Well, this evening is shorter than it was originally planned to be.

My former student - the one supplying us with data - was supposed to come back to do more work tonight (and I mis-heard her; I thought she said she'd be here at 5 and it turned out she wasn't going to get here until 6.) I stuck around for a while and finally my colleague who was working with us told me of her later planned arrival, and I decided I just HAD to get home for a few minutes.

(Part of it was I wanted to do at least one load of laundry).

I put the laundry in and dispiritedly started to cut quilt pieces - the only thing I could think of that I could do a little bit on, then turn around and go back to school. About five minutes later my colleague called - my former student called him, she was having problems with completing the data compiling and wouldn't be able to get down there tonight.

So thank goodness, not another 13 hour day.

She's coming in Saturday which is actually better for me, because I'm not beat at the end of a full day.

So I'm going to take a shower and decide if I want to do more quilt-cutting, or if I want to sit down and do something else. (And I have to get some dinner in in the middle of it. Probably just something simple like a big salad and a hard-boiled egg.)

But I'm really grateful to have that time back and to be able to stay home when I'm tired. (I'm glad my colleague called, it would have stunk to have trucked back to school just to find out that our data-person wasn't coming).

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One other thing I finished on my short break:



It's a crocheted "Maneki neko" or beckoning cat. I used this pattern. Mine doesn't look as nice as hers because I was just using some leftover yarn I had on hand, and the stripes came out a little wonky. (Also, I don't have any "trinkets" to put on this one...I don't have any Japanese coins or little charms to add to it. Maybe next time I'm out somewhere that sells craft supplies).

This is a maneki neko with his right paw up - the "handedness" has different meanings. Right paw is for good fortune in the home (or some say, to attract visitors). Left paw is more commonly seen in businesses as it is supposedly a money-attractant.

(I remember the last time I was in Hawaii - in Waikiki - a great many of the merchants had left-pawed Maneki neko in their shops).

The "beckoning" looks funny to Westerners because we typically beckon with a crooked finger; I've read that in Asia, the beckoning gesture is to turn the hand so the palm is down, and then wave all the fingers together - so the cat really IS beckoning; he's just beckoning Asian-style.

Supposedly different colors mean different things (though the Maneki neko I saw in all the shops were white, or painted to look sort of like a calico cat)

White cats are for positive things to come, green cats are for either health or success in studies, gold cats are for wealth (naturally), black cats ward off evil...but there is no purple cat in the traditional pantheon; the closest is pink, which is "love, relationships, and romance."

(Though frankly these days I'd probably rather beckon "good health" or "success in studies," if research counts as "studies." Perhaps I need to make another one that's green).

Traditional good luck charms of different cultures interest me (It's also said that in Japan a small frog figure is used for "safety while traveling" because the word for "frog" and the word for "home" are very similar).

While I don't seriously believe there is such a thing as good luck and bad luck - perhaps the closest I'd say is that your attitude affects how you react to situations and sometimes you "make your own luck," I have to admit I wish there really were such things as good-luck charms, or warder-offers of bad luck.