Lazy Days of Summer

Although it's not technically summer for a couple of days it feels like summer...

Don't know if I ever mentioned it but I've been looking for a card catalog off and on since I moved. Finally found one on Craig's List last week so I drove to Wisconsin to pick it up yesterday.

It's my new TV stand:

To celebrate we had a movie night with the grandkids.  We watched Ponyo, which is very Miyazaki.  Popcorn is a favorite with everyone.

I was asked recently what I was knitting besides the blankie.   I have two pair of socks going (for Christmas gifts)

The mink stole is 25% done:

And for the record, the blankie is at 100% of the target width.  Got a ways to go in the other direction though.

Remember when no one had air conditioning and we used to go to the movies to cool off in the summer?  And sleep in the basement?

On Color and Addictions and Color Addiction

The blankie continues to progress.  I have added to my scraps through a scrap-swap at the Knitters' Guild February Tea.  I took in some worsted leftovers and picked up sock yarn leftovers.  Some of my Friday night knitting pals have also contributed to the project.  (It's ok, Rosemary, because it's a net zero).

It's a labor of love and addiction.  Over 70 squares now so 10% there ... starting to look like a blankie too.

I finished a sock for DIL.  She got short-changed at Christmas last year so my goal is to have two pair that fit her for next winter.

I also continue to work on tidying up estate issues.  As I prepare to close on the sale of Auntie's house I have picked up other loose ends, such as this afghan.   It was made by my paternal grandmother in the 1950s or 60s.  It needs repair.  Turned out it needed a bath too.

It's crochet so DIL will be in charge of the repairs.  I found materials and once it's dry I'll take it over to The Girls so that it can be fixed up and ready for someone to use.  The colors match better than it would seem from the photos.

It took me to the halfway point to realize that the yarn I chose for the Sister Syster was not good for the pattern.  For the record, if you're planning on making one, look for a yarn with drape.  I was focused on the color.  I am easily distracted by color.  When I saw this purple yarn I decided I wanted a Sister Syster made out of it without thinking it wasn't a good match as far as fabric ...  so now it's been washed and can be made into something else.

Speaking of color ... I try not to buy stuff (much).  My goal is to acquire only things that make my everyday better.  When I saw this polka-dotted mug it made me smile, so I bought it.  When I got it home, washed it and put it on the towel to dry it made me laugh.  I have no regrets.

I guess I have some color addiction issues :D

If you're looking for a sheepy movie I would highly recommend Rams.  We went for a Friday Knit Night Orphans field trip.  I'm not sure everyone else liked it but I thought it was terrific!

Similarities and Contrasts

I went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel on Saturday. It was great.  I'm thinking I'll have to look into Stefan Zweig's writings, which apparently were inspiration for the story.

On Sunday I went to volunteer at the public library. It's pretty amazing how many people at Minneapolis Central Library would be PERFECT characters for a Wes Anderson film. I'm thinking I should write to him and suggest a large, urban public library be the background of one of his films.

In other news, it's spring.  Weird things continue to surface as the piles of snirt melt.  I like the wide disparities of what I may stumble upon on my way to and from work.

Darkness and light.

Today it snowed, tomorrow will be cold, next week it will be 50 degrees out.  I am trying to hold back the grumpiness by keeping in mind it will be warm soon.  Soon.  Soon.

Oscar Night

I've decided to watch the Red Carpet tonight and then turn off the T.V.  I love the Red Carpet.  In the old days Girl-child and I would watch together and critique all the dresses.  That's probably why she sent me this link.

Why will I not watch the rest of the show?  Too long.  And I haven't seen the movies.  Well, I saw one, but that's not enough to be able to cheer for or rail against winners and losers.

Faith Salie did a piece on actors cleaning up their language for thank-you speeches here.  Probably not a bad idea.  

Here are the speeches the Daily Beast thinks were the best.

And then there are the super long ones too.  Look here for info on Oscar thank-you speeches that were 11 words or less.

Anyway, hope you enjoy Oscar night, however you spend it.

