SuperBowl Bound.....

So there is definitely a lot to catch up on in my life, or really not so much but I am sure people would like to see some pics of the trip to Philly. But the big news ‘round here is, of course, that my bears are going to the SUPERBOWL!!!! Yes, I said the Chicago Bears. Are. Going. To. The. Superbowl. To put this in perspective, the last time that the Chicago Bears went to the Superbowl I was 10 years old. It was so long ago, as a matter of fact, that I distinctly remember my brother and I taping the superbowl shuffle on a blank audio tape off of the radio. We knew every word because my mom would play the radio in the morning when we were eating breakfast and getting ready for school. And after 21 long years of suffering as a Bears fan, we are back. This has been one hell of a season, we couldn’t have it be easy could we? Of course not, that is not the Chicago way. We had to backtrack and flounder, try to give it away and then take it back. This season the Bears took a page from the Cardiac Cubs. But Sunday’s game against the Saints was awesome. There was no wishy-washy performance, we wanted it more. It was a perfect Chicago game, snow flurrying down to coat the field and players and Soldier Field shaking like a snow globe. It was beautiful and if you don’t think football can be beautiful, you’re a philistine and I don’t know if I want to talk with you anymore.

This of course means a few things will happen over the course of the next two weeks. There will be much smack talk between my father and me. He, a long time Colts fan has much to be happy about. The last time the Colts were in the Superbowl they were still in Baltimore and I hadn’t been born yet. So his long suffering has been very long indeed. People often ask him why the hell he is a Colts fan and the answer is simple, when he was a boy he loved Johny U (if you don’t know who that is I am surprised you’ve read this entry this long). And there will be smack talk. I called him Sunday night to say one thing, we’re coming for you. I also felt the need to warn him that he should really take down the big Colts flag he has flying in the front yard as he does live in northern Illinois, only a few scant hours from Soldier Field. And in the next few weeks I will want to throw things at the new TV more times than I can count because the same talking heads that said the Saints would win will be talking about how the Bears will never bring down Payton. All of this is in the future, but for now I am just happy because instead of waiting patiently for the baseball season to start I am planning a Superbowl party, Chicago night at our house.

Wolverines!

For some inexplicable reason I found myself watching Red Dawn this week. I am not quite sure what made me set the remote down at that station, but I think that people of a certain age, whose formative years were spent hating “pinkco commies” are drawn to watch widely fantastic action adventure movies where red blooded Americans fight the dirty socialists. At first I was just going to leave the TV on while I did other things around the house, but soon I found myself drawn into the same damn movie I have seen five hundred times. I am not sure why I have seen Red Dawn so many times when my husband is still stumped that I have not seen other movies that have become cultural touchstones. For example, I have never seen Top Gun, something that sends people wandering off from me shaking their heads when I tell them. But Red Dawn I have seen a lot, and after watching it yet again I found realized some interesting anthropological points.

First, when watching Red Dawn one is prompted, at random times, to shout out “Wolverines!” This is usually accompanied by raising both arms up, or sometimes one arm in a power to the people fist. This continues to happen throughout the movie, no matter if no one else is in the house with you, or how much it tends to scare the cats and make the dog move from the couch to the window to get away from you. Next, one will always be filled with a hatred of any and all communists, but usually focused on the USSR. It does not seem to matter that the armies that flood Calumet City in the movie are also Cuban and Nicaraguan. It also does not seem to matter that the USSR long ago broke apart, for some reason one feels the need to find Reagan and tell him to hurry up with Star Wars because the end could come soon.

Red Dawn is a silly movie, who can buy that Howell kid as a bad ass, but I think it is also a powerful cultural artifact. It paints a picture of a cultural milieu that was so prevalent that people who were immersed in the Cold War can be brought right back in time. And yet it struck me and how quickly those ideologies were gone. My students don’t remember a cold war; they laugh at old movies that blame communism for a myriad of things. But somehow that hasn’t stopped me from randomly yelling out “Wolverines” all week long. The cats scatter, the dog leaves and my husband shakes his head.

Finally some knitting........

So I know that I have not updated in a while, it seems to be a common occurrence around these parts. I have been working very hard and writing my brains out. I want this damn dissertation finished soon. And because of this and the working thing I have not had much time to knit. Although I did find time to cut off all of my hair! Pics will soon follow. I did start a new scarf. As the weather has gotten cooler and I needed a coat, I realized that the cool brocade coat I bought last year did not have scarf to go with it. So I went through my pattern books and found one I liked, and a pretty blue yarn that I thought would go nice. This also gave me an excuse to use the wooden needles I bought in Sept. at the art fair. They are hand whittled and were like $5, so that made me happy as well. I decided on a lace pattern that is delicate enough to look good with the coat, but also warm enough for the WV winter (although probably not the IL one). I am progressing nicely; I tend to knit when I need a break and have a few minutes from writing or working. I am also including some pics of the new furniture. I love it, it is microfiber, so anything on it comes right off with a little water. And since this is the first furniture that we have that was not handed down to us, I have exiled the animals from it. They don’t love it but they will get used to it. I will update on the scarf and some thought I have for Christmas gifts. I think everyone should get a homemade gift at least once, so when I have them that is what they will get. I am also open for suggestions from anyone. That is all for now, I am must get back to work!

