Merry Christmas!

Matt and I were very spoiled this Christmas.


Mom went overboard, giving me a cast-iron skillet, a quiche pan, a cupcake calendar, four long tank tops (I wear them nearly every day. Who wants to see my backside hanging out??), a subscription to a knitting magazine, the "Call Me Crazy" CD... but my absolute favorite is my Williams-Sonoma Paris cookbook. I've been reading through it every night since.


Bob got me a pink Ravens mug, a tear-off daily poetry calendar, and gold hoop earrings I've worn every day so far. Shannon gave us B&BW foaming hand wash and a vanilla cupcake candle... yum! GJ got me several boxes of organic tea. (Nighty-Night is my favorite.)


Matt got me a set of eight prep bowls, a microplane, two new sets of metal measuring spoons, truffle oil, French sea salt, a metal rub-away bar, pop-up sponges, Lollia bubble bath, Out of Africa (I LOVE that movie!!), Sex and the City and La Vie En Rose (which I ended up trading in for a happier movie).


Matt's cousin Courtney got us a framed Paris picture, his cousin Dave got us a gift certificate to a comedy show, his Aunt Gloria gave us movies, gift certificates to Barnes & Noble, money, and gave me a ticket to see Grease at the Hippodrome in February.

Matt's mom got me a pair of fuzzy socks and a pair of funny heart socks, a pretty tapestry shawl, Wall-E, Wanted, and a cashmere sweater. Oh, and she got us a Blu-Ray player and a 52" Sony Bravia HDTV. Superbowl party at our house!

Diana: Her True Story

I read this one to pass some time and get it off of my bookshelf, so I could pass it along to my grandmother. The book was entertaining enough, but there is an immature, self-pitying tone that likely (I'm too lazy to do the math) is due in part to her being younger than me when the book was originally published. (She had cooperated with the author.)

On the last page of the book, the author had summarized Diana as "fearless yet frail, unloved but adored, needy but generous, self-obsessed yet selfless, inspirational yet dispairing, demanding of advice but disliking criticism, honest yet disingenuous, intuitive yet unworldly, supremely sophisticated yet constantly uncertain, and manipulative but naive."

This being a commemorative edition, I'll assume it does little justice to her as she was in her late thirties, when she died.

BusyBusyBusy Good Day.

OMG today was just go Go GO GO GOGOGOGO! This meeting, that meeting, the next meeting, the Panera meeting, the creative meeting, the phone meeting, drive to Bel Air for a meeting. Phew! Then gogogo to the mall to get a wedding gift and stocking stuffer and gift cards and I'd really like to get myself the perfect red lipstick, but you know this economy... then in the car to gogogo to the next thing and home, but Matt drove down a few floors of the parking garage, then STOPPED! And we had dinner at P.F. Chang's. It was Matt's first time there, and it was surprisingly quiet (it was also 9:15) and we had an incredible intimate meal and a darling waiter who reminded me of Jamie Oliver and the most perfect imaginable fortunes. (On the first try! Though our waiter promised to bring me fortunes until I got the one I wanted.)

His:
Be on the alert for new opportunity.

Mine:
Good news of long-awaited event will arrive soon.

...

Psst! Happy Holidays!

Every year, Planit puts out an online Christmas card. This year's started a little risque but I suppose someone reminded our Interactive team that they are not the target audience. (Yes, we are a more trendy agency, but we do still have a number of more conservative clients who we need to think of. As Stine puts it, Kill Your Darling.)

Anyway, it's still pretty amusing and I on target with the skewering the online gossip columns and such. It's called Northern Exposure -- the hot celeb news from the North Pole. It's still being finalized, so check back for updates. Enjoy! www.northernexposuregossip.com

Weekend Purls

The boss let us out early Wednesday afternoon, so a coworker and I ran to Whole Foods for last minute supplies. And coffee. Nom. Then I went home and slaved over the hot ... knitting? Our Thanksgiving tradition has been to spend even years with my family and odd years with Matt's. (Coincidence?) So I don't have to do any cooking. In fact, I only had to bring cranberries. (I'm pretty grossed out by the canned cranberries. The gel that plops out of the can while maintaining the shape of the can is horrifying to me. It doesn't occur in nature and shouldn't happen during Thanksgiving.) So when I got home, I knitted.

(In case you think I'm completely lazy, I DID do most of the Thanksgiving dishes.)

Matt had to work on Friday, and I spent a good part of the day doing laundry and watching movies (Enchanted and Gone Baby Gone... the first was pretty cute, and the latter was just heart-wrenching. I loved it.)

Saturday, we met friends at The Visionary Arts Museum for Bizaart. I love the idea of the self-taught artists selling their wares. My favorites were the purses from hardback book covers, zombie art, cupcake necklaces, whimsical paintings, and enamel jewelry featuring birds. I love birds and was happy to see them represented in several of the vendors' stalls.

Afterwards, we went to the Towson Town Center and wrapped up the vast majority of our holiday shopping. There are a few things I need to order online, then I need to shop for Matt and I am DONE. I'm one of those people who stress from Thanksgiving to Christmas about holiday shopping, and getting the "just right" gifts. This year, I started early, tried hard to stick to a budget, and for the most part, purchased gifts I wouldn't mind receiving myself. The top of the entertainment center is laden with boxes; I don't have the tree up yet, but whenever we do get it up, the gifts have to be where Angel won't try to unwrap them!

The rest of the weekend was spent watching more movies (The Fountain and The Good Shepherd), watching football, baking cupcakes...

And more knitting. One of the three projects I finished this weekend was an autumn tea cozy. Tea cozies are terribly old-fashioned but wonderfully practical. Matt always serves me a pot of tea with breakfast on the weekends, and we often wrap the teapot with a napkin because I like my tea piping hot. The tea cozy will serve to keep my tea warmer with a close-fitting wrap that I can leave on when pouring another cup. Laugh if you will, but I love it! My first cozy is bright orange and was knit in a pumpkin-looking pattern. I had intended to have it done before Halloween, but put it away in early October and forgot about it. I may put it away with my Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations and make another in a neutral color for the rest of the year. (And I'll likely make one in a bigger size for my other teapots. Yes, I have more than one.)

