Categories
Miscellaneous

New year, new opportunity to be a regular blogger again!

So my New Year’s resolution is to blog every day. Will it happen? I was pretty successful when I did the same thing a few years ago, so I have high hopes for 2013 (or as The Bloggess calls it, The Library).

I closed out 2012 with some flare…

New Year's Eve in Jess's kitchen
New Year’s Eve in Jess’s kitchen

…dancing to hair bands around a kitchen floor somewhere in Massachusetts. It was a good time and a great way to ring in a new year. The champagne wasn’t bad either. 😀

Other hopes for the new year include losing weight and getting fit(ter–“fit” is relative when you’re starting at zero); painting more and hopefully getting better at it; practicing pool more so that I’ll be better at the 8-ball tournament in Vegas this summer; and doing more new things. Somewhere I have a list of the new things I did in 2012; as soon as I find it, I’ll post it.

Categories
Gratuitous Picture Post

A conference of ravens

Walking back from the coffee cart this morning, my friend K and I were surprised to see so many ravens hanging out on the north balcony.

The birds! The birds!
The birds! The birds!

Categories
Knitting and Crochet

A Very Braidy Cowl

Very Braidy Cowl--in progress
Very Braidy Cowl–in progress

This is my current project: A Very Braidy Cowl. I was in the mood for something a little more challenging than the one-row-pattern scarves I’ve been focusing on for the last few months, and this one seemed perfect for the Dark Horse Fantasy yarn I picked up at Yarns Unlimited last month. I’m really enjoying it, possibly enough to make another when this one is finished. It’s slow, but not as slow as I thought it would be.

The downside is that it’s not really an on-the-go pattern, so I started up another One Row Handspun Scarf (by the YarnHarlot) for when I’m not at home. I’m not loving the colors in this one, but I’m sure it’ll make a lovely gift for someone that isn’t me. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay’s Maxima, which I love love love, but yeah, not so much in this yellow/green colorway.

Categories
Pop Culture

Roxette!

Mock all you like, but I was a huge Roxette fan in the ’90s–I had all their cds, and their Joyride concert is still the best concert I’ve ever been to. So of course when I got the email from Goldstar informing me they were coming to L.A. and that I could see them for a mere $20, I didn’t hesitate and bought two tickets immediately. Woo!

Marie Frederiksson
Marie Frederiksson

I saw them last night at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal City (alone, sadly, but with a full amphitheater of other excited fans), and yes, they were still awesome! Scarily older of course, but awesome! (Well, Marie was older for sure–I swear Per must have a scary Dorian-Gray-esque portrait hiding somewhere! Damn men.) Marie couldn’t hit the high notes quite as easily as she used to, but unlike other aging singers, she planned accordingly, changing some of the faster songs to lower notes and saving her reaches for the slower ballads. They played all the old favorites, plus a few I didn’t recognize. It was a great time with a high energy audience, and while sometimes Marie looked like she was in physical pain up there on stage (seriously, I’m thinking her back had to be killing her or something), she and the others all looked like they were having the time of their lives.

Roxette on stage at the Gibson Amphitheater
Roxette on stage at the Gibson Amphitheater

Such a good time, and now I totally have to go looking for more recent cds that I don’t have yet. Yay Roxette!

Categories
Books

Another book finished

A Discovery of Witches

Just finished A Discovery of Witches last night–loved it! Even skipped pool league to finish it. The plot moved verrrrrry slowly, but I was ok with that, possibly because I really enjoyed the peek into a scholarly life. I work at an arts institute that includes a research library, and I’ve never really understood what goes on there, but I feel like this book let me explore a world I’ll never be a part of (and that’s not even counting the witches and vampires).

And speaking of worlds I’ll never be a part of–Oxford. I totally need to get myself to wikipedia now to get a better understanding of colleges vs. universities, ’cause it sounds a lot different there than it works here in the U.S.

I loved the blending of science and history, the different locations that the characters visit, and the ever-expanding cast of characters (although not necessarily the timing of adding said characters–certain additions seemed rushed). It reminded me vaguely of The Historian, only far more readable. I can’t wait to start the next book (Shadow of Night–already downloaded from Amazon, of course).

A warning, though–it does seem to be a ‘love it or hate it’ kind of book. I know a lot of people who were bored with the slow pace and never finished it.