February 20 2010

February 20 2010

Adventure of the Day
I was here, but so was a foot of 3-month-old snow plus another fresh six-to-eight inches.

You can't hear anything when you're here in the winter:
the train goes by and with the snow the sound is muffled.
There are no planes, no cars, no birds.
Snow slides off a tree branch and it makes no noise.
It begins to frighten you, after a while, the total lack of noise.
You go back into the house where you can hear a refrigerator running, the children arguing, and maybe the television or radio.
You look out the windows and enjoy the view without the oppressive silence.

I am too civilized.




Show of the Day:


Granny Square of the Day:
Being snowed in and unable to do some of the work to the practice hall or house because of the detours to prevent the roofs from caving in, I managed to use all the little scraps of yarn into one large granny square. I can't find it though, I must have left it there. I'll get a picture and post it soon. It's about 3'x3'. Pretty cool. I'll make it bigger so it will be a lovely throw.

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February 10 2010

February 10 2010

Granny Square of the Day:

Show of the Day:

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February 6 2010

February 6 2010

Granny Square of the Day:
There was snow
and I was not getting out of bed
despite my alarm set for the knitting group in half an hour.
But the girl let sunlight refracted across the house from some uncovered portion of a window somewhere in the house
let sunlight in
because she wanted reprieve from the irritations of her morning-person of a brother.
He came too.
So I got up and gathered my yarns.
He came too.
Those who were not morning people stayed in bed.
There was snow
and not a single other knitter.
He played legos; I finished his sister's mittens.
He ate a blueberry muffin; I crochetted my daily square.
We came home, wearing the mittens in the snow, bellies full.
They were still sleeping.
When they got up, the snow was gone.



Show of the Day:
Wisconsin Death Trip
"Writer/Director James Marsh's first feature, WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP, is an intimate, shocking and sometimes hilarious account of the disasters that befell one small town in Wisconsin during the final decade of the 19th century. The film is inspired by Michael Lesy’s book of the same name which was first published in 1973. "

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February 5 2010

February 5 2010

Granny Square of the Day:
Here's the square with the adjustments mentioned yesterday. It came out more like a candy cane, more like I expected.

Development of the Day:
Art Opening for the Members Show at the Grand Junction Center for the Arts. Two of my husband's pieces are on display and for sale--"It finds water" and "Lefty", two four-foot tall pieces of forged and welded metal.

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February 4 2010

February 4 2010

Teaching Link of the Day:
Body Letters
I found an ad in an old Reader's Digest and instantly tore it out as an assignment for my children to do together in some of their self-guided school time. Their instructions were A-Z, a-z, 1-9 "exercises". They not only wore themselves out giggling, occupied an hour of their time, and used their creativity and teamwork, they stretched their muscles, fought gravity, and showed off their youthful limberness.

Granny Square of the Day:

OK! So here's the stripe experiment. It looks kind of sloppy. I have some ideas to make it better. The one on the left is the "right" side and the one on the right is the "wrong" side. I crochetted the wrong side like I knit stockinette, so that both strings were on my side of the piece when I was working on the "wrong" side rounds, and were on the other side of the piece when I was working on the "right" side rounds.

Things to note:
A--these clusters are the first clusters of each round and have no center stripe because I evaluated the distance the blue string would have to travel to get there and double back. It should be just fine to do, I just didn't do it.
B--these loops occurred every round, but the successive round engulfed them.
C--Corners are tricky. I was constantly adjusting the tension as I switched between yarns and ended up pulling the blue too tightly in these spots. It's easy to forget to wrap around it if it's not right there, and wrapping around it while it's tight pulls so that the corners are uneven.




So as for making it better, I think I can go ahead and crochet like knitting garter stitch so that every round has the yarn in back. Instead of the second stitch of the first two double stitches for each cluster being the same color as the first stitch, it will be the same color as the next stitch, so the first stripe of the cluster is pink, so the yarn on the hook is pink, the loop is pink, the catch is pink, the first stitch is pink, but the second stitch is blue. Then the second stripe is blue, so the yarn on the hook is blue (the result of the second stitch of the previous double stitch) the wrap is blue, the catch is blue, the first stitch is blue, the second is pink. Because the third stripe is the same color as the chain between clusters and the first stripe of the next cluster, all the stitches of the third stripe will be pink. I think this will straighten the colors out in each cluster so the stripe effect is less muddled.

Readings of the Day:

Below are some alliterate poems for reluctant readers. It's like the condensed Fox in Sox.

