11.27.2007

Wake Me Up When November Ends

Thank God I wasn't trying to participate in NaPoBloMo
(or whatever the abbreviation is), because I would have failed miserably. This is due mainly to the copious amounts of homework/college prep/work I've been trying to cram into my days lately. That and knitting.

Remember how I was annoyed that Darien put everything off until the last minute? Pot, kettle, black. This book review for PolySci was assigned almost at the beginning of the semester, and I'm still only about halfway through my book. Oh, and it's due Monday. So clearly I have a lot of long hours of boring reading to do before it gets too late to start writing. If only I could get it as an ebook. As it is, I think I'll probably end up just skimming and BS-ing.


Today marks my one-week anniversary on Ravelry! Yay! I've been so inspired by all the patterns on there, I have about five million projects going at the same time. And I just blew my latest paycheck on Knit Picks. But it's for a worthy cause. I'm making Katamari Damacy earmuffs, among other things. And then I had to buy a few more skeins because, hello, free shipping on orders over $45.

I'd love to post some pictures of what I've been working on, but I can't on the off chance that one of my gift recipients stumbles upon this blog and finds out what they're getting for Christmas. So check me out on Ravelry - I'm blissfulolivian.

11.19.2007

The Sun'll Come Out... Tomorrow

Found you!
  • You signed up on October 28, 2007
  • You are #49992 on the list.
  • 166 people are ahead of you in line.
  • 9692 people are behind you in line.
  • 83% of the list has been invited so far
Yep. I'm about a day away from being on Ravelry. After weeks of checking multiple times a day, it's finally time.

Quick knitting update:

I finished my space invaders tea cozy (except for seaming, because I don't have the teapot it's going to go on yet), did about three inches on Darien's second amazing alpaca sock, and started some glove/mitten things for my mom.

Yayy.

11.12.2007

I Don't Mind You Coming Here and Wasting All My Time

I just found out that one specific person (who I now realize I spend the majority of my unoccupied hours with) will be insanely busy with exams and research papers for the next two+ weeks, and won't be able to hang out. So I suddenly find my self with tons (from an LCA student's perspective) of free time. And perhaps an ounce of bitterness towards said person for putting all this off until now.

So the only way for me to hold on to my sanity and not lapse into a zombie-like state until Christmas break is to totally cram every spare moment with positive, productive, activities. And to motivate myself, further, I'm publishing my list of ideas so I can be held accountable in some ambiguous way. Here goes.

1) CLEAN/ORGANIZE
Damn it. I really really really don't want to. But it's kind of getting to the point where I can't set foot in my room without stepping on something weird and random (example from today: a little garter snake brought inside by Rio. Lovely). And I prefer knowing exactly what I'm going to be stepping on, if stepping on anything is even necessary. Plus, I'm probably only wearing a third of the wearable clothes I own. The rest are buried under piles of... stuff.

2) SPEND TIME WITH OTHER PEOPLE
I really wish I didn't have to put this on the list, but sadly, a lot of my good friends have kind of fallen by the wayside lately with all the homework/work-free time I have occupied by this one kid. And worse still, I've been purposefully avoiding one or two of my friends because of arguments that I don't have the energy to work through. Ugh. Still don't really have the willpower. I need to stop pretending it will go away on its own.

3) WATCH IMDB 250 MOVIES
Quad C's library is chock full of them, so I no longer have to dominate the Blockbuster queue and force my family to watch my weird indie movies. I do need to remember to take them back in time though. You can only have three out at a time for 2 days, and the late fee is $1 a day. Needless to say, I've already made a sizable donation to Quad C's new book fund. But still, it beats Blockbuster prices.

4) KNIT PROFUSELY
Um, duh. This one is combined very smoothly with #3, as long as I avoid mixing complicated patterns and foreign language films. Oh, and silent films. While wonderfully kitsch and charming, they are a bitch to knit to. Currently in the works (including projects I plan on making soon but haven't actually started): Pin-up Sweater from S'nB, Kittyville hat (with Hello Kitty modifications), way too many socks, and some yet-to-be-designed fingerless gloves.

5) BE ARTISTIC
I haven't touched my drawing pencils or paints in months. Shame on me. I'm a freaking art teacher at an art studio.

6) READ. ESPECIALLY SPYCATCHER.
I definitely need to stay faithful to my little Librivox, several-books-a-months venture. Also goes well with #4. So satisfying to be able to read (or have read to me, the idea is the same) snobby classic books and knit a sweater simultaneously. It makes the little over-achiever in me very smug. Oh, and the deadline for my horribly-boring, non-audio-book review is rapidly approaching, and I've read less than half of it.

7) EXERCISE
Yeah, I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to this one. Maybe a bit of yoga now and then. With a heavy focus on the meditation aspect.

11.11.2007

We CAN Do It.

In fact, we did do it. And we're going to do it again.

By "it," I mean changing the oil in my lovely little Subaru Forrester, and by "we," I mean me.

This marks the second at-home oil change I've had a part in since I was accidentally taught how to change the power steering fluid by self-professed car expert, Whatshisname (quien quedarĂ¡ Numero Uno en mi listo de Ellos Quien No Me Gustan).

3 months/3,000 miles ago, I tried on my own for the first time to locate the oil filter and the little bolt that stops up the tank (that may not be the technical term), and succeeded without too much trouble. Brian was kind enough to show me where they weren't, so the only other filter-and-bolt-looking things had to be them.

I had a hell of a time getting the bolt unscrewed, so I called in some muscle in the form of my dad, but even he couldn't get the damn thing loose. Finally, with the help of an electric socket wrench drill thing (again, maybe not the technical term), the bolt flew off and oil poured out all over my arms, face, and hair. Gross. I made a mental note not to start an oil change when I have to go somewhere within a few hours.

I know I've told a few people jokingly that I'd like to grow up to be a grease monkey, but secretly (or not so much anymore) I've really always loved the idea of being the owner of the pair of coverall'd legs sticking out from under your car that you expect to belong to some guy named Earl with a three day beard and disgustingly dirty fingernails. But au contraire. The crawler rolls out from under your Chevy and a sexy, motor oil-covered Olivia comes into view. And I guess she does have dirty fingernails. But she just fixed your carburetor and replaced your catalytic converter.

So maybe that fantasy is a tad unrealistic (I don't envision living my entire life on a mechanic's salary), but I would like to be able to find my way around under the hood of my car with confidence. So far, I can easily change the tires, air filter, oil, and headlights on my Forrester. And I'm comfortable enough with the user's manual to change the spark plug if necessary. My next goal is converting a diesel to run on recycled vegetable oil. Si se puede.

But I digress. I did it this time completely without help. I did send my dad to AutoZone to get all the supplies (and most importantly, pay for them), but that detracts nothing from my feministic glory. The oil filter wrench I had from last time inexplicably decided to not work at all, so the car had to sit for a day until someone bought a rubber adjustable wrench, which is now near the top of my Best Things Ever list. Those things are amazing. They require absolutely zero effort to loosen/tighten anything (provided you can figure out how to work one of them), and they fit into tiny places.

So. In the future, this will probably be predominately a knitting blog, but rest assured that all the yarn-geekiness will be interspersed with rants and bitching like every good blog should be.