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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
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I thought this had been a pretty good weekend until this morning.
I haven't told a lot of people, and I can't really figure out the best way to say this, other than to just say it. My mom called me this morning to let me know that my grandmother died yesterday. And while this might sound weird, I think I'm more relieved than sad. I went through the whole sadness thing more than 2 years ago after her surgery when I found out that she was in a vegetative state. Now I'm just glad that it's all over. Though I do feel guilty about not being sad (it's a vicious circle).
Anyhow, that's all really. If I seem a little out of this week, that's why. I'm flying back to Chicago for the wake and funeral either Wednesday or Thursday (I have no idea when yet, which is driving me crazy). Hopefully I can get back to my regular routine once I return on Sunday.
- Lizzardie, at 12:00 AM
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Thursday, February 16, 2006
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No picture to post today. I'll try and take new pictures this weekend, promise. :-)
I've been rather out of it lately. I've felt like I'm dragging all week - just really lethargic. I can't bring myself to go to bed at night, even though I'm not doing anything. And I can't bring myself to get going in the morning, even though I'm not doing anything. Which, uhh, makes the rest of the day difficult as well. I'm hoping to switch things up tonight. Make dinner (simple omelet), clean up (not too bad because I actually did dishes Tuesday), talk a walk, watch some TV/knit (this is every night), take a shower, go to bed. It's so nice out - I wanted to go for a walk yesterday but there was poker, so I didn't (poker, btw, was difficult, too - I was doing reasonably well - tied for third/came in fourth, depending on how you look at it - but I just wasn't into it - it was really stressful to try and play well). I wonder if maybe exercising again would help with the fatigue, but the weather is so fickle this time of year, and usually not in a good way.
I have managed to beef up my music collection recently, which has been fun. In addition to the new music from my coworker (which is sorta what brought on the desire for more music) I recently purchased some Weezer, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, The White Stripes, The Bravery, Ben Harper and Fiona Apple. It's all loaded onto my iPod now and I even figured out how to make an On-the-Go playlist (just had never bothered to learn how before). Ohh, and I bought Season 1 of Grey's Anatomy yesterday ($17 at Best Buy - I couldn't resist even though I hate Best Buy). So I'll probably watch, well, all of that this weekend.
Hopefully I will do other stuff, though, too. Harvard at Cornell hockey game this weekend and it's being shown on TV, so there's a possibility of going to a Cornell Young Alumni thing to see it. And I'm getting my hair done (it's been 3 months and I have serious roots).
I have also been obsessed with the idea of making a sweater lately. I've found a great pattern, and I think I'm going to use Wool-Ease to make it the first time (because it's inexpensive but also wearable). However, I promised myself that I'd finish my current projects before I started something new (also promised myself that I'd use the yarn I have before I buy new yarn, but whatever - scarves are getting dull and I need something to shake things up a bit). I'm entirely done with one of the four, in the process of felting the second, and more than halfway done with the third. The fourth is just a garter stitch scarf, so I figure once I finish the third I'm golden, and hopefully that will also be this weekend.
Can you tell I'm procrastinating doing actual work? Need to get back to that, so that I can actually have some things done by the end of the week (tomorrow, yikes!).
- Lizzardie, at 2:54 PM
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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
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Another sunrise picture from my Florida vacation! It's like I didn't sleep while I was there.
I really need to take new pictures. And start leading a more interesting life.
Anyhow, a short anecdote, sorta. My coworker Elly just returned from a trip to Chicago (she went to Northwestern - she actually was supposed to return on Sunday but got snowed in until Monday - we're going to have to stop using that excuse around here, since I've already used it before). As I do whenever anyone I know goes to Chicago, I told her to bring back something that you can only get there (I find this request amusing, though I'm sure it's lost on most people - I don't really NEED something from Chicago, because I can always get it myself the next time I'm there, and it's the only place other than Ithaca that I go with any sense of regularity). She brought me back a pen that says Wrigley Field on it. :-)
Also, she brought in what she referred to as lollipops. I then referred to them as suckers, and she laughed. I then explained that what she brought in are suckers, and the "big ones" are lollipops, to which she exclaimed that her friends from school say the same thing, so I guess it's a regional quirk thing. Anyhow, for those of you who might care, here is the difference:
Sucker: any hard candy on a stick where you can fit the entire piece of candy in your mouth (and suck on it - hence the name). They are usually spherical, but not always. DumDums, Blowpops, Chupa Chups, etc... all fit into this category.
