I should blog...

...but I've been busy.
Between catching up on laundry and fighting off a headache, I've been working on this, an eensy square at a time. The colors of the Noro Kuryeon sock yarn overpowered my will. There's already four other projects on the needles, so I didn't really want to start a long-term project on size 0 US needles. Ah well, such is the pull of Noro's colors.



This, though, was done on the road trip. It's fun, and I knit a lot further than I thought I would in the driving time.


I ran around today, visiting the neurologist, Yarn Shop & More (always fun), a free trade store, a Persian grocery, a seafood store, and Italian deli. After that, a health food store and Home Depot. By then, the migraine I'd been fighting all week had me down for the count. No worries, a couple of Relpax and a nap later, and it's all gone. :)

P.S. I not only have the best family members, I have the best friends. I consider myself a very fortunate person.

I don't care for Ravelry forums.

No, I don't. Unless I actually know the people and they know me. Some of the people on the forums have this idea than I'm a moralistic religious fanatic that wants to turn the world into a nicy nice zombieville.

Even my Mom is wondering, "They're talking about you?" Sure, I have morals, but not so many I'm no fun. Enough to keep me out of jail, but not so many I wouldn't flirt with the hot cop trying to book me. I mean, come on.

I'd piped up on an "Is this appropriate" thread in the group thing. Mainly my point was maybe if what you post isn't safe for work, then should it really be posted? I'm running around all day, with the computer in the kitchen, and don't let things rated higher than PG-13 on the screen. Which is silly, I suppose, since the screen saver kicks in at 5 minutes of a mouse being still. My thoughts are, if you wouldn't say it or show it to a kid, why post it on a public knitting site? Hm, well, a lot of the others wanted no censorship of any kind anywhere near them.

One person even said she never censors her children, ever. They're allowed to see whatever she lets them. Yeah, whatever SHE lets them. Let's review censor as a verb.

Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: 2censor
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): cen·sored; cen·sor·ing \ˈsen(t)-sə-riŋ, ˈsen(t)s-riŋ\
Date: 1882
: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable ; also : to suppress or delete as objectionable

Oxford English:
censor
• noun an official who examines material that is to be published and suppresses parts considered offensive or a threat to security.
• verb suppress or remove unacceptable parts of (a book, film, etc.).
— DERIVATIVES censorship noun.
— ORIGIN Latin (denoting a magistrate in ancient Rome who held censuses and supervised public morals), from censere ‘assess’.

A lot of definitions for those who think Merriam-Webster's and Oxford's dictionaries aren't accurate. I've run into a lot of people who think this, by the way.

Do I believe in the Unites State's First Amendment in the Bill of Rights? Of course I do. I firmly believe "My blog, my rules" for everyone. I also happen to believe when in public, as in a public forum, respect others by not using vulgar language or posting pictures that is considered indecent exposure. Am I offended by such stuff? Not really, but I'm not wanting to see it, either. I'm pretty picky about who I want to see naked and know how and what to Google. Since I've been told if I don't like how they talk on the forums then stay away, I will.

I was called rude on the forums, and can't see how I was. No telling other people flat out they're wrong, no saying how bad their kids are going to be from the raising they're getting, nothing like that at all.

I've also been compared to mothers whose daughters are now strippers, whose daughters were pregnant at 15, and whose kids were wild with drugs, booze, and sex once away from home. All because I waited until Fry was 12 before intentionally telling her about the details about sex and letting her see pictures (medical book cross sections) of the male anatomy.

Things I'm not too keen on telling her right at the moment? The finer details of all the types of sex to have besides the male with female basic reproduction. (I'd list them, but the fetishers would be pissed at finding how dull this blog really is.) For some of the questions, I'll tell her that I'd rather wait until she's older, because I think it'll gross her out. She'll nag, I'll finally tell her, and she'll be grossed out and wished I hadn't told her. Now all I do is say, "Are you sure you really want to know this?" and she'll back off if she's not ready to be grossed out. I just think 12 years old is too young for some of the seedier parts of sex.

