not much to say

just thought I would blog


I'm turning into a geek-getting four comics a month now, wait, five if you count the superman I get for Jim, and six once Eternals gets here



hope to dye my hair this week



there's a sale at my local yarn store so that means I have to buy another container for my yarn



going to bed now






sweet dreams

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!!!!!

Happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
happy birthday dear Juuuuuuuuuuuuuu-lia
happy birthday toooo yoooou!

whee! woohoo! wowzers! eeeeheeehee! yeah! bonza! whee! willikers! tralala! woo! whee! wow! tubular! wowzers! yea! whee! bingo! wow! eeeeheehee! woo! woohoo! yeah! willikers! whee! radical! wowzers! dude!

Things I've learned in the past week

1. Don't put an end table and a whole bunch of trinkets where your laundry basket was cause at night you'll throw your robe at it and break stuff.

2. Don't let Spawnkitties near tulips.

3. Jim Henson is a God (already knew that, but got reinforced) (and yes, I know he has passed on but still is a God).

4. Don't fall asleep ontop of a knitting pattern (or knitting needles for that matter) because it will have a weird effect on your dreams (ever tried reading a chart in your dreams? So insanely frustrating).

5. Don't point at a knitting magazine and proclaim loudly about how much it sucks only to open it and realize there are patterns you like because then you can't buy it (at least when there are other people around).

6. When you carry a massive sketchbook, a collection of pencils, and a reference book up a steep and long hill, make sure you are actually in the mood to draw. Or else you just bitch a lot about the weight, and then throw things at the other people around you as they draw.

7. Mothers are amazing. Wheeeee for Annika!

8. Brother-in-laws are good things in life and everyone should have one. Especially one with Bears. And a fondness for Pita Pit.

9. Drunk Monkeys can knit like nothing else!

And that concludes my blog entry at this time. Archives and further blog reading can be found on the righthand side of the screen (your right, not the computers right).

So many posts

First things first, I know need to stretch before I go on my walks that turn out to be a few hours or more, because oi do I hurt right now! (it's all my hips and ass, which is a good thing, because that means that I may be getting an ass! Hips I need no more of)

In other news, I just wanted to comment on my messed up logic. So I'm knitting something right now that is composed of diamonds, so I increase one stitch per row for x amount of rows and then I decrease one stitch per row for x amount of rows. So when I'm increasing, I get all pouty. I start to dislike my knitting. I shun it for days. I bargain- 'Okay, just knit one row, then you can read another chapter in American Gods (Neil Gailmen)' and when it gets to the last, let's say, probably 15 rows, it's like torture. I knit a row then put it on my shelf and don't talk to it for a few days. I get angry at the yarn. I take it to work with me because anything is better than nothing during a break at a mall. The thing is, once I reach that magic number, where you stop increasing, and start decreasing, I'm so excited! I love it! I knit like crazy! I finished the increasing last night, and today I have knit six rows. Six! The six before that probably took me at least a week, maybe longer. And it's the same amount of work, I mean, I do enjoy knit 2 together, it's my favorite stitch, but still, I love the decreasing parts of patterns. So strange. I also fall in love with the yarn all over again. It's sooooo beautiful. This also happens to be the piece of knitting that I've gotten the most comments on while knitting in public. I also have blisters because of this knitting. See! It's a confused knitting!

As well, I appreciate the comments people left about maintaing two blogs. I've thought about it and I'd actually have three blogs because Spike gets me to maintain his blog too and that would be a lot of work. As well, I can't blog much about my knitting since two of three knitting projects currently are Xmas presents (so I just allude to them vaguely, as above) but I can't really go into detail. I'm thinking of after Christmas, blogging about one present each week, which will take awhile. I'm going to still take photos of progress and everything and just keep the photos on CDs. Rant rant rant.

And for the last note, I want this. It loves me so.

Heh... Nocturnal Exploration

Is there something you're not telling me?

So I've technically been up for an hour and a half, but I only got out of bed half an hour ago, but the point here is that I cannot shake this feeling that I have something ridicously urgent to do. Usually this feeling is accompanied with a realization that a) some school work is due b) I work in the afternoon or c)I am meeting someone for coffee but none of those things are happening today! This is so annoying.

In other news, I ate so much pasta yesterday I nearly went comatose. Seriously.

List of Things to Do

I have been doing a lot of stuff since school ended (ie. reading and knitting) but there are so many things I keep on saying- oh, I need to do that. So instead of actually doing them, I going to blog about them. Maybe blogerizing my list will help motivate me to complete some of these. Let's see here.... (is 'let us' an appropriate contraction as let's? I so confused all of a sudden. My brain is completely atrophed.)

