Just a Thought

Having known both friends and relatives under 40 who have or have fought breast cancer:

Idiots, enough said.

I Kwom Why, Do You?

The day is wet and cold. I've read through my normal news feeds and really can't find much to write, rave or rant about. And then Maya Angelou pops in my head and I thought of this poem:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps on the back of the wind

and floats downstream till the current ends

and dips his wings in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage

can seldom see through his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with fearful trill

of the things unknown but longed for still

and is tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill

of things unknown but longed for still

and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom.

Meir Cat Question: What will you sing about today / tomorrow? Will the song you sing bemoan what is missing from your life or what there is to celebrate? Everyone has their down moments, but let the song that comes from you not cling to pain or fear but rather praise the moment of what is good. This being the season for Thankfulness, let us carry this spirit throughout our lives everyday.

Caught in the Act

Nov 09 212
Originally uploaded by cecicarry

Thanks to my friends at 2 Sistas Knit Together, my "Off the Wagon" moment is caught on camera. I didn't do so bad; bought what I hope is enough Berroco Peruvia to finish the circular shawl and there is a wrap pattern in "Crochet in Color" I'd like to try in a different yarn. The Koigu Paint yarn used in the pattern, though it is very pretty and interesting is little beyond my budget considering how much I would have to purchase for a long wrap. No worries, the Berroco Merino will do just fine. Thanks for the pic, CiCi!

The Need for Pain

Sometimes the greater the pain, the more fiercely someone will cling to it. Deepak Chopra on Addiction

I feel the itch. That tingling sensation, the killer anticipation of obtaining my desires, my addiction, my yarn. I’ve been a good girl. Just look at that clock; 85 days of denial. So proud. But it has happened again, another Friday the 13^th. A 13^th day and a Friday have come again and that means it is here: a sale at A Tangled Skein. Who could blame me for giving in to the pain. I want to say I won’t buy much, I’ll try not to. But the staff; Cheryl, Jennifer, Rivka, they can be so nice, so…convincing. While being fueled with cake, cookies and cider, participants are given a warm sense of camaraderie and appreciation for their participation and presence by the staff at TS. Everyone’s happy. Everyone is browsing the stacks of fiber. And then…and then the staff goes in for the kill; 20% off everything in the store. The more you buy, the bigger the savings. Diabolically evil…evil. But I want it, I need it. My dark passenger driving me to the shop…( no, that’s too much like Dexter)…the need for the smooth and warm fiber driving me closer and closer to Hyattsville. I can still fight it, but I don’t want to… C-U-There…

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Susan (Strauss) Taube

On November 9, 1938, the Nazis unleashed a wave of pogroms against Germany's Jews. In the space of a few hours, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businessesClick to enlarge and homes were damaged or destroyed. This event came to be called Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") for the shattered store windowpanes that carpeted German streets.

The pretext for this violence was the November 7 assassination of a German diplomat in Paris, Ernst vom Rath, by Herschel Grynszpan, a Jewish teenager whose parents, along with 17,000 other Polish Jews, had been recently expelled from the Reich. Though portrayed as spontaneous outbursts of popular outrage, these pogroms were calculated acts of retaliation carried out by the SA, SS, and local Nazi party organizations.

Stormtroopers killed at least 91 Jews and injured many others. For the first time, Jews were arrested on a massive scale Click to enlargeand transported to Nazi concentration camps. About 30,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald, Dachau, and Sachsenhausen, where hundreds died within weeks of arrival. Release came only after the prisoners arranged to emigrate and agreed to transfer their property to "Aryans."

Kristallnacht culminated the escalating violence against Jews that began during the incorporation of Austria into the Reich in March 1938. It also signaled the fateful transfer of responsibility for "solving" the "Jewish Question" to the SS.