[Darciana]

2 minutes ago, Heidi said:

it's a lovely maroon, I'm saturated.

 

The tweaks I want to make: Make the neck ribbing shorter so that the cables start sooner; make the cables over 6 strands instead of over 4; add a second contrast color stripe just before the cables start; work the cables uniformly instead of elongating them as the piece grows (this effect works well in worsted yarn but is not coming accross in the same way in the finer yarn, stuff you just don't know until you try it). 

 

We should definitely set up some knit-along time.  

I get that. Our good friends went to Texas State and maroon is one of their school colors - most everything is maroon colored with hints of gold (the other color) so I absolutely get being saturated.

 

As far as knitting, I'm completely self taught after my back injury/surgery when I was immobile and in need of something to do with my hands. I had learned to crochet years before as a child and I figured knitting was harder - I knew plenty of people who could crochet but not a single person who could knit. This was back in November 2016. I've learned basic stitch but not much else as I'm not at all consistent. So, to sum things up, I'd love to have a knit-along time and maybe learn a thing or two. Especially as the ever-cold friend, I'm always looking for cozies and the neckwarmer looks absolutely cozy and warm. I'd love to do something like this for around the house: Shawl [but maybe add some sleeves or have separate arm warmer type sleeves because everything needs to be wrapped up in an extra layer]

[Heidi]

42 minutes ago, Darciana said:

love to do something like this for around the house: Shawl

Are you in love with the bulky yarn?

I have a friend who wants to do something like this:

https://skelliggiftstore.com/en-us/products/charcoal-aran-cable-crossover-wrap?gclid=CjwKCAjwpJWoBhA8EiwAHZFzfqn2q-eahLdNumqriIUAcCANLLDD2uTah6oOhRSpDb2VACvkweG9XRoCLssQAvD_BwE&stkn=2535a541012f&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&variant=39582268719280

[Heidi]

I found this on ravelry:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/outlander-carolina-shawl

 

[Darciana]

10 minutes ago, Heidi said:

Are you in love with the bulky yarn?

I have a friend who wants to do something like this:

https://skelliggiftstore.com/en-us/products/charcoal-aran-cable-crossover-wrap?gclid=CjwKCAjwpJWoBhA8EiwAHZFzfqn2q-eahLdNumqriIUAcCANLLDD2uTah6oOhRSpDb2VACvkweG9XRoCLssQAvD_BwE&stkn=2535a541012f&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&variant=39582268719280

Oh that looks delightful!

I like the bulky yarn if it's done right but I'm not always completely sold on it. Very hit and miss based on what it is used for, too.

I prefer a thinner yarn knitted much tighter when I'm going for maximum warmth (winter), similar to your link here. I do like the bulkier yarn with a bit looser knit pattern for a light jacket feel (autumn).

 

2 minutes ago, Heidi said:

I found this on ravelry:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/outlander-carolina-shawl

 

Yes, this might have to be my next project once I finish this dang scarf! Motivation to just do it already!

[Heidi]

I’ve logged out from work and really should be doing my annotated bibliography, but I’m mentally exhausted, so that will have to wait a bit.

It was a lot of work at work today, and I’m glad I logged out when I did. I have everything swept up and neatened on my side, and 43 hours is enough for one week.

 

I’m almost to wiped out to knit, and I realized I’d not eaten anything yet, so I steamed some salmon with mashed potatoes and a little bit of broccoli, poured a glass of milk, and friends, it was yummy and good. This is the Way.

 

I’ve lost my enthusiasm for the Varsity Neckwarmer, and my heart is wanting to take a gorgeous black skein of Alpaca silk an do a very simple seed stitch something. Even if I do, I’ll have to wind the skein first, and that just seems like a lot of work (it’s not actually, and this is a measure of how depleted I am.)

 

I’m definitely going to have to rest a bit, but resting with good food is always Wisdom.

 

The band competition has been cancelled in light of bad weather from Tropical Storm Ophelia. We aren’t in the path, but it’s going to rain all day. There’s still practice beforehand, but I’ll get to see Vivian in the afternoon, which is nice.

 

May you have peace this day.

❤️ 

[DarK_RaideR]

22 hours ago, Heidi said:

The school colors are maroon and orange.

Just because

 

[Heidi]

3 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Just because

 

I feel seen.

