Odd Weather 1

This might be the first of a string of weather posts about unusual happenings around the world-floods, hurricanes earthquakes, and anything record-breaking or out of the ordinary. We're going to be seeing lots of this, so I might as well report!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17884961

Koala Emergencies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17869228 
NatGeo recently had a large article about this. Why oh why does the general population find out about these things so late?

Film

I love films. They are personal, but removed. You see other worlds, other countries, while going nowhere. They make you want to go places as well. You learn from mistakes without experiencing them yourself. You are shocked, terrified, overjoyed, all within 70 minutes.

Sunny Days (and cold too)

I'm glad that winter is still hanging in the air a bit. Today it is about 42 out, and chilly. The Dandelions are lovely. They always grow in places that need beauty-brick schools, in weeds bordering grocery stores, up through pavement and parking lots, around abandoned houses. Great bursts of yellow that soften any hard scene to the eye. I used to think they were called Dandylions, as in a lion who is dandy.

May

Haven't read all of this yet, but the ancient tradition of well-decorating has always interested me.  http://people.bath.ac.uk/liskmj/living-spring/sourcearchive/fs2/fs2rr1.htm

Losses vs. Gains

The loss of superstition is a sad one. Now that we've explored and poked our noses into every nook and cranny on earth, we pompously go where we want, do as we please, without fear of curses or mythical monsters or plagues. We need a bit more healthy ignorance, healthy unknown. When humans are no longer innately fearful of the dark, I will be terrified.

Sweater Progress

In an effort to make this blog more interesting, both to myself and others, I am going to start posting more pictures. So, without further ado, here are a few of a sweater I've been working on, from this pattern.

Sweater body 

I don't want to toot my own horn by putting these up. It is merely for the practical purpose of seeing my own progress and not getting discouraged by how much farther I have to go! And, yes, see above.

Since my waist is apparently not skinny enough for the
original sweater, I had to add lots of stitches.
I'm planning, a little late, on putting two 4 st cables
down the sides to match the sleeves. Don't ask how. 

Sleeve a week or so ago. My M1 increases are dismal at best,
but I actually kind of like how the little gaps look.
Which is good, because there are a lot of them. 

 I'm completely in TrudiB's (of Ravelry) debt regarding the wonderful pattern. It has worked very well. I've changed the chevrons to match John Watson's sweater a bit more, and made the under arm ribbing into chevrons and cables to match the rest of the pattern, but they weren't insanely difficult adjustments. And also thanks to my friend at Exsisto Vestri for finding the pattern in the first place. 
 Of course my first sweater had to be on size 5 needles. However, I regret nothing! The pattern is interesting enough to feel new all the time, and there are enough challenging little things to keep me busy. Someday I'll make a quick, easy cardigan, with no cables, on size 8 needles, but for now I'm happy. Every time I pick up the sweater, or try it on, it feels like someone's just been wearing it. When I first saw this Alpaca yarn I fell in love with it. I hear people saying these things and I'm like, "Ha, love at first sight. Buying the right yarn is the hardest thing in knitting." But I amend that. The only trouble was the price. A pound and a half of this stuff cost about 70 bucks. Luckily, my mum split the cost with me and will us the leftovers for something. Alpaca is hardly itchy at all.
It's kind of a fun challenge to see how many things you can do while you knit. I've been knitting in the car, during movies, walking around, and when we go to people's houses. This last always makes me wonder about the old days, when women would all get together and talk and drink tea and knit practical things like socks and jumpers and long underwear. The other day we went in town and my mum talked to her friends and it was great just sitting there listening. Sometimes it's remarkable how little you know about other people. Who they've known, the countries they've been to, their opinions on life.
It continues to amaze me that people can create a wearable, durable fabric out of one long piece of line.

Sleeve now. Sleeves are quite fast and  fun, especially when you get onto
 the tiny little circular needles. A fellow knitting colleague taught me
 how to knit on DPNs, and I stayed on those 'til the elbow. 

Thoughts on fellow human beings

Whenever this, or any, country decides it will be beneficial to start a war-for whatever reason-it always concentrates on the "enemy" nation as a whole, or picks one statement that sounds suspicious. Let me explain.
We say, "Iran threatens this," "Palestine is doing this," "President so-and-so said this." So what? That is not the general population of the country talking. That's just one figurehead, one news story perspective, one comment mistranslated or blown out of proportion. It isn't the face of the nation; the face of a nation lies in its people. How often do we see interviews with citizens on the street? Do we hear their opinions?
I don't like to believe that leaders choose to have wars; however, when economical, political, and now basic human needs are brought into the equation, it's automatically deemed as a must. The next large war, if we have one, God forbid, will be over drinkable water, food, or some other essential thing. Terrible events are already in motion in India and Bangladesh, where non-flooded land is ranked just as high as these two necessities.
Well, that's it for my daily rant.

