Historical events

Last night, Salman Rushdie came to campus to speak. A friend and I discussed the fact that the Fatwah (sp?) occured when most of the students on campus were about 4 years old so we wondered if these kids had any clue of the significance of his appearance. That evening (after my discussion with my friend), I was at a violin lesson, I mentioned to my instructor that the next night I would be at a Salman Rushdie lecture, she actually asked "who is he?". Okay... I feel old.. I feel out of date. Very pathetic.

The lecture was a bit dry in places. I have to admit I was hoping he'd sign his book but I can understand not wanting to be a sitting target for so long. Just in case some of the extremist fundamentalists don't agree with the lifting of his death sentence. But the man was actually really funny and I'm glad I can say that I actually had the opportunity to listen to him speak. I really regret I didn't take a camera.

Tonight was the MSU museum wine party. I apologize for any typos. Needless to say, I always get my money's worth from the wine parties.... :-) I can barely see the computer screen at the moment. LOL. I ran into an old college friend of mine, which was great and actually met a few others with similar drinking interests that invited me back to their places, but unfortunately, tomorrow I won't even remember their faces. I love this event.

Lots of stress going on in my life right now, so this was a great diversion.

Where does all the time go?

You know, I don't know whether Netflix is a blessing or a curse. Having a continuous supply of movies delivered right to your house is great, but you feel like you have to make sure you get your money's worth each month so you end up sitting and watching movies every night instead of getting anything accomplished. I have done almost no sewing and I haven't been doing my homework. Bad Steph! Discipline has never been a strong suit of mine.

I must confess the few times that I haven't been sitting and vegging in front of the tv, I have been distracted by reading. It has been a long time since I just sat and read fiction books. The last year or two, my exciting bedtime reading has been computer programmer manuals. I lost touch with the current crop of sci fi authors, so I didn't bother reading any new fiction. A friend recently loaned me a bag full of books that he liked and I've been devouring them in the remaining pieces of my free time. I sold a lot of my old science fiction books several years ago, so a friend and I drove out to John King books in Detroit (a used book store mecca!) and I stocked up on a bunch of my old favorites that I hadn't read in years. It was a blast!

I'm back

Time to start paying attention to the blog again! I want to try to work this into my regular routine so that I don't have such huge gaps between postings.

I've continued taking knitting classes. I've now worked up to fair isle knitting, which is knitting with a ball of yarn in each hand so that you can make beautiful multicolored sweaters. I'm still sticking with my violin lessons and somehow I was talked into making a wedding dress for my violin instructor. I must be certifiably crazy! And it's not an easy(as if a wedding dress were ever easy?) task such as following a predefined pattern. She has an idea in mind so we are grabbing pieces from all different patterns and trying to fit them into the sketch she has drawn. A corseted, goth-like wedding dress, with a skirt of streaming chiffon strips.

As you all know from earlier blog entries, I finally graduated back in December. We finally have my graduation party date pinned down, and now we need to work out details, such as food. If anyone has ideas for easy food for 50 people that can be prepared ahead of time, feel free to drop me an email.

Speaking of school, I absolutely love my textile class. So far we've studied all sorts of fibers -- natural such as cotton, wool, silk and manmade including rayon, polyesters, nylon, asbestos, kevlar, spectra, fiberglass and so many fibers that I never knew existed. We've just finished learning about all the different methods of spinning yarns, and next we'll start up on fabric weave structures after the spring break.

Even better news on the school front -- A lot of classes are being offered in the evening hours this next year so I can take at least 2 classes each semester. When the year is over, I will only have 2 more classes to take and I will already have my second degree. Degree #1 -- 18-1/2 years. Degree #2: 1-1/2 years. Much better! I'm already playing around with ideas for degree #3. Another bachelor degree or do I bite the bullet and go for the Master's program? I'm tempted by the idea of Graphic Design or Geographic Information Systems, or Linguistics in the undergrad fields, but possibly continue the textile program for a Master's. I still have a year to decide.