I don't think I'm going to Taos Wool Festival this weekend. I'll probably decide at the last minute on Sunday morning - it depends a lot on my mood.

My mood this weekend pretty much depends on the actions of this man.




I will definitely be wearing these socks.

Here are the Petticoat socks from Weekend Knitting in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport. Not the greatest scans but you get the idea.

More

Read more about the low-fi exhibition (my last post concerned a work exhibited there) in this excellent review at mazine.ws).

YIKES! Gasoline prices have risen 50% in the past 2 years and there may be more increases to come. Home energy prices are also increasing drastically - our state utility company says that natural gas costs will rise at least 50% this year. Our subdivision water bills will double this year.

The USDA estimates grocery prices will increase at least 3.5% this quarter. Fresh fruits and vegetables, the mainstay of my diet, rose 6%. Real estate prices are rising dramatically - over 20% this past year in some hot markets. And a new law will double many people's monthly credit card payments this year to ensure you are paying off more than just the interest on your debt.

I guess it is time to start knitting from the stash. Fortunately the cost of yarn has stayed the same for me. Sure, there are more fancy frou frou yarns for people who think knitting a $150 fluffy scarf is a good idea. Personally I am grateful for Knitpicks and Elann who often have some basic wool yarns in lots of colors.

My biggest expense has always been books. There are some new knitting books that are $40 plus but I generally live without them. Or wait until I can find them used. Bookfinder is the place to go to find the best used price on a book. If you buy a lot of books like I do, you may be better off checking out a book discounter like Edward Hamilton or Bookcloseouts so you can save on shipping. I buy a few knitting books and a LOT of cookbooks from those two places.

Here are two interesting articles - Ten Things You Should Never Buy New and Ten Things You Should Never Buy Used.

Peaches is not concerned about any increase in cost of her favorite greens. Here she is with her cat friend Bosco. It took her almost 2 years to start hanging out with Bosco although he's always adored rabbits.

Picture the world

How important is your country? Does it even exist in an international perspective? Or has it disappeared in the midst of liberal media wars? Vanishing Point is an attempt at portraying the issue

Vanishing Point consists of a map of the world connected to a database fed by news coming from several international newspapers. The visibility of each country on the map results from the quantity of media coverage the country receives, so those countries that do not make the news disappear progressively.

It is actually quite a scary sight. The question is: why? What makes some countries so attractive for the media, and others completely insignificant? Does it all come down to $? And is it a good power-meter?
One could surely argue this work is more of a social-interest site than an art work. We cannot forget, though, that it is a clear interpretation of the world, its transformation for the purposes of a very broadly understood mimesis. What's more, it seems increasingly apparent that our appreciation of the world is difficult to separate clearly into an aesthetic and extra-aesthetic one. Thus, (remembering, as well, that the eye of the beholder is the final criterion), if we look at Vanishing Point from this perspective, we may find a deeply, though subtly, artistic endeavor.

(via)

Technorati: internet art, net art, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Landscape

What we need is a point of view.
Somewhere to look from.
And then, somewhere to look to. That might just be the landscape.
Whatever frees itself from the arms of focus to go behind, outside, further, deeper.
Focusing on landscape is an oxymoron.
Try focusing on Andreas Gursky's house
Oh but this is not a landscape
(says someone).
This is a house. But of course, it is a landscape, exactly because we get lost in it. A house, namely, this house, may very well be a landscape.
To put it more positively: landscape envelops our sight.
I like that.
The seminar I participated in, about New Ways of Approaching the Landscape, had an incredible diversity of people using this envelop. There was a land artist, a scholar studying the aesthetic aspects of landscape, a photographer, a cinema director, a digital photo effects specialist (hence the Gursky reference above...) and a multimedia artist working with(in) landscape.
Of course, each of them spoke about a somewhat different landscape. Each of them caught me off guards in a specific, particular way. What became clear was that, somehow, landscape has become an object. How can one objectify what we can't even focus? (someone asks)
I guess it is the simple fact of the sight being a construction that turns our sights into objects. But this doesn't seem to answer the question, as landscape is considered precisely this outer limit of our sight's grasp. Maybe it instinctively guarantees some sort of firm ground? And yes, let's admit it: this guarantee is false. Which is bad news for the believers, and great news for the manipulators - artists. Suddenly, the artist's playground extends beyond the sic et nunc of his focus. It gains a haziness that irritates the precise purist minds and fascinates the romantics. It creates the challenge of containing space. That is what constitutes the paradox of art dealing with landscape: it confines the thing defined through openness. That is why a picture of a landscape at the same time seems the most direct way of representing landscape, and the most false one - as the frame kills space.
Liz Larner, Corridor Orange/Blue, 1991

At the seminar, the philosopher Nuno Nabais introduced the topic by referring to landscape (as art) as a way of applying Kant's concept of the sublime to art. One of the main characteristics would be its limitless quality. Kant opposes the sublime to the beautiful - the sublime has no limits, no balance, no order, while the beautiful has all these qualities. Could we thus say that artists that work with the landscape approach the sublime with the instruments of beauty?

