Although it's been 6 months since I last posted, I haven't died, or stopped knitting. I've just been battling anemia, busy with my class (much nicer this year, and smaller in size as well), and doing some major cleaning and reorganizing. I've also been trying to do more real cooking, as opposed to either skipping dinner or heating up a frozen dinner. I used to cook a lot, and loved it, but that was when it wasn't just me to cook for. Now, I struggle to cook for one, or even two with leftovers. All my old recipes feed 6 or more, and I truly don't want to make something and have 5 days of leftovers. So, I've been adapting old receipes, not all successfully, and trying to find new ones. I keep hearing that Singles are a large minority, but there are very few cookbooks or cooking sites that recognize that. And frankly, one can't be giving dinner parties every night, you know?
At any rate, I'm still here. Taking stock of my self and my life as the New Year approaches. I'm not making Resolutions, however. I think they are greatly overrated. I mean, the gym is packed in January, and empty in February. I'm taking some time to really think things over, and decide what, if any, changes should be made. This might be the year I move out of this place I'm in. Old building, no amenities of any kind, (not even a garbage disposal!), and a noisy, busy street out front. And with my arthritis (knees) getting worse, I'm thinking maybe a first floor place is better for me. (Although I count my trips up and down the stairs as exercise, which I should be doing more of).
So, knitting. I am doing some, especially since my Winter break didn't start until the 24th this year, and I don't go back to work until Jan. 9th. I seem to have time on my hands, a luxury for me. I've been working on a sweater, my own design, using a stitch pattern I found in one of Barbara Walker's books. I screwed up a row the other day, and I just put it aside for a few days. I know that won't fix it, but I needed a time out as much as it did. Cast on for a cowl, because it's been bloody cold here already, and our winter hasn't started. I woke up to the low 30s for more than a week, which is about 20 degrees colder than normal around here. I leave home before 7 am, and often have playground duty before 8, so a cowl or two will be very welcome. If it was that cold in November and early December, then January and February, our real winter months, promise to be much more winter-like than usual. Cowls and fingerless mitts. Living in SoCal, I never really thought I'd need them, but climate change knows no boundaries, I guess.
As this last day of 2011 draws to a close, I wish all of you a terrific and satisfying 2012. May it hold everything you need and desire. And may it bring a level of sanity and civility to those who lost those things in 2011.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
A Reflection
On Friday, I attended the funeral of a woman who worked with my students as a PE teacher once a week. She'd been doing this for several years. I didn't know her well ~ she provided part of my planning period, so I rarely got to spend any time with her. She also sold jewelry, by catalog, once in a while. She died on June 1st, in a one-car accident on the freeway, near my school.
We found out the next day, the day she would have been there to teach PE. The principal asked us not to tell the students; he wanted to do that. For a variety of reasons, he didn't do that until June 7th. My kids seemed to be okay with the news. Some had already known, or suspected. I fielded a few questions on Monday and Tuesday, before the official announcement.
This woman ~ call her Sandy (not her real name) ~ was not well liked by my students. They often complained that she was mean, and I had heard that in other years as well. She did tend to yell at them, but then, they were outside, often far apart, and more often than not, being noisy, so maybe it was just raising her voice to be heard.
She seemed to be a lonely person. Sandy was the sole support of her widowed brother and his two sons, I know. She approached me, this year, about going to some baseball games at a local stadium. Not major league games, not even, I think, minor league. I'm still a bit vague about it. I was stunned when she asked me, since, as I said, I didn't know her very well. I was sick at the time, and told her I'd think about it and get back to her. She was dead before I did. I still have no real idea of why she would ask me. I'd never given any indication that I would be interested in going to any sort of athletic event. My teaching partner was, and is, a much more likely candidate for that sort of thing, and she was sitting with me when Sandy asked me.
There were rumours about her death. I heard that it was suicide, that she was despondent over a meeting at the district when she was chastized about some harsh words she'd said to students. I don't know if that is true. She had a Catholic funeral, so I doubt the official verdict was suicide, given their stand on that.
