Courtney is creative

An email conversation:

Holly: So, I (obviously?) haven't watched any Battlestar since I saw you last. Where are you in the series now??

Courtney: I have one episode left in season 2.0. It is so good!!!

Holly: I am behiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [waaaaaaaaaaail] Don't tell me anything!!!

Courtney: Starbuck has a mid-mid-life crisis, dyes her hair brown, and marries a deep-space ranger named Paylen. Tigh then chooses her to be his running mate in an electoral attempt to overthrow President Roslin, which he promptly loses when Kara Paylen proceeds to fly away in a newly acquired Viper named Rogue that looks suspiciously similar to a snowmobile, in search of Earth, which she swears she can see from her house. ...Oops! Well, it’s still worth watching. :)

Holly: Curse you.

Yes, I went there.

So, most of you know this, but my dad had a bad heart attack last weekend. I've been spending most of my non-work hours at the hospital, so although I'm still reading blogs, I won't be updating very regularly for a little while. I'm not sure how long -- he's recovering, but it's slow going. But rest assured I'm thinking of you all fondly, even while not blogging.

On a lighter note, I came to the conclusion that if Laura and Bill had a baby and got into a fight, it would be... Adama baby mama drama. Ftw.

Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night.

Arty farty thready nonsense

My art class is going well! It's continued to be very basic, but we've only done drawing so far, and we're starting painting next week, which I know much less about. Plus, painting is our teacher's focus (he's a grad student in his final year) so I expect he'll have more to say, just as I'll have a lot more to learn. I'm going to invest in some oil paints -- I've only worked with acrylics before, but I like the finished product that comes with using oils better -- there's a certain luster you simply cannot achieve with acrylics no matter how much gloss medium you add. Plus, there's a romance and a sense of continuity with the past that I like about using the same kind of paint (basically) that Michelangelo, DaVinci, Picasso, and hundreds of other artists have been using down through the centuries. Also, I like the smell.

At the end of class yesterday, one of my classmates, a particularly chatty and effusive retired school teacher, was babbling to our teacher about something or other, and I'm not quite sure how it came up, but she mentioned she weaves. Immediately, my head snapped up, because I, and I don't know if I've ever mentioned this, really want to learn how to weave. It's always seemed kinda neat -- it's beautiful and old fashioned and looks peaceful to do; Anna's mom had that huge loom in the basement (which always looked like a giant contraption for creating magic to me), and it was hinted that the dorans in Wise Child used looms to weave tapestries for some undefined mystical purpose. Also, the concept of actually creating cloth by hand (and not just by knitting) is pretty amazing. (Like, seriously, it's a flat surface. Made of individual strands. One dimensions adding up to create two dimensions. TRIPPY.) Then at the Fallsburg festival last fall, I watched a woman demonstrating how to weave and was thoroughly captivated. I probably stood there for ten minutes while my poor mother waited for me, bored (but inside where it was warm, and with cider, so she couldn't complain). It was at that point that I actually started to think about learning how to do it myself, and not even a week ago I spent some time googling our city's name plus "weaving lessons," trying to come up with some options that didn't require you take four days in a row off work and pay them $250.

Anyway, I mentioned to my classmate that I'd been wanting to learn how to weave, and she got very excited and next week will be bringing me the phone number of a friend of hers who gives private lessons for $15 an hour, and Y'all, ...I'm going to learn to weave. And it is going to be sweet.

The only problem with the Holly Learns to Weave plan is that if I really get into it, at some point I'd conceivably have to buy a loom. And that is ...not cheap. And would make moving considerably more difficult. So, in the meantime, I'll have to go visit Anna's mom a lot or something, which I'm sure she'd actually be pretty thrilled about.

You know, those tangible things with the pages?

I've started another Robin McKinley novel, called Deerskin, and aside from her short story collections and one novel about dragons that I'm not real excited about, I believe it's the last of her books I haven't read yet. I put it off until almost-last because it has some disturbing thematic content (as Monica puts it, "Evil father rapists what?"), but so far it's really, really good, and it might end up being one of my favorites. We'll see, though -- I'm still on page 52, and she hasn't been attacked by her father yet.

While I'm on the topic, another McKinley book I never got around to mentioning when I read it a couple months ago is Sunshine (fabulous summary and review here), which, although I'm not into the whole vampire shtick, I really enjoyed. (This book predates the recent national obsession with vampires, and contains no sparkles.) I'd totally recommend it. She rambles a bit (which seems to be McKinley's style when she's not being careful), but she does a great job of creating a sense of place, and of creating palpable tension between Sunshine's (the main character) growing friendship with the vampire Constantine, and her intense fear and disgust. Also, Sunshine works as a baker in a coffee shop, and those descriptions me want to eat molten chocolate raspberry cinnamonny baked goodness like whoa.

Weekend Update: non-sequential edition

-I started an art class this week! I've been angsting up a storm trying to figure out whether I should just take a night class here and there or whether I should go back for another bachelors (full time students can get financial aid!), but while I'm trying to figure it out, I'm taking a continuing ed course. It's very basic so far, but it's also about a tenth of the price of a normal studio art course, so, yeah. Yay!

-I love that it's been warmer, but warmer does mean more ice. My weekend walks have gotten significantly more perilous. I haven't broken anything yet, but it's only a matter of time.

-I've been really getting into Battlestar! Yayfun! :) However [dramatic pause, tragic sigh], I was hunting around on Youtube the other night for interviews and clips, and I came across one labeled "last scene of [thus'n'such episode]" and thought, hey, sure, I'll check that out. It wasn't until too late that I realized it was the last scene... of the last episode... of the last season. [Facepalm] I screamed a scream of despairing agony and swore a blue streak. I ...I now know what happens to a couple of very key characters. I've been enjoying the show a lot though, and despite this tragic, torturous slip, I'll probably see it through to the end. The last episode on the first disk (you know, where I actually am) is a cliffhanger, so I've been extremely twitchy all day, seeing as the branch that has the next disk available isn't open on Sundays. Will Starbuck be rescued from her post-Cylon-ass-kicking-session viper crash? Will Adama forgive her for her role in his son's untimely death?? WILL MY POOR SHATTERED TV SCREEN EVER RECOVER FROM THE SEARING GAZE OF ANGRY!EDWARDJAMESOLMOS?????????????? I can't stand the suspense. *EDIT*: Spoilers in the comments

-I can't believe how short weekends are. I have to go to work tomorrow? Seriously? Big!Christian-publisher-in-town gets MLK day off, so, um, why don't we again? Boooo.

Situation Normal All Brian'd Up

Dear Gmail,

No matter how many times I change the "Appear in Chat List" setting from "Auto" to "Never," my ex-boyfriend continues to appear in my chat list. Please fix. This most undesirable occurrance has been an issue ever since he was turned down by another girl last week and emailed me on the pretense of clearing his Itunes authorization off my laptop, only to spring old pictures of the two of us together on me in a morose attempt to make me feel guilty. I do not feel guilty, Gmail-- I feel like I stepped in something smelly and cannot get it off my shoe.

Whatever he is paying you to do this to me, I will double it.

Much thanks,

Holly

P.S. New themes soon pls?

As they say ..."Frak."

I just finished the first half of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries.

Yes, it is pretty awesome.

And yes, Laura Roslin is the shit.

And yes... I can tell I'm going to get all squeeshippy about Roslin & Adama.

...Damn.

I don't have time for this, guys.