right on right on

Brax,

Well, today I called up my dad and said, “Dad, I have officially quit my job to start my own business and be a writer. Does this terrify you?” And my dad, being an honest man, said, “Sorta.”

Well, it scares me some too, but here we are. Almost a year ‘til the book comes out, and I have no illusions that I’m going to make enough money to live on with writing and designing…that’s why the business (gulp), and it’s also why the crystal ball shows aprons and trays of food in my future. Unable to manage doing what other people tell me to do day in and out, I have invented a patchwork of ways to obtain money, none of which require me to get up very early if I don’t want to. Which I don’t.

I feel a little like a loose cannon here, but I knew I couldn’t make my life look how I wanted it to look—basically, knitting and writing all day—unless I really devoted myself to it, so that’s what I’m doing. Anyway, if need be I can always get a job. I think that, when it comes to risk-taking, sometimes people are more worried about telling people they failed than they are about the tangible consequences of failure. This whole thing fails? OK, I’ll just get a job. Whatev. I am pretty comfortable with risk. Anyway, for the moment, I’m happy as a clam.

I was a lot more frightened until the other night, when the Husband found out he got this awesome job. This job means he is doing exactly what he wants to do: he is a labor lawyer now. It’s the whole reason he went to law school, and he’d begun to think he wouldn’t be able to do it because of the scarcity of jobs. And now here we are, and he starts in June. This means he is very, very happy, and he has a bright future, and all the crappy crappy things we had imagined could happen if he didn't get a job soon ain't gonna happen.

I’m so happy he gets to do what he wants to do, and he’s not being forced to do something he hates in order to pay these loans off. On the selfish side, it also means that I’ll have health insurance. Thank heaven I married a lawyer, and not, as I imagined as a teenager, the drummer for a punk band.

So it is day 2 of unemployment, and I am trying to figure out the routine of being productive all on my own in my house. It is a very, very strange feeling. I am managing though.

Other than that? Let’s see. I went to the Nationals game. This may shock you but I’m not really into sports. However, baseball games are fun! I understand baseball better than any other sport, and the games are outside in nice weather and you can pay attention or not, and you can drink beer and eat fries. Also, you can knit. A lot of people knit at baseball games.

So when I was invited, I went. The Nationals have a new stadium which is within walking distance of my house and which is really nice. I mean really nice. It’s got about 50 food vendors, including Ben’s Chili Bowl. I totally ate some chili. Some delicious million dollar baseball chili. You can see the Washington monument from the stands, which is kind of cool.

So here I am knitting secret projects at the Nationals Game. We saw a grand slam!!

Also, we went to TR Island. I’d never been. There is a really big statue there.

Also there is a swamp preservation project thing there, and if anyone can tell me what this here funny swamp growth is, I’ll be pretty grateful.

These guys were all over the place in the swamp area. What do they be? They look like they’re out of the Dark Crystal or are possibly transplants from the Dagobah System.

And finally, while I still can’t show you my knits, I can pose this question: isn’t this one exciting pile?

Stay tuned for a full report from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! I'll be there all day tomorrow.
Bruce

Happy May Day!

Bruce,

I think it's definitely a good idea for us to start celebrating all the festivals on the Wheel of the Year. The wheel of the year is a series of 8 festivals, or "sabbats," spaced throughout the year. 4 of the festivals correspond with the equinoxes or solstices, and the other 4 fall somewhere around the halfway point between seasons:
Today happens to be May Day, or Beltane! Happy Beltane everyone! I don't know too much about it, but I know that celebrating May Day involves lots of flowers and bonfires. It is basically a big ol' fertility celebration. On May Day it is traditional to decorate your house or your neighbor's door with flowers, and that's the tradition the Maypole came from. People would also set up big huge bonfires after dark, and everyone would take home a little bit to light their hearth.
Being in separate cities, it's difficult to celebrate festivals that are centered around planting and harvests, of course. But next year you can bet we'll be lighting a bonfire! Of course, I'm reasonably certain that we will be able to celebrate the next festival, the summer solstice, together! We should start planning that feast now.
Last night, I was feeling kind of lazy on the dinner front, and bemoaning the fact that I didn't have ANY food in the house. Then, I checked the freezer again and realized I had a whole Quorn Roast!!! I was going to eat it at Christmas, but ended up being lazy and not making it. SOooo, I decided to make a delicious May Day Eve feast!
I cut up a bunch of potatoes and threw them in the ol' Dutch Oven (ha!) with olive oil, onions, and garlic cloves, and seasoned them with...I don't know, some seasonings. Then, I plopped that quorn roast right in there and baked the whole shebang for about 35 minutes at 400 degrees. (The roast calls for a higher temp and 5 more minutes. I didn't want my potatoes to overcook, so I half-assedly "thawed" the quorn roast by boiling it in the plastic for a few minutes. Things worked out just fine.)
Mmmmmm!!! Sadly, the only green vegetable I had lying around the house was a can of green beans. I Really need to buy groceries. But it still made for a pretty good feast.
LYLAS,
Brax

