JenMc's Blog

6x6

2011-11-13T10:33:00.000-08:00

My latest charity project is "6x6." I make and collect six by six inch squares, and crochet them together in six rows of six squares. With the joining and border, the blankets come out roughly 40" square. They make nice lap blankets or baby blankets. I've donated blankets to nursing homes, church auctions, and various children's charities.

Long time no see.

2011-04-26T06:44:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted in over two years. Does anyone care?!

Talk about missing the point!

2009-03-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

It seems to me much of the criticism about executive compensation has been misplaced.

What's supposed to be so horrible about CEO's getting big bonuses?

"They just don't get it."
"They're idiots."
"They don't understand that people are hurting and angry."
"They're insensitive to public perceptions."

That might be true. But is that really the problem? Is that what's important -- whether or not CEO's know or care what we think?

"They don't deserve it."
"It's rewarding failure."

OK, imagine this... Suppose that certain executives at these companies had been working really hard, doing their best, etc., etc. And let's even suppose they're not the people who had made bad decisions, but they are doing their darndest to repair the damage. And suppose we had good evidence that, if it weren't for their work, things would be much worse. Given the circumstances, they might be described as moderately successful in their endeavors. Even if this were the case, how would you feel if millions of taxpayer dollars that was intended to help save their companies was used to give them bonuses instead? Myself, personally, would still not be happy about it. (I find it implausible that the bonuses, in the current environment, actually help the company be more profitable.)

On the other hand, suppose that a private company that has taken no bailout money decides to give a reckless and irresponsible exectutive a multi-million dollar bonus that he doesn't deserve. This might be a bad idea for many reasons. It will probably be bad for the company, and in turn, bad for everyone who depends on that company. But, hey, if they want to shoot themselves in the foot, that's more or less their problem. Investors and other people who depend on this company should be aware and take caution. If such practices are harmful to companies, companies that are determined to engage in them should fail.

In sum:
Bonuses for well-meaning, "deserving" executives for bailed out companies -- Grrr!
Bonuses for reckless, undeserving executives for private (un-bailed-out) companies -- Oh well.

Ergo: The executives' being undeserving is irrelevant to how bad an idea the bonuses are!

So why are the bonuses so horrible? In my opinion, it's because they constitute the transfer of vast sums of wealth from millions of Americans who can't afford it to a privileged few, which serves no other purpose than the interests of the few (who also happen to have been a lot better off in the first place).

Who cares what they do or don't understand, what their motives are, or what they do or do not deserve? I don't.

This has got to be the biggest rip-off perpetrated against the American people in the history of our country. And all people can complain about is that the beneficiaries of this scam are insensitive and undeserving?!

But if we stop talking about the character flaws of CEO's, we'll have to start talking about the people who just handed them billions of dollars that we don't even have. I mean, it's not as if they broke into Fort Knox and stole it.

"This is a red herring. It's such a small percentage of the bailout (or TARP or whatever) money. Complaining about it is great political theater, but in the big picture, the bonuses are irrelevant."

OK. Here's how to get away with wasting a billion dollars: First, spend a trillion dollars. Then, when someone asks about how a billion of it was spent, point out that that that is only .1% of the total. (Recall that the same kind of response was made in defense of various parts of the stimulus package. It is so huge that to complain about multi-billion dollar expenditures looks like knit-picking.)

The sums of money here are just beyond my comprehension. But I'm not supposed to worry about amounts that are far more than I could earn in 10 lifetimes, because it's a drop in the bucket of what the U.S. taxpayers are on the hook for. And this is supposed to make me feel better why?

How Stimulating!

2009-02-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

I thought that an adjective used to describe something that stimulates was "stimulating."

As in a "stimulating conversation" or "that jump in the lake was so stimulating!"

But with respect to the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commentators wonder and debate about whether various parts of the bill will be "stimulative."

I guess that is the proper way to describe something that stimulates.

Besides, talking about whether the package will be stimulating sounds vaguely perverse.

I can't watch the news

2009-01-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

"What do you think he's going to say in his speech?"
"What does this moment mean to who-he-whats-it?"
"What's Michelle going to wear?"

I can't take it anymore!

Luckily, the Australian Open is on ESPN2.
I recommend it highly.

Plane Makes Emergency Landing on Hudson River

2009-01-16T09:07:00.001-08:00

No fatalities, no serious injuries.

END OF STORY!!!

OK, fine, maybe you want to know what went wrong with the plane, and how they managed to save everybody, etc.

But a 24/7 news story? Why?

Forget about those 1000 people who have died in Gaza in the past two weeks.
155 Americans almost died in New York yesterday!!

Tortured Logic

2009-01-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

Water boarding is torture.
The Bush administration authorized water boarding.
Authorizing torture is a punishable offense.

