31

So how many of you were also up at 4:30 AM watching "Citizen Kane"?

I didn't think so. 

6:32

Thanks to Araignee for reaching out and letting me know that she, too, is a circulars-flipper.  It really is all about comfort.  People whom I've taught to knit usually ask me how to hold the needles, and I always told them hold them so you're comfortable.  My maternal grandmother held each needle as if it were writing with a pencil.  That would never work for me.

Meanwhile, Jeni's Ice Cream has just released a new set of five flavors, called Punk Stargonaut.  Naturally, I already have some, and this may be my favorite:

 

Yes, the name.  Yes, the color is wonderful.  There's just enough pucker tartness to make it delectable.  The poor, undernourished, wholly neglected puppy in the back there put his sad eyes into high gear and did get a taste.

One

One video.

1

My current cross-stitch project, using one needle:

As you can see, I'm following in my Twinster's needletracks by stitching a bird in a branch.  The bird's plumage is the only bright color, so I'm doing the muteds and the neutrals first.

2 Sides

When you knit on circulars, is the right side of your work on the inside or the outside of your needles?  Mine is always on the inside.

I'm not sure what that means, if anything, but there you go.

95

 Today would be my mother's 95th birthday.  As with all things numerical at this point in my life, this is hard to believe.  It's difficult to imagine what she'd be like at 95.  She was so very frail already when she died, I have a bit of an idea what she'd look like, but what would her personality be?  She was sort of ironclad as it was, so there might not have been much of a change.

I often commented how people might look at my brown-eyed children (especially dark-haired Hannah) and wonder what they were doing with a blue-eyed mother.  Mama would say, "What about black-haired, brown-eyed me toting around blonde, blue-eyed you ?"

One

Can you believe I have begun an actual novel?  A real-life non-non-fiction book.  Did any of you have "1" in the over/under?  (Wisely, Twinster refused to enter that particular fray.)  

And yet, even with a novel, I do not stray far.

I've read two other Lincoln novels: Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (which I found surprisingly entertaining) and Lincoln in the Bardo (which was fully enthralling.) 

The pollen has begun to fall here.

There's a sweet, sticky, sickly smell with it that has yet to arrive, but it's early yet.  The pollen doesn't bother me except for the offense to my aesthetics.  I never even thought about, or experienced it, until we moved to Georgia.  None of the other places I've lived have this many pine trees, I suppose.  To all of you who do suffer, obviously do not come to see me, and I hope you make it through the season okay.

(K)2 2.0

Tried to find this picture for yesterday's post, but was unsuccessful.  So, today, here are the two Ks.

Frankly, it's not a bad picture of either of us.

It's been a quiet day here.  Yesterday was an appointment with my psychiatrist, and a few little shopping and pick-up stops.  Don't you hate it when things you need are only at one place, and you have to start and stop and park and walk and wait in lines?

The doctor suggested another medication adjustment.  I have been truly despondent for weeks and weeks.  Nothing is right, nothing is happy, nothing is hopeful

  We'll see if this tweak makes any difference at all.

🤞

(K)2

Apparently, some parents have taken their children up Mt. Everest, and, unsurprisingly, are being criticized there for.  Honestly, is there ANYTHING one can say or do these days without catching heat?

I digress.

And that's not the K2 at issue here.

My completed Tiny Needle project:

This pattern was snapped up because of Hannah's dear, darling Sphynx.  So the "K" here is not for Kim, but for Klunk.

48

If you've ever rented a movie on Amazon Prime, you know you have 48 hours in which to watch it.  (By the way, why do we "watch" things on TV --- or a TV screen --- and "see" movies in theaters?)

I digress.

Last night, I rented and watched "American Fiction."  

That gives me an opportunity to watch it tonight and again tomorrow.  That's how much I enjoyed it.  With Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown, and a wonderful supporting cast, how can you go wrong?