The funeral, though, was odd. There was no body, for one thing. If she died on June 1st, and her funeral was June 10th, there was certainly time for the body to be released, at least I think so. I suspect that there was an autopsy, given that it was a single car incident. They'd be looking, no doubt, for any medical reason for her to crash into a post on the freeway. (I can't remember what they call those things that support overpasses) I do know that she was going fast enough at the time to damage the post badly enough that the county had to send a crew out to inspect the post to see if it was still sound enough to support the weight of the overpass.
Sandy had a fairly large family. Her parents, 1 sister, 2 brothers, 2 nephews. One of the nephews gave the eulogy ~ which was also odd. It wasn't personal at all. He read a paper she'd written many years before, about her goals in her pursuit of a degree in adaptive physical education. It was dry and impersonal, and her nephew added nothing to it, except to say his aunt would be missed. No other family member spoke.
It was all a little unsettling. Her death, the district's handling of notification, the funeral. Odd. I don't like funerals in general, but I've never been to one that left so many questions behind. Or one that didn't have a body. The priest mentioned it, but gave no reason for not having it there. Didn't say it had been cremated, but even if they were going to do that, it's customary to do so after the funeral. Where is it? Why hasn't it been released to the family? Did they find something medical? Was it suicide? What happened to this woman who has been a part of our school's life, and many other schools' lives, for so many years? And why didn't her family say anything personal and sympathetic about her? Three of them depended on her for their financial support. They couldn't find anything nice to say about her? This whole thing has left me very unsettled.
Maybe it's just me. I've been sick with pneumonia and pernicious anemia for the last month or so, not working for much of it, hospitalized for a large part of it as well, or home on doctor's orders for bed rest, in between all the tests I've been subjected to. It's left me feeling a bit out of it, at best. So, maybe it is just me.
We found out the next day, the day she would have been there to teach PE. The principal asked us not to tell the students; he wanted to do that. For a variety of reasons, he didn't do that until June 7th. My kids seemed to be okay with the news. Some had already known, or suspected. I fielded a few questions on Monday and Tuesday, before the official announcement.
This woman ~ call her Sandy (not her real name) ~ was not well liked by my students. They often complained that she was mean, and I had heard that in other years as well. She did tend to yell at them, but then, they were outside, often far apart, and more often than not, being noisy, so maybe it was just raising her voice to be heard.
She seemed to be a lonely person. Sandy was the sole support of her widowed brother and his two sons, I know. She approached me, this year, about going to some baseball games at a local stadium. Not major league games, not even, I think, minor league. I'm still a bit vague about it. I was stunned when she asked me, since, as I said, I didn't know her very well. I was sick at the time, and told her I'd think about it and get back to her. She was dead before I did. I still have no real idea of why she would ask me. I'd never given any indication that I would be interested in going to any sort of athletic event. My teaching partner was, and is, a much more likely candidate for that sort of thing, and she was sitting with me when Sandy asked me.
There were rumours about her death. I heard that it was suicide, that she was despondent over a meeting at the district when she was chastized about some harsh words she'd said to students. I don't know if that is true. She had a Catholic funeral, so I doubt the official verdict was suicide, given their stand on that.
The funeral, though, was odd. There was no body, for one thing. If she died on June 1st, and her funeral was June 10th, there was certainly time for the body to be released, at least I think so. I suspect that there was an autopsy, given that it was a single car incident. They'd be looking, no doubt, for any medical reason for her to crash into a post on the freeway. (I can't remember what they call those things that support overpasses) I do know that she was going fast enough at the time to damage the post badly enough that the county had to send a crew out to inspect the post to see if it was still sound enough to support the weight of the overpass.
Sandy had a fairly large family. Her parents, 1 sister, 2 brothers, 2 nephews. One of the nephews gave the eulogy ~ which was also odd. It wasn't personal at all. He read a paper she'd written many years before, about her goals in her pursuit of a degree in adaptive physical education. It was dry and impersonal, and her nephew added nothing to it, except to say his aunt would be missed. No other family member spoke.