Therefore... ?

What's the rationale for denying the claim that someone from the Bush administration is liable to criminal prosecution?

We should look forward, not backward (Obama)

I tried telling that to the judge when I was in traffic court: "That speeding I did -- that's in the past. The important thing is that I will obey the the speed limit in the future." It didn't fly.

We shouldn't criminalize policy disagreements (Holder).

But what if it's someone's policy to break the law? It's not their disagreeing with you that's criminal -- it's the crime that they committed.

The Bush administration didn't know that what they were doing was illegal.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. I told the judge in traffic court that I didn't know that going 60 mph on that particular stretch of road was illegal, but that didn't work either.

The Bush administration acted in accord with legal council that said that what they were doing was legal.

Oh! The lawyers said it was OK! Why didn't you say so? So, if I hire a lawyer to tell me that speeding is legal, I can drive as fast as I want?! Yippee!

It seems to me that the laws that protect people from being tortured should be at least as strong as the laws that protect people from my driving too fast.

And it seems to me, if something is against the law now, and the reasons it is against the law were in play at time t, then that thing was against the law at time t.

So, are there any reasons that make water boarding against the law now that weren't in play in the last several years?

A different administrative "policy"?

What was that I heard, once upon a time, about a separation of legislative and executive branches...? If Obama's policies can deem water boarding to be against the law when it was previously not a punishable offense, then it would seem that they would be justified in not having those policies if that were their prerogative.

Lucky for us, they're nice guys.
Let's hope so, since they seem to basically agree with the Bush administration about the executive being above the law.

It reminds me of when my co-worker opined that our boss was a very judgmental person. When I told her that he didn't seem that way to me, she said "Well, it's not obvious, since most of his judgments are positive."

Charlie Rose

2009-01-13T13:11:00.000-08:00

One of my new favorite shows in Charlie Rose on PBS.
It's basically an interview show. Find out more here:
http://www.charlierose.com/
When I first stumbled across it, I thought it was sort of boring, old-fashioned, and a little annoying.
But more often than not, I leave my tv on PBS late at night, and would find Charlie Rose there, conducting a calm, thoughtful, intellectual, in depth and often enlightening interview.
Last night, I caught part I of his interview with David Sanger, talking about his new book, The Inheritance. I'm not one to run out and buy a book after listening to someone on a book tour, but I want to read this book!
On the other hand, I did catch Kate Winslet on there twice, talking about her recent films -- The Reader and Revoloutionary Road. Gosh, she is a little too impressed with herself.

Bush family mourns death of 18 year old white house cat.

2009-01-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

That was an AP headline.
I like cats.
I would be sad if one of my cats died.
It's interesting to find out about what the Bush family finds worth morning in the waning days of the Bush administration.

Knit till it hurts!

2009-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

I finally got a little free time so I wanted to get some knitting and crocheting done.
I over did it, and now I have repetitive stress issues on the right side of my upper body, especially my forearm and wrist. I had to give it a rest today, and it really bumbed me out. It made me start thinking, if God really hates me, he will give me arthritis in my hands so I can't spend my retirement years knitting.

Warren Piece

2008-12-23T15:57:00.000-08:00

Rick Warren of Saddleback Church is to deliver Convocation at the Presidential Inagueration.
He has stated on the church website that unrepentant homosexuals are not welcome at his church. He supported California's Proposition 8 which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to wed.

Maybe the government shouldn't be in the marriage business.
Any maybe religious prayers should not be said at state functions.

But given that the government is in the marriage business, and given that prayers are said at state functions, I think that the views held by those who deliver prayers at state functions can sometimes matter, and in this case, they do.

When a religious figure presides at a state function, he plays a certain symbolic role, and is accorded a certain status. He is speaking as spiritual leader, or moral authority. Perhaps you don't consider him your spiritual leader, and you do not recognize his moral authority. But by picking Warren for this role Obama has in effect asked the American people to see him as a spiritual leader and a moral authority, or at least communicated the idea that he sees Warren as an appropriate fit for that role. It is an expression of respect for his spiritual and moral leadership.

If a religious leader speaks at a state function, and the speaker is known for regarding, treating, and arguing that other people should treat some members of the citizenry as undeserving of the full rights and privileges granted to other citizens, then that view is implicitly sanctioned as at least tolerable by those who are responsible for putting him in the role of spiritual and moral authority at the state function. Imagine having a preacher that has spoken out against interracial marriage at the inauguration. What kind of message would that send?

There are those who think that Warren's views are tolerable and even commendable. I don't agree, but we can have that argument another day. What troubles me is those who say they disagree with Warren about same-sex marriage, but think having him speak at the inauguration is not a problem.

