"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Movie Monday

No Knitting Friday last week, if anyone noticed. I was in a real curmudgeon state by Friday ("Hey kids, get off my lawn!) so I just growled around the whole day. What caused my Pollyanna personality to take a dive? Well, the furnace (it's called a boiler really but I still can't wrap my mind around that name) broke. It just up and broke. No warning cry. No farewell note. In the morning, I got a warm shower; by evening, nada.

Well, we do have the Worry Free PSE&G contract and they did show up right away. (No, that does not convince me of the existence of God.) They showed up last Wednesday that is (this saga took a few days), and told us that the furnace and hot water heater were as healthy as that proverbial horse but the "guard dog" switch to prevent problems like flooding, was itself the problem.

For joy! The service man was able to bypass the guard dog but couldn't fix it since the "P" in PSE&G does not stand for plumbing and if they were to bring in a plumber it would get pricey. So, the furnace was working (warm weather, don't need it) and also hot water heater (needed it) with this temp fix.

We called the plumbing company (who was also the installer of this 4-year boiler) and got an appointment for Friday. That's why this saga played out for a few days. And that's why I was anxiously awaiting the plumber and not writing Knitting Friday on Friday.

Oh, the angst! The guy didn't show up until 4 p.m. and almost $500 later we had a replacement guard dog. It looks the same as the original and will probably last as long.

So that's why I got into the curmudgeon mood for the weekend which manifested itself in my immediate disdain in looking at personalities (yes, I do cruise gossip sites) in torn jeans. You know, the rich wearing ratty clothes at exorbitant prices so they can connect with the poor. Or my disdain at those cheery shoppers at Wegmann's carrying in scads of environmentally-friendly shopping bags just after they park their SUVs.

But this mood has almost passed and I do have some movie picks; though not particularly cheery ones.

You Don't Know Jack, an HBO movie on Jack Kevorkian (the assisted suicide MD.) Kevorkian, in real life, comes across as an angry old man. (And let me add, an angry old man who is a personal hero for me.) I hope everyone (except, Savonarolas who seem to exist in abundance in this wacky country) is in favor of assisted suicide since death with dignity is really a no-brainer.

Watching this movie, I realized for the first time that the typical way of assisted suicide in this country (withdrawing feed tubes, etc.) is inhuman. Listen to Pacino (who plays Kevorkian) talk about this in the movie and you'll understand this. I also learned that Al Pacino has deep acting skills which shone through here. He was a Kevorkian with a depth and compassion which never translated in his headlines. I was able to re-appreciate Danny Huston, Brenda Vaccaro, Susan Saradon, John Goodman - the acting was stellar.

It's not a happy movie. The outcome wasn't "happy" as it played out in real life. But you have got to see this movie. You'll get to know Jack and his important cause which still has not come to a successful conclusion in the US.

And then there is that old chestnut, The Last Picture Show. 1971! That was the Dark Ages.

Roger Ebert once said that he used to go to the movies to find out how to act with girls. If you think back, even those hokey Andy Hardy movies showed how teens interacted. Today, with grossness like American Pie or contrived maturity like Juno, that's all changed. Even Towelhead, which deals realistically with the sexual awakening of a young teen mixes in pedophilia as a hook.

But take a look at The Last Picture Show. It was not made during the time of mythical "Mom and apple pie" US society (1971 was sex, drugs and rock and roll) but it captures realistically the awkwardness of teens dealing with sexual pressures as they enter uncharted adult seas. For example, take a look at Cybil Shepherd's consecutive scenes; first, as a tease in the car and then at the indoor pool as she strips on the diving board. She moves from a sexual confident woman back to an awkward teen in minutes. These understated scenes speak volumes of the complicated rite-of-passage that the teen years are.

That's it for now. Enjoy your movies.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Website Wednesday

I live in a community where if Hitler shaved the mustache, lost the uniform and the accent and walked through the door promising to lower property taxes, many would follow him.

No stinking concern here about civil rights, human rights, decent working conditions, the poor, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Hey, I care for my family, most of my community and my religion. WTF more do you want?

So I guess to prevent massive alcohol consumption, I've adopted a pretty jaundiced look at the world. But I still hope.

That's why my pick this Wednesday is about human experiences and empathy.

