Quodlibets

Progress Report Monday #14

You can see the last interesting bit of this cross-stitch going in on the right side: the lamp.  It's got a really great wreath on it, which will hopefully take shape in the next week.  I didn't sew that much this last week, because I was playing Rock Band and Civ, and I expect that to fall off in these coming weeks, because I'm already slightly bored of Civ, and I just can't get any better at Rock Band.  I've been playing songs in half speed in practice mode, and once I start to increase the speed?  Dunzo.  I guess that means I'm stuck, but it also means that I don't want to play as much.  Oh well.  I always knew my lame little fingers were only limitedly limber.  I've always had problems with the video games.

Progress Report Monday #13

Well, it looks like I haven't made that much progress.  I just haven't been sewing as enthusiastically.  I'm sick of trees and snow and house, and since that's pretty much all I've got left, I'm sort of screwed.  I have to tell you, though, that the tree on the right-hand side of the finished section is a pain.  If it looks like it's not much, I can tell you that the tree is EATING up sewing time.  It's ALL I did in about 3 hours of sewing yesterday.  It didn't help that I had to rip out a whole huge green section of that tree.  I had originally sewed it in the wrong spot.  That was demoralizing.  The end.

Oh, and you should go buy some Bolthouse Farms Clementine Juice.  It's incredible.  If you like Clementines, you're in for a huge treat.  It'll be in your produce section.  The end for real.

Progress Report Monday #11

So, I didn't make good on my try to finish this column up to the trees.  But I got pretty damn close, considering that I barely sewed at all yesterday for being completely immersed and in love with the Temeraire books.  (HIGHLY enjoyable alternative fiction involving dragons.  I'd never read any sci-fi involving dragons, because the worlds are too complicated for me to really enjoy, but this series is basically historical fiction set in the times of the Napoleonic Wars.  With dragons.  And the dragons are so frigging cool.  Look, Peter Jackson just optioned the first book and intends to direct it.  I don't know how much weight that carries with you personally, but I think it's a testament to how damn compelling these books are.)  Anyway, I felt so in love with Temeraire that I couldn't really drag myself away and sew, so any progress you see was made pretty much before Sunday. 

There's not much else to say about the thing, at this point, because I'm working on boring tree sections.  Things might get interesting pattern-wise, as my next column down straddles a fold that won't be easy to work with.  (Not to mention that the pattern is now held together by lots and lots of clear packing tape on the back of it.)  We'll see what happens.

Progress Report Monday #10

Holy crap.  10 weeks.  I can't believe it.  How many more weeks do you think I'll be posting a progress report?  (Meaning, how many weeks will it take me to finish this puppy?  With backstitch and all.)  If you have a guess (maybe your guess is that my last progress report will be in week 35 or 38 or 24 or whatever) make it in the comments, and if you're the closest, I'll give you a prize.  I don't know what the prize is yet, but I figure I have a little time to think of that.

Anyway, the progress in this photo is striking, I think.  There's a tree in the front window.  And there's a tree taking shape outside, right now a collection of branches that will (eventually) be unified into a tree.  I'm very attached to the outside tree.  I really love the way it looks stretching across the house, and consequently, I am really enjoying this section of sewing, even though the noxious Xmas lights stretching across the eaves are taunting me.  I sewed a LOT yesterday watching football, simply because I was loving this part of the pattern so darn much. 

My expectations for next week are pretty large--I'd like to finish this entire column of pattern by next Sunday night--and not entirely realistic.  And I'm not looking forward to the shadow trees that are above the roof, either.  But we'll see how well I live up to those expectations.  I suppose it depends greatly on how much sewing I do today vs. how much Rock Band I play today.  Right now, Rock Band is winning.  However, it is only 9:48 am.  I still have time.

Progress Report Monday #9

Where was I last week?  Now I can't remember.  Not much less far than this, I think.  I didn't sew from Wednesday to Saturday, so that might be why.  Last night, though, I got back to sewing the house, which is a blessed relief after the scrum that was the bush below the porch (on the right side).  That just may be the messiest and ugliest part of this whole thing, up to this point.  For some reason some of the stitches look ugly up close.  I don't know why, except that those sections of bush are the most horribly frustrating of the whole thing.  Even worse than the tree with Xmas lights.  I'm so glad it's over, except that on the other side of the cut-off line is a tree, and on the other side of the tree is more bush.  It's a depressing thought.

