It has been a while since I picked up Twilight– so that might tell you something about my feelings towards the book (trying to keep an open mind- really I am). So when we last left our daring band of adventurers they had escaped the orcs and were finally heading off to drop the ring into the volcano, but Frodo wasn’t feeling that well.
Chapter 15
Bella had returned from a day with Edward in the woods where he displayed his many talents… He then spent the night watching over Bella. Today after her father reconnects the battery cables to her truck (afraid she was going to run off) they head over to meet Edward’s “family.” Having gone through the whole meeting your girl friend’s parents thing I tell you it can be rather stressful. So Edward is a little shocked when it is the whole meeting the family thing that Bella is concerned about not the meeting my family who happen to be vampires. Everyone present is very polite and Edward takes her on a tour of the house . As this chapter closes Bella is about to find out the origins of Carlisle the head vampire. Myth busted – Crosses no effect. because…
Chapter 16
Carlisle has to head to the hospital so Edward has to tell the story instead (which is fine by Bella). It seems that in the 1600’s Carlisle lived in England the son of a pastor. He lead groups persecuting roman catholics and stumbled upon a group of vampires living (you call that living?) in the sewers of London. As the charge (torches, pitchforks, the whole 9 yards) the vampires attack and get Carlisle. He escapes and turns into a vampire. He attempts to kill him self countless times discovering that it is a lot harder than he thought. He leaves England heads for France learns that he can drink the blood of other animals , not just humans. Hangs out in Italy for a bit decides to focus on medicine and healing. Heads to the new world where after years & years gets lonely and turns edward into a vampire right before edward was going to die of Spanish influenza. The rest we have learned in previous chapters.
Presently Edward is trying to get Bella to formally introduce him as her “boyfriend” especially to her father… I’m not sure how that will turn out. there is also another group of vampires heading this way who don’t follow Carlisle’s diet plan. (I finally see some action on the horizon. Though I could be wrong. With only 150 pages to go- something has got to pick up in this narrative.
Ok, ok, I need more needlework or knitting supplies like I need a hole in the head – but that certainly doesn’t in any way mean I shouldn’t visit new shops when I travel!
Last fall, when I went to the EGA National Seminar in Pittsburgh, I was able to stop at Ewe Can Knit – a shop within a shop (417 Wood St, Pittsburgh). Housed in an historic office supply store, the knitting shop takes up the entire balcony while office supplies are sold down below. With the age of the shop, the balcony was lined with gorgeous wood cabinets that housed the fibers. Looking over the railing, you could even watch all the action of the customers and shop cats down below while you shop. After looking at all the offerings and coveting several different things, I restrained myself and left Ewe Can Knit with a skein of Trekking Hand Art, a hand-dyed sock yarn, in bold blues, yellows and greens called Brazil and a box of note cards featuring monkeys!
While not the largest shop, I would definitely make a return visit if I were in Pittsburgh.
And, yes, this yarn is still in my stash waiting for the right pattern!
There are several other shops I’ve visited recently but those are for another day.
This week I finally cast on for the Hedgerow sock pattern that I’m doing in purple – not enough progress for photos yet, though. It’s good to have something specific on my needles after working on small things over the holidays! Back to knitting . . .
