Here's one of my favorite pictures of Berlin, taken three years ago, a year after the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was opened to the public. It was the first time I visited the memorial, on a gloomy November night:
Behind the memorial you can see the American embassy (still under construction), the brightly lit dome of the Reichstag that houses today's parliament (the Bundestag), the German flag (on one of the corners of the Reichstag), some barren trees of Tiergarten, and a massive laser show coming from Tipi am Kanzleramt, a cabaret show housed in a tent next to the chancellor's office. For me, the picture shows Berlin in a nutshell: it's a party place, yes, but it's also the home of a strong democracy with a strong (at last!) cultural and historical memory.
But enough of that. Come November, I'll say more about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, a historical event I witnessed wearing my pajamas in public (thanks, parents).
Has there been knitting this week? Uhm... very little. But here are some knitting-related thoughts:
1. I can't wait until Clara's new book is out.
2. Clara reviewed Cat Bordhi's book Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters for Knitter's Review, and I'm entirely intrigued and curious and want to learn more. Sadly, the book's out of stock. (I wonder if this is what always happens after Clara's reviewed something...).
3. I've gotten a lot of wear out of my shawls. I can't commit yet to the grown-up-have-a-real-job uniform of blouse-cum-slacks, and I'm holding on to jeans and semi-casual tops. I decided that spicing up my grad student look with shawls and such would professionalize my outfit. It seems to work. My clapotis in particular has received many compliments. I noticed, however, that dangling earrings (part of the professionalizing-my-appearance-plan) do not work well with knitted neck things, such as clapotis. I have many pulled threads to put back in place.
4. I learned that Santa Claus lives in the South. Somehow a ball winder and a yarn swift are making their way up North. Now. In October. From Mississippi. 'Cause I mentioned my need for said items in the same sentence as I mentioned Santa Claus, and a certain someone read aforementioned sentence and decided to act. (Thank you, J.!!!! [Your son is devastated. You ruined his Christmas gift ideas. Not to worry, though, I'll think of something else to subtly place on the fridge door.])
5. Hubs decided we are officially an old couple. While I've been a member of Ravelry for six months, he now joined an online gardening community. His words: "You've got your knitting club. I've got my gardening club. We should ask for our retirement benefits."
(5a. Just in case you're wondering: we live in an apartment building and don't have a garden. We have three planting pots: one with mint, one with basil, and one with thyme. They live in our office. The mint is about to die.)
6. Unrelated but noteworthy: I broke one of our first wedding gifts. I'm very efficient at breaking nice things, and therefore we don't even use any of the stemware we got for our wedding. Just so I wouldn't break any. Who would have thought that the glass lid of our fancy (and much used) Le Creuset wok would be the first item to go? So unfair... the thing was hot... so I dropped it... it fell... but just 8 inches (we measured, trust me)... and it BROKE. Argh.
7. Knitting? Well then:
One and half pair of Nanners. I hope to finish them tomorrow.
Cheers!
Wow--has it really been that long? I was in college when the wall came down. Ironically enough, I was taking a course with German author Peter Schille on what would happen if the wall came down. (I spent a year in West Germany on a Congress-Bundestag scholarship in the 1980s and studied German literature and history in college.) I walked in from that very class, turned on the tv, and almost fell over, as every station was showing footage of the wall falling! It did sort of change the complexion of the course...
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