Surprise Business Trip
Sorry if blog entries are either short and pithy and/or too few this week, I found out last minute that I had to go to Zurich to make a sales presentation.
Yes, I’m in Switzerland
I ended up flying out on Monday night (Memorial Day), and I’ll be flying home this Friday morning. Actually, I have seen nothing of Zurich so far, and probably won’t have much time to explore. Here is the view from my hotel, on this cloudy, rainy week in Zurich.
Current Knitting
I had to come up with something to work on during the long flight and during sleepless nights as I get used to the time change. I didn’t want to start a new/complex design, and lately I have been in the mode of finishing up things, as opposed to starting on multiple new projects.
How many of you remember the bed blanket/coffin cover I started years ago using the Andean kid alpaca that I got for practically nothing?
This project takes little or no thinking. Working on it, is more like fidgeting rather than knitting, so it has been a perfect project to work on during the varying lengths of knitting time I’ve had. Here’s a closeup of the simple pattern, for those that are newer to the blog.
I know, the color is ghastly, but I eventually anticipate dyeing it some lovely deep crimson, or perhaps a smoky teal color.
Either way, it will look lovely as a lining for my casket.
Current Reading
If you’re the kind of person that considers books to be things of great value, then I think you will truly enjoy this rather odd title that my sister-out-of-law recommended to me.
Outwitting History
I’ve always thought that Yiddish was one of the most expressive languages. Kind of like the onomatopoeia of emotions, rather than sounds. Mr. Lansky brings this expressive language alive in his story.
A reverence for books and culture is a requirement for enjoying this jewel of a book.
Yahoo is my homepage. The other day, I got online and saw the main headline was something about a man burning books in protest. Turns out, it was the owner of one of my favorite local bookstores. It’s a used bookstore, and it’s a nice place to hang out. Anyway, he’s got about 20,000 books in storage and tried to give them to libraries, and when they wouldn’t take them, he started burning them. The fire department made him stop because he didn’t have a permit, and he plans to get permits and make this a monthly thing. His reasoning was that since no one wanted these books in favor of digital media, he might as well just burn them.
I think it’s kind of stupid. I can’t wait for him to find out he just burned a priceless first edition or the only known copy of some important book.
Ooh, Switzerland. Nice boondoggle. Have a wonderful time. Eat some chocolate, or buy a wristwatch, visit an Alp, or something, would ya?
Have fun! I might check that book out!
I like the color, myself, but your color choices will be yummy as well. Have a safe trip!
I spent a weekend in Switzerland back in ’92 that included a Sunday evening in Zurich. I’ve never been in a city so clean. I’m with Carol on the chocolate thing, but I would also add a recommendation to go have some cheese fondue. Mmmmmmm.
I’m tellin’ ya, you come home with no chocolate for me and I will sob copiously.
You don’t want to see that.
Zurich? My unanticipated “work” trips are to the grocery, the elementary school, the potty. Yeah, go ahead knit your coffin blanket; I feel bad for ya!
Have fun if you can!
It’s tough to see accurate colours due to monitors etc. Does it have that kind of orangey overtone so much brown alpaca has? I blended some pepto-bismal pink in with a brown like that…now it’s a warm lovely cozy brown.
Of course, red would be better for the inside of your coffin.
That guy burning the books never asked ME if I wanted them!
Barb B.
Welcome to Zurich! Too bad you won’t have time to explore much. It’s not a bad place to hang out for a day or two.
Zürich is my favourite city! If you have some free time, you should try to get to the yarn shop “Hand-art” at Neumarkt 10, and of course to Caf´e Sprüngli!
Hilde from Germany
Thank you for this book review, I took it from the library today and am already loving it but I have a weakness for Yiddish, I always wanted to learn it to be able to read all these great authors in the original, I may still do it one of these days, if I can only stop all this knitting,,, 🙂
Enjoy the rest of your time in Zurich. I happen to be relatively nearby (in Milan, Italy) for the week too, visiting my in-laws and I can confirm that it’s raining and generally dreary here too.
The book you’re reading sounds almost Farenheit 451-ish, albeit without the science fiction angle. Alas, sometimes reality is scarier than fiction… Never understood myself the concept of banning or destroying books.
After my husband nearly died in January I got reflective about the end. I want to be cremated and I don’t want a wooden coffin wasted. So I mentioned that I am going to start a body-bag in scraps of yarn .In fact any of my best to make a sturdy bag .I hope it will be accepted by the funeral parlour .
i like that color! i’m sure you knocked em dead on the presentation. i can tell you’re a killer businessperson!
Did you look for the purple Milka Chocolate Cow somewhere in the Alps? He must be there, because he is regular on television and it is in the surroudings of Zurich they told me!!! Go search for it Boy!!!! Perhaps you can knit him a nice jumper for a change!!!!
The moon is gone.
She fled as dawn approached.
Dawn as a slowly opening eye.
White sea birds skimming over the water,
looking for an early morning snack.
The mirror brightens.
From a blood moon at dawn to a mirror
reflecting waking life…
#######
I woke her to take the moon.
Her campaign was swift and terrible.
Metallic and fierce.
Glaring up in the twilight.
But the moon was both implacable and unreachable
and in the end the war against the moon failed.
As dawn rose slowly from her bed, the moon slipped away.
But in the end, all that was lost,
was a little sleep….
################
1 June 2007
Burning Moon
Moon Fire
Blood Moon
smoked Moon
Smoky Moon
Smouldering Moon
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
4 June 2007
After the storm, my mine cleared.
And a high wind arose and blew the tropics north.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
running quartz crystals through a blender.
sand through your engines.
bubble in your bays.
estuaries reaching out toward forbidden seas…
sand through your eyes.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
5 June 2007
Calm as baby’s breath
as peaceful as the storm’s eye
Clouds spread and drawn with rough strokes of stratospheric winds
a warm and windy tropical day.