Here’s my scarf for the Librivox knitting project:
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It’s obviously not done yet, but the double-knitting on size 3 needles is going very slowly, so I put up that picture on the pattern on the KnitWiki. I may or may not update the picture when I finish the scarf – depends on how long it is, and how I have to fold it up (or not) for the picture.
I kind of fucked up the fringe – I made the fringe according to the instructions in the original pattern I was working with, and didn’t realize I should double the yarn. But that’s cool, because I don’t really know if I like the fringe anyway, so I was going to take it off. I just knit it up and sewed it on for the picture. But now I have a bit of a quandary: do I redo the fringe by knitting it with doubled yarn? OR – do I try out this idea I had for stringing beads on the fringe, in which case singled yarn might work better? Yeah? Beaded, looped fringe? What do we think?
My tattoo has finally stopped weeping, and it is looking so good! It’s healing very nicely.
And I got Amanda Palmer’s solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, and it is FUCKING FANTASTIC. (No surprise there. If you’re not familiar with her, you need to fix that – and also check out her band with Brian Viglione: the Dresden Dolls.) I cannot stop listening to “Runs in the Family.”
Beyond fucked up: Muslim Children Gassed at Dayton Mosque After “Obsession” DVD Hits Ohio
An excerpt:
“She tells me that her daughters slept with her last night, the little one in her arms and sobbing throughout the night. She tells me she is afraid, and will never return to the mosque, and I wonder what kind of country is this where people have to fear attending their place of worship?“The children come into the room, and tell me they want to leave America and return to Syria, where they had fled to from Iraq. They say they like me, … , and other American friends — but they are too afraid and want to leave. Should a 6 and 7 year old even have to contemplate the safety of their living situation?
Absolutely not. Childhood should be for playing and growing up slowly – not for learning to fear for your life. And make no mistake, the distribution of these dvds in swing states is a campaign tactic of McCain/Palin supporters, trying to drum up fear and hate and garner some more votes because of it. It’s ignorant, it’s hateful, and it’s inexcusable. Don’t let these fuckers get away with this shit.
Friday, after Greg got back from band practice, we went to Milltown and had their scrumptious artichoke and sundried tomato dip, and POUTINE! I like poutine. Milltown’s is pretty good, although for some reason I thought the gravy was supposed to be brown, and they used a white gravy. We’ve decided to make it at home and do it a little differently: brown gravy instead of white, and thicker cut fries instead of shoestring. But Milltown’s poutine is still delicious. We have to go back sometime to try the Belgian frites and the English chips, too. Yum!
Yesterday, we ended up going out to Durham, to Dogstar, and I got a new tattoo that I’ve been wanting for ages:
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I fucking love it! (And in case you’re wondering/in the area/know people at Dogstar/looking for a recommendation, I heartily recommend both Dogstar in general, and William, who did my tattoo yesterday. His chairside manner is excellent.) It’s a Mackintosh rose. Now I just need to figure out what I want for the art nouveau/art deco sleeve I was thinking about getting after this tattoo – I’d really thought it was much, much further in the future than it seems to be. (I wasn’t expecting to get the Mackintosh rose any time soon. What a lovely surprise.) Then last night, we went over to Will and Kimberly’s for dinner – and they spoiled us, pretty much. We had chili, corn bread, and key lime pie. AND we played games: the Xanth boardgame (which, now that I know how to play, I would love to play again, ahem) and Disney trivia (which was very fun!).
Today, I had to make up some work – but afterward, Greg and I went to the Carrboro Music Festival to see two bands of friends of ours: T.Rox and Mystery Road. Here’s T.Rox:
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And here’s Mystery Road (unfortunately, Elana is hidden in this shot, and I was too wimpy to walk over people and get a better shot):
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After catching some of both T.Rox’s and Mystery Road’s sets (unfortunately, they were on at the same time, so we only saw about half of each set, boo), we went to Sitar for dinner with Jeremy and Kimmie, and that was yummy! And now I am going to fall into a food coma. Mmmmm.
