So ok, I have been doing this thing with plants, still knitting, still karateing, and now I am doing this project where I try to not bite my nails. Oh, and getting back into taking care of Stranger of the Day. So stay tuned for all that.

I made some offensive washcloths for my friends in Denver, but never even took a picture. I am pretty disappointed that I didn’t take a picture when I had them all laid out together. They were the Piss, Shit, Pussy trio, kind of an homage to an old website from back in the day.

I’d take a picture of my plants, but it’s really rainy and kind of depressing, I don’t want to bring you down.

I finished the test for the Green belt, so, you know, goodbye coffee stain.

I chipped all the nail polish off when I was in Denver, so I can’t really show you that.

But maybe tomorrow head over to strangeroftheday.com for some new content.

Anyway, this is more of a welcome back me post than anything else. Stay tuned.

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I remember that we won something, maybe a ribbon. I remember that my friend’s mom was our leader.

The one thing I can still remember fairly clearly is the car ride home, at least part of it. I was gushing about our win, but wasn’t quite sure what it meant. I asked my parents if we were competing with the rest of the world. I asked if we were competing with China. Then I said, “And they would be like, ‘oy opa toy opa toy opa toy’” because that is how thought Asian people sounded.

I should be horribly ashamed, but I was just a little girl, and not exposed to a lot of Asians. In fact, I didn’t know there was even a difference between Chinese people and any other Asians. To take it one step further, I didn’t even know that one of my best friends WAS Asian. I did not know what Filipino was, nobody told me (even still I spell it wrong without a spell check). Also, “Oy opa toy” is incredibly catchy to sing.

Many, many years later I attempted to teach myself Japanese. In part because I was living a kind of uninspired life, and I wanted to learn something new. And in part because that’s what they spoke in all my favorite anime.

It’s kind of foolish to try and learn something as complex and different as Japanese on your own. But I memorized the Kana and the Kanji and the Romanji, I even started working on sentence structure.

Unfortunately, and as my two wonderfully patient Karate Senseis will tell you, I forgot everything, including how to count, which you would think would be the simplest thing. I remember the basic “Watashi Wa” sentence structure, as well as the words “Chisaii” (small) and “Saru” (Monkey). Don’t ask me why those two things stuck out, because I certainly couldn’t tell you.

Eventually of course, I quit my Japanese learning quest, because I realized I would never learn it properly without an instructor. As a sidenote, I eventually picked up a few more very, very useful words, Nori, Unagi and Sashimi (if that puts me at the same level as those white trash guys who say they know Spanish, and then proceed to name off the taco Bell menu, then I don’t want to be right).

In College, which I went to at the fairly old age of like 24 or 25, I decided that instead of taking something like Spanish as my required language, I would take the Irish Gaelic. I would not let go of this idea that I MUST have a gift for languages.

I was, without a doubt, the worst student in that class. Why I signed up for a second semester I will NEVER know. It was after that when I realized I was kind of stuck with English. But whatever, right? English is a totally popular language all over the world. I can get by.

Then, a year and a half ago I started taking Karate. There are Japanese words and terms and things that I am supposed to know. And while I have managed to get most of them stuck in my brain over the last year and a half, I only half the time know where to apply them, and almost never can produce them on my own with no help.

What’s the point of all this? Well, if I want to get rid of my old coffee stained obi (because really, it’s all about fashion here, oh, and hey look, I got one), I need to know a bunch of those things, where to apply them, and be able to produce them on my own in like three weeks.

I may or may not have a plan, because in the end, I am pretty much the only one who knows what works with my ADHD addled brain.

I will keep you posted. Thanks for listening.

THE END.

P.S. Do you see those awesome gloves I am wearing? My friend April made them for me! FASHION!

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I am excited because after Sunday, I can make things other than dishcloths and scarves.

A while back I found a pattern for a crown for children that totally fits adults. I posted it to email party and my friend Julie asked for the pattern. Of course she whipped up her very orange crown like, immediately. WHATEVER JULIE WHATEVER! I WOULD MAKE MY CROWN FIRST IF I DIDN’T HAVE A JOB DAMN. JK ILU.

Anyway, here is pretty Julie in her pretty crown. (picture posted without permission, because I’m a bad friend).

Well, I have finally started MY PINK PRINCESS CROWN AND MINE WILL BE BETTER BECAUSE IT WILL HAVE JEWELS.

I also started a headband so I can pretend I am a badass, nearly finished a scarf for my niece, am still working on washcloths for my family, and started another square for my MEGA BLANKET.

I found a bunch of other things i want to learn to make, but I think I will be kept pretty busy with the projects I am already working on.

Here is where they go: The scarves are worked on on the couch while I watch TV, they aren’t very difficult because I am not really using a pattern, so they can easily be done on the couch during Lost. I am going to work on the princess crown in my bed, right before I go to sleep, because there are no distractions and I can concentrate. The blanket will be worked on right here by my computer while I stare at my email waiting for someone to reply to my blog. The headband is a train project slash lunch break project. It is perfect for the train because it is only 9 stitches across and if i forget to get ready to get off the train I can super quick finish the row. And the washcloth is going to be a porch project, yes, I fully intend to knit on my porch/balcony. I just need to clean it.

Here is some progress:

On the left is the niece scarf. I just need to fix a hole and sew in the tail.

On the right you will see the nephew scarf. It is a lot fuzzier than the niece scarf, but otherwise the same. The niece scarf was made with the remains of some thrift store yarn, while the nephew scarf is going to be made with newer stuff I picked up.

On the left is my washcloth, it is supposed to be a dragonfly pattern but you can’t really see it very well.

On the right is the princess crown. ISN’T IT A PRETTIER COLOR THAN JULIE’S? SAY YES!

On the left is my headband, clearly I am going to be a badass. Look how manly that thing is.

And finally, to the right is the beginning of my new square for my blanket. It’s next to my creepy clown glass because that’s how I get down.

THE END.

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I am starting to feel like I will be blogging over there again soon though. I am going to go through some more of my old photos and post those, and in the meantime start collecting new ones.

One problem with collecting new ones is that my son Joe is using my memory card for file transfers during the day. He is home schooled now so he often needs to move things to the homework computer, which is not connected to the internet. I really need to get him his own little USB drive.

I want to start collecting videos of strangers talking about themselves. I got the idea while riding the WES. There was a guy with a black eye that was more than happy to tell his story. I ended up being too shy to ask him to tell it to the camera. I need to work on that.

With summer coming, the Farmer’s market will be opening soon. It’s a really good opportunity for photos of strangers. I almost wish I had a better camera for this.

Speaking of the Farmer’s Market, I was walking past the spot where they have it the other day, on my way to the library, and it looks like the fountain is no more. That’s really sad since it’s a really good spot for photographs.

So that’s where I sit there. I may write a blog soon about the process of doing interviews.

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If you are looking for the list of links that was up here earlier, please visit my google profile.

Here you will find information about various projects and hobbies that I am working on, short term, long term, any term.

Here is a short list of things you might find blogs about at marykae.net

• Home Schooling
• Knitting
• Apartment Living
• Karate
• Yoga
• Blogging
• Social Organization
• Travel
• ADHD

Who knows what else I will get into?

Stay tuned.

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