TCBITW

The cutest baby in the world is quickly becoming the cutest toddler in the world. She has an amazing vocabulary, can run like a big kid, and is practicing climbing stairs! She also gets more beautiful every time I see her. But you can see for yourself that a picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?

The new lellow blankie

I am going to a baby shower on Saturday afternoon. My friend is having a baby girl at the beginning of June, and the timing is perfect for my most recent knitting project.

Here is a close-up shot of my lellow blankie clone.
















Using my childhood blanket as a template, I figured out the pattern and knit myself a replica. I love how the simple stitch pattern still has so much depth and texture. Don't you dig those zig-zags?




















And here it is, the finished product. My lellow blankie has been reborn, and is ready to be gifted to a Mommy for her bouncing baby girl.
















Bye bye blankie!

And the winner is.....

Well, thanks to those of you who took the time to help educate me on the pros and cons of the various MP3 players currently available. I think I learned a lot about new-fangled electronics and technology. And, in the end, I purchased neither the Zune nor the iPod Touch. Instead I got this:



http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665524056





















Yes, it is a Sony Walkman. There is a little girl inside me giggling with glee that I am finally a "cool kid" and own a *real* Sony Walkman. Except this one doesn't play cassette tapes and I'm not really that likely to be listening to New Kids on the Block and Technotronic...

But I digress, this turned out to be the best deal for for me and what I was looking for. My boyfriend took me to Best Buy and let the experts explain the pros and cons of the different players and it turns out that Sony had the amount of memory (8 gigs!), FM radio, and ease of use (buttons and no spinning dial thingies!) that I was looking for and it only cost $100, which was significantly less expensive than my other two options. The best part is that the software for the Walkman is my own Windows Explorer, so I just drag and drop my media files from my computer and they automatically organize themselves in the Walkman. How smart is that? I also bought the shiny cherry red one, which is super pretty, and, although it's not engraved, that is an option on the Sony website if you buy your MP3 player there. However, Best Buy had a better price and as soon as I realized that was the player for me, I was too impatient to wait for shipping.



Anyway, thanks again for your help. I'm a believer in getting recommendations from others, and in this case Erik from Best Buy got the final sale. He's super, by the way, you should go say hello to him at the Bellevue Best Buy sometime. :) Now I'm off to go watch some TV at the gym. Okay, and maybe listen to a little Technotronic...

Help me choose!

I am a reluctant electronics user. I have been using the same MP3 player since 2003, and the purchase of that device was only made after receiving a direct recommendation from a trusted friend who, after showing me his player and where I could buy it online, also showed me how to install and use it. Suffice it to say there was a lot of hand-holding involved.

After going through a period of not using my MP3 player at all, I have recently started to use it quite regularly for working out at the gym. But a couple weeks ago when I tried to change up the songs on my playlist I discovered that due to a computer software upgrade to Vista, I can't change the songs on my player because the company that makes my old player is out of business and updated drives aren't available. Apparently this means that my computer and MP3 player refuse to speak to one another. Sigh.

(Oh my gosh, all of this electronic jargon is making my head spin a little. Is that how all of you non-knitters feel when I drone on and on about blocking and gauge and frogging???)

Anyway, since I am getting *very* tired of listening to the same 15 songs over and over (and OVER) again on my current MP3 player, I decided it's time to get a new one. But since electronics purchases make me rashy, I decided to ask you all for a recommendation to help make this process less scary.

Here are the top two contenders after my not-so-long and not-so-arduous searching:

1) Apple iPod Touch
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_touch?mco=MTE3MzE
It's available with different storage capacities, but knowing me I'd probably get the smallest capacity. Really, if I've managed to go 6 years listening to 15 songs at a time I don't think I need more than 8 gigs of space. (Seriously, did I just write that?? What in the heck is a gig?!?)
PROS: This little baby would let me check my e-mail (with a wi-fi connection) and maintain my calendar in addition to holding all the songs a girl could possibly want for the ultimate workout. Free engraving with purchase (awesome!)
CONS: It's pretty freaking expensive. There isn't a radio built-in (I think you have to order an upgrade?) and my gym has televisions with the audio on pre-set radio frequencies. Also, it's an Apple product and I'm kind of crazy about Microsoft. Finally, I am totally freaked that I would crack the oh-so-delicate-looking screen just by looking at it wrong.

2) Microsoft Zune
https://zunestore.net/us/catalog/Devices.aspx
PROS: It's a Microsoft product and quite a bit cheaper than an iTouch. Comes in lots of pretty colors, free engraving with purchase (so cool!!), my Mom has one and says it's awesome. Received great reviews for sound quality, comes with a radio.
CONS: Doesn't do the cool e-mail thingie that the iTouch does. Has a fragile-looking body that I would probably manage to break.

Okay, so this is where you come in. I know most of you regular readers are happy lurkers and don't really like to comment on my posts, but I need an MP3 player and I can't do this alone!! Please leave a comment (anonymous feature is enabled, so you can de-lurk without "de-lurking") and let me know what you think. Please?

Good Friday Service

Well, I'm sticking to my word about posting details here for upcoming performances, however late in the game the details come! Tonight (this evening, in a few short hours, even) I am performing as the alto soloist in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Everett, WA. On the off chance that any of you dear readers a) live within spitting distance of the church or b) have no plans and no qualms about getting to Everett, here are the specific details of the service tonight:

About the Music:
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is a multi-movement work for two solo voices (soprano and alto) and women's choir. I will be the alto soloist for this performance. The text of the Stabat Mater follows the suffering of Mary after her son's crucifixion. The performance will be sung in Latin, but here is a link to the complete text in English, which will also be available at the service: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabat_Mater. Although the subject matter is very grim, the music itself is often cheerful-sounding and there are many beautiful duets for the two soloists that transcend any text and can be enjoyed on a purely musical level.


About the Church:
My voice teacher, Tom Harper, is the choir director at this facility. He will be conducting a women's choir in addition to the two soloists and organist. The church is an intimate venue in the heart of downtown Everett and the service itself will resemble Evensong or Vespers, and begin and end with prayer and the singing of a hymn. Due to the solumn nature of the service, there will be no clapping after the performance and people are asked to leave the church in reflective silence.

Westminster Presbyterian Church
2531 Hoyt Ave
Everett, WA 98201
Link to map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=westminster,+everett,+wa&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.130288,59.941406&ie=UTF8&ll=47.997389,-122.203846&spn=0.049624,0.117073&z=13&iwloc=A

Within a Week

My friend Tracy came to visit from Ohio about a week ago. Last Wednesday I took her and some of her friends on a tour of Seattle. This is the "view" we saw from Kerry park on top of Queen Anne hill:

















Yeah, not much of a view, huh? There are supposedly "mountains" behind those "skyscrapers" and even "water." I put all of this in quotes because as far as my friend Tracy is concerned, these things may not exist at all! The weather was so horrible that we could barely enjoy the glory of the Space Needle!
















But what a difference a few days make! I was in West Seattle on Monday morning and brought my camera along to take advantage of one of the first photo-worthy days of spring. Here is a panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains to the west:
















And here is a great shot of Northwest Seattle. There was a gentle breeze at the park and the sun was so warm on my back when I took these pictures. Yaay for spring!
















Downtown Seattle. What an awesome city.
















Sometimes I think that people from the Pacific Northwest enjoy beautiful weather more than any other people because let me tell you, we have SUFFERED for it!!!! :)















But when the rain clouds finally clear, this is really the most beautiful place to live in the entire world. Home sweet home!