congeries

You Poor Neglected Thing

Meg — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:22:05 +0000

My blog, that is. Quite frankly, I had a ball configuring it and designing the CSS and then lost interest. I guess I’m just saving myself for when I have the same cred as Margaret and Helen.

One thing I would like to announce: I am featured on page 74 in David Pogue’s new book, The World According to Twitter

I have arrived.

Elance - Whatevs

Meg — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:22:36 +0000

I have just re-activated my profile and placed a bid on Elance. It’s a simple enough project and I thought it ripe for the experiment. Urbie finds these wheezes a waste of time and I received a solid eye roll from him for even placing a well pedicured toe into these waters (the toes being well pedicured due to time available).

I understand the argument against. The tendency to undercut and competing with people who live in places with a lower standard of living, but right now, for me, it’s all about staying busy and not stagnating. To prove that I am employable. To vary the portfolio. To stay the hell out of my anxiety closet.

Having a birthday recently didn’t help me either. The thoughts of rapidly advancing age coupled with economic distress are not helping the sleep patterns - why not work on someone else’s website in the wee hours? At least it won’t feel like a total waste of time even though the whole gig is probably netting me 28¢ an hour.

And then there are the workshops on "Standing Out In This Tough Job Market." I went to one where I sat and listened to an hour’s worth of codswallop from a recruiter. Honestly. I knew I was doomed to lose a precious hour when she advised people to use the Return Receipt feature in email. It only went downhill with the advise to mail our resumes with a post it note message reading "This one looks promising" or some such phrase to make it look like it was forwarded on from Someone In The Know.

Both Urbie and I have come to the conclusion that it is just a matter of networking. Jobs in the near future will be word of mouth affairs and until then, we refrain from chasing our tails. I wish us, and everyone else who finds themselves in this position, luck and soothing vibes.

On twitter 2009-03-16

Meg — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

I wonder if toothless US anti trust laws will effect net neutrality debate #

On twitter 2009-03-09

Meg — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Someone owes me an hour. Not in Nov. NOW! #
HA! http://bit.ly/TsTfq #
I’ve just changed the clocks that need changing. I hope that I remember I did this and not mentally add an hour to said clocks. #

Live Blogging the Cats’ Birthday!!!

Meg — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:16:15 +0000

Today is Bix and Pippa’s birthday and because it’s Friday, and we’ve nothing really better to do, we are live blogging the event. Yes. There’s an invite out on Facebook and everything!

Presents and tuna fish won’t be until later today as the Honorees have cycled into the first morning nap which is not to be confused with the mid- or the late-morning nap …

Something should happen soon, depending on your definition of “soon”.

11:28 am Back from Petco with two birthday presents. Pippa feels both toys are for her. Urbie will tell you that he’s surrounded by pushy broads and his life is really hard because of it.

8:40 pm It’s been a day of fun with crunchy fish toys and a ball filled with some fine “herb”

Knitting

Meg — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:45:05 +0000

This is my work in progress (WIP in the parlance). I’ve been rather stuck here as I’m at the point where I divide for front, back and sleeves (it’s being knit from the neck down). From there it’s straight knitting until the interesting bits come around again at the end.

Knitting is a funny thing and has a rather amusing group attached to it – Like anything, I suppose, it attracts people you’d like to invite to dinner as well as The Clinically Unhinged. I don’t obsess about certain colorways or yarns. In fact, there are too many people out there with an old lobster pot and no idea about color theory that turn out what can only be called Clown Barf. I do wonder what they’ll say in 20 years when someone digs out those old pictures from the backend of the internet.

I knit because I don’t like any of the clothes out there anymore. They’re all the same. Even the higher end lines don’t have the workmanship to warrant the price tag. And no, one doesn’t necessarily save any money knitting one’s own clothes, but I’ve seen some wonderful pieces that people have knit that have lasted. And not just the run of the mill fisherman’s knit pullover.

And even though there are popular patterns, no one’s is ever the same. Especially mine. I’m not one that can wear the curvy Lana Turner, nipped in the waist sweaters. Patterns are mere suggestions in my book. A learning experience: "Oh so THAT’S how you do that", ah ha moments when it all comes together.

Then, of course, if you’re a knitter, even trash TV isn’t a complete time waster when there’s a project to be finished.

Levenger

Meg — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 14:35:30 +0000

I get a lot of catalogs, still. I was on everybody’s list for a while because we suffered through having dial up for what seemed like an eternity and when one lives in the middle of nowhere, one does a lot of mail order.

There’s one catalog that I can’t give up: Levenger. Not only do I rock it old school with fountain pens, but the Circa notebook system is the most wonderful thing in the world. I mean it. I’m never without it.

This is my Everything notebook and hardly smacks of maturity, but I love the SHAG stickers, especially the girl on the back. Who wouldn’t like to walk around in a red dress, a smashing up do and an automatic?

Swore I wasn’t going to do this

Meg — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:15:39 +0000

But here are the cats. I was just sitting on the bed watching TVand it struck me suddenly and with great force that this could be a still from a movie. Specifically … who? Bergman? Fellini? Hitchcock? There’s our heroine, Pippa, all sultry and brunette and stuff. Bix, Leading Man, brooding and Heathcliff like. Is that it? Is there a Bronte wormhole in my boudoir?

Tags: cats, AtHome, TV

First Interview

Meg — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:54:09 +0000

Not here, no, that would be silly. I’m to be interviewed for my knit shop Fresh Purls‘ blog. Pal and owner Karen has just jumped on the blog wagon and seeks Content. The subject is "My Favorite Yarn" which can usually be summed up in one word: Expensive. I justify this by knitting classic pieces in neutral colors. Neutral to me also includes the occasional eye searing pink and lipstick red.

It seems to go against a knitting trend. I see an awful lot of purple which is a color I find … difficult. And Karen is a blonde, so she’ll favor watery aquas and greens, which are pretty but lose something on my throwback Mediterranean-coloring self.

There is a positive to all of this and that is when A Good Red comes in, it’s generally mine for the taking. Karen would order anything I want, I know this, but there’s something to the instant gratification of grabbing something that suddenly speaks to one in the moment.

Tags: FreshPurls, Providence

First Post

Meg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:24:08 +0000

There has to be one somewhere, doesn’t there?

First, the design is far from over. The header picture is Nauset Beach in February. The offest of off season, which is my favorite time on The Cape. The picture will change since I’m not that pleased with it.

Next, what the hell with the “congeries”? If you fly to your Oxford English Dictionary, you’ll see:

congeries

/konjeereez/

• noun (pl. same) a disorderly collection.

— ORIGIN Latin, ‘heap, pile’.

Or, my life in general and the usual bloggie things like knitting, design, designing knitting, and life on the internet