Part of the larger problem here is the TV situation and the new Xbox.  I can't stand to watch Sam play his fighting/killing/shooting games, which puts me in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, watching TV.  Except that wait!  TV is pathetic right now.  It's hard for me to maintain the desire to sew when there is no acceptable TV program to watch.  Honestly.  Sewing isn't stimulating enough on its own; I need something to listen to fairly closely (but not close enough for say, an audiobook) to keep me going.  Thus, video games fail on that level too.  And then there is the writer's strike, which I think I basically support, except that it's. RUINING. MY. SEWING.  So here's what it boils down to:  Sam wants to play video games, which is okay.  I go in the bedroom to get away.  After about an hour and a half on the bed, my back is killing me, and I want out.  But when I come back into the living room, there's NOTHING on TV for that last hour of awakeness I've got left.  So I can't muster the desire to sew.  If Sam hadn't played games, I could have watched a DVD.  But now I can't fit one in. 

If this seems like an excessive amount of bitching, well, you're right, it is.  But the situation, as it stands, isn't going to work in the long run, unless I can convince Sam it's in his best interests to let me pop in SatC the minute I emerge from my cocoon in the bedroom.  And you know what?  I need to keep sewing at a fast clip if I'm going to finish this thing by June.  There's a lot still to be done.  The TV needs to be my ally, not my enemy.

Progress Report Monday #8

Back!  Sorry I never updated, but with the holidays, things just spun out of control and then it just got confusing, but now we're back on a normal schedule, so barring unforeseen events, there should be a regular Monday update from here on out. 

This is NOT what I showed the g-parents on Xmas Eve.  The wall was just barely taking shape then, and the boy and dog weren't even a glimmer in their eyes.  All that's been done since then.  I'm now moving up back towards the house, which is weird, because it feels like I just stopped working on that. 

I have been working this last vertical stripe in a more orderly fashion.  You can see the vertical line of stoppage running along the right edge.  I've been working only 4 boxes of 10 stitches on the way up, and I think I'll continue that on the way down and up again.  I've got 8 more boxes left, so that means two more passes with the x-stitch (saving the Xmas lights; still avoiding those).  [If this doesn't make any sense--boxes and passes and stitches...well, the pattern is a grid within a grid.  Every ten stitches is divided into a box.  The pattern is 26 boxes across and...20 down.  And remember, each of those boxes has 100 stitches in it.  I've talked here about my sewing style--up and down, up and down, and after I complete this up I'm working on now, I've got one more up and down segment left.  2 passes.  This is the organized way I think about my Xstitch.]

Still enjoying it, though progress has slowed a little bit.  And we're having a very busy week and weekend, and ROCK BAND is coming home on Thursday, so all bets are off for a little while after that.  (I just have to cajole my brother into coming over for a day and helping me win all the songs....ha!)  I think I will sew for an hour now, however.

Progress Report Monday #7

See that little bitty section directly below the horse's head, at the very bottom?  If I can finish that by next Monday (almost 100% going to happen), I'm halfway through with the cross stitch portion.  That'll be what I show the g-parents on Xmas Eve.  I'm too tired to say much else right now, but I will update the progress report on Sunday, not Monday, of next week.

Monday Progress Report #6

You know what day it is!  It's the day when I subject you to cross stitch.

This is a terrible picture this week, and I don't know why.  I guess the light was bad.  Anyway, you can see that the horse is making its way into the picture.  If I can get straight down from the horse's head to the bottom of the thing by Xmas, I'll be halfway done.  That seems like quite an achievement, considering.  That's what I'm aiming for, anyhow.  Of course, all that space beneath the horse is snow, which like I've said, is odious.  If you saw the pattern, you'd laugh hysterically after that sentence. 

Next week, a full horse! 

Monday Progress Report #5

So I've got a reprieve.  I've decided that it's better to show my grandparents more finished on a later, more crowded day.  I want to try my best to get the horse done before I show it; that was one of my goals a long time ago, and I believe that I might be able to get that accomplished by Xmas Eve.  We'll see.  Anyway, here:

Look!  The other people have made their appearance.  They don't look so bad in this as they do in close range in person.  Her outfit, in particular, doesn't really match.  That section of the house was very complicated, no matter how deceptively simple it seems.  That garland on the porch, for instance, was a HEAD-ache.  And so was the brickwork in between each of those white porch railings.  And the hands of the people.  Also, I don't think the lights on the house look so great right now; they'll look much better after being back-stitched (something I don't want to think about now...hours and hours of backstitching.  Groan.), when the glass is defined.  I think the people will look better too, especially him.  His pants look pretty awful without the backstitch, don't you think?

