Shocking

[susandennis]

I really enjoyed reading the tree killer paper this morning! I'll betcha it's been 5 or 6 years since I actually picked up a newspaper and held the pages in my hand. This morning I read it from page one to the last page of the last section and learned stuff I didn't know, found stuff I would have not found otherwise and was just shocked by what a good experience it was. Maybe I am a ludite.

I will say that it is abundantly clear who else is reading this paper. The ads are all for hearing aids, tubs you can sit in, walkers, retirement villages and incontinence fixes. On the up side, none of the models in these ads are size 000.

It is borderline kinky how much I love my new sewing machine. It has one critical stitch that I've never had on a machine. It's a stitch for sewing on stretchy fabrics. You can almost replicate on other machines but never get there totally. The swimsuit I made this morning is the best one I have ever made because I got to use that stitch. Plus it was the easiest and will be the nicest because it has the least sewing and the stitching is so smooth. Nothing to chafe.

I'm so delighted with it. I was almost tempted to toss the box but decided to wait the full 30 days. No sense in being reckless.

My nose is so tired of being blown. On the up side, at least I have enough tissues. My Amazon Subscribe and Save tissue shipment came in just last week.

The marathon is still ending outside. We in lulls of just crowd murmur noise punctuated with YEAH! You can do it!! Only 10 more feet!!! I kind of feel like I should get tracker points since they are preventing me from doing my own exercise. No bitter. nope.

Now it's time for the Mariner game.

Comments

[lacachet.livejournal.com]

We still subscribe to the "Seattle Times"---I often think about canceling, but I still enjoy it. Some of the news is pretty "old" by the time it hits the paper.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

We consider it to be an essential part of our morning ritual to read the paper copy of the Boston Globe while eating breakfast. On those rare mornings when the paper doesn't get delivered (or comes after breakfast, which means very late), we put up with reading the electronic version of the print paper on our iPads, but it doesn't feel the same. Both interfaces have their annoying issues, but on the whole I prefer paper.

[susandennis]

I can't see doing it every day - the mound of recycling alone is enough of a show stopper there - but once a week? I'm glad I re-found it.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

You know, your sewing and writing about (and showing) it and now talking about your new machine has me pondering learning to sew by machine. I have my mother old green Singer in the basement with its sensitivities and hands-off! the-tension! connotations, and at one point somebody was going to show me how to use it. But others have said newer machines are so much better. It'd be nice just to be able to hem some pants quickly, y'know?

Anyway, think I could teach myself to sew from books and youtube and such, or is in-person instruction called for?

[susandennis]

Oh you could absolutely teach yourself. Totally. YouTube is full of great bits on just about every aspect. (There's a whole series specifically on the new machine I just bought and I watched a few and then, when I went to try other stuff, watched the rest. VERY helpful.)

There's also a great forum of sewers who are great at stepping in to answer every question and, so, have created a compendium of useful stuff at https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/

On machines - you can easily find masses of people who say old machines are best and just as many masses to say new machines are best.

Tension issues will make you crazy. I know I have lost brain cells over them over the years. New machines have way fewer tension issues so that's why they get my vote. But I'm sure there are as many who say differently.

[fflo.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That's very encouraging.

This is my mother's machine, pretty sure, except the table it's in is dark wood:



It's the archetype of sewing machine for me. What, they're not all pale green??

Anyway, a brief look shows video on how to clean & lube it. Plus of course lots of talk on how to do things with it that I don't know the meaning of the words in. But I can sure see her lifting the little foot and clipping something and wanting to curse at it when it does something she doesn't like.

Perhaps I should take into account that she was trying to sew in a hurry, almost surely, with two young kids running around, and probably a hefty hunk of perfectionism dogging her in the back of her mind, fighting with her ongoing pragmatic tendencies.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I find that reading a paper newspaper is much more satisfying than trying to get the same information from the online version. Our paper is doing pretty well. Several years ago they devoted several months to surveying their readers about a number of categories of stuff plus they had focus groups about what people wanted from the paper and then they used that info to make changes. As a consequence, their paper feels a lot more modern and geared towards more than just old people.