Book Binge Review

In no particular order:

The Kitchen God's Wife- Amy Tan
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy- S.D. Perry
Not a Penny More, Not A Penny Less- Jeffrey Archer
The Feminine Mystique- Betty Friedan
Becoming Vegetarian- Melina Davis Harrison
Maria Montessori: A Biography- Rita Kramer (in progress, currently on page 273)
Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst!- Lois Lowry
Time Enough For Love- Robert Heinlein
Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook- Maria Montessori
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- Jules Verne (in progress, currently on page 98)

Sharp Sticks

I feel like knitting. I've been doing a lot of physical stuff lately (karate x 3 days a week, biking) and lots of reading, since I'm participating in the Book Binge (see button over ----------------} there, unless you're reading this from archives, in which case, it should be gone [although...um...I took it down about three weeks ago from last year. So it had been up for roughly eleven months. Yeah. I'm almost this good at real life housekeeping.]) I'll be doing a lot of intellectual sitting-on-my-butt work soon (details forthcoming...back to school-ness is in discussion and final shakedown), and of course karate is intellectual as well as physical, especially the stuff I've been doing lately (Holy hell...learning a second style is like learning a new language that is similar enough to the old language that it feels like it should be understandable, but then it ISN'T, and then it turns out that the basic grammar, that which is taken for granted has CHANGED. It's disconcerting in a very large way, as if suddenly English had another letter added to it, or plurals and singulars were swapped. Something like that, but totally not at all. Y'know. If that clears things up for anyone. [not even myself. {OK NEW PARAGRAPH TIME. I BELIEVE I WILL GET BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POINT.}])

I've been doing a heckuvalot of knitting, considering that I kind of run a knitting club, but none of it has been very intellectually stimulating. I've got a whack of boring projects on the go...good for waiting in line at the movies, or while watching TV, or at knitting club, where I get a constant stream of kids needing casting on or off, or a dropped stitch to be fixed, or for me to stare intently at something weird and whacky that they did which I have no idea how to fix (seriously...I have no idea how they DO half their mistakes. I've seen so many things I can't even identify, let alone fix...although they think I'm pretty much a total miracle worker, since I've been able to fix a bunch of things that looked pretty darned hopeless. [Holy crap, I'm using a tonne of brackets this time.]).

Current projects on the needles:
-cotton washcloth, basic pattern. Boring, boring, BORING. I'm so sick of it, and I hate knitting with cotton. No give and hurts my hands. Did I mention that it's BORRRRRRRING????? Oh yeah, and I managed to shut the door on one of the wooden dowel needles I was using with it...so until I get back to school after the long weekend, it's on hiatus.

-pair of socks, basic pattern. Meh. I'm currently working on the heel, which is at least a LITTLE exciting (yeah...whee.) but I'm sick of the colours. Grey, white, dark grey, dark white (or light grey. whatever.) *snore*

-weird red top thing: knit in the round, so it's knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, knit, until my fingers fall off, or it gets to the length it needs to be. Since I'm totally making up the pattern (well, kind of [totally] stealing it from a couple places) I'm not sure how long this is going to be. It's also got some weird lumps happening from poor decreasing choices, so I'm not sure how nice it's going to wind up. Bah. It's in a bag next to my computer desk. Staring at me. Maybe if I pull it out, I'll be pleasantly surprised at how much I've gotten done on it and it will inspire me to work on it! One moment please...hmmm.. Mildly surprised. Definitely not inspired though.

-Lace stole: mmmm...lace. And beads. Lovely. I would really like to work on this...I'm actually craving lace right now, but there's a problem. I have all the stuff, but I think know I screwed up several rows back and might probably almost definitely have to rip back a ways. Hmmm...maybe I oughta take a chance. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? (don't answer that.)

Time eater!

Seal generator found at http://www.says-it.com/seal/index1.php

(the Latin is "Deeds not words")

(edit: since it wasn't obvious, I picked out the stuff and designed the seal myself. Go me!)

BOOK BINGE: The Salmon of Doubt: Douglas Adams (short story and essays...first twenty pages read before April started), A Bird in the House: Margaret Laurence (short stories), Legends (short stories), The Sleeping Dragon: Joel Rosenberg (book one: Guardians of the Flame)

Early Day in the Life

This isn't an official "Day in the Life" post...but I just wanted to share what substitute teachers do when they don't get called.

1200: wake up. (I went to bed at 830 last night and slept for fifteen hours. I think the cold that has been trying to explode for the last few days has failed. This pleases me.)

1215: squeal over the gorgeously dyed unspun wool that arrived from Mielke's Farm in Wisconsin for me to spin. EEEEE!! Pics of what I bought HERE. It looks just like that, except that the colours are more beautiful and rich and gorgeous in person. I'm SO excited. :D :D :D :D But I can't spin any of it yet, because I'm on my way to ....

150: go to a matinee movie with my mom. For her birthday, I gave her a voucher to see Blades of Glory and get some movie food. So, we're probably going to go today. :) Review will be posted after.

