March 27, 2009
It all comes out in the wash
I've been cranky more than usual lately, so I've been avoiding blogging, since I don't really want to take it out on the rest of the world. But in the last week I got a haircut and got a whole crappy first draft of a story out (I don't know if I'll do much else with it, but even writing crap is better than writing nothing, so that still feels good). And last night I had sushi and a raspberry lemon tart, and we watched Prisoner of Azkaban, so things are going ok. That's really all. Just trying to remind myself that things are going ok.
March 14, 2009
Books are now trying to lure me across state lines
One of my three favorite living writers is at a book festival this weekend in Tucson, doing readings and signings, and playing music with his wife. Tucson is about six hours from me. If I had left this morning, like I seriously thought about doing, I'd be past halfway there by now.
I've seen my other two favorites within the last six months, both at the same bookstore, so I was thinking it would be really cool to get to see all three within the same year. But alas, I did not go. And I guess that's ok. I don't know what else I'd do by myself in Tucson all weekend, anyway.
But don't think I won't be thinking about it, in the back of my mind.
I've seen my other two favorites within the last six months, both at the same bookstore, so I was thinking it would be really cool to get to see all three within the same year. But alas, I did not go. And I guess that's ok. I don't know what else I'd do by myself in Tucson all weekend, anyway.
But don't think I won't be thinking about it, in the back of my mind.
March 10, 2009
The other kind of post
Every now and then we get these slow periods at work where the three of us in my little group completely run out of work to do. Today was one of those days, and it's starting to seem like the whole week will be like that. So I was pretty languorous with my break this afternoon. Not that I'm ever in a rush to get back to it.
I called my mama (Hi Mama), and I'd mentioned that I went to the post office on my lunch break. She got all excited and wanted to know what sort of exciting things I was mailing. They weren't that exciting, but still. There's a reason Griffin and Sabine is one of my favorite books. Real mail is fun.
I read Nick Bantock's memoirs once (The Artful Dodger. It's really good, if you like his books), and the part where he talked about getting the idea for those books is one of the parts that stuck with me the most. He said something about how he was at the post office one day, and a woman in front of him had fantastic-looking mail, and it got him thinking about what sort of mail he'd love to get. He said something also about how you have to send good mail to get good mail.
I like sending mail. I've got this nice stockpile going of stationery and notecards, and really good pens, and I even have some sealing wax. Every now and then I'll send someone a letter, just for fun (tonight I'll be writing one to Mama, since she asked for one). But I never seem to keep it up. It'll be one or two, and then that's it for awhile. Sometimes I think that maybe if I had the right person to write to, I'd keep it up. But how often do a George Bernard Shaw and a Mrs. Patrick Campbell find each other?
I called my mama (Hi Mama), and I'd mentioned that I went to the post office on my lunch break. She got all excited and wanted to know what sort of exciting things I was mailing. They weren't that exciting, but still. There's a reason Griffin and Sabine is one of my favorite books. Real mail is fun.
I read Nick Bantock's memoirs once (The Artful Dodger. It's really good, if you like his books), and the part where he talked about getting the idea for those books is one of the parts that stuck with me the most. He said something about how he was at the post office one day, and a woman in front of him had fantastic-looking mail, and it got him thinking about what sort of mail he'd love to get. He said something also about how you have to send good mail to get good mail.
I like sending mail. I've got this nice stockpile going of stationery and notecards, and really good pens, and I even have some sealing wax. Every now and then I'll send someone a letter, just for fun (tonight I'll be writing one to Mama, since she asked for one). But I never seem to keep it up. It'll be one or two, and then that's it for awhile. Sometimes I think that maybe if I had the right person to write to, I'd keep it up. But how often do a George Bernard Shaw and a Mrs. Patrick Campbell find each other?
March 5, 2009
Snippets from the week that just won't end
Last night, Boy-Creature was flipping a silver dollar his grandfather gave him and it came up tails nine times in a row. It made me want to watch "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" again, so I rented it, and "Little Miss Sunshine," because as much as I hate to admit it, I still haven't seen it. Boy-Creature watched Ros and Guil with me, because I wouldn't stop going on and on about how good it is.
Five minutes into the movie, he was asking all sorts of questions. He kept asking me to explain, and then when I couldn't, he accused me of not knowing what was going on in the movie. I kept telling him I did, but it was too hard to explain. We watched the whole thing, and he still couldn't figure out what was going on.
I love absurdism.
