Date: 2007-06-03 10:11 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Tags: where have i been?

i've been faffing around in the land of internet.

i've been faffing around on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=619640565

i've been faffing around on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/miss_reecie/

and i've been faffing around trying to blog (warning: content so far minimal and/or yawn inducing)

http://reecieknits.blogspot.com/

Date: 2007-04-30 21:39 Subject: good morning jobseekers Security: Public Music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mystery Girl Tags: knitting, victorian career paths

i need a new job! my wonderful boss has resigned and i predict things will descend into chaos shortly. in fact, things are about 80% there already. here are some options for my new career path:

1. governess to strange edwardian children (preferably twins)
2. Dickensian philanthropist
3. maker of fine lace shawls
4. falconer
5. scrimshaw artist
6. whitechapel barmaid ("freshen your drink, guv'nor?")
7. professional sock knitter

anyway, in knitting news, have become very inspired again with various knitting related things. am preparing competition entries for melbourne scarf festival and wangaratta stitched up textile festival. also planning on writing a knitting book (topic is under strict secrecy but the title will be a reference to Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past).

Date: 2007-04-09 16:12 Subject: lana et mare Security: Public Location: ashore Mood: seaworthy Music: Radio National Tags: knitting, the sea

two things i love which i thought could never be combined (without either drowning or soggy socks)

1. knitting
2. the sea

UNTIL NOW, THAT IS!!! in approximately 4 days time i shall have my leetle hands on the following items via United States Global Priority shipping service:

1. 2 hanks of handmaiden sea silk (70% silk 30% seacell (a fibre made from seaweed))
2. a hank of handmaiden sea wool sock yarn (70% merino 30% seacell)
3. a knitting bag with fish on it made from material used for fish feed bags.

here is their website for anyone who requires information about yarns of the sea. so from now on i will be knitting (and wearing) things made from the sea.

now, if only i could get all this goddamn uni stuff done so i can immerse myself in aqua-knitting.

“for whatever we lose (like a you or a me) / it's always ourselves we find in the sea" - e.e. cummings

Date: 2007-04-05 10:48 Subject: can't you hear me yell-a? you're putting me through hell-a! STELLA!!!!! Security: Public

the stella mccartney coat is MINE! along with some jeans and a jersey knit top. hahahahahhaha i win at consumerism!
now, to knit myself some mad accessories to wear with my lovely new winter coat.

Date: 2007-04-02 23:00 Subject: sigh Security: Public Mood: sad Music: Arcade Fire - Black Mirror Tags: attempted sanity, distraction

Things that are keeping me (barely) sane:

1. Ordering this sock yarn Little Bunny Foo Foo. I am going to knit socks and listen to the Moldy Peaches.

2. Gunther von Hagens' wacky autopsy show (on SBS right now! part 1 of 4, this week it's all about the blood and circulation)

3. Neon Bible

4. Sheridan Le Fanu's Uncle Silas

5. Weird yet addictive jaffa cake biscuits from Aldi

Date: 2007-02-01 12:32 Subject: skeletons in the workplace Security: Public Mood: working Tags: bones

i have become quite enamoured of the phrase "skeleton staff". every time someone says, "We've only got skeleton staff on at the moment," i immediately imagine an office with a whole bunch of skeletons running around doing various administrative tasks.

Date: 2007-01-03 11:07 Subject: 2007 Security: Public

happy new year kids! i have spent the majority of the last week and a half in bed with the flu. so to anyone who i was supposed to (a) call, (b) email or (c) do stuff with, please accept my apologies.

further update pending.

Date: 2006-12-13 23:26 Subject: reading update Security: Public Mood: tired of fighting for a lost cause Music: The Breeders - Invisible Man Tags: books, holiday plans

i have temporarily abandoned Anna Karenina until i can get my own copy. my plan to read it in three weeks and thus avoid overdue library fines was perhaps slightly ambitious.
have moved on to the new cormac mccarthy The Road, which is the story of a father and son traversing across an american wasteland at the end of the world following an unnamed apocalypse/holocaust of some kind. his imagery is beyond amazing. in one scene, the father carves the boy a flute from some can on the side of the road, and the boy stops in the road concentrating on playing the instrument:

"The man thought he seemed some sad and solitary changeling child announcing the arrival of a travelling spectacle in shire and village who does not know that behind him the players have all been carried off by wolves"

also my plans for devouring the latest thomas pynchon novel have also been temporarily halted due to the fact that the tome almost broke my wrist when i tried to lift it in the bookshop the other day, not to mention the fact that it costs $AU60. so perhaps i shall engage in the agonising wait for a cheaper and lighter paperback version. the new yorker impliedly declared pynchon completely mad in their review of the new book, which i found quite hilarious, because surely that has been rather obvious since the mid 1960s. bless him.

anyway, i have tomorrow and friday off work, so am planning to listen to radio national and do mad crafts.

