a meddlesome monk

Well, there is nothing like being asked to be someone named Mary's friend then discover Mary is a 26 year old man. (Remind me of what city I'm living in again?) Unless of course you have prime viewing a King in love with his Arch Bishop: y'know, then that's a bit of all right.

"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome monk?!" And Henry's hounds/barons look at each other before ominously walking off. The King left alone having, literally, kicked out his family looks up and whispers, "Thomas?"

I think Becket was Richard Burton's movie (he was the most colorfully dressed) but Peter certainly gave him a run for the money. I wonder if A Lion in Winter was a natural consequence of Becket? I kept looking at Henry's Queen last night and saying, "There is no way that woman is Eleanor. No. Way." And John, excuse me, Sir John Gielgud as Louis was priceless. I almost went again tonight but didn't.

The excommuniation scene was eerie. Full face shots of Richard Burton seperating Sir Gilford from the body of Mother Church and casting him out into the eternal darkness and pit of hell. Then, as the final gesture, he turned a lit two foot candle upside down (candles represent souls) slammed it into the cathedral floor and threw it aside as he said, "You are ex-communicated!" Then all the monks who were also carrying theses candles followed suit. Brrr!

While watching all the many sequences held in Cathedral settings with Monks chanting and walking around in anonymous robes an aspect of what made the church so popular (way back when) and what makes Jedis and Stormtroopers popular today occurred to me.

It's the magic of group power. I am a member of this special group. We have secret rules and rituals that only our group knows. We are obediant to a higher power, but not to anyone or anything else. Hmmm no self will, what? Freedom of thought much? Didn't think so.

(NB: A very serious question throughout the film: material or spiritual? Thomas always called Henry his Prince never his King.)

**
I finished Pagan's Crusade, Cain Saga 4 and Hikaru No Go 9 yesterday. I started the New Policeman today ***CV

Ganymede

Pagan's Scribe, Catherine Jinks (359pp) The fourth in a series of four volumes following the life of Pagan a man who is found in Jerusalem as a young boy, becomes a squire and participates in the defense of Jerusalem with the Templer Knights and eventually becomes an Arch Deacon. Of course I haven't read any of the other volumes: yet. This fourth one is not told from Pagan's viewpoint as I am presuming the other three are. Rather, it is told from the point of Isidore a cleric whom Pagan hires as his Scribe. Isidore is a very bitter young man (with good reason) and much of the tale is told through inner dialogue with lots of heartfelt prayers to the Lord, as I would imagine any text ofthe times would include. Isidore loves to read and this volume makes many references to classical historical texts: Augustine, Livy, Sallust, Cicero, Boethius; and personages. The author is not shy about presenting the Medieval era as a smelly, dirty time but also one in which humanity can rise above its temporal self.

I also have Pagan's Cusade which is the first in the series. I may start it tonight.
**
Today I found out Becket is playing down the street from me. I love a Peter O'Toole movie!
***CV

transformations

The Transfigured Hart was published in 1975. I've seen this on the shelves in Powell's for a while and finally decided to pick it up.

I should be on a book budget but I couldn't resist Straw Into Gold by Jane Gould today. I am finding her interpretations of fairy tales as they relate to stages of female development a bit forced at times. But then I've read so many fairytales and their variations that I think I may be able to sort the wheat from the chaff, which is what convinced me to finally get it. I keep reaching for a pencil to make comments in the book as I read.
**
The Dark Light, Mette Newth (246pp) Set in the early 19th entury during the Napoleonic wars this is a story about a young girl in Norway who discovers that she has leprosy. She is taken from her mountainside village to the merchant town of Bergen and placed in the Lepers hospital. How she grows as a person, the people she meets: including a particularly angry young woman, make what might otherwise be a depressing story one of hope and affirmation. There is one scene I found particularly disturbing and would consciously censor in reading aloud. The author does explain it within the context of the story which I was very happy to see. ***CV

Sunday Sunny Sunday

Ambergate, Patricia Elliot (390pp) In which we discover why Gobchick was so startled when he found number 102 hiding behind the library's velvet draperies. This set of stories (beginning with Murkmere) continually had me thinking of Nazis and totalitarian states, as well as City of Lost Children. Perhaps it was the eagle. (Note the eagle as I recall was a symbol in Nazi Germany no? And it is our countries emblem as well. In the Amber gate both aspects -ruthless, loving, of the eagle are continually referenced to) And yet, towards the end of this book I recalled that bird symbolism, especially in such variety, is also in The Conference of the Birds, an old sufi tale. Whether or not this is intentional I cannot say. However the author has left the end in such a way that it can either stay as is or lead to another volume.
**
Bowery girl, Kim Taylor (223pp) Quite a change from the previous stories. The language alone would prevent me from including it in any of my current class libraries. There was a movie that came out about four or so years ago premised upon the Irish gangs of New York during the Tammany Hall years. I wondered, while reading this book, if the author had been inspired by that film. However at the end she provides a resource bibliography which seems to indicate not. I think I'll finally read my copy of Twelve Years at Hull House. Bowery girl is the type of book I would not have wanted to read as an adolescent: but all adolescents are different, some more hard core than others.
***
The Transfigured Hart, Jane Yolen (112pp) I picked this up while at Powell's this afternoon and finished it at a cafe. A nice change from the previous tale, this one about a reclusive boy who believes he finds a unicorn in the woods near his house. The same afternoon a classmate sees this same animal and recognises it as an albino deer. How these two people meet up and what happens as a result is a sweet, and thankfully bloodless, story.
****
I also picked up:

Cousin Bette, Honore Balzac

The Dark Light, Mette Newth

*****CV

Pieces and Bits

I saw the most amazing table today. It was a round table with a clear glass top about 3 feet in diameter and the support were these metal tubes that had been twisted together to represent a leafless tree. A friend and I sat at it this afternoon while working on Eunny's entrelac sock pattern. I figured out how to cast on for the toe, now I just need to work it for another 3 rounds or so and then I'll begin the tiering.

I want that table.
**
I intensely dislike Paypal. I attempted to pay for a purchase and it kept telling me to retype the spam code. Bleh. Not case sensitive my foot.
***
A trip to Powell's is in order. Hikaru no Go and Cain Saga are in the warehouse so I need to go and ask them to get it shipped to the store so I can buy them. I also want to see if they have the Pillowbook Man in stock.

I think I'll finish Ambergate tonight.****CV

There is Light.....

Murkmere, Patricia Elliot, (342pp) If Mervyn Peake met up with George Orwell and they hung out with Rupert Thompson and all three decided to write a children's story based upon the theme of the Swan Maiden this might have been it. I think they might all have to have been female though.
**
Two words and a bit of punctuation: Spring Break!
***
That is all***CV

greyness

I found my copy of Murkmere and started it last night. So far the closest thing I can compare it to is a Gormenghast Lite. I'm sure that I will have a better comparison after I finish it. I'm about half way through. In the meantime I picked up its sequal, Ambergate, and another book, Bowery Girl, while at the library today.
**
This week has been a bit off center. My co-guide had to leave Monday morning and was out on Tuesday. Then I thought that I would be doing something very early Tuesday morning but that fell through when the place wasn't open so I ended up really early to school that day.

