I've divided for the fronts and back of the Tilling the Soil vest, and have completed the armhole decreases on the left front. I'm excited about this project again.

In one of the knitting-as-life-metaphor books (can't remember if it was Knitting Lessons, Knitting Sutra, or Zen of Knitting), the author remarked on the saying "how you do anything is how you do everything." And I think that's very true of me. In my work-life, in knitting and other hobbies, in reading, there are certain things I've found to be true:

I'm happiest when I have a bunch of different things going on, but not happy when I have a tight deadline for anything.

I tend to stall out on projects and just have to push myself to keep going, until something "changes" (e.g., I start doing armhole decreases) and then it gets interesting again.

I'm always most excited at the beginning of something new.

I'm happiest when I'm doing something where "getting it done" is obviously measurable. (Like with teaching prep - how do you know when you've read over the notes enough? How do you know when you've consulted enough different sources? That frustrates me, sometimes. But data entry - beautiful data entry - you can say "I got ten pages of data entered into a spreadsheet today" and you know exactly where you stand).

I'm happiest working alone or with one or two other people. Being part of a big group, especially a big group where a number of the members are "needing" me for something, saps my energy.

I do find with teaching I have to be very careful or I do let my energy get sapped - and this semester I have a couple of students who can be energy vampires if I let them. And I deal with some difficult and challenging people (not just students) in my everyday life. It frustrates me when people aren't reasonable or logical, because that's what I expect from adults, and I don't know how to deal otherwise.


Just a couple of other thoughts for the day:

I really wish there were a rule that the week before an election was a "dead week" as far as campaign advertising went. I'm so sick of it. There's a particularly ugly Senate race in my state and there have been really nasty smear ads from both sides (well, I think some are financed by 527 groups or their equivalents, but still). It's not changed my opinion one bit, other than to feel some dismay that "my" candidate is stooping to such tactics.

I will be VERY glad when Nov. 2 comes, just so the campaign ads stop. All the goofy Christmas ads (like for the Clapper and the Chia Pet and those treacly compilations of music) will be a welcome relief.

I'm also glad that Saturday is the end of Daylight Savings Time for yet another year. It's particularly disheartening to drive to work in the dark, and then to drive home again as it's getting dark. I don't mind coming home in the dark - that seems right and proper - but going to work in the dark, especially the dead dark of an overcast (and overwarm, and overhumid) fall day, is just wrong.

Also, can we PLEASE get some fall weather here? It's been in the lower 80s and so humid that I have to stop midway walking up a flight of stairs so I don't go into full respiratory arrest. I had a near asthma attack yesterday.