The Sunday Evening Round-Up
I really need to get that notebook I mentioned earlier, because now I've forgotten everything I wanted to say. Ah, well. Guess I'll start off with craftsiness.
I'm knitting a cute purse for my sister's birthday, and yesterday I went to Jo-Ann to get some fabric for the lining. Was quite pleased that *everything* I needed was on sale, and I bought a yard each of three Asian-style brocades - one for the purse lining, and two because I just liked them. I wanted to use them to make some little drawstring bags, so I hit Craftzine's sewing archives. OH MY GOD THAT SITE IS ADDICTIVE. I could never fit into 90% of their clothes, but they're fun to look at. I also bookmarked at least ten potential bag patterns, and I'm going to try and make something tonight, knock on wood.
While up in Woodstock, I went to the Belated Knit in Public Day at The Whole Nine Yarns. Why do yarn stores often have silly, punny names? Here in Metro Atlanta, we have The Whole Nine Yarns, The Purly Gates (now closed), Sheepish, and Only Ewe and Cotton Too. And then there's all the online shops that can't seem to resist a cheesy pun on the fiber arts. The cutesiness doesn't exactly help non-knitters take the craft seriously.
For my birthday, my sister gave me Cookie A's new book. Love the sock patterns, but when I looked them up on Ravelry, over half of them had errata. Seems like the majority of published patterns contain errors that you need to hunt for online. Cookie's book is published by Interweave, so it's not exactly a fly-by-night operation. I certainly understand that Cookie herself couldn't catch every error, given how complicated many of the patterns are. But why would publishers let books go to press with that many flaws? Or do they just not test the patterns in advance?
I'm also dealing with the tragedy of ... ugly Malabrigo. Yes, it does exist. Will the Malabrigo addicts come stone me now? I bought a skein of Malabrigo Sock in "Caribeno" because it looked nice in the shop, even though those are not at all my colors. I thought the variegation would be more subtle; instead, it's a self-striping spiral that doesn't blend at all. See what I mean? Ugh. I could deal with it if the colors were peppered throughout the sock, but these just look ridiculous. Now I'm kinda hating these socks. The pattern - which I do like - is "Lacy Ribs" from Wendyknits' new book. Since I doubt I'll wear these things outside the house, I'm using "Angee" from Cookie's book for the second sock. Maybe mixing it up will make things interesting, especially since I've found that I need more complicated sock patterns to keep from getting bored.
Oh, and one more sock mini-rant. One of my big peeves is how patterns always say to "join the round, being careful not to twist". Why the hell do they say that? I'd assume that unless you're knitting your very first sock, then not twisting is pretty much a given. Seeing that in every single pattern drives me crazy!
Boredom has also led me to watch several TV shows I'd never tried before.
NCIS
I'll admit to liking procedurals. The Law & Order rerun marathon seems to be a rite-of-passage among my friends. I'd never watched NCIS, but the reruns are always on. Figured I'd give it a shot because I have a pathological need to always have something on the TV. And yup, it's definitely background noise so far. The cases themselves are standard procedural stuff, but I don't pay much attention to them. Gibbs is pretty much cut from the same nice-but-not-charismatic mold as other male leads on procedurals, though I like how they never miss a chance to call him "Jethro". I like Ziva just fine, particularly how unapologetic is she is, but I'm really tired of the cutesy malapropisms. (Yes, English isn't her first language, but come on.) I really like Abby, despite trying to find a flaw somewhere. ;) She's just so genuinely sweet. I do wish that the writers would back off the goth thing a bit, though, as it feels rather forced. I also like McGee, even if he makes me roll my eyes sometimes. Tony is a fan favorite, right? Too bad, because I don't like him at all. I've been trying to find some redeeming qualities, but I'm coming up blanks. He can be a bit of an asshole sometimes, and I'm sick of the way he skirts the edge of flat-out bullying McGee. Other than that, I don't have many opinions about the show. I turn it on and glance up at the TV occasionally. That's just fine for something over the summer.
Mythbusters
People *love* this show, right? I like it, but I'm not in love. It's also good background viewing, and I'm glad that Netflix's on-demand service via TiVo means I have a ton of episodes to watch. I appreciate that they take the scientific process seriously, even if they cut a few corners here and there. I also really like Kari, who transcends the "geek babe" stereotype that's so often evident on television. I do wonder, though, why they don't mix things up once in a while. I'd like to see them rearrange the groupings, instead of having Adam & Jamie on one myth and the Build Team on the other, and (almost) never the twain shall meet.
Popular
I've heard people wax rhapsodic about this one, so I got it from Netflix after loving the Glee pilot (despite my longstanding Ryan Murphy trauma from Nip/Tuck.) I'm only up to 1.16, so no spoilers please! I know it's billed as a satire, but I don't get a strong sense of that beyond a few parts here and there. Most of the situations and characterizations are familiar from other high school shows ... or maybe the rest of them are just building on what Popular established. I do like most of the characters, especially how Brooke and Sam are somewhat multi-dimensional. Fans have said that Mary Cherry is the greatest thing ever, but I'm not feeling the love. I like that she has never been "humanized", but a little of her goes a long way with me.
