Got Life?

Hi all who read my blog,

Urg, it's been a week since my last post.  I am so sorry!

Since then, life was pretty uneventful up until Friday night.  That's when things got a bit hairy. 

Saturday morning we had family pictures taken for our Grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary.  50th!  Wow!  My Opa (Dutch equivalent of a grandpa) says that they were 50 mostly nice years.  Oma gave him the dirtiest look.  So we had pictures taken, of all 27 of us, it doesn't seem like a large number,but it is when you get 12 adults and 15 kids together!

After that, we went out for Chinese food.  May I say that it will be a long time before I have Chinese food again.  It went great up until the chicken legs.  Not nuggets, I said legs.  Do you know how many tiny little bones are in a chicken's leg?  Now, I'm not saying that chicken legs turned me off, because I have eaten squid legs at the same restaurant, but I had eaten so many different things that by this point, I was ready to leave, politely speaking. 

Have you ever eaten squid legs?  They stick on the way down.

Underneath the plates, they had "Year of the ----" place-mats.  Apparently, depending on what calendar you are looking at, I was born in either the year of the dog or the rooster. Here is one website, that says I am a dog.  Now here is another website that says I am a rooster.  Decisions, decisions, decisions!  Which one to choose?  Or, seeing as I am a Christian already, I could copy and paste the bits that I like, and discard the ones I don't like.  I quote: "As most roosters are born pretty or handsome, they might have several loves in their lives, treating each lover seriously. If they can overcome their arrogance, they will make more progress."  That I do not like.  Again, I quote: "One born in the Year of Dog has a straightforward character. In their career and love, they are faithful, courageous, dexterous, smart and warm-hearted. Most women under this sign are appealing but lack stability. Correct this defect and good fortune will come to them."  Let me know if I need to correct this defect.  

There!  A post!  Finally!  I felt so guilty every time I walked past the computer, knowing there was a half finished post waiting for me.


-Sarah
Peace, live long and prosper.

Kingstonians

So here I am, in Kingston, knitting, drinking wine and tidbit snacks.  Some would think, "What purgatory!"  Others would think, "What heaven!"  I am in the latter.
I am working on a triangular scarf, in Noro, the Mercedes-Benz of yarn.  I have already finished half of it, and will probably have finished it before the end of the weekend.

I came across the Boyfriend Sweater Curse while knitting/reading today.  Ultimately, it argues that if you knit a boyfriend a sweater, he will inevitably dump you.  The evidence is numerous.  15% of knitters say that the curse is alive and kicking, 41% say that it is a distinct possibility and should be heeded with all caution.  One writer even goes so far as to outline a timeline on which to base your projects for the prospective husband, so he doesn't dump you.

Month 1:  Inquire after his favourite colour
Month 6:  Knit 1 mitten
Month 9: Claim you can't find the pattern
Month 18:  Knit 2nd mitten
Year 2:  Knit scarf
Year 3:  Knit hat to match scarf
Year 4:  Knit socks (there are 2, after all)
Year 5:  No engagement?  Pull out some pretty yarn and knit yourself up something special, It's time to look for a new man.

Personally, I want to have the 2nd ring on my finger before I even buy the yarn for the significant other's sweater.  Buyer beware!  You're getting 1 mitten first!

Have a story that contradicts this theory?  Let's hear it.  Comment on it.

Some random facts about Canada:
~According to the 2001 census, 42.6% of Canadians are Roman Catholic, 23.3% are Protestant, and 16% claim to have no religion.
~Alert, in Nunavut territory, is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world.

~Ice hockey is Canada's official national game.^a The modern game of ice hockey was developed in Canada, based on games that have been played since the tenth century.  (Sarah here:  However, lacrosse was the national sport up until 1994, since then, both lacrosse and ice hockey have shared the honour of national sport.)
~Canada has the longest coastline of any country in the world at 151,600 miles  
~North America's earliest undisputed evidence of human activity, 20,000-year-old stone tools and animal bones have been found in caves on the Bluefish River in northern Yukon.  (Me again, I Googled this, and this is what I came up with:  The Blue Fish Caves on the Bluefish River in the northern Yukon contain the earliest evidence of human habitation in North America. Today, some experts believe humans have lived in this region for more than 14,000 years.  Carbon dating is very much unreliable.  For instance, scientists carbon dated bones that they knew were no more than 200 years old, but carbon dating showed them to be 10,000 years.  What's up with that?) 

