52 In 52 2009 Ravelry Challenge

Well, I didn't quite make it; however 50 books for the year in a good number. As can be seen on my nightstand, I already have a good start for 2010's challenge.

Bennett, A.: The Uncommon Reader ****
Berry, S.: The Charlemagne Pursuit ****
Cussler, C.: Arctic Drift **+
Cussler, C.: Medusa**+
Cussler, C.: The Chase **+
Davis, L.: A Body In The Bathhouse****(13)
Davis, L.: A Dying Light In Corduba****(8)
Davis, L.: Alexandria****(19)
Davis, L.: Last Act In Palmyra****(6)
Davis, L.: Ode to A Banker****(12)
Davis, L.: One Virgin Too Many****(11)
Davis, L.: Poseidon's Gold****(5)
Davis, L.: Saturnalia****(18)
Davis, L.: Scandal Takes a Holiday****(16)
Davis, L.: See Delphi and Die****(17)
Davis, L.: Shadows In Bronze****(2)
Davis, L.: Silver Pigs****(1)
Davis, L.: The Accusers****(15)
Davis, L.: The Course of Honour****
Davis, L.: The Iron Hand of Mars****(4)
Davis, L.: The Jupiter Myth****(14)
Davis, L.: Three Hands In The Fountain****(9)
Davis, L.: Time To Depart****(7)
Davis, L.: Two For The Lions****(10)
Davis, L.: Venus In Copper****(3)
Franklin, A.: Grave Goods****(3)
Franklin, A.: Mistress of the Art of Death****(1)
Franklin, A.: The Serpent's Tale****(2)
Gould, J.: Greek Winds of Fury***+
Graziano & Graziano: Cretaceous Dawn ****
Greanias, T.: Raising Atlantis (1)
Harris, C.: A Touch of Dead (stories)
Harris, C.: All Together Dead ****(7)
Harris, C.: Club Dead ****(3)
Harris, C.: Dead And Gone ****(9)
Harris, C.: Dead As A Doornail ****(5)
Harris, C.: Dead To The World ****(4)
Harris, C.: Dead Until Dark ****(1)
Harris, C.: Definitely Dead ****(6)
Harris, C.: From Dead To Worse ****(8)
Harris, C.: Living Dead In Dallas****(2)
Neville, K.: The Fire ****
Preston, D. & Child, L.: Cemetery Dance***+
Reilly, M.: Seven Deadly Wonders **
Reilly, M.: Six Sacred Stones **
Reynolds, A.: Pemberly By The Sea ***
Rollins, J.: The Doomsday Key***+
Weldon, P.: Spectre***(2)
Weldon, P.: Wraith***(1)

CINEMA 2009: Movies I saw at the theatre

Bright Star *****
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ****

Monsters VS Aliens (a guilty pleasure)
Sherlock Holmes ***+
Star Trek ***+

Winding Yarn

Well, I've started to wind the yarn for my next project, which will be a pullover sweater with a few changes to the pattern. The yarn chosen for this is Cherry Tree Hill mohair/wool/silk boucle in the Champlain Sunset colourway.

The sweater pattern originally had bandings of different colours (this is the "Blueberry Hill" I mentioned in a previous post, which I was doing in a light and medium denim blue, orchid, and a variegated which brought all the colours together). Since this is already a multicolour yarn with short colour repeats, I have decided to change the body of the sweater to a heavy rib (probably 3X3) up to the division for the armholes; then I'll be changing to seed stitch; after splicing the shoulders I'll add a heavily ribbed loose turtle neck. The sleeves I'll be knitting down from the shoulder in seed stitch and I'll finish with heavy ribbing for the wrists.

Finally, A Project Done -- And A Project to Be Frogged

I can hardley believe that I have finally finished the large bag I was knitting for an exchange. I used a beautiful salmon fingering yarn by Knit Picks and a salmon marl alpaca fingering yarn. It is much easier picking out yarn and some other goodies for an exchange!

Now for the bad news, I finally figured out that I will have to frog my "Blueberry Hill" sweater because of the cheap circulars I used. My KnitPicks Harmonies and Addies have been wonderful -- however, these Clover needles kinked so badly that I didn't realize that the sweater had gotten all twisted. However, not all is lost as I have decided to slightly modify the pattern.

