Bring Back the Comma!

Where have I been?  I have been reading some wonderful books.  Classes are out for the summer, so that means time for reading books – books that I CHOOSE!

First, I started with Miranda July’s “No One Belongs Here More Than You,” a collection of short stories.  I really REALLY wanted to like it, but after a while, I got really bored with it.  I don’t know how something so imaginative can quickly grow tiresome, but it did.  I didn’t finish it.  I think I’ll get back to it someday.

Then, it was Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers: The Story of Success.”  Excellent book.  Gladwell’s New Yorker pieces have always stood out for me – any time I find myself entertained while reading about sports you can bet that there’s great writing involved (I could care less about sports).  Read this book!  The most memorable thing from it, to me, was that you’re safest in an airplane being piloted by the most inexperienced crew member.  The reason?  Because that means that the pilot (or “boss,” to the rest of the crew) is co-piloting, so when he pipes in with words of caution, people tend to listen better.  I’m no Gladwell, so if that made no sense, go read the book! 

I tried to follow it up with Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” but it was much more serious and a bit more confusing… and maybe I just needed a break from statistics?  The discussion about Baltimore’s syphilis pandemic (epidemic?) was interesting enough though.  I haven’t given up completely – it’s still on my nightstand.  Then again, so is a dusty copy of Great Expectations… sheesh.

At a friend’s urging, I read Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” and I could not put it down – I finished it in 3 days.  Everyone loves a good survival story… and when you add in a post-apocalyptic setting, even better.  Some images from that book will be in my mind forever.  If you are a non-reader or have issues committing to a novel, try this one.

After watching the trailer for the upcoming Oprah/Tyler Perry movie (wait, just hear me out here!), I decided I couldn’t wait for the movie and had to read the book (which would probably be better anyway).  Oh, the book is “Push” by Sapphire.  If I had to describe this book in one word, it’d be real – each and every one of these characters is believable.  In fact I think a few of them went to my high school.  If I had two words? Heart-breaking – no doubt about it this is a sad survival story.  This isn’t about triumph over hardship; it’s about the process to it.  And the hardships themselves.  Anyway, I get the feeling that the book will have a deeper impact on me than the movie, but either way I will be watching it in November.

Right now I’m a little more than halfway through Haruki Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore,” a book I bought a few years back and never read.  I think the 470 pages of small font really scared me off (ha!  I love making fun of 21-year-old me.) – I’ll admit it still kinda does, but at this point I’m into it and not really counting pages anymore.  Plus, you can NOT beat cameos by Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders, talking cats, fish raining from the sky, ghosts – all in a beautiful Japanese setting.  Craziness.  Unexpectedness.  This book is like a dream, but one of those ridiculous dreams that you wake up laughing at.  Like the time I dreamt that Jane and I got stuck in an Army drill on post and she lost her hair to an explosion.  She had Benjamin Franklin head!

Ok, one last book.  After a stroll through Target last month, I found Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book… flipping through, the pictures really grabbed my eye.  The BF bought the book for me (he’s no dummy…)  So far I’ve made the Vanilla Chai-Tea mini-cupcakes (NOM, great with coffee!), and the hummingbird cupcakes (excellent) – I’ll be trying a few more for parties this weekend, including pineapple flowers.  I’ll try to get some pics and post them. 

 

Yesterday a bunch of us got together to throw our friend Ali a surprise graduation party.  She's just finishing up nursing school and definitely deserved an awesome day of fun.  We decided to have it at Tydings Park, which is lovely and right near the bay/boardwalk... and conveniently only 2 miles or so from my apartment.  Here's the view from our picnic table:

All day long it was looking like rain, and when Jane and I ran errands to pick up the cake and other party goods, it was misting.  We didn't really have a plan B for rain, but it eventually all worked out, and the sun even came out for a while.  We grilled burgers and chicken:

We also had salad made from lettuce my mom picked from my parents' garden, kimchee and chicken fried rice made by Jane's mom, buffalo dip Lisa made, guacamole that Jesse made (Jane's mom loved it, and also -- he just happened to have a molcajete -- how awesome is that?), and fruit salad Fred made.  I'm sure I'm missing something, but I know I tried and loved everything we had.  The cake was awesome too:

It was an awesome time. After some bocce and clean-up, Jesse, Ali and I walked the boardwalk.  Ali headed home, and Jesse and I kept on trucking... straight to Bomboy's for some ice cream.  Ha ha.  Later that night, all of us went to see a friend's band play, and I had a few gin and tonics.  Jesse and I fell asleep on my living room floor. 

