Some Productivity

Well, I'm mostly bored as all hell right now. The class is FINALLY completely done. Homework, term paper, presentation, final - they're all totally done. (Of course, the questions on the final didn't have anything to do with what was on the homework or what was discussed in class or even what was in the text, so despite the fact that it was take-home, I only got a 50 on it. I don't care.) I'm all registered for the next class, but it doesn't start until I think the second weekend in June (another one weekend each month in June and July schedule). I actually completely cleaned my apartment the other day, including organizing my closet, so I'm basking in the cleanness. I cheered for the Blackhawks and watched a couple really good hockey games on tv. (And one really bad hockey game on tv - if you're a 'Hawks fan, you know what I'm talking about. Gonna have to cheer for the Penguins now, sadly.) Oddly, watched a couple of cage fights on tv, too, when one came up after a hockey game and I saw a particular move and had a "oh THAT'S what Sir was talking about!" moment. I got caught up on Burn Notice, since the new season starts next week. I did laundry today, although I battled a pretty nasty headache most of the day that kept me in bed until almost 2:30p and made me decide to forgo my final classes over at the old dojahng. (Not a migraine, I very very very rarely get those, just one of those nagging ones that just won't go away and saps all your energy.) I've also finally gotten this done:

The center square isn't really that wonky, I just had the one side stretched a little too far and didn't realize it until after I'd taken the pic. I decided to just go with a regular bind-off for a border instead of the twist. It would have taken too many rows to get the width I wanted for the twist and I frankly just didn't feel like knitting on it anymore. I think it looks pretty nice anyway. It turned out a little bigger than I'd anticipated. I know the yarn grew a bit during the washing. This pic is before the final blue stripe/border, (note the non-wonky center square) and I think this table is 36x36.

When I measured the final clean blanket on the floor, it was 44x44. Oh well. Bigger is fine. It's a blanket, it's not like it has to fit anything. I do really love the colors. They're just so cheerful. I'm going to pair this up with another (much smaller) dishcloth blanket I made a while ago trying to use up some baby yarn, find a cute card and maybe something to go in the nursery (they're decorating in classic Pooh, which should be easy to find) and pack the whole thing up and send it off soon. She's due in early July, so it should have plenty of time to get there before Baby. We hope!

Pattern: Finnias Blanket by Katie Benedict (very easy) (Ravelry link here)
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby (surprisingly good for an acrylic. Liked it a lot.)
Needles: 4 US 9 circs (or, rather, five cables and one pair of needles by the time I got to the end)

Now my problem has been what to do next. No new patterns are particularly grabbing me right now. I still haven't found that skein I need to finish the Card Trick Illusion scarf, so that's off the list. I went through and reorganized my stash today and pulled out Tumbling Blocks Scarf, which is about half done, my MS3, which is probably nowhere near done and I might frog and start over, and my HP vest, which just needs armbands. I guess I'll work on those and maybe some of the cross-stitches until I find something new that grabs me. I have so much lovely sock yarn, but I rarely wear the socks I've already made that I'm loathe to start another pair. I mean, the socks are great - I just don't wear socks that much. In fact, I just did two week's worth of laundry and had no socks in there whatsoever. I don't do any exercising that requires shoes (the bottoms of my feet, however, are pretty calloused), I go barefoot at home, and if I run out, 95% of my shoes are slip-ons. Maybe I should start on Christmas gifts now, except I haven't thought of any ideas yet....

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to head over to the dojahng during the day and help them move over to the new school this weekend. Classes start there on Monday!!!! I know the adult class, at least is going to be doing board breaks and sparring. Gotta break the place in right! I still don't have my new dobok, though =( Ma'am and Aaron, a newish kid that does tkd and haganah and sometimes kickboxing but is leaving soon to go back to school, both agreed that I should NOT walk home from classes at night. Between the area, having to carry my bag (btw, I still love that bag my brother got me for Christmas. It's really The Perfect Size!), being physically tired after classes, and being sweaty and out in the cold, they both voted that it was healthier and safer to just drive.

