A Reminder?

Please don't forget this? Tomorrow night, 8p.m. your time! And while you're at it?

Would you light a candle in honor of a friend's son? Lee left this plane a year ago tomorrow. Please honor his memory this way?

(you'll probably be lighting a candle anyway, right?)
Thanks!

Interesting to Say The Least!

What Sallee Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Freedom from the Extraneous!

While catching up with pal, Pam, today (and last night at Knit Night, the Barnes & Noble edition) I discovered a new holiday that is so in keeping with my plans and thinking these days....Discardia!

Now you don't really have to do anything to celebrate this holiday, but I love the idea that you can release old ways of thinking and behaving as well as freeing up "stuff" to go to another "home..."

This focusses my plans for 2008 really well. Pam has been inspiring me to do something I desperately need to do, decluttering my environment, as well...

So - I'm jumping in on Discardia right now! SIL is hoping to have a yard sale in April - it's been an entire two years since our last one, so I've got to get busy here!

Certainly IS My Preference!

Melanie you do find the most fascinating quizzes...and the answer to this one? PERFECT!

You Are Cinnamon Flavored Gum

You are daring, active, and a little outrageous. You crave adventure and novelty. You like to mix things up. Your personality is extra spicy and larger than life. You love to have fun, and you are passionate about everything you do. You're definitely a fiery person, and you don't back down from a fight. Most people love your fire - but you can be a bit too intense at times!

What Flavor Gum Are You?

Earth Hour

See that new banner up there----^

Hmm...turning off the lights on March 29, 2008 for one hour - from 8-9 EST. What could we achieve with that kind of reduction in power consumption?

I'm game, are you?

The Story of Stuff...

If you're not familiar with this, take a few minutes (there are 7 parts, and you can see each of them in order by going to the first one here...



What a great piece of work this is! A clearly understandable explanation of how our economy works (or doesn't work, actually). I'm on my way to The Story of Stuff for more...
(((Hugs)))

Just Call Me "Contrary..."

What's going on here? Suddenly it's popular to be frugal, to grow your own food, to make your own clothes, to *gasp* conserve!

I remember "back to the land" the first time around in the '70s (and I don't think that really was the first time). I remember the Green Revolution (the first time). I also remember gas lines and the Oil Embargo, other recessions, and How To Prosper During the Coming Bad Years (he's written some new ones, including one published this year, but I'm kinda betting it's the same old "we're-in-crisis-buy-gold-it's-the-only-REAL-money" mentality, just repackaged, what do you think? Oh. I think I'll keep my money in my pocket and not send it to him to find out!).

And I realize, yes, I do, that the 20-and-30-somethings can't begin to have my frame of reference at all. After all, having lived more than 1/2 a century really should have some kind of benefit to it - getting older surely isn't a piece of cake!

But since I'm bringing up Howard Ruff, and the doom-mongers, I'll try to remind folks of some basic economic theory - what goes up is probably gonna come down, and while it's not a lot of fun to ride that particular curve of the rollercoaster, you know what? It'll come back. The general trend is upward. With smaller steps backward over time. In short, we are so much better off than previous generations.

What I find truly fascinating is the propensity of the human animal to resort to knee-jerk behaviors when things start to spiral downwards: stop spending, start making everything yourself, grow your own food, do your own work so you don't have to pay others, head for the hills and build a fortress, stock your doomsday pantry, and my personal favorite, begin to "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." Especially tell everyone how you're going to do it and isn't it the coolest thing ever? "Less is MORE!"

What has me shaking my head is this: Why now? Why not two years ago? Why not ten years ago? (Oh and I guess we really did, some of us, do it 9 years ago with the turn of the century!) Why not use the voluntary simplicity principles, the green living methods, the make-do philosophy even when times are good?

(Well, okay, I know the answer to that - it's not a lot of fun, it's not the American Way. Shopping and spending is soooooooooo much more joyful!)

Or is it?

I have a blast buying second-hand - and most of my furniture is. A lot of folks think you have only two alternatives: keep what you have or buy new (and green).

You have a third choice: take over someone else's items they no longer want - sometimes they even turn out to be antiques and they don't know it (you have to educate yourself if you want to do that well, of course). Over the past 20 years, I've feathered my nest with other people's cast-offs...most of which are either collectibles or antiques. You can't get a lot greener than that (because when you do this, you keep things out of landfills).

I have a friend who finds wool sweaters at garage sales and frogs them for the yarn.

Everyone can learn gardening with a few pots of herbs - you might enjoy it so much you start a garden of vegetables. Then perhaps even plant a fruit tree.