You can just read them or add to them at ("Anonymously connect with people who share your experiences") at:

http://www.experienceproject.com/index.php

The Experience Project says about itself:

experience project is the place where passionate people live!

As the world's largest living collection of shared experiences and the premier passions-based network, experience project is a comfortable and supportive place for individuals to share and connect with others around the things that matter to them most. With over 24 experience categories, experience project is the definitive online social conversation destination for people to connect with others who really get "it" -and them.

With millions of experiences shared, experience project caters to a ubiquitous audience of people who are growing, learning, educating and supporting each other each and every day.

Since the site's launch in 2007, has been widely recognized for the company's unique approach to doing good while doing business too. With praise from ABC's Good Morning America, The San Francisco Chronicle, Wired Magazine and beyond -- experience project is putting the meaning back in social networking.

We believe that real meaning and true connections can't occur in 140 characters or less. Don't believe us? Don't take our word for it -- see what our users have to say in one of our many groups: I Love Experience Project.

EP seems to be a compilation of stories from around the world. Sad ones, happy ones, thoughtful ones, fictitious ones (I'm sure), but all worth a look. Categories include: Arts and Entertainment (I Watch Documentaries), Family and Friends (I Ended a Friendship), Culture and Religion (I Am An Atheist), Current Events (I Have Been to Another Country), Education (I See the Education System Leaving People Behind), Jobs and Personal Finance (I Need a Damn Job), and more.

As I mentioned, I can't vouch for the veracity of the postings but the ones I clicked seemed genuine; but more than that, the comments they generated were thoughtful and helpful.

So maybe I can't change my community from ultimate capitalistic thinking but this site is heartening because it shows me there's empathy out there on the net and you don't have to join a social network to find it. I've always thought that empathy could change the world.

Go take a look.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Movie Monday - from Breaking Dawn, the novel, to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, the novel, and a lot of stuff in between

And, of course, Miss M, who is apparently eating the purple ribbon she won for growing so fast:

Just a little background before I discuss BD and LCL: Some of you may remember that I maintain a small lending library at our Association’s clubhouse. We have about 2000 books and I arranged them into non-fiction, fiction, and mystery. We survive on donations and we get some interesting ones: Austen, Shakespeare, books on the Hudson Valley in NY, an excellent bio of Hitler. It’s a pretty dull job except when someone stole our copy of Obama’s bio (no, the donor did not take it back.)

About twice a year I have to cull the shelves and I take books to local libraries for their book sales. At those times, I’m amazed that, outside of cast-off book club choices, most of my fiction is the Nora Roberts type. (Side note: Read her bio in Wikipedia for a look at the chicanery in the romance novel business, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Roberts )

Romance novels are hugely popular so I was not surprised at the reach of the Twilight saga. Since Meyers was writing this romance for a wide chronologically-aged audience it also didn't surprise me that she always stayed in the "romance sex" zone. You know, the fade-to-black type sex scene.

So, with the girl's interest in Twilight, posters everywhere, and with a possibility I may be the parental chaperone at the midnight showing of Eclipse (NO! By all that is holy, NO!) I read Eclipse and then I read Breaking Dawn, too, too many times.

This was supposed to be a Movie Monday discussing Breaking Dawn, the novel and how it could or couldn’t be made into a successful movie(s). I even got as far and writing the following as background:

A couple of plot points in the Twilight saga which I think were crucial for the story although they might go against my philosophical grain:

1: Edward and Bella had to wait for sex until marriage. Apparently, Bella is quite fertile (I think Meyers gives us enough information to even figure out her cycle but I’m not going there) and she gets knocked up the first time she and Edward cohabit (How is that for Victorian?) Can you imagine if Bella went through her vampire/human pregnancy unmarried, under Charlie’s care (OK, she had reached majority but what was she going to say to Charlie: Hey Dad, Edward knocked me up and I’m going to go live with the Cullens. Don’t call.) So I get the chastity before marriage.
2. Nessie had to be born. Although Edward and Carlisle wanted to perform an abortion, Nessie was essential for the final show-down with the Volturi since they came en masse to destroy the Cullens because Irina told them that the Cullens had committed the unforgivable sin: creating a newborn vampire, Nessie.

But then before I had to wrap my brain even more around BD, I found this site:

http://www.thetwilightforums.com/

which will probably tell you all you want to know about the Twilight saga. It seems to be well-moderated so that the comments are informative and entertaining. After I found this site, everything changed.