On a personal note, a few weeks ago I started seeing a cognitive therapist in hopes of tackling a few lifelong problems. I'm discovering that cognitive therapy is a marvelous thing. My therapist says that we'll find ways to fix the problems, then worry about the "why" of it later. Sounds good to me. I've always had a HUGE tendency to avoid problems, both personal and especially when they relate to money. Not a good thing at all! I like her suggestions, such as making a to-do list of things I need to deal with, and tackling one per day or week. I'm also discovering that while my problems seem huge to *me*, they're really just the same things that millions of other adults face. Puts it all into perspective and makes me feel better!
One of my other avoidance issues relates to LJ. As I've said before, I have a really hard time with replying to comments, both here and on others' LJs. I suppose it could be considered social anxiety or shyness, but neither label really fits. Posting to my LJ is easy for me. When it comes to replying, my brain freezes up and I just can't do it, so I do the "tomorrow" song and dance, until it all snowballs. ;) I guess I'm just a lurker by nature. I've been trying to do better over the past few months, though it's always going to be a problem. I feel rather self-indulgent even saying this, but it came up the other day with a friend. If I don't respond, please don't take it personally. The whole "it's not you, it's me" thing seems like a cop-out, but it's the truth here. ;) And I really envy those people who *can* go back and forth in comments. One of these days, maybe I'll get there too!
Finally, a linkspam:
-- I've been gorging on the beautiful nature photos at Pixdaus.
-- Time has a fun gallery of favorite super-cheap foods like Mac 'n Cheese and ramen.
-- At the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner, John Hodgman informed President Obama that he is a geek.
-- workerbee73 has written a fabulous post on the joys of beta-reading.
-- Poniewozik talks about the movie Persepolis, in light of what's happening now in Iran.
-- Someone has uploaded video of the Blur reunion show!
-- Mental Floss explains four common Latin abbreviations.
-- Ecosalon has some helpful tips of when you can ignore "dry clean only" labels.
-- The A.V. Club lists 18 crazy (and legally unlikely) courtroom scenes.
-- Name Your Tale will create random drabbles for you.
-- Color Match purports to brain-build by, er, matching colors.
-- Two videos: an Arrested Development documentary? Oooh. And some awesome 5th graders performing Lady GaGa.
I'm knitting a cute purse for my sister's birthday, and yesterday I went to Jo-Ann to get some fabric for the lining. Was quite pleased that *everything* I needed was on sale, and I bought a yard each of three Asian-style brocades - one for the purse lining, and two because I just liked them. I wanted to use them to make some little drawstring bags, so I hit Craftzine's sewing archives. OH MY GOD THAT SITE IS ADDICTIVE. I could never fit into 90% of their clothes, but they're fun to look at. I also bookmarked at least ten potential bag patterns, and I'm going to try and make something tonight, knock on wood.
While up in Woodstock, I went to the Belated Knit in Public Day at The Whole Nine Yarns. Why do yarn stores often have silly, punny names? Here in Metro Atlanta, we have The Whole Nine Yarns, The Purly Gates (now closed), Sheepish, and Only Ewe and Cotton Too. And then there's all the online shops that can't seem to resist a cheesy pun on the fiber arts. The cutesiness doesn't exactly help non-knitters take the craft seriously.
For my birthday, my sister gave me Cookie A's new book. Love the sock patterns, but when I looked them up on Ravelry, over half of them had errata. Seems like the majority of published patterns contain errors that you need to hunt for online. Cookie's book is published by Interweave, so it's not exactly a fly-by-night operation. I certainly understand that Cookie herself couldn't catch every error, given how complicated many of the patterns are. But why would publishers let books go to press with that many flaws? Or do they just not test the patterns in advance?
I'm also dealing with the tragedy of ... ugly Malabrigo. Yes, it does exist. Will the Malabrigo addicts come stone me now? I bought a skein of Malabrigo Sock in "Caribeno" because it looked nice in the shop, even though those are not at all my colors. I thought the variegation would be more subtle; instead, it's a self-striping spiral that doesn't blend at all. See what I mean? Ugh. I could deal with it if the colors were peppered throughout the sock, but these just look ridiculous. Now I'm kinda hating these socks. The pattern - which I do like - is "Lacy Ribs" from Wendyknits' new book. Since I doubt I'll wear these things outside the house, I'm using "Angee" from Cookie's book for the second sock. Maybe mixing it up will make things interesting, especially since I've found that I need more complicated sock patterns to keep from getting bored.
Oh, and one more sock mini-rant. One of my big peeves is how patterns always say to "join the round, being careful not to twist". Why the hell do they say that? I'd assume that unless you're knitting your very first sock, then not twisting is pretty much a given. Seeing that in every single pattern drives me crazy!
