Since my Mom gave me a hook, a ball of yarn and a book last week I’ve been obsessed. I think about crochet when I’m at work. I come home and immediately want to get back into it. I’ve started searching for crochet videos on-line. I’ve started making veiled crochet metaphors such as, “Working on this project is like a long twisting chain”.

Crocheting is like playing tetris, fitting the little pieces together. It’s like writing computer code and getting everything lined up just so and the sense of peace that comes with that order. It is like picking a scab, where you just want to peel back a little more and then a little more. “Ten more minutes and I’ll come to bed.” “I just need to finish 4, no 6, ok 11, more stitches and I will put it down.”

Tonight I officially passed the basic crochet stitches and moved on to making a flat circle. Soon I might actually move on to making a real article of something, like a scarf or a hat or something. The only problem is that here in Atlanta you hardly ever need a scarf, so I’ve been thinking of making little cardigans and fun skirts and stuff like that. And trim! All my clothes could have little lace trims. Oh the possibilities!

Tonight SB was digging through some boxes, trying to throw more stuff away. He held up these old computer disks, proclaiming, “Do you know what these are?” Ta da! “Netscape 1.1 install discs.” Oh those were the times of wonder, when every new browser version meant something. Netscape changed my life.

I can’t say that any of the following links are life changing, but they did make me stop and remember that this here web thing is pretty awesome.

Netvibes – I read about it in Wired and thought I’d give this web 2.0 thing another chance. I love this thing, it has made life so much easier. On one page I can have all my blog feeds, my e-mail and even my local weather report and some flickr photo eye candy.

Julia Sweeney – I found her blog through Evany at Extended Cake Mix. Julia’s entries make me ponder those big questions about God and mortality and life, things I used to devote a lot more time to considering.

Amazon Associate – Inspired by Leah’s post today on becoming an Amazon Associate, I went and signed-up. Now if any reader clicks on a link to amazon from one of my book reviews and then buys something I will make up to 8.5% on each sale. I figure between my fiance and my mom I can make around $3/year. Private island ownership here I come.

Your own Pollock – Sent to me by my sister, this fun little site lets you drag your mouse around, creating your own modern masterpiece, no drawing skills needed.

This weekend my parents, SB and I loaded into the rental minivan and headed out of the city in search of authentic Georgia living. This trip was inspired by the tour guide at the Governor’s Mansion that I blogged about in March. We found many beatiful homes with deep porches and tall white pillars. Pictured above is the Morgan County Courthouse in Madison, Georgia, a town we had to love, if for the name alone.

We spent the night in Athens and climbed Stone Mountain today on our way back home. The photo below is a family portrait as we climbed the mountain of granite. I have many more photos to share and thoughts on the small town south, but it will have to wait until I can think and type straight.

Announcing my very own “Books I’m reading” sidebar. I know that everyone else has one, but being me I couldn’t just drop in whatever, I had to make it difficult. I’m proud that, after upgrading my whole blogging system, now I too can catalog my books.* Check it out under “Paper” in the side bar. I’ve even put some books into my library.

They represent the backlog of books I’ve read since my last book review. I’m planning to write reviews of them during the rest of this month. There are some gems on the list that I want to share.

*Ofcourse, this little project has brought into question what the whole point of this blog thing is. Who cares what I’m reading? Who cares about any of this? The answer I keep coming back to is that I care. I like writing, I like organizing my photos and I like the idea of having a place to record my thoughts on books. This whole November writing month thing has brought out a certain anxiety that feels a hell of a lot like competitiveness. My on-line notebook doesn’t need to be popular, it doesn’t need to make money, it just needs to make me feel good, just like eating avocados with salt.

We wrote off the baby panda today when we discovered that it would cost $18 a head to get into the zoo. Since when did zoos charge so much? What happened to the free zoo? We also cancelled our plans to go to the Cyclorama because there was poo pooing of too much civil war stuff.

Instead we returned to the botanical gardens, where they have extended the Niki in the Garden exhibit until the end of the year. I loved returning to see the sculptures. I had been thinking of them as October drew to an end and feeling a loss that I wasn’t going to be able to hop across town to visit them anymore.

In the early afternoon we returned home so that the guys could get the chainsaw out and start cutting down trees, while my mom and I went to the knitting store. (Way to live the stereotypes, I know.) I had mentioned a desire to learn to crochet and my mom wanted to hook me up (no pun intended) with all the necessities for a beginner.

Tomorrow my weekend begins and I plan to pick up a hook and try out this new craft. Meanwhile I’ll be dreaming of just how awesome this sculpture would be in my front yard.