It was here I read a fantastic suggestion for adding a battle to the Breaking Dawn movie (except for Irina’s death, BD has no violence.) The suggestion was, and I paraphrase:

When Alice returns, Aro takes her hand and sees the battle which may be their future. Since both Aro and Edward will be able to read her mind, there could be a great battle scene here: the battle shown and Edward telling the story. This may be a scene not in BD but one which would be definitely in the spirit of the whole saga.

And then there was this review of the saga on this site:

It's... pretty shittily written. I mean really Stephenie Meyer kind of phones it in. I didn't spend money on them (borrowed from a friend), and the lasting impression I have is just that Meyer basically wrote an impossible love story with weird fantasy elements, and that of course teenage girls everywhere love it - it's about a guy who loves you to the point of obsession with all your flaws and all the insurmountable differences, etc etc. It's the kind of shit teenage girls dream about (myself back then included). - Laurasaurus Jezebel

So, after finding this forum, I decided it was redundant for me to pursue this topic: Breaking Dawn, from book to movie. I still think this last novel has a lot of problems: no violence, lousy descriptions of a lot of sex; bloody birth; and boring. But you will get a lot of possible “fixes” on this site; plus, much, much more.

So there I was on last Saturday morning, not having a review for Movie Monday and overloaded on lame romance sex scenes in BD.

What to do? I wanted to cleanse my mind. I wanted to read in the grown-ups' world. I wanted Lady Chatterley's Lover.

OK, I guess I'll give a little background on this also. I had first read LCL and a young teen - for the sex scenes. Hey! Kids do that. (I’m amazed I had the balls to check this book out of my small hometown library.) I don’t know if I read the expurgated or unexpurgated version but after reading it again this weekend, I know that I sure missed a lot - except the sex.

So, this weekend I remembered I had a hard copy of the unexpurgated LCL. (Yes, I grew up and got to buy my own books.) and I started reading it, again Wow! I discovered that this is a great book beyond the explicit sex. It has dated features (we call it an orgasm, Lawrence calls it a crisis at times) but it thoughtfully addresses the role of sex in the relationship between men and women. It explores the "coming of age" of Connie Chatterley and how her relationship with Mellors takes her from her zone of passive indifference into living. It examines the poverty of the working class and the arrogance of the rich. It tackles the relationship between Clifford Chatterley and Mrs. Bolton (something I definitely missed the first time) It examines the modern novel, the arts, the brittle sophistication of the cultured rich, the Lost Generation of the 1920s. And it's chocked full of metaphors.

So I guess, LCL was my reward for plowing through BD. I felt like I was back in the land of real living.

I have no problem with teens swooning over the Twilight saga though I do feel sorry for the movies’ stars and the adulatory frenzy they are greeted with each time they make a public appearance. What a crazy way to make a living!

I do have a problem when these “rite of passage romance” books are adored (not just read for entertainment, but adored) by older teens and adults. Go read better books. LCL or Sons and Lovers by the same author (D.H. Lawrence.) Or try Edith Wharton or Kate Chopin; women early in the 20th century who presented strong and tragic situations between men and women. Closer to this time period, Anne Tyler, Earthly Possessions is a great book about a woman’s reexamination of her marriage after her life takes a bizarre turn. And don't forget, A Handmaid's Tale. Now there's a cautionary tale.

But I'm going to end my posting on on a fun note. What did I get out of the Twilight saga? How about this “chocolate” game? (I’m making it a “chocolate” game because of the age of the intended book audience – but “wink, wink” for all you older readers who may have played this game without a different type of “food” product.)

Here’s how you play: (You can add your own rules.)
For chocolate overload:
Eat a piece of chocolate each time Bella and Edward lock lips.
Eat a piece of chocolate each time Bella describes Edward’s perfection.
Eat a piece of chocolate each time Bella or Edward say “I’m sorry.”
Eat a piece of chocolate each time Bella refers to Jacob as my “best friend”, etc.
Eat a piece a chocolate each time Nessie appears and she is not described in some terms of perfection.
And for those on a diet:
Eat a piece of chocolate each time Bella or Edward’s hands roam past the waist.
Each a piece of chocolate each time a vampire is described as less than perfect.
Each a piece of chocolate each time Bella, as a human, uses the bathroom.
Eat a piece of chocolate each time you read a realistic sex scene.

