Annette's Acre

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wireswhy do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

- Don Marquis
Archy & Mehitabel

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This is my all-time favorite poem.  I found it in a book (on Organizational Culture, of all things) 15+ years ago and it just resonates with me.   A moth made it in to the house tonight and it reminded me of this poem.  DH pulled out a file folder of emails I sent to him early on in our relationship and there it was.

(Two posts in two days… don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll revert to my once-a-week-if-that pattern)

To address comment questions….

Whiz – nope, they’d be too small if I knit them as charted.   Thick ankles and I am too lazy to figure out the necessary pattern adjustments to make.  The gloves will get more use anyway

Susan(s) – Hanging Garden of Semiramis by Chatelaine and Lilac Spring Garden – Pixie Couture by Nora Corbet

For Hanging Gardens – I will probably go with a simple white linen in 35-ct (as I am pretty sure I already have a piece big enough).  Love the blues in this and I’ll definitely stitch the frame.  Floss list just came out and first part comes out April, so it will be a birthday start

For Lilac Pixie – Again, white linen, though in 32-ct so she’ll be of a similar size to Poppy. Lilacs are my very favorite flower, so this was a MUST as soon as I saw the design

The rest of this post is going to be “indulgent nonsense” – Simon Cowell, AI Judge

I am closely following the latest American Idol season.  I didn’t watch any of the first five seasons, watched the last 3-4 weeks of season 6 (had to support the Arizona gal, Jordin) and watched from Top 10 onward during season 7 (huge David Cook fan here..I think I downloaded all of his iTunes performances and received his album for Christmas.  Love love love it.)

This Season I started right at the beginning.  First auditions were in Phoenix, after all.  I suffered thru Tatiana (omg), became an instant Danny fan after the heart-wrenching story of the loss of his wife, rooted for the “working man” contestants Michael and Matt, and was overall impressed with the men’s voices far more than the women’s.

My family thinks I’m nuts.  They have no interest, though K will watch if she *has* to.

Last night we had the Top 10.  Here’s what I think of the performances, in no particular order:

Matt Giraud – Not sure what I think of Matt yet.  He’s got a nice voice.  Can definitely play the piano well though the whole “start at the piano then get up and walk around the stage” performance last night didn’t really win me over.  Pick a spot and stick with it.

Lil Rounds – Lil is my favorite of the gals, though I think she should have totally blown everyone away last night.  I mean, c’mon, she’s got a huge voice, great R&B styling and she about trips over herself with Heatwave??  What a waste of an opportunity.

Scott Macintyre – This season’s Arizonan.  I had such high hopes for Scott.  I do like when he’s at the piano for the performance.  The man is blind – I don’t want him dancing around the stage.  Unfortunately, everything he sings sounds the same to me.

Kris Allen – He’s cute, but as soon as he’s done with the song, I can’t recall what he sang. No stage presence at all.

Anoop Desai – Loved his audtion.  He’s had a few ups and downs since being saved during the wildcard round.  His voice is fine, but he seriously needs a new wardrobe consultant.  The layers need to go, son, you’re in Southern California!

Megan Joy – This season’s one trick pony.  Unless she sings something folky and slow to let her use that “cute” vibratto voice, she sounds like another wannabe on karaoke night.  Can we get a few new dance moves?  That hip shake is getting on my nerves.  And as for wardrobe….. one suggestion: heels.  The flats don’t flatter.

Michael Sarver – Another favorite from the auditions.  I am a sucker for the working man giving his dream of singing a chance.  He should have done great last week with the country genre, but didn’t make a good song choice.  He was lucky Alexis was worse

Danny Gokey – As mentioned above, he won my heart during auditions, but I fully admit to being a fickle fan.  In his performance last night, I could practically see the choir loft behind him (he’s a church musical director).  He’s been out of place on the stage the last couple weeks.  Step up the game, hon, show me that sparkle that caught my eye way back in the beginning.

Allison Iraheta – Sixteen?  Seriously?  Well, ok, her voice doesn’t give away her age, but her look is still maturing.  I’m afraid the increasing pressure will do her in before her voice or performance does.

Adam Lambert – Adam was awesome last night!  He is far and away my favorite contestant at this point in the competition.  He does remind me of David Cook a bit – lots of artistry and putting his own take on each song he performs (yes, I even appreciated Ring of Fire last week, but then Johnny Cash is about as close to country as I’ll listen to).  The clean-cut look he presented last night was perfect for the Motown genre.

My vote this week:  Adam.  Four times lol

My biggest gripe so far is song choices.  If I hear one more “I chose the song because I liked it and want to have fun” I’m going to throw something.  This is a *competition* people!!  Pick something that showcases your talent!