(The speakers during the seminar were: Claudio Melo, Duarte Belo, Ivan Franco, Maria Lino, Nuno Mendoca, Nuno Nabais, Sandro Aguilar)

Enrique Zabala, Isn't It Colder 05 (2004)

I'll be spending the next four days on an artistic residence in northern Portugal, that came about as a continuation of ArtLAB's seminar and a second part of the Landscape workshop. I'll try posting from there.

Technorati: visual art, art installation, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Frog in a pond

Geof Huth, f r o g . p o n d (2002)

Technorati: internet art, net art, visual art, art, contemporary art, vvoi

I finished the gloves yesterday. Here they are.







My knitting production for 2005 is way down. I don't even think I finished a single project in June. We are 3/4 of the way through 2005 and I've done 12 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves, a cloth, a cozy, and some finger puppets. (In 2004 I finished 36 pairs of socks, 14 hats, 9 scarves, 4 pairs of mittens, 4 pairs of gloves, a baby sweater, and some miscellaneous stuff.)

The lack of interesting knitting patterns the past few years finally took its toll on my knitting output. Fortunately there are plenty of new books coming out to get my production back up in 2006. In fact I have to go right now and check to see if Amazon has the new Charlene Schurch sock book available yet.

3D=2D (Sheep)

Kyle Trowbridge, Cavlery (2005)

Technorati: art installation, installation, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Possibilities

I have been very busy recently, helping out the ArtLAB with an excellent initiative of theirs, a conference about New Approaches to Landscape (it took place yesterday here in Lisbon at the Superior Institute of Agronomy). It was very inspiring, I learned a lot and will write some more about it soon, but first I have some material that got delayed because of all the activity. For starters, a web project about alternative lives. The possibility of having other lives is so tempting , and for anyone spending some time in the virtual realm it is so close to reality, that it seems almost natural to re-write one's life in a "what if" narrative. Surprisingly though, we rarely go through with it, we rarely actually dare to imagine what ways our lives could have gone, and think it out till its ultimate consequences (those latter being altogether quite similar in all cases). The whatif project by Craig Robinson is one project that went all the way. In it, you can follow the author's (the politically correct version: "his alter ego's") life through all its possible events, with their often surprizing consequences. Wandering through these possible lives, I remembered the contemporary philosophical discussion about "possible worlds" (Saul Kripke is one of the main actors in this discussion), a very "fun" concept for a very un-fun environment that analytical philosophy can be. The question often asked is: "what do we talk of when we talk about possible worlds?" To put it in another way: how real are they and what's the use of talking about them? We could say they're useless inventions. But take a look around Robinson's possible worlds. Surprizingly enough - they tell us a lot about his actual world, the possible choices, events - and outcomes - all fit snuggly in one universe. You might accuse this universe of being too light-hearted and smartass-funny (I suppose I would agree with you), but nonetheless you do get a clear picture of who Craig Robinson would like to be, thinks he could be, thinks he could have been, thinks who he thinks he is not, and all the other possible options - that could well tell you a good bit about who Craig Robinson is.

(via)

Technorati: net art, internet art, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Self-portrait with a view

(see previous post for sample reference)

Technorati: visual art, art, contemporary art, vvoi

I now doubt the gloves will be finished this week. Every time I predict here I'll have a project finished something comes along and takes my attention away. This weekend isn't looking so good either as it is all about peaches. Not the brown-eyed rabbit Peaches but canning 10 lbs of peaches. This is probably just a start - I could do about 50 lbs of peaches and we'd eat them all. Home-canned peaches in a light syrup are far superior to the stuff at the store.

Today has been one of those magical days where everything I try in the kitchen turns out well. First I made this delicious Marinated Zucchini. It is a Mario Batali recipe and not low in fat but I love zucchini in all its incarnations. I do think the amount of salt called for in the recipe (2 Tbsp.) is an error.

