Fire, beer, motorcycles and hookers...the way to have a successful Memorial Day BBQ!

I told Rinaldo that this was the year he could have the big Memorial Day BBQ. I invited my friends, he invited his, we invited ours plus a few family members thrown in for good measure. We had over 30 people who showed up on Sunday. The day started out a bit crazy with Rinaldo and I running around trying to finish the house cleaning. We got a call around 1:50 from the first guests. They were at the Metro North station, so Rinaldo went to get them. I went out to the deck to keep an eye on the grill which he had just fired up. I was sitting there peacefully working on Swallowtail. Then I noticed there was a lot of smoke blowing up to the deck. Which was odd since we use the grill all the time and that's never been a problem. So I looked closer and saw there was fire under the grill, hmm that's not supposed to happen. It seems that he had left the bag of charcoal underneath and it had caught fire...great. I pulled it out and tried to stamp it out with my foot but that didn't work. It occurred to me at this point that we use Matchlight so those briquets could completely catch at any moment. So I grabbed the fire extinguisher, which Rinaldo had the foresight to bring out earlier and put it out. About five minutes later the first guest arrived but we were off to a blazing start (pardon the pun I couldn't resist).

After that we had food and drink:
...bloggers knitting of course:


















...a motorcycle in my driveway, man that got a lot of attention from the neighbors:...some very serious card games, Uno first, then Spades later:

You would have thought they were playing for money they were so serious!

There was even a hooker at the party:


I won't out this person just yet but she knows who she is.

I had a fantastic time but from now on it's back to smaller groups for the bbqs. This was waaayyy too much work!

I got nothing more for you than I did yesterday. Really I have less. I nearly finished the second bootie last night then I realized the cable was on the wrong side. Don't ask me how I have no freakin' idea. I did manage to finish it on the train to work today although I haven't sewed it up yet.

I didn't mention what a blast knitting group was on Tuesday. Chante and Shameka were working on their socks and making me jealous. Maribel was also working on her pretty socks. She's on her second Hedera not that she'd show you on her blog. We even got Tisha going on her first sock, through the magic of Magic Loop. I worked on Swallowtail most of the evening with a few rounds on Anastasia at the end. Marsha who asked us all to do a square to make blankets for the wounded soldiers she is visiting next month brought all the finished blankets. She had us pose for pictures:

The blankets came out great.

Hey, did we all know that June 9th is International Knit in Public Day? I sure didn't.

On Sunday we're having a bbq. You know how you invite too many people since you know many won't show? What does one do when they all agree to come? Run screaming? No, huh, ok maybe I'll sneak out to LI and hang with Poe in the pool. Rinaldo can handle the bbq right?

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

I really wish I had a meme for today. I was sick in bed all day yesterday so I didn't take any pictures. I have been somewhat productive though. I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.

I'm about half-way on the swallowtail. Once I got the rhythm of it, it started to go very quickly. It's a really fun knit, especially for lace. I am screwing up very rarely, though I'll admit to a few here and there. I can't wait to block it to really see how lovely it is.

I also finished the second baby kimono. I have to sew the ribbon on to both kimonos. I went to the craft store on Saturday and bought more ribbon since I still haven't found the original one I bought. I like the new one better anyway. Its a cream rather than a white so it matches the kimono better. I also bought a nice green for the other kimono.

I also made a bootie, and amazingly it looks baby sized. Whodathunkit? I used this pattern. It's a very good pattern for worsted weight. The problem I always run into with booties is that most patterns are written for fingering weight and I like them to match the other items I'm making which are invariably in worsted. This bootie seems to fit the bill.

I've worked on Anastasia a bit but I think I'm still suffering from falling out of love with my first pattern choice. Of course it doesn't help when other people are having so much fun with Love. I like the way my socks are coming out but I have no real urge to work on them. Maybe that'll change once swallowtail is finished.

Only 24 and a half hours left until the long weekend...

I think the only balance there is when you hear about the evil in the world is to hear the reaction of someone who brings light to it so intelligently and succinctly:

Let's Watch a Girl Get Beaten to Death

I love Joss for many things that entertain me but when I read things that he writes and says outside of entertainment it makes me admire him even more...