Combine this with a general sense of lowness and no wonder I'm pulling out all my YA books to read.
***
The seeds we planted less then 2 weeks ago have germinated and grown sufficiently that we could do a light experiment with them. We'll be planting them (hopefully) in our planter boxes tomorrow.****CV

Glacial love

Snowfall, K.M. Peyton (342pp) I initially bought this book thinking it would be about a real life woman mountaineer and have lots of historical information. Instead it is a light romance about a young English woman who leaves her family home, with her brother, and ventrures out into the world. It is set during Victorian times and was inspired by the true story of a woman whose lover was caught in an avalanche, in the Swiss Alps; and whose body was discovered almost 50 years later in state of perfect preservation. Apparently this is not all that unusual. Bodies that are caught in avalanches can reappear due to the movement of glaciers which open and close crevasses. It is a sweet story but not what I had been hoping for. Perhaps it could be thought of as Upstairs Downstairs for the tween set; with a bit of Pygmalion thrown in.
***
If I can find it I'll be reading Murkmere next***CV

F. Jones

Trick of the Eye, Dennis Haseley (192pp) It may have been theVermeer cover that caught my attention (Girl Interrupted at Her Music). But it was the idea of a child, a young boy, who could walk into paintings without the paintings coming to life that captured my interest. I found this book while wandering the YA section at Powells. It's one of those books you can find only one copy of and its very moodiness and sense of introspection cause you to wonder if someone didn't make a mistake in ordering it. Perhaps it was included in a box to make an even number? This is not to say it is a toss: not at all. It is an inward story, one which either draws you in or makes you run. It is a mystery and a testament to a self awakening to a danger it did not know was there. *****CV

Lais

Arthur at the Crossing Places, Kevin Crosley-Holland (362pp) A crossing place can be as immediate as a bridge, a crossroads, a birthday; or it can be a bit more ephemeral as in the choice to do or not do something, to speak up or to hold silent. In this second of a proposed trilogy Arthur continues his quest to become a knight and what it means to be a person when often position and belief are at odds with self determination. Once again we are given tales of Arthur's namesake and Merlin makes an appearance or two, along with Morgan le Fay and Nimue. Mainly this is young Arthur's tale. I did enjoy the insight into types of vellum (goat anyone) as well as a guest appearance by Marie de France.

Hopefully the third volume will be out within a year. **CV

Finch feline

I do not have much of a stash as far as wool is concerned (we shall not mention thepetite and private Alexandrian library I possess) but it is a bit ungainly. I decided to try and neaten it up a bit today. Thank goodness for people who send stuff in boxes as I ended up using every last one including a spare shoe box to corral what I do possess.

What I discovered during this archaeological process was I do not random purchase. Each bit I put away is clearly sufficient for a project, mostly shawls and socks. But I do have enough Rowan worsted for an amber cardigan :)

I also set aside some partially used skeins for the class.

During the two hours I was working on this the door to the Finches' room was open. I had gone in earlier to give them a beakstone and then became engrossed in organizing. I didn't realise I had forgoten to close the door until I came back in. A few minutes later Chai came back out as if all was well: which indeed it was.***CV

trinittite

The Green Glass Sea, E. Klages (320pp) What could it have been like to be living with your family in New Mexico and have your parents working on the Manhattan Project? Only you don''t know what they're working on because they are sworn to secrecy. Still you go to school, make or don't make friends, and you wonder if the war will last forever. The author of this story had a rather amusng story to share, at the reading she did last Saturday, about having this book published. Apparently there were some librarians who were upset about the amount of cigarette smoking that occurs in the story. (Hello? 1940's people). But not so concerned that children were picking up souvenier nuclear waste by the end of the tale.

There is a sequal in the works.
**
Charles de Lint (Little Grrrl lost, A Handful of Promises); Neil Gaiman (M is for Magic); Robin McKinley (Dragonhaven); LA Meyer have books coming out this year! So, too, does Holly Black (Ironsides). Oh and the third volume of Twilight (Eclipse) should be out by August.
***
The knitting book I mentioned in the last post is Knit a Fantasy Story by Jan Messent****CV
***

Knitting Netsuke

I started the Green Glass Sea today. I hope to have a synopsis or review tomorrow.

Of course the leafing through pictures of cute knitted figures may hamper said goal. And yes a tiny sheep was sacrificed after being rescued first from a curious feline. Oooo look! I can make my own knitted Unicorn. I sense a Peter S. Beagle tribute in the making here. Let me see if there are any harpies or red bulls ... perhaps a chattering skull ...... Or the cast of Watership Down. Bunnies!

Thank you Chris: Your beryl will be on its way soon :)***CV

Speaking of Paris

Goddess of Yesterday, C. B. Cooney(212pp) A retelling of the story of Helen and Paris. Anaxandra is a princess from a very tiny island in the Aegean sea. At age 6 she is taken by Nicander as a hostage and is raised by him in his home as a companion to his daughter Callisto. Through a series of events Anaxandra takes on the identy of Callisto and is brought to Sparta by King Menelaeus thus encountering Helen. This story is full of famous personages from Greek history and the author is diligent about explaining names. Anaxandra's goddess is Medusa: when compared to the other gods she is a kindly one indeed. But then compared to Helen and Paris, the Reign of Terror was nought but a pinic by the Seine.***CV

Wallflower

Waiting is very hard. Usually it is something I am fairly good at. The model of patience. Whooops, out the door when it comes to call backs.

*tap*tap*tap*

I had to tell one person that I couldn't accept their offer to come see the school as I can't afford to, even with their offer of assistance. Had a different interview on Sunday which sounds very nice but she is, like I am, a processor. Which means that we like to think things over and not come to hasty decisions. *sigh*

Then there is the local place which, though challenging, could be wonderful only I don't quite know how to proceed. I've been in contact but saying, "Hey how's about an interview?" seems somewhat crass.

Or is that just me?
***
History of the Thirteen, Honore Balzac (321pp) Not his best that I've read. I think he may have been having issues with his Hungarian Countess at the time. Either that or he simply wanted to demonstrate what egotistial pigs men can be on the one hand and what pathetic self sacrificing creatures women can be on the other. The Girl with the Amber Eyes was strange to say the least. More Radcliffe than Radcliffe: More conspiritorial then Fouquet: I kept expecting the hero and heroine to turn out to be brother and sister intead of what they were, which was still rather sick and abrupt. Maybe Honore needed some quick money.
****
I've started Carlyle's, The French Revolution, but I may break into one of my YA purchases first. ***CV

With so much Balzac....

The French Revolution, Thomas Carlysle

The Reign of Terror (1792-1795)
the Directory (1795-1799)
the Consulate (1799 -1804)
the Empire (1804-1814)
Restoration of the Bourbons (1814-1830)
July Monarchy (1830-1848)
the Second Republic (1848-1852)
the Second Empire (1852-1871)

***CV

duchesse

the History of the Thirteen. Having read the first of three stories I now find mself in a gothic sequence. A French liberator of a Spainish island discovers his true love has secluded herself away within the island's Carmelite Convent. He is determined to retrieve her though she desires no such retrieval. Flashback to how they met in Paris....I would just like to say that I wish we could learn from these flirting techniques or perhaps the silent film masters did. My what melodrama:

"You may kiss my forehead mon cher but you must allow me to have many more male visitors during the mornings so that none suspect how devoted I am to you. Further we must see each other with less frequency but know that I am always at home until 10 0'clock to you. Do remember that I am a married woman and though I may do what I like with my heart I must remain true to my husband, no matter how cruelly he treats me."

So that is not a direct quote but I must say soap operas ain't got nothing on Msr. Balzac.
**
"I have a head ache" has become rather a classic excuse. It may all have started with a convenient migraine. (Which I know when it is real is anything but convenient). The type of migraine which disallows attendence at a ball but miraculously disappears when ones lover arrives in one's boudoir. Hmmmmmm.
***
I'm off to see how the Duchesse ended up in Spain.****CV

Casita de libros

The Green Glass Sea, Ellen Klages

Arthur at the Crossing Places, Kevin Crossley-Holland

Goddess of Yesterday, Caroline B. Cooney

While I quake at the thought of packing my library, I cannot resist my addiction***CV

And there are days.....

