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"?