Author: -N-

A Bit o’ Green

St. Patrick’s Day is soon to be upon us.  Regardless as to the history – good or bad – surrounding St. Patrick himself, here in the U.S. there is a tradition of wearing green on that day (orange will get you a pinch!), and sporting shamrocks.  Coming from the usual motley American ethnic mish-mash, nonetheless I can say that my maiden name is, according to one source, the 12th most common name in Ireland today.  So, to celebrate, I present you with Shamrock Socks, started in a fit today, stimulated by cold weather, and cold feet.  In the front of the fire, these are being designed . . .

Will these be done in time?  Who knows!  But as I listen to my current spy novel (Hornet Flight by Ken Follett), these socks are evolving.  I have two skeins of a sage green, and one of a creamy color, pulled from my stash – a total of 390 yds or so.  Not enough in either one color to make a sock, and so the Shamrock Socks were born.

IMBY

IMBY is the opposite of NIMBY.

Sometimes it is surprising to find out what is in your own community.  Just the other day, for the very first time, I heard about lynda.com.  I have no idea where I heard of it.  Yet, it has been here for years, since the mid-90s, living in Ojai, Ventura, and Carpenteria.  Amazing.

As someone who has been in education for many years, I was pleasantly surprised, and delighted when I went to their site.  Watching the videos of Lynda and Bill, co-founders of lynda.com, I enjoyed the fact that these are real people, down-to-earth and creative.  Makes me want to change job venues!

We also have Sage Publications in Newbury Park, an academic publishing company with a wide array of publications in varied areas.  We also have Amgen in the same town, and nearby, in different areas, the now-defunct Countrywide.

Besides some interesting (to me) corporations, we also have a few movie stars and other famous people.  Four miles from where I live is the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library; in Thousand Oaks we have Ms. Hailee Steinfeld who starred as Mattie in the Koen Brothers version of True Grit.

Wow – all this over my back fence!

Calligrapher’s Suzuri

Deep Well for Ink

This is a beautiful little suzuri, ideal for calligraphers.  It measures 4.75 x 2.75 inches (12 x 7 cm), originates from Japan, and is made of natural stone.  The size makes it perfect for taking with you.  Western calligraphers who like to use sumi with dip pens find the deep well at the end a perfect reservoir for ink.  Brush calligraphers also find it useful as the brush tip can be dipped straight in.  Because of its small size, obviously this is not going to work for someone who needs a lot of ink, but for someone who is writing with a pen or fine brush, this is a superb little stone.

For the sumi artist, a deep well is equally useful.  The flat surface can be laid with water, the tip dipped in the well for dark ink followed by a small amount of water, held tip up, and the two will combine in a lovely gradation of ink.

Combined with a professional grade sumi stick, this little stone produces rich, dense ink with little effort.

Calligrapher's Suzuri - 4.75 x 2.75 inches (12 x 7 cm)