Memento Dear Rooster

A fox killed our gorgeous rooster this morning. Now I see why ranchers in Wyoming are shooting wolves. But the fox must have been hungry to go after such a massive bird. As my mum said, the rooster was "everything a rooster ought to be." I feel a bit guilty for bad-mouthing him when he was alive. It was all in jest! Really he was a very good hen herder and protector, and I'l miss the crowing and strutting and the funny little gallop he had when he came running for food. So yes. To have or to have not, I suppose. On the one hand, having pets is wonderful, but on the other, if you get attached-which is a given-you're bound to experience tragedy at some point. Another sad part is that the hungry fox got nothing for all its hard work, and now has to go eat some other poor creature. Very possibly our now completely unprotected chickens.
Update: 2 more hens taken. Like Eagles, Foxes have certainly made a comeback in our area.

In a Better World

See this film. World

I'm very pleased that I was able to see Beorn in something before The Hobbit. He is an incredible actor. World exhausts all emotions. Mainly fear, anger, and sadness. But it's worth the risk.

yet another fashion post

Some amazing dresses from Alexander McQueen.

shell dress

chess dress

sea

Culloden

sarabande

Although the models terrify me, the expense disgusts me, and the outfits look incredibly uncomfortable, you can't deny that they are very inspired (and inspiring!)

Quote #12

"The power of imagination makes us infinite."~John Muir

To Life

Here's a spot of happy for your day.

More Bird and People Stories

Here are a few pictures from a recent trip to the Boston Chinatown area. The entrance to the bustling streets is guarded by large lions, and to the left of the arch is a small park. Every time I've been there, whether it is windy, or freezing cold, or mid-morning on a weekday, the park is always crowded with elderly and middle-aged Chinese checker playing men. It's wonderful. Here's the city, honking and fuming and roaring all around them, and they sit quietly, so entirely wrapped up in the game. The park smells like cigar smoke, and pastries from the little shop on the corner.

In the same park area is a little staggered row of what look like cut-out mountains, and each one has a picture of chickens on it. They tell a story.

First, there is a lone rooster crowing and strutting. Then a hen comes along, and they walk around together. Then there is another panel where they have a little chick, and then a few more. It's really very nice.

Quote #11

"What kind of a candle eez dis?!" ~Inspector Jacques Clouseau regarding a lit firework at a costume ball

Quote #10

"There mustn't be any more war. It disturbs too many people." ~old peasant woman

New Chickens!

Watching chickens is like watching a soap opera.

Picked up 26 new (born Friday!) Buff Orpingtons from the town Post Office on Monday.

The chick box at night is like a huge slumber party where two thirds of the kids have had too much ice cream, and the other third just wants to get to sleep.

A bunch of the birds will be napping soundly, and one rambunctious one will make a flying leap into their midst and disrupt them. Sometimes one will be standing there, and her little head will slowly rest on the ground, beak first. It's great to see them all sleepily swaying on their tiny legs. Their feet and heads are disproportionately (and adorably) much larger than their bodies. They yawn and stretch and make little flurried chirping sounds late into the night. The cats are fascinated, as am I!

These being my chicken thoughts the past few days. more later, hopefully with pictures!

Three films

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an immensely moving film. Thought provoking and fascinating, with a submersive, documentary-like style and hints of Amelie, you'll come away from it realising how important and under-appreciated every day, hour and moment really is. Directed by Julian Schnabel (Before Night Falls), the film follows post-stroke, comatose Jean Dominique Bauby, the once dashing, successful editor of "Elle" fashion magazine. Unable to communicate by speech, Bauby, played by Mathieu Amalric, manages to write his autobiography using a system of blinks. The film is ultimately one of hope, but also impresses upon the viewer that at any time something unexpected and disastrous could occur, so it is best to live each day as though it is the only one you have (....and off to England!)

We all need to be reminded of this once in a while. Go look at the stars.

The Class, about a tough, inner-Paris neighborhood high school, is a universal story about teacher and student relationships, discipline, and hardship. Featuring students who have never acted professionally, the film is gripping, even though 80% of it takes place in one location. Bursting with more energy than a normal classroom, there is no stagnancy, no pause, in the dialogue.

If you want to see an example of incredible animation, see Waltz with Bashir. If humans are ever going to pack it in and stop warring, they need to know what war does. The horrors of it seem to be a taboo subject on the news ("better not show those awful pictures, or we may just have an uprising on our hands"). Said Waltz's director Ari Folman, "War is like a very bad acid trip among other things" and something like "I don't like how Hollywood has movies about war, in which the message is 'war is terrible' and then there are soldiers whom kids look at and say 'I want to be that person.' No one looks at the men in my movie and says 'I want to be like them.'" If I can change the mind of one teenager about going to war, making this movie will have been worth it." Waltz with Bashir won best Foreign Language film at the Golden Globe Awards.