Must. Resist. New. Craft.

I ended up not going to work over the Thanksgiving weekend. As I reasoned, I wasn't planning on being here anyway so why go in? And here I sit at the office at 5pm EST Nov 30 done with most of my work, that's due at 8pm EST/5pm PST Dec 1.

Instead of going to work on Saturday, I went to the library. Browsed the craft books, mostly looking at knitting. But the embroidery books caught my eye. I'm knitting a toilet paper cover for Sister and her husband that looks like a roll of sushi (their request). It requires embroidering on the "filling."

Now I want to take up crewel embroidery. I've done it before, a long time ago as a kid -- a unicorn and rainbow if I remember correctly. And I have all kinds of cross stitch floss and needles, lots of inspiration books, and a blue marking pen for quilting that will wash out....

No. Must. Resist. New. Craft.

Life Work Balance

Debating whether or not to go to work today. If I hadn't gotten sick, then I would still be out of town today, so I had estimated that my to-do list could be accomplished without working Wed to Sun. Plus, it's beautiful outside: sunny and in the 60s F. Perfect day for lounging around the house, doing a little this and that, like hand washing the hand knit sweaters.

On the other hand, if I go to work today, then I won't have to work as long Mon, Tue, and Wed to meet my Dec 1 deadline. And Husband won't feel bad that he's gone to work but not me.

Our little day of the dead vignette doesn't have any advice for me. Maybe other than "No one ever went to their grave wishing they spent more time at the office." On the other hand, it is a grant proposal worth $75,000.....

I'll see how I feel once the hand washing is done.

ETA: note to self: knit with either machine washable yarn or knit smaller sweaters. This stuff is heavy when wet.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

I hope it was a good holiday for everyone. I spent it in Atlanta because I was sick and didn't feel up to flying to DC to be with Sister, new Brother-in-law, and Brother Two.

So I did get to enjoy Thanksgiving with Husband at a friend's home. It was warm enough to eat the meal outside in sleeveless shirt and skirt. I was not at 100% and being out in the sun was lovely.

Over estimated how well I was, over ate and over drank, and felt pretty bad for the rest of the night.

However, it is Thanksgiving, so I give thanks for

• my family near (Husband, cat) and far (everyone else)
• being able to see my parents and have them come visit in October
• friends old and new
• a job that is meaningful and plays a part in making the world better, heck for being employed instead of unemployed like Brother Two (his company shut down and he was laid off)
• a job that offers paid sick leave, which I have used extensively this year for my mental and physical health

I've been reading a lot. Most recently Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld and the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. They're both really good books, written mainly for young adults. I just finished The Hunger Games this afternoon and when I put it down, I was just kind of stunned; it's just so good. Looking forward to seeing the movie adaptation. And compared to the dystopian world and emotional turmoil in the book, and in many places in the world, I'm thankful for the well-fed, safe and loving life I have.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One

Loved. It.

Loved. It.

Loved. It.

There was some gratuitous skin but I think over all it worked well to illuminate the relationships and emotions.

And it renewed my affection for Ron. He's like Xander. Harry = Buffy, Hermione = Willow, Ron = Xander. I just love the guys who are witty, funny, not necessarily the alpha or hero, and still throws himself into the fray and does what he can.

Now there's an idea: watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1, read Harry Potter book 1, etc.

The friend who I went to see the movie with suggested having a marathon for watching all the Harry Potter movies, maybe over the summer. The next, and last, movie comes out next July....

Geeky or not?

I crocheted this water bottle holder with pocket for my phone. Husband thinks it's the geekiest thing he's ever seen. I think it's a success.

Yarn: Cascade 220.

Hook: G

Needle for the pocket: US 6

Time: about a week.

In other hand crafting news, Husband and I went Savannah for 48 hours earlier this week. He had a deposition to take there, I went along for the ride.

While there, I went to Wild Fibre, the only yarn shop in Savannah and bought:
That's Silk Purse in Koi Pond on the left, 100% silk in reds, oranges, and gold. Will probably make a ruffled scarf from Scarf Style to show off the graduated color changes.

In the middle is a single ply merino by Trabajos del Peru, which I think is like a competitor to Malabrigo and Manos del Uruguay. I'm making a 40 stitch 2 x 2 rib scarf on size 9 US. So soft and lovely.

On the right is Kudo by Plymouth Yarn, which I think is a competitor to Noro. It's silk and cotton and much softer than Noro. Not sure what I'll make with that.

While Husband was doing his meeting, I went to Wild Fiber, then Twiggs Needlepoint where I bought a canvas to give to a friend, and Shaver books, a very nice independent bookstore where I bought more gifts and notecards. While there they gave me a postcard for HandmadeSavannah.com, which showed a map t0 3 handcrafting stores: Wild Fibers, French Knot (embroidery), and Fabrika (quilting). Interesting that Twiggs is not part of it.

