Funding

The list of position assignments was just distributed... unless there's a mistake, it looks like I'll actually be funded this term! I'm not letting myself get too excited yet, just in case it was a mistake.

Noro Dreaming

Silly me... it just occurred to me that I can "borrow" the photos and show them here! Here are the three sweaters I want to make the most:



This book looks like it's filled with great patterns, but these are the three I'd start with.

Jess: sure, it would be great to know the names and yarn requirements. I think I'd stick with Silk Garden for Klaralund... I especially like that colourway, and soft is good.

WiPs, etc.

Well, I couldn't help myself. I wound the ball of Fleece Artist sock yarn so that it would be ready (I've been wanting to do them for a while now, but never have time to wind the skein when it was time to start a new pair), and couldn't resist the temptation of that gorgeous ball sitting on my coffee table. So now, when I get frustrated with Weasley colourwork, I do a few rows on my FA socks. I *love* the colours... "blue lagoon"... blue and green, with the green making a narrow spiral up the sock. *sigh*

Weasley is still chugging along slowly. I think I'm getting a bit better at the colourwork. I've figured out that if I secure the contrast colour a bit past the letter, that the boundary between the two colours looks better. The previous stuff doesn't look too bad, though, so I'm going to leave it.

The crayon blanket is in a holding pattern... I need the "charcoal" yarn for the stripes. I could start the bottoms of other crayons, but I want to finish one crayon first, to see if I'll have enough yarn to make it the size I want. Otherwise, I'll have to rip and make it a bit narrower. So no point in starting the first two inches of all the crayons yet. :P

With the end of summer, I'll be wanting my wool blanket soon... I should start working on it again! I think I'll plan to do one square per evening, and not work on Weasley until after I've made at least one square. I should sit down and crank out those slippers too. They're a bulky crochet, and shouldn't take too long if I would just decide to do them. ;)

Also on my to-do list is clean up the clutter in my house. And the dust bunnies. Bad bunnies.

Still no word on funding for this term. I should know by the end of the day. The suspense is killing me. It's not a big deal, but if I'm not funded, I need to figure out medical insurance. (Damn US stupid medical stuff.)

Why is it that the term I'm likely not getting funding, I desperately want to make three Noro sweaters? One is Klaralund, out of the pricey Noro Silk Garden. The other two are from the same book (Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton - Book Two), but I don't know what they're called, or what yarn they use. (I haven't bought the book yet... not really any point if I can't afford the yarn.) One is a lovely cabled cardigan with edging in Noro, and the other is a red cardigan held closed with a pin at the top. All three patterns can be seen here. The two with unknown names are at the bottom on the right hand side. (Note to self: errata available here.) Maybe if I use up enough of my stash, and am careful with my budget in other ways, I might be able to justify it at some point.

Yuck!

It is *humid* out there. Methinks it probably is the weather messing with my knee. (I guess my hurricane-repelling powers aren't quite strong enough for Katrina.)

Owie!

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Stupid knee. Grrr. It's acting up again.

Hmmm... no unusual exercise... Aunt Flo isn't here... perhaps the weather?

Movies

I watched Collateral tonight. It's not a movie I particularly wanted to see, but it was what was available at my apartment office this weekend. (Lousy selection... they're about to switch over to a new batch, and so are trying to pull in all the old ones.)

Now, I seem to remember that Jamie Foxx got nominated for "best supporting actor" for this movie.

Question: what meathead decides who's the main actor, and who's supporting? If I were to sit down and watch this movie, without seeing any of the commercials or having heard about the Oscars, and someone asked me who the lead actor was, I would say Jamie Foxx. It's clear... he's the one with character development, the story is told mainly from his point of view, heck, he's the one that "gets the girl". Sure, Tom Cruise was the main bad guy, but the story wasn't told from his point of view. This movie was about Max the cab driver, not Vincent the hitman. Sheesh.

I seem to see that a lot... especially when a woman is, in my opinion, the main actor. Although it's gotten somewhat better recently... I'm starting to see women listed first in the credits at the top of posters...

And that, folks, is my 2 cents.

Funding Clarification

I just wanted to be clear that I will be okay without funding this term. I have money saved up from when I was working co-op positions in undergrad, and also because I spent a bit less than I earned for my first several years here. Also, since I've had all summer to mentally prepare (and a good dose of Prozac), it's not going to affect my mental state. It just means I'll have less to put towards a down payment on a house when I graduate. Or to stash away for retirement... it's been several years since I've contributed to an RRSP in any sort of significant way. That's life. Hopefully my earnings upon graduation will make up for a bad year. ;)

My situation isn't nearly as bad as a friend of mine down here... she's in the school of nursing, doesn't get funded as well as I do in the first place, is also a foreigner, and just found out that she got an F in a course she took last spring because the teacher is retiring and doesn't feel like dealing with the incomplete. An F in grad school means that you're kicked out, and, as a foreigner, she has thirty days to fix things or get kicked out of the country. A term without funding rather pales in comparison, don't you think?

