the words are so lovely to say

Knitty McKnitterson

2011-04-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

...or something like that.

I was looking back at some of my old posts, and decided this is as good a place as any to catalog my knitting ADVENTURES.

Currently, I am making approximately 800 million coffee cup cozies to raise money for the Relay for Life (Willows Warriors, yo!) Except, I keep futzing with different patterns and I still haven't found one that I really like. I tried a couple of patterns that were knit in the round. After much valiant effort, I can officially say that I really, really, REALLY hate knitting with DPNs. Seriously. There is way too much going on there, trying to manage 4 or 5 needles at once, and I can't get my tension right for the life of me. Ladders, ahoy.

I then attempted Magic Loop knitting, which I actually really liked. The problem is that all my circular needles are from Clover, which have a fairly stiff cable, which made it a little unwieldy and a lot annoying to use Magic Loop. I think I may need to order some circular needles with a more flexible cable--perhaps these?

For now, I am knitting them flat and then seaming them. Except, I somehow lost all my decent seaming skills, and I'm not happy with how they're looking. Le sigh.

At least it's fairly mindless knitting, and they only take about an hour to make. (They should take less, but my knitting perfectionism forces me to re-do my seams once or twice, ahem.)

LOVE THIS

2011-02-25T19:42:00.000-08:00

Gives me chills

2011-01-20T22:49:00.000-08:00

I've listened to this song approximately 5000 times over the past couple of days, and I can't get over how GOOD it is. And the lyrics? Good grief, the LYRICS. "Panoply of song"? Be still my heart. Listen, read, love.

And the lyrics:

June Hymn - The Decemberists

Here’s a hymn to welcome in the day
Heralding a summer’s early sway
And all the bulbs all coming in
To begin
The thrushes' bleating battle with the wrens
Disrupts my reverie again

Pegging clothing on the line
Training jasmine how to vine
Up the arbor to your door
And more
You’re standing on the landing with the war
You shouldered all the night before

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

A barony of ivy in the trees
Expanding out its empire by degrees
And all the branches burst to bloom
In the boom
Heaven sent this cardinal maroon
To decorate our living room

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

And years from now when this old light
Isn’t ambling anymore
Will I bring myself to write
“I give my best to Springville Hill”

And once upon it
The yellow bonnets
Garland all the lawn
And you were waking
And day was breaking
A panoply of song
And summer comes to Springville Hill

Face Lift

2011-01-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

I has done one. To my blog, not myself. I think I like it!

Well

2010-12-22T18:49:00.001-08:00

So that thing I added to the top of the page is for Swagbucks. I've really never been one for "search and earn" stuff, but I decided to give it a try just about 2 weeks ago, and I'm already pretty close to earning a $5 Amazon gift card. So, you know, I guess you can sometimes get something for nothing ;)

Oh! But it's probably a good idea to use your "junk" email address when you sign up, just to be safe. I haven't noticed any spam as a result of signing up for the site, but better safe than sorry, right? And if you use the link at the top of this page, then I get a little reward, too! C'mon. Don't make me bat my eyelashes.

Just a Thought...

2010-04-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Putting this bumper sticker:

...on a 15-year-old Chevy Corsica isn't fooling anyone, so don't worry.

In which I lose all faith in humanity

2009-05-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so that's overstating it a bit. Still, hear me out.

I just added this to my Netflix queue. (For those disinclined to click the link, it's Benjamin Bagby's performance of Beowulf in Old English, accompanying himself with an Anglo-Saxon harp. I know. Awesome, yes?)

And then I decided to read the reviews, and there were a bunch of lamers whining, "I wanted the one with Angelina Jolie," or, "You sent me the wrong one; this is boring," or, "This isn't 'ye Old English;' it's some foreign language!" One person even called it rubbish.

Le sigh. Does anyone have an appreciation for history anymore? Anyway. For your (I hope) viewing pleasure:

Weird

2009-03-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my StatCounter today, and I noticed that this post has gotten a ton of hits from random google searches. And really, those pictures are kind of hard not to look at.

Question

2009-02-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

So. I was looking at the window stickers on the car in front of me at a red light today, and noticing how many of them were for different bands. And then I got this BRILLIANT idea. Why aren't there bumper/window stickers for authors and/or books?

BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.

I would totally put a decal on my car that said "Walt Whitman" or, "Things Fall Apart" or possibly, "'Gloria!'" and then something about Miss Trixie squatting like a Balinese dancer.

Confederacy of Dunces window decals. My mind just exploded.

And googling "window decal design" has given me all sorts of... ideas.

Hmm...

COLD

2008-12-19T19:17:00.000-08:00

(via weather.com)

There's almost 11 inches of snow accumulated outside. I measured. And we're supposed to have another big storm this weekend, with several more inches of snow.

What the hell.

WHAT THE HELL.

This is comfortable?

2008-12-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

So, the cat's new thing is that she will jump into my lap while I'm at the computer, and hassle me until I put her up on my shoulder. Below, I present the evidence:

She frickin' loves it, though it does make it a bit difficult to type or, say, launch Photo Booth to take a photo. Cats are weird.

Well, ain't this a turd in the punchbowl of my life...

2008-11-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

Saw the doctor today. He thinks I might need surgery on my ankle, and referred me to an orthopedic surgeon.

Balls.

Woke up with a raging headache...

2008-11-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

This bodes well.

In which I become ridiculously annoyed and contemplate throwing things at the wall, or cursing like a fishwife.

2008-11-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

First, it occurs to me that the 'fishwife' in the phrase 'cursing like a fishwife' is hopefully the wife of a fisherman, and not of a fish. That would just be strange.

So, I am a night owl. This tends to become rather extreme during periods such as this, when I am jobless -and- school-less. It's not unusual for me to stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning, and sleep until 9:30 or 10:00. So, I was just sitting at my computer, wiggling my ankle around and stretching it in what I sincerely hope is an adequate stopgap until I get back to Bellingham, AKA "the land where Anna's health insurance will cover a doctor's visit and physical therapy".

And I realized, "Hmm, this is quite sore. And my foot feels funny. And also, ouch. That really hurts." So I pulled off my sock to take a look, and was greeted by a foot and ankle that are SIGNIFICANTLY more swollen than they have been. Like, 2 weeks post-injury swollen (big lump over the ankle bone and on my heel, and lots of swelling on the top of my foot), rather than the lovely almost-six-weeks-post-injury swelling I've been enjoying (i.e., a teensy bit of puffiness around my ankle bone). And I realized that I spent all day either standing, walking, or sitting, and NO time elevating or resting, which is a first since I injured it.

So now I've got it propped up and covered with a bag of ice, and I'll probably have to wrap it in an ace bandage for the night (which I haven't had to do in over a week). I'm trying to keep cheerful. For serious, I am. But this is getting so frustrating. I'm sick of having to wear that stupid boot, and of having to try and get all this fricking packing and cleaning done when I have to stop every 20 minutes and sit down to rest my ankle (and myself, because I'm ridiculously tired ALL THE TIME). And now I realize that I've overdone it (hence the swelling), but at the same time I know I'm not working hard enough to get everything done in time. And, I can't find anyone to take my stupid couch away, and I think I'm going to have to pay to get rid of it, but at this point I just want it gone. And, also, how on earth did I accumulate so much stuff? I already took a whole carload of stuff to the Goodwill, and everything that's left is stuff that I absolutely use on a daily basis, but it's still A LOT, and...

Harrumph. Venting's over. I'd apologize but, well, it's my blog, and I'll vent if I want to. So there. ;)

Fantastic Fours Meme

2008-11-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Can't remember where I found this one, but it seemed fun.

Four family members:
Mom, John, Chelsea, Adam, Caitlin, Kaitlin (executive decision to turn the 'four' into an '-ish')

Four places that I go to over and over:
Target, Daiso, the library, school or work

Four people who e-mail me (regularly):
Chelsea, Andrea, Maegan, probably Chelsea again ;)

Four of my favorite places to eat:
Cafe Yumm, Holy Cow Cafe, Colophon Cafe, and (weirdly enough) Shari's

Four places I would rather be right now:
Bellingham, hanging out with a friend, Disneyland, Hawaii

Four TV shows I watch over and over:
Grey's Anatomy, Pushing Daisies, Lost, Bill Moyers

Four things in the room I’m in:
bed, 2 bookcases and more books than I can count, nightstand, a ridiculous amount of crap on the floor

Four concerts I’ve been to:
Um, none? That's weird.

Four things on my calendar:
(now defunct) work schedule, pay visa bill, moving weekend, Thanksgiving

Four fears:
heights, mice, things that go bump in the night, finding a job in Bellingham

Four things in your purse or wallet:
wallet, car stereo faceplate, gum, a bunch of old receipts

Four chores you hate doing:
scrubbing floors, cleaning out the shower drain, cleaning shower/bathtub, and (at the moment) packing

Four favorite animals:
cats, cats again, ferrets, any animal in its baby stage

Four speed dials on your cell phone:
Voicemail, Mom, Chelsea, Kaitlin

Four places you have called home:
Washington and Oregon. Maybe someday California (San Francisco) or Alaska.

Four favorite pieces of jewelry:
Nope.