Lollipop: any hard candy on a stick that is too big to fit in your mouth. "As big as your head" is a reasonable lollipop size (okay, maybe smaller than that). They are usually (but not always) flat and have been made by spiraling a long cylinder-shaped piece of candy. They are often found at amusement parks.
Wikipedia says lollipop and sucker can be used interchangeably, but they lie. At least they give credit to my side of the debate. :-)
Anyhow, I've totally run out of things to say. This isn't surprising to me, because I've taken to spending significant time doing NOTHING. Like, sitting on my couch, not looking at things on the internet, doing nothing. Before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning. And then I'm TIRED. I should really cut out this time and sleep more. It would probably help my productivity.
- Lizzardie, at 11:30 AM
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Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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I was going to do another rant on the stupidity of Valentine's Day, but then I remembered that I've already done that. So instead, I will wish Phi Sigma Pi a Happy 90th Birthday/Anniversary/whatever. This picture was taken nearly 5 years ago (May 6th, 2001) and shows my initiate class (Xi Class) right after Induction.
And I guess Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who thinks it's a good holiday. Blech.
Nothing much to say really. Ohh, I guess there's this: Dan gave me 47 songs that have been featured on Alias (why 47? Watch the show). Turns out that they have poor ID tags, and so iTunes took the liberty of naming them things like "Track 13" (in fact, there are 3 Track 13's) and moving them from the folder I had them in. Annoying. So now, I first have to match 47 songs with the proper artist and title (Dan gave me a screenshot of his directory), and then rename all of the songs. This is one of the first times I've been truly annoyed with iTunes. Damn you, Apple.
All right, back to my Valentine's sulking (and working).
- Lizzardie, at 1:29 PM
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Monday, February 13, 2006
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I don't know what church this is. :-) It's visible from the MFA T-stop, and that's about as much as I know. It's also near Northeastern University. And I only know it's a church because of the cross at the top. I don't know why I took the picture, and it's fuzzy at that. I blame the migraine I had at the time of the shot, right before I got on the train. And I'm only posting it because I'm running out of pictures to post.
This weekend was the perfect weekend. And I did absolutely nothing! :-D It did get off to a bad start.... I had sorta put off getting gas for my car, until it turned out it was too late - I ran out of gas while driving home Friday night. Sigh. Luckily, it was near Teele Square, which in addition to being within walking distance of my apartment is within walking distance of a gas station. And I keep an empty gas can in my trunk (wonder why....). I did get home, though, and caught most of the Arrested Development finale. Then I watched Wedding Crashers with Jamie and one of her old coworkers. Saturday I had to buy groceries and actually fill up my car with gas, but otherwise, I prepared to bunker down for the big blizzard. I cleaned my room, watched Gilmore Girls with Jamie and cooked some food (and knit, but that's usually a given, even Friday night). Sunday, though, was actually the perfect day. I got up at noon, ate breakfast food for most of the day (coffee, omelet with ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses as well as grape tomatoes and roasted red peppers, Belgian waffles that Jamie made from scratch and mimosas), never got dressed, knit, watched Gilmore Girls, did a little bit of laundry and just enjoyed being inside while it snowed outside (18 inches in all, which is actually not that bad to me, but ranks 11th on the list of snowstorms in Boston - strange).
Other good things... my coworker Elly gave me an electronic copy of the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack (among other music). And, other than the second song which is weird and out of place, I absolutely love it. So Friday, Saturday and even last night, I ended my day by turning off the TV, listening to the soundtrack and knitting (Saturday night there was also wine, which made it even better). That is my idea of the perfect way to end a night. One of the things that I always loved about staying up so late was being up, by myself, when it's quiet and still. And while it was only for an hour, and it wasn't even that late, I felt like I had a little of that again. The CD isn't even that happy, more contemplative, but it's what I want, maybe need right now. Maybe that will become my bedtime ritual.
- Lizzardie, at 2:04 PM
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Thursday, February 09, 2006
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Found in Salem. Dan read off the description and I think he said it was some fountain (which is clearly not on during the winter because that would be silly). I think it looks like pi.
