happy arbor day!

well, if you are in Utah, and maybe in your state. find out! if you can't plant a tree today, maybe go tell one how wonderful it is.

this is the reason

that i do not like to post pictures of knit items in progress.


can you see the cool-patterned ribbing? can you see the neckline with its eyelets? can you see anything other than a bunch of pieces strewn out on the carpet? abstracts of knitting are so much better than the random puzzle picture, at least in my eyes.

the one thing that might catch your attention is how short the arms are. i almost made them longer than the pattern instructed, but decided to break out of my rut. at least they are not 3/4 length: they are more like 7/8 length, which is SO much better.

random postal events

you know how you read about the miracles of postal diligence? a letter sent to "john, the author" in New Jersey, or to "Mary, in the red brick house on the corner near the hospital in Hoboken" that actually makes it to John and Mary, respectively (not Mary and John, irrespectively) ?

i had lost faith in these feats of the postal service when, last summer, i did not receive a wedding invitation because it was addressed to me AND sop at my address. "nope, no sop here, can't deliver this". i was used to that in Germany, but not here. here it doesn't matter whose name is on the mailbox: if the address matches, or even if it doesn't, they'll deliver it.

yesterday, however, my faith was restored. i received an invitation to a bridal shower for someone i only sorta know. it was addressed to me, but not at my address, nor at any address i've ever had. no it was addressed to me at sop's apartment that he moved out of a year and a half ago.

all hail the mighty USPS!

seaweed, yum!!!

i got home from a very wet bike ride yesterday to find a surprise on my doorstep!


seaweed miso, bubble gum and...


TWO gorgeous cups!!

THANK YOU SECRET PAL!!

you have to have a lot of guts

to post a picture of your butt.


me, looking none-too-graceful, climbing for the first time in over 9 years



megan, leading the climb and looking like a dancer on the rocks.

it was a fun weekend. friday i went climbing with Megan, and Saturday sop and i biked the causeway to Antelope Island and then around the island a bit and back. total riding time: 2:10; miles covered: 30.2

this saturday we are doing the bike tour associated with the salt lake marathon. 25 miles, 2500 people and a closed course! it should be a blast.

uh, you know that knitting thing?

well, i still do that.

i've been working on a sweater for me, namely chamomile from rowan's 'summer tweed collection'. the pattern is knit flat, but i really do not feel like sewing up a billion seams, so i've been adapting it to round work. this is pretty straight forward until you get to the neck opening. at that point you, or at least i, end up working the left side of the front, turning, working the left side again, then the back, then right side of the front and then the right front side again and then the back again. since you have to make eyelets on some rows, you kind of have to pay attention and crazy stuff like that.

so, this is where i am so far:


and this is a sample of the notes that got me there:

update on the chair series

it's been a little crazy lately. "it"? well, "i" is more accurate. the last few weeks i've been getting my chair portfolio ready (read scanned and printed on the art department's fancy inkjet printer) to submit for a call for entries within the salt lake city public library system. the deadline was April 10, but i did my last stint of scanning and orinting on April 9 and got them in that day. whew!

so no i am busy looking for more chairs and keeping my hopes low in regard to the exhibition. sure, it would be nice and i have a particular affection for my own pictures, but many people are likely to be like my mom and just look in puzzlement and ask, "why would you take pictures of chairs?"

anyway, if you want to see the pictures that made the portfolio for the submission, you can view them here.

i'll be posting more pics of chairs as i find them, but it may be a while as the photo lab is closing between semesters and i will not be able to develop my film. and no, the darkroom in sop's basement is still not happening :( . (soon, i hope)

something totally other than normal

but very funny.
the article
and
the name generator

as you may notice in my side bar, i am Sister Spikey Mace of Mild Reason. how true.

chair series

chair series

chair series

chair series

the bike rack

Thuy and i were contemplating the usability of the bike rack features in last wednesday's post. "would they be more functional if the were capital letters?" she inquired. i felt sure they were usable, but unsure how. my mission: to inspect the structure of said bike rack and determine how it truly prevented bike theft.

the answer:

form and function.