Ya know that "Easily entertained" thing about me? It's still true.

So I've been going through my, uh, substantial pile o'e-mails. It's one of my summer goals to reduce the pile in my inbox by over 400 e-mails. {Well, I can dream, can't I? Oh...well crimony! I've already reduced it by over 170! Guess I should keep dreaming. ;-}

So, during the e-mail perusal (excavation), I have come across a whole slew of "ya gotta see this" emails with charming, interesting, and fun links to a wide range of videos.

Yep, gonna share:

A very recent yarn-y video gift from a newish friend: "Film Muffler".

This is technically a public service announcement - but beautifully presented: "Embrace Life".

And the Louisville Leopard Percussionists kept me entertained for quite a while:
Steel Leopards: "Check Yes Juliet and Happy"

"Zeppelin!"

Simon's Cat always has something fun:
"Field Trip"

And has become something I like to check out daily:
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the day. Extremely spiffy!

Lastly, this is an old favorite: NASA/SDO's 2012 Transit of Venus
"NASA/SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit"

Enjoy!

"Chess?" and also some Yarn-ish videos

Chess? 
I was charmed by a gent at Le Buzz this morning. The husband and I stopped at Le Buzz for breakfast after a morning walk. A gentleman was seated at a table near the entrance with a chess set laid out in front of him and a sign that said "Chess?". He waved the white king at me and asked if I'd like to play a game. I declined since food was the current priority but I was tickled by the concept. 

A bit later, he had offered a game to several folks and had received a variety of polite and appreciative declines. About then, a young man (maybe 7-ish), his mom and twin siblings (about 3-ish) had come in and the man offered a game of chess to the eldest who had stopped to look at the chess set curiously. He said he didn't know how to play and the Gent questioned "Would you like to learn?". The youngling said he'd like to but he had to ask his Mom. Mom apparently agreed and the youngling came to sit cross-legged on the chair across from the Chess Gent. 

The Gent explained what the various pieces could do and offered a modified version of the game using three black pawns and three white pawns The goal was to get a pawn to the opposite side of the chess board. The Gent did an excellent job of explaining his moves and the pawn's abilities. The youngling was well engrossed and did an excellent job mastering the short version of the game. By this time, the Mom and younger siblings had joined them at a nearby table. Mom was pretty nifty, recognizing this opportunity for her son to learn a bit about chess. She had the younger ones start on their take-home breakfasts and encouraged the elder son in his play. The smaller of the twins came to "help" the big brother and was briefly pulled up on his brother's lap to watch closer. The twin-ling shortly went back to eating breakfast with Mom, the cinnamon roll being more enticing. After both players had each won a few rounds of the pawn-only version of the game, the Chess Gent added a Rook to the play. Again, he did an excellent job explaining the moves/rules and kept the game fun and interesting for the Youngling. They stopped after about 15-20 minutes and Mom thanked the Chess Gent and collected everyone to head out. I had found the episode to be very heartening and spiffy and offered a "Well played, gentlemen!" to the players as we passed by on our way out. 

Yarn-y Goodness

A friend recently sent me this well-known knitterly video so I thought I'd share it with you-all. 

The Last Knit by anneke: 

The above video reminded me of a few of my other favorite Yarn-y videos that I had originally shared here in 2010:

I still LOVE this Natural Gas Commercial featuring Knitting: 

And I am still smitten with the skill, grace and strength displayed by one of the last rug felters in Iran courtesy of Peace Industry: 

 Lastly, just in case the movie sold out before I could get there next Wednesday, I picked up my ticket for next week's showing of "YARN" at the Loft Theater. 

Happy Dance!

A Streak of Similar Happenstance

Do things happen in your life that almost seem like random but related clusters of odd instances? Like a streak of similar happenstance?

This week, it was random, charming and fun videos that delighted me. Several came from the Wimp.com web site (and were sent to me by several people.)

