My only beef with the system is downstairs (where the books are at my local Value Village) the signage says, “Buy 3, Get The 4th Free” but upstairs at the till (for the employees) it says, “Buy 4, Get the 5th Free”. They didn’t believe me and although I am stubborn enough to make a staff member go check, there were other people in line so I didn’t push it. We had four books (I had three, Craig had one) and the people behind us at the till had one. They suggested we get their book for free and they would give us $5 for it. Problem solved.

Now, the books. Craig got a copy of Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind, the first book in the Sword of Truth series. This is his favourite series and we each have a copy of the entire series (his is in England, mine is here). We also have several extra copies that Craig likes to lend to friends but the first book in the series is MIA.

I picked up three books: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards; Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant; and Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe by Stuart McLean.

Why did I pick up these books? I heard good things about The Memory Keeper’s Daughter when it first came out. Come, Thou Tortoise is the first novel by Canadian author Jessica Grant, and was getting gushing reviews. Also, she just won Amazon.ca’s First Novel Award. I am a big Stuart McLean fan and Secrets from the Vinyl Cafe is one of the (few) Vinyl Cafe books I don’t yet own.

I received this box from Daniel Wagstaff. Dan tweeted about having a few packs of YA books from Penguin Group USA. I figured I’d give them a shot since I’ve enjoyed a lot of YA in the past. They arrived in this classy slipcase with five young adult titles all from different genres:

• The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller (YA Romance) release date: August 2010
• The Replacements by Brenna Yovanoff (YA Horror) release date: September 2010
• Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Paranormal YA) release date: October 2010
• Matched by Ally Condie (Dystopia YA) release date: November 2010
• Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (Fantasy YA) release date: December 2010

My sister is going to Moncton University in New Brunswick for the summer to learn French through the Explore Program. I went to one of my favourite used bookstores downtown, MacLeod’s Books, and asked the owner for some recommendations. I asked if there were any New Brunswick authors who had written some fiction that represented the Maritime provinces well.

It wasn’t until he found some books by Antonine Maillet that we discovered a gem. Antoinine Maillet was born in New Brunswick and received her BA from Moncton University. I found copies of Pélagie-la-Charrette (1979) in both French and English and thought it was perfect.

While I was in MacLeod’s, I couldn’t help be sucked in by some more amazing Canadian literature. These are all titles I’ve been meaning to find for a long while. I am now the owner of The Outlander by Gil Adamson; Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, a memoir by Evelyn Lau; and Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards.

Uploaded Images and Photos on Flickr

I have gone back in all my uploaded photos (here on the blog) till October of last year and altered the titles and alt text. I’ve been naughty and haven’t been keeping that up to date. But as suggested by Alexandre in the SEO session at Northern Voice: start using good practices immediately and they will start to come naturally.

I’ve been adding photos to my Flickr and have removed almost all photos from my Facebook. I bought Flickr Pro in February and I am loving it. I’ll still be posting photos on the blog but now, I’ll try to link to the appropriate Flickr album for more photos when it isn’t necessary in a blog post.

Speaking of Facebook, I also deleted all my videos and will make sure to keep my YouTube channel up-to-date. However, most of the videos I upload to YouTube get embedded here. Which leads us to our next topic…. plugins.

WordPress Plugins

I am using Viper’s Video Quicktags plugin right now, but I just downloaded the Apture plugin to make these cute little icons in front of my links. But Apture also has an embed function, so do I need to keep Viper? Also, if I uninstall Viper, will it break my current embeds (mostly YouTube).

I already love how AddThis Social Bookmarking plugin works. I also recently activated the All in One SEO plugin and I’m exploring that more too. I’ve also been making sure to add tags to all my posts. This how-to video from WordPressTV that was suggested by kmore on Twitter has been a big help for doing all this tag updating.

Do you have any plugin suggestions that are vital to your blog well-being?

Improving my Workflow

I am interested in exploring Evernote to keep track of things. I already really like my “To Do” list on my iTouch and I use my iCal religiously. I’m interested in how Evernote can be integrated into my workflow. (And maybe it will make me less dorky at conferences when I whip out my pad of paper and favourite pen).