Four websites you visit:
Bloglines, Feministing, Hulu, YouTube

Four people who have been in your car:
Kaitlin, Chelsea, Shirley, Lacey

Four things you are wearing:
pajama bottoms, unners, Relay for Life t-shirt, University of Oregon sweatshirt

Four things you are looking forward to:
the election (Obama '08!), spending time with my Oregon friends in the next 2 weeks, moving back to the 'Ham, Christmas

Four favorite types of candy:
those neapolitan coconut chews, dark chocolate (Endangered Species 88% bars), Mr. Goodbar, lemon drops

Four sports teams you like:
Oregon Ducks (duh), -er-, uh, that's it, actually.

Four things found in your fridge:
hummus, soy milk, peanut butter, leftovers

Four rituals you do daily:
take a shower, brush my teeth, contemplate doing something productive, geek

Four things currently within reach:
iPod, cell phone, water bottle, hand lotion

Four things you know how to cook:
spaghetti (and homemade spaghetti sauce), beans and rice, polenta, nanaimo bars (not really cooking, but they're frickin' delicious, so who cares?)

Four Halloween costumes you’ve worn:
a birthday present (thanks to my super-creative mom!), Angelina Ballerina, a princess, a farm girl

Tagged: Chelsea, Corrine

Progress!

2008-10-28T17:18:00.001-07:00

Still a little swollen, still pretty stiff and sore, especially in the mornings, but looking much better!

Random Blog Post of Randomness

2008-10-26T23:36:00.000-07:00

So, there's this thing about me that I call my "14-year-old boy sense of humor." Basically, it means that I snicker and giggle at some really stupid, immature stuff, but whatever. It explains, though, why I burst out laughing just now when I opened up my Blogger dashboard and saw that my last post on this blog was #69. I know. Immature. At least I own it.

I finished The Audacity of Hope on my lunch break today (finally!) and so I'm trying to write up my post for Super Fly Book Club Extreme. Mostly, though, I'm watching Damien Rice music videos on YouTube and blogging here instead. Priorities, schmiorities. I was listening to "Rootless Tree" a bit ago and had one of those weird, super-strong and vivid memories. Last spring for about a three week period, I listened to that song every day on my walk home from the bus stop. And so the song came on and I was instantly transported back to that experience. Oddly enough, the same thing happens whenever I listen to the first two Jars of Clay albums––brings me right back to middle school. Weird.

I stayed up really late last night making what Little Sister calls "worry lists" about all the moving stuff. I bought a little notebook to use at work (I write things down obsessively, because if someone asks me to do something and then a resident comes up to the desk, or the phone rings, or something else happens, I'll forget). Except now that I've put in my notice, my new notebook has instead become my "write down everything I have to remember about the move" book. So I did one of those brain dump things last night and wrote down dates things have to be done by, and a plan of attack for sorting and packing (and donating) my crap and getting my apartment cleaned. Strangely, I feel better. Well, less stressed out, anyway, because there's been this stomach bug going around work and I think maybe I'm getting it because I've been feeling kind of sick and borderline-pukey since this morning, but that's got little to do with anything.

I really need to stop writing late night blog posts. I sound like a crazy person. Off to write up that book club thing and then to bed! Anon!

Ham-tastic (an update)

2008-10-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Everybody I know who reads this blog already knows this, so I'm not sure why I'm writing about this here, except maybe for posterity, or whatever.

So, I'm moving back to Bellingham. In 3 or 4 weeks, to be precise. There's a bunch of reasons: can't afford out-of-state tuition anymore, want to be closer to family, etc etc ad nauseum. But, to make a long story short and less boring, it's the best thing for me at this point. I'm sad to be leaving U of O, and all the glorious hippieness of Eugene (Cafe Yumm––sniffle), but I'm also looking forward to being back in Bellingham, and to see how I like WWU. They've got a BA of English there with a focus on teaching literature at the high school level, which is really sort of perfect for what I want to do, and hopefully being up there will make it easier for me to get into Woodring when the time doth come. The lame sauce part is that most of my U of O credits aren't going to transfer, but I'll be saving so much money by moving up there that it's sort of a wash in the end.

I'm all crazy with stress right now, though, because my ankle and foot are pretty much craptastic still, and I've got all sorts of packing and cleaning stuff that needs to be done, and not much of the mobility/energy to do it. Hmph. I gave notice at my work at the beginning of this week, and they're hiring someone at the beginning of next week, so when the work schedule eases up I'll hopefully have more time and energy to get things done. My ankle and foot have been noticeably more sore the last few days, and I'm not sure why. Just hoping to bide my time until I get back to the 'Ham and can see my doctor if I need to. Withdrawing from U of O means I can't use the Student Health Center anymore (had to stop physical therapy, too), and getting my insurance to cover a doctor's visit in Oregon is all confusing and more than I can deal with right now, so I'm just hoping everything will stay copacetic.

This is a long, boring, depressing post. Sorry 'bout that. Guess I'm feeling boring and depressing tonight.

:)

The Badass Crows of Eugene

2008-10-22T01:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, you read that right. Yesterday and today, there was a flock of crows in the middle of the road near the corner of Olive and (I think) 13th. Anyway. They're just hanging out in the middle of the road, and there's a whole mess of them, so the road's blocked on both sides. And they keep pecking at the ground, which is covered with fallen leaves, though I don't think that's the attraction. And, like you normally do when approaching a crowd of birds in your car, you expect them to move out of the way.

But not the badass crows of Eugene. Because the badass crows of Eugene––on two separate days now, mind you––will just keep hanging out in the middle of the road. And as they stare you down like they know where you live and will not hesitate to cut you, you have to brake more and more until you're literally creeping down the road and praying that you don't roll over any of them. And it's only when you're very nearly about to squish them out of existence that they hop just out of the path of your car with a sort of nonchalant swagger (and believe me, these crows can swagger). And you believe, for just a moment, that in a fight to the death between the crows and your car, the crows might actually win.

So, you know. Mad props to the badass crows. Except I think the thing they're so interested in on the road is possibly the leftover bits of some sort of dead animal, which kind of squicks me out.

I Cannot Stop Watching This Video

2008-10-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Seriously. It's genius.

Anna's Sprained Ankle/Torn Scar Tissue Adventure, In Pictures (AKA Boot, Redux)

2008-10-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

My apologies in advance for the picture quality. They're from my cell phone. (Still hoping to get a digital camera eventually!)

We begin our journey with a POV shot. Imagine you're me. Lying in bed like this. For three days straight:

These next two pictures were taken at the height of swelling-ness, but they don't show it very well. Just imagine a golf ball-sized lump over my ankle bone, and you've got the general idea:

After my first day back at work, I took off "das boot" at the end of the evening to find lovely, deep purple bruising all along the base of my toes. Apparently, gravity's started working its magic!:

And this is what it looked like tonight. You can't really tell from the picture, but the entire top of my foot has turned a gorgeous shade of brownish green. The swelling in my ankle's pretty much gone, but the top of my foot is really puffy still (thanks, gravity!):

And there we have it. I hope you've enjoyed your tour of Anna's Sprained Ankle/Torn Scar Tissue Adventure. I know I have. Well. At least the parts where I was zonked out on vicodin and watching movies. Maybe.

Wouldn't it just figure...

2008-09-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

I tripped on the steps today at school and rolled my ankle.

It swelled up 2-3x its normal size and is a lovely shade of black and blue.

Nothing's broken.

Apparently, I tore scar tissue left behind from when I broke my fibula 2 years ago.

I'm in a boot and on crutches for the next 2 weeks or so.

Bugger.

Dear random, unacceptably loud drunk people cavorting around the streets near my apartment...

2008-09-18T00:53:00.000-07:00

Who the hell gets drunk on a Wednesday night? And why do you feel the need to carry on conversations with each other over what sounds like a distance of several city blocks?

In completely related news, I cannot get back to sleep now.

Grumble grumble grumble...

Breaking News...

2008-07-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the sweltering summer heat (at least in my apartment) and my new obsession with eating vegan have somehow coalesced into a maniacal zeal for Billy Joel.

His music, that is.

I've always had a couple of his songs kicking around in my iTunes library, but one magical day last week, I listened to "Vienna" and thought to myself, "Self, you should listen to Billy Joel more."

And so I have. It's perfect music for making dinner with the windows open and the lights off and fans going. I'm an experience kind of girl, you know.

Or maybe I just have really lame taste in music.

Oh, dear...

2008-07-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Um, so I've apparently become one of those people who names their knitting projects.

I know, I know––what a nerd. But can you blame me? The pink seed stitch scarf (with two rows of garter every eight rows) practically named herself! (Um, yeah, it's a 'she', too).

"Rosie the Riveting".

Cute, right?

Right?

Things That Go Bump in the Night

2008-07-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Back in January-ish, I bought a couple of Neil Gaiman books, Neverwhere and American Gods, after I read one of his short stories. Because my life's been crazy, I didn't start Neverwhere until last night.

Those Croup and Vandemar guys creeped me right the hell out.

I had to sleep with the bathroom light on.

I am such a chicken.

Things I'm Wondering About

2008-06-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

1. WHY do I already want to go back to school, when summer's only a week old?

2. WHY did Mike Doughty have to put "27 Jennifers" on his new album? I love Mike Doughty, but I hate this song. Though, I have to say, "More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle" is genius. (Do you have an appropriate amount of bacon for the size of your pan, Lacey?)

Actually, I think that's it for the wonderings.