"Kitten kung fu attacks ceramic cat". Better known as "Enemy Cat" from Karpalo77's YouTube page.
(He mew-growls like our Gryphon.)

I then fell in love with this Ceramics video I found from the American Museum of Ceramic Art.

(Please forgive me if my links go astray, the YouTube links are behaving oddly.)

"Unsung Hero", a Thai Life Insurance advertisement, is particularly lovely:
(It's easiest to read the subtitles if you click on the "Full Screen" option at the bottom right of the video insert or use the link in the title above.)

Heather at CraftLit mentioned this video in a June Tweet - Another reason to love Nathan Fillion in this Parade magazine interview: "Castle's Nathan fillion Reveals His Favorite Reads".
{whispering: "I want to see this again tomorrow" ;-)
Watch the interview and I think you'll get my pun.}:

Lastly, both Heather Ordover at CraftLit and David Reidy of the Sticks and String podcasts raved about "Weird Al" Yankovic's new album/videos. I must agree with their raves - I think Mr. Yankovic is brilliant! The DH and I have been having a great time watching these:

"Word Crimes" from "Weird Al" Yankovic.
{I'm quite sure I'm guilty of these from time to time.}

And referencing another favorite I included in the blog in February, this is "Tacky" by Weird Al:

Can't help but share the joy!

Making me Laugh

 Well, of course, the main source of entertainment in my life is … our Cats:

And other people's cats…Simon's Cat has a new video out! "Crazy Time".
(In our home, when the cats bolt around the house, pell-mell - we say the cats have "Happy Feet".)
{This phrase predates the penguin movie by several decades.}

From Reshareworthy:

• Tally the Dog thinks she's a Cat. {I can relate - I too was raised with huskies and cats.} ;-)
• Duke the Horse takes over the Kiddie Pool.
• Because of this gent, I'm craving pancakes. But the pancakes he makes are too spiffy to eat! Saipancakes!

Lastly…ok, this is a two-part bit of admiration.
I enjoyed seeing the movie "Frozen". The animation is strikingly beautiful and very well thought out.
And I have admired Idina Menzel's talents for years. {"Rent", "Wicked", appearances on Glee}
So I have been enjoying the excerpt of "Let it Go" from Frozen on YouTube.

Ah, but the credit for the video that made me laugh with delight goes to The Tonight Show.
Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Idina Menzel performing "Let it Go" - with an unbelievable range of instruments (kazoo, melodica, toy blocks, ukelele, lemon shaker…).
This version is fun, charming, and clearly demonstrates the talents of the musicians {you'll understand after you watch the video!} and Idina's amazing voice, skill and presence.
Kudos to you all and thank you!

Tea Fob Wisdom and Tonight's Soundtrack

I know I'm waaaay overdue for some blog posts. I've been dashing from one thing to the next so I thought I'd dash off a blog post.

I've been enjoying tea in the mornings before school and have saved some of the Tea Fob Wisdom gracing the Good Earth Original Sweet & Spicy tea bags to share with you:

• "To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am."
  Bernard M. Baruch, 1870-1965
• "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
  Kids
• "Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it."
  Unknown

And Tonight's Soundtrack {caution, ear worm alert!} is…

"Happy" by Pharrell Williams.   "Clap along if you feel…"

Oh - and there's a "longer" ;-) version at  24HoursOfHappy.com. 

Yep, I'm smitten again. Happy-chair-dance. Night!

#SharedJoy

A Smattering - Fibre, Irons, Knitting, Puppies, and Events

Upcoming Calendar items:

• The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show - um, well, this gets a bit fuzzy. There's the Gem and Mineral Society show, a variety of pre-shows and other gems shows, and (my fav) the Tucson Bead Show. Thusly, dates range from Jan 28th thru Feb 16th. {I think}
• !!Kniteratti!! Galina Khmeleva of Skaska Designs {and Orenburg Lace Knitting Guru} will be teaching in Tucson - March 13 & 14 in a 2-day workshop for the Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild and at Kiwi Knitting on March 15 & 16th.  I suggest folks register sooner over later to ensure a spot in the workshop/classes!
• The Tucson Festival of Books - March 15 - 16, 2014
• The 4th Avenue Street Fair - March 21 - 23, 2014

I'm sure there's a bunch more up-n-coming events - leave a comment to clue me in!

