Today I discovered that I will be doing a bunch of displays at work over the next few days. They include the following themes:
1) Sci Fi/Fantasy: I'm thinking of someone with a sword fighting a robot. Or replicate a couple of super-lame covers in construction paper. This is a fairly medium sized display. Should be wicked awesome.
2) Adult summer reading: this will just be a construction paper skyline of Vancouver. Boring. But I will still spend 15 hours on it because I'm like that. I wanted to make the Marine Building in construction paper, so it's a view of Coal Harbour. How many days can I lose to paper displays? I have 4 to spare.
3) Pirates!!!!: I'm wearing a stripey shirt today and mentioned to my co-displayer (she's doing a Greek display) that I was feeling piratey today (arrr) and she FREAKED OUT. Like, she started planning the display in her head. So, we're jointly working on the pirate display, which will be 3D and may involve heads of the stars of "Pirates of the Caribbean" stuck on cartoonish pirate bodies (with satin pants). And a ship sticking out.
I find it hilarious that I get paid to do this sort of stuff. If you have any really good ideas for images to recreate, let me know. Also it's interesting that so many people I know are obsessed with pirates. You know who you are.
Speaking of which, maybe our pirate-appreciation day should be a month instead. I vote June, not only because it's next month, but because John Roberts became Bartholomew Roberts in June of 1719, aka The Great Pirate Roberts. I like to think of him as the Dread Pirate Roberts because there is no real date in the book and most people should know who the Dread Pirate Roberts is.
FYI, I will be almost unresponsive the next few days, probably until Tuesday or Wednesday, as The Move is on. I still have craploads of stuff to pack/clean in the house and things/services to switch over, and want to avoid all of it by summoning my fairy godmother or elves or Mary Poppins. Oh, or I can get myself hospitalised and then other people will be forced to help me. That's a good plan...
Currently reading :
Cut! : Hollywood Murders, Accidents, and Other Tragedies
By Denise Imwold
Release date: 09 November, 2005
Friday, May 26, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
mo ikkai
With the excessive head pain last night, I forgot to mention that, while on Granville Island, we went to the market and happened across a stall that sold konnyaku. This, in itself, is not interesting. What was interesting was that they sold konnyaku from our prefecture (Gunma)! No one outside of Japan has heard of Gunma, and most people in Japan don't know it either. It's literally in the middle of Japan, the bellybutton, one of only 5 (out of 47) prefectures not bordered by water. It is odd to see anything made in Gunma in other prefectures in Japan, let alone in another country.
Konnyaku is a flavourless jelly-type glob made from the starches of a taro root-type plant that people call a potato, but it isn't, and has a dull grey colour and flecks of black in it. It looks like someone accidentally dropped it in the dustbin and then forgot to wash it before serving it. Ew.
There are flavoured snack konnyaku cups that are tasty (the heart shaped ones), but they discontinued the pommegranite (pomegranite?) flavour. And yearly people die from eating konnyaku snacks because they don't chew it (it is a jelly) and wind up choking on the glob. How embarassing would that be, to have cause of death listed as choking on jello?
If anyone can find chewy aloe vera candies can you let me know? They discontinued them and I never found an alternative.
Currently reading :
Overcoming Passive-Aggression : How to Stop Hidden Anger from Spoiling Your Relationships, Career and Happiness
By Tim Murphy
Release date: 09 November, 2005
Konnyaku is a flavourless jelly-type glob made from the starches of a taro root-type plant that people call a potato, but it isn't, and has a dull grey colour and flecks of black in it. It looks like someone accidentally dropped it in the dustbin and then forgot to wash it before serving it. Ew.
There are flavoured snack konnyaku cups that are tasty (the heart shaped ones), but they discontinued the pommegranite (pomegranite?) flavour. And yearly people die from eating konnyaku snacks because they don't chew it (it is a jelly) and wind up choking on the glob. How embarassing would that be, to have cause of death listed as choking on jello?