Random Observations

• I just saw Tim's Vermeer
• Vermeer is a fascinating painter to many people, myself included
• Hitler too
• The movie turned my view of Vermeer upside down
• You should go see the movie
• The Uptown Theater in Minneapolis now has assigned seating
• And a full bar
• They didn't announce that there's a full bar until it was too late to get a beer
• I had to wait 'till I got home
• Next time
• Seeing the movie is part of my new plan to see 30 movies this year
• Inspired by my friend Dorothy
• I'm going to count each season of Tales of the City as a Movie
• And Sherlock
• I started watching the British Sherlock because my coworkers were talking about it
• Also Downton Abbey
• Season finale for Downton is tomorrow
• Did you see this article about Bates?
• Also in the news did you see this from The Bloggess?
• I love Jenny Lawson
• Venezuela is in the news too
• My AFS family does not write
• I don't know if they're ok or not
• They are incapable of writing
• We have seen each other here and there over the past 35 years
• But they don't write
• Makes me sad, not knowing
• On a brighter note, I am starting to knit again
• Nothing fancy
• But still … it's progress
• I have new tires on my car
• Hooray
• Came in handy today given the state of the roads
• Which are like washboards

Here are Sunday's photos:

Two of my pet peeves: feet on the seat in the train and butt hanging out of pants

Girl-child took this photo in the elevator at my new building when she and DIL came to visit

Boy-child in his favorite new Christmas t-shirt

NYC or Nebraska?

A friend recently told me that she had a goal for 2013 to see 50 movies. She saw 42. I thought that was a great idea so I've set a goal of 30 for myself this year. While most of what I've found on Amazon Prime so far has been sappy, predictable and/or uninspiring (Flight, 33 Postcards, The Burning Plain) I did manage to see Nebraska in a theater yesterday.  I liked it a lot.  It managed to be funny and poignant at the same time.  I thought I would identify with the wife but ended up sympathizing with the son much more.

My original plan for yesterday was to go to New York City to see the Chagall and Spiegelman exhibits at the Jewish Museum but alas. I went to Nebraska instead. I have no regrets.

I've also been knitting, of course.  It's too cold to do anything but knit and watch movies.

Basic mitten pattern by Mary Lou Egan done in Rowan Cocoon.  I had a skein left after making Mary Lou's Esker Cowl a couple of years ago, so now I have a matching set.  (I love the cowl and use it on the coldest Polar Vortex days).

I started a stealth project too, with a yarn I thought was mostly blue.  It's knitting up grey and purple.  I may have to re-group a bit before continuing.

And lastly, these are my purchases from the excursion to Darn Knit last weekend.  The colors in the first two are more electric than what came out here.

This one reminds me of the 1980s black and bright craze.

This one contains all my favorite colors.  I love Colinette yarn, although I don't think I've never tried the fingering weight before.

And this to make something for a baby.  No, I'm not expecting to be a grandma soon, but I seem to be reaching the age that requires I have baby stuff at the ready.

That's it.  Another Polar Vortex on the way.  Stay warm.

A Trip

So I had a trip for work to Rapid City. I do this every year. They were expecting a blizzard Friday but I was going to be ok because my flight was Sunday afternoon. The snowstorm would all be over and I would be fine. (I love traveling confirmed.)

Sunday I had my bags packed, I saw that the two morning flights were cancelled but mine was fine and there was another later one for backup.

Then I got a call.  My flight was cancelled.  I called a friend at the airline.  No space on the later flight.  I went to the airport and picked up a car.  Before I got out of town I got a call that I had been rebooked on the late flight.  I returned the car.   I parked myself at the club in the airport and settled in until my buddy who works at the club (how else would I be able to get into the club?) had a break so we could lunch together.  Everything was going to work fine.

Then I got a call.  The late flight was cancelled.  I wasn't really sure what to do so I had lunch with my buddy.

Then I had an epiphany.  I would rent a car, pick up Boy-child and drive to Rapid City.  I could do it if I had his company and help!

Boy-child and I are a great road trip team.  We had fun.  Good conversation.  Crazy adventure.

And then, the next morning, one of my co-workers missed the bit about my driving companion being my son.  She thought he was my boyfriend.  When Boy-child showed up for lunch she stared at him, mouth gaping open, and she said to herself, "Boy, Soxanne's not doin' bad!"

What a great laugh we had at that!

One person had to join the conference via face-time.  I'm glad I didn't have to join via face-time.  I like going to this conference every year.

Boy-child flew home Monday night.  I got back home tonight in time to go to the cemetery, have a couple of tacos and appreciate just how bad that Dracula movie really is.

