I was not let down the first time, nor the second time, if you can believe it. It met and exceeded my expectations of awesomeness. The set and the setup are the first things you notice. The venue is a bar, and there is an 80s dance party before the show, with noodley, glitter-covered androgynous dancers hopping around on mini-stages and flexing against the railings. The show itself is very 90s, with pony tails and prissy figure skating skirts, windbreakers and sketchy family drama in an era when celebrity lives are just beginning to be public, but are not so public that we’ve stopped caring, as seems to be the case in the 10s.

Some great moments:

When you first realize that both Nancy’s sweet, legally blind mother and Tonya’s crazy drunken mother are not only played by the same actor, but she doesn’t even change costume, simply unzips her windbreaker and takes off her glasses.

The ballad “When You Wake Up Sleeping in Your Car in Estacada” – like many moments in this show, touching and funny, as Jeff Gilooly reflects on the path his life has taken.

Nancy’s two big numbers, “Why Did Nancy Fall?” and “A Good Wack,” both sporty an eery, tantric chorus and hilarious lyrics that, on subsequent googling, are all directly quoted from the real Nancy Kerrigan, who has got to be one of the most melodramatic people.

The areal fabric dancer who, along with the girls, lulls the audience into a mesmerized, sleepy state, only to wake them back up again in the best way, with a pop of glitter and a sudden shift in tempo, suddenly EVERYTHING is happening.

Finally, I loved the short but sweet curtain call, followed by a full cast reprise of “Estacada,” possibly my favorite number in the show, thus allowing the show to end in a dance party instead of a clapping auditorium.

All in all, probably the best thing I’ve seen, and if they do it again, I’ll be there.

I have a new blog, which I have to update, or else no degree – hooray for incentives!  It may even inspire me to update this ol’ thing from time to time as well.  The new blog is dedicated to chronicling my writing experience over the next semester, with special concentration on the month of February.

Anyone reading this, go check out her work at the AIYANASPHERE.  She kicks some major ass.

So, I went right out and bought yarn fuchsia, teal, lime green, brown, and two shades of grey.  I thought I’d have the sweater done by Christmas.  A little after new years, I tore out what I have already done and opted for a new pattern, which was going well until I put it in a box at some point and haven’t worked on it since.  I don’t know what it is about this sweater, but it just kind of doesn’t want to get made.

So, I plan to start work afresh on the Aiyana Sweater today.  I haven’t even finished the yoke yet (I am working top-down) but hopefully things will go quickly since I’m using size 10 needles and the yarn is either bulky or chunky – whichever is smaller, I never could remember the difference.  Here is a shot of the Aiyana sweater in progress:
I really like what I’ve done with it so far though – I am working the increases on the tops of the shoulders and the center of the front and back, so that the different panels have a diagonal line to them instead of being worked straight.  I’m also working a simple slip-stitch pattern on the shoulder stitches that exposes the slipped stitches and gives the thing a little texture.  Here’s the shoulder:

Unfortunately, I can’t find the pink yarn right now, so step one is scour yarn stash for pink yarn (a more difficult task than you might expect), then try to remember original pattern and measurements (I keep everything stored conveniently in my head), then commence work on sweater.

But realistically, the first step will be work on the owl sweater a little more.  I started the owl sweater two day ago and I’m already done the body and most of one sleeve – it is knit from the bottom up and then yoked at the top.  I happened upon this sweater in a random google search – I wasn’t even looking for knitting ideas, but for actual owls.  But this pattern is adorable.  It can be found here.  I don’t usually work from other people’s patterns, and I’m altering this one a little bit as I go along, but it’s been fun, and it’s also on size 10 needles, so it is knitting up really quickly.  Of course, all the work I’ve done so far is in stockinette, so a picture of my progress is not very interesting at this point, but here is a shot of the owls from the original pattern by Kate Davies:

That said, let’s celebrate something that is finished, and finished today!  Here is an earthy sort of sweater that knit up pretty quick, even though I started it well over a year ago – I got side-tracked, see my other 30 unfinished projects.  Like most of my creations, it made itself up as i went along – one way in which I think knitting and writing are very much the same.  The original idea for this sweater was to mimic one seen in an episode of Angel, worn by Cordelia.  Her sweater in that episode was a pretty simple brown thing, but the sleeves were only attached to the body by a few stitches in the middle of the arm, making the sweater kinda sexy and also prime for armpit ventilation.

