My own apple.

I am over the flu, finally. We sent out proofs for the March/April issue yesterday, so I can possibly have my life back! I do really like my job, but it runs me into the ground something awful. I am wore down and feel like someone punched me in the face. From the inside. I get a bonus day off, and am going to take it next week. I really REALLY need it. Oy.

I've been neglecting my 365 project thingie, and I know it. It's not for lack of trying. Honestly, how many pictures of me in comfy clothes sitting on a couch knitting does the world need? I've got a lot on my camera at the moment, I just need to post them. I gave up numbering them by date, and now just number them. It is staying lighter longer, though, which means I can go do outdoor things after work instead of climbing straight into pjs and a) staring at my laptop screen 2) staring at yarn and needles or C) staring at a blank page (er, I mean comics). Although, I seriously need to do #C a lot more than I have been. It's harder, much harder now. I spend all day being creative (as creative as I can be doing ad and layout design) and when I get home, there isn't much left over for me. It's exhausting work. I almost wish I worked some crappy office job or schlepping coffee or something, just so I could leave it at work and it would be minimally taxing on my brain. But if those jobs aren't creatively hard on you, they're certainly hard on the feet, or on the soul. So, I guess I am doomed until some rich benefactor wants to give me vast amounts of money to draw funnybooks all day long. And I'm not holding my breath.

Right now, I guess I just have to enjoy my apple.

bleeeech

So, I've got the flu.

I started to go in to work, and it took me about 3 tries to get off the couch and then to get out of my car and walk into work. I was there for about 3 hours before they told me I looked horrid and "paler than usual" and to go back to bed. So I did, and slept about 6 hours. I am awake now, but can't do anything too strenuous without feeling very dizzy. Typing this blog might prove too much for me right now, actually.

Yep, it is. Uhh...need to lay down....

dreary dreary

Today has been a very dreary day. The sun hardly came out at all; it finally at least LOOKED like winter, even though it still is far too warm. It's been raining, which means I am mostly down for the count. I took a sick day Thursday because of the aches and a wicked headache that only knockout drugs would cure, and also because I just really, really needed a day out. I kept thinking that I should get up and do laundry, or unpack another box (I think those unpacked boxes reproduce when I am asleep), but I stayed put in a semi-horizontal position and it helped. I read "The Memory-Keeper's Daughter", which my mom had sent home with me over Christmas, and it was alright. Good to read on a day down and out, I think.

I did have time to knit a lot, though, which was awesome. To the max. I have the sleeves and the body done on my Lucy Cardigan (link goes to pattern), and joined them today, so it kind of looks something like a sweater. I'm hoping to finish it before it hits 85 billion degrees, so I better get a move-on. I might run out of yarn AGAIN, though, before I hit the finish line. I am always running out of yarn on projects. It's annoying, then I have to track it down online, and it probably won't even match. Stupid underestimating of yardage. Oh, let's call a spade a spade- it's DENIAL. Complete denial. I must think I am either waaaay tinier than I actually am, or I think I am buying Magic Yarn of Requirement that will never run out.

Wish that really existed.

I saw Juno (abrupt change of subject!) the other night with my new friend from the office. I loved it. A lot. They didn't dance around the subject of , oh, as Knocked Up so delicately put it, "smushmorshion", and she had such a mouth on her! I loved it! Just a really funny, good movie. Soundtrack was awesome, too. We snuck in sandwiches, candy, and a giant water, and it was a very good time.

I am just glad this week is over, though. It has literally been the week that had at least three weeks snuck into it. I swear, that's what it felt like. It wouldn't END. I couldn't actually believe it when it did. And now, only one day left til another one starts...

every day

Good lord!  I'm slipping up!

It's been a few days since I last blogged.  I am trying to do this more.  I'm not going to put a lot of pressure on myself to do so, though.  None of that "I'm going to blog every single day in 2008!" because you know what?  I am both a busy girl, and what I am busy with most days isn't very interesting to very many people.  

I was thinking about this last night while I sat at Gallery Coffee (my new favorite place to be).  I had brought my moleskine with me, but no PENS (which severely inhibited my writing ability).  I thought about doing something like a journal entry a day, complete with twee little drawings to illustrate my points, and scanning it in every day.  I might do something like this sometime in the future, but not every day.  That's a lot of days.  And a lot of paper.  Then I thought about writing something, like what I was listening to that day, what i learned that day, what I wore, what I ate, where I went, etc...and the list in my head kept growing.  It seemed like an awful burden to do this every single day.  It would take all the FUN out of it.  And oh my goodness, how much time.  You know how much living I can do in that amount of time?

Probably a lot.

There's a whole slew of blog memes out there...illustration friday, self-portrait tuesday, random ipod shuffle day (no link), Project Spectrum...  They're great.  I love to see people's devotion, and their time is not wasted.  At least, I don't think it is.  I like these because they're not every. single. day.  They don't really chronicle minute details of one's lives.  They're more an exploration, an exercise in discipline.  They build up skills, let you explore what you love, and in the end, is probably very satisfying.

