FiberTribe: From My Bear to Yours

Feed My Head 2010

Andrea Camilleri: The Wings of the Sphinx (Inspector Montalbano Mysteries)
The wonderful, irascible Inspector Montalbano of Vigata, Sicily is at it again. Did I mention he's wonderful? And there are 10 earlier ones in the series.
Ariana Franklin: The Serpent's Tale
The very wonderful Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar (prepare to die!) continues her work. Who knew that the wretched pit that is present day Salerno once housed an amazing and Europe-reknowned medical school? Where even women were allowed to become doctors...
Ariana Franklin: Mistress of the Art of Death
Wonderful. And amazing as a first novel. There are some inevitably cringe-worthy scenes (if you're going to be true to the middle ages) but Franklin's ability to bring those times to life is spot-on. And she is amazing with the first of the Plantagenets. Makes me want to jump his unsavory little bones.
Nicholas Blake: The Worm of Death
Vintage 1960 British murder mystery. Good if you'd like to learn quayside shipping vocabulary for the docks at Greenwich...
Kent Haruf: Where You Once Belonged
Well written but depressing. Very depressing. His others are better.
Kent Haruf: Eventide
the sequel, sort of, to the wonderful Plainsong. I know that he's the father someone related to a knitblogger I read regularly. She mentioned him one time and the prior book Plainsong. Who? dunno. I'm not sure I would have appreciated Haruf as much had I not moved to a small, rural town. Go find him. He's quietly wonderful.
Ray Kurzweil Ph.D.: Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever
Another state-of-the-research book from Kurzweil and the longevity physician, Terry Grossman. I liked Fantastic Voyage better, but for sheer quality of information relevant to our health today, it's hard to beat. You can get a free (but for the shipping cost) copy at Ray and Terry's, their website that sells the supplements key to the program. As they say, they don't care if you get the supplements from them or not, just get them, take them and make the lifestyle changes. Then we'll be around to benefit from the next geometric progression of the health research paradigm.
Mehmet Oz M.D.: Healing from the Heart: A Leading Heart Surgeon Explores the Power of Complementary Medicine
so far so good. the ego required to succeed in the star-system world of cardio-thoracic surgery is only minimally present at the half way point in this book. In his world this is no doubt radical, radical stuff. Interesting to see the highest towers of traditional western medicine allow alternative therapies in.
Diane Ackerman: The Zookeeper's Wife
Love Diane Ackerman. Just started this, I'll get back to you...
Dana Stabenow: Whisper to the Blood: A Kate Shugak Novel (Kate Shugak Novels)
Another keeper. All is not well in The Park. The Aunties have taken matters into their own hands. Be afraid. another bit of wonderfulness from Dana Stabenow. Once again I'll be tapping my fingers for another year till the next Kate Shugak mystery shows up. Sigh.
Byron Katie: A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are
Loving What Is continued on...tough Work but is there really a choice about it? heh.
Greg Mortenson: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Alrighty, I'm late to this game but if you haven't read this, go forth and read it NOW. It's a wonderful tale and it's not over yet. As we ramp up the war in Afghanistan why not join the Dept. of Defense and do your required reading? As Rep. Mary Bono (yes, that one) says, you'll learn more about the region from this book than you will from months of Pentagon briefings. Go Dr. Greg!
Andrea Camilleri: August Heat
Camilleri's latest Inspector Montalbano mystery set in Sicilia. Just wonderful. Now I have to wait a year for the next one. Crap.
Janwillem van de Wetering: The Japanese Corpse (Soho crime)
Two Dutch cops sent to Kyoto to solve a murder in Amsterdam involving the Yakusa. Van de Wetering is a 'voice' like no other. He spent several years in a Zen monastery in Kyoto himself. The entire series has been re-issued by Soho Crime and is totally wonderful. And the cover design by Cheryl Cipriani is awesome. Yes, I'm a cover art ho.
Anthony Bourdain: Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)
Alice Hoffman: Practical Magic
The hardback has an illustration taken from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Proserpine. Much nicer. Hoffman's a great storyteller. And I always want her characters to go forward to the next book. But they never do. Go read this one anyway. You're welcome.
Tony Hillerman: The Mysterious West
This is a REALLY wonderful short story collection edited by Hillerman. Lord, I'm going to miss that man. All of the stories are set in the west or midwest, small towns and large. They're quirky and somewhat unexpected, especially relative to the usual work of the authors like J.A. Jance, Dana Stabenow (a bit darker), Lia Matera (chilling), etc. The true find for me is Wendy Hornsby. One of the best written stories, independent of genre, I've ever read. I've never read a more skillfully built exposition of the backstory built into the actual story. wow. I'm off to see what else of hers I can find.
Charles de Lint: The Wild Wood
Re-reading this bit of loveliness from de Lint. Among other things, it's about an artist who's lost her mojo. It's apropos given that I've re-started The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
Elizabeth A. Lynn: Chronicles of Tornor 3: The Northern Girl (Chronicles of Tornor)
Found this as I was repacking ancient boxes of books. It was written in the late 70s and is flat out wonderful. It's the third book of a trilogy (the 2nd one is Dancers of Arun) I highly recommend all of them. It's Fantasy with an incredibly drawn world worth of an Ursula LeGuin, deep and quirky characters, and stay-up-all-night story telling. go. find them.
Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]
A birthday gift from the Gomez. Starting this once again after years of hiatus. Wonderful.

