NaBloPoMo – Page 5 – Enchilada Sunrise

I is for Identification

Not ID: that which establishes the identity of a person; but: to identify with. I finished the first book of Rachel Caine’s Outcast Season series yesterday and started the second one, and I find myself surprised to find that I am identifying more with the ex-Djinn (this is urban fantasy, roll with it) protagonist Cassiel than I do with Joanne, the human protagonist of the original Weather Warden series that Outcast Season has spun off from. Is that weird? I think that may be a little weird. But the thing is, while I like Joanne – and liked the glimpse of her we got in Undone (OS#1) through Cassiel’s eyes – she’s just too girly for me, I think. Joanne refers to shoe brands and car models that mean about as much to me as they probably would to Cassiel. Perhaps because more things have to be explained about Cassiel’s perspective on the world (whereas the reader is already assumed to have a common starting point with Jo?) as having been an “Old Djinn” who’d never even bothered before to take on a human shaped body, it’s easier to get inside her head. At any rate, I like her logic, and I like her developing relationships with the Rocha family. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of this series.

H (I knew I’d think of something later on) is also for HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!! My brother is celebrating his 30th today. Yaaaaay! That’s 30 whole years I’ve managed to go without “accidentally” shoving him off a cliff. Our parents raised us right. Seriously, I love my little bro and think he’s all kinds of awesome (it probably helps that we have more in common than apparently looking rather alike). We’ve celebrated once this evening, and are doing so again at the weekend. I hope the weather is going to comply, since it’s supposed to be a barbeque…

H is for Help, I Can’t Think of Anything!

I’ll probably come up with a really excellent topic for the letter H in a day or two, but right now I can’t think of a thing. Well, maybe I’ll be inspired while I’m writing, you never know! And if I do think of something in a few days time, I can always slot it in as the next “extra day” entry.

Well, since I don’t have anything specific to talk about for this, I might as well have a ramble on about life in general. I’ve been over on goodreads.com updating my booklist. Rather annoyingly, since it’s only been three weeks (and where did that time go?!) I have a gap of about a week where I can’t remember what I was reading, but I’m sure I read something. At least one more book, in fact, because I remember thinking that I’d had another one to count into May’s total right on the last day or two of the month. Maybe I can ask my Mum or brother if I mentioned reading any book in particular around that time. It was definitely something I finished, too. Hmm. And probably something I had on my Palm already, not something recently loaded on, since I know which ones of those I’ve read. Gah, frustrating! Did I re-read something on a whim, which is why it’s not sticking in my head as something new? I don’t know!

In terms of reading, I think I need to make an effort to finish some of the eight (!) books I’m part way through right now. That’s just too many. I bet I can finish at least one before I go to bed tonight. I’m more than half way through several, or they’re not that long to start with. Or I could read one more of the short stories in the David Weber anthology. The doorsteppers will necessarily take a bit longer, but I keep putting off reading them in favour of other books. I need to start treating them like I am my knitting: no more casting on new projects / starting new books until I’ve finished the ones I have on the go already. And talking of knitting, if I listen to more audiobooks (including finishing the one I have in progress), I can do the both at the same time!

Book club beginnings

(Or, Non-alphabetical Post The First)

I’ve just got back from the first meeting of the new book club I was invited to, and I had lots of fun. Hooray! There were just five of us to start with, though some others might come along later on. So far, we have a tentative name, and we each suggested a book and drew them in random order which means that we’re reading Fight Club first! I probably wouldn’t have got around to reading it otherwise, so I’m glad about that, because I think I will enjoy it. Now I just have to track a copy down…

G is for Gallery

I broke the photo album / gallery on this site ages ago, and since fixing it is going to be a long and arduous process, I haven’t done it yet. But I’m going to set myself a(nother) challenge for this month, to get that finally sorted out, so I can have access to my photos on this site again. Which, you know, would be (a) nice, and (b) useful.