Some of the arguments of the apologists:

Obama said he would talk to leaders of Iran and North Korea, and that was supposed to be OK. Rick Warren is not nearly as bad as those guys, so this should be OK too.

I'd have no problem with Obama talking to Rick Warren. Even without pre-conditions. I'd be happy for them to negotiate if they had something to negotiate about. But you wouldn't put Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-il up there to sanction this big important national event. Why not? I'm not saying Warren is part of the axis of evil, but whatever reason you would have for not wanting a bad guy to cloud your big day should apply to Warren as well.

Obama is "reaching across the aisle" just like he said he would.

But Warren isn't a Republican congressman that liberals need to negotiate with in order to get legislation passed or something. Political negotiations among lawmakers on various sides of the same-sex marriage issue is probably a good and necessary thing, pragmatically. Perhaps reaching out to their constituents, the evangelicals and the like, is part of that process. But putting someone in what is considered a position of honor is not a matter of being willing to talk and negotiate with them. Its symbolic meaning is much more than that.

We can disagree about policy without being disagreeable.

It's not like we're disagreeing about a gas tax holiday. We're disagreeing about the permissibility of some people being denied rights that other citizens have, of treating some people as second-class citizens, of denying some committed monogamous couples privileges and benefits granted to others merely on the basis of their genders. I can't blame gays, lesbians, and allies for being a tad disagreeable at the moment.

And I'm not saying Obama should be disagreeable to Warren. If you discuss same-sex marriage, or any other controversial issue with Warren, by all means, behave like a perfect gentleman. But if you find your opponent's views morally problematic, don't put him up on a pedestal and ask for his blessing.

In the long run, this will do more good than harm for gays and lesbians.

Hmmm.
Well, that's a prediction, and a counterfactual. (We'll never be able to compare the world where Warren spoke at the inauguration to the one where he didn't.) But apart from existential doubts about possible worlds, I don't know why we should think that's true. What can be accomplished for gays and lesbians that is less likely to happen without an anti-gay marriage minister speaking at the inauguration? Is it placating the opponents? or galvanizing them? Is it mobilizing the supporters? Or were they already mobilized after passage of Proposition 8?

And furthermore, it's a crassly consequentialist argument. I'm not saying consequentialism is crass, but consider this analogy. After Jessica Lunsford was abducted and murdered, her father became an activist and got Jessica's Law passed in many states, and (suppose for the sake of argument) numerous would-be victims of child molesters and predators are better off as a result of this course of events.

...and therefore there was nothing wrong with John Couey abducting, raping, and burying Jessica alive?

I'm not saying there's anything equivalent to abduction, rape, and murder going on here.
My point is that inviting Warren speak at the inauguration could be bad in itself, even if, by some strange course of events, it turns out to have good consequences.

It is better to give than to receive

2008-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

So if you really want to do something nice for someone, encourage them to give you something.

Be careful what you wish for!

2008-12-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Bush's "right of conscience" rule would allow those working in health-related facilities that receive federal funds to refuse treatment based on moral, rather than scientific, grounds.

Apparently, the intent of this rule is to protect those apposed to contraception and abortion from having to participate in procedures that they consider immoral.

But this would seem to cover

the Jehovah's Witness who refuses to facilitate blood transfusions or organ transplants
the Christian Scientist who regards anything but prayer therapy to be immoral
The Scientologist who finds fault with most mental health treatments
the euthanasia-ist who objects to administering life-sustaining treatment to terminally ill patients
the vegan working in the hospital cafeteria!

There are people who think that it's morally problematic for those in industrialized nations to expend so many resources on having their own biological children given global poverty and overpopulation. There are racial purists who think it is wrong to bring children of mixed race into the world. By the same standards, they would be justified in refusing fertility treatments, prenatal care, etc.

The lesson is, when you want moral views to get special consideration, unless you are going to dictate which moral views get special consideration, you set yourself up for giving special consideration to views that you don't agree with.

Don't Know Much About Economics...

2008-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

But as far as I can figure...

The plan of the Trouble Asset Relief Program is that the US government borrows money from China so that they can lend it to banks so banks can lend it to consumers/taxpayers.

(China should just open up banks in the US and lend directly to consumers. Cut out the middle men! Especially ones that spend the money on spa retreats for their clients.)

So basically, the government is putting taxpayers in debt so that money can be lent to same taxpayers, with interest.

If enough taxpayers pay back the bank, the bank can pay the government, and the government can pay back China, and if there's any left over, it will "benefit the taxpayer," whatever that means.

(Another short cut: If you really want to benefit the taxpayer, reduce the amount that they have to pay on their loans now, rather than giving them a promise of a cut of the profits made off their own interest payments.)

