The Lowdown on Slowdown

I saw Passengers the other day with my super knitty pal Troy. Having not seen any real trailers about the movie beforehand, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really really liked it.  It doesn’t hurt that Chris Pratt is pretty dreamy in an old-fashioned, boy-next-door kinda way. As a six degrees of separation side note, my sister-in-law went to high school with him (!). I sure don’t remember any guys at my high school lookin’ like that…… (Sssshhhh… don’t tell R. Darling I said that – we went to high school together!). Granted, lots of dudes get better with age ;)

Anyway, daydreams aside, I was struck by a particular scene in the movie and have been thinking about it ever since.  Jim Preston (Pratt’s character) is asked why he would choose to spend 120 years in hibernation in order to start a new life on an unknown colony far from the life he knew on Earth. He thinks about it for a moment and then says that back on Earth, when something breaks, it is replaced instead of being fixed. As someone who works with his hands for a living, he implies that he wants a simpler life where we value what we create. When I think about what a life like that would mean, I envision a place where people would live more intentionally. We would care more about the things we were doing and the people with whom we chose to populate our lives. Mindfulness, I believe it’s called.

Top to Bottom: Chrysanthemum, ?, Bellini

I have been stuck on this thought ever since.  And not just because of the pretty face and slick Hollywood film that brought it up. It’s not a new thought, and certainly not unique to my existence.  It’s easy enough to define, but more difficult to apply to every day life. But I know I need it.

I was listening to The Minimalists‘ Podcast the other day and they described an exercise they have asked people to do in the past that allows them some clarity when reflecting on what’s important in their lives and what would really make them happy. On a sheet of paper, you write “Today” and list all the things you need or want to do today.  All the stuff that feels important at this moment.  Turn the paper over and title that side “Someday”.  Write down all the things you want to do someday. Now, what would happen if you switched the titles of the two sides?  If “Someday” became “Today”? Would your life be richer, more-fulfilled, and have more meaning?  I think yes.

So I am finding ways to make “someday” into “today”.  I dyed yarn 3 days this week and developed 3 new colors for the Etsy shop.  Normally that would have fallen under “someday” but I made the choice it would be today and I am so much happier for it. And people, happy is really where it’s at.

Friday Fill-In #98 – Bond edition

 

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Friday Fill-In #98
(get yours here)

1. Please feel free to agree with me that Daniel Craig is The.Best.Bond.evah.
2. When I pass a Bath & Body Works at the mall I can’t help sniffing it occasionally.
3. My favorite thing to cook is cupcakes!
4.  Yarn is something I can’t get enough of.
5. Creating something beautiful from string; that’s the thing I love most about knitting.
6. Excessive plastic surgery on already good looking or well endowed people always makes me think to myself, what the heck?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to not having to push my bangs out of my face (getting a haircut this afternoon!), tomorrow my plans include maybe seeing Quantum of Solace and Sunday, I want to relax!

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BTW knitty peeps:  The IK Preview is up!  Go check it out.  I love nearly everything this time around, as opposed to the last issue.  Enjoy!  And have a wonderful weekend :)

Stuff From All Over

Meh.  The end of another hot, sticky week at work.  Still not feeling extra blogalicious, but I do have a few things to share and it’s just not as much fun to keep them to myself even if they’re not particularly blogtacular.

Last weekend was complete and total knitstonage.  Kind of embarrassing how really knitstoned I was.  I left the house on Friday only because I felt like a loser for sitting on the couch and knitting the better half of the day.  So I went out, bought a coffee, a size 8 circ that I needed to start a project, and some sushi, and then promptly returned home to plant my ass on the couch for the remainder of the day until I decided I should probably go to bed before I feel asleep in mid-stitch.  I would say it was a waste, but I did finish one entire project that day that I’d been putting off for months, so it wasn’t a complete loss.  If you ask my thighs though, they might disagree.  I finished a total of 2 projects over the weekend (pics to come soon) but managed to start 2 times that many.  I think I have a problem.  I didn’t really start like, 4 new projects did I?  Needless to say, the knitstonage continued for 4 days while R. Darling was away running another marathon.

I finished a few more Warm Woolies projects toward my goal of 100 for the year.  We are up to 35 items now and I have a box packed with 18 items that will most likely get shipped out next week sometime.  I just couldn’t fit that last item in there without the box busting open of its own accord, so I figure it can go in with the next batch when they go out.  It’s silly, but it makes me feel good to already have one item to go into the next box.  And Item #36 is already on the needles.

 

Items #33 & #34 for Warm Woolies

Item #35 for Warm Woolies

 

O.k.  So I cheated a little with the vesty.  I actually knit that one last year but wasn’t sure if I liked how it turned out so I held on to it until now.  I blocked it this weekend and decided it wasn’t so bad after all and will send it in my next batch of items to go.  I did a funky little half-linen stitch action in it and it seemed to be pulling a little before blocking which I didn’t like.  But it seems cool now.  I’ve never thought much about using Lamb’s Pride for a sweater, but I have to admit, it feels ever so much softer and more appealing after blocking.  Hmmm…. may have to give that some more thought.

