Ooh! Swap Goodies!

Yup, another swap! My loophole on the buying yarn ban that Zach's imposed ;) "But it's not for me; it's for the swap!" Honestly, though, these are bunches of fun, finding goodies to fill a package for someone else, and seeing what surprises they find for you!

This one is from a yoga group on Ravelry, so the goodies are all relaxation and yoga and knitting themed.

Continuing with the relaxation theme, she included some tea for me. Always appreciated :) One set came in a handy little pouch which I know will be very used. Can always enjoy having some tea packets handy when I'm working! And with the tea came the COOLEST tea spoon I've ever seen!! Not really a spoon at all - a flower! Very cheery tea-time fun :)

And even a gift for Scruffy in the box! It's a little kitty toy, shaped like a fortune cookie. It even has a little fortune printed on it: "A treat on the floor is worth two in the jar" :)

Of course, Scruffy had to investigate the other items in the package, as well as the box itself. Silly kitten :)

The yarn in the package was gorgeous!! mobarger (my swap partner) found some beautiful banana yarn from a shop on Etsy, BodhiYarn. Beautiful stuff, in two coordinating colorways. And, as we have all learned, I'm having fun with unusual fibers, so banana is right up that alley! :) I'm thinking a little shrug in this, maybe another version of the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet. The multi-colored yarn would be for the body, with the silvery blue as trim. Of course that may change a dozen times by the time I cast on, but that's how it's looking now...

Thank you bunches, mobarger! These are awesome goodies!

Running ups and downs...

So, I am officially registered for my big race for the fall. The Long Beach Marathon is October 17 down in (obviously) Long Beach. Nice and scenic and flat and by the water, so much easier to breathe than up here in the High Desert. There are at least 3 other folk from post doing the full marathon, and one who's doing the half, so we'll have a good showing from post down there for the race :)

I know I said last May after the San Diego R&R Full that it'd be a while before I ran another, but circumstances are looking good to be able to do this one. I have time in my schedule to really train well for it (scheduling 20-mile training runs is hard when your job is sucking away all your spare time!). I don't know how much I'll be working when we move, so I'd like to do one now while I have the time to train for it properly. Also, we're getting close to the end of our time here in the desert, so the multi-week training plan is really helping me stay motivated and focused on something to pass time here. By the time the race comes, we'll be in our last couple months (hopefully), so it's really something very mentally healthy for me to pass my last summer here in the desert.

And I have a training buddy, too! She's recovering from injuries, and I'm coming back from just a way-too-busy schedule, so we're at about the same pace. Same goals too, so we're right on par for training. It's great to have someone to meet for the hills and long runs. You know, the runs that are harder to really push yourself on ;) I'm the type of person that if I have someone to meet somewhere (like the gym or the pool), I will go. We don't have to be doing the same workout, even, but if there's someone there to give me a little nudge, just a "hey, we missed you on Friday," then I'm much better at getting out and getting moving. Having a good training buddy is really helping me stick with it!

The other races I'll be doing this fall are shorter distances, obviously. I may be crazy doing a full this fall (seeing as the first half of my training is summertime in the desert), but I'm not THAT crazy! I'm also looking at doing the ET Midnight Half Marathon out in Rachel, NV. There's also a Full and a 51K for that event, but we're doing the half. It's at a week in our training plan, where the long run is "either 15 miles or a half marathon race." The Midnight Marathon races are along the edge of Area 51 on the Extraterrestrial Highway. They really are run at Midnight, and are full of alien and glow-in-the-dark accessories, according to previous years' pictures :) Sounds like fun, and we figure a race is more fun than just pounding out 15 miles around here, so why not do it while we're only a few hours away, right?

After the Long Beach run in October, we are planning on trying to maintain the momentum and train for the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Half in December. That race is the same weekend as the Las Vegas Santa Run 5K. I know those races are back-to-back on a weekend, but I've done that twice back in VB (the Dolphin Challenge for the Shamrock Half Marathon is an 8K on Saturday and the Half on Sunday). The Santa race is in full Santa gear (included in your registration fee!), so it won't even be close to a PR for my 5K time, but it'll be lots of fun, and how often can you say you've been part of a Guinness World Record attempt? I wanted to run those two races last year, but schedules in November really killed my running, so I didn't run the races like I planned. Better to postpone for a year than injure myself in attempting something I'm not ready for. This year, though!! Oh, and I keep saying "we" on all these races, because my training buddy is looking to run them too. Like I said, the same goals and paces for the fall - am really thankful for her!

Now the down side. Unfortunately, Saturday I encountered my first overuse injury. Sooooo mad. My right knee was a little swollen and bruised after running our errands down in town. Don't know if I just really pushed myself too hard, or combination increased workout load plus an impact (yeah, I'm the type to walk into tables and not realize it), but either way, knee's a bit out of sorts. Like I said, soooo mad.