It was all a little unsettling. Her death, the district's handling of notification, the funeral. Odd. I don't like funerals in general, but I've never been to one that left so many questions behind. Or one that didn't have a body. The priest mentioned it, but gave no reason for not having it there. Didn't say it had been cremated, but even if they were going to do that, it's customary to do so after the funeral. Where is it? Why hasn't it been released to the family? Did they find something medical? Was it suicide? What happened to this woman who has been a part of our school's life, and many other schools' lives, for so many years? And why didn't her family say anything personal and sympathetic about her? Three of them depended on her for their financial support. They couldn't find anything nice to say about her? This whole thing has left me very unsettled.
Maybe it's just me. I've been sick with pneumonia and pernicious anemia for the last month or so, not working for much of it, hospitalized for a large part of it as well, or home on doctor's orders for bed rest, in between all the tests I've been subjected to. It's left me feeling a bit out of it, at best. So, maybe it is just me.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
KnitGirllls Afghan Swap
I just received my four names for the people I'll be knitting afgan squares for over the next 8 months. I'm excited to get started on them! Of course, I checked out the home pages for all of them, and looked at their projects and queues. And it occured to me that if whoever got me does the same, they'll be pretty disappointed in the information they can glean from it.
So ~ for any Ravelers looking for info to help with the KGASS, I've been knitting for over 40 years, I adore cables and textural stitches, I'm a coffee and chocolate (dark) addict, I've been a teacher for 22 years, mostly (20 years) 5th grade. (I love their sense of humor!) I read a lot, collect knitting patterns, yarn, books, and am always on the lookout for interesting food items ~ cheeses, jams/jellies, spices, bbq sauces, etc. As you will have noticed, I don't post a lot of information about me or my knitting here or on Ravelry. Well, I talk about my knitting here, but pictures are almost non-existant. I'm working on fixing that, but it will be awhile still.
Anyway, on to afghan square knitting!
So ~ for any Ravelers looking for info to help with the KGASS, I've been knitting for over 40 years, I adore cables and textural stitches, I'm a coffee and chocolate (dark) addict, I've been a teacher for 22 years, mostly (20 years) 5th grade. (I love their sense of humor!) I read a lot, collect knitting patterns, yarn, books, and am always on the lookout for interesting food items ~ cheeses, jams/jellies, spices, bbq sauces, etc. As you will have noticed, I don't post a lot of information about me or my knitting here or on Ravelry. Well, I talk about my knitting here, but pictures are almost non-existant. I'm working on fixing that, but it will be awhile still.
Anyway, on to afghan square knitting!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Moving my politics to a new home
I've realized that I need to move my political posts to a new home. An occasional rant is okay, but the way America is going, I'm going to have much more than an occasional political post. I will stick to knitting on this blog from now on. Political stuff can be found at A Teacher's Reflection from now on.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Follow-Up to My Last Post
I am both apalled and outraged by the cowardly action of the Wisconsin Republican Senators and their ringleader, Scott Walker. Using an unethical, and probably illegal, method, they passed their discriminatory anti-union bill without having a single Democratic vote. The 14 Democratic Senators are still out of state, and they weren't even advised of the vote, much less present for it.
Their actions are completely un-American. I can't believe anyone growing up in America, with all the benefits that confers on us, would participate in what is clearly a power grab by an arrogant Republican, who seems ready to use any methods to consolidate all power in his hands, and use that power to destroy the middle class, their state constitution, the environment, and turn Wisconsin into a Corporate State. Portions of that law give Walker the right to sell, without any oversight from anyone, any energy plant he wants, to allow the use of public land for any purpose he desires. It strips every public employee, except the police and firemen (whose unions support(hopefully that is past tense, now) Republican candidates, of any union benefits.