If anyone can find chewy aloe vera candies can you let me know? They discontinued them and I never found an alternative.
Currently reading :
Overcoming Passive-Aggression : How to Stop Hidden Anger from Spoiling Your Relationships, Career and Happiness
By Tim Murphy
Release date: 09 November, 2005
Monday, May 22, 2006
i heart vancouver
I said I was going to update on the weekend and I've gotta do it while the weekend is still at hand.
OK, on Friday Tamaki and I met up with my co-workers for dinner and drinks at a Newfie bar. Tamaki is pretty good at English (you know, being an English teacher and all), but some of my co-workers talk REALLY fast and say "um" a lot. I have a hard time following sometimes, so I can imagine what it would be like if English were your second language. We left them and went for a walk to English Bay to catch up. She asked about my time in Japan, how I dealt with some of the cultural obstacles. I think she was surprised by some of the stuff I had to deal with that aren't problems here, like the inappropriate comments/actions by co-workers and the movie starness I got being a big, white girl. I mean, people in the grocery store asked to shake my hand, I often had to pose for pictures with complete strangers, signed autographs for no reason, etc. She sounded a little disappointed that people didn't really care that she was Japanese, but was amazed by how multicultural Canada actually is. I think, especially in rural areas that don't have many foreigners, Japanese people assume everyone is white in western countries. Here it's pretty hard to tell foreigners from citizens.
Saturday we met up for morning tea and gave my French friend Fabrice time to haul his ass downtown so we could all go on the bus tour of Vancouver. The tour is the cost of a minor body organ, but gave us hop on/off access for two days. I tried to quietly supplement some of what the bus driver was saying, but a woman behind my friends shushed me. Shushed! What, you don't want to know there were actually three Hotel Vancouvers? Fine. Get excited about some shitty revolving restaurant, not even the tallest one in the city. The tour made me realise that I don't like tourists that much. Tamaki wanted to go to the brewery on Granville Island, so we hopped off and bought tickets. The tour was sorta dull, but afterwards we got the four beer sampler, including an alcoholic ginger beer. We talked with some of the other tourees and I gave local tips/directions (they asked). I should totally be a tour guide. We got back onto the bus, a little tipsy, and continued on until we got to the library. After a lengthy discussion, including me having to explain to Fabrice why I no longer want to talk to our mutual friend who is a complete jackass (see one of the February blogs for details), we decided to go for Malaysian food and a movie. The movie: Over the Hedge. Steve Carell? Hilarious. I don't know what kind of hyperactive animal he was, a squirrel maybe, but the best scene of the whole movie was when the other animals gave him a caffeinated drink to implement the final plan. It was brilliant. Except that Avril Lavigne was in it.
Yesterday Tamaki and I went for dim sum in Chinatown. I could seriously go for dim sum weekly and probably wouldn't get sick of it. The one server kept talking to Tamaki, even though I was the one who ordered stuff and Tamaki had never been for dim sum and had no idea what the girl was talking about. I find this sort of thing amusing. We went for another ride on the bus, this time stopping in Stanley Park to walk around a bit. After a while the weather started turning, so we decided to take the Sea Bus to Lonsdale to have a bite at the Quay. As exciting as it sounds. By this time I was feeling a bit deadly, the being nice for two whole days, and so we went for a hot chocolate and then she headed back to the hostel and I went home.
My successor in Japan sent an email to say she and her husband and baby would probably be moving to Canada this summer and her husband's family would be coming for a visit, and could I guide them around for a day? It will be hilarious good times trying to tour them in Japanese; my Japanese skills suck now.
Have you been to the HMV at Burrard and Robson lately? The bear on the corner is AWESOME! Easily the most interesting of all the bears in the city.
Holy crap, my head hurts. I'm totally going to bed.
