Mmm ... entrelac

When we last left our fearless knitblogger, she was not knitting. Luckily for her and her varied and many (okay, two) readers, she has embarked upon two Exciting Knitting Projects.

First up, Spiralen. It's lace, rather doily-like, and quite easy to knit in the space of about two movies. I have probably 15 minutes more work to finish the crochet edging, and then it must be blocked. By the by, crocheting with the yarn in the left hand is pretty much essential if you don't want to go crazy.

Why do I know this? Well, in order to start the crochet border on the 128 stitches, I had to wrangle a hook, the yarn, and a needle. I had been "throwing" the yarn (knitting with it in my right hand) and I thought it would be too much hassle to switch to the left. It turns out that wasn't such a great idea. Tension goes kaput, stitches somehow become itty bitty, and I then have to magically figure out how to transition between the first and second rounds of the crochet border.

But it's okay. I've got it covered.

I also decided to start using some of that Lamb's Pride Worsted that I'd received for my final SP8 package. My initial plan was to use it on a French Market bag. Well, I've expanded on the idea. I have been wanting to knit more entrelac, so I thought, "What's stopping me from making this bag entrelac? Nothing!" And so I doodled out the color scheme and everything. I'm going for a rainbowy sort of feel: magenta, cranberry, turquoise and navy, in that order. I started the base with the cranberry; the first tier of blocks will be cranberry, the next turquoise, then navy ... you can see where I'm going.

And then, when I'm done, I will felt the lot.


Oh yes — I forgot to say that I finished The Dark is Rising series yesterday. Excellent conclusion. However, from rumors I hear, the movie won't hold up at all to the books' standards. Pity, that.

Bring your long, heavy zucchinis!

It may be that I have a dirty mind, but this excerpt from a letter to the editor sounds just dreadful.

The Farmers Market would like to invite all those gardeners out there to enter our first-ever Biggest Zucchini Contest. We will have two classes — heaviest and longest.

It is open to the public and simple to enter. Bring your giant zucchinis to the market by 9 a.m. on Saturday. The entry fee is $1 per zucchini.

Only $1 each? Hell. Bring your zucchinis, kids! We'll have a grand time!

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Meanwhile, I have not been knitting. I have been squeezing every ounce I can muster of the county fair out of my brain. And I've been reading the Dark is Rising sequence. I'm set to start The Dark is Rising today after work, having finished Over Sea, Under Stone this morning. I really love this series, even though it's young adult. Hooray for young adult fiction!

That's really all. I need to wash dishes and do laundry something terrible.

Seven is heaven? and other such tales

I realized yesterday at some point that I forgot to tell you all about the dream I had Wednesday night.

I was with a group of people in a cozy room set up with a number of small dining tables. People were being served pieces of meat that rather looked like bits of pork. While everyone was being served, Sam Neill (Jurassic Park Sam Neill, no less) was walking around, acting as the host. He was talking about how fantastic this society of people was, and how lucky the newest members were to be joining.

It was around this point I became aware that the society was in fact a group of high-class, civilized cannibals, and that the pork-like meat that was being served to everyone was actually human flesh. I don't recall being terribly revolted by the thought, either, which scares me a little. One woman, however, seemed to be having second thoughts. She told Sam Neill that she wasn't so sure she could actually go through with eating people (and I'm sure she was one of the new inductees.) Well, Sam Neill told her that that wouldn't fly, and that she had to partake. She was the one scheduled to host the next meeting; had she declined, she would have attended as a rather more cooked version of her present self.

Craziness.

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Gwiffen is back from the vet again. She now has a dashing plastic collar adorning her neck, and glowers at me from wherever I'm sitting. She also has new sutures — heavy-duty ones this time — so that she can continue the healing process.

And, after a day or two of putting it off, I finished the Boobholder this morning. I opted for ties instead of buttons, so the two buttonholes I made can just hang out and act cool. The ties were knitted in garter and are 7 stitches wide and 7 inches long each. (Had to throw in a little book 7 symbolism.)

I have my bag of fun ready for the book launch, sans the socks in progress. I even managed to do a little last-minute extra costuming: plastic 3-D glasses became Spectrespecs, a small handful of Turkish currency became wizarding money, and an odd assortment of items became a charm bracelet. I think I'm ready.

Um, and again.

