My Middle Name is Patience

WIP Wednesday - wait, what?

It doesn't feel like a Wednesday. Possibly since it's Thursday. But it doesn't feel like Thursday either. It feels like next Monday. Why do short weeks seem so very, very long?

In the spirit of WIP Wednesday, and, to a lesser extent, rummaging for something I felt like knitting, I took a fearless and searching inventory of my WIPs.

Ahem. I started to. 

< - - - See that? There are at least three charts with highlights.

I do not want to "read" my knitting. I want to knit.

Maybe I should mark where I've STOPPED rather than where I STARTED.

Has anyone read any Alain De Botton? (Have I asked that already? He's my new litcrush). I'm rapidly aquiring all his books, the latest, How Proust Can Change Your Life. (That's a New York Times review that won't pop up in a link but can be Googled).   By george, I think Proust might. If, mind you, I actually read Proust.

(My other litcrush, Simon Von Booy has a new book out this week, Everything Beautiful Began After. He is the most lyrical writer.)

Uh oh.  Hez is inside.

I am out. 

Clearly I'm going to have to take Aldous Huxley's pretentious drug trip saga inside and.....watch TV.

 

 Hurray for Summer! I wasn't even planning on watching Necessary Roughness, the new USA series. Football? Even peripherally? But

Callie Thorne is a likeable, believable, semi-bitchy competent psychiatrist who lands a pro football player as a client during a messy divorce.

Besides. Marc Blucas (Buffy's old flame). Scott Cohen. 'Nuff said.

Switched At Birth (Monday 9pm ABC Family) has an interesting premise.

The child that they raised IS their child. Just one that they, horrifyingly, somehow have to share, and the have just met their own child on the verge of adulthood. Just thinking about it makes me slighly teary.

It has the obligatory opposites, wrong side/right side of the tracks, married vs single, recovering alcoholic vs socialite, deaf vs hearing but it's all so seamlessly woven. Lea Thompson and Constance Marie play the mothers.

 

Shouldn't It Rain Less in May?

What I did on My Summer Vacation  few days off.

I went car shopping:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe this would be better for cruising to the beach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But then there are those days where you just want to make a statement....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...or reward the labor of the four elephants it reputedly took to pull this out of the jungle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't decide. Check out The Blackhawk Automotive Museum for your favorite ride.

Oh and check out the Computer History Museum in Mountain View! Charles Babbage's Difference Engine in action is pretty frakkin' impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Other than that.......I did pretty much nothing. Baked a Lady Baltimore cake. Didn't even frost it. (Partially because I really made it for the batter and only baked it because......well, that was a lot of batter. As it turns out, it was quite tasty baked and didn't need frosting, particularly the peculiar cookbook suggestion).

  Not watching NCIS or NCIS LA until I find out who dies and who's coming back next year. (Hint: Hetty had better be the latter and not the former). I wish they'd get off this stupid kick of cliffhangers. It's occasionally interesting but every freaking year and every freaking show? Especially in this era of axing by the numbers. Chicago Code and Detroit 187 both cancelled. Grr.

On the plus side, Law & Order Criminal Intent (WARNING: Talking websites, gah) and In Plain Sight are back. Yay! I feel slightly disloyal for admitting this, since L&O:CI exists only because Vincent D'Onofrio helmed it, but I liked Jeff Goldblum's detective the best of the three.

I'm guessing Ralph Macchio is getting voted out tonight on Dancing With the Stars. It has to be someone but I don't like the way the judges score him. Ralph is not that bad of a dancer. Hines is flatfooted occasionally.  Kirstie is really the worst dancer but even she has some fabulous moments. (Other times it looks like she's just doing whatever steps she can remember.) Their praise is over the top for the annointed few. Gush but geez.

I managed to finish my Curve of Pursuit yesterday. (Cascade 220, possibly a zillion skeins)........ It's off kilter because I absentmindedly short-rowed 3x randomly in one wedge (that I'm aware of) and it needs to be felted up a bit to make it blanketier and possibly blocked within an inch of its life to pull it into line. (Does math trump wet blocking? We'll see.) Maybe I should throw it in with my salmon colored jeans that I absolutely love but have absolutely nothing to wear with in the hopes that CoP felts and jeans over-dye. (I'm pretty sure those pants date from the 80's).