Republicans made sure that the Wall St. companies honored their contracts to give employees enormous bonuses, saying we had to allow them to do that so that they could continue to entice the "best and brightest" people to work for them. What a crock. Their "best and brightest" already managed to crash the US economy. The Republicans wanted to make sure they paid those villains millions of dollars so they can do it again? But teachers, nurses, health care workers, custodians ~ Republicans don't think they're worth honoring. Cut their pay, take away their unions, fire them for any reason whatsoever ~ like demonstrating against this sickening display of arrogance? ~ it's okay to do that. They're only the middle class. Republicans don't have any interest in them. Middle class people aren't rich enough to be considered, I guess.
I am just sick over this. No matter what party you belong to, I hope you realize what this means to America. It's the end of the middle class, if we allow this attack to succeed. Remember that old saying, "First they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish so I didn't protest. Then they came for the Catholics, and I wasn't Catholic, so.... And then they came for me, but there was no one left to protest."
Their actions are completely un-American. I can't believe anyone growing up in America, with all the benefits that confers on us, would participate in what is clearly a power grab by an arrogant Republican, who seems ready to use any methods to consolidate all power in his hands, and use that power to destroy the middle class, their state constitution, the environment, and turn Wisconsin into a Corporate State. Portions of that law give Walker the right to sell, without any oversight from anyone, any energy plant he wants, to allow the use of public land for any purpose he desires. It strips every public employee, except the police and firemen (whose unions support(hopefully that is past tense, now) Republican candidates, of any union benefits.
Republicans made sure that the Wall St. companies honored their contracts to give employees enormous bonuses, saying we had to allow them to do that so that they could continue to entice the "best and brightest" people to work for them. What a crock. Their "best and brightest" already managed to crash the US economy. The Republicans wanted to make sure they paid those villains millions of dollars so they can do it again? But teachers, nurses, health care workers, custodians ~ Republicans don't think they're worth honoring. Cut their pay, take away their unions, fire them for any reason whatsoever ~ like demonstrating against this sickening display of arrogance? ~ it's okay to do that. They're only the middle class. Republicans don't have any interest in them. Middle class people aren't rich enough to be considered, I guess.
I am just sick over this. No matter what party you belong to, I hope you realize what this means to America. It's the end of the middle class, if we allow this attack to succeed. Remember that old saying, "First they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish so I didn't protest. Then they came for the Catholics, and I wasn't Catholic, so.... And then they came for me, but there was no one left to protest."
Saturday, March 5, 2011
A Political Post, so you may want to avert your eyes
Well, hopefully you won't, but who knows? I think anyone who reads my blog knows I lean liberal, politically. I voted for Obama, and I'll likely vote for him again. I support the Health Care Reform he got passed. I think he's too careful, and too in love with the "bipartisan" bit, but I still support him.
And given what's happening in Wisconsin, I hope many, many more people will begin to support him, as well. The national media isn't really covering it, but Gov. Scott Walker is busy creating his own fiefdom in Wisconsin. He has pushed through, with the connivance of the Republicans in their legislature, laws that give the governor unprecedented power. Suddenly, he gets to make all the rules for the departments that carry out the laws passed by the legislature. The legislature doesn't get to approve those rules until after the governor has approved them. The elected heads of the departments of Justice and Education are now subject to having their rules approved by the governor. Medicaid has been turned over to a Walker appointee who has publically stated many times that Medicaid should be abolished. The heads of the state assembly, state senate, and state police are members of the same family, and Walker just made the "daddy Fitzgerald" the top cop in the state. Walker gave himself the power to sell off power plants at will, in no-bid sales, without review by anyone. Same with public lands. Walker has closed access to the Wisconsin capitol, in direct violation of a court order, then "reopened" it with draconian police presence (not the local police, who refuse to become "palace guards" ~a direct quote from the head of the Dale County police), subjected people who want to enter the building - not an office or the voting chambers, just come in - to pat downs, metal detectors, police escorts, no freedom to move about without that escort. Talk about intimidating! Talk about unconstitutional! Even the state constitution states unequivocably that access to the capitol building must never be limited in any way.