The list of Canadian artists are never ending.  I won't even begin to get into them, but may I point out that nobody has come from Richmond Hill?  OK, except for Elvis Stojko and Marina Nehmat.  However, Marina Nehmat lives in Oak Ridges, which, depending on what side you're on, is not Richmond Hill.

Check out my friend's blog, Reading Though Austin.

-Sarah
"Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands, and would the rest of you just rattle your jewelery?"

Random Thoughts

I am in Kingston right now, visiting cousins.  Already we have decoded a secret spy letter we wrote in "code" to each other, had a snack and ooggled over each other's knitting projects.  The letter was written 3 years ago, so we really sound like morons, but it's OK, because we were young and impressionable.  : )

Now for some thoughts:

Why is "Times Square" named "Times Square"?  Isn't that a bit redundant?

Where do chicken nuggets come from on the chicken?

Randomly we looked up "Adult Baby Clothes", and this is what we came up with.  Pretty sick, eh?  And not in the cool way.  Note 1st paragraph, 2nd sentence, and the last paragraph.  Now, I really can't tell if they are serious or sarcastic.  What is the purpose of Adult Baby Clothing?  Are you an Adult Baby?

So, I am starting a poll:  If, hypothetically speaking, I should get my hair streaked, what colour should I streak it?  Poll it out.

Here is a video that I love.  Brian Adams.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYi2lqG2u9I .  Amazing, isn't!  Pretty much sums up the teenage existence, doesn't it?

Talking about teenagers, we passed one, looking pretty fed up as hell, as my dad described it, looking pretty stressed.  With what may you ask?  Well, he must be pretty stressed with keeping his iPod, Blackberry, and laptop all in his hands at the same time, answering them all, keeping his life public, staying enemies with his parents, making sure he's dressing inappropriately at all times, and looking pretty torqued at all times.  Must be hard coordinating those muscles at once!

-Sarah
Looking torqued, and feeling good!

 

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Although my life is not as unfortunate as the Baudelaire kids, it's pretty close. 

OK, not that close, actually pretty far away. 

This morning, as I was working in a cupboard on the 2nd shelf, a most unfortunate event took place.  I turned my back for a minute to do something, and I heard a sound like running water.  I swung around, in time to see a box of beads avalanche out of the 1st shelf.  You know when water flows out of a statue or a hose it nicely curves down gracefully?  That is exactly how it looked.  The box hit the floor and the beads all bounced up in one accord, and skittered away over the floor in the same accord.  Remember, this was all in slow motion. 

You would never believe how far a 7"x11" box of beads skitters away.  Or how many seed beads are in a 7" x 11" box.  The answer is:  Too frick'n many.  Oh it was awful!  6 hours later, they were all picked up.  Half the morning and half the afternoon, gone. 

Then (to make a series of unfortunate events, there has to be more than one event), as I was walking my dog, he decided to play the plow he is after his washroom break, and started to dig with his back feet, spraying wet sand, mud, and water all over my neon yellow vest and clean jeans.  Mud everywhere.  It was gross.

I guess my life isn't so bad, it just feels like it at the time.

-Sarah
A life that is worth a telling

And You Thought It Was March Break!!

My sister and I painted our bedroom!  It is blue and purple.  A bright blue, and a more mellow purple, in-between royal and mauve.  With yellow trim.  Knock yourself out!!  I am so finished with painting.

This being March Break (of a sort), I went shopping.  And you may ask what I bought.  I bought a Fishman V200 Professional Violin Pickup.  It is a piezoelectric violin transducer, a pickup, so it picks up the string vibrations by the piezo, which is slid into the bridge, underneath one of the wings.  Pretty cool, eh?

