Maldenized!

Window Arts Malden 2011

2011-09-27T10:51:00.004-04:00

So, WAM 2011 is officially on! I have a small piece hanging in E&C Barber Shop--small, yes, but it took me about 12 hours. My mother-in-law was visiting, so she helped me a ton, teaching me new techniques: freezer paper applique, machine quilting, making all those points come together in the center of the circle. The colors go with what will eventually be the color scheme in Simon's room, so that's where it will go when the show is over.

There's a reception on Thursday, October 6th from 6-8pm at the Senior Center for artists, businesses, sponsors, volunteers and fans. Food and drink--try to make it if you can!

In other news, I'm on week 5 of the C25K program! That means that by the end of this week I'll be running 20 minutes or about 2 miles without stopping. I've started physical therapy for some old knee problems to help me make it to the 5K without injury.

C25K Week 0.2

2011-08-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

OK, I did my walk yesterday--yay! We did the cemetary loop, which is about 3 miles. One more loop on Friday or Saturday, then I begin week 1 of training next week. What do you say? Are you in? C25K

Tomorrow I'll be on the news! Fox 25 is holding their Zip Trip broadcast here in Malden, and they interviewed some of us last week about Malden Arts. I made Simon a little Malden Arts onsie, and they took some footage of it, so hopefully that will make the final cut. The city made these zip code t-shirts for us to wear--I've been wanting a shirt like this for awhile now, so I'm really happy to have one!

Hello Again!

2011-08-22T13:55:00.004-04:00

Hello All!

Well, it has been a long time. Something pretty big happened--I had a baby! I know! I grew a whole baby since I last wrote here. Amazing. He's 9 weeks old. Here's a picture (many more to come, I'm sure!):

Anyway, the reason I'm starting back up here is that I'm planning to run in the FOOGI 5K Haunt Jaunt on October 30th, and I'm going to document my training and stuff here. So far I have the following training partners:
Patrick--lives with me, so we'll be training together.
John--lives nearby, perhaps we'll have the occasional training session together.
Amanda--lives in Philly, is thinking about it.
Elaine--lives even farther away, is thinking about it.

In other news:
I'm now a stay-at-home mom.
I'm very bored.
I'm looking for mommy-friends.

Moonlight Plantings

2010-03-17T21:07:00.004-04:00

So Patrick read last year that the traditional time to plant peas is by the moonlight of St. Patrick's Day. I'm not sure why--good luck? Faster harvest? Sweeter peas? In any case, we went for it with a flashlight in hand.

This is our third or fourth year planting peas, and I'm in love with them. Fresh peas are just so wonderful. And little Fisher loves them too, so we plant extras for him.

First Week

2010-01-06T18:45:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Humpday. I haven't had to worry about that in over a year, but now I remember what it is like!

The job is a bit overwhelming, as all new jobs are, I suppose. Lots of people to meet, offices to locate. Software to learn. Procedures to get down. The hospital's campus is pretty big, so it will take me awhile to figure out, I think. I spent most of today wrestling with a dictation machine--who knew that people still dictate into micro-cassettes anymore?! My boss does, and typing up the letters is one of my jobs. The machine has little foot pedals for rewind and stuff, which cause my legs to cramp up. Everyone is nice and helpful, though I don't know all their names yet.

My commute isn't too bad--Patrick drops me off at the train in the morning, I take it to my stop (about 30 minutes), and then take a bus to the front door of my office (usually 10 minutes, including waiting around for the bus). On the way home I don't bother with the bus--I just walk the mile to the train. Then take the train home, then a bus to the bottom of my street, and then walk up my hill. Actually, now that I've typed it out it sounds like a major pain. I predict that it will get old fast.

Insinkerator!

2010-01-02T15:04:00.004-05:00

My Christmas present is now installed! Patrick finished it in about 2.5 hours--I'm very proud of him.

Here's a pic of after he cut out the existing pipes with the sawsall (the black thing on the floor is the disposal):

Here's a pic with the disposal installed and all new piping:

New Year's Day!

2010-01-01T17:27:00.008-05:00

Happy 2010! Did you have a fun New Year's Eve? Patrick and I had a good time with Traci and Fisher, eating really good pizza and playing Lincoln Logs.

And how are you celebrating New Year's Day? We had Brian and Amanda over for lunch and the Penn State game. Menu: Avocado Dip, Pozole (Mexican pork soup), Cornbread and Lemon Ricotta Cookies.

New Year's Resolutions, 2010

2009-12-31T18:21:00.002-05:00

Remember my resolutions for 2009? Yeah, none of them really happened. I mean, we (Patrick) worked on the bathroom, and it is truly about 90% done. But not fully finished. I didn't see friends every week, and in fact was something of a shut-in, what with not working and all. And I can't truly say I cooked more soup than normal.

Should we just give up on resolutions? They make me feel good for about a week or so, and then I forget about them. So I guess they don't hurt, which means they're not bad. So I'll do them again.

1. Finish the bathroom (again).
2. Cook dinner 1x per week (Patrick does all the cooking).
3. See friends at least 1x per week (again).

I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and I turned on word verification for comments because I'm getting lots of Viagra spam.

New Post

2009-12-24T11:14:00.002-05:00

Patrick has challenged me to write a new post. I spend so much time on Google Reader, catching up on more prolific bloggers, which of course he thinks is a waste of time. I mean, I'm not saving the world or anything while reading about someone's pancake project, but he spends his time following the NFL draft, and I spend my time reading feminist analysis of pop culture. Whatever.

So, after a year of trying, I finally got a job! It's an Administrative Coordinator position in the Pediatrics Department of a local hospital. My boss and supervisor, with whom I interviewed, seem really cool, and there's a real social justice angle to the department, which I think I'll like a lot. I start in mid-January, so I still have some time to set up the DVR to tape Oprah.

Rhinebeck

2009-10-15T14:57:00.002-04:00

This weekend is the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. This is a really big event, with vendors, food, sheep dog trials, author signings, and more. I went last year with a woman from my knitting group, and this year we're going again with a third member. I'm not planning on doing much shopping this time ( ! ), but we'll see...

Baktus Scarf

2009-10-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

Hello! I'm back! I didn't knit a single stitch the whole summer, which partly explains why I abandoned this blog. But now that the cool weather is here (I've put our early-winter quilt on the bed), my needles are clicking and I have a project.

I've done some secret present knitting that I can't tell you about yet. This Baktus scarf is for me, though. I'm using some Noro Kureyon Sock yarn, as I've decided that I'm probably never going to knit a pair of socks out of it. And a good decision, that--this stuff is so thin in some places, it's like wire. And tons of knots. Who wants socks made out of knot-filled wire?

But this scarf is pretty cool. Light-weight, garter stitch, triangle. I've used 17g of the 100g ball, so I'm thinking it's going to be pretty long.

Here are the instructions.

Some Gifts

2009-05-03T16:42:00.005-04:00

Here's the sweater in action:

And for the Birthday Girl, a Beaufort hat:

I've made the Beaufort before, as a Christmas gift for little A. Good stitch definition, the swirl adds interest. Overall, a nice hat.

Giraffe in the Grass Sweater

2009-05-02T12:03:00.002-04:00

Just in time for summer (heh), I present the completed Giraffe in the Grass Sweater. In its last appearance on this blog, it was still in pieces. Well, it's taken me all this time to piece it together, knit the I-cords, and attach the ties.

The neck, sleeves and bottom edge all have a garter-stitch detail. The neck:

I-cord ties:

Rotated pic of the inside with tie closure.

Here are some things I learned:

I-cords really aren't that bad to make. Not sure why I psych myself out with them. Probably because I had to make a million of them for that centipede scarf.
Next time I'll figure out how to do the body in the round, so as to avoid all the piecework.
I'll have to check in with the mom to see how practical all of these ties are. I suspect they're not.

Newport, RI

2009-04-16T19:41:00.004-04:00

The in-laws are in town, so we have a few days of fun activities planned. Today we went to check out the mansions in Newport, RI. Specifically, The Breakers and The Elms. I'm always kind of torn about touring opulence, but just let it go for the day and enjoyed myself. I think it would be boring for kids, what with the hour-long audio tour, but is a nice day for a group of adults.

Right in the midst of the mansions is Salve Regina University. I'd never heard of it before, but man, what a beautiful campus--right on the ocean, housed in old mansions.

I always enjoy photographing Patrick with statuary.

ROLCats

2009-03-27T15:38:00.004-04:00

Do you know this site? Like LOLCats, but the idea is that all of the animals are trapped in Communist Russia. As you know, I love those crazy LOLCats, so this is an obvious fav. Check it out: http://rolcats.com/

Thanks to Savage Minds for the link.

