Some Knitting, a Birthday, and some Picks

So, there is a bit of knitting news, though I haven’t finished anything this month. It’s like I suddenly had 50+ hour work weeks…

Oh, I actually did finish half of something! The first Time Traveler sock is DONE, and the second one cast on.

I have 5 repeats done on my Hitofude—so pretty! I can’t wait for it to be done so I can wear it, but I’m also enjoying the knitting process.

I started a dishcloth to survive the birthday party show—loving the stripes and loving that it’s at a finer gauge.

As it was my birthday, there was knitting, there was a new favorite movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , enjoyed with Ruthie, and a few special drinks!

I made a magnitude accurate constellation on my laptop lid—nerdular nerdulance!

For my May music pick I indulged in the Hamilton soundtrack. If you had told me how much I would like it a few months ago I would have laughed, but I guess I’m a millennial and can’t help myself!

With a gift card I was gifted, I bought the matching biography that I’ve been wanting to read for quite a while, and a book of essays about knitting. I’ve also got a couple books on the go borrowed via Overdrive—I love that I can borrow books digitally from my local library!

Well, that’s about it for now. Stash Dash has started, and I’m trying to figure out what I can most likely get done, and enjoying the process of picking out a new project or two to start as I (hopefully!) finish things. We shall see how this goes… It is half-term at the end of this week, so there is a possibility of getting a bit more crafting done!

August Picks

So while there are always one off song downloads and sometimes deal snags (I hit silver almost gold with one of those this month; somewhat unusual), here are my picks for the month of August.

The Martian Chronicles is a book I have heard about several times, including my science fiction Great Course, and I LOVE the short story from it, “Dark They Were and Golden Eyed,” but I have never actually read the whole thing. While this is very light on the ‘science,’ the writing style sings lyrically about what humans do when faced with a totally new world. I have taken a short break from it, but look forward to finishing this classic.

For my album, I decided to indulge in some light pop with Be Okay by Ingrid Michaelson. I had first head the title song in The Decoy Bride, and decided it was a nice bit of fluff for the holiday. I enjoyed this album; not wild about her cover of “Over the Rainbow,” but it’s totally listen-toable.

Since school is starting soon, I have started and will be doing some reading on our history topic of ancient Greece both for me personally and as potential child fodder. I have a book coming out, Children of the Fox that I am excited to read, and I’m trying Mary Renult on more time with The Mask of Apollo. There is already some light references to male-male romance; hoping we can stay focused on Greek theater! What is it with Greek historical fiction?

In my ‘other’ splurge this month, I did two things. First, I bought this shirt because it is too good of a book reference, and because it is totally true:

I also bought some specialty fabric to make some geeky projects bags when I’m home. The fandoms represented are Doctor Who and Star Trek; you’ll just have to wait and see the bags!

June and July Picks

So, June as a, shall we say, interesting month, I never got around to posting my picks. Just in the case someone was hanging on the edge of their seat to see what I chose to indulge in during these last two months, here goes!

I splurged on a few different books in June; it was a pretty rough month, and I was still celebrating my birthday a bit. So, among other things, I bought Ross Poledark: A Novel of Cornwall. I had watched the first season of the mini-series and enjoyed it, so I wanted to see what the books were like. The mini-series was quite faithful actually, and in some ways more enjoyable as the way the author wrote his characters they are rather distant and harder to engage with. I think the character of Ross shines thought better on the screen. I plan to read at least a few more of these books, but right now I’m on a mystery binge.

Speaking of mysteries, I also have started working my way through the Nero Wolfe mysteries, and I have decided to do them in order even though there isn’t any strong chronology, so in June I downloaded the second one, The League of Frightened Men. A very enjoyable read; Archie was drugged by a vengeful wife! As I continue my end of term murder mystery kick, I’m enjoying some Lord Peter Whimsy in the form of short stories and the first novel, Whose Body?.

For July, I picked the book Night Circus after seeing it in a friend’s post on Facebook. I haven’t read it yet; I’m saving it as my reward for surviving the end of term, but I can’t wait based on the person who posted it, and the synopsis I saw on Amazon.

For music in June I had two picks. First, an album of the Beach Boys greatest hits. I suddenly found myself with a Beach Boys craving, realized I had almost none of their music, and set out to correct that immediately. Total fluff, but oh such good memories of listening to oldies with my dad!

The second album I went with was the soundtrack for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. The fact that it suddenly decreased in price might have had something to do with it! While others have complained that it didn’t have a strong theme like the other new movies, I loved Rey’s theme, and thought that John Williams did a much better job than Howard Shore did when he revisited his previous scores with The Hobbit movies. I’m not a huge John Williams fan like my brother, but I have been enjoying getting into the Star Wars mood…a few months after everybody else. December, I’m gonna be there baby!

For July’s pick I pre-ordered and then immediately began enjoying Needtobreath’s new album, Hard Love. Once again, they knocked it out of the park. While they are going in a more rock direction, I’m still loving this band. Their songs have great lyrics, great energy, and as with Rivers in the Wasteland there were a few songs that I could swear were written just for me. I particularly loved the title, “Hard Love,” and “Great Night,” and “Happiness.” Keep making music guys—I’m going to need another album in about a year the way my life is going!

So, that's it folks. I finished re-watching through Jeeves and Wooster as my marking TV, and am looking forward to some non-marking watching once school ends!

May Picks

I usually allow myself a few extra indulgnces in May, and as this was a ‘big’ May, I decided to splurge on some yarn as well. So, here are my entertainment picks for my birthmonth!

First of all, in yarn, I heard about this Star Trekkie yarn from Fibernymph Dyeworks, and I went online and bought it so fast that my keyboard was almost smoking. This will be to be a delayed gratification, but I can’t wait to knit up some socks in the colors of the classic Trek uniforms! And sorry, no, she doesn't have anymore just now.

Also, I decided to splurge on some yarn from Round House, a little alpaca farm in Onterio run bu some good friends of mine. I’m coming round more and more to the idea of brown, and this sparkly yarn called my name. http://www.roundhousealpacas.ca/store/

For books, I thought I would just read the first of a two part series this month, Blackout by Connie Willis, but I clearly forgot what an outstanding writer Connie Willis is and how gripping her time travel novels are, because I finished the first one and knew that it was not going to work to wait a month for the next one! So, All Clear was quickly purchased and downloaded as well.

I also indulged in the first of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. While there is no real chronology, it helps to choose the next read. I just wish they were cheaper in both print and Kindle versions…

Last month’s music indulgence was the delightful The World of Jeeves and Wooster, the soundtrack to the brilliant show. The only problem with this album is that the silly songs Wooster sings totally get stuck in your head; I’ve had “Nagasaki” in my head on and off ever since I listened to it the first time. I have to say that I’m a growing fan of Hugh Lorrie’s music, as you’ll find out in June’s picks!

So, that was May! Happy knitting, reading, and listening!

April Picks

One of the best parts of holiday is being able to gulp in music and books that I would usually not have near as much time to spend with. I finished Paolini’s Inheritance series; not revolutionary fantasy, but a nice vacation escape. Oh they were so written by a boy! Also, though I rarely say this, the movie was better. And, I’m glad they didn’t make the rest of the books into movies.

For my music pick this month, I downloaded Anna Johnson’s Winding Road. A friend gifted me a CD of hers last year, and as I enjoyed her Christmas albums as well I thought I’d try another. I like her style, and found it an enjoyable listen. I like Here better, but sometimes I crave the sounds of Nashville.

For my book pick, I downloaded the first three books in Anne McCaffry’s Dragonriders of Pern series. I’m listening to the Great Course, “How Great Science Fiction Works” right now on my walks, and that reminded me of these books. I had heard about them from my mom years ago, but just never got around to reading them yet. So far they aren’t quite what I was anticipating, but the idea of and contrast between sci-fi dragons instead of the clearly fantasy dragons of the Inheritance series is intriguing.

As I enjoy these precious days of holiday, I am also enjoying my journey through Season 2 of Parks and Recreation and various movies. I watched through the extended The Lord of the Rings trilogy; it had been a few years since I saw those movies! So many memories of my teenage years…my siblings and I were pretty much the biggest nerds ever. A friend also sent me the first two volumes of the show Gargoyles that I vaugly remember airing in the mid 90’s—we weren’t allowed to watch it at the time, but I’m enjoying the unusual depth of characters and stories.

I keep mentioning the Great Courses; I am so thankful that they are available through Audible! I have been drinking in “The History of Ancient Egypt” in preparation for this term’s history topic, and enjoying the history of science fiction as sheer nerdism on my walks. I’m taking notes through the Egypt course, and plan to pick up the one on ancient Greece next holiday. I have found that these courses are not only interesting, but have got me thinking about new ideas and given me insights that have made it possible for me to teach on a middle school level more clearly. I want to take a look at their music offerings again, and see what other literature topics are available. For someone like me who loves to learn, these are a Godsend in my narrow environment. Forever a nerd...

March Picks

Since St. Patrick’s Day is in March, I wanted to get an album of Irish music. I remembered the all ladies group, Cherish the Ladies, and decided to get another of their albums, Woman of the House. I was not disappointed! Though several years had passed between the last album I bought and this one, their sound is still the same, and I found this a comforting companion during the terrible night of report writing in my classroom. A great blend of instrumental and vocal pieces, and altogether good, solid Celtic music. Now I want to get the rest of their albums…

Apologies in advance for the weird cover... For a book for March, I decided to go with a mystery, so I got the first of Josephine Tey’s works, The Man in the Queue. My ‘bluestockings’ group is currently reading another of her books, Brat Farrar, which I’m really enjoying, so I thought I’d read another of her books. I was not disappointed. Tey has a wonderful style of writing and a real sly wit that has you laughing at the audacious statement that was just made so blandly. I fully plan to read the rest of the Inspector Grant novels. If you like Christie or Sayers, you should totally read some Tey as well. I’m not sure why she isn’t as well known as them, as she is just as good of a writer.

Also, I decided to bit the bullet and make another investment in my “beloved physical copies in Texas, bad books on my Kindle” plan, and bought the whole Inheritance series. I’m re-reading Eldest, and haven’t read the last two yet. Still not the world’s best writing ever, but a nice holiday treat! I guess I’m in a more desperate mood than I was when I first read this several years ago; while there are still some aspects of this book that make me either shriek with laughter or cringe, it’s a nice break from ‘school approved.’ I’m curious to see what the last two books hold…

What I’ve been watching, is Downton Abbey season 6, and the new Poledark season 1. I would have enjoyed both these things much more if the company had been better, but despite knitting furiously to avoid gnawing through my own leg, I did enjoy both these things. I now really want to read the Poledark novels that the series was based on… Also, fair warning, the last episode is not only a tear jerker, but also ends on quite a cliff hanger!

February Picks

Music-wise February has been all about my new favorite contemporary artist, Ed Sheeran. My sister asked for his album + (Plus) for Christmas, and I noticed that he was the guy who had done one of the songs for The Hobbit, “I See Fire” which I had liked. So, I took a listen…and got hooked. I bought X (Multiply) for my February pick, and then I found out that + had bonus tracks! A note of warning should any of you feel compelled to rush out and listen to Sheeran; I love his sound and some of his lyrics, but a lot of his songs are about a ‘party hard’ sort of lifestyle if you get my drift. Definitely not work approved, but I must admit that is part of the charm at the moment…

For books, I’ve been enjoying The Prestige. I decided to read it because I was thinking about how I’ve wanted to see that movie for awhile, especially since David Bowie played Tesla, and then I found the book and dove in. This is an excellent example of point of view; you get the story from several points of view as well as through some excellently done Victorian style journal entries. It makes me want to watch Now You See Me again… Now, I want to watch the movie even more than I did when I found out David Bowie was Tessla...

