har og ra fee

It is indeed true! I have made progress in my crafy sub-life!

Tuesday night I spun up the rest of the crappy wool that I used when I was practicing using the hand carders. I am not going to spin or card the rest of it, though, because the wool itself was free (dye practice from the retreat) and I am not pleased with the wool or the results. Anyway, I spun up what I had prepped and plied it and turned it into a hank and stuffed it into a bag.

I’m looking forward to spinning the new hand-dyed merino I got off Etsy last week! It’s pretty pretty stuff.

Last night I spun up some of the charcoal alpaca/tencel blend on a drop spindle, which is lovely. The fibers are pretty slippery though, so joining is occasionally a challenge.

Knitting-wise, I finished a baby kimono and Saartje’s booties for Baby Benji. I’m knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket too, but I’m not happy with it (that pattern requires a LOT of counting, and also it seems a bit large. And warm.). I might rip it. Or I’ll finish it and see how big it turns out to be - it might just be 1yo sized, which is good since the babies in my life will be nearly a year old when the weather gets cold again.

I’m also knitting socks for Alan, which is taking FOREVER, despite them being my lunchtime-knitting project. Socks just aren’t my thing, I think, which is sad because sock patterns look so freaking awesome. I have more than a few favorited in Ravelry.

I’ve done some web stuff too. And I leveled my druid alt to 58, my hunter is holding steady at 65 so I can play with Alan’s warlock.

Another of my letters to Neil Gaiman was posted and responded to on his blog. Hee!

more on introductions and contradictions

That’s the second one, I think. I’ve also gotten a few emails from him directly. I really need to make it to one of his signings someday!

Still reading Burroughs’ Martian Tales Trilogy. It is fantastic. I’ve read some other early 20th century novels and they have a completely different sound and feel; this is much more modern sci-fi (albeit pulp sci-fi) than I expected. Just lovely. I can’t wait for the movie.

New hair

Originally uploaded by there’s a b

Someone brought Krispy Kremes in this morning, and they were in our local kitchenette (there are coffee machines and water and mini fridges randomly dispersed throughout the floor, as well as a large central kitchen where the vending machines and soda live). I didn’t have one. I saw them and thought about how I can feel my heart rate increase after I eat sugar, and then the sudden tired crash, and it wasn’t worth it.

I got my hair cut yesterday, it’s a new style, not just a trim! I have swoopy bangs that get brushed to one side, and chunky layers for the rest of my head. It’s about 5″ shorter overall too. I had some nasty split ends. I like it! All five of the females in my department commented on the new hair and said it’s cute. One of the artist guys noticed too. None of the programmers have said anything (heh, not surprised).

In work-lingo at Sony, the amount of work one is capable of doing was called “bandwidth”. Here it’s called “cycles”. “Do you have the cycles to pick up this extra project?” “We need to find someone with spare cycles to do this.” It is amusing, it feels much more assembly-line-robot to me. Just a random observation.

I finished reading Blue Mars on Friday, the last book in Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy. It was a very satisfying and suitable end to the story. I’m terribly happy I read the series, they really got my brain going in many interesting ways and reinvigorated my inner space-geek. I started reading The Mistress of Spices last night, and thus far it’s a good read. The movie adaptation (which I saw last year at some point, probably on an airplane) did a great job of capturing the spirit and feeling of the book so far.

The plague is almost gone - my nose still feels stuffed up, and I cough occasionally, but I am much better off than I was. I have more energy today too (yay, finally!).

I’ve been quiet for two weeks! And I was on a posting roll for a while. Sigh.

So, I went to Vegas for one weekend, for my brother’s 30th birthday. That was fun, being the first time I actually gambled there.

And I worked during the weeks, of course. At least until last Wednesday, when I was felled by the dreaded flu that’s going around. I was home Wed and Fri afternoon, but worked Thursday (barely made it through the day).

Flu sucks. Alan has it too, but he doesn’t have the luxury of staying home from work, since the Show Cannot Go On without him. Literally.

Also, right before I went to Vegas I ordered parts for a new computer for myself. Put it together Monday. Tried to turn it on Tuesday. Didn’t work out so well (the Flu was coming and I wasn’t reading instruction manuals and it was Not Good). Eventually got it running, thanks to Alan. Had MUCH drama over the next few days in actually getting the drivers and stuff installed (Wednesday was a really, really bad day. I should’ve stayed in bed). But now it works and it is glorious.

I’ve been reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars trilogy. I’m almost done with the last book. They are dense with information economic, scientific, sociologic, terraforming, politics, psychology.. as well as being incredibly true to characters with deep plots and all sorts of things. Love them.

So, that’s been my life over the last few weeks. How about you?

Q: If heaven exists, what would you like to hear god say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

A: COWABUNGA!!!

That and other awesome answers from COOKIE MONSTER!!

Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Brilliant book. It brings out all my latent space-geekery. I want to read blogs about NASA and the space station and astronauts and the future of space travel and colonization. I love the hard science, the politics, the corporate maneuvering, and the characters. I’m about halfway through the 2nd book in the series.

Summerland, by Michael Chabon. A perfectly respectable book about Faerie (they’re not fairies, they’re ferishers) and Baseball and travelling in a zeppelin. I enjoyed it far more than I was anticipating I would after the first two pages were all about a boy who didn’t want to play baseball. This book needs, desperately, to be a movie. It’s a big book but appropriate for patient young adults.

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, by Michael Chabon. I first heard about this on NPR or Nextbook or somewhere - sort of a Maltese Falcon detective noir story told in an alternate universe where, after WWII, the Jews were given refuge in Alaska.. essentially leased the land for 50 years. And well, the 50 years is almost up and the US government is going to be taking over the land again and probably kicking all the Jews out. Also there are murders, an ex-wife as your boss, mysteries, Hasids, the guy that hangs string everywhere so people can carry stuff on the Sabbath, airplanes, Tlingit, and a conspiracy to retake Palestine. It’s certainly not a light-hearted adventure like Summerland (which isn’t terrible light-hearted either), but the depiction of the world and the style of writing are top-notch.

Chabon quickly leapt onto my list of “Favorite Authors, Must Read Everything”.. and after I finish the Mars books (and then Burroughs’ Martain Trilogy), I will.

In other news, I had a productive weekend that was still relaxing. Very Satisfactory.

Hollywood Bowl’s schedule is out and one of the final concerts is A Celebration of Rumi: The Sights & Sounds of Mystic Persia

Experience Persian mystic poet Rumi through the music of Iran and beyond, with the finest Persian musicians, special guest Yo-Yo Ma, whirling dervishes, and live calligraphy projections.

Ummm.. when can I buy tickets, and anyone else want to go with me?

From the top

Originally uploaded by there’s a b

Her markings are so neat.

Bella my bella!

Originally uploaded by there’s a b

I don’t talk about my dog enough.