Ladybug Costumes

Ladybug Costumes, originally uploaded by theknittingpict.

For some reason I can't get the picture link to work like I think it should work tonight. Perhaps it has never worked the way I think it should work. See the post below for information about the ladybug costumes.

Ladybug, ladybug...

Ladybug Hats, originally uploaded by theknittingpict.

October is my favorite month. I love the cool air, autumn leaves, and festivals. I also love Halloween and have a reputation for being the only person brave enough to come to work dressed up in a costume. (I work behind the scenes in a museum and have some control over who sees me during the day.)

For me, Halloween is all about the perfect hat. I've been to work in the Maleficent costume--horns included--that my mom made for me in seventh grade. Another favorite Halloween hat of mine consists of a stuffed satin pumpkin embellished with lots of sequins and orange tulle (a special purchase from the Mall of America that I hauled all the way back to Virginia). Last year I knit a Princess Leia hat.

This year when my sister-in-law lamented that they couldn't find a ladybug costume for my niece (who turns five months old today), I volunteered to make one for her and her slightly younger cousin. I used Simplicity's pattern (2788) for the ladybug body and purchased black turtlenecks and pants for the clothes underneath the costumes. Since their heads were too small for the pattern's hat, I decided to knit rolled edged hats and run the black chenille through the top of the hat. I used the basic pattern for 0-6 months sized hats in Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. The girls' mothers think Vishali and Anika will be able to wear the costumes next year as well, although I'll have to make bigger hats.

I enjoyed watching my brother, dressed as Harry Potter, carrying around his little ladybug, Vishali, as the entire family trick-or-treated with two-year-old Kavi, Anika's big brother. It was fun watching Kavi figure out trick-or-treating. And what did I wear on this unusually warm Halloween? My glittery wizard hat. My clothing, however, looked more like something a Muggle would wear.

When one door closes

The Elephant of Upper, originally uploaded by theknittingpict.

Yeah, I know it has been a very long time since I posted something here. 2009 didn't have a very good start. I've been struggling for what seems like forever to find the words I need to say and for some reason I thought I had to write this before I could post anything else.

In January, my grandfather passed away at the age of 95 and my family assembled in Ohio during the coldest winter I have ever experienced. We had a difficult commute from Columbus to Upper Sandusky due to a snow storm. The temperatures, for the most part, stayed below zero degrees Fahrenheit with the wind chill on some nights extending into the -30s. Needless to say we didn't spend a lot of time sightseeing. However, on our first trip into town I saw something that I intuitively knew needed to be photographed. The scene--a motionless elephant covered in snow--just seemed too surreal to me. We were on our way to the funeral, so photography had to wait. It was o.k. The elephant was part of the local putt-putt golf establishment and the snow wasn't going anywhere either.

The following afternoon I took my photograph of the elephant. My parents parked in a cleared lot across the road from the putt-putt golf. I crossed the two lane road and stood on the two foot shoulder with my back to traffic. My camera only gave me two shots. It was so cold the battery died.

I didn't realize it at the time, but this photograph of an elephant in a frozen landscape aptly summarizes my relationship with my grandparents. My grandfather baptized me the same week my grandmother died. It was a simple ceremony for my family. They needed a bright spot in their week and my baptism was the vehicle for it. Unfortunately my grandmother's death left an enormous void in my life and her death caused so much pain that asking questions sometimes felt awkward. Most of what I learned about her usually resulted from my doing something that reminded someone, primarily my mother, of her.

I have often wished I was not the grandchild who was baptized under those circumstances, but I'm grateful that my grandfather was the minister who baptized me. I am glad that he lived long enough for me to form my own memories of him. I will remember him as someone who enjoyed long walks, naps, ice cream, and strawberry shortcakes. I will remember that he had diverse interests from theology to the arts to economics and continued to read books, magazines, and newspapers even when his eyesight was so poor that he needed a machine to magnify the text. I will remember that he liked to talk, but also could listen and gave sound advice when needed. I will remember that he greeted each person, even his grandchildren, with the words, "Hello friend."

Today marks the 34th anniversary of my grandmother's death. I'm sorry that my grandfather had to live so long without her, but I am sure that his faith got him through it. I have a copy of a newspaper article published over fifty years ago when my grandparents left their church in Colchester, Connecticut. The article reproduces part of his farewell sermon. My grandfather told his congregation:

"If death cannot break the tie that binds us in Christ, how can separation? Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is not only the hope we have of reunion at some future time, though we look forward to this; rather it is the faith that we are together even though apart. We are together in a great faith we hold in common. We are together in a great and far flung work. Though apart we are still in the same gigantic task. We are together in a great company, a company of many generations and of many places. We are together in a true body of love. If we can be together in body through the use of telephone and television, how much more can we be together in the Holy Spirit. As we worship and pray and work in God, we can know we are together in Him."

Farewell sermon indeed. My grandfather couldn't have known it when he gave this sermon so long ago, but it is exactly what I needed to hear.

Five Rivers

Thank you to "Memphis" for suggesting the MuseumPods site. I knew something like this was out there. I found a podcast from the Horniman Museum in London, England, titled The Music of Punjab. The podcast relates to a recent exhibition called Utsavam - Music of India. In addition to learning about the musical instruments used in bhangra music, I now know that Punjab literally translates to "five water" and that there are five rivers in the Punjab region of India.

Podcasts are an excellent educational tool. The VHS should explore creating podcasts for use in permanent and temporary exhibitions. Podcasts could be designed for use in the building or as stand alone educational material for people who cannot easily visit in person. The possibilities are really endless.

I'm a Mac

The initial thought bubble that appears over my head after taking the tour of Google Docs looked something like this: "Where was this when we were working on the digital imaging strategic plan?"

The Google Docs tour, however, seemed a little too good to be true and I decided to search for criticism of the application. I found a wiki about Google Docs that listed some of the pros and cons. Apparently some of the features of Google Docs are not compatible with the Mac. I use a PC at work and a Mac at home and I'm not confident about the mobility between machines with this application. At least you can get MS Office for the Mac. The wiki was last updated 1 December 2007 and a lot can change in a year, but the wiki did mention problems with both the Safari and Firefox browsers.

Another article also emphasizes the obvious drawbacks such as security, offline access, and unavailability of Google Docs. I'd have to see Google Docs in action to really see how it compares to using MS Office. I'm willing to try it once.

pbwiki

I have some doubts about the reliability of information shared though wikis. I have cautiously used Wikipedia and since I don't hear thunder rumbling in the distance, I also think I can get away with saying that Wookieepedia is entirely based on a fictitious universe.

The pbwiki is useful for communicating across departments. I have confessed to the books hiding in my office, although I suspect that no one else is interested in them.

Target

I had a discussion about Myspace and Facebook with one of my colleagues in the museum department a few months ago and he compared Myspace to Walmart and Facebook to Target. I laughed and thought it was a good comparison. It's been fun locating old friends on Facebook. The Facebook team threw me a curve ball with the changes they made to the layout, but I'm adjusting. I don't visit my Myspace account nearly as often as Facebook. I also spend more time in Target than in Walmart. (I also live closer to a Target than a Walmart so this may not entirely be Walmart's fault.) Both sites can be very useful for promoting the VHS.

I just signed up for a meebo account. I'm embarrassed to say that it has been so long since I instant messaged anyone that I have no idea what my AIM password is. Usually I end up on the telephone because one or both of the parties involved in the IM is tired of typing. My family has recently discovered Skype as a way to talk to each other using our computer's video cameras instead of IM. It confuses the dogs, but saves a lot of typing.