As with most musical equipment, there are strings attached.  For effects, I have come into possession of a Crybaby Wah pedal - Model GCB-95, by Dunlop Manufacturers.  I can't wait to get started!!  Church is going to get plugged in! 

As they say, "I am so stoked!"  Or is that so 2000?

-Sarah
Turn up the music

I'm Proud

Here are some great photos my family has taken over the months:

January 2011, on the way back from camp.  I took this one myself.  It took several tries before I could get a good one.

Again, this is one that I took myself.  A window had been Jack-Frosted and it looked amazing! 

Here is another snow picture, that I took.  We were driving in the country, and there was a big barn, and antique vehicles underneath, that you could see from the road, but what struck me was the patterns in the snow.

I was at a Manafest concert, and I got this photo of Manafest.  Pretty neat, huh?  Florescent lights and everything! 

This is another photo from the same concert, I am un-biased between the two.  However, both have their qualities, this one is not foggy, and you can see a lot, but there is a head in front of the guitar.  The other photo is great, because there is nobody in it, except Manafest, and you can see lights going off all over the place, but there's something weird about it.

I have no idea who took this, but it's amazing! 

My sister took this one.  Here, a group of us towing our friend's steamboat, the "Constance".  Apparently, it was sinking the entire time.  Reassuring, isn't that?

Someone, I don't know who, took this photo.  This is our cottage in fall. 

This again is our cottage in fall.  Looks beautiful, and smells beautiful too.  I didn't take this photo.



Let me know which one(s) you like,

-Sarah
Ansel Adams, anyone?

A Stressful Job

I got a call from the Bayview Hill Pool on Tuesday, and I have been accepted on staff there!  Although I am only working Fridays from 4 - 7:30pm and the location wasn't what I had anticipated, or wanted, I have a job!  All the interviewing is done!  I still have a bit more training to go through, as in 4 more days of it, spread out over March and early April, but I'm in!  I never thought it would be so stressful while applying for a job!  I'm sure that McDonald's would have been easier, but flipping burgers has not the romance I was looking for.

When I say "romance", I mean adventure, not love.  This is interesting, because I think more in the "adventure/thrill" side of the word, than "love".  Interesting, isn't it?  I guess that's all my swashbuckling and English literature reading coming out!

Anyways, life-guarding is stressful.  I got my first taste of it at camp (Mini-Yo-We) where I work, and have been a camper for 9 years before, and let's just say I have a profound appreciation for the lifeguards that watched over me.  I was the "bad" camper, always pushing the limits, to see how much I could get away with.  Not anymore, for those of you wondering!

It is a stressful job, because you could be watching a bunch of swimmers, and first you count 13, then, after a lapse of time, you count 12, that is stressful.  Now, try this on for size:  You are taking a washroom break at the pool during lifeguarding, and you see a lady/man passed out in the shower.  You have no idea what they passed out from, only that they are on the floor, and you have no idea who they are, if they are with anyone, an if they have a previous illness or medication.  Now you have to administer treatment to him, while waiting for EMS, and filling out a victim/injury form.  All in a days work.  I am glad I work at a pool though, the lifeguards at Canada's Wonderland fish at least 30 people out per day.  A friend of mine at camp was hired there, and she declined, because of the stress.  I would only last a day. 

Anyway, ask me how I am in 2 months,

-Sarah
Saving peoples lives, all day, everyday.

Monty Python and Boredom

Here is a couple of video clips to brighten your day!  Or evening!  Depends on when you read this.  Love the little bit at the beginning, don't you?

And for those of you not yet amused, here is yet another one.  If you are easily ruffled, please leave the blog now.

How was that for laughter therapy?  Apparently, a good laugh (approx. 2min long) adds a year to your life.  That's something to think about!  I nearly died laughing today, in an episode that I will not recount for your benefit, but it had something to do with skinny pajama pants and a Corelle dish disaster.  Sounds exciting, don't it?


Hope you guys like this, add a comment so I know you were here!

