Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Hey...Maybe I should write a posting???

Ya, think?

Lately I've found myself wondering why most of my online "friends" have absconded to Facebook and Twitter. I run through all my blog links (I've never done the RSS thing. Don't know why.) and am bereft when no one is posting. Well, yeah, I kinda get it. You only need two minutes to post a poorly spelled 140 character posting. And if you're a perfectionist (NOT!) then writing a blog posting can be an arduous task. Yeah, I get it. But I live in an academic world, and I've drunk enough of the kool aid to be wordy--to like whole thought through ideas. I even like to read things I may not agree with. S'Ok with me. Then I had a revelation...ummm maybe I should write something. Since I've not posted since...gulp...3/31!

Yeah, it's been a busy spring. And I've got a MAJOR ongoing project that will take me through the summer into September. My hairdresser/colorist is going to have her work cut out for her. Srsly!

Then there are the little "things". Gas prices [today] verging on $4/gal. The University declining to give cost of living increases for the second time in 3 years. You can't blame them really. The governor, who I can't blame either, is trying to balance the balance the state budget and has proposed cutting appropriation to state related institutions by 50%. That's a lot! So even though, as an institution, we are running pretty lean, some offices are still at risk for being collapsed. We won't know for about a month. Then that is only for the next fiscal year. Sigh. Hard to plan around that. And with gas prices, we are curtailing our personal travel, even though we have [elderly] family at either end of the state. The only bright spot is that everything here is less than 10 miles away from anywhere else, and we can get away with one vehicle and travel 10 miles or less on a "normal" day. Even with necessary "errands" we don't have to drive very much. How different it would be if I were living in the burbs and working at Pitt! So thank goodness for small mercies.

I'm still knitting away, though. Not really exciting stuff. I finally finished ONE of my Leyburn Socks, after many tweaks. Now I have to try and understand my notes and make the other one similar.

Here's the Bead Knitted Bracelet. I taught this class recently at my LYS and it was so popular that they turned people away....so wash, rinse, repeat. I'll be teaching the knitted bracelet class in June, and a crocheted bangle in July...... They're fun because when the participants walk out...they have a piece of jewelry. No washing, no blocking, no weaving in ends...how great is that? The crocheted bangle will be tougher to teach. It is a tricky technique, especially getting started. After about row three, though, it gets easier. I have a few tricks that I can share so we'll see how it goes.

I'm scheduled to give a presentation at a national conference in Atlanta next month, and even though I can do a variation of my presentation in my sleep, I'm beginning to panic. I'm in faculty development/programming (i.e., a performance artist) so this SHOULD be a slide on ice. Which we'll probably have tomorrow, since it's 75 and thunderstorming at the moment.

Anyway, anyone know of any good yarn stores near downtown Atlanta?