Brain dump

Knitting
After reading Caro's podcast reviews, I started listening to Lime and Violet, and if there wasn't so much talk about testicles, I'd have a big crush. Regardless, I might have a crush.

I'm flying through my Ann Budd assisted Jo Sharp sweater vest. I love the yarn. I love the color. I love the fit (thanks Danielle, Rhonda and Beth).

Because I can't help myself
MIT-thanks for the new computer
Left to do: a neckline and one arm hole. Life is good. Speaking of ... wouldn't it be great to have a knitter's version of the classic Life is Good T's? I'm emailing them right now.

Crafting
Inspired by todays Blue Blog, it occured to me that Sunday (this Sunday!!!) is Oct. 1st, so I'd better get moving on Little Man's annual homemade Halloween costume. Considering his current obsession with Peter Pan, I decided to make a Peter Pan costume for him and a Captain Hook costume for me. Upon hearing this, his next-door best friend decided to dress up as Tinkerbell. Ridiculously cute. I should start sewing this weekend, because if the house deal comes through, our October will be pretty damned busy. But not nearly as busy as our December, January, February, etc. Read on ...

House
Lest you think my recent bout of house hunting is based on some responsible notion of tax benefits, building of equity, working together toward a common goal ... Rest assured, I am still insane. Proof's in the photos:

Bathroom #1: missing clawfoot tub, holes for plumbing, yummy linoleum and partially painted beadboard (I do LOVE beadboard)

Bedroom #2: kickin' wallpaper and linoleum (hiding original wide-plank hardwood floors)

Looks like fun, eh? Have I ever mentioned how much I adore demo? Banging, slamming, pulling, crushing, stomping. So fun!

I really want this place, and the wait is killing me! Where's my yarn?

Let the Games Begin...

If we were haggling over concert tickets

Face price: $29

Round One:
My Offer: $0
Seller's Counter: $25

Round Two:
My Offer: $5
Seller's Counter: $20

Round Three:
My Offer: $10
Seller's Counter: holding at $20 as other people look at the house and make offers. oy!

Keep the good Reiki, Mazel, Luck, Thoughts, Wishes, and Hopes coming. At this rate, we'll end at $15, but I hope to get closing costs, a refrigerator, stove, and hot water heater out of them too. Negotiating is fun.

ETA, Wednesday afternoon:
Round Four:
My Best and Final: $15 or $20 with closing costs and other stuff
Seller: pending

Before you leave anymore flattering comments about my negotiation skills, please notice that I'm caving a little. Just a little. But a bidding war has started, and I really like this house. Now I'd better call the mortgage broker again and stalk the home improvement box stores. argh. argh. argh. I want this to be done.

House Mazel Needed

I didn't make it to the Boston KnitOut because I made an offer on a house.

No, I wasn't house hunting.
No, I can't afford it.
No, it wasn't part of the plan. at. all.
Yes, this was my secret from last Monday.

But the house is perfect, and there's 1-1/2 hour for the seller to respond to our offer. So I need my knitters to puh-lease send some house mazel. Perhaps making an offer during Rosh Hashana will give us luck? This could be an excellent (and unanticipated) new beginning. Send your house mazel here...

ETA, 10pm: They countered, and so did I. They barely budged from the listing price, and I barely budged from my low offer. My realtor wanted to wait until the morning to submit the new offer, but I told her to call tonight, and give them another 6pm deadline. I'm fighting this to the bloody end, and there's still plenty of space between our offers. So keep it comin' gals; send those good house vibes! Oh yeah. I also caught a cold. At 6pm. Strange. So send some good health vibes too, will ya? Thanks!

Boston Knit-Out?

Will you be there?
I will. Little Man will.
Watch for a small blond streak of pure energy and a breathless Mommy.

Hoo-freakin'-RAY!

Deval Patrick wins easily

Now let's get him in the corner office, and give that carpet-baggin' moron the boot.

Why?

1. Because he's so damned cute.

2. Because survey responders asked for more Little Man.

3. Because Wifey doesn't read the blog anyway, so she can't be mad at me for posting a real photo.

4. To remind myself that Little Man can entertain himself when Mommy's on the phone.

5. Because PapaTime (our family's Portsmouth-based folk musician) is looking for a drummer and put the sticks into LM's hands.

6. To prove that he's a natural talent, you know ... just in case he grows up to be a rock star.

Freak show

Today I'm a freak show. Although I don't dare post specifics, there's a possibility of some excellent (I think) life changes coming. Huge changes. Scary changes. Expensive changes. Too fast changes.

In the meantime, I'll re-watch this excellent video, The Last Knit. This is me, both metaphorically, and as someone who battles with some biological (or previous drug use related) mental turmoil, perhaps it's quite literal. In any case, only another knitter could understand why this video is so perfect. And only another head-case-freak-show will understand the scissors part at the end.