So, my question is, why aren't the national media covering this? They've paid some attention to the protests over the union-busting attack by Walker, but the rest of his power grab seems to be under the national radar.
For some Republicans, their gains in the midterms have been overblown to become a mandate for them to gut government programs, to change the rules to give them more power, to do away with regulations that protect the public in favor of businesses with no incentive to ensure clean air, clean water, environmentallly sound practices. I doubt that many of the voters were actually approving most of that. The last election was about anger, anger at the recession, anger at the goverment which didn't seem able to make the recession go away. I understand that. I felt that anger for more than 8 years as I watched the last president create that recession, with unjustified wars, with cronyism in energy policies and even in conducting the war. I was very, very angry. The Bush administration trampled the Constitution into the ground, and with its pro-business, anti-public bent, allowed businesses to do what businesses always do when they aren't held responsible ~ they wrecked the economy. Just in time to give that wreck to a Democrat, who they promptly blamed for it. Just as a reminder ~ the Recession began in 2008, Obama took office in 2009. And every step that Obama took to repair the damage was opposed by the Republicans. Regulate Wall St.? Regulations are bad! cry the Republicans. Spend some money to create jobs, keep schools open, prevent people from losing their homes and jobs and futures? Spending money is bad, especially if it goes to middle class or poor people! cry the Republicans. But wait! Let's give tax breaks to people, let them keep more money themselves. One catch ~ tax breaks only go to people earning more than a million dollars. The Republicans loved that. One problem, however. Those tax breaks balloon the deficit, which is the new 'watchword' of the Republican party. The deficit is BAD! We have to cut spending right now! We have to decimate programs that provide food for the poor, that provide nutrition counselling for pregnant women and newborn babies. We have to cut all funding for the EPA, for Planned Parenthood, for education, for regulatory agencies that might hamper businesses from doing what they want to do. That tax break for millionaires was okay, but feeding poor people isn't. Letting women have access to health care isn't.
If you care about democracy, if you care about the ability of the middle class to continue, if you care about decent jobs that respect the workers, about clean water, clean air, access to National Parks, access to your government representatives, then it is time to step up and speak out. The "Republican" agenda is disastrous for anyone not a CEO or a millionaire. Don't be taken in by the words of senators or representatives that insist that their actions are all about taking care of you. Their actions are all about taking care of themselves and their wealthy friends. Don't let America become a third world nation, led by an insular elite for their benefit. It's never too late to stand up and say, "Wait! We don't do that in America!"
And given what's happening in Wisconsin, I hope many, many more people will begin to support him, as well. The national media isn't really covering it, but Gov. Scott Walker is busy creating his own fiefdom in Wisconsin. He has pushed through, with the connivance of the Republicans in their legislature, laws that give the governor unprecedented power. Suddenly, he gets to make all the rules for the departments that carry out the laws passed by the legislature. The legislature doesn't get to approve those rules until after the governor has approved them. The elected heads of the departments of Justice and Education are now subject to having their rules approved by the governor. Medicaid has been turned over to a Walker appointee who has publically stated many times that Medicaid should be abolished. The heads of the state assembly, state senate, and state police are members of the same family, and Walker just made the "daddy Fitzgerald" the top cop in the state. Walker gave himself the power to sell off power plants at will, in no-bid sales, without review by anyone. Same with public lands. Walker has closed access to the Wisconsin capitol, in direct violation of a court order, then "reopened" it with draconian police presence (not the local police, who refuse to become "palace guards" ~a direct quote from the head of the Dale County police), subjected people who want to enter the building - not an office or the voting chambers, just come in - to pat downs, metal detectors, police escorts, no freedom to move about without that escort. Talk about intimidating! Talk about unconstitutional! Even the state constitution states unequivocably that access to the capitol building must never be limited in any way.
So, my question is, why aren't the national media covering this? They've paid some attention to the protests over the union-busting attack by Walker, but the rest of his power grab seems to be under the national radar.