 

Annotated bibliography submitted. This is 45 points of my grade, so I'm very interested in the feedback (Research class). The topic I chose for the project is information deserts, which is a newish concept and builds off the idea of food deserts, and then investigating libraries' role in alleviating information deserts, and what sorts of desertification happens when a library diminishes its offerings, from collections to computers to hours of operation. It's good stuff, and interesting in the way it becomes more of an origami project than a paper, and I dig it and also now I have a headache, of course, becuase this is the way of the .303 Bookworm.

 

It's pouring.

Vivian will be here in a few hours.

I'll be knitting and resting until then.

Also, I just discovered Devs, a show that I've wanted to watch forever but it was on Hulu. The purchase-to-stream price dropped below the price of a movie ticket, so I picked it up. 

 

May you have peace this day, Friends.

[Heidi]

isn’t it wild how the final boss to having confidence and self acceptance is just you

[RES]

3 hours ago, Heidi said:

isn’t it wild how the final boss to having confidence and self acceptance is just you

 

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, Heidi said:

isn’t it wild how the final boss to having confidence and self acceptance is just you

 

Persona 4 made whole game out of this concept... the most challenging and brutal boss fights were when a character faced their Shadow Self - the side of themselves they were trying to deny and/or were really struggling with. 

[Heidi]

20 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Persona 4 made whole game out of this concept... the most challenging and brutal boss fights were when a character faced their Shadow Self - the side of themselves they were trying to deny and/or were really struggling with. 

Might have to add this to the list!

 

I'm struggling today friends.

 

It was a good weekend, and Vivian and I got to see each other on Saturday after all since the band competition was rained out.

We had a lovely visit both days, and soem good conversation about communication and upcoming visits and scheduling things. This is right and good.

 

I started knitting an 8 strand celtic knot and drove myself a little batty with it while watching Mythic Quest, which, as a show, is cute but was getting a little stale by episode 4. I decided to watch episode 5 just to see if they got some fresh air into the story and the characters, and I was absolutely unprepared for the wonderfulness that is the stand-alone episode "Dark Quiet Death." Absolutely brilliant, this is a whole movie, and I am changed by having watched it. It's as good as the "Blink" Dr. Who episode (though completely unrelated content wise).  Honestly, watching the actual show for episode 6 was such a letdown that i only got ten minutes in before turning it back off and writing instead.

 

I'm having a lot of feelings about  ~*all the goings on lately *~ and writing was the right thing to do. I was up late as a result, which was foreseeable and led to a slow morning.

Everything feels as though it has just stopped raining and is about to rain again, even though it is not, currently, raining, and this is true for my emotional landscape as well as the actual weather outside my window.

Some of the struggle is from having so very much on my academic task list to square up before leaving next week, so I opened up Canvas and posted to this week's discussions for two of the three classes. This is a good beginning, and it helps. 

 

I checked in with the two projects I need to deliver this week and made some scaffolding notes and assigned a work session on the calendar (tonight and tomorrow night, repectively), and this helps, too.

I need to see how far I get in one work session before getting any more anxious, and if I get somesignificant work done on these, I can focus more on the presentation notecards on Wednesday evening. This is good and right.

All will be well.

 

The post for the third class needs specific references to the text book, and I've scheduled that analysis for lunch period tomorrow.

I also canceled acupuncture for tomorrow afternoon since the interim acupuncturist has a vaguely snide attitude and I'm simply not up for dealing with it, which is why I rescheduled two weeks ago. I dropped the retired acupuncturist a note asking him to let me know when he's resuming limited services. If this means I never have acupuncture again, so be it. We'll jump off that bridge when we get there.

 

Work this morning was full of the same stale contentiousness as last week and the week before that.

I found a game that is kind of cute: https://oubliettestudios.itch.io/oubliette

 

All reamains quiet on the Western front.

[Heidi]

Presentation: I have 20 pages of notes for the presentation. This is not anywhere near complete, as it's just a kitchen sink of All The Thoughts, but it's a great place to start to gather everything together. I feel pretty solid, for the first time in weeks, about this project. If I did nothing else and ended up going over these notes in the hotel room on Tuesday and Wednesday before the presentation on Thursday, I would still be fine. I absolutely need to get a printer, and the reason I've been dragging my feet is becuase I have no idea where it will live in my little apartment. I feel a purchase coming on.

 

State Library Analysis: I have 8 pages of notes, many of which are simply links to data sources. This is good. There's still several hours of work left to be done, but I feel like I can start digesting it from here. It's a lot of number-level analysis for 25 points, but this is the Way of Pedantry.  I'll probably do a bit each night all week, since working with the numbers is something I can only do about 30 minutes at a time before my brain gives up. It will all come together as is needed.

