Now Norma Knits

Terrier Tuesday -- Tenacity Edition

Dear Readers,

I guess Alpha has finally forgiven me for That Skunk Incident. Either that, or it's true what they say about Love Conquers All, because last night she brought me home a new toy.

And I LOVVVVVVVVVVVE my new toy more than all my other toys combined. Well, for now -- that is to say, this exact moment in time -- anyway.

This is my favorite way to play with all my toys. I drop it on the first step. And I stare at it intently and I wait for it to move. 

I wait.

And I wait.

And I wait. Sometimes for an hour or more. 

And once in a while I will bark to try to get it to move.

And if it still won't move, I will stare at it some more. Every once in a while, I will let out a little squeak, and Alpha or David will come and throw the toy.

And I will run and get it.

And then....

I start all over again.

Alpha says we terriers are a rather tenacious lot. I have no idea what she means by that. She says, "Don't worry. It's not a bad word." 

I guess I have no choice but to believe her.

Doggedly yours,

 

Mr. Jefferies 

 

 

 

Small Business Saturday

Man. When I retweeted the "just shoot me" comment about Black Friday yesterday, little did I know that it might turn out to be true. 

Sigh. We are so fucked as a species. Don't even get me started about the idiots who are pissed off because President Obama didn't mention God in his Thanksgiving Address. Don't EVEN. Oh man, I have so much to say on that subject and so much to say about another religion-related incident that happened to me while I was in the hospital, but oh man.... just don't provoke me. Seriously. It won't be pretty. 

Speaking of pretty, let us make an abrupt cocktail-party-style change of subject right now. How about that?

Look at what is just flying off the needles!

And look at how nicely it's going to coordinate with the new jewelry!

My instincts were so right. I hope it turns out to be as nice as I hope it will, and since I'm sure it will be lovely, mostly I hope I'm knitting the right size. 

I'll take part in Small Business Saturday by eating at a local restaurant and maybe dipping into a couple other shops, but I'm still basically in anti-shop mode. Still, what shopping I do, as always I make every effort to keep it local. Exhibit A, the jewelry above, made of really local material and by a local jeweler. And Exhibit B, the yarn above, is from, well, a fairly local producer in Maine, and then again all the way across the world in Russia, since that is what Peace Fleece is all about.  

And I won't even try to shove my all-religions-are-creepy opinions deep down your throats at all. Nope, I won't say a word. 

 

Black Friday: Knitting and Soup, No Shopping

 

You might call this swatching. I've just cast on for something, and we'll see how it goes. I want a sweater to match my new jewelry, you see.

 

Oh, how I love seedstitch. 

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I have in mind a tweedy grey cardigan with copper-color buttons, and I just happened to have the yarn on hand -- Peace Fleece left over from the sweater I made for David last year, and I've ordered some buttons from an Etsy shop (don't know if you can see that link or not). They look like this:

I haven't completely forsaken the G'Day sweater. I finished the first sleeve. But the leftover grey Peace Fleece was calling my name. I couldn't resist it any longer, so I cast on last night. 

There is turkey soup stock simmering on the stove, and hopefully I'll see the inside of the gym later. 

All in all, a great Black Friday, and no mall or shopping or fighting traffic or crowds in sight. I'll repeat something I saw on Twitter this morning: "The day I stand in line for hours to go shopping at Wal-Mart (I'll substitute 'anyplace'), shoot me."

 

Happy Turkey Day To You

Terrier Tuesday -- Hiking With Chloe Edition

Dear Readers,

I bet you thought I forgot to blog this week, huh? Who, me? Never! I just got caught up with a few things, such as Alpha made me have ANOTHER bath last night, which means that she had to hold me until I dried because I was so dat burned COLD and shivering. And then this morning we had to go visit our veterinarian and I had to have some shots and stuff. 

The vet said I'm the most muscular Yorkie she has ever seen, perfectly proportioned, she says, and very healthy, and WHAT BIG TEETH I HAVE for a Yorkie! That might explain my adorable underbite.

She also said that I was the best-behaved Yorkie she had ever seen. I'm not letting it go to my head, because maybe she says that to all the dogs she sees. Or maybe I am indeed perfect. I'll let you decide.  

So one reason I'm so muscular and in such good shape, as you know, is because Alpha and I do a lot of exercise together. The other day we took another hike up the hill in the back of our house, and this time we took our friends Chloe and Jessica. Chloe is a Yorkie too!  

Jessica is a human. She is a lovely human. She spoils me when she babysits me, and takes me where she works, which is just like SO COOL and they love dogs there. 

Anyway, we had a great time and Alpha even remembered to bring the camera!

If I don't bark at you before then, be sure to have a Happy Thanksgiving, okay?

 

Love,

 

Mr. Jefferies

 

Cookie Monster Explains OWS

Yes, there always going to be rich and poor. But we used to live in country where rich owned factory and make 30 times what factory worker make. Now we live in country where rich make money by lying about value of derivative bonds and make 3000 times what factory worker would make if factories hadn't all moved to China.

Capitalism great system. We won Cold War because people behind Iron Curtain look over wall, and see how much more plentiful and delicious cookies are in West, and how we have choice of different bakeries, not just state-owned one. It great system. It got us out of Depression, won WWII, built middle class, built country's infrastructure from highways to Hoover Dam to Oreo factory to electrifying rural South. It system that reward hard work and fair play, and everyone do fair share and everyone benefit. Rich get richer, poor get richer, everyone happy. It great system.

