Pollyanna Ponders the Possibilities

Lyda here.

IMPORTANT NEWS BULLETIN:  Knitter’s Hunk starts on Monday! See that link for details etc. Now spend the weekend deciding which men you want to enter. Hmm, a whole weekend looking at pictures of hunks… How we suffer for our knitting!

And in other breaking news:

Well, we survived Carmagedon and lived to tell the tale. I’m sure there are t-shirts out there somewhere. In fact, if you’ll excuse me for a moment… Yup. T-shirts.

In fact, the main idea on minds of Angelinos seemed to be “How can I profit from the freeway closure?” This is the kind of hard-hitting reporting that I love. I love the “Caltrans Orange” cotton candy too. A whole website was devoted to all the local deals for the closure weekend.

“Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear.”

Meanwhile, the Sith Master and I amused ourselves with thinking of clips from movies about the non-existent panic. Coming soon to a blog near you… Feel free to contribute in the comments.

And of course, we saw the “Harry Potter” movie.

All I will say for now – in case y’all haven’t seen it yet –  is:  Awesome! It was a great and exciting movie, and a fitting wrap-up for the series. A definite must-see.

This weekend, we’re going to see “Captain America.”

Pollyanna Prepares for Carmageddon

Lyda here. Working on figuring out what to do this weekend, since we are facing… dum dum dumm… Carmageddon. Not the video game, the LA real-life version.    No, kids, you can’t ride your skateboards down the ramps.

Of course, since I live in Orange County, I’m not in as much trouble as Laurie. But still, I’m planning on adding thirty minutes to any travel time this weekend.

Around here there can be an epic traffic jam just because it’s misting, y’all. I’m just so grateful that it’s not a class weekend, so I don’t have to go anywhere near LA.

Of course, there is one thing that absolutely has to happen this weekend:  The Sith Master and I will definitely be seeing the climatic Harry Potter movie.

Probably at the earliest show on Saturday.

The Fair opens this weekend too. I might go to look at my photo, hanging in the competition. Shiny! The judging won’t be for a week or two.

Plus there will be pig racing. 

A fair without pig racing is like a day without sunshine…

And in other digressions…

Saw this post on handeyecrafts… followed her link – to a blog all about bookshelves, more interesting than you might think, y’all…

… to the creator’s tutorial for the mini bookshelf quilt.

Great quilt! I love the idea of using the text from fabric selvage as the book titles. You could also use words from fabric (folding the edges under, so it looks tidy). Or embroider your titles if you are good at that or have a sewing machine that does that. Or you could leave off the titles, of course.

Wouldn’t it be a cute baby quilt? Or a book or photo album cover – with thin or no batting. Or hey – a book bag!

I’m thinking this might be just the thing for some of my epic stash of word fabric.

It would also make a terrific big quilt for Gorgeous and Available Engineer Brother. If his decor was a meal, it would be “books with a large side of books, and for dessert, books” – so this would fit right in. He’s back in Texas now, working on his dissertation and looking for work. Anyone need a fabulous engineer?

But before any bookshelf quilts get made, I promised the Sith Master a new quilt. Maybe soon I will have the room dug out enough to start cutting fabric…

But I digress…

Our visit to Hogwarts is the important thing this weekend…

Where there’s only one car, and it flies…

Pollyanna Cleans up her act… uh, any day now…

Or at least tries to…

Lyda here.

My room is a complete shambles.

And, no, Anna-Liza, I don’t mean my usual “oh, I need to get some filing done and straighten the books” that usually gets me crazy -  and which for most people would not even be considered “messy.

No. It’s a disaster.

There are teetering piles of papers, books, and assorted school debris all over every available flat surface.  Mixed into the piles are old family photos, a huge unwieldy family tree, art supplies, drawings, clippings… all of them related to one school project or another.  The desk – one corner of which serves as my nightstand – is covered with pens, pencils, markers, post-its, and – on the corner that serves as my nightstand – an ever-more precarious pile of Terry Pratchett paperbacks. The table is piled with binders, notebooks, and more papers – and a salt shaker, fabric napkins, and chopsticks, since I eat here too.

