So, I started thinking about doing a bit more “lifestreaming” in this space a few months ago, but never did anything about it, mostly for lack of time. To-day I started tooling around, looking for plugins & such, then the tooling turned into testing, and testing turned into a template refresh and a few hours later, we have this. If you’re reading this via RSS, pop over and have a look.

Four resources made it happen:

• this really simple page explains how to add a second sidebar to your theme.
• the Homepage Excerpts plugin excerpts blog posts on the index page.
• the FlicrkRSS widget generates the image sidebar.
• the RSS Stream plugin makes the lifestreaming section come together.

I like it. It feels right. Of course, now that I’ve dusted things off around here, the blogging impulse has returned somewhat (of course!). If things look funky in your browser, let me know? Thanks!

So, um, hi! You might remember me. I used to blog here.

I honestly don’t know what happened back there. I have about 16 posts in draft, started and abandoned sometime over the last 171 days, not one of them particularly interesting, just more of the same newsy, this-is-what-I’ve-been-up-to type of post. Once a post like that has been abandoned, it’s pretty damn difficult to pick up where you left of and forge ahead. So, let’s just think of the last 171 days as a collection of those abandoned moments, shall we? Good.

I’ve dusted things off around here just the tiniest little bit. I considered a redesign as some sort of symbolic relaunch (ha!), but it turns out that I’m still very fond of the simplicity of this layout, so I opted instead to upgrade the plumbing and make a couple of superficial adjustments (colour, font). For now, I’m pleased with it.

It’s nice to be back!

Bought some begonias for the garden today. I mostly dislike gardening, but then I start doing it and it usually turns out being OK. Not big fun, but, you know, fine.

Thought I’d pop in before June fizzled away entirely. If I visited my own blog once in a while, I might have actually been prompted to post sooner, given that I’ve had a raccoon at the top of this page for, oh, weeks. Oh, sure, he’s a cute raccoon, but his cuteness is ever so slightly tempered by the knowledge that the Humane Society undoubtedly fattened him & his brothers up and brought them right back to our neighbourhood to settle in, find some mates, and have more cute raccoon babies in our walls. Ah, circle of life.

So, here we are with half the year gone. You know how time seems to speed up as you get older? Well, a colleague speculated the other day that it’s because time is relative, and when you’re young, every day occupies a larger percentage of your life, compared to when you’re older. Best explanation I’ve heard yet. Summers felt like they lasted forever when I was younger, but that’s probably because when you’re 13, you’ve only really known 13 summers, and you actually remember fewer.

The mister and I have been trying to make the very most of this summer (“Summer of Us”, we’re calling it), which means we’re doing a lot more than our usual home-body selves are used to. For us, this means less couch surfing/movie watching and more getting out into the world and seeing people. It’s remarkably enriching and makes me feel like we’ve already had a very full summer, and there’s still 2 months of it to go. I feel younger just thinking about it.

Oh, and? I’ve perked things up around here with a little redesign. I finally tired of the minimal sidebar and added some content (current blog reads coming soon!). I’ve only tested it on Mac/FF3, so let me know if anything looks broken on your end.

Lean in close and inhale deeply for full effect.

I have this on-going dream of an imaginary vacation that consists of 2 weeks in a remote cabin on a lake, a bag full of yarn, no TV, a stack of books, fine crisp air, and no commitments. I recently stumbled upon this meme at Not an Artist and I’ve since seen it in a bunch of other places, and for some reason, my imaginary lakeside vacation springs to mind every time I see it. Must be something about the indulgence of having the time to read all those books I’ve never read or started but didn’t finish.

This is a list of the top 106 books most often marked “unread” by LibraryThing users. The rules: bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones you read for school, italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish. Pop a note in the comments if you’ve done this one (and help me keep the dream alive).

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

That’s me reflected in the bean in Chicago. I was in Chicago for a couple of days last week, at a conference, and wow, I can’t wait to go back.

I’ve been reading a few tidbits about personal branding and online presence lately and, I have to say, it freaks me out just a little. Although, perhaps this blog wouldn’t be as badly neglected as it is if I had, you know, a Publishing Policy and I paid more attention to the way in which I Brand & Represent Myself Online.

Is there any way for those words not to sound slimy? Is it just me?

