Archive for March, 2008

Wash U Visit

March 31, 2008 at 8:09 pm · Filed under Jeff, Knitting, Miscellany, Photography, Travel ·Tagged , , , , ,

Settle in with the nearest cat and a cup of tea (bonus points if the cat will bring you the tea), here’s the exhaustive run-down of our Big Weeked Number One.

(Or, if you don’t care that much, scroll down to the bottom of this entry, where I’ve provided a handy summary of the events transpired.  For your pleasure)

We woke up at 3:30 on Friday morning, showered, brewed a pot of coffee, drank a pot of coffee, and hit the road.  It was dark.  Quite dark.  The highway was desolate.  Quite desolate.  I drove.  Quite drove.

The Wash U people had a breakfast buffet thing set up for all the admitted students, and people (including Jeff) mingled before the presentations and stuff began.  I sat in a corner and wound my skein of Cascade 220 for Jeff’s hat, into a ball.  Using a pen as a nostepinne, and feeling very MacGuyver-ish in the process.

Then we all went into the moot court room to listen to people talk.  I worked on my Alpaca Sox sox.

People talked a lot…about lawyer-y stuff.  That’s really not my thing, y’know?   In fact, that is SO not my thing.  I was so awkward, uncomfortable…the girls were all wearing business suits and tottering around on stiletto heels (radiating insecurity, if you ask me), while little ol’ me sat in the corner with my knitting and cowboy boots.  I’m pretty much the polar opposite of those girls.  Except the insecurity thing.  I just use knitting as my shield, rather than mascara and Prada knock-off bags

I was happy with my knitting, until tragedy struck….the ball of yarn rolled off my lap, and under the seat in front of me!  I was knitting-less for the remaining 45 minutes of the presentation.  When it was finally over, I was faced with the humiliation of asking the girl seated in front of me to hand me my yarn. (I was so freaking close to digging myself a hole, and hiding in it, with some yarn and Diet Coke, and never coming out).

The first presentations over with, Jeff then gave me permission to duck out, so I gratefully retreated to the campus coffee shop.  I spent the rest of the morning sipping a caramel latte and working on various projects.  I sat in a corner and was happy

Jeff came to collect me when the lawyer-y people were done talking, and we went to the car to have some sandwiches, stare at the mind-trippy fence in the parking garage (it was an optical illusion, I swear), and talk about how the visit went.  Jeff was exhausted but we couldn’t check into the hotel yet, so we went to the nearby Loop for some shopping and time-killing.  I finally go to visit Knitty Couture (and meet Thi!), which was definitely the highlight of my trip   I bought this:

That’s 7 skeins of Peter Pan DK.  I was thinking about making it into Basic Black, but now it may have to become Sunshine, if I can get gauge.

I also got some souvenir sock yarn:

I haven’t seen that colorway before, and it’s just too yumylicious to pass up.  It reminds me of stormclouds passing over a field of wild blueberries

I can definitely add Knitty Couture to the list of fantastic St Louis LYSs….and if we go to Wash U and move to University City, it’ll definitely be the closest one!

When we could finally check into the hotel, we did.  Where a nap happened.  A long nap.  A long, deep, satisfying, don’t-bother-to-set-an-alarm-who-cares-if-it-lasts-five-hours nap.  Man oh man…that was a nap of the gods!  (Sheratons have *very* comfy beds, fyi).

Once we finally dragged ourselves awake, we realized two things:

1) we were hungry
2) somehow, we had managed to eat all the sandwiches we’d packed (quite possibly while simultaneously napping?)

So we hit up Fitz’s for dinner–definitely a must-see in St. Louis!   It’s a root beer brewery and restaurant in one, located right in the heart of University City.  It’s always busy, but is also *huge* (they have two stories of a building), so we only had to wait about 20 minutes to get seated.  Jeff and I had gone there once before, when we were still dating (summer 2005).  We hadn’t been back since they discontinued his favorite soda.  But we decided it was high time to give them another chance, and I fell in love with the best diet cream soda ever.  So I was happy.

After that we just went back to the hotel and called it an early night.  Even though the hotel had a pool (and, knowing this, we’d brought our swim stuff), we couldn’t use it–it was closed for renovation.  What a bummer   (see what an emotional roller coaster my life is?).  So some Sopranos happened, then a lot of sleeping.

