Thief of Time

Thief of Time
by Terry Pratchett

While not one of Pratchett's keel-over-laughing funny yarns, Thief of Time allows for plenty of guffaws and chuckles along the way as we get to know more about the History Monks and the dreaded Auditors, as well as the enigmatic Susan Sto Helit, grand-daughter of Death himself.

Of course, in the Discworld, natural and unnatural forces are personified. So after we have accepted matter-of-factly that Death is a person (roughly speaking), we get to meet the Four (Five, actually) Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who are also persons so-to-speak, along with Ronnie Soak, the innocuous milkman whose façade barely contains the roiling innards that fester with what-I-could-have-been.

Time, in the Discworld, is just like any other resource that can be allocated and managed as needed. History Monks have taken it upon themselves to do this job, and do it well. After all "How much time does a codfish really need?" when busy intellectuals are wringing their hands wondering "Oh where does the time go?"

The subplots are intricately woven to meet and mingle and make sense in the end: there are the Auditors who decide to become persons (i.e., humans, with all the human failings), there is the reluctant Susan Sto Helit who gets dragged into the fray, there are the retired Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who don't want to be bothered when Death comes knocking on their doors, there is Lu-Tze who shall remain a conundrum, there is young Lobsang with strange talents, and not the least of all is Jeremy, commissioned to build the Perfect Glass Clock which, ironically, would stop Time as we know it, if built successfully.

But that is not all in this fantastic story that Pratchett weaves: Time is a person. And Time fathers a son. Well, two sons. No, strike that. One son who manifests himself in two very distinct forms with two very different abilities to manipulate time. And we learn that the relationship between Time and History is rather unique: History cannot happen if there is no fabric of Time for it to happen on.

Well, it is not easy to do justice to this multi-layered thrill-ride where nothing is exempt from mockery: from the classic martial arts movies to the modern system of education which relies more on feel-good-ness than learning, plus the power of chocolate as ammunition, and pure human frailty, skinned and exposed for us to ponder on.

As always, all's well that ends well. Things get sorted out and everybody goes back to doing what they end up doing according to history anyway.

Sewing: Simple Embroidered cushion covers

My concerned,
"Oh no! Please don't squish them so... the beads may cut loose..."
was met with,
"Well, this is how people use the cushions... if you don't want them to be used, put them in a museum or something."

And that's how my embroidered cushion covers end up in the linen closet for the longest time, never getting their turn in the limelight. For, if they did, I couldn't stand the abuse they had to endure.

Well, not that D doesn't appreciate the work - he exclaimed, "Nice! Beautiful!", before he matter-of-factly folded the said cushion with its precious embroidered cover and tucked it under his head.

Anyway, I convinced myself that I could whip up more in a flash (if I can find the time) and decided to let these embroidered cushion covers cheer us up for the start of this Holiday Season, despite the treatment they get.



With but a few colorful threads and a few simple stitches, the transformation of a dull old fabric to a vibrant piece of art is magical and brilliant.

Embroidery, initially, fascinated me. My mom has always made beautiful embroidery work, as far back as I can remember. She wouldn't just sew the clothes for me, she would add embellishments via embroidery and beads, and even paint to make my clothes special. She also did a lot of cross-stitch and beadwork.

So, it was natural that I took to it early on and from middle school through high school I shared the joys of embroidery with my mom.

And then somehow I outgrew it. It didn't hold the same sort of charm it once did, especially since my interests became diverse and I had all these other crafts to teach myself...

Now, one of the things that used to block the flow of embroidery for me was the need to periodically stop, tie off the old thread and start a new one to continue the work.

This annoyed me no end as it broke the rhythm.

I used to try and 'stretch' the thread to finish just this piece in the frame... and fail.

Of course, the length of the thread has to be reasonable so it doesn't get tangled while doing intricate work...

...and judging the required amount is not an exact science, so, while it is okay to end up with more than needed, it always seems a waste to throw away 4 inches of green and 6 inches of pink as nothing much can be done with it...

Darn, look at me, I am rambling... anyway, since these are out getting air, I thought it would be nice to record it here :)

Crochet: Hats, Scarves, Neck-warmers

I was sorting through the closet to get the winter gear in order and found a bunch of hats and scarves I made last season, plus one of my old favorites that I didn't have the heart to part with.

D, in my tropical mind, is a Polar Bear. He has no need for coats and hats and layers to bundle up in. He also has a deep-seated dislike for scarves. Scarves for men, that is. The nice long argyle black-and-grey crochet scarf that was supposed to go with his dashing black sweater and hip blue jeans was rejected without mercy :(

So, I bundled it up along with a few other scarves and hats and coats to give away and dropped them off last week.

The cute little winter hats for Ana and Og are fun to whip up.

