my fateful meeting

So, last night was my fateful meeting with one of my high school "boyfriends," Joshua Bell. When we were in high school, he came to MHS and met with the orchestra. We were in love at first sight.

PM and I went to hear him play the Sibelius, one of my favorite concertos ever. The annoying people next to us wouldn't stop TALKING, and in the last minutes, a woman starting talking on her cell phone AT FULL VOLUME. I was not happy. I stalked off the blanket and went to the pavilion, where I shoved through some people and I saw his head and his movement as he completed the final chord. it was transcendent, but I was so annoyed by people that I came back to the blanket and told PM I was ready to leave. I didn't even care about the Beethoven symphony, and had decided to sit down grumpily when I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker, "Joshua Bell will be signing autographs outside the dining pavilion." I yelled, made PM jump up and spill beer all over herself, and we ran to the pavilion. We got in line, and then found out we needed to buy a CD. I grabbed two of the red violin concerto CDs, and ran back. We were giggling and shaking, and felt like two sixteen year olds. PM looked at me and said, "how does my hair look?" In fact, when he got to the table, some 16 year olds screamed! We were telling people in the line that we felt like kids waiting for BSB or NKOTB. So we waited...

PM and I were at the front of the line when some bossy mothers pushed their child prodigies in the way and took pictures. But soon, it was OUR TURN! We walked up together, and I said, "thanks for coming to our high school 20 years ago." He smiled and said, "oh, when I was five." and I replied, "well, I was three." We were flirting!!! It was our special moment. Actually, he signed "Joshua" on our CDs, and we ran away like schoolgirls. We couldn't stop shaking and giggling. Then we called our moms and my mom laughed so hard she couldn't stop coughing!

This morning we found out PM's mom called our orchestra director from high school, and he said he had video of the whole thing from the '80s. I bet all the girls were going crazy...

I know it was love.

p.s. When I posted my status on facebook this morn, excited about JB, one of my friends asked me if he was of "Drake and Josh," some nickelodeon show. whoops, wrong josh.

frustrated

I am excited and frustrated. Excited, for I am happy that our candidate is not another white male. But I am upset that my prediction is coming true...it took 50 more years for women to even be able to vote, so it will be at least that for a woman to be president. It was interesting to hear HRC say that she had met women who were alive when women couldn't vote in all the states.

I am tired. I am tired because I was up watching two and a half overtimes last night, and the red wings were denied, and I am tired of the sexist crap in our country. It's all talk...nothing really will change. I think I will sulk and knit.

lots of random thoughts

So, I have been ruminating on many things this week, probably because my new facebook app on the kiersey temperament sorter reminded me that I am a healer (along with less than 1% of the population). So when I was at the Green Festival yesterday (I'd post a link, but I noticed it wasn't up today...greenfestivals.org), I was thinking about my passion for social justice and fair trade and how I see environmentalism through that lens, rather than through the fear of global warming and the future of the United States. Oxfam America, Heifer Project and of course, Ten Thousand Villages have so much opportunity to end poverty and injustice, and the environment is a piece of that. I think that perhaps through framing environmental causes through the lens of global poverty and injustice may help disbelievers understand the green movement better. I think it can be frustrating for people to be yelled at when not throwing things in the proper container and having others lecture you for driving a less than ideal mpg car.

I know I'm a hippie. I blame my (when growing up) long-haired mom who made me listen to PPM, the new Christy Minstrels, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and some other hippie-esques who I still love today. In fact, right now I am listening to Storyhill, a male folk duo beloved by some of my granola-y friends (the things that happen to you in Minnesota!). But back to my hippie mom, who made baby food from scratch (you can do this at home too). Anyways, now I can't even remember where I was going with this whole thing. My brain has been corrupted by my consumption of a sketchy salad kit that was lurking in my fridge. It seemed to be ok...or was it?

Anywho, I wanted to also mention that I read an interesting thing on the happiness project this afternoon -- 50% of your propensity for happiness is genetic, 10% depends on circumstances, and 40% is through your own devices, such as blogging, reading, eating, drinking coffee, kindness...OOPS, for others it could be exercise, or some such crap (exercise being the crap part). At least yoga will count. We did try to go to a yoga session yesterday at the Green Festival, but it was a demo. So instead we did beer tent yoga, where we got beer and sat cross legged in the corner. But we did meet the owner of Great Lakes Brewing Company, who was super nice and told us about his beer. It was tasty, and now I am a fan (and it comes from Cleveland, which is also faboo!).

So, today's happiness was boosted by not driving to the city, listening to good music, blogging, cleaning my kitchen floor (I know! a miracle!), and now I will read. I have the second sisterhood of the traveling pants book to start. In the last link, I used the book site Better World Books, for whom I worked four hours yesterday to earn my pass for the festival. They are really cool people, and I will try to get some of my reading from them. We scanned all of the books that were donated yesterday, and some of them I really wanted.

Next time I will try to have some pictures to post. So instead of my photos, I will link you to the daily click, the new feature on our college website.

no politics today

I found a lovely tract about knitters here. It was posted on my friend's blog, so I stole it. I do think knitting is definitely a religion sometimes. I spend so much time on it, it must be a spiritual expression. I am in the midst of making a tunic with lovely yarn from River Knits Fine Yarns in Lafayette, IN. If I get a chance, I will post it on ravelry.

I have heard that the Purdue Communications PhD students are enjoying my baby blankets for their various offspring. It's a lot of fun to make the blankets, and I like that people are enjoying them. However, I keep forgetting to put my labels on...oops. I will have a zillion left. Maybe I could start putting them in various sweaters I've bought and pretend I made them.

I will go back to knitting and watching random TV. I have my rugs in the dryer and should put them back where they belong. I did laundry, for EH had mice in her apartment, and wants to stay away until they are gone.

thoughts on Hillary

I watched Hillary give her speech after the Penna primary, and this is why I like her:

1. She said that the moms and dads in the room with their daughters can whisper in their ears, "see, you can be anything you want to be."
2. She said that each generation was able to see change, and that our children will be able to say that that an African-American or a woman can be president.

I really really hope that I can be wrong, and that a woman can win in my lifetime. I still think it might be impossible. But it was a great speech, and I think she connected. It will be an interesting convention. I can see this splitting apart the party...oh, I hope it doesn't.

I am getting a little cranky about the patriarchical society I live in -- I am feeling v. silenced somedays, and it is frustrating, to say the least. I have not really been in this situation before, so it's even more frustrating...

I will post more this weekend I hope, but wanted to get this out (it's been in my head since the night of the primary).

i am the worst blogger ever

I guess I didn't have the laptop for a while, and have been crazy busy, but I have not blogged for a long long time. But in the meantime, I did get a year older, and now am "older" than our Administrative Services Director (who claims she is 32).

But I have knitted...















This is my latest baby blanket. I did finish three blankets as well for the Purdue grad students (as commissioned by P), and am looking at what next. I bought a sock book and another toy book, but I think I have made enough toys for A & J so far.

What else have I been doing? I bought the Martha Stewart cookie book, and have made one yummy creation so far. I will make another kind tomorrow, and bring it to the women in student affairs book club. We read full frontal feminism, and I am excited to discuss. It's interesting to see what younger feminists are writing.

I will stop now, and watch the daily show. Soon I will get better at this whole thing...

it's been a while

So, here I am in Oshkosh, WI, relaxing in my hotel room after an exhausting but fun OPE. It has been a week and a half of interviews -- both student and professional staffs. But now I have a little time to enjoy my hotel room and relax. I can't believe it's only two weeks until the big day, and I feel a bit old. Hopefully soon that will pass...

At least I have been able to visit my favorite coffee shop and get the wonderful chocolate from hughes' -- I can't get enough of that! I didn't do any outlet shopping this year, but I don't really need anything. One of the crazy things that happened is that my former boss (and now friend) and I were talking about a colleague, and she CALLED while we were at dinner! How strange the world is...

I am on blanket number two of the three commissioned blankets for purdue grad students -- the spring green is gorgeous. I start on the sunshine one soon. So my knitting world has been mainly baby blankets, but I will find something new to do soon.

Enough of blathering for tonight -- I must sleep.