I recently managed to finish the four-book bande dessine (BD) (French comic) entitled Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic novelist who grew up in Tehran admist the Iranian revolution and eventually moved to Austria before settling down in France. Persepolis is about her, her journey, her experiences as a girl and then a woman growing up in two different worlds. What first brought me to this BD was in fact an animated film by the same title which was nominated at the 2007 Academy Awards and the winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes in 2007.

Bear in mind that everything is in French - the BD, the film…it took me about two months, the longest ever, to finish the book and even then, I would gladly re-read it again!

The story first begins with a 10 year old Marjane growing up admist increasing calls for the removal of the US-backed Shah of Iran. We see Marjane as a child with dreams unlike those of her age. She wishes to be the future prophetess and desires good actions, words and thoughts from people. Bad things are simply forbidden, she says. Her family dreams of a better Iran; one without political prisoners and with more freedom.

But they are all thoroughly disappointed when the Islamic Fundamentalists win by a landslide and installs an Islamic regime, which is shown predominantly through its religious guards, religious leaders, religious chants and nearly-kamikaze attitudes. The arrest and subsequent execution of Marjane’s uncle leads her to reject God and she (and her family) reluctantly embrace a repressive lifestyle. Their lives become increasingly dangerous and even crazy during the Iraq-Iran war, where no one was allowed to leave because passports were deemed “unnecessary”. “If it is God’s will, you will be given a passport” says the hospital administrator, former window cleaner, to the wife of a dying man.

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Remember that wacky story a few post ago? It’s part of a promo-cum-contest that’s going on around the Net. But writing for promos like this isn’t all about making money.

It’s also about creating a buzz and well, just exposing people to what options are available worldwide and hopefully, this would snowball into something proactive back at home. Heaps of people have been affected by the fuel and energy hikes recently - I know most Malaysians feel the pinch especially considering that energy efficient items are almost non-existent or expensive or “just not worth it”.

So yes, more about the Dirt Devil and its Energy Star rating.

The Dirt Devil utilizes AccuCharge technology, a charging system which helps save time and energy in order for you to save on energy consumption. It enables you to save up to 70% in energy consumption per year compared to other cordless vacuum models. It is also a first to be awarded an Energy Star rating. From the Energy Star ’s website,

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

In the wake of fuel hikes and subsequently energy hikes occurring around the world, perhaps it might be in our best interest to look for energy efficient products such as the Dirt Devil. At least we won’t complain when the next bill arrives…(well, don’t forget to save energy when it comes to things like your air-conditioning and etc)…

I thought I’d take my cue from some spinning “greats” (okay, they may not see themselves as greats…) and use a rather clumsily-put together DIY lightbox when it comes to photographing WIPs (Work-In-Progress), stash and FOs (Finished Objects). Can’t you just tell that knitting and spinning is also all about abbreviations?

And so far, I’m loving the results…oh, and the spinning too!

For all you bloggers out there who would like to promote their website or just want visitors to be kept updated, Zookoda now offers you the ability to do so for free via their email newsletter service! Via them, you will have full control over visitor subscriptions, email design and content, broadcast times and conditions, and real-time reporting.

How does the whole thing work?
For starters, you’ll be provided with a code for a Zookoda subscription form - this form must be placed on the blog. Readers can place their subscription by filling an email address. The details are then stored with Zookoda and is adding to your mailing list. With this info, you can choose to identify which feed you wish to broadcast, select a template, schedule a time & date and track the results.

Easy no?

I know some people here will definitely be concerned about privacy and info confidentiality. Here is an excerpt from their website.

What about privacy, security, and confidentiality?
We take careful precautions to protect our users’ information. The Zookoda servers are as secure as can reasonably be provided, and are housed in a state-of-the-art secure facility with power and internet backup. Your Zookoda account is password protected and we will not sell or share your information or any data you enter. No one will be able to access your data unless you grant permission. Though we offer safeguards to protect your data, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee 100% security. Take appropriate measures with your user accounts and passwords. We also invite you to review our privacy policy.

Can I get my data out if I want to discontinue using Zookoda?
Yes, you can easily export all your mailing lists in Excel format at any time. If you’re unhappy with the service, no hard feelings - you can discontinue using your account at any time. We’ll do everything we can to make the transition away from Zookoda a pleasant one.

For more information and details or just to sign up, hop on over to Zookoda’s webbie!

It’s still summer and the golden rule for summer? Keep cool. Munching down on some home-made ice cream is the way to go.

Before you think that this is all about fat, fat and fat. No it isn’t. I made this with low fat whipped cream and fresh fruit (including the pulp). Plus we don’t eat a whole tub full at one go. I take just about three teaspoons of this stuff at one time! The serving size is for four to six people depending on how much they eat and so far, there is more than half left for each flavour.

Yes, we have enough ice cream to last us for the week ahead. The recipe calls for an addition of one ingredient into the one from the blueberry ice cream - just add juice from 1/2 lime to the fruit purée (when blitzing it).

Ah…home-made goodness!

The last thing I need while coping with a wisdom tooth that’s coming out from my cheek (Should I include dental into my insurance? It’s complicated - reminds me a lot of the American medicare insurance…) and a visit from Nil’s friend is more drama to contend with when I’m surfing forums.

Being a moderator is never easy, especially a moderator on a female-majority forum. The catfights, name-calling, even the wannabe stalker that haunts my blog! To make matters worse, I’m pretty new and I don’t believe in doing stuff without informing people or consulting others - so the process takes time, somewhat like the Swiss political system.

Still, all this drama about banning people from a shoutbox system to mods not doing crap nothing is, well, drama. I don’t really live out my life on this forum, 24-7 style, and the time difference makes things a bit hard to monitor as well. Then there is the spring cleaning which has now turned into summer cleaning.

Dramas. And I thought I was over them when I left high school/secondary school.

Guess what came in the mail today?

Harvest II
Fibre | Blueface Leicester
Weight | 4.1 oz
From | Erica over @ Squoosh

Sugar Pie
Fibre | 50/30/20 Alpaca/Merino/Silk
Weight | 3.9 oz
From | Erica over @ Squoosh

I have big plans for these little two babies, but I reckon they’ll have to wait at least another two to three weeks. Yes, I have something in mind but I’m not telling.

Orange Sherbet
Yardage | Approx 200 m/50 gms of fingering weight
WPI | N/A
Fibre | 50 gms of Flitz-It Multicolour New Merino Wool
Spindle | The Baaa Spindle

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out after “sacrificing” 50 grams of the fibre to just practising on the spindle. After the practise round, I started work on the remaining half which was already split into another half (25-25 gm). It was just something I did when I was braiding them up; I shouldn’t have done it actually because now I have two separate skeins with slightly different yardage!

Anyway, I left these as singles because for starters I wanted to see how they would turn out after a wash and skeining. That and the fact that I don’t really know how to ply yet…plus I don’t have enough for plying.

That aside, I do love the candy cane-striping effect that the fibre gave. It came to be dyed in vertical stripes instead of horizontal ones so I wasn’t all that shocked by the effect. While waiting for this one to dry (and occasionally admiring it from afar), I got started on another batch of fibre - Lime Spring which is also dyed in the same way - and it is giving me a very interesting colour combo at the moment. We’ll see how that turns out.

So…what do I do with this batch of yarn? I am not too sure really. Maybe I’ll use them for a smallish project of some sorts. We’ll see how it goes.