At least I'm not alone. My buddy's knee was showing some strain this week too, so we're doing cross-training this week instead of much running. Lots of swimming is helping (whole workouts of pull keeps the strain off the knees - boring but effective!!). Add rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory meds, and things are getting back to normal. Just frustrating when I was getting so motivated and really getting into a routine, and then having a set-back this week. Should be back to normal next week, but just irritated as all get out this one. Very thankful that I've got friends to kick me back into gear when I'm up and running again (Haha! Pun intended!)

Review: Jane Eyre (2006)

This Masterpiece Theater version of one of my favorite books finally made its way to the top of my queue. Here you go: Jane Eyre (the 2006 Masterpiece Theater version).

Plot: Well, it's Jane Eyre. If you're familiar with Charlotte Brontë's book, it follows the novel very closely, so you know the plot. For those who don't know, Jane Eyre is a young orphan, raised in a loveless home and a harsh school. She grows up and goes to work as a governess for the ward of the moody Mr. Rochester. She befriends her employer and captures his heart, but is troubled by dark secrets from his past. Don't worry though, happy endings eventually come to those deserving. This is an 1847 love story, with all the standard trappings of a good Gothic romance.

I think it's a good sign for any romance movie/miniseries when Zach is asking that I wait to watch the last episode with him, because he wants to see it too. He usually plays on the computer as I'm watching "my movies" (this is a prime example of one of "my movies"), so for him to be drawn into the story so much, it's a very good testament to how strong of a production this is. Just sayin' :)

The only other version of Jane Eyre I've seen is the 1983 version (the one with Timothy Dalton). I liked that one very much, but this one definitely surpasses it.

The leads in this version are great, a very important consideration, as the leads definitely drive the story. To compare, the leads here are like properly casting Darcy and Elizabeth - no chemistry, no story. Ruth Wilson is attractive, but not showily pretty, and that is one of the things about Jane - she is constantly described as plain. Wilson might have been a little shorter, since Jane is also frequently described as tiny, but I think that's just splitting hairs, seeing how well she did with the part. She has a very expressive face, beautifully showing both Jane's passionate nature and strict self-control. And Toby Stephens is becoming one of the actors I'm watching more and more (first saw him in one of the newer "Poirot"s). He's arguably a little too handsome for Rochester, who (like Jane) is regularly described as unattractive or ugly. Still, not a bad downside to have, right, being too handsome for a part? He plays the part very well, though. Moody, smitten, depressed, playful, secretive, Stephens makes all of Rochester's faces very real. And, as a purely trivial side note, he's got a good smile when Rochester does smile ;)

They also did a good job building up the secret in the north tower. It could have been built up a little more, in my opinion, but I think that's because I had no idea what was in the tower the first time I read it, and my imagination ran wild over what could possibly be secreted away there.

The miniseries itself could have been longer, I think, had they decided to expand out certain sections of the novel. The time with the Reeds and at Lowood School is relatively short, and the time with Mary and Diane and St. John could have been a bit longer, just for a more solid feeling of closure, but let's face it - the part of the story everyone loves is the section between Jane and Rochester. The miniseries spends most of its time there, and for good reason. I wasn't too concerned about the glossed-over time at the Reeds and at Lowood, because she was so horribly treated at both, and it just made for a draining, irritating read. It explains a lot about her character and how she develops into "Jane Eyre" as we know her, but for entertainment value, it does drag a bit long in the book. I didn't miss it in the miniseries. ;)

Personally, though, I'd like to have seen a little more in the time after she left Rochester, but partially too because I liked her discussions with St. John about love and marriage. It wasn't badly treated; I just really liked those sections of the book. One of those priorities in marriage things (like comparing the different marriages in Pride and Prejudice) - the passionless fond feelings with her friend St John, a good man but one she does not love and vice versa; or the passionate love with the wilder, darker Rochester. By focusing more on the Jane-Rochester romance, they cut the time for those comparisons. Not that the result isn't entertaining; just pointing it out.

I'd also have liked to have seen a little more time spent on the resolution. Jane returns, and then it cuts ahead 5 years to the full happy ending. But there's not really much dialogue to show just how happy the happy ending is. You can tell if you know the story, so it's there to be appreciated, but it would've been nice to have been clearer. Just for those of us who like closure :)

Beautiful scenery, of course. Masterpiece Theater always does well on that, and as it's a pretty section of the country anyway... Wins all around!

Also, just as a random side note, have you checked out the Masterpiece Theater website? In addition to information about the cast, etc., there are notes about the production, behind the scenes discussions, forums. And that's true for most of their programs too! Yay, PBS!

