I spent a lot of time quilting yesterday and got quite a bit done. Now I need to try not to get overly optimistic and start calculating when I will be done with it based on how much I got done yesterday because I know I’m not going to do that much every day. As for other sewing projects, I’m still being indecisive about what to start next. I need to cut the rest of the pieces for the next quilt top. Cutting is the part of quilt making that I like the least and I’m not very accurate at it. No matter what method I use and no matter how careful I am, when I cut 6 1/2 inch squares (for example) I end up with a lot of 6 5/8 inch squares and 6 3/4 inch squares and even some 6 3/8 inch squares. I am not fond of the rotary cutter. Everyone else seems to be in love with the things but I do better with ordinary scissors.

It’s another cold, gray morning. These are the days that make spring so annoying. I know it’s not officially spring yet but this will continue until May. We get a few warm days and enjoy them and feel like spring is here at last. Even though we know better we still feel that way. Then we get another cold front. Saturday is the official first day of spring and it’s supposed to be the coldest day all week.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and yes, I’m wearing green. I’m not Irish, except in the sense that, “On St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish,” and I might actually have an Irish ancestor way back a few generations, but St. Patrick’s Day is simply fun. I don’t do anything else to celebrate but it’s important to me to wear green. Maybe that’s because on my first St. Patrick’s day in public school I wore a red plaid dress. My mother forgot and I was sure that I had never heard of St. Patrick’s Day and had no idea that I was supposed to wear green. I had a lovely little green dress with tiny pink rosebuds and pink trim that I could have worn if I had known. But no, I wore red on St. Patrick’s Day when I was six years old and was scarred for life. Or at least for a day or two.

I’ve been reading Victory on Janus and I’m liking it fairly well but I’m impatient to be finished with it because I’m going to start reading Anathem. I’m definitely more drawn to modern sci-fi. I do still like the old stuff and I’m a little sad that it’s not as exciting as it used to be but I’m also happy that there is so much interesting new science fiction out there and that I can enjoy it. There’s nothing like getting into a new sci-fi novel to make you feel young and with it, even if you’re not. And yes, I know, if I was really with it I would be saying “SF” instead of “sci-fi” but I refuse! I’ve seen some people using the term “SF” who were so arrogant about it and about what constitutes “real” science fiction, so “SF” really turns me off.

I also started reading Dante’s Inferno a couple of weeks ago but I’m not very far into it and I’m having a hard time sticking with it. It’s been several days since I’ve read any of it. It’s not that it’s difficult or boring but the style is quite tedious. I hate to quit but I feel like I might just fail to continue.