Sue & I took this holiday weekend to head north to Detroit to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). While it was a nice little adventure something started to dawn on me as we wandered the exhibit hall… I may not be as much of a “car geek” as I thought. For a lot of the show I was kind of bored… yes, bored. A little history first- This is maybe the third auto show I have attended. The first was the Indianapolis Auto Show years (and years) ago. We were looking at buying a new car and walked around seeing nothing that we wanted. The second was the Chicago Auto Show. This one was special- Sue was working with a non-profit that had an event in conjunction with the show so we attended the black tie preview party. Yes, I was running around in a tux with my Nikon snapping photos. This was the introduction to the MINI R56 and we spent a lot of time at the MINI display, but wandered around to see the other manufacturers. It seemed like there was a larger variety at the show, but most of the cars looked pretty much the same. That brings us to NAIAS- this is supposed to be the biggie, the Mother of all auto shows. Meh. I don’t know if it was the lack of unique designs being displayed or what but I couldn’t get excited over most of what I saw- this was when the realization hit me- I’m not a car geek. I can’t quote stats from various automakers. I’m a MINI geek. Sue I and hung out at the MINI display, chatted with folks there and took a bunch of pictures of the concept/pre-production R60 they had on display. The Beachcomber (as it is called) was a homage to the classic Moke- so no doors or top. Because of this they decided to do it up on a black sand beach and have a triathlon theme to it. I’m not an SUV/crossover fan. In fact I have never understood why most Americans need a military assault vehicle to go to the grocery or get their pedicure. That said while this is bigger than an traditional New MINI (4m in length) I could see myself owning one. With geocaching, Sue and I have taken our MINIs in places they probably should never have gone. I recall Way (of Way Motor Works) doing some work on Penfold (my MINI Cooper S) and asking about the thousands of grass seeds trapped under the car. Last year when attending the Moonshine event we got lost (yes, but we knew exactly where we were… we had a GPS) and took Sue’s MINI on these back roads that even with a rally heritage made me cringe. So as we continue to cache I can see the need for an all-wheel drive slightly higher off the ground vehicle. So, I spend the day at the auto show and scratch my head at what is being passed as “innovation” and focus on a MINI – go figure.
One other things I did notice while walking around was the difference between MINI and the majority of the other manufacturers. MINI had folks wandering around in t-shirts fleece jackets & jeans- very casual. The other displays were a lot more formal even with models posing near the cars (which you couldn’t get close enough to touch- the car or the model). This made me kind of chuckle as I saw how they worked the demographics. The really expensive cars if they had a model the model was young basically pushing the 18-30 year old male attendees buttons. They never said a word and just smiled for the camera. One American automaker still had the model with her prepared script talking about the car as it spun on the lazy susan. This automaker while having made attempts to drop it’s “grandmother’s car image” had models that would appeal to the male over 50 demographic, not that they weren’t attractive but I could just imagine some 30 year old looking at this model and saying “Mom?” Have these manufacturers changed they way they show off their cars since the first auto show- it doesn’t look like it (and they may still be using the same models to present them).
One last word about innovation or something that makes me go “huh?” All these American car companies who just a few years ago whined about they couldn’t make anything more fuel efficient and that are still whining any time Congress tries to increase the required fuel efficiency of cars in the U.S. were all talking about how many miles per gallon their models got – which for some wasn’t anything to be proud of.
So there you have it – I’m a MINI geek. Still lots to learn, but I’m happy to know where I stand. Time to go motoring (& caching)
Yes, yes, yes, it’s been a long time. I’ve been thinking about posting but things just kept getting in the way!
So, I dyed my piece of Hardanger in the Yellow Tail Shiraz, but what next?
After making a template to fit the lid of the box, I covered it with a wine-colored piece of cotton and fitted the piece of needlework around it.
Here’s the piece with the card-stock, padding, wine-colored cotton, and the Hardanger around it. Just needed some basting stitches and some Tacky Glue to hold it all together.
Took this finished component and glued it into the box!
But, wait! That’s not it! Took the remainder of the cotton and lined the box so the entire inside is the wine color – now just need to decide where to put the box and what to put into it!
On to Snowpeople. Made some before the holidays and more since . . .
Bella and edward are talking and seeing more of each other with Edward driving Bella to school so one day as edward drives her back and they “talk” losing track of time…
Chapter 11
Edward & Bella head off to Biology where they get to watch a film! I was able to track down the movie for those interested.
Then it is time for Bella to head to Gym. When they see each other afterwards (trumpets play and angels sing) Bella gets mad because Edward was watching her (by piggybacking in someone’s mind). They leave school after Bella proves that she is auto-illiterate by not recognizing that Rosalie’s red convertible was an M3 (can you believe it- what are they teaching in high school these days?) Edward drops Bella off (so sad) and leaves in a hurry as her dad and Billy & Jacob Black arrive to mend fences and watch the game. It seems the Jacob’s dad was a little upset when Bella’s dad did absolutely nothing to save the population of his small town from vampires infesting the local hospital. What a grouch.