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February 14, 2005

From My Bear to Yours

Happy Valentine's Day from me and my grumpy bear. Borrowed from another blog: Sometimes I wake up grumpy. Sometimes I let him sleep. Heh. You see the gold thread bandoliers? They held chocolates. Held being the operative word. Oh yes, chocolate anesthesia does work.

And here is the Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Not quite up to the break for the armholes but almost. Notice the odd dark stripes in the middle. The yarn is color #84 dyelot #02, all the same. So here is another peculiarity of Noro's latest Silk Garden to add to the frequent knot issue. Bizarre color variations within the same dyelots. Eh. Lucky I'm not fussy about this. Just can't wait to wear it.

It's a perfect color for the day, yes? So go, wrap yourself in some red love.

Posted at 10:49 AM | Permalink

Comments

Just lovely...glad the chocolates are gone. Nothing is much better than chocolate therapy. Happy Valentine's Day, grrlfriend!!

Posted by: Margene | February 14, 2005 at 12:55 PM

Happy Valentines day Caroline! Enjoy your chocolate. I agree, it's great therapy. Knitting and chocolate? sounds perfect! Love the silk garden colorway!

Posted by: Moni | February 14, 2005 at 01:20 PM

X ;-]

Posted by: Emma. | February 14, 2005 at 01:45 PM

That's impressive progress on the hourglass. And at least since you're knitting in the round the odd dark stripe will match front to back.

Hey, I've got a good read that might help you at least escape into neverland while the boy is slumping. Let me know if you've never read "I thought My Father Was God (And other true tales from NPR's National Story Project)," edited by Paul Auster. And of course I'll include chocolate. Sharfen Berger. Bitter. Delicious.

Posted by: mari | February 14, 2005 at 07:55 PM

The Hourglass is lookin' good. Love the color!

Posted by: Jean | February 16, 2005 at 04:11 AM

The sweater is looking great! I had the same experience with unexpected striping when I knit with that colorway. I had a couple of skeins with significantly more green than the others (which I was happy about!), so I tried to be strategic about when I used them.

I'm about halfway done with the yoke on mine, and I'm about to knit into my second "extra" skein of Cash Iroha. THe yarn requirements are WAY off! Luckily I've got a third extra for peace of mind, which I may or may not need...

Thanks for the nudge on my blog to order the Mission Falls cotton...it's on the way, and I shall have my shrug. Oh yes. :)

Posted by: Michelle | February 16, 2005 at 09:42 AM

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