Coming and going...

• I got in to the Grad Certificate Program at USF! YAY! So in the Fall, it is back to school for me! I'm really happy about this...



• My Spring Break starts on Friday. So I'll be heading out to South Carolina that morning. I need to gather the projects I'll be taking with me... and I've got a lot of laundry and packing to do before then.



• I finally sent my HitchHiker off to Dave at the Merlin Tree to have the second treadle added. It should arrive there sometime today, according to UPS. I have no idea how long it will take to get it back. In the meantime, I have no wheel here to use...



• My friend Andrea, who is pregnant, is due in a matter of weeks! She thinks she'll be a little early, but of course, there's no way of knowing until it happens. We're all so excited for her!



• Unless my friend Maria gets a job in the next week or so, she's going to be moving back to Tampa. She's in DC right now. So, it looks like, unless a miracle happens, I definitely won't be going to DC this summer to visit with her. That kind of bums me out because DC is a lot of fun. But of course, she'll save a lot of money by being home, so that's a good thing. I'll still have to go up to Front Royal at some point to see about the Mach II wheel I want to get though...



• Must remember to upload pictures of my garden to share. It is looking beautiful right now!

The universe is speaking...

And it is telling me to make socks and mittens. I've been inundated with awesome sock and mitten patterns for the past month. We're talking a near daily occurrence here between magazines, books and new patterns on Ravelry. Clearly, someone thinks I need to make some and I'm beginning to agree with that assessment.

I just got an awesome new book from Ilana called Socks, Socks, Socks by Elaine Rowley. 70 sock patterns, y'all! And there are bunch of patterns in it that I want to use post-haste! I feel a trip to the LYS coming on quick to stock up on sock yarn. Perhaps not this coming weekend (will be too busy) but the following for sure!

At the same time, I have a major interest in mittens. Not just because of the crazy cold winter we had this year, but because I keep reading things about them in magazines and it's making me want to knit them. I think the medieval mittens from the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Piecework because they are simple and elegant looking. I think perhaps in red and white, or red and black? I also love the Brewster Socks from that issue.

And while I'm on that subject: Piecework has been publishing awesome things lately! The Jan/Feb issue, the March/April issue and the special Knitting Traditions, Winter 2010 are not to be missed! If you like really interesting articles about the history of knitting, knitting traditions/techniques from different cultures, and patterns to go along with these things, you really need to get your hands on them - especially Knitting Traditions which is chock full! Ravelry currently only has 17 patterns from it in the database, but there are actually 43 in the magazine with accompanying notes about the historical or traditional patterns they are taken from, many with full articles about the extant item or techniques that the pattern features.

I also can't wait to get up to VA this summer. If I get to go to DC again (which I hope will happen), I'll get to stop in this little VA town just off of I-66 (I think) on the way, where a woman who sells SpinOlutions wheels lives. I've already contacted her about meeting her to test drive the wheel and then - should it turn out to be as awesome as it seems to be - I'll have a new wheel coming with me to DC or if not then coming home with me on the way back from DC. I also need to send my HitchHiker to finally get its double-treadle retrofit. I keep putting off packing it up because I feel like I'm going to need to spin something desperately the minute I do, but there really is no reason to keep putting it off; it needs to be done! I just need to buckle down and do it already. Ilana sent me some yummy BFL too and I want to get to spinning it ASAP! But I want to have the double-treadle when I do, I think.

In other news, my hip seems to be all healed up finally (I cautiously say, while knocking wood, so as not to tempt the evil eye), so I should be able to cautiously begin spinning semi-regularly again (as soon as I get that double-treadle). Yay!

Knitting update...

I finished a sock! Successfully! o.O How did that happen? I'm currently working on the second one.

I've also finished the lace shawl that I was working on for what seemed like forever. I've washed, blocked it and taken pictures, but haven't put them up on Ravelry yet. I've also started on another shawl.

I'm working on a Piggle for my niece.

I've decided to make scarves for my littlest sisters. I just haven't decided on yarn or patterns yet. I'm thinking something trendy, but simple. Maybe braid cables or just a plain 1x1 rib. There are a lot of scarves in stores like that right now and they're at that age where they would probably like something very trendy.