• Phone Alyson, Jodi, Jolene, Kim B., and Nic
• Find a proper way to store and organize yarn and knitting needles (seriously, what to do about circular knitting needles? Argh I say!)
• Dye my hair! I've been meaning to do this for months!
  
• Go through my filing, which will take a couple of days at least
• Mail Julia her B-day present (which at this point is going to be dreadfully late as is)
• Make my blog all so nice and new and possibly start a knitting blog too cause well... it's kinda obligatory
• Go through all my emails (all 456 of them) and either print off the ones I want, put them in special folders, and delete the ones I don't read! I fear the delete button. I really do.
• Finish painting the store warhammer army! This one is doubtful. I painted for an hour and half last night and got the skin on one space bug done.
  
• Find a good way for me to keep track of my money, so a budget plan/doohickey that will work for me. I watch that show on the life channel called... well, I can't remember, but that woman comes in and gives money advice to people over the space of a month and anyhoo, the key I think is to not have credit cards and if you do, no more than one. Oh, this one has turned into a tangent, maybe it has something to do with the insane Chuck love I am recieved while trying to type.
  
• Finish my alligator and frog drawing.
  

Lists are fun.

Chicks & Tattoos

I love it when tattoo artists presume that because you are a woman that you know nothing about tattoos and talk down to you and don't listen to what you are saying. I love that because that makes my decision of where to not get a tattoo so much easier.
Me: Well, I drew up this sketch and I know I can't draw tattoos so I was wondering-
Him: That can't work for a tattoo.
Me: (pause) Yes, I know. What I want is-
Him: This inner star would just bleed into the outline.
Me: (sigh) Yes, I know. This is smaller-
Him: This type of detail can't be replicated. And this part would bleed as well.
Me: Yes well, thanks for your time. Byebye now!

In other news, I get to wear a catwoman (original catwoman, not Halle (shudder)) shirt to work! Wheeeee! Kudos for working in a comic book store!

Update: Do not go to Adrenaline tattoos

Residual school anxiety

It seems funny to be experiencing this now since it's been nearly a month since school ended, but I've noticed lately that I have moments of panic when I see the date and think 'is something due today?' and I just came home from work and thought 'I'm so tired, I don't want to do schoolwork' and then I had the little gigglingly feeling of realization that I have no schoolwork and could play sims2 all night long if I wanted.

In other news, I finished the kick ass skull and crossbones wristband I knit up on those ridiciously tiny 1.75mm needles. I lined it in jersy and sewed on snaps and then pounded on some metal studes and voila! When I get my hands on a digital camera (I won't be purchasing one until I have a better idea of my hours at work this summer) I will get Leboe to pose with it. I was really worried it was going to irritate his skin (hence the jersy) but he wore it all day at work today and so far so good!

Jenn made bran muffins while I was at work, and they were ready right when I came home, and let me ask you... is there anything better than coming home to a house full of yummy smells and eating a piping hot bran muffin with raspberries in it? Is there? I think not! Sisters rule.

So, what do you think?

I want this soooooooo badly.

Update: nevermind. Don't want it anymore.

Holy Fast Shipment Amazon!

So I ordered a book on Amazon last week, I think it was Wednesday or something, and today I see a mailpost van in the driveway and I run out all excitied cause I'm like... wheee! My book! Now, it is a big book, around 11 " by 11" approx, but the box this guy is holding is huge! So I just think, oh, it's a wedding prezzie for Jenn, and it does say Amazon on the side, but Jenn's gotten Amazon presents already so nothing new. Anyhoo, I get the box, and my name is on it! It's my book! My obviously incredibly fragile book because it was packed in a huge box with those massive air filled ziploc bags. Now, there was also a newspaper like thingie about books in my order, so maybe that was why, but nevertheless, I got my book! It's the one I raved about earlier, Module Magic by Ginger Luters.

And I'm doing good about not buying yarn. I had to get the mohair in order to finish my shawl since I ran out but otherwise so far so good. I read this article in knitty and it made me think about my growing yarn stash. I also started knitting with the yarn I bought at The Never Ending Yarn and it is esquisite! (is that word correctly spelled?) I want a digitial camera. So bad. I may go down to london drugs and hold a few today. Oh, and with all my yarn that I have left over from other projects I'm knitting little squares and such and going to put in into a horridly mismatched afghan one day. I'm very excited.

In other news, I have another five days off in a row but I do believe this is the last time for the summer, which is good, detailing I want to buy an ipod as well as a camera. I have no big goals this week, except to get out and walk everyday.

