Making progress

No real update on the books this week. I'm still reading A Confederacy of Dunces and Unweaving the Rainbow. I've actually gotten a lot read of Dunces, because it's been too hot to stay in the apartment, so I've spent an enormous amount of time this week sitting in coffeehouses. Which is good, because it was supposed to go back to the library tomorrow. Depending on how today goes, though, I'll probably have to renew it. But it's almost done, so we'll see.

It was a long week, though. I did that thing I was dreading in the last post, and it went much better than I expected. I gave notice at work this week that the Boy-Creature and I are moving in October, to New Orleans. It's been a long time coming, and I couldn't be more excited. I've been counting down the weeks until I leave work.

Even though we decided this some time ago, it didn't really feel real until this week. Now that I've told my manager, and we're making plans for recruiting and training for someone to take my place, everything feels like it's finally moving forward. It helps that we also got the news this week that we have somewhere to stay when we get down there, until we find jobs and get our own place. And I just can't wait to get down there.

Tough and unavoidable things

It's only Tuesday, and it's already been a really challenging week. And it's not going to get any easier until I do the dreaded thing that has to be done.

I don't have the energy to expand upon that right now. But I will.

Addicted to the busy

Booklove! On time this time. Since I've gotten busier as of late, I've once again become addicted to the feeling of getting things done! Like I used to. It's something I've missed in the last year. Anyone who knew me in high school can tell you, I do very well with a full schedule! Now if I can just get my writing back on track.

Speaking of writing.... Books!

I finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and took her back to the library. I'm thinking, though, since I was reading it because of Tim Burton's movie coming out soon, that I should re-read Through the Looking Glass too. I can tell just form the short trailer and the stuff that's come out on the internet that they're pulling from both books for the movie. So I want to get that back in my head, too.

But for now, I'm reading A Confederacy of Dunces. It's one of those books that I've picked up dozens of times, but haven't actually gotten around to reading until now. And it kills me to think how many books I've been meaning to read for so many years. So here's one more off the list! I'm not terribly far in, but it's very funny so far, and I'm excited to get on with it.

I really like saying "Plurk"

It's fun. Say it: plurk.

Plurk plurk plurk.

Anyway. I gotta plurk account. It's over there in the sidebar, in case you don't feel like going over to look at it.

Social networking! Welcome to 2009, Kat!

If you want to get your own, go here.

Hypocrisy! I has it!

Today on the way home from work, I saw a banner for one of those seasonal stores that are only open for Halloween, and I thought, "Ugh! August is barely half over, that's stupid. Which means the Christmas stuff should start up in about two weeks, which is even worse."

And then I came home to find my 2-disc special edition soundtrack from The Nightmare Before Christmas came from Amazon today! Which I bought partly because I love, love, looooooooove that movie, and partly because I'm crazy about Fiona Apple's cover of "Sally's Song." So I'm currently listening to "What's This?" and I have stopped scoffing at Halloween in August.

I had a dream once about being in rehearsals for a ballet of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I woke up thinking how amazing that would be. All black and white tutus and creepy sets and makeup. In the back of my mind, I still want to start choreographing.

Gravity. She is a harsh mistress.

Some days, I swear I wouldn't make it through the workday without Lime and Violet and Regina Spektor. Most days, though, it's more of a mixed bag of podcasts. Just enough to keep me entertained until it's time to go, in between phone calls.

Today I was listening to one that's come to be one of my favorites, the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe. I was only half listening, between working and talking with my office buddy, but after awhile, it very much caught my attention. They were interviewing Michael Goudeau, this guy who's been a professional juggler and clown for years, and now he also writes for Penn Jillette. I didn't hear why they were interviewing him, but it was fascinating. Like a train wreck. Or, more appropriately, like a sideshow act.

Michael Goudeau juggles chainsaws. And if you're interviewing a juggler who juggles chainsaws, how do you not ask how he ended up juggling chainsaws? He said it was like playing chicken with other jugglers. It starts with flaming torches, and then machetes (for which he bled for three days. I probably would have stopped right there), and then axes. And then running chainsaws. Naturally.

The thing is, I love circuses. I've taken static trapeze classes. I loved those classes, and even thought about auditioning for circuses. I have great respect for the circus. People underestimate the art and dedication that goes into it, and they forget the history that goes back centuries. I will always be fascinated with all that stuff.

But as much as I am fascinated by it, and by Michael Goudeau, by extension, I will never understand the impulse to throw several sharp blades ten feet in the air. Much less a running chainsaw.

The world is full of crazy people. Isn't it fantastic?

Maybe I should change it to booklove Sundays

Yesterday morning, I baked yumminess:



And I took a nap, while Boy-Creature watched golf (what better time for a nap?). And then I knitted. And today I knitted. And then I took a break to go to the yarn shop, because the #3 needles were too big, and the #1 needles were too small. I'm the proud new owner of a set of #2 needles. So the socks have been cast on yet again.

Luckily, after I got said needles, I took a break and went to my favorite coffee shop for some passionfruit iced tea and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's the edition with Arthur Rackham's beautiful, iconic illustrations. I'm almost up to the croquet game. I must have looked like a crazy person at the coffeehouse, smiling like a loon. I do love that book.

The best part of it is that it's getting me out of the fiction slump I've been in. Thank god.

And now, back to some knitting. This yarn will become socks if it kills me.

Clever titles are overrated.

No package full of fun yet, but it was a very eventful day.

There was a thing at work where we had the option of wearing jeans, so I did just enough to look like I was participating. We had pizza for lunch, courtesy of the company, and then I went with my friend Emy to her sonogram. Our manager wanted to go with her, just because, but she couldn't so I went instead. I got to see the baby's big head (Emy is now even more nervous about the whole pushing out a baby thing), and her heartbeat and stomach, and her little leg. I am still convinced I'm not even remotely interested in having a baby at this point. Just in case you were wondering.

