Lunaticraft

Of Lincoln Center, Noodles, and Conservatories

2012-01-29T12:34:00.000-05:00

Well, tomorrow marks the first day of spring semester. And of course that means back to the work-eat-work-eat-rehearsal-sleep craziness. It's a mixed blessing, of course. I don't handle not having any sort of structured schedule well. I get antsy, bored, and end up playing entirely too much Skyrim. However, the semester most often brings TOO much structure and rigidity, which is equally confining.

So to make the most out of the last few days of glorious freedom, my mom and I planned a trip to spend a day up in NYC and visit my brother.

It was particularly exciting for me, since this is the first time I actually got a chance to go up and see my brother's "new" school: The Julliard School. He's been there for two years now, and it just always ended up that when my parents would go up to see him, I always had some conflict with work so that tagging along was simply impossible.

My brother is by far the most dedicated and talented person I know, and all that dedication has certainly paid off. He gets to live quite literally AT Lincoln Center. Right across the street from the Metropolitan Opera (which of course we ALWAYS have to stop and get some photos of), City Ballet, and Avery Fisher Hall (where the NY Philharmonic Plays).

Not to mention (if you'll allow me to brag for a moment) attend what is basically THE BEST school for music in the country and certainly one of the best in the world. I mean, just check out this list of notable alumni and teachers. Like, holy crap.

So needless to say, he has been busting his tushy to get there basically since he first picked up at trumpet at age 10, and he did it. And as frustrating as the constant music making could be as we grew up in this tiny house together, I'm immensely proud of him, and everything he's accomplished. So I was crazy glad that I could finally go up and see his school, where he lives, what he does, and see him perform. And while I've seen him perform literally thousands of times over the past 11 years, I must admit it was pretty damn cool to see him on a Julliard stage.

Now of course, my mom and I made some time for girly bonding while we were there, and made our usual beauty stop - Sephora - where I picked up three nail polishes that our little JC Penny Sephora here doesn't carry, and a Hello Kitty compact for my purse. But the main attraction during girly time for me was LUSH.

They're a cosmetics store/brand/company that prides themselves on totally organic and handmade products, from skincare to bath bombs to soap, shampoo, and even hair dye. We don't have one here, and ever since I developed a nail polish problem I have desperately wanted to try their Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter - a product that basically all the nail bloggers I could find recommend hands down.

You can buy it online, but I couldn't justify paying not only $15 for a cuticle cream, but shipping too? I knew I'd get up there eventually, so I just waited. And I'm both glad and upset that I did. I'm upset because this stuff really is that amazing. I've only been using it for about 5 days now, but already I can see a difference in my cuticles (and I only use it at night too! It's a little greasy for daytime use IMHO... I'm really picky and weird about wearing lotions and touching things).

But I'm glad I waited ultimately because visiting the store itself was such a great experience. I'm just glad I'm good about sticking to my budget or else I would have walked out with one of everything.

For dinner we ate at an old stand-by: Ollie's Noodle Shop. We've eaten there countless times over the years, and because of the short time-frame my brother had to grab dinner with us, this seemed like the most logical choice since it's only a block down from Lincoln Center.

It's an easy choice, because there's something there that will satisfy all our assorted tastes. The Tofu Noodle Bowl and Sapporo were delicious, as always.

But the real highlight of the day for me was finally getting to see the school, and by golly, is it beautiful.

Lots of glass, so you have an amazing view of the city around you, and by far my favorite feature was this:

They just look like regular red curtains, right? But wait... upon closer inspection you find...

They're actually the full text of every single Shakespeare play painted on the wall outside the drama theatre. Crazy, right?

Overall, it was a delightful trip to round off winter break before the rush of the semester starts again. And now it's time to go from visiting one school back to the world of working at another!

-l.c.

More Baking Mania...

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Just some left over photos from the pre-Christmas baking mania to share with you.

My grandmother and I always get together before the holiday and spend an entire day baking kolachi for the family. 12 hours, 36 kolachi, 30 squirrels (left over kolachi dough swirled with jelly, coconut, chocolate chips and chopped nuts), and a batch of Butter Balls (Russian Tea Cookies) later, we were exhausted but pleased.

Our baking sessions are one of my favorite parts of the holiday, and I learn so much about the craft while I'm there. She's a brilliant baker, and an excellent teacher.

We're at the point now, after five or six years of this, and with her back a little worse for the wear at the age of 80, where I'm doing most of the baking myself. She perches in the chair next to where I'm working, her watchful eye on me at all times, as we chat about the past, and the present. And its those chats that I cherish and look forward to far more than anything I could possibly learn about baking.

She'll tell me stories about growing up, about life as the youngest girl in a coal mining immigrant family of 10+. The struggles, the successes (and the dresses!). How somehow, though her father died in the mines when she was young, their mother always found a way to make due. About how she met my grandfather, and the challenges they faced because he was three years younger than she. In return I'll share tales from the History Department, we'll talk about my plan for the future, how my relationship with the boyfriend is going, and in a shocking parallel--the challenges we face because he's three years younger than I.

Its these chats that I enjoy most of all--the bonding time, and the ability to share a family history. And it's all thanks to a simple dough and filling, and a family tradition that predates even my grandmother.

-l.c.

A WIP Finally Out of Limbo

2012-01-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

Hey... remember this? My irregular granny square afghan?

Yea, well, I just did too. Almost 3 years after starting (and finishing) all the squares for it, I finally got around to crocheting it together. While the ends aren't woven in yet, I'm pretty proud of myself. It's my first officially "completed" afghan, and I'm in love.

As of right now, it's about the size of a twin bed, and IMPOSSIBLE to photograph. So naturally, I'm toying with the idea of making it bigger and even harder to get a picture of.

See, here's the problem: I'm not happy with the edging. Not in the least bit. BUT I'm not sure what to do about it. Though you can't see in the pictures, what I've done is just gone around the thing granny-style with a couple rounds of white, and finished off with a 1 round border of green. And I don't know how to describe it other than it just looks... blah. The main body of the afghan is so interesting! But then there's just this hurried, half-baked looking border.

So I'm debating with myself what to do. It looks far too simple. But at the same time, I don't want the border to get so busy that it takes the attention away from the main squares.

So I will keep staring at it, and keep mulling the issue over. Any suggestions are welcomed with open arms, of course.

Hopefully, I will be able to come to a resolution soon so I can get it off the floor before the woofers claims it officially as her own.

-l.c.

Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Men

2012-01-18T16:06:00.000-05:00

And now, for new recipe number three! Boyfriend and I had a lot of fun decorating these, and as a result, they get their own post.

My brother has a thing for gingerbread. And when I say "has a thing" I really mean "loves and is super super picky about." He has been searching for the perfect soft, chewy, delicious gingerbread men for months, possibly years and is continually dissatisfied with the harder, more crispy versions that he finds in stores everywhere.

So when I spotted this Gingerbread Man recipe over at the Brown Eyed Baker with an option to make them either thin and crispy OR soft and chewy, I figured it would be a great thing to make during boyfriend and I's baking marathon before Christmas. My brother was due home from college after a grueling semester that same night, and we both thought it would be a great surprise for him to come home to soft and chewy gingerbread men!

The recipe itself turned out delicious, although they could have used a bit more spice. The fault may very well have been ours however, since the grocery store was sold out of both ground ginger AND ground cloves, so we were forced to use the bazillion year old ones that we found in the spice cabinet. They've probably lost some potency over the years.

Additionally, the dough was SUPER SUPER SUPER sticky and pretty difficult to work with, even after not just refrigerating, but freezing, using wax and parchment paper for rolling and cutting, AND after throwing in probably half a cup more flour than was called for. I suspect that it is the fault of the molasses. Next time I will try using light molasses instead of dark molasses, and maybe that'll make a difference.

Regardless of the problems, they came out delicious, and the real fun came in when we started decorating them. Neither of us was really terribly competent with the cookie icing, but we got some pretty interesting ones out of it. Above you can see our Monster From the Deep cookie, a Leela from Futurama cookie, and one of the few traditional ones.

And here's Magic Mushroom Addict Gingerbreadman.

Because of the dough stickiness, we had some mishaps when transferring the men to the cookie sheets, and so as a result we have Half Eaten Gingerbreadman, complete with pink cookie icing blood. (There may or may not be something wrong with us, apparently.)

And poor Broken Leg Gingerbreadman, all bound up in his cast.

And then there's this guy. I'm not really sure what he is, but I like him.

While the cookies were not "perfect" they seemed to get the brother seal of approval, since they were all gone within 48 hours. Let's see how they turn out next time with the recipe changes...

-l.c.

Kristos Razdayetsya! (Christmas Ukranian Style)

2012-01-07T01:21:00.005-05:00

As you may or may not know, I was raised Russian Orthodox, and so our family gets not one, but TWO Christmases! While the Orthodox church itself shifted from the traditional Jan. 7th to the more common Dec. 25th a long time ago, my dad's side of the family still maintains tradition. We get together to celebrate and exchange gifts in the evening on the 25th, but come the 6th and the 7th, we get together again. This time for the traditional Holy Night and Christmas Day dinners.

From a more practical point of view, traditional Russian Christmas presents an elegant solution to figuring out family stuff and scheduling amongst the two sides for the 24th and 25th, since my Mom's side does the whole Holy Night, Christmas Day Feast shebang as well. Only they're Ukranian Catholic, not Russian Orthodox, so the 6th/7th tradition is long gone on that side. With Russian Christmas, we get to spend a full Christmas with both sides, every year!

So please excuse this slight break in the baking chronicles to share some of my favorite photos from the last two days. My grandmother really has a knack for decorating, and some of the most adorable/beautiful Russian and Ukrainian style things that I felt went with the holiday perfectly.

The two of us (and my Aunt) very much share a love for Matryoshki. So much so that I made them both one for Christmas a few years back. And her little Ukrainian Dancing Girl doll used to fascinate me so much as a child, that I now have my own!

She's got some of the prettiest Matryoshki I've ever seen.

Oh, and did I mention she makes the best piroghi in the world? Because she does. Best. Ever.

So I hope everyone who still celebrates had a great Russian Christmas, and for everyone who doesn't, I still hope you had great days.

And now, back to the baking.

-l.c.

Baking with the Boyfriend

2012-01-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Busy busy busy has been kind of the theme of 2011, and the days leading up to Christmas were no different. As the year progressed, and as things got busier and more hectic, I was constantly wracked with anxiety about the relationship between me and my boyfriend. I was so terrified that because we were so busy, and because we didn't get to see each other that much, that somehow that would cause things to collapse. I don't exactly have a very happy or healthy romantic past, and in my last relationship, that always seemed to be the way it would go. And unlike the way I now realize that I felt about that last relationship, I reallllllllyyyyyy realllllllyyyyyyy like this one.

So, naturally I didn't want that to happen.

But as it turns out, the happiest surprise about being in a healthy, functional, and loving relationship is that... well... it's not that hard. We like doing a lot of the same things, and even if it's not something we both enjoy, we end up enjoying it because we get to hang out. So the few days of vacation we had after school ended and before Christmas, we made the most of it. Even though they were filled with errands, chores and holiday preparation responsibilities, we tried to do a decent amount of it together. We helped each other shop for our families, and most exciting of all for me, he helped me bake! My usually solitary day long baking marathon was far more enjoyable (and more productive!) with him around to keep me talking and lend a helping (much stronger than mine) hand.

He was particularly helpful in instances where butter had to be mixed in, since with my teeny hands and non-existent upper arm strength/bad wrists, it usually takes me an eternity to get it to the consistency it's supposed to be without a mixer (our hand-held bit the bullet a few months ago and we haven't gotten around to replacing it).

We tried out three, totally new recipes this year, two of which I'll talk about in this post.

First up is a Pinterest find for Swirled Sugar Cookies. While the recipe seems to be just for regular Pillsbury type hard sugar cookies, it was the visuals that really got me. All swirly and sprinkley and pretty...

Overall, a pretty straightforward recipe, and the result tastes even better than the Pillsbury ones I loved so much as a kid. The only thing of note that we found is that it's actually much much easier to make the cookie cane if the dough hasn't been refrigerated. Ours got TOO hard after refrigeration to even bend without it just snapping. Which was kind of bizarre and may have somehow been our fault. But beyond that, easy peasy.

Ours aren't the neatest looking, mainly because the sprinkle application was kind of a difficult process... I couldn't really find a great way to do it without either messing up the cane, or getting sprinkles EVERYWHERE. The only vessel we had that would have worked were the large cookie sheets with edges and they were in the oven at the time. Additionally I probably should have refrigerated it slightly more before slicing to prevent the shape deformation from the pressure of the not-so-sharp knife I used.

The other recipe was one I found in my perusing of Tracey's Culinary Adventures . It's a great blog, and I love digging through recipes when I have 15 minutes to spare. When I stumbled upon the recipe for Eggnog Cut-Out Cookies, I knew at once it was a must-try. Both of us absolutely love eggnog, and to have cookies that taste like it? Perfect.

The recipe itself was super easy to whip up, and quite honestly a good third of the dough ended up in our stomachs before the oven was even pre-heated. The dough was SO FREAKING GOOD. Almost better than the finished cookies. Which were also SO GOOD. This is a recipe that is definitely being put in my recipe box for future and frequent use.

Some tips to remember for next time I make them (and there will most certainly be a next time): 1) Don't roll the dough too thin. They're better thicker. and 2) Remember to put the Cinnamon Sugar on top BEFORE baking.

As I mentioned earlier, we actually tried out THREE new recipes that day, but the third will have it's own post devoted to the recipe review. But, to hold you over... here's a sneak peak!

-l.c.

P.S. - Find me on Pinterest! Turandot23.

Happy Holidays!

2012-01-02T22:26:00.007-05:00

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone out there had a happy and healthy holiday season! Here at Lunaticraft, though it's been busy, the season has been a happy one. Both sides of my family have lived in NEPA for a few generations now, so holidays can be hectic and draining as we rush from one dinner to the next, and scurry to wrap gift upon gift. The status of both my brother and I as freelance musicians also adds to the craziness, particularly on Christmas Eve as we fight to squeeze the traditional family stuff and time with our significant others in between our various mass and service gigs. It's sometimes very easy to lose sight of the fact that holidays are supposed to be for celebrating and enjoying.

This year my boyfriend had a huge hand in helping to keep me in the spirit and my annual baking marathon with my grandmother helped me transition from the high-stress situation of an unusually late finals week to true holiday mode. (Posts coming soon) In general, the main holidays have come and gone smoothly and happily, capping off a difficult, if satisfying and rewarding year.

Economically, it's been a very difficult year for me. I have my part-time teaching job, but the reality is that I get paid more in experience than actual livable wages. It will be a gigantic help when I apply to Ph.D. programs this fall, but until then, even without rent (which my parents are kind enough to not charge me), thanks to student loans it's a major struggle. I only get paid six months out of the year due to my status as contract/part-time, and despite the dozens upon dozens of applications I've put out in the past year simply cannot seem to land any supplemental income.

But somehow I made it through the holidays, with only the funds for February's upcoming car insurance payment still unaccounted for. I made a huge effort to think ahead this year, socking away as much money as possible so that I could actually afford to get decently thoughtful gifts for my family and boyfriend, and it payed off. We're a very tightly knit family, and even though we kids are all grown up, we still exchange with my aunts and uncles in the area. It felt really good to be able to hand them each something a little more than just another year of cookies or hot chocolate mix for a change. As for me, well, you can see above. All I can say is that I'm a lucky girl with an amazing, wonderful guy and a loving family who in general really gets who I am. And that's the most amazing gift of all of it.

Professionally and personally it has also been a year of challenges. Professionally, it's mainly just run of the mill growing pains as I slowly but surely learn from experience what works and what doesn't. Though challenging, this year has brought me more growth than I ever could have imagined and not one, but two successful semesters. My course evaluations, both formal and informal, were all good, and most importantly very helpful in allowing me to shape and construct future courses. I have been blessed with amazing and understanding students, and quite honestly, I learn just as much from them as they (hopefully) learn from me!

Personally, the year has been one of ups and downs, lefts and rights, but through it all I've been blessed by my super supportive and patient boyfriend. We just celebrated our one year anniversary at the end of October, and though I haven't talked about our relationship on this blog until recently for personal reasons, it's been an amazing 14 months. Living at home with your parents as a 24 year old professor can be frustrating at best, and he's been amazing about listening to me vent, and both agreeing with me when I'm right, and gently reminding me that it IS my parent's house when I'm wrong. I often feel like I'm stuck in this weird place between two worlds, and frankly it's been a big stumbling block over the past year. At work I get to be a fully independent adult, in my personal life I'm a typical 24 year old with friends and hobbies and places to go and be, but then sometimes when I walk back in the door at home it's like I've walked through a time warp and am suddenly sixteen again. Finding a balance between "I'm 24 and making all the right decisions for my future - I think I've proved myself enough to be able to run my own life" and "Our house our rules" is something that both me AND my parents have struggled with repeatedly over the past year, particularly as I started dating again for the first time since returning home from college in '08.