I Wanna Get Drunk Fast!

2009-03-09T21:05:00.005-04:00

We recently got cable, for the first time in about 3 years. It comes with a DVR (digital video recorder), which has been really fun.

But Patrick has been filling up the DVR with all kinds of crap man-shows. About low-rider cars. And this trivia show called Manswers. Narrated by a nearly-shouting, gravel-y throated 20-something, it investigates all of the pressing questions today's Man has: how can I know if the prostitute I am approaching on the street corner is really an undercover cop? Or: How big do boobs have to be to crush a beer can?

How's this for a quote: "If you wanna get drunk fast, stick it up your ass!"

The Watchmen

2009-03-09T15:58:00.005-04:00

I’m a fan of graphic novels. I started getting into them about three years ago, and like anything I take a shine to, my involvement has been methodical and meticulous. I’ve researched which titles are considered classics, ruled out any that are likely to be offensive to my sensibilities (read: meant for boy’s eyes only), and read. One of my first was The Watchmen, by Alan Moore.

The Watchmen as a graphic novel is everything I had hoped the medium would do with its particular story-telling capabilities: use text and images to tell multiple storylines in each frame, and carry themes throughout the book in ways that are graceful and not hitting you over the head. I went to my local comic book guy and asked for more books that do this, and he wistfully replied that there aren’t any. (If you disagree with him, let me know your suggestions in the comments.)

So, I’ve been waiting for this movie. In part because I hoped it would be a good, true adaptation of the book. But also because I feared that it wouldn’t. And if there’s one thing I love to do, it’s de-construct a movie.

And the chances that I’d have a lot to de-construct with this movie were high, given that the director, Zack Snyder, also directed the movie 300. 300 is my least favorite movie of all time. It is the most sexist, racist, and homophobic film I have ever seen. And while I haven’t been able to bring myself to read the graphic novel from which it was adapted, friends who have read it have told me that the director made some serious changes to the source material—changes that resulted in the film being the hot mess it is.

So, I spent the last week re-reading The Watchmen, so as to be on top of my movie-reviewing game. It really is good.

Patrick and I went to see the movie last night. My impressions (there are some spoilers in here):
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Loved the opening credit sequence. Dylan’s “Times, They Are A’Changing” was a perfect match. I loved the look of the first generation heroes, with their home-made costumes. Loved the photographic-look of the cinematography in this part.

The film was much more violent than I’d imagined it would be. Granted, when I read the book, I didn’t really pay much attention to the fighting. But in the director’s hands, the action was loud, bloody and graphic. I’ve looked back at the artwork in the book, and some of the movie’s scenes went way beyond what Gibbons had done (Rorschach attacking the child kidnapper, the arm scene in the jailhouse). Some people love that stuff, so I’m not really faulting the decision to go so gory in the movie.

I actually thought the treatment of the women in the movie was very balanced and true to the book. With one exception, though minor: in the movie, when Nite Owl and Rorschach re-team and go to the bar to shake down hoodlums for info on Adrian’s attempted assassination, Janey Slater (Dr. Manhattan’s ex-girlfriend) is named as an employee of Pyramid and as handing off the payment. This is not in the book at all, and I really can’t figure out why they would do this in the movie. I should say that I am very sensitive to this plot device, and one of my major beefs with 300 is that it starts out with what’s-his-face’s wife giving a nodded approval to throw that guy down the well, thus starting the war. Why get Janey tangled up in this?

I hated 80% of the soundtrack choices. They didn’t make any sense, and just seemed like cool songs that someone liked so much that they had to go in the movie. And the choice of that Leonard Cohen song for the love scene—the audience at my screeening laughed the whole scene.

They did have to cut out the whole space alien plot, which was fine. I wasn’t very upset that they had to pin it on Manhattan. In the end, the theme is the same—there is no black-and-white, moral compromises must be made, Rorschach can’t live in such a world.

Excellent job finding actors who looked like the comic characters.

I thought Dr. Manhattan was done well. Billy Crudup played it cool, aloof, which isn’t how I’d read it in the book but now that I think of it, I think is the right way to go. The guys sitting in front of me couldn’t get over his junk. It was pretty distracting!

As an over-narration, the journal entries were pretty heavy and hard to focus on.

The movie did feel long, with the scenes on Mars and Antarctica dragging forever.

********************************************************

Have you read the book? Seen the movie? What did you think?

Secret Sweater

2009-03-04T13:53:00.004-05:00

I do knit. Really, I do. It's just that almost everything I make is for other people, so I can't post the surprise here. But in this case, I decided that I'm sure that my brother and sister-in-law don't read this, so I'm posting about the sweater I'm making for their new baby. As you can see, he's shaped like a starfish.

No, not really. In the end, I don't like this pattern because it comes in five pieces, which I now have to sew together. Total bummer. On Monday I got myself to suck it up and dive in. I attached the shoulders. No problem. Then the hard part--I attached the right sleeve and closed up the right side. Great! Only, gah! I attached the sleeve inside-out. I have now ripped all of that out, and the sweater is in time-out. Just looking at it makes me feel a bit sick.

This is what the internet is for, right?

2009-03-01T14:03:00.003-05:00

Patrick just got his latest email update from TripAdvisor--a listing of the dirtiest hotels of 2009. We had a good laugh, but then I'm thinking, "Why this?" I don't think they've done this report in the past, so something about the current climate made someone think this was a good idea. Could it be that no one is going on vacation anymore, but the site still needs traffic? Nothing like a little dirt to get people clicking a link.

I just got a pre-recorded message over the phone declaring a snow emergency starting at 8pm tonight. Someone please tell me this is the last of the snow!

Game Stop: Forgotten Circle of Hell

2009-02-16T21:04:00.004-05:00

I recently made my first trip to Game Stop, a used buy/sell/trade video game store. We've amassed quite a pile of Wii games, many of which we don't actually like. So we picked out 3 and headed to Game Stop.

Holy crap. This place is awful. First, it is full of the worst kids on earth. Second, those kids are with the worst parents on earth. I witnessed one child so enraged by the fact that the game his mother was buying him didn't include classic Pac-Man, spit flew from his mouth. And all of the parents were screaming at their children, at all times, from all areas of the store. Just awful.

We traded in our 3 games for a used copy of Twilight Princess, one of the Legend of Zelda titles. Only to get it home and find that it doesn't work. Hmpf. Now we have to go back to Game Stop to return it. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to convince Patrick to go without me...but I'll try.

Sign Me Up!

2009-02-12T17:58:00.002-05:00

I saw this over a Boing Boing Gadgets today and had a good time looking at the posts. This person (people?) work at some big social networking or fan site, and get emails from kids begging and lying to be let into the site despite their age. The good ones get put on COPPA KIDS:

And this kid tried to steal my perfect username:

Garden Planning

2009-02-10T15:11:00.003-05:00

It's time to start planning the garden! And that means that Spring is coming, which is exactly the kind of news I need to hear right about now.

Here is a sketch of our plans. We have 3 large raised garden beds and 5 small ones. We built them out of non-pressure-treated boards (don't want any chemicals leaking into the soil) over the past 3 summers. They've served us well, but will probably rot out soon. That will be a good chance to redesign the space, as their dimensions and placement could be better.

So, here's the list: cherry tomaotes, plum tomatoes, some kind of larger tomatoes (beefsteak?), spinach, lettuce, snap peas, english peas, strawberries, zucchini, carrots, eggplants, collard greens and various herbs. Oh, and weeds, of course. Can't avoid those.

Sense and Sensibility--Stop Haunting Me!

2009-02-09T14:14:00.003-05:00

Sense and Sensibility. OK, for real, I can't stop watching this movie. Every time I come across it on PBS, I stop to watch it.

Which is strange, because as far as I know, I can't stand Jane Austen. About 12 years ago, I took a long trip. One of my friends gave me two books for the trip: One Hundred Years of Solitude and Pride and Prejudice. I ended up reading OHYS about 8 times (love it). The Austen book I pulled out whenever I had trouble sleeping on trains--after 6 pages I was sure to be asleep.

But this movie! The acting is excellent, the costumes, sets, people, beautiful, and the romance and scandal!!! The honorable Edward. The rogue Willoughby. Top notch.

So, you should try to catch it when it is on. It's in two parts, so it might take some planning to see the whole thing, in order.

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxXffditEgA

James Harrison Super Bowl 2009 100-Yard Interception and Touchdown...INCREDIBLE

2009-02-02T16:24:00.001-05:00

This poor guy was not built to run that far. But yay!

We watched the game at our regular Steelers bar and had a great time. I'd say there were about 100 fans there, lots of noise, lots of cheering. Though that last quarter was tough to watch.

