Measi's Musings

Archive for June, 2006

I haven’t done one of these in a long time…

1. Do you play cards?

Yes. Both at home and at the casino.

2. Do you have any rings on your hands?

Just the engagement ring. Occasionally I wear my grandmother’s ruby on my right hand.

3. Would you describe yourself as innocent?

Most definitely not.

4. What do you think of chivalry?

I love it- and I love men who still believe in it. I re-enforce that by thanking men who go out of their way to open doors and such.

5. Have you seen The Thomas Crown Affair?

No.

This is going to be a pretty heavy photo entry. Apologies in advance…

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted update photos of my stitching. And since it’s Wednesday (and therefore Stitcher Blogging Question day), I finally got my butt in gear and took some photos. I’m having some serious problems with blur, though. *sigh*

Anyway, here’s The Castle. As I’d mentioned a month or so ago, the cross-stitches are now done. I’m finishing up the backstitching. The majority of the work I have left to do are the rocks between the castle and the tail. I’m working the spines on the far left hand side (against the white backdrop) right now.

Here’s a bit more detail on the backstitching I’m actually focused on:

For those who read my journal who don’t cross-stitch… backstitching is the technical term for adding lines that create detail. It includes outlining, shade lines, and definition lines between different colored areas. On my Castle, for example, take a good look at the rocks on the left hand side of the image vs. the right– you’ll notice the ones on the left have a faint outline around them. That’s what I’ve backstitched so far. The ones on the right are not yet backstitched (but will be!).

Most stitchers I know consider backstitching to be tedious, but we all know that it definitely DOES make a difference in the finished project. I’m thankfully moving well right now, so I’m plugging along on it while the ability to tolerate backstitching continues.

Apache Wedding Blessing is my other big project right now. I’m stitching this for my good friend Ivanna, who wed in October. I’m really hoping to have this done for her first anniversary…

I got a good 10 hour plug done on this so far this week– anything you see in the top horizontal section was done on either Sunday (most of the day) or last night (mmm… Deadliest Catch). I want to have that section done no later than Friday night. Then I’ll begin working on the bottom half of the left hand column (more of the blue zig-zag pattern, which stitches obnoxiously fast). Once I get the left hand vertical column done, I’ll get that portion backstitched, and then move on to the bottom horizontal panel.

So my projects are moving right along– I can be honest via photos now!

The Stitcher Blogging Questions for this week are photographic, too…

The first request comes from Vashwho is requesting pictures of the back of your stitching… are you brave enough to give this one a shot?

I’m really not afraid of this. I consider myself a very neat (and proudly so!) stitcher.

Backside of The Castle:

Backside of Apache Wedding Blessing:

I’m not sure who actually taught me this, but I learned very early on to keep the backside of my stitching as neat as possible so when I finished a piece, it would lie as flat as possible when put into a pillow or a frame. As I stitch, I honestly do consciously look to make my backside stitching as clean as possible. Most of the mess I may have comes from the backstitching.

The second request comes from Singular Stitches, and she is asking for “a pictorial tour of [the] special place that you go to create your wonderful stitched creations.”

Other than the Commuter Rail train, which I couldn’t shoot spur of the moment… here are my two stitching nooks:

The living room couch (complete in this photo with British stitching mags and the black sheet I’ve been using to cover my legs as I curl up)

And my side of the bed (please don’t skeeve at the wallpaper. It’s from the previous owner… we just haven’t gotten to it yet. The cats love pouncing the big pink roses, though!)

And I think I’ve reached my max space limit for entries today….

Stuff I need or want to do, or really should think about doing before Labor Day:

Dates to Remember
June 15: World’s Largest Dungeon game
June 18: Father’s Day
June 22-29: Bahamas trip (Seth & Gina’s wedding)
June 28-30: Office Department Move
July 3-4: Holiday weekend
July 14-16: Trip up to Maine to see Erich’s mom (?)
August 10: Erich’s birthday

Dates TBD
July: Erich’s game
July: WLD game
July: Anthony’s game
August: Erich’s game
August: WLD game
August: Anthony’s game

House & Yard
Unpack remaining boxes in office
Reorganize and clean out office
Reorganize closet
Organize hallway chests & put away all house linens
Donate clothing to Goodwill as needed
Plant hydrangea
Plant bleeding hearts
Plant yellow flower thingy that starts with an L
Clear out bed along side of house
Second kill spray on poison ivy
Plant additional lilies in bed
Create new cookbook binder

Letters/Phone Calls/Etc.
Letter & photos to Grandma
Stop being stupid- contact Andrea
Ditto with Ivanna
Contact Dad re: stuff from house
Postcrossing postcards
Go through swap stuff and clear out anything still sitting around

Wedding Planning
Find a reception site
Pick a fucking date already
Square up guest list
Send out Save the Date cards

Stitching
Finish The Castle
Finish Elemental Dragons: Spirit
Apache Wedding Blessing
- Complete top left quarter
- Stitch out all wood poles that define borders
- Complete top right quarter
- Backstitch everything completed to date
Create new stitching rotation
Itemize everything in stitch stash (i.e. make an inventory)
Bring stitching pages up to date

I’m swimming in stuff at work, but I need to get some thoughts out of my head because I have this need to blog scribble. Gotta love how the writing bug is deciding to drop in at the wrong time!