Thank godog I knit. Now where's my yarn?

Stuck in my own head

Music
My name is The Mafia, and I'm a LaLa whore. The arrival of each little red&white envelope sends me into fits of glee, and for the last two days, I've been listening to Disk 2 of One From the Vault non-stop. Honestly, I prefer disk 1 (the transition from Help on the Way ---> Franklin's Tower is my favorite musical moment of all time), but I'm still waiting on Disk 1. Live Dead, there's nothing better.

GTD
Despite resisting the pull for months, I've been sucked into reading about the Getting Things Done and Hipster PDA phenomenons. Mind you, I'm convinced that I have adult ADD, and any strategies that help me focus are very welcome. It took about two mouse clicks to discover Moleskines and Moleskine-hacks. Since the PDA hit the market, I've owned two, but when my Palm Zire died back in the early spring, I didn't replace it. I have reasonably good calendar, address book, notes, and creative journalling systems, but they're all disparate and/or bulky. Hopefully this moment marks the beginning of a new system.

Creativity
The moment it was posted on WhipUp, I borrowed a copy of Twyla Tharp's book, The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life. While I find her writing style a bit harsh and bossy, the concepts are great, and it's an interesting peek into the mind of such a brilliant woman. Besides, it's Twyla Tharp. She's allowed to be bossy.

The timing of this books is serendipitous -- for the past few months I've noticed a very distinct cycle to my creativity and creative energy. Specifically, from the time I ovulate until my period, I'm increasingly creative. And for the few days before I bleed, I walk around in a creative bubble. I've started apologizing to Wifey for being "stuck in my own head." Unfortunately those wildly productive days come to a crashing halt as soon as I start to bleed, when my brain turns foggy.

Does anyone else have these strong creative cycles? Do they correlate with any other physical, emotional, environmental, or spiritual cycles?

Gift + Progress

You know it's a good day when something arrives from Canada.


It's a present from my dearest RoRo!


The Canada package contained a hilarious Chicken Scratch bag and pen, some yummy dyke-alicious orange/vanilla loose leaf tea [she knows how to woo a lady], and some cute little pins. The pin shown here is from her excellent show 87% True: The Lies That Bind, which has been touring the Canadian Fringe Festivals all summer.

The three missing pins say "I Dressed Myself Today," which are intended to help Moms avoid social ostracism when Little Man exibits fashion independence. Clearly Little Man was thrilled because I couldn't even get a photo of the pins. but I will. soon. probably while attached to his heinous yellow "turtle shirt".

Wifey said, "It's so strange that you get presents from your online friends."
I smirked and said, "Whatever, she's just a completely hilarious lesbian playwright. It's not like I'm running off to Canada to steal her. No big deal."
I got a raised eyebrow and a dirty look. And now I'll be getting a comment from RoRo's Kate. tee-hee. always causin' trouble.

In other news, I've been clickin' away at my Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed v-neck pullover vest. Look Mom, it might fit! See how it's a tad smaller than my suit jacket? No small thanks to my knitting brain, of course.



Can you tell that photo was taken in my office? Well, Danielle discovered a little camera in our brand new computers. Go see the pix of her awesome new Fountain Lace Cardi. Needless to say, there was inappropriate use of MIT's resources yesterday. Here's my contribution:

My very own Warhol



My eye



My mouth (yes, I used to have a tongue ring)



Now that I've scared you away, have a great day!

Oh the love ...

Apparently people really like surveys. Thanks ya'll [I can't say that without hearing the Indigo Girls' voices in my head. Anyone else own 1200 Curfews and remember that moment?]. Thank you, thank you, thank you for spending time answering my bizarre-o questions. I'll keep it open for a couple weeks, but let's discuss some of my favorite early entries:

To the person who wrote this:

Q: Thoughts? Wants? Needs? Questions?
A: "Tease: I do know someone who met you IRL and though I've known her for 9+ years I've never met her."

you're killin' me!


To the person who wrote this:

Q: Thoughts? Wants? Needs? Questions?
A: "Why do you want to do what your readers want? Your readers will probably change, at least in part, over time. Why is it important to cater to them? Why not just do what matters to you?"

Yes, you are absolutely correct. But sometimes a girl wants to know where she stands. Are we seeing other people, dating exclusively, ready to back up the U-haul? That's all.


To the people who wrote these:

Q: If you encounter the Mafia in public, do you pinky-swear to say "Hi"?
A: "only if she bites me on the leg -- otherwise how will i know her"
and
A: "Perhaps even more than hi..."

Be careful what you ask for...


