Mansfield Park

I read this book last year. Yesterday I started listening to it through Libravox. I have readently finished the first volume of Le Morte D'Arthur and figured i should go for something light before diving into the second volume. I have a list of books I am planing on listening to this year through Libravox but they have a particular order to them; Les Miserables followed by The Tale of Two Cities, followed by The Scarlet Pimpernel, then I would probably listen to the Count of Monte Cristo just to round up this fun group of novels taking place in france. but I wasn't ready for that I just wanted a little break before continuing with more middle English literature... or I at least think that is the category L'Morte D'Arthur... any way back on topic-

I really like Jane Austen, I've read most of her books starting with her most popular books and working my way through the less popular books. Mansfield Park falls on the less popular end of the spectrum, and I can understand why:

1. Fanny is the complete opposite of the other Jane Austen Heroines. a. where Maryanne is loud and active seeking adventure Fanny is quiet and often prefers to sit and be. b. Where Elizabeth voices her opinion often with those who will share her opinion and join in her mirth fanny only confides her opinions to her cousin preferring not to vocalize her judgments in hopes that she is miss informed. c. where Emma enjoys being the center of attention Fanny prefers to let others take the lead. The only Heroine she is very much like is Jane Bennett but she has no Lizzy to stand by her nor is she surrounded by a loving family. She is much like Elanor Dashwood but she receives less thanks for her sacrifices and again has no one who supports her.

2. Mansfield Park places goodness, selflessness, and love in contrast to Pleasure, Selfishness, and Apathy. it is in many ways a treaties against hedonism which in a culture chasing after the new shiny gadget or new experience is not popular. This is similar to the preference of Batman to Superman. (I know that in many circles this is not true but Let us look at these two super heroes in light of thier current visablity in the motion picture industry Batman has had two very sucsessful films and a third which will probably be a resounding crescendo to the build up of the last two films. Superman has had one film and as far as superhero movies go... well lets just say it wasn't as bad as the second fantasic four moive or the two Hulk Movie attempts.) Being Good and seeing the faults in others is judgmental. Fanny is a representative of Goodness, by being so she stands in judgement over her Shallow cousins, what is forgotten is that she loves this family who took her in, and she shows that love by serving them.  not to get 'religious' on everyone but that is what Christian love should look like. To actually unpack that thought would probably take a series of blog posts but I will try to sum it up by pointing you to an act of Jesus during the last supper, he took on the garb of a slave and washed his disciples feet then told them to do like wise.

Well that is quite the Introduction. Really what I wanted to do was share some quotes from the book that i just love, but I think I have shared enough for today. I will share my quotes Soon-ish. I've decided I shouldn't make promises on this blog, I rarely seem to be able to keep up.

Till next time God Speed and open roads.

An Icon for Pentecost

This icon of Pentecost shows Mary the Mother of God in the centre, occupying the “Teacher’s Seat”. Surviving icons of this sort are usually western (the above comes from the border between Finland and Russia). Mary was present at Pentecost, though as already mentioned, the icon is not primarily a historical snapshot of the event. The Theotokos’ presence in the centre is not problematic though, as she is the ultimate exemplar of a Christian. With Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit acts within people, and through the Saints Christ is manifested in the world. Mary is therefore shown in the “teacher’s seat” as the best example we have, and the person on earth who most resembled Jesus Christ (both physically, as His mother, and spiritually as His disciple). [taken from Icon reader]

A Writing Up Date

Sorry all I guess I am really getting bad at this, what happened to the time when i could post ever day and not

ave issues. Oh well. I guess we just try again. 

My writing has bee going very well lately. partially because of the change of position at work. I am now using lasers to cut designs into silicone bracelets. it can be annoying when the lasers don't want to work but once things get going there is a lot of down time waiting for the designs to get cut. there for i have time to write and read. good news I have two posts on the Neverending story in the que that will get posted as soon as I take the time to do it. (I have to say the longer i go between posts the harder it is for me to get back on to post again) So any way on to the update. 

I've been trying to limit my work to three pieces (it hasn't really worked -sort of- but we will get to that in a minuet.) I have been writing the first draft of Ashes and Snowflakes: 11,094 words. Not much I'll admit however this is not counting anything from the rough draft that is from farther on in the book. (total word count is actually 15,525) it is slow moving and I have not been working on this one quiet as diligently as I probably should be. 

