The Left Banke-Goodbye Holly

Posted on March 30, 2009
Filed Under Song of the Day, music | Leave a Comment

Naming the ‘nick

Posted on March 30, 2009
Filed Under Blather, das kiddo, family | 5 Comments

Over the weekend, Ez and I bought a book of baby names. I know you can look up names to your heart’s content online, and I’ve done so, but Ez wanted a book that we could page through and write in, and as a pro-book sort of person I wasn’t about to say no to that! It’s handy.

I have to say, though, that we will not be using some of the extra features in the book. These features include tables outlining “The Impressions Names Make” and a plan for a Name-the-Baby Shower. I guess the shower is a personal thing. Ez and I decided a long time ago that we want to choose our child’s name ourselves, and we don’t intend to reveal our chosen name (once there is one)–or indeed to discuss the naming with anyone–until the baby is born. So a Name-the-Baby shower is obviously out. I have more general issues with the “Impressions Names Make” tables. According to this book, only boys can be nerdy, strong/tough, or wimpy, and only girls can be sexy or sweet. Who wants to choose a name for their kid because it sounds sexy?

Anyhow, for those (I’m lookin’ at you, Mom and Dad!) who might be worried that “Bubnick” will appear on our child’s birth certificate, fear not. While that nickname is likely to hang around, there will be lots–LOTS–of other nicknames, and we’ll give the whippersnapper a nice legal name, too. We promise.

Delinquent blogger tells all

Posted on March 26, 2009
Filed Under Blather, Literary, das kiddo, family, films, knitting, me and my brain, this old house | 3 Comments

So I’ve been very bad about blogging.  Some blame facebook.  I blame life, which has been sort of too busy to report on and somehow at the same time too dull (?).  Maybe it’s just that I haven’t had a lot of time to reflect on things enough to actually write about them.

So.  I don’t think there’s anyone I know who would be reading this who isn’t already aware of the situation, but in case there is–I’m pregnant!  Our little man (doc said it’s a boy, but we couldn’t tell from the ultrasound one way or the other) is due August 3rd.  Makes him sound a little like a library book.  Okay, that’s just me.

That, of course, is our biggest news, but there’s more.

We’ve been contemplating a move to a bigger house.  It’s a complicated time to be considering a move for many reasons–even moreso maybe than it would be at any time.  We’ve seen one place we like, but it needs a lot of work and financing would be complex (if even possible).  We haven’t really seen anything else of interest in the months we’ve been looking, so if this place doesn’t happen, we may take a step back and try again next year.  In preparation for possibly moving, we’ve been taking care of a number of issues with our condo, so if we end up deciding not to move now, we’ll have a nicer place to live in for a while longer.

We’ve both been working our little noses into nubs–Ezra especially.  Things are getting more managable, I think, but for a few weeks there it was high-speed working seemingly 24/7.  We got a little trip to New York out of it, which is always good.  While Ezra slaved away in the Lux New York offices, new and old, I slaved away in our hotel room and in various Starbucks across Hell’s Kitchen. We got to see a few friends for dinner while we were there, and, of course, I made sure to take at least two trips to The Strand (or was it three?).  My haul this time included:

The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits

The Uses of Enchantment by Heidi Julavits

Exquisite Corpse by Robert Irwin

Exquisite Corpse by Robert Irwin

Rides of the Midway by Lee Durkee

Rides of the Midway by Lee Durkee

Blue Boy by Jean Giono

Blue Boy by Jean Giono

Clockers by Richard Price

Clockers by Richard Price

The Grifters by Jim Thompson

The Grifters by Jim Thompson

The Dark by John McGahern

The Dark by John McGahern

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy

While in New York I finished The History of Love by Nicole Krauss–good, easy reading, sentimental but pretty satisfying–and then dug into The Dark.   John McGahern’s writing has been compared to early Joyce.  I’ve never read any Joyce (yes, another hole in my English-major reading), but I liked The Dark pretty well, so maybe one of these days I’ll give Dubliners a try.  Now I’m reading The Dud Avocado.  It’s fun–very different from the last few books I’ve read.  Up until a day or two ago I was feeling pretty stressed, so it’s been good to have a lighter (but far from insipid) book waiting for me at my bedside.

I am knitting a blanket for our little guy.  I started it a while ago, but it’s been kind of slow going.  I sort of made up the pattern–cables, of course!  I’m using Mission Falls 1824 yarn (washable!).  So far I like it, though the yarn has been prone to little pulls.

Last night right before bed I watched the very beginning of The 49th Parallel (1941).


I set Tivo to tape it because it stars Leslie Howard, but I now realize it has a lot more to recommend it.  It gets three and a half out of four stars, so that’s something.  Besides Leslie Howard, it also stars Laurence Olivier–that’s a pretty fancy cast!  It’s about a U-Boat crew stranded in Canada, trying to get to the still-neutral U.S. to avoid internment–seems like a nice bit of propaganda urging the U.S. to enter WWII on Britain’s side.


It won an Oscar for best writing.  I’m not usually big on war films, but I’m looking forward to watching this one.

Song of the Day

The Essex Green-Sorry River 

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The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

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