So, the last time I was here I talked about going to Charlottetown for a quick conference presentation. The conference was swell, my talk went well, Charlottetown was tiny and quite nice, my luggage didn’t get there with me so I hit a couple of stores on my way into town to get enough stuff to get me through 2.5 days. All I ended up needing was a couple of things from the drugstore and a stop into the first clothing store I saw (where I scored a cute skirt, yay emergency purchase) so I wouldn’t have to present in my totally comfortable and utterly presentation-unworthy cords. I got some sort of perverse delight in knowing that I could get by in a strange town with not much more than a laptop and a small grocery bag full of essentials.

Despite that perverse delight, last week in Chicago was much more civilized. My suitcase got there when I did (I cringed a fair bit over checking it in the first place, but it turns out that I don’t own any luggage that is suitable for on-board travel, plus the whole 3-1-1 thing causes me some stress), the closing plenary I spoke at was loads of fun, I got to meet a bunch of brilliant and fun librarians I previously only knew online, and Chicago charmed the pants right off me. Truly. I’m taking the mister right back there, someday soon. A scant collection of pictures is here.

So now I’m back, staring down a couple of months of NO TRAVEL, about which I am delighted. Project No proceeds apace, although I have made a couple of minor exceptions for really local talks that I should be able to pull of with minimal stress.

Also? I’m reading some good stuff, knitting another pair of socks (with this), picking lilacs off our tree out front, swapping yarn leftovers thanks to Brainylady, anticipating a concert, and generally enjoying the daily plug.

How about you?

Being surrounded with yummy sock yarn is oddly comforting. Isn’t it?

I’ve embarked on a little something called “Project No” for the months of June, July and August. I figure that if I don’t make a concerted effort to say “no” to library-related stuff (which is mostly conference presentations and workshops of late), I’ll keep saying yes and drive myself a little crazy with due dates and deadlines and traveling (which is quickly becoming more annoying than enjoyable). May, however, is going to be crazymaking for just those reasons. I head out to Prince Edward Island in four days, which has all the potential to be a lovely trip, except it’s going to be practically a fly-by. I have around 8 hours on Saturday to explore Charlottetown (got ideas?) before flying home to more tight deadlines, then another fly-by to Chicago for more conference action and maybe a little socializing with library-type friends. Also? I’m teaching my grad course again, starting tomorrow.

Friends, I can’t wait until the effects of “Project No” start to kick in.

Sebastian is not spotting celebrities. He’s watching the leaves sway in the wind. It’s a lot more riveting than celebrity-spotting, see.

Claire over at Loobylu started it: take the “six unimportant things about me” meme and add celebrities. Truth is, I’m not much of a celebrity spotter — all the sightings below are the result of other people pointing out the celebrities to me. Seriously.

My sister and I were hanging out downtown, taking in a few used bookstores, when she happened to spot Roger Ebert on the sidewalk in front of us. We walked over, got autographs, and my sister had the presence of mind to ask him how he was enjoying the film festival. He said something like, “it’s always good.” I don’t think I realized who we were talking to until after we walked away.

Walking out of the Buddha Bar in New York, having just had dinner with the mister and some of his work colleagues, we spotted Beyoncé Knowles walking out right in front of us. Or, I should say, one of the mister’s colleagues spotted Beyoncé Knowles. I didn’t fix my eyes on her until we were outside and she stepped into her massive Hummer limo. In fact, it was such a quick glance that I couldn’t tell you what she was wearing.

I almost got run over by Jeanne Becker crossing Yonge Street at King. A few months later, she bumped into me (literally — with her shopping cart) at an overpriced grocery store in our old neighbourhood. I was already mad at her over the Yonge Street incident, so when she didn’t apologize for the shopping cart incident, I was supremely incensed and vowed never to watch Fashion Television again (even the reruns!). If you don’t know who Jeanne Becker is, you’re probably not Canadian, in which case you can just move on to the next sighting because she’s not worth Googling.

Standing in line waiting to get into a movie at the film festival a few years ago, Olympia Dukakis grazed my arm as she tried to get by me on a crowded sidewalk. She graciously stopped, turned around, touched my arm, and apologized. Jeanne Becker could learn a thing or two.

Other uneventful film festival celebrity sightings: George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Robin Williams, Jeff Goldblum. George had his tabloid smile on, Robert looked tired, Robin was in a mad rush, Jeff was tall, really tall.

And two more local celebrities to round out the list: Rex Murphy said “hi” to me while crossing Front Street, and Ben Mulroney checked out in front of me at the grocery store. Rex is short and professorial, Brian is tall and really should have washed the make-up off his face (after what I assumed was a taping of eTalk Daily) before exposing himself to the unforgiving fluorescents at the grocery store. Yeouch.