So I set off with the plan to replicate this Cordy’s sweater.  I started the sweater as i generally do, from the neck down in a seamless, raglan sleeve design.  When I separated the sleeves from the body, I bound off the sleeves except for 4 stitches in the middle of each, which I held with a safety pin.  Then things started to change for me.  I got bored with stockinette stitch halfway down the body, and opted for some lace detail, so I’ve got a simple lace/ cablesque thing going on, with 3 rows of k2/p2 rib and then one row of k2 tog, yo, p2 alternating with yo, k2 tog, p2 so that the holes switch sides of the rib (sorry guys, I realize that most of the people who are going to read this are not knitters, and this falls into the mumbo jumbo category.  Also, if you are a knitter and are considering replicating this lace pattern, know that I don’t kno

w the difference between k2 tog and k1 sl1 psso – I just put whichever stitch I want in front and k2 tog for either).  So here’s that lace:

Also, you’ll notice that in the finished picture (down below) I do not include the awesome sleeves, which were the whole point of making the thing to begin with.  Well, I did add them, or begin to add them anyway.  But I tried it on with the sleeves and decided that they were kind of lame.  I ended up loving the sweater i ended up with, but it doesn’t really represent the original vision at all.  Funny how life is sometimes.

R. Sherwin Drury, 91, of 112 Stuart Ave., died in his sleep Sunday evening, Aug. 9, in his home after a short illness, surrounded by family.  Before his death, Sherwin wrote the following notes contributing to his own obituary:

“He was born at home at 790 Main St. in North Leominster to parents Ralph S. and Florence M. (Farnsworth) Drury, January 9, 1918.  He attended Leominster schools through high school class of 1936 and graduated in 1941 from Brown University in Providence, RI.  Shortly after graduating, he was drafted, however his stay in the army lasted only nine months because of asthma.

He worked for 40 years at the former Simonds Saw and Steel Co., mostly as a cost estimator in the office of the Fitchburg plant.  He was a fourth generation member of the First Church in Leominster Unitarian Universalist.  Always very interested in his family genealogy and in local history, he was chairman of the historical committee of his church and produced a 250th anniversary book for it in 1993, plus a troop 1 of Leominster Boy Scout history book.  He was formerly a member of the Planning Board of the City of Leominster and for many years has been a member and secretary of the City of Leominster Historical Commission.

More later.”

He went on to become historian for the City of Leominster Historical Commission, where he was a member for 30 years, until his death.  He was instrumental and a contributor toward the 2006 publication of Combing Through Leominster’s History, the first history book of Leominster since 1850.  One particular interest was in the history of the Houghton family of Leominster, and of the renaming of North Main St. to Houghton St. in 1874.  In 2008 the square at the corner of Main St. and North Main St. was named Houghton Square, and a dedication was held this May to honor the efforts made by Mr. Drury.

Mr. Drury was a unique and beloved man who lived his life, to the very end, with intent and particular attention to detail – in his conversations, his actions, and even his wardrobe.  He loved music particularly the big band era.  He was always excited to try anything new, whether a new gadget or an interesting food.  He was proud to be a life-long republican.  Most important to him were the members of his family and the history each is creating.  As he said recently while reflecting upon his life, “I am proud of all the things I have done.”

He is survived by three daughters, Ann Drury of Leominster, Judy D. Young of Glover, VT, and Barbara Drury of Westminster, MA; two grandchildren, Sherwin A. Young and Emily J. Young, both of Portland, ME, a cousin Florence “Buddy” (Enholm)Tainter of Leominster, a brother-in-law William Hart Jr. and his wife Mavis of Hanover, NH as well as numerous nieces and nephews.  He is predeceased by his wife of 55 years, Doris M. Drury, in 2003 and his sister, Jane Graffagnino, of Columbus, GA, earlier this year.

Does anyone know anything that could help me out?  (you don’t have to join anything to comment)

Anyway, I have 4 sweaters lying around that need arms.  The good news is that I finally finished Vincent’s bomb sweater (I had been working on the arms for a month or so, here and there).  It came out pretty well.  I’ll have pictures as soon as I find my camera cord.  Additionally, I’ve been re-arming a sweater that I made a little over a year ago, before I fully realized how essential tapered arms are.  The previous arms would really accentuate the flapping-ness of old-lady biceps.  But I’m not really into that.