Crossing Fingers

I applied for a contract job at UVU yesterday. Wish me luck I think the interview went well ( 3+ hours). I know it is only a short term job but I have lots of talent to share and I could learn so much working for the costume department for the university for a few months.

I am thinking of going back to college as a student to get a BFA in Theater Arts with an Emphasis in Costume Design.  Life is interesting how it changes and grows and goes back to the beginning all at the same time.  Not sure yet but I am putting it out there.  What do people think on this that know me or follow my blog just curious.  My oldest daughter said cool mom maybe we can take classes together.  I love my kids they are my rock at times.  My husband seems all for it too could not ask for a better family.

help please with a comment

It came to my attention that those without a Google account could not comment on here so I think I changed that setting.  If you do not have a Google account please a comment even if it is "yes it works now"  I need to see if this is fixed annoying that I did not know that was an issue probably happen in the last year ( April) when I upgraded my blog.  Some up grade makes it so people can not comment sorry did not know.  Sad thing is in the process of fixing it it means Google plus deletes all the comments that have been posted from Google plus.  Either way I am happy to hopefully have made it so all can post again.

Thank you for your help Sunshine

Rant I had to get this out

I had a comment posted onto what use to be my yoyo tutorial post that sort of set off a bad taste in my mouth.  The tutorial was removed because I am under contract with Annie's Attic to have it removed because they purchased it to help me make a book and the person was mad that they couldn't get their freebee.   For those who follow my blog and know I love to make tutorials for people I have over 102 of them thus far.  I really would like some feed back on this.  Sorry my rant is below for those who have been kind to me in the past and leave nice messages Thank You!  You are much appreciated!



Here is what the person wrote

Anonymous said...

so sad when this happens. I won't buy from Annies attic because they are closing down the free distribution of patterns in this way. Please don't let your copy right go ladies. Commercialisation of old time arts and crafts is too much!

Sunday, January 08, 2012 7:33:00 PM

To anonymous.

You are free to feel that way.  You are welcome to boycott Annie's Attic and my blog.  Please move off the grid it will save the rest of us a lot of grief and you will be much happier.  But in doing that I hope you have the knowledge and skills how to make your own thread to weave your own clothes, grow your own food build a house and so on.  Commercialism = commerce = barter and trading of ideas and goods. You better be 100% self sufficient with out any one else.

But for me Annie's Attic was a major  blessing for my family has had some hard times the last few years that I have not posted on here too personal.  Having people buy a book that had several patterns that I never  would have made otherwise (helped us greatly financial).   So no one would have had those patterns if Annie's Attic had not commissioned a book. Which the sale of paid for bills and my family had food on the table, lots of  medical expenses paid and so on.  I understand people wanting free things but I also understand artisans needing to feed their families and for the need for them to be paid for their hard earned skills.  This didn't take anything away from anyone the tutorial plus the now patterns that Annie's requested are still available in book and PDF formats and there is more variety for those who can only follow patterns and can not make things up on the fly.  It is a blessing not the opposite.  There are plenty of free things on my blog that people are very grateful for but in all honesty that is me being nice to people I don't know which isn't always the most beneficial for my family.  Same is true for other artisans we love to share our work we do it for the love of it and a lot of times we don't get paid ( most of the time) but it is nice to get appreciated, and thanks and paid every now and again too (far to far apart).

With out commercialism of old time arts most of them would be dead the Internet , books and their publishing companies will take our art to new audiences is absolutely a blessing.  My goal when I started this blog was to write a book (I have a hard time writing and being concise and clear scared to death of writing actually).  But  I wanted to be commercial and leave some legacy for my children that they could see and hold. I have written an entire book had a chapter in another edited two other books and been in quiet a number of magazines/emags and in over sea newspapers.  I don't see that commercialism has hurt my family it has made my family stronger  and brought me out of that shell.  It has brought more people to my blog because they now know of me and it because of those other mediums and they come here and find more info and are surprised by all the free things.  I have an entire year of free tutorials that are happening on this blog that I am currently in production of.  I have over lots of patterns for free on ravelry and you are complaining about 9 patterns that would never have existed if it wasn't for Annie’s Attic that and 1 free  tutorial when I have over 100 free on here. REALLY!!!   Because your comment makes me want to remove everything that is free on my blog and on ravelry because you sound so ungrateful and a cheapskate who wants everything with out paying for anything.

