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You Get What You Pay For

Like a really crappy President?

The sad truth is that as American consumers, those of us who didn't support Bush at the polls have been supporting him by patronizing corporations that do. An acquaintance (and director of the brilliant documentary, Tying The Knot) forwarded this list, culled from Political Moneyline.

From his email:

"I put together a list of businesses that gave oodles of money to Bush and the Republicans. What do you say we all stop giving them money to give to Bush? The next time you find yourself eating a Baja Fresh taco, getting some paint at Home Depot, pumping gas from Exxon or Mobil, or cuddling up at the Mariott, know that your hard-earned dollars are paying for fascist judges, unending war, regressive taxes, attacks on abortion and gay rights, a filthy environment and the erosion of civil liberties. I’m making a vow to go elsewhere with my dollars, will you join me?

Without the support of companies like the ones listed below, Bush would have been handed his pink slip. So maybe your next consumer choice won’t be as convenient or might be a little more expensive, but, as the right likes to remind us, Freedom isn’t Free . . . "

CORPORATIONS WHOSE POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS HELPED PUT BUSH BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Wendy’s International, the owner of Baja Fresh. 93% of Wendy’s political donations went to the Republicans. (They also own: Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, Tim Hortons (Canada), Cafe Express and Pasta Pomodor.)

Meadwestvaco (90% to the Republicans) : AT-A-GLANCE® (the handy calendars), Cambridge®, Columbian®, Five-Star® and Mead® products.

Mariott Hotels, $323K, 81% to Republicans

Holiday Inn, $38K, 71% to the Republicans

WalMart, $467K, 97% to the Republicans

K-Mart, $524K, 86% to the Republicans

McDonald's Corp., $197K, 86% to the Republicans

Home Depot, $298K, 89% to the Republicans

Target, $226K, 70% to the Republicans

Tricon Global Restaurants (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell,) $133K, 87% to the Republicans

Circuit City Stores, $261K, 95% to the Republicans

3M Co., $281K, 87% to the Republicans

Hallmark Cards, $319K, 92% to the Republicans

ExxonMobil 96% to the Republican

Amway, $391K, 100% to the Republicans

Kohler Co. (plumbing fixtures), $283K, 100% to the Republicans

B.F. Goodrich (tires), $215K, 97% to Republicans

Proctor & Gamble, $243K, 79% to Republicans

Coors, $174K, 92% to Republicans

Brown-Forman Corp. (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Bushmills, Korbel wines - as well as Lennox China, Dansk, Gorham Silver), $644K, 80% to Republicans

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (chicken), $366K, 100% to the Republicans

Outback Steakhouse Corp., (Carrabba's Italian Grill, Lee Roy Selmon's, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Bonefish Grill and Paul Lee’s Chinese Kitchen) $641K, 95% to the Republicans

Brinker International (Maggiano's, Brinker Cafe, Chili's, On the Border, Macaroni Grill, Crazymel's, Corner Baker, EatZis,) $242K, 83% to the Republicans

Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, Bahama Breeze), $121K, 89% Republican

Int'l Paper (90%) (Hammermill, Chamex, Chamequinho, Ballet, Pol, Rey, Duo, Great White, Jet Print Photo, Invent-It! , Beckett®, Brite Hue Strathmore®, Via®)

Stuffed

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday yesterday.  Ours was possibly the most pleasant, agita-free Thanksgiving I've ever spent with my parents (and grandmother, sister D. and sister D.'s girlfriend), possibly because the passive-aggressively homophobic sister J. and family were NOT in attendance.  Which made me realize how tense we all get when they ARE around, and we have to make with the 'don't ask, don't tell' crapola.  And everyone finally noticed how the Martian actually says things like 'please' and 'thank you' and 'bless you' and a myriad of other words conducive to polite interaction with other humans, which J's kids - who have several years on him - have yet to master.  Oh, there was all kinds of happy around our table - we even had a fairly lengthy discussion about the excellent book 'Nickel and Dimed' without my father anyone trying to argue why we don't need to raise the minimum wage.  Believe me, this is a minor miracle in itself.