And now for something different...

So usually I stay away from political commentary, at least on my blog, but since I have no knitting updates (but I did get a chapter out), I would just like to make a few comments.

If you have the chance catch the documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts. Currently this one HBO, and anyone with on demand can order it and I would highly recommend it. Spike Lee directs this film about Katrina and New Orleans. It is beautiful and sad and compelling. And they have some awesome interviews, I especially liked the one with Soladad O’Brien (who I used to watch the Today show for). If you weren’t still pissed of at the Bush administration (and if you aren’t, well that’s a problem for another day), then you will be when you see the failure of Bush and the Louisiana state government to work together and get people the hell out. For some reason we can air drop water to Taiwan within twenty-four hours, but we can’t get to the Superdome? And what the hell does Homeland Security do? Even if you think that people should have gotten out, that the failure was at the local level you have to admit that you too are a bit worried. Worried that the lesson from Katrina is that the federal government can not evacuate a major urban city in less than a week, in the face of disaster. What if a bomb went off in Chicago or Atlanta or Dallas? What we saw if that no one will get out, you will sit in some shelter in place in hopes that you can survive long enough for someone, anyone to come get you. But I digress, just watch the movie.

On the knitting front, I wish that I could show you what I have been up to, but what I have been up to is writing and no knitting. But I am close to finishing the blanket that I am crocheting for my new niece and I will post pics when I am done. On that notes I also would like to retract the comment I made about my mother in law. She is a wonderful and witty woman who would never kill me for something as like crocheting. Especially since she knows she would get Jeff back. Of course I hope she will forgive me for my comments, but I know she will because she has a big heart and she is so, so pretty.

I promise to post some pics of the new bath and kitchen soon, I have to get Jeff to clean up again because I am just too busy trying to write a damn book!

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda

So I should have written sooner. I should have done a lot of things in the last few weeks that I have not, but that is neither here nor there and we should just suck it up and move on. The truth is that I have been waiting to find the cord that will connect the camera to my computer, and that has not happened. I wanted to post some pics, but that is not going to happen right now either. Oh well, life has gone on. I am enjoying the whole full time job thing. I have an office that is all mine, not one I have to share with one or more grad students. I also have two windows, so be very jealous. Of course with that comes students who find me and department meetings and more grading. I’m confused of course because I have taught four classes lots of times, most of the time through grad school, but now it seems more real. I think maybe I just need another month to get used to it. But I am having fun and getting a lot of work done in said office which is leaving my evenings free to paints some of the house and work on my dissertation, which I will complete by Dec. if it kills me, and it may just.

On the knitting front I have finished Steph’s blanket and need to get it out to her with a few things for the new baby, due any day now, and something for G-Lo. I will post pics later when I find that damn cord. I will also post pics of the awesome job that we did painting the bathroom and the sideboard. For those that remember our nice, but dated sideboard circa 1985, we painted it black and changed the pulls and now it looks like something cool you might purchase at pottery barn (which I would probably never buy from because it is tres’ expensive!), but painting something I already have? Very cool. So I will post pictures when I finish because both look very cool.

I will not, however, post pics of the baby sweater that I have been working on. Let’s review for a moment shall we? First I made the back of the little pink sweater, which was pretty. Then I started the side. Now I obviously lost my mind in between because I made the back for a newborn, but then made the side for a 1 year old. So, you guessed it, I had to frog it back, which I suck at so I just undid the whole damn thing and now I have to re-knit. Oh well, it’s small, so it is not that bad. What I am proud of is the cool blanket that took me much too long to finish, but with the leftover yarn I have crocheted G-Lo a small blanket that is just her size. I also crocheted a blanket for the new baby, but don’t anyone tell my mother-in-law because she may kill me!

I promise to update soon with pics of the new bath and sideboard soon, it has been a long week dealing with students, but we don’t talk about that here!

Is it 1993?

This is the thought I had last week when I was driving to school at 7:15 am for my 8 am class and all of a sudden Depeche Mode came on the radio. For a moment I thought I was warped back in time to senior year of high school. I almost panicked, but then reality set back in and I was a bit irritated that Depeche Mode would be a “flashback song,” I am not that old!

School started last week and so far so good. I like my classes and I LOVE my office. It is my own office, I have to share with no one and it is right across the hall from Jeff. We are at the very end of the hall and are awaiting a hanging sign that says “The Pietruszynskis’” with two arrows. I am decorating my office, but a little at a time because I would like it to be just right and I am still trying to figure out how. Of course the thing that I really want I can not have! I want a white desk caddy that is wood and has those three little places for pictures in the front. I remember that I saw them everywhere a few years back, but now the only place I can find them is Pottery Barn! I swear that I have looked online and in every store within the city limits of Charleston, and some outside of it! I mean all I want is a silly desk caddy that I won’t pay an arm and a leg for (hello pottery barn, I know you’re snooty, but come on!) but no, I am thwarted at every attempt!!!! But other then that, love the new office.

