The Bog of Lost Scholars

25 July 2006

Craft Update

Filed under: Crafts — Castiron @ 21:33

A while back I got the bright idea to get some evenweave fabric and make myself a dance camp apron — embroider a row for each camp or workshop I go to. Had I started this when I got the idea, I’d have only had two rows to do; now, I have five. But since it’s only going to build up more, I might as well start. So I’ve picked a pattern for the first row, Texas Camp 2004, and started stitching.

I’ve also started the first socks from the Regia I bought in New Orleans, color 5270. The striping is very similar to the KnitPicks Parade, actually; thinner stripes, and black-and-white mottled rows instead of gray-and-white, but overall I see where KnitPicks got their inspiration. I’m not sure yet what my gauge will be, so I’ll try it at 60 stitches around and rip back if it’s too big (it’s certainly not going to be too small).

Other progress:

  • A couple rows on Mesa.
  • Most of a pattern repeat on Kiri.
  • Most of the feet on the Plum Parade socks; one’s ready for the heel split, and the other’s almost there.
  • A few rows on my son’s sweater.
  • Several inches of couching on the Crane (!). When I’m in the right mood, and as long as I’m not too picky about getting it to precisely match the pattern, it’s rather fun. It’ll still take me some time to finish, but I don’t think it’ll take many more sessions.
  • A couple rows on the lace socks.

Untouched since last report: Fair Isle hat, crocheted lace top, Fantasy Sampler, pentacle, Flanders map, Ruby, black shirt-jacket and skirt.

20 July 2006

Interruptions

Filed under: Random Ramblings — Castiron @ 19:16

I’ve been pondering this article on interruptions and interruption management lately.

The issues raised ring very true to me. I’ll stop working on a document to check an email that’s come in, and by time I’ve dealt with the email, I can’t remember what I was working on, so I cycle through the open programs, sometimes ending up spending a large chunk of time on something else before I remember what I was originally doing. And the suggested solutions make a lot of sense — bigger screens so you don’t have to hide your project window to check your email; smart systems that figure out when you’re working hard and when you’re hardly working and alert you or not as appropriate (talk about potential for abuse, though!), etc.

But the article doesn’t at all address the job and place with just as many if not more interruptions — homemaking and childrearing, in the home. (Though one line from the article, “Distractions are not just a plague on our work – sometimes they are our work”, definitely applies!) How do you keep a train of thought going when it’s your job to be constantly interrupted, and when you might not have thirty seconds to make notes on what you were thinking about?

No answers, just realizing once again why I’m making more progress on knitting than on writing — knitting’s interruptable, and writing, at least for me, needs expanded periods of non-interruption.

18 July 2006

Don’t Put This in Your Submission Letter.

Filed under: Publishing and Writing — Castiron @ 19:09

Digging through some old files, I found a priceless line from an unsolicited submission:

In my mind, it is your company that should be and will be the martyr of envisionment upon publication of this document.

Do I really need to explain why this is a bad sentence to put in your query letter?

17 July 2006

Recent Movie Viewing

Filed under: Film and Media — Castiron @ 19:07

Sunset Boulevard. Classic film that I’d never seen before. And it had subtitles, hurrah! And now I finally get all the references to it that I’ve seen elsewhere.

ffowlkes. I wish to state for the record that May 2006 was my first viewing of this movie; my story universe characters were created, named, and had their major personality quirks set in stone by 1996-1997; therefore, any name or quirk resemblance between my characters and this movie’s characters is pure coincidence. (In spite of the fact that there were three such instances.

Anyway, I found the movie’s pacing to be a little off; there were several spots where I was thinking “okay, can we get back to another subplot now?” And the climactic scene was suspenseful but over-the-top. However, it was overall decent mindless entertainment.

Other than that, most of my DVD viewing lately has been Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Blackadder, and whatever video my son’s currently obsessed with.

16 July 2006

Obscure CD

Filed under: Music — Castiron @ 19:06

I own a CD that isn’t in the Gracenotes database.

No, it’s not an obscure self-produced tiny band; it’s Blended, a CD by the Belgian woodwind quintet Arcane.

I’m now debating whether to add it or to just enjoy having a CD that isn’t in the database.

15 July 2006

Israeli Dance Workshop

Filed under: Dance — Castiron @ 19:05

I spent the 4th of July weekend at an Israeli dance workshop taught by Ya’akov Eden. Eden is a wonderful teacher with an acerbic sense of humor, and the dances were fabulous. It’s a good workout, too.