The rest of my knitting projects are on Ravelry, but are Christmas surprises! Now, the only things I have on the needles are my first sock (still) and sweater. Too bad tomorrow's Monday; I wouldn't mind spending another few days practicing domestic arts.

Thankful

I'm thankful for...

My long-suffering husband
Napping kittens
The warm spot they leave behind
A great family
A comfortable place to live
A job (despite the stress; especially in this economy!)
A small, fits-me car

And the little things:
Yarn stash
Organic tea
Baked goods
Books
Warm fuzzy socks
Dark chocolate
And a million other little things, every day.

I Have Found The Holy Grail!!

...in the form of a cupcake blog: http://amicuscupcake.blogspot.com/

I want to sit at home and bake, bake, bake and have my house fill with warm baked smells.

Relax, It's the Weekend

I spend most of the weekdays looking forward to the weekend, and usually spend most of the weekend dreading weekdays. Not a healthy way to go about things, I'm sure. But this weekend was generally relaxing. Matt's work phone woke us up early on Saturday and I started right in on my usual grumbly-grumpy-yucky-cold-and-dark type of mood. We had breakfast and I watched Ball of Fire, then Matt drug me out to do a little Christmas shopping. And suddenly, I'm a little less stressed, because we got through more than half of our Christmas list: We were going to go duckpin bowling afterwards, but we couldn't get lanes at Patterson Bowl so Matt and I got some Taco Fiesta and went home to watch The Good German, and I checked in on Ed (who had just found out an old friend of his and acquaintance of ours had died unexpectedly a few days earlier).

Sunday, Angel woke me up nice and early for his breakfast, and I let Matt sleep for another hour before launching myself at him and demanding breakfast. We watched the "Caves" episode of Planet Earth (which was, of course, amazing) watched the Ravens game, did a bit more Christmas shopping (I'm very proud that the only thing I bought for myself was a new set of circular needles Then back home to make dinner. Well, at least for Matt as it's loaded with ground meat and sausage. (He did the laundry. I think we're even.)
I've already been drugged with my Sunday sleeping pill, so the rest of the evening will likely be spent knitting, giving the Redskins/Cowboys game the occasional glance, and hoping Alex stays in his kitty tree rather than stomping all over my lap.

Wish me luck.

I Fink I'm Detting a Told

Perhaps cold viruses should run our nation's military operations. They seem pretty adept at sneaking up on you and striking a massive attack before you suspect anything is amiss. That's how it is for me: one day I'm nursing the image of my hard candy exterior, and the next morning, I wake up barely able to breathe. So in honor of my gooey marshmallow center, I give you things for which I am grateful when I fink I'm detting a told:

* A warm, purring kitty cat laying across my chest in the morning.
* An extra box of Ultra Soft Kleenex in the back of the linen closet, perfect to perch on my desk at work.
* Emergency box of soy milk, so I can have a cup of coffee without mucus-thickening dairy.
* Comfy yet work-appropriate clothes.
* A supply of honey at home and at work.
* The lovely lentil soup I made earlier this week.
* Friends who give you sympathy even when they have their own things to worry about.
* Cold medicine!
* It being the end of the week; maybe I can get some extra sleep.
* Extra vacation days, in case I decide to convelesce at home tomorrow.

Christmas Wish List 2008

By now, I feel like I have nearly everything I could want, so coming up with my Christmas list is becoming increasingly difficult. Considering how I enjoy cooking (not to mention the economy), I think foodstuffs would make a great gift, like fruit perserves, honey, maple syrup, olive oil, truffle oil, gourmet pastas, olives, fine dried fruits, organic dark chocolate, a bottle of cava, organic black teas, bread or cake mixes... things that truly make sugarplums dance in my head!

But as far as other present ideas are concerned, things I might like include:

Cake stand
2-cup measuring cup
Riedel martini or wine glasses
Set of ten mixing bowls
Peter & The Wolf CD
KitchenAid pasta making attachment
Yarn

Gift certificates to:
Panera
Barnes & Noble
Crate & Barrel
Williams Sonoma
Anthropologie
Banana Republic
J. Crew
Ann Taylor Loft

Lavender Brown

I finished my second Mother Bear! And I managed to do so before Mom finished hers. (Ha ha!) Since I knitted a boy (Leroy Brown Bear) previously, I knitted a girl bear this go-round. And keeping it in the family, I named her Lavender Brown.

Lavender is lighter-skinned (furred?) than her brother, and is wearing a purple dress, matching knickers, and a coordinating scarf. And Mary Jane shoes!

Court pointed out that there is a Lavender Brown character in the Harry Potter books and films, and that got me thinking that I should knit a series of Harry Potter Mother Bears.

The idea reminded me of the Julie & Julia project, something that could become a focus for me, a personal challenge, an inspirational life-changing event.

Or I could move on to something else.

A Very Planit Halloween

It's mandatory to dress up for Halloween, and being at an ad agency, people REALLY get into it.
This year, I'm Puss in Boots... here's a picture of me and Sarah Palin:

Speed Racer:Figure skaters: The Blues Brothers and Maverick:

Campfire and The Little Mermaid: Donatella Versace:

Amy Winehouse:

Zoltar (remember "Big"??)

Shark bite and Medusa:

Hahahahaha

Does it make me a bad person to be terribly amused that someone backed into the Inner Harbor this morning? I could see the whole commotion from our office windows, looking over Pratt Street.

(Photo from 600Block)

Tom Tom

Today, Matt ordered our Thanksgiving turkey. I say ordered because I insist on having a free-range, hormone-free, antibiotic free, heritage turkey, NOT a Butterball and DEFINITELY NOT a store brand turkey.

Pretty much all the turkeys sold in grocery stores are Broad Breasted White turkeys, which were bred to grow large breasts in a short period of time. They get to “market weight” quicker and often are not raised in humane conditions, so they are much cheaper to grow. Now they are intensively farmed, and so inbred and fat and stupid that that they cannot achieve natural fertilization.

Seriously. Look it up.

Then there’s the fact that their by-products – even their feathers – are often ground up and fed to them. Inbred, cannibal turkeys who might never see the light of day, and are pumped full of growth hormones to make their breasts even larger, and antibiotics as a preventative measure because they live in conditions gross enough to almost guarantee illness. I’ll leave out some of the other details; I gave you enough to think of while you are carving your turkey.

