Let's Talk About My Hair

In the past two years my hair has gone from being this curly:

to what could only be called "wavy" if you're feeling generous. My hair has betrayed me, and now I don't know what to do with it.

In the winter I cut it even shorter, hoping for a Jean Seberg look:
But, in the words of the wife in a Hemingway short story*, "I get so tired of looking like a boy."

It's been nearly 10 years since I had long hair; I didn't do anything special with my hair when it was long (although it was curly then, AHEM, HAIR); and I know I would hate growing it out. But. I find myself staring at pictures of braids and long glossy hair and echoing that Hemingway character:
"I want to pull my hair back tight and smooth and make a big knot at the back that I can feel. . . . And I want to eat at a table with my own silver and I want candles. And I want it to be spring and I want to brush my hair out in front of a mirror and I want a kitty and I want some new clothes."

In other words, I don't know what I want.

*The story is "Cat in the Rain," from In Our Time.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. This article in the NY Times made me smile: A 67-year-old trying to set a new land speed record essentially bought a JET and put wheels on it. He'll be the driver when they try to set the record--800 mph.

2. Did you know Audrey Tatou (of Amelie) is starring as Coco Chanel in a new French movie? I will have to see that. For now, you can see the trailer here--with subtitles provided by a high-school student of French. (The official English trailer isn't out yet.)

3. Here is Toby in a bag. Just because.

Robins: What Do They Do All Winter, Anyway?

Yesterday evening was so pretty; all the robins were singing. I've noticed them in the early mornings, too, which is my favorite part of late spring. So here is a poem about one bird starting to sing early, by our friend Wallace Stevens:

Not Ideas About the Thing But the Thing Itself

At the earliest ending of winter,
In March, a scrawny cry from outside
Seemed like a sound in his mind.

He knew that he heard it,
A bird's cry at daylight or before,
In the early March wind.

The sun was rising at six,
No longer a battered panache above snow . . .
It would have been outside.

It was not from the vast ventriloquism
Of sleep's faded papier mâché . . .
The sun was coming from outside.

That scrawny cry—it was
A chorister whose c preceded the choir.
It was part of the colossal sun,

Surrounded by its choral rings,
Still far away. It was like
A new knowledge of reality.

Potato-Growing Methods To Celebrate Earth Day

I've always thought that potatoes need a lot of space, but look at what the internet has shown me: I can grow potatoes vertically!

The full story is here, along with a lot of step-by-step photos. Of course, I don't have room to store my harvest in the apartment...I suppose I could dig a root cellar.

Tuesday Project Roundup: The Inevitable Fail

When I wasn't arguing with my boyfriend (sorry, hon) or yelling at the neighbors (sorry, lady) this last week, I was finishing a sweater that turned out too big. (Sorry, yarn.) I wanted it to look like this girl's version but something happened with the neckline and it ended up looking like this when it was done blocking:

Oh well, I did finish two other sweaters this season that fit and that I wear, so that's a record anyway. This one was pushing my luck.

And now it's on to dresses--polka-dot ones.

As My Old Roommate Would Say, "Bad Form."

So Mr. Isbell and I got into a domestic dispute Sunday morning, and in the middle of it I noticed that, instead of going to the public open space two blocks west, a neighbor woman had decided to play with her dog on our lawn--complete with a stack of Frisbees and the dog running into the flowerbed and planted garden.

I lost it:



And then of course I felt bad, because I was really mad about the argument that was going on and I could have told her to get lost in a nicer way. Poor lady had no idea what she was in for...

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I've been checking out Nerd Boyfriend, "a shopping guide and style blog for the fashionably nerdy male." I mostly like it for the old pictures. And I also like nerds. And Fasuto Coppi's sweater on today's post.

2. Here's an essay on the case for memorizing poems, which included this quote: “If one is delayed in a bus terminal, or sitting in a foxhole, it’s wonderful to have an inner anthology to say over, yet again, in one’s mind.” Except I don't think the foxhole argument will mean anything to the youth of today--not really making a case there, author.

3. It's the birthday of Isak Dineson, aka Karen Blixen, who wrote Out of Africa, the opening of which is the best opening of any book ever, in my opinion.

