I bought an ipod this week. I'm having digital music related growing pains. I spent most of the morning uploading cds to my ipod, then accidentally erased most of them later (I thought that I was just taking the files off of my laptop, but the changes tracked into the ipod as well). Well, at least now I know how not to do that. Most discoveries in A/V seem to occur that way. This is not to say that I am unhappy with my purchase--I am happily eating ramen noodles to afford it. So, I'm learning new things about itunes.
Things are a bit stressful at work, mostly due to the imminent opening of the season. I overheard a coworker make a wildly unflattering remark about me, but never confronted him on the matter. For one thing, I'd have to admit that I was eavesdropping (a little unavoidable under the circumstances). Also, I have no idea what I could possibly say. "It really hurt me when you said..." or "I heard you say this and fuck you too"? Neither is a workable solution. I have to work with this person for the rest of the summer. So, things have been awkward. And undoubtedly solely awkward for me, as I do not think that he knows that I overheard him. The women in my family have long memories when it comes to perceived wrongs and slights, so this feeling may last a while.
I don't have many other things going on in my life in the moment. I go to work, I go home, sometimes I listen to a little music or watch fuzzy television, reread one of my books for the third time, etc. It's not as exciting as other people might think, largely because everything closes so early. I have been to two dance concerts here, which is more than I'd been to in ages. I don't think I've ever gone to a dance concert in Chicago....I've also been to one of the swankiest flea markets known to mankind, where I purchased a nifty ring reminiscent of NTSC colorbars. What can I say, I'm a nerd. So it's not as bad as all that, just incredibly wearying at times.
My knitting is going slowly, since I rarely work on it. I'm still working on the sleeves of my camel and crimson raglan sweater. I decided to start with the sleeves, as I have a lousy track record of completing garments with sleeves. In my defense, I will say that they are long sleeves worked in a relatively small gauge. And the project doesn't travel because it's being worked off of a giant cone. So I'm working on a pair of socks at work, when we have downtime. It's a bit frustrating to make so little progress on my projects, but that is usually the case when there are several ongoing.

You may have noticed that I changed my blog template. It was time for a new look, I think we can all agree. Sadly, I lost all of the personalization that I made in my old template, like a link to my email, my top ten lists, links, et al. I made them so long ago that I can't remember the tags. Sigh.
Maybe I'll be in artist mode tonight and not worry about it. I can work on my camel and crimson sweater (so far, only part of one raglan sleeve done. Sleeves seem to be my bete noire) and watch the Tonys on my scrambly television. I've taken to keeping a plastic bag atop the set, so that I can sheath my hand in it before touching the antennae. I am sick of shocking myself!
Suggestions for blog improvement are welcome. Suggestions of increased frequency are not.

Living for the Weekend
I am now perched in a laid-back cafe in Santa Fe, nursing a drink and taking advantage of their free wifi service. Free! And they don't seem likely to give me the bum's rush for staying too long. This cafe is just minutes, walking distance, from my apartment.
I had the weekend off. This is unprecedented. This is unlikely to happen again for the rest of my contract. It was heaven. Many, if not most, places are closed on Sundays here, as it is a heavily catholic town. So my usual day off is not terribly useful to me. I tried to make the most of my precious Saturday. I checked out the local yarn stores (one is phenomenal, casual, and artistic, all in one), window shopped in the cathedral district, and went to see a movie at the mall. That was a bit of a let-down. I often go to art films (that is not a euphemism!), where one is unlikely to see many babes-in-arms. It was babies-a-go-go at Shrek 2 yesterday. Yes, it's a cartoon, but how much enjoyment can an infant really get out of a movie? Later, one of my pals from work came over and we headed out to a very chill little party. Again, I forgot that I am ten times higher here than I am used to at home, and therefore can really only drink Shirley Temples.
I was very pleased to discover the quality of one of the LYSs. The proprietor was incredibly helpful and kind. She even told me that she could order things for me and ship them (all the way across town), as it is unlikely I'll be able to return. Very, very cool. I bought some lovely blue Peruvian cotton that was hand-dyed in giant copper kettles, as well as a pattern book of natty modular patterns. Not the scary ones that you find in the back of the Vogue book, more like a choose-your-own-adventure of knitting.
I haven't blogged in a while. It doesn't seem like something that I can get away with at work. So I was a little surprised and confused to find that my blogging interface looks completely different than the last time I visited. Whoops. Apparently, there are new improved features, which I have yet to explore. Maybe things will look different the next time you visit this page.