In other news, I continue to work on washing, skirting and carding the llama fiber I've got. It's been slow going with work, but now that I'm on Thanksgiving Break for the next 9 days(!!!), I should have some time to power through the rest of it. I definitely want to have it all carded and done by the time I leave to go visit family for the holidays.

What I've been up to...

I'm going to the dentist on Tuesday. I really do think I may have some cavities. Possibly three... I really blame the acid-reflux. I'm a little nervous about it...

I've signed up for the Subject Area Exam that I have to take to get certified to teach. I'll be taking it on the 24th of October. I'm also applying for the grad certificate program at USF to help me in obtaining this ultimate goal. I have to go over to school on Monday to talk to someone about the application process.

I uploaded all the photos from my vacation. DC, VA, and SC. They're captioned and whatnot so, hopefully, people other than myself can make out what has been photographed.

Where has this month gone?

Seriously, I ask you!

Because I so don't know...

I'm headed to VA tomorrow. Well, to VA via SC, where I'll be tomorrow night and maybe the follow few days. Just wanted to let everyone know who might be interested.

I've got three bags of sunflower heads that need de-seeding but aren't dry enough yet and I don't even know how many winter squash that will be coming with me, and a whole bag of home-grown onions. Not to mention the spinning wheel, sewing machine and tons of fiber and fabric for my summer projects... Kinda crazy... My car will be as packed as packed can be.

I'll be around as much as possible here and on Ravelry, but not sure how much that will be at least for the next week until I have better access to a computer.

*hugs*

Vacation update... short and sweet...

My mom, my sister, my niece and I went up to Floyd, VA yesterday to go antiquing and we bought a rocking chair, some paintings and some dishes for the cabin, and it was snowing up there. O.O First time I've ever seen *snow* falling from the sky. It was bizarre! It wasn't cold enough to accumulate on the ground though - only 34 degrees. Today, I hung out with my sister at the bead shop she works at part-time. Tomorrow, I'm going down to Greensboro to go to the yarn shop there. It's irresistable! Truly...

Heads-up...

I'm driving to VA tomorrow for Spring Break. Lots to do around here before I go. No time for anything else it seems...

I'll be back no later than the 13th.

Updates and New Years...

It's almost New Year's Eve, today being December 30th... Today is my sister Heather's birthday. She is 13. YAY! Happy birthday, Heckie!

I've been spinning my "wine" Ashland Bay merino. Another 98 yards of worsted. It's all yarn now, no more of that roving left. I think a beret/slouch hat for myself... But this seems to be my answer for every bit of yarn I get my hands on nowadays, so who knows what it will end up being. If I'm not careful I'll spin all my stash before NaSpinMoMo on Ravelry... That's a lie... I don't think it's possible with the leaps and bounds my stash has grown by in the last month, and will continue to do so for at least a week longer, most likely (keep reading)...

I brought three knitting projects with me on vacation - I can't remember if I mentioned this before - and when I sat down to start at least one of them last week, I found I have no needles with me for any of them, despite the fact that I've brought all my knitting needles with me. And despite the fact that there is an LYS somewhere near here, I've yet to get over to it when it's open to buy some needles of the correct type and size. Fail, Rachael, fail.

But that's okay because I've found other things to do with my time. Like trolling etsy and ebay for pretty things. I've ordered four rovings, and alchemied another one on etsy (because i just couldn't find what I wanted in the right color/fiber). *facepalm* What was that about not increasing my stash until I had knit it down? That's okay though (*shifty eyes*) because this stuff is for very specific projects. At least that's the intent. I want to make socks for the boys... Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, that is. In their favorite colors. Stripes. Some thick socks to wear on cold days in their trailers or in their house while playing Guitar Hero or whatever it is that they do... Why not. I'm going to aim for a dk or worsted weight and I don't expect that to be too very difficult. I'm also making them matching hats (hats that will match their respective socks, not hats that match each other's). Yes, more hats. Don't judge me. Of course, I have no idea when I'll finish these or when I'll give them to the boys because I don't expect to go to any more conventions any time soon. Susan wants me to come with her to the Vancouver one perhaps, and while Vancouver is beautiful, I have no money for a con that expensive in my hometown, let alone one that will require the addition of round-trip cross-continental, international airfare costs. So maybe I'll give them to Jared at EyeCon again. A day ticket there, I can swing that if I really want to... I just wish they'd up their security and have the damn thing at a time of year when Jensen would maybe want to come too... But I totally understand why he doesn't and if I were him, I don't think I would either. Not that I fault Jared for coming... I guess what I mean to say is, I can see why Jared wants to come to the EyeCon conventions and I can see why Jensen doesn't and I totally support their decisions and think it's perfectly right for them to do what they do... So, yeah... Superwash roving for socks, regular roving for hats. Ordered and on its way here...