And that’s it, how totally lacking in “wow”. I could tell you about the time the mister chatted with Larry Flynt outside an LA restaurant, or the time he ate dinner a table over from Angelina Jolie, but those aren’t my stories, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll let you regale me with six unimportant things about you involving celebrities! Remember, Claire tagged everyone, and that includes you!

Totally inspired by this.

How is everyone? It’s Saturday morning and I’m nursing my first cup of tea and dreaming of crawling right back into bed. Instead, I’m confronted with mounds of laundry (of this magnitude), other related house-cleaning, a piece of exercise equipment that needs to be built, taxes to file, and an article to write. What better time to blog?

Here are some things:

• Hey, knitters: ever had a yarn emergency while traveling? Or perhaps a stash crisis that required immediate remedying? Non-knitters are likely scoffing at this line of questioning, but the knitters? They know what I’m saying. Well I just learned of KnitMap (via infodoodads, which BTW, is a nice little example of my librarian & knitting worlds colliding). I do hardly any planning before traveling anymore, so I often find myself in a new province/state/town wondering where the nearest yarn shop is for a bit of, you know, browsing. How awesome is it that I can now pop over to KnitMap for the necessary coordinates? I am beside myself, people.
• You might know Moni for her inspiring knitting tales and other excellent commentary (I particularly enjoy her often scathing political commentary!) on her blog Blatherskite. Well, she went and made my day today! Thank you so much, Moni! I’m looking forward to doling out my own “Blog of Distinction” awards, but not today. I need to spread out the goodness.
• I’m knitting a pair of socks with this yarn, and boy howdy, it’s a good time. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed working with the Cherry Tree Hill until my sister reminded me that I made her a pair out of it a couple of years ago. I’ve decided that handpainted sock yarn is my favourite type of yarn ever.
• Our local transit union is on strike. Not much more to say about that.
• If you read not martha you’ll know that she recently ran a contest (one of many — her blog is full of contest-goodness!) for some reusable shopping bags from Delight.com. Well, guess who won a set? Once again, beside myself. To-day is turning out to be rather brilliant.

I hope your day turns out to be brilliant, too.

Spring is the smell of hyacinths in the kitchen.

100 Things to do before I go (61-80)

61. Grow a perennial garden
62. Bathe in the hot springs in Iceland
63. See the Gee’s Bend quilts
64. Hold a baby panda
65. Knit a sweater and a pair of socks for the mister
66. Build a house
67. Bungee jump
68. Get better at writing & giving/sending cards
69. Reduce our carbon footprint
70. Sit on a jury
71. Cook lasagna just like my mum’s
72. Get fit
73. Read all the books I own
74. Sing in the rain
75. Stay in a water bungalow in Bora Bora
76. Write and publish a piece of fiction
77. Learn to surf
78. Be an extra in a movie I end up loving
79. Give a keynote
80. Drop everything, get in the car, and drive somewhere far away with the mister

Full disclosure: this is getting decidedly harder, with each consecutive list. I’ve given myself certain limitations too (more on that soon), so that doesn’t help. Thanks for sharing your links in the last post — keep them coming!

Feet up, admiring a pair of socks I knitted a couple of years ago, suddenly realizing, hey — they’ve held up pretty well. Which led me straight back to this store to pick up more of the same yarn because I haven’t always been this lucky with hand-knit socks holding up well.

Are you sick of my “things” yet? I’m so tempted to annotate these as I go along, but I’ve decided to save the commentary till the end. Here they are, things 41 through 60.

100 Things to do before I go (41-60)

41. Learn to speak Japanese
42. Live in Paris for a year
43. Experience weightlessness
44. Ride a Zorb
45. Spend a night in a library
46. Go on sabbatical
47. Drink tea & read the morning paper outside on a regular basis
48. Make cheese
49. Walk the Great Wall
50. Grow a lemon tree
51. Take classes in art history & programming
52. Oktoberfest in Germany
53. Give an acceptance speech
54. Bike through the south of France
55. NaNoWriMo
56. Swim in that bioluminescent bay off Puerto Rico
57. Pottery lessons
58. Visit all 50 states
59. Sew something I can wear (proudly)
60. Eat an avocado right off the tree

Are you working on a list of your own? Post a link in the comments, K?