Typecast #10

Have I really only done ten of these? It's been way too long!

Click to make them bigger.

And as an added bonus, a photo of Hermes and his "guilty" face for unplugging my monitor.

You can see he feels about as much guilt as any cat ever does. Which is to say, none.

Last but not least, the winners of the Birthday Contest! Random.org drew numbers 20 and 4, which means that AuroraSelene will be getting the yarn and pattern, and Asteride will be getting the pattern! (you should be getting a Ravelry PM from me within the next day or so to get your details and to get the code for the download).Congratulations!

Getting caught up

What happened to this week? Where did it go? I think there was some working in there at some point, and a bit of writing, but I think most of it got taken up with this:

Yep, that's right. Hermes and I are back under the same roof! I'm so happy. Except for the part where he has been more vocal than usual, and keeping me up for the last three nights. Where did that rumor that cats sleep 20 hours a day come from? Mostly he paces around the house chirping at me (because he's too cool to meow) and pawing at stuff like he wants attention (and then promptly runs away when I try to give it to him).

Anyway, it's an (exhausting) adjustment period. But, I've had a long weekend in which to work on this:

That's "Charlotte," the first pattern that will be available to Post Club members with Silver memberships or higher.

This entrelac neckwarmer is knit flat, with a little bit of subtle shaping. The yarn it calls for is not just soft, but a budget-friendly natural fiber, and the color progression lends itself well to entrelac. I'll be adding some more (better) photos to this post tomorrow, but I got hijacked by my photographer (Missouri is a terrible enabler) and wound up missing the daylight I was going to use for the photoshoot, and my camera does not do well with anything other than diffused sunlight.

Perhaps I should add "new camera" to my "things to do with my tax refund" list. Which, if you were wondering, is much bigger than the refund itself is going to be. Ah, well. I guess there's always next year.

Happy Mother's Day

Around here, most people know that when I say I'm going to do laundry, it's really a euphemism for "I'm going to Mom and Dad's to love on my kitty."

It hurt more than I can say to leave him behind last October when I moved out, but between student loans, illness, and random acts of God that keep happening, paying the pet deposit has been been out of the question and adding another $25 to the rent could be the difference between buying food one week or paying the electric bill.

Since I moved out, Hermes has been even less affectionate than he was before, generally running away whenever he sees me. Therefore it's been a while since I've been able to get a picture of him. This blog has been sadly kitty-free for the last few months.

But I guess that even he thought Mother's Day deserved a little respect (even if my
only "child" is furry and has four legs). He wound up on my lap no less than three times through the day and spent a total of about an hour getting lots of love and attention, and he even purred loudly enough to be heard from arm's length (normally the only way to tell that he's purring is to put a finger under his chin and feel around for a vibration).

My laundry is clean, and I am now covered in cat hair. It's a good day.

Drive By Cute

Tigger, at eight weeks. Had to do a video because she won't hold still long enough for photos. The yellow lab is Sammy (age 10) and the black is Smokey (age 6).

Typecast #8

A New Addition

There's been a little radio silence around here, both on the blog and on the podcast. (I'd hopped to have a new episode up by this week but the essay isn't gelling the way I'd like. So if you have anything you would like to share on the subject of typewriters in film or on television, drop me a line.) On the one hand, life has been happening and there hasn't been a lot of time to write, but on the other, it's mostly boring every day stuff (Work. Knit. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.) and didn't seem worth posting about.

Today Missouri and I went house hunting, checking out several condos that fit into our budget. Now we're just trying to decide which is the best for us, and if we want to try proceeding within the next month or if we're better off waiting a few extra weeks, though that puts us closer to the unpredictable-but-always-crappy weather that passes for winter in central Ohio. The one we both liked the best was actually the handyman special that needed the most work...more work that we could afford. The other three are all basically clones of each other in the same subdivision. We'll see how it goes.

But that's not the new addition I was referring to.

