Locally, our air show is over, as of this weekend, so I don't know what to do with all my very tongue-in-cheek, left-over paper airplanes. Other than yet another daft mobile...

So, trolling the Web for inspiration, I came across Polly Verity's amazing site.

Paradigm shifted, I may not see paper as a mere flat surface again.

folding and scoring,

rebecca.

 

Well, I did better than survive the epic bike ride; in fact, I had a great time! We train for this all summer, though, so all we hope for on the weekend is good weather and no accidents. The weather was great, and the accidents were minor.

Anyway, back to FIBER!! Fiber other than my well-exercized moral and muscle fibers, that is. I can put those away for now.

Lark Books has a book series called 500, and a new one already being compiled will be called 500 Quilts. Editor Ray Hemachandra has sent the call for submissions of quilt photos. The deadline is October 24, 2008.

These photographs of quilts can be art quilts or traditional, modern or historical. CLICK for more information and the all-important entry form.

You'll also notice on the same page (scroll down) that Mr. Hemachandra is doing another book, Pretty Little Mini Quilts, though if you're interested, you'd better get cracking, because that deadline is this Tuesday, September 2!

I hope some of you are motivated. Still -- keep in mind that we've got our own deadline coming up, with a special emphasis on "Dead"; Day of, that is. Peep a bit below this entry, you'll see what I mean. Please submit! Our readership is what makes our magazine so fine.

Scissors flying, needles diving, knuckles cracking,

rebecca.

 

I'm late with my blog post this week because I have my hands full with my bike team.

The phone is ringing and my email box is full with questions and answers regarding the 150 mile bike ride we're all taking this weekend.

We've been training all summer to do this, and it's finally here: Pedal to the Point, with BikeMS.

The ride itself is important for the purpose of raising the general public's awareness of Multiple Sclerosis. What's far more imporant, however, is how much money all the participants raise.

I'm appealing to you. I'm an ordinary woman. I am not in Olympic form; in fact, I'm kind of embarassed to be seen in my spandex bike shorts. In my opinion, I'm a little too fat for them. It's not pretty to be behind me when I'm on my bike.

I'm not doing this to make a statement about chubby girls on bikes, I want to make a serious difference for people who suffer from this disease.

If you can help at all (seriously -- even $5 is something!), please click HERE.

Thank you. Thank you on behalf of the people for whom I ride. I ride for them because they can't.

Some I know who have MS wouldn't mind looking as silly as I do on my bike, simply for the chance to ride for any length, let alone 150 miles. I'll make sure you see a picture.

Gearing up (and down; and then up again...),

rebecca.

PS?? I WILL be keeping up with Ravelry Olympics when I'm not on my bike. Knitting and crocheting projects are already packed, except the ones I'm currently working on!

You can follow me and my team's progress this weekend on my blog. My husband can't stand it when I blog from the bike saddle. Somehow that makes it more appealing...

 

Here are some bookish things to mourn and to celebrate.

First the sad news.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Passed away Sunday. Read more here.

Sophomore year of high school I was caught reading The Gulag Archipelago by my future Honors English teacher. The next year, he changed the curriculum to impose A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich on the whole class. I thanked him profusely. Turned out I wasn't alone. So I mourn the passing of this extraordinary man. Rest in noble peace, sir; if anyone anywhere ever deserved it, it's you.

Changing gears, now...

-------------------------
Hopefully, this is good news!

Those of you Harry Potter fans who read about the book within the final Potter book who wondered how long a writer like Rowling could possibly put off publishing it could do so, well!! The answer is: it's ALMOST THIS LONG.

Pre-orders are being taken now for The Tales of Beedle the Bard. There are two choices!! There's the reasonably inexpensive standard version, which most people will find perfectly satisfying. Then there's the really over-the-top amazing version, a reproduction of JKRowling's handwritten original. The cover is decorated with a metal skull, metal corners and clasp, a velvet ribbon to -- oh, just CLICK, and see for yourself! I'm not here to sell it!! (But if you let me handle your copy, I promise to wear a bib so I don't drool on it...)

The collector's edition comes with a collector's price, too, so I'll be happy with the standard edition (12 fewer illustrations...>sigh<), but it's all the same stories, which is what matters most to me. At least, at this point in my bank account. I can make up more pictures in my imagination.

Reading voraciously,

rebecca.