I set Anastasia aside for a few days. I needed some instant gratification so I started the second baby kimono. It's coming along swimmingly:

I'm doing this one in stockinette and it's so much prettier. I am doing garter at the edges to minimize the roll. I really love this green. Its actually Red Heart Soft which I like for baby stuff since it can go through the washing machine without a problem. I think I may have found another bootie pattern to try. We'll see. The hats and the kimonos are enough for a gift if the booties don't work out.

Suzy tagged me for the latest meme going around. So here it is:

Each person tagged writes 7 random facts about themselves. The tagged people need to write the 7 facts plus the rules on their blog. Tag seven others and list their names on your blog. Leave a comment on the blogs of the people you tag and let them know that if they need to read your blog for the rules....got it?

1 - I am deathly afraid of the movie The Exorcist. To the point of it being a phobia. Even knowing it's on another channel kind of freaks me out. Damned if I know why. I have forced myself to watch it at least twice and I've read the book (twice, it was really good) but I couldn't keep the book in my house. Nothing has cured me of it.

2 - I share my birthday with Helen Keller, whom my mother and aunt met when they presented her an award from the girl scouts as young girls.

3 - The first time I got on a plane I was 20 years old. It was my first vacation ever and I went to Mexico.

4 - I sang a solo in a school show in 9th grade. It was the first year I joined the chorus (goth girls didn't do group activities until someone explained to me that free voice lessons might help someone who hoped to sing professionally). The girl who always got the solos previously despised me for it and liked to make sure I knew every time I was even the slightest bit off pitch. I sang "Up Where We Belong". I hated that song then and I hate it now. Maribel was a witness to this historic event.

5 - I love Spencer mysteries by Robert Parker. I've read them all and when a new one comes out I usually finish it in less than 24 hours.

6 - I am a desperately huge Stevie Nicks fan. I find that much more embarrassing than my Motley Crue fandom.

7 - I cry at anything (entertainment-wise), TV shows, movies, commercials. I'm pretty pathetic (I cried during Bones last night). I get this lovely characteristic from my Dad who also cried at anything.

You know I prefer no pressure so if you want to do it (Susan) then please steal away...

Have a great weekend!

My morning was a bit busy here at work. They had a breakfast for what is politely called "Longer Service Employees". Yes, I was one of them. This is what I got for my 15 years of servitude:

That and a gift card to my store. I'm actually very appreciative of both in my own odd way. I like my job a great deal. The only thing that gets me down is the monotony of everyday life but I suspect that's a problem that's not just because of my job. So free breakfast and gifts to start my day are good! Unfortunately I also woke up with a sinus headache which is continuing to suck the life out of me. I think it's getting worse as the day goes on. Thankfully it's almost time to go home.

Here's some progress on Anastasia:


I will not share my stupid moment yesterday because it was fairly large in it's stupidity. Suffice to say that I would probably be at the heel by now if I used my brain rather than let it sleep while I'm awake.

At least it's Wednesday...

Late post...

Thanks for all the Mother's Day wishes. I had a fantastic day. I had two hours to myself in the morning, while Rinaldo went out with Ian and got me breakfast at IHOP and chai from Starbucks (whoo hoo). Avery being pre-pubescent was fast asleep. Then I spent the day out with Maribel and my adopted mom, her mom Lolita. We went into the city and caught a movie and had dinner. It was great. I had the best time.

I did frog everything this weekend. Which seems to have been the right thing to do. I immediately hit a productive streak once it was done. Look not one but two baby hats done:


I wish I could find the damn ribbon I bought so I could sew it on to the baby kimono then that would really be finished but I have no freakin' idea what I did with it.

I did cast on for the Anastasia socks but I haven't progressed far enough for them to be interesting as of yet. Maybe by Wednesday. I will say that my short row toe gets better and better each time I do it.

Oh well time to pass out. Damn, you know you're old when exhausted and ready to sleep before 11:00.

Good night.

Happy Mother's Day

Just for you ,Gina;)

I hope your Mother's Day is a pleasant and peaceful as mine is starting out to be...

Throw it all up in the air and see where it lands...

Today I have some pictures for you of the things I didn't show you Wednesday. Sadly most of them are not long for this world.

