I haven't been reading much lately. :( I did just finish reading The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan. This is a book from our team library at work. It is really just a pile of books that people have left behind. Most of the other books in the pile are books from the middle of a series and I do hate jumping in the middle of a series. Oh well, I suppose I will just have to find my books else where.
But I do want to talk more about this book. It is a history of the women who worked in the facility where the atomic bombs were researched and built. What makes it really fascinating to me, is the fact that none of them knew what they were working on until after the bombs were dropped on Japan. People were only given the minimum information needed to do their jobs and no more, so almost everyone was unaware of what exactly they were working on. They knew it was for the war effort, but that was about it. Anyway, it is a great book, and it follows several women as they worked in the facility though the end of WWII. There are interviews with these women today, which is lovely. They provide an interesting and not often heard viewpoint, in a time period that is often discussed. If you like WWII history on the home front, I would definitely recommend this book. 4/5.
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Knitting update time!
Time for a massive knitting update!
Recently I have been wanting to do something different with my knitting. Go off pattern, I guess you might say. I was going through my stash, looking for my next project idea, and I spied my bag of UFOs. UFOs are Unfinished Objects. I have a fairly small bag, as I tend to rip things out that I don't like. But in my UFO bag I found 3 green fuzzy rectangles, the front part of a bear, and several swatches. Eureka! I am never going to finish these projects. So why not do something different with them, and satisfy my weird creative urges at the same time?
My plan is to use my scraps, and these UFOs, to make … something. Not sure what it will be or even if it will be anything at all. But hopefully they will scratch this itch I have. I will pick up stitches on the UFOs and knit onto them with my scrap yarn and leftovers. None of them are the same yarn and most aren't even the same weight, but that is what makes it interesting.
I am also working on my socks, and enjoying them. I am on the body of my second sock, so almost on the home stretch. I think I will try a new heel next time, but I do like the way the star toes look, so I will probably use this again. Next pair of socks, is J's though, so we will see if he wants a new heel.
I want to start a new hat as well, so that I will have more to donate. I have 2 so far, but I want to send more then that. The problem is, is that now it is getting warm here so hats are not really necessary. Oh, well. It will get cold again eventually.
Well, that's all that is going on with my knitting right now. Most of my knitting time is at work, so I am trying to focus on smaller things that I can take back and forth fairly easily.
Recently I have been wanting to do something different with my knitting. Go off pattern, I guess you might say. I was going through my stash, looking for my next project idea, and I spied my bag of UFOs. UFOs are Unfinished Objects. I have a fairly small bag, as I tend to rip things out that I don't like. But in my UFO bag I found 3 green fuzzy rectangles, the front part of a bear, and several swatches. Eureka! I am never going to finish these projects. So why not do something different with them, and satisfy my weird creative urges at the same time?
My plan is to use my scraps, and these UFOs, to make … something. Not sure what it will be or even if it will be anything at all. But hopefully they will scratch this itch I have. I will pick up stitches on the UFOs and knit onto them with my scrap yarn and leftovers. None of them are the same yarn and most aren't even the same weight, but that is what makes it interesting.
I am also working on my socks, and enjoying them. I am on the body of my second sock, so almost on the home stretch. I think I will try a new heel next time, but I do like the way the star toes look, so I will probably use this again. Next pair of socks, is J's though, so we will see if he wants a new heel.
I want to start a new hat as well, so that I will have more to donate. I have 2 so far, but I want to send more then that. The problem is, is that now it is getting warm here so hats are not really necessary. Oh, well. It will get cold again eventually.
Well, that's all that is going on with my knitting right now. Most of my knitting time is at work, so I am trying to focus on smaller things that I can take back and forth fairly easily.
Also yesterday I started on a cowl for myself. This is the Bandana Cowl by Purl Soho. I am using really bulky yarn and size 10.5 needles and the pattern calls for bulky yarn with 10 needles. Hopefully it doesn't change the cowl to much, other then making it bigger. I have had to rip back twice already. At first I twisted by stitches and had to frog it. Luckily it was only 4 rows long. Then I messed up the first row of short rows and it got started on the wrong side. Hopefully I can get it right.
What are y'all working on? Thanks and I will talk to you later.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Ramble about Kimmy Schmidt
A few nights ago, J and I finished Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt season 2. We both love this show and were waiting for the second season with bated breath. I want to let y'all know about my biases, in that I love this show. I acknowledge that it has problems, but I still love it and will watch season 3 when it comes out.