Meet Athena. She came home with me this afternoon. A good friend found her on the side of the road (after nearly turning her into a kitty pancake). Since no one else would take her and said friend is allergic, I took her. She's a feisty little thing and already is standing up to our labradors. Hermes, however, is less than amused. He seems to think she's a Devil Cat, and hisses and runs away every time he sees her. Even though she's usually hiding from him and roughly the size of his head. Right now he's camped out under the kitchen table staring at the laundry room door, waiting for her to make her move so he can attack. Meanwhile, Athena is napping on a shelf, completely worn out by her new surroundings.

Hermes and I had a long talk about the proper way to treat one's younger siblings. I told him that violence is unacceptable, as are excorcisms (since that's what it usually looks like he's trying to do). He told me I'm an only child and am therefore inexperienced on these matters, and that bloodshed is a normal part of family bonding.

...It's a work in progress.


Hermes is not amused.(That's one of my typewriter covers he's hiding under, by the way.)

Typecast #3

(^^Click to enlarge^^)

Also, don't forget the Japan Relief Drawing.

Cameo Apearances

I just went to see The King's Speech, and there were several familiar faces: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter,Geoffry Rush and Michael Gambon to name a few, as well as this one:

I highly recommend the movie (because really, you can't go wrong if it involves Colin Firth, who delivers an extremely moving performance), and when you do see it, pay close attention to the scenes in Lionel, the speech therapist's office, especially the initial ones--You'll see an Oliver #9 sitting front and center, and it does get used later in the film. It's a lovely machine and I can't wait until my own Oliver is up and running.

I know I promised weeks ago to post another photo, and here it is: Me at Ohayocon with my feather and fan shawl. My first actual lace project! It's very lovely in person. Just ignore the model. And the bad photography.

The blog has fallen by the wayside lately; According to my Chinese Horoscope this is supposed to be a great year with only one unfavorable month, but I think the unfavorable one must be February because nothing is going even remotely according to plan, and I haven't much wanted to broadcast my bad mood about it to the rest of the world. So I shall leave you with your moment of feline cute:




He's playing innocent because he knows he's in trouble. He managed to get into a package of kitty treats and eat 3/4 of them before we caught him, and then got his paws on a bag of dog treats and did the same. We keep finding tiny steak treats all over the house.

Okay, so I lied about the knitting content.

It works!! So now I'll just stick the typewriter posts in as scans, and you can skip down to the knitting bits if you so desire. Just click on the images to make them bigger/readable.





Since the ribbons got here about two weeks (!!) before I was expecting them, I don't have a lot to say on the knitting front. There just hasn't been time for much because of the holidays (probably could have finished that sweater front last night if I'd had my knitting at the hospital. Darn). So, even though it's typewriter related and not knitting, here's a kitty fix for you. Hermes love the cover almost as much as I love the typewriter. Now that Henry is working, Hermes decided to get to know him a little better:

Hail the Conquering Hero

The great cat v. mouse showdown lasted a whole thirty hours. Mom found the remains this morning where he'd displayed them in the living room. He's been enjoying the way we've been spoiling. I think he's officially eared a place in my parent's house now that he's proved he's not just a kibble sucking vacuum.

Cat v. Mouse

I had no idea Hermes could dedicate this much attention to anything but sleep. He spent over three hours last night staring at the underside of our fridge because I suspect a mouse was hiding under it. He stared at it so long, in fact, that he forgot to wake me up at 2:30 the way he normally does and I got to sleep until 5:30 (is it wrong for me to hope he doesn't catch the mouse in the near future?). This morning, I didn't even see him until mid-afternoon because he was so busy staring at the underside of the stove. He was like a bookend, he held so still.


---
Do you know what this is?

If you guessed the start of my Christmas list, then you're spot on. You see here half a dozen dish clothes waiting for their accompanying hand towels. I have the towels and the sewing on them is mostly done, I just need to make the crocheted hangers.