To the person who wrote this:

Q: Should the Mafia write about meeting other bloggers, going to sheep & wool events, craft fairs, etc?
A: "in moderation! I enjoy it, but too much makes me feel isolated somehow."

Yep, that's what I was wondering about. I feel that way myself when I'm reading. In addition to the isolation element, sometimes it feels like high school with the cool kids vs. the rest of us. You know?


To the person who wrote this:

Q: Why do you read FemiKnit Mafia?
A: "She's funny, inciteful, a nerd, and a parent"

Thanks. Smooch.
Wait just a minute ... I'm a nerd? Wait another minute ... did you mean "insightful" or did you intentionally say "inciteful"? hmmm...interesting. In any case, thanks (I think).


To the person who wrote:

"I wish I knew you better"

Meow. That could be arranged. :-)

Thanks again. This is wicked fun! I promise an update later today, once I woo my Local Knitting Buddy into borrowing her camera.

The Mafia Knows, a survey

As I mentioned last week, I've been working on a survey, which will help me establish a direction for FemiKnit Mafia.

The idea came from my dalliances with SiteMeter, and the striking difference between the SiteMeter stats and the comments I get. I often wonder who these mysterious lurkers are. So I developed a silly little survey to see why people come here. We all know that lurkers won't comment when requested. They lurk because they don't want to comment, and that's cool. But perhaps this anonymous survey will enable the lurkers to speak without speaking. Ya dig?

Please participate. I'm intrigued to see what folks say. Click here: The Mafia Knows

Favorite Things Monday: The Life List

Favorite Things Monday has been languishing, and today isn't an appropriate day to jumpstart it. The memory of 9/11 pervades the blogosphere, the news, and the lives of co-workers and friends. Celebrating my relatively meaningless household possessions doesn't feel right today.

Plus, I have very mixed reactions to 9/11 and the 9/11 anniversary, none of which I'll divulge here. I'm not interested in hate mail, and since there's no clarity in my own mind, why should I subject anyone else to it?

But, in light of the enormity of this day, saying nothing seems disrespectful too. Thankfully my dear sweet Nina showed me the way with her Life List "things that we'd like to accomplish on our short stay on this planet."

My Actually-Possible Life List:

1. Go to Thailand
2. Study Muay Thai kickboxing again
3. See Little Man grow to adulthood
4. Own a house and a postage stamp urban garden
5. Get an MBA
6. Get a PhD (preferrably in Women's Studies or Gender/Cultural Studies)
7. Pay OFF my debt
8. Learn how to keep myself from getting into debt again
9. Move back to the city
10. Buy a condo in Brookline
11. Be content
12. Find a job that doesn't bore me after 2 years
13. Feel really good about my professional accomplishments
14. Swim naked in the ocean (again)
15. Ride a horse on a deserted beach (again)
16. Bungee jump
17. Sky dive
18. Rock climb
19. Ride in a hot air balloon
20. Get a new tattoo for each decade of my life
21. Knit a Sta*more sweater for myself
22. Make a queen size Matisse-inspired quilt of my own design
23. Visit Ireland frequently
24. Finish my geneaological research in Ireland
25. Drive across/around the U.S.
26. Spend time in San Fransisco
27. Go to the Newport Folk Festival
28. Stay in a fancy hotel
29. Eat at a fancy restaurant
30. Sew some formal outfits with pants instead of dresses/skirts
31. Tone my muscles
32. Learn to blacksmith
33. Learn to spin
34. Buy a spinning wheel

My Ideal-World Life List:

1. Be a full-time artist
2. Convince my Mom, my Bro, and my BFF to move to Massachusetts
3. Convince my family, Wifey's family, my BFF, M.I.&Roo, and Nina+crew to buy a huge farm together and live collectively
4. Convert an old red barn into an art studio and share it with my Mom
5. Grow veges and fruit trees and care for sheep and goats
6. Learn to make goat cheese
7. If I must work full-time, own an ocean-front summer home and stay there all summer

Wanna play along? Let me know if you do.

Seasons Change

For someone who is constantly moving, thinking, and comparing myself to others, pure contentment is a rare thing. But this weekend, I've experienced it.

- Farmer's Market

- Recycling center

- Lunch at the Flatbread Pizza Company in Amesbury, MA with Wifey and Little Man

- Holding Little Man while he stared at the fire in the brick oven and squealed "Pizza" every time the cutie teenaged hippies pulled pizza from oven

- Exploring Amesbury and wanting to spend all afternoon at Fiddlestix, a fabulous independent toy store

- Chopping heaping piles of locally grown apples for a pie



- Chopping heaping piles of organic tomatoes in weird varieties from Wifey's little sister's organic farm on the Cape



- Fancy dinner, lots of wine, fresh apple pie and great conversations with our wonderful next door neighbors

- Painting and coloring with Little Man

- Making sugar cookies from scratch and including Little Man in every step



- Closing the windows because it's chilly

- Watching Child Smart's Your Tiny Artist, a wholesome, simple video and listening to Little Man sing, "Can you see the sun? The sun is so warm. Oh, boys and girls what a wonderful world" in tune.