Sheepy, Wooly Mural

I don't know what the story is behind this mural but I love it. It's on 35th St maybe between 21st and 20th Aves (more or less). If anyone knows the story please share.

Also in photos of the 'hood and barrio, Girl-child and DIL contribute to this photoblog of the Powderhorn neighborhood and Boy-child just loaded these photos mostly of East Lake St.

And for anyone who's interested, there will be a showing tomorrow night of a Spanish language Dracula movie (the same set but a Mexican cast and crew as the Bela Lugosi Dracula) at the Soldiers and Pioneers Cemetery. They request a $5 donation, starts at 7:30, bring a blanket to sit on. (Because of lightening last night the movie has been postponed to next Wednesday, Oct 9th @ 7:30)

A Mixed Bag

I had a very special little visitor last Friday morning. His mom calls him the "baby burrito" when he's swaddled like this:

In the meantime, I have been entrusted with care of tomatoes and other such. They are rotting on the vine and I can't figure out what I can do to save them. I've had wilt before, but nothing like this (from what I can tell, it's blossom end rot, but I can't find a non-chemical remedy that doesn't involve more work than I can handle).  Anyone have any suggestions?  I feel terrible; The Girls will get back from camp and find out I killed their tomatoes:

And finally, being a masochist at heart, I started a sweater for Girl-child.  She wants a red sweater for her birthday/Christmas.  Don't know what makes her think I can make something that may fit her after my most recent fail.

On a brighter note, I went to the theater to see Far Out Isn't Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story last weekend, which was fascinating.  I also watched Dazed and Confused (Criterion Collection from the library) which was quite remarkable.  I remember nights just like that around the same time period (1976). 

I'm also thinking that I will take the Nautical Knitting Cruise whether I can afford it or not because tonight I'm feeling like I should throw caution to the wind...

Diary of a Mad Packer

Can I just say, I don't understand how this stuff can still be multiplying. I mean, I pack a bunch of boxes with stuff, and I take stuff to Goodwill, and I throw stuff away, and I take stuff to storage, and then I go back to the salt mines, look around, and there's not even a dent in the stuff. There is stuff everywhere.

How is this possible?

I think that Scotty was wrong, and that the laws of physics can be changed.

I'm sure it's a plot.

Probably my X is behind it.

Or maybe I'm just losing my mind.

Plus, for a really creepy coincidence, I took a break and watched The Green Mile this weekend. I was thinking to myself, seriously, that this guy was so convincing, and so endearing, and so amazing, that if I'm ever asked that silly question of, "If you could have any single superpower, which one would you choose?" that I will answer, "I would want to be a curandera" because that guy in The Green Mile was so awesome.

Just sayin'

(or maybe I'd want the superpower that makes stuff disappear)

Red Shoes

Many years ago, when Boy-child was an infant, a friend of mine - someone I worked with and thought I knew well - committed suicide. Her name was Lori.

Not long after that, I was reading the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves. I was reading it while on vacation in Paris and I happened to see the movie "The Piano" while I was in the middle of the Bluebeard chapter of the book.

You know how sometimes things click in such a way that it creates a shift in your universe? That book and that movie at that time after that tragic event was just such a moment in my life.

As I continued to read the book, I began to see Lori and myself and every woman I had ever known in the archetypes described through the fairy tales. It was amazing.

Toward the end of the book I discovered The Red Shoes, which is a dark fairy tale I had not been familiar with before. It disturbed me deeply because I saw my mother in the story.

By now you're probably wondering where this is going. Well, I took my mother a new pair of slippers today. After marking them with her name and getting them on her feet I looked at her and said, "Look at your new red shoes!"

Feet and Bounty

I have been knitting, although a lot of what I've been doing is stealth, holiday knitting. I managed to finish one of the Snicket socks.
I also rented the movie so that I could see the dress that inspired the pattern. The dress was very cool. The movie, not so good (yes, Sweet Pea, I know you told me it was bad, but the costumes were amazing).

Also in the Feet category, we found some ballet stuff while working on cleaning out the basement. What a wild ride those ballet years were:

At the farm the sunflowers and cucumbers seem to have taken over. The tomatoes have been pretty much choked out. There are a couple of peppers that will be harvested in a week or so. The sugar snap peas are nowhere to be found. The cilantro is done (is that normal?).

