mystery

It's almost 11:30pm and I was dead asleep. Someone knocked at the front door. Even the dog woke up and he doesn't wake up for much after ten.

However, I am now very confused because not only was there no one at the door, but the motion detection lights were not on and all the neighboring houses were also dark. There is only one possible way for someone to get to the front door without triggering motion lights and no one was there. Believe me I went to check. There weren't even giggling kids anywhere around the street--the night is cold and clear enough to be able to hear them anywhere around.

I thought it might have been a neighbor in an emergency...but no. No one was there.

Saturday...in the dark (no, it's not the 4th of July)

Terribly sorry for that sad-sack reference to "Saturday in the Park" by Chicago...it just popped into my head. I was looking out the office window at almost 7:30am on a Saturday morning and it was pitch black outside. I couldn't even see the maple tree in the front yard. Of course this could have more to do with my lack of glasses than darkness...


Moon Report: 40% of full. waxing crescent.

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.

--Dorothy Parker

On a Saturday! What a pity in midwinter dark that I should be up and around before 7am. Isn't there some law of Midwestern hibernation? But no. I was wide awake. So I have been snerting around on the web. Here's what I found:

1. A funny brainworm...

2. Today's Poem from the Writer's Almanac

3. My friend Melissa's blog: Whimsy. [Hiya M!]

4. My secret science addiction

That's as far as I got before I posted here. I'm sure I'll get on to Ravelry soon...but that place is a mammoth zone for eye candy. Once you're in, you lose track of space and time. I was sucked in for four hours yesterday without even realizing it.

Would you look at that...pink sunlight through all the grey gloom of cloud. Morning is here!

Lazy Friday...

Moon Report: 33% of full. waxing crescent.

I know that the language of my passion

and the language of my art are not the same thing.

--Jeanette Winterson, Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery

So, again I am back to writing. Not writing as blog, but writing as actual pen on paper writing. I forgot how much I loved it. I forgot how much I love the story, the characters. It has been a homecoming--scratching pen on paper and inky fingers with doodles for figuring out how things work.

It's nearing three and I have yet to eat lunch (or breakfast for that matter). My tummy is rumbling. However, I think I am going to pack it down to the local grocery store where they have an enormous salad bar. Something green and leafy is what my body is screaming for. I think I've overdone it with all the squash I've eaten lately. The green beans I had yesterday just didn't cut the craving. Every once in a while I just need a gigantor salad filled with spinach and endive and garbanzos and peppers and carrots and celery and sunflower seeds and mandarin oranges and cottage cheese. Yum. [I'll be able to get most of this out of my own garden this summer!]

*****

Although I'd heard of it before, I stumbled on to this site a few days ago and joined: Ravelry. This is a knitting/crochet community where you get to see what patterns people have developed on their own or the projects they created with found/purchased patterns. Believe me, there is TONS of inspiration and lots of cool people to meet! It does take them a few days to add people so join the queue. I think they add a set number of people at a time as to not crash their system.

Ok, so my sweater has been postponed for a bit. I found a toe-up sock tutorial on WetCanvas! by BeeBlueFern. This is a great lesson and I'm half done with my first sock...meaning I'm about at the heel. We'll see how we get on... [Sorry about slipping into a first person plural. I may have had a Queen Elizabeth I moment.]

I've been trying to work my sweater in moss stitch, but it isn't looking right. I think I am pulling my thread too tight and it isn't leaving the "seed" visible. Although better than my first attempts at a granny square (which, by the way, looked like it was chewed by weasels), it still leaves much to be desired. I'll see if loosening my stitches will ease the problem. Or maybe it will come back after being blocked? I don't know...

At the Beginning

Welcome to 2009.

May your visit be extraordinary.

*****************************

Moon Report: 24% of full. waxing crescent.

One's real life is so often the life

that one does not lead.

--Oscar Wilde

Although not earth shattering, my goals for the upcoming year will bring me great joy.

1. To write 1000+ words a day.

Although I may not always hit the word goal, it will be important to at least meet the words at the page.

2. To plan and execute a garden.

I will plant a garden this spring filled with greens, beans, squash, and other goodies. I'm even going to grow a passel of sunflowers. So, come late July and into October, I'll be sweating and canning and eating and freezing and cooking until I drop. I'll have my own grocery store by the end of it all...

3. To read through (at least part) of my "To Read" book stack.

These books have been piling up for years and I don't read as often as I should. I put a kibosh on buying new books last year and have yet to catch up. So as I read one, I'll review it and cross it off the list.

and now, enjoy...

The End

Well, we've hit the end to another year. It seemed to run by pretty quick--or maybe that's just because of all the craziness.

Wrapin' Up:

1. Election End!

Holy crap the whole thing is finally over! I swear it felt like the race started just after Jr. won a second term. The campaign ads were driving me batty and the news kept talking and talking over the same damn things for years. Personally, I think they should limit the time to run for public office to a year. Anyone intending to run for a major post (House, Senate, or President) should not announce their intentions until the week after election day the preceeding year. So, if one intended to run in 2008, it could not be announced until Monday after election day in 2007. That way the news and all the talking heads wouldn't have YEARS to run endlessly over the same information.

2. Obama.

I am very glad we have elected a President who is well-spoken and well-educated. Everyone makes a big deal because he is African American--I could care less if he were purple with polka dots. Obviously, it is a great statement of achievement for African Americans as a whole. However, I would argue that his election is an achievement for America. He is able to bring everyone to the table to talk in a rational manner rather than just mowing them down by labeling them "Un-American". Bully politics does not make anyone popular or effective. Working with all sides to find a solution is helpful and goes a long way toward spreading goodwill.

3. Intolerance.

This year has been filled with stories from everywhere about intolerance. I don't care who you are or how you believe in God. I do care when actions are designed to say to a population or group that they have no right to exist. The whole michegaas in the Middle East involving not only Hamas and Israel, but the whole area--if religion were ignored, could there be an easing of tensions? Couldn't they sit down and discuss what would help the region as a whole?

And to everyone who has voted this year on making same-sex marriage illegal, shame on you. What does it matter what people do behind closed doors? Perhaps someone could look at your life and find it also unacceptable. Who are you to judge? Who are you to make someone else live life according to your personal values?

4. Notable Passings.

CBS listings

Those listings have neglected:

Robert Prosky, actor. Dec. 8.
Harold Pinter, playwright. Christmas Day.
Eartha Kitt, singer. Christmas Day.
Freddie Hubbard, jazz trumpet. Dec. 29.

May they and their families find peace.

5. Interesting Diversion.

I just heard about Same Time 7:15 on NPR as I was waking up. This group has been taking photos of their life at 7:15pm each night for a year. Today will be their last photo. However, you can see the archives of this year posted on their site. Some of the pictures are funny, some mundane (like our own lives), and some heartwarming. Go check it out!

6. Joy and Merriment.

Father Ted

Vicar of Dibley

7. Happy New Year.

The tree man came and lopped off the two branches that were threatening to rip apart the wild cherry tree in the back yard. It took him about twenty minutes. But now any twisting wind or ice storm won't crack the tree in half and take out the fence or septic tank. Woohoo!

After a weekend warm up to 60 (and total snow melt with subsequent flooding), we had several sunny days in the upper 30s. But last night, the lake effect snow machine kicked in. We've got about an inch and it is again gently falling. C'est la vie...

I wish everyone who reads this a lovely and gorgeous New Year's Eve. I also wish you a wonderful and healthy 2009 filled with great friends and family, kind words, and joyous events.