ok, new post. more of a quick update. i ripped through the da vinci code finally this week and pretty much loved the book until after the reveal of the Teacher. after that you could just see dan thinking to himself, "aaannd iiii'm spent! now, how to end this so as best to make it feel like an over-wrought harvard admissions essay..."
i'm also on the cusp of finishing the Bell Jar. it's been making my skin crawl at times and there really is a reason sylvia plath is one of the great writers. some of the scenes illicit a visceral reaction as well as a mental one. i'll finish off One Hundred Years of Solitude next. it's going to take longer. while it's beautiful it's also plodding along in a major way. i want them to come out of the rural solitude you can feel them in through the wording of the book.
and i'm finally getting on my fuzzy, alpaca flap hat. so i'm looking for a simple peruvian pattern to put onto it. it's going to be super sweet! i'll post pictures when i'm done.
also, i've started to design my own outdoor gear now. there's a fabric shop here that sells a lot of different fabrics such as, but not limited to: cordura nylon, 1.3 and 1.9oz silicon impregnated ripstop nylon and gore-tex by the yard. for an outdoor nerd who has just begun to really think about how to shave pounds off my backpack this is the ultimate godsend. i can now design and make my own gear that shaves off every single thing i don't need and keeps only the leanest esssential bits. for instance, i'm going to make an anorak with the 1.3oz rip-stop so that it's fully waterproof and add little mesh panels in the back for venting. i'll then use a drawsting of 1mm cord on the bottom with two tiny toggle clips. same on the top for the hood cinch. with that i'll have adequate breathing while still having a waterproof jacket that weighs only a few ounces. i am about to jump out of my seat thinking about all the awesome possibilities!
again, i'll post pictures.
until then, be well.
that is all.