Enjoy.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Knitting Friday

I guess I should be embarrassed to say that I have nada picture-wise for Knitting Friday. Oh, a lot got done this week but it is taking so long to finish things and the size of the projects at this time is really too small for interesting pictures. (I take interesting pictures?)

But there an interesting knitting tip I can mention re: casting on a few stitches and joining:

1. I don't know how many of you are part of the Yahoo Group for goddessknitsmystery2010 (membership closed 5/1/10) but the first clue came out last Saturday. This one is a circular shawl so you have the dreaded CO 9 sts and join. I read posts of "it took me all day to CO and work Clue 1" and I don't think the clue was the problem; the CO and join were.

Here's how I finally did it. The whole thing (CO and Clue 1) took me so little time (after a few false starts) that when I finished I was sure there were more rows I was missing - I wasn't.

1. Supplies: shawl yarn and DPN needles needed for the pattern; crochet hook sized as you would use for the shawl yarn (I used fingering and an F hook); shawl directions
2. Sit at a table where all your work fits without falling off the ends (not a snack table; you don't want DPNs slipping to the floor..)
3. With the hook, chain 5 and join. Work the CO number of sts minus 1 (9 - 1 = 8) as half-double crochets into the ring. You can use extended single crochets but I don't think I would use regular single crochets (too small) or double crochets (too big) - this is getting to sound like Goldilocks.
4 - Join the last hdc by slip stitch to the 1st hdc. You now should have one live stitch and eight oval tops of the hdcs in the ring (if you don't get 1 + 8, just add another hdc to the ring.)
5 - Using your dpns, put one through the live stitch and pick up 2 stitches thought both loops of the first 2 hdc oval tops.
6. Continue around so that you wind up with 3 stitches on each dpn.
7. Count this crocheting part as set-up and now start the pattern with a K 1 round being sure to do your work over the table to prevent dropped stitches and/or needles.
8. You will still feel that the first 10 rounds are awkward but you have eliminated the dreaded CO and join. The crochet CO will produce a very small "bump" at the center but it's very unobjectionable.
9. I have long DPNS so I was able to work with them until the pattern took some form. Then I was able to transfer them to very small circs I have. (I hate small circs but they are great for this type of project.)

That's it. Once you get the CO and join completed, this project is a breeze. For Clue 1, Renee, the shawl creator, gives you a 13 round, 6 stitch pattern to repeat. What could be easier?

Another tip:

1. The set-up rows in the pattern (not the crochet set-up) has you increase to 72 stitches and then you begin the pattern.
2. The number of stitches stays at 72 (so you work 6 pattern repeats across for Clue 1) until Row 13 when it doubles to 144 stitches, ready for Clue 2.
2. I cut a long piece of yarn of similar weight and wove it across the round after every 6 stitches as I worked.
3. That way I could check quickly if I have done the YO, SSK, K2tog, and/or DD correctly.
4. Short of dropping a stitch without a lifeline (which can be a disaster), this trick may prevent tinking, since I can't imagine working a lifeline easily (without that special needle which "carries" the lifeline as you work) on circular knitting as the rounds get bigger and bigger.

Oh, a one final thing I do with lace knitting: When I'm going to put it back in its bag, I move the stitches onto the cords and put a rubber band around the needle tops.

Well, that's it for today. Next week, I'll have two pattern repeats of the Mystery Shawl - more picture worthy and hopefully my summer cardi on US 6 needles (what was I thinking?) will also have developed some form, or be finished.

Happy knitting.

Note: Saturday, 5/1 is the last day to join the Yahoo Group for the Mystery Anniversary Shawl.
Go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=anniversary+shawl+2010
Click on the link and follow the instructions (real easy except reading the "Decipher This So We Know You Are A People, Not A Spam Machine" code - but they do give you multiple chances to find a scribble you can read.)

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Website Wednesday

After listening to the US Senate hearings yesterday (and moving beyond grandstanding) I think my top banner is quite appropriate. Some day I'll explain why I think an analogy to capitalism as an economic system is an abusive relationship. But not today.