Now, if not enough taxpayers pay their loans, the bank can't pay back the government, but the government still has to pay back China, so where will they get the money? From taxpayers!Which taxpayers? The ones who were unable or unwilling to pay their loans? Unlikely. For the others (and subsequent generations), after they're done paying back any money that they may have borrowed, they still have to pay back the money that someone else borrowed. That sounds less like being financially responsible and more like being a sucker.

Another thing...
If the Big 3 are good for the money, why can't they get regular loans?

Credit is tight, I know. But the government already gave billions to financial institutions so they could make loans. I guess the banks figure they shouldn't risk the taxpayer's money that way. That would be irresponsible!

But what do I know?

Vote!

2008-11-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

...if you want. It doesn't really matter.
My polling place is in walking distance from my house. I arrived shortly after 8 AM. I waited in line about 1/2 hour, here in the battleground state of Nebraska. No ID required. If you know the name and address of a registered voter and beat them to the poles, you could vote instead of them. Vote early and vote often -- that's what I always say.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-31T13:31:00.001-07:00

I started my Ravelry account, but I had trouble posting my pics on it. I had to put my pictures on Flicker first or something, but I didn't have a Flicker account, and so I went to do that, and it crashed my computer. So I haven't really done much with my Ravelry account yet. But I will when I get some time.

Back to School

2008-08-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Fall semester is upon us. I've been pretty busy since I got back from England. I taught a 5 week summer course and tried to tie up lots of loose ends. I didn't get it all done so I'm going to be even busier. I start teaching my fall class on Monday. I'll be teaching a seminar Wednesday which will cut into my Wednesday night knitting at B&N.

Ravelry

2008-07-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

I just joined the waiting list for Ravelry. Finally! For those of you who don't know, it's a website for knit and crochet where you can talk about knit and crochet, post pictures, and much more. So, I'm going to start posting my knit and crochet pics there and leave this blog for other stuff (if there is any other stuff!) I'll post my Ravelry user name when I get on.

Baby Socks

2008-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

9 pairs of baby socks for Sewing for Babies.
The striped ones are made with Red Heart Strata. The solids are Caron Simply Soft.
I varied the ribbings and heel flaps a little.
The purple one is all garter stitch from the ribbing down. It makes a cute puffy little bootie.

All the Shawls

2008-07-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, afghans for Afghans latest campaign is to collect shawls for mothers of newborns treated at a hospital in Kabul, and I've been working on them all Summer, pretty much.
Shawls are due at the a4A collection center in a week, so I'm going to stop making and start sending them now.There's 8 in all. 4 were knit with The Ultimate Sweater Machine. (It's not just for sweaters, obviously.) I crocheted borders on 3 of those, and knit a garter stitch border on the 4th. 3 are all hand crocheted and one is hand knit.
Here's Fuzzy (my other cat, not the one who had the tumor) sitting on one of the crocheted shawls before it was finished. Needless to say, all shawls come with a little cat hair.

The chest next to the chair is fill with, you guessed it, YARN!

England pics

2008-07-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't bring my camera to England, but I bought a disposable. The quality is not great, but better than nothing.

Guarding the entrance to Center Court at Wimbledon

Me at my 3rd row seat on Court 1.

Arnauld Clement in action.
-----------
Some of the historic architecture of Oxford

Back from England

2008-07-10T05:38:00.000-07:00

In England, I:
went to see a men's quarter-final match at Wimbledon.
went to Liberty and bought some yarn
went to a play "In My Name"
went to art museums, including
Tate Britain
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
took 2 cruizes down the Thames
walked Kensington Gardens and toured Kensington Palace
toured the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge
toured Shakespeare's Globe Theater
washed down some fish and chips with a pint of Guinness
drank several Pimms with lemonade
saw the new Indiana Jones movie in Leichester Square
saw a gay pride parade
went to Oxford, toured the city, gave a paper

Did you find everything OK?

2008-06-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Cashiers always ask "Did you find everything you were looking for?" or something like that.
Why?!
Are they just curious?
If I wanted to be a jerk, I'd like to ask "Why do you ask? What if I didn't?"
I did a lot of shopping today. I went to several stores, Walgreens, TJ Maxx, JCPenny, you name it.
At every check-out, someone asked me that.
On every occasion, I said, quite sincerely, "No..." and went on the explain what I failed to find.
On every occasion, the cashier had absolutely no follow up, no help to offer, no suggestions.
They just shrug and say "Oh..."
Except at Walgreens. The person at the register with an assistant manager tag on showed no signs of noticing that I had answered his question.

another pet peev got his nourishment today.

cherries... CHERRIES!!!

2008-06-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

Think "poppies... POPPIES!!!" from The Wizard of Oz.
This is a good year for cherries in Nebraska.

