etc.

Over the past couple of weeks, the mister and I have settled into a crazy routine: we’re in bed at 9:30 pm every night where I read for an hour, up at 6 am, and out the door at ten to seven. The crazy part is that I’ve never been an early-to-bed-early-to-rise kind of person, so this is all drastically out of character, but I’m actually really enjoying it. I’m less tired, more productive, and way more balanced than I’ve ever been. I recommend it. Highly!

The early-to-bed last night enabled us to be up and out the door at 8:30 am to-day (Saturday!), we headed straight over to a huge church flea market (a 42nd annual flea market, to be sure) where I had hoped to find something to quell the recent fabric/fibre jonesing, but sadly there were no fabric or fibre deals to be had. Still, I did find a nice, big enamel bowl, a wee ceramic pot, and a delightfully heavy and smooth rolling pin (imagine all the pastry and doughy delights in that rolling pin’s past! And plenty more in its future), all for $4. To-morrow I’m hitting the creativfestival (that is the erstwhile Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival, now with a broader mandate!), which should well & truly mollify the fabric/fibre cravings.

And now the mister has put on The Merchant of Venice. Good day!

Something a little different for corners of my home this week.

Happy Earth Day.

A lot of reading to-day, and not a lot of much else. Except a brief visit with my parents, where we did some file management on their new computer, followed by fun with Skype and Pandora. And I picked up my camera so Easter pictures are up on Flickr.

I don’t think I’ve ever clicked through to the Style section when I read the New York Times online, but this morning I did, and I’m glad of it because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have learned of these knitting needles. LED tips? You betcha! Campy, yes, but I’m a movie-theatre-knitter so I applaud the idea. And, in an odd self-referential twist, if you Google “knit lite”, as I did, you will see that the first result on the list is a post from this very blog, which has nothing at all to do with LED-tipped needles, to be sure.

So, anyway, things have been quiet. Easter weekend was a lovely treat, we drove out to the mister’s brother’s new farm in Napanee, Ontario (new on account of their recent move to said farm, not because the farm itself is new; the farm is, in fact, a couple hundred years old!), where we did a lot of visiting, eating, and laughing. I took a ton of pictures too, but left my camera at my parent’s house (where there was more good visiting, eating, and laughing on Sunday), so Flickr is going to have to wait a few days.

I’m reading Jane Austen: A Life at the moment. I first read Austen as a teenager and disliked her novels intently, so much so, in fact, that I inscribed that Thoreau quote (the title of this post) on the title page of my copy of Pride and Prejudice. I’m not sure how I managed to escape her novels through two English degrees, but I did, and I was always somewhat regretful for it because I felt that my youthful condemnation might have been a bit harsh and that I ought to give her a second chance. I’m only a few pages into the Shields biography, but I have a feeling that by the time I reach the last page, I will be ready and eager to embark upon that long overdue second chance.

A good day. I finished what I needed to finish for the course I’m teaching, paid bills, filed bills, did laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned out the cats’ bowls and refilled them, took out the trash, cleaned the bins (as in wiped them down with disinfectant! This never gets done!), did the recycling, prepped tomorrow’s lunches, and read everything in my aggregator. I didn’t set foot outside, mind you, and it looked like a lovely day too so more’s the pity, but whatever. Stuff’s been accomplished, and for that I am pleased. I now get to eat supper, read my book, and look forward to Big Love tonight. That show is so under my skin it’s not even funny.

I’m procrastinating. I should have spent the morning writing an introduction to wikis, but instead I spent the morning fussing over Estrilda’s dress (that’s her, over on the left), picking out fabric, buttons and embroidery floss, being unable to decide whether to go earthy or bright & playful with her outfit. When the linen fabric won out for her dress, I knew it would be earthy, but then I added some spider-web flowers at the last minute in an attempt to bring in a little playfulness. And her name is a good, solid 13th Century name so she’s quite a conflicted little cat.

Welcome to the blog with the most aggressive redesign schedule in the history of the internets! A few long time readers (hi, dad!) will recognize this theme from about two years one year ago, except then it had a little lady tossing a bowling ball on the top-right corner. Deju-vu. Speaking of aggressive redesign schedules, did you know that MIT redesigns their homepage everyday? Well, it isn’t a redesign in the strictest sense of the term, they really just apply a new stylesheet and the rest of the page architecture stays the same, but it’s cool anyway. And apropos for a technology school, I suppose.

Right. So, if you’re reading this via RSS, pop on over and have a peek!

Meet Glory. I decided to try my hand at cat clothing and I’m fairly pleased with the way her dress turned out. And in a move towards anatomical correctness (har!), she has arms too. Arms open the doors to all sorts of wardrobe possibilities so I’m looking forward to exploring those. Although, for the next few, I will probably just try and perfect the shapeless smock and have some fun with buttons and trim.

I had originally intended to send Glory off to live with a friend’s little girl, but on second thought realized that she isn’t old enough for her yet, so Glory is now looking for a home.

Part of the impetus to get back to my sewing machine is Plush You II , a plush exhibit at Schmancy Toys in Seattle, in which I am participating. I have to admit, I signed up for somewhat selfish reasons — to prod myself into action, force the creative juices to flow, push the envelope and try new things, and to work at getting better at making stuffed things that I like and of which I am proud. I’m far from there yet, but I think I’m starting down the right road.