Saturday Sky

More alliteration! w00t! Plus, the resurrection of a meme I haven't participated in for... well, a long time.

It's about 19F and clear as a bell. Pretty day.


And yes, those are Christmas lights. We are classy like that. Snap.

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It was a gray, cold day here in Beer Town, but not as bad as it has been. But my Saturday Sky (I know! I haven't posted one of these for ages!) is not much to look at. I included some pretty church for interest.


Thursday was my birthday (39, if you're wondering) and I had a fabulous day! There were presents, food, and lots of cards! I almost ran out of room for all of them on my sideboard!


It's a bit humbling, really. I'm not sure I'm a good and thoughtful enough friend to warrant the outpouring I received. There was some serious love I was feeling. So nice, though! Many, many thanks!!!

Yesterday was laid back, but today was another fun day. V and I went shopping, then we had a terrific supper at County Clare, then we went to the Marquette v. UWM basketball game -- a cross-town rivalry that was a really good time. Marquette won (we were heavily favored) so I got to cheer a lot. We were pretty sloppy and high-strung during the first half, but we calmed down and got the job done during the second half. Especially the defense, but the offense really improved, too. Nice playing.


Then I came home and found this on Wil Wheaton's blog. HILARIOUS.


And now I'm going to bed. My life is very good right now. If Gator lived with me, it would be freakin' perfect.

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Marquette in bloom

It has been sunny and spring-like this week and I have loved every minute of it. The world has greened up and the flowers are out in force! It's too beautiful for words, so I won't use any more. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.


Pretty tulips welcome you to Marquette by the library.


The engineering building peeks out over trees in bloom.


These trees are right in front of the building my lab is in. They smell fabulous.


This view of the Pere Marquette statue in front of St. Joan of Arc chapel is always particularly lovely.


The library peeks out over another gorgeous blooming tree.

It's easy to get into a good mood when you walk around in the midst of all this. :)

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I just haven't felt like it

Life is pretty boring (or, at least, unremarkable) -- school/work, cook/eat, surf the 'net, work on a big project I can't show/tell about yet, and sleep. That is a very accurate description of my life right now.

Everything is okay, I'm just distracted by the beginning of the semester and lab work and just getting back into the groove of the semester. I guess I just don't got nothin' to say. :)

I did take a Saturday Sky pic on Saturday morning, I just never posted it. It's snowed a bunch since then.


It was sunny, but ccccoooolllddd. It's still very cold, but not quite as cold as it was this weekend.

I also started a Christmas stocking for the new baby of a former professor. It's completion is on hold until after the giant gift project. Hopefully I'll be able to show you more soon.


In real life it is a dusty rose color. Not hot pink. I promise.

That's all. More later.

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Gray day

Happy Winter Solstice! Yes, it's the shortest day of the year and I, for one, am quite thankful for that fact! I currently go into work at 7 am, as soon as dawn breaks, so that I can leave while the sun is still up and don't have to walk home in the dark at 4:30. Milwaukee is just enough farther north than Missouri for me to really feel the difference in daylight hours. I'm looking forward to the days slowly getting longer and having more light in my life!

Today I ::gasp!:: have a Saturday Sky to share with you.


Now, lest you think I just made a big gray square in Photoshop, I'll let you in on the secret as to why my sky picture looks as it does:


It's foggy, kids! Gray, dreary, and limited visibility. I'm very glad that my trek to the lab will be on foot.

Most of the day will be spent in the lab, trying to optimize the Proteinase K concentration for my next experiment. Oh, you are dying from the jealousy, I can totally tell. Everyone else's pre-holiday-Saturday activities pale in comparison.

Tonight I may do something completely radical: Write my Christmas cards. Yep, I'm obviously right on top of things this holiday season. Does anybody really care that much if cards are late? I sincerely hope not.