There are towels on the back of the chair. There is a pile of discarded papers on the floor next to the trash can (the trash can itself being full).  I haven’t seen my sewing machine in months (I know it’s in the room somewhere). The bed has been in a permanent state of unmade since before finals started two months ago.

And there is a thick blanket of dust everywhere. I’m sure it has been seven or eight months since I dusted and maybe longer since I vaccuumed.

As Bette Davis would say, “What a dump.”

This morning, there was a knock on my door and the two exchange students were there, wondering about hooking up to the innernets and needing some code that was mysteriouslyhidden in the wires and such on the desk.

And I was embarassed to let them into the room.

Thankfully, the fabric and yarn is all neatly organized and stashed in the closet, safe from dust and possible coveting by the Danes. At least I have  my priorities straight.

So, this weekend I’ll be trying to restore some order to the chaos. And possibly finding the floor.

When the going gets tough, the tough… go on the innernets.

To find out  what the mess means about me.  Hmm. Funny, they don’t mention “stressed out grad student” as one of the reasons for the mess…

Okay. Time to get to it.

As soon as I finish this quiz:  What’s Your Cleaning Style?

It turns out that I’m an “easy breezy cleaner” at this point in my life.

I know. I would usually land solidly in the “crazy cleaning obsession” category, but I’ve just been too busy with school and I’ve learned to let the cleaning slide a bit.

See? Grad school has been good for me.

But I digress…

 

Pollyanna Tries to Catch Up

Lyda here.

So, apparently while I was immersed in school, y’all were living your lives. I’m trying to catch up on your blogs, but I’m not done yet. I am caught up with a few. Still working on the rest.

Laurie went to Florida, where she climbed a lighthouse - as always, Crazy Aunt Purl inspires me to step beyond my comfort zone. She was also amazed that they drive on the beaches there.

When I moved to California, I was amazed that they don’t drive on the beaches here. I was also astounded that 2 feet of sand and 10 feet of sidewalk was called a beach. Also, apparently someone put ice cubes in the Pacific Ocean. I was used to Padre Island National Seashore, where the Gulf waters are sometimes as warm as bath water, and the sand stretches about thirty feet from the ocean to the edge of the dunes. And yes, we drove on the beach.

But I digress.

Marin has been playing with monsters. So. Jealous.

Cassandra is making what seems to me like huge progress by taking small bites. Good reminder to us all.

Well, to me at least. In the past I tended to overschedule my days and nights. I am learning to take small steps instead.

Part of my plan for the next month or so is to clean my space so I can get back to quilting (still a fiber blog!). Wednesday night I cleaned the bathroom (just in time to share it with the foreign exchange students, who arrived late that night to stay for a month at Chez Disney). Tonight I am or may not sort a small pile of school stuff.

Oh, digressing again… Some things never change.

Franklin has of course been knitting up a storm of beautiful lace. And Delores and Harry attended the recent Royal Wedding. Only one of them by invitation.

Over at handeyecrafts, there has been awarding of saints – including the Saint of Pigs, which is too perfect for Marin. And remember, y’all, nominations for this year’s Knitter’s Hunk are coming up. Hey, that counts as more fiber news, right?

My candidates have not won yet. But I’m not bitter… Maybe this year…

Meanwhile, on Facebook, Knitting Sprite posted a link to this article about why Ravelry is better than Facebook . As if y’all didn’t know that already.

Oh, another fiber reference! Sneaky!

Pollyanna and the Return of Random Weirdness Wednesday!

Lyda here.

Yes, I’m back, and so is Random Weirdness Wednesday!

Y’all can breathe again.