Going to try to actually fall asleep at a semi-normal time tonight. I was up until 6:00a last night/this morning, although that partly my own fault for having a Mountain Dew after class and then getting so focused on finishing the blanket. (Which probably is what gave me the headache, actually.)

Memorial Day

The cemetery is quiet. Serene. There are no frightening specters here, no creepy feelings. The idea of ghosts here conjures up images of spirits enjoying a picnic or strolling thoughtfully among the paths of graves, rather than anything out of a horror movie. It is like this even at night. A peaceful place.

Today, though, the sun shines brightly, but a cool breeze makes it slightly uncomfortable without a jacket. The flags like it, though - they flutter proudly, occasionally snapping to attention over the graves. Luckily, few here have fallen in the line of duty, despite the presence of a military base not thirty miles away. Most of these flags fly over those who survived their varied hells and were strong enough to live full lives afterwards. Those who saw their brothers and sisters in arms willingly make the ultimate sacrifice and understood that they themselves were willing to make it, too.

Smoke drifts lazily over the brick wall that seperates the cemetery from the residential area of the city that surrounds it. It carries the tang of the barbecue the region is known for, and even a faint whisper of the Pacific Ocean. Images of a father spring to mind, an indulgent bottle of beer in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other, expertly cooking meat - real meat, of good quality - for his family and friends. A gathering of people who laugh and joke and love and unknowingly celebrate everything those on the other side of the fence gave to them.

Because the best thing about this country is the ability to stand in a quiet cemetery, on Memorial Day, watching the flags of the fallen and listening to the laughter of children, who have never been touched by war, as they play on the other side of the fence.



May we never take this for granted.

If Today Was Your Last Day

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day’s a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What’s worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts ’cause there’s no second try
So live like you’ll never live it twice
Don’t take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it’s never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
‘Cause you can’t rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin’ stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you’re dreamin’ of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

-"If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback (video is worth watching)

Another day...

Oy, over a week since my last post! I haven't really been busy, just away from the computer. Frankly, it's been too sunny outside to stay indoors (although it still isn't particularly warm, which is sad). Basically, I've been going to the park, sticking my nose into various books and not resurfacing until class time. (Since Tuesday, I've reread all three books in Kristin Britain's Green Rider series. I finished the third book yesterday morning - I had to take a day off to go down to LA on Thursday. The next book cannot come out quickly enough! The series is great, but the usually 3-5 YEAR wait between books kills me!) This might not make sense to some people, but I have never been one who can only read a chapter or two at a time before bed or whenever. I don't nibble on books - I devour them. It's just how I am.

Only six classes this past week. Like I said, I had to go to LA on Thursday to do a face-to-face interview for my security clearance, so I missed both kickboxing and FIGHT that night, and the dojahng is closed this weekend for the holiday. I did, however, get to help Mrs. S with the kids' class last Saturday morning, which was fun. There were four probably 7-12 year olds and Mel's younger brother, who is in the adult class (I think he might be 14 or so). The odd number meant I got paired up with him, and we did a PT class, basically. I can do eight adult classes in a week and not get any sore muscles (they might be TIRED, and my elbow might hurt, but the muscles aren't sore) - one kids' class and my legs were sore for the next two days! (I blame it on the jumping. We don't do a lot of jumping in adult classes, unless we're doing jump kicks of some kind.) It was fun, though, and it was nice to get to work with Mrs. S. I still haven't had a chance to really assist with any of the classes, but I am allowed to help people with generic questions about their forms now. Or, at least, no one has said told me I shouldn't do it. Still haven't started the ssahng jeol bang form yet - we've been working mostly with the jahng bahngs in instructor class, since that's what they're working on in the kids' weapons classes - and I'm pretty okay with that, although it does mean that it's going to be a longer time before I can midterm/test again. Still haven't gotten my new jacket back yet, either. I hope I get it this week - I'd like to have it by the time we move to the new school next weekend!! (We're all super excited, although I do have to say that I'm a little nervous - we're pretty much going to be constant visual advertisements for the school, since anyone who is in the mall can watch us through the windows, but I guess that's not really any different than where we are now. Plus, they're going to start doing an "open gym" in the afternoons where people can come in and work on forms or whatever. And it will be nice to only have to go a couple blocks to and from class instead of all the way across town, although I'm going back and forth on the wisdom of walking, particularly at night after classes. It's not a dangerous area or anything, but still...I'll have to scout a bit.)