Toby's Latest Trick: Impeding Progress

He comes running when he hears me start to make the bed and promptly stretches out on it. He's also a fan of sitting on the laptop in the morning, although I think that's because he just likes the warmth from it:

Happy Birthday

...to Leonardo da Vinci, Bessie Smith, Emma Thompson, and my mom! Here is a song for her, with the big disclaimer that she is NOT 64. I just thought it was a good description of her life right now, what with the parts about gardening and going for a ride and having my dad around.



Unrelated: Yellow Submarine looks completely terrifying.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Easter Dress

So I made myself an Easter dress for the first time in about ten years. My mom used to make me fantastic ones when I was little, and later I'd go shop for something, but the only point of an Easter dress is wearing it on Easter, and the only place to wear something on Easter is church, and I decided about the same time I stopped getting new Easter dresses that the only part of Lutheranism I liked was Bach. But I digress.

This is impossible to photograph on a cloudy morning but it looks very nice on--it's navy dotted swiss over a plain navy lining, using the same pattern as last week.

And what's going on in knitting? Well, look who's helping my yellow sweater block:

"uuh, mama, this sweater is damp..."

If Only The Background Were Turquoise

If it were, I would buy this and put it on the wall next to the Bernina:

(The larger size is still for sale on 20x200.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Sorry I didn't post yesterday--the internet was down at the apartment and I was busy at work (!), talking to clients (!!) and being creative (!!!). (Seriously, I would have liked this job just for the paycheck. But it's actually really fun!)

2. Kottke.org linked to the origin of "steal my thunder" this week:
In 1704, playright John Dennis invented a new method of producing the sound of thunder during a play. Dennis' play was unsuccessful, but his thunder technique was soon borrowed by another production, leading Dennis to exclaim:

Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder.

3. Look, it's the alpaca Easter bunny!
My Easter plans include listening to Bach's St. Matthew Passion tonight. I have a friend who always listens to Parsifal on Good Friday for the "Good Friday Music" in it, but it's Bach for me.

Reading The Writer's Almanac Again

I got caught up on The Writer's Almanac site yesterday and saw this poem from last week, which suits the weather and the sort of watery, in-transition feelings from the last few months that are not quite dispersed yet:

Larry Smith, "In Early Spring"

Road catkins, russet and tan, let the
wind sweep over them as dusk
seeps in along the lake,
and I pass road puddles
swelling to ponds, mirroring
the sky's own silveriness.
At the railroad tracks seven geese
veer off and set down in a field
so that only their necks
speak for them, telling us all
to go on while they rest
by the barn. Today a man
asked me if I were depressed,
and I looked up and smiled.
No more than these geese or catkins
as light falls around them, no
more than those pine boughs
lifting in the wind—just so,
life goes on.

Tuesday Project Roundup: "You're Just Happier In A Dress"

My first week of work was notable for lots of friendliness and busyness--and for not knowing what the hell to wear every day. It's a little dressier than the the last place and the weather was not cooperating, so I tried the t-shirt and blazer combo for four days. But Friday I said to myself, "This is bunk, I'm wearing a dres," and Mr. Isbell said, "You're just happier in a dress. There's a sparkle in your eye when you wear one." And it's true.

So I finished a new one over the weekend and wore it yesterday and I was indeed happier. It was also a lot easier to get ready.

I used the fabric from Japan (finally), and this pattern, which looks to be from the'60s. I made the left version but without any sleeves, because the weather has to warm up someday. And I'm trying to have the right version with the neck ruffle finished for next week.

It's Monday

And sometimes Toby has a hard time getting up an hour earlier with me. He usually has to have a quick nap around 8:00, which he's doing here on the back of the couch in the sun.


Updated after morning internet reading to add: Iowa, you rock. I haven't been getting the paper daily or reading my news sites at work, so this was a happy surprise.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Did you know that you can watch all of the Carl Sagan Cosmos series online for free? I discovered it on Hulu while searching for episodes of The A-Team (also available online).

2. Did you know the actor who played the leader of the A-Team, "Hannibal" Smith, was George Peppard, aka the male lead in Breakfast at Tiffany's? I missed these things in 1985.

3. Behold, via Married to the Sea:

Not Appropriate For Client Meetings

I bought this shirt when it was on sale a few weeks ago and I really, really want to wear it today. That would probably be frowned on, though.