Song of the Pop-Bottlers
by Morris Bishop

Rhinoceros Stew
Mildred Luton

Potato Chips
Anthony E. Gallagher

The Man in the Onion Bed
John Ciardi

Waiters
Mary Ann Hoberman

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February 2 2010

February 2 2010

This day in History:
First Groundhog Day 1887
Though this link cites an earlier date, This Day in History is still the First Groundhog Day. That's just how it works.

Teaching Link of the Day:
Current Events
Where a million things can happen around the world but the way they affect us is through filtered-down effects of effects of effects eventually attributable to a cause, which is an effect of something else, ultimately.
Current Events, where you take a peek at one tiny moment of a timeline.


Granny Square of the Day:
Oooh pretty I changed colors in a round...I think I'll try tomorrow's completely striped thus.




Random Fact of the Day:
All founding members of the band Chicago were Sinfonians from DePaul University.

Lee D. Loughnane, Kappa Phi (DePaul) ’65
James C. Pankow, Kappa Phi (DePaul) ’66
Walter J. Parazaider, Kappa Phi (DePaul) ’64
As founding members of the rock-jazz fusion band Chicago, Lee Loughnane (trumpet), James Pankow (trombone) and Walt Parazaider (woodwinds) have been a part of the horn section of the band since its inception. Each have been writing, arranging, recording, and touring for over 40 years. Their influence has led the band to sell over 120 million albums worldwide, with 22 Gold, 18 Platinum, and 8 Multi-Platinum albums. Over the course of their career, they have charted five No. 1 albums, and have had twenty-one top ten hits.

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February 1 2010

February 1 2010

Teaching Link of the Day:
Free Calendar Templates! They don't work in Openoffice, or they didn't before the updates I did. I haven't tried in the after, but if you have access to Excel then you're in business. Change the year in the top of the template, and the day and month you want to start on. For educational use only, and being that my job is all education, I am so very happy to have something that works.



Granny Square of the Day:
I wanted to try crochetting with a tiny hook and thin string. It's so..so dainty.
I noticed in the videos I watched yesterday that the instructor hooks her yarn from under, or inside her hand, while I hook it over, or from the outside. I tried her way and got some really uneven results, mostly because half the time I had forgotten to change my crochet direction. The benefit to her way is that I drop my loop less often (not a problem I had noticed before), and the benefit to mine is that I knit and purl continental, so crochetting in this pattern is natural.


Reading of the Day:
Earth, by Emile Zola
It's all about Translation. Mine was published in 1955 and translated by Ann Lindsay. Should I get the Penguin version, translated by Douglass Parmee, or should I skip it all and download it in French and find out what it really says? (Yes, I make a habit of reading books in French. It's the only connection I have with that language here in the West, though that being true I am also not as fluent as I once was.)

Below are the first two paragraphs of each version.

Vote: Lindsay's version (1) Parmee's Version (2) or skip them both and go with French (3).






See Shelfari! below, where (nearly) any novel I finish is up for grabs, just say the word. They're organized by books I've finished, books in progress, and books nearby.

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January 31 2010

January 31 2010

Granny Square of the Day: Watched the tutorials over at Meet Me at Mikes while making this. I used up all the purple, white and black within inches of the ends, and had to supplement the end with a bit of variegated from yesterday.
I have decided to join all the Winter squares (Jan Feb and Dec) into one craft, all the Spring squares (Mar Apr May), all the Summer squares (Jun July Aug) and all the Fall Squares (Sept Oct Nov). In this way, all the first and all the last will be together in one, all the worst and all the best. As I am making each square independent of the other squares, it will be interesting to puzzle them together as they all have different gauges, styles, and sizes.


Reading of the Day: The newsletter said this:

Make 2010 the Year of The Book

Always wanted to read Anna Karenina? Moby Dick? Pride and Prejudice? Make this the year that you finally tackle The Book—you know, one major classic you ought to have read at some point in your life. Take it one day and one installment at a time—you can do it! Check out our Classics for inspiration.

So I did this:

01 —of— 54

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

THE PRINCE Nicolo Machiavelli Translated by W. K. Marriott CHAPTER I: HOW MANY KINDS OF PRINCIPALITIES THERE ARE, AND BY WHAT MEANS THEY ARE ACQUIRED All states, all powers, that have held and hold rule over men have been and are either republics or principalities. Principalities are either hereditary, in which the family has been long established; or they are new. The new are either entirely new, as was Milan to Francesco Sforza, or they are, as it were, members annexed to the hereditary state of the prince who has acquired them, as was the kingdom of Naples to that of the King of Spain. Such dominions thus acquired are either accustomed to live under a prince, or to live in freedom; and are acquired either by the arms of the prince himself, or of others, or else by fortune or by ability.

