Sewing

I was at Target today buying groceries and saw a mother and a couple of teenage girls shopping; one of the girls could have been me oh, about 40 years ago, I guess. She was tall and slim, had short reddish hair, was wearing a miniskirt, lace stockings and little boots, and was carrying a big fabric bag. She actually looked a little bit like me, but it was the outfit that caught my attention.

I don't do a lot of shopping for clothes, but I'm in Target a lot and I've noticed that much of the new stuff looks like the 70's--ethnic prints, gypsy dresses, floral prints, tie-dye, smocking, gauze. When I was in my last year of highschool I made a huge piece of patchwork by sewing together hundreds of small squares of fabric, then I laid a tissue pattern on it and made a maxi-dress with ruffle at the bottom, an empire waist, and little cap sleeves. Around that time my high school banned long dresses, but I would wear it when I went out on dates. Why would they have banned long dresses? I don't remember, if I ever knew.

It's just funny how clothing styles go in and out of fashion. And it wasn't at all unusual to make our own clothes. I don't know if anyone does that at all anymore. We were sitting at lunch at work one day last week, and one of the guys--who is involved in theater--said he wasn't able to wrap his brain around being able to take a flat piece of fabric and turn it into a piece of clothing.

It was a way to have new clothes that cost less than buying them ready-made, and I remember spending hours at the fabric store looking through pattern books and deciding what fabrics would work. I also spent hours at the remnant tables in the fabric stores, and a lot of my clothes were made of fabrics I found there, some were made from drapery fabrics and things like that. Both unusual, and less expensive, two qualities that I looked for.

I took home ec in high school, and I remember making a little suit out of a heavy purple and cream-colored fabric; I remember sewing corduroy, and the fuzz that would result when cutting it. I remember making maxi-dresses--that patchwork one in particular--I remember making something in an evening that I would wear the next day. I don't have the time or the patience anymore to do that, but it's nice to know I could, in a pinch.

Oh, and the girl that I saw today was wearing some kind of headband that had a long chain hanging down on one side with a charm--a leaf, I think. Something that would have fit perfectly in 1972.

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Obsession

I ran across this post this morning, which reminded me that I've been meaning to write about my latest notebook obsession: Levenger Circa.

Like the writer above, I have an unhealthy obsession with office supplies. It matters to me that the pen I choose be the right pen for the paper I'm writing on. Some paper needs a liquid ink or gel pen, some paper needs a ballpoint. And not just any ballpoint. If I go upstairs at work to a meeting a pick up my notebook, but not my pen, I'll go back down to get the pen, the right pen. I go through cycles with that, of course, finding new ones, and discovering that some of the ones I've loved have been discontinued.

Which is part of my problem at the moment. Levenger has discontinued the "Compact" Circa, so I'm currently having this internal dialog with myself regarding whether or not I have enough refill sheets. I have all three sizes of notebooks. Letter (8-1/2x11) size is for client meetings. It fits into my computer bag and has plenty of room for taking notes without having to turn pages. The "Junior" size is 5-1/2x8-1/2, and I use that one for notetaking at internal meetings and brainstorming. The Compact size (3-3/4x6-3/4) is the one I keep in my purse for notes, lists, etc., and that's the one that's been discontinued. I wish I had realized earlier they were going to discontinue it, because if I had, I would have ordered some pocket dividers.

I lucked into a special deal a couple of weeks ago where they offered the supplies to make five compact notebooks for a special price, $19.95, I think. I got five sets of covers and rings, two sets of tabbed dividers, business card holders, and refill paper--one package each of lined and grid. But no pocket dividers, and now they're out of stock. I checked the Levenger Outlet on Ebay, but they're out, too. Oh well. I just went and looked at Ebay again, and no luck on dividers, but there are several punches on there. I'd love to have one, but just can't justify the expense. Maybe some day.

Right now Levenger has a great deal on a letter size notebook with multicolor pages, so I ordered one, plus another package of compact refill paper . . . I had a coupon for 20% off, so that covered shipping. You can sometimes find coupons online (like this one), which makes it more affordable. I actually prefer the white paper to the multicolored, but I like the annotation style paper, and at that price I can make do with colored paper.

I got into this style (the Cornell method because it was created by a professor at Cornell University) of notetaking years ago, but I don't remember who made the notebooks I was using then. The lined portion is for notes, then (the way I use them) you can go back later and add notes about the notes in the blank sidebar. It seems pretty effective, and it keeps the notes more organized rather than having a lot of extraneous notes within the page.

Oh, and my current favorite pen is the "Be Green" Black XFine Precise V5 Rollerball. It writes beautifully on the smooth Circa paper.

I use my iPhone and iCal for keeping track of appointments, but I also have a datebook that I've been leaving at the office, open on my desk so I have a visual reminder of meetings and deadlines. It's a We'Moon Astrological Datebook, which makes me very happy. I used to buy them, but kind of got away from using them, i.e., I'd buy one, use it for a couple of weeks or so, then stop. So I stopped buying them, but decided to get one this year, and, like I said, it makes me very happy, and so far I've kept using it.

Aaron was in my office talking about something one day last week, and saw it lying on my desk, and looked at it, and then he said, "I still don't understand what this is." I said, it's my datebook, and then said something like, it's a new-agey, hippy dippy thing, earth religion, etc. He said, "It's got a blue girl in a ring of fire," and then we spoke-sang "Ring of Fire" in alternate verses.

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Stuff

I've been trying to be better lately about not buying things that aren't really necessary. I hardly ever buy magazines anymore, and seldom buy physical books. I do buy a few ebooks, but they don't take up much space. ;)

I've also been trying to get rid of stuff that I don't need, and never look at. Last year I sold a bunch of yarn from my considerable stash, and lately I've slowly been selling my old knitting magazines on eBay, Etsy, and Amazon, and books on Half.com and Amazon. It's terribly satisfying to list a 10 year old magazine that I paid $5.99 for, and sell it for $19.95. Last weekend I was down in the basement looking for something, and found a deck of miniature animal totem "medicine cards" that looked like they'd never been used. Just on a whim I looked them up on Amazon. They're out of print and, amazingly, there were people who had them listed for sale for over $150! Of course, that doesn't mean that they're actually selling them for that.

The cheapest one on offer was listed at $75.00. I decided not to be greedy, and listed mine for $45, and they sold tonight. I've been going to the post office every night this week with a couple of packages. It gives me some extra spending money, and clears stuff out of the house, neither of which is a bad thing.

I've yet to find anything of immense value, but you never know. And selling an old magazine for 3 or 4 times what I paid for it isn't bad.

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A list about books

Wow, I have a lot of rules.

• If I'm reading a book and I think a main character or pet may die, I peek at the back of the book and look for dialog just to be sure they're still around.
• If someone recommends a book in which a pet dies, no matter how good it is, I probably won't read it. Yes, I know that we all die sometime, but really, why put myself through that?
• I hate it when an author kills off a main character in a series, especially when I don't know it's coming.
• I love the idea of short story anthologies around a theme, but for the most part, short stories make me nervous. I feel like I'm always hurrying to get to the end, but I don't know why.
• I love long books, the longer the better. I like to get absorbed into the fictional world and live with it for awhile.
• I never read anything but fiction. I know that's dumb, but somehow I feel that life is just too short.
• I love reading series mystery fiction even though the stories are sometimes indistinguishable from each other.
• There are two or three books that I have (and do) re-read, but if I pick up a book that I think I haven't read, and realize that I have, I won't read it even if I don't remember it.
• If I find a new series that I haven't read, I'll usually read the most recent one just to see if I like it, then go back and start at the beginning and read them in sequence.
• I won't read a book that's written in dialect. It takes too much work. The occasional accent is fine, but if it's every time a character speaks, I'll put the book back, no matter how interesting it looks.
• Same thing with science fiction or fantasy books in which the character names are too long or contrived. If I can't pronounce it, forget it.
• I don't read historical fiction. I used to--in high school I read a lot of literary historical fiction and gothic romance--but I don't have the patience for it anymore. I only read books set in present day and the future.
• I don't read biographies. I sometimes read memoir, but not often.
• I find that reading on the small screen of the iPhone, either with the Kindle iPhone app or on eReader, makes me pay more attention. I'm more present or something. I find it almost impossible to skim, or read quickly, and I like that.
• When reading a physical book, I tend to skim long descriptive passages; I prefer reading dialog to description.
• If I come to a section in a book that has a long discourse on something technical, or a fight, I'll speed-read through it, or sometimes skip it altogether, although I hate to do that.
• If I start a book and it doesn't grab me within a chapter or so, I'll stop reading it. This is why I get most of the books I read from the library--there's no guilt (or very little) involved if it turns out I don't want to finish something that I've started.
• If I pick up a book and it looks interesting, but I think it may be "inspirational fiction," I'll check the publisher's imprint, and if it's obviously a Christian publisher, I'll put it back. It's not that I'm not Christian, or religious, because I am, but in general I find those books to be a little overbearing, which is probably not fair of me, but there it is.
• I read urban fantasy, but not sword-and-sorcery type fantasy.
• I read science fiction, but not space opera or "hard" science fiction.
• I like magical realism--I like books that take a present day setting and introduce fantastic or paranormal elements.
• I find it really hard to read most vampire/werewolf/demon-type novels unless they're written with some humor and don't take themselves too seriously.
• I have an admittedly unfair bias against most romance books
• I do, however, love "women's fiction" or contemporary books that aren't exclusively marketed as romance
• And I do quite often enjoy paranormal romance--I think it just has to be a little bit different for me to get interested
• I like books set in a specific industry like the music business, or a ballet corps, or something like that.
• I love books set in a "closed" world like a big hotel, an airport, a theme park, a resort.
• I love books set in warm climates, especially Florida.