Modern Goddess Portraits

You can see more of this artist's paintings at

www.pagesperso-orange.fr/goddess-seat/

So Busy Knitting and Reading

I can't believe it's been this long since the last post on this blog! I have been keeping up with the side-bar information on the 52 in 52 reading project, however.

On that note, I really do have to recommend Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Falco mysteries. As a former history major with an emphasis on the Classical, Mediaeval and Renaissance, her descriptions of the time of Vespasian are spot on. In my opinion, Vespasian was one of the best emperors of the Roman Empire and her depictions of him and his family are terrific. I was also pleased (no brick bats, please) to see that she placed the Christian sects in the right position -- they were not as put-upon and persecuted as their own histories tried to make out and were not really of much interest to every day Romans.

Besides these I have also read a few other novels as well. The Tao of Pooh is also now on my nightstand (I have never read it!).

I have been working on little items. Right now I am making a largish decorative bag in peach KnitPicks Peruvian wool in a fingering weight along with a great peachy marl in alpaca (half and half). It's going to be lined so there will be two sections. Whoever will get it will be able to store their runes and tarot cards together.

Recent Reads ~~ 52 In 52

I have been working on my reading recently and have just finished Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels. These were a lot of fun and the tone the author achieved was just right, in my opinion. I am looking forward to the collected Sookie short stories, which will be published this autumn.

Last week-end I read Pemberly by the Sea by Abigail Reynolds. I'm up in the air a bit with a review. I think most people will enjoy it, though at times the heroine was her own worst enemy.

More Things About Myself

17. What I Watch On Television: Countdown with Keith Olbermann; The Rachel Maddow Show; Hardball with Chris Matthews; Bones; Lost; Moonlight; Primeval; Eureka; Fringe; The #1 Ladies' Detective Agency; True Blood; Heroes; Monk; Medium; Ghost Hunters; Astronomy/Cosmology type shows; "Paleo-World" type shows

18. Previous Favourites: Battlestar Galactica (new series); Star Gate; all Star Trek incarnations; Babylon 5; Jane Austen mini-series; Jane Eyre (3 versions)

19. Favourite Movies: Bringing Up Baby; Casablanca; The African Queen; The Maltese Falcon; The Thin Man (several movies); Now, Voyager; Ninotchka; The Third Man; To Catch a Thief; A Shot in the Dark; Dr. Zhivago; Out of Africa; Sophie's Choice; Das Boot; La Nuit de Varennes; Master & Commander; Gladiator; Pan's Labyrinth; Sense & Sensibility; Pride & Prejudice; Persuasion (not quite chronological order)

20. Favourite Operas: Le Nozze de Figaro; Die Zauberflote; Don Giovanni; Norma; Tosca; Der Fliegende Hollander; Tristan und Isolde; Der Ring des Niebelungen; Orfeo et Euridice; Les Contes de Hoffmann

21. Favourite Print Comics: Get Fuzzy; Non Sequitur; Mutts; Rhymes With Orange; Bizarro; Rose Is Rose

22. Favourite Classic Movie Actors: Katharine Hepburn; Humphrey Bogart; Cary Grant; Sir Laurence Olivier; Myrna Loy; William Powell; Errol Flynn; Bette Davis; Claude Raines; Greta Garbo; Marlene Deitrich; Joan Fontaine; Peter Sellars; Alan Ladd

Lady And The Tiger

Knitting, Yarn & Kitties -- Could Anything Be Better!

What Would You Take?

For all of us who knit (or crochet) this is all too true. More can be found at http://wondermark.com/

Some Interesting Things About Me (I Believe)

In No Particular Order:

1. I have never been to DisneyWorld or DisneyLand -- and never will

2. Re: Above: Yes, I am a "Culture Snob"

3. Favourite Perfume: Chanel "Coco"; Dior "Poison Mystique"

4. Favourite Scents: Gardenias; Frankincense; Lavender; Lilac; Spice

5. I am a want-to-be: Classicist; Paleontologist; Astronomer

6. Favourite Season: Winter (Spring & Autumn tied for second)

7. I am a polytheist and "spiritual/religious materialist" (scientific definition) (check out my blog "Libations")

8. Favourite Cake: Spice (Chocolate second)

9. Favourite Pie: Lemon Meringue (Oreo Chocolate Creme Pie second)

10. Favourite Cookie: Molasses Spice (Ginger Snaps second)

11. I am a Cat Person

12. I lived in South Korea for one year

13. I have been to Europe three times

14. I have precognitive dreams

15. I have grey hair and I keep it long

16. I enjoy science fiction

KAL Buttons

Most of these knit-a-longs are still in progress.

