between barren ease and rich unrest

From the almost daily, a story about a cave.

"[Marie Antoinette] was thwarted as well when she asked to be given the needlework she had begun in the Temple; once again, she expressed her eagerness to finish making a pair of stockings for her son. Although Madame Elisabeth and...

I wish I'd read this Cleaner Plate Club entry before I made rice and random greens (bok choy, spinach and swiss chard) casserole: It was edible, certainly. The earth didn't move but it was fine -- and more than adequate...

Why Florida scares me a.k.a a review of Blechman's Leisureville in the Baltimore City Paper. Plus, pictures of Maddy with two of her favorite birthday gifts:

Busy day. Must take Diva to Dr for her 6-year check-up, at which he'll probably tell me that she's shorter and thinner than average. Then I'll be spending the afternoon manning the desk at the local yarn shop in exchange...

Busy day. Must take Diva to Dr for her 6-year check-up, at which he'll probably tell me that she's shorter and thinner than average. Then I'll be spending the afternoon manning the desk at the local yarn shop in exchange...

Sometimes, treasures fall into your lap. My father-in-law brought this on Sunday. Ostensibly, it was for the Diva's birthday. Because he is a sensible man, he handed it to me first to see if it passed muster. She's welcome to...

"Pundits were surprised by McCain's clumsy rhetoric, by his lack of teleprompter skills, and by the fact that he stood in front of an ugly green backdrop. "Content better than delivery," said Karl Rove. "John McCain," said Mort Kondracke of...

I finished some socks. Generic sock recipe from, well, I can't remember anymore. Lorna Laces in Miata, which isn't a colorway that I'd ordinarily pick up but was a gift. I like the jazziness of them, frankly, and think they...

Yesterday was kindergarten moving up day. I'm generally not one for rituals like this and tend to always remain unmoved. Turns out, what it takes ot move me is a ritual involving my own child, especially when said child gets...

Short one today. We had Kindergarten Moving-Up Day and it has been a whirlwind. More on that later. * Julie Taymor on theater and the imagination. (And if you ever just want to think/be inspired, randomly watch the TED talks...

This weekend, at the bowling alley, we had the Diva's sixth birthday party.* The Diva is in pink, natch. The Boy amused himself at the alley as best he could. Also, he bowled. The Boy and his friend C, with...

From the almost-daily: Kids are like the weather.

"The spin is that tennis' quirks are part of the charm. It's like learning a secret code. If matches would be played in four 15-minute quarters and the scoring went 1,2,3,4, game, any imbecile could grasp it. A friend of...

Ms Thing is a bit under the weather and home from school. A little fever, a little achy. We'll see. Hopefully, she'll rally before her birthday party on Saturday. Still, some stuff - A sixth foot (a right one, this...

Now that they are safely in the hands of my swap partner, let me present my version of Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts: Yarn: Louet Gems Merino in Neptune and Linen Grey. Here they are, blocking. Once blocked, they weren't quite...

I'm about to head off into the wilds of Central New York (well, Ithaca) to do a knitter interview for the book. I'd intended to pre-write something deep and insightful. Instead, you get other people's deep, insightful posts: Seth Stevenson...

* This Rent Mother Nature gift thingy may now become my default present. Everyone still needs to act surprised if they unwrap one. * Time wonders how much sleep you really need. * I love Scott Miller. And now some...

From her commencement speech at Harvard: "So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was,...

Stolen from Jung at Heart: 1. What was I doing 10 years ago... We'd just moved to Knoxville. I had my first *real* job, which means it was finally one in my field that had benefits. Speaking of, I just...

The CSA we joined started on Saturday and I'm going to do my level best to catalog what we're getting/doing. In addition to standard greens, a couple of radishes and some rhubarb, which the Pie Goddess took all of for,...

Lots of randomness today: * The science of sarcasm. * There is something both heartwarming and horribly sad about this fake bus stop for Alzheimer patients. * Must make tiny pies! * Speaking of, the Pie Goddess emailed this link...

The stuff what we made at the Corning Museum of Glass has made its way here. Mine is the blue one; the Pie Goddess' is the orange and white one. Mine is in my kitchen window. The small dark blue...