But we'll figure it out. And hopefully 2012 will be just as full of happiness and growth, not just for me, but for all you lovelies out there as well.

Here's to an amazing 2012.
-l.c.

(Photos from top to bottom: My grandmother's cat & nativity set, My grandmother's tree, My friend's tree, Gifts I received, Highlights from our own tree.)

Bright Spots in a Bitter and Busy Morning

2011-12-09T16:27:00.004-05:00

A perfectly made Merrimint Mocha.

A Christmas Candy Cane Manicure (Sally Hansen Gem Crush Cha-Ching! with FingerPaints Well-Cultured Pearl)

And what's that in the background?

Why, I'm learning Japanese! My boyfriend and I are learning together. His interest stems from the fact that he's part Japanese, and I've just always been interested in learning an Asian language but never had an outlet to do so. Also, I really want to travel there some day, and as I found out on my trip to China, traveling would be much much easier with a basic grasp of the language.

Although I must say, we got by shockingly well with only "thank you," "toilet," and "beer" in our vocabulary.

Anyway, we decided to give it a shot hoping that having someone to work with will make the process easier. So far, so good despite only having my lunch hour to work on it.

-l.c.

Tutorial: Peel-off Nail Polish

2011-11-05T12:44:00.005-04:00

So I've been having a big problem with nail damage since I found myself obsessed with nail polish. I like bold colors, and as a result, I've been changing my polish color often. You know, since bold colors don't necessarily match everything. And there are only so many green things I can wear in a row.

Now, I don't mind the time it takes. I do it in the 20 minutes before hitting the sack for the night. BUT removing nail polish almost daily requires the use of nail polish remover almost daily. And no matter how hard I try, I cannot find a remover that is gentle enough for that. My nails end up thin, and brittle, and damaged no matter what.

So when I found this little tidbit about using School Glue as a basecoat during my nail blog browsing, I decided I MUST try it out.

What you need:

Elmer's School Glue - I emptied out one of my old Orly nail polishes (that I hated the color of) and stuck it in there so I'd have a brush handy.

Nail Polish - I used Finger Paint's Sketch-n-Etch. I love this green.

Top Coat - I used Essie's Good To Go

Basically, you just paint on the Elmer's Glue as your base coat, and let it dry. It will make your nails look all weirdly matte. I've found that the thinner the coat you use, the more staying power it has. The thicker, the more likely your polish will be to come off before you actually peel it off. (Please excuse my icky-poo cuticles. I swear they don't look that bad in person.)

Then you just paint your nails as usual. Polish, then top coat. I also find it helpful if I extend the topcoat all the way to the cuticles on all sides if you want to keep your polish on for a little longer. This way you get some extra adhesion to bare nail that will just scrape off when you go picking at it later.

When the day is done, and you're all finished with your polish, just go at it. I use tweezers to find the edge, and after I loosen that, the rest of the polish just peels right off. Honestly you can even use your fingers.

And after that, you're left with clean, undamaged nails! You can see on my middle finger where I got a little sloppy with the polish itself, extending beyond the range of the glue. But little spots like that scrape off easily with just another nail.

Now this method is, of course, not great if you want to keep your nail polish on for more than a day or so. It's not meant for longevity of a mani. But for it's purposes? My conclusion is that it works like a charm. So a very special thanks to ABC-Lolita for the original tutorial, and for saving my nails from further remover related damage!

-l.c.

Annual Halloween Decoration Photo Dump

2011-11-05T12:12:00.004-04:00

The day before Halloween, we woke up to a winter wonderland.

But sometime in between me going to work (I work in a church choir on Sundays), and returning home armed with some extra candy, it had mostly melted and the sun had come out.

So, I present to you the annual documentation of our family Halloween Decorations. (Previous years can be found here and here.)

Considering we're a household consisting of two grown children, the amount of decorations we own and add each year is slightly obscene.

The snow helped the pumpkins hold up quite well. In fact they're still looking good now, a week after carving. They are making our now leaf-stained (thanks to the unexpected snow) stoop look much more festive.

Our neighborhood pumpkin smashers seemed to have graduated and gone to college or something, since they've not fallen victim to that either. Or maybe they've simply grown out of it. OR maybe they have some respect for the carvings. Probably the Squidbillies one. Because come to think of it, all the ones we've had smashed have been uncarved...

We've also extended our decorating beyond the front yard, adorning our very overgrown apple trees with hanging scariness.

Overall, I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween!

-l.c.

Pumpkins and... Snow?

2011-10-29T12:43:00.005-04:00

So the boyfriend and I have been talking about going to a pumpkin patch, picking out pumpkins, and doing the whole corn maze/hay ride thing for a while. I haven't been to a pumpkin patch since I was at least 8, and he finds this absolutely deplorable. Scandalous even. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not too upset about it. I don't even remember if I LIKE pumpkin patches or not. Not to mention, the whole hay ride thing is usually combined with the word "Haunted" in these parts, and I'm not so sure how I feel about that.

So I wasn't all that brokenhearted when we, late Friday night, FINALLY got a few hours where we were both free. No classes, no rehearsals, no work, just free for the first time in weeks. Unfortunately that free time didn't start until about 7:30 at night. Not exactly prime pumpkin patch visiting hours. So we just phoned it in, ran to the local grocery store, and nabbed ourselves some $5 pumpkins.

We even cheated a little bit with the carving itself, using pre-made stencils instead of designing our own. I went with the ever adorable Hello Kitty in a witch costume, and he went with the sheriff from Squidbillies - a show on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim that he thinks is absolutely hilarious. I have yet to see it.

So with the puppers primed at our feet to make sure she doesn't miss out on a thorough sniff inspection of any accidentally dropped pumpkin chunks, we set to work.

We were lucky to find some old Pumpkin Masters carving knives in a drawer in my house, because let me tell you, without them? These stencils would have been IMPOSSIBLE. All the little lines and whiskers and shit were just a huge PITA.

After all the cursing and swearing, however, we both agreed the effort was worth it. They look great all lit up, and the little kids who come trick-or-treating will love the Hello Kitty one. Well, the girls will at least.

So we set them on my stoop, all lit up, and admired our work for a few minutes. How great they'll look on Halloween! We took a few pictures, and then the boy went home and we both retired for the night.

But then, I woke up to find the animals in a state of combined depression and confusion. The puppy was moping. The tabby was watching the events outside with worry and consternation.

Because what was happening? Snow. In October. Not unheard of, but certainly early. And before today was over, the pumpkins were covered. All our hard work, just totally encased in that fluffy whiteness that's not supposed to show up for a few weeks yet.

Well, at least they'll stay fresh...

-l.c.

A Project! Finally!

2011-10-22T22:52:00.005-04:00

What is this fabric covered thing against the wall?

Covered in cats in kimonos? This lovely charming fabric I've been stashing for years, indecisive about how to use it?

Why... it's a magnetic makeup board!! My months and months of browsing Pinterest have brought a number of great DIY and organizational ideas to my attention, and this seemed to be not only the easiest to achieve, but also the most useful for the next project that was on my "to do" list during the great purge: Organize my makeup.

I had always stored it in a massive Caboodles steel finish train case thing, and as I was going through it and getting rid of what was too old/too crappy to use anymore, I realized two things. 1) I have an awful lot of makeup for someone who never wears it, most of which I have forgotten about because it's always packed away in the train case. and 2) Taking this into account, when I do wear makeup, I probably should broaden my horizons away from the same brown eyeliner/shadow/mascara that I use EVERY TIME. So this seemed like a perfect project for me. It will get my makeup out in to the open... easy to find, easy to grab, hopefully more tempting to use.

The idea was pinned originally from this post at Laura Thoughts, and it was a pretty simple project as it was there, but I changed it a little even so. I didn't go the sheet metal route that she did, since I couldn't find a frame I liked. Instead, I picked up a massive magnetic dry erase board at Walmart for about $5, grabbed some spray adhesive, a stapler, and my fabric, and then set to work. Covering the board only took about 15 minutes.

Hot gluing the magnets onto my makeup was a little more time consuming, but that's mainly because, well... I have a lot of makeup. In total the project took me about two hours and cost me maybe $20 tops. Quite honestly, the magnets were the most expensive part of the whole project, and if I had been willing to wait and get them online I could have cut costs quite a bit. I paid $6/50 magnets at Michael's, and I ended up needing just under 100. So that was the bulk of the cost. What can I say. I'm impatient.

And yes, that is Hello Kitty Eyeliner. I like Hello Kitty, okay?
-l.c.

Actual Crafty Content Coming Soon...

2011-10-22T20:53:00.004-04:00

I promise. In fact, I finished a project tonight.

I must say, I feel terribly guilty for my continued absence from posting. Who knew this thing would end up having such an impact on me?

But the honest truth is, I've been cheating on you, blog. I've been seeing another website... Pinterest has stolen my free time away from you, and knitting, and pretty much everything but history. I am sorry.

But I have remedied my ways. I return, the prodigal daughter with renewed inspiration and stories to tell.

Fall has of course brought the usual Octoberfest events for this Oompah playing French Hornist/Trumpeter, as you may have noticed from the photo of Franziskaner and my trumpet from last post.

The beer has flowed freely through a number of gigs (never too much to interfere with playing though!), the most exciting of which you can see above. We got to play a hockey game! BUT that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about the grand purging of belongings.

The past few weeks in addition to my cheating with Pinterest, I have been cleaning, and organizing, and throwing out/donating pretty much everything in my room. I was gifted what amounts to a small library of history books from a friend/mentor recently, and as I lugged box after box of books into my teeny tiny bedroom it quickly became clear... I have too much stuff. Considering I am still living in my childhood bedroom due to financial necessity, I simply have too much stuff.

So, in order to fit the books, which professionally are a huge huge help, things had to go, and they had to go fast. The cleaning began with a frantic determination that really bordered on panic... I imagine the episodes of Hoarders I have been watching with my boyfriend lately probably didn't help that, but anyway...

This photo was snapped as I was in the middle of the most frantic of the purging. Don't ask me why I keep an empty bottle of Jack on my dresser (I won't tell you), but as I was cleaning and dusting it ended up on my bed and Genghis curled right up with it. He must have had a hard day what with the napping, and the eating, and the throwing up on my carpet. Must be a hard life.

Freaking cats.

But maybe, he's just upset. Maybe all the cleaning and the trashing of things in what I'm sure he considers his room may have disturbed him.

Because clean and trash I did. Good lord. And several weeks in, I'm still not even close to done.

So far there have been five industrial sized garbage bags of clothes taken to the salvation army. I bit the bullet and finally got rid of all the size twos I had hanging around since high school with the hope I'd once more fit into them. The reality is, I'm not a large woman but my bone structure, even if I lose the 20 pounds I need to, will never ever let me into a size two again. I have hips. I have hips and I intend to love them.

Additionally, my newly discovered obsession with Pinterest has sparked the fashionista in me. So I was ruthless in ditching things I know I will never ever ever wear, regardless of where they came from or who gave them to me. Some things are simply not my style and it's about time I accepted that and made some room for stuff that is.

The cleaning process combined with Pinterest has also sparked interest in belongings that have long been lost in the clutter, such as nail polish. In fact I've added to my collection quite a bit since I rediscovered it, and I plan to feature it occasionally on here in the future, so heads up. (The above color is China Glaze "Dorothy Who?" for the curious.)

In general, the purging has been great for me, and for my inspiration to actually finish projects. I've rediscovered my sewing machine, and intend to begin doing that again, actually sewing garments this time. I've also rediscovered jewelry making, although now that a Charming Charlie's has opened in the area, I'm not sure how much you'll actually see of that.

On the docket for next post is actually a Pinterest inspired DIY that I finished tonight after purging the bag of makeup seen below. So stay tuned. I'll be back.

-l.c.

(P.S. my Pinterest username is Turandot23 if anyone is on there! =D)

A Photographic Taste of a Three Month Hiatus.

2011-10-06T16:07:00.003-04:00

This long overdue blog post brought to you thanks to the Flikr App for Android

-l.c.

The First of Many History Trips

2011-07-22T12:28:00.006-04:00

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

"We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

"It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground.

"The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us

"—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion

"—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain

"—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom

"—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

(Translation: The boy and I went to Gettysburg. It was awesome.)
-l.c.

Adjustment Issues

2011-07-12T02:09:00.003-04:00

I'm going to come right out and say it... I'm having trouble adjusting to summer. The time, the complete and utter lack of any sort of finite schedule, the, well... freedom of it all has made me nervous.

I've been trying to relax. Trying to keep that little monkey in brain that keeps screaming "YOU'RE FORGETTING SOMETHING!" at bay. Remind myself that I worked my ass off this year, it's okay to really relax, that it shouldn't feel unnatural.

Some knitting in the hammock has helped a bit... it at least keeps my hands and mind busy. I've started knitting a Leisel out of the Elsebeth Lavold Silky Tweed... a yarn I can tell you right now I wish I had bought way more of before it went off the market. I love it. It is soft, knits up warm, and has that delightful tweedy look that I so love.

So far, so good. It took me a few tries to get started however, as my printer was running out of ink when I printed the pattern. As a result, the shaded block in the chart that means "no stitch" looked just like another knit stitch. There was much grinding and gnashing of teeth when least three times, I started off, got to row three, and got really confused when I reached the end of the stitches before I was supposed to.

What could I be doing wrong?!

Well, silly me. It took me three full frogs and another false start later to even think of taking a second look at the PDF version. And there it was, clear as day. "NO STITCH."

Duh.

Well, that flub behind me, I'm well into my fifth repeat of the chart, and as it turns out, it's a relatively quick, relatively easy knit, and is doing the job of easing me into full relaxation mode... slowly.

Baby steps.

For now, back to the hammock, to concentrate on keeping my worries at bay.

Of Weddings and Nice Shoes

2011-07-08T11:21:00.004-04:00

Careful centerpieces...

My "Elle Woods" Shoes...

Splashes of color off the patio...

Champagne ready to toast the new married pair...

Sprawling and peaceful country club scenes as we celebrate inside...

Round that all out with a few calm nights at the Backyard Ale House with my boyfriend and some great friends, and the result is the end to a very successful, very exciting June.

-l.c.

Sunday Quick Shots

2011-06-19T17:45:00.004-04:00

The half-assed photographing of my first shawl last post, combined with catching up on my back log of Posie Gets Cozy posts made me realize that the main reason I don't post often is because I rarely bring along a camera while I'm out and about. And for me personally, no photos, no blogging.

So I've decided to start using the camera function on my phone for all it's worth, and over the past week or so it has proven itself very useful. As has the retro camera apps that I downloaded. They allow me to take quick shots wherever I am, and while they may not be the highest quality, it still gives me an end product that I like with minimal effort, minimal editing, and no added bulk to carry. By utilizing my phone I'm able to capture moments that I normally wouldn't, such as...

... the ruins of my very first time trying real buffalo wings, something I actually didn't mind.

Two would-be-bird-terrorizers, prepped and pining.

A mournful puppy, wondering why she's not being allowed to greet the small children walking home from school.

A quiet back porch, calling out for someone to visit with a book.

The fact that this week has been a week of firsts with food for me, as I get ready to dig into a wet burrito filled with cow tongue and goodness at Chicano's in Scranton's South Side.

A trip to the region staple ice cream parlor, Manning's.

Or a finally open and inviting pool.

I'm still playing with which app I like better for what, and which filters/cameras I like the look of best, but in the end, here's to a more active, more photograph filled bloggy life.

-l.c.

First Shawl = Complete.

2011-06-15T14:19:00.002-04:00

Well, I finally did it. I have officially finished my very first shawl.

Well... I finally did it months ago. I only just got around to photographing it. And even now I couldn't be bothered to drag out my real camera and fell back on the toy camera app on my phone. Bad photo-blogger, no biscuit.

But regardless of the delay and the half-ass photography (although I do like the look of them), my Traveling Woman is now done, blocked, and has been worn countless times. It's a bit small, so it makes a better scarf than a shawl, but I'm perfectly happy with that. I don't think I'm fashionable enough just yet to be able to pull off a traditional shawl without looking dowdy. A few more paycheck shopping events and I might be though. =)

But for now, I'm quite proud of myself, and though the yarn is not as soft and squishy as I would like (the hazards of using mystery yarn), I enjoyed wearing it for the last few months of winter. I've gotten many compliments on it, and it continues to come in handy, small though it is, on the days I go into the office and the air conditioning is pumping too hard.

So what's the verdict?

Well, I guess it's that I like shawl knitting and they'll probably be making an appearance on my needles once or twice a year from now on. I do think I'll be sticking to smaller shawls for now, as my attention span tends to wander (particularly as my semesters get busy), but I enjoy them while I can focus. I will have to figure out ways to integrate them into my regular winter attire in different ways, but once that's done, I'm sure I'll only be wanting more.

-l.c.

Fresh Summer Start

2011-06-03T11:35:00.007-04:00

Once again, a seasons worth of changes have gone by since the last time I posted. We've gone from March coming in like a lion, and out like a... well... lion.

