Cheryll's Writing Journal

Musings, rants and ravings, plus gems of insight nobody wants to hear now that I've finally got them. Also neat stuff I found on the 'Net when I should have been updating this blog....

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Too Good Not to Share...

My friend Kathy, in New Zealand, forwarded this gem to me this morning.

Made my day.

Beauty of Math!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321


1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111


9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?


And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321



Now, take a look at this...

101%

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%?

What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to
GIVE OVER 100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?


What equals 100% in life?


Here's a little mathematical formula that might help

answer these questions:


If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Are represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.


If:


H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K

8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%


And:

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%


But:

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E

1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%



THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:



L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%


Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

More on carrying the craft a bit too far....



Here is the story behind it, and complete instructions -- for anyone who might just NEED to be making knitted pimento olives......we won't mention any names.












Or, perhaps your cell phone or iPod
needs a cozy sweater....







So, seriously, when do these peeps have the TIME to come up with this stuff?? It's all I can do to find time here and there in the day to knit a few rows on a scarf or a hat or dish cloth...

Of course, it could be my problem is that I gave up TV back in April, so I have no boob tube time for knitting... That's 6 hours a day for the average American (not that I ever managed to get that many, but maybe 2 hours a couple days a week.)

And all the kids are out of the house, so no knitting at PTA, little league, school assemblies, doctor's appointment waiting rooms...

Sheesh! I'm deprived of prime knitting time!

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Monday, October 22, 2007

More stuff I found on YouTube, or...

...how I spend the morning after bunging my shoulder because I was too lazy to move that chair so I could put the heavy box under the table.......... Some of us (name withheld to protect the guilty) have a long, mostly flat learning curve!

Meanwhile, it did give me an excuse to cruise the Web while the machines did my wash.

This link is to Pachelbel's canon in D interpetted on ancient oriental instruments. Hiphop background is added as a voice over. Quite different.

This link, however, goes to an ambitious group of young people who took Pachelbel's canon in D,

interpetted it for ancient oriental instruments,

and then added hiphop dancers, beatbox and DJ.

Stunning. Unbelievably complex -- how many hours it must have taken to shoot it!

And beautiful.

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Friday, October 19, 2007

We Had Fun with Rubber Stamps...

Last Saturday, went over to a friend's house to make these gift tins full of cute little cards. Cheryl is a Stampin' Up demonstrator (you can see some of her sample projects on her web page) and has several classes, demonstrations and parties each week. We are talking serious about her business, here, but always full of fun and great ideas.

This particular session was on making a decorative tin to hold a series of little sentiment cards: get well, thanks, congrats, etc. In a matter of a couple hours, we ladies made them all.

The ladies ranged in age from capital 'O' to about second grade...
and most of us had played with rubber stamps before, but none of us had ever used Mod Podge or tried to decorate a tin box. Fortunately, Cheryl had made all the color selections for us to choose from, had precut the papers and ribbon
and provided several completed samples for us to use as models.We used a corner rounder punch to make the papers fit the top of the tins, used Mod Podge to glue them down, and to glue ribbon around the edge of the lid and another narrow piece of paper around the bottom edge. Then covered all with another coat of the decopoge stuff that really looks like thick white glue. It dries clear and makes a good sealer to protect the papers.

While the tins were drying, (which they did very quickly) we selected, stamped, colored, and glued together our cardlets with which to fill the tins. This actually took me much longer than assembling the tin, as I had to choose which colors and which stamps I wanted, as well as what colors I wanted to paint them (We used watercolor pens). Decisions always bog me down!

And voila!
I think I will make a few more to fill with other things...

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Maybe this knitting stuff is getting out of hand...?

I mean: I'm just wondering, here...
One of these nifty little cozies to prevent your snack from getting bruises in your pocket or back pack was $12.00. Then the NY Times ran an article and the demand jumped so much, she's raised her prices to $18.50.

Each. (Does not come with the apple.)

Yeah. I missed out on the pet rock, too.

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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Not the 'O' word again...!

So, okay, I have been on a fitness gig, trying all summer to get back into shape after two years of being practically an invalid (when compared to previous lifestyle).

Fitness -- as in being able to come up the stairs (4 short flights from the parking lot) without feeling like I'm on the edge of 'the big one.' As in being able to walk a couple miles and still be able to do other things besides sit in a chair and knit so I can ignore being exhausted.

As in being able to exercise AND do the wash or go grocery shopping on the same day...

Nothing has worked. I am able to do maybe two things in a day, instead of only one, but I just can't seem to break the glass ceiling, plateau, or whatever it is that is keeping me down. I don't like this feeling that I can't even keep up with my 87 yo MIL!

So I went to a personal trainer Wednesday last. Actually, I didn't realize that was what she was; I thought I was going to be fitted with one of these exercise balls:
My cranio-sacral and massage therapist suggested I go there when I mentioned that I was considering getting one of those balls to 'strengthen my core,' only I didn't know how to tell which size I needed. (I am also not very clear on what my 'core' is, but if I could look like this girl the picture once again......)

Well, Ann-Margaret is one of these small, terribly energetic women (who also happens to be a power lifter) with boundless enthusiasm and conviction that the Egoscue system works.

She is so encouraging and convincing, that we spent about 2-1/2 hours altogether, measuring and analyzing my strengths and what areas needed work.

It was surprising to see how far out of alignment my arms and legs were, but I could certainly testify to how much effort it was to do anything, even walk! And how my knees were beginning to bother me, not to mention the ankle which I broke a few years back. And that my feet now hurt so much from 3 months of walking at least a mile a day, that getting up from a chair or out of bed in the morning hurts like blazes until they loosen up.

So much for the benefits of walking!

Anyway, she won't let me have an exercise ball until I get things back in balance. She gave me a series of deceptively gentle exercises, most of which are done lying down and which take about 20 minutes to do (mostly because it takes me a while to get up and down and find my glasses between reps to read which one comes next, etc.).
I'm to do them every day for the next two weeks...

I am now at that point in an exercise program where I wonder if I will live that long.