Anyway, another round of quick thoughts-

Nothing like seeing Poseidon in a downpour
Erich and I were jonesing to get to the drive-in again, so we picked Saturday night. We invited Purkis and Matt to join us. They thought we were nuts, considering it was raining—fairly steadily – all afternoon. But they came anyway. We saw X-Men 3 and Poseidon in a double feature, Both were pretty good for popcorn flicks, although I personally thought both needed some extra time for character development.

Anyway, I don’t recommend the drive-in in the rain. If for no other reason, it’s really annoying to have to frequently turn the car completely on to run the defroster and the wipers due to the screens fogging up. (and no, they were not fogging up for that reason. Heh.)

Oh, and speaking of the rain… Mother Nature- enough already! Give us a fully dry week, please!

Stitching, stitching, stitching
I plunked my butt on the couch in front of the TV for the better part of eight hours on Sunday and just focused on stitching Apache Wedding Blessing all day. Got a bunch done. If I can devote two four-hour stretches this weekend, I may have that top quarter done as I’d hoped to complete. Gotta love projects that don’t have blended stitches—they actually move faster!

Wedding Stuff
Left a message to schedule my look-see at the farm. Waiting to hear on a confirm time. I hope this place is “it” so I can move forward.

The lingering…
I’m so sick of coughing. Every fucking cold I get. My body needs to get a new post-illness routine going here. I’m just winded enough due to the coughing that my walk from the train to work is making me tired. And that’s not cool, considering it’s only a four block walk. Thanks. I realize I’m fat and out of shape—I don’t need extra reminders making it more hellish for me.

Reading
I finished 1984 for the first time in my life a couple weeks ago. I’ve been digesting it casually now that I’m done. Great book. Depressing as hell. Lots to chew on. And yeah—I appreciate the real-world application of the book so much more. Damn. FYI– he current book on my nightstand is Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I bought it and In the Name of the Rose earlier this year upon recommendations by the more literary folks at work who insisted that if I wanted something meatier than The DaVinci Code, I needed to check out these books. So far, I definitely agree. I needed to get used to the translated word rhythm, but they are fantastic.

Mmmm… food
I crave my grandma’s pierogi right now. You have no idea how sad that makes me, since I know there is no solution to solving said craving.

Working upon another food craving last night, we headed to Spumoni’s in Pawtucket after we got off the train. Great food. The veal parm is to die for.

Marriage
The fucktards in Washington are trying to put discrimination back into the Constitution. With all of the nation’s more critical problems already solved, they’re going to their election year buzzwords now. The Repubs are in trouble, and they know it. They’ve screwed around for too many years, and now they’re trying to use the buzzwords to save their asses. Hopefully the American public sees through the smokescreen this time, regardless of their stance on the gay marriage issue. This is, as Stephen Colbert aptly described it, rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenberg.

That’s better—off to work.

World of Warcraftcrack has taken over my life the past five months and change. Now that I’ve reached level 60 with my first character, I’m trying to pick up the stitching that I’ve been leaving behind– I have a ton of projects that I could have finished with all of the hours I spent on the computer. (oops)

Through the Rotation Stitchers board that I frequent, I put together my goals for June:

1) Complete the backstitching on The Castle

Self explanatory– I want to get this project done. I estimate I have probably about 10 hours of backstitching left to do.

2) Complete the top quarter of Apache Wedding Blessing

This project is moving quickly, but I need to recommit to it– if I can get the top quarter done by the end of June, I’m going to be in great shape to plug through it over the summer.

3) Rework a new rotation to start in July

I really need to get a new gameplan going here. I have 8-10 projects in various stages of completion, and need to figure out a good way to approach them, now that The Castle is almost done.

4) Update my stitching pages

I haven’t done anything with them really since we moved into the house. It’s time to update the webpages. This project might get pushed back until July, though– I do want to focus primarily on stitching this month.

