"A work of art has to be judged by its interior vitality, not by its agreed prestige. Prestige alone was never enough to keep an acknowledged classic alive: if it had been, Petrarch's long poems in Latin, which he though were his real claim to fame, would still be read today." - Clive James, Cultural Amnesia, "G.K. Chesterton"
"...doubtless Clytie knew, counted upon, that; it would be a good three minutes before it [ambulance] could reach the house, the monstrous tinder-dry rotten shell seeping smoke through the warped cracks in the weather-boarding as if it were made of gauze wire and filled with roaring and beyond which somewhere somthing lurked which bellowed, something human since the bellowing was in human speend, even though the reason for it would not have seemed to be." - William Faulkner, Absalom, Absalom!
"Ist das ein Auto?" - "Drive-time German," Living Language (this one cracks me up everytime its used in conversation on the CD - who the heck drives down the road and asks "Is that a car?" besides a toddler)
Current book-in-progress: The Marquise of O-, Cultural Amnesia, Wuthering Heights (Kate says I should read some Proust - I agree), The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter
Current knitted item: I'm done with all my planned "Harry Potter surprises" - they're all blocked and ready to go, but I have enough yarn left...maybe one more... (I'm enjoying this way too much).
30 June 2007
28 June 2007
One of us got reading glasses...
And I'm pretty sure it was me. Sigh. Not only am I blind as a bat because I'm so near-sighted but I now have reading glasses for when I study. I feel old. Maybe I won't feel like poking my eyeballs out any more after marathoning the research for a paper. Perhaps not.
Current book-in-progress: The Marquise of O-, Cultural Amnesia, still polishing off Abalsom, Absalom! (less than 40 pages left - that book is getting really hard to read) and conteplating what else I could start besides Wuthering Heights
Current knitted item: I finished the blue "Harry Potter surprise" and now I'm working on the last "Harry Potter surprise."
Current book-in-progress: The Marquise of O-, Cultural Amnesia, still polishing off Abalsom, Absalom! (less than 40 pages left - that book is getting really hard to read) and conteplating what else I could start besides Wuthering Heights
Current knitted item: I finished the blue "Harry Potter surprise" and now I'm working on the last "Harry Potter surprise."
21 June 2007
Who is that masked man?
While playing Myst III (I finished by the way), I kept thinking "Gosh, that crazy guy Saavedro looks an awful lot like Brad Dourif." So the credits ran, and guess what? It IS Brad Dourif (the dude who played Grima Wormtongue in the Lord of the Rings movies). Totally bizarre since I just saw him in "Ragtime" the other night on cable.
In other news, I finished The Buccaneers today. Now I can watch the miniseries adaptation (Mira Sorvino plays Conchita, didn't quite picture the character that way).
Current book-in-progress: The Marquise of O-, Cultural Amnesia, still polishing off Abalsom, Absalom! (less than 100 pages left)
Current knitted item: It is still the blue "Harry Potter surprise"
In other news, I finished The Buccaneers today. Now I can watch the miniseries adaptation (Mira Sorvino plays Conchita, didn't quite picture the character that way).
Current book-in-progress: The Marquise of O-, Cultural Amnesia, still polishing off Abalsom, Absalom! (less than 100 pages left)
Current knitted item: It is still the blue "Harry Potter surprise"
17 June 2007
You know you're pretty nerdy when....
...your Friday evening consists of working at the bookstore, playing 4 hours of "Myst III: Exile" after you get home from work at 10:45 pm, then reading 30 pages of Faulkner before finally crashing.
I am actually doing pretty good with the Myst game. I remembered to write things down while playing "Riven" and a number of the symbols are showing up in this game, so I'm not totally lost.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers, Cultural Amnesia, finished The Story of French, and I'm working on polishing off Abalsom, Absalom!
Current knitted item: The blue "Harry Potter surprise" (what, you thought I'd be done? Psh, I have books to read and I'm getting really tired of people on the bus asking me "Is that hard?" Of course not, six-year-olds in impoverished countries can do this and probably much faster than I can.)
I am actually doing pretty good with the Myst game. I remembered to write things down while playing "Riven" and a number of the symbols are showing up in this game, so I'm not totally lost.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers, Cultural Amnesia, finished The Story of French, and I'm working on polishing off Abalsom, Absalom!