***
There's a theater here that does nothing but musicals, all year long. I signed up to be on their audition email list. They're doing Oklahoma next year. If we're still here, and I audition, it'll be the third time in my life I audition for Oklahoma. The first time I did, I played Dream Laurey. It was in high school. I wouldn't expect to get as big a role this time around.
***
So far this week, I've bought two journals, a new fountain pen and converter, a bottle of pretty mauve ink for the pen, and two skeins of yarn. Did I mention I got a raise?
***
This guy I knew in high school posted a Facebook status tonight that said he was just killing time until the weekend. I commented that he basically just described the whole point of my day job. I hate the mornings when I show up a little bit late to work, because then I have to stay a little bit later. I'm there eight hours, no matter when those eight hours start, but the later those eight hours are, the slower time seems to go.
***
Every time I see someone in a movie or on TV who puts on their Chucks to go for a jog, I shudder at the thought of what that will do to their knees and lower back. I wear Chucks ninety percent of the time, but I have a very nice pair of Adidas, in case I once again get the rare urge to go for a jog. Shut up, I jog sometimes. Just because I could sew the ribbons on a pair of toe shoes with my eyes closed doesn't mean I never jog.
***
Boy-Creature was all excited to show me the new Harry Potter trailer when I got home from work today, but I ruined his fun by telling him that I saw it two weeks ago when I saw "Inkheart" on a Sunday-afternoon whim. It seems like I find out about things before he does a lot. I ruin his fun a lot.
***
A friend of mine from college called me the other day to ask, "Where's that one used bookstore? I quit my job at Hollister and I need a new one." Considering the rest of us didn't want her to take the job at Hollister in the first place (my favorite reaction was when our senior reading advisor asked, "But what will you do with your soul?"), I was proud of her. I also thought it was marvelously intrepid of her to just up and quit the job she didn't like. I can't tell you how many times I've thought of doing that, but I'm the responsible one, and I will probably never quit a job before having a solid, satisfactory backup. There are many areas of my life where I'm more than happy to be intrepid. Not knowing how I'll cover bottles of ink and piles of books and yarn stashing is not one of them.
***
It's finally Friday tomorrow. I plan on celebrating by going to my favorite coffeehouse and scribbling in a notebook. Wish me luck. Maybe I'll end up with a short story, or something.
Five minutes into the movie, he was asking all sorts of questions. He kept asking me to explain, and then when I couldn't, he accused me of not knowing what was going on in the movie. I kept telling him I did, but it was too hard to explain. We watched the whole thing, and he still couldn't figure out what was going on.
I love absurdism.
***
There's a theater here that does nothing but musicals, all year long. I signed up to be on their audition email list. They're doing Oklahoma next year. If we're still here, and I audition, it'll be the third time in my life I audition for Oklahoma. The first time I did, I played Dream Laurey. It was in high school. I wouldn't expect to get as big a role this time around.
***
So far this week, I've bought two journals, a new fountain pen and converter, a bottle of pretty mauve ink for the pen, and two skeins of yarn. Did I mention I got a raise?
***
This guy I knew in high school posted a Facebook status tonight that said he was just killing time until the weekend. I commented that he basically just described the whole point of my day job. I hate the mornings when I show up a little bit late to work, because then I have to stay a little bit later. I'm there eight hours, no matter when those eight hours start, but the later those eight hours are, the slower time seems to go.
***
Every time I see someone in a movie or on TV who puts on their Chucks to go for a jog, I shudder at the thought of what that will do to their knees and lower back. I wear Chucks ninety percent of the time, but I have a very nice pair of Adidas, in case I once again get the rare urge to go for a jog. Shut up, I jog sometimes. Just because I could sew the ribbons on a pair of toe shoes with my eyes closed doesn't mean I never jog.
***
Boy-Creature was all excited to show me the new Harry Potter trailer when I got home from work today, but I ruined his fun by telling him that I saw it two weeks ago when I saw "Inkheart" on a Sunday-afternoon whim. It seems like I find out about things before he does a lot. I ruin his fun a lot.
***
A friend of mine from college called me the other day to ask, "Where's that one used bookstore? I quit my job at Hollister and I need a new one." Considering the rest of us didn't want her to take the job at Hollister in the first place (my favorite reaction was when our senior reading advisor asked, "But what will you do with your soul?"), I was proud of her. I also thought it was marvelously intrepid of her to just up and quit the job she didn't like. I can't tell you how many times I've thought of doing that, but I'm the responsible one, and I will probably never quit a job before having a solid, satisfactory backup. There are many areas of my life where I'm more than happy to be intrepid. Not knowing how I'll cover bottles of ink and piles of books and yarn stashing is not one of them.