Today, I must electronically send my newsletter to our property manager for printing. Yes, another month and deadline has passed. Just minutes before my deadline yesterday (12 am) I got a long article for inclusion. Jesus H. Christ! What was this woman thinking? Of course, I didn't see the e-mail until early this a.m. I sent her a nice e-mail (well, it sounded nice to me) telling her she would have to wait for next month.

So with that done and I can concentrate on getting ready for a traveling day today. A traveling day with kids. This should be fun. I, who have been re-reading Breaking Dawn for Monday's posting (have you ever heard such a lame excuse to re-read that book?) am bringing it along because the girl has expressed interest in re-reading it. Don't quote me, but I have a feeling that when an 11 year old reads Breaking Dawn for the first time, she's skipping all but the "sex" (and even more on this Monday) so this is could really be considered a first, full reading.

On to my website pick:

http://www.utne.com/daily.aspx

Utne says of itself: Utne Reader and Utne.com are digests of independent ideas and alternative culture. Not right, not left, but forward thinking. We're most interested in creating a conversation about everything from the environment to the economy, politics to pop culture.

For more than 20 years, Utne has functioned as a guide to the alternative and independent press. That's because we've created our own library, which takes in 1,500 magazines, newsletters, journals, weeklies, zines, and other lively dispatches from the cultural front; the sorts of cutting-edge publications you won't find at the average bookstore or newsstand. Our editors glean this material for compelling, delightfully written stories, interviews, and cultural criticism, then edit and reprint the most essential. Instead of buying dozens of magazines to find a few good articles, you can buy one packed with the best of the best.

My first meeting with Utne Reader was where? Garage sale? No idea. But I do remember the article I read: Why Men Love War? It's pretty impressive after all this time that I can remember that title.

I was hooked on Utne after that. Their current on-line magazine has articles on US prisons, Iceland volcanic pictures, Facebook privacy, racism and a quiz on Iran - and, that's a partial look.

This is how Utne works and why it is so interesting: Take the article, Having An Honest Conversation About Racism. Click the link and you get a paragraph summary at Utne. Click the hyperlinked last line of the paragraph: Check out his simple tips for starting your own dialogue. and you are sent to the source article in Yes! You can read the entire article here

But here's the very neat part: Under each synopsis in Utne, you see: "Source:" followed by the hyperlink to the current issue of the source material. So, for racism, the source hyperlink sends you to the current issue of Yes! and this opens a whole new world of reading.

As you may know, I eat most home meals at the computer (OK, I'm an animal! But a high-tech one.) I eat, knit, read the computer screen, and watch TV, not all at the same time since that could be messy.

Utne.com is a great companion while I do this multi-tasking. Go take a look. You won't be disappointed.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Movie Monday and Miss M

Who is this dog? OK, maybe the angle is off but she's just two months and she looks ginormous. What are we feeding her?

Plus, she is obviously in the teen years. "Park time" now consists of removing stuff from her mouth - grass, leaves, rocks, you name it. And, she has decided that she should carry her leash. When I'm not busy removing plant and rock objects from her mouth, I'm trying to reposition the leash so she can't grab that in her mouth. It's become a game for her.

But she is soooooo cute; especially in this picture with her Minny Me.

Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/main/2 on Saturday, 5/24, had the first posting in a well-known blog re: "Buyers Remorse in New Jersey." I may have missed it, but I don't think Christie has made the radar of major liberal blogs yet. And that's a mistake. I know that NJ gets lost in the shadow of our big brother, NY, but it is a blue state, for now. National Democrats, at their peril and ours, had better wake up because right-to-work (the euphemism for union busting), anti-abortion legislation, super majorities needed for tax hikes (ala CA) are all possible from this conservative Gov. We may wake up to metaphorically see all the forests on fire and no means to extinguish them.

I spent the weekend punching up my monthly newsletter. We will be losing our Property Manager in a few weeks and we have a nice front page tribute to her. I was happy that the newsletter and the Board both put in a "Thank you" but that really had me jostling articles to fit them in.

For anyone who's interested, I took over newsletter editing - well, I really do the writing, formatting, and editing but I have a great staff for proofing and final prep - when a local publisher decided not to continue printing our news. for free (What did they get out of it? We gave them the copy and they laid it out around their advertisers. I guess as hard copy ad revenue decreased this venture became too expensive for them.) Anyway, our former editor moved and I was pressed into service. Now, the make-up of the former newsletter was a lot of fluff. Book reviews, recipes, trip news, etc. since that newsletter was 12 pages ( a lot of them all ads.) I decided on a front and back printed two page hard copy and electronic copy. While, I could easily add more pages on the electronic copy I didn't want the pagination problems if the hard copy expanded to more than the front and back printed copy.

