sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

February 20, 2010


greetings from san diego!
posted by soe 1:36 am

I may have forgotten my swimsuit, but my instincts aren’t all bad. I had been in the city less than an hour before I managed to find a local cupcake bakery.

Internet access from my hotel room is free, so expect to hear from me more this weekend…

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February 18, 2010


circle of friends, games, and a smidge of spring
posted by soe 11:56 pm

I head out to San Diego tomorrow for a work event and have run into panic full-face. It ends up that I have to go into the office tomorrow because a coworker and I are still working on something I’d hoped to finish today. But I also have to go to the bank (which is across town) and to the post office (in the opposite direction. Have I mentioned that I neglected to do laundry last night, which means it’s all sopping wet in the living room right now?

It will come together, as it always does, but it’s all just feeling a bit much right now. So I reacted in my typical over-stressed manner and took a three hour nap. At least I’m well rested for my panic attack right?

What’s a girl to do when she’s freaking out and PMSing? Why take a deep breath and inhale a little zen into her life by looking back at three beautiful things from the past week:

1. I arrive at the pizzeria on my birthday to find a group of friends waiting for me and the pie just coming out of the oven. I keep looking up from my slices to gaze around the table and see how lucky I am.

2. We’ve been watching the Olympics every night and are routinely blown away by the spirit and athleticism of the competitors. From the opening ceremony’s slam poet, orcas, and ice floes to this week’s performances by Johnny Weir, Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Torah Bright, Apollo Ohno, and Maelle Ricker, it’s all been a lot of fun. I look forward to another ten days of good tv.

3. I assemble a bouquet of tulips and anemones that I leave on the top of the fridge (safely out of Della’s reach). Every time I pass the kitchen, the flowers have opened slightly more and I just think it can’t get any more lovely. And yet it does.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?

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in memory
posted by soe 2:09 am

Poet Lucille Clifton died over the weekend. This is one of her poems, which fits well with my recent reading and with an unvanquished spirit:

 

 

won’t you celebrate with me?

won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

 

 

 

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February 17, 2010


a winning pair
posted by soe 2:02 am

Sometimes it takes a bit of experimentation to find the right combination. This week has given me two instances of that.

Last night, in addition to my inability to measure properly (a skill I believe 2nd graders routinely master), I also was having a tough time finding the right needle to match the yarn I was using to get gauge. Today, however, looks like we have a winner, so I’ll be moving forward with my Knitting Olympics sweater (Hey, Teach! was the ultimate winner. Thanks for all your input on Friday and Saturday while I was trying to figure it out.) on US10s. They feel like I’m trying to knit with drumsticks after my tiny sock needles, but I’m sure I’ll get used to them.

Birthday TableBack on Sunday, I decided to try a new recipe for my birthday cupcakes. I knew I wanted a plain vanilla recipe, since I have a friend who doesn’t like fruit and I prefer vanilla to chocolate. So I ended up giving Stephanie’s Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting a shot. I don’t know if it’s because our baking powder is a bit old, if I didn’t cream the butter and sugar together long enough, or if I ultimately used too much sour cream (or some combination of any or all), but these cupcakes did not get the Burrow stamp of approval. The cakes were too dense (Sarah accurately described them as pound-cake-like) and the frosting too sweet for the base it was layered on. Sarah and John are good sports and didn’t complain about my baking abilities on my birthday, but Rudi and I agreed after they left that this had not been my best culinary effort.

Tweaked CupcakesWhen Danny called later that night, I mentioned my failure to him and suggested that I’d have to come up with some alternative for the remaining cakes. He said that pound cake always made him want chocolate to dip it into, which made me realize that a chocolate glaze might be the perfect solution. Since Rudi and I were out last night, we didn’t have a chance to try out this theory until this evening, when I found this Satiny Chocolate Glaze on my first click through Google. I made a few alterations — the microwave as a few folks suggested, slightly more chocolate to use up five squares of dark chocolate, and dark corn syrup instead of light — and less than a minute later, we were spooning the concoction over two heart-shaped fairy cakes.

And you know what? It was the absolute right combination.

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February 16, 2010


knitting and math
posted by soe 2:09 am

Remember when your math teacher assured you that you’d use arithmetic in your life all the time and you really didn’t believe him or her? You thought you’d use a calculator or your fingers or whatever.

Well, your math teacher was right.

When measuring a swatch, when you align your first stitch at the 1″ mark and count until you get to the 4″ mark, you are NOT in fact measuring a four-inch section of your knitting.

That’s important to remember.

Apologies, math teachers everywhere…

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February 14, 2010


36
posted by soe 11:58 pm

My birthday was today.

We celebrated with French pastries for brunch and pizza for dinner with friends. The phone calls and emails and Ravelry messages poured in from loved ones far and wide.

And then Rudi and I dozed off together curled up on the couch.

It was a good day.

I hope you had one, too.

Snow Diva

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