Minnie finds all the memes I like

Use the letter from your middle name and you can’t use your middle name for the name portion.

1. Middle name letter: A
2. Famous artist/band/musician: All-American Rejects
3. 4-letter word: Anti (wait, that’s a prefix)…Apex
4. U.S state: Alabama
5. Boy name: Adam
6. Girl name: Ariel
7. Animal: Aardvark
8. Something in the kitchen: Addi Turbos? haha
9. Reason for being late? Axe in my windshield?
10. Body Part? Appendix
11. Drink? Apple Cider
12. Something you shout: Aha!
13. Something you eat? Apple Pie
14. A movie you’ve seen? American Beauty

Posted: March 31st, 2008 under Q & A.
Comments: none

I hate even typing this, but I have to vent! I am still sick. This virus I’ve had for over two weeks just won’t seem to leave. I feel better than I did two weeks ago, that’s for sure. But my throat is still acting funny and I’m just hoping that I’ll be all healthy soon.

On to happier things! The weather today was dreary and rainy and I had to work this morning, but I went to one of my local libraries and borrowed a copy of The Book Thief for the April selection of the Ravelry Book Group. (My library where I work didn’t have a copy on hand.) I know very little about the book other than the summary on the Amazon page, so I’m excited to discover a new read. Also, I’m hoping I can keep up with the other book club members because I read pretty slowly. I’m also still reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, which has gotten really interesting (I found the beginning kind of slow to start). But I am definitely getting back in touch with my bookworm-iness (hehe). I go through phases when I read a couple books in a row, then don’t read for a long time. Lately instead of knitting in the morning before work, I’ve been reading TTTW and it’s so interesting that I’m ok with sacrificing knitting time temporarily.

Speaking of knitting, I decided to stay off the yarn diet since I’ve been doing so well on the book diet. I have not bought any books since January 1 and have reduced my book stash by ten titles thanks to Paperback Swap. Also, I’ll be mailing another book this Friday. Book destashing seems much easier to me than yarn destashing. Maybe I am less emotionally attached to books than to yarn? If you’ve seen my Shelfari shelf lately, you can see just how many books I own. My goal is to get rid of nearly all the books I’ve read but haven’t read more than once. And eventually, I’d like to read through my To Be Read list but that’s a long-term goal!

In other thoughts…there is yet another WordPress upgrade available, 2.5. Why do they update so frequently? And why can’t there be a one-click easy upgrade? Make my life easier, WordPress people! I will get to it eventually. I know if I upgrade right now, I’ll be staring at my screen for another hour or so, not because upgrading takes that long but because I’ll be clicking all the new buttons and poking around the new interface.

I have laundry to do but I also plan to cast on the Diagonale Shawl with my new Yarntopia Treasures rayon. I admit, I purchased the yarn out of curiosity borne out of the Ravelry discussions. i.e., is YT another incarnation of Mystical Creation Yarns? etc. etc. I think the consensus is no, the person behind YT is not the lady behind MCY (who allegedly has died, though again, the Ravelry consensus is no, MCY lady is not dead, just crazy). But I’m just amazed at the heatedness of some of the posts on Ravelry. I read the threads voraciously, of course, because it is the train wreck/soap opera effect and well, entertaining.

Do me a favor and send me some happy thoughts/get healthy wishes! I just want to feel 100% better, and can use all the positive juju I can get!

Posted: March 30th, 2008 under Bookworm, Knitting, My So-Called Life.
Comments: 5

Today in the mail, I received my financial award letter from my university. I’ve been awarded a UMUC President’s Grant (yay!), which was totally unexpected! Though, the grant won’t even pay for half of one course, but it will still make a nice dent in the tuition fees. Also, I’m eligible for a federal subsidized OR unsubsidized loan, both in amounts way higher than I will need. So I accepted the subsidized loan to save on interest and accepted an amount that is only what I need.

I am one step closer to paying for college–sensibly!–and getting that darn degree once and for all! The sooner that happens, the sooner (cross your fingers) I can get a better job and quit working two of them. Hopefully. That’s the plan, anyway!

Posted: March 26th, 2008 under Miss Education.
Comments: 3

Seen at Minnie’s blog:

The rules:

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (or get them out of your capacious memory).
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t.

The quotes:

1. “One of these days, Lizzie, someone will catch your eye and then you’ll have to watch your tongue.” - from Pride & Prejudice - Jamie and Alli and kc knew it!
2. “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” - from The Shawshank Redemption - Carole knew it!
3. “Yes, I did it. I killed Yvette. I hated her so… much… it… it… the… it… the… fee… flames… flames… on the side of my face… heaving… breathless… heaving breaths…” from Clue - Jamie and Jennifer and Alli and Mary knew it! (Apparently this quote is also in Blazing Saddles, which I had no idea about since I’ve never seen that one!)
4. “Oh, he’s so full of manure, that man! We could lay him in the dirt and grow another one just like him.”
5. “Have bottom the size of Brazil!” - from Bridget Jones’s Diary - kc knew it!
6. “It is to Madame Justice that I dedicate this concerto.” - from V for Vendetta - M knew it!
7. “I want a whole lot more than the boy next door. I want hell on wheels.” - from Grease 2 - Renee knew it!
8. “You gave me my first glimpse of a real life. Then you asked me to go on with the false one. No one can endure that.”
9. “Get a grip, people hate sissies. No one’s ever gonna shag you if you cry all the time.” - from Love Actually - Jamie guessed right!
10. “I’ve got your daughter here, and I’m gonna cut her up, and post her home to you in boxes! *Small* boxes!”