AMEN!

High college debt levels mean millions of young people face decades of student loan payments, which in turn can delay home-buying, saving for retirement, and saving to put their own children through college.

"Overall, the level of debt for college graduates is much too high," said Robert Shireman, executive director of the Project on Student Debt. "It's time for policy-makers to adopt practical, cost-effective reforms that make student loans more affordable for families; and states and schools should rethink their approach to financial aid. Otherwise, college will move farther out of reach for generations to come."

-source: Philanthropy News Digest

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

Apparently Nina is sick of looking at the tattoo on my back, so she's advocating for a real post. Do you think a big-ass post filled with pictures and links will satisfy this woman?



VACATION
Is it wrong that this was my crafts-to-pack pile?



The bulk of my vacation week was spent on a road trip to my Mom's house. Even though Little Man and I have done this road trip alone before, I was terrified about his meltdown potential of a 3 year old with new attitude and new tricks. I was pleasantly surprised by his ability to sit in the car seat for hours at a time, creating entire conversations between his Papo Queen and her pet zebra. And I'm simultaneously delighted and horrified that the Queen systematically smacked every other wild animal figurine onto the floor. Peace vs. Feminism. Oy.

Hurricane Ernesto made us virtually housebound, but we drove to Watkins Glen, NY for one afternoon. While there, we stumbled upon the amazing She-Qua-Ga waterfall. It normally looks like this, but was so huge that even the locals stopped to take pictures. Here's Mom and Little Man.



Isn't that insane? In describing it to Wifey on the phone, Little Man said "Mama, I saw water on hill. Scary, loud. Went down, down, down. Wow!" After giggling at this wonderful description, I taught him the word "waterfall."

Earlier this summer, Mom clipped an article from the local newspaper about a brand new yarn shop in Watkins: Finger Lakes Fibers. Yep, we stopped there.



The store was amazing! It specializes in Schaefer Yarns, because Schaefer is only 20 miles away. While my lovely Mother sat in the car with Little Man, I spent nearly an hour wandering around, petting everything and chatting with Susan, who was knitting a beautiful fair isle sweater. For many months, I've been looking for a perfect Clapotis yarn, and I think I found it. I feel deeply in love with a Great Adirondack Yarn Company skein of Sierra in Blueberry. But it was $50, so I'm still denying myself.

We also dodged the pouring rains to swing through The Windmill Farm & Craft Market. When I was a teenager, my Mom forced me to go with her to The Windmill and I hated it. But things are very different now. It was amazing. The Amish. The baked goods. The homemade pierogies. The Amish quilts. The Amish furniture.

I spent another afternoon at my Gram's house. She loves her faux chenille blanket, and offered me two huge tubs of vintage fabric "in case I want to make more chenille blankets." As if I'd intentionally shred vintage fabric? The horrors. Needless to say, I nearly fell over a chair, tripped over a cat, broke a handpainted "country" knick-knack from 1982, before diving head-first into the bins. I escaped with a garbage bag stuffed with insanely weird fabric, and crammed it into my teeny rental tin box with wheels. Here's the screwed up (but much loved) faux chenille blanket. Photos of the fabric are forthcoming.



I've made progress on my Mom's poncho, but I tried it on her and despite meeting her specific measurements, she still feels that it's too small. She wants a long poncho. This is poised to be the never-ending project.



After considering frogging the center piece and knitting it much larger, or frogging the lace panels and knitting them much larger, I decided to find a nice lace pattern that would transition from the closed stockinette stitch to the very open vertical lace pattern. Last night, I found 6 patterns in the library's copies of BG's masterpieces (some day I'll buy them), and settled on the Open Honeycomb Stitch.


PRE-VACATION

In answer to a question posed by Beth, the spiral tattoo on my back is brand new. The flower tattoo on my ankle is 13 years old. If you're interested in the stories, you can find them here and here.



I finally boxed up Nina's wrist cuff and gave it to her. She loved it, and I was happy with that.



I had so much fun making the box, which is why it took so long to give to Nina. It featured a huge red foam hand that popped out of the box when you opened the lid. Of course I finished it in the wee hours of the night, so I woke Wifey up and scared her with it. tee-hee. Since Nina and I spend precious little time together, spending two consequetive days with her and her beautiful wee ones was a highlight of my vacation. We're pledging to set aside no-kid crafty time in the very near future.

