More memes!

I just read DenofChaos's meme from last week and decided to consider myself tagged (I'm not getting any knitting content, what with graduation and final exams and all.)

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Thinking about quitting grad school and winning the prize for best Teaching Assistant in the Sciences.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

Write a final exam.
Proofread another final exam.
Go to SC's graduation party.
Go shopping at Trans World Food Market in Hadley for gluten, Chinese vegetables, and mochi.
Catch up on laundry.

3) Snacks I enjoy?

Celery sticks, teriyaki-flavored nori over white rice, oranges, grapes, cheese and crackers, sushi, left-over salad, dark chocolate.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire?

Make college free (or very minimally priced, as in Great Britain) for students over a certain level of achievement.
Invest in developing a vaccine for malaria.
Fund private day schools in areas of terrible public schooling, and have them be free or close to it.
Build affordable and comfortable senior citizen housing within a larger community. (I can't remember the book my friend pushed at me this winter that expounded this notion... but it was cool.)
Throw a lot of money at Neil Gaiman to make another movie like "MirrorMask."

5) Places I have lived?

Kentucky, Indiana, Connecticut, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Pennsylvania.

What's on the needles?

Still working on the slate-blue sock for my mother. (This isn't second sock syndrome, it's bored-now-that-I'm-past-the-heel syndrome.)

Stalled out on the Bird-in-Hand mitten for MG. I can't do it unless I have complete peace and quiet, which are rare commodities.

Happily working on a scarf of my own design (see previous post.)

Seriously contemplating ripping back and restarting the fingerless mitts for the DH; both of us think the colors don't coordinate well.

the classes I wish I'd taken...

My friend over at "Half-changed world" did this meme a week ago, and while she didn't specifically tag anyone I found myself thinking about how I'd respond; so here goes:

Classes I wish they'd offered in High School:
1) Chinese
2) Spanish (they did offer it, but only 2 years worth, with a teacher who had a horrible Southern accent.)
3) Robotics
4) C or C++ (did that even exist in 1989?)


The classes I'm most grateful I took:
1) Touch-typing (7th grade)
2) History of Modern China (college)
3) Modern Physics (college)
4) Intro to Psychology (college)
5) Public speaking (high school)
6) Particle Physics (grad school)
7) Computer programming (high school, independent study)


Classes I wish I could take now:
1) Shop (wood working, metal working, etc.)
2) Modern Poetry
3) Number Theory
4) General Relativity
5) Color Theory
6) Chinese Cooking

While I was out...

I knit another 3 pairs of kiddie mittens. I sold a pair of mittens at a charity auction for $100 (the maximum bid allowed) and must now get cracking on actually knitting them to the owner's specifications (forest green, maroon, simple geometric pattern, after-thought thumb.)

Last night, while working the evening shift for the third night in a row, I had a terrible yen for lace. This is why I have a stash, right? I pawed through the box of sock yarn on my next break and came up with some scrumptious Apple Laine in a dark purple/grey/light purple colorway. Then I dug out the ball-winder and swift (which were birthday presents, and which I hadn't used until last night) and figured them out. Then I found out that the chosen lace pattern was far beyond my skills as a knitter (this would be Jeannie from Knitty) and spent the rest of the night searching for a substitute pattern.

I found the pattern. I started it. It looks good. I knit about 8 inches of lace. This morning, my wrist hurts badly. This must be the price of overenthusiasm.

Can I still post?

Really? 'cause this blasted thing has eaten the last few I wrote...