This blog is going on hiatus for a bit. I'm currently reading The Artist's Way, and I need some time to process all that, and to figure out what this blog is to become. I don't think I'll be gone long. I enjoy writing it... it's not you it's me... we can still be friends... :)
In the meantime, keep checking Lee's blog. Peace.
I joined the Rockford Photo Club last Thursday. Yep, it was Valentine's Day. Lee and I don't usually do anything anyway, but I did feel kinda bad... "Um, ok, bye honey!"
It was the 2nd meeting I'd been to, and it was a "Display Night". I showed some pics and did not disgrace myself. The topic was architectural detail. Here are the ones I showed:
Margarita Island, Venezuela. Oh, how I wish I was sitting under this now.
The oldest sun dial in this hemisphere. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The RPC is doing a display at the Burpee Museum of Natural History. They were asking for pics of nature... landscapes, animals (no pets - too bad... I've got a million of Lazy, Lazy, and Crazy.) I signed up to bring 6 pics. I asked if there was any kind of quality control... ie: did they need to see my pics ahead of time. He said it wasn't usually a problem and "based on what you showed tonight, there shouldn't be a problem." Toot, toot. That's my own horn. :)
I should say that there are some very professional sounding amateur photographers in the group. I did not understand a lot of what they were talking about. I just want to take pictures.
I posted an entry from the 13th, and couldn't change the date to today, so it showed up below the "Naughty, Too" post. I kept pushing the Publish Post button, and, to me, nothing was happening. It's there though... scroll down. :)
Lee just sent me an email with the subject: "Wait 'til yo mama gets home."
The following pics were attached...
Apparently, I need to keep my stash elsewhere, or secured in a better way. Lee said he didn't see Rico actually doing the deed, but Rico seemed willing to take the credit for it.
I mean Valentine's Day, of course! I'm making dishcloths.
If you haven't gotten one of these from me yet, it's only a matter of time, since I cannot seem to stop making them. Stop on by the house, or leave a comment, and I'll bring you one or two. Carrie and Nicola, don't you worry little ladies, I've got some already picked out for you!
I got it in my head that I wanted to make heart shaped dishcloths. Tried making my own design, then got wise and decided not to reinvent the wheel... er, the heart-shaped dishcloth.
Found this pattern online. Awesome. It's crochet, which I haven't done in FOREVER. Turns out crocheting makes my hands numb after while. Er... maybe I shouldn't have made so many hearts in a row. It's highly addictive. Seriously.
So, the conversation at work the other day was "Which is the best Rocky movie?"
I immediately answered "Rocky IV". But then I had to elaborate... I saw Rocky IV in 1985 on the big screen. I was 16. Therefore, everything I saw or heard at that time is linked to HORMONES. Things at that time for me were the FUNNIEST, or THE SADDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD, or Wow, that song expresses EXACTLY how I feel. (And, Mom, I don't remember if I wasn't supposed to see this movie or not. Well, it was rated PG, so it was probably ok. I won't tell you what I saw instead of the 2010: Space Odyssey, which I still haven't seen, btw. Ok, it was Footloose. That Kevin Bacon made me do it. Hope you can forgive me 22 years later.)
Anyhoo, we tried to rent it Sunday at our local place. They had II and III, but not IV on the shelf, so I asked for it. They said "We don't have it anymore." I said, "But that's the best one!" The guy grinned and said, "Yeah, you're right."
So, last night we were at our local Evil Empire, and Lee asked if I just wanted to see if they had it. $7.50. Awesome. We watched it last night.
I have to say, it still clearly IS the best Rocky. I forgot about the AWESOME 1985 outfits and fast cars, and the SONGS .... And in true 80's formula movies, there are no fewer than 3 montages. I kept saying "See, it's awesome, see, Drago is training in a lab, and Rocky is DOING THE SAME EXERCISES, but he's doing them IN THE SNOW! See! Look how time has passed, because now Rocky has a BEARD."
Later, Lee mentioned that Rocky IV was panned because it's the most violent Rocky movie, and as I was drifting off to sleep, I said, "Well, YEAH, cause it was against the Russians, and did you see Drago, he was like a FOOT TALLER than Rocky. Rocky's so scrappy."
For me, Rocky IV is still the best one, although we liked Rocky Balboa quite a lot more than we thought we would. No, wait. Rocky is probably the BEST, but IV is the best of the II-V franchise, Rocky Balboa being technically VI. Speaking of Rocky Balboa, they could not have cast Rocky's son any better. Seriously, we're watching Rocky IV, and saying, "Man, doesn't young Rocky look like Milo?" Check out the lower lip and the sad eyes.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
Duke: [to Rocky] You see? You see? He's not a machine, he's a man, he's a man.