So I'm thinking my ideal book would be a paranormal futuristic mystery set in a Florida theme park. Hm. Maybe I need to write one.

I took Dinah to the vet yesterday for a follow-up visit. The vet looked at her eyes, checked her hydration, her temperature, and weighed her. She had gained about 3/4 of a pound since Monday, and everything was fine. He said "she's got her sparkle back!" and she does. He was impressed with the weight gain, and said that she had been very sick, that an infection like that can act very fast. He said it might not ever happen again, but if it does, it's good to know that she responds so well to the treatment.

She seems to be back to her old self. We've been feeding her a lot, fattening her up, and while she still seems a little bony, she's definitely gaining weight. And rather than wanting to go sleep in the basement or up in the bedroom, she's hanging out with me again, on my lap constantly which, while it can be a little annoying when I'm trying to work, I'm very glad of.

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Dinah, Part 2

I called the veterinary office on Monday morning and talked to the doctor, and he said Dinah's problem could be several things, it could be thyroid, or kidneys, or liver. He said he'd like to do bloodwork and a urinalysis, and I should just drop her off, so I got dressed, shoved her into the carrier, and took her over and left her there.

She was a poor pitiful little thing, making little mewing noises instead of her usual lusty cries. I didn't hear, and I didn't hear, and I was getting worried that I wouldn't hear anything in time to go pick her up before they closed, so I called at about 4:00. He said he didn't know anything yet, that they hadn't been able to do a urinalysis because she wasn't producing any urine. He said that if I wanted to pick her up, I could, but that if I left her overnight he would give her subcutaneous fluids and be able to do the urinalysis either later that night or the next morning, so I told him I'd just leave her there.

When I left her that morning, he told me to bring some of her food so that she had something familiar, but he said that she hadn't eaten anything at all. I asked him if she was okay, like, I don't know, is she at death's door, or lying there whimpering or something, and he said she was okay, she was sleeping.

He called the next morning and said that some of the bloodwork had come back, and she had an infection that he compared to irritable bowel disease or Crohn's Disease in a person. He had given her a 2 week antibiotic injection and a steroid injection, and he said, "she's a whole different cat." I went to pick her up, and I could tell she was feeling better immediately, by the sound of her voice when they brought her out.

As soon as we got home and I opened up the carrier, she dashed out and ran to her food bowl, yowling for breakfast, and she's been eating well ever since. Over the weekend she only wanted to sleep, either in the basement or in the chair in the bedroom, she really didn't want to have anything to do with us, and she wasn't eating at all. Now she seems pretty much back to her old self, although she's still skinny.

She weighed less than 8 pounds when I picked her up, and that was with the extra fluids that they gave her. We're just working now on fattening her up. I'm supposed to take her in on Saturday for a follow-up, but it looks like the medication is doing the trick, and she feels 100% better. As do we.

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