Even if you ignore the cannibal-druggie part of the White, the fact that it’s the only turkey available in stores is nuts. You can find several varieties of apples or oranges or pears in your grocery stores, but only one kind of bird.

Heritage breeds have pretty much been dying out, and will continue to do so unless the demand for heritage turkeys increases. Our provider, Carriage House Farms, raises Standard Bronze, Bourbon Red, and Narragansett turkeys. Being free-range, our turkey will have been able to munch on fresh grass and insects (rather than his brother), get some exercise, maybe even get laid. I’m just saying. The proprietor assured Matt that our turkey will be more moist and flavorful due to their more diverse diets and longer life.
He even said we can come visit our turkey if we want. I’m thinking about visiting the farm, to see for myself where a turkey SHOULD come from (though I don’t think I’ll want to have my turkey pointed out to me), and maybe to get some fresh eggs and honey.

I think it would be a great place to take kids, too, so they can see that their food doesn’t grow in the store.

Fall Sleepover

Friday, I left work almost an hour early to pick up mom (who can’t be bothered to drive herself to Baltimore!) to spend the weekend with me. Good thing I left early, too, because she called at 6:30 to ask why I wasn’t there yet! Fortunately for her, I was pulling into her neighborhood by then. Saucy minx.

Anyway, we drove north to my house, had dinner, stuffed her Mother Bear (see below), watched a little TV, and went to bed.

Saturday, we tried to go to Miss Shirley’s downtown for breakfast, but that location isn't open on weekends; we headed to Morning Edition instead. Mom was introduced to the ghetto and brie, and seemed to have a preference for the latter. Imagine that! Not only was the food very good, but THE WAITER SMILED. (This place is known more for the dicey location and great brunch rather than for friendly or prompt waitstaff.) After we gorged ourselves, we went to Lovelyarns and dropped off our Mother Bears. It was really nice; we overheard the proprietor admiring our bears, and I had to let everyone know it was mom’s first knitting project, and that we’d be back soon with more. In return, she let us know that we’d likely see our bears hanging on the wall before being boxed and sent to Mother Bear headquarters.

On the way back out, we stared longingly at Dangerously Delicious Pies and made a pact to stop there during the next sleepover. And when we passed the SPCA, Mom wanted to know if that’s where we are going to go adopt her a kitty whenever Bob (who’s allergic) moves out. Mom, who always said she didn’t like pets. She just has to be shown the light!

Next, we went to Target to buy Halloween candy, then Matt dropped us off at the movies. We saw Nights in Rodanthe, which was sappy and teary, but entertaining. Afterwards, he picked us up at Barnes & Noble. How’d he know to find us in the knitting section?!? That night, I made spaghetti with what will likely be the last home-grown, home-made sauce of the year, then we put together baggies of Halloween candy for mom’s trick-or-treaters while watching Chicago, then Mom went to bed with her new Nicholas Sparks book. (I wish I had have bought the Alison Weir historical fiction; maybe Santa will remember me. But I have plenty to read right now.)

Sunday, Matt made pancakes and eggs, then went to the Ravens game with his cousin. I took mom home, then did housework: dishes, laundry, ironing, changing the sheets, pulling up some of the dying herbs and stuff from the back yard, etc. until Matt got back home.

The plan is already set for Mom’s next visit: she’s due to come over again the first week of December, when Matt and I should (!) have some Christmas decorations up, and we’ll go see a holiday movie, eat breakfast at the other Miss Shirley’s, 34th Street should be decorated, we can drop off our latest bears and get a Dangerously Delicious Pie, and – best part? – watch the Ravens vs. Redskins game that Sunday at Mom’s house. (NO PIZZA, MOM! Pizza and pie sound gross together!)

Hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown!

Last week, I finished my Mother Bear. I loved this project! He was super simple to knit: you just do one leg, then the other, then knit across both to join them, knit straight up his tummy and face, down the back of his head, his back, then one leg, then the other. Then you fold him in half, seam the sides of his head, do his arms, seam his sides, stuff him, seam his inseam, and give him a little scarf. And voila! A bear.

It really felt good to make him, knowing he’ll be given to some child in the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, or wherever, and will really be appreciated and loved. And, bears are coming in from all over the US, Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Scotland, Australia, Japan… young people, old people, novice knitters, expert knitters, all of them giving their own touch to their bear project. The pattern dates back to World War II, which adds to the feeling of being connected to a long line of warm-hearted knitters doing a little something to make a small impact somewhere in the world.

And my mom knitted a bear, too! “Slim” was her first knitting project besides a scarf, and she did a great job. (They offer a crochet pattern, but she couldn’t stand the idea of me being able to knit if she can’t, so she taught herself.) This weekend, Mom and I took our bears to Lovelyarns, wrote our names on nametags which will be attached to our bears’ arms, and dropped them off to be sent to Minnesota where they will be inspected and earn their red felt hearts before going to their new homes. And I’m already working on a sister to Leroy Brown Bear (as he was named by one of my co-workers)!

Question 2

Of the ballot questions in this year’s elections, the one I’m undecided on it Question 2. Even though I don’t have kids, I’m all for bettering schools (and hopefully, bettering our next generation… the one that will take care of us in our old ages!). But there has been some controversy about how much of the slots revenue would be spent on education; the ballot lists the primary purpose as “raising revenue for education of children in public schools, prekindergarten through grade 12, public school construction and improvements, and capital projects at community colleges and other higher education institutions.” Note the word “primary.” So I searched for a breakdown of how slots revenue would be distributed. The largest proportion will indeed go to education… but it’s less than half of the revenue:

• 48.5% to an Education Trust Fund, supporting “Bridge to Excellence” (or “Thornton”) funding, as quoted above.
• 33% to slots operations, a low allocation by industry standards. Prospective slots operators must bid competitively for a license and pay an initial license fee of at least $3 million for every 500 slot machines at a venue. These fees would go to the Education Trust Fund. License holders would be required to pay $425 per slot machine per year to fund a hotline and assistance programs for problem gamblers.
• 7% to a purse dedication account, 80% of which will go to thoroughbred racing purses and 20% to standard-bred purses.
• 5.5% to local impact grants for jurisdictions where slots are located. Of that, almost 18% would go to Baltimore City for community revitalization in Park Heights and other Northwest Baltimore locations. The rest would be divided among all jurisdictions that have slots, based on gross revenue generated in each.
• 2.5% to a racetrack renewal fund.
• 2% to the lottery commission to cover costs of governing slots operations.
• 1.5% to an account to provide investment capital and loans to small, minority- and women-owned businesses.