Then I made this Andrew Weil recipe for Corn, Tomato, and Basil Soup. I was originally thinking I'd have to add some rice or pasta to it to make it heartier but it is plenty hearty all by itself. It is definitely a keeper.

DH just emailed me that he bought me a bread machine (What a guy!) so I'll be making some bread to go with the soup very soon. I used to have an expensive Zojirushi bread machine. It was so huge and my old kitchen was tiny so I donated it to a local wildlife group. Now I have a large kitchen and an oven on the fritz so this is a good thing.

Peaches is very busy this weekend - she plans to make a large mess with her hay, share some wheat grass with her favorite cat Jack, and make a lot of noise in the middle of the night ripping up cardboard.

Terror

A simple, some will say trivial, twist.


Suspension.
- Of disbelief ("this is not right").
- Of belief ("things make sense").




What separates form from chaos?

Is it the tension, the working muscles, as if dancing flying working? The hands, sticked out as if flapping, as if searching calming (down)?


Maybe it is what remains of metaphysics: the correction: the fragment of land below.
Ground, as if reason. As if.





(the original photo is by Karan Reshad)

Lite Nature

Tree, by Simon Heijdens, is projected onto several facades in the city, including dark corners and alleys. The main location has a 3x8 meter drawing of a tree projected onto the facade of a building. The branches and leaves move slightly, with an intensity that depends on actual wind gusts.

(Found here)
The tree also reacts to sound (the leaves fall from noise), and is sensitive to what happens to other trees in the city. Ahh, the beautiful empathy of inanimate objects. So perfect, direct, immediate.
Watching the new artistic inventions these days is like looking at a wonderful playground. You just can't get enough watching, it all seems fresh and new and unexpected - but at the same time you, I, can't wait till the next step.

Technorati: visual art, installation, art installation, art, contemporary art, vvoi

I like these gloves a lot more with the blue fingers. See the original colors and pattern in a PDF file HERE. I may still run out of the medium or dark blue colors but if not I'll have the pair finished this week. These are going to go to a girlfriend who is making me a lovely quilt. Today I started sorting all my finished knitted items into three boxes for Christmas gifts and I'd say I'm about halfway done. DH has also requested a boring plain dark gray vest for Christmas so I'll get started on that in between the more fun projects.

Gutai

With our present-day awareness, the arts as we have known them up to now appear to us in general to be fakes fitted out with a tremendous affectation. Let us take leave of these piles of counterfeit objects on the altars, in the palaces, in the salons and the antique shops.
They are an illusion with which, by human hand and by way of fraud, materials such as paint, pieces of cloth, metals, clay or marble are loaded with false significance, so that, instead of just presenting their own material self, they take on the appearance of something else. Under the cloak of an intellectual aim, the materials have been completely murdered and can no longer speak to us.
Lock these corpses into their tombs. Gutai art does not change the material: it brings it to life. Gutai art does not falsify the material. In Gutai art the human spirit and the material reach out their hands to each other, even though they are otherwise opposed to each other. The material is not absorbed by the spirit. The spirit does not force the material into submission. If one leaves the material as it is, presenting it just as material, then it starts to tell us something and speaks with a mighty voice.

Jiro Yoshihara, The Gutai Manifesto (1956)


The Gutai were a wonderful movement. I have been interested in them for a while, but only rently did I come across the original Gutai Manifesto. It is a strange document. First of all, it sounds old. Nobody writes like that any more, nobody has this sort of ambitions and generalizing ideals. Think of the Dogma95 (and the other manifestos Von Trier wrote before it). They are political, activist-like, they are purposefully extreme, while trying to maintain a universal appeal. The Gutai seem from another world, way, way back. They are wilfully primitive, primary one could say. Of course, these are the 50's in Japan, the air is still filled with smoke, "civilization" still might sound funny. That's for the historical analysis. But the world has since changed not necessarily in the sense of a reconstruction, but rather, of an integration, a multiplication of forms that attempts to include movements such as the Gutai or the Dadaists (from the same family). But of course there is no particular thing that attempts anything. There is rather a proliferation of movements and ideas which all need a basis. And the (claimed) pureness of Gutai makes them perfect to grow upon. We can easily see artists ranging from Marina Abramovic to Matthew Barney use Gutai's dramatic staging of the limit of matter.
Another thing that surprised me in the Manifesto was the way it combines theory with a very down-to-earth (pardon the pun) description of the artists and their work that makes one think of publicity:

Other works which deserve mention are those of Yasuo Sumi produced with a concrete mixer or of Toshio Yoshida, who uses only one single lump of paint. All their actions are full of a new intellectual energy which demands respect and recognition.

