Category Archives: Diversions

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Time Out for Crater Lake

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Many of you know Mick and I have been staying at our house in Oregon for the past few weeks. It's been great, but we've both been feeling a bit cooped up. Today we decided to make a day trip to Crater Lake.

It's about a two hour drive through some really beautiful country. We passed over the Rogue River several times, and if you ever get a chance to take a rafting trip down it, I highly recommend it.

I knew Crater Lake was going to be spectacular, but wowza! It is amazing.

Craterlake_1 

We knew it would be chillier up there then it is down here in the valley, but I wasn't prepared for how cold it actually was. My baseball cap and pigtails weren't cutting it. Mick and I went into the gift shope and bought extra clothes to keep us warm.

Craterlake_2 

Our plan was to take a two-mile round trip hike to the top of Watchman overlook but it was closed. We drove back to the lodge area and chose a slightly longer hike to the top of a peak. Two months off of from running has taken its toll–a mile hike with a 1000 ft. rise was really tiring, but worth it.

Craterlake_3

 Mick took a few more pictures and posted them on our Picasa page. He did some gorgeous panoramas.

It was a lovely day! I'm so glad we decided to take a break.

Monday Diversion: Holding Out for a Hero

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Because there is not enough time-wasting material available on the Internet, I present you with this from the Hero Factory:

Superhero

I am the Super Solderer, fast enough to make a diamond ring in a single three hour studio visit.  Check out my huge blow torch.

What special abilities would you have if you were a superhero?  If you make your own superhero, be sure to let me know, 'cause I want to see it.

Find a Death

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I don’t remember being into mysteries or murder or the macabre when I was younger.

Although now that I think of it, I did rather enjoy the novels written by Lois Duncan, who writes some pretty amazing books for teens and young adults.  Some of my favorites were Daughters of Eve, Killing Mr. Griffin, Stranger with My Face, and I Know What You Did Last Summer.  Even now, as an adult, I love those books.

So maybe that’s when my fascination with murder, crime, and death in general started.

Which brings me to the reason for this post.  One of my favorite websites is called Find a Death and I find it utterly compelling.  It is basically a compilation of the “death stories” of celebrities and not-so-celebrities, complete with photos, death certificates, gossip, and sometimes, mementos.

William_holden_dc

The creator is a guy named Scott Michaels who has what I think is a pretty interesting story of his own.  Scott also has a business called Dearly Departed Tours, which I’ve never been on but wouldn’t mind seeing.  Maybe a good sightseeing trip for the English relatives?

Some of my favorite profiles are:

Desi Arnaz (some good gossip here)
Jackie Coogan and the Addams Family Cast
Sam Cooke
Grace Kelly

A word of warning:  Some (maybe most) of the content on Findadeath.com is not work-appropriate.  Some content on it is not for the squeamish.  Finally, while I don’t personally find it disrespectful, there is the occasional hint of irreverence about death and celebrity on this site and if you think you might be easily offended, perhaps it isn’t the website for you.

Otherwise, have at it.

Tuesday Quick Hits

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I know, I know, I owe you a post.  Preferably one that is non-political.

There are actually a whole lot of things I want to post about, but most of my writing time has been taking up with the kind of writing I've been wanting to do for a long time:  fiction.  I try to write about 1000 words a day, in addition to research.   I've mentioned this before, but the novel is set in 1678 in London and is about a female fortune teller who becomes involved in the unsolved mystery of a client's death.  The working title is Touching of the Evil but that will definitely change because it is based on an earlier story line I'd worked out and doesn't really have anything to do with the current story.

So all that writing hasn't left a lot of time for posting here, but that's okay.

To tide you over, here is a random selection of things I'm also doing these days.

What I'm Reading
One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell

What I'm Knitting
Christmas Gifts!  Can't blog too much about that because part of my limited audience might actually be receiving said gifts.

What I'm Eating
Shrimp!  I've been making a lot of things with this yummy shellfish lately.  Most recently, I made Emeril's Shrimp and Pasta with Lemon, Garlic, Chilis, and Green Onion.  It was delicious, and super easy.  I made it for a dinner party and pre-measured and prepared all the ingredients so all I had to do was throw it all together when it was time to eat.

What I'm Drinking
Sugar Free Red Bull.  I am a caffeine addict and unless someone can provide evidence that it will eventually kill me, I will remain one.  Lately, I've been drinking Sugar Free Red Bull as a substitute for coffee in the morning.  As it gets colder, I might switch back to coffee but for now I'm liking this instead.

What I'm Watching
Dexter.  I am loving it this season.

What I'm Not Watching
Californication.  We loved the first season of this show but after a couple of episodes this season, we stopped.  It was getting on my nerves.

Where I'm Surfing
I've really been loving Ravelry lately, which is a knit/crochet community.  I've been a member for awhile now but it's only been the last couple of months that I've really gotten into it.  If you haven't signed up yet and you're a knitter or crocheter, do it now!

So that's it for now.  Have a good Tuesday!

Clapotis Wrap

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Behold, one of my favorite knit projects of all time:  The Clapotis Wrap.  It’s meant to be a scarf, but it’s big enough to be a wrap.