Basically what happened, as far as I can tell (and as if anyone but me really cares), is that when I installed a WordPress gallery plugin (NextGen Gallery) to have a look at, it violently disagreed with my already installed gallery software (Coppermine), which had a bridge WP plugin so I could easily access my already existing photo galleries from there when I was writing blog posts etc. Coppermine had been installed for years, long before I’d been using WP as my blogging platform. Anyway, I don’t know what exactly caused it all to have a hissy fit, but I do know that none of my photos now show up, despite them physically existing on the server. Marvellous! I tried uninstalling NextGen Gallery, but since that didn’t help, I’m now going to move everything across to NextGen instead, and drop poor old Coppermine. It’ll probably be easier in the long run, and I won’t have to be maintaining two databases etc any more. But moving it all across is going to take a while, and be a pain.

If I do it a little at a time, though, it shouldn’t be too bad. I think I’ll try to spend maybe an hour a day on it. Surely that way it should get done pretty quickly?! And also I’ll know for sure how long it does take me, rather than it just feeling unending. I think giving myself permission to stop working on it after a specific period will help, too. Let’s see how it works out.

F is for Friends, Family, and Food

Which three things sum up my day fairly well, really. My whole weekend, in fact. Like I said, we went to see Ally and family yesterday and out into the park where I saw several people I’d been at school with and their kids. I think I must be the only one who has no offspring! It was a lovely sunny day for it, and today was lovely as well although there was lots of rain and thunder last night.

Charlotte has gone now, but we went over to my brother and sister-in-law’s place for Sunday dinner today. Mmm, Sunday roast! I’m feeling pretty wiped out (but full!) so I can’t think of much else to blog about, so I’ll go and check out the prompts for some inspiration:

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of your father?

His smile; a feeling of safety; and woolly bobble hats! Dad liked to keep his head warm, and embarrassed me horribly (as parents will!) when I was in my mid-teens by taking my into town still wearing his slippers (moccasins, so I’m sure no-one knew but me) and a woolly hat. Later on, of course, it became a lovable eccentricity, and when I learned to knit, one of the very first things I made was a hat for Dad:

E is for Elementary…

… my dear Watson. Which basically means that Charlotte is here and we’re watching movies! Sherlock Holmes, some of Return of the King, and… whatever else will depend on what time we have. We’ve watched Doctor Who as well, of course. Earlier today we went and saw Ally, and went over to the park where they were having some kind of… something. With music and some stalls set up and all that. It was fun, which is what matters!

Now it’s back to the movie watching. Robert Downey Jnr, yay!

D is for DIY

My brother is here today to do some DIY for me… which perhaps means it’s not strictly DIY since all I’m going to be doing is directing proceedings a bit. It’s going to be less stressful all round this way, though. Or at least, that’s the plan! At the moment he’s gone off down the road in search of rawl plugs and masonry screws (and a 9v battery) while I continue tidying up in preparation for Charlotte’s visit this weekend. Or, OK, while I sit here blogging. But I’m going to go and get on with the tidying in a minute!

Actually, I should probably do that now, since she’ll be here soon. Wish me luck, and firmly-affixed-to-the-walls mirrors!

C is for (The) Crazy

Or to be a little more politically correct, (my) mental health. I don’t have all that much to say about it, really, but I suppose it has been the reason for my sporadic posting over the ten months or so. I started the long slow slide into a depressive phase probably in last August, but because it was gradual (and not constant), I didn’t notice for a while. It wasn’t much fun towards the end of last year, but this year I’ve been gradually picking up again, and I’ve been feeling properly myself again – it’s funny how you don’t notice that you weren’t until you suddenly are again – since some time in April. Hoorah! I have a really nice new psychiatrist (the previous one moved on to a neighbouring area) too, and I’ve been getting other support from the community mental health team which has been an enormous help in getting back on my metaphorical feet. In summary, I feel better, and I’m looking forward to the Bipolar Group course that’s starting next week, which is a self-management and education … thing. It’s going to be useful.

Today’s NaBloPoMo prompt is: Define “freedom”.