PS – One of Greg’s bands, Armored Uprise, is playing Thursday of next week (the 9th) at the Brewery (Raleigh), in the “Slave to the Metal Showcase with Mistress Juliya” (yes, the one from Fuse).
PPS – REGISTER TO VOTE! And then vote! I know out here, early voting is Oct. 16th through Nov. 1st, and you can even register AT the early voting sites right before you vote. You have no excuse not to. DO IT!
Pictures soon. This weekend has been pretty fucking stupendous so far – just absolutely wonderful and indulgent. Fun! Anyway, I’ve been reading alot lately, and come across some funny/amusing/timely/whatever passages, passages that just tickled me because they seemed to arrive with a “cleansing burst of synchronicity” (thank you, Demian), so I’m posting them:
-The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde:
The receptionist leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“To tell you the truth, Miss Next, I hate Milton. His early stuff is okay, I suppose, but he disappeared up his own arse after Charlie got his head lopped off. Goes to show you what too much republicanism does for you.”
-Something Rotten, Jasper Fforde:
“Why is Kaine blaming the nation’s woes on the Danish?” I asked.
“Because economically we’re in a serious mess after losing to Russia in the Crimean War. They didn’t just get Tunbridge Wells as war reparations but a huge chunk of cash, too. The country is near bankruptcy, Kaine wants to stay in power, so–”
“Misdirection.”
“Bingo. He blames someone else.”
-Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko:
What did we in the Night Watch think we were doing? Divide and protect? Nonsense! Not a single Dark One, not a single Day Watch, caused people as much harm as they caused themselves. What was one hungry vampire compared to the average maniac who raped and murdered little girls in elevators? What was one hardhearted witch who put a hex on someone for money, compared with a humane president who launched his high-accuracy rockets for the sake of oil?
-The Saltmarsh Murders, Gladys Mitchell:
“I never did, and I never shall, believe that vile things affect the minds of any but the vile,” she said, firmly. “Besides, evil and filth are the most incomparably dull, boring, surfeiting things in the world. See the published works of George Bernard Shaw.” She hooted. “Corruption, as he indicates, is not only nauseating to the senses, but it palls upon the imagination. Evil is the devil’s worst advocate. Refer again to the above-mentioned sources. Why, child, you, as a priest, should know that it is the little insidious vices, treachery, malice, envy, jealousy and greed, covetousness, slandering, sentimentality and self-deception that enslave mankind, not filthy postcards and erotic literature, Mrs. Grundy, my dear.”
And now, I’m going to do the laundry (I am up RIDICULOUSLY early on a Sunday), and find a recipe for Battenberg.
I am reposting this from Jj’s livejournal, because Marcy Kaptur is a hot bitch and I love her. Get a load of this, y’all:
I’m also reposting this other video, from Cabinet of Wonders, because I know Sarah reads my blog and I want to introduce her to the wonders of Stephen Fry, in case she isn’t already familiar. (P.s. and by the way, Sarah, if you liked the Jeeves and Wooster book Greg and I gave you last year for your birthday, Stephen Fry plays Jeeves in the tv series, and he’s fantastic.)
So….the more she talks, the more I’m beginning to wonder if McCain has put his campaign on hold because he (or the powers that be that picked Palin, I guess) is finally realizing what a galloping moron she is, and that the more publicity she gets, the more his campaign is going to go down the toilet. I’m wondering if this is really some attempt at damage control, to keep her out of the spotlight as much as possible.
Since there’s really no reason to put his campaign on hold anyway, what are the chances it’ll come off hold before the elections? And *can* he stop campaigning between now and November and still be a candidate? Today is already like “Merry Christmas to ME!” (for reasons I can’t divulge here, but trust me, it’s awesome), so if there’s even the remotest chance he might just withdraw…? I know, I know, not going to happen – but just let me imagine it for a moment, okay?
Now I’m off to find more awesome, awesome clips of Palin talking. Be still my heart!
