I’m not really stressed about knitting though, although my left elbow and shoulder may disagree with me. I’m stressed about homework. And the fact that I got a night-guard because I’ve been gritting my teeth so hard in my sleep but it’s not fitting properly and has woken me up with the most awful pain in the right side of my face twice now. The first time was Saturday morning at 3:00 and I didn’t get back to sleep again until 10:20 pm (well, I did have two 20 minute naps).

Did I mention I’m stressed about homework? Microeconomics is the bane of my existence right now, but it’s my own fault for procrastinating so badly. But I will have to get an extension on my Art History so I can balance it and my Psychology class better once Microeconomics is out of my hair. I didn’t want to do any more extensions but my planning skills have been lacking. This rush of completing the dreaded course should help me stay focused on the next two classes though, so it’s a bonus. Check one for the “school of hard knocks.”

I have an assignment due ASAP, and my midterm is on the 20th…wish me luck.

Oh! I found the breakdancer video!

Break ton Neck from Alex Yde on Vimeo.

So when the end of the day came, I went straight home rather than stopping at the library, and instead of picking up my homework, I picked up some knitting. Knitting for me. With Christmas looming, I should be working on the two gifts I’m trying to complete, but I didn’t want my bad juju to get wrapped in the stitches I am giving away. And I knew I wouldn’t focus on my writing. So I popped in some movies and knit.

And knit.

And the pain of the day unwound as my project grew.

Because it is a sort of meditation. It is a repetitious action that if you concentrate on it, and it alone, it soothes, it is a balm. I realised long into the project that my counting (and I counted my cast-on stitches three times) was completely inaccurate and I was four stitches short for one of my cuffs, but I’m not going to frog that cuff and re-knit it because it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t even angry with myself for doing 76 stitches rather than 80 because I had calmed down. I was still a little sad by the time I went to bed, but I was no longer hurt. And I slept better than I had for days.

Thank goodness for knitting.

Went to the "Cut! Costume and the Cinema" exhibit at the Glenbow Museum and took this photo.

I got a fancy new printer from my mom.  It had issues for four weeks, namely that it was a shelf model and the kid forgot to pack its power cord.  And when Mom asked them to mail it to us, they didn’t write the address properly so it got sent back to them.  Four weeks later I got the cord and I finally set up the printer.

However, it took me three days to figure out how to get the printer to run on my mini laptop…but I got it done this morning (oh, you need to download the stuff from the internet when you don’t have a disc-drive!).

And yesterday the first generation Apple TV I won on eBay arrived…sans cables, so I went to the Apple Store and bought the HD cables, and then found a $3 cable at The Source which can piggy back my audio cables from my Apple TV and my Xbox 360 to my ancient stereo (I bought it my first summer at the Park, back in 1996; the CD player doesn’t work any more, but the rest of it does).  I got it set up and rented & watched the Russel Brand Arthur to celebrate.

Arthur‘s a really cute film, but not one I feel the need to purchase.

Also, wireless connections are amazing to me.  Now I kind of want to find a wireless thinger for the Xbox…maybe later though; my pocket book is searching madly for band-aids…

This summer has been ridiculously busy; somehow I developed a social life, I gave up most of the processed sugar in my diet and lost 10 or so pounds, and then I decided to start taking belly dancing classes.  So I’ve extended my microeconomics…and should be doing it right now…which means, of course, that I’m going to write about music on my blog.  Specifically, my music addictions.

Very recently, while perusing the Twitter, one of the posters I read (okay, it was Erin Karpluk of Being Erica fame) posted a link to this video by The National and I had to immediately borrow the album from the library, and shortly thereafter I bought it on iTunes.  I absolutely adore the combination of the vocalist’s deep and mildly lazy-sounding voice with the busy-ness going on with the rest of the instruments.  Also, any song gently including the lyrics, “I was afraid that I’d eat your brains ’cause I am evil,” is okay with me.  A band that writes something like that is going to become an instant favourite.

And the day I bought the Muppets: The Green Album on iTunes, I was showing the OK Go video to a buddy when he said, “My brother introduced me to these guys, check out this video.”

