As if I Needed Something Else

Flight of the Hamsters is my new addiction. It's silly, frivolous fun and I learned of it from another knitter.

In other news, there is no other news. I watched movies and ate pizza last night with Erik. I've decided that having male friends is much easier than having female friends. I think it's just less stressful. I value all of my friendships, male and female, but sometimes I just think it's easier to be friends with a guy. It seems less complicated to me and more free in terms of expressing myself. I'd elaborate on this but I'm not going to because I'm tired, I don't want to sound like I'm perpetuating stereotypes when speaking of my own experiences, and I want to make the hamsters fly some more.

In True Stick-Figure Fashion...

...I present to you my brother. He is tall and clearly upside down. My mother saw this and said he looks like an upside-down stick figure. I agree. I'm also envious of his ability to do a headstand, as I haven't been able to do one since my younger and much lighter days. Hahaha...his feet are just sticking out. It makes me laugh.

Lace Everywhere

I've been knitting on this bit of lace for several years now. This was my first...no, second foray into the charming land of lace knitting. It's round and began in the middle with a few little stitches and grew ever larger as I knit on and on. It has grown to 576 stitches around, grouped into 24 sections of 24 stitches for the eyelet diamond pattern and is only about half finished. It is a labor of love and I continue on with it here and there because I'm at the point that even though it isn't nearly as fun as it used to be, I can't abandon it completely...no matter how much I want to rip it apart and start something else with the yarn. And believe me, there are many other shawl projects I'd like to make and the yarn could be very easily reclaimed for one of those patterns. However, I choose to continue on (and on and on) making my way through two rounds in just about an hour when I knit on it. I work on it when I've gotten tired of other things I've been working on, which is another reason it's taken me nearly six years to get this far.

This is a bit of lace I started knitting yesterday. It's soft and blue and heavenly to knit in the simplest of lace patterns, Fishnet Lace. I must say, the picture is lying to you a bit, as the color is much prettier, like a pale sky blue with a bit of shimmer. I'm almost done with the third panel of the lace pattern. Unlike its round counterpart above, this soft little thing has only 46 stitches, and I expect it to take far less time to complete.When it's finished, it will be a lovely, light scarf that looks fragile but will be surprisingly warm.

I didn't really need to start a new project yesterday. I need to be finishing some projects, such as the round shawl or the socks I'm making for the Relay for Life (however in my defense, they're not needed until May). I'm experiencing a bit of boredom with my current projects and feel the urge to start new ones and they all consist of gorgeous lace. I find myself looking at more lace shawls, thinking, "Oh, I have the perfect yarn for that," or "That's what I can use that cone of sportweight for!" Apparently, I'm tucking the knowledge of how time-consuming lace knitting can be into a far corner of my brain because I've noticed a tendency to think I can just whip up a lace poncho or Faroese shawl in no time. Some knitters can knit lace rather quickly. I am not one of those knitters. I ENVY those knitters. I can knit socks in a short amount of time and even made a sweater in the span of two weeks, but lace slows me way down. I wish I could make lace as fast as I make socks. Heck, I'd be happy if it took me twice or even four times as long to make lace as it does to make socks. I guess, as with all things, I just need to keep doing it and practice, practice, practice. But I still wish for fastness.

Mixed

I've been so lazy about writing the past few days. I make no apologies, as I've had little to write about anyway. Last night, however, was quite fun.

My friend, Erik, thought it would be nice to have a small shindig with a few friends. We went to the Olive Garden (the little lasagna rolls with the sausage are very tasty, by the way), where I surprised myself with how much I actually spoke. I'm not really a big talker when I'm with people I don't know, especially people who I find mildly intimidating. Everyone was wonderful, and no one did anything to make me feel that way...I know it was totally in my head because I'm sometimes insecure and easily intimidated by the unknown. Also, it was a little weird being the person with the least amount of education in the group and also being the only person in the group who doesn't have an academic job. I'm used to being the person talking about things for which no one really has a point of reference or understands, not the person without. Despite my lack of knowledge and reference points, though, I had a really nice time, stuffed myself with delicious food and met some really nice people.

After dinner, we moved the party back to Erik's and played an interesting word game called Apples to Apples, which was very fun. The party diminished from seven to three people after the game and we stayed up until 4:00 AM watching South Park and talking about religion, or our general lack thereof. I then drove my ass home and finally went to bed around 5:00 this morning. It was so awesome to have an extended period of fun time like I did last night.

Tired

While I've been feeling better today than I did the last three days, I'm still not 100%. It sucks. Mostly now I'm just tired, hence the lack of writing here. It's OK, though...I'm sure in a few days I'll be just fine and have plenty of things to write about. Until then, I hope I feel back to my usual self by Saturday.

Back to Work...

