Finding a blog title is like naming your kid. Pick the wrong one and you’re a pariah forever. Name your boy Herbert or Gerhardt and you practically guarantee that if you don’t sign the kid up for karate or some other martial arts class you’ll be regularly scraping him off the pavement. Pick the wrong blog title and you’ll never make it to Google’s Top Ten Blogs (if there is such a list). I’ve decided to leave the blog title alone for now. It’s worked for five years, I’m sure it can muddle through for a while longer.
As for topics, I’m stuck there. I haven’t got any passionate feelings about anything right now except for my distaste for high temps paired with high humidity. While it’s better than the rain we had for a couple of weeks, I can still only enjoy the sun from inside whatever air-conditioned environment I happen to inhabit.
So, blog blackout will continue for awhile longer. Check back – I might come up with something. Soon. Or not. We’ll see.
Since my blog is no longer strictly about knitting, or even a peripherally knitting-related blog, I feel the need for a new title. Some things I’ve thought of:
The Piece of Work – yes, I’ve been called that. I know – you’re shocked!
Crotchety Bitch – catchy, but rather redundant.
My Way or the Highway – I threw this one out.
Because I’m the Mom – doesn’t really fit, although I am a mom. It’s not a parenting blog.
Today I got a new toy at work – one of the perks of being in IT. I got an iPad and have been playing with it for awhile today. It’s a fun toy! First, it has the obvious cool factor. There’s a certain elitism associated with the iPad, and that’s a bit off-putting for me, but it’s way out paced by the fun of the device itself.
First, the things I’m not crazy about. The built in keyboard is a little difficult to get used to. I know…I’ve only had it for four hours…give it time. I’m just glad I already had the bluetooth keyboard for my Macbook, which is what I’m using to type now. Another negative is the issues with the wireless connection. The WiFi at work is a hidden network, and apparently the iPad (and the iPhone) have issues with that. I have to reconfigure the connection each time the device goes to sleep – it doesn’t remember it. The third thing I don’t like is that I couldn’t install iWork from CD. While there may be a way I’m not aware of at this time, I did have to purchase the downloadable versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. This one needs a bit more research.
Upsides are many. I love the number of free apps available. The first app I installed? An air horn. You can find it in the iTunes App Store. On the iPad there’s an icon for Apps. Tap it, type air horn into the search, and voila! I also got a light saber app, just because it’s too much fun!
I really wanted to be able to read my Kindle books on the iPad, and yes, there’s an app for that. It’s free, and also can be found under the Apps icon. Any app that is available for the iPhone is generally available for the iPad, so load that baby up!
I love how you can turn the device and the display changes accordingly. Want portrait, no problem. Landscape? Absolutely!! Want to watch a You Tube vid without all the extra crap on the screen? Turn the iPad sideways and it will only show the video when in landscape mode.
Email is pretty simple on the iPad. I had my Exchange and Comcast accounts set up in 5 minutes. There’s a built in wizard for setting up your Gmail account, too, as well as Yahoo mail. The mail view changes when in portrait vs. landscape mode just like video.
I have so much left to discover and test, so I’ll let you know how it goes. One of my next tests is going to be looking at knitting patterns with the iPad. Maybe it will be the end of all those paper patterns?
People can’t spell, or punctuate, or use proper grammar any more. I’m not just talking about in quick email messages or slap dash posts on Facebook, either. I’m talking about business correspondence, thank you notes, school assignments, and just about any other form of written communication. I am including not just people who barely made it through high school, but people with college degrees. I would be completely ashamed if I sent a business communication in which I mis-used to and too. I would be mortified to substitute there for they’re or their. I see it every day from people who are in positions of responsibility and – I’m assuming – are role models for students and others.
I cringe when I drive by a huge sign advertising a business with misspelled words. I see advertising copy that’s been approved for distribution with poor grammar and bad spelling. I get emails that fore go punctuation altogether.
