Don't Vote...

Actual Knitting on the Knitting Blog.

And now it's time for...

actual knitting! Wowzers.

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf , a pretty finished product, but one of the least engaging patterns for me, ever. Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Parsley, which I thought was okay, but am not itching to do again.

Size 3 needles, 2 skeins, and I actually wouldn't have minded if it were longer... as is, it's cute tied up in knots.


and now, more knitting!!

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts , another beautiful pattern that I found tedious... but I'm just not a colorwork kid. Yarn: Shibui Knits Sock in Wasabi and Peacock,

Thanks be to Joe for the pics. Hooray for knitwear on the knitting blog! ;)

Look! Fall!

and look Dan! i baked!



and yes, the dog is peeing. and yes, those are pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese icing. and yes, it's very yummy and autumny around here. Tomorrow: actual pictures of knitting on the "knitting" blog. :)

Fun in Patches

DSC_0111
Originally uploaded by glory8888@sbcglobal.net

yeah. we're awesome.

The Darker Days of Pollyanna

9-5-08
the man on couch corner wears his rings well
tightly clamped, he keeps them
around eyes i'll spare myself from meeting
as we pass
he is the last and first example
of what i may become in your absence
- resolve tucked snuggly in at the corners,
scars where opportunity no longer knocks -
to the dog, this man
with his layers of sweaters and regret
is a king
the prince of yesterday's garbage
the lord of all delightfully unholy things

again, not unlike you.

The city is a concentration of extremes: the rich with the poor, the sane with the lost, the very best and the very worst of what we are, or what we are capable of. Today I am witness to the clash of opposites... one man who fails to live up to my very smallest, most pessimistic hopes for humanity opposing another who far exceeds any strength or grace I am capable of. It's difficult to maintain perspective when moments like these occur... each man has his own story, neither of which I know. Each man has led a life that has steeled him for this confrontation, and who am I judge? Who am I to even have an opinion?

It's sad, though, plainly, to see someone rise above... someone who has faced ugliness so many unmentionable times that it is no longer worth acknowledging it. It's maturity, it's grace, it's the right thing to do, to rise above. But it sucks. It sucks that we have become the sort of jerks who make each other rise above our crap.
I wish we could see each other. We wander around so wrapped in our own egos we don't bother to connect, to notice, to care. How sad we are becoming.

You will walk past many people today. I hope you look them in the eye.

More love letters to Portland...

I love this city because it keeps me awake at night.

It's been a bit of a puzzle trying to find a job up here, but I'm still searching, still Starbucking... I met with the head of the Graduate English program at PSU to discuss my future. We are like minded and he was kind to me... I'm afraid of the years it will take, but not afraid of the choice to go back to school or the commitment to this place... I feel very much at home here.

It is good to have friends who live two blocks from my door, and good to walk to work at 4am, and good to take the dog window shopping on lazy afternoons. It is good to watch a thousand swifts zipper themselves into a chimney, and good to see the same faces on the same corners, and good to watch movies at the pub down the street in the middle of the night. It is good to feel fall descending, and good to litter the streets with posters and chalk messages and know they will reach the intended recipient. It is good to have a pattern... to walk a path into a concrete sidewalk, to follow in your own footsteps, to feel at home. It is good to be here.


i miss my family, but it is good to know that I can feel myself here, feel like myself here... to write my name on the sidewalk and know where I belong.

a week in revue...

So we had our Obama party last week to watch all the speechin'... a good time had by all. We also feel that McCain's choice of running mate is a cheap move on his part... honestly. Choosing someone BECAUSE they're a woman is just as sexist as NOT choosing someone because they're a woman. Anyhow, pictures:




(this is Dan and Mel's place, btw)











Caper braved the dog park for the first time in years, and despite never leaving my side for more than 15 seconds, he did well.






I've decided since moving here that we want to be the sort of people who shop at the farmer's market. Introducing:



Fruits and Vegetables!!! part of your complete breakfast.

and to combat all those vitamins and fiber and whatnot:



turns out the oven works. yumm.


love.