The Red Shoes

The latter part of the week and this weekend have been cooler, but the threat of August-like weather looms in the coming week.

One thing having such a minimal commute impacts is knitting and reading time. I managed last week to set aside a bit of time to knit, but must work reading into my evening schedule as well.

Bought a pair of red shoesI'm amazed; they are narrow enough for my feet; have a sort of egg carton padding that makes them feel like bedroom slippers.

The piccy at the start of the post is Toupie attacking a skein of the Bristol Yarn Gallery Lyndon Hill. It is such a rarity that Toupie interacts with yarn; but of course, he sees the yarn as anathema when it steals my attention. The problem with owning a predator that is a solitary hunter as opposed to a dog, which is a pack hunter, is intelligence. You forget whfromre the prey crosses the road, you may not eat. I'm constantly surprised by Toupie's prodigious memory for objects and situations. He knows now when the white board comes out that the camera and yarn will follow and often rushes to get on the white board before the yarn.

I met another new neighbor on Friday when we returning from doing the trash because I screeched when Toupie rushed past me hellbent on getting inside her apartment. Luckily the baby in the stroller squealed when he spotted Toupie and that slowed his progress. She said, after my apology, that she gathered from the noise I made that I meant Toupie might run into the apartment. I got him inside quickly, so she could proceed on her way.

I finally figured out how to use the multiple shot feature on the camera. That's how I got the piccy of Toupie treating the yarn like prey. Some of the shots were clearer than others. So my next task is to sort out how to make them all clear.

Films:

In The Name of the Rose: I think I tried reading this at the time and couldn't get into it. The story was classic mystery; the clues well-placed and the dialogue and the drama well done. The acting was first class. A young Christian Slater was spectacular in his role as the novice.

It Happened Here: I wish the production values had been better. The film is done in documentary style and postulates what would have happened if the Nazis had won WWII and conquered England.

The Scent of Green Papaya: This film is about a girl who grows up as a servant in a household in 1950s Vietnam. It is beautifully filmed and acted. This is a film you really need to watch as Mui takes small moments to explore the world around her.

Reading:

The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddish Economics for the 21st Century by Sulak Sivaraksa

This book contains selections from Sulak's talks and articles. He makes cogent and rational arguments against globalization, points out the damage World Bank and IMF policies have and continue to do to people, the environment and their societies and calls for governments, businesses and societies to adopt a people-first approach to policy. There are so many moments in the reading when his pithy but true statements make you stop and think. The one that I can't get out of my head is where he points out there are more prostitutes in Thailand than monks. The other statement is that small frogs and other reptiles in rice fields that used to provide a source of protein for rural communities have been eliminated by insecticides and combine harvesters.

Pie Are Squared Shawl

I am more convinced than ever that this shawl was meant to be knit in a non-lace weight yarn. I've increased the needle size to #10's. I have the width I want (it's on 40" circulars in the photo above) but I'm not getting length--well, I am it's just taking a month of Sundays.

A Candlewick Pillow
Did this years ago: