I am morbid and scare small children

Actual title: Let's talk about book recommendations and reviews

I can't believe it's 2018. But I say that every year.

Last night, I attended a talk at the local library, "Books you missed in 2017." The library manager did a great job of finding books that I had missed - I'd read only one of the 60+ books on his list, and had just one more on my "to be read" shelf. My list of books to read has expanded by at least 20 entries courtesy of his suggestions.

That said, most of the authors on his list are white. At the end of his talk, I challenged him for the 2018 list - make sure 10% of the authors are non-white. Someone questioned me on that, because "the color of the author's skin doesn't make a book good, and I want to read good books!" 

I would like to argue that there are plenty of good books being published by non-white authors, and they are sadly absent from the librarian's list. Yes, I think everyone in the room was white. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have diversity in our reading habits. I will admit that I don't look at the author's picture on the jacket before choosing a book, but I will read nearly everything, particularly books involving things I know nothing about. Therefore, I want to read books from people with different perspectives and experiences, which means reading authors who don't look like me or my relatives. 

Tangent: I'll admit that I wasn't willing to start asking about books by non-CIS authors; let's take one small step at a time! Our little suburb's culture is more conservative than I'd like. For example, my local yarn store owner refuses to put up one of Ysolda's rainbow sheep window clings, not because she doesn't welcome everyone, but because she fears losing business if she advertises that she welcomes everyone. Which is why my comment to the librarian is truly a challenge, rather than a critique.

Several people also in attendance were supportive of my challenge, and mentioned attempting to read authors from many different countries (as suggested here). There are many ways to expand one's reading horizons, and I encourage everyone to do so. BookRiot has some great suggestions. (I have the same problem as Danika Ellis.)

That said, someone asked for recommendations, and apparently I failed miserably. She was unwilling to consider reading books that involve death. At all. I wasn't suggesting the literary equivalent of murder-of-the-week TV shows, where two-dimensional characters fall only to give the protagonists something to solve, but books where the deaths are touching and meaningful. I tend to think that if an author can make me care enough about a figment of their imagination that I cry, the book is worth reading. And therefore nearly everything that I recommend includes a death of some sort. (Or is supernatural steampunk, the suggestion of which prompted a shudder.) Hence the title of this post. I don't mean to be morbid, but many good books touch on mortality, and that is reflected in the books I recommend. Death is a part of life, and we've all lost someone we love. When I say that a book radiates love, I think it's worth reading, even if it involves death.

I am sad because she kept saying of the books she would recommend that I wouldn't read them. Yes, of course I'd be interested in the memoirs of a man who left a Hasidic sect. My life is nothing like his was; call me nosy or an armchair anthropologist, but I'd like to learn more about his experiences. 

Anyway, this is what I read last year. I read plenty of books by white people, but lots of other skin tones were represented.  Stay tuned for recommendations. And hopefully more posts. I should recommend books after I read them, rather than only once a year.

Books Read in 2017

001. The Secret of Crickley Hall, James Herbert

002. Infectious Madness: The Surprising Science of How We "Catch" Mental Illness, Harriet A. Washington

003. The Regional Office is Under Attack! Manuel Gonzales

004. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah

005. After the Fire, a Still Small Voice, Evie Wyld

006. History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund

007. Everything You Want Me to Be, Mindy Mejia

008. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, Dominic Smith

009. Mr. Splitfoot, Samantha Hunt

010. Fever Dream, Samanta Schweblin

011. Difficult Women, Roxane Gay

012. Foreign Soil and Other Stories, Maxine Beneba Clarke

013. Burning Bright, Nick Petrie

014. Leopard at the Door, Jennifer McVeigh

015. Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang

016. Little Deaths, Emma Flint

017. All the Missing Girls, Megan Miranda

018. The Old Man, Thomas Perry

019. A Certain Age, Beatriz Williams

020. Lab Girl, Hope Jahren

021. The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden

022. The Charm Bracelet, Viola Shipman

023. Autumn, Ali Smith

024. The Dry, Jane Harper

025. The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Kelly Barnhill

026. Universal Harvester, John Darnielle

027. Lucky Boy, Shanthi Sekaran

028. Her Every Fear, Peter Swanson

029. The Sleepwalker, Chris Bohjalian

030. Underground Airlines, Ben H. Winters

031. All Our Wrong Todays, Elan Mastai

032. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman

033. The Girl Before, JP Delaney

034. All Grown Up, Jami Attenberg

035. The Most Dangerous Place on Earth, Lindsey Lee Johnson

036. Two Days Gone, Randall Silvis

037. The Evening Road, Laird Hunt

038. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders

039. Old Man's War, John Scalzi

040. The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd

041. What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, Lesley Nneka Arimah

042. We Were the Lucky Ones, Georgia Hunter

043. A Doubter's Almanac, Ethan Canin

044. Hag-Seed, Margaret Atwood

045. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

046. The Ruins, Scott Smith

047. Marlena, Julie Buntin

048. The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit, Michael Finkel

049. Ladivine, Marie NDiaye

050. The Last One, Alexandra Oliva

051. The Enchanted, Rene Denfield

052. The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown, Catherine Burns, ed.

053. Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars, Nathalia Holt

054. No One Is Coming to Save Us, Stephanie Powell Watts

055. On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder

056. Underground Fugue, Margaret Singer

057. The Book of Joan, Lidia Yuknavitch

058. The Second Mrs. Hockaday, Susan Rivers

059. The Roanoke Girls, Amy Engel

060. The Stars Are Fire, Anita Shreve

061. The Elephant's Journey, José Saramago

062. Why We Came to the City, Kristopher Jansma

063. Large Animals, Jess Arndt

064. The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch

065. The Girl With All the Gifts, M.R. Carey

066. Gilded Cage, Vic James

067. No One Can Pronounce My Name, Rakesh Satyal

068. Exit West, Mohsin Hamid

069. The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante

070. A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

071. We Are Never Meeting in Real Life, Samantha Irby

072. Chemistry, Weike Wang

073. Final Girls, Mira Grant

074. The Nix, Nathan Hill

075. Salt Houses, Hala Alyan

076. Saints for All Occasions, J. Courtney Sullivan

077. Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes, Anne Elizabeth Moore

078. Radiance, Catherynne M. Valente

079. The Stargazer's Sister, Carrie Brown

080. Golden Hill, Francis Spufford

081. What We Lose, Zinzi Clemmons

082. Final Girls, Riley Sager

083. The Owl Service, Alan Garner

084. Outline, Rachel Cusk

085. The Answers, Catherine Lacey

086. The Pier Falls and Other Stories, Mark Haddon

087. How to Behave in a Crowd, Camille Bordas

088. All Is Not Forgotten, Wendy Walker

089. The City of Mirrors, Justin Cronin

090. The Sherlockian, Graham Moore

091. Me Before You, Jojo Moyes

092. Sourdough, Robin Sloan

093. Mars Crossing, Geoffrey A. Landis

094. Courage Is Contagious: And Other Reasons to Be Grateful for Michelle Obama, Nick Haramis, ed.

095. True Believer: Stalin's Last American Spy, Kati Marton

096. Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America, Liz Carlisle

097. River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey

098. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

099. The Last Days of Night, Graham Moore

100. The Tea Planter's Wife, Dinah Jefferies

101. Artemis, Andy Weir

102. Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone, Juli Berwald

103. The Power, Naomi Alderman

104. Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis, Kim Todd

2013 Book List

As always, I should post more. I knit a LOT in 2013. Someday I will actually do the blog post comparing various beaders that I have threatened to do. Summary: I reallyreally like the Verna beader. The Fleegle beader is quite good, too, but not as pointy, and I found that it was more likely to shred my yarn. The hook cap is far superior to the Verna's rubber stopper, though. Also, while Verna is smoother for me than Fleegle during the actual beading bit, the pointiness means that occasionally the hook goes through the yarn and can be somewhat difficult to extricate. Of course, I haven't used both sizes of both options, so this is just an educated guess at this point. Someday, eventually, there will be a full comparison. With pictures, even!

Edit: Goal for the year is to use the yarn that has accumulated in the main level of the house before delving into the stash room for yarn. Must declutter the downstairs by knitting it! 

Posting the book list so I can start 2014's list, although it may be a few days before I finish anything.

2013 Book List 

001. The Holy and the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah", Alan Light
002. Stranger Than Fiction, Chuck Palahniuk
003. The Dog of the Marriage, Amy Hempel
004. Tumble Home, Amy Hempel
005. At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, Amy Hempel
006. Waiting for the Galactic Bus, Parke Godwin
007. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer, Jonathan L. Howard
008. Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey, Margaret Peterson Haddix
009. A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel
010. The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature, David George Haskell
011. Guerrilla Marketing for Nonprofits: 250 Tactics to Recruit, Motivate, and Raise More Money, Jay Conrad Levinson, Frank Adkins, and Chris Forbes
012. She Got Up Off the Couch and Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana, Haven Kimmel
013. Bellwether, Connie Willis
014. Warm Bodies, Isaac Marion
015. Just a Geek, Wil Wheaton
016. Jack Tumor, Anthony McGowan
017. When I Grow Up, Juliana Hatfield
018. Zombie Blondes, Brian James
019. Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day, Peter J. Bentley, PhD
020. Raising Stony Mayhall, Daryl Gregory
021. My One Square Inch of Alaska, Sharon Short
022. Monty Python Speaks!, David Morgan
023. Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body, Neil Shubin
024. Everything Breaks, Theo Nicole Lorenz
025. Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
026. Lessons From the Fat-O-Sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with Your Body, Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby
027. In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000: Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing, Robert G. Weiner and Shelley E. Barba, eds.
028. Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks, Ben Goldacre
029. Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
030. Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glas-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog, Ysabeau S. Wilce
031. Into the Beautiful North, Luis Alberto Urrea
032. Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), Ysabeau S. Wilce
033. Manatee Insanity: Inside the War over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species, Craig Pittman
034. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain
035. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, David Sedaris
036. We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver
037. First Shift: Legacy, Hugh Howey
038. Ashes of Honor, Seanan McGuire
039. Flora's Fury: How a Girl of Spirit and a Red Dog Confound Their Friends, Astound Their Enemies, and Learn the Importance of Packing Light, Ysabeau S. Wilce
040. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley
041. The New Republic, Lionel Shriver
042. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris
043. Divergent, Veronica Roth
044. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
045. Barrel Fever, David Sedaris
046. Insurgent, Veronica Roth
047. A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Rebecca Solnit
048. VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV's First Wave, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn with Gavin Edwards
049. Etiquette & Espionage, Gail Carriger
050. The House Girl, Tara Conklin
051. Pick Your Poison: How Our Mad Dash to Chemical Utopia Is Making Lab Rats of Us All, Monona Rossol
052. The Faraway Nearby, Rebecca Solnit
053. Railsea, China Mieville
054. The Death of Bees, Lisa O'Donnell
055. Knitting the Threads of Time: Casting Back to the Heart of Our Craft, Nora Murphy
056. Brick By Brick: How LEGO Rewrote the Rules of Innovation and Conquered the Global Toy Industry, David C. Robertson with Bill Breen
057. The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
058. In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash, Jean Shepherd
059. Johannes Cabal the Detective, Jonathan L. Howard
060. Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Karen Russell
061. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan
062. Eight Cousins, Louisa May Alcott
063. The Potty Mouth at the Table, Laurie Notaro
064. ADHD in HD: Brains Gone Wild, Jonathan Chesner.
065. Reasons to Live, Amy Hempel
066. Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison, Piper Kerman
067. Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts, Emily Anthes
068. My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs, Brian Switek
069. Brain Thief, Alexander Jablokov
070. Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, Cherie Currie with Tony O'Neill
071. A Good Year, Peter Mayle
072. Don't Cry, Mary Gaitskill
073. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, Laurie Notaro
074. A Highland Werewolf Wedding, Terry Spear
075. Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
076. Garden State, Rick Moody
077. Midnight Blue-Light Special, Seanan McGuire
078. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation, Sheila Weller
079. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, Jim Fergus
080. Silence, Michelle Sagara
081. Rose in Bloom, Louisa May Alcott
082. The Great Lakes Water Wars, Peter Annin
083. Allegiant, Veronica Roth
084. Chimes at Midnight, Seanan McGuire
085. Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
086. Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, Tom Mueller
087. Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, David K. Randall
088. Bah, Humbug, Heather Horrocks
089. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
090. The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts, Hanne Blank
091. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
092. Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir), Jenny Lawson
093. Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, and Other Things That Happened, Allie Brosh
094. The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow, Krystyna Chiger with Daniel Paisner
095. Coffee: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic, Alex Shvartsman, ed.
096. The Blue Hour: A Life of Jean Rhys, Lillian Pizzichini
097. Behind the Attic Wall, Sylvia Cassedy
098. Joan Jett by Todd Oldham and Kathleen Hanna
099. It All Began with Jane Eyre, or The Secret Life of Franny Dillman, Sheila Greenwald
100. The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (And How to Do Them), Peter Sagal
101. Whirligig, Paul Fleischman

Book List!

I really ought to post more, but as I am nearly done with a book that is due to the library, I want to start my 2013 list. So here's 2012. Didn't quite meet my goal of 100 books, but came close. I did, however, meet my goal of knitting 12 miles, and all that knitting reduced my reading time.