 

 

My tigridia is blooming again!  I had doubts as to whether these would survive the winter in my garden, but here they are to astound me yet again with their vivid beauty.  These flowers are like a secret that floats away on the breeze if you are not there to hear it whispered.  They will bloom and fade in one day of glory, which can be easily missed if you are not vigilant.  Last year I had a red one as well but so far I only see a clump of the yellow.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a lovely surprise sometime soon though.  This one stopped me in my tracks this morning when I did my quick before-work garden perusal.  I had no idea it was even close to blooming!  What a beautiful way to start my morning.

Tomorrow….. The Dark Knight!  I’ve been waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Christian Bale has to be the best Batman evah.

Other than that, just hoping for more knitting!  Hope all of you have a lovely weekend doing whatever it is that makes you happiest ;) 

Friday Fill-In: November 30, 2007

 

Sunset on Bowman Bay – November 24,2007 

 

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Friday Fill-In #48
(answer yours here)

1. When my blog is broken, there’s no one to fix it but me!
2. I saw the most amazing man in my bed this morning!
3. The Golden Compass is the new movie I’m most looking forward to seeing.
4. Work: Necessary and always entertaining at the lab.
5. Of all the new tv shows, I enjoy Pushing Daisies! Pushing Daisies! Pushing Daisies! the most.
6. If only I had cleaned the house before the phone guy came over, I would have felt a little less like a disgusting pig.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to sleep, tomorrow my plans include moping around sucking on cough drops and drinking tea and Sunday, I want to knit & cheer on my hubby at The Deception Pass Dash if I’m feeling better!

Friday Fill-In: November 16, 2007

A photo of me and my poochie about a year after my adoption

Today is National Adoption Day!

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Friday Fill-In #46
(answer yours here)

1. The things I give thanks for this Thanksgiving are my husband, my family, my health, and a warm comfortable home.

2. My Thanksgiving traditions include making 2 pumpkin pies the night before; 1 for serving at dinnertime and 1 for breakfast on Thanksgiving day!  And usually, the day after Thanksgiving, I “allow” myself to watch my first Christmas movie of the season.

3. The best part about Thanksgiving is sharing the day with my family.

4. My favorite Thanksgiving food is …..Hmmm. That one’s tough because I’m usually the cook and by the time I get to eat, nothing sounds good at all!  But I’d have to say white turkey meat with gravy and pumpkin pie with a buttload of whipped cream.

5. Not having the turkey ready on time was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me on Thanksgiving.  Not really that big of a deal, but I don’t really have any embarrassing stories that I can remember.

6. After the meal, I would love to take a tasty nap!  But I usually end up packaging food for people to take home and loading the dishwasher.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to going to see Fred Claus in the movie theater, tomorrow my plans include convincing hubby to watch Meet The Robinson’s with me and Sunday, I want to make some good progress on my Christmas knitting while hubby’s out kayaking!

Fetching Cool Hand Luke

So a few months ago, we’re watching High Fidelity (mostly just to see Jack Black in what I imagine to be a pretty semi-autobiographical role) and John Cusack’s character says his favorite movie of all time is Cool Hand Luke. This got us curious so we put it on our rental queue with Intelliflix. What surprised us most of all, was that it took us months to get this movie. Apparently, Cool Hand Luke is everyone else’s all time favorite movie too. We were told that this title was in high demand and it wasn’t likely we would get it within 30 days. So we kept trying and finally we got it and watched it last night. Let me tell you, I will forever think of this movie whenever I eat a hard-boiled egg. Seriously. It already happened once this morning when we were watching TLC or Discovery or something and they showed a gila monster eating some poor little mama bird’s egg. The first thing I said to R. Darling was, “I wonder if it can eat 50 of those in an hour?” Ah, the things that leave an impression. Cool Hand Luke was one of those odd older movies that must have really been something to get folks talking in its day. Yet, to us, it seemed, well, sort of goofy and a little odd. The story in itself was sad, yet it was played out in a jolly sort of way. But I guess if you think about it, that’s the kind of guy Cool Hand Luke really was. A hard case, but fancy free. Something to ponder…..

On the knitting front, I’m totally loving this Fetching from Summer 2006 Knitty. This is only my second cable project, and probably only my third or so on double pointed needles. The pattern knits up quickly (very satisfying) and is simple to follow (so far). It only took me a couple trips to the store to get the right dpns. I needed a size 6 and Michael’s only had 8’s and 10’s and Joann’s only had metal 6’s. I settled for the metal 6’s because I was too lazy to drive downtown to the LYS for bamboo. As a general rule I hate metal needles. To me they give me that feeling that’s reminiscent of biting down on a piece of tin foil. Plus, they’re cold and my hands are already cold enough all the time! But so far these dpns have been pretty nice. These mitts will be for my MIL for her birthday at the end of the month. I’m thinking though, that if these go well, everyone else might be getting these for Christmas next year!

And just in case you wanted to know…… Mr. Cool Hand Luke was pretty fetching himself!