Meet the Stash

The ugly truth is that I have been neglecting my knitting. In the hustle and hurry of moving, starting a new job and getting settled in I have all but forgotten the knitting I planned to get done this summer. And then, I had the nerve to go and pick up a new hobby: swapping. Truly, my knitting has suffered.

Now the summer is over. Where are those sweaters I planned to knit? They're still just ideas and vague intentions. Where are the projects that should have been finished and safely in the hands of their intended recipients? Still on the needles. Still on the needles or, worse, frogged and rewound. Mercy killings, you might say. But the stash knows. Oh, it knows.

So in the interest of shock-starting my knitting once again, I've decided to post pictures of all the lovely yarns I have waiting for me in my stash. One a day, that's the plan. I will sort of reacquaint myself with each of them, remember why I fell in love with them in the first place. And then I will introduce them each to you.

Today's yarn:



Dusty Handspun. 125 yards of wool, soysilk and bamboo dyed and spun in beautiful deep-sea shades of blue, black and green, with just a little bit of purple thrown in. Just a little, mind you, nothing obscene. This is an Insubordiknit yarn, made by the lovely Jacey Boggs, and purchased roughly a year ago, give or take. I honestly don't know yet what will become of it, although it's inkled to me that it might like to become a pair of wristies... or a hat. I'm not quite convinced it's got the yardage to make a hat, but we shall see. It might make a nice gift for just the right person. Hmm.

Something Pleasant, For a Change

I thought this time I'd just share some nice pictures with you.

Last weekend my sister Missy was here from Phoenix. I had a great time while she was here, but one of the cool things we got to do was walk around and shop in Portland one afternoon with Chiara.

We got lattes and whole beans at Stumptown. That was probably the best latte I've ever had. And look how pretty:


And here was this great mural we saw. It reminded the three of us of many things. It reminded me of Brian Andreas, for one.


Sometimes when I take my walks around Aberdeen I see blackberries growing in people's yards. I know I shouldn't eat berries out of a stranger's yard, but sometimes I do anyway.


Here's this nice old elementary school that's kitty-corner from our place:


And here's some nice lush tree moss:


Nico and I have also gone to the Spar Cafe in Olympia a couple of times. We likes it.



So there you are. Things aren't all bad.

Jerk Points

I think that there should be a stricter limit to the assholery that the average citizen is lawfully permitted to commit. I think that everyone should get a set number of "jerk points" to spend on various activities or items. And then, when your jerk points are gone, they're gone. The only way to get em back is to give up one of your jerky contrivances and until then, you are not permitted any jerk behavior.

Let's say, for example, that everyone gets 500 jerk points. Let's say that owning a cell phone will cost you 75 of those jerk points. Hey, I own a cell phone, and I'd admit that it's worth about 75 jerk points. But if you use Bluetooth then that'll cost you an extra 50 JP. OK. Certain things will cost more JP than others... sporting a fauxhawk is worth maybe 10 JP, but forgetting to say please and thank you to service workers is worth 80.

And let's say... let's say that owning a Hummer costs you all 500 of your jerk points. So if you are the individual who made a left turn and cut me off while I was walking in the ped xing today while you were driving your stupid black Hummer and talking on your cell phone, then you have committed a serious jerk point infraction, and your ass should be in jail. In jail while they pipe in Anne Coulter's steady stream of consciousness. If you can call it that.

Also, today at the library a dude got arrested by two cops right in front of me! Ooo!

Library Adventure Bonanza

Today I actually witnessed a man blow his nose on his t-shirt. Just lifted it up off his belly and honked on it. Yep.

Also today I noticed that one of the people waiting for a computer smelled like soap! Soap! Instead of something else! I thought, 'Whoa! Things are looking up!' But it was a false alarm, because when I told one of my colleagues about it, she laughed and said, "Yeah, they're visiting from Australia."

And finally, I am forced to point out that not every miniscule little topic has an entire section of books, muchless one whole book, about it. Looking for the section on the pronounciation of the names of angels? Sorry. There isn't one.