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

2009-02-01T15:46:00.000-05:00

Gummi Bears Theme (Orginal)

2009-01-26T16:03:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, Gummi Bears was on at an ungodly hour of Saturday morning. Like, 6am. Even back then I wasn't going to get up that early. But! I lurved this theme song. So much so, I would drag myself out of bed to hear it and then go back to bed. At some point I smartened up, got out my tape deck, held it up to the TV speaker and recorded the song so I could hear it whenever I wanted. And it is still a great song.

A Dream Come True

2009-01-26T15:14:00.003-05:00

If you've spent any time over at my friend CCR's blog, you've probably noticed two things: 1) her cats are always cuddled together, entwined like pretzels, and 2) in the comments sections I'm constantly griping that my cats don't do that. Harold and Pan were longtime friends, so that somewhat explains it. But the new Herself and old Harold? They hardly know each other!

My stupid cats have been together for about 10 years now, and while they share a food dish and tolerate each other's use of the litter box, they're not exactly holding paws and singing "Islands in the Stream." They'll wrestle-play sometimes, and George will lick Belmont's head upon approach, but really, not much more.

Until today! Look what I woke up to:

Love it! I feel like I raised them right, you know?

We Have a Dream article

2009-01-24T16:43:00.002-05:00

Here's a write-up of the show by our local paper.

Obama O's

2009-01-23T15:24:00.006-05:00

Well, I am soooooo happy to say that I finished my quilting project. Happy doesn't really do it. Towards the end, I couldn't stand it. Mostly because I had a nearly-impossible deadline (my own fault, of course). Some pics.

Above is the concept/progress sketch. 9 rows, 5 columns, a simple nine-patch in red and blue, with solid cream fields in between. The deadline I mentioned before was a Martin Luther King themed show to which I wanted to submit the quilt. I titled it, "Thoughts on Election Day, 2008". In the cream fields, I used my quilting stitches to make letters and numbers to write out "08.28.63 I HAVE A DREAM TODAY MLK 11.04.08" Then, in the nine-patch squares, I used my quilting stitches to make what I call Obama O's (you saw them everywhere on Obama campaign materials).

Here is Patrick's commemorating shot of me finishing the last stitches on the binding. Those two shoeboxes in the background are where I keep all of my sewing supplies. Not a very good solution, but that's what I'm working with for now.

Here's a shot that gives you an idea of what the quilted letters look like. You can see a big Y in the foreground. If you click on the pic, it should come up bigger and be easier to see.

Another shot of the quilting stitches. This time, the Obama O's are visible on the nine-patch squares. Again, click on it for a bigger shot.

And here's a close-up of an Obama O. Stupid blogger has decided to rotate the picture, and I don't know how to convince it otherwise. Hmpf.

The show was created to compliment a piece created my Malden Access Television titled "We Have a Dream", in which 150 Maldonians (that's what we're called!) recite lines from MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. About 15 artists submitted works to the gallery. You can check them out at the Gallery at Elm Street now through Feb. 22nd. Here are the hours:

Sundays, noon-2pm

Tuesdays and Fridays, 10am-1pm

Saturday, 10am-2pm

By appointment

Zombie Time

2009-01-14T22:06:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, my greatest fear is zombies. I think it's because there's just no stopping them. If all of the corpses in the world rose up to eat us, we'd be screwed. It's not like they die of hunger if you hole up for a few years. Still there, scraping at the windows.

I just spent a good amount of time going through all of the comics at A Softer World (hey, I'm unemployed). A couple of running themes: bad mothers, stalking, and zombies. Worth checking out.

Wine It Up

2009-01-05T16:07:00.006-05:00

Yesterday we went to a good friend's 30th birthday party. Her husband arranged the whole thing: a wine tasting at a vinyard on the South Shore and then lunch. The vinyard, Westport Rivers Winery, produces only white and sparkling wines--not usually my favorite. But I have to say, I really enjoyed the tasting, and we even bought a bottle of bubbly to bring home. (the 2001 Imperial Sec).

We also stopped at Joann's Fabric to buy some twill for my quilting rack. Yes, it is time to rack it, which has me really nervous. I'll post some pictures once I get it wound on there.

Stupid Blogger keeps moving my pictures all around. It looks fine and neat in the post preview, put when I publish the post they're all scattered. Any advice out there? Do I need to learn how to edit the html?

2009

2009-01-01T16:43:00.002-05:00

The Year in Photography, 2008

2008-12-30T14:18:00.003-05:00

So I just spent the good part of an hour looking at a collection of images from 2008. Some of them are truly amazing. This one is of Mount Everest.

The link is from photojojo, which is a really interesting photography site/blog. I track it on Google Reader. They have great pointers and tricks, even for point-and-shoot cameras.

New (Old) Project

2008-12-29T16:35:00.002-05:00

Well, now that all of that Christmas knitting is finished, I have nothing to do. Em, actually, I'm sure Patrick would argue that I have plenty to do. So let's say, I don't have any knitting projects to keep me occupied in the evenings.

So I've pulled this old quilting project out of the cabinet. I haven't touched this since 2001, mostly because the color scheme is slightly patriotic (What? I like red, blue and cream!), and I haven't been feeling very patriotic for awhile now.

But this January there's an art show around the theme of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, and I'm thinking that this might be just the reason I need to finish the project. I have a couple of ideas for changing it up, so we'll see how it goes.

Patrick is the photographer above. Though he isn't as comfortable with the manual setting on the camera as I am, he understands the fundamentals of photography and does a good job of framing.

Parade of FOs

2008-12-26T19:22:00.014-05:00

Hello All! I hope your holidays are going well--fun, relaxing, etc. Patrick and I spent Christmas day at four locations. One of my gifts from Patrick was Pocky, which is like chocolate-dipped breadsticks. Yummy, really!

As I mentioned before, I've been doing tons of knitting, but haven't been able to post about it because the projects were for Christmas gifts. Well, here they are!

Two hats for two little boys. They are based on the Wool Noggins pattern. For the brown one, I just added an I-cord topper.

Here's a dark picture of the mystery I-cord project. It's a centipede scarf!

A caliorimetry for The Cuz made with sport-weight alpaca held double and an old button from a box of buttons I got from my grandmother.

A set for my sister-in-law. Bulky-weight baby alpaca. The scarf is a Jute Rope, and I made up the hat to match the stitch pattern.

Here's a mother/daughter set for my other sister-in-law and neice. The yarn is Brooks Farm Four Play. The scarf is the Four Play pattern, the hat is Button Tab, and the small hat is a modified Wool noggin with the decreases altered to come to an elf-like peak, with an I-cord topper.

Here's a set for Lil Sis--my first cables! The pattern for the set is Natty. Made with bulky-weight baby alpaca. She has decided that it is itchy, but I'm hoping she'll wear it anyway...

Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

Catching Up

2008-12-19T12:07:00.006-05:00

Hello!

The job hunt continues, though I'm not expecting much right now around the holidays. I'm still sending out resumes, and I'm meeting with some placement agencies next week. But really, I'm expecting the next month to be one of sitting and waiting. And I'm OK with that.

With all of my free time, I've been doing lots of Christmas knitting. But I can't show it to you. Well, here's a piece of one of the projects--I'm pretty sure this little boy doesn't follow my blog...

32 2-inch I-cords will be the death of me.

Here's something I made for myself recently. My first Clapotis:

George is interested, but banned from sitting on it. this thing turned out huge. Of course, I didn't check my guage. I can wear it only on cold cold days, as it is like wearing a lap quilt around my neck. That said, I really like it, and I have enough of the yarn left to make a hat and maybe mittens. I chose my winter coat to go with this scarf (instead of the other way around, like most normal people), so I'd better get some use out of it!

Not that I'm looking forward to winter weather. My garden is looking brown. We managed to harvest swiss chard and kale into late October, but there's nothing happening now. Patrick spent a couple of evenings drawing diagrams of the front and side yards, itemizing all of the plantings. Because, you know, he's an engineer. If I can find them, I'll post them.

We had our annual Holiday Tea last weekend. We try to do this every year--open up the house for an afternoon and invite people to drop in, have a warm drink and chat. I love seeing everyone. We have the party preparations down pat at this point: I make one or two pots of soup, Patrick goes to the bakery the morning of, and we spread out all of our teas on the counter next to the electric kettle. Easy! Here's my solution to 12 idential black mugs, so people don't get them mixed up:

Ha Ha Ha Ha

2008-12-05T12:39:00.001-05:00

I saw this video over on Ectomo--I love when he shows all of the power buttons. What a grump.

