Music Shuffle Game 11

Answering silly questions with my music on shuffle, you know the drill. Here’s last year’s.

 

1. What is your name?
Superman (It’s Not Easy) – Five for Fighting

2. What are your hobbies?
Mars – Scott Hoying

3. How are you feeling today?
Paint Me a Birmingham – Tracy Lawrence

4. How was yesterday?
Carry On – fun.

5. What are you doing right now?
Lothlórien – The Lord of the Rings musical (Sadly, no. But, fun fact, I’M GOING TO SEE THIS MUSICAL THIS SUMMER.)

6. What song describes you?
Three Minutes More – Yellowcard

7. What is good advice?
See Jesus Stripped of Majesty – Phil Moore (That is fairly good advice. XD)

8. What were your first words?
Dancing With Our Hands Tied – Taylor Swift

9. What are you afraid of?
Fourth Dimension – Lights (So scary.)

10. What is your motto?
Jet Lag – Simple Plan, Natasha Bedingfield (I am currently not in my usual time zone.)

11. What is the story of your life?
I Lied – Sophia Fracassi (Oh, dear. XD)

12. What will the future be like?
California – Mindy Gledhill

13. What is your happiest memory?
When a Man Loves a Woman – Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

14. What is your wedding song going to be?
Come as You Are – Nathan Pacheco

15. What do you think of every day?
Jar of Hearts – Christina Perri

16. What did you learn today?
When I Think About Angels – Jamie O’Neal

17. What is your biggest secret?
A Song About Nothing – Malinda

18. How do people see you?
Come, Share the Lord – Hallal Music

19. What will your dying words be?
Woman – Mumford & Sons

20. What song will they play at your funeral?
Heart Attack – Kurt Hugo Schneider (Wow. XD)

Eclipse Day

I live in the path of totality for the solar eclipse that happened yesterday. I also live in northeast Ohio, in one of the places with the most cloud cover in this area of the country.

When I headed to work yesterday morning, clouds covered the whole sky. But they cleared up (probably in answer to prayer), and it turned into an absolutely beautiful day. I kept thinking about this paragraph from The Fellowship of the Ring:

It ended up so sunny that I’m slightly sunburned from spending part of the day at the library’s table at the eclipse party in the park behind our building. And when the full eclipse happened, while there we no patrons in the library, those of us not working at the table got to go outside and watch it.

I didn’t take pictures myself, and I don’t have anything particularly profound to say about the total eclipse. It was incredible, and I almost cried, and I’m so thankful I got to experience it. Pictures and descriptions truly are not the same, and many people have done a better job trying than I could.

But something else I found myself thankful for is that my coworkers are a fun group of people who I genuinely enjoyed getting to experience it with. We had a weird day of strange schedules and answering umpteen questions about whether we had eclipse glasses and watching something we might never see again, certainly not here. And it was chill and pleasant, smoothing even the annoying parts into a fun and memorable day.

That hasn’t always been the case here, and sometimes it still takes me by surprise. I’m very grateful for a place to work where I enjoy being around my coworkers.

I Bought a New Car!

Hello again, I have returned. I’ve managed to do a little bit of other writing over the last week or so, so maybe my brain is ready to provide ideas again.

As the title states, I bought a new car! I loved Alonso (my old car), but he had gotten old and was falling apart more and more, so it was time. The day before the new car was delivered, Alonso shut himself off while idling at red lights four or five times. Then, after getting the new one, I drove around for almost an hour, and it was relaxing and fun, and it made me realize how much I’d gotten used to waiting for something to break while driving. I love driving, and it’s nice that it’s just enjoyable again.

I chose to buy the same kind of car, a Nissan Sentra, but the new one is from ’21 instead of ’08. It’s a big jump in technology! I’m SLOWLY testing out settings to get them the way I like.

It’s fun having a car that feels new and a little bit fancy. I know that won’t last, and that’s okay, but I’m enjoying it while it does.

For car shopping, I decided to try out mats.org, which came recommended from some people at church who had used them a few times. They’re kind of like realtors for cars; you tell them what you’re looking for, and they shop around and provide you options, then walk you through the buying process if you choose one. They’ll even deliver the car right to your house. I had a great experience, and I definitely recommend them.