...to blossoming apple trees and bloom filled hanging baskets. And contrary to what these photos suggest, I watched most of those changes from my office window. With an extra large, extra strong coffee in one hand, a highlighter in the other, a book on the desk, and a lecture plan on the computer screen, I watched the weather turn from snow to rain to wind to sunshine out of the corner of my eye.

But the time spent buried in the repercussions of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the details of the New Deal, the nuances of WWII foreign policy and the horrifying unfairness off the McCarthy trials, the tragedy of Vietnam and the victory of the fall of the Berlin Wall... it was all worth it in the end. My first year as a university faculty member is behind me, and as I relax now for what feels like the first time in years, I can honestly say that I loved every second.

Most shocking to me however is not how much I loved it. I knew from the beginning that I was going to like it, and it was painfully evident by even the second nerve wracking, stomach turningly scary day in August that I really wanted to do this for the rest of my life. That's no surprise. What I did not predict was how much I would learn in the process. About teaching, about communicating, about (as cheesy and cliche as this sounds) myself.

To be honest, I haven't really even had the time to process it all. I suspect it will take all summer for me to work through the lessons I've learned and synthesize how to use them in the upcoming year. And it's something I can't wait to do.

In the meantime however, I've been busy decompressing. The week after final grades are due is always one of the busiest, but most fun of the year for me because of my heavy involvement in our university musical groups. The full university symphonic band/choir perform at pretty much every event commencement weekend, and the week before, we keep ourselves occupied with rehearsals, picnics, and our annual retreat to the lake property the University owns.

Making the transition from student to faculty has been an odd, awkward position for me to be in in terms of my social life, as the majority of the people closest to me are still enrolled. So it felt good to spend a few days surrounded by just friends. People who know me not as professor, but as peer/friend who happens to have started teaching here too. Its easy for me to forget sometimes that just last year I was the one taking the walk that three of my closest friends did this year to get my diploma.

And so I spent my time at the lake just relaxing. Chatting with old friends, reclining in the surprisingly comfortable white Adirondack chairs on the dock, reading some Ian Kershaw (part of a well chosen birthday gift from my boyfriend) as the sun shone, my shoulders burned, and the sound of the lake lapping on the shore eased away the stress of the semester.

-l.c.

A FO!? After how long!?

2011-03-25T13:47:00.003-04:00

First real FO in a while! Made after my best friend made a request for a blue scarf. Specifically, the blue of our mutual high school alma mater. After a longer-than-necessary debate over WHAT blue that actually was, (he insisted that it was bright, supersaturated, primary color blue that's basically only available in Red Heart Supersaver. I insist it's more of a navy,) I set out to try to find a suitable yarn in a suitable color.

Who knew blue was so complicated?

Anyway, thanks to sage advice of Mary Ellen at the lovely Summit Yarn Studio, I found a perfect compromise between the two ideas in Ella Rae's Classic Chunky Superwash. Overall, it was a delight to knit with. Slightly splitty here and there, but not enough to really bother me, and frankly, the end result was so beautiful that even if it was the most splitty yarn in the world it would have been worth it. It's soft, and squishy, and warm.

My only real complaint is that it smelled like hell during blocking. Like a sheep ate a chemical perm kit and then took a massive dump. However, the smell completely went away once it was dry, and when I re-washed it the smell was significantly less chemically and more of a normal wet wool smell. I think it must have been the dye, because the first time (the smelly time), the water I washed it in turned surprisingly bright blue with the first few rinses. As a result, I would not use this to knit any sort of multi-colored project with light colors unless I washed the yarn a couple times before knitting for fear of bleeding.

The pattern (Cailyn Meyer's Logi ) was delightful. Easy to follow, well charted, beautiful result. I was concerned at first that the end result might be too thin for a guy (I'm always afraid that my end result will turn out too dainty looking for men when I knit for them... a silly concern when the original pattern was designed for a guy, but I can't ever shake it for some reason). In the end it turned out perfectly as is. If I decide to knit this again using worsted weight instead of chunky yarn, I may double the moss stitch border. Not because I was unhappy with the end result, mind you, but rather because someone else who knit the pattern did and I really like the way it looks.

Overall, first real FO in a while = success. I've got more on the way as well in the form of my finally finished Traveling Woman , and an almost completed and slightly modified The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief ... I just have to get around to photographing it!

-l.c.

Taking a breather...

2011-02-17T13:31:00.003-05:00

It's been a long, miserable winter thus far. January was filled with trials and tribulations, illnesses and tragedy... And I am NOT referring to the Steelers loosing the Superbowl.

The third trip to the big game since I started college actually served as a nice distraction from the darkness that pervaded my household through the month. It was a reason to cheer and yell and curse about something that in the grand scheme of things is all for fun. I'm gradually learning the ins and outs of football so that I can understand it a bit further than "TOUCHDOWN" and "TACKLE." Being quizzed on "what position is so and so playing and why did he just do that," and "why did they run the play that way instead of this way" served as a good way to keep my mind from getting too bogged down in the negative. Something the weather certainly didn't facilitate.

Our area was repeatedly hit by major snow storms. They each dumped just enough to make life miserable, but not enough for it to be fun. You know, that 5-6 inches of powder where it takes them forever to properly clear all but the main roads. However, since the main roads clear easily, nothing is cancelled. Times like that make me miss Pittsburgh, where two inches of accumulation would lead to widespread panic and closures. For all the talk about the "Lake Effect" snow storms, I never saw them hit the 'burgh. Hell of a wind on the Bluff there, but never any major snow events.

On top of the snow, several ice storms left a crust of ice on our yard and driveway approx. 3 inches thick. The puppers couldn't even go out in the snow to walk around without hurting herself, never mind play some snow Frisbee. Her forlorn look all month only served to depress us more. She would walk up to us and look from us to the door, her eyes begging, "Please? Outside? Pleeeaaaasseeeeee?? You promisssseeeddddddddd!"

I swear I have never felt guilt like this from an animal before. This dog is really something special.

Nevertheless, I've done my best to keep busy. The start of February helped, because with it came the start of the spring semester. Once again, I'm plunged head first into course planning, lecture writing, and grade giving. My students are a little younger this semester: more freshmen and sophomores than juniors and seniors this time. And bizarrely enough, it makes me feel a whole lot more confident.

I mean, I know I'm qualified to do this. I have a BA, I have my masters, I've done the studies and taken the classes, and frankly, I'm good at teaching. My course evaluations from last semester prove that. But when I'm standing up there looking into the eyes of people I very well might have been in high school with, all of a sudden it's hard to remember those things.

I've also been doing my best to keep color in my life. The grey barrenness that comes with January and February in NEPA can really get to a person, so I've been getting some knitting done. I'm trying the Traveling Woman one more time, this time with the yarn I originally had set aside for my failed Swallowtail Shawl . You know, just in case I bollocks it up again, I don't want to be using that lovely Noro. I'll save that for when I get the hang of shawl knitting.

The yarn I'm using came from eBay years ago when I was first beginning to knit, and is of unknown fiber. I think it's 100% wool, but I only think that because that's what I put on my Ravelry stash page when I first got my account. The colors are beautiful though. Bit less blue and more purple than this picture wants to show.

I also have another largish project on the needles, an amazing cabled scarf in a rich, dark blue. However, it is a gift, so no pictures of that until I give it to its rightful owner. If you're super curious, it is posted on my Ravelry page.

For now, I'm trying to keep as much color and spring in my life as possible, and I hope you're all doing the same!

- l.c.

When did we go...

2011-01-12T19:55:00.005-05:00

...from the damp, earthy smell of fall rain...

Leaves sticking to the bottom of your shoes...

Crisp, biting wind tossing the changing trees back and forth under an electric blue sky...

A little knitting in stolen moments between grading and writing...

A puppy in motion,

... and a tabby decidedly not...

Pre-holiday baking, the heavy, starchy smell of flour filling the kitchen...

And pie crust, impossible as always...

To breaking of an entirely new year?

Here's to a more present and productive 2011.

-l.c.

The Last Lazy Days of Summer...

2010-09-30T13:56:00.002-04:00

The last, lazy days of summer have come and gone faster than I ever could have imagined. It seems like only yesterday we were closing out the camp I worked at, spending the last two days before we staff members returned to our respective homes all over the country by camping at an area lake.

I have been so busy lately that I've barely noticed the fact that autumn has already arrived. Looking outside, and then back to these photos make me feel like those lazy two days of laughter, friends, yeungling, and quiet are from a different universe. And yet, the memory is still so vivid, so visceral.

I cannot figure out where the time has gone. Well, actually, that's a lie. The last weeks of August catapulted me unexpectedly into the life of a workaholic. Every free second has been spent either writing lectures or in rehearsals for one thing or another.

Not that I mind. It has become so undeniably clear to me over the past few weeks that I love what I do. Being faculty at a University at the age of 23 has been the most emotionally harrowing, stressful, nerve wracking, anxiety inducing, time consuming thing I have ever done in my entire short life. The ups and the downs are massive and sudden. I can be flying high, feeling like I can take on the entire world at one moment, and feel like everything is falling apart the next.

And yet, I love it. Every up, every down, every left, every right. Through every second spent wondering if my students hate me, every second panicking over the way I set up my syllabus, every second guessing moment and unexpected challenge... I love it.

It's been so hard for me to figure out a way to express that. Update you guys on what I've been up to. And so I've been avoiding the blog, the few attempts at posting turning into staring at a blank blogger update screen, unsure of how to even begin to relate to you the last month and a half.

I guess I just needed to get the words flowing.

-l.c.

The Triumphant Return of Musical Monday!

2010-08-16T22:27:00.004-04:00

Been a while, huh?

For our first Musical Monday back, I wanted to feature something fun. Now, for the past 12 years of my life, I've had the honor and privilege to attend (and the past few years work at) a summer camp for talented young musicians from all over the world. And for the last 5 or so years, in the choirs we've had a full week of learning and performing traditional South African music, dancing and all.

There's no way I could possibly convey to you how much fun it is to perform. Or exactly how touching it can be. So I present to you the next best thing: watching it!

These two videos are of two well known songs, performed by the Drakensberg Boy's Choir. These boys are crazy awesome, and the drummers even more so! Make sure you watch as well as listen. You'll love it.

First, Kwangena thina bo - a greeting song that means something like, "When we sing, people rejoice and sing and dance because of our music." Or at least that was how I remember our conductor explaining it last year. =D

The next is: Shosholoza - a very well known one that means roughly, "Go forward." Little trivia about this one - the South African football team sang this coming onto the field to open this year's World Cup. There are also videos on youtube of this breaking out in the stands at football games in South Africa. Everyone knows this one.

Hope you enjoyed!

-l.c.

Ease it on back...

2010-08-01T23:11:00.003-04:00

It's been a crazy crazy couple of months, and I apologize for dropping off the face of the Internet for a bit longer than my usual summer hiatus. After a messier and more frantic finals season than I'm used to, I finally received my Masters degree in May. I took that triumphant walk down that corridor to the strains of Sine Nomine, and was handed the first degree I actually feel like I really worked for.

Not that I wasn't happy when I graduated from high school, or my undergrad, it's just that somehow those graduation ceremonies were different. Both events felt very much like it was just another thing to get over and done with. The ceremonies themselves lacked celebration, I hadn't felt like I had accomplished anything, and in the end, was just sitting there for two hours in a plastic robe to get a meaningless little piece of paper that will sit in my parents house and gather dust for a few years. Maybe my undergrad diploma will find a place on my office wall someday. Maybe not.

Kind of bleak, right?

But my masters... it's different somehow. I think it's because I finally found exactly what I want to do with my life. The path to this degree wasn't just another two years of going through the academic motions. I finally feel like I accomplished something, and really felt that excitement of commencement that I always felt that there must be something wrong with me for not feeling the first two times.

And now, I work. I work, I teach, I try to publish, and in a few years, Ph.D. here I come.

After graduation, with no clue as to employment, no idea where to go next, I had a number of great gifts and opportunities drop into my lap, including a promotion (in title, not pay) at the summer camp I have worked at for the past three years. It's been an amazing time, as always, and as it winds down, I will miss my students and my colleagues dearly.

On the more fun, frivolous side of life, as a birthday/graduation present, my aunt treated me to a few days at the Hershey Spa in Hershey, PA. What an absolutely beautiful place the Hotel Hershey is! The photo above is from the main patio, and I hope to write a post soon devoted to my few days there, which were relaxing and visually inspiring, as well as full of new experiences.

This summer, I also was given the privilege of attending and participating in a friend's wedding. I realized that I am actually at that age where my friends are beginning to get married, and I am thrilled that thanks to my musical background, I have something to offer as a wedding gift, since I am, to put it lightly, broke as shit.

This wedding was a special one, since both the bride and the groom are members of the German Oompah Band I play with during the Oktoberfest season. So, because of this, I and the other members of the brass band played the ceremony. It was beyond beautiful, and in all my years as a wedding musician (and we're going on 10 as a cellist, and 6 as a vocalist) I've never seen a happier, more laid back couple on the big day.

So, what now? What's up in the more immediate future?

The summer is winding to a close, and before we know it autumn is going to start inching in. I have been granted the opportunity to teach at the University level for this fall semester, so I have a ton of planning to do in the next three weeks. And after that, I make my first walk into a classroom as something more than a student, more than a GA. I'm going to be a real teacher, adjunct though I may be.

It's a little scary.

Okay, let's be honest. It's way more than a little scary. It's downright terrifying. However, I've never wanted anything so badly in my life, and I know that at the end of the day, I'm going to make a college instructor, even if the students in front of me are basically my age. I just have to learn to stop second guessing myself.

And besides, if worse comes to worse, I'll just make sure I'm wearing great shoes. Because really, who can not feel confident in a pair of great kicks?

-l.c.

Uuuuuuubuntu!

2010-05-16T13:13:00.006-04:00

As I sit here, with the Met's production of Carmen playing on PBS, I am reminded of how lucky I am to finally have a chance to relax and breathe a little. April and May are always one of the busiest times of the year for me, particularly this year as I gear up to take one more walk down that mortarboard lined isle and receive yet another degree. Granted that doesn't make me any more employable, sadly, but what can I ask when I've got a degree in English and another in History? Really. Not good career planning on my part, but damn did I enjoy getting to this point. Me thinks a Ph.D. lies in my future a few years down the road anyway.

For now, I'm in that lull after classes and concerts are over, but right before the rush of commencement. I lucked out as far as finals go, and both my classes are take home essays, so as I work on them gradually, I can finally sit and relax and appreciate the summer that has seemingly all of a sudden sprouted around me. Boy was that a surprise when I went for a walk and noticed everything was suddenly green.

There's been a ton of change taking me by surprise lately, the condition of the outdoors being only one of them. I've been quite a bit more impulsive and daring lately, and I can't really explain why, but I like it. For example, I'm now a Linux user. I made the switch to Ubuntu about a month ago now, and am loving every second since I told Windows to go stick it.

There has been some adjustment time as I figure everything out, and set all my online stuff back up. For example, I'm just now beginning to cobble my RSS feeds back together (my apologies for my long absence from your comment sections, LKS friends!). I'm also just now starting to spend more time going about my old computing habits instead of spending all my CPU time playing with all the fun new features or downloading handy new (free!) software. Overall, though, it's been a fun, if slightly nerdtastic move to the land of Tux the penguin. However, I am really looking forward to getting back into the swing of the interwebs and knitting as the semester winds down.

For now though, the final paper of my masters career is calling to me...

-l.c.

Miles to go...

2010-04-09T12:53:00.004-04:00

So Easter has come and gone, and my disappearance from the web-o-sphere has only continued. My days away from the Internet have been jam packed, but mostly pleasant. My life is currently gearing up for yet another big transition: another graduation. This time with my Masters. With the impending degree ceremony comes all the hectic preparation for it, the frantic studying for Comprehensive Exams (in less than two weeks), the desperate flailing for post-graduation employment, the panicked search into benefit options and packages to be bought in case said employment does not cough them up...

Doesn't sound all that pleasant, really, when I list it all like that.

But my friends and family have really served as a wonderful distraction, keeping me from getting too wrapped up in the uncertainty of June and beyond.

So, jam-packed, but pleasant.

Much like the holiday that just passed. (How's that for a transition? My writing professors are probably cringing instinctively wherever they are.)

This year, the Easters were together. Once every four years the Russian Orthodox Easter aligns with the Easter that everyone else celebrates, and that results in a day long marathon for our family. Two houses, two dinners, and countless churches thanks to our status as musical mercenaries.

But, as always, sometime in between devouring the Blueberry pie I whipped up (shown above) and eating our way through my Aunt's delicious, if a little modern art looking Cheese Pascha, we found time to take our annual hike back "the Fields."

Every year, the epic green wonderland that is contained in my father's memories of childhood becomes a little more eroded, a little more industrialized. But the beauty didn't evaporate. It just changed. It's still as beautiful as ever, only now it's in a strange, grey and brown kind of way.

This year it really helped remind me that good can be found in even some of the most unlikely places, and also allowed me put all the shifts I'm about to undergo into perspective.

