/hibernation

I have been extremely lax in my blogging these last several months. You know how it goes: Busy doing fun things. Not organized enough to put photos on Flickr. No photos = no writing about fun things. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. I shall attempt to remedy that this weekend by doing a massive upload of photos. I’ll be doing them in installments, starting with last August.

It’s March. Pretty soon we will have ploughed through a quarter of the year. What have I been up to this year? What’s coming up? Hey, look! A list!

1. Coming up on Friday, I have a phone interview for a Project Archivist position at an area library. The lovely folks at MIT have offered to do a mock interview with me on Thursday to help me prep. I’ve also expanded my job search to include positions back in the DC/Baltimore area.
2. I had a whirlwind trip to Maryland and Florida last week. I left Boston for Baltimore on the 20th, caught the Riveters/CCRG bout, spent several days among friends and family in Maryland (met the BFF’s girlfriend, she’s rad), left for Florida on the 24th, spent a few days on the Gulf Coast with my seester and JeT’s dad enjoying the 80 degree weather, caught a Red Sox spring training game, then landed in Boston just as the snow began to fall Sunday morning. It was a bit of a wild week: one morning I woke up to broken glasses and raw patches on my hands and face. I try to tell people that the raw skin was due to extremely dry skin, and the glasses were on their way out anyway. There are some, however, who refuse to believe this and assert that I must have been in a bar fight.
3. I now have new glasses. They are red. And shaped rather like my pair-before-last, slightly cat-eye. Did I mention they are red? And awesome? Yes.
4. PRD is gearing up for the 2009 season. Our last batch of newbies joined in January, and there are only a couple left who haven’t yet passed their assessments to claim their name. This is really exciting! It’s going to be a fantastic season! I shall be continuing as the Rookie Wrangler, and I’ll also be taking on the job of League Archivist. I’m also going to be playing in two away games. In Canada! Also, PRD is playing host to several travel teams this year. The first Riveters home bout is against Harrisburg Area Roller Derby (HARD) on April 11 at the RICC. The Killah Bees are hosting the Skate Free or Die girls at a scrimmage next weekend, and then we play them at a NH bout in April. I’m not going to be playing in that one, though, as I’ll be playing in Ottowa the following week. It’s going to be a derby-filled summer, indeed. (Check www.providencerollerderby.com regularly for the most recent updates.)
5. I haven’t been very crafty though. I did finally finish my SIL’s hat and scarf, delivered only two months late. The BFF has a birthday coming up and I’m working on something for him. I started a hyperbolic plane in blue and white cotton, which was supposed to be a bath pouf. I ran out of the white, half way through the last round. I might just knot it off and call it done, though, since the whole reason for making it was to do a bit of stash busting. I also have to make another Jayne hat for myself, since I lost the one I made last Fall. Once I actually get going on something, I’ll feel better.
6. I have severely neglected my pen pals these last several months. The end of the derby season in September ate up all my time, and then it was fall, and then winter, and now here it is nearly spring and some of them haven’t heard from me in ages. It’s not due to lack of caring, but rather to severe lack of organization. I just need to cart around my little notebook of writing supplies, then I can write while I commute, just like old times.
7. Saw They Might Be Giants a while ago. They were super great, as usual. They played so many songs! And many many were ones I’d never heard them play before, or hadn’t heard in a long while. We made some concert friends, which was fun.
8. We have a new car: a 2008 Kia Sportage, silvery grey. It’s awesome. We can accelerate. Uphill! And it’s big enough to fit my legs! And passengers!
9. Though I have been bringing my lunch to work nearly every day (thanks to JeT who actually prepares and packs the food), I miss bringing super fun bentos. I shall endeavor to remedy this. We’ve been making some new foods, though, so we’re slowly edging out of our food rut, which I’m very happy about. More new foods to come, and of course bento photos!
10. I’ve recently discovered Wild Turkey’s American Honey. If you’re a fan of whiskey or bourbon, you need to try this. Even if you normally hate the stuff, you need to try this. It’s golden awesomeness in a bottle. Highly recommended.
11. Speaking of imbibing, my librarian friends and I came up with a blog idea to help us broaden our beer horizons. We plan to sample a different kind of beer each month, and report our findings on the blog. We’re still thinking of a name, though. I was all ready to go in January, and then I sort of just forgot about it. This should be quite fun, once we get going!
12. I would like to go bowling. And ice skating. And just go out more often. Maybe stay in town for a bit on Fridays or something. I just need to get my act together and play cruise director, I think. I’ve just been so disorganized; I haven’t felt like myself for months and months. I think I’m finally coming out of my stupor, though. I think the sunshine did me some good. I’ll work on my schedule this weekend, and will start planning some outings. I wonder where my planner is… probably under the laundry somewhere.
13. First outing: This Friday, March 6th! Watchmen! Who’s in? JeT and I are going to see it in Boston (on the Common). We’re buying our tix tonight, if anyone’s interested.
14. And then there are a couple of concerts coming up: OK Go! and The Pogues! So excited!