Afterwards I went home and bought The Cave Singers‘ latest album, No Witch on iTunes.  I love the almost 60s Folk-Rock sound these guys have.  I have since chastised my buddy for distracting me from the Muppet covers.  But I forgave him instantly because The Cave Singers’ music is so awesome, I can’t get over it.  I have to listen to this album at least once a day, and it’s great for summer/autumn road-tripping.  I’m so addicted, I’ve bought more of their music because it’s just so…I can’t explain how much I love it.  It’s like, down in my core.  Love.  LOVELOVELOVE.

Well, now the 365 Grateful people are trying a week of not complaining.  So I thought I would try it too.  Yesterday was my first day and I think I did pretty well.  And I felt so much better than usual.  I really am looking forward to this week and seeing if I am capable of more positivity.

I finished my Level 4 homework to the best of my ability considering how badly I procrastinated on it.  I was so relieved, and have been celebrating by spinning some really lovely Merino/Yak roving from Wooly Wonka Fibers.  I have only spun half of the four ounces I bought and I already have about 258 yards of delicious plied yarn.  I haven’t measured it for grist yet as it’s still drying but I keep waffling between knitting myself socks (which will die quickly if I wear them in my ceramic-tiled apartment), or knitting or weaving a scarf with it.  Here are some photos, for which I apologize; it’s been raining and the light has been less than stellar so I had to touch them up.

It’s been very important to me to keep using my wheel.  The first reason is so that it knows that I love it; when I was supposed to be using it for my Level 4 workbook, I was attempting to ignore it like an albatross.  The second reason is so that I remember that I love it.  I really enjoyed taking the Master Spinner program through Olds College, but I often allowed myself to feel that spinning for the workbook was a chore.  Now I can spin for shits’n'giggles again and it’s so nice.  Although, I kept looking at the fibres I was spinning last night and thinking, “When will I get through you?!?”

School took a bit of a backburner moment while my team and I got the costumes ready at the Park for another season, and it’s taken me some time to get back into it.  But, with an extension, I’m looking forward to giving it the attention it needs.

I gave up sugar recently; about three weeks ago I started getting the jitters when I had it.  It’s still in a lot of things I eat, such as yogurt or Raisin Bran, but I’ve switched from desserts and iced tea (the powdered kind – it was my drink of choice where most people have coffee) to fruit and water (and fruit juices for treats) and I feel so much better!  And I lost 5 lbs since doing it, which is quite remarkable.

And I’m playing with knitting without guilt.  Yup, getting my Level 4 homework done was a good thing.

Edit: I was looking through my Ravelry queue this evening and I decided I’m going to make Ysolda Teague’s “The Orchid Thief Shawlette” from Brave New Knits out of my handspun yarn – if I’ve already got 250+ yards and still have more to spin, I’ll be laughing.  The gauge is about 15 wpi and it’s a little hairy so it will compact nicely enough to work with this shawl.

I don’t really drink alcohol (just at Christmas or if I’ve got a tummy virus), and I know I’ve never done any drugs stronger than a Tylenol 3 (back when I had my wisdom teeth surgically removed).  Even so, I love I Don’t Like the Drugs but the Drugs Like Me by Marilyn Manson (but I do not like the video).  I like the beat and the backup vocals.

I also sew and do embroidery:

This is the lining of a jacket I’m making for work.  I’m doing the embroidery at home because, well, it’s the lining and may only be seen once in awhile.  It’s more for me and the person who may one day wear it.

I dated this fella for about five months.  He was what my brother would call a “hairbag.”  He was skinny, he had this gritty voice, and he was a bassist in a band.  The dude was a very nice kisser.

I didn’t much like his band.  I liked 90s hairbands, but his band featured an annoying lead vocalist who loved playing with his voice box (this link is probably not to the style he used, but it gets the point across) and it was all screamy, and though I knew there were lyrics in there, I could never hear them.

Regardless, the fella introduced me to Ween.  I still have a softspot for them, especially for the song Mutilated Lips.  It’s weird but I find it delicious.