**
My apologies if I concerned anyone with the last post. This transition between stages is a prickly one and I felt the image expressed it well, with all its inherant potential for beauty as well as risk.
***
Browsing today in the science section of Powells I recieved a phone call offering to help defray my flight expenses. Imagine my surprise. Then I found a McKinley book, then I found the Moomintroll comic strip anthology, and I now have Hexwood, by Dianna Wynne Jones.
****
So there are days; and there are days***CV

There are days....

***CV

The Hunt Continues

Well I have an interview with another school scheduled for tomorrow; and I'm still awaiting word for whether or not I can take time off to do an in person interview with the lovely lady. Meanwhile I'm checking other options and plan to send out two more inquiries, one of which is the age group I'm currently most interested in but the environment ... I'm not too sure about.

When I first started this work I began in a room that had been led by the same guide for almost 20 years. For those two years she taught in a head start type program and then returned. While she said the two years were very challenging, mostly regarding the families, it gave her insights she might have otherwise missed and a deeper appreciation for her work and the particular environment Montessorians work hard at creating.

Perhaps this one with the age group I seek, but with a questionable set up, would be a similar experience (minus the head start aspect, I hope).

Right now I can see both the positives and the less positives of any of the places I've inquired at.
What concerns me most is that I might reach a point where any contract would be appealing. I do not want that to happen if I can help it so I am sending out more inquiries as well as resending others.***CV

Salt Water

I just wrote my farewell letter. I'm a mess.
(Think of something else .... ok.)
**
The lovely lady was fine with the change of plans. Now I need approval for those days before I book a flight. The other school has a site which I looked at. Wow. Just. wow. And not an ostentatious wow either. Just a sort of sweet wow. Think nature, think historical geographical experiences, think pedestrian friendly, think fog (I miss fog).
***
Yeah, but I ain't puttin' all my eggs in one basket no sirrree.

Thanks to a kindhearted, tea-sipping, ink-feathered, avian friend I'm exploring other options. Maybe that job I thought people had to be born into, which is why I never thought to see if one could take courses in it, can be a possibility in three years. Oh, and after lots of loans of course.

Still.
****
I'm a mess****CV

unfair fare

So what is up with the cost of airfares?! I have a potential inerview and when I go on line to book a cheap fare the cheap fare leads me to the real fare which is 4x as great. Bah!

Seems like a really good school too. Now I have to go and let the lovely lady know that we have to reschedule to a time when I can afford the airfare.
**
Is it good to send out four inquiries and the next day have two respond positively? I was thinking it would be about a week before I heard from anyone. But then switching jobs seems to bring out the insecure part of me.
***
Collected Short Stories, Honore de Balzac (272pp) There are approximately ten stories in this colection and each one shows Balzac in a different light. One moment he is a mystery author, the next a gothic, then again he is an ironic critic of bourgoise artists and their admirers ( now why did Kincaide keep coming to mind during this story?), and then he is a religious skeptic.

I have now started, The Thirteen, by Balzac. Over the weekend I purchased a Moshe Feldenkreis book as well as one by John Holt***CV

sabado

Stranded knitting. Not so easy. Even more challenging when one is a left handed continental knitter being taught the two handed right dominant approach. But you know, life goes on.
**
I keep looking various teaching opportunities and there is one that really appeals to me but then I look at where it is and I think: I can't afford to live there. I suppose I can still send out an inquiry.

I am also makng an effort at the one day at a time approach and not thinking too much about packing, shipping, moving vans, house hunting. I remind myself that this is about the same time a few years ago when I was seeking a position and preparing for practical exams.
***
Meanwhile the Knitoff has begun.****CV

An artist

I love Balzac.

I love the way he paints each person with tiny strokes then sets them in a scene both historic and present. I love how each person tugs at the strings of other people he has painted so that one can hear their echoes much as one hears the hearts of friends not present when in conversation with friends who are.

I love how I can fall into one of his stories and emerge later with the deep sense that I have learned something about myself, about others, and about the world.

I love how each of the short stories I am reading is like a cameo. Not something to be hidden away and carefully preserved but worn proudly with all its age and chips showing.

I love the innocence of his melodramas and how he shows the deep consequences of our slightest actions. ***CV

Subtle Semaphore

Isn't it funny the things that turn up when you least expect them?

Yesterday a friend asked if I would be changing jobs completely and I said I couldn't imagine not teaching children and that I had been looking at different places out of state. She seemed awed that I would be willing to move if a new position reqired it. This is not to say that I haven't considered other fields of interest: Librarian, Rolfer, etc. and would be unwilling to move if they required it also.

I took today off as a personal day and, after a later then usual practice during which there was the adult equivalent of one of my students participating, took care of an errand before visiting my sanctuary. As I was leaving with my aquisitions (Short Stories of Balzac, and a Borges Biography) what should be outside but a group of Montessori upper els on a field trip.

Then I went to a cafe and enjoyed two of the stories from the Balzac collection before heading to the yarn shop to pick up class supplies. Last night I only registered. While I was there the teacher from the cabling class mentioned to the shop owner that I was a teacher too but for a Montessori school.

Turns out the shop owner was a Montessori child until she was five.

O Universe: are you trying to tell me something?***CV

A day....

I went to practice this morning, dark and early, and as I stepped outside I noticed it was snowing but that the ground was covered in water. It seems the ground is too warm for the snow to stick. Off I went to catch the bus in the snowy down pour. While waiting I saw two snow plows headed North.

The bus was late but I still got to practice on time. The teacher and I chatted until five minutes after class was supposed to start. Then I rushed out 45 minutes later into the pouring, wet snow and caught all my buses on time. Got my cup of tea from a cafe, negotiated the icy, slushy, stairs and, after greeting a fellow guide, was informed that school was on a 2 hour delay.

Huh?

I ould have finished practice? *sigh* At least I got to laminate some chemists.

We planted today which was wonderfully simple and cheering. I love planting seeds. Especially in compressed peat pot pellets.

So the day went.

Then off to sign up for the stranded class scheduled for Saturday. I left work at 5, did my banking, and got to the shop at 6:05. The shop closes at 6. Fortunately there were still people inside so I was going to wait until the owner was available, as she was helping customers, but this other lady offered to help me and it turns out she is the class instructor. So I explained why I was there after hours and she said Ok. She pulled out the class binder and all eight spots were taken. I was disappointed but I figured "Oh well, that can happen" So I thanked her and said maybe next time. Then she asked me if I was an experienced knitter.

Ummmm. Let me show you what I'm working on and then you can tell me. So I showed her the Cabled knee-highs I'm making from Favorite Socks.(I'm on the fifth repeat of six before beginning the heel).

She squeezed me in! Lucky number nine.***CV

triste

Feeling a little blue.

Hopefully, planting some nasturtiums tomorrow with the children will help.
**
I found a wonderful picture of Copernicus. He looks like he had a good sense of humour.***CV

floral triangles

A friend and I were planning to KAL Eunny's anemoni mittens but that was before my friend got a copy of the new IK. Now it seems entrelac socks are on the agenda.
**
While at the library yesterday I picked up Susannah Clarke's, the Ladies of Grace Adieu.Then I came home and put four John Connolly books on hold. One of them is an audio which will be nice for a change.