Books Read in 2012

001. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling
002. Touch Not the Cat, Mary Stewart
003. Euphemania: Our Love Affair with Euphemisms, Ralph Keyes
004. Digging Out: Helping Your Loved One Manage Clutter, Hoarding & Compulsive Acquiring, Michael A. Tompkins and Tamara L. Hartl
005. What Makes Flamingos Pink?, Bill McLain
006. Written in Stone: Evolution, the Fossil Record, and Our Place in Nature, Brian Switek
007. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs
008. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
009. Video Slut: How I Shoved Madonna off an Olympic High Dive, Got Prince into a Pair of Tiny Purple Woolen Underpants, Ran Away from Michael Jackson's Dad, and Got a Waterfall to Flow Backward So I Could Bring Rock Videos to the Masses, Sharon Oreck
010. Hexed, Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn, Allyson James, Jeanne C. Stein
011. The Woman Who Is Always Tan and Has a Flat Stomach and Other Annoying People, Lauren Allison and Lisa Perry
012. Eternal Pleasure, Nina Bangs
013. Timeless, Gail Carriger
014. The Scent of Shadows, Vicki Pettersson
015. The Taste of Night, Vicki Pettersson
016. An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
017. Sizzling Sixteen, Janet Evanovich
018. Smokin' Seventeen, Janet Evanovich
019. Explosive Eighteen, Janet Evanovich
020. Wicked Appetite, Janet Evanovich
021. Paper Towns, John Green
022. The Good Daughter, Jasmin Darznik
023. Eternal Craving, Nina Bangs
024. Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, Rachel Maddow
025. Imagine: How Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer
026. Don't Put Me In, Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench, Mark Titus
027. Midnight Riot, Ben Aaronovitch
028. Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us, Joe Palca & Flora Lichtman
029. Size 12 Is Not Fat, Meg Cabot
030. Thanksgiving, Janet Evanovich
031. The Stepsister Scheme, Jim C. Hines
032. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt
033. Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects, Amy Stewart
034. Redshirts, John Scalzi
035. Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities, Amy Stewart
036. Stand By Your Hitman, Leslie Langtry
037. Clockwork heart , Dru Pagliassotti
038. The Man From Primrose Lane, James Renner
039. Uncle John's 24-Karat Gold Bathroom Reader, The Bathroom Readers' Institute
040. The Taken, Vicki Petterssen
041. Banana Hammock, J.A. Konrath
042. A Fine and Private Place, Ellery Queen
043. My Life as a White Trash Zombie, Diana Rowland
044. Break, Hannah Moskowitz
045. Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues, Diana Rowland
046. Cleveland Curiosities: Eliot Ness and His Blundering Raid, A Busker's Promise, The Richest Heiress Who Never Lived, and More, Ted Schwarz
047. The Line Between, Peter S. Beagle
048. Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything, James Gleick
049. Thirteen Reasons Why, Jay Asher
050. Moon over Soho, Ben Aaronovitch
051. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell
052. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
053. Discount Armageddon, Seanan McGuire
054. Little Brother, Cory Doctorow
055. The Agency: A Spy in the House, Y.S. Lee
056. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
057. Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire
058. How the World Was One, Arthur C, Clarke
059. Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to be Haunted, Eric Nuzum
060. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot
061. A Local Habitation, Seanan McGuire
062. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
063. Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo
064. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
065. An Artificial Night, Seanan McGuire
066. Monster Hunter International, Larry Correia
067. Peeps, Scott Westerfeld
068. The Last Days, Scott Westerfeld
069. The Demon's Lexicon, Sarah Rees Brennan
070. Late Eclipses, Seanan McGuire 071. Young Adult Novel, Daniel Pinkwater
072. One Salt Sea, Seanan McGuire
073. Uglies, Scott Westerfeld
074. Field Notes on Science & Nature, Michael A. Canfield, ed.
075. To Say Nothing of the Dog ~ or ~ How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump At Last, Connie Willis
076. Pretties, Scott Westerfeld
077. The Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell
078. Un Lun Dun, China Mieville
079. The Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
080. Zombies vs. Unicorns, Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, eds.
081. Specials, Scott Westerfeld
082. Extras, Scott Westerfeld
083. Eaters of the Dead, Michael Crichton
084. Wool, Hugh Howey
085. Motel of the Mysteries, David Macaulay
086. The Twelve, Justin Cronin
087. Wool 2: Proper Gauge, Hugh Howey
088. Wool 3: Casting Off, Hugh Howey
089. Wool 4: The Unraveling, Hugh Howey
090. Wool 5: The Stranded, Hugh Howey
091. Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver
092. Cold Days, Jim Butcher

A Year in One Post

Well, it was an interesting year. Mom had a kidney transplant in February, and I got the flu. Work had a month of complete insanity, where I worked for three weeks without a day off, working for more than 8 hours for most of those days. Good for the wallet, bad for the knitting goals. Went to several fiber festivals, including a few that were new to me: Maryland Sheep and Wool, Crooked River Fiber Fling, Michigan Fiber Festival. Also hit up the Great Lakes Fiber Show, and went to Rhinebeck again. Already have reservations for this year, woo-hoo! Ended the year with some hospital time - my dad had knee surgery on Dec 28, and on Dec 29 I drove my mom to be admitted with pneumonia. The enforced knitting time allowed me to meet my goal of 52 pairs, though. Yay for felted clogs!

I did not meet all of my goals, but did get a lot accomplished.

First, let's record the the annual book list so I can clear out that widget.

Books Read in 2011

001. The Luck Runs Out, Charlotte MacLeod
002. Wrack and Rune, Charlotte MacLeod
003. Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums, Stephen Asma
004. Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood, Adrienne Martini
005. Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, Adrienne Martini
006. Ash, Malinda Lo
007. Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories, Truman Capote
008. Labyrinth, Kate Mosse
009. Welcome to the Jungle (graphic novel), Jim Butcher
010. Old Filth, Jane Gardam
011. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
012. The Gospel of Judas, Simon Mawer
013. Sepulchre, Kate Mosse
014. The Whistleblower: Sex Trafficking, Military Contractors, and One Woman's Fight for Justice, Kathryn Bolkovac with Cari Lynn
015. The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin, Christopher McGowan
016. Bee Season, Myla Goldberg
017. The Winter Ghosts, Kate Mosse
018. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson
019. The Owl Killers, Karen Maitland
020. Barnum Brown: The Man Who Discovered Tyrannosaurus Rex, Lowell Dingus and Mark A. Norell
021. The Man in the Wooden Hat, Jane Gardam
022. Emotionally Weird, Kate Atkinson
023. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
024. The Perfect Man, Naeem Murr
025. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
026. When Will There Be Good News? Kate Atkinson
027. One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson
028. Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead, Scott Kenemore
029. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
030, Started Early, Took My Dog, Kate Atkinson
031. Agnes and the Hitman, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
032. The Postmistress, Sarah Blake
033. Gentleman and Players, Joanne Harris
034. An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison
035. Company of Liars, Karen Maitland
036. Lover Mine, J.R. Ward
037. The Silent Miaow: A Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats, Paul Gallico
038. Return to Sullivans Island, Dorothea Benton Frank
039. Lowcountry Summer, Dorothea Benton Frank
040. Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins, Donald C. Johansen and Kate Wong
041. You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News: Shocking but Utterly True Facts, Cracked.com
042. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting,m and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid, Wendy Williams
043. The Carpet People, Terry Pratchett
044. The Wild Things, Dave Eggers
045. Last Call, Tim Powers
046. The Unlikely Ones, Mary Brown
047. Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome
048. Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews
049. Magic Burns, Ilona Andrews
050. Magic Strikes, Ilona Andrews
051. A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend, Emily Horner
052. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente
053. Magic Bleeds, Ilona Andrews
054. Stranger Things Happen, Kelly Link
055. Heartless, Gail Carriger
056. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
057. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee
058. Unearthing the Dragon: The Great Feathered Dinosaur Discovery, Mark Norell
059. The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
060. Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid, Simon Pegg
061. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
062. Bright's Passage, Josh Ritter
063. How to Bake a Perfect Life, Barbara O'Neal
064. Flamingo Fatale, Jimmie Ruth Evans
065. The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
066. Ghost Story, Jim Butcher
067. The People on Privilege Hill, Jane Gardam
068. There Will Be Dragons, John Ringo
069. Emerald Sea, John Ringo
070. Against the Tide, John Ringo
071. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, John Ringo
072. God on the Rocks, Jane Gardam
073. Hounded, Kevin Hearne
074. Feed, Mira Grant
075. Deadline, Mira Grant
076. Hexed, Kevin Hearne
077. All Wound Up, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
078. Hammered, Kevin Hearne
079. Snuff, Terry Pratchett
080. Tall, Dark, & Dead, Tate Hallaway
081. The Princess & the Penis, RJ Silver
082. Bedtime Stories for Children You Hate, Antoinette Bergin
083. The Tale of St. Picklas, Nicholas Pfeifer
084. A Walk in the Snark, Rachel Thompson
085. I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
086. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams Bianco
087. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
088. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell

As far as 2011 goals, well, I made 52 pairs and a few random things. I didn't knit any sweaters, and I didn't even finish those that I started in 2010. Argh. Add them to the list for 2012...

I didn't make my goal of 100 books, either, and didn't even touch anything cross-stitch related. I'm not sure if I knit more yarn than I acquired. Maybe.

Goals for 2012:

Knit my Blanket of Insanity. 5000 yards of bulky weight yarn, size 13 needle, and oodles and oodles of cables. Printed the pattern today.

Participating in a 12 FOs in 2012 KAL. I can finish 12 things, right?

Get back to sweater knitting. Possibly knit the Autumn Rose Pullover since the world is going to end.

Knit more socks. I don't have enough. Would like to make a pair a month, but we'll see if that really happens.

KNIT ALL OF THE THINGS!!!1!!1!! Maybe a goal will be to play the lottery more often so I actually have a chance at winning, so I can be independently wealthy and stay home and knit all day.