One other thing that has taken me back in time is the undeniable fact that Friday, I got bangs. Now they are not across the forehead bangs, they are layered in the rest of my hair, and they look very cute. But the last time I had bangs I curled them up and hairsprayed the hell out of them while I ratted. Yes, mall hair. All of these things have set me a bit on edge, am I in 2006? Did I wormhole it back to ’93? Or maybe I need more coffee!

I have some knitting to update later, but still haven’t charged the camera!

Things you can no longer do after 30...

These would include, but are not limited to: splitting a bottle of vodka with a friend while getting drunkity drunk drunk, smoking far too many cigarettes while doing so, thinking I can still do three pirouettes in a row and eating too many pizza rolls both in the above mentioned drunkity drunk drunk state. There are others to add, but my mother reads this blog. But it has been a fun few days visiting with an old friend. I had forgotten how much the mountains freaked me out when I first moved here, now I whip around windy roads without a care for the shear drop or the signs for falling rocks. Frankly I don’t hold much with those signs, I have not seen one rock fall since I have been here! I had also not thought too much about my house sitting on the downside of the mountain where my second story sits eye level with the street, but seeing it through new eyes has brought a freshness to WV that I have not had since I moved.

I am some what unpacked here, the kitchen and the bath are set up, but in the other rooms boxes are stacked neatly with the things that go in that room, waiting patiently for me (and yes it is me, my hubby would just put everything in the wrong place) to put them away. But tonight I am wiped and so it will be an evening of Firefly DVDs and lounging, I will start on my study tomorrow because I need to get that damn diss finished. But there is also laundry to do, a dog in desperate need of bathing and yesterday I finally got cable!!! So what the hell is a girl to do? Waste time, it seems updating her blog.

That is an insult to Monkeys!

Ok so yesterday Jeff and I took like the millionth trip to Target because when you move you some how need crap that you don’t already have, and because your house is a mess and you have boxes everywhere you can never remember everything so you have to go back a lot. Anyway, so there we were turning into the Shops at Trace Fork, because stores along the street just will not work, suburban America needs multiple stores in one area with parking lots that mean you will spend longer in line to get out then actually in the store. But back to my story, so there we are trying to turn when we notice that there are two men standing in the grassy knoll, if you will, by the opening and they are, ready for this? Holding two large, almost as big as them, blow up monkeys who are wearing mortarboards and holding diplomas that say PhD (the monkeys that is, not the men). They men are waving the hands of the monkeys at passerby’s and holding signs that read “Evolution is a lie.”

Well. I didn’t quite know what to do but my first reaction was to laugh my ass off. And by the time I had stopped we were at Target and I had not thought to take a picture or yell something clever yet snappy, something like “Nice Monkey!” The best part if as we walked to the car and put away our booty I was asking Jeff what exactly he thought I should yell out the window when the van next to us opened up and out came the men. I don’t know if they heard me or not, but I hope they did since they ran away before I could get a picture!

On another note I did a lot of unpacking today because my sweet Rho is coming for a visit on the spur of the moment. We have a whole day planned and I will take pics if I can find the box with the charger in it! As I was unpacking today I came across some photo albums I haven’t looked through in awhile, although I can tell you when I got a digital camera because the photos in the album stop there! There were some great ones from year one and two of ISU, and I had a great time laughing through them. A few things struck me, one I look good in long hair, and two my memory is either completely gone or photographic, there is no in between. Nothing is hazy, I either remember a time or I don’t. And I obviously have no concept of time. When looking at pics from year one I kept thinking, where the hell is Nikki? It didn’t occur to me at first that she is not there because she literally was not there, I guess I always think of her around because she is so much fun that I have transported her in time. Hope you don’t mind sweetie!

The best and worst of the walk down memory lane was when I came across pictures of a friend who was recently called away way, way, too soon. I laughed as I cried because I could just imagine the comments he was making as I was taking the pictures, in his dulcet tones and complete southern charm. Berto you were truly a southern gentleman and the kindest spirit I have ever known. I can only imagine that you were taken too soon because you were too good for this world. We miss you.

Mission Moving Completed

So we are all moved into the new house, and as soon as I unpack some more boxes I will take some pics and post them. I would actually take some pics now, but the camera battery is dead and I have no idea which box the charger is in. We were done moving on Sat. and by Sunday at noon we had completely cleaned the old place. I did lose a toenail in the process, but since our landlord was so impressed with the cleaning job that he has already given us back our deposit I think it might have been worth it. Of course it was painful and looks awful, I think I will live. At least it is summer and I can get away with sandals, and hopefully by the time I need closed toed shoes I will have a new toenail. But I must say that one should never be allowed to google their medical malaise because I am now convinced that I will get a horrible infection and then they will have to take the toe. Or that I have damaged the root so badly that the nail will never grow back. I can think of nothing more horrible, I love strappy shoes; I can not go my life without them!