-Sarah
"Help!  I'm being repressed!"

Pirates and People to Look Up To

A bit of a history lesson.  My family is Dutch/Canadian, but as it turns out, there's a bit of French Hugenot in there.  And guess what!  Pirates are actually connected with the French Hugenots!!  How exciting is that?!?!  By connected, I mean related. 

Remember in Pirates of the Caribbean:  At World's End, there was the Brethren?  And how it consisted of the 7 pirate lords?  


As the story goes, there actually was a council of pirates at one time in history. The Brethren of the Coast were a loose coalition of pirates and buccaneers, active in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. They had a base on the island of Tortuga, off the coast of Haiti and in the city of Port Royal on the island of Jamaica. The Brethren were originally French Huguenots and British Protestants, but their ranks were joined by other adventurers of various nationalities including Spaniards and African sailors.

How cool is that!  I always wanted to connect myself with pirates, and never mind how loose connection! This is great! 

Forever after this, I wish to be called Sarah Sparrow.  Please.

-Sarah
Don't you wish you were one too?

Death

Ever thought of how you'll die?  I have.  After all those movies, I think I would like to die rather quickly.  But then there's this old saying, "No pain, no gain."  Jeremy Clarkson once said, "I'd like to arrive at the Pearly Gates at 120mph.  Backwards.  On fire, with a martini in my hand."  That about sums it up.  Or the other quote that I can't remember who said, but I like it all the same:  "I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather.  Not kicking and screaming like everyone else in the car."  Yes?  Sounds pretty do-able.   
Now here's another brainer.  Have you ever thought of how someone else died?  But, while you are thinking that, have you ever thought about how you could die exactly like them?  I'll bet you did.

Here's food for thought:  In 2006, more people were killed by rampant lawnmowers than terrorists.  Now, be it that only 2 people were killed by lawnmowers and no people were killed by terrorists, it's still a very disturbing fact.  I would really like to know what these people were doing, when they were killed by a time-saving machine.  Wow!  Way to back-stab your master!

However, serious death, was a bit more numerous.  In 2006 also, 67,807 Canadians were dead by cancer, heart disease took 49,893 Canadians and suicide 3,512.  So real death, or whatever you call it, is busier than the death that killed those 2 unfortunate people.

I personally would like to die in preferably something like a car accident, where you are instantly dead.  I was once told that drowning was a relatively painless way to die.  Needless to say, this was from someone who had not experienced it themselves.  A friend that nearly drowned said it was the most frightening experience he had ever had, and that it is a horrible way to die.  Drowning is really just suffocation. 

I know, I know, very vulgar to talk about yourself dying so flippantly, but hey!  Where's the fun in life if you don't go against some of the rules?

-Sarah
No pain, no gain

Scandelous Topics

What books are you reading?  Anything?  Nothing?  Is it looking like a iPad, but is really a book?  I know, you are too busy for books.  Me too, but I love reading, so I make time.  I'm not against iPads, in fact, I'd love to own one, but I feel you can only get the full experience from a honest-to-goodness, paper-in-the-middle book.

Right now, I am reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas.  It's the classic swashbuckling story, except that it is sad.  Nothing goes right for the hero.  But you have to read it yourself.  I would encourage buying it, not getting it from the library, because it is a good 3inches thick (I'm only 1inch in), but I'm already at my 1st renewal. 

The other book I am reading (yes, I know, 2 books at a time) is "The Edible Woman" but Margaret Atwood.  I don't know why I like it, but I do.  It something about descriptive books that I like, but not too descriptive.  If the sentence is something like, "Sally laughed a very high-pitched laugh, almost like a pig squealing, but mostly like a bell, but on the bright side of an air-horn," that is too descriptive, if you know what I mean.

Some other notable books I have read are:
Pride and Prejudice
The Scarlet Letter 
Shirley
Jane Eyre
Northanger Abbey
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Frankenstein
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
City Boy

I really like English literature.  It is sometimes a really hard slog, like "Shirley" and "The Scarlet Letter" was, or it can be a really easy read, as "Pride and Prejudice" is.  Actually, all of Jane Austen's works are really easy to read, and quite interesting.  One of my dear friends, Julia, is blogging about reading Jane Austen right now, on "Reading Through Austen": http://readingthroughausten.blogspot.com/.   She comes up with some great points, worth the read.

