Purlewe: Where have you been Mr. Bean?

I am here. Decompressing. Not really active in many ways.. Altho I see that this is not something new on the blog-o-sphere. I've been going home at nite and cleaning up the apt.. which does not make for blog fodder. But here are some things that are.

I finished the scarf for my sister. It is done now.. just a simple scarf from Morehouse Merino Laceweight. I knit it the whole time I was in IN, and finished it about a week after I returned. I really love the way it turned out and it was a good basic thing for me to do while I was there.

I have also spun a little. (**warning, craptastic cell photo coming**) This is mystery fiber from Beth who let me have it when I visited her house. I played with it a little before I left MD, but I spent some time this week doing little bits of it up. I plyed on sunday, spun some more on monday, and plyed again on tuesday. Each batch I spin is different color-wise. So this will make a pretty nice stripey knit.

It is crappy photo quality, but if you leave it small you can see it better. The fiber is on the far left, the plyed on sunday is the middle and the bit I plyed last nite is on the noddy. You can really see the differences in color. It has blue, yellow, green and black in it. I am really loving it.

I saw 2 movies in IN that I can't stop raving about. Brick and Pan's Labyrinth. I wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth in the theaters when it came out but I just never could find the time. It is well worth seeing. The bad guy was the best bad guy since Ralph Fiennes played Amon Goethe in Shindler's List. I had really wanted this oen to sweep the Oscars, and it missed by 1 statue. Now that I've seen it I think it was robbed!! I was worried about watching a movie about war since I have been having a hard time with the wars we are currently in. (I guess my body can only stomache so much before it revolts and I run from the theater.) So I have been having a tough time with the films I WANT to see vs the films I CAN see. (There was a french film about the war I really wanted to see but I could barely sit through the preview.)

BRICK, on the other hand, was everything I had heard and more. It is a high school noir. An indie that I think every indie lover should see. I loved everything about it, the color, the cinematography, the plot. I don't want to give this one away.. but I highly recommend that if you like crime novels or independent filmaking that you watch this film. Plus I am trying to figure out the pattern for the scarf one of the characters wore in the movie :)

I read 2 good books lately. Discomfort Zone by Franzen. I like Franzen's writing. Perhaps b'c I can see his stories in my head exactly as they happen. I have always enjoyed his style of writing and this autobiographical work hit the spot. I also finished one of our favorite crime novels in the series of No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by McCall Smith. Something about this series really touches me. I love the descriptions of Botswana. I love the stories of life there. I enjoy the mysteries. It is a good combo for me. Even better is getting to borrow the book on tape from the library and listening to it!!