Tuesday 16 October 2007

Please Mr Postman...

... will you get off your arse and deliver me some mail?

Well that's how I've been feeling for the last week or so as I wait for deliveries. Thankfully the strike now seems to have lifted and so parcels from Amazon have arrived!

What have I had?


Lonely Planet Ecuador & The Galapagos Islands

I am hugely excited about this as it means we can finally start planning our dream holiday to the home of evolution, woo hoo! Our own little Voyage of the Beagle.  Probably going around the end of April/start of May and we intend to go for three weeks (which will include some time in Quito and Mindo as well as the Galapagos; we're not that rich). If I don't see an albatross, I might die.

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut

This popped up as a recommendation when I chose the above. I'd never heard of it, I'm ashamed to say, even though I'd certainly heard of Vonnegut (R.I.P.). Cat's Cradle is one of my all-time favourite novels (did you know there is actually a real substance called Ice IX?). This one's about a surviving race of humans who have evolved into something else entirely on the Galapagos Islands so sounds right up my street. You might infer correctly that I am not a chick-lit kind of girl.  A quote from the man himself: "Evolution is so creative. That's how come we got giraffes and the clap."

No Sheep For You by Amy R Singer

One for the knitters. Amy Singer is the editor of Knitty, which was where I first turned when I started knitting - it's left me with the feeling though that all patterns should be available free on the web which of course just isn't true (or indeed right). Anyway, the book. I've already read it through and to be honest I'm disappointed. I don't much care for the patterns, and whilst it's well written and there's some interesting information on non-wool fibres, most of the good techy stuff that I like seems to be taken from other (referenced) sources. Shame I couldn't find this in any bookshops to flick through first. I'm sure it's great if you are allergic to wool, but if like me you're just looking for other inspiration, it's not all that.

Enjoy Your Rabbit by Sufjan Stevens

A CD not a book, to state the obvious. Haven't listened to it yet. I have Michigan and Chicago so thought I'd better start on the back catalogue whilst he carries on working on the 50 States project (he'd better get a move on frankly). The overtly Christian message of some of his songs puts me off a little but his melodies and arrangements are just gorgeous so I can forgive him that. Plus the man's a knitter!

2 comments:

stash haus said...

Hi! Was on Ravelry and saw you started a blog this month! Welcome to the blogosphere.

My inlaws took a grandchild to the Galapagos a few years ago - as a coming of age trip. (The older grandson was taken to Turkey and Greece - the kids get to pick the destination.)

FYI - my brother-in-law runs a business that helps you plan such trips, using only local guides, and guides who have ecologically sound practices. You can check his website at detourdestinations.com.

Loved seeing your stash from Ally Pally. Sigh. I'm also quite full of yarn envy. Some day I will come to London for that event.

Ginger Lucy said...

Hello! Thanks for the welcome (I'm still getting used to writing up my day's events online) and for the link, which will be useful. I'm impressed the grandchild picked there as a destination!

Ally Pally was wonderful - yes do make sure your next trip to the UK is in October, you won't regret it!