For some Republicans, their gains in the midterms have been overblown to become a mandate for them to gut government programs, to change the rules to give them more power, to do away with regulations that protect the public in favor of businesses with no incentive to ensure clean air, clean water, environmentallly sound practices. I doubt that many of the voters were actually approving most of that. The last election was about anger, anger at the recession, anger at the goverment which didn't seem able to make the recession go away. I understand that. I felt that anger for more than 8 years as I watched the last president create that recession, with unjustified wars, with cronyism in energy policies and even in conducting the war. I was very, very angry. The Bush administration trampled the Constitution into the ground, and with its pro-business, anti-public bent, allowed businesses to do what businesses always do when they aren't held responsible ~ they wrecked the economy. Just in time to give that wreck to a Democrat, who they promptly blamed for it. Just as a reminder ~ the Recession began in 2008, Obama took office in 2009. And every step that Obama took to repair the damage was opposed by the Republicans. Regulate Wall St.? Regulations are bad! cry the Republicans. Spend some money to create jobs, keep schools open, prevent people from losing their homes and jobs and futures? Spending money is bad, especially if it goes to middle class or poor people! cry the Republicans. But wait! Let's give tax breaks to people, let them keep more money themselves. One catch ~ tax breaks only go to people earning more than a million dollars. The Republicans loved that. One problem, however. Those tax breaks balloon the deficit, which is the new 'watchword' of the Republican party. The deficit is BAD! We have to cut spending right now! We have to decimate programs that provide food for the poor, that provide nutrition counselling for pregnant women and newborn babies. We have to cut all funding for the EPA, for Planned Parenthood, for education, for regulatory agencies that might hamper businesses from doing what they want to do. That tax break for millionaires was okay, but feeding poor people isn't. Letting women have access to health care isn't.
If you care about democracy, if you care about the ability of the middle class to continue, if you care about decent jobs that respect the workers, about clean water, clean air, access to National Parks, access to your government representatives, then it is time to step up and speak out. The "Republican" agenda is disastrous for anyone not a CEO or a millionaire. Don't be taken in by the words of senators or representatives that insist that their actions are all about taking care of you. Their actions are all about taking care of themselves and their wealthy friends. Don't let America become a third world nation, led by an insular elite for their benefit. It's never too late to stand up and say, "Wait! We don't do that in America!"
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Knitting content
I'm still slogging away at that beautiful pullover on 3s, but it's going slowly since my mind cramps after more than an hour of working on those small needles. I've been reading lots of knitting books and magazines, lately, and I've found several patterns that I adore. I ordered yarn for two of them on Webs, and I'm just waiting for it to arrive. (I was hard pressed to stop at only two yarns, and I did slip in one skein of a yarn I want to try, but I was tough and checked out with only two sweaters worth of yarn and that one single skein.)
The single skein I bought is a Rowan yarn, and the yarn specified for one of the patterns I've bookmarked, called Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky. Expensive yarn, but beautiful. I've also found it on Ebay, at a slightly lower price (well, $3 cheaper per skein), but before I spend a fortune on it, I decided to try it out on my needles. It's a very wooly looking yarn, and I think it makes the sweater, but again, I do live in SoCal. It's been cold here, lately ~ nights in the high 30s to low 40s, afternoons in the 60s. We almost made 70 yesterday! These temps aren't likely to last, however, and wooly yarn and hot days don't make a good marriage. So, I'm going to get one skein and decide if I love it enough to knit it knowing it won't get much use here.
Many of the knitting magazines are already focusing on spring/summer projects. To me, those are year-round projects for the most part. Hats, mittens, scarves aren't really needed here, and winter issues seem to be filled with those items. What I wouldn't give for a knitting magazine that published spring/summer patterns year round.
Having said that about hats, I have to admit I'm going to be casting on for one or two in the next week. I was reading Knitorious today, and she mentioned a hat-knitting project with political meaning. Check it out. I love this idea!
As a result of reading all those magazines, my project list is growing a lot larger. I need to find a way to organize all the patterns I want to make. And please, don't tell me Ravelry. I don't want to just list them on a website. I want a way to physically organize them, so they're all in the same place, with the pattern and any supplies I've got for the project. And considering how large my yarn collection is, possibly with the yarn for that project as well.
