Whew! It has been a long week. I am looking longingly at a cup of tea, my bed, and a book (for fifteen minutes until I fall asleep!)
The shop has been a great thing for me. A vision in pinks and oranges. It got me back into the world of regular, on-going work after my extended hiatus and it introduced me to a fantastic group of knitters. I am going to miss this job. As much as I will miss having a steady income, I am really going to miss the feeling of coming into this little oasis of aesthetic warmth and charm. It is a place to relax, where you can choose to slow things down. I found a couple of photos I took a few months back; one caught a glimpse of my camera-shy co-worker (and friend), Olia. She is a master knitter who has taught me tons of tips and can hold a darn good conversation about the French theorists; she is a true academic at heart. While there will always be yarn and needles, it is hard to find a place that connects people the way the Knit Cafe has shown me is possible. 
Thank you for this, KT.
I have spring on the brain. Everyday I watch for signs of new life among my potted friends. Things planted from seeds are slow-to-grow, which might explain why I can't remember the last time I tried to grow from seeds. huh. While those seeds are still being shy, I was greeted by these brightly smelling buds. Not the dafodils I was waiting for, but I'll take 'em.
This would be my new favorite thing if not for this next item....
As you can see, our deer likes the flowers too. We hung them up high enough so that she can't eat any of them, only look at them and enjoy the colors.
It is that time of year again -- as if there is anyone who doesn't know that the Academy Awards are happening! Maybe I am biased because I live in tinseltown and have helicopters doing laps overhead for hours already. I have actually been trying to write and get some work done. The goal is to take less than 80 years to finish my PhD(!!) heh heh.
I am ready to take a break from grant writing and spend some time on the couch with Miriam and watch the 80th Academy Awards. For the first time in years I am not taping the show for later discourse analysis. Maybe I am turning over a new leaf??
There is energy happening. Yesterday I could feel it more palpably. The outcomes last night felt kind of anti-climactic, but I am still hopeful. I am really enjoying the art that is coming out in response to the political activity. Keep it comin'!I know this has been going around, but it looks like the site might be down...not the worst thing if it means more hits than it can handle, eh? Orion always has good things to say about will.i.am
When I went to my polling place I was able to vote with Stevie Wonder(!!) and visit with neighbors. I do live in Los Angeles; I have neighbors who I see when I go to vote. Please remind someone you know in a Super Tuesday state to go vote.
I guess I have some explaining to do since I have been silent for so long. It is the fall, and I feel like time always speeds up in the fall. This is also the time of year when I am most motivated to take things on (i.e., I am easily distracted by new projects and busy trying to make headway on tasks that have been hanging around for a while). Fall is my time of change. Maybe it comes from years of living by an academic calendar and looking to fall as the time to buy new notebooks and get a fresh start. It is when I start new jobs. It is when I simultaneously start making plans to travel and wanting to nest and stay close to home. It is even when my health, the biggest factor in my life the past couple of years, changed radically. This fall we have had visitors from our "homes", Nadia and John D. represented Portland and Iowa City, respectively, and there really is nothing better than getting to see old friends. My lil bro made the move south to start grad school at UCLA, and I have to say that I am thrilled to have him in the same city.
So true to form, I started a new job at the sweetest knitting shop imaginable, the Knit Cafe. I am there part-time so that I can still work on my dissertation, and it is allowing me to get back into shape for the world of work. It is also part of my holistic effort to finally *move* to Los Angeles. For the handful of you that read this, I think I have talked to you about my decision to shift my thinking about living in la la land. Since I arrived with an ethnographic orientation, I never really went through the process of relocating to SoCal with an intent to be here for the long term. Life intervened, as it so often does, and I finally figured out that I need to change the way I think about being here. Part of that is accepting a job without a fixed end-date; prior I felt the need to know that there was a foreseeable "end" in sight. My plants are also happy that they can be re-potted, and I might just find time to paint the bedroom. After all, I might be here a while!
If you haven't heard, it ended up being an unusual show this afternoon. Ellen took the opening monologue time to give a tear-filled explanation of why she was having a crummy day. Ends up she is involved in a messy situation surrounding a rescue dog. Needless to say, I found myself on the couch still wearing yellow rubber gloves and holding a sponge: watching. There is the curiosity factor that is a draw whenever someone who is a public figure does something totally uncharacteristic in a very public way (after all if the world was ending I figured I'd rather hear it from Ellen than the local news guy anyway). Besides the curiosity that drew me out of the bathroom mid-scrub, I also had this crazy feeling that I should support Ellen by watching. I'm not sure I can explain it better than that. She is a part of Hollywood, this system and industry that spends so much energy trying to keep up appearances, that for someone to go against the grain and behave in a normal way (i.e., having a bad day and being upset about something) is a really big deal. It wasn't a publicity stunt or a practical joke. It was a sincere show of distress and a direct address of what it takes to do a show when you have other things on you mind and your heart. All this is to say that it left an impression and I have a lot of respect for Ellen Degeneres. **Also because then she went on the host a couple and their eight kids (6 yr old twins and 6 2-yr olds). heh heh.
Since I am on a Kanye West kick I figure I'll like to this clip of him on Jimmy Kimmel giving props to Amoeba. He also talks about Murakami. Brandy inspired me to play around with YouTube. Thaks, Bran!
It is raining in the City of Angels. We have been heading towards the driest year ever with less than 2.5 inches this year. In the desert water makes all the difference, and being an Oregonian I have been missing the rain something awful. I love the sound and the smell and the cool that comes with the rain. It is not an Iowa thunderstorm, but it'll do. .jpg)
Takashi Murakami did the cover art, which is just one more reason to seek out the album. I love his work. He has a show coming to MOCA this fall and that alone was reason to renew my membership. Go art!
Somewhere I do have other shots. Once I get them transfered off of my phone I'll put them up (just for you, Bran!) The Emmy red carpet is much more compact than the one at the Oscars. There are more people in attendance, more nominees, and in my case, more names to know. If you want you can check out one of my study guides feel free; it doesn't have every category, nor does it have the presenters (...the cast of the Sopranos!!), but it does have photos, which was a plus.