Winter Gardening

2008-11-19T14:00:00.002-05:00

I just came in from the cold--and it really is cold (about 35 degrees)! Patrick has been pushing me to "do something" with all of my newly free time, specifically mow the lawn. Sound crazy? Well, mulching up all of the leaves is easier than raking them, so it's not a bad move. I also cut back most of the perennials on the driveway side of the house. I'm already imagining what it will look like when they come back in the Spring.

Tonight is a new Malden Arts event. We're calling it a Salon, in the sense that it is a gathering to discuss the arts in Malden: what's going on, ideas for the future, meeting others to collaborate with. I'm not sure what kind of turn out we'll get, but a reporter from the Malden Observer is going to show up to cover the evening.

Lots of Free Time

2008-11-18T05:39:00.002-05:00

So, I got laid off. Yup. On Election Day, to be exact. This is a real bummer, for a number of reasons. Here are some:

Patrick and I had some real financial plans in place that will now be thrown off-track.
I really liked my job, my co-workers and my commute.
My position had me helping more and more with the business development side of things, but I didn't get enough experience to apply for a biz dev position.
But I really don't want to go into another Admin position.
Finding a job is a pain, and especially now with the economy.
My suit doesn't fit anymore!!! Gah, shopping ahead. And not even the fun kind.

Anyhoo, I sent out a few resumes last week, and will follow up with them this week. I've already done all of the paperwork for the Unemployment Insurance (which is only half of your salary--did you know that?).

Now I just need to stay motivated; this means not sleeping until 2pm, not reading web comics until the wee hours of the morning, maybe catching up on the things that my job prevented me from getting to, maybe spending some time with long-neglected friends (Hi out there! You'll hear from me soon!), etc.

And let me just say that one of the reasons why I haven't been blogging lately is because I signed on to Facebook. It's just like blogging, but less pressure since it's only a line or two at a time. I've tried to find an app or something that would post my Facebook updates as blog entries here, but I can't find one. Do any of you know of such a thing?

Malden Monday: Surprise!

2008-11-17T18:52:00.002-05:00

Have you heard? BusinessWeek voted Malden the best affordable city in Massachusetts for raising children.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/11/1110_best_places_for_kids/22.htm

There is nothing wrong with the short descriptive blurb. I agree completely.

Here's an example of local news coverage of the designation:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/11/13/magazine_calls_malden_states_best_place_to_raise_children/

I must say I share in the skepticism. I have some experience with Malden's public school system, and I guess I'd say that if your kid is on the straight and narrow, they'll be just fine. Malden High sends kids to Harvard and other top-notch schools every year--Revere High, when I went there, did not. But, it's hard to keep your kids on the straight and narrow here. I'm not sure if that's the nature of living in a city, where kids have more mobility and independence than those stranded in the suburbs, reliant on parents who have the ability to shape their children's social lives. Or is it something else?

I like the response of my friend, Paul Malden:
http://www.blamemymom.com/2008/11/15/my-hometown/

Learning German: Update

2008-10-21T17:12:00.002-04:00

So, I didn't learn German after all. I was so busy leading up to the vacation that I told myself, "I'll learn on the plane" (this sounding entirely reasonable to me at the time). But then I fell asleep on the plane. So then I told myself that I'd learn while the others played Guitar Hero in John's living room. But then I played some Guitar Hero myself.

To be honest, just as many of you said, I didn't need to know German. Except for one night in the countryside, I can't think of a time I tried to talk to someone in English and they didn't understand me.

Now, I'm not saying we should all just forget about learning foreign languages. I think there's a lot to being able to understand conversations going on around you, understanding menus and signs (I love reading advertisements in foreign languages), being able to charm the locals with your lack of skills, etc. But I can attest that in the major German cities, English seems to be enough.

Back from Oktoberfest!

2008-10-05T21:14:00.006-04:00

As some of you know, I just got back from visiting Germany and Prague. We started in Berlin, where we stayed with John and had lots of fun playing Guitar Hero in his new place. Then Patrick, my brother and sister-in-law and I spent 2 days driving south to Munich, where we tried our hardest to make it into a beer tent at Oktoberfest. After way too much Bavarian food, Patrick and I continued on to Prague.

A little geology, of course.

Neil didn't exactly love walking over this bridge.

Oktoberfest isn't just about beer. It's a full-on carnival, with rides, games, etc.

The famous Lowenbrau beer tent, with giant animated, beer-drinking, growling lion.

Like I said, too much Bavarian food.

Fairytale castle, anyone? This one inspired the Disney castle in Orlando.

In Prague, they're over Communism.

The cathedral at Prague Castle.

No comment.

Malden Moment Wakes Me From My Blog-less Slumber

2008-08-27T21:04:00.002-04:00

Hello All!

So much time has slipped away! Sorry about that. Lots of things have happened, which I guess I'll catch up on at some point.

But first, the event that spurred me to come back to my blog: I had a real Malden Moment this week. And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. I mean that in a "I'd only see that in Malden, and that is great" way.

Patrick and I were walking down Pleasant Street on Tuesday morning, around 10am. A woman was walking toward us--in her 80s, I'd say, roundish, shortish, bentoverish. She had those giant black sunglasses I really only ever see on the elderly. And she was wearing a faded pink tee-shirt that said, "I have the pussy, so I make the rules."

Brilliant! This is exactly why I started this blog!

Malden Mondays: Me

2008-07-01T17:16:00.001-04:00

A day late, I know. This week's Malden Monday is me! Check it out:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/news/x2113785726/Gilchrist-takes-lead-at-Window-Arts-Malden

Luxury Scarf

2008-06-29T22:51:00.004-04:00

Here are some pics of my latest WIP:

The pattern is called Luxury Scarf.

The real color is closest to the pic on the left.

I chose this pattern because I have all of this brown and tan sport weight alpaca that I need to use up to free room in the stash. I was looking for something easy and quick, but I wanted something with open spaces. This is a really simple yarn over lace pattern.

With this alpaca yarn it is so soft and smooshy--I can't stop squishing it up in my hands.

But I've lost it! I've looked all over and can't find it! I'm kind of worried. Hopefully it will turn up somewhere unexpected.

Brain Types

2008-06-25T14:02:00.003-04:00

Patrick sent me this brain-type quiz awhile back, but I've only just gotten around to taking it. Here's mine--tell me what you think:

FCAL / ENFJ "Educator"teacher/pastor; socially sophisticated; expressive,
ambitious, catalyst, cooperative, devoted, fluent, imaginative, emotional;
opinionated; interested in ideas and possibilities; seeks order, language
skilled.

And here's Patrick's:

BCIL / INTJ "Inventor"applicator of ideas; builder of theoretical systems;
self-confident; independent, reserved, single-minded, conceptual; seeks
knowledge; not impressed with authority; determined, analytic, stubborn,
skeptical, scientific; logical abstraction skilled.

His is a pretty good match.

So take the quiz and post your results in the comments: http://www.braintypes.com/questionnaire.asp

Thomas

2008-06-24T15:22:00.002-04:00

There's a new little guy in our circle. He got his own photo shoot the other day.

Learning German

2008-06-23T16:25:00.000-04:00

Patrick and I have decided to learn German in preparation for our trip this September. We're going to do a combination of teaching ourselves using books and hiring a tutor for conversation. I've added a German word-of-the-day widget in the sidebar, so if you feel inspired, join along (John)...

Hotel Blues

2008-06-17T10:50:00.001-04:00

We're trying to book our hotel for our September trip to Germany. Not having much luck. Boo.

Indiana Jones

2008-06-16T17:36:00.003-04:00

As many of you know, I was an anthropology major, and for a few years focused on archaeology. So it was with great interest that I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I had read all kinds of tounge-in-cheek critiques of the old movies (where's his line level?), and am really enjoying some of the stuff being written on anthropology/archaeology blogs about this new one.

But here's the best comment I've read so far. Over at Savage Minds they're picking apart some details (how would he learn Quechua in Mexico?). The final comment seems to settle any possible perplexity:

Someone named Jo Donaldson did the research for the film, including the
archaelogical details. She’s not an archaeologist, however; she also researched
Star Wars eppy 1 and 2, and Howard the Duck.
[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0232120/]

Aha! Howard the Duck. I should have known.

I also love this one: a mock denial of tenure notice for Dr. Jones.

Too bad!

2008-06-16T13:00:00.004-04:00

My friend John has nearly disowned me over my love of LOL Cats. Maybe it's because he thought I appreciated proper spelling. Maybe it's because he hates animals. Or maybe it's because he's insulted that I like furry things with bad grammar, while he pounds away at his keyboard day and night, churning out prose in an attempt to entertain and enlighten. To that I say:

Malden Monday: Insights

2008-06-16T12:26:00.005-04:00

So, this blog is something of an attempt to learn about my new home, Malden. I've approached it as a volunteer, an engaged citizen, a consumer and a historian. I've taken on the public works department (if you google "Malden trash" I'm on the first page of hits--my claim to fame!).

