Ghost World

After Paul went to bed last night I stayed up reading Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. It's a graphic novel about two girls named Enid and Rebecca in their teenage years getting ready to leave high school. I had seen the movie that came out in 2001 before and I had enjoyed it but I can't say it was one of my favorites. Once again, the book is better than the movie. Visually the movie does a great job replicating the graphic novel but the characters have so much more personality in the book. I found myself laughing aloud at some of the conversations that go on between Enid and Rebecca. Enid reminds me of myself with her dark sense of humor meant to shock people. She is a kooky, cynical a-hole. I love it! If you want a dark comedy about teenage life and friendship, I would recommend this book even if you've already seen the movie. The movie takes the story in a bit of a different direction and the actors have their own interpretation of the characters.

Ten On Tuesday

10 New Years Resolutions

1. Cook more real meals.
2. Bake something new and interesting at least twice a month.
3. Go to a Mets Stitch and Bitch game.
4. Continue to be smart with money.
5. Further prove myself to my boss.
6. Be friendlier and kinder to strangers.
7. Cut WAY down on dairy.
8. Not to eat late at night as much.
9. Save up to go to Colombia.
10. Go to nyc in the summertime so I can go to the beach.
(11. Learn how to do cables and fair isle.)

Christmas

Well I hope everyone out there had a great holiday. I must say this Christmas I wasn't really wanting anything in particular but my boyfriend, Paul has come through once again. I helped him out with some links to websites that I am usually window shopping at but he came up with some wonderful things. He got me these beautiful Uggs...

As well as the Pick Up Sticks sushi wallet kit in red and the felted snug boots kit in Sand and Seafoam. He did a wonderful job picking out beautiful clothing (which included awesome t-shirts and cashmere sweater). He also got me dvds, Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, amazing diamond earrings, necklace and a watch. He also got me a bunch of books. Here's a picture of the stack (the top three are the ones I got my boyfriend who is a huge Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fan):

Last night I read "Y: the Last Man" Book One Deluxe Edition and it is such a great graphic novel. Writer Brian K. Vaughan and penciler Pia Guerra come together to create a amazing story where a mysterious plague wipes out all mammals on the planet with the Y chromosome except for Yorrick Brown and his pet Capuchin monkey Ampersand. I can't wait to get Book Two. I highly recommend this novel to anyone out there that enjoys graphic novels. It was also a nice surprise to see that Agent 355 who is Yorrick's bodyguard is knitting in the book. I was also reading Pia's blog and she is also working on a Doctor Who comic book. I can't wait to get my hands on that!

Well, that's it for now. Perhaps later on I'll give more review on the other books. I don't have any weekend baking this weekend because I have had enough sweets from my stocking, work and dinner at mom's. I'm still working on my mom's shawl but not enough progress to give it it's own post. Please feel free to leave me comments or suggestions about your knitting, reading, baking or christmas gifts.

Ten On Tuesday

10 Best Moments of the Year

1. Rediscovering Point Pleasant.
2. Dad came to visit me.
3. Hanging out with my co-workers at a going away party.
4. Seeing the autumn foliage.
5. Going to Ritter Park to see the roses.
6. Carving my Halloween pumpkin.
7. The feeling of accomplishment when I would finish any knitting project.
8. Starting to bake again after several years.
9. Starting yoga again.
10. Walking barefoot on the sand pit in the park and looking up at the stars through the silhouette of the tree branches when walking home from yoga at night.