There’s one love that we all share: yarn. Blog about a particular yarn you have used in the past or own in your stash, or perhaps one that you covet from afar. If it is a yarn you have used you could show the project that you used it for, perhaps writing a mini ‘review’. Perhaps, instead, you pine for the feel of the almost mythical qiviut? You could explore and research the raw material and manufacturing process if you were feeling investigative.

My favourite yarn brand is Mirasol. In my stash (Ravelry link) I have Miski, Hacho, and Sulka. The Sulka became a cowl for our Festivus Knitting Swap, and the Miski I am just lusting over (as is my cat!). The Miski is 100% baby llama.

Here is Henry molesting my Miski yarn. He seems to have a thing for “pure” fibres. What a spoiled boy!

My second favourite brand is probably Blue Sky Alpacas. I love love love their colours and the feel of their cottons and alpaca blends. I’m a little less obsessive about finding the perfect project. I’ve knit a few items out of the Blue Sky Alpaca cotton such as my toque and my hot water bottle cozy.

Another yarn that I really like is my Artesano Aran (see right). I found it in the UK and bought it. I love it and cannot bear to make something sub-standard out of it. I only have two skeins but the FO must be amazing. Same goes for my single skein of Malabrigo. I love love love how soft it is, but still need to find the perfect project. Suggestions for these two yarns are welcome!

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

Here is what Dad’s beautiful felt clogs looked like when I finished them (December 2007):

Here is what they looked like in October 2009 when I was doing damage control:

And (drumroll please) here are his new slippers (pre-felting) for his birthday in April:

He has since reported that his grey slippers are leaving fluffy bits all over the house as they crumble to nothingness. But, he still wants me to repair them (replace the soles, put on suede bottoms) so he can have the new navy blue pair to go with navy blue pyjamas and the grey pair to go with his grey pyjamas. Who knew men liked to match.

Yarnpiggy posted about Knit & Crochet Blog Week 2010 last week sometime and piqued my interest. Eskimimi Knits is hosting the first inaugural Knit & Crochet Blog Week to celebrate fibre bloggers and talk about our shared passion. There are discussion topics for each day, as well as a “wild card” if you aren’t particularly inspired by the daily topic.

So, onto the first topic!

Starting Out: How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? Was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

I first picked up knitting needles in grade 8 (age 13) when my art teacher decided we all needed to learn to knit. She wanted to see a finished product, no matter how ugly or misshapen. So for a couple weeks in the fall at our school, you would see 13-year-old boys and girls sitting in the hallway knitting.

My grandmother, Nanny, passed away when I was about seven years old, but she was an avid knitter and sewer. I have inherited some of her FOs and, more recently, needles, yarn, and sewing patterns. Once I was older than seven, my Nanny probably would have taught me to knit herself.

Now crochet is a different matter. I wanted to learn and expressed an interest while I was living in England in 2007/2008. My boyfriend’s grandmother invited her neighbour over to teach me to crochet. I sat there and created the Ugly Square of test crochet while they gossiped about the latest community meeting they had. Every-so-often I was told to stop hunching over and sit up straight, and that my crochet looked great. But once I got home to Vancouver, I got Chelle to sit down with me to teach me (again).

Our first resource is The League of Canadian Poets, a great place for news and author lists. One great feature is that you can sort poets by province of residence. Check out all these great BC poets! To celebrate National Poetry Month, the League of Canadian Poets announced a theme of “Climate Change” and launched a League Poetry Month blog. They also have an additional initiative to celebrate P.K. Page, an extraordinary poet who passed away in January 2010 in her home in Victoria, BC. An offshoot of the League of Canadian Poets, check out YoungPoets.ca! They are also involved in the National Poetry Month theme of “Climate Change”.

For poetry events and happenings, check out the League’s full listing of Poetry Month events. They also have a list of readings (updated every second month). The Poetry Kit also keeps a great list of on-going and reoccurring readings.

In poetry news, the shortlists for two Canadian poetry awards were announced this week. I personally find awards a fantastic way to see some of the great new releases. View the shortlists for the 2010 Pat Lowther and Gerald Lampert Memorial Awards. The BC Book Prizes, has the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize which celebrates British Columbian poets. And the BC Book Prizes website features all the past winners since the prizes began in 1985. To be honest, talking about Canadian literary prizes could be an entire post itself. So, I’ll direct you to Wikipedia’s list of Poetry Awards, with a full list of Canadian poetry awards.

