A Grate Miracle Happened There

Chanukah is fast approaching and visions of latkes are dancing in my head. Reading up on recipes in the NYTimes I began to notice that as most Jewish holidays involve food, and most Jewish holidays involve labour-intensive food. What kind of Jew would you be if you didn't have to (have the opportunity to complain about) mixing the sweat and tears of your labour into the potato latkes it took you 3 hours to make, or the charoset you painstakingly chopped so that it would adhere to the matzo enough to not stain your tablecloth with wayward manischevitz-coated-apples, but not be so sticky that we wouldn't be reminded of the pain and toil caused by the crappy mortar the Egyptians forced the Jews to use to build the... I don't know, what were we building?* Back to the point - when perusing through recipes I found a new, simple, common denominator. No, it's not the way to get tasty desserts dairy-free and onto a fleisch (meat) table and still keep kosher, it's the call to use this:

Whether it's to process potatoes for latkes (finely grated or in longer grated chunks), make charoset, the filling in babka, or even challah dough itself, the Food Processor has become in my mind the most Jewish of kitchen appliances. If my Jewish friends are settled enough to have a kitchen appliance they have a food processor, even if it's only used once or twice a year.

Growing up, my family had a heavy duty one that came out for latke making and I suspect that my sister and I will fight to the death over who will inherit that tan and brown, late 70s style, powerhouse of a processor. (she gets the kitchenaid mixer L and I received one - from her- as a wedding present). My dad doesn't know what happened to my family's Judaica, and so the cuisinart has now taken the place of silver candle sticks and a family seder plate. (And if this isn't a story of Jewish American assimilation/integration/whatever you want to call it, I don't know what is).

I have a cuisinart miniprep that is great for salsa, pesto, and charoset but no where near designed to make latkes, so I do them by hand. Although I'd love to bring a larger version of the cuisinart into my home and make latke-making a little less labour intensive, I actually take pleasure in the pain of grating potatoes and sweet potatoes for the holiday.** I think we'll be doing zucchini, potato, and sweet potato latkes (separate, not together), this year. So if you are celebrating Chanukah, a minor Jewish holiday that has morphed into a majorish American Jewish holiday, Happy Chaunkah! It's time to haul out the food processor or grater, fry some potatoes, and sink into a crispy, carb-fueled stupor.

* Were we even enslaved in Egypt? Does it even matter? Oy.

** Or maybe that's just what I tell myself :)

Home Safely

I'm back in CA and glad to be home. The flight was fine, customs was fine, and I'm happy to be back to L, proper filter coffee, Oona, and our little home (that now feels quite palatial). I'm taking Monday off but will be back to work on Tuesday, so if you're on campus you may find me kicking around. For now I'm just catching up with email and getting some help from my new favorite lap warmer:

Last Night in London

In about 12 hours I will begin hauling the crap I've managed to shove into my bags, onto the tube, and depart for Heathrow. I ended my stay with a few final hours of research followed by a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum's recently re-opened Medieval and Renaissance Europe wing. It was a good end to a fantastic trip. (photo taken Sept 28, 2009)

I've loved pretty much every minute I've been here and I'm so thankful for this time. I showed

up stressed and terrified about the viability of

my project - I'm leaving much calmer with a strong feeling of accomplishment. It didn't rain

much while I was here but the last week has been dribbley. Even dealing with the rain is easier here (its light and spread out out the day, opposed to CA where every January the weather

seems to say "huh... hasn't been rainy in a while, let's dump 6 inches on Nor Cal in 10 hours! Weee!"). (Departure, taken Dec 4, 2009)

Christmas lights are up all over the city and I'll end this post with a recent pic.

The lights on my Street:

Thanksgiving

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Myself and my family are in good health. I won this fellowship to conduct my diss research and got to live in London for 10 weeks. I've met all kinds of wonderful people out here, and look forward to returning to my loved ones at home. L and I moved off campus into a nice, cozy bungalow and added a long-awaited for fuzzy family member. I like Thanksgiving because, like the best holidays out there, it's an opportunity to share good food, good wine, and good time with people you love. It's also an opportunity to highlight 3 of my favorite food groups: carbs, sugar, and butter (chocolate is the 4th, but doesn't have much of a role on Thanksgiving). I present to you my first attempt at stuffed pumpkins. I got together with a few friends here and we did a vegetarian Thanksgiving with chicken on the side for the meat eaters. Stuffing pumpkins is super easy - clean, stuff like a turkey, bake at 350 for about 2 hours (depending on squash) and scoop out to serve. All the stuffing, good pumpkiny tastiness, none of the salmonella - but moister than "dressing" baked in a pan. I used the Betty Crocker Cookbook Stuffing with 3 breads: whole wheat, rye, and sourdough, and 2 crown prince pumpkins from a local farmer's market. They were far superior to the little 90p pumpkin we picked up at the grocery store. You can easily make these vegan and can stuff with a variety of stuffings.

Carved and waiting - such beautiful colors

All 3 after 2 hours of roasting

EXTREME STUFFING CLOSE UP!!!

Hey There Little Red Riding Hood

You sure are lookin' good

You're everything

That a Big Bad Wolf could want

Yeooooooowl!

I finished another sweater! And it fits! And it didn't even take a whole month! For all you knitters out there, all like 1 of you, I highly recommend this pattern. Very easy, well written, knits up fast and easy to customize. I love the arm construction, the arm scythes fit much better than top-down raglans.

Pattern: Corona, by Canaryknits

Size: S

Yarn: Cascade 220, 4 skeins

Needles: 7

Mods:

Made the bottom longer and knit and extra inch of the vneck after the neck split but before the arm pits. That's it! This is a great sweater for the busty.

And Happy Thanksgiving! I will post pics of my stuffed pumpkin carb feast on Sunday when we cook.

One of those days

Well, it was bound to happen... I was bound to have a day when I should have just stayed in bed. Nothing horrible, just feel like I left my brain in bed. Took me forever to get going (had laundry all over the apt), I'm supposed to call a friend for lunch and my cell runs out of battery power, I have no internet (currently at a cafe) and can't get ahold of her that way. Now I'm at a camera shop internet cafe and realized I left my lunch on my kitchen counter at home. Of course, this is the only cafe that only has internet, but also only has coffee and tea. Argh.