There’s a time and place for informal communication, and there’s a venue for abbreviation and emoticons. There are also situations that should be treated with consideration and thought before dashing off a poorly worded and sometimes shockingly badly constructed statement.
Educate yourselves. You paid a lot of money for that education, shouldn’t you use it?
I wonder about a lot of stuff. Sometimes its stuff like what goes on over at the neighbor’s house and do they know their kids are obnoxious felons? Other times its stuff like who was the first person to eat an artichoke, and how did someone figure out to dip the ends of the leaves in butter and scrape off the flesh with their teeth? I mean, really, how do you get to that from looking at a thorny thing like an artichoke? Would you put any part of it in your mouth? And yet, they’re delicious. Either that or it’s just an excuse to eat butter.
Mostly, I wonder at the difference between what people say on Sunday, and do on Monday.
Every religion I’m familiar with professes that each person has a responsibility toward others. We’re all responsible in some way for the well-being and care of our neighbors. Each faith says it differently, but that’s the basic premise. Yet, everywhere I turn, people turn their backs on each other. For evidence of this, check out Facebook. Any discussion of health care reform, or immigration, or welfare, or any other endeavor that has to do with support of the less fortunate is met with malice and vitriol.
It’s almost a daily occurrence when someone posts something on my Facebook page about “my” Obama doing yet another thing to drag this country down. There was a flame war over the issues in Arizona. Bring up food stamps and AFDC and the stereotypes and prejudices come flying out faster than you can say “charity.” There are more social issues that prompt wars of words than I want to list here, but I think you get the idea.
Religiously-observant people I know site the Bible as their guide to being a better person. They say that any value worth having is in there. The road map, if you will, is there – you only have to read it. I’ve been told many times that a non-religious person couldn’t possibly have strong values and a commitment to her fellow human (they said “man,” but let’s not go there). Children, I’ve been told, can’t possibly grow up to be caring and productive members of society without the guidance of god.
I don’t buy that.
I was raised Catholic. I converted to Judaism. I’ve flirted with Paganism and earth-based religions. I’m pretty much comfortable being a Secular Humanist. I believe, completely, that people are either good, bad, or as is most often the case, in between somewhere. Values and morals are something your parents pass on to you, and something that you groom and hone as you live your life. Way back before there was a Bible, or one god, or any gods at all, there were people. They cared for their young, nurtured their old, sacrificed for the good of the clan. They didn’t have Exodus 20:1-7 to tell them not to steal. They didn’t do it because it wasn’t accepted. It was a value. No god involved. There was only a society that didn’t value stealing from your clan.
It’s really not about values, is it? It’s really about money. Money that “we” have and “they” don’t. No one disagrees on a philosophical level that no one should starve. But when it’s time to pony up the old checkbook, suddenly the hungry person is “lazy,” and “unmotivated” to move himself out of poverty. Bashing Obama for costing “us” money on the healthcare bill is rather like blaming a child for his parents’ lack of financial sense. Obama wasn’t the only one working on this. He has said, in many sound bites, that there is no way for his vision to prevail when there are so many special interest groups out there undermining his intentions. And before you start bashing me in the contents, do a little research on your own to find out just what parts of the health care bill came from whom.
It isn’t religion that dictates our values. It’s society as a whole. And as long as our society continues with the “me first” method of value setting, it isn’t going to change.
I have been pondering the workshops I might attend this year. There are not as many as I’d like, and not any with the topics I really want to examine like green building, sustainable living and the like. There’s one on green burial, which I will be attending. A possible candidate is Assault on the Sacred, as is Celtic Song and Story. That one is a strong contender for my valuable PSG time. I’m thinking of going to the Daily Centering Circle at Psyche’s Grotto, since that is something I need in my life. Discovering the Amazons is another interesting looking workshop, particularly since it’s being given by Kathryn Hinds, a prominent pagan author. Engaging the Warrier’s Heart is on my list, as I think it might be useful in my new managerial capacity at work. It’s also being presented by one of the authors, so again that’s a big draw.