Swappy

I joined Swap-Bot a few weeks ago and have been happily swapping away. It's great. So great that I decided to host my own swap!

The swap I'm hosting is a Short-Short Story swap. We will be swapping an original short-short story of 60 words or fewer plus title. Go check the swap out at: http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/6853

The last day to sign up will be Sept. 10th. Come join my swap!

Adventures at the Reference Desk

Today one of our regular patrons told me that I sure have nice teeth. How kind of him to notice on this, the one morning I couldn't brush due to cohabitation and overlapping bathroom schedules.

Someone was looking for books on chickens. Books on keep and raising chickens? No. Books on minimum requirements for showing chickens. Did we have a book on showing chickens? To my eternal surprise, we did.

Another person was looking for books on cats, domestic and wild. Turns out his elderly neighbor believed a recently-appearing stray cat to be from Africa.

A young girl asked if she might sing for us. The answer was yes, if the song was not too loud.

Picturesque

Have I mentioned how picturesque our little town is? It is. Quite. Picturesque. And quaint. There are moments when I think the quaintness might tumble us into a Norman Rockwell illustration. But it's the pituresqueness that strikes me more often than the quaintness. It's almost like the place is auditioning to be part of a David Lynch movie, if you get my drift.



On Thursday night Nico and I were invited to a dinner party our landlord was having. I thought it was a little odd because I've never had dinner or done anything socially with a landlord before, but this landlord is relatively young so we thought why not. There were a couple of women who were probably about my age and who were both from "the Harbor," (as folks call it around here) although one of them works in the South during the schoolyear. The other one has a photography studio here in town. Then there was another couple from CA who've been here three months and bought the huge old house behind us. They're here because of the cheapness of the houses and the proximity to Portland and Seattle. They're trying to get his art out there.

It was really sort of a relief to be able to sit and talk with people - other outsiders, in a way - in a casual environment. There were some weird and awkward moments to the conversation, as I think there often are when you're with new people, but overall it was nice. I don't feel quite as isolated as I did, because now I've at least talked to some people here who are more 'like us.' Not too similar, though. I only hope we made a good enough impression to be included again in the future.

To be honest, we'd quite like to host some dinner parties, but we've still got unpacked boxes and no furniture. Though at least we're a little closer to knowing who we could invite.

Oh, and if you're a foodie like I am, the dinner was quite nice. There was:
green salad with cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, oil and lemon juice dressing
corn on the cob
some kind of crusty bread
olives
skin-on pan seared salmon
a cheese course, two soft (probably a blue) and one hard, but I don't know what they were
And one of the other guests brought a fresh fruit tort she had made. Let me tell you, we are not used to our fruit being that good in AZ. It was fantastic.

Time to start brushing up on my cooking repertoire.

Week 1 and Beyond

Alrighty. I've been meaning to post for about a week now, to avoid the giant mega-post that seems to take all day to write, but here I am now: 2 weeks gone from Tucson and still no update. I will strive to be light on words and heavy on pictures. Really.

Thank you again to James for throwing me the most kick-ass going-away party I could have hoped for. Eegees and rum is a taste explosion I will very much miss. And thanks to everyone who made it out to give me a big send-off. I'm blessed to have such friends and I miss you all.

So, on Sunday the 24th we had the awsome help of Dom, Gallant and Aziza while we loaded up the truck from both our apartments. There's not much else to say about that other than it was hot and miserable and we surely couldn't have done it alone. We stayed the night at my sister's in Phoenix and headed out bright and early the next morning, making it to Modesto CA by sundown. On Tuesday morning we left Modesto and, despite some minor setbacks (traffic, blowing a tire on the truck) made it to Portland that night. Wow. What can I say? I wish we'd had more time to spend in Portland because it looked like an urban heaven. I'm sure we'll be making a few trips down there in the coming months. On Wednesday morning we allowed ourselves a bit of a lay-in (we didn't get up until 8!) and had a real breakfast before hitting the road one final time.

