been wondering what breed of sheep to include on your ranch? Check out the A-Z guide of sheep breeds! www.sheep101.info

Winter, I Say, "Meh" To You

I was so unhappy to see the snow yesterday morning, but then I remembered that 1.) it'd not dark until 6:00 these days; 2.) I can hear birds in the morning; and 3.) there are real afternoons again--it's not just lunchtime and then dusk.

Plus, I found this quote in The Kitchen Diaries while I was looking for something to cook that wasn't cream- or cheese-based over the weekend:
"People get down about this time of year, but even today [at the market] there were fat little partridges, clementines heavy with juice, and bunches of narcissi to cheer us up. There is good stuff if you are prepared to go and find it."

And while partridge carcasses don't cheer me up, the sentiment of the last line is sound.

Word Police 2: Bad Word Combinations In The Latest Anthropologie Catalog

"Eyelet cargo shorts"
"Fiery dew"
"Zulu knobs"
"Colorful buzzards"

Oh Anthropologie, your clothes are so expensive, your copy so bad.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Stop Worrying About Throw Pillows And Go Vote Edition

Remember: Obama, bama, bo-bama, banana fana fo-fama, mi my mo mama--OBAMA!

Because we can always worry about what throw pillows to make to match the couch later.

Post-Superbowl Madness

MADNESS, I say! I couldn't care less about the actual football, but there were some high points. Did you see the kitty halftime show on Animal Planet? The FedEx commercial with the giant pigeons?

Another high point: This McSweeney's list, titled "NFL Players Whose Names Sound Vaguely Dickensian, And The Characters They Would Be In An Actual Dickens Novel (2007-2008 Regular Season Edition."

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I have a couch! I feel just like a real adult now, with a KitchenAid and flat-pack furniture.
2. It's February 1st, also known as Imbolc if you're a Celt or St. Brigid's Day if you're a Catholic. Essentially, it's a pagan Groundhog Day, although it does signal the beginning of the end of winter.

3. Here's a philosophical question to ponder: Do you think the alpacas know that the reflection in the mirror is themselves?

Word Police

Check out this sentence from yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune article, astonishing in both its construction and in what it reveals:

"Hinckley, after all, has been called the first 'rock star' Mormon prophet for having appeared before tens of thousands of Mormon youths--from Brazil to Nigeria to Radio City Music Hall--in entertainment-oriented stadium events on the eve of temple dedications in those locations."

Wow! Who knew there was a Mormon temple in Radio City Music Hall? They're certainly branching out.

Speaking Of Dressing Seasonally

Posting about wearing a dress in the middle of winter yesterday made me think about this section of a Robert Hass poem, "Santa Barbara Road," from Human Wishes:

Everything rises from the dead in June.
There is some treasure hidden in the heart of summer
everyone remembers now, and they can't be sure
the lives they live in will discover it.
They remember the smells of childhood vacations.
The men buy maps, raffish hats. Some women
pray to it by wearing blouses
with small buttons you have to button patiently,
as if to say, this is not winter, not
the cold shudder of dressing in the dark.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired of that cold shudder in the mornings.

Tuesday Project Roundup Episode VI: Return Of The Dress

I am so very tired of winter. So I decided to ignore the last brutal weeks of cold and snow and make a dress. Of course, it is a dress that can be worn now, with boots, because as you may have guessed I lack the patience to sew a dress and not wear it until the weather permits, and I hate being cold too much to wear it weather un-permitting. Anyway, the dress:
"I can't stop staring at these boots! I love them so much it makes me blurry!"

Here is a detail of the yoke and its little inset thing, un-blurred by boot love: I think my pattern taste is moving up through the decades, because these smock-y hippie dresses are a far cry from the 50's housedresses from last summer. This particular dress was from a modern pattern, but look at what I have planned next--1970's GOLD! Check out view B there. I think I have the same hair--I know I have the same boots.

"Looks Like Someone Has A Case Of The Mondays!"