We had a lovely dinner with "the blogger formerly known as M." and her family, which now includes Roo, a most adorable newborn. 'Member that blob of orange I posted? It's a baby hat for Roo, intentionally designed to grow with his head. There's nothing as perfect as a newborn sleeping on your chest. I love having a new little guy around to corrupt play with.



My next door knitter Danielle gave me two LOVELY sculpy-covered baby food jars. If you scoot over to her blog, you can swap for one too. And because she's just that amazing, Danielle also brought me black/grey fabric scraps after I mentioned my plan to do a Herb Ritts black-and-white mini-quilt.

POST-VACATION

I've swatched, measured, washed and re-measured in preparation for knitting a v-neck fitted pull-over vest for myself. The yarn is Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed, which I got from Christine at a bargain basement price. Yes! Here's the vest-in-progress:



I've also been dilligently working away at the Icarus shawl for Wifey. I've completed the 4th repeat of chart #4, which means I'm a reasonable distance from the fun part.



While watching Braveheart with my Mom until 2am (why? I have no earthly idea), I found a mistake 5-6 rows back. So I held on tight, let about 8 stitches drop down those 5-6 rows, and spent an hour trying to fix the mistake. Here's the money shot. Do you think the wonkiness will block out?



I've been thinking a lot about the upcoming holidays, as well as the new and pending babies in my world. Since everyone in my family is too bored by knitting to actually read the blog (even Wifey), it's safe to post my current Knit Gift List, in order of anticipated deadlines:

Roo: Sweater (1824 cotton from Christine)
Clancey: the Lotorp bag from Noro Revisited in a blue-green-purple Kureyon
Gramma: Wedge Hat from IK Winter '05 (in some tweedy wool)
London baby-to-be: ? sweater
Little Man: basic raglan sweater (cornflower School Products yarn)
Little Man: requested new socks


FEMIKNIT MAFIA NEWS

You will soon see a "Cast of Characters" on my sidebar. It's a pain to constantly explain all the monikers, and since I won't stop talking about my peeps, I'm trying to make reading easier.

I created a survey to determine how I'll proceed with the blog, and would love to hear from as many people as possible. It'll take about 2 minutes to complete and I'll post it tomorrow.

Please, please, please ... if you comment to a post, please include your email address. I try to reply to everyone, especially new people. It might take a bit, but eventually I write back. And for the most part, if you read mine, I read yours. [I'll show you mine if you show me yours] If it's a substantive response, I'll send an email, but I won't generally reply with "thanks" or "you're so right." Instead I prefer to post a comment to your blog. Circulate the love, yo. So if you're asking me a question, be sure to include your email.

Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend!

Freckles & Ink

Go Beth Go!

Have you seen the crazed shawl racing over at Seed Stitch? There's voting and prizes (roving, fingering weight yarn, Lorna's Laces, charity) and there's serious schmack being thrown around the blogosphere. Drama, drama, drama. I love it.

I voted for Beth, primarily because I commute with her almost daily and I'm afraid of her sharp DPNs, but also because she's a women's college graduate, and that means she's a fierce competitor. In just one hour I'll get an update. Go Beth Go!

Starry Sky socks

Status as of last week. Aren't my glowing pastey legs just too sexy for words?


Flash forward, after commuting and camping knitting, and the socks are within shooting distance of being an FO. Yesterday was deemed "Finish the Socks for Christ's Sake" Day, and in an uncharacteristic example of mise en place, I printed a new-to-me bind off (EZ's Sewn), ate lunch at my desk to maximize my knitting time, and plopped myself in a nice shady patch of grass with all tools at hand. I bound off. Easy peasy. Stretchy. I was delighted. Until ...

I tried the socks on. Eff-ing Mafia! The socks are primarily stockinette, and in my hurry to finish them, I forgot to add some ribbing. Of course the socks rolled like mad. Rolling socks may be fine for some people, but not for me. Especially not for socks that will be worn under drapey work pants.

Also, in my enthusiastic weaving of ends, I didn't notice this silly mistake (that white line - it's called lazy weaving):

So I spent an entire hour picking out all 128 cast off stitches. Tedious doesn't begin to capture it. With Beth as my witness, I nearly chucked the whole project. But once I was curled into the corner of my couch, I added a teeny bit of ribbing and worshipped at the altar of EZ's Sewn Cast Off again. That's a perfect toe-up sock cast off, by the way. And of course I have Danielle to thank for pointing it out. I was too tired to snap a picture last night, so I'll recycle another from last week. They're slighting taller and they don't roll.

