boogaj

99 things

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. started your own blog

2. slept under the stars

3. played in a band

4. visited Hawaii

5. watched a meteor shower

6. given more than you can afford to charity

7. been to Disneyland/world

8. climbed a mountain (it was a small one, up in AK)

9. held a praying mantis

10. sang a solo (in grade school I think)

11. bungee jumped

12. visited Paris

13. watched a lightning storm at sea

14. taught yourself an art from scratch

15. adopted a child

16. had food poisoning

17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty

18. grown your own vegetables

19. seen the Mona Lisa in France (I don't think we got very close -- lots of people were looking at it)

20. slept on an overnight train

21. had a pillow fight

22. hitch hiked

23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. built a snow fort

25. held a lamb

26. gone skinny dipping

27. run a marathon

28. ridden a gondola in Venice

29. seen a total eclipse

30. watched a sunrise or sunset

31. hit a home run

32. been on a cruise

33. seen Niagara Falls in person

34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. seen an Amish community

36. taught yourself a new language (learning Spanish right now)

37. had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person

39. gone rock climbing

40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person

41. sung karaoke

42. seen old faithful geyser erupt

43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant

44. visited Africa

45. walked on a beach by moonlight

46. been transported in an ambulance

47. had your portrait painted

48. gone deep sea fishing

49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. kissed in the rain

53. played in the mud

54. gone to a drive-in theater

55. been in a movie

56. visited the Great Wall of China

57. started a business

58. taken a martial arts class

59. visited Russia

60. served at a soup kitchen

61. sold girl scout cookies

62. gone whale watching

63. gotten flowers for no reason

64. donated blood (passed out when they drew it!)

65. gone sky diving

66. visited a Nazi concentration camp

67. bounced a check

68. flown in a helicopter

69. saved a favorite childhood toy

70. visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. eaten caviar

72. pieced a quilt

73. stood in times square -- maybe -- don't remember

74. toured the everglades

75. been fired from a job

76. seen the changing of the guard in London

77. broken a bone

78. been on a speeding motorcycle

79. seen the grand canyon in person

80. published a book

81. visited the Vatican

82. bought a brand new car

83. walked in Jerusalem

84. had your picture in the newspaper

85. read the entire bible -- most of it

86. visited the White House

87. killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. had chickenpox

89. saved someone’s life

90. sat on a jury

91. met someone famous

92. joined a book club

93. lost a loved one

94. had a baby

95. seen the Alamo in person

96. swum in the Great Salt Lake

97. been involved in a law suit (class action suit -- got $500)

98. owned a cell phone

99. been stung by a bee

Things I want to make:

Granny Square Blanket

Inspiration:

• Flower Squares at Yarnstorm
• Squares at Posie Gets Cozy
• Hexagon blanket at Moon stitches

(Many more, but I forget to bookmark these things and then I can't find them again.)

Pumpkin Something

Inspiration:

• Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies With Maple Brown Butter Frosting
• Pumpkin cookies at Angry Chicken
• My Mom's Pumpkin Bar recipe

Advent Calendar

Inspiration:

• This cute one on Flickr
• Cute one from sadly gone Martha Stewart Kids
• Teresa McFayden's cookie sheet advent calendar

Overheard lines

So, have you heard of the blog Overheard Lines?  Well, I submitted a snippet to them that I overheard while waiting for my (awful) beverage at Starbucks last Friday and they published it.  So go have a peek!

Crafting?

I've been crafting, but I have no photos.  I do however, have a list of cool tutorials I've seen around the blogs:

• Betz's Cashmere bunnies -- *so* cute!!
• Photoshop paintbrush tutorial at Juju loves polka dots
• Hexagon piecing tutorial at all buttoned up

And I've been browsing through this book:

When Bad Things Happen to Good Knitters: An Emergency Survival Guide by Marion Edmonds and Ahza Moore.  First of all, I like the fact that this is a little book -- easily slipped into your knitting bag so that it's there when you need it.  And unless you are an advanced knitter that never forgets anything (Now how do I start the Kitchener stitch again?  or the one that always gets me -- the difference between make one right and make one left -- argh!) you will probably find that this book comes in handy.

This would be a great book for new knitters, as it covers all the basics -- casting on and off, gauge and it's importance, increases and decreases.  But I like that it also covers yarn substitution and pattern alterations.  And of course there is a whole section devoted to fixing mistakes -- hence the name of the book.  There is also a section devoted to finishing (yeah!) as well as washing and caring for your knitted items.