Of course I'm still reading Sacred Games, The Armless Maiden, Murkmere, and Astrae. Not to mention the school reading regarding the ancient Greeks, Trees and evolution in general. Speaking of which, has anyone read that article about the chimpanzees who were observed making and using spears to hunt small mammals? Seems it is the females of the group who are doing so. ***CV

Silvered daemon

The Black Angel, John Connolly (485pp) This story takes place after The White Road. Charlie Parker has a new baby daughter but his relationship with her mother, Rachel (whom he loves), is not going well. This might have something to do with the fact that his dead wife and child keep turning up in a very gruesome manner. However, Charlie is called to help his friend Louis and consequently more is revealed both about Charlie's nature and Louis' past. Cistercian abbies, Nazis, fallen angels who have no wish to be absolved, art collectors and a tattooed snow white all come together as the story reaches resolution in an ossuary in Prague.

Sone memorable lines:

"It looked like the launch of a new Cure album, or a reception after a Goth wedding." (Referring to an art auction not an ossuary.)

" Geiler's copy of the Malleus Maleficarum went to a tiny elderly lady in a pink suit, who looked grimly satisfied with her purchase."

***CV

Swan

Today I went to a workshop on Breath practices. It was very soothing. We spent two hours just practicing different breaths for meditaion and talking about the way different techniques can be interpreted. As a tool we were each gifted with a ten breath mala (a bracelet of beads that are divided into groups of ten with a larger bead as the marker).
**
Last night I went to various sites seeing what opportunities are available. I saw about five that appealed to me so I will be contacting them this week.
***
There is a class in stranded work next week and later this year there will be a workshop of Nordic Knitting, in Seattle. I'm going to take the stranded class in preparation for it.
****
Tomorrow is to be devoted to Plato and Archimedes. Must make sure the bathtub doesn't leak****CV

the Future

It snowed for a litle bit this morning which was nice to watch from the cottage windows.
**
Further meeting news. Apparently there will be only one guide next year. No decision has been made, or at least told to us, who that guide will be. One would think if such a decision had been made then they would know who by the time they actually spoke with us.

Well, I would think so. In fact I would tell, so that the person who had to replan could start ASAP.

Therefore I'm considering my options. One interesting thought is this might be a really good time to change anyway (regardless of what "they" decide). Since no one is telling I might as well be doing.
***
I'm halfway through the Black Angel by John Connolly.****CV

Irked

Being called in for a meeting ("And we only have about 20 minutes because I really need to meet with so and so") then asked "How has the year been for you so far?"

Not one of my favorite things.

How about telling someone ahead of time: "I'd like to meet with you to talk about how the class is going and about your plans for next year. When would be good for you?"

Is that really too hard?

It seems so. ***CV

An elegant foot

Knitting on the bus I have the opportunity to see a lot of shoes. The other day as I was working away on my chocolate and strawberry knee highs I chanced to glance across the aisle and near dazzled myself with some lemon yellow footwear which a stylin' brother was wearin' over there.

Talk about cheerful feet.

So he and his friend are talkin' about this and about that, mostly about clothes and what the current budget will and will not allow, and suddenly I hear, "Now those black and white ones, they're all right."

What? I do a peripheral peer. I don't see any black and white shoes near by.

"But I dunno I don't think I got the clothes for 'em. Still..."

Come to realize he was talking about my near ten year old spat style Doc mary janes. I think I've been complimented :)****CV

hexahedral ice

Today one of the children was making geometric figures with paper so I thought I'd slip in a little information:

"Y'know, you're really doing some secret stuff there."

What? I'm just making geometric solids.

"Well some people would say that what you're making there should not be for just anyone to see," Then I look around, "Let me show you something." I bring out my special book. "Here see these?"

Yeah! That's my cube and there's my tetrahedron and there are the other geometric solids but, there are only five of them..."

"Uhhuh. Notice anything else?"

Well there's no prism and -hey, what's that one?

"Shhhhh. That is an icosohedron. Wanna make one?"

Sure!

Yeah he made three today. In fact, except for lunch and recess, that's pretty much all he did. Plato would be so proud. Just wait until I introduce the young one to Archimedes***CV

and yet more...

The Seeing Stone, Kevin Crossley-Holland (341pp) Okay any middle reader book that mentions the salmon leap has my approval. Imagine my immense pleasure at Merlin leaping 47 feet and then casually referring to Cucchalin. So yes I will be continuing this series (there are three volumes). One aspect that I enjoyed about this volume is how matter of factly medieval it is. It is simply the narrator's recounting of his life as it happens to him. Another aspect I liked is all the questions that were raised and not directly answered. Life questions. Questions that only the particular participant can respond to but which we all at some point or another come to on our own. I would really love to make this a small group book. Just myself and a couple of interested children to take turns reading aloud and discussing.
**
Lupin III, vol.7, Monkey Punch (180pp) Yep it's Lupin. The volumes seem to get raunchier and raunchier as they progress. I may stop collecting at volume 10.
***
Still reading: Sacred Games, The Black Angel, The Armless Maiden, Wild Life.

Review revue

Aaack. Book reviews due or I will be seriously behind.

xxxHolic, Clamp (185pp) I purchased this on impulse. It reminded me of a shop I used to patronise and which has since closed its doors. The premise is that a boy, named Watanuki Kimihiro, is mysteriously drawn into a shop in which wishes are granted for a fee. His wish being not to see the spirits which he has been able to see since always. His paymnet is service to the shop after which his wish will be granted. He becomes a lackey and so far this series has 14 volumes.
**
Vampire Knight, Matsuri Hino (192pp) Now don't get me wrong, I like a cute manga boy vampire as much as the next girl but this series has some issues to work out after which it could be just fine. My primary complaint is the continuous reccap at the beginning of every chapter. This is a collected work peoples. It is no longer in monthly format so there is no need to update the "just joined" every ten pages. Other than that it is a cute story. I wish the heroine wasn't quite so dippy. Adn taht school director? What is up with him? There is a vaguely Twilight feel to the interactions of the vampires and the female lead which is interesting. Volume 2 is due in April.
***
Saffron and Brimstone, Elizabeth Hand( 239pp) Oh look. A non manga book! A collection of stories in which muses are literally brought to life and what has been foretold regarding the west coast actually occurs. Tarot cards, butterfly girls, green men and Calypso; I'm looking forward to reading other works by this author.
****
Godchild vol.4, Kaori Yuki (190pp) Look it's a gothic Lolita who is a literal clone of Cain's dead cousin: And she wants Cain. OhNo! How will Riff rescue Cain if he has been bitten by one of her deadly pet spiders? Eeek! Will the organization Delilah take over London? And just what is Jizabel's secret that the Cardmaster now knows?
*****
Cain Saga vols. 1-3, Kaori Yuki (176-187pp) This is the background series explaining Cain's history. There is one more volume in this series yet to come out.
******
Angel Sanctuary vol.18, Kaori Yuki (196pp) Sara has changed and not for the better. She may really be with child. Lucifer (aka Kira) gets more handsome all the time though he is now in alliance with Rosiel who has become a living picture of Dorain Gray. The grand cross has been formed (at what price?) and the gates to heaven have been opened. Kato makes good on his promise. *Sniff* Only a few more volumes left til the end.
*******CV

no trump is least

Beause we will be having another Summer Reading Challenge, right?