Current knitted item: The blue "Harry Potter surprise" (what, you thought I'd be done? Psh, I have books to read and I'm getting really tired of people on the bus asking me "Is that hard?" Of course not, six-year-olds in impoverished countries can do this and probably much faster than I can.)
12 June 2007
Randomness....
I accidentally washed my cats' ugly blue rat. Not my fault, they left it in the dirty laundry pile. This is a crinkly, catnip-y blue rat that's been a little over-loved by the two furballs. So I tossed the damp rat to Chaucer...
...who immediately started "loving" it, and licking it, and rubbing it, and making these really strange meows. I know my cats like catnip, but this was like kitty heroin. Thiry minutes later he was cross-eyed and smelling the soles of my shoes. This morning I caught him carrying it around like his baby. Right now he's "loving" the rat again - under my desk - and Dante keeps staring at him.
I love edamame. Mmmmm.
As previously stated in other posts, I'm reading Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers for BNBC June/July. The novel was unfinished at her death in 1937 (it was published as-is in 1938) and has since been "finished" by the editor Marion Mainwaring and published as a complete novel in 1993. According to the Afterword about 30% of the novel is new - 30% is a lot to me. I'm exactly half-way finished with the novel and there's definitely an unrefined quality to the Wharton text. You can tell that she didn't have a chance to finish, let alone go back and edit. I feel that some scenes are too obscure, that too much is hidden from the reader. The plot jumps around quite a bit. Even though the setting is the same as The Age of Innocence (1870s New York), the novel feels disconnected in some way. Hmmm. I'll see when I finish it.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers (half done), Cultural Amnesia (really good, nice short essays); I bought too many books again during Employee Appreciation Days
Current knitted item: A blue "Harry Potter surprise" made with left-over yarn from the shrug.
...who immediately started "loving" it, and licking it, and rubbing it, and making these really strange meows. I know my cats like catnip, but this was like kitty heroin. Thiry minutes later he was cross-eyed and smelling the soles of my shoes. This morning I caught him carrying it around like his baby. Right now he's "loving" the rat again - under my desk - and Dante keeps staring at him.
I love edamame. Mmmmm.
As previously stated in other posts, I'm reading Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers for BNBC June/July. The novel was unfinished at her death in 1937 (it was published as-is in 1938) and has since been "finished" by the editor Marion Mainwaring and published as a complete novel in 1993. According to the Afterword about 30% of the novel is new - 30% is a lot to me. I'm exactly half-way finished with the novel and there's definitely an unrefined quality to the Wharton text. You can tell that she didn't have a chance to finish, let alone go back and edit. I feel that some scenes are too obscure, that too much is hidden from the reader. The plot jumps around quite a bit. Even though the setting is the same as The Age of Innocence (1870s New York), the novel feels disconnected in some way. Hmmm. I'll see when I finish it.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers (half done), Cultural Amnesia (really good, nice short essays); I bought too many books again during Employee Appreciation Days
Current knitted item: A blue "Harry Potter surprise" made with left-over yarn from the shrug.
06 June 2007
Computer Update
It turns out that once you install Norton 360, you can't install Systemworks as well. Bugger. You can, however, run the CheckIt Diagnostics and Norton Utilities (like DiskDoctor, etc) from the CD. So at least I have updated Windows Registry checks, etc. But still - $70 bucks? I complained to Best Buy about the crappy Geek Squad advice but since I opened the package and did an install I can't return it. Oh well, live and learn.
Spysweeper is now installed. It found 55 pieces of spyware on the laptop (yikes! no wonder it took forever to do much of anything and was giving me the "blue screen of death") but none on the desktop. Hm. Both computers now run so much faster. So much.
In other topics, I ordered a bunch of DVDs from BN (buy-2-get-1 sales are dangerous, and I had a coupon). I ordered "Bleak House" (2005 miniseries with Gillian Anderson), "The Way We Live Now," "Middlemarch," and "The Holiday" (seriously, the best romantic comedy since "Love Actually"). I also ordered Hayley Westenra's third CD. Love. The packages came yesterday so I have lots of good TV to watch now. And "David Copperfield" is coming via Netflix (this is the version with Daniel Radcliffe as young David).
I also bought Clive James' new book Cultural Amnesia - 50% coupon for BN members, which is a better deal than the employee appreciation days (only 40%). He's a really good critic and I've heard great things about this book. All the essays are really short, so it will make for good bedtime reading.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers, Cultural Amnesia, and who knows too many to count.