I've kept that format for over 3 years and this May issue is the first one where I had to shrink font size for everything to fit. It's interesting that my major problem each month is not getting copy but formatting it. I look at it as a good mental exercise. If I ever have too much white space one month, I have a logic problem from Fermat's Room which I'm going to use. You think a lot about "What if I don't have news?" I've decided my solution is logic problems; they are definitely not fluff.

My movie review is going to be short one because I'm preparing for next Monday's posting (that is, unless I watch a great movie by next Monday) a piece on: How the hell are they going to film Breaking Dawn without inducing fits of riotous laughter in the audience? More on this next Monday.

Judy Berlin. A small, indie film with the title character played by Eddie Falco before her turn on The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie.

I sort of liked this film. It was short; it looked like real life with real houses in the tacky floor plans of the 1950s; and it had real problems which don't find resolution. All the makings of an indie. But remember, I watch movies as I knit and that can cause two problems: I can tolerate a lot of dross because I'm not wasting my time and I have to watch films more than once because I sometimes miss stuff. Well, truth be told, I miss the most because I fall asleep!

Judy Berlin is a 30-something woman who is finally leaving home to go to Hollywood. The movie follows her last day in her home town and the people she touches as she says her farewells. There's a lot going on - early Alzheimer's, adulterous passion, neighborly bickering, but I just invested the time, not the feelings.

It may be because the whole movie looked like the actors were acting. Imagine that? But that is an important point with movies since all of them are phony. From the car chases to the sex scenes; all movies are fake (even documentaries in many ways but I'm not thinking about them here.)

The difference with a good movie is that you, the audience, invest your time and invest your feelings. If you don't invest both, you're just passing the time. Which isn't a bad thing but you might as well be at a baseball game or dinner at Burger King. (Has anyone tried their "chicken as slices of bread" specialty? And lived?)

An example of investing feeling for me (and, of course, this differs for everyone) was the scene in The English Patient where Almasy carries Katherine to the cave and promises to find help and return to her. We know she's going to die there alone; they know she's going to die there alone; but the actors reach into that reservoir of pain and communicate it to the audience.William Macy once said about acting (and I paraphrase): It's reading the lines until sometimes 10 minutes of magic happen.

I didn't get that magic in Judy Berlin; I just got the story. The actors told the story; it was a story with important human feelings but I always knew they were actors playing the characters.

But it's short and it's an indie. I like to support indies (real indies, that is, not studio-spinoff-indies.) It's not a bad waste of time. Enjoy.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Knitting Friday

This has been a week of frogging. "Ribbit!" could be heard all over the house. First, I started a summer shell in a heavy variegated cotton - Sugar n' Cream type. (Why? Because I had the yarn.) Then, I started a summer cardigan in a much finer cotton/acyclic blend. (Why? Because I have no sense of texture.)

A short way in on the cardigan and a long way in on the shell I realized that these garments should be switched - the cardigan should be heavier and the shell should be lighter. So, both are now in the frog pond as I search for new pattern ideas.

On the positive side, my Monday night knitting class was a great success. I had 6 dedicated knitters which was a good number since I had to spend a great amount of time with two of them. My next-door neighbor had bought the yarn and needles and was eager to start. Her enthusiasm was so great that I only offhandedly asked her: How long have you been knitting? And she answers: Oh, I don't knit. You could have fooled me!

She was a fast learner though. And I was also a fast learner because we realized immediately that her circs were too large for the joining of the pullover top so I quickly worked the magic loop for her - and it worked, amazingly I didn't get the dreaded mobius join. She picked that up quickly also and the evening ended with her busily working the magic loop.

Next month, we'll continue with this project and hopefully I will have restarted my frogged works by then.

I showed the group the cardi pictured here and they all thought it was crocheted but it's a simple 4-row lace. I'm pleased with this cardi and I think that the crab stitch around all the edges but the bottom hem adds a nice finishing touch.