 

 

 

 

At last! The Longest Ten Weeks of the Year Are Done

  Yay! Yay! And whew. 

Another view from Mt Diablo - I think I was only 2200 ft up. 

I'm on the final border of my Curve of Pursuit!! Woot!(That's not my CoP, that's Monika's.)

I'm partially frogging/redesigning my Lace Edged Elegance - if a pattern calls for cotton - there might be a good reason. Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool is beautiful and feels wonderful but it's not a warm weather sweater and short sleeves are, ah, dumb, in the cold weather we've been having. It's getting long sleeves as we speak and I'm trying to think of what to do with the inset square neckline. A ribbed split collar, maybe.

All My Children & One Life to Live - cancelled! I'm in shock. I don't actually watch them anymore - me and apparently hordes of other former fans - but I was glued to them for a.......hmm. Couple of decades. Yowza. I'll still spot a cast member on other shows and squeal like a cousin made a TV appearance. They were family.

I'm at peace with Detroit 187 most likely getting cancelled - I love the show but the numbers are abysmal - it's been pre-empted umpteen times and the replacements did better in the time slot - ouch. It was quirky but compelling. Now I'm really hoping that Chicago Code makes it. New favorite. (Warning: The site talks but it took a minute).

Chris Jericho should win Dancing With The Stars this season. Maybe Romeo. Maybe.....

The Sex Life of My Aunt by Mavis Cheek was.....eh. Dillys is having her adulterous dalliance and adulterers and mid life crises evidently bore me but Mavis Cheek's writing kept me going. There was just enough personality and truth to the book to keep it somewhat engaging.

Time Spike by Eric Flint & Marilyn Kosmatka was his typical fun romp with semi-serious overtones - his out-of-place worlds - this time, a maximum security prison, conquistadores, Cherokees walking the Trail of Tears with the soldiers on duty and the Mound people of Missouri all end up in the Cretaceous period. It's pretty simplistic but they do try to address the wrongs that have been taken for granted over the years.

Hez sez "Who are you again?"

First I'm Obsessed with Poetry and now Television. Where will it end?

Nowhere good, no doubt.

What to Watch This Week:

Monday

• Dancing With the Stars. ABC 8pm. I am weirdly fond of Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from Jersey Shore. It probably helps that I've never seen it. I think Margaret Cho has the capacity to do really well, if she stops sabotaging herself. I was right! I was right! The Hoff went first!
• Hawaii Five-O CBS 10pm On the high end of violent but the best bromances are. I liked the banter between McGarrett and Danno. A little too twee explanation for "Danno" but acceptable. Daniel Dae Kim rounds out the cast perfectly.
• Watch later: House, Chuck, Castle. 

Tuesday:

• NCIS CBS 8pm. The pilot was a little flat - the team had been split up? Again? I didn't follow the recap but then again, I haven't seen the finale since it aired. I was just happy that Jethro took after his father.
• NCIS: LA 9pm. Deeks is back! He adds a nice bit of life to the show - Sam and G needed a little brother to gibe them and he works really well with Kensi.
  
• . Detroit 1-8-7 ABC 10pm My parents are from Detroit (as in, Detroit was the nearest big city), my dad worked Homicide so it was a natural. Not bad. Great cast, great quirky characters without being cartoonish but still slightly over the top. At the end of the first day? Really?
• Watch later: Dancing With the Stars Results show, Stargate Universe, Sons of Anarchy, The Good Wife.

Wednesday

• Law & Order:LA NBC 10pm. Premiere. I wonder if Dick Wolf and Sam Waterston are gnashing their teeth over this timeslot? But Skeet Ulrich, late of the late, lamented Jericho is in it, so I have to give it a shot.
• Also on: Undercovers, Criminal Minds, Terriers. I spaced Undercovers last week, did anyone catch it? I have yet to actually record/watch Terriers but it looks cute. It also looks like the ratings are tanking so if it's any good, watch it now.