Anyway... I may still get funded. I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

There go my savings

Well, I just had a short chat with my advisor, and it's looking pretty likely that I won't be funded this term. *sigh* He wants to fund me, but he's running short of grant money. It looks like his choices are to (a) screw me, (b) screw a new student that started working for him this summer, or (c) screw a grant that's just starting, and pretty much destroy the likelihood that it will continue... it's a grant that needs to see demos after 18 months, and I'm working in a different area, and the new student is taking a little bit to get up to speed. Thus he really needs a second student on that grant that will be churning out grant-keeping demos.

I told him that I'm mentally and financially prepared for this situation (although I need to find out about health insurance). I think he feels a bit better, but still isn't happy about his options. There's a new grant in my area starting soon, but he doesn't know how soon.

He was also worried because I told him last week of my plans to buy a dishwasher. I told him not to let that affect his decision, because I had already decided I would get one whether I was funded or not. The dishwasher is an investment in my mental and physical well-being.

Wishing you a rosier financial outlook than mine...

Working on Weasley

Working on Weasley

Colourwork is sloooooooooowwwwwwww!

Intarsia would be faster, in my opinion.

I need to figure out a faster way to secure the floating threads than what I'm doing... which involves dropping the yarn, twisting the two, then picking the yarn back up. At least now I'm alternating the twists so that I don't end up having to detangle at the end of each chart portion.

Dishes

I tried encouraging my papers by showing them how it's done, but they paid me no attention. They sat in the living room watching TV, while I slopped more dishwater than usual down my front. However, I can now consider eating dinner.

I should probably do my grocery shopping first. Having food helps.

Pita bread is rising.

I'm doing pretty good on chores today, I think. S didn't come over, so it's given me more time to do them... of course, that also means I spend more time procrastinating. ;)

Dishwasher

Dishwasher

I left the dirty dishes overnight, to see if any of my papers would reconsider their position. I even downloaded the larger photo of my dishwasher. Strangely, my sink is still full of dirty dishes.

Silly Quiz

Well, it's not really a quiz, but it's definitely silly:

Your Fortune Is

Man who run behind car get exhausted.

The Wacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Not Felted

Pot Holder

Here's the potholder after two wash cycles. Hmmm... it doesn't look any different than before:



Sadly, I think someone pulled the acrylic over my secret sister's eyes. There is no booga bag in this yarn's future.

Anyone have a use for a loosely crocheted, acrylic potholder? Regina? Could the VLA use a blanket with a handy storage loop? ;)

Dirty Dishes

Dirty Dishes

Today I went out and plunked down money on a dishwasher.

Well, sort of. No actual cash or dishwashers were involved. There is, however, a large number on my credit card, and I now have several pieces of paper. One of them even has a photo of what my dishwasher may look like one day. When I got home, there was a large stack of dirty dishes. I tried consulting with my papers, but none of them seemed to want to wash the dishes. Not even the one with the photo of the dishwasher.

I guess I'll have to handwash these.

*sigh*

Big Ball of Yarn

Big Ball

Remember wool-lei? That sucker made one *massive* ball of yarn.

You know, I have a deep rooted suspicion that it's actually acrylic. It appears to melt when burned, there wasn't a single knot or bit of grass in the entire ball, and it "skritches" like acrylic. But who on earth would hand paint a skein of acrylic?

Well, I've made a test-potholder to see if it'll felt in the wash tomorrow:

Silly Quiz

Tri-Lamb Material 82 % Nerd, 17% Geek, 56% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Dork, earning you the coveted title of: Tri-Lamb Material. The classic, "80's" nerd, you are what most people think of when they think "nerd," largely due to 80's movies like Revenge of the Nerds and TV shows like Head of the Class. You're exceptionally bright and smart, and partly because of that have never quite fit in with your peers or social groups. Perhaps you're realized, or will someday, that it is possible to retain all of the things that you like about being brilliant and still make peace with the social cliques around you. Or maybe you won't--it's really not necessary. As the brothers of Lambda Lambda Lambda discovered, you're fine just the way you are and can take pride in that. I mean, who wants to be like Ogre, right!? Congratulations!

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 91% on nerdiness You scored higher than 14% on geekosity You scored higher than 94% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

Hmmm... I need to work on that dork rating...

