OK, FINE, WORLD.

There was lovely lovely COLD air coming in my windows all last night and I was so incredibly happy I got up and put on flannel PJ pants and wool socks and threw an extra afghan on the bed and it was WONDERFUL.

Of course I highly doubt this will a) last or b) actually be the beginning of Fall. DO NOT GET MY HOPES UP, PEOPLE.

In other really timely news, here are some pictures from my 18-day trip to England back in 2000 which culminated in a weekend at Amberley Castle watching one of my best friends get married. I got up early and wandered around the damp outskirts with my camera and came away with some real gems, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF. Which I do.

Everyone's acting like it's nice out. "It's cooled off!"

DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT TO ME, said sweaty mcsweatsalot sweatserson.

Man, I miss winter.

I've been to two of my three classes so far. As usual I am in complete freakout mode over how much work we have to do in the semester although I'm sure I'll calm down once I get it all noted out on a calendar and can see that it's not all lumped on the final days.

If it was the only thing I was stressed about, it wouldn't be so bad. But life, she is a cruel mistress. If I don't get this assistantship I interviewed yesterday, and the AVID tutoring people continue to blow all of us off after promising a million emails, etc., then I am going to head into FULL-ON PANIC MODE over finding a way to make money this year and not lose my apartment.

I am very attached to my apartment. It has room for all my stuff.

Random FYI: I have added some cookbooks, some sock knitting books, and some quilt art books (i.e., pictures but no patterns) to my amazon marketplace.

Hey, wanna buy my books?

I'm starting to sell off some of my knitting & quilting inventory in terms of books. You can check out what I've listed so far. They're all basically NEW i.e., I bought them new, I have flipped through them a few times but never used them, they have no markings inside, and have been stored in a smoke-free, pet-free home. Since they have been sitting on the shelves and having various knick-knacks piled around them and some made the move from NYC to Chitown, there are a few whose covers curl or dustcovers have small tears. But otherwise they are basically NEW. Since I have no idea what to expect, I just priced them all at half what Amazon is selling them for and we'll see what happens.

There are more to come...

The view from Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Paris

In other news, while I am still in a lot of pain, things with my shoulder/arm are continuing to improve - in fact, they've improved more in 5 post-surgery PT visits than in THREE MONTHS of pre-surgery PT. So that is quite encouraging despite some weirdness like white cotton strings coming out of my incisions (no NOT from stitches - a) didn't have stitches and b) stitches thread is completely different than this as I know from previous experience having stitches).

I would love to be in no pain but I guess those days are still in the future.

Cimetiere du Père Lachaise - the big cemetery in Paris where people like Jim Morrison, Balzac and Oscar Wilde are buried.

And last but not least, school starts again on Monday! I'll be there M, T and Th nights this semester. And I have an interview! For one of the 90 zillion assistantships I've applied for in the last year (that's an exaggeration because at least part of the problem with finding an assistantship is thanks to the economy there are no grants so there are no assistantships so each one has 97000 applicants), the only one I've gotten an interview for. So hopefully I won't flub it up too drastically other than not looking very "interview-y" since none of my clothes fit. Hi, I'm fat, please hire me!

That's all for now, folks. Hope you are enjoying the heat because I'm surely not.

It really doesn't seem like it was 2004 when I went to Paris.

That's six years ago now! Nuts!

In other news, I did perhaps a record-setting number of things off my to-do list today. And also I am about 2/3rds of the way through quilting the quilt of Bertha's I said I'd quilt for her. This should've been done a couple months ago - I didn't know how ridiculous my shoulder situation was going to get. I'm planning to finish it this week!!

OK off to bed and HOPEFULLY to sleep although that has been intermittent these days at best.

I had a good day today.

I am finally seeing some progress with my shoulder.
I got As in both my summer classes!

In unrelated news, I am still sweating to death, dying of heat stroke and COMPLETELY MISERABLE. Summer can end ANYTIME NOW. One more week before Fall semester starts.

