Saturday

-The Box
-A little grocery shopping
-Keeping an eye on some college football while browsing the internet
-Dinner in an Irish pub while watching Ohio State-Penn State football before walking over to the arena for a hockey game
-Blue Jackets hockey

Time spent at home (not including sleep): around five hours

Somebody's in serious need of slowing down.

Frantic Friday

It's a four film day for me--I'm heading out in a little while to polish off the last of them--and thus a busy way to bring another busy week to an end. If the weather wanted to dump an early snow storm on us and get me to cool my jets for a couple days, I'm for it. But advance warning, please. I don't really have much to eat in the apartment.

I've come to the realization that a big reason for my knitting productivity downturn can be laid on my purchase of an HDTV last year. I used to knit a lot more while watching (or listening/not watching) television, but with that crystal clear picture in front of me, I can't pull my eyes away as easily.

On Wednesday I finished the first skein of yarn for my Red Scarf Project scarf. If I can pick up the pace a bit, I'd like to have it done in a week. Keep in mind, though, that most of my knitting in the last month has been done almost exclusively at knit night.

It's been a busy fall work-wise, and for awhile I just wasn't feeling top notch, so the knitting wasn't a priority. The term is winding down, and aside from the time change still throwing me, I feel more like I usually do. A long weekend with nothing on the schedule would be welcome, though.

Knit long and prosper

Would you like to buy a Spock monkey?

A contest-winning knitter gets profiled on TV news for her Star Trek twist on the traditional sock monkey. My impression is that the show, movies, etc. is fairly popular with crafty types, so coming up with such a project is a smart way to help stack the deck in one's favor.

"But she does have a rather delicate hobby." Yes, thankfully there are plenty of fainting couches to go around in yarn shops and when I attend knit night.

Shuffle

Since I don't have anything worth writing about, how about hitting shuffle on the iPod and seeing what comes up? If you'd like to hear these songs, most can be found by using Google to search for the artist and song title and hitting play on the embedded Lala player. (It's a new tool Google offers, but it doesn't provide anything for me to link to.)

1. Laura Cantrell "Yonder Comes a Freight Train" When the Roses Bloom Again (2004)

I haven't given this theory much thought, but I'm going to propose that the best songs about forms of transportation are about trains. Sorry cars. There's something about how the engines chug that lends itself to the rhythms of these songs and conveys the feeling of riding the rails.

2. The Streets "Who Got the Funk?" Original Pirate Material (2002)

There's a left turn--from country to British hip hop--provided by the shuffle. This short track doesn't make much sense out of the album's context. "The day in the life of a geezer," repeats Mike Skinner, essentially summarizing the concept for album about British lad culture. The song is more connective tissue than a standalone piece.

3. The Black Crowes "Sister Luck" Shake Your Money Maker (1990)

The Black Crowes bring back memories of the heritage AOR station WTUE in Dayton. While they sounded like a lot of the classic rock bands, at the time they were a new group. I don't know if this particular song would have been heard on the air, although surely their debut was played at least once at midnight, which is when they'd play one side of an album, take a break, and play the second side. Yes, albums used to have two sides (or sides at all), and rock stations used to be worth listening to.

4. The Beastie Boys "Time for Livin'" The Sounds of Science (1992)

Surely I've heard this before,but this isn't one that stood out to me. Beasties more in punk mode than rapping.

5. David Gray "Easy Way to Cry" A New Day at Midnight (2002)

Can't say that this particular song stirs up any memories, but the album it's from is inextricably tied in my mind to hearing a single from it on WXRT while in Chicago for a high school friend's wedding. Come to think of it, is that the only high school friend's wedding I've attended?

6. The Velvet Underground "I'm Waiting for the Man" The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

This album isn't considered one of the most highly influential in rock history for nothing. Funny how it can still sound current all these years later.

7. The Beta Band "Al Sharp" Hot Shots II (2001)

Totally random fact (probably): I think I bought this CD in a Rhode Island Borders.

8. Guided by Voices "Gold Star for Robot Boy" Jellyfish Reflector (1996)

I was into the Dayton indie rock legends-to-be a lot at the time because they were from where I am from (generally speaking) and because I was able to find an internet e-mail list to feed my interest in all things GBV. I didn't have a computer at home, but I'd go to the library to check my freenet account--two hours of access per 24 hours, thank you--for the daily digest in my inbox. The album in question is a live bootleg (or semi-official release). Being hip to these kinds of records was like knowing a secret, which probably helped stoke my interest, although it didn't hurt that they were at their creative peak at this time too.

9. George DeVore "Standing Right By Me" Austin, Texas Through the Eyes of Terri Herbert (2001)

Yes, it's on my iPod, but I've never heard this before. I bought the album solely for a rare Kelly Willis track (a cover of Gene Clark's "Full Circle Song") and never bothered listening to the rest. (I don't remember exactly how I acquired it, but it may have been among several CDs someone was selling as a lot on eBay.) It was a bit difficult to come across. Since it was an Austin singer-songwriter's tribute to his girlfriend killed in an accident, I don't know if this was even sold outside of Texas. Collecting songs by downloading them just isn't the same.

10. Soundgarden "Switch Opens" Down on the Upside (1996)

Shuffle goes deep again. It may be twelve or thirteen years since I've heard this cut from Soundgarden's final album.

I don't know how representative this sampling is of my musical tastes, but it's certainly eclectic.

Knitspotting

While I may knit in public--it seems like that's the only time I have for it right now--I know that spotting knitting men in the wild is relatively uncommon. For those of you who don't believe such rare creatures exist, here's a North Dakota news anchor trying his hand at learning to knit. (It's of more interest watched than read, but a text-only version is available too.) Doesn't seem like he enjoyed it much, though.

Equilibrium

It's been slow going, but I believe that things are finally getting back to the way they should be.

Today is one day shy of five weeks since I last had a radio in my car. Five weeks! (Sure, the insurance company didn't assign someone to the matter, but I added several days by purchasing the radio online and then not having the time to take it to get installed.) A new radio is where it belongs, meaning I can drive without humming or singing to keep myself preoccupied.

I came home this evening to find that the heat (or lack thereof) in my apartment was repaired. Initially a maintenance guy felt that there wasn't any problem, but Friday I snagged one who was knocking on a door to another apartment in my building.

I figured I needed to show someone to confirm that I wasn't crazy regarding the cool air that should have been warm coming out of the vents. He agreed that the heat pump wasn't operating as it should and wrote down my concern about the looseness of the thermostat. The heat pump (or whatever) has been fixed. Even better, the thermostat was replaced. I can actually set a temperature without a bunch of give/slippage in the bar used to do so.

I feel like I've been extremely busy and getting battered from all sides, but with these things taken care of, it seems like normalcy is returning. Not for long probably, but I'll take what I can get.

The 25th hour

Last night or this morning, depending how you want to look at it, clocks fell back one hour. This is the greatest night of the year, especially for the sleep deprived. An extra hour!

The strange thing about this day is that I should be tired earlier in the evening but I'm not. Granted, I slept some this afternoon, but that doesn't necessarily mean I won't be ready to hit the sack when the appropriate hour arrives.

After a week of running hither and yon, it's been strange to have a deliberately uneventful day. The hustle and bustle not only has been quieted but also been replaced with sixty more minutes of inactivity.

My internal clock seems off. No time felt right for anything. For as odd of a day as it has been to experience, it has helped me get some much needed rest. Adjusting to this new rhythm? That will happen soon enough.