I thnk I need to take a month off work and spend it all organizing my knitting life. And having two months in the summer isn't really helpful, since it's generally so very hot that even handling yarn becomes unbearable at times. March or April would be ideal, but that's not possible, sadly. Maybe I'll have to work out a schedule devoting one night a week to organizing. Of course, first I'll need to find a place to organize it all into. Or maybe I'll just think about organizing it all until I finally move out of this apartment, which is too small for me. (Heh, 2 1/2 bedrooms for just me, and it's too small!) I seriously need to move, but I also seriously need to downsize my many collections (books, yarn, fabric, cooking tools, magazines, school-related materials, . . . . ) Maybe what I really need is to just stop buying things. Well, except for food, of course. But everything else that is part of any existing or possible future collection. Just say no!
So, as I sit here eagerly anticipating the delivery of my Webs order, I'll start working up a budget for myself that severely restricts my spending. Wish me luck!
The single skein I bought is a Rowan yarn, and the yarn specified for one of the patterns I've bookmarked, called Purelife British Sheep Breeds Chunky. Expensive yarn, but beautiful. I've also found it on Ebay, at a slightly lower price (well, $3 cheaper per skein), but before I spend a fortune on it, I decided to try it out on my needles. It's a very wooly looking yarn, and I think it makes the sweater, but again, I do live in SoCal. It's been cold here, lately ~ nights in the high 30s to low 40s, afternoons in the 60s. We almost made 70 yesterday! These temps aren't likely to last, however, and wooly yarn and hot days don't make a good marriage. So, I'm going to get one skein and decide if I love it enough to knit it knowing it won't get much use here.
Many of the knitting magazines are already focusing on spring/summer projects. To me, those are year-round projects for the most part. Hats, mittens, scarves aren't really needed here, and winter issues seem to be filled with those items. What I wouldn't give for a knitting magazine that published spring/summer patterns year round.
Having said that about hats, I have to admit I'm going to be casting on for one or two in the next week. I was reading Knitorious today, and she mentioned a hat-knitting project with political meaning. Check it out. I love this idea!
As a result of reading all those magazines, my project list is growing a lot larger. I need to find a way to organize all the patterns I want to make. And please, don't tell me Ravelry. I don't want to just list them on a website. I want a way to physically organize them, so they're all in the same place, with the pattern and any supplies I've got for the project. And considering how large my yarn collection is, possibly with the yarn for that project as well.
I thnk I need to take a month off work and spend it all organizing my knitting life. And having two months in the summer isn't really helpful, since it's generally so very hot that even handling yarn becomes unbearable at times. March or April would be ideal, but that's not possible, sadly. Maybe I'll have to work out a schedule devoting one night a week to organizing. Of course, first I'll need to find a place to organize it all into. Or maybe I'll just think about organizing it all until I finally move out of this apartment, which is too small for me. (Heh, 2 1/2 bedrooms for just me, and it's too small!) I seriously need to move, but I also seriously need to downsize my many collections (books, yarn, fabric, cooking tools, magazines, school-related materials, . . . . ) Maybe what I really need is to just stop buying things. Well, except for food, of course. But everything else that is part of any existing or possible future collection. Just say no!
So, as I sit here eagerly anticipating the delivery of my Webs order, I'll start working up a budget for myself that severely restricts my spending. Wish me luck!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
A New Year, A New Perspective
"Be thine own palace, or the world's thy jail." That's the quotation on my blog today. I admit, I'm a quotation junkie ~ I get an email every day with one (related to education), I own a Bartlett's, as well as several other books of quotations, and I have a growing Word document filled with random quotations I've found. I make small posters of some of them to post in my classroom.
This one, the one on my blog today, spoke to me. I've been feeling, to be honest, too much like that "world's my jail" lately. I've been letting the outside, or at least part of it, determine my inside, and I have to stop doing that.
