Unscheduled outage.

So I am listening to "Answer Me This" podcast. Julia introduced me and it is quite funny British trio that answer any questions listeners send in.

One thing they mentioned was Alderny Airport, where they have a knit-while-you-wait corner, and all knit squares are used to make blankets for charity.

I think this is a great idea but I think that it would drive me nuts. I would always wonder if my square was good enough. Or did it make it into a blanket? Did someone use it as a nappy for their baby? Did it get blown or thrown away? Does the custodian steal a few of these for personal use?

Did Miss Aguilera really call herself "X-tina" for awhile? Wow, I really am learning a lot from Answer Me This. I also am so super duper excited about this new book I got yesterday called Creepy Cute Crochet. I am halfway through a tiny Cthulhu already!

Also I found a really weird convergence of things relating to not wanting children -- some stuff on another podcast (kinky) some stuff on Ravelry (wierd!) and some other thing that I ran across through Stumble Upon or something. After reading these sites I was weirded out.

Some of these people are downright crazy about it. Now I totally support a person's choice to not have kids. I don't think they are weird for not wanting kids. A guy I work with had a vasectomy when he was quite young and has a bunch of cats he loves, and is about to get married and not have kids with his girlfriend, and I think it rocks. I don't even think they are weird for not wanting to hang out around kids or for wanting kids to behave in stores, etc. If I were them I would treat an unruly kid just like an unruly dog -- in fact I do.
But some of these people are really fruitcakes. I call bullshit on their stupid complaints. Yeah kids are dirty. So are dogs. So are lizards. So are cats. SO ARE ADULTS! Take a look at any "expose" about how gross hotel rooms are, public restrooms, etc. Little kids have the common cold and jelly, not Hepatitis and semen. So have fun pissing in the bar toilet, which hasn't been properly cleaned since the homeless dude bathed in there last week. Then worry about that woman sitting her kid on the counter. Think about it. Diapered baby ass = STD free.
Oh and the "children should be seen and not heard unless spoken to"? I will remember that next time you are prattering away about your period in the middle of Target you stupid cunt, or when your dog barks for four hours while you are banging that slag from the Pizza Hut, or when you try to serenade your true love at karaoke after six martinis. GAG.
I hate kids behind me at restaurants, I hate screaming babies in theatres and on airplanes -- EVERYONE DOES! EVEN PEOPLE WHO HAVE KIDS.
It is a big world with a lot of annoyances. Stand up for yourself. Tell people to get their screaming, dirty kid away from you. And then grow up and get a fucking clue that they are no more annoying than half the adults or dogs you will ever meet and a lot less lethal than either.

I also love how somehow these people think that kids are different today than "in their time". These douchebags are like 23. Which means that I babysat these pieces of shit and let me tell you what they were like: dirty shrieking bastards whose parents indulged them. Yeah, you.
So I support your choice to not have like or be around kids. Now shut the fuck up about it.


Whew. Sorry. I hate intolerance don't you?

I am a pest!

I bothered Kel for like an hour yesterday going around Kohl's saying "This is crochet." and "This is knit." about all the ass-crap handbags they had there.

Oh I also got this yesterday:



















That's right, bishes, the LG enV2. It is totally awesome. I love the 'read my texts without opening it' feature and how it makes Collapse look as good as it is on my computer! I love how it has a 4GB microSD! This thing is almost as good as my danga-dang iPod. Now don't be coming around asking for money because you think I am rich-- this was free with my 2yr upgrade plan.

Oh, i am also back on my meds so I will probably be nicer. Or less lethal at least. Alliteration!

Swap is AWESOME!

Okay I got both the packages from my SWAP partners! I am inundated with cool stuff:

Hailing from the northlands Minnesota, my World Wide Knit In Public Day (June 14th ya'll) swap partner, TwiNkQ, sent a great knitting bag she made herself, and some lovely yarn, knitting needles, and a CD with great music in addition to the patterns.

The bag as you can see, has a BEAR on it, and PIRATE-y skull and crossbones butttons!!!
















For the Mystery Theme Swap, my swap partner Hreow from Scotland sent a massive amount of yarn, of hemp, linen, and Blue Faced Leicester wool! Plus Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch!
















Also since the theme was Scotland, she included some beautiful books about Scotland, and the yarn appears to be all locally made.

So, swapping is totally worth it~
You give cool stuff and you get cool stuff!

Anxiety is an unusual thing.

I take some medication for anxiety. Yes, you goddamn hippies, I participate in better living through chemistry. If I don't, I hurt people.

Well through a long process of losing crap like I do sometimes (always paperwork, and the important stuff too. I put it where I will "always know where it is" and then forget.), I managed to lose the prescription my doctor wrote me a few months ago. I lost it because he wrote it a month early and so I put it somewhere and now I can't find the damn thing. My doctor will not write me a new one. So I have no meds.

How this affects you:

Well I am more grumpy. More angry. More likely to hate you on sight. I also have these mini-anxiety attacks -- I don't really know what else to call them. I don't freak out and go all crazy or pass out like Tony Soprano, or not at least so you would notice. In fact I could be having one AT ANY TIME and you would never know it. I might scowl more than usual.

My anxiety has gotten worse as I have gotten older, maybe because i have lost my youthful bravado and devil-may-care attitude. I think we all start to worry more about getting injured, about making a social or career blunder, about the consequences of our actions. Of course I will still do stupid crap often enough. My anxiety kicks in when I least expect it.