Sure, things might not go exactly how I planned. But if I just keep going, keep heading down the road, things will stay beautiful. Even if it is in a slightly different way from what I expect.

And now I'm going to totally ruin the introspective nature of this post by introducing a new, if intermittent feature.

For the past, oh, forever, I have been collecting photos online that make me laugh. I don't know why I save them to my hard drive. It's a compulsion really. You know, just in case some sort of godzilla-esque monster ever attacks and the only way to defeat it is to have enough random funny crap saved on your computer.

You can never be too careful.

But anyway, I figure it's about time I start doing something with them, so thus begins "Funny Shit Friday." Enjoy!

-l.c.

P.S. - DAYUM, my feet are PALE.

Greener Pastures

2010-03-18T17:43:00.005-04:00

There are very few times in my life when green polka-dotted rain shoes are acceptable and appropriate, and this past week, they have gotten their allotted yearly wear.

Not only has spring begun to arrive here in NEPA, but just in time for the annual St. Patties Day celebrations.

Now, in and around the greater Scranton area, St. Patricks Day is a sacred event. Even for the non-Irish, it's like Christmas, only with more green beer and Irish Whiskey. Funnily enough the 17th itself is not really a big deal. Yea, maybe you'll hit an Irish pub for a Guinness. Maybe you'll wear a green shirt to work. But other than that, it's just another weekday. No, in the Scranton area, St. Patrick's day comes early, and with a vengeance.

Parade Day.

You don't even need to specify which parade. You just know. The Saturday before the 17th, the streets of downtown Scranton are filled with green. Everyone from the tiniest toddlers to the oldest mobile citizens come out to see one of the country's biggest parades, ranked number 2 based on participants per population. Only Savannah, GA beats it, and NYC comes in at number 3. The bars open at 9, the parade starts around noon, the breaking of open container laws is openly flaunted, and as always, the pipers are plentiful.

I do not have many pictures of the parade from this year, because, to be entirely honest, I did not do much parade going this year. There was plenty of celebrating, but the crazy cold wind and rain kept the parade attending to the minimum for me, and when I did, my camera stayed nice, warm, and dry in my pocket.

Now, for me, the interweb appropriate celebrating came, for a change, on St. Patty's Day itself. After working as an elementary school music teacher for three days (20 third graders with recorders, while fun, was an experience that I do not wish to repeat anytime terribly soon), I went with some good friends to the Scranton/Wilkes-barre Penguins game, which we affectionately refer to as the "Baby Pens."

Now, having done my undergraduate work in Pittsburgh, I am a Pittsburgh Penguins fan. It's almost a graduation requirement out there. But the Penguin love has stuck with me since leaving, so it's kind of special for me to live in the area where their feeder team resides. And yesterday, not only did the Baby Pens have a special St. Patty's day logo and jerseys (basically a requirement in this area), but there were pipers there to help celebrate.

And what were we celebrating?

Well, the Stanley Cup of course! It came for a visit, since it is currently held by our parent team.

So a very special St. Patrick's Day week it has been.

Isn't it beautiful?

-l.c.

P.S. We won! The Luck 'o the Irish was with us! =D

Takataka, doo doo doo, doo doo doo tookatoo, Doo doo doo, doo doo doo...

2010-03-02T11:09:00.004-05:00

I did it! Cue John Williams!

I crossed the Ravelympics finish line, just as the closing ceremonies were coming to a close with their dancing mounties and their giant inflatable beavers, and the ever so charmingly talented Michael Buble (because it took a Canadian to bring back the Great American Songbook).

And so, I have medaled. I competed in Short-track Shawls, and also I'm still waiting to see if I medaled on the Scarf Super-G (with the same project).

Unfortunately of the two teams I was on, I only medaled for Team Squint Squad (the Bones Fans Group Team). The Traveling Woman I was working on for Team Oooh, Shiney... (the CPAAGG team) ended up totally FUBAR, and I'm going to have to spend the next spurt of free time I have tinking back to see what happened. There wouldn't have been enough time for me to finish both anyway. So I am content with finishing one, my Saroyan in Cascade Pastaza, photos of which you see below.

The reason I found knitting time so suddenly precious over the past week or so is that I ended up drafted to play trumpet in a jazz band. That's right, trumpet. An instrument with which my relationship has consisted of nothing more than yelling obscenities at (not to mention at my brother, the person behind the mouthpiece) for the past, oh, eight years or so.

Now, I do play french horn. I am adequate at it. I get by in a symphonic band fairly well, sometimes even well enough to play first. I also do a bang up job at the "pah-pah"s to the tuba's "Oom" in the German Ooompah band I am a part of. However, it's not like I'm going to run around doing anything like this:

So while I know the general basics of brass playing, the trumpet is an entirely different animal. The trumpet was the instrument invented to lay waste to the rest of the orchestra/band like no other instrument can. Between that fact and the fact that there was constant noise production coming from one in my house from the day my brother picked one up to the day he went to college (for trumpet... major conservatory at least, so all the noise did get him somewhere), I've always been a bit resentful of the trumpet. So I went into it pretty nervous. After all learning to play a new instrument is always difficult, even if the fundamentals are sort of there.

When I told my brother, I got a hearty guffaw, directions to dig out his old beginner trumpet (which had been my mom's methods trumpet back when she was getting her music ed degree in the late 70s), and a skeptical "you'll be fine." So I dug out the tarnished horn, printed out a fingering chart and gave it a shot. With all the baggage I carry concerning that jumble of brass tubes and valve, I was going to do it, but I wasn't going to like it.

However. We had our first rehearsal yesterday... and... and...

I liked it. A lot. Like, a lot a lot.

Just don't tell my brother.

-l.c.

The show must go on...

2010-02-27T11:53:00.002-05:00

"... The show must go on. Come rain, come shine, come snow, come sleet, the show must go on."

Still Ravelympicing away... with Singin' in the Rain, men's curling, and a major case of cabin fever on the brain. Be back with a full update and hopefully some finish lines crossed. The snow is now much deeper than in this photo (which was taken around noon yesterday), and it's still coming. I'm going to try to take a photo with the piles shoveling our driveway made later today... they're about a foot taller than me.

Also, my thoughts are with anyone who was effected by the Chilean earthquake, and safe wishes to anyone currently in Hawaii.

-l.c.

Quick Update.

2010-02-22T22:50:00.002-05:00

First, an official FO: My finished Collared One-Button Scarf.

Next, a Ravelympics preview. My Saroyan, for Team Squint Squad in Cascade Pastaza:

And last, my Traveling Woman for Team Oooh, Shiney:

I love the Noro sock yarn in these colors. I'm almost hesitant to use it because looking at the little skein belly-button makes me so happy.

More as the scramble starts to end!

-l.c.

The Ravelympics have begun...

2010-02-16T12:04:00.001-05:00

More to follow when I get a little bit ahead in my events and schoolwork!

Catch up day...

2010-02-06T11:41:00.004-05:00

Today is my catch up day for everything Internet.

Blogroll, Ravelry stash, LKS site, EVERYTHING.

So while I get busy doing that, here's an FO to share. A pair of Bella's Mittens for my Mum's birthday. Neither of us are a fan of Twilight or anything (in fact I pointedly loathe the books, not for their content, but because her writing reads like mine did when I was, like, thirteen, yet she managed to get published and become an international sensation, something that I will never be able to do. Pure jealousy. Well, that and I find the concept of an underage sparkly vampire as a heartthrob slightly odd and creepy-in-a-not-good-way. Call me a purist, I guess.) BUT, they looked totally warm and cozy and comfy.

As it turns out, they are all three. Warm, cozy, and comfy. So much so I had trouble giving them away. I used less than one skein of Debbie Bliss Chunky Donegal Tweed and started with only one cable repeat as the cuff, since my Mum isn't the elbow-high mitten type. By eliminating most of the arm from the pattern, one skein was well more than enough, and I actually ended up with a sizable chunk left over. However, Mum's hands are really small (even smaller than my itty bitty baby hands) so my gauge was pretty tight, which may have had something to do with the amount of left over.

I have a ton to share in the coming weeks after my virtual disappearance from the interweb recently, so as I get a move on photographing and documenting FOs, WIPs, and stash, I'll leave you with two photo things that made me snort water out my nose this week.

On to catching up!

-l.c.

Oy...

2010-01-22T16:11:00.004-05:00

My life has spun slightly out of control lately. Nothing bad, just crazy. Much as the past year seems to have done. So my apologies for not being around too often. I have seriously got to get my shit together in 2010 far better than I did in 2009, or for the past few weeks.

So I'll hopefully be getting to my blogroll soon, among other things, so expect some comments once I do get it all together!

For now, I leave you with the first of my Christmas FO's, my brother's Country Hill Hat in Noro Kureyon, modeled by James the Bear (I named him after the red engine on Thomas the Tank engine when I was like, three. I seem to have had a thing for red as a child... my first crush was the original red power ranger!). He really liked it, and wore it all Christmas break, which to me is the greatest compliment I could get for an FO. He brought it back to school with him, so I assume it's being worn in the big city as well, since he's not one to wear something just to humor someone. Ever.

And here's a shot without a stuffed animal in it, which hopefully shows the shape a little better.

In other news, the holiday decorations have all come down, and the house is back to normal. Well, almost. Genghis is still acting pissy because he lost his little lounge area when the tree came down.

Cats. Can't live with them, can't live without them.

-l.c.

Putting it in perspective...

2010-01-14T22:20:00.004-05:00

It's so easy to get bogged down in the little things. To let the minutia of every day life hijack your attention and force the bigger picture out of sight and out of mind.

So easy to focus on the stressful, and take the good for granted.

Sometimes I just need to stop and remind myself how lucky I really am to be able to rejoice in something as simple as a winter day's walk.

A snow covered puppy snout.

Or snow against an electric blue sky.

Sometimes I just need to remember that if my biggest problems in this world are academic stress and poor body image, then I really should count myself as one of the luckiest around.

-l.c.

Musical Monday on a Tuesday

2010-01-05T16:15:00.003-05:00

As far as I'm concerned, there are two things that the Russian Orthodox Church does really well. The first, is beautiful churches. And when I say beautiful, I mean beautiful. Stunning. Breathtaking, even. Even the teenie tiny parishes are gilded with gold and masterful icons. Walking into a Russian Orthodox Church is really an exercise in sensory overload... the colors, the smells, the sounds...

Oh, the sounds. That's thing number two. Our music is AWESOME. Our canon is filled with things like Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, all in eight part a capella. No instruments allowed. Just voices. The only down side is that, much like my main quibble with organized religion in general, there is basically no grey area. Because it's eight part, with no pitch center that's guaranteed (like a piano or an organ), when it goes bad, it goes REALLY BAD.

On the other hand, when it's good, it's STUNNING. And there's simply no in between.

However, it's the stunning part that I aim to share with you today, what with Russian Christmas coming up tomorrow and Thursday. So for our (day late) Musical Monday, I share with you, Russian Orthodox Christmas Carols (they're in Russian, and certainly not what we're used to hearing on the radio, so even if you're not a Christmas carol kind of person, it's just simply beautiful music if you close your eyes and forget about the holiday affiliation)! This particular one is one of my favorites, but if you click over through this video to Youtube, it is part of a whole playlist full of this kind of music. Also, sorry about the barrage of icons. I tried to find some with less religiously charged imagery (ideally video of the actual choir singing) but I could not find a recording that I liked as much musically.

I hope you enjoy!

-l.c.

The Obligitory New Years Post

2009-12-30T22:45:00.007-05:00

The New Years Resolution is an odd creature. As far as I am concerned, there is nothing else that can, simultaneously, generate such attraction and such repulsion from me. Nothing else that I start out so excited and exuberant about only to regret it later.

Well, I guess tequila fits that bill pretty well too.

... And bathing suit shopping. And starting a new exercise routine. And watching anything Adam Sandler has recently been in. And... well, okay, I guess there are a lot of things that meet such qualifications. However, resolutions are the subject of this post, so lets stay on topic.

Last year, just like the year before, my resolutions never came to fruition. They were ridiculously unattainable, and I was in denial of that fact (I mean, really. Learn to figure skate? What was I thinking?).

So, this year, I'm not making resolutions. None. Zip. Zero. Nadda. No resolutions. Instead, I am merely using the second of the year as the start date for some short term goals. Not year long, nebulous and all encompassing goals. Short term, very specific goals with an equally specific end date. Also, a very specific reward will be included at the completion of each goal.

So let's run down the first goal set, shall we?

Lunaticraft's Short Term Goals/Rewards

Run the Scranton Pre-St. Paddys Day parade race. (Not quite a 5k) Reward: Post-Race Parade Day Debauchery.

Send out resumes for adjunct teaching positions by the end of February. Reward: Ebay purchase of season 4 of CSI: NY.

Purge stash of erroneous, purposeless skeins of acrylic by the end of January with charity knitting, and afghan finishing. Donate what's left to the Salvi. Reward: $50-$100 LYS shopping day (amount depends on finance situation, which in turn depends on frequency of substitute calls).

Purge fabric stash as well by end of January. Donate what I will not use. Reward: Season 1 of CSI: NY (If can be found on Ebay for less than $20)

Do not sleep past 9:45 am from January 3rd to January 31. Even on weekends. Reward: spend a weekend reading a non-school related, total guilty pleasure chicklit book.

Finish still open research project by Jan. 12th. Reward: CSI/Knitting marathon.

And for now, that's all. When one goal is complete, I will then insert another goal in its place, and hopefully 2010 will be a much more productive year than 2009!

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year, and here's to an even better 2010!

-l.c.

Well, THAT holiday flew by!

2009-12-29T00:01:00.010-05:00

Holy crap on a crap cracker, where did the last two weeks go?

Christmas totally snuck up on me, bringing both the highs and lows for me this year, as is the case with every year since reaching quasi-adulthood. But the lows are mainly just the normal pressures that women face at holiday times: the baking, the shopping, the "Holiday Joy Creating." A little more fell on my shoulders this year since my mom is having some mobility issues (broken foot), and my grandmother is having back issues (which makes the kolachi making, the хрін (khrin - red beets and horseradish, a traditional Ukrainian dish that is often eaten with ham) making, and the fruitcake making difficult without some help).

Funny how that all seems to fall on the shoulders of women. I just thank heavens that I'm not dating anyone and don't have that added holiday pressure of a bf and the family that ends up included in such a deal. I love being single right now. Seriously. I've just got way too much on my plate. Plus, lets face it, I refuse to settle for someone I'm not attracted to because they happen to be available and willing. In fact, I refuse to settle at all, ever again. When I decide to date again, it's going to be someone I'm really attracted to, and that just doesn't exist at the moment, nor would I particularly want it to.

Not realistically anyway. I doubt Ryan Reynolds or Eddie Cahill is going to show up at my door any time soon. I feel like they're both probably just slightly north of my (self imposed) age range anyway. And both married I think. Plus, in reality I want nothing to do with actors, beautiful though they may be. Or a whole host of other things, now that I think of it... including brass players, violinists, classical singers, politicians... I guess what it boils down to is that I'm really quite picky, and very happy being so.

And I'm sure the blogosphere doesn't really care, so onward.

Anyway, that rum-induced TMI moment aside (buzzed blogging is drunk blogging, people), the holidays came and went, and were overall a success. I received a lot of amazing gifts, including the repair of my baby (my cello) from my parents, which has been a year and a half in the works. I also received a lot of other great great gifts, which I'll brag about in a later post.

The main reason behind this post is to show off my big gift giving project of the year: Matryoshki. My two grandmothers and my godmother all got one. Full, five piece dolls, hand painted by me. (Although I only managed to photograph two of the three. I'll get photos of the third next time I'm up my grandmother's.)

I'm not totally happy with any of them, but I do like the end result of all of them, even if they aren't perfect.

They started out as blank, wooden dolls, bought from the amazing Ukrainian Gift Shop. Great place, super fast shipping, also our source for pysanki supplies.

Two weeks, and about a season and a half of both CSI and CSI: NY later, they gradually began to develop.

I learned some lessons in the process, the biggest one being that I should always leave space for white trim in the first place instead of trying to paint it over a block color.

The other big lesson was something that I'm sure is simply common sense to most people: Don't spray acrylic sealer in your basement, unfinished though it may be. Just don't.

I did gain some control over fine details that I did not have back when I was using toothpicks on my mini-canvases thanks to my investment in actual detail paint brushes.

And overall, they were a big hit with their recipients, so whatever imperfections I still see in them don't really matter then, do they? My grandmothers and my godmother loved them, so... Mission accomplished!

-l.c.

So close I can almost taste it...

2009-12-12T14:40:00.003-05:00

I'm so close to being entirely on break that I can almost taste it. Sadly, however, close is a far cry from having arrived, so there are still note cards, books, and first, second, third, and fourth drafts of things strewn across our table at home. Grad school can be so silly with the whole, "even if the semester is over for everyone else, it marches on for you" thing.