*~*
A friend brought to my attention that House Bill 2379 could cut the funding for our amazing Pima County Public Library. Please consider contacting your AZ Legislator soonest.

• Pima County Public Library news on House Bill 2379
• Straw Castle's "I Oppose Arizona House Bill 2379"
• Loving Our Libraries: Stop HB 2379

*~*
Juniper Moon Farm {nifty blog, yarn, etc} directed me to this charming blog post about a Golden Retriever caring for a Kitten
{Yep, Kleenex alert!}.
And, newly smitten with Reshareworthy, I am tickled with this Budweiser/Clydesdale/Puppy commercial. {Still got the Kleenex?}

*~*
When I went to last month's Tucson Handweaver's and Spinner's Guild Knitting Study Group meeting at the University of Arizona Agricultural Center - I found parking was at a premium and there were a wide variety of fibre-related critters already on site:
{I believe a 4-H gathering was sharing our meeting-time.}

 

 

*~*
I recently got to go to the White Mountains with a few friends to stay with another friend - where I met New Friends! {wry grin}

At a stop along the way, I saw a woman with spiffy boots of Harper Blue. {Geek-ful moment: Dragonriders of Pern, Dragonsinger reference}

One new Friend was deemed a "Keeper" and she shared this link with me: A Young Man's History of Doctor Who in 11 Photographs.

Sunrise over Show Low:

 

But the moon was still up:

Several of the New Friends were sewing these on multiple embroidery machines to create these stunning, detailed Christmas Tree panels:
(As always, please click on the photos to enlarge.)

And I finished these projects whilst traveling/retreating in the White Mountains:

 

Squishy Cowl {in seriously YUMMY-soft Alpaca} and Knotty but Nice Hat.

 

Comfort of a Friend Woman's Shawl
{pending buttons so not entirely complete}

The view as I left the weekend retreat - the IronWood Tree:
{A lotta irons have been burned out at Bear Cabin Quilting Retreats.}

I hope life is treating you well!

Sock Club and a Local Yarn Bombing Favorite

Earlier this month, I stopped in at Kiwi Knitting to visit Lynn {owner of Kiwi and purveyor of fine yarns and good company}, inhale some yarn fumes, and attend the monthly Sock Club meeting. It was pretty much a stellar day.

We had an unusually large group attending the informal knitting time that is Kiwi's Sock Club.
{wry grin - we do not police projects to ensure socks are being knit or that only sock yarn is being knit upon}.
We were joined by a few spinners and a ?sweater? class of some sort. T'was a fun and fascinating gathering of personalities, yarn, and talent.

I always meet interesting folks in our local yarn shops. A few Sock Club meetings ago, I met a nifty non-knitter who came in - with her 2 dogs - to have them measured for sweaters. ;-) And then it turned out we share Ceramics Lab at college and now we see each other often. {Typical of Tucson's 2-degrees of separation...)

The day of the October Sock Club meeting, a young lady/school teacher stopped by Kiwi to pick up some more yarn - having just come from a "Hooping" class. Of course, we asked what Hooping was - "Hooping? Is that the dance/gymnastics stuff I've seen in the Olympics?". She explained it was for fitness and dance and her passion was evident.  Not only did she bring in her adult-sized, colorful and perfectly-balanced-with-weights Hula Hoops to show to us, she did a Hooping routine for us outside in Kiwi's front parking lot! I think she was rather good and very graceful. It seems the routine she showed us is being developed to go with her Halloween costume and she will be preforming it for her students!