Another random side note, Toby Stephens (who is growing as an actor I like) is one of the sons of Maggie Smith, one of my absolute favorite actresses. How had I not heard this??

Overall: 5 of 5. Best version of Jane Eyre I've seen so far (I know I've only seen 2, but still!). Some parts were kinda glossed over, but it is what it is. Definitely shelf-worthy!

And as a nice bonus, a wallpaper someone made for the movie. I thought it was well done You can find more over at Fanpop, but this one was an especial favorite. :)

Thoughts

One of the hardest things about this place is the moving. This particular post doesn't have a supporting community (i.e., it's not actually IN a city). That's alright in some ways (very few), but it also means that there is little continuity in the community here. Everyone you meet that stationed here, you know will be moving in (most likely) 2-4 years, depending on what their job is and their orders and so on. In a regular post closer to or in a city, there will be many more people that you meet not connected to the military, people who choose to live in that city and plan on being there for many years to come. Not that we don't have people working on post who commute up from our closer towns (45 minutes and 1 hr 20 min away, respectively), but many fewer than in a post IN a city.

I am just mentioning this little ramble today, because yesterday another good friend left the desert for greener pastures (and I mean that literally - anywhere's greener than here!). We thought we'd have them here until the spring, but good news came through for their orders, and they were out of here more quickly instead. Good for them, but it means we do start missing them earlier than we expected.

Now that we've actually been here a few years, we're starting to lose our social circle. Military moves come seasonally (for the most part), and the last few rounds of moves really haven't affected us. This spring though, we've been hit hard, with a lot of friends heading on to their next duty station. I know if I lose any more key people from my social circle here, I'm going to be very depressed. It's hard to rebuild important social outlets when you know your own time left on a post is relatively limited. Takes a while to really build your social network at a new place, and by the time it's nice and comfortable and established, people start scattering again! It's good for them, moving on with their careers, new opportunities and all, but it just means there are more people to keep in touch with electronically than in person. It's like that joke, "I love my computer, because that's where all my friends live"!

There is a superstition at this post that if you stop at the main gate as you drive away for the last time, and give the coyote statue there a farewell kiss, then you won't get stationed here again. Just an average superstition like any place has. But those of us still left at this post have started joking about being left behind, "If we see one more person post on Facebook about kissing the coyote...!"

Just a moody little posting today, really feeling the come and go of friends, feeling a little lonely, and needed to ramble.

Goodness, I actually finished something!

At Knit Night a few weeks ago, I finally finished my Giotto ribbon shrug :) Well, it came off the needles, but I finally got all the ends woven in yesterday. So all done now! I think I've covered some of this information before, but here it is again, now that the project's all done, in case anyone's interested. (and yes, I know the picture below is dim and blurry, but it gives you a general idea of the front of the piece - the other pictures are clearer for color and such)

The pattern is from Interweave Knits. One of their collections of free patterns. A really lovely, simple, quick and easy sort of project. The whole piece is really designed as a big rectangle. The shaping on the sleeves is a slight bell shape, and is achieved simply by changing needle sizes. Nice!

Alterations I made were really pretty small. I think I've mentioned some of them before, but here they are again. The sleeves I knit in the round. I don't like seaming, and in this case, it was an easy change to make. If you're not comfortable knitting in the round, then seaming might be easier for you, but it was a simple change to make to finish up the piece that much faster.

Also, instead of knitting straight through with one skein and then totally switching to the other, I knit with one skein through the first sleeve, then across the back I alternated between the two skeins (2 rows of each). This prevented color pooling on the back, plus meant that it was easy to tell when it was time to switch back to knitting in the round for the second sleeve - the first skein was done, so time to finish the second sleeve with what was left of the second skein! Finally, I shortened it slightly to make it work exactly for 2 skeins. This gave me a elbow-length shrug, perfect for summer evenings! And it was EXACTLY 2 skeins for this length. Perfect!

The yarn is Colinette Giotto. I like this yarn, and I would use it again, I think. Like all ribbon yarns, it does have the tendency to fold on itself, so you have to work with it a bit to get the best results with it. Once you get used to that, though, it's fun. It creates a nice light fabric, which is really comfortable. Just enough to keep the chill off the shoulders at a summer evening party, for example. Which, with this colorway, is really what I was looking for :)

Also, I used a small drop of washable fabric glue to tack in the ends of the yarn once they were woven in. They did have a tendency to slip out easily, and the little drop of glue isn't enough to be noticeable and bothersome when worn, but still keeps those ends anchored down where they should be.