I finished my finals, attended my last long weekend class, and – this morning, gang – completed my Masters Comprehensive Exam. Assuming I passed that last one, all I have to do is attend the August practicum (which goes on for a week), and then walk across that stage and get my diploma!

I can almost taste the Masters in Spiritual Psychology now.

And it tastes like Panda Express…

Wait, that was my lunch…

But, all that aside, let’s get to the important stuff:  Random Weirdness Wednesday!

1.) This little piggy went to market, and this little piggie got all wrinkly in the pool… Stole this from someone on Facebook, and I would credit them if I had a clue who it was. I also like the name of the page:  ”The Body Odd.”

Notice how I got the piggies in early?

I know what y’all like.

b.)  Speaking of piggies, the Orange County Fair opens on July 15th. One of the features of the website is the live Pig Cam.

cucumber.)  One of the features of the actual Fair will be MY photo of tree bark, which will be on display with the other entries in the amateur photography competition.

No foolin’.

I don’t know about y’all, but that seems pretty weird to me.

Next year, maybe I’ll actually enter a quilt.

Or then again, I might enter the table decoration contest. Y’all know I love that one.

duck.) What is the perfect Mother’s Day present?

My son gave it to me this year.

My very own copy of “Shaun of the Dead.”

Who loves his mum?

“You’ve got red on you.”

Pollyanna thinks Elton John is stalking her

Lyda here.

I woke up to Sir Elton singing, “Candle in the Wind” (the original version to Marilyn).

Okay. A little sad for the first thing in the morning, but okay.

Took a shower, came back into the bedroom. The radio was playing “Piano Man”.

Got dressed, got into car, turned on engine, the radio (set on a different station) was just finishing playing “Honky Cat”.

Then they played “Daniel.”

Hmm.

Nothing against the song, but again, a bit sad for the mood I was in.

Switched stations.

New station was playing “The Bitch is Back.”

Wondering if it was his birthday or something…

Got to work, worked, went to lunch.

When I turned on the car, the radio was playing “Candle in the Wind” – the newer version to Princess Di.

O…kay…

Switched to the oldies station. What were they playing?

“Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart.”

Swear to God.

After a hard day of work, I got in the car to go home. Just as I merged into the traffic jam we call a freeway, the radio station announced a triple play – three songs by the same artist.

Guess who?

Yup.

.

.

Y’all will understand why I hit “play” on a Beatles CD instead.

.

.

Oh hi. I’m back.

Pollyanna Caught in a Whirlwind

It is a popular fact that nine-tenths of the brain is not used and, like most popular facts, it is wrong… It is used. And one of its functions is to make the miraculous seem ordinary and turn the unusual into the usual.

Because if this was not the case, then human beings, faced with the daily wondrousness of everything, would go around wearing big stupid grins, similar to those worn by certain remote tribesmen who occasionally get raided by the authorities and have the contents of their plastic greenhouses very seriously inspected.

  -    Terry Pratchett, “Small Gods”

Lyda here.

I got a spam message in my email with this title: “sked his tall aunt, the Ostrich,”.

I don’t think I know anyone whose aunt is an ostrich.

But that would be an interesting family tree.

Or savannah, as the case may be.

But I digress.

I’m crazy busy with school and homework and school projects (did I mention the projects? HUGE projects, lots of time required) and project team meetings, and work (did I mention my boss is on leave and I’m now half her and half me and wholly crazy?) which is why I haven’t posted lately and I hope you all will forgive me but I have to go now and prepare for two workshops I am facilitating on Monday for work, and also find time to eat and possibly shower.

How are y’all?

Pollyanna polishes off a few books

Lyda here.

Thanks to a generous grant (aka an Amazon gift certificate for my birthday – thanks sis! – and an amazing sale) I got myself some quilting books, and I devoured them. I have to keep telling myself, another one is coming…

I got Kaffe Fassett’s “Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts” which is absolutely beautiful and inspiring. I had a lot of trouble putting it down for other things (like sleeping) this week. Gorgeous colors, of course, and quilts that look quite complex but are made from basic shapes. I will make some of the patterns at some point, I’m sure, and use others as a jumping off point. And the pictures will be ogled again and again.