It is Thursday morning and I am not hungover! I had my usual 2 gin&tonics last night at the bar (where, by the way, I won the poker tournament for the 5th time, reclaiming sole possession of the "most wins" "title"). And no, there wasn't massive quantities of water when I got home. I had a glass of water, watched LOST and knit for awhile. Before bed, I took 2 Excedrin PMs, and if that did the trick, I'm doing that every night. It's nice to come into work feeling okay. It's not nice to not sleep just because you've had a few drinks.
I think my goal for the Knitting Olympics (finish the four projects I'm working on in the next 17 days without starting a new one - no, I'm not actually entering) is going to be difficult. My fingers are already itching to cast on a few different projects, pondering whether they require new yarn or needles, etc... I'm hoping that maybe soon I'll relax a little and not feel the need to knit so much. But the thing is that it's relaxing and I think I need that right now.
Anyhow, time for work. Maybe.
- Lizzardie, at 9:55 AM
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Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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Emilee's scarf. Her birthday was Monday and she's now 9 years old (yikes!). Since she called on Monday to thank me for the scarf, I can now post a picture of it (not that she's reading this, but I think it's a courtesy to not post pictures of presents, homemade or not, before they are given and received).
Pattern: Edgar from Knitty.
Needles: US 10.5 (Yes, this is different from the pattern)
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Blush Heather (1 skein) and N.Y. Yarns Spike in Lt. Pink 04 (2 skeins).
While the picture hasn't been posted yet (for reasons I'll state when I finally do post a picture), I've already made one of these, which is why I felt okay with modifying the pattern. It's a good pattern for that, given that it's a scarf, and I think it could be made with just about any yarn in just about any gauge. Even though I used needles 3 times larger than were called for, I didn't feel the scarf ended up too big. As you might be able to see, the Spike has this cool affect where it "stripes" between being eyelash yarn and being smooth. I didn't realize this until I actually started knitting with it, but I like the affect. The Wool-Ease was for some structure and warmth (9-year-olds don't exactly use scarves for impractical purposes).
Emilee said it was "cool" and that she was wearing it while I was talking to her, so I'm glad it was a good present. She doesn't like "soft" things like velour, so I was a little worried, but all for naught, I guess.
Anyhow, yesterday ended up being a not great day (as predicted). By mid-afternoon, I was having hot and cold flashes and well as fatigue, nauseau and generally achiness - I went home at 2. After falling asleep while watching Gilmore Girls, I felt much better, though not 100%. I did manage to sleep a good amount last night, too. Ohh, and what did I do once I woke up from my nap yesterday? I made homemade crutons. I don't why I do such strange things sometimes.
Today's excitement has consisted of my tea order arriving. I know I can just buy loose tea from Someday Cafe or from 1369 (if I was ever near there anymore) but I'm lazy and so I ordered online. On the plus side I got these nifty green air-tight canisters to store it in. I got Dragon Phoenix Pearl Jasmine, Jade Pillar Green and Vanilla Rooibos. For now, I'm keeping them at work, but I may put in an order to have a few canisters at home. My coworker thinks the Jade Pillars look like joints. Also, if the Vanilla Rooibos isn't as addicting as Someday's Rooibos, I'm just going to have to buy from there because that stuff is AMAZING.
All right, back to work.
- Lizzardie, at 12:08 PM
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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
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Ohh, I'm not entering the Knitting Olympics. I'm just not at the point where I feel like I can start a new project for Friday - I'd much rather finish all of the projects I currently have. Maybe I'll make my Olympics goal to finish the 4 projects I have right now (I think it's 4) and only start a new one if those do get finished. And no new yarn.
- Lizzardie, at 11:29 AM
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My nativity scene finally from Florida yesterday, so I'm posting a picture of it. It was one of the things I'd asked for this year for Christmas - there are 10 pieces and the tallest one is 11 inches. I have no idea where I'm going to put it, but I have more than 9 months to decide that, I suppose.
Not much else to say. I'm posting early today because I can, I guess. Remember how I said yesterday that I'd slept through the night 4 nights straight? Well, I guess I expressed joy to quickly, because of course I had trouble sleeping last night. I've been up since 6ish (5am, really, but I stayed in bed until six), and I've done stuff I normally do when I'm awake - straighten up a little, knit, watch the news and now write this. It's always nice to get things done in the morning, but I definitely would have preferred sleep. I'm tired now and will most likely be feeling it all day.