And, in knitting news...12 more rows left on the baby blanket (I'm using four cable needles at this point - one for each side), and I'm having trouble deciding on a border. I really like the garter stitch T-twist from Knitting On The Edge (p. 153, top). It took some playing with to figure out, but I think it will be perfect - not frilly, and in keeping with the straight lines of the rest of the blanket, but enough visual interest for a border. Unfortunately, it seems like it's a border you need to do at cast on, not bind off. I suppose I could figure out how many stitches I'd need, cast on that many, do the border, and then sew/graft it onto the edge. It'd be live stitches, so it wouldn't be as much of a headache as some other borders I've done. (On a side note, if they'd used knitting problems in HS algebra, it would have made a LOT more sense: A baby blanket has 12 rows left to knit. Every other row is an increase row, which adds 8 stitches each. If s is the number of stitches currently in the blanket, how many stitches total (t) will be in the finished blanket. Answer: if there are 6 more increase rows adding 8 stitches each, then 6x8=48. Therefore, s+48=t.) However, and I JUST thought of this, in order for the border to fit, it's going to have to also increase outward or, rather, decrease inward. I don't think that should be a problem (I would have to cast on t+24 stitches (another 3 increase rows would be involved) and then decrease down to t, do the twist row, and then sew the border and blanket. Yes. I think this could work!

But, before I do that, I need to finish getting my term paper formatted (the presentation last week wasn't the due date for the paper, it turns out, so we're all taking the time to polish things up) and do my take-home final (both are due on Tuesday). Luckily (I guess), I have a lot of free time right now...sigh...

So close...

I've had a really crappy couple of days. Mostly due to the lack of income coming into my accounts right now. Then things started to look up...then they crashed again...now they might be maybe getting slightly better again...sigh...I now remember why I hated freelancing. My sleep schedule has gone all wonky again, too (didn't fall asleep until 4:00a this morning, woke up to a phone call at 8:00a, went back to sleep at 10:00a, woke up again at 12:00p), and I haven't been eating very well. Luckily, I have my family and friends to either beat up or cry on.

Eight classes this week. I really felt like I was dragging between kickboxing and haganah tonight, but once we got moving again, haganah didn't feel so bad. My elbow's been bothering me again this week, though. I think that's due to the five billion pushups we've done so far. It's not the same kind of pain, though, which I'm taking as a good sign. It doesn't seem to be swelling up, and doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it used to, which I contribute to Mr. R forcing me to change how I do pushups. It either feels like it needs to pop or it feels stiff and weak. I've been able to do most of the pushups (with the variations) and planks throughout the week, but I really had trouble with a wheelbarrow-style drill tonight where our partners held up our feet and we had to alternate raising each arm. We've done it before and I didn't have any problems, but it really bothered me tonight. Maybe because it was the end of the night and the end of the week, and, as mentioned, I haven't been eating or sleeping particularly well. Like I said, though, it's not swollen and not particularly sore now. I'll give it a rest over the weekend, baby it a bit, and hit class like usual next week. There's a tournament in Bakersfield on Saturday that several of the kids, Sir, Ma'am, and Mr. R are all going to. I had Sir promise to tell me all the stories from it. I really wanted to go and watch and cheer the kids on, but I have that whole class/final presentation thing going on. I'm going to get out of there by 9:30a, though, which wouldn't get me to Bakersfield in time, but would let me get to the dojahng in time to help Mrs. S with the regular Saturday morning classes since the guys will all be gone. She said the class is usually either really full or really empty, but I said I'd at least drop in and check if she needed me.

I've been working on my term paper and presentation. I think I might have everything I need for it, it's just a matter of organizing it and writing the thing. Which would be easier if I didn't have all this financial stress going on. Sigh...almost done....