Hmmm. Freedom is… standing near the sea on a stormy day, salt on your lips from the wind whipping off it strongly enough to almost blow you off you feet; just jumping in the car (or on the bus, or on a plane) and going; living how you want to live; most importantly, freedom is being able to make your own choices – whether by yourself or in conjunction with others, as long as you choose the method – voice them, act on them, without persecution or oppression.

So yeah. I guess C is also for Choice.

B is for Books

Books… I love books. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that before. I love reading books (obviously), and owning books – this last is becoming more of a problem since I have less than no shelf space left. However, my reading does tend to be within a fairly narrow group of genres: sci-fi, space opera, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal, and historical (romance). Or any combination thereof. I did try the seasonal reading challenges on Goodreads with the intention of broadening my reading somewhat, but I just ended up fitting the books I already wanted to read to the challenges for the most part. Now, I’m doing the 144 Books in a Year challenge, but that has no restrictions whatsoever apart from a minimum length.

So, recommend me some books? Anyone? Also, one of the girls at KnitJam tonight invited me to come along and join a book group that they’re starting up through the library where she works. She said they want some people to come along who aren’t staff so they don’t end up talking shop all night. So yay, that should be fun!

Today’s prompt is: What’s your favourite poem? (And if you don’t have one, why?)

Actually… I don’t really have one. Mainly because I don’t actually read much poetry. Whenever I do, I like just about everything I do read, so why I don’t read more I don’t know. I do really like a lot of the Shakespeare sonnets, and I’m rather fond of “Kubla Khan” by Coleridge; partly for it’s lyricism and partly because it’s nuts!

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

Marvellous!

A is for Ambition

I’ve decided that a good way to keep myself going with the daily posting is to do the meme / exercise that I’ve seen on some other blogs, and do a letter of the alphabet each day. Obviously that leaves four days, so I’ll do a week of alphabet then a day of either something random, or doubling up on a letter. I’ll decide that part when I get there!

So, A is for “Ambition”. Which can be broken down into both short and long term goals:

Maintaining the daily blogging through this month, and also doing IComLeavWe at the end of the month.
Possibly do 750words.com (depending on time).
Sort out the photo album on this thing!
New site design (also for here).
Finish at least one knitting project – try sewing up the Menace jumper, for example. And keep working on the Clapotis.
Make some blog posts updating my knitting progress – what I’ve been doing over the last few months as well as what I’m doing now, since I haven’t posted for so long.
Write up the patterns I’ve designed. Finally!

“Ambition” also works pretty well for the NaBloPoMo prompt for today – I may or may not do these every day, it depends what appeals to me. But the one for today is:

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a teacher. Boring, I know! Specifically, I think I wanted to be an English teacher, because I loved reading and writing. On slightly more mature reflection, I decided that the idea of dealing with a classroom full of teenagers was an appalling one, so I changed my mind to librarian. Needless to say, I’m in neither profession now, although I have done some one-to-one music tuition and enjoyed that.

And I’m back again

Oh dear, I haven’t posted for far too long! A billionty years!! Or to be more precise, just over five months. Whoops! I don’t know where the time’s gone to. I’ve obviously been busy doing… stuff. Yeah, that’ll be it.

One of the things I have been doing is knitting. I’ve actually got a bit of decision-itis at the moment. An inflammation of the decisions, oh noes! I’ve been feeling impatient to finish things, but having trouble choosing which one to pick up. For now, I’m mostly knitting on my Clapotis [Ravlink] and planning to sew up my Menace jumper… but not actually doing it.

Anyway, I’m going to try to blog more often, and to that end I’m going to try NaBloPoMo for June. I think I actually have some possibility of finishing it, because I have actually been writing regularly on 750words.com, and if I can manage that for a long streak, then I can do a daily blog post. My problem might actually be not going on for too long, in fact. Now, I shall go to bed so that I can get started properly tomorrow.

I killed it!