My attempts to get to know this city are ongoing.

One area I haven't been able to penetrate is the Malden mind, particularly the mind of the youth. What are they thinking as they hang out in front of the pizza shop at the end of my street? Why do they call each other on their cell phones while standing across the street from each other, instead of crossing the street and talking face-to-face (true story)? As Patrick asked me the other day, is the logical progression of Malden fashion to one day simply carry one's pants in one's hands?

As I've posted before, there is a serious trash problem in my neighborhood. For days after trash collection bits of wrappers, plastic bottle caps, chicken bones, and papers come blowing into our yard. True, this does give me some insight to Malden's consumption habits. But usually this debris doesn't provide me with a peek into the head of the average Maldonian.

Until now.

Behold, the first piece of evidence.

*
Wondrous! I've examined this scrap at great length, calling in friends and family to help me decipher its meanings. Some insights and points for further exploration:

This is clearly the work of someone still in school, as it is written on a piece of a text book. Huzzah! Maybe now I can begin to understand why Malden's teen girls wear winter jackets that end at their ribcage, leaving the middle of their torso exposed to the elements.
Maybe the author--let's call them Teen A--broke the recipient's--Teen B--mother's bed, and needs to reimburse the family. Why has the price gone up?
Maybe Teen A is buying Teen B's mother's bed for themselves. Why would Teen B go and play them like that?
Perhaps Teen A's math teacher gave a homework assignment that required them to write their own word problem.
Why are teens dealing in beds anyway?
I can't tell you how much it pains me that the note is cut off like this. What did Teen B say?????

Any theories are appreciated.

* If you can't read that, it says, "Yo first you say save 150$ so I could pay for your moms bed then your tellin me keep saving for that bed then you say"

June Garden

2008-06-15T23:50:00.010-04:00

When we were house hunting, we had a list of "must haves". Two bedrooms. Dining room. Walking distance to the T. We didn't much care about a yard. I mean, sure, we wanted some kind of a yard, but the exact requirements weren't clear in our minds.

As it turns out, the house we've ended up with has a huge yard. Not just huge, but huge and overrun. Weeds everywhere, trees growing out of cracks in walls, the works. Add to that the fact that once you start digging you come up with more 1) rocks and 2) trash than actual soil, and you can understand that gardening in this yard is really hard. But we do try. Our first summer we build three raised garden beds for vegetables, which were wildly successful. Above are some examples: peas, strawberries, chard and mint.

This flower is a tomato in the making:

Now we're focusing more on landscaping.

This is our shade garden, which is almost complete. There are hostas, huchera, wild ginger, bleeding heart, and sedum.

This little guy is a mountain laurel--he's small now, but should get to about 5 feet.

Baby Bonnet

2008-06-15T23:18:00.003-04:00

Months ago, I saw a pattern for an adorable bonnet over on Angry Chicken's blog. I bought it right away, though I didn't know when I'd make it or for whom. Thanks to Mariuca, who's expecting, I found my answer! I can't wait to meet Chloe and see her in it...

Cutey Cute Cute

2008-05-28T19:51:00.001-04:00

Mini's Meme

2008-05-28T13:23:00.003-04:00

Here's a meme from mini. Now you're tagged--leave a link in the comments to your list!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago.
Let's see. In 1998 I was waiting tables, living in the Hamptons for the summer, and dating Patrick long-distance. I moved to Chicago the day after Christmas.

2. 5 things on my to-do list today.
Um. Yeah. I guess my life isn't very pressing. Tonight we're going out for ice cream. So that's one. I'm going to try to book our hotel for Oktoberfest, but my success will depend on whether or not the person who answers the phone speaks English.

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Cheese and crackers. Candy bars. Gingersnaps.

4. If I were a billionaire instantly, I would
Travel.

5. Places I have lived:
West Palm Beach, FL (born there)
Revere, MA
Chicago, IL
East Hampton, NY
Somerville, MA
Malden, MA

Malden Monday: Garden Club?

2008-05-05T17:52:00.002-04:00

Hello All,

Now that my blogging break is over, for my first MM I present to you an idea. Last week I was talking with my knitting friends, and we discussed backyards we'd like to peek into. You know the ones: just enough fence/foliage to obstruct full view from the street, but the promise of wonderful things. What about a garden club to open those gates up?

I'm too busy to start a whole club, though. But I could organize a one-day event. Like an open studios, but with gardens. I'd have to get some gardeners to sign on, make a map with the locations, distribute the map and then enjoy the day. I can do that! Patrick might even help--though it all depends on whether or not he likes the format I choose ( ! ). Sometimes he's a real poop...

So, I'm going to look into this. I also need to get WAM off the ground, which takes priority. Anyone out there a Maldonian and interested in this garden idea?

Cute alert!

2008-05-04T21:07:00.003-04:00

We went to a one-year-old's jungle-themed birthday party today. Aren't these lion cupcakes too cute?!

Final Days

2008-04-23T17:20:00.002-04:00

Well, I have four classes left. I have to say, I'm so glad. The weather is turning nice, we're rolling out the grill tonight, and my garden is coming up all around me. I don't want to go to school anymore!

I will miss aspects of it, of course. I like that there are very few administrative duties. 95% of the time it is just me and my students. Not much paperwork, not much oversight, and--as far as I can tell--little to no office politics. In many ways, it really is the perfect second job for me.

Their final is this coming Monday and then I'm free!

OK, my resistance crumbled

2008-04-08T17:05:00.002-04:00

see more crazy cat pics

Where has this site been all my life?

2008-04-08T17:01:00.002-04:00

So now I'm addicted to this site: I can has cheezburger

At least 62% of the humor comes from the spelling and wording of the captions--it's like my 16-year-old cousin texted them in.

I promise I will resist the urge to paste up every fifth photo.

see more crazy cat pics

Too busy

2008-04-08T16:58:00.001-04:00

I've decided that until I'm finished with school (just 3 weeks to go!), I'm way to busy to keep up with this blog. I'll be back at a later date.

Until next time:

see more crazy cat pics

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T22:28:00.002-04:00

Malden Mondays had 3 beers at Hugh O'Neill's after work and is taking the day off. Enjoy this instead (with the sound on!):

Malden Mondays: Trash

2008-03-10T13:00:00.004-04:00

I know I didn't post a Malden Monday last week. Sorry John!

This week's MM is going to be a gripe. It's about trash. Like the fact that my street is covered in it. I guess my household is the only one on the street that puts their trash in trashbags. All of the others may as well heap it on the sidewalk in the hopes that the trash collectors will come along with shovels to scoop it up. At what point can the city come in and make people take care of 1) the trash they put out for the collectors and 2) the trash that gets blown around and lodges in their fence/bushes/gravel square passing as a front yard?

The city in general has a lax take on trash. Or at least here on the "East" side of Malden (considered by some to be the wrong side of the tracks--literally. The T cuts the city in half). When I walk home from Malden Center, I take Salem Street. This is a very busy street--the High School and library are on it, and it leads to Maplewood Square and Route 1. There is not a single trash barrel on this stretch. Now, if I buy a coffe at Dunkin' Donuts in Malden Center and finish it on my way home, I hold onto it and toss it in the trash at my house. But it is clear that the hundreds of other pedestrians and high school students don't. There's trash everywhere. The people who live along this stretch of Salem Street have clearly given up--they don't bother planting anything in their yards, or even cleaning out the trash that gets thrown in there. I'm not sure what to do about this--there are only so many battles I have time to spearhead!!!

Scarfing

2008-03-10T12:54:00.003-04:00

As you know, I had to take a month off from knitting because my wrist was bothering me. Over-knitted, I guess. I've been easing back into it, working little by little on a baby blanket that had been snoozing.

Well, I think I've finally 1) changed my knitting technique so it doesn't hurt anymore 2) (more or less) stablized my guage. So, I'm tackling my Ravelry Scarf Exchange item. I felt really badly about putting this scarf off because someone was expecting it at a designated time. So I'm excited to finish it up and send it. I totally love the yarn/pattern combo--the scarf feels so soft. I can't stop running my hands over it. Just hope Amy likes it too!

Alien Baby

2008-02-29T11:00:00.005-05:00

Here's a pic of my soon-to-be niece or nephew! Can you make it out? The round circle is the abdomen, the white line to the left is the nose, and two black spots are two eyes. They don't want to find out the sex until the baby is born. Trouble is, David's a doctor--so he has to look away when it's time to scan "down there".

Success

2008-02-28T12:53:00.000-05:00

Last night my students took their first quiz. 4 out of 5 got an 80% or higher. I think that's pretty good!