***
It's finally Friday tomorrow. I plan on celebrating by going to my favorite coffeehouse and scribbling in a notebook. Wish me luck. Maybe I'll end up with a short story, or something.
February 27, 2009
Dedicated to my bestest best friend
So last month, when I went back to Texas, I left my camera at my best friend's house. The good news is that she found it. The bad news is that she's being LAZY and has not bothered to send it back to me yet! I KNOW YOU'RE READING THIS! SEND ME MY CAMERA! DO IT NOW!
It's driving me crazy. Not only do I have a bunch of yarny goodness that I'm unable to add to my Ravelry pages, but we took a bunch of pictures that weekend that I want! And to make matters worse, I'm being all ridiculous and anal, and I'm waiting to knit with my delicious new Mmmmalabrigo until I can take a picture of it while it's still all pretty in the skein. It's my very first Malabrigo, and I can't bring myself to use it! It's torturous!
SEND ME MY CAMERA, NEAVES!!!
Ok, I'll lay off the exclamation points now.
It's driving me crazy. Not only do I have a bunch of yarny goodness that I'm unable to add to my Ravelry pages, but we took a bunch of pictures that weekend that I want! And to make matters worse, I'm being all ridiculous and anal, and I'm waiting to knit with my delicious new Mmmmalabrigo until I can take a picture of it while it's still all pretty in the skein. It's my very first Malabrigo, and I can't bring myself to use it! It's torturous!
SEND ME MY CAMERA, NEAVES!!!
Ok, I'll lay off the exclamation points now.
February 25, 2009
Kill your television
I told the Boy-Creature not to take too long in following me from his parents' house to the apartment, because we need to go to the grocery. We're not quite to the desperate point yet, but it would be a really good idea to go, if only because there's no more of the good Pasta-Roni, and no cereal. But now it's after eight, and I don't want to go anymore. And he's still not back. I've ceased caring, and instead am enjoying my time alone. Not that I don't love having him around, but this means I get to enjoy some of the new music I downloaded (Ingrid Michaelson, Sufjan Stevens, and Rufus Wainwright! Yay!). And the TV is off.
Boy-Creature is one of those people who likes to have the TV on all the time. If it weren't for the movies I so like to watch all the time (and DVDs of Firefly, and Pushing Daisies, and Home Movies), I'd be happy to not have a TV. Just not interested, really. Especially since Pushing Daisies got cancelled. Bastards.
During the summer of 2007, the summer before my last year of school, I lived alone at Mama's house. I was working and taking dance classes at the community college, so I'd spend the weekdays rushing from one place to the other from eight in the morning until nine at night. It was exhausting. So on the weekends, I'd flop into my favorite chair by the big window and read and nap and listen to music all day. It rained a ton that summer, too, which only made it better. But since I was so busy, and paying the bills by myself, I didn't have a lot of money to waste, so I had no cable and no internet. I liked it.
It was always so quiet, and I felt so productive, even if all I was doing was finishing books. I still miss that feeling, and that chair. I don't have a good little perch yet for sitting and reading. Got a good coffeehouse for that, but nowhere really good to sit in the apartment. There is a little niche in the bedroom where I'm thinking about sticking a little chair, but it hasn't happened just yet. We'll see.
Boy-Creature is one of those people who likes to have the TV on all the time. If it weren't for the movies I so like to watch all the time (and DVDs of Firefly, and Pushing Daisies, and Home Movies), I'd be happy to not have a TV. Just not interested, really. Especially since Pushing Daisies got cancelled. Bastards.
During the summer of 2007, the summer before my last year of school, I lived alone at Mama's house. I was working and taking dance classes at the community college, so I'd spend the weekdays rushing from one place to the other from eight in the morning until nine at night. It was exhausting. So on the weekends, I'd flop into my favorite chair by the big window and read and nap and listen to music all day. It rained a ton that summer, too, which only made it better. But since I was so busy, and paying the bills by myself, I didn't have a lot of money to waste, so I had no cable and no internet. I liked it.
It was always so quiet, and I felt so productive, even if all I was doing was finishing books. I still miss that feeling, and that chair. I don't have a good little perch yet for sitting and reading. Got a good coffeehouse for that, but nowhere really good to sit in the apartment. There is a little niche in the bedroom where I'm thinking about sticking a little chair, but it hasn't happened just yet. We'll see.