Other than that, today I'm just waiting for my parents to get here. They're on their way back from the cabin to where we live in Florida and on their way through SC, they are stopping by the Burough. They should be here any minute...

And that's about it... So if I don't get a chance to say so before then: Happy New Year! May it be a year full or rewards, love, understanding and peace.

the holidays...

So, as most everyone who knows me knows already, I'm away from home for the holidays visiting relatives in South Carolina through the New Year. Tonight is the third night of Chanukah and I just lit the candles a few minutes ago. As there are no appropriate windows here to put them in, I've got them on the table next to the laptop computer I'm typing on... Also don't want them out of my sight in case something might happen to them. I'm cautious that way. No one else is here just now. Susan hasn't come home from work yet to the best of my knowledge and Jason had to run down the hill to help a friend of his track down a doe he just shot while the chicken for dinner is marinating.

Btw, I'm copying and pasting the transliterated (and for those who might be curious what these strange words mean, the translated) Chanukah blessings here so I don't have to keep looking them up somewhere on the web every night. (I have a hard time remembering the Hebrew for the second half of it.)

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-hadlik ner shel Chanukah.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah.

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-asa nisim la-avotenu ba-yamim ha-hem ba-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who wrought miracles for our ancestors in the days of old at this season.

(The third I've copied and pasted here is only said on the first night.)

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-hecheyanu, ve-kiyemanu, ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us,
and enabled us to reach this season.

In other news, the package that Ilana sent me arrived a little bit ago. YAY! Thank you, Ilana!!!! I haven't opened it yet. It's sitting on the table downstairs with all the other wrapped gifts waiting to be placed under the tree because I was thinking maybe I should wait for Christmas... but... I'm thinking I'll go open it in a little bit since it's a gift for me, and it's Chanukah now, and I don't want to wait, I want to see what it is. Why not? Why not, indeed. :D

Home!! and Mail-box Suprises...

Finally!!

It was good to get away, but it's just as good to get home. I miss my sister and niece and all my other relatives already, but home is here, so... My cats look different, and the dog has literally doubled in size in the last two weeks. I wish I were kidding. She's almost big enough to jump up on the dining table if she wanted to and she can fly over the pet gates we have to keep her contained in the kitchen if she wants to. Not good. Mom needs to get to the dog training really quick...

I received a postcard from Ilana today. She sent it from Vermont and it has a lovely picture of a covered bridge on the front. I can't wait to show it to my mom when she gets home from work. She loves covered bridges. I'm glad Ilana is enjoying her getaway.

I also got all the back-issues of MaryJanesFarm (which is an awesome, awesome magazine, btw!). I'm savoring each of them. I just came across an article about a home from troubled teenage boys that teaches the boys to crochet to help relieve anxiety and anger issues, among other behavioral and emotional problems. They make lap-quilts to donate to old folks' homes and they make and wear their own slippers. Some of the slippers have pom-poms. With deepest sincerity (in case someone might think I mean to mock), I think this is very cool and utterly delightful, and it makes me extremely happy that these boys can be helped and that they help others in turn. They make all this stuff with donated (mostly scrap) yarn and there's an address where yarn can be sent. I'm so raiding my stash for them.

If you'd like to send them some yarn as well, the address is:

Northwest Children's Home
P.O. Box 1288
Lewiston, Idaho 83501

YAY!

I finally found some Borax (at Food Lion) and so the ants will soon be out of the kitchen. The cinnamon trick helped but now they're just in the dishwasher (of all places).