In the time since I last wrote I turned 31, which was a bit depressing, but I have decided that once I turn 32 that is it and I am done, I will stay 32 until the lie is not convincing anymore. My birthday was fun, we saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Jeff made me dinner with my favorite wine. And then I spent all my time divided evenly between packing, writing and summer school. Now I am enjoying my vacation by writing and watching the four channels that I have right now because cable can not be hooked up until next week. One would think it wouldn’t take that long, but I think that we are being punished. You see we decided to get direct tv, and cancelled our cable service. But then we could not get a satellite signal, damn mountain! So I had to slink back to cable, and I think the long wait is punishment for leaving in the first place. I would like to say that without TV we have been doing much more intellectual stuff, but that would be untrue. Instead we signed up for Netflix and have been watching the complete Firefly series. Now this was recommended to me, but by the time I started to watch it, it was cancelled. So I have decided to catch up through the DVD set, it has been fun, but not so much for you because that means I have not been doing much to keep you all entertained. I will take some pics as I unpack and let you all se the new house.

The Supermen I love

So it has been an extremely very long time since I have updates this blog, and I could blame the dissertation, or summer school or any number of things, but the truth is I have not had the inkling to write and that is my only excuse, but to make amends I will spend this time updating everyone on what we have been up to.
On the 30th my wonderful hubby turned 32! Yes I know that he is old, and he is lucky to have a young chicky like me, but since he’s hot we will leave him alone. We had a good time on his b-day. I was supposed to make him breakfast, but he took over and made it himself. Then we were off to see a matinee of Superman Returns. It was awesome except for this very strange man who fell asleep not once, not twice, but three times during the movie and was snoring VERY loudly! The first time I found a manager to wake him up, the second time I woke his snoring ass up myself and the third time some loud special effect did it. Now I can understand falling asleep once, but eventually since you have missed the majority of the movie one would think that you would leave! All I can say is WOW! Anyway, after the movie we had dinner and this wings place Jeff likes and that was all she wrote.
Our 4th was low key, we headed back to the Mountain State Arts and Craft fair which was way cool and we picked ourselves up a witch ball and some kettle korn. I think I ate my body weight in crap, but it was fun. In the mean time we have been looking for a new place with little luck. Some places we like, so suck and some people never call you back. I bet for every 10 ads I call about one person will give me a call back. I think that is so rude! I mean if you don’t like pets then put it in your ad or call back and say so! But no, somehow this landlord relationship has become like dating. I call, leave a message and then wait for them to call back, if they don’t the message is clear, ‘we don’t want you or you crazy dog!” But renting a house is not like dating, it is supposed to be a cordial relationship! Common courtesy should reign, but right now all I can say is that I am so glad I am married and don’t have to date anymore. Now I just can’t wait until I can get rid of this other relationship that is bad for me!
I have to admit that I have not been doing much knitting, I just have not had time, but I will leave you with some pics of the felted bag I made last month!

What a Long Strange Trip....

So I am sorry that I have neglected this blog for so long, but I have reasonable if not good excuses. First, right after the last post I took ill. It was not consumption or anything, but it was a fun filled four days of feeling icky. It was very strange because I did not have cold symptoms or stomach flue symptoms; I simply felt crappy and tired and ran a low grade fever. I got over it, just in time because I was really working Jeff’s last good nerve with my whining. Of course I often reminded him that when he is sick he, as do all men as far as I can tell, whine like they are dying of the plague. So I spent four days in bed watching bad movies (Alexander? Honestly I don’t know what I was thinking but I would give anything to have those three hours of my life back!) and reading fun books with little to no literary value at all. Everyone worth knowing was only alright, though much too predictable and less entertaining then the Devil Wears Prada, which I am excited to see at the end of the month. That book will always hold a special place in my memories because I read it in the beach in Jamaica! Speaking of which, on the 5th Jeff and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary so yeah for us! We had a good time with a lobster gram from MomP, although killing the lobsters was a drama!

Of course I did not get much knitting done while I was sick, but I did manage to felt the accessories bag, and I will post those pics tomorrow in between finishing up the syllabus for summer school which starts next week and working on my Hardy chapter. Of course the working on the Hardy chapter is testing my will to find every Hardy scholar and beat him/her soundly about the head and the neck. Maybe it’s me, but I just don’t see the point of arguing with a reviewer from 1892. And I don’t means discuss the social and cultural discursive connection between reviewer and author and scholar, I mean literally arguing with a review who has been dead for like a hundred years. Oh well, this too will pass, but I do want to give a shout out to my girl Lori who is defending her diss at the end of the month! Yeah to her, and I will say that I always knew that she would rock it out and look forward to telling people “Yeah, I know her, we went to grad school together, we’re friends.”

And I leave with the good news that I have been offered and accepted a job!!! Email me or call and I will give you details! I will be back soon, but to tide you over I leave you with a project that I would like to start for Genevieve, I am open for suggestions on color ect.