A little while back I was making some noise about channeling my newfound obsession with appreciation for alpacas into donating one.  So I decided to stop buying yarn for three months, putting that money toward the donation.  The embarrassing thing is that my yarn budget for a single month is pretty close to what I'd need for the single alpaca.  Even though I've cheated a couple of times since the beginning of October, I'm still pretty close to my goal.  So I thought I'd get a jump on the holidays by donating these.  If perchance you're interested in getting a piece of this action, Wendy is collecting donations for a Knitting Basket, which is two llamas and two sheep.  Give your holiday karma a kick in the ass this year!

A couple of projects were started and finished in the last few days, in flagrant disregard of the holiday knitting I'm supposed to be doing.  Well, one at least is a birthday present for a friend and coworker.

I wish I could be as cool with the FO poses as Rachael, Em, or Iris, but whenever I try to model anything all I can come up with is something vaguely reminiscent of the National Portrait Gallery.  Pathetic.  Anyway, this is a design from Teva Durham's website.  I used Lion Brand Woolease Thick 'n' Quick - holding two strands together - and the whole thing probably took about an hour and a half.  The other quick finish item was a Kureyon item (colorway 95) that I'm calling Joe Hat, because...well, it's just so BASIC, like.

The scary thing is that this is the picture in which I looked the least insane.  Whatever.  I'm happy with the hat, really I am.

For The Record

Let it be noted that not only am I married to a Most Excellent guy whom I love dearly, he also has FABULOUS taste in music represented by a truly staggering knowledge of album minutia and a collection of CDs that covers several walls in our apartment. Truly, the only crush he should be concerned about is the one I've been nursing off and on for years for Jon Stewart.

And this starts me thinking about crushes in general, which I'm going to have to write about later when I have a bit more time. For now, I give you the pattern for:

THE GIDGET GAUNTLETS

Yarn used: Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann
1 skein Irish Moss, 1 skein Black
Fibre Content: 100% Highland Wool
Gauge: 19 st/4 inches 4.5 mm (US 7)
Yardage: 100 m (109 yards)
Size: 50g (1.75 oz) ball
Finished Length: 8.5 inches

I knit these in the round using the Magic Loop, and it took about half a skein of each color. Also, I have VERY small wrists and hands, so you might want to cast on 4-8 more stitches and add a few rows after the thumbhole if your hands aren't baby-sized like mine. This is my first attempt at writing up a pattern, so please bear with me.

MC=main color (black)
SC=secondary color (green)
KFB=increase by knitting into the front and back of the stitch
K2tog=decrease by knitting two stitches together

Using the long-tail cast on, CO 28 stitches
Rows 1-6 knit MC
Rows 7-12 knit SC
Rows 13-18 knit MC
Rows 19-24 SC
Row 25 Knit MC
Row 26 (MC) *K 6, KFB (repeat to end of row, 32 stitches)
Row 27-29 knit MC
Row 30 (MC) *K 7, KFB (repeat to end of row, 36 stitches)
Row 31-36 knit SC
Row 37 knit MC
Row 38 (MC) *K 8, KFB (repeat to end of row, 40 stitches)
Rows 39-42 knit MC
Row 43 knit SC

DIVIDE FOR THUMBHOLE

The thumbhole is created by knitting to the end of the row, then - instead of continuing to knit the next row, TURN and work back to the beginning. Then turn again, so that you're working flat. At the end of the thumbhole rows, simply rejoin and continue working in the round.

Row 44 (SC) K to end, turn
Row 45 (SC) P to end, turn
Row 46 (SC) K to end, turn
Row 47 (SC) P to end, turn
Row 48 (SC) K to end, turn
Row 49 (MC) P to end, turn
Row 50 (MC) K to end, turn
Row 51 (MC) P to end, turn
Row 52 (MC) K to end, turn
Row 53 (MC) P to end, turn
Row 54 (MC) K to end, turn
Row 55 (SC) P to end

REJOIN YOUR ROUND

Rows 56-60 knit SC
Rows 61-64 knit MC
Row 65 *K 8, K2tog (repeat to end of row, 36 stitches)
Row 66 knit MC
Bind off loosely

And one final note - - when did Bill Murray start looking like Mel Brooks?