Then after Reagan, Republicans decide to make number one priority destroying that system. Now we have system where richest Americans ones who find ways to game system -- your friends on Wall Street -- and poorest Americans ones who thought working hard would get them American dream, when in fact it get them pink slip when job outsourced to 10-year-old in Mumbai slum. And corporations have more influence over government than people (or monsters).

It not about rich people having more money. It about how they got money. It about how they take opportunity away from rest of us, for sake of having more money. It how they willing to take risks that destroy economy -- knowing full well that what could and would happen -- putting millions out of work, while creating nothing of value, and all the while crowing that they John Galt, creating wealth for everyone.

That what the soul-searching about. When Liberals run country for 30 years following New Deal, American economy double in size, and wages double along with it. That fair. When Conservatives run country for 30 years following Reagan, American economy double again, and wages stay flat. What happen to our share of money? All of it go to richest 1%. That not "there always going to be rich people". That unfair system. That why we upset. That what Occupy Sesame Street about.

See the original comment here.

(There's also a great Cookie Monster follow up, in which he says "In theory, this country a democracy, where everyone who share resources also have say in how resources used. In practice, ordinary monster have very little say, and super-rich basically do whatever they want and make government do whatever they want.")

 

Shared from:  http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/10/guy_called_cookie_monster_offe.php

 

Terrier Tuesday -- It STINKS Edition

Dear Readers,

If you ever see a cat that looks like this:

...do not -- I repeat DO NOT -- chase it. If you do you will learn that these special cats have a secret fucking weapon up their ass and you will be very very sorry and you will cry and yelp and be very smelly and you will throw up all over the rugs and your eyes will hurt and your nose will hurt and there is just nothing nothing nothing that will make it go away and Alpha will be very very mad at you and you will have to have too many baths and she will still be scowling at you every single day and you might never ever ever live it down. And she will be throwing things out the door and washing everything fortythreemillion times and saying a lot of very bad words and ....

I'm really worried, readers. Alpha is truly losing her shit and is about ready to fall off the edge I do believe. She starts to twitch and shriek wildly every time she sees anything that is remotely black white and furry. She is spending huge amounts of money on products that might send the FBI knocking at our door. Things like vast quantities of Fabreeze peroxide baking soda dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent.

She says she is going to either die of the smell or have to be admitted to the crazy person's hospital because she can't stop smelling the STINK and she's going to shave all our hair off and wash all of her skin off and burn all her clothes and the carpets and the beds. 

I don't know what to do to make her feel happy again. Do you?

Woefully yours,

 

Mr. Jefferies

 

 

Vermont Rocks

The tiny island of my birth* is known for a few things -- you know, besides being the island of my birth. Ahem.

I've mentioned this before, but in case you are just catching up, or if you want some review, you can read some interesting little factoids here.

Of relevance to this post, Isle La Motte is home to some quarries that are no longer in operation. 

Anyway, some time ago I was given a handful of rocks by someone who used to work in one of the quarries.

They weren't very impressive-looking things. They might easily have been crushed up and used for road fill.

But you know how I love my local rocks, and specifically how I love pendants made with local rocks and earthy artisan pieces, and I really wanted a piece of that black marble. ("Black marble" is how it was marketed for many years. That is now known to be geologically inaccurate -- it is really limestone.)

So I've been holding onto these rocks with the idea that someday I'd maybe have some jewelry made, but I never got around to it. I was driving around with them in the back seat of my car for ages.

Not long ago, I ran into the wife of the man who gave them to me. Her husband had passed away in the last few months, and she wondered if I'd done anything with the rocks yet. Well, this was the impetus I needed to stop procrastinating. 

I took my pieces of road fill in to a local jeweler who I knew was interested in, and sensitive to, local materials, Global Pathways Jewelers (which, by the way, has an Etsy shop). I knew they were interested and sensitive to local stones, because one of my other favorite pieces is a stunning pendant in Vermont red jasper that was made by them:

So we worked on getting a few of the stones cut and polished...

...and then we designed the metalwork together.

Since I have brown eyes, and wear a lot of brown clothing, I wanted to bring some brown into the pieces. I suggested to them that I'd either like to add a touch of brown stone of some sort, or, we both stated this simultaneously, "maybe we could add some copper to the pieces." So copper it was. 

This is what we ended up with.

I picked them up last week and I've hardly had them off, except to sleep and shower, ever since. In fact, if you look closely, you will see that I am wearing the earrings in the photo in my last post.

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(The large oval cabochon in the box above remains unset for the moment.) 

Another Vermont Rocks story:

On Veterans Day, a friend sent me this link to a piece about Vermont marble. 

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*OK, I wasn't actually born there. I was born in a hospital in St. Albans, Vermont, which is more truthful, but much less romantic-sounding. But my parents lived there when I was born, and I lived there for the first seven years of my life. In any event, I feel very attached to the place.

Bring It

Here is a 52-year-old woman with a clean bill of health, who showed 40% greater exercise performance on a cardiac stress test than most people her age, and who has no heart disease (but does have a new haircut):

Also bear this in mind: When I took the stress test, I was feeling ill, lightheaded, weak, and unwilling to push myself too hard. So I'm wondering how I would do on that sucker today, when I feel back to normal.

Look out, world. I'm coming.

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This will probably just be one of those unknowns. 

Whatever it was, it wasn't your ticker.

~ The Cardiologist

 

Terrier Tuesday -- Baxter the Therapy Dog Edition

Dear Readers,

This is a fairly old video, but Alpha just discovered it this weekend. If you can watch this and not shed a few tears, well, you're a better man (and perhaps a bit cold-hearted) than we are. 

Love,

Mr. Jefferies