Sparkles and Sticks

Best British TV Shows: Coupling

The Gist:  Bloke dates babe.  Their friends tag along.  They all obsess about sex and the opposite gender.  Hilarity ensues.

Favorite Episode:

Season 3, Episode 2: Faithless.  The awkwardness that has ruled Jeff's life turns out to be his saving grace in this episode.  RESULT!

Favorite Character:

Richard Coyle as Jeff Murdoch.  Clearly, I am a sucker for a Welsh accent.  And faces that look like my husband's.

Does It Translate?:  Yes, I think that Americans will understand Coupling fully.  While Americans may not understand the technicalities of all of the British cultural references, they will understand the implications. 

Why I Love It:  This is the first British Show that I found on my own accord, rented from the fantastic independent video rental place in my town (that my BFF worked at in High School and has since, sadly, been put out of business by little read envelopes), and watched all four seasons of.  I loved how each episode started out not-too-funny, and then built on itself until I was laughing out loud.  At the TV.  All by myself.  In an empty flat.  With little to no wine present.

Coupling is the show that made me fall in love with British television, and I have not looked back since.

In My Bag: On Training Walks

These are the things I bring with me when I go on my training walks for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

1.  My drawstring Nike bag.  Call me silly, but I am glad I found a bag in pretty pinks, greys, and purples.  Why go for a boring color scheme when you can have a fun one?

2.  iPod stuffed full of audiobooks.  I am currently listening to The Name of The Star by Maureen Johnson.  I have read the book already, but I love the story so I am enjoying it again.  I have also re-listened to Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and I have listened to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern for the first time.  For the record, I highly recommend The Night Circus in audio.  Jim Dale is a fantastic narrator and the format of the story lends it self to an audio tale well.

3.  Sunglasses.  This one should be pretty self explanatory.

4.  Instax Mini 7 Camera.  I don't usually take this camera, but I am currently working on a project that warrants taking it on a few walks.

5.  Snacks.  I usually bring an apple and a Fiber One bar.  Sometimes my blood sugar gets low with minimal forewarning, so I always bring snacks.

6.  Hat.  Early spring weather can be tricky, so I bring a hat in case I get caught in a chill.

7.  Phone.  For safety reasons.  And, in case I think I find someone's lost cat.  (This actually happened yesterday.  Sadly, it was not the correct cat.)

8.  Water bottle.  For hydration, obviously.

9.  Chapstick.  SPF 15.  Tinted.

Not Pictured:  Wallet.  I take my wallet primarily for two reasons.  A.  Mocha Emergencies.  B.  In case I get hit by a bus.  I want who ever rushes me to the hospital to be able to identify me.

Extra Yarn

A few weeks ago I went to a book event for Extra Yarn, an adorable picture book written by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen.  The premise of the story in one sentence: a girl finds a magic box of never ending yarn and knits ALL THE THINGS!!!*

Both of these dudes charmed the pants of me and many of the other ladies (or dudes who role that way) in the audience.  Mac performed a very amusing reading of their book, and Jon described his process of scanning an old thrift store sweater to use as the base pattern of the sweaters that Annabelle knits in this story.  Then, kids in the audience were given large sheets of paper and a mess of sharpies.  They drew a sweater on their paper, and Jon drew a cartoon of them into it.  I wanted to do one, but I fear that kind of activity may be something that I am just too old for these days.

One person in the audience, presumably a knitter, asked why they chose to write a story about knitting when they are not knitters themselves.  Questions like this drive me a bit nuts because of the underlying perception that the only people who could possibly appreciate the process of knitting, or the finished products of knitting adventures, are knitters.  In fact, I know many people who do not knit themselves, but admire the knitted things their friends make.  Especially when said knitted things are given to them!  Ask @OldSchoolBanana all about it.  She'll vouch for me.

In honor of Annabelle's yarn storm, some lovely local knitters decided to knit ALL THE THINGS in the bookshop.

Isn't their work lovely? If I was queen of the world, knitting ALL THE THINGS would be a requirement.

*If you don't know about ALL THE THINGS, read this.  You're welcome.

Hello April

April is for...

studying for the CSET test.

pursuing new volunteer and work opportunities.

more walking and fundraising for the Avon Walk.

rounding up the last bits of my university application and submitting them.

sharing all the cool new craft projects I have been doing here on le blog.

participate in BEDA (Blog Every Day in April, not Binge Eating Disorder Association).

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How did I do in March?

more walk, walk, walking- I took a few breaks due to recurring colds, but I still feel like I am on track for being ready for the Avon Walk.

applying to the teaching credential program I want to take in the Fall.- My application is nearly done- just waiting on a few bits from outside sources before my application is complete.

finally finishing the dress-up-the-dresser project.- finished!  Will post a photo once there is a break in the weather.

focus on fundraising for The Avon Walk.- I got some great donations (thank you sponsors!) but I didn't do the things I intended to do to reach this goal.

post an explosion of bloggy goodness.- I am proud of the posts I completed, but didn't post all the posts I intended to!  That's ok, you'll see them all sometime in the next few weeks.

Word of the Year: stars, stars, everywhere, without a ray to see

You know what is great about stars?  They are always out. 

During the day, we see a very large, close up, notoriously cheery star, more commonly referred to as the sun.

During the evening, we see lots of suns that are very far away.  We call them stars. 

We like to arrange them into shapes, name those shapes, and let them determine what kind of day we will have. 