In other news, for the first time in my life, I drank beer. Two cans people, two cans! It only took me about four hours as well.

Well, I'm off to have a cheese sandwich. The kitties have finally quieted down but detailing all the noise they were making while I was writing this blog I also need to go put the rugs back in their proper places (instead of all smooshed into the wall) and possibily pick up some of the dishes I just washed off the floor. Sigh. Kitties.

I thought up a really good title last night but now I have forgotten it

Heh, so Monday I had a freaky productive day. Freaky I tell you! It was kinda my first day at home because I worked on Saturday and Sunday (yup, got into town on the bus at 6am and worked at 2pm, so not that bad). I am completely redoing my room and so far, I really like it. I also have gone through all my laundry and my closet and getting rid of some clothing and went through a tonne of schoolwork and have a box of paper to be recycled. I also (this is still Monday) went downtown and did some banking and this time nobody asked me to sell crack for them! I bought some organization doohickeys, like a massive CD booklet so I can stop using up bookshelf room for piles of CD cases, an extension cord so I can have a light by my bed (I hate it when you are reading in bed and you get all tired and you have to get out of bed in order to turn off the light- I lead a difficult life) and I tried in vain to get my christmas lights in working order but so far it just doesn't work (the only way I can have them where I want is to have a whole bunch of cords right above my head at night and I'm not overly keen on that idea). And I put away dishes and bought a swiffer duster! And how I dusted indeed! I also started the vast task of reorganizing my bookshelves (they will be arranged into books I have read and the ones I haven't and then in alphabetical order). I also realized I have ENOUGH knitting pattern books (for awhile at least), well, except for the module magic one that I just ordered on Amazon, but I had no module books so. I also finished my triangle shawl, which got a little upsetting because I ran out of yarn and so my last triangle is shorter than the rest because I decreased more frequently in an attempt to not run out of yarn and the last bit of the triangle is a different yarn, but still angora goat so you can't really tell. The shawl is actually also more of a shrug , much shorter than I wanted (and expected) so I'm taking it with me to my favorite yarn store to talk to Darlene about what to do. Jenn has a good idea to take a contrasting yarn and add long extensions to either side. So that was Monday!
Okay, background rant here to fill you in on explaining my Tuesday, because during the schoolyear when I spent a long time either on the nitendo, playing sims, playing the computer, or watching TV, blah blah, I would always feel really crappy afterwards, so I didn't want to do that anymore. HOWEVER, if I have a crazy productive day the day before, and I'm careful to insert little productive things throughout, I can have a day where I goof off and live guiltfree! On Tuesday, I played so much sims! So much! And Sims is also better than TV because I get so much more out of it. My major Sims family, the first one I started on Sims2, and the only one I have a storybook photo album made up for, just had their third baby (a boy) and the twin girls are only 4 days away from adulthood! (I am such a dork, I embrace that). I also did the dishes, some more laundry, the kitty litter, and the garbage yesterday, and then, Jenn and I went out for Greek! OHMYGOODNESS! I am so going back there! Not only was the dinner amazing (I don't know if I can ever have calamari anywhere else now!) but the dessert was to die for!
So now it is Wednesday, and I'm a tad tired because I woke up at 5am, and accidently woke up the kitties too, which normally would mean Spike would keep me up, but he was tired and just went into the living room to sleep, so Chuck decided to take over. He actually bit me! Chuck! I was so ready to just open Jenn's door and push him in there. He also started attacking a plastic case that some of my knitting needles come in, and when he hits it, it makes this loud pop noise and he was just smacking it and runnning away and peeling out then running back and hitting it and running away....
Anyhoo, my rambling, rambling, rambling post of the day. I'll let you know how that shawl turns out.
Prend soin!

Update: okay, I just read this on my blog, and realized I am a complete spazhead

Big Wuss

so despite the fact that I have no problem going back home and home is where my kitty is, and my sister and my knitting and my books and lots of my friends and all other stuff that I really do like mucho, I just looked up when my bus leaves tonight and I'm now all upset and weepy and don't want to pack and mopey. I'm so going to cry at the bus stop.

I am such a baby.

Pizza pops for breakfast? Okay!