Because I think this, of course, I'm on Morality Mountain and want the world to be censored and sanitized so I don't have to do my job as a parent and watch out what my kid is exposed to. I'm trying to push off my job as a parent on the rest of the world and I'm warping her by keeping her ignorant with my own ignorant view.

Did they say all this to me? Yep. Can I prove it? I can but would rather not have to read all that again. Did I post that how they were raising their kids would cause their kids to be pregnant teenagers or addicts? Nope. I'm not there and don't have a crystal ball. Plus, I don't assume their point of view makes them a bad parent.

In other news: Easter and family fun, meaning, road trip with lots of knitting. We didn't get to stay long enough at anyone's house and we all miss our family already. Missed seeing our sisters and hope to make up for that soon. I'll have to post pictures of the Scalloped tee since it's coming along a lot faster than I'd thought. It's looking really cool. I'd started the eensiest bit of a Noro sock yarn sock, not even an inch's worth. It's on size 0us needles, which explains a lot.

How about the day after the day after tomorrow?

aka, Friday fun. Which means, picture time! To be honest, I've not been able to enjoy the great weather due to migraines. Gotta love the monthly reminder I'm female. <-sarcasm

So anyway, there's been some knitting, some cleaning, and a lot of sleeping. When all of the above hasn't been happening, I've been goofing around on Ravelry, that really cool knit site. While my beloved Hubs created me something like this for Christmas one year, it's very exclusive and has invoicing and order capabilities. More of a small business application. There, like on Ravelry, I've not inventoried my stash, instead relying on a simple Word table. Even now, I need to update the Word to be even with the Ravelry, never mind the QuickKnitted application (Hubs created).

Wow! Totally interesting, huh? So anyway, Ravelry is very cool, but also a great addiction. There's groups of knitters who have the same interests like, beagles, Law & Order:SVU, and Monty Pythons. It's a place to hide and share your obsession over the pups and shows. There are other 'obsessions' like certain knit designers, a type of yarn, even geographical locations. That's fun. There's a lot of things to love, but what's THE best is the cross referencing. Say I have a pattern I want to do, but have so much in my yarn pile that I should use some from there. I find the pattern in Ravelry, click on "Yarns", and that shows what everyone else who did that project used as yarn for that particular item. With pictures, no less. Who doesn't LOVE pretty pictures?

Speaking of which... I still want that digital Pentax SLR, but, haven't had the self-control to stop buying yarn and save for it. In the meantime, here's what the camera phone snapped:

Look who's matchy-matchy! I think she likes her jacket! Whew! It's not been a ton of work, but still. I made it out of Red Heart just to be long-wearing and washable. Plus, if something disasterous happens, I can reknit it.


One of my beloved Simply Lovely Lace Socks has a hole in the ball of the foot, finally. I'd wondered how long I could wear these once a week before one of them wore out. The weird thing is, the night before I found the hole, I'd dreamed one of them frayed a huge hole in the back of the heel. ::cue the Halloween music::


This is pure glee. The Red Heart Strata is what I'd made Fry's jacket above in, and my own little matching Jaywalker as a show off. I can't WAIT to get started on this, making it into a pullover with no hood, instead. While Frygirl is a hoodie type gal, I'm a pullover type, myself. Later, I'll have to dig up Hubby's yarn for his matching pullover and socks.


Here's my sweet baby terrorizing the cat. She's been teasing him so much with a yoyo, he rowrs at her when she walks by him. At that, she'll go "What?" and I laugh. She's on spring break as of noon today, so by next next Monday, one of them will be injured. My bet is on the girl. Notice her lovely nails? We had a Girl's Day Out a week ago and I let her get the fakes. I'm trying to break her habit of chewing. She doesn't like the color, while I do, but she does like the nails. I'll have to repaint hers sometime today.


I have such a lovely kitchen for it to look this bad, hm? This was taken long enough ago that all the dishes are now washing, the extra yarn is back in Stashville, and Fry has some of her stuff on the island. Left on the island are books to read and study for my own writing, how to draw and paint books as a refresher, this month's magazines, loose catalogues and papers, my control journal, and home improvement articles.