Oh, and Friday Jane, Ali and I took my Mom to a Shins concert!  It was my Mother's Day gift to my Mom this year.  It was sooo soooo good.  It was at a smaller venue, Ramshead Live in Baltimore, and we got front row, right in the middle.  The show made me love the Shins that much more, and I also love how much the singer looks like Kevin Spacey (photo stolen from Jane):

It's been an awesome weekend.  I've lost 8 lbs. since last Monday doing Weight Watchers.  I read a whole New Yorker, cover to cover, for the first time since... last summer.  I finished up another semester of grad school.  I've been knitting --  a lot.  My next blog will likely be about all of the yarn I got from the Webs sale... and a few FOs. 

I realize I haven’t posted in a while.  I’ve been busy!

 Classes have been insane this semester, but are starting to wind down (one last weekend of crunching!).  Work’s been crazy too.  Also, new boyfriend (Since February) that I’ve really been spending a lot of time with.  And lately… knitting.  I can’t stop!

I’ve been working on EZ’s seamless hybrid, and the miles of mindless st st have been excellent.  The best part?  I’m knitting this for said boyfriend, but he doesn’t know it.  For some reason he thinks it’s a skirt.  I love being sneaky.  And yes, I know all about the Sweater Curse, but you know what?  If the worst happens (which I don’t foresee happening at all) the sweater would totes fit me (I’m knitting the 40” size… sweet!).  A slim boyfriend is all a knitter could want.

 Recently, I noticed that I hardly have a single picture of myself from the last 3 months.  Plus, all of the pics taken of me have been in bars.  Not cool!  So I decided I want to start the Flickr 365 project.  My friend Jane said she would do it with me.  I recently signed up for Weight Watchers (again) and I think it will be a good way to track my progress, too.  So… that’s that.  Here's 365:1 (weird ceiling fan pic):

 

 

Since my last post, I’ve finished knitting the Hanna cardigan (from cocoknits).  I bought this sweet shawl pin on Etsy, and thought it made the perfect fastener for the sweater:

I also knitted Habitat for the boy (woo, that was a fun/complicated knit):

 

Started knitting Ysolda’s Ishbel (with some KDG hand-dyed farm wool, which I got from Lancaster Yarn Shop):

 

Started and abandoned a pair of Nutkin socks (love that colorway!  It’s Amy’s Vintage Office from Lorna’s Laces):

 And finally got myself some KDG yarn in mustard seed, which I promptly knitted into a scarfy:

P.S., I totes dropped the ball on MDSW this year again.  Last year, same issue: broke.  A yarnie festival is the last place I want to be with no money.  I know I should be able to enjoy an event without having to buy anything, but in this case… nope.  Not possible.  I know I would have just been pissy about being broke.  So next year… yeah, I hope it works out next year.

Do you ever feel like your life is a sitcom?  You know, where one theme will emerge and then continue to assert itself over the course of a few days?

Last night I got some pretty disappointing news about a guy that I’ve been scoping out.  I’m not completely sure the news is true, but after hearing it last night, I started picturing said guy in a number of Whiskey Tango (white trash) situations and got really depressed about the whole thing.

So then this morning, while waiting for the coffee to brew at work, I was talking about the weekend’s food with my foodie co-worker, Feeners, and we were talking about how hard it is to find quality bread in Havre de Grace.  I asked if he ever went into [a local] bakery, and he said, “yeah, on occasion, but…” and here he kind of glanced around and lowered his voice, and said “it’s kind of a… white trash bakery.”  I laughed, and he said, “not to be classist… but… there are a LOT of good old boy types in Havre de Grace.”  That made me feel a little sick, because it’s true, and UGH, if it didn’t relate to my issue.