An example:
I went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which is in Colorado Springs of course. In their new Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit the have a large tower which is supposed to be similar to a Forest Service lookout tower. I am not afraid of heights. I go on water slides, roller coasters, the Space Needle, the Rims, the Colorado National Monument, etc. This day I climbed these stairs (made of that metal with holes in it -- but the molded kind not the pultruded kind), I felt a surge of adrenaline -- and not in a good way. (Actually is adrenaline ever good? Isn't endorphin = good, adrenaline = bad. Damn you A&P.) I was scred! What?! I am not scared of anything! But no, I was not scared per se, just having an anxiety attack. Why? Who the hell knows?

My advice to you: Keep away from me. No, really, and if you come close bring yarn, fishing tackle, or other awesome gifts with you. For your own sake, really.

Also, I do not think knitting helps unless it is very quiet and no one is distracting me.

Schmolitics.

NOTE: This is not to tell anyone who to support or vote for, but be forewarned I will be displaying my personal preference of Presidential candidate in the context of describing my experience at my State Democratic Convention. I also talk about my fellow gays disparagingly, and I use some foul language. Suck it up and deal.

So an uneventful drive to the Springs and a nice relaxing lunch at Chili's near the Team American World Arena where the convention will be held did not prepare us for the drama of the "Early registration." The misleading text in the delegate instructions reads "Arrive any time between 1 and 7 pm", which makes it sound like a casual stroll into the hotel, check in with a sweet-faced volunteer, get some buttons and other stuff, get out of there. Woo!

NO.

It turned out to be a frighteningly long line which I am guessing was about 4 or 5 miles from beginning to end. The wait was approximately 4 hours. Mostly it was "Vote for me as delegate." and "Here, have a button for this candidate -- who I know you support because of the 119 other buttons you have already." or "Where is the bathroom? Where is the check in? Is this really the line? How do we get to the restaurant?"
At one point they (clarification: "they" is whoever the heck is in charge of the event and the volunteers, which was apparently a half-deaf wood rat with an utter disregard for humanity, time management, and structure) decided to pull one congressional district out of the main line for special processing because that CD needed to be at their 4:00pm meeting on time.

The members of that CD left and of course the line moved quite rapidly forward. The gaggle of us that had been standing together chugged forward, happy for a change of scenery. As we moved past a seating area in the hotel lobby, two women got up from the cushy leather couch they were lounging on, strolled over in their prissy pseudo-dyke outfits and got in line in front of us.

I was stunned. I have never in the 24 hours since I was watching the line in front of Wash bar seen such brazen "line cutting". From adults participating in their political process no less.

I asked the women politely if they were with the woman ahead of us. They ignored me. So I touched the shoulder of the "leader" of the two (she was the leader because she had short spiky blondish hair and was actually wearing her jacket, the other was nondescript and draped her jacket over her arm -- just so you know the cues) and asked her again if they were with the woman in front of us. She said no, that they were just in line. I remarked that we had previously been right behind the woman in the cowboy hat and now suddenly we were not. The "lead bitch" said unironically "We were sitting on a sofa over there and we got up when we noticed the line was starting to move." I said "I can see that, but we have been waiting two hours in this line and you can't just come in here and stand in front of us." Lead Bitch said "Well fine, sweetheart, you just go ahead!" in her snottiest Bitch voice and PUSHED ME. Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaah. She said "I have severe arthritis in my back!" I said in my best AlphaNoYouDidNotJustTouchMeBitch voice "I Don't Give A FUCK About Your Arthritis, SWEETHEART. SHE (pointing to my partner) has arthritis in her neck. If you are so crippled you need to get a WHEELCHAIR. I don't give a SHIT but you are not cutting here." The OmegaTwat (I am assuming it was Lead Bitch's partner) decides to defend her mate and pipe up with her little yip of "She has arthritis in her neck too!" As if that was relevant to anything. I said " I still don't give a shit."

At this point Lead Bitch squawked some more about something which I totally ignored and they walked away TOWARD THE FRONT OF THE LINE! They were going to cut in front of someone closer the the front of the line! I was of course stating this observation as loudly as I could to the people who had been staring at us ever since I dropped the F-bomb in the middle of what should have been a civilized gathering. Once Lead Bitch and OmegaTwat realized every Democratic delegate in earshot was staring at them they petulantly stomped and huffed toward the back of the line, I am sure to cut in front of some 72 year-old lady or a war veteran with one leg and burn scars all over his body who had been waiting in line for hours NOT SITTING ON THEIR ASSES WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO SEND THEM AN ENGRAVED INVITATION TO THE POLITICAL PARTY.

Ah. That felt good.

So anyway, more "news":

Janet Napolitano will be at the convention tomorrow. And a Clinton staffer, not sure who -- can't remember the name.

So no Clinton or Obama.
Federico Pena is at the assembly tonight.

As of this writing, they are still convened.


WTF are they doing you ask? According to the Denver Post:
"The purpose of the Democratic state convention, which runs through Saturday, is to pick the final delegates to the national convention, firm up the party's platform, nominate congressional candidates and put Mark Udall on the ballot as the party's lone U.S. Senate candidate."
So there you go. I am not a delegate, just one of the supporters who polices the queuing of delegates. Oh, plus I bring Jolly Ranchers, chocolate, and cold Red Bull.
And I helped make this sign: (pic forthcoming)


Party on Democrats. On this day we rule the World Arena.

barack obama