Birthday!

This is actually the first birthday I've had in at least four years that I've actually NOT had a show of some kind going on.

2004: Fiddler on the Roof performance, followed by an evening Cubs/Dodgers game in LA.

2005: Rehearsal with John getting ready for the Palm Springs Show.

2006: Oliver! performance. Parents came out to visit for the first time.

2007: Man Who Came To Dinner performance, Showcase rehearsal and parents' surprise visit.

2008: Godspell closing, Showcase rehearsal.

2009: Register for summer term. Go to library to work on term paper research. Talk to Mom & Dad. Kickboxing and tkd (yes, Mom, Mrs. S gave me a hug for you. So did Gil.) Cross my fingers for the Blackhawks (didn't get to watch the game) and get rewarded with a win AND the loot from Astarian friends who bet against them. Indulge in a glass of wine AND a bowl of ice cream with dinner tonight. Talking to friends.

It's a good day.

FYI...

...if you ever finish your seventh class of the week (a 45m kickboxing class) and slowly realize that the only people around for your next class are your head instructor and one of the assistant FIGHT instructors...run. No matter how tired you are after kickboxing, sprint to your car and don't look back.

Only mostly kidding. For comparison, a normal FIGHT class (Mr. R teaches on Tuesdays and Sir teaches on Thursdays) usually works something like this: run for a couple minutes, finish warming up and stretching out, engagement drill with a partner (round kick, punch, eye gouge, head butt, elbow to the neck, center clench, triple knees, takedown), review of the defenses for the week, boxing drills, and random PT drills. We might do a knife defense on Tuesday, but weapons are really reserved for Thursdays, when Sir is there. That's a typical class, anyway, with usually 8-12 people who usually are at least familiar with the class but are generally at very different levels of physical fitness and skill. Tonight, it was me, Morgan, and Sir. Which was cool, because Sir had us do things that we don't usually get a chance to do in regular classes, like go out to Morgan's truck (which was conveniently right next to the door) and work on car-jacking/gun defense scenarios out in the parking lot. Tonight was all about the weapons. We didn't do a warm-up at all (I didn't really need one, having just done kickboxing, and Morgan's definitely in good shape) - we just got handed knives and "Knife sparring, go!" at the start. We did a long round of knife sparring, then a knife defense, then another round of sparring, then another knife defense, then another round of sparring, then a gun defense, then went out to the parking lot/Morgan's truck and did THOSE gun defenses (I'm glad our training gun is bright yellow, because there were a lot of people giving us some really funny looks - I'm a little surprised we didn't have the cops called on us), came back in, Morgan and I messed around with "Bob" (our human-shaped punching dummy) while Sir handled a walkup who had questions about the school, then did two boxing drills, a balance drill, a clench drill, and a leapfrog drill (one partner squats sideways and you leapfrog jump over him, then he stands up and you crawl between his legs, stand, and become the squatting partner, etc.) before Sir finally decided he'd had enough of us for the night. I'm not sure if it was physically any harder than any other night (we did get to sit in the truck sometimes, after all, and none of the PT drills were new or unusual), but it definitely felt more intense, like it was stepped up a notch. Maybe it was just me, though. At any rate, I definitely learned a LOT of new defenses (of course, if someone points a gun at me, I'm still gonna do whatever they want - my wallet or keys or phone aren't worth the risk of getting shot!), and it's always cool to have more one-on-one time with instructors. I feel like I can ask more questions and get more answers, so actually it was a pretty cool, if exhausting, class.

Oh! And, my new dobok came in today! Yay! It's plain white, but SOOO much more comfortable than my old one! Like, a human being can actually move in it, comfortable. Mrs. S had me try on the jacket to make sure it fit, and then she took it back so they could "make it pretty" (get the logo on the back), but I will get to break in my new pants on Monday! Yay! (Can you tell I'm excited? I'm just really so broken-hearted about not having to wear my old uniform anymore. Really.)