Then this morning, as I was telling my friend Jane all of this, she reminded me of something else.  Last night we went to a chili cook-off, where my friend, Fred, was competing.  His chili was amazing, and had beer in it… but anyway… the name of his chili?  White Trash. 

I wish, like any good sitcom, this all gets resolved; maybe some Uncle Jesse type can tell me what the lesson is in all of this.  But most likely, time will just tick on.

MMmm: Cardamom/Saffron Sweet Tea Loaf

$@&*!  It was completely hollow.  COMPLETELY.  I could have fit a skein of yarn inside.  Or 4 and 20 blackbirds.  So embarassing.  The worst part is that this happens EVERY TIME.  I can not get bread right.  I even bollocksed up the No-Knead Bread.  I don't get it at all... I can bake any type of cake imaginable, but bread is my downfall.  Blast.

I baked that, along with my ol' trusty stand-by, the Roasted Butternut Squash Tartlet, for last Sunday's Spinning Day.  My friend Ali's Mom used to own a yarn shop, and gave spinning lessons.  So when Ali told her I was interested in spinning, she sent over a Clemes wheel (I love that hippy painting on it, I think Ali's Dad did that):

We learned a LOT, particularly that Jane does not like spinning, and that I do (no real surprise there though).  Also, spinning kills your thumb muscles, moreso than knitting.  Yeouch.  It is a lot of fun though, and a great way to escape from frustrating knitting projects.  I spun a skein of roving Jane had purchased on Etsy from Moonlight Baker, and am now turning it into a lumpy-bumpy-first-attempt-at-spinning style hat:

What else?  I finally got a hair cut!  I decided that I wasn't ready to grow out my bangs just yet:

It was the first time a guy's ever cut my hair.  It was great, Ashley-Ryan was good, and explained in great detail how I should style it (I must have looked a hot mess walking in there or something... )

We went to restaurant week in Baltimore last night, and finally hit Roy's, this upscale Hawaiian fusion place.  For $30, you get a 3-course meal.  So I had some kind of braised duck/lotus root soup (yum... lotus roots have the perfect texture... like beets!), mahi mahi (meh, I think it had been frozen) served on top of glass noodles in lobster broth.  Those noodles were amazing.  Dessert was some kind of lady-finger fruity thing, but I was jealous of Jane and Myrick's choice... the macadamia nut crunch bar.  It was two chocolatey colored bars with the consistency of chunky peanut butter, maybe a little firmer... but soooo much tastier, too.  God I love restaurant week.

This week it's back to classes... the semester starts Monday, actually.  I'm looking forward to it a little, but I'm still not ready to give up my free time.  I hope I don't neglect my friends again, because when I get stressed, I tend to avoid social situations.  I need to remember my New Years' resolution: no more half-assing.  I'll try.

Tonight I was super excited to come home from work, because I decided around 2 pm that tonight I would be having popcorn for dinner.  I'm not even kidding.  Excitement:

Jane got me the popper for my birthday this year, and it's definitely my most-used kitchen appliance.  Well, aside from the microwave.  But not for popcorn!

Now I'm finally trying the homemade hot chocolate mix and peppermint marshmallows I made for Christmas:

 

Not bad, but I had to add some sugar.

The rest of my night includes more Hanna progress, and the first disc of season 2 of The Tudors!

Good night, errybody.

Tonight I used up what might be the last of the delicata squash until it comes back in season late next fall.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of those, they are soooo good:

I've been knitting the Bacchus socks from the fall Interweave.  Notice anything... out of the ordinary?

Hm, how about a left sock chart knitted on a right sock?  You might not think it's a big thing, but knit these socks and you'll find out why.  When you reach the leg, the chart extends out to the heel... well, not so on these.  Had to improv a little twisted rib.  Oh well, the recipient isn't a knitter, so she shouldn't notice... right?  Hope not.

