Summer Book Recommendations ~ Part 1

The summer is coming. People, hopefully, have free time. More free time than normal, anyways, those who were in school. Unless you’re doing summer school, then you’re probably not as free as you’d like. Anyways, I digress.

The summer is coming, it’s pretty much here. I’ve completed *both* graduations. I’m officially a college student now (got my student ID, whaaaaat) I’ll be at our local community college this fall, and then after that I’ll make the big decision of which major university I’ll go to. Once again, I’m digressing.

THE SUMMER IS COMING. And you know what this means? Besides more knitting time, heh heh. More reading time!

I know I’ll have lofty goals of reading at the beginning, and it’ll actually come down to me reading probably only 5 out of the like 20 book list that I come up with. But hey, it’s 5 more than I was able to manage during the school year.

I’m really… not going very far with this post, it’s kind of just… rambling, haha. But that’s this blog is, right? The Ramblings of a Knitting Goddess, haha.

Long story short, I’m going to give you some book recommendations. Just one, right now, in this one post. But there’ll probably be more coming.

I will be re-reading, for probably the 15+ time, the Emily of New Moon series by L.M. Montgomery.

I know I’ve expressed my love and adoration for this particular series and this author many many times. But it’s just one of those things that has to be done every so often… because I love these books and this author so stinking much.

Why do I like these books? Why do I like L.M. Montgomery in general?

Her writing is so personable. It’s real. It’s full of amazing descriptive-ness of everything and anything. But not in a flowery, over-the-top way. Her characters, in all her books, aren’t perfect. Which bugs me, when authors start off with their characters, who obviously aren’t perfect, then slowly they become more perfect, till it’s kind of silly and it’s like “wat”.

I don’t really find that in L.M. Montgomery’s writings. They have their problems, and they still have their problems at the ends of the books. Obviously, some problems are fixed, but they go through hardships and trials. They’re very believable. And I like that. These characters have dreams, passions, goals, and strive to reach those goals.

“When I read that the flash came, and I took a sheet of paper. . .and I wrote on it: I, Emily Byrd Starr, do solemnly vow this day that I will climb the Alpine Path and write my name on the scroll of fame.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

Another thing is that the romance that she writes is just perfect. Like, oh my goodness, I love it. Sure, I like that kind of stuff. I’m not afraid to say that I am :-P

The books are some of the most quotable books as well. There are so many good lines and paragraphs, it’s almost ridiculous. In a really really good way, of course :-P

These are also the kinds of stories that once you start them, you have the hardest time putting them down. They pull you in, and you’re then part of the story. You live and breathe the characters and their adventures.

Plus, another reason why I love these books is that they remind me of when I was younger. I remember what I was going through when I read different parts. I remember learning lessons from the stories, and then rediscovering what I learned. Then discovering brand new things I didn’t see before.

These books, especially the Emily of New Moon series, are full of treasures for everyone of any age.

*end rambling-rant-whatever-you-wanna-call-this*

I know I didn’t really like say what the Emily of New Moon series is about, but I’ll just say that they’ll make you laugh. They’ll make you cry. They’ll make you cling on to the nearest cat due to scary situations. You will love these books.

Don’t know what to read this summer? Read these books, you definitely won’t regret it. :-)

Loop is addicting.

I spent all of yesterday evening spinning. No knitting, just all spinning. Which, I guess isn’t that weird. But spinning Loops batts is like… SO ADDICTING! Theres so much color, so then there’s the bling, which we all know I love and adore :-P

I’m just getting started on the light pink.. and after that color, there are… two more colors, I think. So, I’m almost done, ish… but, that’s ok.. because my second batt for the club came in, and then my mom wanted some fun yarn for her birthday… so she picked out a batt for me to spin. And I may or may not have gotten one for myself at the same time, eh heh ^_^

Also, I have to come up with various pictures for graduation…

and it’s so much fun going through old pictures, haha. So much fun :-)

Musical Monday!!

Do not be shaken by the length of this video. It is extremely worth the time.

One cool thing…er, something that I think is cool, is that this was performed at Rice University. Which is just plain awesome by itself.

annnnd, this song always reminds me of Anchors Aweigh with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson and Jose Iturbi. …one of my most favorite movies as a kid. Yes, even then I was obsessed with…musical type movies.

And to some people, it might remind them of Tom and Jerry…like it reminded my mom.

I had totally forgotten about it, until we went to go see the 5 Browns, and they played this! It reminded me of my love for this song. And what it was called.