The next day we went back to the campus to wander around on our own, outside the constraints of a tour guide.  Since it was just me and Jeff I was feeling a lot more secure, even enough to break out the camera:

Jeff looking up at the University’s “big entrance”:

We loved all the gothic architecture:

Then we saw a tunnel of trees, not dissimilar to Truman’s!

(wonder if they had a lazy gardener, too?)

Then we popped into the library (which is that odd modern-looking building in the background of that picture up above) to see their miniature book exhibit:

Then we briefly contemplated having lunch at the library’s cafe:

(to interested parties:  we ultimately decided to go elsewhere.  ”Elsewhere” being, ultimately, Panera.  Ultimately.)

A statue of the university’s namesake:

(Point of interest:  Washington University was named as such *before* the state of Washington existed.  So nyah nyah!  Jeff and I decided that the University of Washington should, thus, be renamed “University of the state in the extreme upper left corner of the United States”.  It has a nice ring to it, right?  I think that’ll help avoid any further confusion

Looking across the quad:

(a photo which would be much mroe impressive if I had the wide-angle lens for which I pine)

Jeff at a crossroads, just like in life:

(that’s the library in the background, again.  Isn’t it ugly?)

More beautiful architecture, this time on the women’s studies building:

Also, a convenient representation of “undergrad” versus “law school”.  Here’s a typical bike rack on campus, on a Saturday afternoon:

And here’s the racks outside the law building:

True story.

Speaking of the law building, here’s the new building where it’s moving next year:

And just next door, here’s the law program’s current home, Anheuser-Busch Hall:

We’re in St. Louis, remember?  And actually, I’ve heard tell that there’s free Budweiser products at a lot of  the law school’s social events

Jeff outside the doors:

He’s already gained admittance, but will he choose to pass through?  We’ll know by next week!

(also, ps, I’m corny )

Plaque in the entrance, just to prove I’m not lyin’ about the name:

An awesome “Justice” gargoyle:

And here’s the bench where I sat the day before, knitting and feeling socially awkward!

(since I know you care)

A-B Hall has a courtyard in the middle of it, for students to eat, study, whatever, in.  I like it a lot:

The courtyard may also be used for pondering:

Inside the moot court room, scene of the previous day’s embarassing knitting incident:

And so ends our tour of the Washington University campus.  If you’re still with us, there’s more to go…

After a quick lunch, we decided to visit the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, while we were in the neighborhood (Forest Park is right next to campus):

This shall also serve as proof that I was, indeed, also along on this trip:

President Jefferson also came along:

and by “came along” I, of course, mean “sat there and continued to be a statue”.

I managed to snap one more picture–of this amazing 1900s-period crocheted purse–before my camera died (yes, I forgot to bring my Nikon charger.  Yes, I’m an idiot.  This I know.):

So I had to use my old camera (of course I always carry a backup!) to capture this Napoleon lamp:

Napoleon lamp, I covet thee.

And also:

Poster of a wife mending her husband’s trousers while he mows the lawn, I covet thee.

After leaving the museum we headed down to Jeff’ parents’ house in South County (read:  about half an hour from U City), where we had our noses thoroughly kissed by the always adorable Molly, and had dinner at the best Italian restaurant in St. Louis (until proven otherwise), Joe Boccardi’s.  I had linguini with a spicy marinara that was “just right” spicy.  Perfecto!

Later that night we stopped by Jeff’s grandma’s nursing home, where I noticed this art print:

Zomg!  Knitting!

And even…

Zomg!  Knitting correctly!

You don’t see that every day, kids.  Ya really don’t.

We stayed with the in-laws that night and left pretty early on Sunday morning, headed back home.

By the time we pulled up to our house back in Kirksville yesterday afternoon, I’d made this much progress on Jeff’s Claudia hat:

This hat is not my friend, or yours.

‘Course, I don’t really know what I was expecting, knitting a hat on DPNs in the first place.  But that’s another entry, for another day.  I don’t have the energy to bitch about it any more tonight.

~~
Well, that was about it!  A little knitting, a little sightseeing, a few tears, a lot of laughs, and absolutely *no* progress towards a Decision.  Harrumph.  Oh well, I suppose that’s what next weekend is for!  Watch out, Chicago…I’m on my way.

