June Garden

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

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

Mini's Meme

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?

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!

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

Final Days

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

see more crazy cat pics

Where has this site been all my life?

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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...

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

Greetings!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

Concerts

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.