Once the cards are done, I will get back to work on my other great holiday tradition -- late handmade Christmas gifts! Gator's gift hat was already going to be late, but I've just discovered that, despite my best calculations, it's going to be too small for his sweet noggin. So, it's getting frogged and re-knit in a slightly different pattern with a different gauge. Which means that it's going to be even later than originally planned. I'm very glad I already sent some non-handmade gifts so he will certainly have some goodies from me under the tree. I'm also very glad he loves me for more than my punctuality.

Off to work with me! Enjoy your weekend!

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Oh look, a Saturday Sky, knitting, and everything!

It's a gray, hazy, autumn day in Beer Town. I rather like it, actually.


I had two horrible exams this week, a lab meeting presentation, and tons of research both in the lab and for future papers and presentations. In short, busy. I think maybe I've caught up on some sleep and no longer feel like an overwhelmed mess. The second test this week went well, I think, but the first one did not. In fact, I may have failed it. Straight up. Not that, "oh, that test went so badly and I'm sure I failed" and then it turns out I got a high B kind of thing. More like, "I left about half the answers blank because I didn't even have a bullshit answer for them and then I ran out of time" kind of thing. Pretty brutal. I could go on and on about why this happened, but I'm not going to because a) I don't want to think about it anymore, b) it won't help anything, and c) you don't really care. At least I wouldn't if I were you. So, onward and upward to handwork content instead!

Gator's best friend's baby came last month (welcome baby Owen!!), which meant that I had to get off my lazy butt and finally put the zipper in the zodiac and get it sent off. I had thought I would embroider a design on the body, but I finally decided against it altogether and went with simplicity. Plus, the buttons are pretty cute and add just a sweet touch of interest. I think it's perfectly fine just as it is.


The baby socks I made this summer were also intended for baby Owen, and I think together they make a nice little baby gift:


I've also started a new project -- a wedding gift for best friend Missa's sister, whom I call "sister" too. The wedding was actually last week, but I get a year to present them with a gift, right? So I figure I'm okay. I'm making them a set of the Round Star Flower Potholder, like the one I made for Gator last year (yes, I made my husband a potholder, and he loves it. What of it?) but in blue and yellow. I got a good start on it during a mini S n' B at Veronica's on Thursday night.


I have a lot of work to do this weekend, but I'm going to take a little time to crochet, too. I just feel better when I get some handwork time in. Otherwise I'm not sure what the weekend will bring, but I'll let you know if it's anything cool!

Have an awesome weekend. :)

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Wherein crazy lady tells too much, probably

Happy Saturday Sky!


Well, not totally happy because it's supposed to rain all weekend and all next week. Not that we can't use some rain, but this may become overkill. Now that I live in the city, I'm not as aware of the precipitation needs of the agricultural base, which is a little weird. But I'm pretty sure a solid week of rain in August is not what anyone was hoping for.

This has been an odd week. First of all, I haven't felt that great. I had a bright idea that I would start on a high fiber diet, because I'm sure my body would greatly benefit and also because Walgreens had a crazy sale on Grape Nuts and frozen vegetables. And at the risk of venturing into the world of TMI, let me tell you that suddenly increasing your fiber intake by over 100% does some freaky uncomfortable and disgusting things to your bod. I recommend that anyone else trying this just take the week off from work. My plan is to be strong, continue on and hope I adjust soon. That, or the regular price of Grape Nuts will force me to go back so subsisting mostly on cheap white bread, peanut butter and Ramen. I can only imagine that the reverse transition would be disgusting as well.

This week marks one year since I moved to Beer Town! w00t! My love for this city has grown steadily during that time to the point where any time I travel to other places I have a running internal commentary of how Milwaukee is better. This happened when I was in Toronto in July and it happened when I was in Chicago on Thursday. I think I'm crazy smitten and people are really starting to get tired of it. You know when your friend first gets a new girl/boyfriend? And if they say one more dazzlingly fabulous thing about the ravishing perfection of said new friend you will possibly jab their eyes out and/or shoot them in the throat? Yeah, I think I may be that girl. Only about an entire city, which is maybe just really, really sick. But I'm starting to think such an attack would be totally worth it because I totally love this crazy awesome city just that much. Hi! Crazy lady right here!

I know the burning question in your mind during that whole tirade of craziness was, "Why was Sus in Chicago on Thursday?" Never fear, I'll totally tell you. See, New Friend Veronica's old roommate Kristen is an intern for the NPR news quiz, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!, which I've loved listening to for about seven years. She got us free tickets for last Thursday's taping, so we motored down with much excitement. Traffic was pretty bad, so we ended up pulling into a parking structure a couple of blocks away from the Chase Tower about ten minutes before taping was to begin. This caused us to run two blocks in an attempt to not be late. Neither V nor I actually run in real life, especially without the aid of industrial strength sports bras, so the actual running was accompanied by a running commentary of how we don't really run and also, "My boobs are flopping like crazy, you?" and "Totally. I may put an eye out any second." I'm sure passersby found this cute and endearing.

So we got there, found the correct door, and made our way to the auditorium. Thoughts of the auditorium in the Chase Tower had always conjured up thoughts of an, oh I don't know, auditorium in a tower. And, while the building is, in fact, towering, the auditorium is actually down in the basement with a low little ceiling and a pretty small little stage. I don't know what else they do there -- probably incredible bank-related theater, I'm sure. On this night, due to some miscommunication, they had overbooked the show. So, while a group of people were standing around hoping for no-shows, we were swept into the packed auditorium and led to reserved seats in the front row directly in front of the panel! Sassy! We were incredibly special! Personally, I think all aspects of my life should work in this manner.

Watching the taping was great fun. The panel included Tom Bodett (he'll leave the light on for you), Amy Dickenson, and Mo Rocca. I think I was the only person there that was genuinely excited that the Not My Job guest was congressman Ron Paul. I think he's awesome (Hi! I live here in my pretty, little, high-up apartment, making googly eyes at my city and feeling it return my love manyfold. I can't be bothered to care what you think of my politics). Afterwards there was a question/answer session during which Peter Sagel almost fell into my arms. Okay, he sort of tripped and almost took a header sort of towards me, but that doesn't sound as cool. After the show, we went and ate McDonald's in the train station with Kristen because we are so classy like that. The ride home consisted largely of V and I belting out Journey's greatest hits which is always a good time in my book.

It was a really late night but it was so worth it. We're hoping to do it again soon. If I survive eating all these Grape Nuts.

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Ta-Dah!

It's all about the socks, baby.

Okay, I totally lied. It's also about a late Saturday Sky. If there's one thing that excites me less than a solid blue rectangle, it's a solid gray rectangle. So I framed the flag flown from the roof of my building for visual interest. It's nice.


Okay, NOW it's all about the socks, baby! Gator received his package yesterday and was right pleased (at least that's what he said to me on the phone as he pulled the socks out of their envelope). Before I sent them on their way (and before it became gray and dismal up here), I caught them lounging by the pool, soaking up the rays to fortify them for their trip through the United States Postal Service. I imagine they needed it.


After two pairs of basic socks, I feel like a slightly-more-than-beginner sock maker extraordinaire -- one who so far has decided that exact stripe-matching just might be bourgeois, or something -- and I'm ready for more. Well, maybe I'll work with a change of scale first...

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Saturday sky and a distinct lack of progress

It's overcast and cool today and threatening rain. Which is too bad because we're supposed to drive down to Chicago this evening for Ravinia and listen to Strauss in the park. I'll be sad if it gets rained out.


