Archive | October, 2013

Obviously.

6 Oct

Sherlock Holmes says that often, usually to the annoyance of his friend, Dr. John Watson.

It’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot lately.  Why?

Because I’ve been watching a lot of Sherlock.

Obviously.

It’s a small sort of obsession.

The latest BBC version of Sherlock is two seasons in and continually gaining popularity.  Two BBC seasons meaning three hour-and-a-half episodes a piece.  [aka not enough]  I’ve watched all six on Hulu … and now am rewatching them.  Season three is finishing production and will likely air in early 2014.

It’s just so witty and smart and Benedict Cumberbatch is just so dashing.  With his popped coat collar, curly hair, and obvious discard for social norms, he’s enchanting.

With no new episodes, in addition to rewatching the existing six episodes, I’ve been soaking up anything else I can find.  Season three previews, interviews at Comic Con, stalking researching the men of the show on IMDB.   I think I might attempt to read the original literary works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

To conclude, I like Sherlock and think you should too.  [If you do like Sherlock, too, we should talk about it.  I want to talk to you about it.]  This afternoon I watched season one episodes again and drank tea and ate biscuits.  Proper British drink for watching a proper British consulting detective.

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life lately in photos.

3 Oct

I mentioned in a post yesterday that I’ve been gone on the blog.  Maybe you noticed; maybe you didn’t.  Either way I’m going to tell you where I’ve been.  You’re trapped.  No turning back.

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Being all woodworky.  I think I’m getting the hang of it – and I like it.  The dresser will be ready for the guest room as soon as I can figure out how to get the remaining veneer stripped off of it …

Practicing hexagon and handquilting stitches.  I even bought a thimble!  First-time thimble owner!

My mom came to visit!  Mom and her beau, Jeff, came to spend last weekend with me and help me out around the house.  Closet doors readjusted, gutters cleaned, lightbulbs changed, windows cleaned.  Check, check, check, check.

Watching Sherlock of BBC via Hulu.  It enchants me.  He enchants me.  [But sometimes it’s too scary to watch alone at night.  I had to turn one of the episodes off and finish it during the day.]

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Hanging out with firefighters.  In an embarrassing turn of events, the elevator at the church broke and left a man in a wheelchair stranded on the second floor.  We called the great guys of the volunteer BP fire department to help us out after other options proved futile.  Luckily, one of the firemen was an electrician and he was able to fix the problem before they had to actually lift the gentleman down the stairs.

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Trying on children’s banana Halloween costumes.

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Lots and lots of pastor meetings.  Those meetings included an all day meeting with fellow first call pastors at the synod office which is housed in this beautiful place in Rochester.  I took a walk at lunch in the beautiful day.

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Laughing lots with my beloved confirmation students.  We had a great night again last night.  It’s our Lutheran year and we’re learning/reviewing lots using our sticky wall.  It’s two yards of nylon-like fabric with repositionable adhesive sprayed all over it.  Squint and see what’s written on the paper at the top?  Justin Bieber.  Naturally.  [It was from a famous-person name game we played.  We also looked up what our names meant.  So funny.  We found out one of us is furious, another is from Ireland, and one is of the sea.]

One year ago –

3 Oct

One year ago today was a Wednesday.  I remember because it was a confirmation night and we were painting the to-be youth room lime green.  A couple youth and parents stuck around after class to help paint.  It’s then my iphone dinged with a new email.

Wouldn’t I consider auditioning for the reality show Master Chef?  They’d seen my cooking videos [check out the youtube link in the right hand column if you must] and were recruiting people to come to Minneapolis to try out.  And so began my crazy October of cakepops from scratch, VIP auditions, and everything Master Chef.  I look back fondly; as I think of turning 30 in just a few short months, auditioning for a reality television show goes in that look-at-the-fun-things-I’ve-done-in-these-first-30-years column.  It was crazy in a really fun way.  [Until I quit the process, of course.]

One year ago today also marked the eight year anniversary of my dad’s death.  Which makes today year nine.  The tradition is to watch Back to the Future [a mutual love for Marty McFly and the space/time continuum was one of the strong bonds my dad and I held] and drink a coke; today the plan might have to be falling asleep on the couch to Back to the Future as Paige and I have theater tickets to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show in Austin at the community college tonight.  I may not be able to stay awake to see Marty return from November 1955 but I’ll at least watch him go there at 88 mph to end up in Old Man Peabody’s barn after being chased by Libyan nationalists who shoot Doc for giving them a shotty bomb made of used pinball machine parts while stealing their plutonium.  And hopefully long enough to watch his own mother call him Calvin because it’s written all over his purple underwear when she puts his pants on her hope chest.

*clears throat*  So let us raise our cokes.  To John.  To Spanky.  To the best dad who would help us make the most elaborate snow forts, chase bats from my bedroom in the middle of the night using a broom, and help me decorate sugar cookies for all my friends with their names on them in his perfect printing.

Visiting neighbors.

2 Oct

Week and a half blog hiatus?  Check.

I’m back.  With a story.

The day was Monday.  I was in Austin at the library checking out baby name books [Concerned?  Don’t be.  They were for naming my baby confirmation tonight.] and running a couple errands.  I got home with just about 45 minutes left of daylight and Mabel & I needed to go for a walk pronto.

I ran upstairs, changed my clothes, and came downstairs to a knock at the front door.  I answered the door to find my neighbor there.  He’s in upper elementary school and he learned how to ride a bike this summer.  He rode his bike over as his older sister often does too.

L: Hi Alex!  How are you?
A: Hi.  Good.
L: What’s up?
A: Well, Rachel [the older sister] is at dance right now … so … I thought I would come over and visit.

How cute is that?  He thought he would come over for a visit!  I love it.  And so I ended up going for a walk with Mabel and a neighbor on a bike.  We did the cemetery loop, all the while Alex telling me about the types of vines that were on the trees.  Grape vines, wood vines, and one with red leaves he wasn’t quite sure about.  I learned a lot about vines that night.

On a related note, tonight one of the confirmation students was late joining the group.  Sorry, she said.  I was outside talking to Rachel.  She rode her bike here to visit you but I told here you were busy.

I love it.  I love visitors.

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