Yes, I'm sneaking one measly book in at the end of February. My reading slump persists but I couldn't let the month go by without logging at least one read so I pushed through and here we are. I've considered giving myself a break on the whole reading thing- I'd never give it up completely but as long as I'm engaged in other activities that I'm enjoying and getting fulfillment out of, it shouldn't matter right?
Well, I'm still experiencing lots of moments of "I need to do something... but WHAT?!" where I have choice paralysis that leads to frustration that inevitable leads to a Mood (you know what I'm talking about). Having so much to do that I don't know what to do... yeah, there could be worse problems but not being able to choose something as simple as how to fill my free time is incredibly frustrating and I just want to grab myself by the shoulders and scream "just PICK SOMETHING!!!" I'm trying to use these moments to read because even if I'm having trouble getting myself to start reading, once I do I most definitely never feel like I wasted my time and the brain absorbing nature of said reading keeps the Mood at bay.
I did a little redecorating so the door I normally take my book pictures in front of is occupied by a Voyage Home poster now.
Small Town Talk is about the town of Woodstock, NY, detailing it's origins as a sort of artist colony in the Catskills to it's metamorphosis to a musical hotspot in the 60s and 70s. Hoskyns focuses pretty heavily on how the town and it's image was shaped by Albert Grossman and the acts he managed that rose to fame (Bob Dylan and The Band, etc) so not only are you learning about the growth of this small town in the mountains, you're getting a ton of information on the early 60's folk scene on into the more electrified 70s.
I'm usually terrible at reading nonfiction so this was probably a bad mid-slump choice. I love the idea of reading nonfiction and of course I find the topic interesting but... I don't know, it's just not as engaging I guess. I wish I liked it more (I have a similar relationship with documentaries). I feel like I have to put that out there given my 3-star rating- take it with a grain of salt.
Anyhoo, that aside, I did indeed enjoy the book. I found it difficult to digest the shit-ton (a highly technical form of measurement) of names that were thrown at me but overall the information was interesting. I love the music from that era so learning the background for it added to my enjoyment- that alone makes it a worthy read. Music lovers that don't fall asleep during documentaries should most definitely read this.
Star rating: 2.5/5
2021 book count: 3
I can't end this one without a song or two so enjoy "Tears of Rage," the first track on The Band's first album which was born in a pink house in a little town in upstate New York...
..and "To Ramona." I have a love/hate relationship with Dylan but I love this song for sure.
So far my vacation is going well. In true Ashley fashion, I do have some concerns that pop up in my negative brain, suggesting I didn't make the best use of my time off but the list I made of stuff I wanted to accomplish filled with checkmarks says otherwise.
Like I mentioned before, I've been working on a few projects here and there. That was one of the biggest things I wanted to accomplish while on vacation- I've had these almost done works-in-progress hovering over me, I just wanted to finish and get on with my new ideas. I know some people have tons of WIPs going at all times but that just makes me feel overwhelmed, especially if I've not been in the best brain-space. I'm slowly but surely coming out of my winter-induced brain blahs though and was able to power through not one but two of the projects and finish them! Without further ado...
I bought this pattern from this shop on Etsy. It was super cheap and I loved the subject matter so it seemed like the perfect choice for me to at the time. It was extremely enjoyable to stitch, I highly recommend it if you're so inclined! Samplers always come together pretty quickly and in in a really satisfying way and this one was no exception. The design and made to fit in a 5x7 frame- I'm sure I have one around somewhere, I just have to choose which one and figure out where to put it..
The words in the middle are Klingon for "strength, duty, honor." I especially wanted to do this one because it fit in with a couple other nerdy pieces I had done that hang proudly in my house. I'm slowly building up a collection of "home sweet home" or similar type of projects with the hopes that by the time we buy our own house I'll have a bunch to display prominently in a sort of art installation welcoming people into our home.
That's the idea anyway.
I only have a couple done so far which is probably for the best as I only have so much wall space at the moment. Here's the first one I completed, which is adapted a pattern from this book.
You see this almost immediately upon entering our apartment- we even had a real estate agent exclaim "whoa, looks like we've got some Trekkies here!" when leaving with the new owners of our building once (he was not wrong).
The other one I've done is a self-drafted pattern I completed in 2018.
I've seen many iterations of this particular pattern/theme but I'm especially pleased with how my version came out. If my memory serves (and there's a good possibility it doesn't), I made this the very year I got into Doctor Who in a big way. I later got M into it and we've watched all classic Doctor together (which I had never seen either) and are now making our way through the newer batch (first time for M, second for me!).
What other nerdy versions of this should I do? I'm open to suggestions! I'm thinking a Firefly themed one for sure. I may have to expand more into video games for M's sake- I've seen a few Zelda patterns out there.
Speaking of nerdy cross stitch things and also M, my second finished project is part of his birthday gift, completed just in time for the big day tomorrow!
The picture could be better, I know, but I forgot to snap one pre-framing and this particular frame is incredibly shiny and impossible to take a good photo of. Ah well.
