Seen at Jessalu‘s:

Take a look around you. Apart from your computer and its peripherals, and your computer desk/table/milk crate and chair, what, in order of their physical closeness, are the five things nearest to you right now:

1. Stainless steel, thermal coffee mug from Starbucks
2. Red Lamy fountain pen
3. Block-pad of paper from Drew University
4. Manila folder of, you know, work stuff
5. Telephone

(I know, it’s hard to figure out, but I’m writing this at work! Had I been home, the list would probably have been: Chappy, Bed tray-table, a book, spinning wheel, shelf of family photos.)

I know, my entries have been kind of scattered lately–hopping across subjects, more memes and quizzes than are my usual wont. That’s mostly because there just doesn’t seem to be any dramatic progress on my knitting projects, and you can only show so many pictures of “here’s a fraction of a sleeve!” without getting really boring. In fact, I’m past the halfway mark on the second sleeve of my Celtic Dreams, and the rows are getting blissfully shorter, and so I’m getting more rows done each sitting. So–I’m getting there, I’m just not there yet!

Same with the Peacock Stole. I’m on row 193 (I think) and have been averaging about 4 rows a night. Which isn’t a lot, especially when you consider the stole is only 126 stitches wide. But while I’m working on it, my main goal right now is to finish CD, so it’s getting the bulk of my knitting attention. I haven’t been neglecting my Trekking socks, either–I’ve turned the heel and so am past the halfway point on that sock, too . . . just . . . well . . . Celtic Dreams!

I’ve also gotten an unusual amount of reading done so far this month. Counting two knitting-pattern books (which, I’ll admit, aren’t big on the “wordiness” issue), I’ve finished 18 books so far this month. Eighteen. And it’s only the 14th. And–this was funny/ironic, I thought–on Monday, I finished “Mountains Beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder, the true story of Dr. Paul Farmer and his efforts to bring medicine and health care to Haiti, to fight multi-drug-resistant TB in Peru and Russian prisons. An amazing man. (I was so impressed, that I made a donation to his charity, Partners in Health before I’d even finished the last page.) And then, last night’s “House” repeat on Fox was about a world-famous TB-doctor who gets sick . . . ironic timing, huh?

Hey, speaking of “closeness,” I got an email from my best friend Dawn last night–she’s coming back home to NJ on Saturday, until the 26th. It’s been months since I’ve seen her, so I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve known her since the first week of school in 3rd grade . . . so . . . 31 years now. (Although, we didn’t become “best” friends until I was in 8th grade.) That 3000-mile distance thing is a pain, though . . . so, I’m looking forward to getting actually to see her.

Tags: Friends, General, Reading // 5 Comments »