Before someone asks, yes, that's my first tattoo. She's a pink rose (in honor of my grandmother) with the stem woven through the symbol for woman. At age 11, I decided I wanted a pink rose on my ankle. At 18, after all the changes that years 11-17 bring, I still wanted the same thing. So I got it, with one addition. As a raving feminist, I added the feminist symbol. A few years later, I realized that the provincial Scranton, PA tattoo artist knew something I didn't, because the flower looks exactly like labia. Since then, she's faded and blurred a little, so I'm heading to a parlor on Saturday for a touch-up and for Tat #2.

Favorite Things Monday - Lazy Monday

I'm too lazy to tell a Favorite Things story today, because this weekend was the annual camping pilgrimage to celebrate my FIL "Big Time"s birthday. The weekend was great, but without going into extruciating detail, suffice it to say that I'm tired, mosquito-itchy, and everthing in my house is either damp or soaked. The drive was long (5 hours), but the campsite was stunning*! Prior to arrival, I had no idea where we were going. It's Wifey's family's gig, so I just drive and I'm always pleasantly surprised. This year we met at North Hero State Park, which is located on North Hero Island, situated in the northern section of Lake Champlain. Yes, I was very close to Canada, and yes, Wifey and I had long conversations about expatriation. We seriously considered it. Our strategy involved Wifey's Uncle "Big Rock" - the republican boat owner and our nautical guide for the weekend, and the perfect diatribe that would earn us passage to the land of univeral health care, federal marriage rights, mild summers and yarn. Alas, I'm back in Cambridge this morning, part of One Nation Under God. Argh.

While hovered over the 'beacon of hope' lantern, huddled in our tent to avoid the scattered showers downpour, I made progress on my Starry Sky socks. In fact, I'm hoping to post FO pics later this week. Unfortunately I couldn't snap any pix this weekend because our camera battery died and so did Big Time's. Trust me, I looked very Victorian and burned many brain cells wondering how our knitting ancestors managed to create such beautiful items while knitting by candlelight.


*Blogger has apparently upgraded itself over the weekend. I can do lots of crazy things (like bold) directly from the create window. No more HTML tags. Thanks Blogger.

Favorite Things Monday - Wilde & Mead

The BFF&exGF#2 Wilde and her current GF Meade visited this weekend, and it was absolutely incredible! We did some copycat cooking and traditional baking; strolling through my favorite quaint New England town; window shopping; a serious search for a feminist-friendly version of Little Man's new princess & dragon obsession [found!]; a toddler-ized short trip to the beach; and a hike through the woods up to a castle, where Little Man and his BFF freely frolicked around the grassy hilltop.

There was snuggling, cuddling, discussions about community, and visions of collective living. But alas, despite my strong opposition, Wilde and the lovely Mead returned to home and work.

My longing to live near her is deep and strong.

All Fabric, All the Time

Love.Love.Loved the Lowell Quilt Festival. It was so much more extensive than I expected, so I only had time to skim the surface of the city-wide exhibits. Next year, I'll plan a two day trip.

I went alone, which was an incredible gift from pregnant-Wifey. She's so tired all the time, so releasing me from my Mommy duties for several hours was very sweet. I whipped up her favorite ginger snap cookies as a Thanks.

I wandered. I thought. I tried to connect with Kat With A K, but despite swaping cell #s and identifying clothing choices, we never found one another. Did I mention that this festival is huge? My first stop was the main juried show at the Tsongas Arena, followed by the New England Quilt Museum, the Whistler House Museum, the Brush Art Gallery, and a swing through the American Textile History Museum with plans to return when I have more time to see the quilts from Quilt National '05.

There were many many stunning quilts at the show, and I ran out of memory on my camera long before I finished taking pictures. Still, there are a lot of pix, so I'll post my favorite here and the rest on my Flickr set.

Frida Kahlo: Embrace of the Universe
by Brigitte Otto (Germany)


Brigitte Otto created this quilt as part of Marilyn Belford's "Artists Revisited" class. Marilyn Belford is an amazing quilt artist who had several pieces on display at the show and I fell in love with every one of them. I'm dying to take the Artists Revisited class from her. Dying. I've already emailed her and hope.hope.hope I can make it happen.

After drooling over the quilts, I walked the plank vendor loop. Oy. It took every ounce of my being to resist spending an obscene amount of money that I don't have. So I walked around one time, fondled everything and thought through the options. Then I hit the Valley Fabrics and Portsmouth Fabric Company booths hard.

For a baby quilt


Stash-building: for 30s-repro-fun & to represent Little Man's white kitty; for fall trees in the distance of a landscape quilt; and for crazy-mod-fun


Stash-building: because I love Kaffe; and I love batiks with strong geometric lines; and I love green and I LOVE swirls; and there are so many different uses for the blue pods


Stash-building: love Kaffe; good basic purple; teeny pansies will certainly come in handy someday


Stash-building: because I love words on fabric, and the sage accents almost glow


My original intention was to find a bit of this fabric that I've been oogling for months:


It's Alexander Henry's Countdown and I must have it. Also, I'd like to get the multi-colored version too. He also does one of my favorite prints (seen in Nina's wrist cuff-the panel that says "Grace"), the Buckerettes.