The Man Who Was Thursday, G.K. Chesterton
The Old Stories, Kevin Crossley-Holland
Vampire Knight, Maturi Hino
xxxHolics, Clamp

**
I am really enjoying Elizabeth Hand's short stories. The last one I read dealt with a tattoo artist who was raised by a very independent author mother, and who inadvertantly brings a tarot card to life. OSaid trump is of course from the estate of the artist's favorite author and she finds the deck purely by chance at a rummage sale. Of course this tale could be interpreted like Woman on the Edge of Time; I'm choosing not to see it that way. I like happy endings.
***
I started a pair of cabled knee socks this morning. Siamese colours: brown and cream. ****CV

CV Bobs Her Hair

Frederick Allen wrote two books about the 1920's that I really enjoyed. Each volume was like reading a newspaper of the times. I currently own a dress that I found in a thrift shop that is dated 1918 and I have worn it to clubs, to graduations, to weddings.... I adore Erte and I have books about the choreographers Miss Ruth and Ted Shawn, as well as Clara Bow, Lillian Gish, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Martha Graham, Louise Brooks, the Keystone Cops,etc. When I finally got around to reading F. Scott Fitzgerald I devoured everything I could find and I believe my collection is now complete.

There are days when I really just want to Charleston. Today is one of them.

I wish my "sister" Louise was here.****CV

libros solomente

I have started Saffron and Brimstone and it is an odd collection of stories so far. In the first story we meet a genuine Butterfly girl who is ultimately collected by the Greenman. And in the second story there is the feeling of being in the presence of both spirits of the American south west and Odin.
**
Then I began The Seeing Stone because a couple of children said it was very confusing. So much so that the person whose family special ordered it for him ended up donating it to our class library. I, too, was a little befuddled in the first three (very short) chapters until I realized that the narrator is the hero who is recording the story as it happens to him. It didn't help that the back blurb mentioned two Arthurs (one modern and the other historic), two Merlins and two dragons; and that the modern Arthur is actually a medieval Arthur. Anyway it is becoming quite good now that that confusion has been cleared away.
***
While reading Angel Sanctuary I realized that Lucifer bears an uncanny resemblence to Dream in Sandman. And that Mad Hatter, for some reason, was dressed as Beetlejuice.
****
Meanwhile I am still reading the Black Angel, Sacred Games and Pagan's Scribe.

Lest I get bored a friend loaned me a book to read this holiday weekend by Molly Gloss.*****CV

Tea, Chocolate...

Kidnapped, Robert Loius Stevenson
Angel Sanctuary vol. 18, Kaori Yuki

aaah, the perfect Valentine***CV

Ashes ashes...

Oh my what a fun place to visit. I saw this at Got Medieval which doesn't update near often enough to suit me but I understand why he doesn't.

So, I wonder if his was pneumonic, bubonic, or septicemic?
**
As to "Pretty, pretty", it's a direct quote from a rather camp film. In fact, the band Duran, Duran credits this film for their name. What I most remember from it are the many pointy teethed dolls.
***
Edinburgh is celebrating R.L. Stevenson this month by giving away free copies of Kidnapped. It's part of an everyone reads event. Edinburgh looks like a great place to visit. Must add that to my To Do list****CV

pretty, pretty

Astrae: The Imperial Theme in the 16th c., F. Yates

The Rosicrucian Enlightenment, Frances Yates

Saffron and Brimstone, Elizabeth Hand

Angel Cage: The Art of Angel Sanctuary, Kaori Yuki
**
I wonder if anyone recognises the title quote?
***
The art book has an interview with Ms. Yuki. Golly you think I might like the writings of someone who has a gothic sense, is heavily into Lewis Carroll, Grimms fairytales, Victorian London, tarot and hierarchies of the occult? You think?

Oh, and who can draw quite the lovely boy btw.

I think Ms Yuki and Mr. Amano need to collaborate****CV

Volume 18, where are you?

Yes this is what I'm waitng for. I think it rather represents all aspects of valentines day, don't you?
We got the roses, or at least the remnants
We got the dark handsome guy, why yes he does look a trifle anemic; and
We got the look that says, I only have eyes for you; or perhaps,

"I remembered the flowers: there was something else?"***CV

strange happenings

Cain Saga, vols 2 and 3, Kaori Yuki

GodChild vol. 4, Kaori Yuki

And Angel Sanctuary should be in stock in a week, yay! I also just received a notice that a Francis Yates book I've had on my wish list has been reissued so yay again.
**
Other than that this week has just been strange. People falling asleep on the bus, people coming in late due to sleeping in late. No one able to concentrate and there has been the scent of natural gas permeating my neighborhood for the past week.

Are these normal preValentines day symptoms or what? Perhaps the last oddness before Lent?***CV

Blithe II

New reads:

Cain Saga, vol. 1, Kaori Yuki

GodChild, vol. 2, Kaori Yuki

Pagan's Crusade, 1 of the Pagan Chronicles, Catherine Jinks

Pagan's Scribe, 4 of the Pagan Chronicles, Catherine Jinks

**
I started the Armless Maiden last night. This is going to be a slow read. All the retold stories are in some way related to childhood trauma. I had to stop reading after the third poem. Then I simply skimmed a few of the prologues ot some of the other stories. There is one that is similar to Donkeyskin.
***
On another note my pink haired doll arrived and the fourth eye-colour is green****CV

Shalabasana

How to do a backbend on one's chin: do a full wheel only grab hold of your ankles and rest your chin between your feet is one way. Viparita shalabasana is another way. The latter is what we were working on in class. I posted a pic of it a while ago. I'll see if I can find it again.

Aha! Success.

If anyone is interested in asana postures - just to have a breakdown with photos, I highly recommend BKS Iyengar's, Light on Yoga. I bought my copy used in SF and if I had to have only one yoga book that would be it. Another good one is his daughter Geeta's book, Yoga, A Gem for Women, but her Dad is amazing. He still practices and is almost ninety.

This, btw, is not Mr. Iyengar.
**

In knitting news I refuse to believe that Noro Silky and Rowan Felted Tweed are the same weight. They don't even look the same thickness. So how come they're both considered DK?
***
Oh, and the cutest Nick looking boy rescued one of my DPN's for me on the bus today. Who says commuting can't be fun? ****CV

Blithe Alice

I am now the proud owner of a miniature Blythe Doll. She's so cute. It's an Alice in Wonderland, with turqouise hair and her own tiny white rabbit. I also won a Big Eyes doll with pink hair and four colour eyes (depending upon which way she's looking they are either pink, blue, amber or, I believe, green).
**
More crazy backbends in class today. Somehow I will get all my weight on my chin - just not today thanks.
***
I finished a pair of cabled glovelets in a red tweed. Go me! Now to try and make them in the yarn that was recommended. Oh and that latest Piecework has a sampler knitting collection of miniature sweaters, socks etc. Think it might be good to try with the class?****CV

nota bene

Lupin III, vol.6, Monkey Punch in which Lupin becomes a salary man, enters an asylum as a patient and meets his nemesis: greed. I think it was Lupin as a salary man that I found most perturbing. Oh and he also has a dog as a sidekick in this volume. I must go get 3,4, and 5 for (hopefully) some explanation of this strange set of events.
**
Has anyone else read the article about the Newsweek book critic who stopped reading a book because he felt he had better things to do with his time? Better things? Like looking for a different job perhaps?
***
Sylvie and Bruno continue to sing up a storm, bright and early; and are entertaining the feline no end.****CV

berate or beret

I just took a class in cabling and I learned a few things. One, cabling can be fun. Two, that though I am a loose knitter, I am not such a loose knitter that I must go down three needle sizes in order to achieve a well fitted garment. Three, if I do choose to go down three needle sizes I will not have to change the pattern in order for it to fit a smaller individual, the needles did it for me.

