* I didn't have too much of a reaction to this booster. I had maybe a few hours on Saturday of feeling feverish (100 F was the highest it got) and some muscle aches (but that also could have been me tweaking my knee doing fieldwork Thursday on uneven ground). It's a relief to me the reaction was so muted; I remember feeling mostly-unwell for the better part of a week with the July 2022 booster, but then again (a) it was in the low 100s then and I was dealing with the home renovation (so: more stress and harder to keep the house cool) and (b) this is the new booster, different formula ("new spike protein, who 'dis?") and so maybe my body went not so much "oh not THIS jerk again" and going ape on it but "hmmm, this is probably a threat but okay"
At any rate, I'm as protected as I can be now. Or, well, in 2 weeks will be.
* I read an article on grief recently where the comment was made about how one of the hard things is that the memories you shared with that person are now only YOUR memories and I was reminded of it driving back to campus this afternoon - the classical Sirius station was playing the Pathetique Sonata, and it hit the andante cantabile part (the second movement) and I suddenly thought of "Adventures in Good Music" which was something I listened to with my dad - I didn't realize it then but he may have first listened to it on WJR when he lived in Ann Arbor, and later, Karl Haas moved to WCLV (the Cleveland classical station, which we picked up where I grew up). My dad was a classical music fan, perhaps from childhood (I think his father liked it and had records) and I learned to love it through my parents having the records in the house and always having a radio tuned to WCLV.
Even though it helped cement my reputation as a "weird kid" and someone to avoid in school. (This was the era of Top 40 dominance, or, the "bad kids" listened to the early forms of heavy metal).
But now....well, I don't have anyone nearby that shares a fondness for classical music. Even the colleague who I occasionally saw at concerts in the before-times has retired. (And I'm not sure I'd go to an indoor concert, even now, even with all my vaccinations)
And I think that's a very particular form of loneliness, even beyond the grief of losing someone you shared something with - not having another person around to share your interests. And that may be why I go and spend more money in quilt stores (and even at JoAnn's) than I really should, and why I periodically make pilgrimages to the yarn shop in Whitesboro - for the relief of a few minutes of talking with someone who cares about the same stuff as I do.
Even with my research, I'm the only one in my particular subfield right now.
I think this is also why I miss there being more bloggers out there - I remember the old days of the knitting blog webring, and even when there was a sub-webring of ACADEMIC knitters. I miss being able to dip into reading about what other people were making or experiencing. Now, there are very few knitting bloggers left, and most of the ones that are, they've somehow worked to "monetize" the experience and YEAH, i get it, people need money (and dear knows I could stand another small source of income, except, I have no time and the thought of the self-promotion involved makes me sick to my stomach). But I miss it, I miss the more wild-west days of the internet when not everything was so slick and either "corporatized" or set up on a subscription model or there to promote endlessly.
I'm still a blockhead who writes for free. (And I do that in my paid career, too: no academic ever gets paid for their journal articles, in fact, our universities pay to have them published, and we pay for subscriptions/society memberships, and sometimes we sign over out copyright rights to the journal....)
* I started a new hat during knit Zoom on Saturday - just a simple 1x1 rib, I'm about halfway to the decreases. It's out of a KnitPicks Felici Worsted; the colorway is called "Solstice" (red, yellow, dark blackish-blue, and grey.) It's not colors I would wear but I think my mother might so I will probably include it with her Christmas present. I'd like to knit stuff from stash this year for everyone but (a) I don't think I'll have time and (b) I'm not sure how my brother's family feel about such things. If I knew my niece's hand size I might do fingerless mitts for her but I'm not sure if she'd be adult small or child large yet.
I do plan on making a stack of potholders with the little loop loom - before the latest larger expenses I had found the loom and ordered more loops from Harrisville Designs (they are cotton, the best kind - the loom I had when I was a kid had loops that were made out of that nylon tights material and if you set too hot of a pan down on them they scorched badly, and while a few of the potholders I've made do have scorch marks from where they touched a hot burner, they self-extinguish better than nylon does.) I also plan to get a nice mug of some kind and some individual packets of hot cocoa mix (or maybe loose tea from Spice and Tea exchange if I go to Chickasaw on my mid-fall break day). That will be the AAUW gift-exchange gift for this year.
* And yeah, mid-fall break is back on - given that a CR was passed and so national park units won't be closed. (It's next Friday). If the weather is good I will go up to Chickasaw; if it's bad I might go down to Whitesboro even though I don't NEED yarn and probably shouldn't be buying any more yarn. But I need to get out and do something for myself.
* I do need to get onto the next set of soil-invertebrate bags; if I do four today and five tomorrow and Thursday, and four on Friday, I can be done my this weekend. I also have an exam to write for the near future (and two to give this week and then grade, but one of the classes is small).
* I did get a small gift in the mail; a friend of mine who lives in Northfield (not far from where I grew up but I didn't know her until Ravelry, and anyway, she's perhaps 10-15 years younger than I am) went to some conference that was giving out various swag, and knowing I do Duolingo, she got me a bag:
I guess it's actually advertising their pre-school version for teaching kids basic reading and math, but I can always use a new project bag. There was also a Duolingo pencil and a sticker with Bea and Duo on it (which has now been applied to my new laptop) and a Heinz pickle pin. (I had one, ages ago, that I think my dad brought back from some meetings, but I'm sure I've lost it)
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