Another Shameless Plug

Recently, a subscriber to my other blog (Learn to Crochet in Minutes a Day) suggested that I should publish my archived lessons as an eBook.  The idea was that this would allow new subscribers to catch up with current subscribers, as they could get the archived lessons (which are auto-deleted from Kindle after a certain amount of time).

I thought that this was an excellent idea, so the eBook Learn to Crochet in Minutes a Day:  The First Twelve Lessons is now available in the Kindle store.  If you are interested in learning to crochet, I'd love for you to check it out.

Thanks.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

Mrs. Parker is also the author of an eBook of patterns entitled Seven Special Scarves, as well as the eBook Learn to Crochet in Minutes a Day:  The First Twelve Lessons

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

Shameless Plug

My first eBook is now available in the Kindle store.  It is a pattern book for some of the scarves that I designed for the Scarves for Special Olympics campaign.  It contains seven original scarf patterns, each of which is a two-colored scarf design.

If you'd like to check it out, here is the link:

Seven Special Scarves

Also, I expect the eBook of the first twelve lessons from this blog to be available later this week!  Thanks.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

Mrs. Parker is also the author of the eBook Seven Special Scarves.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

Bad Movies = Good Fun

It's true confession time.  Dobby (my husband) and I love bad movies.  I mean, I'm not talking Howard the Duck bad - that's two hours of my life that I'm never getting back - I'm just talking kinda bad.

This disorder stems, I believe, from our wedding.  You see, Dobby and I got married in October.  And we are madly (and bizarrely) in love.  So, every year, we celebrate our anniversary for the entire month.

Somewhere along the way, it became snuggling up to watch one movie every night for the whole month.  Sometimes, we do the dinner-and-a-movie out thing, but usually, we just curl up on the couch and watch them on our DVR.  That means that I start searching the TV and cable listings at the end of September.  I use my DVR to record at least 31 movies, so that we will be stocked up.

Early on, it became horror movies.  Obviously, there are a ton of them on during the month of October.  Then, over time, you've seen all of the good ones.  So, you start watching some of the bad ones.  And, you start to really enjoy them.

We enjoy some of them for the inherent (and accidental) humor.  We enjoy some of them for the gratuitous gore.  And we enjoy some of them for their quirkiness.

Over time, this love of bad flicks has expanded from the horror genre to suspense as well.  In the last couple of weeks, we've been watching them again.  Maybe it has something to do with the impending Valentine's Day holiday.  Whatever the cause, we've been really craving them.

You can expect some movie reviews over the next few weeks.  You can also expect that I will admit that the movies are bad.  And then, I will tell you why they are good.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

R,R,&R: How I Became a Beekeeper

Along with all of the other hobbies in my jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none repertoire, I can add Beekeeping.  I have kept bees for five years now, at one time keeping six rather large hives, suffering a colony collapse in 2008, losing all but one hive.  We then built up to two hives in the summer of 2009, only to lose both hives in the blizzard of 2010.  I am now maintaining two blessedly healthy hives.

The love of bees is an odd thing, it’s part science, part farming, and part pet care.  You start out with a little interest in bees, and you think, “Should I do this?”  You then talk yourself out of it, for a while.  I have been interested in the idea of beekeeping since college (yes, they did have bees back then), but never really followed up on it, mostly because I didn’t own my own home at the time.  Then life got busy, with finding my first “real job” and creating my adult life, and the idea of bees temporarily withered away.  I graduated, started a career, got married, and bought our own farm.

“Ahhhh,” I hear you thinking, “that’s when she got her bees.”  Nope, not yet.  I never really thought to mention it to my husband.  When we were dating, engaged, newly married; it just never came up.  I was still under the impression that it was a crazy idea.  You’d think, given that I am known for crazy ideas, that this wouldn’t have stopped me.  I mean, really, my husband had by then heard every crazy idea that popped into my head, but not beekeeping.

Beekeeping only ever came up because of one thing:  Video Gaming.