Currently listening :
Le Mans / Entresemana
By Le Mans
Release date: 24 March, 1998
OK, on Friday Tamaki and I met up with my co-workers for dinner and drinks at a Newfie bar. Tamaki is pretty good at English (you know, being an English teacher and all), but some of my co-workers talk REALLY fast and say "um" a lot. I have a hard time following sometimes, so I can imagine what it would be like if English were your second language. We left them and went for a walk to English Bay to catch up. She asked about my time in Japan, how I dealt with some of the cultural obstacles. I think she was surprised by some of the stuff I had to deal with that aren't problems here, like the inappropriate comments/actions by co-workers and the movie starness I got being a big, white girl. I mean, people in the grocery store asked to shake my hand, I often had to pose for pictures with complete strangers, signed autographs for no reason, etc. She sounded a little disappointed that people didn't really care that she was Japanese, but was amazed by how multicultural Canada actually is. I think, especially in rural areas that don't have many foreigners, Japanese people assume everyone is white in western countries. Here it's pretty hard to tell foreigners from citizens.
Saturday we met up for morning tea and gave my French friend Fabrice time to haul his ass downtown so we could all go on the bus tour of Vancouver. The tour is the cost of a minor body organ, but gave us hop on/off access for two days. I tried to quietly supplement some of what the bus driver was saying, but a woman behind my friends shushed me. Shushed! What, you don't want to know there were actually three Hotel Vancouvers? Fine. Get excited about some shitty revolving restaurant, not even the tallest one in the city. The tour made me realise that I don't like tourists that much. Tamaki wanted to go to the brewery on Granville Island, so we hopped off and bought tickets. The tour was sorta dull, but afterwards we got the four beer sampler, including an alcoholic ginger beer. We talked with some of the other tourees and I gave local tips/directions (they asked). I should totally be a tour guide. We got back onto the bus, a little tipsy, and continued on until we got to the library. After a lengthy discussion, including me having to explain to Fabrice why I no longer want to talk to our mutual friend who is a complete jackass (see one of the February blogs for details), we decided to go for Malaysian food and a movie. The movie: Over the Hedge. Steve Carell? Hilarious. I don't know what kind of hyperactive animal he was, a squirrel maybe, but the best scene of the whole movie was when the other animals gave him a caffeinated drink to implement the final plan. It was brilliant. Except that Avril Lavigne was in it.
Yesterday Tamaki and I went for dim sum in Chinatown. I could seriously go for dim sum weekly and probably wouldn't get sick of it. The one server kept talking to Tamaki, even though I was the one who ordered stuff and Tamaki had never been for dim sum and had no idea what the girl was talking about. I find this sort of thing amusing. We went for another ride on the bus, this time stopping in Stanley Park to walk around a bit. After a while the weather started turning, so we decided to take the Sea Bus to Lonsdale to have a bite at the Quay. As exciting as it sounds. By this time I was feeling a bit deadly, the being nice for two whole days, and so we went for a hot chocolate and then she headed back to the hostel and I went home.
My successor in Japan sent an email to say she and her husband and baby would probably be moving to Canada this summer and her husband's family would be coming for a visit, and could I guide them around for a day? It will be hilarious good times trying to tour them in Japanese; my Japanese skills suck now.
Have you been to the HMV at Burrard and Robson lately? The bear on the corner is AWESOME! Easily the most interesting of all the bears in the city.
Holy crap, my head hurts. I'm totally going to bed.
Currently listening :
Le Mans / Entresemana
By Le Mans
Release date: 24 March, 1998
Sunday, May 21, 2006
tsukareta, but easily distracted
I've been feeling very Japanesey lately. It's calling to me, I swear.
My friend has been in town this weekend. She was the Japanese English teacher in one of the schools I worked in and I haven't seen her for a few years. She decided to take a year sabbatical from teaching and come to Canada to observe in elementary schools, so has been living in Vernon since mid-March. We've been touristing and it's pretty exhausting.
One thing that I both love and hate about Japan is that, whenever you see someone you haven't seen for a while or are just meeting for the first time, you have to give a present, or omiyage. Because I live here I didn't have to give anything, but Tamaki brought me a gift for showing her around Vancouver. And it is one of the raddest gifts I've ever gotten, behind the Jon Cryer-signed "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack on vinyl. She gave me four sets of chopsticks with little bunnies on them, a cotton headscarf thing (you know the ones... it's a piece of cotton with some group's insignia on it and you have to fold it and tie it around your head for communal konnyaku-making day or sports day. I can't remember what it's called), a box of Meiji Almond, and...... a sumo mouse pad!
I love sumo. I mean, I LOVE sumo. Now it's much harder to keep up with it because it's all stats, but still. While living in Japan I went to four or five tournaments (basho) and Akebono's retirement ceremony. (Akebono was the first foreign yokozuna, or grand champion, and was enormous by the time he retired: 6'5" and over 500 pounds. This is a very uncommon size for rikishi; most wrestlers are surprisingly football-playerish and agile. The retirement ceremony seems a little degrading: all the rikishi line up and cut a strand of his hair until the last person, usually one of the high ranking sumo officials, does the final cut and removes the sumo ponytail. It takes hours for everyone to get in on the action.) I was also a somewhat frequent visitor to the sumo hotel in my village for parties and the owner (a very active and high-ranking member of one of the sumo stables [a stable is almost like a sports team, only the athletes all live and work in the stable, working their way up to a higher rank in the sumo hierarchy]) took a shine to me, so constantly sent over sumo-related gifts to my workplace and helped me get sweet seats for the Osaka basho (tournament) the spring my parents and aunt came to Japan. It is extremely hard to get really good seats at basho and Osaka is the hardest one to get into because Osaka is so traditional about sumo. This owner also let me and my parents/aunt stay at the hotel one night with the biggest spread of food I've ever seen for four people, including a tonne of sushi and sashimi, which finally got my parents to eat raw fish after saying they wouldn't touch it the previous two weeks. And the onsen there is one of the best; they have flowers floating in the bath, the bath shaped like a sumo dojo! (If you happen to be in central Japan, I can give you directions to my village, one of the best onsen areas in Japan.)
This wasn't really supposed to be about sumo. I just can't stop talking about it. It's a completely rad sport.
Just this last thing... The reason I loved paying up to $400 for the sweet seats is, in that seating, I got to sit closer in a box on cushions and get a full all-day meal with loads of beer and some sort of keepsake, like handmade ceramics or laquerware, which are completely awesome because so few people get them. And when there's an upset at the end of the day's events (which almost always happens), you get to throw your cushion at the ring and yell really, really loud. The closer you sit to the front, the more likely it is you're going to get wave of ass cushions to the head because people misjudge their cushion throwing skills and few make it into the ring.
See what sumo does to me? I initially meant to write about my day yesterday and why I was so tired, but it seems anticlimatic now. Everything pales in comparison to sumo. And I have loads of sumo stories. But I'll get to yesterday's recap maybe tomorrow or soon. We're going for dim sum and Round #2 of the touristy bus tour today.
Can I say that I am SO COMPLETELY JEALOUS of my friend Scott. Not only is he going to Japan for 9 days, but he's starting off his trip in Chicago, one of my favourite places ever. Some guys have all the luck. Or are far better planners than I.
Currently listening :
Shingo Mama No Oha Rock
By Shingo Katori
Release date: 15 January, 2001
My friend has been in town this weekend. She was the Japanese English teacher in one of the schools I worked in and I haven't seen her for a few years. She decided to take a year sabbatical from teaching and come to Canada to observe in elementary schools, so has been living in Vernon since mid-March. We've been touristing and it's pretty exhausting.