M's favorite Star Trek is Deep Space Nine and his favorite character is Garak, so I thought I'd stitch it up for him. I made the pattern myself and I'm pleased with the result. I think M will be too! Tomorrow we plan to have some excellent beer at a brewery we haven't visited in ages, then go home to my famous salsa verde chicken tacos and cake. M isn't a big celebrator of... anything but he'd never say no to good beer, games, and tacos, that's for sure. Plus, it'll be a great way to wrap up my vacation.
Happy late Valentine's Day! While you can't get through this holiday without hearing from both the anti-V-Day camp, complaining about how commercialized and fake the holiday is and the this-is-a-serious-gift-giving holiday camp, you'll find none of that here as I land somewhere in the middle. I don't expect a lot but I enjoy any excuse to celebrate something, especially in the deep dark depressing days of New England winter. Because why not?!
My Valentine and I beat the rush and decided on a whim to go out on Saturday instead of the big day itself. Early that day I stumbled across the news that one of my favorite nearby-ish breweries- Medusa Brewing Company out of Hudson, MA- reopened on the 11th with an all new high-tech air filtration system and all sorts of covid-related safety procedures in place. With little hope, I decided to hop on the website and see if I could get a reservation. Luckily enough I scored one!
We enjoyed a couple beers and some nachos and tacos, it was a fantastic night. The only thing missing was games- I usually bring some cards or our portable backgammon set (oh yeah, we're serious) but sadly I forgot.
Medusa always has a good selection of beer for everyone, from IPAs (not my jam) to some great Belgians, to my favorite malty stuff. My absolute top pick was a delicious imperial stout called Black is Beautiful. If you're in the area be sure to check it out- not only is it delicious, but proceeds from its sale go toward the NAACP legal defense and education fund!
On Sunday, Valentine's Day itself, I woke up to M no so sneakily leaving the house. I got up and was enjoying one of my many morning coffees when he returned with a bouquet of lovely springy flowers (exactly what I want to see/smell when it's so cold and grey out!) and a pint of Ben & Jerry's. What can I say, the man knows the way to my heart.
For my part, I got him a weird chocolate banana because why not and made a fitting card to accompany it. His ultimate gift came later though...
Yeah, I know what M wants in his heart of hearts: meat. Poor guy, I'm more used to cooking veggie based dishes since moving out on my own. Not only is it cheaper and healthier, but I definitely came from that family who more often than not went with the "meat and 2 sides" dinner formula and while my parents are great cooks, it was a revelations that, as long as it met my dietary requirements of course, I could have whatever I wanted! Quinoa and tofu entered into my rotation pretty heavily and though, since moving in with M, I've started cooking more meat again, I most definitely don't do big meat-centric meals too often, especially roasts.
Sunday though, I didn't mind the extra time in the kitchen (it seems more right on a Sunday) so I used this recipe for a spicy brown sugar glazed pork loin. It was super easy and came out fantastic. I finally invested in a meat thermometer so no more accidentally overcooking meat for fear I'm going to poison anyone.
Overall, it was an excellent, low-key Valentine's weekend. I hope everyone enjoyed spending time with loved ones, whether that means pets, yourself, family, or maybe you celebrated Galentine's Day instead, you do you!
Anyhoo, like I mentioned last time, I had plans on Monday to go shopping with my friend. While out I decided to treat myself to a personal Valentine's present in the form of some super colorful shoes that-bonus!-will make me t a l l e r.
I've been pretty into this platform sneaker trend- I think it makes young 90s Ashley very happy that she can finally buy herself her dream shoes. These are Converse and are very comfortable and will totally be something I wear often- a benefit of working in an elementary school I guess.
At the end of last week I also decided to get myself a new game for my Switch since I had an Amazon gift card burning a hole in my pocket. Not technically a Valentines gift but it literally just got delivered about a half hour ago so I'm too excited not to share.
I figured Animal Crossing was just the kind of low-pressure/relaxing game I'll get a lot of play out of. Regular video games tend to work me up (yeah, even Mario64 which I'm working on right now. I don't know what's wrong with me). That doesn't mean I don't like them, it just means I have to be in the right mood for it. To get even more use out of my Switch-and at the recommendation of a few friends-I figured this was the way to go. It arrived that the perfect time too, since M has a [virtual] game night with his friends today so I have a whole evening to dive in!
As a parting gift, enjoy this song that get's me all sentimental and sappy for M and stay warm my friends.
Aaaaand I made it! Made it to what you ask? Oh, just-
***February vacation!!!***
Awww yeahhh, it's that time where I get to reap the rewards of working in a school- no more hospital hours for me! I get random weeks off now! Work has been going pretty well (surprisingly? Finally?) but I've noticed that as these mandatory vacations approach, everyone falls into this mindset of just squeaking by until our week off (the "__ sleeps until vacation" countdown on the message board in the teacher's lounge doesn't help), that's all everyone talks about starting about 2 weeks out.
But hey, I have a whole glorious week to just chill so I'm not complaining. I was hoping to be able to travel to visit family but of course that's not the wisest choice right now, even though the vaccinations are finally rolling out (I'll get mine soon!).
I'm not sure why I'm so relieved to be honest because this is New England and we're deep into the sad grey winter which means...