 

Case Study: I've gone over the cases and chosen one to analyze for the project. I'll need to relate in at least one class reading, which should be pretty straightforward. There are a couple hours of work left on this and I'll probably do it on Friday since the actual 5 ish pages aren't due until the end of the conference. In theory I could work a bit here and there each night while I'm in New York. This is all enough for now, and I feel content about leaving it as is, if needed.

 

Work is a circus and something something not my monkeys.

 

The Western Front remains quiet.

 

I might well be taking a Maxalt and sleeping until morning.

[Mistr]

I am glad you had a good weekend and got to spend time with Vivian.

 

Great job getting two of your class discussions out of the way early! Twenty pages of notes certainly sounds like a lot to me. I am impressed with how well you are scheduling your work and staying on track to get it all done on time.

[Sovalis]

I'm so proud of you. ❤️

[Darciana]

I'm very happy to read the progress you've made and schedules you've set up to, hopefully, reduce anxiety and stress over the workloads currently pending.

 

I hope your rest is what you need and it brings renewal

[Heidi]

On 9/25/2023 at 5:28 PM, Mistr said:

I am glad you had a good weekend and got to spend time with Vivian.

 

Great job getting two of your class discussions out of the way early! Twenty pages of notes certainly sounds like a lot to me. I am impressed with how well you are scheduling your work and staying on track to get it all done on time.

Thank you! It's really all about the process: I'm just building it like a Lego. Stay tuned and keep sending good vibes because there is so much more yet to deliver in the next ten days!

11 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I'm so proud of you. ❤️

❣️

3 hours ago, Darciana said:

I'm very happy to read the progress you've made and schedules you've set up to, hopefully, reduce anxiety and stress over the workloads currently pending.

 

I hope your rest is what you need and it brings renewal

Thank you.

 

Today was a good academic day, and a good work day.

 

I've been having trouble with discomfort around my waist, and then this morning I woke up with my right flank feeling pinched and when I put my hand on it, it was hit and super tender. Oof. This will require a doctor's visit, I thought. 

 

I went about the morning work, and also got lost-in-a-good-way in three articles I was taking notes on for the meeting with Philosopher James tomorrow, and then I called the nurse's line. She asked me to come in right away, so I let the team know and headed off. They took labs to make sure that everything is as fine as they think, blood work wise, and I have an imaging appointment tomorrow, time unknown.

 

I also got my flu shot and the COVID booster since I was actually out of the house. I came home and discovered a Home Chef box waiting on me -- apparently when I scanned a QR code for more information, I ended up signing up for a weekly subscription. Um, no. I made one of the dinners (there are three) and cancelled the subscription. The meal was tilapia with spaghetti in a nice lemon caper tomato sauce. I skipped the breading step and made everything using the rice steamer. It was good enough, but not worth $14, not enough for two people, and the single use plastic containers felt like a sin.

 

But okay, Universe. At least dinner is figured out for this week. 

 

I took a nap after dinner and then got up and brushed my teeth and put in my nightgown. Might go back to bed 

 

Have I gushed about the standalone episode of Mythic Quest yet? Season 1 Episode 5, "Dark quiet death" is absolutely amazing. Apple TV.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

When I met Sra Tanque she was using hello fresh. Their Meals for two were just about enough for one meal for me, and the packaging was equally atrocious as what you described. 

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

When I met Sra Tanque she was using hello fresh. Their Meals for two were just about enough for one meal for me, and the packaging was equally atrocious as what you described. 

 

Can confirm that Blue Apron is just as bad... the meals for two were enough for the two of us if we added bread as a side. 🙄

[Heidi]

7 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

When I met Sra Tanque she was using hello fresh. Their Meals for two were just about enough for one meal for me, and the packaging was equally atrocious as what you described. 

 

6 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Can confirm that Blue Apron is just as bad... the meals for two were enough for the two of us if we added bread as a side. 🙄

This makes me feel good about pausing (can't figure out how to actually cancel and will jump off that bridge next month). Also the ingredients are fresh but not stellar. The spaghetti was middle quality at best, and for someone who only recently stopped making her pasta from scratch, this was a let-down. All in all I'm okay with the meal, nutritionally, and I absolutely think this would be a decent solution to RealLife but dang if I didn't want a side of lentils and barley and maybe a sweet potato, too!