One thing that I both love and hate about Japan is that, whenever you see someone you haven't seen for a while or are just meeting for the first time, you have to give a present, or omiyage. Because I live here I didn't have to give anything, but Tamaki brought me a gift for showing her around Vancouver. And it is one of the raddest gifts I've ever gotten, behind the Jon Cryer-signed "Pretty in Pink" soundtrack on vinyl. She gave me four sets of chopsticks with little bunnies on them, a cotton headscarf thing (you know the ones... it's a piece of cotton with some group's insignia on it and you have to fold it and tie it around your head for communal konnyaku-making day or sports day. I can't remember what it's called), a box of Meiji Almond, and...... a sumo mouse pad!
I love sumo. I mean, I LOVE sumo. Now it's much harder to keep up with it because it's all stats, but still. While living in Japan I went to four or five tournaments (basho) and Akebono's retirement ceremony. (Akebono was the first foreign yokozuna, or grand champion, and was enormous by the time he retired: 6'5" and over 500 pounds. This is a very uncommon size for rikishi; most wrestlers are surprisingly football-playerish and agile. The retirement ceremony seems a little degrading: all the rikishi line up and cut a strand of his hair until the last person, usually one of the high ranking sumo officials, does the final cut and removes the sumo ponytail. It takes hours for everyone to get in on the action.) I was also a somewhat frequent visitor to the sumo hotel in my village for parties and the owner (a very active and high-ranking member of one of the sumo stables [a stable is almost like a sports team, only the athletes all live and work in the stable, working their way up to a higher rank in the sumo hierarchy]) took a shine to me, so constantly sent over sumo-related gifts to my workplace and helped me get sweet seats for the Osaka basho (tournament) the spring my parents and aunt came to Japan. It is extremely hard to get really good seats at basho and Osaka is the hardest one to get into because Osaka is so traditional about sumo. This owner also let me and my parents/aunt stay at the hotel one night with the biggest spread of food I've ever seen for four people, including a tonne of sushi and sashimi, which finally got my parents to eat raw fish after saying they wouldn't touch it the previous two weeks. And the onsen there is one of the best; they have flowers floating in the bath, the bath shaped like a sumo dojo! (If you happen to be in central Japan, I can give you directions to my village, one of the best onsen areas in Japan.)
This wasn't really supposed to be about sumo. I just can't stop talking about it. It's a completely rad sport.
Just this last thing... The reason I loved paying up to $400 for the sweet seats is, in that seating, I got to sit closer in a box on cushions and get a full all-day meal with loads of beer and some sort of keepsake, like handmade ceramics or laquerware, which are completely awesome because so few people get them. And when there's an upset at the end of the day's events (which almost always happens), you get to throw your cushion at the ring and yell really, really loud. The closer you sit to the front, the more likely it is you're going to get wave of ass cushions to the head because people misjudge their cushion throwing skills and few make it into the ring.
See what sumo does to me? I initially meant to write about my day yesterday and why I was so tired, but it seems anticlimatic now. Everything pales in comparison to sumo. And I have loads of sumo stories. But I'll get to yesterday's recap maybe tomorrow or soon. We're going for dim sum and Round #2 of the touristy bus tour today.
Can I say that I am SO COMPLETELY JEALOUS of my friend Scott. Not only is he going to Japan for 9 days, but he's starting off his trip in Chicago, one of my favourite places ever. Some guys have all the luck. Or are far better planners than I.
Currently listening :
Shingo Mama No Oha Rock
By Shingo Katori
Release date: 15 January, 2001
Saturday, May 20, 2006
habits and such
These are the rules: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog about 6 WEIRD THINGS or HABITS about yourself. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged, and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says: "You've been tagged! Read my latest blog for details." Enjoy!
1) I still can't step on cracks for fear I'll break my mother's back. Seriously.
2) I wear Hallowe'en socks (purple with tiny green witches flying around on brooms) all year round, even though I generally dislike Hallowe'en (you'll need to comb through previous blogs to figure out why).
