Craftiness!

Look! I designed and knitted this blue top! It's done in bamboo, which feels wonderfully soft and is fun to knit with. Unfortunately, it also seems to stretch due to gravity over the course of the day. I needed to make some modifications to compensate for this stretching! I also crocheted the white flowers. And I sewed the skirt! Wheee!

In other knitting news: I'm nearly done my first (two!) sweaters. The one for me is done in gaudy crayon colours in cheap acrylic. The other is superwash wool for my brother, Ed. I have been developing an allergy to wool, but it seems that this superwash stuff is not really itchy at all. Hurray! Just to be sure I'll be able to wear it, I'll take some leftovers from Ed's sweater and make myself a hat. If it doesn't bother my forehead, I should be fine wearing it as a sweater, mittens, scarf. It is also wonderfully soft, this superwash wool I've been using! Also on needles: silly fun scarf for a friend, and a baby sweater for another friend. I can't believe I only have two projects on needles! Of course, I have nearly a dozen almost-completed projects off needles, but let's not count those!

I was also quite intrigued to learn of a technique called card (or tablet) weaving. One of the knitters in my knitting group was weaving one day. This was appealing in its simple construction (no need for a loom) and its protability. I got some books out on the subject from the library and tried it out!

The idea is that you use cards to hold the threads for weaving, rotating them to get a pattern and texture. I made my cards from leftover paper pad backings:




The thread ends are tied to some sort of posts; I used C-clamps (whee for equipment used in furniture construction!).




Once set up, you just go with the weaving, passing some thread back and forth to "lock" in a sequence of threads.




Here is my finished product. I just used some yarns and embroidery threads I happen to have around. This is my second attempt, coming up with the pattern myself. Not too bad a final product, if I may immodestly say so myself!




This type of weaving has 4 layers of yarns so it is quite thick and durable. I envision making my own straps for hand-knitting bags in the future. It's an exciting prospect!

Alas, craftiness will be pushed on the back burner over the next little while as my semester gets busier, my students start demanding more time, and I am applying for jobs, as well as working on a research project myself! Eep! In some ways, I am thankful for my long commute as some days that is the only time I have for knitting!

More crafty photos to come in the future. (I just have to remember to take photos of finished pieces before sending them away!)

Happy Caturday!

When I grow up I want to be this:

Aquarium!

Back in early August, Ed and Denise came out to visit for a week or so. Hurray! I was teaching, but did have Thursday afternoon and all day Friday free. Plus, Monday was a holiday. So while Ed and Toby worked lots and lots, Denise and I got to hang out. We went to the Central Park Zoo and watched the snow monkeys and the cotton-top tamarins and the polar bears! We also went to the NY Aquarium and Coney Island! We had to have Nathan's hot dogs, of course. And fought with day-camp kids for good views of rays and sharks and fishies. I'm still amazed that the sea otters aren't a bigger hit here! I mean, they're so furry and adorable, what is there not to like?! We got front row viewing for the otter feeding, while munching on watermelon that Denise had brought. It was a lovely day! These photos were taken by Denise (her camera was obvious better suited for indoor tank photos!).

I'm not sure how much longer Coney Island will be around. There has been much talk about development. I haven't really been following the debates, but there is definitely an old-world gritty charm to this amusement park as it stands now!


Approaching the Aquarium from the Coney Island Boardwalk, you get to see this amazing mural on the back wall of one of the Aquarium buildings!


Anenome are such weird and beautiful creatures!


Rays are so nifty! Did you know that they're closely related to sharks? And that they and sharks have only 5 gills (unlike the 7 that most fishes have)? Thankse Denise for telling me that factoid! Unfortunately, I can't remember exactly what happened to the two other gills - did they fuse and become jaw bones? Hmm....

Zoo Photos!

Here are some photos from our anniversary. We decided to bring Zebra-the-bumble-tiger along, to make these memories different from previous trips to the zoo.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast at our neighbourhood Cuban diner. Plantain and casava and cafe con leche and eggs and bacon and hot sauce....


Then we hopped onto the subway for the ride up to the Bronx.


The Children's Zoo part wasn't just a petting zoo! They had cute fennec foxes!


And a prairie dog colony! I wish I could animate photos; the food dish started with just the prairie dog on the left, then the middle one joined in, and finally a third came along! Party in the food dish!


One goat wants to be king of the castle!


Toby likes the gorillas; they are creepy to me! Luckily, bunnies hang out in the gorilla enclosure!


This was the first time we saw the polar bear do something other than pace neurotically along the wall of its enclosure!



Awwwwww, red pandas have the best faces!


