Kittens.
Life has been very busy with the little kittens… they are now moving from the
SLEEP
EAT
SLEEP
EAT
phase
to
SLEEP
EAT
PLAY TRY TO CLIMB OUT OF THE BASKET
PLAY
FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER
SLEEP
EAT
phase
yikes!
but aren't they darn cute! ?
Oh and they are FOUR WEEKS old today! Happy Birthday!
From the New York Times Marissa Lippert, a registered dietician, her list:
Top 10 all-around picks, in no specific order, to stash at your desk or in your office fridge
1. Raw, unsalted nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, pecans)
2. Kashi TLC granola bars, Gnu Flavor & Fiber bars, Lara bars (or check out youbars.com and create your own)
3. Low-Fat Laughing Cow Cheese, Coach Farm Goat Cheese or organic part-skim string cheese
4. Fage 0% Greek Yogurt or Stoneyfield Farms Low-Fat Organic Yogurt
5. Wasa, Finn Crisp, Kavli or Dr. Kracker wholegrain crackers
6. Organic peanut, almond or cashew butter (any organic/natural brand will do, or get the freshly ground stuff at your local Whole Foods Market or health food store or through FreshDirect.com)
7. McCann’s Irish Steel Cut Oatmeal or Arrowhead Mills Organic Original Instant Oatmeal
8. Kashi GoLean or Heart to Heart Cereal; Uncle Sam’s Cereal; Bear Naked Granola (watch portions!)
9. Sweet Riot Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs (for the occasional afternoon chocolate craving)
10. Good Health Half-Naked Popcorn or Glenny’s Soy Crisps (1.3oz – small bag)
and check out Smart Eating at Work – Part 2 and Part 1
Figuring out who is singing in the current production of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE at the Metropolitan Opera is akin to playing Russian Roulette.
See the cast listing from the previous 5 performances with one to go (and NO BETS for this one either!) :
(The above from a posting on Parterre Box in the ever increasing comments for a post re last night’s cast change.)
This writer will be seeing the 6th and final performance (ticket purchased months ago initally with disappointment at being the last one but that has faded obviously in light of current events).
Check back here over the weekend for details of the sure-to-be event, for IF Heppner and Voigt ACTUALLY sing together and make it to the end – it will be one of those evenings.
Already expectations are high and given the performances last night by the cast, orchestra and James Levine this promises to be an incredible performance.
Read more here
A few years back, at a conference to honour the 90th birthday of the great economist Milton Friedman, the keynote speech was given by Ben Bernanke, then merely a member of the board of governors of the US Federal Reserve .
Mr Bernanke, who had made something of a life’s work of studying the Great Depression and its causes, addressed the central contention in one of Professor Friedman’s analyses — that the economic disaster of the 1930s was essentially the result of an unforced policy error, a terrible series of mistakes by the Federal Reserve.
Mr Bernanke’s conclusion was surprisingly blunt: “You’re right. We did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again.”
At the time, the economist-turned-central banker’s observations seemed only a slightly more colourful assessment of historical events than policymakers are generally inclined to give. But five years or so later, with echoes of the 1930s apparently back in the air — last week, Alan Greenspan, Mr Bernanke’s predecessor, said that this could be the worst financial crisis in more than 50 years — the Fed Chairman’s promise then has taken on something of the appearance of a contractual obligation.
Certainly, the remarkable actions by Mr Bernanke and his colleagues at the Fed recently suggest that they take quite seriously the possibility that the current recession could turn into something really unpleasant and that, if disaster can be averted by policy action, at least they will not be found wanting.
The conventional Wall Street rap on Mr Bernanke is that he and his colleagues are of an academic mindset, hidebound by ivory-towered thinking, incapable of the agility needed to solve the deepening financial mess (unlike, presumably, those brilliant financial people who created the mess in the first place. In the immortal words last summer of the professionally irate Jim Cramer of CNBC: “They know nothing!!!”)
But consider this: since January Mr Bernanke has led the Federal Reserve in more radical, novel and imaginative directions than any of his recent predecessors ever dreamt up.
He has cut interest rates by more in one go (75 basis points) than at any time in the past 20 years (and for good measure, with last week’s cut, has done it twice).
He has come up with a bewildering alphabet soup of initiatives designed to pump liquidity into a cash-strapped financial system — Term Auction Facility (TAFs), Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLFs) and the rest.
He has deployed Fed money to help in the acquisition of one large investment bank (Bear Stearns) by another (JPMorgan Chase).
And, perhaps most dramatic of all, although it may sound a bit technical, he has used an obscure clause in the Federal Reserve Act to allow the Fed to lend at the discount rate to Wall Street brokers who have been barred by rule from borrowing direct from the central bank.
By most financial markets commentators’ estimations, this is the first time that this clause has been exercised since the 1930s – another telling sign that Mr Bernanke has done his Great Depression homework.
The question is no longer whether the Fed has been bold enough — though it could still be argued that it should have acted sooner. It is whether the Fed’s unprecedented measures will be enough to avoid even a mini-Depression. For the first time in a while, following last week’s eye-catching developments there were some truly encouraging signs.
Just when everybody was expecting the Crash of 2008, US equity markets had their best week since early February. The dollar rallied. Commodity prices eased. Credit spreads narrowed sharply.
Of course, it’s too early to say Mr Bernanke’s extremism has worked. For one thing, it is important to understand that the Fed is, in effect, fighting two separate fires with its actions and even if one is contained, the other could still spread or jump back to reignite the first.
The Fed’s liquidity measures, including orchestrating the sort-of rescue of Bear Stearns, are aimed at the crisis in the financial system
. The Friedman analysis of the Great Depression was that the Fed failed to step in and save banks from collapse. This caused a cascading run on financial institutions that resulted in the wiping out of something close to half the deposits of the banking system. This is something that Mr Bernanke seems especially anxious to avoid.
The Fed’s interest-rate cuts, meanwhile, are aimed at the broader economy.Though some expected the central bank to go further last week and cut rates by 100 basis points, it was clear that the policy-setting open market committee was nervous — two members opposed even the 75-point cut to 2.25 per cent. This seems unnecessarily cautious. If the economy is contracting as fast as it appears to be, the risk of inflation is going to diminish pretty quickly. The Fed is still well on course to take official rates down to 1 per cent in the next few months, or perhaps even lower — which would chalk up another first for Mr Bernanke.
In the end, though, saving the financial system and the economy will require more than Fed action. Markets won’t really stabilise until there is some firm indication from the Administration and Congress that there is big public money coming down the pipeline to bail out the battered housing market. Here, the politicians are still looking less radical than the technocratic policymakers at the Fed.
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
Imagine trying to finish the sentence "Knitters are…." and see what kind of trouble you can get yourself into. Can't say old, can't say young, can't say women. Can't say we all like wool, can't say we all knit acrylic. Can't say we all enjoy knitting socks, can't say that all of us see the pleasure in an afghan. We don't all knit for charity, we don't all have cats. We didn't all vote for the NDP, we don't all go to church. We don't all have grandchildren, we don't all go to Knit Night, we aren't all hip – or not hip. We don't even all stash yarn or knit in public. We are almost impossible to describe, and the things we have in common aren't really visible. Now try "Knitting is…." and you'll have the same trouble. What are you going to say? Fun? Easy? Hard? Challenging? Meditative? Cheap? Expensive? No matter what you try to say, a thousand exceptions are going to crop up and ruin your point. The truth of all of it is (I think) that the answers are so complicated because they have to do with what we've learned about knitting and how the practice of it has influenced our thinking and behaviour.
While I agree with all she wrote, I would complete the sentence as thus:
Think about it. It doesn't matter what you are knitting – and whether you are following the directions of another knitter's pattern or are making up your own pattern as you go along or a combination of the two above, in all of these instances, you, the knitter, are creating each and every stitch.
You can't complete the item until all those stitches are knitted one by one, row by row and then piece by piece and put together to form a cohesive unit to be worn or used.
There is no other craft that demands that the creator have as much interaction – from the beginning to the end – you create the fabric thru the knitting shaping it as you knit along. And for those spinners – the act of creation extends back to the creation of the yarn itself – well, we are not sheep but a spinner gets as close as you can to the source.
In today's "instant gratification" society where emails come in seconds over high speed broadband networks and cellphones keep one in constant communication, where online shopping brings goods from around the world to one's doorstep, the art of creation is fast dwindling.
The topic of exposure to arts in schools is covered extensively and widely enough elsewhere for me to start here – but think about whether children are getting exposed to the act of creation – the SLOW process of building step by step , of learning a craft beit painting, sewing, gardening, knitting, playing an instrument, acting, or even in athletics too. (but watch out for competiveness… it kills creativity dead).
In the arts, one of the main lessons is that there is only the ongoing continuum of growth – there is never the FINAL performance or FINAL artwork. For the performer (be they musician, dancer, actor) each performance is a waystation on the road stretching out to the future. The minute a performer thinks they have a set take on a piece of music or role, is the moment of death for that creative enterprise.
Maybe listening to Peter Grimes (Live from the Met on Sirius Radio) this evening has affected me – this incredible work of opera melding so creatively all the aspects of opera available to Britten – an incredible chorus presence, well defined characters, evocative emotionally rich music portraying the sea in all its rage and beauty.
The composer’s self-avowed aim in the opera was ‘to express my
awareness of the perpetual struggle of men and women whose livelihood
depends on the sea’ and anyone who has visited the coastline around the
composer’s home town of Aldeburgh will recognize the uncanny certainty
with which Britten has captured that land- and seascape in Peter Grimes.
Perhaps more importantly, the opera also introduces many of the
fundamental dramatic themes which characterise Britten’s entire
operatic output: the individual against the mass, and the corruption of
innocence.
Who knows where these ruminations come from? Maybe it's the number of unfinished objects of knitting there are in my house right now. Maybe it's the struggles of an artist still searching her muse.
Well, this isn’t a big surprise: TV Guide’s Mike Ausiello has just found out from FOX that The Return of Jezebel James has been canceled after three episodes. Jezebel James was the first project for executive producer Amy Sherman-Palladino since she and her husband, Daniel Palladino, left Gilmore Girls after the show’s sixth season.
Reviews for the show — including mine — were largely negative; almost all of them cited how Sherman-Palladino’s unique writing style and pace were thrown off by the studio audience / laugh track used for the show. FOX obviously didn’t have any confidence in the show, because it was airing episodes on Friday nights after cutting its initial order from 13 episodes to 7.
That’s the funny thing about TV; no matter how good the talent is that’s involved in the show — and this show, with the Palladinos, Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose, had a lot of talent involved — things sometimes just don’t work. But we know AS-P will get another chance, as will most of the cast. I especially want to see Posey on TV again; she’s too good to not put at the center of a quirky dramedy or something like that.
from TV SQUAD
St. Patrick's Day is moved if it coincides with Holy Week, and this year it is celebrated 2 days earlier to avoid a conflict with Holy Monday. The last time the holiday was moved was all the way back in 1940 and the next time will be 2160, so it's definitely a rare occurrence.
I didn't but I realize that is why some of the villages around here had their parades on Sunday (specifically the Sleepy Hollow-Tarrytown Parade) I was wondering. Of course the NYC parade will be Monday.
When I worked in midtown (59 and Fifth) we dreaded St Pats cause that meant Fifth Avenue and the surrounding areas became a sea of mostly drunken folks (unfortunately). The parade was always fun to watch from the windows on high (that only happened when it was on a weekend and the offices were empty) but the crowds are really rowdy.
I will celebrate by eating some Irish Soda Bread and wearing my green (I have Irish ancestry). (I might make some soda bread – here is an easy good recipe)
Happy First Week Anniversary
The kittens are too adorable. It's hard to not take lots of photos – almost everytime I look over at the basket the urge is to take a picture of their sweetness. I can't imagine what it's going to be like when they are full fledged kitties playing and getting into mischief ! Anyway more photos here if you like.
Am going to have to get a larger basket or box for the kitties are getting bigger each day. Also will need one of those "baby screens" you put in doorways – need to keep the kitties in the back three rooms. So on the hunt for that. Freecycle?
Network (the Gates Way)
Hmm its not so easy – at times over the last few days I was ready to convert to Mac – no not really but heavens its a pain! Especially when you have a laptop with XP Pro and a desktop with XP Home – sigh. [and no thanks, I didn't want to upgrade the desktop – at least not yet] But thank goodness for the internets – found a good website with a ton of suggestions and one that FINALLY worked. (It involves IP addresses and permissions and special user accounts – whatever, it works!) And now laptop is mapped to the desktop and the ext drives and the desktop is mapped to the laptop (it already had the ext drives). And all is right in this little network.
Thus I am now moving all the older laptop files to the external drives (The laptop is old and has a, wait for it, floppy drive, yes! I said it was old). However due to my FIOS direct internet connection (100 mbps) and the good Linksys router, the transfer speed is really good. The wireless card is getting about 50mbps average and that is plenty fast. Of course, the moving is being done from the desktop (slightly more processing speed) and from having less than 500MB free, now the laptop has over 12G. Whew, much better! (and there are still 8GB of operas to move over)
After all that work its nice to be able to sit on the sofa and surf and watch cable tv or my netflix dvds. Having to adjust to the trackball again and remember to stretch those fingers!
In other news, in looking at a new apt for a family member – stumbled upon the view and scene in these photos. Pretty amazing – can't even imagine what kind of house would have been there. That's the Hudson River off in the distance. Family member won't have this view but its behind the clubhouse and an easy walk – of course soon the trees will hide the river, but it's still a grand prospect.
A closeup of one of the urns. 
Knitting News
Not as much knitting due to the networking troubleshooting (see above) and the kittens (also see above). But did manage to redeem by substantial upgrade discount for the new Knit Visualizer 2.0 which among the many other changes now supports color! Fair Isle here we come!
Image from Knit Foundry where you can purchase the new version. Try it, you will like it!
So now charting will be fun! And since I can't find my copy of the current WIP the Swallowtail Shawl I will just make up the charts from the magazine.
And Brooklyn Tweed does it again – Na Craga is his newest WIP and it looks gorgeous already! Hmm now where can I find me some Skye Tweed….
Soprano Voigt Leaves ‘Tristan’ Mid-OperaNEW YORK (AP) — Now the soprano at “Tristan und Isolde” is sick, too.
Already missing tenor Ben Heppner because of a virus, the Metropolitan Opera lost Deborah Voigt in the middle of the second act Friday night because of a stomach ailment. That left with Met with both singers in the lead roles making their Met debuts, Gary Lehman and Janice Baird.
Heppner withdrew from the first four performances of the highly anticipated six-performance run and was replaced by John Mac Master in Monday’s opener and by Lehman on Friday.
Voigt sang the opener but didn’t sound at her best Friday and had trouble with the high notes during the first act.
“She was very heroic,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “She told me before the second act began that she was feeling sick this morning but she didn’t tell us because she didn’t want to disturb us. She wanted to be very supportive of Mr. Lehman.”
After the first act, Voigt spoke with Gelb and said she was ill.
“We agreed she would start the second act and see how it went,” Gelb said.
Baird, Voigt’s cover singer, was put on alert during the first intermission, which lasted about 10 minutes longer than usual, and by the start of the second act was standing by.
Voigt signaled near the beginning of the second-act love duet that she couldn’t continue and hurried offstage. Music director James Levine kept conducting. Then the curtain came down, Lehman started singing and the orchestra stopped.
An announcement was made that Voigt suddenly had taken ill. Baird got into the costume that Voigt had been wearing and replaced her about 10-15 minutes later. Baird and Lehman received enthusiastic applause at the end of the act.
Mac Master received mostly negative reviews following Monday’s opener of the revival. The Tristan for the next two performances is listed as TBA, including the March 22 matinee that is to be telecast to theaters worldwide.
Heppner and Voigt, two of the world’s most acclaimed Wagnerian singers, were to be performing “Tristan” together for the first time.
Mother Cordelia has finally settled down into her new role. The first 48 hours were a little time consuming as she didn't want me to leave her for very long. Each time the kittens feed (and they feed like every 30-40 minutes) she would look concerned for they would take awhile to find the teats.
By today – Day four (they were born midday on Sunday) – we are all in much better shape. The kittens are finding their teats much more easily and Cordelia is acting like a pro. She has regained her appetite too and eating constantly. (Kitten food which has lots of good nutrious stuff).
The "Nursery" has moved to the Den which is right next to the Kitchen and Bathroom where food and litter box are – so Cordelia is never out of earshot of the little ones. Its fascinating to watch the interaction between her and the kitties. And to already see the development of each kitten's personality.
And oh dear they are very cute. I try to analyze what is it about seeing these little bundles curled up sleeping or eating and why I react such… right now the Gray One is sleeping with its little head turned sideways resting on its paws. Oh no, now Gray One has turned on its back and is cuddled up against Cordelia's head and C has her paw on her. Sigh.
I guess its the maternal instinct coming out – and its hard not to – especially when they mew… its a sweet little noise.
Of course there is a lot of mewing during the hourly cleaning rituals by their mom… one of the black ones (Smaller Black One) especially doesn't like to be cleaned and protests loudly (well, as loud as a little kitten can).
I know that these first weeks while they are still tiny and in the basket will pass quickly and then, oi vey, it will be lots of fun with three little kittens playing around – I will have to get one of those baby proof doors to close off the front of the apartment (luckily its a railroad) and confine them to these back rooms until they are much older – no need to have a kitten lost in the loft bed or in the piano!
Knitting has not progressed as much due to the kittens. But the shawl is moving along. SPRING KNITTY came out yesterday – I just happened to click on my link and there it was – even before the email came! A good strong issue and Laminaria is already moved to the top of my Ravelry queue. Along with Agatha which looks so lovely as knitted recently (and of course quickly) by Wendy.
The other major activity this week was setting up my wireless network. I found an older laptop that I thought was dead but voila it's not. Also found a 7 port USB hub online for good price – so when that was delivered and I had to reorganize all those usb devices (two external drives, ipod dock, camera cable, Lyra wireless Speaker terminal, oh and the CueCat scanner) I figured I would set up the wireless network as well.
You know how it goes – you think it will be easy and yet by 3 in the morning I finally called Verizon – and actually got someone who actually listened to my explanation and quickly resolved the problem (he had to reboot my router remotely to get a new MAC address from my wireless router) and voila! I was set to go.
I had set up a wireless network in my Brooklyn apt and already had a Linksys wireless router and a booster card for my laptop… so after updating the laptop with over 100 MS updates (that was all day yesterday) tonight I was able to sit on the sofa and watch my semi daily fix of Gilmore Girls and surf and continue to set up the laptop.
And the other good thing? I am sitting right next to the "nursery" basket so Cordelia has been very happy. She occasionally jumps in my lap for a good cuddle – which she deserves!
Oh and Aunt Katie has been quite the quiet cat – she has come up and looked in the basket a few times but not ventured to poke herself in – Cordelia has only hissed once (when she was eating). To help Katie not feel left out of all the attention, I found a new basket for her and lined it with her favorite item (a wool knitted bag) and she has been getting extra treats.
BTW that is not the NEW basket in the photo but a tray which I use on top of the sink for makeup etc, for as you can see there is no counter space in my tiny bathroom. As you can see it rests on the "we try to disguise this" litter box.
Katie had started spending time here awhile ago – I am not sure what it's about – although she can look out into the kitchen (the bathroom opens off the kitchen) so it must be a good vantage point for her. She is a sweet quiet cat who keeps to herself – she does NOT like to be picked up and rarely lets me pet her – although she loves to eat cooked chicken or tuna etc from my hands.
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2nd Perf: Voigt (Act I/II partial)/Baird (Act II/III)/Gary Lehman – Lehman’s Met debut and role debut, Debbie got sick in Act II replaced by debutante Baird.
3rd Perf: Voigt/Lehman (night of Lehman flying rug into prompter’s box drama)
4th Perf: Voigt/Robert Dean Smith (Saturday matinee radio and HD broadcast) no major drama. One or two cracks from Smith and his wig got caught on Kurwenal’s coat in Act III. Pretty minor.
5th Perf: Baird/Heppner (Voigt canceled due to illness) (Photo on left from CBC)
6th Perf: coming this Friday – listed as of now as Voigt/Heppner – will be the only performance with the originally scheduled casting.