Now that the couch is ordered, I have boots, and I escaped the layoffs, I'm feeling the end-of-January slump. It's hard to be excited at either job, so I'll just have to remind myself:
Of course, I don't know what that target is, but at least it involves a cat picture.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. OMGPONIES!!!!!111!!NO,WAIT, BOOTS!!!!!!11!!!! My boots arrived yesterday. I haven't bought good shoes in over a year...oh, I loved this feeling. (Don't worry; I didn't charge them.) Here they are, with a modeled shot coming next week:
2. The blogs I read had some good quotes this week. The winners: "The finished work is called a manuscript, if you are the editor and publisher, and 'My Precious', if you are the author." (YarnHarlot) and "He looks like a cross between the mayor of Whoville and an angry Viking." (Agency Tart)

3. Have you been wondering what's going on with the alpacas? There's a lot of snow! They're furry! Here is Ziggy Marley, saying hello!

Picutres Of, And Poems About, Rocks

Some Roethke to go with the pictures, from "O Thou Opening, Thou," published in The Waking, 1953:

"The dark has its own light.
A son has many fathers.
Stand by a slow stream:
Hear the sigh of what is.
Be a pleased rock
On a plain day.
Waking's
Kissing.
Yes."

The "pleased rocks"--
The "slow stream"--

And, um, something else. But it also has bighorn sheep in the background! (I couldn't find a poem that worked for this one.)

More Zion Tomorrow

I didn't mention that the agency had a round of layoffs (!) and a re-organization last week. The good news is I still have a job with some new accounts. The bad news is those new accounts have a daily status meeting at 9:30, so so much for those long morning posts.

I was going to put up some more pictures from our trip, but Blogger is giving me trouble and it's time to get dressed like I'm a creative at an ad agency (smocks!), so check back tomorrow.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Car Knitting Edition

Mr. Isbell and I got out of town and down to Zion (or "Ziens," as they say here) for the weekend. We had just a few days so there wasn't much planned--just a few hikes and probably finding some appropriate quotes from Ed Abbey to blog about. And I was very excited about the prospect of car knitting (while a passenger, of course) on the drive there and back. I did get some in on the drive down, but then our plans had to change:Oh noes!

So I got to take us on scenic drives around the park, through the tunnel, and back home:

Fortunately, Mr. Isbell will recover, AND the hotel had a great view form the balcony:
It was a good trip.

Thursday Unrelated Information

1. I'll be taking a few days away from the computer and will report how that went on Tuesday. There will be craftiness. There will be adventure. There may even be pictures.

2. Last night I dreamed I was at a party at Martha Stewart's house with my mother and my sewing friend from work. Martha was serving champagne and when I told her it was delicious, she said, "Thanks, that bottle was ten thousand dollars." What can it mean?!
3. Today = The Day of Ordering The Couch. Hurray for a tangible benefit to two months of a second job! (Speaking of, I figured out that if I kept working two extra weeks in February, I could buy boots...must..get...shoes....)

I Don't Know If This Makes It Better Or Worse

I don't remember faces well. People who do remember faces don't quite get this:

Face Rememberer: "Oh, I'm bad at remembering names, too. Terrible."
Me: "No, I can't remember faces. I don't realize I've met the person talking to me."
FR: "I know, it's awful to not remember their name."
Me: [Sigh.]

But if someone's not in front of me, I can't pull up a clear mental image of them--even loved ones. So random acquaintances or classmates from long ago are even more of a crap shoot, because there's nothing to pull up to help me remember them. I always dread hearing "Karen! Hi!" from a stranger, because it's really not a stranger, just someone I don't recall seeing despite having been in three years of classes together.

So my post from a week ago about a long-lost classmate who's now the poet laureate with published books and a doctorate? Yeah, my classmate isn't that woman. She had the same name--I'm not crazy, just bad with faces--and similar dark hair and she looked poetic, so I just assumed it was she. It took Mr. Isbell pointing out that she got her B.A. in 1980 to make me realize last night that all that angst and lyrics and the "sad little blog post" were spent on the wrong person.

So, to the Utah Poet Laureate: I'm sorry I was making fun of your hair. And to the rest of the world: Why can't everyone just wear name tags?

Tuesday Project Roundup: Use Your Imagination Edition

No pictures today, but this week I did knit baby booties (for my cousin, thank you; if I were to announce my own need of baby booties to the internet you can be sure the post would be titled “Oh Shit”) and start a tunic for me from an early 60’s pattern. The tunic fabric is this:

I’m also going to order this fabric to make a smock-like dress:

I think I’m liking head scarves. And juvenile prints.

