I suppose I am writing posts on a monthly basis at this point. Not because there is nothing going on in my life--the last few weeks have been quite fun--but because I've been feeling very insular the last couple of months. It is hard to have a group of friends in this city. The whole Seinfeld model of friendship, of people dropping in and out of apartments, of friends meeting up regularly at Tom's Restaurant, seems impossible to me. Perhaps it is just an old model of New York, one in which friends lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same restaurants, and saw one another on the subway. That doesn't happen now. No one in my friend group lives in the same area.

Luckily, in the last few weeks I've had visitors! Edward stayed with John David and I for a few days. A week later Rachael and Erin came up to visit. A week later one of John David's college friends stayed with us. It has been nice to socialize again, and I realize how important steady friendship is. So, I've added a new goal to my 2008 list: Be more proactive about friendship.

I've been doing pretty well with my other goals. I've been trying to become healthier and fitter. I joined a really nice gym close to my work, and I have been going 3-4 times a week. I've been making better choices about food. Unfortunately, I got sick the last couple of days, so I haven't been able to maintain the momentum I started last week, but I am still hopeful. My copyediting class is going well. My Kaplan class is going well. My knitting is still in progress (I've taken a break from it with all these visitors). So, my hope the next few months is to get well, get healthy, and get more friends.
We shall see.

It has been a fairly temperate winter in New York. Rarely freezing, usually chilly, and very little snow. Imagine my surprise when I looked out of my window this morning and saw a blanket of white:


Fortunately, I was well prepared with snow boots and a thick scarf. It snowed all day, and it was lovely watching the flakes twirl in the air from the 12th floor of my building. Inside my building was not so lovely:


I am now working on two paperback books, both of which will come out some time in June. Seeing the process of making a book has been very exciting, and I can't wait to take on more projects. Yay weekends.

FURNITURE!




Wonderful wonderful furniture!

And cookies:


Pecan linzer cookies with raspberry filling. Yum. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy President's Day.

Howdy. Just about to finish another hat (above). Not a great hat, but I did learn a bit about how patterns work, so I think I am ready to make the big leap and knit a sweater. Something simple but nice. It is a little daunting, since many sweater patterns call for up to 12 balls fo yarn. Quite an expensive endeavor. More info to come on that soon.

John David and I now have furniture! I'll try to post pictures soon.

Yes, after two months of sitting on the floor to eat, watch tv, knit, read, etc., we have a couch. We also have chairs, and a kitchen table, side tables, a tv stand, and a kitchen unit. A home! John David wants to paint all the walls, and I would love to start getting things like lamps, rugs, and curtains.

Alright, I'll must return to work. I've got my first copyediting class tonight, and a concert to go to. Quite a packed evening.

I finally finished these projects: cabled scarf and a sock. I also just got this in the mail:


An interchangeable set of circular knitting needles. Yay projects.

Work is going well. This week my boss assigned me a book to work on! I'm very excited. It is a paperback conversion of a hardcover edition that we printed last year. I get to usher the book into its paperback stage. I took today off work. Got to sleep in. Very nice.

I start teaching my SAT class in the Bronx next weekend. Tomorrow there is an informational meeting for the students, and I'm going to that. I'm a little worried about heading into the Bronx, the only borough I haven't visited before, but it seems like a good school. I'm not sure how I should act. Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love? Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds? Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver? Certainly not Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus. We shall see.

Next week I also start my copyediting class. I just hope it isn't horribly boring. That is my one wish.

What else? What else is going on?

John David and I got some furniture. Some guy in our building faked his suicide in order to leave his wife. When she found out that he was still alive, she decided to get rid of everything and move. So, we ended up taking some of her furniture, including: a bed stand, a bookshelf, a rolling kitchen unit, and a dresser. John David's friend Trey also brought us a chair and desk to use (very nice). John David also ordered a bunch of furniture online from Ikea. Hopefully, that stuff will arrive sometime next months. Hurray! We couldn't make it out to Georgia this January. I'm not sure when that will happen, but it will happen at some point.

Alright. Enough rambling from me. I'm off to make lunch and think about my next knitting project.

I still haven't gotten my rhythm this year. It is hard to fall asleep, it is hard to get up in the morning, and I am tired most of the day. I think my body is starting to relax and take its revenge for all the abuse I have given it the last few months. An itchy throat developed into something nasty yesterday morning, and now I can't get to sleep this cold Sunday morning. I keep on having confusing dreams about knitting, about me having to follow this knit and purl pattern that I can't keep straight. I'm also sad to see that my subconscious has absorbed all my lame hobbies.

My lame hobbies are going quite well, though, so perhaps a few bad dreams is just recompense. I am still working on that cable scarf that I posted about awhile ago. It is about 4 feet long, and I am anxious to find a stopping point. I have also started a sock, which I am very excited about. Single ribbing at the cuff, stockinette down the leg, I am about to hit the heel, which seems like a real challenge for my inchoate knitting sense.

I'm not sure why knitting has become such a large part of my daily life. I bring it to work in case I want to knit at lunch, I smile thinking about getting more knitting supplies, I knit off-and-on most evenings while half-watching TV, I get excited about the weekend because of the knitting potential. Do I have an obsessive personality? I wonder. I look back on past activities: origami (yes, I know), theatre, music, radio. I've also dropped each of those activities rapidly at some point. Still thinking about this issue. Obsession? Passion?

I'm trying to enjoy January as much as possible. Mainly because in February I'll be adding a few things to the mix. I'm enrolled in a copyediting class at NYU, which starts the same week that I begin teaching at Kaplan. Too much? I hope not. It will get me out of the house and into the city. That is a good thing. I have been staying in way too much while the city spins around me.

Suddenly I've run out of things to say. I hope everyone is well. I'd like to talk to all of you soon. I've been too much in my shell lately, and it is time for me to reconnect.

Perhaps Rachael and I should have sent this out along with the tide of Christmas gifts, cards, and cookies. In our defense, Christmastide is not officially over for several more days, so in celebration of the Twelfth Night and the Epiphany, we have recorded a song for y'all.

Drummer Boiiiiiii :


Vocals: Miles and Rachael
Sleigh bells and triangle: Miles
Fat beats: Rachael


I think a longer post is definitely in order to recap the last month, but here is a list (following Rachael) of things I am grateful for from 2007 and things I am hopeful for in 2008.

Grateful:
- Saw Cirque de Soleil with my wonderful guy.
- Wrote papers not entirely at the last minute with the encouragement of John David, Rachael, Edward, Helen, Haley, and Erin.
- Enjoyed my classes and graduated without a major obstacle.
- Co-hosted the best looking theme party I have ever seen (Great Depression--Great Fun!)
- Went to the lake with friends and family (scary boat ride!).
- Finished job and trained replacement.
- Packed up all my shit, took a plane to New York.
- Went through six weeks of publishing camp and met hip cats.
- Found a good job without a panic attack.
- Survived move from one sublet to another.
- Survived second sublet.
- Learned how to knit.
- John David got job and moved up here.
- Found real place to live.
- Finished training at Kaplan.
- Survived move into real apartment.
- Enjoyed holiday season in New York.
- Spent good time with parents in Tacoma.

Hopeful:
- To get furniture and live in a comfortable place!
- To take a class on copyediting.
- To stop eating candy
- To continue knitting and learn how to make socks, a hat with flaps, mittens, and a sweater.
- To learn how to cook new, healthy meals.
- To visit Philadelphia and Chicago.
- More!!!