11:09

 It was Election Day here yesterday.  My voting spot is the elementary school that Briton and Hannah went to.  A couple of years ago, it was almost fully torn down and rebuilt, save for what we knew as the fifth grade hall, and the gym.  The gym is where the voting machines are, and it hasn't changed a whit.  It's where a 3rd grade Briton, dressed as C3PO, first took to a stage in a skit that was about time, I think?  Anyway, it's nice to go back and remember.

Sticking with non-fiction, reading-wise.

Not a surprise, I know.  Not quite a biography, but I realize that it's biography-adjacent.

What's the over/under on how many books until I get to a novel?

14 - 26

14.  Did I Ever Tell You This? by Sam Neill. (As charming as you'd expect, if you're a fan of Mr. Neill.  Which, of course, I am.)

15.  Confessions of an Actor by Laurence Olivier. (By many accounts, Olivier could be a prig, but he could also be funny and disarming.)

16.  Gregory Peck by Gary Fishgall. (Sometimes, I feel like I should stick to autobiographies.  Biographies often lack "something.")

17.  Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen. (She's such a delightful writer.  For instance, she says our bodies are basically personality-delivery systems.)

18.  I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson  (There's a huge difference between what we know from the outside and what he felt living it.)

19. My Extraordinary Ordinary Life by Sissy Spacek. (When reading this, you realize her life has been kind of "normal."  Except, you know, for winning an Oscar.)

20.  Rough Draft by Katy Tur. (Some of her story I read in Unbelievable , but there's greater depth here.)

21.   Hands of My Father by Myron Uhlberg.  (A hearing child of deaf parents, and the day-to-day difficulties of both.)

22.  Her Little Majesty by Carroll Erickson. (Maybe my favorite of all these?  Queen Victoria is a fascinating figure.)

23.   Educated by Tara Westover. (Again, the social psychologist in me was engrossed while the plain ol' person was enraged.)

24.  The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  (I didn't read this as a companion to MLK's, but they are ripe for compare-and-contrast.  Compelling.)

25.  The Lost Garden by Laurence Yep.  (Beautifully written.  Yep felt the pull of two cultures growing up, and used both to create his novels.)

26.  Black Friend by Ziwe.  (Funny, but so serious.  Why do we treat one another like this?  And when will we stop?)

1 - 13

1.  The Alphabet in My Hands  by Marjorie Agosin.  (She spent some of her teen years here in Athens.)

2.  Barkley  by Timothy Bella. (Not as good as it could have been, considering how entertaining Charles Barkley is.)

3.  Shattered Love  by Richard Chamberlain. (Are any of you watching the new "Shogun"?)

4.  Deaf Utopia  by Nyle DiMarco. (Apparently, he was a " Dancing with the Stars" contestant.)

5.  The Hilliker Curse by James Elroy. (Probably my least favorite of all 26.  Interesting premise --- the roots of his relationships with women* --- but, no.)

6.  In Pieces by Sally Field. (I like Sally Field**, but this was a bit content-shallow.)

7.  My Story  by Ava Gardner.  (I also read Ava Gardner: The Private Conversations , and  slightly preferred the first.)

8.  There is Nothing for You Here  by Fiona Hill.  (I was so impressed with her testimony before Congress, and continue to be impressed on reading her story.)

9.  Ishi in Two Worlds  by Theodora Kroeber. (I talked about it when I was reading it.  I'd still teach out of it if I could.)

10.  Vernon Can Read!  by Vernon Jordan. (Again, a little disappointing, but the stories of his youth were particularly good.)

11.  The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.  (If nothing else, read it for his account of the "Letter from the Birmingham Jail.")

12.  A History of Scars by Laura Lee. (You know those books that so many people " could just die for," but you wouldn't?  This is one.)

13.  One of the Fortunate Few by Diana Hendricks. (I love, love Delbert McClinton's music, and this gave me good insights on it, start to present.)

*Again, social psychologist here.

**I really like her!

26!

 I've finished my Alphabet Autobiography/Biography journey!  I'll provide a partial list tomorrow.

40

1

I'm sure we can all agree that there's really only one Girl Scout Cookie.  Let's all say it together: 1, 2, 3

Tagalongs.