Cat posted yesterday this Word Cloud thing. Now, normally I don't post that many quizzes/meme things, because I think it's kinda silly, unless I particularly like them. But I do often fill them out for my own enjoyment, particularly quizzes. So I was only planning on posting the Word Cloud if it was particularly cool. But it won't even give me one! I've waited and waited - I even let it compute overnight - and I got nothing. And it's not even their stupid servers, because I put another blog in just to see and it went right through. Stupid blog thing.
All right, that's all. Maybe I'll lay down for 20 minutes before showering/getting ready for work.
- Lizzardie, at 7:23 AM
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Monday, February 06, 2006
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I forgot that I liked the FedEx/Caveman commercial last night, which, among other things, had the following (almost) text:
"The package didn't get delivered."
"Did you use FedEx?"
"No."
"Then you're fired."
"But FedEx hasn't been invented yet!"
"Not my problem."
- Lizzardie, at 4:20 PM
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Dan and I passed this place in Peabody, MA, on our way to Salem the other weekend. Obviously, we had to stop on the way home to take a picture. Patrick said it's actually a chain, with several stores (at least I think he said that, I could be making it up).
This weekend was not the by myself doing nothing weekend but sleeping and watching tv and knitting weekend that I'd hoped for, but it was still pretty mellow and a good time. Kathy came over Friday night and we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (yes, I watched it again, I love it). We drank wine - the Dr. Loosen Reisling I'd bought a few weeks ago. Saturday, Kathy left but traded me my copy of Lost Season 1 for her copies of Gilmore Girls Seasons 1 and 2 - so I watched A LOT of Gilmore Girls this weekend. My roommate came home on Saturday, due to her boyfriend leaving for his snowboarding vacation, and she and I watched movies and Gilmore Girls and drank wine for most of the evening. Sunday, there was more Gilmore Girls for Jamie and me. We also spent 2 hours cleaning the apartment. My room and the bathroom still need some TLC, and there's some mopping to be done, maybe this weekend, but otherwise it looks really nice. And it was much-needed. Then we went over to Corinne's for the Super Bowl. The Magic Fridge commercial was the clear winner, with not a lot else striking me. It's been a disappointing football playoffs, but I can't expect my teams, Boston/New England or Chicago, to win every year.
Today has already been good for several reasons. The first is that I slept through the night for the 4th night in a row (yes, I'm like a young child). I attribute this to turning down the electric blanket (shut up, all of you). AND, my Massachusetts tax return was deposited this morning. :-D E-filing and direct deposit are my friends.
- Lizzardie, at 10:34 AM
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Friday, February 03, 2006
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Susan and Dan demonstrate just how tiny Kim's kitchen whole apartment is.
All right, this will be the last full update from last weekend. One of the bad things about telling your stories via one photograph a day is that, um, you can only tell your stories one photograph at a time and therefore one story at a time. No, that did not make any sense at all.
Anyhow, we got a late start on Saturday, but eventually made our way to the Museum of Fine Arts. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but it was the weekend week of deja vu. First I stayed home on Monday (which I did last year on the same Monday of the year) due to the snow. Then I wasn't feeling well (and I was sick last year). Then it snowed again on Wednesday (which, yes, happened last year). Then I had people telling me about the Wine Expo (which happened last year) and made me sad (but ha! I defied fate this year!). Then Dan came into town (same weekend as... all right, you get it). Anyhow, during Dan's visit last year we went to the MFA on Saturday, so I guess it's only appropriate that we went this year. I actually did not enjoy the visit as much this year. This was probably at least partly due to my love of Impressionism and the absence of one of my favorite Monets (Boulevard Saint-Denis, Argenteuil, in Winter). I also did not particularly enjoy the exhibit that made me want to go in the first place, Degas to Picasso: Modern Masters. The ticket is good for another visit, though, so I"ll probably go again this weekend (maybe on Sunday, before the Super Bowl, like I did last year!) to see some other exhibits. And to look at a NEW Impressionist painting that struck me (I think it was a Van Gogh, I'll have to report back).