“My sister’s a ship. We had a complicated childhood.”

So, I finally got around to watching Firefly! Yay for me! Welcome to 2002! I first became intrigued round about the time when people on Ravelry started making and posting their Jayne hats. I love the hat. So orange. So flappy. I needed one. But I had to find out who this Jayne person was. Then I saw this on Unshelved:

I didn’t get it at the time. No more so than Tamara here. But I knew I needed to know. Then a while later, I saw Serenity. Well, it was playing at a friend’s house when we were there. But I didn’t get to see the whole thing. Then not too long ago, someone else was playing it at their house. But I fell asleep. But somehow that night, we were loaned the DVDs of Firefly and it was demanded of us that we should watch (or be stripped of our geek status). We couldn’t not comply.

Plus, I really wanted the hat, and I knew I couldn’t make one until I knew what it was about.

Now I know. I’m in love with every single character. When Wash died in Serenity, I knew he was my favorite. I could just tell. And not just ’cause he died (though almost all of my favorite characters in other shows and movies die). And he still is. But every other character on there is also my favorite. I love River. Simon. Kaylee. Mal. Zoe. Wash. Inara. Shepherd Book. And yes, Jayne. And his hat. Now I can make one in good conscience.

Ok, so it took me six years. But now I understand. Of course the show was canceled. It’s smart, heartwarming, fun. There’s space and horses. Gunslingers and lasers. What’s not to love?

Shiny.

I can has short rows?

O HAI!

Thanks to all who came to the Winter Super Fun Times gathering on Saturday! Click through to see our poor sampling of photos from the event. Click here for way better pictures from SEA, though I think you have to be one of her contacts to see them. Which is fine by me, since I got one of my, shall we say, “party whims,” and decided it would be great fun to knit a merkin. Many modeled the blue, fuzzy thing and SEA captured the action. (All merkin photos are clean, don’t worry.)

I had wanted everyone’s Decemberween presents to be done by Saturday, but that did not happen. I can’t knit on the train anymore, because I take a later train, which is way crowded, and I get all cramped trying to avoid elbowing the person next to me. So, evenings are my only knitting time these days. I kept getting terrible headaches in the evenings the week before the party, so I ran out of knitting time. Finishing the larger items (which shall remain slightly secret, since there is at least one who may read this that still does not know what they are) was impossible, so I decided to just work on the smaller items. But I needed at least 15 of those, and only managed 7. Therefore, only a few party guests got their party favor nose warmer. Alas.

I have decided that one of my knitterly resolutions for this year is to knit things that teach me new skills. For too long have my knitting skills been stagnant. I decided that the first things I would learn would be short rows. I know, I know, I’ve been knitting since I was 13 and I still need to learn short rows? Yes. Well, not really anymore, since I had to learn to do them for the nose warmers. They are essentially the toe of a toe-up sock, with crochet chain ties to secure behind the head. The instructions I used (for sock toes) were pretty good, except they left out certain important elements, such as which side of the work the yarn needs to be on for certain actions. Or rather, it kept leaving out the instruction to put the yarn back after having moved it. I find it very hard to learn new skills from written instructions because there are too many gaps. Without a real person sitting next to me filling in the gaps in instructions, I’m at a loss.

Anyway, after much trial and error, and tears, and ripping the darn things out again, it was midnight on Friday, the night before the day they were supposed to be gifts, and I still hadn’t got it right. I went to bed annoyed, but in the wee hours I had a knitterly epiphany, and as soon as I picked up the stupid thing the next morning, it started to click. I finally had the thrill of learning something new, and stopped swearing at the instructions (and the yarn, and the needles, and myself), and was able to whip them out at a pretty good pace (25 minutes each, including weaving in ends). Now I just have to finish the rest of them, and pop them in the post. Who wouldn’t love to get a nose warmer in their mailbox, right? I do need to figure out who got one and who didn’t, though.