Yes, you read that right. This is only 1/54 of the entire book. Awesome, huh? Get yourself one. DailyLIt.
Also, for Reading of the Day: Coming Soon: Shelfari! in my footer bar.


Shows of the Day:
Winter X Games; Avalanche/Rangers; ProBowl; Grammy Awards

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January 30 2010

January 30 2010

Adventure of the Day:
I moved my bedroom bookshelf (courtesy of my friend who moved to Hawaii) to my son's room, I moved my yarn dresser (Yes, I have a whole dresser full of yarn, why do you ask?) and craft stuff from my son's room to my daughter's closet, and the closet shelf to my bedroom. The books from my bedroom are still in my bedroom, and the textbooks/homeschooling/teaching resources from my daughter's closet are in my son's room.

That doesn't make sense, does it. I rotated the vessels in room A, B, and C. I retained the contents in room A and switched the contents of rooms B and C. Vessel A is in room B with contents C. Vessel B is in room C with contents B, and Vessel C is in room A with contents A.

That still doesn't make sense. Try this: The Point Is! I moved just about 3/4 of all the books I own today, each at least twice. I moved Large Heavy Furniture across my house. I did it by myself. My shoulders are questioning my sanity.

Reading of the Day:
It's got the graphic novel thing, and the letter-literature thing, and dramatic dialogue thing. I didn't get but a couple chapters in before I scolded myself for not moving more books.
Food of the Day: I kinda wanted cookie dough but it always involves measuring and mess. I compared the ingredients on the chocolate chip bag for cookies against the ingredients on the Krustez pancakes. It's the same, nearly, except the mix has no salt, vanilla or brown sugar and has leavening. So I measured 2 cups mix, one cup brown sugar, one cup chocolate chips, 1 tbsp vanilla, and water until it was cookie-dough consistency. I buttered muffin cups (re: leavening) and filled half way, baking (high altitude) at 370 for 12-15 minutes (I nearly forgot about them, so I'm guessing). They are lovely, better with almond milk or coffee than plain.

Granny Square of the Day:
Practicing with smoother color changes. I also found many more of my crochet needles in the "adventure" move, so I could choose something other than small or huge.

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January 26 2010

January 26 2010

Granny Square of the Day: So I've been interested in how my scanner "sees" my yarns. I wanted to see what it would do with VHS tape. I am kind of disappointed, I guess I expected a more stark black and white due to the shininess of the tape. WOO experiments.



Reading of the Day: I finished the book I will send for my Book Club (mentioned in the Thought of the Day January 4th). It's taken me nearly a month to do my part in sending my chain letters and the book. I had to pick a book to read as I had already given away all the books I've already read (that I am going to give away. I will likely not gift my copy of Moby Dick or The Woman in White, or Pamela, or...) Anyway, I hope the reciepient enjoys it. It is a good story.



Thought of the Day: I get paid to be a writer and editor. That's awesome. It's a great job. Sometimes I forget. I just go through my day all routine-like, never really noticing that everything I have I have always wanted. Not many people get to say that.

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January 25 2010

January 25 2010

Teaching Link of the Day: The Space Station

Tell me about the space missions; tell me about machines
Tell me about dogs, the moon and adventures made of dreams
Tell me about rockets and satellites and photo shots
Tell me about the lives of the ISS astronauts

Game of the Day: Hide and Seek (cheat sheet for the one who can't quite get from Twelve to Thirteen)

Reading of the Day:


Granny Square of the Day: This is a bag made of 4 squares of City Market bags. I am NOT very good at crochetting plarn. Must practice if I care to get any better.

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January 24 2010

January 24 2010

Teaching Link of the Day: Quilling, with a History
The video has rotten audio quality, but it was the only history of quilling video I could find, and it was everywhere. Someone, please make a better one, please?



Shows of the Day: InfoMania and RadioLab




Word of the Day: Stochasticity
From RadioLab:
A wonderfully slippery and smarty-pants word for randomness.
From Wikipedia:
from the Greek στόχος for aim or guess; means random. A stochastic process is one whose behavior is non-deterministic, in that a system's subsequent state is determined both by the process's predictable actions and by a random element.

Granny Square of the Day: That yellowish is actually orange, that old seventies orange. I am amazed at how un-true my scanner reproduces the color of my yarn. Maybe I will actually take photos sometime so they can be more accurately shared.

I did this color combination because of a conversation at the knitting group about the faces made by our elders at the idea that we do granny squares. I had to say--one girl said-- that they're cute squares, not those awful combinations they did in the seventies.