First up we have Falling in Love in STR:

...our love is still strong but the STR is coming between us. Falling in Love is not made for handpainted yarn and it's too dark and thick to work anyway, see:

I decided to give it a go with some Lisa Souza that I have, I know, I know another handpainted yarn but lighter in color and thinner:

Love this yarn, love, love, love it...in this pattern? Not so much:
So here's the deal. Falling in Love will be saved for a different yarn altogether. The Lisa Souza will be RPMs and the STR will be Anastasia. So everyone will be frogged. I'll cast on for Anastasia tonight.

This put me in the mood to reassess my gloves:

Guess what? Not feeling it. Quick to the frog pond...
I'll be swapping it out for some Lush that's been marinating in the stash for a few years:

Bea asked to see swallowtail which I don't think has grown much since I last posted a picture of it:
It coming along fine I'm just neglecting it horribly.

By the way since I was taking pictures on the deck I thought I'd show you the latest shot. Rinaldo added an arch and fixed the fence. The fence still needs to be painted and one look at the yard and you know that there is some serious weeding to do but considering how it looked when we started it's amazing:
I guess I'll be ripping yarn and ripping weeds this weekend. Have a good one!

I had planned on having some pictures to show you all the projects I'm working on while I'm caught in the grips of startiritis but I was too lazy to take pictures after I got home from my knitting group last night.

Currently on the needles I have:

The Swallowtail Shawl - currently in a state of neglect. Why is it that I get about 30 rows in to a lace shawl and stop dead. This has happened twice on Charlotte. It's like my own personal border issue. I don't seem to have the appropriate visa to continue into lace country.

Garter Stitch baby hat - not loving this either but I want it to match the kimono so I need to finish it up. I'm sick of this damn yarn (Mary Maxim Kashmere, don't laugh- grr). I have tons of it. I think it's time to divest myself of it.

Doctor Who fingerless gloves - the pattern is great but I'm not feeling the leftover Silky Wool from Gyrid. I'm also not feeling the magic loop on this one. I think I'm going to switch yarns before I go any further, I'm going to continue the looping though...for now.

Falling in Love socks - these are going well. The biggest issue is the fact that I can't see the lace pattern showing up yet. It could be the darkness of the yarn, it could simply be the whole lace blooming when blocking thing. I'm going to keep going because they look cute regardless. Here's some sucky camera phone shots for you:

look ma, a provisional cast on:



...and here we are as of 2:00 today:



It's a really good pattern. Of course there was some panic last night at my knitting group when I ran into the K4tog, yup that's right knit 4 together. That was more than slightly intimidating. I pointed it out to Chante and the panic in her eyes made me feel much better. Of course today she came up with an alternative, 'cause she's like that;)

Since I'm feeling that somehow this post is rather sparse, here is some Ian cuteness. We met Diego at the Bronx Zoo on Saturday as part of their Cinco de Mayo celebration. Ian was absolutely thrilled:



Happy Wednesday...

I got nothing done knittingwise this weekend. I somehow screwed up my knee on Saturday and hobbled around the zoo all day which only managed to make it worse. I managed to rest it yesterday so this morning it seems much better.

I tried to make some booties to go with the knitting kimono but my typical bootie bad luck held and it was too damn big even though the gauge seemed right. I'm doing a hat instead. Does anyone have a good worsted weight baby bootie pattern?

Falling in Love won the poll so I will probably cast on today or tomorrow.

It is far too early on Monday morning to say much more so here's a meme from Danielle at The Knitting Niche:

Mark with bold the things you have ever knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Taking Stock

Since it's the beginning of May I thought it was a good time to revisit some of the goals I set for myself in January.

Knit From Your Stash -
This is actually going very well. I haven't purchased any yarn since December. I did receive some yarn as a gift and some freebies from the Yarn Harlot's Represent event but that's allowed. I have knit about 17 skeins/balls from my stash since the start of the year. What I'd really like to do is catalog my stash, get it into a spreadsheet so I can really see if I've made a dent. I also want to go through and figure out the yarn I know at this point I will never use. This weekend is a bit busy so I don't think I'll get it done then but maybe next weekend.

Off the Shelf-
Not so good on the book thing. I've bought at least 3 books and have grabbed countless freebies. So I've made very little progress there. My husband pointed out that my goal of no new books until my birthday was foolish anyway since we have Book Expo at the end of May. That is the mother of all book conferences and I always get a ton of books from that. Hell, I still have a stack sitting in my closet from the last one. It's a double edged sword being a bookseller who loves books.

