Social Networking: A Reflection  

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      Since my last post, I have parted ways with Facebook. Kinda. I use to spend waaaaay too much time on there, so I cut myself off. I only log on once a day, if that, for a quick check of certain peoples' updates. I don't comment, I don't do status updates, I don't "share" things anymore. I've also deleted the Facebook app from my Blackberry, and it's VERY liberating! If I do feel the absolute desire to send a little quip into the world wide web, I use Twitter, which limits me to like 140 characters. And, no one reads or responds to it, so it works well.

     Apparently my husband, who was the first to suggest I leave Facebook, has notice quite a difference in me. I do feel less obsessive compulsive about it. I also feel less regected, as stupid as that sounds. I mean, I had like 175 friends on my Facebook, but whenever I posted something I go little to no response. Like Drew Barrymore's character in He's Just Not That Into You: "Now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting." I am a very much introverted person, but when it came to Facebook and all forms of social networking, I am an extrovert. I have no idea why. I suppose it's the same reason I write this blog. I know no one cares, but I feel like I have something to say, and being that I am so painfully shy, I never get an opportunity to say these things out loud.

      I have been abandoning popular websites for a while now. Around 2003-ish, my friends and I were posting all over LiveJournal. Same story there: Me writing way too much and WAY too much drama developing. So, I jumped ship for Myspace at a friends recommendation. Rinse and Repeat. Myspace was getting out of control! So, I retreated to Facebook [around 2006/2007], which at the time was for college students only, so it was nice to go somewhere simple and quiet to connect with old school mates. Then they went public, and I thought it was SO awesome that all my current friends were leaving Myspace and joining me in my new world. And now, with all that's going on in the world, I can no longer stand the negativity that overwhelms my "Friends List." Sometimes Twitter makes me feeling like I'm shouting in to a HUGE mob of people yelling a lot louder than me, but I think that might be better for me, to keep me from getting obsessed. Really, I just use Twitter to follow Dita Von Teese, Michael Sheen, and Peter Facinelli. I think it's fascinating! I mean come on, Dita tweeting a photo of her ironing in her Paris apartment, which just happens to have a french door balcony looking out onto the Eiffel Tower?!

       SO! Instead of me smearing my personal business all over the internet [with the exception of this blog post], my husband treated me by taking me to Books a Million and pick out a pretty journal! I got this cute little red one with the old British Propaganda slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On" on it. We thought it was appropriate as well as being perfectly "me." I also got a FABULOUS bookmark to keep my place in it. Why is it fabulous, you ask? Because it has a picture of a zombie, a pile of yarn, and says "Zombies are crap at knitting." *pause for laughter* It makes me smile every time I open my journal. That right there is a step in the right direction. Any time I need to talk about something that doesn't belong anywhere public, it's going in this journal. I feel better already!


     Ultimately, all this has boiled down to me making an effort to kick myself in to gear. I mentioned in my last entry that I was doing a lot of thinking about the future. We recently went to Michael's and stocked up on a few supplies: canvases for my upcoming personal project [which my husband is actually rather excited about], and some new mediums to try for my etsy store. And yes, I am STILLLLLL working on that damn knitted bag, but LOOK! I've finally finished the face! It should go a lot lot LOT quicker now. I'm a little scared that I mucked up the dimensions, but... well.... meh!


And now, for your viewing pleasure, a couple snapshots from the spontaneous and goofy photoshoot that started whilst shopping in Michaels:

If Only Knitting Burnt Calories  

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This Bob Bag sure is going slooowwwwww! I've just started on his mouth, and all I have to say is this: I will never EVER work with polyester yarn again! I got it because it was not only the cheapest, but also the sturdiest yarn to use for a big project that's not going to be worn but suffer a fair amount of physical abuse... ICK! I can barely stand to touch it at this point.

Not only do I have a growing animosity towards this particular knitting project, but there is another project I'm anxious to get started on - a *gasp* PERSONAL project! I want to do some painting on a big canvas. I've got an idea in mind, and I'm just excited to get going on it. Also, my plan is to lose weight and reward myself with a new homemade dress... in my favourite colour - deep purple!

Personal projects aside, I've also got aspirations and new ideas for my etsy store. And maybe, just MAYBE, even open another store just for the scrub caps I sew, and perhaps some other bits 'n bobs. *shrug* We'll see... Basically what all this means is that I need to go to Michael's and stock on supplies! w00t!