Finally, for your summarizing pleasure:


If you were too busy/apathetic to read all of the above, here’s a handy-dandy abbreviated version.  To trace these over the course of the weekend, please consult the above graphical representation.
1)Getting up ass-early
2)Being socially awkward
3)Sandwiches
4)Yarn!
5)Pool closed
6)Nap!
7)Dinner
8)Pool still closed
9)Visiting campus
10)Lunch at Panera
11)Creepy guy in Panera
12)Getting away from creepy guy in Panera
13)Missouri History museum
14)Dinner at Joe Boccardi’s
15)Provel cheese from Jeff’s parents!
16)Driving home in the rain
17)Seeing the kitties
18)Sleeping in our own bed.

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Be prepared

March 27, 2008 at 9:25 pm · Filed under Knitting, Travel

Say what you will about me, but you can never accuse me of being unprepared for *any* contingency:


I just packed my knitting for the three-day weekend in St. Louis.

I brought some truly mindless work:

(Half the foot to go, on my second Alpaca Sox Sox [my own design/basic sock formula]!)

And some back up socks, for when I finish those:

(Knitty’s Hedera and some Fortissima Socka)

Something even more mindless, but also less fun:

(Knitty’s Fetching and some Maxim Starlette–one of the free yarns from preschool, and destined  to be gift mitts for our director)

A “winter, please don’t be over!” project:

(Knitty’s Cozy, and some Brown Sheep worsted)

And something I haven’t even cast on for yet:

That’s good ol’ Cascade 220 [color:  Jet], destined to become a Claudia hat for Jeff (he picked out the pattern and yarn himself!)

But I can do myself one better.  I also brought some knitting for which I haven’t even bought the yarn yet:

(Lace Capelet, from Rainy Day Goods)

And did I put it all in my super-nifty rolling knitting bag?  Nooo, of course not!  For I am telling myself that this weekend is all about packing *light*.  And bringing a whole knitting bag wouldn’t be packing “light”, would it?  No! (Hmm…though if I did bring it, I could fit in that mobius for Mom, and maybe the yarn and pattern for my next socks…)

No, instead I fit all that junk pictured above, into here:

Its capacity is rivaled only by that of Mary Poppins’ famous carpet bag.

Oh yeah, and I also fit in two cameras (plus some extra batteries, extra cards, y’know…), my notions bag, a few more pairs of needles, and all the regular stuff that goes in a girl’s bag.

Because I’m packing light, y’know.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’re leaving in 10 minutes and I’ve just spent more time packing my knitting than I did all our clothes and toiletries.  Oops.

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50 Things to do if Ravelry goes down

March 27, 2008 at 8:06 am · Filed under Knitting, Miscellany

1.  Knit.

2.  Pet a cat.

3.  Pour another glass of wine.

4.  Channel-surf.

5.  Pick my fingernails.  Or pick your own fingernails.  Mine are pretty well picked down by now, actually.

6.  Wash dishes.

7.  Make and re-make the bed.

8.  Stash dive, a la Scrooge McDuck’s money vault.

9.   Count the Diet Coke cans on the coffee table.

10.  Refresh.  Refresh.  Refresh.  Refresh.

11.  Update Facebook status to “why, Ravelry?  Why?!”

12.  Pet another cat.

13.  Make dinner.

14.  Make tomorrow’s breakfast.  You like your eggs cold?

15.  Pick up a long-abandoned UFO and work a row or two.

16.  Organize your earring collection by style, price, then by favorite >> least favorite (which may or may not be directly related to “style” or “price”).

17.  Pick your lip.  Or your cuticles.

18.  Organize the pantry.  Veggies on the left, canned fruit in the middle, grains and soups on the right.

19.  Dig all the dirty Kleenex out of that crack between the head of the bedframe and the wall.  Gross yourself out.

20.  Brush a cat.

21.  Brush the other cat.  Remember why you so rarely brush the cats, anyway.

22.  Dress your wounds from #21.

23.  Refresh.  Refresh.  Refresh.

24.  Momentarily wonder if world hunger could be solved merely by continually adding water to rice.  Will it expand forever?  Venture into kitchen to test said theory.  Give up upon realizing you’d have to wash a pan to cook the rice in.

25.  Crush all those Diet Coke cans in the recycling room.  Let your anger out.

26.  Cast on a new project.  Or 10.  As you run out of optimum needle + yarn combinations, challenge yourself.  “What can I make using laceweight cotton and three #5 DPNs?”