"The Scarlet Letter" is so scandalous a topic, I'm surprised that it got past the censors (yes, there were censors back then).  Without giving away the topic, I''ll just say that it would make your grandmother turn over in her grave, it it happened to you.  Any details past that, you'll have to brave it yourself. 

"City Boy" is very interesting, as I am from a residential camp background.  I know the title isn't what you would expect from a book about camp, but it is a great read.  Very smooth, and it goes down very fast.

On a side note, I sound like I'm advertising a nice liquor:  "Very smooth, and it goes down very fast", "You'll have to brave it yourself,"and "I make time."  See what I mean?

-Sarah
Books, not iPads

Skeldale House

As most of you know, I live quite at home here in the Toronto Zoo.  Or close to it.  My family's menagerie consists of 2 dogs, 4 cats, 1 guinea pig, 1 rabbit and 2 fish.  And may I add that this is considerably smaller than 2 years ago.  My sister had disposable Neon Tetra fish, she would get 5, they would die, she would get 5 more, they would die, she would get another 5, they would die, etc.  And it went on like this for a year!!  You would wake up in the morning, and walk into the kitchen and step on a fish that jumped out of the tank during the night.  It was so gross!  It was all hard and crunchy.  We ended up getting water snails to dispose of the remains when they died.  Those with weak constitutions may leave the blog now.

The rest of my pet life isn't so interesting as the fish. 

Here is a picture of my cat Leonard stalking the rabbit.

Leonard is about 6feet high in the picture, and unfazed.  Amazing cat, isn't he.  Here is a picture of his claws, at the same time.  You've heard of dangerous stalkers?  Here's one:

You can't really see how far his claws are out, but he is flexing those paws.  Makes me quiver just remembering!

Here are some more animals that live here in my house:

That's what Christmas break is for!  Sleeping and bubble baths!  The bathroom was an absolute mess to clean up.  There were bubbles everywhere!  You could have covered a dance floor with all the bubbles that were in the tub that day!!  On my next birthday............................

-Sarah
Cat Murley

Knitting

Hey,

Now for a post long overdue, on (drumroll please!)......  knitting!  You guys reading might not find this interesting, but stick around girls! 

Part of what keeps me crafting is Ravelry.  It is a social networking site for knitters and crocheters.  How cool is that?!?!  And kind of sad, in a way.  But still much cooler!  You can find patterns for specific yarns, find out what other knitters/crocheters used for a pattern, chat with them, add your projects, etc.  It is totally groovy!  (I've wanted to use that word for ages!)

One of my major projects right now is a sweater.  Yep, you would think it's quite large, but it's not.  It's a Aran sweater, so it's white with lots of cables.  Here is a picture of it so far.  I've only gotten about 10inches up that back panel, so I am not close to finishing it soon. 

I am looking forward to showing it off, once it's finished.  Notice the intricacy of those cables?  And the perfect alignment of those popcorn bumps?  They say, "Made with love, by Sarah", or something mushy like that, I haven't quite decided.

Colour-work!  Here is a Fair Isle Tam that I made a few years ago, very "Pow!" if you know what I mean.  It turned out a little bit big, but I wear it once in a while. 

This is a cheaper (not wool) and easier project than the rest.  Needless to say, I am a Harry Potter fan.  And also needless to say, I am a Gryffindor fan.  If I wasn't the classic sentimental, these would be my wedding colours!  Buyers beware! 

I have many other projects so far, one of them being a self-invented wrist-warmer pattern.  They aren't quite finished, but will be soon. 

If you are still reading this, good for you.  If you aren't, I'll catch you yet.  : )

Thanks!