Then more work, which was boring, but luckily didn't last long.

Then to the library! I was a shelving machine today. For which they were very grateful, because Library-Boss-Man (Hi, Bill) said they'd gotten a talking to about being behind on shelving. So I was going as fast as I could, just shelving everything in sight. I like shelving juvenile fiction best. There's just so many of them that I remember reading, and remember fondly. So it makes me happy to go back through them. So many of those books meant so much to me, and a lot of them still do. I checked out Alices's Adventures in Wonderland, because I've been wanting to read it again before Tim Burton's movie comes out. I want to see how faithful he'll be to the original. Plus, I haven't read it in so long, and I've been in the mood for strange stories lately.

Anyway, tomorrow should be good, too. We're going to see "Wicked" tomorrow night, and I'm hugely looking forward to it. All this time and I've still never seen it. Yay!

Spoiler alert!!!

Sort of a spoiler alert, anyway. The card from my Christmas in July swap gift came today!!! (Ignore the fact that it's August. July sucked for a lot of people on the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Ravelry boards.)

My swapper was the lovely and awesome Jillygirl, of the fantastic gummi-bear ravatar. I've meant to tell her for awhile now how much I like her ravatar, but haven't gotten around to it. I'll tell her when I'm posting about the actual package.

Anyway, like I said, I got the card today. I'm hoping the actual package will come tomorrow, although I'm sort of worried they might keep it at the post office, since both Boy-Creature and I will be working in the morning. They've left packages with next-door-neighbor-girl before, so maybe they'll do that again. Fingers crossed.

Especially since she mentioned something that's in the package, which I am now super-hyped up about. She sent me a spindle! I can start learning to spin yarn! And it's totally not my fault! I've fought it for this long without caving in to the desire. Until Jillygirl came along and gave me a little push!

Now I have to go do some roving shopping over on Etsy.

The lazy! It has me in its grip.

I had every intention of going to the library to actually get something to read today (and maybe the first disc or two of Doctor Who), but alas, I did not.

So I'll go tomorrow.

I have been monumentally lazy since I finished I Capture the Castle. Haven't read a bit of fiction since, and it's weird. I am still reading, but only non-fiction. I haven't gone this long without any in ages. I did end up sticking with the Peter Mayle, French Lessons, but that didn't last long. So I'm down to only one book, which is equally as weird as not reading any fiction.

What I am reading is Richard Dawkins' Unweaving the Rainbow. For several years now, I've had this passing interest in physics. I hated the math side of it when I actually had to take it in high school. I tend to only like math when I can put it in use. Like with stitch count in a gauge swatch for a sweater, or calculating how much overtime pay I should be getting. I'm great with that kind of math. But the actual science of it fascinates me. What little I know about it does, anyway. For ages, I've wanted to read more about it, so I'd keep buying science books all through college, but I never had the time to read them. So now that I'm out of college, I'm finally getting to them.
There's just so much that's fascinating about it. There's very little that makes me geek out the way quantum mechanics does. And astronomy. I used to leave the television on the NASA channel when they were showing their video files taken from satellites. There were some shots of this one ice shelf in Antarctica (which I naturally can't remember the name of) that was completely mesmerizing. And this book is written to exactly that purpose. We live in an amazing universe, and people tend to forget that when faced with all the theories and complexities and whatnot. People forget that science is crazily interesting. Like Calvin said, there's treasure everywhere.

::sigh::

Remember the thing that now looked like this:


Yeah. It doesn't anymore. Yet again, it wouldn't fit. As in, I couldn't even get it close to my heel, much less over it. I'm starting to worry I might be sock cursed.

But I will press on. I've got the next pattern to try all picked out, and I just be way more diligent with the gauge swatches and trying it on as I go.

I will knit some socks.

Eventually.

Bloglove, with a hint of encouragement

Saturday slipped past me, and I felt a wee bit guilty for not doing a booklove update (although not as guilty as I feel for not having any other kinds of posts for what has now becomes weeks, instead of just days). And then I was sick most of the day Sunday, so I didn't care that it was slipping past me.

Suddenly it's Tuesday, and I'm beginning to pay more attention to what a lazy blogger I've been lately. Especially if I ever want this blog to be anything special, which I do. I have all these ideas and visions for what I want it to be. It's far from there yet. But I'm working on it. Slowly.

Anyway.

The knitting has been going fabulously lately, what with finishing the aforementioned first sweater and finally getting to cast on new things. I'm working on another sweater, which is almost done. It's much thicker yarn, on much bigger needles, and it's a much smaller sweater, so it has flown past. I wanted to try to finish it tonight, but the summer weather has thwarted me. It's just a wee bit too warm and humid to be knitting with thick, squishy wool. So I shall wait until it cools off some. So in the meantime, I blog. And oogle other people's blogs.

This new one that I love, I found through a fellow knitter's profile page on Ravelry. It's owl in the dark, and she's a knitter and singer (maybe not necessarily in that order, though). I actually already had one of her patterns in my favorites from some time ago, but just now made my way over to her project page. Her stuff (and her blog, with her lovely cats and music) makes me feel all girly and ruffly, which is pretty unlike me, so that's saying something. She seems like something out of fairy tale.

Which is enormously encouraging to me. I like knowing that it is possible in this world to build a life that is full of whimsy and little bits of wonderful. Because that is pretty much all I want from this life. To fill it with all the little bits of wonderful and extraordinariness that I can get my hands on. As someone who is stuck in the 9 to 5 life and only pursuing the things I love in my spare time, for the time being, I'm constantly reminding myself that it doesn't just have to be this way, and that it won't always be this way. I just have to keep working to make sure of it. That's all.