After taking yesterday off to hopefully make my stomach feel better, I'm off to work today. All I can say is YUCK! I still feel kind of funky in the stomach, but thanks to what I anticipate to be a very busy day for my team, I can't take two sick days in a row. Yeah, it sucks, but I can't leave my team mates to a huge amount of work when I can possibly make it through the day. So, I'll trudge through and be thankful I can take my time if I need to. Still, I'd rather be home.

Not Good

It's time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea.

Good Idea: Taking along a can of Dr. Pepper on your drive to your friend's house.

Bad Idea: Forgetting to take the still-mostly-full can of Dr. Pepper inside overnight during single-digit weather.

Needless to say, the Bad Idea happened to me. I've learned that carbonated beverages expand even more than still beverages, creating a lava-like overflow that filled both cup holders in my car. It was definitely Bounty to the rescue, though I was running late and could only stuff a huge wad of paper towels in the cup holder. Luckily, the sun warmed my car just enough to melt all but a small bit of slush that I easily discarded when I got home. I'll try to never do that again.

Tipsy

Ah...sweet, wonderful beer. Tasty and smooth Irish cream. Other than hanging out with my brother and having a few drinks, nothing else is going on. Today was my typical Saturday, plus one of my Sunday activities. I woke up, ate, showered, went to the yarn shop to knit and chat with the ladies there (I was especially excited to see Angela there...I find her just delightful). Then I went to the pub in Troy with my friend, Bonnie, and had a few drinks and came home. It was nice to do the Sunday pub thing on Saturday. And it freed up my Sunday to hang out with another friend, so it all worked out very well. OK, I'm going to go drink a little more Irish cream now. :)

Apparently, I'm Unhappy

While I was waiting for a manager to unlock a door so I could put my work equipment away, I stood near the door chatting with a co-worker/kinda friend. He commented that as I was rolling my equipment cart to the room, I looked like something was wrong. Really, I was just tired and not enjoying how loud my cart is when in motion. We chitchatted for a few minutes when he said some smart-ass comment that prompted me to jokingly stick my tongue out at him. To that he randomly said, "you need a date." When I asked why, he told me that he thinks I'd be happier if I had someone to date. I told him that I didn't need a man to make me happy and he said "yeah, but having a toy could make you happier." So in a roundabout sort of way, my co-worker/kinda friend told me that I need to get laid. He was mildly shocked when I told him that I didn't want someone just to screw around with, as if I'm supposed to just go out and drop my panties for anyone just so I can get laid and "be happy." Whatever.

Good Day

I'm currently basking in the loveliness of what was a pretty good day. I'd go into great detail about it, but I feel that would only cheapen it for me, so I'm not going to talk about it right now. But the day was good and I can give general details. My morning doctor's appointment went well. Work was slow but didn't suck. I talked to friends when I got home. My shoulder doesn't hurt as much. Good things indeed.

Ick

My shoulder has been very sore lately, rendering me incapable of spending more than short amounts of time at the computer for writing. The level of the desk in conjunction with using the mouse in a relatively chilly part of the house is aggravating the hell out of my right shoulder. Therefore, the blogging will be lighter until the shoulder feels better. I suppose it's for the best, really, since I have little to no useful writing material. I'm fodder-less.

Grumble Grumble

It really drives me nuts when people act superior to me because they have children and I don't. It also drives me nuts when people who have children act like I don't know what hard times are like because I don't have children. I hate it when I make a point about something and someone says "yeah, but you don't have kids" as if my not having kids invalidates my point in any way. I am annoyed to no end when I'm left out of an entire conversation because the other participants feel the need to center the subject around what their kids did the day before. I'm really bothered by the fact that people treat me like I'm completely clueless about life because I didn't get knocked up before I was old enough to drink legally. I went to college instead, not that it counts for anything to all the people my age who have reproduced. And my question to them is: What's so bad about being responsible and waiting until the right time to have children, and why does this deem me inferior to those of you who have different fathers for all of your kids? GRRRR!!!!

Saturday Thing

I'm a creature of habit. Today consisted of knitting while watching Buffy...same as last Saturday. At least I have the sock almost done, and that's a good thing. Then I can start on the second of the pair, finish them and then work on yet another pair of socks. I'm beginning to get all socked out, but the next pair is at least started already and they're a charity obligation. Luckily, I don't need to have them done until May, so if I have to take a break from knitted footwear, I can and not worry too much about not finishing them. They do have a bit of interest, though, what with cables and lace, so it goes by quickly. I just have to remember where I put the pattern...it's in a book somewhere...

Drowsy

After a lovely night of knitting, Seinfeld, The Silence of the Lambs, tasty Chinese food, and TONS of conversation, I'm an exceptionally tired minx. I had much fun tonight, though. Knitting is always a blast, but knitting with a friend is so much better. I'm exceptionally proud of my student!!! He's making so much progress on his scarf, I'm sure he'll be done rather soon. If there's enough of his yarn left, I'm going to help him make mittens to match. It's so exciting!!! My own project of yet another pair of socks is going along quite well. While watching movies and shows, I finished the leg, made the heel and started the foot. I'm in love with short-row heels. They use less yarn and are so effin' fast to knit. Had I chosen to knit a flap heel (which I also love very much), I'd probably not have gotten quite as far, perhaps only to the beginning of the gusset. And now I'm even more tired than I was previously. It's time for sleep--sweet, wonderful sleep.

Dull

The sheer lack of excitement in my life has left me with less-than-interesting occurrences in my daily routine. The highlights of today: I finished a book and knit on a sock. I'm knitting the sock with the new sock yarn that I wrote about on Saturday. It's knitting up rather nicely and the stripes are noticeable, yet subtle at the same time. That's about it. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Ha!

Today I Learned...

...that even though shitty things happen, I can still smile and have fun (well, as much as I can at work anyway).

...that I'm not as terrible at making new friends as I thought.

...that I am witty and delightful.

...how much I really hate it when people touch my hair when not invited to do so (well, I already knew this, so today's incident was really just an affirmation of that previous knowledge).

...that I'm pretty good at finding roundabout ways to say things.

...how much more comfortable my fingertips are with short nails than long nails.

...that even though I often talk a lot, I can be frustrated to the point where words fail me (I hate it when that happens).

...that when in doubt, I should just make a list so I'll have blog fodder.

Chit-Chat

Lacking anything significant to say, I give you a snippet of a conversation I recently had with my brother after he'd trimmed his facial hair:

Mike: Does my facial hair look white trash to you?
Minx: No...it looks kind of douche-y, if that helps.
Mike: Damn, I wanted it to look white trash. What about the side-burns?
Minx: I don't know. But it is a little douche-y looking.
Mike: No, douche-y is bad...white trash isn't.

After learning the finer points of what exactly he did to his facial hair in order to appear white trash, I couldn't stop from asking any longer:

Minx: Why do you want to look like white trash anyway?
Mike: Oh, I just kinda wanted to look a little white trash for awhile. Sounded like a good idea...

He trailed off and said something else, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. And yes, some of this is a little paraphrased, but I can remember that we did say the words "white trash" and "douche-y" that much.

Glad It Ended Before the Pain of Prom

Choosing to abandon my previously mentioned preference for blogging at night, I had to write this morning so I wouldn't lose the rather odd dream I had last night. I was dreaming about school. For some reason I was still in high school, yet taking college courses in this dream, making me a student who is nearly 30 and still in high school. I went to my homeroom twice and was late both times, so my teacher (who was, like, 3 years younger than I am) gave me tardy slips and told me I had to go to the office because I was going to get detention for being late two times in a row and all I wanted to do was finish the math homework I hadn't done the night before. I was trying to bargain with her about the detention thing and was getting somewhere when my alarm clock went off, cutting the strange dream off. I'm rather thankful for the alarm because I was starting to feel the awkwardness of being a high school student, with the added awkwardness of being an adult among children who looked at me as if I were stupid for being in high school at my age. And I just noticed that the look and feel of the word "awkward" is rather fitting, as it is an odd word to both look at and type.

Mini

This going to be painfully short tonight, for I am tired and do not feel too hot right now. I started knitting the sock yarn I showed in yesterday's post. The stripes look rather subtle so far, however I've only knitted an inch, so perhaps the striping effect will be a little more dramatic as I knit more of the sock. I will say that it does look very nice and the yarn is just lovely to work with. I'm excited to see how the socks turn out. Aside from a new knitting project, the day was a usual Sunday...I got up, did little, showered around 2:00 and went to Troy to have a drink with my friend Bonnie. Now I'm home in my jammies and contemplating starting a crossword. Mine is such an exciting life.

Beauty

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I went with my friend, Erik, to Ithaca and we had so much fun. Walking outside in natural light with cold, fresh air was both mentally and physically refreshing. We ate delicious subs and looked at books and music and yarn. That's my new sock yarn. It's Ja Woll Aktion sock yarn from Lang Yarns. It's a self-striping yarn and I just love the colors. Brown, two blue-gray shades and a lighter tan...it's very unlike the colorways I usually lean toward. The colors are rather understated, very beautiful and more masculine than I typically look for in a yarn. I'm a girly-girl with my yarn and tend toward pinks, purples, reds, and combinations that evoke more of a feminine feel. Something about this one, though, just caught my eye and said to me "Pick me! Pick me!" and who am I to ignore the call of the yarn? It was speaking to me and I had to listen.