“Wait, what?”  See how I read your mind?  It’s a bit creepy, isn’t it?

Yes, video gaming.  I was sitting in the living room, while my husband was reading a tractor magazine (yes, there actually are tractor magazines), playing “The Sims”.  It was the original, and I had the “Making Magic” expansion pack.  And I was keeping virtual bees.  My husband looked over my shoulder and said, “What is your little man doing?”  When I explained it, he responded with, “That’s pretty cool.”

At this point, I should explain that my husband, who works full-time, and then comes home and farms full-time, used to think that video games were a waste of time.  He has since come around  Although he doesn’t like to play them himself, he will, at times, watch me play and cheer me on like I was the quarterback at the Super Bowl.  But, at this time, he merely tolerated my diversion.  So, when I heard something in a video game referred to as “pretty cool,” it was significant.

It became a springboard for a discussion about bees and beekeeping.  I liked it from a scientific standpoint, as well as from a hobby standpoint.  My husband loved the idea from an agricultural perspective. 

Aside from his primary job, my husband and I do everything together.  We work on the farm together, we do our housework together, we cook and eat our meals together, we watch TV together, and we read together.  Beekeeping became significant because it gave us something else to do together, but this something was pure hobby.  Sure, it is a benefit to our farm, and there is work involved, but it’s a hobby.  It’s a very special one, as it is one that neither of us had done before we met, and we have both gone through the learning experience together.  It’s special to us.  Our bees are special to us.  Any bees are special to us.

And to think, none of it would have happened without “The Sims”.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

A Quick Note

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I haven't forgotten you.  The combination of doctor's appointments, and the huge rush on Scarves for Special Olympics has kept me from the keyboard.

You see, I made the very foolish goal (albeit kind, I think) to try to send at least one scarf to each state.  That's 35 scarves.  No problem.  At least, that's what I thought.  While I was correct that 35 scarves in three months would be no problem, what I didn't think about was how the deadlines would fall on the calendar.

This week, there are seven scarves due.  A scarf a day is tough enough.  Add to that that last week there were eight scarves due (as well as my typo that made me think that AZ was due 1/21 instead of 2/21 - thereby adding a ninth scarf to the list), and that is seventeen scarves in fourteen days.

I bit off a bit more than I could chew.  But, I have managed to keep up.  I just haven't had time to write (or eat, or bathe, etc) for the last few days.  OK, I'm joking.  I've taken time to bathe, just not much time.

I expect to have the nineteenth scarf completed later today, then there is a nice little break of almost two weeks before the next run are due.

And, yes, I am keeping an eye on how the due dates fall on the calendar for the last fourteen states (fifteen if you count AZ, to whom I already sent a scarf), and am using the break to get ahead.  But, those two weeks (actually it's 13 days, a heavenly 13 days) I will be able to focus on other things and just make scarves in my spare time.  Right now, it's a bit like I work in a scarf factory.

I posted a list of deadlines last week.  After those states, we fall into a break.  The next scarves won't be due until February 11.  I'll post the addresses and requirements in a later post.  Just to let you know, those states are Maryland, Minnesota, and Montana.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

More Dashiell Hammett is Available in the Kindle Store!

In my December 25, 2010 review of The Assistant Murderer by Dashiell Hammett, I mentioned that none of Hammett's novels were available for Kindle.  I mentioned a few collections of short stories that were available.  The Assistant Murderer, alas, is no longer available in the Kindle Store.

The novels, however, are.  That's right, all FIVE of Hammett's longer works are available, along with several collections of short stories.  Three of the books became available in the two weeks after writing my article.  The other two are available for pre-order.

