the brain ticks over

A pattern for a peacekeeper duster adapted from a Vogue pattern that I already have. Hmmm....

And for the red and black jacket...

And I've been sitting on about 6 yds black vinyl/4 yds each red and oxblood vinyl since Costume College...

do you subvocalize?

Meaning, "pronounce[ing] internally what [they're] reading". Evidently this is a problem for the writer of this article, who hopes to speed up his/her reading by eliminating his/her tendency to think every word "aloud".

This article was an eye-opener for me because if the commentary is any indication, a lot of people subvocalize - and I realized that I almost never do. I have tried before, when I was in college and really needed to know something, or when something is a particularly difficult read (Tolkien, anyone?) and it drives me absolutely NUTS because it slows my eyes down, and therefore feels extremely unnatural.

I'd say that speed reading ain't all it's cracked up to be though - for one thing, I have very low retention most of the time. I re-read books and always discover something new because of this, and while that's nice if you can't get to the library, it would be very useful in some situations to "get it" the first time. I also find that audio books "stick" better because reading aloud is by necessity slower - I think I am able to remember more of "Harry Potter" and it's sequels because I listened to them rather than read them.

So while this guy is trying to speed up, I really ought to try (again! though it drives me insane!) to slow down. Funny world.

you know it's a cold day in hell...

... when historic enemies France and Germany agree on something. Namely, they're both against the U.S. government's eagerness to go bust heads in Iraq before the UN inspectors have fully inspected.

The beauty of lotech

I recieved my new address books earlier this week, but was only able to start updating them tonight.

D. doesn't always understand my analog preferences. He does all of his address management through his PDA and Contacts folder. I do too (or at least the Contacts folder - I've not really used my hand-me-down Visor yet), but I like being able to have a physical object to carry around with me, something I can flip open and write something in. No batteries, no electricity involved.

And there's just something nice about plain black covers, good quality paper that pixels can't replace. The address books (one for home, one for bag) and mini notebook are by Moleskine, which I confess I like not only for their elegant simplicity but for the snob factor (Van Gogh used them as sketchbooks - hard be much cooler than that :P ).

I'm slowly copying everything over, though I can only write about half an hour at a time before my hand starts to cramp. It's sobering how many I'm leaving out - hopelessly outdated information of college buddies long gone, or relatives who have since passed on.