It's been a while since my last post--Spot is getting angry with me for not keeping up with the updates, but what can we do really? Life's not that exciting...well, I don't really know what Spot does when I'm not around, and when he comes around to telling me, I promise to tell all in this blog.

On the teaching front, all midterms have been returned except for a couple of make-ups, and my class average is a healthy B minus. It's really hard to get anyone really interested in this class, but I carry on, hoping that I am not just a 5 foot blur in my students' eyes.

I think I am almost finished with the purple scarf, and have already started one of the berets on the no.3 round needles. The Koigu yarn I bought a week ago is exquisite, and I am really excited to see how this beret will turn out. I NEED to get more colors of this yarn. Finally figured out a project for my mom...maybe be able to knit it in time for...Christmas? Hahaha! I really wanted to post pics, but I haven't had the time to take out the dusty old camera.

I thought that I would be able to talk about some of my holy grail stuff, but without pics it seems that it's all for naught. Besides, I want to think about what I wanted to say about my holy grails...but maybe i should give a preview of what the list looks like: Viva Glam V, New Haarlem, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Creme, Olay Ribbons Body Wash, Orgasm, Dallas Palette, Becca Luminous Skin color, Trish McEvoy brushes, Shu No. 13G, Origins Pure Cream...the list goes on...but I see Spot frowning (makeup is not his thing...it tastes icky when he licks my face).

I hope to post a better entry, but for the purposes of keeping it alive, this will have to do.

I haven't gotten the chance to post pics of my yarn and needle haul from two days ago and Spot is positively giddy with excitement as to what we will be doing next. Currently on my needles are my roomie's purple scarf, and a Ginny hat from a pattern posted on Leaky Cauldron, so that I can practice working on circular needles. The hat is probably getting finished earlier than the scarf, but I do hope to finish the scarf before all the cold weather disappears.

The big red scarf has found a new home with a friend. I hope you enjoy it Lorah.

Last night, we were practicing crow pose, and I think there was a split second of being there right where the pose is supposed to be. It felt different from the other times that I "almost" got into crow. I have been pretty lazy about going to the gym, so I should do yoga at home tomorrow--was going to do it today but two straight days of yoga got my hips and my hamstrings really tight. I'll let them rest for a little bit then do the routine tomorrow after I come home.

I finally got to install Stata in my computers but I haven't had time to play with it. Once tomorrow is over, I should be able to play some more. Updating my data sets to include more countries have been a pain, but I should be finished soon and will be able to run the HP filter on those datasets.

There was a Chandler Burr article on the New York Times website today about Les Exclusifs, Chanel's new exclusive set of boutique fragrances (pic from the NY Times as well). A couple of these are reissues of older scents, but I am more interested in the newer scents, in particular Coromandel (yes, I prefer spicy stuff) and 28 La Pausa (I've never had an iris fragrance, but once I was able to smell Iris Poudre, and I thought it was beautiful). Alas, they only sell them in ginormous bottles with an equally ginormous price. So I guess I am on a no buy for these...God knows I have more perfume than I really need. Sigh.

Once I got the household chores out of the way, Spot and I buckled down to finish grading my unfortunate students' midterms. I always use a red sign pen to correct my papers. It gives an appropriately bloody look for THOSE papers. I got this habit from an admired boss, who, in spite of the fact that we would email work to her, would return them to us in print, all red and bleeding with her corrections and emphatic comments. I am currently halfway through, and the distribution is pretty standard (means I am NOT curving).

I consider myself a teaching veteran, and by now I am pretty much used to the attitude that I get from my students. Eye-rolling, snickering, whispering, using their phones in class...there's always a rude little shit in every class. And it gives me absolutely great PLEASURE when I mark a lot of these students' papers...in fact, I am still getting down from the high...

Laundry day today was hell...alright, maybe purgatory. Yes, this would be what purgatory would be like: being able to wash the clothes, but not being able to find a cart to transfer them from washer to dryer. Serves me right for trying to do laundry on a holiday. There wasn't even a place to sit. But then, I should be thankful. First of all, I don't have to see my little shits tomorrow. Second of all, I don't have to see my little shits til Friday...WITH THEIR BLOODY TEST PAPERS!