I made this cake tonight, and topped it with coconut pecan frosting, and... oh my gracious. So good, I don't have the words.

I'm going to Bellingham later this week, which will be super fun because, hey, what do you know, it's MY BIRTHDAY (and my dear mama's) on Friday! And CHELSEA and I are going to get up to some shenanigans on Thursday! (Or is that antics, Chelsea?) I am STOKED. I think my mom is a little less excited about our birthday than I am, because she's got some crazy notion that she's getting oldish (which is NOT TRUE).

This is turning into a strange post. I've been cleaning and errand-ing all day, and I think I lost my mind somewhere along the way. Oh, well. Maybe I'm just getting giddy about seeing the fam. Strangely enough, I always kind of look forward to the drive. This time, I obtained LOTR on cd for the trip. It's always better with an audiobook, since I get tired of listening to music after two or three hours. My car's cd player can play mp3 cds (which hold about 150 songs), so I always make a big "trip mix" before I go. But I'm finicky about music, and none of my iTunes-bought songs can go on an mp3 cd. I have an FM transmitter for my iPod, but you have to switch to a new blank station about once an hour, and that's too difficult to do when driving alone.

That was a long explanation for why I got LOTR on cd. Well. I'm excited, anyhow. Mainly, I'm excited to see my mummy, my step-dad, my sisters, my friends, and the kitty-cat. I really wish I could have a kitty here in Eugene––I miss having a little furball to snuggle with while I'm reading or watching a movie! I think I'm going to make sure the next place I move to allows pets, so I can get a cat.

Um, I have no good sum up-y way to end this. So... toodles?

Knitting Schmitting: Update the Second

2008-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got around to weaving in ends on the MOUNTAIN of dishcloths I'd made during my between-class/waiting for the bus time at school: it turns out, a mountain contains 11 dishcloths (12 total so far). And I still have more yarn. And I bought another 14 oz ball (700 yards) of Lily Sugar'n Cream. The new ball, though, is to be knit together with nylon strips to make dish scrubbies. If I have to knit another garter stitch dishcloth anytime soon, I might poke my eyes out with my size 7 needles, and we wouldn't want that.

I used the leftover gray yarn from Little Sister's scarf to start a Farrow Rib scarf for myself. I got almost 2 1/2 feet knit before I realized it was FUBARed and I had to rip the whole thing out. Well, I didn't have to, but after spending half an hour trying to rip out my mistake and then get all the loops back on the needle the right way, I got frustrated and decided to start from scratch. Ripped out the whole thing sitting in the lecture hall, waiting for my Philosophy class to start, which made for some shocked looks cast my way. No, I don't know why I decided to get rid of all that hard work. Sigh. Anyway, I'm leaving the me scarf alone until after I finish Grandpa's. Speaking of...

I finally wheedled a color preference out of my grandpa for the scarf I'm making him––I believe his exact words were, "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind a navy blue scarf." From Grandpa, that's pretty much a ringing endorsement. :) I bought a couple skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in navy, and got the thing darn near half-way done before I finally admitted to myself that: 1) I didn't cast on enough stitches for the single rib pattern I was using, and the scarf was too narrow, and 2) I'd been knitting a little too tightly, and the scarf was ridiculously thick. I half expected it to stand up on its own. I decided to frog it, and I'm thinking about making some super-cozy, bumming-around-the-house socks out of it instead. You know. Once I learn to make socks.

Back to Michaels I went, where I bought two skeins of Lion Wool in "Midnight Blue". I'm knitting it in Farrow Rib (can you tell that I have a raging crush on this pattern?), and I decided to make it really wide––more of a muffler than a scarf, really. Of course, this meant that I realized I needed another skein, which I got yesterday (even found the same dye lot, miracle of miracles).

I knit a quick green garter stitch (shocker!) scarf for a friend out of Lion Brand Homespun. I decided I liked the feel and look of the yarn so much that I bought more yesterday at Michaels, though in a different color.

I also checked out Ben Franklin in Springfield yesterday. Except I've decided to rename it "Anna's Crack Den," because, seriously, there was so much pretty there I thought I'd never leave. I bought more yarn that I don't know what I'm going to do with yet, and I lusted after the incredible natural fibers/hand-dyed type stuff that's way out of my price range.

I think that about sums it up. I'm starting to get a serious itch to learn some new techniques and start tackling more ambitious projects. And I'm thinking about buying a digital camera so I can post pictures of my projects here, and add pictures to recipe posts on A Recipe Depository.

Knitting Schmitting

2008-05-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

So, I've been knitting for just about two months now (thanks, Chelsea!). Summary of projects completed so far and in-progress:

Project the first: garter stitch scarf, charcoal gray. Fringe to be added as soon as I stop being lazy and get around to it. Destined for my friend, Lacey.

Project the second: skinny, loosely knit, looong garter stitch scarf, blue. Destined for... me!

Project the third: another garter stitch scarf, also blue (albeit darker than project the second), this time knit on size 15 needles (yarn called for size 10). I'm keeping this one, too.

Project the 3.5-infinity: A whole mess of cotton dishcloths. So far, "a whole mess" is only 3, but I intend to keep making them for myself, family, and friends. I used a pattern for the first one, then decided that was too much effort for something like a dishcloth. Plus, they've become my "bring to school" project, and I can get a lot more done if I just make them in straight garter stitch. I'm finishing #3 tonight; I'm going to try knitting #4 on the diagonal (cast on 3 stitches, increase every row until desired width, then decrease every row) so that I can practice increasing and decreasing.

Project the fourth: Farrow Rib scarf, super-bulky heather green, for my mama (Mother's Day gift). I'm seriously in love with this pattern––it looks so beautiful. It flared out a bit at the bound-off edge, but Mum assures me she won't mind. I think my problem was that I used all knit stitches when I bound off; apparently, you can bind off with purls, too.

Project the fifth: Gray and sparkly white (knitting two strands of yarn together) garter stitch scarf for Little Sister's 19th birthday (which, she recently informed me, she is not looking forward to, since 19 is almost 20, and 20 is OLD). Ahem. Am contemplating the hypothesis that Little Sister is nuts. ;) I tried to do a pattern with this one, but it looked terrible––too much going on with the different yarns and all. Though I was loathe to knit ANOTHER garter stitch scarf, it's actually looking pretty cute, and I hope Little Sister agrees.

Project the sixth: Still in the planning stages, but will be a scarf for my grandpa. I'm kind of nervous about this one, if only because everything I've made so far looks very girly, and I know Grandpa won't wear anything that looks even remotely feminine. I'm thinking about doing another farrow rib scarf, but much wider than the one I made for Mum, and in a manly-man color.

Project the seventh: I've been looking into knitting-for-charity opportunities, like afghans for Afghans and Warm Up America!. My grandma's been knitting hats for homeless men for years, and this kind of thing really appeals to me. I can't inundate my friends and family with knitted goods, after all, but I like the idea of using something I enjoy to help others.

And, that's it. Once school is out, I'm going to teach myself to knit in the round, so I can make hats and other fun things. Someday, maybe I'll even get crazy and make a sweater (although the thought terrifies me a bit right now). I'll post more knitting updates as they happen.

Eureka!

2008-05-11T11:31:00.000-07:00

I started alternating between two shampoos every day (i.e., using shampoo #1 one day, and shampoo #2 the next), and my hair looks amazing! It's not weighed down (a constant problem with my fine hair), and it looks really pretty and shiny, even after sleeping on it all night.

Plus, I think the sun's starting to lighten it up a bit. Yay for summer!

5 Things that Distinguish Me from Most People I Know:

2008-04-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Chelsea tagged me with this "5 Things" -er- thing. So...

1. Every Sunday, I check the PBS website to see what's on that week.

2. I like prunes.

3. I love science fiction.

4. I often read 2-4 books at a time.

5. I-by ca-ban spe-beak dou-buh-ble-ble buh-buh-ble-ble ta-balk.

Tagged:
Corrine

...

2008-04-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is vent-y and rant-y, and I'll probably take it down in two days, but...

I just posted something on Small Potatoes about this YouTube video I saw that deeply upset me. I wanted to be a little more professional and restrained over there, but I'm sitting here stewing.

Bad things happen in the world; I understand that. But sometimes I get profoundly, ragingly angry at insensitive, idiotic people. I don't really want to talk about the offending video anymore. I just––sometimes I hate people. This dumb video provoked that rage in me today. It's not something I'm proud of, but there it is. I utterly fail to see how anyone could find anything humorous about beating up anyone, let alone a pregnant woman. This is the kind of crap that makes me want to drop the f-bomb a few times, but I'm working on not doing that, so...

I'm upset. Really, really upset. I'm pissed, in fact, and I can't quite find the right words to express that. This kind of shit is depressing.

Like I needed another reason to procrastinate...

2008-04-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am so incredibly obsessed with The Deadliest Catch. Like, so obsessed that I didn't start my Philosophy paper on Sunday until 9:00 PM because I got sucked into a marathon of it on the Discovery Channel.

It's like, really entertaining, and dramatic, and very, very edge-of-your-seat. I'm obsessed––and the new season started tonight. I need to finish doing dishes and clean my bathroom so I can have maintenance come look at my fridge tomorrow (which has totally stopped working, and I had to throw all my food out, and ohmygoodness I don't need this right now). Instead, I'm watching this fabulous show, and geeking, and generally not getting things done. I have no idea why I love this show so much.