The trip to Ravinia is representative of why I'm not getting any knitting done. Along with copious research work and a daily 2-hour class on radioisotope safety, I'm mentoring the undergraduate summer research program. This means I help the students with presentations, watch said presentations, coordinate many social events, and attend said social events. This is pretty fun and I get paid to do it, but it also means that my calendar is pretty darned full right now. For instance, Wednesday we had a big bowling party, last night we went on the Lakefront brewery tour and had a fish fry and today we're going to Ravinia. We had to cancel an ice cream social because there was just too much going on. I've become a regular little social butterfly. I hope to get some sock work done on the way to Chicago and during the concert itself. As long as the light holds out, baby! :)

Ooh, and last night New Friend Veronica took me to Target. The Dollar Spot did not let me down! Hello kitty food containers! Cute!!


Its such a good thing that it takes so little to excite me. Really, it is.

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Blogging has made me a bi7ch

Happy Super Lucky Day! (07/07/07 -- all sevens, all the time!)

It is hot and oh so humid this morning. I have the air on and two fans blowing and I still just can't seem to feel dry. Sticky, icky. The sky is deceptively pretty:


I need to clean my apartment today, and I hate doing that when it's hot and sticky. I will sweat and fan myself with my shirt. I know that this is a normal response to this situation, but it still makes me feel like I'm turning into my mother.

Okay, now I'll explain the title of this post. I started this blog to record daily stuff for Gator, friends and family when I moved away to start grad school. I emailed the blog address to everyone. If anyone wants to know what's going on with me, it's on my blog. This is really as exciting as it gets. Some of my friends have blogs as well, and I keep up with them. And if I get behind, I go check it out before I email them. That way I don't ask them questions that are answered in their blog. Makes sense, right?

Now, I'm lazy as all get-out, I readily admit it. I also started this blog so that I could write stuff once and everyone could read it, rather than writing it in a dozen individual emails, which would be annoying (to me), or sending a page of mundane crap about myself as a mass mailing to everyone in my address book, which would also be annoying (to them).

So here's where I become a beyotch. It annoys me when sweet people that I love very much email me and ask me what I'm up to and if I'm in Missouri for the summer or if I have to take classes and stay in Wisconsin. I've given this person my blog addy several times. And if you read my blog at all, you know the answers to these questions. I don't want to re-write all my summer activities. Because I'm lazy and selfish. I also don't want to just respond with "It's all in my blog, go read it," because I don't want to appear lazy and selfish.

I don't like this about myself, mind you. But I know myself very well. If I tried to change it -- even if it was the best-intentioned attempt ever -- it wouldn't last. I'd give me about two weeks. Okay, I'm totally lying. I'd give myself three days before I got distracted by the rest of my life and just started being myself again. And myself has become an email bi7ch.

Sigh.

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It has begun!

No, not Mortal Kombat, but the... ::insert dramatic music here:: ...SOCK!!

But first, Saturday Sky. For visual interest, I selected for my subject the only cloud in the sky...


Isn't it wispy and nice? It promises to be a lovely day. I'm sure all the folks who are venturing out to Summerfest will appreciate it! (Never fear, I'm going next week.)

Now, pictures of the elusive first sock ever in its unnatural habitat (it usually lives on the floor next to a teal swivel rocker, but the light there sucks):


I took Becky's advice and am starting with Silver's sock tutorial before I hunker down with other yummy patterns like Breeze and Crusoe. I only had to cast on three times before I was happy enough with it to continue. It's a simple 2x2 ribbing on the top, but I really like the way the yarn is pooling and that adds sufficient interest to the otherwise plain top. Yes, it's a tiny start, but it's a start!!

Today will involve some lab work this evening (Oooh, a rockin' Saturday night for Sus!), and a little outing today that I will blog about tomorrow. Stay tuned for pr0n...

Bwahahahahaha

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Worth 1000

No words, just this:

Culturin' myself up

Blogging regularly is hard and I suck at it. I always feel like I should provide some reason as to why I haven't written, especially since classes are over and I technically have more time to do things I want to do. Hmmm. Maybe that's the key. Maybe I don't want to blog regularly. I'll have to think about that.

We're well into "pretty blue square" season here at Saturday Sky. I'll try to catch clouds occasionally, but maybe I should wait for the occasional sunset.