David Letterman is a hot bitch: McCain was supposed to make an appearance on his show, but cancelled at the last minute because he was “immediately getting on a plane for DC to go fix the economy.” Except…not so much. He really just dissed on Letterman to go do an interview with Katie Couric. And Letterman calls him out on it! Hot shit. See for yourself:
I also think Letterman has a solid point about McCain’s decision to put his campaign on hold, rather than let Palin step in and handle it for a while. This clip just made my day.
1:30 in the goddamn morning, and I can’t fucking sleep. I decide maybe it’s because I’m too hot, so I go out to turn the thermostat down, and smell smoke.
So now it’s 2:00 fucking am, and it smells like someone burnt the hell out of their dinner in the hallway, only who makes dinner at 2:00 am? So of course I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight, and I didn’t sleep well at all last night, or the night before, or for a while, so it looks like I’ll be having to stay home today. Just fucking great. And most likely because some douchebag got the munchies at 1:30am and had to scorch their fucking food. Which, don’t get me wrong, is far better than an actual fire, but I’d still prefer there was no smokey smell. Jesus.
Quick hits – go check ‘em out. (Edited to add: wow. This turned out to be rather longer than I thought it would when I started to post these “quick hits.” Probably because I have opinions about them and felt entitled to share them with you, seeing as how it’s my blog you’re reading. Whatever. You love it.)
Damn straight:
1.The brilliant, hilarious, gorgeous Selene Luna writes an open letter to Mr. and Mrs. America
2.Margaret Cho takes some fucking fuckers to task
3.An email about Palin, by a Wasilla resident who has known Palin since ’92
4.Gee, even *Conservatives* don’t like McCain/Palin, imagine that
Are you fucking kidding me?:
1.Palin made rape victims pay for their own exams
2.Did McCain (or one of his writers) plagiarize his speech on Georgia from wikipedia?!?
3.Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., on Palin’s reading list (I’m putting this under “AYFKM?” because…really? REALLY? We’re quoting an avowed racist in our acceptance speech, and that shit’s going to fly? DAMN. What. the. fuck. Palin.)
4.McCain knows fuckall about the economy First of all, when you go from saying the economy is sound and better than it was eight years ago to saying that we’re in a time of crisis – um, isn’t that flip-flopping? I’m just curious. Second of all, one of his top economic advisors, Phil Gramm, says it’s only a “mental recession” and we’re “a nation of whiners.” I guess all that shit with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and AIG is a figment of my imagination. But if that’s so, how come the media’s reporting on it?! How’d they get in my head! (Time for tinfoil hats, I guess.) Third of all, his “experience and leadership” are “necessary in a ‘time of crisis’”? (Quoted from the NYTimes article linked first.) Give me a fucking break. The man voted with Bush 95% of the time in 2007, and 100% of the time in 2008, which means his “experience and leadership” agreed with the shitty decision-making (or should I say “Decider-ing”?) that got us in this mess in the first place, so how the fuck is it going to get us out? It’s not.
5.Palin apparently thinks Iraq was behind 9/11 What the fuck has she been doing for the past seven years in Alaska? Oh that’s right, being governor for less than two years, mayor of Wasilla for six years, and I guess killing ALOT of animals and not paying attention to any national or international news. But you can see Russia from an island in Alaska, or something. I thought it was just a funny group on facebook, but I guess it’s true: even *I* know more about foreign policy than Sarah Palin. And that’s NOT a good thing, folks, when you’re talking about someone a heartbeat away from the presidency. (I know that “heartbeat away…” shit has been quoted to death, but for reals, can we talk about how McCain has had cancer four times already? Sweet jesus, y’all. Cancer is serious, and will fuck you up. I’m not saying we should discriminate, I’m just saying…the man is seventy-two, and the cancer’s already come knocking four times, it’s coming back. I mean, it just is. So that trite “heartbeat away…” shit is actually dead-on. Palin is probably closer to the presidency than alot of the other veep picks have ever been.) (And I’m not joking about cancer – that horrible pun was accidental, but I’m leaving it, because I like bad puns and bad jokes. Except for the bad joke that is McCain/Palin! ZING! I’m here all week, folks. Don’t try the lobster, there isn’t any.)