Drago: [to his own trainer] He's not human. He's like a piece of iron.
So, Lee's parents are currently in Hawaii. They told us to "pull into the driveway once in awhile if it snows, to make it look like someone's been here." Uh, yeah. If we could get IN the driveway over the 2 feet of plow rubble. We parked at the neighbors' and got to work. Did I mention it's a 2 car driveway? 45 minutes later, we're practically having coronaries. 
Mom and Dad, you may be getting a snow blower for Christmas next year.
My sweater turned into a vest. Anyone need 2 knitted sleeves? Anyone, anyone? Here's what happened... I was having so much trouble with the sleeves, and was about to throw the whole thing on the scrap heap. I knew in my heart that if I didn't FINISH IT somehow, it was never going to be done. So I threw some borders on the arm openings and neck, and VOILA. Done. Woot.
He works hard for the money.... I mean "for his honey".
Our neighbor also works hard. It's good to share a driveway with Steve... he's got a Bob-Cat. Boo yah!
Don't get me wrong: I like expensive yarn. I rarely BUY expensive yarn, but occasionally I do and make something special, or keep one skein of the "good stuff" around as a pet (with mixed results).
I got a new Patternworks catalog, and I laughed out loud at this one.... 
Let's do the math, shall we?
$32.00 per skein.
You get the pattern free. Um, yeah. Looked like striped stockinette to me.
The pattern calls for 9 different colors...
$32 x 9 = a scarf that had better be massaging my neck while keeping it warm. And cooking me dinner. And washing my car.
Never was there a more eagerly anticipated Winter Storm Warning than the one that started yesterday. I work for a school district, and everyone, and I do mean everyone, was checking weather.com every 5 minutes. I go MONTHS without looking at a weather report. We don't have regular TV or cable or anything, so I just stick my head out the door for an up-to-date weather prediction.
But, yesterday... I, too, was checking the hour by hour update.... you see, we all wanted a snow day. That is the beauty and glory of working for a school district. So all yesterday and last night was, will it or won't it? C'mon... start snowing... but not TOO soon... don't want them to have time to plow... Woo hoo! Now it says blowing and drifting.... argh... too soon... why isn't it snowing yet? I'm going to bed. Poo. I woke up at 4:00 and looked outside. Rats! There's hardly anything on the ground. By 5:30, it was snowing pretty hard, but still the call had not come. (The whole district gets an automated call if it's closed.) I was reconciled to get up and get ready, after a couple more snoozes... then the phone rang.
Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! Lee and I actually giggled.
I have done this to myself on EVERY sweater I have made...
I second guess the pattern's sleeves. It never seems like the sleeves could possibly fit the hole in the body of the sweater. And since I don't (ahem) block my work, of COURSE it doesn't look like it'll fit. So, I start fiddling with the sleeves, even after I've got them partially sewed to the body.
I have just fiddled myself into the goofiest looking sleeves. I'm not even going to photograph them. Lee said "I think sleeves are supposed to pucker a LITTLE when you raise your arms. But you've got shoulder pads." Yes, indeedy. Now I'm seeing that, YES, the sleeve WOULD HAVE FIT IF SOMEONE HADN'T FIDDLED.
Trust the pattern.
Now that we have 3 cats, it is even harder to tell who was naughty. My money's on Sibbie, as she has been known to take all of my skeins of yarn to a different location, as if they were her babies.
However, Rico could be framing her. He's a bit of a wild card, yet.... he DOES hoard toys under our bed.
Murray would NEVER do such a thing. Or is that what he wants us to think?
I went to a meeting of the Rockford Photo Club last week. The topic was about winter photography. The 1st guy started talking about what to wear when taking winter pictures, and I thought, "How lame." And yet, when I went out to practice taking winter pics this afternoon, I realized I maybe did not take into account the depth of the snow. (At least I had boots on... and wool socks... may have to rethink the blue jean thing. And I'm a dope, because I actually had snow pants with me. Duh.)
I finally got a lens cap strap, to keep the lens cap attached to the camera. Uh huh. At least it made a nice little circle in the snow so I could find it.
I had mild success with shooting snow. Basically I took a million pics with different shutter speeds until I got snow to look like snow. I'd like to try more pics on a blue sky day. Everything was white, white, white. Too hard to get the white to be white, but not blown out.
Out of all the pics I took, unfortunately this was the best one. Yes, I wear that hat. It's very warm. Yes, people laugh and point.