Girl-child is looking into how to harvest the sunflower seeds.

The flowers are freakishly large. I think they weigh 10-20 lbs a piece.
I did manage to make some salsa with the tomatoes that survived. I also whipped up a little guacamole. Dinner was based upon some extraordinary cheese I sampled at the grocery store. You cook it up in a little olive oil. Delicious. Fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes from the garden were the perfect complement to the cheese. Guac with chips were the second course, fresh fruit for dessert.
Tonight I'll be grilling steak and brats, which should last me the whole week.

A Movie Worth Writing About

So, I just watched Travelers and Magicians and it's the first movie I've seen in a while that I would actively recommend. Not only is it a good movie, it takes place in Bhutan. I believe it may be the only major motion picture ever made in Bhutan.

Everyone always wants to know how I find the movies that I put on my Netflix queue, and I can never remember. But this time I remember. In the book, The Geography of Bliss, the author goes to Bhutan because it's a country more interested in Gross National Happiness than Gross National Product.

Anyway, if you want to see Bhutan without the jet lag, if you like stories of the modern world clashing with tradition, if you liked The Alchemist, rent the movie. It's good.

Spring?

The days are longer now that we've switched to Daylight Saving but it's given the afternoons a surreal feel; we got a ton of snow and cold weather right when the time changed, so at 5:00 it looks like it's 3:00 on a winter's day. At 7:00 it's still light out, but feels like it shouldn't be. I guess this is the "jet lag" of changing time that I've heard people talk about, I've just never experienced it until this past week. Does this mean I'm getting old or can I blame it on the weather?

The discovery of the day was through Facebook (who knew I'd ever find a use for Facebook?) I found out that International Yarn Bombing day is June 11, 2011. Now I have a target date for some special tagging project yet to be determined.

Speaking of knitting, I went to Needlework, Unlimited's 40th birthday bash before going to Mexico and won pattern and yarn for a leafy shawl. Seemed like a good idea to start it on the trip; the yarn is a cotton/linen blend, so perfect for the season, right?

And some limeade Reversi socks for a friend's (September) birthday (sorry, I wasn't going to show you but I rather like the way they're turning out. Hope you do too).

And a pair of red socks for a Christmas present (not pictured). Oh, and I made a sweater:
I'm on top of it this year ... maybe.

Turns out I have to be on top of it since I picked up another 20 hour/week job. It's working as a "Bilingual Associate Educator" in Minneapolis at an elementary school that has a large Hispanic population. It is, in fact, a very, very poor student population with over 60% ESL and 97% of the kids are on free or reduced rate lunch. I only worked a few days before spring break, but tomorrow I'll be at it full force. It seems funny to me that I've returned to my bleeding-heart roots; I'm working with disadvantaged kids in the morning and then with non-traditional adult students in the afternoons/evenings. I like it all (I may have to work 'till the day I die but by god I'm at least going to do what I like).

The weekend included a visit with Kate and Wyatt. It's so fun to get a baby fix. I love fuzzy baby heads:There's baby bling now - didn't exist back when I had babies - so you have a teething ring handy alwaysIt's still fun to watch them sleep:I've started The Book Thief, which I found at Value Village for $1. Can't say I know what to think of it yet. For travel reading I took Kindred to Mexico, which was recommended to me by one of the peer tutors at work. It was a fantastic book for the plane. Susan is trying to get book club going again; I'm interested to see what is chosen and who shows up.

In the movie department I recently watched Facebook (interesting but what a bunch of jerks), Coraline (creepy) and Inception (a little too weird but entertaining enough).

What I've Been Up To

I've been fairly obsessed with the Palisander, which I finished last night. It's currently drying (I'm hoping it will be dry by the time it cools down on Friday:

Before I start a new knitting project I'm trying to finish a hat and booties - the same as what I made for Blinker - in time for a baby shower at work the 28th of this month.

I finished two books, Mountain of Crumbs and The Blind Contessa's New Machine. I loved, loved, loved Mountain of Crumbs. It's a memoir of a woman born in the Soviet Union in 1955. Since I was born here in 1960 I found her perspective fascinating; it was a glimpse of what was going on for a girl/young woman on the other side of the Cold War. It is a very well written glimpse into a world I knew nothing of, but speculated on a lot (I also studied the Russian language briefly in high school). The Blind Contessa's New Machine was good, but I'm not sure if I liked the ending.