Current knitted item: The shrug is done! Back to Eeyores and Harry Potter surprises.
Spysweeper is now installed. It found 55 pieces of spyware on the laptop (yikes! no wonder it took forever to do much of anything and was giving me the "blue screen of death") but none on the desktop. Hm. Both computers now run so much faster. So much.
In other topics, I ordered a bunch of DVDs from BN (buy-2-get-1 sales are dangerous, and I had a coupon). I ordered "Bleak House" (2005 miniseries with Gillian Anderson), "The Way We Live Now," "Middlemarch," and "The Holiday" (seriously, the best romantic comedy since "Love Actually"). I also ordered Hayley Westenra's third CD. Love. The packages came yesterday so I have lots of good TV to watch now. And "David Copperfield" is coming via Netflix (this is the version with Daniel Radcliffe as young David).
I also bought Clive James' new book Cultural Amnesia - 50% coupon for BN members, which is a better deal than the employee appreciation days (only 40%). He's a really good critic and I've heard great things about this book. All the essays are really short, so it will make for good bedtime reading.
Current book-in-progress: The Buccaneers, Cultural Amnesia, and who knows too many to count.
Current knitted item: The shrug is done! Back to Eeyores and Harry Potter surprises.
05 June 2007
Ahhh, computers....
Today while the Internet repairman was here, he commented on how slow my desktop was since it took about 5 minutes for all the start-up programs to desist. Yeah, I know, dude. The Norton package is so old that pretty much the only stuff that updates is the anti-virus. So I took myself off to Best Buy to get some new Norton toys that will clean my hard drives.
Problem #1: The Geek Squad guys are pretty helpful normally, but they all seem to hate Norton, primary reason being that it "slows down your computer." I've had my butt saved by Norton so many times that I'm not particularly concerned with 60 seconds vs. 2 minutes.
So they recommended getting Norton 360 (which is apparently so new, no one knows how to use it), Norton Systemworks Standard, and Spysweeper (because Norton still isn't quite so good at the anti-spyware. I also picked up an external hard drive so I can back everything up (good deal - 250GB for $100). Price tag for everything? ~$250. Ouch, but it's cheaper than a new computer if mine gets chomped by some Internet worm.
Problem #2: Since the Geek Squad dudes don't like Norton, I don't think they know what all the different parts of Norton do. For instance, Symantec has this lovely "compare products" page that will compare what each package does after installation. Notice that the Norton 360 does everything the Systemworks packages do, except Norton GoBack (I'm still looking for Disk Doctor and the Windows Registry Scan - I think they're on the Check-It Diagnostics software part of the CD-Rom). So I paid seventy bucks for Norton GoBack. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH. And I just noticed that the Spysweeper said it's a "Service Desk Edition - Not for Display". Can I still use it?
So here I sit, at home, in my office, surrounded by two computers with two different security programs from Norton. Notice the time. The laptop is still uploading to the backup server at Symantec. But the laptop has the 360 on it, which is pretty slick (it is nice - this is why I love Norton - it removed 3,000 temporary files that were getting missed because the old package wasn't updating). The desktop has Systemworks, which will have to be removed (after 2 hours of installation to get it this far and find out I got hosed) so I can install 360, then re-install Systemworks to get the Norton GoBack and the Check-it Diagnostics.
I swear to you, I am not a computer science major, I am a self-taught computer person (with a little help from Dad and various computer books) and I could do a hell of a lot better job than a lot of the people who are supposed to "help" you.
Current book-in-progress: I picked up The Buccaneers today - I got three paragraphs read; this is very Wharton already.
Current knitted item: The shrug is almost done. I've started the last increase round, then it's just 6 rounds of ribbing and a bind-off!
Problem #1: The Geek Squad guys are pretty helpful normally, but they all seem to hate Norton, primary reason being that it "slows down your computer." I've had my butt saved by Norton so many times that I'm not particularly concerned with 60 seconds vs. 2 minutes.
So they recommended getting Norton 360 (which is apparently so new, no one knows how to use it), Norton Systemworks Standard, and Spysweeper (because Norton still isn't quite so good at the anti-spyware. I also picked up an external hard drive so I can back everything up (good deal - 250GB for $100). Price tag for everything? ~$250. Ouch, but it's cheaper than a new computer if mine gets chomped by some Internet worm.