I finished the second pocket lining for the London Calling sweater. It is cooling off for a few days while I get caught up on the other projects that went to pot during my hell unit, namely on the aforementioned gifts and also on a pair of socks that I started just because I had the urge to knit socks. I've got the heel turned on the first one, just finishing up the gusset shaping. This is the first pair of top-down socks I've ever made, and they're turning out rather well. I always forget how long it takes to knit socks until I actually sit down to knit them. It's taken me seven disks of Gundam Wing to get where I am now, though I think I might have been working on other things through about half of that. And then of course there's disc 5, which has 3 episodes of nothing but rehashing the last four disks, so I normally skip that one.

Speaking of anime, it has been decided that the CFM crew will be at Ohayocon in Columbus at the end of January. We might even be running a panel--we'll see. Anyone else going to be there?

Hermes

Have you had enough Hermes yet?



While he's over his initial eye infection and the URI, he now has pink eye in the other eye and worms, likely contracted from Smokey, our black lab (eventually, they will get represented on here, too, even though they technically belong to my parents and I don't normally live with him).

The last few weeks, everything has happened at once and all of it has been expensive. I'm hoping that one day soon I'll have a paycheck that isn't completely spoken for a week before I get it. I don't even have money to get a bottle of water or a bag of chips when I'm work. I think the last time I was this broke, I was in elementary school and earning nickles for dusting the baseboards.

As a distraction, here is another comic strip. Click on it to make it bigger.

Bits and Pieces of Happiness and Yay

*cough* Ahem.

So. I didn't move quite as quickly as I planned to. I blinked, and now suddenly two weeks have gone by. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

In other news:



I hit fifty thousand words this week on a story! First time ever! I'm very proud of me. Especially since it looks like I'll top at least 60K before this story runs it's course. Up till now, my longest completed story was only about 41k, and I had an in progress that was about 46k but has been stalled for a few months. Landmarks like this make me feel like I'm actually a real writer and not just some half-assed amateur.

Also, this picture reminds me of Hermes, whom I'll get to see in just over a month. Yay! *happy dance*

Work on my thesis is about to begin in earnest, so I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing from here on in.

I have been knitting, but I haven't been photographing. I will post about that sometime in the semi-near future, though.

Now that Cassie 2.0 is almost finished (but still in need of a better title than "High School Never Ends"), I'm going to start looking for a beta reader for Life is a Zoo and see if I can't bulk that up a little bit. I want to get that one up to at least 60K before I start submitting it, and I need an outside opinion as to what might be missing that I can add.

This is a little bit random, but I need to get off and get back to my thesis. I went and took the last two days off because the thought of studying the chemical composition of linen for another three to six hours made my brain explode, so I really need to get back to it now. Nose to the grindstone and all that. Which makes me think...



...that maybe I need to spend less time on ICanHasCheeseburger.com. It's a poor substitute for my kitty, but it does cheer me up.

In Control?

So Alice and I met with the representative from the Italian Consulate this morning, sighed our paperwork, and then mailed everything out for approval by the consulate (whose nearest office is in Detroit).

I get really nervous when I don't know exactly where my passport is, and I have a very good reason. When I was first getting my passport, back in spring of '07, I was applying in order to go on my 3 month internship in Montreal. I sent out everything, paid the $90 fee to have it expedited (or rather, mom did), and then waited. Within the allotted time, a bright, shiny passport arrived in the mail, with one teeny tiny problem: It listed my birthdate as June 24, 1937.

Now I know I might not be the prettiest girl at the ball, but 1937? Really? Do they even double check their work at the federal government (wait, don't answer that. Silly question).

Needless to say, I had to send it back. By this time, it was getting awfully close to June 15 and my departure date, but according to the website (at least at the time, I don't know about now) they don't want you to call about the status of a passport unless you are traveling within two weeks. So I waited. And then I called. I called every day for five days (sometimes twice) only to be pawned off from one person to another, told that they couldn't help me, and that no, there was no way of contacting the specific office where my passport was located. In face I was told: "They will get to it when they get to it. It might take months." When I continued to demand that I get my passport--I was traveling in just over a week, had paid the extra fee, and the error was theirs--the manager cut me off with a "Thank you for calling" and hung up.