This is Cloud. I think he’s beautiful.

Time For a Break

Hello! I have decided that my brain needs a break from coming up with blog post ideas, so I’m going to take a month off. It won’t be a nice tidy calendar month, and I thought about waiting, but then I decided that was silly. So I will be back March 26th. Have a nice beginning of spring (maybe)!

Things Coming Out in February That I’m Excited For

Just Stab Me Now by Jill Bearup
This book started out as a series of Youtube shorts, which a friend shared with a group chat recently. The author and main character of a fantasy book have creative differences over how the story should go, what tropes they should use or ignore, whether the love interest looks like someone the author has a crush on in real life, and all that fun fourth-wall-breaking. It was DELIGHTFUL to watch, and then near the end of the playlist, I found out the creator had decided to turn it into a book, and I got very excited. Here’s hoping it’s as fun as the video series.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
Part 2 of the ongoing remake of the classic video game Final Fantasy VII. I love the original, and I love the first part of the remake. It’s beautiful, and I thought it added even more depth to the characters without taking away from the original. I’m currently playing through it again in preparation for part 2. Cloud, the main character of this game, is one of my favorite characters of all time. Every time I play a game he’s in, I start out going, “This surely can’t make me love him even more, can it?” And every time, it does. So we’ll see what this one has in store.

Have Some Pictures of the Adorable Dogs I’m Watching

How many toys can you fit in your mouth
  before you can’t fit any more?
Yes’n how many times will you bark ’til you learn
  there’s really no one at the door?
Yes’n how many times can I tell you you’re cute?
  I’ve told you ten thousand before.
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
  the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Recommendations for Sensitive Skin

I’m not a doctor, obviously. But when my hands developed eczema several years ago, I had to start over with figuring out what to use on my skin. My dermatologist thinks my system is just sensitive in general (which makes sense; I also have a lot of allergies), so I don’t have just one thing to watch out for. My eczema is very well managed now, so occasionally using something irritating isn’t a big deal, but part of getting to that point has been finding skin care products that I like and that are good for my skin. If, for whatever reason, you are looking for new sensitive skin products, here are some I can recommend from experience.

Soap
Dove Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar. Interestingly, this is the only thing on this list that was specifically recommended by a dermatologist that I’ve stuck with. It’s great.

Face Moisturizer
Kind to Skin Replenish Rich Moisturizer. It doesn’t feel heavy on my face.

Lotion
Wild Naturals Manuka Honey Cream. This one isn’t cheap. But it’s so thick and so nourishing, and really one of the best things I have found. I supplement it with other lotions, so a jar lasts quite a while.

Happy Hands. I discovered this Etsy shop by getting samples in my monthly yarn box. It’s made to sink in quickly without leaving your hands feeling greasy, which the creator designed with crafters in mind. And it does that well. But also! It’s scented lotion that does not irritate my skin! I was so happy to stumble across that. The seller is very kind and has made a great product.

Burt’s Bees Body Lotion. Manuka Honey Cream is very thick, and Happy Hands is light; this is a nice in-between. It’s also something I can pick up at a store when I run out of the others and haven’t ordered more (this is why I tried it in the first place).

Shampoo and Conditioner
Avalon Organics. Since I was touching these things with my hands (which were really in rough shape at the beginning of this), I decided to look for an anti-dandruff shampoo that didn’t have the ingredients I was trying to avoid in other products. This is what I found in the store that was actually medicated, and it worked well. I also used some of their other shampoo and conditioner options.

Viori Shampoo and Conditioner Bars. It turns out avoiding irritating ingredients was the best thing I’ve ever done for the dandruff I’ve had since I was a young teenager (it seems that was an early symptom of my system being sensitive to everything). It’s not gone, but I’m not using anti-dandruff shampoo anymore, and it’s much more manageable than it ever was before. I’ve ended up really liking these shampoo and conditioner bars, which I bought once to experiment with because I thought it was an interesting concept. They last FOREVER, and they work nicely with my hair, along with being good for my skin.

