Unconscious Mutterings

Week 438

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Diligence :: Durability
2. Volume :: Sound
3. Hospital :: Ward
4. Binge :: Eating
5. Loyalty :: Trustworthiness
6. Pediatrics :: Kids' medicine
7. Authorize :: Allow
8. Cage :: Nicholas
9. Studious :: Considered
10. Transfer :: -ence

Booking Through Thursday

Interactive

With the advent (and growing popularity) of eBooks, I’m seeing more and more articles about how much “better” they can be, because they have the option to be interactive … videos, music, glossaries … all sorts of little extra goodies to help “enhance” your reading experience, rather like listening to the Director’s commentary on a DVD of your favorite movie.

How do you feel about that possibility? Does it excite you in a cutting-edge kind of way? Or does it chill you to the bone because that’s not what reading is ABOUT?

Well... I am quite sure I won't be too fond of e-books, even though I admit I have never even tried. They just lack few of the important things about literature: feel and smell.

You can't fondle an e-book, you don't feel the scratchy paper in your fingertips when you turn the page... and I don't dare to think how a reader would look like if you eat when you read (which is fun).

If I want to watch videos I check Youtube or put DVD in player.

And when it comes to commentary: Stephen King does that in his books. In written form. And I enjoy them.

I do enjoy listening his feature commentaries on DVDs, but a movie is a movie. Moving pictures are all nice and such, but books have their charm because they are good at what they are and have been for centuries.

Call me traditionalist, but that is not always a bad thing.

Stitchy things, flowers and iGoogle

First a word from our sponsor: My alter ego is looking for model stitchers so if you want some fame and bragging rights you can find the details under this link.

Hibiscus

I have always been more as a brown thumb than green one so what I found from our bigger hibiscus the other day made me really happy...

I have never ever seen blooming hibiscus and always thought it would be difficult to make blossom... but this bugger did this all by itself!

iGoogle

I've been using iGoogle for a while and am really happy with it (because I can see feeds (now that I have slowly migrated to Google Reader), email and news in one place without having to run around internet) with one exception... lack of really nice themes so one night I made one myself!

It's from a picture I took at mom's cabin 2008 and you can find it from the database as Chive Flowers.

Unconscious Mutterings

Week 437

I say ... and you think ... ?

• Adventure :: Tale
• Truth :: Dare
• Expose :: -d
• Applause :: Clap
• Hostility :: Emotion
• Sauce :: Chili
• Constipation :: Trouble
• Explore :: Find
• Senator :: -
• Children :: Kids

Writer's Block: Globetrotting

 

Goodness... there are so many places I would love to visit (as my friends know I am sucker for free trips *grin*).

Though, for some odd reason (as I am not huge US buff, rather quite a critic) I would visit New York, New York, US of A.
My life has been revolving around it in odd ways last ten or so years so I guess there is some reason for that and I should see what that reason would be.

 

Writer's Block: The long and short of it

 

I think it's Stephen King's The Stand's longer (1990) version. Its Finnish translation has 1344 pages.

 

Shortest... probably any of the parts of Stephen King's "The Green Mile". Usually I really don't consider anything less than 300 pages a book, but this makes an exception.

 

Blog Secrecy Act I

...it happens that I got to hear that some diwmit lacked common courtesy in such measures that certain people connected to my life had been told about basically everything I had been blabbering about at Facebook.
This person never made any indications that one knows people I know and apparently this person's sole fun was to hunt down my life... based on things I heard.

It makes me sick to even think of that. It makes me sick to think that someone has such devious mind that they get kicks out of my ultimately dull life and find it worth to be blabbed about. It makes me sick that some people have no guts to tell that someone that they are a guttless dimwit for doing so. And it makes me sick that some people really just are THAT stupid.

Anyway, this all lead me to be WAY more cautious at FB and hide certain blog posts and when I blog about certain things it'll be friends-only from now on.

Stash Stash Stash

As I am still lacking of actual stitching content it's time for another unblogged stash addition: more goodies from 1-2-3 Stitch! (We all love our stash anyway, don't we?)

I just see myself using that linen band for some ornaments... little this and that here and there and it will look fab!

When it comes to blog related stuff... there are certain things I won't post to public anymore for reasons disclosed some of these days in a friends-only post, so if you want to keep in touch with everything that is going with my life you will need a LJ username and get on my LJ friends list. (Of course I need to kno who you actually are too. Demanding, aren't I?)
Not that there are that many of those coming or already protected, but still. And you can never have too many usernames in various places, can you? *grin*

Unconscious Mutterings

Week 436

I say ... and you think ... ?

Circles :: Running around in...
Born :: Yesterday
Teddy :: Roosevelt
Comfortable :: Pleasant
Chaste :: Belt
Burned :: ...down
Blouse :: Shirt
Threats :: Violence
Cuddly :: Me
Condemned :: Damned

Booking Through Thursday

Reviews:

Do you read book reviews? Whose do you trust? Do they affect your reading habits? Your buying habits?

In general I don't read book reviews, but I am glad I trusted one review in Helsingn Sanomat (link is to internation edition, the review itself was in the Finnish version). It was about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "Half of a Yellow Sun".
Incidently it happened shortly after I had met Husband and I made a mental note based on the review that when I see the book, I must buy it. Finally got it last year, as couple of other her books and realised that I had found yet another favourite author for myself.

Her writing style is captivating and you just yearn more and more after getting the first sip and I can nothing but recommend her books.

Blog life. And what happens when a crazy stitcher travels.