Now I'm just trying to decide if the almost-broken finger (I can bend it without pain, but moving it side to side hurts) and the huge bruises I'm going to have from class tonight (I love knife-sparring Morgan - he's fast but still pretty controlled and we might actually be close to even in that aspect. He does still hit hard, though, and I actually have a KNOT on my forearm from blocking him - although yes, I do realize that if we were using real blades, it'd be a nasty cut. It'd still be on my arm, though, and not my chest or throat!) are going to have to be covered up when I go for my job interview tomorrow. I'm thinking employers generally don't want to see a lot of bruised employees....

KnitFringeJobFIGHT...and the evilness of homework

Hmm...not much going on this week, hence the lack of posts.

I'm seriously battling a bad case of startitis. I don't even know what I want to start - socks? Modifying a supercute retro halter top pattern? A new sweater? I just want to start something, but I also want to get Becki's blanket done. It's officially hit the "ugh, there are still six and a half more stripes and every other row increases eight stitches, so I have, like, ten thousand stitches per row right now, isn't it over YET?" stage. I'd also love to get the Card Trick scarf done, but I can't until I get my paws on one more skein of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran in colorway #11, which of course is discontinued AND I am currently completely broke and can't justify spending $20 to get one skein of yarn here (my birthday present to myself was the Copperfield ticket, so I can't use that as an excuse either). So that one actually has an excuse to be hibernating, even though I really really want to work on it. The blanket...well...once I get the massive amounts of homework on my desk done (including yet another term paper/presentation), I'm going to have a massive Fringe marathon and hopefully get it knocked out by the end of the month.

Btw, without giving anything away, can I just say that this week's episode ROCKED? So many questions, so many "no WAY"s, so many giggles - the whole Star Trek sequence (the first link is an interview with Leonard Nimoy and the second is the start of the amusing episode sequence - fast forward to about 2:55 for the actual scene to start, although the audio is a little off, sorry) had me ROLLING...I can't wait for the finale next week! So glad Fox was smart enough to pick it up for a second season, too! Yay!

What else? Oh, I have another interview tomorrow afternoon - at a car dealership, of all places. We'll see how THAT goes! (Hey, maybe they can fix that scrape on my passenger side that some idiot gave me in the parking lot!) I really want a job for my birthday. That would be nice. Or a rich, handsome prince. That would be cool, too.

I have a massive bruise on my bad elbow thanks to sparring Mr. M and Sir on Monday night, and getting partnered with Frank on Tuesday didn't help it. Frank has a hard head. Classes have been oddly easy this week - not that they haven't been working me, and I've been tired, but not dragging, which is cool. I got partnered with Mr. R for kickboxing yesterday, was able to go through all ten of my forms last night in tkd (apparently I need to work on tempo and slowing down my forms for testing, though), and eventually figured out at least the technique of the jahng bahng drills in instructor class, although apparently my style leaves something to be desired in that weapon right now ("it's not haganah, Katie, you're not trying to kill the guy with one shot....this is the 'arts' part of 'martial arts.'"). Kickboxing and haganah tonight, then the weekend break.

Now back to working on the homework for this evil, evil class. I think this course could be really interesting and superinformative and useful, and the prof is nice...but he doesn't TEACH us anything and it's gotten to the point where I'm so frustrated with trying to figure out what on earth is going on that I'm pretty much done with it. I've only been able to complete 1.5 homework assignments in the past week and a half, because I can't find the answers in the lecture notes, video lectures (which he gave us to watch at home and then makes us watch in class, too!) OR textbook. I have another 3.5 assignments that are supposed to be due on Saturday, plus the term paper/presentation that is due next Saturday. Mrph. We'll see. The good news is that registration starts next week for the summer term (oh yeah, it'll probably be August now before I can go to Basic), and that class is going to be taught by the general who taught ASCI 512, so that's cool.

Frustration

It's been almost seven months (27 weeks, to be precise) since I got a kick in the arse and started job hunting. Seven MONTHS. And I've been making calls, answering ads, searching job sites, and calling in favors from friends. There are times when I've applied to over 20 jobs in one day. Cover letters, resumés, phone calls....I have a good work ethic, an excellent education, and outstanding references. And what has all this netted me? Only a handful of interviews and ONE 2.5-week temporary job as a bookstore cashier.

