Frogs and Ravens

I Needed This

This post is very funny, as are the comments responding to it.

(Be sure to run your mouse over the links in the main post, in order. You don't have to click on them.)

Move to Canada?

I think that it is a good thing that my job is boring these days. With the current politico-cultural climate the way it is these days, I don't think I could take the additional excitement. Sometimes I wonder what planet I'm on, which is a signal to me that I need to stop frequenting the poli-blogs for a bit and get some perspective. Still, when NPR feels comfortable interviewing Pat Buchanan as a reasonable person, I get worried!

It's at times like this, when the paranoid mood is on me, that I contemplate moving to another country, preferably one with greater tolerance for socialism and less tolerance for religious extremism. But here's the rub: I'd miss the environment here. The American "culture" (if one can use one term to describe the multifarious beast of diversity that lives here) I can take or leave; there are parts that are good, parts that suck. Many of the good parts I could find elsewhere, so that's not the problem.

Unfortunately, environments are not portable. I like living in close proximity to the local deserts and mountains and ocean. I had a hard enough time adjusting to life in another region of the country; to move to another continent or make a major latitudinal shift would be whole order of change, and I'm not sure I'd be up to it. The closest I came was having a bit of a crush on Australia when I was there, but how deep it runs, I'm not sure. It was nifty, and welcoming, but home?

So I'm stuck here for the duration; guess I'd better start putting more energy into making sure that it's a place I want to live, after all.

Manly Knitting Redux

Here's the run-down on the list of manly knitting projects (I'm moving them into one post so I can keep track of them). Great stuff, folks! (Though I'm beginning to regret my promise to post an illustration of the winner...)

Golf club covers -- qb
Slippers -- yami
Mittens -- yami
Tie -- Chris Clarke
Socks -- Marnie
Afghan -- Marnie
Suspenders -- Amanda

"something really sturdy and thick knit for holding something manly like hammers and chisels and stuff" -- Duckling
"a cell phone/iPod/remote control cozy" -- yami
"goofy hand-knit thingies to hang spectacles around their [academic men's] necks" -- yami
"a traditional Papuan hill tribesman's penis sheath" -- Chris Clarke
A knitted brow -- qB
Loincloth made out of yarn spun from chest hair -- Marnie
An espresso maker -- pericat
A Volvo -- pericat (both within the presumed capacities of "a real man")

(Feel free to add more -- you have until the end of February -- Leap Year Day seems an oddly fitting deadline for such a strange "contest.")

Mountain Climbing

If you're one of the people following up my post (no. 51) at Invisible Adjunct about grad school as mountain climbing, you might want to go to the old version of my blog. The original analogy is posted here.

You'll find a lot of my writings about the struggle of leaving academia there, too. Do be aware that I am no longer reading the comments there; if you want a response from me, you'll either need to post here or email me.

Sierra Club Takeover Attempt

Normally I don't post on political topics, as I have no desire to inspire flamewars and no time to do a good job of analysis. I'm breaking form this time because the issue is clear-cut and the action is easy. An alliance of right-wing, anti-immigration types and radical animal-rights activists is in the midst of a stealth take-over of the Sierra Club. (For a good synopsis, go here.) If their three candidates are elected, they will have the numbers needed to set the agenda for the Club. Part of their strategy depends on the past voting apathy of most members; since historically under 10% of members bother voting, it is fairly easy to have a bunch of ringers become members just so they can vote these candidates in.

So... if you are a member of Sierra Club or know people who are, go check out this site. Then, when the ballot comes in the mail, be sure to fill it out and send it back.

Edit: More info and links here.

Hmm

(The blurb that accompanies this answer in the quiz includes the information that somewhere out there is a group called the Galadrial Worshippers Army. Strange name, no?)/

More Kitty Pics

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Knitting Sampler

This is a swatch I've done to see how the yarns look together, and to choose a pattern for the hem and cuffs of the sweater-to-be. It's less fleck-y in real life.

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Works for Me

You are Rerun!


Which Peanuts Character are You?
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Masculine Knitting Projects

There have been interesting responses for my "manly knitting project for D." request. So far we have a "cozy" for the hand-held electronic item of your choice, a sling for tools, a spectacles holder, socks, mittens, and a tie.

Any others? Given that I and D. are enjoying the silly answers as well as the practical ones, I'm throwing it wide open. If you think your suggestion is "practical," add it to the "Quiet Week" comments. If you have a humorous idea of a "manly" knitting project, add it to the comments here.

The prize for the most manly of manly knitting suggestions? I will attempt to sketch a picture of it and post it for your edification and amusement.

(And if D. adopts any of your suggestions, I will ask him to let me take a picture of the finished item and post that. No guarantees on this, though. D. has the right of veto if he's not happy sharing the end result.)