Farewell Mr. Potter

Did anyone else make this connection?




Surely I wasn't the only one. Or maybe I've just seen It's a Wonderful Life too many times. Yeah, maybe that's it.

My other takeaway from the inauguration fun times (aside from the fact that the whole day felt like the opening sequence to Sesame Street), is this groovy scarf that some muckety-muck was wearing on TV.



Isn't it cute? Sorta like a ripple blanket except long and narrow. And I like how it's striped but then there's a little surprise color at the end. Maybe I'll make one for next winter (tho in different colors). My one new scarf for the year. Because I have about 98273498 scarves already. Although this one is also in the running. But they're so different... Maybe I'll do both.

Yup, work on Tuesday was weird, hard to concentrate, and full of never-ending little thrills. Like hearing "President Obama" for the first time (and pretty much every time since). I feel like I'm living in some sort of alternate universe, like on 24 (except without all the carnage and torture, etc.). It still feels that otherworldly and surprising and unexpected. As if suddenly all your expectations were met. How often does that happen?

Plus, the man can bust a move. So if nothing else, we can be proud of him for that.



Is that a butt-bump he's doing there? God bless 'im.

As for my beloved friends and family who are perhaps not as excited about this as I am (not that you're not excited about a black president - we get it, you're not racist), I'm going to say this, and then we'll just agree to disagree and let it be. I hope, I really do, that you never feel half as alienated as I have at times during the past 6 or so years (the first two weren't that bad I guess). I hope you never feel as though a great portion of the country hates you and is out to take away your rights and those of your friends, and I hope your leader who you put your faith in never condescends to you and disappoints you at nearly every turn. All ribbing aside: it's a terrible feeling. Truly. So, I hope you never feel that. Because despite our opposing viewpoints, I do love you guys - you crazy, conservatives you! (Smooch!)

Oh, and before I go, I just want to say how excited I was to find out I won this book in the Holiday Kal-Cal this year! This was my first holidays to be a "crocheter/knitter" and I had lots of plans to make handmade gifts for friends and family. The Kal-Cal (that's knit-a-long-crochet-a-long for you yarn newbs) was a great way to keep track of those plans and share the results. I'll definitely do it again next year!

A few of the things I made for the holidays:



A crochet shawl for mom (pattern from here).



An LSU scarf for Mary Laura (though they had a crap-ass season, but there's always next year).



A washcloth for my sister-in-law (part of a set of four).

If you're on Ravelry (and you're into that sorta thing - that being all things yarn), I'm mandat on there. Making gifts by hand rocks. Speaking of, I better get back to that baby hat, ASAP. The babies, they just keep-a-comin'!

Celebriteh

So I was (discreetly) catching up on some blogs today at work and got such a pleasant surprise, if a bit late. A photo of CJ won an honorable mention spot in Erika's dog photo contest! Yeah, I know, CJ's a cat, but cats were allowed to enter too. And CJ was the only cat to make the cut. He rocks!! I was so proud.

There were soooo many cute entrants. She put together a slide show of all of them - it went on forever, just one adorable dog and puppy photo after another, with a kitty thrown in here and there. I really am excited that my boy was in that top tier. What a bad ass. He's being very modest about it, of course. He gets some Greenies tonight fo sho.

Oh, and here's the picture. I didn't have to think twice of which one to send. I love this photo of him.



So one thing I'll say about Erika, other than that I love her blog, is that she's a huge proponent of adopting rescue/shelter animals, as am I. In fact, I recently bought this stamp to just put on the back of whatever's going into the mail these days.



It's from my new favorite etsy stamp store. You know me and the stamps. RubberHedgehog's area of expertise is animals. (They've also got a non-etsy store.) So of course you know what kind of stamp I was looking for that brought me to their shop. Uh huh, hello Christmas cards!!



I'd been trying to find a polar bear stamp and knew this one was it. Also purchased, for my sweet 7-year-old niece, is this adorable bookplate stamp.



It's going into her Christmas present, along with some Ramona books. I hope she loves them as much as I did. I also bought a hot pink ink pad for her. Nothing but the best for my pretty girl.

One last tidbit here before I go - what can you say about this photo? What can you not say? Just look at them.



1. I love the dress. Poor Laura's there in this frumpy brown thing and there's Michelle, a vision in perfectly tailored red. FYI it was made by her go-to girl, Chicago designer Maria Pinto.
2. This image says volumes about the years to come, doesn't it? The Obamas are just so young and modern and elegant and fresh and everything that the weary Bushes are not. Change is good. Change is so good.

Sappy much?

It was while watching this video this afternoon that it finally clicked. This could really happen.



I do try to not linger too much on politics here. Except for Palin and her polar bear issues. Because really, that's wrong. But all that aside. All of it. Realizing that someone might become president that you would be proud of - and I mean really, truly proud of - well, it's quite a revelation when you get that feeling for the first time. For many people of my generation and younger (define that how you will - I'm 28), this is probably a first for them too.

Suddenly you don't give a crap about what state the economy is in. You don't give a crap about the nuances of the issues. Or about the fact that you're unemployed in a recession. Someone you believe in, who you trust, might become president? I don't know. Maybe it's just been a really long eight years, but, I mean, I started to cry. What a baby.

I know everyone who's reading this is planning to vote, so I won't even remind you to do so. But really though. Please vote. I know you will. And think about the future of this country when you do. All things are possible when people have hope. Okay, now I'm even making myself nauseous. What's next.

One of my favorite etsy shops is having a sale, but the shirt I really want is full price on their main site.



This would help to make my life complete. But you know I'm not much of a fan of squirrels. They dig up the potted plants on my balcony and just wreak general havoc. But maybe if one could be trained to play the snare drum.. well, we could work something out.



That would look good on a onesie too, right? Yeah, they do that.



They put this one on shirts and onesies too. Love it.



Write it down here.



This little phone makes me happy. His face kinda reminds me of Meatwad and his little snaggletooth. (And if you get that reference, you are cooler than I thought.) Anyway, send this card to someone you're missing lately.

Okay, off to go, well, get some work done. That was the plan for the afternoon but instead I've been getting sappy over videos and hand-washing some new yarn developments. And oh yeah, blogging. Total time-sucker.

Daaaaang

"The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, pushing the job troubles of American workers onto the political stage as the presidential campaign enters its final eight weeks.

So far, 605,000 jobs have disappeared since the start of the year, with employers slashing 84,000 jobs in August alone, the Labor Department reported on Friday. And even Americans who are still employed are facing tough times.

Raises have not kept up with the rising cost of living, putting more pressure on workers as high gasoline and food prices curtail their spending power."
-Jobless Report Becomes an Issue on the Campaign Trail, The New York Times, 9/5/08

I guess this makes me feel better. I'm not sure. It's always nice when a whole bunch of people can sympathize with what you're going through. Although I sorta already knew that. Since early July, I've personally known of three other people (besides myself) getting laid off. Plus did I mention that everyone at my former workplace had to take a paycut? As if we were rolling in it to start with.

"Economic downturns are almost always bad for the incumbent party."

Man, sucks to be you Sen. McCain. It's a hell of a year to run as a republican. Good luck and stuff. PS - Gov. Palin, America raises good people in big towns too. Snap.



How did I miss this? Oh the agony. It would have been such a nice pick-me-up. I will watch her store for more. Maybe she will make another one? That would be swell.

If polar bears played football...

This morning at 9 am, I dragged my butt out of bed, pillow in tow, and migrated to the couch in the living room. Then for the next two hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness while listening to the sweet sounds of Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, and Chris Fowler. That's right, it was time for College GameDay, because this weekend was the start of the college football season.



Many of you who know me already know this, but I am a college football fiend. I could do without pro football, I'm not one for basketball, and baseball's alright. But I go nuts over the college football.

Of course this Saturday morning ritual was a lot easier in New York, where I didn't have to drag my butt out of bed until 10 am to see GameDay. AND, I had DVR back then, so if I overslept, no big whoop. But now it's 9 am or bust. And I had to do it because for me, Saturdays in the fall are sacred. First, I gotta watch GameDay. And then I gotta decide what games I want to watch. If I go out that evening, I often try to position myself so that I can see the TVs in the bar. Then when I get home, I watch SportCenter, often while drunk. If I don't need to go anywhere, I can easily watch college football for hours, shifting from game to game. Usually CJ and I do this while spooning on the sofa. Speaking of CJ, he's doing much better. Thanks for your well wishes. He's a good boy.



I'd still be watching football right now, whilst knitting, except that I made the grave error of cycling through the channel guide while my mom was present. She spotted a romantic movie on the Hallmark Channel and had a fit. And since tomorrow is her birthday, and since she is leaving on Wednesday for two years in Europe where she will have no Hallmark Channel, and - oh yeah - since it is through her generosity that I even have cable right now, I gave up the battle and came in here to blog. I'm not sure what the movie is but it has Lisa Hartman Black and Rue McClanahan in it, and this has made her exceedingly happy.

Which is just as well, as there's something more pressing that I want to address. Did you know that Sarah Palin hates polar bears?? She does. Or rather, she loves oil more than she loves polar bears. Hrm. Apparently, back in January, she wrote this piece for the NYTimes about how she doesn't think the bears should be listed in the Endangered Species Act. They get listed anyway, and she sues. Why pitch such a hissy about cuddly bears being listed as endangered?? What did they ever do to her?



Because it would severely interfere with plans to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Which she is all for doing. WTF? On top of that, the Anchorage Daily News found out that the state's own biologists disagreed with her, even though she claimed that the state's researchers backed her up. Um, no Governor Palin. And it wasn't like I was going to vote for your ticket anyway, but you mess with the P.B.s and you are dead to me.

Well, speaking of politics, after swooning over Obama's speech on Thursday evening, I flipped over to Comedy Central and saw this genius bit on The Daily Show. I heart Jon Stewart. But you probably figured that out by now.