So I had some surgery the other day

And now I am back in the world of hurt I was in when I first got the injury (I fell down the stairs January 4).

I am also now hepped up on vicodin at all times. Ditzy! Loopy! Blank head! Ew.

The bruise gets worse as I heal but in fact, the bruise is nowhere near where any of the pain is so it's kindof a hilarious offshoot. People see it and freak but hello it's my SHOULDER that's in pain, yo.

I am frustrated by having to do even more PT post-surgery than I did pre-surgery. It's nice that I can do the same exercises better and longer but it's not the "hey I had surgery and now everything works just like normal again!!" that you would want seven months after falling down the stairs.

Yeah, I'm a wee bit cranky about the whole thing.

Four days post surgery, my surgeon was SO happy with how I'm doing, he was really puzzled by me crying. (As if he hadn't just yanked my arm around into 100 extremely painful positions.) "You're doing GREAT! That's better than good!"

Hopefully I will feel that way myself, soon.

There was a storm.

Then there was a glow.

Then there was a 'bow.

Went to the member-preview of the new Cartier-Bresson exhibit at the Art Institute today. Fantastic! Kinda overwhelming, sometimes breathtaking, always inspiring.

OK off to finish up my last paper of summer semester. Boomdiggity.

It's somebodies' birthday today!

I wish Tahmoh and I could be there to help you celebrate. Miss & love you lots, girlies!!! Your presents will be in the mail...hopefully before Huckleberry is born!!

How did I ever have time for a job?

School is so busy this summer, I've lost all my potential photography time to lying around doing homework. Or, perhaps, lying around thinking about doing homework...

(That first shot is my school buddy, Matt. The other two are me.)

OK back to writing my paper on why Race to the Top is most certainly NOT a philosophically sound educational policy, per Alfred North Whitehead, John Dewey and Van Cleve Morris.

If you were sitting around thinking "I'd like to read more about existentialism written in a way a lay person can not only understand but actually enjoy it," I highly recommend Van Cleve Morris' "Existentialism in Education: what it means." The final third on education is actually less satisfying to read but the first two-thirds where he explains existentialism is really great. Written in a completely conversational tone and very entertaining, to boot.

BYE NOW.

I'm supposed to be writing two papers.

Look how far I've gotten!

Yup. Quilt block procrastination.

(It's another for Christy who requested trees and leaves and forests and such [I showed you the first tree block I made her back in this post].)

Check it out!

The blocks that have been made for my month in the quilting bee so far!!! (That bottom row was all made by me.)

I'm so excited about how these blocks are turning out! Yipee! And lots more to come! :)

The oppressive heat, it has returned.

The sky, it is so big and blue.

The weekend, it is sadly over; and the homework, it is shrieking its nasty head off at me.

From the Vaults

So y'all remember how I am doing this archive project, right? Scanning in old negatives and posting them to Flickr in a sort-of one-a-day type situation (I always get lazy and let it go and have to post like 10 of them at a time or something. But today I am two days ahead!).

Sometimes I find shots that I remember but never really got a great look at (35mm contact sheets are SMALL looks at each photo) and once I scan in it I am super excited to see a great shot emerge. Like, say, this one!

I knew it was cool, but I didn't know how cool!

Sometimes I go looking for specific shots that I remember and haven't looked at in ages. Like these (actually digital) shots I took in Forest Park in Portland, Oregon, that my friend Matt's recent trip to the West Coast made me think of.

And sometimes I find things that just completely baffle my mind (and lack of memory). What the heck is going on here? There's a balloon taking off? People are wearing outdated fashions? And mostly looking the other direction? Is there another balloon off to the left of the shot? What in tarnation is happening? (Somehow I know it's in Central Park. But that's about all I've got.)

And I will leave you with the Oregon coast from a completely different trip to Oregon, these were taken more than 10 years prior to the forest shots above.

The archives, they are a treasure trove indeed.

Oh HAI there.