And Then I Was Like, “Whoa”

And then I realized I had forgotten to post anything this morning and that people might think the stomach flu had won. It didn’t; I’m just catching up after missing Thursday at job #1.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I ended up taking a sick day yesterday, so if you were wondering where another "sad little blog post" (to quote Mr. Isbell!) like Wednesday's was, that's what happened.

2. The Tribune this morning wrote about Ralph "O RLY?" Becker's plan to create a domestic partner registry and included the best quote from Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan: "I just have to be certain we're not coming in the back door of the Amendment 3 [ban on gay marriage and civil unions]". The back door, Buttars? O RLY?

3. ..and that's all I have, I guess. Enjoy the weekend not having stomach flu!

A Story In Two Parts, Ending With A Beatles Song

First part: I went into job #2 during December and saw a business card by the cash register. It was a U of U card for a professor with a doctorate, Katherine Coles. Katy Coles! I had an intermediate poetry class with her at the U, back when I wanted to get a double major. I never really talked to her but remember admiring and envying her poems, her gray pants, her songwriting skills, her poetic dark straight hair that did what she wanted it to. (I still had long curly hair then. Or rather, the hair had me.) I looked around my second job during Christmas in retail hell, had a little moment of “Huh. Wonder where I’d be if I had pursued English to a doctorate level” and forgot about it.

Second part: I was reading the coverage of Ralph “O RLY?” Becker’s swearing in yesterday in the Tribune, and noticed that he read a poem from Utah’s Poet Laureate. Guess who? Katherine Coles. She’s written two novels and four poetry collections; she’s been published in the Paris Review and the New Republic; she’s a Utah Poet Laureate who can actually write, unlike the last one. (Check out the poem—very Mark Strand.)

I can’t really express my feelings about these two stories. (I bet Katy could!) There’s some “That could be me,” some “But I scorn the idea of a state poet laureate,” some “I have a glamorous ad job,” some “Well, it isn’t really glamorous but I bet professors don’t earn lots of money, either” and all sorts of things in between. You know the medley that ends side two of Abbey Road, with You Never Give Me Your Money, Polythene Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, and Carry That Weight (“a long time”)? Oddly, that’s exactly how I feel.

Tuesday Project Roundup: If I Make Spring Clothes, Will It Be Spring? Edition

Here is the first project of the year, a light blue smock-like blouse. (Yes, the SLB reappears; I think I'll rock the materninty look again for spring and summer.)
I'm happy with it, and especially proud that I added the collar myself--drafted a pattern for it from instructions online, and engineered it into the body on my own.

It's less maternity-looking when it's on, because the armholes and bodice in the pattern I used (Simplicity 3778) actually fit very well. I just couldn't get a decent modeled picture because it was so dark in the house last night. I guess it's not really spring at all.

Can Someone Adopt Wilbur So I Don’t Have To Cry Into My Pillow At Night?

Petfinder.com is a tricky site for me: It’s good because I can find a kitty to adopt but it’s bad because I can find a lot of kitties I can’t adopt—such as Wilbur here.

DO NOT click here if you don’t want to read a sad story. There’s a sad reason Wilbur is wearing a t-shirt and special collar. There’s an even more sad reason I can’t adopt him: He has FIV and I know I don’t have the savings to cover the vet trips he would need. But isn’t he a handsome boy? Doesn’t he look like a good kitty? I’m tempted to donate most of my pet savings towards his care anyway.

I don’t want to put up a sad post on a Monday, so let’s focus our positive energy and the power of the Internet and see if we can find Wilbur a home. I’m sure we can. (And I have to make a new rule: No looking for pets online when I’m feeling weepy.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. What a nice burthday! Thanks, family! We all love champagne.

2. Here's a quote from the knitting book I got for my birthday, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, talking about the benefits of wool:
"It is true that a synthetic sweater can be washed and dried in machines, but to me this rather reduces it to the level of a sweatshirt. Washing a real sweater is akin to bathing a baby, and brings the same satisfaction of producing a clean, pretty, sweet-smelling creature."
(I like how "real"=wool in her mind, too.)

3. And speaking of wool, I have BIRTHDAY YARN to plan a project for, alpaca yarn to knit into a scarf for a friend, a baby shower present to finish knitting, a blouse to finish sewing, and another two planned out. I think I'm reacting against only making gifts in December.