This month I’m also slowly watching through Castle Season 6, and so far I’m loving it. I was afraid that now that Castle and Beckett were engaged that the show would flop, but they are doing a good job of providing not only great cases, but good character development and plenty of Ryan and Esposito. Now the trick is to not rush through it too fast… I’m also doling out my last few episodes of Voyager Season 7. I borrowed Seasons 4-7 from my parents last time I was home, and as I’m two or three disks shy of the whole 7th season, I’m trying to make the geeky goodness last as long as possible. This is a show I’m going to have to have in its entirety one day…

January Picks

For this month’s Picks I chose my friend Rebekah’s newly released novella The Mirror Knife, second in her Surfaelince series.

I love the pixie, I love the snap of the dialogue, and I love the mixture of hardboiled classic detective and fairie that is the real shifting, dangerous place of legends. A most enjoyable read—I can’t wait for the next installment of Burgundy’s adventures!

I also picked Evangeline Denmark’s novel, Curio.

I have never met Evangeline, but I’ve enjoyed her mother, Donita K. Paul’s Dragonkeeper novels, and I’ve heard my mom talk about visiting her. There were some things I quite liked about Curio—the idea or Tocks and Porcies and the steam punk flair to the story. I felt like a few things could have been explained a bit better, and things got a little ‘warm’ for a YA novl, but overall it was a good read.

For music, I decided to take the plunge and get a compilation of David Bowie’s music as I was sorry to hear of his passing early this month. I chose this one-

I have to say, I have really enjoyed it. While some of Bowie’s lyrics are a bit out there (and this is a pretty ‘sanitary’ album), he had an amazing voice, he created some neat sounds, and some really catchy tunes and rhythms. I particularly like “Golden Years” (used in A Knight’s tale), “Ziggy Stardust,” and “Rebel Rebel” (not for the words though!). Of course, whenever I think of Bowie, I also think of Labyrinth. Who could forget “Dance Magic Dance,” and “Underground?” I’ll have to see about getting my hands on a soundtrack… Guardians of the Galexy has also insured that I will think of “Moonage Daydream” when I think of Bowie. If you haven’t seen it, you should also totally look up the video on Youtube of Bowie and Bing Cosby singing “The Little Drummer Boy.” Adorable and awesome; how did I just learn about this two months ago?

Parting shot: Speaking of Ziggy Stardust, check out this outfit! Not everyone could pull that off…or would even try!

Christmas Day

You might wonder why I’m compulsively blogging these last few days. Partly, because even though it’s a totally one sided conversation, I feel I have to speak somehow or go crazy—the aloneness is starting to wear a little. Partially it’s because I’m going to so much effort to keep my family’s traditions, and I feel like there has to be some kind of record out there to prove that I didn’t give in! And partially, it’s because blogging means that I’m not doing school work, so it’s a declaration of holiday. So, more blog!

This morning I slept in a bit as I was up pretty late last night. I was up late partially because I was watching another episode of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell with my family. So far we love Norrell, Childermass and Stephen, but think the Gentlemen needs more fairy charm. While he was dangerous and sinister, he was also whimsical and charming in his dangerous amorality.

I was also up late because I was playing and singing Christmas carols since (intentionally in deference to the carol hating person on station or not) we have not sung any Christmas carols together that I know of since the kids left, and I’m sorry, there MUST be carols sung on Christmas Eve! Also, as is tradition for me ever since my senior year of university when I took music history, I listened to both the Renaissance and the modern version of “O Magnum Mysterium” by candle light. Pausing to listen to the divine music and reflect on the greatest of mysteries is a nice way to end an often busy day.