Posted: March 24th, 2008 under Q & A.
Comments: 11

I have been sick for a week and a half! Even after a visit to the doctor last Thursday, this weekend I’ve just begun feeling human again. They diagnosed me with an upper respiratory virus combined with season allergy flare-up. So now I am back on daily allergy meds–Allegra instead of Claritin, since Claritin ceased working for me years ago. The sore throat of death finally went away, though my throat is still tender and swallowing is kind of uncomfortable. But hopefully I will be completely healthy in another day or so, and won’t miss any more work since I really can’t afford to (literally).

Since I’ve been sick, I’ve done so little knitting…that makes me sad! Today I knit for the first time in over a week. I cast on the Dashing mitts from Knitty (@Ravelry), even though the weather here in Virginia is turning springlike. I had cast them on three or four times previously but my ribbing was too loose for my liking. So I’m sort of modifying the ribbing by making it 4×1 twisted all the way around and it looks so much better!

Today while I was napping, I dreamed I was oogling handpainted yarn online–might have been Etsy or Ebay–and then I woke up wanting to buy yarn.

I watched Atonement yesterday and really, really liked it. Must read the book next (which I own), as I’m sure it’s even better than the film.

There are titles in my Netflix queue that I really don’t remember adding. Do you think Netflix sneaks them in on the sly? Or am I having pre-senior moments here? I think perhaps the sickness + being very medicated for 10 days straight might have something to do with it, to be sure.

I’ve stopped carrying around a purse every day. It’s kind of weird but just more convenient for me. Instead, I carry around a messenger bag that has my wallet, phone, and binder/books in it. I’m studying for my upcoming CLEP test (the computer course I’m challenging rather than shelling out the tuition for). I found the textbook used in the course at the library and have been studying during my lunch break every day at work. I think I’ll do well on the CLEP exam.

I feel like the older I get, the busier I get. The busier I get, the more I have to remember. Things I do every day–errands to run, shopping lists, job tasks, job #2 tasks, regular life stuff–there is so much packed into every day. I keep everything organized in my BlackBerry, without which I would probably have 10-15 sticky notes all over the place because if I don’t make a note, I WILL forget. I feel kind of bogged down by it all, like I’m always on the go-go-go, which is probably why I’m still sick after a week and a half. Will this ever end?

I should rest. Tomorrow begins yet another work day, and I have knitting and hopefully a little relaxing to do.

Posted: March 23rd, 2008 under My So-Called Life.
Comments: 1

The other day I was planning how to pay for my textbooks for the upcoming summer semester. Luckily for me, only one or two of the required texts are actual “text”books–this being a literature course, luckily all the other books are novels and I think one might be a biography. So I caved and joined PaperBack Swap. I am going to save soooo much by getting my books from here! So far I’ve requested two and one is already on the way. Here’s my profile. If you sign up, put my username (sassenachtiff) as your referrer and I’ll receive a credit once you post 10 books.

So far no one has requested any of my books, ETA: someone requested a book today! I’m hoping to post more once I READ more. I am still going strong on the no-buying-new-books diet, and haven’t bought any since before January 1. I also haven’t really read much since then since I am so busy with work and the hellish cold of death has overtaken me this past week. I am actually considering just posting some books that I haven’t read at all and don’t plan on reading, but I’m still debating.

Posted: March 18th, 2008 under Bookworm.
Comments: 4

I had requested the 12th off from my day job months ago, due to an All Staff Training Day at the night job (library). So when Wednesday rolled around, I woke up bright and early to go to ASTD, only to get that disgusting feeling upon waking: sore throat. The kind of sore throat that feels icky and coated when you swallow, and which you know means that a cold is imminent.

crap. Well, because I am a trooper–and because I don’t get paid leave at the library–I went to ASTD anyway. The thing is, this was for all the city library branches, so we were at the convention center with hundreds of people in attendance. So my co-worker and I had agreed to meet by the registration area Wednesday morning.

I arrived at registration promptly at 7:15 AM, even though I technically didn’t need to be there till 7:30. Hundreds of library workers began trickling in, as the morning keynote address was scheduled for 8:30. I hung around the registration area by myself, since while I saw other people from my branch, they were clustered with their own co-workers and continued into the breakfast before the keynote. Some said hi to me, some glanced at me but seemed not to recognize me (which I found rather odd), but still I waited for my co-worker, by myself.

You know where this is going, don’t you.

Read more »

Posted: March 16th, 2008 under My So-Called Life.
Comments: 3