By the way, if you're looking for something totally cute and unique and/or feel like treating yourself, check out this etsy store, Hearts for Haiti, where all sorts of wonderful etsy sellers have donated items to sell with 100% of profits going to Doctors Without Borders to aid them in their work with Haiti! So far they have raised OVER $12,000, which I think is just AMAZING!!!!

Everybody's Favourite Savior of "Slack!"  

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That's right, folks! We have a legend in our midst!


May I introduce to you the famous J.R. "Bob" Dobbs [who appears courtesy of the Church of the SubGenius]! J.R. here is part of my latest project, the "Bob Bag," which I'm sure you all remember me referring to many other times. Well, it's finally underway... again!

     The reason I say "again" is because I actually started it a few days ago,  got about eight rows into his lovely mug... and realized I royally screwed up. So I had to completely unravel all my work and start a-new. It's alright, though - It was a real learning experience!

     You see, I have never knitted anything from a picture pattern. Mine are always written out [including the only time I used a picture pattern in the past, when I was just learning how to knit, and my awesome mother wrote the whole pattern out for me], but this time I realized I couldn't just wing it, so I sat down to write the pattern out myself. That's only part of the battle, too. I still have to think while I'm knitting because of the multiple colours and multiple strands of said colours. Yes, I said multiple strands.

      This is not only my first experience with what is called "intarsia" knitting, but also "fair isle" knitting, and it's just about as complicated as you can get, unless your Scandinavian and fancy knitting yourself one of those gorgeous sweaters. While I am only knitting with three colours, I have five strands yarn going. It's my own, personal mutation of several knitting methods, I guess! Like I said, I'm not going by any pattern here, just the gridded picture from this awesome book by the amazing domiknitrix, so I don't really know if I've done something wrong until after I've continued to knit and I come across a deformity.

     It is my [non]professional opinion that knitting is WAY harder than sewing. Besides the obvious fact that you can finish a project much faster, with sewing, if you make a mistake you pretty much notice right away. You can also fix a single area without undoing the whole project... Not so much with knitting. With knitting, you don't always know if you've made a mistake until your about to finish the bottom of a sweater, only to realize you forgot to include the arm holes. The only choice you have [that I know of] is just to suck it up, un-pick all your hours of work, and start over.


     Un-picking is a horribly tedious project in and of itself, that to me just feels like salt in the wound. It's like your yarn is mocking you, reminding you of how much you suck. What, nobody elses' yarn talks to them? Well, that's besides the point! [I might mention, though, that it would seem my knitting needles talk to my cats - taunting them, looking to start trouble....] The point is that it's extremely frustrating and often tempts me to just give up. Not this time! I took a little break from it for a couple days, then came back and sat down to logically think the whole thing through.


     So here I am, three days into the project and so far, so good! I'm still learning as I'm going, but it's going pretty well, all things considered. I'm just under half way through "Bob's" face, leaving off this afternoon at the start of his eyebrows. Here come the complicated facial features! Weeee! It should be ok, though. I'm starting to get better at thinking ahead as to where I should leave which strand of which colour, so that I don't have to unpick the last row, only to re-do it carrying a strand so that it ends up in the right place for the next row. Phew.

     Here's hoping that I really am doing as well as I think I am, and that my next blog update will be a couple days from now, telling you all that I'm finished his face and it's all smooth, blue knitting from there!

Until then, "[Screw] 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke!" ...I've got some Project Runway to watch!

Coming Out of Holiday Hibernation  

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Pfft. As if it were cold enough in Central Florida to warrant hibernation. Well, actually, it kinda is. Brace yourselves readers, this might shock you - We have SNOW in our forecast. Please, please - simmer down! Any Northern readers will no doubt be, at this moment, snorting at my use of the word snow. No, we won't be getting anything that will actually stick to the ground, but still - Doesn't the fact that there will be actual, real-life SNOWFLAKES falling down from the sky in FLORIDA deserve some attention? What was that nonsense about Global Warming? Nahhhh. It's just a conspiracy... Keep calm and carry on.


[Editing Note: I woke up at 5am to sleet against my window, so I walked outside to investigate and THIS is what I saw - Yes, the sleet was collecting on my plants and forming a snow-like appearance!]