Date: 2006-11-26 23:24 Subject: humbug Security: Public Mood: cranky Music: M. Ward - Chinese Translation Tags: delirium, dislike of major holidays, false advertising, russian literature

the woolworths lies continue!
just this evening, they informed me via the medium of television advertising that they had everything i needed to get through the christmas period.
woolworths, until you start stacking your shelves with blister packs of 5 mg valium tablets and extra strength earplugs, i beg to differ.
somebody wake me up on 2 january 2007.

unrelated note: has anyone read any tolstoy? specifically, anna karenina? i'm about to start it and opinions/persuasion/dissuasion welcome.

Date: 2006-11-15 17:01 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Mood: tired Music: The Shirelles - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? Tags: amigurumi, ramen, retail madness

had jerky legal research exam this morning. one more to go and madcap summer schemes can begin!
ate lunch at ichiban boshi, which i officially declare the best ramen in sydney.
in fit of organisation, bought calendar for 2007 - old monster movie posters from the museum of modern art. ace.
obligatory visit to JB Hifi saw me leave with Strangers on a Train DVD for $12.
obligatory visit to kinokuniya saw me leave with yet another hare-brained scheme, this time involving the art of amigurumi (japanese for "knit and wrap" apparently) toys. i bought two japanese books on how to make such wacky items as crocheted milk cartons and chocolate bars, as well as hedgehogs, cats, chickens, monkeys and bumblebees. stay tuned for progress and/or swearing as i grapple with japanese crochet instructions.

Date: 2006-11-14 17:24 Subject: too much water Security: Public Mood: stressed Music: Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah Tags: alcoholism, holiday plans, lighthousekeeping, procrastination, unrealistic goals

mad summer goals part 1:

- knit entire bedspread
- make persian rug
- finish insane embroidery sampler
- learn to swim
- read 50 books
- watch 100 dvds
- consume 80 gallons of alcohol
- build lighthouse

as may be obvious, i have only about a week or so left until exam period is over, so i am simultaneously procrastinating from study and having vivid daydreams about all the things i'll say i should have done come March.

Date: 2006-10-31 12:48 Subject: why is a raven like a writing desk? Security: Public Mood: tired Music: Portishead - Roads Tags: mad designers, millinery

tonight on the ABC at 10.05 is another episode of Artists at Work. Tonight features milliner Richard Nylon, which should be fascinating because:
(a) he is completely mad
(b) millinery deserves more air time

Date: 2006-10-17 11:14 Subject: truant, truant, they'll say! Security: Public Mood: arts! Music: Kelley Deal - When He Calls Me Kitten Tags: avoiding reality, hooray for ba!, kelley deal, knitting

i have decided to skip uni today, and instead am going to buy sock yarn. i am doing this because i haven't done any of today's readings and i want to make socks.
only two more weeks until exams! eep! perhaps this explains my reluctance to face reality and actually attend class. although there was a great moment in property law class the other day when myself and another classmate somehow got into a discussion about "The Proposition" and  Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian", following which i sorrowfully exclaimed "I miss my arts degree!". To my joy, about three other grad students piped up with "so do I!". GO ARTS!!!

and now, away! to yarn shop!

oh, have i mentioned that i am IN LOVE with Kelley Deal? Not just because The Breeders and the Kelley Deal 6000 are awesome, but because she kicked her heroin habit by taking up knitting, and she now sells her knitwear on her website and goes on TV and teaches people to knit and I LOVE HER.

Date: 2006-10-16 04:05 Subject: (no subject) Security: Public Tags: korean hair products

i just bought some hair wax styling stuff from the hairdresser down the road. it's from korea and it smells like bubblegum!

Date: 2006-10-05 15:10 Subject: let's bee friends Security: Public Mood: buzzy Music: Cat Power - Werewolf Tags: bees, knitting

a little while ago i thought i was becoming a goth knitter because everything i was making was black.
well, the plot thickens. now it seems everything i am making is either black or yellow. so not only am i now a bumblebee knitter, but soon i'll be able to stage my very own Blind Melon music video.