5) Finish organizing my craft room

My office is a disaster. It’s not just a craft room– it’s my office and library, and it’s just a wreck. Again, it might be pushed off until July, but at least it’s on my mind.

I’ve been trying to work through some actual Meaty Post Topics ™ to write about, rather than some insubstantial drivel about everyday life… not finding a lot these days, which is why my posts haven’t been quite as active lately. While I continue to work through said Meaty Post Topics ™ (which may or may not have to do with actual meat-as-food), I present the stupid thoughts and not necessarily stupid issues swirling around me right now…

Paul Simon is Stalking Me
I’m not sure if “You Can Call Me Al” is just in the middle of its 20th anniversary resurgence, or what.. but I’m ALWAYS hearing it. The Mobil station down the street from us, without fail, is playing it any time I stop there for gas or coffee. (and not always at the same time of day). It’s been on the radio more often recently– much more often than I expect a song from the 80′s to be. And then today, I walk into Citizens Bank in Copley Square to use the ATM, and lo and behold, that eight-note brass opener to the song kicks up.

What’s worse, is that I immediately get the mental image of the Boston University pep band’s horns all moving in proper rhythm while playing it, and then being amused at the piccolo section desperately trying to sound like a unified section during their solo, rather than a jumble of chirping birds in a hockey arena. My brain has permanently infused College Band into my brain.

Seriously, though… I’m hearing the song everywhere. Did Paul re-release it or something? Is Chevy Chase making a comeback?

It’s June, the Switch Has Been Thrown
Gosh, who would have thunk… it’s June. Therefore, it must instantly become 10 times more humid. Whee– my least favorite part of summer has returned.

My Cats are Insane
More often than not, Noby has woken me up around 5-6 a.m. desperate for attention. His usual method is to purr around my head standing on my pillow, do a drive-by face rubbing (making sure to let his lips spread open so I get cat drool on my cheek), and then do a brilliantly fluid flop and melting motion down off the pillow onto my neck. When I start to ignore him, he moves and repeats the motion on Erich. When Erich shoos him, he comes back to me. He also pounces movement on the television screen– especially as I watch “Deadliest Catch.”

Colley is considerably less vocal since his tooth extraction (thankfully). However, his new thing is not to cuddle up to my stomach, but to sleep on and gradually spread over my pillow. If Noby hasn’t woken me up, chances are I’ll wake up with my head entirely off the pillow because Colley has found a way to spread across it.

Gus, now visibly beyond the craziness of kitten-hood, is chunking up a bit and getting some belly hang-down. His thing is to walk all over Erich while we watch TV, then sit down on Erich’s stomach, staring at Erich’s face and doing this sniffing thing we’ve termed “wuffelling” into Erich’s goatee. He does this several times an evening. He’s very needy.

Fizzy continues to be herself- quiet, shy, demure. Except when another cat tries to play with her or pounce her. She then lets out screams and hisses that sound like she’s being ripped to shreds.

Elly, who remains tinier than Fizz (amazingly possible), is in a full-out war to be Alpha Female. She goes from this incredibly cute, quiet mild-mannered plush ball suckling on Erich’s shoulder to an extremely aggressive lionness out to get Fizzy. She shocked the hell out of me a few nights ago when she blatantly charged Fizzy on the bed. She also has infatuated Gus. There’s simply no other reason to explain how she’ll go right up to wherever Gus is sprawled, flop on him, give herself a bath, and then simply get up and walk away, leaving him stunned.

Passport? Moo?
Erich’s has arrived. I applied for mine on the same day. It’s not here yet. Granted, it hasn’t been two weeks (that’s tomorrow), but still… I’d really like for it to arrive soonish so I don’t have to panic.

Me? Panic? Nah…

So… When Are You Getting Married?
The pressure’s on, now that my fellow bride-to-be who was annoyed at the whole planning process has arrived at a date. So yeah… I guess it’s time to get this whole thing over with and actually plan something already. *sigh* I’m going to tour a potential site once I firm up a time with the coordinator of the site. We’ve pared our original off-the-top-of-our-heads list of 100 down to about 65, which is honestly much less daunting to me. But it’s still wedding planing… so… yeah.

I Won WoW
Other than playing Myst, Riven, and Exile with massive amounts of help from the tip book, I’ve never actually “won” a computer game before. But on Monday, I reached level 60 in World of Warcraftcrack. I am a mighty Tauren Hunter! Roar!

Of course… while my group of friends gets organized, I’m working on character #2… now at level 14.

Counting toward Vacation
Exactly three weeks to the Bahamas… counting… counting…

Work… beh
I’m so ready to find something new. I could definitely go off on a long rant here, but I won’t right now, since I actually do have to work the rest of the afternoon.