 

And this from someone who hasn't had any appetite in over a year. 🤷‍♀️

 

Speaking of that, my lab results are in and they're kind of awful.  The doctor will be contacting me later to set the time for me to come in for imaging.

[Darciana]

1 hour ago, Heidi said:

 

This makes me feel good about pausing (can't figure out how to actually cancel and will jump off that bridge next month). Also the ingredients are fresh but not stellar. The spaghetti was middle quality at best, and for someone who only recently stopped making her pasta from scratch, this was a let-down. All in all I'm okay with the meal, nutritionally, and I absolutely think this would be a decent solution to RealLife but dang if I didn't want a side of lentils and barley and maybe a sweet potato, too!

 

And this from someone who hasn't had any appetite in over a year. 🤷‍♀️

 

Speaking of that, my lab results are in and they're kind of awful.  The doctor will be contacting me later to set the time for me to come in for imaging.

I've used HelloFresh and was quite disappointed in the quality, as well. I was in the Army at the time so the convenience of having meals already planned, groceries "done" and only needing 30-ish minutes too cook before eating was wonderful but now that I work from home, absolutely not.

 

I hope your imaging provides some answers so you can bounce back into the best possible health. Sending healing love your way ❤️

[Heidi]

17 minutes ago, Darciana said:

I hope your imaging provides some answers so you can bounce back into the best possible health. Sending healing love your way ❤️

Thank you, Darciana. I hope so too.

 

The State Library Analysis is due on October 1 and has five points for consideration; it's to be 8-10 pages long. 

He posted a 16 minute video of "exta tips" to help us with this assignment, and of course I've already done a 32 minute outrage routine, in which I could have just watched the stupid thing, really. Yes, I'll watch it, becuase you know he has some hidden easter egg that needs to be included in the paper and that only appears in this last-minute video. I will watch it over lunch break before meeting with Philosopher James.

 

I have zero motivation or engagement with the State Library Analysis assignment, and it needs to be detail-heavy, since it's for The Pedant. The two together mean I'll need to build it like a Lego: one  small instruction page at a time. The professor gave us an extra two days, but I'm not certain that will be helpful since, in theory, I'll be in NY during the extension.  I'm planning on taking each point and doing 2-ish pages (not to go over, mind you, because that is eaqually bad). Today's piece is an analysis of how the state library spends its money.

 

I talked with the schedulers and the earliest MRI appointment is Tuesday 10/3, so I'm considering changing my departure to Wednesday morning. The presentation is Thursday. The only thing is that there's a good chance we're looking at an obstruction, and if so it's going to need to be addressed quickly, so there's a decent chance I won't be going at all. This has me completely bummed out, as you might expect.

 

I finished the research discussion post and have turned that in.

I have zero motivation or energy today, probably a result of the flu and covid shots, but also my Anion Gap level is trash and that's distracting (becuase WebMD thinks everything is a rare, terminal, incurable disease, please light your hair on fire now). 

 

Until anyone tells me otherwise, I think I'm just going to go gently about my day, make a pot of tea, and rest as best I can.

All will be well.

❤️ 

[Darciana]

I think your plan of taking it easy is exactly what the Universe is asking. You are doing what is best with your current knowledge and understanding of your own mind and body. This is Good and Right I believe.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I always support good sabbath practices. May your rest be restorative.

[Heidi]

4 hours ago, Darciana said:

I think your plan of taking it easy is exactly what the Universe is asking. You are doing what is best with your current knowledge and understanding of your own mind and body. This is Good and Right I believe.

 

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I always support good sabbath practices. May your rest be restorative.

Thank you both.

It has been a very restful day, and I've not had any alarming emergency messages about the need to cancel my plans, so for now I'm still going forward with traveling to NY next week.

The Anion Gap is reflective of low protein levels, and we all know I eat gobs of protein, so this is likely all relating to a GI blockage creating lack of nutrient absorbption. That's suboptimal but do-able.

 

The meeting with Philosopher James was excellent, as they so often are. He always seems to ask just the right questions to help me find the next step, and this is what mentorship feels like.

I'm tired, but otherwise fine.

 

Extending my resting into the evening now.

May you have peace this day.

❤️ 

[RES]

3 hours ago, Heidi said:

I've not had any alarming emergency messages about the need to cancel my plans, so for now I'm still going forward with traveling to NY next week.

I am a wee bit jealous, this is on my list of places to visit....someday

I hope you feel better soon