Month: February 2011

Silver Valentines

My husband’s Valentine’s card to me (courtesy of Hallmark) brought tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart.  The printed saying touched me,  but his handwritten note sent me soaring:

Maybe someday I’ll find the perfect words to tell ou how much you mean to me … I know I’d like to spend forever trying

I mean this from the bottom of my heart.  I would love to spend another twenty-five years with you.

Love, Terry

My card pales in comparison, talking about being empty nesters and finally reaching the ‘someday’ dreams we’d had on hold for so long.  And the scarf I’m crocheting is but half finished.

I did at least have my hair done, bought a couple new shirts and a new pair of pumps for our date Saturday night.  Even though the wait at Red Lobster on Barry Road approached an hour, we had a wonderful dining experience, trying a couple of flavorful appetizers (the bruschetta was outstanding as well as the pan-seared crab cakes).  We split the Admiral’s Feast because we each like half of the offerings (Terry loves clams and shrimp, and I love scallops and flounder).  For dessert, I got the decadent Chocolate Wave (a four-layer chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream) and Terry took home a strawberry cheesecake.

Speaking of cheesecake, I made my first one today.  Not being a fan of cheese (just ask anyone in my family … I despise cheese), but knowing that Terry loves that particular dessert, I bought a no-bake cherry cheesecake mix to attempt.  Three easy steps later, and several hours in the refrigerator, I hope the cheesecake is delicious for him.

I took a few more sunrise photos this weekend, but I’m still disappointed in my efforts.  I’ve done some search, found a few good blog postings about digital photography with some great tips on dealing with the unique challenges of the digital medium.  I hope next weekend’s efforts will bear better fruit.  Here’s one of the better shots from this morning’s sunrise:

Sunday Sunrise with Contrails
Sunday Sunrise with Contrails

And so ends one of our 25th Valentines weekends.  Since I met Terry in 1983, and we got back together in 1985, there is no ‘hard and fast’ 25th for Valentine’s Day.  There is, however, a rock solid date for our 25th wedding anniversary, which occurs in less than three months, on May Day, Sunday May 1st, 2011.  We are still deciding where to go for that auspicious occasion.  We visited the Peppercorn Duck Club on our 15th and the Savoy Grill (if I remember correctly) on our 20th.   Last year we enjoyed Avalon in Weston, and would like to return there as well.  I thought of returning to the Peppercorn, but we still have time to decide.  Anyone have any other suggestions?

The Great Thermostat Debate

After reading Modesitt’s blog post today, editorializing about the fragility of our infrastructure, I got to thinking about something that bothers me every time I return home … my thermostat setting.

I take (and give) a lot of grief about it.  I’m accused of many things, most of them not repeatable.  I try to shrug it off and go on with my life. I’ll spare you the sordid details now (especially since this weekend is Valentine’s Day and if I want to celebrate, I’d best restrain myself).

So, back to Mr. Modesitt’s blog, specifically this excerpt from the second paragraph:

In fact, we turn the heat down from 65 degrees to 50 at night, and the house didn’t even cool fifteen degrees that night.  But then, we have a well-insulated house, and the starting temperature was 65 degrees.

Wow, I’m impressed.  I would love to set my thermostat on 65 and just leave it there, rather than it’s current much higher setting.

So, I’m coming to you, my loyal handful of readers, to poll you for your winter thermostat setting.  The results, perhaps, will ease my peace of mind.

[polldaddy poll=4537892]

Three Hours and Fifteen Hundred Stitches Later

I tied off and finished my second crochet project of 2011 this evening.  I probably could have made the moebius scarf just a bit bigger, but it will do.  When I drape it over my head and then double it around my neck, it snuggle covers my ears and keeps my throat toasty.

Moebius Scarf folded into open triangle
Moebius Scarf folded into open triangle
Moebius Scarf folded into a closed triangle
Moebius Scarf folded into a closed triangle

After taking a few final photographs of my new scarf, I immediately began a second scarf as a Valentine’s Day gift for my hubby.  Using Lion Brand Yarn’s Wool-Ease (worsted weight in black), I started crocheting an extremely simple ribbed scarf pattern.  I should easily be able to finish the scarf before next Monday.

3rd Crochet Project: Ribbed Scarf
3rd Crochet Project: Ribbed Scarf
Ribbed Scarf Closeup
Ribbed Scarf Closeup

I crocheted during WolfGuard‘s regularly scheduled Wednesday evening rehearsal, approximately three hours, and by my estimate crocheted over one thousand five hundred stitches on the third project of 2011.   While they worked on some new cover songs during the first session(Aerials by System of a Down and Cumbersome by Seven Mary Three), the last half of practice included such classics as Rush’s Finding My Way; BOC’s Godzilla; Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls; and, the show-stopping, heart-pounding, easy-to-lose-count-of-your-stitch-in-time Iron Maiden’s The Trooper.  If that doesn’t tangle your skein, nothing will.

Higher Expectations for a First Edition Hardcover

No, I’m not talking about the content composed by the author (in this case Robert V.S. Redick) but rather the publisher or the publishing industry (in this case Del Rey Ballantine Books an imprint of Random House) lack of polish or finish on this first edition hardcover of The Ruling Sea:

Uneven/untrimmed Book Signatures on First Edition Hardcover
Uneven/untrimmed Book Signatures on First Edition Hardcover

Do you see the unevenness of the pages?  This is one of the final steps when you bind a book.  You trim the edges of the book signatures so they are flush and even (makes for easy fanning of a book with your thumb).  I’ve even done this process myself (with my dad’s help as he had the razor sharp chisel and vice in his basement workshop).  I’m appalled when I see a first edition hardcover in this state.

Is this becoming more common from the publishing industry?  When I see a book like the one displayed above, I think it’s a reprint by a low-budget or discount publisher, not a first edition!  Sheesh!