Overall, I really like this shrug. I know it's probably the brightest thing in my wardrobe, and I might not have as many opportunities to wear it, but it's still fun, and I can see myself wearing it. One of those certain-time-and-place sort of pieces. And besides, I won the yarn in a door prize, and can't let nice free yarn go to waste, right? :)

M is for...

Mohair Laciness!

This is actually one of my most favorite scarves that I've made. I made two scarves out of this mohair, one for me and one for Mom. I don't know if she wears hers as much as I do, but I love mine! I love it with my denim or my corduroy jacket, since it's a nice lacy, fluffy contrast.

Another summer project from my summer abroad :) There was a lovely little craft store behind the back of Christ's College where I was studying that had yarn in there, along with all the embroidery and cross-stitch supplies. Some really nice yarn and patterns, too, and a very friendly staff. Also there was a wonderful little 1 pound bin of yarn! Lots of ends of dye-lots and things like that. Amongst the yarn I got from that bin were two balls of white mohair. The shawl I was working on that summer was getting big by that point, and I was needing a small portable project for the trips our program was taking over the weekends, s0 this was perfect!

Using the lace pattern from the purple shawl as a starting point (the shawl itself is from Vogue Knitting On the Go: Vintage Knits), I worked up the 2 scarves, one ball each. The yarn I found was Papillon Luxury Mohair, which is unfortunately now discontinued. If you're looking for an equivalent, it's a nylon/wool/mohair blend which came in 109 yd skeins. One of those simple knit-until-the-yarn's-done projects!

Like I said, I love this scarf. Even several years later, it still takes me back to that summer and the fun I had travelling about the UK working on it. Isn't that a wonderful thing about knitting projects, how they can take you back to the time that you were working on it? Memories knit into the stitches :)

Review: Exodus

One of those classics that had ended up on the Netflix queue and finally made it into the DVD player :) This one took a while to find time to watch, purely because of its length! But, at long last, here you go: Exodus.

Plot: The movie is really in two parts, but both revolving around the founding of the state of Israel. The first part takes place in Cyprus, where a boatload of Jewish immigrants bound for Palestine is being offloaded. The action follows a Jewish officer in the British army who brings this boatload from the holding camp back on board, in an effort to travel to Palestine. The officers and immigrants must negotiate through a standoff with the British blockade of the harbor before finally reaching Palestine. The second part of the film follows several of the immigrants as they work in Palestine toward the formation of a Jewish nation, both before and after independence is actually declared.

I don't know how I felt about this one, honestly. I liked it, but I didn't. Dunno.

The acting was well done, but inconsistent. It's hard to describe. The acting individually was good, but it didn't mesh well somehow. Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint in the leads are OK, but there's little chemistry between them. They both have done other roles that I liked much, much better. Newman does well with Ari Ben Canaan's hostility and drive and passion, but doesn't ever open up and become warmer, as events in the movie seem to imply that he should (falling in love and all). I guess that's why the love scenes are so awkward. They really seemed more forced than anything else.

The music was very well done. If I'm humming a classical piece in my head, it's definitely memorable. Not stuck-in-your-head-driving-you-nuts like the zither music from The Third Man (which I still liked), but just memorable in a good way.

I think what really hurt this movie's rating from me the most was the direction. It was just soooo long! The pacing is just so slow and rather, well, talky. If you're going to have a movie over 3 hours long, it has to keep you pulled in, and there were a lot of parts where it just seemed to drag on and on. They seemed to focus on more awkward things (like Ari and Kitty's romance, which I already mentioned seemed forced) but could have really developed some of the political issues, like the differences in the two factions focused on in the movie There were to brothers, separated by their views on the methods of achieving the new nation - the more extremist and the more 'political' methods of working toward the same goal. It was never really delved into, and could have been very well.

Part of what made the movie so interesting, though, was looking at it 50 years after it was made. The movie made the whole problem seem so simple, like there would be the vote, a small amount of fighting, and then there would be a whole new nation - tada! It's been another 50 years down the road, now, and they are still fighting over that area of the world. In a DVD version of the movie, I'd love to see it paired with a History Channel retrospective (or something similar), looking at how things progressed after the actual formation of the new nation.

Visually, the movie is very well done. Lots of beautiful scenery (well, as beautiful as a desert is) and old cities and so forth. But it's like gloss over an empty surface, nothing underneath (I realize I'm probably mangling the metaphors, but you get what I'm saying, right?) Without characters that you really warm to or a driving plot, pretty visuals only take you so far.

Overall: 3.5 of 5. Well done, but not epic, which you need to be at this length. Good acting, with a few stand-out performances, but still inconsistent. Very interesting history and story, which is really a large part of what drew me to the movie in the first place. Glad I watched it, but not shelf-worthy.