(Thin Mints people, there is catch-your-breath seating in the back.)

I live within 5 minutes of several big box stores (Kroger, Lowe's, Walmart), meaning I live within 5 minutes of prime places for troops to set up their selling tables.  My order is always easy, depending upon how many Tagalongs boxes they have on hand.  Now, I can eat a Trefoil, and the kind of new toffee ones are delicious, but, come on.  

Yes, I could probably eat an entire box.

One

Today, I feel like one more sneeze or one more blow of my nose will plunge me headlong into a cold.  Keeping the ColdCalm close at hand.

Hannah likes seaweed and other Asian foods, drinks and snacks, so I put together a snack box for her for Christmas.  Doing so, of course, fit me into every Asian food business algorithm online.  Today, one popped up that led to me click through to the site, and scrolling through the site brought me to these:

Now, look, I don't begrudge almost anyone's food choices.  In fact, the chicken feet took me back to my paternal grandmother, as that was her favorite part of the chicken.  (Though it's extremely  unlikely she made hers with a hot & sour lemon braise.)

No, it's the duck tongue that caught my eye.  My first thought was that a duck tongue couldn't possibly be very filling.  While contemplating that, I looked more closely at the package's graphics.  Again, if you or anyone in your life circle enjoys duck tongue, this is not a slam on you or them.  For me, though, that's a hard, hard no. It just looks, well, icky.  And if you think maybe you should look up actual pictures of actual edible duck tongues, to see if the package is accurate, don't.  And it is.

Threes

It's going to be size 3 circulars for my sparkly Sockhead Cowl.  I knit tightly, but going up to 4s seems too much.  

Just kind of a day here.  Groceries, a couple of other errands.  I started my "Z" book: Black Friend by Ziwe.  "Y" was The Lost Garden by Laurence Yep.  It was so delightful, so wonderfully written.  Yep has written several YA books, and goes into the bases for them in his memoir.

Oscar watching with Briton Sunday night.  He loves award shows, and since he doesn't have network TV, he comes here for them.  We get Zaxby's takeout, make catty Red Carpet comments, and take it from there.

2

Two months.  I go back to the oral surgeon in two months for an x-ray.  Don't know if the replacement abutment will go in then or after another while.  A year without this tooth.

AAAARRRRGGGHHH.

How about a little Christmas to lift the mood?  And hey --- it's Tiny Needle Tuesday!

It's kind of busy, but the colors really came together, don't you think?

2? 3?

I found a cowl pattern for my Paint Horse yarn, and it calls for size 2 1/2 needles.  Should I go down to the 2 or up to the 3?  I'm leaning toward the 3s, but would appreciate your input.

Twinnie asked about my winding:  I open up the hank and put it around my knees.  I have to shift it a lot so my legs don't cramp up, and occasionally have to carefully lift it off if, say, Tap needs to go out.  It usually works out fine.

Back to the oral surgeon in the morning, presumably for just a quick check on how the gum is healing.  Then, I suppose, setting an appointment for the RE-placement of the abutment.  Oy.

437

437 yards in this sparkly Mountaintop Yarn yarn in "Paint Horse," and I am winding it by hand.

Yes, I have a yarn winder.  This, though, is sorta kinda ingrained in me from growing up with a knitting mother.  She certainly didn't have a yarn winder, so I'd sit with her yarn around both wrists while she wound.  It's part of the process for me.

By the way, the yarn really is sparkly;  the camera's just not picking it up.

By way of reference, this is a paint:

#1

In my continuing search for something that will ease my headache agony, I have bought what the package presents as basically a Mardi Gras mask:

But, dear readers, don't linger on that.  Please turn your attention to the rules for the mask:

Now, rule #2 makes you wonder what else this mask could be used for (the mind reels), but #1 is the star: I never knew sanity was a requirement for sleeping.  Driving makes a little more sense, but still. . .  Sanity?

Now, the manufacturer gives you a bit of an out by saying, "Try not to."  The mask wearer has to put in an effort.  Keep your sanity, people, and mask on the face only.