Life is a bowl of cherries.
And a couple of peppers too.
But these were cherry-picked.

I'm Tipsy!

2008-06-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

What does this gesture mean?

Tipsarevic beat Roddick today. It was awesome.

He's been one of my favorites since his 5 set match in Australia with Federer last year.

Oh, and beauty will save the world.

quilts

2008-06-22T10:31:00.001-07:00

I finished a few more quilts last week, but I hadn't gotten around to posting them til now.
The first is a 4-patch with Dick and Jane fabric.
The second is another Dick and Jane, modified Log Cabin block.
This is the Lincoln Knitters City Mission blanket. The squares were made by many members of the group and I crocheted them together last night. It's not quite finished.

Where I'll be in 3 weeks

2008-06-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

I'll be at this conference at Oxford:

Powers: Their Grounding and Realization

latest developments

2008-06-07T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some irises blooming in my garden, along with lots of "uncultivated botanicals"
(a.k.a. weeds).

Here's me in a shawl I knit in Lion Brand Woolspun for afghans for Afghans "shawls for new mothers" campaign.

Here's me modeling another shawl I made for the same. It is crocheted out of odds and ends of sock and fingering weight yarn.
Oh, and check out the French manicure.

Here's what I'm most excited about -- my first ever completed quilt. I made it out of clearance novelty fabrics I found at Micheal's. If you look close, you can see bugs, soccer balls, cherries, numbers, and hand bags! Technically, it leaves a lot to be desired, but I'm still learning. It's for Sewing for Babies.

Kory is a jerk!

2008-06-06T22:28:00.001-07:00

Kory wants the Knitty Gritty show to get canceled, and he thinks that there's no crying in baseball!
:-P

Oh, BTW, I finally got to see Ferrer play, only to LOSE!! BADLY!

Kory is really good at figuring out which women will win tennis matches. What a wussy.
(He won the women's part of the draw, but I won the men's. Now he wants to say that he won the whole thing because he won more points total. Sounds like Hilary saying she won the nomination cuz she won the popular vote!)

Tennis Anyone?

2008-06-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

Tennis Channel and ESPN2 are showing the French Open, but today, with hours and hours of coverage, they jointly managed to show the same 3 matches 3 times, but not one minute of David Ferrer's 5 set round of 16 victory. I have yet to see Ferrer play! Woe is me. Now he's in the quarter finals and they'll have to show him.

Socks and Cats

2008-05-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Not to be confused with Socks the cat...

I've been trying to finish up UFO's (unfinished objects) and I did manage to do the finishing on 3 pairs of socks.

I don't want to tie in any more ends on socks.

The lump on Cat's chin was cancer, but the vet thinks they removed it all.

a Barack Obama

2008-05-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

I notice that political commentators and pundits often use the expression "a Barack Obama" -- as in the question:

"Will white working class men vote for a Barack Obama?"

I know who Barack Obama is, but I'm not sure what "a Barack Obama" is.
(Who besides Barack Obama is "a Barack Obama?
If no one, why not just say "Barack Obama"?)

Usually, such an expression turns a name into a predicate, a description.

To say someone is "a Fred Astair" would be to say he's a great dancer.
To say someone is "a Harry Houdini" is to say that he is a magician or escape artist.

It seems that when you predicate a proper name of someone, you are saying that that individual possesses the salient characteristics of the bearer of that name.
(I hope that clears things up!)

So, what does it mean to say that someone is "a Barack Obama"?
What are Obama's salient characteristics?
What other words describe "an Obama"?
"...a senator"? "...a good speaker"? "a magnetic leader"?

Nah...
No pundit is going to bother to ask whether working class white men will vote for a senator, a good speaker, a magnetic leader, etc.

Given the contexts in which this expression appears, I think that "a Barack Obama" is a black guy with a funny name.

And I think that people that use that expression are raising the issue of race while trying not to be too obvious about it.

If I'm wrong, tell me what "a Barack Obama" is.

To be fair, people sometimes say "a Hillary Clinton," and even "a John McCain" once in a while.

I guess "a John McCain" is an old white Republican guy, but I'm not sure what "a Hillary Clinton" is supposed to be. Maybe a woman. "Former first lady" seems too particular.

My hunch is that, for the most part, media people started using those expressions after they started using "a Barack Obama" as a euphemism, and they do this to try to appear as if they are talking about all 3 candidates in the same way.

Though I'd have to go back and study the tapes to be sure.

a few reasons why I love to watch tennis

2008-05-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

My Trip to the see the Sandle Crayons

2008-05-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

My crane kicked Jan's crane's ASS!!

That's Nebraska for you.

