Tuesday, January 18, 2011

In lieu of

a thoughtful post, motivated by rage or sorrow or humor or wonder, I'm making a bit of a list. Here we go:

**I'm tearing through a non-fiction book right now -- something I rarely do, preferring to read the "non" around the fiction (meaning it sits on the bedside table and is read in bits and pieces over a period of months, if not years) -- and it's about waves and surfing and right now Laird Hamilton. It's called The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey. I'm a bit of a freak for surfers and surfing even though I've never done it, so this book is absolutely perfect escapism and perhaps will, for me, be a bit of an obsession over the next few weeks, sort of like Ms. Moon and her Keith Richards thang.






**This website. It makes me think of an old nerd boyfriend I had in college. And he didn't look anything like Sean. But he was cool and brought flowers to my dorm room when he picked me up.


**This website because I am a nerd myself, always have been and always will be, at heart. Another old boyfriend once told me that when I wear my glasses, I'm the spitting image of Marcie, Peppermint Patty's sidekick.



**I'm hooked on the television show Modern Family. It's the only thing I'll watch right now, along with my sons. The three of us sit and roar at its zany, sweet comedy. I love every character, but I think Cameron is my favorite.



**I just saw the Mike Leigh movie Another Year. It was slow. I was struck by how close Leigh filmed the characters' faces, and no one was attractive -- so different than our American air-brushed blow you away beauty shots. It was moving and hard to watch, sometimes. I find movies about marriage tiresome. But if I wrote more, this post would be thoughtful, and I don't want any of that.



**I'm still irritated by and trying to ignore this whole astrology change-up. I'm a Virgo, and I'm standing by that.



**I'm a tad over-interested, as well, in this site and have even signed up for the communal knitting project. I started knitting in college, and the first sweater I made was for my boyfriend (not the nerd, the other one). It was a Fair Isle with about four different colors -- cream and dark brown and beige and blue. It took me forever, and when I gave it to him, he couldn't pull it over his head. The neck hole was probably big enough for a child, and this boyfriend had a huge head. What can I say? It was the 80s.






**I bought a pair of swimming goggles with the intention of going to a local community center pool and starting to swim. The one I chose is known for very large women who don't care what they look like. They're also closer to eighty years old than fifty. I hope to be a goddess there and get some exercise to boot.

23 comments:

  1. I just spit my coffee out at the sweater photo.
    I made those compulsively early 90's , the armholes gave me the most grief. I had forgotten.

    I gave away all of my knitting supplies to my sil about 5 years ago in a purge of guilt inducing bags and bins.
    I regret it sometimes. I am drawn to all things homemade and trying to stay on a budget equals pick one not ten. I picked sewing at the time.

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  2. Do the goggles match the mask? How much for a photo? ;)

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  3. 1. We LOVE Modern Family. Definitely a bright spot in our week. Hard to pick a fave character, but I think mine is Gloria.

    2. At least you made a complete sweater! I only progressed to scarves which were always left on the needles because I never learned to cast off.

    3. I'm laughing at the goggled swim-goddess image. Sometimes I think I'll go to the "Happy Hinges" water aerobics class at my local YMCA. The one for those arthritic eighty-year-olds. But then I realize they'd probably be fitter than me...

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  4. I love that you're reading the surfer book. I occasionally indulge in a trashy celebrity autobiography. My fave ever? Tatum O'Neals. Outrageous.
    I am relieved to know I'm still a Pisces. Woohoo.
    I sincerely hope that you didn't make that lovely sweater for the old boyfriend who told you you looked like Marcie.

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  5. Loved this entire posting. Love Sean Connery, then and now. There is just something about him.

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  6. My first laugh and smile for the day! I will have to check out Modern Family...we need a show to laugh at as the male group in the house is stuck on NCIS and other such shows which I watch....but miss some Haha show.

    Hey how did boot camp go? Were you the one who was starting that? Forgive me if I am wrong.

    I know I have reached a state of mind state when I start looking at the over 50 classes. Oh dear Lord when did I get wimpy? I keep thinking that between the recovery of the wrist and the stupid neck issue that I can't handle a regular class. Still I have got to do something.

    Maybe reread your post once more for the smile!