The Permanent Bad-Hair Day

Even when I try, by the end of the day my hair looks like Einstein's. This happens even though I do use de-frizzing products. ARRGH!!! However, it would be even worse if I cut my hair short. Then my face would look like the full-moon all the time. Sometimes, genetics just does not work in your favour. However, I almost can't wait for the rest of my front hairline to turn white. It is really quite lovely and does not have any yellow at all. I get both the bitter and the sweet from my maternal grandmother. She was a "Gibson Girl" until the day she died (1966). That is not a bad path to follow at all.

Salish Cardigan Update

I can't believe I'm actually updating the progress of a project! Anyway, the body of the sweater has been divided into three parts: 2 fronts and the back. I am a bit more than half-way finished with the two fronts and am now working on the back. I want to get to the point of the short-row shoulder shapings at the same time. I still have not decided between a three needle cast-off or a Kitchener splice for the shoulder join. If I'm really lucky, I hope to have the sleeves cast-on by the end of next week for two-at-a-time knitting.

Cheetahs

Cheetahs

Other Pictures I Really Like

Cheetah:

Lioness and Leopard:

Tigress:

For Love of the Big Cats

Leopard & Falcon:

Recently in my meandering around the web, I remembered the fantasy paintings of Michael Parks. I would like to eventually get at least one of the limited edition prints. However, I especially liked these as they show-case the big kitties that I love.

Books Read in 2008

I can hardly believe that I read all these books last year. There is a real variety in quality represented here, I admit. A number of the action/adventure novels were just too cinematic for my tastes as the plots turned out to be just one cliffhanger after another. I will be adding more of the authors to this list as well as my awards (stars/razzberries):

Amazonia (J. Rollins) **1/2
Black Order (J. Rollins) **1/2
Blasphemy (D. Preston) **1/2
Brimstone (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict ****
Dance of Death (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Deep Fathom (J. Rollins) **1/2
Deep Storm (L. Child) **1/2
Excavation (J. Rollins) **1/2
Ice Hunt (J. Rollins) **1/2
Map of Bones (J. Rollins) **1/2
Mount Dragon (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Pompeii *****
Relic (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Reliquary (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Rip Tide (D. Preston & L. Child) ** 1/2
Sandstorm (J. Rollins) **1/2

Still Life With Crows (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Subterranean (J. Rollins) **1/2
Temple (M. Reilly) * (very frantic; however, loved the rapas)
The Alexandria Link (S. Berry) *****
The Amber Room (S. Berry) *****
The Athena Factor **1/2
The Book of the Dead (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
The Cabinet of Curiosities (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
The Codex (D. Preston) **1/2
The Crystal Skull **1/2 (author a veterinarian)
The Drowning Tree (C. Goodman) *****
The Expected One (RAZZBERRY)(only if you are desperate)(the absolute worst of the Magdalenia)
The Ice Limit (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
The Judas Strain (J. Rollins) **1/2
The Last Oracle (J. Rollins) ***
The Last Secret of the Temple (P. Sussman) *****
The Lost Army of Cambyses (P. Sussman) *****
The Lost Constitution
The Night Villa (C. Goodman) *****
The Romanov Prophecy (S. Berry) *****
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (Willig) ***
The Secret Scroll
The Secret Supper
The Seduction of Water (C. Goodman) *****excellent mystery
The Templar Legacy (S. Berry) *****
The Third Secret (S. Berry) *****
The Venetian Betrayal (S. Berry) *****
The Wheel of Darkness (D. Preston & L. Child) **1/2
Tyrannosaur Canyon (D. Preston) **1/2

**1/2 = guilty pleasure; just a fun read

Thank You, Darcy, For The Makeover!

I am taking time now to publically thank my blog designer, Darcy, for this wonderful make-over! Now I have the hard job: deciding what to put back in the sidebars. I know what I'll be doing for most of the week (besides reading and knitting).

52 Books in 52 Weeks

Ravelry has a new group with a wonderful challenge: 52 books in 52 weeks. I've started a little late; however, I hope to make it up soon. My first book for this calendar year is Steve Berry's newest mystery/thriller The Charlemage Pursuit. Next on my list are Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels/mysteries. Here's to good reading all the way around!