Whilst researching links for this post, I came across this charming and graceful video (Sapir is Hooping 2) that reminded me a bit of the live Hooping demonstration we were gifted with that day:

{I actually got pretty well distracted with quite a few videos on the Hooping.Org Blog.}

On Kiwi Sock Club day, I also took the opportunity to snap some pictures of my favorite local Yarn Bombing installation - The Kiwi Bicycle. It can usually be found near the front door unless it's raining and then it can be found in the classroom/kitchen area. I understand a variety of knitters contributed to it's creation and that new pieces are still occasionally added.
{As always, please click on the photos to enlarge.}

 

 

 

Article Flashback and Pleasant Distractions

Ya know that "recovering work-aholic" phrase in the blog banner?

It's kind of a funny phrase, but in real life it has profound consequences. 

Ha - and that phrase "profound consequences" doesn't begin to explain. {sigh}

ANYWAY...I'm spending the break-time between the Spring and Summer semesters from the Fiber Arts Degree working on the many, many half-started projects/piles/tasks laying about my home. 

Yep, that is part of the "profound consequences". When you spend 85% of your life on work, prep for work, and just a little sleep before going back to work there's not a lot of time for much else.

This morning's to-do was a pile of the magazines in which I'd marked articles to be re-read or recipes to try, etc.  The intact magazines will go to Bookman's for credit trade. The magazines that I pull recipes/articles from will be recycled. 

In an Oprah magazine was a truly lovely, funny and poignant story: "What Betty Knows". 

I skimmed through it and the feelings it evoked when I originally read it washed over me. 

Because it was so amazing, I thought "Who can I share this with?". 

You perhaps?

I think it is worth a read. And a re-read. Oh - and you might need a tissue.  "What Betty Knows" by Monica Wood

The Burnout Flashback memories that opened this blog were inspired by another article in the same magazine. 

Years ago, I used to "joke" that I just cycled through levels of burnout. {wry grin/sigh}

I'd marked the page because I represented the later stages of burnout described in the article. I'd hoped the article might inspire some recovery. 

Life intervened (love of family, health, and unemployment) to inspire burnout recovery. I do think I am returning to the self I'm supposed to be and that is a very good thing. Much more pleasant.

Here is part of the original "Stay Cool" article on the Oprah website but it appears that CNN Living may have the full version by Martha Beck under "Ways to bring yourself back from burnout".

Deep breath. Here's some lighter stuff. 

More Good Earth Tea Bag Fob Wisdom: 

"To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am." Bernard M. Baruch 1870 - 1965 {Added grin - Mr. Baruch lived to be 95 years old!}

I recently discovered "Live from Daryl's House" on the Palladia channel. 

I'd seen some of Daryl Hall's lovely restored home on an episode of This Old House and I have appreciated his music a good portion of my life. I eventually went to take a look at his show and found I enjoyed the premise, music, conversation and setting. The gents in the band are amazing and Mr. Hall is an excellent host and musician.

I must confess many of the names of the guest stars in the program guide are unknown to me. But I'll explore more and we'll see if I might know their music. 

My current favorite episodes feature Cee Lo Green and Jason Mraz. Both gents were interesting, charming, respectful, and fun in their own way. Their interactions with Mr. Hall & Co. reflected their 

Well done!

Here's the video of "93 Million Miles" with Jason Mraz, Daryl Hall & Co.
{Pssst - the discussion of the inspiration for  "93 Million Miles" is especially nifty. Choose the "Dinner - Part 2" option at the bottom right of the video-play screen.}

I am fond of Cee Lo Green's clever "Forget You" but I've included "Bright Lights Bigger City"because  they rock this song on "Live from Daryl's House". 

Lastly, this is a current favorite: The heartful "I Won't Give Up" by Jason Mraz.

Tea Bag Wisdom and Random Stuff

My morning tea has been entertaining me....
{As previously blogged, I am easily entertained.}
...with charming and funny sayings on the Good Earth Original Sweet & Spicy tea bag fob.