27.  Carry the packet of cat treats around the house just to see the cats run after you, fat bellies a’ swingin’.

28.  Window shop via amazon for that new video camera you can’t afford and don’t really need.

29.  Alphabetize the grocery list.

30.  Go through the house choosing items for an upcoming garage sale.  Focus on Jeff’s possessions.

31.  Dig that massive cross-stitch project out from that bin under the bed that you sorta-not-really forgot you had.  Make 3 stitches, then remember why you switched hobbies in the first place.

32.  Try to make the cat yawn, then try to touch his tongue while he’s yawning.

33.  Call Jeff and leave an annoying voicemail consisting of the audio from that hilarious YouTube clip, and the sound of your own insane giggling in the background.

34.  Poke a hole in that helium Mylar balloon you’ve had for a couple months.  Inhale helium, and sing tunes from My Fair Lady until helium runs out.

35.  Pick all the crumbs, lint, and dust out of the keyboard.  Marvel at the filth that you live in and never notice.

36.  Sort the big bag of  animal crackers by species.

37.  Sing a song of sixpence, pocket full of rye.

38.  Refresh.  Refresh.  Refresh.

39.  Contemplate starting your memoirs while still young enough to remember them.

40.  Call your mother and make her watch the same YouTube video that you just left in Jeff’s voicemail.

41.  Invent new recipes for the George Foreman grill.  Cookie sandwiches?  Cat treats with cheese?  Maybe I’d better just stick with the turkey burgers and paninis.

42.  Realize that it really is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

43.  Pour yet another glass of wine. Contemplate turning up the music and re-enacting the famous “Buster’s Giant Juice Box” scene from Arrested Development.  Realize you don’t currently have any boxed wine anyway.

44.  Riffle through old purses looking for lost change, dollars, interesting trinkets, or that checkbook that you think you may have lost in Arkansas but it doesn’t matter because you don’t even use that bank anymore, anyway.

45.  Pick out (and eat) all the red Sour Patch Kids just to annoy Jeff.  Because you love him.  Well, I do, anyway.

46.  Watch your wedding video.  Cry a bit.  Call your husband.  Just to annoy him (see 45.)

47.  Contemplate rearranging the living room, even though you’re moving in like two months anyway.  Seriously, it’s been this way for over a year.  Isn’t it due for a bit of a shake-up?  Plus, it will be fun to see Jeff’s reaction when he comes home (see 45.)  Bonus points if he’s buzzed (see 45.)

48.  Realize this is why hermits have a tendency to go be crazy.

49.  Attempt to learn continental.  Throw knitting across the room.  Focus instead on faster English knitting.

50.  Refresh.  Refresh.  Refresh…..YAY!!!!

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I’m moving!

March 25, 2008 at 12:32 pm · Filed under Home ·Tagged , , ,

My new home, details here.

I adore this home, and everything about it.  Its hobbit-like structure, the coziness and sense of safety it exudes, the eco-friendly aspects, the fact that it was only $6,000 to build.

And the wood stove.  I’d hang a line above it and dry my hand-knit socks and sweaters there.  I’d keep the kettle on it, too.

Our books would all fit in the nooks and crannies and alcoves, and I could store things in the rafters–wool for spinning and dyeing (note:  learn to spin and dye), provisions for the winter, surplus cats, etc.

Speaking of cats, can’t you picture Othello sitting in this windowsill?

I don’t know if I’d live there full time, but wouldn’t it be a lovely getaway/escape/guest home?  Maybe situated on the edge of the property, facing the lake? (note to self:  buy property.  Ensure it is on a lake.)

All I know is that in my hobbit-hole I would bake bread and knit and play with cats.  Pretty much what I do now, but, y’know, in a hobbit-hole.  Which makes it infinitely cooler.

Check out the link above to see more photos, and a description of the building process!

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My first sweater

March 24, 2008 at 3:26 pm · Filed under Knitting ·Tagged , , , ,

Fin!

I <3 it.

I’m so proud of it.  Proud of the Wool of the Andes for cooperating me.  Proud of myself for completing a sweater!  A wearable garment with actual seaming and shaping!

It’s warm.  It’s soft.  It’s comfortable.  And it fits!  Even in the sleeves, which I made a staggering *19.5* inches long, to accomodate my ape arms:

It’s the first time I’ve ever owned a sweater with turned cuffs!  Which I could actually turn!  Also, I apologize for my weird expression in that above photo.  It’s very “WTF”, no?

So here’s my boobs instead:

I like that shot.  How do ya’ like my girls?  And by “my girls” I mean, of course, the buttons. (What did you think I was talking about?) The buttons are burned wood.  Would you believe I found these at Wal-Mart? Me neither!  But it’s true!