Next is writing the rough draft of The Rescue (this so needs a better tittle any ideas?) this is going very good. I don't have a word count because I write this one out with paper and pen, it just feels so much more organic. also it slows me down and lets me think things through. and well I can't very much have an electronic devise at work my boss would realize that I have down time and give me more to do- like running back and forth between two departments. 

Lastly My goal was to edit the first draft of my Nanowrimo novel. but I haven't hardly looked at it sense my first read through of the book. I think I have learned something about my self. I don't like editing. I want to walk away from the book and move on. -kind of- not because I don't want to polish it and get it published but because I am LAZY! yep, this is why i will probably work really hard to get some kind of book deal rather then going the self publishing route. I am so lazy when it comes to this stuff that it isn't funny. Plus I know the book needs massive amounts of work. the thing is a mess with stray strings hanging all over the place, making it even more unlikely that my laziness will allow me to work on it. what I need is a day that i can just sit down and work on it, with no distractions, not interruptions, and  oh look shiny!

yeah I broke my "I am only going to focus on these three things" some of you will remember that I entered a flash fiction contest held by my cousin Darci. lots of people liked my little piece and said they wanted the rest of the story. well you will get the rest of the story. you hear that Heather and Jessica? in fact last Saturday I sat down and wrote 2,233 words in one sitting. my goal was to keep it under 3,000 words  but that isn't going to happen, hopefully after edits i can keep it under 10,000 words and then publish it here on the blog. 

so that is all I have to say about writing today. tune in on Monday -I promise I will have a post- when I post the next installment of my commentary lectures on the Neverending Story. 

The Joys and Disappointments of bath time

I love bath time. It is generally how I like to start my weekend. Friday when I get home form work I jump in the tub. I think it is because I love the water so much. The only competitive spot I joined in high school was Swim team. I loved it, the problem was that I am not a very competitive person. I like to enjoy the water not see how fast I can swim- that is probably why I dove on the team. So Bath time is like having a little privet pool all to my self. I firmly believe that fire was just pretty lights till man discovered he could heat water with it.

I find bath time to be relaxing. I read, shave my legs, exfoliate, and think great thoughts (okay maybe only to me they are great thoughts). I love bubbles, bath salts, bath oils and all kinds of other things that make a bath a small piece of heaven. when i really want a treat I add something special from Lush and I would like o try adding some of the wonderful products from The Bar Maids.

So here is where my disappointment comes. I can never seem to find a bath that stays hot long enough or is big enough. See a tub needs to be long enough to stretch out in and deep enough to be all but submerged. Now a tub can get away with being short if it is also deep, it can get away with being shallow if it is also long. Most builders for Apartments and Duplexes Do not understand this concept, or at least the person who build our house didn't understand that. it is both too short and too shallow. I'm not as little as I once was and will probably never bee that little again, but seriously I want to be completely covered by the magic of warm water.

then there is another thing that disappoints me about most bath tubs. the drains. Yeah this little guy:

I hate these things. why because when I fill a tub I FILL the tub. I deal with a shallow tub but filling it a full as possible. and what does this little guy do? Oh he drains my tub and takes a way my hot water! seriously. why make a tube 2 feet deep if you are only going to let people filling a foot an a half? when I was living in Bismark ND I had a tub that was very close to the best tub ever. It was long, it was deep. I could sit comfortably in it with my knees slightly bent and have the water come up to my shoulders. but you know what they did? the put the stupid drain half way down the tub! So you know what i did? I stuffed it full of a wash rag. it wasn't a  perfect solution but It made my water last longer. -This doesn't work very well with my current tub so I end up filling it multiple times. how wasteful is that?

I understand why the drain is there, really I do, but why can't it be cut into the top? then the water could be deeper. And everything could be happy.

is it strange that I know very little about my "dream" home is but I know exactly what kind of tub I want this one:

deep, beautiful, back support, long....ahhh. some day when I own my own home this will be the first thing that I change. I put in this tub.

Thankful Thursday 5/10

Wow it has been a while sense I wrote one of these up. So let's see, I am thankful for...
1. Lee McLoud and his wife Jessica (oh yes and their daughter Squeaks) now only are they great friends but really the best pastor and pastor wife ever.
2. Wilmore Christian Ballet, I love being a part of this ministry. Dancing with the company and helping back stage during the performance. I love these girls and yes boys.
3. St. Adain's Anglican church. they are such great people and be in community with.
4. Amanda and Becca who make work a little more bearable.
5. And Liz who reminded me to get my but in gear and remember to post- yes it was because she posted her thankful post which reminded me that I should do the same. Thanks Liz!