• The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.
  attributed to Dorothy Parker
• You're never too old to become younger.
  Mae West
• The tribute to learning is teaching.
  Wise saying from the Orient. 

Who??

I'm not surprised that Matt Smith will be leaving Doctor Who. It's been 4 years. {sigh}
It seems like he was about to be the "new" doctor just a little while ago. I was rather skeptical about that new Dr. because I didn't want David Tennant to leave. However, I did become smitten with Mr. Smith. And now Twitter is bursting with speculation and suggestions as to who should be the new Doctor. Will the new Doctor be a Ginger (red hair)? Will it be a woman? We shall see....

New favorite Series:
"Craft in America", a PBS series. It looked intriguing on Netflix so I queued it. However, the first episode I watched struck such a cord that I seem to be saving it "for later", like particularly wonderful chocolate or yarn. {sigh} I suspect heightened interest in this subject coincides with my current educational pursuits and my questioning if I might eventually qualify as an "artist". This series doesn't appear to be available on my local PBS channel and obviously I'm a few years behind so I should stop "saving it" and savor it!

Patrick Stewart - what an amazing Man. 
Via The Blogess' post today - "A Brave Fan Asks Patrick Stewart A Question He Doesn't Usually Get And Is Given A Beautiful Answer." Well done, Sir! My thanks to you.

My own "Training Marriage" unpleasantness was pretty mild compared to what many women experience. I got off lucky {and divorced} and the current DH is truly a "Dear Husband". I am blessed.

Lastly - the Trekkie influence on my blog posts continue:
I am profoundly tickled with the spiffy Trekkie (and Hobbit) humor in this Audi commercial:
{The car's not bad either.} ;-)

Thankful for Serenity - Nov. 15th

Continuing the November thanks....
(Confession: this post is possibly (probably) {definitely} influenced by my watching the "Firefly 10th Anniversary: Browncoats Unite" show I recorded a few days ago. {grin})

I am Thankful that Joss Whedon exists and that he created "Firefly".
More so that he (and the fans and the cast) didn't just let it go when the series was cancelled...
(Do you ever wonder if that decision tweaks FOX on an ongoing basis?) ;-)
And they followed "Firefly" with the movie "Serenity".

I am also thankful that the Arizona Browncoats allow me to knit Jayne Hats for them to sell/auction/raffle off to benefit the Women's charities supported during "Can't Stop the Serenity" event.

So...if I'm unemployed, where's the Daily Blog Posts?

I've been kind of wondering that myself.

In a way - it seems like a long weekend (if you don't count taking the Little Brother to the Eye Doc, my own Dr. appointments, catching up on neglected errands {neglected 'cause I'd been working on the far side of town}, studying the Arizona Unemployment Insurance Website...).

The things I'm most pleased with about my newly unemployed state: I've exercised every day save one and I'm not as reluctant to get up in the morning.

Hmmm - that's a bit telling.

The to-do list is long. Getting a job is on the list, but I'm more interested just now in hearing about the Educational Assistance Options from the State of Arizona. Yep, I'm looking into going back to college for a little while. I wouldn't mind some assistance 'bout now. We'll see what they say and what my options are.

So...gonna fix the lack of blogging (since I have some free time)? That is the plan.
I'm going to try to shift away from the current meandering long "weekend" perspective and apply some daily discipline to blog a bit more about what-all I've been up to these last few days.