Thursday

• The Big Bang Theory CBS 8pm. Sheldon dating. The earth is spinning on its axis. (huh).
  
• Fringe/ Fox & Nikita/ CW 9pm. I flipped back and forth between the two last week and they were both confusing enough that I actually thought I was following the plotlines. We'll see.
• The Mentalist CBS 10pm.
• Watch later: Ace of Cakes Food Network 10pm, Project Runway Lifetime 9pm. 

Friday

• CSI:NY CBS 9pm Sela Ward seems like a good fit with the team. If only she could move her forehead.
• Supernatural CW 9pm. Wait, what? I think I've missed a few episodes. Or a season.
• Watch later: Medium, Blue Bloods

I'm being viewed with deep suspicion, I have no idea why. She's the one laying on my knitting and my book.Of course, the word "bath" may have been bandied about.

KNITTING PROGRESS:

Up to the chart on the other side of Elizabeth. Woot!

Tailored Jacket pulled out of its bag and inspected - no elves completed any further work but then again, I'm practically done with it except the sleeves and collar.

Books Read:

Mary Tudor: Princess, Bastard Queen by Anna Whitlock. A nice sturdy introduction to Mary,  daughter of Henry VIII and sister of Queen Elizabeth. Linda Porter's The First Queen of England: The Myth of Bloody Mary packs more research into her book and fleshes out Mary's life a bit more. Both are good reads. 

My fascination with Jack Reacher continues. I finally broke down and put Killing Floor on hold at the library, what the heck, might as well read where Lee Child started the series.

My cousin was out on business again and while he waited for parts to show up, we went to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda. Wow. Just wow. I had no idea. For one thing, those aircraft carriers are HUGE and this one's been decommisioned for decades. For another, it's the carrier that picked up the crew of the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12.

   

Roomy, eh? Yikes.

 

Mobile Quarantine Facility. The crew of Apollo 14 spent two weeks here after their venture on the moon. Hopefully they got along.

 

Possibly the USS Hornet. Possibly the carrier next to it.

Look what Amy aka Knit Think sent me! MN apples! They actually crunch. I'm srsly contemplating moving to MN. If only I could move the ocean with me.

 

Ignore the fact that I look like I have werewolf wrists. Altho- WTH?

 

Current knitting obsession, Spinnity's Larus + Ardea. It's twined knitting, which is basically knitting with both ends of the ball of yarn, alternately, always carrying the new yarn over the old yarn. Weird that the contrast color looks blue, IRL it's a purple/black that Spinnity graciously wound off from her ball of yarn during her class. I still can't believe I brought a single project, no extra yarn or needles to a Knitting Retreat. Normally I carry a set of dpn's on me, just in case and overnight anywhere? Several projects. But if you go unprepared, go with knitters.

What's On TV:

(I think. TV and I are on the outs.) But I'm still watching DWTS Monday nights (Go Kelly! Go Louie!), Castle at 10pm, House between dances.

Tuesday: NCIS at 8pm. I want to like NCIS: LA because it has a great cast but so far it just hasn't gelled for me. Sons of Anarchy at 10pm on FX.

Flashforward on Thursdays. Joseph Fiennes character had better get his act together, the way he's moping around about his wife's future-so-far-not-actual affair would pretty much drive me into the guy's arms. Man up, dude.

September Reading Update:

Cardinal Richelieu and the Making of France by Anthony Levi (library) (bio) 2001. Started 8/26, finished 9/21. The author is known for his lit crit so I'd love to read his take on the literature of the period. Richelieu suffered from migraines, dealing with Louis XIII, his mother and their court? Not surprisingly.

1634:The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint and Andrew Weber, 2004 (library) (Alt Hist) 2004, 675 pages. Started.....? And still not done. I've been reading it in snatches of time and while I'm around 150 pages into it, they're still setting up the plot which is why I think it's been taking a backseat.