Problem #2: Since the Geek Squad dudes don't like Norton, I don't think they know what all the different parts of Norton do. For instance, Symantec has this lovely "compare products" page that will compare what each package does after installation. Notice that the Norton 360 does everything the Systemworks packages do, except Norton GoBack (I'm still looking for Disk Doctor and the Windows Registry Scan - I think they're on the Check-It Diagnostics software part of the CD-Rom). So I paid seventy bucks for Norton GoBack. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH. And I just noticed that the Spysweeper said it's a "Service Desk Edition - Not for Display". Can I still use it?
So here I sit, at home, in my office, surrounded by two computers with two different security programs from Norton. Notice the time. The laptop is still uploading to the backup server at Symantec. But the laptop has the 360 on it, which is pretty slick (it is nice - this is why I love Norton - it removed 3,000 temporary files that were getting missed because the old package wasn't updating). The desktop has Systemworks, which will have to be removed (after 2 hours of installation to get it this far and find out I got hosed) so I can install 360, then re-install Systemworks to get the Norton GoBack and the Check-it Diagnostics.
I swear to you, I am not a computer science major, I am a self-taught computer person (with a little help from Dad and various computer books) and I could do a hell of a lot better job than a lot of the people who are supposed to "help" you.
Current book-in-progress: I picked up The Buccaneers today - I got three paragraphs read; this is very Wharton already.
Current knitted item: The shrug is almost done. I've started the last increase round, then it's just 6 rounds of ribbing and a bind-off!
28 May 2007
Tidbits and Oddities
I love literary sound bites.
"Shock news: Grown-up critics think e.e. cummings sucks. I honestly didn't know. I read him in high school, put him in the "good" box, and left him there." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree
"I'm an irreverent person because I believe reverence is usually misplaced when it isn't faked, but I felt reverence for his reverence then." - William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts (Mr. Gaddis and His Goddamn Books)
"The philosopher David Hume thought Tristam Shandy the best book written by an Englishman for the past 30 years, though he rather spoiled the compliment by adding 'bad as it is.'" - Terry Eagleton, The English Novel: An Introduction (Ch. 4, Laurence Sterne)
And on addressing "instant classics" in literature:
"Maybe that's why you have to give books time to live before you decide that they're never going to die. You have to wait and see whether anyone in that multitude is really listening." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree
Current book-in-progress: A Temple of Texts, The English Novel, and waiting for The Buccaneers to arrive at BN so I can start on the next book for the LbW board.
Current knitted item: The shrug - I got the stitches picked up for the collar (Eydie had Addis!! Although I'm glad I went with the 32" circular, I can't imagine working it on a 24" like the pattern called for!)
"Shock news: Grown-up critics think e.e. cummings sucks. I honestly didn't know. I read him in high school, put him in the "good" box, and left him there." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree
"I'm an irreverent person because I believe reverence is usually misplaced when it isn't faked, but I felt reverence for his reverence then." - William H. Gass, A Temple of Texts (Mr. Gaddis and His Goddamn Books)
"The philosopher David Hume thought Tristam Shandy the best book written by an Englishman for the past 30 years, though he rather spoiled the compliment by adding 'bad as it is.'" - Terry Eagleton, The English Novel: An Introduction (Ch. 4, Laurence Sterne)
And on addressing "instant classics" in literature:
"Maybe that's why you have to give books time to live before you decide that they're never going to die. You have to wait and see whether anyone in that multitude is really listening." - Nick Hornby, The Polysyllabic Spree
Current book-in-progress: A Temple of Texts, The English Novel, and waiting for The Buccaneers to arrive at BN so I can start on the next book for the LbW board.
Current knitted item: The shrug - I got the stitches picked up for the collar (Eydie had Addis!! Although I'm glad I went with the 32" circular, I can't imagine working it on a 24" like the pattern called for!)
21 May 2007
Can I add just one more thing?
Call me crazy, but I added on yet another activity to my already over-scheduled and totally manic life (and you all wondered why I consume so many caffeine-containing beverages...).
I agreed to be a reader-moderator at BN Book Clubs for two boards - knitting (duh) and the Literature by Women board (taking over from pmath - yay pmath!).