I haven't actively read blogs in a couple of years (yikes!), I think that more or less after spring 2008, that spring when I first realized that there is something wrong with me and got lost in my brain fog.

2008.

Three years ago.

I met Darling Husband that same year, even it feels like yesterday.

Anyway, today I started, out of the blue, collect all my feeds from Bloglines to Google Reader as I decided it would probably be better in the end as I have my calendar at Google too and this way I can get most of my necessary stuff on my iGoogle.

There was abandoned and hijacked blogs, which I just skipped, but many of those blogs I used to read are still going strong so do not wonder if a new, yet familiar sounding name starts commenting. It's just me coming back.

My first anniversary with thyroid meds is on Wednesday and I am still surprised how much the whole thing has affected to my life. And how much it still affects. But life must go on and with time things will get easier, I hope.

Travels

My mom and I went to Tallinn earlier this month: ate like horses in an medieval restaurant (see the virtual tour here. In addition to great surroundings (this time we at at Krusensterni Saal) they serve great food), bought Estonian cheeses, dark roasted coffee and... I found craft magazines.

In other words: Estonian beading magazine and Russian Susanna and Cross Stitcher.

And we are going to Tallinn again soon as we, or rather my mother, got two free ferry tickets from tax free (this company gives free cruises after using certain amount of money in their tax free store). We are going to hit one shopping mall... there is a craft store too. Guess where I am going?

Unconscious Mutterings: Week 435

After a long hiatus, memes are back!

1. Decoder :: Enigma


2. Cake :: Yum!


3. Sense :: ...and sensibility


4. Geek :: Greek


5. Cousin :: Relative


6. Goggles :: Beer


7. Social media :: Facebook


8. Butterfly :: Wall


9. Search :: Look for


10. Manicure :: Pedicure

Writer's Block: Spellbound

 

Stephen King springs to mind without any effort.
I have loved his books since my brother first introduced me to "Night Shift" at mature age of ten and now, twenty one years later I still love his books and when ever I find movies or series based on his books on DVD I get them if I just can afford it (and they are reasonably priced).

When I was younger I used to say that I would marry that man without hesitation if he wasn't already married.
If I wasn't happily married I would still have that opinion. *grin*

Another talented person I admire is Teresa Wentzler whose art I just love and am jealous of her design skills (admittedly her style is her style, my style is my style and I am excellent in my own style).

But still.... Mr. King takes the cake when it comes to talent.

Pretty stash pictures!

I have bought these a while ago (raided 1-2-3 Stitch's Clearance again), but new stash is always new stash. *grin*

Also got some yummy floss just to... erm... justify the postages. As usual.

Admittedly that Lizzie*Kate is a new design, but when I saw it for the first time I knew I just had to get it and stitch it as a reminder.
It was actually partial reason for those DMCs as I love that purple-red combo of theirs and "Forgive Quickly" would look simply awesome stitched with it. On natural linen, /me thinks.

Yes, I love natural linen still. Nothing has changed: vivid reds and natural linen still rock my world.

Life is a funny thing.

I have felt like blogging, but I don't enjoy complaining all the time and that would have been mostly what I had done had I blogged.

Shortly put: it has been ups and downs for me last months. Damn thyroid. Damn seasons. But that's all about that.

And why should I just complain all the time when there is so much more to life anyway? And I am able to enjoy the little things, for some reason they just don't make blogging material.

Admittedly I still can't use time effectively, which I blame for that butterfly shaped thing in my neck (yeah, couldn't keep it out of the conversation *grin*).
Schwine thyroid *pronounced with fake French accent*.

But, hopefully, maybe, some day, I will get back to my regular blogging rhytm - or close to it (now that I actually have a life).

Off to stitch a bit, as this URI doesn't want that I sleep.

Writer's Block: Tobacco road

 

 

Yes, absolutely, being the Fresh Air Nazi I am.

 

1. Tobacco smoke is bad for your health.
2. Fresh air smells nice.
3. Tobacco smoke smells bad.
4. I am asthmatic. ;)

 

And smokers are a minority with a bad, bad habit so I am not very much interested of their right to spread that cancerous, foul smoke everywhere (even I am pro minority rights in about everything else).

O tempora, o mores.

It's funny really. I realised one day, on the third week of sick leave ("The Usual Winter Thing" and then I became hyperthyroid), that I actually miss casual chit-chat with people.

 

Yes, I.

Taking that clothes, basic cosmetics, medication and luggage are excluded:

1. Laptop
2. Camera
3. Cross stitch project
4. Sunscreen
5. Sunglasses

Rest in peace, Mr. Big Boss.

 

Seiichi, aka. Heikki

June, 1999 - 9th of March, 2011

 

Old boy had a stroke this morning and had fallen to eternal sleep while my mom was taking him to the vet. He'll be buried next to Her Highness to the garden at our mother's house.

Long time, no see

This is quickly becoming quite a common entry title for me... because of that blasted thing on my neck. Because this cold winter has caused me two relapses.

Nine months later I still have my thyroid and my dose has been upped close to upper limit of recommended level of medication. 175 µg per day. One could almost think that there has been something in wrong with me all these years.

That makes me angry. Why it had to take at least 23 years before someone was brave enough to give me test medication? Why it took 23 years before a doctor paid attention to that swelling on my neck (first picture where I have obvious thyroid swelling was taken when I was eight)?

Of course there's nothing I can do to it anymore, just communicate with my endo and get this thing in order as in this case even late is better than never.

Few days from now I am seeing my endo again and this time I will ask for the preliminary diagnose and get the papers sent to SII.