I wasn't the only one who made a yarn purchase. Erik's yarn is Malabrigo Kettle-Dyed Merino. The camera didn't want to capture the colors quite the way they actually look. The yarn has olive green, brown and rust tones. The camera decided it wanted to make the colors a little more pink-ish looking instead. Either way, though, it's a lovely one-ply yarn that's working very well for my new knitting student. I'm pleased to say that every single one of those stitches are Erik's and he made very few mistakes (all of which were common for a novice knitter, very minor and easily fixed). His stitches are so lovely and even, I daresay he's a natural.

As I watched my friend carefully making stitch after stitch, I couldn't help but be moved by how beautiful it is to watch someone's hands performing an act of transformation. I've watched my own hands while knitting, and I've watched my other students' hands, but this was really the first time I've watched someone and found the movements so striking and amazing. I think it's due to the fact that he developed a basic competency level so quickly, so I was able to watch him make stitches, rather than watch in wait for mistake-fixing. Surely another factor was the quiet in which we were working. It was a learning experience for Erik and we had very few noise distractions and minimal conversation. My other knitterly friends have all been knitting for a long time and are at a skill level that allows them to chat and laugh while knitting, thereby distracting each other from watching hands make stitches. The quiet and the yarn and the stitching just put me in a bit of a Zen moment of beauty and I fell in love with knitting all over again.

It Ends Far From Where It Began...

So it's twice now this week that I've been forced to write in the morning because of the fact that I live with people and have to share the computer. I find this mildly annoying...not the living and sharing part, but the part about having to wait until the next morning to blog. It messes up the entire flow of it. I'm an evening blogger, not a morning blogger. If I want to keep up on writing my blog, I'd really like to be able to write when I normally prefer to write. Last night, I had so many good ideas for what I should put on here, but now they're all lost in dream land because I had to wait. I always have better ideas in the evening. I really need a laptop and a wireless connection, but I really can't afford one. Curse my wretched poorness!!! I have to look at something cute now...

To the right are my fine puppy-beasts, Josie and Chloe. Josie is the smaller dog and Chloe is the big one dangling her leg over the edge of the couch (she does that all the time). They are the most wonderful dogs in the whole world. They're loving, cuddly, happy dogs and my life is much better with them in it. They are dogs of the highest quality and they are the best people I know.

I just learned that my friend Shar just lost her sweet dog, Lucky. She'd had her dog for many years, I'd say at least 13, based on the fact that her sister, Jade, was just a baby when they got the dog and she's now a teenager. I met Lucky a couple of times and she was a very sweet and lovely dog. She was nice to me and I was nice to her. I feel badly for Shar because it hurts so much to lose a pet. It's one of the most heartbreaking experiences I've ever known and I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone. I think it's because pets love you no matter what. Pets will still love you even if you yell at them to leave you alone. They love you even if you forget to feed them until hours after their normal dinner time. They even love abusive human parents (who should be shot in the knees and castrated in my opinion, but that's another blog entirely). The most important thing pets (especially dogs) know how to do is love and it's also the thing they do best. When a pet dies, all you have is the memory of that unconditional love. Just bittersweet memories...

Resolutions are STUPID

One thing I always hate about the turn of the new year is how everyone always asks what my resolutions are for the year. I personally think New Year's resolutions are a total crock of shit. All good intentions aside, putting off change for a certain time of year usually sets one up for failure and, subsequently, self-loathing. I say if you want to change something about yourself, just do it. Don't wait until a specified day where "everybody else is doing it so I should, too" is the general mentality about it. Nine times out of ten, resolutions consist of taking measures to improve one's health, such as dieting, quitting smoking and/or exercising. Since that is the case with most resolutions, don't wait. You'll be more likely to change your habits if you begin when you make the decision AND it will be better for you in the long run to begin early, rather than wait those few extra weeks or months 'til the calendar turns. OK, I'm done now.

I Skipped It

I so cheated and didn't post last night. I was planning on posting last night...instead I went to my aunt's usual New Year's Eve shindig, which was neither shin-y nor dig-y. It was as it always is: cousins, aunts, uncles, kids and food all wrapped up in a very noisy package. It wasn't a super-big party (we're not the big-partying type of folk). I tried to read, and I managed to read a bit. A friend of the family was there watching some of my cousins playing Guitar Hero (on a side note, I was impressed when I saw "Holiday in Cambodia" listed as a song to play on that game). He wondered aloud "Doesn't anybody read anymore?" to which I held up my book. He had an expression of thankfulness that at least someone still reads. I wanted to tell him that there are a lot of us readers in the world, just not a lot of them in my family. So I continued to read on the couch, read for awhile and fell asleep. I woke up a little before 11:00 and went home to go to bed. I slept through the ridiculous midnight ball-dropping nonsense. It was so nice and quiet sleeping in my cozy bed. I should do that EVERY year!!!