4. And here's to a late birthday present: Obama bama, bo-bama, banana fana bo-bama, mi my mo-mama--OBAMA!

On This Day In History...

1521: Martin Luther excommunicated
1924: Sarcophagus of Tutankhamem discovered
1959: Alaska admitted as the 49th state
1980: Me!

It's my birthday. I plan to eat seafood.

I Should List Some Goals Or Something

As part of a new year, I guess I should try to set some goals--even though I'm very bad at that. I suppose being a good cat parent (when I get a cat) and scraping together some emergency savings will do for now.

Happy New Year

"And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been." --Rilke

(Funny I should have talked about feeling old yesterday, because I almost didn't make it to midnight and was asleep at 12:05. Sigh.)

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?

Friday Unrelated Information

1. As part of their "Great Whale Trail" non-lethal study (cough, JAPAN!), Greenpeace is allowing people to vote on their favorite name for a humpback whale. The leader, with 71 percent of the vote? Mr. Splashy Pants.

2. There was an article in the good old Salt Lake Tribune this morning about religious groups planning to boycott the upcoming children's fantasy movie The Golden Compass because it's "anti-God." The paper quoted a newsletter blurb for the (Catholic) Madeleine Choir School that said, "[The film] represents the new face of atheism: It is aggressive, dogmatic, and unrelenting." Um, guys? Try changing "atheism" to the name of nearly any other Christian religion. Maybe Jesus can give us all a little self-awareness and perspective for Christmas...

2a. Cough, SOAPBOX! Sorry.

3. In the spirit of tolerance, here's a picture:

I Want Some Pecan Pie

I made macadamia nut pie for Thanksgiving this year. It went over well, but I'm still craving pecan pie. Or just pecans. I was re-reading the saddest Christmas story ever, Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," and came across this description of pecans the two characters are shelling for fruitcake:
A cheery crunch, scraps of miniature golden thunder sound as the shells collapse and the mound of sweet oily ivory meat mounts in the milkglass bowl.

(I highly recommend the story, in spite of it being sad. This is the first Capote I read as an adult [I remember reading "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and being disappointed it wasn't like the movie] and it's really, really well-done. The last line is perfect.)

The Cowboy Way

I referred to the fact that I'm now working two jobs for the rest of the year on Monday, because the laptop repair came close to bankrupting me after all and this is The Year I Gave Up Credit Cards And Roommates (And, By Extension, Ghetto Apartments, Leading To More Rent But My Kitchen Now Is Worth It).

Today is a two-job day and I woke up and said, "I really don't want to do this." But then I had to think, "It's not the easy way to work two jobs and not go (further) into debt, but it's THE COWBOY WAY. So cowboy up."

To help with the day, here's Gene Autry's Cowboy Code, similar to the Roy Roger's code I posted about a year ago and can't find. Check out number 7.

1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.

2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.

3. He must always tell the truth.

4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.

5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.

6. He must help people in distress.

7. He must be a good worker.

8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.

9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.

10. The Cowboy is a patriot.

(I'm choosing to interpret number 10 as the bumper stickers that say Think: it's patriotic!)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Extremely Full And Incredibly Plaid Edition

And with my apologies to Jonathan Safran Foer for that title, here is the plaid dress I worked on last week:
I think I just had too much exposure to it, because I should love it--it's red and pink at the same time and it's the puffiest party dress I've worn since I was about nine. I'm just disappointed that the fit is off, because I made a practice bodice out of muslin and a bodice lining before I actually did the bodice out of the silk, and the waist still came out too big. And it was kind of a lot of work for a one-event dress.

But maybe I can wear it again to the Nutcracker. Hell, I could be in the Nutcracker in this.

She's Back!

The laptop, that is--I dared the Gateway the Saturday night after Thanksgiving (oh the humanity!) and got her back as good as new. Hooray!