I have sunk to an interesting level — I bought a frozen pizza at a gas station last night. Because, you know, it's not delivery. Oh, come on! It was 10 p.m. and I hadn't had anything since lunch, which was seven or so hours earlier. I was starving. And then I had to wait a bloody half hour to eat it.

So, the roommates are moving out and by some odd stroke of luck, I may have a roommate already. It's one of their co-workers from the Gigantor Call Center, whom I've met before. He's terribly fun, and convinced Kas to give up her wedding dress to him. (And he looks smashing in it. Smashing like pumpkins, even.) Having a roommate is cool, mostly because then I wouldn't have to pay all the bills by myself (not that I couldn't, since I live in a step up from a hovel). Also, the dog wouldn't have to go live with some other nice family, so that's a plus.

I've been doing a bit of reading lately, and I'd thought I'd share some good books with you, dear readers. Firstly, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a fantastic book. I listened to it on CD after incessant badgering from a friend employed at a large chain bookstore, who wanted me to purchase the paperback the second it came out. Spending the $14 was less than fashionable for me at the moment, so I decided to check my local library and poof! listening to it an hour later. It's excellent, and really, that's all I can say.

I've also been looking at Suss Cousins' Home Knits, which is another excellent book. A Really Useful Book, in fact, that I found to be quite inspirational. It helped me with a couple of projects for The End of HP swap, and a little something-something for a recently married friend. (Holla, Aramad!) It's unfortunately due back at the library today, but I want it. I'm actually jonesing for it, I think, if I'm accurately recognizing the feeling of a "jones."

Also, these Garden Salsa Sun Chips are excellent.

Ba-ba-ba-books!

Because I can't resist books or memes, here's one from Lick My Sticks.

In the list of books below, bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a ten-foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. +Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. +Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. *A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. +Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. +Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. +Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. +The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. +Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) (Trying to finish this one)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. *The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. *The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. *The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible (some, from class mostly)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. +The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. +Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. +She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. +The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. *The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. *The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) (I keep confusing her with Kingsolver for some reason.)
60. +The Time Traveler’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) (Working on it.)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview with the Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. +One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) (Tried, couldn't stand it.)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. *Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. +Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. *Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. +Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) (I read this on the bus in Turkey.)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. *The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98.* A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. *The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)


I got a great package from Monster Pal today ... I'll see if I can post photos tomorrow. (It's almost time for choir rehearsal, so I best get my butt in gear and stop eating these delicious Jolly Rancher jelly beans.)

Honeycombs, swaps, and swallowtails

My mom's birthday was last Monday. I had decided to knit her a little something in order to keep off the chill when she's downstairs in sewing land, where there's no heat. (The basement is still unfinished.) I thought a nice wristwarmer and Calorimetry set would keep her warm. I used one skein of Lion Brand Wool in a purple-pink-orange sort of colorway; it had just enough yardage for the set.

I don't have any photos right now, but I'll give you my basic pattern for the wristwarmers. I used US 8 DPNs with the worsted weight wool. I started by casting on 42 stitches, using the alternate cable cast on (found at the bottom of the linked page). After 1 1/4 inches of 1x1 rib, I switched to a modified honeycomb cable.

1. C2F, *C2B, C2F* around.
2. Knit around.
3. Knit around.
4. C2B, *C2F, C2B* around.

It wasn't exactly even over the 42 stiches, as it's a 4-stitch repeat, but you couldn't really tell. After that, I did 4 or 5 rows of 2x1 ribbing, so it would pull in a little closer. I bound off in pattern, knitting the knits and purling the purls, and it was done. Were I to do it again, I think I'd make the stitches divisible by 4 to keep the honeycomb even.


Here you can see the chart over 12 stitches, created with VisiKnit.

Other than that, I've joined Secret Pal 8 on the Knitty board, and have been claimed by my upstream pal. I've also claimed my downstream pal. I've got some very good ideas for packages to send, so I just have to start getting them together.

I also joined a couple of other swaps on Craftster: Hogwarts Houses and Gaiman. I've got my partner for the Gaiman swap, and so have begun to work on rustling up some projects for that. Fyberduck, the busiest girl in the universe, is organizing the Hogwarts Houses swap, and will be sending our partners in the beginning of February. I've signed up as a Ravenclaw. I've also realized that my kindred spirit in the Harry Potter world is Luna Lovegood, because she's quite quirky and ... interesting. (I can't wait to see how she's portrayed in the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.)