3) I own a Norah Jones CD, purchased with my own money, but never listened to completely. The shame... For me, this is weird.
4) When I meet someone for the first time, I think of various conversations we could have in the future and I decide if we can be friends based on these internal dialogues.
5) I check my closet nightly to make sure someone isn't hiding in there. I even set little traps so I'll know if someone tried to get out while I sleep.
6) I want to strike out at people who use the word "irregardless" because it isn't a real word.
Tag:
- Rachel
- Nelia
- Tangiene
- David B. aka the cutest boy in the world
- Mike P.
- Colin/Chickpea (a combo!)
1) I still can't step on cracks for fear I'll break my mother's back. Seriously.
2) I wear Hallowe'en socks (purple with tiny green witches flying around on brooms) all year round, even though I generally dislike Hallowe'en (you'll need to comb through previous blogs to figure out why).
3) I own a Norah Jones CD, purchased with my own money, but never listened to completely. The shame... For me, this is weird.
4) When I meet someone for the first time, I think of various conversations we could have in the future and I decide if we can be friends based on these internal dialogues.
5) I check my closet nightly to make sure someone isn't hiding in there. I even set little traps so I'll know if someone tried to get out while I sleep.
6) I want to strike out at people who use the word "irregardless" because it isn't a real word.
Tag:
- Rachel
- Nelia
- Tangiene
- David B. aka the cutest boy in the world
- Mike P.
- Colin/Chickpea (a combo!)
Friday, May 19, 2006
this is a promise with a catch
Just back from a screening of "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." So good. I'd heard and liked bits from various DJ albums. I appreciate his love of love; he's got a sweet approach. I didn't know much more about him, though, except that he seemed a little quirky. After seeing the movie... It just puts his music into perspective so much more.
The screening was part of an ongoing series of films related to mental health, put on by one of the departments at UBC that deals with health issues. DJ lives with manic depression and is now medicated after some rather elaborate situations untreated and time spent in institutions. His condition has both helped and hindered him, much of it fully documented on cassette and film; the ups include talking his way onto MTV and impressing them so much that they add his live performance to a national program, the bottom includes causing the plane his father is flying to crash. It's unbelievable how much there is, the documentation of his thoughts and performances through the years, starting from his home movies when he was a teenager. It was funny and earnest and heart-wrenching and hopeful and sad. It was so nice to see something worth seeing.
For me, though, I was just happy to hear "True Love Will Find You In The End" almost in its entirety. It made tears pool in my eyes and cascade down faster than I could wipe them away. It's my go-to song when I'm feeling miserable because it almost always makes me feel better.
And by the end you understand that, like it or not, he makes some of the most engaging music of any singer/songwriter, wonky voice included. And if you live in Vancouver it's showing at Tinseltown starting next week.
The screening was part of an ongoing series of films related to mental health, put on by one of the departments at UBC that deals with health issues. DJ lives with manic depression and is now medicated after some rather elaborate situations untreated and time spent in institutions. His condition has both helped and hindered him, much of it fully documented on cassette and film; the ups include talking his way onto MTV and impressing them so much that they add his live performance to a national program, the bottom includes causing the plane his father is flying to crash. It's unbelievable how much there is, the documentation of his thoughts and performances through the years, starting from his home movies when he was a teenager. It was funny and earnest and heart-wrenching and hopeful and sad. It was so nice to see something worth seeing.
For me, though, I was just happy to hear "True Love Will Find You In The End" almost in its entirety. It made tears pool in my eyes and cascade down faster than I could wipe them away. It's my go-to song when I'm feeling miserable because it almost always makes me feel better.
And by the end you understand that, like it or not, he makes some of the most engaging music of any singer/songwriter, wonky voice included. And if you live in Vancouver it's showing at Tinseltown starting next week.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
two left hands
Since I've been horrifyingly dull as of late, today I decided to attempt to be crafty. Sorta take the focus away from being boring. That Pet Shop Boys thing. "We were never being bored because we were never being boring." You know.
