Curl Up With a Book - Or Not

Last night I finished The Gathering, by Anne Enright. Okay, it won the Man Booker Prize. Yes, Ms. Enright is a talented writer and I am jealous of her skill at picking precisely the best way to share her imagery. Still, I did not like this book. There, I said it. For all the skill and craftsmanship, I just didn't like the book. I felt robbed at the end. There was a tragedy (several of them, perhaps), but many families have those. Ms. Enright takes her readers on a convoluted trace through the memories and imaginings of her narrator as she follows the thread of her dead brother's life. At some point, I tired of the chase.

Maybe I am tainted by short attention span media or too pedestrian in my thoughts and cannot grasp lofty themes and artistic vision. Or maybe I want a book to have a plot and to actually answer the questions that are posed. Or I want characters who are consistent. I don't for a second believe that the narrator would come to the conclusions that she does at the very end. I feel cheated that there never was an explanation for or conclusion to the hints dropped about the narrator. Her brother's pain and suffering were explained, but not her own. There seemed to be too many dropped hints and loose threads.

Obviously, many reviewers think highly of this book. I am glad that they felt such enjoyment. I'll keep looking.

I Do Not Like Yellow

Or pink. I definitely do not like pink. I have enjoyed painting over every yellow room in my house. Still, several of my recent yarn purchases have been pink and this one is yellow and pink and I HAD to have it when I saw it. Weird.

Project: Thuja, by Bobby Ziegler, in Knitty

Yarn: Austermann Step Duett, Color 55

Needles: US1, 2.25 mm

Notes: Super easy pattern. I changed the heels to shortrows to keep the yarn patterning. It's a very nice variation on a standard ribbing and looks great. They scrunch down when I want them to scrunch, yet stay up when I want them to stay up. The colorway is nice and bright and springy. Maybe I should rename these Happy Socks.

And the Sun Sets On Another Saturday



It was a beautiful day today. It was a little warm, but not too warm. We made a quick trip through the Farmers' Market again this weekend for more delicious tangerines and strawberries. This time I remembered to pick up some tomatoes and Mr. Engineer got his Tabbouleh. Much of the day was spent cleaning in preparation for the arrival of two of Young Man's friends from school. The three had just long enough for a bit of playing before dinner and a dash to the lacrosse field where Young Man and one of the children had a game.

Tonight's game was much anticipated. The opponent was another of the three teams fielded by the team that won last week's second match. This team was also undefeated, but the three teams they had played were the same three teams that Young Man's team had also won against. It was definitely a good match. Both teams played very well. The opposing team was better at connecting on their passes, but they made too many fouls and spent too much time playing one down. Young Man's team played together as a team extremely well. They are starting to know and trust each other and it really shows.



Still, the opposing team was able to score quickly and Young Man's team came back with an answering goal. The opposing team then made two more goals and our boys made one. Because all of tonight's games started very late, they ran 20-minute halves instead of the more typical 15-minute quarters. This made for some tense moments as the clock ticked away in the second half. Finally, Young Man's team scored the tying goal. There were only a few minutes left when Young Man's school mate saw his chance and slipped in the last goal of the night! They finished the evening ahead 4-3. As always, we were extremely proud of the boys. It was great to bring home two very exited players and one sister of an excited player. This win should push the team into first place in the league and that was the highlight of the after-game talk by the coach.

Now it is time for all lacrosse players (and their parents) to sign off for the night.

Hello, I Knit Socks

Yes, I cast on for another pair of socks. The wonderfully silly Bellatrix pattern from Monkey Toes is now available as a free download on Ravelry. Even better, designs by Monkey Toes are featured in the May Sockdown knitalong/contest in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group also on Ravelry. I discovered that group yesterday and it seemed like a classic fit for me. I have an embarassing amount of sock yarn.

Maybe the sock yarn stash will see a dent after the Summer of Socks commences. Wait, I'm already knitting socks! I probably should knit something else besides socks before 21 June and the official start. Naw. Yes, I did join up. How could I resist?

Booking Through Thursday - Mayday!

Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??
And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember….

This one is easy peazy. I head straight for the nearest news stand/book seller and peruse the books. I will probably pick up a magazine to which I don't currently subscribe (The Economist is good for long flights) as well as at least one book. I will probably skip over the bestsellers and head for the older stuff. I might hit up a non-fiction book since so many of the fiction titles at airports are romances or true crime. Okay, if I am in that sort of a mood, I will pick up a Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy just for old times' sake. I used to devour those books when I was traveling to Detroit every month. Yes, I did purchase some of those in airports when I would run out of books on the return trip.

This makes me long for a vacation flight!