After movie? Not sure. Maybe spin some of my red mottled Perendale fleece (soooo soft. Mmmm) or my white merio fleece (OMG, even softer...it will become laceweight and become a shawl.) or my brand new bag of candy (Corriedale, so not super crazy soft...but not bad. It will become...um...many things.) but probably not because I have to decide what projects I'm going to make with it first. Maybe I'll work on my cursed sock (don't even ask. This deserves a whole post of its own), or cursed fingerless gloves (some of the stitches fell off the needle yesterday. Grr. But then I worked on it at lunch and got a bunch done.) Maybe I'll do some sewing? Or reading? Ahhhhh...so much choice.

Despite all this, I'm really annoyed I didn't get called. Hopefully I'll have a decent paycheque this time. *sigh*

BOOK BINGE: The Salmon of Doubt: Douglas Adams (short story and essays), A Bird in the House: Margaret Laurence (short stories)

In the spirit of the book binge, I thought I ought to do a literary meme.


Take the list below, paste it into your own blog, and mark them as follows:
READ for those you’ve read;
WANT TO next to those you are interested in;
AGAIN & AGAIN next to those you’ve read and loved, over and over;
REPEAT for those you’ve read more than once, without necessarily loving them;
MEH for stuff you read and weren’t impressed by;
STARTED for those that just never got finished;
and leave blank those you don’t care to read.

My own addition: ON THE LIST for those I plan to read in April.


1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) MEH. I read it after watching the movie. It's better than the movie. But that's kind of like saying that a beating with baseball bats is better than a beating with lead pipes.

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) ON THE LIST

3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) READ

4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) READ (on a weekend camp in Victoria during Girl Guides.)

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) MEH
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) STARTED-ON THE LIST
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) ON THE LIST I really must finish these books, or else turn in my geek card.

8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) AGAIN AND AGAIN

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) READ and loooooved.

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) READ (twice? maybe?)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) NONONONONONONONO!

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) READ

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) WANT TO (loved "World According to Garp")

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) WANT TO, ON THE LIST

16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling) READ

17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald) READ

18. The Stand (Stephen King) READ (twice?)

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling) READ

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) WANT TO (I've never read any of the Bronte books or Austen. And I'm an English major. Sheesh.)

21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) READ (twice, I think)

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) AGAIN AND AGAIN (I reread stuff I've got around. I had it around in high school)

23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott) READ

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel) STARTED

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) AGAIN AND AGAIN

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) WANT TO

28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) AGAIN AND AGAIN

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) WANT TO

30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)

31. Dune (Frank Herbert) READ (must reread...didn't get it in grade six...wonder why.)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) READ (I liked this book a lot)

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) STARTED, WANT TO, ON THE LIST

34. 1984 (Orwell) READ (online...I love project Gutenberg!)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley) AGAIN AND AGAIN

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel) AGAIN AND AGAIN in junior/senior high(there are some NAUGHTY bits!!) Couldn't get into the most recent one.

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

45. The Bible READ, (parts over and over)

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) STARTED

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) STARTED

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) STARTED, ON THE LIST

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) WANT TO

50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) STARTED

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) AGAIN AND AGAIN (If you haven't read it...GO READ IT!!!!)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) Meh

56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence) WANT TO

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling) READ IT

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood) AGAIN AND AGAIN

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice) AGAIN AND AGAIN

65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) AGAIN AND AGAIN

67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo) STARTED

70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) MEH

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

73. Shogun (James Clavell) READ

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett) AGAIN AND AGAIN

76. Tigana (Guy Gavriel Kay) WANT TO

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn READ I think

78. The World According To Garp (Irving) READ (loved!)

79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence) READ (SO GOOD!!)

80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) AGAIN AND AGAIN

81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) READ

83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier) AGAIN AND AGAIN

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind) READ (great series!)

85. Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down (Richard Adams) READ

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields) WANT TO

89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer) READ

91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) AGAIN AND AGAIN (again with the reading of things on hand.)

93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) WANT TO

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) WANT TO

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum) READ

96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) READ

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Since I read anyway...

I'm part of the April "Book Binge". Rules can be found at Mary P.'s site "It's Not All Mary Poppins". I'm excited. :D

This Day in the Life

This will hopefully be a running thing, because I'll be somewhat near a computer most of the day, unlike last month. Like last month however, I'm still sick. BOOO! Watch this space...I'm going to keep adding onto this same post.

1200-I am in a dark theatre with Dave on one side, Jeff on the other side watching Tom Cruise doing one of several things...jumping on a couch, running very rapidly towards a fight, running very rapidly away from a missile/bullet shower/helicopter, being in a gun fight or else we were watching his stunt double do something mean to Phillip Seymore Hoffman's stunt double.