September ended up being an uncharacteristically social month between cont ed, knitting retreats, visiting cousin, ancient friends popping up from LA and oh!

I saw Carol Burnett last Thursday night at the Paramount in Oakland. It was billed as an evening of laughter and reminscences, she took questions from the crowd and showed some video clips. I'm sorry to report that when they turned the lights back on after the first clip, I was deeply annoyed I'd left my knitting at home.

Little of this, little of that

San Francisco in the dawn's early light....or 9:30am. Close enough. I went into the City via BART Saturday to meet up with Bev and Jewel, finally! and get in a yarn crawl. The yarn crawl ended up being ImagiKnit - which alone was a crawl in itself. I think we were there for three hours and never noticed the time. I found some yummy J Knit  and Jewel picked up what I think was some Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn for herself and as a gift while Bev stayed strong and bought only for others. Bev's sister in law Karin came with but i can't remember what she bought! We talked shop  - it's so much fun to for a chance chat with a fellow tax preparer. After we wore out ImagiKnit, we walked a block or two over to Dolores Street Cafe (yum) for some much needed late lunch then Jewel dropped me back off at BART, because typically when I'm out having fun, my head sabotages me. Okay, possibly it was also from staying up half the night most of the week finishing off books and then working like a fiend. But for some reason, I like the first theory.

I also finally made it to the Farmer's Market at the SF Ferry Building! It's only been there for ages. The Oakland Ferry doesn't go directly to it until noonish and for some weird reason (I commuted on BART for something like 15 years) I was leery of BART. But BART worked beautifully, I barely waited for a train either way, maybe because it was 9am and 60 degrees on Saturday morning rather than noon and 102 degrees on a Sunday afternoon? the Embarcadero station is only a block away. Some of the more crowded shops inside the Ferry Building have booths outside, Acme Breads, Cowgirl Creamery. (Farmer's Market SF Ferry Building)

(My backyard garden. Darn, I forgot to take a picture of the Mystery Vegetable Tree.)

In knitting news, I'm still knitting Mom's Stole, the SIL's cable scarf, Dad's Cardigan, my beaded scarf and the Curve of Pursuit. I'm making no discernible progress on any of them.

There is nothing on TV. Well, Law & Order Criminal Intent and In Plain Sight on Sunday, The Closer on Monday, Warehouse 13 tonight, Leverage on Wednesday, Burn Notice on Thursday, Eureka and Mental - both on at 9pm on Fridays, argh........see? Practically nothing.

The NCIS repeat about Vance's past is on tonight. Don't miss it.

Look what I got for my birthday!  Early, I admit. I just couldn't wait, especially since I crunched the numbers and can't get to Sock Summit. (Airfare tripled. That eats into my stash enhancement which is probably not a bad thing but geez). From Opalescent Jewels.  The necklace itself is gorgous but the clasp! For once, I can get it on and off all by myself.

I finished The Age of Reason Begins, 1633, The Solitude of Prime Numbers and A Taint in the Blood ( Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak) and then spent a couple of listless days trying to figure out what to read next. It's not that I have nothing to read, it's that I have so much I want to read! The short stories, Ring of Fire (which should be read between 1632 and 1633, btw), the next to last (so far) Kate Shugak book, A Deeper Sleep? Mike Carey's Dead Men's Boots? Moral Relativism by Stephen Lukas?  Any suggestions?

I ended up stacking them all next to me and knitting on the Curve of Pursuit while watching a press conference on CNN. Robert Gibbs is loosening up.

Hez sez "Why would anyone eat vegetables when there are tasty loafers like these around?"

Mary Tudor, she is finis.......mostly

Well, almost. She needs her buttons sewn on and I got bored weaving in ends before plunging her into her bath (I wove most of the ends in while knitting - except the sleeves. They have a lovely fringed effect)  but other than that? Done!!

Much thanks to Marina, who sent me a picture of a sample she knit of the mitered corner along with a chart - it turns out I'd neglected to do the picking up of stitches on BOTH right and wrong side rows. Thanks also to Joan and Lorraine for their help.