Oh, I almost forgot: Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney will soon be releasing a book, A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style. And now I think I'll get ready to go develop some film, and start a Swallowtail Shawl (inspired by this one) while I'm at it.

Edit: I've knit through one full repeat (of the requisite fourteen) of the second chart, and am thoroughly enjoying the pattern. I had wanted to start knitting lace more actively this year, but didn't expect to enjoy it quite as much as I did, sitting at the Hy-Vee Starbucks drinking a caramel macchiato (tall's enough, thanks) and watching people.

His Dark Handknits

I'm still not entirely certain what drew me to re-reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I ran across the first two books in my brother's room when I helped him rearrange furniture, and brought them back home. Yesterday, when I realized I was just past the halfway point in the second book, The Subtle Knife, I thought perhaps I should find some way of acquiring the third book. When lunchtime came around, I made a quick stop at my local bookstore and ordered The Amber Spyglass.

And then today I was doing a little interneting and discovered the strangest thing: His Dark Materials: the movie. (And who better to play Mrs. Coulter than Nicole Kidman?) I swear I didn't hear of it until today. What strange timing. What's better is that they have a few production photos up at IMDB, and by George, thar be knittin' in that thar movie!


Check out that hat!


And that garter stitch jacket? I smell a KAL!

I hope Hollywood doesn't slaughter it. (Of course, you can't spell slaughter without laughter ...)

Slattern!

For the past couple of days, I've had a word stuck in my head. I know this is odd; it is far more common to get songs or poems or other things rhythmic in nature stuck in one's head. But I, I have a word stuck in my head. And it's not that I've read the word recently, because it's not the sort of word one runs across at high frequencies. The word in question? Slattern.

slat‧tern – noun
1. a slovenly, untidy woman or girl.
2. a slut; harlot.

I know, right?* Such a strange word. Perhaps I ought to use it in a sentence to rid it from my mind: The town was rife with curious folk, and a slattern on every street corner. No, that may have made it worse.


Captain Jack Bearrow

And friends, I give you the latest addition to my piratey shrine: Captain Jack Bearrow. (In all actuality, I named him Captian Jack Sparrow, but realized the error of my ways almost immediately and have re-christened him.)

I also purchased a copy of Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, a new book of short stories and the like. It is indeed fragile, as the dust jacket is made of vellum and prone to wrinkling. I haven't cracked the cover yet, as I'm still drawn into Eldest. I find it unlikely that I pick up any of the other three books until I finish. It's become a rather surprising crack-like addiction. (C'mon, dragons and evil kings? Who wouldn't get sucked in?)

B is coming for a quickie visit this weekend after All-State, so I've got cleaning to think about and laundry to do.

And to answer The RHD, 1. saving is as saving does, 2. I don't think I've ever watched that show. It kind of scares me.


* Phrase used tongue-in-cheek. Don't get all up in my grill.**
** See above.

Grrrr

Today did not begin in an auspicious manner.

Also, I haven't gotten further in either of the two books I mentioned yesterday, as my brother finally retrieved Christopher Paolini's Eldest from a friend who'd borrowed it. That took precedence last night, as I was in a bit of a foul mood. Since the book begins with a recap of the first book's bloody end, it was a bit of a downer.

Today will be better lest I shoot it.

Stranger Than ... my weekend

If you didn't get the chance to see Stranger Than Fiction this weekend (with Will Ferrell and Emma Thompson), here is my advice: get thee to a cinema. It was a very thought provoking movie, and unlike (I think) any of his other movies, which made it that much better. I think that a lot of people were thinking that it'd be a lot like any classic Will Ferrell movie — stupid humor (again, I'm only guessing). I have avoided like the plague most of the movies he's been in (excepting Zoolander, which I think is brilliant).

I am currently reading a couple of books, Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife. I've been very sucked in to the former and am on the second section, and barely begun the latter.

On Saturday my mom and I traipsed the Two Rivers Art Expo in Des Moines — I was merely there for eye candy and inspiration, but she whipped out her checkbook a few times. There was quite a lot of inspiration to be found. One paper artist I saw (from whom my mom has purchased a couple of times) had featured a few lines of a familiar Robert Frost poem: The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Since I saw that particular piece of artwork, I've had Frost's lines running through my head. I think it may be one of my favorite bits of poetry, ever. Add that to the list so far: the last lines of The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler Yeats (which I rediscovered a few years ago when reading the inscription on a Ray Bradbury book), so much depends by William Carlos Williams, and others that seem to have fallen from my head at the moment.