***Snow Days!!!***
Yup, yet another perk of working in school and more unscheduled mini breaks. We've had a few already so I should be well rested and not jonesin' for a whole vacation so much. Like I mentioned before, I used to have to drive into work no matter what but now, at the first sign of flurries, I'm pacing around the house with my phone waiting to get the word that school is cancelled.
Recently we got hit with a nor'easter which dumped over a foot of snow on us pretty quickly, getting me out of a day and a half of work. If you live somewhere that doesn't get much snow, enjoy the following pictures. If you do, cringe with me at all the shoveling I had to do (this is obviously a pretty big downside of a snow day but some forced exercise is probably a good thing considering the rest of the day I'm lounging on a couch).
The sad little trench M dug to get out to his car (poor guy braved this mess to go to work). I later had to expand it but that's what you get for being the asshole who gets to stay home.
Yup, that's my car buried somewhere in there. We had a plow come through of course but that really only piled up more snow around my car.
Can you guess where my car was? This was taken after I broke free of my snow drift after considerable effort. At least that massive pile of snow made it easy to brush the snow from the top of my car.
After a couple hours (!) of shoveling (I suggest getting over-ear wireless headphones for listening to music or a podcast while you do this- it makes the chore slightly more enjoyable and doubles as ear warmers. This revelation has really revolutionized my shoveling game), there's nothing like a big mug of hot chocolate and crackers with fancy cheese (caramelized onion cheddar from Trader Joe's, my ultimate favorite).
And yes, I may have indulged in a good beer at the end of the day. And why not? I'd recently picked up this stout from Left Hand Brewing Co. out of Colorado. I love a good stout but fruity ones? Not usually my thing. I was feeling a little adventurous I guess and their regular milk stout is one of the finest so I figured it was worth a shot. And it was! The raspberry flavor comes out strong but still finds a way to blend nicely with the milk stout base. 4.4/5, would drink again.
The excitement from my recent crafty gift wore off a little as all this of snow and bad weather set in my annual bout of what I call The Winter Blues. I don't need any help getting into a depressive funk but every year around this time I'm hit with The Blues pretty bad and I suddenly can't build up any excitement whatsoever to do anything, I can't even veg on the couch because I don't feel like watching anything particular on TV.
I'm always surprised at how much this barrage of grey days affects me- it doesn't help that taking head-clearing walks is hindered by snow and ice congested sidewalks. I've started taking some vitamin D to combat this and am slowly coming out of my funk a bit just in time for vacation.
I managed to start a couple sewing projects as promised though, and they've been getting me through even though the going has been pretty slow. I feel better at least looking busy. I'm not finished but I'm close enough that I don't want to share progress, I'd rather just wait and reveal it once complete so for now, enjoy my awesome color palettes.
The first one is space-themed and uses a pattern from one of my new magazines. Not my usual colors for sure (I don't hate pink, especially darker pinks, but I naturally gravitate more towards blues and greens) but between that and the interesting style of the piece, it felt good to mix it up a bit.
The second pattern I bought from Etsy and used colors close to what was listed but using thread I already had. I like all the jewel tones here. Can anyone guess the theme based on the snippet of pattern shown below?
This pattern is a sampler so it's easier and more pleasant to stitch. Samplers are generally made up of basic shapes and solid chunks of color so it's easier to turn your brain off a bit while sewing, which suited my level of energy.
As always, I have even more projects in the works, including a Vonnegut piece I mentioned I might want to do. I'm slowly but surely getting my brain back on track, or at least as much as it was on track before (I have a dubious amount of track on the best of days).
Right now though, I'm engaged in one of my weird new relaxing activities which is to watch M play Zelda: Breath of the Wild and yes, I'm celebrating the arrival of my week of freedom with a fine beer. I went a little local this time and got something from Smuttynose's Smuttlab, their experimental side of things. Magic Beans, a coffee porter, is pretty smooth (especially for a porter) and the coffee flavor subtle. Its definitely a solid choice, I'd give it a 3.75/5.
M and I have been to Smuttynose in person pre-covid and if you're ever in the area, I highly recommend a trip. The food was pretty good and the atmosphere fantastic. It's right near Hampton Beach so if you want to wrap up your beach day with something other than the ubiquitous fried seafood feast, it's the perfect choice.
This weekend another small storm is forecasted so I'm going to let myself take it easy but I do want to come up with a semblance of a plan for my days off, or at least put together a list of things I'd like to accomplish to give myself options. On Monday I'm doing some shopping with my good friend and premier shopping buddy which is exciting but the rest of the week I'm free. I'm just sure that, even though I don't expect to do anything exceptionally exciting, I don't want to look back on this coming week and feel as if it was wasted.
No pressure, right?
On that note, I'm gonna log off for the night. For those of you that, like me, long to feel the caress of that warm summer sun once again (and forgot how much you complain about the heat when its here), I'll just drop this song before I go. Enjoy!
(Despite having heard it a million times, I didn't realize how much of a random mish mash the lyrics are to this song until posting it here but having a random stream-of-consciousness litany of vaguely summer themed words and phrases still seems pretty fitting.)