When things like that start perking away in your head, you stop tossing stuff. I'll admit that I'll never be accused of being a "minimalist" - I keep things that might come in handy (not quite as much as my parents did, but still...)

I guess my point is this: Just because we're in tight economic times, there's no reason to panic. We'll come out of it. We always do - even The Great Depression! And if you truly believe in the principles of "less is more" then practice it all the time. Not just when things get tight.

There really is something, too, to the idea that consumer confidence can push us into a recession - that doesn't mean I think we should all run out and charge up the credit cards - in fact just the opposite: get the debt down as fast as you can, just on general principle. But fear is a nasty thing, don't let it eat you up. If you need something - or really want it - and you can afford it, won't break the bank to buy it, then do. But try to do sensible, sustainable purchases: buy locally, or from small independent producers, buy things that for the most part have a long life - except for electronics, I guess! - and buy with cash not a credit card.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without? Do that every day. All your life.

You'll have a lot more in the long run.
*wink*

I'm Not Surprised!

Thanks, Melanie as I was pretty sure this was true, but it's cool nonetheless to prove it!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Just a Couple Years Off!

You Belong in 1955

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

I'm really happy with myself for basically being able to stick with my plans for the new year...for the most part, and as a result of that as well as because I've been feeling crummy for months now and have had a couple of nasty sinus infections in the past two months (that have had me on antibiotics 3 times already this year!)...

About a week and a half ago, I dropped dairy completely from my diet.

Not a stunner for some folks, I'm sure, but for me, it was a drastic change.

Partly, I think, it has been hard because my family roots, while firmly IN the vegetarian camp, have been in the Lacto-Ovo camp.

We drank milk. And.ATE.CHEESE. LOTS of cheese.

Of course, we were mostly a one-cheese family - white cheddar (extra sharp, please) from the only state in the union who really knows cheese (sorry Wisconsin, and NY) - VERMONT!

(ok..in a pinch, we ate New York's cheddar)
lolol

I have discovered that I'm a lot happier, and feel much better without dairy.

But I do miss my cheese.

OH. Btw. Please don't offer the suggestion of soy? I can't do that. Soy is as bad in my system as dairy apparently was.
(sigh)

Now. I'm not going back to vegetarianism completely at this point. I still like my turkey and my salmon (especially those).

But it's now been almost 2 weeks without dairy and it's safe to say - I'm such a nice person to be around now.
*wink*
OH. And I discovered on Friday that I can eat Mexican without cheese and it's STILL wonderful! (ok...a little hotter without the balancing properties of the cheese, but I like hot!)
(tippy-tappy-toes dance!)

Cool Clear Water...

Long time no post...but if you're looking for philosophy today, it's probably not this one...

The other day I made one of my (far too infrequent, as I let this stuff pile up) trips to the recycling center that isn't far from my house. As I was tossing stuff into the correct railroad cars, carefully making sure what went where, I realized how many of the gallon-sized plastic water bottles I was pitching in. (sigh)

When I moved in to this new place about a year ago, I tried to install my Pur filter on the faucet. I tried valiantly. A friend tried, a plumber even tried (griping all the way, of course, since Pur filters are mostly plastic and plumbers do NOT like plastic!). I finally gave up, and decided that I would go back to bottled water (I absolutely cannot stand the taste of tap water anywhere in this community! And I drink a lot of water...)

But during Christmas shopping I'd noticed one of these:

I didn't pick it up then, I waited.

Last week, I was in the store again, picking up necessities, and suddenly LOOKED at my list...There amongst the toothpaste and coffee filters, was "Pur Pitcher."

"Well, don't you think you'd better?" I asked myself. After all, I'd pitched all those plastic bottles into the train car...shaking my head and being disgusted that I couldn't use the faucet-mount style anymore...

Hmmm...I don't know how much more economical it will be - it says to change the filter every 2 months. That's about the cost of the bottled water for one person like me.

But I surely hope it will help the landfill.

Feast of St. Brigid - 3rd Annual Blog Poetry Reading Day

Both Becky and Melanie brought the 3rd Annual Blog Poetry Reading to my attention this year, and I wanted to participate, but this time in this blog space, rather than Knitnana. I've been reading Plain Living: A Quaker Path To Simplicity by Catherine Whitmire and this poem appears in the chapter on Community. On further exploration I discovered quite a bit about the author (a contemporary of Jane Addams) that I was unaware of, as well as the full quote. It's always been one of my favorites:

Let us be patient with one another,
And even patient with ourselves.
We have a long, long way to go.
So let us hasten along the road,
The road of human tenderness and generosity.
Groping, we may find one another's hands in the dark.
.....Emily Greene Balch, 1955

I think it's an appropriate meditation for today, as well.