There's still one more update to come - when the buttons are on, but the knitting? She is done. I had a bump on the road to progress when I put in nine buttonholes for eight buttons - I knew I shouldn't have picked her back up Saturday night while watching Suspicion, but oh well. It worked as a swatch for the buttonholes  - typically horrid - but serviceable. Too bad the mitered corner with the buttonhole is going to be the side that shows - it's wonky, but oh well. (Second picture of the corners is the buttonhole miter.)

TV: Law & Order: Criminal Intent and In Plain Sight on Sunday nights. The season finale of 24 tonight, which I'm going to miss because I'm going to see my niece unwillingly sing opera, much better than finding out how Jack saves the world this time, don't you think? The season finale of NCIS is tomorrow (Tuesday) night. Cross your fingers Ziva doesn't die or get deported and we're stuck with that flirty chick Jules. Even Abby fell for her! Feh.

Chuck was renewed! Yes! The Dollhouse got the nod too. I really hate how CSI:NY ended, killing off one of the characters is getting so cliched. Like Lost. No one is safe.......unless it's Jack or Kate, the two I'd really like to see die. I didn't actually watch Gray's Anatomy closely enough to realize they did the "which one will die?" bit either until Opal filled me in. (Okay, I admit I was expecting Izzie to die and I didn't feel like bawling my eyes out so I basically had it on as background noise).

Wow, the big networks have dreck on their schedule for summer. Give me cable. The only thing that looks good to me is Glee, and I refuse to figure out why.

Reading: After The Periodic Table I thought I'd go for something light so I picked up Cattery Row by Clea Simon, one in the series about Theda Krakow, music journalist and Musetta's mom. Theda is on the trail of catnappers and kitten mills and it had a fabulous ending. She waffled too much about her love life - the proverbial struggle between the Good Man and the Bad Boy but that's probably aggravating just to me.

Currently reading - and loving - 1632 by Eric Flint. It's the first in his Ring of Fire series, a small West Virginia coal town is flung back in time 400 years to 1632 and smack into the middle of the Thirty Year War in the Germanic principalities. I'm sorry to report that I know practically nothing about this piece of history even with my half German descent. I love that it's unabashedly pro United States and that we're the good guys. I also love that the originally rallying cry was for the United Mine Workers of America.

Hez sez: "Geez, you're finally done with my blanket? It's been exhausting watching you all these years. Wait. You're not casting on another member of the English royalty are you? I give up."

Have a good week!

Insert Not Too Clever Title Here. Thanks for the Tip, Typepad. Gah.

  Button choices for the V pointed charmer, currently sporting buttons from [gasp] Joanne's Fabrics. I know, I know. I'm a button snob.

And because it's been a long long time:

TV: Not that' I've been awake the last week to watch much or understand any of it - was it just me or did Lost, *The Dollhouse or Battlestar Galactica make no sense whatsoever? This week the TV is going off at 10pm. Stupid Daylight "Saving" Time.

*The Dollhouse makes no sense to to me under the best of circumstances. I've grasped the concept, it's the relationships/point that eludes me.

Tonight (Sunday March 15) Kings has its two hour debut at 8pm. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Monday: 24. Finally, no one on the show that I have to flip the channel the second they appear, although the FBI couple are starting to work my nerves.

Tuesday: NCIS, of course.

(The structure is the new Walnut Creek LIbrary. Eventually) Wednesday: Life and Lost. Why are they both on at the same time? Life wins, Lost is better when they repeat it with that scroll catch up at the bottom.  I love that scroll catch up bar. (What's that actually called?)

Thursday: Bones at 8pm and then heaven help me, Gray's Anatomy at 9pm. I hate myself but there you are. Plus it looks like Izzy is actually dying! Dying! Be still my heart.

Friday. Oh, Friday. Friday is a very sad, sad day. So. Sad. Battlestar Galactica is repeating their Monday (the 16th) special at 7pm and then the very final two hour season FINALE episode at 9pm. (I think they're airing last Friday night's ep beforehand which is very very nice because I have no idea what was going on. Thank you Daylight "Saving" Time. Everyone! Run up your heating and electric bills in the morning and DO NOT SHOP in the evening. 