I haven't had a lot to say these days as there isn't a lot of "yay! good!" going on.

What IS going on?

Well...

Summer is hot and NASTY so far and no income = no A/C so I'm pretty miserable.

Also: class 4 nights a week, for 4 hours per class.

Also: advisers in new program proving to be QUITE the hassle to deal with. I'm WAY too old for people to treat me that way.

Also: having surgery on my shoulder next month. Last night we were volunteering for stuff and my partner grabbed my arm to raise it with hers... OUCH!! Yeah she grabbed Leftie. Whoops. Needless to say, it didn't raise up the way she thought it would!

Thank goodness today is breezy.

I finished a quilt!

I was going to say "another" quilt...and then I figured out this is the first one I've finished since January/December. Whoops. I guess school is actually keeping me busy, eh? (School...and my TV schedule. Heh.)

Anywho, on to the quilt!

The owls are fussy cut from a flannel so they've got some bonus added texture.

The back is pieced with the leftover blocks and some of the "border" fabrics from the front (as well as bonus elephants).

This pic is a bit blown out so you can really see the quilting. A horizontal/vertical grid overlaid with random diagonals.

I'm super happy with how it turned out.

Now to finish a knitting swap I was supposed to swap last night. Whoops. And of course all the 97 gajillion other quilts in progress, either in reality or just IN MY MIND.

Oh sugar daddy that will pay the rent and allow me to craft as much as I please...WHERE ARE YOU?!? And what're you waiting for, dude? I'm running out of time here!!

Dang, summer, you really came out of nowhere.

But you are most certainly here.

One sunny day in July 2006,

I took some pictures.

Being in a Quilt Bee Is So Much Fun!

It's fun because you get to spend a lot of time fussing around and doing a block in probably not the world's most efficient way (in a way you would never do that block if you were doing an entire quilt of them) but giving yourself time to fuss and fiddle and be creative. You get to work with fabrics you might not have chosen yourself and stretch your own self-imposed ideas about color combinations and such.

I've already shown you the wonky stars I made Reebecki and one of the "circle" blocks I made Nova.

Here's another circle block for Nova:

Here's a tree for Christy!

And did I ever show you the pinwheel focused blocks I made for Val?

So much fun. But now I must get back to piecing my owls quilt!! I'm on a (self-imposed of course) deadline!! :)

I went to Michigan to meet a dog.

We went for walks in the woods.

And formed a band.

It was a busy weekend.

(You may want to click through to Flickr on that middle picture for a link to the LARGE version -- it is SO worth it.)

It's no secret 'round here how I feel about winter. And snow.

Is it?

Is there anything better than bundling up in 97 layers of coats and shirts and scarfs and hats and shades and boots and socks and trudging out to meet the white, sometimes wet, world?

My dad always YELLS that I only like it because I don't have to shovel it or drive in it. I think he's wrong. And we'll likely NEVER find out since leaving a well-paying profession for one in which I may never even find a job pretty much guarantees I'll never have a house or a car. (Not that I would have had them with the other job either. I prefer to spend my money on other things.)

I do prefer to get my nature in citified doses for the most part. This big ole field that could be ANYWHERE but is actually right smack in the middle of innercity Chicago is just my style.

So there ya go. Some shots I took in December but finally got developed today. I'm oh so pleased with them. Indeed.

Being a tourist in your own city is always fun.

But ow ow ow does it make your feet hurt. I was limping on the way home!

Then again, I was gone for over 12 hours yesterday and spent AT LEAST 7 of those hours either standing or walking. Ow!

We had lunch at Hot Doug's and dinner at Avec, so at least I was well fed for all the pedestrian torture.

OK off to rest my legs and ponder what I want to do with my day. Later, peeps! :)

Taking the tiny bit of good with the bad.

