Prioress

Your result for The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test...

The Prioress

You scored 18% Cardinal, 54% Monk, 53% Lady, and 38% Knight!

You are a moral person and are also highly intellectual. You like your solitude but are also kind and helpful to those around you. Guided by a belief in the goodness of mankind you will likely be christened a saint after your life is over.

You scored high as both the Lady and the Monk. You can try again to get a more precise description of either the Monk or the lady, or you can be happy that you're an individual.

Take The Who Would You Be in 1400 AD Test at HelloQuizzy

Snow

We finally got a good snowstorm...
The campus is pretty all year round...
This bus got stuck in one of the main intersections on campus, causing some problems...
Like backed up lines of buses and cars - no problem however, if you're biking...
Hiawatha was rather backed up too...
But the train doesn't care...
Even Ford Parkway was backed up from The Village to halfway over the bridge...

I think I'll stay in and knit tonight...

What Anne Needs

Thanks to Kmkat for the idea -

Go to Google, type in "[your name] needs" and take a look at the results ... here's what I got (my comments in blue):

• Anne needs to win sexiest veg! obviously the wrong Anne
  
• Anne needs to retire woot!
  
• Anne needs no man but I already have one - what do I do with him?!?
  
• Anne needs help and her parents decide medication is the best alternative I'll take meds
  
• Anne needs to be at least pardoned for the crimes she didn't commit! Amen
  
• Anne needs your support yes
  
• Anne needs your prayers ditto
  
• Anne needs to be where the action is! but I thought I was already there?
  
• Anne needs a job ok, well, maybe one that pays a living wage...
  
• Anne needs no enhancement tee hee!

Give it a try - it's fun!

IYNF and LYS Updates

Didja know it's the International Year of Natural Fibres? Yes, really. I see that sisal is making a comeback in Tanzania, one of the places on my list of must sees (I really, really, really want to go see the Ngorongoro crater).

Check out all 15 natural plant and animal fibers here. (Plenty of stuff to work with for folks who are intolerant of wool). I do have some Be Sweet in my stash ... it's much easier to get politically correct yarn here than in Chile ...

And it turns out there's also this thing called KnitMap which will show you all the local yarn shops when you put in a zip code. Take a look here for the Twin Cities map. Wow. This is the tool to use when going on vacation - find out where to pick up that souvenir yarn ... I also like the fact that on the home page you can check the option to find stores that are open right now (kind of reminds me of the Las Vegas crowd when I was working in the travel industry - "When's the next flight to Vegas...pant, pant").

I'm looking over the new VogueKnitting ... can you tell? (Sorry Susan)

Cold Monday

It snowed the other day - I love snow and I feel that we've been short-changed this year.

I especially love it in the morning before there are any tracks:


The cat doesn't have a problem with the snow. He's king:
Girl-child brought this home from campus - the Republican student publication:
One of the articles was written by a person who doesn't have a problem giving up a few civil liberties to keep the country safe. Very scary.

Turnabout

Diagram Prize

The finalists have been announced for the Diagram Prize which celebrates the year's oddest book title.

Ready?

• Baboon Metaphysics
• Curbside Consultation of the Colon
• The Large Sieve and its Applications
• Strip and Knit with Style
• Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring
• The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-milligram Containers of Fromage Frais

Go here to read about it and here to cast your vote.

I don't know if the best part is that we have Baboon Metaphysics on the shelf at the library where I work or that there's a knitting book on the list ...

Snail

The long-awaited, backordered, Ironic gift has arrived:

Isn't it awesome?

Thank you!

English Genius

This is what reading all those books could do for you:

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 80% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test

at HelloQuizzy

(A lot of good it's done me!)

Books: Overrated, Best and Worst

I recently stumbled upon another book list - this one is someone's 10 Most Overrated Novels list. I pretty much agree with the list with the glaring exception of 100 Years of Solitude. (see my comments which are number 666).

The Modern Library has two lists - you can see them side by side - one is The Board's List and the other The Readers' List. There is a rival list from another publisher here.

The lists are fun, I think, since writing, like art, is so subjective. No two people would ever have the same list. You could measure popularity - most purchased, most checked out of a library. You could take a poll. You could see which ones are used most in classrooms. The possibilities are endless.

As far as my favorite books, well, I suppose that would change according the type of day I was having. I would say Little Women and Charlotte's Web were among the most important when I was a girl. I loved Jane Eyre, Uncle Tom's Cabin and A Tale of Two Cities, all of which I read as an adult. For contemporary fiction I'd say Bel Canto, Beloved and The English Patient. Non-fiction is hard to rate since it really depends on how interested you are in the subject, but I'd say that Women Who Run With the Wolves came to me at an important time in my life and has influenced me since.

I love to read biography, memoir and travel narratives for fun, but really good fiction can affect us more deeply, I think (and poetry too, for those who understand it).

Knit Out

This weekend is the third annual Knit-Out at Mall of America. I volunteered at the Knitters' Guild booth this morning and had a quick look around before fleeing the mob.

Here's Patsy and her gang teaching people to knit just outside of Bloomingdale's:
And this is what the crowd looked like at noon:
I don't care about the free stuff which is why I volunteered for the early shift - the only time to get a parking spot is when the mall opens. These people will stand in line for a long time for a free skein of yarn.

Afterward I had a long lunch with old friends from NWA which was very therapeutic.