Somewhere in there is also endless hours of Senate/House/Congressional Hearings that I'm finding endlessly fascinating and Being Erica, a CBC show but airing in the US on  Soapnet. Fun premise. Her shrink sends her back in time to work out her issues.

There's been knitting but not much progress. I finally took Mary Tudor's sleeves off the two circs and onto dpn's thus decreasing the time it took me to knit one row from 30 minutes down to ten. I still can't believe it took me thirty minutes to knit one row of a sleeve. Practically at the cuff. Mind you, I'm a whole five more rows since last photographed but considering I'm working day and night and still actually reading some blogs (in the most haphazard manner EVER), not half bad.

Brigitte sent this darling thing to Hezekiah.

Hez sez "I know it's not a real mouse but it is fun to carry around and torment. Never in front of a camera though! The Oath of the Hunter, y'know" (which is very annoying, let me tell you - The Blog Photographer).

Photographic Evidence

Evidence of Lace Edged Elegance aka Golden Gate aka That Da**** Orange Thing (and I don't really like the back but that could be because it's freezing today.) (43F/6C)

Evidence of the Cable Cardigan aka V Pointed Charmer (all I have left to do is the picot crochet edging, already started) (Crochet is kind of fun. Who knew?)

Evidence of the continued (but stalling) progress on the Curve of Pursuit - Hez is actually under it under the covers but I'm not sure you can tell.

Evidence of my Nana Sadie Rose custom made Grace:   Further evidence that I think a purse must be able to do is hold my wallet, a book, lipgloss and a cellphone. This holds all that and more and is a really sweet, light backpack yet elegant purse to carry.

Evidence that good intentions don't necessarily make for a good system: You tell me. How do you get anything out of that shed?

Oh! I thought I'd posted this awhile back, it's the Hub Cab restaurant on Bonanza after a car went through the front door.

Hez sez: "It's cold out there! I advise you to sit home, stay in front of your television set and make good use of any available lap [Knit if you can. Attention hog. Er, cat] Sadly, other than Cold Case and Leverage [Not half bad. Two Words. Christian Kane] there isn't much on Sunday nights. Okay, cheesy multiple episodes of The Librarian, [which, if I'd listed to my mother, I'd be today. A regular librarian. Probably not THE Librarian.] NCIS on Tuesday, I think Leverage will be 10pm Tuesday nights on TNT  Bones is going to be on at 9pm this Wednesday. Why is Gray's Anatomy the only show on Thursday night?  If it wasn't for Kevin McKidd, I could have a TV free night. Mom will watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Heroes tonight, but unless I find out who and what Sylar really is, Im boycotting it in favor of a nap."

[Yeah, really awful picture, even by my standards, but she refused to cooperate or for that matter, get out of my lap most of the weekend.]

It Had Better Be Friday

Because I am DONE with this week. (Well, it was Friday. I'm good with it being Saturday. Can it stay Saturday?)  I've spent the better part of the last three weeks packing up the old office and unpacking in the new office (which I love. I have a HUGE desk now, most of whose surface is pretty much covered as usual but more spaciously.) But yikes, what a PITA. Not only was I having to do actual physical labor, I had no online access the first week and It turns out I had practically no work access either because most of my programs are web based. Who knew? And then new wireless mouse and keyboard were giving me fits. I was practicing a little percussive maintenance on the mouse when I finally tried new batteries last night. Oddly enough, new batteries were helpful.

Now I'm spending the better part of my days trying to get all the non profits done by next Monday and then, hopefully catching up on my blogs. Google Reader has declared that the latest shall be first. (Okay, I can actually change that, but it's handy. I lurve Google Reader. But wow, posting is out of control this month. What happened? it got dark and everyone took to their computer?).