Perhaps I’m just overly sensitive.   I would have hesitated to buy this book for this very reason.  As it stands, I’m only borrowing it from a library, but still.  Come on!

First Edition Hardcover via Interlibrary Loan of the Ruling Sea
First Edition Hardcover via Interlibrary Loan of the Ruling Sea

Book Review: Magician: Apprentice by Feist

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Read in February 2011

I am kicking myself for not reading this novel when published, my only excuse being I was a teenager with no funds and no connections (remember the state of the Internet in 1982?). I lived twenty miles away from the nearest library back then. If my mom didn’t own the book, I didn’t get to read it.

This story overflows with likable characters: Pug, Tomas, Carline, Roland, Arutha, Kulgan, Meecham, just to name a few. The pacing skips, trots, canters, gallops, crashes, walks, jumps, and flies. The magic system teases you through Pug’s apprenticeship, yet we glimpse broader examples through Kulgan and the invaders. The classic fantasy races make an appearance via elves (both light and dark or good and bad as you prefer), dwarfs, goblins, trolls and dragons.

The world building interwove seamlessly with the narrative as we followed along with Pug and Tomas as they ventured along with the Duke’s expedition to seek aid to stave off an invasion of aliens from his royal kin over the mountains and east of his far western holding of Crydee. The aliens control rifts between their world, Kellewan, and Midkemia, where the Kingdom reigns through the Duke’s royal relatives. Through these rifts, the aliens establish a bridgehead and proceed to slowly encroach upon Midkemia, first to mine metals in the mountains east of Crydee, and then to expand westward to gain access to the sea.

The book ends abruptly, but understandably so, since the original publication was one large volume, not the two we see today published as Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. I look forward to reading the second half of this opening salvo in the Riftwar Saga next month.

 

Book Review: Imager’s Intrigue by Modesitt

Imager's Intrigue (Imager Portfolio, #3)Imager’s Intrigue by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Five years have passed since we last saw Rhenn. He’s married and has a daughter now. He’s continued to climb the ladder at Image Isle and now resides with his family and a servant in a house on that island.

We see more of the dark side of covert operations in Solidar and how Rhenn responds when thrust into leading and architecting strategies that lead to long term victories and continued prosperity for Solidar and it’s Imagers.

All the Imager novels to date have been related in the first person from Rhenn’s point of view, which limits my knowledge to what he shares with me. I often feel as if I’m missing much of the story, because what he takes for granted as common knowledge, I do not, and what he focuses on may or may not be relevant to what I desire to know. So, I get frustrated and bored and miss a seemingly unimportant piece that later completes the puzzle.

The ending, or the resolution designed and personally carried out by Rhenn, disturbed me. Perhaps I’m naive and want our world, or any world I immerse myself in, to be more forgiving, more understanding. I firmly believe the only things you can change are yourself; you can’t change others no matter how much you want them to change. Rhenn believed change needed to occur now, and only extreme measures, including the use of deadly force, could meet his needs, which he equated with the continued prosperity of Solidar and by extension, imagers. Again, absolute power tempts to corrupt absolutely, for we learn that Rhenn is now the most powerful Imager alive.

This may be the last novel in the Imager Porfolio devoted solely to Rhenn. I got the feeling at the end that the focus of any future books would steer away from Master Rhennythl.

View all my reviews

Sunrises and Scarves

I got a call from my dad this morning, cluing me in to the fact that this morning’s sunrise broke among light clouds and appeared quite photogenic.  I arrived a bit late to the party, but got a couple of nice shots from my daughter’s east facing bedroom:

Sunrise Sat 5 Feb 2011
Sunrise Sat 5 Feb 2011

I ventured out a couple of hours later to attend a pancake feed at a Crossroads UMC just down the hill from my house.  Enjoyed the fresh pancakes the company.  Since I remembered to bring my camera with me, I took a couple of shots of Lansing’s favorite sledding hill (unoccupied so early on a Saturday morning):

Lansing's Favorite Sledding Spot
Lansing's Favorite Sledding Spot

Perhaps the next time I’m out I’ll get a couple of shots of kids sledding.

I continue working on my new moebius scarf, which I’ll probably finish today or tomorrow.  Here’s a picture of it after five or six times around:

Moebius Scarf Using Moss Stitch After 5-6 Rounds
Moebius Scarf Using Moss Stitch After 5-6 Rounds

And a close-up of the moss stitching, which I think is cool (and easy to crochet):

Moss Stitch Closeup
Moss Stitch Closeup

For the Record (Just in Case)

While I’m grateful for the extraordinary efforts my municipality provided during the recent blizzard conditions, I need to record the overzealous results of last Wednesday’s clearing of my street:

City Snow Plow Finds My Yard

The driver apologized to me personally since I was in my driveway shoveling the twelve inches of drifted snow at the time.  He assured me the City would come back in the Spring and fix it.

We’ll see.

I’ll take more photos as the snow melts and when the sun is not setting so there’s better lighting.  Stay tuned!

Second 2011 Crochet Project: Mossy Moebius Scarf for Myself

I’ve made several moebius scarves for myself over the last decade, but it’s been a couple of years since I crocheted a new one for myself.  I’m ‘winging’ it as far as the pattern goes, and using my favorite scarf stitch, called, ironically, the moss stitch.  I may refer back to the original pattern I stumbled upon years ago as a reference.

I’m using a six ounce skein of Caron Simply Soft Country Blue and another one of Grey Heather.  I chained 225 using the Country Blue and will alternate every other row with the Grey Heather.

Here’s hoping it doesn’t take me very long to get through this project.  I’d rather be reading, than crocheting, but I also want a nice, warm, soft scarf to keep my ears warm during this brutal cold spell.