Yesterday, while waiting for part of my experiment, and inspired by Becky's recent trip, I bopped over to Marquette's Haggerty Museum of Art and looked around.


There is some nice outdoor sculpture:



I couldn't use a flash indoors, so most of my pictures are blurry. These are the best. There's a portrait hall:


We have a Salvador Dali! Awesome!


This one is titled "Unicorn Cadaver" (I lurve it!!!):


These are actual US one dollar bills that have been elaborately embroidered:


The special exhibit right now showcases Japanese prints:



The collection was larger than I had thought it would be. I was only there for about an hour and I will definitely be back and often. Admission is always free, not just for Marquette students, but for everyone. Gotta love that.

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Gettin' my groove back

I'm baaaack!

Though I've posted a couple of times, they've been lame, I admit. I've been tired and sore from my shoulder woes and haven't wanted to do much of anything but read and sleep when I'm not in the lab. Not that I'm all better -- far from it -- but I've redoubled my efforts to get back into the swing of all things crafty and bloggy.

To that end, here's my Saturday Sky -- a beautiful, blue, cloudless sky that speaks to the gorgeous weather that we're in for today and tomorrow. Clear, sunny, 70F. I don't have any clear plans, but I may go out and about at some point. We'll see. Spontaneity! Thy name is Sus! (That's totally untrue, but I'm going with it this weekend)



So I'm crocheting this morning. Nothing to show at the moment, but tomorrow I'll show the progress on a WIP (it won't be particularly exciting, but it's something!). I'm also looking around for a good purse pattern.

In 2000, I won a jackpot of several hundred dollars in Las Vegas. I decided to spend the windfall on one large thing that I could always look at and say, "I won that in Vegas!" So I bought something that I could never otherwise justify -- a Coach bag. I love my Coach bag (even though it has always made me a little ashamed of the crap I gave my friend Trish when she did the same thing with her graduation money in 1992. What can I say? I've changed. Sorry, Trish.), but since then I've not been able to justify spending money on another purse. So. Styles change, trends come and go, and I want something small, springy, and cute. It totally doesn't count if I make the purse, I've decided. So, I'll make the purse. But it has to be a free pattern and made with yarn in my stash. So many rules! Also, it has to be something quick and easy because I want to use it soon. Now would be great, but even I'm not that great. Tee hee.

So, if you can bear to hold on for one more day (I know it's hard, but you're a trooper! You can do anything! You're a rockstar!), I'll have actual crochet content and the preliminary results of my purse pattern hunt. Oh, how we're all atwitter!

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On the mend

My cold is getting much better. I went to school yesterday and didn't cough very much in the morning. Then I had a seminar class in which a friend was presenting. Of course, that was when I had a horrible coughing fit. And when I excused myself to have my coughing fit out in the hall, I twisted my ankle and slammed into the wall. Yes, I'm grace personified. The rest of the day I was fine. Of course.


It is hazy and foggy today. It's burned off a bit since I took this photo and the forecast is 59 F and sunny. We'll see. I have a huge exam on Monday that I must study for, so I won't get to enjoy the weather much. This school stuff is really cramping my weather enjoyment and handcrafting style. Galdarnit anyway.

In other school-related news -- even though there is another week left of my rotation, I have gone ahead and joined Dr. Karrer's lab. So, be prepared for five years of Tetrahymena updates. You'll feel so smart by the end, you'll want a doctorate, too.

Must study -- but first, Whad'ya Know?, coffee, and crochet. Then study.

St. Patrick Sky

I couldn't sleep last night and finally gave up at 3 am and got up. I remembered that Hegarty's was going to open at 6 am for St. Patrick's day, so when I went down to take my Saturday Sky photo, I popped my head in to see if anyone actually showed up that early. Oh my. Yep, people were there, drinnking green beer or Irish coffee and eating green eggs and ham. Too early for me, kids. But I took my sky photo just as the sun was breaking over the skyline:



It promises to be a bright, if chilly, day for the St. Patrick's day festivities.