Malden Mondays: Downtown Redevelopment

2008-02-25T22:50:00.003-05:00

Today's Malden Mondays entry comes to you at the 11th hour, but for good reason. Tonight's topic is Malden's plan for the redevelopment of the downtown area, and tonight there was a meeting at city hall to discuss just that. So I come to you with news.

This is, as you can imagine, a huge topic, so you can expect me to post on it again in the future. A quick summary: Malden center used to be pretty hopping, but with urban flight in the 70s and the fact that most people don't want to leave their cars, the pedestrian shopping center model just isn't working anymore. They're having the same problem all over the place, including Downtown Crossing in Boston (don't believe the hype). So the problems, as I see them, are

aging infrastructure
unattractive streetscaping
not parking-friendly
not particularly pedestrian-friendly either
no "anchor" stores that will bring in shoppers

such as a Gap or Kohls to bring people into the area, with the idea that they'd then shop around in the other stores

not enough mixed-use spaces

stores and shops on the first floor, living spaces on the floor(s) above

this increases population density in the downtown area.

helps create nightlife as well

too many public service offices

need greater variety in the types of restaurants and stores

the location of City Hall is problematic

it cuts off Malden Center from the T stop and doesn't allow for thru-traffic

The meeting tonight was held by the mayor, the Redevelopment Authority, and the Ward 4 councillor (Malden Center is in Ward 4). They laid out the blueprint that they're using to direct the development of downtown--which importantly confirms that they do in fact have a plan (many folks have doubted this). There are 4 "pillars" to the redevlopment plan (if I remember them correctly):

foster the arts
build new residential spaces in the downtown area
recruit new businesses
streetscaping and urban planning

So the interesting thing about Malden's planning process here is that they are systematically soliciting public input. This is something that I studied in some depth in college--local understandings of place and how those can be challenged by these types of development meta-plans.

Of course, the common term for this is gentrification (a word I didn't hear anyone use tonight). Do those of us who live in Malden think of ourselves as the kind of city that has a women's clothing boutique? Are we perfectly happy not to have one? If having a women's clothing boutique goes hand-in-hand with/causes/is the result of an "upscaling" of the city, where does Joe Smith, resident of Malden for the past 25 years, fit into the "new" city? Will his property taxes go up, and will he have to move because of that? Does the needs of the economically viable city outweigh the needs and desires of its residents?

The public meetings and visioning workshops that Malden is holding are an attempt to build concensus, which is great. I'm just worried that we haven't been drawing a true representation of Malden's population. Let's just say that the folks at these meetings don't look like the people in my neighborhood. My neighbors are Hatian, Chinese and Latino. Many don't speak or understand enough English to go to one of these meetings. What about their input? Are these people envisioned in Malden's future?

Six-Word Stories

2008-02-22T20:57:00.009-05:00

Here's something I came across on The World's Fair. The six-word story, as origninated by Hemingway: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Isn't that breathtaking?

What's my six-word story? Patrick suggests "Looked at furniture. Have no money."

As true as that is, I don't think it sums up my life experience. Hmmm. I'll have to think on this.

What about you? Can you come up with one? Not a motto or a wry observation, but a story. Six words that send the reader off to filling in the backstory and the spaces between the words.

Road Tripping

2008-02-21T19:01:00.003-05:00

I've reserved my spot for The Yarn Harlot's April appearance at Webs. My stitch-n-bitch is making it a group road trip. I've never gone to a yarn shop with other knitters, so this should be fun. I'm a fan of Stephanie, but not as much as other people I know. Probably because I don't have any time to read her blog--plus, she must have some strange settings on it because I can't see the whole entry in Google Reader. I'm just too lazy to open up her posts in another window.

Dangerously Cool

2008-02-21T12:51:00.005-05:00

As many of you know, I live in an old-ass house. It was built in the 1920s, and needs lots of cosmetic fixes. As this is totally overwhelming, I sometimes dream about starting over with a new house. Not just a new one, but a modern one.

This house makes me jealous. It is not only clean, modern and sleek, it is green in what I think is the most useful of ways--it reuses materials. In this case, shipping containers! The whole house is made of giant shipping containers connected together. Isn't that cool? Some of them were refrigerated shipping containers, so they come pre-insulated. And I love all of the windows--though I don't see that they provide much protection from zombies.

Malden Mondays: Olde Time Malden

2008-02-18T17:22:00.005-05:00

My aunt and uncle hooked me up with this old postcard of Malden they found at a flea market in Florida. Back in the day you weren't allowed to write on the back of the card (address only), so folks squeezed their message onto the front. If you click on the picture here the image will open up bigger and you can read it for yourself.

Patrick spent the good part of an evening trying to figure out what part of Malden this card depicts. If you look at the lower-right corner of the picture, it looks like a sliver of rock, so the vantage point seems to be on top of a hill. Of course, it is a drawing/painting, so it could be a real mish-mash of views.

The message is from someone's mother, who is visiting a really annoying kid here in Malden. "I nipped the tip of Bimp' ear as you requested," she writes. "He is very bad." Ha!

Thanks Aunt and Uncle! Please send more if you find them :-)

Warming Up

2008-02-14T13:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I slipped while going down the stairs. I pretty much saved myself, except for my foot. I have a huge bruise on my heel, which is very very painful. And, what with it being on my heel and all, it hurts everytime I walk. Hobble hobble.

I've starting doing a bit of knitting. Just one or two rows at a time, once or twice a week. I'm trying to knit differently--at a recent Stitch-n-Bitch, Owl suggested that I move more at the elbows and shoulders, instead of doing it all with my wrists. This has helped a lot, but now the results are different. I think I'm knitting looser, so I might have to go down a needle size on all of my WIPs when I take them back up. For now I'm working on The Baby Blanket, which has been an off-again-on-again project for over a year (hence the all-caps). The gauge on this is so wonky already it won't matter anyway.

Malden Mondays: Malden Public Library

2008-02-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

This week's Monday Mondays' spotlight is on the Malden Public Library. It can be hard to find a good library, don't you think? I'm reminded of a conversation Patrick overheard in the Revere Public Library. He was using a computer near the check-out desk, when a patron approached the librarian and asked for a recommendation. The librarian's shocked response was, "Oh honey, I don't read the books!"

Thusfar, my experiences at the MPL have been very positive. The building consists of the original structure, built in 1885 (pictured here), and a new wing built in 1996. The knitting section is meager, but I have taken full advantage of the Interlibrary Loan system, as the MPL is part of the Boston Public Library system. I just order up the book through the BPL website and they send me an email when it arrives in Malden. Easy Peasy.

The librarians have been friendly and helpful. There are lots of books and newspapers in Chinese, which is cool. And in the summer they have a children's read-along-field-trip-boardgame-playing club that I totally would have joined when I was a kid (I tried to get Little Sister to sign up, but she was a no-go).

The reading collections are housed in the new building, and the old building is almost entirely an art gallery. The gallery is not always open, but I got to look around once when I was there for a meeting of the Cultural Council. The building is really beautiful, as are the paintings.

So, check it out. Or check out your own local library--show it some love. It's waiting for you.

Love My Class!

2008-02-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

Well, I officially love teaching my class. I kinda knew I would. But I really love it. I get so excited when I can answer their most pressing question: Is it "she have" or "she has"? I actually know the answer to that! I'm a hero!

But on a serious note, I can't tell you how much I admire my students. All five of the women are housecleaners (this seems to be the trend for Brazilian women), and four of them have their own cleaning company, three with employees. How cool is that? These women are their own bosses--isn't that the American dream? Maybe they don't want to clean houses their whole lives, but if you're going to do it, do it on your own terms, you know?

I do have one man in my class. He's a carpenter. So my six students work all day, some take care of children, all take care of their own homes, and then they come to my class 5 nights a week, and do a page of homework every night. Amazing.

By the way, did you vote yesterday? I almost forgot, but had time to run to the poll after getting out of the office. How about those results? I'm a Democrat, and honestly would be happy with either Clinton or Obama.

First day!

2008-02-04T12:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight is my first class with my new job. I'm pretty well prepared, and have an outline for the session--we'll see how well that works out.

I think the biggest challenge will be the students' schedules. Almost all of them work, and are taking these classes at night. Understandably, they don't have much time for homework or studying. The only way I know how to do well in school is studying and flashcards--but those are pretty time-consuming.

Any suggestions for time-efficient ways to learn a new language?

Malden Mondays: Immigrant Learning Center

2008-02-04T12:39:00.000-05:00

Today's Malden Monday highlight is the Immigrant Learning Center in Malden Center. For 15 years they have provided free English lessons to immigrants from all over the world. Free--that's really incredible, if you've looked at what English lessons cost at other schools.