One of my favorite parts of the book is that he includes pictures of things that inspire him – tapestries, knitwork, old buildings, the arrangement of spices at an open air market, piles of tires, iron fences. I love that he sees the beauty and geometry in unlikely places, and that it helps him create such amazing things. I’m always taking photographs of odd and weirdly beautiful things, so I was thrilled to see that he does that too.

I also finally got my own copy of “Color from the Heart” by Gai Perry. I have waxed rhapsodic about this book before, so I won’t do it again. I’ll just say that getting this book in the mail was like a long-overdue visit from a fabulous friend.

And I read the whole thing (for the umpteeth time) last night.

I did make a quilt (a wall hanging made with three of the hearts from the quilt on the cover) from this book before, but it is not finished. I love it and it is easily the most beautiful thing I’ve ever made. And I’m still scared to bind the edges and quilt it. I’m afraid I will mess it up.

I’m such a weirdo. Or maybe not. Do y’all do that too? Put something aside when it is almost done, because the finishing might ruin it?

But all is right in the world, because I’m expecting another Kaffe Fassett book soon… Anticipation…

I think I might have a design for the Manly Quilt for the Sith Master (also known as The Lumberjack Quilt and “oh my god what have I got myself into this time?”). I’m going to give it a test run this weekend with some pieces of my fabrics and see how I like it.

See? Still a quilting blog…

Pollyanna brings good news

Lyda here. I’ve got some good stuff for y’all.

1.) I just found this link to photos of good news.

Number 16 is a holiday gift for Marin.

There’s giraffes and a polar bear and a newborn gorilla… How could a sculpture of a jelly baby family not make you smile? Not to mention the camel face.

2.) Here are some news stories that focus on the positive side.

3.) This link promises to help make you smarter in 2011. It has suggestions for smarter books, movies, and shopping. Oh, speaking of shopping, get that red dress. Really. Read the link.

4.) And of course, we must visit the weirdness. Don’t miss #11. Or #15. But y’all know my favorite is #20:  Australian zombies, mate!

Here’s to a new year of weirdness, zombies, and fiber!

Pollyanna Celebrates Twenty-Eleven

Lyda here. Hippy Gnu Ewe to all y’all!

First, I have to share this Chem Time Clock – a wonderful thing for the science geek in all of us (especially My Brother the Doctor who loves both clocks and chemistry).

And now for something completely different…

I got a great exercise from an email from Naomi of IttyBiz.com. You can get her emails too – just sign up for them.

One of my teachers used to give us a similar assignment every January. Here’s my version of the assignment (which I was reminded to do thanks to Naomi):

1)  Think of the three or five or ten best moments of 2010 for you personally. Yes, this is hard, isn’t it?

2)  Now look at what is underneath the good stuff. Is there something similar, something that connects them? Or a couple of things?

3)  Now, think of the same number of the worst moments from 2010 for you personally. Easier, yes?

4)  Now look at what is underneath the bad stuff. Is there something similar, something that connects them?

For me, my good moments were related to:  Deep Connection, Full Commitment, and Honoring my Self. Thanks to Naomi, these words are now on a sticky note on my computer, to help me remember that this is what I want.

I discovered that my bad moments were connected to not honoring my self (especially not speaking my truth and not taking care of myself), not keeping my commitments to myself or to others, and feeling disconnected. Hmm… Funny how that works.

I also found that I still have work to do on some familiar problem areas – I mean, growth opportunities. Specifically, money and self-care. I think these two things are part of honoring my self and keeping my commitments to myself as well as to others. So, once again, these are areas that I will be working on this year. Oh joy.

Here we go, into Ides of January…

Scary, kids. Feel free to hold hands.