Somewhat Disturbing

I was passing by Student Stores on my way back from my doctor's appointment (keeping meds the same for another month), and saw the book Baby-gami in the window. I'm sure it's a benign book, but what do *you* think of when you see the title "Baby-gami"? *shudder*

Weasley Front

Weasley Front

Oooo! Hey! Look! I've started the "A" on my Weasley! What's that red string? You *bet* I used a lifeline before starting the colour changes! (Turns out it's not called "intarsia"... that's the version with bobbins of yarn. This is called stranded knitting... the pattern recommends you run the strands across the back, rather than using separate balls for the different sides. Anyone know why?)

Anyway, I'm nearly to the halfway point of Weasley!!! (And the initial looks half decent so far... I'll let you know if it continues to look okay. ;) )

Feeling Wool-lei

Feeling Wool-lei

Hey, look... it's me, with a very shiny forehead.

I was curious about how much yarn was in this wool-lei, so I counted the strands, multiplied it by the skein length, and there's over 800 m! (Close to 900 yds.)

Wowzers.

Any thoughts on what I should make out of 800m of hand-dyed worsted-weight wool?

Meme

Misfit tagged me a while back, so it's about time I responded...

id•i•o•syn•cra•sy - a structural or behavioral characteristic peculiar to an individual or group. Write down 5 of your own idiosyncrasies, then if you wish, tag 5 people.

1. I hate having hair in my face.

2. I hate breathing "recycled air"... so I always need my nose out of the blankets, and can't stand another person breathing on my face.

3. I'm a very picky eater... in addition to having allergies.

4. When I sleep, I like to be in a cold room, and have lots of blankets. (I want to be warm, but breathing cold air.)

5. I will only swim in clear water, so I can see what's in it. For some reason, weeds give me the willies.

I have tons of idiosyncrasies, but I'll stop here. ;)

I think I'll skip tagging people... I think most have already answered this meme. If you haven't been tagged, and would like to be, however, consider yourself tagged. ;)

Goodies!

August Package

Oooo! Look at the goodies my secret sister sent me! There's two skeins of LB Homespun in a gorgeous purple heather (hmmm... I wonder if using a different style hook will let me use it without aggravating my carpal tunnel....), a thread cutter, a mouse charm (close-up below), a photo album, a card, lip balm, and that gorgeous gigantic hank of hand-dyed wool! Wow! Thank you secret sister!!! I *love* the package you sent!



Oh... and there were two more items in the package that I'll reveal later... they're hand-made, and may reveal to others the identity of my SS.

Socks?

I seem to be producing a lot of socks these days... are all the sock photos making my blog monotonous, or are they spaced out enough that they're still fun to see? Not that I have any plans to "change my ways"... I'm just curious.

Return to normal

Well, I'm back to the same old grind now, but hopefully it won't be so grinding. My plan is to get up earlier than I had been previously, work strong all day, and then go home and enjoy myself at 5. This plan starts tomorrow... since I was wiped out from my "vacation" and grant meetings, I let myself sleep in this morning. I've also caught up on my blog reading. (Most last night, and a few this morning.) Well, I haven't read the "news" category, but I'll use those for periodic breaks until I'm caught up. If nothing else, I've had the necessary "mental down time" to process being back. I need to give my brain down time occasionally, or it gets really wiped out.

My plan:

(a) Get up at 6:40, ride exersize bike for 20-30 minutes, catch bus by 8, arrive at school a few minutes later.

(b) Spend first hour or two skimming a paper from the stack I need to read, jot notes on contents, and mark as "read in-depth" or "skim sufficient". I need summaries for my proposal, which I need to get done *soon*, but I think I can leave some of the in-depth reading until after the proposal. (I've been letting myself get bogged down by the in-depth reading.)

(c) Lunch with Kelli... human contact is good.

(d) Once term starts, go to gym at 5, then home after gym. (Must first consult to find out a good exercise plan.)

(e) Go to bed by 10pm. (Having already made lunch and set out clothes for next day.)

Time at school that I haven't scheduled is for making progress on my dissertation research, group meetings, and whatever else. I just want to make sure I'm not neglecting my proposal.

Another CAPS appointment today.

Pruning

*sigh*... it's time to prune my bloglines again... blog reading is taking up too much time. Please don't be offended if I cut you... there's nothing wrong with your blog, I just need to cut back. *sigh*

My talk this morning went surprisingly well given that I prepared it in two hours.

Ladybug on Weasley

Ladybug on Weasley

Blech... my neck and shoulders sure are killing me. I think it's because I tried to sleep in the van on the way to the grant meeting. (I had to be at the university at 7:30 am!!!) Whee... I get to do it again tomorrow.

I finished the ladybug socks today. I included Weasley in the photo, since I'm sure you were missing him. I now have nearly 26cm of the front done! Soon I'll have to figure out how to add the letter. ;) (Mom said "you know what wearing an "A" means..." ;) )

Well, time for bed. Tomorrow is another long day.

Yuck!