I'm in such a good mood today. I hope you all are having a good day. The sun is shinning here and I was feeling like crap the last two days, and today I feel so much better. I don't know if it's the change in weather or what, but I'm going with it.

I was driving home from the store and Corinne Bailey Rae singing "Put Your Records On" came on the radio. The image of Ianto Jones rocking out to this song inexplicably came into my head unbidden, and I couldn't stop laughing. If you know this song and you watch Torchwood, sit back and picture that for a moment if you would: Ianto rocking out to "Put Your Reconds On" (location of said rocking out is up to you). I hope you enjoy the visual as much as I did.

Have a lovely, lovely day, my dears!

First a rant about Robin Hood and then an update:

The rant (with lots of spoilers for the season finale which aired last night):

You know, I don't expect much out of Robin Hood. I don't expect historical anything from it and I think it's pretty much the medieval equivalent of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. But... still...

WHAT?!?! That was SO NOT COOL, MAN!!! I'm kinda upset by this. Sure, Marion annoyed me sometimes... Sure, sometimes I wanted the costumers and writers brought up on charges over her character's clothes and some of the things she did/said... but I didn't want her DEAD! SO NOT COOL! *pouts* Honestly, Robin Hood without his Maid Marion? What exactly are we supposed to do with that? It is so not the story... There was at least one more season that they could have dragged out their romance and it didn't ever need to end with her dying.

Also, I liked both Djaque and Will, and I'm very sorry to see that they apparently won't be back. *grrrrrs*

Lately, it seems like a lot of shows have been ticking me off with their season finales. I can't think of any others at the moment that won't be potentially spoilery to some people who might be reading this (and there are several!), but I feel like I've been left disappointed by a lot of tv lately... I know it's just tv, and really, yeah, it's just tv, but it's supposed to entertain, right? Not leave the audience going OH NO THEY DIDN'T!!! with their surprise, irrevocable twists full of what-the-fuckery... And it seems a number of series have done that lately. At least, that's my take...

And here's the update:

I'm staying at the cabin by myself now. My parents have gone back home and I'm staying until after my niece's birthday. I was really scared at night the first several nights, but I'm feeling much better about being here by myself now. It's easier to identify the creaks and groans that the house makes periodically. FYI, new log houses (and possibly log houses in general) make a lot of noise and sometimes are so suddenly loud that you'd think an elephant abruptly landed on the roof and it's getting ready to cave in. This is, apparently, quite normal, as are thumps and creaks in the walls and floor.

I was going to go to Floyd yesterday to go antiquing, but it rained all day with thunder and lightning, so I didn't risk the unfamiliar, twisty mountain roads to get there. And our kitchen has inexplicably been infested with ants. Little (but not tiny) amber colored ants that don't bite. Even though they weren't congregating anywhere in particular in the kitchen, just crawling around all over the floor, cabinets, stove and countertop, I spent all of yesterday afternoon cleaning and sweeping and making sure there is absolutely no food that could be drawing them in. But they're still a few around. Not nearly as many as before though. I didn't know where they were coming from for the longest time, but after dinner I found that they're coming up through a hole in the cabinet under the sink. Today, I'm going to try to find something not full of chemicals and yet effective to kill and/or get rid of them... Suggestions welcome...

Edit: How to make organic ant traps. Awesome!

In other news: I have been knitting up a storm! I've finished two felted bags, two pairs of baby booties, two dishcloths and two hats since I got here. I'm well on my way to finishing another two pairs of baby booties (each ball of Bernat Organic Cotton makes two). I'm also working on a scarf and another hat (both from KnitPicks). I think once I've done all that, if I finish all that, I'll have exhausted the small yarn stash I brought with me... Not sure what I'll do then. maybe move on to sewing projects...

TTFN!

We're off to Virginia tomorrow for sure. Thank goodness! Finally!! I won't have internet access until late-Thursday or Friday at the earliest, but not sure how much I'll be on except to try to post pictures. It will all depend on how fast the connection is...

So... EyeCon is coming up...

I have so much to do before this weekend, OMG!

I will be sure to report back as much as possible... No laptop to bring with, so won't be able to do anything until Sunday night at the earliest.

Today...