Run-a-go-go -
Ha ha ha 'nuff said.

Blog Poll has been down since yesterday so I have no freakin' idea which pattern won. Falling in Love was in the lead last time I was able to access it so if it's not back up by Monday that is what I will use. That's the one I wanted anyway;). Thanks for voting!

I have been hanging out at the new hot spot for knitters, Ravelry. My favorite popular kids all hang there and one of them was kind enough to extend me an invite as it's still in beta so it's not open to the public yet. Go get on the waiting list though as it's really a pretty cool way to participate in a knitting community.

A few links I wanted to share.

Check out Stitch THIS! over at Cafe Press. I love Liv, she's such a great mascot for the bad ass knitters of the world.

Did you know that knitters now have our own Wikipedia? WikiKnitting I haven't checked it out much yet. Too caught up in Ravelry but it looks pretty informative.

To quote a good friend, "thank Christ it's Friday"...

Have a great weekend!

Opinions Please

This is what was waiting at the post office for me on Monday:
...not exciting enough for you? Try now:

Some luscious Socks that Rock in Titania, here's a close-up:

Susan loves me. She was trying to decide what to make with it and I graciously (and jokingly) volunteered to take it off her hands. She's actually took me up on it. I'm ecstatic, so now I want to make pretty socks for me, me, me. I'm just not sure which ones. I definitely want to try a toe up sock. Hell, I joined the My First Toe Up Knitalong ages ago I suppose it's time to actually participate, right? I'm going to let you help me decide. Here are the choices:

Falling in Love Socks
Baudelaire I hate the picture on the pattern, go look at Susan's.
Anastasia Socks
Shimmer Socks
Diamante

or should I not even bother with toe-up socks for one reason or another. What do you think?

Here's a poll to make it seem official:

Sundays are for spinning...

...seriously. Chante was kind enough to come over to give me some spinning lessons since my poor wheel has been sorely neglected since Christmas. Tisha and Maribel joined the fun as well.

There was knitting:
...and a whole lot of detangling:
I swear all I wanted to do was wind the Spirit Trail sock yarn I bought for Tisha at Rhinebeck so we could get her started on her first socks but we all spent more time untangling the damn thing than spinning!

There was spinning though:

Oddly enough I have no pictures of myself or Maribel at the wheel but they do exist, they're just on Maribel's camera. I'm not sure when she'll get them to me or up on her blog since she leaves for New Orleans in a few days.

Added later: Actually she blogged so go look, I'll wait...

Chante is an excellent teacher although I'm afraid we spent way more time talking, laughing and eating all the food Rinaldo was making on the grill. I do have a better idea of what I'm doing although the minute she left I tried to get going again and failed miserably but I'm hoping if I keep doing it for a little while each day I actually spin something of substance.

Rinaldo worked in the yard and grilled. Avery and Tisha's son Aaren played Wii and even Ian had a playdate with Chante's son. It was a fabulous way to spend a Sunday. I hope we can do it again soon.

Last night I stayed up to finish the RPMs:


The foot on the second sock looks a little smaller but they measure right. I suspect it's because the first one was already tried on so it stretched a bit. While I was applauding myself for finally getting to the toe I noticed a small problem:


DUDE I DROPPED A STITCH!!! Like a million miles back, before the heel! I need to get the fixed before I gift them obviously. Can you believe it's just been sitting there quietly all this time? I was so pissed. I'll fix them up tonight.

On my way home today I get to stop at the Post Office, there's some Socks that Rock there waiting for me. It's so nice to feel the blog buddy love.

Happy (?) Monday...

Look at what I have, pictures of the first RPM sock:


She is lovely, is she not? I have had such a horrible case of second sock syndrome on the other one. I have cast on about 7 times. Each of the six previous attempts ended up in my screwing something up somewhere. This morning on the train I seem to have rediscovered my mojo, I'm sure the Motley Crue blaring in my ears helped a great deal. Nothing like a little Too Fast for Love to get your head on straight!

