deepgreen18

Today is my birthday, I'm 22 years old/young/whatever. It's not such a big deal. I'm thinking that my 25th will be a big party; what else is the first fourth of your life for? But for today, I'm just acting my usual semi-social, haphazardly planning self.

Somewhere in my brain, I am constantly subverting tradition. This is at least partially because I'm number two of five children. Being just the same as everyone else makes me cringe. Thus, you have me ordering different food at restaurants than my family, a virgin pina colada on my 21st, and getting a birthday pie today. I fully intended to buy my usual ice cream cake, but when we got to the store the pie was right there, and I couldn't help myself. (I got French Silk pie and a cheesecake sampler) It's going to be so good.

I know already what half my presents are, and am looking forward to the rest. This year was better (and worse) than many. That is how it seems to go, huh? The higher the highs, the lower the lows. Balance is inherent in many things. My favorite thing about the past month was being with my parents, talking with them one on one, no real distractions. It made me feel special.

While I'm rambling on, I may as well mention a conversation my brother and I had. We were coming home from the airport, and were talking about age. He mentioned that he felt he stopped maturing at 14, and that is was scary that so many people treat him as an adult. I've also heard this sentiment on XKCD.com (very funny, overly educated snarky cartoons, try it!). Here:



I don't really feel that way. I often feel that people treat me as more mature than I am, but I'm constantly experiencing new things and learning from them. Maybe the difference is that I haven't given up on maturity yet, and I'm willing to redefine it as I go. People treating you as mature is not necessarily a bad thing. Conforming to the expectations of others is a normal thing for many. The best example of that for me is the orchestra here in town that I've played with (remember that week?). At school we were all more or less the same level, and slacking off is a way of life for many a student. However, in a professional orchestra the expectation and, consequently, the level of performance is higher. When I play with them I feel elevated, made better by the good performances of the people around me.

That was probably enough thoughtfulness for today, here's some knitting!



This is the baby thing (my younger brother decided it looked like a mini skirt) at about 13 inches. The curly bit at the bottom? That's where the drawstring holes are. (That's also my shoe at the very bottom, just noticed that). It's gotten even bigger since then, I'm currently reading about 18 inches, and am aiming for 21.5 in. before I start the armholes. Wish me luck!

Until next time,
Greeny

I'm home again. This is quite interesting. I and the family did not want to leave Florida, but we had to come back. We are settling easily into old routines. I'm watching lots of TV, knitting a bit, and avoiding homework and practicing like there's a tomorrow to do it in. The good part of the TV watching is getting rid of the old taped stuff. It piled up a bit these last few weeks.
The sock is going swimmingly, and I'm now on the toe of the first one. I anticipate some Second Sock Syndrome, or difficulty getting through the second one due to boredom/whatever. It should be okay, though.
Me and Tim are making meatloaf. That word looks horribly wrong. Meat and loaf together with no space? Also, I just found out that the version we made is not kosher. We put milk and beef together, and having two products from the inside and outside of a cow is forbidden in the Jewish tradition. Thank goodness we're Protestant.

I think I'll leave now.
Greene

Yay for randomness. It is Wednesday, my friends, let us rejoice and make merry. 
I have very little to say, life is good, I talked, worked, and rehearsed yesterday. It was very busy. On Monday me and Tim were so bored we went and saw WALL-E, which was very awesome. We also got ice cream (chocolate and almond). Today I've slept in, knit, watched TV, done some cleaning and laundry, replaced the remote, and made pudding. I'm supposed to practice tonight, my friend's wedding is in two days, and it is always very good to be all professional and prepared, no? 
You should see my sister's top. It is going rather well. I've managed a repeat of lace a day, and I'm still wondering whether I'm going to have enough yarn to finish and make her happy length-wise. We will see. 
Off we go...
Greeny

And I'm rather nervous. I never thought I would be, but finishing a top in 17 days? What was I thinking? That I have somehow acquired the willpower and speed of a second year knitter? Okay, blurb over. I am nervous, but I'll deal and try to gauge how much I should knit every day to finish on time. I think one lace pattern repeat every day is maybe enough. I need eight repeats, and then enough stockinette to cover my sister's considerable assets. Then, of course, I need to put it together, but there is such little sewing involved that I'm okay to finish, I think. We shall see.

Other than the amazingly nerve-wracking thing that I've entered in a moment of self-delusion (I'm loving me some dashes today ----- :), life is good. My friend (ex-cousin-in-law is too long to say) who's wedding I'm playing in is next week. So I'm practicing diligently in order to make her day brighter and mine less embarrassing. Again, :), how does one nervously smile?

I shall go and do things not entirely related to this post. The randomness wins some days.

Bye-bye, ta-ta, TTFN, adieu, auf wiedersehen, and achoo.

