she's just saying...

Skating into the teens

What happened to my baby boy? Today I dropped him and his shadow (Gavin) off at the Mt. Bachelor Shuttle bus to head to the mountain for the day. With no adult supervision. If you've ever taken a kid skiing, you'll appreciate what an enormous breakthrough this is. They got there, went skiing, ate, found the bathrooms, didn't lose any gloves, didn't get lost in a tree-well, caught the bus back and walked home. All by themselves. At least that's what they said.

Then, this evening, they wanted to meet their friends at Open Skate at the indoor rollerskating rink. I don't know what I was expecting, but not what I found. It was basically a middle-school rave on skates.  I had flashbacks to Studio 54 and Area in NYC in the 80's. Though hopefully without the substances that made those places so, um, 80's. Without a backward glance, the boys swam into the scene and were swallowed up, presumably by precocious young teen babes.

But he's only eleven! (for two more weeks) He still sleeps with a blankie! Oh, whoops - don't tell him I told you that part.

Fri. night Open Skate: photo is not from tonight, though it could be.

Knitting post: indie dyers

Here's a poor photo of the sample knit I just finished. Better photo to come.

As with many other industries, the fiber world has seen the growth of "independent" producers in the last decade. These are entrepreneurs who spin and/or dye their own yarn for sale, as compared to big corporate fiber companies. It's a little fuzzy (ha) as to how big you can be before you're no longer an indie. But generally, these are in-home DIY'ers who sell on-line via their own websites and etsy.com, at fiber shows and to a few shops.

Like many knitters, I've traveled the path from originally buying acrylic yarn at big-box stores, moving to nicer wools at yarn shops, and now collecting mostly handspuns and hand-dyed from artisans. Of course the prices have traveled the same upward path. But what befits a handmade article more than handmade yarn? And once you've used it it's hard to go back.

I haven't taken the final steps to spinning and dying my own yarn and raising the sheep as some knitters have, and hopefully I won't, as the last thing I need is more craft equipment or animals. I think I'll stop at supporting those who do.

I knit this Dandy Neckerchief as a favor is to show off yarn for a dyer's booth at upcoming fiber shows. (Plus I get paid back in yarn.) The dyer has the inpronouncable name of Ialiuxh and her company is called Lollipop Cabin.  The yarn is called "Phluffiee," described as follows:

Only available once a year, this organic yarn from Canadian sheep is spun by a small North American mill then hand-dyed by Lollipop Cabin, one skein at a time in a wee little cabin with rain water from the Pacific Northwest Cascades, using environmentally friendly dyes suitable for a grey water system.

How indie/artisan/DIY is that?

And today's challenge: how would you pronounce "Ialiuxh?" edited to add: the first letter is an i, not an L.

Another evening on the farm

Every so often on this blog, I indulge in a little self-congratulatory strut. After all, it's my blog. It generally follows the same theme: most of the time I feel like a complete sloth and that the details of life are about to swallow me up, but occasionally I chance to look back and realize I just accomplished an impressive list of chores.

Last evening, after work and before bedtime, I accomplished the following:

• Took Bindi for a vet visit and to the dog park
• Made grilled salmon caesar salad for dinner
• Made banana cream pie (delayed from National Pie Day)
• Finished, washed and blocked a knitted lace shawl
• Did a load and a half of laundry
• Prepped a chicken for brining
• Cleaned out the fridge to fit in the pie and chicken
• Slaughtered a hog and framed the barn

OK, not the last two, but it felt like it. And then I wrote this blog post.

Photos of the shawl to come, because photos of a brined chicken and half-eaten banana cream pie are not that appetizing, really.

 

 

Have you appreciated a squirrel today?

It's Squirrel Appreciation Day!

Actually, in my world every day is squirrel apprecation day. I love them - maybe it's because they're so cute, or maybe because it's so much fun to say the word.I even have a squirrel necklace. In any case, go give out some nuts.

 

Blogspiration - ten topics

It's not a lack of topics.

It's the inability at times to recognize them.

Then, it's finding the time to write about them. And a photo to go with.