The other bad thing about the museum was that it gave me a migraine. I think I just don't enjoy going to museums with other people - I like to take my time where I want and breeze through other areas, and not have to balance with others (no offense to Dan, Susan or Kathy). And it was SO HOT in there that I was ready to leave quite quickly.
After the museum we stopped by Susan's and then went to my place to get drugs and hang out before we headed to Kim's. I ended up having to lie down for about 45 minutes (and wouldn't let anyone turn on any lights while I was there) so I hope everyone understands that I really just wasn't feeling well. I was okay by the time we got to Kim's, though.
And how glad I am about that! Kim is a coworker of Susan's, who I have hung out with before. The sushi was amazing - she had great stuff, like shrimp and imitation crab and raw tuna and cucumbers and avocado - yummm. I never even went near the manicotti, though I hear that was good, too. I brought a bottle of Chianti (surprise, surprise), and we played more Apples to Apples (I love that game - I need to buy that game so that there can be even more Apples to Apples). It was nice to meet Susan's coworker, Gina, too, and her husband, Jay. They both were Cornell engineers (like Dan and Susan and Kim and myself! - Jeff and Kristen were the only non-Cornellians there, and Kathy and Kristen were the only non-engineers there). Thought opinionated, she was really nice. Afterward, Kathy had to go home, but Susan and Dan came back to my place and we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - another favorite of mine (LOVE Johnny Depp).
So that was the weekend (in three posts). There are more pictures, some of which I'm sure I'll eventually get around to posting. All in all, a good time - I'm glad Dan visited and he should visit more often (hint, hint) - or at least when it's warmer outside!
- Lizzardie, at 12:13 PM
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Thursday, February 02, 2006
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Happy Imbolc/Candlemas/Groundhog Day!
So I have finally moved pictures onto my computer, yay. The above picture was taken outside of the Salem Witch Museum, clearly, in Salem, MA. Dan had never been, and I really hadn't either, other than for Patrick's Halloween party which doesn't really count because the only reason was that he happens to live in Salem. Dan and I both felt that the Witch Museum had a clear agenda of converting us to the Wicca religion. They almost achieved their goal, but I think Dan and I managed to hold out. For more information on the day, see Dan's Livejournal. Also, the museum made me appreciate more the Gilmore Girls episode with the diorama.
Dan seems to have left out all of the treats we bought at the little European deli - Lebkuchen, poppy seed bread, dark Polish chocolate bar, and these Polish truffles, which were filled with coffee and cream (literally, one half coffee and one half cream filling), coconut (white chocolate coating), rum, hazelnut (with actual hazelnuts) and something called Advokat (or Advocat, I don't remember). If anyone actually knows what Advocat is, please let me know.
After our trip to Salem, we went back to my apartment for Alias/Red Bones/Apples to Apples. We also told everyone that we were now Wiccan Witches. My roommate, in the brief time that she was home, responded by saying that she could no longer live with me and that she was going to go and get her Rosary. Ahh, Catholicism. :-)
That night there was also some fun looking up names on the U.S. Census Bureau Genealogy website (this fun had actually started at work the day before). "Jones" is the 4th most common last name (up from 5th most common the last time I checked), while "Elizabeth" is the 5th most common female first name. I'm sorta disappointed that Jones is now 4th, because the only thing it had going for it was the 5/5 thing. Incidentally, "William," my dad's first name, is the 5th most common male first name, and his middle name, "David," is 6th. Also, "Herstine" does not seem to exist, despite Dan's insistence that he filled out census papers. Sure, Dan, we believe you. :-)
Ohh, and I now want incense. I've never been drawn to it before, but now it seems really cool. We lit one of the sticks Dan got in his new Gargoyle incense burner. We put it in the dining room, and after awhile, it had filled the whole living room with scent, which is so much more affective than candles. I shall have to find some (which should not be difficult with the types of shops that are in the area).
- Lizzardie, at 11:05 AM
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Wednesday, February 01, 2006
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I've been asked for an RSS feed for my blog. I'm having a little trouble setting that up (read: I haven't spent that much time trying), but I did create a Blogger Site Feed for it, which may or may not work for you: http://lizzardie.blogspot.com/atom.xml.
Let me know how it goes.
- Lizzardie, at 11:51 AM
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