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January 23 2010

January 23 2010

Thought of the Day: The best advertising campaign ever: Call the Nestle Hotline at 1-800-295-0051. When asked if you want to continue in English or Spanish, wait quietly for about 10 seconds. Listen to all the options. Choose one, but if you don't choose #4 you should come back later and listen to all the options in menu #4 before making a selection.

Word of the Day: Slashdot (Effect): This is what you experience if you call the above number and get a busy signal. It means that the popularity of the fun traveling around the internet is creating a call volume too heavy to connect you. Whee!

Adventure Continued of the Day: It was my daughter's basketball game: She was a cheerleader! It was really fun to watch. Their routine was to Ice Ice Baby, which was funny because last night she could only remember it was a song something about "baby."


Granny Square of the Day: I always feel I need to make a finished edge for my granny squares. I have no idea why. I like how the variegation came out on this one, organized on one side and sporadic on the other.
Radio Show of the Day: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me! I love to get my news from comedy shows. It's exponentially more informative than actually listening to the news. Or I just pay attention, one of the two.

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January 22 2010

January 22 2010

Teaching Link of the Day: Multiplication Pictures

I encouraged the drawing of pictures of things with parts and both the 5- and 7-year-old enjoyed the project. We used number stickers--of which I have many--in place of drawing the numeral, and the older wrote the equation where the younger just labeled the number of units, the number of parts, and the total parts.

Game of the Day:


Adventure of the Day: I took my little girl to a Cheerleading MIni-camp tonight. She said, as we were leaving, that she would like to do it again next year. The basketball game is tomorrow. The kids get the half-time. It's so excited.

Granny Square of the Day: Hodge-Podge-Scraps-of-Yarn

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January 21 2010

January 21 2010

Teaching Links of the Day: Puns & Puns & Puns
Print up homophonic puns (defined below) and some sticker labels with the "real" word. Have the student cover the pun with the matching sticker. This should strengthen the connections between the different ways to spell a sound. When a reader pays attention to the sound structure of a word they are more likely to recognize those structures when they read.
"Homophonic puns use like sounds but with different spellings and meanings. This is also referred to as polyptoton. Examples of homophones are scent and sent, jeans and genes, waive and wave, and buy and bye."--from link below

New Sidebar "Pun of the Day" =>

Granny Square of the Day:
Today was a Red day. My morning shirt was red. My gussied-up-for-teaching sweater was red. My scarf was red. And the color I coincidentally chose from my dresser of yarn is also red. Quite not on purpose. It's a thinner yarn and I used a disproportionately large hook, as I tend to do. I think it's a wool, or a wool blend. It was very nice to work with. My scanner made it look orange. It is very red, instead.

Show of the Day: We just got to the episode with the homemade automatic shotgun today, and look, it's on the cover. I wonder if he keeps it through the rest of the season, or if it was just the coolest thing they could find to put on the boxed set. It is definitely cool.


Thought of the Day: People act like you're not around when they talk to others. It's frustrating. Is nothing private? No wonder small towns have that "small town" feel. People will talk anywhere around anyone.

Development of the Day: I'm down by a student, maybe two. It's a bummer. I love to work with my students; losing them for any reason other than success is frustrating. How am I to ever become good at reaching goals when I'm not giving the opportunity to reach them?

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January 20 2010

January 20 2010

Granny Square of the Day: No-show student, I'm glad I brought a hook and yarn. Larger hook than the first time I used this yarn. I was in the lobby with two women discussing the very disturbing life of one of the students--one's student and the other's stepson. Very disturbing. You can tell by how uneven the stitches are.

New "___Of the Day"
Kid Quote of the Day:
Aunt: "I see you germinated some little beans."
Kid:"Well I didn't mean to do the germ part."


Food of the Day: I really like the Mocha of the brand, so I tried this (see, it says NEW) and it was wonderful. I still like the mocha one better, though.

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January 19 2010

January 19 2010

Teaching Link of the Day: Make a Word Search
It changes the handwriting because it's not about the flow of one letter to another, it's just letters next to each other being letters. It also requires concentration and patience to write other letters in the "blank" spaces. Use a grid, though, because without, lining things up is rather frustrating for a little one.


Food of the Day: Las 2 Margaritas. No pictures. It was gut-stuffingly delicious.

Game of the Day: 3 way Cricket. The one with the fewest closures won because he consistently hit multiples of 20 before someone could close it or catch up in points. Much fun.


Granny Square of the Day: Leftover yarn from a hat I made for my boy. Still had a bit left over after square one so I made another square and made it around to the last bit of string.

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