Feel Free To Start Any Time, Spring

Now that it's April, I can post the part from The Wasteland that everyone knows and uses to complain about the weather:

APRIL is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

Tuesday Project Roundup: One Out of Three

The three projects I wanted to finish last week didn't go so well--in my rush to get the knit dress done in two days so I could wear it to drink an Old Fashioned Friday night, I didn't measure the skirt when cutting it out, just trusting it to stretch. Um, it didn't. And the woven floral dress languished all week because I couldn't decide whether to put sleeves on it or not. (The weather has been very confusing lately!) But I did get the t-shirt finished.

The fabric was only $4, it only took about 2.5 hours to sew, and there were no tan stripey t-shirts in any stores, so this was deinitely a winner. As long as I know the pattern fits me (ahem), I think I can say I can sew knits with no problem now.

I threw in a label in the back, too. That's how you can tell I really like it.

First Day of Work

Time to say goodbye to baking three times a week, going to the grocery store at noon on a Wednesday, not getting dressed until 10:00, drinking the entire pot of coffee...and worrying constantly about money, not having anywhere to wear the latest projects, and the sad realization that all my plans involving money would have to be put on hold.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Tonight is Drink an Old Fashioned at the Bar at Bambara Night--here's to getting back on track with the 29 Things!

2. I didn't mention it, but I sent my owl sweater pictures to the designer for a contest, and I won a prize! I won the "Ma's favorite prize, " meaning that the designer's mom liked mine best, and my owl-ish goodies and yarn arrived today:

3. I haven't checked out Martha Stewart's blog in a long time, but yesterday's post title was "My horse, Martyn, loves a good massage" so of course I had to go see. I was reveling in the absurdity until I realized that I would probably do anything to make an animal of mine more comfortable. And if I had Martha's fortune, I would definitely hire a Sherpa to give my ailing horse a massage.

I Really Wish Mad Men Season 2 Was Out On DVD

Because with my fancy new job I could use some advice from Don Draper! (Not for picking up women, of course; step 4 is the payoff..."Be uncannily successful at your job.")



If you haven't seen any Mad Men yet, you're missing out, and not just on fantastic period clothes. Desperate for another series, I got Big Love from Netflix this week and couldn't even make it to episode three. I kept wishing the acting were better, like Mad Men. Check it out here.(Mad Men, that is; don't bother checking out Big Love.)

Today Is ANOTHER Great Day

Because I have a job again! I'll be starting here on Monday and I even have a title, one that has "senior" and "manager" and "writing" in it. Hot damn! Let the good times roll INDEED.



As Mr. Charles says at 1:47, I got fifty cents more than I'm gonna keep!


(No, not really, hon; I won't spend it all. Don't worry.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Mysterious!

I don't have anything finished to show for this week but I have three projects I'd like to wrap up before Monday or so...let's just say that I think I'll be leaving the house again on a daily basis soon!

So I'll try to finish a brown dress, a stripey knit t-shirt, and a knit floral print dress and tell you all about it next week. More to come, indeed.

Today Is A Great Day

Why? Because one year ago Toby joined the family!

He went from small and timid that first week

to large and spoiled shortly thereafter.

He has an enormous vocabulary of squeaks and chirps, he knows 9 words and phrases (treat, drink, snack, catnip, lettuce, let's get up, good-bye, I'll be back, and toy), and he's the reason I got together a 72-hour kit.

So I guess today is also for celebrating the anniversary of me becoming a crazy cat lady.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Today is the Vernal Equinox. We made it! Here are some science facts (sciiiiience!):

• The fall and spring equinoxes are the only two times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west.
• The equinoxes are also the only days of the year when a person standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly overhead.
• On the Northern Hemisphere's vernal equinox day, a person at the North Pole would see the sun skimming across the horizon, beginning six months of uninterrupted daylight.
• A person at the South Pole would also see the sun skim the horizon, but it would signal the start of six months of darkness.

2. The Obamas are planting a kitchen garden at the White House--it's the first time there's been a garden on the grounds since WWII, when there was a Victory Garden.

The First Signs Of The Season

The robins hopping around and the bulbs coming up and the seasonal allergies I've had all week tell me that spring is coming (tomorrow is the Equinox!), but do you know what really means the end of winter for me?

The return of the gin and tonic! I can only drink them when it's warm outside and it's been so nice this week that tonight is the night.
Delicious, delicious beverage of summer, how I've missed you....

