Murderbot.  What a name!  Set in a corner of the universe mostly known as the Corporation Rim, Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series has as its anti-hero protagonist a human/mechanical construct which was intended for security work, but due to a programming glitch, ended up killing 50+ civilians in an incident which it only partially remembers.

When I moved into my house a million years ago, I discovered that the window coverings consisted of standard blinds, and really chintzy valances at the top. I mean, very thin, cheap fabric, strung along the most basic curtain rods money could buy.  Now, I don’t particularly dislike blinds.  At least, I didn’t at the start.  They work well, letting in light or blocking it out, as the case might be. 

Let’s talk about money. Cash. Filthy lucre.

There is no question that we live in a disposable world.  Goods are so cheaply made that we hardly ever try to fix something…we simply dispose of it and buy new.  This is true across many industries (electronics being a particularly egregious example) but my focus today is on clothing.  No one seems to mend their clothing anymore.  Why would anyone do that?  It takes time and effort and the mended garment is often visibly mended, which can be unappealing.

I haven’t posted a recipe for awhile, so I thought this might be a good time to publish another quick and easy dinner recipe.  I call this one Quick Korean Beef, which I have adapted from some recipes I found on the interwebs.  I have another version of this that uses cubed beef and cooks in the crockpot, but it’s more work, tastes about the same, and takes a lot longer.  This dish takes about 20 minutes to make from start to finish, assuming you have rice already made up.

Three years!  I can’t believe I’ve been putting out a new article every Friday for three years.  For those “friends” of mine who criticized me for “not being able to commit”…as a celebration of my three-year commitment, I present a list of things I like, in no particular order.

I’ve been having fun recently sewing garments for myself.  Although my mother and grandmother did teach me this skill when I was a teenager, I’m afraid it didn’t stick.  So I’ve been basically re-learning many of the skills.  YouTube is a serious advantage in some ways…you can learn almost anything off YouTube these days.  Wish it had been around when I was trying to learn to knit…At any rate, being able to watch a short tutorial on almost any skill has been a boon to my (re)burgeoning sewing abilities.

Dean Devlin is an interesting guy.

Definition:  A pillbox hat is a small hat with a flat crown, straight and upright sides, and no brim.  It is named after the small cylindrical or hexagonal cases that were used for storing or carrying a small number of pills. 

While working on a recent sewing project, I had occasion to use the six old-school pattern weights that I (ahem) “liberated” from my mother’s sewing cabinet when I moved out many years ago.  These weights are cylindrical and weigh 60 grams each.  Their shape gives them a distressing tendency to topple over and then roll away.  This, as my mother and I like to say, is “sub-optimal.”

In my ongoing quest to make clothing for myself that actually fit my body (like the linen dress I made recently), I bought a pattern called Magic Pants from designer Ann Tilley, along with the optional notions kit.

It’s said that the first step to recovering from addiction is admitting that you have a problem. So, this is me admitting that I have a problem. I’m addicted to book nooks. There. I said it. Huh. I thought I’d immediately feel better after completing step one, but I don’t.

I’m not really a fan of manga or anime…but my oldest nephew is.  Recently, he sent me a picture of a weird crochet hat with what looked like cow spots on it and asked if I’d be able to make it. 

It’s Jenny’s universe, and we’re all just living in it.

Okay, “innovation” is probably overstating it…I just liked the alliteration.  But I am always looking for fun ways to use icord and today’s project fit the bill.  I’ve had a skein of Crystal Palace’s Mini Mochi yarn in lovely pastel rainbow shades for a long time.  So long, in fact, that the yarn has been discontinued.  I did knit up a swatch in garter stitch just to admire the color changes.

My favorite brother has a very nice dining room table.  It’s beautiful.  But it came with benches for the long sides instead of chairs, and at the ends, some imposing captain’s chairs.  My sister-in-law long ago replaced those awful benches with cushioned chairs, bless her.  But the captain’s chairs remain, and they are uncomfortable.  They need cushions, of course, but they are not a standard size and shape, so buying cushions for the job isn’t a viable option.

I mentioned in a recent post how much I’ve been enjoying using Color Street nail polish strips, but I don’t think I managed to sufficiently convey my deep delight in this product, so I’m trying again.

I do a lot of reading, and I make heavy use of my Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription.  This means that a lot of the books I discover are in fact recommended to me by Amazon, based on my previous reads.  This is how I discovered the Adventures Of A Xeno-Archeologist series, written by Jenny Schwartz.  The five books feel like one long story, broken up into five pieces which is to say that they are extremely cohesive.  The books in order: Astray, Doubt, Rebel, Cajole, and Resolve.

As a knitter and a crocheter, I am a big fan of wool.  Any animal fiber, really…anything from sheep, alpaca, bison, goats, etc…Quite aside from the fact that it’s cozy and durable and will keep you warm even if it’s wet, it’s also remarkably fire retardant.

Read Part 1 first.