Chapter 12
So the evening goes fairly well and now it’s Friday! So this weekend Edward and Bella are going to… do something- I guess. They talked about Seattle, they’ve talked about other things… my how they have talked and talked. Since Edward has been asking Bella question upon question- Hint- this is a strategy that does sometimes work- high school boys out there… ask questions and seem as interested in the answers as possible not matter how inane they may be. Of course we know the issue still is Bella hasn’t said a word to her dad about this. Umm… Hello? This is a small town and your dad is chief of police? You don’t think he already knows? He’s probably planning the wedding (Woo hoo! My little girl is marrying the son of a doctor who has lots of money!). So Saturday morning finally arrives and Edward and Bella head off to the land of adventure! Bella’s dad goes fishing.Chapter 13
We learn what vampires look like in the sunlight (think disco-ball, just not as round), and why Edward avoided school after Bella first arrived. It has something to do with bathing, or that fact that Bella stinks- then again so does Edward. The scientific term would be more like pheromones. So Edward opens up to Bella about how he really wants to open up Bella and how he thinks a little mint jelly might help. There’s a lot of testing Edward’s limits to see when he might take a bite- not a safe thing. And we end as they head back from Edward’s happy place (a sunlight filled glade miles off the road- nice place for a geocache) hopefully they will make it home in one piece.Prediction: They will make it back in time for the big dance and they will spend a romantic evening (trumpets & angels again) sipping bland punch (O positive) and swooning in the heady vapors each of them emits. Bella’s dad decides to give up the Police force and become a crab fisherman (or at least that’s what the hastily written note in his own blood said) and is never seen again.
So when last we left Bella she was full of teenage angst and Edward had just said he would (oh joy!) drive her to Seattle so she would not have to deal with the school dance.
Chapter 5
So Bella is now talking to Edward… he’s even sitting with her at lunch (gasp!) The big event for this chapter we find out that Bella faints at the sight of blood. Mike (one of the boys who has a crush on Bella) escorts her to the nurse after she faints in biology class (a class the Edwards skips this day… hmmm.) Edward intercepts them and convinces the nurse that she should go directly home. The knight in a shining Volvo! They talk and Bella tell him one of her theories dealing with radioactivity and a spider bite. Remember radioactivity + accident = superpowers.Chapter 6
Bella goes to the beach with all the other kids and meets Jacob Black from the reservation- She learns that the Cullens are not not allowed to step foot on the reservation since they are the “cold ones” and the reservation is for the people of the wolf. So finally Bella starts putting things together. Lots of teenage issues with who sits next to whom and that kind of stuff.Chapter 7
Bella gets home and complains (which seems to be all she ever does) about the dial up Internet speed. She does find a site dealing with vampires (remember folks if it is on the Internet it must be true) and starts researching. At school she finally explains to Mike that Jessica likes him so he should bug off – See boys at this age tend to not see the forest for the trees. They get fixed on one girl and ignore that the one next to them is nice and doesn’t complain (all the time), and likes them so they can fawn over the one that is too self-abosorbed and fawning over someone else (named Edward). Bella gets invited by Jessica to go shopping for dresses for the dance (even though she isn’t going) and she decides, since Edward has vanished again, to join them.Chapter 8
The girls all head into Port Angeles to go shopping and have dinner. Bella decides to head off on her own to a book store and almost gets assaulted by a group of guys who do not have the noblest intentions. Edward comes flying out of the darkness in his silver Volvo to save her. They go out to dinner and he drives her back home.Chapter 9Finally the big reveal… Edward admits that he’s not from Krypton and that his great great grandfather was Vlad the Impaler. Not really- Bella and Edward talk and he admits he’s a vampire and discounts some of the mythology of vampires. Edward also goes into how he can read others thoughts but not hers. He also explains why Bella should stay away and shouldn’t go out into the forest alone- there are dangers in the forest. So after 195 pages of build up the stage is set with only 2/3 of the book to go.
