One Half Buddhist, One Half Christian, One Half Pagan

My friend Katie & I shared a room for Lunacon this weekend.

The con was good, and hanging out was a lot of fun. I drove down to her place on Friday night, we rode over to the con together Saturday morning, and stayed till mid-afternoon Sunday. Once we got back to her place my plan was to stay for dinner or maybe a little later, but time got away from me and I ended up staying there Sunday night and driving straight in to work this morning.

I didn't make it to as many panels as I usually like to at a con, but the ones I did go to were pretty good. There was a Tamara Pierce reading, a panel about the legal aspect of fan-creations, one on trends in alternate history, and... I'm forgetting the others. I got a lot of knitting done during the panels and actually finished my little sister's (very late) Christmas present. Now I just have to get it to her.

I think this was the first time I've arrived in the middle of a con rather than very early or even just before it started. I have to say I didn't like it as much. I'm able to have more fun if I can settle into my room before I start going to panels and other activities. Something to keep in mind for the future.

I picked up a couple of books from the dealer's room: The Colman's Mustard Cookbook and The Big Book of the Dolls' House. I should be able to have fun with both of them.

1) My iPod is playing me music again! I didn't change anything, but I don't know if Tom changed anything on the music server or if it just had a change of heart.

2) I really need to get (or make) a good pair of fingerless gloves. I'm wearing an improvised pair as part of my Halloween costume, and am amazed at what a difference they're making. If anybody knows a really simple knitting pattern for some, send me the link.

3) Friday night I made this dish for dinner. It was... a little on the bland side. That might have been because I used the wrong type of mustard, or because I used more stock than I should have. I'll do some tweaking before I make it again. (Thanks to shadesong for originally posting the link to the recipe.)

I staged a daring raid on the Borders in Saratoga Springs this afternoon. Since they're one of the stores closing everything was at least 20% off.

I walked away with:
- This blank book, in the medium size.
- Abraxas by Santana
- Blues To The Bone by Etta James
- The Best Of Bonnie Raitt
- Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders
- The Knitter's Guide to Hand-Dyed and Variegated Yarn: Techniques and Projects for Handpainted and Multicolored Yarn
- One More Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit
and
- the winter issue of Knit Simple Magazine


All in all, a good haul. I decided to get only "how-to" type books because I'm doing 99% of my reading on my Kindle these days, but when I'm trying to learn something a physical book is still easier.

Body: Everything seems OK so far.

Stress Level: 3

Book Review: I've heard such good things about Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace that last night I decided to give it a try. At the end of the free sample chapters I felt like my brains had been replaced with silly putty. I'm not going to give it a number rating because I don't think I can do so fairly. I will say that I might give it another try someday, when I haven't already had the sort of day that yesterday was, but that day won't come soon.

Reading: After reading the above I flailed around trying to find something sufficiently light and fluffy to let my brain re-form itself. Nothing quite worked, and eventually I gave up and went to sleep. Had odd dreams all night.

Hearing: Random music that I've liked enough in the past to give 2 or more stars to in iTunes.

Etsy Find: Toniette's Treasure Box: a gorgeous chest, designed specifically to hold BPAL bottles. This is the smallest of the three designs he offers.

Project Follow-up: Partial success on the swap: the spending limit is $10, and between Target and the dollar store in the same plaza I found $7 worth of stuff. I'll try Michaels some time this weekend. I didn't make any progress on the dishes but Tom got sick of my putting it off and did some himself. And I did get another couple of yards of the tangle un-tangled.

Tonight's Project: Gym and dinner with the gang.

Randomness: What's a song you love the music, but hate the lyrics? Or other way around? For example - "If He Moves His Lips" by Shemekia Copeland has some of the most depressingly cynical words I've ever heard, paired with great up-beat music.


Get your own valentinr

Body: My right wrist and forearm have been giving me intermittent grief for quite a while. I'm starting to think I should have it checked out for Carpel Tunnel.

Stress Level: 2

Book Review: I finished Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro, also available (for free!) in several different e-formats here. I enjoyed the plot, but the characters all fell pretty flat for me. I didn't really care about any of them. And there was a whole little sub-plot with repressed memories that was utterly pointless. The memories were trivial to the main plot, but the characters reacted to their recovery as if they were earthshattering. Rating: 5 out of 10.

Reading: I didn't start anything new last night. Several sample chapters, but I decided against continuing any of them right now.

Hearing: Music. My iPod is in another blues mood today.

Etsy Find: A mother of pearl owl brooch. I must have this. It's like it was made with me in mind.

Project Follow-up: I did make a little progress on the tangle, and I did some dishes. Not enough of either.

Tonight's Project: The gym, picking up some little odds'n'ends for a swap over on the BPAL forums, dishes, and more poking at the mess of yarn.

Randomness: I'm constantly bored at work. Tell me some (obviously) work-safe blogs/sites/webcomics/whatever I can use to entertain myself. I'm sort of on a make-up and fashion kick right now, so you get bonus points if you can give me some good links to learn about that stuff. Even more bonus points if they're written to appeal to grownup geek girls.


Get your own valentinr

Body: So freaking cold. I can't seem to get warm, and the cold is making all of my joints hurt.

Stress Level: 2

Book Review: Finished The Crazy Years by Spider Robinson on Friday night. A truly excellent collection of essays and articles. My only problem with any of them is that they generally were too short. I would have liked to see more detail. Rating: 9 out of 10. Not yet loanable through the Kindle.