Finish things. I really have a lot of WIPs and UFOs, and I need to finish or frog many of them. Finishing would be preferred, but sometimes frogging is a better option.

Wear pajamas as often as possible. (Yes, I want to succeed at *something*, why do you ask?)

That's all I can think of now. May post later if I have any more brilliant ideas. Part 4 of my summer shawl KAL was released today, and I'd like to work on that tonight.



Actually, maybe I will share some pictures first. You like pictures, right?

First FO of 2012. Hat made from Claudia Handpainted Single Ply yarn won from the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Yarn stained my hands blue, and the hat needed four rinses before the rinse water was anything resembling clear, but the colors make me happy every time I see it, so it's a win.



Thrummed bunny slippers for my mom, made while she was in the hospital.



Scarf for my MIL. Really like the colors, and the yarn is not bad at all for acrylic.



Zuzu, because she still loves her alpaca blanket.



Clogs make good kitty capes.



And kitty cushions.



We also bought Zuzu new chairs this year.



Beaded shawls make good blankets.



Oh! Should also talk about Huxley. The fox in the cowl (at least the brown/grey parts) is knit from fox fur, plyed with cashmere. Many thanks go to the Wildlife Resources staff at CMNH for sharing Huxley's fur with me.



My friend Rebecca spun the yarn for that shawl. I love it!



My birthday project. Love the colors, just wish it was a tad bigger.



My friend Nicole spun the yarn for this scarf. I am so lucky to have such talented and generous friends!



First FO of 2011



I have been lax in sharing silly Zuzu pictures. She got a snuggie for Christmas last year.



She also got to attack an opossum. She would have killed it, too, if it hadn't been for that meddling glass door!



I also put things on her head.





I occasionally make her wear her snuggie.



Anyway, I should get knitting. To close, FORK YOU!!



Happy 2012!

Failure, a.k.a. I Love Lists

Well, I didn't manage to finish all of the sweaters in 12 months. I still have four to go, all relatively close to being done. That said, I definitely spent a lot of time knitting in 2010. The list is as follows:

• Eight sweaters, one of which had to be frogged about halfway before it could be finished
  
• Seven blanket squares*, and seamed the blanket - it was much more work than I expected
• Four partial sweaters - all more than halfway done
  
• Two pairs of fingerless mitts and one pair of cabled mittens
• Two and three-quarters baby bibs
  
• Two and a quarter scarves
• One and a half shawls
• One Very Large felted bag
• Half a pair of socks
  

*I think I made additional blanket squares for other blankets, but can't quite remember and didn't keep track. Maybe that was 2009.

Reasons for failure:

• Too many projects. I worked on many not-sweater projects for various reasons, and frequently had more than one sweater in progress at the same time. I know that different situations require different projects, but I feel like I didn't finish enough before starting something new.
• Poor time management. I purchased a smartphone in April, and I think that really affected my knitting. I found (and still find!) myself playing solitaire more frequently than I should. Also, it is very easy to put down my knitting to look at the email message that just arrived. Or to browse Ravelry, just because I can.
  
• Just plain laziness.
  

Things I learned:

• I really like knitting sweaters, preferably seamless ones.
• While I love hand-painted/kettle-dyed yarn, it is a PITA to switch skeins frequently. Will consider yarn selection a bit better.
  
• I can knit A LOT! (Hmmm, maybe I should add a pair of Alots to the list.) When I participated in NaKniSweMo in Nov 2008, it was definitely a challenge, and I found it much easier to knit a sweater in a month now. And back then I spent weekends "working" on call, spending Friday night and all day Saturday sitting in an office knitting.
  
• My knitting has improved in the past few years. My finished pieces, while still not perfect, look a lot better than my NaKniSweMo sweater.
  

Anyway, I still have hopes of finishing the mostly-done sweaters in January. But first, I think I need to test knit a shawl, because I have a serious case of startitis and all this finishing makes me want to start something new. Unfortunately, the yarn I had planned to use is a bit short on yardage, so I need to spend some time in the stash room figuring out what else to use. Will need to finish Spoke first, because the needle for the shawl is holding Spoke stitches ready for the edging. (And why, oh *why* did I work on Lia's sleeves yesterday when chances were good I could have finished Spoke?)

So. Goals for 2011. I want to focus on pairs, and attempt a sort of 52-pair plunge. That said, I do not want to be nearly as strict as the Official 52-pair plunge people, who insist that all pairs should be socks. Plus, I want to operate on a calendar year rather than the arbitrary year that they use, so this is a self-challenge rather than a group KAL.

Guidelines and Goals:

1. While I want to complete a pair each week, I am not limiting pairs to socks. Mitts, slippers, gloves, shawls, hats, and even bags can count as pairs. As long as there are two items, it's a pair. Items do not necessarily need to be identical, but do need to be similar to each other to count. A beanie and a balaclava cannot count as a pair, but two shawls of similar yardage and same weight of yarn will count. (I was tempted to try to knit 12 shawls in 2011, but that will wait for 2012. Along with the Autumn Rose pullover.)
   
2. WIPs will count. This is not cheating, this is encouragement to finish some of the things that have been languishing in my WIPs pile for far too long. Like socks! And the slippers that have been sitting around for two three EEP!!! four years waiting to have the cuffs sewn on.
   
3. In 2010, I discovered that I really like knitting sweaters. It was very tempting to extend my sweater-a-month challenge through June, especially since I didn't quite finish. I'd like to knit at least two sweaters, preferably four, in 2011, and those may or may not count towards the pair goal; I haven't decided yet. See Rule #1, similar weight/yardage sweaters can count, if I decide to count them.
   
4. Stash knit down! While Christmas 2011 will be another year of slipper gifts, and I will need to order yarn for those, I'd like to knit as much as possible from stash.
5. I'd also like to get back to cross stitch, at least a little. Ever since I learned to knit, my cross stitch projects have languished, and I'd like to finish at least two small cross stitch projects in 2011. I don't think these will count towards the pairs, but it's another personal goal.
6. Another personal goal is to read at least 100 books in 2011. If 2010 was any indication, I can still read a decent bit while knitting a lot.
   

Anyway, time to go dig around in the stash to see if I can find yarn for the test knit. Then finish Spoke to reclaim the needle. And if I can knit two shawls, that's a pair!

Perhaps I won't get to finish Spoke today after all. It has been claimed. That's what I get for leaving it on the floor.


Also, I might as well include the 2010 book list here, since there are so many lists already. In 2010,

• I fell a little bit in love with Rob Sheffield,
• read some charming but incredibly poorly-edited books about what might happen when Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns into a soccer mom,
  
• was amazed by how Jill Ciment can create such amazing characters in such small books;
  
• and laughed at several rewritings of classic novels.
  

I read some excellent books, and some trash, too. Fun stuff! Here is the list:

1. The Stupidest Angel, Christopher Moore
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
3. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
4. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!, Jonathan Goldstein
5. The River King, Alice Hoffman
6. Venus Envy, Rita Mae Brown
7. Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
8. Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, Melanie Rehak
9. Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader, the Bathroom Readers' Institute (90% read in 2009)
10. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
11. Tailchaser's Song, Tad Williams
12. Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher
13. Kit's Law, Donna Morrissey
14. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
15. Latitudes of Melt, Joan Clark
16. An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography, Paul Rusesabagina with Tom Zoellner
17. Soulless, Gail Carriger
18. I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust funders, Pornographers, Faux Sensitive Hipsters, Felons, and Other Guys I've Dated, Julie Klausner
19. The Rapture, Liz Jensen
20. Sand in My Bra and other Misadventures, Jennifer L. Leo, ed.
21. Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle, Daniel L. Everett
22. Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, Evalyn Gates
23. The Tattoo Artist, Jill Ciment
24. The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, Charles Pellegrino
25. Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, Leonie Swann
26. The Glass Room, Simon Mawer
27. Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, Julie Kenner
28. California Demon, Julie Kenner
29. Demons Are Forever, Julie Kenner
30. Deja Demon, Julie Kenner
31. The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World, Shelley Emling
32. The Law of Falling Bodies, Jill Ciment
33. Half a Life, Jill Ciment
34. Heroic Measures, Jill Ciment
35. Demon Ex Machina, Julie Kenner
36. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier
37. The Wood Wife, Terri Windling
38. Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
39. The Island, Victoria Hislop
40. Changes, Jim Butcher
41. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith
42. The Help, Kathryn Stockett
43. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson
44. Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
45. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova
46. Bite Me: A Love Story, Christopher Moore
47. Just Kids, Patti Smith
48. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
49. Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi
50. To Love and to Cherish, Patricia Gaffney
51. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
52. Ahab's Wife, or, The Star-Gazer, Sena Jeter Naslund
53. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
54. The Charlotte Gilman Perkins Reader, ed. Ann J. Lane
55. i know i am, but what are you?, Samantha Bee
56. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
57. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Daniel Okrent
58. In the Forest of Forgetting, Theodora Goss
59. The Water-Method Man, John Irving
60. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, A.E. Moorat
61. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman
62. Windflower, Nick Bantock
63. Bullet Points, Mark Watson
64. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
65. The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
66. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, Stieg Larsson
67. Bitten, Kelley Armstrong
68. Little Bee, Chris Cleaves
69. Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks
70. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
71. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow
72. Little Vampire Women, Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina
73. The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
74. McKay's Bees, Thomas McMahon
75. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Steve Hockensmith
76. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, Rob Sheffield
77. Changeless, Gail Carriger
78. Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
79. The Sheriff of Yrnameer, Michael Rubens
80. Jane Slayre, Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin
81. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Suskind
82. The Believers, Zoe Heller
83. Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill
84. Vampire Vow, Michael Schiefelbein
85. Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, Rob Sheffield
86. The Darkest Night, Gena Schowalter
87. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
88. Little Women and Werewolves, Porter Grand
89. The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time, Jeff Deck and Benjamin D
90. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, Robert K. Wittman and John Schiffman
91. Only Revolutions, Mark Danielewski
92. Mansfield Park and Mummies, Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian
93. Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose, Lee Alan Dugatkin
94. I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
95. Two Truths and a Lie, Katrina Kittle
96. The Passage, Justin Cronin
97. John Dies at the End, David Wong
98. Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard Wrangham
99. If I Stay, Gayle Forman
100. Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
101. The Blessings of the Animals, Katrina Kittle
102. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach
103. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
104. And the Heart Says Whatever, Emily Gould
105. Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, Susan Kelz Sperling
106. God's Dog: A Celebration of the North American Coyote, Hope Ryden
107. Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente
108. The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science, Douglas Starr
109. Kraken, China Miéville
110. The Kindness of Strangers, Katrina Kittle
111. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, Louise Rennison
112. Fallen, Lauren Kate
113. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot: The Autobiography of a Dangerous Man, John Callahan
114. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, Elizabeth Kolbert
115. Side Jobs, Jim Butcher
116. Blameless, Gail Carriger
117. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, Allison Hoover Bartlett
118. Greywalker, Kat Richardson
119. Rest You Merry, Charlotte MacLeod
120. Bright of the Sky, Kay Kenyon

2009 Reading List

Books! Time to start the 2010 list, as I've already got one book to put on the list and am halfway through another. For archival purposes, here you go!

Books Read in 2009

130. A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage
129. Nathan's Run, John Gilstrap
128. Heat Wave, Richard Castle
127. Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Janet Evanovich
126. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
125. Struts & Frets, Jon Skovron
124. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight, Linda Bacon, Ph.D.
123. Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small, Rita Mae Brown
122. An Echo in the Bone, Diana Gabaldon
121. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies!, Michael P. Spradlin
120. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
119. Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman
118. In Your Dreams, Tom Holt
117. The Portable Door, Tom Holt
116. A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Diana Gabaldon
115. The Good Fairies of New York, Martin Millar
114. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett
113. Truck: A Love Story, Michael Perry
112. Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby
111. On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers
110. Population: 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time, Michael Perry
109. Prairie Tale, Melissa Gilbert
108. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, Tiffany Baker
107. The Bolter, Frances Osborne
106. Good Omens,Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
105. Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting, Michael Perry
104. The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me, Suzanne Kingsbury
103. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson
102. Or Your Money Back, Nicole Lorenz
101. My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
100. Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets & Gatemouth's Gator, Michael Perry
99. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
98. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
97. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
96. Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer - and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets, Jo Marchant
95. Southern Discomfort, Rita Mae Brown
94. In the Woods, Tana French
93. Six of One, Rita Mae Brown
92. Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown
91. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (Does this count as 7 books?)
90. A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes
89. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
88. Turn Coat, Jim Butcher
87. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
86. Lover Avenged, J.R. Ward
85. Small Favor, Jim Butcher
84. White Night, Jim Butcher
83. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley
82. Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith
81. Proven Guilty, Jim Butcher
80. Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
79. Sometimes a Great Notion, Ken Kesey
78. Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, Tony Hawks
77. Lover Enshrined, J.R. Ward
76. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
75. Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut
74. McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, Michael Chabon, ed.
73. Lover Unbound, J.R. Ward
72. They Tore Out My Heart & Stomped That Sucker Flat, Lewis Grizzard
71. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
70. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.
69. Lover Revealed, J.R. Ward
68. Round Ireland with a Fridge, Tony Hawks
67. Lover Awakened, J.R. Ward
66. Lover Eternal, J.R. Ward
65. Dark Lover, J.R. Ward
64. Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, Elizabeth Royte
63. Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, Neil deGrasse Tyson
62. The Beak of the Finch, Jonathan Weiner
61. Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
60. Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich
59. Death Masks, Jim Butcher
58. The Pistol Poets, Victor Gischler
57. The Zookeeper's Wife, Diane Ackerman
56. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet, Neil deGrasse Tyson
55. Life Before Man, Margaret Atwood
54. Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Neil deGrasse Tyson
53. The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
52. Summer Knight, Jim Butcher
51. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
50. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
49. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
48. The Customer is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles, Jeff Martin, ed.
47. Gun Monkeys, Victor Gischler
46. Shotgun Opera, Victor Gischler
45. Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
44. Make Love! the Bruce Campbell Way, Bruce Campbell
43. Fool Moon, Jim Butcher
42. Storm Front, Jim Butcher
41. Anybody Can Do Anything, Betty MacDonald
40. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, Victor Gischler
39. The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald
38. The Rose of Sebastopol, Katharine McMahon
37. The Book of Unholy Mischief, Elle Newmark
36. Fool, Christopher Moore
35. Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories, Lauren Groff
34. Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels, Toni McGee Causey
33. Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day, Toni McGee Causey
32. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Bruce Campbell
31. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific, J. Maarten Troost
30. Book of Dreams: A Memoir of Wilhelm Reich, Peter Reich
29. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
28. The Children of Cthulhu, John Pelan and Benjamin Adams, eds.
27. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
26. Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
25. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, Michael Davis
24. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks
23. Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program that Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD, Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
22. Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
21. March, Geraldine Brooks
20. I Was Told There'd Be Cake, Sloane Crosley
19. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
18. Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, Temple Grandin
17. Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
16. The January Dancer, Michael Flynn
15. Quicksilver (Volume One of the Baroque Cycle), Neal Stephenson
14. Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link
13. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Mark Bittner
12. Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions, Charles Gallenkamp
11. Motor Mouth, Janet Evanovich
10. Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process, Irene Pepperburg
9. Metro Girl, Janet Evanovich
8. Fearless Fourteen, Janet Evanovich
7. Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich
6. Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, Stacey O'Brien
5. Zombies of the Gene Pool, Sharyn McCrumb
4. Twelve Sharp, Janet Evanovich
3. Eleven on Top, Janet Evanovich
2. Fatherland, Robert Harris
1. Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich

Finally...and lots of pictures!