I also learned that I can recognise obscure music but not the singer's name: " Oh, it's Eva Pilaf, no, wait, it's Edith Pilaf no, ummm, Oh, I got it: Edith Piaf."

I also picked up the new Interweave sock book***CV

twinkling hoar-frost

Yesterday was Imbolc or the Feast of St. Brigid. Today is Candlemas, but for the sake of Silent Poetry Reading we will pretend that it is Bride's Day. There is something truly wonderful about a goddess of poetry and smithcraft.

In honor of this day of weather forecasting and in hopes for Spring:

On Monday when the sun is hot
I wonder to myself a lot:
"Now is it true, or is it not,
"That what is which and which is what?"

On Tuesday, when it hails and snows,
The feeling on me grows and grows,
That hardly anybody knows
If those are these or these are those.

On Wednesday, when the sky is blue,
And I have nothing else to do,
I sometimes wonder if it's true
That who is what and what is who.

On Thursday when it starts to freeze
And hoar-frost twinkles on the trees,
How very readily one sees
That these are whose - but whose are these?

Lines Written By A Bear of Very Little Brain, AA Milne

***

Three new books today:

The Armless Maiden, ed. Terri Windling

Young Buddhists, Loudon

Lupin III vol6, Monkey Punch****CV

Sylvie and Bruno

Sylvie and Bruno are doing well. They are in the coldest room of the house - it is the only room I can secure from a certain feline.

Tonight they were singing up a storm and when I last checked on them two heads, nestled together, peeked out of one nest.***CV

Not a Happy Camper

Aaaaaaaah! So I was forced to move and this is the first time I've actually been able to access my own blog. As any number of my childeren might say: Auuuuugh!

I wonder if I might be allowed to access it from home tonight? Hmmmm? Do I have to beg? If so I will move elsewhere. This new blogger is incrediby slow, slower than typepad slow. And yes it has taken up to five minutes to access typepad blogs. So those of you who are on it that I read I must really like you :)

***
Oh and Sylvie and Bruno are fine so far.****CV

an experiment

Question: Can a cat and two finches get along peacefully without a chaperone?

Tune in later for details***CV

the detective

I have never been a huge or even a tiny fan of detective fiction. The only Agatha Christie book I found okay was And Then There Were None. I liked the movies based on her works, with Peter Ustinov, Diana Rigg, Maggie Smith and others. I also remember reading, The Key to Rebecca , and really liking Josephine Tey but never felt the urge to read beyond those.

Interestingly I began reading the Charlie Parker detective series because of a short story in a collection of Connolly's works which introduced me to Parker. I thought, "Hmm I'd like to know more about this character", and so I have read one novel and currently have another for nightly chapters (The Black Angel).

Sacred Games follows an Inspector in India as he finds himself involved with the apparent suicide of an Indian don. Whoa. Trust me. I never wanted to read the Godfather much less see the films. Yet in Love and Longing in Bombay, a collection of short works by Vikram Chandra, I was introduced to the character Inspector Sartaj and thought, "Huh, I'd like to know more about this character." Hence I am now reading Sacred Games.

Both Charlie Parker and Sartaj strike me as pursuers of more than the criminal. They are seekers after answers to life and are not perfect. They have differences yes but it is their similarities which have opened a door that has brought me to a room in literature I might have never considered entering and spending time in. ***CV

Monkies, Ravens, and a White Bear

East, Edith Pattou (507pp) If you are familiar with the story of Eros and Psyche, or Beauty and the Beast then you will recognise the theme in East. It is based upon the fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon in which a young daughter is given up to an unknown creature in the shape of a bear, in exchange for her family's health and material comfort. The girl is then taken to a beautiful and mysterious palace where all her needs are met and a mysterious figure shares her bed at night. Of course the mysterious night visitor is under a curse and the young girl is the visitor's last hope. In this modern retelling Edith Pattou uses four voices to tell the story: Rose, Neddy (Rose's brother), the Goblin Queen, and the White Bear (who only speaks in poems). If I said I finished it the day I started would you believe me?
**
The White Road, John Connolly (390pp) From fairy tale to southern gothic with black winged death figures that transform into larger than expected ravens. It is a mystery with a spectral twist. Charlie Parker has a gift for bringing resolution to those who might rather live in hopeful ignorance. I first came across the Parker character in a collection of Connolly's short stories called Nocturnes. At that time I was reminded of deLint's detective fiction as well as his story Mulengro. White Road still continues that ring of familiarity: in a good way.
***
Life has been busy this past week. Finch sagas and Shakespeare tales as well as a model of the Globe Theater. I did however get a new book - Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra; An author who just happens to be scheduled to appear at Powell's next week. If you have never read Red Earth and Pouring Rain you should do so now.***CV

Flaming red head

If it were autumn I would be well camouflaged indeed. One might even mistake me for a walking maple leaf. All I want to know is: where was this product when I had many clubs to frequent?
**
I started East today and I'm almost finished. Rose is in quest of the Troll Queen's palace. ***CV

scarlett tresses

Class was an hour less then expected because many of us were re-certifying. Yup, every two years folks. Hopefully only for Medic and not Neglect. I think one only has to take that class once now. *shudder* There was a video with actual images.
**
Thus nothing of import happened today except for the title of the post. I suppose I could have said scartlet tile, or scarlet tub, or scarlet towel. But I didn't***CV

Blue Toes

I joined Yarn Monkey's latest. Not that I think I will in any way attain the title. I mean, I'd have to have a camera that actually puts pics on the internet to qualify. But I thought I'd join in anyway. Maybe I will have the right equipment by that time.
**
Fun stuff tomorrow. Eight and one half hours of learning about the evils some adults perpetrate upon children. Oh, joy. I've actually taken this class twice before and it is helpful to be able to know the signs but it is heartbreaking to know that these signs are so obvious and yet incidents continue.
***
Two new books today:

East, Edith Pattou

The Code of the Woosters, PG Wodehouse

****CV

Snow Day IV.2

Yep.Two hours delay then everyone hit those desks! Well, I guess in PS not us.
**
So the finches are back but we are only keeping one other pair. Hopefully a family will want a pair or two. They are so sweet. I would if I could. *sigh*
***
Man, first the upstairs neighbors then the side neighbor (who, after I slipped a note under his door, has been very considerate) and now the downstairs neighbors. People. The sound fx, they are in stereo and vibrato! So I knocked on the door and shared what was up and he said: "Sorry", and "Oh sorry", and "Sorry". No need to be sorry just could you lower the volume?

They have a cute kitty though :)

I think I have become the crotchety neighbor lady. Either that or no television and no stereo means I have no way of masking the sounds around me.
****
I've started reading The White Road by John Connolly. Oh my goodness those angels of death that turned into gigantic ravens *shiver*CV

Snow Day IV

Well at least they announced it the day before this time. Apparently there were many, many children who made it to school yesterday and had no way of getting home so the schools kept them (and gave them back at the end of the day). Some children had to get home as best they ould, what with being locked out and all.

And it would seem that the city has no snow plows.

So yeah. I decided to go to my regular practice this morning, though the studio closed yesterday. I emailed the instructor but didn't get her response in time. So I trekked out there and: closed. So I came on back home and then went for a noon class. After which I visited ye olde library and found a book of fairy tales in Latin.

Hansellus and Gretellus, Cinerella, Tres Porcelli, Lacernella Rubra, etc.

The odd thing was, after climbiing all four flights of stairs to get to the Language room, they sent me across the hall where the Librarian said they no longer carried Latin, excuse me, Dead Language Books. Huh? Then why are there over 21 pages of Latin lisitngs in your computer catalog?