Knitting and Crocheting 2023

For a long time I never made shawls because I didn’t know if I would use them. But I was gifted this yarn and went looking for a pattern that would suit it, and I ended up with this. I love it. It’s soft and it’s warm and it’s heavy in a very cozy way. I like shawls now. (It does leave fuzz on everything. Worth it.)

I made some socks, as usual. I LOVE the colors of this yarn.

When I blocked this doll dress (wet it and then arranged it so it would dry nicely shaped), the yarn from the different balls dried in different shades. No idea why. They looked the same before getting wet. But it’s still pretty.

Making stuffed animals isn’t my favorite, but this cat and fox turned out pretty cute.

This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever made. Look at all those cables! I love the colors, and I love the way it’s constructed. I’m so pleased with it.

Oh look, another shawl. This one is very lightweight, and I made it when the weather was starting to get cold, so I haven’t gotten to use it much yet.

Tried out some new dishcloth patterns. Apparently this is the only one I took a picture of before giving them away.

I made crocheted snowflakes. They’re gorgeous, and I think this yarn is perfect for them. And I did not enjoy making them. I had to sometimes put them aside and work on something else for a while, which is very unusual for me. I like the results! But I don’t think I’ll be making many more.
Here they are drying after being starched (something I’d never done before). I didn’t get a good picture after they were dry before they went in gifts.

I had leftover fabric strips from this project, and I wanted to try crocheting a rug, so I made more fabric strips. Then I stalled for quite a while because I needed even more. I started this in early summer and finished right after Christmas. I don’t know why it ended up angled at the increases instead of rounded, or how to fix it. But it was a cool experiment, and it feels nice to walk on.

Oh look, another shawl… XD
I worked on this all year; I subscribe to a monthly shipment of yarn, and this year it came with this pattern, but a new section of the pattern was added every month. It’s called a shlanket, and it really does feel like wearing a blanket. I finished it on New Year’s Eve, and I’ve already worn it a lot.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you had a nice day yesterday.

As you might imagine, it’s a very slow and boring day at the library. It hasn’t provided any brilliant blog post inspiration, but I have gotten a lot of reading and a little knitting done. I think I’ll get back to them now. Here’s a graphic I made several years ago from my favorite Doctor Who Christmas special, “A Christmas Carol”.

Christmassy Recommendations

If you’re looking for some Christmassy content, here are some things I have enjoyed.

Movie for the whole family
Klaus
This Santa Claus origin story is so good. An entitled postman makes friends with a lonely hermit, and they transform a whole town in the process. Kids will enjoy it, but it’s not just for kids.

Romcom
Your Christmas or Mine
A couple decides to surprise each other by showing up at the other’s house for Christmas, simultaneously. Snow leaves them stuck learning about each other’s families. I like my romcoms not too cheesy or awkward, and this one fits the bill.

The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox
Identical twins switch places to have a break from their own lives for a bit, and find themselves falling in love with a guy in their sister’s life. Drama ensues, of course. Eventually they have to confess that they’re not who this guy thinks they are. It’s cute (and clean! Hard to find with such books).

Something short and funny
Cajun Night Before Christmas
This is a fun version of The Night Before Christmas adapted to a Cajun setting. I have fond memories of my uncle reading this aloud, complete with accent. There’s a whole series of these, set in different places, but I’ve only read a couple.

The Silent Monks Sing the Hallelujah Chorus

Straight No Chaser’s 12 Days of Christmas

The Christmas Can-Can (also by Straight No Chaser)

The Raven, Christmas Edition

Yoga

Not-Boring History
Victorian Christmas Decor was WEIRD

Letters to Santa Claus
I really enjoyed this book of actual letters sent to Santa, which go to the town Santa Claus, Indiana, where volunteers read them all and reply. The letters span 90 years, and while the specific requests change, the humanness doesn’t.

The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem by Colin R. Nicholl
The author presents his theory that the star the wise men followed was a comet, digging into scriptures and history. Even if you aren’t convinced by every detail (I wasn’t), it’s really interesting to see this taken so seriously and read a very thorough possibility of how it might have worked.

Music
O Come All You Unfaithful

All Shall Be Well

Welcome to Our World

Humbug

Christmas Tree Farm