Maybe it's the Norwegian in me?

You know you have sensitive skin when...

2008-04-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

...it takes longer for the rash left behind by the band-aid to heal than the cut it was covering. Sheesh.

In unrelated news, I woke up 45 minutes before my alarm was set to go off this morning, and was unable to go back to sleep. And I haven't slept more than 6 hours in a week, and my eye twitch is back. What is up with that?

Dear Chelsea,

2008-04-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you for reminding me to listen to my Secret Garden music!

Fondly,
Your sister, Anna

All the Food That's Fit to Eat, Mar. 10-14, 2008 (Dead Week Edition)

2008-03-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

This is called "Dead Week Edition" because I've got way too much end-of-term work to get done this week to make a new recipe. Little Caesars to the rescue for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night's dinners.

Cutest. Bento. Yet.

2008-03-04T23:45:00.000-08:00

I was going to make the title "Cutest Bento Ever," but I wanted to leave myself a little room for improvement (snerk). According to my menu, I was supposed to pack potstickers, but the Mou Shu Vegetables recipe made rather a lot more than I expected, and it isn't something that's going to freeze well, so I subbed in some of that for the gyoza.

Everything else is as per the menu, so it's not like I went crazy with the packing, it's just... There's something about figuring out how to arrange everything in the bento that I find incredibly satisfying. Instead of throwing a lunch together slap-dash, you have to actually put thought into it. I know! It's like home cooking––the extra ingredient in a bento is love!

I can't believe I just said that.

I really wish I had a digital camera, so I can start taking pictures of some of these and posting them. I'll have to think more about that.

And, hey! Super tangent time: I'm watching Happy Feet right now (even though I should have gone to bed half an hour ago). This movie is seriously entertaining. I've decided that I will have no problem watching movies with my kids (once I have them, of course). Because, honestly? I love cartoons. I will totally put on my jammies and cuddle up with my kids to watch cartoons. Just as long as I don't have to watch Hannah Montana (cough-Corrine-cough cough).

All the Food That's Fit to Eat, Mar. 3-7, 2008

2008-03-02T22:04:00.000-08:00

I'll post recipes for Cheesy Vegetable-Rice Skillet and Mou Shu Vegetables w/ Asian Pancakes to A Recipe Depository tomorrow. Both recipes come from this amazing cookbook my parents got me for Christmas. Although the "quick and easy" part of the cookbook seems to rely on more prepackaged/prepared foods than I'm entirely comfortable with (both for financial and health reasons), the upside is that they're all things I actually feel comfortable attempting to make. Because, my cooking skills? Not so great just yet. (True story: last week I narrowly missed dropping a butcher knife point-down onto my bare foot. I was trying to cut up cucumbers for my lunch, and no, I have no idea why I am so incredibly clumsy.)

As for the verdict on last week's menu adherence: Meh. I'm determined to make it work, though. I finally made Polenta Marinara; it was incredibly simple, yummy, and cheap (in my mind, this is the best part).

I'm going to poke around Target sometime this week for some lunch container offerings. As much as I love my bento boxes, they're a wee bit too small according to this handy-dandy guide from Lunch in a Box
(which I read obsessively, by the way, even if I am nowhere near the culinary mastermind this lady is!) My bentos are so darn cute, though, that maybe I'll try and hold myself over until I visit the fam in Bellingham (hey, that rhymes!) for spring break and can get to Daiso.

Regarding lunches, I also realized today that I need to start branching out a bit for those. I keep falling back on peanut butter sandwiches, which I actually don't like all that well. I love veggies and hummus, so I don't mind having those at each lunch, but I need to get more creative with the "main dish". Hmm...

This Week's Menu

2008-02-25T23:38:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted yet, I know. I am officially a lamer. Last week, however, I got this weird 24-hour flu thing on Monday that (apparently) was going around campus, which kind of threw off my whole week. So this week, I'm just going to follow last week's plan. Next week, there will be innovation, I promise.

In related news, how many times can I use the word 'week' in one paragraph?

2008-02-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I like to listen to Sublime and pretend I'm a bad-ass.

And then, I hit shuffle on iTunes, and Simon & Garfunkel starts playing, and my parade gets rained on.

A Little Peace

2008-02-19T22:04:00.000-08:00

I have procrastination problems. My apartment's been a mess for months; every weekend, I vow to clean it 'til it shines. And every weekend, I find other things to do.

I'm tired of it. I thought about trying FlyLady, but it seemed a little too... regimented, to me. But! I did like the idea of creating daily routines. I was a lot better at time management when I was working. Since starting at UO, I've fallen into my old high school routine of doing homework right before class, and it's stressing me out. I need a little control back.

I'm taking it piece by piece, though. The first piece? Packing my lunch the night before. I got all these fun bento boxes at Daiso when I was in Bellingham, and I've been putting them to use. Leaving lunch-packing to the morning wasn't working for me; I got in the habit of grabbing something at school, rather than lose out on those few extra minutes of lovely sleep.

Taking a few minutes in the evening to pack a lunch is... relaxing, I guess? I think it has something to do with knowing that I'm preventing a huge headache for myself in the morning.

All the Food That's Fit to Eat, Feb. 18-22, 2008

2008-02-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

Recipe for Polenta Marinara found here

Recipe for Chicken Melt (my own creation, no less!) is here

Adventures of the Culinary Persuasion

2008-02-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

As part of my effort to cook more and eat out less, I'm going to start posting recipes. Also, Sister and I have decided to start posting our weekly menus on our respective blogs.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe for the RIDICULOUSLY EASY roasted potatoes (adapted from recipe found here) I made last night:

What to use:
2 lbs. baking potatoes (or, however much and whatever kind you prefer)
3 T. olive oil
1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
sea salt to taste

What to do:
Wash and cube potatoes. Put in a bowl with the oil, garlic powder, and salt, and toss to coat. Spread in 9x13 pan, cover with foil, and bake at 425°F. After 20 minutes, remove foil, stir the potatoes around, and continue to bake 15-20 minutes more, until taters reach desired level of yummy-ness. Serves about 4

What I thought:
These were so good, and they smelled incredible while they were cooking! I rounded out my dinner with a couple of scrambled eggs and an orange. My only complaint is that quite a few of the potatoes ended up stuck to the dish. In the future, I think I'll cut the potatoes into wedges, rather than cubes. This would facilitate making sure all the potatoes get turned at the 20 minute mark (which would hopefully keep them from sticking). Next time, I think I'll also bump up the garlic powder a bit, or go crazy and use real garlic. I remember my mom making incredible roasted red potatoes with rosemary, so that may be something I'll try next time, too.

Meh.

2008-02-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

Super Tuesday's tomorrow, and I'm kind of glad my change of address didn't go through in time to let me vote. I'm not all that impressed with either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, and Mike Gravel hasn't got a chance at the nomination (though I've got immense respect for the man for staying in the race). My candidate was Dennis Kucinich. It doesn't matter that most wrote him off as a fringe candidate; he was the candidate whose views were most in line with my own, and he's who I would have voted for. This is why I'm sick of this two-party system we have. I want to vote for the candidate I think will do the best job, not the candidate the media thinks is the front-runner.

Oh, come November I'll vote for the Democratic candidate, don't get me wrong. Whoever takes over from the Bush catastrophe has their work cut out for them, and I uniformly detest all of the Republican candidates. I may not be for Obama or Clinton, but I'm not against them. I'm against all the Republican candidates, so that's where my choice is made for me, in a way (since I want my vote to count).

I guess my 'meh' is because when it comes to politics, there's nothing I hate more than a campaign that devolves into criticizing one's opponent. We've had that from candidates on both sides this election, and it's irritating. I want to know what the candidates themselves think––what they're for, not why they don't like their opponent. So this election is going to force me to vote against the candidate I dislike, rather than for a candidate I can excitedly support. That's the 'meh'.

Well.

I'm disappointed, is all. Of course, hearing about Bush's $3.1 trillion "Let's Screw the Poor S'more" budget today didn't make me so much disappointed as angry and provoked to rather unladylike language, so I suppose I should look on the bright side. I'm fairly certain neither Obama nor Clinton would come up with such a horrifying travesty of a budget.

Is there anything better...

2008-01-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

...than Fresh Prince re-runs and the knowledge your first class is already canceled for tomorrow?

I'm thinking no.

2008-01-25T17:57:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Dad. I miss you.

Love,
Anna

"The Facebook", Ray Bradbury, and PBS

2008-01-20T23:43:00.000-08:00

1. Facebook.

I am not good at it.

It's so busy. It seems designed for people with ADD. I like looking at my friends' pictures, and writing on people's Walls, but everything else is just too much for me. What with all the applications, and the invitations, and... I'm an old person trapped in a young person's body, I realize this.

So, yeah.

2. Ray Bradbury.

I'm finally reading Fahrenheit 451. I got it at the used book store when I went up to Bellingham a few months ago. I read the first half last night, and only stopped because I fell asleep mid-sentence. Ray Bradbury is so incredible! He puts words together into these beautiful sentences that just suck you right into the story and its world. It's been awhile since I've read something that drew me in as completely as this book has.