This Friday is EXTRA-Special!

It's National Wear Red Day.

In an effort to educate, the NHLBI began this campaign a few years ago. Wear red, Knit Red, learn about women's heart disease at WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease.

I had my heart attack in May 2000. Two months later, the stent they inserted to fix my blockage, closed up, and I had to have by-pass surgery. I spent a year unemployed (yup - that happens, too, when you're young and sick and working where they are extremely worried about the rising cost of health care). I found WomenHeart and trained in the first class of women's heart health community educators at Mayo Clinic.

Today? Well, I do my best to live life to the fullest. I sometimes feel as if I'm on borrowed time. That heart attack I had was a "Hollywood heart attack" - the kind you don't walk away from. I'm grateful to be here.

Be sure you take a moment - if you don't wear red on Friday, then at least take a moment and think of one thing you can change in your life to make you more heart healthy. Maybe the easiest thing is to add 10 minutes of movement to your life right now. Or eat one more vegetable each day.

The BEST thing you can do, is quit smoking if you do. And stay away from smokers, if you already are smoke-free yourself.

(I'm a former smoker - I know it's hard. If you're trying to quit, maybe try The Q - it's what did it for me!)

I'll show you the one piece of knitting I've done since my heart attack that I hold near my heart often - My Queen of Hearts shawl from Fiber Trends. Made of Knitpicks Merino Style it's a warm and visible reminder of how far I've come!

Fascinating, Really!

86% Barack Obama
84% John Edwards
84% Hillary Clinton
80% Mike Gravel
80% Dennis Kucinich
80% Chris Dodd
77% Joe Biden
74% Bill Richardson
46% Rudy Giuliani
36% John McCain
29% Mitt Romney
27% Mike Huckabee
24% Tom Tancredo
18% Ron Paul
15% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Getting Serious About Those Goals...

The New Year has gotten off to a rocky start, courtesy of one nasty sinus infection. I'm still making my way back from the almost 2 weeks of misery...but there is finally a kernel of hope! :)

Months and months ago, my good friend and fellow knitter, Pam and I were talking about CSAs...I'm only one person (with pets who don't eat vegies and fruits) and she's a family of three (hoping for 4 - please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as she is a terrific mom!). We'd thought that between us, we could easily split a 1/2 share...with of course, me doing a lot of freezing and even perhaps some canning. Stop laughing. I used to do this all the time. I also used to have a fairly large garden (or the "tomato forest" as my DD used to call it!).

Well, Pam and I are finally discussing this at the RIGHT time of year (I hope!). She'll be calling tomorrow in hopes of securing us a spot on the list.

And once that's done? I'll be scouring Freecycle for canning jars! *wink*

In that spirit, I decided that part of my commitment to this has to be to "use it up" (as well as "put it by"). I've had some vegies in the crisper and on the "porch" - what else would you call a paneled-in staircase down to an unheated basement with shelves built-in at the top? So today, I started a beef stew/soup on the back of the stove...

Using up all the potatoes, carrots, and celery from Christmas dinner - did you know how long you can keep celery good if you wrap it in aluminum foil, and then wrap it again? (yes, two distinct wrappings of foil) and keep it in the crisper? Well, this celery was as crisp as the day I bought it - Christmas Eve! Tastes good, too! (I can't claim credit for this tip - it's a Martha Stewart recommendation - and it WORKS!

I'll plan to grow some herbs on the front steps this summer, but otherwise, the extent of my gardening is going to be restricted to this sort of plant -

I guess it's my "New Year's Cactus?" It can't make up it's mind what it is...Thanksgiving? Halloween? Christmas? Nah. This year, it's on a LATE schedule instead of early.

I'll post more ideas about my plans and goals as I go here...Let me know what you think, okay?
(((hugs)))

Visioning My Own 2008 Plans...

It's funny. I have been working on my thoughts for this post for several days, reading what others are thinking about, reviewing where I stand on things, determining those things I think I need to change...

Changes like:
1. Reducing my carbon footprint, my environmental impact (see the banners above) - committing to a more environmentally friendly way to live...

2. Re-committing to Voluntary Simplicity - "less is more" philosophy - tightening up the financial portfolio, using what I have, making do, simplifying, streamlining, etc., etc...

3. Opening to Grace and using "Abundance Thinking" - I enjoyed reading this post: from Jocelyn - and thinking about my private spirituality and commitments...

