Film: The Worst Person in the World

Posted on 2/28/20222/28/2022 by boj Posted in Books, Film

Wow, how long has it been since I’ve written about the books I’ve read? Let’s make some clever comments about a few of them.

“Invisible Cities” by Italo Calvino – Marco Polo and Kublai Kahn having a fun chat about everything and nothing.

“A Manual for Cleaning Women” by Lucia Berlin – Short stories about a mom of four in the 50’s America.

“The Wrong End of the Telescope” by Rabih Alameddine – Introspection on the Syrian refugee crisis terrifiingly well written.

“Harsh Times” by Mario Vargas Llosa – American foreign policy sucks.

“Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata – How to find your perfect job.

“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro – A boarding school story until..

Film: French Dispatch

Posted on 12/16/2021 by boj Posted in Film, Knitting

This is a story of wrong turns and dead ends as represented by knitting I ripped out or abandoned over the years.

IMG_20180103_194106 — Colours having a screeching match

You see, I am a process knitter. Yes, I like a nice sweater as much as the next person, but it is the discovery process that brings me back to this hobby.

20191019_214506 — Not enough contrast and double strand made sweater unbearably warm

Different yarns, techniques and garment construction drives the work and a good sweater is like a mystery novel, how will it turn out???

20210213_082515 — Too loose in the back. I remade this with a lot more tailoring.

Sometimes I reknit a single garment several times until I get everything right.

20210803_161729 — Beautiful but how to incorporate it into something useful?

Sometimes the challenge is to figure out what works best for the given yarn. Materials can be too soft or harsh for the original project idea. Will it look nice? Will it wear well?

Sometimes ideas percolate for years. I made Lumpy in 2005 but put him back in the yarn basket as it was not what I was looking for at the time. I put bells on a few weeks ago on a lark and now we have the star of the show.

So here is to finding joy in learning moments. Merry Yuletide and best of luck in the New Year!

Film: The Green Knight

Posted on 10/29/2021 by boj Posted in Baby, Film

I took the boys to the newly reopened Bytowne Cinema to see The Green Knight. The film started just after 8PM on a school night and as it started I was worried it was a little too scary for Markus. In the end the boys loved it. Trevor though it was great but it made no sense. Owen “dude! It is a poem, it is not supposed to make sense”‘d him. Markus, who cut his nightmare teeth on the killer rabbit from Monty Phyton and the Holly Grail, did not turn his night light on since we’ve been to the cinema. So, success!