Stuff and Things and Whatnot

It’s clearly been a ridiculously long time since I’ve been an active blogger. The last nine months have been pretty tricky, and it’s only in the last few weeks that I finally feel like I’m getting fully back into the swing of things. Thank goodness for that.

Here are some of the things that have happened since I last blogged:
1. I worked dramaturgy on Much Ado About Nothing.
2. I presented a big old program at the conference for my professional organization.
3. We visited Mike’s parents.
4. My meds stopped working.
5. I gained, like, fifteen pounds.
6. I felt like myself again.
7. We went on vacation with the Hoffmans.
8. I had two root canals.
9. We got a dog.

There’s been all sorts of other stuff in among the high (and low) points, but that covers the bulk of what’s been going on.

So now that we have this clever, clever dog, I’ve decided to spin off the knitting portion of what’s here to my other domain — hipknitic.com — and give Stuff and Things a different spin. There will be new designs in both places, so keep watching this space (if there are any of you left watching) for updates on the renovation.

I’m exploring yet another alternate career as a dramaturg, the person who works with the director and actors and helps to make sense of the text of a play before it gets staged. First Presbyterian Theater is doing my absolutely, all-time favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, and so I get to exercise my English major muscles and help with vocabulary and usage in the initial table reads of the script.

Totally fun, except that it’s past my bedtime every night, and I am exhausted. These crazy theater people live their lives a good two or three hours later than I do, and it’s starting to take its toll. And I knew it, too: I’ve had this experience before, and know what it does to me, but Beatrice wouldn’t let me stay away. Thankfully table work is over next week, and it will be another couple of weeks before I’m called back to be on book and check the accuracy of the text, which means a couple of weeks to try to catch up sleep before my schedule gets all thrown off again.

It’s such a dilemma. I love our technology toys — the new HDTV, Guitar Hero, the iPhone on our home wifi network. I enjoy playing with them, exploring the features and figuring out how to make it all work together in our house. I’ve always adored television (the writers’ strike is really starting to hurt me!), more so when we got TiVo three years ago, and even more now with beautiful HD. And I think we’re almost at the point where we’ve decided not to wait for the old computer to die: we’re just going to go ahead and get the Mac we’ve been talking about for, like, four years now.

The problem with all these wonderful entertainments is that they’re resource hogs. Between the cost of the phone bill and the cable and internet bill, we could be fully funding an IRA. And the time! Sheesh! In that regard, TiVo is a double-edged sword. Back in the day, if you had to be out when your favorite show was on, you either taped it or not, watched it or not. But TiVo always records it and keeps it in a list, a list that grows and grows faster than you have time in which to watch it. It’s nice to know there’s almost always something worth watching when I feel like sitting down in front of the TV, but there are some shows I feel like I could let go of, only when they’re in the Now Playing list, it’s hard to ignore them. So I feel like I have to “catch up” on TV, and it takes on some of the same character as catching up on laundry or weeding. Not so fun.

And then there’s all the online stuff. Ravelry. Facebook. Flickr. This blog, even. I feel pretty strongly about maintaining an online presence, both for personal reasons and because it’s important for me to keep up professionally, and I want to be a consistent updater. But when there’s been a full day at work and I’m already tired and there’s a ton of TV to watch, me sitting at the computer is highly unlikely.

Some days, I just want to chuck it all — TV, video games, computer, everything. I have this utopian vision of being able to read and listen to music more, going to bed earlier, getting back to a routine, feeling like my responsibilities are under control. I hate feeling like I’m in a time crunch, and the next month or so is going to be pretty stressful on that front (more to come on that). So what can give? If the writers’ strike keeps going, I’m hoping it’s TV, but if the Now Playing list starts to stack up again… I don’t know.

So, here are some things you’ll be hearing about in upcoming blog posts:

• My anniversary is around the corner.
• The joy of furniture with hidden storage.
• Simplicity versus plugging in.
• Is there any way I can become independently wealthy in the next few months?
• My excuses for not blogging are about to get much, much better.

At work, we’re doing this Learning 2.0 project — encouraging library staff to become familiar with the Web 2.0 tools that our patrons are using and that influence the way people expect everything on the Internet to work. As part of the project, participants are asked to create a blog and post about their experiences there.

I now have a deep sense of camaraderie with my 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Gagliardi, who had us write in journals every day, and responded every day. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of blogging, but it’s really been me reading my co-workers’ blogs and commenting on them, so that they know someone is out there reading. Blog on, friends. Blog on.

You may already know that my family is kinda into Walt Disney World, but you may wonder how the heck we found Disney in South Carolina. Well, about five years ago, I bought an ownership interest in Disney Vacation Club, a sort of timeshare thingy they have mainly at WDW. I get a certain number of points to spend every year, and they “buy” me different accommodations depending on how busy they are at a particular time of year, where I want to stay, and what size room I want. For instance, for my annual points, Mike and I could stay in a regular hotel room-sized room at Disney World for two weeks in early January, or we could get a three-bedroom unit for my whole family to stay in for Thanksgiving weekend. (There’s also sorts of complicated stuff with banking points ahead to a future year, or borrowing from a future year’s points, but that’s not important here.)

Since these accommodations are essentially paid for already, it gives us a lot of incentive to use them for vacations. So part of our decision to go to South Carolina was dictated by the fact that Disney Vacation Club operates a resort on Hilton Head Island.

One of the things I appreciate about the way Disney does hotels is what’s known as “theming”: instead of just straightforward interior decorating, there’s a story being told through all of the design elements of the property. Hilton Head is themed after a low country fishing lodge from the ’40s or ’50s; hence, there were standards playing softly in the background outside the entrance to the front desk area, and our room was decorated with nature prints and fishing photographs that suggested what one might accumulate after coming back to the same lodge year after year. And there’s always a Disney touch — from our balcony, we could see this sign for a supposed seafood company:

(In case you can’t see him, that’s Mickey from “Steamboat Willie” as captain.)

We splurged a bit on this trip and went with a one-bedroom unit, knowing that we’d probably spend more time in our room there than we do at Disney World, and would be more comfortable with room to spread out.

This rather crappy photo was taken from the entrance of our room, with the kitchen area (with full-sized fridge and oven!) just to the right, and the living area on the left. Turning to the left took us down a short hallway to the bedroom and bathroom area. We had access to our balcony from both rooms, and quite a lovely west-facing view.

I tell ya, I’m starting to get a little spoiled by Vacation Club accommodations. They’re really very nice: roomy, attractive, well-kept and pleasant. And they’re actually a pretty good value — some combination of my family members would have gone that often anyway, and I figure I’m about one more stay away from breaking even on the whole deal.

One ought not go to Hilton Head Island island if one has no intention of going to the beach. We found two different ways to enjoy it.

Option A
We stayed at Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort, part of their Vacation Club time share thingy. It’s a lovely place, and while the resort doesn’t sit directly on the beach, they also have a beach house with a pool and snack bar. We rented bikes for the length of our stay, and we packed up our stuff one morning and rode the 1.5 or so miles to the beach house. On the beach, we rented some deluxe chairs and an umbrella, already set up. We got there just before high tide and swam right away in ridiculously warm water with some fun swells and waves.

Then we sat in our chairs and read or did crossword puzzles or napped or watched all the silly things other beachgoers were doing. I had, of course, slathered myself up with sunscreen before we left our room. No ordinary sunscreen, either: after my various difficulties with being in the sun and hives, I did my research and bought some superprotective zinc oxide stuff. I didn’t bring it with me to the beach, though; I just tossed a different tube in my bag as we headed out the door. I reapplied just after an early lunch, and then sat under our umbrella for a while.

And then I started itching. I broke out in hives everywhere the sun hit the second application of sunscreen. As it turns out, I hadn’t looked closely at the second tube of sunscreen before I put it on, and it contained oxybenzone, a common active ingredient in sunscreens that can cause a rare photoallergenic reaction. Not only did I itch horribly, but I think the reaction caused the sunscreen not to be effective because I ended up with a pretty uncomfortable sunburn. And the bike ride home kinda sucked.

Option B
We got up very early in the morning with hopes of catching a sunrise on the beach. The light was just starting to show when we pulled up at the beach house in our car. We walked out onto the beach — which was pretty well deserted — and found these fascinating formations in the sand left by the tide ebbing in the wee hours of the morning.

(Mike’s great with the closeups, huh.)

The tower in that last photo was probably only about an inch and a half high, and was made by a ghost crab, these tiny little guys that tunnel way down in the sand during the day to protect themselves from predators, and then come up to the beach at night to feed on insects. At low tide, you can see thousands of little penny-sized holes all over the beach, with bubbles of air coming up from them — it’s pretty strange. Anyway, as the crabs make their tunnels, they use some sort of secretion to harden the walls and keep from being trapped by a cave-in. When the tide washed out this particular channel overnight, it took the loose sand with it, but left the stronger tunnel in place, which leads to this strange miniature landscape.

We were probably there on the beach for about an hour or so, watching the incoming tide erase the channel it had made earlier in the morning, along with the seagulls and pelicans, who were doing some morning feeding. It was a bit overcast off shore, but I did manage to get a sort-of sunrise photo.

Can you guess which beach enjoyment option we chose for our last day?

Having your birthday while on vacation is pretty cool. (I need to make a point to do it more often.)

We got up really early and took a kayak tour with Ben Turner, owner and operator of Native Guide Tours. I had found him in the guide book put out by the Hilton Head Island visitors bureau, and based on the testimonials on his website, I was sure we would have a great time, and we sure did. Mike took this picture about two minutes after we’d started out into the May River:

Yup. That’s a dolphin. The May River doesn’t drain from freshwater creeks and streams; it’s actually an embayment fed by tidewater and rainfall. Its salinity level makes for a rich food web, and all sorts of sea creatures make their way into the area to feed (Ben called it their grocery store). This dolphin placidly surfaced and dove in front of us for a while, trolling for breakfast.

Our tour included high tide, and over the course of the 3+ hours we were on the water, we could see how it rose and fell.

Here we’re paddling right through the spartina — the abundant sea grass that shows up everywhere along the coast — at close to high tide. About an hour before this, with the water levels dropping, we had to find little channels between patches of what seemed like much taller spartina.

It was gloriously quiet, and I was so glad to be sharing this with Mike. One of the things I love best about him is that he’s patient enough to stand still and just watch for a while, because he knows he’ll see something cool eventually. And we sure did see a lot of cool somethings.

Finally, after a late second breakfast at the Squat ‘n’ Gobble (love that name!), we stopped by The French Bakery (which I had found on the web) and picked up the cake I had ordered for myself before we left.

It tasted absolutely as fabulous as it looks: four layers of white cake, filled with vanilla buttercream and apricot mousse, and iced with more buttercream. It was probably the best birthday cake I have ever had, and I wish I could get one from them every year.

Ooh! And Mike totally surprised me with his present: a very compact and lightweight cordless drill that has enough umph to drill into our hardwood window casings for hanging brackets, but won’t break my arm when I’m trying to use it holding it over my head. It’s fabulous! I don’t know that a lot of people would get too excited about such a gift, but it was so thoughtful: I know I complained out loud that his drill is too heavy, and he tucked that away and remembered it for me. All around, a fantastic birthday.

Just got back from vacation. Much to write about. Watch this space.

I baked this morning, taking advantage of a relatively cool kitchen.

I’m so pleased with how this pie turned out, and I would have loved to have tasted it, but alas, it was not for me: I donated a homemade pie as a prize for our staff Summer Reading Program at the library, and I owed this to the winner. She requested peach, so Mike picked up some beautiful peaches at the Barr St. Market this weekend. I might have to get some more and make another for us.

I also baked some of my ridiculously tasty chocolate chip cookies. I pretty much use the Toll House recipe, but I have made enhancements:

• Use good unsalted butter.
• Use good vanilla.
• Replace one cup of regular flour with one cup of whole wheat flour. (I didn’t let the flour mix quite as long as I usually do, resulting in less gluten production, and thus somewhat flatter cookies than usual, but it still gives ‘em great texture.)
• Use good chocolate chips — Ghirardelli are my current favorite.
• Instead of baking the whole batch at once, I only bake one sheet. Then I drop cookie-sized globs onto a sheet with waxed paper on it until the batter’s all gone, and I freeze them. Once they’re hard, they go into a zipper bag and stay in the freezer until we’re in the mood for cookies. Baking them frozen only takes a couple minutes longer than normal.

Hopefully this will eliminate Mike’s sad face when we walk past the cookie aisle at the grocery store.