Knitta' Pleez

Death Became Him

2011-11-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Listening to Sia "Judge Me"

Day of the Dead, in Vodou this is one of the holy days. Ruled over by the Guedeh Family, people in the Vodou community have large fets on this night to honor those who have gone on, forged ahead, plunged headfirst into the Abysmal Waters and sank to the bottom. I have been thinking a lot about Death lately. What it means to die and, consequently, what it means to live. So many people have asked me about the Lwa but even the greenest of novices fall so in love, and yet become so confused about the Guedehs. How can a religion see Death as in the Vodou pantheon? How can Death wear a top hat and tails? How can Death fart next to you and bust out in a gut wrenching laughter at His own foulness? How can, conversely, He then stand in front of you and give you blessed nuggets of Truth from the Beyond?

I have explained this to myself as the slaves' ability to see past death. That It was, literally, a companion aboard the slave ships, that death, at times for them, was a friend, a well chosen route, than the horrors and tragedy that awaited them on Hispaniola. So, Death's grim face changed into something kinder. Something that would greet them, not with crooked scythe, but with a bottle of rum and a good cigar. Who wouldn't want to be taken from this world in that manner? Who wouldn't want to see the afterlife as something akin to a boisterous night on the town than some judgmental weighing out of sin against an ostrich feather, then thrown into damnation (yay) or heavenly bliss (meh) for eternity. In fact, heavenly damnation or fiery bliss are concepts that didn't make the transmutation when Christianity enforced itself upon Vodou. I believe that Death had something to do with it. Hell was on Earth for them. Thus, the afterlife had to be filled with frivolity. The Great Transitioner then lost His gruesomeness. Death became their Soul mate.

Just by coincidence, I have just finished reading (rereading) Piers Anthony's On a Pale Horse. If there ever was a book to read around this time of year, it's that one. Anthony takes your concept of Death and turns it on It's head. The Reaper becomes a protector, an ally, a refuge even when refuge isn't sought. At the same time, the character of Death is put in very interesting situations where morals and judgments are grey. It's in this grey area that the Incarnation of Death, and thus the reader, sheds their concepts of good and evil, right and wrong, left and right. That sometimes you have to do wrong to let a right happen, and that sometimes doing right opens the door for all the wrong things. The character of Death also understands that all life is not meant to be forever. That though His office can seem somber and grim, it is, none the less, a necessity for Life to continue. Fields need to be burnt of the old crop before a new seed can be planted and grown.

So, where does this leave us? Where does this leave our quest in the meaning of Life? Or, does it beg to question...what is the meaning of Death?

Are we all but Zombies?

2011-10-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

Listening to: 2AM Club "Let Me Down Easy"

I had a conversation with a coworker the other day that really got me thinking. He had noticed that zombies has become the new fad in the media, what with shows like The Walking Dead and such which has gained all but a cult following. Immediately my mind started ticking away at this. Why would people be so attracted to flesh eating, decrepit, slimy, disgusted, and rotting reanimated corpses shuffling about seeking their next mouthful of warm human brains? Humans have an instinctual fear of the dead and all the pathogens and diseases they carry. We look on with inborn horror at the husks of what used to be our loved ones laying rigidly in their steel coffins whilst a man/woman of Holy reassures us that their Spirit, the flicker of the Divine, that Spark of Animation has surely left, returned to the Source to be recycled, reprocessed, reformulated into something new. So, why? Why pay hard earned money to see fictional characters, played by undervalued extras, gnaw and gnash at the damsel in distress? Is it just a need for an quick adrenaline fix? Or does this reach a part of us yet undiscovered?

The Zombi came from Haitian Vodou, and then from Africa in it's purest form. The Haitians believed that to make a Zombi an evil magician steals and enslaves one's soul, thus leaving the body without will. The Zombi then does the magician's bidding, usually working fields as free labor. But, in the absence of such beliefs, how could Americans take on this symbol, if in fact it was a symbol? My mind whirled with the idea that the Zombi has become an unconscious symbol that's left it's dark mark on our waking minds. Some dark shadow that's crept up behind us, and though we can glimpse it in our side vision, we've lost our fear of it, our disgust.

Then, it hit me: the Zombie has not become a symbol but was always a symbol. I'm sure that at one point it has taken on different fears, but what really matters is now. In the 1920's when adventurers went to Haiti and brought back stories of zombies, Americans equated these soulless monsters to drug addicts. The goody-two-shoes that's stumbled down the wrong path and slipped into the trenches of the wretched cannabis, or, God forbid, alcohol...NOT BOOZE!!!! Fast forward almost a century later and what is the social commentary? Consumerism? Mindless, ravenous beasts greedily gulping down whatever is living and real? This could certainly be a point, Americans are notorious for being greedy little buggers who'll sell their own grandmothers for a dollar. I certainly know many people who'll much rather buy a new pair of shoes than buy diapers for their children, or pay their rent.

But, as I started back to work I began thinking about the many conversations with coworkers I've had over the two years working there. How petrified I've been at how ill-equipped these people were. Now, I certainly don't want it to sound like I'm passing judgement (but hell it's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to) but it just seams like in an age when technology is getting smarter and smarter, humans are getting dumber and dumber. Why think, when something can think for you? Why calculate, when there's an app for that? Where is our next Einstein? To think that the pyramids were built by people who barely understood the wheel, present day man struggles with the concept of proper parenting and shelter. So, has stupidity become the new substance? Has idiocracy become the new designer drug not snorted, ingested or shot into ones veins, but rather silently let slip away with your son's or daughter's test scores? Sure, the youth can text 36 words a minute while driving, but can they understand art? Are they reading Jane Eyre on their iPhones? No, I don't think so. Or, will we become like the mythical folk of Battlestar Galactica who's creation, cybernetics with consciousnesses, become to know what is better for us than we do? And, if being a zombie is in fact a commentary on our social intelligence, where will you stand? Will you be in the herd of stumbling troop, drooling for human meat, or will you be the live ones, desperately trying to stay that way?

Unchanging Change

2011-04-08T17:34:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Liquid Diamonds by Tori Amos

I was sitting at a bar the other night, surrounded by friends, fags and lesbians and the thought occurred to me, I haven't changed at ALL since High School! It was so astounding that I decided to make a facebook post about it, I don't know if anyone actually 'liked' it. In between the rousing games of 'you're it', a game my friends and I play where we grab each other's privates, a way, most probably, to release sexual frustration, or to cop a quick feel, I looked around the bar. Dressed to the hilt I saw people cool calm and composed and scenes from High School flashed before my eyes. Like something out of Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bee's and Wannabes, I started categorizing groups of people. There are the jocks, the power tops, the crackheads, the pervs, etc etc etc. Then, my gaze landed on my motley crew. That's when the realization really hit me, that I hadn't changed at all since high school.

Rewind some eleven years or so to me in high school. I always was different. I didn't fit neatly into any group, nor did it glide between groups. I listened to all different kinds of music and was always the class clown. This, I think, confused people as to who I really was. In a time when people defined themselves by the company they kept, I defined myself by the things I did, or didn't do, and always kept friends dear to me that did exactly that. During lunch, while everyone cut their eyes to see the crowd's comings and goings, hypersensitive to every move that was made, praying to teenage gods that nothing would be 'weird' or 'stupid' or 'gay', so scared to put a foot out of place or be branded the social pariah, I was always the one throwing my head back and laughing. When everyone was stoic and silent during their embarrassing moments, I always had the church giggles.

Flash forward to today: "You dance like a fish out of water," my friend Kenny told me Tuesday night. My answer was a shrug. I was having fun, I dance like I don't give a damn, because I don't. I go out to have fun, whether intoxicated or not. Lacking grace or poise I can never be one of the those ethereal elfin folk you often see, a halo of gold and glitter covering them, immaculately dressed and standing elegantly against the bar. I carry myself like myself. If I trip and fall, I'll be the first one to kill themselves laughing. If my friends trip and fall, I'll be the first one to kill themselves laughing. But, what does that make me? Where do I fit in the societal grand scheme? What World Game do I play in? On a trip back from Gulfshores my friends and I started playing a game where we tried to figure out what kind of animal each other was. In amongst, "You're defiantly a cat-person," or, "Look at her, she's a bird, like a strange bird, a phoenix maybe," I tentatively asked a burning question, "So, what am I?" Suddenly, the car went silent and all eyes stared at me, some looks were as if my friends for years were seeing me for the first time, and their answer: "I don't know Gary, you're a weird one!" It was Saumya who finally said, "You're like a selkie Gary." I'm a shape shifter, changing and turning, twisting and twirling. Is this what I have instead of grace? Was I granted the ability to change, to shift instead of the gift of gab or poise? And, is this a better gift to have indeed?

Worship the Music?

2011-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

Listening to Mother by Tori Amos

I was driving to work the other day listening to a mix CD a friend of mine made for me. On this CD was a clusterfuck of different genres of music, from rap to rock, pop to '80s dance and something hit me as the dial switched over to track 9, which so happened to be Britney Spears' new single 'Hold it Against Me'. Despite the fact that it boasts one of THE lamest pickup lines ever known the man, the lyrics in this song are childish, lacking of imagination or articulation, even for Ms. Spears. As my brain mulled over what the song lacked, my finger instinctively hit the replay button. I listened to it another three more times before I realized that I was totally infatuated by this song. I found that the dubstep electronic background was hypnotic! Transporting me back to my raver days, trancing out in front of a strobe light, inhaling massive amounts of Vicks. Then, thinking of Britney my mind quickly went into the subject I love to think of most, Archetypes.

But, how? How could this blond girl, now a misguided woman, fit into Archetypes? My brain bounced this notion around for a bit. How could this country bumkin possibly be fitting into the grander scheme of things? How could she be slotted into the collected subconscious? On the third replay of the song I had finally had my understanding. Britney Spears fits perfectly into the Innocent Archetype! Her adolescent voice a siren song to other Innocents, like Venus/Aphrodite emerging from the froth of the Sea, Erzulie Freyda Dahomey sitting on a fluffed ottoman, or Dorothy in Wizard of Oz, they all proclaim a virginal quality, unsoiled and untainted by the World. It fit so perfectly! How hadn't I see it before?!

Walking into work with this new puzzle piece, I started looking at all the great musicians and trying to plug them with their Archetypal associations. Elvis easily fit into the Hero Archetype. Matching him with the greats like King Arthur, Hercules, or, on another note, the strong Ogou. While the great Jim Morrison was the Devil Archetype, a dark figured Hades traversing the Underworld, a Dionysian Aghora, drunk on Gnosis, Guedeh, the god of Death, spilling onto the floor the sacred and secular. While chosen women who stand for themselves, the Temptresses; singers like Lady Gaga and Tori Amos who have always tread a new path, yes readers, I did just lump Lady Gaga with Tori Amos, mirror the strong witches like Circe, Cleopatra, Ezili Dantor.

As archetypes are the fundamentals of the societal psyches, could we not see this? Could we really miss this billboard? Our lives revolve around music. We listen to it 90% of the day, from the radio in our cars, to the mood music connected with our favorite movie scenes, to Their last ditch effort to get our attention by implanting earworms. Have we become so disconnect from our musical primal beginnings? Or, do we still understand the behind the scenes markings on the wall every CD, mp3, or jpeg we purchase or pirate comes with? Ultimately, can we loose our subconscious archetypes, or, are they forever with us?

Should I stay, or sould I, go?

2010-09-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Shadow People by Dr. Dog

Where did all the Shadow People go? Where did all the Shadow People go?

Lately, some pretty big decisions have been rearing their ugly heads my way. My brother is in the process of divorcing his wife, which, usually, is a defeat, a social stigma that means that either you, or your partner, or the both of you combined, couldn't cut it being together. This makes me think back on the old pagans that married only for a year and a day, and put into their vows, "Until the love ends," and not the Christian, "Until death do us part." But, for my brother, this was an accomplishment. Like St. George, he took on the DragonLady, the jury is still out yet on whether she is slain or only wounded. Now that she's out of his house, he's asked me and our mom to come back. To settle back in to our old rooms, our old routines. On one of my mom and I's many talks about this, each time I think about it shivers run down my spine. There is so much anger, hostility, curses, evil lurking in the darkened spaces of that house. Each time I think about going back there I think about how many hours I spent sequestered in my room. I think about how many flaming hoops I had to jump through just to appease her, to satiate her blood thirst for another day.
         What hurts more, is how out of character this was for me. I've always been the type that could get up and leave without looking back. How friends could come and go in my life and I would be ok with it. How I prided myself on having an allergy to kissing ass, but a pension for kicking ass. I would daydream about getting in my car and driving, leaving all my obligations behind, watching them shrink in my rear view mirror. I would fantasise about how it would feel like to be a moderday Kerouac, or Whitmann, traveling along roads that are barely tread, writing about the things I saw and did. I would dream that the guilt of abandonment I would feel would be overpowered by the sense of accomplishment I would have for questing for truth.
           As you can see, dear reader, that never happened. Instead, I spent a year of my life, water-tortured till I was numb. Waiting for my brother to take up his sword, to fight against the DragonLady, but all he could do was deflect her fire blasts till, quietly, I left. So, should I stay, in my little apartment, where I have no tv, borrowing someones wireless, but reasonably happy and unimaginably broke, or go back to his house where the amenities are all provided and I could actually save money, but be haunted with her evil ghost? Damn choices!
       Consequently, I've found a great pattern to knit! I'm waiting till I get paid to buy the yarn for and start it! It makes me so excited!

Pheonixxx Returned!

2010-09-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

Listening to: DZL by TV on the Radio

Hold, hold, hold dear readers (if indeed you are still here) or any helpless blog wanderers, I have returned to the world of blogging! For months now I have been saying that I was going to start again, but only now have I actually picked it back up. I am thinking, though, that even though I still love knit, that I would expand my blogging horizons to my life in general? Well, ready or not, here goes:

Change, what a concept. At every time and moment in our lives, we are changing. I am not the same person I was two years ago, two months ago, two days ago, or two seconds ago. So many people rally against it, grasping at the effervescentness of consistency, only to be continually let down. The concept of transformation has been present throughout the millenea, studied and worshiped. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, but now that I am a man, I put away childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). The idea of change and transformation has been so pivotal in humanity that we have given gods and goddesses to watch over them.

My own personal change can be examplified by the band playing over the crude speakers of my less than adequate laptop. Almost a year ago I stood at the New Orleans Voodoofest, looking at a shaggy group of twentysomethings jig and contort themselves whilst producing, at the time what they thought was music. I looked on TV on the Radio as something odd, a know-nothing talentless band that was only playing to fill time for the audience who were obviously waiting to see Nine Inch Nails. I remember, as my foot now taps out the beats, being so critical of their music and sound that I didn't even give them the courtesy clap one always hears drumming out the death knell to a band's existence. But now, reexamining their odd sound, I start to think that I may have missed something there. Now, listening to their post-punk soul rhythms, I think that maybe, just maybe, they had given a better performance than Trent had.

This band also starts me thinking about who stood next to me at Voodoofest, my friend Theresa. This is something else that's changed in my life. She was like a twin to me, a blond haired busty blond that filled a hole that existed, and still exists. But, because of difficulties, we spent a couple months on bad terms, and even now rarely talk. There are times when something happens to me and I almost have to catch myself calling her to tell her about it.

My financial life has changed, and changed, and changed again. My love life has changed and changed and changed. Change can be good, it can clear the way for new, sometimes, but not always better. A great and wonderful Tarot card reader told me that the past year for me has been exemplified by the card The Wheel of Fortune. Like a roulette wheel, one never knows which number it's going to land on, will it score big for you, will you loose all your chips?

So, as I sit on my bed, in the fourth room I've ever called my own, and look at these rented walls, I can't help but think: What will change for me next?

Sept kout kouto, set kout pwenyad

2008-07-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here is my finished product, my lovely dangerous woman, my drapo the Ezili Danto. Ezili Danto is the Kali of the Vodou pantheon. She loves knives and daggers and blood and gore. She is the deadly woman who lead the fourteen year revolution against the French by the black, Haitian slaves. But, much like Kali, that which is gruesome, is also tender and gentle. This idea is strange to people. When you see images of Kali, she is blood engorged, whirling knives and nooses from each of Her many arms, a necklace full of skulls and a skirt made from arms. But, when you understand that the severed heads are our egos, and the skirt of arms are our desires; the knives and nooses are the instruments that She conducts her business, to bring a death and destruction to our lower selves, and elevating our Higher Selves. Well, then you start looking at Kali like a Mother, a caring Mother that only wants us to get our best, getting back with the Atman, the Supreme Self. The same goes with Danto. She is fierce and strong, She has to be to protect you from your enemies. She is blood hungry and enraged, She has to be to defend you from all forms of evil. I chose to depict Danto as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Danto, in Her Catholic Iconography, is seen as any black Madonna, which have always been known as Earth Goddess masquerading as the Virgin Mother. Guadalupe, which may have really been coatlaxopeuh, which is pronounced "quatlasupe" and which means She who stamps out the Serpent, is also the Mother of Revelation. When giving Her message to Juan Diago, She taught him perseverance by repeatedly telling him to go to the Bishop and proclaim Her presence. During the Mexican American Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s their flags were emblazoned with Guadalupe's image, demanding respect and authority. What better image could be better than Guadalupe for my drapo? Because of this flag, I have been infatuated, to the point of obsessed, with the image of Guadalupe. Her beauty and strength has inspired me in so many ways. She has also gotten me to understand the symbolism connected to the Woman in the Book of Revelation 12:1, clothed in the Sun with the Moon at Her feet. Which, I can also see the connection between this Evian Mother, with the Great Whore who comes up later in Revelation Chapter 17-18. The Great Whore, or Scarlet Woman by Alister Crowley's standards, is the Great Mother, She who does not turn anyone down, who brings enlightenment to All. My mind is reeling with the possibilities and connections! Ah, now I must make some smaller flags for an art show/fundraiser. No time to knit, flags are calling me. :)~

You should never be stagnant, you should be free...

2008-07-12T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been promising y'all a picture of my new flag, my next act of creation. This is after about three weeks work and I think that it's coming along really well. I LOVE the image of the Sacred Heart and was really excited to put them in my flag. Though they don't quite look like hearts. Ma told me they kind of look like strawberries, but I can deal with that too. Hopefully the image of Guadalupe a friend in NC sent me will show up soon so I can stitch it in and bead around it. Now, I have to start looking for background fabric. I was in JoAnn's today and they had this plaid fabric that looked like little squares sewn together that I was considering, but it didn't really leap out at me so I'll have to wait till something does. I'm so excited that I can now makes big flags without it taking me years and years to do so. Maybe this will be my meal ticket to couche next year. I have also been considering talking to the Wal-Beast store manager about putting me in the managerial training program. The thought really makes me bite my nails. Mariel told me that I should at least test it and see if the Universe will even let me do this. :)~ It will mean a bit of a pay raise, but the problem is that I live less than eight blocks away from where I work, and as a manager, they would send me wherever they need me, whether it be down the street, or forty minutes away. That concept really doesn't sound good to me. I was a commuter once for work, I hated it. And, with the economy and gas prices, I don't really know if I could commute. I wish the Universe would just send me something in the mail that says, "You are supposed to be a ___" and let me get it over with. I would love to have fame, wealth, and all that glitz and glamors according to my art, but I just don't know if that's going to happen right now. Sigh, what the hell am I going to do? :)~

I'm officially now an artist!

2008-07-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since my last post, but I have been so busy. I tried to post a while back, but then Mariel came in to town and I spent four days of fun with her and her family and just never got around to posting anything. Well, as you can see by the picture posted up top, my Guedeh flag is done! I am so pleased by it! And, not only did I finish it, but three days later sold it! Yes, this is the second flag that has brought me money. I was telling Ayizan that I believe this officially makes me an artist. :)~ I have already started another flag, to Erzulie, who is the Divine Feminine in Vodou. She is everything, and, so say, every Woman. I will post unfinished pics soon. What is so funny about me selling my flag, the guy who I sold it to, for only twenty-five dollars less than what I originally wanted, who is a friend of Bloody Mary, works at a funeral home! When he told me that I could ship it to his work, a funeral home, something just clicked. It just seemed right to send it to him. So, now that his check has cleared, begrudgingly, I have packed it up and will ship it out tomorrow. :(~ In between the whole fiasco of finishing the flag and starting a new one, I taught myself, though it's not a hard talent if you know how to crochet, to filet crochet. For my first attempt I chose a pattern that I knew I would want to finish, which is this fleur-de-lis bread cloth pattern. I ended up sending out to Mariel and her family, just a little piece of home to send up to the wilderness of NC. :)~ Other news is that I have to go to New Orleans traffic court tomorrow. :(~ :(~ I got pulled over on Friday the 13th, of all days, and was issued a ticket for expired...everything. Break tag, registration, and licence plate. I was freaked out by the licence plate thing that I didn't believe the cop. I jumped out my car, much to the surprise of the cop, who had his hand on his gun, and demanded to be shown that licence plates can indeed expire. Well, they can, for all you unknowing citizens out there. Luckily, the guys check cleared for the flag and I have the money to pay for this crap, or else they would just have to get in line with the other bill collectors. :)~ I also read an interesting article in today's paper about hypermiling. Now I don't really know a lot about it and, once I get the time, I am totally going to research it further, but it's supposed to help you save money on gas by running your car more efficiently. Some tips can be found HERE. But, for now, I am totally content. Sitting in the dark, with my screen to illuminate me, listening to the rhythmic call of the cicadas outside my room. What more could one want?