Aside from all of that, getting to do research at the British Museum is really an amazing experience. The prints and drawings room is a beautiful part of the 18th century library. Everything is carefully preserved - gloves to handle any material, minimal lifting, no flipping over, etc. It feels very... historical. History in action, and all that

What I'm realizing, now that I'm in my 9th week is how wonderful the research phase is and how essential it is for historians to be able to not just get to an archive, but really explore an archive. The material I've identified to look at is of course helpful, but it's really the material that is physically around what I thought I wanted to examine that has been the most fruitful. You really don't know what you are going to find until you get there, and having the time to really work though an archive's catalog has made a huge difference for my project. I'm also so thankful for the IHR research seminars. I've seen several good talks and two really outstanding presentations. The networking I've been abel to do has pointed me to sources I wouldn't have thought about (like the contemporary prints and engravings), and I've made some really good connections here with both grads and faculty.

Ok, I'm still trying to do London fashions w/ pics, but the weather has been a little too wet for pis of people.

Oh yeah, and Happy early Turkey Day to the Americans out there. I will be at a seminar and pub on Thursday but have plans to do a vegetarian Thanksgiving with my friend from Brown (who is Israeli) and her Israeli roommate. We're going to make stuffed pumpkins, yams in rum-butter-suger, sweet potato biscuits, and dessert of some kind. I also plan to drink several glasses of wine. I'm the only drinker of the group and will have to get my ass home, but wine will be had. I'll try to get some good images of the food and the minimalist flat they are sharing.

Link updated

Sorry the link wasn't working, thanks to everyone for the heads up and thanks to Luke for fixing it. I have no internet at the British Museum and didn't get the notice until this morning

Here it is again, scroll down to "Kathy K----"

One more reason the UK rocks

It's Movember the time of year when men are encouraged to grow mustaches in the month of November to raise awareness about prostate cancer and Men's health.

Proud Daughter

My mom is an artist. She's not a professional, although I think she could have been had her life gone differently, and she may be in the future. She's been going through some rough times in the recent past and hasn't been able to produce a piece in 2 years. This fall, she decided to set the goal of making a piece and submitting for a competition just to see if she could. Not only was she able to submit, but she won first place in the adult category! If you scroll down to the adult category hers is the paining of the desert hare and cactus. I know I'm her daughter and I'm totally biased, but I'm very proud of her and absolutely love her work.

I'm actually getting this thing worked on

My research is going well. I am absolutely going to be able to look at everything I determined that I need to see (except for one book that is on display and they won't take down for me no matter how nice I ask). I'm kind of... surprised. This whole setting a goal and actually accomplishing it in a timely fashion is not common for grad school. And by timely I mean early! I have time to go to the prints and drawings room of the British Museum and the equivalent at the Tate! Of course now I have to go back and start putting all of this into a coherent narrative, but it feels possible. I have changes to make, but that's ok. Check in again with me in March I may have run away to Los Cabos, but from where I'm sitting right now it looks do-able. This is a good place to be.

I'm off to a seminar tonight and then the British Museum tomorrow. Once I get photos stay tuned for a London fashion post.

My Grad Training Taught Me Something!

I was in Oxford this past weekend as a symposium on the broadside in Europe. The presentations covered material from 15th century Germany to 19th century Italy - ballads, proclamations and study guides for French monks. It was wonderful to talk with scholars who work with the same material and speak the same "language". This is fairly common in academia and why we have conferences and symposia in the first place. I managed to make good connections with the English Broadside Ballad Archive at UCSB. This is a group that combines my interests in ballads and digital humanities, and we're set to touch base in January regarding specific projects I can become involved with. I also met and exchanged cards with several other scholars, most of whom have said they will be happy to meet with me while here in London.

But, perhaps most importantly, I was able to make an excellent impression in the final round table discussion of the day. The moderator asked the question: from religious proclamations to songs to study guides - are we really all dealing with the same material? Most of the speakers tended to point the uniqueness of what they do and emphasize the role of difference in their projects, but mentioned that they still struggled to get a grasp on exactly what were broadsides anyway? When I got the floor I got to make a really good plea for the inderdisciplinarity of broadside research, that we are a field in which we must consider how these objects were seen, heard, read, produced, and consumed. That this requires working across the standard disciplines of history, literature, music, art history, and performance, and that that struggle is in deed difficult, but also what makes this field so dynamic. I got to look out to head nodding, murmurs of approval, and had the final remarks of the day. It was awesome. So funny that the interdisciplinary, trans-national, world historical, cross-whatever approaches that are common currency at SC to the point of seeming trite were really new and novel. I had several people come up to me to tell me how much they liked what I had to say and the way I described our joint venture with material that often ended up as loo paper.*

I'm back in the British Library with only 3 weeks left here. I absolutely love it here and am going to be sad to leave. On the other hand, I'm ready to be back stateside and closer to family and friends. I have to get my tush to the British Museum Prints and Drawings, the Tate, and sort through 2 more collections. The scary thing: I think I'm going to be able to get it all done by the time I head home.

*I'm working with original ballads now and let me tell you, they are soft and could give Charmin' a run for their money.

Grumble, Grumble,

In case anyone didn't know what the UC's problem is, here is one major piece of the puzzle: The LA times reports that although the population of CA is quite happy with the UC, CSU and community colleges, they don't support raising taxes or student fees to pay for those institutions. Now, I don't want my taxes to be any higher either. Especially b/c I have the suspicion that they probably go into some administrative black hole of doom and only a fraction would actually get to the unis. But can't people see the logical gap between 1) wanting a first class-university system and the prestige and bragging rights that come with that, and 2) not wanting to pay for a first-class university system but being pissed when they don't magically get it anyway?

"To see that level of concern spoke to the degree people value these institutions they see as very important for the state's future," he said, adding that legislators should pay attention.

Among the survey's other findings: 77% of parents of children age 18 or under say they are worried about affording college and 69% say most families do not save enough for college; 89% are concerned about rising fees; and 86% worry about reduced enrollments and course offerings.

Legislators should pay attention? And what, comment on the state of the system but not do a damn thing to fix the problem of a disinvested UC? I hear the problem of not wanting to pay more for less. I hear the double hit of raised taxes to support the UC combined with fee hikes every year is pricing our state's population out of the state college system. And that fee increases will soon put a number UCs in the more expensive areas with poor commuting options * cough * Santa Cruz *cough * into the astronomical range when cost of living and housing is factored into the college equation (assuming, of course, that they aren't already). I hear the consumer crying out in pain b/c of the rising price tag - but I also see what these cuts are doing to our university, our faculty, grads, and students (or will see the students when I get back in the winter). We've been struggling for years and now parts of our university seem to be downright imploding. We've never been a richer campus - and now that I talk to grads at other, granted Ivy League, schools I literally boil in jealousy - but we're being gutted to the point where I have a hard time seeing where the UC Titanic is going to end up when the recession and budget nonsense are finally over.

