I Like to Read

I used to read all the time.  If a book is really good and I want to get to the end to see what happens, I've been known to spend all day and night reading...ignoring housework, cooking, even (gasp!) bathing...

For the last several years, I've tried to limit my reading to about one book a month or so, because life is so hectic that I need to focus on the tasks at hand.  I go through many reading dry spells, too, when life gets too busy.

I have been on my once-a-month schedule lately.  In May, I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  I wanted to read it before I saw the movie.  I like to read a book before I see the movie, because books are generally better, and I feel I might ruin my reading experience in some way if I see the movie first. 

The book is set during the Depression.  The story begins with Jacob, a veterinary student who is near the end of his training.  He suddenly finds himself an orphan without any money.  He has to drop out of school and find a way to make a living.  He literally joins the circus.  He finds himself falling in love with the star of the top attraction, who is married to the cruel animal trainer.  Jacob has to fight for his life in his quest to get the girl. 

I really liked the book.  I thought the movie was an adequate adaptation, but the book is better.

MK out.

WIP Wednesday - 9/21/2011

Merry Karma knitting mojo report:  Still not too knitterly around here.

My concentration level these days is not where it needs to be to keep Aragorn's twisted stitches and mini cables from trying to fall off the needles...I have had to frog back one too many times.  Add to the fact that the dark yarn makes it difficult for night knitting - which is when I seem to have a minute to knit these days.  All that to say, the Aragorn socks are in time out for a few days.

I do feel the need to feel some yarn and pointy sticks in my hands.  It is comforting.  I looked through my queue on Ravelry, and Citron popped out at me; so, I cast on the other night.  I'm not very far yet, but here's a little (not very good) picture:



I am using yarn that I bought in Palm Harbor, Florida three or four years ago.  It is Anne by the Schaefer Yarn Company in a reddish-orange colorway.  I haven't decided if it is too orangy for me; so, it may end up being a gifty.  I am enjoying knitting it so far.  It is doing the trick.

MK out.

Ten on Tuesday - 9/20/2011 Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!

That Carole, she came up with another good one...Ten Headlines from the Year You Were Born.

I'm going to let y'all figure out what year it was (and it was a long time ago), but here we go:
1.  TIBETIANS SITE RED AGAIN; Travelers Report Speed-Up of Communizing Efforts
2.  GHANAIAN LABOR HAS WORLD TIES; May Join Neutralist African Group, but Keep Link to Free Trade Unions
3.  COURT BARS PICKETS ON ATOMIC SHIPMENT
4.  SOVIET SPACE PROBE IS FIRST HUMAN-MADE OBJECT TO REACH MOON
5.  KHRUSHCHEV TALK WITH MAO BEGINS
6.  US SPACE PLAN BACKED BY NIXON
7.  40 WRITERS OUT IN MOVIE STRIKE; Members of Guild Fail to Report in Move Against 56 Independent Producers
8.  PARIS WOULD BAN A-BOMB CARRIERS; UN Hears Plan to Outlaw All Means for Delivery of Nuclear Weapons
9.  ELECTION REFORM BACKED BY HOFFA; Judge Approves Agreement With Monitors on Rules for Teamster Locals
10.  BIG RISE IS PREDICTED FOR YEAR'S AUTO SALES

It seems that the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The world continues to be concerned with things such as armaments that threaten global annihilation  (the a-bomb v. nuclear missiles v. biological weapons) and the threat of a spread of a hostile ideology (the communists v. terrorists of many extremes).  Unions still play a role in our workforce (the teamsters v. the NBA and NFL, most recently). 

There have been changes too...it's kind of sad that the US space shuttle era has ended and that our domestic auto industry is no longer the power it once was.

MK out.

FO Friday - 9/16/2011

The Merry Karma has lost her knitting mojo in the last couple of weeks.  There wasn't a problem in the project planning department - just in the execution of the plan department.

I do have some FOs to share that were completed in August...

Better late than never - the June 2011 Socks:



I used Lorna's Laces in Flamingo Stripe on two 2.0mm circulars.  I knit them cuff-down, starting with a picot edging, did short-row heels and a what I call a regular toe...nothing fancy, just plain vanilla.  I need to practice my short-row heels, because I tried not to strangle my stitches with the wraps, as Lucy Neatby once pointed out I was doing, and I think they turned out too loose.  I may not have to worry about it, since I think I found a great way to do short-row heels...

May I present the (Christmas in) July 2011 Socks:



They are also in a plain vanilla stockinette pattern.  Using two 2.0mm circulars, and Lone Star Arts Fusion, I did a modified Turkish cast-on toe, worked Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel (OMG - it is so easy and I liked the way it made the socks look like peppermint candy!)  I continued up the leg in stockinette and finished up with Cat's Cable-Top bind-off.  I think they turned out cute.

MK out.

Ten on Tuesday - 9/13/2011 Weekly Expenditures

Goodness...Carole came up with a toughy this week - Ten Things You Buy Every Week.

My post should  be titled Three on Tuesday, because I am stumped! The things I buy weekly with any consistency are:
1.  groceries - because even if I'm not cooking much these days, there needs to be something around this house to eat in case we decide not to go out.
2.  gas - because I am a flighty person by nature...I don't like to stay in one spot for too long.
3.  a decaf vanilla latte - at this great locally owned coffee shop near my house, where I go weekly to collect my thoughts, people watch and pretend that I am somebody.

Since I feel as if I am shorting y'all a bit, here's a sneak peak of the socks currently on the needles:



MK out.

Movie Monday - 9/12/2011

I watched a few flicks:

Never Let Me Go is a haunting science fiction drama about cloning humans for the express purpose of organ harvesting.  It doesn’t get into the legal or ethical dilemmas involved, and neither will I.  Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield star as three such clones.  The movie first shows the trio growing up in a secluded, private school.  When they get older, they figure out what is going on.  Of course, human qualities have not been knocked out of their genetic material, but they do seem to be resigned to their fates.  This movie was adapted from the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro.  It was really good.

Rick Riordan authored a fantasy book series about the ancient gods. Percy Jackson & the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief is an adaptation of one of the stories.  Percy finds out he is the son of Poseidon.  When Zeus’ lightning is stolen, he has to rise to the challenge of bringing it back.  Uma Thurman, Catherine Keener, Melina Kanakaredis, Kevin McKidd, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson and Pierce Brosnan are among the host of actors in this movie.  It was cute.

In Ondine, Colin Ferrell plays Syracuse, a divorced father with a prior drinking problem, who fishes for a living.  One day, he brings up a woman in his net.  Is she a selkie or is there a rational explanation for the luck she brings him?  His daughter Annie needs a kidney transplant, and is leaning towards the magical explanation.   I thought it was a very good movie, but the heavy Irish accents were difficult to understand.

Director Nick Broomfield’s documentary Biggie and Tupac, alleges corrupt LAPD officers were involved in the deaths of these two talented rapsters.  Broomfield walks around interviewing people with his camera man not far behind.  There’s some concert and other footage of the stars when they were alive.  It was really interesting.  In the eight or nine years since this documentary was filmed, I wonder if more investigation into these senseless deaths has been made...

MK out.

Sunday, September 11, 2011