Methods of Procrastination

Every one around me is working. It makes me feel lazy, like there's something I should be doing, but I'm not. I can think of a few things, but none that are terribly pressing at the moment. I'm sure it will come to me at 3 a.m., when I can't do anything about it, and then I'll spend hours agonizing over it and trying to fix the problem.

A few days ago, I picked up this book from Paperback exchange. It's not often that I buy a book of patterns, rarer still that I find one with more than one or two patterns I like in it, and I've yet to make a project from a book. I LOVE almost all of the patterns in this book though, and even the ones I don't LOVE, I could see myself loving with a few minor alterations (mostly, the removal of bobbles. I have very strict rules about bobbles, as in, NEVER). I cast on and tried making the Jacket with Frog Fasteners and the Basket Weave sweater (sorry, no Ravelry page for that one), but they didn't work--no problem of the pattern, just the yarn I was using. It's this yarn, which I love and found it at a shop called Skandinavia. It's very pretty, with pinks and purples and oranges, but it looks like barf when it's knit up in sweater form. The color repeats are very short. It actually needs to pool a little to look in any way appealing, so after three tries, I ripped it all out and I'm turning it into a simple, garter stitch scarf for donation. Maybe while I'm home for Christmas I'll make a stop at JoAnns for some nice solid color yarns to make one of the sweaters from book.

I've been watching a lot of internet t.v., too. On Itunes, I check daily for updates of Bone, DollHouse, Castle, and Glee, and I've been re-watching some of my DVDs--I have all of Gundam Wing, and recently had the itch to re-watch the entire series. I was going to watch disk two this morning, but my laptop doesn't seem to like the disk very much. I'll try again later, or maybe I'll just skip it. I'm also thinking re-watching Charmed; I've got the first four seasons. (There's also a possibility I might order the entire boxed series for myself for Christmas, but it might end up being put off until April when I'll be employed again).

I haven't had the bandwith to do a lot of reading, even though I want to. I keep getting antsy, so I pick up my knitting, which makes reading hard, so I've been listening to a lot of podcasts. My standards are Cast On, the Knitmore Girls, Lime and Violet, and Threadbanger (all available through Itunes). I've also recently started listing to Knitting History, since that's the topic of my thesis, and when I just need something in the background, I really like Pastagaline, which is a French language knitting podcast. I don't really understand much spoken French, but I find that I pick up a little more every time I listen. It also helps that I listen to Walk, Talk, and Learn French, and Coffee Break French. For a while, I was also listening to a few podcasts for learning Italian, but I kept crossing Italian and French, so I decided to just stick with the later since it's the language I have the most experience with, and am more likely to use later on.

Recently, I also discovered podiobook, which are like books on tap, except you download them to you ipod. I've been thinking about getting audible for a while, but I'm broke and why pay for an audio book when there are hundreds available for free on itunes? Currently I'm listening to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (read by Jason Pomerantz), which I've been wanting to read since elementary school and just never got around to. I loved the movie when I was a kid, but even more than that I loved the made-for-t.v. Dreamer of Oz with John Ritter starring as Frank Baum. Mr. Pomerantz does a pretty good job with the reading, and I do enjoy it, but for me John Ritter will always be the voice of the Wizard of Oz. We recorded that special on our VCR when I was little, and I watched it until the tape wore out. There's just something so soothing about his voice, I could listen to it for hours. I can't tell you how upset I was when he died.

So that is what I've been doing in my eternal quest to avoid my school work. Maybe now that I've written down this list, I'll be able to focus on studying for one of my exams.

Just as soon as I'm done listening to this chapter.