Trying to Raise the Mood

It made me feel ill to read this morning that there are scumbags out there putting up fake web pages to fraudulently solicit donations supposedly for disaster relief for Japan. That's so sick! How can anyone, anyone, look at the news coming out of Japan, see the pictures, watch the videos, and only think about ways to make money off it? Absolutely sick.

If you can give, please go directly to the Red Cross, or another reputable organization.

In the face of overwhelming amounts of coverage, and overwhelmingly bad news, I have been alternating between long focus (reading about the situation, looking at the pictures, and trying to comprehend the scale of the disaster), as much as I can stand, and short focus (looking away, making my grocery list, knitting) thereafter. It's a balancing act, with my sanity as the goal and reward.

To be ready for short focus, I wound yarn last night, both STR for new socks and some of the blue* to start swatching for the sweater. Since I stuck the sock project bag in its usual place in my purse, I had it with me at work today, so I took the yarn out and put it on my desk for a while. It has pink with a touch of beige, pink heading toward (but not reaching) lavender, peachy pink and rose pink... It's a pretty thing to contemplate.


*I know, I know, which blue? This blue:


Speaking of knitting (and stress), there was a great knitting-related story in the Washington Post recently: go read it!

**********
I was in a grumpy mood this afternoon for no real reason. Oh, there are real enough reasons (Japan; my uncertain job situation), but nothing new, just a swing of the mood and things were bugging me and grrr. I decided to see what I could do to make myself happier, and here is what I did:

• I e-mailed three friends about getting together--not tonight, but to have things to look forward to, which is one of the ways I make myself happier.
  
• I went to Barnes & Noble and used most of that gift card from Christmas to buy The Happiness Project, just out in paperback. I enjoyed it from the library, and think I would benefit (ahem) from closer study.
• Sang along loudly to music, including one of my current favorite radio songs, Shake Me Down (by Cage the Elephant), and then to an old tape of Martin Gore covers that I found in the car. Not that the latter is cheery music, but I do really like most of it, like Mother Earth (not to be confused with Motherless Child, which is a fast-forward song to me)(fast-forward! tape! are you kids following my lingo?). I've noticed before that Martin's voice seems to suit my singing "range" such-as-it-is.
• I went to Wilson's and bought, along with fruit and celery and potatoes, some quail eggs (remember them from last year?) They're actually caramel eggs, of course, and if just seeing them cheered me up, imagine what eating them will do!

*Have you ever noticed that celery has a rather strong odor? I could still smell it on my hands when I got home!

I am trying a new recipe for the potatoes, which I will share if it works out. I need some simple side dishes in my repertoire, preferably ones that use staples and don't require a trip to the store every time. Rice pilaf, pasta, what else? The chicken will go in shortly; I tried that teriyaki chicken the other night, but it wasn't wonderful. I think it was not as well suited to the Foreman grill as the steak tips were (mmmm, steak tips), so I'm going to do the rest in the oven to see if that works better.

It would help my mood-improvement project if the Bruins could win tonight (doesn't look good so far). They're already riding their longest losing streak of the season; time and past to turn it around, guys.

Think of the tulips