While at the Valley Fabrics, I asked them if they carried it. Of course they do, and they offered to drop a yard in the mail. I love them! Go patronize them. They're very very sweet.

Several months ago, I discovered that the folks at Marimekko will send you little samples of the fabrics for FREE! A week after discovering this, I received these in the mail.


Wanna see what happened while I made Wrist Cuffs?

I swear it's not posed at all. Everything is just as I left it.

The craft room is all cleaned up now, ready for more action.

Wicked Game

When MTV aired Chris Isaac's Wicked Game music video way back in 1991, I was in high school, and like all other American teens, I was very hormonal. As a baby hetero, I fell silent and slack-jawed every time I caught this video on MTV. There is a section of the video when Helena Christensen is decked out in a black lingerie set, but even as a baby hetero, I was obsessed with the main visual thread of the video, when she's wearing men's white briefs. I mistakenly thought it was the hetero soft porn that compelled me. Not.so.much.

A couple years later, after I came out of the closet, I spotted the video when I was flipping channels. Only then did I understand how truly sexy it is. And I realized it was not the hetero soft porn, but it was Helena Christensen in men's underwear.

Several years ago, during the height of the Napster days, I tried to locate this video so I could download it. No dice.

Today, for some odd reason, this video popped into my mind, and I went looking again. Only this time the angels sang down from the heavens, and I found it on You Tube. Not suprisingly, a gorgeous woman in white briefs still does it for me, and the soft porn doesn't hurt.

But there's a also new dimension to this particular obsession. When I checked Wikipedia for the date of release, I found out that Herb Ritts directed the video. Why am I not surprised? He's an amazing artist, one of my all-time favorite photographers, and I regularly flip through the coffee table book that Wifey bought me several years ago. These are two of my all-time favorites:


Can you tell this is Michelle Pfeiffer? I would give my left tit to own it. Seriously.I have another tit.I need this photo.


Woman in Sea, Hawaii, 1988

Little did I know that the MFA owns several of his photos. It's high time to visit the MFA again.

Favorite Things Monday - Inspiration

I am consistently inspired by Lisa Congdon, the artist behind A Bird in the Hand. She's smart. She's sassy. She's unique. She's creative. She's gay. For all these reasons, she rocks my world. For once, I saw something on her blog and thought, "hey, I could make that!" and I did.

I made these two wrist cuffs on Saturday night, not entirely unrelated to my Sunday trip to the Lowell Quilt Festival.


This one's for me. I love the colors and wearing a cuff makes me feel like Wonder Woman. I'll be making several more cuffs, and although a pair of gold cuffs would be so-very-Wonder-Woman, perhaps a red and white star print would suffice.

This one's for Nina, as a swap for the beautiful pin she gave me as part of her SwaparamaMama.


Only after making my cuffs did I realize that Lisa Congdon made her cuffs with one main piece of fabric. When I told Wifey, she laughed and laughed. Of course I had to make it harder on myself. Judging by the laughter, I'm thinking this is a habit of mine. Next time ... I'll keep it simple.

*hand model, adorable freckles and camera provided by my lovely blogging support staff.

The Turtle Knit Along

In the spirit of house-cleaning, I'm retiring this KAL from my sidebar. It's actually in the spirit of A.D.D. knitting because I have too many WIPs over there. If you're a Turtle and have finished, please drop me an email at thefeministmafia AT yahoo DOT com and I'll turn you green. Old posts can be found here, here, here, here, here and here.

The Turtle Knit Along (original post)


GREEN = FINISHED

The Mafia
An Elephant's Gestation
Bag 'N' Trash
Blue Knits
CarryFairie
Crunchy Granola
Day to Day Bullshit
Double Helix
Dympna
Emmie
Freckle Girl
Inky Knits
Janey from Nova Scotia
Jersey Knitter
Julie at Knit Geeks
Jen at JenLa
Multitasking
Norsky Bear
Obsession Du Jour
Penelope's Got Nothing On Me
Persnickety Knitter
Plastikgyrl
Sharon Knits Too
Sheeps Pyjamas
Skeintily Clad
Some Bunny's Love
Songbird
Thorny Knits
Tish
To Purl is Human, To Knit Divine
Wenders

In Love With Wee Toes

When some very important news arrived in my inbox yesterday, I immediately cast on for a very small project.

When this photo arrived in my inbox this evening, I feel deeply in love.