TV: Life moved to 9pm on Wednesdays. The show might be on the bubble but it's pretty good. They can't think too badly of it, moving it to Wednesday from a Friday-Night-Kill-This-Show slot, where Fox is putting The Sarah Conner Chronicles next week. I can't say I blame Fox, while I'm still watching the show, I mostly feel like slapping John Conner upside the head and sending him to his room. Who wants to watch some mewling whiny teenager? Save the world, moron.

I hear My Own Worst Enemy was cancelled. That's another show I wanted to like and was watching but really made no sense at all. Sons of Anarchy is my new favorite show. [Warning, that page has a loading time and a really, really annoying chugging soundtrack] And LIfe on Mars is the other, although I really wish I could see the BBC version.  I'm also being forced to watch Gray's Anatomy for Kevin McKidd who was just added as a series regular.

Knitting: There's some progress on Mary Tudor's sleeve, amazingly enough.  Have I shown a picture of the beaded scarf Joan sent me? A little progress there too. (Not that you can tell by the terrible lighting and it'll need to be blocked when I'm done, but the beads!) The cabled cardigan is seamed and the collar safety pinned on while I figure out how to attach it (I want a reversible kind of i-cord). 

A mindless knit  was required for a Knitting Retreat aka Continuing Education last Monday and since I cannibalized the original Curve of Pursuit yarn for the cable cardigan, I picked up some burgundy Cascade 220. I wanted burgundy in the first place but the LYS didn't have any. [Yes, that flaming red is dark burgundy IRL]. And I'm surreptiously knitting on the super secret cable scarf for my SIL (hopefully she likes hunter green but there is no way I'm knitting that pattern in black, you'd never see the cable work).

The stupid weather is back into the 80's - I want winter! But I'm loving Standard Time.  I drove over the Benicia Bridge right around 5:30pm and the full moon was just enormous, lighting up the Mothball Fleet and the Suisun Bay. Glorious. I'd've taken a picture except for the whole life threatening aspect of it.

Books:

The Wolfman by Nicholas Pekearo. A werewolf with a conscience. Grittier than most but an excellent read.

The Last Queen by C W Gortner. A fictionalized account of the life of Juana of Castile, aka Juana the Mad. I knew she was Catherine of Aragon's sister and therefore Henry VIII's sister in law and that she was madly in love with her husband but I hadn't realized just how long she had lived or how her children were raised. Interesting.

The Habsburgs: Embodying Empire by Andrew Wheatcroft. I'd picked the book up to find out more about Philip, Juana's husband but they were barely mentioned. The Habsburgs? were a wee crazy.

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale. I was practically halfway through this book before I realized it was non fiction. It did read a bit dryly but I thought that was a novel choice. It's the story of an unsolved crime involving a young child in 1860.  - Wilkie Collin's The Moonstone was loosely based on the crime. The beginning of the Age of the Detective and the last gasp of a man's home was his castle.

The Plague Tales by Ann Benson. The book tells the story from alternating viewpoints of a 14th century Jewish doctor Alejandro Canches (Hernandez)  in the court of Edward III and Janie Crowe, a doctor living  in a futuristic 2005 (the book was written in 1997), a post newfangled plague world where millions have already died from a mysterious flu - which makes the 2005 characters actions particularly perplexing, however they did move the plot along.  A not half bad read (thanks to Alejandro) but The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis along similar lines was far better.

Poison Pen by Sharon Lowe, the first in a new mystery series featuring Claudia Rose, a graphologist (as is the author). The book was a fun romp, after I got over Lindsay Alexander being bad, more or less. [It took me awhile to realize I kept thinking of the Alexander Lindsay Wildlife Museum that has evidently dropped the "Alexander"], Peculiarly enough, I keep trying to analyse my handwriting now.

The Optimist's Daugher by Eudora Welty Bridget reviewed this book (back in early Sept if you want to look up her original review), thought I might enjoy it, and she was right. It's a short story about a young widow dealing with her younger stepmother and her life during her father's final days and funeral. It's hard to describe (for me, coherently, like everthing else)  but I came away feeling that I knew so much more than the story seemed to say. Eudora Welty was a genius.

Okay all that and it's all TV, books and some knitting pix? Harumph.