Now: September 2024
Sep 06
Happenings
This week I was tired a few days because of losing sleep, but today things are looking up. I'm hoping to to a bit of baking this weekend to enjoy the cozy rainy weather I'm having.
On Repeat
I was excited that Baekhyun (EXO) dropped a new album today ^_^ I always liked his vocals, and he continues to take voice lessons. An admirable thing, considering that he is already successful and could have rested on his laurels. The single (Pineapple Slice) is so good and the MV is giving big Halloween energy ^_^
From my Shelves
After finishing Haruki Murakami's After Dark I reached for The Other Side of Midnight by one of my favorite authors, Simone St. James. I always call her work a heady blend of romance, mystery with a generous sprinkling of the supernatural and nice dash of female characters supporting other female characters 🤩
On My Needles
I started a pattern called Gingerbread Latte by Julie Anne Lebouthillier. I started the heel of the first sock this morning to it's going by fairly quickly!
Steve sighed, wishing for a cigarette. “The Buddha teaches respect for all life.” “Oh.” She considered this. “Are you a Buddhist?” “No. I’m an asshole. But I keep trying.”
– Scott Hawkins (The Library at Mount Char)
Sep 12
Happenings
I spent much of this week sleeping and didn't do as much as I like. My daughter brought a bug home which I'm still fighting, but I am doing better! The other major thing on my radar this week was Hurricane Francine. We were lucky to just get a tiny bit of the tail end of it! It was a rainy Thursday, dreary and cozy. The rain stopped by 1PM so one more hurricane averted for me, though sadly it did cause troubles in Lousiana :(
On Repeat
This week I wrote a journal entry and I listed Passive by A Perfect Circle, and it really made me want to listen to Mer de Noms. There are no skips on this one, but I remember how obsessed I was with Judith, 3 Libras, and Thinking of You. Young me relished how APC softened Tool's rough edges (which I still love btw) and delivered this introspective, relatable, emotional, sensual collection of songs. And the thematic tying of the names is just *chef's kiss*
I made a few playlists this week too, which was fun. I've been making lists with my favorite tracks of different artists ^_^ This week I made a Fave EXO, Fave Key, Fave Breaking Benjamin and Fave HIM! I think I also want a Fave Seether, Fave APC, and Fave 30STM. All this listening of older music makes me want to listen to all kinds of random stuff haha. Like N.E.R.D., and Bruno Mars (hearing his and Lady Gaga's new song reminds me of the 2010s... when I'm not bawling over the lyrics anyway), and Gym Class Heroes (Nothing SCREAMS I'm from the MySpace era more than Gym Class Heroes haha), and Sting. It's all a bit random 😅
From my Shelves
I finished The Other Side of Midnight. I wasn't crazy about it. I don't know if I feel a bit bitter this week, or it just lacked some of the hallmarks of her other work, but it was not a top read for me. I'd say 3.5 stars. I just started The Overstory by Richard Powers and WOW. I am only 20 pages in but the prose and wisdom is stunning so far. I feel more alive reading this book. Like the world became bigger, just for reading it.
On My Needles
Almost done with sock 1 of Gingerbread Latte! I very probably would have finished it if I felt perkier, but I knew I needed to sleep more than knit!
Gaming
I am on the 5th stratum of Etrian Odyssey Untold 2! Damn that game is freaking hard. But this is the furthest I've gotten!!!! I hope to finish it soon and play some Koriko: A Magical Year next ^_^
Seven hundred years before, a chestnut in Sicily two hundred feet around sheltered a Spanish queen and her hundred mounted knights from a raging storm. That tree will outlive, by a hundred years and more, the man who has never heard of it.
– Richard Powers (The Overstory)
Sep 19
Happenings
Last month I was worried that I was quickly burning out after my schedule got more packed. The start of school always makes my days very long and I was lashing out, in a constent state of anxiety and having migraines a few times a week from not sleeping enough. So I requested a few days off from work to reset. I had those days this week and just returned to work today. I put my devices aside for the most part and focused on having days that were slow, while adding some activities to help me feel better, like a short daily meditation and a short exercise session. The main goal was to give myself insomnia. To be so rested and at ease that I wasn't crashing every night haha. And it worked! The knitting, reading, watching of movies, pattering around the house and napping did wonders. I'm debating doing a short holiday once a season just to make sure I don't let my well-being be neglected for so long again.