Reading: Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro


Hearing: Music - right this second, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from my Original London Cast recording of Les Miserables.

Etsy Find: Vintage crystal cordial glasses.

Project Follow-up: Both dropping the car off on Friday and picking it up again on Saturday were more hassle than I wanted. Next time it needs work done I'll take it in early on a weekday morning and use their shuttle to get to work, and the use the shuttle to pick it up again when they're done with it.

Tonight's Project: Dishes, and continuing to untangle the giant mess of yarn so that I can actually make it into a scarf for myself.

Randomness: What's the weather like where you are? Here in the upper Hudson Valley it's absurdly cold. The predicted high is 9F. Ick. They're also predicting another major storm for tomorrow.

Body: Pretty good. My right hip feels like it doesn't want to work quite properly for the first dozen or so steps every time I get up from my chair, but nothing else seems to be wrong.

Stress Level: 2

Book Review: I finished The Born Queen. I enjoyed it, but as I said yesterday it has some major flaws. Events and changes to characters come out of nowhere, with no foreshadowing at all, and the overall ending feels very rushed. I actually wonder if the author originally planned on 5 books in the series and was limited to 4 by his publishers. Rating: 6 out of 10, and if I hadn't liked the earlier books so much I'd probably only give it a 5. Not yet loanable through the Kindle.

Reading: I read a bunch of sample chapters, but didn't actually decide to finish any of those books.

Hearing: Co-workers on the phone, and tapping away at their keyboards.

Etsy Find: Miniature chemistry set. Yet another thing that I love, but have no earthly use for. The mere fact that it exists is pretty cool though.

Project Follow-up: Purse shopping did not happen, mostly because the roads were bad enough I decided that making extra stops was a bad idea.

Tonight's Project: Back to the house to grab my phone, then the gym and maybe purse shopping. Once I'm home for the night there may be knitting. Definitely goofing off online.

Randomness: I think for next year's Arisia I need to volunteer for a panel or two. I'm not sure what subjects I'd be able to talk about, but I sort of feel like I should start giving something back to the con that I enjoy so much.

Body: I can't seem to get warm the last few days, except when I'm way too warm. It's getting annoying.

Stress Level: 2

Reading: I'm almost done with The Born Queen. I'm enjoying it, but I agree with many of the reviewers on Amazon that it is flawed. I'll give a slightly more detailed review once I actually finish it.

Hearing: At this exact moment, "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Led Zeppelin

Etsy Find: Silver Skeleton Key Necklace.

Tonight's Project: I need a new purse, so I'll probably make a stop or two on the way home from work. Other than that, just making dinner, and maybe some knitting.

Randomness: Arisia was so much fun! I didn't make it to as many panels as I would have liked, but the ones I did get to were pretty much all great. I did make it to two different readings, and discovered a few new (to me) authors to check out. Lots of window shopping, but very little actual buying of stuff. A couple of parties Saturday night, which were fun. The Barfleet one was best, but so crowded that you could barely turn around. The friends Tom & I brought with us also had fun, so overall I'm calling the con a success.

(Trying to get back in the habit of posting this every day.)

Body: I've been feeling pretty good lately.

Stress Level: 2

Book Review: The Briar King, The Charnel Prince, and The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes, the first three books in his The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone quartet. Very good dark fantasy. Too much to try to summarize, so I'll just say it's a complicated story with interesting characters and good world building. Rating: 7 out of 10. Not loanable on the Kindle as of 1-13-11.

Reading: I started The Born Queen (book 4 of the series above) last night.

Hearing: The sound of my co-workers working.

Etsy Find: Beautiful Wool Coat. I don't need a new winter coat, and this one is on the expensive side, but oh is it ever pretty.

Tonight's Project: The usual Thursday night dinner with the gang. Around that I need to stop and pick up the last few odds'n'ends of stuff for Arisia, mix up some honey mustard to take, and do my packing. I also want to wind the yarn for the project I'm bringing into a ball, and if I have time cast on and stitch a row or two.

Randomness: So in addition to getting more exercise, I'm also trying to change the way I eat. For now, I'm just making a couple of small changes. 1) I'm using My Fitness Pal to track my calories consumed, and trying to stop when (or before) it tells me I've had enough. I've told it my goal is to lose half a pound a week, which seems achievable. 2) I'm trying to drink more water. The rule I'm using for now is that I need to consume as much water as soda. The way I'm doing it is that when I finish a soda I refill the container with water and drink that before I let myself buy another soda. At some point I may up that to 2:1.

Body: My feet hurt a little bit, and my digestive system is not perfect, but nothing is too bad.

Stress Level: 2

Hearing: Lots of classic rock. My list of random unrated stuff had a lot of Three Dog Night on it today, and the 3 stars or better list has played a lot of good folk rock so far.

Etsy Find: Trillium pin. The trillium is one of my favorite flowers, and this is pin is lovely.

Project Follow-up: I spent more on the futon cover than I meant to, but I didn't like any of the cheaper fabrics. Oh well. No success with the shoe shopping, but I have plenty of time for that. Dinner was not as much fun as usual. One friend with Celiac Disease got glutened, which may end up wrecking her weekend depending on how much gluten was actually in the food. Very frustrating for her.

Tonight's Project: Getting ready for the weekend, and vegging out. Maybe some knitting.

Randomness: There is a small, twisted part of me that thinks Debi from this song would be a great Halloween costume some year.