When a mambo needs a ride...I am there.

2008-06-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

UPDATE! Ten days after my last post, please see picture posted previously, I have finished my flag! OK, well, I've only finished the beading part, but still. All I have to do now is sew on the fabric backing, then it will totally be finished. How exciting is that?! That is the quickest I have EVER made a flag. At last, my baby is done. I have to say though, that some pretty strange things have happened to me while I made this flag. Guedeh, the Lwa/Spirit of Death and Regeneration in Vodou, is always laughing. He holds a bottle of rum between His legs and tells people the secrets of life, wrapped up in a dirty joke. I guess Death turns into a partier when you live so close to It, being a slave in Saint Dominique. Guedeh loves children, and always watches out for them. He is brutal, and loving. His hugs are deep, and drowning. He is not the Grim Reaper of popular mentality, lugging around a scythe pointing out it's bony finger at who would be next. Death in Vodou is rich and revelrous. His laughs are as deep as a well and He is as randy and raunchy as one could take. He loves cigars and strong rum, laced with peppers. While I made this flag I've helped in this past Couche, had people come up to me randomly and tell me that their son has died, had a friend call me and say that their grandfather has passed away, and those are just some of the most common occurrences that has happened to me. And the dreams, dreams that I was Death's son, something that reminds me of something from Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality Series. But, I'm sure that some people would find than boring. :)~ Anyway, I'm planning on sewing the back on my flag tomorrow and taking pictures. I want to sell it as quickly as possible, everyone cross their fingers for me.

Running makes me feel taller.

2008-06-07T00:32:00.000-07:00

Oh my diligent readers, all five of you, I've been a busy little bee on my flag. With every new sequin sewn on it I fall more and more in love with this flag! This has got to be one of the best, and most intricate of flags I've ever made. I've been working on it like a mad dog because at the end of this month, Mariel and her family, plus Demeter and her new baby, are coming down on there vacations and I know that I'm not going to be able to really work on it. While Ms. E was here she eyed it up tempestuously, making me think that she would make an offer on it's purchase, but she left, without saying a word on the matter. I ended up working on it for three hours today, then got up and went to the gym for a run. While I was running, and realizing that I'm not as out of shape as I was months ago when I first joined, I was struck with the idea that running really relaxes me. Strange, I know. How can pounding your way on a treadmill, making you loose breath, sweating unstoppably, and making you flush make you feel better? I have yet to get my 'runner's high' that They say is supposed to happen, but I feel so much better nonetheless. Well, my dearest one, that's all that I have have for you. I just wanted to show you my good work, my love and dedication for the past couple weeks. My back is killing me though, sitting on the floor with a thin pillow underneath me, working on my flag. If anyone knows any ergonomic tips to help my back while beading, let me know.

Realization of my up-coming birthday

2008-06-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Kristen, aka Learner's Per-Knit, tagged me for a meme, so, being the good person that I am, I have decided to fill it out. Here goes:

The rules of the game: each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? What was I doing in 1998? I had just passed my Junior year and going into my Sophomore year in High School. By then I had passed the goth phase, trading in my long purple ringlets for deep red ones, and delving, again, into my hippie prior-life. Hungry for books, I had a four-a-week habit. This was also the summer after my dad passed away.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
Well, considering it's nine at night right now, the only thing that I had/have on my agenda is: work on my flag, go to work, and work on my flag again once off of work. I've been a mad dog after the completion of my flag. My goal is to have it done by the time Mariel and her family come down at the end of the month. I don't know if that's going to happen. I'm debating taking off work tomorrow, I think I've pulled a muscle in my back, working on my flag, and it would really give me some needed time putting bead to fabric. :)~

3. Snacks I enjoy: mmmm, you're talking about food. :)~ I'm REALLY into salty right now. So I would have to say that pretzels are high on my list.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: hahahaha, first, I would pay off all my bills. Secondly, I would fix up our house, then buy some rental properties around St. Bernard and New Orleans. Everything else would be lanyiappe. :)~

5. Places I have lived: From birth to four years old, I lived in Honduras. From then on I've lived in Chalmette. Although I've moved two or three times, thanks to Katrina, it's always been in Chalmette. I'm not counting the two months in Florida during the Hurrication, that was not really living.

6. Jobs I’ve had:
Student Library Clerk- at Nunez Community College. I loved that job, coming in morning drunk and passing out in the stacks upstairs. Oh, the love of those times. I ended up getting all of my friends jobs there, so it was like hanging out with my friends twenty-four-seven.
PCS/Respite Worker- two years of my life I took care of a 26 year old autistic person. He really became like a brother to me, unfortunately, his mother and I butted heads constantly. Luckily, the storm took care of my two weeks notice. :)~
Walgreen's Bitch- now I work for the Wal-Beast, enslaved by it's white vests, and forever lured in by it's poisonous honey of excellent health care and amazing profit sharing.

7. Peeps I want to know more about: Krewe of Ewe, Kaity Knits...A Lot, Knit Happens, Bohemian Knitter Chic.

But I thought you spoke French?

2008-06-02T21:08:00.000-07:00

With everything going on right now, I glad that I have enough time to type this up. These past two weeks have been a whirlwind, screaming and mad, and I'm sure that there are cows thrust hither tither. About a week ago our House, La Source Ancienne, hosted a couche, which is our religions rituals of initiation. Couche means to be put to bed, and that's exactly what is done. The initiates are isolated, shut off from time and reality, kept to themselves, only allowed to speak when spoken to and go through the grueling ordeals thrust upon them. The week before that, I was busy tring to make as many hours at work as possible, knowing that Ms. E would be coming down for the last leg of the Couche and I wanted to take some days off to spend time with her. Having gone through couche once before I was allowed to witness the parts of the rituals that the public does not get to see. I got to peek into the djevo, the place of isolation, and look at the little hounsi's, curled up and begging to be let out. "What time is it?" One asked me. "Why should I tell you? You're not supposed to know, what would you want to know?" I replied. Papa Edgar, our House's Papa, came from Haiti to watch over the initiations. Having him around is such an honor. His air is amazing. He's at least 6'5" and a deep mahogany color, but always greets you with a hug, or at least the most inviting 'allo he can muster. Couche ended up going off without a hitch. I got to hang around with some people who I couldn't get to hang out with from last year, and break down some barriers that were put on by others. My only wish, at the beginning, was that I was not in the djevo. That I wasn't going through the ordeals and trials these six were going through. But, after a couple of days, much like last year, I quickly realized that I wouldn't have liked this batch, that they were, indeed, not the ones I would make my final initiation with. But, with the help of Sheryl, aka KnitIdiot, who gave me a wonderful budget, next couche will be my turn, my slingshot into being an Houngon. Houngon is what they call the Priests of Vodou. Then, as if the week had not been crazy enough, Ms. E's plane ended up having difficulties. Instead of tring to tell a story that isn't mine, go read her myspace blog HERE. Other than that, I haven't really been knitting, which is bad because there is a swap I should be knitting for. But, even though I've found the patterns that I want to make, and know that it wouldn't take me long to make them, I can't pull myself from my flag. I've gone so far with it in just the past couple of days and, honestly, debate calling in sick everyday just to work on it. To the wee hours of the morning I work, one sequin, one bead, one needle, over and over. Hopefully I will be able to sell it as quickly as I sold the Azaka one. Well, my abused and neglected readers, I must go, I feel like I should go jogging a little before bedtime. I invite everyone to go to my MySpace, the link is to the right of your screen, and check out the other pics I took for Couche and my couple of days with Ms. E. Till the next time, adeiu.

All Dwarves come from Narnia!

2008-05-19T20:17:00.000-07:00

Kora, Nemisis, and I went out to see Prince Caspian last night. First off, if you have not seen this movie, GO SEE IT! It was amazing, and only a little bit off from the book. But, I thought that the theme of the good, returning to the old religion, was strongly carried out cinematically. I always try to see some crazy good knitted objects, but there were none that I could pick out. If you find any, my movie going readers, let me know, I have a friendly wager on this, and all the better if you have a picture proof to go along with it. Kora, who has been 'between jobs' since coming back from her sojourn had no money, so I decided to treat her. And, unlike most of my dates, as few and far between as they may be, I didn't expect anything afterwards. :)~ But I loved watching the metally clad Telmarine army, dressed like conquistadors, and wonder how Lewis, much like Tolkien, was conveying that the usurping of the land, the attempts of humans to slurp the last bits of Soul this planet has left like a tasty bit of smoothie at the bottom of a cup, is wrong in every way. Our trees have stopped dancing and the voices our consciences gives to the animals we kill have been silenced. I did love, though, that Reepicheep was voiced by Eddie Izzard, who is one of my favorite comedians and now stars in The Riches. And, playing Trumpkin was Peter Dinkledge, who played in one of my favorite independent films, The Station Agent. As I sat there, next to Kora, eating our large popcorn, I couldn't help but wonder what the other people were thinking about the apparent Goddess visual metaphors flashing in technicolor across the screen. Would they only think that it was cooked up by the director to convey some eco-friendly agenda? Seeing this movie makes me want the next one to come out, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Oh, what the movies would do to that one? I also thought that the evident Christian symbolism of Aslan's character throughout the books married well with the 'old religion' that prevails throughout the books. Yes, Aslan is Christ. Sorry for the spoiler. But, if you like literature, go check it out, I dare you.

The New Tale of the Country Mouse

2008-05-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

One could only guess what I would pick this picture, but as you read on it will make sense to you. Last night was the ceremony for Nan Nan Buluku, Grandmother to the Marasa and giver of the World. Everything went fine, She came, the drumming was excellent, there were visitors, the singing was, at times, on cue. Afterwards, I leave early, wanting to get home to watch the History Channel's 'History of God', when I find out that I have a flat. Now, anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I don't know how to do manual things. Quantum Physics, I can handle, changing a tire is beyond me. Plus, being the baby is a family of men has trained me to ask someone else to do my dirty work. (I know, this is not good for my worldly knowledge, but it works when I need it.) Somehow, I decide that I am not going to call in the infeltry known as my brothers, but handle this myself. I walk back into the peristyle and tell the group that I have a flat and need a jack, and maybe a hand. Consequently, I got two surrogate brothers in the form of Agwe and Nibo, Nemisis came for fun. while Agwe jacked my poor little car up, Nibo busily took off the lug bolts. I stood, observing. Suddenly, a flash came to me of A Christmas Story where Ralphie is helping his father change a tire and utters the F--- word. So overcome by this bit of regalia I wanted to throw the lug bolts into the air and see them glitter in the streetlight, but quickly opted against it. :)~ Sadly, when we put my spare onto my car, we found that it was ALSO flat! But, less flat than my previous flat. So, hoping that I would make it to the nearest gas station in time to put air in my tire, I set off. Going five miles an hour down St. Claude I rolled along. When, suddenly, the wobble in my car turned into a hard shake and I started to smell rubber burning. I pulled off to the side of the road, on the corner of Spain and St. Claude, anyone who's been in that neighborhood knows what kind it is, and found that my almost flat had turned into a total flat that removed my tire almost completely from the rim! Becoming fed up with the whole fiasco, I started calling a tow truck. All of the two trucks in New Orleans were closed. Every single one. I called the only people that I knew would save my ass, my loyal Chalmations. Now, Chalmette has a reputation of being a smidgen on the white trash side, especially to those living in New Orleans. Most New Olreanians wouldn't dare cross over to the other side of the railroad tracks known as St. Bernard. They call us yokles and racists, but I like to think it is jealously. The City Mouse dislikeing the Country Mouse. So, this Country Mouse called the one two truck that he knew would save his skin, Raisinman Towing, in Chalmette. No, this is not an endorsement, I don't have enough readers to have an endorsement, though if a couple bucks comes my way because of it, hey, I'm up to take it. Well, I towed my poor car home, where today my brother and I took the tires to get them fixed, grr money, and got a day off work that was sorely needed. I couldn't help but thinking that last night was a string of bad luck, but I couldn't let that get to me. Do we make our own luck? Was it Karma? Probably. But, then, coming home, frowning after my misguided adventure, I got on YouTube and found a clip from the Catherine Tate Show, you have to go check it out Here!

Well, I promised in my last post that I would have something enlightening to say. OK, here goes, despite Hil-Care and the whole controversy of the Democratic Election, I still think Hillary should win! And, if there are any readers in North Carolina, please do not vote for four more years of the regime! Cuba has dethroned the Lion, lets uproot the Dunce! As for Obama, well, what can I say. I think that his idealism is sweet, fresh and reminiscent of JFK, but let us not forget that our economy is not barren soil yet. The leaves are just withered, and the stalk is bent. We need an experienced gardener that's knows how to make us grow again. I think Hillary Clinton is that gardener. Oh, and let us forget that we are standing on the precipice of another Great Depression. The five leading reasons for the Great Depression are getting more and more evident in today's economy: the unwillingness to buy, stock market going under, and instead of a draught, we have flooding. And, one can argue that the rising cost in gas can be equated to the Hawley-Smoot Tariff. Oh people, the oligarchy has gotten us in a death hold. Their fangs are edging closer to the jugular and fear is in every one's eyes. What are you going to do about it?

Two steps forward, three steps back

2008-04-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, my dear readers, it has been many many days since my last post, and I have to admit that I have been neglecting you. You can call Blog-services if you like, but I've hidden the phone and the children hidden under the stairs has been brainwashed as my servants. :)~ Anyway, the week in Internet exile was horrible. My computer stared at me from my desk, calling its siren song from the murky depths of the Ethernet. But, resisting the call of the Lady of the Lake, that Whore of Babylon seated on the Great Beast called the World Wide Web. I pulled my hair out, not being able to watch TV, no texts, nothing. So, I figured that I would make my time productive, did I knit? Did I finally finish my first pair of socks that I could proudly take pictures of and hang over my chair to neglect like the other socks around my room? No, I did not. It seems like I have slipped into my yearly transformation of crafting, trading one for the other. How hot it's been down here has caused me to put down my knitting for right now, and take up something a little less heating. I have started another flag. :)~ Now, what I neglect to say is that I've sold the old one, the one I made for Azaka to a good friend of mine, Bloody Mary. (Check out the Ghost Pictures she has on her website, they are spectacular!) Bloody Mary and I couched together and when I made the clarion call that I was selling my flag, she contacted me immediately. I was hardly finished sewing the back on it, before she called me and wanted to donate to the Gary's-a-poor-ass-brother fund. By the way, we are currently making a commercial so that people can send me red clogs. :)~ So, this new flag is to the Fami Guedeh. Guedeh, as you could read from previous posts, especially from the Dia de los Muertos one, is a rocking spirit. He is all about sex and regeneration. He has really pulled me out of some crazy times, and has lended His hands to healing Ma a time or two. So, this flag is going to be for Him, as a thankful plea, a hymn of gratefulness uttered forth in sequins and beads. I hope He likes it, and I hope I sell this one too. :)~

Another thing, according to the scale at the gym, which I used to curse out and make obscene gestures to regularly, I've lost 10 lbs! I know, it's amazing. I don't really see the difference, which makes me feel like it may just be water weight, but ten pounds is then pounds and I love it. I've been running every day, about two miles a day. Which, I know, is not good for my knees and hips, but I'm am totally addicted again. Though I may not be jogging at the Battlefield, sliding through the ancient ghosts of those who gave their lives for both the Union and the Confederacy, the treadmill has something more, a TV! :)~ My favorite station to watch is TNT while jogging because at night they play action movies, like Dawn of the Dead, which have a lot of zombies and running scenes, which makes me feel like I'm running with them, away from the zombies, and I'm not a big fan of zombies in the first place. :)~ I decided a couple nights ago, not to go jogging, that I was going to rest, stay in, order out, and veg out in front of the tube, but my adrenaline addiciton has shoved me out of bed and into my shoes, out the door, and on the treadmill. It's boring to read about, I know, I didn't say that this blog was going to be exciting. But, you made it this far, why quit now? :)~ Next post, I promise, will be full of social commentary and other-wordly arcane knowledge.

The sweat from his pores, as he works for his cause!

2008-04-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

Well, my intrepid readers, I have much exciting news on the eve of the eve of my Disconnection Week. Which, by the way, has seemed to hit a brick wall when I thought it would be a rolling stone. But, I would imagine that, in writing Walden, Thoreau must have been met with harsh glares from the people around him as well. Not that I think of myself in the same manner. Anyway, the first great news is that, about a week ago, I cast on for my first sock pattern!!!! I think I may have updated that from my previous post, but now I'm really in the grind of things. In the past week I've knit about six inches of my superb sock and can't wait to start of the heel. The pic is from a week ago when I had just finished the cuff and shows off an amazing Shiva Lingham I bought a few years back, I love that thing! I'm using the magic loop technique and a pattern sent to me from Sheryl aka KnitIdiot from the book 2-at-a-time Socks. It's supposed to be two at a time, but I was finding I was having problems with the authors cast on method. So, I decided to only do one at a time. The sock yarn I'm using is a Cascade Fixation sock yarn that is 98% cotton and 1% elastic, which is really fun to knit with, and the lady at the LYS said that it would make a breathable sock. I don't know where I'm ever going to wear these things, I don't really even like wearing store-bought socks, much less socks that I made. But, I think that I wouldn't be a good knitter until I made socks. Maybe one day, when La Nina creates a new Ice Age, I'll be able to knit myself some warm socks to wear. :)~

Onto other great news, I finally finished my drapo for Azaka! Azaka is the patron 'saint' of Agriculture and farming. He is often called Kouzin, or Cousin, as He is the 'working man' the 'average bloke'. He loves rum and corn, and when He shows up He usually inhales all the offerings, shoving them in His mouth like a hungry husband who just come in from ploughing the field. He speaks roughly, unlike His brother Guedeh, and deals with all matters of money. He loves pipes and pipe tobacco and always wears a straw hat and straw bag called a makout. In this drapo, I decided that I would use some of my other studies, in symbolism and kabbalah. The asson seen on the left, which is used by Mambos and Houngons to stir up the Spirit, has enblazened on it the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and is shaped rather phallically, denoting that intrinsic connection between ploughing the fields, and Ploughing the Fields. The flame of the candle, which is a symbol for devotion and spirituality, is made from a Bead Soup, and creates a glimpse into the other side of the Mirror. On the bag are Azaka's symbols and tools of trade, a bottle, a scythe, a pipe, and a seedling. And the red strap of the bag is looped into the symbol for eternity. The cloud at the top is done is gold, pronouncing Azaka's ability to bring fortune, and the lightening bolts conclude that with great fortune can sometimes come great pain. The back is done in blue denim, the cloth of the working man. I enjoyed making this flag so much. It's taken me almost a year, with knitting done in between, to finish and I am so relieved and excited to have it done. Hopefully, Azaka will bring me a small fortune when I put it up for sale on my Etsy store, I already have an interested buyer.

I am so excited about having this flag done I may just bump my next project up and start on another one, a bigger and better one, for the Fami Guedeh, oh that should be so amazing!

Am I adDICKted?

2008-04-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Phenomena by Yeah Yeah Yeah
Reading: Buddha; A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra
Knitting: grrrrr!