I'm familiar with the ILC because I volunteered there as a one-on-one tutor. Here's the situation: the ILC offers small classes in various levels of proficiency. They have a waiting list of about 700 people (that's right--seven hundred), who are all waiting to get into a class. In an effort to help out the people on the waiting list, the ILC matches them up with one-on-one tutors, who work with them until a slot opens up for them in a classroom.

I worked with two students there, both from Haiti. As you can expect, their stories were incredible. I'm still in touch with one of them, Fritz. He recently found out that he has been granted assylum here in the States, which is great news.

So, I'm highlighting the ILC because they're working to make Malden a great place, and helping people who really need a break. My experience with them was very rewarding.

Moneymoneymoneymoney--Money!

2008-02-01T12:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I got a second job. For the next 12 weeks I am a part-time ESL instructor. I'll have a class of 6-9 adults, semi-fluent. I have experience ESL tutoring 1-on-1, but this will be my first time with a class. The schedule isn't very good, or the pay, for that matter. But I think this will help me decide if ESL teaching might be something I want to continue in the future.

You know how that is? You sometimes daydream that you would like to be that person stomping on grapes in that big wooden tub at the vineyard in California. Well, you can spend your life wondering, or you can stomp around on some grapes you throw in a kiddie pool in the back yard and see if you like it. Maybe that was a stupid example. But you get me.

Google Reader/Task Master

2008-01-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

As I posted before, for awhile there I was really behind on my blog reading. I couldn't break the 1000+ mark in Google Reader.

To try to catch up, I'd been eating work every day like this:

Plate in front of me
Right hand shoveling in food
Left hand controlling the up and down arrows so I can scroll through them

This kinda worked, except for when I wanted to open up a post its the home blog--I'd have to put the food down, move the keyboard, double click on the post, spin around three times in my chair and throw a handful of paperclips over my left shoulder for luck.

Well, on Friday I made a truly fortuitous mistake. I accidentally clicked "Mark All As Read" and WOOSH--they were all gone. Once I started breathing again I realized that this was exactly what I needed to do. Now I don't have all of that pressure to spend my whole lunch break gazing at the screen, eyes dry from not blinking, one finger about to snap from the force with which I press the down arrow.

That said, I'm back up to about 420 unread posts. How much time should one spend reading about other people's lives?

Bow Before the Great List!

2008-01-29T12:59:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged by CCR. If you're reading this, I tag you.

Here's my list, with the movies I've seen in bold:

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler’s List (1993)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
11. City Lights (1931)
12. The Searchers (1956)
13. Star Wars (1977)
14. Psycho (1960)
15. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
16. 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968)
17. The Graduate (1967)
18. The General (1927)
19. On the Waterfront (1954)
20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
21. Chinatown (1974)
22. Some Like It Hot (1959)
23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
24. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. All About Eve (1950)
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
32. The Godfather Part II (1974)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
40. The Sound of Music (1965)
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
45. Shane (1953)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
47.A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
48. Rear Window (1954)
49. Intolerance (1916)
50. Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
51. West Side Story (1961)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
53. Deer Hunter, The (1978)
54. M*A*S*H (1970)
55. North by Northwest (1959)
56. Jaws (1975)
57. Rocky (1976)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
59. Nashville (1975)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
63. Cabaret (1972)
64. Network (1976)
65. The African Queen (1951)
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
69. Tootsie (1982)
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
76. Forrest Gump (1994)
77. All the President’s Men (1976)
78. Modern Times (1936)
79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
80. The Apartment (1960)
81. Spartacus (1960)
82. Sunrise (1927)
83. Titanic (1997)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
85. A Night at the Opera (1935)
86. Platoon (1986)
87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
90. Swing Time (1936)
91. Sophie’s Choice (1982)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
93. The French Connection (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
96. Do the Right Thing (1989)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
99. Toy Story (1995)
100. Ben-Hur (1959)

37/100

Malden Monday

2008-01-28T12:42:00.001-05:00

For my first Malden Monday, I'd like to bring your attention to a fairly new restaurant in Malden that's been getting lots of press.

Exchange Street Bistro

67 Exchange St.

Malden, MA 02148

It seems I've been eating there a lot, mostly with John. Just yesterday we went there with Patrick for brunch. I ordered the stuffed french toast: 4 slices of french toast (not at all rubbery) with peaches and blueberry compote on top and sweet marscapone cheese in between each slice--yum!

Lunch and brunch are reasonably priced, with dinner much more expensive. It is by far the trendiest place in Malden, with a big martini list and hip interior--even though Exchange Street itself feels like a back alley.

I'm alive!

2008-01-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

Here I am, a month later.

I have not knit a stitch this whole time--I'm really trying to get my wrist back to 100%. Unfortunately, this does mean that Amy's scarf isn't finished. It's more than 1/2 way there--should I post a picture? Usually in exchanges you don't post any pictures until the receipient gets the item (so it's a surprise), but Amy is understandably anxious.

I have gone to my SnB a few times--so strange to just sit there and watch others. I occured to me recently that our SnB is more than a year old! Yay us for keeping it going!

I'm really enjoying work--lots of projects to keep me busy, lots of variety in the day, nice people.

Let's see, what else... The bathroom still isn't done (*sheepish grin*). John is visiting his family here in Malden, so we've been kickin' it.

I've decided upon a day theme--Malden Mondays. It's so obvious. I'll post on something about Malden; could be something I like, something I hate, a person, anything. Look for it next week!

Knitting on Hold

2007-12-17T13:36:00.000-05:00

My knitting wrist is unhappy, so all projects are on hold :-(

2007-12-14T18:10:00.001-05:00

I took this picture of my backyard today. No, just kidding. I stole it off the internet. But we do have lots of snow here, which, now that I really am an adult, I'm hating.

There's the shoveling, of course. But for me, the biggest snow-related pain-in-the-butt is trying to walk around the city. I'm a walker--don't drive, take public transportation, the whole bit. It took me twice as long as usual to walk home from work today because some people didn't shovel their walks and I had to walk in the street, jump walls of snow, ford puddles, and keep from slipping and killing myself.

FO!

2007-12-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

I have a finished object to report! And it's a cutie.

One of my co-workers left today to start her maternity leave. I put together a little hat-and-mitten set:
So sweet! I don't have anything in there for scale, but trust me--they're small.

The cap is Watchcap, which I modified by using 2x2 ribbing instead of 3x3. I made a single Knitted Flower and attached it to the brim.

I decided that I had to make the fingerless mittens to go along with it after seeing the ones CCR made. She gave me a tutorial at Stitch-n-Bitch, though with my sport-weight yarn and size 6 needles, I cast on only 24 stitches instead of her 28. I did 2x2 ribbing on the cuffs so they'd match the hat.

And the best part is that I made this from my Peruvian alpaca stash! I've been trying to figure out what to do with this pink, so I'm glad this came up. These are so soft and smooshy!

Themes

2007-12-13T16:28:00.000-05:00

OK, I know, I know. I'm a bad blogger. As Blogless Stef said to me the other night, "Enough about the Top Model already!" I understand--you need new reading material.

I, on the other hand, have way too much reading material. I have about 30 blogs I track with Google Reader, almost all of whom participated in the Blog-Everyday-In-November challenge. Now that I'm working and spending less time online, I have 1000+ unread posts. I'm not joking. 1000+ posts. After 1000, Google Readers just stops counting and uses a +. That's when you know you're in trouble.

And this part can't be right. I have Angry Chicken on my reader list. Today when I checked there were 148 unread posts from her blog alone. She can't possibly have posted so much in 3 weeks.

Anyway, one of my problems is that my life feels pretty boring right now. I go to work, come home tired, and try to be in bed by 10:30. What's there to blog about? Hmm?

I was thinking of coming up with daily themes. Have you seen these? I think Angry Chicken has a Quilt Monday theme, where every Monday she posts about a quilt she's working on or one she's seen that she likes. John over at Ectomo has lots of daily themes, like Cthulhu Cthursday
and Moustache Monday ( <--!!!).

What do you think? Any theme ideas for me? And for those of you who blog--want to do a theme together? That might get our creative blog-juices flowing. Um, that sounds gross.

By the way--see the clock image I put in here? I love the guy at 3 o'clock. He's screaming into two phones at once. And Mister Ten Thirty is sawing his monitor in half. Ha.

ANTM

2007-11-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

Some of you know that I love America's Next Top Model. It's the only show that I watch regularly. Everyone in the house must be silent, preferably in another room. I don't even knit while it's on!

Tonight, they kicked Heather off of the show:

I really liked Heather. I'm not sure they did enough to accommodate her Asperger's. It's always a tough call. If she became ANTM, she'd certainly have enough money to pay someone to take her directly to her Go-Sees!