My So Called Life

So I have started three knitting projects, which some might believe to be some sort of self flagellation, but in actuality is simply me on my first week of vacation. As most of you know I am not a person who can have lots of free time, I am just not used to it and need projects to give me something to do. And before everyone and their brother emails me, yes I am writing, the diss is coming along. I have partitioned off the day to work on that, but I now have the evenings to fill up and there is crappola on TV because all the seasons are over. Of course I could watch all the stuff I have on DVR that I didn’t have time to watch before, particularly a half season of Lost. I will of course get to that all, but right now I have chosen to use my time to knit.

As many of you know I have been toiling away at Steph’s blanket, what I have named the blanket that will not end. I decided that I needed a break from it because every time I picked it up I was reminded of the deer saga because I had been working on it about an hour before we hit the deer and put it away when Jeff remarked that if the airbags went off that I might lose an eye. So needing a beak from the blanket that would not end, I whipped up some booties for baby girl p, who better not come out baby boy p because I am also working on a sweater in pink. I am done with the back and have made some progress on one front side.
I have also picked out a blanket to knit the new edition; it is from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies and can be personalized with a letter in the center and I have wanted to knit it since I saw it. But I haven’t started. Why? Not because I don’t have enough yarn, when I mentioned needing more Jeff asked me to walk downstairs to revisit the stash that is over flowing the huge basket that can not contain it. It is simply because blankets take so much time, even when it is for a baby I almost don’t want to commit, but I must because new babies always need blankets and since I am under an edict straight from MomP that I may not crochet the blankets they must be knit. And if baby girl p does not have one, but her sister does I will pay for it some day. I can not be that aunt, I must be the favorite one!

The other project is one that I have wanted to do for awhile, but it required work, which means I had to rifle through the stash to find the left over yarn I wanted to use from the felted diaper bag. But I desperately need a notions bag, have needed one since last year when I lost mine. I quickly replaced my notions, not so much with the bag, so I have decided on this.
It is knitted in the round and called for circular needles, but I started it on DPN’s because I felt like it. I have since gotten over my rebellious streak and moved to the correct needles,
accepting that the author of Weekend Knitting might know a bit more than I do. I will update when I finish and felt. I am not too keen on that right now because of the broken dryer, I don’t want to use towels because then I would not have a way to dry them, I may, however use something else. I will have to think on this and suggestion will be accepted (but not ones that point out that someone who is almost a PhD, married to another PhD should use their brain to find some way to felt a damn bag).

That’s it! I’m cursed: Or the ontological implications of spiritual karmic belief systems

This is of course directed to everyone who has repeatedly assured me, constantly I might add, through the last year that in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that I am not cursed. And while all that chatter about life’s ups and downs is blah blah blahing in my head, I would like to list the myriad of things that I have been through in the past few weeks. Jeff’s brakes that had to be fixed twice while we were 500 miles away from home, the deer that decided to jump in front of us on I-70 outside of Dayton Ohio while we were driving MomP’s brand new car, Jeff’s robes not making it to grad, instead landing at home were we were not, a graduation card and check mysteriously disappearing from my purse (in all fairness I probably lost it) and last but not least, this morning the breaking down of my dryer while I was in the middle of five loads of laundry. I can honestly say that right now I feel like Charlie Brown who keeps falling down flat every time Lucy pulls the football away. I know that other people have it worse, and I can appreciate that, but this is my blog and so I can complain about anything I damn well please. I just wish that life could be a little easier, at least for awhile. All I ask for is a month, just one month where everything goes right, basically I just want to catch a break.

This latest football (see Lucy reference above) just really pisses me off. The warranty on that damn dryer just ran out six months ago, and Sears wants money just to get someone out here to look at it. Jeff and I spent the afternoon at the skanky Laundromat, which I should get used to because it will be at least a month before we can afford to get someone here to look at the damn thing. I thought, just for awhile, that I had gotten pasted the whole I am young, broke and need to go somewhere to wash my clothes. Having my own washer and dryer really made me feel good, like he grown up that I am supposed to be and it rankled to have to feed quarters into a machine to just dry my damn clothes. I guess that is what hurts the most (MomP might interject here that she misses her car more, this is true, but to point that out interrupts my narrative thrust). So am I cursed or is this just life? And if so whose life did I inherit? Do I have bad luck or am I having just a bad year? I have no idea, and I really don’t care at this point, but I will cease my ranting and self-pity, for no other reason then I can hear Jeff downstairs making me a snack, so all can’t be bad if someone is feeding me. And I have my health, but I won’t say that too loud because my insurance just ran out and I will now probably come down with some debilitating illness.

I will write some more later when I have pics of the pink booties I made when I needed a break from the blanket that would not end.

Knitting Again!

I know, I have been very lax about keeping everyone up to date on my knitting projects, but give a girl a break, it’s almost finals and I have students crawling out of the woodwork! Yes, that and I am very lazy about taking some pictures. But I am here now and promise to be much better about updating my knitting. Of course the problem is that I blog about what I am doing at the time and unfortunately knitting is something that too often gets pushed to the side when school and life become too hectic. I started knitting because I thought it would be relaxing, and it is, when I get to do it. Sometimes I look at the work piled on my desk and all I want to do is knit. I usually make deals with myself, I set goals that motivate me, if I get through so many papers, or write so many pages I get some uninterrupted knitting time. It is sad that I have to partition out my time like this, but such is the life of the academic. I am looking forward to the end of the semester, between spring and summer classes I will have four and a half weeks off. Now most of that time must be spent working on the diss, but no classes means no papers and no prep. I can work during the day and then knit at night. I also have a stack of books and movies waiting for me to have some free time. Believe me I will make the most of that time!