So the shoulder news is b-a-d bad. Not nearly the kind of progress the Ortho thinks there should have been and he is pretty much ready to do surgery RIGHT NOW. I bargained for six more weeks of PT because making that decision RIGHT THEN was just too much for me (I cried all the way home....) but he thinks it's "less than 50% likely" that I will have any improvement beyond where I am right now over the next six weeks. Sad times.

Really, I realize his description of all the horrifying risks was a good thing - he was honest about the dangers of the specific surgery and surgery in general - but some of them were VERY SCARY and YICKY and my stomach is hurting a little just thinking about them. "Well, if the arm bone is weaker than the tendons, when we do the stretching your arm bone could break.... You will be under general anesthesia, that's always a risk...." On and on and on.

The tiny bit of good news came in an email late last night. The professor from the class with my hardest final project (a full unit plan with three lesson plans from various different points in the unit complete with accompanying physical materials students would use, books, etc.) - and the one I felt least confident about turning in - asked me to send her an electronic copy of the accompanying paper because she is photographing the entire project to use as an example in class next semester and she wants to be able to lift out sections of the paper to use as well. Booyah.

Yes, I rock school. Too bad that isn't truly a marketable skill. "Hey, how would you like to pay my rent and in return...I'll go to school! And get good grades! How 'bout it?"

Now I really just want to get back in bed but since I'm up, sigh, I guess I'll go heat up my shoulder for 20 minutes and attempt some more futile exercises...

Oh, you know how it is.

Another day, another quilt top underway.

Fussycutting the owls is kinda fun but it certainly does waste some fabric. At least the way I do it, it does. ;)

The rest of the fabric is your usual quilting cottons (100%) but the owls are flannel. I figure it'll be a nice tactile/sensory thing for the lil bambino this is for.

(FYI that pink polkadot fabric was bought in Australia!!)

I'm getting sore from "sewing machine position" though so it's a good time to stop, maybe shower, buy some groceries...

And get ready to head up to Dee's for the Supernatural season finale tonight! You would NOT believe how sucked in to that show I've gotten (OK, it's me, you would totally believe it), having watched the ENTIRE series up to now over the past two months.

FYI I am a Dean fan more than Sam. In case you were wondering. :) Later!

It's so fun having my parents nearby.

Between them being retired and me being on "summer vacation" (until classes start back up June 14), we've managed to meet up a couple of times already.

We saw some excellent exhibits at the Art Institute yesterday (I particularly enjoyed the William Eggleston [photography] and the Matisse), although some of the old standards they wanted to visit were unavailable due to the never-ending construction and reorganization that museums are guilty of.

Ah well. Next time.

Whatcha' doin' today?

I finally had some time to catch up on my Bee blocks (blocks I am making for other people in our online quilting bee).

First I made three wonky stars for Rebecki Supergirl! (These are all about 12.5")

Then I made a block for Nova, who requested circles. I did a bunch of random improv-type piecing together of little pieces of fabric she sent, then cut them using my 7" drunkard's path templates (which makes a 14" drunkard's path block). Then cut that final block down to 12.5". I'm super happy with how this came out!

Isn't it funny how they both had the Mendocino Mermaid lalala line in their fabrics? I felt like this block could almost go in the same quilt with the others.

I still have one more block to make for Nova, but I'm still thinking about what I want to do for that one.

In the meantime, I finished another shawl!

I'm not sure why I'm knitting so many shawls these days. I guess I am hesitant to knit sweaters because I've gained so much weight. If I make it to fit me at this size, when I (PLEASE HOPEFULLY PLEASE) lose weight, it'll be too big... Of course it's possible I will never be my regular size again and all the 97 billion clothes hanging in my closet that are too tight right now will make someone at goodwill very, very happy.

For now, the situation has me very unhappy. :(

Hopefully my shoulder will start healing faster so I can get back in shape. (I switched to a different PT. He's SOOOO much better. But while things are improving a little bit in some directions, they are improving not at all in other directions. And I'm really not sure what is going to be considered enough progress by my Ortho. I see him again on Friday. so I guess we'll find out then.)

That's all for now, folks.