Here is a wonderful quote for dealing with the horror in the photo above.
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

A bit of snark...

What's the difference between a Republican sex scandal and a Democrat's sex scandal?


If there's women involved, you know the guy is a Democrat. (Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer)

If young boys or men are involved, the guy is a Republican. (Mark Foley, Larry Craig)

There are always exceptions, James McGreevey and Arnold Schwarzenegger first come to mind. I don't think either party has dibs on dirty laundry.

There's been misbehaving from the very beginning, it seems. Powerful men, when they mess up, do so powerfully.

Tomorrow, we're back to knitting and other family activities, I promise.

"You wouldn't like me when I'm angry..."

Things have really been bothering me, politically. I hate how people can vote for our current president but be too chicken sh't to either enlist in the armed forces themselves or send their kids over. They'll support him and his administration, but let others go over to fight him and his fight. If people REALLY support Bush, let them prove it by enlisting. Everything linked or quoted below is the copywrite of their respective owners or writers. My text is mine, and I've explicitly quoted non-biased sources. Or at least, supposed to be non-biased.

Barbara Bush:
Jenna and I are really not very political, but we love our Dad too much to stand back and watch from the sidelines. We realized that this would be his last campaign, and we wanted to be a part of it. Besides, since we've graduated from college, we're looking around for something to do for the next few years ... kind of like Dad.

While Jenna says this concerning whether she and her twin should enlist for Iraq. "Obviously I understand that question and see what the point of that question is for sure. I think there are many ways to serve your country. I think ... what's most appropriate for me to do is to teach or to work in UNICEF and represent our country in Latin America."

The article linked above goes on to say, "But, Jenna is a kid barely out of her teens and is just trying to talk about her pending marriage and helping kids." Poor girl! Barely out of her teens at 25 years old! Like these guys and girls:
Casualty List
After importing this to a Word document, tabling the names, then sorting by age, I counted up the casualties from age 18 to 25. According to this list, almost 2400 young men and women the same age or younger than our President's offspring have died in Iraq alone.

When we went to war in Iraq, Great Britain was and is our ally. I don't know their motivation for sure. Is Tony Blair in Big Oil? I don't know, but what is sure is he has big bollocks for saying "Iraq is a 'disaster' admits Blair" Still, I don't see how he personally profits as much as Bush for this war. In fact, Bush brings up Iraq in their first meeting.

"It got off to a very good start, almost from the first syllable uttered, because Bush said to Blair, 'Welcome to Camp David, Tony. May I call you Tony?' And Blair said, 'Well, thank you for this warm welcome, George. May I call you George?' Then the president said to Blair, without any sort of ceremony or farce or some kind of grandiloquent statement, 'Well, what shall we talk about?' Blair said, 'We might as well start with the Middle East,' and Bush said, 'Good idea. Shall we do Iraq first?' "

Surely Tony didn't just jump into a war for no reason? But wait! What's this?

Tony Blair will be paid £2.5m a year for his post at US investment bank JP Morgan, it was revealed today.
It is the first of a series of posts that could see the former prime minister rake in a staggering £40million.
...
Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said: "It will be viewed with some contempt by the armed forces that he picks up this large cheque when he was happy to send British troops into battle ill-equipped and in insufficient numbers."
JPMorgan is heading a consortium set to make billions as Iraq's economy recovers from the war spearheaded by Mr Blair and U.S. President George Bush.
It was chosen to run the new Trade Bank of Iraq, which has raised billions in trade guarantees by mortgaging future oil production and will make huge profits from the deals.

No matter if Bush pushed Blair into, sob! going into a very profitable war, I have to ask why are we in Iraq? Could it be money?

Even before the first shots were fired in Iraq, the Pentagon had secretly awarded Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root a two-year, no-bid contract to put out oil well fires and to handle other unspecified duties involving war damage to the country’s petroleum industry. It is worth up to $7 billion.

I think so!