And snow, while lovely at first, soon turns to slush and grey muck. And also, it's cold.

Monday, 12:47

Pardon the previous post — I think I was on crack or something. When I was talking about Everything is Illuminated, I meant to mention that I also purchased the book. I managed to run across Saturday, after watching the movie the night before. I took it as a sign. Let me give you a small excerpt.

I have tutored Little Igor to be a man of this world. For example, I exhibited him a smutty magazine three days yore, so that he should be appraised of the many positions in which I am carnal. "This is the sixty-nine," I told him, presenting the magazine in front of him. I put my fingers — two of them — on the action, so that he would not overlook it. "Why is it dubbed sixty-nine?" he asked, because he is a person hot on fire with curiosity. "It was invented in 1969. My friend Gregory knows a friend of the nephew of the inventor." "What did people do before 1969?" "Merely blowjobs and masticating box, but never in chorus." He will be made a VIP if I have a thing to do with it.

While I'm typing about books I bought on Saturday, I may as well quote Bazaar Bizarre by Greg Der Ananian.

I was but a wee flaming homosexual when my mother wisely took me under her wing and taught me the ladylike skills of knitting and cross-stitch ... and so began my love affair with crafts.

Doesn't that just make you giggle with delight? (This book was half price, and I thought it was quite entertaining. And it is.)

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I knew Fyberduck would make a cool swap button.

In other random thoughts, I think I'd like to get a ball winder. Actually, a swift would probably be a better choice at this juncture — I can wind balls by hand with my makeshift nostepinne (read: paper towel tube). But when I buy yarn online (or elsewhere and forget to have it wound) and it comes in hanks instead of balls or skeins, I usually jump the gun and forget that the yarn will always tangle if I try to knit from it.

So, all ye knitters, do you have suggestions? I've heard from a couple of places — Craftster and the Knitty Coffeeshop — that Jo-Ann's is the way to go, since they offer a 40% or 50% off coupon virtually every month. (Or I may just get a winder and use chair backs, of which we have plenty.)


That's all I've got for now. It's time for lunch. (Useless!)

"Research", et cetera

The roommates (and the dog!) are gone for the weekend; with any luck they'll be in Missouri this afternoon. I have the house to myself this weekend, and the cats are in charge without the dog to harass them. It's nice to have a quiet house, and to not have to put the baby gate up to keep the dog from chewing on my WIPs and books.

Plans for the weekend include seeing Pirates again, this time with the family. I'm excited, as now I will get to do a little more "research" for the swap. Otherwise, I fully intend to clean house. (Four furry animals = lots of hair. Ew.) My closet has somehow been taken over with laundry, so that's on the agenda as well. I'll also continue reading Eragon by Christopher Paolini (who is just a few months younger than I, apparently), which I borrowed from my brother. I really thought it would take me longer to get into the book, according to what an acquaintance told me, but it only took part of a chapter. It's also being released as a movie in mid-December. Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich are both in it. Yummy.

Anyway, back to work. I imagine I'll see you on Monday to regale you with stories of pirates and the crusade against dust bunnies in a verysmallhouse.

LibriVox

Everyone likes being read to, or did at one time. I just started listening to a new podcast, CraftLit. Right now, through that podcast, I'm listening an excerpt of Pride and Prejudice. I've never actually read it, so I very much appreciate that someone has taken the time to read it aloud and record it. The excerpts are acquired from LibriVox, which has just become my new favorite website. Its tagline is the entirely fitting "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain". I'm all about liberation (and the public domain), so go explore. I'm downloading quite a few, so that I might listen to them when I'm not at the computer (think iPod, y'all who have 'em).

Am I talking to myself?

I think I've caught a little bit of a cold, but I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with all of the secondhand smoke I've been inhaling. Nasty.

I saw Brokeback Mountain again with Brie and KT. I still don't know what to think about it. I keep going back and forth: liked it, hated it, liked it, hated it.