My representative at the temp agency told me that I appear "too smart" on my resumé - employers don't want to hire someone they think is smarter or has more experience than they do. So I'm "overqualified" for the entry level positions that I have the experience for (stage management is basically clerical/admin work when you break it down) but I'm "underqualified" for any positions in the industry I'm studying in because I don't have any experience in them. Seriously, I'll scrub toilets right now if it will get me a paycheck and get me out of the house. I had things worked out so that I would be able to get through on my student loans until May, when I was supposed to ship out to Basic. When they pushed Basic back to July, back in March, I panicked a little, but SURELY I'd have SOMETHING by May that would make up for the extra three months. Then Basic was going to be in May again, which would be a relief. Now they don't know when, but "as soon as possible." Yeah, it's May 1. I have enough money to pay rent this month (sorta)...and that's it.

Only in my crazy world can you get an iPhone* and file for unemployment on the same day =P

*(iPhone story behind the cut) No money was spent on this. I know, if I'm complaining about money, the last thing I'd do is buy a fancy phone when the one I just got recently is perfectly servicable. Through a series of scratches/warranty issues, one of my good friends from college ended up with two for the price of one and sent me one of them as an early birthday present. I went to the local AT&T store to make sure that my current plan was compatible - not only was it already more than meeting the iPhone's requirements, but the guy found a $10 text package that wasn't needed (I guess that was included in one of my other packages and had never gotten removed) AND added a military discount (which I didn't even know they had) when he saw my ID. So...it's actually turned out to be cheaper to have the iPhone! And let me be the first to tell you - I am NOT a Mac/Apple fan and staunchly refuse to buy an iPod or Mac computer. But....the iPhone is pretty darn slick. With a few exceptions, it's SUPER easy to figure out and there is a LOT of stuff you can do with even an "old" phone like mine. (I have an "original" 2G instead of the latest 3G - the only difference is that it's slightly smaller - a definite plus in my book - slightly slower - the speed, or "lack" thereof, hasn't bothered me in the slightest, though - and mine doesn't have GPS locator, although it still sports an excellent map feature.) There have only been three things, well, four, that I can say I dislike about the phone. 1 - you can't send pics in text messages, you have to email them to people. An easy workaround, since your email is also RIGHT THERE, but still something that surprised me. 2 - there's no copy/paste function and you can't, for example, forward texts to other people. Out of my friends that I've talked to, though, I'm apparently the only one this bothers, but there *is* supposed to be an update to that this summer. We'll see if it works with my phone or not. 3 - my Bluetooth headset works just great with it as a phone, but not as a music player. Apparently the phone itself is not compliant with the technology that would make it possible to stream the music to the Bluetooth. So I now have a $150 headset that I can only use half the features on. Yay. (Apple does provide wired headphones, of course, but they aren't wireless, which is one of the reasons I really love my Bluetooth!) 4 - is not the phone's fault, but I am NOT a fan of iTunes, which you have to use to sync things back and forth from the computer to the phone. Unlike the phone, I found iTunes not particularly user-friendly AND it doesn't support .avi files, so any video that I want to transfer to the phone has to get converted first. Not a difficult process, but fairly lengthy and rather irritating. Other than those four things, though, I've been really enjoying it. The phone quality has been excellent, and it gets a really strong signal. The turning screen thing is pretty cool, too. There are tons and tons of fun and/or useful apps (a surprising number are free, too!) that let me check Facebook, check the Cubs score, do crossword puzzles, translate Spanish, check the forecast, find restaurants, watch YouTube videos, find music, play Bejeweled 2 (and it's like playing it on a computer, not the usual cellphone version), and tons of other stuff. Not to mention the standard phone/text/email/internet features (and the internet actually LOOKS and WORKS like the internet!) and it has a surprisingly decent camera. Now if it could only get me a job...I wonder if there's an app for that? =P