Air

I love scarves, and I don’t have near enough of them. When I found this pattern on Knitty, I knew it would be a perfect scarf for the not-so-cold winters of Santa Monica.

Neck

Of course, I used a different yarn than is called for in the pattern, but it worked nicely:

Patons Grace
4 skeins Brown, 3 skeins Azure
Size 6 circular needles

Wrap

While it took me a couple of weeks longer to knit than I thought it would, I almost didn’t mind because it is such a fun pattern.  There is something very decadent about dropping stitches in a pattern, and in this one I got to do it every 12 rows.  Obviously, I have to get my entertainment where I can.

Head 
It’s also a forgiving pattern–at the end I had the wrong amount of stitches and I was able to easily “hide” it.  So it’s not perfect, but you’d never know.

I know I will be wearing it a lot this fall and winter!

Dedicated to the One I Love

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Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Mick, I dedicate this song to you:

Seems like only yesterday we were swaying clumsily back and forth to this song in front of family and friends.  What we lacked in dancing skills, we’ve certainly made up for in love and happiness.

Everyone says marriage is hard work, but I have to be honest, it’s not hard at all for Mick and I.  It’s actually pretty darned fun.  And just to prove it, we’re taking trapeze lessons today to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Happy Anniversary, Mick!  I love you!

Bits & Pieces

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This is one of those posts where I don’t have enough content to write about any one thing, so I’m going to include a whole lot of little stuff for your reading pleasure:

Bada Bing
Today is supposed to be warm in Santa Monica, and while searching through my drawers for warmer weather clothes, I found one of my old projects–the Bada Bing tube top.

Really, I Do Knit!
Contrary to the recent jewelry-heavy content of this blog, I have been knitting, and in fact have been rather obsessed with it of late.  Over the last week or so, I designed and knit a cute little cardigan for myself using baby alpaca.  It’s not 100% finished yet, but here is a preview:

blocking

So far my only real criticism of it is that it is a bit on the small side, especially in the shoulders.  I only had about 850 yards of yarn and rather than be sensible and buy more of it, I designed the sweater so it used about 800 yards.  Anyway, I’ll blog about it more when I’m completely done with it.

DIY Hermes Kelly Bag
Who said Hermes never gave you anything?

I’m not one of those girls who dreams of having a Kelly bag, or really, any high priced fashion accessory.  Hell, I don’t think I even knew what one was until I was 35.  Still, I dig the concept of styling my own:

Kelly Bag Pattern

This truly is the closest I’ll ever come to owning one, and I’m cool with that.  If I ever actually make one, I will definitely blog it.  In fact, I have a fab idea for this pattern, so stay tuned.

Cable Needle Holder Tutorial
From Jen at PieKnits, here is a nifty little holder for your cable needle:

Cable Needle Ring

I especially like this holder because not only is it a knit accessory, it is also jewelry.

Knit Designer “Interview”
Jen at PieKnits recently held a contest in celebration of the three year anniversary of her blog.  As part of the contest, readers answered questions then asked Jen a question.  Here are some of her answers.  It’s not an interview per se, but still an interesting glimpse into the life of a great knit designer

Loves Me, Loves Me Not Ring
You didn’t think I’d be able to do an entire blog post with no jewelry in it, did you (I’m not counting the Cable Needle Ring)?  Of course not.  That’s why I present to you this ring:

Loves Me Not Ring

I didn’t make it, but I thought it was clever and deserved a mention.

Quick Hits

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I’ve been accumulating a few of miscellaneous web links lately and it’s time to post them.

Lost Wax Casting Process
From Beth Cyr Jewelry, this is a great tutorial about the lost wax casting process, which is something I’d really like to learn.

Amazon Kindle
Mick and I each bought one of these a couple of months ago.  We LOVE them.  Instead of watching TV every night we’re reading and we’re much smarter now.  Mick wrote two blog posts about it:  Embracing the Kindle and Sharing Two Kindles if you’re interested.

Works in Progress
These photos are from Kathryn Reichert who sells beautiful jewelry on Etsy.  In this pictorial, she shows how she makes bezels for pendants.

Shapely Prose
Kate Harding’s Fat Acceptance blog.  I don’t agree with everything she says, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t make a lot of great points and body acceptance is an important issue for men and women alike.  Of particular interest is the BMI Project.

Craft Boom
Lisa Lam of U-Handbag’s blog about starting and running a crafty business.  U-Handbag always makes me wish I could sew (well, sew better).

In other news, I got another treasury today and it features some really great Etsy jewelry artists:

great_jewelry

A note about treasuries.  They expire within two or three days, so links I post will quickly become outdated.

I Love My Geek Husband

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Yesterday I got a treasury on Etsy and dedicated it to my husband Mick, whose birthday was Friday.

geek_husband

There must be a lot of geeky husbands out there because I’ve never had such a popular treasury!

In other news, the Saturday Night Special I participated in last night was pretty successful for me.  I won’t be able to do them every Saturday, because if I did, I’d have to raise my prices, but once in awhile it seems to be a good way to get some sales and generate some interest in your shop.

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