Date: 2006-09-25 11:55 Subject: mad as a march hare Security: Public Location: work Mood: inspired! Tags: hare brained schemes

so i have another hare-brained scheme. this summer holidays, i will be teaching myself how to play the violin. a (semi)reliable and (wholly)dreamy source within the music industry has informed me that the boat has not been missed if you learn the violin at age 26.
so i'm going to buy a couple of books, a couple of pieces that i really would love to play, a cheap violin (because apparently if you can make a cheap instrument sound good, then it will be even more rewarding when you play on a decent one and it sounds fantastic) and string up a storm!

Update: i just told my boss about my plan, and she has officially declared me insane.

Date: 2006-09-14 15:03 Subject: guns don't kill people, punks and goths do (apparently) Security: Public Tags: outrage

'Punk' Killer's College Rampage

"One woman said the shooter was white, aged about 19, and looked like 'the stereotype, with the long black trenchcoat and all the studs and piercings and stuff like that'".

OH SHUT UP. i can guarantee the motivations this kid had for shooting up his school will have NOTHING to do with the fact that he wore a black coat, had a couple of piercings and dyed his hair.

Date: 2006-09-14 12:26 Subject: upcoming films that hopefully will meet expectations Security: Public Mood: hungry Tags: film, pashing james dean, resurrection of de palma's career

i have discovered the apparent australian cinematic release dates for two upcoming films that i am very interested in seeing.

The Descent is being released on 2 November. (i only just found out it's written and directed by Neil "Dog Soldiers" Marshall, which has raised my anticipation level quite dramatically.)

also, The Black Dahlia is being released on 23 November. i am hoping against hope that it's a return to form for Brian de Palma. I want to see the de Palma of Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Sisters; NOT the de Palma of Mission to Mars and Snake Eyes!) if he can't make a winner out of one of the most intriguing mysteries in american criminal history based on a novel by james ellroy, then something is seriously wrong. i am still rueing the day that David Lynch decided not to go ahead with his planned Black Dahlia film based on Severed, which is the definitive account of the case by John Gilmore (who claims to have pashed James Dean, the lucky scoundrel).

sushi for lunch! YES!

Date: 2006-09-13 15:01 Subject: drafting correspondence Security: Public Mood: cranky Tags: get out of my way, i am always right, open letters, outrage

1. an open letter to the commuters of Sydney:

Dear Fellow Commuters,

When alighting from or boarding a train, logic and rationality dictate that the people waiting to board the train should do two things BEFORE attempting to board:
(1) leave ample room for the people leaving the train to get out
(2) wait until all alighting passengers have left the train.
Commonsense would appear to suggest that failure to carry out the procedures in (1) and (2) above will result in delay and discomfort when boarding the train.
Therefore, if you get in my way when i am trying to alight from a train, and you find yourself feeling the wrath of my handbag as it knocks you out of the way, you really only have yourself to blame.

2. an open letter to the students (and occasionally staff) of Sydney University who travel on foot to university via the streets of Redfern/Chippendale:

Dear Pedestrians,

A footpath is a designated public space to be shared by pedestrians travelling in two separate directions, ie. those people who are going to university in the morning (the students) and those who are going to work in the morning (me). Yet again, logic and rationality dictate that if the footpath is divided equally between these two sets of people, everyone will get where they want to go with a minimum of discomfort and offence.
Therefore, if you get in my way while i am trying to walk up my own street to get to my place of employ, due to such acts as insisting on holding hands with all your friends like you're on a grade 5 picnic, or concentrating on your reflection in car windows, or listening to emo music on your headphones, and you find yourself feeling the wrath of my handbag as it knocks you out of the way, again, you really only have yourself to blame.

i am also cranky today because i have lost my lip balm.

Date: 2006-09-12 11:19 Subject: move over balenciaga, i've stolen your idea! Security: Public Mood: creative Music: DJ Shadow - Organ Donor Tags: fashion assassin, knitting

come winter 2007, i shall be sporting this fetching number. but instead of paying balenciaga's multi-thousand dollar prices, i shall be reproducing it myself. i've already found the cable pattern in my knitting stitch encyclopedia. take that, haute couture! i'm undecided as to whether i will wear it coupled with the deranged riding helmet and platform boots, however. also, my version shall be slightly roomier, as it would appear that someone has stolen this model's breasts.