gypsygirl

I really need to pay more attention to details when I'm buying yarn for my projects. It turned out that that lovely, soft and furry yarn I found for the border collie was "bulky" weight, not dk (which is sort of between worsted and sport), so when I knitted up the back of the dog, the gauge was completely off. I ended up having to go and buy another couple of skeins of yarn, but I wasn't able to find any dk or sport weight in the brownish colour I wanted (since my mother's border collie is brown and white, not black and white, those are the colours I wanted to use), so I had to go with black and white instead. Ah well. I'll just have to use that furry yarn on some other project... maybe a hat.

Here is a pic of what the dog's supposed to look like when I'm done.

So I went to Hobby Lobby on my lunch break to buy the yarn I'm going to need for my next project (a toy border collie for my mum). I found a really cool yarn in the two colours I needed for the fur, really soft and almost furry feeling. Then I needed just a little bit of pink, brown and silver for the tongue, collar and tag. I found the pink and the brown easily enough, but it took me a while to find the silver, and when I did, there was only one skein of it on the shelf, and that was all tangled up. Plus, it cost $4.59! I didn't particularly want to spend that much when I only needed maybe 5 yards of the stuff, but it really was the perfect colour. So I took it with me to the cash register and asked if I could get a discount on it, as it was all tangled up. End result, I got it for half off! Go me!

Today I finished my biggest and most ambitious knitted lace project to date, and I must say I'm quite proud of the way it turned out! It's about four feet square. Have a look:

It looks like I'm graduating in December after all. Yay!
I finally did manage to get two classes in the summer, but only by doing an independent study version of one of the classes I'd registered for for the fall, that had been cancelled (I really need to finish that... we did this whole reorganization thing at work this summer, and I fell behind). Over the course of the summer, I registered for two other classes, and both of those got cancelled too. I finally ended up registering for a management class, which, after last spring, I swore I would never, ever do again. I should know better by now than to say I'll never, ever do something, because I always end up having to do it. Anyway, I don't care, it's my final elective, and after this, I'm done! I've already started applying for jobs in my new field. Fingers crossed.

So far, this summer has been pretty awful. We'll start with classes.

So, I'm three classes away from graduating, and I was hoping I'd be able to take two classes in the summer (one each session), and just one in the fall, mainly because tuition is cheaper in the summer, so I'd have less tax to pay on it. Well, come registration time, I find that the IS department wasn't offering any graduate level classes second summer session. Well, fine! So I registered for one class in the summer (one that I wasn't particularly interested in, but I didn't have much choice), and two in the fall. A few weeks later, I went in to print out a copy of my schedule, and I noticed that it was only showing one class for the fall. What the heck!? I went looked for the missing class in registration and it was gone! Poof! They'd cancelled it and not even had the decency to send out an email letting people know! So I'm looking around for a class to replace that one and in the meantime I email the professor who was teaching my summer class to see if he'd send me the reading list so I could start trying to get the books. He emails me back and tells me that he doesn't think the class is going to make, because I'm the only person registered for it. *scream* So I'm down two classes, and it's looking like I might not graduate in December. Well, I finally decided that I would switch my one remaining fall class to the summer (it was being offered both times) so I'd at least have a summer class and could give myself a bit of time to try to figure out what to do about the two other classes I needed. I finally found another class in the fall that I hadn't already taken, and then I decided to email the professor of the fall class that got cancelled (happened to be Java), to see if he'd be willing to teach it as an independent study. I still haven't heard back from the man. So instead, I asked the professor who's teaching my summer class if he'd be willing to do it, and he agreed, so I'm finally back to my three classes, and I'm actually doing what I'd originally planned; two classes in the summer, and one in the fall! But good grief, the stress involved in getting to that point!

Next stresser? Well, the powers that be at the library decided that it would be a good idea to consolidate the three reference points (and the reference collections) into one central location. Ok, fine, that would probably be a good idea, if we actually had an area in the library big enough to house all three reference collections. But since we don't, and parts of the reference collections are still going to be scattered around the library, it makes no sense to me. But they didn't ask my opinion, so I guess it doesn't count. (Can you tell I'm vaguely annoyed by this whole thing?) Anyway, as soon as I got back from vacation, I was told to pack up all my stuff and bring all the departmental supplies to the supply person downstairs. We then sat in our offices for over a week, waiting for the IT people to get around to moving our computers (why we weren't allowed to move them ourselves, I'll never know). The move itself was stressful enough, but having to sit in clutter for a week while we waited to move was worse! So last Friday we finally got to move, and I've lost my lovely windows (I had two walls made of windows in my last office) and now I have to share one window with three other people and I'm not even the one closest to it and I've no privacy and... well, I keep telling myself I'm graduating in December. I still have no idea what's going to happen to my student workers. At one point they said they were going to be shifted to the departments that are taking over responsibility for the journals and reference collection that were left upstairs; then on Friday I was told to email them and tell them to check in downstairs from now on. I wish they'd make up their minds so I can tell them something definite. My students who aren't working this summer know absolutely nothing about what's going on. Grr! Ok, enough ranting for now.

On a more pleasant note, I'm going to be directing the melodrama (The Drunkard) at the theatre this summer. Auditions are this weekend and the show goes up July 21st - 23rd. It's my directorial debut, and it should be a fun show. It's a small cast of only five people, which is generally lots of fun. I'll keep posting on how it goes!

I'm feeling old... and dead... and Jewish.

D'you reckon it's because I've been cast as Grandma Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof? Nah, that couldn't be it! Not a chance!

Honestly, after call backs, I wasn't expecting to be cast at all, because the director just had me read and sing for Golde, and there was no chance in heck I was getting that role. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I got the call the next day.

I have one question though. Why do I always get cast as old ladies??? Not that I'm complaining, but I wish I knew what goes through directors' heads when they cast me in these roles.

In addition to Grandma Tzeitel, I'm also to be in the chorus of villagers, so I have lots of stage time. On the minus side, I've already got the music spinning through my head pretty much non-stop, and we're only one week into rehearsals. I'm going to be hating it by the time we're through, I fear.

Anyway, apart from the theatre, it's spring break this coming week! Yay! Not that I get much of a break, as I still have to work full time... though this year I did ask for Thursday and Friday off. I'm in need of a break that's longer than a weekend.

Yeah, I've been watching Eddie Izzard again lately ("I've got legs. D'you like... bread? I've got a french loaf! WHACK Bye! I love you!"). I can't help myself, the man's a comic genius! I'm very proud of the fact that I've converted several of my friends to the Izzard... let's call it cult, shall we?

And speaking of friends, we're going to get together in a couple of weeks (as soon as we all have a free evening, all at the same time) and have a Jane Austen night. Considering the number of Jane Austen films that have come out lately, it'll probably be the first in a series of Jane Austen nights. Yay!

I went to see Firewall yesterday... with one of my classes... and the professor paid. Now that's what I call a field trip! The class is cyberwarfare, and basically, we went to see the movie so we could criticize... uh, critique it and the various technologies they use in it. It was fun, but it wasn't really realistic... not that we expected it to be... it is a Harrison Ford movie, after all.