* I got a haircut. It is super cute! OMG! I wish I could post pictures, but I suck at taking them of myself, so pics from EyeCon will no doubt show... as long as once I've washed it and styled it myself, the cuteness doesn't go phhhhhffffttt!

* I got a pedicure. With nail polish called "Jenson Beach Jade"... Yeah, it's not spelled like "Jensen," and yeah, he's not coming to EyeCon (of which I'm actually glad; I want the boy to go home and relax for the weekend, poor darling), and yeah, it's actually named after a real place somewhere in Florida (as are all the polishes by this company), BUT! It's called Jenson Beach Jade and I love it...

* I bought an extra memory card for my digital camera. I now can take 1800+ photos or 1.5 hours of video. FTW!

Still to do:

* homework
* picking out clothes (especially for the Platinum and PJ Parties!) and packing
* find and fix my slippers (the button fell off of one of them a few weeks ago)
* buying various sundry toiletries that I need to get anyway as I am out
* laundry
* decide what crafty things I'm taking with to keep my fingers busy and out of mischief
* I'm sure a lot of other things I'm not remembering right now...

Been busy...

I went on a little trip to South Carolina and Virginia last week during my Spring Break to visit Susan and my brother and sisters and other family there. It was a lot of fun and it felt like a lot longer than just a week with all the things we did. I took lots of pictures (312 to be exact) on my mom's new digital camera, which I borrowed for the occasion.

While in Virginia, I picked out the granite for the countertop in my bathroom in the new cabin. The guy told me that it's called "Green Juparana" but I can't seem to find a picture of that online... In any case, it's got some subtle splotches of sagey green, but is mostly yellow and gold tones, with flecks or red and black in a folded pattern across the surface of the stone... It's very pretty and mirrors the exposed bedrock stone outside where the hill was cut back a bit.

The cabin itself is progressing quickly. The plumbing and electrical things are all done and the interior walls are being finished. The roof is pretty much finished as well. The flooring and ceilings go in next week. We went out and took pictures.

The back:


The front:


The hillside:


The view from the porch:


We also went to the fabric store and got things to make a shirt and a dress for me for EyeCon and a shirt and new dresses for Susan, which I think she mostly needed anyway, but is also making especially for EyeCon. It's in 16 days! Wheeee!

We also went to Yarns, Etc. in Greensboro and I got roving... I think the gray stuff might need to be picked through some more before spinning, but overall it's good stuff from a small farm, so I shan't complain. The blue-gray 30% mohair/70% corriedale is very nice... I've spun some on my Hitchhiker (which is now fixed and working perfectly) and did a simple 2-ply. See here:



And I spun up the last of the black Merino that I had... about 6 1/2 ounces...



I also bought a pound of bleached 50% linen/50% silk roving for a shawl I want to make of my own design, which I typed of before here... I'm going to spin it going for a dk-worsted weight... And I want to try Navajo plying. But first, I think I need to dye this stuff... I want light colors... I want light blue-green and very light, almost-not-there pink and I want to leave some of it natural. I have no idea how to go about achieving these colors though because everytime I've ever tried to dye things before I've been going for deep, dark colors and the only way I know how to get lighter colors is by exhausting the dyebath. Also, I've never dyed roving before, let alone roving that is silk/linen. And I don't want to fuck it up. Although, maybe it might be better to spin it, knit it and dye it afterward when it's all finished so that I can get the color placement exactly as I want it... and maybe even do something like a tie-dyeing effect... I don't know. So. Any help, suggestions or advice you might be able to give me on any of this will be much appreciated.

In other news: This Saturday, I'm going to RenFaire with my friends. It will be awesome...

*sighs*

Well, I didn't drive up to South Carolina today. The weather across the entire east coast, just about, is why... It's a mess out there!

Luckily, the bad weather should be passed by very early tomorrow morning, so I'll set out tomorrow instead.

am home...

am home... feeling really, really awful... not sure if I'm sick or it's the travel or something worse... have had a very sensitive stomach, like as in chronic heartburn/sour stomach feelings, the last several weeks and off and on for several months... could be stress... will have to go to the doctor soon and find out for sure... oh, goodie... I hate doctors...

will update with real what fun I had for the holidays type post soon... but first - tv and sleep...