-Sarah
Yarnaholic

Just Life

Hey all(who are, I'm assuming, reading my blog),
Some of you were telling me of having a hard time commenting on this blog.  Well, I solved this, and you can now leave a comment, either from your account, or if you don't have an account from one of those numerous sources out there, you may leave a comment simply in your name, or anonymous.  Scary, eh?  So leave a comment that I know you've been here!

Now, on to more interesting subjects..........

You know you have a boring life when you say that interesting things are coming, and then you can't think of anything.

OK, I thought of something (there will be more tonight, after the Golden Gnome Awards, pictures, news, etc), here is a poem/writing that I wrote, probably about 6 years ago, on scrap paper.

It's kind of small, so I have also written it out for you to read.  How thoughtful I am!

The Train of Consciousness Has Left the Station

"I know you think I'm really weird,
 I'd like to run, I'm a'fierd,
That if I run, and not be tripped,
My legs and arms they shall be ripped."

"And if in running to and fro,
I, in the process catch a beau,
All my work is not in vain,
My beau and I will catch the train."

"I shot an arrow in the air,
It came down fast and struck a hare.
Around the hare it went,
The shaft, it's axis it almost bent.
The hare, he scolded, "This isn't......."


Pretty neat, eh?  Unfortunately, the 3rd (and maybe 4th and 5th as well) page was lost, so there isn't anything else after those 2 pages.  But it still is a masterpiece in itself, isn't it?  I was a child prodigy.

-Sarah
Mozart

Sequel to the Bigfoot Challenge

Remember I said that my leader for the Bigfoot Challenge landed a face-plant?  Here is the YouTube video that one of our friends took during that race.

Like that Tarzan yell at the beginning?  I thought so.

-Sarah
It wasn't me

The Golden Gnome Awards

Hi! 

So I just up-loaded my first video to YouTube.  Yep, I am a late bloomer, but hey!  At least I have actually done it! 

Here is the video my sister and I made, for the G.G.A. our Youth group is having.  Basically, it is the Oscars, but instead of getting an Oscar, you get a golden garden gnome.  Yeah, really.  Actually, I am really excited for it!  (It's a red-carpet event!!!) 

Pretty cool, eh?  Let me know what you think.  I think it's pretty good, but you know, my opinion doesn't always count. 


-Sarah
Hollywood producer!

Violin and the Beatles

I just broke my own pledge to write every day.  Yesterday, things just piled up at the end.  When I got home from the stable at 7pm, I still had to eat dinner, practice violin (for min. 1 1/2hours), work on theory for violin, edit a video my sister and I are working on (more on that later), and freak out about band practice tonight.  Now, mind you, I have no right to freak out about band practice, it's just that I am the only violin on the team, so I really need to make an entrance, and to do that, I need to pre-practice, and for that, I need stuff to practice.  As of now, there is no set list.  I am freaking out.  (no not really, but it makes you guys pity me more!)

The idea of a violin on the worship band at church has set some people off kilter.  What I mean is, rock-violin is not that well known, so people are wary of it.  To be honest, I don't really know very much about it.  We are all learning together.  As it turns out, rock/modern-violin can be very interesting.   Here is Paul Dateh, a hip-hop artist, playing a mash-up.  Oh so cool! 

Or consider the Beatles!  Everybody thinks, "Beatles!  Intense harmonies, intense vocal dynamics, etc."  What I'll bet what you never thought about was their backing groups.  Right?  One of my favourite songs by them is "Eleanor Rigby".  My goal is to be able to play the strings section from that song, without sheet music.  I place my goals high.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a rock group that works with operas and classical pieces.  Beethoven plugged in!

I am working on my own technique, it's a lot harder than it looks.  My violin teacher, who plays with Classic Albums Live (http://classicalbumslive.com/calwordpress/), gives me a lot of inspiration, but it's kind of for me to figure out.  So far, I play the drone part, or if there is a bassist lacking, I play a deep drone.  Interesting, isn't it!  I think riffs on the violin would be so cool, but just getting the guitarists to let go might be a problem!  I have some supporters though.  This could get messy!


-Sarah
"Sarah Rigby"?