Thursday, November 09, 2006

Huh?

Not a descriptive title, but the best I can do post election.

If you can't stand a post sans a definite ideology, but with definite opinions, you can skip this.

You have to understand where I'm coming from....the middle folks. I am a "no party" registrant in my state. I've never voted straight ANYTHING in my whole voting life. I've even written someone in. I'm from that group of voters that everyone covets, but no one speaks to.

If you're a survey taker, I'm the person you hate to call. Why? Because I ask more questions than I answer.

Example:

Them: Is XYZ doing a good job? (Implying that they want a yes or no answer...and insuring they will not get one from me.)

Me: In what respect?

Them: Uh...[pregnant pause] I don't know...overall? (Are they asking me or telling me?}

Me: You need to be more specific...the economy? Taxes? Crime?

Them: Overall...

Me: Can't answer that. I'm of the decidedly thoughtful opinion that anyone who can answer a question like that is mostly of the "koolaid" variety. Love'em or hate'em based on ideology. (This means I've been mulling this over for a long time, and can possibly change my mind, but haven't found enough data to do it yet.)

...so there you go. I don't adhere to any particular ideology and find the idea abhorrent. Maybe I can start an anti-ideology party? Of course this means my husband thinks I'm a lefty, and my mother thinks I'm just right of Barry Goldwater (her generation).

I just know this, I find the Republican gnashing of teeth grating and the Democrat gloating equally shudder inducing. I think of my dear departed father at times like this. When it came to politics he said "everyone should get a turn". And so they should. The Democrats, if they can stop grinning and breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for a moment, now have an opportunity to move the conflict in Iraq to a hopefully, safe end. (Though I think Murtha who is from this neck of the woods is apparently on some kind of drugs. That's the only excuse I can think of for his "plan". And no, Murtha, you're not vindicated, you're still an idiot. Nothing new about that. It must be the water in Altoona......) The problem I see is that all the Dems have done for the past 3 years have been bitch, call nasty names, and moan. They have never brought forth a REAL plan. So now they've gotta scramble. But with any kind of luck, for that's what it will take, they can maybe help make something good happen. If nothing happens in two years...Hillary is in trouble in '08 if she isn't already.

As for the chortling I see all over about Pelosi, that's actually the only thing that really disturbs me. A SF leftie running the House is just way outside my comfort zone. (I don't care what gender.) What do I mean? Cradle to grave entitlements with a crushing tax burden to go along with it; a complete disdain for the military (check out her actions and that of the district, not her words); diminishing of parental rights in favor of the government (do you really want ANY government raising your kids? I think it's been tried...it was in Nazi Germany). So I don't care much how many of what flavor sits where.... But 'ol Nancy, makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There's that anti-ideology thingy yet again.

I was in the cultivated generation of feminists. In the seventies we were indignant about so many things. Then the feminists changed, (as did I) and somewhere along the way lost something. I'm coming to the conclusion it is their ever lovin' minds. I was so excited that I would see a female president in my lifetime. But I am appalled and disappointed in a way I cannot describe that the candidate will be Hillary. She is smart, politically savvy, and the most dishonest politician on the scene today. I am devastated and embarrassed. I had these lofty, pie-in-the-sky imagingings that the first woman candidate would be someone with guts and character (I sadly, stupidly(?) set the bar higher for a female candidate. I can dream can't I?). She has the guts, but the character stinks. Sigh. I am disappointed beyond belief. And frightened. Frightened that women will vote with their ovaries rather than their brains. And they will. So I made a decision. When the '08 primaries roll around I am going to change my registration to Democrat, so I can vote against Hillary. (Here in PA you cannot vote in primaries without a party affiliation.) It doesn't matter who she is running against, and it doesn't matter if I "waste" my vote. It is my only recourse. I will pretend to be a Dem for a day. Then switch back to where I belong......I like water lots better than koolaid anyway.

P.S. When I was approached by the hordes outside the polling place on Tuesday, trying to stuff paper into my hands, I told them nothing doing and that I should've brought all the crap they'd sent me over the prior 6 weeks to give back. They did look rather sheepish. I wish I had thought of it sooner, and I would have.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Bass Ackwards

I've been thinking about it and, yup, I'm backward.

I "read" magazines from the back to the front. I've been known to look at the end of a book first. I occasionally will catch the end of a TV show (on purpose) that I'm taping. It's OK with me if I learn the score of a sporting event that my husband is taping and then sit through it with him pretending I don't know the outcome. Why? No idea. Weird isn't it?

It's the same thing with my knitting and beading.

Most people start with the ubiquitous scarf. Me? Nah. I started with a sweater - a striped sweater no less. Never mind that it was made in creepy acrylic. I happily wore it for several years. Then I went on to a ...are ya' ready, a shawl collar sweater for my then "boyfriend". (He's now my husband and we've been married 19 years today....Happy Anniversary to us.) So I knit a sweater as a second project too and thumbed my nose at the "boyfriend" curse. In fact, I had completely forgotten this sweater, until my husband mentioned that he still had it packed away in the attic. (I had long since given my striped acrylic to St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop.) The next one I do remember. It was a short sleeved cotton sweater, in purple, and I had such a hard time finding yarn, that I had to hold two fingering weight strands together to knit it. It had a complicated bells and bobbles front and did I mention...I knit ALL of these pieces in the round. The patterns were not written in the round, but I converted them...including the very complicated front of the purple cotton.

As I look back on these feats, I honestly don't know how I did it. But I did. Remarkable. I also followed the same pattern with beading. I embarked on my beading by creating a complex "stained glass" amulet bag, completely with Mill Hill beads. (Those of you familiar with beading will recognize that this probably cost me a fortune. It did.)

I got back into knitting late in 2004, I actually learned to knit in the mid-eighties. And what did I choose for a first project in 2004. A scarf. A "fun fur" scarf. It was fun, it was easy, and I used straight, single point needles for the first time. Of course, I added Miyuki triangle beads to the scarf. I haven't stopped. I found that I like knitting accessories. Scarves, hats, bags, wraps,....I have one sweater that I may knit in the forseeable future, but we'll see. I've also started knitting socks.

What hasn't changed is that I'm still fearless. I don't care what the pattern difficulty is rated. If I like it, I'll figure it out.
Especially with a little help from my "friends" on the internet. Something we hadn't even considered in the eighties......