Monday, August 22, 2011

Good Monday morning to you all. 

I was texting Emily last night and asked how her weekend had gone.  She said "boring but productive".  Seems like a lot of that was going around. 

We had a "boring" weekend and I was even fairly productive.  The weather was so humid that any kind of movement caused copious amounts of sweating.  Friday we hung out at the bookstore and looked at magazines.  As I get older, I am finding that I feel less and less like buying magazines.  It has to have several things in it that I find attractive for me to put out my money.  And that's happening less and less.  Pk perused the computer books (and man, those are big and heavy!)

One of the stated reasons for buying his ipad was that he wouldn't have to carry the large, heavy books back and forth to work.  He bought a few computer ebooks and will buy a few more as time goes on to replace the big clunky ones with electronic ones.  Saves his back.

Saturday, we did the housekeeping chores.  He edged the lawn in preparation to mow but the rain came back and he didn't get the chance.  I cleaned and did the laundry and knit.  Remember this swatch?  It's the silk/alpaca blend In Dreams shawl kal.  Most of the people have finished but I had some trouble keeping my inc3 and my pfb in order and my stitch count was off.  I finally ripped back to where I knew it was correct and have been working on it steadily.

It's slow going.  I'm in a section with no beads and it still takes me 20-30 minutes a row.  I'm on row 203 with 256 (?) or so rows in total.  It feels wonderfully soft to work on and I love the slightly fuzzy look of the piece.  I am grateful for my Ott light since the color is dark enough that I wouldn't be able to work on it after dinner.  I spent part of Saturday and most of Sunday knitting on this.  It's hard to see much difference since the rows are so long.  And I haven't gotten to the final beaded section yet.

I also spent some time sorting out the blue and white socks.  I (mostly) finished one.  Well, I did finish it but didn't like how it looks and ripped out the top.  It's sitting on spare needles until I get the other one to that point and then I'll decide how to finish off the tops.  The second sock was not patterning like the first one and I discovered it was off by 2 stitches.  I ripped back to the beginning of the foot (they're toe up) and added two stitches and now they are both crazy vertical stripes.  Funny, how much difference two stitches can make.

I was perusing blogs this morning and Susan linked to an article that was published online regarding women as strong human beings.  The author seems we're all sinking into softness and there aren't any 'badass' women anymore.

I'm not sure Badass was a state of womanhood I aspired to.(I took an internet quiz-and you know accurate those are- that told me my spirit animal was a grizzly bear.  My family thinks this is hilarious and calls me the teddy bear).  I have always admired women for their strength.  The women who command the most respect are the ones who get up every morning and do what needs to be done and then go to bed and get up and do the same thing over the next day.  Without complaint.  Those are strong, and yes, badass women.  They take no shit, they take care of business, they run their own little worlds.

Do I admire women like Hillary Clinton?  Of course.  She's smart and strong and able to get things done.  But so is my neighbor. She's also strong and smart and able to get things done.  I don't think women are any less Strong than we ever were.  The writer thinks that because we blog about the small things in our lives (like KNITTING for instance) we are less than we were. 

Maybe because we are able to still see the small, comforting things we are actually better and stronger than we ever were.  I may never be Courtney Love (but who really wants to?) but I can still belt out Bat out of Hell with the best of them.  I will continue to notice the small things in my world and talk about them.  I will continue to post photos of my cat, my knitting, my family because these are the things that give me the strength to do what I need to every day. 

And I wear my tattoos and my body piercing with pride. Inside I am really a grizzly bear......

8 comments:

amy said...

Oh my gosh, we had such a busy weekend I'm exhausted today. Mostly good, but busy, and we still squeezed in cooking dinner both days and cleaning and cutting the grass, and whatever didn't get done I got up and did this morning, even though I was up at 2, 4, and 6 am thanks to my toddler.

I read that article. Tempest in a teapot, in my opinion. I don't feel the need to defend myself or my choices as so many seem to do, nor do I have the energy to get all affronted and tweet about it, either. I'm busy doing what needs to be done, as you say, day after day after day. On no sleep. ;)

Rose Red said...

Ha, I hope the author of that article thinks that bad publicity is better than no publicity!

Anonymous said...

that article was just so stupid. talk about sweeping generalisations. whats the point of feminism if not to let women be free (and valued) for whatever they want to be, regardless of stereotypes? people are just so DUMB sometimes! and it really is the small things in life that make it count. i love that about your blog. its tuesday here now, and not humid at all :)

Saren Johnson said...

Boring is good. I've tried to convince mt Eldest of that but she won't believe me.

roxie said...

I have had quite enough of interesting times, thanks. I really like boring.

As for "badass" women: I got all the "badass" you can handle, Grasshopper. I just don't need to whip it out and strut it on a daily basis.

Keep up with sharing the "small" pleasures, Donna. I LOVE them. These are the things that make me feel connected to you.

Yay for the KAL! You are SO good about ripping out and doing it right!

Kate said...

"...we women are content to ponder the petty things in life."
Just because we think and love the little things doesn't make us any 'weaker' than we ever have been. Anyone who has ever spent a night in a room with a single mosquito knows how strong and persevering a small thing can be.

Elizabeth McClung said...

I concur on your insightful and well written assessment of true 'badass' for women: getting what needs to be done, and doing it.

I want some ink, only finding a part of me that is a good location and the right icon, that is hard. Howe long did it take you to decide on your ink?

Bells said...

the funny thing about that article was that it was revealed that she's actually done a cooking blog where she demonstrated cupcakes! How badass is she now????

Your bead work looks so pretty and delicate. what a lovely thing to be doing!

Happy Sunday!  I am sitting here working on my sweater made with the cashmere yarn my husband gave me for my birthday last year. I’m further...