I'm baa-aack...

I got back home yesterday evening from my wonderful trip to the Carolinas. I had such a nice time and it was so great to see everyone there. I really enjoyed staying at the Borough and helping get the new house (or "the hidden house," as the bitties are calling it apparently) in order. Even painting furniture when it is 105 degrees in the shade was fun with the right company, and it's good to get things like that accomplished. The antique shops in Waxhaw are awesome! I highly recommend checking out Waxhaw, NC and the Waxhaw museum to anyone interested who might be reading this. Also, the Rosedale Plantation and the Charlotte Museum of History are well worth seeing in Charlotte. Very cool places! I got a lot of decorating ideas while I was there. I'm going to have to look around in the Tampa area and see if I can find comparable items. And there's a lot going on at the Borough. I'm thinking that if I really get into the Archaeology class I'm taking this semester, if I'm good at it and do well, that I'll try to apply when they offer internship or just volunteer when they are doing digs. That would be really cool, I think. Who knows, I might end up an archaeologist yet...

Since getting home, I've been trying to get caught up on everything that I missed while I was away. The roses have totally gotten away from my mother and I have to do some major work on them before I start back to classes. The rains haven't let up a bit and the air is wet all the time, so blackspot has become a major problem on some of the in-between plants (the young ones and the very well established one seem to be free of it, but most of the ones that aren't quite established but are at least a year old have got it bad). On the good side of things, I've found that I have about a dozen volunteer peanut plants in the garden (goodie, goodie!), and the peanut harvest that I left to dry is doing well in that. The garage seems to be a very good place to dry things, much to my father's chagrin. He's said that I'm not to plant peanuts anymore because he didn't build a $10,000 third-garage for me to use to dry peanuts. But he just doesn't understand that I'm going to install some metal shelving high up on the walls so that they aren't in the way of things to use for drying things... not just peanuts, but also herbs and flowers and other things. I would have already done it, but I haven't been here. ;D So everything will be well enough. He just doesn't know it yet.

Other than the garden, the house is looking good. My parents have been working on getting all the storage space installed in the utility room and the furniture for the new den in place, as well as painting rooms that need painting. I'm going to leave them to that and work on getting unpacked and all my clothes washed and put away properly. Most of the time, they would end up where they land, but I'm trying to change my ways and be organized now.

Zinzi did come to the airport with my dad to pick me up. She wanted to see me and get me caught up on gossip basically. There is drama going on with several people of my acquaintance here in town. I am valiantly trying to stay out of it, but it is difficult when some people are actively trying to drag me into it. But honestly, it has nothing to do with me - even indirectly - and it's none of my business to get involved in it. So, I'm going to pretend that nothing is going on at all. Wish me luck with that! I'll need it!

Topics... topics... topics...

I don't know what this entry is going to be about... I've got a lot on my mind. That is not to say that I've got problems. Thankfully, I don't right now. ::knocks wood:: But this is going to meander.

Zinzi graduated this evening. Well, she had her nursing college convocation anyway. Tomorrow, is the official graduation at the Sundome, where she will receive her degree cum laude. We're all very proud of her.

Note to self: Do not wear shoes that are 2" or higher without stockings again for any amount of time. Bad idea if I don't want blisters.

Andrea is flying up to Chicago tomorrow. She will miss Zinzi's graduation by mere hours. She's taking most of clothing up there to partially move. We're all very worried about her. She was only released from the hospital this afternoon. She's been having severe abdominal issues for most of the week.

I am flying to South Carolina on Sunday. Quite excited about this... and I need to pack tomorrow at some point... and go shopping...

I'm watching a show on Discovery Science Channel right now. It's called "Metropolis" and is a series about the great ancient cities: Athens, Babylon, Carthage, Rome, etc... This one is about Rome. It's very interesting as it doesn't deal with the history or influence of the city as much as how the city operated day-to-day and the culture that ran it. It's been talking about the night life, the sewer system, the aqueducts and who got the water from them as opposed to from the Tiber, the diseases that Romans were plagued with because of the size and consequent filth of the city, the garbage dump (aka Rome's eighth hill)... All quite interesting and *none* of it was covered in my Roman Civilization course last Spring semester. tsk, tsk, tsk... This would have been more interesting than watching Ben Hur with Charlton Heston, let me tell you! (I would also add "Spartacus" and "Gladiator" to that, but I actually like those movies, historical inaccuracies notwithstanding. Tony Curtis, Lawrence Olivier, Kurt Douglas and Russell Crowe... Can it get much better than that? I don't think so...)