Can you tell I am at my parents? I have done lots of marvellous things since arriving, all of them stress free. Mostly though, I've done lots of knitting and lots of reading about knitting. Module Magic by Ginger Luters is excellent! I've also flipped through Unexpected Knitting by Debbie New, which is good and interesting and all, I just find it a little... preachy. Has anyone else read that one? So I decided to use my hand spun hand dyed 100% angora goat for the first time I've ever knitted using modules. After I started I was like... this was not a good idea; however, so far, no mistakes to speak off. I am very tired, I started this post quite awhile ago but have know chatted on the phone for an hour and have found myself quite fatigued. I will write more about my fabulous time at home but just quickly list some of the fun stuff I have done (cause I like lists)

• Went for a walk with Mom
• Finished two of the three 'cousin' scarves
• Bought vintage knitting magazine for quarters!
• Gone shopping at the good ol' mall here and got pretty pretty shoes for work (easter present)
• watched Lord of the Rings trilogy (the first two on TBS but the third was rented)
• helped Mom with some of her teacher stuff
• eaten tonnes of good food (like cookies and easter bunnies and pizza pops) and eaten tonnes of good food (like squash and corn and baked veggies and homemade veggie chili and veggie lasagna)
• played the original sims (heh)
• went to a local restaurant/pub with a dear friend and had lots of fun drinks (remind me to tell you about the orgasm story)
• not once have I slept in past 9 am!
• Had lots of coffee at the most wonderful coffee cafe ever
• Went to the yarn store and bought 30$ worth of yarn for only 16$ and resisted (just barely) buying a 75$ set that included hand spun fingering weight wool dyed candy soft pink in smooth and in loopy (I lack knowing the proper name or title of this yarn) from NS

And now, even though I'm sure I've forgotten lots of things, I retire. Bonne nuit!

Well... guess I'm done

Wow, that was possibly the longest four months of my life. When I think back to January and going to my first week of classes it seems like it was a lifetime ago. So in January...

• Going have my graduation requirements done by August
• Applying for the UNBC september education program
• volunteering at a school twice a week
• Presenting in PsycOut.
• Had a good friend 'X'
• Had a major crush on 'R'
• Freakishly unhappy and prone to nervous breakdowns

And now....

• Taking another year to grad
• Taking the summer off
• Going to apply for this university but hopefully get into UBC or UVIC education program
• Thankfully, due to dropping my methods course, I did not have to present at PsycOut
• Said friend X now acts like a total spaz when they even see me in the hallway
• Major crush was a major letdown and is now a good acquaintance
• still prone to nervous breakdowns but much, much happier

So yeah, my last exam was a good way to end the saga of the winter 06 semester since it was probably the HARDEST exam I have ever taken. I mean, eeeeeeevil. Evil. However, I'm pretty sure I passed, and like I stated before, I just needed to pass to get a C- so let's keep our fingers crossed people!

Now that school is over (for a bit at least), I'm going to have to define my angst with something else. I really don't go for that whole tortured artist crap, so are there angsty knitters? Who rage against the machine by knitting scarves for their cousins? In fun fur? That sparkles? Wheeeee! Maybe I'll just lay the teenage angst to the side and see what just happens. Maybe I'll just be angsty again and then we will know that it's innate. Maybe I actually have a cheerful and charming personality under all this school stress. Meh. I need people to give me books to read (well, the titles of books to read, or if they really want, they can give me books too) over the summer! I'll find my started list at home and blog that soon. I'll probably blog more. Heh. Blogging is cool.

Tata! I am off to lead my school-less life for awhile! Wish me luck!

Wikimeme (from bettie)

Enter your birthdate into wikipedia and list three events, two births, and one death.

December 25th:

Events

• 274 - Roman Emperor Aurelian has a temple dedicated to Sol Invictus on the supposed day of the solstice and day of rebirth of the Sun.
• 1939 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is introduced by Montgomery Ward stores.
• 1987- In one of the highest-rated episodes in Coronation Street history, Hilda Ogden leaves her home of 23 years to be a char to her doctor in the country.
  

Births

• 1667 - Ehrengard Melusine von der Schulenburg, Duchess of Kendal and Munster, English royal mistress (d. 1743)
• 1674 - Thomas Halyburton, Scottish theologian (d. 1712)

Death

• 1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889)

And even though I wasn't tagged, I'm going to tag Eileen, Podgy, and Helen!

~Pips & Giggles~

Wheeee! I made a math error today that has in turn made me happy! I thought I need 61% on my final in order to get a C- in Biology but it turns out I only need a 49% to get a C-, so who knows, maybe I get higher than a C-! Like a C or something! Wow, how far have my standards fallen! I'm so excited about this that I can't stop thinking and writing in exclamation marks!

Moral of the story: NEVER take biology. Ever. As well, Adrienne and Jodi are completely mad. That is the only way anyone could ever take introduction biology and continue on. Don't get me wrong, I still respect you two and everything. You are just both stark raving mad.

Moral of the day: do not drink three cups of strong coffee (espresso strong) in under two hours cause your tummy will hurt for the rest of the day.