Well. This is my first weekend at home in months. Those of you who pay attention to my ramblings on Ravelry and/or Facebook know that my mom had bypass surgery on June 2. Quintuple bypass. With lots of complications. She was in the hospital for most of June. Anyway, she's doing muuuuch better now, and is home, and is driving, and is getting back to as-normal-as-possible life.

I should be making cupcakes for tomorrow's SAAZ blues and brews, but hey, it starts towards evening, so I have all day tomorrow... Today has been a lazy day, just because it could be. Finished book #90 today. Was definitely different, and somewhat disturbing. Started the Chronicles of Narnia, all seven in one book. We'll see how long those 800 pages take...

Anyway, I am posting because I finally awarded the winner of the PPZ magnet! A few weekends ago, Mom drew a name from those who wanted entered in the drawing, and Jesse won! I gave him the magnet on Monday at knitting group, and he was thrilled. (I should have had the camera out when I handed him the magnet - he had quite the look on his face!) Anyway, here he is, with his prize. Someday I will make brioche for that boy, too, just because.


Anyway, Zuzu is pestering me, it is nearly dinnertime, and I have daffodils to browse. (Thanks, CathyCake!) Maybe next year I can convince the deer to leave my tulips alone. Worst case I'll have something blooming in the spring.

Oh, I should give you an update on my knitting adventures. Knitted the pieces for Mom's sweater in two weeks, entirely in the hospital. Working on seaming it now. The shoulders are seamed, the sleeves are set in, and one sleeve is sewn shut. Just need to seam the other sleeve and both sides, and then pick up stitches for the neckline. Might make Mom a cowl to go with it, as the neckline won't cover up her scar, and she doesn't really want to show it off to the world. It was nicely blocked, and looked lovely until it spent a week in a bag. Will re-steam before giving it to Mom. The color is perfect for her.



Finished the first pair of beer socks, Oktoberfest, and unfortunately, the ribbing is too tight, so they don't fit over my heels. Need to frog and redo the foam. Not a good picture, but here you go:



Okay, this one is a bit better, but still not great.


Finished my Gin and Tonic socks, and they fit well. They're snug to get on, due to the fiddly cable, but once they're on they're lovely. Zuzu approves.





Did another Calorimetry, just because, with yarn I handpainted myself. Just need to get a button and sew it on. More hospital knitting.



The summer of alcoholic socks continues. I started some Irish Ale socks, designed by the lovely RedScot, who also designed the Gin and Tonic socks, and the Traffic Island socks that I never posted because I wasn't posting. Let's remedy that. Oh, might also start some frozen margarita socks tomorrow, depending on how simple the toe/foot is. Must remember to bring my headlamp so I can knit in the dark.



Also made two baby bibs for the baby that caused the maternity leave that resulted in my current job.

A dinosaur, of course, and a duckie.



Trying to work on a shawl, but think I'm going to start over as I am only 7 rows in and have 4 extra stitches. That's what I get for trying to do lace in a dark-ish room in public. Oh well. I can live with losing 7 rows.

What else? It's a bit later and I still haven't had dinner, Zuzu is still asking for a second dinner, so everything else will wait. Have fun!

Caffeinated again

So... In Reading, with my mom and sister. Luckily we have a suite, as I am camped out on the fold-out couch thinking about sleep while my body just doesn't wanna. Had a lovely dinner tonight, with the exception of the "decaf" we ordered with dessert. It wasn't. Decaf, that is. My mom had chest pains while walking back to the car, and I am still awake, even though I was exhausted when we got back to the hotel. Um, yeah. Now I am frantically typing as I kick my feet and consider how long it will take me to doze off.

I think I'm going to read, and see if that helps. No, because I am enjoying the book that I am reading, and while I purchased a copy of the book that I am struggling to convince myself to read before it is waaay overdue at the library, that book is in my sister's car, and therefore I can't get it, which is sad because even though I like it and love the author it tends to make me somewhat sleepy.

Anyway, yes, I have been knitting, and finished the bag part of the Market Squares bag yesterday (was it just yesterday?) while somewhere, um, dinner maybe? No, in the car. Nearly done with the second of the second pair of Fetching, this pair slightly modified to make them bigger because I wanted them that way, tyvm. Hopefully the last bits will get done tomorrow. Or maybe tonight, as I am still awake, dammit!

Oh, and I haz a dinosaur!! We went to the Works at Wyomissing for lunch. As it is a Dave and Buster's kind-of thing, and there was a short wait for a table, we played skee ball while we waited. Which isn't important, even though it was fun. It is especially not important since they did not have fake mustaches for me to buy with the tickets that I earned. Of which there were a decent amount, since I apparently kick butt at skee ball. What is important, is the Dino Drop game, which was near the entrance to the very loud game area, and oh so tempting. Mommie said that we weren't allowed to play until we had eaten all of our lunch, so after we ate, Wendy and I wandered over, and I managed to snag this guy:



I named him Rutherford. And sorry for the poor quality. Studip cell phone cameras. anyway, ktb and Jesh met him this afternoon at the chocolate shop, and he provided much entertainment at dinner.

Anyway, I am going to attempt sleep again, as it is nearly midnight and I really should, especially since I need to drive Mommie and then me home tomorrow. Oh, and my body likes to wake me no later than 6:30am. Fun stuff...

Sorry, too tired to really post

Happy New Year! Yes, again I have procrastinated and not posted for quite a while. So what has happened over the past months? I am going to make you wait for a while to find out!

As usual, I got distracted and wrote a long, rambling email message instead of drafting a long, rambling blog post. Anyway, I want to clear my list of books read in 2008 so that I can start on the 2009 list, as I read a book this afternoon. Perhaps I will even add links tomorrow, but I am sleepy now, and thus too lazy to do that.

Books read in 2008, with most recently finished at top:
yeah, maybe I'll add numbers...

73 Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, by the Bathroom Reader Institute
72 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
71 To the Nines, Janet Evanovich
70 Hard Eight, Janet Evanovich
69 Territory, Emma Bull
68 War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
67 We'll Always Have Parrots, Donna Andrews
66 Bimbos of the Death Sun, Sharyn McCrumb
65 Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
64 The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
63 Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
62 We Bought A Zoo, Benjamin Mee
61 Prelude to Foundation, Isaac Asimov
60 Hoot, Carl Hiaasen
59 Foundation and Earth, Isaac Asimov
58 Foundation's Edge, Isaac Asimov
57 "It Itches.", Franklin Habit
56 Seven Up, Janet Evanovich
55 Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
54 Hot Six, Janet Evanovich
53 Visions of Sugar Plums, Janet Evanovich
52 The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula, Eric Nuzum
51 Plum Lucky, Janet Evanovich
50 Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
49 Nation, Terry Pratchett
48 Naked Brunch, Sparkle Hayter
47 High Five, Janet Evanovich
46 Four to Score, Janet Evanovich
45 Three to Get Deadly, Janet Evanovich
44 Two for the Dough, Janet Evanovich
43 Second Foundation, Isaac Asimov
42 Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach
41 One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
40 The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham
39 Foundation and Empire, Isaac Asimov
38 Foundation, Isaac Asimov
37 No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting, Anne L. MacDonald
36 The Return of the Solar Cat Book, Jim Augustyn
35 Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
34 Affinity, Sarah Waters
33 Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
32 Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic, Terry Jones
31 Ya-Yas In Bloom, Rebecca Wells
30 The Fiery Cross, Diana Gabaldon
29 Dave Gorman's Googlewhack! Adventure, Dave Gorman (obviously!)
28 Drums of Autumn, Diana Gabaldon
27 Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
26 Black Postcards, Dean Wareham
25 A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
24 Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon
23 Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
22 Back on Blossom Street, Debbie Macomber
21 A Good Yarn, Debbie Macomber
20 Daddy's Little Girl, Mary Higgins Clark
19 The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Christopher Moore
18 Slapshot!, Stan Fishler
17 Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet Washington
16 Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, Elizabeth Gilbert
15 What's a Girl Gotta Do?, Sparkle Hayter
14 Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story, Laurie Lindeen
13 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
12 Johnny and the Bomb, Terry Pratchett
11 The Best of World Cafe: Great Conversations from NPR's Most Popular Contemporary Music Show, David Dye
10 The Onion Girl, Charles de Lint
9 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond
8 Even Vampires Get the Blues, Katie MacAlister
7 Wicked, Gregory Maguire
6 Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, Terry Pratchett
5 Cross Bones, Kathy Reichs
4 Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
3 The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett
2 The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchet
1 The Margarets, Sheri S. Tepper

Not quite a book and a half a week. I guess I can live with that. Anyway, off to start the list for 2009! And hopefully post tomorrow, well, maybe Monday, as Gretchen is visiting for the weekend, and we all know that means I'll be forced to live more in the real world than the virtual one. Which is probably good for a change.