But this brings me to another topic: HBO is going to be airing a new mini-series/series (they talk about it like it's both at the same time, so I'm not sure if we're getting multiple seasons or what) called "Rome." It begins during the Caesar vs. Pompey civil war. Cleopatra will become involved before the end. It's going to get up close and personal with these historical figures and many others, as well as common people who are mentioned in the biographies of the famous ones. The producers are getting meticulously and obsessively historical, no matter what previous theatrical depictions of Rome would have us believe about her and her people. The set designer for example went and talked to archaeologists and historians about what Rome looked like and then rebuilt all the major sets on a five-acre lot outside of Rome in Italy. There won't be white marble everything like we've seen in every other historical film involving Rome because Romans were, in fact, obsessed with color and painted everything in bright, beautiful colors. It's going to look more like what people would think Babylon looked like rather than Rome. One of the designers said, "think of Calcutta today, and you have ancient Rome with cars and bicycles." They made all of the costumes out of the materials they would have been made of in the 1st century BCE. No polyester rags for the peasants, no aluminum breastplates for the soldiers. And this truly impressed me... Not only did they find an actor who looks pretty close to a middle-aged Caesar, but Caesar is going to actually live up to his reputation as the "wife of every husband and husband of every wife." Scandalous by Hollywood's and Middle America's standards, but accurate! Not only that - and this truly shocked me - but Atia, the mother of a 14-year-old Octavious (Caesar's great-nephew) will be trying to nudge him into Caesar's sights, among other things, in order to gain favor with Caesar. Utterly horrifying on a number of levels by modern standards, but it happened and often in ancient Rome, and that's honestly not the half of it as far as the messed up, torturous, agonizing ordeal that Roman children were subjected to for what was believed to be their own good by their parents (There were reasons that the mortality rate of children under two was 70%, and 50% from 2 to 10. Only 15 out of every 100 children born safely lived to see their 11th birthday. And since it had a population of approximately 1 million, it boggles the mind how many children were born but didn't live. "Brutal" doesn't even begin to cover it.). This unflinching dedication to extreme accuracy can only, in my opinion, deepen the modern understanding of the past (in this case, the - debatably - greatest ancient civilization of the Western world). I will be watching for more info on "Rome."

I am hoping that this will usher in a trend in historic film; that they will become obsessive in their accuracy and show the past with all its flaws and foibles, as well as all its wondrous, magical moments and beauty. Perhaps their is hope for "The Iliad" as I see it afterall...

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Vacation, had to get away...

That song has been in my head off and on since I booked my flight. I can't wait for my trip up to the Carolinas - and Virginia? - next weekend. I'm very excited that I'll get to see all my family and friends in the Carolionas and Virginia, and to catch up on their lives. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! I am *so* in need of a change of pace and space and everything... I'm getting to be in a rut, which is bad. I've been waking up too late in the day and going to bed too late at night to be healthy. I need to stop doing that. I'm going to try to go back to aiming for a 11pm bedtime and a 9 am wake-up time. Yeah... wait a second, that's 10 hours... maybe an 8am wake-up time... I've still got some organizing to do in my room and bathroom. Maybe if I engross myself in that, the time will pass faster and I will have gotten something useful done in the meantime...

Oh, good news! I found out today that I still have a job for this school year. Yay! ::cheer for me!:: And being out of town for two weeks will not be a problem. Should have probably checked on that before booking the flight, but it all worked out anyway. I drive the son of a former USF professor from his after-school day care in the Westchase/Citrus Park area to his Bar Mitzvah Hebrew prep classes at the synogogue around the corner from my house twice a week. For this, I get paid $100 a month, 9 months out of the year. This year will be the third. It's not much money, but then, it's not much work. And it's good to have "pocket change," as my dad calls it... or "pin money," if you will. :D