Moral of the hour: maybe I shouldn't be making smart-ass comments about my intelligent friends, cause I may need to borrow money off them one day or something.

Also, don't eat the hummus!

In other news....

I cannot make myself study any more, and I went to do dishes but the water is too hot so I figured that was a sign to go blog. In all fairness to school, detailing my lack of caring and studying for my courses, I'm doing pretty well. I'm getting fine grades in my two psych courses and so far, I passed my biology lab section (just found out this morning, sooooo happy) and I need 41% on the final to pass the lecture section so I'm aiming high for a 50%! Seriously though, trying to study 29 tediously long chapters is just so... tedious. Hm. My vocab is dissolving at an alarming rate. I should get these guys to write my blog entries from now on.
On the knitting front, I have finished two projects without starting any new ones (I was starting to accumulate a lot of projects) and I could finish another one soon if it wasn't for a major screw up that has got me all gloomy about it. I only have to frog it about 12 rows and at 22 stitches wide that's really no big deal but unfortunately the yarn is a mesh of yarns including mohair which is going to make that task freaking hard. I'm going to what till Mom can help me in case I panic halfway through and can't go on. I just finished my wristband that I knit for my friend Leboe, it is suppose to be 8 and a half inches long (his wrist is 7 and a half inches wide but I added an inch for the clips) so anyhoo, I'm knitting this thing on tiniest needles (1.75 mm) and I'm knitting it widthwise (?), so basically cast on 100 some odd stitches and knit I dunno, I think 30 rows, then cast off.... it's 10 and a half inches long. I mean seriously! What is up with this? I can never do my own stuff because I don't trust my knitting! I did a swatch! I measured it, I computed the stitches into the measurements and it's not suppose to do that! grrrrr. I think, however, it may not just be evil yarn, I only cast on 30 stitches for my swatch which came up to about two inches or something, so maybe I should always knit a 4 inch swatch when doing my own patterns. Hm. Gr. So basically, there is two inches of knitting that had need not be done and I hope the overlap isn't going to make the wristband look stupid. The skull and crossbones turned out great though. Maybe I can get a picture of Leboe wearing it sometime and blog it. I'm trying to make it curl less right now and the pins I'm using are all sorts of colours and they look skittles.
Well, I'm sure the dish water has cooled enough by now (the trick is not to wait till it gets cold and unuseable). I have so many chores to do. It looks like a clothing bomb went off in my room, and don't even get me started on the papers I need to go through for recycling. I'm going to start my double knitting scarf tonight! (it's funny because you would think I would have all these social things to do since it is the end of school, but I think because of all the study groups and so on, I am so sick of people right now). I also want to dye my hair tonight.

so the best thing ever!

this was the first result of me putting my name in here and those who know me know why this is so excellent! Mwahaha!

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Leone!

1. Only twelve people have ever set foot on leone!
2. Women shoplift four times more frequently than leone.
3. Influenza got its name because people believed the disease was caused by the evil "influence" of leone.
4. Leone is 984 feet tall.
5. In the 1600s, tobacco was frequently prescribed to treat headaches, bad breath and leone!
6. The opposite sides of leone always add up to seven.
7. Finding leone on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck!
8. Long ago, the people of Nicaragua believed that if they threw leone into a volcano it would stop erupting.
9. 68 percent of all UFO sightings are by leone.
10. Some birds use leone to orientate themselves during migration.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Motivate me!

I have had a very productive morning, just not necessarily schoolwork wise, though I did go to one of my classes! I also got groceries, went for a walk, talked to some friends, got smallpox, and figured out another xmas present! So now I have to do some schoolwork, I have a final on Friday and another one on the following Thursday (the 13th, how appropriate). So I've decided to make a list of things I would rather be doing than studying (now the question is do I put blogging on the list, because I already am, so would that just be redundant?) I like making lists. And after making this list, I'm going to do three hours of study, probably interrupted by eating at one point, but yeah. Then I get to do something fun for a bit, than hopefully another two hours, that would be key. My expectations of schoolwork are so low, and I find that quite funny.

• Finish baby blanket
• Email my katima-friends
• Make up list of home improvements
• Finish Monkey Beach (book)
• Go for another walk
• See if a friend wants to go for sushi
  
• Put away laundry in room
• Watch more of simpsons season seven on DVD (wheee for Jill!)
• Work some more on my painting (and yes Helen, it is watercolour with black pen detailing and it's on watercolour paper and I used the booger stuff like Jenn said)
  
• Do the dishes (seriously, I would rather do housework!)
• Tae bo
• Dye my hair

And now away I go to study some psychology of learning (HA!) and some biology too. Tata!