Sometime during this section Bella decides that it doesn’t matter who or what Edward is that she is madly in love with him and all that matters is that they are together. (Oh no this could be a bad thing)
So did I ever mention that I was a Boy Scout? Yup! Not just any kind of Boy Scout- I was and Eagle Scout. I know what you are thinking… what a geek. I bet he even wore his uniform to school. In those days, yes I did. I didn’t go through everything in scouting, this Webelos thing had just started out when I was getting out of Cubs (or at least that was my impression) so I went from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Tiger Cubs back then was called “Indian Guides.” I started the second semester of fourth grade and by the time I was thirteen I was an Eagle Scout. As always I digress… 2010 marks the centennial of Scouting in America, and the Boy Scouts are planning a bunch of cool things including some stuff dealing with geocaching. So I’m planning a few things to celebrate Scouting and my experience. One of those is What I am calling “Project Pinewood.” Years ago A student gave me a Pinewood Derby Car kit and it has sat on a shelf since. I have messed around with ideas, and finally with the Centennial Celebration I figured I would create something. If you want to join in the details for what the Boy Scouts are doing are on the site but it must be completed and launched by March 6th. I’m going to logging my progress here so you can see what happens (and it causes me to actually do it instead of just talk about it).
Here is the kit I have- now I just need to do something with it.
My personal rules are simple and you have to trust me that I will follow them (I’m an Eagle Scout after all). I want to make this a challenge so I will only use what is in the kit or what I have at home. The only exception to this rule is purchasing tools- I don’t think Sue would appreciate my using our good silverware to carve with and if I need paint or brushes. While I want to do my best (to do my duty) I also want to be thrifty. I have seen too many “Create the Best Pinewood Derby Car” in hobby stores. So I see myself buying some paint, sealer, a good whittling knife, maybe a basic kids wood carving set and some sandpaper. If I buy something I’ll also log it here. I have until March so I do have a little time. Hopefully, it will end up being really cool. and I will end up launching my car in GC1N7B2 – The Blue Lights Travel Bug Motel which should be large enough to hold it (since it is a larger ammo can). Now if I could just finish “Twilight.”
I am sorry but with the holidays I have been reading, just not commenting on the wonderful piece of literature I am reading. Once again this is a chapter by chapter breakdown of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I am trying to figure out what the big deal is.
When we last left our heroic band of adventurers they were about to be eaten by giant rats…
Chapter Two
Let’s make this one quick- Bella is hoping that the strange kid in her Biology class isn’t rude to her. Life is miserable, She has these boys in competition over her, but not the right boy. You have got to love teen angst. Edward (the strange kid from Biology) doesn’t show up to school for a few days- Bella starts to get concerned that she did something. When he shows up his eyes are are some strange yellow color and he is polite. (I think he’s one of the pod people now) Bella is confused but pulls through by showing Edward that she is smart on a Biology Lab. Bella also thinks that every time Edward leaves school he is laughing at her.
Chapter Three
Oh no! How could things get worse? Snow and ice- Bella doesn’t know what to do. She heads out to school and things go well. When she arrives she finds out her dad had put chains on her truck. As she looks at the chains thinking that it was a nice thought a van pulls into the parking lot out of control and squishes her like a bug. The End.
No, of course not, that would be a very short multi-million dollar movie. So suddenly Edward is standing next to her and pushes her out of the way of the speeding van and uses his body to block the impact. Bella realizes what has been going on as she is taken to the hospital to be examined. As she asked Edward how he saved her, he calmly says that he was standing next to her the whole time. We all know what really happened. Edward was rocketed to Earth from his home planet of Krypton right before it exploded. Now Bella has to figure out where she can get her hands on some Kryptonite to prove her theory. After Edwards denies it and finally breaks off all civil communication with Bella we know something is up.
Chapter Four
Weeks have passed- Bella is once again miserable- Why won’t Edward be nice to her? Once again guys- this trick works in the movies- not in real life. Unless you have worked years to be labelled a “Bad Boy” and time it just right so the girl in question has something to prove- you’ll probably just end up alone. Then again, following a girl around like a little lost puppy dog also doesn’t work (I speak from experience).
So Bella is miserable… and she has all these guys hanging on her every action hoping that she will invite them to the school’s Spring dance. She turns down suitor 1, arranges for suitor 2 to get asked by someone else, and turns down suitor 3 (the guy who hit her with his van). Telling them all that she has plans to go into Seattle that weekend. Edward comes to the rescue and offers to drive her to Seattle because he is afraid her truck won’t make it (See I told you the truck would play a part).