Last night Nemisis and I went and saw The Ruins, all I can say...creepy! If you haven't seen the movie already, you probably should not read this blog, as I am about to give away a pretty big spoiler, but it fits into the blog. Well, during the movie, which is about these group of Americans who are on spring break in Mexico, go to see this Aztec pyramid that is virtually unfounded. As they walk out and the camera pans out to see the whole massive structure, a very fat man gallops up on a horse and starts screaming at them in Aztec. Blah blah blah, they are stuck on the top of these ruins waiting for someone to understand that they are missing and come look for them. They want to use their cell phones, but one was lost, and the brother of their German guide is supposedly stuck inside the ruins with a working cell phone. They lower the two girls down what could only be called an air shaft to find out where the phone is they hear ringing so that they could call for help. Their girls follow the ringing noise, amidst volumes of an overgrown vine covering the inside and outside of the ruins, and just when they thought they had found it, they see that the phone is not making the ringing noise, it's the blood red flowers of the vine, mimicking the chirp of a phone to lure them into it's jaws! My mind clicked back to the Time Picayune Article I read yesterday talking about technology addiction. Can someone really be addicted to their cell phone? To the World Wide Web? "No, surely not." I say as I type away at my blog and snuggle close to my cell phone. It made me really look around and see, in the movie theatre, little LED lights flicker on and off with people looking at their cell phones, or sending text messages, or, one, checking his e-mail. IN THE MOVIE THEATRE, CHECKING HIS E-MAIL! My Goddette, I thought, these people can't spend two hours disconnected. Then, with the adage of 'three fingers point back' I looked in at myself and my own urge to nurse my cell phone, check my messages. So, I've decided to resolve the situation, and I hope that all my readers, as dear to me as they are, will help me in doing this. Next week, not this week coming up but the next one, from the thirteenth to the twentieth of April, will be the Disconnect Week. I will only check my e-mail once a day, and for no more than a half hour. I will not look at television. I will not use my phone to text, and will only accept incoming calls and only for a half hour tops. I will read the paper, as I am obsessed by it, but I think it's healthy. Any other disconnection ideas please tell me. Join me won't you, in testing your connection?

Other than that, my knitting has been in a bit of a slump. I'm stuck between the repetitive boredom of hats and scarves, and the seeming mountain of effort in a sweater. I've been fiddling with the idea of socks, but don't have the equipment. KnitIdiot sent me copies of a book where you knit two socks at once, and I've been looking hard at it. Thinking about whether or not I should start on it. I still haven't finished my Koolhaas hat, the second one that is. My crocheted Monkey is staring back at me, waiting for me to make his body and appendages. And, my Azaka flag is screaming at me, yearning for me to fill in that four by three square of white with cobalt blue sequins. I've been reading more though. I just picked up Buddha; A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra which I'm really liking and also, just for fun, a big book of crossword puzzles, that I'm a third of the way through by now. :)~ Maybe I should just go out and buy the yarn and needle I need for the socks, I mean, what could it hurt? I just feel uninspired. I haven't had any kind of meaningful conversation in forever! And, the Democratic Candidates, if that's what you want to call them by now, (I like the word sparring partners) just make me want to pull my hair out! Come on people, the Republicans are already backing one guy! Let's make with it! But, I have to say, with all the controversy and bullshit going on, this blog still back Hilary R. Clinton! :)~ I think that there needs to be a woman in the White House, changing it to the Red House and re-naming it the Menstrual Hut of America!

UPDATE: 8:30 pm; I did decide to buy some sock yarn and try my hand at knitting socks. The poor woman at the knitting store looked at me like I had three heads when I told her that I was starting to knit two socks at a time one one circular needle. I thought she would have understood this, but it seemed, maybe from her age, that she was a purest who knitted with double pointed needles. I cast on today, while I was waiting for my polenta pizza crust to harden and have been knitting up a storm on my new addi TURBO needles. I opted for a rather cheep cotton/elastic blend as I don't know how I'm going to fair with knitting socks. By the way, the pizza was phenomenal, I will post the recipe later.

Calme au Blanc?

2008-03-31T10:30:00.000-07:00

So tired, must post, before work. :)~ Lets recall my excellent adventure the past couple of nights. The night before last was the last showing of Agwe's last two act triplet play, Calme au Blanc. For those who speak french out there, I understand that this translates completely wrong, literally, 'Calm in the white', but he insists this is a Cajun saying, what it means, I wasn't paying attention. So, to show support for a houngon in our House and someone that I would consider a friend, Ayizan and I went to see his play. First, we had a quick dinner with her business couch and the coach's husband at Mona's. The coach is apparently helping with the dealings of the Healing Center, but I think it's more of Ayizan's need to have someone who isn't 'big business' in her ear, slipping in ideas about profit and gains, instead of healing and understanding. When dinner was over we dove into the French Quarter from the Marigny to see an opening of an art show, showing some incredible photographs taken post Katrina. Two glasses of Pino Grigio later and we were out the door, making a steadying stride back to the car to make it to the play on time. Agwe picked The Big Top to host his play, it was small, but some how it actually worked better for the play. Now, before I spout off my interpretations of the play, read David Cuthbert's Review. Now, understanding Post Katrina New Orleans, Agwe caught the drama exactly. "We're living in the cataclysmic" one of the characters screams, what more could be true? The story revolves around three main people, Eden, Frankie, and Sunday, all living in New Orleans in Post Katrina and dealing with the stress and shit of day to day. Eden is a wealthy, old money, city lawyer, obviously representing the Southern Corporate American takeover of this city. Sunday, a black school teacher that was arrested, in the first act, for running from a shooting in the bad part of town, is the racial commentary this NOLA has be engulfed in since the Storm. (Now, I can't believe that for one moment, a white, fairly rich, and privileged American, as Agwe is, can comment on this. It doesn't seem like someone in that position could understand, even if he wanted to.) And Frankie, the revolutionary, the artist, the Che Guevera, is the underprivileged, the poor, the starving artists tring to make a home in this city. Well written, and extraordinarily cast, as Agwe's plays always are, this one lacked the flame as the other two. It seemed that whenever one character would spill out the reasons why they should stay, they would recant in the next breath, almost unconsciously, how they should just leave, go to Canada or to the Gulf where they don't have to walk on Land anymore. In the end, Agwe, the character, shows up, giving each a way out with Him, but offers nothing more, no bits of knowledge, no insight as a godly omnipotent character should. At last, Frankie and Sunday, who are gay lovers, leave Eden and go with Agwe! My heart wrenched. After everything, they were just going to leave her, alone, and all through the play she was the one saying that they should all leave together! It just seemed inconsistent. I yawned through the play and hoped that Agwe and the actors wouldn't see me. :)~ But, none-the-less, a great night, filled with great moments and a way for Ayizan and I to talk and connect besides her store or in a mass of people during ceremony.

All Knit Long!

2008-03-24T20:41:00.001-07:00

Well, my beautiful readers, it's been a couple of days and those days have been busy but great. The Rara, which was the night before Easter, was wonderful. Now, an explanation of Rara is that it comes from Haiti, and is much like like Carnival to the other World. These amazing people get together, in lavish, even ridiculous outfits, and dance around, caught up in the music and ritual of things till their feet give out. Fulfilling our seven year obligation to the Rara, we did ours, with our small, but strong group. We met up at the Peristyle and got everything all fired up, dancing around, whistles blowing and horns blasting, we got ready for our trek through the upper ninth ward. I got the wonderful honor of carrying the whip, my shoulder still sings of it's pleasure, but at least I didn't have to be the sweeper like last year. They wanted me to be the King, but I don't think that I'm ready for that. Although, the males in our group are all but spent. Nibo was last year's King and Sprite, the Hounginikon's seven year old was King this year. What is amazing is that the Rara is much like the Mardi Gras Indians, with a Big Chief and a Spy Boy and Flag Boy, Crazy Man. Crazy Man, that would be my role in the Rara this year, warding off evil with my whip. :)~ Down darken streets people would not dare to roam in daylight any other day of the week, we shouted and banged, bellowed and yelled, hopefully awakening the hearts and minds of the people of New Orleans. The Rara blessed and keeps safe, lends energy and fire, prana and stirs the kundilini city-wide. I hope that the next couple of years it serves as a means of en-firing the ground and spreading like a blaze to inspire this city to cling fast to it's traditions and give up it's nasty habits.

For more information on Rara and some amazing pictures, visit Elizabeth McAlister's website Rara.

Easter was spent at work, while others in the House fed all the Rada, something I didn't want to miss. Last year me and a couple of other's in the group went out afterwards and had brunch, something that is very popular on Easter in New Orleans. I miss it. Overall I am so happy! There has been a Spring in my step that, I think, comes not only because of the new warmth in the air. I can't help but sigh, in the good way, falling in love with the World again after a long winter of stress and mishap.

Reader, today, court the World, make kisses at the Universe, say 'I love you' to the sunshine, and googly eyes at the grass. You'll be better for it.

Did I really eat that?

2008-03-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

OK, so I didn't post yesterday, though I meant to, but today I will post what I eat today, and yesterday to make up for it. Sigh, here goes:

McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast, minus the meat

lrg coffee

(already off to a bad start, but whatever)

One medium apple, redeeming, I know.

One Liter of Figi water.

Two Special K snack bars, one of the pharmacist brought them.

Two 100 calorie Oreo snack bars, I wanted my own. :)~

Three hands full of Quacker Cheesey Snack Mix, co-worker's.

Then, for dinner, I decided to skip the gym and eat a King sized BK Veggie Burger Combo, with fries, and an Tang for the drink

Then, today, because it was my day off, I could eat it up. :)~

One plain biscuit from McDonald's with a Lrg Orange Juice for the drink.

Two Special K snack bars, I snuck some home with me, they are really good.

Three Cheesey Bean and Rice Burritos from Taco Bell, my one true addiction, with a raspberry tea for the drink.

Two 100 calorie Oreo snack bars, I love Oreos.

Some cheese and crackers, OK, I have to defend this, I bought the brie and I HAVE to eat it before it goes bad! :)~

Because of the burrito slip, I HAVE to go to the gym tonight, which is also a must because I didn't go last night. I don't know, it doesn't seem like a lot too look at, but I'm sure, calorically, it's horrible.

But, on to much more troubling news, enough to raise my blood pressure. Yesterday, I was quietly reading the news paper when I see this headline on the frong page, far at the bottom and smaller then the rest mind you: St. Bernard rebound tops census. This caught my eye, St. Bernard, my home, my chez du chez, is making news, and in a positive light? So, skipping articles of the Napoleon Bonaparte exhibit opening up in April in the Mint, I jump over to the continuing news of St. Bernard. But, line after line, my anger rises. Paul Rioux, yes that's his real name, from the St. Bernard bureau, writes how the population of St. Bernard has exploded by 42.6 percent from last year, making it the biggest increase for any U.S. parish or county! I was amazed, shocked, stunned. But, the article then goes on to recant the findings of the U.S. Census, saying that Orleans Parish lost 6,200 residents per year compared to 375 for St. Bernard, and then says that "..to call these the fastest growing parishes in the country is like someone who owned Bear Stearns stock when it went from $100 to $1 overnight and then got excited when it rose to $2 the next day because their investment just doubled." What the FUCK!? So, all the people who moved back from across this country, who worked to rebuild their homes, who did a lot of it themselves because the government and construction workers where giving them the run-around, only cost $1?! Are you serious? Then, if that wasn't troubling news in it's own right, Rioux goes on to find, what has got to be the dumbest couple in St. Bernard to interview about the 'bad' points of St. Bernard's revitalization. And I quote: " Right after Katrina, you had the whole road to yourself, but now the traffic is getting pretty bad," Serpas said. "You almost wish sometimes that the parish didn't come back as fast as it has." " Reading this, I put the paper down and sent into the atmosphere, through the walls of McDonald's, a slew of curse words that would rival any smog or pollution! Just when you thought it would end, Paul Lagarde, interviewee, says, "Maybe we shouldn't encourage too many people to come back because we're just the right size." Just the right size?! Maybe this Lagarde fellow should worry about the size of his brain and not the population! My God, how are people going to keep their hopes up about getting back to their roots, the town and city that they love, whom some, as recent as two, and as far back as two hundred years ago have laid their lives down for, when those already back are requesting they stay when they are so they don't have to deal with traffic?! How in the hell can you trivialize riding down streets and seeing spray painted on doors and porches, Two dead in attic, by saying that the parish is getting pretty bad because you have to spend fifteen minutes to go to the only Walgreen's in the city to pick up your prescription of Xanex?! How can you say that this parish is 'just the right size' when you have to drive thirty minutes to the nearest hospital, that's if you don't want to wait an hour or so at the local clinic, housed in trailers, next to prescription pain addicts, to see the one, half-assed doctor in town?! How can you gripe about the fact that we don't have a Wal-Mart, the one redeeming grace this city can pin a badge on it's self about, which is allowing small businesses to spring up like wild flowers? Could some really be glad that Katrina happened? That thousands lost their lives and hundred of thousands lost EVERYTHING that they owned? Ah sigh, just when you thought everyone was on the same page, someone comes in and starts reading from a different book.

You must be conscious in your knitting. :)~

2008-03-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Listening to: The Golden Girls on Lifetime

Reading: Nothing right now,

Knitting: Koolhaas Hat

Well, my dear readers, as sparse as you may be, my life so far has been quick, yet uninteresting. Last week I got an amazing gift from my swappee in SoCal, this super funky green-ish Malabrigo Uruguayan Merino yarn! Tempted as I was to make a new baby blanket for Ethan, my fingers could not let me, this yarn was meant for me. Immediately I got out my Koolhaas Hat pattern, as warn and the paper is by now, and cast on. This one knitted up quicker than the first one, I think it was that the pattern was not new and so I could start actually remembering the pattern, as opposed to tring not to screw up. I like that it make this not so camouflage, yet kinda' camouflage look to it. Thank you again to my gracious swapee.

Work has been the normal grit and grind, just longer hours, which, consequently, means that I have to go to the gym later and later, to fulfill my pact with myself that I would go every day this week. Today was the worst, I am so tired from working nine hours straight, then going and spending three hours with some Snazzy Knitting Bitches at the NOLA Stitch n' Bitch tonight. So, around ten, I came home, changed clothes, then headed back out the door to spend two hours in the gym, looking at some skinny, young Eros-esque high schoolers court each other while I huff and puff. AND ANOTHER THING! I have been going to the gym every other day for the past month or so, and I HAVEN'T LOST ANY WEIGHT! This is ridiculous! I told one of the pharmacists the other day that I thought I had a glandular problem, to which he replied, "You eat like shit Gary, stop eating all that shit!" "What are you talking about?" I squealed. (Yes, I squealed, if you knew me, you'd know that it's a terrifying experience.) His responce to me was a recantation of everything I had ate that day, from the blueberry muffin, only the top, and Cheetos I had eaten for breakfast to the king sized frozen Snicker bar, they are EVIL I tell you, EVIL! So, in an effort to be more conscious on what I'm eating, I have taken a tip from one of the other blogs I read, and not only write down what I eat in the day, but publish it on my blog, for the world to see, gulp. Tomorrow. I promise.

Kiss me I'm Irish/Italian/Islanos!

2008-03-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

Listening to: Extrodinary Machine by Fiona Apple

Reading: The World that made New Orleans

OK, so this has been a great and interestingly amazing week or so. Well, around Thursday we closed on our house! Yes, for the first time since the Big K we are not in a horrible FEMA trailer or will be renting, but actually home-owners again! It's so exciting I can hardly contain my glee! (Yes, I used the word glee, it's a word.) Now, as the house is only gutted, fully on the first floor, partially on the second, we have to go in and clean it up and get it ready for the electrical wiring and all that good stuff. There is also a monstrous FEMA trailer right outside the front door, which needs to me moved forth with. Well, on the heels of this great news Sunday, not only being Super Sunday, but was the Irish, Italian, Islaneos Parade! This is, by far, my favorite parade we have! I don't know if it's done in New Orleans, but here in St. Bernard, mixed in with the normal Mardi Gras fair, they throw produce! Yes, produce. It's normally cabbage, onions, and carrots but I've seen some people throwing bell peppers and potatoes. I snuck out from the grasp of the Wal-Beast and caught some of the parade right outside. It was so much fun! I caught bags of beads and enough veggies to be able to go home and make my Irish/Italian/Isleneos veggie soup. :)~ I think that the reason they throw produce is a mixture of the St. Joseph's Alters and Mardi Gras, throwing beads and doubloons, but also food that the working people can eat later. You should have seen the stunned faces of co-workers as I came back into the Pharmacy with bags of cabbage and beads around my neck! Oh it was just priceless. My boss looks at me with this grin on his face and says, "Just going out to your car for something huh?" After that we all watched the parade from the drive-tru window and I finished reading the paper and doing the crossword puzzle. It was an amazing day. After I got home, I went to the gym and worked out for a little bit till I figured out that, with the change in time, it was after one in the morning! Delirious and dreary-eyed, I hopped back in the car and made my way back home, tired, but happy.

Splendid Victory

2008-03-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Listening to: No Woman No Cry by Bob Marley

Reading: The World Behind New Orleans; From Spanish Gold to Congo Square

Crocheting: Arigurumi Monkey

OK, so I had this amazing dream last night, OK well this morning, and I have to share it with the world. After waking up around four in the morning, with high hopes to skip my way over to the gym and working off the gigantic chef salad I ate for lunch. But, it ended up being more laying in bed and cuddling with the love of my life, Sweetie. Anyway, about the dream, my nephew, via my brother's wife, Eve, has been begging me and begging me teach him how to, "knit, knit". Far be it from me to say no on this, we must convert, we must assimilate. (By the way, I tried that line at both the clubs and at the yarn shops, they went over just as well there.) But, he's been really after me to teach I'm so knit, knit, and I think that has infiltrated my dreams because when I went back to bed last night, I dreamt that he was much much older and that I was teaching him to both knit and crochet at once. I had this odd blanket that I was knitting on three needles, the middle of which was a crochet hook that was causing some strange cable pattern. I remember in the dream looking at the monstrosity and saying, "What the hell am I knitting here?" But, as I don't have the Tibetan Dream Wakeness down pact yet, my mind slipped back into my unconscious and back to my 'good work'. I was so weirded out by this dream that when I woke, long after I could go to the gym and work out, that I decided that I would share this strange mind/knit fuck. Instead of trying to intemperate this one, I'm going to chuck it up to my subconscious playing tricks on me. Happy Dream Knitting everyone!

An Attractive Idea

2008-02-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Will and Grace on Lifetime
Reading: The World That Made New Orleans; From Spanish Silver to Congo Square
Crocheting: Monkey Arigurumi Doll

Well, it's the day after my first day at the gym, and I am in nothing but pain! Is this supposed to feel good? :)~ This morning I woke up and didn't want to get out of bed, not for the usual reasons of my sloth-like attitude to mornings, but because every muscle of my body aches. But, it was really fun for the hour that I spent at the gym. I started off on the elliptical, which I thought was really easy. I then hopped off and pranced around from machine to machine, reading all the instructions on the sides of the machines and asking passer-bys, "What does this thingy do?" Then, just for shits and giggles, I got back on the elliptical machine for another cardio workout. I thought that they were going to have to use the heart paddles on me! I was huffing and puffing till I had to stop the machine all together. And, what's really ridiculous, is that once you go slower than the pre-set momentum regulated by the machine's little cyber chip, it beeps at you. This mocking little beep that screams, "Get your fat ass in shape and push!" Ok, maybe I got a little more out of beep than someone else would, but whatever. :)~
The only consolation is that I found the most amazing book, The World That Made New Orleans; From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette. This is the best book I have read in the past six months! Anyone who loves history books, or Louisiana History, or wants to know more about New Orleans, needs to go to your library and Inter-Library Loan this puppy tout de suite! I haven't put it down yet! Other than that, my baby nephew, and first godchild, has come home from the hospital. He's so adorable! And small. Ma and I went over there the other day and I had him on my chest, he went right to sleep and stayed so for at least a good hour. I was giving him baby massages and humming mantras through my Anahata Chakra. It was beautiful. I took a picture on my phone, but, because of my computer incompetency, I can't get it from the phone, to the Internet. Sometimes I feel like Homer Simpson. :)~

Giving to Ceaser what is Ceaser's

2008-02-23T14:38:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Prelude 12/21 by AFI
Reading: Pompeii by Robert Harris
Beading: Trying to finish Azaka's flag
Crocheting: Arigurumi Monkey

Well, I have sucked it up, taken the leap and dove into a contract with a local gym. Sitting in the office of the gym room, while tight bottomed gym-bunnies passed outside the door, I felt a little apprehensive. Was I really going to spend the next six months in this place, pouring quarts of sweat on these machines that others have poured upon? But, I signed the paper none-the-less and committed myself to their services. On a whim I bought Ana Paula Rimoli's Amigurumi World; Seriously Cute Crochet and stated crocheting for the baby the Daddy Monkey. I only started in the head, but I am really excited to start. Now, on to the more extreme news. Day before yesterday Kora and I went out to eat and shop for the yarn I'm going to give as my swap gift. Sitting in Juan's Flying Burrito and enjoying some amazing tacos, Kora suddenly got sullen. She looked down into her tacos and became all too quiet. "What?" I asked her, knowing that she was allergic to wheat and would get terribly sick if she was to even have one small grain flour. She looked up at me, eyes wide as if I was a bull in a china shop. I got really scared, my breathe caught in my throat and my heart sank, what could be so bad. Then, "You know I told you that I had a surgery?" And she had, she had told me that she was getting something lazered off or something, nothing to really worried about, I had made her bean soup even though she didn't like beans. "Yeah." "Well, I wasn't all too truthful with why I had it." "I don't understand, honey, you're scaring me." "I had an abortion." ...I had lost my appetite. A seed of Saturn had taken root? This little flower had gripped the edge on Kora's womb and stuck? How could I never had known? I knew when Demeter had changed from Girl to Mother. How could I have missed Kora's subliminal memo through the Collective Unconscious? What could I have told her, Saturn would have nothing to do with her or her mis-begotten Eagle-childe. She couldn't loose him, since they have moved back to NOLA from New York he had been her savior, working so she could stay home and practice her yoga. She explained that once they had found out he left, rushing to his other girlfriend, Harrah's Casino, and won the money for the procedure. She said that sitting in the waiting room of the local free-clinic she sat, with one hand on her stomach, the other in her paramour's lap, cause and effect as it were, and waited for the nurse to call her name. I sat, with my hand on my lips, listening and tring not to judge her, realizing that it was the best choice for her, but that kind of thing still keeps it's '50's sting, where you left the world, you lied and said you were going to visit an aunt while you recovered. We walked back to the car silent, hand in hand, what could I say? What could I do? She said she was more than a vehicle for genetic reproduction. That she was more than a baby factory. But looking at her, the way the little bit of mother hormones had changed her body, putting weight on her she desperately needed. But what could I do?

Travey map travey O!

2008-02-19T17:29:00.001-08:00

Listening to: Don't Worry by Bob Marley

Reading: Still researching in Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley

Knitting: VOILA! Koolhaas Hat is done!

Beading: trying to finish Azaka's flag

I am so finished Koolhaas Hat! Since it comes from BrooklynTweed, I wanted to pay respects to him by posting a picture something like his. And, in reading his blog, I am contemplating his validity as a human being. Is he real? Does he have a job, or does he live in this stuido apartment in Brooklyn, shirnes made out of used chewing gum litering his floor? Or, is he some Avatar like creature, some long lost son of Echidna, six armed and knitting veraciously? Ah, I could only dream. :)~ I have been on the war-path to finish my flag for Azaka; partly because I want I really want to sell it, and because a new flag has been knocking on my cortex to let it out. I have already made a sketch of it in my Brain Book, which has only two more pages left in it, and I am anxious and trepidatous of this new flag. But, it must be done, it must be let out. :)~ In other amazing knitting news, my knitting may be featured in a read live photo shoot. Sadly, I will not be there. Miss Erzulie, my great friend from North Carolina and writer for The Hippo will have a photo shoot and really wants to wear a hand knit bikini. And, who better to knit it than me? :)~ How exciting is that?! (I decided to put one of the rejects in there. Ma took it but I was tring to explain how to take the picture when she snapped it. I still like it, but I look way too pale.)

Well, the bank and I have made up, we are now on courting terms again. It seems like I have been a bad boy and needed some rectalfying. The doctor called today and said that Ma's urine kidney test came out normal. We were worried there that her being sick had struck a blow to her kidneys again, but the doctor said that she is ok and doesn't need to be on dialasys again. Which is AWESOME! Anyway, this is going to be a short one, my dinner is waiting, black beans and rice with fried bread and cabbage salade, mmmmm! Enjoy!

Hello...Is there anybody out there?

2008-02-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Frasier on Lifetime TV
Reading: The Book of Thoth by Aleister Crowley (research)
Knitting: backing knitting Koolhaas, fighting with the blanket

I don't think this one will have any pictures, too tired and aggrivated. :)~ Today was one of THE worse days at work! Ok, for all those who get their medicines filled at the Wal-Beast, please be kind, curtious, and UNDERSTANDING to the slaves, these chained marionettes twittleing to the beat of slow-falling coins into their pocketbooks. We have been so shorthanded due to a terrible flu circulateing around New Orleans right now, but we are filling twice as many scripts. I was reading in USAToday about a Walgreen's Pharmacy Tech accidently caused the death of a man in FL by typing in the 'wrong' directions on the prescription bottle. One problem with that, your spript goes through so many hands, all of them checking, double checking, and triple checking the directions, codes, numbers, etc that it is really hard, though not impossible, to make a mistake. Then, reading more, I saw that the man took over twenty methadone tablets, twenty! No wonder why he keeled over in his bathtub! I feel sorry for the poor tech who has to go through this. Anyway, back to why I even mentioned this, the pharmacy, to which they called 'very busy', were quoted to have filled 384 prescriptions. 384! We do that in an HOUR! And believe me, that is more of a groan than a boast. :)~ So, remember, be nice to the person behind the counter, anywhere you go, they want to be there even less than you do. :)~

So, after a horrible day at work, I came home and checked my blog, and found that there were two comments left on my last post. On checking them, and, my beautifully delicious readers, I LOVE when you leave me comments, I found these tags nameing my blog as an Make My Day blog. I flushed with enjoyment. Thank you Sheryl and Kristen! I really do appriciate, in the most masculine and non-gay way, your endorsement of my blog and the boring dribble like the paragraph above I write. :)~ MY RAMBLINGS ARE HEARD! Did you hear me? At some point y'all will come down here, and I will fill you up with the best New Orleans' has to offer, then get you good and saused. :)~ So, in an easy reciprication of love and appriciation, I wanted to post my list, which is in no particular order:

Kaity knits a lot!
Knit Idiot
Bohemian Knitter Chic
Learner's Perknit
Yeah that Vegan $%*&
Krewe of Ewe

Small list huh? Well, what they make in number, they make up for in quality! So, what to do now, GO CHECK THEM OUT! Read their lives, their loves, their cooks, their knits! Enjoy as much as I do!

I NEED that recipie!

2008-02-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Nothing, my head hurts

Reading: Nothing, see reason above

Knitting: Koolhaas Hat and Hemlock Ring Blanket

It's been a couple days since I last posted and I thought I would drop in a line. :)~ Since Mardi Gras I've been fighting off this cold/flu that's been going around. Nothing like some good old Will Movements and Mucinex to clear up one's head. :)~ I've tried, unsuccessfully, to start with BrooklynTweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket, but the pattern baffles me. Plus, I am tring to knit it using the Magic Loop Method. But then, looking at the pattern, and because it's so old, that there are these abriviations: incl. Now, this looks like the knitting short hand for increase one stitch. So there I go, knitting, knitting, knitting, until it actually comes to a part where they give you the number of stitches you're supposed to have, and I'm wayyy off. I start frantically e-mailing people on Ravelry that have made this blanket. ONE person finally answers me, right when I was loosing hope on my Knitting Comrades, and tells me that the 'incl' is NOT inc1, but short of inclusively! Inclusively!!! Who uses that word anymore?! :)~ So, now I'm frogging it and starting over new, maybe this time I'll get it right. :)~

The bank and I had an argument the other day, it won, seems as though I was totally being inconsiderate to it's needs and that I was all wrong of it, and...I think it's found someone new, younger, with more...stamina. This fight has really got me thinking about giving back, and not giving to. My friend, Mariel from North Carolina, is starting to work with this out-reach program in Haiti and they are tring to collect money for this orphange they opened up out there. She is supposed to go out in the next two or three months and I would really like to do something to help. So, I've decided that I would give a percentage of anything sold on my Etsy store, please see link above, to this cause. Which means I have to put more stuff on my Etsy store. :)~ I know, this sounds like such a lame con, but I will put a link later. OH, maybe I can start some kind of knit-aid, though with it being a carribean island, I don't know if they would really ever need warm clothes. (scratches head) Any ideas on this would really help as the fever haze has now taken over my brain. :)~

A little sliver of fun!

2008-02-06T07:55:00.000-08:00

Well, I just wanted to share a peice of my day with everyone, I have two more clips, but Blogspot is so slow at uploading videos that I don't think that I'd have enough time to post more than one. I just also want to let everyone know that I am not any type of videotographer so I'm sorry if it's a bit shaky. Enjoy

You're not dead!

2008-02-05T15:40:00.001-08:00

Listening to: Nothing, head pounding

Reading: No thank you

Knitting: Madison's Hat and Koolhaas Hat

MARDI GRAS!!!! Oh my Goddette, I have NEVER had such an amazing time as I had today. And, you must forgive me if this sound a bit rambly, as I still have a few cocktails in me. :)~ Well, the day started with waking up and heading over to the Peristyle to get ready for the Krewe of St. Anne, which is a walking parade from the Bywater to Canal St, behind Rex, and then back to the Bywater. It's mostly people dressed up for Mardi Gras, much like people dress up for Halloween, and bar crawling their way en masse into the city. The House always goes as a Gaggle of Gedehs, and how fitting it is that the Lwa of drunken revelations is King, to us, of Mardi Gras. The top picture is of me and Nemesis dressed as Jane Mansfield, you should have seen her neck, I was really impressed. When we started in the parade, meeting up with hundreds of people, the air cracked with delight. The Basin Street Brass Band led the way, belting out triumphant jazz tunes, urging everyone to dance and jig their way to the next watering hole. There were men carrying large hoops with streemers hanging from them and when the breeze hit them they would whip around and looked much like flying octapuses stuck between this world and that. The music seemed to fill everyone's veins, replacing the blood with flapper ravelry. Everyone I saw had grins of their faces from ear to ear. By the time the parade got to Frenchman St, some of the people split off, and, thinking that I would stay with Nemisis and her group, I followed them. We walked from bar to bar, 'watering' ourselves, tasting the best of what they had. Somehow or another, we bumped back into Ayizan and Jesuit back on Royal. Somehow, Nemisis slipped away from me in the croud, and I ended up tagging along with Ayizan and the others. We walked nearly up to Canal, 114 blocks from where we had started, and every step was filled with glee. It was like I was in an aquarium, but instead of water, I was breathing this amazing jazz music. A couple blocks from Canal, we stopped at the D. H. Holmes Building (please read John Kennedy Toole's Confederancy of Dunces) and Jesuit, who OWNS the building, says, "Um, lets stop in and use the bathroom." Well, his idea of using the bathroom and my idea of using the bathroom are two different thing, apparetently. He lead us to the elevator, hit the third floor, and brought us to this room with the most amazing spread of food I have EVER seen. They had EVERYTHING! Hungry and low-blood-sugered I doove in, stuffing cheeze and crackers into my mouth along with giant strawberries that were almost too sweet. The best thing was that it had a balcony that overlooked Bourbon St.! Thinking that this was amazing, Jesuit says, "Hey, um, come see this." He then, like the Pied Piper, takes us to ANOTHER room with a platform overlooking Canal St.! My mind popped. People pay years in advance, on a waiting list, to get where I was so leasurly standing, on the pretence of using the bathroom. :)~ Walking back, we decided to check out the River, where we sat and enjoyed the cool wind blowing off the Mississippi. After we had our fill there, we headed back over to Frenchman St. to the Yuki bar, which is owned by a friend of Nibo's, and chilled in there, enjoying the music and free alcohol. After I could take no more, I picked up, said my goodbyes, and walked the 114 blocks back to my car. The walk, though long, was great, the air filled with Sweet Olive and Ligustrum blossoms, quintential Southern living. Overall, This was one of THE most amazing days of my LIFE. I would have had it no other way. And, my rebelious reader, you have made it this far, my treat is that, if you were down here, you would have had this much fun too. Go check out all my pics at my MySpace page! Ashe!

Lundi Gras!

2008-02-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Litany des Saints by Dr. John

Reading: Nothing

Knitting: Madison's Hat and Koolhaas Hat

Lundi Gras is here! Lundi Gras is the actual start of Mardi Gras. It is the day that King Rex and King Zulu arrives by riverboat into the city and is greeted by the Mayor, unfortunatley the Mayor is Ray Nagin. But, this is symbolic changing of the guards of city officials. By 6 p.m. today Rex will now be the new King of New Orleans! King Rex is the real-to-life Fool King. The King of Carnival. I always loved that word, Carnival, Carni-val, Carnelevamen, "farewell to flesh". The thought of it makes my skin tingle. It brings to mind the stories and paintings of Baccanals, where everyone is carring cups, over-flowing with wine and there is this strange look of total amuzement on everyone's faces. But, if you look, especially on the women's faces, there is something carnal, like they will either spring into life and eat the men raw, or dislike the men's ravaging advances.

Well, I've finished by Ocean's Within You Scarf! I finished it last night and ended up taking pics over and over again around my room. Now, if only the weather would cooperate with my knitting addiction, I could actually put it to use. Damn you New Orleans weather, being perfect and lovely in total scarf-wearing weather! I'm going to post it later as I've alread put two pictures on here and I don't want to croud it. Happy Lundi Gras everyone, and I'm hoping to bring back some pretty awesome pictures from tomorrow!

Because my head's about to blow up!

2008-02-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

Listening to: 'Conspiricy Theory' on Lifetime
Reading: Nothing
Knitting: The last remnants of Ocean Inside You Scarf and Koolhaas Hat

So, after about two hours of dealing with this stupid Header, I've gotten it to be some what reasonable. Though it took me what seemed like an act of Congress, I think it looks good, for now. :)~ I have finally finished the baby blanket I've been working on for Ethan, my soon-to-be nephew! I'm guessing that all I'm giving is the baby blanket and the booties, because I really don't have the time to knit or crochet anything else by the baby shower, which is on the 9th, a date I put on there. Now I'm kicking myself, knowing full well I wouldn't have time to knit up anything presentable for the shower. Oh well, I guess. I can always make things later, but what's the use of making something for a baby shower if it's not going to make everyone emit Oooo's and Ahhh's? Though, inspired by Brooklyn Tweed's Hemlock Ring Blanket and the super cool blogger Kristen, not to mention the amazing hand-dyed yarn Sheryl sent, I was thinking that I could also make this blanket for the baby. What colors, what colors? Oh, the possablities!

Bacchus, our land-lady, has moved into the front half of the apartments. Blah. Though she's giving us six more months here, it still evokes these mini-Katrina feelings. I abhore packing, boxes, and anything that deals with moving. I'm certainly hope that things turn out well, Ellegua hasn't failed me yet so...

I found out yesterday that Elektra came down from Wisconsin yesterday. I got a surprise phone call from her, begging me to go to the Endymion Parade with her. But, my phone spazzed out on me and I didn't get her message until today. When I called her back I found out that she was on her way back to Wisconsin! "Why?!" I asked her. "I'll tell you later when I'm not roaming." She replied. Do cell phones roam anymore? I thought that was a thing of the past, buried next to Analog in the Technological Graveyard. When I talked to her she was driving through Arknsas, a lovely state to drive through, if I do say so myself. :)~ It sucks that I couldn't see her, but I guess communication just isn't what it used to be.

Well, I think I'm going to get something good to eat, as I start a diet tomorrow, and then finish up my Ocean Inside You Scarf, then maybe work on my La Sirene flag that I've been putting off. I really need to finish it and put it on my Etsy store. Oh, go check out my Etsy store, my rogue and intrepid readers! Buy something! :)~

I've never had such a big package!

2008-01-30T07:08:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Devi Puja by Krishna Das

Reading: Wicked by Gregory Macquire

Knitting: Koolhaas Hat by Brooklyn Tweed

Well, yesterday was frightful, for other people at least. For the past couple of days the pharmacy has been nothing short of apocalyptic; racial slurs, short-handed, over-worked, all the ingredients for an insurrection. But, when I came to work yesterday, Boss told me he wanted me to make books, which is organizing the prescriptions in numerical order. I almost jumped in the air! Greedily I grabbed the file and ran into the corner, sitting down, cracked my fingers much like the cartoons of old, and started in on what I knew would take me an hour or so. Lovingly, by the time I was finished, it was time for me to go to lunch! :)~ With an extra spring in my step I left, got in my car where my favorite Gossip song was playing, and went home for lunch. When I got home I decided to check my mail, where I found, stuffed in my small plastic mailbox, a large square package. After a few minutes of fiddling with it, tring to get it out, I wobbled into the house to tear it open on the floor, like a child on Krishna-mas. Here's what I found inside:

It is so awesome! My Knit It Forward Friend send it to me, dyed with kool-aid! I think I actually squealed there. :)~ Immediately I had to find a pattern that would make this pop, when last night on my search, I found The Rainy Day Scarf and I thought that it would be perfect. Hopefully, I can make it by the time St. Patrick's Day comes around, but it just screams Yemanya or La Sirene. I can't wait to get started on it. Thanks Sheryl!

And then, to add onto my knitting schedule, and rid me of a little less sleep, I have been knitting my little brains out on my Koolhaas Hat. My nimble fingers, I couldn't say little here, working away on these really cool cables. This is the first hat I'm making from a chart. It was a bit different because I'm used to written out patterns. But, I think I'm getting the hang of it. The yarn, which really isn't twisted like regular yarn, but much more like thin strands of roving, beautiful long strands of Merino goodness, is delicious to work with. Well, I think that it's time for me to stop talking about knitting, and actually knit, happy knitting everyone!

Don't Throw Me Something Mista'!

2008-01-28T07:34:00.000-08:00

Listening to: 'Frasier' on Lifetime TV

Reading: Wicked by Gregory Macguire

Knitting: Koolhaas Hat given to me from Kristen with some super nummy yarn! Thanks again Kristen!

Yesterday afternoon was the second parade to pass in Chalmette, The Knights of Nemesis. A fairly new Krewe, but they are real old-timers. They like to party, and not afraid to let everyone know it. I've heard stories of them starting drinking around nine in the morning, and not stopping until well after the parade ends. Of course, I was at work, but, we got shifts going out and enjoying the parade. Two at a time we scurried across the street and sat in the sun, watching the floats go by, picking up throws and fighting over the cups. Despite the picture above, most of the floats were Zodiac themed, which was really cool to see all these technicolor blues and oranges, constellations painted on the side of these gliding barges of delight. :)~ But, caused some controversy with one of my co-workers who insisted we play a game in which we guess the next sign before the float arrived. I didn't want to play, till she started calling Capricorn the 'half-man, half-horsey'. After buzzing her for saying horsey, I had to argue the point. Unfortunately, the float title was only Goat, so, somehow, the argument continued. After selling a couple of my fleur-de-lis pins, I decided to go back to work, which consisted joking around because everyone was at the parade.

Then, I came home and made a couple baby booties from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation for my soon-to-be baby nephew Ethan Samuel. My desk is a bit out of sorts, please excuse it. :)~ These are the cutest things that I have ever seen! And they are so small, I hope they fit. I was so won over from them that I made a pair for Austin Jeremy, Demeter's little bundle of joy she had had when I was out in Honduras. Making little things like this really get me thinking about having my own children, and then a sharp pain runs through my spine and I turn out in cold sweats and realize that I am SO not ready to have kids. Plus, I will say what I tell Ma when she probes into when am I going to give her grandchildren, "I have to find a Vagina first." LOL I guess, for right now, I can work my fears out by making cutesy baby things that probably won't fit in six months. :)~

Drama; shaken, but not stirred.

2008-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Listening to: "Delia's Gone" by Johnny Cash
Reading: "Wicked" by Gregory Macguire
Knitting: Sadly nothing right now, so jetlaged, but I have some potential projects.

Well, there has been quite some time since I have posted, and there is a really good idea why. I know, all my loyal readers, your hands must be shaking from your KnittaPleez withdrawals, but here is your long awaited fix. Well, Ma had been gone about a week on her vacation to Honduras to visit and be with some of the family that still live out there, when problems arose. She started saying that she was feeling a little under the weather. With Ma's medical history, and the fact that she is on extensive steroid therapy, means that a cold could potentially make her very sick. So, I told her to see the local doctor and see what he says. She didn't head what I said, and soon became so sick that she had to be rushed to the mainland hospital. (We live on islands off the coast of Honduras) My brother started freaking out, and, admittedly did I, immediately bought a ticket for me out there. After fixing my passport, I hadn't been out there in over ten years, I was on my way. I boarded the plane from New Orleans' Louis Armstrong Airport at five in the morning, my eyes weren't even open and this is when I am at my funniest. Just before takeoff, a man sat next to me, dressed smartly in a blue suit with gold accents. After my mind caught up to what my eyes were seeing, I realized that he was a pilot. I leaned over and asked him, through my inert 'discomfort' of flying, "Are you a pilot?" "Yes," he replied. "Aren't you supposed to be in the front of the plane?" I meant this to be serious, but he laughed it off as a joke and replied with, "Yeah, you would think so huh?" After landing safely in Houston's George Bush Airport, yeah, I realize the irony of my vehement hate of our current Commander and Chief, I then boarded another plane to Honduras. The first five minutes were great, till the Captain gets on the intercom and says that we will be experiencing slight to medium turbulence. I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO FALL OUT OF THE SKY! For forty-five minutes my mouth moved in the mantra Aum Gan Ganapatye Namah for Ganesha. I japa-ed my little heart out till the plane leveled out and my throat could release it's hold on my stomach. After two hours we landed in San Pedro Sula, where I shrugged my way through customs and found my way to the other airline that would get me to La Ceiba. I would have japa-ed my way through this over crowded Sezna plane ride, but it was thankfully filled with pilots, going to the island of Roatan on business, I knew I would at least make that flight. When I finally made it to La Ceiba and to the DanToni Hospital that Ma was in, I found her reclining neatly in a hospital bed, sipping a glass of cold water, watching TV. She looked up at me and gave me one of her cool 'Hey's' and I swear every breath had left my lungs. I was expecting the worst, breathing machines, heart monitors, Tori Amos' Beekeeper playing in my head; "I have come with my Mustard Seed; I can not accept that she will be taken from me" After another night, the doctor said that it would be OK to let her out. By the next night we were relaxing on the Cays. It was so different, ninety-eight degrees and I soaked in every bit of it. My skin to it in and I felt like I was in heaven! Ma didn't really do much after that, but I spent three great days, spending quality time with family I hadn't seen in a decade and, more importantly, getting reacquainted with my secret lover, the hammock. Though the people were a little freaked out seeing me do a headstand during my yoga in the morning, they quickly took me in, telling me how fat I was. Oh, apparently being called fat out there right now is a compliment, meaning that I have an easy life and have the ability to put on weight. It made me want to sell off all my things and move out there, eat till I get so big they would have to bathe me with a garden hose and mop. I shivered at the thought and skipped lunch afterwards. :)~ Begrudgingly, Ma and I had to leave, and though the flights back were not as harrowing as my first trip, it was fun nonetheless.

Then, today, I go to the mailbox and find this:

Thanks so much Kristin!!! I LOVE it! And the yarn, Oh My Goddette! It is so soft and nummy, and the pattern, I LOVE Jarod Flood a.k.a Brooklyn Tweed! Wow, that was two 'loves' in the last two sentences. Anyway, thank you so much, I really do appreciate it. Well, I'm going to close this post, I think that it's been long enough, but I promise that there will be more, if I can stay in the country. :)

The King of All Cakes

2008-01-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

Listening to: Standing in the Way of Control by The Gossip

Reading: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Cupote

Knitting: Le Slouch Beret SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS PATTERN!

Ah, so much, so much. First of all, Kora is back! She and Jupiter are again living in the Bywater, looking for a new apartment after their brief, but long, sojourn to New York. She arrived last night and called me, I had no clue that she was even back, I kept asking were she was going to get an apartment at and she kept naming streets in Uptown New Orleans; confused I said, "Wow, they have street names just like ours up there!" After the cackles of laughter died away she said, "Stupid, I'm in the Bywater!" I felt like the commercials for V8 where the people thonk themselves on the head. So today, after I broke off my long affair with my bed, and a brief but sweet quickie with my cup of coffee and the Newspaper, we met up at Sound Cafe and talked and talked and talked. I brought my knitting, yet another beret, so that my hands wouldn't have the temptation of reaching over and grabbing her. After we left the coffee house we popped into Aiyazan's shop and I picked up the new Right Use of Will book, "Earth Spell: The Loss of Consciousness on Earth" I'm so excited to read the book, I just have to finish Original Cause II first. :(~ It still makes me angry. I spoke to Aiyazan about it and she said that it's rage, and that I should feel it and move it, but it's hard to do that and still have friends and people around you.

After I dropped Kora of home I went home and started in on making my first King Cake. For those who don't know what King Cakes are, they are a tradition down here in Louisiana to eat around Mardi Gras. herald back the days of the Twelfth Night Revelers and the pagan Roman Saturnalia, marking the true turn of the new year. The cake it made into a wheel, signifying the wheel of the year, and buried inside of it was a fava bean or gold coin. With the obstructions created by the Catholic Church, the bean or coin turned into a small baby, reminding everyone of the Baby Jesus' revelation to the Magi. But now, in New Orleans, it is sprinkled with colored granulated sugar, usually purple, green and gold, and devoured by hungry and... festive Mardi Gras goers. :)~ Though mine does not look quite as pretty as some of the others, but I think that it came out OK for my first try; tasted every bit as good. :)~ Oh, I just wanted to know that I have been getting these recipes from a cookbook that can be bought for $20 plus $5 s&h, it contains loads of recipes from those living in St. Bernard Parish and is invaluable if you too want to bring a bit of Creole to your kitchen. You can order it by emailing cookbook2007@cox.net. Unfortunately it was put together by the St. Bernard Republican Women, but I guess not all of them have to be bad huh? ;)~

Asasu Yemanya

2008-01-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well, my New Year's was a bit quiet, I would say. I ended up working till ten then had to go straight home and go to bed so I could get up at 2 a.m and bring Ma to the airport to catch a plane to Honduras. We got there, checked the suitcases, and found out that her passport was expired and that she couldn't go. She was on the threshold of tears because the rest of my cousins, to whom her safety in the Houston Airport I trusted to at least not leave her behind, were all getting in line to go to the terminal. Luckily, one of my first cousin's passport was also expired, giving Ma hope that she could make it there in one piece. The only other option was to have be catch a quick plane to Houston with her to make sure she got to her right plane, as Ma sometimes gets, what we like to call in the South, "turned around". Friday, though, will be her day to fly, and everything should be fine.

I have been busy making Yemanja a crown lately. Yemanja is the Patroness of the Seas, Mother of the the Orisha and Creatrix of the World. She is honored throughout Latin America, and, in Brazil, She is honored on New Year's Eve. We usually honor Her then too, though not this year as everyone had too much going on. I made the crown in homage to Her, and all of Her influence on my art. Brit, you should recognize the shells on this, it was part of the bead package you bartered with me. :)~ They made wonderful additions to this crown, I ended up getting the frame from Nibo, it was part of his Midsummer Night Mardi Gras costume, which looked strangely alluring. Speaking of Mardi Gras, it's going to be February 5th this year! I'm sure that I will be working, I worked for Mardi Gras last year, while everyone partied and drank the day away. Strangely enough though, people around here really don't go to Mardi Gras. Everyone I know sees it as a day to spend with the family, not the Bacchanal it is portrayed of as by the media. One thing that I REALLY do want to see this year is the Mardi Gras Indians. For all those who don't know what this is about, the Mardi Gras Indians are a mirror of the Parade Krewes. A Krewe, or Mardi Gras organization, is set up like royalty; King, Queen, Prince, Princess, etc, and are mainly invitational only, some places can be bought, but are very costly. The poor blacks of New Orleans wanted something of their own, something to give them the right to walk down the street and be looked upon, thus the Mardi Gras Indians were born. Set up like a tribe, and named as so, these Indians would parade themselves in gigantic headdresses and regalia, all handmade, every year it has to be something different. For any crafter, especially someone who beads, these costumes are mind-boggling! I know a man, Rev. Goat, who is a Big Chief in the Mardi Gras Indians, and also a real life Indian Chief, he is one of the most amazing men I have ever seen or had the pleasure to be around. Now this has made me want to put up a quick history to Mardi Gras, but it will have to be the next post, promise. :)~

As for knitting, I have just been OBSESSED with the Le Slouch beret pattern, resolute that I will be single-handedly be the flag ship of the Bring-the-Beret-Back Brigade. I want to see if I couldn't find something camouflage and make one for myself. :)~ I know that at some point I will have to put this pattern down, but I just like it a lot, and have practically learned it by heart. Anyone has any new suggestions?

Does Santa know how to knit?

2007-12-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, Krishna-mas is over and I have to admit that it was the best one yet. Everyone showed up at the house around two and just as we were pulling the cornbread out of the oven. My brother ended up making the fried turkey and the in-laws brought out some potato salad and cheese balls, I made artichoke and green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, cornbread, a gigantic salad, and tres leche cake. Everyone sat down to eat, and after a short prayer from Ma, we dug in, piling onto our plates spoonful after spoonful of food. Each glass filled with wine and the sound of forks to plate was amazing. Everyone really liked my artichoke and green bean casserole, so much so that I have to post it, it's an amazing recipe that really should be made at home.

Artichoke Green Bean Casserole

from Recipes to Remember: A Collection of Recipes of, by and for the People of St. Bernard Parish

2 cans artichoke hearts

1/2 can artichoke water

2 cans green beans

1 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

3 oz. olive oil

4 oz. Italian cheese

2 or 3 toes garlic (to taste) (I roasted mine)

(salt and pepper to taste)

(a couple pinches of basil to taste)

Gently mix all ingredients. Pour into a casserole dish and bake in a 350* oven for 30 minutes.

(I ended up putting more olive oil than that, but I really like olive oil and it gave me a reason to use more.)

With Krishna-mas over and Prometheus still down from Tampa, we decided that we would spend the night out, Prometheus, Meanad and I. We went to the best place we could think of to eat, Juan's Flying Burritos. Sitting down, shoving fantastic Mardi Gras Indians Tacos into my mouth, the cold outside became something to forget. After out stomachs full of great food and our hunger quieted for a second, we hopped into my car and drove down the Frenchman St to have a hookah. We sat on a Moroccan bench in a dimly lit Hookah Cafe sipping our cocktails and wine, and smoking a rose infused hookah smoke, amazing. Quickly, story after story of our exploits and adventures came out, tickling us till we realized that our sanctum had turned into a night club, the music so loud we had to scream to be heard. Back into the cold night we went, looking for a quiet place to have another cocktail and more conversation. After trying two or three more places and finding no good resting spot, we went back to St. Bernard. I dropped Meanad off home and Prometheus and I went to a local Diner and had some Cokes, talking about Florida and all the things we couldn't fit in on our phone conversations. After another hour there, we left to drop him off and ended up talking another hour on his back porch. It was great till I couldn't keep my eyes open. It was great, the time we spent together. It made me realize how much I miss Prometheus and the crazy things that comes out his mouth. Oh, and his INSANE, yet understandable, need for good service. :)~

You're a FASCIST!

2007-12-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

Nemesis and I at the Lutcher Bonfires.

My goodness, is it really two in the morning on Krishna-mas day?! I can hardly believe it. In a few hours, my brother, his new family, and his in-laws will be coming over here and eating the food that I prepared. I can only hope that it came out OK as I'm used to eating the things I make almost immediately after it cools enough not to scorch my mouth. I tell you, I didn't get this big buy letting my food cool off first. :)~ Tonight, after a long day of cooking and cleaning, the Hounfo and I went on our yearly excursion to Lutcher, Louisiana to watch the bonfires. Now, the Louisiana Bonfires are lit along the levee between Lutcher and Gramercy, both out-of-the-way cities that would normally be overlooked on one's way to Baton Rouge, but on Krishna-mas Eve, bonfires are lit to light the way for Papa Noel (a.k.a Santa Clause). Papa Noel in Louisiana is a Cajun man, dressed in dyed animal furs and his slay is pulled by alligators instead of reindeer. He is a big man, and there is no allusions to his drinking. Coming to our party destination I dived into the wine, which reminded me of the year before last when Kora brought her Saturnalian boyfriend/common-law husband, who was a raging alcoholic, to these gracious people's house. Saturn quickly drank TWO bottles of very expensive rum and criticized the food; who would know better than a chef, right? Stumbling back from the bonfires he sloppily made a drink to go and the whole way home yelled and screamed that I was a fascist and that I was the modern age Mussolini. Swiftly drinking my three glasses of wine to insulate me from the impending cold, I heard him in my head and couldn't stop myself from smiling. We walked to the bonfires and some of the other group popped fireworks, which didn't really excite me since the beauty was lost after the first couple pops. So, Nemesis and I sat close by this towering inferno, talking and chit chatting with the other people around there who were also from the party. After the fire wasn't enough to stave off the cold, Nemesis and I walked back to the party, where I had more wine, and tons of the best damn smoked blue cheese I have ever shoveled into my mouth.

After that was over and we were back into the warmth and comfort of the Bywater, we fed all the Petwo and blessed ourselves while German documentalist filmed us with what looked like the biggest cameras I have ever seen. They kept a prudists distance, making sure not to step a toe into our world for fear they may never return, and actually feel something others would call spirituality. Soon, La Serine swooped in, telling us all that the new year must start off clean. I took this as a cue to clean the Peristyle, which I had planed of doing before my ADD kicked in and I got sidetracked. Well, long day ahead, I still have to make the mashed potatoes and glaze the tres leche cake. Sigh, I hope this whole thing is worth it. :)~

Anything for the dollar collar!

2007-12-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

Listening to: "I shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley
Reading: "2012; Return of Quetzalcoatl" by Daniel Pinchbeck

Well, I went and opened an Etsy store!!! Right now it doesn't have much, but I plan on putting some more stuff on there. One of my on-line buddies suggested it after I was complaining that I didn't like paying every time I put something up on ebay. She said that Etsy was easier and cheaper, this was enough to sell me. It was one of those 'what-the-hell' moments. My spirit bottles got a lot of attention on ebay, but didn't sell, I'm hoping that they will fly away to someone's home where they can cause lovely chaos for them. :)~ Already the Freda bottle has been viewed fourteen times. Please go and check it out in the link, buy them both! :)~ I finished the beret pattern I was working for Mom. She seemed to like it, but didn't know why I had to keep taking pictures of her. Note to Self: Must invest in new models, this one is becoming dated. :)~ I now have to direct my attention to the baby blanket I have to make for my new nephew who will be arriving in February. Ethan Samuel, I think he's going to be filled with piss and vinegar, at least he'll fit in with the family. Gabe, my brother's step-son, is already getting a bit jealous as the due date draws near. Krishna-mas dinner is going to be over here, so that means I have much cooking to do. Adam is making the turkey, as I refuse to cook an animal anywhere in this house, and making the gravy, Eve will bring whatever she can with the baby inside, I'm making artichoke hearts and green bean casserole along with mashed potatoes and tres leche cake. I'm going to see if the in-laws can bring some baked macaroni and some other side. We went shopping for the ingredients today, the WalMart before any holiday is a dangerous place indeed. Well, my devoted readers, don't forget to click over to my Etsy store and see what I have pimped out!

One, for the money, Two, for the show

2007-12-20T21:53:00.000-08:00

Listening to: "La Negra Tiene Tambao" by Celia Cruz
Reading: "Wheels of Life" by Anodea Juthith
Knitting: Le Slouch fround on the internet

Well, this blog is slowly becoming a social commentary and all around life-blog as opposed to a knit blog, but oh well, I created this monster, I guess I have to go where It leads me. :)~ Today, as if the words 'conflict in New Orleans' were not already on the lips of Americans because of Katrina, they will surely be engravened on the Statue of Liberty now. Nothing more than a riot broke out today in front of the New Orleans Council Office due to the conflict regarding the St. Bernard Projects. If you haven't heard about this, here is the LINK, I figured I would link to something substantial, like CNN. :)~ Oh, don't forget to watch the video, because, like most of the world, the media controls our minds. Well, from what I can tell you, it all started before Katrina, when the people living in these Projects, subsidised housing, were complaining that their living conditions were not humanly. The City decided that they would re-do them, cleaning them up, and knocking most of them down to make what they like to call 'middle-income housing'. After Katrina, these abandoned and totally run-down buildings have not only become an eye-sore but an emblem of the 'old' city, the City that was broken beyond compare and couldn't be fixed. With the loads of money pouring in from the Federal Government, New Orleans' officials wants to re-vamp this city, make it the beacon it used to be, not the broken record it was. Not that I put much stock in the officials, but I do think that these houses need to go. They were built as a way of housing low-income families, but soon became the symbol of New Orleans' crime, birthing criminals and drug dealers. Ever since the Housing Authority has tried to close them, it has stirred up problems, emotions of, "Where am I going to live if you tear these down?" Fueled by idealistic college students, here to shape the world one gutted house at a time, it has become more than a sore subjects on the streets of NOLA, since Jena. And, what is more frustrating and enough to make me sigh with my head in my hands, this all happened because the council meeting room had filled to capacity! Amazing! But, I guess that any transformation has got to have birthing pains. This just reminds me of the American Indian saying that says that when Mother Earth is sick of us, She will shake us off like a dog does fleas.

Two Tamales to Go

2007-12-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

Well, it's tamale season in my house right now! This time of year Mom gets all her change she's saved up throughout the year and cashes it in, runs down to the local supermarket and buys all the ingrediants needed to make our tamales. Now, these are not just regular tamales. We are from Honduras, so our tamales are made without the corn husks, and is stuffed with yummy goodness and beautiful veggies. It seems like as the years go buy, and everyone's dietary restrictions or preferances changes the tamales, but they alwas come out tasteing extrodinary! All day yesterday Mom was in the kitchen, cooking the peas, rice, chicken (blah), and corn. The corn you can buy that makes the corn tortillas, you can pick it up at any supermarket, and make it into something that resembles grits, mixing into it oil (we used corn oil). Two pots of this is make, one with just corn, and whole corn thrown in for texture, and the other two cans of tomatoe paste was mixed in, along with onions and bell pepper and other seasoning. Once all the ingrediants are fixed, and laid out in front of you, there is a certain way to assemble it, here is a quick video I made, my voice is horrible, I know, and my camera SUCKS! Once you have all of them made and wrapped, you put them into a pot and boil them for about two hours and enjoy. I really like them because at the end you get about ten really screwy ones with just the odds and ends of what you have leaft, and your tired, and you just really want to stop, everyone wishes not to get these, but I love seeing their faces when they do. :)~

Being broke is what the Season's about?

2007-12-09T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, the Krishna-mas tree and decorations are up! Hoary! Or, should it be Hare? heeheehee Mom has been bothering me to get a picture of the tree and the dog eating a bone, so I hope that these satisfy her, even for a week or two. Though this Krishna-mas was jilted buy one big interruption, I'm sure that we have bounce back in good stride. I have decided that I will indeed change Krishna-mas each year, though it makes me feel like I'm flip-flopping from side to side. I was laying in bed reading Tau Malachi's book "St. Mary Magdalene: The Gnostic Tradition of the Holy Bride" and decided what a great idea it would be to have Christmas be celebrated as a day of Mary Magdalene?! Suddenly, I shot up in bed and thought, Mary Magdalenemas!!!!! My mind started racing, everything could be red, red bows on the tree, I could buy clear ornaments and fill them with rose petals, or red potpourri, I could buy a red dressed angel and put it on the top of the tree and have red ribbon coming down the tree from underneath her dress! My God, the possibilities! :)~ The thought make me shiver inside! Magdalene, Gnostically, has been seen as the Divine Female incarnate. That she and Jesus were actually married and produced a tree of offspring. She is known though, as a whore in the bible, a woman Jesus gave is famous, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," speech. She is also thought to be the woman Jesus cast seven demons out of. Seeing her as a whore, to me, means what it would mean in today's standards, that she was a woman who loved sex and sexuality, and wasn't afraid of expressing it. And, if we learned anything from Alfred Kinsey, we know that this is not only a precious, but coveted thing. The presents can be sinfully delicious, causing the person excitement and encouraging beauty. Maybe other will want to do this? Let me know what you think, I would love to hear if you like it, if you don't, if you are going to bring Magdalenemas into your own homes.

On a better note, I made cookies today! I was itching to make these butterscotch cookies I saw on Martha Stewart, who I think is pure Evil, but the kind of Evil you just want to lick off your fingers till all taste is gone and you're left with only a rash. So, naturally, I love her. :)~ My cookies came out so good, I want to share them with everyone:

Schrafts's Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:

14 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp.

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 Tablespoons nonfat dry milk

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups ap flour

1/2 teaspoon baking SODA

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup finely chopped pecans

*Note: I used margarine instead of butter, egg substitute instead of the real egg, imitation vanilla instead of pure, and slivered almonds instead of pecans, and added a capful of rum, I think cooking should be fun. :)~ *

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 375*. Line a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick making mat.

2.) In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, add the egg, dry milk and vanilla.

3.) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking SODA, and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter. Fold in the pecans.

4.) Drop heaping teaspoons of batter onto prepared sheet about two inches apart. Lightly flour your fingers and press each piece of batter into a three inch circle.

5.) Transfer to oven and bake until lightly browned, about eight to ten minutes. Let cool and enjoy.

Naturally, I didn't have a mixer, so my arm and a nice strong flat spoon did the trick. My batter came out a bit wet, I guess because of the egg substitute, but I think they came out just fine. I could have used the Splenda Brown Sugar instead of real, but I figure, if I'm not using most of the real ingredients, the least I can do is use the real sugar. Do try these out, I ate two with a glass of milk and felt rather nostalgic doing so. :)~

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2007-11-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, so, some explaining is in hand about Krishna-mas. Krishna-mas is what I celebrate instead of Christmas, prompted by 'Keep Christ in Christmas' bumper stickers that seemed to be so popular last year, I decided that I really didn't like Christmas. I have often said that me and Jesus are in couple's counseling. I have been working on my issues with him and his connection with God and, more importantly, his followers and the disgusting acts they do in his name. I have made real progress with them, seeing Jesus as what I like to call 'girlie Jesus' really helps, here is an example of that. He seems non-threatening and definitely doesn't have that hanging-from-the-cross look. But, with getting more into yoga and just the path of hopeful enlightenment, I learned that Krishna and Jesus have loads in common. They are both incarnations of the God of Love and Kindness, they were both sent into this world to save mankind, they were both born in less than fitting surroundings, hidden from murderous eyes, then transported of to be brought up by herders (Krishna with cows, and Jesus with sheep), they were both connected with strong women (Radha and Mary Magdalene), and fought against the darkness and injustice, and these are just a few of the numerous connections they share. So, in the principal that same things are indeed same thing, even if they are different, I changed Christmas to Krishna-mas. On this date, all gifts given must be for the purpose of love and sheer bliss. They must inspire the person's soul, if only for one moment, to climb up that Kundalini ladder and reach it's astral hand up to it's Higher Self. Last year was the first Krishna-mas, and, originally, it was suppose to change year to year, to Kali-mas, Ganesha-mas, Rama-mas, Brahmas, but I enjoyed Krishna-mas so much that I decided to keep it. I started calling the Christmas before Katrina, the one that we had nothing up, no tree, decorations, gifts even, simply because we were all too tired and didn't seem like it would be worth it, Shiva-mas. :)~ So, as the season starts, Mom and I decided that we would spend my day off today shopping the crowded lanes of the Wal-Mart, buying the second to last bags of decorations for Krishna-mas. From a three dollar garland that I glued into a circle and some cheep ninety-four cent pointcetta flowers, this happened. It's going to stand out because the rest of the ornaments and decorations are either going to be in silver, white or blue, but I think the red is amazing! Oh, by the way, the Hurricane lamp in the middle of it was two dollars and forty-nine cents in the craft section, in the 'Holiday' section, the VERY SAME ones were almost double!

So, all that I have left to buy is some more light for outside and the lights for the Krishna-mas tree (teeheeheehee), which are going to be clear and BLUE!, I can start really decorating for Krishna-mas! Oh, I can't wait to put up the tree! This is so exciting!

The Right Use of Time

2007-11-22T00:24:00.000-08:00

Well, this time I have a very good excuse of not posting for a while, you see, my brother and I share the same Internet card, something that has been really useful down here in Katrina Ville since the storm. I basically use it when he is not. But, because of a recent war of words, he has not allowed me to use it, childish? I know. So, to take up the time that would be otherwise occupied by Ravelry and MySpace, and my blog, I have been crocheting, and reading. Reading a book that I have put down long time ago for the purpose that I didn't know till now, The Right Use of Will. For anyone, and by anyone I mean mostly everyone, who doesn't know about these books, KNOW! And, for the scant few that do know about these books, I'm on the 'red' book and it's absolutely blowing the back of my skull away! And, I love it! It's subtle tones of Kabbalah are phenomenal! I think about it during work and I shiver! I started reading this book probably about a year ago and it made me REALLY sick and very angry. I didn't know why it did, but it did. I didn't have a movement, that I knew of, but the anger that was coming up in me. I had to start re-reading the Bhagavad-Gita just to calm it down. Plus, I was like sick with double ear infections for almost a month! So, I sadly put the book down, knowing that maybe I was tring to move things that didn't really want to move yet. But now, now I have got it ready. And, when looking at the picture and wondering about the hair, it's 3 a.m. right now.

Wake up Maggie I think I got something to say to you!

2007-11-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since my last post and I want to get everyone up to speed while I get ready to go to Magda's baby shower. These baby showers are killing me by the way. I'm bringing my knitting to this one, since I know that some of the family is going to be there as Magda, who is the sister of one of my best friends, is pregnant with my third cousin's baby. It's been a strange string of coincidences involving the crossover of friends and family for the past couple of years. I think that since Katrina there's just not that many people to pick from anymore. :)~ And Lordette only knows that my family aren't leaving. Last night Ma and I went and bought most of the decorations for Krishna-mas this year. The tree is going to be decked out in blue and silver, with a gigantic silver star on the top. I'm so excited about it! This is going to be the first tree we've had in over two years, because the Christmas before Katrina (otherwise referred to as Shiva-mas) we didn't really feel like taking down the tree and putting everything up. So, late last night, we were stalking the Ilse of the Wal-Beast, gathering out booty of supplies, and promising others that we would be back to buy them when I get paid again. Ma wanted to buy the Nativity Scene, but I told her that we could, only if I painted the Baby blue, she didn't quite like the idea but I might just buy it an do it anyway. :)~ But, for right now the house is decked out for the Harvest. I took the garland from Demeter's shower and, not wanting to loose or throw it away, I got an idea. I ran down to JoAnne's and bought about a quarter of a yard of this beautiful dark red felt and decided that the table needed a runner. I pulled off all the leaves of the garland and hot glued them to the folded piece of felt, covering it in fall leaves. I think that it really came out awesome! Well, I have to go, I don't want to be late for Magda's baby shower. Oh, she's naming her little girl Delilah, ahhhh. :)~

Dia de los Muertos

2007-11-04T17:04:00.001-08:00

OMG I had SO much fun! All during the day I hung out with Demeter, we went to Metairie and went craft store shopping, tring to get some fall colored felt. By the time I went home, it was time to take a bath and get ready for Dia de los Muertos aka Day of the Dead. Traditionally, Day of the Dead is the day when it is believed that spirits of the recently departed can come back to this 'world' and visit with their loved ones. This train of thought has been present all over the world, in many different ways. In Europe it was Samhain or All Hallows Eve, for the Catholics, All Souls Day, in Italy it is celebrated as the Day for the Dead etc. By the time Demeter and I got there, everything was already set up and ready. It made me sad that I didn't help out with the decorations as much as I wanted to because of being sick and with Demeter down, but I guess my excuses aren't mending my self-inflicted wounds. As soon as everything started to air crackled with excitement. Of course, my voice gave out half way through, but I had expected that. Demeter, being pregnant and surrounded by a sea of people, had to keep leaving to get air and rest. People were dancing, moving as one entitiy, it seemed, breathing almost as one. And there, in that confined yet spacious surroundings, a comrodery happened. No one had to check their wallets to see if their stuff had been lifted. As soon as the Guedehs showed up, people had to clench their teeth to keep from screaming. People were moving and dancing in ways I had never seen. Their eyes were closed and half of themselves were somewhere else, somewhere better, somewhere peaceful, somewhere beautiful. As things came to a close and people could eat and ground themselves, Guedehs walking in between others, I pulled one of the Guedehs aside and brought Him to Demeter, "What should she name her baby?" I had asked. He takes a long drag from his cigar and lets the smoke tilt out of His mouth, almost pouring a liquid, but in the opposite direction and says, "You should name your child after an Angel. Learn how to SPELL it out." Demeter's eyes grew big with the new task, how to find a name of an Angel. After everyone had rested a bit, we made our way to the St. Vincent du Paul Cemetery on the corner of Piety and Claiborne. Standing in front we watch a marvelous woman do a fire puja, which was amazing, we honored our dead, calling out throughout the thin divide, fed them from the offerings given to Guedeh, and, for some, gained closure to our lives. Love Death, It loves you. Overall, the night was amazing, excluding the drama that happened at the very end. Demeter's husband got worried about her and was tring to call her but, having her phone off, couldn't get in touch with him, it was a bit ordeal that got resolved the next day. But, besides that, it was amazing, as it always is!

Demeter's Shower

2007-10-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

OMG the shower was fantastic! There was drama, but it was kept pretty much in control, and didn't happen till almost the end. I ended up waking up late, feeling sick and achy, but got dressed and gathered everything together and headed over to Meanad's house to get it ready for the shower. I got there around eleven or so and found it spotlessly clean. I started putting up all the decoration and fun stuff all over her house. I found that I really liked it, I was really enjoying myself. By the time Demeter showed up, most of the stuff was done, her first words when she walked in, "I'm going to cry you guys!" I really wanted to make this special for her, she really deserved it. All the food, made by me of course, was yummy, so they said about the cocktail weenies and ham/turkey sandwiches. Some of her family showed up, but most of her friends were there, forming around her a ring of love and beauty. The theme was harvest, the closest thing that Demeter could get to Halloween, her and I's favorite holiday. She beamed throughout the whole day, bouncing around giddy and happy. I just sat back, feeling kinda' like pooh, but it really made me feel better that things were really up to snuff for her. Her cake, which you can't really see in these photos, had three pumpkins on them bought from Winn-Dixie, a local supermarket, and it came out so awesome! I never thought that you could buy something like that from such a half-assed store! She got some super gifts, most of them baby clothes, but I figure that with this being her first kid, she will really want to get a whole baby wardrobe. I gave her three blankets, for different stages of the baby's life, some light up rubber duckies, some bath stuff, and a big doily that I made to fill the basket and use up some of the unused yarn I had. I hope that she loved her day as much as I enjoyed making it happen. I really did like that it was a collaboration though of Meanad, Demeter and myself. Here's the last pic I swear. Oh, there are more on my Myspace.

Ideas!

2007-10-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

OK, so I got this idea today about sending cards. While taking my morning...contemplation, hee, I realized that people really don't communicate anymore. We are conveniently hidden behind our computer screens, sending emotions through Ariel font. I have never received a true to life Christmas card, the one where someone gives a rundown on what happened to them for the year. I think it's because we, using the all-encompassing 'we' here, have become very focused on 'give me the info in as short a time as possible' mentality. Now, with coast to coast coverage, you can call someone and wish them a happy birthday without fear of a two hundred dollar phone bill. Now, you can even select an e-card, and send it to this person, knowing that they will only delete this phony ploy at friendship and walk around the whole day with the Hamster Song stuck in their heads. This is not what I like. We have become so guarded even e-mail addresses are kept secret, much less where someone physically lives. Can't this change? Can't we start with cards again?
This is why I've decided to start Cards Say Care. It's not anything big, and if you don't want to do anything, that's fine too, but I think that it brings something special to the table. Here are the rules, I will take five people, take their names, dates of birth, and physical address; I will send these five people cards for one year, I will make the deadline for entry December 31st 2007. These people do not have to respond back, they don't have to send a card back to me at all. But doing so would be nice. :)~ The five people should not be in my local area, if I can drive and drop it off by your house, don't send your name. :)~ Those five people should respond to me, sending their e-mail address so that I can get their information.

I will have this banner available for those who are interested in starting their own five.

Down with Demeter!

2007-10-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

She is finally in, here in St. Bernard! Demeter landed down this afternoon and I had never seen someone so happy to be back to the place of her origins as I saw in her. Or, could it have been the giant seeds swelling inside her. I used to think that pregnancy was something like Aliens, this foreign object, incubating itself inside another human only to rip itself out, screaming loudly. But now, seeing Demeter, my view has changed. I sighed, seeing the girl I had met so many years ago, someone who made me believe in reincarnation, the one who I could say I love like a piece of myself, full with motherhood.

On my way to pick up Meanad, I saw something that made me both sad and happy at the same time, something that shows that New Orleans is coming back, but exemplary to the mismanagement of our government officials, the homeless living under the I-10 overpass. I know, this must be something that others would surely say would be something they would turn their heads from, but I looked at them, laying on the streets, in the chilly evening air, their homes plotted out by blankets and shopping carts. I snapped this picture as I was nearing the corner of Claiborne Street and Canal Street.

But I marched on, picking up Meanad and headed out to Kenner to wait for Demeter's plane to arrive. Sitting in the airport, watching as people came and went, and wondered where they were going, where they had come from, where would they stop. I wanted to know, I wanted to ask each one of them, but the thought of Senater Craig kept running though my mind, and it made me want to go into the bathroom and start to tap my foot, just to see what the reaction would be. But alas, my A.D.D did not get the better of me. The banter between Meanad, Demeter and myself was beautiful as we waited for Demeter's luggage. I know that she would hate this picture being out on the web, but I really like it, the only thing that is really into focus is her belly, that cradle of life. She doesn't like what this pregnancy has been doing to her body, but I think she is gorgeous! If I were a better photographer, and she was up to it, I would put a wreath around her head and shoot a picture of her beneath a huge tree. We'll see how that works out, there may be some more pleading than I'm used to.

Then, on our way back to St. Bernard, we stopped at Juan's Flying Burritos and had the most amazing Mexican food that there will ever be! We all ordered tacos, I ordered a double plate, only bringing back one measly taco, stuffing the other five inside me till I thought I was going to puke! So much for tring to restrict my intake. :)~ But, I've been jogging, so I think it may be OK. I could only squeeze one picture out of both of them by this point. I don't know why Demeter looks Asian, but this is a great picture none the less.

And Never the Twain Shall Meet

2007-10-22T22:02:00.000-07:00

So many people thought today was a horrible day, but I thought otherwise. From late last night it stormed, and never stopped, not yet at least. At times it was harder than others, but all day there was at least a strong drizzle. It created swamps of backyards, and kept people inside their homes. Bad for them, great for me and my work day! It was rather slow at work, which made for happier people, laughs, jokes, it was fantastic. Everyone was amazed by my new haircut, I just think I have to watch the way I comb it, I thought I saw an Austrian Hitler staring back at me in the mirror this morning. :)~ And, the day was spent relatively in pain because my brother and I decided to go run last night. If running wasn't enough, my brother wanted to do stadiums, which made my legs feel like jell-o, and sometimes there just isn't enough room! As I was running one of the guys that I went to school with showed up as well, no doubt rehashing his better days at the local High School we both visited, and to which we were both jogging at. My heart sank, he was just as thin and svelte as he'd ever been! Now, I'm always in the mood to see someone whom I've gone to school with pack on the pounds and try and relive their glory days, like some 'Romy and Michelle' moment, but, I HATE it when that person is ME! After a few stretches he set off at a startling pace and passed my brother and I within minutes. My mind wondered, "Could I too be this way?" After a long soak in a hot Epsom bath my legs still ache, but it will not stop me from going tomorrow. I have to loose weight. I'm tired of being this way.

Also, tomorrow Demeter returns! Bursting with the Child Who Has Not Been Named, I don't know how she's flying. I plan on taking her out to Juan's Flying Burritos for dinner, as she's taking a late flight, and then maybe, if weather permits, a walk in the French Quarter to bring her back home. She says that for the two weeks she's going to be down here she's going to stay with her dad and her brother-in-laws, but I'm hoping that she stays with me for a couple of days. Her dad lives in a FEMA trailer and I don't know how she's going to like the fumes that's packed in those things. But, that's all up to her. I have everything planned out for her shower, all I have to do is go buy the food and make it, which shouldn't be too hard. Finger sandwiches and a fruit/veggie plate, livened up by some Semi-Homeade ideas should make everything sing!

I haven't been knitting lately because I've been really busy trying to make this flag that I plan on selling on e-bay. Last post I was too sore to post a picture, not so now:

I've only gotten Her tail done, barely, but it's still a work in progress. I'm noting going to cover up the paisley pattern behind it, I do like it. I hope that it sells.

The body was strong, but the will was weak

2007-10-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

This morning my brother and I went jogging at the Battlefield, and I felt really put off. I thought I would surely have this one in the bag, being that I would go jogging like three times a week, but I didn't. :)~ Because of the bloodsuckers at the Wal-Beast, I have been working WAY too damn much to even think about doing anything more than watching TV when I get home. The other day I worked TWO 10 hour shifts back to back, I thought I was going to drop out! All in the name of the dollar bill. But, today, on my day off, I decided that I really need to get my fat ass on shape. My brother is on some self-concocted Atkin's-esk diet that he has said he lost ten pounds already on. But, being that I do not consume the animal carcass, this can not apply for me. :)~ So, I've just decided that I'm going to have to edit my consummation, and increase my exertion. I don't know if it's going to work, but running really makes me feel good, and I guess it couldn't hurt me either. But, today, my brother put me to shame. I figure he did about a half a mile more than me, but my lungs just couldn't deal with the temperature change that happened, literally, over night.
I haven't really been knitting, simply because I've just been so tired that I really didn't want anything that involved. This sweater I'm supposed to be knitting is making me go CRAZY, but I just can't seem to pick it up. I did a couple of coasters and doilys, but nothing that I would be particularly proud of. Instead of knitting, I've decided to start another, smaller flag, devil's hands in all. I plan on selling it on e-bay when I'm through, if I had enough energy right now I would take a picture and post it, but alas, I do not! I'm going to take a bath and see about getting my hair cut because if I leave this mop for any longer, people will mistaken me for a sheep, and sheering don't really sound fun, although a scarf made of my own hair would be awesome, hmmmmm.

2007-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so basically, im not one for shameless promotions, but i figure that this is really cool, very grass roots, and, it may get me a free ball of yarn! So...where are the morals in that? Actually, y'all should go check it out, I'm pretty much a big fan of people who share my last name and knit, craft, crochet, or sew!

Knitting Jewelry

2007-10-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

So, I've been getting the itch to do something kniterish, but working on this sweater of mine is just getting too damn boring every single day, knitting one side, purling the other. So, on today's trek to Micheal's, I bought some supplies to make knitting jewelry. I'm going to make fancy knit markers and try and sell them on e-bay. I've made my first one, but I still need to play with them so that they will be just right. I also have to borrow my brother's camera, as mine is just too crappy to take something so small. :)~

Oh, by the way, I AM ON RAVELRY!!!! After waiting like two months, I finally got my invite today! I'm so excited! I still don't really have things together there yet, but I'm sure that it won't take me long as resourceful as I've become lately.

Demeter's baby shower is the 23rd and I am surprisingly calm. Now that we've got the invites out of the way, I can just think about what to do with the decorations I bought. We are going for the Halloween/Harvest theme. She wanted to do the full out Halloween theme, with bobbing for apples, painting her belly like a pumpkin, and fully costumes. I was thinking about making a cardboard pentacle, paint it with strange runes and hanging it from the wall, serving everything with 'tanis' root in it, and LOADS of dry ice, but she said that some of her older family were going to be there and I decided to tame it down a little. We did the invites using clip art and Microsoft Word and rubber stamps I found at Joanne's printed on fake parchment paper. The stamp in the middle reads 'cute as a pumpkin' and the inside is in orange and black in spooky font on a separate sheet of parchment and ripped to fit so that it gives some depth. Thanks to DIY Scrapbooking for all these totally great ideas and inspiration! I took a hole punch and made two holes on the front flap, threaded through some orange and black ribbon, and tied it in a bow, just to give it something cute too. Don't mind the Krishna lunchbox in the background, He's kind of my craft muse right now. :)~ I will work on getting some pics of my new stitch markers. Till then, back to RAVELRY!

Social Commentary

2007-10-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

Jeez, do I ever knit? Yes, actually I do. I finished my brother's hat, but didn't really come out as big as I wanted, so I dropped it off for his step-son Gabe to wear. While at SnB last night I cast on another hat for him and decided that I wouldn't go by the screwed up directions I wrote down. I got about half of it done when ten o'clock rolled around and the cafe we meet at kicked us out. Tonight we are supposed to be meeting at a bar somewhere in the CBD, but with working so much I don't know if I'm going to be able to go. :(~ I love knitting with the SnB group, they are just extremely funny and talented with the knitting needles. I still haven't sewn up the sides for this baby blanket, but I figure I have more time on that than really I do with the hat.

Well, to the real reason I am posting. With everything going on with Jena 6 in Northern Louisiana I have, admittedly, kept myself only half interested with this. But, coming home the other day I was listening to the local talk radio station 99.5 fm. The radio host was talking about the 'real' story about Jena 6. He was saying that the reporter that first broke the news of Jena 6 wasn't even from Louisiana, but had had his claim to fame destroying the life of a New York police officer. Apparently, according to this radio host, everything about Jena 6 were unconnected incidences strung together by this reporter, who had acted much like the modern media, and reported only half the story. Hearing this really got the wheels in my head turning, could this really happen in the 21st century?
I went to work with this in my head, wanting to know what was real and what was fake. So, I decided to ask the people that I know. One of the girls that I work with is the most amazing black woman that I know, single mother, five children, working hard for a living, to her I brought my query. "So, you've heard about everything that went on about the Jena 6 huh?" I asked, respecting the question with no meekish tone or mumbled words. "Yeah," she replied. "So, do you think that there really still is racism here?" The word 'racism' needed help coming off my tongue. Stoic and strong she turned her head and replied, "Yes." For argument's sake I pressed more into the subject, "Do you think that some of it is only perceived to be racism and is really something else?" "From what I've seen, perception wasn't even a part of it." I had almost stumbled on my feet. Living as immigrants my family has lived in a world apart from the American world. We took with us a bit of our land and laid it out in our homes and apartments, creating a portal with the door through which you could walk from here to Honduras with. I grew up with a healthy dose of Us vs. Them, but towards the ungrateful Americans around us, that had every opportunity we didn't growing up. That had choices my mother herself didn't have. But, race never played a part in this view, if anything it was social classe. I am dumbfounded to think that mentality such has racism and prejudgeisms still loom in people's minds and hearts. I quake to think that someone could hate because of color, black, white, yellow, purple or green. I thought that time would wear this away like sandpaper to wood, but I see it has only eroded the ground, creating a vault that grows deeper and deeper. How could this still be? How could it have survived? How can it be stopped? I truly wish someone would tell me.

A Knash to end all Knashs

2007-10-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I wanted to prove Kora's ideas that I can make a knash plate that would rival her own knash plates that she's made for me in the past, so...I decided that I would try it out. I had some half empty bags of knash supplies and so I decided that for supper I would make a knash plate that would have no constraints, no boundaries, with the only limit imposed is by the availability of what was left over in the bags. I had this gorgeous little crackers, TWO kinds of cheese, these strawberries that were just bursting, (they were almost erotic) and some dried fruit I had laying around from smaller, mediocre knash plates. Well, don't just take my words for this, look... It's a work of art isn't it? Needless to say, I didn't make it to my room before digging in. My dog was even salivating, making Pavlov look like a fool with a bell! I dove in with both hands, shoveling food into my mouth greedily, licking fingers, eating with my mouth open, and, sadly to say, using my canine teeth to dig remnants of this beautiful extravagance from under my nails. By the time that I was almost done, I had realized that I had made one grave omission, I had nothing to drink. No wine, oolong tea, or even my dark goddess Pepsi to wet my palate. So, springing up, I ran into the kitchen and made a quick, but strong pot of coffee with chicory and made a hasty cafe au lait to go with my meal. I happened to snap a quick photo while on my way back to my room to finish watching the last half hour of the new rendition of The Wicker Man with Nicolas Cage, which SUCKED by the way! In the end, I lay on my cold floor, enjoying the amazingly full feeling, and disappointed in the movie's promise to hold it's own to the original. I was filled with hope, hope that I could survive this winter without Kora, that, though she'll be missed, she will be with me every time I make a knash plate. And, if any of them are as good as this one was, I have nothing to worry about. Oh, for those who are wondering why I'm posting this when I should be writing about knitting; I'm still knitting the hooded baby blanket, all I have now is the hood, so I plan on finishing up the knitting tomorrow. I still have to figure out what the family's going to do for my Mom's birthday and then knit a hat for my other brother who's birthday is at the end of the month. WHY DOES ALL MY FAMILY HAVE THEIR BIRTHDAYS IN THE SAME MONTH! Don't they know what this does to a knitter obsessed with giving away the things he knits?! Anyway, I HAVE to take a bath now, yeah, it's no nice.

2007-10-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

As I sit here and drink my coffee and eat my pistolette and butter, I realize that Kora is actually leaving. Though Pluto came down and begged her to stay, she's going. Yesterday she officially moved out her apartment on Desire St. She called me to help her moved some last boxes over to our friends house where she's staying for now. She didn't want to walk it in the rain, which was beautiful yesterday! Afterwards we decided to get some coffee at the Sound Cafe near Poland Ave. We sat in the cafe, talking and chit chatting when I looked down into my Chai Latte and realized that this may be the last really talk we have. We are phenomenal with our talks, it's like we would hinge open each other's heads and riffle through the files and files of information and throw them in each other's faces like a lawyer making a point. She has been the catalyst for so much change in me, and yet I don't think I have done the same for her. Shaken by my realization, I voiced it immediately. "Who's going to make those gorgeous knash plates you make for me, who's going to make that beautiful lotus jasmine tea and serve it in your Chinese tea pot?" "Who's going to make some crazy cocktail and sit with me next to you space heater during winter and talk about the bullshit going on everywhere, then instantly decide to make our own currency and send it to Rob Brezney?" Then, out of nowhere, "This winter is not going to be the same without you." When I looked up at her she had got all misty eyed on me, but steeled her resolve on leaving. She knew I had to try, but the wheels were already turning, how could she stop them? I have her bed and desk, the prior of the two she lovingly calls her sex bed, and her apartment is gone, what would she do now if she decided to stay? As we sat there, staring at each other bug-eyed, I felt like we were brother and sister. But, strangely, that she was my little sister, and that I had to protect her from the hot and harsh land of New York. This wonderful person, who shared La Sirene with me, is leaving.

So, I dealt with the pain as only a knitter could, I went home and started to knit. I made my brother a hat for his birthday (which could be the only give I've ever given him for his birthday) and decided that now would be a good time to make that OTHER baby blanket for Demeter. It's super simple, basically a large washcloth with eyelets along the sides. here's my plans with my first pattern posted on this site.

CO 4 sts

K2, YO, knit to the end of the row.

Repeat this till you have a nice sized blanket.

K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit to the end of the row.

Decrease till there is four sts left on the needle.

Once there is four sts, start increasing again to make a hoodie.

BO loosely.

Seam up the sides of the hoodie to the blanket and weave in the ends.

I usually knit this in acrylic yarn so that it makes it easier to wash as the baby will defiantly dirty it up good. :)~ Here's the pic of it so far. I have made one of these before, but I'm using a different kind of yarn on this one, hopefully Demeter will like it. Well, I think that I'm ready for another cup of coffee...

2007-09-30T20:49:00.000-07:00

Marie Laveau and me, connecting. :)~
OK, so it seems like it's been forever since I blogged, but so many things have been happening it me, it's kind of hard to keep track of what the hell is going on around me. OK, I casted on the second half of my sweater vest and have been working on it in st st for a couple of days now. It's really coming along, I have at least about six inches of it done already. I'm kind of scared of the next directions of knitting the neck line and the arm holes, which I have never done before, I've only cheated with crochet and I really don't want to do this with my sweater. Then, something amazing happened to me this weekend, and if you don't know what happened, you will never know. We were all there, most of everyone that I really care about and love, and none that was barely even invited. But, even that didn't bother me. It made it real for me, because there is always that cousin that shows up to really important events that you really don't want to be there and was really close to when you were younger but now you've moved on your separate ways and is only there to try and ruin things and to get all the free booze they could get their hands on, yeah that kind. At first I was a bit disappointed by their appearance, but as the event rolled on they slid into the dark spaces of my hind sight till I didn't even know that they were there anymore. And, if you're reading this: do you know where your headscarf is? I would buy another one if I were you. HA! But, on a lighter note, a couple of my very best friends came down from North Carolina to visit me and to attend this very special event for me. I spent they weekend with them, driving around New Orleans and seeing all the weird places that no one gets to see without me as their tour guide. (I should start a business, or so they say.) We went to Marie Laveau's grave, which is like Mecca for Mariel, and she seemed in heaven walking around those tombs, collecting souvenirs here and there. Then, we ended up going to Par 3 restaurant so that they could all taste Po Boys. My heart swelled three times as big to see these lovely people from North Carolina make guttural noises over what is essentially a true New Orleans creation. I, at one point, sat back with my hand on my stomach watching Mariel shove an oyster Po Boy into her mouth, abandoning all of her southern gentility. I loved it. Miss E, at the head of the table, licking and smacking her fingers, getting every bit of gravy from her roast beef Po Boy, enjoying it like she would never eat again. My quasi-Italian heat leapt when Brid leaned back in her chair and just exhaled, tring to breath through the swell of her stomach. Hopefully they will share the pictures they took and everyone will understand what I'm talking about.

Mom's Modleing Now

2007-09-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

OK, I really have to find some models to wear the things that I knit. For right now, I have to forcibly enlist the help of my family. I finished my candleflame/vagjayjay scarf today. The three needle bind-off was a bit fumbly, and I did it on the public side, so you can clearly see the bind-off, but I still think it looks amazing. It's a pretty fast knit, even though it too me a while because I started the other half at SnB and got all confused trying to listen to the conversations around me (typical Leo) than what was happening between my needles. I love this scarf for my mom, and, when I told her what I thought they looked like, her face lit up, but only admonishment came out her mouth. I go by people's reactions not their words, she loved it, I know she did. I had to remind her not to look at the camera, but she responded better to the treats than my doggie did. :)~ One woman once described my mom as elegant, I think these pictures speak for themselves. And, for all you yarn-inclined, older, rich men out there, she's single! :)~ Though you must be able to spoil me at a moment's notice!

Swap Accomplished!

2007-09-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Score! I got my goodies in the mail yesterday! BohoKnitterChic sent me all these amazing goodies, with beads and polymer clay, and all sorts of jewelry goodies that I just fell in LOVE with! I can already hear another flag coming on, as soon as I finish this one for Azaka, that I haven't worked on in AGES. In amongst the beads were a couple of already made necklaces, one my mother took to be her own, hiding it away in her room to make her own creation out of it, and the other ones I have decided that I was going to scrap and make other things with them. Except one, this is a multi-strung necklace that is this incredible metallic brown color. I can not and will not break this one. It was so gorgeous that I decided I would enlist the help of my doggie to help model. Believe me, the pictures look OK, but it took many treats to get her to sit still and not look exactly AT the camera. I also accomplished my goals for today, going to the post office and sending MY measly NOLA gift off to BKC. I wanted to take pictures of me actually doing this, as proof of departure, but my mom didn't really want to deal with the craziness of taking pictures of me in the post-office. Although the lady behind the counter, I feel, would have definitely gone for taking a pic with me. I figure, if I took off work today, I would at least be able to send a small package in the mail. I took off because I just needed a break. The Wal-Beast is killing me! Everyone back there is in school, which arises its own feelings of inadequacies, but the manager hasn't hired more people, so that means that the people who don't have a life, like me, have to work twice as hard doing everyone else's workload. But, I really love the people that I work with, and usually enjoy going in to work, just sometimes I need to take some extra days off. And, the excuse I called in for what pretty legit, my mom was feeling under the weather today, but nothing to really worry about. Today was really great though, got to hang out with my mom and knit and do whatever I wanted to do. Tomorrow, my actual day off, I have been invited to a baby shower planning meeting for Demeter. Yeah, meeting, for the planning of a simple baby shower. Go figure. I wonder if I'm going to have to insist on Robert's Rules of Conduct during this thing? I was talking to Demeter today about it, and she seemed confident? about it. :)~ We'll just have to see. Till next time, same knit time, same knit station.

Trade/Swap

2007-09-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

I made a deal with BohoKnitterChic to send a care package of New Orleans in exchange for some beads and other jewelery stuff she had. About a week ago she sent me an email saying that hers were in the post, while I could not respond the same way. One night I came home to find all the boxes and containers containing my stuff cleaned and neatly stacked in my room. I ran into the living room and asked my mother in a pre-huff, "What did you do,"? She responded by telling me that she was sick of all my stuff cluttering around, mostly because I've been waiting for Kora to leave on her trip to New York, which btw, Pluto came back after being gone to Michigan for like two weeks, think about that one without rolling your eyes, to get her desk and bed before I started to organized my loads of stuff. But now, looking at my neatly collected boxes full of god-knows-what because my mother's idea of cleaning is to throw everything together, makes me sick. So, after having to go through all the boxes to collect the objects meant to be a gift and a representation of New Orleans, I have found all of them. I hope she likes it, I will try and pack them and ship them tomorrow or at least by the end of the week, sorry for being so late.

If Knitting you is wrong, I don't want to be right

2007-09-17T08:07:00.000-07:00

So, to further sidetrack myself from EVER finishing this sweater of mine, I decided that I would make a scarf, just something that was fun and easy, something that i could take to the SnB group and not have to think about inc and decs at all. With all of my searching, I found this really great scarf on one of the blogs I read. The Candleflame Scarf just stuck out at me, one because to how pretty it was, but also because of it's striking resemblance it has to a certain part of the female anatomy. Which I just think is AWESOME! Here are some pics I took of mine, I choose a black acrylic yarn I frogged from a scarf I was supposed to be knitting for someone else, but since they are not a part of my life anymore, I'm free to use my yarn as I deem fit. I'm thinking of naming it my Kali Mata Scarf.

CUBAN SHUFFLE!

2007-09-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

OK, if this doesn't piece together, remember that it's two o'clock in the morning right now. So, after work a couple of friends and I, who are all employed by the Wal-Beast, went out to eat at the IHOP. I know, sad, but true. Well, that went really great, group of friends from Chalmette all sitting in the IHOP being loud and pretty much obnoxious. Well, my friend Gaia then says that she was going the the Casino to meet up with someone else to hear a band play. Not wanting to end the night, I decided to tag myself along, know that the offer would not only be turned down, but actually be encouraged. We quickly leave the IHOP with all eyes on us, and head over to the Casino. We get there and, I swear to you, it must have been senior night! Every elderly person of the geriatric persuasion was there, boot scoot and boogian'. I made me feel bad, because I knew that there was some orderly someone getting chewed a new one because all his patients had snuck out the nursing home! Now, some of these ole timers would put me to SHAME on the dance floor, doing Latin disco moves that I could only look at in awe, but others, I could only swear that some of their moves were strokes, strokes I tell you! The band was ROCKING, playing the best of the '50's and '60's, nothing that I could dance to, and it was great to see so many people really enjoying themselves and putting their plastic hips to a real stress test. One old lady reminded me of Ellen Alberini Dow as Disco Dottie in the movie 54! Look it up, you'll laugh, I promise. Now that I'm home, I can work an inch or two more on my sweater neckline so that I can finally bind this thing off my needles and cast on the back because fall may soon be upon us.

I'll send an SSK to the world

2007-09-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

OK, so I promised that once I got my computer and camera were back to communicating I would post the pictures of my baby blanket. Well, after much counseling and rehab, I got them talking again. They are going to share custody of the children and the computer keeps the dog. Here are, finally, the pictures. Please excuse the messy bed.

Oh, by the way, can anyone guess what I was listening to when I was typing this in? Hint: the title gives it away.

Stitch 'n' Bitch

2007-09-13T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I participated in my first Stitch 'n' Bitch last night! It was really great sitting around and knitting with people who know the lingo and can actually help in your project. I mean, I hate to sound like a knitty snob, and would TOTALLY help someone who needs the help, but it just was great to remember that there are others out there who knit, and knit well. It was a little difficult to find the coffee house at first as I don't really go uptown that much, but once I did find it, and a parking spot, I had a great time. I brought my baby blanket that I've been working on and worked on it while everyone else knit. I really need to organize my brain to deal with conversations AND knitting/crocheting at the same time. What was so funny though is that for a couple of moments at a time the group would go silent. Not the comfortable silence old friends have, but just this dead silence. At first I was put off, thinking, "Wow, we have already lost anything to talk about?" but then, when I picked my head up from my crochet hook, I realized that everyone was knitting! The silence had come from the fact that everyone was concentrating on what they were doing on their needles! A gigantic grin came on my face at this! That's when I knew that I could come back, as much as they will let me. :)~ But, being in that environment really got me to put some serious time into my blanket and, consequently, finished it while I was there! That I would post pictures of, if my camera and computer weren't acting like retards and deciding not to get along!

Baby Gift for Katrina

2007-09-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

I guess that I can post this because I let slip to Demeter that I was making her a baby blanket, so not only is the word out, but he pictures will be out as well. I've been working on this for about a week now, it's kind of hard to do anything when your working 9 and 10 hour shifts being a licenced drug dealer. (I work for Walgreen's Pharmacy) It's amazing to me, in the terrifying way, how much this Parish has changed since Katrina. Those who are on anti-depressants are astonishing in number! Even two years down the line some people still have to drop a pill to make things OK. I was talking with Gaia the other day over coffee and she was saying that she believes that it will take upwards of five years to fully understand the affects of Katrina on the people on New Orleans and the out-stretched parishes. FIVE YEARS! We were confessing to one another how we are more sad now than when the storm hit. A scary, real, story is that one man, in his sixties I would put him, who comes into the pharmacy all the time, on the anniversary of Katrina, went into his attic, put a gun to his head, and pulled the trigger. His wife said that she didn't even know that he was upset. THIS is what the people down here are dealing with. THIS is why the local coroner never sleeps at night, between the over-doses and the suicides. And, THIS is why people who don't live down here have to support, in any way possible, the destruction of the Gulf Coast. We are still dealing with this, even if your not hearing it on the news anymore. I am not trying to downplay those who were devastated in Mississippi, but what happened in New Orleans was a man-made attack, not a natural one. Mississippi suffered REAL hurricane damage, New Orleans was failed by the system of protection, which was faulty as best. I told Nibo in the interview I had with him for his show, that people need to find real people down here to support, not going through Red Cross, or the nasty four-lettered F word, F.E.M.A. Try and support New Orleans people, her children are having a VERY hard time here.

But on to better things, a new baby, a seed of Manifestation is getting a blanket, here are the pics:

This is when i first started.

Now I am here, still have more to go, I haven't even blocked it yet.

2007-09-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Demeter found out that she is having a BOY! How exciting! It's so weird to see pictures of her pregnant and know that she is still, yet not still, the same girl I met the first day of sixth grade who turned around after the first twenty minutes and started talking to me like we were finishing a conversation started from the beginning of time. I actually hated making knitted baby stuff, but I know that this little boy will be spoiled by me so badly that my needles will always be working something up for him. I've started on a blanket for him, mainly an alteration on the granny square (crochet because I don't think my brain could understand working a sweater AND anything else at the same time). And, in Knit Simple Fall '07 issue there is a baby jumper that's ribbed, so I really like the look, and may make it once he gets older. I know that winters in Virginia get a bit chillier than the ones down here in New Orleans. And then, with my brother having a baby, no news on the sex of theirs yet, I feel like I'm going to be knitting baby stuff for a while yet. Uncle Gary, how weird is that? I have to make them call me something crazy like Toots or something...Uncle Toots. Or Uncle Tootie, I like that a lot. Hahahahaha Well, I just wanted to sneak a quick blog in there before I have to get going, off to see Halloween, I can't believe I am being dragged off to ANOTHER scary movie! If I am bored when I get home I'll let you know how it turns out, or what I see through the cracks of my fingers or what I hear through my girlish screams. :)~

Demeter's Baby

2007-09-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Well, I found out yesterday that Demeter is having a boy! I almost can't believe it when I look at the ultrasound pictures she has on her MySpace. But, what makes it great is that I know EXACTLY what i'll be making her! There is a really cute knitted pullover and hat in the Fall '07 edition of Knit Simple that I have been itching to make, so now, I have the perfect excuse. AND, yesterday night when I was talking to her, she said that the baby room theme will be Safari, which makes me scream because there is a pattern in the Happy Hooker book by Debbie Stoler that has a crochet pattern for a baby aftgan that has monkeys on the front! OH! AND, Demeter says that she could not find the little mittens that they put on the baby's hands so that they won't scratch themselves, I can SO make these! I'm so knit happy right now, I'm bursting with knitdriniline. :)~ Ah, so many knitting/crocheting, so little time! I have finished the left shoulder on my own sweater, and last night I joined the new yarn for the right side. I HATE working both at separate times! I mostly like the patterns that has working them at the same time, saves me the headache. The picture kind of sucks, but it's seven o'clock in the morning, and so the light may night be at it's best. :)~ Yes, seven, I share your surprise at the hour. I fell asleep last night very early, I dare say before ten, on the couch and woke up about an hour ago not able to go back to bed. So, I decided to get some junk food, McDonald's, and knit for a little bit, or at least blog about it. I was listening to NPR news the other day about Seneter Craig! OMG, that was the funniest thing I have EVER heard in my whole life! Who needs soap operas when you have the U.S politics!

2007-08-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

I've been in kind of a knitting shlump lately. I don't know why. For the past couple of days i haven't knitted a thing on my cabled sweater vest. But last night, around 1:30 a.m it just hit me, KNIT! So, groggy eyed and tired, I started to knit again. I was knitting while watching Big Love on HBO, which i think is the most perposterous sow ever invented. It reminds me of Dynasty meets polygamy. Or Passions in Salt Lake City. heeheehee But, I got most of the left shoulder worked out, had to put it down when i was knodding out as Big Love was just not as entertaining as I had hoped. Nibo is on his way now to interview me for his how. I'll have to get the specifics and post them up here for everyone to hear. He is a DJ at WWOZ which is a local radio station here in New Orleans that plays Jazz and Heritage music. The Jazz part is great, but sometimes the Heritage part's a bit tricky. One time i tuned in and heard bagpipes, I quickly turned the station. So, as Nibo is on his way over, i seriously have to clean this pig sty and spary some air freshener.

Gracias

2007-08-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

OMG these couple of days have been so fun, and so chaotic at the same time. Gabe's birthday party was, well, a kid's birthday party. Nothing extraordinary can be said about it, if you've been to one kid's party, you've pretty much been to all of them. Except the fact that, I don't really deal well with children, and being there only made me realize in a very concrete manor, that I am just not appropriate around impressionable minds. I mostly knit, which totally amazed the grown-ups there. One lady even told me that she admired me for knitting, I didn't think that crafting could be admirable, but I LOVE that this woman thought so! :)~ Then, later on that night I went out with Meanad and the Wyrd Sisters. Which was fun, don't get me wrong, but it's just that the night started SO late, I was ready to go home by the time everyone was ready to go out. As I sat at the Bourbon Pub, surrounded by sisters, I just kept thinking about my knitting calling me at home. And, as the night wore on, I couldn't stop thinking of my bed calling me from home. By the time that Meanad and I had decided to leave, drama, trauma, hugs and kisses had happened, some of which i have on video, though not appropriate for the Internet, or at least my blog. So on we walked, Meanad, I, and one of the Wyrd Sisters, Tabitha. Those two were so cocktailed, it was hard to keep them in line. One was trying to urinate in public, the other was trying to break into cars, ahhh, the heady nights in New Orleans. :)~ I woke up in just enough time to get out of bed and get to work without being SO late this morning, but I had a great time. Then, today, after work and my jog, yes, I'm still jogging, Meanad and I went to the movies to see Mr. Bean's Holiday. OMG I have never laughed at a movie in all of my life! It's been really awesome getting to hang out more with Meanad. She's a really amazing person, though i don't think that she knows it, just yet. AND, Demeter called me and told me that she and her husband are thinking about moving back! You can not understand how happy that makes me! Ahhh, anyway, it's getting late and i have to get some sleep...

2007-08-24T22:44:00.000-07:00

Illustration my Steve Bell

In a couple of days it will be the second anniversary of Katrina. Wow, it just completely amazes me that so much has happened between that time and now. And, what is worse, is how much has not changed within that time frame. Nibo called me today and asked if I would do an interview for his radio show on Tuesday night. I agreed, but I don't really know what I'm getting myself in to. Can i face the berade he's going to give me? He told me that my story was interesting, what story? Interesting? Am I ready to have my horrible voice out there, floating around in space and ether for people to knit pick? ! (I still can't get away from the knitting jokes!) Ah (sigh) we'll see. He filmed going through my house after Katrina, and was absolutely amazed by the destruction, but i guess that this is what happens. Hopefully someone will hear it, and know that I'm not just some boy from St. Bernard, but that I'm someone out there, trying to understand and live in a world that's new to me since this storm. I hadn't even realized that the 29Th will make the anniversary. Two years... my G-d.

Tomorrow is Gabe's birthday, and I'm very excited to give him his new sweater. I have to make a little card for his mom explaining to her what it's made out of, and how to take care of it. Oh, and, being so ashamed of my lack of knitelligence, I went out and found out what Merino was: Everything You Want To Know About Merino. Interesting, isn't it. :)~ I will remind myself not to Google something anymore. It kinda' takes all the pomp and pageantry out of it, makes it more everyday. I don't like that.

Oh, Ive thought of some names that I could call the idea that I had about using knitting to help people cope with what is going on with their lives, here is just two Stitching Sanity and Katrina Knits. I think the first one is more telling, but the other one has a good look on paper. I'm going to try and get some more thought up and throw them out there, just seeing what kind of feedback i can get.

2007-08-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, i'll try and type while im so stuffed. :)~ Now, I know that this is supposed to be a knitting blog, but, let's face it, stuff happens between stiches, so here is some other stuff. :)~ I made this AMAZING vegan chilli tonight! OMG I could have eaten the whole pot of it! Here's the Recipie that I got from one of the other blogs that I am totally obsessed about. I substuted the salsa for BBQ sause and ended up adding some Hot Chili Oil and Soy Sause to it just to enlived it. Oh, it was better than a mouthgaizm, it was a pallet pleaseing flavor fuck-fest! Everyone should try this, yes, it will make your co-workers sorry that they were EVER in the elevator with you, BUT, you will have the best left-over lunch you have ever eaten. And for all you icky carnivores that actually dine on animal carcasses, i guess you can add meat to this. But, though this blog is not all about knitting, i have been working on something. I got the itch to make my own sweater vest after finishing Gabe's and i ended up REALLY likeing the color and texture of the yarn, which is moreno, totally don't know what that means. For mine, i wanted something more than a plain ole v-neck, so i went for this super-awesome pattern from Knit It Magazine Issue Spring '07. The pattern is simply titled 'Man's V-Neck Vest', poetry isn't it? I didn't think that I would be able to get the freaking cable down, but, so-far, i've only screwed up on the cable pattern once, and i don't think it's very noticable, can you see it? Nah, didn't think so. :)~ I only have like an inch and a half till i can start the neck and shoulders, the back is straight st st so, no fuss no muss with that. I went out today to get more yarn for the back and totally forgot that the LYS (Local Yarn Store) was closed on Mondays and Tuesday, so Mom and I ended up eating lunch at Juan's Flying Burrito's. MMMMM Juan's. The only thing that sucks is that the waitress, who Ma lovingly pointed out that the waitress was not so young as she seemed, insisted that i did NOT order the tacos (which I most certainly did) but instead ordered the burrito. Sigh. The fact that my order was wrong didn't bother me, to be honest, i forget what the hell i order by the time the waiter/ess walks away, but what happened to The Costomer Is Always Right? I mean, i know that at my job, doleing out perscription seditives and Mommies-Little-Helpers can get frustraiting, and some people try to wrip the system off, tring to get more than they should. But, in the food industry, things are/should be different. (This is a rant here if you haven't noticed) Sigh. This is just the icing on the cake of a long slew of really bad resteraunt endeavors i've had. So, anyway, knit knit knit knit knit, i've really been thinking of teaching knitting to releave stress. I have to come up with a spiffy name for it, something like Stitched TOGether, or... i don't know, something. Here is another pic of my sweater before i go. Still can't find where I screwed up can you? Jeez. :)~

2007-08-19T08:34:00.001-07:00

Wahe Guru Wahe Guru Wahe Wahe Wahe Guru!!!!!

2007-08-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

I did end up going to the beach, Maenad called me up last night and gave me no excuse not to leave those feelings behind and have a great day at the beach. So, I woke early, got everything ready, went to work and got some stuff to have a picnic, picked her up, and headed out. On the I-10 things went smooth, listening to music and chatting like we did when we all hung out. Not knowing exactly where we were going really gave us time to just drive, clear the way for relaxation and well-being. With a little less trouble than i've had before, we found the beach, driving through streets with nothing on them, knowing that this was the aftermath of the Storm, houses only dotted the horizons, promiseing us that this place too can come back. On the beach we laid our towels out and took in the sun, two white, pale, overweight people, but we loved it. I got WAY too burned, but it's ok, though i had a fittful sleep last night, I would not have changed it for the world. No knitting happened, sand EVERYWHERE, but it would have been really great to have the sweater im working on, my first cabled pattern that actually looks good, smell of the beach. But, oh well, it will just smell like something else. :)~

Wahe Guru

2007-08-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Well, tomorrow is my birthday. I know, 25! Sucks to be this old and have so much yet to do. My Maryja Lwa to Erzulie is comming up soon, end of the month! Jeez all this stuff is just flying at me and I can't seem to dodge it, especially when i'm setting dates and times. I'm so nervous about Dean! I don't know what the hell is going on sometimes. Kora is leaving for New York, made the decicion YESTERDAY! Aiyzan is in Australia and then to Bali and Miramar, no clue here people, no clue. Oh, so yeah, Kora is leaving. The one person that, I feel, is at my spiritual level, not saying that I am above or below someone, but that she is just there with me, is leaving to got to New York, college vacation she calls it, making her fortune elsewhere to come back and share the wealth. Personally, I feel like it's skipping out when the water gets hot. I love her like a sister, and would do anything for her, but I just feel like she is running away from her problems, not knowing that they will follow closer to her than bloodhounds. Then, she calls me tonight and says that she feels anti-social and that the trip to the beach tomorrow i had planed for my birthday would clash with this bought of anti-society she's feeling. I understand that Pluto has wripped her to shreads, and that she deosn't even know how torn she really is, but does this really have to be right now? jeez. I sound selfish, and i may just be, but i'll end up getting over it in like a couple of hours. :)~ Maenad and Vesta have suggested that they go, and i told Maenad that I would, but i don't know how 100% i am about that. Then, as if that wasn't enough to deal with, Hurricane Dean is like almost in the Gulf!!!!!! I keep running over and over in my head the mantra Aiyzan gave us at the Kundilini healing, "Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Wahe Wahe Guru!"

Finished!

2007-08-14T03:37:00.001-07:00

OMG i can't blieve i'm up at such a god-aweful time in the morning! I fell asleep on the couch and by the time i woke up, blew out the candles, un-made my bed, cut off the light, got the dog situated, I was wide awake. Now i'm dealing with the fact that my idea of surfing the web to tire me out, was not so planned out. So, since it's been a while since i last posted, i thought i would give an update on Gabe's (my brother's step-son) sweater. There are many imperfection with it, but they are both Muggles, my new term for those who do not know how to knit and cannot see your mistakes, so i'm not too worried. I am pretty sure I got the guage right, so so long as it fits, i'm more than ok with the outcome. :)~ I had to rip out the front like twice b/c i screwed up on where to put the color pattern, which i missed a line or two b/c i was watching the movie 300 at the same time and lost my place. :)~ But i really like what it ended with. The yarn is this wonderful peice of deliciousness by Cascade called Ireland from their Heathers collection, 100% Peruvian Merino wool that is not only beautiful, but really soft and nummy. Gabe's birthday is the 25th and so I have to wait till then to give it to him, which is hard for me b/c I am one of those people that want to give gifts early. I loved this yarn so much, that I started on my own v-neck sweater vest in the same color. (I had some left over) But mine is going to have a cable down the front. I'm only about three inches into it but will post a pic on my next blog entry. Well, that's my random peice of craziness.

2007-07-31T19:05:00.001-07:00

Well, not a lot has happened since my last post. I decided to postpone the whole Shawl Swap till later as some of the groups that I posted the idea on was less than encouraging. I STILL have not sent out my scarf, but only because I didn't really have the money to pay for the postage. But, since I sold 20 of my pins the other day, (that's a hundred dollars) I now have the money do send it out to Gabe. In the mean time I have started knitting a sweater vest for my brother's step-child (kinda') and it has been awesome. The picture kinda' sucks as it is like 9pm and my overhead light is really dim. The cable rib that is supposed to be at the bottom is not very good at all, in fact, i can't even tell it's cabled. But, this being the back, im hoping that the front one will be a bit better. I don't know how, but along the way in the cable pattern I picked up an extra stitch and that threw off everything by one, so, it looks wonky. But, the ever persistant knitter as I am, would not stop and decided that since these are Muggles (my new name for people who don't knit and so can' tell where the mistackes are) they won't know the different. I have to go back to the LYS and get some more green to finish it up. I keep thinking that it won't fit him, but I guess that i just have to trust my knitting, and if it really doesn't fit, ill give it to someone else who has a kid it fits. :)~ I went jogging today, it was GREAT! OMG half way through it started to rain and it was so refreahingto be jogging and having this great rain soak me. I was the only one out there so all my stupid mind-bugs (the part of your mind that hisses at you when your at the gym and someone thinner walks by) was completely quiet, it was wonderful. Well, im gonna get back to my Harry Potter, of which i am not finished yet (barf) and i think im gonna put all my knitting down for today. Adios for now.

2007-07-26T03:03:00.000-07:00

Well, im finally done the Scarf Swap scarf, which came out really awesome. I really like the easy-to-do-but-looks-fancy pattern that i will have to give later as my knitting buddy hasn't gotten it. I have to weave in the ends and i tried to block it, but it just wasn't happening, so hopefully Gabe won't mind. I fell asleep tonight reading Harry Potter (a trvisty I know) and ended up waking up at like four in the morning. So, now im wide awake, can't get back to sleep and don't have work till noon, so when it gets a bit more bright out, im gonna go for a quick run, really getting into this whole running business, and maybe that will fire me up for the rest of the day. I'm now looking for something new to knit, in between reading the Harry Potter, and tring to finish a flag for my friend Sky's Hounfo. I was thinking about something small, but yet a step into something more advanced, like the Boy's Banded Vest in the new issue of KnitSimple i picked up. It's got a cabled bottom and would be really great for a X-Mas gift for my brother's fiance's little boy Gabe. (Coincidental, I think not.) I was going to start on a dog bed for Sweetie, my black lab, but decided that she has my whole bed to sleep in and abhors sleeping on the floor, so the yarn may just go to waste, and that is a crime in my book. I was actually thinking about starting some sort of swap of my own. I was looking through my old knitting magazines, and saw something that really made me think would make a great swap, here is their web site Shawl Ministry I think that it would really be great to not only send something beautiful to someone, but something that could help and heal them as well. Any ideas? Anyone interested?

Knit Knit Knit, Run Run Run

2007-07-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Run Run

Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Knit Purl :)~

Ok, so, in a desperate attempt of like, loosing weight and getting back to being healthy me and Claire decided that we would start jogging. Jogging! So, we went to the Battlefield, as in the Battlefeild where the Battle of New Orleans was fought, and started to jog/walk really fast. I was really suprised at how far I can jog. OH! I got my scarf from the Scarf Swap!!!! Gabe, your a really great knitter and ive been tring to figure out this pattern ever since it got here. So, now I have to knit my little heart out b/c im almost done the scarf I am making for Gabe, but it's at that point where you only have like three more inches left to go, and you know you have to weave in all the ends and block it (oh GOD blocking!) But, im sure that i will have pleanty of time sitting waiting in the Medicare office while me and my mother try to make these people realized the certain evitablity of human health. She got the rejection letter from Medicaid today which sent me in a twenty minute tiraide about the whole governmental system, which I will not go into here. :)~ But after a good run and a nice hot shower, im able to see things a bit more clearly.

Im tring to requite some people to go out to Dallas, TX to see Tori Amos play, which I just know is going to like wripe a whole into my pocket so deep I may be hooking for money. (heeheehee, crochet humour!) But I love Tori, and she feels like she can't come down here, for some god-aweful reason. So, i've got to go to her. The Hurricane Ceremony was really cool, though what happened with the drummers really got me upset, what also ticked me off was Janus, standing right where she thinks her 'old' spot would be, and going up with the rest of the House to make offerings? What the hell was that all about?! But, I know that she's only doing it to get under my skin, no matter what she says to Sallie about wanting to reconnect with the Lwa, she's so transparent, like an empty bottle of cheap wine. :)~

2007-07-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting my blog, bad me, bad me. teeheeheehee. So, I finished the headband and couldn't find anyone to model it. The person I was going to give it to up and went on vacation without me having the time to be like, "Hey, this is yours, put it on and let me take a cool pic of it." So, I had to end up asking my mom to model it. She kept wondering why I was taking the pic from above and not like a conventional picture so im sure that she was a bit confused when I was standing over her with the camera. Old mommies are always fun. I have been working on this scarf for the scarfswap i'm in and it's been going great, I'm not going to be posting pics till it's done and well in the mail. Working the headband lace pattern has really given me some crazy ideas about maybe making a scarf out of this pattern, adding more stiches on the side and maybe a moss edge at the bottom. Some crab stich around the sides when it's done? I'm thinking about making scarfs for all the people I work with so that I don't get stuck on X-Mas time with, "Well, I got you something, you don't really need to get me anything." or have my bank account bounce from here to Timbucktoo from buying everyone preasents. All the girls can get the lace ones and all the boys, well, I don't know what the hell to make the boys, but im sure that im going to have to get something that's like camoflage because all the guys I work with hunt or fish, which I think is disgusting, so they may need something that will blend in. Maybe, in that case, I should make them floresent pink and attach some bells and jangles to them to scare off all the little helpless deer. :)~ I'm currently waiting for the movers to bring us our new kitchen table and living room set, Yay! I will be eating off a table instead of tring to balace my plate and cup on my lap while the dog tries to lick off the edges of the plate, which she thinks that anything on the edge belongs to her. :)~ A bad habit I have gotten used to sadly. My mom wants me to crochet her some doilies to go on the coffee table we are getting so that everything will look "pretty" so i'm off to find some pretty patterns on the vast sea of the internet.

2007-07-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I forgot the pic of the drapo and the link that I tried to make didn't work. I'm not about not giving other people their credit so ill have to try this another way. Here is the link to the pattern if anyone wants to try it. http://www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/web_projects/sum_06/Sweet_Somethings.pdf It was a bit tricky at first keeping all those YO and SSKs together, but it seems like it has been going good with me. I absolutely HATE charts and can never seem to read them, so I had to translate it on paper like an idiot. Which, of course took me like two hours at 3 a.m. But I hope everyone has fun with it the way I am. :)~

2007-07-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now is where I actually put knitting stuff on this damn blog. :)~ I have been working on a headband, in between reading the new Kim Harrison book, and think that I am almost done. I got the pattern from some other bloggers and decided that I haven't done lace in a while and should really brush off my lace skills. Here is where I got it from: I decided that since I didn't have the dpns at all that I would just improvise when it came down with the straps. Maybe crochet? I have no clue who i'm going to give it to, hopefully someone who will wear it. :)~ So, im also working on a beaded flag/drapo and i think that im getting really close to maybe getting all the sequins on there. I still have to take it off the stretcher add a back to it, thinking about some rustic 'quilted' square back, but I don't know how that's going to deal with the flap over it. Well, that's my projects for right now, on top of the scarf swap I signed up for, of which im TOTALLY excited about starting. Ahhh, so busy, have no life.

The Lovers

2007-07-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today's most unfortunate bad luck has forced me back to my Tarot deck and begged me to pull a card to see what new will be comming out. The Lovers. jeez! The card is ruled by the sign Gemini and lorded over by Mercury, who is in retrograde ending on the 10th, making communication all but impossible. It's also the first card in the deck to have TWO people in it, as opposed to one. This is the story of Creation, picturing Adam and Eve, standing next to the Tree with a Snake. Cain, of course, being the child of Eve and the Snake, not Eve and Adam. This card never means love, but choices, decisions, and even more questioning. Great. I have decided that I would make a baby blanket and some stuff for a baby shower that's comming up this weekend. I will have to post pictures of all.

Hurricane Season

2007-07-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about this new Hurrican 'Season' the other day and it really started to freak me out. I thought about all the friends I had gained b/c of Katrina, and all the friends that I had lost as well. I can't complain, things were bad, good, sucky, shoddy, strangling, lovely, spiritual, and disgusting. But, walking the dog, passing these carcasses for houses, it still gives me the creaps. I walk past this one on the corner from where I live, and for some reason I always look at that bottom number spray painted by the hand of some unwilling soldier forced to rummage through some person's personal items, sometimes with their bodies still floating around somewhere, and I could swear that I could feel someone looking at me, some vicious guardian watching my intentions to thier house. I learned to knit right after Katrina, as a way to pass the time inside a FEMA tube, but now i feel like I blosomed with it, and am making something that I thought up all by myself. It makes me wonder now, what will happen this new 'season'?