 For Top Ten Tuesday, here are some topics I've been kicking around in my head that may make it to actual posts eventually:

1. The best salesman in the world: my plumber
2. The little frond that is sprouting from the trunk of my giant indoor palm tree
3. How to make limoncello
4. Michael Vick and his dogs
5. A photo review of all the knitted gifts I made for Christmas ("Yes!" I hear you shout)
6. Butterflies: magical or creepy?
7. Middle school fashion
8. Why I'm not moving to Portland
9. Dog park mores and etiquette
10. My new favorite magazine: "Western Shooting Horse" - it's not about horses who shoot or about shooting horses

 

Flying bug. From the High Desert Museum Butterflies exhibit, through March 26 (Gratuitous marketing plug here.)

 

 

remote child management

It's one of those days parents dread: it's a school day off and you have to work. At least now Henry is old enough to stay home alone - no daycare arrangements needed. However, even at this stage it's not easy. So, for parents who are approaching that point in life, here are brief instructions on:

How to manage your child remotely (when you've forgotten to leave money at home)

1. Have phone discussion about whether son and friend can go to Green Hornet movie by themselves on bikes (maybe)
2. Call theater to make sure kids can show up with Fandango confirmation # and no credit card (yes)
3. Buy tickets on Fandango to movie
4. Take screenshot of Fandango confirmation page
5. Figure out (again) how to print to home printer via internet
6. Explain via phone how to load paper into printer after child removes it by mistake
7. Email screenshot to home printer
8. Make child confirm that he has bike lock and key by rattling it over phone
9. Discuss time to leave house to get to movie
10. Call again to remind them to leave
11. Cross fingers and wait for phone call that something went wrong

On a short leash

Someday I'll have time to post again. Maybe watch some TV. Make dinner at a leisurely pace. Sit down to read. Or sit to eat, or talk to a friend, or even knit. For now, I'm on the move.

Bindi is sweet, loving, bouncy and completely not house-trained. She happily trots around the house, peeing when and where she feels. She never asks to go outside as it doesn't occur to her, I guess.

Housetraining a new dog is a full-time job. Too bad I already have a full-time job. I seem to recall this was what potty-training was like, but I've flushed that memory (ha ha). Actually, Henry's day-care-takers were the ones who potty-trained him. I just went along with their program.

The books recommend keeping the dog in her kennel whenever she's not eating, playing actively or on a walk. But that would mean she'd be in her kennel 20 hours a day, and what's the point of being rescued if that's your fate? So I clip on her leash and tie it to my waist as I cook, clean, pick up socks and talk on the phone. This way she can't sneak off and pee, and it's a bonding moment. I'm not always sure who's the one on the leash in this situation, but I'm sure we'll be able to separate eventually.

Then we take walks or go to the dog park. Always in the dark, always cold. I've really learned my neighborhood by feel these days. We have a ball that glows in the dark that's really useful. Juggling mittens, flashlight, dog potty bags, the leash and my coffee is really tricky at 5:30 am, but I'm getting the hang of it. I really can't wait til spring.

Bindi Butt, or, is it Saturday yet?

So far, 2011 has proved to be a record-breaker for me: I have a new exercise regime for which I've gotten out of bed at 5:20 am five out of the last five mornings, a personal best of the last 30 years. This is not the result of a New Year's resolution; it's due to our new (un-housebroken) dog. And it's beating my butt.

Actually, the new regime has already had a positive effect on said body part as I'm walking briskly for about 30 minutes each morning and night. Henry is in charge of running Bindi madly up and down the street; I'm in charge of the long icy walks in the darkness. We're crate-training her in the house but have missed four accidents so far, so we've got some work to do. This was why I didn't get a puppy, I recall.

She's a very happy, loving, silly dog who hasn't grasped the house-pet concept yet. When we're not taking her out, playing with her actively or keeping her in her crate, she gazes at me expectantly with an eager confused look on her face that asks "Now what do we do? Now what? What now?" She hasn't relaxed yet and we have to watch her continuously in the house, so life has been a little hectic this week. Exhausting, really.

Tomorrow I'll start her in the outside run to see if she tries to escape before we begin to use it full-time during the day. Then eventually I'll train her to the invisible fence so she doesn't bolt out of the yard to chase deer (like yesterday at 6 am for example). She'll get there - she's very attuned to us and eager to please. Our wildlife guy at the Museum guessed that she was an outside ranch dog who got lost/abandoned, which is why she's socialized but not trained, which makes sense. She desperately wants to be a pet and a part of our family, and we love her to death already. She cuddles with Henry on his bed at night (more wrestling than cuddling, actually, but they like it) and is showing the cats due respect. The rest will come, I'm sure, and I'll get back in shape at the same time! What's not to love? Other than pitch-black, icy walks at 5:30 am?