That’s where I’ve ended off and I am still thinking that this is just a weird adaptation of the Superman story. Instead of Smallville Kal-El’s rocket crashed into the woods in the Pacific Northwest. I guessing the other kids in Edward’s “Family” are actually Kryptonians rescued from the phantom zone.
My Prediction: While driving to Seattle, the dam is going to burst causing Edward to show that he has powers far beyond those of mortal men. Bella, unfortunately, will not survive, causing Edward to fly around the Earth so fast that he will change time and save Bella.
When the first Harry Potter book came out I was clueless. But I did pick it up fairly early on. I have read every book waited in line at midnight for new releases… even worn a cape to last one (It happened during Midwest Geobash in Kendallville, IN and was amazing- but I digress). So I had some kids reading this vampire book and talking about how wonderful it was. I looked at the cover and it screamed to me “girl book” and “young romance” two genre’s I really have little interest in. Then I went to San Diego ComicCon and my view didn’t really change. I saw a bunch of pale kids with contact lenses creating chaos. I still resisted reading it or seeing the movies. I have enjoyed the classic horror genre, not slasher flims. One of my favorite stories is Robert Block’s “Yours Truly Jack the Ripper”. So kind of as a favor to one of my kids (No I don’t have children, I have a stuffed monkey… but my students have always been “my kids”) I said I would read it if she would loan me her copy. I really hated all those people who blasted Harry Potter without even reading a single word. So before I let my prejudice color my commentary I figure I should at least read the first book. So as I read it I’ll post some of my comments some may be brief… we shall see. Oh needless to say if you haven’t read the book this will most likely contain spoilers.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Chapter One
We are introduced to Bella our heroine, and I recall just how self absorbed high schoolers can be. Bella is moving (her reason has not been disclosed) from her mother’s home in the sunny desert to her father’s home in the always cloudy, always rainy Pacific Northwest. I believe the town is named is Sunnydale… no that’s another angst filled teenage vampire story. Basically, we go through Bella’s first day at school and how she hates everything about it. We meet a few fellow students and the strange group of new kids who are pale and don’t really associate with anyone else. Edward (music rises) is part of this group. The chapter closes with Bella, miserable, falling alseep to the sound of the rain while sobbing. The silver lining- she did end up with a nice old truck that is bound to break down in the middle of the night on a lonely road leaving her in distress. (Just a guess).
My prediction for the next chapter- Edward will still try to avoid Bella in Science class, and Bella gets more interested in Edward since he’s trying to avoid her. Note to High School boys- this tactic only works in the movies…
Here’s a little experiment I tried with a piece of Hardanger recently.
This is a piece of needlework we did at EGA’s Indiana State Day. The intent was to use it in the silver box, but I decided the cream and silver just were not pleasing to me.
Decided to experiment with the color by dying the piece with YellowTail Shiraz! Here are a few photos of the process. I wasn’t sure what color I’d get – reddish purple, blue, something else?
Before we beginReady to go!No turning back now!Making sure the cloth is evenly wet. Realized it was a little shallow so ended up adding more.Soaking . . .Here's what it looks like after pouring off the wine.RinsingA final rinse - look at how the color is changing!Done - now to line and insert.
So, the Yellow Tail Shiraz ended up producing a nice mushroom brown! I’ve purchased some wine colored cotton to line the piece but that’s a project for another day!
And, yes, this yarn is still in my stash waiting for the right pattern!
There are several other shops I’ve visited recently but those are for another day.
This week I finally cast on for the Hedgerow sock pattern that I’m doing in purple – not enough progress for photos yet, though. It’s good to have something specific on my needles after working on small things over the holidays! Back to knitting . . . 
And, yes, this yarn is still in my stash waiting for the right pattern!
There are several other shops I’ve visited recently but those are for another day.
This week I finally cast on for the Hedgerow sock pattern that I’m doing in purple – not enough progress for photos yet, though. It’s good to have something specific on my needles after working on small things over the holidays! Back to knitting . . . 