I think I see some cranes!
Or maybe they're flying monkeys...

more pics

2008-05-24T18:01:00.001-07:00

Here are some things I've made in the past few weeks.Baby socks.

Booties!

Pink and white booties.

All the booties for Sewing for Babies.

2 afghans for Sewing for Babies made from Red Heart Strata. The pastel one is crocheted in side-saddle on the bias, and the bright one is made from 12 squares of half double crochet in 4 different color-ways. Love the stripes.
4 afghans out of Bright and Lofty (and some Homespun) for the nieces for Christmas.

Cats with his collar after his lump-ectomy.
He's doing good.
I'll find out about the biopsy next week.

Out of Touch

2008-05-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on the internet much because I've had a series of computer problems. Now my main computer is in the hands of my computer repair man, and hopefully it will be all fixed soon.

My cat has a tumor under his chin and he's going to have it taken off and biopsied tomorrow.
The big sweetie is sitting on my lap right now. I'm a little worried.

I made 3 quilt tops and am not sure how to finish them.

I made several pairs of baby booties for Sewing for Babies.

I'll post pics when I get my computer back.

Earth, Wind, and Fire

2008-05-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

...and water.

Earthquake in China
Tornados in the South and Mid-western parts of the US
Flooding in the North East
Fires in Florida
Cyclone in Burma

It's been a tough couple of weeks.

Losing Your Bearings

2008-05-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

So Obama says McCain is losing his bearings because McCain suggested that an Obama victory would be good news to Hamas. (You can see the full CNN interview here.)

And a McCain aide fires back that this was a hypocrical, ageist remark.
You can read about that here.

My question is:
What's a bearing, and what have you lost when you've lost yours?
I looked up "bearings" and found two meanings:

in navigation, the direction one object is from another object, especially the direction of an object from one's own vessel.

in mechanics, a device to permit constrained relative motion between two parts, typically rotation or linear movement.

If bearings is thought of in the mechanical sense, "losing your bearings" reminds me of losing ball bearings, which seems like "losing your marbles," which sometimes happens to people when they get old. It certainly would be quite an insult, and perhaps ageist, to say of an elderly political candidate that he has lost his marbles.

If bearings is thought of in the navigational sense, as it traditionally has been, in expressions such as "get your bearings," "find your bearings," and of course, "lose your bearings," then to say someone has lost his bearings is to say that he has lost his sense of his position relative to other people's positions.

So, if you were to implicitly criticize some one's political position, and it turns out that he holds the same political position as you do, it would be fair to say that you have lost your bearings. You're talking as if someone is a great distance from you, when actually he's at the same place as you are on this issue. Incidentally, in the next sentence after the "losing his bearings" remark, Obama stated that he and McCain have the same stance with respect to Hamas.

To say that someone has lost their sense of the political landscape is not an especially ageist remark as far as I know. So, it doesn't strike me as a "not particularly clever way" to raise the issue of age, since it's not a way to raise the issue of age at all.

...unless Obama was hoping we would be confused between ball bearings and relative position, as Leiberman seemed to be.

Latest Donations

2008-05-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

I made 7 baby blankets and a pair of socks for afghans for Afghans Newborn Campaign. Here are some pictures...

Here's the overview. The cat will not be included, though he may try to jump in the box.

Here are two hats Shaun knit, a pair of child's knit socks, and an crocheted blanket. The Fair Isle hat was knit for me by my mother a long time ago. She made it to go with a sweater she made me that I still have, though it doesn't fit me any more. I crocheted the edging and the straps on the hat. Mom hated to crochet, so she had me finish it.
The blanket and the socks are made with Paton's Merino, which I really enjoy working with. The blanket is done in what I call "from the corner side-saddle stitch" in a blue tweed with a solid blue border. In all of the projects I tried to use as much animal fiber in green as I could. The animal fiber is for warmth, and the green is the Afghan's preferred color, so I've heard.

Here is a blanket made with various mohair and mohair blends worked in single crochet over a strand of thick and thin wool yarn, something called "Ultra". The Ultra is the dark blue you see poking through the other colors. It's thickness varies so much, I wasn't sure how to make a solid, warm blanket out of it. I decided to use mohair with it, so that fluff would fill in any spaces, and to use it as an inclusion rather than to crochet with it. The result of using various yarns in this way was a really wonky, rustic looking blanket, but I like it.

Here's a 12 patch blanket -- 12 ten inch squares of double crochet in various yarns.