Anyway. The purpose of this post may not be entirely to inform you of my latest crafting adventures... I know, I'm sorry. Well, it's just that, you know - with the holidays and all - I've not really done much... as in, I've done a fat load of NOTHING but get fatter! Ok, so that's not ENTIRELY true....

Right before Christmas, the always wonderful Miss Kelly came to me for more scrub caps... with some Christmas themed fabric. So, I spent a couple of days frantically trying to get those done for her to actually wear in time for Christmas. I finished those just in time to begin the mad bake-off for Christmas. I made Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough truffles, which tasted remarkably like cookie dough, despite not actually being made from cookie dough. [One more time for good measure: "cookie dough."] That's right - safe to devour without the risk of the nasties that come along with consuming raw egg! All there was to worry about was caloric intake, but since we all know that calories don't actually exist during Christmas, we were all free to gorge ourselves. They ended up being little festively bagged favours placed at everyone's table setting.

The other brand new, never attempted, edible crafting I did was to make biscotti! I wanted to make something that I could actually finish the night before Christmas, but that we could eat on Christmas morning [you know, before we broke into our stockings and started on the chocolate]. First of all, I have to admit that the author of this recipe [Biscotti with Cranberry and Almonds, dipped in White Chocolate] was none other than that HORRIBLE "Everyday Italian" Giada woman from the Food Network. Oh, how I loathe her! Her and her huge, toothy white smile and over-Italian-pronunciation. Blech! So whilst I secretly hoped that the recipe was horrible and icky, alas, it was delicious and simple. GRANTED, she tried to over complicate it with her usual, so-called "only the best" ingredients. Pfft. Maybe if I was married to a wealthy business man and had my own tv show on the Food Network I could afford to use only THE BEST white chocolate and FRESH dried, chopped cranberries - but then again, if I was, you wouldn't be reading this blog now, would you? And we all know how much you love reading this blog, so there you go! Anyway, despite her annoying me to death, even on paper, the damn stuff was delicious and I didn't burn the house down. I even bought a cute little glass tree shaped jar from - aw crap, caught again - WALMART to store them in! 'Tis the season to sell your soul for convenience.

So, where does that leave us - ah yes, Christmas day was a food-induced coma.... as was Boxing day... I honestly don't remember when my memory came back... So let's just write the whole week after Christmas off, shall we? I mean, honestly - who actually accomplishes anything between Christmas and New Years? Ah yes, New Year's Eve! Whilst I was busy getting my butt electronically handed to me on the Wii, apparently some people were shopping! I got a notification on my phone a couple hours before midnight of a sale on etsy! Pretty sweet way to bring in the New Year, if you ask me!

Unfortunately, stores apparently close early on New Year's DAY, which happened to be a Friday this year, so I couldn't get out to get any of my shipping supplies until the following Monday. I took everything I needed with me so I could package the order up in the car and drop it off at the Post Office on the way home. I also got some of the supplies I discovered I needed in order to finish the rest of Kelly's non-Christmas scrub caps - which I finally did today. I feel bad that it took me so long, but between the various holidays, coinciding shenanigans, lack of supplies, and sick days... well, the point is they are done now.

So there you have it! A nice long blog about absolutely nothing, really, to keep you entertained for a few minutes. It was just the combination of GUILT from not updating and the insomnia that has recently developed. I blame television. No, seriously. I watched the Season Four Finale of Dexter this past week and I'm absolutely TRAUMATIZED! I can't fall asleep because I just lie there, wrapped up in the fetal position, convincing myself it was a lie. You might also remember in my last post that I mentioned I was begining to watch Dr. Who... well, the Mayburys came over and schooled me on all things Doctor via DVDs. Just in time to get into it, and start figuring out just why Michelle is oh-so in love with David Tennant/ The 10th Doctor, and he's leaving the show! Nope. It's not happening. I've stuck my head in between the sofa cushions. If I haven't seen the 10th Doctor regenerate, well then it just hasn't happened! LA-LA-LA-LA!!!! .... Crap.



---- Author's/Editor's Note: As it is currently 1:14 in the morning and I am on a *gasp* PC that does not have a built-in spellcheck, as my glorious MAC does, I am clicking "Save Now" so I can wake up tomorrow [er...later today?], realize the error of my ways, correct said errors, and not look like quite such a huge ass. Just in case you were wondering why I was blabbing on about being an insomniac at two* in the afternoon... ----


*estimated time of consciousness