Other things I did with a week off and no Internet:
1. Sewed a dress for my friend's wedding.
2. Met with the same friend to get briefed on the wedding set-up I had agreed to supervise.
3. Started the second job I took to pay for the laptop repair.
4. Made ten pounds of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving at my brother's (five pounds plain, five pounds chive and onion).
4a. Made a macadamia nut pie, also for Thanksgiving.
5. Braved Target the day after Thanksgiving (oh the humanity!) to get a belt to go with the dress I made because the fit was slightly off.
6. Set up (and then attended, in the slightly ill-fitting dress) my friend's wedding reception.
7. Ordered 80% of my Christmas gifts. (I borrowed some internet for that.)
8. Finished both a knitted gift and a sewn gift for co-workers.

But between 1, 2, 6, and 3, it almost feels as if I didn't take vacation. Also, does anyone need any leftover mashed potatoes?

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I won’t be posting next week, because I have the week off form work and the laptop went back to Apple for repair yesterday. (Hooray, it can be fixed without bankrupting me!)

2. I’ve been wanting to get a bird feeder for the winter. I might just have to get the BirdCam to go with it.

3. Check out this vintage typewriter store: http://mytypewriter.com. They have some beauties (and they’re not cheap). Maybe I’ll have to break out my old Underwood while the laptop’s down.

4. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, all six of you blog readers. And check out the newest version of the LOLcat meme: LOLgrims, or Thanksgiving-themed pictures captioned in LOLspeak!

Not Dead Yet!

I know it’s turned into Laptop Week on the blog and that whatever sympathy people had is quickly drying up, but I had to share some good news: It turned on last night! It’s not dead yet! It’s getting better! It thinks it will go for a walk! It feels happy!

Ahem. Those movie quotes get out of control. And the laptop doesn’t feel that happy, because its keyboard is fried. But I’m happy that it’s a keyboard replacement and not a MacBook replacement.

Now I want to watch Monty Python…

Wednesday’s Film Recommendations

You might have heard that I spilled cereal on my laptop (my brother had to email and ask, “How exactly did that go down? ‘Hmm, computer, would you like to try some of this too?’ Or was it more of a throwing action?”). But on the bright side, I’ve seen a string of good movies lately, which has been some nice escapism.

I highly recommend The Darjeeling Limited; the short that begins it, “Hotel Chevalier,” will make you want to go to Paris and wear a hotel robe. I finally saw Little Miss Sunshine, on the recommendation of the same brother teasing me about the laptop, and that’s pretty fabulous, too. And last night—after a day involving video editing (I’m a copywriter, by the way; that’s all I’m saying), getting paperwork notarized for a credit card dispute (no, I did NOT charge $500 at sears.com), and all sorts of other issues—I watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou again. There’s just something about watching someone else’s crisis on film.

(Actually, I suppose that something would be catharsis. So watch these three good cathartic movies in case you’ve had a bad week, too.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: There Is None Because I Can’t Upload Photos To A Broken Laptop

We Interrupt This Blog…

…for the first installment of an exciting saga titled “I Spilled Cereal On My Laptop Last Night.” (You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! Actually, you’ll just cry and swear off cereal forever! Because what is an almost-28-year-old doing eating cereal anyway!)

While I’d love to use my work PC to post pictures of cats wanting pie, I think that’s generally frowned on as “unproductive.” I’ll try to stealth-post as much as possible but that will depend on how many coworkers are standing around pinning “creative” “concepts” to the walls. (You’d be surprised how popular that is here.)

So, to be continued...

Friday Unrelated Information

1. November is National Novel Writing Month--NaNoWriMo--so if you've been procrastinating, say, most of your adult life, you could take the challenge and try to get 50,000 words on paper by month's end.

2. November is also NaKniSweMo, or National Knit a Sweater Month. If your novel doesn't work, you could try this instead. (I, however, am knitting a vest, making it NaKniVeMo.)

3. I saw these high-design cat beds featured yesterday (click the picture to see all styles, including the "kitty pod"). Want!

4. BoingBoing steered me to this blog that showcases the painted background of animated films--lots of it is gorgeous and very evocative. It also made me watch The Sword in the Stone last night.

"Then there was the bad weather."

The haze and the watery sun and the leaves drying out and losing their color have not been bad weather, but they've been a little depressing. (The time change making it dark at six doesn't help, either.) I had to think of this passage that starts one of my favorites, A Moveable Feast. Hemingway's trick for the November depression was to leave Paris and go somewhere even colder, like the Alps. Nice. If I ever live in Paris, I'll let you know how it works.

