GEEKERY  
ADVENTURE  
CONTEMPLATION  

20131231

New Year's Eve hike

We went for a hike today, partially in the spirit of the New Year hikes my family has done in the past, but partially in the spirit of nwc's family love of doing crazy hikes.  (As an aside, N wants to go by nwc now to prevent people from calling him "N" in real life, which has been springing up. There you have it.)

We went up to Magic Mountain--the real LA-98 Magic Mountain, not the theme park, and took a look at the ex-nuclear missile silos and testing area.  It was about 6 miles up and 7 back because we took the steep firebreak on the way up and the longer dirt road down. Our feet hurt now, but it was a lovely hike.

There was an inversion, so it was surprisingly warm to start, with lovely cool pockets all through the hike.  It was fairly clear as well, and we got lot of great views.

I also had the chance to try out my new hydration pack, which I've been lusting for ever since we saw our friends using ones in Nepal.  I was a little too enthusiastic, though, and drank the full 3 liters, which is about 12.6 cups for non-metric people.

All-in-all, a beautiful morning.



20131203

Enough with the days of the week!

So after Thanksgiving comes the dreaded Black Friday, the less awful but still consumerist Small Business Saturday, the slightly bizarre Cyber Monday, and now Giving Tuesday.  I have no problem with giving, but for some reason the idea of Giving Tuesday bothers me.

It might be the idea of grouping giving with consumption--that it's something you indulge in to feel better about yourself, possibly similar to the way shopping makes you feel good.  It might also be that we shouldn't need a day for giving, that it should be integrated into our lives regularly and not just thought about one day a year.  It might also be that holidays used to be about spending time with family, taking a break, or celebrating an idea, but that framing a day in this way, especially on the heels of these strange pseudo-holidays, has the potential to degrade the underlying concept of giving.

20131201

shawl to scarf

I started a red shawl mid-2012, and worked on it when I commuted into the city that summer. I had been a hour from finishing for several months, but today I finally finished it off.

It's looking to be more of a thick scarf, just due to the way the yarn hangs--it curls in on itself, giving a bit of a scroll effect.  Despite this identity crisis, I think it turned out quite well, especially for someone who can never remember the difference between knitting and purling.

With 2014 looming, I'm very far from keeping my craftiganza rules, but at least it's some progress.  I'd forgotten how much I enjoy working with yarn, and I need make it more of a habit.  (Without becoming a yarn hoarder.)