Vancouver Poetry House is a great website with forums, featured poets, podcasts, events and the Vancouver Poetry Slam team. On April 19th, a new VanSlam Poetry Team will be chosen by the audience (and judges). Vancouver Poetry House is inviting everyone to join in the Poetry Slam Playoffs featuring the 2009 Individual Word Poetry Slam Champ, Joaquin Zihuatanejo.

Another ‘alternative’ poetry resource is The World Poetry Reading Series. They have readings, fundraisers, special events, and more. If you ever have the chance to check out these poets and/or poetry readings, you won’t be disappointed. I’ve seen them at The Word on the Street Vancouver, a local reading festival and you’ll really enjoy it even if poetry isn’t your ‘thing’.

Another great resource for Vancouver is VancouverVerse.ca, the website for the Vancouver Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate Program was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. Yosef Wosk, a prominent Vancouverite and supporter of the arts. The Poet Laureate Program is a partnership of the City of Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library and the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. Begun in 2007, George McWhirter was Vancouver’s inaugural Poet Laureate. Brad Cran is currently Vancouver’s second poet laureate until 2011.

*deep breath* wow that was a lot of information. Anyway, I hope you’ve clicked lots of links and have tons of bookmarks to look at. Enjoy the rest of the National Poetry Month Blog Tour 2010! Thank you so much Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit for arranging everything.

Let me preface my guesses by the fact that I flip-flop between who I want to win and who I think will win.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

My prediction: Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Oscar winner: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

My prediction: Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Oscar winner: Christoph Waltz in Inglorius Basterds

Performance by an actress in a leading role

My prediction: Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Oscar winner: Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

My prediction: Mo’Nique in Precious
Oscar winner: Mo’Nique in Precious

Best animated feature film of the year

My prediction: Coraline
Oscar winner: Up

Achievement in art direction

My prediction: Avatar
Oscar winner: Avatar

Achievement in cinematography

My prediction: The Hurt Locker
Oscar winner: Avatar

Achievement in costume design

My prediction: Coco before Chanel
Oscar winner: The Young Victoria

Achievement in directing

My prediction: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Oscar winner: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

Best documentary feature

My prediction: The Cove (An Oceanic Preservation Society Production)
Oscar winner: The Cove

Best documentary short subject

My prediction: China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
Oscar winner: Music by Prudence

Achievement in film editing

My prediction: District 9
Oscar winner: The Hurt Locker

Best foreign language film of the year

My prediction: The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Oscar winner: El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina)

Achievement in makeup

My prediction: Star Trek
Oscar winner: The Young Victoria

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

My prediction: Up
Oscar winner: Up

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

My prediction: “Take it All” from “Nine”
Oscar winner: “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”

Best motion picture of the year

My prediction: Avatar
Oscar winner: The Hurt Locker

Best animated short film

My prediction: A Matter of Loaf and Death (Wallace & Grommit)
Oscar winner: Logorama

Best live action short film

My prediction: Instead of Abracadabra
Oscar winner: The New Tenants

Achievement in sound editing

My prediction: Star Trek
Oscar winner: The Hurt Locket

Achievement in sound mixing

My prediction: Inglorius Basterds
Oscar winner: The Hurt Locker

Achievement in visual effects

My prediction: Avatar
Oscar winner: Avatar

Adapted screenplay

My prediction: Precious
Oscar winner: Precious (based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire)

Original screenplay

My prediction: Inglorius Basterds & Up (tie)
Oscar winner: The Hurt Locker

Whom have you met because of something related to tea? Share something about this person and how your relationship began and blossomed.

Most people I’ve met have been through something else when we discover we both share a love for tea. My best friend in high school, Anna, introduced me to The Secret Garden which I wrote about last week. I met Chelle through a local knitting meetup that would occur at a local cafe. We soon discovered we both enjoyed visiting Steeps in Vancouver. We’ve dragged Julia (another knitting friend) there a couple times.

I met Chan and Ruth via blogging, and we connected over knitting, then pets and tea too. When Ruth and her hubby visited Vancouver last February, we got to share our love for tea as well as the West Coast. I gave her an antique tea cup… and it is the same one on the Hot Tea Month button!