"Then there was the bad weather. It would come in one day when the fall was over. We would have to shut the windows in the night against the rain and the cold wind would strip the leaves from the trees in the Place Contrescarpe...Now that the bad weather had come, we could leave Paris for a while for a place where this rain would be snow coming down through the pines and covering the road and the high hillsides and at an altitude where we would hear it creak as we walked home at night."

And then there's this in the next chapter:
"When we came back to Paris it was clear and cold and lovely. The city had accommodated itself to winter...and on the streets the winter light was beautiful. Now you were accustomed to see the bare trees against the sky and you walked on the fresh-washed gravel paths through the Luxembourg gardens in the clear sharp wind. The trees were sculpture without their leaves when you were reconciled to them..."

Maybe the trick is just getting reconciled.

No, the trick is getting reconciled in Paris.

O RLY, SALT LAKE?

O really!
As I said, I don't know a lot about politics and this blog is supposedly about literature, but I am just happy that someone who refused to put up billboards because he considers them a blight on the landscape was able to win without the help of billboards.

Also, did you know that "'Progressive' has become a new catch-phrase for 'liberal'"? The Deseret News thinks so.

(Photo ganked from the Salt Lake Tribune site, taken by Trent Nelson, probably in violation of Trent's copyright. Sorry, Trent.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Deadlines, Kitty Hats, And I Hate Blogger Edition

The last week or so has been a staging time for me, sewing-wise: I have to decide who gets a homemade Christmas/birthday/wedding/shower present, when I need to make the presents, and what I'll be making for myself to wear to these events that require presents. And I also figured out how all of that coincides with JoAnn sales and paychecks. There have been lots of lists.

Even the holiday deadlines for knitting started last week, with some, um, kitty hats for a Halloween party. We went as the co-host's two kittens, which was a success. (Blogger is refusing to let me load the pictures, so you'll just have to imagine knitted bonnets with ears.)

But knitting with synthetic fur yarn on a deadline isn't my favorite thing, so I'm actually relieved to start the crafty frenzy of seasonal gifts--I won't be covered in orange fuzz when I work on these.

Election Day Tomorrow

I made a special trip a few weeks ago to the County Clerk's office so I could register at my new address on the last day possible. (See how font choices can motivate people, whether for good or ill?)

I've spent most of my life trying to ignore politics, but I think I'm waking up now. And while my political theory is an inchoate mix of V for Vendetta, Brazil, and some Ayn Rand, I'm trying to learn more. I can't fathom that people do not vote, especially women whose great-grandmothers weren't able to.

So if you're registered, go vote tomorrow in your local elections. And in keeping with my incoherent politics, here's an excellent essay about how the domestic "War on Terror" has devolved into the "War on the Unexpected."

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Today's new word is affineur. As you might guess, it's French, and refers to the person in charge of affinage, or the refining and ripening of cheese.

2. Speaking of cheese, the Hawaii Island Goat Dairy on the Big Island is looking for interns: They'll give you room and board and you'll give them two to three months of bottle-feeding kids, feeding goats, farm work, and making cheese.

3. And speaking of farms, yesterday I received the color card (like a fabric swatch book, but with yarn) that I had ordered from a merino sheep ranch in Montana. Now, usually natural fiber yarn has either no smell or a faint-but-not-unpleasant animal smell. I don't want to sound like I go around smelling cats, but it's comparable to the smell of a cat: clean and fresh but furry. But the Montanta yarn on the color card, even in two-inch sample lengths, smelled like cold springtime air and flowers. Seriously. I don't know what they're putting on their sheep up there, but I want to go visit and see/smell for myself.

Helen S. Jones On Why People Sew:

"...mostly, sewing is done because someone wants better-looking, better-made clothes than the same amount of money could buy; or a high fashion look at low budget figure; or a unique custom-created garment. They sew because it's fun! They sew because it's the thing to do. It is the proud and fascinating leisure-time effort of women of all walks of life--and some men, too."


(From a textbook published in 1970, Hi-Fashion Sewing and Tailoring. I was trying to find fitting info for taking in a dress bodice, but the book assumes the reader knows how to do that already and just provides detailed fitting info for pants--pants which were just starting to be as acceptable in all social situations as a dress in the '70s's.)