I don't know what the answer is (this may be a first). I can see where throwing money a the problem isn't the answer, although the state universities are facing very serious and real budget problems and throwing money at us would at least get us back to the relatively easier problems faced, say 4 years ago. Maybe the whole system needs an overhaul in the same way it seems that most of our lurching-along 20th century systems need overhauls (health care, social security, CA's budget and constitution), but these days "overhaul" doesn't mean incorporating radical new thinking that would actually revolutionize the system*, it means "doing more with less" or cutting jobs and services in the name of efficiency. Is one of my profs right in his observations that humans always take the seemingly easier of 2 paths even if that path is self-destructive in the long run? Are we always willing to dancing with the devil we know, even if it'll kill us, because it's less "scary" than the devil we don't know? And if so, then can we get our the national myth that we're a great innovative, risk-taking nation that's wiling to work and fight for what's good, right, just, and true in this world, and just wallow in our terrified, petrified state of clinging to a sinking ship?

Note: I'm a little on edge today, it has to do with my stupid English equivalent of frat boy and g-friend neighbors who were so fucked up last night that they thought porno sex with blasting music at 2:30 am was a brilliant plan. I was jerked awake to groans and shrieks. Knocked on the door several times, no answer, followed by 30 seconds of silence and then the noise was back on. Lasted until 4 am. While there has been tea during my other mornings this was definitely a coffee morning.

*universal health care and access to education? we have several models all over the world we could look at... I know, I know, the spector of socialism is scary but you can't on the one hand scream "free health care! free universal access to education!" and not expect to pay for it from some where. It's going to be out of your pocket (privatized, more out of a few pockets with limited access based on the mighty $, race, class, and (perhaps to a lesser degree) gender) or everyones (socialized, less out of everyone's), unless the money fairy is making regular stops to your place and if she is can you send her my way and tell her to pay me in £s?

While I'm updating on life I figured I'd give an IUD update for interested parties. For all others, you've been warned and can read or move along elsewhere. In fact, I've put this in white font. To read, highlight the text.

I've been off the pill now for a little over 3 months and still like it. The biggest change is that I"m not nearly as dried out as I was. I'm oily in the T-zone for the first time in well over a decade and I now have to deal with zits in a way I didn't have to before. The rest of my skin is also less dry - legs, arms, etc - as are my mucus membranes. My contacts feel better, although that may also be being in a more humid climate. I had my first cycle after 2.5 months and no idea when the next one is going to come. The period was heavier and lasted 5 days, but not that much heavier than it has been on my last BCP (I was not on one of the pills that made your period stop). Definitely sloshier and a little bit crampy on the fist day (maybe level 1-2 on a scale of 1-10) but really not bad and nothing advil didn't fix. And as far as the periods go, using this nifty little thing makes them much less of a a hassle. One of the biggest differences I feel is that my libido is higher and b/c I'm less dried out inside and out, my body responds better and faster. All in all, a world of good.

My overall assessment: I'm only one period in to this, but so far I still love it and am very happy I switched off the BCP. I love not having to remember to take something every day and the reduced stress and worry about forgetting a pill. I'm still trying to figure out my skin, but I will happily put up with extra oiliness in the T-zone and a few zits for replenished moisture elsewhere. I didn't even realize this was a problem until I got off the pill. The strings haven't given me any problems - keep them long and tuck them out of the way. The pill was great for me when I went on it at 17, but I wished I had switched to the IUD earlier (mid to late 20s). Even if I only keep it in for 1-2 years, it was absolutely worth the investment and I will continue to use and IUD until L and are are past the child bearing period and more permanent measures are an option (you can have the copper IUD inserted when breast feeding).

Update land

I promised and update, and here it is:
I’m finally making headway in the archives. I’m not finding any new ballads, but I am finding the same ones printed over and over with a noticeable level of loyalty to the visual landscape of the original edition. I’ve also noticed that most ballads function as montage of images from which meaning is fairly easily extracted rather than in narrative, comic book from (as is standard with German ballads from the same period). I’ve found visual evidence of ballads posted on a wall and ballad singers in contemporary prints, a description of a person being able to identify a ballad by the way it looked, and a publishers catalog aimed at itinerant chapmen. I can’t tell if it’s a catalog that lists the publishers “in house” stock, or if it’s a “made ot order” list of copyrights held, but either way it will allow me to recreate what one print sellers options were. If you are a grad in my program and you are reading this, I will approach you to play the “guess what this one is about” ballad game. Don’t worry, you will be compensated for your time with beer and the knowledge that you may be helping me with my diss… but mainly with beer. So, I think I’m actually getting to something that will resemble a dissertation. I have almost 70 pages of notes and write ups of ballads since I got here, and that doesn’t count all the entries I have from the summer. All in all I can confidently say I love my job, I love what I do, and I actually have the confidence I’ll finish and finish well. Then again give me a week and I’ll be back on the brink of despair, but so goes the dissertation roller coaster.
Oh yeah, and I reworked my WH thru food syllabus and wrote a Tudor/Stuart syllabus to submit for summer school. I’m working with ReallyTiny on the WH Food stuff and if it gets accepted we are going to have a blast. We’re trying to work in eating and/or drinking to every week.

But after that fabulous week, I fizzled out today. I wasted time downloading the new blogger template you see here and when I got to the BL I realized I was more interested in reading reviews on skin and hair products than actually working. So after 2 hours of minimal productivity, I decided to hike my butt down to the national portrait gallery ( I did have a portrait I needed to look at) and have spent the last 3+ hours wandering around Covent Garden. Now, as you can see from this pic, I enjoyed a fall bitter and typing on my laptop in a pub.I realized I don’t have that much time left here and I have a lot I want to do. On the schedule for tonight: my weekly Sat night bread and tasty cheeses for dinner with my £3.33 red wine (nice, smooth with a good french character- much better than Chuck).

I’ve also tried a new cookie recipe from King Arthur flour. I’m still on a brownie kick but realized that I would totally eat a pan of brownies in, say, 24 hours, but if I make brownie cookies (and can not gobble down the dough) I’d be able to bake 1-2 an evening and freeze the rest of the dough. For the bakers out there it’s more like a fondant – very chocolate, sugar, egg. For the non bakers: it’s the cookie version of a lava cake. Good, but I over baked the first 2 and they turned out dry. I’d make it again but it doesn’t quite meet the dense brownie texture that I’m looking for*. Today I’ve decided to head to the Tate and maybe I’ll stop my a local bakery and p/u one of their outstanding brownies.

