buzz, chirp

The Bird and the Bee have a new album out.
iTunes
Amazon
You can also download a free mp3 at thier site.

My Weekend or Sunday Night Pic Dump

Here are some pics of the weekend I took with my phone:


Ummmm, what??



Matching rain boots for Elah and myself.


A little bit of truth found on the interweb.


*sigh* They grow up so fast. My ward de facto son little cousin turned 21 on Friday. I took him to a dive bar for a quick beer on Saturday.


No, it's not the latest in elfen-wear, it's an un-seamed, un-felted Fiber Trends slipper in Tiger colors. I have no idea why it's on my head, I was tired and it seemed like a good idea.

One Last Post

One last post about this and then I'll leave it alone.
It's nice to know you're not alone.

Via 802 Online

Knitting?

Hey, isn't this kind of a knitting blog? What gives? I've been neglecting my knitting posts...sorry.

Remember the Solstice scarf I made for my little sister? Here are two progress shots of the many tentacled nightmare.



I also have four in and out shots of the mittens I made for Grayson.



Finally Is a pre-felt and post-felt picture of the Kristina bag I made for my step-mom's birthday. It was a super fast knit and I had a lot of fun. The magnetic closure showed on the outside so I crocheted a flower to cover it up.


I also have some socks on the needles in the Lorna's Laces I received via Yarn Aboard.

And I've been working on the Central Park Hoodie. The back is almost done and I'm working with Jo Sharp Silk Road. I love the yarn, it's so soft it almost feels like chenille and the tweedy goodness is brilliant.

Bah!

Stupid cyan messing up my plain black text printing.

clipped from www.epson.com Selected FAQ Q: The color ink cartridge is expended even though I print in black only. Why does this happen? A: To keep the print head clear, the printer uses a small amount of ink from all the cartridges whenever it prints and to keep the print head primed. Even if you select Black Only, some color ink is still being used.

Race

Kelly posed the following question on her blog and my short comment turned into a long comment. So I decided to make it a post. Following is Kelly's question and my response.

Have you ever done the "Un-American" thing and dated someone of another race? How did your family feel about it? Did you ever reject dating someone because they were ethnically different from you? Why? Have you ever wished you had the opportunity to do the "Un-American" thing if you've never done it before? Please let me know?

I have done the un-American thing. I’m Caucasian and I’ve dated men who are African-American, Pilipino, Hispanic, Japanese, Israeli, etc. For me it’s always been about who he is, not about what he is. I’m certainly not going to claim that I don’t see race (like Stephen Colbert :) or that it hasn’t been a issue in any of my relationships but it’s never been THE issue.

My family’s been cool, for which I feel lucky. Much of my family (they’re all from Louisiana and Mississippi) is very racist but my branch of the family has never been very close with that branch. My daughter, who is multi-racial (who isn’t?), has been wholeheartedly accepted into the family with none of her treatment or my family’s feelings toward her based on race (as far as I can tell). I do have one great aunt who, when told, said, “It was only a matter of time before we had one in the family.” I think the members of my family who are obviously racist are more like her, latent, ignorant racism, not the loud, marching in hoods, full of venom kind which I guess is something.

The hardest issue I’ve had with race is coming to terms with the fact that because my daughter has brown skin, I can never know what it’s like for her. Because of the shade of our skin people will make assumptions and treat us differently and I can listen to her and try to comfort her but I can never experience it. We want to protect our children from as much as we can but I wonder how I will protect her from something with which I can’t even identify.

Fuck Garrison Keillor (or Some of My Best Friends Are Gay)

Edit (and note to Anon):
I know what Garrison Keillor was trying to do. My points are that 1) His excuse of being in show business and his article being like the good natured ribbing with which he's allowed to get away is bull shit. It's akin to the "I can use the N word eventhough I'm white because I have some black friends. 2) I get his attempt but not the execution. In my opinion he did a piss poor job of tongue-in-cheek (his words) writing, or irony, or whatever else he may have been trying to communicate.

Frank Brannon puts it well (in the comments section), "What you wrote is not satirical nor witty. It's just another endless use of GLBTQ individuals as fodder for yet another media activity. You have to accept yourself as a part of that huge machination called media. We are used daily in its endless processing of humans. "

I stand by my original statement, "Fuck Garrison Keillor."