It seems to come down to a “not in my neighborhood” feeling, and if I don’t want it in my own neighborhood, I don’t like to vote it into others’. I don’t know… how will YOU vote on this issue?

(Source: “The unvarnished facts about how slots revenue would be used” commentary by Donald C. Fry. Maryland Daily Record. 10.23.08)

Friends and Food (or, "heaven is still underfoot")

Stine and I had an interesting conversation today about paycheck envy and living on less. As some of you know, Matt and I have been hit by the bad economy and expect our household income to decrease a bit. So this weekend, when we went out to a haunted house with Ed & Jen and Bob & Shannon, we did something unusual for us: we let Bob and Shannon pay their own way. Bob, being my much-adored baby brother, usually gets treated by his big sister, but those days have come to a sudden halt. And he seems to love me anyway. Go figure.

After the haunted house, instead of going out for a bite to eat or something, the six of us went back to Ed’s, ordered pizzas, played video games, watched bad 90’s movies, and hung out until an insanely early hour. In case you are wondering: I really suck at Guitar Hero, but I’m willing to practice. Oh, and in case you are wondering further: we paid for the pizza this time. Old habits die hard.

Saturday, Jeff called saying he and Lacey are free of kids and able to come over. Matt and I weren’t completely wiped out of food, but close to Ramens. But I turned my stubbornly growing tomatoes into sauce and made meatballs and tossed it with spaghetti, and they brought a movie and we had fun, even if Matt and I weren’t doing high entertaining. I even told Matt we should have pasta and friends night more often. Jeff, let me know when you have a sitter!

Sunday, Matt and I walked to the Mars and got a paper and I spent the afternoon determining who had the cheapest Halloween candy by us (Giant) and who has sales that might help out with getting a jump on holiday shopping, and (heaven help me) I clipped coupons and wrote down what is on sale at Giant. Pasta, 10 for $10. Though I’m not buying it if it isn’t whole wheat.

And the Ravens, Redskins and Rams all won their games, so me, Matt, Mom and Bob are all happy.

So anyway, Stine and I have been IMing a bit this morning and again this afternoon (her afternoon and night), and we talked about how the middle class sometimes stays in the middle because they don’t hoard their money, but might pay for their brother’s admission or buy a round of drinks for another couple or put together a nice meal for a friend, while we can’t think of anyone in the upper class who does those things. Not that I’ve seen, anyway. Stine’s line was, “It’s expensive to be poor.”

And I’m certainly not going hungry, nor will I. But it does renew my belief that there is enough wealth in this country for every person to live comfortably, but that it will never happen and wealth will always be concentrated in the hands as few, and they shouldn’t be forced to (nor will they) share. It reminded me of a speech by the flamboyant senator Huey Long (not that I think he was a paragon of politicians, but even a broken clock is right twice a day):



Wealth, poverty, and food. Stine said she wishes she could bring me a homemade meal and a nice Chianti, which was funny because I was thinking that’s what I would do for her – or anyone else – were the situation reversed.

I forgot to mention: the tomato plants yielded another basket full of tomatoes over the weekend, and I think I’ll give them a few days to ripen, then maybe invite someone over for a pasta dinner. It’s not fancy. But still, I’m feeling a little generous.

How to Eat

This week went by sort of slowly, and I amused myself by opening a Facebook profile (mainly to see Dan & Kim's photos from Spain), starting a Mother Bear, working on my sock, trying to think of Halloween costumes, and moving horror movies to the top of my Netflix queue (we watched The Mist last night... it was pretty good).

This week, I also heard from a friend who is having relationship problems, and tried to give the most honest, actionable advice I could. I really hope it works out for the best in the long run. But I know how hard it is to keep moving forward when you just want to get to your happy ending.

After work today, Matt and I went to Ukazoo, where we tried to trade three boxes of Mom's old novels in. For whatever reason (maybe they had them all in stock?) they only took two books. The good news is that they had a softcover of Nigella's How to Eat, which I quite gleefully snached right up. I'm looking forward to flipping through this. Nigella is my favorite celebrity cook, and I love her writing... you can imagine sitting in her kitchen, having a glass of wine and watching her cook.

So tomorrow, we'll have breakfast, maybe take out the Halloween decorations, try another used book store, go to dinner with Jeff and Lacey, maybe watch another horror movie. And maybe I'll see if there's anything good for dessert in that cookbook. Yum!

Love, Lucy

My latest read was Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball. It was a superficial but quick and entertaining read, the type that got me into reading biographies when I was younger and celebrity gossip was nothing like it is today. The book was had apparently been recorded years earlier then put aside and forgotten about, and was published posthumously. The book covered her early life, her modeling, stage, and movie careers, her struggle to have children, her meeting, elopement, fights, work and divorce with the younger Desi Arnaz, accusations and acquittal from the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and her relationship with her second husband, Gary Morton. (They were married 28 years by the time she died, eight more than she spent with Desi.)

It was interesting in its detailing of old Hollywood, and for the other famous people she knew, such as Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Ginger Rogers, whose mother was a huge influence on Lucille. Ball seemed very self-aware, from her desperation for acceptance to her fiery temper. The book was conversational, and the tone was very mild, likely as not to hurt those who were still living at the time of the book’s beginnings (and even though Desi’s drinking and indiscretions with other women were widely known). There were several references to I Love Lucy but the book wasn’t really about the show. Although, there was a good bit of info on their “firsts” … use of real film for a television program (which is why the episodes survived to this day), the idea of reruns, using a three-camera setup for filming, showing a pregnant woman on TV, having a woman be head of a production company (she bought her ex’s shares in Desilu), etc.

This was a Freecycle book, and so I’ll be passing this along to my grandmother next, or trading it in at a used book store… Matt and I are supposed to go to Ukazoo this evening to trade in two or three boxes of mom’s old books. Time to go treasure hunting!!

