I Met Some Really Great Ladies Tonight…

I went to the Heart Link meeting in Leander tonight and met some really wonderful ladies.  I was a little worried about going at first.  I’ve been going non-stop and am feeling a bit drained from pushing myself with shows and volunteering for the school lately.  So when I walked into Keri’s house, I was feeling rather wilted, not very animated or out going.

I’ve known the hostess, Keri Byer, also founder of Austin Fairy Godmother Foundation, for a few years now.  And I met her friend Janis Jones who is helping her with Project Bling.  Keri’s always a gracious and awesome person.  And I met new people tonight as well.  Luckily, there was some awesome turkey chili from My Fit Foods for dinner.  That gave me some stamina and perked me up a bit.

I talked with Trish Beach for awhile about marketing and specifically marketing for artist types.  ‘Cuz it is different.  I’ve seen her site before, I know she’s helped Keri a lot and the two times I’ve seen her, she’s impressed me.  I’ve been looking for another bridge type, and I think she might be a good choice.  What I mean is someone who can be of both the creative mentality, as well as business mentality.  I prefer to walk the tight rope.  I was also really drawn to Sally Whitehouse’s microderma mitt body scrubs made from floss silk. I’m thinking I need one.

I also got to show off my hooks and talk about crochet, which was great as always.  And Keri bought my hat.  Like literally, it was my hat.  The one I made at the Crochet Liberation Front Conference at Cama Beach.  “I’ve been wearing it the last month,” I said.  “So, do you have cooties?” she replies.  I’m glad she will enjoy it.  I’ll have to make another.

I’m still processing all the information people presented and I need to get to bed since I’m chaperoning a middle school field trip at 7am.  So I’ll have to share more later.  But it was a nice night.

I’m Totally a Crochet Geek Now….

It just occurred to me that the phrase in the popular club song “Like a G-6” (by Far East Movement) could be applied to a crochet hook……

::head slap::

It’s official – I’m a geek.

And the sad thing is that I would totally, totally make a spoof video too.

Maybe I will.

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Update: I also posted this to the CLF group on Ravelry.  So far the consensus is that I must make this video. Guess I’ll see what I can do….!

How Big Is Your Heart?

Riding the tails of yesterday’s post, I wonder?  How generous are people – really?

Thanksgiving is coming up.  A national time of gratitude and appreciation.  And football and celebration I guess.  But the foundational part of what Thanksgiving is supposedly about, is gratitude for generosity.  It’s always odd to me that most seem to give to charities at Christmas but not so much at Thanksgiving.

Just how generous are people anymore?

I remember being struck once on a discussion board about the death of a father to six children a couple years ago.  Upon hearing the news, many of us came together to see what we could do for his widow and children.  Someone volunteered to set up an account for them at a bank, someone volunteered to coordinate meals, someone volunteered to see if they could fix her car.  I knew this family had already been struggling financially before the accident as the father had lost his job.  I remembered how hard it was for me alone with two children while my husband was deployed and due to a paperwork mix-up, he wasn’t paid for 3 months.  I could not imagine having no promise of income, 6 children to care for, grieving, having to get through the legalities and discovering the youngest had a brain tumor.

All of the legal processes that suddenly engage upon a death were not only overwhelming to the family, but taking so long.  The widow needed money now.  Her children needed food now.  None of us were without financial worry of our own.  We all saw our worst nightmare in her circumstances.

Then, in the flurry of the majority of us organizing ideas we could help with, someone objected.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “We all care for her, but isn’t this gaming the system? There are programs for this.  And if she doesn’t qualify, there’s a good reason for it.  I’m barely making it myself.  I’m sorry her husband died and all, but why should she get this treatment?”

Yes, I suppose there are programs and case workers.  I don’t know what all happened as far as these processes are concerned.  But I do know that this mother had to wait months for “official” help.  I know that what we were doing was all she had to rely on for awhile.  I couldn’t have considered otherwise when it came to pouring from my heart, but especially since having a glimpse of her reality myself.

When I went through those 3 months without pay while my husband was deployed, there was no help for me and my children.  The law protected our credit, but it did not feed us or keep us watered and warm.  There were no programs in place to help when a reservist doesn’t get paid due to a computer/paperwork glitch that only high ranking personnel can fix and the chain of command isn’t even in your state.  The many calls I made to people who just said, I don’t know what it’d be for the guard.  No business could ever get away with that.  And you learn real quick who your friends really are.

I only have two children and had a promise of someday the problem being fixed and the pay coming through.  That was an awful experience.  I could not imagine being in her shoes.  So of course I could never consider not sharing.

Are we generous? Do we hold back in fear because we see that we’re struggling too?  Do we wait for someone else to do it?  Someone “rich?” Someone “official?”  So we don’t have to embrace it, see the struggles of others on a personal level ourselves?

Do we only give for the tax write off?  Do we only give because someone will know if we don’t?  Do we give to see someone’s smile?  Or can we give graciously and anonymously?

When we give, do we hedge and hesitate?  Do we do so with conditions?

Do we give our old clothes and expect that that’s enough for our good deeds of the year?  Do we only give what we don’t want?

Do we give time and never our money?  Or do we give money and never our time?

Are we generous with supplying pleasant memories?  Are we generous with our compliments and praises?  Or is that saved only for our criticisms and judgments?

What Would Be The Dream Job Of A CEO?

I’m feeling reflective today….

You know, it’s funny in life.  We have all these assumptions.

We think skaters are a certain personality.  That artists are lumped over here.  That sales people are over there.

That writers are over here, unless they’ve been published – and then they are over there in a whole new category to themselves.

Bloggers – well, if they have a massive following on Twitter, then stick them in this box and if they don’t – eh, the wannabees are over there.

Musicians, depends on whether you’re cool, refined or lame.

Politicians, handle with care and keep them separated.

Lawyers, total love/hate isn’t it?  You just know you want one for you, not against you! Unless you are one, you don’t mingle.

Judges, do not step side-ways.  They are demi-gods.

Government workers, hey they’ve got it made right? And scientists are too smart for the general populace.

The cowboy, the farmer, the clerk, the accountant.

The customer service rep who takes your complaints, the wait person you didn’t tip.

Teachers, parents, students, seniors, the child-less, the mother-less, the father-less, the parent-less.

The oldest, the youngest, middle child syndrome, the only child.  Each of these think they are missing out on something big that one of the others has, when really – they aren’t missing out on much of anything.  If they were to trade places, they’d say, “This is it?”

Small business, big business, micro-business. The sole entrepreneur and the inventor.

The rich, the poor, the married, the single, male, female.

All the suppositions we make… about their every day reality….

We use those labels and we judge souls.

We assume that a CEO has it made and is living his dream.

“Everyday” folks often ask – “If money was not an issue, and you had no worries, what would you do? Who would you want to be?”

I wonder if we asked “big business” CEOs of the world that question, what their answers would be?

People assume, they’ve got to be well off and drunk on power, right?  All their wishes are granted.  They never worry about how they are going to pay for their son’s medical care, much less their own.  Right?  They can do anything they want.  They are rolling in money, right?  They have all the power.

Really?  Have you ever been a CEO to know this?  Do you know the load of responsibility they carry on their shoulders?  The well-being of all the people under them?

Do you think they stop dreaming? Stop being human? Just because of a title?  Are they safer the higher they climb the ladder?  Or do they look over their shoulder and worry for the safety of their children even more?  To do what they have to do in their jobs, are their expenses smaller or larger?  Do they have time to cook their meals, even if they want to?  Are they more self-sufficient or less?  Do they ask for help more often or less?  Does everyone want more or less from them?

As I wonder these things, I look at my own worries in life.  Currently I’m trying to pay for an MRI, my son’s vision therapy and my mastoid treatment and migraines.   Finally just paid off hubby’s life-flight.  Theses are a drop in the bucket of things that could be wrong.  I  know of people who work 60+ hour weeks to pay for their child’s cancer or autism or a myriad of heart-breaking things that could be wrong.  That insurance really doesn’t cover.  I know of people who have pushed and sacrificed to be sure their mother is taken care of in her elderly years.  How much money would that take? Isn’t that almost every child’s wish? To grow up, make enough money so their parents will never have to worry again?  Make sure they’ll have the best medical care in their old age?  And make them proud? Repay them for the grey hairs and sleepless nights going over bills and caring for sick children. To eradicate the worry over where the next meal is going to come from and the money for the next bill?  To remove the thought, maybe we should just leave the heat off tonight, and a meal of rice and beans from the table forever.

Isn’t it interesting that so many of the “rich” and successful today grew up poor?  So isn’t that laudable?

What if they had no worries?  No obligations?  No expectations?  No family pressure.  No one depending on them to do what they do?

What dream would they be?  What would they have been?

Sometimes Life Gets in the Way of Writing…

Weekends are tough for me.  They are catch up times.  Today, I had a plan all laid out for the list of things I needed to get done.  I only got through part of it.  Two loads of dishes got done.  Vacuumed.  A load of laundry and some of the kids’ room.  A few more flowers were crocheted and yarn dolls made for the promos I pledged to donate this week.  Called my in-laws to see how they are.  Somewhere in there I managed to fix meals and unpack my suitcase.  Worked on my newsletter.  Answered some emails.  Wore my moderator hat twice.  Looked into credit card options for my business.  Promoted the show we’re having.  My daughter’s classmate has a birthday tomorrow, so making her a custom ear hat as a gift was added to the list.

I didn’t get to working on any crochet hooks or soft doll hats.  I didn’t work on bookmarks.  I didn’t get to the photos I’ve promised someone. I didn’t get the dining table and room cleared like I wanted and the washer still needs to be taken apart so I can look at the clutch.  Which means I need to empty the spaces around the washer so I can pull it apart.  And I still need to finish that hat in the morning, after my daughter can look it over and approve it before I snip the yarns and tie off.  We’ll be rushing madly around in the morning, trying to get it all done.

And I didn’t get to any writing.  Until now.

I look back on my day and try to figure out, gee, what could I use to write about for my blog today?  Most of it seems boring.

And then my mind turns to tomorrow’s tasks.  I need to find a table cover that will reach the floor for one of my shows.  And a magnet board. And I need to put the finishing touches on the newsletter and send it out.  And I should write another newsletter for the school recycling project.  I need to crochet at least four more flowers, two more scarves and five more doll hats.  I need to pay the gas bill. And I need to come up with the balance due for my son’s vision therapy.  He goes in Tuesday. And he needs to focus more effort on his vision exercises.  I have a meeting Wednesday night, PTO meeting Thursday and class Thursday night and shows all next weekend.  And I need to figure out accepting credit cards if I want to have half a dream of a chance to really maximize my show efforts this month/season/year.  Yet good lord, how do people afford data plans?

Life.

Sometimes it gets in the way.

SPAM… I hate it…..

When you’re blogging, of course you always appreciate comments.  It lets you know that someone actually found value in whatever you wrote, whether whimsical, well researched or just simply random thoughts that others related to as well.  And it’s confirmation that more than spider bots are finding your website.

But what you don’t look forward to is SPAM.  And even less so, someone else trying to use your blog comments to spam others with links to their mis-deeds.

For instance, check out the spam I received on my pixie blog.  Since the blog is mostly about my crochet and my daughter’s art, it becomes obvious real quick that this is not a legitimate comment (if there were really any doubts).

Comment:  “Hi! Your post rocks and is i very like your Halloween 20% off SALE! Time to Move On to Gifts! « Pixie Worx!com Blog website. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? really nice read It is extremely helpful for me. meason Send me news to….”

Besides the obvious misspellings and strange grammar in places of this comment, the blog post in question was my Halloween sale announcement from over a year ago, around my birthday.  Hubby’s and my birthdays are during the last ten days of October, so I was feeling the love.  I find it amazing that a comment could mention how helpful my “nice read” was and was a topic of discussion the commenter felt strongly about.  hahahahahahaha…..  rotflmoa!  Yeah right, my crochet spider webs are a great source of debate!  lol!

Then there’s the kind of spam that pretends to give you an honest critique (but has nothing to do with your blog) like this one:  “You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view…” While the comment also included links offering free music downloads.  A search for that entire post on Google (in quotes even) brought up 97,000 entries.  Ha.

Then there’s this one: “Fed up with obtaining low amounts of useless visitors to your site? …”   So like I would be happier with increased traffic from useless visitors?

And just during the time writing this blog post, three more spam comments have hit my site sponsoring anything from viagra to shoes.

But what about other blogs?  Maybe they would see through it right away or not.  I don’t know.  But I’ve gotten to where anytime I see potential spam on my blog that I’m unsure of, I copy a line or so of it and paste it into Google.  If I find that exact phrase on someone else’s blog, I dump it.  I don’t care if it does make my blog look like it’s more commented on.    And I disable any email addresses or links in comments I cannot verify.  All too often comments are used to contain links to phishing sites and such.  And if you don’t open the comment to look at it, you might not see the html code hidden in it.

Unfortunately, sometimes the spam site really is related to a subject close to yours.  In the art world, it’s not generally something that would be very well respected.  You don’t go spamming other people’s sites simply to pimp your own.  Develop a nice professional relationship is one thing.  Past that, honesty and professional courtesy is a must.

To top it all off, I received THIS spam comment in response to THIS very blog post, serving as a nice summation of my point: 

“I don’t believe I’ve seen this described that way before. You really have clarified this for me. Thank you!”

There you are; the blog article “SPAM… I hate it…..” clarified!

Microwaved Marshmallow Fun…

So some new yarn friends on Twitter, @YarnChic_Knity, @spinndiva and I (@AberrantCrochet) were all chatting about roasting marshmallows, experimenting with those little dehydrated marshmallows from hot cocoa, wondering if they might explode, etc.. OK, it’s late at night and we’re having fun.  Then @YarnChic_Knity says if you put regular marshmallows in the microwave they get really big. So of course, having a bag of marshmallows on hand from the last camping trip, I just had to try.

You know what?  She’s right! And it only took 4 seconds to double in size!  So here are my photos, the first one being a before shot:

Un-microwaved marshmallow has no idea what it's about to go through

After 4 seconds!

Eight seconds the 2nd time was all it took to get this big!

Shrank down a bit after pulling it out

Oh, the tea pots? Just bought them at a garage sale down the road today. Aren’t they cute!

I Think I Just Realized Something – How I Experience Pure Joy….

When we replaced the last ceiling fan, we let our son take it apart. Before we realized it, he truly had it into tiny component pieces. He has a knack for figuring things out. Today he showed me how he took a Transformer (toy) apart and figured out what was not working and fixed it.  As he explained it to me, “Apparently, Mom, whoever made this toy put the parts inside in backwards, so the gears could not engage.  So when I figure it out, I flipped them over and now it works.”

I had told John before that I honestly thought an after school program letting kids take things apart and remaking new items with parts would be cool. My dad kept boxes of spare parts from all sorts of stuff when I was a kid. He still does and now works for contracts essentially making stuff that fits their needs. He didn’t like us kids digging in and playing in his parts, but we did anyway.

And I’ve had this weird obsession with the idea of having a business all about recycling parts and teaching life skills. Just not enough resources right now. In a world with Instructables and Maker Faire today, it’s nice to know it’s not really that strange of an idea afterall!

I’m a huge fan of Instructables and met them at Maker Faire Austin a few years ago. I demo’d crochet at Maker Faire when they were in Austin. So much fun. Miss them. Wish they’d come back to Austin.  But anyway, for a great DIY site, check Instructables out.

Add to that The Tinkering School and MythBusters and others and you clearly see it’s the world of innovation, invention and tinkering and it’s something that deep inside makes me smile.  Like all the time.  Like the smile never fades. And videos of Rube Goldberg Machines like this just make me grin and giggle from ear to ear.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Deep inside, it’s a joy spark for me.

Why can’t dishes be like that?

When the Children Steal My Camera to Take Photos of… CLOUDS….!

Surprisingly, they actually came out pretty good!

Historical Perspective on Crochet….?

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately via pre-1950′s books on philosophy. Anyway, I came across a book from one of the WW periods that had a statement explaining that to comply with limitations on materials because of the war, they had changed certain things about the paper and materials they used to make the book, etc.. Essentially they were apologizing for cutting back and then trying to show how it was better because it’d be more efficient and save materials. I had heard of food and metal cutbacks and even something about hosiery. But materials used in book making? That was something I hadn’t heard about. It gave me a new perspective on how we see books published today and hit upon something I remember Grandma saying about fabrics too.

When it comes to crochet and lack of good patterns at times over the last 100 years, perhaps the world wars affected patterns and materials in ways we aren’t really aware of today? I know that old examples of fabric my grandma had were exquisite. Then came fabrics later that were not as good of quality. It’s not an exclusive reality necessarily, but elements are there. Perhaps business decisions made decades ago continue to lay a framework for our experiences today. There’s also the consideration that women began working in the industrial age more as their men went off to war. That surely affected the patterns that were published and the materials that were available to work with or even the materials people could afford.

I don’t know. I by far do not have enough information to really have a full theory on this, but these elements have given me another possible point of view I hadn’t thought of previously.