*Now that I have 2 friends at the BL (and one is a New Zealander who totally sounds like Bret from FOTC), I'm going to make most of the rest of the batch and take them into work.

New Look

I'm trying the template thingy again, esp considering I've been seeing "exceeded bandwidth" with blogger's classic templates. Bullshit if you ask me. So I'm trying to host my images in my picasa account. Hopefully it'll work. I'm still playing around with this -and again and am uber late getting my butt into the BL on this fine morning- so things may be a bit clunky until tomorrow am when I can actually take the time to fix them.

A recap on this week:
-love pubs
-hate running in the cold (we're around 40-45 degrees F here so this isn't just Kelly's a CA wimp cold, this is actually cold)
-love real research seminars with committed members
-had an awesome week in the archive (finally!), and realizing why this is the best job in the world
-found a 3 for £10 wine deal! The white is bright and fair, I'll report on the red soon

On the table for the weekend:
-research at the BL
-trip to the National Portrait Gallery to examine paintings of prostitutes and actresses
-trip to Tate Britain to scour their 17th and 18th century print collections
-8-10K run (depending on how I feel)
-window shopping on Oxford St and looking at the Holiday light displays

No interesting title

It's 9, I need to leave to get into the BL. I've lately picked up the bad habit of staying up "just another 15 min" just about every night. When I got here, I was in bed between 11 and 12, now it's as late as 2. I'm still up between 7:30-8, but it's a hard wake up. I need to get to bed sooner. In fairness, part of why I'm staying up late this week is that I've attended 2 seminars, one book launch, and 2 post-seminar/book launch pub trips. The Long 18th century people are big, friendly, but also cliquish and a little pretentious. The 16th century group is smaller, friendlier, and I'm glad I finally joined them. I heard and excellent paper on the Dutch invasion of 1688 that argued that William's personal connections to James, peers, and clergy in England were at least as important, and in fact directed, his military strategy. For those who don't care, feel free to skip to the next sentence, for those that do: this means he focused on personal correspondence with friends, family, court, king, not the exiles (as has most of the other literature. The hard and fun part about these seminars is the post-pub experience. It's generally a small group of scholars and grad students. Last night, the scholars were buying all of the rounds of beer, and were in fact insulted when I stopped after a second pint (this is b/c the night before I got unintentionally quite drunk on the drinks people bought me and stayed up until 2 am). It was... fun. We talked research, personal stuff (I helped a husband figure out how to stretch out his wife's jeans that he had accidentally shrunk), and a whole lot of nothing and everything all at once. It was a wonderful evening of professional and personal connecting.

They were also aghast that "nothing like this" happens at our university. We talked about how the drinking age and active discouragement of fraternizing with students has set up a rather frosty standard for relationships in the US, and really what a shame it is. And it really is a shame. It's really nice to get to know scholars as people, and the pub atmosphere is much more relaxed and pretentious than post-lecture receptions in which everyone is still trying to impress. We need better spaces in the US. Spaces that encourage socializing and accept socializing and drinking w/o trying to make it an "experience". I love the cocktails at the red, but too loud, dark and desperately trying to be swanky. The P&P has a casual vibe and is as close to an pub as you can find but it's dark, loud, and often has music blasting in a way that discourages conversation. Plus I hate the benches. Woodstocks is a college bar and a little to restaurant oriented (unless you commandeer the patio), and the other bars (Rush, Blue Lagoon) although great for drinking aren't that great for semi-professional socializing. I think Black Mountain brewing may be an exception and maybe i need to revisit them. But it also comes down to: 1) the isolation of the campus, 2) that you need to get on a moving vehicle of some sort to get to a pub/bar. Once you can't all move en masse, you loose inertia and organization becomes a mess.

Now, despite my complaining, I want to give a shout out to the grads who have done a wonderful job of socializing and having good times with one another over several years now. I love my grad groupings and look forward to them - but there is a wonderful thing that happens when you put young and senior scholars together (did I mention that twice now the grad attendees of the seminars have been thanked for coming, participating, keeping material fresh and faculty on their toes?). And it' can't happen at 4pm with hummus and veggies. As great as the cheese plate is, the afternoon seminar followed by everyone rushing back to work is not the same thing.

-also I'm late and haven't put up pics but will this weekend.

Bigger update coming on Friday

L visited and returned home again, and I'm back at the BL. It was wonderful to have him out to visit. We managed to walk over most of central London, and made the most of our time together. Lots of long walks, photos of the changing leaves, and almost every historical site we could fit in. Well, pre-19th century historical sites. We were both beset by 48 hour stomach flus (not the same 48 hours unfortunately), but that was the only blip in an otherwise fantastic vacation. I'll post some pics in the next couple of days.

Now I'm frantically trying to put my 2 syllabi together for summer session (they only have us an 8 day lead time!), and get to the library. After 8 hours of syllabus work I only mustered about 1.5 hours at the BL - but it was successful b/c I found some evidence I've been hoping to find and I finished another Ballad Collection. One more really big one and then just a bunch of little ones to mop up.

So that's the big update. I'll post more after Thurs - Bonfire Night aka Guy Fawkes Night.

:D

Luke's arriving in just under 12 hours! I'm so excited I can't sleep. A good friend asked if we had any plans and all I could think is that I hope it rains so we don't have to leave the flat. I have excellent cheese, bread, good beer, and my love it coming. I might not be posting much in the next few days b/c I expect we'll be tied up (or at least hope so).

on the agenda: London sights, lots of real ales in pubs, thai food and cider (can't afford champagne here), indian food on brick lane, a trip to york and edinburgh, lots of bread and cheese, tea, running, Beowulf in Old English, and a million other things I can't want to write about.

Yeah, research was pretty much useless today. Although I did get some good networking in at the post-seminar dinner. The Brits do it right: seminar, to a pub, then to dinner where the grads are caped at a per head payment b/c, well, it's assumed we're poor ass broke. I met lots of nice people and now just have to remember their names.

Seriously though, US pubs suck donkey balls - we seriously need a better pub culture.

Mmmm, thread....