I also have sock pictures.

These are the Ironic Socks which I finished and gifted last week:

Then I started a pair of Tye-Dye socks for P - they are very colorful and they're knitting up fast:
And I dug up a sock I had inadvertantly started in Chile:

A Chip Off the Old Block

Behold Girl-child's new shoes:

I don't do the shoe thing much anymore ... now I can enjoy fun shoes vicariously.

Novels

So ABEBooks has this list that they've titled Novels that blazed a trail for Obama and, of course, I had to have a look through it. Wow, what an interesting list it is! And what a great concept: novels blaze trails for world leaders. I'd never really thought of it before. It does make sense, though, if you think about it, since novels are often stories that speak to us and help us work through issues whether they are issues of a personal nature or the social issues of our times ... so novels blaze trails for all of us.

Of the ABEBooks list, I think that Beloved is one of the greatest American novels. Ever. I'm sure I never read Uncle Tom's Cabin in school because it was banned, but I did read it as an adult. I remember wondering why it had been banned as I found Uncle Tom to be one of the most inspiring examples of the strength of the human spirit ever. I suppose it could have been a trail blazing novel for me if I had read it when I was young. Heart of Darkness, on the other hand, speaks to the fears of our worst impulses. Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple are beautiful stories of women, in addition to everything else that they are. And To Kill a Mockingbird is, imho, also one of the greatest of American novels.

As far as novels that blazed a trail for me personally, well, I'll have to think about that.

What novels blazed a trail for you?

Passing Through the West Bank

Not the West Bank of the newspapers, but the West Bank of the University. I pass through on occasion when work brings me to the Minneapolis side of campus. I was there on Wednesday and Thursday this past week.

I like passing through because it reminds me of when I was a student living in the neighborhood. I don't like passing through because the neighborhood is much seedier than it used to be. Actually, it was pretty seedy then too; I guess I just didn't notice it so much when I was younger.

It does have a Yarn Door, which is hard to pass by without stopping in.I told my husband that Depth of Field has an amazing magnetic force that makes it impossible to resist.

And there's Palmer's Bar, which is not a bar I frequented in the old days, but I do remember going there once with a friend of a friend; a frat boy from Union College who beat the locals at pool. It was a fun outing. A few weeks ago, as I was passing Palmer's, a guy was thrown out the door rather unceremoniously. There were two women walking in front of me who were covered, and then this guy reeking of alcohol was thrown out of the bar, and then I passed by.

I enjoy the great variety of people that you can still find on the West Bank.

The Irish Part

Now that St Patrick's Day is just around the corner, and since I was just advertising my Black Irish background:

Your result for The Ultimate TRUE IRISH Test...

Finn MacCool

You scored 95 Common Sense, 69 Irish Facts, and 87 Irish Soul!

I am honored to be in your presence. You know your stuff. You are Irish in your heart. You probably talk like an Irish person after a few pints. You sing the rebel songs. You drink, and probably bleed Guinness. You may have even been interned in British Prisions. You impress (or annoy) all your friends with your vast Irish knowledge. If you are a female, I am in love. If you are a male, we are brothers. We should have a pint.

Take The Ultimate TRUE IRISH Test at HelloQuizzy

(Thanks to The Knitted Fish for the tip on the quiz)

Potential Future Darwin Award Winner

Today was a cold day. I'm no wimp, mind you. But this girl got on the bus with a thin t-shirt and a very lightweight cardigan. No jacket. Wind chill advisories this morning. I kinneared her footwear:
She's in middle or junior high school, so she can't win a Darwin Award right now, but she'll be of age soon enough. She has potential.

Because My Father Was Black

Your result for The Africa Test...

The Native

16-20 points!

You either are a native of and grew up in Africa, or you went to school in Africa, or you have lived in Africa for many years. Either way, your knowledge of Africa is extensive and you are not ashamed of sharing this information with others. Your knowledge is helping reduce the ignorance about this wonderful continent. Keep up the good work!!

Take The Africa Test at HelloQuizzy

(you've heard of the Black Irish, right?)

Groundhog Day

From Harlot's calendar:

Today is Groundhog Day, when groundhogs all over North America come out of their holes and look for their shadow. If they see it, then they go back in their burrows and winter continues for six more weeks. If not, then winter is over. You can do the knitters' version of this. Take a look at the sweater you're knitting. If you're far from finished, there will be six more weeks of winter-during which you will have no sweater. If you are almost done, then spring is upon us ... and it will be too warm to wear your beautiful new sweater. Really, far more accurate than a groundhog.

It's partly cloudy today. I have the sleeves left to do on my sweater (and putting it together, making the button band, etc....)

On a Brighter Note

It's not a new book (published in 2003) but I did discover it in time for the Oscars:
Great pictures, commentary that you may or may not agree with.

If you like watching the red carpet, take a look before the big night.

Irony

After spending the bulk of the weekend fighting off a nervous breakdown because Boy-child decided NOT to apply to Perpich (announced at the last minute, when it was too late to do anything about it), I found this in the news.

Never mind that Pawlenty is going to shut the place down if he can, Boy still owes apologies to a lot of people who helped him with that application, wrote letters of recommendation, etc.

Except I'm sure he's not going to apologize. I would apologize for him but that's really not the point.

He does seem hell-bent on closing every door he can.

Oh, and his sister won't talk to him now. That's really helpful too.

Life is crap.