We made it to Aberdeen just after noon and, long story short, began moving into our new place that afternoon. So, our place: 2 bedroom, 1 bath nichigh ceilings, e bath, coin-op shared laundry, mostly carpet, new kitchen appliances, gas fireplace, huge windows, big walk-in closet, 1700 square feet (give or take) and "up the hill," which is apparently a plus when you live in a Tsunami hazard zone. I kid you not. Oh, the apartment is part of a large house which was originally built in 1900 and then added on to over the years. It's now been split up into 4 apartments, only ours being currently occupied. And it's 4 blocks from the library, so I walk to work and come home at lunch. Ideal, right?

Here is a picture of our creepy-looking old house:



And here are some pictures of our lush-looking yard areas:









And that's not all, check this shit out:



Uh-huh, that's moss. It just grows out here... on the ground, on the sidwalks, on the trees, sometimes even on people's roofs.

And take a look at this ferny goodness...



It's like a jungle, no? In fact, we are just a couple of hours south of the rainforests. We plan to go up there are some point, hopefully spot ourselves some banana slugs. Yup. I wanna see a banana slug. Oh! and here, look at this:



A soft, downy fiddlehead fern thingy. Cool! It's a little like being in Jurassic Park.

So, about our town... Ah, Aberdeen. Not much to do in Aberdeen. People are nice, though we haven't seen many our age. Small town, you know? We figure that most of the folks our age either settled down here and had babies, or they left. So.

But work at the library is nice. I think I'll like it there. It's nice to be doing something that I went to school for, and it's nice to be able to leave my work at work.

So far we've made three trips into Olympia (small but nice and urban. I wouldn't mind living there), seen the big 4th of July deal that they have down at the river, and drove out to the coast. The coast was only about 30 minutes away, and they let people drive their cars right out onto the beach. The sand there is packed hard enough. And we also got to see and tour two replica tall ships, the Lady Washington (which calls Aberdeen her home and appeared prominently in the first two Pirates movies) and the Hawaiian Chieftain. So, here are some pictures of the 4th of July thing, the ships and the beach. Enjoy:

Interview part 2, moving

So yes, I did my second interview with the Aberdeen library by phone, and they asked far fewer questions that time around. I again didn't feel like I did too spectacularly, but later in the day I began to get notice that my references were being checked. A good sign. Still, I didn't think the job was 100% in the bag and I began to prepare myself to continue the job search.

Then a week ago I got the job.

Nico and I are moving to Aberdeen. We leave Tucson on the 24th and will spend the night with my sister up in Chandler, and then we will leave the state on the 25th. Right now we're busy with packing and worrying and trying to find an apartment. So. I won't have much time to update in the next 2-3 weeks, but after that I can begin to talk about life in WA. It'll be great!

Right now in Tucson it is 102 degrees.

In Aberdeen it is 61 degrees.

Seattle and Interview, Part 1

So, last week I flew to Seattle to hang out with my friend Darren and to interview for a library position in the town of Aberdeen. You remember Aberdeen. It's where Kurt Cobain grew up, apparently. It was fantastic.

I flew in on Wed. afternoon and picked up a rental car. They gave me a red one. With a spoiler. Here is me looking happy next to my rental car:
Then I drove into Kirkland, where Darren lives and works, to pick up a key from him and get directions to his place. Darren lives in a cute but expensive apartment. Although he has been there for, what, a year now, he has still not unpacked everything from his last move. His apartment is a study in what I would call unintentional minimalism. Darren is a bachelor:
When Darren got off work we went to a very good Thai restaurant in nearby Bothel. Apparently one of the recent contestants of American Idol is from Bothel. It was in all the papers there. Here is a street in Bothel:
Afterwards we went to a park and looked at Lake Washington, across which we could barely make out Seattle. I was amazed - shocked! - by the absence of mosquitos, and was charmed by the serenity of the lake. Ver' nice.
On Thursday morning I got ready for my interview in Aberdeen. There was a small fiasco involving pantyhose, but I got the situation under control and drove down there. I used the drive to psyche myself into a weird state of nervous calm, and then at the appointed hour I took the plunge and did my interview. OK. I left the library feeling very disappointed in myself. I didn't feel like I did very well, although they did like the 3 booktalks I gave. I drove around Aberdeen a bit to take pictures and try to get a feeling for the town, which didn't work too well because I was feeling pretty dejected and was sure I would not be seeing this place again. So. Here are a couple of pictures of residential Aberdeen, looking south over the town:
Then I thought I should probably get something to eat, so I stopped at a place called Duffy's. A sign outside the restaurant advised me to get the fish n chips, which I did. They weren't so good. But the waitress was friendly. I drove around a little bit more and then began heading out of town. On the highway out of town I noticed signs reading "Tsunami Evacuation Route," which I thought was pretty exciting. I stopped on the road overlooking the spot where the river begins to turn into the harbor and took these shots of Aberdeen and the lumber yard. Yeah. Lumber. Or is it timber?

So then I got back on the road and began the drive back to Kirkland. Aberdeen is 40-some miles outside Olympia, which is a drive you can do in under an hour. Then it's another hour and a half or so, depending on traffic, to the Seattle area. The drive between Olympia and Aberdeen is very nice, going through some pine forests and some more open meadow or farmland. This is what it looked like:
That day was also technically Darren's birthday, so that evening he drove us into Seattle, to the Capital Hill area where we walked around, ate sushi, bought soap from Bliss (they were so nice! I love this shop!), etc. It was very fun, and very cool. Darren assured me that it was also very expensive if you were looking to live there, which I can believe. Still. It'd be an interesting neighborhood. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the Capital Hill area, because I didn't want to look so obviously like the tourist I was. You can do a Google Images search if you really wanna know.

The next morning I got a call from the Aberdeen library - they wanted to include me in a second round of interviews! Unfortunately I couldn't change my plans to stay, so we decided on a phone interview. What a pleasant surprise. It brightened my mood for the rest of the trip.

Darren took the day off work. We took my rental car back and then drove out to Mount Rainier. Holy cow, that's a big mountain. Here in AZ our mountains are relatively small, plentiful and nearby. Mount Rainier was at least a 2-hour drive away. It's also huge and covered in glaciers. Yes. While it was hot and nasty here in Tucson, I got to drive part-way up a mountain and see snow. I loved it.
I learned that despite the glaciers and several feet of snow still present in late May, Rainier is actually an active volcano. If it were to erupt, there's a good chance Seattle would be wiped out. Fun.
Pretty-pretty. Oh, and on the way back we saw some deer:

That night we had dinner with one of Darren's friends and his entourage. Then we went out to a bar to play pool. I did even worse at it than I used to. Oh well. They were very entertaining folks, but I was exhausted and had to go home and sleep.

The next day we went into Seattle again, this time to go to the Pike Place market! Fantastic!
I love the Pike Place market. I want to live near it. Maybe someday, huh? I got a tasty apple-pastry thing, ate some strawberries, saw the fishmongers tossing the fish around, visited the comic shop, and generally enjoyed myself. Here is a picture of me feeling elated at the market:
After the market we had lunch at a bagel shop, where I was very adventurous and tried lox for the first time. Yum. Then we went to the Space Needle.
Uh-huh. The Space Needle.
It costs $16 per adult for a ride up to the top, which I think is a bit much. But we went up, anyway. I took some pictures from the elevator. Here's one:
And then of course I took a bunch of pictures from the top. I was feeling pretty nervous being up that high. They had the observation deck all netted-in with wires to keep anyone from falling off. I still felt pretty nervous. I kept imagining what my camera and glasses would look like falling off the Space Needle. But that didn't happen, and yes, I took pictures. Here's one of Lake Washington:
And here's one of this hippy-folk-festival that was taking place:
And here are a couple of Puget Sound:

After that I made Darren take me to a yarn shop (Hilltop Yarn) where I wandered around in a yarn-haze before buying 5 balls of soft Cashsoft DK in the Thunder colorway. So nice and gray.

That night we went out for a huge sushi dinner (again) and then I had some time to pack and relax.