I don't have anything in particular to do this weekend. I'm thrilled beyond belief. I'm sure I'll need to nap since I didn't sleep last night, but otherwise I can do whatever I want. That will involve handwork, I assure you. Also, maybe some cleaning and working out.

Maybe.

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Science-y goodness

Did you know that Mr. Clean kills the most bacteria? Cokes rots your teeth the fastest? You don't run faster if you listen to "fast" music? That the five-second rule is bullshizz? That I'm too old to hear the silent ringtone?

These were the things I learned while I was a judge at a science fair last night. Of course, most of these experiments used far from stringent standards of evidence, so don't run out and buy some Mr. Clean right this minute or anything. But what fun to see 5th through 8th graders so excited about finding a way to answer a question!!

They were adorable, every one. I can't wait until next year.

Oh, wanna find out how old your ears are?? (scroll down on that page) Mine are quite a bit older than me. I'm going to view this as a good thing as it means there are apparently more annoying things I can't hear. Alright!

This is the sky in Beer Town this morning. Nothing too exciting. But I'll take the 48 degrees F that's forecast for today!! Woot!!


I'm off to the lab -- enjoy your day!!

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Weather for psychotic mimes

It's bright but snowy this morning.



Yesterday was all kinds of crazy windy. Great training for Shields and Yarnell, I'm sure, but icky for overly bundled-up students with big ol' backpacks trying to cross traffic. I would just get my balance for trudging against the gale and then, suddenly, it would change directions, causing me to stumble around drunkenly. Big hood and loss of peripheral vision did not help. At one point I inadvertently turned 90 degrees in the middle of the street because, while lifting it to take a step, my left leg was blown across my body and landed about two feet to my right, causing me to pivot towards oncoming traffic. You can't pretend you meant to do something like that. I haven't been outside yet today, but I'm hoping it's calmed down some. Yowza.

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Blizzard o' fun

This was the sky this morning, after last night's snowfall but before tonight's forecast blizzard conditions. A check of The Weather Channel shows SE WI to be in for 12+ inches tonight. A weekend to stay in and knit.



So far, this weekend has rocked. New Friend Veronica and I ate awesome Roly Poly wraps, we totally closed down yet another mall in the greater Milwaukee area, I found some perfume I really like (which is so difficult for me), I learned that there is a new Star
Wars novel out that I might actually want to read (even though I'll probably cringe through most of it -- but these are old, well developed issues of mine), and I found The Shoes.

They are orange! They are cute! They are all technology-y and stuff! They feel like nothing I've ever worn before, and they feel goooood!! I'm very psyched. They even come with a DVD to teach me how to wear them, they are so advanced!

So, remember when I got pretty origami paper? I still totally love it, but today I found a folded paper activity that caused me to set that pretty paper right to the side. That's right, kids, I printed out, cut out, folded, and glued together a Bald Britney Paper Doll. Oh, the joy. She had a total meltdown and I was rewarded with a new, free crafting experience! It's the simple pleasures, I tell ya.



Now to curl up in the glow of my shoes and Britney doll, watch the blizzard happen around me, listen to old re-runs of This American Life, and knit, knit, knit. I know you wish you had my life. I know it.

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Exam blues

I spent six hours in the lab yesterday, but I didn't get any studying done for my exam tomorrow. The class with the eight papers per day. Yeah, that one. (Note to those who think that's a spiffy idea -- with this kind of volume, I'm learning next to nothing in this class. I'm just memorizing as much as I can until after the exam. When we focus more intently on less material, I learn tons. I'm just sayin'.) So guess what I'm doing today? Can't I just work in the lab more instead?? Oh well. I'm really honing my ability to procrastinate up here.

Since I didn't post a sky yesterday, here's a pic of dawn-ish from this morning.



There's really nothing else to say. Have a great Sunday!