But yes, this song is just PURE AWESOME. I <3 it. And wouldn't it be amazing to be able to play this one day…

(and as a really small side note. I love who the pianist ends the song. Physically, I mean. Flailing of arms… just the general feel of "This is amazing. I just played it. And it's over. And….this is amazing."

Probably not that…exactly. but the main idea of "I just finished this, I'm done now. Yessss."

Haha, :-P

Anyways, I hope your Monday is/was/will be amaaaazingly awesome! And the rest of your week continues to be the same! :-)

FO: Sushi!!

I feel so accomplished. It’s done. Annnnd…it’s pretty stinking awesome.

The Beginning Sushi is there, if you so care to read about that. And..here is the Blocking of Sushi .

(we could pretend this picture is me expressing my utter joy of finishing the project. But no. I was told that my eyes could not be seen due to my bangs. Joy…)

I’m so happy with it…

I’ve done a sweater with the same construction before (like, a bunch of different pieces that are put together. Like…how the back in the above picture is…funny looking, haha. That’s two different pieces. )..

Where was I….OH, so I’ve done something with the same construction. Annnnd, it didn’t turn out so well. It looked really really bad, haha.

So, to prevent the same problem with Sushi, I practically blocked the life out of it so it’d turn out nice…and not really bad looking.

I <3 <3 <3 <3 it :-)

On a very random side note: today's Plinky's question today is…

“Describe the town where you grew up…” (Do you still live there? Why or why not?)

I lived in the same town, Ponca City, Oklahoma, till I was 12 and 1/2 or 13…then we moved to Houston, TX.

Ponca City…it’s population is 25,919 according to the Ponca City page on Wiki. It’s just a small little town. One small, amazingly awesome town. Downtown was definitely the best, there were so many little hole-in-the-wall stores (sadly, a lot of them are closed now :-(…), there were fun restaurants, there are a lot of really old and reallllly cool houses.

And the main reason why Ponca City is so stinking amazing, is because of all the amazing people who live there :-)

So, living in a 25,919 population…town…and moving to Houston, which has…*looks* 2,257,926 people.

Yeahhhhh. Big change. Haha :-P

Knitting & Yumyumyum notes: Knitting, well…this is actually crocheting! I’ve started making little Amigurumi (which I STILL don’t know how to pronounce. Do YOU know how it’s pronounced? Pleaseeee tell me :-P) Annnd. they’re pretty awesome. I made a little bear with a pink dress…and a little flower. My mom requested a little basket of fruit, so I’m working on a pear right now…next will be an apple. But I don’t know what other piece of fruit I’ll do. SO, in other words….look out for an amigurumi focused post soon :-P

And the yumyumyum note is…I made scones on…Saturday! Cranberry (technically crasins, but that’s ok…) and Orange scones. And they are amazing, if I say so myself. I’ll post pictures soon :-) The recipe was from the book I made the biscuits out of. They were made in the food processor… sooo easy.

…I think I need one…Hmmmm. and maybe a cup of tea :-P

Haha, hope your Sunday is/was/will be amazingly awesome, and the beginning of next week will be the same :-P

Random…But a Good Random :-P

Dear everyone:

I do sincerely apologize for not posting…the past two days.

But as Christmas draws closer, knitting deadlines must be met.

Haha, you all can guess what I’ve been doing.

Out of the 3 fair isle hats (which is actually gone down to 2, which I’m really happy about), 2 cowls (the hat number went down, but the cowl number went up. Which is totally ok with me, cause cowls are so easy. Yessss), one sweater, and…2 scarves.. (and I think the scarf number went up as well. Maybe? Maybe not, haha)

So, out of all that…both cowls are done. The sweater is about 85% complete…and one of the hats is a little more than half way done. That leaves the other hat, and two scarves.

What I think will end up happening is that on Christmas Eve, I’ll end up staying up late into the night, working and trying to finish something. Again.

This has happened before. And it was really worrying me. BUT I got it done! I was so proud of myself, haha. I think I stayed up till like…2:30 or something. Not that that matters or anything, haha…but yeahhh. I remember I was also listening to Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte (which is amazing. Holy cow.)

This is a post of randomness, yaaaaayyy!

This is what I see out of my window…

And I’m sure, the non-Houston people are thinking…”O.O Palm trees?!?!??!”
and the Houston people are thinking…”RED trees?!?!?!”
Or you could be both (…or not…?) and think either neither or both.

And I invite you to imagine that beautiful tree in that picture as uberly bright red with many oranges mixed it. Alas, I am not smart enough, and can’t get the colors right…on the camera, haha.

