My name is Lori Z and this is my weblog. Welcome. I hope you enjoy it.

Just recently someone complimented me on not being a work-o-holic, to which I replied "No, I'm a hobby-holic". I think that really identifies it. Without any doubt I could spend 50+ hours a week knitting, sewing, or dreaming up new projects. But since I'm not independently wealthy (yet!) and have an inquisitive mind, my "work" is graduate school.

I am a chemical oceanographer. No, I don't swim with dolphins. The oceanic carbon cycle has been my focus over the past 10 years I've been doing research, at various academic levels. Currently my focus is on identifying combustion products in the ocean. Although I've spend almost 300 days of my life at sea, I do get sea-sick, especially in the Southern Ocean. I live in Southern California with my husband, where we are resisting assimilation into American society (we're both Canadian, hence the .ca).

This blog was started back in October of 2003, when I was still new to knitting and rather inspired by Becky of Fluffa!. Not only was I finding a whole new world of knit patterns in the knitblog world, but I was also learning new techniques and, in time, meeting wonderful new people. Over time my understanding of why I blog has changed, and evolved. After reading some of the inspiring posts about why we blog, it has made me more thoughtful about why I blog. I've learned SO much from the blogging community. Personally I feel that its only my place to contribute back to this community in any way that I can. Sure the positive feedback that you get can be intoxicating, yet at other times, I feel like blogging is a popularity contest. But at the end of the day, other blogs have inspired me and I hope to pass that gift along by inspiring some of my readers.

Jan '07