Oh, but did I share Zuzu's LOL with you? We miss seeing Alejandro around, although we have woodpeckers and other birds to stalk now.

Happy New Year!


moar funny pictures

No Rice for the Zuzu

Post title: Was portioning rice into tupperware for freezing, and some fell on the floor. Zuzu dashed over to investigate, because it could be food (we were in the kitchen, after all). She sniffed the rice, but decided that it wasn't edible. No rice for the Zuzu.

She has been a naughty kitty lately, and has taken to waking me at 3am. She curls up on my chest, purrs, and paws my chin. Ohhhh, see how nice this snuggling is? We should go downstairs and snuggle more, after you give me breakfast, of course. Yeah. No go. She did that for two nights in a row. We set her feeder to give her some kibble at 2am, and that seems to help. She would have let me sleep in until probably 5 this morning, but I think I'm now conditioned to wake up at 4:30, so even if she doesn't wake me, I wake myself.

Speaking of the kitty, she has been birdwatching lately. Apparently it is a great season to have bird feeders, because the migratory birds are back, but their food is still somewhat scarce. We've had lots of finches, but Zuzu's attention is really drawn by the cardinals. (I think it's because they look more like a meal, rather than the finch-snacks. Not that it matters, because she stays indoors, and her only wild food consists of insects. But a kitty can dream, right?) We have a pair, and they may be looking to nest on the beams of our deck's roof.

Really need to get the She and Him CD. I have been singing various songs of theirs for the past few weeks. Would be great car music, so I could sing along without being overhead. (I think the woman in the office next to mine is a bit annoyed at hearing my voice. She works Saturdays for the quiet.)

So I was going to post Sunday, but got swept up in a kitchen frenzy. Baked bread, cinnamon rolls, red pepper cornbread, and spinach-artichoke dip. Is that all? Feels like there was more. Cinnamon rolls were lovely. I will have to make them again. Challah bread and red pepper cornbread are favorites from Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen. Good stuff.

cinnamon rolls pre-icing

challah bread

Mike had a few friends over to play games, and while they made a mess of the basement, I made a mess of the kitchen. I think they were happy for all of the food, though.

What should I have been doing rather than baking? Working on the SAAZ newsletter, finishing those last two pairs of clogs (though I did get one pair felted), making more baby gifts (I'd forgotten how many I need to make, and have gotten sidetracked), and doing laundry. Now nearly done with the first of the last pair of clogs, aside from my clogs-of-many-colors. Have started thinking about them, and what fun they could be.

This week was busy, as we had knitting group on Monday. Abuelo's is a pretty decent Mexican restaurant - and if you ask when you're being seated, they will bring you a vegetarian menu. Gotta love a place that will do that. Plus, I've found most Mexican places in the area to be very bland. Mike finally got the point that I didn't care for one place when I told him that it tasted like Taco Bell. Why spend $7 when I could have the same experience for $2? Anyway, brought him takeout from Abuelo's, and once he understood that yes, the food was his and was not my lunch, he enjoyed it. We will go back.

Finally did the SAAZ newsletter Tuesday, day of the meeting. Oops. Hey, life happens. It didn't really take long to throw everything together, as there weren't all that many contributions. Left out a few small things, but didn't want to search for pictures or clip art to fill the rest of the page.

Baked cupcakes Wednesday. Four dozen. Vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting, and vegan chocolate mocha with mocha frosting. Surprisingly, I think I like the vanilla ones better than the chocolate. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a chocoholic, but for some reason I'm finding the vanilla ones really tasty.

Bobmas Eve cupcakes

Thursday was Bobmas Eve. If you have to ask, you won't understand. Just over a dozen of us met at Bob Evans for a celebration of Ravelry. It was a lot of fun - matching faces to Ravelry user names. General consensus is that we'll have to have another, sometime soon. Perhaps at a place that serves alcohol. (What can I say, we like to have margaritas/beer while we knit!) Cupcakes were appreciated, but I still went home with two dozen. Left most of them for coworkers this morning, and brought a few for the guy who is covering for me tomorrow.

Mike drove to Columbus this afternoon to drop off beer for the NHC. He kegged beer on Tuesday, and several turned out quite well. Hopefully he'll do well in competition, although you never know who your judges will be. (They even let me judge one year, and after watching Mike torment himself over his returned score sheets, I will never do that again. I don't want to have my name on something that can cause such misery.) Anyway, it is out of his hands now - beer has been delivered, and he is home.

I'm at work now, and it's finally turned into a quiet night. Had to do a lot of running around at first, then had to talk someone through accessing their email account for the first time, oh, and then needed to change a projector bulb. Fun stuff. Finished "Collapse" while waiting for the slowest computer in the world to boot up and open Outlook so I could print the schedule.

Tomorrow is Knitter's Fantasy, in Youngstown. So we are having the traditional turnpike-route departure, and gathering at my house for breakfast before hitting the road. Cakewaffles and cinnamon rolls, probably. Vicky gave me some Vietnamese cinnamon, and it was fabulous in Sunday's cinnamon rolls, so will try it again with the new recipe.

Another News Item: It is the end of an era. I received a new card from Discover, and they changed my account number. I have been able to recite that number for years. Really. I have had the card since college, and always used it for phone orders (really mostly just donating to public radio stations - I'd feel the need to call while in the car, and didn't want to fumble with my wallet, so I'd use the number I knew.). Anyway, I tried to use it online today, and it was declined - they deactivated it! New one is now activated and working, but now I have another number to learn.

Not sure if there's anything else I should share. Oh, made another afghan square last night and shipped it out this morning. Some of the squares may have been lost, so mine is an extra. I just wish I had extra time to include some goodies in the package!

Oh! Chocolate Skittles! Found some in the store here at work, and bought two bags to share tomorrow. They frighten me somewhat, although probably not as much as the ones I saw on their website - Ice Cream Skittles. (Was craving chocolate last week, and didn't bring any baked goodies, so I checked out the candy rack in the shop.) Was amazed by the variety of M&Ms, too. No longer is are M&Ms just plain or peanut - there are dark chocolate ones, wild cherry and raspberry packets. I tried the dark chocolate, but wasn't really all that impressed. Will stay away from the wild cherry and raspberry ones - they are scary. Oh well. On that note, it's back to busy-ness!

Time to apply for the position of village idiot

I have been very stupid lately. Or at least forgetful, if you want to be polite about it. Last night, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. With a list. That had everything that I needed on it. Somehow, I still managed to walk out missing three items. I blame our friend Nick, as I ran into him there. He told me that Mike should be the one doing the shopping. I completely agree. Was quite distraught about forgetting the lasagna ingredients (like ricotta!)