Wednesday Garden-Planting Tune

We got the cold-weather greens in the ground yesterday afternoon. This was in my head the whole time, much to Mr. Isbell's chagrin:



(Sorry to get this in your head, too, but I had to do it. There are SINGING FLOWERS. And John Denver, who is probably high as a kite and who kind of looks like a Muppet himself. )

Tuesday Project Roundup: Crikey!

Crikey! It's a gator!

What a little beauty!

This project that makes me channel Steve Irwin is for my sister-in-law's nephew who asked for a "red alligator" for his birthday. It's a child-size scarf so it was a fast, fun knit. And I got to say, "Crikey!" a lot while knitting it.

And here's a progress shot of a sweater I hope I can finish before it's too warm for sweaters:
I decided I could buy yarn to make this, since it provided not only clothing but entertainment. (Not quite as much as the alligator scarf, though. Crikey!)

Something To Read While You're Waiting To Start Working

I'm waiting to organize web copy today and that
reminded me of Wallace Stevens' "The Idea of
Order at Key West," which you can read in full
here.

She measured to the hour its solitude.
She was the single artificer of the world
In which she sang.  And when she sang, the sea,
Whatever self it had, became the self
That was her song, for she was the maker.  Then we,
As we beheld her striding there alone,
Knew that there never was a world for her
Except the one she sang and, singing, made.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. I worked half of the week (yay!), so no bread baking, but I did make cookies twice: These hazelnut blondies and the coffee-almond bars I linked to Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll make cinnamon bread again.

2. Speaking of Tuesday, navy wasn't the best color choice for the fleece top to wear around the house--there's an orange haze of Toby hair all over it after ten minutes. Oh well; a conductor in college once said that cat hair on your clothes was just "a memento of something you love."

3. How soon can I plant cold-weather crops like kale and spinach in the ground? St. Patricks day? I've always just transplanted seedlings, but the seed packets say "sow 4-6 weeks before the last frost."

It Writes Itself, Folks!

So I changed my Tribune subscription to Sundays only, but for the last three weeks it's been delivered every day, and today there was this gem: Let's Tax Caffeine, Legislator Argues

[Rep. Craig] Frank, R-American Fork, has asked lawmakers over the next year to study the potential for taxing caffeine, a response to proposals this session to hike the tax on cigarettes - all of which failed

[...]Frank said he has seen research that caffeine can cause spontaneous abortion, psychological abnormalities and other disorders.

"We're going after people who have problems with addiction for a revenue stream, only caffeine would be one that is more broad-based," said Frank, who calls himself a "social caffeine drinker."

That Diet Coke can KILL, people! Also, global warming is fake.

Wednesday Work Tune: Hear My [Freelance] Train A-Comin'

"Gonna make a whole lot of money [while the gig lasts], gonna be big, yeah..."



(You know, every time I see pictures of Hendirx I want to give up trying to dress like a Frenchwoman and break out the big rings and the calico and the velvet.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: It All Happened So Fast

Yesterday, when I said I had a knit top for thing #17, "in progress," that really meant that I had the pattern ready to go. Well, Monday morning is a good time to go to fabric stores so I got the fabric, pre-washed it, made some cookies while I waited for it to finish drying because the dryer is going out at the apartment, cut it out, and started sewing at 4:00. At 7:00, I was done. Is something that fast even a real project?
Granted, it's not a complicated piece of clothing and sweatshirt fleece is really forgiving. But I'm happy with it because now I have sweats to wear around the house! I might have to start watching daytime TV, too.

As for accomplishing thing #17, I think I've learned enough to proceed with nicer fabrics. I over-stretched the neck a little when I sewed it and I'll redraft the sleeves the next time I make this, but overall I think it worked pretty well.

(The pattern and all tips were from this great book. Highly recommended!)

Almost-Quarterly Report: 29 Things

When I was laid off I thought immediately of the 29 Things and how things like paying off debt and buying a new mattress (#2 and #3) would have to be put on hold. While those things and other things that involve money or eating out have had to wait, understandably, I've been able to cross a few things off the list:

4. Make a queen-sized quilt. I bet you thought I forgot about this, but I've been working on it at my parents' house on Sundays. I already had the fabric when I was laid off, so I thought making a quilt with no pressure to finish and put it on a new mattress might be nice. I finished piecing the top yesterday! Now I have to add a border, because someone forgot to check her math about how big a queen-size quilt needs to be. Then there's the back and then, well, the quilting part. Good thing there's no pressure.
16. Stop biting my nails. I've made some progress here, too: After I gnawed them off completely in February, I've been able to let them grow a little, if only because I never want my hands to look like that again.
17. Learn how to sew knit fabric. I did a practice T-shirt that ended in the FAIL bin, but I have something else in progress now and future plans for a knit dress. I think I can get this thing figured out.
25. Stop getting plastic bags from the grocery store. Only about a 50% success rate with this one so far, but at least it's 50%. And it doesn't cost money.
27. Make cloth napkins and use them for everyday meals. I haven't made any yet, but I have found three sets on clearance at Target and we've been using them regularly.
28. Go out to breakfast one weekend a month. This was able to happen in January and even in February (we went out for Valentine's Day brunch instead of dinner at The Paris)(#11), so maybe I can keep this one up if we go somewhere humble in March.

And one thing I can't wait to do: 18. Drink an Old Fashioned at the bar at Bambara the minute I find out I have a job again.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The blog is three years old tomorrow (!). I've been going back through and re-posting photos and labeling some of the better/craftier posts--check out the tag list on the right.

2. I had to be dressed and out of the house by 9:00 this week (!!) and Toby did not like that one bit. He got his revenge by going to sleep on the unmade bed just so I couldn't make it before I left.

3. Seriously, the new Neko Case album is so good--"little symphonies for the kids," indeed. Read the NY Times review here.

The (Not So) Secret Garden (That Is Actually A Flowerbed In The Front Yard)

I've been pulling weeds in the flowerbed we cleared out last fall and finished up yesterday, just in time for five inches of snow. But the bulbs I planted are coming up, so spring is near. I had let the weeding go all fall, so there was a lot to do, and as I cleared out the bulbs I knew I had a ready-made blog post from The Secret Garden:

She found many more of the sprouting pale green points than she had ever hoped to find. They seemed to be starting up everywhere and each new day she was sure she found tiny new ones, some so tiny they barely peeped above the earth...She wondered how long it would be before they showed that they were flowers.

Go Buy This

Neko Case's new album came out yesterday, so Mr. Isbell and I walked down to Slowtrain to get it. Then we listened to it twice.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Who? ORLY?

Who, who, who? Owls!

Owls on the front:
And owls on the back:

The yarn was a thick Italian cotton I found online and the pattern was from here. The yarn is off-white, not a pinky cream like it appears in the modeled shots, and I have to confess that I went with white after Mr. Isbell pointed out that it would be "like the owl in Labyrinth." But you know what the yellow eyes make it look like? The ORLY owl:


ORLY?
YaRLY. Owls!

Why I Still Live Here, Despite The Legislature

"Homesickness is a great teacher. It taught me, during an endless rainy fall, that I came from the arid lands and liked where I came from. I was used to a dry clarity and sharpness in the air. I was used to horizons that either lifted into jagged ranges or rimmed the geometrical circle of the flat world. I was used to seeing a long way. I was used to earth colors--tan, rusty red, toned white--and the endless green of Iowa offended me. I was used to a sun that came up over mountains and went down behind other mountains. I missed the color and smell of sagebrush and the sight of bare ground."

Wallace Stegner, from the essay collection Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs: Living and Writing in the West. (The title's from the Big Rock Candy Mountain song!)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. This week I discovered the Twitter feed of Sockington the cat, the latest cat-related internet craze. Some gems include:

tiny meow behind you please turn around it would mean a lot to me if you turn arHUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY

stretching neck at you streeeetching neck OH NECK IS STRETCHING NEAR YOUR HAND OH GOD SO CLOSE TO ooo petting what a surprise

2. Speaking of the internet, should I be on Facebook or Twitter? Apparently this will help me find a job.

3. Items baked this week: Cinnamon swirl bread, a whole-wheat baguette from Laurie Colwin's recipe, oatmeal-butterscotch chip cookies, and dulce de leche brownies. I made my own dulce de leche, too.

"Teach us to care and not to care. Teach us to sit still."

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar, which reminded me of the T.S. Eliot poem of the same name. I wish I had studied this one in college, because I'm sure there's a lot more to it than I'm getting now. It's long; you can read it all here. But this excerpt from the end of the last section seemed to fit with the weather today and my general mood. (Not literally "the aspiration to move from spiritual barrenness to hope for human salvation," as Wikipedia says, but maybe the hope for spring? And better times?)