I saw a very good movie, Bomber. It was a Little Miss Sunshine type of a road trip, except it was a British couple and their adult son going to Germany. There was also a short on the same disc, Edgar which was great.

Since I am once again a Lady of Leisure - the bookstore is not only done with Christmas sales, but perhaps headed toward bankruptcy - I've started volunteering. The new "job" is sorting books at ARC's Value Village in Richfield. I figure since I used to work with books and volunteer as a tutor I would, now that I'm teaching, volunteer with books. It is very enjoyable. This morning there was a lot of folks talking about the Grammys.

Boy-child recently brought up the Chicago Boys which reminded me that we sat with a Chicago Boy at a wedding reception some years ago. Phone calls were made and he's hoping to be able to make contact with said "boy" (who was born and raised in Ireland, became a Chicago Boy and thus spent time in Chile. Funny how that works).

And for fun photos I have these two shots from the 46th street station. This is across Hiawatha, at a fountain place. Note that the water is still spilling out of the top of the ice. At night it is lit up different colors.

And what's not to love with this sticker, which someone put on the heat button box at the station.
What's new with you?

This and That

So many things going on all the time and I haven't been ranting or musing aloud about any of them - time for some contemplative ruminations, dontcha think?

I heard they've scrubbed Huckelberry Finn of the N word for modern consumption. Honestly, I can not believe it. George Orwell was right. Girl-child says it's so that they can teach the book in suburban schools without offending all the African American students. Right. I don't know where to begin in my rant. Let's clean up Shakespeare next, shall we? And Dickens. Oh hell, let's just clean up everything while we're at it.

On a brighter note, Miss Q and I went to see The King's Speech the other day. Brilliant movie. Incredible acting. I can't say enough good things about it. Colin Firth should definitely get the Oscar. Go see it. I was so inspired, in fact, that I rented Shine so that Boy-child could see Geoffrey Rush in that too. He was unimpressed. Oh well. (Yes, we'd already seen A Single Man).

And speaking of ... I've been watching Dexter while I knit. Third season. Boy-child and I were discussing what went wrong with Dexter in the third season. I say it's Rita. Dexter is best when he's a loner, not a family man. Any other opinions? I've also been watching Castle, which Girl-child got me hooked on. And the National Geographic Taboo series. Those are both good.

What have I been knitting? Slippers and hats. Guess I'll have to take some pictures, eh?

Also, If I may be so bold as to pilfer stuff from The Kat's blog; she finds the coolest things!

Like this, the Wall Street bull all knit up:

and this, a picture filled with fifty movie titles:

That's it for now.

le week-end

We had a special guest for Thanksgiving, which was fun.
The paella turned out and the bread was delicious.
He's looking kind of guilty here, in front of the empty pan, don't ya think?

It's been quite a leisurely weekend. I may have failed to mention before now that my Life of Leisure is over insofaras I got a temporary, part-time job at a local bookstore to earn a little extra cash. This means I am working more than 20 hours a week, but not a lot more. It's fun being at the other end of the book/information business, working in sales although working retail on Black Friday was kind of a trip. Honestly, I can't believe what people will do to save $5 but, whatever. The only thing I bought on Black Friday was food. (I worked from 6am 'till 10am so no big deal).

We went and saw a couple of movies over the weekend. The new Harry Potter movie was fun, if a bit sad at the end. I'm looking forward to seeing the second half, and I also plan to watch them all over again (we own the first six) since they're fun and it gives me a lot of knitting time. Last night Pato and I went to P.F. Chang's for a lettuce wrap and calamari dinner before seeing Fair Game. I didn't follow the Valerie Plame story much as it was happening, given that any news related to W and Iraq upset me no end back when he was in the Oval Office. It still upsets me, actually, but the movie was good. I would recommend both.

Also, did you know that Rupert Grint (a.k.a. Ron Weasley) chose A Clockwork Orange for his ALA Read poster? What a naughty boy! Bet a lot of folks are unhappy about that one...makes me giggle just thinking about it.

For my part, I am reading The Enchantress of Florence which I have had sitting around for ages but picked up and started only last week. It's great.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.