I'm also currently trapped in a battle with myself over whether or not I should complete a thesis. I had wanted to, and still sort of do, just to have the experience of writing a paper that large under my belt. However, by the same token, I really want to get out on time (this May), because this whole not having a regular, steady job is a huge pain in the ass. However, that's a topic for another entry entirely.

Today, I want to talk about decorating. Christmas decorating, to be precise.

The day after Thanksgiving has been, for the past five or so years (since I left for college) our annual "decorate the house" day. It was moved from December first so that it would be done while I was home on break, and now that my baby brother is away at school, the tradition continues. We roll ourselves out of our Turkey-comas, throw on sweats (draw string, of course) and spend all day putting up the lights, the tree, the assorted nick-knacks and stuffed animals, and anything else Holiday related we can find.

First things always come first, though. So, the morning starts out with our puppy baby:

She gets her fancy jingly Christmas collar on. We have Christmas bandannas too, but the elf collar jingles, so it's perfect as she follows us around helping us decorate all day. The neighbors think its adorable. My mom and I love it. Rusalka even likes having it on. However, my father hates it. OR, at least he claims he does. In fact, the neighbors get to hear the same conversation about it every year:

"Stop emasculating the dog!" He'll shout from on the ladder when we let the dog out into the yard.

"But, she's a girl dog! You can't emasculate a girl!"

"I don't care."

"Dad, her eyelashes are longer and fuller than mine. She's a girly dog. Face it."

"I don't care, take that thing off of her. She was bred for duck hunting, not fashion modeling."

"Have you ever taken her duck hunting? Come to think of it, have you ever been hunting at all?"

"It doesn't matter. It's the principle of the thing."

"Well, if you ever decide to take her duck hunting, I'll take the collar off, but until then..." And that's where I stick my tongue out and return to the house.

He puts up a blustery fight, but I think he secretly thinks its cute, because the collar never comes off until me or my mom takes it off. His lack of action betrays his true feelings. Kind of like how he claims to hate the cats, but hasn't yet thrown them out of the house. I've even caught him petting Chakka once or twice when he thinks we're not looking. Not Genghis though. Even I'll admit, Genghis can be kind of a dick. And he smells, so I understand why. But, even so, the mutant tabby is my cuddle buddy anyway.

And so, anyway, the day of decorating begins. The reindeer come out, there are suddenly little tiny old men with big bellies and white beards everywhere. And the tree... oh, the tree! It is a sight welcome to sore eyes, a stunning focal point for our holiday season, the most amazing looking thing in the entire house... (can you tell what my job was? haha. But for real, it's beautiful.)

However, every year I focus so much on the tree, that often some of our other charming little decorations fly under my radar. So this year, I'll be sharing some of my favorite decorations with you guys photographically, a little with every post. As you'll see, we take our holiday decorating really quite seriously.

In addition, this might help my mom keep tabs on what she'll need to keep an eye on when I move out. I have every intention of taking some of this stuff with me, which I'm sure she won't like one bit.

A quick digression before I sign off (although lets face it, digressions are my forte): In knitting news, I do have some FOs. I have only managed to get one photographed, but in addition I have two hats, a scarf, and half a crocheted scarf complete as well. Pictured below are my first successful pair of mitts, that were not knit flat, and that are more than just k1p1 ribbing. They are the Cafe au Lait Mitts (Ravelry Link). This photo was taken before I wove in all the ends (I tried my best to hide them in the picture). The ends have since been buried, so I'll go into more detail on the project when I get around to rephotographing them on my hands!

-l.c.

Second Musical Monday of Advent!

2009-12-07T22:21:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a concert I had to play, and lo and behold, I realized I almost forgot Musical Monday!

I do have some FO's to show off (a scarf, fingerless gloves, and a hat) as soon as I get a free moment to weave in the ends and get a decent photograph of them, but for now, let's just get to the music!

Today's selection is one you'll almost all recognize once you hear it. What you may not know, however, is that the Troika from Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite was not originally meant as Christmas music. It has become synonymous with sleigh bells, snow, travel and the holidays thanks to movies, but in reality, though it was originally movie music, it had nothing to do with Christmas.

Prokofiev was commissioned to write a soundtrack for the film adaptation of the Russian novella Lt. Kije (in Russian Поручик Киже... had to dig back into my high school Russian notes to remember how to spell that one. Three notebooks later I found the Cyrillic... and then I remembered that Wikipedia exists. D'oh.). The novella is really a governmental satire more than anything else. However, this particular movement from the suite that Prokofiev wrote for the movie has a lot of sleigh bells in it, so of course modern Hollywood has made it into a Holiday song.

Enjoy!

-l.c.

First Musical Monday of Advent!

2009-11-30T10:56:00.004-05:00

Happy Musical Monday (aka Music to Knit By Monday) everyone!

I am currently in the middle of a crazy crush of school work... some major things due in the next 48 hours (and saying it as 48 hours instead of two days makes me panic just a hair more!). So, this post will be just a solitary Musical Monday for now. I've got some major FOs to show off from the holiday weekend, so I'll update you once everything is in on Wednesday.

For now though, it's the first Musical Monday of the Christmas Season! This round of holidays is my absolute favorite, along with the music that goes with it.

Our selection today is a classical piece by Benjamin Britten, "This Little Babe." It's part of a larger work called A Ceremony of Carols, but this is by far my favorite movement. Traditionally it's sung with boy's voices (boy's choir) for the soprano and alto, but I personally prefer the sound of adult voices on this one. I think I'm biased because I love singing it (as an adult) myself. Plus girls aren't allowed in boys choirs, so shit on that.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and the upcoming month (and one week due to my Russian Orthodoxy! I love the two Christmas thing. Seriously) of various Holiday music!

-l.c.

Oh, Starbucks Holiday Cups... You Complete Me...

2009-11-23T10:32:00.003-05:00

Well, it's that time of year! Time for my annual ode to the Starbucks Holiday Cups and the Peppermint Mochas/Eggnog Lattes they tend to contain.

I was on my way to the farmers market to meet my Grandmother and pick up her winter veggies along with my pie pumpkins before they close at Thanksgiving, when I swung by Starbucks. And then, my day was made.

The holiday cups and specialty drinks are back (pictured here it all its glory next to farmers market potato pancakes)! And apparently have been for a while!

Now, these little red cups of awesome bring me such an irrational and disproportionate amount of joy that I sometimes have trouble expressing it. But sadly, before you know it, they're gone, well before my holiday season has ended, and I'm left pouty and holiday cupless.

This year, though, I decided to take action. No longer am I to undergo that annual disappointment of walking into Starbucks on Russian Christmas only to find the regular old cups! No longer must I endure the end of my holiday season without that perfectly red cylindrical container of happiness! No longer, I say!

So I bought a more permanent version. Mug and Christmas tree ornament. That's right, Chronos. I've outsmarted you.

Kind of.

And before I forget, it's Monday! Music to Knit By Time!

For our pre-Thanksgiving selection, I bring to you a traditional American folk tune arranged for choir. There is something so simple and beautiful about the harmonies in this version, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of the best choirs around. I'm a sucker for a good puritan melody at any time (kind of ironic considering my background), and this is just sounds especially proud and pilgrimmy to me. Especially the bit in the middle with the men. Sends shivers down my spine. There's nothing like an amazing men's choir. Really.

So, for your pre-Thanksgiving pleasure, Lunaticraft presents to you, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing arranged by Mack Wilberg, and performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Enjoy!

-l.c.

Flashin' the stash...

2009-11-21T14:52:00.003-05:00

I've been stocking up on stash for Christmas presents and other various things to work on over the Thanksgiving holidays, courtesy of Summit Yarn Studio's amazing selection, and I think it's time for my first official bloggy stash flash.

First up is the Lamb's Pride worsted, which will hopefully become a Summit Yarn Chullo (ravelry link). The colors are more accurate in the closeup below.

Some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino in a pinky color, for a pair of mitts, also probably for me.

Next, a whole slew of Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky in various colors. I think they will be hats... The tan is an extra skein to finish up my dad's Irish Hiking Scarf, and we'll have to see how much I have to use. My optimistic side is telling me that I'll have enough for a simple matching hat at the end, but reality will probably prove that impossible. I'll keep hoping though!

And last, but what I'm most excited about is... Noro! It's the worsted weight stuff, Kureyon(? I'm too lazy to go look at the label right now for the proper spelling), and I can't wait to try it out. The blue and grey skein is going to be a hat for my brother (he has requested a Thelonius Monk style hat... We'll see how close I can get to that), and then the pinky green one is going to be something for me. Maybe a little scarflet of some kind. Or maybe mitts. I don't know yet, but I'm excited about it none the less.

I think this is going to be the last of my stashing for a few weeks... I've got plenty of projects to last me through the holidays. Or at least until I get paid again. After all, car insurance comes before yarn... sadly. ;D

-l.c.

Busy as a Bee on this Musical Monday

2009-11-16T11:41:00.003-05:00

I've finished the Collared One Button Scarf! Well, almost. I still have to find a button that's perfect for it, and weave in the ends. But other than that I'm totally done, and I love it.

The pattern itself was a very quick and easy knit, great for when you've got to multi-task, and the result is super cute. I suspect that in the future this will be getting as much use as my calorimetry pattern. I'll just have to stock up on big buttons.

I did have to do a quick steam blocking of it to even it out, as my gauge changed not only from my swatch but as I knit. Changing gauge as a project progresses seems to be a common problem of mine, and I'm not sure what to do about it. So far it hasn't caused any real issues, because a) I don't really do big projects yet, so no sweater sizes to mess up or anything, and b) it's usually fixed by blocking it out. However, whenever I do decide to tackle my first sweater, I hope I will have conquered that particular issue.

Just as I finished up the Collared One Button, I realized my Dad's birthday was coming up. Well, actually technically it's today. So, on Saturday I stopped by SYS and grabbed myself some chunky Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed and cast on for the Irish Hiking Scarf. It's my first project cabling, and frankly, cables are SO MUCH EASIER than I thought they'd be. Like SO MUCH EASIER. Even so, it's been slower going than I anticipated, so it is not finished to give him today. I have about three feet done as of writing this post, and I have class and rehearsal later, so I've given up hope of it being finished by the end of his birthday at midnight. I tend to follow the scarf rule of "as long as the intended recipient is tall," (although that might just be a rule I made up, as I don't know where I got it from), and my dad is a little over 6 foot, so I'm hoping the finished length will end up being about five and a half to six feet. I think I bought enough yarn for that, but we'll see.

Other than that, it's been a crazy week in concerns to school work, and it's only about to get crazier. The library is going to be seeing a lot of me until the end of the semester, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I like our library quite a bit, actually. It's cozy. Anyway, I'll keep ya'll updated on the lead up to Thanksgiving and Christmas in the meantime.

For now though, it's Monday. And that means... Music to Knit By Day! I've missed doing these, and am determined to be better at remembering to post on Mondays. I've actually got all of December planned up already (HOORAY CHRISTMAS MUSIC!). But for now, I'm going to leave you with some Coloratura soprano awesomeness.

Everyone knows the Queen of the Night's aria in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (and if the German's not ringing a bell, Youtube it. I promise you'll recognize it). However, the character's other aria, O zitt're nicht...Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren is not nearly as well known. The last minute or so of the aria is probably one of the most difficult passages out there ever written for soprano. So, what I leave you with today is actually a compliation of multiple versions of that last section by some of the greatest Coloraturas of the recording era, for comparison purposes. It is MINDBLOWING. Actually, more like BEYOND MINDBLOWING. Especially if you know anything about vocal technique and exactly how much control and supreme awesomeness this requires to pull off. (Also, I'll attach a recording of the full aria as well, in case anyone is interested in the, well, less showstopping part.)

Enjoy, and have a fantastic Musical Monday!

-l.c.

Fit as a Fiddle and Ready for Yarn!

2009-11-08T14:01:00.004-05:00

Finding the Summit Yarn Studio has opened up a whole new world for me in terms of fiber. So much softness! So many options! The possibilities are so wonderfully overwhelming!

With the help of Mary Ellen (the shop owner), I made my first forays into the luxury yarn world (or at least it's luxury to me after working with only acrylic all these years!) and I'm loving it.

I picked up a ball each of alpaca and merino, for use in one skein projects, and three hanks of Silky Tweed in a beautiful chestnut brown with flecks of awesomeness, which I hope to use for my mom's Christmas present. She's got a coat that matches it perfectly.

As soon as I could after I brought it home, I used the alpaca to cast on for the Collared One Button Scarf that I had spoken about last post. So far it's going well. I learned the cable cast on for it, and while it took me a few tries, I think I've got the hang of it. I do suspect that my gauge has changed since I swatched (I undid the swatch to conserve yarn, which I probably shouldn't have done), but I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it's not going to make too much of a difference. I'll keep you posted. It's going to be super cute.

Speaking of super cute, there has been a slight break in the weather the past two days, which has done me a world of good. My sinuses acted up again on Friday night, way siding me for any weekend festivities, but after sleeping well into the afternoon on Saturday I woke up fit as a fiddle (and ready for love? Not so much, but yarn? Yes!). Combined with the warm weather, my dad, the pups, and I were able to get some Frisbee time in.

Isn't she freaking adorable?

-l.c.

PS - I now have Fit as a Fiddle stuck in my head, and I hope you all do too! Gene Kelly = Love.

The Tale of Epic Fail. (Alternate title: Lunaticraft is an Annoying Perfectionist with Serious Issues)

2009-11-04T18:01:00.003-05:00

So you know how I was so excited that my Swallowtail shawl was finally going to happen?

Yea, not so much. I'm frogging it.

One night as I happily knit away into the Lily of the Valley Border, my mother, a former knitter (now retired from the craft due to arthritis problems), looked up from her book and watched me for a minute, after which she let out a puzzled sounding "hmmm."

"What?" I asked.

"I've never seen YOs done that way. Does it work?"

Well, I didn't really have an answer for that, so the next day I pinned out a section of my Swallowtail, to try to find out. What I found disturbed me slightly. As far as I could tell, it was a busy mess where nice clean YOs are supposed to be.

Well, maybe that's a little dramatic, as you can see the photo above. But it certainly wasn't the nice, clean and clear delineation that I had been imagining. Every YO, instead of being one singular line of yarn as I have seen on other's knitting seemed to be forked. Two strands, diverging from each other in a "V."

But maybe it was just the yarn. Maybe it was because I was using needles that are two sizes two big. I comforted myself with these thoughts and turned to the last minute lace scarf that I had just taken off the needles (started on a whim during the daily show the week before). It was still not killed (it being Vanna's Choice, and not yummy natural fiber... I'm trying to use up my acrylic stash so I can replace it with better stuff now that I'm working and know of a LYS nearby), so I didn't yet know how it was going to turn out.

Many pins and curses later, I had my answer in a far more obvious fashion. Yep, my YOs were forked for some reason.

Now, in reality, I probably shouldn't feel compelled to frog the Swallowtail (I'm not going to bother with the scarf). The pattern is still identifiable, if not the perfect vision I had imagined. However, I'm an anal retentive ass. So, within hours of this post, the Swallowtail will be back to balls of yarn. Again. If I'm going to make this thing at this point, it's going to be all that I imagine and more. It's woman against yarn now.

In the mean time, I've been experimenting. Cue another stash ball of Vanna's Choice, and I think I've got my YO problem figured out. I was going to stop by Summit Yarn Studio and get some help (minus the ball of Vanna's. I'd have brought the actual Swallowtail with me), but the night before I had planned to, I managed to create this:

How much neater is that? Also, I checked my new technique against my mom's copy of Knitting in Plain English, something I probably should have referred to before starting the Swallowtail in the first place.

I did stop by SYS today anyway (about a week after I had planned to, because of work), and came out with some amazing yumminess. I'm going to try Alpaca for the first time on this Collared One Button Scarf pattern, which is super cute and is actually designed by the SYS's owner. I also picked up a skein of Merino in a beautiful charcoal color and some great chestnut brown silky tweed. Those have plans for them that can't be divulged until Christmas time, I think.

And those are pretty much the deets on my yarny life as of late. Hopefully, I'll be around a bit more in the coming months. But for now? Rehearsal time.

See ya on the flip side! (I'm feeling a little 80's and 90's lately)

-l.c.

Haunted Tidings

2009-10-31T15:58:00.003-04:00

-l.c.

DISASTERS!!!

2009-10-27T21:21:00.003-04:00

Well, crying disaster considering all else that is going on in the world may be a little melodramatic... and ridiculous... and downright hyperbolic... so...

RELATIVELY MINOR INCONVENIENCES!!!

I don't have a ton of time, and no pictures, so I'm just going to share with you an old fashioned list, in no particular order, and all kind of scattery sounding. (I'll include a Too Long: Didn't Read synopsis after each one, as these are bound not to be my best writing ever.)

Ah, lists. I love them.

1) My RSS feeder exploded. Or rather, totally reset itself to factory (or more likely programmer's basement) defaults. So I lost my entire blogroll and am going to have to go through and reassemble it through the LKS site. Luckily I have all the lists at my disposal, so as I go through and update the LKS blog (which will happen very soon), I will gradually cobble my blogroll back together. TL:DR - RSS feeder = kaput. Will get back to blogroll soon.