It snowed Monday, and Radcliffe was closed, so I got to finish several things and pop a few in the post, which was rad. Unfortunately, I got sick that day, and then stayed home most of the week. It was a killer cold with a stupid fever and stuff. I had a really long, one day work week. And Monday is a holiday, too. I feel like a bum. But a well rested bum.

We’re going to see Cloverfield tonight. JeT has been following the marketing/hype/propaganda for this film for months, so we’re wicked excited to actually see the darned thing. I’m just excited to get out to see a movie. We don’t get out very often. And tomorrow, I’m going on a shopping spree with other people’s money. I’ve been amassing a fairly large collection of gift cards these last few months, and I’m going to spend them all in one day. A movie and shopping? Super fun consumer times, woot! There will also be a trip to Kam Man market tomorrow for some bento supplies. Hooray!

I should be working, but…

I keep forgetting to post this when I’m at home, but here it is:

Harvard Square proclaims The Best Harry Potter Party Ever! I hesitated reserving my copy of the seventh book for when I knew where Harry and the Potters were playing, and which bookstore would be doing the Potter Party thing, etc. So, now I know, and I tell you.

Where will you be on 20 – 21 July? I’ll be in Hogwarts Square. (Yes, that’s what they’re calling it. It’s a bit much, eh?) The first 500 people to reserve their book through the Harvard Coop get a wicked awesome gift bag.

This is going to be fun.

Overheard in New York: RHPS

Theater fan: What would you say about a person who saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show only once and didn’t feel any need to see it again?
Tim Curry: I’d say that was a person who was in full possession of their senses.

–Actor’s Fund event, 52nd & Broadway

Stuff ‘n’ nonsense

• While walking to school this morning, I took a slightly different route than usual. I went through the Wentworth campus, and came out near Mass Art. Anyway, in front of the Greek Orthodox church near Wentworth I saw the following spraypainted on the sidewalk: “white ppl -“. That’s it. So… white people, eh? Then as I walked further along, passing one of the Wentworth buildings, I see “white people = useless” on the sidewalk. Apparently, the person who spray painted the first had to cut his/her message short, or realized mid message that they were vandalizing the wrong sidewalk. Anyway, it made me chuckle to myself. After all, I was feeling particularly useful this morning. Take that, sidewalk message!
• Check this out: dirty car art (link from Kristen). If only I were that ambitious.
• On the subway on the way home, I saw a defaced advertisement. I can’t remember what it was for, but someone drew an eye patch on the woman in the picture, and gave her a talking bubble thing: “Arrgh! Shiver me timbers, shit bag!”
• Jesse and I bought a bunch of stuff from Laptop Lunches. We got some American-style bento boxes. Pretty neat. It’s going to seriously streamline the feed bag, that’s for sure. I’m considering making some rockin’ bento lunches (redundant?) as inspired by Cooking Cute… tempting, though I’m not sure I have that kind of time. But isn’t it inspiring? And cute?
• We’re also going to buy some seedlings from Seeds of Change. We bought some seeds from them in the past, but we weren’t very successful with our growing efforts from seed to transplant to harvest. We managed to not kill some tomatos one year, but that’s about it. This year, if we start from seedlings, we’ll have a sporting chance. We hope.
• Still planning on a fun audio project using my new gizmo, but nothing’s really come of it yet. We’ll see. It’s a fun idea, though.
• School’s going smoothly thus far. I’ve got a fun project in the works for my Oral History class, but I don’t want to divulge any details yet, since it’s not actually finalized. I have decided on a final paper topic for Preservation, though: Textiles and Realia in an archival setting. Interesting, no?
• I started making another hat to be deposited in the bag o’ hats that were supposed to be Christmas gifts this year. I’ll probably get around to giving them out this summer. Nothin’ says sunny days like a knitted hat, right?
• I’m feeling much better these last couple of weeks. I started taking a multi-vitamin regularly and that seems to be working. No more fatigue, not as much mid-day nausea, no dizziness… things are looking up.
• We watched V for Vendetta the other day. It was pretty good, I thought. I really enjoyed it. Though Natalie Portman’s accent was a bit irritating. Almost as bad as Drew Barrymore in Ever After, though not quite. I suppose if you’re cute you can get away with it. In other movie news, we watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith last night. It was enjoyable. Of course, we were a wee bit intoxicated, so that probably helped. Drunk dialing friends in Western MA is fun, especially when they drunk dial you a couple of hours later.