When I got home tonight, there was real progress.


Tomorrow, I'll find even more inspiration.

Favorite Things Monday - Hiking

Back in my late teens and early twenties, I did a fair amount of hiking and backpacking. But after college, I didn't know anyone who enjoyed it, so I prioritized politics over the wilderness. Lately, I've been yearning to scale mountains and climb on rocks, so I bought two books to help ease me back into it: Best Hikes With Children - the MA, CT & RI version, as well as the NH, VT, ME version. I took several vacation days this week, so there's no better time to start, right? I threw the Boy, my two trusty teenaged sidekicks/sisters-in-law into the car and drove north. We somehow found our way to Maine and Mount Agamenticus, despite the fact that I forgot the book, my cell, my wallet, my epipen, and my I.D. But of course there was enough food & water in my pack to sustain a small army. The day was perfect. The bugs were mild. The teenaged sidekicks morphed into wood nymphs at the edge of the forest and frolicked up the mountain. The boy skipped and jumped and slid around on rocks and desperately tried to keep up with his Aunties on this, his first real hike. I plodded along, feeling every bit of my 31 years out-of-shape body, and promised myself that I wouldn't atrophy again. And yet, I love this tightness of muscle, ache of feet, out of breath sensation because it's so pure. So simple.


ETA: Thanks for all the support prior to my big fundraising event. Yes, we did well. With a modest goal of $20K, we left with $47K. I'm a Superstar!

Cash for a Cause

I may have mentioned my 'gay consulting gig' before. Once or twice, right? It's tonight! eek!

Tonight I'll be drinking wine, chatting with smart people, bossing volunteers around (nicely, of course), drinking wine, mildly flirting with rich lesbians, imagining how my life would be different if I had a Cape house, bossing volunteers around, and drinking wine. Why, you ask? Because I.am.a.professional.fundraiser. I get paid to do this shit. I know, it's sick. This can't be 'work'.

If you didn't already know how awesome Danielle is -- here's proof. Yesterday, she and took a lunch-time jaunt to the Cambridgeside Galleria to find a shirt and shoes that I could wear under my blue pin-striped pantsuit. Mind you, I already own clothes that fit the bill, but I needed -new- clothes for this most politically high-powered fancy event. Danielle found me a shirt and matching shoes in under 1/2 hour! How cool is that??? She's just what every fashion-challenged lesbian needs. We need to clone her. I'll get my MIT pals on the job.

Here's the view from my nose. Hot, huh? Shiny chartreuse shirt + Cleave + Chartreuse heels.

Yes, heels. These are fabulous rich gay men, people. I know I can't compete, but at least I won't look like a schlump.

And further proof that Danielle is awesome -- I'm sitting at my desk this morning, and a crumpled ball of paper comes flying over the wall. This is the inside:

Thanks Danielle! You rock!!

The Glory of a good Time-Suck

Because that's just what I need the day before my big event. Fun!
Thanks to Suzanne.

Life's to do list - Completed items are bolded

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken Been driven around in a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula [not on your life!!]
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight [Hi little Bro]
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen an eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces or all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe [if you consider that 2 day trip from Germany to Amsterdam for New Years '98]
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke [not surprisingly, I barely remember it]
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed Ran around nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business [C&J's Feminist Oil Changers -- yes, college]
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken [is that possible?]
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class [LOVE Muay Thai]
71. Played D&D Nintendo for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie [only the kind you make in college]
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music [but can we really call it "music"?]
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand [SOON with the BFF&exGF#2!]
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in aisles at Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour [very short leg of Dead & Phish]
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced [wanna guess where?]
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild [if you consider Amsterdam "wild"?]
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

Someday soon I'd like to write my own list, both as a reminder of the cool things I have done, and as a list of goals.

If you do this meme, let me know so I can read it.

Favorite Things Monday - Happy Hippy Lovefest

With only 4 days until the gay consulting gig reaches its pinnacle, and 5 days until I teach my last class for this quarter, I'm about to pull my hair out. Boy do I need to focus on my Favorite Things today. But my creativity is actively atrophying, so this is what I have:

MY COMMENTERS

You are my Favorite Thing today. In spite of my current inability to send you love via email, I am reading, commenting on your blogs and most of all, really really enjoying finding new comments in my inbox. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Seriously.

This isn't blatant ass kissing ('cuz really ... I don't do ass kissing), it's about this wonderful community that I appreciate so much. Kisses.

Ah-hem, that's about all the happy hippy lovefest I can handle. Must.say.something.inappropriate.now.

Piss-meyer!

See, it's still me. I haven't been eaten alive by Cute Overload, though I love those kittens. Shhh! Don't tell. It would ruin my reputation.