The Vice Presidential Debate

I could, of course, poke fun at both vice-presidential candidates. I mean, Biden did have a little renewed bout of his childhood stuttering, didn't fully squelch his tendency to say anything that comes to mind, and referred to himself in the third person. But he HAS been in the Senate for longer than I've been alive, and he isn't worth millions of dollars, and he's not as funny as our girl Sarah.

I have to say, while I'm pretty left of center, I DO believe in going across the aisle and not voting according to party. But what I'm seeing a lot of, and what I don't like, is that many people seem to vote Republican because of cultural issues like religion, patriotism, family values and (Matt's favorite) gun ownership. And it bothers me because religion shouldn't be a part of government (I'm fine with taking "In God We Trust" off the dollar), Republicans don't have the market on patriotism or family values, and with the country in the state it's in, none of these issues should trump economic ones.

And, while people may be able to relate to Sarah Palin (who, by the way, IS a millionaire... so maybe she's not as close to Joe Six-Pack as she'd like you to believe), I gotta say I don't want the girl next door to be second in command as far as running the free world. Especially with McCain as old as he is. I'm just saying.

And, on the subject of patriotism, I'm tired of hearing about how other countries hate us because we are free. The Iraq war (once we had to admit we couldn't find any WMDs) was then justified by a "freedom" agenda. Um, okay. Then why don't these countries hate Canada? Probably because a lot of our talk about freedom and democracy is rhetoric and we're more concerned with hegemony. (Look it up.) Other nations willingly admit that, so why can't we? Partially because the flag-waving crowd might not like it.

Anyway, back to the debates.

They were better than I thought they'd be, and better than the first presidential debate. The candidates were personable, well informed, and skilled at twisting the truth on some of their stats. It will be interesting to see whether the presidential candidates are able to be more affable during their next debate. Maybe they can use Sarah's flow chart to prepare:

Almost as funny as this one.

Raining Squirrels and Bunnies (Ain't it cool?)

It rained pretty much all day on Saturday. I got up relatively early for a weekend and knitted for a bit while waiting for Matt to get up, and after about two hours, crept up the stairs and jumped on him and demanded breakfast. This has a happy ending: I had a great egg sammich on an English muffin AND I finished my first cable scarf!!

I also did a bit of minor tailoring: I sewed down flap pockets on two pairs of capris (Who needs big flaps on their butts?) and I removed some buttons that made some kind of crazy smiley pattern from a cloche hat and added them to my button collection for use later.

There are some red dots left on the hat from when it was made, indicating where the button should go. (See them in the upper right?) I think I need to bug Mom into crocheting a big fluffy grey flower to cover them up.

Seriously, it rained all day. I was hoping to get out of the house and do some walking but instead watched The Pursuit of Happyness and watched the kittens and watched the rain.

We also watched a squirrel (Matt is convinced it's the squirrel I rescued from the rain barrel about a year ago) sit on the railing of the back porch and shiver and wrap himself in his tail and cry. I didn't know squirrels could cry, and of course it broke my heart. When the rain paused, I had Matt leave some bread out for him, but he didn't come back.

Then, of course, it rained some more; which sucked because Carlos gave us four tickets to the Orioles game, and we planned to take Bob and Shannon but were hesitant to have them drive all the way up here if the game was going to be rained out.

But, I'm learning about silver linings. Like when I poured myself some cereal the other day and missed the cup and got Annie's Fruity Bunnies all over the counter, and instead of getting frustrated like I normally do, I said "Ain't it cool?" and admired the crazy colors and then cleaned it up and went about having a snack.

So the weather was too iffy to go to the baseball game. Instead, we met Bob and Shannon at Arundel Mills and had dinner and went to Dave & Buster's, and I played Skeeball once but for the rest of the evening, followed my little family around while they played NASCAR and football and shooting games.


Ain't it cool?

The Great Schlep

I don't have a Jewish Grandma in Florida. I only have one Grandma, she's of indeterminate heritage, and she lives in Maryland, so I don't have too far to schlep myself to convince her to vote. If you are lucky enough to have Jewish grandparents in Florida, you'd be crazy not to schlep yourself down there and tell them to vote. Or schlep yourself to the phone and call them. Grandparents love it when you call them. Even if it's to talk about politics.

Happy Feet

Yesterday, I signed up for the Get Fit Maryland challenge to walk 10,000 steps a day. It's a 12-week walking program where you pay $10-$12 to join, and are given pedometer, a log book to record your steps, and health information, tips, and offers. You also get a free 30-day membership to any Merritt Athletic Club. There are incentive prizes for completing your log book and prizes at the completion of the program. But I'm doing it less for the gym membership I'd never use or prizes, and more so for the pedometer and nudge to get walking. So far, I've been walking in place while washing my hands in the WC, walking to ask my coworkers questions rather than IMing them, marching around in the elevator... and generally looking like a crazy lady.

Today, Court told me about Socktoberfest. It's pretty loose: just a group of knitters who plan to work on socks and post pictures during October. I'm definitely going to join and will try to have my first pair of socks knitted by Halloween. It gives me an excuse to spend time on my beloved Ravelry page, and I have two more pairs I need to get started on, anyway!

Two weekends ago...

...when the remnant of Hurricane Henry (I think it was Henry) blew through the neighborhood,

I spent the day warm and cozy on my living room floor, on top of the big fluffy Ravens blanket Mom gave Matt for Christmas (all four of us--kittens included--love that thing), watching old movies and being unabashedly domestic. I pulled out my long-neglected jewelry making supplies and spent hours putting purple beads on pins with the idea that I would make a necklace. I made lots of dangling sets of beads, but lost interest before managing to string them together!

Then, I made my first homemade apple pie, which was insanely fun and easy and delicious.

Later, I also took some of the many many many tomatoes we've grown and I peeled them and chopped them and strained the seeds out and made homemade tomato sauce in my favorite pot, which was warm and wonderful in wheat penne that I baked with a bit of shredded cheese.

Another weekend is on its way, but I think I'll just spend it knitting!

What Yarn Problem?

I had to run some paper stock up to Kiddie Academy today, and stopped at Lovelyarns on the way back to the office. (Okay, it's not exactly on the way...)