I went to French Knot, which is only a year old and very well appointed, big and airy. I asked who shops there and they said tourists and students from Savannah College of Art and Design. I didn't buy anything there and frankly think Twiggs has a better selection of canvasses.

I didn't make it to Fabrika but will try next time.

Finished BSG, Still miss Caprica

So I finished Battlestar Galactica on Sunday.

I knew there was controversy about angels, so when the revelation came, I wasn't outraged.

My favorite parts were:
1. Roslin and Adama. I got all teary-eyed at the end. Made me think of the ending of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So close and yet one of them died. At least they had a measure of happiness at the end.
2. Athena, Helo, and Hera. Grace Park did an amazing job over the season playing at least 3 different variations on Eight: Boomer, who was actually 2 characters: the one who thought she was Sharon Valerii; and the one who knew she was a Cylon; and Athena. Tricial Helfer was good too, playing all those versions of Six.
3. Sam the Hybrid, going off into the night.
4. The Centurions being given their freedom
5. The settlement of Earth by the humans and Cylons with the human ancestors.
6. Gaius Baltar and Caprica Six settling down on a farm. Kind of hard to see it actually happening, since they're both so urbane. But sweet to see.

Question it left me: If the Hera, the mitochodrial Eve, was found 150,000 years later, what about all the technology and settlements the BSG humans left behind?

It made me really miss Caprica, though. I wanted to see how Tamara and Zoe in V-world became the Cylons. How did the V-world become Cylon projection? How did Tamara and Zoe or whoever create Ellen, Tory, Tigh, Sam, and Tyrol? How did the other Cylon models come about? Who made them? What happened to the Adamas? Amanda? Lacey? Clarice and her multi-family? The different threads in Caprica were just beginning to come together and then Syfy pulled the plug. Won't even show the last 5 episodes until sometime next year. Gah.

There's some talk in the blogosphere that Caprica should move to AMC, home of slow-building drama. That's something I've thought too. I wonder what it would take to make that happen.

So, now that my one show, Caprica, is gone I've turned the Walking Dead as my appointment TV. It helps that it's filmed around where I live. Last night, as part of our evening walk, Husband and I walked down to Fairlie Poplar (where the horse went down and the tank was located in ep 1), and the Southern Business District, where ep 2 takes place. Saw no zombies. Added bonus, it's appointment TV for both Husband and I. I think it's the first show we share since we stopped watching the Simpsons.

And for my sci-fi fix, I'm watching Season 3 of Fringe on Hulu. Not as into it as I was with Caprica and Leverage, but the 2 Earths idea is enough to keep me watching.

Walking Dead, Sherlock Holmes on PBS, and other thoughts on Caprica

I watched the Walking Dead on AMC this weekend, even though I'm not into zombies. However, it's set in Atlanta so I was very interested in seeing what I would recognize. Husband watched with me too. As has been noted everywhere, it's a very good show.

We didn't realize that it was a 90 minute episode so at the 60 minute mark turned off the TV. But it had a sense of closure at that point. I went to bed thinking, "well next ep is where Rick goes to Atlanta." I'm satisfied with what I saw, esp with Morgan and Duane's story arc. Can't wait to see next week's ep."

We'll have to catch up online later. I kind of like that better, because then I can pause to scrutinize the background.

I've been listening to the podcast Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan They mention that the success of The Walking Dead may lead to a slew of zombie shows next year but not as good.

Apparently Mo Ryan and Ryan McGee both like Rubicon, another show on AMC. I've watched one or two episodes but AMC is not one of my go-to channels. They loved Rubicon and do mention that each episode is slow but it delves into the work and lives of national security analysts who have to wade through massive amounts of information and make sense of it. They like that the eps have depth and some may seem unrelated to anything but by the end of the season, it all comes together really well. However, they don't like Caprica.

As I listened to the podcast, I was thinking, all the things they like about Rubicon, are the things I like about Caprica! My previous post was about this, so I won't go over it again. However, I'm thinking "You praise Rubicon for it, but complain about Caprica for it. And you're BSG fans. I don't get this."

Anyway, I don't know that I'll join the send an apple, save Caprica movement. I haven't decided.

And in other BSG news, I have only the last 2 eps of the series at home. Will watch it on Sunday afternoon. I know it's controversial because of some characters being revealed as angels, but I don't know anything else about it. Looking forward to it.

The other night as well, Husband and I watched the PBS series Sherlock Holmes instead of the baseball world series. That's pretty meaningful considering Husband's a baseball fan and had a bet riding on the outcome.

Anyone who thinks serial scripted TV shows are worthless needs to see The Walking Dead and Sherlock Holmes. They are really good shows, so good that this long post is the result. And especially the Walking Dead. The Holmes episodes, being 90 minutes long, are like self-contained mini-movies. The Walking Dead is definitely telling one big long story.

Kind of like Caprica! Yes, I'm still a bit bitter about it. This is the first show that I really liked that got the Firefly treatment. Now I know how the first Browncoats feel, speaking as a later convert.