Have you read the ridiculously inflammatory op-ed piece by Garrison Keillor over at Salon? No? Well then, pop right over and observe Keillor prove himself a hypocrite, a homophobe and a bigot. Yay, a three-fer!
Don't have a premium subscription? Here are some choice bits:

I grew up the child of a mixed-gender marriage that lasted until death parted them…. Back in the day, that was the standard arrangement. Everyone had a yard, a garage, a female mom, a male dad, and a refrigerator with leftover boiled potatoes in plastic dishes with snap-on lids….

Under the old monogamous system, we didn’t have the problem of apportioning Thanksgiving and Christmas among your mother and stepdad, your dad and his third wife, your mother-in-law and her boyfriend Hal, and your father-in-law and his boyfriend Chuck. Today, serial monogamy has stretched the extended family to the breaking point. A child can now grow up with eight or nine or 10 grandparents—Gampa, Gammy, Goopa, Gumby, Papa, Poopsy, Goofy, Gaga and Chuck—and need a program to keep track of the actors.

Wow. I'd just like to point out that Keillor has been married three times. Two of these marriages have produced children. And I shouldn't be surprised that no mention is made of the millions who grew up in loveless homes with alcoholic parents who stayed together "for the sake of the children." He's right, those were much better times...jackass.

Want more? Let's see home many stereotypes he can cram into one sentence!

And now gay marriage will produce a whole new string of hyphenated relatives. In addition to the ex-stepson and ex-in-laws and your wife’s first husband’s second wife, there now will be Bruce and Kevin’s in-laws and Bruce’s ex, Mark, and Mark’s current partner, and I suppose we’ll get used to it.

The country has come to accept stereotypical gay men—sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers and go in for flamboyance now and then themselves. If they want to be accepted as couples and daddies, however, the flamboyance may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear chartreuse pants and black polka-dot shirts. That’s for the kids. It’s their show.

What!!?? I do have to agree that no one has a right to wear chartreuse pants but I extend that rule to everyone regardless of who they love. I am shocked that people can continue to be so ignorant, that they can judge the character of a person based on who they love, that they can begrudge people in love-filled relationships the right to create their families. I certainly have something he can cram.

I am so furious I could spit.

Fashion Plate

I was avoiding homework and going through old photos when I came across this series from last summer. Cute & hilarious, what more could you want?

Pic hosted on Flickr.

Rhiannon Socks

Rhiannon Socks
Originally uploaded by knit cookie.

I saw these and immediately thought "Stoneking!"
Cookie has a new site where you can buy this and more practical sock patterns.

Amigurumi Katamari

I love to knit! Crochet is just OK, but every pattern in this store makes me want to hook.

Stán Cynedóm

So the other white meat Emily has a new blog. Go check it out for a heaping dose of Old English, knitting and general nerdliness.

And a big ol' congratulations to Eunny on her first day of her new job! Swing by (as if you hadn't already) to take in some knitting deliciousness and say hi.

Happy Pi-nstein Day

This is from the latest mental_floss e-newsletter.

Is it just us, or does everything seem to be really pleasant all of a sudden? The sun is shining, songbirds are harmonizing their chirps, and even the neighborhood bully seems a tad less obnoxious — we watched him slug three kids at the bus stop today instead of his usual six. Yes, everything seems a little too perfect with the world, and we didn't understand why until we channeled a little Nostradamus and started to analyze the dates.

The truth is, every once in a while two holidays overlap, and everything seems to go eerily right. Christmas and Chanukah will come remarkably close, or Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan might share space on the calendar, and everyone seems to be happy at the same time. But one thing that never struck us until this year is that the two holiest of High Nerd Holidays are ALWAYS aligned. That's right: Albert Einstein's birthday and International Pi Day both fall on 3/14. And while we'll be busy spending our vacation petitioning the local school districts to give everyone the day off (or giving everyone an extra hour of physics and geometry in "celebration" of the event), we just figured we'd let you know. After all, if your boss gives you a raise, and all the traffic lights turn green as you pull up to them, you'll want to know who to blame.

Homework :(

I stayed in my office until just after 8 tonight because I knew I'd get more homework done there than at home where I can easily distract myself. I was productive but I also managed to waste a teensy bit o' time. Observe my new wallpaper on my work computer.

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.

Looks like fun, I'd like to try.

I'm Back!

My computer is finally back home and E and I are freshly back from FL. I have a ton to tell you and even some knitting content to share. I'm trying to finish up some homework for this weekend so it might have to wait until Sunday but I'll leave you with this.