On Repeat
There's not been any one thing that I have listened to on repeat lately, which is the norm for me. Lots of Halloween-themed lo-fi, some pop, some rock, some bossa nova made my soundtrack this week. My algorithmn on YouTube has been feeding me a lot of stories of musicians' songwrting process so I randomly got Billie Eilish, Chapelle Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter. I really developed an appreciation for how they seem to tell personal stories in their music that can have one in tears but turn around and show their deliciously wicked sense of humor! Even a crone like myself had to tear up with What am I Made For? and laugh out loud at Sabrina Carpenter's and Jenna Ortega's tribute to Death Becomes Her in the Taste MV.
From my Shelves
I am reading The Overstory very slowly (one third in so far) during the day and at night I turned to The Wind in the Willows to relax me before bed and it really does feel amazing to revisit a familiar book like that. I know every contour of that story so reading the words feels like walking to my spiritual home. I probably should have chosen a more dignified fave book, but fuck it. Joy is more important than being smart. I'm considering binge reading something short and scary to kick off spooky season this weekend but we'll see! I hate to hold myself to rigid plans for hobbies. That's why I avoid reading in tandem with friends. I hate the pressure it makes the group feel. My book club is more like try it and don't make yourself read a word more than you feel you want.
On My Needles
I finished Gingerbread Latte the first and am now a bit more than halfway done with its sibling! I always knit cuff-down with a heel flap but whilst on holiday I did some research about forethought (peasant) heels and REALLY want to try a pair haha. I see it's especially nice for self-striping yarn (of which I have a LOT in my stash) but the fit can suffer. But knitters are awesome and share so I saw some ideas on how to alleviate any fit issues. I think the adjustments will be minor for me (adding 4-6 stitches to the heel before starting the decreases) because when I checked, my foot was pretty average and doesn't need much adjusting to improve the fit. I don't think I would gift forethought heel socks unless I know the person, like my MIL (aka the owner of most socks I've ever knit :p) but a new trick will keep my knitting life a bit spicier (I party hard, always).
After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working.
– Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)
Sep 26
Happenings
This week has been quiet, mostly readjusting to being back at work, and rejiggering my schedule in general to see if I can make a little better to avoid burning out. I have this terrible habit of feeling I lack time, and I think it is because I run out of energy easily, and because I am flaky. So things that require no thought for some, seem to require me to make it a point to do. I suck at adhering to consistent systems, so we'll see how this goes 😅
On Repeat
I was excited this week that Key from Shinee dropped a new mini album this week! I started listening to K-Pop 10 years ago and enjoy the unabashed poppiness of it, and turn to the genre often when working or cleaning the house. It's a genre notorious for being manufactured, but I do not feel like I am one to judge what deserves to be called manufactured because no matter what, these artists are in the business because their dream was to be a performer. Key is one of my favorite soloists because he oozes passion for creativity. You can tell that he loves to put the details together when he has a comeback and has been in the business long enough to where he has a measure of say on what is released, which is very rare. I feel that Taemin, G Dragon, Seulgi, and Kai might be the only artists that I can think of that have such a clear vision for their work as a complete package, though I follow plenty of others because they also have an amazing vision for their work (Baekhyun, Wendy, and Taeyeon come to mind). Anyway haha, Key released Pleasure Shop and the concept and music are very fun! I also recommend Killer and Bad Love from him. I consider those some of the best takes on synthpop I've heard in K-pop.
From my Shelves
I put The Overstory aside for now! It's wonderfully written, but the chapters are not tied together beyond the general concept of trees and nature being integrated in parallel with each story (probably not yet anyway), so it's hard to get into it. I switched over to The Silent Companions to kick off spooky season and so far so good! I'm also still reading Dracula Daily on the days with entries and it's still a fun part of my days. I don't think I would have liked to pace it like this if I were reading it the first time, but I have read Dracula so many times at this point that I don't feel confused or lost even when there are long stretches between entries.
On My Needles
OMG so I didn't realize that I was using one needle size too small for the last 2 socks so even though they fit, they are 10 stitches per inch and only just fit. I am such a space cadet, eek! But I went up to 2.5 mm needles for the peasant heel socks and they are perfect so far! I am a third into the second sock and plan to finish the bodies of both before just doing the heels to both back to back. It is a DREAM to use this method for self striping yarn. Each stripe is deliciously consistent! In the heel flap socks, there are areas where my stich count of 64 goes up of down depending on the portion of the sock I was on which made stripes wider or narrower which looked odd, but making this technique with a contrasting cuff, heel, and toe works super well! I'll add photos when I finish and I will add pix of the Gingerbread Lattes too when I block them ^_^
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
– Oscar Wilde