Boredom has also led me to watch several TV shows I'd never tried before.
NCIS
I'll admit to liking procedurals. The Law & Order rerun marathon seems to be a rite-of-passage among my friends. I'd never watched NCIS, but the reruns are always on. Figured I'd give it a shot because I have a pathological need to always have something on the TV. And yup, it's definitely background noise so far. The cases themselves are standard procedural stuff, but I don't pay much attention to them. Gibbs is pretty much cut from the same nice-but-not-charismatic mold as other male leads on procedurals, though I like how they never miss a chance to call him "Jethro". I like Ziva just fine, particularly how unapologetic is she is, but I'm really tired of the cutesy malapropisms. (Yes, English isn't her first language, but come on.) I really like Abby, despite trying to find a flaw somewhere. ;) She's just so genuinely sweet. I do wish that the writers would back off the goth thing a bit, though, as it feels rather forced. I also like McGee, even if he makes me roll my eyes sometimes. Tony is a fan favorite, right? Too bad, because I don't like him at all. I've been trying to find some redeeming qualities, but I'm coming up blanks. He can be a bit of an asshole sometimes, and I'm sick of the way he skirts the edge of flat-out bullying McGee. Other than that, I don't have many opinions about the show. I turn it on and glance up at the TV occasionally. That's just fine for something over the summer.
Mythbusters
People *love* this show, right? I like it, but I'm not in love. It's also good background viewing, and I'm glad that Netflix's on-demand service via TiVo means I have a ton of episodes to watch. I appreciate that they take the scientific process seriously, even if they cut a few corners here and there. I also really like Kari, who transcends the "geek babe" stereotype that's so often evident on television. I do wonder, though, why they don't mix things up once in a while. I'd like to see them rearrange the groupings, instead of having Adam & Jamie on one myth and the Build Team on the other, and (almost) never the twain shall meet.
Popular
I've heard people wax rhapsodic about this one, so I got it from Netflix after loving the Glee pilot (despite my longstanding Ryan Murphy trauma from Nip/Tuck.) I'm only up to 1.16, so no spoilers please! I know it's billed as a satire, but I don't get a strong sense of that beyond a few parts here and there. Most of the situations and characterizations are familiar from other high school shows ... or maybe the rest of them are just building on what Popular established. I do like most of the characters, especially how Brooke and Sam are somewhat multi-dimensional. Fans have said that Mary Cherry is the greatest thing ever, but I'm not feeling the love. I like that she has never been "humanized", but a little of her goes a long way with me.
On a personal note, a few weeks ago I started seeing a cognitive therapist in hopes of tackling a few lifelong problems. I'm discovering that cognitive therapy is a marvelous thing. My therapist says that we'll find ways to fix the problems, then worry about the "why" of it later. Sounds good to me. I've always had a HUGE tendency to avoid problems, both personal and especially when they relate to money. Not a good thing at all! I like her suggestions, such as making a to-do list of things I need to deal with, and tackling one per day or week. I'm also discovering that while my problems seem huge to *me*, they're really just the same things that millions of other adults face. Puts it all into perspective and makes me feel better!
One of my other avoidance issues relates to LJ. As I've said before, I have a really hard time with replying to comments, both here and on others' LJs. I suppose it could be considered social anxiety or shyness, but neither label really fits. Posting to my LJ is easy for me. When it comes to replying, my brain freezes up and I just can't do it, so I do the "tomorrow" song and dance, until it all snowballs. ;) I guess I'm just a lurker by nature. I've been trying to do better over the past few months, though it's always going to be a problem. I feel rather self-indulgent even saying this, but it came up the other day with a friend. If I don't respond, please don't take it personally. The whole "it's not you, it's me" thing seems like a cop-out, but it's the truth here. ;) And I really envy those people who *can* go back and forth in comments. One of these days, maybe I'll get there too!
Finally, a linkspam:
-- I've been gorging on the beautiful nature photos at Pixdaus.
-- Time has a fun gallery of favorite super-cheap foods like Mac 'n Cheese and ramen.
-- At the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents Dinner, John Hodgman informed President Obama that he is a geek.
-- workerbee73 has written a fabulous post on the joys of beta-reading.
-- Poniewozik talks about the movie Persepolis, in light of what's happening now in Iran.
-- Someone has uploaded video of the Blur reunion show!
-- Mental Floss explains four common Latin abbreviations.
-- Ecosalon has some helpful tips of when you can ignore "dry clean only" labels.
-- The A.V. Club lists 18 crazy (and legally unlikely) courtroom scenes.
-- Name Your Tale will create random drabbles for you.
-- Color Match purports to brain-build by, er, matching colors.
-- Two videos: an Arrested Development documentary? Oooh. And some awesome 5th graders performing Lady GaGa.