bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

B is for ....

of course, it's only B and i'm already behind.  *sigh*  oh well, i guess i've been too busy yarn shopping because ....

B is for Binge!

you know, because i didn't already have a large enough stash. 

so yeah, i've been a little out of control.  since christmas, i've done some damage and i'm afraid that i'm having a hard time stopping.

i'm going to blame this crazy shopping frenzy on the fact that i'm hungry most of the time with the weight loss plan and everything and the depression of being stuck on a weight loss plateau while the rest of you all eat yummy snacks that i can only dream about like a child and sugar plums.  see, i'm delirious with the hunger.

or i'm doing my part to help the US economy get back on it's feet.  yeah that's it. 

or maybe because all of this yarn is just so damn pretty. 

 

ooh pretty lorna's laces bullfrogs and butterflies for a clapotis (my third.  but this one is for me)

or some baby ull for adrian's snail  mittens in The Book of Yarn.

or ......   

some green alpaca for another gathered scarf . 

and then there's the sock yarn .  i kind of fell head first into a giant bowl of sock yarn.  but sock yarn is like vegetables .. NO POINTS!  so i can binge all i want on sock yarn, right?  RIGHT?!

A is for ....

I'M IN IN 2008!!!

if you recall, i participated in this along only peripherally in 2006 because i had missed the deadline.  if you'd like to see my posts/pictures from 2 years ago you can click here or check out my ABC photo album .

but this year, i'm officially in.

and i am pumped!  ha!

so here we go.  for the letter A i've got two.

A is for apple.

and

A is for alpaca!

one of the challenges of this along is to post photographs of things/places/etc. that reflect your personality or are meaningful to you.  in the coming year, my subjects may not appear to fit these criteria.  i'm not a particularly huge fan of the apple, for example.  (although i do love alpacas.)  but it's almost impossible to not include a bit of myself in every photograph i take, because every image is a reflection of how i see the world around me.

by the way, this is post number 666.

heh heh.

Back to Work

and i was just getting used to being a "kept woman."

it's bad enough having to get up at the crack ass of dawn to go back to work after almost 2 weeks off.  but when it's barely 5 degrees out, minus 14 with the windchill, that's just mean.  hey god.  come over here.  lean in, so i can poke you in the eye.  closer.  there you go.  *boink*  how's that feel?! 

on a positive note, being back at work means i have more time for blogging.  HA!

anyway, just a little housekeeping today, kind of related to my january 1 post.  but with much less navel-gazing.

first of all, a group of us have gotten together to encourage each other to get healthier this year.  i've created a group on ravelry called "less w8 in 08."  (again, i'm cracking myself up here.)  if you're in ravelry and would like to join, please do.  it's awkward to "invite"someone to the group because it's a little like saying "hey, you're fat.  want to join our group?"  which is not the intent at all, especially since i'm the only fat person in the group.   if you aren't in ravelry, i'm sorry, you're on your own. 

also, i've joined two other groups:  the NaSpinMoFo whatever it's called and the 2008 version of ABC.

if you recall, i played along in 2006 without officially joining.  but this year, it's official.  anyway, for more information on both these groups, just go see carole.  i'm too lazy to go into the details and she's done a wonderful job explaining.

that's all i've got for today.  oh... one more thing.  don't forget:

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Z is for ....

Zinedine Zidane!

one of the best soccer players of all time and argueably the best of his generation, this summer, during the world cup, it was all about zidane. 

his number was emblazoned on the backs of children at versailles.

and his handsome face was plastered all over parisian bus stop shelters and the walls of the metro.  (i'll take his brooding dark looks over beckham's golden boy prettiness any day).

unfortunately, his was the headbutt heard around the world.  oh well.  a sour way to end a competitition and an amazing career. 

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ta-da!!!  my first completed along!  that was fun even if i wasn't ever officially a member of the along but i'm glad i'm done.  some posts were obvious -- i knew i would finish up with zidane months ago -- others -- like xylem -- not so much.   had i not gone to france, i would have been screwed ... no quay, no vaux sur mer, no notre dame.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed going through the alphabet with me. 

 

 

Y is for ....

YULE!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!  AND BEST WISHES FOR 2007.

X is for ....

Xylem

ha!  how's that for an X?  in 1985 i graduated with a B.S. in biology.  yes, a very useful degree when your grades aren't good enough to get you into medical school (fuck you organic chemistry and your little dog), but the mere thought of going back to school to study more biology is as about as tempting a prospect as getting a full body wax.   thank god i took typing in the 9th grade.  however, i did learn about xylem ... and it's friend, phloem.   and now i have an honest to good "X" post.  how many of you can say that?

xylem is made up of the cells that move water and anything dissolved in the water from the roots, up to the leaves and other parts of the plant.  phloem is made up of cells that bring food (phloem starts with the "f" sound -- for food) produced in the leaves through photosynthesis (so cool, photososynthesis, only second to protein synthesis which is my favorite synthesis ever) back down to the roots.  how xylem does this is very ingenius, but i'm not going to go into any details because this blog may be a lot of things, but what it is not is a botany blog.  (although i did  teach a botany lab  for one semester which is funny considering that i wouldn't know a plant if it bit me on the leg -- well i kind of would, since i'd guess it was a venus fly trap since it would be the plant most likely to actually bite me on the leg.  plants aren't big biters).

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i may be cracking open my old text books (or probably an updated version since i'm sure some information has changed in the past 20 years, although now with the democrats in the majority in congress, evolution is back on the table -- which is cool, because i love evolution) for a little review in the next few months.  i don't know yet.  i still have to do some research, but we'll see. 

W is for ....

Windows

i have a confession to make ...  i'm a bit of a peeping tom.  not in a gross, creepy sort of way, though.  really.  but more in a ... what kind of people live in that house? how have they decorated?  ooh i like the color of that wall  ... kind of way.    when i lived in boston, i used to enjoy walking through the backbay and the south end around dusk glancing through the windows to see what the interiors of these old brownstones were like.  it's a bit tougher to do out by me now since i'm usually driving by.   but i still take quick little peeks. 

i've always been interested in what's going on inside.  when i was a kid, i used to draw these elaborate house interiors on sheets of graph paper taped together so large that i needed to use a yardstick to make my measurements. 

i think that maybe that's why i like to read blogs.  in  a way, a blog is like looking into someone else's world, their stuff, their homes, their lives.  without the risk of being accused of being a little creepy.  usually. 

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i'm not exactly sure that i understand what's going on here -- but i'm going to do this because cate asked so nicely.  some guy has this project where he's trying to determine how fast a meme can get around the blogosphere.  i'm to beg you to link to his project page as well ... so i'm begging ... he's a poor graduate student FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!! and then ping technorati.  be sure to post plenty of cat pictures ... i think he likes them.

this is what evil looks like by the way ... really. 

V is for ...

Vaux Sur Mer

when i go to France, Vaux sur Mer (Vaux on the Sea) is where i ultimately end up.  it's where i spent my summers as a teenager, and where my parents have retired.  In the winter, it's quiet and a little depressing.  half of the shops are closed, many of the houses are inoccupied, and the skies are gray. during the months of June, July and August, though, it's vacation-o-rama (ohh another "V" word) when tourists from all over europe come for the beaches.

the beaches ... right.  i don't have a picture of the beach. 

sorry.  alrighty ... that's "V." 

 

U is for ....

UP!

i spend a lot of my time looking down at my feet so i don't step in dog poop, or trip over my own big feet.  when i'm in france though, i spend a lot of my walking time with my eyes gazing upwards (ironic considering the risk of stepping in dog poop is considerably greater there then here, although not nearly as bad as when i was a kid).  you never know what you'll see.

the eiffel tower from the inside.

and up the side.

le sacre coeur.

the inner curve of the arc de triomphe

la sainte chappelle exteriors.

and interiors.  the stained glass in the upper chapel of la sainte chapelle is considered the best example of stained glass in the world. 

the ceiling of  bir hakim metro station (you get off here to go to the eiffel tower)

through a window at versailles.

of course, if you spend all of your time with your head in the clouds, you're bound to miss little gems like this small plancard that i spied on the back of a motor scooter. those french are so wacky sometimes.

T is for ...

Talmont-sur-Gironde

Talmont is a tiny village (population 83 give or take) that juts out into the estuary of the Gironde.  it's about 10 miles from my parent's house and it's a place i insist on visiting everytime i go home.

i've already shown you the hollyhocks. 

my favorite thing to do is walk along these narrow alleyways and paths, wondering what life might have been like here centuries ago. 

for most visitors, though the highlight is this 11th century romanesque style church, Sainte Radegonde. 

and its tiny cemetery. 

both of which overlook the gironde and are protected from the tides by these centuries old fortifications.

i really love this place.