Even when we can't see them because of fog, rain, snow, or drapes... they are still there.  Shining for the beneft of anyone who is lucky enough to see.

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I'm doing a word of the year project inspired by Ali Edwards.  The concept is sort of like having a New Years resolution only a little more abstract and a lot more inspiring to maintain throughout the year.  My word of the year is STAR.  You can see all of my STAR posts here.

Q&A a Day Book- March

I'm still loving this book.  Did you hear that Erin got one too?

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want to do this summer.  I'm (hopefully/likely) going back to school in the fall, and I want to spend this summer doing something really awesome and something really relevant to the career in education that I am now pursuing.  Today, when I Googled "summer education jobs" yet again and I found myself clicking on anything that said "teach abroad" yet again, I realized that this continued interest in teaching abroad is a true desire of my heart.  The idea has been floating around in my head for nearly a year, but it was just today that I made it an official goal.

Goal: Teach English abroad. 

When?  Sometime in the next few years. 

Where?  Not sure yet. Thailand and Chile both appeal to me, but I don't have my heart set on anywhere in particular.

Why?  Because I believe in the magic and beauty and power of langauge, and I believe in the magic and beauty and power of travel.  Nothing thrills my soul like a book or a plane ticket: both mean a new adventure and an opportunity to see the world in a whole new way. 

If I were Queen of the world, all my subjects would be required to read and travel.  (and make me lattes with pretty shapes swirled in the foam)

What are you daydreaming about today?

Red Velvet Art's Art Journal All Year Course

Several weeks ago I had a really wild and crazy Saturday night.  I was drinking a glass of red wine.  And watching Angel.  And tweeting about how much I love the theme tune for Angel.  And then (here's where it gets really wild) I bought the Red Velvet Art Journal All Year Course! 

I know, I am a wild and crazy gal, aren't I?  Buying craft e-courses on Saturday evenings?  That is stuff best left to the youths.

Going through Elsie and Rachel's course has been really fun.  At first I thought the instructions were a little too simplistic for me to really learn anything or push bounderies in my art journalling, but I have come to realize that simple is effective in this type of class.  The learning comes not from the instruction, but in the experimentation while creating the pages.  In short, I am very pleased with the pages I have been making.  Want to see a few? (click on the images to see them bigger)

I used three rings to hold my art journal together because I want to be able to shuffle my pages around for a more cohesive story as I add to my journal.  This page is currently at the front.  I love my background paper- it was part of a hoiday catalogue I got from a card company (It think it was Tiny Prints).

I made this heart with a bit of left over wire and tulle a few years ago and it has been hanging on my bulletin board ever since.  I still really like it, so I deided to slip it in my journal.  I've been holding onto this dreamy bedtime picture (from an anthropologie catalogue) for a few years too.  Session #3 was the perfect opportunity to finally do something with this pretty picture.

This page is my favorite so far.  I used up all kinds of goodies, including a page from a calendar that had a picture of a Welsh castle, a page from Anne of Avonlea with a romantic quote about dreams on it, a gift card holder from Starbucks, a paint chip with a dreamy name, and a little tear off piece from a strip I got when I signed up for an anthropologie loyalty program.

I loved hiding my daydream journaling in my Starbucks giftcard holder, and I love how all the bits of this project came together to portray the ethereal excitement of budding daydreams and quietly thrilling hopes.

Do you art journal?

Best British TV Shows: Black Books

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  AKA, Happy The-Day-Where-Everyone-Who-Isn't-Irish-Pretends-They-Have-A-Wee-Bit-Of-Irish-Heritage-So-They-Can-Have-A-Legit-Excuse-To-Get-Smashed Day!

I've continued the Best of British Television series over on my friend Erin's wee St.Patty's Day blog party.  Hop on over and find out why I love...

What I Wear: On Training Walks

This is a pretty typical outfit for me when I am on a training walk for The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  Black exercise pants...

... and fancy new walking shoes with a weird/awesome/pink/ridgy sole and pink laces are a necessity.  It was so fun to tell the clerks that I NEEDED pink shoes because I was doing the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and the color for Breast Cancer Awareness is PINK. 

What a fabulous excuse to wear pink.

Green hoodie with pockets that hold my iPod perfectly.  A brightly colored, thin t-shirt. iPod, full of audiobooks that keep me from getting bored on long walks.

Awesome Nike drawstring backpack, full of a water bottle, snacks, and other walking necessities.

Pretty flowery sunglasses are a must, because I live in California and am secretly allergic to the sun because I am part vampire.  I also love wearing something pretty, like this sparkly, flowery hair accessory made by a local artist (whose name I can't remember at the moment but will check the next time I am in my local consignment stores- this artist is in all of them!).  Many people think that "dressing up" for exercising is silly.  I would argue that it certainly isn't necessary, but I find it fun.  For me, exercising is about paying attention to my body.  Adorning it with a wee something pretty is also about paying attention to my body.  Therefore, in my mind, the two go together.

What do you wear when you exercise?

Hello March

March is for...

more walk, walk, walking.

applying to the teaching credential program I want to take in the Fall.

finally finishing the dress-up-the-dresser project.

focus on fundraising for The Avon Walk.

post an explosion of bloggy goodness.

Goodbye February.  I walked, started a new fitness goal, saw friends, read good books (one review, on its way!)... but I didn't post craft projects.  Hmph.

What are your goals for March?  How did you do with your February goals?