I’m in love, and it’s with a sweater

Specs:
Pattern:  Sideways Spencer Redux, by Annie Modesitt
Size:  36″, to fit my 33″ bust.  Except I knit it at a slightly smaller gauge than recommended, so the finished bust is actually about 34.5″.  Arms are, as mentioned above, 19.5″ each.
Yarn:  Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted, 770 yds.  “Tidepool Heather”.
Modifications:  Arm length, longer ribbing at the bottom, a slightly shorter collar, and US8 needles used throughout instead of the the US7s recommended for the ribbing.  I did use the 7’s for the cuff ribbing.  If I were to make this sweater again, I would prob. go ahead and use 7’s for the bottom ribbing, too, but still use the 8’s for the collar and plackets.  And maybe even for the cuffs.\

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Sugar rush

March 23, 2008 at 5:41 pm · Filed under Family, Miscellany

Mom and Dad came up today to visit, and it just happened to be Easter (we don’t do the religious thing–when I was growing up, Easter was all about chocolate and springtime and baby animals and Peeps).

Did I mention Peeps?  Check out my basket from Mom and Dad!

Dad and I were chatting online the other day and he asked me, “what is your favorite color of Peeps?”  to which I replied, “All of them!”  and this is what happened

I’m gonna be on a sugar high from now ’till when we move in June!

Notice that basket they came in?  Well, now that I’ve removed the Peeps, the basket has become home to:

That’s the LB Homespun to make two mobius wraps for Mom.  Soon.  They shall happen soon.  I promise, Mom!

After a great lunch at a restaurant on the lake (The Lodge at Thousand Hills), we did some light antiquing.  Where I found these:

Aren’t they cute?  They’re not old, they don’t exactly match but I love ‘em anyway.  This is my 4th pair of salt and pepper shakers.  I better watch out, or pretty soon I’ll have a collection…and I *really* don’t need to do that!

Finally, part of my right boob.  And a button:

Consider it a sneak peek of what tomorrow shall bring

PS>Did you know they make chocolate Peeps now?

I’m off to conduct a highly scientific taste test!

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Now now.

March 21, 2008 at 9:36 am · Filed under Rants and Musings

I have knitting to show you, but this issue takes precedence.

Read this woman’s account of the current situation in Tibet, and contrast it with the glossed-over version put out to our major news sources. (This’ll get you started)

Some background info:  Lena and Joy are Americans who have been living in a Tibetan village for the past several years, using their resources and reader donations to provide medical care and education to those in their area.  Lately, though, Joy’s blog has shifted focus–a necessity–to serve as a straightforward, insider’s view of the horrors in her adopted country and the effect those horrors have had on the locals in her village.

But what really breaks my heart is this part from the blog post:
The Tibetans themselves are praying that the Americans and the United Nations will step in and stop the slaughter. They believe that it’s their only hope for avoiding genocide – they do not have enough numbers and no ability to fight. Global pressure is the only thing they believe will have the slightest effect on the Chinese authorities. He says to me, please get the word out. Ask everyone in America to write the president. He likes fights doesn’t he? Let him fight this if he’s going to fight something. It’s our only chance. Otherwise the Chinese government will kill us all.

Even after all the massive fuck-ups of the current administration, America is seen as having the capability to help or alleviate this situation.  This is not a new issue–the push for a free Tibet has been going on as long as I can remember, and long before I was born.  And though we have the resources to fight a pointless war in the Middle East so as to line the oil companies’ pockets, our government is apparently unable to step in and actively work to resolve the situation in Tibet.  Because over there, what’s in it for us?  (Except, y’know, human rights advocacy, maintenance of a culture, and the peace of mind that comes from having done the right thing.  Oh, and the possibility of redeeming ourselves in the worlds’ eyes.)  But if we piss off China, we’ll lose our biggest source of $25 TVs and $2 t-shirts, so nothing will happen.  Our priorities lay with saving a buck at Wal-Mart rather than saving a life halfway across the world.

Just something to think about this weekend….happy Friday?

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Take a stroll with me.

March 20, 2008 at 12:28 pm · Filed under Miscellany, Photography

This is Jeff, your tour guide:

He will be assisted by my pink boots, and my trusty D40.

I don’t like when he wears my pink boots–they get all stretched out.