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I was going to post a picture of my Kittyville hat, which I finished two days ago, but I can't make it any smaller due to not having a good photo editing program at home. It's a little big-ish, since I was spacing out on the stockinette part, but I don't mind. For now, you'll just have to imagine me wearing a red hat with earflaps and cute, pointy, kitty ears.

I really, really, really want to join the Knitting Olympics. But I have to decide what to do. The specs say something that's challenging to complete in 16 days. I want to do something with colorwork and/or felting. I'm definitely not ballsy enough for a sweater, but I could probably make a tote bag or something. Now to chart out a pattern or ten ...

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As for this week's episode of Project Runway, what can I say? Emmett looked supergay in that shirt; it was so tight (toight like a toiger, in fact). I really think Santino should have been auf-ed this week, but Emmett's down for the count. Seeing Tim Gunn on ice, though, made me feel better.

But I have something to say about Chloe's designs. While I enjoy them, I have a small problem: so much turquoise! Half of them are turquoise. (Don't believe me? See for yourself.) Now down't get me wrong — I have nothing against the color. I am wearing a bit of it right at this very moment. But I don't feel she's branching out enough color-wise. Maybe it's just me, though. Or maybe she's trying to match Bravo's latest color scheme. Looking at her professional collections, she doesn't seem to have much turquoise going on at all. Maybe she's just really into the color right now.

At any rate, don't miss fourfour's recount of this week. It's sound byte heaven.

Also, it seems that Kara Saun's "Envy" dress from last season is up for auction. Go ahead. I double-dog dare you to bid on it.

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It seems that Ellis is coming back to the Ritual Café in April. Any takers? (And on a side note, I found out that the Ritual Café hosts a SNB group on certain Sundays, so I may try to visit that some time. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend quality time at a café?)

I'm off to read Barry Trotter, which KT lent me.

"Stop that movie," Headmast Alpo Bumblemore said, "or Hogwash is history!" Already overrun by brawling, fetid fans of the bestselling Barry Trotter books, Hogwash is certain to be pulled down brick by brick after Barry's new big-budget biopic debuts. So Barry Trotter, Ermine Cringer, and Lon Measly are hauled out of retirement to face their toughest challenge yet. Not only do the twenty-two-year-olds have to elude packs of rabid fans, outwit Barry's sponging godfather Serious, and vanquish their old foe Lord Valumart, they have to face the most powerful enemy of all: Hollywood!

— the back cover

Oh, and music geeks, check out this Honda ad.

More of the same

Nothing much to add right now. I'm fairly certain that the world suffers from Over Capitalization, but that's really no concern of mine. I've realized recently that I forgot to retrieve Eats, Shoots & Leaves from someone I loaned it to. That's no good, so I sent him a message through thefacebook. I hope he checks it. If not, I'll have Mr BoJangles steal it from him.

Speaking of books, I've succumbed to buying Mirror Mirror, against my better judgement. It took me a good hour to get up the urge to read it last night, and by the time I got there, I was too tired to read far. I've gotten past the beginning, which seemed odd and rocky at first. At this point, I'm doubting that it will turn out like Snow, Glass, Apples, but really, who knows?

Since the roommate thinks that I should get a job a little closer to Omaha -- and obviously I do too, if gas is going to be $2.45 a gallon! -- I decided to head back tonight. I don't think I should be here too late.

AND I got to show off my mad Photoshop-ing skills today. Fabulous.

Lost

Lost is the third of Gregory Maguire's books that I've read. I have to say that, although I enjoyed all of them, each one is less and less fascinating than the last. I began with Wicked, continued with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister and Lost. I must say that the concept for this book was less rewriting an old fairy tale and more ... standard fiction, I suppose. It is, after all, a book about a writer (Winnie) who is trying to write a book about a writer (Wendy) who is trying to write a book. I'm still a little hesitant to read Mirror Mirror, as it seems to be the classic Snow White story that, like Wicked and Confessions, will likely turn out to be an inside-out fairy tale.

But, I see as I continue surfing Amazon.com, Mr Maguire has written a sequel to Wicked, due out in September. And there's another novel due to be released in September ... written by my favourite author, Neil Gaiman. So I think I'm going to order Son of a Witch and Anansi Boys now. Then at least I'll have some exciting mail come September.

Pair that with the following: our air conditioning has seemingly gone out for the third time this summer, I keep sneezing and hiccoughing, and my dog looks vaguely like a chihuahua. It's certainly turned out to be an odd summer.

