Seven posts, seven takes, etc ...

1. I think this wraps it up for my 7 Posts in 7 Days challenge. I know I'm "cheating" because I started before everyone else, and because (cough) I missed a day and posted twice the following one. But I think it helped me overcome perfectionism and just post, and prove to myself that I can, in fact, blog regularly if I force myself to. (Even if the blogging happens after 11pm most nights.) Yay. :)

2. Have you watched the Lizzie Bennet Diaries? It's a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the premise being that Elizabeth Bennet keeps a vlog. I had my doubts when I watched the first few episodes, but it's actually really, really good, and I would recommend it to any Austen fans. One of the cool things about it is how it uses social media to create an entire world for the story. So Lydia Bennent and Gigi Darcy both have their own youtube channels (which become vitally important as the story progresses), the characters all have twitter accounts and interact with each other, Jane Bennet has a Pinterest board and Tumblr ... etc. Pemberley, instead of being an estate, is a company, which also has its own website.

Right now the creators are working on another (as yet unrevealed) adaptation, but in the meantime they are wrapping up a mini-series based on Austen's unfinished novel Sanditon. It's not as good as LBD, but I've come to appreciate what they're doing with it, and decided to read the novel so I can understand the adaptation a little better. I also realized they used social media (Twitter, Reddit, etc) much more heavily with this series to further plot and conflict, and I missed out on some of that.

So, watch LBD. But hold off on Sanditon unless LBD is something you really love.


3. Speaking of adaptations, the newest trailer for Catching Fire? AAAAAAAH. I am excited!! It looks really good. I'm debating whether I should reread the books before the movie comes out. The Hunger Games is such an addictive trilogy, and very good dystopia ... but to be honest I was incredibly disappointed in the third book. Katniss's character arc is so disappointing ... it's been a while since I read the books so I won't write about it too much lest I misremember something.

They're also filming The Maze Runner, another YA dystopian novel. Not as excited about this one. It keeps you turning pages and asking questions but it seems to me that that was its main draw. My guess is that the movie will boil down to little more than an action flick.


4. It might be kind of weird that I haven't discovered podcasts before now, but this week I started listening to Craft Lit. I like to put it on when Michael's down for his nap and do a little cleaning or (more often) baby knitting. Right now they're reading Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, which I am enjoying, and I really appreciate Heather's commentary and insight before each chapter. She makes a great English teacher (which is/was her "real life" job, I believe)! :)


5. My knee seems to be doing better. I went out to run some errands today and aside from some mild cramping in that leg (I think because I've been holding my knee funny to avoid jarring it) everything seems to be okay. Thank goodness!


6. One of my errands was to the library. Oh my goodness. Trips to the library are so good for the soul, especially this library, with its beautiful trees and shaded cobblestones. I will miss that place so much when we move out of the city--in fact, I think I will still go there now and then. I don't get there often enough (as attested by my $15+ fine ... just doing my part to keep the library running!), but I'd like to go at least every other week.


7. Another errand was to the dry cleaners to have Keith's suit cleaned and pressed for his PhD defense next Tuesday. Pray for him please!! It is such a huge day for him! Pray for me this coming week too, if you would, for some personal intentions; I am in sore need of peace and strength. In fact, if you would say a quick prayer to Our Lady Undoer of Knots, I think she is the one to handle my situation. :)


Head over to Conversion Diary to see more quick takes!

Weekend

It's been 20 days since I last posted. Whoops. Things have been busy, but it's just the ordinary sort of busy that comes from having a baby and so forth. We are still working on Michael's naps (sigh), but overall, life has a rhythm and I am happy with it. I have been making dinner most weeknights, which makes me feel in control of things and accomplished.

Although Keith still does the cooking on weekends, and that's fine by me. ;)

This Saturday I went to an indie fiber event, and of course I couldn't leave empty handed. I bought some beautiful buttons, a collection of patterns for little boys for when Michael gets older, and a skein of yarn. (I admit that, while I really like the yarn, I mostly bought it out of awkwardness. It was a small event, and I felt weird not getting anything, because I couldn't just fade back from the tables and disappear. Does anyone else have this sort of problem, or am I just weird?)

Then I came home to my guys, and after Michael's second nap, we decided to go to the library and out to dinner for a nice treat. We took Michael into the children's section and picked out a few board books (which he is NOT allowed to nom). 

Ready to go to the library. He doesn't like his new hat.

Keith wandered through the new fiction section in search of something to read, while I headed to the back with a specific author in mind; then we parted ways a second time while he looked at movies (they didn't have Little Women, which I really wanted, but we got The Happening out--we'll see how that is) and I went to check out the knitting section. (The main Carnegie library has an awesome selection! I checked out this (for my new yarn) and this (because some friends and I are knitting mittens together after Christmas).) 

It was a great visit, because I had some things in mind I wanted to get, but I also walked out with some spontaneous selections. Keith likes to wander and get lost among the books, picking them up off the shelf and waiting for something to catch his eye. I like the idea of that sort of meandering, but the reality is that if I have no purpose to my search I often get frustrated and leave with nothing. But the Carnegie library is a great place to meander, with its glass floors and windows into the museum. I would love to make a family tradition of these visits, to leave every two weeks with a new armful of books. They also have special events for homeschoolers, which is neat. 

(Last year when my cousin was visiting, we came to this library to listen to a Klezmer band. It was great music, but what I remember most about it was a sweet old lady who sat on a stool next to me and kept falling asleep and, with her mouth hanging open, leaning so far backwards I was sure she was going to fall and I, the pregnant woman, would have to catch her. Thankfully she woke up in the nick of time!)

At the restaurant across the plaza, Michael sat in his highchair the whole time and let us eat with both hands free--a first for him, probably helped by the fact that his highchair had wheels. At first I thought it was rather silly, but by the end of the night I decided it was pure genius. When he started getting bored we could just turn him around so he could see the other people, and he was thrilled.