At the same time, the Manifesto sounds honest. It is clearly one person's point of view ("In my case...", "there were many points I could agree with"), which is rare in any manifesto, to say the least. But it doesn't give us enigmatic, hermetic descriptions we are so used to in contemporary art. How often do I feel cheated (or stupid, or both) upon reading some artist's statement! It often seems the artists belong to some higher realm which only they can fully appreciate. Here...well, maybe I was too quick to say it isn't the case at all. Maybe it is the turning point? Since next to the theoretical descriptions are all these very concrete examples of what they mean. It might seem though as something too far-fetched to be credible. It obviously all comes down to personal taste, but if this train is too fast for you to take, you certainly won't enjoy much of what is being done today. Maybe that is what makes the Gutai a turning point: they take the action to another level of abstraction, through the gateway of fine art (in fine art, it had been done for some time before, though not with such a wonderful insistance on the romantic dance of man and matter).
It all sounds very honest, genuine. But from what I've been reading, and this is truly surprizing, the Gutai [link to French site] were hardly as spontaneous and work-focused (as opposed to publicity-focused) as they often appear. They repeated several actions in special performances for the journalists (Making a Work of Art with My Body, also called Challenging Mud, was one of them), and prepared them in quite a publicity-conscious way. Which would explain the commercial-like fragments of the Manifesto. But does it take away any of the credit? Who am I, who can admire music videos, TV commercials and well-designed chairs, to judge them?

"We have struggled to find our own method of creating a space rather than relying on our own self."

Technorati: performance, performance art, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Here are the Latvian socks from Nancy Bush's Folk Socks. I'm too lazy to block them. I used size 0 dpns and Knitpicks Essentials sock yarn and I like this yarn quite a bit. It isn't as elastic as I'd prefer but I love the price and will use it again and again.

Death toy

Zbigniew Libera's series called Lego is a Lego version of a concentration camp. It raises many, many questions, some of which are presented here. The one that I have been discussing with some Polish friends recently is the Venice "scandal". As the article I've linked to mentions, Libera was invited to participate in the Venice Biennale (I think the 1998 edition). He wanted to present Lego. Some time before the Biennale, the curator asked him not to show that particular piece. The artist got offended and refused to participate altogether. It was said, at the time, that Poland is still not a free country after all, that artists should be free to present whatever they wish to, and if one invites them to a show, putting conditions like that is simply censoring art.
I know personally the person who suggested Libera's work shouldn't be shown at the Biennale. The argument was: people around the world have been brought up believing that Poles helped exterminate the Jews during WW2. Contrary to the "Western" countries, Poland never had the possibility of answering, of proving the claims were wrong, until 1989. And after that, there were many other much more important things to deal with than history. Which means that the stereotypes and falsities still prevail. Showing a work like that without a serious comment, analysis, accompanying event, would not only be dangerous, it would be devastating for the slowly-reconvering opinion about Poland.
At the time, most Poles found this to be ridiculous. We knew our history, and found the claims about WW2 so false, so crazy, that most Polish people thought the censorship was a sign of some sort of schizophrenia, of mad political correctness.
A few years later, the Poles woke up. They realized newspapers were being printed around the world that used the term "Polish concentration camps", and others insinuated or explicitly stated that the Poles, being Jew-haters, were delighted to see Germans come in and clean their country, and that the country helped Nazi Germany with the extermination. A huge political scandal erupted, and together with lots of international politics and activism actually managed to make a difference - to the point were the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising (1944, 200 000 victims), was transmitted around the world, and finally distinguished from the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
All this happened long after the refusal of Zbigniew Libera's work. Not many people looked back to think about it. For many Poles, the accusations against them only appeared after 2000. They didn't. It truly is a nasty combination of art, history and politics. One could wish things like that didn't happen. Probably as an artist I would be just as furious and feel just as offended as Libera did. The question remains: what is the responsibility of the artist? And is any context acceptable for showing his work? When is a work a provocation, and when is it an argument in a flawed debate? And does the artist have to be conscious of this? Can't he just do his job, and let the viewers decide?

Technorati: visual art, fine art, installation, art installation, art, contemporary art, vvoi

Stranded Color Knitting is reviewed in the current issue of Knitty.