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  7. What an incredible wave! Like your interest in surfing, I am a freak for books on mountain climbing. Lord knows why?

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  8. Oh, my! You're a KNITTER?! And here I thought you couldn't get any cooler! (And no, I'm not being sarcastic!!!)

    Are you on Ravelry yet? If not, get thee there: it's a knitter's paradise.

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  9. good list! my friends are obsessed with Modern Family ... i've watched it twice and think it's funny although i don't yet get why people love it so much.

    i'm writing your interest in surfing down on my mental 'Elizabeth' board! :)

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  10. You go girl! I had to smile at your first knitting project. My first (and pretty much my last) was after college while working at The Pentagon (needed some stress relief). I made a lovely pull-over sweater for myself out of the finest of wools. It was an intricate pattern but I mastered it with a surprising amount of skill. When I finished, it wouldn't go over my head!!!!! In fact, it would have had to go over a newborn's head and remain on it's body until it grew into it--around age twenty or so.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  11. I think if I had been born and raised here,I would have so been a surfer girl and the surfers boys,well,I'll leave it just at that.

    No knitting for me,but my oldest,she is a beginner.My grandmother is smiling from above on that one.

    Modern Family ... we are addicted here and Cameron is for sure my favorite.Although the entire cast is incredible.

    The goggles blip ... laughed and related.Went to the beach with the littles yesterday ... I wore board shorts.About as comfortable as I get.

    Happy Tuesday to you, on this,another amazing Southern California day.

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  12. You've mentioned surfing often before---you're in a perfect place. I think you should go for it. Forget chlorinated pools. Ocean! Get thee a wetsuit and start learning to surf!

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  13. I was awful at surfing but great at hanging around the surf shop and beach. My first boyfriend...a surfer...was at my mini reunion this weekend and he's had two knee replacements and one hip replacement. Maybe I'm happy I never caught the wave. Since I took John Denver's advice about a year and 1/2 ago and blew up my tv I haven't been able to see Modern Family but loved it when I did watch it. Cameron was my fave also. The rest of the post made me laugh. You are too funny.

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  14. Oh, Elizabeth. Knit me a potholder. I'll cherish it forever.
    In your spare time.
    And hey- Keith was worth obsessing over! I'm sure your surfer book is too. Sometimes you just need to be able to dip into another world.

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  15. Yes, Modern Family and yes Cam (me) and Manny (the Surfer) as for The Wave it has already passed through the hands of several of the giant surfer children. Laird is a god of our house. One of many.

    I can only knit a straight row. My son had to show me how to cast off but I love the comfort of it especially if the wool is soft.

    Love this post.
    xo

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  16. You are a Goddess, of course.

    I like knitting. But I don't know any stitches beyond the basics and am totally impressed with those big projects.

    The whole astrology thing pisses me right off. I'm a Leo. Not changing.

    I can't do a thoughtful or sorrowful or any kind of post these days.

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  17. You had me at swimming...and you know I am rooting for you!!!!!!!

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  18. Great list.

    Modern Family, yes. Cam is my fave too, so insecure and beautiful, and I kind of love the bewildered dark haired dad, too. The episodes go by too quickly, though. I always want more more more.

    Maggie May, I had to watch the show three or four times to get really grounded in the characters, and then I couldn't get enough of them.

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  19. For knitting and smart wit you must try my frined Ann Meador Shayne's blog, http://www.masondixonknitting.com/ Brilliant! Read her post from Paris over the break and you'll know why I love her and her brilliant husband and great boys. She and Hartley were at Davidson together. Jon's alter ego is Merle Hazard, http://www.merlehazard.com/Merle_Hazard/Home.html, frequently referenced by financial columnist Paul Solman on The News Hour on PBS!

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  20. I love this post! Every little bit of it :)

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  21. I haven't been brave enough to watch a Mike Leigh film for years, a may give this one a go.

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  22. I swear I recognize that sweater pattern!! I knit several ill fitting fair isles in the late 80s. One was so big that my friend could fit his girlfriend in too and he still teases me. I now only knit things that don't have to fit. (felted bags, and a Christmas stocking every other year or so)

    I married the nerd and he loves Modern Family too.

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