Today, I caught up on some bookmarked Internet items I've been meaning to get back to, some gotta-dos and, yeah, some meandering:

• An NPR Summary about "The Lasting Appeal of Orff's "Carmina Burana". (No, this hasn't been waiting for me since 2008 - I read of it on a favored blog a few months about and searched to see what music was being praised. Not surprisingly, some of it is quite familiar - as you've probably already found.)
• Checking into reporting a Graffiti attack on our brick wall surrounding our back yard. {SIGH/Grrrrr} {Does tagging remind you of dogs marking territory?} (Cool - looks like there might be removal assistance too!)
• I tweeted out some pictures of Nikoli {"Look!It's Fall!"} & Mikale {Effect of Sunshine} and checked in on Twitter. (OK, I did get distracted for a bit with The Bloggess' recent blogs and Pinterest Board. {Wicked-clever sense of humor on that woman, I swear.})
• Checked into a Movie a friend had invited me to join her in viewing at the Loft Theater. 
• I splurged a very little to purchase books/donate to some charities via The Humble eBook Bundle (which I saw Tweeted by Neil Gaiman (also on his blog)).



They seem big to me. Need to measure recipient's feet myself. 

• I've been catching up on the video blog by MSkiKnits of SingleHandedKnits. (I'm still a bit behind. Rather like my "Sock The Vote" KAL sock knitting. {sigh} (I'll post pictures later - now it's later. Here's the current status of my STV socks: STV KAL.
• Last night a friend took me to a Faculty Artist Series Recital at the UofA College of Fine Arts School of Music. Mark Votapek (cello) and John Milbauer (piano) performed at Holsclaw Hall. It was a lovely evening and I'll be looking into attending more of these {some} inexpensive treasures. (My first time at Holsclaw Hall - there's a picture to pull into this post...)   

Pre-concert view. (I'd like to go hear
the organ played sometime!)

Whups - Accidental photo of my concert knitting. 

• As already noted, I checked into old-job exodus updates and new-job/schooling options.
• The list goes on and ONLY gets more boring as I type. Stopping with the bullets now.

This afternoon's plot - HAIRCUT!! (Those of you who have experienced the bit-shaggy, unruly escapades of curly hair can relate to the joy of a pending haircut when you Really need it!).
Then - errands, graffiti picture-taking, baby-sweater seaming, and possibly a $1.50 movie outing!

{wry grin} I do appear to be a cheap date.

Have a good Tuesday folks!

Damnation! CSTS Reminder and I am totally Smitten with....

"Damnation"is one of my favored pseudo expletives.

I am applying it here in relation to the"Big Damn Heroes" of Firefly/Serenity and my recent addiction to "The Piano Guys"music.

CSTS = "Can't Stop the Serenity" Event by the Arizona Browncoats Group. 
I posted a blog about the Phoenix and Tucson "Can't Stop the Serenity" event a couple of months ago. The time is nigh for the Tucson event (Phoenix had theirs earlier this week).
This coming weekend, 6 PM at the Fox Theater downtown Tucson.
It'll be quite the Shindig. Come along if you've a mind to.  

"The Piano Guys" = music that is taking over my "Top 25 Most Played" list on my iTouch. 
 I posted a blog with 3 links to spiffy videos/music from "The Piano Guys" about 10 days ago.

One of the tracks on their album (#3 specifically) has become a Happy-chair-dance addiction for me. Ok, I tap my feet and dance a bit to this no matter where I am (and I don't dance).
It Works for me. Makes me smile, cry (generally happy tears), tap feet/fingers, chair-dance, miss folks that have passed on....it certainly catches me emotionally.
Per iTunes, I've listened to this 108 times in the last 12 days. (Yeah, what iTunes doesn't know is that most of those plays happened in the last 3 days...and then there's all the times I've listened to the video on YouTube).

There's a few songs that affect me that way. I should track them down to inflict them upon the blog. It would be very interesting to see if that music affect others that way too. Let me know what you think!

Anyway, this is "The Piano Guys" cover of "Without You".
I've heard the original by David Guetta/Usher a few times and it is quite nice. But it's not this combination of piano, cello, vocals, percussion, and .... - yeah, I'll stop typing.    Go listen.
Pick up the album if you've a mind to. ;-)

Note - as confessed my blog post of t'other week, I'm still pretty smitten with "The Cello Song", but it hasn't crested the "25 Most Played" list. Yet.