Wavering between the profit and the loss
In this brief transit where the dreams cross
The dreamcrossed twilight between birth and dying
(Bless me father) though I do not wish to wish these things
From the wide window towards the granite shore
The white sails still fly seaward, seaward flying
Unbroken wings

And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth

This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away
Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Wednesday Tune: Happy Birthday, Ralph Stanley

Bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley is 82 today, so today's tune is one of his: "The Darkest Hour."



It's just before dawn, of course. Which is another way of saying things have to get better.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Here Come The Owls

That's what the next step in the pattern is called: "Here come the OWLS!". I'm as excited for them as the pattern writer was.
I've been trying to take my time on the owl sweater, though, because I don't have another sweater to work on when I finish it. (I've been thinking about this one, but I'm not sure I can justify buying yarn while unemployed.) To keep the owls going slowly, I pulled out some gray alpaca from the yarn basket and made some fingerless gloves over the weekend.

Because--have you noticed?--it's acting a lot like spring lately. And I've been watching a lot of Victorian miniseries.

We Haven't Had A Toby Picture In A While

He sure is good company.

Friday Unrelated Information

1. Have you noticed I haven't had any local political commentary lately? I'm only getting the Tribune on Sundays now and it's been lovely. The less I know about what the patriarchs in the Utah Legislature are doing, the happier I am in the mornings. (Of course, the paper boy decided to deliver the paper every day this week, just in time for Buttars to disgrace himself again.)

2. Since I mentioned WWII on Tuesday, I have to mention that Yesterday was the National Day of Remembrance for the American citizens who were put into internment camps during WWII. Families could only take what they could carry--what about their pets?

3. And I was so excited to post the quote about pie on Wednesday that I forgot Wednesday's tune. To end the week of sad stories and WWII on happy note, here's Big Rock Candy Mountain, "a song about a hobo's idea of paradise," according to Wikipedia.

It Was A Nice Dog, Too

So I went to the main library yesterday around noon. Nothing makes you feel more fortunate than seeing a homeless dude who's smuggled his dog into the library with him by hiding the dog under the blankets on his wheelchair. No, I don't have a job, but I don't have to smuggle Toby into a warm place to spend the day. Nor am I in a wheelchair.

Comparatively, I have no problems at all.

Did You Know Last Saturday Was International Pie For Breakfast Day?

I missed it, but I learned about it and found this fantastic quote on my daily read, EvenCleveland:

Pie is the American synonym of prosperity, and its varying contents mark the calendar of the changing seasons. PIE IS THE FOOD OF THE HEROIC. No pie-eating people can ever be vanquished.

The New York Times, 1902

I need to make some pie!

Tuesday Project Roundup: Thrifty AND Prepared, Just Like The 1940s

After all the knitting lately, I finally used my sewing machine again last week. I cleaned out the closet when I got my craft shelf and found some extra pillowcases, so I tried out the embroidery stitches on the Bernina:Something new to decorate with for free!

And I pulled out an unfinished project from a couple of years ago--this pencil skirt:(It's finished but too dark today for a modeled shot, so here's the pattern. Early 50s, I think?)

I had originally thought I would sew this to wear to the second job of Christmas 2007 but ran out of time, and by the second job of Christmas 2008 I had made more than enough dresses to wear. But while thinking of the job search these past two weeks, I realized that a plain black straight skirt would be all kinds of useful, so I finished it up.

It's my interview skirt. I don't have any interviews yet, but--in keeping with the 1940s theme here--I did it before and I can do it again.

If I Could Make This Link Sparkly, I Would

So my oldest and most helpful friend--who very conveniently studied graphic design while I was learning music theory--sat me down last week and got my portfolio cleaned up and got my portfolio site redesigned and up again.

Check it out: portfolio.karenkaminski.com

I even got a mention on her company's site, which she also designed! I am so going to have a job soon. (Hey, "Yes, We Can" worked for Obama, didn't it?)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. The weekly baking report: I made the French chocolate granola (awesome), the chocolate cookies (awesome and getting made again this weekend), the slow-rise bread that appeared in the NY Times about a year ago, and a light wheat sandwich bread. And today I'm making cheesecake for our Valentine's Day dessert. It takes 4 packages of cream cheese. That's two pounds. I guess love is being able to eat a pound of cream cheese with your sweetheart?