I purchased Malabrigo kettle-dyed worsted wool in "Dusty" for a slouchy beret I plan to knit (Dusty is the same color as the cable/rib scarf I am knitting), two balls of super-thin Kid Marino Crystal Palace Yarns in a black/white/gray mix with which I hope to crochet a scarf, and some Storm Moon Knits sock yarn in Gaz (Ravens colors! it's dyed black, purple and gray and will magically stripe in those colors when I knit them).

I also picked up an extra pattern and some scrap yarn so Mom and I can both try to knit a bear for the Mother Bear Project.

I can't wait to get home and fondle my yarn. Is that weird??

The Road

I read The Road in about two days. Okay, that's not necessarily surprising. But nonetheless, the book was gripping. It's one of those books where you drop into the characters' lives, then fall back out again. You don't really know what happened before or what will happen after, but you are a part of the right now.

The story is about a nameless man and his young son on a journey to reach the coast, trying to survive after an apocalypse. The world is dying, and so are they. All they have managed to scavange, they take with them in a shopping cart or in their backpacks. The other is all each has.

The writing was sparce, and the type large and set with wide line spacing, adding to the sense of flow and scarcity. It was disturbing but engaging read. Not to mention last year's Pulitzer Prize winner.

The Road will also have a movie version, coming out this November. (Cormac McCarthy also wrote No Country for Old Men.) The movies are never as good as the books, but I'm still looking forward to seeing it!

Watchmen

I finished reading this a while ago, but hadn't had the opportunity to blog about it. I wanted to be able to dedicate some time and thought to it. Now, I just want to get it out of the way!



Seriously, though: the book was pretty awesome.

The comic series was written (and set) in the mid 80s and was set a bit of an alternative universe, where Richard Nixon is still president, and The Doomsday Clock is ticking towards midnight. Superheros are a fact of life, but -- with one exection -- are everyday people, more adventurers in funny costumes than anything else.

Matt ended up reading the novel as well, and both of us thought Rorschach was the most interesting character. He reminded me of a member of the military, of great integrity, but blindingly absolutist, and seemingly driven by a singular idea that isn't necessarily his.

It was a timely read, considering the state of the world and our need for something -- SOMETHING! -- to pull things back together. If something as crazy as the events of 9/11 didn't unite us for very long, I fear how dramatic it would have to be in order to work.

I don't think this will transfer well to film. One of the points of The Watchmen was to show what the medium of a graphic novel could do that other media can't emulate. For example, sandwiched between chapters are other fictional elements, like excerpts of books and letters written by the characters and the comic book within the comic book. That, and the story itself, and the pretty incredible ending, may not be accepted by a wide audience.

Julie & Julia

I finished reading Julie & Julia over the weekend. What a fun read! It's a memoir about a neurotic, disgruntled twenty-nine-year-old New York secretary who decided to embark on the Julie/Julia Project -- a challenge to herself to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year, and blog about her experience doing so. What followed was --obviously -- humor, broken eggs, an obscene amount of butter, and several nervous breakdowns.

I love Julie Powell’s writing style: witty, brutally honest, self-depreciating, sometimes whiny... yet always utterly relatable. (Especially the parts about her long-suffering husband.) Reading it, I was cheering her on and wondering whether she was completely nuts, often at the same time.

Julie's first post was Sunday, August 25, 2002 (that's right, I tracked it down), and it quickly gained an enthusiastic readership... among web surfers and eventually, the media. (Which is what eventually led her to her book deal, that lucky dog.)

I know there is a movie being made from the book, which will have a little bit more of Julia Child's life, based on her autobiography My Life in France. (I need to add that to my to-read list... or maybe my Christmas list.) And Meryl Streep is supposed to play Julia Child, so OBVIOUSLY that's going to be a fun performance.

That said, I don't think all of this is going to tear me away from my devotion to Alice Waters, but it gives me a new interest in and appreciation of Julia Child and schmancy French cooking. It also makes me yen for a project of my own, especially if it can eventually get me out of my sometimes-secretarial-like day job. Knitting? Baking? Jewelry-making? Any suggestion?

Wake Me Up (When September Ends)

I've had an interesting -- and largely unintentional -- barrage of September 11th references in the last few weeks of August. We received United 93 and World Trade Center from Netflix; they happened to be next on our queue. The author of Julie & Julia wrote about her experience at a temporary secretarial job... at a government firm fielding suggestions for a 9/11 memorial. The first essay in my latest Barbara Kingsolver book was a rumination on the events of September 11th... I didn't find out until later that Kingsolver began writing that book of essays on 9/12/01.

I felt United 93 was well-researched, and true-to-life. The film ran more or less in real time, and cuts from the plane to the military to air traffic controllers, building a mounting sense of confusion and fear. Each passenger was represented by a specific actor; I found later that many families met the actors portraying their loved ones. The film played like a good, unflinching, unbiased documentary. World Trade Center wasn't nearly as good. I respect that the artists involved were making their tribute, but as a movie it was neither engaging nor entertaining.

The author of Julie & Julia was surprisingly -- and dare I say refreshingly -- frank regarding her frustrations dealing with outrageous suggestions for a 9/11 memorial. She also writes rather bluntly about her loathing of Republicans. I was pretty amused by her rants. From reviews I've read, some readers have (of course) been offended and feel she is cold and dispassionate. I found her open and funny... someone with whom I wouldn't mind hanging out, and with whom I'd feel comfortable saying all those things I wouldn't say in polite company.

Small Wonder's title essay is sure to be controversial (Kingsolver did make the list of the 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, along with any other prominent Democrat or Liberal you can think of). She describes the enemy as fear rather than a person, and writes "it would require the deepest possible shift of our hearts to live in this world of fundamental animosity and devote ourselves not the the escalating exertion to kill, but rather, to lulling animosity to sleep." And this, to me, is what I take away from the events of 9/11.

Even on that day, driving to my grandmother's funeral with my fiancee and Marine brother, I was angry but felt no hate. I didn't want revenge. I wanted to grieve, to heal, and to rise up. And then I wanted to understand why there is such hate out there, and how to heal it. I had not considered -- and wanted no part of -- an unending, escalating back-and-forth of misconception and conflict.

Years later, I have some understanding about the hate out there, and about how we may be perceived in countries unlike ours, as well as some that are not so unlike ours. And how little of what we are doing is working to change the perceptions, hate, violence.