But enough about that, what you really want, what I have promised is that there will be pics of the newest works in progress. Now back in December I told Steph that I could knit her a blanket that she say at Linens N’ Things for way cheaper then what they were selling it for. Let’s just say that I overestimated my talents. I am almost done, but it has taken me way to long to get through a project with chunky yarn on 17 needles.
I am about 3/4th of the way through it, and I hope to be done by this weekend when I will see Steph, she will probably enjoy getting the blanket that she has been waiting for. I worked with Homespun, and I think that it is coming out really well. Jeff really likes it; he says that he wants me to get to work on one for us, of course in different colors to match our bedroom. Maybe I will become a knitter for hire, touring the country and selling hand knit blankets. Of course that would not be such a great use of the PhD. But I am excited that I can get Jeff to the cool yarn store in Kanawha City where I will go on a yarn extravaganza!

My second project I am super excited about, a pretty sweater for my new niece. I think it will be great because she is due in September and will be able to wear my pretty sweater right away. I have the great book Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, and it has some of the most beautiful designs.
I chose this one because I could rim it if I wanted, but it looks awesome without it. I am using a Lion’s Brand mohair mix. It is so soft and pink, like a cloud. I love, love, love it! Right now I only have the back done, but as soon as the blanket is done I will finish it. It is on tiny 3 needles, but it is for a newborn, so it goes pretty quickly. I wanted to make a blanket too, but they take so super long that I don’t know it I can do it. I could crochet it, I have started a pretty pink one, but I think MomP might disown me. But I will finish a few blankets for the Church baby shower drive for area charities.

Well I am off for now. We are headed to Chicago and Rock Island this weekend for Jeff and my Mom’s graduations, so I will not be able to update for awhile. Of course I will see you all anyway!

PhD Ski

Yes, be jealous, I am married to a Dr! Jeff defended his dissertation on Friday and now all those years of hard work are over, well except for the job, research, teaching and administration work. Wow, so it never really ends? Such is the life we have chosen, and what the hell we can get summers off!

We had a good time at the hotel and at the party after, actually Friday was one long hang with the peeps in normal, after the defense we went to the Irish pub and then to Luddy’s for more fun. It was awesome to see everyone again, I miss them so much! But I guess that is the way it goes, eventually everyone has to move on, and while it is sad you know that academia is not that large and you will see these people again, usually at a conference and for those who have ever bee, the good times at the conference happen in the hotel bar. Actually most intellectual work happens in the bar!

Of course on the way to Illinois, Jeff’s back passenger brake went out, fortunately we were stopped at a gas station with a mechanic across the street. Two hours and $340 later we were back on the road, of course this meant that missed dropping off Spenser at the kennel, and he stayed with us in the hotel. But the fun did not stop there, brake fluid kept leaking and we ended up in Chicago, leaving the car with my in-laws and taking their Nissan for the trip back. This car is stylin’! It still smells like a new car! I tried to trade and Momp said that it would cost me my first born; I am tempted to take it. All of this set us back a day, but that was OK, we got to hang with Michele. On the down side we had to leave the Spenser, but we will be back in a week for Jeff’s grad, so all in all not too bad. Now I know that you all want pics and updates on knitting, but give a girl a break! I have been busy, but I promise updates and pics soon!

The Future of Academic Study

So in writing my fourth chapter I am eyes deep in Hardy, and yesterday while reading through some of Hardy’s letters exhaustion gave way to strange thoughts. Now I am footnotes junkies, whenever that little number appears I scan the bottem of the page to find out what the brouhaha is, and then I began to think about the last time that I actually wrote a letter and let me tell you it has been a long time. Yet I keep in touch with more people around the country now then I ever did when I wrote letters. How? The wonder of email. Which leads me to this question: in 100 years will literary research mean rooting around through someone’s hard drive instead of dusty attics and libraries for communication from long dead authors? More frightening, will the emails get lost in technology or will they be saved? Will emoticons be the subject of textual analysis? It’s a scary thought indeed, and I will be happy that I will not be there to see it, but since communication has become increasingly virtual, where will primary text come from if not online? Now don’t get me wrong I adore places that the Victorian Research web, the Victorian women’s writing project and project Bartleby, they allow me to access information that I couldn’t find anywhere else but London. And for someone with horrible allergies from dust and mold, the seduction of staying out of special collection if hard to resist. But I have always loved the feel of books, I like to hold them in my hand, to leaf through the pages, to examine the cracked spine and the margin notes that I wrote years ago, or were left by someone else. And so I am vacillating between the love of the material and the ease and accessibility of the virtual, but I will not linger here long, I have my own work to do.

