Books

I read 156 books this year. I could have read four or five more, but 156 is divisible by 52 and I'm a bit neurotic about things like that. I started a really really long audiobook and otherwise I'm just re-reading things until new year.

Favorite Non-fiction reads of 2013: The Black Count by Tom Reiss, Toms River by Dan Fagin, Sister Citizen by Melissa V. Harris-Perry, American Nations by Colin Woodard, Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, The War that Killed Achilles by Caroline Alexander, Destiny Disrupted by Tamim Ansary, Indian Givers by Jack Weatherford, Marie Curie and Her Daughters by Shelley Emling, The Vikings by Neil Oliver.

Favorite Fiction reads of 2013: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson, Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (most unexpected!), The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat, A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama,

Favorite Children's and YA Reads of 2013: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome, The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggins, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede,

Oh, here I am.

Where have I been? Not crafting, that's for sure. 

I have been in the biggest crafting malaise since September. I've finished a few things, sure (though I don't count the knitting) but not nearly enough and I've designed nothing new.

It's been awful, but unavoidable. Part of it came from trying to stitch the Roman piece again because having stitched it once already it was just boring. I have finished the pattern but issues with the program I use to create symbol patterns means I haven't listed it yet.
Lately I've been dealing with a psychiatrist I dislike (hey man, saying things like "You don't look like a girl who would be single" is confusing, inappropriate, and creepy), horrible side effects from trying different anti-depressants, and the knowledge that those medications are unlikely to help me but this psychiatrist won't address what I feel WOULD help (don't worry, I've left him).

I actually got a bit further than this

So here you see what I've managed to get done, and a fractal piece that's nearly done (I'm cropping the pattern to fit in a 5x7 frame), though I probably won't finish it for Christmas. I've also knit this dinosaur cowl for my niece and I'm in the process of knitting one for my nephew. Hers is green with blue spikes and his is orange with blue spikes. 

Also, I've put up my Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Arsenal FC patterns for free (happy winter holiday/New Years). You can find all my free patterns here.

Present for a friend's baby.

I wish I could snap myself out of feeling the way I do, but it is a symptom of my life, and there's not too much I can change there. What I hope to change is the level of irrational anxiety I feel when communicating and especially when initiating communication. That's what's causing most of my depression, I think, both due to a lack of socializing and seeing myself act in a way that's SO foreign to my pre-disabled personality.

We'll see what 2014 will bring. 

How I feel/what I want to do. So jealous of my cat.