Now, for everyone who thinks I'm a slave to the company, the BNBC is an entity that I think does many great things. Yes, it replaced the old BN University, of which many participants have fond memories and were sad to see its demise; however, I think the new BNBC has so much more potential. BNBC is far more transparent because you can see all the threads without having to register. With BNU, you had to sign up and "join" a class to see what it was about; I didn't join BNU for a while because I thought it would be too "academic" for what I was looking to do. At BNBC there are more classics discussed, for longer that then very limiting month (i.e. Paradise Lost with Laurel) which is great, but readers are starting their own threads in some of the general discussions supporting all different types of books. This is wonderful and, IMO, it's what a book club should be about. Reading. And having fun.
So stop by and see how I do (not terrible, I hope - yipe!). The knitting board is just for chatting, reviewing pattern books, etc. The LbW board is starting A.S. Byatt's Possession this month.
Current book-in-progress: Mostly The Master and Margarita as of late (it's really good I promise), but I need to get caught up on Possession for my new role
Current knitted item: The shrug - now working on the other sleeve. I hope Eydie gets Addi circs in size 5 before I really need them!
I agreed to be a reader-moderator at BN Book Clubs for two boards - knitting (duh) and the Literature by Women board (taking over from pmath - yay pmath!).
Now, for everyone who thinks I'm a slave to the company, the BNBC is an entity that I think does many great things. Yes, it replaced the old BN University, of which many participants have fond memories and were sad to see its demise; however, I think the new BNBC has so much more potential. BNBC is far more transparent because you can see all the threads without having to register. With BNU, you had to sign up and "join" a class to see what it was about; I didn't join BNU for a while because I thought it would be too "academic" for what I was looking to do. At BNBC there are more classics discussed, for longer that then very limiting month (i.e. Paradise Lost with Laurel) which is great, but readers are starting their own threads in some of the general discussions supporting all different types of books. This is wonderful and, IMO, it's what a book club should be about. Reading. And having fun.
So stop by and see how I do (not terrible, I hope - yipe!). The knitting board is just for chatting, reviewing pattern books, etc. The LbW board is starting A.S. Byatt's Possession this month.
Current book-in-progress: Mostly The Master and Margarita as of late (it's really good I promise), but I need to get caught up on Possession for my new role
Current knitted item: The shrug - now working on the other sleeve. I hope Eydie gets Addi circs in size 5 before I really need them!
17 May 2007
CSI - what?
So all three of my favorite TV shows - the CSIs - all had their season finales this week. CSI: Miami ended on a good note, but a little ambiguous as regards the relationship between Calliegh and Eric. CSI:NY ended with Mac, Stella, and Sheldon foiling the Irish Mob's attempt to raid the police lab and get their cocaine back; Danny and Lindsey got together which was about damn time.
So CSI was tonight. Talk about cliffhanger (stop reading here if you don't want to know). Sara winds up under a car after being kidnapped by the Miniature Killer and Grissom is trying to shake the information out of the Killer. Literally. Sara had better make it on the season opener in the fall; haven't heard anything about Jorja Fox leaving the show but it will suck big time if she does.
Current book-in-progress: The Brothers Karamazov and The Master and Margarita
Current knitted item: The shrug - only 8 rows of ribbing left on the first sleeve.
So CSI was tonight. Talk about cliffhanger (stop reading here if you don't want to know). Sara winds up under a car after being kidnapped by the Miniature Killer and Grissom is trying to shake the information out of the Killer. Literally. Sara had better make it on the season opener in the fall; haven't heard anything about Jorja Fox leaving the show but it will suck big time if she does.
Current book-in-progress: The Brothers Karamazov and The Master and Margarita
Current knitted item: The shrug - only 8 rows of ribbing left on the first sleeve.
Current favorite-screw-up-by-other-research-assistant
As some of you know, one of my (least) favorite tasks at the research job is to take over a study from another RA. My main reason for (not) liking this is because the study is usually screwed up in some way - data collection, study design, bad analysis, you-name-it. And then I have to fix this, which neccessitates pointing out what is wrong to my boss which then makes me feel like a rat.
Like the current POS, er, study I am trying to fix so the fellow can get her article out of it and get herself a job. 2/3 of the data was collected by the fellow, the other 1/3 was collected by one of my fellow RAs (who no longer works for us because she moved up in the world and got a new job). The data collected by the fellow is pretty robust, few few mistakes and most of those are entry errors I would have caught during analysis (i.e. getting the date wrong because your finger typed 2006 instead of 2005). The data collected by the RA....ai-yi-yi (I should have known this was coming because this same RA made tons of data collection errors on another study that I'm trying to piggyback a new analysis off of - and I find myself essentially recollecting the previous data because it's full of holes). My personal favorite mistakes so far today? The one where the RA listed the subject as being male (when the subject is really female) and the next subject on the list was listed as deceased at the end of current admission (when she was both an outpatient as the time of study entry and had completed a physician's office visit two days ago). GAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! An undergrad could do better than this (and would be cheaper, too).