6.Think McCain’s a “champion” of the middle and working classes, and a “regular guy” like the rest of us? Think again – check out Cindy’s $300,000 outfit. Or McCain’s $520 pair of shoes. Or shit, why don’t you read up on Cindy’s worth as beer distributor heiress and compare that to what Obama and Michelle have made from 2000 – 2007: only $8mil (small change compared to McCain and Cindy’s combined worth). So…I don’t think the Obamas are the elitests here. They may make ridiculously more money than Greg and I do, but 1-Obama’s a senator, so I *hope* he gets paid more than I do, and 2-he’s still miles and miles and miles and miles closer to being “in touch with the people” than McCain is.
7. I first came across this on a celeb gossip blog like two weeks ago, but I’m too lazy to go trawling through that site for the picture, so I googled it and got the Nation’s article: What the fuck does the McCain/Palin campaign have to say about McCain and now-co-manager of his campaign Rick Davis being buddy-buddy with a convicted conman? Looks like…nothing. They’re really not going to address this, other than to say it’s a “passing acquaintance?” REALLY? I’ve had a few passing acquaintances in my years, quite a few actually, considering what the term *usually* implies (you know, only it’s definition), and not one of them has thrown me a huge-ass birthday party on a yacht in Montenegro. Not one of them has contacted my lobbying firm to offer me an investment deal and help in securing the Catholic vote. And I think the fact that I don’t actually *have* a lobbying firm isn’t really pertinent. I’m just saying – none of my many passing acquaintances have hooked me up. I guess I’m doing it wrong. Damn. I need to get on fixing that, if parties on yachts in far-off lands with movie stars is what “passing acquaintances” really implies. Shit.
8. If you didn’t already know, and you didn’t read the comments on this post of mine, and therefore missed *me* breaking it down a little for ya and expressing my outrage, then hop on over to MOMocrats, and read up on how a self-proclaimed advocate for special needs kids slashed special needs funding 62%. Fucking vile and disgusting, but not surprising, really.
9.Palin filed an ethics complaint against herself, in order to move the “Troopergate” investigation from Alaska’s legislature to the three-member board SHE OVERSEES Damn, if that doesn’t read like it’s an example straight out of an ethics textbook on “ethics, sheer lack of any.” I would laugh about it, if it wasn’t so fucking depressing.
10.A whole smorgasbord of stomach-turning, ire-inspiring facts about Sarah Palin thanks to facebook group 1,000,000 Strong Against Sarah Palin (you’ll need a facebook login to see that) – but one thing that jumps out at me (among a mind-boggling array of other examples of fuckery) is she’s a member of Feminists for Life?!? You, lady, are no feminist. You and Phyllis Schlafly and your ilk need to practice what you preach, and get in the fucking kitchen already. (I’m half-kidding. *I* think women should have choices, like everyone should have choices, but I sometimes do fervently wish that Feminists for Life and Phyllis Schlafly’s bunch and all the rest that call themselves feminists but are anything BUT feminist would just shut up already and get in a kitchen, take their shoes off, and have some damn babies. You want to do it, fine, YOU do it, and leave me the fuck alone to make my own choices. Like those fuckers that booed “hope” at the RNC – let’s think about this for minute. You’re booing hope, so presumably you’re embracing a world without hope, a world that is depressed and depressing. So follow it out to its logical conclusion, and kill yourself already. Me and the rest of the peeps will live in the nasty, nasty, awful hope-filled world. We’re strong, we can take it. It’ll be tough, because hope is so…yeah, I can’t even finish the smartassery, the idea of hope being a bad thing is so ridiculous to me.)