Haha, it’s still really green near the bottom and on the inside. So it kinda looks like…one of those strawberries dipped in chocolate…cause part of it…doesn’t…have chocolate on it…

…but not. Hm. Yeahhhh.

Haha, anyways, I’m just really happy to see some variegation in our tree colors. Usually it’s just greeeeeen.

Random thing #2
Oh my, there’s a ladybug on my window.

….that wasn’t what I was going to say, haha. But I looked up and there was a …ladybug on my window, haha.

what I was going to say, is that tomorrow evening, we are going to go see the Houston Ballet (one of the best ballet companies in the WORLD, in my opinion. There are many others, haha) put on the Nutcracker.

I am so STINKING EXCITED. But I’m always excited about going to go see…any ballet. Or anything in downtown Houston for that matter, haha.

So, long story short, seeing the Nutcracker is a family tradition. And I absolutely adore it, haha.

Random note #3
I’ve been rather obsessed with the old Pokemon series. You know, like…Pikachu. And…Squirtle…Slowbro. Yeah.

Don’t judge me.

This is not my first time to have the Pokemon…bug thing. When I was younger, Joey and I would rent the VHSs (holy cow, that’s a loong time) from the library. and be entertained for hours.

And now, I’ve found them…a lot more funny than they were before, haha.

And it is my opinion that Charmander

is the cutest Pokemon EVER. Either Charmander, or Pikachu. Soooo cuuute!! but this will probably change. I’m only on episode 23, so yeah.

Haha, it’s great to watch while knitting. Because it…the show…doesn’t require a lot of thought. haha :-P

Not-so-random note #4
Dude, Christmas is like…really soon! Craaaazy!

Haha, so the whole point of this post was to say that I might not post as much during the days leading up to Christmas, due to cramped time…with knitting deadlines, haha.

I must leave now…and go knit another 30 inches. On one project. Pokemon, here I come!!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

I never really understood the word “tannenbaum”. I don’t think it helped that I always sang “tannenbough” rather…than…yeah. Hm. Well. Oh well. Haha.

Anyways! I did have a point! Really! :-P

We put our tree up on Thursday night! I always love putting up the tree. Awesome family time. Extremely.

Mainly because it’s something we can all do together and enjoy. It’s getting ready for Christmas. AND. We have a special tradition that goes along with the whole putting-up-the-tree.

And I adore it.

We always have hot dogs and s’mores the same night.

We used to actually cook the hot dogs and marshmallows over a *real* fire.

But in Houston…alas, we do not have a real fire. So, we make due with the grill for the hot dogs, and the oven for the s’mores.

Which is ok with me, just as long as we get to have them :-P

It takes a lot of…skill…to put together the perfect s’more. You need precision and a steady hand. It is not for the faint-hearted.

Haha, anyways. While we were devouring our amazing meal, the question came up of how long exactly had this tradition been going on? And after much thinking, it was figured out.

It started in either 1986 or 1987, after my parents and older siblings came home from England. (And no, I have never been to England, alas. That was before I was born.)

So yeah! Around 24 or 25 years.

Sooooo good.

Plus, they’re so photogenic. Which is weird…cause it’s just graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate, and a big marshmallow. Nothing..too special.

Besides it being made of just plain AWESOME.

Gaaah, I want another one now. *drools*

On a knitting note: I’m working working working on Christmas presents. One is done. Out of…6. Bleh. I CAN DO THIS. *dons cape and superhero powers* “Feel the power, Kronk.” … “Oh yeah. I can feel it.”

Haha, anyways….

I love the Christmas season :-)

Quotable Friday!!

I’m excited about this. This could be cool!

Haha, anyways. Here’s today’s quote!

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

How brilliant is that? Cause it’s so true.

I wonder why Christmas does that to people…

Day 8 or 14 of Thankfulness!!

Today…I am thankful for family.

I don’t just mean immediate family, I mean the whole, entire family.

Think about it. How dull, colorless, and empty would life be without family?

With family, you can share everything with them. It’s not like, if you have an inside joke with some friend, and then refrain from saying it to another friend for various reasons…because it’s not their joke. With family everything is out there. Everyone knows. Or if they don’t know, then they’ll soon be told, haha.

And it’s not like you have anything to hide from them. They know pretty much anything and everything about you. All the good things and the bad things. And yet, they still love you for it.

Sadly, I do not have a picture with my whole family in it. But I have a picture (of a picture, ha.) of my siblings and I. And it’s really really old. But I remember taking this picture…like it was just yesterday.