Dances taught:

  • Ba’ah Mechunah, a fairly slow and laid-back circle dance
  • Debka Hachamor, lots more energetic and challenging
  • Dror Yikra, another energetic dance with lots of grapevines and a funky knee dip
  • Likrat Shabat, a very sweet and peaceful circle dance
  • Nigunim, a slow couple dance
  • Dodi Li, a slightly faster couple dance
  • Kuma Echa, another energetic dance

14 July 2006

Summer Veggies

Filed under: Food — Castiron @ 19:05

Summer veggies are here again. We’re still getting a few onions and the last of the garlic; this year we also have leeks, which are quite nice and go well with the potatoes that we’re also getting. The first run of cucumbers and summer squash is over; the cherry tomatoes have started, but there aren’t a lot of slicing tomatoes. Okra, too, is here. We’re not getting eggplant yet; I don’t know if they just didn’t plant any or if it’s not ready.

My current favorite fresh slicing tomato dish is capellini pomodoro — cook some whole wheat capellini, and mix with a chopped tomato, some basil, a couple minced garlic cloves, some parmesan cheese, and olive oil. I don’t bother cooking the topping, except for the minimal heating it gets from mixing with the hot noodles.

13 July 2006

Recent Reading: Dragons and New Age

Filed under: The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 19:04

Anne McCaffrey, Dragonriders of Pern, Dragonsong, Dragonsinger. Yes, these books are flawed. There’s the inconsistencies of character names, and minor characters whose personalities seem to change to meet the demands of the story rather than for any good reason, and some romantic relations that I find far more disturbing at 35 than I did reading it for the first time at 11, and general world-building and plot bits that I just can’t buy. I stopped reading the series because the flaws eventually overcame the virtues. But in these five, the virtues still override. It’s a fascinating world, with main characters that I care about. And damn straight I wanted a dragon when I was a kid (and made up a whole bunch of fanfic about it that I mercifully never wrote down, as what I remember is sufficiently Mary Sueish to make one cringe), and I still wouldn’t say no to a fire lizard.

Karen Rauch Carter, Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life. This book is about the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui like all too many books about Native American spirituality are about the actual practices of specific tribes — in other words, it’s New Age. If you want a solid and scholarly work on Feng Shui, this isn’t it. That said, if you’re looking for a well-written and entertaining book of ideas and possible symbols for one’s own eclectic practice, this book serves the purpose admirably.

9 July 2006

Handle Everything Once Update

Filed under: Dejunking and Organizing — Castiron @ 12:56

I’d thought that the kitchen and dining room phase of the decluttering would be easy, but it’s taking a surprising amount of effort to work on it, though once I start a session I’m able to process a shelf or drawer very quickly.

But I’m halfway through the dining room and have finished a few kitchen cabinets. Another stack of unwanted books is out of here, going to Half Price Books or to the Press’s damaged books stack or to friends or to Half.com. (Less of that last than I’ve done in the past; too many of these books are available used for $5 or less, which makes it not worth my while to sell them.) I also unloaded some videos that I’d taped; if I haven’t watched them in the past two years (more like five, in some cases) then I don’t need them. Besides, almost all of them are available for purchase now, so if I actually miss any of them, I’ll go to Amazon and get a DVD.

And I cleaned out and defrosted the freezer! I cleaned out the fridge freezer! I threw out frozen veggies from 2002! This was a long overdue task, so I’m rather pleased with myself for finally doing it.

8 July 2006

Recent Reading: Ransome, Dean, Burnett, Jones

Filed under: The Castiron Reading Journal — Castiron @ 00:38

Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons and Swallowdale. Fun children’s books about kids who go sailing and camping during their summer vacations.

Pamela Dean, the Secret Country trilogy (The Secret Country, The Hidden Land, and The Whim of the Dragon). I pick up more references every time I reread these. (And I wonder what would’ve happened if someone had used Chesterton’s “O God of Earth and Altar” as a spell at some point. Eek.)

Frances Hogdson Burnett, The Shuttle. Nigel Anstruthers, a very minor British nobleman, makes Tien Vorsoisson look like a desirable husband. When he marries a wealthy American girl, Rosy Vanderpoel, and abuses her and separates her from her family, her sister Bettina eventually comes in search of her. I can see why this book isn’t as well known as some of her other books — there’s a lot of digressions and generalizations about Americans and Brits — but it did have some interesting characters, and even knowing that Burnett usually pulls out a happy ending, I was in suspense until the end.

Diana Wynne Jones, The Magicians of Caprona. A fun book, and less marred than many Jones books with the “if you caused it, it’s your FAULT [not just your responsibility], even if you didn’t know any better” attitude.

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress