My new hobby.
A fellow expat recommended I buy Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook after I found out that she's a knitter and expressed to her my desire to learn so I may someday join her at the Geneva Stitch 'N Bitch gatherings. No, I'm not learning how to knit just so I can drive an hour to sip a tall soy latte amongst some kick-ass knitters. Yes, they meet at a Starbucks. I'll just have to bring my own drink. My message here: support your local independent coffeehouses...please. Anyway, since receiving the book, I've been practicing, cussing, bandaging my finger, practicing, more cussing and more practicing. I bought some super cheap acrylic yarn and as you can see, it's ugly, yet allows me to practice and screw-up as many times as I want. It's been fun sitting here knitting away some swatches while catching up on my podcast addiction.
Everything else is going very well here in Annecy. On Friday, we turned in the translation. Hooray. I believe we did a very nice job. We translated a 40ish page dialogue that will be used for a headphones tour of a Medieval area in France. Right now, the actors are practicing to speak the dialogue. The translators are American. The actors are British. We all speak English, but there are many differences, thus the actors have been making some changes to our work. Fine. The translation process was fun, tiring, frustrating, but, overall, a very good experience. Note to self: do not work with husband when it's past your bedtime.
Yesterday, we finally made it to the organic grocery store. So many things to buy yet so little room in our kitchen pantry. Darin and I are very interested in joining a farmers or organic organization or club that delivers fresh in-season fruits and vegetables each week to your home or an area where we pick it up. We did this in Sacto and have been wanting to do it for awhile after admiring the gorgeous fruits and vegetables being sold at outdoor markets. We asked the woman at the cash register about this and she then spent the next 5+ minutes of our time explaining that she knows nothing.
Last night, we saw "Letters from Iwo Jima" with French subtitles. Am proud to say that I understood most of it. Maybe 90%? It's progress. Anyway, it's very good film. Being an American and terrible at geography (oops, did I offend?), I really didn't know where Iwo Jima was located in regards to distance to and direction from Japan. After returning home, I sat on the toilet. Let me explain...we posted 2 large National Geographic maps on the walls in our little toilet room so that Emily can improve her geographic knowledge. It's working, I tell you.
7 comments:
I've heard about that book. Maybe I should check it out!
So are you saying the knitting group at Starbucks will never have the joy of seeing you at one of their meetups? :) I'd be all for meeting up someday with other knitters at an independent coffee house. I jsut haven't seen too many of them in France. Have you? If so, do tell!
I got my shoes at Bata, by the way. They're perfect for walking a lot. So I plan on breaking them in by exploring...somewhere. :)
We just got back from "Lettres d'Iwo Jima"....what a great film. Have you seen the first one? We're thinking about renting it tonight, just to be able to compare the two.
Yeah, we can knit together when I come to visit. I'm like 75% done with the blanket i'm making!!!
looking very nice!!
and about the starbucks vs independent coffee house, i have to stick up for our reasoning, despite the fact that starbucks is actually pretty unevil for a big company (health care for employees in the US, etc) they are more importantly the only place in Geneva smart enough to have NO SMOKING!
we tried a few other places but not only did we get evil stares and rude service from the servers at the independent places, it sucks when your brand new (or half finished) baby hat reeks of smoke. Until a local Swiss company wises up and stops with the smoke filled cafes we will stick with Starbucks. I hope you will still come join us :)
i have to email to ask you where to meet up for sushi!
Sara - good point. Non-smoking places are key.
i love that book! i just learned to knit this past summer.
OMG I should put maps in my bathroom too...don't ask me where Iwo Jima is b/c I can't tell you.
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