Anyway, yesterday was a long day, what with Zuzu waking me at 4 as usual, work in the morning and then again until 10pm. Finally made it home around 11:00, unpacked the groceries, and blocked the afghan squares. Could not find my straightpins for the life of me, so I ended up using a packet of sewing needles. Probably could have used a few more, but so be it. Squares are approximately square. Mike was kind enough to drop them in the mail this morning, so they should reach their destination either Monday or Tuesday.

Went to bed around 11:30, and remember looking at the clock at 12:At exactly 4:06 this morning, I feel a paw on my chin. Zuzu wants breakfast. Fine. Stumble downstairs, feed the kitty, go back to the store for the missing items. Get home, start making the crockpot veggie lasagna for today’s potluck. I offended the kitty - she was meowing, pawing me, rubbing against my legs trying to get my attention. Silly me, trying to get things done! I was missing our snuggle time, and Zuzu wanted to make sure that I get my daily dose of purrs.

Anyway, I finally got everything assembled and curled up on the couch for about an hour. Zuzu was on my lap before I’d arranged the blankets. Oh, and when it was time to get up and get showered for work? Kitty didn’t want to move. We will have to do some serious snuggling tomorrow to make up for this deficiency!

Today is a long day following a long week. Work until 4:30, drive an hour to a potluck, spend time there, drive the hour home, and crawl into bed. To be woken at 4am again tomorrow. Oh well. I love my kitty. And Sunday morning we can sleep on the couch from 4:15-8:00.

Oh, car update. Will hit 11,000 miles today. Had the car since November 7. I'm actually not driving as much as I thought I would. Working weekends helps prevent road trips, though. Car seriously needs cleaned out. I want to find my giant knife that is lost somewhere in the back seat. (For those of you not in the know, when I brought the leftover cakes to my knitting group meeting, I brought a knife. It was on the backseat. Then I mailed the packages that were keeping everything in the backseat immobile, and the next time I stopped, the knife moved. I don't know where it is hiding. It's a good thing I rarely have passengers, because I wouldn't want anyone to get stabbed.

Found "Collapse". It was in Mike's office. I don't know why it was there, but we were talking about taxes (and Zuzu), and there it was, on the floor. I have been reading it before bed again. Nearly done. About halfway done with "Medical Apartheid", too.

At work right now. (Obviously.) Gorgeous day outside, and I am stuck in an office, thinking about how nice it would be if Zuzu wasn't traumatized by travel and could come spend the day with me. I'm on the fourth floor, near the roof, with a window that has a nice, wide sill, and a lovely view of the gutters where the birds hang out. Zuzu would have entertainment all day! Not that she doesn't at home, but still. (I guess I am feeling deprived of our snuggle time, too.)

This link was posted on Ravelry. We've used some of these terms to describe Zuzu. Very entertaining, and apt, too! Flippy's Cat Terms

Oh well. I should get back to knitting those clogs. Will remember everything else I wanted to post as soon as I publish. Mmmmm, the office smells like lasagna. Gotta love crock pots.

Book (and other) excitement

Emmms over at Quelle Erqsome tagged me in a book meme. Because I don't want her to think that I am the slacker that I truly am, I am posting my responses here. (Also, I am hoping that it earns me bonus points in her Mustachioed Avengers contest, because I can use all the help that I can get.) I appreciate the tag, though, as I am constantly reading something, even if it's just the list of files whizzing by as they are scanned.

Anyway, here goes:

1. What book are you currently reading?

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, by Harriet Washington - heartbreaking accounts of racism in medical treatment. There's a lot more than just the Tuskegee Syphilis Study; doctors who are now regarded as heroes for their new techniques frequently experimented on slaves or free blacks before performing the procedures on whites. And experimentation without informed consent continues - by companies in certain markets who have been granted permission to experiment on anyone who becomes unconscious en route to hospital, and by the U.S. military. Very well-written, informative book; won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The Best of the World Cafe: Great Conversations from NPR's Most Popular Contemporary Music Show, by David Dye - transcriptions of interviews from the radio programme. As a music lover, I enjoy learning more about the thought processes of those talented enough to create music. (Hey Emmms, I'm about to read the Neko Case interview!)

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond - currently on hold, because it is somewhere in the house. Upstairs, I think. Perhaps in the giant sack of things that went into hiding before the party. Great book about how some of us humans have mucked up our environment and how others have learned to live in a fragile ecosystem.

2. When you think of a good story, what are the first 3 books that come to mind?

Call it a cop-out, but these are some of the books I read and re-read again.

Beauty, by Sheri Tepper - fabulous reinvention of fairy tales. (You can probably add most of her books to this list, too.)

Most of the Discworld series, including the Tiffany Aching books. Just great stuff, entertaining reads, with so many cultural references that you're bound to miss a few, which leaves more to discover when re-reading. If pressed to recommend just one or two, I'd say (with references in parentheses) Soul Music (pop music), Moving Pictures (movies), and Maskerade (musical theatre).

Anything by Tom Robbins or Margaret Atwood. Probably most frequent reads are Skinny Legs and All and Cat's Eye (Oh, how that book made me cry on first reading... And thanks to Gretchen I have an autographed hardcover version. Someday soon I will get back to NYC.)

3. Which 3 books would you recommend for summer 2008 beach reading?

Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson - I really enjoyed this book. I am not entirely sure why. I will probably read it again this summer.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore - the title alone marks it as an excellent beach novel, and Moore's absurd humor inspires giggles and belly laughs. (Or read any other book of his - all will make you laugh. If they don't, you are reading the wrong Christopher Moore.)

The Ground Beneath Her Feet, by Salman Rushdie - One of Rushdie's strengths is the way he uses language, and this book tells a wonderful love story (again with lots of pop culture references - now you know one of my many weaknesses. Oh, and U2 and Daniel Lanois recorded a song with Rushdie's lyrics for the movie Million Dollar Hotel. It was a bit freaky first time I heard the song, as I recognized the lyrics but hadn't known they'd been made into a song.)

4. Any knitting books you would care to share?

A Field Guide to Knitting: How to Identify, Select, and Create Virtually Every Stitch, by Jackie Pawlowski (because it's small portable, with lots of color pictures)
And someday, someday, I will make one of the gorgeous creations in Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan.

5. What is next on your reading list? (I added this part; future meme participants can consider this optional)

The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan Douglas
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

6. Tag three other knitters for this meme:
Penny, Eryn, Megan, consider yourselves tagged. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say.

***

And in other news...

Had awesome bedhead the other day. Like, totally. As in gag me with a pitchfork sort of awesome. Good to know that I can have huge hair without using any sort of product. At least until I brush it. (Yes, I was amused - so amused, in fact, that I felt compelled to share.)

Have been running around a lot, as usual. Knitting was Monday, in North Olmsted, and while I'd hoped to stop at home before going over there, work got in the way. Yesterday, I came home from work, cooked dinner, and left. Went to Miss Chickpea's and met a few of the Cuyahoga Falls Knitters and (crochet) Hookers group members as well as my friend Tanya. We bought a few things (I gave in and bought Joyce's favorite sock yarn - Mountain Colors Bearfoot as well as a skein of Berroco Sox; Tanya bought some Malabrigo), then she followed me home to use my winder and swift. After she left, I ate dinner and swung by North End to deliver Matt his hat (argh - forgot to take a picture!), and had a drink with Mike. Had planned on stopping at Jo-Ann's to get a needle felting tool, but got on the road too late.

Today I am catching up on all of the things I have ignored lately. Did the book meme, will fill out the questionnaire for the Beer and Fiber Swap, stitch a few squares for a group gift afghan, oh, and Mike did our taxes, so I need to review and send the darn forms in. With checks. I don't know that I like sending a check rather than asking for a refund, although I guess it's one of the necessities of being self-employed.

Watching the Pens game right now. Gonchar just scored, and they just played this commercial. Can't.Stop.Laughing.

What else? I always think of things when I'm not posting. I know I will have more to babble on about as soon as I post. Oh well. I should do those other things that need to be done, instead of just talking about them.