In keeping with the soul searching and self-actualization I’ve found myself drawn toward, Gestalt Dream Work is a definite possibility. I definitely want to walk the Labyrinth this year, so napping that day will be key! My political activist self is being drawn to McCollum V. California: The Battle for Pagan Rights in Modern America. I might also wander over to the Morning Zen Medication and the Mythic Mindfulness and Goddess Virtues workshops.
Since I’m only through the “M” portion of the workshops, I’ll stop there. It’s a lot to choose from. My plans also include time spend at the gathering areas, going to morning meetings, hanging out in camp with my friends, and spending quality time with my husband, son, and self. My only unfulfilled wish is that it lasted more than eight days.
As all things change, so too does my blog. I find myself knitting a lot less and reading a lot more. I have virtually no knitting to blog about, save my husband’s laments about the space my supplies take up. So, since he never laments about such things, there’s nothing to blog about. Knitting wise, that is.
There are, however, topics to explore. Totally NOT fiber related. Things like why is everyone so down on healthcare reform, particularly the existing healthcare law – which is the way it is because it wouldn’t pass without the provisions we hate being put in by the Other Side? Or how the word feminism has become the same on the profanity scale as fuck. Yes, I went there. Or why I don’t feel comfortable blogging about my Daily Demon – Depression? Or why I’m letting my gray hair grow out? Or how come being 51 is making me freaking crazy (no, I didn’t go there this time – once is enough).
So, my friends (all three of you), this blog is changing. The name will probably change too, I haven’t decided yet. I do know that you will find more political, personal, global, and controversial topics here, and less soft, fibery stuff. I will post the occasional knitterly topic, but that’s no longer the focus.
Fair warning, dear readers (I always wanted to say that!). The times they are a-changing.
After a very (very, very, very) long winter, spring has sprung. The sun is warm on my skin, the light is golden, the sky is blue. The spring flowers in my yard are exploding all over. The magnolia has turned to yellow flowers this year. Last year they were green, but I think it was due to the youth of the tree. It’s two years old now.
I moved most of the daffodils and tulips last fall, and relocated the hydrangeas. The hydrangeas are still just sticks, but the tulips and daffodils are blending nicely with the bleeding hearts.
Some of the tulips are the raggedy ones that are so beautiful. I like them so much more than the plain tulips.
It just shows that, when it comes to long (long, long, long, cold, snowy, long) winters, you just have to
On my way home tonight, as I kept my ever vigilent watch for rogue deer lurking in ditches waiting to run in front of my car, a rogue miniature pincher actually did. Run in front of my car, that is. It didn’t lurk, it bounced. I stopped to make sure it was ok (I didn’t hit it). It was just sitting there, blocking the ENTIRE ROAD with its tiny body, until I opened my car door. Then it jumped like someone had stuck a hot poker up its…er…behind and sailed into my car. Right on top of the pizza box -which was, thankfully, closed. After doing my civic duty by stopping at random farm houses to ask if they knew to whom the dog might belong (they didn’t), I had to choose between leaving the creature by the side of the road or bringing him home. So, there you have it.
Wee Beastie is caged. While he gets along with Spike and Lucky, apparently he’s too proud to poop in the backyard like the other dogs. I got tired of following him around like some sort of lackey. Ads have been placed in the appropriate publications so that (hopefully!) someone will claim him. I don’t want another dog. Especially one that appears to think himself descended from doggie aristocracy. For now, we’re calling him Killer. Or Sir Killer, as he prefers. He appears to be mostly Miniature Pincher, with a touch of aristocratic something. He jumps like a Jack Russel. If he’s not claimed by Tuesday, he’s up for grabs. Any takers?
In the fight against aviary oppression, take no prisoners.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who has noticed the insidious spread of bushy tailed rat like creatures (some know them as squirrels) infiltrating the yards, garages, bird feeders, and even the attics of our homes. These fluffy terrorists hold nothing sacred – bird seed, dog food, tuna sandwiches with american cheese, yarn – any of these (and more!) are fair game in their stealthy quest.
