manifestation

It's useful to have a male perspective at times. Recently, a male friend advised me that I should get a couch if I don't want to remain single all my life. Apparently, the rather bare state of my living room (or as my son refers to it "the play area") doesn't encourage suitors to make a romantic move. On the question of whether I want to be single for the rest of my life, I find I'm actually pretty okay with that thought at the moment. Though I certainly wouldn't rule out a relationship, either. Regardless of all that, I do want a couch.

Carmel needs a van. Hers died. This is pretty crucial, not only because Carmel and Patricia are inconvenienced by not having a vehicle, but because the van has been important in ferrying all our band equipment all over the place. So Elizabeth needs it too.

Ok universe, putting it out there.

This one's an update. My life has been fairly eventful over the past few days. Most of the events involved me being in denial about having a cold, doing fun energetic things, then collapsing and whining like crazy, but hey - no regrets.

Still trying to schedule in the retail therapy with TWFKAH. We may just default straight to the wine/whine-fest part.

But thanks to Aggie, I now like port. And, you left the bottle at my house, dear. You are not getting it back...

I'm at Umi, and a firetruck just drove by. The firefighters all craned their necks to look in the windows. Maybe firefighters have a secret love of Umi. But they can't indulge it because they're all manly and tough and not into spoken word and peace rallies... um, I guess the cold medication is making me high, that makes no sense.

what am I trying to say? mainly, nothing. But I can't wait for this cold to be over. And I'm really bummed out that I had to cancel volunteering yesterday. The teacher gets me to sit in the hall and take turns reading individually with each kid. I love it. The kids are so amazing, these little tiny beings with their big huge personalities, their daily struggles and passions and rampant curiosity. I think volunteering in jk is probably my most favourite thing that I've done during my sabbatical.

My next most favourite thing has been the music. Still going to be doing some music stuff - a possible date at Umi, in discussions; March 26th at the Elmdale (a thursday - you know the drill - take friday off so you can stay late and come to my place afterwards for the post-party).

One final thing - my friend Carmel needs to buy a second hand van or small truck - any leads?

(photo credit: blavish.com)

still argh, and thanks for the chocolate

Thanks for the offers of chocolate, wine and retail therapy. I will be taking you all up on all of those offers - in fact, my social calendar is looking quite ample, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Did you know today's Blue Monday? Well, probably you do, if you listen to CBC, which is the only reason I know. I guess I was ahead of trend Friday when I posted my little plaintive whine. Since then I have applied many cures - playing with my boy, yoga, attending a party, playing music, oh yes, chocolatines.

hmm. Still a bit depressed, I think more treats are called for...

New Year. Same old angst.

I'm not really feeling whiny and sorry for myself. I had a bracing chat with a friend this morning, and that helped. Also my horoscope for today told me to take the day off. (Thank god I read it in time!) but yes, same old angst - all the usual old boring problems, trying tackle them in one fell swoop of self-improvement - not a good idea. The older I get, the less interested I am in my own angst.

Ok, feeling a bit whiny and sorry for myself - maybe chocolate would help?

the knitting kit

I've never been a knitter. My grandmother showed me one stitch and I made about three or four unfinished scarves as a child. That's my experience as a knitter.

From somewhere or other, my 4 year old son learned about 'knitting kits'. One day he was playing with some twist ties and a (clean) kleenex, pretending to knit. He referred to it as his knitting kit. I thought nothing of it.

The next day, he asked me for his knitting kit. Fortunately I had not thrown it out. I pointed it out on one of his toy shelves. He looked at it and said, "No, not my pretend knitting kit, my real knitting kit, you're supposed to get me a knitting kit!"

I am a dutiful parent, so I took him to Wabi Sabi the next day after school. The woman working there guided us through the selection of suitable knitting needles and yarn.

At this point I discovered that I had not brought any means of payment, idiot that I sometimes am. She told us to take it and pay the next day! (This kind of thing has never happened to me in the big city before, though it used to be common in the small town where I went to school as a kid.) The cockles of my heart were warmed through and through by this generosity, which successfully staved off my son's tears.

We went home and embarked on our knitting project. Wild speculations about what we could knit were thoroughly discussed on the way home: sunglasses to keep the sun out of our eyes! sweaters for the cats! At home, I managed to get one row of knitting started through trial and error. As I did so, I was flooded with memories of my grandmother showing me how to knit. I vividly remembered watching her hands holding the knitting needles and moving with lightening speed as mittens, hats, and scarves seemed to be created out of thin air right in front of my eyes. I told my son about my grandmother and showed him what to do with the loops. We did a few rows together, then he took the needles and did a row himself (read: thoroughly fucked it up, but who cares?).

Now he has abandoned the project, except as an overseer. I am dutifully knitting away at it. I have to say, it is an unexpected pleasure.