I worry a lot about this world gone mad, about wars and foreign relations and the numerous divisions in our own country: by race, economics, religion, sexuality, party lines. I worry about intolerance and injustice, what I can do to combat it, whether I can make an impact. When I think of what a troubled time this is, I try to remind myself that nearly every generation has had its own terrors to overcome. But it's hard to think of them when this is what I'm experiencing. I just wish I knew how to do it, how to lull some of the world's animosity to sleep.

A friend of mine recently said he dislikes liberals, partially because he feels they are spoiled idealists, ashamed of our country. It was a constructive discussion (such a great start!); an opportunity to debate and come to terms. Because dear reader, I am quite the bleeding-heart liberal, and I'll admit to some discountenance. I find myself disagreeing with a lot of things that go on and hoping for change. But while I feel this young nation may be wayward in its teenage years, I believe in its greatness. I love it as it fumbles and finds its way, am exaspirated by its angry outburts and inspired by its compassionate outpourings. I love it with a fierce protectiveness, and I want to see it at its best.

I am, indeed, a liberal. But to me, that has less to do with my political beliefs about civil liberties and social progress. (I roll my eyes at the ACLU as much as my Republican friends.) What it has to do with is my idealistic child-like faith that we can work to make things better, that, even though this world may never achieve perfect harmony, we can accept and maybe even help one another. That perhaps we can lull at least some animosity to sleep.

2008 Republican National Convention

In an odd wrinkle in reality, Matt and I didn't watch the Democratic National Convention, but did watch both Sarah Palin and John McCain's speeches during the Republican National Convention during the past two days.

I expected Palin to do well with her acceptance speech, but not as well as she did. She was poised, engaging and well-paced. I wish I would have watched Obama's and Biden's speeches so I have some comparison, but I would have liked to have heard more of her views and less Obama bashing. I also think her remarks to families of special needs children about having "a friend and advocate in the White House" is more about strategy than sincerity, especially considering that she hid her pregnancy -- and then her son's disability -- from everyone, including her children, until her son was born. Special needs children in something that wouldn’t have mattered much to her before she had a baby with Down’s Syndrome.

I thought McCain's was a good speech in that it aspired to be inspirational and somewhat bi-partisan. In my usual reluctant optimist way, I choose to believe he is sincere in his love for his country, his desire to make it better, and – even if he can’t bring it to fruition – his goal to work across party lines. I agree with his more of viewpoints than of any other Republicans in recent memory. That said, I didn’t learn anything about his policy plans -- "lower taxes," "reform the education system" and "reduce independence on foreign oil" are not plans until you tell me how you would achieve those things -- and he had some contradictions in his speech (war is terrible and I am against it … we’re there to win this war!; we can't do anything without oil ... Americans can do anything we put our minds to!), and though I felt bad for him that he was getting heckled so badly, his speech was way too long.

Knowing that choosing a running mate is an art and a science, it will be interesting to see whether McCain's choice of a running mate will prove to be a ruinous miscalculation or a stroke of tactical genious. It seems Palen pushes the Republican ticket further to the right, so it may lose those who are uncommitted or in the center who may have voted for McCain because he is a "milder" Republican, or it may gain him the vote of Conservatives who think he is too liberal. Most likely, it will do both.

Palin was a brave choice either way. I think she's a tough cookie and would love it if she and I shared ideology, but she's too fundamental for me: anti-abortion, creationist-Christian, supportive of abstinence-only approaches to sex-ed (oh, the irony!)... not exactly someone I expect to fight for female rights. She also doesn't think that humans contribute to global warming, which is a big concern to me. I'm hoping the story about her trying to ban books in the library when she was mayor aren't true... Really, the more I learn about her views, the more concerned I become.

Now that we got the Americana backdrops and patriotic balloons out of the way, I’m looking forward to the debates. Stay tuned... and no matter what your views are, I hope you go out there and vote!!!

Job Post

Work has been somewhat slow lately, believe it or not. I've been lobbying for a new client, though thus far, it hasn't gotten me anywhere. I get to do new business research when it's needed, but not often enough and frankly, I'm not a fan of doing a lot of secondary research. I miss doing primary research but wanted to stick out this job for at least a year. (One month to go...)

In the meantime, I meant to share this a while ago ... one of my old co-workers suggested my old employer post the following job, in hopes of replacing what I can REALLY do around an office:



MARKETING
** NEW ** 'New Jen' - Resident creative genius seeks short, cat loving, vegetarian with superior pointing skills. The ability to produce high quality evil scowls a huge plus. Duties include tea preparation, bi-weekly purchasing of Whole Food coffee, and making references to evil monkeys on a regular basis. Other duties include thwarting the creative department's quest for world domination and apparently some sort of 'market research' whatever the hell that is. Competitive Salary + Benefits!


It sounds just about right.

Labor Day

A rather lovely treat after my exciting weekend with my mommy was that Monday was Labor Day, and we had the day off. (Mom took Tuesday off, too, but I'm not going to dwell on my jealousy regarding her four-day weekend.) Matt and I had a quiet breakfast together Monday morning: the usual eggs and toast and tea on the back porch. Matt was supposed to practice flipping eggs in the pan (over easy) but cheated and flipped them with not one but TWO spatulas. Cheater! Although, it's pretty ironic that I am the one with culinary interests and Matt will be the one able to wear the chef's toque blanche.

Shortly after we ate and cleaned up, Matt made the executive decision that we would go to the nearest Crate & Barrel that sold furniture and purchase the daybed I've been coveting for several months now, so we can finally redo the guest room. So it was off to Tyson's Corner, VA for the day, after I did the requisite packing of Matt's car with a snack and drink and book and magazine and knitting. (I don't claim to be sane, people.)

I had a great time at the Crate & Barrel, though I will say that perusing furniture typically makes me want to move into a new house and decorate all over again. I've always been the sort that buys pieces rather than sets of furniture, and I think it is beginning to show. Although I will say that my house is starting to look lived in, in that cozy grab-a-magazine-from-the-stack-and-put-your-feet-up kind of way. I'm almost looking forward to crisp fall weather, when I can add a light blanket to the mix.