You do realize that almost every tutorial on my blog has some where between 30 and 90 hours to make from making the item, making pdfs, drafting patterns, to photographing, editing photos, writing up a tutorial and doing lay out so let say I have 100 tutorial on here that is 3000 to 9000 hours of my time (closer to the later and that doesn't even cover the other 1000+ posts on here that are information too and take hours to do as well that takes more thousands of hours).  You seem to think you have a right to have for free without even a thank you and you are to afraid to even write your real name you write anonymous.

I get paid to teach classes the tutorials on here take more time than teaching a class because I have to write them all out instead of just explaining which is fast. Then take photos which takes forever instead of just making the item. You should pay me for this free knowledge that I have spent many years learning and paying for.  I have taken classes so I could learn from little old ladies in their homes dying arts because I can't find information any where else or buying books that are rare and hard to find in different languages and trying to decipher what I see in these old images to figure out how to make the items I see.  Well that money sure is not in my pocket so I can put food on the table feeding my family.  It was and is me sharing my love of what I do with those that are grateful for it and want to learn and don't know where to begin to find information.  It is also so that when my children grow up if anything happens to me they can still have the knowledge in my head and carry on what I know and love.  I am fine with that copyright going to Annie's Attic I want to make more books too it was fun and I enjoyed it.

Ladies if you can feed your family and work from home and be a full time mom go to all the school events and take care of the kids when they are sick by all means give up a copyright or two or more.  

I am open minded and let the above comment be published.   I want people to understand with out commercialism on some things a lot of the old arts would die real quick.  Books are long lived I have books in my home that are over 100 years old they have survived a long time and I still love them they are the knowledge of generations before me that thought enough to put their knowledge into a book and put it for sale.  I wasn't even alive when they wrote them but I buy them old and used and enjoy and love them and learn much from them. 

Knowledge gained free is usually worth what you paid for it NOTHING!!!  Knowledge you have to earn or work for or even pay for is valued and passed on and down for generations to come.


Sorry I posted this on Sunday as I do not like to post on Sunday (especially a rant) but this just bothered me too much.

Feed back wanted and I am grateful for it.

Thank you for your time I appreciate all of you
much love

Wendy "Sunshine" Harbaugh

I just don't feel like I am "Sunshine" today
Nickname I was given in high school becasue I brought a little ray of sunshine into all my friends lives and so they started calling me that.  I feel like I brought a dark cloud today.

You can help save a Museum!

Gutenberg Printing room at the Museum Photo CPM

Click on image to go to bigger size to print Photo CPM

 There is a Museum in Provo Utah known as "Crandall Historical Printing Museum"  which has hit upon hard times with the economy.  It is a one of a kind museum and it is great need of philanthropy and you can be that person.  My children and I visited the museum today just because of my love for books and print.  While there we learned of its plight as we visited with the founder of the museum after the doors had closed for the day we talked extensively as to what had happened and what needed to be done.  I am trying to do my best to help save a true mom and pop museum that has world class items and should be a treasure to not just to those that live local but those all over the world.  This has been in the news papers  several times if you want to see more there about it.  The irony of this is that in Utah April is Printers Recognition Month.  So almost as soon as April ends if they do not get the funds to stay open then they will go out of business.
Why am I interested in helping this museum here is some of mine and its history.

Front of Crandall  Historical Printing Museum photo CPM

 I was an art student at the Y (Brigham Young University) where I spent many an hour at Crandall house at the upper end of campus taking book binding classes from Valerie Maker in the lower levels of Crandall house (a different building with the same name as the museum).  I also spent many hours in the conservation room in the Library taking honors book binding classes from Robert Espinosa.  Two very great teachers with a great love for the paper arts and the written word in both type and handwritten.  When I wasn't making books you could often times find me in the HFAC " The Harrison Fine Arts Center"  ie. the art building.  Where I would be found making intaglios, mono-type prints, lino-cuts and lithography.  I never had a chance to do letterpress.  I wanted too but ran out of time as graduation rolled near.  I now own a small printing press and an antique letter press type cabinet that has several drawers full of type.  My dream is to get back into bookbinding and printing and have my own little studio in my home where I can once again play with ink and enjoy printing.  May never happen but it makes me happy to have the dream.  I know the printed word on paper is not near as in vogue as it use to be because of the Internet.  Yet our lives would be so much different if it had never been and it is very important to know where type came from why it came about and how it changed the world.