I realize I haven't posted much about what I'm doing here so here's a quick re-cap. I wake up, I eat breakfast, and if it's not raining I go to the British Library. I then try to process as many ballads as I can. This includes skimming to determine content, make note of bibliographic material, write something about it if necessary, move on to next ballad, rinse, wash, and repeat about a million more times. In the last 3 weeks I have processed 1273 ballads and written almost 40 pages (single spaced) of analysis. And I have numbers! The material I work with (incidents of things that could be prosecuted as crimes, prostitutes, scolds, cuckolds, and crimes) comprised about 7.7% of the total material. For some perspective, that's about the same number I finished between January and September (granted for much of that time I was TAing, but I'm always going to be TAing so that's how long this stuff takes). So, yes, Virginia, I am more productive when dealing with actual versus digital material. I'm thinking a lot about the performance and reception of these little buggers and am finding I desperately need to talk to some music and/or theatrical historians who work with recreating historical performances. Tomorrow I meet with the head ballad curator to discuss the collection and bombard her with some burning questions I have about the printers who actually produced these things. The funny thing about social/cultural history is that you work with the physical remnants and traces of objects that societies created - sometimes to reflect themselves, their ideal, their anti-type - but when you go back as far as I do it can be really hard to find the people - the producers and the consumers who made a living making, or used part of their living buying, these flimsy pieces of paper. Even more difficult is to see the reiteration of text in speech - alone or with an audience. I have some history zombies to animate and I need to figure out how to do it.

But, it's not all work and no play around here. Well, considering I'm sick, there's actually very little play. At the end of my day I walk home, make dinner and craft. Yup, exciting isn't it. Funny thing is, I love it. I love having hours of uninterrupted time with my needles, thread and yarn. Since I've been here I've finished 2 scarves, made another calorimetry and am embroidering up a storm. And i have proof! But first, what do you do when you need to block a scarf to prevent rolling and can't find sewing pins?
Why you sew it to the bed of course !

Up close and personal. This is a scarf I knitted for L. He picked out the yarn - 100% hand painted alpaca. I found a herringbone stitch that worked with the colors, and voila! It reminds me of a stream bed.


This is a 50/50 merino silk blend to go with my new red coat. The wool is fabulous and I would make everything out of this if I could. You don't get a sense of the shine from these pics, but in real life it just glows. I used the Celtic Cabled neckwarmer pattern and just kept going (still needs to be blocked).



Finally, an embroidery project. Inspired by Pesto, KFR and Beetlegirl's adorable housebunny:

Still here, just distracted and stuffy

My mom has come out to visit for the last week and we've been having a jolly good time. I'v spent most of my time here in the archives so her visit gave me an excuse to get out and see stuff in London. We covered the British Museum, the National Gallery (over 2 days - 2 art historians + incredible works of art + coffee +chocolate = pure bliss), the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Regent's Park, Westminster Abbey, Camden, Harrod's and a play. Harrod's was the disappointment of the week - it felt like an over-priced Vegas, although the experience of seeing fully veiled Saudi women engaged in conspicuous consumption of designer everything and 10s of 1,000s of pounds worth of jewelry was a definitely an experience. The highlight were the relatively cheap theater tickets we got for Billy Elliot. I was absolutely blown away by the production. The dancing was out of this world and the story - revolving as much around the 1984 miner's strike and unions and socialism in Thatcher's Britain as about being a boy who liked dancing - was refreshingly different for a musical. The music was very good (by Elton John), but the choreography and the acting really took center stage. I would see the show again in a heart beat.

Now my mom is headed home and I'm left to battle the archives with a nasty head cold. I'm sick, but fortunately it didn't get bad until her last day and I should be over it by the time L gets here on Thursday. Between then I have a lot of work to do, a seminar to attend, and an old english performance of Beowolf to check out. Oh yeah, and my flat to clean...

I will leave you with a photo I call enigmatically: Slug on Cannon

Hall-e-freakin'-lluia

After a he'll of a week of forgetting thing (first keys @BL, then convertor at home, then today my whole laptop at home), and facing research frustration that literally has had me spouting tears of frustration,something finally went my way. No it's not research breakthrough but it might lead to one: I found the readers common room! With tables, a terrace, people, and most importantly: COFFEE & espersso for only 45-45p! I've been paying 1.80 at the cafe. This is th bright spot in a really frustrating and discouraging week. I'm beginning to realize how much of mu trip anxiety has been about thesis anxiety. My project is facing some real problems and I just have to keep pushing on thru (per my advisor who fortunately has way more confidence in me than I have in myself - oh grad school,what have you done to me...). I'm going to keep on keeping on. I'll have to go to oxford at some point. And hopefully tomorrow I won't be sat next to the guy who smells like a toilet.

Blogging from my iPod,
k

Good Days, Bad Days

It's been a mixed bag here the last couple of days. On Sunday I was invited to a fabulous lunch by an old Middle School Friend (who is a professional cheese buyer) and her ex-chef-now-food-writer husband. It was wonderful to see her again, the food was amazing, and I was sent home with two giant blocks of our of this world cheese. For those cheese lovers out there - yes, raw milk and animal rennet make the difference. And a scary thing about raw milk in the US: cows aren't tested regularly for TB, and the standard for TB testing is to test the milk product, not the animal (at which point it's too late). Apparently cows in the UK and I think EU in general are basically all tagged, tracked and tested regularly to ensure no TB contamination. In the US it sounds like the test the milk every so often (like yearly) just to be sure, assuming that pasteurization will cure the evils (which it does). So there are only a small handful of US dairies that can pass EU standards and be imported. Yes, I've asked for names. It was really fun to hang out with real worshipers of the parton god Gastronomia. I learned a lot and realized that I know a heck of a lot about food and wine.

It was also really nice to be able to talk to people in complete sentences! I don't socialize much (at all) b/c everyone at the BL is so concerned with looking very studious, and working very hard, that no one freakin' talks to anyone else. The LIbrary offers free wifi and these amazingly comfy chairs with tables and outlets, so there are always a ton of people just hanging out, doing school work, etc. Think like a coffee shop but you don't have to buy the coffee. There are more grad students about than I see at most campus events - but they're also so focused and trying to be quiet that they don't interact. It's very strange. And after a week w/o talking, this extrovert was ready to burst. Seriously, most of my talking is "please' "thanks you" "excuse me". I might as well be in France.

And then the bad. Yesterday was a day of fail. I should have stayed in bed. Between the Spanish partiers next door at 3am, no sleep, unfruitful research (on no sleep), straining my calf and not being able to walk, and then getting home late at night only to realize I left my keys in my locker at te BL - I should have just stayed in bed. i managed to get back to the BL before they closed, but what is it with me and keys? I know what it was, it was the lack of sleep and searing pain - it does something to you. My leg still hurts which means I'll be on the subway for a day or so (grumble, grumble, damn overuse injury), b/c I know it'll get worse if I keep pushing it. But today should be better. I slept soundly and I have my first IHR seminar at the Univ. College London, this evening. more people and talking!

Trying the Photos again

Slugs in London


The whole place.






What you do when you have no picture frames but always have a needle and thread.


My view!


A use for the teatowel! (ignore the crap...)