2) I think I have been doing my YOs backwards. I'll have pictures and details, and more information on that coming up soon. I popped into an LYS outside of Scranton looking for blocking wires last week, and in the course of talking the lovely shop owner was very helpful and comforting, so as soon as I have time I'm going to pop back in and hopefully figure out why my YOs look funny when spread. Not to mention walk out with way more yarn than I can currently afford, I'm sure (MY GOODNESS there was beautiful yarn everywhere... I'm SO GLAD I now know of an LYS within reachable distance, and especially with such a welcoming atmosphere... now just to find the time to get there). TL:DR - Might have to frog swallowtail, might not. And the Summit Yarn Studio is beyond awesome.

3) I finally figured out why I was not being called in as a substitute teacher, and over the course of a few days finally got that worked out. Which is actually very good, because while I was enjoying the extra time for schoolwork, my bank account was not doing so hot on gigging alone. However, this now leaves far less (or rather NO) time for me to get my shit done during the days when I have rehearsals and classes every night. So that's where the minor inconvenience part comes in. TL:DR - I am now gainfully employed. Sort of. As a result, schoolwork just became quite a bit harder.

4) I've been at all out war with my sinuses for about three whole weeks now. I developed my seasonal sinus infection about two and a half weeks ago. Now, I get these things three or four times a year. Me and seasonal sinus problems are old, intimate friends, and when she comes to visit, we just go everywhere together, no problem (and yes, my sinus infections are gendered, apparently). But this time, she turned on me. Stabbed that knife right in my back. I went on like nothing was different, as I usually do, but apparently this time she wanted more attention and fought back in the form of debilitating fatigue. I kept powering through, but she ran a blitzkrieg on my voice, stripping it away and leaving raw, irritated tissue in its place. Damage control was the name of the game at this point, with General Tea with Lemon, Commander Honey Water, and Special Ops Force Vitamin C leading the way. But then came the final blow... the cough made a surprise attack and the win went to the sinus infection. So two and a half weeks later and I'm finally finishing the clean up and getting better TL:DR - I've been sick. Rather sick, but I'm finally getting over it. Also, I'm terrible at making (somewhat inappropriate) military metaphors and probably should never attempt to do so again.

Other points of possible interest:

I am now on twitter! follow me @lunaticraft. Still pretty new to the whole thing, so lets see how this goes.

It's almost pumpkin pie time! I'm hopefully going to get some awesome pie pumpkins on Friday when I skip up to the Farmer's market after my class.

Paper season is quickly approaching. I'm going to try to stay ahead of the game this semester. For real this time. I've only got two big ones, so it should be a tad easier.

Aaaannnnndddd.... That's about all I have for now.

-l.c.

p.s. - Sorry for the scatteriness of this, and the lack of pictures. It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks.

Octo-beer.

2009-10-13T11:42:00.002-04:00

The onset of October always starts that inevitable swing down to the holidays that I so love. Some of my favorite things come about in October. Halloween... Weather cool enough to require gloves when playing Frisbee with the pups so I don't get doggie spit all over my hands... Sinus Infection season... Err, wait. That one's not so fun. But, pumpkin lattes are! As are pumpkin pies... Pumpkin carving... Pumpkin everything, really... Blanket weather... Chestnuts... The turning of the leaves...

And of course...

OKTOBERFEST!!!

Now, I'm not a big drinker. Never have been. I'm one of those people who really didn't start imbibing until I was actually legal, and even now that I am, I don't drink often, and I don't drink much. Being buzzed or drunk is simply not a feeling that I enjoy. I like control too much, I think.

But that's not to say I don't enjoy a good beer now and again, and Oktoberfest is the perfect opportunity to try some new ones.

My favorite so far this Oktoberfest season has been the Spaten Oktoberfest brew, although nothing has yet come close to replacing Guinness as my all time favorite beer. But, even so, there have been a lot of good times with friends, with more to come in the next two weeks.

Sadly, all this social activity (compounded by the chronic sinus infections that hit me every change of season) means I have not finished my swallowtail shawl yet. The only things I've finished in the last week or so have been a number of pints, and a lot of homework. I have made some progress though, finishing the budding lace repeats, but it's going to be a little while yet before I can cast off and start blocking. I've also gotten distracted by a number of other projects, namely a lace scarf and some more matryoshki designs for a super special Christmas project.

But for now, I'm not going to worry about it. I'm just going to enjoy October for what it is, because once November hits, it'll be time to buckle in on my various papers. And then, before you know it it'll be Finals time, and then the holidays. So I'm going to have a pint here, do some knitting there...

While I still have the time to do it!

-l.c.

Wha? Fall? When did that happen?

2009-10-02T12:37:00.005-04:00

Autumn has clearly sprung early here in the Northeast, with no hope of abating. One minute it's tank top and shorts weather, and the next I'm dragging out my sweaters and long pants. I guess that's what I get for letting September get away from me. And August. And July. And let's not even talk about June.

So the weather has turned, and with it, I have finally caught up with everything I was behind on. Except my thesis. But we're really not going to talk about that. Hopefully I can put a tiny dent in that process this coming week, now that I'm up to date on everything else.

Hopefully, I'll be back on track, and maybe even have some extra time to play Frisbee with the pups (who has gotten shockingly little attention from me over the past few weeks, and I feel so guilty about it), or *gasp* get something substantial done craft wise!

That's not to say I've been totally negligent of my knitting (or the pups for that matter... no Frisbee, but a lot of love!). I did get quite a bit done on my Swallowtail Shawl, which is finally working now that I've got my awesome new KnitPicks Options. I'm twelve repeats into the Budding Lace pattern courtesy of the Daily Show and Colbert Report, and it's going swimmingly. I am a little apprehensive about the nupps that are coming up in the next pattern shift, but I found a great online tutorial for them that I hope will make the going a little less scary. I should be hitting them within the next day or two, and I'm hoping to be totally done and blocking in a weeks time.

But we all know what happens when I set goals for myself (I fail...), so, maybe I shouldn't say that.

But here's hoping anyway. And now, I'm off to do some reading about 19th century New York City.

WOOHOOO!! (And that's only half sarcastic!)

-l.c.

Of work and bad decisions...

2009-09-14T14:21:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems as if all I do on this blog anymore is apologize for not posting more. If it's any consolation, it's not just here where I've fallen behind though. I'm dreadfully behind on keeping up with my own blog watch list, and I've had a list for the Lesser Known Skeins website one update away from finished and posted for weeks now. I'm at least 300 pages behind where I should be in my reading for school, as well as about two weeks behind where I had hoped to be by now with my thesis research. All this, and we're only on week three of the semester.

But I'm certainly not about to blame the big bad world for tripping me up. The responsibility falls solely on myself. I've been making some pretty poor decisions about my time, allowing myself to get easily distracted. Excitement over the start of the new television seasons allowed me to divert myself with "catching up" with my favorite shows in preparation for the season premieres. And the biggest time suck has come in the form of the political wank that has been popping up EVERYWHERE. I allowed myself to get addicted to reading about and watching it all. A bad idea. And a major time suck.

So, I'm taking a week long hiatus from news. Hopefully that will allow me to get caught up. Blogroll tonight and tomorrow morning, reading this afternoon and all tomorrow morning and afternoon. Concert Wednesday, so nada happening there, but I suspect that Thursday morning I will be in less than great shape, so I'll watch the videos I have to for class, and then hopefully deal with the Lesser Known Skeins list and get that last update done and everything posted.

Hopefully that will get that terrible feeling of being behind to go away. It stems mostly from my thesis work, but maybe getting these smaller, more fun things finished, it will alleviate the feeling a bit.

But for now, I suppose, it is a Monday, so I bring an offering of Musical Monday.

This is an aria/chorus from Bernstein's Candide (you can tell I'm of an opera background, as I firmly consider it an operetta, while many classify it as a musical. Blasphemy, I say. Blasphemy.). It is not one of the most popular selections from the work, the most referenced being "Make Our Garden Grow" and the "Overture" along with "Life is Happiness Indeed." However, this one is certainly my favorite.

So without further ado, Lunaticraft's Musical Mondays brings to you, "I Am Easily Assimilated!" by Leonard Bernstein, sung by Christa Ludwig. Enjoy!

-l.c.

Andddd... a little bragging...

2009-08-16T00:53:00.003-04:00

Look what I got! Options Interchangeable Nickel Plated Circs!

They were a belated birthday gift from my aunt and uncle. We just never seemed to be in town at the same time.

I'm so excited to try these babies out. These have much nicer tips than the ones I'm used to using, and I suspect this will be the key to making the swallowtail shawl happen. I've had to restart that thing at least six times now, and it's currently totally frogged. The sharper tips should make going a lot smoother.

I'm so excited!

Haha, I'm such a nerd. But I love it.

-l.c.

Mini Matryoshki

2009-08-13T18:48:00.002-04:00

It's been switching between slamming, crashing thunderstorms and beautiful, unimpeded sunshine about every two hours since I last wrote. As a result, I've been caught in between moods, unable to settle into one particular one. Its either "Lets run around, play outside, toss the Frisbee!" or "Snuggle on the couch with tea and CSI reruns." While this is not so much a problem for me, as I'm currently enjoying my week vacation before the rush of the semester starts again, I'm afraid the animals are beginning to get confused and disoriented by my mood swings. One minute I'm up and getting the leash, the next it has begun to pour again and I am back in my pillow cave on the couch, Rusalka left at the door looking disoriented.

I feel so bad that I might just suck it up and take her for a walk in the rain. Well, so long as the lightning stops.

The one bright side of the schizoid weather has been that I got my paintings finished! As soon as I made the first paint stroke, it became pretty clear that my acrylics need replacing. All sorts of nastiness going on in those little tubes. But I kept plugging away anyway, and ended up with a result that I'm pretty happy with considering everything.

I do need to invest in a teeny tiny detail brush though. The toothpicks simply didn't do it.

Oh, and the sassy one is still my favorite. =D

-l.c.

Takin' up the paints...

2009-08-11T15:29:00.003-04:00

So, on a total whim last night (well, less like a whim and more like, "I don't want to unpack my crap so I'm going to distract myself some other way,") I decided to use the cute little 4'x5' canvas boards I picked up a few months ago to show a little ethnic pride.

What resulted was these cute little sketches of Matryoshka (Russian Nesting Dolls), which I plan to paint using acrylics in the next few days.

The first one is by far my favorite. She's so sassy.

-l.c.

And We're Back! (Again...)

2009-08-10T17:49:00.004-04:00

Well, I have returned from my summer camp job. The counselor staff this year was super freaking amazing, and our goodbyes last night were emotionally harrowing to the max. My eyes are still puffy and red from all the crying all over each other. While I admit that it is nice to be sitting here with Rusalka at my feet and looking out onto my deck, I can honestly say that I don't think any group of people will ever be able to match the group of us. Hopefully, as I go through my pictures from the last six or so weeks, I'll be able to find some that I can post here so that I can share my weeks full of music and fun with you guys.

In the meantime, I've spent the day trying to catch up on my Internet dealings. I'm about halfway through my blog catch ups, after taking shifts due to my still irritated eyes. But I thought I might pop by for the first Musical Monday (aka Music to Knit By) in a while.

So, for our selections this week, I chose two soprano arias that I recently sang as part of this whole camp experience: Ach, ich fühl's from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) and Quando m'en vo' from Puccini's La Bohème.

Both are sung by two of my favorite sopranos of all time. The Mozart is performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, and the Puccini by the legend, Maria Callas.

Enjoy, and Happy Musical Monday!

-l.c.

HAPPY 4TH of JULY!!!

2009-07-04T10:04:00.002-04:00

For all you United Staters out there, Happy 4th! I'm still summer camping it up, but in honor of the holiday, I'm moving Musical Monday to Saturday, and using my 10 minutes (or more like two of them of the ten) on the community computer to share some festiveness, MUPPET STYLE.

Enjoy and Happy 4th!

-l.c.

Just a heads up/explaination

2009-07-01T21:23:00.002-04:00

My apologies for going AWOL recently. And more so for the fact that I will continue to be AWOL for the next few weeks. I got a call from a summer camp for exceptional high schoolers I worked at last year on a days notice saying that they unexpectedly needed an extra RA, so I'm off to there for a few weeks. My computer is not compatible with their system, so I will only have access to the blogosphere on my nights off when I get to go home, which are few and far between, and frankly too short once travel time is factored in to really do anything but possibly post some photos.

So thus begins Lunaticraft's blog writing month and a half sabbatical. I'll pop in with photos when I can. Hopefully they'll give you an idea what I'm up to! (Oh, and I'll keep up with Musical Mondays when I can!)

-l.c.

Musical Monday: The Comedy Edition

2009-06-22T12:13:00.002-04:00

Today, for our Musical Monday (aka Music to Knit By) selection, I've changed gears completely. About every six months or so, I rediscover our Monty Python Sings! CD, and as a result rediscover the genius of this song, on so many levels. It has been made even better for me now that I'm working on my Masters with a focus right around this period in British History, and its historical accuracy in the information is actually kind of stunning.

I don't feel there is any way I can properly introduce this song, So I'm just going to let it speak for itself, sharing only the fact that the first time I heard this song I spent at least 10 minutes afterwards trying to catch my breath (Ironically, we started studying these events the next day in school. That was a difficult class for me to get through). It's just so funny, on so many levels.

So, without further muss or fuss, I present to you the Musical Monday for 22 June, 2009: Oliver Cromwell brought to you by the genius that is Monty Python.

Rain, rain, go away...

2009-06-20T11:49:00.003-04:00

The rain here has been oppressive and persistent, all week. It's either pouring down in driving torrents, or raining just hard enough to make going out and running a problem. All the plans and goals I had made for this past week were ruined by our dear Mother Nature.

All I wanted was to spend the week in this routine: Get up at around nine, putter around, have coffee, catch up on Internet and paperwork until 10:30 - 11:00. Then, at 11:00, I was supposed to clip on my cute new iPod shuffle (in lime green!) that my Aunt got me for my birthday (I told her specifically, no more purses, as she's the main fuel at the fire of my insane purse collection), strap on my cute pink and black running sneakers, and get a move on it! I was aiming to run at least a combined total of a mile and a half a day during a hopefully 3+ mile walk/run. Eventually my goal is to gradually increase the amount of time running vs. walking and do a whole 5K running every other day. You know, since I'm signed up for all those 5Ks in the coming months and all. Also since my summer clothes are all two sizes smaller than I currently am and I won't have the money to replace them all until I start subbing in the fall again. By then, my casual summer clothes are no longer relevant.

Anyway, after the run, I was supposed to hop in the pool for a while, cool off a bit, then spend some time on our cozy little deck, reading, getting some color, pondering my potential thesis topics and the mysteries of the universe, before heading inside to go about my business.

But no. Mother Nature had other plans. So, as a result, I spent the week going stir crazy in the house, and trying to replace running with time on our old, squeaky stepper in our basement which is currently penned in by all my crap from college. A poor replacement for the brisk open air. Or even for a fully functioning stepper, really.

I do realize how petty and bratty this sounds in the grand scheme of things, though, so I just need to remind myself that there's plenty worse out there than rain.

Oddly enough, being trapped in the house actually meant I was less productive than I would have been otherwise. I don't know why that is, but it was true. Barely got any reading done. Spent too much time teaching myself to play the opening riff to the Beatles' Blackbird on guitar for no reason (I am NOT a guitar player). Watched too much T.V.. Complained a lot... You know, all the spring fever-y stuff that I should have grown out of years ago.

I did finally get my room finished, and I did cast on for a new project... the Swallowtail Shawl using that beautiful purple pink and blue sock yarn (that is currently my header!). So far, so good, though two things have become clear to me: first, that this is going to need some serious blocking. It'll be my first project with REAL blocking, as the yarn is 100% wool, not the acrylic I've "blocked" so far.

The second realization this project has allowed me to make is that I cannot work on lace projects while the TV is on. Or while my brother is practicing his trumpet (which is always). Or while someone is on the phone in our teeny house. Or while the dog is barking at nothing (which is almost always). Or really, while any possible auditory distraction exists in the house. Those noises that I'm usually SO GOOD at blocking out (ex. I can watch TV while my brother practices trumpet on the couch next to me without a problem), suddenly become massive issues when I'm trying to follow the pattern of YO, k2tog, ssk, etc... I think I'm just too new to lace knitting to be able to do it in anything but silence.

So, as a result, in my house? The house of perpetual noise making? It's slow going. Much like we could never have birds because of the noise level, neither can I continue work on a lace project for more than five minutes. Although in my case, luckily, the result is not death.

At some point in the next few days, I will have instructions on how to build a K'nex swift up. I have finished the diagrams, but sadly, they look like they were drawn by a second-grader. So I'm going to try to use some of this rain-induced quarantine to build another and take step-by-by step photos of the process. Also, maybe I'll be able to finally finish up my poor, forgotten bedspread.