There’s plenty more where all this came from, trust. I’m just tired of posting it right now. I happen to know someone who said they didn’t want a (direct quote, mind you, except for the asterisks – that’s all me being classy, they actually said the word) “Communist n****r” in the White House. Now, they were probably already voting for McCain anyway, but still. I’m fucking outraged, for a couple reasons. To wit: 1-When did I get sucked back to the 1950s? How the fuck do you think it’s acceptable to say that shit like it’s not just utterly, utterly, UTTERLY fucked up and wrong and hateful? (P.s. and by the way, the reason that person felt entitled to make such a proclamation? Racism and WHITE PRIVILEGE. Here’s the thing – if you’re benefiting from white privilege, you’re benefiting from racism, and that’s heinous. Just keep that in mind. And in case you’re wondering, NO, white people will not be suffering when we finally get rid of white privilege – we won’t lose anything, except undeserved privilege, everyone else will just be brought up onto the same “playing field,” as it were. I hate that phrase, but I hope you see my point.) 2-Obama is NOT a Communist. He might be *relatively* more Communistic than McCain when you compare the two, but I don’t see how that’s a bad thing, and he’s still not an out and out Communist. To my mind, the word “Communism” is linked to “community” and implies a primary concern with the people; “Capitalism” is linked to “capital,” and implies a primary concern with making money. How is our president being more concerned with the people than he is with making money a bad thing? I mean, a bad thing for US. I can see how that standpoint would be a bad thing for corporations. Also, I feel like people are losing sight of the fact that corporations don’t exist in a vacuum, they’re not some sort of naturally-occurring entity. People have to run them, and so when we talk about these corporations and tax breaks for them and the free market and whatnot, we’re also talking about the people who run these corporations. Talking about letting the market be free and shit, talking about tax breaks for corporations or whatever, we’re really talking about privileging the people who run the corporations, RICH people, and I think people forget that, and it’s less transparent that we’re privileging rich people, no matter how much we try to present ourselves as some sort of rule-breaking, free-market maverick. I’m veering off into a whole nother post on how I think the Libertarian party is dangerous and tricksy and you shouldn’t fall for their whole schtick completely, so I’ll move on to my third point: 3-Let’s suppose for half a minute that Obama really is a Communist. I still would rather have him in the White House than a pair of hypocritical, lying jackasses who know fuckall about: the economy and how to fix it; the environment and how to stop fucking it up some more; foreign policy and how to not fuck *that* up some more; being actual good Christians or advocates of worthy causes instead of just *claiming* they are…You see where I’m going with this? Yeah.
Need a laugh/some hope/some cuteness/a little pick-me-up after all that?:
1.Sara Benincasa is the shit, and you should watch all of her Palin vlogs, but I think this is my current favorite
2.Gina Gershon rips Sarah Palin a new one
3.Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton) What’s funny to me here is that some of the McCain/Palin aides or spokespeople are outraged and calling this sexist (although I don’t hear them saying SHIT about Amy Poehler’s performance, and sticking up for Clinton), but apparently Sarah Palin thought it was funny because she’s dressed up as Tina Fey for Hallowe’en before. Wow. She really is dumb as a fucking post, huh. (And I have to say, to me, Poehler-as-Clinton came off as more of an extreme caricature based on stereotypes and Clinton-bashing, and I don’t think Clinton comes off as that bad based on the skit. But Fey-as-Palin…? Didn’t strike me so much as a caricature as it did a dead-on, balls-accurate impression. Maybe that’s why some people are huffy about it.)
4.A ridiculously adorable cat that knows how to play “Red Light, Green Light” Want!
5.A reason not to be depressed over the polls: cell phones
6.Selene Luna’s got Schtick-el Cell Anemia Shit cracks me up. If you catch me saying “Gadzooks!” or “…I don’t even know her!”, now you know where I caught it from.
7.REGISTER TO VOTE ONLINE, BITCHES. IT ONLY TAKES THREE MINUTES. NOW YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE. I understand you can also register to vote online on a site affiliated with McCain/Palin. Now, while I will say I think it is extremely important for everyone who can vote to register and vote, regardless of who you’re voting for, OBVIOUSLY I’m endorsing Obama/Biden, so I’m not about to link to that McCain/Palin endorsing site. You can go google for that shit on your own, if you’re so inclined. (Although I think you can still register to vote through the Vote for Change site, I don’t think you *have* to be voting Obama/Biden to register there, but maybe it’s that distasteful to McCain/Palin supporters. I don’t know.)