This is a very scrappy blanket done with odds and ends of Lopi. I inherited the Lopi from my mother, and I guess this means that I am not going to finish the sweaters she started. Sorry Mom. It's for a good cause. It's crocheted in rows of linked trebles, which makes a very solid dense fabric. It might work better as a rug. I like the blocky way it looks, though in retrospect, I wish I had broken up that yellow.
I spent a lot of time on this one, but it was a lot of fun. It is another 12 patch, but all done in Felt It! felting yarn (but it's not felted). Each block is done in a different stitch: two are knitted -- one stockinet, the other garter stitch on the bias, one is done in afghan stitch, one is done with in "crochet on the double" with a double ended hook, and the others are various crochet stitches. I used mostly one colorway, and it was fun to see how the print looked different with each technique.
This is a crocheted ripple in Paton's Merino, blue and blue tweed again. Thanks to Michaels for putting those colors on sale.

I also made a solid olive green blanket in double crochet, also with my mom's Lopi. It came out nice, but simple and not really interesting to see.

The deadline for sending donations to this campaign is 5/19, so I guess this is it.
But Cathy was supposed to give me another hat!

Afghanistan

2008-05-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

Nancy sent me these pictures of afghans that I crocheted being distributed to children in Afghanistan.

Nancy knows someone who is stationed in Afghanistan, and she sends him things for the children over there.

I do most of my knitting and crocheting for charity.

I make things for the Lincoln City Mission, Sewing for Babies, and afghans for Afghans.

Why?

I've made myself plenty of things, and there's nothing that I'm dying to make myself recently.

I've made many things for friends and family, and I don't think anyone really needs anything right now. They certainly don't need anything as much as a child in Afghanistan needs a blanket.

There are probably better ways I could be charitable, but this one is pretty good.

I manage to pare down my huge stash of yarn, or use donated or inexpensive yarn, and make something of value.

If you want to help, contact me.

You can donate yarn and I will turn it into usable practical items that someone needs.

If you knit or crochet, you can knit or crochet a square. I'm making baby blankets from 10x10 inch squares. It takes 12 squares to make a child's blanket. If it's natural animal fiber, it's for Afghanistan; If it's synthetic, it's for Sewing for Babies.

I've got Pope fever!!!!

2008-04-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

not.

Innocent until Proven Quilty

2008-04-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

I bought more fabric today.
JoAnn's had fat quarters for 99c. each! What was I supposed to do?!
Last Wednesday, Cathy gave me a rotary cutter and stuff.
Then Thursday I went and spent almost $50 on fabric.
Heather told me I already had more than enough to make a quilt.
I washed and dryed it. That's as far as I've gotten.
I don't even have a real sewing machine.
I need another hobby like I need another ball of yarn.
Oh yeah, I bought one of those today too.
I had a 50% off coupon. What was I supposed to do?!

Kite Runner

2008-04-14T15:31:00.000-07:00

I just watched the Kite Runner. Boy, they did a good job. It was so true to the book. So sad.

Long Time No See

2008-04-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.
I just haven't felt inspired...

Buyer's Remorse

2008-03-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia says "Buyer's remorse" is an emotional condition whereby a person feels "remorse" or regret after a purchase.

I have heard it said that what might happen in today's primaries is a symptom of "buyer's remorse."

I assume this is metaphorical, but what does it mean?
Hopefully, nothing is literally purchased, but votes are cast.
What about the remorse?
Apparently, it's remorse for something that happened in a previous primary, in another state.

So, the voters in one state regret what other voters did in another state?
So, you can regret another person's actions?
I might resent or disapprove of another's acts, or wish they hadn't done them, but I don't regret other people's actions.

Or maybe the entire voting population in the United States of America is thought to be one agent. It votes one way in one set of primaries, and then if the poles in the states of subsequent primaries reflect a different trend, it must be regretting it's previous votes.

Neither of these interpretations make much sense to me, so what are they talking about?!

Careful care and feeding of the peevs

2008-03-03T11:56:00.000-08:00

Gripe #1
I bought a new monitor. It's "wide screen." So, it takes all the images that used to be on my square monitor and stretches them. It's no problem for text, but faces look fat and distorted. And as far as I can tell, there is no way to correct for this. I don't like that.

Gripe #2
Television networks like CNN and ESPN have for years now been keeping banners at the bottom of their screens. I have nothing against this in principle, but those who frame the shots don't seem to take this into account. Sometimes 1/4 or even as much as 1/3 of the picture is cut off on the bottom, and sometimes this doesn't matter, but often it does. A few examples:

9/11 -- the shot is framed to show the World Trade Center tower and the plane flying into it. Only the banner on the bottom blocks the plane, and so all you see is the top of the explosion bursting out from behind the banner.

tennis -- a computer simulation of the path of the ball is shown, supposedly illustrating where the ball hits the court with respect to the line. 1 problem -- the picture is framed so that where the ball hits the court is at the bottom of the screen, which is blocked by a banner.

red carpet coverage -- "Hey look at Jessica Alba, doesn't she look gorgeous in her strapless gown?" I'll admit she looks great, but I can't see her dress at all because it is covered by a banner taking up 1/2 the screen. This also happens on a show called "The Fasion Team," where it's especially suprising that no one pays attention to whether the audience could actually see the clothes they are talking about.