Scary.

Is It Wrong

...to develop a mad, raging crush on someone you work with because of the music in their iTunes?

Please consider carefully, I'm practically one-quarter serious.

Out and In

My boss gave me a ride in to work today, and I've spent the extra hour VERY productively catching up on my blog reading and commenting. Seems only fair, since work's been so insane lately I haven't had a chance to read or comment as much as I'd like. Not that I do this at work (much) but I've been working at home too, or I'm coming home too burnt to do much more than knit a few rows of something or another and play with the Martian, who seems to have suddenly outgrown the need for sleep. Aren't toddlers SUPPOSED to go down for 10-12 hours a night? I'm starting to think this just (another) one of those rosy lies they tell us so we think we have something to look forward to after the rocky nights of infancy. I probably wouldn't mind him staying up until 10 - since he's cute and funny and generally a joy to be around - if he wouldn't pair it with waking up at 6am.

So anyway, here I am. This morning there's a lovely post by Juno on gay marriage, which got me all misty. Dunno, maybe I found it especially moving because my sister D. and her SO are coming to my parents' for Thanksgiving next week, which I'm not sure would be the case if our other sister J. and her family were going to be there. Long, complicated story - there's religion involved (theoretically), though it's more about simple prejudice and homophobia on J.'s husband's part, but even though D.'s been Out for years now, there's this infuriating 'unspoken' agreement that she not be 'obvious' about it in front of J. and her family, which means if D.'s SO shows up at a family gathering (understandably, she often doesn't) they sure as shit can't act like they're a couple. This drives me nutso, but D. had decided that this is the best way to handle the situation, and I'm trying to respect it. But it absolutely enrages me that we're all participating in this insane little charade that reinforces the idea that D. has no right to expect the same courtesy, respect and acceptance for the woman she loves that J. and I receive for our husbands. The sad thing is, it's all about J.'s kids. D. loves them dearly and is a wonderful aunt, and she's terrified that their parents would cut her off from them if she - I'm gagging on this - acted too gay.

Just writing about it now is pissing me off afresh.

Every time we have one of these little family get-togethers I'm tempted to light the fuse myself and launch what could be the mother of all interventions; then I think that wouldn't be right since it's D.'s issue, really; then I just feel like an accomplice to an injustice; then I usually just feel shitty.

Ain't familes just grand?

Pimps Up, Ho's In The Kitchen

When we were shooting in Utah a few weeks ago, we passed this diner on the road from St. George to Escalante and had to pull over just to get a picture of the sign. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to actually go in and sample the pie. Or the ho's.

It was decided that there must be some kind of local program designed to gradually reintroduce the city's prostitutes back into respectable, mainstream society by teaching them valuable homemaking skills such as how to make a light, flaky crust.

8 Crazy Nights

For those of you who have started panicking about the countdown to Xmas, I have no sympathy.  Nope, none whatsoever, and don'cha want to know why?  Imagine, if you will, that said holiday - rather than falling on the same day every year - acted like its Hebraic counterpart Chanukah and skittered all over the month of December like a gerbil on Crank.  Which means that some years it cozies up to Christmas on the far end of the calendar, and others - like, say, THIS year - it decides to spin the dreidel on December 8.

That's December.  Freaking.  8th.

I'm toast, and that's all there is to it.  No, I could give up sleeping, that would free my schedule up nicely for those 4 scarves, man's XL-sized vest and socks that I've committed to making.  Or I could just have myself committed.  At least the holiday lasts 8 days, so I could conceivably stagger the gifts, or just give them all on the very last night.  OK, that gives me until December 16 - not great, but I feel somewhat better now.  Somewhat.  Especially since I just remembered that I'm traveling for work that week, and have the legitimate excuse of being out of the country until the 12th.  Plus I'll have all that knitting time in the air...

My wonderful Amiga Misteriosa from the Knitty Secret Pal swap sent me a terrific final package, along with a card that just cracked me up.

You just don't see enough ducks in sequinned pink bikinis and matching bathing caps these days.  I'm realizing now that I set the card up sideways, but I'm feeling too lazy to restage it.  Plus, I want to get to the good stuff that's in the package.

I love Cascade yarns, and I've been wanting to try their Quattro for a while now.  And the color is fabulous, four shades of yummy purple.  And speaking of yummy, that little bag in the midde of the box contained a couple of delectable products from Susan's Garden - Almond Hand Lotion and Apricot Lemon Lip Balm - and this little sweetie:

You've been a great Pal - - thanks for everything, Amiga!

I finished the purple Polarspun baby blanket, but couldn't get all jacked up about taking a picture of a big rectangle, so it's going into the mail unphotographed.  I'm almost done with a pair of birthday gauntlets for a 12 year-old neighbor; my own pattern, which I'll post in a few days when I've had a chance to decipher my hastily scrawled notes.

I've been falling out of love with the cable cast-on, which is what I normally use, so just for laughs I started these off with the long-tail, and couldn't be more pleased with the results - it creates a much more flexible edge.  Yarn is Elann's newish Highland Wool, which I'm definitely ordering more of for a sweater - this stuff is amazingly soft (and cheap!)  Probably a top-down raglan, I'm not a fan of zippered cardis, which is the pattern they're using to showcase the yarn.

In general, the shell-shocked post-election feeling has faded a little, and in a way I'm sorry to see it go.  In a way, feeling really, really BAD is a terrific motivator for actually trying to change your situation, and I'm hoping that I don't lost touch with that completely; I don't want to just quietly ride out the next four years as my rights, quality of life, and general self-respect as an American gradually erode. 

Though I don't quite know what I'm going to do about it just yet.  That's part of the reason why I've been putting off posting for a while - I kept starting and stopping, hoping that I'd have a revelation, or come up with something conclusive like Kerstin did, with her new forum for the politically-minded, knitters or not.  Until I figure it out, I'm doing what I know is the very least I can do as a responsible citizen  - increase my knowledge and awareness of the issues...though that doesn't seem like ENOUGH, you know? 

But what REALLY pisses me off is the sense that I'm too late, and because of this election I've already fucked up irretrievably as far as the Martian is concerned, failing him in a basic and fundamental way.  As a mother, my first priority is to create an environment for my child that is safe.  And yet, when I look at the world today, nothing seems less certain to me than safety.   Yeah, that's what fills me - still - with a sick, helpless rage, and I still don't have a damn idea what I'm going to do about it.

Go, Canada

This is the seventh jurisdiction to determine that heterosexuality is not a requirement for legal wedlock.  You guys are an inspiration, honestly.

Saskatoon Court Approves Same-sex Marriage

I was finally able to get the Martian to hold still long enough to snap a picture of him in the Grover sweater.

I'm finishing up a baby blanket in the same Polarspun in purple, and then I've got a couple of lace projects lined up - - whether or not I can work lace on the bus and subway is yet to be determined, but I'm in love with the half-pi pattern, and the kit is a great deal from Rosie's Yarn Cellar.  Don't know them?  You should, they have a great selection of yarns, weekly sales and their project kits cannot be beat.  I went for the Merino Silk in red - which seems to have a whole new implication in light of the election.  And makes me wonder - are we headed for a Crips/Bloods type of color division in this country, where you declare yourself for or against the president by wearing red or blue? 

Brave New World

Thanks, America

As if the promise of Four More Years isn't enough to send your gut plummeting into your shoes:

All 11 ballot initiatives to ban gay marriage passed.

Efforts to make California's 3-strikes law less draconian failed.

Alaska decided not to legalize marijuana.

Florida passed a parental notification constitutional amendment for minors seeking abortions.

Medical marijuana failed in Oregon.*

*It was pointed out to me in yesterday's comments that:

"Measure 33 in Oregon was not against medicinal marijuana, it was for the creation of dispensaries in order to raise the amount of it people are allowed to have. It also opened up the medical records of those being prescribed medical marijuana to the government."

Sorry for the misinformation.