Pics from London! take 2

This is a pic heavy post, and if you know my other google email addy you can see the full album at the picasa site for that name (sorry, not sharing all my private life with the web). Here are a few pics of slug pride in London (a gift from a former student and knitter), my London flat in all its glory, and 2 shots of my commute through Regency Park - speaking of which, I have to get my butt in gear and get to the Library. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

argh!

I am an idiot. I disobeyed the second rule of upgrading your operating system: make sure your vital programs are compatible and usable in the new OS (the first rule being to back up your data). My beloved Bento will not open. I can upgrade for $49 (may be eligible for a $20 rebate), but there's another $30 or 50 down the tube. Which of course isn't a problem because the freaking money fairy come by nightly to shove $100 bills up my ass.

Doh doh doh doh.

In other news I negotiated my studio to £220 from £240/week. I had the option to move into a smaller (!) place for £210/week - but there is no way I could have shared the smaller space with another person. Literally, my backpacking mattress did not fit on the floor between the single and the wall. I would have had to sleep part in the kitchen and part under the bed when my mom stays with me, and as Kungfu mentioned to me, the twin beds in the UK are smaller than in the US, no way L and I would have fit (we're ok on an xl twin here, or at least we were in college). I took a few pics and will post the grand tour when I get home.

Tonight: my first knitting circle at a pub!

Love at First Sight

Oh man, L is going to have a hard time dragging me out of this city. I'm going to hold back and wait for the first rains before I declare London my favorite city/soulmate, but it's definitely lust at first sight. I spent most of today getting my geographic bearings. I did a 3.5-4 mi neighborhood run in the morning. I traveled north into Hampstead (cute and on the posh end of things) before getting into Hampstead Heath (local large park - more like hiking trails then US style park). Then I hopped home for a shower and my local map. My ipod nike+ sensor wasn't working so I decided to use that as an excuse to cruise on down to the Apple Store in Oxford Circle, and to use the journey to Oxford circle as an excuse to see what the city walking is like. I traveled down through Regency Park (love it! definitely going back), and through Picadilly Circle and into Oxford Circle. After getting the sensor swapped (still doesn't work, going to try updating OS) I figured I'd keep wandering. That took me to St. James Park, Covent Garden, through SoHo, up to the British Museum, then to the British Library (my archive). At that point I could have hopped onto the tube but decided to take the opportunity to walk my potential commute in the day light and see if it was skeezy. It's a little skeezy, not as nice as the trip through Regency Park, but will be just fine during the day. It's also through Camden which is a pretty cool area to which I will happily head with Luke, but probably not my mother. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to walk to the Library in the am and then walk home in the daylight or take the tube (before 4 or after 7is off peak hours. All in all, the walk was about 9 miles long and I'm good and tired.

So far everyone has been really nice and polite - much more so and much more (seemingly?) genuine than in the States. Tons of people have their dogs and walk them in the park off leash, and many Londoners run on their lunch breaks. I like both the city and park running around here and as long as it's not too soggy, should have no problem getting my mileage in. I still have street-crossing anxiety, but I suppose that will fade. I'm also already drinking way more tea and start craving it in the afternoon (straight, dark, no cream nor sugar). I adore my fast boiling kettle. Although I haven't made coffee with it, it makes tea in a snap and will certainly get water for my French Press ready faster than a conventional drip coffee maker.

So far so good, although I did run out of camera batteries 2 miles into my trip. Photos next time.

In London

I'm here. I made it safe and sound (as did my luggage), and I'm settling in. The tube is everything you want it to be and more. I got from Heathrow to my apt easily. Most impressive was the number of people who offered and actually helped me with my luggage. I've hauled baggage all up and down NYC w/o garnering a second look from anyone. My flat is tiny - about the length of 3-4 full sized beds, and the entire width of 1.5 full sized beds. But it has a kitchenette, good storage, and a beautiful view. I'm unpacked and settling in and will post pics when I'm more nested. The neighborhood is lovely and there are plenty of nice shops in walking distance. I'm all stocked up with food (mainly vegetarian until I see how good my little fridge is). Food is less expensive than it is in SC and the produce is actually good and cheap. Yay! Kelly wins!

Tomorrow I'm going to do a tour on my feet, get my UK cell, and figure out how to get to the British Library. I'll take some pics and post when I'm back.

In the mean time, L and I had some fun with Henna and Indigo and I'm now married to a red head! I didn't mix the indigo well enough to produce dark brown, but the color almost matches his beard. Either way, I love it (and miss him).

Pre-departure thoughts

I leave in less than 24 hours for London - Yippie (feelin' a little pre-departure cracked out). Some here are some final thoughts from the states:

1. To the students of our statewide university system - fight the power! keep it up! Although you may want to think of occupying something other than a Graduate only lounge (I'm hoping its only base camp). Also, if I could have run over all of the aimlessly wandering undergrads who crossed my car's path not on pedestrian walkways but out of freakin' no where I could have easily reduced this year's incoming class by 40%. Seriously kids, look before you wander into the street.

2. To the Grad students of our university: Cheers! Another school term starts, another dept lunch, another year in which we keep up the grad tradition of swiping wine after the meal and get toasty in the Bunker.

3. I learned something important about how to support people traveling/moving/researching in far away places. They will say things like "I'm scared and nervous and anxious" and people will say things like "don't worry, it'll be fine. You are so prepared!" and they will reply "yes I'm prepared but I'm still moving far far away and I'm a basket case even though I shouldn't be", and then the well-meaning person says "don't worry, you'll be fine!" which translates in the travelers head into "dumbass, why are you freaking out?". Repeat cycle. In the future I will avoid the dreaded "you'll be fine" in favor of "it's totally understandable that you have flipped your shit, you're moving to a different freakin' country! Even though you are prepared it's normal to be nervous/scared/anxious." That being said I had a lot of good support from my posse here, and more people invite me to dinner than my calendar could handle. For everyone who reads: I'll see you in Dec and thanks for your love.

4. I'm 30! I like 30.

5. I have the most adorable family ever.


6. Here I go:

Fun with SJC's free wifi

I'm waiting in SJC for my dad and his wife to arrive. I have some extra time so I'm taking advantage of the airport's free wifi. I should be reading one of the two books I brought and need to get through before I depart for London -but why read when you can craft/chat on line with people/take pictures of yourself/dick around on the internet. So here is a snapshot of me in the karma tank I finished holding up my latest fiber/thread project: embroidered coffee towels.

The patterns are from Sublime Stitching and I'm almost done. I have the same "true love" coffee cup in opposite corners, and stars in the remaining corners. I couldn't figure out how to not reverse the lettering, it isn't actually backwards in real life. I <3 metal towels with flying V guitars are next on the list.