It's easy to succumb to that. I mean, there's a lot going on in the world that intrudes in some way on my consciousness. Bad news is always available. Gloom lurks. Despair is gearing up for a banner year. It's a precarious year for a thinking, feeling person. The shootings in Tucson. The level of hate used in communicating almost anything these days. The continuing attacks on public education, on teachers, on teacher unions, on all unions. Our seeming inability to rein in the easy access to guns ~ any gun, anybody, anytime is not a slogan I think the world needs, or can survive. Arizona decides that transplants are a luxury, so patients on death watch, waiting for a transplant, formerly covered by Medicaid, are turned out, told they have to pay for it with their own money (like someone receiving Medicaid has money. Duh!) And now they are dying, waiting for sanity to intervene. And other states are getting ready to follow suit. States with Republican governors and assemblies. Who screamed about "death panels" in the (Democratic) Health Care Act. Who knew they thought death panels were a good thing? Even the news, in the NYTimes today, that greed has come to microlenders ~ those "banks" that lend to the very, very poor have suddenly decided that they can make a profit from that by raising the interest rates and going public. Never mind that the poor can't manage the new interest rates and have begun to default on the loans. Dollar signs are blinding the lenders, again. I mean, really, what is wrong with us? Why do we do these things to ourselves?
I've decided, though, to invest my time and energy in the creation and use of several mental filters. To change my perspective. To escape from that "jail" I've let the world create. Instead, only the things I do, personally, determine my "palace". This is, obviously, a work in progress. My heart still aches for Christina Green and the other 5 who died a week ago. I'm pulling for Gabby Giffords' recovery. I'm still funding Kiva loans. I'm still political, in speech and action. I'm still teaching in a public school, and spending my own money to supplement the decreasing dollars available to the school to educate other people's kids. I'm just changing the way I look at the world, the way I let it impact me. I think I'm developing a much healthier, more sustainable perspective. Only time will tell.
This one, the one on my blog today, spoke to me. I've been feeling, to be honest, too much like that "world's my jail" lately. I've been letting the outside, or at least part of it, determine my inside, and I have to stop doing that.
It's easy to succumb to that. I mean, there's a lot going on in the world that intrudes in some way on my consciousness. Bad news is always available. Gloom lurks. Despair is gearing up for a banner year. It's a precarious year for a thinking, feeling person. The shootings in Tucson. The level of hate used in communicating almost anything these days. The continuing attacks on public education, on teachers, on teacher unions, on all unions. Our seeming inability to rein in the easy access to guns ~ any gun, anybody, anytime is not a slogan I think the world needs, or can survive. Arizona decides that transplants are a luxury, so patients on death watch, waiting for a transplant, formerly covered by Medicaid, are turned out, told they have to pay for it with their own money (like someone receiving Medicaid has money. Duh!) And now they are dying, waiting for sanity to intervene. And other states are getting ready to follow suit. States with Republican governors and assemblies. Who screamed about "death panels" in the (Democratic) Health Care Act. Who knew they thought death panels were a good thing? Even the news, in the NYTimes today, that greed has come to microlenders ~ those "banks" that lend to the very, very poor have suddenly decided that they can make a profit from that by raising the interest rates and going public. Never mind that the poor can't manage the new interest rates and have begun to default on the loans. Dollar signs are blinding the lenders, again. I mean, really, what is wrong with us? Why do we do these things to ourselves?
I've decided, though, to invest my time and energy in the creation and use of several mental filters. To change my perspective. To escape from that "jail" I've let the world create. Instead, only the things I do, personally, determine my "palace". This is, obviously, a work in progress. My heart still aches for Christina Green and the other 5 who died a week ago. I'm pulling for Gabby Giffords' recovery. I'm still funding Kiva loans. I'm still political, in speech and action. I'm still teaching in a public school, and spending my own money to supplement the decreasing dollars available to the school to educate other people's kids. I'm just changing the way I look at the world, the way I let it impact me. I think I'm developing a much healthier, more sustainable perspective. Only time will tell.
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