I can't get over how adorable the tree kangaroos are! The mother still moves around awkwardly, but the joey has much less fear, climbing to the ends of branches and hanging by a claw! (This zoo visit, though, the young'un seemed really sleepy, and mama-roo kept sneezing and coughing. Maybe they had a virus?)


Zebra-the-bumble-tiger with his namesake.


We had the whole subway car to ourselves coming home! HULLO TOBY! WHY ARE YOU SITTING SO FAR AWAY?


I'm admiring my Dr. Marten's - my current favourite pair of shoes! Hey, when no one else is in the subway car, what am I to take photos of?!

Anniversary!

Well, near the end of August was our anniversary! We had originally planned to spend the day on Governor's Island. This is a historically significant island (and most recently had housed a military academy) just between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Now it is open in the summers for visitors, the buildings being mostly abandoned. A free 5-minute ferry ride gets us to this small island with no traffic and relatively few people!

Unfortunately, the weather forecast for the day predicted a heat index of 100F; translation: hot, hazy and humid. Not exactly the kind to be enjoying picnics outdoors! So, a last minute change of plans was in order. We ended up at one of our favourite places: the Bronx Zoo! We spent lots of time communing with the young tree kangaroo (it's so cute!), the red pandas, and the silly squirrel monkeys! There were bunnies in the with gorillas, and we finally visited the Children's Zoo area. Surprising for us, it wasn't just a petting zoo, but had wallabies and lemurs and otters! So that's where my favourite creatures had been hiding!!! If only we'd known earlier!

Afterwards, we came home for a shower (it was a hot and humid day, after all) and a change of clothes, and headed to Greenwich Village for a lovely dinner! We went to Antica Venica, one of the fanciest places we've been to. There were few tables, lots of professional, tie-wearing waiters, and a lovely decor. We were seated, and served drinks, and once settled, menus presented. The daily special list was longer than the menu itself! We had to get appetizers (the most delicious calamari I've had in a very long time!), and were brought out a plate fresh tomato with hard cheese on toast, and a basket of fried zucchini, "on the house" as they say. Lovely to try! Toby had a lamb shank with risotto, while I had soft shelled crabs. Yummy! Though, the shells weren't quite so "soft" as I had expected; more like shrimp shells really. Other than being overly salty, our dishes were very tasty! We finished off with coffees and chocolate mousse cake. And Toby got to try the in-house infused liquers.

It was wonderful to be able to have a meal out like this! The restaurant had lots of neat presentation things: a wine cart, which they'd use to decant a bottle of red wine into a crystal carafe over a single candle; there was also the liquer cart, which had the liquers in large glass jars, ladles and snifters all at the ready. Each of these carts would get wheeled to each table as needed, then wheeled back out of the way when finished. If you spilled onto your tablecloth during a course, when clearing the plates, two waiters would appear with a fresh table cloth, roll it up, then place it over your old table cloth quickly and unobstrusively. It was fun to watch this happen!

Afterwards, we waddled along the piers of the Hudson for a bit, but i was really too full to do much more than lounge! So we headed home and lounged with our extremely full and extremely satisfied bellies! It was a fun day!

Time Flies When...

Wow! Has it really been over a month since I last posted?! Where has all that time gone? Oh right, we've been busy! Just a quick update:

I finished teaching my summer course August 20, and my fall semester began August 27. Hence, I didn't really get a break, which makes keeping my energy for my fall courses a challenge! I've taught the material for both my courses already, so it's just a matter of incorporating new teaching strategies to prepare for this semester. Of course, there is always the constant meeting with students, answering emails, scheduling appointments, creating quizzes and assignments, grading quizzes and assignments, and on and on and on... I wish I weren't so tired all the time! My classes begin early, which means I have to leave home even earlier. Being not a morning person, this hasn't been easy! I'm trying to leave by 7:35 am, and Toby now walks me to the subway station (about a 15min walk) which gives us a little time in the mornings to spend together beefore rushing off to our busy days!

I've changed my commute route, and it has made a huge difference. It still takes a long time (about 80 min vs the older route's 90 min). The advantages are that: (a) my train is super-express, so we spend less time at stations, where stinky hot air gets blown into the subway cars; (b) my train now avoids downtown, and with it, there are fewer Wall-Street-types with big expense budgets and even bigger egos - instead, the passengers tend to be more regular folk and regular attitudes - definitely a nice change!; (c) we go over the Manhattan Bridge, which means I get to see daylight during my commute - this makes a much larger difference than I would have expected! Hurray! The downside is that I do have that 15minute walk. It isn't a big disadvantage, as I have missed being able to walk to work. And I think Toby enjoys being able to stretch his legs a bit more by having a reason to make a detour instead of walking straight to work.