So, lets talk about the season finale. I enjoyed this episode but the end made me go on a short rant of WTF, due to cliffhangers. So the episode is about confronting your problems. Kimmy going to confront her mom and see her for the first time since she got out of the bunker and Titus going to work on a cruise ship for 4 months. Lilian is dealing with empty nest syndrome and feeling unnoticed while Jacqueline has realized that she actually falling for the guy she was trying to seduce. This episode has quite a lot of character growth, which is nice.
Kimmy finds her mom in a theme park, and they yell thier problems out on a roller coaster. Also her mom is Lisa Kudrow, aka Phebe from friends! That was a great casting choice and she really plays the character really well. I feel like Kimmy's mom has been hyped up all season and I really like how she is portrayed as a person, who had her own problems while Kimmy was in the bunker. Titus gets on the bus to Titusville, instead of to his new job. Titusville actually really reminds me of the town I lived in, in AL. Southern, barely hidden racism, Space center. Well that is 3 for 3. Even the space museum is there. He talks with an astronautic who never got to go to space and he inspires Titus to follow his dream and go work on the cruise ship.
Lilian is at the apartment after Kimmy and Titus leave, moping when she sees herself chained to a bulldozer on the news. Then a business man shows up who wants to help her keep the neighborhood the same. Jacqueline has fallen in love with Russ, the guy she was trying to seduce for money. She tries to throw a big thanksgiving party for Russ's family and they are all rich douche nozzles, but she schmoozes well and fakes fitting in with them. Then she gets upset when it turns out they own the Washington Redskins and are massive racists. When she brings up changing the name, everyone shoots her down and she gets upset and walks off. When Russ goes after her, to try to comfort her, she confesses and tells him about her heritage and what she has been trying to do to help. He finds her caring more attractive then anything else so far and kisses her. They resolve to try to change the name together. I like that they put this in, but it feels like they are trying to save face. I love the character of Jacqueline and I love the actress who plays her. I just wish they didn't cast a white actress to play a Native American character, even one who is hiding as white.
The cliffhanger for the next season is the phone call that Kimmy gets in the closing scene. The Reverend calls her from prison and tells her that he is getting married so they have to get divorced. This was the WTF moment I was talking about. We see Kimmy looking mad and horrified and scared, all at once, and then the credits roll. There are so many places this could go. Most of these ideas are probably wrong but I just wanted to get them off my chest.
Who is the Reverend Marrying?
Is it a fellow inmate or a guard?
Is it someone he has seduced from priso
Is it one of the other bunker girls?
Are Kimmy and the Reverend actually married?
Does he just mean in a religious sense or are they legally married?
If they are how the F did he do that?
Will she do it?
Will she divorce him to get rid of him?
Or will she deny the divorce to stop his happiness?
Anyway thanks for reading my ramble about the last episode of Kimmy Schmidt. Does anyone else love this show or have any fan theories about it? Fan theories, even the dis proven ones, have a special place in my heart so please share them if you have any.
So, lets talk about the season finale. I enjoyed this episode but the end made me go on a short rant of WTF, due to cliffhangers. So the episode is about confronting your problems. Kimmy going to confront her mom and see her for the first time since she got out of the bunker and Titus going to work on a cruise ship for 4 months. Lilian is dealing with empty nest syndrome and feeling unnoticed while Jacqueline has realized that she actually falling for the guy she was trying to seduce. This episode has quite a lot of character growth, which is nice.
Kimmy finds her mom in a theme park, and they yell thier problems out on a roller coaster. Also her mom is Lisa Kudrow, aka Phebe from friends! That was a great casting choice and she really plays the character really well. I feel like Kimmy's mom has been hyped up all season and I really like how she is portrayed as a person, who had her own problems while Kimmy was in the bunker. Titus gets on the bus to Titusville, instead of to his new job. Titusville actually really reminds me of the town I lived in, in AL. Southern, barely hidden racism, Space center. Well that is 3 for 3. Even the space museum is there. He talks with an astronautic who never got to go to space and he inspires Titus to follow his dream and go work on the cruise ship.
Lilian is at the apartment after Kimmy and Titus leave, moping when she sees herself chained to a bulldozer on the news. Then a business man shows up who wants to help her keep the neighborhood the same. Jacqueline has fallen in love with Russ, the guy she was trying to seduce for money. She tries to throw a big thanksgiving party for Russ's family and they are all rich douche nozzles, but she schmoozes well and fakes fitting in with them. Then she gets upset when it turns out they own the Washington Redskins and are massive racists. When she brings up changing the name, everyone shoots her down and she gets upset and walks off. When Russ goes after her, to try to comfort her, she confesses and tells him about her heritage and what she has been trying to do to help. He finds her caring more attractive then anything else so far and kisses her. They resolve to try to change the name together. I like that they put this in, but it feels like they are trying to save face. I love the character of Jacqueline and I love the actress who plays her. I just wish they didn't cast a white actress to play a Native American character, even one who is hiding as white.
The cliffhanger for the next season is the phone call that Kimmy gets in the closing scene. The Reverend calls her from prison and tells her that he is getting married so they have to get divorced. This was the WTF moment I was talking about. We see Kimmy looking mad and horrified and scared, all at once, and then the credits roll. There are so many places this could go. Most of these ideas are probably wrong but I just wanted to get them off my chest.
Who is the Reverend Marrying?
Is it a fellow inmate or a guard?
Is it someone he has seduced from priso
Is it one of the other bunker girls?
Are Kimmy and the Reverend actually married?
Does he just mean in a religious sense or are they legally married?
If they are how the F did he do that?
Will she do it?
Will she divorce him to get rid of him?
Or will she deny the divorce to stop his happiness?
Anyway thanks for reading my ramble about the last episode of Kimmy Schmidt. Does anyone else love this show or have any fan theories about it? Fan theories, even the dis proven ones, have a special place in my heart so please share them if you have any.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
16 goals for 16 - March update
This is my March update on my 16 goals for 2016. Somethings I accomplished and some I have worked on. Other things I have not, but here is my update.
Things I have worked on:
•Write more - I have been writing off and on, not consistently. I hope to write more, but it is not my priority.
•Cleaning - I have been trying to clean more. I don't have a schedule, but I am getting better. Slowly but surely. Just ignore the state of my house right now. ;)
•Meal plan - I have successfully done meal planning two weeks in a row! I made the meal list, shopped from the list and made the meals on the list!
•Exercise - I have not done anything, other then walking to work, as usual.
•Knitting - I finished my charity knitting, but I haven't sent it off. I need to get a package and mail it out. I have started knitting Socks again and darning J's Socks as they need it.
•Books - I have no new books in the past month or so. :( But I have been rereading the first two books in the Wicked series by Gregory McGuire. Oh man, I love those books so much. I really want the next two. I read the third one once but I have never read the fourth book. That will be my next book purchase.
•Reviews - I have had no new books, so no new reviews. I was able to finish the old reviews that I did on paper.
•Be present - I have been working on being present in the moment with J and the dog.
•Downsize - I haven't been able to do that yet.
•Filling out home library - I haven't been able to purchase new books. :(
•Go through shows - I have been culling youtubers and shows and I have been happy with the results.
•Job - I am actually looking for a new job, so that I can do one job and not two. Still searching though. No interviews yet.
So that is my update! How has your year been going? Did you keep your new years resolution? I would love to hear about it!
Things I have worked on:
•Write more - I have been writing off and on, not consistently. I hope to write more, but it is not my priority.
•Cleaning - I have been trying to clean more. I don't have a schedule, but I am getting better. Slowly but surely. Just ignore the state of my house right now. ;)
•Meal plan - I have successfully done meal planning two weeks in a row! I made the meal list, shopped from the list and made the meals on the list!
•Exercise - I have not done anything, other then walking to work, as usual.
•Knitting - I finished my charity knitting, but I haven't sent it off. I need to get a package and mail it out. I have started knitting Socks again and darning J's Socks as they need it.
•Books - I have no new books in the past month or so. :( But I have been rereading the first two books in the Wicked series by Gregory McGuire. Oh man, I love those books so much. I really want the next two. I read the third one once but I have never read the fourth book. That will be my next book purchase.
•Reviews - I have had no new books, so no new reviews. I was able to finish the old reviews that I did on paper.
•Be present - I have been working on being present in the moment with J and the dog.
•Downsize - I haven't been able to do that yet.
•Filling out home library - I haven't been able to purchase new books. :(
•Go through shows - I have been culling youtubers and shows and I have been happy with the results.
•Job - I am actually looking for a new job, so that I can do one job and not two. Still searching though. No interviews yet.