I promise I'm really not an obsessive-compulsive science rat, but I'm not attaching my name to ANYTHING that could potentially suck this bad. This is why science gets a bad rap - sloppy work. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy.
Current book-in-progress: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (for the SF group, and I'm a little behind, but I just got the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Award for Translation winner by Pevear and Volokhonsky, so I got kind of excited about it again.
Current knitted item: The shrug - I'm working on the ribbing for the first sleeve.
Like the current POS, er, study I am trying to fix so the fellow can get her article out of it and get herself a job. 2/3 of the data was collected by the fellow, the other 1/3 was collected by one of my fellow RAs (who no longer works for us because she moved up in the world and got a new job). The data collected by the fellow is pretty robust, few few mistakes and most of those are entry errors I would have caught during analysis (i.e. getting the date wrong because your finger typed 2006 instead of 2005). The data collected by the RA....ai-yi-yi (I should have known this was coming because this same RA made tons of data collection errors on another study that I'm trying to piggyback a new analysis off of - and I find myself essentially recollecting the previous data because it's full of holes). My personal favorite mistakes so far today? The one where the RA listed the subject as being male (when the subject is really female) and the next subject on the list was listed as deceased at the end of current admission (when she was both an outpatient as the time of study entry and had completed a physician's office visit two days ago). GAAAAAAHHHHHHH!! An undergrad could do better than this (and would be cheaper, too).
I promise I'm really not an obsessive-compulsive science rat, but I'm not attaching my name to ANYTHING that could potentially suck this bad. This is why science gets a bad rap - sloppy work. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy.
Current book-in-progress: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (for the SF group, and I'm a little behind, but I just got the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Award for Translation winner by Pevear and Volokhonsky, so I got kind of excited about it again.
Current knitted item: The shrug - I'm working on the ribbing for the first sleeve.
16 May 2007
Minor Confession
I still call my parents and tell them my grades. Guess I still like to get that pat on the head (who knows, I might even get dinner out of it - traditional rewards for earning good grades in the Ward household consist of going to a swanky restaurant sans younger siblings).
Now, I'm going to strut a little....got an "A" in my Modern American Fiction class. I think this is a good accomplishment for someone with two science degrees trying to go back for a grad lit degree - the brain definitely has to rewire itself for this to work. I also scraped a "B" out of my incomplete from last semester. Party!!!!!! I was pretty convinced I was going to receive an "F" out of sheer spite since I had avoided the professor for the better part of three months.
Current book-in-progress: Lots of them! The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber, The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay, and A Temple of Texts by William Gass (and many more)
Current knitted item: Serious start-itis since semester ended. Yes, I still have Eeyores. And a Christmas stocking to finish. But...I got this awesome knitting book Fitted Knits with about 10 patterns I want to knit. So I started the two-color shrug (mine is light blue and royal). I also keep trying to knit socks, which is a disaster since I can't get the toe cast-on to work correctly. I'm also making a surprise for our Harry Potter party at the store (Shhhh!!!)
Now, I'm going to strut a little....got an "A" in my Modern American Fiction class. I think this is a good accomplishment for someone with two science degrees trying to go back for a grad lit degree - the brain definitely has to rewire itself for this to work. I also scraped a "B" out of my incomplete from last semester. Party!!!!!! I was pretty convinced I was going to receive an "F" out of sheer spite since I had avoided the professor for the better part of three months.
Current book-in-progress: Lots of them! The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber, The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay, and A Temple of Texts by William Gass (and many more)
Current knitted item: Serious start-itis since semester ended. Yes, I still have Eeyores. And a Christmas stocking to finish. But...I got this awesome knitting book Fitted Knits with about 10 patterns I want to knit. So I started the two-color shrug (mine is light blue and royal). I also keep trying to knit socks, which is a disaster since I can't get the toe cast-on to work correctly. I'm also making a surprise for our Harry Potter party at the store (Shhhh!!!)
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