As we exit our house and start walking toward campus, the first thing we are confronted with is the Dead Hedge:


Every time I walk by the Dead Hedge, one of two things will happen to me:  1)A stick falls on my head or 2)I snag some part of my person on the Dead Hedge.  Clearly, the Dead Hedge is not friendly to passers-by.

Just a few blocks down, we spy the Truman campus!

To our left is the apartment building Jeff lived in before we were together.  The building has since been condemned and the land purchased by the university.  It shall be a parking lot in due time.

And here is the curb which never fails to trip me.  Never.  Four times a day for five semesters, it tripped me.  Blame me?  Or balme the curb?

The big entrance to campus.  It is here that I notice my lack of camera-holding-level skills:

Sign by aforementioned entrance.  Now that I think about it, this may have been the first time I ever read it:

Right by the entrance is Baldwin Hall, site of most of the language and literature classes, and a few other random ones, too.  I had at least one class (usually more) in Baldwin, each of my seven semesters at the University:

This is a squirrel.  They run rampant ’round these parts.  One once ran over my friend.  Yes, you read that right.

The odd lines of trees:

I like to pretend that it’s a relic from when this land was a graceful country estate, and these trees are the remnants of those lining the extensive driveway.  But I bet what really happened, is that a landscaper was told “go plant eight trees” and he was too lazy to scatter them about properly.  That, and the trees look like they’re about 30 years old.  And this has been the university’s land since about 1860.

Squirrel number two, just for you:

Cute lil’ feller, ain’t he?

Back on the quad, here’s our famous gum tree:

Stick your gum on this tree on a test day and you’ll ace the test.  Or something like that.  I never did it.  Superstitions are silly (after all the times a black cat has crossed my path, I think I’m in for eternal bad luck!  Though that would explain so much…).

Good old Missouri Hall, where Jeff and I both lived–and, logically enough, where we met.  It has been renovated since we lived there–the front used to have a bunch of wide columns, none of this plate-glass-and-steel bullshit:


Top floor, second from the right–that was Jeff’s dorm room, back in the day.  That oddly-shaped bit to the left was (and after the remodel, I think it still is?) the 5North lounge.

The crooked, broken sidewalk on the east end of campus.  This sidewalk is a large part of the reason that I favor thick-heeled cowboy boots rather than those skinny little fashionable stiletto ones.

I’m surprised I never sprained an ankle on that sidewalk.

And now, a magic trick.  Now you see him:

Now you don’t!

(how’d she DO that?!)

And yes, that was an obscene gesture in the first photo.  He’s a charmer!

The building pictured above is Blanton-Nason-Brewer Hall (motto:  when naming it after one dead university president just isn’t enough!)

I lived there my freshman year.  You didn’t know me then.  (and really, I didn’t know myself).

Here, on a random bike rack, is the bicycle I want:

I didn’t even know I needed it until I saw it.  Funny how that works.  And before you ask, yes it had a lock on it.  No, I didn’t seriously consider breaking the lock.  But now I am going to pursue the purchase of my own! (maybe)

We even walked all the way out to the stadium, in which I’ve never set foot:

Unless it’s Cardinals baseball, I’m really just not a sports person.

At the southwest end of campus is the logically-named Red Barn park, which features (oddly enough), a red barn:

To my knowlege, it’s mainly used by the university for picnics and such on high school visit days.  I rarely see students just lounging or hanging out here–they use the quad for that (it’s much more conveniently located).

The sports building is on the west side of campus, and on its sidewalk is this mural:

Clearly it’s quite poorly maintained, and Jeff and I don’t know exactly why it’s there.  We think it might have had something to do with Homecoming a few years ago?  Tour guides we are not.

Just north of the athletics building is one of the science buildings, Magruder Hall.  It, too, was recently renovated.  Now it sports an empty astronomy theater (they ran out of money) and a wholly useless terraced installation.  Which is useful only in the capacity that it offers a solid 15 minutes of amusement to whatever small children happen to be visiting the campus at any given time.

Misappropriations FTW!

Every good university needs a clock/belltower, and Truman is no exception:

Except the bells don’t ring (a recording and speakers produce the sound), and the clock is always wrong.  Truman, you lose.

It is a good place to take a smoke break, though.  Or to glare at your wife, ’cause she’s always got that fucking camera in your face:

Proof that I really was along for this ride, too.  Windswept hair and everything:

Why does windswept hair look sexy on the models in glossy magazines, and dorky on me? It couldn’t have anything to do with the ponytail, dorky smile and runny nose (it was really freaking cold out!), could it?