After Crate & Barrel, we went to the Tyson's Corner Mall, where I would've been happy to update my wardrobe had I not been a little freaked out by the amount of the daybed, trundle, and trundle mattress for which we had just sprung. But I did get a purple cardigan from H&M and a small Circa notebook from Levenger. On clearance!

For dinner, we went to The Cheesecake Factory at Tyson's II and (finally!) used the gift certificates Mom gave us for our birthday. It worked out nearly perfectly: the certificates covered all but sixty-one cents of dinners, drinks, and desserts. I was, of course, stuffed and exhausted by the time we got home. Matt drove the long way around the beltway so I could see Washington National Harbor (since Mom announced that we could take her there next, the saucy little minx). That place is frighteningly large, but I'm sure we'll take her when some more stores open.

Anyway, my long-winded point is that the daybed will be delivered in two weeks and I'm finally going to get to redo the guest room, so no more Mommy sleeping on an Aerobed on the floor, and I can finally invite Stine and Marc (MISTER and MISTRESS!) to visit. It's so funny to think how you get to a point where you have your own home, and can do what you please within your own four walls. I have a pretty terrible memory, but I do recall moving into my first apartment with my college roommate, thinking it would be a miracle if I managed to pay my portion of the rent every month, and being surprised every month when I did. (It wasn't much later that Matt moved in as well; shockingly enough, ten years ago!) I suppose it sneaks up on everyone that way: you aren't sure you can handle it, but do the best you can, and gradually take on more responsibilities, and move along largely unconscious of your own progress, and eventually are startled by the realization that you are grown, with your own things and your own life. And, if you are lucky, your own guest room.

Goodbye, Summer

It's been quite a week. A good week. A busy week. A week fitting for the last week of summer. Monday was grocery shopping, for groceries I don't think I touched all week. It wasn't a good week for home cooked meals. Tuesday was packed with a client meeting then movie night; Los and I grabbed a much-need beer and some chips before seeing Tropic Thunder, which was a lot funnier than I thought it would be, and thus was one of those movies that made me feel just a little guilty that I wasn't watching it with Matt.

Thursday, we got to go to the Ravens game. Neither my boss nor her friend were using their season tickets, so Matt, Court, VJ and I watched the Ravens get spanked by the Falcons. Matt Stover was the highlight of the game; especially watching him try to tackle a running back. We girls were thinking both "YAY, MATT!" and "Please don't hurt Matt Stover!"

This week also marked the end of "summer hours" at work, where we got off at 3:30. I got out of there around 4pm and Matt drove us down to get my mom, who spent her birthday-weekend with us. On the way, we stopped at an antique shop, where I wandered around wide-eyed and reverent, running my fingers across treasured items once belonging to strangers. There were a lot of things I may have liked to have purchased, but settled on an old costume jewelry necklace and two books, a collection of short stories from 1939 and a 1927 edition of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

After collecting Mom and her things, we headed homeward, stopping at Noodles & Co. near our house for some dinner. (We intended to go to P.F. Chang's, but it was packed with adventurous suburbanites.) Either way, I was grateful for a good meal with some veggies, and it filled Mom's need for someone to place food in front of her. (She has little of my restaurant snobbery, but insists that she be served her food if going through the trouble and expense of going out, making places like Panera less favored.)

Saturday, Matt made a lovely (if not slightly late) breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs, then cleaned and did laundry while Mom and I wandered from store to store. At Michael's, she got some silk flowers; at Target, I bought cleaning supplies and yet another magazine; at Barnes & Noble, I bought Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver (I've already read the first essay, but will post about that later); at A.C. Moore, I contemplated -- but did not purchase -- sock yarn. We saw Mama Mia, which was sugary-sweet but surprisingly good, and left us both with ABBA songs stuck firmly in our heads. We popped into a funiture store and Hallmark, then met Matt and Don Pablo's for dinner. Mom got her fill of her favorite cheesy-good Mexican (-ish) food, we had a sweetheart of a waiter, and Mom got to wear the big black sombrero and have a restaurant full of people scream "Happy Birthday" to her.

After dinner, we wandered around Pier 1 a bit to digest, then further stuffed ourselves with Cold Stone Creamery. By the time we went to bed, we were fat and happy.


Sunday, we went to Crepe du Jour for brunch. I love Mount Washington in general and Crepe du Jour in particular. We sat outside, and I felt very French. After Matt, Mom and I stuffed ourselves with a steak, crepe and omlette respectively, we went to Hamden (hon). We stopped in Lovelyarns, where I let Mom pick out a lovely sock yarn (so I now need to learn to knit socks) and I bought a set of huge (size 35) wooden needles, and a skein of a mohair/nylon/wool blend, with which I'm thinking of knitting armwarmers for use in my office.


We also stopped into Salamander Books, where I purchased a copy of The God of Small Things and Julie & Julia, which I'm already sixty-some pages into. From Hamden, we dropped Mom off and headed back home, with me reading along the way, and enjoying the clutter of packages I made on the passenger-side floorboard of Matt's car.
And now that I'm home, I'm off to enjoy my new stack of books!

Knitting Olympics

Now that I successful knit a ribbed scarf (which only took me about six months), I decided to accept the Knitting Olympics challenge: cast on a new project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, and be done by the Closing Ceremonies. So Court and I picked a project, went to Woolworks, got some yarn, and guess what?



I did it!

My project was the Split Neck Cap Sleeve Tee from Fitted Knits, and I used Jaeger Roma, a viscose/nylon/angora (bunnies!) blend. I learned all kinds of new skills, from starting a new ball of yarn, to knitting on circular and double-pointed needles, how raglan sleeves are constructed:
placing stitches on scrap yarn and picking them up later, picking up stitches on a finished edge, increasing by knitting front to back, yarning over, knitting two stitches together, and seaming eyelets into picot edges:

The pattern calls for a second color to be used for the trim around the arms, bottom, and neck, but I used the same color throughout. My only complaints are that it's a little wider than I anticipated, and I am not crazy how how the open neck looks. I wish I didn't add the extra stitches required if I had used a second color. I haven't found a good clasp yet, and am using a pin in the meantime.
That said, I learned a ton of stuff and am very excited about the idea of starting up a new knitting project! My next skill will be learning how to cable, and I just purchased a great pinkish wool to make a ribbed and cabled scarf.