Last week was one of "those" weeks: setting up the external harddrive my mac erased all of L's music and videos, the cat ran outside 2 times, and my car broke down. I'm taking it as a sign of something (not quite the apocalypse, maybe a small plague or flood? some other sign of if-I-believed-in-a-Divine-Power wrath?). But on the plus side: the cat came back, I signed up for AAA and got the car towed, and summer's finally here in SC.

Teaching moments/Learning moments

Teaching:
For those in Higher Ed, but especially those of us in CA who will be teaching over the next year, Prof. Catherine M. Cole from UC Berkeley has written this brilliant letter to her students about the CA economic crisis and disinvestment in the UC. I'm not teaching this Fall but I will be TAing in the winter and spring and intend to distribute it widely.

Learning:
Our cat is Einstein. Ok, maybe not Einstein, maybe just food obsessed, but smart none the less. To curb her whining to her humans for food we've decided to invest in an automatic/timed feeder. Hopefully rather than whining at us every time we walk in the kitchen she'll just whine at the machine. We tried the Le Bistro pet feeder based on good reviews from my sister. After 10 minutes of attacking the thig, she figured out how to get her paws up the chute and to dispense food at her will. Needless to day it's back to Petsmart with the feeder and a heads up for other cat owners tempted to try this: it's probably great for a dog or an uninterested cat, but a cat obsessed with food and with more than 4 brain cells will figure it out pretty quick.

Getting Hectic:
Next week my dad and his wife will be in town and the Sept slew of birthday madness continues. I have to move out of my comfortable summer digs and back into the Bunker. I also have to let go of the library books I've been clutching and have begun mental packing. Getting to London is going to be a big slow down after I survive the next 3 weeks.

Good Things and future plans

I hit three high points in the last few days:
-I ran a 10K, with people, averaging 10 min/ mi pace, and I talked and I didn't cramp once. It was intended to be a 3 mi warm up for a friend's wife to prepare for their relay race this fall, and he ended up getting us to 6.1 mi. In addition to not cramping definitely could have run it faster. I was tired by the end but I think it was in part b/c I hadn't eaten anything and ran out of fuel.

-I did my 3.2 mile speed run in 29 min (averages out to 9 minute miles), my fastest time since I started running.

-I am almost done with 2 knit garments - The Karma Tank and FAvorite Cardigan from Custom Knits. All if have to do is attach the buttons to the cardigan (and buy a seventh one b/c I'm one short) and attach the back straps for the Karma Tank. I should have the straps attached on Thursday w/ the help of my trusty crafting partner, Beetlegirl, and maybe even finish the buttons by then too.

So what does all this mean? A few things:
-Finishing these projects finishes my summer knitting goals and with the exception of car knitting, I will not work on a big project at home until I'm on my way to the UK.* I still have the scarf for L to finish and I've started an embroidery project to keep me busy, but no more big projects until I'm at the airport. This is in part to take a small knitting break and in part a gift to L - who is very respectful of my knitting and my knitting space and time, but as other knitting SO's have said: knitting isn't exactly sexy. Less time with my yarn means more time with him. (It also means that I'll have several projects to choose from and keep me busy in the UK - my first vest, a pull over, a third go for the yarn that was the Rogue Cardi, socks if we ever get the wool died, and maybe a scarf).

-I've decided to run a 1/2 marathon in Spring 2010. I'm not sure which one yet because not all of the dates have been announced, but it's my goal for my 30th year. I don't think I have a marathon in me (yeah, all marathon runners say that), but I do have a 1/2 marathon and want the experience of setting a goal, working towards it, and finishing it. The diss is like that to some degree, but the 1/2 marathon is more attainable w/in the past year.

I'm turning 30 in less than 2 weeks (yay!) and leaving for the UK in 25 days. Expect some personal reflection and 30 things to do in my 30th year (including the 1/2 marathon and blog more often).

*This loophole is so that I can knit on my drive up to and back from Sonoma over my bday weekend, and at my mom's when I visit in mid-Sept.

Two ways to kill 10 seconds

1. As if our state weren't awesome enough - broke, expensive, on fire - we've decided to try to bring in revenue by having a State Garage Sale apparently you can buy all kinds of shit - like jewelry, pianos and cars. They're even trying to make the stuff more valuable by having the Governator sign it - like a 2002 Ford Focus started at about 2K. I'm tempted to head up to Sac town in a pair of cut off jeans, a wife beater, lawn chair and ice cooler full of bud light, just to add to the ambiance of this event.

2. The Public v. "For-profit" heath care debate explained in plain old English over at The Far Left Side. Once you read this it all makes sense.

Hiking and climbing this weekend - hope everyone in SC takes advantage of a few days of beautifully warm summer weather.

Bum, bum, bum, another one bites the dust

One more decade down! I finished entering ballad info and analyzing relevant material for the 1670s today. What i've learned so far: cuckolds are funny, about 25% of illustrated ballads show bare breasts of some sort, and a whole lot of other stuff I'm not going to bore you with.

Last night L and I got a big group of assorted nerds, grad students, and GGG participants to have a sort of Magic the Gathering boot camp. We were able to do this at a friend's large house with their large kitchen. L introduced the mechanics of the game while I got to rolling and pre-baking personal pizza doughs. Much beer ad wine was drunk, pizza was crested and eaten, and fun was had. I have never had to much fun playing Magic than with a group of other fun rowdy people my own age. And I'm not hung over, so double bonus.

Tonight we are going to watch what may be the last night of the last season of Shakespeare under the redwoods. Tonight's show is Midsummer Night's Dream and we have gen admission tix to sit on the ground with our bread cheese and wine. I love me some live theater and it'll be a nice way to spend our first warm day in a while.

Now to type up book notes. The fun never stops does it ?

Adventures in pet ownership

Our cat is awesome and, like most cats, totally crazy. She loves to cuddle on our laps, actually plays with cat toys, and purrs constantly (well, when she's not whining for food, which is the vast majority of the time). She also thinks we're starving her to death and should be feeding her every instant of every day. In the course of her cruel treatment from us (we feed her more than the vet recommends and can tell she's already put on some weight, the cat is not in any danger of starving), she's decided to supplement her diet with anything she can get ahold of. Today I present you with a list of Oona's taste in food (mainly stolen when we were out of the house or left a bowl/plate unguarded for 2 seconds):
Oona's favorites
-meat of any kind
-cereal, esp Joe's Os and Wheatabix
-raw pasta
-cooked pasta with tomato sauce
-cooked onions
-olive oil
-my basil plant (aka Oona's salad bar)
-tortillas
-salsa
-tortilla chips
-spinach stuffed ravioli
-peanut butter sandwiches
-whole wheat sandwich bread and the bag it came it
-chocolate zucchini bread fresh from the oven (I left it on the stove and came home to a kitty sized crater eaten into it)
-sour cream, ice cream, yogurt
-green beans
-zucchini
-lettuce
-tomatoes
-apples
-Lemon Zest Luna bars
-all-purpose flour
-tea bags

Things she doesn't like
-raw onions
-coffee grounds
-coffee, tea
-raw broccoli ( girl after my own heart...)