My photo album, that is. Ooops. And yes, this time I think it really is gone – I was attempting to set up the new version of it using the NextGEN Gallery plugin within WordPress, and I guess that clashed somehow with the Coppermine script, because it’s all fallen down and the photos themselves won’t even show up as direct links. They’re definitely physically there on the server, but I’m getting 404s when I try to reach them. I don’t know why that is (though I have a suspicion). So strange.

Anyway, that means that pretty much all of the photos on the blog are broken for the time being. I’m going to try to get that fixed over the next couple of days, but I doubt it’ll happen tonight. I have a concert to sing in! But I might be wide awake after that, so I might make a start then after all. Now, though, I’d better finish getting ready. Concert blacks, here I come…

Crimble Shopping

Yesterday, I went Christmas shopping with the family in Canterbury. I had some kind of idea in my head that I’d blitz through and buy presents for everyone. Uh, no. I managed to buy cards, wrapping paper… and a new dressing gown and slippers for myself, since my old ones had pretty much died. However, I think I do now know what I’m going to get for everyone. I’m just going to buy it online!

We did see some reindeer, though, in a pen outside BHS. Okey-dokey! They seemed quite happy with all the attention, though, and two of them kept pushing their noses though the fence and getting their heads rubbed by the people who’d come to see them (anti-septic hand gel was provided to use afterwards, probably because of that thing with kids catching E.coli after stroking farm animals). I just took a couple of photos:

Reindeer in Canterbury

Aww, look at the baby one!

Let There Be Glove

My “Damson Gloves” [Ravlink] are my current main knitting work in progress. I have no gloves, you see! I lost mine a couple of years ago, and it seemed silly to buy new ones when I could make some, so I started on these. And, um… I finished one plus just past the cuff of the second! It wasn’t even like knitting the fingers were as fiddly as I’d been afraid they might be. I think I got distracted with gift knitting and things with deadlines, and just lost the momentum on them. And of course, every time I remembered them again since, it was already cold weather. I do have nice warm fingerless gloves, although that’s not quite the same.

This year, however, I’ve picked them up again. Or picked up glove no.2, to be more accurate. I’d actually knitted up to part of the thumb gusset, but I didn’t actually know exactly how far up. So I ripped it out (it was only a few inches, after all) and started again. Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t do so sooner. Well, I do – I had lots of other knitting that I was concentrating on, and these didn’t have a deadline. But now I want gloves, and the weather is getting colder! So this is how I’m doing:

Actually, I’ve now got a little further than that – those photos are from a couple of days ago, and I’ve now knit the little finger and started on the ring finger. If I concentrate on them for another couple of days, I should be finished. Hoorah!

I don’t think I ever did a project info post for these gloves, so here it is now:

Pattern: Basic Glove Pattern (from The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns) by Ann Budd [Ravlink] using a 1×1 rib cuff, Wavy Rib up the thumb and Claw Pattern Cable with Bobbles on the back of the hand (both from The Harmony Guides Vol.2, pp.70 & 76).
Yarn: Yarn Yard Hug in ‘Damson’.
Needles: 3.25mm Addi Turbo bamboo circular (80cm)
Ravelry Project Page: Damson Gloves

With a bit of luck, my next post about these will be to show off the finished versions!

Oh well

Well, I had intended to keep on posting as much as possible for NaBloPoMo, but it turns out that wasn’t to be! My landline was dead as a Dodo for a few days, and my internet connection with it. BT fixed it today – they didn’t have to come here, so I assume it was a problem at the exchange – so at least I’m back just in time to take part in IComLeavWe instead. Or sort-of as well: I might as well have a go at posting every day for the rest of the month, at least. NaBloPoMo does keep running year round anyway, so I might try again next month. I think they have themes for months that aren’t November, which might also be a help if I run out of inspiration! Or I could borrow an idea from Paula, who has been using an alphabet theme for this month. That could definitely be fun.

Anyway, IComLeavWe is the name-smush for International Comment Leaving Week, so starting today and continuing until 28th, I need to leave comments for at least five people every day, and return at least one comment (assuming I have any here to answer back to, I guess!). Off I go!