Turns out, in that section at least, they had two dead language books: Fabulae Mirablis and Ovid. He did say they had a Loeb(sic?) book area in which the latin text faces an english text. I'll have to visit that section sometime soon***CV

Snow day III

Aaah the wonderful feeling of relaxation after a three day weekend. Lovely.

What's this? What are they saying about closings? Hmmmmm, No. Not me. Okay. Out the door and into the .... snow? It's snowing. Why is it snowing? *shrug* Okay then let me get a bus. Carefully cross this white carpeted street and wait, and wait, and wait.

Riiing!

"Hello? It's snowing here too. You'll be late? Okay."

Wait and wait and ah! Here is the bus moving veeeeerrrry slowly.

On the bus and, riiiing, "Hello? School's still on? Okay. See you."

30 minutes later at an intersection. Riiing, "Yep, still on the first bus. No announcement+? Okay."

20 minutes later, still at the same intersection. "Hi, I'm still on my way - Oh? School's closed? Okay."

It's so nice to walk through the first real snow of winter.

+PS were not officially closed until 8:30. I can only wonder what all the early parents, you know the ones who have to leave by 6 did. And the reason for waiting in the same intersection? A bus slid sideways and was blocking traffic. ***CV

Not true deja vu

Picked up two books today:

The Time Before History: 5 Million Years of Human Impact, Colin Tudge

Victorian Lace Knitting Today, Jane Sowerby+

**
It is the oddest sensation to start reading a book and every few seconds be nudged by the recurring thought that the story, it seems awfully familiar. Then, after a few perplexing back and forths between beginning , middle and end chapters realise: Oh, that's right. I started to read this last summer didn't I? But I never finished it. Now why is that : Oh yes, Beaver, the main character is rather unsympathetic and yet, because he is the main character, I sympathise with him and, at the same time, want to smack him and say, "Get a life already!" Which is probably why I never finished it. I don't think it's okay to want to smack the main character.

It's an Evelyn Waugh story, A Handful of Dust. Must finish it at some point.

Speaking of finishing, I rather think that I will not make the From the Stacks challenge. I s'pose I could try harder. But I'm not in a Nabokovian mood.
***
+I just remembered, Susan Sowerby was Colin's mum in The Secret Garden. That's why the name Sowerby seemed so familiar.****CV

Carnivorous Roses

Milkweed, Jerry Spinelli (208pp) I am of the opinion that there can not be too many stories written about the Holocaust of WWII. I am concerned that when the last concentration camp survivor is no longer amidst the living that we will forget what truly wretched people we can be towards each other. The main character of this story has no name that he knows of. He is our everychild. He is a gypsy not a Jew. He is a thief and a benefactor. He is crazy in a time of senselessness. Jerry Spinelli is a wonderful author, This is the second of his works I've read. I will look for the others.
**


The Looking GLass Wars, Frank Beddor (358pp) A caution: I read a review of this book last night before I had actually finished reading the story itself. The reviewer said that he almost wished he wasn't writing the review because then people could discover the book for themselves. I think that is a very smart thing to say regardless of the book in question. So read on if you have no preconceptions regarding Charles Dodgson, Alice Liddell or the stories that came from them both.

I surprised myself by enjoying this book. Once I accepted the fact that, though the names and some characters might be or appear to be the same, the story itself had very little to do with the original Alice in Wonderland. Oh, the original is mentioned but only as a device by which to tell the true story of Wonderland.It is a war story hence there are many battles, many incidents of bloodshed, and much reference to weaponry (ie, violence). In fact it is almost a case of Wonderland meets 1984 meets the Matrix. I am curious how Seeing Redd, the title for the second in the series, will use the red aspects. Will McCarthy make an appearance or Stalin? will there be a gathering in a square of some sort? Will Alice truly descend through the earth and find a place where people walk on their heads? Supposedly in October we shall know.***CV

Vol.12 looks just like you

Keturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavit (218pp) A few posts ago I wondered why so many recent young adult stories have such very modern speaking and acting heroines regardless of the time period they are set in. I feel something is lost when authors attempt to make characters too closely resemble their intended audience. One aspect of reading I particularly enjoy is making the connection between myself and someone who is superficially unlike me; whether it be in custom, culture, speech, garb or combinations of them all. If a character is me well I know me, and I like me, but I want to know about others and how we differ and resemble each other. In Keturah and Lord Death I find a wonderful example of what I mean by creating a character and setting her in a mythic any old tyme who is true to her tyme. Yes, she is forthright. Yes, she has her own mind. But she does so appropriatelywithin her tyme. Any one who reads the blurb to this story will know how it ends ultimately but it is still a delightful read. I was reminded of Beauty and the Beast (but what a gorgeous beast), Psyche and Eros, and East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It is a sweet story told in the first person.
**
I am almost finished with the Looking Glass Wars ***CV

Alyss

Picked up two new books today:

The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Bedor
Keturah and Lord Death, by Martine Leavitt

***
Our Finches are returning. Yay!Well we have two finches now but the ones coming back are an original pair who have since had several layings. So approximatly eight coming back which brings us to ten total.
***
The project group went much as I expected. Only a few of the community have experience knitting and only one knows purling. So I started out by explaining the pattern's code (which I color coded so that Knit was in red, Purl in blue, etc). Then I told them that I really only expected us to do the head and maybe the neck. I also expected that at some point they each might feel like going, aaaaargh! But I showed them my favorite part of knitting which is when you can: riiiiip! And look, I get to start again :)

I believe that was smart because we spent 40 minutes just figuring how to not lose a knit stitch and then how not to lose a purl stitch.

They did great though. How would you feel after 40 minutes and all you had was three stitches? No one said I quit. One did have a moment where he was really upset but I attribute that to this being his very first time and his partner not doing the work for him.

It's a good experience for me because I knit through the back loop and do a lazy purl, continental style. This way I have to knit the "correct way".*****CV

snow sleep

I just experienced my first snow day. That is, a day when shools are closed so no one goes in. Guess what I did?

Slept in, for a loooong time.

Then I thought, you know, I could be getting a book about Sadako from the library. I could be doing so many things. But I didn't. When I did finally get up and go out I stopped in a shop for a calendar and what did they have right behind that calendar display?

A book about Sadako.
**
I am currently listening to a CD and having the best time. I love the "All Purpose Folk Song". If only we knew enough about folk music in class I would so share it 'cause the kids would love it.

Must fill in that spot ASAP***CV

snowfall

5:30 a.m. it was snowing, and then it stopped.
**
I shared a newspaper article in class today regarding the knitnowar project. Afterwards I said if anyone was interested in making some of the cranes then this Friday we could meet as a group to do so. I think only one person was not interested: wow. In fact, one of the new community members, who does not know how to knit, asked one of the oldest to teach him so he could participate. They both worked really hard this afternoon.
***CV

Hot scotch with lemon

Mulliner Nights, PG Wodehouse, (235pp) A collection of short stories whose central premise is a series of relations named Mulliner and whose various adventures are told in a bar by Mr. Mulliner. That man could come up with a story to fit any situation and does so to hilarious results. 'Course I knew the cat was a lush from the start. Oh, and I do mean feline cat not hep cat.
**
Ten cranes done of which seven remain to be felted.
***
For the next few months I will be playing "guess where the bus stop is today". Portland is redoing its central bus mall (ie tearing up the street) If you remember it think BART construction in SF during the mid '70s. Or 19th avenue when they were extending the tunnel. Yikes.**CV

water to fire

Gothic, Ten Original Dark Tales, ed. Deborah Noyes (241pp) I was expecting more from this collection. I may have been spoiled by the Greenman and The Faery Reel anthologies. The stories, for the most part, have interesting premises but still left me unsatisfied. It is as if the authors had a set limit to work within and consequently cut out any frills, regardless if it what was cut was really a frill or not. Some exceptions were: Forbidden Brides....; Endings; the Stone Tower.
**
Anna of Byzantium, Tracy Barrett, (209pp) This is the story that I mentioned in yesterday's post.
***
So far I have five and a half cranes done. I'm still having trouble accessing the knitnowar site though.
****
Isn't it fun finding out on Friday that you have a report to turn in on Monday? A report which people knew weeks earlier would be due, just didn't think to tell you about it?****CV