In addition, I'm applying for jobs now. I'm looking for a full-time, permanent teaching position. We're hoping to land in a smaller community, and have both of us employed. Not sure how that will work out, but we can try!

Meanwhile, Toby is busy at work, as usual. On top of his usual crazy business, he's also applying for academic jobs AND teaching a course this semester! So it's extreme craziness in our household these days! I spend long days at work 3 times a week, and Toby, well, he spends long days at work every day in the week.

Let's all hope this is a temporary situation and that soon we will be in a place that is quieter and less crowded! Please? I think we've paid our dues now.

Wishing for a walking commute

(Or at least a bicycling one)

This is my usual commute these days:
08:10 Leave home, walk along 125th Street
08:30 Arrive at ABCD subway station - Take the D train
09:10 Transfer at Atlantic-Pacific Station - Take the 2 or 5 train
09:40 Arrive at my office

Today, my commute went like this:
08:10 Leave home, walk along 125th Street, notice abnormal number of people on streets
08:30 Arrive at ABCD subway station
- wait for train, and notice abnormal number of people on subway platform
08:40 Hear announcement that no trains are running at that station
- walk back towards 1-Train station (closer to home)
08:50 Learn from fellow passenger (who had been waiting for 45min at the 1-train platform)
that only 2 Trains were running
09:00 Arrive home drenched with sweat and humidity, change clothing
- check online subway advisories, which don't agree with what I've heard at the different stations
- make some phone calls, decide to try buses
09:45 Get on M104 train near home (125th Street)
11:00 Get off M104 train at Columbus Circule (59th Street)

It took 75 minutes to travel about 60 blocks. At 20 blocks per mile, the bus went 3 miles in just over an hour. If it hadn't been that hot and humid out, I could walk about as quickly! At this point, I called to find out if any of my students would still be waiting around for class. Given that my class begins at 9:55, and ends at 1pm, it was doubtful anyone would still be around by the time I arrived. So I ended up not getting to class today. I ended up not too far from home, given a lot of transportation over a lot of time!

So what was the problem? Apparently we had a huge rainfull overnight. Usually I wake up for these things, or notice extra water on the roads, or something! Unfortunately, I hadn't realized at all that we had a downpour. The roads were wet, but given that it was 97% humidity, I figured it was just condensation on the concrete making it all wet.

The subway system was partially running by 11am. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have made it to work anyway, as many trains weren't leaving Manhattan. I guess the tunnels were massively flooded, in addition to many stations/tracks being flooded. Pretty crazy! Must share this lolcat image from the gothamist:



Toby called to say that the subway company (the MTA) has a recent update:

"In addition, due to a police investigation at the Sterling Street Station, there is no service on Wakefield-bound 2 trains between the Brooklyn College-Flatbush Avenue Station and the Atlantic Avenue Station."

Even if I had gotten to work this morning, it looks like I might not have made it home! Eep!

It amazes me how the city shuts down like this. The transportation within this city is so important because few people drive. But, unfortunately, there is a very poor system set in place for emergencies. This kind of flooding happens frequently enough that if there is a large rainfall, I expect there to be subway delays or cancellations now. You'd think, then, that the MTA would have a protocol in place for dealing with such emergencies! Like, maybe having a command centre, to which every station makes periodic (maybe hourly?) calls to update them on that particular station's situation. The command centre then compiles the information and calls stations back. Employees at the stations can then be pro-active in giving people up-to-date information.

Currently, it seems to be a free-for-all 'system', in which employees pretend to know information and dispense it freely. Unfortunately, you only get information if you ask. I mean, if no trains were running at the ABCD station, shouldn't they have been roped off and/or a sign put up to explain the situation? Why did I have to wait until I was on the subway platform, trying to listen to staticky, muffled announcements to get that information? The bus driver told me that the trains must be running because, "See all those people waiting on the platform (of the 1-train)? They wouldn't be there if no trains were running." Right. Let's not consider the 100s of people on the subway platform earlier this morning who just didn't know and were waiting until a train finally came! Or the MTA guy standing in the Columbus Circle station: I asked him if any trains were running downtown. He looked up, saw a crowd of people coming up from a platform and said, "See all those people? They're leaving a train. The trains must be running." Yeah, thanks. I could have made that observation myself. But WHICH trains and WHERE are they going?

Here's a screenshot of the subway advisories from about noon today:

(There is more to the advisories. I think every single line had some change!)