Hey y'all. We biked 30 miles yesterday!! Woo hoo!! If we had been able to do it 3x more that would be a century! Not far now...
We cycled on the beautiful Sakatah Singing Hills Trail which was formerly an old train bed. So it was nice and long and straight. Perfect. And there were some suicidal chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, dragonflies and birds. One little tiny bird actually kept flanking me and then zooming off and then back and then off until she finally angled off into a field. We saw cows and horses and a blue heron- we had stopped to go to the bathroom by this lake and it seemed like the only access to that side of the lake was the trail so it was kind of deserted- just the place a heron would like. And it was huge! I'd never seen one up that close and when it flew (it was flying low over the lake ?to catch bugs?) it's head was jammed down toward it's body so it looked like it had this huge adam's apple because thier necks are so long you know.
And I've been knitting like a demon on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Suprise Jacket for an adult. I'm trying the instructions included for the more cardi proportioned version. Fortunately I had less issues with the increases than I did with the decreases. So we'll see how it turns out. As I said, it will be wonky because when I started I did the decreases too tight and made a curving line instead of a diagonal.

A cyclist (funny) story. Hasn't happened to me yet...
Squirrels

How Yoda Became An Action Star
from my husband via Slashdot.
An interesting article about the process of accepting new technology, I think. I especially like the quote, "Coleman found himself 'waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night,' imagining he'd be 'dragged through the mud' by website critics who'd say 'the guy who did Jar-Jar has now f---ed up Yoda. Burn him!'." Bwah ha ha...

Sorry I've been so absent. Hey, I started the Elizabeth Zimmermann Surprise Jacket (adult size). It's all garter stitch with miters. I ripped once because something was wrong with the miters and they were curling. I thought I was slipping my sts wrong (like purling and not like a knit stitch) so I changed that. Well, lo and behold, yesterday I realized to my dismay that the miters were still messed up (the were curling in a swoop instead of a straight diagonal). Did I rip? No, and I hope it all works out ok. Keep your fingers crossed for me. But I did figure out what I was doing wrong; it was all too tight. So now I've loosened up when I hit the double decreases (sl1, k2tog, psso) and we shall see.

Yo! Knit Hello Kitty!!
Hello Kitty Knitting Pattern

A cat toy for you. Look, it's the
Critterbug!

Now I could have sworn that that is just a laser pointer that you can buy at Office Max.

But take care! These are daaaangerous toys, children.The FDA has issued a warning!!

But if you must, and you want to be the coolest, you have to get a green one.

Good morning! Well, we're back. You know, I'd never really been in the 'deep South' before. We drove through Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky and finally got to Tennessee. It was neat watching the landscape change from prairie to low mountains. It was really amazing to see the Appalachians and think that they had started out as a range of mountains similar to the Rockies, and this is what they had worn down to. That's oooold. We went up to Roan Mountain, which is bald on top, I still don't know why (my guess is that the rock is too close to the top and no trees can get enough roots down). It was beautiful and quiet (except for those people who feel it necessary somehow to shout at the top of their lungs at the top of a mountain). So we stayed up there for quite a while, and it was much cooler than back at the bottom where it was supposed to be topping out at ninety degrees, they said. Watched a storm come in and headed down just as a few sprinkles started. People were still hiking up and I felt like saying "Don't get hit by lightning!". But I suppose you could just run back down to the trees. I have never seen a rhododenderon bush before and some of the flowers were blooming! I really enjoyed seeing all the different flora and fauna- although it wasn't much, really. Little sparrow like birds, possum roadkill on the side of the road, some big trees I couldn't identify. I still have yet to find out what a laurel tree is.

Tennessee is a slow place. I kept thinking about how much maybe the weather has a part in shaping how people are. Here, we're all hyper (and that's nothing compared to the speed of life in other places), but there everything had a slow, unending feel to it. Like, things just neverendingly grow on and on there. The whole way down we were passing through farmland and so there were always old barns to look at. But as we went south more and more the barns would be covered with vines- just covered! Not so in MN. It was very lush there. Things know how to get old there and not worry about the time in between too much it seems. It was nice to get that perspective.

Our friends pointed out the rectangular barns that were wider in the front and said that that is where they would hang the tobacco to dry. Man, it sounds like he is living the life! He works odd jobs and rents a house for !cheap! and goes off adventuring every now and again. Exploring caverns, climbing mountains, trying to find little cafes where they serve the local quisine. My husband has some Scotch in him (the people, not the drink) and our friends said that many of the people who live there are descended from Irish and Scottish families who settled there. So he said that you can see some of that in the culture- family ties are strong and fierce. What an adventure. It was good to get away for a few days.

So I knit and knit away on my shawl and we listened to Lord of the Rings- which really helped pass the time, I must say. I got a few more inches (inches!) done and stopped increasing with the yarn overs. There are two lines of YO, K, YO pattern up the sides of the shawl and I didn't want to lose that line, so now I 'eat up' the stitch I make by my YO by K2TOG thusly- K2TOG, K, YO, K, YO, K, K2TOG. It looks a little different, but that's to be expected, I guess. I've decided that I'll try and knit and knit until almost all the yarn is gone and then do an edging right onto the edge (without binding off beforehand). Hopefully I won't underestimate how much yarn is needed for the edging. We'll see. But I'm not even near that yet! :). 'K. Gotta go grocery shopping now. Bye.

I was thinking about ritual this morning. I used to smoke, and I think one of the strong attractions to doing it (besides addiction) was that so much of the behavior was ritualistic. The new pack of smokes, pounding them against your palm with the rhythmic 'thwak, thwak, thwak', and the regularity of it, the unvarying insistence of it. And of course, now I have my morning ritual of making coffee, a caffe latte, actually. It's something I do every morning and I enjoy doing all the steps in order (fill the resevoir with water, fill and tamp the grounds while the wand starts to steam, froth the milk). I enjoy the feeling that it is a necessary part of my day- something that I choose to do- that I need to do (or suffer the caffeine withdrawal headache). Ah well, it must fill some deep inner need. What rituals do you have?

Anyway, I've been reading "Moby Dick" and last week I read Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejuidice". While I was reading P and P I kept thinking in that sort of way they speak-- can't do it now, of course, but it was all proper and polite. What a crazy book. It's all about vanity- I think it's Elizabeth in the novel who makes the distinction between pride and vanity- pride is how we feel about ourselves, and vanity is how we are concerned with how others perceive us. Maybe this is a 'no duh' kind of thing for you, but I always think of vanity as someone looking at themselves in a mirror, thinking how beautiful they are. But if you think of it as impression management, then it's a whole 'nother thing. And I've never read "Moby Dick". I like his style of writing, very storyteller-like. But the whole 'native as exemplar' thing I don't buy, so that wears a little thin (like man in his natural state is naturally moral and 'gets life right').

I've been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning these past few days. Whoever cleaned the apt. before us did a terrible job, I must say. Not to mention that it was neglected for a month or so. So I've been taking pride in my hard work, but we'll see how long that lasts. After the first blush wears off, then I'll probably just hate having to vaccuum all the time and consider it drudgery. Maria Montessori really emphasized what she called 'practical life' in her method for the education of the young child- all the children in my classroom know how to sweep up a spill, dust the shelves and wash the tables. We have child-size brooms and cloths and brushes and everything. When I took the training (3 years ago) we read about how she always cleaned her house herself, even in situations where she could have had others do it for her, because she felt that it was an intensely human (and good) thing to do. So I've been trying to have that outlook on it. Cleaning is good.

Now I have to go clean the car for our long road trip to Tennessee. The windows get all scummed over with this film- really wierd. So last Spring and now this one, I get out the Windex. Makes me wonder what I'm inhaling into my lungs... Freon leak, anyone?

So I'll be back Tues. or so. Maybe I'll have the neverending shawl done by the time we get back. We've got the "Lord of the Rings" on CD (it's the BBC version, something like 60+ hours long!!) and the shawl is all I'm allowing myself to take so we're set.

Oh ya- and I'll be sending out my 7 things so be checking your mail, ladies. Woo hoo! Fun things in the mail. I can't wait.

So I thought I'd log on and blog on :) this morning while I'm drinking my coffee and before the day starts. This weekend was pretty nice-- very relaxing. We went to DQ yesterday and it was in the 80's. We took this job as caretakers of our apartment so I've got to clean clean clean this morning before I head out for work. And tonight we have our school picnic with all the parents so I'll be there late tonight. I am so AR that I cleaned the cleaning closet before I even cleaned anything else. And guess what I found? A millipede, mouse poop, spiders. Yea me. Actually, I had my husband come down and trap and throw outside the millipede. They're fast little buggers, aren't they.


Anyway, I was all set to redo this blog- move it to my own space, new template, install Tagboard, put up everyone's buttons, but of course it didn't happen. I'm reading Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejuidice" (I should underline that, I guess, but I'm too lazy to find how to, and I know that somehow I misspelled prejuidice, I think).


On Friday we're going to see friends down southish. I keep thinking it's Kentucky or Georgia but I know it's neither of those. Duh. 18 hr. drive. I WILL be bringing my knitting along. I may try and get Tues. off too.


Whoah, that ear infection last week was really nasty. Ear infection=nasty. So now I'm on antibiotics and I have, of course, gotten women's most dreaded side-effect of taking antibiotics. Can I hear you say, yea acidophilus? Yah, that's about it. So I should do the Monday thing-y. Be right back.

