Chickenlips Knitting

...the earth sucks. Huh, huh, huh. Thank you, Beavis and Butt-head, for doing the intro to this post.

Seriously, the more shocking and/or upsetting the news, the more tightly I tend to clutch my little knitting projects and natter on about such mundane subjects as my favorite yarns. Knitting is my source of comfort and peace in this dangerous and brutish world, and for me, shopping for yarn is like, I dunno, happy hour maybe. Except that I can do it anywhere, and anytime if I shop online, and never have to worry about getting a DUI. For every incidence of someone being hurt with words, actions or bullets, and the news of that incidence reaching my ears, there is probably an incidence of a person being treated kindly, helped out, or built up in some way. However, in our fucked-up, media-dominated culture, positive actions don't make "good copy" so we never hear about them.

I appreciated the point Flutter made on her blog about the Imus racial slur, and how the target of that slur can and should use it to her own empowerment instead of letting it damage her irreparably. The only thing positive to come out of that situation is that a racist, sexist shithead got his worthless cracker ass canned. Now he can hook up with that psychopath I love to hate, O.J. Simpson, and they can co-author a book: "If I Called A Vibrant, African-American Female Athlete a Nappy-Headed Ho."


Sometimes Smart People Sound Really Stupid

My office mate, a savvy young woman who is acting supervisor for our small department while the boss is on maternity leave, and also oversees the production of an alternative monthly newspaper, said something which left me doing a slow burn. Aghast at the news of the Virginia Tech mass murder, all I could do was sit horrified in front of the TV and stitch. The last time there was a "heightened security" situation at my daughter's school, it was because of a threat scrawled on a bathroom wall and the personnel they brought in only hassled my daughter because she doesn't look or act like everyone else, so I kept Michelle home today rather than risk the same situation. When I shared with my co-worker what I had done and why, she quipped, "I don't know why everyone thinks this is such a big deal. It happens all over the world every day. Look at Iraq."

I might have murmured something vague about yesterday's shooter not wearing a uniform and not using a weapon that was issued by the U.S. government, but the truth is, I have a kid in school. There isn't a parent of a school-age kid, or a kid in college, alive who isn't terrified for their own at the news of a school shooting. Now I know that my co-worker didn't mean to be callous, and I also know she doesn't read my blog, but she did piss me off, so I'll say here what I would have liked to say to her, which is Honey, you don't know shit.



Still More Knitted Baby Stuff



Little green cotton hat made from stash, at the request of one of our project managers; a tiny Koigu watch cap, and the last of my MDK baby kimonos for a while--made of, you guessed it, Rowan Calmer. My frenetic knitting for infants is beginning to wind down, but what can I say, it's been a good run.