Sue & I took this holiday weekend to head north to Detroit to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). While it was a nice little adventure something started to dawn on me as we wandered the exhibit hall… I may not be as much of a “car geek” as I thought. For a lot of the show I was kind of bored… yes, bored. A little history first- This is maybe the third auto show I have attended. The first was the Indianapolis Auto Show years (and years) ago. We were looking at buying a new car and walked around seeing nothing that we wanted. The second was the Chicago Auto Show. This one was special- Sue was working with a non-profit that had an event in conjunction with the show so we attended the black tie preview party. Yes, I was running around in a tux with my Nikon snapping photos. This was the introduction to the MINI R56 and we spent a lot of time at the MINI display, but wandered around to see the other manufacturers. It seemed like there was a larger variety at the show, but most of the cars looked pretty much the same. That brings us to NAIAS- this is supposed to be the biggie, the Mother of all auto shows. Meh. I don’t know if it was the lack of unique designs being displayed or what but I couldn’t get excited over most of what I saw- this was when the realization hit me- I’m not a car geek. I can’t quote stats from various automakers. I’m a MINI geek. Sue I and hung out at the MINI display, chatted with folks there and took a bunch of pictures of the concept/pre-production R60 they had on display. The Beachcomber (as it is called) was a homage to the classic Moke- so no doors or top. Because of this they decided to do it up on a black sand beach and have a triathlon theme to it. I’m not an SUV/crossover fan. In fact I have never understood why most Americans need a military assault vehicle to go to the grocery or get their pedicure. That said while this is bigger than an traditional New MINI (4m in length) I could see myself owning one. With geocaching, Sue and I have taken our MINIs in places they probably should never have gone. I recall Way (of Way Motor Works) doing some work on Penfold (my MINI Cooper S) and asking about the thousands of grass seeds trapped under the car. Last year when attending the Moonshine event we got lost (yes, but we knew exactly where we were… we had a GPS) and took Sue’s MINI on these back roads that even with a rally heritage made me cringe. So as we continue to cache I can see the need for an all-wheel drive slightly higher off the ground vehicle. So, I spend the day at the auto show and scratch my head at what is being passed as “innovation” and focus on a MINI – go figure.
One other things I did notice while walking around was the difference between MINI and the majority of the other manufacturers. MINI had folks wandering around in t-shirts fleece jackets & jeans- very casual. The other displays were a lot more formal even with models posing near the cars (which you couldn’t get close enough to touch- the car or the model). This made me kind of chuckle as I saw how they worked the demographics. The really expensive cars if they had a model the model was young basically pushing the 18-30 year old male attendees buttons. They never said a word and just smiled for the camera. One American automaker still had the model with her prepared script talking about the car as it spun on the lazy susan. This automaker while having made attempts to drop it’s “grandmother’s car image” had models that would appeal to the male over 50 demographic, not that they weren’t attractive but I could just imagine some 30 year old looking at this model and saying “Mom?” Have these manufacturers changed they way they show off their cars since the first auto show- it doesn’t look like it (and they may still be using the same models to present them).
One last word about innovation or something that makes me go “huh?” All these American car companies who just a few years ago whined about they couldn’t make anything more fuel efficient and that are still whining any time Congress tries to increase the required fuel efficiency of cars in the U.S. were all talking about how many miles per gallon their models got – which for some wasn’t anything to be proud of.
So there you have it – I’m a MINI geek. Still lots to learn, but I’m happy to know where I stand. Time to go motoring (& caching) 
Here’s the piece with the card-stock, padding, wine-colored cotton, and the Hardanger around it. Just needed some basting stitches and some Tacky Glue to hold it all together.
Took this finished component and glued it into the box!
But, wait! That’s not it! Took the remainder of the cotton and lined the box so the entire inside is the wine color – now just need to decide where to put the box and what to put into it!
On to Snowpeople. Made some before the holidays and more since . . . 
Here’s the piece with the card-stock, padding, wine-colored cotton, and the Hardanger around it. Just needed some basting stitches and some Tacky Glue to hold it all together.
Took this finished component and glued it into the box!
But, wait! That’s not it! Took the remainder of the cotton and lined the box so the entire inside is the wine color – now just need to decide where to put the box and what to put into it!
On to Snowpeople. Made some before the holidays and more since . . . 