Have a lovely week.
(Yep, I'm still listening to "Without You" and my right foot is a-tapp'n.)
(Pssst - you can also become a Founder's Club Member for "The Piano Guys".)

More Shared Video Joy and Giggles

Just a quick post to share out fun stuff I've lately tripped over on the Internet.

I noted a previous admiration for Matt Harding of "Where the Hell is Matt" fame in an earlier "Shared Video Joy" blog post. 

I smile and cry and giggle over his videos, which I think demonstrates "Shared Joy" at it's best. 

Yep, he has another video out - you can view the 2012 Where the Hell is Matt shared dance joy on his website (along with the previous year's videos) or on the teeny version in this post (thank you YouTube and Blogger): 

I've also recently become smitten with The Piano Guys. 

Someone had "pinned" one of their videos on Pinterest and I was charmed and tracked the video back to The Piano Guys YouTube site. I found I was already  familiar with one of the members. I had some Jon Schmidt music, having been introduced via a favored podcast (apologies, I can't remember if it was "Sticks and String" or "Cast On"). 

These 5 gents are "The Piano Guys": Jon Schmidt, Steven Nelson, Paul Anderson, Tel Stewart, and Al Van Der Beek. (All visible and displaying their talents in the 2nd video I embedded below.)

Clever, funny, extremely talented, and with some terrific arrangements, I watched all the videos I could find and happily bought the music.

This one is probably my favorite. I've listened to it dozens of times, shared out the videos via Pinterest, Twitter, and now here on my blog: "The Cello Song".

This one cleverly shows how a piano is a percussion instrument beyond the expected keyboard use but they also use it as a string instrument: "What Makes You Beautiful".

Love the sense of Humor AND the music: "Me and My Cello - Happy Together".

I'll stop now, but I suggest you go explore their music and videos. More smiles, heart, and musical charm can be found in "Paradise (Peponi) African Style", "The Charlie Brown Medley", "Cello Wars" and "Bourne Vivaldi". 

Ok, ok, I'm stopping with the Piano Guys linking. Can't help it - soooo much good music!

Two more links: 

Trekkies - go have a gander at "Star Trek Continues" and at who is doing the continue-ing.

And lastly, More Simon's Cat videos are up. 

I'm gonna go knit/walk on the treadmill for bit whilst you explore YouTube -n-such. 

Have a good evening. 

More KiniaCat on the Internet

I seem to have expanded my Internet "Footprint".

Inspired to Read more by the Internet
I was Introduced to the Goodreads website by an invite from Heather Ordover, my Tri-Fold Knitters Bowl teacher who is also an author, the mastermind of the Craftlit Podcast and of Crafting a Life Originals.

I went to peek at Goodreads, became rather smitten with the prospect of something like a "Raverly" for books, and created an account - as KiniaCat. (I try to be consistent with my alter-ego names and limit my AKAs.)

I have always loved books; a love I inherited from my parents and that is shared with my siblings and friends. Reading is my original hobby. Although Knitting is now the primary addiction interest, I still love to read (sometimes while knitting!) and generally have several books underway at the same time.

But, I have to confess, I think logging what I'm reading is actually inspiring me to read more.
(It might appeal to my list-making/check-it-done mentality.
Or maybe it just gives me some "evidence"of my book-reading accomplishments?)

Inspired to Tweet. 
(I know, I never thought I'd go there either.)

When I traveled to Portland for Sock Summit 2011 (yep, more SS11 blogs are pending), I got to meet Natalie, NatKnit of the "I am addicted" blog, the "Cloudy with a Chance of Fiber" podcast, AND...she puts out a daily internet magazine: NatKnit Daily. I am agog at what this woman accomplishes - she definitely has more than a Footprint on the Internet! AND there's more...one of the things that made me think about going to look at Twitter...she hosts weekly KnitChat on Twitter. That caught my ear. It's a weekly forum on Twitter where folks "tweet"/discuss knitterly stuff (there's also a CrochetChat and a SpinChat!).