Random Fun

I have decided to do a random post about something that was shared with me that i think is pretty sweet: 

I love steam punk, it just does the most random things. I think today I have a zeppelin pug, your argument is invalid.

On the Needles May 2012

Wow, where did April go? I mean really it was Easter Sunday and then... what happened? I know a lot of stuff happened but Not much happened here I am afraid.... opps my bad. any way on to today's subject because I'm going to talk about my knitting gosh dang it. I've put it off too long because I want to take pictures of it. Well tonight is the night! This moths topics are Cast-on, Eureka!, Re-run, Grr!, and Shiny

Cast-on: well in it has surtanly been a while I should have lots to talk about here right? well actually only to things have been cast on sense last we spoke. 1. The Hexagonal CarryAll, and 2.Sweet Shopp Scarf.

1. The Hexigonal CarryAll: this pattern can be found in the January 2012 edition of Creative Knits which my In-Laws were kind enough to buy me a subscription to for Christmas. You remember forever ago when I talked about that hideous yarn that I had no idea what to do with? Well I figured sence it was a self striping Yarn if I put it in a pattern that would break up the stripes it might look cool. I think it works out pretty nicely. however very sadly there is still going to be a lot left when this bag is done. I also decided to use some blue yarn from my stash to give it a bit of something different. I think it will work out just fine. I am going to do the draw string closer and the straps in the blue. if nothing else it will make a great new project bag. Which means I can cast-on more great projects soon.

2. Sweet Shopp Scarf: This pattern I made up. I took a simple three stitch cable and a three stitch eyelet to make a cable and lace scarf. this is the left over yarn from the Mandelbrot Hat. I don't think it is going to be quite what i wanted it to be so I may rip it out and start over making in a thinner scarf but wee will see. for now I like it the way it is. oh and here is a picture of the Mandelbrot Had the pattern can be found at Knitty

Eureka!: As disappointing as this is going to sound I have only finished one thing sense last we talked. It was my own little invention of The Cobweb Scarf:

turned out pretty nice didn't it?

Re-run: now this is where I have a lot to talk about. because well I have a lot to talk about. So many Projects that will not let me finish them. they just are there and I want to work on all of them, but not enough to finish any of them.

1. SkyIsle Cardigan: I haven't worked on this one in forever! but I have the first sleeve done and the other one is almost done. Sadly it doesn't have a project bag that makes it easy to transport and knit on. I do love it thought and I can't wait to get to use it. all though lets face it. It isn't really the time for sweater knitting. So I really should kick some butt and get this done! you know so I can replace it with light and ary summery knitting projects.





2. My experimental hair net. it is coming along nicely. it is a nice before bed knit. a nice small project that keeps me just focused enough. I think it will look nice particularily right now while my hair is bright red.






3. The Hooded Sweatshirt did not do so well last month. I only got the front done. So sad. well it is just one more of my projects that I need to get cracking on.

huh, I thought i had a lot more to talk about there....oh well

Grrrr!: I am trying to knit my husband a pair of socks. I am using the pattern from the book Knits Men Want. every thing was going so so well. then I got to the heel. now I was at DND the night if first tried to turn this heel and my character was being completely useless and dying (she does that a lot lately) so being frustrated at my knitting while trying to participate in a battle is like lighting a candle on both ends and then having a fan pointed at each end. Then I got it home and tried again. well I thought i had figured it out but when i went to try it on his foot it... it didn't fit. So I did what I always do when a project frustrates me, I un-did it, with every intention of starting again, it just didn't work out that way. the yarn is just sitting in a pile waiting to be come  a sock. I just am not sure how to start it again. I mean the heal was just not working. My plan is to take some of my stash yarn and do an experimental sock and see if using biter needles and non sock yarn I can figure out how to make it work.

Shiney: Look at this- isn't it awesome? that is my birthday present from my dearest friend Lisa. she took me to the mad potter where we panted our own pottery. I choose this piece because I wanted to use it to hold a yarn ball. I think it works great and it is pretty.

well that is all for now so I hope you like looking at all my fun projects and till next time remember wooden needles are not just for knitting, they also make great stakes to kill vampires with.