Well that dream I had other people have had such as Louis Crandall but he lives his dream which might be turning into a nightmare.

click on image for better view Photo CPM

15 years ago he had a dream to open up a 501(c)3 non-profit museum all about movable print and where it came from and where it has gone in history.  Located at 275 East Center Street in Provo , Utah 84606 in a very small little building that can easily be missed when driving past in this building his dreams came to life.  This modest little building houses some amazing items in  printmaking history.  Movable type has changed the way the human race has looked at the world and interacted with it.

Johannas Gutenberg Photo CPM

Here is a little of the learning and teaching that one gets there.  Since I am not trained in what and how they teach this is just a quick synopsis of what I saw and heard while there.

Gutenberg Printing Press Photo CPM

You start out the tour in a room that is decorated as a room would have been in Gutenberg's day and age.  You are looking at a massive printing press with most of its parts made out of wood an amazing thing to me as the ones I always worked on in collage yep all metal.  You learn how Gutenberg wanted to make movable type but how he had to do it in secrecy because people did not view new things in the "dark ages" as a good thing but something of the devil and witchcraft like.  He had to create the type from scratch he had to learn how to make the type and that was no small feat as it had not been done before.  He also needed to figure out which metals would work well from unhardened steel to form his letters on, then to temper it and make it hard so that it could then be pushed into copper and make a mold then how to use this mold with a lead mixture to make the actual type. To do this he needed to make a gadget that would hold the mold and form it from unhardened steel too.  All these things were to be done by hand.  Mind you while this is being explained to you the person explaining it is also making a  letter in type for you I do not mean printing with one but casting a letter and showing the steps to get to the cast point.The explanation of how the type is set into phrases before it is placed into the frame on the press bed.  The thing I forgot to say about the type is that the original type had to look like handwriting becasue the people of Gutenberg's time of course were use to handwritten books and it needed to look like that or it would be rejected.  Try to write all your letters the same then carve them by hand out of steel and make them all fit size wise with the letters next to them, no small obstacle as Latin which is what this type was in had over 250 letters that needed to be made becasue of the markings that went with the letters.  Then we go into the discussion of how the ink was made and that no one has made an ink that was so beautiful and rich and black since ( because we don't use lead and such).  Small note he had to create the ink too as it had to be sticky and thick and ink used for writing was thin and watery and would not work with type. 

Inking the type Photo CPM

Now on to how to ink the type with rocks and rolls of a beater.  Yep we have our first rock and roller and it wasn't Elvis.  You have to roll the bumpers in the ink then rock it against another bumper to transfer the ink then you have to beat the type with this tool.  Of course you guessed it Gutenberg had to create that too.  So now we can print or can we? Yep paper is needed hand made paper was great for writing on but not for printing on and besides books where printed on velum more difficulties to figure that one out.  Part of Gutenberg's bible had to be printed on vellum but latter in his printing he did use paper.  Which he had to account for the issues with hand made paper it had to be damp to work well for printing.  Any one who has gotten paper wet knows how paper drys warped and wavy another thing he had to figure out.  Now on to the press oh some one else figured that out for pressing fruit to make juice (wine and the like) but it had to be modified for printing.  Yes another thing had to figured out.  I would care to say that printing as we know it today is an amazing thing that we take for granted.  There is more that happens and is discussed in this first room of the 2 hour tour.  Oh and the person demonstrating this does it in less than 15 mins.  Amazing since it took Gutenberg 20 years to figure all this stuff out. 

Original page from a Gutenberg Bible Photo CPM

I am hoping you are learning something you did not know and come to appreciate the simplicity of buying a book or even a magazine these days  becasue with out Gutenberg it probably would not have been the same.  Moveable type brought words to the masses and education to the poor.  More is discussed and learned in this room.  From ancient illuminated pages that you get to look at up close and personal in your hands to reproductions of the Gutenberg bible volumes 1 and 2.    There was hands on experience for the children and adults as the group pulled two pages from the Gutenberg bible (typeset in Latin).  It is interesting to note that before finishing his dream Gutenberg actually lost his shop to his debtors and someone else had to finish his work.  Louis Crandall has not yet fulfilled his dream and he too may be loosing his shop to his debtors.  Please step in and be the one to help finish this dream and keep a very special one of a kind museum going.

Benjamin Franklin Photo CPM

From here (Germany 1450's) you travel to the next room (Philadelphia 1776) where we learn about Benjamin Franklin and the effects the printing press had on America becoming a nation.    In this room decorated with items of American Patriotism and things that remind one of the Revolutionary war era.  In the middle of the room stands an English Common Press (this press is an exact copy of the one in the Smithsonian).  There are examples of Pour Richards Almanac printed around. We are led through a discussion about how Benjamin did not want to apprentice to be a soap and candle maker like his father and took a while to figure out what he did want to be.  Finally he set his mind on printing.  Once he had learned the skill and went out to make his own business he learned it isn't always easy to make a living on books so he started to print the almanac and sustained his good living on that.  Most of the things we actually note him for doing came after he had retired from printing.  It is a wonder the things a person can do while in retirement. The importance of the press and movable type is discussed about how the American revolution began with lead type in the form of printed words like Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence.  Lead bullets came after the lead type in the battle for freedom.  There is more that is said and shown in this room but I want people to still learn things when they go and just get a taste of what happens there.

The Declaration of Independence set in type using type made from the molds that the orignal publication in the newspaper used.  Photo CPM

E.B. Grandin Photo CPM

The next room on the tour takes us to another leap in time and faith to 1829 Palmyra NY and the printing of the book of Mormon in the E.B Grandin room.  The room in which we stand now is almost the exact size of the room that the Book of Mormon was printed in except for 2 feet short in length to give an idea of the small spaces things had been done in ( 35 ft x 17ft).  The growth of the Latter Day Saints (most people call the Mormons) is solely due to the use of the printing press.  In this time a large run of a book was about 500 copies and that was considered a very large run but the book of Mormon was a 5000 copy run.  The printer was given a farm to make sure the debt to pay for the books would be secured.  Just the binding by hand of so large a run would usually take over 2 years to complete.  So another amazing feat in the human spirit that sees a larger goal that will encompass many years of ones life to achieve.

 

The press we are all looking at now is an Acorn press.  It is known by this name becasue the shape of the press is acorn like.  It is all cast iron and weights close to a ton.  There are other machines in the room we are told to ignore as they are of a different era that we will get to later.  A 1930's line o type machine that still works and a mono-type machine from a little later than that. So much knowledge and history in such a small area of space.

 

Back to the acorn press set in type on the presses bed is the first 16 pages of the book of Mormon to show how it was done.  Sitting in a metal tray next this press is a stack of lead type all mixed up.  Yes when they originally set this up there was an accident and page 13 was dumped (no jokes on the number please) and they the museum people decided to leave it that way so that patrons could see how hard it would be to sort type that has been dumped. Through out the exhibit things are hands on and you are aloud to touch the types and also are told that please wash your hands as type is made out of lead and is poisonous.  To think the people that discovered printing and used it help our nation be born and to carry out the word of God had all been poisoning themselves (unknown to them of course) to help others.   Very humbling indeed!
We are shown how the pages are printed to make the signatures of a book, and one is folded in front of us.  The we are shown a book press on the other side of the room and is purpose in making the pages lay flat.  Oh and becasue of enhancements in paper making papers no longer have to dry but are printed on dry paper making printing even faster. We are shown how a book block is planed and how it is glued up and formed into a final book.

 

Next leap is to 1850 Salt lake city to the printing of  the Deseret News newspaper. It is now 400 years after Gutenberg and although much has changed in the world printing is still done letter by letter and still inked up in similar manner (roller brayers  over balls but similar concept and idea).  There is an example of the first page that came off of that press.  Dated June 15 1850.  There is a similar item up at This is the Place Monument but I have seen both and this one has a far greater impact on the visitor becasue of all the information that has led up top this point.

Next leap 2011 the internet has concurred the world and people carry around digital books the text and touch and feel of a book are fading away from us.  As a bookbinder and printer that is a hard thing for me to grasp I so love reading a book and gaining knowledge from it most hings I do I have done becasue of books and being able to sit and teach myself.  I love books old and new there is something about them that draws me to them.  The economy is languishing and many museums are closing their doors and not for the weekend but permanently to never come back.  There is a legacy to be had in our history and what got us here as a world the printing press has changed the face of this earth.  It has helped create nations and it has set people free spiritually progress has moved forward becasue of type.   Please help this museum stay to give a great legacy in our children yet to be born.

If you have been there and know the value of this museum and what it stands for or if you feel touch by my notes here call, stop by, donate anything to help and do it fast or they will close their doors and you may never be able to see the wonders of this museum.  It is truly a one of a kind place.

If you are interested in looking at their web site go to Crandallmuseum.org  (they have a donation  link in place on there but are having technical difficulties with it and paypal).  If you choose to donate to them you can mail them money ( if you do make it rush so they get it in time to save the museum)or call and use a credit card or stop by and give it in person and enjoy the museum too.  They are working today to get the credit card/paypal thing fixed on their web site but have been told it may take a few weeks to get that all fixed.

Here is their contact information once again
Crandall Printing Museum
275 East Center St.
Provo, Utah 84606
http://crandallmuseum.org/
phone (801) 377-7777
Gifts to the museum may be made in all forms check/cash/credit card
Small donations are welcome as they all add up to something great in the end.  The museum is a 501(c)3 tax exempt public charity Federal Identification number 84-1422774 (you get a tax write off)

Several photos in this post are not my own but are cutesy of Crandall Printing Museum CPM

computer crashed

My computer has crashed will be back as soon as I can .  I am using my daughters lap top to post this I am unable to access my flickr photos which  makes it kind of hard to post to my blog.  Talk to you all soon thanks.

Help for Sister-in-law

A letter from My sister- in-law Becca:

"As many of you know I am studying photography. For one of my classes this semester I am suppose to make a blog. Part of my grade depends on how many people follow my blog. Please check out my new blog, and if you would like offered your support, it would be wonderful to have you followed it (you do that by pushing the "follow" button on my blog). Also, if you know anyone else who might be interested, please pass the word along. Artist depend a lot on networking and word of mouth. I really appreciate it everyone!!!!
Also, for those of you who don't know,
have a great day! :)"
I have artists pages on facebook and a old and new blog the new blog is the one I need followers to.

• new blog: http://beccaharbaugh.blogspot.com/
• old blog: http://photosbybeccajoy.blogspot.com/
  
• on face book: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Harbaugh-Commerical-Photography/214590756884

If any one wants to help her earn a good grade she would appreciate it . Please check out her blog

Something to think on

My father sent me this in an email and I thought it poignant. I don't know if the reference to Charles Schultz is correct but interesting all the same.

quote starts here

The Charlie Schulz Philosophy

(This is marvelous!!)
Scroll thru slowly and read carefully to receive and enjoy full effect. The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz,the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them. Just read the post straight through, and you'll get the point.

Quiz

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz.
See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

The lesson:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials the most money...or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most. Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia !

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

Help wanted... crochet computer program

I am looking for a software program that will let me make symbol crochet patterns to make things easier for my readers and my self does any one know of such a thing ( if it is even in existence) . If so please post a link in the comments so I can check it out thanks a ton. See picture above something that can do layout and symbols like in this piece of a pattern I have. Sorry I only posted a small portion of the piece as I don't want any one mad at me for copy write issues. I just needed an example of what I wanted the software to be able to do.

Loading Speed issues

I have removed some stuff from the side bar of my blog in the hopes of making it load quicker for people please let me know if it worked or not.

Snow!?!

Yep we have snow already what's up with that I could have waited a few more weeks on that one. I am just not ready for it yet. I love snow but wanted a few more days of fall.

My computer crashed it is ok now

I meant to post the hair bun cover tutorial a few days ago, but our computer crashed. My husband is the computer guru in the house, and he had lots of deadlines at his work. So, I hope to have this up today or tomorrow. Thank you for your patience with this.

BBC meme on books

So apparently, the BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

Instructions (if you want to play): Look at the list and put an 'X' after those you have read once. Enter a number for the number of times you read something. (Make sure you delete my X's!) When you've finished put your total at the bottom.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, (only watched in movie form, haven't read, yet)
   
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien, parts of it (watched the movies a few times)
   
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling, X yep, twice (and watched tons of times in movie form)
   
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee, X yep, a few times; too many to remember (watched the movie, too)
   
6. The Bible, yep
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte, parts of it
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell, X yep, a few times
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens, X yep, a few times (watched a few versions of it in movie form)
    
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott, X a few times (and watched movie of it a few times)
    
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller, parts of it
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare, X yep, a lot of times
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien, X yep, (watched the movie too)
    
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger, part of it
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell, (nope, but watched the movie tons of times)
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald, (nope, saw the movie)
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy, (parts of it)
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams, X (a few times)
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck, X (a few times; it is about the part of California where I grew up. I knew all the places they talked about in the book and watched the movie)
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll, X (a few times, and the movie tons of times)
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame, X yep, (the movie tons of times)
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens, X yep (the movie a few times)
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis, X yep, (re-reading right now) (watched both British and American versions of most of these books, too)
    
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis, X yep, a few times and watched the movies, too (this is stupid, it is part of no. 33!)
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hossein
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden, (nope, but saw the movie)
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne, X (yep, have an old edition of it)(and have a ton of Disney movies on it, too)
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell, X Yep, a few times
42. The Da Vinci Code
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery, X Yep, a few times (and the movies, too, over a doz times)
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding, X Yep (the movie a few of times)
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert, X yep (and saw the movie)
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zifon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens, X yep
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck, X yep
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas, parts of it
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville, X yep
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens, X yep
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker, X yep (love vampire stories; read it, watched it) (the movies tons of times)
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett, X yep
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Inferno - Dante, X yes, a few times
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens, X yep (and own about 7 versions of it in movie form)
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker, no but watched it three times
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White, X yep, a few times (and watched it tons of times)
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, X yep
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery, X yep
    
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams, X yep, a few times and watched the movie a few times, too
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas, X yep, and watched many a movie based on it
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare, X yep, a few times (the movie a few times)
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factoy - Roald Dahl, X yep (and have both versions of it in movie form )
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo, X yep, love the movies, too

You will discover that I like reading books a few times and then I like to compare them to their movie counter parts just to see someone else's point of view on a story; it is interesting to me.
My tallies are
read: 34
read parts of only: 6
read all or part of and watched in movie form: 23
only seen in movie form:5

So, I guess I have read more than I have watched. they didn't want to know the movie part; I was just curious.

Currently I am reading the Cronicals of Narnia and the Ink Heart series, all three books. I want to read them all before I watch the movie (Inkheart) because the movie looks to be parts of book 1 and 2 so far, and I am curious about that.

I am not Annemarie

Dec 31 2008
Just to clear something up, I am not Annamarie; she is a very nice person who likes to read my blog. She has posted me as a blog she likes to read, and this has caused a little confusion. Because she doesn't have a blog of her own, people seem to be getting us confused. I just wanted to clarify this because it seems to have been happening for about 1 or 2 months now.

Jan 19 2009
Since this is still happening I will bring this post to the top every time I get called Annamarie. Maybe it will stop soon, because it keeps confusing people.

February 7 2009
It happened again today so I will just bring this to the top of the posts again.

A fiber artist nightmare

In the process of sorting out the stuff from GGH house, I spread out moth crystals just because some of the old items had old holes and I wanted to be careful because there are over 700 lbs of wool in my rugs on my floors, not to mention the wool in my sewing room that I use for crocheting, knitting, felting, embroidery, and wool to make more rugs and wool in sweaters and other clothes such as winter hats and things. There's probably well over 1000 lbs of wool in this house, maybe more. I usually spread crystals twice a year when we go on week-long vacations so we don't have to live with the smell.

In GGH stuff there was a box that was opened last night around 10 pm; it had a funny, musty smell. It had two rugs and three pillows and was set aside to air out. Today I brought the opened clear plastic box from the basement to the main floor of my home, over two wool rugs and such. Then it was taken to my wash room where it was left for about 3 hours, open still. Then, around noon, I washed the first rug and left the room. When I came back to wash the second rug that was stored in the box, I noticed white things on it. Well, they sort of looked like white inch worms with brownish, reddish heads. I was panic stricken; called my mother-in-law scared of what I thought they might be. Asked her what cloth moths look like, and while talking to her I was googling it. At the same time, I was looking at the clear plastic box closer when I noticed some insects with wings. I instantly reached for the cupboard next to me and dumped a half gallon of ammonia in the box and closed it; did the same to my washer. Yes, they are moth larvae and cloth moths, themselves, and probably eggs. Terror is the only way to describe the way I felt at that moment. All the things I had spent years and years making are now in danger of moths. I had always been so careful (whenever I buy old or thrifted items they are placed in garbage bags in the garage and the bags have moth crystal them. 2 to 4 weeks later I wash the items and dry them, then bring them into the home). I always had crystals on hand for if anything came into my home. But I wasn't prepared for tons of boxes coming into my home that had been stored in a myriad of places over the years and some stored unclean, a real big no, no.

Now my house smells of moth crystals and our praying mantis has to go live at my husband's work and maybe the fish, too I will take them tonight when I pick him up. I don't want to kill innocent by-standers. But, usually, I don't live in my home, either, when I spread crystals. It isn't good for humans, either, definitely not in this amount, anyway.

But there is no way I am going to let them set up housekeeping in my home, either!

So where am I...

Well I am still here; it is just that I somehow have lost my camera battery and can't take photos at the moment. I have been busy working at the flower shop and at the school. I am having so much fun teaching you can't believe it.

You know it is funny the things kids say. Three of the second graders kept starring at me the other day, so I asked them why. One thought I looked like Nanny McPhee (here came the scary part) I had to ask. "At the beginning of the movie (see picture to right) or the end during the wedding (how she normally looks see left)!?!" "Yes," she said, "the end of the movie." That was a relief. (These two photos have links as to where they came from -- they are not my work.)

So the second little girl kept starring at me, and after a while it made me nervous; you know that feeling like you have spinach in your teeth. I asked her if something was wrong, her response was " No, but did you know you are pretty!"

The last little girl kept it up the longest, so of course I asked her if something was wrong or if she had a question about the assignment. She said " No, but I didn't know princesses could be teachers!" I asked her why she thought I was a princess. She explained it had to do with the head bands I like to wear (see image to left). I don't think I look anything like Emma Thompson. I look like plain ol' me, not pretty or ugly just normal and I am happy that way. (Photo of me to the right.)

Who could have a bad day with little children like that!

Soon as I find my camera battery I will be back to posting; it has to be here somewhere.

What a weekend

So Friday I got off of work an hour early and walked to my sister-in-law's who watches my children. There we had dinner and waited for my husband to arrive so we could spend the entire night driving to California to go to a family reunion. We left at 6 pm Utah time and arrived 3 am California time. Got to see family and had fun Saturday at the reunion that started at 10 am and was over by 3 pm.

We went back to my va vo's where we all watched Spiderwick, except me -- I took a nap. Then that night we went to bed, got up, visited with my grandmother and sisters 'till noon ,and tried to drive home to Utah. The reason I say tried is we got a flat in the Mojave dessert in California and almost another near Nephi, Utah, in the dark.

We stopped at Sunshine gas to make sure no second flat tire. Just had to take a photo of the name of the gas station, thought it was such a cool name (wink wink)! Don't ask me why large chunks of wood are in the middle of a freeway, I don't get it. We got home at 2 am Utah time.
Saw a double rainbow in the middle of Nevada during 108 degree weather.

The reason for the real quick trip was that my children started school Monday, and we had to get up at 5 am to start our day. It is the first time all three of them have been at the same school. It is nice to have one drop-off time and one pick-up time, not two and three like last year.

Also on the trip to California, I received a phone call from my children's vice principle saying that the art teacher job is open again and they need a sub 'till they find a teacher, and do I want to be a sub, and am I still interested in the job? Cross your fingers and pray because I still want this job. It would be so nice to teach my two youngest daughters in school, and to have the same holidays as they do, which doesn't happen working at a flower shop.

The picture of the girls in front of a cannon is at school; one of the teachers made it then fired it off to celebrate the start of a new school year after their morning Devotional and Pledge of Allegiance. If you notice the white building in the left of the picture, that is the Latter-Day Saint Temple that faces my kids' school. So pretty to see every morning.