And this is just a minor reason why I kind of hate people.

Also, it is why I live in a city, but I don't want to paint all suburbs--or people who live in them--with the same brush.

Guys? If you live in a suburb where sidewalks are even a possibility, you already don't live in a pastoral setting. Deal with it. I also understand that some neighborhoods have so little traffic that sidewalks really aren't an issue; that's a different situation.

I hear all of the arguments against sidewalks in this article--I am just kind of appalled by them. For instance, go ahead a bring up how senior citizens will shovel the sidewalks. All of the places listed here are places with huge lawns and large driveways. How are those same seniors coping now? Those driveways aren't shoveling themselves, you know. And that picture? Are we supposed to feel bad for this woman? (That said--eight feet is too wide for a sidewalk.)

I am also appalled by the city residents around here who don't want to have to maintain the bike trails and parks, just to be even-handed. What the hell is wrong with you people?

I should also mention that should Matter-Eater-Lad and I ever move to a city in which we need to live in the suburbs, sidewalks will be a minimum requirement for us.

The sign of a well-stocked stash

I am knitting a Clapotis out of this yarn in Topaz, which is lovely, but I am bored. When I realized this, instead of thinking about how I need to shop for new projects, I thought "I should pull that mitten kit out of my my stash (ok, I have two of that kit) and start working on it."

I have more projects set aside in my stash than I would come across in a visit to my LYS.

Success!

An Open Letter To The People Trying To Get Me To Hire Them

Dear PTTGMTHT:

Follow the directions in the listing. Believe me when I say that if you don't *you are not going to get an interview.* Calling and asking what to do when the ad requests an emailed resume is not helping you.

If there is a name on the ad, DO NOT send your cover letter "To Whom It May Concern."

Also, turn off the change tracking on your document *before* you send it to me.


I'm surprised I have to explain these things to you.

What?

No love for Barry and LeVon?

You know what this is a picture of?

5 kg of Nutella. Just for the record, that container of Nutella costs almost $80.00.

Now, I really, really like Nutella, to the point where I can't keep it in the house. But the bottles I buy are generally *13 oz*. Which equals 0.368543801 kilograms.

I had some thoughts about who might need that much Nutella. I think maybe these guys:

Are you so insecure about how your child might view the world that you need a book to indoctrinate said child?

Well, then, I have found the book for you.

Sigh.

Oh, my.

Did Stephen Colbert design this license plate?

I am all for not surrendering patriotic symbols to insane conservative people (please note that I consider this a subset of conservatives as a whole--I may not agree with them on most issues, but that doesn't make them evil or crazy across the board). This license plate is kind of sickening. I think it is the desert camo background that sends it over the edge. How many people who get this plate will have ever worn camo to anything more dangerous than a backyard cookout?

I should perhaps note here that *I* have never worn camo, much less in a defending-my-country sort of situation, except my pink camo neoprene shoes, which really, really don't count.

Bridge Collapse.

More specifics later, but on the frivolous side, I had no idea what the "R.T." in "R.T. Rybak" stood for before I read this BBC article.

Dear Ralph Nader,

I am appalled (but unsurprised) by the audacity you show in still insisting that there is no real difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, that they are so corrupt that voting for them is throwing away a vote:

"Where are the thousands of alliances and two million people to shake the irrevocably corrupt Democratic and Republican parties?".

You know what?

There is a difference.

I am not saying that the Democrats are some sort of paragon of virtue, but there is a difference.

Go to hell, you self-important windbag.

Follow-up

Damn straight.

"If Cheney's a member of the legislative branch, the Democratic Caucus chair suggests, the vice president won't need all the money that currently goes to pay for his executive office, extensive staff and that secure undisclosed location that is so often his haunt. So Emanuel plans this week to offer an amendment to a spending bill that would defund the Office of the Vice President.

Of course, there would still be funding for the Office of the Senate President. But, let's be frank, the rare tie-breaking duties and ceremonial administrative functions associated with that position won't require more than a smidgen of the money that now goes to the vice president's epic executive-branch operations.

"This amendment will ensure that the vice president's funding is consistent with his legal arguments," say Emanuel, a former aide to President Clinton who, like Cheney, has served in both the legislative and executive branches."

Dear Dick Cheney,

Since you apparently missed this part, Article II of the Constitution of the United States deals with the powers of the EXECUTIVE BRANCH. I am posting it in full, since you seem to be unfamiliar with the document. Not, mind you, that this is the first time you have appeared to be unfamiliar with the Constitution.

(Please note that this is the original text of the Constitution--bits that look like they should be hyperlinked have since been amended.)

"Article II

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

The VP *is* mentioned in Article I, but only in a very limited manner:

"The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States."

Jackass. You know a great way to not have people constantly making you produce your files for discovery? STOP INVOLVING THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH, AND SPECIFICALLY THE OFFICES OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT, IN CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES. I know you are not the only ones to have ever done it, but sometimes one wonders if ANYTHING LEGAL IS HAPPENING IN THERE.

Behind, too tired and busy for a real post.

I have lots of things I could be posting, but I am very busy and tired, so I will stick with this:

You *can* check a stand mixer if you are flying (Don't look at me like that--*of course* I didn't pay full price for it. Why do you think I was trying to get the damn thing from Philly to Minneapolis on a plane?). Just expect the TSA to thoroughly inspect it. (I think they were jealous.)

Learning something new

I can post this now, because my friend M. has received her birthday present.



I learned how to knit toe-up socks! The pattern is Oktoberfest, knit on US1 DPNs. I did fewer leg repeats than the pattern calls for because I was running out of yarn. Next time I might go up a needle size for the ribbing--it is a little bit inflexible. It is fine once the sock is on, but it is hard to get the sock on.



I like this pattern because it is a visual joke, but not so novelty that they are not practical to wear.

Happy Brithday, M.!

A Milestone

So, a little over a month ago I *may* have turned 30. On Easter, in fact. Matter-Eater Lad and I took the new car and drove up to Duluth, since we never had before. It was cold, but lovely and sunny, which made for a nice drive up there.

We saw the lift bridge:



Sand dunes:


Lake Superior, which was still frozen for quite a distance out from shore:


Elmo joined us.


He pensively regarded the surf:


Mugged for the camera:


And tried to eat the lighthouse:


(Shut up. *We* were *very* amused.)

Matter-Eater Lad also got me this for my birthday. It is absolutely *beautiful*. The artwork alone makes this edition worth it.

My family got together and sent me the money to pick out my very own kayak. I finally chose it and bought it last night (I'll tell y'all about the fun of trying to find a place to put the front strap hooks of a kayak car carrier on a Mazda 3 for a trip that *must* include a high-speed highway another time):



Please note that Elmo helped test out the kayak:

(And let us pause to note how great the grass looks. That part of the lawn was a sand pit and landscaping rocks when we bought the house 3 1/2 years ago--the previous owners had an above-ground pool. Getting rid of the rocks and getting topsoil and seeding the grass was just *so much* work.)


It was a good birthday. And being 30 is really exactly like being 29 so far.

More on the Dragon Socks.

So, I feel that I should post better pictures of the Dragon socks. The yarn is Fleece Artist sock in Moss. I used US size 0 DPNs (oh, how I love the Knit Picks DPNs). The pattern is more or less Child' First Sock (I disagreed with the heel. Stridently. So I changed it.) from Knitting Vintage Socks.

Socks in progress:




At this point in the construction, Matter-Eater Lad decided that these socks look very much like something Aquaman would wear. I was amused, but not as much as he was. He proceeded to ask for an orange sweater in this stitch pattern so that he could look like Aquaman. I said no, because I am not doing that much work for something I know he would never wear.

Finished socks:



I very much like how they came out. I will have to knit some for myself once I finish my sister's wedding veil. Which will go faster once I have started knitting my sister's wedding veil. I may have started a simple pair of stockinette socks while I am waiting . . . .

Actually, I would like to start a subscription.

Bush apologist James Lileks' inane Star Tribune column about nothing (seriously, it is always vague commentary about Target ads or some such thing, and referred to as "humor") was cancelled recently, because the paper wants him to report actual news. Please note that his actual column is not political, and it is a kind of humor column that is horribly outdated. There is a huge uproar in the right-wing portion in the blogosphere about how horrible this is. They are encouraging people to cancel their Strib subscriptions.

My reaction? I have lived in Minneapolis for five years, and I have never paid for home delivery. I get most of my news online. I picked up the phone and ordered home delivery.

I told everyone that I spoke to that it was because they cancelled Lileks' column.

The column itself was a waste of space, but more than that, the ten seconds a day it took him to write the column and get paid for it allowed him the leisure to write here (look to past posts for political stuff). And that is what the right-wing blogosphere is upset about; the Strib is not going to be subsidizing Lileks' political commentary any more. If he were a political columnist, I might understand the uproar. Lileks is free to write anything he wants on his website if he has the free time once he has a real job, just like anyone else in America.

I also sent this email to the Reader's Rep:

Ms. Parry—

I want to congratulate the Star Tribune for getting rid of some dead weight. James Lileks' column should have been cancelled years ago.

Upon hearing the news, I subscribed to home delivery.

Regards,

Kate

************Edited to add************

Please note that I don't think this is some sort of wonderful journalistic advance on the part of the Strib. Getting rid of all of the columnists isn't good journalism, it's just cheaper for them. Lileks is far from the only one that this is happening to--and that is part of my point. That, and the right-wing gnashing of teeth, along with Lileks' asking people to contact the reader's rep on his part just annoyed me enough that it was worth less than $20 of my money to make a point of doing exactly the opposite thing.

SOCKS!

So, I am not so much with the posting lately. I have a ton of photos and stories, but I have just been completely swamped at work, and when I don't take lunch, I don't get to post. I have been knitting, though. I knit these lovelies out of Sweet Georgia in Summer Skin for my Mother-in-Law for her birthday (the color is a little bit off, and I couldn't try them on because my MIL has *tiny* feet):




The pattern is, I believe, the beaded rib from Knit Sensational Socks (no time to get all linky today).

I also picked up some Fleece Artist that The Yarnery brought by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's talk. One skein was the moss or fern colorway (too busy to look it up), very pretty, kind of what I think of as dragon green. Then my friend, who has a dragon thing, got sick, and I discovered that Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks looks very much like scales. I therefore made my friend dragon socks. For various reasons I had to frog the first sock twice before I liked how it turned out:




I haven't uploaded the finished pix yet, but you get the idea.

You know how I was bemoaning the lack of cherry blossoms in my vicinity? Sundara (search for Sundara yarns, she comes up) dyed this as a limited edition in April:


Cherry Blossom yarn!

It made me very happy.

Overheard in the bagel shop

10 to 12-year-old boy: "I would like a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese, pickles and capers."

(bagel-shop employee spends a few minutes making *sure* that is what he really wants, very nicely, until the boy's mother mentions that this is what he always orders)

Then the mother orders: "An everything bagel with plain cream cheese, please."

10 to 12-year-old boy: "You like *everything bagels*? Eeeeeew."

A Good Thing

Today, New Hampshire approved civil unions. Well, you know, except for the actual signing, but that is expected to go off without a hitch.


*****Edited to add*****

What I find the most interesting is the stark illustration of the same information garnering completely opposite reactions. From the WaPo article:

"Nevertheless, opponents of same-sex marriage look at what is going on in New England and express growing concern. 'The more states that do this, the less radical and more plausible the idea may appear in others,' said Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council."


My reaction? EXACTLY.

But will they help find a small, brown, leather-covered notebook?

Gussie Fink-Nottle would be so pleased:

"Traps will also be laid to round up newts."