I made my family’s famous breakfast casserole, and Beth’s apple cider. Yes, that is the TARDIS holding the spices!

I enjoyed watching The Muppet Christmas Carol while eating my brunch, and then I opened the gifts from my family that had arrived on time. Seeing their love in the things they chose for me was so special, and also made me miss them more! I had an adorable cat in a bag,

and I finished my SHIELD ornament.

I took a nap this afternoon, processed 6 cups of mangoes, listened to my Christmas Day pick,

and then went over to the Ronald’s for a light supper and some games. All in all a pleasant day; of course I would rather have been with my family, but all in all today was a good day. And in this year... that is something. Merry Christmas wherever you are, and may this time of light and love refresh you for the new year ahead.

Lots of picks!

I haven't been very good at keeping up with my picks, so here are the highlights of the last few months.

On the music front, I have been really enjoying the soundtrack to the movie, August Rush. I just watched it recently, and while it's rather improbable and a little sentimental for my taste, the music has been filling my soul these last few weeks. I like the mix of styles, and I love the sounds of August's Rhapsody.

The other album that I have been listening to a lot is the newest Need to Breath album, Rivers in the Wasteland. So many of there songs are encouraging to where I am myself in my own wasteland, and I love that their sound is still what I fell in love with. Excellent album; I can't recommend it enough.

Lastly, I downloaded the full album that I've had a damaged copy of since college, Watkins Ale by the Baltimore Consort. If you love Medieval music like I do, than this is a great place to start. It dosen't sound too 'rough' while still being period accurate.

In books, I have come across some really good ones. First, Winter, the final chapter of the Lunar Chronicles finally came out, and I gobbled it down in a matter of days. I liked the ending; while I found it very hard to see the depths that all the beloved characters had to descend before things could swing up, that made their sacrifice worth it. I think we do kids a huge disservice by 'protecting' them from everything sad. After all, “Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” Neil Gaiman paraphrasing G. K. Chesterson.

Finally, I have been waffling about whether or not to buy this book, finally took the plunge, and didn't regret it for one instant. This has been likened to steam-punk Hornblower; steam-punk yes, Hornblower in feel no, but a brilliantly written tale of a duty bound captain, yes. Awesome cats? Yes! Crystals? Yes! Great story? When does the next one come out--I don't think I can wait. This it the first steam-punk novel I've read (other that Wells and Verne), and it ROCKED. READ. IT.

July Picks…yet again late…

This month the book I chose was Cress, the third in the Lunar Chronicles series. I enjoyed this retelling of Rapunzel, and I can’t wait for the last book to come out later this year! As I get more and more disgusted with the lack-luster books being released and praised by a dumbed down population, it’s refreshing to know that there still are a few people out there who know how to write! I love a good fairy tale retelling, and these books certainly give the old familiar stories a unique twist or two!

For music this month I decided to get me some more Chris Thile. If you liked The Goat Rodeo Sessions, then you will probably enjoy this album. Traditional music moving into new territory and the beautiful sounds of two master musicians blending together. Totally worth it if you enjoy Thile! This may have made my end of term more doable… Sublime music always helps.

Coming soon; what Lina is doing with her holiday when she isn’t dealing with 90th celebrations!

Parting Shot:

June Picks...a little late!

I have been greatly enjoying the Lunar Chronicles, and the second book, Scarlet, did not disappoint! I love the twist on the character of the wolf, and I like the idea of Little Red Riding Hood as a spunky farmer's daughter. Well written, this book was a 'ripping good read.' Just be warned--the series conclusion isn't out until later this year, so you'll have to wait a bit to see how things end!

I recently watched the new The Lone Ranger movie, and as someone who has had barely any exposure to the Lone Ranger, enjoyed it rather more than I thought I would! I loved what Hans Zimmer did with the iconic William Tell overture; how he crafted the chug of the train engines into it and made it fresh and interesting. Not my favorite movie score ever, but a fun treat. Hi ho Silver, away!