There's lots more packed in this book -- you'd have to see it to believe it.  Thanks to the folks at Taunton Press for sending me a copy --- this is a book I actually feel good recommending.  Check it out!

Canterbury Tales in Middle English

It appears that it is the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading.  Well, I couldn't resist, having been an English major in college.  My favorite classes were in Old English and Middle English.  I actually read all of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English and our professor made us learn how to speak the language too.  In fact, we had to get up in front of the whole class and recite the beginning of the Prologue from memory.  To this day I still remember it! 

Just click on the link to hear me read aloud:

Canterbury Tales

And you can read along here:

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,        
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.

I'm sure my pronunciation isn't 100% accurate -- college was quite a while ago, but I think you can get the general idea of how it sounded.  What do you think?

More on the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading at roots down.

8 minutes

First I saw this on Bonne Marie's site, then Carolyn's and now Cara's.  My resistance is weak. . . (I have 8. . .wait -- now 5 minutes to complete this. . .

1. FIRST NAME? Julie

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Grandpa = Julius

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? I don't remember exactly, but I think I teared up during Oprah this morning when she was talking about Darfur.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Not particularly -- it's very messy.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Tough question -- I'm mostly vegetarian.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Sure!

7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Um, Boogaj?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope -- had them removed last fall -- yeah!!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Kashi GoLean Crunch, although they have a new vanilla almond version I found at Target once that was even better, but I haven't seen it again.  Hmmm. . .

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes, but only my workout shoes have ties.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Sure.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Like Cara, I enjoy the vanilla base -- and Ben & Jerry's is prob my fav brand.

14. SHOE SIZE? 9 1/2

15. RED OR PINK? Pink (don't hate me Bono!)

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Clinical Depression

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? What?  What does this even mean?

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black work out pants and a orchid sports bra (just finished work out -- thus short on time -- need to shower!)

20. LAST THING YOU ATE? See cereal question -- oh, with flaxseed & skim milk

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Maddie chatting downstairs.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? red-orange (no idea why)

23. FAVORITE SMELL? Origins ginger scented stuff

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Pete

25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Things they say -- ideas

26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Heck yeah!

27. FAVORITE DRINK? COFFEE!

28. FAVORITE SPORT? Um,  I don't really like the sporting events.

29. EYE COLOR? Blue

30. HAT SIZE? huh?

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope.  glasses when I read

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Chocolate, noodles, baked goods

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Neither -- dramas maybe?

35. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter

36. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

37. FAVORITE DESSERT? chocolate

38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ??

39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? ??

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? See yesterday's post

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE Pad? my mouse (duh)

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? not much -- new Nintendo DS game -- Harvest Moon DS!

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? ??

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Beatles

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME?France

46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? ??

47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?  A college town in IL

48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? See above. Out of time. .  .

I got nothing. . .

I've been working on some socks for Maddie.  Last weekend, along with working on my quilt, learning PHP and the basics of databases, and spending a day out at the river, I also started to clean out the spare bedroom (aka the sewing room).  This involved going through Maddie's old clothes.  I discovered three pairs of socks I had knit for her when she was little(r) and she decided she needed a pair that fit her now.  I don't even have the first sock finished despite feverish knitting almost all day on the 4th (while sipping wine out by the river between boat rides -- quite relaxing!)

So. . . here's what's been interesting me:

• post after post after post -- oh look, she's gone and done another -- about button crafts at craftlog.  Added later I just looked at whipup and saw that Kathreen did a whole post on button crafts!  Yeah!
• Party Favor Ideas at Kiddley.  (Don't you just *love* Kiddley?!?!?)
• JapanesePod 101 for coversational Japanese and Hiragana Lessons too! 

And now I need to get back to work.  Too much fun last weekend has left me with a huge backlog and I want to go play this weekend.  Spinning at the Fold, don't cha know!

Project Spectrum

Today is the start of Project Spectrum!  I just signed up yesterday after being reminded about it by Jan (Thanks, Jan!) and I haven't a clue what red or pink project I'll be working on in March.  Maybe I'll use it as an excuse to cast on this Trekking sock yarn. 

I think my blog may soon crash

Pete was just linked on Boing Boing.  OMG!

**Update**

Heh -- Just looked in the help file and TypePad doesn't do anything if you go over your bandwidth.  Whew! 

Now go download the cute cute paperdolls at Wee Wonderfuls for the little girl in your life (or yourself for that matter!)  And while you're over there, stop by her new blog -- Thrift Craft which is also very cool!

Go take a look!

Jan has up the gallery of photos from her visit to the Tokyo Quilt Festival.  There are some *gorgeous* quilts!  Go check it out!