Hey, remember Porky Pig saying "That's All Folks!" inside that circle? They played a clip of that on CNN the other day for some reason. But since Porky was centered on the screen, and there was a banner covering up the bottom 1/3, you could only see the top of his head.

I guess they could take the square image and just stretch it out in the rectangle at the top of the screen. (See Gripe #1.)

Barack Obama is not a Muslim

2008-03-01T17:48:00.001-08:00

Would somebody please say "...but it would be OK if he were"?!!

Or at least admit that if it's not OK, that is a sad fact about the current American political scene?

Any pride I might have felt for my fellow Anglo-Americans who would vote for a black man is diminished by those who regard the implication that he is Muslim as a smear against him.

Hey, at least I live in a country where being black isn't as bad as being Muslim anymore.

fellowship evaluations

2008-02-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

OK, I swore and oath that I would never do anything to embaras the university, but I'm just stating the facts, ma'am.
I'm on this committee to award fellowships to graduate students across the university to continue their studies.
One must evaluate their personal statement, their CV, and their instructor recommendations, and there is also an over-all recommendation.
1 - do not give this student a fellowship
2 - give this student a fellowship if there are available funds
3 - definitely give this student a fellowship
4 - consider this student for the highest level of funding.

I must confess, I'm a bit confused.
It may seem like there is a scale from 1 to 4, 1 being the lowest, 2 being next, 3 being next, and 4 being highest.
However, the descriptions of the rankings, to my mind, contradict this.
For example, I think it is saying more about a student if you should definitely give him or her a fellowship than to say you should consider him or her for the highest level of funding. Saying that you should consider a student for a certain level of funding really isn't saying much. It only takes a second to consider a student for a the most prestigious fellowship, and then decide that he or she won't get it. So, it seems to me that your assessment of a student must be much higher if you say he or she should definitely get some fellowship or other. Consideration is cheap.
But most importantly, it seems like any student that deserves a fellowship should be given no higher a ranking than 2. To say otherwise would be to say that a student should be given a fellowship even if funds aren't available. At the very least, that's fiscally irresponsible, or dishonest, and it might even be incoherent. I could not in good conscience say that a student should be awarded a fellowship if the funds are not available.

Night breezes seem to whisper "I love your cat"

2008-02-25T19:15:00.000-08:00

There's a commerical for Fancy Feast cat food that plays "Dream a Little Dream of Me" while you're watching some cat do catty things. Then the song is interupted by a voice-over that starts saying "Your cat..." something something. The net effect, which may or may not be intensional, I don't know, is that you hear:
"Stars shining bright above me
Night breezes seem to whisper I love YOUR CAT..."

pictures

2008-02-23T17:53:00.000-08:00

These are some mittens I made on top of a blanket I made that I sent to afghans for Afghans in December.

These are some of the scarves I made last summer. I was going to try to sell them, but I got discouraged, and now I just have a huge scarf wardrobe to choose from every day.

Here's the afghan I made out of various colors of Mosaic Twist. They blend together better than they seem to in this pic. The pic is sideways, but it doesn't really matter for seeing what the afghan looks like.

This was me Halloween '07.
I made the scarf I'm wearing, of course.
Pretty funky.
As for the wig, I just wanted the song to be true.

troubles

2008-02-23T08:04:00.000-08:00

I lost my last pair of reading glasses.
My computer isn't working. It seems to be the monitor, which is not very old.
I filled my prescription for my eczema medicine and I had to pay the full price of $80 for a tube of cream again. Before, it was because it was the first time filling a new script. Now it's because of my deductible for 2008. I'm sure next time there'll be another reason my health insurance never pays for anything.

Big Hands, I know you're the one

2008-02-22T18:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Olberman mentioned Manos: The Hands of Fate

I watch too much CNN

2008-02-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

There's an ad for Lou Dobb's show with a clip of him asking
"Doesn't anyone deserve a government that works?"
Yes, Lou, some people do -- people like you.

another day, another blog

2008-02-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

On the advice of JULIE!!! I am ditching my former blog which lasted 1 day and starting a new blog on Blogger. That way Julie can be kept up to date on all the latest developments in the facinating life of Professor Mc.
So, what happened today is I worked tirelessly on my afghan stitch afghan for afghanistan, to the point where my wrist is really starting to hurt.
The Clinton/Obama debate is on tonight and I will probably watch it, though it doesn't seem very appealing to me right now.