It's been a rough week and it's only Wednesday. Although if we're being honest only Monday was tough. In a nutshell, Rinaldo left for a conference in Denver, Ian was home sick, my mother in law had 3 appointments that morning so got to my house fairly late. I decided to try to get to work anyway but not before attempting to visit the bus depot where Ian's lunchbox that my mother in law left on the bus last week was supposed to be residing. Took a bus and a train to get there,in the rain, no lunchbox. Go back to the train, no trains running due to flooding. Leave the train head down the stairs. Get close to the bottom, slip and fall down the remaining steps, bust my ass. Call Tisha, hysterical ,tell her I'm done, I'm going home.

I'm bruised and battered. I can't sit back against my chair and I have to sleep on my stomach. Otherwise I'm fine. We're doing ok with Rinaldo gone, I've got a bit of a system going and it's working so far. I'm off tomorrow to do some sharing in Ian's class for their project on families. Then Friday Rinaldo's back. Ian's been a bit weepy when I drop him off at school but he's been a trouper for the most part. Oh yeah and I have the PTA knitting class tomorrow night and have yet to finish my square. Of course I had lost it for a few days so that didn't help, but I found it last night and it's about half way done.

I had Rinaldo take a picture of me on Sunday in the Calio-Thing for Kathleen but I wasn't crazy about it. Much like those of us who shave our legs for the blog readers I felt you needed me to have on some eyeliner and mascara so I made Tisha take a few shots this morning:



...and the side:


The lighting in our office sucks and I probably should have taken off my glasses but they're new and I like showing them off ;)

I love the damn thing and it occured to me this morning that it makes a lovely teacher gift for the end of the year. I guess I should get the blog for the Love Thy Teacher knitalong going again. The end of the years will be here before we know it.

Happy Wednesday all...

I appreciate all the feedback on my Philly post. It would seem I have to go back, perhaps with a tour guide! For a different take on Philadelphia read the post that Bakerina pimps in her comment. As I was reading it, I was struck by how simliar a love letter I could write to the Bronx. Every city has it's beauty and ugliness, true love is when you can honestly say you love it for both.

I finished calorimetry (which for the life of me I cannot say out loud) on Saturday:

I've grown rather attached to it. It's very comfortable and keeps my hair in check and my ears warm. The pattern is a breeze and it (obviously) knits up very quickly.

On Sunday I decided to start on the baby presents I need to make. One of Ian's teachers is pregnant and one of Avery's is as well. I cast on for the baby kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting:


It went along really fast. I finished the left side at Knitting Group on Tuesday. Which was a blast by the way. My friend Tisha came. Chante and I were actually there at the same time and she brought her friend Shameka who is also a blogger. I worked on the kimono sporadically the next two days and amazingly I finished it last night:

The construction of it is kind of cool, it's all one piece:

I'm not a huge garter stitch fan but I like the way this came out. I may try the second one in stockinette.

Just so you can see where my head is at the moment. I have yet to finish my square which is the homework for the knitting class I am teaching.



If the teacher doesn't get the homework done, do the students have any hope at all?

Have a great weekend!

Maribel, Tisha, her son Aaren, Avery and I all set off at 7 Monday morning to go to Philly. We were there to see the boy king. After riding the NJ train to the Septa train, we arrived and headed over to the museum:





Sadly there were no pictures allowed in the exhibit so this guy who was hanging out in the entrance hall is the best you get:


We hit Rosie's Yarn Cellar on a recommendation from Gina. I liked the store a lot. The selection was good and the women who worked there were very helpful but I'm so in yarn diet mode that I couldn't think of anything to buy for. Truly sad.

We decided to do the tourist thing since we were there. We checked out some local sites:



...and visited the Liberty Bell, which was far more impressive than I would have imagined:



I will say though I still can't deal with the post 9/11 world. The amount of security we had to get through to see the bell was insane. It took longer to get through the metal detectors that it did to actually see the damn bell.

I can't say I loved Philly. For two girls from the South Bronx and a Harlem girl to say they were uncomfortable in an urban setting is saying something. I've been talking to a few people about it today and I think that it's because the city is truly depressed. There is no hope or spirit in the air. At our worst the Bronx and Harlem always have had pride and spirit. It could just be that we're used to our home but I was really put off by everything. A fight was breaking out in the mall food court when we were there, all the homeless people we ran into were so angry and aggressive. While we were eating a homeless woman came and asked for money, we all told her no but I had the rest of my food which I wasn't going to eat so I offered it to her. She took it, opened it and told me the fries looked cold so she didn't want it and gave it back...