I have no photo today as it's too damn dark. Maybe this weekend.

 

 

The power behind the post

Today we have a guest post from YrBigBro!*

"As one of the 20% of Americans who are under-employed, I am lucky to have a $12/hr job moderating corporate websites. I am the guy who sits for hours on end waiting for someone to click on the 'report abuse' or 'flag this post' button in website comment forums. I'm also the one who looks at your travel pictures and decides if they are fit for public consumption. I am the power behind the screen, and I have been doing this for nearly a year now.

This role has given me a unique insight into the psyche of the citizenry, and unfortunately, as Fran Leibowitz has said, "The common good isn't very." The process is both surprisingly complex and ridiculously simple. I have 10 or 12 sites on my screen, and every so often I look at them to see if there are any 'red lights;' then I go back to watching the news, reading a book, taking a nap, or mowing the lawn. We promise that any abuse will be dealt with within an hour, so as long as I glance at my monitor every 59 minutes, I'm cool.

That's the simple part. The complexity comes from the convoluted rules and guidelines that we use to determine which posts really are ok, and which ones we delete. Obviously, spam, obscenity, porn, and personal info get zapped. But deciding what constitutes a personal attack, libel, hate speech, or violations of each site's unique ToS (terms of service) requires some judgment and consideration.

Easy rules: Hate speech is speech targeted against a protected group. Therefore 'libtard', one of the most frequent insults we see, is hate speech, because the disabled are a protected group. But 'looney liberal' is not, because birds (loons) aren't.

Some of our clients have millions of users, but the most troublesome ones are the 80+ small town newspapers' online channels, comments on which are often vicious, personal, and specifically targeted to local officials or neighbors. A sad lesson I have learned is that racism is far more prevalent than I realized, and is an evolving genre. Obviously the 'N' word is anathema, but now the word 'thug' has become synonymous, and is also banned on sight. Right now, the hot issue is lying. Lies themselves are not violations, but accusing another of telling lies is a violation, as a personal attack.

This is all very frustrating, especially to the millions of retired persons whose site I manage. These users are all grumpy, totally convinced of their correctness, and most importantly, seem to have nothing else to do but spend 8-10 hours a day arguing with each other and with me and the other moderators.

The online-community phenomenon may be the single most transformative shift of our lifetimes. But at a granular level, it is really a mess of confusion, misinformation, and interpersonal conflict. Where these disputes used to involve a handful of neighbors in a coffee shop, they now spread across the globe, and more and more seem to be dominated by the extreme tail ends of the curve. Or maybe I am just yet another grumpy old man..."

 

*Actually MyBigBro, but you probably knew that.

Knitted Resolutions 2011

Hey - remember top ten Tuesdays? Me neither. But here's one now!

I made great knitting resolutions in 2009, and none in 2010. Maybe because none of the 2009 ones were kept, so they fit under my resolution-carryover rule. Anyway, here are some for 2011:

1. Finish my Christmas gift knitting (only four three to go!).
2. No more knit gifts for people unless specifically requested, and then maybe. If I think they're really going to wear it.
   
3. Finish my Solstice sweater before I start another big project.
4. Knit a complicated fair-isle something.
5. Learn a little more crochet.
6. Master the toe-up sock heel, or give it up entirely.
7. Start going to my knitting group meetings again. No, really.
8. Gift, trade or sell yarn I'm never going to use.
9. Knit from my stash - ha! 
10. And finally: knit whatever I want however I want to or not. 'Cause it's a hobby.

Bindi's New Year

On 1/1/11, Bindi joined our family. She's super sweet and snuggly and so eager to please. She doesn't bark and is a little afraid of the cats, both good things. She's very aware of us and doesn't let us out of her sight. She knows how to sit on command and heels naturally. What a good girl!

We haven't decided on the name thing yet - Bindi seems to fit pretty well, though Daisy and Louise are still in the running. (The catahoula is the State Dog of Louisiana - get it?)

Her only issue seems to be food -- she bolts her food so fast she chokes herself. I guess once you've been starving, you always have "food insecurity." Hopefully she'll get more secure about that.

In the last 24 hours, she's taken seven walks, met three cats, had two accidents (it's hard in a new house), inhaled four bowls of food,chewed up one ball and wrestled two boys. Now she's taking a well-deserved nap. Welcome home, Bindi!

And look how well she matches the rug!