Maybe the rain isn't really all that bad. I just have to get my ass in gear!

-l.c.

OMG.

2009-06-15T10:52:00.003-04:00

Look.

What.

I.

MADE!

It's a SWIFT! Made out of my brother's old K'nex! I have my very own SWIFT, and it was basically FREE! (Can you tell I'm excited?)

I was even more excited when I finished it thinking my idea was original. Since then, with the help of my google-fu, I have come to terms with the fact that I am not, in fact, the first person to come up with this idea. In fact, there are tons of economical DIY swift ideas out there, including one made out of a computer chair base, Legos, Tinker Toys, and more designs using K'nex.

But that's okay. I designed it not even knowing there were other K'nex swifts out there, so it's still an impressive feat of engineering for my 100% Liberal Arts brain. My father (a chemical engineer) was less than impressed, but had great fun watching me sprawled out on my living room floor in a pool of our old K'nex like I was 8 again. I kept testing, then rebuilding, then testing, then redesigning, then cursing a bit, then testing again for about three hours.

In the end I'm pretty happy with the design. Nothing catches anywhere, it runs smoothly, works like a charm. Only teeny problem I ran into is that I have to put a towel or a blanket under the base to give it something to hold to, because our K'nex are old, and most are slightly bent. As a result, the base doesn't sit perfectly flat and will spin along with the actual swift part if it's on a smooth, hard surface. But that's nothing a hand towel won't fix, and it's a flaw in my materials, not the design. I will post a diagram later in the week in case anyone else has some spare K'nex laying around from their kids or from their childhood and wants to make one using my (simple in comparison to others) design.

Other than my swift adventures, I've been relatively busy this past weekend, but all were social outings this time, and not crazy overload outings. I've moved on to the last book that has since been published by Kathy Reichs, Bones to Ashes, after finishing Break No Bones, a book I loved, but that pulled all sorts of weird emotional strings by including one of the most heartbreaking corpse discoveries I've ever read.

I've got a lot of catching up on my slate for this next week. Today, I tackle finishing up the cleaning in my room, and the basement, catching up on paperwork/mail, getting some time in with my French Horn (I agreed to be in a brass quintet with players that are much more experienced than I, so I've got to get practicing), and hopefully dropping a ton of stuff off at the Salvation Army so it's not taking up the entirety of my trunk anymore.

Since I've got a plate full today, I will leave you with our first Musical Monday (aka Music to Knit By) in a while. This is possibly the only Handel piece that I can stand to listen to. In fact, I actually like it, so much so that my brother (a trumpet player) and I are thinking of doing it sometime next winter. It's called Let the Bright Seraphim. This first version is sung by Kathleen Battle with Wynton Marsalis on Trumpet. It is overall a masterful recording, as you simply don't get better than Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, and Kathleen Battle, while she's not my favorite for other styles, has a voice perfectly suited for this kind of baroque music.

Also for your auditory delight, I also include a live recording of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa singing the same piece at Princess Di and Prince Charles' 1981 wedding. This recording has less stress on the duet aspect between the trumpet and the soprano. In fact, I don't even know who is playing the trumpet. But Dame Kiri is just the greatest, so I had to include it anyway. I find her interpretation of the B section ("Let the cherubic hosts...") to be fascinating and delightfully different. Enjoy!

-l.c.

Silent Saturday

2009-06-13T22:53:00.004-04:00

(Not Quite) Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-10T17:24:00.007-04:00

Well, lets take a photo tour of what I've been up to...

A few days ago, my friends and I attended a Yankee's Farm Team game (The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Yankees), which was a lot of fun. It was girl scout night, and we had a row of little girls in front of us. When we started harmonizing the Star Spangled Banner with our band parts (because we're super-nerds like that), the chickadees' heads all whipped around with expressions that ranged from interested to terrified. It only worsened when we broke into Holst's March from the Second Suite later on.

To make it an even more fun night, it was fireworks night.

And boy, what a show it was.

Then, later in the weekend, my mom, my brother, and I met a whole bunch of friends in NYC to go see a small indie show that a family aquaintance had written, which will not be discussed here, because it's offensive (but freaking halarious) stuff.

Can I just share with you how much I loathe the GW Bridge? Terrifying. Only thing more terrifying might be the Tappinsee Bridge up in Piermont.

One discovery while I was up in the city was that they've closed off Broadway in the blocks going through Times Square for the summer. Totally f-ed up the traffic patterns in the city. And even worse, they're considering making it permanent.

Speaking of Piermont, we went a bit out of our way and took a quick stop off there on our way home. It's such a beautiful little town, with great food, great views, and some AMAZING houses.

The day couldn't have been a better day for being waterside, either. Warm, with a cool damp breeze coming in off the Hudson, which was gently flowing framed by a stunning blue sky.

There's a cute little shopping/resturaunt center, this is almost painfully picturesque, and we spent some time walking around that square, sitting in the gazebo, reading in the sun a bit, in addition to trying to figure out what the big metal thing was. There was no plaque to be found, but my guess says its machinery from some famous boat. Or from inside the Industrial Revolution-era riverside factory that was the basis for originally settling Piermont. I spent a lot of time making up a history for this metal thing.

Other than those two brief little mini-trips, I've been working, and reading, and working, and reading.

Oh, and sleeping. A lot.

I hadn't realized how drained I had been from finals and concert season until I suddenly had free time. But even so, I managed to get through about 7 more Kathy Reichs novels. I'm not going to do full reviews for them, so I will leave you today with a quick assessment of each:

Death Du Jour: A-. It had the same wrap-up problems as her first book. Seems to be her style. Was helped by the fact that cults are freaking scary.

Deadly Decisions: C-. I really did not enjoy this book. It was dry, boring, and was not paced as well as the others. Plus, bikers really aren't my thing. Unless they're really hot. Which, from what I've seen, is usually (and sadly), not the case.

Fatal Voyage: A+. Terrifying. Plane Crashes often are. Written well, and paced perfectly.

Grave Secrets: B+. Not my favorite, so far, but still awesome. Again, quick wrap-up.

Bare Bones: B+. Fascinating topic. However, the ending came too much from left field for me to really feel satisfied with the conclusion.

Monday Mourning: A. Has it all. Great plot, mob ties, and an crochety old landlord with a shriveled set of man-bits.

Cross Bones: A+. Best one yet. But I'm a sucker for bible intrege, and archological scandal.

Break No Bones: I'm only half way through right now, but I'm liking it so far!

-l.c.

P.S. - Check it out. This is an AWESOME idea, brought to my attention by the awesome blog, Dr.Chop Suey Knits..... THE 3/50 PROJECT.

P.S.S. - I just switched browsers from IE (which I hate) to Safari (which I love). Sadly, the blogger spell check doesn't seem to want to work in Safari, so pardon my misspellings until I have the energy to copy/paste into word to fix them without losing my html and formatting.

I've been a bad blogger...

2009-06-07T10:40:00.002-04:00

Woah, those weeks got away from me. I don't think I realized just how drained I was from the end of semester/concert season rush. I've been reading like a fiend, and when I haven't had my nose in a book, I've been conked out on the couch after attempting to watch my nightly news shows. I did get to a Yankees farm team game with some friends on Friday, a shopping trip to Leigh Valley with my Aunt, and I'm spending tonight and tomorrow morning in NYC. So when I get back, the rest of my Monday (I have a sub called in for my substitute job... a sub for a sub. Unnecessarily complicated,), will be devoted to updating you on my excursions and reading (8 books down), catching up with my blog reading, and finishing that blog list for Lesser Known Skeins that I was supposed to do weeks ago.

And with that, I need to go pack my overnighter!

-l.c.

The Triumphant (pending the release of grades) Return...

2009-05-24T13:55:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm back! Two tumultuous weeks of finals and concerts are OVER. And as a cap to that stressful mess, my birthday was yesterday! It was a fantastic day, and I got tons of great presents, which was awesome, because I wasn't expecting anything. My parents told me weeks ago that they were going to pay a quarter's worth of interest on my student loans as my birthday gift, which frankly was an amazing gift. My parents had helped me out through my undergrad by paying the interest on my loans so it didn't go accruing on me, but now that I'm working, and my brother's in the process of taking out loans (and a LOT of them), they've got to help him out in the same way, and the interest is up to me now. So that was an amazing, unexpected and generous gift. After that I didn't expect to get anything else. But low and behold, this amazing INC dress appeared, along with some beautiful flowers! (the full dress can be seen under this cardigan.)

And from my brother, an amazing painting, that he did himself in his art class, with a stress on purples and greens so it matches my room (once I get my bedspread done!). Dude's got talent with paint that I never had... a much better eye for color and blending. I do better with black and white mediums like Charcoal.

So with that, I'm done. It is just about officially summer. I'm still working as a substitute teacher during the day, but I'm really enjoying that, so I don't really count it. My concerts are over, my classes are over. My multiple papers are finished and handed in.

My kitchen table for weeks before was cluttered with these books, all scholarly and official looking. Finally they've been returned, and we have our table and my sanity back. That stack of books have now been replaced with my summer reading list.

These are just some of the books on the docket for the coming weeks. They include the next few Kathy Reichs books, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (a re-read for me), a few Laurie Notaro books (very funny stuff), The Good Book by David Plotz, The Birth of Britain by Winston Churchill, The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, and The Inner Voice by Renee Fleming. If anyone has any book suggestions, I'm open to them! I'll read pretty much anything except for self-help books, American History (reminds me too much of school for a summer reading list), and really technical economic books (again, just not fun reading for me).

It's such a relief to me to finally be able to read for enjoyment instead of requirement. All I need now is to set up the Hammocks, and the summer will be set. Actually, I'm already done with one of the books, The Princess Bride. I'm part of a read-knit along on the As You Wish group on Ravelry, and I was massively behind on getting it done. To sum it up, the book was FANTASTIC. It is definitely one of my new favorite books and I highly recommend it. It's a brilliant satire, and an amazing adventure story, all rolled into one. It's just like the movie, and in fact, in many ways, better.

So now that I've got my summer reading all set, my school year over with, and my concert season in the past, all that's left is catching up with my online stuff. Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll be able to catch up with all my favorite blogs that have been sitting sadly neglected in my RSS feeder. I will not be posting a Musical Monday tomorrow. They will resume next week, but even so, expect to see more activity here at Lunaticraft. Hey, maybe I'll even finish that sock!

-l.c.

Can I get some stress, with a side of stress? Oh, and a stress parfait for dessert?

2009-05-16T13:14:00.003-04:00

Oy.

I've been running and running, writing, and writing, performing and performing, teaching and teaching, rehearsing and rehearsing non-stop. I took an hour for myself on Thursday night to watch the season premiere of Bones, which was a very confusing experience. I'm still not sure how I feel about the episode. I also took this morning to just sleep in, and chill. I've got another concert tonight, after three nights of dress rehearsal, and after this the concerts are at least done, but my two papers are due Monday.

So I haven't gotten much done on ANY of my knitting or crochet projects, not to mention anything else that is even vaguely optional.

On the bright side, our apple trees are blossoming!

Anyway, time to get back to the grind.

-l.c.

A Viennese Musical Monday

2009-05-11T23:31:00.003-04:00

Musical Mondays seem to be the only thing I'm able to keep up with lately. I actually just got home from one of my three big concerts, and it went well. So, in the spirit of that performance, I'm deviating from the "not well known" part of Musical Monday. Instead, this is one of the pieces that we played in the concert tonight.

And, to make it even better, I'm offering up two versions. The regular concert version (which is what we played) and the... wait for it... BUGS BUNNY VERSION!

Please enjoy the Overture to Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna by Franz von Suppe, in both its versions.

-l.c.

A long over due WIP update...

2009-05-09T12:23:00.003-04:00

Well, spring has finally sprung here in the northeast. It certainly took long enough, but the grass is finally green, and the flowers are finally blooming.

With the emergence of spring, my life has gradually been thrown into chaos, and the new job teaching 5th grade band and orchestra only served to complicate things further. I don't do well with major schedule change, so it's taken about a week to develop a new routine and get my sleep schedule adjusted to waking up two hours earlier every day.

On top of the regular schedule change, it is also concert season and finals time. In the next week and two days, I have three major concerts (on cello, french horn, and voice), five nights of dress rehearsals, one huge ass paper on racism in early jazz, one smaller but still pretty long reflection paper on the semester reading, one last book discussion on The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman (which is 500 pages long... I'm only on page 150 at the moment), and two finals. In addition, mother's day is tomorrow, so I won't be getting much done until Monday as I plan and participate in those festivities. So wish me luck everyone, as the next weeks are going to be long, and busy.

But despite the chaos, I did get some stuff done! The insomnia that plagued me as my sleep schedule fought the adjustments let me get quite a bit done on my very first sock! The heel is turned, and I'm almost ready to start the toe.

It is a short row heel, and I definitely did not make it deep enough, so the ankle will end up hitting almost to the sole of my foot, but that's not a big deal. It's my first sock, after all. The ankle of the sock, in addition, is a bit tight. Not once I put it on my foot, but getting it over my heel is a bit of a wrestling match. I think I was just so worried as I started with the DPNs that the stitches would fall off that I began knitting WAY WAY too tight.

But regardless of its shortcomings, I'm really proud of this little thing. I am officially a sock knitter, and I suspect that this will only lead to more and more. I can certainly see that it's going to be addicting.

Also, I started a super secret graduation present for my college roommate that will be monopolizing my crafty time (what little I have) for the next week or so. I'm not going to tell what it is, or list it on ravelry, for fear that she find it. I'm pretty sure she doesn't follow on here, but you know, just in case. However, I will give a preview. It's going to be rediculously awesome. I promise.

-l.c.

Musical Monday, and Lunaticraft: THE 100th POST!

2009-05-04T23:20:00.003-04:00

Oh my, I totally almost missed posting my Musical Monday (or Music to Knit By) video of the week! Life around here has been past hectic. Concert season is in full swing, all my papers and stuff are coming due, and I had a job come up (under unfortunate circumstances). I'm working as a 5th grade band/orchestra teacher at the middle school I attended until the end of the school year. While I'm grateful for the job, I am not for the circumstances under which I was offered it. The regular 5th grade music teacher has something called Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is an auto-immune issue that has paralyzed her. She will regain movement, but it's going to be a long and painful process, so please, everyone keep her in your thoughts (and prayers if you're the prayin' type).

So anyway, I've been so busy and running from place to place, that I almost totally missed Musical Monday. In addition? This is my 100th post. I had been hoping to do something special, but I guess Bernstein will just have to do (although, maybe this really is special. The dude was a freaking genius).

This week, we're switching from vocal music to orchestra music. This is the fourth movement of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, as conducted by Leonard Bernstein. This movement is possibly one of my very favorite orchestral works both to play and to listen to.

Very powerful, very bombastic, very Russian. It's great music to clean to, or work out to, or write a really hard paper to. Hell, you could be grooming fluffy pink kittens with brushes made of teddy bears and love, and when you put this on as background music? Both you and the pink kittens will immediately feel TOTALLY BAD ASS.

So, without further delay, Lunaticraft presents.... Shostskovich 5 Mvt. 4!

-l.c.

2009-05-01T23:39:00.002-04:00

I have much to share, hopefully sometime tomorrow (huge concert on Sunday though, so I am in rehearsal for much of the day).

BUT... I just feel an unrelenting need to share this. It manages to combine my love for History (subcategory of all things British) with my secret love for techno music. It's only about a minute and a half, but WELL WORTH IT.

And with that, I promise to keep the YouTube videos to Musical Mondays only from now on.

-l.c.

My camera is back!

2009-04-29T11:49:00.003-04:00

I know I promised an update on the sock and pictures of that super freaking awesome silk yarn, but due to school work and other forces, that will have to wait. For now though, photos from Orthodox Easter, and the annual hike back "the fields" behind my grandmother's house that my brother, my cousin, my aunt, and I take every year to explore. When my dad was growing up, they actually were fields, with greenery, trees, ponds, and streams, with the railroad tracks cutting through it all.

Now, warehouses have moved in, and the ponds have dried up. It still gets green come summertime, thanks to a metric shit ton of Americanized bamboo and the trees that are still left, but it's no longer the endless natural playground it was for my Dad's childhood.

BUT, that's not to say it's not still filled with neat stuff. Including a huge, man-made mountain of boulders. We don't know what it's from... possibly the refuse from excavating a mine, considering the area. But regardless of how or why it's there, the fact remains that it's cool. If I had to guesstimate, it's probably about 50 feet high, and the mostly flat top is probably 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. Being the reckless hooligans we are, we climb it every year, and we try to take the steepest (while still being safe) slope we can.

My aunt's dog, Heidi, came with us. She's such a well behaved dog. Sticks right nearby my Aunt at all times, listens when told "don't go there," and all without a leash. If our pups had been with us? Disaster would have ensued. She's just too distractable, unlike the elegant and obedient Heidi. Heidi also must be part mountain goat, because she scales the rock mountain right along with us, hopping gracefully from rock to rock, without a single misstep, and in a fraction of the time it takes us. It's just *hop* *hop* *hop* *hop* and she's at the top staring down at us with her head cocked as if to say, "Lets go, you slowpokes! What's taking you so long?"