I'm trying not to start a new project when I have two to finish but the Chulo hat from Andean Folk Knits is calling to me. I have to decide whether to try to get her horrifyingly tight gauge with worsted weight or do it in sport weight. I'm a tight knitter and can generally get Marcia Lewandowski's gauge if I use thinner yarn. I'll have to check my color choices but I like the greens and gray in the original.

I've been eagerly searching for rabbit rescue news from Louisiana and Mississippi. In a Humane Society of the United States press release from yesterday they said they have 250 people on the ground in both states who have rescued a total of 1200 animals "including dogs, cats, cows, ferrets, horses, chinchillas, as well as a rabbit, duck, pot-bellied pig, and seal." So at least one lucky rabbit made it.

In other news, the Louisiana State University Veterinary Medicine Department has rescued 90 horses and mules from New Orleans. There are still 300 left in the city from the companies offering carriage rides to tourists. To help the horses, check their web site.

On the lighter side, this photo just cracks me up. One of the local animal people sent me some wacky photos.

Edit: I was told the larger font made the blog hard to read so we're back to normal.

KNITTING

I'm still working on the Latvian socks. I hope to have them finished by late tomorrow. Then it is back to work on another Christmas present, the Fair Isle gloves. Please go see Julia's beautiful version of these gloves - the colors she is using are so much nicer.

HELPING

Check with your local food bank. Many of them are collecting food to send to evacuees. Also, if you donate money, look into places that are matching donations to make your money go farther. One such place is my local health food store, Vitamin Cottage.

The Give A Little blog was started by knitbloggers extraordinaire Margene and Susan to raise donations for the Red Cross. There are many other terrific prizes for those who donate, including a copy of Stranded Color Knitting.

June of Two Sheep Journal is selling off some of her incredibly beautiful handspun yarn - all money from the sales to Mercy Corps.

A knitblogger in Houston is collecting handknit baby items to give to evacuees.

Donate your miles via email through Delta, Continental, or United Airlines.

Here in Albuquerque we're seeing some heartwarming stories of people helping the evacuees that have come here. A group of beauticians got together to do the hair and makeup of hurricane victims and others got the red carpet treatment and a standing ovation at a UNM Lobos game.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and his wife are providing housing in Boston for a year for a large family of hurricane evacuees. As it turned out, the father of the family was a baseball fan and was flabbergasted when Curt met him at the hotel.

You may have seen some of the sad stories of animals in the hurricane on the news. Snowball the little dog who was left behind by a hysterical boy and kept trying to get on the evacuation bus may have been found - now they need to find the boy in the Astrodome. Other stories such as Chucky the dog left at the interstate with a can of dog food and a note, the man with 3 dogs who swam with them for 8 hours straight because he couldn't leave them, and the doctor who stayed behind at the hospital and wouldn't evacuate because he was caring for all the staff pets may all have happy endings. Check the ASPCA web site daily for updates on these stories and donate to help make more happy endings for victims of this tragedy.

CELEBRATING

Peaches celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend with a dried banana treat and much singing. I'm not positive about her birthday but it was some time in fall so I chose Labor Day. I've always felt that Peaches managed to find the perfect house for her to blossom. She used to be more of a wallflower with the rabbit rescuer who felt bad she wasn't getting more attention. Now she is always the center of attention and she loves finally having her own house. Happy Birthday Bunny Diva!

The first 90 hurricane Katrina evacuees have arrived here in Albuquerque. They are staying at the convention center in downtown and were met by applause and our mayor Marty Chavez. The children were given stuffed animals and so far 150 offers of housing by local private citizens have been received. Most of the evacuees have swollen feet from standing in water so long.

Our governor has declared a state of emergency and released 1 million dollars for the victims. We are expecting about 6000 victims throughout the state. NM just sent 300 National Guardsmen and 21 state policemen to the Gulf as well. The local National Guard spokeswoman/major interviewed for the story is one of our NM rabbit rescuers as well.

Roadrunner Food Bank is collecting food to send to the Gulf Coast and I'm going to assume the evacuees are going to need clothing so I'm off to clean out the pantry and closet.

The Houston SPCA has taken in a whopping 663 animals since Thursday (most from evacuees at the Houston Astrodome and Reliant Arena) and they are expecting hundreds more in the days ahead. They have a list of supplies needed on their web site and monetary donations are also important to help them continue to offer free boarding and care to the pets of victims of hurricane Katrina.