1220-The movie is over, and we're rather impressed, despite this being the sixth or seventh movie in a row that we've seen that didn't have an Easter egg at the end. Honestly...if we're going to look like dorks and sit to the end of the credits, at least reward us ONCE in a while. Driving home, I pretend that the cars are following me, which is fun until I get nervous that one of them actually IS following me. What is it "they" say about paranoia?

1230-I get home and remember that I need to start this post. I run to the bathroom first.

1231-I remember that I forgot to refill the toilet paper, and since I don't share a bathroom the only one I can blame are the spiders. Damned spiders. Problem easily solved.

1235-Why does all the toilet paper have to be all the way upstairs. *grumble and decide to begin post*

1240-When Dave calls, I make the good decision to have us just go to bed in our respective houses because I'm still sick and coughing, and I teach T tomorrow morning.

1242-I start this post.

1252-I am going to go away from the keyboard, but I feel as though I should continue typing as an internal monologue while I go and do the things I need to do to get ready for bed. Maybe I should type into the future...oh dear. The cold medicine seems to have rotted my brain because I'm actually worried about this. Dave? Is this meta? I'm so confused. ok...solution...

1254-prediction: the quest for toilet paper, writing in my paper journal, getting changed for bed, setting my alarm for 930 *get giddy at the idea of sleeping in until 930* *ignore needling thought that I won't actually sleep that long*, read a little bit of my new Sara Douglass book (God's Concubine...book two of The Troy Game) and hopefully be asleep without the use of a roofie-pill.

0200-I actually get to sleep around this time becaues I was enthralled with my book. DAMN, it's a good series.

0910-I get a phone call from T's mom saying that tutoring is cancelled for this morning. How annoying...I'd changed my plans last night to reflect the fact that I was going to be tutoring. I try to fall asleep again and fail.

0920-I start reading my book again.

1030-I finish my book. This is something like five huge novels I've read in the last week or so. I've MISSED reading!!

1037-check email and blog roll, then head upstairs for some food.

1043-while idly surfing around blogs and referrers, I discover MC Hammer's blog. This has to be fake...one would think that MC Hammer would have enough money to have his own domain name at least. (God, I'm such an internet snob.)

1050-Dave calls me and while I'm talking to him, there's a knock on my door. It's him! On his cell phone! Awwwww... :)

1051-*censored* ;)

1245-We go to the mall for lunch and drugstore stop. I get some Contact-C since I'm pretty much out of the stuff I like. I get a BURRRR-EEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOO and rice. We wander around for a bit, and since I took a non-roofie Contact-C on a stomach that'd been empty since early last evening, I start wigging out. I'm high as a kite, giggling, getting distracted by little Winnie the Pooh figures in animal costumes and purple dragons, which I coveted. I was wandering around in a complete daze and talking nonsense. Dave figured that I was just saying whatever came into my head, like I had no internal monologue. I know this sounds like me on a normal day, but it was really uncontrolled.

130-We get home and I lie down in bed and despite the allegedly non drowsiness of my pill, I nearly fall asleep while pulling the covers over me. When I pulled them over me, I twisted my leg into an uncomfortable position, which kept me awake long enough to get up, make my bed, recite a short impromptu soliloquy about how primitive bed clothes are and how sleeping bags are far superior for their instant climb-in-ability. Dave thinks that's pretty funny. I really should record the stuff I say when I'm tripping on cold medicine. I get into bed and fall asleep while Dave does stuff on my computer.

420-I wake up a little when Dave comes over to cuddle with me.

530-We both wake up. Dave does some more stuff on my computer, and I think I read for a while. Dave marvels at the sheer amount of stuff I've got set to tape on my computer.

630-I take a shower which steams out my stuffy nose and makes me feel a bit better and actually a little hungry.

700-We have dinner upstairs. I have salmon in dill sauce, asparagus, mashed potatoes and corn. Oh, and green tea.

800-I drink my tea and read while Dave does some stuff on my computer. (I'm such a cliche...I just need a cat on my lap and I'm the stereotypical English major on a Saturday night!) I now have my TV hooked back up to cable, a headphone extender for my stereo (whee! I can move the bike back from the TV!), a working webcam, a tidy desk, my PC tower back where it's supposed to be, a wireless game controller and probably a few other things that I'm unaware of. Yay!

900-Dave and I watch last week's Alias that we recorded on my computer. I <3 my computer. I don't <3 this episode of Alias. :P Too...forced.

1030-Dave goes home and I read for a little while, then come and update.

1100-I;m planning on taking a roofie based cold pill, quickly check my blogroll, then will probably do my squished tree journal, read a little of my newly begun book and pass right out. If I do something wonderous and amazing, I'll be sure to update. :) Sorry this day wasn't very interesting...most of it was spent asleep and/or reading. :P

Edited: I started reading blogs and now it's midnight. I haven't taken my roofie yet, and my chest hurts really badly and it kind of hurts to breathe. I think I coughed too much today. I had a bunch of coughing attacks...time for bed and medicine. Good night!