Anyway, now I'm beginning another long stretch of snow-sewing, which is making me very unmotivated.  It's not like the lower snow; it's much more fragmented, ie much more of a pain in the ass.  I keep telling myself:  NOW!  Sew NOW.  NOW NOW NOW.  And then I find something diverting to do, like email Rita and make Sam email Rita with some pics of her wedding.  So argh, I'm reaching the end here, the end of useful diversions, which means I actually have to pick up the sewing.  Or make the conscious decision to ignore it and read.  Argggggh.

Friday Random Ten (NaBloPoMo is over!)

And I'm kinda sad about it.  Anyway, I'm ceasing the posting on the weekends, but I'm going to make every effort to post every weekday.

1. Brian Wilson (Live) -- Barenaked Ladies.  I went through a very long period of love for this album, mostly in high school.  I've never liked one of their studio albums though.  Just this one.  I don't listen to this album much anymore, but I still know all the songs by heart and love them very much.
2. You Were Mine -- Dixie Chicks.  Saccharine-sweet, but excellent.  I love singing along with Natalie Maines.
3. So Sorry -- Feist.  I wish I liked this album better, but I don't.  I don't like this song much.
4. Vito's Ordination Song (Acoustic) -- Sufjan Stevens.  I believe that Sufjan's genius is limited, and I don't think "Greetings from Michigan" counts towards it.  The songs are pleasant enough, but it's just not got the magic that Illinoise has.
5. Some Weekend Night -- The Stands.  One of my favorite songs from this year, All Years Leaving, is from this album by the Stands.  I actually don't think it's a new album, but Sam and I fell into listening to it this year, so for me, it's a this year song.  The whole album is pretty good, and this song is fine.  Not one of my favorites, but certainly listenable.
6. Every Ghetto, Every City -- Lauryn Hill.  You know, she went off the deep end, which is so sad, because her solo album is incredible.  It's one of my Rome albums.  I used to pop the disc into my discman (hey, man, this is BEFORE the might iPod, in 1998-99) and jive down the street to Bibli, to get my email, on the most primitive email system ever.  I think it was through University of Michigan.  Hey man, this was before really good web-based email.  We worked with it though, and this album invariably reminds me of that walk.
7. One of Us -- Joan Osborne.  It's too bad that this song blew up and then became a joke in such a quick time, because it's actually a pretty great album in its own right.  Joan Osborne is still making albums, by the way, though I'm ashamed to say I own none of them.
8. The Diner-The Slant (Live) -- Ani DiFranco.  Shit, this is one of the best live albums I own.  How can you NOT like "Living in Clip"?  You can't not.  Incidentally, I'd always hoped that my sister would get into Ani (she likes chick rock a lot), but I think she was resisting maybe because I like Ani so much?  I don't know, but this year, when she asked for new music, I threw my favorite Ani album in the mix, and I think she liked it.  The next thing I give her?  "Living in Clip".  That said, this is NOT my favorite song on the album.
9. Lightnin Hopkins -- REM.  Anh.  Document isn't my favorite REM album, and this doesn't even come close to being in the top 50 songs by them.  I once made a three-disc Best Of REM, and this didn't make it.
10. Maxwell's Silver Hammer -- The Beatles.  What a bizarro song, right?  Well, and this wasn't intentional, but my cousin has a son named Maxwell.  The problem is, it seems intentional, because his first child is Jude, after "Hey Jude".  I suppose it's better to be associated with the latter song than the former, because you know, Maxwell is a mass murderer.  Not very nice.  I thought it would have been nice to have a little girl and call her Julia (after the song) and they could have been Jude and Julia, but no, no, it's Jude with a movement on his shoulder and Maxwell with his silver hammer.  Ah well, they're adorable boys. 

Now, I may continue these from now on, but I'm not sure.  Depends on how the mood strikes me.

Huzzah for me!  I blogged every day in November, even if some of the posts were pathetically bad.  Now let's all cross our fingers, and hope for prizes for those of us who've made it.  (Congrats Mavis and Kate!)