4. Silencing the cacophony - because I was totally inspired by Pumpkinknitter's post about silence, not just one night a year (so much so that the cell phone and TV are going to be turned off a lot in 2008). I think by the end of the holiday season, all of us have our nerves on edge, it's just been too much of everything...

5. Of course, I've already committed to knitting for peace, and the events in Pakistan yesterday only made me that much more resolved to do so...

Still, there's this part of me that is nagging away, at the back of my brain. It's the part that says "yah, yah, yah...every year, you do this every year - and so does everyone else - just where do you think you'll be in 2 months with this process?"

Well. Touche. The skeptic that's back there at the back of my brain, also said I'd never quit smoking. But I did. It'll soon be 4 years, and I'm never going back - no, this time I can say "NEVERMORE." And know I mean that.

But I can say that even 2 months of making these changes, even if they don't last, will make a difference. I do believe that having ideals, making plans (or resolutions if you call them that), organizing, de-cluttering, reducing, reusing, recycling, trying to make my carbon footprint smaller, creating silence, and especially working for peace, making space for meditation - in the form of knitting, mostly - all of this affects my state of mind positively, and thus the state of mind of those around me.

It IS, as Margene says, all about the process...If we cycle thru these changes, succeeding and failing and succeeding again...the perpetual movement forward is what counts, the falling back just helps us regroup, to go forward again (BTW, I believe that theory is from Camus, if my memory serves).

At any rate, giving up is not an option. We must continue to strive.

Benazir Bhutto knew that, as surely as she had to know she was signing her death sentence when she returned to Pakistan. Still...we have to work for peace, for change, on a micro scale as well as a macro one...

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."—Margaret Mead

The Spirit of the Season

Very shortly now, it will be Christmas Eve. This is the season of light, when we strive to remember that we are all in this together, and that there is more to this than who can rack up the most of the newest gifts to show off.

Depending on your religious persuasion, it may also be a time when we recognize a critical moment in a belief system: the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Or perhaps you are celebrating the end of the long, dark season, recognizing that now we truly are turning again toward the light, and preparing for new beginnings, as Dave said so beautifully the other day.

Some of us are trying to work for peace in the new year, a new beginning in my mind.

My projects, both knitting and writing, will be focused on peace. I won't be abandoning my work, or my business, but my "ME" time will be centered on thinking, praying, meditating, knitting, being peace.

And this Christmas song serendipitously appeared on the radio today just as I was thinking some of this through, so I thought I'd include my favorite stanza here:

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
With peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

Because you know what? It truly ALL does begin with me (and with you).

I challenge you to think about how you will incorporate such peace work in your life in 2008.
(((hugs)))

A 2008 Project for Peace

Birdsong and I have been talking recently about wanting to make 2008 our year to knit and work for peace in whatever way we can. So what serendipity that she discovered this:



The TikkunTree Project
and blogged about it. As usual, Birdsong leads me to wondrous things (she and I are convinced we're sisters from different mothers...all across the country from each other - on the two coasts).

Besides the fact that I adore Peace Fleece yarns, I am very committed to the idea of and philosophy behind this project. I'm ordering my yarns, and getting the patterns ready. (Patterns & specifications are available on each link)

I firmly believe that knitting for peace is an effective means of being a change-agent in the world. As is creating art installations that address peace. I seldom speak of my religious leanings or beliefs on my blogs, but the idea of knitting in silence, meditating on peace and speaking out as the spirit moves, harkens back to my Universalist/Quaker/Congregationalist New England family roots. As such, it blends well with my study of Buddhism, and Taoist thought, as well as my feminist/womanist/goddess thealogy.

While I'll still participate in (and co-lead) Cloths for Crisis and Knit Red for Women's Heart Disease, this project will hold the majority of my charity knitting energy for the 2008 year.

If we can't find it in our hearts to live, eat, breathe, and pray PEACE, then we can't be surprised if it fails us. Anger and war, hatred and fear, begin in the hearts of each of us. Won't you join us? Take up your needles to help heal* the world?

* Tikkun is Hebrew for healing

Grace! Nana's Newest Slip of a Bag!

A sassy, spirited little bag that you’ll grab again and again, especially when you need your hands free for other things! She’s a small backpack that holds more than you might think, with two interior pockets for tucking in a cell phone and such.

Here are two samples to get your own creative juices flowing:

Ears N Whiskers Grace:


Skulls and Roses Grace:


Named in honor of another of my aunts, Grace is available by custom order only. Please visit Nana Sadie Rose today!

Grace...

The newest in my line of bags, will debut on December 11....

Don't miss it!