Apparently I needed to get it out of my system.

On a brighter note, I decided to give myself a good day tomorrow and go out to get some knitting supplies. Spot is pretty excited to tackle round knitting needles, and my roomie's scarf needs additional yarn. AND THERE'S YOGA CLASS TOMORROW!!!

Research wise, I can kick my ass into gear tomorrow night as well. I must get some equations done and typed up so that I can have a halfway decent proposal.

Happy Chinese New Year to those who can be bothered. Spot is in a bit of a funk because the year of the Dog is over, and the year of the Boar has arrived. Technically, Spot is a Horse (2002, I think), but I don't think that really matters to the mind of a Yellow Labrador Retriever.



Dragons apparently lay low during the year of the Dog (hibernation anyone?). This year has gotta be better for me...right? RIGHT??? So according to AOL Horoscopes (the end all and be all of all things...ehem...horoscopic):

"After the difficult Dog year, you feel like spring is back. Excitement and adventure will be the main themes in your professional life. This is the time to be inventive and connect with new projects. Your career will bring you great success, and you will attain a position of brilliance and authority. All of your efforts will bring forth prosperity, and the income you always dreamt of is at your fingertips. The catch? You'll need to travel if you want to make it happen. Just don't let your newly-acquired freedom and inspiration get to your head. Stay humble and never arrogant in your connections with others. Enjoy your social life to the fullest. In the spring or summer, a great romance can appear in your life, even if you aren't looking for it. Spread your Dragon wings and feel the warm wind carry you to the next level of your existence. Feng Shui Tip: Place a globe on your desk or golden coins on a golden plate in the western part of your living room."


Waaaaah! Can you already tell which one is my favorite part? "...and the income you always dreamt of is at your fingertips." I can finally support Spot in the way that he wants to be accustomed to....



Oh and by the way, people born in the year of the Snake have to give money to other people upon the arrival of the new year, or suffer the consequences...I believe someone in this house owes me some money...



On another note...the BIG BALL of YARN has already become the LONG THICK RED SCARF! YAAAAAAAAY! I posted a picture of Spot modelling it, but I think I will keep this scarf for myself.



From Spot, Mushu and me: Kung Hei Fat Choy!

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Saw this on a random blog and tried it, and voila! Apparently, people will be able to tell I am from NYC! How about you? How do you talk the talk?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
The Midland
The Inland North
Philadelphia
Boston
The West
The South
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Okay, more like knitting around. Here's a couple of things that I am doing right now. As you can see, Spot loves the balls of yarn. Apparently, the purple scarf goes to my flatmate (if she still wants it by the time it's done). Looking at the internet, there are so many projects that I want to put on the pipeline, so I might want to make a list on this page so that I can prioritize what I want to do next.

Anyways, enjoy the pics of Spot and the yarn.

Yoga class cancelled today due to the annoyingly bad weather, so we really didn't get to do our downward dogs and upward dogs (Spot loves those...however, he rolls over and plays dead if you ask him to do a cat-cow).

Since our priority is to avoid real work, we did a few rows on our purple scarf (care of the pattern from marthastewart.com) which is getting be looking nicer and nicer as the days go by. A friend suggested that I do the "fancy stitching" all throughout the scarf, which is a pretty good idea (thanks Rosie) which will give my scarf that nice homemade look. I have only done about eight inches into the scarf...I should post a pic soon...that should motivate me to get things done.

Finally broke into the BIG BALL OF YARN (from my purl purchase last weekend) and am on my way to making another scarf. It's a lovely red, which would look great on me if I can finish it this winter. Maybe one of my cousins needs a new scarf...

Oh, winter pic from the New York Times.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Spot on top of Bar. I used to have a different blog, but Spot said we should be moving in a new direction (he is reading over my shoulder as I type this). A previous blog was dedicated mostly to matters of a gustatory nature (kain). But we both figured that we should be branching out to more topics...maybe then it would be easier to update this freaking blog...