more pointless time wastage (but fun!)

According to this web site, the celebrities I most resemble (in order from most to least) are:

1. Eliza Dushku (cool!)
   
2. Jessica Alba (right on!)
   
3. Gary Lineker (erm...ok...)
   
4. Aya Matsuura (who is that?)
   
5. Adam Corolla (huh?)
   
6. Ray Romano (ack!)
   
7. Penelope Cruz (mmmm....)
   
8. Bae Yong-Jun (hmm....)
   
9. Kate Winslet (oh yeah!)
   
10. Lisa Snowdon (ok! whoever she is!)
    

Sadly, the Ray Romano resemblance was the most convincing to me...

Academia

I realized when I came back from spring break how I feel like myself here, in a way I don't at home, not in the same way.

In the midst of this contemplation, as I trudged uphill towards class today congratulating myself for being on time despite the mad dash out the door ten minutes earlier, I felt really full from the lunch of rice and broccoli and cheese I had just eaten. As my mind turned towards food, I was hit by a flash of sudden memory - the salmon! I left it in the oven...I left the oven ON!!!

Crap!!!

My landlady is away; Terry's not here; there was nobody to call. No help for it, I had to run back to the apartment to turn the oven off. My mind filled with visions of charred fish, smoke-damaged rooms, etc. As I crossed the bridge over Beebe I heard SIRENS! Aaugh! Although at the same time I knew it was too soon for that big of a fire to have started in my apt.

Sure enough, there was a fire alarm going off in Balch.

When I got home, the salmon was done perfectly. Just a hint of char at the bottom of the pan.

Ran back to class and slipped in 30 minutes LATE panting and sweating. The professor didn't miss a beat in her lecture; I was impressed.

What a luxury - to be able to show up to a meeting 30 minutes late and not get fired!

Spring in Ithaca

...seems to mean lots of rain. Crocuses are up, but patches of snow linger in cool places. I am taking a little knitting break just now as I ran out of yarn for my current pair of socks and can't seem to find the same make/model anywhere (haven't tried the internet yet...seems like a potential rabbit hole to Wonderland...) yet. Plus, had a bit of repetetive stress in the thumb area (mostly from writing too much) and want to take it easy on the hands.

I'm enjoying the pattern a day calendar I got for Christmas from Emily S., some patterns just make me go WOW! while others are "what were they thinking?" (Mostly the novelty yarn fiascos). Man, though, I'll never make it through all the things I want to make.

Well, gotta go!

Spring Has Sprung!

The daffodils are finally starting to bloom in our front yard! I got yarn for my birthday! Bright notes in an otherwise stressed-out Spring Break.

Spring Fever

toes pale and wrinkled

tap the salt-rimed sidewalk

flinch from cold mud

Happy Birthday to Me!

My friend Catherine gave me this lovely teapot yesterday, and I gave myself this yarn that I bought last fall (50% off!). It felt like Spring today. I read a lot, went to a talk by a Big Famous Anthropologist (the best part was getting out of class for that!). Terry had to leave for VA today but my spring break starts at the end of this week (yay!)

Well, guess I'll go read some more!

Mitt

I finished the first "Broad Street" mitt; it's kind of strange because it's long, but tight. The shell that folds back seems too long, and there's extra room at the wrist. The thumb is kind of long too.

Conversely, the fingers feel quite tight - when I make a fist it feels like the circulation is being cut off somewhat.

I think I'm going to make the second one, but then try another pair knit with just one strand of the yarn and see what happens.

Know anyone with really long, thin fingers (I mean really long and thin, like Jennifer Garner for instance).

Just for Fun

This is me and Terry at an Ethiopian coffee ceremony in Harrisonburg a few weeks ago. He's looking grim because his cup was smaller than mine :-)

And here's my little Christmas cactus, which just got a new spot in the sun (I had to rearrange the furniture a little bit). The Ceramic Fairy says "Recycle!"

Phone time = knitting time

I totally would have finished reading my chapter, but Terry called from St. Louis (he's at a conference) and so while we caught up on each other's days, I did this:
Yes, another poorly lit picture of yarn on needles. What can I say. I was worried it was going to be too big, but the pinky is actually quite snug. I love how the tight-knit alpaca feels like it's going to be IMPERVIOUS to cold :-)

Well, I could finish the chapter or go to bed; I've been working on maintaining a more regular sleep schedule, which dictates that I stop working at midnight (don't feel sorry for me - I took a nice, long, 2-hour supper break! And my alarm is set for 9 a.m.!) but I hate leaving things half-done...

Tomorrow (ok, today... technically) I give a presentation at an on-campus conference, so naturally I have an enormous zit on my jaw. If I wear my hair down maybe nobody will see it... :-)

More Felting

This yarn was on sale at Knitting Etc.; there was more in plain black and white, but I thought I'd just get this and see if it felted before getting more.





When I put it in the warm water, a very strong smell of wet sheep wafted up. Not so pleasant! The label wasn't kidding when it said "virgin wool."



Notice the gloves - I literally took the skin off my knuckles last time, so was prepared this time.

Yes, it definitely felts! There were some little gaps that annoyed me but I'll give it another go sometime. Not sure what I'm going to make since I only got 2 balls (that's all there was of this color).



I used to find the idea of felting completely incomprehensible; why obliterate the distinction of each individually-produced stitch? Wouldn't that just deny recognition of the work that went into it (plus I was really into cables at the time)? It's kind of addictive though; it really is a little bit like magic, especially by hand. You can actually hear the felting happening - it sounds different all of a sudden, and then you see it start to mesh together. So cool.