O Holy Mackerel

What a good idea. Read fifty books in a year. Doesn't sound too tough, does it? In fact, I could probably go pretty high on the list. I'll have to look through my back entries so that I can count 'em up.

This week's paper wasn't too difficult to put together, I think. Except for all of the late stats and softball photos, of course. That was a really big pain in the butt, but it happens. The paper's nearly done, I'm thinking, except for placing a few last things in Sports and finding out if I-35 wins tonight so that I know whether to put "Good luck" or "Congrats on the season" ... but that's the least of my worries.

Dustro found an apartment in Omaha and faxed me the app, which had been originall faxed to him. Too bad I can't really read it. I call their office today, though, so I should be getting a replacement. I suspect that it's important to be able to read a form before signing it.

Oh, man.

I finished an infuriating and agravating book last night. The Nanny Diaries drove me insane; by the end of the book I wanted so badly to scream at the narrator "What the hell were you THINKING working for a couple of WASPs?" ... but I didn't. It was after midnight, after all. And I remembered the movie back in Intro to Soc. that Marion made us watch ... and I shuddered. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did, Mr. BoJangles.

Anyway, few days ago I finished a different book: Memoirs of a Geisha. This is the second time I've read Arthur Golden's book, and a few things have stuck with me, even since I first read the book in high school. The fact that the book is entirely fictional, for example, was something that I was surprised to have discovered after first reading it. I remember, very clearly, reading the Acknowledgements section at the end of the book and being struck by its first line, Although the character of Sayuri and her story are completely invented ... I put the book down and forgot about it for a good long while.

But some months ago I went to Half Price Books, as I often do, to browse the clearance section. (This is, not coincidently, the same way I managed to find The Nanny Diaries last week.) I found Memoirs peering up at me from the shelf, the geisha on the cover looking away to the right. I picked it up and remembered having enjoyed the story and decided that I should have my own copy.

So I start pouring myself through the book again, this time finding a sentence so profound that I immediately mark the page with a bit of foil from a gum wrapper and I think, "Wow, this is it. This is the whole thing, this is life."

We lead our lives like water flowing down a hill, going more or less in one direction until we splash into something that forces us to find a new course.

I suppose that's all the wisdom I've got for today. I've got to keep searching for a job out Omaha way. (Sorry about the rhyme.)

Esther Sunday

It's Esther.* Went to church. Don't feel God-y [not terribly gaudy, either], but feel good. Wearing pink, which isn't really in my character, generally.

Neil's got an excerpt from his book up on his website. I'm excited, although it sounds a little bit like C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew** [part of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe series], which made me marginally sad. But only marginall. The rest of it's all good. Just like I expected.

I've also ordered Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell from Amazon, thanks to mom's credit card. She also ordered a couple of things ... church-y stuff. Speaking of church, I'm fairly certain that my parents are trying to take over the church. Not the Church, mind you, just the one they belong to. My mom usually plays the piano, but she can't now. So she directed the choir this morning. My dad sang in the choir. He was also a deacon [for communion and stuff]. And my mom filled in for the worship leader. It's a little scary, but I think this whole getting involved in church thing's been good for them. My parents are happier than they have seemed in a long time, and that's the way I like them. So I'll appease them by going to church once in a while ... at least while I'm home.

Also speaking of church, I think I've been to too many Lutheran services. I almost tried to say "thanks be to God" twice today.

Once again, I was going to jabber on about something else, but it's since passed out of my head. Must've been the skirt-wearing, leg-shaving girl that's seemed to take my place today.

Dustro requested that I have my links open in a new window, so I suppose I shall appease. Right after I change my shirt, since I spilled Dr Pepper on it. Blast.

* Due to a misspelling, Easter shall henceforth be known as Esther. Or at least until I forget about it.
** Aslan's singing the world of Narnia into existence bit.

Things

If you're hungry for sushi, why don't you just print it out? That's what Homaru Canto did. Read the article, if you have a free New York Times username. It's amazing.

Anyway, I'm going to go read more of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, since I'm near the end and actually quite taken with the book. Not as good as Wicked [the book], though, but I'm enjoying it still.

And perhaps get some knitting done for Lina, as I still owe her a hat to match her scarf.

Oh, and I suppose I might have some homework.