I was tempted by her Twitter adventures and put "Check out Twitter" on my Internet to-do list.
I also began to notice most of my favored Podcasters were on Twitter: The Knitmore Girls, David Reidy of the Sticks and String, the Knit Wits, and favored blogger, The Yarn Harlot has been tweeting for a while. The list of tweeting Knitterati goes on...

Yep, I finally went to look at Twitter and I created an account as... {surprise} @KiniaCat.
(Note - I'm only "real-time" tweeting when I have access to wi-fi so most of my Tweets are tardy comments.)

My original intention had been to lurk and I found alllll sorts of other spiffy people to "follow" on Twitter: the Dalai Lama, Heather Ordover, Tina Newton, Cindy from Sock Summit (Yeah!), NatKnit's Natalie, Cast On's Brenda Dane, Stephen Colbert, Cat Bordhi, Robin McKinley, Franklin Habit, Simon's Cat, Dolores Van Hoofen...the list is long and varied. Pretty much a good chunk of the people I admire, knitterly or not, are on Twitter.
(I have to say, I find the ironic contrast of following both the Dalai Lama and Dolores Van Hoofen rather delightful!)

Again, my original intent had been to lurk. And then...one of those knitterly people I so admire... "Followed" me back on Twitter. (I'm pretty sure out of sheer politeness.)

Suddenly, I felt like I was required to tweet something clever and interesting.
And my mind was a blank! I literally looked around the dining room trying to think of something interesting to say.
Nothing useful came to mind beyond "Need to refill the cat bowls" and "I really should get my sewing machine off the dining room table".

There was nothing in my mind that seemed remotely interesting. And even as I knew that they'd followed me as a kind, polite, response to my following them, the personal expectation that I needed to somehow perform/reward that following was nearly overwhelming.

So...what were my first Tweets?
You guessed it, the Cats provided (and continue to provide) cheap twitter entertainment:

"Treating cats to small lunch meat bits. CooPurr's lands on his head. He shakes head furiously. Gryphon licks lunchmeat off cabinet door."

and later...

"BTW...Gryphon has been revisiting the cabinet door this evening to make sure there is no more meat stuck to it..."

Oddly enough, I now have a few more followers beyond that first "courtesy" follow. Some are friends from SS09. And some are spiffy new-to-me knitterly types. I don't know how they found me, but I follow them back gladly when I perceive their fiber orientation and clever minds.
However, there are also...spam-y types that appear suddenly to follow me, but they seem to go away in a day or so if I don't follow them back.

I am finding that I'm getting exposed to more worldly news and fibre-articles as the folks I'm interested in tweet about topics in which they're interested. I retweet the things I'd like to remember, things with which I wholeheartedly agree, and also the things that make me laugh out loud.

So. I'm Tweeting. (still can't quite believe I went there.).  And...I like it.
But I still have a great deal to learn about Twitter and Goodreads. My cluelessness is seriously evident.

Will there be more "KiniaCat" on the Internet? I don't know.
There are some seriously clever things being created here.
However, I have realized I am spending a bit more time on the internet. Possibly more than I should.

We'll see what happens next.
It could very well be that there is already more than enough "KiniaCat" on the Internet.

(Oh, but there is this one other website folks keep mentioning that looks amazing: Pinterest.
It reminds me of "Inspiration Boards")  ;-)

Random web-charm

~ Rock Fishing ~

~ Gus' pool ~

Courtesy of PomPom's blog:    ~ Knit your own Cat! ~ 


Belatedly added - another charming dog making friends with a NYC Police Horse!

Alice Roosevelt said 

"First you're young, then you're middle-aged, then you're wonderful."

I rather like the idea that I am approaching "wonderful"!