A Helluva Week

So I know that I have not blogged in a week, and I swore that when I did I would have pics of the blanket that I am making for Steph and the little pink sweater I started for someone else, but am finishing for the new baby girl Pietruszynski, but I have not taken the pics or loaded them into my computer. Why? Because I have had one helluva week. And no that is not a mis-spelling, if you have had the week I have you would spell it that way too! Since last weekend I have: finished and sent off chap. 3 of the diss, and started chap 4, graded 40 position papers while explaining that making a point clear is not somehow aesthetically incorrect and how I do not choose page length for my own amusement, I have graded 35 finals paper for my online class, which has made the notion that I need a stronger prescription a fact and not an abstract idea, I have peer reviewed an article for the online journal that I work with, I have scheduled three (count ‘em baby) more campus interviews, taken over a 101 for the rest of the semester, and registered for summer, written a mid-term for my independent study and finally prepared a lecture for my large group gen-ed class for Mon. Wow. I am tired just looking at that list, but it is done now, and tonight I get to have dinner with an awesome colleague who is making Mexican! Amazingly in all of this I have found time to work on Steph’s blanket because I found that knitting for at least 30 minutes helps me sleep. And so now here I am on a rainy Sat. thinking about all that next week holds and already longing for summer. But I have way too much to do before that, and more to do this summer to finish that damn PhD. Before I had thought about my degree as something that would come eventually, I guess I was waiting for the right time, the place where I felt like I was deserving. Yeah we know how well that has worked. But I am on a schedule now, and will work diligently to finish before I am too old to use the damn thing! And I swear some updated pics soon, I know how much everyone loves the projects in progress section of this blog. But I just wanted to let everyone know that I have not fallen off of the face of the earth, I have just been busy!

Random Midweek Musings

They are fixing the roof of our place, again. Now I know that roofs occasionally need to be fixed because they occasionally leak, but this has been days and days of pounding right above my bed, punctuated only by a few days of quiet. Between the pounding and the dog barking like crazy it is has become a bit difficult to get some work done. I know that many people, none of them reading this blog, but many people would argue that I can not possibly do work in my fuzzy slippers, but the fact of the matter, and the bane of my existence, is that I do in fact do my best work in the aforementioned slippers.

Anyone who is in fact an educator (much of my family and my in-family) understand that the scant time spendt in the classroom is but a third of the work that actually goes into my work. Not only do I teach class, but someone must prep that class, and then grade the work that comes in. This means that my evenings and weekend are most often filled with Jeff and I slouched around the house with green pens and a plethora of paperclips and staples. This is what many people don’t understand, that in fact I must work at home, if I did not I would hardly get any work done. Add to this mix my online class, where all of my time is spent in fuzzy slippers and the work for my diss and you will find me a busy girl indeed. Yes I just had a week off for break, yes I have a month off in Dec/Jan. and yes there are weeks off before and after summer classes (usually). But often these breaks are filled with grading and syllabus preparation and trying to live any part of my life I could not squeeze in during the semester.

I know this, the people I know and love know this, so why do I actually feel guilty when people show up to fix my roof that I look like a lazy bum? Maybe this is my blue-collar guilt coming to the surface. I grew up with everyone I knew working very hard for a living, often in very physical jobs. I, on the other hand, dress up (or not ) for work. My job is mentally taxing, but not physically (unless I have to carry a lot of papers from the classroom to my car, and then my back hurts). And the only outward sign I have is a rather crusty and painful writer’s bump on the middle finger of my right hand. But when the revolution comes that will not help me. Actually when I think of this sad bump the picture in my mind is the scene from The Killing Fields when the Khmer Rouge checks the hands of the peasants to see if they have been working hard enough. I am actually terrified that someone will take me away when they see I have no calluses. And I am almost ashamed to mention the fact that for most of my life I observed this hard physical labor with distaste, I knew that I never wanted to do that, I wanted to do something else, something that would allow me some freedom, change often because I get bored, and let me do something to change the world. I believe that I found that job, but I carry with me a work ethic that does sometimes make me guilty that simply working all the time is not necessarily working hard. But this is my own problem to deal with, and right at this moment the pounding has stopped, so I will try to get in some work before it starts again.

Ella's Guest Blog

I truly believe that the click of opening my laptop is like a siren call to Ella. As soon as she hears it she is next to me, even if she had been lounging somewhere downstairs. She rubs on my legs, and then jumps up next to me, rubs on the computer and then makes her move. She will try to walk across the keyboard, lay her head on it, and bat at the cursor on the screen. At first I thought that she was just being annoying. As a cat she has an uncanny ability to know when her attentions are least welcome. But I have now come to another conclusion, are you ready for it? I think that she wants her own blog, or maybe she just wants to be a guest columnist on mine. Unfortunately she lacks a few things necessary to accomplish her will, namely opposable thumbs and higher thinking skills.
Of course she would probably argue the latter, she will concede the former. And so, today, as my brain begs for spring break to hurry up and get here, I will attempt to channel Ella and allow her to post some of her thoughts. Hopefully she can shed some light on some of her strange behavior, I think that after falling off of the banister she had an epiphany and would like to communicate with us as a means of improving human and cat relations. Hence I present to you Ella’s post, where I will scribe for her dictation.