I just checked the weather to see what I should wear on the plane tomorrow, since it's been cooling off nicely overnight here, and wearing jeans on the plane is more comfortable than shorts.

There's a heat advisory for tomorrow.

Blech!!!

Hmmm... maybe I'll still wear jeans, but pack a pair of shorts in my carry-on...

Mr Muskox

muskox

Hello,

I just thought I'd introduce Mr Muskox... I created him for my qiviut knit-along button. Mr Muskox is the strong, silent type.

Horseback Riding

Self Portrait

Dad, O., and I went horseback riding today in Bird's Hill Park. We had lots of fun, although they didn't take us faster than a walk. I've ridden several times when I was younger, but it was the first time for dad and O.

My skills at taking self portraits on horseback could do some work. Photos of Dad and O are much nicer:





Of course, I was the only one who had remembered to bring a camera. ;)

Joiner

I'm such a joiner... I've joined two more knitalongs:

Too Good to Last

Dang... I got a spam comment today. :P But I deleted it's sorry ass. Take *that* you stupid spam!

Sunset

Sunset

I love the clouds in yesterday's sunset.

Made You Look!

Double-take Socks

Or not. I call these my "double-take" socks... they're identical to my blue-green pair, except made for H's feet instead of mine. And, well, yellow instead of green. But still fun!!!

Here's another shot:

Office View

Office View

I took this yesterday, my last day there for this trip. Also, probably my last day in that office... the CS department is moving to a new building... probably at the end of September. (The move was *supposed* to be at the end of August, before term started, but you know how construction schedules go.)

I'm sad to be leaving, but hope to be back for good soon!

Need a laugh?

Oh, man... I laughed so hard my stomach hurts! Running short on Prozac? Try this.

Silly Quiz

I sure didn't expect these results:

All-Around AwesomeYou have: 77% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and 85% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored well above average on emotional intuition and well above average on scientific intuition. (Weirdly, your emotional and scientific intuitions are equally strong.) Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Scientific You scored higher than 99% on Interpersonal

Link: The 2-Variable Intuition Test written by jason_bateman on Ok Cupid

Idle Thoughts

A single woman walks into a grocery store, and buys nothing but a large bottle of cranberry juice. Does that say "hello, I like cranberry juice, and I ran out"? Or does it say "hi, I have a bladder infection, how are you"? This is, um, just idle curiousity. Of course, the checkout clerk happens to be a guy. Maybe guys are clueless. Not that I would care, if that woman were me.

Good news at the dentist: no cavities. That means I don't (likely) have to buy myself fillings for Christmas. Of course, I've scheduled my next appointment for the beginning of my Christmas holidays, so I'll still have time to schedule another appointment should something turn up.

Have a nice day, and don't forget to drink your cranberry juice. Unless you tend to get kidney stones. Then flip a coin. (Hint: kidney stones are *much* worse.)

Um, yeah... time for bed.

Oh... and current crochet news: I've set aside my ladybug socks to whip up a quick pair for Prof H here... saves me some postage. ;) (She paid for the yarn... isn't it nice of her to buy me yarn to play with on the bus? She's great!) I'm over halfway through, and should easily finish before Friday, my last day with her this trip.

Now time for bed.

Am I related to Spiders?

I don't do well on caffeine either...

Castle

Castle

This is one of the pieces of "art" at the U of M. It's fun.

Squeegee Kid

Squeegee Kid

A common sight in Winnipeg. When cars stop at red lights, they run out to wash windows for change. A lot of people find them annoying.

Monday on the Town

New Bridge

Monday after school I met Mom and B at the Forks. We had dinner at Sals on the new bridge (seen above), and then walked down Broadway to see the painted polar bears. If you're curious, here's the official Bears on Broadway webpage.

Broadway is one of the large streets downtown, and it's quite pretty. It has two lanes each way, with a wide boulevard down the center, and well-established American elms.

Here are some of my favourite bears:











(Click on the photos to get bear titles and artists names.)

Here's the Manitoba legislature with some more bears out front:



After seeing all the bears, (well, those that were on or near Broadway) we went down to the riverwalk and walked back to the Forks where the car was parked. Mom was wearing a pedometer... the walk was 4km.

A nice walk. Of course, I already had two walks at the university, one short and one long, and walked from the downtown library (where I got off the bus) to the Forks... that trip was probably 1.5km.

I was rather sore and achy by the time I got home. I didn't regret any of it, though. ;)

Here's the view of the bridge when we got back to the Forks:

If I lived in Kansas...

...I'd be looking for a pirate outfit, to support the right of Flying Spaghetti Monster Design to be taught along with "Intelligent Design" and evolution. Hmmm... I wonder what alien pirates wear?

Painting Birches

My Birches

Today mom taught me a neat way to paint birches.

For comparison, here's my mom's painting:


Mom's Birches