An Update

This has not been a very "bloggy" month for a lot of reasons.

A. The Fall school started. This is the part of the year I like least: scads of eager, fresh-faced college students descending like locusts upon an unprepared and unsuspecting campus. They take all the parking spots, cop attitude really quick, and their parent's also act like fools. Worse yet, the administration of every school I've ever worked at acts as if this is the first time they've ever opened in August. No one ever remembers how to do their job, which means:

B. The people I have to work with turn into stark raving fools. However, since I have a new job, it hasn't been so bad. I only have to deal with one person and normally she's OK. However, this month she's been a hassle. I'm her liasion, yet she's sending everything to my boss, not CC'ing me on emails, so that when the CIO asks me what going on, I'm clueless. Now, I don't know what I've done to offend her, but best believe we will has a serious discussion about this little attitude problem she's having very soon. I can't take this, I won't take this, and I am seriously pissed about it.

C. I am on Vacation. I am in DC right now visiting my friend Shaye, who has decided that, for some unknown and ungodly reason she wants to leave the happy shores of America and go to Africa...Seriously! Africa! (J/K Shaye!) I'm sad that she's leaving, but hey, that's a great new place for me to visit and hang out.

D. Shaye's new son, Ahmed Allen Sidee, is without a doubt, the most adorable, gorgeous little 2-month old I've ever seen. He is also attached to Shaye ever 2 hours. Amazing...

E. The Democratic National Convention was . . . words fail me. Inspirational and well-orchestrated come to mind first. 84,000 people at Invesco fields, 38 million people watching on TV. A bigger audience share than the opening of the Olympics, the Season ending of American Idol, and the Oscars. I can't wait to see what the Republicans come up with.
American's are ready for change. We have two change agents at the head of major party tickets. Which reminds me . . .

F. Gov. Sarah...Who? I mean really, Who???! If this isn't pandering, I don't know what is. I remember reading about her 2-3 months ago when her name came up as a possible VP pick and I thought, "If they choose her, all the Republican cracks about Obama's 'lack of experience have got to stop' ". This is hilarious. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL] said it best, "I have more people in my congressional district than she has in her entire state!"

In Knitting news, I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket for Baby Ahmed. I made a lot of upgrades on it:

1. Did some double knitting around the hood to accomodate an I-cord tie for the hood.
2. Added Moss Stitch to the edges, including the button bands in order to prevent curling.
3. Made the sleeves extra long
4. Added short rows in the back for more space.

I'm actually very proud of it. I'll post pictures soon.

Firebug

I have a new Friend called Firebug.

Casey (on Ravelry) suggested the use of Firebug to all bloggers who were irritated with their CSS and HMTL as a way to check script before loading.

I thought it was a bunch of hooey. Until I used it.



I am in the league of believers now. Firebug helped me edit all those little things about Blogger I hated: My sidebar was higher than the main post page, those annoying double-line borders around my picture, etc. It helped me isolate all of it.

Wonderful! Now, if I can get over my obsession with pages, I might be able to make Blogger work for me.

In which our faithful blogger reveals her duplicity

I started updating my Wordpress site again.

I can't help it. It's so pretty and clean.

It's not my fault. The Walker Treasury Project has made me an author. I don't want to have to update Blogger, then update Wordpress. I want to do all my blogging from one place. Not to mention that Wordpress Stats are a lot better.

I even thought about self-hosting. Ridiculous isn't it?

I did break down and get a year subscription to Flickr Pro. I just don't know if I want to go all the way with Wordpress yet.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2007

1. I was living a home with my parents
2. I was working a great job for a great boss in a horrible environment for s**t money (it was getting better toward the end, but still...)
   
3. I had broken my engagment six months earlier but we were still in a relationship (or at least I thought that)
4. I had a lot of friends and family around for support and encouragement.
   

2008

1. I live 450 miles away from my parents. I moved 350 miles, then my parents moved 100 miles.
2. I work a good job for a good supervisor, a so-so CIO, and an OK environment. But the money is fantastic and the prospects for advancement are excellent.
3. I'm single. The Jackass is married to someone else. Karma will get his ass. I try not to think of him anymore. I'm looking but I'm not really ready for someone else.
   
