I couple of years ago I became OBSESSED with The Wire. I LOVE that show. I still say things like, "Work the case!" and "It's all in the game." and "You better get yourself correct!" like I know anything. I can still sing all the versions of the theme song. I still, sometimes, refer to myself as McNulty.
Anyway, my weirdness aside, look what I found. It is hilarious and very satisfying for obsessed fans of the show such as myself.
Omar would like you to click that link. Don't make him angry. Pretty please.
I spent the weekend on the beach of Lake Michigan (I'm the one in the super cool hat; still managed to get a sunburned nose). I had some iphone photos to share but they weren't working out right and I haven't had the time to investigate what their problem is. And today in particular I'm grumpy from coming back from vacation, so this is the only picture I have to represent the weekend. And that's pretty much ok.
One thing I like about the human brain is they way it finds patterns and meanings in things. I'm a few years removed from my Anthropology classes so I'm not going to go all Social Science in here, plus this is a blog about cats and knitting so, like, deep thoughts only get a couple of paragraphs a month if ever. I have a tone to maintain and I choose for that tone to be light and happy and usually knitting related.
Or, you know, Harrison Ford related
Sometimes you pick up on different facetes of an issue and it can feel like there's a conversation going on about the things with which you find yourself concerned. It's like once you know someone who is pregnant it seems like all you see are pregnant ladies: these things were always out there but once your brain is stuck on it, you notice it like you hadn't before.
I recently read this article and while I found the whole thing very interesting, the point that struck me the most was #10 about confusing comfort with happiness. Even as I was reading the article I thought, "Well, yeah, I'm happy when I'm comfortable," thus proving the author's point.
"Comfort sells easier than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort and no work. Happiness takes effort. It requires being proactive, confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant conversations."
Then I thought of how happy I feel when I accomplish something I thought I couldn't. The other day I ran for 20 minutes without stopping and I felt fantastic. But definitely not comfortable. I have really intense driving anxiety and when I arrive at my destination I always feel exhilarated that I did something that scared me so much. Not comfortable while it was happening, but fulfilled that I did it. So: touche, Mark Manson.
Then I read this blog post by Meredith (if you're not reading her blog, you really should, it's wonderful). She just finished her "Blogging for Confidence" series wherein she challenged herself to do things that made her uncomfortable.
"I don't think I even realized it, but I had no idea who I was until I started confronting my fears head on."
As I read over the things she had done for her challenge, I had a moment of envy. "I could knit in public, I do it all the time! I could go to movies by myself, that doesn't scare me," thus totally and completely missing the point. It isn't about the exact thing you do, it's about challenging yourself. It's about the fulfillment you get when you do something that is hard or scary for you.
Back to the idea of patterns: there are a things going on right now for me that are challenging in a three separate areas of my life. It's all too tempting to want to back off, or go back to sleep, or to give in to feeling overwhelmed and not act or to try to get Meredith to do the things that scare me while I do the things that scare her. But it's worth it to forge on ahead, feel some discomfort and hope for some happiness. I love it when life aligns like this, that when I'm facing challenges, my brain makes connections that allow me to see issues in a whole new light.
End seriousness. Have another picture of Harrison Ford as a mental palate cleanser.
Anyway, the real pattern to be celebrated is the pattern of weeks and weekends (I know, it was a stretch, shut up), and it's Friday, so here are the O's I've F'ed this week (do you all know that FO is knitting speak for Finished Objects? NOW YOU DO.):
All my dishcloths are falling apart so I made myself some more!
This is a sample for one of my JoAnn's classes: it's a cable stitch of the month pattern.
I put the finishing touches on another bag. I love using a different color for the handle.
Have a great weekend, everybody! I'm headed up north for some sun and sand and as little internet as possible! What are you up to this weekend?
Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week. I got to have my haircut by my sister yesterday! Jane is in the program at Douglas J and I got to be a model!
She did a great job and we had so much fun!
As your Happy Thursday offering, I bring you a celebration of my love of all things Jane Austen, Downton Abbey, etc., combined with my love of rap and parady. Please enjoy:
Hey everybody! You see that over there on the left? It's a new blog! My friends from the craft sales and I launched it just today! It's a collaborative blog where we can share news about upcoming shows and crafts we're working on. I'll still be sharing crafts and shenanigans on this blog, of course. Anyway, check it out! We're pleased as punch to have it up and running (and everyone knows punch is the most pleased of all the party beverages).
And now, here are some of the pictures I took this weekend:
This picture does not do justice to the color of this blanket which is a beautiful, sunshiney yellow. I mention it because I was showing my friend Maggie a picture of the cannisters from last week and she said, "Oh. That's your favorite color?" And when I said yes, she said, "Come here, I have something for you." So we marched out of The Bird onto the streets of downtown Mount Pleasant where she popped the trunk of her car and gave me this blanket. Maggie is the most amazing thrifter and most generous person I know she found this and it just wasn't really her favorite color. So she gave it to me. Walking down the street carrying that blanket in my arms to my car and the looks I got from the people smoking outside The Bird is one of my most favorite memories. It's a Maggie Memory. Kind of like when our huge bags broke as we walked out of the Salvation Army on 5 for 5 day.
Another Maggie Memory: impromptu frozen yogurt party! This is my new favorite flavor.
I made some powerful sangria for a birthday bash.
Went on a little JoAnn's shopping spree. I needed supplies for my classes and other projects. Natalie asked me if I really needed those knitting needles. Hahahahahahahahahaha! Yeah, I might have 6's in 14 inches but not in 10! Don't judge what you don't understand!
Speaking of juding, Natalie has through years of trial and error come up with the perfect diner breakfast. It costs $6.66 which I think says a lot about us. I think it says even more that when you add coffee it should cost more than $6.66, but mine still cost $6.66. Is the waitress trying to tell us something? Hmmm...
Not pictured: the many, many episodes of True Blood I watched (and my sore throat from saying "Sookie" in a Bill voice a lot), the birthday party with the sangria, and the hours I spent sleeping in (which were delightful). I hope you all had a good weekend!
This weekend, I discovered Instagram and yeehaw! Such fun was had!
I also received a very early birthday gift (my birthday is in
September. The bonus of having an aunt with taste as totally awesome as
my own is that sometimes she finds vintage yellow cannisters she knows
you will love and can't wait to give them to you! Aren't they awesome?
Also awesome, Summer Shandy and veggie snacks on a friend's back deck.
The next morning, I made iced coffee because it was hot! (Yellow cannisters photo bombing.)
As this picture of Henry clearly demonstrates, we dedicated ourselves to being lazy and crafting on Saturday.
Harper concurred. She does not, however, understand that there is no need for her to sit on my lap when it's in the 80's and 90's. I took this picture and then pushed her down.
This is what I was working on. More details to come.
That night I caught up on a week's worth of the Daily Show, Hulu style.
I tried out a new recipe which was only so-so. (But the iced coffee came back. Also, I'm noticing how many yellow dishes I own and I love it.)
Early run before it got too hot. This picture is grossly distorting the length of my legs. Look how far away my feet look!
Met up with Liz and Erica for a craft meeting. There is some great stuff underway! We are getting so organized and prepared!
At Sunday night dinner with my family Evelyn was rocking on the same rocking chair my sisters and I used when we were little kids. I took roughly 17 thousand pictures of her but they were all blurry except for this one because that girl was rocking, if you'll notice the focus in her eyes. She was not sitting like a lady, so much, but when you're in diapers I don't think that's really a requirement.
Not pictured: locking my keys in my car at a gas station and my dad being kind enough to rescue me. That's about it. It was a really wonderful lazy weekend, which I needed. What did you do this weekend?
The pictures on my phone from this weekend include:
Popcorn and knitting to ring in the weekend, my darling niece Evelyn meeting my friends' baby Maddie, the AMAZING antique knitting bag that belonged to my cousin's grandma that I put dibs on the night before our garage sale, evenings cools enough for green tea before bed, a happy Buddha kitty (he was smiling until he heard me go for the camera), what my lap looked like between meetings on Sunday, my darling niece petting my parents' dog Sgt. Pepper (and chanting, "doggy, doggy, doggy, doggy, nice!"), and designing a headband with the help of a stitch dictionary, knit picks yarn, and graph paper.
Not pictured: attempting to put up a tent in the rain with Jess and Laura (and failing due to lack of instructions), a good hard run with Laura, our semi-successful garage sale, my closet where I let my OCD run wild and is now organized in categories (I stopped myself after 2 subcategories because really), andmy niece saying, "Auntie" for the first time.
They are based on this pattern here. They're super fun and fast to make and I think they'll be perfect for beach bags or grocery bags. Not to mention my i-cord and Kitchener stitch muscles have gotten a serious work-out and I am getting good. A few people have mentioned that I should line them with fabric. Which sounds like a great idea for practicality but then again I'm lazy and hate post-knitting construction and don't want to sew.
I have one more of these bad boys on the needles and then I'm going to try designing a few things I have in mind. Mmmmm...designing. I love it.
In addition to designing (seriously, I luuuuurve it and just want to keep talking about it), this weekend I'll be working on some other projects, doing some experimental cooking (stand back), cuddling my cats, trying to sell some of my old junk at a garage sale, and watching the first season of True Blood. And designing knitting patterns (I was going to call designing knitting patterns my non-human boyfriend but then I realized that's hardly an exclusive label. That category also includes: whiskey, my bed, and the fall. Yes, I am in a committed relationship with a season. YOU DON'T KNOW OUR LOVE.)
What are you doing this weekend?
Oh, and here's this:
I've been meaning to post this for a while, but I recently took a week off of work and found that even though I've lived alone for a while, when you are home alone for a few days straight things can get even weirder. Also, when I tried googling this video, the search returned a disturbing number of websites about loneliness. I think this video proves that living alone is not lonely. It's awesome.
*I feel like it's time to just admit that I am terrible at taking photographs. Terrrrrrrrrrrrrrible. These were taken with my iphone because I can't find my camera charger (again) and my phone was right there. I would like to promise you, my readers, that I will take some photography classes, buy a better camera, keep track of my camera charger, etc. but let's be honest: I probably won't do any of those things. I know, that's not very blog-savvy of my but I have too many interests competing for my time to add photography. Here's an adorable (but horribly taken) picture of a cat to make it up to you:
Please allow this moment of girliness (yeah, because a blog about cats, knitting, and my love of the BBC has been so butch up until this point).
I don't really enjoy summer as much as the general population seems to. I really, really love fall, so I look at summer as sort of a fall prep-time. The hotter it gets I think, "Oh, this is going to make those cool fall nights feel so refreshing!" The blue skies and white puffy clouds and green trees are beautiful but they make me think, "How great are grey skies and orange leaves going to look in a few months?!" But the one thing I unabashedly love about this time of year are peonies. There are some planted on campus by where I park my car and my coworker usually brings some in for our service desk and my neighbor has some in her yard. And every time I walk by a peony I sniff it and tell it it's beautiful. Because it is! Peonies are beautiful!
They are also perfect wedding flowers. I have always imagined my perfect wedding as a Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse just me, my fiance, our parents, siblings, and 1-2 best friends each. I think that sounds lovely. But the weather has been so beautiful and so June-y and the peonies are so pretty that I've come up with a new dream wedding. It's actually based on a night I had last summer where I went to hear a friend's band play. We were outside, under the night sky, crickets were chirping, the band was playing under a little tent with twinkle lights hanging up. I was walking around barefoot through the grass in a sundress with a cup of keg beer in my hand and I remember thinking, "This is summer. This is as good as summer gets." So if I ever get married (dudes, I'm not even dating anybody right now) and if my fiance objects to my Tuesday courthouse plan (for the record, my mother definitely objects to that plan) this is my backup plan: Summer evening in a big field of grass under a white tent with twinkle lights, crickets chirping, a bluegrass band, kegs of beer, bottles of wine, and loads of peonies everywhere. I'll be barefoot in a white sundress and I'll be thinking, "This is my summer wedding. How much fun is it going to be thinking back on this while I'm wearing a sweater in the fall!"
Even though I work on Fridays causing Thursdays to loose just a bit of their luster, I still love 'em. There's still the feeling of "weekend's coming..." and today I'm extra excited because I get to go to my first ever League of Women Voters meeting! I am so excited about joining the LWV because I am always looking for more ways to get involved in my community, it's an election year, and...well...because The League of Women Voters sounds a little bit like something that would be in a Sherlock Holmes story which appeals to me greatly.
Anyway, this doesn't have anything to do with the LWV or Sherlock Holmes but it does have to do with being a video that always cheers me up and that I can't quite believe I never posted on this blog before.
My weekend plans include a lot of writing, yoga, a mani/pedi with my mom and sisters, a fundraiser/concert (which if you live in the mid-Michigan area you should seriously consider coming out to. The music will be fantastic and the money is for a good cause.), more writing, maybe beginning training for a 5K (yikes!), some knitting, and then dinner at my parents.
No rest for the wicked. What are you up to this weekend?
I. am. busy. I am not complaining, because truly wonderful, amazing, thought-they'd-never-happen, things are happening to me and I love it. But my body and mind are weary and I just tried to pour instant coffee into my travel mug without removing the lid. Dumb
(Side note: I don't like instant coffee usually, but via is actually pretty damn good and has saved me on more than one sleepy afternoon.)
And as I work steadily away and run errands and exercise and get up too early and work too late into the night and can't sleep once I get into bed I find my mind wondering to a happy place. And if I can't go there right now, at least I can indulge myself and take myself on a short, written vacation.
This week, I'm trying to get a good perspective going. I catch glimpses of it now and again: viewing life as more organic than linear, accepting and learning from my mistakes instead of vilifying myself, enjoying my life despite (and sometimes even because of) its imperfections, making goals, establishing values. It's much easier to watch 4 episodes of Lark Rise to Candleford in one sitting and eat 2 big bowls of Fruit Loops (and I've been doing that, too, so don't you worry) but picking myself up off the couch and reminding myself of the things I like in my life is so worth it.
Inertia is such a powerful thing: the longer I sit and mope the more I want to sit and mope. If I can just get myself to start one task, suddenly I'm whistling and cruising around the house getting things done. Enjoying the ride.
I realize I haven't followed up on the last to-do list post but I just wrote another to-do list and it's too good to not share.
1. Call JoAnns 2. Craft night reminder
3. Clean for Ladies Night.
4. Pick up groceries for Ladies Night and Library Potluck PAINTCHIPS!
5. Peep diorama. Knives, peep, yarn, and stuffing. 6. Where are we on Docline?
7. Reorganize AV project.
8. Call Papa--> Thurs?
9. make hair appointment.
10. take Grandma her books.
11. make hair appointment.
12. Pay Rent
13. LAUNDRY
14. DECLUTTER
15. figure out LVW potluck stuff
16. good foodie pen pal stuff together
Yeah. Starts out normal enough and then suddenly I'm screaming at myself to get paint chips, seemingly for a potluck. Also, two potlucks on one to do list (and one grocery bill) is two too many, I'm thinking. I don't really know what "good foodie pen pal stuff together" is, but it's not English or a useful instruction. And can you tell I need to get my haircut? That was not a cute device to remind myself how badly I need to get a haircut. I just noticed that it was on my to-do list twice (and only one item apart) when I went to write "make hair appointment" for what would have been the third time had I not noticed the other two times. That was my main motivation for posting this list, by the way. That and the words: Knives, peep, yarn, and stuffing.
You're welcome.
P.S. See how pay rent is number 12? Yesterday while eating a sugar cookie for dinner I realized I forgot to pay rent yet this month. Then I went to the movies and ate the second course of my dinner: popcorn. So don't let that last post I wrote make you worry that I might be too grown up. There's still a young degenerate inside this ol' body.
Tonight I am going to Kalamazoo to see my good friend Noah and I'm psyched! My mapquest directions are printed, my bag is packed, there is an extra heaping bowl of cat food and instructions for the cats not to scarf it all down today (yeah, right), and I'm ready to hit the road!
I was reflecting this morning how adult I feel lately. The other day I looked around the kitchen and thought, "Sweet holy moses (this is an edited version of what I thought), I bought all of this food. I did. Me. I make my own meals and buy the food and...oh my golly (so edited) I'm responsible for myself!" It was this overwhelming awareness of everything I do by myself without (usually) thinking too terribly much about it. Today when I was getting ready for work I realized that even the toiletries I use are adult. I'm not terribly brand loyal, but I've figured out what I like, what I don't like, what I'm willing to spend more money on (foundation, moisturizer) and what I'm not willing to buy cheap (eyeshadow, mascara). It gives me this odd sense of security.
Security might not be the best word...it's just that in the last year and a half or so I feel more stable than I ever have in my life. It's as if I've checked some small things off the "grown up life things to figure out" list without even being aware of it. Last night I checked another one off, but this one I was keenly aware of: packing.
Pack...my suitcase?!
I totally suck at packing. I go kind of crazy wondering what the weather's going to be like and what I'm going to be doing and just start hurling things at my suitcase. I pack 10 books for a week's vacation because WHAT IF I FINISH THE FIRST 9 I BROUGHT AND THEY DON'T SELL BOOKS WHERE I'M GOING, SURELY I WILL DIE! I pack at list 2 knitting projects for similar reasons. And then, even though I've packed waaaaaaaay too many items, I end up with one t-shirt and 5 pairs of jeans, or 3 sweatshirts, 2 tank tops, a pair of jeans and no socks or underwear. No outfits to speak of. Or, if I'm lucky, one outfit and a bunch of extra stuff. I stink at packing.