The other picture here is Knitty's Summit:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss10/PATTsummit.php

Now, you all know that I make a lot of shawls but most of them are utilitarian ones since I wear them for walking in very cold weather or as a light wrap in summer. None of that exquisite workmanship for me; though I really admire that.

But Summit was different. I, and over 200 Ravelers, have been smitten by this design. It's funky and it's fun. This is absolutely one of the easiest patterns to memorize. I posted a small sample picture some weeks ago but this picture is the "good copy." (Although the picture is shown width-wise.)

Some comments about this shawl:
1. For this project, I re-learned knitting backwards (a must when you are working stockinette on only 6 stitches.)
2. I need a row counter only on the edge loops where you do stockinette on 6 stitches for 16 rows each time. However, throughout the body, all you have to remember as you are working on your clusters of 11 stitches: you unravel the top stitch when this will produce 9 horizontal threads. (This is really quite obvious when you start.)
3. If you make a mistake in unraveling the stitch, use a crochet hook to work that stitch back to the needle and fix your mistake.
4. Do you see the "Right" on the white paper at the edge? Well, the other side says "Left." Before I made that reminder when ever I picked up the work in the middle of the row, I had no idea if I was making a right or left curved section. This paper clears that up and I haven't had a problem since.
5. If you check each curve cluster after you work it (an easy check) you will have no difficulty fixing a mistake since each cluster is a separate unit and can be fixed without involving the other shawl stitches.

I really recommend trying this project. I think blocked it will be 67" x 23+" - a good size. It's made of Knit Picks Palette so the wool will keep me warm and the holes will keep me cool.

That's it for today. I have to start working on my monthly newsletter so this will be a hectic day of typing, editing and proofing.

See you next Friday. Happy Knitting.

"Capitalism is the Predatory Stage of Human Evolution"

Website Wednesday

Yesterday was school board election and voting on the school budget day in NJ. It looks like a lot of school budgets passed. Our Murphy Law's Gov (that is, he's in a job above his capabilities) on day before the election bashed teachers for using students as "drug mules."

WTF? Drug mules! Go look it up the story in The Record and The Star-Ledger. Drug mules! What an obscene, vile description of our kids. He explained that teachers were urging the kids to tell their parents to vote for the budget.; carrying the message like drug mules. First, he's factually wrong. Teachers tell kids to tell their parents to vote - that's democracy, Gov.

I asked my mom what she thought a drug mule was and she said: Someone who carries drugs. Then I explained just what a drug mule really was (And yes, the Gov knew, after all he touted his creds as a federal prosecutor all through the campaign.) and she went: Eww! (If you, like mom, are unfamiliar with this term, just goggle.)

Nick Acocella from NJN's Reporters Roundtable said last Friday that this Gov was not out to compromise with the teachers' union; he was out to destroy it. Like the time in LOTR when Aragon had to explain to Theoden that that Orcs were fighting for the total annihilation of men. I've never seen such tactics in NJ politics before.

Noam Chomsky has stated that he has never seen people as angry in the US in his lifetime. Well, he has to be forgetting the Vietnam War protest (he's old enough to remember) among other events but I agree with him in that people are just so angry today. They are so aggrieved. They are even delusional since they can spout nonsense like: Get the government's hands off my Medicare without a blink.

We seem to be living in the Wild West of rational thought. That is, as in the Wild West where there was very little law, today there is very little rational thought.

But on to the website pick. I'm going legal today. Perhaps because I feel we may all need a dose of what the law really states and not what we think, want it to state; especially here in the US.

Cornell University has this legal site:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/

which is a rather lame-looking site but get beyond the lack of bells and whistles and you'll find an excellent resource.

This site is an important legal information site. It's work more than fun in reading but it's worth it. What can you do here? Read US Supreme Court cases. Go through state law for many US states (not all.) Get detailed overviews on hundreds of topics like: adoption, ERISA, health statues of most US states, workers compensation, and how to prepare a legal citation.

Link into a topic, for example, workers comp, and see a list of attorneys in your area. (How do they know where I live? Magic!)

They have a presence on Twittter and Facebook. And, they have an Ask A Lawyer section where they say: Questions asked here are answered promptly and efficiently by experts at our commercial partner, JustAnswer.com.

OK, enough of me palavering. Take a look at this site. Bookmark it so you can visit it again easily. Today, we all live in a legal world. This is a good resource to have handy.