Boii oh Boii

Today is the one hundredth anniversary of the first Casa de Bambini. Thank you Maria Montessori, for showing me that not all education philosophies are based upon drill and fatigue and, that some adults know, children can think and reason themselves.
**
I am currently reading a book based upon the imagined life of Anna Comnena. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, and was the author of the Alexiad. I am finding that this book is not an easy read. Not because of the vocabulary or the style of writing but because there is no clear cut good person or bad person. (Not strictly true. I have the benefit of reading previously about Anna Dalaseena, otherwise she would be the clear villain). I like the challenge and the questions I am experiencing as I read it. This is a definite possibility for the class.

I also have a copy of the Alexiad to read as well.
***
Here is the contact for the 1,000 Cranes project As I may have mentioned earlier, the site is a strange one. It seems to be a conduit for other stuff as well. However, the crane pattern is there. I've made four so far, they are very quick to make, and felted one by hand. I should have ten by the end of the weekend, if I don't get lost in a Celtic Timeline****CV

*the Boii were a celtic tribe that worried the Romans when the Romans were a young wanna be empire

Hello Dolly

A friend told me today about a project to knit 1,ooo cranes. It's part of an art installation project that will be constructed for World Peace Day. I picked up that pattern for it and will try to make it and see of it's doable as a class project.
**
I haven't been doing much reading lately. I am almost finished with Mulliner Nights and I picked up a soft back copy of Gothic which is a collection of short stories by various authors. For the last few nights I've been rereading my Atwater-Rhodes collection.
***
Pink Martini the band was fun and did an excellent show. They had lots of guests come in and perform with them either as back up singers or instrumentalists. They even did a pizicatto version of the Entertainer. China came out halfway through the show wearing this absolutely gorgeous dress that she said her great aunt wore in the 1930's for her debutante ball. Let us contemplate the wonder of '30's evening wear shall we? Aaaaah.

Oh that was nice.

Not so nice was the fact that people continued to be seated up until the last third of the show. Seating would have continued I think except that no one else arrived. What is up with that? I know how much I paid for my ticket, and honey, I wouldn't show up for the last half for that price. I'd show up for the whole thing. Which of course I did. A couple came in, late, and sat next to me and proceeded to engage in conversation during the performance, to share text messages with each other, to switch seats (hey this ain't the two step hall y'know) and then left after half an hour.

The opening act couldn't perform. She was sick in NY with what sounded like pneumonia. So she called a friend and that person came to perform. The replacement act? Miss Carol Channing. ****CV

Breaking Even

Spinners, Donna Jo Napoli (189pp) A variant of the Rumplestiltskin tale with a family theme. A well writen story, though I found the ending a bit abrupt. The author spent time researching spinning and learning to spin. This might explain the amazing variety of yarns Saskia invents.
**
Buddha vol.2, Osamu Tezuka (414pp) I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse years ago and loved it. Somehow I never pictured the young prince surrounded by a bevy of naked dancing girls in the playroom. Nor the language used (mosly anglo saxon). I don't think I'll be introducing this series to my students interested in Buddhism. They can find it on their own.
***
Lupin III vol.3, Monkey Punch (191pp) Yep It's Lupin, oh so bad and dangerous. And since when did Goemon date Fujiko? That ain't right. I love the letter that brings Lupin to the north Pole:

Dear Lupin,

Please rescue me. I'm trapped in an iceberg.

Sincerely,

A.E. Normous Diamond

Aww that Lupin. Such a sensitive soul.
****

Early Irish Myths and Sagas, trans. Jeffrey Ganz

Mulliner Nights, PG Wodehouse

Mythologies, William Butler Yeats

*****CV

candied absinthe

Rebel Angels, Libba Bray (548pp) the second in a series which started with A Great and Terrible Beauty. In this volume we are introduced to the Golden Dawn book shop (oh Crowley may be rolling), the Brotherhood who talks about the Eastern Star (Freemasons anyone?), anagrams, sirens, centaurs, incest and the dangers of sweatshop labour. All in all I found this volume more interesting than the first. Did I mention the absinthe? Brought me back to my goth days it did. I'll most likely borrow the third, tentatively called The Winterlands, from the library when it's released.

So I wonder why the protectors/lovers of the Order (a female group of magic handlers) are called Rakshana. In my readings of the Ramyana the Raksha are considerd evil. I hesitate to say demons as the Indain mythos is not as clearly seperational as the Western orthodox version of angels and demons. Even evil seems to be pushing it. Of course there was a great fascination with aspects of Indian thought at that time what with the British Raj, theosophy and all.
**
The Magic Circle, Donna Jo Napoli (117pp) Just how did an old woman come to live in the middle of a medieval forest in a cottage decorated with candies. Not too many children are to be found in such a place. This short volume proposes an answer.
***CV

Covering for others

Is not fun. More so when small creatures may suffer simply because one person decides not keep up their part of an agreement and then doesn't inform the other party until many, many days have gone by. If you don't do something well you have a couple of choices: either be up front with it, or, make sure someone who does does that job. 'Nuff said
**
Companions of the Night, Vivian Vande Velde (206pp) Helping rescue a small stuffed animal from a 24hour laundromat for your kid brother may not be such a smart thing to do. Might be kinder to let him cry. If you do that he won't be kidnapped by a Vampire hunter. 'Course then you won't meet a really hot french vampire but, you know, the world is full of choices.
***
So, New Years Eve plans involve a little Pink Martini :) ****CV

My kingdom for a bookcase

Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman (366pp) A collection of stories and a few poems by an author everyone should hear read aloud at least once. A Study in Emerald, red implike knockers on green doorways, overzealous guardians, smilodons, hell is a psychological inventory, and Grendel's mum: what is not to like?
**
GodChild volume 3, Kaori Yuki Oh my. I said after number one I would not get another one of these and what did I do? I got another one. *sigh* Perhaps I got carried away with Angel Sanctuary and thought, Hey she wrote this so maybe GodChild isn't so bad. Oy.
***
Well I don't quite have 200 unread books so I went and got some more today (of which I have almost finshed two)

Lupin III volume3, Monkey Punch

GodChild, Kaori Yuki

Spinners, Donna Jo Napoli

The Magic Circle, Donna Jo Napoli

Companions of the Night, Vande Velde

Colonel Chabert, H. Balzac

And I went to the library for Rebel Angels (Libba Bray) and Buddha by Osamu Tezuka.

****

Speaking of Rebel Angels: is it just me or do the heroines in many YA books appear overly modern for their time periods? I saw a book today called Blood Countess which is a retelling of the Hungarian countess who liked to bathe in blood to stay young (among other pleasant past times) and the blurb I read seemed to be more appropriate to Jacky Faber than a Hungarian pre rennaissance girl.

It's as if Emma said to D'arcy: "Dude if you don't ask me to the dance Saturday night we are so through"*Snap!*

*****CV