Fortunately she doesn't get into the non-food stuff (unlike another kitty I knew who had a deep love with the bathroom trash), but man can she be a pain when you're trying to eat/cook/sleep in past her 8 am feeding time/walk into the kitchen for any reason. A cute fuzzy pain, but a pain. (

When things you love betray you

If you read this blog you know I love coffee. It's not just the caffeine, it's the smell, the taste, the warmth*.. I could (and have) go on and on. But like all good things (cookies, beer, sex), too much can be bad, or at least painful. It's been a caffeine fueled summer for L and I and he's overdone it just a wee bit (to the tune of 50+ oz a day) and was vacillating between coffee high and coffee low. So he decided to detox and go cold turkey for a week and then to start limiting his intake to two cups/20-24 oz a day. As a good partner I'm standing in solidarity with him (mostly).** I've often said i don't need coffee in the am and I'm actually happy to find out that I don't need coffee to get up. I really do like the taste and would actually switch to decaf if for some reason we decided to cut caffeine from out diet - and I certainly couldn't say that for non-alcoholic beer if for some reason we decided to quit drinking. But what I have noticed is that I really miss the taste and texture of coffee, and that I use it as a way to get through my "I'm hungry all the time" problem. We've decided this isn't a permanent thing - we both like coffee too much - but to go on loving it we have to love it a bit less frequently. So for the next while it's:
for me in the mornings. (you can see the tea strainer - sorry bout the crappy picture, our camera battery is dead and we've misplaced the recharger).

* key in SC considering it doesn't seem to get much above 75 as a high temp these days...
** this means I don't make coffee in the am but will probably have my 16 oz 1/2 regular 1/2 decaf in the afternoon.

Dancin' in the streets

My friend and former colleague H is getting married this weekend. According to her, both she and her fiance have 2 left feet and she wanted some help with the ultimate wedding spotlight; the first dance. I promised to help, she sent me the song, and then we (mainly I) kept forgetting about it. She leaves in about an hour and a half so after our morning walk we decided to work on a simple step or two they can do. Fortunately the song is a 6:8 (obviously I do not use musical notation) so we figured a simple waltz would be good.

There we are, outside the 10 min lot near Hum I waltzing our way through the parking lot. I'm showing in very exaggerated fashion how to extend the steps and use more floor space when one of our faculty members (the Sith Lord for those who remember), shuffles on over with an overjoyed expression on his face. We chat for a while, I introduce the two, which is awk b/c H has 2 degrees from our dept, and laugh for even longer. Of all my grad school memories, this will be one of my best: waltzing with H in the parking lot.

So, I'll probably post again, but congratulations H&J! May the nerdcore force be with you and I hope the giant porcupine does a good job of guarding the gift table.

Coffee is always the right answer

L came home with some conference swag yesterday and promptly won the award for "best husband ever" when he gave me the super cool, shiny blue, thermos travel mug. It served me well this morning and I intend to take it with me to London this fall. Speaking of London and coffee, I have decided to use the 6K mile distance between me and my beloved Mr. Coffee to experiment with a French Press. I'll get an electric tea kettle in my studio, but no coffee maker. Although I'm actually ok in the mornings w/o coffee - why should I go without when I don't have to? Coffee is one of those glorious stimulants that provides warmth, comfort, fullness, and a social lubricant. It makes you better, faster, shaper, and better looking - really, is there anything coffee can't do? (I guess get you drunk but that's why you switch to wine or beer.)

After some research and being honest with myself re: glass things, I think I'm going to go with this one from Planetary Design (I'm thinking of ordering the green one). I have an Amazon gift certificate to use and it's described as durable and unbreakable: two elements I look for in something I intend to pack to London and later to take camping.

Rip it, rip it good

Despite all my whining and malaise I have actually become quite and accomplished knitter in the last year or so. I made my last garment in August of 2008, and despite still trying to work out sizing issue ( I am consistently small than I think I am, and even than some of designers think I am based on my measurements - I blame yarn ease), I feel confident starting, trying and finishing new projects. With my increased confidence has come a new thinking about errors I make when I knit and running instances when I have to rip/tink/undo something I spent hours working on. A year ago, I was still in the mindset of making it perfect on the first go - now I realize that if I get 75% done and it's not right, it's OK to undo and redo. It's not a failure in my knitting skills per se, but a regular part of the design and make process, and with every re-do I learn something and get a little bit better. In the case of my current project, I knit up to the bodice before trying it on and realized (again) that it was too big and decreased in the wrong place. Where I year ago I would have sworn a blue streak and shoved the knitting under the bed for a while (yeah, I'm mature like that), this time it didn't even phase me. The kitty and I happily ripped out the yarn and I started over on small needles. I was able to shave unnecessary several inches off the circumference- making the top less maternity and more sexy- and as an extra bonus I will be able to make my tank with the 4 skeins I bought and not have to run all over ebay looking for 2 extra in the dye lot I need. Hurray!

Speaking of said kitty, she happily, merrily, purringly ate one of my stitch markers (see picture to learn what a stitch marker is). After freaking out for about a min, I called the vet, was reassured she'll probably pass it ('check her stool and look for straining' - sigh...). Yeah, so not ready for a human child

In other knitting related news, 2 of the most fabulous short haired ladies I know, E and B, E's adorable 5 year old, and I are going to make forays into the world of dying our own wool. Later this summer we will set up shop in E's backyard with koolaid, yarn, and prepare for good times. It's like tyedying but I'll actually want to wear the result! After some deep thinking I realized that buying and dying yarn for an entire sweater on the first dying go around would probably be disastrous (every skein would come out differently), but - inspired by my SIL - I could dye a couple of skeins and forge into the world of socks! Now, I'm not that excited about socks, but damned if I need another scarf and socks always come in handy. I'm planning to dye at least 3 skeins and make socks for me, a "lucky" second person, and maybe some Ninja socks for my youngest BIL so he doesn't have to cram his regular tube socks into his flip flops in the winter.