In charitable contributions alone, the Saudis gave at least $3.5 million to Bush charities -- $1 million by Prince Bandar to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, $1 million by King Fahd to Barbara Bush's campaign against illiteracy, $500,000 by Prince Al Waleed to Philips Academy, Andover, to finance a newly created George Herbert Walker Bush Scholarship Fund, and a $1 million painting from Prince Bandar to George W. Bush's White House.

Then there were the corporate transactions. In 1987, a Swiss bank linked to BCCI and a Saudi investor bailed out Harken Energy, where George W. Bush was a director, with $25 million in financing. At the Carlyle Group, investors from the House of Saud and their allies put at least $80 million into Carlyle funds. While it was owned by Carlyle, BDM and its subsidiary Vinnell received at least $1.188 billion in contracts from the Saudis. Finally, Halliburton inked at least $180 million in deals with the Saudis in November 2000, just after Dick Cheney began collecting a lucrative severance package there.

In all, at least $1.476 billion had made its way from the Saudis to the House of Bush and its allied companies and institutions. It could safely be said that never before in history had a presidential candidate -- much less a presidential candidate and his father, a former president -- been so closely tied financially and personally to the ruling family of another foreign power. Never before had a president's personal fortunes and public policies been so deeply entwined with another nation.

Ooo, sounds like Blair is much more the patsy than Bush. Ah well, not as many Britons died as Americans, so maybe he didn't earn the money like our President did, hm?

Whatever you want to say about the Royal Family Windsor and the publicity stunt of Prince Harry in Afghanistan... At least Harry went.

He might have had a security detail, but the British media kept the tour quiet, and Harry IS in the Royal Army. Not only that, but Prince William is slated to fight in the war as well. Wherever the two men are sent, at least as leaders, they have courage. Even with security, no one is really safe. I think the assassination of Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto proves that.

I think we can guess what the current administration's attitude is.

Who ordered another dose of winter?

Seriously. How warm was it yesterday? How cold is it today? I'm trying to figure out how to stay in the house all week and ignore the freeze. It's already not working, I had to check the mail (might have been a yarn catalogue in there!!!) and clean the front glass door.

Since I think I'm PMSing, or at least let's hope that's why I'm feelin' crabby, let's ruin Christmas for my sisters. Since this IS March, it's time Christmas was wrecked for them, don't you think? In fact, let's ruin the Little Goopa's birthday as well, since it was on Martin Luther King's birthday.

Goopa's Christmas, as modeled by the newly ear pierced Frygirl.


Little Goopa's birthday present sans sleeves. I sewed one on, then undid due to the crap job I did. I loathe finishing, the result is never good enough for me. My next task is to knit up swatches in this yarn and practice mattress stitching them together so this looks somewhat professional. Always the goal, you know.


Here we have the lovely Toppa's Christmas, perfect for wearing over a light shirt. This is perfect for the spring when it's sorta warm, sorta cold.


This isn't a Christmas present, it's mine. Finally, after a year, I'm calling this puppy done. It sat in my laundry room for nine months, gathering dust and pissing me off. I don't like UnFinished Objects and the KnitALong died on the vine. It's pretty busy as is, so all I did was weave a few beads on the front, none on the back due to the sitting on a pea feeling I knew I'd have. Pick up and knit around the sleeve edging, including beads along the way. Finally, I took some ribbon yarn and wove it in the yarn over holes lining the bottom hem. It gave the Not a Poncho some sparkle without overwhelming the garment. I love it and look forward to showing it off in real life sometime.




Progress on Fry's cardigan...


Here's the first sleeve at my favorite haunt, the computer. This is where my butt gets flat every day. There's a space heater at my feet, a TV to the left, and a fridge right behind me.


Oh, and a cat hanging around, too. I'd spent most of the morning upstairs, putting away laundry and he followed, meowing a "What? You don't like the space heater?" His fur gets ruffled if I don't keep to the schedule of feeding him, letting him sleep on the bed, and pushing the space heater closer to him.


Since we hang out together so much, I know his expression says, "I was sleeping. Leave me alone."