...in the Bronx we would have taken it and sold it to someone else if we didn't want it ourselves;)

Easter

Easter started out the right way. My dear cousin sent me an Icelandic chocolate egg:



Which is cracked open on Easter morning and eaten in bed:


I'll spare you the shots of the boys and Rinaldo eating chocolate in bed, it may frighten you;)

Then we had some family come over for dinner and it turned into a day of games...

...the little ones played Candy Land:


...the bigger ones played Wii:



...and the biggest played dominoes:



Much fun was had by all. Tomorrow the trip to see Tutankhamon.

The week got away from me quite a bit. I did finish the first of the RPM socks for Tisha's daughter who's birthday was, umm, yesterday. I gave Tisha the first sock to show her, so she'd know there was something on it's way. I'm also a little concerned because, as you may recall I initially cast on for the smaller size but that was coming out too small. The problem is once you make some real progress you can see how stretchy the material is. So now I'm concerned that the larger size is too big. I'm not casting on for the second one until I hear back from Tish.

I started working on the swallowtail Thursday night but I was having issues with the cast on. I'm going to blame it on exhaustion. I'm hoping to try again today. Instead I started Calorimetry yesterday morning:


Man there is nothing like a fast knit to make you feel better about yourself;)

Ian had a blast at Go Diego Go on Thursday (hence my exhaustion). He was dancing in the aisles, jumping, screaming having an all around good time. By the end he felt like one of Diego's family:

It was one of the better kid shows that I've seen. Of course my experience was greatly enhanced by the fact that Chris Meloni was there with his kids. Man he does a fantastic Jaguar Jump;)

Now I'm off to clean, yuck...

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!

Obsessions

Carla had this meme yesterday and it brought up a fact about me that is only hinted at on the blog, I live to be obsessed. If I like something, I mean really like something it turns into an obsession. When I was young I took it very seriously. I once read a book about Montgomery Clift, then I rented or taped nearly every one of his films. Same for Ava Gardner and Louise Brooks. Josephine Baker lead to buying albums, watching movies, reading numerous books and visiting the restaurant dedicated to her. I've had the same experience with books. After I read the first Spenser novel I read the rest of them in a two week period (ahh the free time of youth).

I'm not sure why I'm this way but I have transferred it to my oldest son. When he discovers something he enjoys it becomes all encompassing. Yu Gi Oh, Crossing Jordan, Monk, even ancient Greece. He'll check out the websites, read the books, play the games whatever.

I think it's one of the reasons I appear well educated though I dropped out of school in 9th grade (I do have two years of college now but I find some things you learn in high school that I still don't really know). I've obsessed about the Tudors, especially Henry's wives. I've obsessed about Scotland, particularly in the Jacobite era. This leads me to read and watch anything I can get my hands on about the subject. Most of them burn out over time although I typically always have a fondness for these things.

I still adore Monty;)

It was a bit hard to come up with five things I'm currently obsessed with since I usually focus on one or two at a time but here it goes...

List five things I’m obsessed with:

Blood Ties a new Canadian vampire detective show. It's fun, not too serious, comes from a book series and has a nice young hottie for me,Kyle Schmid. Young hot guys a pretty much a prerequsite for my television obsessions.

Music - music is a constant. I may obsess on a certain singer or band but I must have music in my life everyday. One of the leftovers from my wannabe rock star days I suppose.

The Outlander series - This is one of the few book series that I remain obsessed with even between books. None of the others match the first but I love the characters so much that reading one of them is like catching up with old friends. The minute a new one comes out I start reading it and my husband kisses me goodbye for a few days while I visit the 1700s.

Bollywood movies/India - Maribel got me watching Bollywood movies awhile back but now it's grown into an interest in all things Indian. I love the food, the music, the spirituality and as soon as the book diet is over there's a few books on Indian history that I have on my list to buy.

Knitting (obviously)- Another long lasting one. I didn't realize how much of my life it would consume when I picked up the needles again 7 years ago but it's become fulfilling on so many levels that it is one obsession that has truly benefited me and in some ways changed my life. Mostly through the blog of course;)

What are your obsessions?