Ruthie's Ramblings

If I’m going to do this blogging thing and include a day of the week where I focus on a website I love, I can’t go too long with out featuring RAVELRY! It’s my favorite knitting/crocheting website. I was directed to this website by my friend Alyssa, and I haven’t been off it since. Literally, I think it is open on one of the computers I frequent all the time. I don’t close the window.

Why do I love thee let me count the ways

1- easily searchable database of patterns
2- big database, seriously try searching another website, it ALL comes up on Ravelry.
3- a database which includes individual patterns from books and can tell you which book.
4- SAVEABLE… everything
find a pattern you love, save it,
start a pattern, save it, save what yarn your using, what hook
5-stop project, and pick it up later– it’s still saved. (I love digital patterns, they never get lost, spilled on, chewed up, or folded just so the next row’s instructions flake off in your bag).
6-sharing
since you can save your patterns, and what you’ve “casted on” or “hooked’ your friends can see what you’re up to with out having to haul all of your projects around at once.

So, If you’re into knitting or crocheting I HIGHLY suggest that you make yourself a clever log in. Add me (stagepaint) as your friend, and get making.

It may be cliché but I have set New Years Resolutions this year…. and as of February I’m not doing too bad.

The resolutions are: (in simple explanations)

1) Eat Breakfast.
It may seem stupid to you, but it’s something i generally don’t do. Seriously, and grabbing a pop-tart doesn’t count. Aside from just eating breakfast I’m trying to eat a “good” breakfast, hopefully including 20-30g of protein.

2) Go to the Gym
Classic I know. But rather than just making a resolution to lose weight I choose to make a resoultion I hope that builds life long better habits rather than just a short term kind of thing. It’s also more important to me that i’m doing dance classes or pilates than losing weight (though i really hope it’s a by-product of the action) becase I’ve had problems with migraines from tension headaches. Which I think in part have been a result of not moving enough. As the problems started when our movement classes in the ATP were over. So, in short– go to the gym.

3) Do more things that benefit my Theatrical Career.
I guess i really should have a quanity attached to this… But I guess in some ways just keeping track of the things I do that are beneficial to my career helps to remind me that i’m not totally off track. The list of things that qualify as beneficial to my career is really long, and I’m not going into it.

4) Continue the “great purging” of our apartment
Or the great clean up of our apartment… Must clean apartment so i don’t hate living there. It’s pretty simple.

5) Do/finish some “arty” things for myself.
Crochet, Knit, Scrapbook, finish random projects, make people gifts instead of buy them– generally use up the craft and art suppplies I have sitting around the house.

The other question you may have (yeah, or not) is how am I keeping track of this. Well, it may be juvenile, but I’ve bought myself a calendar (a small weekly date book type) and some stickers… Yes, I am using a “sticker chart”. As I was thinking about how I wanted to go about this at the end of last year, I recalled that as a child I responded quite well to sticker charts. I was possibly obsessed with filling them up with the shiny stars. I even recall some chart where If I got X number of stickers in a time period I got part of this doll accessory kit that was “hidden” on the blue shelves in the basement of my grandparents house. And I also remember many a times being very disappointed if stickers were ever removed from said charts…. Some how it always seemed less exciting when It was a chore chart… I’m not really sure why.

Or you might be wondering WHY am I keeping track at all (or espeicially in this way). Well the thing is, physically tracking progress, and journaling about the experience/progress, is a more reinforced way of changing/ developing habits. And it’s kind of gratifiying to put stickers in a book. Really. Judge me if you want–but maybe you should try it the next time you’re trying to change your habits….

I really don’t understand how I end up doing this thing where I blog reasonably for three weeks and then forget that it exists. I suppose that this is WHY I really don’t have a following… Oh, well.

Anyhow. So, a lot has happened in the past, i guess i blogged some time in May, so 7 months?
0) Graduated from the U of U!
1) Went on the first of many epic road trips with Steve.
2) went back to Camp at Indian and Forest Acres as the Art Director at Forest Acres.
3) Had the engagement party in Franconia thrown by Alex’s parents
4) Came home from camp with 3.5 weeks until the wedding.
5) made it to the wedding, no animals or plants were harmed in the process
6) Got married
7) Got a new job: I am now ALSO working in the box office at PTC, and less and less working for the scene shop, but i guess that’s how it goes. Started dramaturgy/literary internship at PTC–writing the study guides for PTC’s shows and helping with some of the dramaturgy, did a lot of work on Find & Sign.
9) Went to Disneyland for New Years 2012
10) Helped with a workshop for PTC’s (hopefully) next new play.
11) Went on honeymoon to Bonaire, dove 13 sites in 6 days.
12) came home–still hate the snow.
13) making good headway on New Years’ Resolutions to a)eat a good breakfast; b) go to the gym, and c) to make an effort to do things that benefit my theatrical career.
14) dressed three shows; Next to Normal, The Tempest, and Annie.
15) Started reading my first Jane Austen novel: Emma
16) Continued to teach my self to knit,
17) Taught my self to crochet.
18) Started work on my first crochet blanket.

I intend to do a proper blog about some of these “big” events as well as some of these menial tasks and small achievements…. however I always feel obligated to just give a “basic” update. And I’ll probably be back dating most of the entries, so if you want to look at them, they’re probably generally in chronological order….