I sew a few fleece hats as it is faster than to crochet hats, but the crochet ones here are probably the quickest and the easiest to make...

Sizing is usually an issue when I make hats for others, but, not when I have the kids handy. I prefer starting at the bottom edge (forehead) and working up to the crown even though many nice hat patterns suggest to start at the top and shape it down to the brim.

A while back Nana had knitted a very cute hat and a pair of leg-warmers for Ana - now that she has outgrown it, it seems like a perfect hand-me-down for Og.

Ana at about 1½ to 2 yrs didn't mind wearing a hat. Og, at 1½ now will only wear a hood attached to his jacket - an unattached hat just gets torn off his head and tossed away before I can even finish putting it on.

I guess we are well-covered this season with hand-made hats, scarves and neck-warmers even after dropping off a few coats and accessories for those in need.

Sewing: Purple Princess

I was sorting through Ana's costume cubby (yep, she has a dedicated cubby with all sorts of things to play dress-up) and found this first one I had made for her when she was barely one and a half. This started out as her first Christmas dress and turned into a much-(ab)used Princess Costume over the last three years.

Amazing it still fits her: of course, I made it an ankle-length gown when she was little and now it is a just-above-the-knee frock but since I made the body large to begin with it now fits her just fine :)

This wasn't from any pattern - just cut it as I pleased (and it shows!) and sewed it fast - the only fancy thing being the embroidered embellishment around the waist.

During one of my trips to The Fabric Depot, I had found this shimmering lilac fabric on sale and thus the seeds for the dress were sown in my head.

Every time I try to move this dress to the to-be-given-away pile, Ana shows such distress that I guess I can wait till she really outgrows it in all respects before I am in a hurry to give it away.

Crochet: Wearable Shawl

I made this for my mom half a dozen years ago. She leaves it here with me so she can use it when she visits. She has no need for winter wear in Madras :)

This is another of those made-up patterns that has to remain one-of-a-kind... haven't made any other like this. I liked the stitch patten in this and I think I used the same pattern for an afghan - probably the one I made for my mum-in-law, will have to call her to find out if she still has it...

Now, even simple acrylic yarn has gotten quite expensive over the years... a few of my friends are allergic to wool and so am I - it makes me itchy - sheep's wool I think - haven't tried alpaca's... anyway, so, to play it safe, I usually use acrylic yarns which is considered safe even for kids - the softest fingering and worsted weight yarns at least...

And, when there is a yarn sale, I stock up. Which could be a smart thing , but, not for me. Coz, I end up buying just a few skeins of them before even I know what project to use it for and then when I start a project in my favorite color, I end up short and have to start improvising...

Anyway, I found this in the suitcase when I was looking to pull out the winter wear and quilts for the family and thought I must post it here :)

Crochet: Little Girls' Off-Center Sweater

This crochet sweater is another project I started last Winter for Ana, as a Christmas present. It was "mostly done" and remained unfinished till a few days ago :)

The pattern is inspired by Julie's baby sweater pattern which I have adapted for many different baby sweaters.

I just made a few changes, adjusted the gauge, sized it large enough to go over Ana's clothes, and used chunky chenille yarn as it works up faster and is very warm.

The little touches I liked adding were: made the sleeves flare a bit at the wrist as I think it is very cute and girlie; and made the neck a bit of a rounded-square (if it makes sense) to give it a classic look; added the edging in Ana's choice of purple bouclé yarn.

Ana chose the buttons for this sweater - it was jarring my senses a bit, but she wanted the large red round paisley pattern button with the gray cat one, and I couldn't refuse. After all, she's going to wear it.

I know it sounds evil, but, before I decided to add the touches I did to make this girlie and to Ana's liking, I was seriously considering making it a unisex sweater so it can be handed down to Og next Winter...

And, according to D, Og can still wear it. Just not in public :)

There's barely enough daylight these days and when I remember to get a picture of Ana in the sweater, she is not wearing it;

and when she is, she is not in the mood for pictures...

...but, I managed a quick indoor shot as soon as I brought her home from school a few days ago :)

Crochet: Little Girls' Skirt

Mid-Autumn through Winter and early Spring, I feel incomplete if I don't do some crocheting or knitting.

If I am not in the middle of a crochet project by Thanksgiving each year, I feel restless... something about the chillness in the air, the shorter daylight hours and limited outdoor activities make this a very Zen-like pursuit for me - a way to stay centered while a zillion things pull me every which way.



I started this project last Winter but never got around to finishing it.

And thanks to a brief spell of flu-ish symptoms that forced me to stay home and not spread the germs at my office, I got to finish it.