I haven’t watched the result show (I’ll start it once I finish this entry) but if I were Michael or Megan, I’d be worried…….

Well, two weeks later….I guess I needed a break.

Let’s see, what have I done for the last two weeks.

Hmmmmm

Kids survived Spring Break.  K went off to Oklahoma, Z stayed here and I took a couple days off and enjoyed the quiet at home.  Stitched a little, caught up the DVR bits that K doesn’t watch and read.  A lot.  Thank heaven the GoodReads boxes update automagically.

I spent a little time on Summer Queen, started my next exchange (Woodland Exchange) and have been doing preliminary planning for a Bookmark Exchange (found a very unique item to use for finishing, just hoping it arrives shortly).

I aborted a start on Viper Pilot socks during the BSG Series Finale.  I scrambled on Friday to find yarn in the stash (only found the chart the day before), found something I thought would work (Knitpicks Memories in Yukon) and proceeded to knit the cuff during the finale.  Saturday…. I ripped it all out as I didn’t like the result.  Replacement yarn (Dream in Color Smooshy in Romeo Blue) arrived Monday and I restarted them yesterday.

Only one problem.  There’s no way I can wear the finished product.

I knew this before I restarted them.  I’m thinking I’ll just knit the leg and then finish them as fingerless gloves rather than go the whole sock route.    As it will probably take me months to complete, I figure I’ll be ready when winter comes again to Arizona.

I am flirting with two new stitching starts…….might have to ditch my whole “5 WIPs” rule.  This surprise no one, right?  I mean, historically, once I document any sort of rotation/plan/WIP list, it goes by the wayside.  Just sayin’.

Thank you all for the kind words on my last horrible week.

The weekend was *great* and really made up for all the lows.  Kylie and I went to the Arizona Renaissance Faire and I remembered to take a few key pictures of the shows we saw:

(Click to biggify)

First, one of our absolute favorites:  Don Juan and Miguel

Kylie got some personal attention from Don Juan:

Also caught the Ded Bob Show:

We love Bob.  We looked into his eye sockets!  We been Bob-motized!! (ok, guess you had to be there…)

And we happened upon a new act:  Adam Crack and the Fire Whip Show

We met Adam with his first whip:

Then we saw a bit more of Adam with his second one (he’s going after an airborne water balloon here)

And well, we saw a bit *more* of Adam before he lit the whips on fire.

Now, I’m sure you would have loved to see the pair of whips on fire….well…whipping around Mr. Adam, but, I didn’t take that picture.  I was kinda distracted……

It was cool.  Well, as cool as two whips on fire could be, of course.

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My biscornu exchange arrived at it’s European destination, so I can show it off:It started with the buttons. Then I found the perfect variegated floss (DMC 4030):

Next, the pattern choice. Truthfully, my first choice was my standby (Mary’s Pin Pillow by Indigo Rose), but I could not find my chart  So, I had to find an alternative….

Sweet Biscornu by Periphaeria Designs (in The Gift of Stitching….but I can’t remember which issue ::blush::)  Stitched on 32-ct white evenweave

The result:

This was VERY hard to give away!  I love how it came out  I did send it on its way with company, of course.

It has been a very tough week here at The Acre.  Work is incredibly busy and there is additional stress around organizational changes and settling in to new processes and new expectations – where we have them.

I learned this week that the man that hired me at my current company in 2006 was killed in a motorcycle accident on Feb 28.  I last saw him in December (he left the company at the end of 2008).   He touched a lot of lives in his time and there was a lot of discussion and reminiscing this week among folks that knew him far longer than I did.  Shocking… tragic… there simply aren’t enough words.

On the up side, I did receive two exchange parcels this week that kept the week from being a total loss

Biscornu Exchange from Ina in The Netherlands:

See the whole package: Here  I adore the sheep!!  Thank you so much, Ina.

Fair & Square Round 11 arrived from Karen:

I see a biscornu here…

Karen received thes squares I stitched for her:

I indulged in a bit of retail therapy with a friend yesterday and found a perfect gift for a newly-expecting friend.  I managed to start/finish during last night’s Let’s Stitch SAL.

I spent some quality time with Sea to Shining Sea this week and finished the West Coast house:

I’ll be picking up the latest Neighborhood RR piece tonight.

I also received my first Loopy Ewe Sock Club package:

Click to biggify – the colors are gorgeous.

Tomorrow we are off to the Arizona Renaissance Faire.  K is writing a school assignment based on the Faire so I must make the sacrifice and spend a couple hours wandering booths, watching shows and munching on cinnamon almonds….

I am hoping beyond hope that next week is better than the last…. please….  At least it’s only four work days as I’ll be taking Friday off (and Monday & Tuesday of the following week).