We do this hike twice a year: Orthodox Easter, and then Thanksgiving. Hopefully this year's Thanksgiving will still be warm enough that there'll be some green left, so you all can see that it's not really a barren, rocky wasteland ALL year. Even when it is barren, I still think it's beautiful in its own strange way.

In less cheerful news, I did not get that job I interviewed for last week. So I'm kind of dropping back and punting now, in addition to being swamped with schoolwork. PLUS, I'm sore everywhere because Rusalka took me down like a linebacker the other day when we were running around outside. REALLY FUNNY, actually. We were sprinting around the yard, when I turned a corner and stopped. She turned the corner, missed me, and then my brother startled her and she did and about-face. Instead of looking in front of her at where she was going, she continued to look at my brother, and ran right into me, totally knocking my legs right out from under me at like a right angle. I don't know if I'm sore from the impact, or from laughing so hard after it. Could be both, really.

Anyway, off to put another Thermacare pad on my lower back and get some more of my papers done.

-l.c.

Switching Gears this baking Musical Monday...

2009-04-27T12:23:00.003-04:00

Last week was bright, happy coloratura soprano music, this week, we're shifting to something a little more haunting, despite the fact that the weather here is just screaming "bright and happy and 95 degrees" at me. John Tavener's Song for Athene is arguably one of my very favorite choir pieces, which is odd, as I'm usually a fan of the more grand, loud, weird, and bombastic pieces (Carmina Burana or Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, anyone?).

Tavener wrote it in memory of a family friend, a young actress named Athene Hariades. She was Greek Orthodox, so Tavener wrote the piece in the tradition of the Easter Orthodox churches, specifically our funeral services. What this means is that no instruments are allowed. Nothing but voice, or the technical music term for it: "a cappella." So that drone on the bottom? Those are the Basses, staggering their breathing.

This is not the best rendition of it I could find, as I simply couldn't bring myself to post the most amazing version, as it makes me cry every time. At Princess Di's funeral, the choir sang this as they escorted her casket out of Westminster Abbey. Musically, it is the best performance I have ever heard of this piece, but the only YouTube videos of that recording include the video feed of the funeral, which I simply do not have the wherewithal to post. If you think you've got the chutzpah to make it through that video, all you've got to do is search "Princess Di Song for Athene" on YouTube. As it is, even with this version, you may want to have some tissues handy. Eastern Orthodox church music is just scored in a way that brings tears to eyes very easily, without you even realizing it. It's gotta have something to do with chord frequencies or something.

So, without further babbling on my part, enjoy (and try to ignore the sometimes goofy video editing).

-l.c.

PS: I got my camera back, so expect a real post in the next few days!

Popping in...

2009-04-25T18:02:00.003-04:00

I am going absolutely bonkers without my camera. And to make things even more painful, the weather today is absolutely gorgeous. Shorts and tank weather, blue sky, bright sunshine, flowers budding... the works. Perfect day for a photographic walk.

I'm hoping to be able to stop by my grandmother's to pick it up tomorrow, so hopefully I can get back into the groove of blogging. I've got a lot to show you guys, including progress on my sock (I'm starting to turn the heel tonight, so long as I can figure it out), and some super freaking awesome yarn that I want to get your opinions on. It's silk, and REALLY thin, so I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

So here's to hoping, and with that, I'm going outside. =D

The very first Musical Monday...

2009-04-20T22:06:00.003-04:00

Silly me, I left my camera at my grandmother's house on Sunday after our Orthodox Easter festivities. So, I figure this is a great opportunity to start something I've been thinking about for a while, which is Musical Mondays (a.k.a. Music to Knit To).

As someone who is heavily involved in music in many different ways, there's a lot of music out there that I feel is sadly neglected. So my plan is that every Monday, I'm going to post a Youtube video (or other thing) of a work or a piece that I think is super cool, and that I would like to share with everyone. I know that classical music is not every one's favorite cup o' tea, but give it a listen. I promise to keep it interesting! =D

We'll inaugurate this series with something that's not only fun (and impressive) to listen to, but also fun to watch: Les oiseaux dans la charmille (popularly known as the Doll Song), from the opera Les contes d'Hoffmann (eng. Tales of Hoffmann). The story behind the opera is complicated and ridiculous in a way only opera can accomplish, but basically, this is an aria sung by a life-size wind-up doll who is being passed off as this one dude's daughter and is supposed to be the perfect woman.

The performer is one of the most amazing Coloratura (meaning super high, super flexible ranged) sopranos I've ever heard, Sumi Jo.

Enjoy! =D

-l.c.

Oh, and I forgot...

2009-04-15T13:55:00.001-04:00

Another egg!

-l.c.

The one where Lunaticraft thinks she's a literary critic...

2009-04-15T10:40:00.002-04:00

I recently finished reading Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs. She has a series of mystery/murder novels out featuring her main character, and namesake of the main character in Bones on FOX, Temperance Brennan. Now, I have been a huge fan of the T.V. show for a while now. So far, it's a brilliant, character driven show with thoughtful plot lines (and the sight of David Boreanaz packing heat doesn't hurt either). When I found out that the show was loosely based on a combination of the Temperance Brennan novels and Kathy Reich's life, my interest peaked, and I knew I had to at least try reading them.

Ever since I've started my higher education, recreational reading time has been fleeting, so it wasn't until just recently that I had the time to take on these books. I had been stalling and stalling, and when I did read recreationally, it was only quasi-recreation, with my reading focus staying on the topic of history anyway. Finally, a few weeks ago I was browsing through the book sale at my university library (they always have a few racks of donated books for sale to benefit the library's funds) and lo and behold, there was the first of Kathy Reichs' novels. For 50 cents.

Well, that was it. Clearly the universe wasn't going to let me avoid reading these books for much longer. So I brought it home and got started.

Overall, I'd give the book a B+. The plot was amazing, entertaining, and just the perfect bit scary. I finished the book at 3 a.m. the day that spring break began, and I couldn't really sleep too well. I would jump awake every time the dog knocked into something for hours after I finished. To me, that's a sure sign of a good murder mystery.

I did have a few qualms with the book, however. Reichs' writing is indeed very scientific, and can be slow muddling through it sometimes. Certainly not something I hold over her too much, as it really does suit the character and her (both Reichs' and the novel's main character's) occupation. It worked very well in some spots, especially the bits with forensic information and procedures in them. However, her scientific style did muddle down other parts of the novel in too much detail. Sometimes the number of buttons on someone's shirt just isn't that important, you know?

Also, the end of the novel came a little too abruptly for me, with loose ends being wrapped up in exposition that sounded almost recap-like. The whole book had been paced nicely up until the end. I find running to be a good metaphor for the pacing in this novel. You start off walking leisurely, gradually moving up to a jog. Soon, you're in full on run mode. Your pace stays steady for a while, but then you start sprinting, pounding pavement as fast as you can. Suddenly, a brick wall appears out of nowhere, and you smack head first into it, the full force of your built up inertia impacting on your body. The pacing is perfect, until that wall appears. I really would have liked to have seen the ending drawn out a little more, information being revealed in action instead of being told to us. The end very much seemed to defy the mantra we all had burned into our brains in creative writing classes of "Show, don’t tell."

Beyond those two small quibbles, I really enjoyed this book. In my opinion any murder mystery that has me sleeping with my brother's aluminum baseball bat next to my bed for a night (despite the fact that I still live under the same very small roof as both my father and my 18 year old brother) is considered a raging success.

Next on the slate for Lunaticraft Book Reviews: The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity by Robert Kuttner.

In other news.... LOOK!!!

I'M KNITTING A SOCK!

And doing fairly well with it! I had a bit of trouble adjusting to working in such a small gauge, but overall, I'm really enjoying it. It's just a simple k2 p2 rib, and I know I haven't reached the difficult bits yet. I'm thinking a short row heel, as I seem to like the look of it better, and then I don't know what I'm going to do for the toe. As it is, I really like working with DPNs, much more than circs. I find them a lot easier to manipulate, and once I relax a little bit and stop tensing up while I knit, I think they're going to be much easier on my wrists.

The yarn is that Paton's Kroy Jaquards, and I'm finding it very splitty, which is making my progress go a little slower than it should. Not having worked with yarn this thin, and needles this small before, I don't know how to tell if it really is the yarn that is splitty, or if my needles are just not sharply pointed enough. Really, it could be either I think.

And progress on my bedspread is coming along nicely, except that... a block has gone missing. Everything is blocked out, ready to be seamed up, and when I lay it all out to grab a picture, low and behold, there's a void, despite my repeated and OCD counting of the squares ever since I started. I suspect my little devil Genghis Khan is to blame. I suppose that's what I get for naming my cat after a vicious Mongol conqueror.

Also, despite everything I try, I cannot get it to photograph right. Or even decently for that matter, so this photo is sharpened and adjusted to the hilt so you guys can at least get the gist of what it's going to look like. My goal is to have it finished by the end of Sunday, but I've got a job interview on Monday that I have to prepare for, so we'll see!

-l.c.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T21:07:00.002-04:00

Growing up, Easter was always one of my favorite holidays, mainly because, like Christmas, we got two of them! As I've mentioned before, my family is Russian Orthodox, and the orthodox church is still using the "old" calender.

So, where exactly does the "two holiday" thing come into play? Well, my Mom's half of the family is Ukrainian Catholic. Which, for all intents and purposes is Orthodoxy, only under the pope and on the new calender. My dad's side of the family is actually where the Russian Orthodoxy comes from. As a result, not only do we get to celebrate two Easters, and two Christmases, but it also made Easter dinners infinitely easier for my parents, as there was no worry about getting to two dinners in one day.

Well, except for every fourth year when the two Easters match up. But still, one out of every four is a pretty good deal when it comes to scheduling problems. The only issue other than that that ever surfaced was back when my Dad would fast for the entirety of Lent (meaning the Orthodox Lent). The Catholic Easter dinner would always be sort of a bummer for him when it occurred before the Orthodox Easter. But my grandmother always made sure to have some (really good) fish on hand for him as well! (Things like that make me realize how lucky and glad I am that the two sides of my family get along. I can only hope when I eventually find the guy and take the plunge that his family gets along with mine as well as my father's family gets along with my mother's.)

Anyway, on to the crafts. I bought this wonderful yarn off of eBay, and I think I'm going to use it to make my first shawl. I'm thinking the Heartland Lace Shawl would look very nice knitted up in this. It is technically sock yarn, and I bought my first bunch back when I grabbed my first set of sock needles (which I have yet to try out) with the intentions of turning it into socks. When it came (a set of 3 skeins), I decided it was a tad too scratchy to use as socks. I think my feet are just too sensitive for 100% wool of any kind. So I promptly ordered another three pack, and started looking for a shawl pattern.

I am now re-thinking my "too scratchy" decision. It definitely will not take nearly all this yarn to make a shawl (I don't think anyway), so if I have enough left, I might still try to glean a pair of socks out of it. We'll see though.

As far as my bed spread goes, I've spent the last few days wrestling with pins and my iron getting the squares blocked out. It's been quite a challenge as well as a learning experience for me about my crochet technique. As I did more and more squares, my gauge simply got tighter and tighter, and the squares got smaller and smaller. So I've had to have some pretty serious combat with some of the squares in order to get them blocked to the intended size of a square foot. The moral of the story? Well, I need to keep track of my gauge better over the course of large projects. I'm hoping to have the whole thing seamed together, edged, and washed by next Sunday (Orthodox Easter).

Also, I finally got around to ordering the Knitpicks Ball Winder that I've had my eye on ever since I bought those nine skeins of Cascade Sierra Quatro and realized that I couldn't just knit from the hank. It came in yesterday, and I am loving it. I had a bit of trouble at first. It took me about two hours and a ravelry inquiry to figure out how the clamp attached. I guess nothing is idiot proof.

But now that I got over my mental roadblocks, it's up, running, and delightful.

Oh, and in honor of Easter....

BUNNIES!

Hippitus, Hoppitus, Deus Domine!

-l.c.
(P.S. Props to anyone who gets that last reference!)

Spring was... well, springing!

2009-04-08T12:01:00.002-04:00

The lilac bushes had the teeniest of buds on them, and the sun was shining over the finally green grass...

The weather was even pleasant enough for a game of tennis ball chase with the puppy, who, though not technically a puppy anymore, still gets herself into all sorts of puppy-like trouble.

For example, I turn my back for one second, and she lodges herself under my car in pursuit of the ball. After checking to make sure she wasn't stuck, and was in fact there because of her own persistence, I thought it was too funny not to capture with the camera.

The chase even brought us over by the pool, an area that always fascinates the puppers, because it's fenced in and full of flora and fauna.

It was a beautiful day, warm and bright. There seemed to finally be a light at the end of the tunnel that is winter in the North East. But then I woke up this morning to a blanket of snow, fluffy, white, and disappointing. And though it's not sticking too well, it has continued to snow all day so far. Cruel weather. Giving me a day of blissful spring and then snatching it away.

However, judging by the skeptical look on her face, the pups saw this coming...

-l.c.

Not bad after twenty+ years...

2009-04-06T18:35:00.004-04:00

Since my mom and I started making pysanky, my aunt wanted to learn, and teaching her got my grandmother picking up the kistky again. Her eggs are certainly nothing to sneer at after not making any for over twenty, maybe even thirty years.

And every egg she makes gets better and better.

This one's my favorite so far.

I stopped up her house the other day, and instead of going on our weekly errand trip (she doesn't drive, so I stop up once a week and we go shopping for whatever she needs), we stayed in and she bestowed on me her egg designing knowledge.

It was also my first time using a traditional kistka. My mom and I always used delrin kistky, which are I guess a more "modern" tool.

It took me a while to get used to the angle the kistka needs to be held at, since the delrin kistky have angled heads, while the traditional ones don't. So my lines are pretty shaky.

But over all, I like it. Especially the bottom.

I think this is going to be the last of the eggs for a few days, as I've been swamped with other stuff. I'll have the book review posted later in the week, along with an update on my granny squares. I think I'm done making the squares, so all that's left now is blocking (or rather, killing because of the acrylic thing), seaming and edging!

-l.c.

More eggs, and a bad decision...

2009-03-31T15:41:00.005-04:00

And here, my friends is that egg that I spent 7+ hours on that I showed you with all the wax on it last post. My crowning glory egg, all polyurethane covered, just waiting to be blown out. It's not perfect... my lines are still not straight and even as they should be, and I can't seem to get a line thin enough to really make that detail work pop, but I'm not dwelling on it. I'm proud of this egg as is.

This next one isn't too shabby either. The non-orange leaves are supposed to be green, but they came out almost black because I messed up the dye order.

That's okay though. I still like it. My lines on this one are a little more consistent, and I finally got the hang of the wave motif.

Now, this next one is quite a bit less traditional color-wise. I'm planning to give this one to my college room mate, who's favorite color is hot pink.

I like the color scheme so much, I may make myself one too!

In other, non-egg news, I'm working on some book reviews for you guys. I know I've been saying this for more than a year now, but I actually got my tush in gear and started writing them. My first one is done, on Kathy Reich's first novel, Deja Dead. Expect that later in the week. These reviews aren't going to be anything formal, just a quick little write up on what I think. My reading tastes are pretty diverse, the only thing I don't read really being romances, so hopefully someone will get some book suggestions out of this!

Oh, and I did something stupid after my midterm on Wednesday. The test went alright, but certainly not as well as I had hoped. The last few questions, we hadn't even covered in class, so afterwards, I was really stressing out about them. If she doesn't count them since we didn't get there, then I'll be fine. But if they're counted, then I'm screwed. So I was pretty anxious after I got back from the exam, and I made a bad decision. I went on eBay, and I bid on nine skeins of Cascade Sierra Quatro that I have no use for. I did get a great deal on it, getting all nine skeins for just about 20 bucks with shipping, but... I broke my Lenten promise of abstaining from yarn purchases. I'm pretty disappointed in myself. First year in a long time that I actually give up something for lent, and there that goes, down the drain.

But since I did... any suggestions for this yarny goodness?

-l.c.

Listen to this...

2009-03-24T00:58:00.002-04:00

Not much to say right now. I'll have some things to share with you guys in a few days (more pysanky and possibly some knitting as well!), but right now I'm preparing myself for a hell of a midterm coming up on Wednesday.

So in the meantime, listen to this. It will make you cry (in a wonderful way). I want to learn this aria SO BADLY. I couldn't find the music for the longest time without sucking it up and buying the vocal score (which I suppose wouldn't have been such a terrible thing). I won an eBay auction for some aria books from the 1920's a while ago, and wonder of wonders, the aria is there. Now my only road block is figuring out how to photocopy the music (so I can use and write on it) without compromising the structural integrity of the old books (they're paperback and kind of crumbly).

Oh, well, and that gaping inadequacy complex that I keep exacerbating by listening to this over and over again may get in my way a little bit too.

Enjoy! =D

-l.c.