A Day with Dad

Today was my day to hang out with Dad- he's taken this week off, and tomorrow I start work, so... So we ran some errands in the morning- picked up a couple of shirts for him (Someday soon I really need to start picking up the skills to help guys buy clothing- and it utterly baffles me, pretty much.), got an emergency supplies kit for the car for me for when Dad gets a new car (sometime over the end of the summer/next school year at some point- after which point I get his old one: it seems to be pretty much a done deal at this point, which is fairly exciting, if just a touch intimidating, but awfully practical), and stopped for coffee/tea.

We came home for a bit, and then decided to go see the new Star Wars movie. Yes, I feel about it much as a bunch of other people seem to- the whole was somehow greater than the sum of its parts: something I was really surprised by. I was a bit confused at the beginning, not having seen the second film, but I got things sorted out reasonably well- after all, missing a book or more in a series and picking up later on is practically an old specialty of mine. I have on occasion read book 3 of a trilogy first, and then read the former books- heck, once I did it without realizing that it was part of a trilogy. One thing I can say about the film though- When I'm conscious that effects are really all computerized, then they have to be pretty unconvincing- usually while I'm watching a movie, it's ALL real at least for as long as I'm watching- but a lot of the fluff droids (i.e. the ones that are there mostly to die and make dramatic piles of carcasses or the equivalent) were just so cartoon-like that even I wasn't convinced. They were just too thin to be practical.

Tonight's accomplishment was some work on the tallit-to-be: I have the holes to put the tzitzit through cut and blanket-stitched to prevent them from fraying/unravelling, and the stripes pinned on. After I get those sewn, all I'll have left will be tying the tzitzit themselves and making some sort of decoration on the back- I have some trim left that I might use, otherwise I might applique a star pattern of some sort onto the back using the same blue material I used for the atarah and corners. I'm rather pleased by my progress: I'm nearly half-way through, I guess, and it's only been about a week. I've been doing a lot of it while on the phone- they're remarkably complementary activities: sewing is less distracting than doodling sometimes can be, and still keeps my hands busy. (Other things I've found good: scrubbing cabinets or the like, Very mild/basic straightening... In this area, I am indeed very obviously my mother's daughter. She takes notes on conversations, often enough.)

A Day with Dad

Today was my day to hang out with Dad- he's taken this week off, and tomorrow I start work, so... So we ran some errands in the morning- picked up a couple of shirts for him (Someday soon I really need to start picking up the skills to help guys buy clothing- and it utterly baffles me, pretty much.), got an emergency supplies kit for the car for me for when Dad gets a new car (sometime over the end of the summer/next school year at some point- after which point I get his old one: it seems to be pretty much a done deal at this point, which is fairly exciting, if just a touch intimidating, but awfully practical), and stopped for coffee/tea.

We came home for a bit, and then decided to go see the new Star Wars movie. Yes, I feel about it much as a bunch of other people seem to- the whole was somehow greater than the sum of its parts: something I was really surprised by. I was a bit confused at the beginning, not having seen the second film, but I got things sorted out reasonably well- after all, missing a book or more in a series and picking up later on is practically an old specialty of mine. I have on occasion read book 3 of a trilogy first, and then read the former books- heck, once I did it without realizing that it was part of a trilogy. One thing I can say about the film though- When I'm conscious that effects are really all computerized, then they have to be pretty unconvincing- usually while I'm watching a movie, it's ALL real at least for as long as I'm watching- but a lot of the fluff droids (i.e. the ones that are there mostly to die and make dramatic piles of carcasses or the equivalent) were just so cartoon-like that even I wasn't convinced. They were just too thin to be practical.

Tonight's accomplishment was some work on the tallit-to-be: I have the holes to put the tzitzit through cut and blanket-stitched to prevent them from fraying/unravelling, and the stripes pinned on. After I get those sewn, all I'll have left will be tying the tzitzit themselves and making some sort of decoration on the back- I have some trim left that I might use, otherwise I might applique a star pattern of some sort onto the back using the same blue material I used for the atarah and corners. I'm rather pleased by my progress: I'm nearly half-way through, I guess, and it's only been about a week. I've been doing a lot of it while on the phone- they're remarkably complementary activities: sewing is less distracting than doodling sometimes can be, and still keeps my hands busy. (Other things I've found good: scrubbing cabinets or the like, Very mild/basic straightening... In this area, I am indeed very obviously my mother's daughter. She takes notes on conversations, often enough.)