First and foremost I would like to discuss my food. This is not because I am simply an animal driven by basic instinct, but because I am a foodie, I take great enjoyment from relishing and experimenting with my sustenance, consider me French. I believe that the cat food industry, vets and Hollywood are creating false images and impossible standards of body images that are having a terrible effect on normal cats like me. I may carry a few extra pounds, but I am beautiful just the way I am, I am big and gorgeous and I should have a choice about the diets that I am put on. I really dislike that crappy diet food. The humans mix it with real food, and they should know that I pick out the good stuff and leave the diet food for Louie, or I feed it to that damn Dog. He’ll eat anything. And contrary to what the nice and pretty people who live with me think, it is a big deal when my food is low. It is absolutely unacceptable that I should ever have to worry about the food running out. I hear them mock me, saying that day without food might do me some good. You know if I had a thumb I would call the kitty police, hell if I had a thumb I would feed myself, and rule the world. How would the humans feel if someone told them they could go a few days without food? I mean really!

Now onto my perceived laziness. I firmly contend that the humans are simply jealous. They wish that they could sleep all day, lounging about and occasionally batting at the Dog, just to rile him up. It is not my fault that the good Kitty in the sky decreed that we were to be waited upon by the people on two legs. They drew the genetic short straw, so let them deal with it. I need vast amounts of sleep to conserve energy that is needed for eating, chasing Louie, the Dog and bugs. It is of no use for humans to complain, and it is not necessary to get upset at the times in which I choose to be active. I sleep all day so that I might play at night, some of this may occur on or around your head as you sleep. It would much easier if you accepted it and moved on. And this brings me to my next point, that huge bed that the people on two legs resist sharing. Look, they should really be thankful that we allow them to sleep there, so please stop rolling over on my tail or trying to shoo me away. One would think that they would be happy to share with a higher being such as myself, but no, they are very selfish with that bed!

I am getting sleepy now, so I will finish this post with a final thought. When I have decided that you may pet me, pet me and shut up, you should be happy. Pets lower blood pressure and reduce depression. So really I am doing a lot for you guys, and I must say that I am much underappreciated. That is all for now, I may come back for another post someday, I know that you people desperately need entertainment, but for now I must get a snack and take a nap, preferably in that sunny spot downstairs.
Love and kisses,
Ella

You are so Lucky....

Or more aptly, I guess I am a bad wife because I do not cook. If one more well meaning, but utterly clueless person tells me I am so lucky because my husband cooks I reserve the right to initiate a smack down. I know that I am raging against the machine here but come on, it is 2006 so why is it so amazing that my husband cooks and I don’t? People who know me of course know that while I make a mean cake I can not cook, well not well. I forget things are in or on the oven, and when I lived by myself I lived on Spaghettios and microwave popcorn, and, more often then not, baked potatoes from Wendy’s. People, including my rents, would ask often if I needed money because the only staples I kept in the house were coffee, milk and sugar (for the coffee) and copious amounts of Coke. But I didn’t need money for food, I just needed a chef. Enter Jeff. When he and I started dating I think everyone that I knew let out a collective sigh of relief, finally here was someone who would make sure that I ate something more then popcorn for dinner (which hey, don’t knock it until you try it). But as our nuptials approached I began to hear a calling in the breeze, not from anyone who really knew us, but from those people who exist on the fringes of our existence, the acquaintance. It began like this, so the wedding is coming soon huh? Wow now you will have to learn to cook. I had trouble following this line of thinking, so after knowing someone for four years, and having them feed me daily, now that I am promising before God and the state of Illinois to spend my life with someone, I am expected to be Julia Childs. What my ability to cook had to do with a pretty new piece of jewelry is beyond me, and for the record those people were wrong. I have actually started learning some new recipes, but only because I think it’s mean to make Jeff cook everyday, but most of the time he does anyway. I have found that I can not cook while he is home because he begins to take over and sooner rather than later tell me to “get out of his kitchen.” But more importantly, my hubby is a great cook, any one who knows him will testify to that, so why shouldn’t he cook?

So why in the world do people I barely know continue to tell me how lucky I am that my husband cooks? They do not say this because they know that he makes yummy food, they say this because they assume that because I have a uterus, I should be the one behind the stove. It doesn’t matter that I do other stuff (yes Stephanie I do other stuff), the laundry fairy does not clean our clothes and put them away. Nor do said fairies clean the house, pay bills, keep a budget or keep track of important papers in their color coded and cross referenced files. Jeff and I figured out long ago that we should be in charge of the things we are good out, and leave the gender roles at the door, and it has worked out very well. I eat well, and Jeff never has to worry about where that document is, he knows that I know. So I can only hope that eventually the rest of the world will catch up with us, and if they don’t do it soon I may be in trouble for taking down the next person who tells me I am lucky with that look in their eye that I am somehow a bad wife. Until then, everyone meet at my place for lasagna, Jeff’s specialty, and I will make the cake.