2. Speaking of Valentine's Day, how about some Wilson Pickett to express our feelings?



I also like Elwood's addition to the lyrics (which you can watch here):
"You know people when you do find that somebody hold that woman, hold that man. Love him, hold him, squeeze her, please her, hold her, squeeze and please that person, give 'em all your love. Signify your feelings with every gentle caress because it's so important to have that special somebody to hold, kiss, miss, squeeze and please!"

3. Why yes, I have learned how to embed video. How could you tell?

Valentine's Day Is Coming Up

Click the last one for bigger, and find more "I love you more than____" hearts here. I love that someone said, "I love you more than Arthur C. Clarke."

Wednesday Work Tune

I realize that "Work Tune" is kind of a stretch, because I'm not playing real work songs like "Union Maid," but I think the blues count, right? Here's Robert Johnson's 1936 recording of "Walking Blues" for your Wednesday listening.




Why this one? I like the nervous energy in it, and I like the verse around 1:30:
Well, some people tell me that the worried blues ain't bad
Worst old feelin' I most ever had
Some people tell me that these old worried old blues ain't bad
It's the worst old feelin', I most ever had

Tuesday Project Roundup: I'm A Versatile and Experienced Knitter

...and I've been writing cover letters way too much lately. Although I've been getting a fair amount of knitting time in, too: behold the tan sweater, finished after three months! It took three months, yes, but it's exactly how I wanted it to be. I used this pattern to start with, but I kind of had to fake the measurements since I was using a different yarn size. So I'm glad it turned out so well.

Of course, I've had lots of help these past two weeks at home. Someone even had to help us with the photo shoot last night:

GOSH

(Actually, I have more portfolio stuff to do, and I'm going to get awesome cover letters written for The Summit Group, Crowell, and Love Communications. I don't suppose anyone reading this has an in at any of those places? No? GOSH.)

Friday Unrelated Information

1. My baking spree continues: Today it's peanut butter cupcakes from the latest Martha Stewart, and I have cinnamon swirl bread, chocolate granola (scroll way down), and "world peace" cookies planned for the next few days. I'm going to weigh 900 pounds by the time I get another job.

2. In my new routine, I totally forgot that Monday was Groundhog Day, Candlemas, and a Druidic holiday: Imbolc, the beginning of the end of winter. Time to start seeds! (Read more about them all here.)

Dickensian

I've been watching a BBC miniseries version of Bleak House this week (yes, I got it for the title) and it's awesome. I don't have a lot of patience with reading Dickens, but watching it is great. According to Wikipedia, Bleak House is "held to be one of Dickens's finest and most complete novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon." After just the first two installments, there's already been a Mr. Krook, the bad landlord, a Miss Flite, the crazy bird lady, and someone named Mr. Guppy. And a minor character will die of spontaneous human combustion! Really, what more could one ask for in a miniseries?

Wednesday Work Tunes

Tuesday Project Roundup: Why Yes, I Do Have A Lot Of Spare Time Lately

The tan sweater is still in pieces, but I'm hoping to have it finished in a few days. I'm done with anything related to job hunting by 3:00 or 4:00 every day so I've been watching movies on the computer and knitting until Mr. Isbell gets home.

I've also been cooking like there's no tomorrow: I've made two loaves of bread, chocolate pudding, and cinnamon rolls in the last four days, and am trying to decide what yeasty baked good is next. Because, hey! I'm home to oversee the risings and the second risings and the bakings, so why not?

Keeping It In Perspective

In addition to pulling together a portfolio and biting my nails over my long weekend, I started reading about Ernest Shackleton's 1915 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition:

There is nothing that makes you think, "Wow, it could be worse" faster than hearing about people stuck in the frozen Weddel Sea.

They were for all practical purposes alone in the frozen Antarctic seas...Nobody in the outside world knew they were in trouble, much less where they were. They had no radio transmitter with which to notify any would-be rescuers, and it is doubtful that any rescuers could have reached them even if they had been able to broadcast an SOS....
Thus their plight was naked and terrifying in its simplicity. If they were to get out--they had to get themselves out.

And in a nice cross-media tie-in, I watched Encounters at the End of the World Saturday night. (Highly recommended, especially for Werner Herzog's voice-overs.)There are crazy scallops underneath the ice in Antarctica! And seals make weird clicking whistles underwater! The world is a cool place, and I'm not trapped in the ice. It could be worse.