“Wake me up when September…” oh, it’s over.

And so, a list of things I did in September:

• Started school– It took me a while to get into the groove, but I think I’ve got a good routine going. I’ve just got to get over this whole procrastinating during the weekends thing.
• Went to my first Red Sox game– We lost (duh) but I got wicked drunk and had a fantastic time! Woke up with some really disturbing bruises.
• Fun with apples– Apple/Peach festival, apple picking, eating more apples than should be allowed. Apples, apples, apples!
• Roller Derby– TWICE! Super fun times. Though, I’ve been called a “Southie Rat” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with drinking beers, cheering, and doing the “clap-clap, clap-clap-clap” thing. Oh, and I can’t wait for Olivia to have her baby. She’s going to be one rokkin kid.
• Started my internship– I’m at the Concord Free Public Library, and it looks like my project will be pretty straightforward, but with some interesting challenges. I think I’ll enjoy my time there and learn a lot. I picked up some brochures from the Concord Visitors’ Center and will explore the town.
• Life is Good Productions— getting ready for Creative Sugar (November 4th), working on songs, DJeT is in the play, making time for the website, etc.
• Joined Netflix– Watched “Walk the Line” and have been singing Johnny Cash songs for a week. Next up is “Akeelah and the Bee.” I won the (I think) 6th grade spelling bee with “onomatopoeia.”
• Went to Boston’s Knit Out! (and Crochet, too)– I competed in the fastest knitter competition and lost, taught DJeT to knit (he’s getting really good, and wants to make stuff!), said high to Peta (from GSLIS SNB) at her Yarn Safaris booth. I also need some light up knitting needles.
• Started working out again– Even though I swear at her and curse her perkiness, I’m doing “Turbo Jam” regularly. Four days a week is about all I can manage with my schedule. I find that I do better when I have a million other things to think about. It’s not THE thing I’m doing, but one of many, so it’s easier to fit in, if that makes any sense. It’s just part of my routine now.

Happy ROCKTOBER! Today is the first day of Halloween, and I have begun writing a song: “On the first day of Halloween, my true love gave to me: A spider in a spooky ol’ tree.” Stay tuned for more hauntingly fun lyrics. Mayhap I’ll perform it at the BlogSEA spooktacular at the end of the month. DJeT’s birthday is Friday. He didn’t want anything big planned, so we’re just going to do dinner next weekend. I think I’ll convince him that he deserves Grasshopper. Still haven’t gotten him a gift, yet. I’ll get on that. I’m loving the weather, even today with its rain. I love it when I’m not sweating.
If I don’t pop in for a while, it’s because I’m up to my nose in school work. Slip me some halloween candy, and I might poke my head out for a visit.

Not a total couch potato

I didn’t get the Harvard job, but I’m not giving up. I’d really like to have a job by the time school starts, so I don’t have to worry about it during the semester, and can just focus on school work.

I’m stuck in the summertime funk, though. I hate being too hot. I can’t do anything around the house without breaking a sweat. I hate sweating when I’m not even doing anything strenuous. Working out and sweating? Fine. Eating breakfast cereal and sweating? Not. Fine.

Finally got around to seeing Bend it Like Beckham. Cute movie! It was one of those that I’d wanted to see for ages, and only just now got around to seeing. We also rented Layer Cake (British ganstahs and drug dealer movie), but haven’t got ’round to seeing it. Soon, though.

Hopefully some freecycle people will be picking up some stuff we have around, and the entry way won’t be full of empty bookshelves and what not.

Been working out sporadically. When I’m consistent, I feel great, but when I skip a couple of days it takes all my motivation away. I’m not expanding so I’m happy about that. Still feel wicked out of shape, though. My motivation is a tricky beast.

So many things are connected. For example: If I make my bed right away, the workout gets done early. If not, then it gets too hot for me to want to do it. If my kitchen is clean, then I’ll eat healthy food. If not, then I eat junk, and feel gross, and not clean up. And so it goes.

I started playing with the hand weights during the World Cup matches, so at least I’m not being a total couch potato.