I just hope Bianca doesn't win. She's an awful person. And the preview of next week's episode looks like she's all extra mean.

Here it comes...

2007-11-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

Uh, yeah. All of that downtime? Long gone ;-)

Greetings!

2007-11-27T23:56:00.000-05:00

Oh Blog, you're still here! I'm so glad to see you. I've been busy getting ready for my first day of work, which was yesterday!!! So far, so good. My co-workers are very nice, my superviser is helpful and patient, and my boss is friendly. It's a bit boring right now, just because I don't know how to do very much, so I have lots of down time. But that's sure to change!

In other news, I need to send out my Ravelry Scarf Exchange project by December 1st. Yikes!!!

See you soon! *kisskiss*

Lord of the Sings Transformers Karaoke Competition

2007-11-17T13:20:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we had a karaoke throw-down at Eamonn's house. Karaoke at Eamonn's is unique because it is a themed competition, complete with prizes. The theme is predetermined by Eamonn, and is always tied to a movie. Contestants must plan ahead, choose a song in Eamonn's collection and change the lyrics, a la Weird Al Yankovic, to make the song about the movie. Eamonn serves as both the judge and the MC, and writes a minimum of four songs, which he performs between each of the entries, kind of like a screen wipe.

In the past, we have had a Lord of the Sings Karaoke Competition for each of the LOTR DVD releases (hence the name). I'm proud to say that I was the first every LOTSKC champion (I chose Belinda Carlisle's Heaven Is A Place On Earth). The following year Scott took my tiara. It didn't look half-bad on him ;-)

This time Eamonn chose the new Transformers movie. Eamonn loves transformers. Actually, Eamonn loves anything he was supposed to stop loving when he was 12: brownies, Transformers, Coke, people talking in funny voices, people wearing clown wigs, gold stars, cartoons, action figures, inflatable beach balls, bubbles... Note that even though Eamonn can write witty song lyrics about Transformers, he's not clever enough to change the title of the competition--instead, he just shoves the word "Transformers" in there.

Patrick and I put together a duet, sung to the tune of Islands In The Stream. Turns out, so did Dave and Stef. DOH!

Anyway, after four song entries, and just as many by Eamonn, Stef and Dave were declared the winners. Good on you, Stef and Dave. Your song most directly taunted Eamonn and all that he loves, and because of that I gladly throw open the LOTSKC Hall of Fame's* doors and grant you entrance.

*Funds for the construction of the LOTSKC Hall of Fame were secured by Tom Hanks

The Perry Bible Fellowship

2007-11-16T13:29:00.000-05:00

I don't spend much time reading comics online, mostly because I hate reading things on a screen that I'd enjoy more if reading them curled up on the couch. I found out about The Perry Bible Fellowship from Tim Burke's blog, Easily Distracted. It's really funny.

Here's my favorite so far: Casting Call

Little Stuffies

2007-11-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, I'm taking a table at a craft fair at the Cheverus School (10-3). At first I thought I'd knit some stuff, but my hands started hurting so I stopped (no sense being "laid off" from knitting for weeks).

So instead I'm putting together some stuffies. I've never made them before, though I've thought about them. I'm using wool sweaters that I've shrunk/felted. Here's my favorite:

Little Elephant

Belated Hap-Bea Halloween

2007-11-15T14:09:00.000-05:00

For reasons I won't get into because they make for a long and boring story, Patrick and I carved Bea Arthur's face into a pumpkin. Behold!

Scarf exchange goodness

2007-11-11T15:44:00.000-05:00

I'm taking part in the Ravelry Scarf Exchange, in which I knit a scarf for my assigned buddy, and someone else knits a scarf for me. The buddy making me a scarf has popped into this blog a few times--Hi Pixie!

Well, I got Pixie's package last week. So great! First, the scarf. She chose the Branching Out pattern, which is beautiful. The yarn is a lovely red alpaca (the one picture makes it look magenta, but it is red). The whole thing is just perfect--I love the pattern, I love red and I love alpaca.

Included in the package were all kinds of goodies, based on some of my "likes." My own fluffy cloud ;-) , a cranberry candle, and more.

This is the first exchange I've taken part in, and it was great. Thanks Pixie, for being a great exchange partner!!!

I Got a Job!

2007-11-09T17:53:00.000-05:00

I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job I got a job

Won't Lose This Between The Couch Cushions

2007-11-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

As potentially impractical as this is, I really want this ceramic remote control. The whole idea is that it becomes an object of beauty, so you'll give it a space on the coffee table--then you'll always be able to find it!

Halloween, Engineer Style

2007-11-05T11:41:00.001-05:00

These pics come from the family Halloween party at Patrick's work:

Concerts

2007-11-01T23:48:00.000-04:00

I haven't written about it, but we've been to two concerts lately.

A week ago we went to see Erin McKeown at Club Passim. I saw her perform on tv a few years ago and went right out and bought all of her albums. My favorite one is Grand, especially the song Slung Lo. You can check out her myspace page to hear songs.

I'd never been to a show at Club Passim before. As it was an all-ages show, Patrick and I took Little Sis with us. I thought that the benefits of seeing a girl onstage, in charge and playing a guitar outweighed those of going to bed on time, even if it was a school night. I think I was right--Sis really like the show. As Patrick said, Erin is like sunshine on stage. She is just so natural and comfortable, and she her voice holds up in a live performance. After the show we went for autographs and pictures. I'd like to see Sis get that kind of interaction at the next Jonas Brothers concert! (If you don't know who the Jonas Brothers are, count yourself lucky. I've had to listen to their inane Disney-pop toooooooooo many times.)

On Tuesday we went to see The Thermals at the Middle East downstairs. Patrick and I love love love The Thermals. We first saw them open for Sleater Kinney and couldn't believe their energy. Hutch's vocals really sets the band apart.

This time we took Little Sister and The Cousin. The Middle East is not exactly a warm and fuzzy place, but it was an all ages show (again on a school night--I'm trying to show them other definitions of cool. Plus I get to be cool). They were, of course, amazing. Patrick and the girls perched themselves on a disused bar to get a good view, while I went up front to dance. Amazingly, they played not only my favorite song, but also Patrick and Cuz's. Again, the myspace page will give you a couple of songs to listen to.

Now a Teenager

2007-10-28T17:06:00.000-04:00

Little Sister turned 13 this month. We had a family party for her last night. Patrick and I usually make her birthday cake, and in the past she has wanted a strawberry cake. This year she surprised us by asking for a giant chocolate chip cookie.

I went online to search for recipes. Normally I hate Emeril, what with his spices bamming all over the place, but I decided to give his recipe for a chocolate chip cookie cake a try. It was fantastic! The only change I made was to pour the batter into a 9-inch round cake pan (thanks for the wedding present Marc!). You should give it a try.

My friend John got me a subscription to a magazine called Craft, which is always full of neat ideas. Sis loves to look through it and bookmark projects. That's how we found out about this cute bunny made of felt. Patrick's mom and I each made one and incorporated them into our gift wrapping. Each bunny is about 3 inches tall. Part of my gift for Sis was a copy of the designer's book, The Cute Book--and it really is cute!

The in-laws leave tomorrow. They've been such a huge help to us this visit. The wall sconces are now installed, and the exhaust fan is pretty close. Soon we'll be able to paint!!!

Boring and Interesting

2007-10-27T13:33:00.001-04:00

I found out today that Malden Arts has received the grant we applied for! This is great news.

Traci and F came over for dinner last night. My in-laws loved him, and he was very well-behaved (not that I would expect that from a one-year-old). The subject of my blog came up. Patrick hadn't read the blog until recently, and he's never left a comment. He claims that he doesn't comment because the blog is boring (he says this only half-jokingly). To quote him, "You put the blah back in blog." Well screw him! Not really, but I don't care--I'm going to keep posting. He can make his own interesting blog, and then he can talk to me about blah.

Yesterday we went with Patrick's parents to the De Cordova museum. The bulk of it is an outdoor sculpture park, with some indoor exhibits of a variety of media. The temporary exhibit that Patrick wanted to see is called Trainscapes. Twelve or so artists were asked to create a setting through which model trains would travel. Some made settings very similar to traditional model train settings (trees and mountains), but with twists. Others made settings nothing at all like a traditional one. There was a little boy there, about five years old. I'm guessing that his mother fed him cocaine for breakfast, what with the way he was bouncing off the walls. The moment we approached the setting he was looking at, he started to break it all down. "See the train is coming it's a freighter it goes past this rock and the rock almost falls on it and if you push this button the chair rocks and..." So on. At one point he turned to us and said, "This isn't as boring as I thought it would be!" which cracked me up.