The next morning it was raining. Finally! My entire trip had been gorgeous; the days were sunny or only partly cloudy and temps were in the 70's during the day. Lovely and a nice break from the Tucson heat, but I didn't feel like I was getting a very accurate WA experience. But that final morning it rained. Here is the rain on the way to the Seattle airport, early Sunday morning:
I made my flight, and when we touched down in Tucson around 10:40 am it was in the 90's. Yeek.

But I had a great time in Seattle. I loved it. I want to go back.

Graduation and What's Next

Damn. It's been almost a month. Sorry.

Tomorrow afternoon I wear the dumb robes and funny hat and I celebrate the completion of my degree with all the other graduates at the U of A. Wow. It's almost too much to think about. I didn't take any time off between high school and college, or between college and grad school. And during college I only took one semester off. I've been in school for a long time now, and I'm about to be officially done.

I've been applying for library positions (6 of them so far) in a couple different states, and until yesterday I'd only gotten 1 interview. Now I have in interview in two weeks (eek) in a small town in WA state. I just bought my plane ticket and I plan to stay with a friend in the Seattle area. I am trying to be calm. It is hard to do. I'm feeling a little light-headed, although that may just be the heat (my swamp cooler's broken and I don't have AC).

So, wish me luck with the interview. And with getting my swamp fixed.

Another Meme!

To celebrate some of the last homework avoidance I will do as part of my academic career (because I'm graduating! Finally! squee!) I thought I'd revisit my favorite homework avoidance technique, that is, memes.

Here goes.

1. Where were you on July 4th 2006?
In Phoenix with a boyfriend.

2. How did you get the idea for your blog name?
It's a really boring story.

3. What song are you listening to right now?
I Against I by Massive Attack

4. What color is your cellphone?
silver

5. Who was the last person you messaged on myspace?
Um... Erika, maybe?

6. Do you own an iPod?
Yes. I love it.

7. What was the first thing you thought of this morning?
My dream.

8. What does your dad do for a living?
My dad used to be some kind of aerospace engineer.

9. What will you do tonight?
Homework and then probably go to the Electric Six show.

10. Whats your favorite memory from last weekend?
Making fleischchuechla with my sister while The Boy looked on.

11. What are the last two digits of your cellphone number?
That's a pretty dumb question.

12. What was the last thing that you had to drink?
Water.

14. What was the last movie you watched?
Happy Feet.

15. What do you dislike at the moment?
Homework and job searching.

16. What food do you crave right now?
I just had dinner.

17. What did you dream last night?
Typing.

18. What was the last TV show you watched?
I don't really remember.

19. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?
My petrified ammonite pendant.

20. Name 3 ppl who are just like you.
No one is just like me.

21. Do you always lock your bedroom door?
No. When there are children present I do. Not my children - my sister's.

22. Do you like your boss?
I guess.

23. Are you on any medication?
No, thank goodness.

24. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
Whichever is next to the wall.

25. What color shirt are you wearing?
Kinda peach.

26. What is your favorite frozen treat?
Cookies n cream ice cream.

27. How many piercings do you have?
4.

28. What's your favorite store?
I'm not at all certain I have one.

29. Are you thirsty right now?
A little bit.

30. Who's someone you haven't seen in a while and miss?
Angie T.

31. What did you do last night?
Made dinner with The Boy and watched Happy Feet.

32. Do you care what people think about you?
Yeah, but not as much as I used to.

33. Have you ever done something to make trouble?
Of course.

35. What are your font colors on AIM?
Is this question for real? Do people actually care about this shit?

36. Where do you live?
Tucson, AZ.

37. Are you aggressive?
In the car, yes.

38. Cell phone company?
Verizon.

39. Energy Drink?
Coffee. But I do like the smoothies with the added power-up shots.

40. When is your birthday?
6/16.

41. What is the thing that you would most like to change about you?
My tendency to procrastinate and over-eat. There. That's pretty boring.