But this time around, I packed outfits. You guys, I have a shirt, a pair of jeans, a sweater, underwear, a bra, the right shoes, and even jewelry for one outfit; a dress, a belt, leggings, underwear, a sweater, a bra, the right shoes, and more jewelry packed for a second outfit PLUS pajamas, a sweatshirt, one book, one knitting project and my toiletries. BAM! I packed! My phone charger is also in there! 9 extra books, an extra knitting project, a back up pair of jeans, extra tank tops, extra sweaters, an inexplicabley fancy outfit: these things are not in there! I'm so proud of myself.
Now, enough about my mini-victories! Here are two things that have made me ridiculously happy this week:
Brendan Coyle on a British cooking show, what's not to love?
This is Erica's darling cat Beezy snuggling with a catnip mouse I knit for her. Erica and her fiance Kevin adopted two adorable kitties from the shelter a while ago and I gave them each a catnip mouse as a Welcome-to-your-new-home present. Erica emailed me this picture a couple days ago and I just can't STAND it! Beezy is so cute and the image of her taking her mouse up on her bed for a little snooze is more than I can take.
I always wonder what happens to the things I make and giveaway or sell. Most of the time, I never see them again but when I do see my knitted objects in use it gives me such a thrill! I made mittens for a friend in exchange for a papier-mache moose head like what you see displayed on the racks from our craft sale last summer:
and when I see her wearing them it makes me proud. It makes me proud when Erica says her cats have been chasing their catnip mice around the house all day. It made me proud when I saw a picture of a friend of mine wearing a headband I had knitted and given to her. It's nice to know the things I made and put out into the world are making people or cats warm and happy.
I'm usually so absorbed in the process of designing and knitting and less concerned with the outcome. Rarely do I make time to work on a project because I want the end result and I usually give away or sell almost everything I knit; I actually cannot think of a single thing I knit that I still own. So when I see people or animals enjoying the things I've produced it's a nice reminder that I am actually producing a practical, tangible object from those millions of individual stitches that slide across my needles.
Happy Thursday! Here are some cute cats doing dumb cute things.
But first, here's something you need to know: you might have trouble expressing your feelings for these videos. You might say to yourself, "Dang, those cats are cute! They're so cute! They're so, so cute that I kind of want to...squeeze them? Or squish them? And talk in funny voices at them while I squeeze and squish them? Does this make me a bad person/cat abuser?!" Calm down. It does not. What you are experiencing is the feeling my friends and I call "tiny". It has nothing to do with size: my Maine Coon Rolland weighs something like twenty pounds and is the size of a large toddler but he is still, frequently, tiny. I have another friend who calls this "squishy" and I can get behind it.
If you are a cat or dog or animal lover, I know you get this. If not, there's really nothing I can do to help you understand this better. But maybe, just maybe, these videos will melt your cold, black heart (unless you're a dog person instead of a cat person. I can dig it.)
Thank you to my cousin Natalie for bringing these videos to my attention. Watch for the sideways jump in the second video. It's the tinyest!
Text from a friend: Only if you want to take this conversation out of the realm of probable. But yes that is what I meant.
My response: ...it was in the realm of probable? We were talking about vegan zombies.
What? You and your friends don't wonder if people who were vegans or vegetarians before they became zombies would have an aversion to eating human flesh? I proposed they would only eat cage-free organic, so not people in prisons and my friend thought they would just give over to the carnivorous urge. And then ninjas and magic got brought into the conversation which is where the exchange above came in. And now you know all you need to know about how I'm spending my afternoon.
Update: Just found myself sending the following text. Add it to the long, long list of things I've said that I never would have thought I'd have to say.
Let's save that for another time. If we bring unicorn zombies into the picture...who even knows.
I told you cat pictures were coming. This is why I can't ever get any
work done. The top picture is of Henry laying right on my knitting
pattern. He has this way of just knowing which line I need to read next
and laying his big ol' head right on it. The bottom picture is of Harper
trying to army crawl onto my lap. Her strategy is to move very slowly
and not make eye contact with me no matter how many times I say her name
in hopes that I might not notice that she's creeping onto my lap. You
think it's any easier right now while I'm trying to type on my lap top?
Think again. It's blurry because he's rubbing his face on my computer. He usually won't stop until he's pushed on the screen so hard that the whole top of the lap top bends back and he looses his balance, falls off the couch and does that, "Everything's cool here, I meant to do that. I'm a cat and I'm going to lick my shoulder" thing that cats do. I'm currently getting a break because there's a bird in the window box that they are LOOSING THEIR MINDS over, so I'm going to try to get some knitting in. Happy Friday!
