I am a Children’s Librarian living in the Portland, Oregon area. When I am not Children’s Librianing I like to play with cameras and film. I also like playing the ukulele, knitting, sketching, and hiking.
I can’t believe this. I’m done with my sweater already! A sweater from start to finish in 12 days. This is a new record for me. I am very happy with the results. Here is my Ravelry entry on it if you want the details. The yarn is so soft. I am really going to love wearing this.
The pattern is only available, as far as I can tell, if you go to Artfibers and look through Kira’s binders (which are her designs). I believe I found this in the Cardigan binder. It’s a really simple pattern, though. It’s knit just like a seamless raglan sweater except you knit back and forth. I knitted up the button bands separately and sewed them on.
I love it! I think I am going to get a lot of use out of it.
I am ALMOST done with my NaSweKniMo sweater. yay! I may actually finish it tonight. This may be a knitting record for me! More on this tommorrow.
Our washing machine broke. ugh. We’ve never owned a home before this so we have never had to deal with broken things. I think we will try and fix it ourselves first. I have checked a few books out from the library so we shall see what we can do.
Twitter is fun! I’ve been enjoying it. Come join me if you aren’t on it yet :). It’s kind of cool!
I am hella sick of all of the crap that people bring into to work. I need to lose weight, dammit! So I have decided that I am cutting it OUT. No more sugary snacks at work. I will allow myself a sugary snack on Sunday, but it will be something yummy and worth it. I am seriously sick of coming into work and seeing candy and cookies and stuff like that in the staff lounge. I have this compulsion to eat it! Why? It’s not like I’ll never see that shit again! ugh. So I am going to try to just stop it.
Boring week. But that’s okay. I don’t’ like drama. Have a wonderful week!
This is the story of a 15 year old boy (Junior) of the Spokane Indian tribe, living in Wellpinit, WA. He is extremely intelligent and not getting the kind of education he desires on the reservation. So his teacher suggests that he attend high school in Reardon, a wealthy farming community 20 miles away from the reservation. He excels at Reardon; he becomes a star basketball player and makes friends with the popular kids. This is at the expense of his fellow Spokane Tribe members.
A poignant scene that really epitomizes this is when the Reardon Varsity Basketball team, of which Junior is a member, goes to the reservation to play the Wellpinit High basket ball team:
So we walked through the front and into the loud gym.
Which immediately went silent.
Absolutely quiet.
My fellow tribal members saw me and they all stopped cheering, talking, and moving.
I think they stopped breathing.
And, then, as one, they all turned their backs on me.
It was a fricking awesome display of contempt.
I was impressed. So were my teammates.
The story is about how Junior deals with the mixed feelings he has going to a white school, realizing the white people he meets really aren’t so bad, and trying to deal with the contempt of his fellow tribesmen.
This is, by far, my favorite of all of the NBA finalists. It had me laughing out loud, which is very rare for me when I’m reading a novel, and it had me blubbering like a baby at the end, which happens quite often. It is a very touching and funny story. Alexie is truly a talented writer. This was some of the best writing I encountered in a long, long time.
Today’s NaBloShoeMo entry are my husband’s shoes. He offered them to me little project when he saw that I was taking a picture of me in my Keens for the third day in a row. He thought they were interesting and photogenic. Sure. Why not.
Update 11/15/2007: This won the national book award! I’m very pleased. This was the best of contenders in my opinion. And it’s the second year someone from Spokane has won! well, sort of. Egan went to Gonzaga (I’m not sure if he grew up here) and Alexie grew up in Wellpinit, which is 50 miles north of Spokane. But, still…
I don’t completely dislike Spokane. In fact, “Hate” is really too strong a word to use. I prefer to say something like, “there I things that I like and dislike about my hometown.” It’s not all or nothing. I’m not either for it or against it. There is a balance.
The thing that I love most about Spokane is that my family lives here. When I was in the Bay Area I missed my family terribly. I had Raf’s family, and they are great. I love them very much as well (and am missing them a lot right now, too). But there really is nothing like your own immediate family. They are home to me. I have really, really enjoyed being able to spend more time with them on a more regular basis. I have really enjoyed being able to spend the holidays with them. Seeing my nieces and nephews get older has been a joy!
What more can I say about that? They are the main reason why I came back. I have a wonderful family and I am very thankful for them.
I can’t believe this. I’m done with my sweater already! A sweater from start to finish in 12 days. This is a new record for me. I am very happy with the results. Here is my Ravelry entry on it if you want the details. The yarn is so soft. I am really going to love wearing this.