Red Harvest ($8.59 - available as of 12/29/10)
The Dane Curse ($9.88 - available for pre-order)
The Maltese Falcon (8.89 - available as of 12/29/10)
The Glass Key ($9.99 - available for pre-order)
The Thin Man (9.88 - available as of 12/30/10)


Now, I would love to be able to say that I somehow influenced the introduction of these books into the Kindle store.  It would be great to be able to claim some sort of precognition that they were coming (I mean, really, it would be cool to be psychic).  Or to be able to say I was able to use my powerful influence with the publishing companies to twist their arms into bringing the novels to Kindle (but I'm only a blogger).  Or maybe I could claim that my blockbustingly well-read blog caused an uprising that brought the absence of these novels to the attention of the publishers (but I just don't know that a blog with less than fifty subscribers is really big enough to make the publishers take notice).

That's right, folks!  I make NO attempt to claim credit for these books being available.  I do claim the fact that I am grateful.  Truly grateful.

I am a HUGE fan of The Thin Man movies.  I've always wanted to sit down and read the novel that started it all.  I am only about 30% into the book, but I can honestly say that it doesn't disappoint.  As I read it, I can see William Powell and Myrna Loy snapping out that dialogue as I read.

A small bit of trivia related to the movies:  The series had the words "The Thin Man" in every one of the six titles.  In fact, it would only have been accurate to contain those words in the title of the first movie.  The fact of the matter is that because William Powell was slender, movie-viewing audiences mistakingly felt that the title of the film referred to him.  The movie companies capitalized on this error when making the other five films in the series.

The title character in the books is not Nick Charles, but Clyde Wynant (another character).  Mr. Wynant is missing, and when his family attempts to hire Nick to locate him, we Nick describes this character to the reader.  One of those descriptors is "tall and thin".  Hence, the title "The Thin Man".

I love Hammett's work and have just started reading The Thin Man, but thus far, I can highly recommend it.

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.

Special Olympics (again?)

I had a whole other post in mind for today, because there is a book available at Amazon that I am VERY excited about.  But that post will have to wait until another day.  I have an update for you on Scarves for Special Olympics, and it's an important one.

Special Olympics Maine originally had a postmark deadline of today.  They need 800 scarves by January 28th.  Unfortunately, they have only received 85 scarves as of today.  I spoke with Lisa (the Scarves for Special Olympics co-ordinator for Maine) and she says that the deadline is being pushed back.  USPS postmark deadline is now January 21, 2011 (to allow time for shipping).

However, she will be in the office until January 28th, when she will be leaving for the games.  Therefore, if you have a scarf ready to send, and it's not ready by January 21, she can still accept them, as long as they are sent via some form of expedited shipping (Priority Mail, UPS, FedEx).  It might cost a little bit more, but every Maine athlete deserves a scarf.  So, I would encourage, nay, challenge, you to help them meet their goal.

Today's other postmark deadline is for Wisconsin.  They have a postmark deadline of today, or an in hand deadline of January 21.  So, if you can't get them in the mail today, express shipping (or hand delivery) is still an option until then.

As of Monday, Wisconsin had only received 249 scarves, and they are looking for 600.  Every Wisconsin athlete deserves a scarf as well.

Here is where you can ship your scarves (via whichever method you choose):

Special Olympics Wisconsin:  Still needs 351 scarves.  Has postmark deadline of 1/14/11 and an in-hand deadline of 1/21/11.

Special Olympics Wisconsin
c/o Christina Harris
2310 Crossroads Dr., Suite 1000
Madison, WI 53718

Special Olympics Maine:  Still needs 715 scarves.  Has a postmark deadline of 1/21/11 and an in-hand deadline of 1/28/11/.

Special Olympics Maine
Attn: Scarf Project
125 John Roberts Road Suite #19
South Portland, ME 04106

Thanks again!!!

Don’t own a Kindle, but would like to?  The latest generation of Kindle is available at the following links:  with WiFi only   or with WiFi and 3G.

Christy Parker is the author of two blogs:  Ruminations from and Unkempt Mind and  Learn to Crochet - In Minutes a Day.

For comments, questions, notes or suggestions; Mrs. Parker can be reached in the blog specific forums on the product information pages listed above or via email at unkemptruminations@comcast.net.