Bruce's news round up

Brax,

It’s another one of those days where I have opinions on a bunch of stuff in the news! Today there are two items of good news for animals and the environment! Nice! Good news! As usual, lots of all caps.

1) Wait, farm animals are animals too? Like a cat? Or a dog?



2) For months, the interior department has been putting off making a decision on whether or not polar bears are a threatened species. Like when I put off budgeting because I know I spent too much. I think their reasoning goes like this: “But…but…but…if the polar bear is a threatened species (and we can’t reasonably say it’s not) then we have to take action to protect them which means we have to actually do something about global warming! OH NO THAT WILL MAKE EXXON MOBILE SO MAD AND THEY SIGN THE CHECKS.”

Anyway, now this is happenin’. Thanks, judicial branch, for doin’ what you’re s’posed to do.



3) I don’t get what the big deal is about Miley Cyrus. I don’t know. I feel like I see way, way, way creepier shit than that all the time, like sexy-lingerie-wearing-dead-tied-up women on Law and Order and other crime shows, and honestly even the “Baby One More Time” video. It’s funny: when a woman is all dolled up and being sexualized, it is A-OK (Victoria’s Secret, Britney Spears at barely 18), but when they look kind of natural and regular and they’re being sexualized, it is TOTALLY CREEPY AND WRONG AND SOCIETY IS GOING TO HELL and OH MY GOD I AM SO OFFENDED (American Apparel ads, Miley Cyrus).

4) Reverend Wright: I’m not saying you’re wrong. I agree with some, maybe most, of what you said. But if you don’t shut your big mouth you are going to ruin our chances of having the most progressive president in decades, maybe ever. Oh my God, will you please shut up? Yesterday’s speech was about your big stupid ego, and nothing else, and you’re forcing Obama to keep talking about you, to defend himself because of you, when he needs to be focusing on getting elected and starting to clean up this abysmal, disastrous mess that we’re in. Do not ruin this for the world.

Ok, Karida says she has something awesome to show me, so I have to go look at it.

Later buddy!

Bruce

P.S. The awesome thing Karida had to show me was a delicious crab cake kind of thing only it was made of tofu and veggies, and I think it was genius and I'm going to try and make one at home.

Yes it's a good day....

Brucie,

I am a compulsive online deal-seeker. I also find that if I come across something awesome and super-sweet that is also a good deal, I have much less self-control than in an actual store. I find myself saying things like, "I can't afford NOT to buy this!"
Last week, after careful thought and consideration I decided to make a few purchases that I'm very excited about. And yesterday, I received two packages in the mail! Combined, they made yesterday a super day of package awesomeness!
First, I bought a record player!!!!!! I'm SO excited. It's a portable little tabletop dealie, and it can run on either a plug or batteries. It was $75 on Amazon, and it can apparently also hook up to your computer so you can transfer your records to mp3 format. I bought it because I didn't have a record player, but I am always finding awesome records for like $1 at the record store. Featured below is "You Ain't Woman Enough" by Loretta Lynn. I also went with this model because I found the idea of bringing along a record player on a picnic or yacht trip Wildly Romantic. Like in Sabrina. (It is downright shocking that I'm still single)

The second awesome package that arrived was my yarn for Labyrinth!!! I'm sooo excited for a project I can share on the blog....a non-classified project!

I'm doing that blue as the main color and white for the trim.

Here's a nice one for you from the "my cats are so freaking spoiled" file:

Have a lovely day, buddy. Hey, want to get some lunch on Friday?
Brax

Spring Has Sprung!

