Jumping from one thing to the next

I've been in a rather (even more than usual) unfocused state of mind recently. So this entry may be a bit more anti-linear than usual (not that unfocused and anti-linear are synonymous; I think the anti-linear mode is often a result of intense gaze), not to mention rather replete with modifiers.

I got new glasses earlier this week. While my prescription had to be strengthened, I do not need reading glasses . . . yet. I've decided to try forgo wearing contacts in order to simplify things and not generate so much trash from the cleaning and saline solutions. So my eyes and brain are still adjusting to wearing glasses all the time that aren't blurry.

As for the school vs. work contest, it feels like something is building up inside to go one way or the other. Rationally, I think I should be able to keep both going, but I'm not. Therefore, I'm trying to figure out alternatives, except I can't seem to grasp what the ultimate, big goal in all of this is.

So I escape into reading. Off the new book shelf in the library, I read—and thoroughly enjoyed—Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes by Shoba Narayan. Narayan writes about her growing up years in southern India and early adulthood in the U.S. through the aspect of the food she remembers.

Milk was delivered directly to Narayan's childhood home—by the cow herself (and its owner)! The owner milked the cow's milk directly into a milk bucket while the cow was tied up in the front yard. He would then lead the cow to the home of his next customer.

One of the funniest chapters is about her parents coming to the U.S. to visit her. Her father wants to try foods he's not eaten before, but he's not very accurate with judging quantities. He buys soy products that no one, not even himself, likes, but he refuses to throw away good food. Her description of her father gamely eating soy bologna with his toast and then trying to disguise the bologna in coconut chutney and pass it off on the family had me in tears I was laughing so hard.

I've also been escaping into knitting and have made some progress on my Faroese shawl. I'm making the Barbara Shawl in Stahman's Shawls & Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls from the Neck Down and Seamen's Scarves by Myrna Stahman. I'm making it with Cotton Fine from Brown Sheep Company, Inc. I wanted it in cream color, but the shop only had white. I've been intrigued by this picture of a shawl by Wendy and want a shawl at work for when the air conditioning gets too intense. I've knit about a foot down from the neck, but, of course, the rows keep getting longer and longer.

OK. Enough of this plodding entry.