Saturday, June 28, 2008

Updates

Here we are, sailing headlong into July. The news Chez SABLE is both dull and exciting.

First the exciting:
Issue #3 of Knitcircus is very nearly ready to send off to the printer. We hope to get it dispatched by July 1, with issues ready about a week after that. Putting a magazine together really is like solving a puzzle. Once you get all the component parts roughed in, you still have to find a way to make them squeeze into the allotted space without looking like they're being squeezed. I'm grateful that I was able to hit the ground running with InDesign because of all the stuff about layout and design that I already learned in Word or Pages. I'm grateful, too, that ultimately it's not my project, so I do what I can and hand it off to Jaala. It's nice not being the one who needs to keep track of every detail.

I'm a bit at odds with knitting lately. I have some projects in the pipeline that need some thinking time, like the Kauni cardigan. And some ideas waiting to be turned into projects, too, but they need even more thinking time. I definitely need to get my kids into some more structured activities for some of the remaining summer. Then maybe I could focus on what to knit!

Now the dull:
The summer's been whacky because of weather and mosquitos. We were supposed to spend 4 nights camping at Devils Lake, but our reservation was canceled because the park closed due to flooding. We spent two nights at Mirror Lake, instead, which is just not as nice a park in several ways. It would have been ok, except that the mosquitos were just about as bad as I've ever had on a camping trip. In fairness to the park, this is a bad situation all over the area. It's been too awful to even stand out on the sidewalk and chat with a neighbor in broad daylight for the last 10 days or so. I do think Mirror Lake would be nice for a visit in the fall, except for the drone of the Interstate, which is a more fundamental problem. Because Devils Lake had been closed, one of our great favorite boredom-busters has been unavailable. The park is about 35 miles from our house, so a bit of a distance with gas prices as they are, still, we could go a couple times a week without breaking the bank. The park just reopened on Thursday, so I think we'll have to plan a visit soon. The lakes right in Madison tend toward algae and often close several times a summer due to high bacteria counts. Lately, they've been closed because of potentially dangerous stuff running into them as a result of flooding.

Yesterday I took the boys to see Wall-E, a new Pixar Studios movie. The Little Emperor has been waiting for months for this release. It was a fun movie for the whole family. There aren't a lot of G rated movies that I genuinely say that about. I wish there were more, but it seems like there tends to be a gulf between the really dippy pablum they release for very young kids (i.e. Barney) and the violent stuff that slides by for PG audiences because people don't hold animation to the same standards as live-action movies. So, I'd give Wall-E two thumbs up for the four and up set. And the teen liked it, too!

That's the news for now. Stay tuned!

8 comments:

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

Hello, I'm looking forward to OUR camping trip. I hereby volunteer to make my favorite oatmeal for breakfast one of the days.

YarnThrower said...

Thank you for the info about Wall-E!! I still only let my kids watch movies which are rated G, for the most part, and we enjoy going out to the theater, though not many opportunities there to see G movies -- so thank you for the "heads up" about this one, because lately I feel like I've been living under a rock :-)

Bezzie said...

Oof. Mosquitos. Reminds me of home!

Wall-E bears to much of a resemblance to that Short Circuit robot of the 80s. Just shorter. Did Tri Star sell the rights to Walt Disney? If not, I'd be looking for $.
And oh my squash--check out the Omnibot from the Short Circuit 2 movie--it bears a striking resemblence to Wall-e's girlfriend Eve!

Bezzie said...

Make that "too" much of a resemblance.

florencemary said...

Looking forward to hearing/knowing more about Knitcircus - will it be available in the UK?

Drag about the mozzies. Luckily we don't get them much where we are, but instead we get monster invincible field spiders...

dale-harriet said...

clarabelle - the "mozzies" (love that, intend to use it) are horrendous,but in truth I prefer them to anything called "field spiders", sight unseen! I feel a little silly going outside to the yard in a hooded long-sleeved sweatshirt, but it's that or be bled dry in about 2.45 seconds. Another horror from the floods....

Emily said...

What, you don't like the algae? What are you, from New England or something??
The spring-fed lakes without good inflow/outflow generally are the ones that get closed for bacteria. I grew up swimming at the Shorewood Hills and UW beaches on Mendota (email for exact addresses if you want them!). The Wisconsin River is always nice, but a little less safe for kids to swim in, maybe? I really like the Wisc. River beach alongside Spring Green, though. Cool sandbars.
It's sad but true that most of the really sublime lakes in WI are farther north.
I miss wisconsin something fierce in the summer. :(

Marji said...

I'm really interested in finding out more about the 'zine.
And I hear you about the mosquitos. I was trying to stand in the parking lot at Macatawa Bay Yacht Club and have a conversation, and almost literally got carried off by the mosquitos. They've evidently crossed the lake too.