It's an interesting dichotomy, this book. Like I said, I'm completely invested in the story and the characters as they've been presented so far, but I also hate them all just a little for their ignorance (and for the crimes they commit against books). I think it's the book burning that bothers me so much. I was surprised to find myself feeling very emotional during the scene where the old woman immolates herself and her books. I posted previously on why books matter so much to me, and I think the sentiments expressed there are part of the reaction I have to this book. I suppose I identified with her, in some way. I don't know. It's a damn good book, is really my point.

3. PBS.

Masterpiece Theatre (Sunday nights at 9) is the Complete Works of Jane Austen. It started last weekend, and I forgot about it. Tonight, though, I remembered. Northanger Abbey was fairly good. I haven't read the book, but I intend to now that I saw the movie. The movie's plot felt a bit rushed (they nearly always do) so I'm excited to read the novel and 'fill in the gaps'. I read a plot summary on Wikipedia, and from what I gather, this John Thorpe character is rather more 'asshole-ish' than what was presented tonight, so I'm sure there's much more exciting texture to be had in the novel.

Anyway.

I have a huge crush on Henry Tilney now (and the actor who played him). His character was so funny; I just kept cracking up. I also loved Catherine Morland's gothic novel-inspired fantasies. That's another reason I want to read the book. I'm curious to see how the fantasies are represented in the novel (if they are at all).

The series runs through April (Sundays at 9). Next week is Mansfield Park, which I've also never read. The week after that is a Jane Austen biopic, and then––And then! Then is 3 weeks of Pride and Prejudice! With Colin Firth! I literally can't even verbalize how excited I am. Every single time I go to Target, I look at the DVD set of Pride and Prejudice, and I always talk myself out of it, because $30 is a lot of money for something I'll probably watch only once a year or so. But now? Now I get to watch it (commercial-free, no less, since it's on PBS) and I can make my own tape of it!

It's been a shit couple of weeks, but I'm trying to get myself out of this funk, and Jane Austen's certainly helping with that.

The end.

2008-01-11T20:51:00.001-08:00

I remember the time she put her arm around me. “Anna was one of my babies,” she said, voice proud. I don’t remember who we were talking to, but I remember how she went on to tell them about how I was just a little baby when she started taking care of me––only 3 months old––and how she’d later taught me my alphabet and how to read. That never left me, the way she claimed me like that. In return, I got to claim her. She was ‘Grandma’ Charlaine to me, and to many others. She was kindhearted, and joyful, and a genuinely nice woman. She taught me joy. And she had a great laugh.

I have another memory. She and Pete picked me up on a Friday afternoon. I was 15 or 16, I think, and they were taking me to see The King and I at one of the county high schools. We stopped at their old house, the house where she’d cared for and taught me when my parents worked. The yard had fallen into disrepair. I remember how she’d gotten out of the car, gone over to see the full extent of the damage. She was upset, and while we waited for her to come back, Pete said softly, “It’s not our house anymore, dear.” But it mattered to her, that years of care and hard work had gone unappreciated by the house’s new owners, and it began to matter to me. She valued others, and she respected hard work, and I like to think she’s part of the reason why I have those same values.

I didn’t even know she was sick, and that’s what gets me the most. The last time I saw her was two summers ago. My grandpa took us all on a week-long cruise to Alaska. One afternoon, my sister, my cousin, Grandma Charlaine and I played some sort of card game together. I’m fairly certain I did terribly, but I remember we laughed, and talked, and simply enjoyed each other’s company. I have so many memories like that, because every memory I have of her is special. She made them special, simply by virtue of her presence. I never thought to tell her how much she meant to me, and I’m sorry for that. She passed away a few days ago. I’m so glad that she’s at peace now, that her death was not lingering or painful. I miss her, though. It’s selfish of me, but I wish I could have had just one more conversation with her, one more chance to give her a hug. I’m proud, though, that I will always be one of her babies.

Sometimes, Only the Best Will Do

2007-12-12T23:33:00.000-08:00

I keep post-its at my desk, because every so often a story idea or a snippet of dialogue will pop into my head, and I need to write it down for future use. The written-on post-its get stuck to my computer until I use them.

Anyway.

I needed a post-it tonight, but I couldn't find my pad (I also use them for bookmarks, so sometimes my current pad travels a bit). I had a pad of "Aloha Stick 'N Notes" that my sisters got me as part of my 21 presents for my 21st birthday a year ago, so I used one of those.

Stupid thing wouldn't stay stuck. It kept popping off my computer, and not in a defeated, "I'm just going to gradually slide off" sort of way, either. Oh, no. It had to 'pop', as if something about my computer was retarding it, or something. Long story short, I was forced to open up the Post-it cube I bought a few weeks ago. All of this is my way of saying that as much as I support buying generic, sometimes you just need the real thing. And that's all.

Quandary

2007-12-11T02:31:00.000-08:00

Please pardon me while I nerd out for a minute.

In general, when writing a salutation followed by a person's name, I believe it's considered proper to put a comma between the two (i.e., Hi, Joe). But! When one is writing an email, where it is also considered appropriate to put a comma following the person's name (as when writing a letter), it just looks odd to me to have all those commas in there. Also, if you're writing a letter and using 'Dear', you don't put a comma between Dear and the person's name. So, which is correct:

Hi, Joe, -or- Hi Joe,?

It feels wrong to not have a comma after the 'Hi', but it looks wrong with one. I just don't know. This has been bothering me for literally months, now. I want a definitive answer, damn it!

Oh, well. Maybe Quandary #2 should be, "Why the hell am I still awake?" I have a big day planned for tomorrow. I'm going to go to Starbucks to read for awhile, then I'm going to Target to buy the new Harry Potter movie (woot!), and then I'm going to force myself to clean my apartment at least a little. Really, it's atrocious.

On a related note, being out of school and not having a job to go to is weird. I've been reduced to writing Christmas-themed fan fiction that I will never show to anyone, largely because it's ridiculous (albeit somewhat entertaining). So, there's that.

I've been trying to read Leaves of Grass, which I bought ages ago. It's difficult for me, because poetry isn't really my strong suit, and so I have trouble understanding exactly what Whitman's trying to say. Still, his use of language is just really incredible and beautiful, which I always appreciate, so I mostly just re-read my favorite bits over and over again and marvel. And then I cry, because I seem to cry all the time now at the most ridiculous things. Like poetry. I've never cried at poetry in my life, but when I started reading "Song of Myself," I got all choked up. Not in a sad way, mind you, but more in a, "Oh my god, this is amazing writing," kind of way, which might be worse.

It's odd, how you change in your twenties. Like the emotional thing, with me. Also this weird sense you start to get about simply knowing who you are, and liking who you are, and shedding the self-consciousness of your teenage years. Maybe that's just me; I don't know. Still, it's pretty awesome, I have to say.

What is it with me and the posts full of ramble? I'm definitely going to bed, now.

2007-11-20T23:16:00.000-08:00

Why is it that every time someone in a television show or movie sits down with a glass of wine and a book, they have to be listening to the Flower Duet from Lakmé? I mean, it's pretty and all, but it's not the only piece of music in existence. I'm nowhere near an expert on classical music or opera, but at least I know that there's more than one damn aria one can listen to on those nights when a book and some beautiful music is called for. (Which, incidentally, describes pretty much every Friday night I've had for the past few months.)

Hum-Drum

2007-11-20T14:18:00.000-08:00

I just turned in a crappy paper. I hate doing that. It was one of those where I know I could probably have done better, but I also felt like I put a lot of effort into it. I think I put too much into this one, and didn't organize it as well as I could have. To be fair, I've been struggling with the assigned topic for over a week, and it was only today, really, that I felt like I finally got some clarity about it. Unfortunately, I needed to turn the thing in today since I won't be in class tomorrow (I will, instead, be driving to Bellingham, which takes forever, especially when you're by yourself). So, not nearly as polished as I wanted it to be.

Also, this was one of those papers where I knew what I meant, I just had trouble verbalizing it. Gah. I know I have high standards, and an irrational expectation for A's, it's just... When it's something you love, you want to do well. And I don't even really love Medieval literature, but it's English, and so... My expectations. They are high.

Well, I'm looking forward to visiting with friends and fam, and I'm going to try and figure out how to burn my David Sedaris audiobooks (no worries; they're paid for) to CD. That should make the drive a little less long, I suppose. Alas, I'm thinking that my -ahem- 'faster than normal' travel speed the last few times I've been to & from Bellingham is going to catch up with me one of these days, so I'm going to attempt to, er, reign it in a bit. When you're doing such a long drive, it's nice to get in the left lane and just go, so you don't have to deal with the dum-dums that insist on braking for no reason, or driving 5 miles under the speed limit. Still, I certainly don't want to get a speeding ticket, so I'm hoping for a leisurely drive up.

What I'm most looking forward to, however, is the post-Thanksgiving day turkey and cranberry sandwich. Even better than Thanksgiving dinner, in my opinion.

Open Letter to My Next Door Neighbors

2007-10-31T23:55:00.001-07:00

It is late. Kindly shut up.

*Posted because I am a chicken

Midterms, and Nice-Smelling Hair

2007-10-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Once a week, I wash my hair with Lush's BIG shampoo to strip out all the gunk my regular, every-day shampoo leaves behind, then follow it up with some expensive conditioner I justified buying because I only use it once a week.

So, I'm sitting here, trying to study for tomorrow's midterm, and all I can think is god, my hair smells amazing. Really, it does. So amazing I can't quite concentrate.

In related news, I still really hate Beowulf. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to do very well on tomorrow's midterm, but I just want to get it over with already so I can stop reading this stupid poem. How many people whose names begin with the letter H can there be in one poem, anyway? And how am I supposed to remember who is who?

This is why I don't aspire to be a History teacher.

Into the Wild? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

2007-10-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

So, I just now realized that they made a movie of Into the Wild. The trailer just played on TV now; how did I not know they made a movie of this book? Of one of my favorite books?

I read this book for American Literature my senior year of high school. The year I decided to become a high school English teacher, because my American Lit teacher was awesome. She made us read things like Into the Wild and Gatsby and Yellow Raft in Blue Water and spend an entire semester pondering what each of these books had to say about the American Dream. She's the reason I took American Lit in college and discovered Louise Erdrich, who is now my favorite writer.

I wrote a kick-ass in-class essay about that book. That book, which I marked in so many places with little strips I tore from post-its. That book, which was the first one that sucked me in like crazy, that left me scribbling margin notes on loose leaf paper because we had library copies and couldn't write in them. And now, I'm all grown up and everything, and I get to write in my books because I spent a shockingly high amount of money on them, but still... It was that book! That was the book where I realized I could have conversations with the books I read.

Also, Jon Krakauer and Into the Wild are totally the reasons I started reading nonfiction for fun. Majoring in English is currently pissing me off a little, because we're doing Beowulf, and I just today realized that the reason I'm having so much trouble with it is because I hate it. It's boring me, and the combination of testosterone, random history passages, and religiosity is just not as appealing to me as it is to others.

But then, see, I'm reminded about Into the Wild, and I remember why I got in this to begin with. Also, that movie had better not suck, because I'm getting tired of spending 2 hours watching my favorite books be butchered and twisted into some half-assed, nearly unrecognizable, empty-headed version of itself. I speak, of course, of The Nanny Diaries, among others.

Big Sigh

2007-10-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

I love to write. I write short stories all the time, mostly to amuse myself. My usual writing process involves sitting down and writing the story (or, more typically a 'vignette') in one go. The next day, I usually go back and clean it up or, at the very least, make it less crappy. One day, of course, I hope to publish, but as I have neither the time nor energy to pursue that right now, this is my creative outlet.

All that being said, I don't know quite how to say the next bit without sounding mean and judgmental, but... There's some really terrible writing out there. I know it's the internet, and people can publish whatever they want on their sites, but sometimes I'll stumble across some random story someone's written and it's just godawful.

Usually, it's writing that sounds as if a 15-year-old wrote it. I know this is a pretty stereotypical label, but I suppose I feel comfortable using it because when I was 15, my classmates and I were writing things that didn't sound as if 15-year-olds wrote it.

It makes me a little nervous, honestly, for the day I become a teacher. I want to teach high school English precisely because I'm so passionate about reading and writing, and I want to instill that passion into others. When I read this bad writing, it makes me a little discouraged for the future. I know my standards are a little high, but I'm a little frightened I'll be spending my career reading poorly-written student work and trying to give constructive criticism that doesn't come across sounding like, "Um, it sucks." I don't want to crush young minds, or be the teacher who's "the bitch." I also don't want to give my students the impression that it's okay to be in high school and not know how to write with at least a little style.

I am, above all, pragmatic. I'm well aware that real-life teaching is not a bit like Freedom Writers, or many other movies featuring a messiah-like teacher who comes in with their unconventional thinking and gives magical personality makeovers to disinterested kids. On the other hand, I can name several of my English teachers in high school who taught me to think critically, read deeply, and above all, write better. I've had English teachers who could get nearly every student in the room, even the 'slackers', sharing their opinions about Gatsby or The Things They Carried.

I know this isn't an easy career path I've chosen for myself, and I suppose the next few years of school will prepare me to deal with some of these issues. I also know that this is the right career path for me, so this is not a doom and gloom, glass half empty future I'm looking at. I suppose I'm just acknowledging that my eyes are very much open as I venture into this life of mine. Stand and deliver, and all that.

Run your fingers through my soul...

2007-10-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

I am just cranking out the posts this week, hmm? This one is, well, incredibly personal, but it's going up anyway.

I've been re-reading my notebook this evening, and I find myself incredibly grateful that I began this experiment in journaling. My notebook only goes back five months or so, and I am already in a different place (literally and figuratively) than I was when I started it. Reading old entries is like having a conversation with myself. Writing has permanence, and so having these thoughts and stories and snippets of daily life down on paper has become incredibly valuable to me.

Another interesting aspect of my notebook is the specific timeline it represents. When I started it, I was just finishing up about four years' worth of counseling. I was preparing to quit my job (which had been my identity for, count them, six years of my young life) and move 350 miles away, to a town where I knew exactly no one. I was enrolled at a school I'd only really visited on the internet, and was completely unsure if the major I'd picked was the right one.

And now I'm here, and thriving. I love school, I'm enthralled with my major, and I even introduce myself to strangers on a regular basis! Life is good, though I miss my job -- dearly, sometimes. Tonight, I was thinking about my residents, missing some of my octo- and nonogenarian friends, and I actually cried a little. But then I felt better, and I realized that it has been a very long time since I felt any overwhelming feelings of depression.

I don't really like to think about my first year after high school, when said depression really kicked in. I remember spending all day in bed, getting up only to go to work and (occasionally) to class. I ate fast food every day, watched TV for hours on end, and I had terrible grades after my first quarter. I was a mess. And then I started counseling, and I got better. It took a long time, but I dealt with a lot of stuff, and I became a stronger, better person, and I like myself now. Quite a bit, actually.

What this is all leading up to is how I feel about my dad. I've been thinking about him this week, because I started thinking about what a different person I am now. Growing up with my dad, dealing with the crap his addiction brought to our family, it took a toll on me, and I didn't realize it until I spent the Fall of 2003 watching Law & Order reruns. And counseling fixed me (or helped me fix myself: however you want to look at it).

The funny thing is, though, that counseling never fixed the one issue I thought I was going to counseling for. Namely, that would be how I feel about my dad. Sometimes, I think about my dad, and I get really angry at him for the things he did to our family. The things he did, specifically, to me. They call it 'verbal abuse' and it was pretty damn terrible. It messed with my head, and it made my opinion of myself incredibly low. I think about the things he would say to me, even when I was really young, and I wish he was still alive just so I could call him on it. But wishing he was still alive is the other part of how I feel about my dad. I miss him. I've missed him for every one of the six years he's been gone. And sometimes it's terrible. There are these brief moments, where I just have to stop, because I suddenly remember that my dad is dead and I want to scream. But it passes. And thankfully, those moments don't come very often anymore; neither do the ones where I'm pissed at him.

I thought counseling would make me stop missing my dad, but I realize now that it was an unreasonable expectation. Counseling helped me heal the wounds my dad inflicted when he was still alive, that's for sure, but I don't think I'll ever stop missing my dad. I don't think I'll ever resolve this strange dichotomy: being angry at him on the one hand, loving him fiercely on the other. And now that I am older (ha!) and wiser, I think it'll be okay if I never resolve it. I guess what I'm trying to get at, is that I'm okay with being conflicted when it comes to him. These days, I tend to accept all my thoughts and feelings about my dad, without passing judgment on myself. They're parts of a whole, I suppose. And I still miss him. I get these urges sometimes, to sit down with my dad and have a deep, philosophical discussion about the state of the world today. My mom and I get into those sometimes, and it's utterly fascinating for me to get to know her as a person, not just a parent, and I wish I could know my dad like that. It's not in the cards, I know, but my dad was a pretty bright guy, and I imagine he'd have some interesting things to say.

Above all, though, I think he'd be proud of me. And that's enough.

Good grief

2007-10-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

I'm watching Bill Moyers' profile of John Hagee. This guy is a warmongering, hateful man, disguising his bigotry as "theology." It's been on for less than half an hour, and I've already cried twice at the complete lunacy and, frankly, meanness of these people.

And people wonder why I'm no longer a Christian.

Um...

2007-10-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

Geology had a required field trip, so I dropped it. Geology can suck it; I'm taking Anthropology next quarter.

Anna's Surefire, Can't Lose, Super-Excellent Cure for Insomnia

2007-09-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

Counting sheep.

Seriously. I read somewhere that counting sheep actually does help you fall asleep, and I tried it. It works for me, so long as I keep focused on the counting, rather than letting my mind wander.

Of course, being the non-visual person I am, I have trouble picturing sheep, so instead I mostly count. But it works. Sometimes I'll see a fancy curly-cue image of the number I'm on, so I suppose that works.

I'm also working on getting up early, even when I don't have to. Apparently, people who wake up early are more productive than those who don't, and after Anna's Summer of Lazy, I can certainly use some productivity. Also, school starts tomorrow! After six months of no school, I am strangely excited. And I am not even all that bitter about having to take a geology class to get my lingering gen-ed requirements out of the way, mostly because a lecture class means no field trip, and no field trip means no broken fibula for clumsy, clumsy Anna. (Note: I am still bitter about the geology field trip where I did break the aforementioned fibula, if only because those co-pays for doctor visits and physical therapy appointments really add up, okay?)

So, yeah. School! And homework! And no demanding job to interfere with said schoolwork! And did I mention how much I love taking the bus to school, rather than circling a parking lot for ten minutes looking for an open space?

Good times ahead.

Just a thought

2007-09-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

lose: fail to keep or to maintain; cease to have, either physically or in an abstract sense

loose: not restrained or confined or attached;not compact or dense in structure or arrangement

They are not interchangeable. It seems like I see this mix-up all too often. If you "loose" something, you've decided to set it free. I don't think keys need to be free.

It's one of those things that just drives me crazy, and makes me wish that the entire internet was like Wikipedia, so I could go in and fix it immediately.

Perchance to Dream

2007-08-25T22:18:00.001-07:00

I had a strange dream the other night. I suddenly started writing the letter 's' a different way, and someone was showing me pages and pages of all this stuff I'd wrote where the 's's looked different. I remember feeling really upset (in the dream) about the situation, because I liked my old 's's, and I felt like these new ones were misrepresenting me, or something. It was disconcerting, and I still feel weird about it now, almost like it's still bothering me, or something. Weird.

I haven't been sleeping very well lately; in fact, I think I can safely say I've been suffering from insomnia for about a week. No matter what time I go to bed, I lie awake until 3 or 4 in the morning. This sucks, because it means that I sleep through my alarm, and often don't get out of bed until noon, and I hate missing out on the morning. The thing is, I thought of a really good idea for a novel, and I've been playing around with it. I always knew I wanted to write a novel someday, and this idea sort of came to me, and seems to be inspiring all sorts of creative juices. Plus, I don't have a job right now (and I can live off my savings for at least 2 years), so maybe this is a good time to do this. I've been keeping my journal next to me on the bed to write down all the stuff I think of while I'm trying to fall asleep, but that just means I'm turning the light on and off every five minutes to write something down. It's frustrating, because I feel all out of phase because of the insomnia thing, but I also really want to keep exploring this book. I'm totally at fault here, too, because I'm such a procrastinator that I don't work on the book at all during the day, so I think my brain goes into overdrive at night. Gah.

I went to Target today to pick up a few things, and what did I find when I went to get some string cheese? Front and center, a package of moldy string cheese. I swear, there was an entire stick that was solid green, and the rest in the package were nicely speckled. This was especially troubling because string cheese lasts forever, so I don't even want to think about how old that poor cheese was. I'm getting my cheese from the grocery store from now on.

Also, I have a migraine which is just about reaching the full-blown stage, and I think the diet coke I had with dinner tonight caused it, and now I have to go lie down before I throw up.

I miss the rain

2007-08-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

So, I was lying in bed last night, watching some Battlestar Galactica on my laptop, when I heard a sound I haven't heard in a long, long time. It was raining. This made me incredibly happy, because I don't think it's rained once since I moved to Eugene. It only lasted about five minutes, and then I was sad, but still.

When you grow up in the Pacific Northwest, rain is just a fact of life. I received my very first raincoat for my birthday this year. Up until now, I've always made it through a rainy day with a hooded sweatshirt, if anything. You know,that one Grey's Anatomy episode where one of the characters makes a comment about no one in Seattle using an umbrella is hysterical, because it is so, so true. There are other things I love about Bellingham, like how you see people still wearing shorts in December, and the overabundance of fleece. In keeping with the raincoat theme, I think I outgrew the last winter coat I owned when I was about nine. Maybe earlier. I don't really remember. Seems like my 'winter coat' for the past ten or fifteen years has been a fleece jacket, possibly with a sweatshirt underneath.

But, yeah. The rain. I miss the rain. Eugene's pretty similar to Bellingham, climate-wise, but just different enough that you don't seem to get those sporadic rainy days in the summer. A little while later, it started raining again. It was so nice to just lie there and listen to the rain while I went to sleep. Of course, my reverie was soon broken by some guy screaming the f-bomb about 80 times, and then some other guy threatening to call 911. I do like living downtown, but not on Saturday nights, mostly because I get woken up at least once by some guy shouting, "What the fuck? Dude," or some girl with an annoying laugh going, "Like, omigod, you guys." Yeah. Not such a fan of that. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll learn to block it out in time, right?

Prunes, Prunes, the magical fruit

2007-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

I really don't understand why almost nobody I know likes prunes. They're a staple on my grocery list, and I eat them every day, usually as my afternoon snack.

They're yummy! They're sweet! They are full of fiber, and have a nice texture when you bite into them!

I just don't get why people who have never eaten a prune in their life wrinkle up their noses at prunes. It's not like I stew them or anything (because I agree that stewed prunes are gross, as well as a fire hazard). Sigh. Prunes get a bad rap, this is what I think.

What inspired this impromptu defense of prunes, you may ask? I saw that commercial for individually-wrapped prunes, and found it to be the most ridiculous waste of packaging ever. I'm all for people eating prunes, but not if they're going to buy them individually wrapped. Is it really that difficult to grab an unwrapped prune out of a bag? Sure, your hand gets a little sticky, but that's part of the fun! Right? I should post this under "Things that make Anna shake her head and say 'Tsk.'"

It's the little things

2007-07-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

For anyone who doesn't know, frozen grapes are delicious. I bought a huge box of green grapes at Safeway yesterday because they were too cheap to pass up. Because there's only me to eat them, I put half into the freezer so they don't go bad. Mmm...

Yesterday I went to Target and bought a new shower head, among other things. The old one was all gunked up, and annoyingly rebuffed all my attempts (read: vinegar and an old toothbrush) to remove its mineral deposits. It made for a noisy, sputtering shower. Now I have the new one all installed, and there is nary a sputter in sight. And this, my friends, makes me inordinately happy. So worth the 20 minutes and multiple curse words it took me to get the old one off.

Ooh! That, and I got a floor lamp for my living room, which does not have an overhead light. Got me a CFL bulb that's the equivalent of 100 watts, and my little abode is much less dreary once the sun sets. I also fixed my closet door, which has been off its track since I moved in. It seems like I keep finding more and more little things that can be fixed or improved.

I really need to find a job.

Oh, my

2007-07-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

I have not written anything in a very, very long time. But. I am moved, and it is nice. Today, I successfully traveled to Target and back. Lo! I am an urban warrior!

That was silly. Anyway, my apartment is nice, but smells somewhat... fusty. (This is a new word I just made up; a combination of funky and musty. Use it wisely.) At Target today, I purchased some Lysol disinfecting spray, some carpet deodorizer, a few boxes of baking soda, and more scented candles! The war on fust shall commence!

God. My life is so boring. Hey! Vacation this weekend! To the coast! With the fam! Funsies! Uhm... I have nothing else. Hey! I know! I'll post this, from my notebook:

June 14, 2007
On Paper Dolls

I downloaded Rosie Thomas's "Paper Doll" the other day, of course triggering a veritable host of memories of my own girlhood obsession with paper dolls. I'm not really sure entirely what that obsession stemmed from. That my paper dolls were typically of the "An American Family from (insert historical period here)" variety probably indicates a relationship with my obsession with period role-playing. I'm not sure what it is about a childhood spent with above-average intelligence and a general lack of social graces that lends one to fascination with history, but there it is. I could play Oregon Trail for days (the doll and dress-up kind, not the computer kind). I devoured Little Women and wanted to be Meg March, and I spent hours cutting out paper dolls with my own special paper doll scissors that left painful, red indents on my thumb and forefinger.

Actually, the cutting out part was about all I ever did (holy shit, it takes a long time). I used to keep my paper dolls in this square-ish Reebok shoebox that was more than a little dog-eared. So, while I would cut them out for hours on end, I would be making up these insanely elaborate stories and adventures for them in my head. That one Gibson Girl caused some serious mayhem with her adorable, turn-of-the-century family (especially since she was twice as tall as her father. They were from different books).

See, that's what I miss about being a kid--being able to spend hours in my head, creating all these fabulous stories. To tell the truth, I still spend a few minutes lying awake in bed at night, imagining snippets of conversation or a particular moment in time. When I was a kid, I used to call it "playing in my head." I guess I still should call it that. Where I struggle, though, is translating what's in my head into words. I can imagine something beautiful and powerful, but when I go to write it down... it kind of comes out like crap. This is all my way of saying, I don't know if I'll ever write my book.

And... I'm wandering. Okay. Time to curl up with Half-Blood Prince. Deathly Hallows comes out on Saturday--yay!

So

2007-07-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Moving day is tomorrow, which means that my stress level is nearly as high as my to do list is long.

I hate moving.

Cell phones and such

2007-06-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

So, for someone who has been notoriously bad about even acknowledging that I have a cell phone (I've had the "Oh, you left me a message? Sorry, I haven't charged my phone in a couple weeks" conversation more times than I care to count) I've suddenly become cell phone-dependent in the space of, oh, three days. So much so, in fact, that I bought a Bluetooth headset for my new phone. I know. Now I'm one of those people that annoy me.

In all fairness, I bought it for driving. I would never talk on my old cell phone in the car because I felt like I was juggling too many things. Big fan of both hands on the wheel, I am. It's just weird; I really only ever had a cell phone for emergencies, and now it's going to be my only means of verbal communication (besides in-person, I mean). It actually makes me feel a little... blegh. There's something frightening about being reachable all the time. Y'all know how I treasure my alone time.

Although, I suppose since I'll always have caller id, this could work to my advantage. Heh. Plus, text messaging? So. Much. Fun.

Why?