Greeny

Yesterday was a roller coaster ride. An underwater roller coaster ride, really. There was good: reading, knitting. There was bad: frustration due to insufficient Robin Hood. And there was strange, like me staying up until 5am for no apparent reason. I watched at least seven episodes of The Invisible Man and The Incredible Hulk (strange, how similar those names are. I poke fun at them -poke-), and a few random bits of other stuff. I suppose the best reason I can come up with is I wanted to finish knitting Mom's headband, maybe. I did finish Mom's headband. It is bright yellow, the travails of getting the yarn in Vienna I recounted some weeks ago.
I should post pictures here, shouldn't I? Hold on, I'm gonna try.

Darn it, I don't know what I'm doing. I'll find a way eventually. Here's a link to it in my gallery, instead:
http://pics.livejournal.com/deepgreen18/pic/0000yah6/g1

 Anyhow, the illustrious headband (my first attempt at cabling) was done just in time for Mother to get up and go exercise at five in the morning. I gave it to her, and have no idea where it is. This disturbs me, as I usually hoard my finished products (Mine! is a tough thought for me to get past, sometimes).

I shall go now, and practice for the band that has no name.
Greeny

My apron, she lives! I believe I started this lovely and wonderfully finished product July 5th or 6th, and I was hoping to finish it the 1st of August, but I went slightly past it into the 2nd. Less than a month is very respectable for an apron that was 83 stitches across and had 8 stripes of 14 rows, plus a waist tie of 15 stitches per row with approximately 500 rows. That equals 16,796 stitches, and that is a slight underestimate, because there was some increasing that is too complicated to calculate this late at night. I don't even feel very intimidated by that number, since I am figuring it out upon completion. This took many hours, obviously, but was a very interesting and worthy project.

I need to take pictures and show everyone. This is a very pleasing accomplishment because I love the finished object. The journey is not nearly as interesting as the use and show-off time I'll get out of it. Yes, I like the spotlight. Especially (and usually only) when I've done something well.
A few notes on the apron itself: It is four colors, pink, purple, white, and yellow. These are all pastel-like baby shades. I played with the straight knitting because that was too boring, and I whip-stitched the waist tie and body together. Overall, a very soft and protective-feeling garment (its made of chenille yarn), and I think that it will be used in the kitchen once, just to irk Mom, who thinks that it's too pretty to get dirty.

Now, onto bigger and better things. Well, better, at least. You can't lose a skill you're constantly practicing. I will be swatching Victoria's top for a few days until the 8th, and then off I go to conquer the Ravelympics!

Until next time,
Greeny

I just realized something: I write the same type of stuff I read. 
Reading my brother's blog, something disturbed me, but I didn't/couldn't identify it at the time. It was this: He is a episodic writer. He writes sporadically, with no real connection between his blogs. I write serially, regularly, and with a definite connection flowing through everything: my life.
I love series, this is a defining feature of what I read. It is only rarely that I give one-shots and stand alone stories a whirl. Hmmm. I've already figured out why. Basically, that once I've fallen in like with a character/situation/writer, I don't want it to end. This only seems to work well in book setting, as pulling it off in movie format is extremely hard to do. 
Randomly, this is a stand alone blog, in its way. 

Good day, and glad tidings.
Greeny

I babysat for five and a half hours today. It was surprisingly easy, but I had the gold standard of babysitting difficulty thrust upon me a few months back, and a normal difficulty feels easy now. I don't really feel like talking about it, blogging is just a habit that is rather hard to break.
A few points:

Kids are fast, you look away for ten seconds, literally, and they are not there anymore. Honestly, I felt like I was living with three spies in training.
Firmness and persistence are the keys to a happy relationship. You tell them what to do, and you insist on it. Just be sure that what you are insisting on is not to the child's detriment, and life is good.
Getting kids ready to go somewhere takes a good bit of time, I suggest this when babysitting, it helps things to keep rolling at a good clip.

That's it on that.

I went to see The Dark Knight with my brothers. A very well done movie, darker for sure (in humor and violence), and still missing some logic around the edges (less so than Iron Man). In further comparison to Iron Man, it was less humorous and easy-going, but the psychology was simply excellent. They gave you just enough pieces to understand the characters. Oh, and thank God for the replacement Rachel, she was very good.

After that, I've been catching up on Doctor Who. -Simpson's reference- It is excellent. -/reference- One more episode before Donna bites the dust. The lady who plays her is brilliant, as is the doctor. I'm going to miss her character, and anything she's in after this acts as its own recommendation.

I am very content and happy. I am full, comfortable, looking out the window at trees, and am doing productive things. This music thing I do? It totally pays off sometimes. Like today, I was asked to play at a friend's wedding, which is way cool, and am going to a "jam session" of an alt rock band that has invited me to play with them. How did my life get this neat?
Also, I am healthy, wealthy, working on the wise part, and engaged in life. I have a wonderful loving family. I have a job! (that still frickin amazes me sometimes) I get to go to a school that I love, and I am going to go learn about teaching violin in three days. My life is good. I would never , ever have imagined being this happy at 13 or 16. Starting at 18, things improved so much, and they continue to get better (a big thanks to TU and its employees). Here is hoping that the next three years are like the last three.

I don't have much more to say, so see ya'll later.
Greeny