Fluffbuff

Yesterday was guild meeting day and I got to see many friends and meet a few new people. As usual, we had about five new visitors and a couple of new members; our little guild is now more than 80-strong.

I had brought my quilting hoop with me and spent at least two hours practicing my quilting stitch. Not a whole lot of progress, but I am getting slightly less frustrated and that's incouraging. Trying out different fabrics and battings is also helping a bit, as some are easier to quilt than others. Mariko showed me how she does the quilting stitch and also spoiled me with unexpected birthday presents: two adorable Japanese craft books (this has really turned into Japanese book week for me), some sharp Japanese pins and a magazine article on Boutis how-to. Mariko-san, どもありがとうございました！

Both during and after the meeting, I was too busy having a good time to remember to take pictures. That's a good sign, no?

My practice in progress — PIP?

Cat hair courtesy of "il grigino".

Piper recognizes two categories of things: food and toys. When he sees something new, first he smells it to see if it's food…

… then he tries to move it to see if it rolls or bounces. He's our little Pelé and spends hours playing soccer by himself.

The quilting hoop is no fun; Pipie gets back to napping.

After the meeting, I joined Theresa, JoShell, Rose, Lisa and Marty and went to a café downtown to meet up with Andrea, who had overslept and missed the meeting. I think she was up again til dawn working on her mystery Fair Isle project. All my friends are getting so much done lately; I feel like I am underachieving these days.

Interestingly, half the people in our little group are interested in learning an Asian language. Rose is starting a class in Chinese Mandarin tomorrow. I just started again listening to my Japanese Pimsleur tapes this week, while I work out on the elliptical machine. Lisa is also considering Japanese and has been checking classes in Riverside. JoShell lived in Japan for 3.5 years. And I know Andrea has considered Japanese herself.

If only I could find someone who lives close to me to study together. I started studying Japanese so many times and then lost momentum that I think a buddy would be really helpful. Even when I was getting lessons, it was only an hour a week and that is just not enough for a language that is so different from the others I know.
Anyone out there who lives in the Pasadena/Glendale/Burbank area? Please, pretty please? Anyone?