Did you know that when this sort of situation arises, that the only recourse for a citizen is to contact a local state rep/senator/congressman and ask them to light a fire under them?

Thankfully, my family was on speaking terms with most of them for Ohio.

Two days before I was supposed to leave, it finally showed up, with not so much as an apology or the promised reimbursement for shipping.

So, yes, I am a little touchy about my passport in general, and especially now that I have just over 4 weeks to get my visa.

But, this means that everything I have control over so far as payments, paperwork, and the like is now taken care of. All I have left is packing and finding a temporary home for my kitty, who seems to be the only one in the house with any semblance of control over the situation (little trouble maker that he is) (Why does he have to be so darned cute?).


He's so cute when he stalks inanimate objects...

Ice cream for dinner is healthy, right?

So, a couple of weeks ago, Jennifer (AKA MajorKnitter, whom I had no idea read this blog and I am extremely flattered that she does) suggested giving up processed sugar/sugar substitutes in order to help with my allergies. Since I was already trying three different OTC medications, lost my insurance when I graduated making prescriptions out of the question, and the only other suggestion I'd gotten was snorting lukewarm saltwater, I decided to give it a shot.

I already avoid sugar replacements like Splenda and Sweet'n'low, because the aftertaste is disgusting and it makes me feel kind of ill (also, Alice is allergic to fake sugar, so it usually never crosses our threshold). I figured that aside from the allergies, now would be a good time to cut out the processed bits, since I've been trying to get healthier.

I've set out several rules for myself. They're based on one simple belief: All things in moderation. I'm not cutting out any food group completely (not even sweets). My goal is to find a balance in all things; balance that has been lacking from my life for the last four years. I've got enough stress in my life due to financial issues without adding what I eat to the list. I'm not going to punish myself or beat myself up if I slip. The goal is to find a balance somewhere between only having 15 minutes to eat and NOT eating from a vending machine, and working for hours at the computer but still making time to go for a walk or dance or do something.

Care to join me? Here are my "rules":

1. No fake sugar. No sweetners, high fructose corn syrup, etc. Use the real stuff, and use cane sugar when you can.

2. Only fresh meat, cheese, vegetables, and bread. No wonderbread or anything like that. It has to come from the bakery, because it has fewer chemicals and is fresher. We usually get either Italian or wheat.

3. Frozen vegetables and fruits are good to have on hand as a stand by, but fresh is better.

4. Absolutely no dieting allowed. "Diet" items tend to be full of chemicals and fake sweetners. If you want a soda, go for regular. The Jones sodas are better (made with cane sugar and fewer chemicals), but water is best.

5. I love juice. I'm drinking only juices that are 100% juice.

6. I'm allowed one chocolate indulgence a day. I'm also letting myself have other candies and sweets, but there has to be a movie involved. Why? Because of money, movies are a special treat. So if we go to Blockbuster (maybe once every two weeks) or to a theater or whatever, then I can buy candy there (usually Sour Patch, because those are my favorite), but I can't get it from the grocery store where it's really accessible.

7.I'm trying to work out every day. I have a series of exercises that I'm doing every day. They're just low impact things to help strengthen my muscles again. You remember my knee? Yeah. Caused by weak thigh muscles that couldn't hold my patella in place anymore. I have awful periods and back pain because I don't have any abdominal strength. And my carpal tunnel gets aggravated because I have no arm strength.
My list looks like this:
10-15 push ups (I do mine by bracing my hands on a hip-high counter; I've never been able to do them on the floor. My goal is to get there, though, by slowly lowing the thing I'm leaning on)
15-20 crunches
15-20 knee lifts (just sitting and lifting my legs straight out. I do this with a 1.5lb weight on each ankle. After doing 20 or so lifts, I hold my legs straight out for 30 seconds)
15-20 leg lifts (as in, laying on my side and lifting one leg at a time (again, with a weight)
After this, I switch the weights to my arms and do a "boxing dance" Basically, I punch the air in time to a song (my current favorite is "I Don't Care" by FallOut Boy). The important thing is that the strokes are powerful, creating my own resistance. I go straight out, then straight up, and throw in a couple of lifts from the side as well.