PromoGuy's Monday Mission 2.21

1. What happened this weekend that made you smile?

Hmm, it's gotta be something my cat(s) did. Gah, I'm that boring. Let's see... Penelope was trying to jump up to the window and totally fell. Sorry, that's about as good as it gets, folks.


2. Did you make someone smile today? If not, will you try?

Not yet-- my husband and I usually find ways to make each other grin, so at some point later tonight I will probably try and make him laugh. I do not forsee myself telling a funny anecdote in front of a group of parents at the picnic our school is having. Mine is more of the wry, dry type of humor. Heh, I made a rhyme.


3. Have you any clothes or accessories you love to wear but just totally embarrass the person you are being seen with?

My cat.

4. What was the catch phrase you said the most in High School?

Oh ack, I know there were some... Probably some morbid inside joke I had with my best friend Rebekah. Something sarcastic.

5. Who are you remembering this Memorial Day? (or for those not celebrating it, tell me about someone worth remembering)

Umm... all the people who gave their lives to make this country free? No one I could say I really knew personally.

6. Do you think you are a good friend?

Yes, I am loyal and faithful and truthful. I am a good listener.

7. (continued from MM 2.20) That outing tonight was a blast ... but that was last call. I totally over did it and shouldn't drive, anything we can do while I try to "dry out?"

Play dice. Play hangman. Play war (a card game).

BONUS: Do ya love me, now that I can dance?

Aaah, what?

More Minnesota news!! I didn't hear about this when it happened, but it's interesting to see how it all turned out...
Mall of America couple 'doing marvelously' 02/24/01

Wow, yet another reason I'm glad I'm a vegetarian!
Thanks for the link Celtic Fox!
Veggies unite!
Is the meat, poultry and fish you buy as fresh as you think?

The Friday Five!!

1. What's the last vivid dream that you remember having?
Something about giving my kitten away and then having to buy it back for $300-- and I did it!! No, wait, that was my husband's... I don't often remember my dreams.

2. Do you have any recurring dreams?
I've had a dream in which I'm up in the crabapple trees in our yard when I was a kid and the monsters from Sendak's book "Where the Wild Things Are" were helping me get away from some of the more scary monsters in the book.

3. What's the scariest nightmare you've ever had?
Probably that one.

4. Have you ever written your dreams down or considered it? Why or why not?
I have thought about it, but I'm not sure how it would aid me except when answering questions like these...
I think that my mind will remember if my mind is trying to tell me something. Mostly I just think that dreams are a way of working out unresolved stuff from the day and I figure if I'm not remembering them, the dreams must be doing their job pretty well.

5. Have you ever had a lucid dream? What did you do in it?
Lucid dream means that you are up and about and dreaming, right? No, I haven't.

Oh, how rude of me-- sorry. I forgot to add that the questions came from Theresa . And, SHE was the baby who was colicky ?sp?. Yea crabby babies.

1. Where were you born? What do you know about your own birth? (time, circumstance, etc...)
I was born in Racine, WI. I was shortly thereafter transferred to a hospital in the big city, Milwaukee (where I later went to college and lived for some years after as well). I don't know the time, I do know it was C-section (ugh) and I was a itty bitty preemie. I'd have to go hunting about in my dad's basement to tell you any more...

2. Do you have a baby picture you can put onto your weblog? If not, tell us what you looked like as a baby.
Yah, I do have pics, but I probably won't put them up onto my site at blogspot because it is such a huge hairy deal to do so. I had this crazy red bump up on top of my head, about the size of a half-dollar, I think and raised approx. one quarter inch. So that was wierd. I think I was born with hair.

3. What kind of a baby or toddler were you according to the people who were around when you were young?
I cried and cried, with colic, like another knitblogger who I now inconveniently cannot remember...
I think as a toddler I was pretty happy and easy going.

4. Know any cute baby-related quotes?
I think I ate cat food once, but everyone does that, right?
I will just answer this question by a few tidbits.
I had curly curly hair. And once in a walker in our garage, I fell down the stairs and gave myself a big 'ol scar on the chin which looks like this +++ because I scratched the stitches out. Silly baby.

Wow! Crazy Japanese toys!! I was looking for Domo Kun and found this! Doesn't Squib like Kogepan (scroll down) or something? Oooh, ooh! I found a link for the reward, I suppose I should hold onto this one, but nah...

Do you like Muffins? I know I do!! I especially like 4,5 and 7 . Number 11 is a French Muffin Film. Who knew?

Whoops!! Scratch that last post, people! My bad-- it's pixel squares...
I mean, maybe you'd be into that, too! But it's not *real* quilting, so sorry...

Hey, Kate and all you quilters out there, here's a quilting site that you might be interested in...
t h e * q u i l t i n g * b e e

Evil Cats!!

Bad,
bad kitties.

Just in case you have a hard time waking up...
No, it's no joke and maybe I should get some for my husband .
ThinkGeek :: Shower Shock Caffeinated Soap