I hope we can get a new one this year…cause we’ll all be at our house for Turkey day.

Anyways. Be thankful for your family today. After you’re done reading this post, go and give a family member a huge hug, cause they are just that stinking awesome. And they totally deserve it.

Fellow Thankful People ~ If you would like to be added (or removed) please comment with your blog link, and I’ll update the list :-P

iPiano Music
Dream Knits
Arkansas
2947 Miles, 365 Days
A Small Measure of Coolness
Epic Grace
Such is Life
Pocillum
A Girl in a Red Hat

Musical Monday!!

I failed last week, and didn’t even remember about Musical Monday let alone post something…musical.

But hey, at least I posted. That was good.

Also, yayness (again) for the wonders of pre-posted posts (Now say that 5 times fast).

The PSAT time is drawing close (bleh, it’s Wednesday >.<), and I probably won't have any time to write a post tomorrow. So, yay for tonight :-)

*end unimportant ramblings* The song!

Seriously….this song…er, music…is just so….so….so amazing, that it's not even funny.

It's happy. it's sad. It's depressed. It's joyful. All at the same time. It just depends on who the person is listening to it, and what they're going through.

Well, no matter what, it always ends up happy and joyful. Which is one reason why I like this song.

It's from the movie Rudy. Which is an awesome movie, but does has some bad language in it. It's a football movie, which I'm usually not fans of…but this one is sweeeet.

Yeah, Jerry Goldsmith, the composer, is a genius. Like, fo serious.

And as an odd sidenote: I've had several dreams with this as the background music. That'll give you an idea as to how much I listen to this song. And this whole cd. Both are so STINKING AMAZING. It's not even funny.

Oh, and it's a great cd to listen to while reading. If you like to do that.

Another weird sidenote: Another reason why I love this song, is because when I was younger my older sister would play this song all the time on the piano. I loved it then…and I love it now. I can play it on the piano as well now, and it reminds me of a looong time ago :-P

Knitting post up later. Took pictures of my new and old projects. It's going to be awesome :-) Stay tuned for that!

(Oh, and happy 10-10-10) …. (Wait, that fails. Cause I'm going to be posting it….the next day. Phew, major fail.) …. (Happy 10-11-10, haha)

Mr. Putter and Tabby = <3 <3 <3

I don’t know about you, but a lot of my childhood, I remember reading. It would be the most fun thing in the ENTIRE WORLD to go to the Ponca City Library (still my most favorite library. Ever.) and get a huge stack of books.

I didn’t end up reading all of them, but just that I could borrow these books and read them for fun was just amazing for me.

Where in the world is this going? Plinky asked me. So I’m answering.

“Name a children’s book that every child should read.”

Well, if you want to be specific….you need to define “child”. But that’s ok…

This would be around…..the age 5-10 (big span, I know. But these books where like…imagine your most cherished toy/book as a kid. And that’d be kinda like this.) But the library started carrying a series of books called…

Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant.

You can guess who is who. But this series contained titles such as…

“Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea” (the very first one, where Tabby is adopted) and “Mr. Putter and Tabby Spin the Yarn”. And many many others.

The old lady and the dog where Mr. Putter and Tabby’s neighbors, Mrs.Teaberry and Zeke. Zeke had this huge obsession with lollipops. And everywhere Mrs.Teaberry went, she had this vest on covered in lollipops.

I absolutely ADORED these books, and still do. They had amazing quotes such as this…

” ‘Oh, no one wants cats, sir,’ said the pet store lady. ‘They are not cute. They are not peppy.’ Mr. Putter himself has not been cute and peppy for a very long time”

I mean, seriously. At age 5-10, I didn’t understand it, but laughed anyways because it had the word “cute” and “peppy” in the same sentence. Now, I laugh because I know what it means. And it’s hilarious.

Another reason why these books are so memory-filled is because my older sister, Katie enjoyed them as well. So she would read aloud to me, usually on Friday nights because that’s when my parents went out, and yeah… It was so much fun, to put it simply.

If you haven’t heard of or never read Mr.Putter and Tabby, I BEG you to go and find a copy SOMEWHERE. And if you don’t smile at least once while reading, you seriously have something wrong, haha.

To tell you the truth, I hadn’t thought about these books since…before we moved. But amazing Plinky made me think of them. Hmmm…I think I need to get some copies of these books :-P

Oh, and I’ll be doing a Blogging 102 post…sometime soon. When…I get the time :-) Along with a knitting post…heh heh.