I am basically lazy and impatient. Once I start a project with full gusto, I get caught up in life's many demands and end up wanting to finish it as quickly as possible. Which makes me take many inadvisable short-cuts, then try to 'fix' the project as I go along... but so far, they've all turned out fine, even if one-of-a-kind :)

I have no pattern for this - just made it up as I went along - basically started at an approximate waist measurement needed for Ana, and kept increasing at every row until the desired height for the skirt. I kept the tension rather loose which allows for some stretch needed for the waist.

Mostly double crochet (dc), alternating 3 dc and 5 dc with 2 chains in between, staggering it from row to row. I like the airy lacy pattern as it gets done faster, and uses fewer yards of yarn.

I do love textured bobbles and popcorn and seed stitch and clustered stitches for baby afghans as it adds warmth and doesn't have 'holes' where baby fingers can get caught.

Anyway, back to the skirt: when crochet was done, it looked like a skewed dolly afghan - open and almost like a trapezoid seen via magic mirror.

All that was left to do was the lining and waist. I used blue cotton flannel for lining and finishing. Then, sewed up the side seam to make the skirt.

The toughest part of this project was getting Ana to pose for the picture :)

Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene

The Fabric of the Cosmos
Space, Time and the Texture of Reality
by Dr. Brian Greene

I can't even begin to write anything meaningful about this book, just like I can't simply write about the taste of the purest honey or the smell of the sweetest lavender. It has to be experienced to be appreciated.

As an ex-physics-student sporting starry-eyes in her first Elementary Particles class, and tearing her hair out in Quantum Electrodynamics class in grad school, I have left my past life behind, but the echoes of it still resonate.

Understanding the Universe within a given framework might seem an empty pursuit in the light of the more abstract meta-physical sense of pondering on the nature of reality... Is What We See, What We Get? Or is there more to it than meets the senses? If so, is that perception real? In that sense, what do we mean by 'reality'?

I was in awe when I read Dr.Greene's The Elegant Universe for the first time almost a decade ago. This book is no different.

His ability to take complex concepts, remove the language of mathematics that describes it so well, and replace it with simple words in the English language, a language fraught with inadequacies, in such an elegant way that even a novice enthusiast can follow along easily, is truly a gift to be treasured.

While the earlier chapters present a survey of physics from Classical Newtonian to Relativity to Quantum Mechanics, which any self-respecting physics grad student ought to know, I love the way Dr.Greene unfolds it and leads the reader into progressively complex concepts with effortless ease.

It is no surprise that my favorite sections in this book were the ones discussing String Theory. And, since D has seen the PBS's Nova presentation of Supersting theory, I was happy to share my findings from the book about M-theory and Braneworlds with him.

Rather than trying to confound the reader, Dr. Greene's gentle approach to make the complex formulations and latest developments in Cosmology and Quantum Mechanics, particularly the current research in String Theory, accessible to the reader makes this an exciting read. Along with helpful asides and everyday analogies that sometimes made me chuckle, this book reads like a fascinating novel.

Among the many fundamental questions, one that tantalizes me the most is about the Arrow of Time: Why does it seem like Time flows only in one direction - forward, as we know it. Example: We can eat an apple (forward in Time), but we cannot un-eat an apple (backwards in Time). What are the implications if Time moves in more than one direction, say forwards and backwards? Of course, the answer is not readily apparent in today's understanding of the workings of the universe, but, Dr.Greene's book makes it fun to just think about these things once in a while.

Northwest Film & Video Festival

Found another vintage treasure in my Inbox along with the announcement for a Wish-I-Could-Participate kind of event:
the NW Film & Video Festival
Nov 6^th through 14^th.

I have always liked embroidered patches.

One of the souvenirs I look for during trips/vacations is rustic-looking embroidered patches that I can add to my existing clothes, well, to my kids' clothes nowadays...

And, when they outgrow the clothes, I simply remove the patch and sew it on the current clothes so they always have a 'souvenir outfit' that they can't outgrow :)

Anyway, I am digressing...

Even though it is dwarfed by its counterparts in NY and SFO, Portland Art Museum is a lovely place to be on a soggy Fall day. Or, any other day, for that matter :)

Maybe I'll take half a day off and spend a quiet afternoon there one of these days...

Ddim rŵan, of course.

No Buffeting, No Chopping Fan

Found another neat thing in my Inbox (thanks Dan at RBR!).

Can't wait to replace my noisy old industrial strength fan with this sleek and elegant bladeless one.

While the pros seem a no-brainer - not noisy, not a cleaning nightmare, not to mention the chopping hazard if I leave it accessible to the kids...

...the sole con I can think of is just about as weighty: can't make the R.D Burman-esque "Mehbooba Mehbooba" (Sholay) effect when I sing using it as a proxy microphone.

As their website explains, "The blades on conventional fans cause unpleasant buffeting because they chop the air before it hits you." And this chopping is what makes the Mehbooba vocals a hit for me...

Hmmm. Tough.