Outside the entrance to our library is the sunken garden:

No, behind the bicycle racks.  With the two arbor-y things–one at either end.  That.  It was once the foundation of the university’s oldest building.  In 1930-something the building caught on fire and they drained the nearby lake to put the fire out.  The sunken garden is the remnant of that building’s foundation, and the site of the lake is now our quad.

Can I have my tour guide badge back now?

A lot of student weddings happen in the sunken garden.  Which explains the silk rose petals you’ll usually find scattered about:

They say that if you have your first kiss with someone in the sunken garden, you’ll end up marrying him/her.  Jeff and I put a twist on this tradition, and instead held a series of late-night footraces there (he won most of them).  We still got married.

The aforementioned library:

In a shocking turn of events, it has also undergone renovation recently (before my time, though).  They built a new library around the old one.  So when it’s nighttime and the library is all lit up, you can look inside and see the old brick building within the new, larger one.  It’s a pretty cool effect.  I’ll try to capture it sometime.

My argument for Truman’s inclusion in the Ivy League:

They do call it “the Harvard of the midwest”, after all.

Love the ivy.  Especially when it’s green.

Back north of campus, heading back home.  We live across the street from that abandoned high school (which, incidentally, I am quite eager to explore) on the left of the photo:

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Truman! Maybe next time we’ll go inside some of the buildings (I couldn’t get in any of them on this last stroll, as they were all locked up for spring break).

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March 20, 2008 at 11:29 am · Filed under Uncategorized

New blog theme.  This is still a placeholder until Jeff can help me make my own
just do it himself.  Plus, I figure it’s appropriate for spring :-)

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Pbbbbbbbbt.

March 19, 2008 at 10:02 am · Filed under Miscellany

We haven’t done bullets for a while now, have we?  And since I’m currently laid up with a sudden-onset stomach bug and Ellen isn’t on for 25 minutes, I suppose a bulleted post it’ll be!

  • I’ve become hopelessly addicted to Weed(s).  Not the cannabis thing.  The Showtime show.  The one about the widowed middle-aged housewife who starts selling marijuana.  That one.  It’s brilliant!  Somewhat akin to Arrested Development in the nature of the humor (though not at all similar in frequency), and to The Sopranos in format.  Jeff and I barreled our way through the first season over the course of two evenings, and he just downloaded season two.  I’m suspecting that this season might be more extreme–both in its humor and its drama–as those shows often do when they find their niche.  Also, this is the first time in recorded history that I’ve actually started liking a show before it’s ended/cancelled.  I’m catching up to the times!
  • If I have to find an office-y job when we move, wouldn’t it be cool if I could write captions for catalogs?  Like Elaine?  Yeah!  I know!  Don’t steal my idea, y’all :-P
  • When I was a kid and got to miss school for a doctor’s appointment or whatever, and my mom would be driving me around, I always wondered about the other cars on the road–weren’t all those people supposed to be at work in their offices?  Why would they be out driving around?  Then I figured out that they must all be other mommies driving their kids to the doctor.
  • I’m still chugging along at a nice rate on the Sideways Spencer.  I’m probably the last freaking person in the test knit group to finish it.  But I think I’m gonna love it!  I ‘tried it on’ last night (read:  draped it over my shoulders and had Jeff stand behind me and pinch the sleeves shut (it’s knit flat).  I think it’ll fit!  Though I will say, I think I’m becoming increasingly less fond of those blunt-ended Clover bamboo needles.  The tips are ok in the smaller sizes, but the 8’s that I’m using here just seem like little stumps.  Makes me all the more enthusiastic about ordering those KnitPicks Options!  (which will be soon, hopefully)
  • I took several cute photos of the kids I sit for, but I feel kind of weird about posting them online.  So I won’t.  Unfortunately, they don’t have that debilitating case of black circle-headedness ;-)
  • I just realized that this is supposed to be Wordless Wednesday.  Man, I fail.  Look for an appropriately word-free post later tonight, I suppose (damn, that means I’ll have to go do something exciting…who wants pictures of me puking?)
  • I love this page.  It sums things up so nicely and so politely.  Plus, on the ninth line down you can see who I named my little Mazda Protege after! :-)   (ooh, I should blog about that sometime…besides now.  So forget you just read that).

It’s 11:00–time for Ellen!  And knitting!  And, probably, quality time with the porcelain goddess.  Since you asked.

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