So that is my update! How has your year been going? Did you keep your new years resolution? I would love to hear about it!
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Knitting delayed :(
Sadly my knitting progress has been delayed. I was able to finish the Rikke hat, no pictures yet. I still need to block it and I will try to take a picture then. I still have the scarf on the needles as well. I haven't been able to work on the scarf or cast on anything else. Last week I was switched to a new department at work, so no knitting while I am in training. If all goes well, I will be done by the end of the week and then I will have some knitting time at work again.
This did make me realise how much knitting I get done at work. I work in a call center, so when we have downtime, we tend to have a lot of it. Some people color or work on puzzles but I like to read or knit.
Not much to talk about, but I just wanted to do a quick update. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will talk to you all later. :)
This did make me realise how much knitting I get done at work. I work in a call center, so when we have downtime, we tend to have a lot of it. Some people color or work on puzzles but I like to read or knit.
Not much to talk about, but I just wanted to do a quick update. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will talk to you all later. :)
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
My knitting basket
My knitting basket is just an update on what is on my needles at the moment. Right now both of my projects are charity knitting for the local Refugee organization. They will be donated to refugees in my area who are in need of, well pretty much everything. I wanted to do a part, by knitting something for them. So off of my soapbox and onto the projects!
The first project is a stripey seed stich scarf. I didn't have a pattern for this project, I just made it up. I am enjoying the coloring but I feel like it is taking forever to finish. I forgot how long scarves take.
The second project I just cast on last weekend. It is the Rikke Hat by Sarah Young. I am making it out of a forest green cotton yarn. It is a bit rough on my hands but it will be a more versatile hat. It is super fun and fast.
Pictures will be posted as soon as I can take them! In the mean time, what are you working on? Do you do charity work in your crafting? Curious minds want to know. Until next time, happy crafting!
The first project is a stripey seed stich scarf. I didn't have a pattern for this project, I just made it up. I am enjoying the coloring but I feel like it is taking forever to finish. I forgot how long scarves take.
The second project I just cast on last weekend. It is the Rikke Hat by Sarah Young. I am making it out of a forest green cotton yarn. It is a bit rough on my hands but it will be a more versatile hat. It is super fun and fast.
Pictures will be posted as soon as I can take them! In the mean time, what are you working on? Do you do charity work in your crafting? Curious minds want to know. Until next time, happy crafting!
Sunday, January 3, 2016
My 16 goals for 2016
Instead of having a New Year's Resolution, I thought that it would be easier to have a full list. That way the goals can be broken down and worked on easier. The idea came from one of my favorite blogs. I would highly recommend checking her out at The Wordsmith's Forge. She writes fan works and original fiction and has so many wonderful stories to enjoy as well as a plethora of other inspiring things. Now on to the list!
16 goals for 2016
So those are my 16 goals for 2016. What are you doing for the new year? Making a resolution, or just another day, either way, have a happy 2016 and see you soon!
16 goals for 2016
- Check this list and actively work towards my goals.
- Write more. Write book reviews and blog posts and personal journal posts that no one else will read. Just write more.
- Figure out a cleaning schedule so that the house is clean and so J isn't stuck in a dirty house.
- Plan and do a house cleaning, to get the house back in order.
- Figure out a meal plan. Not a diet, just a plan to make and eat more effectively and with less waste.
- Exercise more and work out an exercise plan.
- Work on my knitting. Knit for charity or for myself. Work on projects and track them on ravelry. Take pictures!
- Read 40 books in the year 2016.
- Review at least 1 book a month on my book blog.
- Finish reviews I have notes for.
- Take care of and enjoy my dog and my partner. Be present with them in the moment.
- Talk to my friends more often. Initiate conversations more.
- Downsize. Go through old things, clothes & stuff, and take out what doesn't fit anymore. Get rid of it. Donate where possible, but get it out of the house.
- Fill out home library, if possible. Finish getting series that we have some of. Wheel of time, Artemis Fowl, Rangers Apprentice, Hunger Games, Wicked etc.
- Go through TV shows & youtubers and only watch what I think is worth watching. I don't have to finish things I don't like.
- Consider quitting the second job if no transportation fix by anniversary. Sooner if needed for mental health.
So those are my 16 goals for 2016. What are you doing for the new year? Making a resolution, or just another day, either way, have a happy 2016 and see you soon!
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