North Shore Animal League now has an animal rescue blog which details their efforts to help out in the south. Like the other groups, they're having problems finding gasoline for transport activities.


If you have supplies to donate, here's a current list of what Best Friends hurricane relief is seeking. The items should be sent to the top address in MS, not the bottom one in UT.

Dear Members and Friends,

We now have a shipping address! Please send your donations of supplies to:

Best Friends Hurricane Relief
c/o Leigh Breland
1635 Misty Lane
Terry, MS 39170

Hurricane-related inquiries, including offers to donate supplies or funds or to volunteer, may be directed to: 435.644.2001 x398 or hurricane@bestfriends.org.

We’ve reprinted the list of most needed supplies below.
People needs:
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Vegetarian people food that won’t spoil or need refrigeration
Portable toilets and sanitizer
Insect repellent
Sun showers
Sunscreen
First aid kits for relief workers
Hand sanitizer

Pet needs
Pet Food
Animal bedding
Crates (all sizes)
Collars/leads
Veterinary supplies
Puppy and kitten formula
Canopy tents for the animals
Large cat tower/cage (for kittens)
Portable water bowls for animals
Microchip scanners

General needs
RVs, SUV’s & Trucks (4x4), ATV’s (loaned or donated)
Tarps
Two way radios
Generators
Rope
Duct tape
Cable ties
Fencing, both temporary and permanent
Heavy work gloves and welding gloves
Carpentry supplies
Gas cans
Gas for vehicles
Flashlights
Batteries (AA, AAA, C & D)
Water
Water tanks
Clorox bleach
Warehouse facilities near Tylertown, MS
Garbage cans
Garbage bags
Tents
Camping Gear
Towels
Blankets
Collapsible wire cages (extra large size)
Extension cords (heavy duty outdoor approved - 100 foot long)
Grooming clippers (electric)
Zip Lock bags (extra large size)

Important note: Please contact us at the number above before you buy large quantities of any of these items.

Again, thank you so very much for all offers of help. We’ll keep you updated on developments.

Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
Kanab, UT 84741
aileenw@bestfriends.org
http://www.bestfriends.org/
(435)644-3965 ext. 4165

A better world through kindness to animals.

The next knitting project I have to show you will be Nancy Bush's Latvian Socks from Folk Socks. This has been a good simple project to go with all the news I've been watching. So far I've managed not to throw my knitting at the tv as well although I've certainly had some choice words along the way.

Today I was going to put up some info on all the groups dealing with all the animals but Petfinder has already done it HERE with daily updates. USA Today also had a good article on the animal rescue efforts HERE. And another article from CNN on the emotional toll of evacuees leaving their pets behind. Best Friends is also publishing a series of articles daily on the whole process.

I saw a guy on tv saying that we need to become a Donation Nation. Not just right now but for many months ahead. In addition to money needed right now there will be so many other things we can do in the weeks ahead - help a family find housing, buy a kid that was evacuated some school supplies, send people food and pet food and supplies, adopting one of the thousands of rescued animals, etc.

I think we can all come up with some great ways to help and help and help some more.

I've gone from being very sad this week to being very very angry about the situation in the gulf coast. I should probably stop watching the news, eh?

I do have a few related links to share. HERE is a satellite photo of New Orleans before Katrina - click on it and you can see it after Katrina. And HERE is a really really good in-depth photo of New Orleans after Katrina. Once you locate the Superdome you can see the Convention Center below it. You can also see just how much of the city is flooded.

If all this Katrina misery is becoming too much for you, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (their director is currently down in New Orleans helping transport shelter animals out of there) has started posted a daily Good News journal in their news reports HERE. Also, this blog also posts good news about families being reunited, human and animal rescues, corporate donations, etc. I've learned from animal rescue stuff that it often helps your mental health to focus on the small good things when there are so many bad things going on.

I've decided to stop buying yarn and books until after Christmas and use my monthly yarn money to donate to human and animal charities providing hurricane relief the next few months instead. With that schedule I should still have time to make the Torino sweater before the Olympics which I believe are in February?? HERE is a photo of the next Dale Olympic sweater. I may make it for myself in the dark colorway.

Peaches has been gaining weight which isn't surprising as she is a total loaf bun (aka couch potato). My Labor Day weekend plans are to crawl around the floor encouraging her to do some bunny aerobics.

Another break

I'll be spending the next week in Poland, quite busy with some non-artistic matters. Hopefuly will be back on track on the 7th of September.