4. I'm making friends very slowly. My closest relative is 3 hours away. I am my own support system.

A few months ago I spoke to one of my friends (and mentors) and I told her that there had to be some point to God placing me in "God's Waiting Room." She laughed and said that I phrased it quite well. I'm in the waiting room for some reason.

1. Why am I here? I dunno.
2. Is it to learn patience? Maybe; I am gaining more patience.
3. Is it to learn to focus? I can't focus to save my life.
4. Is it to learn to put myself first? Possibly. I'm definitely doing that now.
5. Is it to fix whatever emotional issues I have? Possibly. I'm coming to grips with the fact that I'm not perfect, I'm not always right, I'm not a State Department official who spends her time globe-trotting, I'm not a lawyer. I haven't done a lot of things I expected to but I've done a lot more than I expected.
6. Is it to become a better knitter? Why else would He place a yarn store within 10 minutes of me?

Hmm...I dunno. Let's see what 26 will be for me.

Happy Birthday to me.

Ravelympics Update

I haven't been blogging lately because I haven't had much to say.

I finished my beret for Ravelmpics.


I immediately cast on for another one, but I've decided that Ravelympics is the perfect time to finish all those WIPs I have hanging around in the house. So I'm trying to finish the Bayerishche Socks first. BTW, did you see the fancy new button on the right?

It's not going well, but at least I've finished the gusset on one sock and I've brought the other sock to work with me to knit.

I need a vacation.

We apologize for the interruption

I have two Flickr accounts, one for private pictures, one for knitting. I keep two flickr accounts because I'm cheap and don't want to pay $24.95 for the privilege of placing everything in one account. If Google Picasa web were better, I'd stick everything there.

But it's not.

So last night, I started scouring Flickr for this truly horrendous picture of myself 3 years ago, after a "Big Chop" that left me with an inch of hair on my head. I checked veiland first, although I was pretty certain that there wasn't anything in there except knitting-related stuff. I was right, so I switched to the old account, vne8172.

Did you know I had almost 600 pics in there? For some people that doesn't sound like a lot, but for me that's like saying 10,000! So I started deleting, all the while looking for this horrible picture of myself.

I deleted the Las Vegas Trip (half those pictures need to be permanently deleted), my (duplicate) pictures of the stash and the finished objects, miscellaneous picture of fruit trees, etc. I was proud, mostly because I'm a packrat and I hold onto everything beyond the necessary amount of time.It took me two days to find that picture. I’m still not proud of it.

What? You thought I was going to post it here? LOLOL! Not a chance.

A Yarn Outlet Press Release

Hooked on Knitting by Sara Kennedy

You can't even carry my bra!

I like watching mess from afar, usually because it's safer that way. Right now, there's no better mess than the continuing saga of Detroit's Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick.

Yup, I've been watching the mess in Detroit shamelessly. In the car yesterday, NPR had a quick story about the electoral chances of Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (you know, Kwame's Momma? Poor Woman). For the first time in 12 years, the woman is having to battle for her seat. And her opponents keep playing the same tape over and over again.

This one.


Thank you YouTube!

Now, on a personal level, I think it's really low of Rep. Kilpatrick's opponents to hold her comments from two years ago against her. She did what a mother, a real mother does: She saw her child being attacked and she got defensive. She went on the warpath. She reminded the people of Detroit that while her son was in office Detroit began a renaissance that the citizens of the city had been praying for for years.

Her opponents are trying to tar her with the same brush as her son and before her son was commonly known as a lying, cheating deadbeat, she was a very well-respected US Representative. Sorry. That's just not fair.

Anyway, I went to the Detroit News Online and read about the debate between Momma Kilpatrick and her two opponents. The last line made me pee my seat!

(Mary)Waters said, "Anybody who goes to Congress can bring home the dollars."

Kilpatrick replied, "You can't even carry my bra."

LMAO!!!

Oh, you want to see it? Of course, dear readers! Don't you know that the debate is online? Oh please enjoy!

On a side note, I like Rep. Scott the most. My respect for Mary Waters is nil. That woman isn't articulate and she's just there to beat up on Representative Kilpatrick about her son, which isn't fair. Trash her record. Trash her personal life. Don't trash her for a being the mother of a grown man she can no longer control.