100 Things About Me

1. I'm Colombian.
2. Not Mexican.
3.One of my pet peeves is when people spell it columbian.
4. My hair has shades of red in the sun.
5. I hate being told what to do.
6. I named my ferrets after The Ramones.
7. My first dog was named Troskey.
8. I now refer to him as "Thrusty".
9. I still occasionally bite my nails.
10. I just want to be left alone sometimes.
11. I have a birthmark on the palm of my right hand
12. I like to tell people it's poop to gross them out.
13. I think feet are gross.
14. I'm not scared of the number 13... I rather like it.
15. I wish I were vegan again.
16. I miss meat sometimes.
17. I don't regret anything I've done.
18. I got "best hair" in my high school yearbook.
19. I made my own prom dress.
20. I loved letterboxing the one time I did it.
21. I want to do it more.
22. I hate that I don't make more time for knitting.
23. I would love to live in a small log cabin out in the woods.
24. I try to finish people's sentences all the time.
25. I'm trying to stop.
26. Sometimes I like to cry myself out.
27. It makes me feel better.
28. I'm closer to my father than my mother.
29. I'm a pushover.
30. I'm a romantic.
31. I don't let too many people into my life.
32. When I do, I hate to let them go.
33. What I miss most from my childhood is seeing my mother and father happy together.
34. If I could change one thing about the world, it would be to make people treat each other the way they would want to be treated.
35. I'm a Packer fan. Go! Pack! Go!
36. My favorite holiday is Halloween.
37. I get tongue-tied.
38. A LOT.
39. I hum to myself when I think about my awkward moments from the past.
40. Only when I'm by myself though.
41. I've always had a funny laugh.
42. I'm a Mets fan.
43. I'm a list person.
44. I am terribly forgetful.
45. I'm afraid of birds.
46. I'm afraid of what might lurk in the dark.
47. I'm horrible with names of fictional characters.
48. I can definitely a bitch.
49. But I also think I'm one of the nicest people you'll meet if I like you.
50. I'm not a religious person.
51. Being a assistant sunday school teacher turned me away from churches when I was asked to get onto the kids about their parents paying for the class.
52. I don't believe in forever or happily ever after.
53. If I could be any animal, I would be a bird.
54. I'm a bit of a germaphobe.
55. I think I have some sort of OCD too.
56. I hate taking pills.
57. They make me gag.
58. I met the Foo Fighters years ago.
59. I've been to Colombia.
60. I wish I weren't as uptight as I am.
61. I was named after my grandmother.
62. I never met her.
63. I'm not very affectionate.
64. I want to change that.
65. I'm hard headed like my father.
66. I'm like him in many ways.
67. I've been to Canada.
68. I've been to Germany.
69. I think I'm due for another out of the country trip.
70. When I was a toddler I hit my head on a radiator and now it feels like there's a hole in my skull on my right eyebrow.
71. I can wiggle my eyes.
72. I can make flatulent sounds with the palms of my hands.
73. My guilty pleasure is Doctor Who.
74. I can NOT stand Nickelback.
75. Another of my guilty pleasures is cheesy romance novels.
76. I read them very sparsely and I don't let anyone see me. Don't judge me. lol
77. I don't have a favorite ice cream flavor.
78. I want to try them all!
79. I argue the most with my brother.
80. I only do it out of love.
81. I can't take naps.
82. I sleep right through them.
83. I have a lot to learn.
84. My favorite color is green.
85. Music snobs annoy me.
86. I like the numbing feeling of pins and needles.
87. I don't care for politics.
88. I think nerds/geeks are awesome.
89. I want to learn archery.
90. I love the rush of shooting a gun.
91. I just need to get my aim down.
92. I'm not a great cook.
93. I'm a great baker.
94. So I've been told.
95. I dont eat my baked goods much.
96. I like to give them away to people that appreciate them.
97. I'm afraid of being alone.
98. I hate to see people sad.
99. I love getting postcards.
100. I think I'm becoming addicted to blogging.

Butterscotch Heaven and Endless Knitting

I fell in love this past weekend. Yes, I believe this is the best thing I have tasted in a very long time. While browsing baking blogs this past weekend, I came up on http://www.cookiemadness.net/. On here I found a recipe for Butterscotch Almond Bars. Unfortunately, when checking out at the grocery store, the cashier scanned my all purpose flour with the items of the previous customer. Of course I didn't realize this until I was home stirring up the ingredients so instead of all purpose flour I had to use whole wheat flour but they still turned out delicious. I wish I had made a double batch so I could take a good bit to work. I guess the guys are going to have to make due with just a few. Another great part about this batch was that I got to use my new baking gadgets. I got a flour sifter and a pastry blender which are great but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to clean the sifter without getting clumps stuck in the sifting mechanism. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out.

*Sigh* So here I sit, three days before Christmas and this is my Christmas project. It's Emily's Firmaments Shawl. I'll place the link to show what it is supposed to look like when it's finished at the end. I've been working on this shawl since October and at one point there was a incident that caused me to have to frog the entire project. My co-worker thought it would be funny to cover my eyes while working on it. Unfortunately, I didn't have a safety line in place when this happened so you can imagine what happened next. If it weren't for the fact that he was my co-worker and there were witnesses around, I think I would have strangled him right then and there. My boss (a non-knitter) even offered to hold him down for me. Just goes to show how nice my boss is. Now I'm on row 25 of 81 of Chart C. I can see the light but in reality I'm just half way through. After that all I have left to do is the edging and blocking. I don't think my mother will get this until next year and then I have to work on my brother's belated Christmas gift. I sure do hope she appreciates it and doesn't ask me "What is this? A dish towel?". Seriously, I think I'll scream.

Here's the link to the end product of the lace shawl that a very talented knitter has posted:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluepeninsula/2078840799/

Weekend Baking

This past weekend I began baking again. It has been at least five years since I baked. I believed the last time was when I was living in nyc and I stayed up late making croissants for breakfast. I have forgotten how much I missed baking. Perhaps the reason for not baking is the fact that I had such a small kitchen when I moved to West Virginia. Three years ago I became vegetarian which led to being vegan for a year but I am now back to being vegetarian since last year. Now that I'm back on the baking horse I decided to make chocolate-chip oatmeal walnut cookies. I found the recipe at http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6758.0. I ended up taking almost two dozen to work the next day and the guys gobbled them all up in a matter of a few hours which was the best compliment I could've received. My boyfriend got upset that I was giving "his" cookies to them and he always complains about my cooking. Hah! I'm so glad they turned out great.

Welcome

I just wanted to welcome anyone who has stumbled upon my blog. I'm not sure where to begin. I have started this blog to have a place to share my knitting and cooking projects or whatever crosses my mind perhaps. Although my posting are going to be sporadic, I hope you are able to enjoy it.