Sunday, February 27, 2005

Okay, It's Silly, So What?
Even better, I am using pink aluminum needles for my Red Scarf Project scarf.

You are pink aluminum.
Retro, straightforward and fun, you love classic
things. If they're 99 cents at Goodwill all the
better! You are moved by striking colors and
tasty morsels, and you like a stitch-n-bitch
session in the sun. Just remember, while
you're being kitschy cool, don't get too cold.
Ice cubes are best kept in your cocktails,
baby!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by
Quizilla

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Life's Too Short...

...to drink bad wine or read so-so books. Anyone who has been paying attention to my sidebar of books can see that some books just land on my nightstand and take a really long time to move along. Others just won't let me put them down. Tonight I decided to stop reading Medieval People. It's not a bad book. It's actually rather interesting in a not-quite-serious-enough way. This was a pick by my book club for the March discussion. I've read about half of the book. It is a short textbook written in the 1920s. The author puts in a lot of wit with the facts, but I can't help thinking that some of her facts are perhaps not all that factual. There seems to be a lot of modern spin put onto the history. I've just had enough of it.

Maybe the problem is that I'm feeling fluffy. The book that I'm having trouble putting down is Knit Lit (too). This is a selection of short stories about knitting. Lest you think this too boring, trust me, this is a great book. I originally picked it up because a friend of mine wrote one of the stories, but the other entries are sucking me in. This year, my big resolution is to learn to knit and this book is especially interesting to me as I learn about the "Zen" of knitting. If you have a knitter among your friends, you might want to pick this one up as a surprise gift.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Do a Good Thing With Yarn

My friend JJ just passed on the link to The Red Scarf Project. No, I do not know Lisa, the organizer. No, I do not have any affiliation to the people involved and will not receive anything for passing on the information. I do intend to knit a scarf and send it to Lisa. This year, my big resolution was to learn to knit. I'm doing that and it is nice to think that my artsy resolution could help someone else. Some friends and I are also starting plans to put together an afghan for Warm Up America this year.

Go ahead, knit, crochet, shop, give. Do a good deed today.

Friday, February 04, 2005

Deja Vu All Over Again

So, Condoleeza Rice is off on her first trip as Secretary of State. First stop, Britain. I had a horrible sense of foreboding when I heard her comments this morning on NPR. Per Condi, an attack on Iran over its nuclear program is "not on the agenda at this point" (emphasis added). Am I the only one having horrible deja vu over this????? I just fear that our ignoble Commander in Chief is sending out his head flunky to set the stage for future action against the next target. So now they have proposed two reasons to invade Iran, first they have a nuclear program (WMDs, anyone?) and they have "unelected mullahs." She also made comments that the administration expects reforms in all countries of the region. Oh, that will win us scads of public opinion points in the Middle East!

It's bad enough that our head elected official is a bozo, but I really resent the continued comments that make the rest of the world believe that everyone in the USA is out to reform the world.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Founding Mothers: History You Can Actually Read!

Last night I finished Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation, by Cokie Roberts. This was a fabulous book! You wouldn't think that it would be hard to put down a thick, history tome, but it was. I hated to stop reading each night. If Cokie Roberts wrote more textbooks, History class would be much more enjoyable.

I can hardly imagine what she went through to gather her information. There are many reasons for the dearth of female figures in the Revolutionary War sections of history textbooks. There are certainly the age old sexism issues and the lack of space (there are only so many things that can be crammed into any given school year), but there is also the big problem that very little of the writings of these women were saved. Thank goodness that John Adams had the sense to value his wife Abigail and save many of her letters! Frankly, the picture that develops from these letters is one that clearly shows that John, as great as he was, did not deserve Abigail. This book is filled with tales that are rarely told yet document events that were every bit as important to the birth of the USA as many events that are included in mainstream texts. Even better, it is all written with Cokie Roberts' dry wit and concise summation. All in all, this was one of the best books that I have read in a long time and I will continue to recommend it to all who will listen!