Brucie,

It is officially spring here in Ohio, the Heart-of-it-all. I went to Columbus last week on Business, and while driving through campus, I managed to catch a glimpse of one of the surest signs of nice weather: a nice, friendly game of Cornhole.(I know you can't see very well in the picture, but I swear that's what they're doing. If you look closely, you can see a sack in the air.) For those of you who are not from Ohio, cornhole is basically an outdoor game where you throw bags stuffed with feed corn at a big wooden box with a hole in it (see below). At Ohio State, where Bruce and I went to college, you can always find at least one game of cornhole going somewhere, from spring until...well, the end of the football season. It is the number one most favorite pastime of OSU frat boys, with yelling inappropriate things at the annual Take Back the Night march coming in a close second.


Hmmm, I guess sitting on the patio of the 4 Kegs bar (need I say more?) on the corner of 15th and High is their 3rd favorite pastime. Now....while I always thought this was a really simple game, the scoring is apparently very complex. Here is the wikipedia page all about it if you care to know. How on earth they manage to keep score while guzzling down all that Natural Light in plastic party cups is beyond me!

Okay, okay. I didn't post this blog JUST to make fun of frat guys. I also wanted to follow up on Bruce's Ch-ch-ch-changes post. (that was supposed to be David Bowie) MY big news is, I've decided to go back to school! Yeah, I'm crazy I know. I've decided that it is time for me to leave my job and my solitary life up in Toledo, and move back to Columbus. I hope to be attending Ohio State sometime soon...eventually getting a degree in nursing. Things! Happening! I'm very excited to a) finally know what I'm doing with my life, and b) live in the same city as Bruce!
And while it's true that while most of the knitting I've been doing has been for Brucie, I do have some big plans to start on the Labyrinth sweater from Stitch Diva - the short sleeved version. I plan on knitting it using Bamboo yarn from Southwest Trading Co. I'm VERY excited to be starting a new big project. Both in knitting and in actual life, I guess.

Hooray!
K Brax

stuff I like.

Brax,

I am a obviously a lot like Martha and a lot like Oprah. No, I guess I'm not on the list of the 5 richest women in the world (yet! I'll be the world's first alpaca billionaire, you'll see.). I am like Martha, though, in the sense that I am crafty and I like to drink. I am like Oprah in the sense that I like to read books and I share her desire to bring great books into the average American home.

An aside: I have had more than one person tell me that they hate Oprah's book club because they assume that it is full of stupid books. This could be called judging a book by its cover. Oprah's book club is essentially a collection of some of the best books of all time. Yeah, people only read them cause Oprah told them to. So? At least they do what Oprah says and not Rush Limbaugh or something. I have a little bit of a snob factor about it--I hate seeing the big "O" seal on Hurston or Steinbeck. But whatever, she's getting people who would be reading Danielle Steele or not reading AT ALL to read fucking Hurston and Steinbeck. So I'm just saying people should like Oprah's book club.

Anyway, so I'm like Martha and Oprah in those ways and probably some other ways, like I am pretty sure we all three like pie. And now, we have another thing in common, because today I am making a list of things I love.

Here they are.

1) Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky.


Oh dear Lord in Heaven, thank you for Baby Alpaca Chunky. I will never tire of knitting with it.

2) My pajamas. If you were to call me right now and ask to borrow my favorite outfit, I'd have to send you these jam pants. They are made of organic cotton. I pretty much put them on as soon as I walk in the door every night. On Sundays, I take them off long enough to walk to the market. Then as soon as I get home I put them back on. I wear them with a cotton baseball-style shirt. It's really soft. MAN I love my jams. I hate knitting with cotton, but holey moley, do I love cotton pajamas.

3) Bumble and Bumble Brilliantine.


It's awesome! It is this weird stuff that makes your hair all shiny and sort of tousled-looking. You have to be careful, though, because it's easy to use too much and go from "tousled" to "heavy." I love what it does to my hair, though.

4) Yarnmarket. They are fast, they are efficient, everything is in stock and ready to ship, the customer service is great, and they're in Ohio. Obviously, LYS is preferable, especially if you've never seen a yarn in person. But when you need a specific thing fast, especially something weird like a 40 inch 10.5 Addi, and it HAS to be Addi because you're a big needle snob, Yarnmarket is where it's at.