I have decided to take part in one like this.  Although it doesn't go on my blog, it's a small commitment to myself.  I'm going to do 365 days, in which one takes a photo of oneself everyday.  Every. Day.  Yes, it's an every day kind of thing, which I just said took up too much time... but I never said I didn't contradict myself constantly.  I've set some personal rules for myself.   If I skip a day, no big deal.  I can make it up the next day.  This isn't an excuse to slack.  I'm just going to see how long I can go and how many I end up with at the end of the year.  I was initially inspired by these videos here and here, but I don't think I want to do the same thing over and over every day.  

I'm not going to be posting them here- you can see them on my flickr set if you want to check them out.  I need to upload yesterday's and the one from day before, but it's coming along.  I think.  Hooray 2008, and hooray for commitment!

wearing down the minutes

My first full day back at work, and I haven't done much of anything for the past few hours.

Most people are still gone, and will continue to be until tomorrow or Friday.  It's a very quiet office here.  I don't mind so much, though.  Like I said, it's going to SUCK come deadline time, so I don't feel bad playing on the internets all day.

The magazine came out!  My name is totally featured on the title page, and it is very exciting.  Okay, well, it's not exactly featured, but it's there.

Soon, I have to go downstairs to the Very Exciting Orientation.  I think it's funny that I've been here since November and I am just now getting oriented.  Pretty funny, indeed.  We apparently get to watch videos about not harassing other employees, etc.  They are always so cheesy, but good for a laugh.  They are going to go over benefits, though, which I need to have explained to me.  I get health insurance! Very exciting!

Not much to report, really.  I wanted to update more, but I lead a pretty boring life these days.  I ate...mexican food yesterday?  Exciting?  And scanned some slides?  Yeah.  Not really worth it.  Oh well.  I am STICKING TO MY GUNS.

I better eat before I go sit for a long time.  Yawn.

new year

Happy, happy 2008.

New Year's eve was spent uneventfully. I went out to eat, worked for a few hours, and then fell asleep an hour into Grosse Point Blank. It was a good one, though. Today I slept in too late, made kropsu, watched the Adventures of Pete and Pete (the New year's eve episode starring Debbie Harry and Hunter S. Thompson, can you believe this was a kid's show?), and worked some more. Oh, and I got to KNIT today. And took some pictures. Yes I did.

These are some endpaper mitts that I finished a while back. They are probably the most recent thing I've finished. They've gotten a great deal of wear, even in the strange tropical south (my office is freezing). Behind them is proof I can make something grow. I bought these crappy-looking plants at Publix one day for like, a dollar, and they have now grown into trees in my window. Just about. The mint almost died a couple times, but now they are going strong. I can't believe it. The other two I went back and bought have not fared so well, however. They've mostly keeled over, but I am successful with at least two, perhaps two and a half.

I got to knit a little bit today:

I feel like the frickin' smartest person on the planet. I decided to knit a lacy little something, because I had this undeniable urge to knit something on very very small needles involving 5 different charts, and I had no good way of reading said charts without getting a back cramp very fast and straining my eyes, and then it came to me as if in a dream. I can take the metal bookstand I use in the kitchen, slap a crappy magnet on it and call it a day! And so I did. And it works like a CHARM. Seriously, I always wanted one of those chart dealies from Knitpicks, but making one makes me feel smart. S-M-R-T.

So that's been today. Rather a dull day. I'm still unpacking a bazillion things, it seems some things climb back into boxes while I sleep, but it's slowly getting there. Kind of. It's not that bad to start off the new year like this- productive, yet slightly sleepy. Man, I hope the rest of this year keeps up this pace. (yeah, right!)

If you do the new year's resolution thing, I hope you make it a good one. I've made a few of my own, but I think I'll keep them to myself for now...

home again

I am back!
It took me elevendy billion hours to come back home, but home I am. The best part was coming home and having it be 74 degrees. Why yes, I do enjoy wearing birkenstocks in December, thank you for asking. This week has been very slow. I got to take half days from work Thursday and Friday, and I'll have one Monday as well, and Tuesday off. I am spoiled. There's nothing to DO at work, as everyone is gone and there are no ads coming in to the magazine, so I am mostly getting paid to read the blogs, but that ain't a bad gig. I know that when we do start up in full swing, I will be PRAYING for downtime. Last deadline was my first, and I was tearing my hair out with the work that was coming my way. When my inbox was finally empty, I felt like crying tears of joy.

Speaking of deadlines, the new issue comes out Monday. With my wee name in the front somewhere. I am terribly excited to see it. Something to look forward to...

I feel like I got a lot accomplished today. I cleaned the bedroom within an inch of its life so it actually LOOKS like a bedroom and not like a clothesmonster threw up on it, did some laundry in the world's Tiniest Washer/Dryer Combo (seriously, the thing looks like a *toy*, but it gets the job done...sorta), and set up the wireless router so I can check email from the one comfy seat in the house. Heh.

Ah, it's nice to be home and have a place that feels like one!