Currently I'm in the midst of knitting a fun fur scarf in black and raspberry stripes. It's going surprisingly well, considering. Contrary to what the name suggests, fun fur isn't really fun. It's like furry string. String is hard to knit. And I may have mentioned that I'm a terrible knitter. Saying I'm terrible is being generous.
Being extremely left-handed, my right hand is weak and pitiful when it comes to dexterity or holding things. My technique is... You know how you're supposed to loop the yarn around one of your fingers so you can easily wrap it over the needles? Ya, I can't do that. My fricking right hand drops the yarn or the needle, so instead of struggling to do both I let it just sorta balance the needle while the right index maneuvers the needle into the loop and then picks up the yarn to wrap. And the right hand doesn't even really balance the needle; it holds it steady while the rounded end is jabbed into my hipbone for leverage. I am slow and my technique looks crappy, so I'm embarassed to knit around others.
Also, I can only knit; haven't gotten around to any projects that require purling. Which is why I only make scarfs. But everyone needs a scarf, right? Right? Still, despite all this going against me, I will not quit knitting yet. I will endeavor. The multiple balls of wool will have to wait until I get better skills or finish the furry catepillar.
Today I also set up my sewing machine and finally worked with the oilcloth I got a couple months ago. I've decided that I like oilcloth. It's pretty easy to work with and the colours you can get are fabulous. It's a little easier to work with than vinyl, and I like sewing with vinyl. If anyone wants to go with me to collect more oilcloth for more sewing projects... I'm ready to go anytime. They make cute bags.
This week will be pretty busy. "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is screening, there's a backroom tour of the Art Gallery, and Mates of State is playing a dance club! And I give notice to my landlord and begin the immense struggle to pack/clean 3 1/2 years worth of stuff in the next couple weeks. Dread.
Currently listening :
Awful Mess Mystery
By Wolfie
Release date: 07 September, 1999
Currently I'm in the midst of knitting a fun fur scarf in black and raspberry stripes. It's going surprisingly well, considering. Contrary to what the name suggests, fun fur isn't really fun. It's like furry string. String is hard to knit. And I may have mentioned that I'm a terrible knitter. Saying I'm terrible is being generous.
Being extremely left-handed, my right hand is weak and pitiful when it comes to dexterity or holding things. My technique is... You know how you're supposed to loop the yarn around one of your fingers so you can easily wrap it over the needles? Ya, I can't do that. My fricking right hand drops the yarn or the needle, so instead of struggling to do both I let it just sorta balance the needle while the right index maneuvers the needle into the loop and then picks up the yarn to wrap. And the right hand doesn't even really balance the needle; it holds it steady while the rounded end is jabbed into my hipbone for leverage. I am slow and my technique looks crappy, so I'm embarassed to knit around others.
Also, I can only knit; haven't gotten around to any projects that require purling. Which is why I only make scarfs. But everyone needs a scarf, right? Right? Still, despite all this going against me, I will not quit knitting yet. I will endeavor. The multiple balls of wool will have to wait until I get better skills or finish the furry catepillar.
Today I also set up my sewing machine and finally worked with the oilcloth I got a couple months ago. I've decided that I like oilcloth. It's pretty easy to work with and the colours you can get are fabulous. It's a little easier to work with than vinyl, and I like sewing with vinyl. If anyone wants to go with me to collect more oilcloth for more sewing projects... I'm ready to go anytime. They make cute bags.
This week will be pretty busy. "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" is screening, there's a backroom tour of the Art Gallery, and Mates of State is playing a dance club! And I give notice to my landlord and begin the immense struggle to pack/clean 3 1/2 years worth of stuff in the next couple weeks. Dread.
Currently listening :
Awful Mess Mystery
By Wolfie
Release date: 07 September, 1999
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)