42. What word do you say alot?
Nice.

43. What do you smell like right now?
Garlic, I'd wager.

44. What are your favorite colors?
Red, black, grey, pink, green and blue.

45. Do you like mustard?
Occasionally with a pretzel.

46. What do you tell yourself when times get hard?
That I'm not a bad person.

47. Would you ever sky-dive?
Mmmm, no.

49. Have you ever bid for something on eBay?
Yes.

51. Do you enjoy giving hugs?
When they're not perfunctory.

53. Do you own a digital camera?
Yes.

54. What is your favorite TV show?
Good Eats.

55. Who is your favorite Star Wars character?
Yoder.

56. Does it annoy you when someone says they'll call but don't?
It used to. Not so much anymore. Sometimes, though.

57. Are you a jealous person?
Yeah, but I'm working on it.

59. Do you ever feel guilty after eating meat?
Sometimes.

60. If you were born the opposite sex, what would your name be?
Kirk. As in, Captain. My dad luuurrved Star Trek.

Springtime in the Old Pueblo

Ah, nothing says spring like a cliched blog entry on the topic, no? So, watch for the usual: discussion of local spring versus national spring, discussion of the weather, picture of flowers, reflection on knitting during warm temperatures.

For a few weeks now I've been noticing a springtime trend in other people's blog entries, complete with beautiful pictures of blooming bulbs and daffodils, etc. And I enjoy reading about spring in other parts of the country, I really do. Now, according to the weather reports and several recent blog entries, parts of the country have backslid into winter's last hurrah. Newly-planted flowerbeds have been blighted with frost, and lovely sprouting bulbs have had their genitals freeze and wither (it's true you know: those pretty pretty flowers are the plants' baby-making gear).

To this I have one response: Luckyyyyyy.

Here in southern Arizona, spring is a razor-thin month and a half and is defined by two natural occurrences: temperatures in the low to mid 90's, and the presence of pollen. Lots. Of pollen. Arizona has one of the highest pollen counts in the country. For the past month, according to weather.com, Tucson's pollen counts have been either 'high' or 'very high,' with few exceptions. But in case you're wondering, it wasn't always this way. We used to have one of the lowest pollen counts in the country. Sure, the desert would always bloom in spring, but compared to other parts of the country it was nothing. That is, until people with bad allergies moved down here and brought their allergen-producing plants with them to a region with an early and long growing season. Smart: S-M-R-T.

Now let me take a step back and remind you of the other big springtime signifier: temperatures in the 90's. In some parts of the country temps in the 90's is as hot or hotter than it gets alllll summer. But here, it's just part of spring's glory. When the temperature is in the low or mid 90's, we know it's spring. But when it edges into the upper 90's, it's summer. Even in the desert, 98 degrees cannot masquerade as spring's gentle warmth. 92 degrees can, but 98? No.

So for anyone lucky enough to reside in a cooler part of the country I say count your blessings. Your flower bed may have been destroyed by a late frost, but you can replant. We here in the old pueblo will not see cooling temperatures for another 6 months. Literally.

But springtime in Arizona isn't all bad. Witness our palo verde trees, which bloom abundantly into brilliant yellow firecrackers each year:









OK, so the color quality on these photos isn't super. But trust me, these blooms are bright, bright yellow. Lovely.

And come summertime, what's a desert-dwelling knitter to do? Knit socks? Knit lace? Well, yes and yes. I am hoping to knit some lace, a few sweaters (we'll see), and plenty of socks this summer. Socks are a good choice because they don't cover your lap as you knit, and the superwash sock yarn has the added bonus of not felting in your fingers. Seriously. When it's 110 degrees outside you've got to plan your projects carefully.

1. I need a job.
2. Soon I will graduate with a master's degree and minimal experience which I must parlay into a job.
3. Cover letters.
4. ALA conference?
5. I wish I could knit on my way up to Phoenix.
6. My party on Saturday. Will anyone come?
7. Work clothes. How can I get some?
8. Relocating. Where.
9. Am I a fraud?
10. The manager at work. What is wrong with her?
11. I ordered a MacBook.
12. Maybe I should stop drinking coffee.
13. Bringing wine and hors d'oeuvres for Easter at my sister's.
14. The lace scarf I ripped out and rewound.