I got a little frustrated so I moved back to knitting Hanna, for MEEE!  Ah, I'm so glad to be making something for myself after all that Christmas knitting: 

Well, my week and a half of freedom is drawing to a close.  After spending much of Christmas Eve all alone at the office, I was able to stay outta that place... until tomorrow.  I think I forgot what it's like to do work. 

I have been having way too much fun.  Cheap fun though.  Like making Jane help me rearrange my living room.  Also, lots of games of the new Trivial Pursuit 25th anniv. edition (Christmas pressie from my parents), lots of good TV/knitting time with friends (last night Jane and Ali came over and stayed until 1 am... watching TV, messing around on facebook, eating pizza, having indigestion).  I read Steve Martin's book Born Standing Up (loved it... love him.  He's my birthday buddy).  It's been a good run.

Yesterday Jane, Ali and I made the trip to Lancaster.  We first stopped at... a Mexican restaurant (I won't name names) but it wasn't what we were expecting.  I can't say the food wasn't good, because it was... Some kind of good peppery chicken, and I know I ate at least 3 cups of yellow rice.  But we all had indigestion allllll day from it.  Nobody can say it wasn't authentic though, because the only other people in the place spoke only Espanol.  We love ethnic food.

Afterward, we walked all over the city on what felt like the coldest day of the year.  Those streets are wind tunnels, in the words of Ali.  We hit an art store so she could stock up on canvas.  Then... we hit Lancaster Yarn Shop!  It's always so exciting to me to hit an actual brick and mortar yarn store... we have 0 near us (well... there's one in Bel Air, but that's still a good 40 minutes of driving!).  I think I touched every skein in that shop.  I finally went with some KDG farm wool which looks to be a heavier fingering weight, in this gorgeous "London Fog" colorway:

Wouldn't this look sweet as a Swallotail shawl(ette)?  I think I'll save it for spring time knitting, it's the perfect color.

We met LYS' owner, Wendy, who was so so nice and knowledgeable.  She told us where to go all over the city, and we did head in the direction she told us to.  We stopped at a Creperie for coffee (Jane and Ali got nutella hot chocolate... I sipped it and it was GOOD).  It started to get dark though, and colder, so after a few thrift shops, we headed home.  But we're definitely going back soon to see more of the shops.  It's really close too, closer than I thought.

This weekend I committed to finishing Ali's Christmas pressie, Coraline:

I just need to get some buttons on it.  It's a bit (ok, way) small on me, but it will fit Ali.  And, among a ton of other goodies, Ali made me a drawing/painting:

 

I love it.  Especially the "no hipsters" sign on the front steps.  We did a handmade Christmas this year -- Jane made me an awesome DVD of photos from... I want to say the past 5-10 years.  Unfortunately (for me) she also included a video from my birthday... we went to a piano bar (Howl at the Moon, in Baltimore) where my friends TOLD THEM IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY!  AHHHH!  I hate being put on the spot... but then, they made me dance like a stripper.  I looked more like a slothy old lady.  Ha ha, oh well, at least I was behaved.  My friend Myrick made us all a Moroccan feast for our gifts.  But for me, handmade means knitting, so I knit mittens, a cowl, a sweater, a scarf, a blanket, a llama... a hat... and I think that's it.  Also, I gave out some baked goods for presents, like rosemary shortbread cookies, homemade hot chocolate mix and homemade peppermint marshmallows, salted caramels, fruit and nut bark, and oatmeal raisin cookies, to name a few.  I was sooo worn out come Christmas Day, but it was worth it.  I'm not completely broke, and I don't think anyone felt at all slighted.

So my plan for today... finish (or come close to finishing) Hanna, finish watching Meet the Press, watch Elvis the Mini-series, watch the CHarm School Reunion show tonight (um, hello... Sharon Osborne in a fight?  I'm so tuning into that).  Also, since the diet starts tomorrow, I'm going to eat or toss all the bad bad goodies in the house.

My new years' resolution: stop half-assing.  I mean it.

Hope everyone had great holidays and plenty of time to relax!   

 

 

 

 

Maybe I am way behind everyone else, but I just discovered this and I think it's great!

Fail!

And if you already knew about it, then why oh why didn't you tell me?!  I need to know these things...