2007-06-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

So, I found myself on a conservative blog today. Not exactly the best way to spend 20 minutes of my birthday, but you know, I'm curious. I don't think I'll ever stop being shocked at how hateful some people are. I think a recurring theme that I find in a lot of these conservative blogs is this really pervasive sense of fear. Whether it's the big, bad illegal immigrants, or the "militant atheists", or (oh noes!) homosexuals, it seems like everything's a direct threat. It's such a doom & gloom, us-versus-them mentality.

What gets me the most, though, is the violence in the language they use. It's truly astounding how venomous someone can sound without once dropping the F-bomb. Such as:
"Congressmen who are liberal are more likely to have slutty daughters. And therefore, they are more likely to support abortion for selfish, personal reasons."

Words are such a powerful thing, and I can't... I don't even know what to say to stuff like that, except why are you so angry? I feel like telling the entire country to just take a deep breath. Whatever happened to being nice to people? I just... I don't know what else to say, honestly. I read stuff like that and I feel sick to my stomach, because I don't really comprehend how someone could have that much hatred in them. I really don't. I've been through a lot of shit in my life, but I never hated my dad as much (or at all) as that woman hates people she doesn't even know. Makes me sad.

Bright Eyes, and Emotional-ness

2007-06-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Every few months, I rediscover all my Bright Eyes music and spend hours listening to the same song on repeat. Guess which one I'm listening to now?

"Well, let the poets cry themselves to sleep / And all their tearful words will turn back into steam"

That's such a beautiful piece of writing, and then when the music builds right after that with the serpent's tongue bit, it's just... wow.

I find myself tearing up at stuff like this with greater and greater ease these days. It's not necessarily sad things that get me, just--I guess powerful, would be the descriptor, and then I find myself all choked up and breathless with emotion. Such as this:

Dear me, I believe I'm becoming a sap. I draw the line at children's movies, though. I refuse to cry at a children's movie. Do you hear me? Refuse!

Oh, noes

2007-05-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

This evening, I cried while watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

I have officially become my mother.

In my defense, the episode was incredibly touching. Honest.

HELLO FRIEND!!!!

2007-05-22T22:34:00.000-07:00

...was the title of an email I received today. Apparently, someone named Bruce Smith wants me to pretend to be the next of kin to a wealthy, deceased, British businessman, and will give me a whole bunch of money in return.

What bothers me most about these types of emails is I just know there's some person out there who'll overlook the poor grammar, the misspellings, and the fact that it's an email and eagerly send this guy all their personal information and some of their money to boot because they really believe they're going to get that reward. And I know it's partly their fault for being greedy and somewhat dumb, but seriously--people who run scams like this are just awful.

Things like this start me thinking about all the horrible things people do to one another and then I start to hate the world a little.

Eugene

2007-05-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

I like it. A lot. I saw some apartments that looked really nice, and the campus is beautiful; lots of pretty brick buildings. It's bigger than I expected, but it's got a fairly awesome bus system, at least from what I saw. It's just--it feels right. I think I'm making the right choice. So now I'm super excited, of course, although still slightly nervous, but I think it will all be okay.

:)

My new reading project!

2007-05-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Such an idea I have! I found this link to the bestselling books for each year in the 20th century (I'm including 1900). So, my plan is to read one book from each year off the list. Good idea, yes? This is going to be so much fun!

(sp?)

2007-05-05T00:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot fathom why people include misspelled words in things they post on message boards and then include (sp?) after it. Um, guys? If you don't know how to spell it, look it up. You're already on a computer. All that is required is to plug that misspelled word into Google. It's not that hard, and it doesn't take much more time than typing those insufferable (sp?)s. Seriously. Very annoying.

I would appoint myself the spelling and grammer police of the Internet. Alas, such a position does not currently exist. Woe! Woe is me!

This is why I love YouTube

2007-04-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

Anna ate too much chocolate tonight and can't fall asleep

2007-04-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

So, of course, I have SEIZED this opportunity of not being able to sleep to become philosophical and introspective. I asked my grandma not to renew my TIME subscription (my standard birthday gift for the last four years). I did this because, to be honest, it was a lot of reading to keep up with, and I've become somewhat disappointed with the content. I feel like a lot of the 'in-depth' articles are really just so much filler, and that the topic choices are rather repetitive. Additionally, by the time the magazine gets to our mailbox, I'm already familiar with most of the news stories it covers. It's a tough decision, looking to the internet for all my news-y needs, and I'm going to miss having something that I can shove in my purse and carry around for days on end, reading a bit here and there. Which leads me too...

I started thinking about books, and how I don't think they will ever become obsolete. Digitizing music is one thing (speaks the girl who has all her music on her computer and threw out her CD cases). I remember when long trips meant a cd player and a big CD case (you know, back in the day) and I wouldn't give up my iPod and go back to that. I've seen some attempts to digitize books (ebooks, or audiobooks) but, screams my inner bibliophile, they just don't compare. There's something about books that is undeniably special. There's a tactile response that books elicit that can't really be reproduced by a machine. I don't think there's anything I love more than opening a new book for the first time. There's a physical presence to a book, a sense that it takes up space in our world, that it is important, in and of itself. I don't get that same sense with an ebook, or even an audiobook (though I'll make an exception for the works of David Sedaris, because hearing him narrate his books makes them even funnier). And an ebook reader gives me the same feeling that those Reader's Digest books that contain two novels give me--it's unnatural. I like a story to have its own space, for it to start when you turn to the first page and end when you get to the last.

Another thing I wonder about is the notion of permanence. Anyone who has ever been to a public library or a used bookstore knows that books have a life of their own, that they pass through many owners and can outlast any human. Because I have too much time on my hands, I was trying to imagine a world without books, a world where written material, much like my music collection, exists solely on a computer. Then I started thinking about 1984, where the government was able to exact control by, among other things, controlling written material. What a scary world, where the content of a book could be changed in an instant, where someone could dictate what an entire population could and couldn't read. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, you can burn and ban all the books you want, but there's always going to be that one person with a loose floorboard in their house, and the book will endure. That (if all my rambling makes sense) is why I really want books to stick around, because they are. Once a book is printed, it exists. You can destroy a copy, or thousands of copies, but something almost always remains. I think there's also something to be said for thought that's deemed valuable enough to be printed in ink, that it should also be deemed valuable enough to be read by future generations.

This makes me happy

2007-03-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

It's just... just... so very sweet, not to mention the song is great.

Hello, what's this?

2007-03-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

And now, for my boring news: I switched my web browser from Safari to Firefox. I did this because Safari is stoopid for a lot of sites, including this one, and it was pissing me off just a little too much. I'm really liking Firefox, though, so this is probably a good thing.

I want to know my grades! Like, right now!

Uhm... also, I saw 300 with Maegan on Tuesday, and now I can't stop thinking about it. It was very... affecting, if I can use the word in that context. In the first place, it was just an utterly gorgeous movie, and was full of wistful, war-related romanticism. And the Spartans! Good heavens, the Spartans! That's really all I can say, is Spartans! with an exclamation point! If you saw them, you'd understand.

I dunno. I feel a bit aimless now. I know that's a little ridiculous to say after only two days of being out of school, but that has been such a singular focus for me for so long (too long) and so now I feel... strange. Also, Eugene is approaching at a much more rapid pace than I would like and, because I am just that neurotic, I'm starting to freak out a little over things that I won't need to deal with for several months yet (like a place to live and a job).

I think sometimes that I look at the future as if I will be some completely different person then, only now I realize that I'm moving in less than four months, and I'm still little old me, bumbling along. Not that I'm crying in my porridge, or anything, but you know. I stress. It's in my genes.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, so perhaps I'll just stop now. Ta!

My edumacation

2007-03-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

I am DONE! I had my last final yesterday morning and walked away thinking, "Hmm. I never have to come back here again." It was strange--kind of anticlimactic. Oh, well. I'm done! Looking back, I wish I'd taken 15 credits every quarter so that I could just get it over with, but I acknowledge that I wouldn't have been able to work as much as I have if I'd done that, so... Whatever. Hindsight's 20/20, right?

I'm totally excited about U of O, so that's good. Yep.

I'M DONE!

I feel bitchy

2007-03-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

and I don't know why. Hmmph.

Become the Enemy

2007-03-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

...is the title of this song by The Lemonheads that I've been listening to a lot lately. It has a lovely sort of rock power ballad feel to it that I know I should hate but um... can't.

So, I have had an epiphany about cleaning. I always put off cleaning because there's this thing in my brain that's like, "If I start cleaning, I can't stop until it's done, and that will take forever and then I won't be able to do these other things, etc., etc., ad nauseum. And then I never do anything productive that I have planned, and end up living in squalor.

To change this, I've decided to devote at least 20 minutes each day to cleaning. After 20 minutes, I can keep going if I want to and stop when I want to. My room is already much improved. I might be overthinking this a bit, but I surmise that 20 minutes to an hour or so of motivated cleaning is much more productive than hours of unmotivated, 'I hate this' cleaning.

Also, I was watching CMT this morning (no, I don't know why) and I have decided that Toby Keith is quite sexist--I refer you to his "What About Me" video where a string of women are portrayed as mindless chatterboxes. Whatever, Toby Keith. You're dumb. So there!

About the URL...

2007-03-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

"The length of sky is just about the size of my ignorance."
-Louise Erdrich

So, now we've cleared that up.