8. I bought a DVD of a cardio workout, which I'm going to try to do at least once a week. I haven't tried it yet, but I'll probably start out doing just the first part, and work my way up from there. It's danced based, and I love to dance, so it should be fun.

I think that's all of it. I might add more if I realize I've forgotten something. As you can see, this is really basic. It's not one of those "loose five pounds in a week" diets. I'm trying to change my lifestyle, so I'm not doing anything drastic, just little things here and there. Maybe my list isn't for you, but you're welcome to use it as a basis for your own small changes.

Basically, the healthiest I've been was actually in Italy, because I walked everywhere and it was almost impossible to even find processed foods. Our veggies came straight from the farmers, and even our "easy meals" were low in salt and preservatives, and didn't come drowning in sauce or gravy. I've never seen butter, white bread, and even snacks that were so healthy. I'm trying to get back to that.

Care to join me? Let me know. Leave a comment. I don't really have a support system for healthy living out here, especially since our choices for groceries are Walmart (mostly chemicals) and Kroger (where everything costs about twice as much as Walmart, and is out of my budget).

Wish me luck!


Do you see what I have to put up with? No help, whatsoever. Lies on his back while I'm trying to work out...he's already killed three of the plants I was starting indoors.

I Have Been Remiss

That adorable little demon is Hermes, our almost six month old kitten Alice and I (well, technically, just me) picked up as an end-of-term, we-made-it-through present to ourselves. He is utterly adorable, even when he's doing something he shouldn't (like sticking his head in our water glasses, which he does every chance he gets. Our dishes have doubled since we got him). He's absolutely spoiled rotten, and about the sweetest thing you ever saw.

He's deffinately a writer/knitter's cat. His favorite toys include: Yarn, Whatever I'm knitting, knitting needles, and pencils/pens. If you leave a book open and it doesn't lie flat, he'll swat the pages. If they do lay flat, then he'll lay on top of them. He's extremely cute, even when he's swatting me in face at six am because he thinks it's time for breakfast. He's the only cat I've had/lived with that gets spoiled this bad--a can of cat food in the morning and then dry through the day. We've had to ration him because he's a little piglet. We thought that the bag of dry food was up out of the way, but Alice walked into the laundry room to find him inside the bag. His whole body.

Oh, and he doesn't meow unless he's scared (like in the car). Otherwise, he squeaks or trills.

God is he cute.

Anyway, I've been remiss in other things, not just sharing photos. I figured I'd share my New Years Resolutions/Goals with you all.

Resolutions are things that take a lot of work and are intended to be life-long habits. Goals are things that while they might take a lot of work, can be checked off a list as "done" at some point.

Resolutions
1. Update the blog at least twice a week.
2. Journal at least three times a week.
3. Keep better track of finances
4. Work out a little (just stretches, sit ups, etc) every morning (well, except mornings I have to up super early. So about five times a week).
5. Update Etsy shop twice a month.
6. Eat Healthier (starting this afternoon. Chunky Monkey is a good breakfast right? I has dairy, nuts, and bananas in it. Right? RIGHT?)
7. Go to the Y more and get in shape.

Okay, so maybe 4, 6, and 7 could be combined, but whatever.

Goals
1. Finish/polish Fortuna Mulibris and send to a publisher.
2. Submit at least one short story to a magazine.
3. Save enough money for a down payment plus two months lease on a Toyota Yaris.
4. Get health and car insurance. (Stupid family plan runs out in May, when I graduate. Which means I get to spend spring break having my wisdom teeth removed. What joy.)
5. Read 52 books (three down so far, and I'm reading four at the moment).
6. Graduate with Honors.
7. Make Presidents list (3.4 gpa) for second half of senior year
8. Make thesis show a success.
9. Go someplace on my list. (there are 42 places in the world that I want to visit. It shouldn't be hard to pick one and go there)
10. Either go to grad school (probably Miami U) or move out of state.

Hm. Looks like a busy year.