In Which We Are Not Dead

My favourite way to begin every day is by not being dead.

Some mornings it takes a few goes to make sure you aren't, but once you're certain, the day is well underway!

On Monday I checked my uni stuff to work out what I had left to do by the end of semester. My final due date for work this semester is the 16th of June, just a few brief weeks away, and there are at least two things due each week from now until then. I was thrilled, as you can imagine, and after a trill of gay laughter, got down to it. So I spent my weekend on an improperly-set up office chair, glued to my laptop, pulling 3,500 words about the Critical Period Hypothesis in Second Language Acquisition out of my arse. (For those of you who have found this blog by googling 'critical period hypothesis', I can only say sorry, try a better website.) The essay itself wasn't too bad: for a change, I had a really clear overview and knew exactly which order to proceed in. Then I just had to sit down and do so. But it wasn't my chosen way of spending the weekend, and I think the office chair did a number on my back, since I could hardly move or breathe by Sunday night. Today I spent lying on the couch with a hot wheat pack, doing more uni stuff, which is due next Monday.

Which leads me nicely to knitting. Remember that UFO parade we had? Yeah, me too. Anyway, so pleased with myself as I was for completing Mother's socks (hi Mum!) that I trotted off to the stash for something to amuse myself with. Perhaps a pair of felted clogs is in order this winter? Tra-loo, tra-lay, etc. Heavens to Murgatroyd, what's that in the ziploc bag?

And that over there?

And isn't there something on the bedside cabinet? When I called my UFOs out to present themselves, it seems some were slower in response than others. Some of these babies had been languishing for months, some for years, and their response times were slower. But I bravely embraced them as progeny of my needles, and have committed myself to finishing them off, one by one, before I start casting on anything new and/or improved. (Except those cashmere socks that I love so very very much, which I cast on using the leftovers from Mum's socks before the needles could get cool.) I kind of like doing this, clearing out the needles and making way for new creations. I'm not sure how many more I can take, though. There will be photos of the UFOs over the next few days, when my camera and I happen to be in the same room and I don't have to get up to find it (oh, the dedication of the artist).

A few other creative interests have been piqued lately, too. I had my sewing machine out in order to hem some jeans, and found myself rather enjoying the sensations: the different needles, the feel of woven fabrics and the smell of dust on the hot light bulb in the machine. I haven't sewn anything creative in years, but just recently I've begun to have a few ideas here and there about what I could do. There's a few other things I want to try my hand at, too, like bookmaking and silver clay noodling. But I think they'll have to wait until after the uni stuff begins to slow down. Until then, I'm just going to concentrate on not being dead. 16th of June, that's what it comes down to now.