5) The Playtex Thank Goodness it Fits Bra. Seriously, I was all THANK GOODNESS IT FITS! I just got three of these this week, because when I found out they made half sizes I flipped out and ordered a bunch of them. THEY ARE AWESOME. The best part is, they fit the way they're supposed to fit--that is, the number of inches they are supposed to be corresponds with the number of inches they actually are. I think that's pretty great.

6) The Cat Box.



The top entry cat box has intrigued me for some time, especially since we got Lucky Lucy, who likes to play in the litter box, and kick litter and poop out of the litter box, and all kinds of other gross cat stuff. Anyway, top entry litter boxes run about 30 bucks. But this sucker? $8.50 for the Rubbermaid tub, and 15 minutes with a box cutter to cut the hole. It's great! There is NO CAT LITTER on the floor, people. Also it contains the smell a bit too. AND it is easy to empty cause it has handles.

7) Baby Bears.




8) Dorothy Parker


Those are my favorite things today!

-Bruce

In which Bruce announces Big News, tells you what people of taste do with strawberries, and organizes her circs.

Everybody,

Man, guys, I’m sorry we’ve been absent for so long. I'm going to try and make up for the long absence with a looooong, informative post.

So where have we been? For one thing, Brax’s computer is broken, plus she’s got all kinds of irons in the fire. Me, I have been just plain busy. Here’s a thing I’ve noticed about life: changes come in clumps. Things are happening, man. To both me and Brax, and to the ball and chain, and to lots of other folks I know. Brax and I are both trying to figure out moving (to the same city! Maybe even in the same neighborhood! Me and Brax! Tearin’ it up!) and career changes and, you know, bright new futures and stuff.

What is a real shame is that I’m knitting lots and lots of stuff that I can’t show you. Why can’t I show you? Because this knitting is going to be published in a book! I don’t think I ever made a formal announcement about this book thing on here. I’m writing a knitting book with my buddy Karida over at the Neighborhood Fiber Company. This book will come out in 2009.

This also prevents Brax from showing off some of her knits because she is being awesome and knitting some of the book projects for me. Don't ever write a knitting book unless you've got lots of rad friends who will help you knit. I am lucky enough to have Brax and Cabbage who will knit for my book and make my life better.

So now that we've uncovered a big part of the mystery of the sparse posting, what else is going on?

I've been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes. I have to say I have solved some of these mysteries before Holmes has. Did you know that that TV show House is based on Sherlock Holmes if he were a modern day doctor? It is. I just learned that from Google.

Sister has been really digging on Jackson Browne lately.

It got to be spring up in here, with the cherry blossoms!

And the birdies in the trees!

And the strawberries! Why do people spend a bunch of time doing stuff to strawberries, cuttin' them up in pieces, putting sugar on them etc, when you can just spend a fun-filled 15 minutes dipping them in chocolate? DELICIOUS! Easy! Fun! Preserves the strawberryness of the strawberry.

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1) Some nice pretty delicious strawberries.

2) One bag of the fanciest semi sweet chocolate chips your grocery store has. Know why? Because this recipe only uses two ingredients, and the fanciest chocolate chips my grocery store has are only about 5 or 6 bucks, so why the hell not? It's dessert! Go crazy!

Melt the chocolate chips in the double boiler (you want to keep the water at a simmer). Dip in the strawberries and then lay them on a baking sheet with some parchment paper on it.
Stick 'em in the fridge for a little bit. Maybe an hour? They're great. Next time I'm going to dip a mint leaf in with each strawberry for added awesomeness.

Ok, and last but not least, I have organized my Addi Turbos into the most organized state they have ever been in. I've devised a system! I was all shop-shop-shop for a circular needle case and I have to be honest: many of them were real ugly. So no. Many of them were waaay cute and made by awesome, creative craftspeople. Those were the best ones, but you guys, I just didn't want to spend 40 bucks on it. My friend Ellie uses a lure case from the Bass Pro shop, and that seems to work really well for her, but I was intimidated by the fishing website, and also it was still a little more than I wanted to spend. So I went to Staples and bought a lime green binder and some plastic page protectors in pretty colors with tabs. BAM! Needles organized, under 10 bucks.

Enjoy your weekend, buddies!
Bruce