February 11, 2009
A literary-themed life
Remember that thing I said I had planned for the blog? It was tragically quashed when I left my camera at my best friend's house, and to add insult to injury, it has now apparently found its merry way into a black hole. We know it's somewhere in her house, there's just no telling where. It's a big house, with lots of busy, somewhat absent-minded, distracted people. So that thing I had planned has been unforeseeably postponed. Sorry.
Anyway.
I heard about this book somewhere last week, and completely loved the idea. But I didn't think much of it at the time. Then today at work, I was listening to the "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" podcast for this week, and it was the answer to one of their questions, which made me very happy, just because it meant that it was an actual book, and not just a joke. I mentioned it to a couple of girls at work, who share my odd sense of humor and a running zombie-emoticon joke on our office instant messenger. One of them was just as excited as I am, and the other one just made fun of me for listening to NPR, and called me a dork.
Tip of the iceberg.
This is how I know they're still getting to know me at the office, because she clearly doesn't even begin to understand the depths of my dorkiness (although I prefer the term nerd, thank you). In the spectrum of podcasts that I listen to, that's pretty tame. The slew of knitting podcasts alone says enough. But by far my favorite (sorry, Lime 'n' Violet) is Mister Stephen Fry's Podgrams. The only downside is how few of them there are, which is why I'm rationing them, instead of listening to all of them in one go and then having nothing left to look forward to. The first one I listened to, I actually watched. It's the one video podcast he's done, and it was about Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. And I love Oscar Wilde almost as much as I love Stephen Fry. The second one I listened to was about language, and I listened to it again today, because it's just so damn good. He's lovely. Most girls my age are still swooning over Edward Cullen, but I much prefer Stephen. He makes me go all giggly.
It's turning out to be a very literary week, too. Saturday morning, I went to an author appearance at my favorite store, The Grove. Saturday and Sunday, I actually got some writing done, including one whole short fiction. I doubt I'll really do anything with it, but just to feel the pen moving across the page was worth it. It's been too long. On Monday the Boy-Creature and I saw Coraline in 3D, which was wonderful. And tomorrow, I get to see this hilarious Author-Guy at this fantastic bookstore. And I'm only number 20 in line for the signing! I'm incredibly happy, and inordinately excited about that. Can't freaking wait.
I only hope the literary-ness continues. And that the best friend can find my camera.
Anyway.
I heard about this book somewhere last week, and completely loved the idea. But I didn't think much of it at the time. Then today at work, I was listening to the "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" podcast for this week, and it was the answer to one of their questions, which made me very happy, just because it meant that it was an actual book, and not just a joke. I mentioned it to a couple of girls at work, who share my odd sense of humor and a running zombie-emoticon joke on our office instant messenger. One of them was just as excited as I am, and the other one just made fun of me for listening to NPR, and called me a dork.
Tip of the iceberg.
This is how I know they're still getting to know me at the office, because she clearly doesn't even begin to understand the depths of my dorkiness (although I prefer the term nerd, thank you). In the spectrum of podcasts that I listen to, that's pretty tame. The slew of knitting podcasts alone says enough. But by far my favorite (sorry, Lime 'n' Violet) is Mister Stephen Fry's Podgrams. The only downside is how few of them there are, which is why I'm rationing them, instead of listening to all of them in one go and then having nothing left to look forward to. The first one I listened to, I actually watched. It's the one video podcast he's done, and it was about Oscar Wilde's fairy tales. And I love Oscar Wilde almost as much as I love Stephen Fry. The second one I listened to was about language, and I listened to it again today, because it's just so damn good. He's lovely. Most girls my age are still swooning over Edward Cullen, but I much prefer Stephen. He makes me go all giggly.
It's turning out to be a very literary week, too. Saturday morning, I went to an author appearance at my favorite store, The Grove. Saturday and Sunday, I actually got some writing done, including one whole short fiction. I doubt I'll really do anything with it, but just to feel the pen moving across the page was worth it. It's been too long. On Monday the Boy-Creature and I saw Coraline in 3D, which was wonderful. And tomorrow, I get to see this hilarious Author-Guy at this fantastic bookstore. And I'm only number 20 in line for the signing! I'm incredibly happy, and inordinately excited about that. Can't freaking wait.
I only hope the literary-ness continues. And that the best friend can find my camera.
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